Wole Soyinka, Ekong Sampson, Eminent Scholars, Writers Laud Christopher Okigbo at UNESCO Commemoration

Wole Soyinka, Ekong Sampson, Eminent Scholars, Writers Laud Christopher Okigbo at UNESCO Commemoration

…Senator Sampson pays tribute to Uyo Book Club, says ‘no casket for writers’

Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, Senator Ekong Sampson, representing Akwa Ibom South, notable literary figures including poets, Dike Chukwumerije, Ogaga Ifowodu, were among eminent personalities at the United Nations commemorative event held in honour of the world renowned poet, Christopher Okigbo, yesterday, at the United Nations Building, Abuja.

Senator Ekong Sampson Ph.D

Also in attendance at the event were the Ambassador of the Republic of Ireland to Nigeria, Peter Ryan, the Director-General, National Council for Arts and Culture, Chief Obi Asika, Prof. Krydz Ikwuemesi of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Prof. Ogaga Okuyade of the University of Ibadan, Prof. Okey Ikechukwu, Senior Arts Fellow at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Business School, Awka, among many other writers and scholars.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2007, nominated Christopher Okigbo into the UNESCO Memory of the World Register, marking a global recognition of the life, literary and cultural legacy of Okigbo, fondly known within literary circles as the Bard of Idoto.

In a run of messages and performances at the occasion, Prof. Wole Soyinka, read via Zoom, a poem titled, ‘For Okigbo’, culled from ‘A Shuttle in the Crypt’, paying tribute to Okigbo’s influence in the early years of Nigeria’s literature and black African art. Soyinka himself, Okigbo, Chinua Achebe, Cyprian Ekwensi, JP Clark, among others, form part of a unique set of the post independence literary pillars in Nigeria.

In his presentation, Senator Ekong Sampson hailed the late Okigbo as a writer who believed and stood by his convictions. The Lawmaker said that Okigbo was not dead, adding that writers are prophets and have no caskets. Sampson expressed that a writer must live for something, and if need be, make sacrifices for what he believes in, as reflected in the life of Okigbo.

The Onomkpoinam Mkpat Enin praised the gathering, saying it offered an opportunity to properly situate Okigbo within the global literacy consciousness as a thinker and writer who never died. On writers as prophets, Senator Sampson drew lessons from The Passport of Mallam Ilia, saying that the novelist, Cyprian Ekwensi, foresaw the future in the character portrait of Mallam Usuman, whom Sampson likened to Shekau, when put in analogy with Nigeria’s security situation, much later after the novel was published. He challenged Nigerians to draw lessons from the works of writers and develop society.

Senator Sampson, himself, a poet and writer, disclosed that Uyo Book Club, which he serves as Patron, had last year at Watbridge Hotels, Uyo, held a special literary session in honour of Chris Okigbo, in further recognition of his important place in Nigeria’s literary history.

Senator Sampson noted his devotion to many of Okigbo’s works, most notably Path of Thunder, Labyrinths, Elegy for Alto, Lament of the Masks, Song of the Forest, among others. He paid glowing tributes to Uyo Book Club, saying that the club is taking literature beyond borders, with their monthly reading sessions at Watbridge.

Senator Sampson rounded up his presentation by reading two of his poems, ‘The Medalist’ and ‘My Pen is Pregnant’, in honour of Okigbo and writers.

Earlier in her welcome presentation, Obi Okigbo, daughter of Christopher Okigbo and founder of the COF Architect and Artist, painted landscapes of Okigbo’s poetic reflections, drawing from some of the bard’s unpublished scripts. She hailed him as one of the greatest post colonial African poets of the 20th Century.

The panel discussion which featured Prof. Ogaga Okuyade, Ogaga Ifowodu, Obi Asika, and moderated by notable arts administrator and journalist, Jahman Anikulapo, praised the timeless legacy and works of Chris Okigbo, highlighting its significant influence on the development of the Nigerian literacy space.

There was also a French rendition of one of Okigbo’s poems by Prof. Doris Obieje of the National Open University of Nigeria, as well as a special art exhibition curated by Prof. Krydz Ikwuemesi, of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, titled, ‘Songs of a Weaverbird’, for Okigbo.