Hope Eghagha: The Nigerian Scholar-Playwright Who Refused to Stay in One Lane

Some writers stay in the classroom. Some stay on the stage. Others live in the pages of newspapers. Professor Hope Eghagha has managed to occupy all three—and much more.

For decades, Eghagha has moved comfortably between literature, theatre, academia, journalism and public service. He is a playwright, poet, novelist, literary critic, columnist, university professor and former government official.

Now, an international community of scholars, researchers, writers and cultural critics is being invited to take a closer look at his remarkable body of work through a forthcoming festschrift in his honour.

Titled From the Margins to the Imaginations: Reimagining Contemporaneity in the Creativity of Hope Eghagha, the volume will explore the many sides of a man whose creative and intellectual work has consistently crossed boundaries.

And this is no ordinary academic tribute.

It is an invitation to examine what happens when a writer refuses to stay in one lane.

When Crude Oil Becomes the Villain in a Love Story

Take Eghagha’s acclaimed play, The Oily Marriage.

On the surface, it is a story of love involving a chief’s daughter and a university lecturer from another community. But beneath the romance lies a much deeper story about the Niger Delta, crude oil, environmental damage, community tensions and the human cost of oil exploration.

Eghagha turns a love story into a window through which audiences can confront one of Nigeria’s most complicated national questions.

That is one of the things that makes his work stand out: he doesn't simply tell stories. He uses stories to make us look again at society.

From the Theatre to the Newspaper

But Eghagha is not only a playwright whose work belongs in the theatre.

As a columnist with The Guardian and a distinguished academic at the University of Lagos, he has also used the written word to engage with Nigeria's social, political and cultural realities.

And he has experienced public service from the inside, having served as Commissioner for Higher Education in Delta State.

So, while one person may know him as Professor Eghagha, another may know him as a playwright, columnist, administrator or public intellectual.

That is precisely what makes his career so fascinating.

Now, Scholars Are Being Invited to Tell the Bigger Story

The forthcoming festschrift is being coordinated by a five-member Editorial Committee led by Dr. Promise Adiele.

The editors are looking for original, well-researched and unpublished papers examining different dimensions of Eghagha's creative and intellectual contributions.

Suggested areas include performance traditions, public discourse, orality, memory and language, identity and language ecology, pedagogy and literary theory, stylistics, rhetoric, sociolinguistics and the role of the public intellectual.

In other words, the editors are opening the door for scholars to examine not just what Eghagha has written, but what his work says about Nigeria, Africa, culture, language, society and the human experience.

Contributors are expected to submit a 200-word abstract and a brief biographical note of no more than 100 words.

Abstracts should be sent to poadiele@mtu.edu.ng.

The language of submission is English, and contributors may use either MLA or APA referencing style. Completed papers should be between 6,000 and 8,000 words.

The deadline for abstracts is October 30, 2026, while full papers are expected by May 30, 2027.

Further enquiries can be made through the same email address.

The Editorial Committee comprises Dr. Promise Adiele, Dr. James Onyeashi, Dr. John Uwa, Dr. Sola Ogunbayo and Dr. Adepoju.

Why Hope Eghagha Matters

Perhaps the most interesting thing about Eghagha's career is that he has never accepted the idea that a person must choose between creativity and intellectual engagement.

He has written plays, poetry and prose. He has taught and researched. He has written newspaper columns. He has participated in public life and served in government.

His career therefore offers an interesting example of how the arts, academia and society can interact.

For the African Indigenous Language Film Festival (AILFF) audience, there is an even bigger connection.

At a time when African filmmakers, writers and cultural practitioners are increasingly asking who controls Africa's stories and how those stories are told, Eghagha's work reminds us of the importance of giving serious attention to voices from the margins.

The Niger Delta.
The theatre.
The classroom.
The newspaper column.
The public space.

These are not separate worlds in Eghagha's creative universe. They are connected spaces from which stories emerge, ideas are challenged and society is held up to the mirror.

And perhaps that is the real story behind this festschrift.

It is not simply about celebrating Professor Hope Eghagha. It is about taking another look at the ideas, stories and questions he has spent decades placing before us—and asking what they mean for Nigeria, Africa and the world today.