Happy birthday to Isidore Diala @60
By Henry Akubuiro
FOR many of us who passed through Professor Isidore Diala in the university, it was a privilege to be under the tutelage of one of the most cerebral men of letters Nigeria has ever produced.
Characteristically benign and self-effacing, Professor Diala staddles the world of academia and creative writing with erudition and wordsmithery.
In my early years as a writer, I was weaned on Diala’s poetry and drama. He had introduced us to his masterpieces, Lure of Ash (winner of 1998 ANA/Cadbury Poetry Prize) and The Pyre (winner of the 1992 ANA Drama Prize) in his poetry and drama classes, and I was wowed by the felicity of his diction, the profundity of his idioms and sharpness of wit. I had the opportunity to interview him for the Summer/Fall 2015 edition of JALA (Journal of African Literature Association), USA, Vol. 9, No 2, where he expounded his writings in “A Sacrifice of Incense.”
Prof. Diala is a practiced speaker who impresses audiences with a compelling elocution. As fresh undergraduates, young Diala then intrigued us with his austere intellection. In classes, he taught with elan, without looking at any reference material most times. In unconscious monologues across lawns and pathways, he exhibited the ardour of a blue-ribbon intellectual, wearing a faraway look. If he wasn’t teaching, he was cabined and confined by academic work. As my thesis supervisor in my final year, I was sold on his high demands for rigour and perfection.
Professor Diala’s illuminating essays and books are highly sought after in literary studies. A trailblazer, he made history as the first Nigerian scholar to win The Nigeria Prize for Literary Criticism, sponsored by the Nigeria LNG, years after the prize had remained unawarded for lack of quality entries. And he won it twice! Interestingly, the next winner of the prize was his student, Dr. Abba A. Abba, a fast rising scholar, who was a coursemate of mine. Professor Diala has mentored many scholars, a good number of whom are excelling in universities across the world as lecturers and in other fields.
He is currently the Deputy Vice Chancellor of Imo State University, Owerri, where he is turning out to be an excellent administrator. At 60, Prof. Diala is only midway into his academic career, but it seems like a lifetime journey already on account of his burgeoning career. One can’t help being enamoured with what he represents: the hallmark of a remarkable, silent achiever.
With a purring flute in hand, I am wishing a happy birthday to a consummate scholar respected not only by me but by a legion in the grooves of Academe and beyond. Warmest regards on your special day, Prof.!
Prof. Isidore Diala
* Akubuiro, novelist and playwright, is also a journalist with The Sun
