AYINLA
OMOWURA: Life and times of an Apala
Legend
By
Festus Adedayo
This
type of work is gratifying - very gratifying; the kind of work that reinforces
Nigeria as an exceedingly literate country replete with diverse intelligentsia,
including adroit wordsmiths and chroniclers.
Ayinla Omowura was a hero and icon to millions
especially in south-western Nigeria, despite his patent shortcomings
comprehensively documented in this ground -breaking work. The fact is that we
need superb biographies like this, and not only for record and scholarly
purposes.
If I may digress a bit, a while back a colleague
of mine patently lamented "the lack of books focusing on Nigerian icons
and heroes.... I particularly hate the fact that many years after his death
there is no book coming out on Sam Akpabot, flamboyant world-class musician and
sports enthusiast ". I had the pleasure of pointing out to this gentleman
that world-class works have been published on Akpabot, including the book
written by Godwin Sadoh. The gentleman was shocked to learn this, and lamented
that "more had to be done to publicise such works and make them available
to mainstream readers"
He has a point. It is not enough just for some
newspapers to touch on, review such books. A distinct effort must be made by
the powers that be to ensure that such pertinent books are purchased by
virtually all libraries across the land, and in as many schools and colleges
and universities as possible...
A recent case in point (2020) is the excellent
book on the late Abba Kyari put together by Magnus Onyibe. A repository of
record purposes, without a doubt. But I squirm when so many educated people
(who love to read) say they have never read, or even seen the book. So much
more has to be done to make such "deliciously Nigerian" books available
to much more people.
Also, by the way, this particular book on Ayinla is
quite hefty, over 500 pages. Not many people on our shores will find it easy to
go through the tome; but this is not necessarily negative. It just means that
we should also focus on abbreviated versions of important books. From abroad we
might mention 2 or 3 icons here: Charles Dickens, Winston Churchill, or even
David Beckham. Scores of books have been published on these individuals, and
though many of them are hefty, there are many other abbreviated or shorter
versions published too. We can do that here in Africa too. Certainly most
readers would appreciate a much shorter version of a book on Ayinla Omowura,
the protagonist here.
But all the same, this book is superb in its own
right. No doubt it is a labour of love on the part of the writer... they say
every journalist should have at least one good book in him, and Festus Adedayo
exceeds all expectations here, with elan and expertise. This is simply one of
the greatest books ever put together on an African musician (it might even be
the greatest). But that is the province and conjecture of pundits, not your
simple reviewer here....hmmm.
- 'Eric'
