- By Denja Abdullahi
The name Eriata Orhibabor is today associated with a nationwide movement for the projection of the poetic art , vocation and practice to virtually all aspects of life and living. The force behind this movement , which started gaining trajectory over a decade ago in the heart of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja , is an imagination which believes that poetry in all its forms can be used to beautify and make spectacular the most mundane things in life. Under his focused ,multiverse and multi-layered pull and push, Eriata Orhibabor has applied poetry to food, music, advocacy, tourism, carnival, education, language, tourism, entrepreneurship and all sorts of things to the extent that he is today referred to as “Merchant of Poetry.” He has had a passionate and abiding interest in nurturing the young through literary philanthropist gestures towards developing their arts, social and cultural practices. He founded Poetry in Nigeria (PIN) which has become a formidable networks of poetic activities coordinated by young persons across various “connect centres” in the country and which has become hubs to the marketing of everything poetry and its numerous extensions. Eriata Orhibabor in the course of his two decades of dedication to the art and gospel of poetry has been prolific in writing, editing and publishing many volumes of poetry ;starting with his Abuja Na Kpangba and Oda Puem Dem(2011) and at the last count of about 35 books (solely written and edited anthologies) ending with the latests in triple: Letters of Poetry, Shells of Shell, One for the Road (2022).
On the 13 of May,2023, the literati in the city of Abuja came together at the FCT Exhibition Pavilion , opposite the Radio House to celebrate Eriata Orhibabor as he unveiled 30 books written and edited by him to mark his 60th birthday. The event was the second leg of the 3 city earmarked to celebrate the merchant of poetry . The first leg of it happened in Lagos on the 22 of April, 2023. The Abuja event organised by a small committee of a group of friends, colleagues and mentees of the celebrant headed by Mallam Denja Abdullahi, also a renowned poet and former President of the Association of Nigerian Authors(ANA), attracted a lot of people from all walks of life and an array of people whose friendship and mentorship the celebrant has cultivated and attracted over the years through his unique social skills, vivacity and industry .
The day kicked off with dignitaries invited to the event all underscoring the unique contributions of Eriata Orhibabor to the propagation of the writing of poetry in the lingua franca of the masses, pidgin, and the extension of poetry to almost every areas of life and his passion for mentoring young people. Performances came from inspired poets in the house , crescendoing with a delightful one – act musical performance by the artiste Asian, who sang like Asa and danced all the dances of Nigeria while singing and strumming the guitar. Salamatu Sule,the literary agent did a composite and melifulious review of the 30 books on display and spiced it with oriki to the poet in Esan language. The review was followed by a short talk on ” The art of mentorship for literary sustainability” delivered by Dr. Yusuf Ofeimile of the FCT College of Education,Zuba , who emphasised the benefits of literary mentorship which many of his students enjoyed in the junior ANA which was formed at his school when Eriata Oribhabor was chairman of ANA Abuja.There was a then a replay of a documentary testament in which many youngsters recounted how Eriata Oribhabor mentored them selflessly in the art of writing. The occasion saw to the unveiling of the 30 books of the celebrant cutting across poetry, play and prose , many of which he wrote singly and some which are edited anthologies by him. The subjects and the literary styles of the books were so diverse that everyone in the full hall went home with at least a book, apart from those who collected a pile by way of launching.
The occasion was indeed a celebration of the doggedness of one man in the business of glamorizing and popularizing the writing,production and appreciation of poetry beyond the confines of the literati.