Ossie Enekwe, born Onuora Osmond Enekwechi (12 November 1942 – 29 April 2010), was a Nigerian dramatist, poet, novelist, and professor of theatre arts.
He was a former vice president of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), as well as the former director of the Institute of African Studies at the University of Nigeria in Nsukka (1998–2004). He helped to establish the University of Nigeria's Dramatic Arts Department.
Enekwe was the editor of Okike: The African Journal of New Writing from 1984 to 2010, after being appointed by its founder, Chinua Achebe, who founded it in 1971. When Enekwe retired in 2010, he handed over the editorship of Okike to Amechi Akwanya.
Early life and education Ossie Enekwe was born on 12 November 1942, at Affa in Udi LGA, Enugu State, to Albert Nkomatolu Enekwe's family.
He began formal education at St. Patrick's School, Ogbette, Enugu, in 1949, continuing till 1952, and again from 1955 to 1957. He then attended Holy Ghost School, Ogui, Enugu, 1953; St. Mary's School, Uwani, Enugu, 1954; Trinity High School, Oguta, 1958–62 and the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, 1964–72.
Enekwe became a Foundation Scholar after gaining admission to the department of English in the Faculty of Arts of the university, and, he was refunded his first year school fees and had his subsequent school fees paid by the university. As an undergraduate student, he quite often went around campus with a guitar slugged to his shoulders.
During 1963–64, he worked as a clerk in the third class at the Ministry of Local Government in Enugu. The following year, he established a music club named "Kiss Me Quick" and had already started appearing on Enugu TV in the series Ossie Melody. Enekwe was part of the Eastern Nigeria Theatre Group from 1963 to 1967.
Starting in 1966, and until the outbreak of the Nigerian Civil War, he served as a literature freelancer for the Christian Radio, Enugu. This radio station was affiliated with UTLF, the Voice of the Gospel station in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
During the Nigerian Civil War that spanned from 1967 until January 1970, Enekwe was employed in one of Biafra's branches and was frequently spotted playing the guitar in order to offer solace to both troops and refugees. It was during this time that he developed a close relationship with and was mentored by Achebe.
As a student in 1970, Enekwe founded the Oak Theatre, a performing arts group that is mentioned in The Cambridge Guide to World Theatre, edited by Martin Banham. He invited his superior, Prof. Kalu Uka, who was then the head of department, to serve as the director of the drama group.
Enekwe completed his studies in the Department of English at UNN with Second Class Honours, Upper Division in 1971. He quickly secured a position as an English master at St. Peter's College in Achina, Anambra, Nigeria. Later that same year, he was appointed a Junior Research Fellow at the Department of English at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
Early career Starting from 1972, Enekwe took up postgraduate studies at Columbia University, New York, and was awarded a writing fellowship. During his time there, Enekwe played a key role in establishing the Columbia Reader in 1974, serving as the first editor. Further, he collaborated with The Greenfield Review to prepare the 14th Annual African Poetry issue.
Enekwe earned multiple degrees from Columbia, including an MFA in writing (1974), M.Phil. in theatre (1977) and finally, a PhD in theatre (1982). His doctoral thesis portrays the organic connection between ritual and theatre. The thesis was published as a book entitled Igbo Masks: The Oneness of Ritual and Theatre (1987). The book is listed by UNESCO as a classic text in anthropology.
Enekwe was a teacher and scholar in the fields of creative writing, drama, and literature for more than thirty years. He taught at the University of Nigeria and various educational institutions in the United States. Throughout his teaching career, he held different positions, including Junior Research Fellow at the Department of English, University of Nigeria, Nsukka; Adjunct Lecturer in African-American Literature at the City University of New York (1973–76) and Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey, USA (1977). He was also an Associate in African-American Literature at Columbia University in New York (1977–78) and rose through the ranks from Lecturer 1 (1978) to Senior Lecturer in the English Department at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka in 1980.
The drama program at the University of Nigeria was initially housed within the Department of English, where it was taught as a form of literature. In 1975, when Enekwe was pursuing a Master of Philosophy degree at Columbia University, he was invited by Dr. D.I. Nwoga, the Head of the Department of English at the University of Nigeria, to return to his alma mater. The request was also backed by Prof. Emmanuel N. Obiechina and Achebe, who encouraged Enekwe to help establish a new Sub-Department of Dramatic Arts. Despite Bernard Beckerman's efforts to retain him, Enekwe resigned from his position at Columbia as a sign of respect for his academic mentors. He returned to the University of Nigeria in 1978 and, together with Dr. J.N. Amankulor, Mr. Kalu Uka (now Prof. Kalu Uka), and Dom Asomba, developed the curriculum for the new Sub-Department, which became an independent entity separate from the Department of English in the 1982/83 academic year.
Amankulor was the first co-ordinator of the Sub-Department (1983–1986). Enekwe was appointed the Coordinator of Dramatic Arts at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka in 1986 until 1989. The Sub-Department was eventually elevated to a full department in 2004.
