The night a man who knows his father read

The literary icon’s son was hosted on Lola shoneyin’s “Infusion” Thursday night, where he flexed his literary muscles, reading from his book, In the Shadow of a Saint. If you are still wondering what the book is about, Ken Wiwa opens with these words: My father. Where does he end and where do I begin? […]

The literary icon’s son was hosted on Lola shoneyin’s “Infusion” Thursday night, where he flexed his literary muscles, reading from his book, In the Shadow of a Saint. If you are still wondering what the book is about, Ken Wiwa opens with these words: My father. Where does he end and where do I begin?

JB Grills, the usual venue for the readings suddenly seemed inadequate as it was packed full, many were left standing and yet others couldn’t even find standing-room. To set the ball rolling, Raz the Poet and Hajo Issa read poetry – the first long and the second short, both captivating.

Ken Wiwa was introduced to the audience by the son of yet another literary icon. It was only fitting that Olaokun Soyinka introduces Ken since both are sons of those considered “trouble makers” in the country. The two had met while in exile in London, fleeing the clutches of the military government of General Sani Abacha.

The book is candid – perhaps too candid – as it exposes the relationship between father and son and how the son struggles in the huge shadow of his father, a man whose execution in 1995 put the Nigerian government in the bad book of the world. Ken read and the audience hushed to listen, hanging, as they say, on every word. And because many in the audience had not yet read the book, Ken’s steady voice and words carried so much more weight.

In a reading of a deeply personal book like this, Ken demonstrated a commendable control of his emotions and even managed to chip in some dignified humour. He said he took a cue from Chinua Achebe, who was fond of quoting Yeats in his books and when asked about it, the great author said he was trying to show off.

Ken explained that he was desperate to break free from his father’s influence as a young man and even “fantasised about his death, imagining it as the moment when [he] would finally be free to be [his] own man”. It actually took his father’s death for him to realise that his father’s influence in his life was just too much to obliterate by a young, rebellious mind.

“I think what my father stood for are non-negotiable,” he said, a statement he would repeat two more times before the reading came to an end.

Eghosa Imasuen in conversation with Ken Wiwa tried to probe the mind of the writer with questions and anecdotes meant to draw him out. The discussion veered from racism, experiences with multinational companies and even the Land Use Act came under focus. Ken too shared some anecdotes and concluded by saying the claims of governments and oil companies to land are questionable simply because the story – the history and cultures – of the inhabitants are neglected in the contracts that have handed over the lands to foreign companies.

Those at the event were treated to something unique. Ken read a very, very personal excerpt from the book “On the Death of Ken Saro-Wiwa.” The author woke up and just sat down to write that chapter.  Incidentally, the chapter survived the 16 or 17 re-writes the manuscript underwent, untouched.

From his knowledge of his father, Ken sought to recapture the last day of his father’s life – what he might have felt, done, said or thought in the hours leading to his death. It was indeed moving. The audience appreciated it more because in the 12 years since he wrote the book, the author had not read this passage in any of his many readings outside the country.

Ken could have been filled with bitterness; he could have been seething with anger or vengeance. But he exuded the peace and tranquillity of a man who had come to terms with his past and understands the relationship with his dead father, and consequently his future.

This baffled some in the audience and one of them asked how he had come to forgive those who killed his father.

“Forgiveness and anger are not the issue, we must go beyond these emotions,” he says calmly buttressing this with an Ogoni song that calls for reason rather than impulse.

Writing the book helped in purging this negative emotions no doubt. “The book is a sort of exorcism,” he said.

But in undertaking the task, Ken had to relive his life with his father, dig up painful memories and hold them against the lights. One thing he has figured out is that while his father thought dying for his people was the ultimate, the son has decided to live for his people.

This philosophy does not go down well in some quatres. A certain Che, who said he had gone to the streets when Saro-Wiwa was killed bared his mind. He branded Ken’s decision to serve in the government of Obasanjo as a sell out and urged him to quit his post in the Jonathan administration and champion the fight against the oppressors.

Reason shone through. “I continue to advocate a peaceful solution to Nigeria’s problems because that is what my father preached,” Ken said. “The military government and Shell conspired to kill my father when he could have been their best friend. And you come here calling for militancy; that is just a response to killing my father.”

Clearly, he understands what he wanted from life and would not be pushed around simply because someone thought they understood what his father stood for.

However, the scar of his father’s death on his family’s psyche in indelible. On his return to Nigeria, then President Obasanjo invited him to Abuja. His mother was apprehensive about the summons. But as it turned out, he was offered an advisory role in the government and he saw it as a means of contributing to national growth. After all, his father too had served in government before. Currently, Ken is the Special Adviser on International Affairs to President Goodluck Jonathan.

The tensed air created by the call to militancy was dispelled by the bubbly Lola Shoneyin, the hostess. With an air of mischief, she conducted a raffle where lucky winners got cupcakes, books and sometimes tickets to one social event or specialised services.

That done, David Agboola, debonair singer crooned Luis Armstrong’s. “What a Wonderful World” first in his natural voice and then, in the singer’s stentorian voice, much to the delight of the audience. He topped this with a jazzy Ogoni song and succeeded in moving the audience.

As the night closed and members of the audience went home with signed copies of In the shadow of a Saint, one thing that must resonate in their minds as the author puts it is “you can never truly know who you are until you know your father.”