Christopher Okigbo - Reminiscences

Vanguard (Lagos)

COLUMN
30 September 2007
Posted to the web 1 October 2007


Late Christopher Okigbo even in death, remains one of Africa's finest poets. He was a poet whose art and personality continue to effuse all kinds of mystery. However mysterious anyway, Okigbo was also a poet, whose seemingly enigmatic life was open to some select group of intimate friends. In this brilliantly engaging essay, one of the late poet's closest friends, Torch Taire, reminisces over the momentous and memorable days shared together with him even while attempting an interpretation of the histo-political strands that helped to eclipse the engaging life of the Ojoto-born poet.

FORTY years after Christopher died in the Nigeria-Brafra civil war, he remains the most famous of African poets with arguably, Leopold Sedar Senghor sadly trailing behind him. This perhaps is because as Prof. Benedict Obumselu has said, "Chris is the most loved of African poets." It would be no slight on Christopher to say that he was indeed indebted to some extent to Senghor. Senghor who had been writing poetry of the highest quality before Christopher wrote his first poem, Song of the Forest in Fiditi in 1958. Chief Alex Ajayi was the principal of Fiditi Grammar School at the time.


Senator (Dr) Bode Olajumoke had invited me to the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the founding of his alma mater, Fiditi Grammar School. Christopher had taught Latin and English at Fiditi before accepting a job at Nsukka as a librarian. I had accompanied Mr. Sam Amuka, a friend of the senator, through whom the invitation was sent to me. My main duty at the occasion was to receive on behalf of Christopher, an award of honour for the time he spent at Fiditi as a teacher.

When I was invited to the podium to receive the award, the cheers of the students and invited dignitaries was deafening probably because, they thought that I was Christopher Okigbo. Such was the affection that the poet still enjoyed many years after his death, even by those who did not know him or read his poems. Chief Alex Ajayi confirmed to me what he had published in The Daily Times, August 26, 1992, that Christopher wrote his first poem Song of the forest in Fiditi late in the year 1958.

Memorial service for Christopher Okigbo at Ojoto: Christopher died in battle at Opi Junction at the Nsukka front of the civil war on August 17, 1967. His family had arranged a memorial service for him at St. Odilia Catholic Church for the 40th anniversary of his death at Ojoto Uno, his ancestral village in Idemili South Local Government Area of Anambra State on August 18, 2007, some 40 years and a day after Christopher died.

The journey from Onitsha to Ojoto took about twenty minutes, Mr. Uchenna Nwankwo, the architect and social commentator was with me on the trip for the memorial mass. We had stopped at Benin City the day before to pay our last respect at the funeral celebration of the late sculptor, Mr. Ben Osawe on August 17.

We arrived at St. Odilia Catholic Church at 11.00 a.m prompt and were received by Mr. Ikem Okigbo, the last remaining son of Chief James Okigbo; in the long line of achievers. He is presently, the chairman of Idemili South Local Government Area of Anambra State. The church premises, which had been silent when we arrived, suddenly burst into much activity with the arrival of cars of invited guests and members of the Okigbo family. Soon, the compound was full of people as we filed into the church, with friends exchanging greetings and pleasantries. The compound had assumed a rosy colour with red-cap-chiefs everywhere. Inside the church, the priests and the mass-servers approached the altar and the service began.

The officiating priest said the opening prayer: "Lord God you are the glory of believers and the time of the just. Your son redeemed us by dying and rising to life again. Our brother Christopher Okigbo was faithful and believed in our own resurrection. Give to him the joy and blessings of the life to come, through our Lord Jesus Christ your son." Christopher had told me on more than one occasion that he had been a mass-server in his youth; he would have known all the liturgy of the Catholic Church. We did not talk doctrine at all in those days. The way we lived then, I would be surprised if he took his salvation seriously. I did not. But, thank God for His grace. We both had more time than the thief on the Cross.

