I’m not worried, writing has displaced my medical
practice –Okediran
You were a member of the House of
Representatives between 2003- 2007, and you initiated move for an Endowment for
the Arts and the Nigerian Book Policy. Why has it not seen the light of day
yet?
The Bill for the Endowment of the
Arts was killed by Civil Servants who never wanted government money to get into
the hands of artists and writers whom they erroneously believe were already
earning lots of money from their works.
In 2004 when the Bill was initiated,
we thought that an Executive Bill (Bill sponsored by the Federal Government)
will be faster and more effective to be passed, however, the Bill did not reach
the Executive Council which was expected to ratify the Bill due to incessant
adjournment of meetings by the officials of the ministry of culture and
tourism, who were expected to put the Bill together.
I am, however, happy that a current
member of the House of Representatives, who is also a writer and an ANA member
from Imo State, Hon Jerry Alagbaso, has re-presented the Bill. Obviously having
learnt from our experience, he has re-presented the Bill as a Private Member
Bill instead of as an Executive Bill.
With educational background in
Medicine, what informed your foray into literature and are you not unfulfilled
that the literary side of you has surpassed medical aspect?
The truth of the matter is that I am
originally an art-oriented person having scored distinctions in all my arts
subjects in secondary schools as against the credit scores I had in my science
subjects.
My original plan was to study Mass
Communications but my father objected since he had already boasted to his
friends that one of his children would be a Medical Doctor. And since I was
also good in the sciences, I enjoyed my medical school years, during which I
still found time to edit a Campus Magazine and play for the University’s Hockey
Team.
I was eventually awarded a
university scholarship for my last three years in medical school and I also
represented Oyo state in many national sporting events.
After medical school, I enlisted for
a Diploma Course in Creative Writing before going into full writing alongside
my medical practice which I still carry out albeit on a part time basis.
No, I am not worried that writing
has displaced my medical practice. I believe that I am just going back to what
I was originally destined to do. I am however very fortunate to have to have
attended medical school before going into writing since like many
doctor/writers, medicine taught me how to write.
The organic linkage between
literature and medicine goes back to ancient times when the ancient Greeks
recognised and honoured the connection by placing both medicine and poetry
under the dominion of Phoebus Apollo, their god of the sun.
The invocation of Apollo as the
patron of medicine and poetry stems from the belief that the physician and the
writer can both be healers.
The list of men and women who have
combined medicine and literature is long and varied depending on the
inclination of the compiler.
A writer like Chinua Achebe began,
but perhaps wisely, did not finish medical school. By contrast, William
Somerset Maughan finished his studies but never practised. Others like the poet
John Keats eventually abandoned practice for full time writing while the
greater number of doctors whose list is long continued and still continue to
juggle both occupations throughout their lives.
Famous literary physicians include
Oliver Goldsmith (Circa, 1730); John Keats (1795-1821); Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
(1859-1930); Tobias George Smollett (1721-71); Anton Chekhov (1860-1904);
Somerset Maughan (1874-1965); and William Carlos Williams (1883-1963).
Nearer home, the likes of Professors
Olatunde Odeku; Anezi Okoro (now deceased); and Adeloye as well as Ewa Henshaw;
Tony Marinho; Femi Olugbile; among others were able to combine literature with
their medical practice.
The Ebedi Writers Residency, Iseyin,
Oyo state, has gone into its third year. What motivated it and how have you
been coping?
The idea of the Ebedi Residency came
to me when I was looking for a place to complete a work at hand. When I
complained to my wife, she then suggested we convert our country home in
Iseyin, Oyo state, for the venture.
This is a laudable programme whereby
some aspiring and established writers can take time off their daily routines
and seclude themselves for a while in a serene environment, sheltered from the
noise and bustle outside, in order to fully devote themselves to the tussle
with their creative imagination.
Here they will have all the
infrastructural support they require; without distraction from family or
friends, distant from the endless ritual of weddings and funerals and other
ceremonies; and well provided against NEPA and water shortages.
In addition, we pay writers a weekly
stipend to stay in the residency and offer them a publishing opportunity for
their completed works through a well-known Lagos based publisher. In return,
the writers are expected to interact with secondary school students in Iseyin
for a few hours a week in order to mentor them.
So far, a lot of gifted writers from
the schools have been discovered.
It has not been easy self-sponsoring
the residency these past three years but I thank God that the residency is
daily gaining national and international acceptance and recognition.
Some of your colleagues feel sold
out by your depiction of political shenanigans in the lower house. What
prompted this offering?
As an artist, I consider it my duty
to tell the story around me in the best possible way possible. I also believe
that the duty of a writer is to write as honestly as possible what the society
often considers ‘unspeakable’.
I was prompted to write Tenants of
The House because of my deep-seated conviction that Nigeria has great potential
once we can get our acts together both by those in power and the followership.
One of the ways of doing this is to
tell our stories, however, painful or uncomfortable this may be.
This way,
while laughing at our mistakes, we can learn how to correct them and move
forward.
My experience with Strange
Encounters and Tenants of The House has confirmed that well known fact that in
creating good and memorable novels, a writer must be ready to ruffle some
feathers.
While it is true that some of my colleagues in the Nigerian
Parliament were miffed by some of the expositions in Tenants of The House, the
book has been well received by a large number of them.
In fact, some of the legislators
have praised me for helping them by telling the world some of the challenges
politicians face when taking up the arduous task of nation building in a
developing country such as Nigeria.
You need to gauge the feelings of
your subjects as well as areas of potential legal litigations before putting
pen to paper in biographies. Having said this, I enjoy writing biographies.
Apart from the good money that
accrues from the project, through biography writing, I have learnt a lot about
human foibles, struggles, achievements and failures, through which I have
learnt to be a better person. Certainly, I will love to pay more attention to
it in future.
Looking back at your tenure as ANA
President (2006-2009), do you think the creative writing workshop and other
initiatives have paid off?
As a beneficiary myself of Creative
Writing Workshop, I am convinced that our writers, both the established and
upcoming ones, have a lot to gain from Writing Workshops. All serious
professional organisations organise workshops for their members. The NMA, NBA
as well the Society of Engineers have regular courses and workshops for their
members to update themselves.
This is why I am always ready to
support the current ANA executive in maintaining the tradition of Creative
Writing Workshops. Recently, the executive was able to secure some grant for a
nation-wide Literary Project during which ANA through its members in state
branches will take Literary activities to the various secondary schools in
their respective states.
I am happy that these projects that
were initiated by my executive are still going on strong.
What are you working on now?
I have just finished a compilation
of my Short Stories which my publishers are currently looking at. I am also
involved with the Film Adaptation of my book Tenants of The House as a script
consultant to the film producer.
In addition, I have just been
commissioned to produce the biography of a very famous Nigerian politician.
This is the biggest project of my literary career so far because the project
involves interviewing about 100 people who are mostly VIPs both within and
outside Nigeria.
It also involves sifting through
tons of documents, film videos, diaries, photographs as well as internet
publications. So far, the project has taken me round about 20 states in the
country as well as the UK while a trip to the USA is in the making. Luckily, I
have a team of six versatile and committed writers and journalists to assist me
in the onerous task.
