Sulaimon Olanrewaju and Charles Akinsete write on the poetry and style of Professor Remi Raji-Oyelade, a multiple literary award winner.WHAT is the nexus between poetry and brewing' To the ordinary observer, the two are parallel lines with different destinations. But to the profound mind, there is a convergence for the two. The creative mind sees poetry as sharing a lot with brewing because just as a rushed brewing process ends up with a crudely formed product that leaves a bad taste in the mouth, so does a hurriedly-strewn poetry stings the ear and sinks the heart.Speaking about poetry and brewing, Professor Remi Raji-Oyelade says, 'Poetry can be compared to the brewing of beer. It must take time to ferment. You must embellish it with ingredients and then you must wait for other people to taste it. There is a part of you that tells you that this line is not perfect yet, that this line is not good enough. That is why you still need to listen to the criticism of others who are around you before you go to publish'.The expressive lyricist is qualified to talk about good and not so good poetry not just because he is currently the Head of the English Department at the University of Ibadan, where he teaches African and African American literature, literary theory and creative writing, but essentially because he has made his mark in poetry and has gained renown nationally and internationally as a primus inter pares poet. He has written poems that have won awards just as he has taught people who have written award-winning poems. He has also published five collections of poems; A Harvest of Laughters (1997), Drumvoices Revue: Poetic Voices of Contemporary Urban Cultures(2000), Webs of Remembrance (2001) Shuttlesongs America: A Poetic Guided Tour (2001) and Gather my blood rivers of song (2009); co-authored one; Ibadan Mesiogo: A Celebration of A City, Its History And People and co-edited another Renascent Africa: An Anthology of New South African and Nigerian Poetry.Professor Raji-Oyelade's artistic ingenuity reeks through his anthologies. His literariness explores the intricacies of African cosmology, thereby provoking a high sense of commitment on the part of his readers to read through his works. His poetic ordinances in his anthologies reflect an ambience of traditional and modern artistry, a subtle metaphor which represents the dilemma of Africa in the quest to ascertain her cultural identity and socio-economic relevance in a multi-cultural 21st century world. Little wonder his anthology, A Harvest of Laughters, won the Association of West African Young Writers VOCA Award for Best First Published book in 1997. It also emerged joint winner of the Association of Nigerian Authors and Cadbury Poetry Prize.No doubt Raji-Oyelade's world view, as reflected in his poetic masterpieces, transcends the corridors of style. The author understands the responsibilities of an African writer and basically responds to the task of rebuilding the African 'nation'. Trailing the footsteps of Chinua Achebe Christopher Okigbo, among others, he understandably celebrates Africa's aesthetics, laments its past glories and boldly condemns its self imposing constraints. His poem, 'Have you seen that Land', explicitly reveals the author's longing for the past, not merely a traditional way of life, but Africa's philosophy and socio-cultural values, which had sustained it for centuries. His constant rhetorical question, 'have you seen that land'' subtly emits a disdain for present spoil of the African soil, as a result of dearth of its cultures and untimely death of its sons and daughters from the rampage of corruption, self aggrandisement and inordinate ambition on the part of the leaders.His comparison of poetry and brewing is founded in the noticeable haste among budding poets to get their collections published, a development he blames on technology which announces wannabe writers to the world before they are actually ready for such exposure. He says such haste will only result in the production of sub-standard works.He says, 'You know one of our problems in modern times is that anyone who has finished writing something down; a scribbler, not a writer, wants to publish the next volume of poetry next week. They say, 'I have written 200 poems. The problem is that I don't have a publisher'. But why don't you leave that for now and do a critique of your works. You will realise that out of the 200 poems, you don't really have up to 40 poems. And if you hand them over to critics, your editor or to a friend who is sincerely critical, those 40 poems may just turn out to be 30 poems. So, by the time you come up with those 30 poems, they will stand the test of time.'Harping on the need for writers to be imaginative and creative, Raji-Oyelade, who is about to hit the golden age, says a poet must be able to look at his environment and draw attention to what is not obvious to all.According to him, 'As a writer you need a pen, a paper and then you need your imagination. The pen and the paper, you can actually purchase but imagination is certainly something you need to develop and it is something you develop as you hone your skill.'He adds that the imagination of a writer will reflect in his choice of words and even the arrangement of the words. He submits that while a writer may not necessarily give the world new words, he should unfailingly be a wordsmith.But he also believes that part of the imaginative power of a writer is his ability to commune with the future and bring same into the present. He must be a person of insight to escape the doldrums of ordinariness.Like Steve Jobs, Raji-Oyelade believes that only countries that are able to effectively marry the humanities with science have a hope for the future because while the thinking that leads to development is produced by the humanities, the fabrication and formation of the thought process are carried out by the sciences.He says that 'There can be no genuine development of minds in the country until History and Literature are elevated. The science of life is humanities. Philosophy is in all of the sciences. Isaac Newton, Archimedes, Pythagoras, all of these mathematicians, started as philosophers. But we have minimised the importance of philosophical dissipations in this country; we have killed thinking.'It is his belief in the importance of literature and history that have made him a cultural activist. He believes the country is not doing enough about the promotion of its culture, a development that is dangerous to the overall interest of the country.He points out that, 'We have a ministry of culture, a minister of culture, chairmen of cultural organisations and commissioners who know next to nothing about how important writing is. Many of them think that the ministry should just gather people together to dance and clap when a visiting president is coming. That is what culture means to them.'The bard stresses that culture is much more than that, pointing out that culture, the way of life of a people, is preserved through the elevation of the people's history and literature.At 50, many people regard the egghead with full hair as a success because of his ability to have encouraged a tribe of young writers. If there is an area where Raji-Oyelade has excelled most outside writing, it is in raising writers. This has been appreciated by quite a number of his followers who never cease to sing his praise.The poet believes that what he has done at the individual level could be replicated at the level of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) and this is one of his reasons for aspiring to lead the national body as president.He says, 'In my own way, I have encouraged some writers, I have developed some writers and I have introduced writers to international organisations for readings and fellowships. I felt that the goodwill of one writer cannot last forever. One will retire when one can't do a lot anymore. So why don't we do something institutional and then get ANA to be the body supporting budding writers' In 1981, six writers were published by ANA's then publishing arm, Update Publishers, free of charge; Akpan Eke and Iman Sheik, among others. Most of them still write. We can do the same thing across the country. ANA is represented across the country. Some are more visible in some states than others, and some more powerful than others.'The ANA election is slated for November and both the bard and his band of supporters are hopeful of victory, they believe it will be an appropriate crowning of the poet's 50th birthday celebration.
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