Wow! Egbon toyin akinosho is 60! A great news. I stumbled on this information in a panegyric entitled ‘Toyin Akinosho @ 60: Tribute to a polymath – Toni Kan’ in The Lagos Review of May 17 2020. Okay, I wrote his name in lower case, that’s toyin’s style which I have also copied till day. The gnome inside of toyin abhors routineness.
As Toni Kan noted, toyin is like a man with a dozen hands, each of which is busy performing different activities independently and simultaneously. I hark back to 30 years ago, when he clocked 30 and wrote an Op Ed in the Guardian Newspaper entitled ‘Toyin Akinosho at 30’! Guardian Newspaper will not indulge many to publish such self-admiration piece; this tells you toyin is not your everyday man. He is a king with an invisible crown. The invisible elephant in the savannah.
I met toyin over three decades ago when he was working with Chevron Nigeria Limited (Or was it still Gulf Oil then?). I went to see my father one day at work, he was also working at Chevron then. He introduced us. I mean introduced me to toyin.
I was in my late teens, just out of secondary school and battling with JAMB. Then, 180 over 400 would not take you to any university in Nigeria. You would just take the insults from your parents and prepare for next JAMB exams. My 230+ or so didn’t get me MassComm at Unilag, Cutoff Marks was in the range of 260+ to 270+. I was going to wait for another year.
‘Bawo nio Toyin, Aburo re o’, He likes books like you’. My father handed me over to toyin to pep talk me.
‘Oh, young man, how are you, come let’s talk’ I followed toyin to his office, we talked a bit about books, I was reading a James Hadley Chase Book a day then, I was done with several Pacesetters of course, a few African series. I boasted to him.
toyin recommended Creative Arts at UI for me. There was no google then to check stuff like that, which one is Creative Arts, I asked. He explained. He gave me an appointment to see him the following week or so. We met, he then took me to Daily Times Office in Agidingbi, Ikeja; we first went to Clement Iloba’s Office, he was the Editor of Evening Times. ‘Baba, how now, this is my Aburo, Olumide, he wants to be doing something, while waiting to write jamb.’ He said something like that.
‘OK, he may freelance for us if he has the skill.’ Iloba replied.
We proceeded to Mr. Chinaka Fyncountry’s Office, He was the editor of Lagos Weekend tabloid. ‘Egbon, eku ojo meta, this young man wants to be a contributory writer with your paper’.
Mr. Fyncountry asked me a few questions. ‘Why not if not’, he concluded. Then, I read newspapers voraciously. I always read Reuben Abati, Olatunji Dare and Adidi Uyo’s articles, amongst others. toyin later gave me “Chinweizu’s classic book – “The West and the Rest of Us”, a few other books; and I was never the same again.
Within two weeks, I got one or two news items published in the “Evening Times”, and also my first short story in the “Lagos Weekend” newspaper. I continued to freelance for both newspapers and was getting paid, I became wealthy practically. My stories/scoops made headlines a couple of times in the Evening Times, I also published about thirty (30) short stories in the Lagos Weekend. When I started slowing down with the stories for Lagos Weekend. I ran into Mr Fyncountry on the streets one evening as I was strolling. (we were both living close to each other in Satellite Town, Lagos).
“You, we have not received any story from you recently, where are you going?” He asked.
“Just strolling sir”. I told him.
“Oya, go back home now, and get me a good story ready for this week.” He stood there until I turned and went back home. It was a Tuesday or so. I put a short story together and it was published in that week’s Lagos Weekend by Friday.
Within same period, I started attending CORA’s Stampedes/sessions in Festac, which was led by toyin and some of his friends. I met and fraternised with several ‘who is who’ today in the Arts fraternity, including folks like late May Ellen Ezekiel (MEE) and (Richard Mofe Damijo (RMD) (Both of Classique magazine then), Ben Tomoloju, Olu Ajayi, Nduka Otiono, Jahman Anikulapo, Ogaga Ifowodo. Bunmi Oyinsan, E.C. Osondo and Femi Akintunde Johnson (FAJ), amongst others. Several of them were young men and women then. They read their poems, short stories, gave talk, gyrated, and generally stampeded at CORA and other arty events.
Fast forward, this continued throughout my university days. Then, I started slacking with arts and journalism again. I devoted more time to Man o’ War, Kegite, Student Unionism and other jayejaye activities. Though, I occasionally did op ed for the Punch, the Guardian and some other newspapers. I finally divorced from Arts and Journalism and came to Abuja after NYSC to reincarnate into a new being. I wasn’t seeing or hearing from toyin for such a long time again, until I ran into him again one day somewhere in Lagos.
Few years ago, toyin and I chatted on LinkedIn. ‘Haa, iwo omo boy yii, you just disappeared’ how are you doing? Where have you been?’
“Egbon, I’m still in Abuja o, I work as a Development Expert now”
“What are you developing?” He quipped.
“We working to reduce poverty, see to transparent elections, public sector accountability and reforms, stuff like that.” I explained.
“I know; I say what are you developing”. He jabbed at me again. That’s toyin for you.
So, it was just platitude, when I acknowledged him in my maiden collection of poems, “Lucidity of Absurdity” thus, “I would like to acknowledge Toyin Akinosho who, over two decades ago, noticed my love for writing and guided and encouraged me to keep writing.”
He also published a review of the collection by a poetry guru entitled, ‘The Poetical is Political’ by Uzor Maxim Uzoatu on Lucidity of Absurdity by Olumide Olaniyan”, on his www.bookartville.com. When he was publishing Festac News over a decade and a half ago, he was distributing it free at a point, I recall. He of course also started a periodical: ‘Africa Oil and Gas Report’, focusing on the oil industry. toyin akinosho is book, book is toyin akinosho. He has made many kings and queen, even when is not wearing a golden shoe, a bead of gems nor a visible crown.
– Olumide Olaniyan is an Abuja-based development expert and poet.