I dedicate this post to the evergreen memory of May Ellen Ezekiel Mofe-Damijo (MEE) who would have done great things for Nigerian Literary Culture if she had not died.

Women have been the first tutors of most African authors from Chinua Achebe to the present shining stars of Nigerian literature.

My mother was my first tutor and she told me folktales and the history of her village and I recorded most of the stories she told me, separating the fact from the fiction. My mother taught me my first word. And it was the Word of God, before she taught me other words.
My father also taught me words. But they were written figures of Ifa Divination in his exercise books and I learnt them by rote. He taught me incantations and invocations of Ifa poetry before I studied the Ifa poetry of Prof. Wande Abimbola who was also a Babalawo like my father. But my father was a certified metaphysician who understood all the major languages in Nigeria, and also understood English and Latin. He was a World War Two veteran who served in Burma with the brave soldiers of the West African Frontier Force with Marshal Kebby who wrote about their battles in Burma in the Daily Times of the 1970s and 1980s. The world is yet to honour the African heroes of World War Two and I pray that God will grant me the grace to remember them in print and on the silver screen. My father played the violin and had a beautiful voice as he imitated the  enchanted singers he saw in the Bollywood films we watched at the Kings Cinema, Shiela Cinema, Glover Cinema and Royal Cinema in the 1970s in Lagos. He always took us to these cinemas every weekend.

Then I discovered William Shakespeare and the geniuses of English literature. But classical literature had more impact in my life. Homer and Aristotle were my models.
I read so many books. And wrote my first novel when I was in class three at the St. Gregory's College, The Inspector, a detective story. I took it to my new mentor Lady Taiwo Ajai-Lycett in 1978. She wanted to groom me as a model and I registered as a model at only 15. I saw her weekly at her residence in Ire Akari Estate in Lagos. I was already known as the winner of the First Prize in the Pop magazine international essay competition in 1976 and Elizabeth Banjo, the beautiful daughter of Professor Banjo took the second prize.  Lady Taiwo-Ajayi-Lycett was the former editor of the highly esteemed African Woman magazine published in the UK, where she was already a notable stage and TV actress before returning to Nigeria. From her lessons, I learnt  enough to become a professional  writer of teleplays at 18 and wrote 25 episodes of the puppet drama for the Nigerian Televison Authority (NTA) from 1981 to 1983. But I was more than a prolific writer. 

In 1983, whilst my father was dying of Hepitatis B, the UNESCO wrote me; that my illustrations for a story on traditional farming in Igbo land were selected to represent Nigeria at the World Picture Books fair and another international book fair in Japan. But, I was more concerned about the survival of my father. My father did not survive. He died on November 19, 1983. He died a poor man and left no will, except my mother and four brothers and two sisters. I turned this tragic loss into a story and wrote about the trauma of our great loss.

The Johns Hopkins University's Population Communication Services (JHU/PCS) came to Nigeria in 1984 and needed a project artist to become a public health illustrator. I went for the interview at the American Embassy on Victoria Island, Lagos, and I got the job.
I was well paid and I wanted to share my good fortune with a fellow artist, Edim Okon the graphic artist of the Kiddie Times magazine edited by my friend, the novelist Uche Bialonwu. But Prof. Carol Becker of JHU/PCS rejected Edim Okon's illustrations. I gave Edim $300, that was the one way ticket on PAN AM to the US. Then, I completed the first phase in 18 days.
I produced 9 fully illustrated booklets for family planning methods education used by the Planned Parenthood Federation of Nigeria (PPFN) in Pidgin English, Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo languages. One million copies were printed and distributed nationwide in Nigeria.

Kiddie Times commissioned me to produce several comic books. The West Africa magazine and The Guardian newspaper of Nigeria reviewed them. My Captain Santana, the first African astronaut to land on the moon was very popular in Nigerian schools and even at the American International School in the 1004 flats Estate on Victoria Island, Lagos.

Another American organization, Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH) commissioned me to produce more public health education booklets and I got Kanayo O. Kanayo and Cyril at the Radio Nigeria in Lagos to help me with the translations into Igbo.
The American project coordinators, Carol Kazi (now Carol Winnard), Linda Bruce and Margaret Zimmermann loved my illustrations. Prof. Carol Becker said, she could get me an agent in the US. But I declined the offer to migrate to America. Nigeria needed me more than America.

I was a strict vegetarian and that helped me to avoid many social activities with fellow Nigerians. And I did not date anyone. I was only seeing Fidelia Anyia, an artist I met at the Education Unit of the National Museum in Lagos, when she left Queens College
and later went to study Fine Arts at the University of Benin. Her father was a former diplomat before he died and her mother was the manager of the Federal Place Hotel on Victoria Island, Lagos. She is one of the best mothers I have ever known. And she respected my mother. (Fidelia Anyia is now a prize winning teacher in America.)
I was now a features editor for the Kiddies World magazine published by Mr. Tunde Ereola and his wife Eno. Tunde and I were like brothers as he made sure we dressed well in designer suits. He studied in France and was a young millionaire at 34. The wife Eno played a significant role in the development of my creative writing until she died in 1987.

