Celebrated poet and novelist and playwright, Gabriel Imomotimi Gbaingbain Okara, died, yesterday, at 97 years — four weeks before his 98th birthday.
He died in his sleep, at his residence at Okaka Estate, in Yenagoa, capital of Bayelsa State, after a brief illness.
Okara made a mark on the African literary scene as one of the major pacesetters.
Reported to be the first renowned English Language black African poet and the first African modernist writer, Okara was widely published in influential national and international journals.
Born on April 24, 1921, in his hometown, Bomoundi, Bayelsa, Dr. Okara attended the famous Government College, Umuahia, in the 1930s and ‘40s, where he got exposed to and was inspired by the writings of Williams Shakespeare and others. He went on to attend Yaba Higher College and Northwestern University, United States of America.
He has in his collections several back-to-back hit poems and novels. ‘Piano and Drums’, ‘You Laughed and Laughed and Laughed’, ‘Once Upon a Time’, ‘The Fisherman’s Invocation’ and ‘The Voice’ and concatenation of several other linked short stories and plays come highly recommended for post-primary, undergraduate and graduate studies.
The vintage of his classics find expression in the leitmotif: reminding Africans of their true identity as expressed in culture, folklore and thought pattern in a world of rapidly penetrating western culture.
An all-encompassing writer, his thoughts and works appear to be greatly influenced by his immediate environment. Okara was home and dry in all genres of literature but conveyed his message in the genre which was more expressive and relevant to the thematic discuss.
Meanwhile, Bayelsa State Government has declared three days of mourning, which started yesterday, for the famous poet and novelist.
In his tribute, Governor Henry Seriake Dickson described Okara’s death as “a great loss to the state and Nigeria.”
Governor Dickson directed that all flags in the must fly at half mast; till tomorrow.
His Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Daniel Iworiso-Markson, quoted the governor to have issued the directive in a statement issued yesterday.
He said Okara made a remarkable mark in the African literary industry. These works, he said, helped shape the African society. Dickson said Okara was held in high esteem, as a pride to the Niger Delta and the African contingent. He added that it was in appreciation of his exploits that the state government decided to name the State Cultural Centre in Yenagoa after him.