The recent news of the passing of Abubakar Othman, Professor of English Literature, University of Maiduguri, Nigeria, in a tragic road traffic accident was a blow that almost knocked the wind out of me. Having known him for more than two decades, Othman and I had become more than friends and colleagues.
Throughout those years, I had the honour of being hosted by him and my other friends such as Prof Idris Amali, Prof Razinat Mohammed, among, others any time I visited Maiduguri. He had also been my guest in Abuja, Lagos and, most importantly, in my house in Ibadan where we spent most of the nights gisting about our mutual pet subjects of literature, politics and travelling.
I recall that to mark the 4th anniversary of the Ebedi International Writers Residency in October 2014, I invited Othman to give the keynote address. I was stunned when he refused any offer of transport allowance or honorarium, having made the almost 24-hour trip from Maiduguri to Ibadan in a night bus !
His simplicity and humility were equally brought to the fore during the research of my latest novel, Madagali, a factional account of the Boko Haram insurgency.
His passionate contribution to the book endeared me so much that I decided to honour him by naming the book after his beloved hometown, Madagali in Adamawa State, an epicentre of the insurgency.
As a token of gratitude for this gesture, Othman mobilised a sizeable contigent of his townsmen and women to the book launch which took place in Lagos on July 29, 2021.
He was equally thrilled when the UK edition of the book was released in Oxford on March 3, 2019 as he thanked me for putting the name of his beloved small hometown on the world literary map.
Even though Abubakar Othman is no more, his legacy of humility, dedication, hardwork and generosity will continue to speak for him.
Sleep well, my brother.
* Dr Okediran is a former National President of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA).
Prof Abubakar Othman, notable academic, poet and literary enthusiast, died in a car accident yesterday.
