Nigerian novelist and former tennis champion, Mabel Segun, dies at 95

Renowned Nigerian writer, Mabel Dorothy Okanima Segun, popularly known as Mabel Segun, is dead. 

She d!ed in the early hours of Thursday, March 6, at the age of 95 her family announced. 

A statement by her family announcing her passage partly reads, “It is with gratitude to God for a life well spent in the pursuit of excellence in Literature, Broadcasting and Sports that we announce the passing of our beloved mother, grandmother and great grandmother, Mabel Dorothy Okanima Segun (nee Aig-Imoukhuede) in the early hours of the 6th of March 2025. She was 95 years old. 

“Funeral arrangements will be published in due course.” 

An accomplished poet, playwright and writer of short stories and children’s books, she was also a teacher, broadcaster, and sportsperson. 

She is survived by Omowunmi Segun (daughter), Rolari Segun (granddaughter) 

Damilola Segun (grandson), Ayomide Segun (grandson), Fikemi Femi-Segun (granddaughter) and great-grandchildren. 

She was known for her significant contributions to literature and her impact on the literary landscape in the country. 

Her works often highlighted themes of culture, identity, and the experiences of Nigerians, making her a beloved figure in the literary community. 

Her first book, My Father’s Daughter, published in 1965, has been widely used as a literature text in schools all over the world, and her books have been translated into German, Danish, Norwegian and Greek. 

Her work is included in the anthology Daughters of Africa (1992). 

Segun championed children’s literature in Nigeria through the Children’s Literature Association of Nigeria, which she founded in 1978, and the Children’s Documentation and Research Centre, which she set up in 1990 in Ibadan. 

In 1998, Segun spoke about how she divorced her husband after he burnt her novel because he didn’t want her to be famous. 

According to her, “My first husband burnt my first yet-to-be-published novel because he did not want me to become famous. Luckily for me, it was a white judge while we were in England who presided over the case. He dissolved the marriage.”