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

[Ghirmai Negash]

Prosper,
Thank you for this truthful and moving testimony.
Ghirmai

Prosper Yao Tsikata wrote:
> 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
>
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