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Tag: Tade Ipadeola

  • Me and my Books: I’m fascinated by intrigues of creativity

    Me and my Books: I’m fascinated by intrigues of creativity

    Tade Ipadeola, lawyer, artist, poet, and prolific writer, won the 2013 NLNG Nigeria Prize for literature with his book, The Sahara Testaments. A versatile author and renowned poet, in this interview with Edozie Udeze, explores the world of writing and states all the numerous authors who have in one way or the other influenced his person and style of writing.   

    What sort of books do you like most?

    Collections of poetry, novels, the occasional biography and autobiography, short story collections and books of essays all interest me. Presently I am reading J.P Clark’s Still Full Tide, his collected works. A phenomenal collection for range and an example of what a committed poet should aim at accomplishing within a lifetime. I find myself wondering how he found the time to also write the plays. I read drama too but I’d rather go to the theatre for that than read the book. If the playwright is long dead and the play isn’t part of the repertoire of any theatre company around, then I’d read the play in a book. Say Aeschylus for example, or Sophocles. I wrestle with scholarly books from time to time, I’ve been reading Akin Adesokan’s Post Colonial Artists and Global Aesthetics recently, it is a rare accomplishment and I think every serious writer should engage the ideas in the book.

    When you read a book, what are the salient things you look out for most?

    Ideas, basically. I want to see how the author’s mind engages with the ideas he is trying to express. They say a good book should be slightly more intelligent than the author though, so I am also listening for the pauses. I believe a good book should not only address the ‘problema’ in the proper Latin sense of the word, it should also address a ‘lacuna’ which the reader may not even be aware existed. I look for a book that solves a problem and I look for a book that fills a void. Sometimes I’m lucky and I find a book that does both. Perhaps that is why I am predisposed toward poetry. When, for example, I first read the poems of Niyi Osundare at the University, it was a novel experience. The Eye of the Earth was unlike any collection of poetry I had ever read up till that point. It was fluid, mellifluous, African. I loved the way he made the English language obey his will.

    Who are your favourite authors in the world and why?

    Ah, e go hard to list all of them o. Let us start from home. I like J.P Clark, Soyinka, Okigbo, Amos Tutuola, Franz Fanon, Oswald Mtshali, Jared Angira, OusmaneSembene, AyiKweiArmah, Femi Osofisan, OdiaOfeimun, Tony Marinho, Afam Akeh, Harry Garuba, Akin Adesokan, Daniel Fagunwa, AkinwumiIsola, EbenezarObadare, Kgositsile, Marquez, Kunene, Lisa Combrinck, Andre Brink, NgugiwaThiongo, Sefi Atta, Wale Adebanwi, OgagaIfowodo, Niran Okewole, Emmanuel Iduma, OlubunmiFamiloni, ChumaNwokolo, Chijioke Amu-Nnadi, Benson Eluma, RotimiBabatunde, Molara Wood, Ike Okonta, Amatoritsero Ede, Jumoke Verissimo, ToyinAdewale-Gabriel, Chika Unigwe, ChieduEzeanah, UcheNduka, RethabileMasilo and the yet to be properly published Yomi Ogunsanya and Sam Ogabidu. Yes, Leopold Sedar Senghor especially. From around the world: Derek Walcott, Seamus Heaney, Czeslaw Milosz, Jose Saramago, Pablo Neruda, W.H Auden, Paul Muldoon, Le Clezio, C.L.R James, Salman Rushdie, Amitav Ghosh, Primo Levi, Michael Ondaatje, Rohinton Mistry, George Elliot Clarke, Alice Munro, George Lamming, Kamau Brathwaite, Kenzaburo Oe, Tomas Transtromer, AravindAdiga, Ibsen, Joel Toledo, Gen Asenjo, AnkurBetageri and a really exciting young writer called Joel Dicker. I don’t think it is possible to make a list of every author who has ever moved me profoundly. Several essayists I really like are not on this list but it doesn’t mean their works are not deep. I live works that challenge the intellect and the imagination.

    When and where do you like to read and what time and why?

    I like to read in the morning and late at night. Those are the times I’m freshest. Depending on the gravity of the material, I also like to read when travelling.

    What is your preferred literary genre?

    Poetry, without doubt.

    What book or books have had the greatest impact on you and why?

