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Actor, Oladele
Akinseye, and writer, Karen King-Aribisala, jazzed up the occasion on
Tuesday, July 22, when Wale Okediran read from his latest novel,
‘Tenants of the House’, at the Faculty of Arts boardroom, University of
Lagos.

Akinseye sang
‘Peace, Love and Happiness’ to honour Okediran for winning the 2010
Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature. Okediran was a joint winner of the
prize with South Africa’s Kopano Matlwa. It was a funny spectacle as
Akinseye tried to involve the audience in the acapella piece. The two
groups he asked to mimic musical instruments gave discordant tunes
while he belted the lyrics of the Afrobeat number.

King-Aribisala,
head of the Department of English and co-convener of the reading with
writer Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo, also delivered her welcome address in a
song “in the spirit of what happened.” She called it the ‘Ouch, wow,
wow, wow song’. Some mischievous students taken in by the song kept
repeating ‘ouch, wow, wow, wow’ during Adimora-Ezeigbo’s introduction
of the guest writer.

Strange environment

Okediran prefaced
the four excerpts he read from the novel with explanations in an
attempt to provide context for his audience. The author disclosed
before he read the first chapter that he realised he was truly in a
strange environment when he got to the House.

“I found myself in
a different environment and started keeping a diary,” he said. The
former president of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) added
that he wrote a fictional account of his sojourn at the House because
his lawyer warned him he could be sued. He stated that the novel
generated mixed reactions from his colleagues in the National Assembly
when it was eventually released.

Okediran disclosed
that he still dodges three female members of the House who are unhappy
with him for portraying women as hard and having loose morals in the
novel. He then read the chapter where Lizzy attempted to seduce Bakura,
who wanted out of the plot to impeach the speaker.

The author of
‘Sighs of Desire’ and ‘The Weaving Looms’ also touched on the problems
he and other anti-third term lawmakers had with former president
Olusegun Obasanjo.

A long tradition

During the question
and answer session, students and lecturers grilled Okediran, who
recently established a residency for writers in Iseyin, Oyo State.

Asked if the
demarcation between science and arts students in secondary schools is
necessary, considering his literary achievements despite being a
medical doctor, Okediran said, “We have a long tradition of
doctor-writers. I’m sure many of you have come across Anton Chekov,
there are many of them. It has now been confirmed that your profession
doesn’t matter, it’s your innate talent. Now in America, poetry is
taught in medical schools to encourage doctors to see the beauty of
poetry and do some writing.” He added that curriculum planners have
nothing to lose by re-examining the issue and addressing it.

Child’s play

Elites shouldn’t
shy away from politics, Okediran said when Lasisi Bolaji, a student
activist asked how credible people can get into elective offices. “I
believe the more people of credible background we have, the better
politics will be at the end of the day. And you should have a job
before you go,” he reiterated.

Kayode Soremekun,
a professor of International Relations and Okediran’s squatter at the
University of Ife (Obafemi Awolowo University) where he studied
English, asked his friend if there was a future for democracy in
Nigeria, going by actions of members of the National Assembly.

“What you have seen
now is like child’s play compared to what happened many years ago,” the
writer began. “It’s something of regret to many of us because we
thought that now, things should be getting better. The future of this
democracy lies in the hands of us, the so-called elites, because it’s
like we abandoned politics and democracy to the second eleven. Bola Ige
said when he wanted to drag me into politics that the bane of the
elites is that we don’t want to leave our comfort zones, we are not
interested in how government is being run.”

Love wins

He offered an
interesting insight into how love got into the story. “It will be very
boring to read a 300-page book just on politics. Love story is a winner
any day and I know that from experience. I went to Spectrum Books many
years ago with my first manuscript about my experience during NYSC. The
editor said: ‘this will not sell. If you want a book to sell, either
write a thriller or a love story’. So, I had to go back and write a
love story. That’s why my first book, ‘Rainbows Are for Lovers’ is
about the bestselling book published by Spectrum Books till today. And
from comments from readers, particularly the ladies, the love story
carries the day. When Professor Ayo Banjo reviewed the book in Ibadan,
he said I wrote two books in one. One about politics, the other on
love.”

Sidney Sheldon’s influence

Okediran revealed
the influence of the late thriller writer, Sidney Sheldon, on his work.
“I was maybe badly or positively influenced by Sidney Sheldon. I read
him and I’ve read his biographies. When he was asked why he liked using
female protagonists, he said: ‘you don’t know what you are missing.
Women can change their minds anytime and with a woman, you can get a
very good character because you don’t know what she will do next. With
a man, you can predict’. To a large extent, I think it’s true. That’s
why I used Lizzy to open my book. Sidney Sheldon also believes in
cliffhangers. That’s why I said maybe I was badly influenced because
some of my friends tell me: ‘your book is (only) a little above James
Hadley Chase and I say, let it be like that. That’s what I like. It can
actually be a problem because some reviewers want literary books, so to
say – ‘difficult’ books. They call some of us populist writers but I
think it’s good. I think the best compliment you can get as a writer is
‘I read your book and I couldn’t put it down’. That says it all.”

A book signing session for the students and guests including the
writer’s relatives, friends and Hope Eghagha, Delta State commissioner
for higher education, ended the reading.