It was an evening of cerebral stimulation, glitz and sublime entertainment when Globacom Limited, the telecommunication giant, treated the art community and undergraduates to An Evening with Wole Soyinka at the Eko Hotels & Suites, Lagos. It was evident that at 81, the Nobel laureate is still resilient in his stance against injustice. He was quick to voice his distaste for discrimination, terrorism, falling standard of education and what he called lies of former President Olusegun Obasanjo at the literary feast. Evelyn Osagie reports.
It could be likened to a table of rich and assorted literary dishes where the cream of the Nigerian art world, particularly the literati, came to dine.
The wine was a quality blend of the old and the new, and the earnings of the night – an entertaining feast of documentary, drama, music, dance and conversations on budding issues.
And like most interesting feasts, there was a side ‘dish’ where Ego, a musician, and children dance troupe Footprint of David prepared guests for the night servings. The stage performance of Soyinka’s play Alapata Apata by Bolanle Austen Peters Production and thrilling songs by music maestro Tunji Oyelana and the Koko master himself, D’Banj, added spice to the night.
What made Globacom’s literary feast, tagged: An Evening with Wole Soyinka, special was not just the musical, literary and stage performances by renowned icons of the literati and music world, or the unveiling of the N4.5m Glo Literature Prize for undergraduates. It was also not the thought-provoking conversation with three award-winning writers, in which Soyinka called for an emergency declaration on literacy in Nigeria, the correct use of language in whatever tongue; and aired his views about former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Soyinka an uncommon patriot
For the guests, including renowned JP Clark and his wife, Ebun; Gen Alani Akinrinade; Odia Ofeimun; Kunle Ajibade and Lady Francesca Yetunde Emanuel, the persona of the celebrator was the stint of the event. As a renowned social critic, his voice screams loud against injustice. Being a playwright, an essayist, poet, novelist and theatre director, Prof Soyinka is an embodiment of literature, whose creative voyage is laced with diverse awards and recognitions. Besides being a Nobel Laureate (1986), his artistic recognitions include: the Enrico Mattei Award for the Humanities; the Leopold Sedar Senghor Award for the Arts; the John Whiting Literary Prize; the Benson Mendel of the Royal Society of Literature; Premio Litterario Internazionalle Mondello, Italy and the UNESCO Medal for the Arts.
The event also featured a documentary on Soyinka and a chat session steered by Sefi Atta, the 2006 winner of the Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa; 2013 Caine Prize winner Tope Folarin and 2009 Caine Prize winner E.C. Osondu. They engaged the Nobel Laureate on his works, thoughts and the state of the nation; and later on, each read from Soyinka’s works.
For Globacom Chairman Dr Mike Adenuga Jr., Soyinka’s uncommon patriotism and commitment to the “defence of truth” has made him a pride of the black race. It was the third time that Glo would be holding a forum to celebrate the Nobel Laureate, having held a “Night with WS in Lagos in 2003 and Accra, Ghana, in 2011.
Commending writers in his goodwill message for putting their footprints on the world literary map, Adenuga said his company was set to raise future literary giants. He noted that Soyinka is an “epitome of diligence” worthy of celebration.
He said: “Prof Soyinka is a sedulous writer and raconteur par excellence, whose works have for decades remained study materials the world over and will be for generations to come. We are, indeed, proud to be associated with this colossus and are delighted to host him here tonight. He has not only remained steadfast in his pursuit of social justice and good governance, but has all his adult life been one of the icons of Nigeria’s moral fabric.
“As part of our holistic appreciation of the importance of literature in society, tonight, we will launch a special prize in Literature for undergraduate students across the country to promote the study of literature in our tertiary institutions. Who knows, perhaps we might just be on the way to discovering another Prof Soyinka, Atta, Folarin or Osondu.”
Documentary on Soyinka
A documentary on the life and times of the Nobel Laureate began with a powerful dramatisation of an excerpt of Soyinka’s English translation of D.O Fagunwa’s novel, Ogboju Ode Ninu Igbo Irunmole rendered by Jimi Solanke. It featured short interviews of Soyinka himself, Odia Ofeimun, Francesca Emmanuel, Promise Ogochukwu, Kunle Ajibade and Jimi Solanke, who when asked to describe Soyinka in one word, called him “Iwin”, which roughly translates into spirit of the forest.
Odia Ofeimun said: “He is a writer I would not write like. But if you see Soyinka in what I write that shows how far he has touched me. How shy and timid would our literature be without Wole Soyinka’s writing. You remain the same old flame.”
On the part of the Managing Director, Macmillian, Francesca Yetunde Emanuel, knowing Soyinka gave her fulfilment. She said: “May you live to a very old age drinking your wine”.
Conversation with Soyinka
During the chat, it was not hard to see that the author felt at home as he discussed literature, his writing and budding issues in the country. Although it was not the first time guests would be dining with or listening to the Nobel Laureate, they were particularly entrapped by his jokes, his calmness and the relaxed style with which he addressed each question and shared his thoughts. Hear them.
Atta: Are you a feminist, sir?
WS: Feminism is viewed differently…I deplore attempt by society to re-define what any individual should be; which is one of the reasons why I totally disapprove of the activities of the legislative houses, trying to legislate between two consenting adults. I believe in humanity… Be yourself.
Osondu: Should writers be political or apolitical?