The first reading was by Obiageli Okigbo-Dati, Christopher's only child. She read from the book of Wisdom. Then there were songs by five teenage girls, almost like a performance of Christopher's Lament of the silent sisters. After that, there was real drama, another performance by a dozen little girls, none of them more than ten years old. The performance was accompanied by a long drum, a lead-girl with a fly-wisp. It all sounded like Christopher's Elegy for drums. It was all so moving. Then the sermon. After the homily, Ambassador Judith Attah, Christopher's wife, mother of Obiageli Okigbo-Dati, gave a vote of thanks, and the service ended at about noon. We left the church and drove along wooded terrain and idyllic surroundings through unmade roads to the family compound of the Okigbos.

At the entrance into this compound is a sculpted effigy of Lawrence Okigbo (the Onwa 1 of Ojoto), the eldest son of Chief James Okigbo. The compound was spacious. There is the cute bungalow of the deceased head of the family, Christopher's father, Chief James Okigbo. By the side of the bungalow is a large duplex built by the eldest son of James Okigbo, Lawrence Okigbo. I remember him very well in his days with the Forestry Department in Ibadan. We met often at Cambridge House in Ibadan and also later in Enugu at Skoupe where Dr Pius Okigbo was the managing director.

Chairs had been arranged for guests that had come from many parts of Nigeria. The roll call was long. Members of the Okigbo family were all present: Prof. Bede Okigbo, Mr Ikem Okigbo, Associate Prof . Okigbo of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka; Mr. Pius Okigbo Jnr; Mr. Victor Okigbo; the dashing younger brother of Pius Jnr. with his wife. Ambassador Judith Attah, Obiageli Okigbo-Dati, her son and daughter; Mr. Aminu Attah, Judith Attah's younger brother; were also there. Mr Attah told me regretfully, that he had not met Christopher before he died. Prof. Chukwuemeka Ike in Igbo traditional dress and an Ekpe cap was also present. Mr. Joop Berchout, the Dutch publisher now the owner and resident in Cambridge House was also present.

The event at the family compound commenced with blessings at the graveside of Christopher Okigbo by officiating ministers. Obiageli Okigbo-Dati laid a wreath by the grave of her father. Christopher's grave is by those of his parents in parallel arrangement but is larger than those of his parents. Breaking of kola-nuts by elders of Ojoto was next. Kola-nuts were passed round with all traditional accompaniments.

Eulogy for Christopher by Prof. Bede Okigbo: His older cousin, Prof. Bede Okigbo, a distinguished academic, delivered the eulogy for Christopher. He had worked at the IITA in Ibadan before moving to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. From his account, he had been close to the James Okigbo sons; but seem to have been even closer to his younger cousin, Christopher.

There was mournful silence as he read his eulogy. Bede had wanted to attend Christ the King's College at Onitsha, where Pius had been admitted, but he was refused admission because "Pius", he said, "did not return to the school." He then went up to Government College, Umuahia. Christopher later followed him to Government College, Umuahia. He went to Yaba Higher College but left for the University College, Ibadan when it opened in 1948. In 1951 Christopher went up to University College Ibadan, too. Some years later when Bede Okigbo was in the United States of America, Christopher kept him updated with news about Nigeria. When he returned from America, Christopher took him to Fela's shrine at Idi-oro. This must have been when Christopher was at Igbosere in Lagos.

His account was quite sparingly given except when he spoke of Christopher's exploit during the civil war. He spoke of how Christopher, in a commando-type raid had retrieved 30 cows from behind 'enemy' lines at the Nsukka University farm, and some chicken too. The Department of Agriculture of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka had kept about 300 cattle and 10,000 poultry on their farm. Christopher had asked Bede Okigbo to send some trucks to the war front, to evacuate these precious commodities to Nekede. Christopher also undertook other important exploits for Biafra.

With his contacts in the United Kingdom, it was possible for him to engage in purchasing arms for the war effort in Biafra. Prof. Bede Okigbo was very proud of his younger cousin, for his contributions to the war efforts, and said so. My first hint of this was in a report of an air crash in which a suite case supposed to belong to Christopher was found, somewhere in the Cameroons. Christopher was safe and those of us, his friends were very happy, that he had come to no harm. Prof. Bede Okigbo was brief in his eulogy for Christopher.

