– Source:Mabel Dorothy Okanima Segun, who passed away on 6 March 2025, at 95, was a prominent figure in Nigerian literature. Her life was an extraordinary mix of broadcasting, children’s storytelling, poetry, playwriting, and sport.
She captured human experience through the eyes of the young, as seen in her timeless work My Father’s Daughter (1965). In the book she writes, “I wanted to be like my father, strong and wise, but I learned that strength comes in many forms, even in the quiet courage of a child.”
As a poet, her lyrical finesse shone in Conflict and Other Poems, where lines like “In the clash of wills, the heart finds its song” revealed her sensitivity to life’s complexities.
Segun’s contributions went beyond the page – she shaped literary institutions and broke barriers as Nigeria’s first female table tennis champion. She also preserved cultural heritage with her book Rhapsody: A Celebration of Nigerian Cooking and Food Culture.
Her legacy for Nigerian arts and letters persists.
As an academic teaching African literature, I first encountered Segun’s work in the course of examining early contributions to Nigerian prose and children’s writing. What struck me was the quiet sophistication with which she crafted narratives about the everyday lives of ordinary people. She did this without reducing their experiences to mere moral instruction.
Segun’s thematic attention to memory, language, and the shaping of young minds provided a firm framework for analysing how early post-independence Nigerian writers contributed to nation-building and cultural preservation. Her writing also broadened my understanding of how African literary expression could be both pedagogical and rigorous. She emphasised the place of children’s literature as an essential, not peripheral, field within the African literary tradition.
Early life and educational background
Mabel Segun was born on 13 February 1930, in Ondo city, south-west Nigeria, to Reverend Isaiah and Eunice Aig-Imoukhuede. Her father was a writer-historian and she grew up in an environment that encouraged literary and artistic expression.
Segun attended CMS Girls’ School in Lagos for her secondary education. She later enrolled at the University of Ibadan, graduating in 1953 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, Latin and History. During her time at the university, she was part of a distinguished cohort that included literary giants like Chinua Achebe and Christopher Okigbo. Her contributions to the University Herald, the student magazine, included poems, short stories and articles.
A writer and educator
After graduation, Segun taught English, Latin and History in Nigerian schools. She later became the head of the Department of English and Social Studies and vice-principal at the National Technical Teachers’ College, Yaba (now Yaba College of Technology).
Her commitment to education was paralleled by her passion for writing. Her short story The Surrender won the first Nigerian Festival of the Arts Literature Prize in 1954.
Segun demonstrated her dedication to literature in various ways. She was a founding member of the Association of Nigerian Authors, established by Achebe in 1981. She founded the Children’s Literature Association of Nigeria in 1978. She also set up the Children’s Documentation and Research Centre in Ibadan in 1990. She aimed to ensure that young voices in literature were nurtured and celebrated. As a Fellow of the International Youth Library in Munich, Germany, Segun’s contributions to children’s literature gained international acclaim.
Literary works
Her debut work, My Father’s Daughter (1965), is a semi-autobiographical children’s book, widely read in schools. It explores identity and resilience through the experiences of a young girl. Its companion piece, My Mother’s Daughter (1986), expands on these themes. It offers an intimate portrayal of family ties and self-discovery. Through these works, Segun captured universal emotions while celebrating the nuances of Nigerian life.
I have found My Father’s Daughter to be an unusually layered work, simple in form yet rich in meaning. It examines patriarchal affection, colonial legacies and the formation of selfhood in a culturally transitional Nigeria. What distinguishes Segun’s writing here is her ability to encode complex emotional and psychological tensions within seemingly ordinary childhood experiences. The book can open critical classroom discussions about gender, obedience and aspiration.
Segun’s talent for short fiction is evident in The Surrender and Other Stories, published in 1995. The collection received praise for its sharp storytelling and emotional insight.
She wrote a series of children’s books that combine folklore with meaningful lessons. Olu and the Broken Statue (1985) follows the story of a boy whose actions affect his community, encouraging respect for cultural heritage and accountability. In The First Corn (1989), she draws from traditional tales to teach the value of generosity and the origins of food. The Twins and the Tree Spirits, first published in 1991 and revised in 2004, introduces young readers to the world of supernatural folklore. Its translation into multiple languages reflects the wide reach of her storytelling.
Through these works, Segun preserved oral traditions and brought them to new generations of readers.
In 1980, with Neville Grant, she co-edited Under the Mango Tree, an anthology featuring poetry from Africa and its diaspora.
Her radio talks, compiled as Friends, Nigerians, Countrymen and later re-titled Sorry No Vacancy, exemplify her skill in tackling social realities in engaging and relatable ways.
Her works have been translated into German, Danish, Norwegian, Greek, Swahili and Arabic, attesting to their broad appeal.
Honours and legacy
Segun received the LNG Nigeria Prize for Literature in 2007. The Nigerian National Order of Merit Award followed in 2009.
The Mabel Segun Literary Society was established in 2015 by the Society of Young Nigerian Writers to honour her and keep her work alive for future generations.
Segun was educated at a time when very few Nigerian women had formal schooling, let alone the privilege of attending university.
But beyond her education, her restlessness of mind and refusal to be boxed into one identity set her apart. She could write for children with the same depth and care that she brought to poetry and cultural criticism. She moved from the classroom to the broadcast studio with ease, and from literature to sport without missing a beat.
Her performance at a men’s table tennis tournament at the University College, Ibadan, earned her the title of “honorary male”. Even at 58, she remained a fierce competitor, securing a bronze medal in badminton at the Nigerian Regional Championship.
Abayomi Awelewa does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
By Abayomi Awelewa, Lecturer in African and African Diasporan Literature, University of Lagos
