Renowned author, Cyprian Ekwensi, dies at 86

[Sola Osofisan]

Renowned author, Cyprian Ekwensi, dies at 86
From Uduma Kalu (http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/), Literary Correspondent, Enugu

DARKNESS fell again in the Nigerian literary firmament yesterday when veteran novelist, pharmacist and public commentator, Cyprian Ekwensi passed on. He was 86 years old.

The author of the popular Jaguar Nana series of novels was said to have died at the Niger Foundation in Enugu where he underwent an operation for an undisclosed ailment. It was not clear as at press time yesterday if he died during or after the operation.

Earlier this year, Ekwensi released Cash on Delivery, a collection of short stories, which turned out to be his last book. When he turned 86 last year, the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Lagos State chapter and the Committee for Relevant Arts (CORA), feted him.

Ekwensi was celebrated as the forefather of the city novel.

He is believed to be the author of the earliest published fiction on social life in the Lagos Metropolis. The accomplished novelist is remarkable for his down-to-earth style of writing and his prolific output, with over 20 novels to his credit.

One of his books, Divided We Stand, a lampoon on the Nigerian Civil War, is slated for discussion by experts in a conference on 40 years after the civil war.

"How far so far", is one of the themes for discussion at the ninth edition of the Lagos Book Fair, holding on Friday morning at the National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos.

Told of the passing on of Ekwensi, poet and past president of ANA, Odia Ofeimu, was "shocked beyond words" to comment immediately.

To the newly elected Lagos State ANA chairman, Mr. Chike Ofili, it was an unnerving piece of information. He too withheld his comments till later.

News of the death broke as Nigerian authors were rounding off their yearly convention held over the weekend in Owerri, Imo State.

He was a Nigerian writer who stressed description of the locale and whose episodic style was particularly well suited to the short story.

Cyprian Odiatu Duaka Ekwensi was born at Minna in Northern Nigeria on September 26, 1921. He later lived in Onitsha in the Eastern area. He was educated at Achimota College in the Gold Coast, and at the Chelsea School of Pharmacy of London University. He lectured in pharmacy at Lagos and was employed as a pharmacist by the Nigerian Medical Corporation.

He married Eunice Anyiwo, and they had five children.

After favorable reception of his early writing, he joined the Nigerian Ministry for Information and had risen to be the director of that agency by the time of the first military coup in 1966. After the continuing disturbances in the Western and Northern regions in the summer of 1966, Ekwensi gave up his position and relocated his family to Enugu. He became chair of the Bureau for External Publicity in Biafra and an adviser to the head of state, Lt.-Col. Chukwemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu.

Ekwensi began his writing career as a pamphleteer, and this perhaps explains the episodic nature of his novels. This tendency is well illustrated by People of the City (1954), in which Ekwensi gave a vibrant portrait of life in a West African city. It was the first major novel to be published by a Nigerian. Two novellas for children appeared in 1960; both The Drummer Boy and The Passport of Mallam Ilia were exercises in blending traditional themes with undisguised romanticism.

His most widely read novel, Jagua Nana, appeared in 1961. It was a return to the locale of People of the City but boasted a much more cohesive plot centered on the character of Jagua, a courtesan who had a love for the expensive. Even her name was a corruption of the expensive English auto. Her life personalised the conflict between the old traditional and modern urban Africa. Ekwensi published a sequel in 1987 titled Jagua Nana's Daughter.

Burning Grass (1961) is basically a collection of vignettes concerning a Fulani family. Its major contribution is the insight it presents into the life of this pastoral people. Ekwensi based the novel and the characters on a real family with whom he had previously lived. Between 1961 and 1966 Ekwensi published at least one major work every year. The most important of these were the novels, Beautiful Feathers (1963) and Iska (1966), and two collections of short stories, Rainmaker (1965) and Lokotown (1966). He continued to publish beyond the 1960s, and among his later works are the novel Divided We Stand (1980), the novella Motherless Baby (1980), and The Restless City and Christmas Gold (1975), Behind the Convent Wall (1987), and Gone to Mecca (1991).

Ekwensi also published a number of works for children. Under the name C. O. D. Ekwensi, he released Ikolo the Wrestler and Other Ibo Tales (1947) and The Leopard's Claw (1950). In the 1960s, he wrote An African Night's Entertainment (1962), The Great Elephant-Bird (1965), and Trouble in Form Six (1966).

Ekwensi's later works for children include Coal Camp Boy (1971), Samankwe in the Strange Forest (1973), Samankwe and the Highway Robbers (1975), Masquerade Time! (1992), and King Forever! (1992).

