Bola Afolabi
Some 25 years ago, multi-talented writer, Bunmi Oyinsan, was a roaring feminist. Together with co-gender equality seekers, they spread the gospel of feminism with talent and vigour. While they have always been members of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), they were still active in the Women Writers Association of Nigeria (WRITA). At various gatherings and on several projects, Oyinsan was an emphatic feminist voice that no one could discountenance.
But is anyone still longing to see her soldiering feminism? Such a person may have to wait, and probably wait for the perennially elusive Godot. The reason is that her energy has got a new mission. The writer, dramatist and teacher who currently resides in Canada has discovered a new challenge which, she believes, demands a more urgent and concerted intervention. The demon she mostly confronts now is racism, with its damning products like systemic degradation, poverty and new slavery.
Oyinsan revealed her new mindset in Lagos on Sunday, August 17, when she spoke on her new novel, A Ladder of Bones. An engaging novel ‘about five young Africans grappling with personal histories and the legacy of violence’, it is counter-textual to Ellen Thorp’s Ladder of Bones, which portrays British imperialists as Nigerian saviours. According to Oyinsan, it is a fallacy to say that the intention behind the British Empire and other European empires was noble or altruistic. The colonialists did not do Africa a favour, she insisted.
She said, “In her (Thorp’s) version, she presents British colonisation in Nigeria as noble and altruistic. A lot of us know that that is nowhere near the truth. Of course, unless you are telling Badenoch. So, she presents colonisation as altruistic and the efforts of the missionaries and administrators as civilising the land said to be devastated by tribal warfare, slave trading and other issues. Her position draws on the popular trope that the British Empire and other European empires did the fantastic work to get Africa developed. Beneath that paternalistic language and this so-called righteous intention lies the real history of brutal conquests that we were never taught in school, of cultural erasure and inter-generational trauma we are still grappling with. So, my novel deliberately signifies on Ellen Thorp’s title where ‘Ladder of Bones’ symbolises the sacrifices of the colonial agents, I reclaim it. I jam it to highlight the human cost of colonisation.”
The book unveiling anchored by culture activist Jahman Anikulapo featured a contributory video (Re-Incarnation) presentation by popular dancer, Kudus Onikeku; a poetry performance by Akeem Lasisi, while the novel was reviewed by Jumoke Verissimo, represented by fellow writer, Perpetual Eziefule. At the event were Oyinsan’s filmmaker husband, Soji Oyinsan; and her fellow creative missioners such as star actress Joke Silva, The NEWS Publisher, Kunle Ajibade; and a former Chairman of the Association of Nigerian Authors, Lagos State branch, Kayode Aderinokun.