SUI: Meet Blessed Mudiaga Adjekpagbon, Lecturer, Novelist, Essayist And More

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On SUI Today, our guest is Blessed Mudiaga Adjekpagbon, a lecturer at the American University of Nigeria (AUN), located in Adamawa, Yola, Nigeria. He is a successful novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and the number one citizen of a literary association in Nigeria, with over 18 published works. Let’s hear from him: his background, occupation, and challenges as a writer. Get your popcorn ready, and let’s journey together.

Question:
Greetings to you, Sir. Please, give us a brief introduction about yourself

Answer:
I am Blessed Mudiaga Adjekpagbon, a Nigerian of Delta State origin. I was born in Lagos, but adopted at the age of three from parents by my maternal granny in Delta in days of yore. I had both my primary and secondary education in Ughelli. I returned to Lagos after my secondary education. I studied at the University of Lagos, the National Open University of Nigeria and some other foreign institutions physically and online. At one time, I was a business man producing light packages for Small and Medium Enterprises. I am a versatile personality with different gifts and endeavors, too numerous to delve into, in this introduction.

Question:
What’s a pivotal moment in your life that led you to where you are today?

Answer:
Well, I can say my pivotal moment was when my maternal uncle, late Chief M.C.O. Ibru sponsored the publication of my first book titled “Dynamic Verses,” in 2001. It is a collection of over sixty poems. There are over one hundred poems I wrote between the middle 1990s and early 2000s before my first book was published, which are yet to be published till date. This is because, as soon as the book brought national and global recognition to me as a gifted poet, I decided to delve into publishing other genres such as prose and drama. Since then, I have strived on my own to publish more than ten books by establishing my own publishing company. It was established in 2005, and is known as Bulkybon Publications Company.

Question:
How did your background or upbringing shape your path?

Answer:
My upbringing by my maternal granny has a serious effect on my character as a honest and hardworking person. I keep thanking God after many years of my granny’s demise for growing up under her care from a tender age to adulthood. Being a poet, playwright and novelist today is due to the tutelage I received from my maternal granny. She was a great story teller and songstress. I think I inherited some of my story telling and song composition traits from her. She was my first teacher in traditional oral poetry and folktales. She was also a humorist. Besides, without her support, I don’t think I could have acquired western education, because she was the one who financed my educational career from primary to secondary level. I still miss her till date even though she passed on when I was in secondary Class Five in 1985. As a princess from a royal family background of Oritsejobor Dynasty in Ughelli Kingdom, Delta State, she taught me and other of my siblings she also adopted, the rudiments of love, honesty, hard work and diligence. Some folks have a very wrong ideology that grannies usually pamper and spoil their grand children when given to them to cater for. But mine was a disciplinarian and taught us to stand for the truth anywhere we are; hence, I have been the crusader of truth from childhood till date. If you want to know the exact details of whatever happened at a scene where something happened and others are afraid or bribed not to say the truth, and I was also a witness to incident, then you will certainly know the truth. All these traits aforementioned were the aftermaths of my late granny’s moral training she gave us.

Question:
What’s the biggest challenge you’ve overcome, and how did you do it as a lecturer and as an established writer who is the national president of Creative Writers’ Association of Nigeria (CWAN)?

Answer:
There are various big challenges I have faced over the years from childhood. But the most challenging one was when I wrote over two hundred poems and was looking for a publisher to get them published between 1997 and 2001. I sent some of the poems to different publishers in Nigeria but they said even though I am a highly gifted budding poet then, they cannot risk their money to publish an unknown name in the field of national and global literary creativity. I also sent a chunk of my manuscript to different publishers in Europe and the U.S.A for consideration. They evaluated them and wrote very high editorial recommendations about it, but asked me to bring money to get it published as a joint venture, with them responsible for half of the total sum of publication cost. I had no money as a struggling young man fending for himself, but I did not fail to tell anybody who cared to listen that I was looking for a sponsor to finance the publication of my manuscript which I titled “Dynamic Verses” as a collection of poems.
However, as the hands of destiny would have it, I didn’t know that what I was looking for (sponsorship) worldwide, was right in my pocket. Since I refused to keep quiet by announcing to both relatives and friends that I was looking for sponsors for my book to be published, a maternal uncle of mine who used to shuttle between Nigeria and London nearly every quarter of the year, directed me to a friend of his who was the Advert Manager of The Nigerian Guardian Newspaper. I have been visiting the newsroom of the paper where I used to submit some of my poems in year 2000 for publication in the arts pages, and had been seeing the Advert Editor, known as Mr. Onajomo Orere, an Urhobo man. I told him that one of my maternal uncles sent me to see him that he has connections with some folks who might be able to finance the publication of my poetry collection. I showed him a very high editorial evaluation of some of the poems I had sent to the oldest publishing house in London known as Minerva Press, which was sent to me in 1998 after they had gone through the manuscript. He was highly impressed and wrote two letters for me to deliver to two personalities he was sure could assist me. One was the then Chairman of Heineman Publications, Ibadan, Oyo state, the other was another maternal uncle of mine, Chief M.C.O. Ibru (now late). At last, it was the latter who gave me money to get the book published by a Lagos based publisher (Oracle Books) in 2001. Hence, I became a published writer through the support of my aforementioned uncle.