In recognition of his skills as a writer, Ekwensi was awarded the Dag Hammarskjold International Prize for Literary Merit in 1969.

Ekwensi, a one-time Commissioner for Information in the old Anambra State, is survived by children and grand children.

[Sola Osofisan]

Cyprian Ekwensi’s Last Story

By Yemi Adebisi,Correspondent, Lagos

When Chief Cyprian Ekwensi was flanked by friends, relatives, colleagues, associates, government representatives and well-wishers on September 21, 2006, when he celebrated his 85th birthday, little did we know the great man of letter was telling his last story to the world of literature.

He was absent at the just concluded 26th annual conference of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) at Owerri, Imo State, due to ailment that led to surgery at Niger Hospital, Enugu, where he later died.

This man of great achievements in the arts and pharmaceutical sciences did all in his capacity to live a legacy of excellence. Before his death on the early hours of Sunday, November 4, he was full of life with a rare strength compared to old men of his age.

Confirming news about his death, Wale Okediran, president-elect of ANA, in an exclusive telephone interview with Daily Independent on Monday, expressed condolence to the world’s literary community for the loss of this rare gem. He said, "Ekwensi’s death even though at a ripe age marked the end of a tradition of story telling at its best. As a writer of popular fiction, COD was a natural storyteller whose books were both accessible and entertaining. It’s a personal loss for me, having launched my novel, Rainbows For Lovers (Spectrum Books) in 1987. He was my teacher in the popular literature genre. I was a regular visitor in his homes at Ojuelegba, Lagos, and Enugu. A few years ago, as part of PEN’s project to document the works of our literary icons, a documentary was done on COD." Okediran promised to co-opt ANA to immortalise the good works of this great achiever.

"ANA will collaborate with PEN to make this work available in CDs and aired on national television stations. A structure in the proposed ANA Village in Abuja would be named after him. May his soul rest in peace, Amen," Okediran prayed.

The news of his death was a bombshell to almost all the world’s literary legends that spoke on phone with Daily Independent. The oldest Nigerian poet, Dr. Gabriel Okara, who was at the last conference bubbling with life, paused for a while when he heard from Daily Independent that Ekwensi was dead. "You mean he is dead. Oh, I don’t know. I am just hearing through you," said Okara. When asked to describe the personality of this hero, he said, "Cyprian Ekwensi was a vibrant writer. He was down-to-earth and had a zest for life. He holds very strong opinion about everything he believed in. In his days, he was not easily dislodged from his opposition. He holds fast to his decision," said Okara, who apparently is an age-mate of Ekwensi.

Also, one of his ardent literary disciples, Nze Anusionwu Okoro, author of Popular African Proverbs, exclaimed when he learnt about the sudden death of this celebrated storyteller. "Do you mean COD? When did he die? Sure? You are just telling me?" said Okoro in a phone conversation with Daily Independent on Monday. In his commendation on the personality of this literary guru, Okoro declared that Cyprian "was a prolific writer and realist".

Chile Ofili, Lagos ANA chairman, expressed shock at the news. He described Ekwensi as "the owner of adolescent and teenage literature" especially with his evergreen packaging of the Drummer Boy, among several others.

Born September 26, 1921, at Nkwelle Ezunaka, Oyi Local Government Area of Anambra State, Ekwensi attended Government School, Jos; Government College, Ibadan; Achimota College, Ghana; Higher College, Yaba, Lagos; School of Forestry, Ibadan; Chelsea School of Pharmacy, University of London, and International Writing Programme in Iowa University.

He worked as a pharmacist in Nigeria’s Medical Service in 1956 and became head of features at the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) between 1956 and 1961.

Some of the international awards he received as a prolific writer include Dag Hammarskjold International Award for Literary Merit in 1968 and National Council for Arts and Culture Award for promotion of Nigerian culture through children’s literature in 2001.

Ekwensi was the man behind the Biafran Radio Communication during the civil war between 1967 and 1970. During his 85th birthday, which according to him, he was compelled to celebrate by his immediate family at the Lagos Sheraton Hotel last year, COD, as fondly called by friends and colleagues, was found reading his speech, which he declared was prepared by him, fluently without the aid of spectacle.

Ekwensi, a pharmacist and author of global recognition, authored nine novels between 1954 and 1987, among which is the popular Jagua Nana and Beautiful Feathers; 14 novellas between 1947 and 1988, 13 short story collections for young people between 1951 and 2001, making a total of 37 books.