    Books which provide the reader with a handle on the world are precious. The books that have had the most impact on me are books that have the capacity to transport me into the dimension of reality they try to relate. The novels of Garcia Marquez, especially Love in the Time of Cholera and the poetry of Derek Walcott, especially Omeros, do that for me.

    As a child what books tickled you most?

    Daniel Fagunwa’s Ogboju Ode Ninu Igbo Irunmale was the book I couldn’t stop reading. After my first Fagunwa, I kept reading all the others I could lay hands on, and I couldn’t stop until I had read every one.

    At what point in your life did you begin to nurse the idea of becoming a writer?

    In secondary school I did write essays and some of them won prizes. But I was in my mid-twenties when I knew for sure I would be a writer. I was lucky to have mentors and friends who pointed me in that direction. I was already working at the Ministry of Justice in Ibadan. There was a ferment in Ibadan of the early nineties. One day, the poet Lola Shoneyin delivered a message to me from Chief Bola Ige who had read some of my poems. He wanted to see me in person. It was at an ANA reading at his home that he began to really challenge me to write seriously. I haven’t looked back since.

    How has writing shaped or reordered  your life?

    Completely. I set out initially to practice as a lawyer and I do have a competitive streak in me. I knew I would not be content to just be one of the fellows in wig and gown. But since I immersed myself in serious writing, that has changed a little. Readings, competitions and residencies abroad on account of writing means I cannot but scale down my ambitions at the bar a notch or two. I haven’t regretted it. I still enjoy being a lawyer but a completed book gives the kind of satisfaction that one cannot get elsewhere. Nothing compares, really. It is now, for me, the life of one dancing to a distant drum. Those close by you may begin to doubt your sanity and a few bold ones will even suggest to you a change of course but a real writer cannot decline the enchantment of writing.

    If you meet your favourite author face to face what would you like to ask him/her?

    How do you do it? I want to know how the great authors do what they do best. In fact I want the how-of-the-how as well. Good writing isn’t an accident. From the little I have read, it is a life of committed work.

    Of the plays you’ve read which character struck you most?

    I think that the character of Brother Jeroboam in Wole Soyinka’s Trials of Brother Jero strikes me as a very accurate rendition of the personality of the scoundrel. The Nigerian scoundrel particularly, and how that scoundrel manages to be of such influence. Look at Nigeria today. A building owned by a charlatan collapses and kills over a hundred human beings, both Nigerians and foreigners. And politicians who should enforce standards say they are paying the villain condolence visits. It is totally bizarre.

    What book do you plan to read next?

    I am currently reading the manuscript of a book by Mr Nigel Henry titled Do Something Before You Die, a truly fascinating document that every Nigerian ought to read in print. And I am also reading King Leopold’s Ghost by Adam Hochschild

    How do you arrange your private library?

    There is a shelf hanging from my study walls. It has books that only my closest friends can read or take away. People like Niran Okewole and Wale Dada. These guys give me access to their own private libraries. Then there are the shelves in my living room which have books which everyone can read.

    Are you a reader and how often?

    Actually, I can’t remember a time I didn’t read. I can’t imagine stopping my readings.

  • DAWN of a new era

    DAWN of a new era

    •Commission celebrates excellence

    What is the idea essence of the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria, popularly known as the DAWN Commission? The question was answered last Friday in Ibadan when it celebrated excellence, values and hardwork as exemplified in Mr. Tade Ipadeola, the winner of the 2013 NLNG Literature Prize . OSEHEYE OKWUOFU was there.

    As an institution that believes so much in excellence, values and reward for hard-work, DAWN Commission, an agency of the governments of Southwest states, took it upon itself to celebrate the winner of the 2013 NLNG Prize in Literature, Mr. Tade Ipadeola in a grand style.

    The content of the gathering was very instructive, though with few invited guests in attendance.

    Every part of the occasion was exciting and full of fun. It was not surprising. Many in attendance were core technocrats coming from the ivory tower, mostly from the universities of Ibadan and Ife (Obafemi Awolowo).

    Among the dignitaries at the event are former House of Representatives member and former President of Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Dr. Wale Okediran, Dr. Tunde Adegbola, the Director-General, DAWN Commission, Mr. Dipo Famakinwa, the winner 2013 NLNG Prize in Literature prize, Mr. Tade Ipadeola, the Managing Director MainFrame Productions, Mr. Tunde Kelani, member Afenifere Renewal Group, Mr. Kunle Famoriyo, Dr. Sola Olorunyomi of Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan and members of the literary world.