Question:
What’s a highlight or achievement you’re particularly proud of?

Answer:
The highlight of my achievement I am particularly proud of in terms of my first book publication, was when the BBC read a letter about how I overcame one of the greatest challenges I had faced in life and how I was able to overcome it. The letter was read live on their Outlook programme. I have been a fan of the BBC from my secondary school days. I used to contribute letters, poems and also partook in their radio drama competitions prior to when my first book was published. So, I was not a stranger to the presenters or crew of the BBC Africa when the late Mr. Shola Odunfa was their Nigerian correspondent. Therefore, hearing my letter read live about how I was able to overcome my greatest challenge in life during that time and the name of my uncle (M.C.O Ibru) as the sponsor who delivered me from the weariness of looking for sponsorship for five years, gave me a great joy. I sent some copies of the book to both the BBC Africa and the Westway crews. In those days, I used to receive branded BBC T-shirts and ball pens as one of their top contributors of letters and poems read live on the BBC African programme. I still have a certificate of entry for the 1999 BBC radio drama competition I submitted a radio drama for. I had two other BBC Westway certificates for 1997 and 1998, which I have lost.
My uncle was happy when one of my lovely cousins, Pastor John Omose informed him that his sponsorship of my book has brought global mention and attention to his name on a BBC programme. That singular act opened another remarkable support from my uncle, for my educational pursuit in later years at the University of Lagos.The books I have published include the following:
1. Dynamic Verses (2001)
2. Rhymes from the Nile (2006). It won a Presidential recognition and award in 2007 under former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration.3. When the King cries and Other Stories (2007)
4. Fundamentals of Literature – in – English (2011) Textbook.
5. Angel of light and other stories (2012)
6. Domestic Daddy (2012) written within 12 days. It remains the fastest book I have ever written. It is a novel of over 200 pages.
7. Nightmares in Paradise (2013). It is a collection of poems.
8. Pass[ort To Success (Drama, 2014)
9. Literary Communication in Mass Communication (Critical Writing / Reviewing and Drama  / Documentary Production) — (2015)
10. The President and Other Poems (2015, anthology with some of my poems)
11. War On Corruption and Other Poems (2016, anthology with some of my poems)
12. Chemical Poetry (2018)
13. The Salacious Don Juan (Collection of ten novellas, 2018)
14. Palmwine Nipples (Novel, 2018)
15. Dilemma of a Prophet (Drama, 2018)
16. Corona Must Die and Other Poems (2020)
17. Aisha Goes To School and Other Stories (2025)
18. Lady Iseyin (The Fashionista) and Other Stories (2025).

Question:
What drives your passion or work?

Answer:
I am naturally a workaholic according to the way my maternal granny brought us (my siblings and I who she adopted from my biological parents who were based in Lagos in the days of yore) up. I like doing positive things for the growth of mankind. An Art Editor who reviewed my book (Dynamic Verses) when it was newly published, said I am dreaming of a Utopian world. I want at least 90 percent of the folks in mankind to enjoy a fair and equitable distribution of the resources given to mankind by God. As a Christian and a traditionally brought up African, my desire is to see that no one is robbed of his or her right by anybody, since we are all humans and no one created the free air we are breathing and every other thing in the universe. Hence, making folks happy is my greatest passion for writing, and also to promote justice and fairness in mankind.

Question:
What’s a value you hold dear and how do you live by it?

Answer:
The value I hold dear is justice and fairness. I have been living by it by always saying the truth and criticizing  evil and oppression of any kind.

Question:
What’s next for you? Any exciting projects or goals?

Answer:
I have various projects at hand, but I am keeping them to myself because of the evil society or world we live in. Most of the things I have achieved by God’s grace since I was born is because I learnt to keep my plans to myself and a few trusted folks, after my previously generally exposed ones were frustrated by some folks who are sadists and advocates of the devil. Hence, I like surprising folks with positive achievements.

Question:
What message do you want to share with our audience through a Speak Up Interview?

Answer:
Stand for the truth and be fair to fellow beings. Don’t be envious or jealous of anybody to the extent of plotting to harm or frustrate him or her. Destinies differ, therefore, there is no point in comparing your achievements with someone else’s own. Be grateful to God for any talent or gift you have, and develop it to make you shine in your own way for the world to see.