By Akeem Lasisi
Several Nigerian writers and other literary enthusiasts, on Tuesday, took an inspiring trip into the creative and ideological worlds of multi-talented amazon, Mabel Segun. It was at a novel programme that marked her 95th birthday, tagged ‘Celebrating the Legend @ 95: The Multifaceted Artistry of Mabel Segun. A Life of Literary Excellence and Sportsmanship’. It was held at the JK Randle Centre for Yoruba Culture and History in Onikan, Lagos.
From Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka; and other celebrated writers such as Professors Niyi Osundare and Akachi Ezeigbo, to Segun’s daughter, Omowunmi, and even students, everyone had a revealing thing to say about or learn from the celebrator. While, on the first day, the programme featured a children’s writing workshop, the Reader’s Theatre project and a mock table tennis tournament, it climaxed on day two with a seminar on ‘The Multifaceted Artistry of Mabel Segun’, an exhibition on the rich journey of her life and the launch of the Mabel Segun Foundation.
Among other resource persons who discussed different aspects of her life and works, Ezeigbo spoke on ‘Women, Identity and Voice in Mabel Segun’s Writing’ while UK-based scholar and media executive, Dr Lookman Sanusi, spoke on ‘Mabel Segun and Evolution of Children Literature’. Another pen pusher, Dr Folu Agoi, presented a paper titled ‘Mabel Segun and the Power of Representation in Literature’. The presentations were variously discussed by stakeholders that included Sola Alamutu, who co-anchored the programme with Sanusi; Jahman Anikulapo, Chydy Ngere, Ndidi Chiazor Enemor, Amara Chimeka and Dr Mujeedah Abdul Aleem Olagunju.
Like the deep calling to the deep, Soyinka, in a Zoom tribute to Segun, described her as an exemplar in different areas she explored. He recalled how, beyond literary feats, Segun used to whip men in table tennis.
Soyinka said, “I should call her Auntie Mabel because she is older than me. She is an exemplar at feminism. She is unique in many ways. She was a very strong member of the university community but she did things her own way.”
Yet, Soyinka had a challenge for his auntie. She told her: ‘You may decide to take up the pen again. Why not?”
Osundare also extolled Segun’s virtues. He said he had been hearing about her since when he was in school in the 1960s, while he later studied her in the university. The multiple award-winning poet particularly recalled how Segun’s poem titled ‘Conflict’ came up for discussion in class — then at the University of Ibadan.
Osundare said, “ She has been with us for a long time and we want her to be with us longer. ‘The Conflict’ is a simple poem that raises many complex questions. It was written at the time we were just coming out of colonialism. Segun raised the questions decades back but we still haven’t found answers to them. That was the time Soyinka, Achebe, Okigbo and other great writers were also raising such topical issues. She was the female voice. She has always been one female voice person in the midst of many men.”
Osundare added that, with the publication of My Father’s Daughter in 1965, Segun further asserted herself as an icon. “I read it and enjoyed it and made sure all my children read the book,” he noted. “Later, she published My Mother’s Daughter and I said: ‘Segun has satisfied the gender equation. The fact is that she speaks to the complexity of our living and she never forgets there is hope even in the midst of our anxieties.”
Describing the amazon as a moral mirror, Osundare said she never left anyone in doubt about the value she stood for when she was at the University of Ibadan.
“She knew when to say ‘No’ and insisted on it. She is proud but not arrogant,” he said.
While also highlighting the elderly role Segun played in the life of the Association of Nigerian Authors and the fact that she is also a successful sportswoman, he saluted her daughter, Omowunmi Segun, whom, he said, was ‘very much like her.”
In an intimate tribute by Omowunmi too, titled ‘The Mother I Know’, she identified the values that shaped her (the mum) and the principles that made her uniquely successful. Omowunmi, who is also an acclaimed writer, recalled the different perspectives people have of her mother. According to her, some say she is idealistic, others say she is difficult, while someone once claimed she was cantankerous. One factor Omowunmi did not forget to, however, highlight is the fact that her mother is a product of, and believer in, strict and dutiful upbringing she inherited from her Mabel’s) father.
Emeritus Professor, Olu Obafemi, also had kind words for the matriarch. In a tribute delivered on his behalf by Dr Tayo Ogunlewe, he practically put a garland of eulogy on the literary enigma. He noted that Segun had been a backbone of the Association of Nigerian Authors. Obafemi said, “You have been there for us since the beginning and you are still there today.”
Similarly, another veteran writer, Mrs Mobolaji Adenubi, recalled how Segun has impacted on the development on literary culture in Nigeria, including her role in the evolution of the Women Writers Association of Nigeria. She described her as a very pleasant person.
Success runs in the larger family of Segun and businessman, author and philanthropist, Kayode Aderinokun, acknowledged this in his speech. He recalled that she is the elder sister of culture administrator and writer, Pa Frank Aigh-Imoukhuede, who is the father of hugely successful banker, Aigboje Aigh-Imoukhuede — co-founder of Access Bank, among other establishments. Aderinokun thus congratulated the old Imoukhuede, who recently turned 90 and was present at the sister’s feast.
Aderinokun told him: “Sir, in Aigboje, I can see the quality of personality you have inspired and encouraged.”
He saluted Segun as a writer who has set a compelling standard and built a pedestal for others to follow. Aderinokun is particularly awed that she successfully navigated children and adult literatures, a feat he considers rare. “Hardly would you find people who excel in both. If you are good at writing for children, you are not likely to be good at writing for adults,” the author of Inferno in the Rain, a collection of poems, added.
The event, where this writer, Akeem Lasisi, also honoured Segun with a poetic tribute titled ‘This is not a Tribute for your Wondrous Life’, also stressed the need to protect her legacies. This is how the formation of the Mabel Segun Foundation is instructive, with another multi-talented creative, Bunmi Oyinsan, intimating the gathering with its objectives. According to her, the foundation will nurture younger writers and uphold other values that the amazon promotes. Stressing that it will inspire young generations, Oyinsan noted, “Mabel Segun is a national treasure whose legacies will last forever.”
In a special write-up shared at the feast also attended by other stakeholders such as Toyin Akinosho and Olu Okekanye, Segun sought to deepen discussion on writing for the young. In the piece written by her, titled ‘Children Book Production in Nigeria: An Assessment’, she spoke on ‘Cultural Identity and the Child’, Adventure Books and Modern Realistic Stories’, Books for Different Age Groups’ and what she called ‘The Linguistic Situation’, in which she expressed worry on the dearth of children books in Nigerian languages.
