Celebrating Osundare: A writer in search of a nation and the common good

 By Nehru Odeh

Professor Niyi Osundare easily elicits awe and reverence. He is elegant both in stature and in speech. The Emeritus Distinguished Professor of English at the University of New Orleans, United States, is not just a multiple award-winning poet, writer, essayist, columnist, scholar, and public-space intellectual; he is also a man in search of the common good.

For more than five decades, the farmer-born, peasant-bred writer has not only fought for the betterment of the Nigerian masses through his literary and political interventions but has also, even at the cost of almost losing his life, had a constant dialogue with his country and the globe.

He has earned multiple local and international awards and recognition among which is the Nigerian National Order of Merit Award, NNOM, an honour that his country bestowed on him in 2014. Yet his literary and political harvests continue.

It was for this and many other reasons that the Niyi Osundare International Poetry Festival (NOIPOFEST) and the Department of English, University of Ibadan organised a symposium to mark the 10th anniversary of the Nigerian National Order of Merit Award he won in 2014.

The event, with the theme, Niyi Osundare: Ten Years After, The Harvest Continues held on Wednesday 11 December at Room 32 Faculty of Arts, University of Ibadan.

It was indeed a day of tributes, intellectual discourse, poetry readings, music, dance and drama. Nigerian poet and journalist  Mr Chiedu Ezeanah thrilled the audience with a poetic rendition entitled “Dreamside Exchange With Niyi Osundare.” Ms Jumoke Owoala read her poem, “A Peck Is No Longer Enough”, while Mr Soji Agbekekale performed “Alagbede Oro”.

 

Notable individuals present included Ambassador Yemi Farounbi, who chaired the occasion; Prof. Emeritus Dan. Izevbaye; Prof. Emeritus Femi Osofisan;  Mr Babafemi Ojudu; Prof Taiwo Oloruntoba-Oju: Mr. Tade Ipadeola; Molara Wood; Prof. Wumi Raji; Mr Edmund Obilo; and Mr. Dele Morakinyo.

Students of International School Ibadan, Abadina College and Emmanuel High School Ibadan were not just present at the event, they participated in it.

In his speech, Osundare thanked the organisers of the fiesta for organising the event and also adhering to the terms and conditions for establishing NOIPOFEST which according to him took two years to agree.

“And there were two conditions I posed to him (Mr. Dele Morakinyo).  One, that no money bag should be asked to contribute to this and no discredited politician must be allowed near this. And second, let’s have two days. So the first day will be for readings and so on. The second half of the second day will be devoted to high school students. That is, what I call outreach. And I am happy it has been that way ever since

“I want to thank you very, very much for organising this. I also want to tell you that I don’t know whether I  am worth all this.  As my father would say – if you had done him a good turn and then you went back later to thank him – 50 per cent of the thanks should go to you for realizing what I have done. Moments like this are inspiring,” the author of critically acclaimed works such as “Songs of the Marketplace”, “The Eye of the Earth”, “Moonsongs” and “Waiting Laughters”, said.

Osundare, who was palpably delighted to see high school students at the event, also motivated the students as he thanked them for coming, saying that they are the future.

“You are the people of tomorrow.  And when I see you, my hope rises. I want to thank you for coming. The journey of a thousand years usually begins with a first step.  This is how we also started. I will never forget that day in 1953 January,  when my father took me to  St Luke’s School, Ikere Ekiti for the first time. Ekiti was a great place to be born and to grow up in those days. And it was education, integrity, reliability, and contentment without being complacent. Things have changed now for bad. But we are capable of changing them for good.

“I wasn’t born a giant. I was born to a farmer father and a mother who was a cloth weaver. I was the first person to go to university in my immediate family. So there is nothing extraordinary about my origin. But I tell you that origin will never leave me. My heart bleeds and my muscles get taut when I see people being cheated. When I see injustice, it is important to speak out, “Osundare maintained.

Speaking on the Nigerian National Order of Merit Award, the author of the critically acclaimed Eye of the Earth, said it is the only Nigerian award that he respects, adding that it is an award that is in agreement with him as a scholar.

