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[email protected] Toronto, Ontario, Canada

KONGI: GIVING HONOUR TO A LITERARY GIANT

am highly fascinated by the way the nations of the West celebrate their talented sons and daughters, as well as their heroes. The pride and good feeling of saying this is our son or daughter who has done so well is awesome. I was here when Daniel Igali won a gold medal for Canada at the Sydney Olympic Games. The nation of Canada celebrated and rejoiced with the Canadian flag flying from the roof of most homes and cars. Igali was honoured by the nation and the Canadian people and media never grew tired of using phrases like "Canada's Daniel Igali", "Canada's Olympic Champion, Daniel Igali", "Daniel Igali, the 2000 Olympic Champion and 1999 World Wrestling

Champion from British Columbia, Canada" and "Canada's World Champion, Daniel Igali". The Canadian government honoured him and he was awarded Canada's sportsman of the year. However, the recognition did not end there as Igali was chosen to carry the Canadian flag at the next Commonwealth Games in Manchester, an honour that brought tears to his eyes and pride to those of us who shared common national background with the Canadian hero. When Igali decided to build a school in his home village in Bayelsa State, Nigeria the Canadian Government went with him and provided funding for the project. Some youths from Mississauga, Ontario, Canada also traveled with him and worked on the school project beside encouraging financial contributions from their school mates. The practice here is to honour and show off what you have; they show appreciation to those who have done them proud and support such people in every conceivable way possible. A Yoruba saying also acknowledge this practice; Ohun a ni lagbe laruge. This means that it is what we have that we show off and appreciates.

Professor Oluwole Akinwande Soyinka (Our own WS and Kongi) will turn seventy (70) on July 13, 2004. This is a major milestone. We are glad he is going to attain this. Soyinka is not a man known for noise-making or drum beating of the popular owanbe type when it comes to birthdays or other important personal feats. He is a simple and humble man, but a man of great strides and achievements in the literary world; a novelist, poet, playwright, essayist, literary critic and humanist with very strong involvement in nation building. His contribution to the struggle to make Nigeria a better place is as huge as his literary output. Kongi will be 70 and there is very little sign the Nigerian government will be involved. I am not sure if Soyinka's plays will be staged in Nigeria cities and the Federal capital City of Abuja. It is very sad that Nigerian children may not be allowed to meet this Nobel Laureate in person across the nation and ask him questions and allow him to read some of his poems and plays to them. But mark you, the British, the Americans, the Canadians, the Swedes and many more nations in the West will invite him and celebrate with him. They will ask him to visit their cities and villages and read his poems to their children and run special writing workshops for their youths. They will not stop there; they will commission groups to stage his plays and turn out in their thousands to enjoy the presentations. Sometimes those who found a lost item will die wit hit because they will show and demonstrate more appreciation for the great worth of the found object. Here in Canada, the AfriCan Theatre Ensemble is already at work preparing for the May 10 - 30, 2004 2004 production of Wole Soyinka's Death and the King's Horseman. The nation and people that gave Wole Soyinka a voice are too busy running after material things to recognize and honour a genius.

By the way, Chinua Achebe turned seventy recently, too. His house in Nsukka and prominent places where he spent his writing life have not been preserved by the Nigerian government or the Enugun State Government. I guess they are waiting for him to die before acknowledging his great contribution. The birth place of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon still has a lot of the areas where he grew up intact. A visit to the website, http://www.shakespeare.org.uk/main/ confirms this. The introduction at the website declared: Most of the houses connected with Shakespeare's family in the Stratford-upon-Avon area still survive and retain much of their original character. The furnishings and other contents of the Shakespeare Houses form part of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust's Museums collections. There are certain things Nigeria and its leaders don't get: what is important to the average Nigerian and the future and well-being of the nation is antithetical to the desires of those who rule the nation. What more do we have to celebrate as a nation? What other positive contribution and landmarks have we achieved that can be compared to the literary contributions of Wole Soyinka. The website, Nobelchannel.com documented the lives and history of the various Nobel Prize winners and their various Nobel Prize lectures. Some us may want to visit the sites and show our youths what they can achieve through the dint of hard work and determination.

The contributions of Professor Soyinka goes beyond his collections of poems, plays, novels, essays, lectures, LP (I love my country) and his stagecraft; his influence on several generations of Nigerian writers, playwrights and poets is noteworthy. Kongi inspired and still inspires a lot of our young men and women today. As an undergraduate in Ibadan, Kongi was for me the strange one that must be unraveled. As far as the literary critic, Professor Dan Izevbaye was concerned; your study of literature is not complete without a good understanding of Kongi's works. Kongi is one of the few literary giants who traversed all the genres of literature. The first time I picked up The Interpreters I was in paragraph one when I dosed off! Like a hot soup, it is not your regular James Hardly Chase that can be rushed and finished off in two hours. As we say, Eko gbono n'fe suru (a hot corn-cake demand patience; you don't rush it). I learnt to carefully navigate the labyrinth of that great novel and made meaning of it. The generation of literary men, friends and prot�g�s (known and some of them unknown to the literary giant) who have followed and learnt from Soyinka are too many to mention but a small list is important: Dapo Adelugba, Jimi Solanke, Segun Olusola, Elsie Olusola (of blessed memory), Francisca Emmanuel, Femi Johnson (of blessed memory), Mobolaji Johnson, Tunji Oyelana, Biodun Jaiyefo, Yemi Ogunbiyi, Femi Osofisan, Wale Ogunyemi, Kole Omotosho, Olumide Bakare, Femi Fatoba, Niyi Osundare, Dr. Okedara, Goke Pariola, Harry Garuba, Richard Mofe Damijo, Clarion Chukwura-Abiola, Joke Jacobs, Nobert Young, Dr. Marinho, Kunle George, Sesan Ajayi (of blessed memory), Afam Akeh, and many others. The influence of Kongi on all these people has been a blessing to the Nigerian nation and the Nigerian people. Our culture has been blessed by their various contributions and numerous works. The lives and involvements of these great men and women have made significant difference to our nation. Along with Wole Soyinka, they stand out and are among the best ambassadors Nigeria is so proud of today.

The Federal Government of Nigeria should take up the gauntlet today and put in place a plan to celebrate Wole Soyinka. We know Soyinka is not a friend of any Nigerian government, or put differently, no Nigerian government has ever seen him as a friend because he does not hesitate to point out their errors and demand change. A good criticism is that which does not seek self interest and patronage but the one that demand fairness for others and equity/equality for everyone for the common good of all. It is very easy to see how much Kongi loves Nigeria and Nigerians going by the extent he would go to expose himself and his family in his crusade for social justice. He has been an example I have followed and mirrored for nearly three decades. My respect for him is unwavering; my gratitude for his positive influence on my life and the way I do things is unquantifiable. The Nigerian government should do the right thing and begin the process of celebrating Wole Soyinka and preserving major landmarks that contributed to his creative genius and literary success. Soyinka is the authentic Nigerian success that has no blemish to it. I hope the celebration will be rounded up with Lagbaja in attendance and Kongi taking a few steps on the floor in the company of Achebe, Clerk- Bekederemo, Segun Olusola, Isidore Okpewho, Ben Okri and many others.