Biography of Kenneth Yali Diouf

Kenneth Yali Diouf training himself to write – at Peace Foundation Ministries School of Missionary Studies, Olodo Village[Old Site], off New Ife Road, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria – October 1994

The pen on the horizon aims for the zenith – at 4, Ndashi Street, Diobu Line, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria – June 2001

Diouf the teacher with two of his former deaf pupils – Juanita Pepple(left) and Dere Kalio(right) – at Otana Integrated Schools, Victoria Street, Borikiri, Port Harcourt – October 2003

Diouf at a village school [Deaf Unit] aka Nobel International Academy – Elele-Alimini, Port Harcourt-Warri Expressway, Rivers State – June 2007

The road to the zenith - Diouf at his writing and editorial desk – 4, Ndashi Street, D/Line, May 2007

Kenneth Yali Diouf was born on October 20, 1966 in Niger Republic in French-speaking West Africa. The son of a government official, he had his primary and secondary education in Niger.

For being a slow learner and uninteresting pupil in primary school, he spent eleven long years, laboriously repeating classes. He spent 2 years in Primary 5 instead one, and four years in Primary 6 instead of the usual one-year. He dropped out of primary school, and his dad began to make plans to enlist him in the army.

But a historic consultation between the principal of the town’s only secondary school and my father along with my last Primary 6 teacher and my mother on separate occasions led to his being returned to Primary 6 – for another chance, if possibly he might make it to secondary school this time around. The boy made it! There was no need to enter the army.

In Niger, students begin to learn English language as a third language when they start secondary school. After some serious initial setbacks in performing well in this strange and complex language and in coming to terms with it, Diouf eventually overcame his frustrations. This was followed by the growth of passionate interest in this language---and subsequently in literature written in English.

Two of his English teachers were foreigners – one a Togolese, the other a Ghanaian. The latter’s stimulating and charismatic teaching style was most instrumental in giving Diouf a firm grip of the syntax and in sharpening his interest.

With this unexpected turning point, he promised himself that he would one day write in English. By the end of his 4-year secondary education, he began writing stories to delight himself, thus training himself to write. Some of his stories he presented to his Ghanaian teacher for correction; the self-training boy received due encouragement.

However, close to the end of his secondary education, in 1985 Diouf had minor problems with hearing correctly, which damped his enthusiasm and led him to leave school again - at least for a while. By and by, through the instrumentality of one Andrew Jackson Foster, a deaf missionary serving the deaf in Africa, Diouf landed in the world of the deaf in Nigeria in 1987 to resume education and exposure.

He held on to his pen. In the early 1990s, he providentially met and befriended a Nigerian medical practitioner and prolific writer, namely Dr Wale Okediran based at Ibadan. Okediran also substantially encouraged Diouf. He criticised Diouf once by saying that “your English is very rudimentary!” - an honest criticism Diouf is forever thankful for, because it challenged him to greater zeal and commitment in mastering the English language. He bought and studied some of the best literary books by the best authors in the market:

Kenneth Yali Diouf lives and works in Nigeria. He is associated with the International Model School for the Deaf, Afikpo. He is also the field co-ordinator of the Deaf Reconciliation Ministry – an evangelism outfit.

In 2005, Diouf published his first book, Diamond in Disability (A Voice for the Deaf and Disabled). It is a highly informative, educative, inspiring and challenging book on the situation of the deaf in Nigeria.