    As the sizeable guests settled down on the seats, so the event began. It was a mix of serious business and humour such that the audience was often thrown into laughter.

    The book that earned the laurel “Sahara Statement” was the pride of the moment. The writer, Mr. Tade Ipadeola was more adorned. Many spoke glowingly of his humility, intelligence and hardwork.

    In his introductory speech, The Director-General, DAWN Commission, Mr. Dipo Famakinwa gave a hindsight into the setting up of the Commission by governments of South West states when he said the vision of the commission is to make Southwest, Nigeria, the preferred place to visit, live and do business.

    “DAWN Commission was set up by the governments of the Southwest states as the institution that will design and manage the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria – (DAWN). It is therefore the dedicated coordinating agency, fully empowered by the governments to ensure the delivery of the composite development aspirations of the region.

    “Well, I think it is necessary for us to begin to do things like this. We seem to have blurred ourselves and increasingly the society is drifting away from the things that really matters.

    “We celebrate charlatans in our society, we give them all kinds of bogus awards and we leave out those who actually make things happen in a positive manner in such a way that they can influence the next generation, in such a way that we can rebuild our depleting social orientation. DAWN Commission is committed to rebuilding our lost values, to retrieving those things that really matter to us and bringing such things like this, celebrating the winner of NLNG Prize in literature, Mr. Tade Ipadeola that will give us the opportunity of recovering those kinds of values that we have lost.

    “Like you heard in my introductory speech, DAWN Commission is the agency by the government of the states in the Southwest part of Nigeria to midwife their regional integration process. It is a development commission that has been given the part of re-integrating the development plans and programmes of the states in the Southwest part of Nigeria, to bring development in an integrated manner across the region. And we are working assiduously in line with the mandate that was given to us by the people and government of the region.

    “DAWN commission was formed in July, 2013 and we stated operation in July 2013. Well, it has been challenging and exciting as well. What we do at the commission is development work.

    “A few days ago, we had a meeting with all the Commissioners of Agriculture in the region and with the Minister for Agriculture in pursuance of the process of developing agriculture in our region, that for instance is part of what we do,“ he said.

    Speaking on the winner of the Literature Prize, Famakinwa said, “Well, I can say, as far as I know that he won the Prize in literature. And I think it really does not matter whether I have a personal relationship with him, what we are celebrating here is his achievements and the fact that that achievement signposts some critical elements of the saying that we hold dear especially in the Southwest, excellence, reward for hardwork, rebuilding our social orientation  and things like that. So, he is the sign-post of that process, he is the symbol of that process and that is why we decided to celebrate him.”

    He said it was in realisation of this goal that the commission is hosting the winner of 2013 NLNG Prize in Literature.

    The reviewer of the book ”Sahara Statement” Dr. Seni Pinheiro said Tade Ipadeola demonstrated  uncanning interest, powerful use of contrast and coherence of thoughts, noting that throughout the book, he showed that  he is  deeply a Yoruba man as this was reflected in all his poems.

    Dr. Wale Okediran, former President, Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), described award winner, Tade Ipadeola as a very intelligent fellow, talented, well rounded and a sticker for perfection, saying “We are not surprised that he won this award, its long over-due.”

    Dr. Okediran also used the occasion to reflect on the state of the nation, especially on the abduction of over 200 girls by the Boko Haram sect.

    “I think the Federal Government was too slow in tackling the matter and was also a victim of a calculation that the whole idea of Boko Haram was orchestrated by a section of the North, who do not want him to succeed as president, instead of handling the matter as a statesman and leader.

    “But now that he has accepted offer from outside the country, I hope he would also take advice from well meaning leaders to put an end to this bloodshed,” he said.

    Okediran, who expressed dismay on the killings in some parts of the country, canvassed for the creation of state police as a measure to curb the increasing insecurity in the country.

    He said, ”I believe that police operation should be decentralised if we want it to be effective. And all the fears that each state may abuse the state police are not tenable, it is also something that we can prevent and that is why laws are made to safeguard such things. While there should be laws that establish state police, there should also be laws to guide against abuse.

