Writers share how Chukwuemeka Ike’s works impacted them

The news of Vincent Chukwuemeka Ike’s death took Nigerian bookworms and writers by surprise last week. Here, some share their tributes. On Friday many Nigerians woke up to the news that Vincent Chukwuemeka Ike had died on Thursday, 9 January 2020. A writer in the generation of Chinua Achebe and Wole Soyinka, he is known […]

The news of Vincent Chukwuemeka Ike’s death took Nigerian bookworms and writers by surprise last week. Here, some share their tributes.

On Friday many Nigerians woke up to the news that Vincent Chukwuemeka Ike had died on Thursday, 9 January 2020. A writer in the generation of Chinua Achebe and Wole Soyinka, he is known for works like ‘Toads for Supper’ (1965), ‘The Naked Gods’ (1970), ‘The Potter’s Wheel’ (1973), ‘Sunset at Dawn’ (1976), ‘Expo ‘77’ (1980), ‘The Chicken Chasers’ (1980), ‘The Bottled Leopard’ (1985), ‘Our Children Are Coming’ (1990), and ‘Conspiracy of Silence’ published in 2001.

The immediate past president of the Association of Nigerian Authors, Mallam Denja Abdullahi said Ike’s works are very representative of the Nigerian society and are mainly satiric. “When you read them, you laugh at the politics of society,” he said. “I remember how in our undergraduate days as literature students in the University of Jos, his works were largely recommended texts for us to learn the art of satire.

“I remember ‘The Naked Gods’ where a lot of things were satirised such as the happenings in the ivory tower, how people are expected to be of very high moral standing and go into activities that is unbecoming of what is expected of them by the society.

“He has written other monumental works such as ‘Toads for Supper’ that seeks to unite ethnic groups in the country.”

Abdullahi pointed out that Ike has largely been ignored, underrated and underexposed by critics. “But his works are good reads anytime you pick them up. They are entertaining and you read about life and laugh at yourself.

“He stands between literary and popular fiction, and that may be the reason why critics find it difficult to place him and some of us feel he hasn’t been celebrated enough.”

Novelist Safiya Ismaila Yero remembered how she encountered Ike’s writing through ‘The Bottled leopard’ in secondary school. “It was part of the literature I read and I remember how the book stayed with me for a long time,” she said.

“The demise of Professor Chukwuemeka Ike is a rude shock,” Olumide Olaniyan, a poet said. “Even when he died as an old man. You will naturally think such a great African, who has contributed greatly to the development of literature, vis-a-vis, better society would be with us forever as a shining example of how to make use of one’s talent; but then, transition to the heavenly realm is inevitable for all.

“His masterpiece, ‘Toads for Supper,’ written over half a century ago, will continue to inform students of society, and everyone involved in leadership, about human behaviour and how to navigate in whatever position one finds himself or herself in life. The joy is writers don’t die. They live in their work. Adieu great writer…”

Author of multiple novels, Alexander Emmanuel recalls what drew him to ‘The Bottled Leopard.’

Chukwuemeka Ike uses two children and two backgrounds to juxtapose two varying cultures. He explores the conflict, which results from the inability of the West to understand and come to terms with indigenous African culture,” he said, adding that if there was anything he loved about that particular work, it was the African approach in resolving political and socio-economic problems, thereby portraying “Africaness at its best.” <https://www.facebook.com/olumide.olaniyan.7>

Bizuum Yadok, a teacher, poet and novelist first met Chukwuemeka Ike through ‘The Bottled Leopard’ “although I vaguely recall the story now,” he said. ‘The Potter’s Wheel’ became his second encounter of “the outstanding writer.” ‘Toads for Supper’ and ‘Chicken Chasers’ he said, earned his respect for Ike.

Interestingly, Yadok finally got a chance to meet Ike face to face sometime in 2015 at the University of Jos.

“He may be dead in the flesh but his works live with us as they will with our children too. Without room for any argument, Chukwuemeka Ike is one of the finest literary producers of Africa,” he said.

On Twitter, book critic Ikhide R. Ikheloa wrote: “Dawn comes for Chukwuemeka Vincent Ike I will miss him. I am especially fond of ‘The Potter’s Wheel.’ 9-year old boy leaves home to be a help. Still funny decades after even as it humanized children caught in a war they didn’t ask for.

“Ike’s ‘The Potter’s Wheel’ is innocent of political correctness. It offers a refreshing, honest, and important insight into 1940/50’s Nigeria. His fiction about campus life in the 60’s and 70’s Nigeria are the most important narratives to date of campus life.

“He was a huge literary influence. As a teen, I’d scour bookstores hoping he had a new novel out. Pure joy when I found one. It is a shame he is not as well-known as his literary peers, Wole Soyinka, JP Clark and Chinua Achebe. He is just as important.

“Please find Chukwuemeka Ike’s fiction, read, and enjoy the fecund mind of a humble man who plumbed complex issues simply and joyfully. Chukwuemeka Ike wrote serious literature, without taking himself too seriously. Generations of happy children owe him a debt of gratitude.”