CYPRIAN EKWENSI'S ISKA

The late Nigerian writer, Cyprian Ekwensi, was a superb writer, certainly one of the most prolific authors in the continent. He certainly had all the tools of the trade and began to show his creativity early in his career, his work appearing on air etc.

It impresses me very much that he was a truly Nigerian writer, familiar with the people and language of the North, Western Nigeria, and Lagos in particular, and the East, (he was Ibo by tribe actually). His major works easily show how knowledgeable he was of the whole country; eg in Iska, the protagonist moves easily from the North, to the East (briefly) and then to bubbling Lagos! The same scenario largely unfolds in Jagua Nana's Daughter; and in Burning Grass, Ekwensi reveals life and norms of the Fulanis in particular from the North.

His books show that people are mainly people regardless of tribe, language, religion etc. Hence in Iska eg, we see liaisons and marriages across tribes and regions. Filia's first husband was from the North, and her major boyfriend later on (D. Ladele) is from the West. Her original sister in law also married from the West; etc...

Ekwensi was not only a skilled writer, but a broad minded one.

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