ANA Mourns Passage of Prof. Sam Ukala

 

ANA MOURNS PASSAGE OF PROF. SAM UKALA

 

Camillus Ukah, ANA President has expressed sadness over the death of Prof. Sam Ukala, a Fellow of the Association of Nigerian Authors, founding Chairman of ANA Delta and winner of the 2014 Nigeria prize for Literature.

 

This was made public on Tuesday in a statement by ANA National Publicity Secretary (South), Wole Adedoyin.

 

 In a condolence message to the family, ANA Delta members and the entire literary community, Camillus Ukah described late Prof. Sam Ukala’s passage as a loss to ANA and the country.

 

He further said that Prof. Sam Ukala contributed immensely to the growth of ANA and there is no way the history of ANA will be written without a mention of his name.

 

According to the release, “It’s so sad that our great Sam Ukala has gone so soon. He touched so many lives, helped so many people and made them walk in the right path, the path of wisdom. Existence is the best present, Creator has given us. Expiration is nothing more than a bridge to an eternal existence with the Creator.”

 

“Death can never take a good man away, for, in the hearts of the people he inspired, the legacy remains and continuous throughout generations. ANA will forever cherish his leadership and guidance. We will carry him forever in our heart. He was a great teacher and father to many. We pray his family finds the love and strength needed to forge ahead in his huge absence.

 

“Goodbye is hard. Images never add to the affection. Recollections are always comforting and it is not possible to express everything in words. May his soul find eternal rest.”

 

While urging his family members, colleagues and the entire members of the pen profession to take solace in the fact that Prof. Sam Ukala lived an eventful and impactful life, Camillus Ukah prayed the Almighty God to forgive his shortcomings and grant him Paradise, as well as give the family the courage and fortitude to bear the great loss.

 

Sam Ukala, a Nigerian playwright, poet, short story writer, actor, theatre director, film producer and academic. He was a Professor of Theatre Arts and Drama at Delta State University, Abraka, Nigeria. Ukala had also been Professor of Drama and Theatre Arts at a number of Nigerian universities, including Edo State University. In 1993/94, as an academic staff fellow, he also researched and taught at the School of English Workshop Theatre of the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom. As an academic, he propounded the theory of 'folkism', the tendency to base literary plays on indigenous history and culture and to compose and perform them in accordance with the aesthetics of African folktale composition and performance.

 

Ukala's published plays include The Slave Wife, The Log in Your Eye, Akpakaland (winner of the 1989 ANA/British Council Prize for Drama), and Break a Boil. His Iredi War, a 'folk-script', won the 2014 Nigeria prize for Literature. It is based on the 1906 uprising of the Owa Kingdom (now part of Delta State) against oppressive British rule. As in previous pieces, he utilises and brings new life to oral literature and folk-based theatre forms. "A convincing blend of history and fiction..." Kester Echenim.

 

Ukala also worked with the British theatre Horse and Bamboo Theatre in 1999 and with Bob Frith wrote the visual theatre piece Harvest of Ghosts, which toured the UK and the Netherlands. This was an experimental piece for Ukala, which relied on dance, music, and powerful visuals rather than the spoken word.