Oppression, injustice can be overcome if we can think and act – Olaniyo

Olumide Olaniyan is an Abuja-based writer, political economy analyst and peace-building expert. Having been writing for decades, Olumide has a number of short stories that have been published in newspapers, magazines and the 1993 edition of The Twenty Nigerian Writers’ Portraits by the Association of Nigerian Authors, Lagos chapter. In this interview with IBRAHIM RAMALAN, Olumide talks about his inspiration and his first collection of poems called “Lucidity of Absurdity” which seeks to provide answers to some of the life puzzles such as equality, power relations and human deference.

Could you briefly introduce yourself to our readers?
I think my writing actually started when I was in secondary school. I was privileged to have met someone I consider as a mentor in the person of Toyin Akinosho, then he was working with the Gulf Oil Company of Nigeria (GOCON) which is now called Chevron Nigeria Limited. He saw some of my works, majorly short stories then. He then introduced me to the editor of Lagos Weekend, Mr. Chinaka Fynecountry, as well as Mr. Clement Iloba, the then editor of Evening Times. After a while I became a freelance journalist writing news stories for the Lagos Evening Times. I was also contributing articles and stories to Lagos Weekend. In fact, that was before I went to University. I read Political Science at the University of Lagos, Akoka. Then I obtained my Masters Degree from United Nations-mandated University for Peace in Costa Rica, where I read Gender and Peace-building.

 What inspired you into poetry?
What really inspired me was that I have this dream of addressing societal challenges with writing and discussions. And one way in which you can discuss with a number of people is through writing.  I tried to address societal issues through short stories, that was why I wrote a good number of short stories for the Lagos Weekend and even for Hint Magazine in those days. That was before I got admission into the University. After my University education I worked with an Insurance firm briefly. I also worked at the National Assembly at some point before I ventured into development work. For almost a decade I didn’t really had time to write again until very recently when I mingled with writers; that kind of reawakened me and I started writing and learning many ways of writing.

 What sparked off poetry in you, after having been immersed into short stories and what have you?
In those early days, it was really difficult for me to understand poetry. There was this group called CORA – Committee for Relevant Art in Lagos. We started attending with Toyin Akinosho and some other guys in Lagos. A lot of people were coming and were presenting their works. So I received quite a number of poetry collections but I was not really having a clear knowledge of it. I just felt it was a new challenge, new area for me to try my hand in and also see if I could conquer it. Because I have this belief already that short stories are very straight forward for me. Now, poetry has become very interesting for me. It is one way in which you can communicate your message to quite a number of people using few words. I know some people who think that poetry is very difficult to understand. Poetry has messages and it evolves. If for instance, you write a poem today, after some years, its meanings might change. I think poetry is one way to address issues in the society that is why I feel that I should also try to go into it.

Do you have any influence?
In terms of influence, I would rather say that I have really been influenced by quite a number of people. In my early days I used to read columnists that write satire – Adidi Uyo, Olatunji Dare, Rueben Abati and a number of others. In terms of poetry, I was influenced by history subjects and psychology more than people. I have read quite a number of books on world history and human psychology that reflect considerably on my work. Like I said earlier, I did not really study literature in school, so it is just in recent times that I started studying quite a number of poets. To some extent, I have also read some other piece from established and upcoming poets, including works of Emily Dickinson, Wole Soyinka, Ben Johnson to mention just a few.

 This is your first outing, ‘Lucidity of Absurdity’. The title looks oxymoronic, what informed it?
I was thinking that as poets, we are sending message to the society. We want change and we disseminate this through words and other poetic tools that we use. However, a lot of times people don’t seem to understand us. We just flow with a number of issues that have caused dislocation in today’s society. Some much absurdity is going-on across the world – injustice, marginalisation, oppression, subjugation; we see, feel and experience these vices daily, poets have continued to counsel that we have to take deliberate steps to address these challenges. We have to ask questions, we have to be human and be free, that change is possible. Oppression can be overcome if we can think and act – that is lucidity of absurdity. Despite all the efforts of poets, society has not changed in terms of repairs. A lot of things have continued to degrade due to the fact that our society is not responding to the messages of poets. That is why you could see that today, the powerful can suppress the so-called powerless, while in the real sense of it, the powerful who are seen as political leaders are actually supposed to serve the people – the so-called powerless. So the table can actually turn.

 What do you think stands your book out among many other poetry collections?
The book is centred on power relations, human and environmental relations, tracking human conditions, responses and efforts that have located us where we are today. It is directed at the society at large. Any person in the society can read and be informed. It doesn’t have age limitation; it is a work of art purely. It gives us an insight into everyday challenges that humanity faces and how we can address them. For example, the book looks at the issue of marginalization and how somebody who is being marginalized could rise up to challenge of oppression or suppression that he or she is faced with by any institution or individual.

 This being your debut, how would you describe your publishing process, was it challenging or not?
Well, what I actually did was to look through some of the works that have been published and I saw quite a number of publishing firms – I settled for Kraft publishers because of quality of their previous work, By and large, I think the experience has been impressive, considering the amount of effort they put into producing the book.

What sort of a poet are you out to become?
My focus is always on making everybody to be human. Somebody may be a sweeper sweeping the streets, somebody may be the president of the country but they are the same human beings. There should be freedom and liberty. Somebody should not be suppressed by another person because he or she is having power or considered as powerless.

So I think the kind of poet I should hope to be is an existential poet who wants changes to be in the society, who is fixated on the fact that system needs to change for it to work. What is important is that everybody agrees and understands that human difference is part of human history – there will always be haves and have-not, it doesn’t change their humanity, to subjugate anyone is to attempt to deprive them of their humanity.

What is your advice to other aspiring poets? Are you finding the journey sweet?
Aspiring writers as a whole don’t need to give up. They need to associate with other writers. For example, I have associated myself with the Abuja Writers Forum and others groups that are committed to creative writing in Nigeria.

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