“And when I see it happen I say this is a Nigeria that still respects values.  I wanted to be in the company of Chinua Achebe. I wanted to be in the company of Wole Soyinka, the company of JP Clark, the company of so many of them that have won the prize.

“Yes, the journey begins from the very beginning. Let this oasis bloom the desert. We must not allow politics, federal character and those other shenanigans that destroy excellence in this country.  We must not allow them near the NNOM. A country should at least have something good. Let nobody turn NNOM into dross,” Osundare said.

However, Osundare decried the decay in the country, saying that this was not the country of his dreams. He also stressed Nigerians need to build the country.

“I used to talk with Oga Achebe. He didn’t die a happy person. ‘This is not a country of our dreams,’ he used to say. And who will not agree with him? We have a country to build. We are not going to run away from it.  Every country is a work in progress. If you scatter Nigeria, your little corner will not know peace. There is no reason we can’t work together. The world is in your hands. Don’t let it fall,” Osundare advised.

The distinguished academic also used the opportunity to take a swipe at the authorities of the University of Ibadan for destroying the Heritage Park.

“There is something physical, physical abuse going on on campus today. I couldn’t believe it when I saw the picture of the University of Ibadan Heritage Park. When I saw the trees, the way they’ve been cut down and the ugliness of the whole thing, I couldn’t bring my mind to digest it. I’m still processing it.  Is it the UI I used to know? Did anybody raise a voice in defence of those trees?

“Go to Harvard. Go to Yale. Go to Oxford. Go to whatever, the Sorbonne. Trees tell stories. What is wrong with us? You don’t destroy your environment and expect that you be at peace. I say this all the time. If you don’t love the trees around you you are not likely to love your neighbour,” Osundare maintained.

Osundare then recalled that he wrote the first movement of his award-winning collection of poems, “The Eye of the Earth” in the University of Ibadan botanical garden.

“THE first movement of the Eye of the Earth I wrote entirely at the University of Ibadan botanical garden.  I wanted to capture the sensation of dew falling while  I was surrounded by trees. I went home, to our rainforest in Ikere-Ekiti three times. I got the sensation. But by the time I got to Ibadan, it had expired. So one morning I woke up. Yes, with a flashlight in my hand,  I sat on a tree that had fallen across the road and I started scribbling.

“When you read “The Eye of the Earth,”  forest echoes. When I read that today, I just wonder how did I write this. That is the Botanical Garden. All the trees were tagged. And the whole place was sacred. That is the University of Ibadan.  It was the white people who did this before they left. We blacks, why must we destroy every good thing?” Osundare lamented.

In his welcome address, Ambassador Yemi Farounmbi, Chairman of the occasion, also motivated the students while celebrating Osundare. “This great man was born in Ekiti like me, in the forests there, with the farmers there,” he said.

“He has become somebody. He’s been getting awards all over the world. This Is to tell you young ones there is nothing you cannot become. Sitting here are Professors and Professors Emeritus and Professor Emeritus double. They all came from backgrounds like you. But they have become what they have become because they had a vision for their lives. They acquired competencies to deliver on their vision. And of course, they had character. With those three things they have become what they have become.

“They are so celebrated. And I am happy to join in celebrating you,

Niyi. Thank you for making it possible for us to have something to celebrate. Let it be known that those of us who come from the hinterland, are oke, as we are called, can also become celebrities all over the world,” Farounmbi noted.

Emeritus Professor Dan Izevbaye, who was Osundare’s teacher in the department ment of English, University of Ibadan said the cost of Osundare’s book is not a reflection of the value of his poetry. He made that assertion while referencing “Horses of Memory”, one of Osundare’s poetry collections, which he bought with 500 naira when it was published 26 years ago.

“Now, there is a parable there. The price tags on poetry books have nothing to do with the value of the poetry.  It is only the cost of production. I’m sure that 50 years from now when this same book is being sold by an auctioneer, he would be asking for 20 billion naira, which at that time, if things go well with us, will be equivalent to five million dollars.  I have precedence for that.

