Lagos-based poet, Austyn Njoku, passes on

The Nigerian literary community has lost one of its dedicated members, Mr Austyn Njoku, to the cold arms of death.

A statement released by the Lagos State chapter of the Association of Nigerian Authors and signed by its chairman, Femi Onileagbon, formally announced the demise of Njoku on Sunday.

The statement said that the deceased, who was a former national treasurer of the association and a member of the Advisory Council of     ANA Lagos, was sick for a while. It added there was high hope of Njoku’s recovery from the illness, which was not named, when he gave up the ghost on the evening of Friday August 8, 2014.

Also, the statement noted that the departed poet, whose outlet, Jemmie Books, is one of the five publishing firms contracted by ANA to handle its newest project, the Nigerian Writers Series, would have clocked 49 years on August 28.

The news of Njoku’s death was first broken via Facebook on Sunday. Later reactions poured in from his friends, fellow writers and associates who in turn expressed their shock at the sad event on the wall of his Facebook page.

One of them, Tunde Aremu, described the poet as a “great lover of the written word, a fantastic and enthusiastic writer.”

Njoku had worked with the defunct Nigeria Airways for many years before he was retrenched, alongside hundreds of other members of staff, before he started his own book publishing business.

Meanwhile, the body of the award-winning author of the poetry collections I Have Been a Crew and Night in Lagos has been conveyed to his hometown in Imo State, pending the finalisation of burial arrangements. A condolence register has been opened in his residence at 4, Ogundare Street, off Palace Road, Amikanle (entrance via Kola B/Stop), Alagbado, Lagos. He is survived by his wife and five children.