Aaron Crecy
From National University's Vision Magazine
February 2001

Poetic Justice
Literature Professor Peter Olafioye Challenges Adversity with Verse

Who's the guy in the bright-colored outfits with the James Brown hairdo? It's Tayo "Peter" Olafioye, professor, prolific poet and social critic. His musings on the human condition have made him a best-selling author in his native Nigeria. His passion for classic English literature has brought him to the classrooms of National University, which he describes as "an acropolis of scholarship."

Tayo has resided in San Diego in relative anonymity for most of the past thirty years. If pressed to describe him, some strangers might mention his traditional African garb, and with good reason - Olafioye typically wears a colorful, hand-woven dashiki, buba or damask from his native Nigeria. Others might recall the protruding pompadour that extends to just above his eyebrows in the vintage style of "the Godfather of Soul," in actuality a mask to hide the scars of surgery.

If one were to ask Tayo's students at National University, they would surely paint the picture of a dedicated scholar and tireless mentor. But were one to query the people of his homeland, the Tayo Olafioye they would most likely portray is an author of widespread acclaim, an outspoken proponent of democracy who was not afraid to challenge the dictatorship that once reigned. They would tell you about a man who is the voice of the voiceless.

"In Nigeria, scholarship matters," says Olafioye with resolute simplicity. "Poetry carries the force of imagery, and prose possesses a rhetorical flourish that creates room for expansion while permitting digression. In either form, cultural artifacts serve to reinforce scholarship while capturing the mood of the continent."

A professor of Literature and Writing at National University since 1996 and an oft-published author of more than 15 books, Olafioye has been a fixture within the San Diego academic community since 1969, when he traveled from Lagos, Nigeria to attend graduate school at the University of San Diego. After completing a Master's degree in English, Olafioye studied at the University of California, San Diego and the University of Denver en route to a Ph.D. He subsequently taught English, Comparative Literature and Creative Writing at San Diego State University, UCSD and Cal State San Marcos.

Olafioye becomes decidedly animated when discussing his experience at National University. "It is an acropolis of scholarship, a citadel of knowledge," he exclaims. "The quality of work I see at National University is impressive. I interact with mature students who are in many ways my colleagues. They are vertical and deep, with the ability to masticate my ideas and generate their own."

As the son of a traditional chief who trained in London as a filmmaker, Tayo enjoyed a comfortable childhood in Nigeria. He received a colonial education and became enthralled with Shakespeare at the age of 10; by high school, he finished the bard's complete works and moved on to Chaucer. When he completed his bachelor's degree at the University of Lagos in 1968, his family decided to send him to San Diego to continue his studies.

"My aunt and uncle called me over one day and said, 'Tayo, you are going to San Diego next week,' which took me by complete surprise," he recalls. "I thought they said Santiago, so I was under the impression that I was going to Chile - I had never even heard of San Diego."

It was in San Diego that Tayo first encountered racism and cultural insensitivity. Under the guise of helpfulness, a roommate told him that he could not date white women. And on campus, he was the only black student in most of his classes, which led to several uncomfortable situations. One such incident occurred in the cafeteria, when a fellow student mockingly asked about the "pajamas" he was wearing, an event that inspired him to write a poem titled Pyjamas.

"I was so naïve that I was numb to all types of racism," he explains. While admittedly naïve, Olafioye was not timid....

"Eh guy, " I retorted. "Tell me:
Is it new style, USA
To wear pyjamas, cafeteria?"
Silence... and a stare.
"Eh guy, at home
Your papa wears pyjamas--
Market places?"
Silence, a mope, eyes dropped.
"Where lies the bed that suggests
Arrival of my nap
In cafeteria?"

(Pyjamas)

Characteristically, the good-natured poet describes another experience of prejudice that occurred when he walked into a barbershop for a haircut. When the barber refused to cut his hair because he was "colored," Olafioye questioned the man's perspective.

"I said, 'If I am colored, then you must be as well - if you were not colored, you would be invisible," he remembers. "The barber looked at me for a moment, and just as I was about to walk out, he called me back and offered to cut my hair. We became good friends after that."

Today, despite a bitter struggle with prostate cancer and a devastating stroke - both nearly fatal - Tayo continues to write. With a democratic government now in place in Nigeria, he drew insight and inspiration from the frailty of his own existence in one of his recent books. In A Stroke of Hope, Olafioye documented the various stages of his illness and accompanying surgeries in a gripping collection of narrative poems. Like the author, the tone is stark, raw and fraught with emotion, at times bitter, at times analytical and often thankful, penned by the hand of a man who stared death in the face and ultimately refused to blink.

Even on one's deathbed, one always breathes the hope of living and planning. For down deep into my innermost being of being, I never entertained death or dying; even remotely (VI).

(A Stroke of Hope)

Olafioye's seminal work was a rather fortunate byproduct of this dark hour. "Confessions of the Moral Lepers - Part I and Part II" appear in A Stroke of Hope, and serve to underscore the master poet's penchant for vivid imagery and well-crafted figurative language while encapsulating his outspoken criticism of the former Nigerian government.

Nobody lives here anymore
To sniff the bonfires of decay.
When the teeth fall
The nose succumbs to all
The beasts amidst us
Scavenged dungheaps for cadavers
They had sown
To stay the reign
Of the most satanic pope of Islam
The Ayatollah of Christendom
The Khalif of ritual death
Called abacha of Nigeria.
He suffers a spiritual malnutrition (31).

(Excerpt from "Confessions of the Moral Lepers - Part I")

Many of the poems in the soon-to-be published "Tryst of the Sinators," were inspired by a recent trip to Africa. Meanwhile, "Ubangiji: The Conscience of Eternity" features poetic commentary on a wide range of contemporary issues, including his homeland, OJ Simpson, United States President Bill Clinton, Nelson Mandela and even singer Celine Dion.

So honeyed her voice,
Her range of tonality
Wider than the sea;
Her healing touch
Fresher than the breeze.
The power of effect
stronger than steel.
How slow the sobering verves
Caress many hearts of feel.
Your name is velvet to my heart;
Golden diamond
To my 8 year old--
Femi, this dotta of mine.

(Excerpt from "Celine Dion")

The author is profiled in "The Companion to African Literatures," and he has been the feature of countless newspaper and magazine articles. Yet, Tayo is content to lead a quiet, unassuming life in San Diego, far from the epicenter of his fame, choosing instead to impart his wisdom to class after class of fortunate students at National University.

"I enjoy teaching at National University because it encourages a free range of inspiration," he explains. "The experience of life leads to an exchange of ideas, and I maintain that my students teach me as much about life as I teach them."