In 1988, I became a program consultant for the UNICEF and spent a week at the Durbar Hotel in Kaduna. I produced copies for the Radio for Child Survival and Developement project in Nigeria. And when I returned from Kaduna, I met the most powerful woman in Nigeria, Lady Tanya Hume-Sotomi, the wife of retired Brigadier-General Foluso Sotomi, the owner of Ofada Farms in Ogun State. She was a coloured American woman of both black and white parents with Scottish, native American Indian and African grandparents. We became almost inseparable, because, we shared common romantic and metaphysical passions for literature and the esoterica. She was busy writing her factional novel, The General's Life and that kept us seeing each other as we went through the drafts and revisions. The whole of Lagos thought we were lovers. But we were only lovers of literature and shared a common empathy for humanity. I launched my first published book Children of Heaven in 1988 at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) on Victoria Island, Lagos. The collection of poems was well reviewed in The Guardian and The Punch newspapers with the anouncement on the Nigerian Televison Authority (NTA) Network News and Radio Nigeria.
Tanya launched her novel, The General's Wife later at the same NIIA in 1991 and the late Gen. Sani Abacha was the chief launcher. He said that Tanya was his former madam when her husband, the late Brigadier- General Foluso Sotomi was his camp commandant.
Tanya introduced me to Prince Ibrahim Sanusi, the brother of the Ado Bayero of Kano. Prince Sanusi married a beautiful Spanish woman and they have two beautiful daughters. We met several times at the Lagos Motor Boat Club.

In 1992, a beautiful German sociologist and abstract artist, Nicole Walter (Nikky) from Munich came into my life. A neighbour, Olimide Akanbi told her about me at the Bar beach on Victoria Island and later brought her to our quarters, because she wanted to know me. And Nikky became my muse till she returned to Germany in 1994.  Before Nikky left, I curated the first and biggest Art exhibition on the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Nigeria, held at the National Museum and National Arts Theatre in Lagos. I sold some of my fantastic oil on canvas paintings, including the "Metamorphosis of the HIV in the T-Cell" bought by the Family health International (FHI) in Nigeria and "The Eruption of the Love Virus" bought by a young millionaire in Ikoyi, Lagos.

When Nicole Walter left, God led me to the beautiful Lebanese Nigerian, Yemi Fawaz, the Queen of Nigerian models. She feted me like a prince when she hosted my first salon art exhibition in her restaurant in Surulere.

After Yemi Fawaz, I met Somina Law-Jackson, the bold and beautiful daughter of a millionaire from Rivers State and a student at the University of Port Harcourt. Somina was God sent to me when I was in dire straits. She did her best to make me happy as I spent days and nights in sisters flat in our neighbourhood in Morocco, Shomolu, Lagos. And she was a fast driver who often drove whilst smoking. Somina and her friends were a great company and one of them, Princess Uche provided her father's Lagos residence for our comfort.

After Somina left for Europe, I met Becky, a pretty young woman from Edo State and we became lovers in 1996.

In 1997, when I became the editor of Affections International magazine, Linda Ikeji came into my life and has remained till date. The most ambitious young model in Nigeria, the Publisher/CEO of Fashion, Modeling and Beauty (FM& B) magazine. She is also a writer and exciting blogger.

In 1998, I met Ngozi, an actress, who became my live-in lover till Janaury 1, 1999.

There were other young and old women in my life, but there was nothing special to note, until I met my Malaysian Muse, Kye Lee Koi, in January 2006. Kyels as we call her, contributed to the publication of "The Language of True Love".

I have to remove the name of the American soldier for security reasons.

I forgot to include Princess Lillian Sharon Ebele, the princess of the Nigerian Bar who is still very close to my heart. And her mother, the Lolo is a great mother.   

I don't know how far I would have gone without these God sent women in my thrilling romantic life as a Nigerian writer.

Everybody has a story
But everybody will not make history.

well done,bro!

na wa oh. so many women

Orikinla, are you talking about yourself or someone else?,

Did you ever settle down with any of these women as in marry them or you just dated them??, whao!, you must have some energy in there.

nice one anyway,

@Orikinla

Captivating! Wow

I am a child of my mother. And I believe women love those who love women.

Woman is the mother of mankind.

I thank God for women.

It is not easy making these confessions. But I have to show where I am coming from and that I never walked alone. I had many shoulders to lean on when I was weak.

I see this only post of yours Orikinla. do you happen to have any old copies of kiddie times, or know where i can get them

@Orinkala

my guy no vex, but e no easy ohhhhhhhh, I couldnt even read anything, not even a line. U strong.

but i no sure sey u get work, again no vex.

my mother bought the first novel i ever read.that was CHIKE AND THE RIVER, she read the whole of Eze goes to school out loud to my hearing when i refused reading it saying it was not interesting. i can remember she was the one who thought me that i should not read books just because it had pictures or it was interesting, i started writing in primary six when i was taken away from my grand mum and missed all the stories she used to tell us, i decided to write those stories down , those stories were my first novels. In my journey to reading and writing, the road is over crowded with women

@wildbubble
are u a writer?

wildbubble:

my mother bought the first novel i ever read.that was CHIKE AND THE RIVER, she read the whole of Eze goes to school out loud to my hearing when i refused reading it saying it was not interesting. i can remember she was the one who thought me that i should not read books just because it had pictures or it was interesting, i started writing in primary six when i was taken away from my grand mum and missed all the stories she used to tell us, i decided to write those stories down , those stories were my first novels. In my journey to reading and writing, the road is over crowded with women

Women are the most natural story tellers.
That is why all the Muses are women.

Without doubt this masterpiece should make the front page,

Roland17:

Without doubt this masterpiece should make the front page,

The Admin and Moderators and company don't think so.

@Orikinla: The pic on your profile, that you? Sorry if the question seems rather forward, I'm just curious. It's cool, by the way)