Last Thursday, the Faculty of Arts of the University of Ibadan played host to a celebrated writer and former president of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Dr. Wale Okediran, for an evening of readings from his acclaimed novel, Tenants of the House. Abiodun Awolaja, who was there, reports.

Like every intellectual literary engagement, it was enriching. But, unlike in the past, this reading did not draw a mammoth crowd, which is not necessarily a drawback given the often subtle, yet sure manner in which ideas permeate society. Wale Okediran’s evening of readings from Tenantsof the  House, a factional(fact and fiction) account of his political pilgrimage at the Federal House of Representatives(2003-2007) which, according to the  blurb on the cover of the book published by Nelson Publishers, Ibadan, mirrors ‘’the politicking, conspiracy, corruption, intrigues, scheming and betrayal’’ which the author witnessed in the House, drew some of the crème de la crème of the Nigerian literary, business and political landscapes, researchers, creative writers and students, including the eminent literary critic, Prof Dan Izevbaye; celebrated poet and Head of the Department of English, University of Ibadan, Dr Remi Raji-Oyelade; poet and critic, Dr Gbemisola Adeoti; the University of Ibadan based critics such as Drs Ayo Kehinde,  Remi Oriaku, Nelson Fashina and Olutoyin Bimpe Jegede; a former House of Rep member,Hon. Dayo Henry; the ANA Oyo State chairman, Mr. Akin Bello; the Permanent Secretary, Oyo State Ministry of Health, Mr Aremu; Prof Adeniran, and many others, and was held at the Lecture Room 32 of the Faculty of Arts.

In a short address delivered on the occasion, Prof Izevbaye lamented the cultural erosion which had adversely affected the reception, currency and interest in literary activities and cultural engagement such as literary readings which, as Prof Adeniran was to add moments later, serve to narrow down the gap between  universities and their host communities. ‘’I recollect with nostalgia that my friend, Ken Saro Wiwa, used to sit here. When I heard that Wale Okediran was going to be here this evening, I had to leave Iwo early because I wanted to be part of this cultural history,’’ Izevbaye said, adding that the university had hosted Christopher Okigbo, Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe, William Empson and others at the Room 71 of the faculty in the past, while lamenting  ‘’there is now a great erosion of that tradition.’’ Izevbaye charged the audience to keep the literary tradition alive because of the manifold cultural benefits derived from it.

For his part, the ANA Oyo boss noted that the association was proud to associate with Wale Okediran, adding that ‘’in spite of the erosion of culture, there are still a lot of people interested in reading and writing.’’ He charged the audience, particularly the students, not to ‘’waste’’ their urge to write.

Delivering sections of the novel, Okediran observed that writing was, for him, the greatest moment of life. He said: ‘’I can tell you that my greatest moment is when I sit down in the corner of my room, putting stories together. I decided to write Tenants of the House because when I got to the House, I discovered that so many things were different from what I was used to, so I decided to keep a diary.’’

Speaking on the romantic climate in the novel, Okediran said he decided to make the work both political and romantic because, from his experience, ’’love stories are the winner any day.’’ He thereafter delved into the part of the novel which deals with the relationship between a honourable member of the House, a Christian from Kaduna State, and a young Fulani Muslim beauty, which lands him in trouble essentially on religious grounds.

Predictably, however, it was the interactive season which followed immediately afterwards that brought out the beauty of the evening, as the writer and audience shared specific tasks in the creative process. Members of  the audience wanted answers to such questions as whether there could be a non-corrupt member of the House; whether the author himself was free of corruptive tendencies and whether or not the corruption-ridden National Assembly was redeemable. They also sought to know the solutions to the myriads of problems captured by the author; the linkage between past authorial experience and their artistic representation, among other issues. Responding to the question of corruption, Okediran said the problem would be decisively addressed once the standard of living of Nigerians had been addressed by the leadership. He observed that constituents always piled huge pressures on their representatives, which could predispose them to corruptive tendencies in order to meet up with the demand. He mentioned a particularly interesting occasion when one of his constituents phoned him and said ‘’Doctor, congratulations sir. I married a third wife,’’ and he was left wondering why the man was congratulating him(Okediran), since it wasn’t him who had married a third wife. It turned out that the man wanted money to maintain his wife.

Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune on his goal as a writer, Okediran said: ‘’My aim is to portray society to society, so that I can elicit or trigger reactions from them, in order to find solutions to the problems I have portrayed. Secondly, I want to encourage creativity because all around us, there are stories waiting to be written.’’

And while also speaking with the Nigerian Tribune, Dr Remi Raji-Oyelade  described Okediran as a culturally engaged writer who had made significant contributions to the Nigerian literary landscape.