By O Bolaji
The Yorubas,
essentially based in west Africa and ( also around the world), run into
millions. The people are noted for their "pride", innovative mien, their hospitable
nature, their industry and their general broad-mindedness.
Yorubas point to the many greats
they have produced over the years, with the pioneering chief Obafemi Awolowo eg
credited with establishing the first t.v. station in Africa, the first
skyscraper in west Africa (Cocoa House) etc...More pertinently in the sphere of
arts and culture, Wole Soyinka another Yorubaman became the first African to
garner the Nobel Award for Literature.
It does seem rather "cruel " that
Akinwunmi Isola, a great writer in the Yoruba language, has just died following
on the heels of the distinguished Adebayo Faleti who died a few months
ago - another celebrated writer in the Yoruba language.
Of course
both writers (Faleti and Isola) followed on the heels of the nonpareil Yoruba
writer, D.O Fagunwa who continues to be recognised as the original patron-saint
of Yoruba creative writing and literature. The recently deceased Akinwunmi
Isola was an international academic to boot , who lectured in north American
universities, pushing Yoruba literature and sociology to the fore.
Isola was of course revered in the teeming,
vibrant Yoruba community as writer, playwright, academic and a pillar of the
society. For decades, his celebrated plays - like Efunsetan Aniwura, and
Ole Ku have been put on stage, on tv etc. He has spurred and encouraged other
writers, and his passing has been a painful one.
Henry
Ozogula, a young Nigerian aficionado of literature says: "This is another
terrible loss in the niche of literature. I do not know the Yoruba language or
its intricacies but I do know that the late Isola was a great writer who also
wrote wonderful essays in the English language. I celebrate and respect all
African writers, hence I realise only too well that this is another dismal exit"
