So many people have reflected enthusiastically on Dr. Wale Okediran’s qualities as he celebrated his enviable 70th birthday two days ago. From my decades-long acquaintance with this medical doctor turned creative writer, I will quickly summarise my view of him in the following words:
1. He has achieved a sterling record as an indefatigable man of letters. He has published many books of high literary quality. If I should give the next Nobel Prize in Literature from Africa, it would go to Wale Okediran given the huge corpus of literature he has produced across the years.
2. Dr. Okediran is an activist-artist in terms of promotion of literature and the arts in general. He is a busy-body goal-getter who always wants to see other writers move up the writing ladder, especially the younger and upcoming ones. Nobody in Nigeria has dedicated his personal resources to the cause of creative writing like him. His intervention cuts across borders to include people from around the continent. His Ebedi International Writers Residency, Iseyin, Oyo State, is in a class of its own. There is none like it in Africa. Several times a year he sponsors/hosts a minimum of three writers at a time from around Africa for a month-long stay at the residency to complete their manuscripts. He has been doing that for years. The beneficiaries of this initiative are almost uncountable. After serving as the President of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), he went ahead to serve as the Accra-based Secretary-General of the Pan African Writers Association (PAWA), a position he currently occupies. His records of achievements in both bodies are well known. One can see the way he continues to serve the literati globally through PAWA and indeed through his personal interventions. He has given his life to literature.
3. Dr. Okediran is a detribalised and deracialised person. In Nigeria he works with people of all tribes and creeds across locales and regions. His eyes and mind do not see your background, they see your potential. He once married a Hausa Muslim female writer from Kano (a friend of ours), which goes to show his detribalised nature. He is as much at home in Ibadan as he is in Katsina or Cairo. Across the world he mingles with people of all races, black and white, brown or yellow. He does all this not for personal gain, but for the common good.
4. At 70, Dr. Okediran scarcely looks his age. He looks 20 years younger. This is amazing considering his workaholic nature. One expected him to look older. But the reason, in my view, is that he savours an inner peace which, apparently, emanates from the well of his passion. If you enjoy what you are doing, you will have a deep-seated tranquility which, in turn, can make you healthier and look younger than your age. Recently, when I used his picture in a publication, Dr. Okediran quickly sent two different photographs of his to me, saying they are the recent ones and that the one I used was taken about ten years ago. But the two that he sent looked exactly like the one I used; they didn’t show a seventy-year-old man, but a young man of fifty!
5. Dr. Okediran was/is a politician. He “was” because he once served as a Member of the Nigerian House of Representatives. He didn’t return to the House due to the “Nigerian factor”. He “is” because he still serves his people as a community leader. Word has it that Dr. Okediran is a philanthropist who gives his shoulder to anyone in the community who comes to him with one cry or the other; he responds quickly to the concerns of his immediate locale.
6. Dr. Okediran’s literary works need to be studied deeper. In my view, the ivory tower hasn’t done much in terms of giving adequate critical attention to his books, the way it did for Soyinka, Osofisan and Osundare. That’s a shame considering where he comes from – a renowned hub of critical appreciation of literary works.
7. Dr. Okediran will continue to serve the world beyond his current age. It is his calling, his predestination. He is untiring. He doesn’t look like he is retiring any time soon. Personally, I would like him to slow down, withdraw a bit, and try to enjoy a life of quietude without being constantly in a pressured plane cabin. I reckon that he can still contribute to the literati with less globe-trotting, and in fact write more. But is it possible to prise Dr. Okediran’s fingers away from his dear passion? Your guess is as good as mine!
I wish our dear Dr. Okediran a Happy Birthday and pray for his long life and more contributions to the world. E ku ojo ibi, sir! Allah ya ƙara lafiya da nisan kwana.