His last book, Cash On Delivery (COD): An Anthology of the Recent Writings of the African Novelist, was reviewed by Prof. Femi Osofisan and launched September 21, 2006 to commemorate his birthday, has to do with his early life and experience. The book, according to the reviewer, contained five stories of varying length, written at different times over a period of more than 30 years. In this book, Ekwensi recollected Remembrance Day of November 11 when people were dressed in Flanders poppies, and May 24 when students ate rice, meat and stew in school and sang British Anthem on colonial Empire Day.

Ekwensi in this book recalled his active participation in annual theatre concert, where boys played female roles because it was a boys’ school. He reported his love for sports especially football and cricket, which according to him, "helped my progress through secondary school". These were all signals to the birth of writing career, which later became his choice of livelihood until his death.

The Obasanjo-led government awarded him a national honour as Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR).

Chairman of his 85th birthday advisory committee, Ambassador Segun Olusola, told Daily Independent that Cyprian had plans to celebrate his 90th birthday. "When we marked his 85th birthday, we looked beyond that planning. He told me he was going to write a novel based on Ojuelegba where he lived. We thought that would eventually come to pass. He passed on, thereby depriving us this inspiration. I hope his family will accept for us to locate some of the testimonial gathering at Ojuelegba. We miss him, particularly all our friends in broadcasting. He was the head of features production when I was the assistant producer in 1958. Cyprian was also a great hunter and used to force me to hunt in our days," he said. Olusola further declared that one of the most important hobbies of this departed hero was driving. "He loved all manner of auto sport," he said.

Between 1947 and 1949, COD was a biology, chemistry and English teacher at Igbobi College, Lagos. He became lecturer at the School of Pharmacy, Lagos, between 1949 and 1956.

He became the first Nigerian Director of Information at the Federal Ministry of Information, Lagos, between 1961 and 1966, when he became Director of Information Service at Enugu.

Cyprian Ekwensi was chairman of East Central State Library Board, Enugu, between 1971 and 1975. Between 1975 and 1981 he was Managing Director of Star Printing and Publishing Company Limited, Enugu, and Niger Eagle Press, Aba. He was also at the same time a visiting lecturer at Iowa University.

Professionally, Cyprian was a member of the Pharmaceutical Societies of Great Britain and Nigeria, Nigerian Arts Council, Association of Nigerian Authors and Fellow of Institute of Public Relations of Nigeria and the United Kingdom.

Chief Ayo Ojeniyi described him at his last birthday as a man of local and international awards.

He joined the Fellowship of Nigeria Academy of Letters in 2005. Most of his friends like Chief Olu Akinkugbe had once described him as "a man of varieties of experience and creativity especially in the literary world."

His works has been widely translated into European and African languages, which partly made him to be in various who’s who publications round the globe.

He had severally being referred to as "doyen of Nigerian Literature" in most international and national newsletters and magazines.

Many of his students and associates knew him as a "populist writer" because his books, according to them, "is unique and are compulsive reading for all classes of readers".

Cyprian originated from the East, born in the North and educated in the West. These features, according to some of his fans, made him a fulfilled national leader that he was before death came calling.

http://www.independentngonline.com/?c=120&a=4916

[Sola Osofisan]

Writers urge FG, Lagos State govt to immortalise Cyprian Ekwensi

Vanguard

On Sunday November 4, the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) Lagos, lost one of their own, Cyprian Ekwensi (MFR), a novelist and fore-runner of the Nigerian and African literature, who waited till the end of the 2007 Annual Convention of the Association of Nigerian Authors held in Owerri recently before joining his ancestors at the ripe age of 86. In this piece, Lagos State-based writers want a befitting burial to be accorded their departed older colleague.

EKWENSI’S lengthy life is a great celebration of life as we
also celebrate the Lagos chapter members of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) for their literary victories. Jude Dibia’s novel, Unbridled, for winning the ANA/NDDC Ken Saro Wiwa prize for prose; El-Nukoya’s novel, Nine Lives, for winning the ANA/Jarcaranda prize; Osarobu Igudia for clinching the ANA/Lanern prize for children’s literature with his manuscript, The Chief of the Drums, and Kaine Agary for winning again with her novel, Yellow Yellow, the ANA/Chevron prize for the environment.

Pa Cyprian Ekwensi who until his death remained a fraternising presence at the ANA conventions and a frequenter of the Lagos art circles that he attended from his bustling Ojuelegba base of many decades. According to the Association of Nigerian Authors Lagos chairman, Mr. Chike Ofili, "It was kind and sensitive of Ekwensi to have patiently departed on the departure day of the ANA Owerri 2007 annual convention. It was his own way of being with us till the end.”

