By Juliet Ebirim & Iyabo Aina
September 29, will be exactly one year Mcphilips Nwachukwu, former Arts Editor of Vanguard died after a protracted illness. His widow, Tina, has decided to immortalise her late husband, whom she describes as her closest friend, brother and husband by organizing a memorial lecture in his honour.

The lecture series which holds tomorrow at the National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos, will also witness the public presentation of her Nwachukwu’s  collection of poems titled, So Long A Night. In this reflective interview,  Tina recounts how life has been with her without her beloved husband and her dream to sustain the legacies of her late hero.

ONE year after the demise of your husband, how has life been with you?

Tina Mcphilips Nwachukwu

It’s been tough and hard. Like the title of his book, it’s been a very long tormenting night. Each day that passes without him is filled with pain. McPhilips was my closest friend, brother, husband and everything to me. We were inseparable. I’ve since taken solace in God. I believe that as it pleased God to call him to glory, it will also please Him to see me and our little daughter through.

So Long A Night, a collection of poems which will be launched tomorrow was Mcphilips’ first work. Did you reprint the book, or a new edition of it that he was working before his sudden demise?

McPhilips was a bookman. He loved books. Our little daughter would say, “My daddy eats books, wears books, drinks books….”. He had finished writing and editing the book. He was about to print it and had finished discussing with the printer. The printer was to come in a month’s time for the advance payment and that was when my husband became sick.

So, he couldn’t talk about it again. But while on his sick bed, he kept referring to the book saying, “Oh, how I wish I’ve printed this book”. And I would tell him, “Don’t worry, when you get well, you’ll print the book”. But since he didn’t live to complete what he started, I thought I owe him a duty to keep his dreams alive, so that he be would happy wherever he is.

I called the same printer and discussed with him. Due to the high cost of production, he decided to increase his charges, something higher than what he offered to my husband. I decided to go on with it even if it meant sourcing for funds. I began to call his friends and school mates, told them about it and they bought the idea and agreed that they would sponsor the printing of the book.

They paid the money into my account and I handed it over to the printer. When the books were ready, I called his friends, colleagues and DGs of arts parastatals and told them that I wanted to immortalize my husband. They asked me what I wanted to do and I told them that I wanted to use it to mark his one year memorial. They said it was okay and gave their support.

How many copies were you able to print?

I printed about 1,000 copies.

Isn’t it rather small?

I really don’t know, but that’s the extent I could go.

If the presentation goes well, wouldn’t you be considering the idea of printing more copies?

It depends on how it goes tomorrow, because after the book presentation, I’ll still have to go to universities where it will be introduced to Masters and Doctorate degree students.

What’s the lecture going to be about?

McPhilips used to report arts and so the lecture is going to be about the relevance of arts in McPhilips way, his style and pattern of reporting/writing arts. Toyin Akinosho will be the guest speaker.

Was the title, So long a night, given to the book by McPhilips himself?

It was given by him. This is the second edition of the book. The first edition was printed in 2005, and most universities have been using it as a study material.

What do you think the book is about?

The book is all about what he went through in the past, when he took ill in 2005. He wrote some of the poems while he was on his sick bed in South Africa and it was all about his past experiences.

Did he start writing the book after his illness in 2005?

Was it the experiences that he encapsulated in the book?

Not really. The book is a collection of poems and some of his poems are still yet to be published. He had started writing them, but he compiled them together at that time.

How has the family missed him?

We’ve missed him terribly. My little daughter has been asking me when he would come back. She even insists that nobody should touch her daddy’s things, because he won’t be happy when he comes back. She just believes that he’ll return home someday.

How old are the children?

Adaeze is a little over five years. We had only one child.

What do you hope to achieve at the end of the day by publishing his book?

I want to sustain the legacy he left behind and also, to immortalize his name.

Simple, gentle and honest man

To make sure that though he’s dead, his name lives on.

After this, do you hope to do something like this again for him?

I’m planning something else, though still arts-related. It’s also going to be about his works, but I don’t want to talk about it now till I’m sure.

To you, what kind of man was McPhilips?

McPhilips was a simple, gentle and honest man. He was everything you can use to qualify a good person.

Did he ever lay his hands on you while he lived?

He never touched me. As an arts-man, he had a way and pattern of life. If you understood his way and pattern of life, you won’t have problems with him. When his mood swings, I’ll withdraw. And that is usually when he’s reading his books, because that’s the only thing he loved. If you went close to his books, he’d be mad at you. When he’s working on his books, you let him be, because if you disturb him at that time, he’d be angry with you, though the anger doesn’t last. He was such a nice man.

What  do you miss most about him?

His jokes, laughter and way of dancing like a big man. I missed everything about him.