Stage direction/theatre productions Many of Enekwe's days were spent in theatre practice and scholarship. In 1980, the Department of English, under Achebe, gave him full support for the Oak Theatre production of Shakespeare's Macbeth with which Enekwe's team toured secondary schools in the Eastern States of Nigeria. Earlier, it had been staged for the 1980 convocation of the University of Nigeria.
In 1984, Enekwe directed The Trial of Dedan Kimathi by Ngugi wa Thiong’o and Micere Mugo, as a convocation play for the University of Nigeria. Impressed by the production, the then-Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Frank Nwachukwu Ndili, with the support of Alhaji Ali Mungono, the then-Pro-Chancellor, gave Enekwe's troupe full financial and logistic support, which made it possible for them to perform in the major higher institutions, including the University of Benin, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, the University of Ibadan, the University of Lagos, and the University of Port Harcourt.
The troupe also performed in Abuja Capital Territory, under the ministerial control of late General Mamman Vatsa. So, the production of The Trial of Dedan Kimathi that Enekwe directed was the first modern theatre production in Abuja, Capital Territory. In his remarks, Vatsa said that the production would assure Nigerians of the reality of Abuja Capital Territory. In a report of the Sub-Department of Dramatic Arts to the Justice Robert Okara-led visitation panel, the then-Coordinator of the Sub-Department Amankulor, stated:
Before the exodus of talented theatre scholars and practitioners, such as late Prof. J. N. Amankulor, Kalu Uka (now Professor Kalu Uka), Dr. Chimalum Nwankwo, Esiaba Irobi, Eni-Jones Umuko and Osy Okagbue, and others, the Sub-Department of Dramatic Arts was a beehive, presenting a wide variety of plays that touched on various theatre traditions, allowing members to fulfil themselves.
Academic staff and students participated as actors, actresses, etc. in the productions. In those years, they had regular productions at noon, under the name Noon Theatre, in the Paul Robeson Building where students practised what they were taught. They were encouraged to write plays, direct them or play any other relevant roles.
In 1997 and 1998, the troupe went on two very successful tours, on invitation by the Shell Petroleum Club in Warri, to stage Enekwe's Dance of Restoration, directed by Felix Egwuda, and Esiaba Irobi's Nwokedi, directed by Oyibo Eze.
Enekwe undertook many performance tours. His directing credits include Wole Soyinka's The Trial of Brother Jero, Jewels of the Shrine by Ene Henshaw, The Trial of Dedan Kimathi by Ngugi Wa Thiong'o and Micere Mugo, which was the first modern professional theatre production in Abuja, Nigerian capital city. He has also directed Edward Albee's The Zoo Story, Shakespeare's Macbeth, The Marriage of Anasewa by Efua Sutherland, as well as his own poem, Marching to Kilimanjaro.
Two dance troupes he had worked with have toured the United States and Europe. He equally wrote and choreographed many dance dramas, one of which was first performed at Colgate University, Hamilton, New York, in 1992, and at the Shell Club, Warri, Nigeria, in 1997.
He was the consultant director of the University of Nigeria Comedy Squad. Enekwe's drama productions attest to his creative imagination and directoral procedure informed by attention to details.
Academic/literary contributions Enekwe was made a full professor of theatre arts in 1988. After many years of application to the Postgraduate School of the University of Nigeria, the MA, PhD and D.Phil. programmes of theatre arts which Enekwe designed were approved.
He had an abiding interest in African, African-American literatures. His poems and short stories have appeared in major literary anthologies worldwide, notable of which are Almanakh Africa (1982); African Rhapsody: Short Stories of Contemporary African Experience (1974); Dobsirao Moi Nigeria Koltok (Lament of the Drums); Contemporary Nigerian Poets (1977); An Anthropology of Contemporary African Poetry (1993).
Enekwe's "Happy Baby" is the model poem in Ghana Senior Secondary School English, Book 1, published for the Government of Ghana by the Oxford University Press (1991). Many of his short fictions and poems have been translated into French, Italian, Spanish, Serbian, Hungarian and many other languages. He is listed amongst editorial consultants in many journals, local and international, and his lectures and scholarly writings have inspired a great number of people.
In 1984, Achebe appointed Enekwe the editor of Okike: An African Journal of New Writing; Achebe had founded the journal in 1971. When Enekwe retired in 2010, he handed over the editorship of Okike to Akwanya.
His Theories of Dance in Nigeria (1991) unraveled many salient and hidden features of theatrical and dance practices. Enekwe argued for the existence of traditional African theatre as against the widely held view in the western world of its non-existence. He points to a large and vast existence of traditional groups outside the stage of the elitist audience in western permeated circles in Nigeria. His works demonstrated versatility of craft that manipulates ironies and dramatic actions to startling aesthetic effects. His creative and literary talents elucidated African literature and literary criticism.