The Indestructible Was Taken From Soyinka’s Comment – Sutton
Jimi Solanke was a literary icon who traversed the different genre of the field. Wowed by his huge talent and creativity, Oluwatoyin Sutton, felt a need to document him and this led to the book, Jimi Solanke: The Indestructible. In a chat with GBENGA SALAU, Sutton provided insights on the subject of the book and other issues around writing the book. What informed the choice of the book title?
IWAS looking through the foreword of one of his books and Wole Soyinka had signed one of the copies with the word, the indestructible. So, it was while reading through one of the copies that I saw the way Soyinka described Uncle Jimi with that word. Thus, the word came from someone who knew Uncle Jimi in and out. And I only wish I had the chance to delve into why he used that phrase when I interviewed him ( Soyinka).
But it was enough for me that he did and I said I will use it because I knew that it was loaded. And I could kind of glean a little bit of that during my interaction with Uncle Jimi and why he was described in that word.
Uncle Jimi was resilient, he had lots of downs, especially in the later part, but he kept getting up and going. And I keep wondering if he does not get tired and weary. The wife also testified to it, saying at times she wonders if he was a human being. So, there was something indestructible about him.
When the world thinks it is over for him considering his age, you see him again, bouncing up to do great stuff. He had this indestructible spirit I have to say.
Who exactly was he to you?
Uncle Jimi was more like a father figure to me because he was actually a part of my childhood growing up in Ile- ife. The year I was born was when Uncle Jimi came to Ife and he was in Ife for some time, left and came back again in the 80s and came back again towards the end of his life. I was born in Ife, my parents were in Ife and my father had a club, The Beacon, and Uncle Jimi used to play at the club’s Sunday jazz.
As a young teenager, I used to listen to him. He was a friend of my father and mum and a member of the club. So, he was part of my childhood and early adulthood before I left the country. And I was following him in the media, even after I left the county because of his charismatic personality.
But around 2016, I got a call from a childhood friend who had spent a night before in a joint in Ife chatting with Uncle Jimi for a long hour. And he said to me how wowed he was chatting with Uncle Jimi, saying there are a lot of stories about Uncle Jimi that need to be told, challenging me about the need to preserve his story by getting it documented. And I thought to myself that Uncle Jimi is back in Ife because I have lost contact with him. And there I felt a real kind of a man of over 70 years still being able to recount vividly his experiences and I said how much longer he would be able to recall them vividly.
I am no way a professional writer, but my instinct felt the need to write a book about him. And I felt it would be a wonderful thing to capture what he has to say about his life, what he has seen and observed, any reflections, insights. So, I approached him and he was so excited about it. And we took it from there. What are the challenges with getting the work done?
The major challenge was financial because I had to travel down from the United Kingdom ( UK). I live and work in the UK, I am a full time English teacher in a secondary school. For 2017 and 2018, the early part of the book before COVID, I was coming to Nigeria twice a year during my holiday. And that was because of the urgency I attached to it. Baba was giving me answer by Whatsap but I wanted to be around him, I wanted to look at the objects around him. Spending time with him, really embedding his spirit, he was stronger than I. The man was a strong spirit, I was trying to catch up with him, because he had a lot of stamina, when I sent questions to him and he would reply and after about two to three weeks after, he would ask if there are no more questions for him to respond to. He really fueled my continuation.
I have never published a book before though I am poet by inclination. After sending a few drafts to him and when he says think about that line, I would rewrite the whole stuff again because I wanted to do him justice more than pleasing myself because it was not about me.
He is a man of the theatre, a storyteller and if you are to tell the story of a storyteller, it has to be interesting or else you lost the magic of a story teller. And that was how he told the story to me, very colourful and dramatic. There are things I have to take out but it was a journey and we thank God for today.
Did Uncle Jimi see the book and why is the book just out weeks after his death?
There was a delay with the publishers owing to shipping but a few arrived in 2022, and Uncle Jimi got copies, which he shared with friends. And we kept pushing the public launch though we actually did online launch in 2022. And we were hoping to do a public launch, but he did not want me to put pressure on myself, or to take time of work because I can only come during the holidays. So, he said a time that would be appropriate for both parties should be picked for the book launch. And I said this summer, I will be home and we would do it properly. I was still with him in August 2023 in Ife, he was in our house and full of life.
How did you receive the news of his death?
The first thing I felt when I heard about his death was disbelief that he was not alive any more. And then a real sense of sadness, not that we have not got his book and story, we have that, but a sadness that literarily I will miss his presence, laughter, and encouragement.
Anybody who is around him would know this, Uncle Jimi believes anything was possible. If you say you want to do some, he will say go ahead with it, it is possible, he had that kind of real positive energy. And I felt I will lose that without him because I do not know anyone that has that kind of energy of that age that I can look up to. He was a father figure to me
What did you take away from interacting with him?
I should not be afraid of anything I set my mind on. He had inspiration to take on any challenge. That is what I took from Uncle Jimi because he had that capacity. Even if it affected him, you will not see it on the outside, he kept going. I take that from him that even if you are stumbling, you are still going, because if you stop, you gather dust.
From writing the book, I have learnt that when you have a passion for something that is the biggest part of achieving something, the passion will push, open doors, get helpers. If you have passion for something, just do it as that will make way for you.
In your engagement with him, did he have any regret?
He has no regrets because his belief is that his life and every step he took were God ordained, even through the paths that were rocky.