By Femi Fairchild Morgan
I don’t know how to thank Odia Ofeimun for giving meaning to my life. Yes, I struggle a lot but without people like Odia Ofeimun I wouldn’t be here at all. To write a tribute to Odia is a very difficult thing to do.
Odia Ofeimun is the first second generation poet I met in my life. I had heard about him in the Association of Nigeria Authors (ANA) Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) circles, and it gave me much pain that our literature lecturer wasn’t able to invite him to class when we were engaging African literature. I had already started sparring with my contemporaries at Ile-Ife at that time.
Prof Adebayo Lamikanra had invited him to the Ife Festival of Poetry. I can’t remember the things he said but I can remember that he said ‘a poet is a poet, there are no upcoming poets, mature poets, international poets’. This meant I could assert myself as a poet as long as I wrote ‘great works’–irrespective of the presence of JV, Kafayat Motilewa Quadri and Ropo Ewenla Rọpo, Arthur Ayanduba; the ones who had bamboozled us at the Festival for too long.
I read Odia Ofiemun’s Lagos of the Poet. This is an important book for generations. It inspired me a lot. It also watered the possibilities to curate an Anthology for my own generation or the generation immediately after mine. In Lagos of the Poet, you will find some of the prolific early works of people who describe Lagos as a true Cosmopolis bursting with dreams, moving in it’s chaos and floating in it’s inherent beauty. I did curate an Anthology after many years edited alongside Mark Tope-ẸniỌbánké Adégòkè. It made all the sense because some of those poets ended up winning international prizes and laurels. Rasaq Malik Gbolahan, Gbenga Adeoba and Romeo Oriogun are some of the poets in the Anthology.
Odia gave me a copy of the Poet Lied. The copy he gave me is the 5th copy of the Poet Lied so far stolen from my personal library. It is time to involve Sapona. Autographed copy. Just out of the blues, he sent me an autographed copy in Ibadan through his friend. I read it again and knew that I had not done so much, in fact, you say you write poetry, you are joking right?
Although Osundare is my maestro, I don’t joke with Odia. A man who has lived his life in the service of the craft of writing. A fierce critic, an intellectual, an avid reader, a listener and a confident social non-conformist. I usually joke with Adebiyi Epistrophy Olusolape, I tell him; there are other options for creative folks like myself. There is the path of Odia. And to think that he is living longer than many who aspire to be rich, famous, socially acceptable and brain-dead hints a great alternative life for creative writers.
Odia has enemies too. I can’t say much. I remember that there was ‘war in heaven’ when Odia wanted to become ANA President and folks like Olu Oguibe amongst others began to ‘pelt’ him with all sorts. I was young at that time but I was aware. Odia stood his ground and took his adversaries on. I learnt from that, your enemies will respect you when you fight a good fight. Eventually, some will cross carpet and become your friends while others will stay as your enemies for life. It is ‘the way of the world’.
One man that speaks glowingly of Odia, all the time is Tade Ipadeola…that is a very long story. Moral of the stories–you need people who can tell you the blunt truth, to your face, without fear or favour because it is necessary for your growth and progress. There is this joke that Odia has more books than the National Library. It is true, it is not a joke. One day when we truly need to document Nigeria’s creative writing and publishing history, Odia’s house may be the only place to go in search of books. Odia does not joke with history, he has made it a point of engagement to correct revisionists with the boldness of facts. Happy birthday to the maestro, Odia Ofiemun, poet laureate and father of non-conformist poets. Happy 70th.
