Rems Nnanyelugo Umeasiegbu (born 1 October 1943), is a Nigerian

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

scholar A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an academic discipline. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an advanced degree or a termina ...

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

and

folklorist Folklore studies (also known as folkloristics, tradition studies or folk life studies in the UK) is the academic discipline devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currency in the 1950s to distinguish the ac ...

from south-eastern

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

. . He was also a

Principal Lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...

at the Institute of Management Technology, Enugu (1978-1982), and Head of Department, Mass Communications, IMT, Nigeria (1982-1986) and professor of

oral literature Oral literature, orature, or folk literature is a genre of literature that is spoken or sung in contrast to that which is written, though much oral literature has been transcribed. There is no standard definition, as anthropologists have used v ...

at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka as well as a consultant to Koruna Books Publications.

Early life and marriage

Umeasiegbu was born in

Aba ABA may refer to: Aviation * AB Aerotransport, former Scandinavian airline * IATA airport code for Abakan International Airport in Republic of Khakassia, Russia Businesses and organizations Broadcasting * Alabama Broadcasters Association, Uni ...

, though a native of Amesi in

Aguata Aguata is a Local Government Area in Anambra State, Nigeria, with its headquarters in Aguata. A major part of the headquarters falls into the town of Aguluezechukwu, while a smaller part falls into Ekwulobia. Economy In this region, subsist ...

Local Government of

Anambra State Anambra () is a States of Nigeria, state in Nigeria. It is located in the South East (Nigeria), South-eastern region of the country. The state was created on 27 August 1991. Anambra state is bounded by Delta State to the west, Imo State and Ri ...

. One Ugandan reviewer has this to say about Rems' background:

His father, G. U. Umeasiegbu, was (or is, I can't tell), a leading elder in the county of Aba, and he customarily entertained such dignitaries as the councillors of the Aba Urban Council. One day when the councillors gathered in his homestead, he asked his son, Rems Nna Umeasiegbu, to bring in palmwine for the guests, The son served the palmwine without taking a sip first, a violation of Ibo custom. The father threatened to remove him from school, which, the father felt, was corrupting his knowledge of the Ibo traditions. The serious sermon following the reprimand left such an imprint on Umeasiegbu's mind that he later decided to reconstruct the Ibo customs as he recollected them while studying at Oxfordshire in Britain. Thus his only informant in retrospect was his father, and his only methodology, corruption of his father's sermons and tale-telling sessions.

In 1976, at the request of the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

, Rems returned to Nigeria. He married a school teacher Virginia Okediogwu Anakwenze on 16 October 1976 and they have four children. Back in Nigeria, he worked at the Federal Ministry of Information,

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

as an information officer with responsibilities for organising the festival of black arts and culture, FESTAC '77.

Education

Professor Rems attended CKS,

, before studying at College of Immaculate Conception,

Enugu Enugu () verbally pronounced as "Enụgwụ" by the Igbo indigenes is a state in the South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered to the north by the states of Benue and Kogi, Ebonyi State to the east and southeast, Abia State to the so ...

. In 1966, he proceeded to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

for further studies. He later studied in

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

, England. After spending a year in England, he got a

scholarship A scholarship is a form of Student financial aid, financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, Multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion, athleti ...

to study for his

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

at the University of Sedmnact, Listopadu,

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

in 1971 and another MA at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

in 1972. He then later bagged a doctorate degree in

Oral Literature Oral literature, orature, or folk literature is a genre of literature that is spoken or sung in contrast to that which is written, though much oral literature has been transcribed. There is no standard definition, as anthropologists have used v ...

from the

, the US, in 1975. He moved to the

Grambling State University Grambling State University (GSU, Grambling, or Grambling State) is a public historically black university in Grambling, Louisiana, United States. Grambling State is home of the Eddie G. Robinson Museum and is listed on the Louisiana African ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

, where he was an assistant

Notable publications

While in

, he wrote his first major work ''The Way We lived'' (1969) at the age of 26. The seminal work is a chronicle of folk tales from

pre-colonial Colonialism is the control of another territory, natural resources and people by a foreign group. Colonizers control the political and tribal power of the colonised territory. While frequently an Imperialism, imperialist project, colonialism c ...

. At

he wrote the work of fiction ''Mazi Amesi'', a

fictional Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent ...

account of an

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

n slave. Throughout his teaching career, Umeasiegbu remained an avid writer, publishing over 35 books in a course of his career which include ''The Inevitable Aftermath'', ''End of the Road''(1985), ''Anukili Na Ugama: An Igbo Epic'', ''Ask the Storyteller: Tales from Northern Nigeria'', ''Words Are Sweet'' (1982), ''The Study of Igbo Culture'' (1986) and so on . For his artistic output, he was honoured with Distinguished Writers' Award in 1987. The richness of Rems' ''Ghost Stories'' in oral literature fascinated a scholar to affirm that: "Umeasiegbu has therefore championed a new literary subgenre in Nigerian literature which is not strictly confined to folktale narrative techniques, but is purely categorized as ghost lore."

Career

Rems left Lagos for a teaching appointment at the

University of Nigeria The University of Nigeria, commonly referred to as UNN, is a federal and public research university located in Nsukka, Enugu State, South-east Nigeria. Founded in 1955 by Nnamdi Azikiwe who was Governor-General of Nigeria between 1960 and 1963 ...

Nsukka Nsukka is a town and a Local Government Area in Enugu State, Nigeria. Nsukka shares a common border as a town with Edem, Opi (archaeological site), Ede-Oballa, and Obimo. The postal code of the area is 410001 and 410002 respectively, re ...

, where he was a colleague of the renowned writer the late Professor

Chinua Achebe Chinua Achebe (; born Albert Chinụalụmọgụ Achebe; 16 November 1930 – 21 March 2013) was a Nigerian novelist, poet, and critic who is regarded as a central figure of modern African literature. His first novel ''Things Fall Apart'' ( ...

. He left the

in 1978, for the Institute of Management Technology, Enugu, where he rose to be the deputy head of the institution. Upon the creation of

, Umeasiegbu joined the newly formed

Nnamdi Azikiwe University Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka (UNIZIK) is a federal university in Nigeria. It consists of two campuses in Anambra State. Its main campus is in Awka (the capital of Anambra State), while its other campus is in Nnewi. There are also other campu ...

Awka Awka () is the capital city of Anambra State, Nigeria. The city was declared capital on 21 August 1991, on the creation of a new Anambra state and Enugu state by bifurcation of the old Anambra State. The city of Enugu remained the capital of Enu ...

, as one of the pioneer staff of the Department of English Language and Literature. He was made a professor of oral literature in 2001. He retired in 2008. He has served as a visiting professor at the Department of English Language and Literature,

Ebonyi State University Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki (EBSU) was founded in 1999 in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State Nigeria. The university's medical faculty was established in 1991 as ESUT's Faculty of Health Sciences. Many of its facilities were developed in response t ...

, Abakaliki, since 2014.

References

External links

Rems Umeasiegbu at Google Books
* Umeasiegbu, R. N. ''Ghost Stories''.Enugu: Koruna Book, 2006. * Umeasiegbu, N. R (1982). ''Words are Sweet: Igbo Stories and Storytelling''. Netherlands: Leiden. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Umeasiegbu, Rems 1943 births Living people 20th-century Nigerian novelists Igbo novelists Nigerian male short story writers Nigerian short story writers Academic staff of the University of Nigeria People from Aba, Nigeria University of Pennsylvania alumni Grambling State University faculty Nigerian male novelists Academic staff of Nnamdi Azikiwe University