By Olayinka Oyegbile
Unfortunately we are at that threshold again; writing about the grim reaper, the one that Ayinla Omowura, the legendary Apala musician, waxed a record for and described in very unpalatable ways that if it were to be human would have felt so ashamed of its acts and might have repented. He called it black-faced monster and so on. But the grim reaper was no respecter of persons, abuse or even appeal to emotions. When it was ready it took Ayinla himself away a few years after that record was released.
Last Saturday afternoon I was in the office browsing through various news websites and checking mails to collate stories from reporters around the country. As is usual, you also flip in and out of various social media sites to see what is going on and see if there are news trails that could be followed up. It was in the midst of this that a post on Facebook caught my attention. The person who posted it is a known person and not a flippant or careless individual who would just post anything without verifying the authenticity.
I initially looked at what he posted and then thought perhaps it was another fellow he was writing about. But the goatee and the broad smile of the picture accompanying the posting was unmistakable. It was him. The post just said: Harry Garba is dead! I thought it was a different person, perhaps sharing the same name. But pictures, we are told, don’t lie!! I read a little bit further and it was confirmed. It was the same Harry G!
My first reaction was to pick up my phone and call Jahman Anikulapo; he is a man that one can run to for any information about the artist community, at least in the Lagos art circuit. I called his line but he didn’t pick. I wasn’t surprised because being a weekend he may be at one art event or the other. I sent him a quick WhatsApp message. I then called his Siamese brother, Toyin Akinsoho, the geologist who breathes arts. He too didn’t pick. Later I checked my phone and Jahman had replied confirming my worst fear. Toyin later returned the call to do the same. Jahman also followed up with a call explaining that he was in the middle of a production when my call came in. Harry G is gone. What a loss.
What does this grim reaper have against the 60s? Just in December last year we lost Prof Tejumola Olaniyan in the United States at 60 and now Prof Harry Garba at 61 in Cape Town, South Africa.
It is sad that death has been snatching our egg heads in recent times and this is raising concern about the state of our future artists when those who are helping to bring them up are dying. Prof Garba was a big influence on what has come to be known as the New Nigeria Poetry when in the eighties he edited the groundbreaking collection, Voices From The Fringe. As the literary community mourns his demise, we join his family in this grief but they should be comforted with the fact that he lived a life that affected many.
Rest in peace our own Harry G.
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