- Buhari, Eminent Global Citizens Mourn Africa’s Literary Mogul
From Ameachi Prosper (The New Diplomat’s Delta State Correspondent)
The shocking passage of the international award-winning writer, eminent poet, renowned scholar, iconic playwright and a great citizen of the world, Professor John Pepper Clark-Bekeredemo, has left the entire literary and intellectual world in a state of acute grief.
The literary giant and emeritus professor of English and Literature who is simply known among admirers, students, followers and many as J.P.Clark died Tuesday morning at an undisclosed hospital in Lagos, Nigeria after falling ill since last month. It marked the fall of the great Iroko of literature.
He reportedly gave up the ghost in the presence of his family members, and the emeritus Professor hung up the pen, and commenced the journey of paddling the canoe along the creeks in The Raft like Ibadan in running splash of rust and gold in a pattern that has seen the icon leave America, Their America. But unlike Abiku, the literary mogul has taken a blissful exit surrounded by family members.
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According to a statement signed by Prof. C. C. Clark, for the family and Mr. Ilaye Clark, for the children, Professor J.P.Clark died in the early hours of Tuesday.
The statement reads in part: “The Clark-Fuludu Bekederemo family of Kiagbodo Town, Delta State, wishes to announce that Emeritus Professor of Literature and Renowned Writer, Prof. John Pepper Clark, has finally dropped his pen in the early hours of today, Tuesday, 13 October 2020.
“Prof J.P.Clark has paddled on to the great beyond in comfort of his wife, children and siblings, around him. The family appreciates your prayers at this time. Other details will be announced later by the family.”
The poet was the third child of Chief Clark Fuludu-Bekederemo who hailed from Kiagbodo in present day Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State. He was a descendant of the great, illustrous and famous Bekeredemo family.
The late JP Clark was paternally from Ijaw and maternally from Urhobo ethnic nationalities of the Niger Delta region. He was a younger brother to former Minister of Information and leader of PANDEF, the pan- South-South region’s organization, Chief E.K. Clark. Prof JP Clark’s immediate elder brother is the famous Ambassador Akporode Clark, former Nigeria’s permanent Representative to the United Nations and chairman of the UN special panel against Apartheid in South Africa.
Until his death, JP Clark, was one of Africa’s prominent and distinguished authors, playwright, novelists, poets, and scholars. He continued to play an active role in literary affairs, a role for which he increasingly earned international applause across the world.
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In 1991, he received the Nigerian National Order of Merit Award for literary excellence and had many books recognised worldwide. He is author of countless plays, novels, poems, and other works within the literary genre, including Ibadan, Abiku, America Their America, The Raft, A Decade of Tongues, State of the Union, Mandela and Other Poems, etc. In all his works, J.P.Clark evinced the rich, unique and telling attributes of that world-class writer, scholar and intellectual. For instance, in Ibadan, the power and eloquence of his thoughts, world-view and expressions are quite profound;
Ibadan
Running splash of rust
and gold-flung and scattered
among seven hills like broken
China in the sun.
In the above poem, the legendary literary mogul described Ibadan, an ancient city in the old Western region as ‘running splash of rust’, ‘running splash of and gold-flung and scattered…’ This powerful assonance reflects the variety of differences in Ibadan.
He is also the author of the though-provoking work “America, Their America” a travelogue in which he criticized American society and its values. The reactions generated by the book arguably catapulted him into international literary limelight winning several awards globally.
Born in Kiagbodo, Clark received his early education at the Native Authority School, Okrika (Ofinibenya-Ama), in Burutu LGA (then Western Ijaw) and the prestigious Government College in Ughelli. He earned his BA degree in English at the University of Ibadan, where he edited various magazines, including the Beacon and The Horn.
Upon graduation from Ibadan in 1960, he worked as an information officer in the Ministry of Information, in the old Western Region of Nigeria, as features editor of the Daily Express, and as a research fellow at the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan where he served for several years. He became a professor of English at the University of Lagos for several years, a position from which he retired in 1980.
While at the University of Lagos he was co-editor of the literary magazine Black Orpheus and in 1982, along with his wife Ebun Odutola (a professor and former director of the Centre for Cultural Studies at the University of Lagos), he founded the PEC Repertory Theatre in Lagos.
A widely travelled man, Professor Clark held visiting professorial appointments at several institutions of higher learning, including Yale and Wesleyan Universities in the United States. That explains why many eminent citizens across the world have been showering tributes on Africa’s literary giant, and one of the world’s most iconic literary scholars.
President Buhari in a statement issued by his spokesperson, Mr Femi Adesina, paid glowing tribute to one of Africa’s finest poets, dramatists and recipient of the Nigerian National Order of Merit Award for literary excellence, whose repertoire of published works depict the hardwork of a great man, devoted to a lifetime of writing, knowledge and promotion of the indigenous culture of the Ijaw nation, Niger Delta and Africa in general.
The President said J.P.Clark’s exit has, indeed, left an indelible mark in the literary world. Buhari added: “President Buhari takes solace that his body of literary works, which earned him recognition and respect both at home and abroad, would continue to inspire upcoming Nigerian writers to pursue literary excellence and flourish in their chosen vocation.
“The President’s thoughts and prayers are with the family of the departed patriot, the government and people of Delta State and the literary community in the country.”
