Flashback: An Ebedi reunion in Uganda

EVEN though the Ethiopian Airline from Lagos via Addis Ababa touched down at that very inconvenient time of 1 am, Nakisanze Segawa, a 2015 Ebedi Fellow with Beatrice  Lamwaka the Program Officer of the Ugandan Women Writers Association (FEMRITE), were on hand to receive me at the Bole International Airport, Entebbe, Uganda.

When I expressed my deep appreciation for the personal welcome at that odd hour, Nakisanze replied, ‘’All the Ebedi Fellows would have been here to welcome you if not for the late hour’’

Apart from the other Ebedi Fellows, my odd time of arrival also robbed me of another wonderful view of Lake Victoria, which I enjoyed from the air when I last visited Uganda, 10 years earlier.

Entebbe airport, which is about one hour distance by road from the capital Kampala, is actually sited at the tail end of Lake Victoria giving air passengers a scenic view of the beautiful aquatic splendour during daytime.

‘’Nothing has changed much in Uganda since your last visit 10 years ago. The same President is still in office,’’ observed some of my hosts in a cynical reference to their President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni who has been in office for 30 years!!

SINCE its inception in 2010, the Ebedi International Writers Residency had hosted six Ugandan writers. These are, Barbara Oketta, Juliet Kushaba, Doreen Baingana, Nakisanze Segawa, Apophia Agiresaasi and the only male writer, Jackson Dre Oyuga. All the five female writers are members of FEMRITE.

As a form of appreciation for the role played by Ebedi in the lives of these writers, I was invited to Uganda for the celebration of FEMRITE’s 20th anniversary which took place between July 28 to 30 2016.

The conference whose theme was ‘Rethinking African Literature’ took place at the School of Women and Gender Studies, Makerere University.

The warm welcome by the Ebedi Fellows continued the following day of my arrival with a lunch in my honour at the posh Café Clayton in Kamwokya, a suburb of Kampala.

In addition to the Ugandan Ebedi Fellows, the lunch was also attended by a Nigerian Ebedi Fellow, Muguember Victoria Sylvester, Professor of English at the University of Abuja who had also been invited to present a paper at the conference.

And as we tackled the deliciously grilled fish, barbecued chicken, rice and potatoes, we all exchanged banters as the writers reflected on their time in Ebedi.

‘How is Khalid Imam and Julius Bokoro,’’ asked Jackson about his team mates whom he said gave him an exciting time during the residency program.

Nakisanze equally had fond memories of her mates, Chinyere Obi-Obasi and Timi Nipre-Ovuru. ”Mrs Obasi used to spoil us with her delicious cooking,” Nakisanze enthused.

Apart from the sumptuous lunch, the Fellows also arranged a guided tour of the palace of the Kabaka, the King of the over 800-year old Buganda Kingdom. The palace which was built in 1936 was briefly turned into a Military barracks in 1967 when Idi Amin ruled the country. It was, however, handed back to the Buganda Kingdom in 1993 when the current President Museveni took over power.

A sad reminder of Idi Amin’s despotic rule was the torture dungeon located at the posterior end of the palace where hundreds of Ugandans were electrocuted to death during his eight year rule.

The National Theatre and the National Museum were the other places of interest visited courtesy of the Fellows.

Later in the evening, Jackson gave me a dose of Kampala night life with a visit to the Paramera Restaurant and Bar in Naguru Hill ,where I saw a lively crowd of young people eating, dancing and smoking cigarettes and shisha.

IN addition to my lecture entitled, Empowerment of Women’s Literature Through Writers Residency Programs; The Ebedi Experience, Ebedi was further celebrated at the conference when I was asked to launch Nakisanze’s book The Triangle which she completed during her stay in Ebedi.

So impressed were the participants at the success of the Ebedi Residency as gleaned from the submissions of the Ugandan Ebedi Fellows that I was assailed by several requests for a place at the residency.

On my last day in Uganda, I joined the Ebedi Fellows and other conference participants for a night of poetry, singing and dancing at a Bonfire which took place at the Ugandan Museum.

And as I savoured the warm fellowship of my fellow writers under the wonderful, starry Kampala night, a delicious drum stick in my mouth, all the sweat and hard work of running the Ebedi Residency this past six years, dissolved and wafted away in the embers of that lovely night.

Okediran, writer and medical doctor, is the founder of Ebedi Writers Residency in Iseyin, Oyo State.  A former member of the House of Representatives, he is current Secretary-General of Pan African Writers Association, PAWA.