“So the cost of Osundare’s book is not a reflection of the value of his poetry.  What is the value of his poetry then? His poems are a poet’s history, biography, and archaeology of our times. By this I mean the poet opens our eyes to the true meaning of our lives. He makes us see history as history should be seen and understood.  As an archaeologist, he brings back things that we have lost,” Izevbaye said.

Izevbaye also waxed prophetic as he hinted at the fact that Osundare was on his way to winning a bigger prize.

“That tribute to his father shows that it is his genes. It is genes. Poets are not taught, they are made.  But it is because he has still carried that gift all over the world that he won that prize that we are celebrating today. So those of us who are teachers here have nothing to do with that gift or everybody graduating from the place would be a poet.  I like. The fact that other people are celebrating one of our distinguished teachers. And I know that that gift is not the last.  That prize is not the last. A bigger prize is on its way to our poet,” Izevbaye noted.

Emeritus Professor Femi Osofisan lamented the fact that the guests were meeting at the point of two interesting ironies: the indifference of the government to the Nigerian National Order of Merit award and the environmental disaster that the University of Ibadan is reeling from, that is, the destruction of the Heritage Park.

“I want to point out the irony of our meeting her today.  We are meeting at the point of two interesting ironies.  We are celebrating the 10th year of his award, but we are at the moment trying to see if this award is going to continue.  The fellows of NNOM are all worrying now at this government’s indifference to this very laudable award.

“As you know this is supposed to be the highest award for humanities. And by now we should have been celebrating the award winner for this year. But in fact, the secretariat of the award is in shambles at the moment. No funding. It’s a tragedy. So, I hope this kind of ceremony will be one of the things that will help to ginger the government again to continue this laudable award, one of the best things that has happened to our country.

“The second irony. Of course, so many of you have noticed that UI at the moment is reeling from an environmental disaster: the destruction of the Heritage Park in front of Queen’s Hall. Now, the person we are celebrating today is an environmental champion, somebody who talks so much about the environment, the natural environment. One of the voices in defence of the environment.

“But to see that horror there – the destruction of the Heritage Park is heartbreaking.  And remember one of the awards he has, the Commonwealth Poetry Prize was for the collection, “The Eye Of The Earth.”

Professor Taiwo Oloruntoba- Oju, in his speech he tentatively titled “Sharing Osundare: The Village Bard on Social Media”, said for Osundare to be winning awards upon awards means he is doing something right. He also spoke about the social media frenzy that Osundare’s poetry has triggered.  “The harvest has continued and it is continuing till now. Our belief and hope is that the harvest will continue forever,” Oloruntoba-Oju prayed.

“So, from these awards, we can only say one thing. And this is paraphrasing Professor izevbaye now. Professor Osundare must be doing something right for him to have been a recipient of these many awards. He must be doing something right. In short, his poetry is damn good.  And I am sure this is something that many critics are going to say or echo. Every line is like a jewel that you can hold, display and admire. That is how good his poetry is. I also want to say that there is a certain trajectory that his poetry seems to be influencing.

“So, the harvest that we are celebrating today leads us into this trajectory of where Osundare’s poetry today is most conspicuous.  And it is no longer in the printed book Somebody wrote a critical essay recently. And he began it by saying ‘One of the trending poems of Nigeria’s leading poet, Professor Niyi Osundare …’ And this was a reversal of the established literary trajectory where the book or the poem was probably first heard orally and then seen in print and then disseminated on other media. But we have a kind of reversal now. And Osundare’s poetry is a manifestation, not a catalyst, of that reversal, where his poem trend first on social media and then the literary critic latched on to.

“And so the harvest that we are talking about today Is a different kind of harvest.  We have since the awards had what I call A harvest of themes, a harvest of text and then a harvest of form.

“I titled this piece tentatively Sharing Osundare.: The Village Bard on Social Media. I used that title deliberately. It seems now that in addition to the elements of the lexicon that I referred to earlier, there is also some kind of change in literary critics referencing other works, recommending other works and so on.

“So, instead of saying ‘Do you have the reference of that book?’ we now say ‘Do you have the link to that  book?’ ‘Can you provide the link please?’ Instead of recommending, ‘I have recommended this poem or this book to so many people’, what you have done is that you have shared it. So we are witnessing through Osundare’s poetry a new vista in the appreciation of the text, the reader, even the critic, the media and everything that has to do with poetry,” Oloruntoba-Oju averred.

