“You are creating a diplomatic incident!“ A short time after the Nobel award, the university in the Wagner city of Bayreuth wants to honour herself by awarding a honorary doctorate to Wole. The ‘man’ who had been in the city several times before, mainly so during Ulli Beier’s creative tenure as director of the ‘Iwalewa-Haus’, agrees to accept that honour. But in the end Wole decides on the spot NOT to accept the doctorate… Local Africanists having infomed him that the responsible faculty had been financially sponsored by some gentleman with a somewhat dubious Nazi past. “I shall come back when you have sorted that out!” he declares.
A reception takes place nevertheless, to which the German Foreign Office even sent one of the young would-be diplomats from its Training School. The young well-dressed gentleman is standing around somewhat lost, but with long ears, listening in on the vivid conversation between Wole, Kole Omotoso and myself. During a break in our conversation the very diplomatic young diplomat nervously walks up to me and begs to have a word with me.
“This is a free country, why not!” And then he whispers into my ear: “Mr. Meuer, you are creating a diplomatic incident!“
Me: “Na, how now?”
Another whisper into my ear: „Don’t you realize that you are creating a diplomatic incident by speaking Pidgin to the LITERATURE Nobel!“
And I wasn’t even aware that I was ‘talkin proper’. Wole, who seems to have been watching our serious conversation, then asks me:
“You seem to have a problem with your countryman...”
Me: “Yes, na so! Da man don say na me I cos diplomaatic hincident.“
Wole: “How now?”
Me: “Cos I dey talk broken.”
Wole: “Na him problem.” |