Open podium: Prof. Chukwuemeka Ike, the novelist, was the next person to be invited to speak about his friend and school-mate, at Government College, Umuahia. He told us about Christopher's unorthodox swing of the cricket bat. Christopher defied all rules of good batting, but he was always in the team because he made more runs than anybody else in the school cricket team. Their team played against other government colleges. Like Government College, Warri, Government College, Umuahia was good at cricket in those days. They played against us at Hope Waddell, Calabar where the game started in Nigeria; games of cricket and football were first played at Hope Waddell in June 1902 between the school team and a team of visiting Navy officers on the ship HMS Thistle from Scotland.

Prof. Ike was a member of the founding staff of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka with Christopher. He said Christopher doubled as a librarian while doing some teaching. Although hardly mentioned in the formation of Citadel Press in Enugu, he, Prof. Ike was the third member of that press, with Chinua Achebe and Christopher Okigbo. When a bomb fell close to the press, a lot of damage was caused and some books were destroyed. That, Prof. Ike said, infuriated Christopher who would not understand why anyone would aim to bomb and destroy books. For him, that was the very height of philistinism. Professor Ike gave some account of Christopher's early writing of verse. He said that Chris did not stick to the rules of poetry as they were taught at Government College. Christopher obviously, had read more poetry than was taught at school. He had read Eliot T.S, Ezra Pound, Baudeliare, Yeats, Keats, Federico Garcia Lorca, and later Leopold Sedar Senghor, and had adopted their style of the free verse.

Prof. Ike had predicted, either his failure as a poet or his rise to greatness. Chris and fate, with his muse, had connived to choose the latter. In his life-time, he was greatly admired by his contemporaries: literary critics, students of poetry, university students and even the general readers of poetry. Christopher left Ibadan for Eastern Nigeria because of the confusion that the coup-d'etat of July 1966 had caused. I remember standing in front of Mbari club with Christopher just before the July coup. Mr. Peter Enahoro was being driven in his lovely car, the Humber Super Snipe along Oyo Road, in the direction of Lagos. When he saw Christopher, he stopped to talk to us. He had just written in his "Peter Pan" column in his frank and inimitable style: "The answer my friend is blowing in the wind." Peter was the editor-in-chief, Daily Times, Lagos. We did not have long to wait before the rain began to beat Nigeria. Sam was still quite Sad then, at the Sunday Times, as editor. Those were foreboding times.

Essential Christopher: On August 6, 1966, Christopher left Ibadan for the east, for the last time. We never met again. Not until we heard on the Nigeria Broadcasting Corporation news at one o'clock, that Christopher had been killed at the war front, did we realize the full import of the war. When Major Sotomi returned to Ibadan from the Nsukka front, we surrounded him at the Polo Club and questioned him why anyone could fire a gun at Christopher. He smiled. He explained that, in battle one does not aim at persons. But weapon is trained on enemy position. Without rehearsing it, the three of us stood at attention and saluted the memory of Christopher. Others, including some Lebanese at the Club soon joined us, tears in some eyes.

Almost every one of Christopher's friends has the same recollection of him. He was very outgoing and was an extrovert. His friends were almost always quite the opposite. They all loved him for his own sake. Christopher was a very remarkable personality, a good company to be with. In the words of his brother, Dr. Pius Okigbo, Chris was "endowed with a curious charm." So much has been written and said about Christopher by friends and foes alike. The latter are few. There is now no need to recount what had been said over and over again; about his attitudes, athletic-prowess, and accomplishment, social flair etc. The open podium at the family compound in Ojoto, that Saturday afternoon, demanded more light-hearted evidence of Christopher's uniqueness. Here are some:

On the day of my marriage, he had booked a room in a hotel for my honeymoon. He offered me one of his cars, a Citreon Pallas DS 21, equipped with a chauffeur. He chose Niger Palace Hotel, of all places, in Yaba, Lagos for my honeymoon. Niger Palace Hotel ran a night club, full of "women of easy virtue." Chris and I had spent some hours at that club. I did not want to be snobbish, so I accepted the booking. Later, when I asked him why he had chosen that hotel, his answer was what I expected. He said "I wanted your wife to know the kind of person to whom she was married." Typical Christopher, that was.

