Nothing surpasses joy of writing
—Okediran
By
Akintayo Abodunrin On Apr 12, 2020
Writer,
physician, politician and debut film producer, Dr Wale Okediran will clock 65
on April 14. He has a new novel, ‘Madagali’ to mark the occasion and speaks
about it as well as his other literary engagements in this interview. Excerpts:
YOU’LL
be 65 in a couple of days and a fortnight ago released your latest novel,
‘Madagali’. Is it to mark the special occasion?
Yes,
I wanted to use something to mark my 65th birthday. That was why I decided to
release the novel, my 15th. It was released two weeks ago, but the presentation
has been postponed due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
It
is dedicated to the officers and men of the Nigerian Armed Forces for their
gallantry in the ongoing war against Boko Haram insurgency. It is a fictional
account of the rebellion.
How
long did it take, from conception to completion?
The
research; interviews and visits to the Army Training Centres as well as the
Northeast, the theatre of the insurgency, took 18 months. Another six months
were used for the literature review, the writing and rewriting of the
manuscript. The book took two years to complete.
Though
it is fiction, ‘Madagali’ benefited a lot from many people who were generous
with their time and assistance while researching and writing. They include my
staff, fellow writers, friends, family members, as well as former and serving
members of the security forces.
I
travelled to many towns in the Northeast, including Maiduguri, Damaturu, Mubi,
Madagali, Gulak, and Hong, among others while researching the book. I also
interviewed residents in these areas who narrated their experiences in the
hands of Boko Haram insurgents.
I
also spoke with serving and retired members of the Nigerian Armed Forces as
well as aid workers with international relief organisations. I visited some
Internally Displaced Peoples camps where I spoke to some refugees on their
plight.
A
previous visit to Liberia, many years ago where I interacted with Nigerian
soldiers who were members of the peacekeeping force; ECOMOG as well a general
view of Monrovia also came in handy.
For
a year (2008), I was resident in Liberia, Ghana, Gambia, Sierra Leone and
Senegal where I worked on a legislative USAID project. I travelled widely and
interacted with the citizens of these countries. Many of my experience during
this period came in handy while working on ‘Madagali’.
I
also had to read a lot of books about war injuries and the possible
consequences, guerrilla warfare, military operations, how to set up ambushes
and how to neutralise them, ammunition and mines. Insurgency and
counter-insurgency as well as books on previous guerrilla wars in Sri Lanka and
Vietnam among other places.
I
might be wrong, but you seem to have become more interested in Northern Nigeria
and its cultural dynamics. We see this in ‘Tenants of the House’, and you
appear to have touched on it also in ‘Madagali’?
This
is very true. My interest in Northern Nigeria began way back in 1997-2001 when
I became the General Secretary of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA). I
was opportune to travel to many states, especially the North, where I assisted
in setting up new branches in that position.
My
interest got a further boost when I moved to Abuja in 2004 as a member of the
House of Representatives. During this period, I travelled widely across the
country, especially to the North. I also made many friends which necessitated
visits through which I got to know more about the cultures and peoples of the
region.
My
knowledge and fraternity with the North continued when I became the National
President of ANA from 2005 to 2008. Apart from winning my election at the
national convention which took place in Kano, I got the overwhelming vote from
northern writers. My tenure was devoted to the promotion of literature in
indigenous languages, and Northern Nigeria benefited a lot. I also used the
opportunity to discover new writers across the country, including the North,
which I visited extensively.
The
more I understood the North, the more I appreciated the region’s unique
culture, language, people and literature. That was why it was easy for me to
use the area as an appropriate setting for my writings and literary
interventions.
After
my tenure ended at the national assembly, I remained in Abuja where I took
literary, medical and legislative consultancies, mostly in the North for six
years. I worked with the National Primary Health Development Agency as a
consultant in Nasarawa, FCT and Niger with forays into other northern states. I
also consulted for the World Bank, Save The Children, UNICEF, Nigerian
Governors Forum and UNAIDS. The extended-stay further deepened my understanding
and love for northern Nigeria.
I
was more or less a full-time resident of northern Nigeria for close to 15
years. The lengthy stay allowed me to fully understand the culture and the
people and by extension, a suitable setting for my writings.
You
were mainly a fiction writer until some years ago when you moved into
non-fiction, biographies particularly. What sparked your interest, and how has
it been as a biographer?
I
decided to diversify into non- fiction especially, travel writing and
biographies because I believe in the importance of these genres in Nigerian
literature.
Writing
the biography of famous Nigerians can be nerve-wracking. It can also be fun.
Five years and five books down the road, I can write another book on my
experience as a commissioned chronicler of the lives of the famous and the
rich. A good friend of mine noted for his cynicism suggested a title, ‘Villains
and Victors: In the footsteps of fame and fraud.’
As
a politician myself, I am very sympathetic to my colleagues. I know where the
shoe pinches. As a biographer, I have had to put up with a lot of hassles. From
the last-minute cancelled appointment in Katsina to a scary flight to Yola, an
interview conducted in the middle of a campaign rally in Enugu as well as an
angry wife in Port Harcourt who protested my interviewing one of her husband’s
numerous girlfriends! This is apart from the fact that the job takes you away
from family and friends and turns you into an antisocial animal who is always
cocooned in his writing world.
I
have also had some good moments. Apart from interviewing and dining with the
high and mighty, my assignments have taken me to Ghana, UK, and the US aside
several Nigerian cities where I made invaluable friends. However, nothing in
the business surpasses the exhilaration of the writing itself. Hunched over my
laptop in the twilight or wee hours, I enjoy the thrill of piecing together the
fragments of other people’s stories, drilling into their beings like a surgeon
working in the innards of a patient. I am also a historian of some sort for
every biography is unique and the art of researching and writing it, a
historical journey.