WS: If you feel strongly enough about certain issues, whether you put them under justice, social welfare, terrorism, one crime, which is totally deplorable, is to force one’s creative temperament in one direction or the other. When I pick up a book and it has nothing to do with improving human existence; it is still about something and it intrigues me. The correspondence between the imagination and reality, for me, that is also literature. That correspondence, way the mind functions, to create a new form of reality from what you call material existence – that is literature. Facists are those who insist that literature must contribute to humanity – it does any way – but they cannot understand the nuance of creativity and what it does to us, as human beings. My temperament is a combative one and it shows in my literature. I cannot tolerate facism.
Folarin: You have inspired me from when I was growing up. As a younger writer, did you feel such burden of representation, especially as your reputation began to expand, to uphold the Nigerian country?
WS: I don’t think I gave it a conscious thought. I don’t have an ambassadorial temperament. It is a kind of arrogance to say you are representing the nation.
By the time the chat was open for audience participation, Adeyemi Daramola of the Department of English, the University of Lagos (UNILAG), got the microphone first.
Daramola: Could you interpret the metaphors in the poem, Telephone Conversation, in today’s political situation in Nigeria”.
WS: In terms the main theme, which I call the “negative orderness”, that is most prominence in that poem, are racism and racial discrimination. Who is being discriminated today, I would say we have a situation of the elite versus the rest; sometimes it is the chosen versus the rest. And we see where that leads to – those who consider themselves chosen. That means the persons do not conform; they are the mindless butchers – the Boko Haram and the Isis or whatever they call themselves. These extreme fundamentalists; they believe that they alone have the key to existence… It is this intolerance of each other is that has led to the carnage in the world. That is a solemn aspect of the telephone conversation.
I wonder how teachers deal with that poem when there are no telephones kiosks? As a student abroad when you are looking for just a penny to buy you a donut and you press, hoping that somebody has forgotten their coins and it drops and you say hey, coffee time.
Ajibade: In his memoirs, My Watch, Obasanjo described you as a better hunter than a political critic because you are a bad politician; he would rather ask for your advice on vintage wine not on politics. What is your take on this.
WS: Kunle, I can see that you want us to spend the whole night. Obasanjo is entitled to his opinion. The question is who respects the opinion of a liar. I call him a liar. Obasanjo was once described by an economist, the late Ojetunji Aboyade, as “an economic illiterate”. So, the economic illiterate calls somebody else a political illiterate, no problem at all. In My Watch, Obasanjo told the first lie when he says he deplores liars. Anybody like Obasanjo, who is capable of saying that he never plotted to have an unconstitutional third term in office; even as a writer I need a new word to describe him. A person makes a statement that is a lie, but lacks the courage to tell it himself. I have no respect for him. I would be bringing out some of my interventions, titled tentatively, The Republic of liars in which Obasanjo is prominent.
Bukola Adetuba: Nowadays, teachers are in trouble. They are no longer free to quote from text books. What can you say about this trend?
WS: It is not only teachers that are in trouble. The entire world of literacy in this nation is in trouble. Most teachers don’t even know what they are teaching; and sometimes teach the wrong thing. I am sure that the same thing is happening in the world of mathematics, in the world of physics and engineering – which is why houses fall down all the time and then some people have the nerve to say it is the work of God. Technology, one form or the other, and humanity itself, is in trouble.
The problem goes beyond schools; one that is of great concern because there is nothing worse than churning out uneducated pupils from primary into secondary to tertiary. I think there should be a national conference on education. There should be an emergency declaration on education in a state of emergency.
When we talk about the correctness of the use of language, we are not talking about the English Language. The play Alapata is based on the correct pronunciation of one word, Alapata. If you are going to use the language, use it correctly, so we don’t get confused. There is one particular word that is misused. The abuse of the word “Severally” gives me nightmares. It doesn’t mean many times.
This session was followed by the reading of three of Soyinka texts. Atta read from Ake: The Years of Childhood, which she said is “the summation of my interests and concerns as a writer: family, history, and social and political conflict; while Osondu read from The Man Died, saying: “It has two qualities that come to mind when I think of Wole Soyinka – the man and the writer – Courage and Humour.” Folarin read from You Must Set Forth at Dawn, which, according to him, “is a wonderfully written memoir, and also because it provides a vivid account of Professor Soyinka’s development as a thinker, artist, activist and scholar.”
Glo prize unveiled
The prize has selected a panel of renowned scholars, including Prof Femi Osofisan; Prof Akachi Ezeigbo; Prof Umar Buratai, Dean, Faculty of the Arts, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; Prof Olu Obafemi of the University of Ilorin and Dr. Promise Ogochukwu, who is the secretary of the panel.
Ebenezer Kolawole, Gloworld Coordinator, announced that the annual competition is open to students of Nigerian universities, both public and private. The first edition of the award, he said, would be held in 2016, and entries would be accepted for unpublished manuscripts, which should be original scripts.
“Our objective is to promote the study of all genres of literature. Therefore, Globacom is offering prizes to winners in the following categories: Prose, Drama and Poetry. The winner in each category will receive the sum of N1.5m (one million, five hundred thousand naira),” he explained, adding that this is the first time that any organisation has offered prizes for all the three genres of literature at this level of competition. “We are of the firm belief that the Prize will provide added impetus to the education establishment and to Nigerian students, particularly in the field of literature and the creative industry.”
Other guests include Prof Duro Oni; Dele Momodu; O.C Ukeje; ace comedian, Bovi and Brazilian delegates.
