Late Prof Omotoso
We were four and we called ourselves KOMFESS ARTISTES, individually named Kole Omotoso, Femi Osofisan, Sanmi Ogunjobi and Bode Sowande.
KOMFESS ARTISTES as a collective appellation summed up our dreams to be relevant and excel in our artistic creativity.
Kole Omotoso went to Kings College Lagos, Femi Osofisan, Sanmi Ogunjobi and I went to Government College Ibadan.
Late sixties we were all budding writers.
Kole Omotoso was the oldest and rallying point. He published short stories in magazines .
Sunday Times published my short story when I was in Form Five, Secondary School .
Femi Osofisan won the T.M. ALUKO PRIZE for creative writing , a year before I won the same prize. I won mine in 1966.
Sanmi Ogunjobi was most omni directional. Sanmi was a poet, visual artist mounting exhibitions and he designed clothes for men and women.
Kole spoke French and would earn a Doctoral degree in Arabic. Sanmi taught French .
I earned my first degree in French and taught French.
Femi earned his first degree in French.
Kole became lecturer at University of Ibadan. I got my Doctorate in Dramatic Literature before age thirty and taught at UI.
Femi earned his Doctorate and taught at UI.
We all were theatre artistes.
Wole Soyinka was our brilliant beacon and his ORISUN THEATRE was centre of our creative expression at one point.
I established ODU THEMES in 1972.
That year KOMFESS ARTISTES lost a vibrant member.
Sanmi Ogunjobi died in a tragic bus accident which claimed eighteen lives , all artistes returning from a NATIONAL ARTS FESTIVAL in Kaduna.
From then KOMFESS ARTISTES became a delicate but fine vibration only in our consciousness.
Kole Omotoso published his novel COMBAT and we celebrated this no end.
Femi Osofisan and I would soon follow with our published works.
KOMFESS ARTISTES are friends bonded by artistic creativity and dreams.
Flashback delights with relevance. .
Two gone!
I am sure that Kole Omotoso’s HOMECOMING Is a heavenly delight.
