Writers from across the Southwest stormed prehistoric Forest of Elephants in Ibadan. They were visiting the iconic African Heritage Research Library tucked away in Adeyipo Village. They sought to chart a way forward for creative writing, while paying homage to one of their own – the late JP Clark Bekederemo. EVELYN OSAGIE reports.
WELCOME to Adeyipo Village. Besides its historic appeal being one of the over 200 villages that were once part of the Igbo-Elerin (Forest of Elephants) District, the place is home of culture, knowledge and creativity. Housing the celebrated African Heritage Research Library (AHRLC), it has remained a toast to scholars, writers and other creatives.
Its serene locale drew writers under the auspices of Southwest Association of Nigerian Authors (SWANA). With the aim of charting a way forward for their craft, they sought inspiration from the natural ambience of the library at the literary feast, tagged: SWANA Retreat 2020.
As they rode into the place, after braving the bad roads, the organisers welcomed them with folktales and Asun (roasted meat) amid readings and diverse performances as they paid homage to the late iconic poet and playwright JP Clark-Bekederemo.
His contribution to the development of literature would forever be remembered. They alluded to his poems, Casualties (1966-68), regarding the recent #ENDSARS protest; while calling him a prophet.
“This year’s edition is significant for a number of reasons, apart from the popular or notorious COVID-19, which brought the entire globe on its knees,” began SWANA C hairman Dr. Solomon Iguanre. While charging the writers to borrow a leaf from Clark’s example, he urged them to be more committed to their role of being the conscience or agent of sanity for our country at all times, particularly during turbulent times,
“We pay homage to one formidable ‘obeche’ in the forest of Nigerian literature, Prof. John Pepper Clark-Bekederemo, who left us memories of sweet words in poems like, Ibadan, Abiku, The Night Rain, and plays like: Song of a Goat, The Raft. Ozidi, Wives’ Revolt, All for Oil and several other literary pieces. We shouldn’t forget in a hurry the PEC Repertory, which he initiated and ran for several years in Lagos.
“We in SWANA say ‘adieu’ with total submission to the will of our Super Numero Uno Creator. We shall not mourn, but celebrate someone who was among the first generation of writers in Nigeria, someone who has left behind several conundrums for us to keep cracking,” he stated.
Describing the late playwright as a “brilliant actor”, SWANA Vice chairman, Dr. Chris Omotosho, in his tribute to Clark, said: “Like the petals of a beautiful flower, the baby budded, grew and groomed at Okrika,Ughelli and at Ibadan where his journey to the world of literature and creativity began…it was a tortuous journey, but by sheer providence, the boy did not go back to the world of the dead as an Abiku. He survived the windy storms that characterised the Night Rain and did not become a Casualty”.
In addition to celebrating JP Clark, the literary retreat featured readings, diverse presentations, games, dinner/award personal devotion and exercises.
As the year comes to a close, the writers were of the view that “it is ‘Not Yet Uhuru’ for Nigeria”.
For Associate Professor of English and Founder/Director of the library, Bayo Adebowale, COVID-19 pandemic and the recent protests did not fare the library well. “Over the years now, there has been a long lull in the literary gathering of writers in Adeyipo Village – apparently due to a long list of catastrophic events which had been unleashed into the body politic of our beloved country, Nigeria.
“For instance, economic stagnation, moral decadence, political upheavals, socio-cultural estrangement, security threats and challenges, leading to kidnapping, thuggery, robbery, ritual/hired killings, and what some of my friends disparagingly describe as ‘bokoharamic onslaught’ and ‘cattle-rearic insubordination’…because the inferno of bare-faced intolerance, subjugation, nepotism etc still sadly continues to rage, all over the land till today – getting hotter and hotter by the day – like the mighty fire-ember in the stormy region of Burning Hell!”
He also lamented the dearth of the publishing industry, saying: “I will continue to fast for our survival in the hope that our maker will intervene mightily and bring back to us this ‘Paradise of the Arts’ which we are on the verge of losing!”
The event’s keynote speaker was the winner Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa (2014, Akin Bello. He urged writers to keep their “heads even when others around are losing theirs, by being active agents of sanity at all times – particularly in turbulent times such as our country, and the Continent of Africa generally, is currently undergoing”.
He lamented that the writer has remained among the low and least rewarded in the strata of our society.
He said: “Our true stories have to be told and nobody can do it better than us. We cannot be fiddling, looking for artistic works for art’s sake, while our land keeps burning. The degrading poverty fostered on us and the feckless leadership provided by our own political elite that carries on the charade needs be constantly interrogated.”
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