    “I think any assistance from US, UK and other countries to rescue the girls should be helpful, it is just that at this point in time we are at our weak end and if care is not taken these people may over-run us successfully. So, I believe that the assistance of US, UK, China and others should be accepted and as far as possible we should take advantage of their high technology as much as possible.”

    In his response, the celebrant, Mr. Tade Ipadeola expressed profound gratitude for the honour.

    “I feel good, I feel gratified. It is something to be joyful about when your efforts are recognised abroad but more importantly when it is recognised at home. This gives me special joy and what DAWN Commission has done gladdens my heart more than anything else, it is not about money, it is about the fact that your own people recognise your contributions to the cultural development of your society,” he said.

  • ‘I will build a library for Awoonor’

    ‘I will build a library for Awoonor’

    He was the toast of the event. It is not every day that one bags a prize worth over N16 million and is celebrated by those whom he had once idolised. This was the feeling Tade Ipadeola, winner of the NLNG Prize for Literature for 2013, hadwhen the sponsor of the event presented him to the world during which he announced he would build a library to immortalise the late Ghanaian poet, Kofi Awoonor . Evelyn Osagie reports.

    ‘Like one named and blessed by the gods, Tade Ipadeola is living his name. ‘Ipadeola’ suggests he met with providence and it smiled on him when he won the jackpot at the last edition of the NLNG Prize for Literature.

    Months after smiling home with the $100, 000 (over N16 million) prize money, Ipadeola said he feels the same way he felt when he first got the news – “surreal”.

    “It is like experiencing dawn somewhere on the peak of the Atlas Mountains,” Ipadeola told guests who gathered to celebrate him in Lagos.

    Now that he has won, he is set to fulfill what had once been a far-fetched dream. As part of his social responsibility, he intends to build a library to immoralise one of his mentors in the world of poetry – the late Ghanaian poet Kofi Awoonor who died in the Kenyan Mall attack last year.

    Ipadeola was addressing to the guests when the sponsor of the prize, NLNG, held a presentation in his honour at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Lagos.

    In his words: “I would love to build a library for poetry in memory of Awoonor. Fifty per cent of the content of that library will totally be African and the other 50 will be world literature. It will be a library for young Africans who want to experience the world through poetry. I am glad to say the dream is gathering substance daily and becoming a reality, with the help of an architect, Tiwa Fadeyibi,” he said.

    Born in Fiditi, Oyo State, Ipadeola was greatly inspired by the rustic ambiance of his birthplace and a long list of literary minds, such as Awoonor, Wole Soyinka, Christopher Okigbo, his literature teacher and his father, Chief Ayantade Ipadeola.

    Ipadeola’s voyage into the limelight began over eight years ago when he first set out to write the winning collection. After listening to accounts from friends, he braved the heat and the dryness…to the Sahara Desert, he went. And from that venture came a poetic masterpiece entitled: The Sahara Testaments, which has been described as an “epic”.

    In the collection, Ipadeola uses the Sahara as a metaphor for the problems of Africa, and humanity at large. He has since become an environmental advocate, calling attention to desertification. “As we speak, the world’s deserts are on a militant march. The preventable tragedy of deforestation to human greed and ignorance is the prime fuel in the desert’s infantry,” he says.

    The presentation of the poet laureate drew dignitaries from all walks of life. They poured encomiums on the literary effort and intellectual rigour of Ipadeola in writing the collection.

    Among the guests were literary and intellectual heavyweights, such as Emeritus Prof John Pepper Clark-Bekederemo; Chief Elechi Amadi; Prof Emeritus Ayo Banjo; President of Nigeria Academy of Science, Prof Oyewale Tomori; Odia Ofeimun; Dr Jerry Agada; Jahman Anikulapo; Tolu Agoi; Toni Kan; Dagga Tolar; Sefi Attah; Akeem Lasisi and Adebisi Adeyemi, among others.

    While shaking Ipadeola’s hand, Clark said: “Congratulations! It is a work any of us before you would have loved to have written.”

    Clark said further: “When I see and read what is coming out of Nigeria, I get worse goose pimples, especially by teachers. But when I saw Tade’s collection, I said at last! …At last Poetry has come out of this exercise. Not just imagination expressed, but the discipline of practising the quatrain form. Something has come and we hope more of it will come, but not eight years…some of us will not be around by then.”

