18th December, 2013
Students, friends and family honour Professor J.P. Clark on his 80th birthday
That Professor J.P. Clark is unarguably one of the most lyrical poets and accomplished dramatists on the global stage was demonstrated at the Afe Babalola Hall, University of Lagos on Thursday, 12 December, when students drawn from various schools in Lagos and beyond, friends and family celebrated him at his 80th birthday celebration. And for an author whose fame transcends national boundaries and who had demonstrated through inimitable works such as The Casualties, Night Rain, Abiku, Song of a Goat, The Raft, The Wives’ Revolt and The Ozidi Saga the symbiotic link between life and the arts, that honour was well deserved.
It was a day of poetry, dance and tributes. A lecture delivered by Professor Wole Soyinka climaxed the event. Students sporting uniforms set the hall afire as they recited Clark’s poems and recited excerpts from his plays. They also expressed profuse appreciation of his contribution to global literature. Those who gave renditions of Clark’s poems included Daramola Jabita, a student of Tom-Caleb High School, Eniola Oladipo of Vivian Fowler Memorial College for Girls, and Temitope Kadiri of Grace High School, Gbagada, Lagos.
The performances did not fall short of expectation as the students gave different interpretations of Clark’s work. The students of ST & T Regency College, sporting white T-shirts and tie-and-dye wrappers, performed The Agbor Dancer to the admiration of the audience as they wriggled their bodies to the rhythm of a bata drum. The students of Basil College, Redeemers High School, performed excerpts from Clark’s Song of a Goat and Casualties respectively. The different ways in which students of Unilag International School and Chrisland Schools interpreted the celebrant’s Abiku were unique in their own right. While Unilag International School showcased a disconsolate mother appealing to a kid smeared with oil and whose head was nestled on her laps, Chrisland Schools portrayed a very headstrong abiku, body powdered all over, prancing around with gusto.
The students also paid the celebrant profuse compliments. Michael Oluwatobi Mekule, a student of CMS Grammar School, Lagos, said Clark ‘is a stentorian voice’ in Nigerian literature. “He is a very intelligent man, a man who knows how to put books and a whole library into one subject. I am very honoured to have shaken hands with him. This is a rare privilege, this is a special professor and I am very honoured,” he said
Chinaya Anyauba, a student of Chrisland College, also expressed her appreciation. “I have read some of his poems and he is a very great writer. It is a very great opportunity for us to come together and present a poem for him,” she enthused.
Precious Onaiwu, who performed Clark’s poem, Ibadan, on behalf of her school, also said it was a very great opportunity for students. “It is a very special event because you get to be recognised,” she said.
Clark, who was thrilled by the performances, expressed his appreciation. “I feel good because the children are here. I also feel good because the elders are here. I am very happy in the middle of life and to see you show such love for poetry, not only learning what you have been taught but actually writing. So I wish you all the best and I want to thank you again for your attention and for your affection.”
Ema Clark, one of the daughters of the celebrant, also thanked the students, the organisers of the event as well as the Vice-Chancellor and staff of the University of Lagos for their support. “To all the kids who performed today, you were exceptionally brilliant. Your performances were absolutely fantastic. I can see presidents, I can see senators, I can see both actors and actresses in this hall. And my prayer is that when you look back at this event you will see this was the day it all began,” she said.
—Nehru Odeh