As
much as I respect my subjects’ right to set boundaries for their stories, I am
no spin doctor and will not embellish facts. I believe in ‘evidence-based’
biographies where friends and foes alike will be interviewed so that a balanced
view of the subject will be presented for posterity and history to judge.
In
March 2019, Lantern Books published my first volume of travel stories; ‘Tales
of a Troubadour’ while the second volume is ready for publication. As for
travel writing, I enjoy travelling a lot, and I am also aware that travel
writing has helped to shape people’s perception of the world beyond their
borders and of history itself. Writing travelogue is a beautiful and immersive
experience. I have been writing travel stories for over 40 years, and each time
I go back to read one of them, it’s like reliving those moments. But I am not
doing anything new, I’m only following the masters.
Do
you have a preference between the two? That is, fiction and non-fiction?
Writing
biographies and travel stories are more challenging than writing fiction. While
you have the freedom to write anything in fiction, you can’t do that for non
-fiction. You need to gauge the feelings of your subjects as well as areas of
potential litigations before putting pen to paper in non-fiction. Having said
this, I enjoy writing biographies. Apart from the good money that accrues, I
have through it learnt a lot about human characteristics, struggles,
achievements and failures, through which I have become a better person. Indeed,
I will love to pay more attention to it in future.
You
trained as a medical doctor, but you have been writing for as long as you have
been a physician. Are you thinking of dropping one now that you’re getting
older?
I
find my three interests; literature, medicine and politics very symbiotic. Each
has been feeding each other for such a long time that I find it difficult to
separate them. Many of the inspirations for my novels such as ‘The Boys at the
Border’, ‘Strange Encounters’, ‘Sighs of Desire’, ‘Storms of Passion’ among
others came from my hospital experiences.
At
the same time, politics played a significant role in ‘Rainbows are for Lovers’,
‘After the Flood’, ‘Dreams die at Twilight’ and ‘Tenants of the House’ among
others. Medicine features prominently in ‘Madagali’.
Unlike
the famous Russian doctor/writer, Anton Chekov, who claimed that ‘Medicine is
my legal wife and Literature my mistress, I run to either of the two when I am
tired of one’, I see myself as being ‘legally married’ to literature, medicine
and politics. I can, therefore, not abandon one for the other. While age and
limitations of abilities may reduce my activities in the tripod, total
severance of one for the other may not be possible.
Do
you now have support for the Ebedi Writers Residency, what gives you joy about
the initiative?
I
am quite fulfilled that the philosophy behind the creation of the Ebedi
International Writers Residency, which was to give writers an opportunity to
complete their ongoing works in a conducive environment has been fulfilled.
Since September 2010, when it was established, the Ebedi Residency has hosted
about 140 writers and artists from ten African countries, providing them with
the needed comfort and space to express their creativity.
Besides,
during this period, the writers, as part of their community activities, have
mentored several students from secondary schools in Iseyin in the area of
creative arts.
For
three years the Residency has published ‘Ebedi Review’– showcasing the
experiences of writers and artists who have stayed there at one time or the
other, their short stories, poems and essays. It has also published works from
writers across the African continent.
We
have been able to attract some of the financial support for the Residency once
in a while, but these have been few and far between. I had thought that by now,
ten years since the establishment of the Residency, we would have been enjoying
some form of a generous grant. Unfortunately, this has not happened, and the
bulk of the financing has been on me. Every time we send out an application for
support, we would be commended for what we are doing with the regret that the
available funds are not meant for our kind of project. My observation is that
many corporate organisations, including philanthropists, are not interested in
literature and the arts. Many of them would instead prefer to sponsor events in
the entertainment industry, especially the beauty pageants and sports
competitions.
All
the same, we would not relent in our efforts at fundraising with the hope that
sooner or later, something good would come our way. In recognition of my
literary contributions to Iseyin, especially the establishment of the Residency,
the Aseyin of Iseyin, Oba Abdulganiyu Adekunle Salaudeen, OlogunebiAjinose 1
honoured me with the traditional title of Onigege Ara (the man with the
wonderful pen) in November 2019
What
has been the response to ‘Tenants of the House’ as a movie and do you plan any
other movie adaptation of your works
From
the positive reactions after the premiere as well as other private screenings,
it is apparent that we have been able to produce an artistically successful
movie. My prayer now is to have a commercially successful film, so I can pay
back my ‘gbese’ [debts] and start sleeping normally again.
I
am hopeful that some of my other novels, especially those that have addressed
societal problems such as ‘Strange Encounters’, ‘The Weaving Looms’ as well as
‘The Boys at the Border’ will soon be adapted into movies.
When
will the public be able to see ‘Tenants…’ in cinemas?
We
are still in the process of sorting out some of the logistics necessary for the
public viewing of the Film. Hopefully, this would soon be sorted out before the
end of the year.
Considering
your mixed fortunes in politics, has it been worth it?
History
is replete with medical doctors who have also been politicians but despite what
you referred to as my ‘mixed fortunes’, I am fulfilled that I dabbled into
politics. Apart from the opportunity given me to serve my people at the local
level as well as the country at the national level, the experience garnered as
well as the legion of friends made during my tenure has enriched my personal
life, my writings as well as my entire outlook of life.
What’s
the best, most precious birthday gift you would love for your 65th?
Good
health and peace of mind among a beautiful company of family and friends. I
thank God that He has already given me this precious birthday gift. He added an
icing, the joy of a new book, ‘Madagali’. I couldn’t have asked for more.
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