On our return to Ibadan a week later, Christopher and I decided to visit my wife at her hall of residence; (Queen Elizabeth Hall) at the University of Ibadan. She was still a student when we got married. We arrived at the first floor of her hall.

Before we got to her room, I knocked on a door of one of her friends' room to thank her for all the trouble she had taken throughout the events before, during and after the wedding. I thought Christopher was following me. Then, three minutes later, he burst into the room, his left hand pulling my wife behind him."Femi, look at Torch. He has hardly finished his honeymoon. Now, see him here. He thinks he is still a bachelor. He wants me to be disloyal to you, the way I used to be, because I am his friend." The three of us: my wife, her friend and myself burst out laughing. He kept a very bold face and pretended to be angry.

Sometime, late in 1965, at about 8.00 p.m, Christopher drove into my house at Onireke. Christopher, pen and writing sheets in his hand said to my wife, "Femi please take Torch to my house and spend tonight in my room. I have no light at Cambridge House. I know what you have come from the university to do tonight. Whatever you want to do tonight, you can do there without light." When NEPA was not disconnecting my light, they were disconnecting his. We drove there later. Christopher was still writing in the morning in my house when we got there at 8.00 a.m.

Many years after Christopher left Ibadan, Mr. Berkout, a Dutch publisher and managing director of Spectrum Books Publishers, had bought Cambridge House and was living there. An idea was presented to him, that a brass plaque be fixed at the front wall of the entrance to Cambridge House, in the fashion of the English: "Christopher Okigbo, Poet, 1932-1967" lived here.

Poet and scholar

Dr. Pius Okigbo, had invited many friends of Christopher in the publishing trade in Nigeria, writers and university professors from many universities in Nigeria. Prof. Wole Soyinka was there to unveil the plaque. Suddenly, in the garden of Cambridge House, a well known poet and scholar approached me from a group of friends well known to me. "Torch, what are you doing here" he asked. I said nothing, as he walked away in silent embarrassment. Dr. Pius Okigbo had sent some invitation cards through Prof. Benedict Obumselu, to me to give to some friends of Christopher.

I had indeed invited this fellow to that occasion. I had dropped an invitation card at his home at Ikeja. I turned to Prof. Obumselu who observed this performance and we both left Cambridge House to Bodija for another appointment, laughing all the way at the fool he had made of himself. If Christopher had been there, he would have revealed in a loud voice: "he invited you to this place Mr. Writer." We all miss Chris in more ways than one.

The reactions to his participation in Nigerian civil war, have been varied. Some have said that Christopher went to war because he did not want the 'vandals' to set foot on the revered-academic soil of the university town of Nsukka. Others have said that "Christopher could not stand the sight of corpses being brought from the North." Christopher was a poet. He loved good poetry and great poets. Federico Garcia Lorca, the Spanish poet, was one of his favourite poets. He told me, not once but several times, of his admiration for Lorca. Federico Garcia Lorca was killed by Nationalist forces at the beginning of the Spanish civil war in August 1936.

His body was never found.

Christopher had always been thrilled that Lorca's body was never found. Christopher had so much trust in military tanks and other armored vehicles, even the unamoured Land Rover, caught his fancy. Ben Gbulie said it all. Christopher did not agree with Sandhurst.

Christopher states categorically that the distance between two points is a straight line, instead of going 'in circles,' as he claims Sandhurst had taught. No wonder he shunned Gbulie's advice, insisting that the 'enemy' would go pass Opi over his dead body. Unfortunately, they did.

