LEADERS ON THE RISE
Ike Okonta: Passionate About People And Politics
By Chris Ajaero
Monday, February 14, 2005
He belongs to an emerging group of young, intelligent and upwardly mobile Nigerians who have earned their recognition in the western world as leading African thinkers and writers. Ike Gerrard Okonta, a prolific writer, environmentalist and research fellow at the Institute of International Studies, University of California, Berkeley, United States, is respected worldwide for his professional skills and expertise.
A columnist in reputable local and foreign newspapers, including the Project Syndicate, New York and ThisDay, Lagos, Okonta loves the power of words. "Ideas fascinate me." And the idea of Nigeria is something that I never tire contemplating. I decided quite early as a child that all I wanted to be was a writer and I guess journalism is one way of achieving that ultimate dream," he told Newswatch. He therefore embraced the profession with a passion.
To sharpen his skills for the challenges of his profession, Okonta read sociology and anthropology for his first degree in 1984 and followed it up with a master's degree in Journalism at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in 1989. He began his journalism career at The Observer, Benin City, in July 1989. Between July 1989 and July 1990, he worked as the literary editor of the newspaper. In August 1990, he joined the Kaduna-based Citizen magazine as an assistant editor. He, however, disengaged from the magazine in January 1993 and became a member, editorial board/assistant editor of The News magazine. It was while working with The News that Okonta won the Nuffield Press Fellowship, University of Cambridge in 1995. He left Nigeria for England where he did the fellowship programme.
The fellowship programme marked a turning point in his career because he was able to do a lot of research on the media, politics, public policy and human rights issues. Okonta who was once the campaign adviser to the late Ken Saro-Wiwa, former president of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People, MOSOP, and member, Civil Liberties Organisation of Nigeria, CLO, became much more interested in environmental rights issues and academics after the programme. This was why he became a member of the Environmental Rights Action (Friends of the Earth, Nigeria) in 1996. It was during this period that his prowess as a talented writer became much more manifest. Little wonder that in 1998, he won the Association of Nigerian Authors, ANA, prize for prose. Okonta told Newswatch that his work on the winning entry entitled: The Expert Hunter of Rats was his first foray into the world of fiction writing. It was a collection of short stories masterfully crafted by the young man and the award propelled him to aim for the skies as a writer.
In September 1999 he earned a master's degree in politics from Oxford University. And in July 2002, Okonta completed his doctorate degree programme in Politics at the same university. The title of his DPhil thesis is "The Struggle of the Ogoni for Self-determination." Indeed, he distinguished himself as a scholar having won the Oxford University Scholarship on Humanities of Africa (ORISHA Scholarship.) The scholarship is awarded by the university to the most academically outstanding student researching into Africa issues.
Still bubbling with the passion for knowledge, Okonta won awards as the Rockefeller post-doctoral Fellow, University of California, Berkeley; 2002-2003; United States Institute of Peace Research Scholar; 2003-2005; and Ciriacy Wanthrup post-doctoral Fellow, University of California; 2003-2005.
Okonta is currently a research fellow at the Institute of International Studies of the University of California, Berkeley. He has become an authority on politics and public policy, particularly resource politics, the politics of identity in Nigeria, democratisation and the citizenship in the oil-producing communities of the Niger Delta Region. He is also deeply involved in media campaigns, focusing on human rights and democratisation. Besides, Okonta also carries out research on the politics of ethnic identity in crisis states, particularly, West African States as well as obstacles to human rights enforcement in oil-producing communities in Nigeria.
His research efforts on the Niger Delta paid off handsomely in 2001 when he co-authored a book entitled: Where Vultures Feast: Shell, Human Rights and Oil in the Niger Delta. He said that it was the hanging of Ken Saro-Wiwa in November 1995 that inspired him and Oronto Douglas, his co-author to write the book. The two authors worked closely with Saro-Wiwa and were involved in the mobilisation of the Ogoni people to fight against their exploitation by the oil companies in Nigeria. Saro-Wiwa's death and the gruesome manner it was carried out was a terrible blow to the duo and pushed them to write the book so as to put in proper perspective the deplorable condition of the Ogoni which he likened to "Where the Vultures Feast." He said: "The book is our way of announcing that the work Ken began will never be allowed to die… How many times have you heard of famous writers being hanged in America or Britain? And yet this was what was done to one of Africa's finest writers - the author of that wonderful classic, Sozaboy! And western oil companies in Nigeria, including western governments, aided and abetted the cold-blooded murder." His next book: When Citizens Revolt: Nigerian Elites, Big Oil and the Ogoni Struggle for Self-determination published by Indiana University Press, London, will soon hit the book stands.
Okonta is fast becoming a great writer. He told Newswatch that he was in the process of giving full attention to fiction writing. "I am taking notes now and shall begin work on a set of three novels in early 2006," he said. These novels, he said, would be based on his experiences in the defunct Biafra. Okonta, who hails from Asaba, Delta State, was only four years old in May, 1967 when the Nigerian civil war broke out. His most vivid recollections as a child were death and kwashiorkor in the death camps of Biafra. "It is this memory of pain and suffering, of seeing little children like me die of starvation because other powerful people had stopped food from getting to them in the name of war, that has helped to shape my sense of justice," Okonta told Newswatch. He believes that he could use his experiences in Biafra as a window through which to make meaning of the Nigerian experience.
Okonta, perceives his foray into academic research as merely a way of taking his brand of journalism to yet another level. He said he enjoyed his stint in journalism tremendously and despite the attention he is now paying to academic pursuits he would not quit the profession. "The profession is like your shadow. You never get rid of it until you die. The truth is that all my works of non-fiction, including, Where Vultures Feast which I co-wrote with my friend Oronto, are extended pieces of journalism," he says.
As a well-groomed journalist, he maintains a column entitled, Nigeria and the World in ThisDay on Sunday and is a syndicated columnist for Project Syndicate, New York, a consortium of 230 newspapers world-wide. He said that what has enhanced his style of writing in his columns is the fact that he reads widely and deeply. "A good writer must be also be an avid reader. You must fall in love with words and their inner rhythm. And you must imbibe this inner musical sound that words on a page make, you will write simply and humbly and well."
His role model is Chinua Achebe, professor and famous Nigerian novelist. To him, Achebe is the epitome of the virtues of a good writer and honesty. These are the two wonderful virtues he also wants to imbibe.
Okonta was born in Funtua in Northern Nigeria in May 1963. His parents brought him up to value books and learning. Ikenye Gabriel Okonta, his late father, had teaching as his first love and worked as a military instructor in the Army. Nnebuogo Florence, his mother, is a trader noted for being fearless and incorruptible. The disposition of his parents made them to train him to always stand up for justice and strive for excellence in all his endeavours.
However, at 41, the Asaba-born writer is not yet married. He gave the reason for his inability to do so, at least for now. "I guess. I am still married to my books, still married to ideas and politics. Maybe one day, if I'm lucky enough to find a woman patient enough a guay foolish enough to agree to have any like me, then may be... ", he said.
Obviously, Okonta has through his exploits as a research fellow and essayist in Europe become a worthy Nigerian ambassador. Surely, he is on his way towards greater achievements as a journalist and writer. He perfectly fits into the emerging generation of Nigerian writers whose passion for the power of words is great.
|