    And like most literary events, guests witnessed a short, but shocking debate between two literary giants. That debate, which came as an “icing on the cake, was between Clark and Ofeimun, who is said to be the first publisher of the collection. The argument was whether or not “poetry or literature makes things happen?”

    While Ofeimun agrees it does, Clark says it does not, noting that politicians who have the political might to bring about change don’t read or care about what the poets or writers are saying.

    Oh his part, Amadi reiterated Ofeimun’s stand that “Indeed, poetry makes things happen and can effect change: an example is the way Nigerian writings have placed the country on the world map and the achievements of writers over the years.”

    Given Ipadeola’s feat after beating 201 entries to bag the prize, NLNG Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Babs Omotowa said it was only fitting that they present their newest poet laureate to the public in Lagos, a “the city of poets; one that has inspired many talents”.

    While outlining the company’s track record in contributing to the development of the nation’s energy sector, he reiterated the company’s commitment to the promotion of Literature and Science. “Today is not about Nigeria LNG Limited. It is about Tade Ipadeola. It is about The Sahara Testaments. It is about poetry and the poets who write them. It is about writers and the books they write. It is about recognising and celebrating excellence that the young ones with us today may see the way and follow it to their individual successes. Congratulations, Tade.”

    The Vice Chancellor of his alma mater, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Prof Bamitale Omole, was also there to celebrate the product. He said Ipadeola represents what the school stands for, which is excellence in knowledge.

    The chairman of the prize’s Advisory Board, Banjo, said the prize, which is in its 10th year, is fulfilling the purpose for which it is being established, chief of which is to encourage budding talents like Ipadeola.

    In the hall were the poet’s wife, Moyofade and their kids: Petan and Eriife; and Irene Lopez Decastro, the Spanish artist whose artwork was used for the cover of Ipadeola’s work, and with her hubby, John Damanti. Irene and Ipadeola had met in Jeju, South Korea, where Ipadeola’s poem, Songbird, won the Delphic Laurel in poetry. Irene was one of those who encouraged Ipadeola while he worked on the book.

    “Congratulations! I am happy to be here with you in this day of joy. I am happy you won because of the work you put into the writing of the book,” Irene said.

    The whole experience, aspiring writer Samuel Udoetuk, who is a member of Whitesands School Press Club, said has fired up his pen.

    “It has strengthened my passion for writing. I have realised it is not just about writing but making a statement with my writing.”

     

  • Three shortlisted for NLNG literature prize

    Three writers have been shortlisted for this year’s literature prize.

    The list was released following the approval by the Advisory Board for The Nigeria Prize for Literature sponsored by Nigeria LNG Limited.

    A statement issued by Kudo Eresia-Eke, General Manager, External Relations, for NLNG, said the announcement follows an initial shortlist of 11 which was released in August.

    The three shortlisted writers are – Tade Ipadeola (The Sahara Testaments), Amu Nnadi (through the window of a sandcastle) and Promise Ogochukwu (Wild Letters).

    According to the chairman of the Advisory Board, Emeritus Prof. Ayo Banjo, the eventual winner of the competition will be announced at a World Press Conference on 9th October 9.

    Poet and Lawyer, Ipadeola, lives in Ibadan, Nigeria, from where he writes and practices law. He has authored three volumes of poetry along with other published short stories and essays. He is the current President of PEN International, Nigeria Centre, an organization which promotes literature and advocates freedom of expression.

    Nnadi is the author of the fire within and pilgrim’s passage, two volumes of poetry well received in Nigeria. His debut volume of poetry, the fire within, won the maiden edition of ANA/NDDC Gabriel Okara Prize for Poetry.

    Nnadi, who writes poetry without punctuation and capital letters and publishes without any personal data and name, lives in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, and currently works at the Niger Delta Development Commission.

    Armed with a PhD in Communication and Language Arts from the University of Ibadan, Ogochukwu has published several literary works including novels, children’s literature, short stories, drama, poetry and essays.

    In 2005, Ogochukwu was on the shortlist of three for The Nigeria Prize for Literature with her volume of poetry, Naked Among These Hills.

    Ohochukwu lives in Lagos, Nigeria, where she is actively involved in various charity programmes and activities.