Commenting further on him, chairman Chike says “Cyprian Ekwensi is the forerunner of Nigerian and African literature, the foremost novelist of the city scapes, the lead writer of popular fiction, remains the model template of a writer a la Nigeriana, for the way he traversed the nation with his patriotic pen. Ekwensi, the rightful owner of the novella literary form for children and adolescent literature, the national teacher of every child and adolescent of school age since independence, deserves to be immortalised by the Federal and Lagos State governments.”

Personal cultures

Making a case for a Federal and Lagos State immortalisation of Cyprian Ekwensi, chairman Chike, the author of Our Unspoken Ties says “While other Nigerian writers, authors and scholars use their personal cultures to illustrate national cases, using a part to sign-post the whole, Cyprian Ekwensi went further than the fragmentary approach, to use the different parts of other people’s culture across the nation to tell the Nigerian story. With The Passport of Mallam Ilia (1960), The Burning Grass (1962), Lokotown (1962), Gone to Mecca (1992) etc., Ekwensi told the story of the Hausa-Fulani of Nigeria. With Drummer Boy (1960), Juju Rock (1960), among several, he told the Yoruba story of western Nigeria. And with Ikolo the Wrestler (1951), Survive the Peace (1976), and Divided We Stand (1980), he reflected the story of his Igbo people of eastern Nigeria as he equally reached out to other parts of Nigeria by telling the stories of their towns and cities like no other.

This Ojuelegba, Lagos-based novelist was by far more reflective of Lagos, Nigeria’s mini-nation and the country’s converging point where he most situated his stories. Ekwensi largely popularised the unique character of Lagos and made it equitable to London and Paris in the imagination and reality of men and women across the world that he attracted to Lagos. From People of the City (1954), Yaba Round About Murder (1962), Death at Mile Two (1988), Motherless Baby (1980), Jagua Nana (1961), Jagua Nana’s daughter (1986) etc, he chronicled Lagos novelistically. Ofili declares, “this is one exceptional national voice that drew attention to virtually every part of the country without drawing attention to himself.”

Continuing, Chike Ofili says “it is time for the Federal Government to draw attention to the nationalistic fervour of Cyprian Ekwensi by naming a relevant cultural monument that is a striking public spectacle in Abuja, the nation’s centre of unity, after him.” As for the government of Lagos State, the Lagos chairman of writers says “the Lagos State Government of the very determined Governor Babatunde Fashola, should erect a statue of Cyprian Ekwensi writing away at the centre of Ojuelegba bus stop where he lived for decades, taught sciences at Igbobi College, Yaba, built a house in and where he most generously wrote Lagos into fame from.

A monumental remembrance of Cyprian Ekwensi, pharmacist, journalist and novelist by Lagos State, will be very representative of the ecumenical essence of Lagos”, Ofili foregrounds his case. After all, who can be more Nigerian than Cyprian Ekwensi who was born by Igbo parents of Nkwelle Ezunaka in Minna, Niger State of northern Nigeria on September 26, 1921 and went to Government College in Plateau State both in the Middle Belt of Nigeria, moved on to Government College, Ibadan in western Nigeria. He advanced to Yaba Higher College, Lagos (now Yaba College of Technology), proceeded to Achimota College in Ghana, and later studied Pharmacy at the Chelsea School of Pharmacy, of the University of London.

He later taught Biology and Chemistry at Igbobi College in Lagos, was a forestry officer in the North, became a broadcaster and head of features desk at the Nigerian Broadcasting Service that trained the likes of veteran broadcasters like Chief Segun Olusola, Mr. Bisi Lawrence, etc, moved on to become the first director of information at the Ministry of Information and adviser to the prime minister, before being forced to also serve as the director of the Public Bureau for External Publicity and adviser to General Odumegwu Ojukwu, head of state of the defunct State of Biafra.

He died on Sunday, November 4 in Enugu, with his autobiography in progress long after his first novel, When Love Whispers in 1947. His last published literary work is his collection of recent writings, Cash On Delivery (2006), edited by Samuel Obialor. Lagos ANA will on second Saturday of December, be doing a dedicated reading in his memory. All those who have encountered Cyprian Ekwensi as teacher, pharmacist, journalist and novelist are all invited to the Aina Onobolu Art Gallery wing of the National Theatre, Lagos, at 2.30pm. Bring or buy a copy of his book.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1781&Itemid=0