A Tribute To Mrs Mabel Segun @95 By Dr Wale Okediran

 A Tribute To Mrs Mabel Segun @95

                             By

                  Dr Wale Okediran

I consider it a great honor and privilege to write this Tribute for Mama Segun on her 95th birthday.  

I recall that in her younger days, Mrs Segun was averse to being referred to as ‘Mama Segun’. However, at 95, I consider it very appropriate to call her by this well- deserved and distinguished name.

I have known Mrs Segun for more than 40 years. Just like many writers of my generation, my first contact with mama was through her famous book; ’My Father’s Daughter’ which I read as a school text in my secondary school days.

 Our relationship continued over the years principally through many literary platforms especially that of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA).

 We also collaborated on some literary projects particularly, the Encyclopedia of Post – Colonial Literatures in English Published by Routledge, 11 New fetter Lane, London where I contributed two entries on “African Authors” and “Literary Associations”

Another very significant project was the Workshop on Children’s Literature which took place many years ago in Kaduna under the auspices of the Association of Nigerian Authors. 

I recollect vividly that during the Workshop which was sponsored by the late General Shehu Yar Dua, I also registered as a participant. It was therefore Mrs Segun’s tutelage at that Workshop that gave me the proficiency to become a Children’s Literature writer.

In addition to our literary association, Mrs Segun was also very close to my family and is remembered till today with reverence and admiration by my children who were very fond of her when they were very young.

Although Mabel Segun has written for both adults and children, it is as a writer of children’s books that she is well noted. Till date, she has written, co-authored and edited around eleven children's books.

 These include the autobiographies for younger readers My Father's Daughter published in 1965 and My Mother's Daughter published in 1986, as well as Olu and the Broken Statue (1985), The First Corn (1989) and The Twins and the Tree Spirits (1991/2004). Mama has also published poetry for children, including one she edited with Neville Grant - Under the Mango Tree (1980) - that features poems for all over Africa and the diaspora.

A champion for children's literature in Nigeria, Mrs Segun founded the Children's Literature Association of Nigeria in 1978 and set up the Children's Documentation and Research Centre in 1990 in Ibadan.

 In justifying a special attention to children’s literature, Mrs Segun had this to say;

... writing for children is much more difficult than writing for adults. Children at different ages have different interests, different psychological make-ups and different cognitive experiences. You must use simple language and you must never talk down to children.......

In her meritorious contribution to literature, Mrs Segun has been among other things; a Fellow at the International Youth Library in Munich, a member of the children's books review panel for African Book Publishing Record published in Oxford, an assessor for the Noma Award for Publishing in Africa and a collaborator with the International Board on Books for Young People in Basel.

 In 2007, Segun's play for children - Readers' Theatre: Twelve Plays for Young People was joint winner of the NLNG Nigeria Prize for Children's Literature. The twelve plays included popular folktales, as well as ones on Nigerian heroes.

I cannot conclude this brief Tribute without thanking Omowunmi, for her sterling role in the upkeep and care of her mother. I also extend the same thanksgiving to Mrs Segun’s other children including her grand- children.

As she celebrates her 95th birthday, I join her large group of mentees, friends, family and relatives to wish mama many happy returns of the day in good health and happiness.

Joop Berkhout: Death and a Writers' Loss by Wale Okediran

 JOOP BERKHOUT: DEATH AND A WRITERS' LOSS BY WALE OKEDIRAN 

                                                                               

On one sunny day in July 1987 at the Enugu Trade Fair grounds in Enugu, Nigeria when the late iconic African Writer, Cyprian Ekwensi held up my hand and publicly presented my first novel; RAINBOWS ARE FOR LOVERS (RAFL), I felt a glow of happiness and relief flow through me.

 After several years in ‘the publication wilderness’, I was finally a published author. I was still relishing that golden moment when my Publisher, the indefatigable Joop Berkhout of Spectrum Books Ltd, Ibadan nudged me to life and reminded me to make a speech and later taught me how to autograph a book.

That momentous day in Enugu marked the beginning of my over 40-years relationship with that great man, a quintessential man of books, a writers’ delight and a loyal friend. During those years, three of my books were published by Chief Berkhout’s then publishing stable, Spectrum Books. 

While RAFL went on to become one of Spectrum’s best- sellers, THE BOYS AT THE BORDER was shortlisted for the 1991 Commonwealth Literature Prize. Even though DREAMS DIE AT TWILIGHT (Malthouse Press, 2001) was not published by Spectrum Books, the book was adjudged as one of the best 25 books in Nigeria in the last 25 years during Spectrum Book’s 25th anniversary in 2003.

Although a hard- nosed businessman, Joop Berkhout invested in writers and remained until his death, perhaps, one of the most writer-friendly publishers in this part of the world. Apart from paying me a generous advance royalty for RAFL, Chief Berkhout also put me on the then Nigeria Airways, Lagos to Enugu flight WT 264, ‘ Ikogosun Warm Springs’ for the book launch. Unlike these days when many authors have to run after their publishers for their legitimate book royalties, regular twice yearly royalty payment was the norm during Chief Berkhout’s time at Spectrum Books. 

In 2007, when Joop Berkhout founded Safari Books Limited after his temporary retirement from Spectrum Books, he appointed me a Publishing Consultant to the new outfit. In his Letter of Appointment he sated thus; ’’I am glad that you have joined us as our publishing consultant. I can assure you that I will keep you busy for many years to come’’.

 Even though at that time he was already in his 80s, he kept to his words by pilling me with loads of jobs and responsibilities especially in the area of Biography writing. In the course of my duty, Chief Berkhout introduced me to some leading captains of industry, political leaders as well as former Nigerian Presidents some of whom I personally interviewed for their biographies.

A great socialite and humanist, I was part of his regular league of lunch and dinner guests in his Ibadan home, Cambridge House, a house made famous by the past occupant, the late Nigerian poet, Christopher Okigbo. During those encounters, ‘Chairman’ as I fondly called him, regularly regaled me with his thoughts on almost every conceivable topic under the sky even if we didn’t always agree with each other on such topics.

With his demise, Nigeria, has lost a wonderful and illustrious senior citizen, as well as a publisher per excellence who despite his Dutch heritage was a naturalized Nigerian who made the country his home for 59 out of his 94 years on earth. May his soul rest in perfect peace. Amen.