PAUL ONYEMECHI ONOVOH

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ 

Ezenwa–Ohaeto As I Knew Him

S A GRADUATE STUDENT at the , , I heard about the man Ezenwa–Ohaeto and his achievements as a A poet and as a genius in creative writing. He was an alumnus of UNN and therefore was beloved by most of us, for he was an example of excellence. Most of the students (those in my circle) used to compare Ezenwa–Ohaeto’s poetry to ’s. Ezenwa–Ohaeto was quite famous as a rising star in the arts. Finally, I briefly saw and spoke with him first in 1990 at the Eagle on Iroko International Symposium celebrating ’s sixtieth birthday. It was a brief meeting indeed. The first impression I had of Ezenwa–Ohaeto has lasted till today and certainly will continue to survive. I saw an easy-going, unassuming, polite, friendly and energetic man with jet-black hair. Our exchange in Igbo was short, as happens to most people meeting for the first time. A handshake, then one of us said: Nnaa, kee kwanu? (How are you fatherman?). The other responded: O di mma (It is well). That was that. It was during the “Eagle on Iroko” symposium that Professor Obidiegwu Nnaemeka made a general announcement requesting support from all scholars present for Ezenwa–Ohaeto’s project: namely, the collection of materials for the eventual publication of the biography of the “Eagle on Iroko” – Chinua Achebe himself. One was under the impression that scholars and the general public were, by this means, officially informed that Ezenwa–Ohaeto was the

© Of Minstrelsy and Masks: The Legacy of Ezenwa–Ohaeto in Nigerian Writing, ed. Christine Matzke, Aderemi Raji–Oyelade & Geoffrey V. Davis (Matatu 33; Amsterdam & New York NY: Editions Rodopi, 2006).

Ezenwa–Ohaeto As I Knew Him 95 man who forthwith had been entrusted with the job of writing the biography of the “Eagle on the Iroko.” The mood was electric for most of the UNN graduate students who knew a thing or two about Ezenwa–Ohaeto. It was as if fresh plumage from the wings of a great eagle has been officially added to Ezenwa–Ohaeto’s already shining cap. One could say that Ezenwa–Ohaeto is a ripe corn, which manifests its ripeness to all in sight. In 1994 in Bayreuth, a small but friendly university town in Bavaria, Ger- many, Ezenwa–Ohaeto and I met a second time. We became friends. He was a fellow-in-residence with Eckhard Breitinger. He used to travel between Bayreuth and Mainz for research and teaching, as the case may be. I remem- ber Ngozi Ohaeto came the next year and stayed in Mainz with him for a while. Ezenwa–Ohaeto was an amazing individual. He told me stories of his secondary school days and university days at the UNN. He talked about how he and a classmate would bet on who would read what books on which shelf in the library and for how long, and who would finish first. On some nights we would talk into the wee hours of the morning on : who is what, what has become of which writer, who is where and doing what, femin- ist writers, the Nigeria–Biafran war, his project on Chinua Achebe’s biogra- phy, his intention to write ’s biography, and biographies of other Nigerian writers he intended to write. He also talked about the comple- tion or near-completion of the biography of . He would talk about Flora Nwapa, Buchi Emecheta and even the gospel singer Helen Nkpume. Ezenwa told me he feels great inspiration from listening to Igbo songs, be it gospel, highlife, or minstrel music. Name it; Ezenwa has some- thing noteworthy to say on all aspects of African and world literatures. The idea for this second interview that you are about to read was born from a lengthy discussion I had with Dr Chielozona Eze, the winner of the first Olaudah Equiano Prize for Fiction, who currently teaches literature at North- eastern Illinois University, Chicago. I recounted to him my experiences during a short visit to Boston where Ezenwa–Ohaeto was completing his Ful- bright fellowship. Dr Eze said it would be nice to do a formal interview with Ezenwa–Ohaeto to document his visions and insights on world literature, as this would also be beneficial not only to academic circles but also to future generations. Frail and emaciated from sickness and treatment, Ezenwa– Ohaeto was nevertheless very happy to grant the interview. He talks, in the interview, about the life-threatening illness that eventually led him to the golden gates of peace. He exposes the depth and details of his life, his re- search interests and scholarship in Boston, Germany, Italy and other parts of the world where he carried out his ‘ambassadorial duties’ of presenting and interpreting African literature in its myriad forms and manifestations. A