For Dr. Esiaba Irobi, as for many other immigrants to the United States and elsewhere, the journey to a foreign country is not supposed to be a journey of no return. It is the hope of many, or maybe ingrained in the spirit of man upon leaving the shores of his or her ancestors, to make a blissful return to the fold of his or her kindred to share the experiences of being away and to catch up with the missing moments.
But for Esiaba, it was the journey of no return. When he moved to Berlin a few weeks ago with his wife to take up a position as a distinguished research fellow in Freie University in Germany, it was just one of those dividends of hard work, and refreshingly so. The Interweaving Performance Cultures program, which selected Esiaba, is one of the most coveted scholarships in international theater that provides the platform for renowned poets with unique talents for intercultural theater. But unbeknownst to him, his selection was a call from his creator, and rightly became his transit to eternity. As a master of his trade, he died doing what he enjoyed most - poetry.
Described by some of his students as a fearless warrior, the late professor of theater arts at Ohio University was well-known for his resolute attitude toward life. Like a brave warrior, he fought to the end. At the human front, the granting of his tenure sparked one of the most vibrant student campaigns in support of a lecturer in the history of OU, because tenure was unduly denied him initially. But within him, too, he was restive; cancer also was taking its toll on his health. Although he won the battle on the human front, receiving tenure in 2007, he succumbed to a long battle with cancer May 3.
To Esiaba, life itself was a drama. He dramatized not only on the stage and in the classroom, but his entire life was theatrical, much in the positive sense of the word. In an interview with a Nigerian student who chose to remain anonymous, he intimated that Esiaba's life and work tell their own stories. Not only was he a heavyweight intellectual
winning the prestigious World Drama Trust Award for playwright in 1992 there are a collection of unmatched quality of literary writings under his pen. He never departed from his African roots. They reverberated in his work and he radiated a unique energy that was infectious to all who met him. But
in life
your positive energies might not always receive that reciprocal energy. There are some who will regard him as a controversial figure.
On Ohio University's website, Republic of Biafra describes his birthplace and Nigeria provided him a safe haven, where he spent part of his initial exile before making Britain and the United Sates his abode. For those who might be wondering which state in this universe goes by the name Republic of Biafra, it is presumably the lyricist's own wit to keep the identity of his origin - Igbo, the natives of Biafra - alive. Biafra was a secessionist state in southeastern Nigeria during the late 1960s. But like the Noble Laureate in literature, Wole Soyinka, ascribed in his book, The Open Sore of a Continent, Oyibo wey make pencil
na im also make eraser. So the Republic of Biafra could have existed only in the imagination of the great poet.
He studied at the Universities of Nigeria, Sheffield, Leeds, and held a B.A. in English/Drama, M.A. comparative literature, M.A. film/theatre, and a Ph.D. in theatre studies. He had taught at New York University (1997-2000), Towson University (2000-2002) and at Ohio University in Athens, until his death at 49.
Indeed, it is a fleeting life when enterprising lives such as Esiaba are plucked by death before they could reach their fullest potentials, depriving our world of their unique perspectives to life. But let's take consolation in the afterlife, believing that it is not the end of man, and that one day there shall be a reunion of the souls. Fare thee well, Dr. Esiaba Irobi.
The African Studies and the School of Theater will have a memorial event for Dr. Esiaba Irobi today at the Forum Theater, RTV, at 7:00 p.m.
Prosper Yao Tsikata is a graduate assistant in the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism and Center for International Studies.
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Opinion
Letter to the Editor
