Former President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan and the Bayelsa State governor, Hon Seriake Dickson, have paid glowing tributes to late literary icon, Dr Gabriel Okara, charging the younger generation to emulate his virtues.
Former President Goodluck Jonathan and the Bayelsa State governor, Hon Seriake Dickson gave the tribute weekend in Yenagoa at a funeral programme tagged: “Ceremony of Poems, Songs and Tributes,” as part of a week-long activities in honour of Dr Okara.
The Bayelsa State governor, Hon Seriake Dickson, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media Relations, Fidelis Soriwei, described Dr Okara as a father, leader and quintessential Ijaw man, who exposed Ijaw history and culture to the world through his legendary literary works.
The governor lamented the passage of Dr Okara, noting that the state, Ijaw nation and the country had lost a great man who brought honour and glory to his people.
As part of efforts to immortalize him, the governor said his administration would undertake a project at the Government College, Umuahia, the alma mater of the literary icon.
The governor noted that in addition to the project, the state government would erect a mausoleum at the Ijaw National Heroes Memorial Park where the remains of Isaac Adaka Boro and General Owoye Azazi and other prominent Bayelsans are interred.
According to him, the project is to serve as a source of pride and inspiration to all, “We have just been told that Dr. Okara was actually over a 100 years. He was attending functions even in his old age, so you can imagine the commitment and that speaks to our profound sense of loss.”
While praying God to grant the Okara’s family the fortitude to bear the loss, Governor Dickson expressed appreciation to all those who identified with the bereaved family, the state government and people in their moment of grief.
In his speech at the event, former President Goodluck Jonathan eulogized the qualities of Dr Okara, and described the literary giant as a treasure, voice of reason, truth and justice.
He expressed gratitude to Governor Dickson for honouring Dr. Okara while he was alive by naming the State’s Library and befitting
Cultural Centre after him.
Dr Jonathan said the late literary hero effectively espoused the essential cultural values of the Ijaw people through his works.
In their separate tributes, his first son, Dr. Ebi Okara and Gender Consultant and granddaughter of Dr. Okara, Mrs. Katja Nwator said he was not just a father but also a role model and teacher who instilled the deep sense of integrity and spirituality into their lives.
They described their father as a hardworking gentleman who lived a life of advocacy for social justice.
According to them, though official records put his father’s birth year at 1921, Dr Okara was actually born in 1918 and so was almost 101 years old before his death.
Also, the editor of Dr Okara’s poems, Professor Brenda Marie-Osbey, said though she met Dr Okara later in life, she had stumbled on his works as a 16 year-old undergraduate, studied and loved his literary works.
Professor Marie-Osbey, who said Dr Okara was not just the first recognized Anglophone African Poet, added that the late icon invented Anglophone-African poetry by using the English Language to pass through the Ijaw culture because of his wisdom and upbringing.
Dr Okara’s alma mata, the Old Boys of Government College, Umuahia, Abia State, noted that the essence of their presence at the lying-in-state was in recognition of the achievements of Dr. Okara in the field of literature.
They said the relationship between Bayelsa and Government College, Umuahia, also produced the likes of Professor Ebiegberi Alagoa, Professor Youpele Beredugo, King Edmound Daukoru among others, who have excelled in their fields of endeavours.
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