Professor Wumi Raji, for his part, in his speech titled, Landmarks in Osundare’s Poetry said though the importance of 2014 cannot be overemphasized in Osundare’s literary career, it was important to note that his career did not start in 2014 or that the harvest dis not start then either.

According to Raji, the harvest started in 1983 when Professor Abiola Irele’s New Horn Press published Osundare’s first collection of poems entitled, Songs of the Marketplace. That was definitive at the time, he noted.

In his speech titled The Poet as a Masquerade, Mr Babafemi Ojudu said he first encountered Osundare in 1982 as a student at the then University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University, when “emerging poets and performers would gather in one of our lecture theatres.

“Osundare etched himself in my memory that evening with the refrain of one of his poems: “Jenje kiti, kiti jenje.” It immediately struck me that this poet must be Ekiti. My curiosity piqued, and I became one of the first to purchase his debut poetry collection, Eye of the Earth. This book would later win the 1986 Association of Nigeria Authors Prize and joint winner of the Commonwealth Prize.

Ojudu also likened Osundare,.as a result of his poetic eloquence and mastery of words to the Ese masquerade, the Aladoko or the Alàmudu.

“If you have ever witnessed the Ede masquerade, the Aladoko, or the Alamudu perform, you will instantly appreciate the poetry of Niyi Osundare, the world-renowned poet. Osundare hails from Ekiti, as do these mesmerizing masquerades. Had education not found him, Osundare might well have been a bearer of one of these magnificent masks—adorned with multicoloured feathers and mirrors cascading from the nape to the feet—chanting profound verses with the captivating grace of tradition.

The Ede masquerades are revered for their boundless knowledge, weaving chants on any subject with a voice as sonorous as a nightingale’s. Their repertoire spans reflections on nature, the environment, the economy, the essence of power, and the tribulations of life. These living archives of wisdom mirror the poetic genius of Osundare, who embodies the spirit of his Ekiti heritage.

“Yet education found Osundare. Had it not, he might today be a celebrated Aladoko or Alamudu, thrilling audiences with the eloquence of the masquerades,” Ojudu maintained.

Ojudu also hinted at the fact that Osundare is on his to getting the ultimate recognition, which is winning the Nobel Prize in Literature.

“Change, as we yearned for, would come eventually, but Osundare has never ceased to long for a deeper transformation in our land. With awards upon awards and prizes upon prizes, he has dazzled the world with his creativity and prolificacy. And while we marvel at his accomplishments, we await the ultimate recognition. I promise you, it shall come—In Our Own Very Eyes. It shall be part Two for our glorious land if you know what I mean,” Ojudu averred.

Edmund Obilo, for his part, inspired the students with a brief speech, saying that the future belongs to them and tasked them to take the celebration of Osundare as a point of inspiration.

“Go in search of knowledge.  Read deeply. Dream big dreams. The future belongs to you. The Osundares have done theirs and they keep doing. Look at them as symbols of Inspiration. Learn from their works and dream of a society that would compete with South Kores, Japan, United States of America.

“Africa is coming. No one can stop it. On this day take the celebration of Osundare as a point of inspiration. He keeps inspiring me.  He is somebody I look up to.  I read his works. I write down the lines.  I said If I have a chance of becoming president tomorrow if I’m reading my speech, I just quote from his works,” Obilo said.

Dr. Olanike Olaleru, in her speech, said social media does not predate Osundare’s fame and literary prowess, adding that before it came, the inimitable poet had been able to break into the public arena with his poetry.

“The way I want to put it is that his creativity continues. If he hadn’t kept producing worthy poetry that people could notice, there wouldn’t be reasons to keep celebrating him.  So I think the real issue is that he has kept producing. And I think that also tells us he has kept busy. He has retired from teaching, but he is not a retired writer,” Olaleru submitted.

The Q&A session, which was as lively as the panel discussions and speeches signaled the end of a fiesta which continues to celebrate a poet who has done so much not only for himself but also for his country, Nigeria. And his literary and political harvests continue.