Prof. Ben Obumselu who knew Christopher intimately spoke with him two days before he died. He said "When Christopher left for Opi junction, he said to me he would return to write his Anabasis, that he would not catch the reference. He was referring to a book written by Zenofal during the war between the Greeks and the Persians and what he wanted to say was that he was going there in order to write a book about warfare that is similar to the one Zenofal wrote. Anybody who has read contemporary literature knows that Tolstoy went to the Balkan war and what excited him was the opportunity to write a book about the war."

Ben Obumselu is an authority on Joyce Cary. Joyce went to the Balkan at the beginning of the first World War (1914-1918) and wrote a book about it called: The memoir of the Novartis. Ben Obumselu has said that it is quite clear to anybody who reads well that it is Tolstoy's "War and Peace" that Christopher had in his head. And what Carey said was "I want the experience of war." Christopher wanted the experience of war. It did not matter that it was Biafra and Nigeria. He thought it was the final test of character." That it was the thing that one must challenge oneself to and show oneself what one was, in this ultimate theatre of manliness. Therefore, for anyone to start explaining his sentiments in terms of primordial blood vows just sounds crazy to me. I totally agree with Prof. Ben Obumselu in his deep insights into the confusion that followed Christopher's involvement in the civil war.

Controversial novel

Some have given all sorts of reasons Why Christopher went to war. Ali Mazrui in his very controversial novel: Trial of Christopher Okigbo, accused Christopher of valuing Biafra above his art and defending Biafra with his blood. Ali made Apolo-Gyanifi; a character in the book accused Christopher of diluting his art with the blood of tribalism. Ali Mazrui, a famous writer, may be faithful to art but he got his comment wrong this time.

Some persons have said that the Nigeria-Biafra war was not a war of secession but a war of self defence. The only defensive war, to my mind, is a war of defence of one's country. I have never subscribed to the partitioning of Nigeria in anyway or in any form, for whatever reason. This is not an endorsement of the senseless killings in the North in 1966. Those who killed thousands of innocent Nigerians - of ordinary Igbo traders and other Southerners eking out their living in the North - were wrong then. They were wrong again for repeating the same killings many more times after without provocation.

The crisis of 1966 could have been settled, as all crises are bound to end after much sabble rattling. The condition after Aburi offered the East a moral high ground from which to extract favourable settlement from the Gowon government. A settlement could have been reached short of a confederation demanded by the Eastern region then. A confederation would have been a half way house to secession as things were then.

Fiscal federalism or true federalism would have been achieved then without firing a shot. This is also my own personal opinion. We are all too close to the events that led to the war. History will have its own objective judgment to make, if there is such a thing as an objective judgment about war.

For me, Christopher was involved in that war and for that reason, that war could not just be an exercise of heroic expression, whatever the result. For that reason, a war of defence by its very definition and nature, is one from which I see Christopher coming back from the trenches battered and bleeding and returns home to his family and friends boasting that he is alive not dead. Even to write a book.

What would he have written these many years: his new poems, perhaps some prose, stories about the war. His own version of War and Peace. These are all what could have been. What has been, pains my heart and my mind to know and remember it. Christopher's grave is not empty. It is full of love and appreciation from all those who admire him for his life, what he meant to them and for his poetic voice, which still speaks to us from the labyrinth of his grave.



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The problem with nigerians is that we dont celebrate living legends. many writers abound in the country ar far far betta than okigbo, try niyi osundare, olu oguibe, ebeoronwu

Achebe is alive, and he is celebrated constantly in the literary world.

With due respect, who's Achebe before the prowess of some present Nigerian writers? Have you read or heard of Ahmed Maiwada and colleagues? Achebe is a thieving writer; he exploited the art of his kin to bellow his creativity. Such is unoriginality.

@op who is the writer of this article?went through the link and needed a subscription to read it.

It is really a very good discuss.

Do you know the writers name?

Sapele_Don: @op who is the writer of this article?went through the link and needed a subscription to read it.

It is really a very good discuss.

Do you know the writers name?

Simply contact the Vanguard newspapers website editors.