[ASU] The Late Dr. Esiaba in today's Post

[Prosper Yao Tsikata]

Dear All: You can please follow the link to Dr. Esiaba Irobi's tribute:

http://thepost.baker.ohiou.edu/main.asp?SectionID=4&SubSectionID=6&ArticleID=31961



Post Letter: Students remember professor's impact

For Dr. Esiaba Irobi, as for many other immigrants to the United States and
elsewhere, the journey to a foreign country is not supposed to be a journey of
no return. It is the hope of many, or maybe ingrained in the spirit of man upon
leaving the shores of his or her ancestors, to make a blissful return to the
fold of his or her kindred to share the experiences of being away and to catch
up with the missing moments.

But for Esiaba, it was the journey of no return. When he moved to Berlin a few
weeks ago with his wife to take up a position as a distinguished research fellow
in Freie University in Germany, it was just one of those dividends of hard work,
and refreshingly so. The "Interweaving Performance Cultures" program, which
selected Esiaba, is one of the most coveted scholarships in international
theater that provides the platform for renowned poets with unique talents for
intercultural theater. But unbeknownst to him, his selection was a call from his
creator, and rightly became his transit to eternity. As a master of his trade,
he died doing what he enjoyed most - poetry.

Described by some of his students as a fearless warrior, the late professor of
theater arts at Ohio University was well-known for his resolute attitude toward
life. Like a brave warrior, he fought to the end. At the human front, the
granting of his tenure sparked one of the most vibrant student campaigns in
support of a lecturer in the history of OU, because tenure was unduly denied him
initially. But within him, too, he was restive; cancer also was taking its toll
on his health. Although he won the battle on the human front, receiving tenure
in 2007, he succumbed to a long battle with cancer May 3.

To Esiaba, life itself was a drama. He dramatized not only on the stage and in
the classroom, but his entire life was theatrical, much in the positive sense of
the word. In an interview with a Nigerian student who chose to remain anonymous,
he intimated that "Esiaba's life and work tell their own stories. Not only was
he a heavyweight intellectual, winning the prestigious World Drama Trust Award
for playwright in 1992, there are a collection of unmatched quality of literary
writings under his pen. He never departed from his African roots. They
reverberated in his work, and he radiated a unique energy that was infectious to
all who met him. But, in life, your positive energies might not always receive
that reciprocal energy. There are some who will regard him as a controversial
figure."

On Ohio University's website, Republic of Biafra describes his birthplace and
Nigeria provided him a safe haven, where he spent part of his initial exile
before making Britain and the United Sates his abode. For those who might be
wondering which state in this universe goes by the name Republic of Biafra, it
is presumably the lyricist's own wit to keep the identity of his origin - Igbo,
the natives of Biafra - alive. Biafra was a secessionist state in southeastern
Nigeria during the late 1960s. But like the Noble Laureate in literature, Wole
Soyinka, ascribed in his book, The Open Sore of a Continent, "Oyibo wey make
pencil, na im also make eraser." So the Republic of Biafra could have existed
only in the imagination of the great poet.

He studied at the Universities of Nigeria, Sheffield, Leeds, and held a B.A. in
English/Drama, M.A. comparative literature, M.A. film/theatre, and a Ph.D. in
theatre studies. He had taught at New York University (1997-2000), Towson
University (2000-2002) and at Ohio University in Athens, until his death at 49.

Indeed, it is a fleeting life when enterprising lives such as Esiaba are plucked
by death before they could reach their fullest potentials, depriving our world
of their unique perspectives to life. But let's take consolation in the
afterlife, believing that it is not the end of man, and that one day there shall
be a reunion of the souls. Fare thee well, Dr. Esiaba Irobi.

The African Studies and the School of Theater will have a memorial event for Dr.
Esiaba Irobi today at the Forum Theater, RTV, at 7:00 p.m.

Prosper Yao Tsikata is a graduate assistant in the E.W. Scripps School of
Journalism and Center for International Studies.





Prosper Yao Tsikata
Center for International Studies
Ohio University
Athens, Ohio