PARLEY WITH A CRITIC

By OMOSEYE BOLAJI


The wholesome, salubrious breeze hovered around us at the waterfront where we were having our drinks, complemented with light lunch. I was with Ishmael Soqaga who had invited me here. His message had been brief and to the point:

Ntate Bolaji, I am so delighted with the publication of my study on you (book) I have been so excited with the positive reviews the book has been getting. I’d like us to have lunch together at the Waterfront at the weekend. What do you say?

I had agreed. And here we were now. Ishmael Mzwandile Soqaga is the author of the very latest study on my literary work. His book is titled OMOSEYE BOLAJI: A voyage around his literary work. Always humble and polite, Soqaga almost always prefers to praise others, rather than allow himself to be commended. He was thanking me fulsomely now, but I stopped him.

“Why are you thanking me?” I said. “All the praises and kudos for your book should deservedly go YOUR way, as they are now. You spent years researching and writing your book on me. If many pundits and critics like it, then that is to your credit. Who told you I enjoyed the way you severely criticised me in your book anyway? I am not even supposed to be here with you!” I joked, smiling. “So, well done to you anyway,”

He said: “But to be honest, I have learnt so much from you over the last few years; from you, from Lechesa, from ntate Flaxman (all South African writers)...I mean, it’s only my first book anyway. My special area of interest as you well know is actually pan-Africanism; you made me realise how diverse and prolific Wole Soyinka is as a writer...But what I appreciate most about you is how you introduced me to the works of Chinweizu. What a great intellectual! And of course Obi Egbuna too. Nigerians have contributed so much to intellectualism and ideas of Africanism. Chinweizu; and Egbuna!”

Ah, Obi B Egbuna, I thought. My mind went back to his African classical work of fiction, The madness of Didi. A superb work indeed. I had not seen a copy for many years unfortunately though...

I had been astonished the way and manner in which Mr Soqaga had done intensive research on Chinweizu soon after I had inadvertently introduced his name one day during a discussion. As a well known South African “Africanist” and polemicist, I had expected Soqaga to know about Chinweizu; but initially he did not. But within a short time he seemed to know everything about Chinweizu! He was also to do some research on Obi Egbuna, buut Chinweizu remained Soqaga’s firm favourite, alongside Ngugi.

Soqaga now touched briefly on some aspects of the reviews of his new book based on me. He tried to “explain” himself as regards certain opinions on his work. I smiled at him. “You must never try to defend yourself against critics,” I said to him. “After all, you are a critic yourself!” We both laughed.

It was a congenial ambience here. Buoyed with the initial success of his maiden book, Soqaga was now telling me about the new book he intended to work on. “The reviewers keep on harping on how long it took for me to put the study on you together,” he said rather lugubriously. “My next book won’t take a long time, I’m sure,”

“Good for you,” I said.

Then Soqaga asked me an invidious question. He said: “Mr Bolaji, you have had so many books, studies, published on your literary work. Both by black and white writers. At least ten books on you so far...I wonder, which one of these books do you like most? Which one is your favourite?”

It was a tricky question and whilst trying to answer it diplomatically I had to seek the “help” of one of the greats, Chinua Achebe who once said that writers should not be asked about their “favourite works...it is like asking a parent about which child they love best,” I told him this.

“So you refuse to answer the question?” Soqaga said.

“I will answer it,” I said. “I love all the studies, the books. Fact is when a new book is out, and one is the subject, because it is the very latest one, for some time there is a concentrated frisson of excitement surrounding the new one. So you and your new book have the advantage now!”

“But you love them all,” he said, laughing. I nodded, laughing too. The exchange of ideas continued...