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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 May 2015
There was order, and there was law. There was no room for indolence … You were reminded from the very first day that privilege came with its responsibilities. There was no room in Umuahia for eccentricity and individualism. ‘In Unum Luceant’ was the school song. And it was for real.
(Ken Saro-Wiwa, ‘Umuahia in the 1950s’)I began this book by signalling Chinua Achebe's recognition of Principal Simpson's role in setting off the fireworks of modern Nigerian literature. From Chapter 2 onwards, we saw Achebe, Ike, Momah, Amadi and Okigbo navigate the deceptively tranquil waters of Government College with Simpson at the helm. We are on the brink of fully decoding the Umuahian connection, but it is time for a well-deserved break. Let us visit the Umuahia of the 1950s and listen for echoes of the past.
The year is 1954. Most of the 1940s writers are studying for – or about to earn – degrees from the University College, Ibadan. ‘Dewar’, the Olympian principal, now retired from colonial service, keeps up correspondence with some of his former students and colleagues from his retreat in Canterbury. A new house at Government College was named after him last year. Barry Cozens sits on the Umuahian throne. I.N.C. Aniebo and Ken Saro-Wiwa are both students in the school. The two future writers' careers blossomed after the boom of the 1960s, but their first creative steps occurred before those magical years came to a close. As both writers studied at Government College, it is tempting to draw formative links between them and the five protagonists of this book. But does the idea of an all-encompassing Umuahian literary ferment stand up well to scrutiny?
Ifeanyichukwu Ndubuisi Chikezie Aniebo was admitted to Government College in 1952. Like Achebe and Amadi before him, he was placed in Niger House. Unlike Saro-Wiwa, who spent his entire childhood in Bori, Aniebo's upbringing had been remarkably cosmopolitan. He was born in Port Harcourt and lived in Enugu, Minna, Zaria, Kafanchan, and Bukuru before attending the Umuahia Government College.
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