To mark the golden anniversary of the passage of Christopher Ifekandu Okigbo (16 August 1932– September 1967), there will be a conference at the University of Ibadan (UI), Oyo State.
The late Okigbo was a poet, teacher, and librarian, who died fighting for the independence of Biafra 50 years ago. He is today widely acknowledged as an outstanding postcolonial English-language African poet and one of the major modernist writers of the 20th century.
As part of the activities to commemorate his passage, the two-day conference, which is billed to hold next month on September 20 and 21 at Trenchard Hall of his alma mater- U I, has as theme: Legacy of Christopher Okigbo – 50 Years On.
The event is organised jointly by the Christopher Okigbo Foundation (COF) and the University of Ibadan through her Departments of Classics and English.
According to the organisers, the keynote address will be delivered by Nobel Laureate Prof Wole Soyinka under the Chairmanship of Eze Prof Chukwuemeka Ike; while HRH Obi of Onitsha Eze Achebe will be the Royal Father of the day. “Other eminent personalities expected at the event include Ambassador Judith Sefi Attah (Okigbo’s widow); members of the Okigbo family; Christopher Okigbo’s friends; colleagues, mentees and writers within and abroad. There will also be paper presentations and a panel of discussions on the subthemes; cultural and poetry readings.
