He set out early in life to be a writer. As a young lad bubbling with ideas, he came to Lagos in search of literature. Odia Ofeimun found it and more. Forty-eight years after the celebrated poet wrote his first poem, he has over 40 books and a publishing house to show for his labour. The eminence of his art and the controversies of his politics drew dignitaries to his 40-book exhibition at the MUSON Centre, Lagos. Evelyn Osagie reports.
Some called it a “festival of ideas”. Others simply described it as “a feast of books”. But, the man behind the feat, the distinguished poet and social critic, Odia Ofeimun, christened it “A 40-book exhibition”.
“If I called it a book launch that would be overdoing it,” Odia said while handing some guests a list of his books as they arrived.
His book exhibition was tailored in the pattern of the art exhibitions done by artists. The exhibition featured 18 of his old works and 22 new books. Five copies of his old works were on display.
“I am not a rich man; I do not have the money to print all the books,” Ofeimun said when asked why most of his new books were not on display.
Reputed for his creative literary buffets, Ofeimun’s innovative exhibition gave freshness to his published works, unveiled his new but forthcoming works and allowed for the appreciation of his scholarly and literary wealth spanning over four decades.
The character of re-invention is the quality Rivers State’s literary scholar Dr Obari Gomba said has consistently shaped Ofeimun’s poetry and cultural interventions. Noting that it is impossible to ignore his output due to its quality and relevance, Gomba, who took guests into Ofeimun’s literary voyage, divided poet’s writing into four literary phases and genres.
Describing Ofeimun as a “principal Nigerian political poet”, he observed that Ofeimun “emerged in a surefooted manner that belied his age in 1970s when the Nigerian literary scene had broadened, offering a paradigm shift in the aesthetics of our literature”.
“His earliest poems were published in the iconic post-war journal called Okike and in Nigeria’s cultural flagship called Nigeria Magazine,” he said.
The exhibition brought notable personalities to the MUSON Centre in Lagos. Praising his ability to brave the odds bedevilling writing, many said they were drawn by curiosity mixed with admiration for the poet’s tenacity of purpose. Guests were urged to adopted the new books, a process that turned out to be a launch of a sort.
The event had in attendance former President Goodluck Jonathan, who represented former Minister of National Planning, Abubakar Sulaiman; All Progressive Congress (APC) chieftain and former Chief Segun Osoba; Permanent Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Communication and Technology, Dr Tunji Olaopa; Prof. Kole Omotoso, Chairman of The News Magazine, Mr Kunle Ajibade and founder of Splendid Literature and Culture Foundation and the Women Writers Association (WRITA), Mrs Mobolaji Adenubi, among others.
While commending Ofeimun’s contributions to the development of this country politically, Osoba revisited the issue of the leakage of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s letter to former President Nnamdi Azikiwe.
He said: “I am here to honour Ofeimun and make clarifications of your good name you are making. Odia has served this country. He has shown tenacity and the ability to hang on to what he believes in despite the vicissitudes of life. And despite the fact that he is not making money, he has not given up. People talk about his writing but his contributions to this country, politically, are immeasurable.
“They made him to suffer for an offense he did not commit, involving the leakage of Awolowo’s confidential letter to former President Nnamdi Azikiwe that they would work. I would say it publicly that Odia knew nothing about the leakage of Awolowo’s letter to former President Azikiwe. But because he was a Bola Ige’s person, those anti-Bola-Ige persons robed it on him. But those of us who are still alive will always tell the story. And we need to continuously correct such misunderstanding in our history. That brings me to today’s journalism. No more investigative journalism. Once a news break of a politician that is corrupt, we blow it up, but did we find out.”
On his part, Ajibade described the celebrator as a ‘literary model that has shown writers, especially the young, the path they needed to take against the odds in the industry’. He urged to publish the much awaited memoir on the late Awolowo.
“Questions have been raised about how come that a man who is an authority for the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo has not come out with his book on the late sage. And he has always said that is precisely why I have not come out with that book because I know that people think that that is about the only book that I can do; but I want to do the most difficult ones first. And now that he has done the most ‘difficult’ ones, such as poetry, collections of essays and other books, my plea to him is that this is the time for him to do that authoritative book on Awolowo. We need that book.
“He has not only written collections of poems. He has also, like a pugilist, engaged in serious arguments about the nature of our country, about the nature of our culture and you can see that today it’s like kind of festival of ideas. It is only a man who has stood seriously for ideas that would have this kind of festival of ideas around him. It is not about the large number of people turning out; it’s about the importance of the ideas that Odia Ofeimun has stood for all his life. That it is not an easy path at all to be a writer in a society like this. And Odia, with the example, has shown that you can conquer the demons on your path to literary fame if you stick to that path diligently,” he said.
Recounting his contributions to nurturing of talents, Mrs Adenubi said he was an inspiration to women writers.
For Prof Omotoso, Ofeimun’s consistence is what makes him interesting. Recounting his friendship with the poet that goes back to his days in the University of Ibadan, Omotoso said: “And it doesn’t matter how broke Odia is he would not take anything from anybody to compromise any of those situations. I have known him since 1972when I came back to teach at Ibadan; he was finishing up his first degree. He has become virtually a member of my family. My children look up to him as ‘uncle’. He would come and stay with us whether we were in London or South Africa or anywhere. It is that example of somebody who is clear and focused that makes his character interesting.
“If you look at the books he has published – whether it is his own collections of poems, other people’s collection – they are interesting collections. I remember when the South African Radio Station 702 came to broadcast in Lagos; I gave them six copies of The Lagos of the Poets because they were fascinated by what Lagos was like. And it is interesting, especially for younger people to be able to see somebody with such dedication. And with this event today is to be able to say ‘please look in this direction; this is what people who are concerned about the Nigerian society are doing, thinking, trying to relate to the society and give back to the Nigerian society’. And Odia is really an incredible example of giving back.”
Dr Oloapa added his voice. His words: “Odia Ofeimun is a rebellious nationalist who comes to the nationalist struggle for the soul of Nigeria from a unique perspective—poetry. Odia Ofeimun writes politically charged poems. Of course, this character flows from his belief that a poet is necessarily a citizen; it is vain to attempt divorcing the two roles from each other.”
His volumes of poetry such as The Poet Lied; A Handle for the Flutist, Dreams at Work and Other Poems; London Letter and Other Poems; Go Tell the Generals, I Will Ask Questions with Stones if They Take My Voic; A Boiling Caracas and Other Poems; One Country Is not Enough; volumes of Selected Poems; Salute to the Master Builder; Lagos of the Poets; Onomonresoa edited by Obari Gomba; The Child and Youth of Our Time; Nigerian Women Poets and 20th Century Nigerian Poetry.
His poems for dance drama include Under African Skies; A Feast of Return; Nigeria the Beautiful; Itoya and Because of 1914.
His books on politics and culture include: The Truth of The Matter: Interviews and Exchanges, Forewords and Prefaces; Taking Nigeria Seriously; When Does A Civil War Come To An End?; This Conference Must Be Different; Remaking the Nigeria Project; Media Nigeriana; June Twelver’s Dilemma; A House of Many Mansions; Imagination and the City: A Lagosian View; In Search of Ogun: Soyinka In Spite of Nietzsche; Impossible Death of the African Author; Breaking Deaf Walls in Nigeria Literature; My ANA File; Letters to Bose on the Arts and Society and Up and Down the Yellow Mountain. on my dead bed I want to be found writing books.
