tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11752185587504933332024-03-08T12:37:03.823-08:00isokolandAnote Ajeluorouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06369548808615370047noreply@blogger.comBlogger462125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1175218558750493333.post-38119665556253780852016-01-10T07:34:00.002-08:002016-01-10T07:34:42.752-08:00Trending Nigerian Politics With Kakadu, Wakaa At New Year
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By Anote Ajeluorou</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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SUDDENLY, the glory days of Nigerian theatre were brought
back again as MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos, swarmed with audiences starting from
December 29, 2015 through January 3, 2016 for Uche Nwokedi’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kakadu </i>and Bolanle Austin-Peters’ <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wakaa</i>. The two Broadway-style Musical
Theatres became the perfect way to end a year on a high note of excellence in
cultural production.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With the absence of functional theatre
elsewhere in the city of Lagos, MUSON became a mecca for culture lovers who had
a dose of immersion in the magic of dance, songs and drama the two productions
provided ardent fans. For once it was evident that the theatre, when properly
managed and executed the way Austin-Peters and Nwokedi did with their products,
could be a huge business opportunity just beckoning for the daring investors. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wakaa’s </i>11 shows and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kakadu’s </i>equal number of shows had the
halls sold out. By Saturday, January 2, fans were being turned away as all available
seats in the halls had been sold out for both productions.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For MUSON Shell Hall
to accommodate more people, Austin-Peters’ BAP Productions had to erect an
elevated terrace from half the hall backwards for audiences to see <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wakaa.</i> Event at that, many still
couldn’t find seats and had to resort to standing just to see the electrifying
show. At <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kakadu, </i>fans were begging to
buy VIP tickets on Saturday, but it was too late as seats were no longer
available even for the highest bidders. The Sunday, January 3 had also been
sold out. These two performances showed how hungry Lagosians are for well made
live performances that are also massively promoted to engender interest.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kakadu </i>took the audience back to Nigeria’s independence in 1960s
and the five years immediately following the euphoria of self-rule. Kakadu
nightclub was where it happened for those with a taste for the good life went
to unwind. The buoyant mood, the music, the women, the dance and the
camaraderie all made Kakadu the prime fun spot. Even Osahon (Samuel Tom) from
the hinterland is soon sucked into the vortex of Kakadu enchanting lifestyle
and would easily have been lost in its web but for the timely advice by its
manager/owner, Lugard Da Rocha (Benneth Ogbeiwi) who tells him that in Lagos, “The
only champion is ‘Lagos’”.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, in spite of
the optimism Nigeria’s independence generated, signs of a crack among the
political elite had begun to be visible from newspaper reports. Reports of
corruption were rife, with Emeka (Joseph Okoro) expressing concerns on the way
the ship of state had begun to drift. The stage was set for the inevitable
political upheaval that would break out barely six years later in a bloody
civil war. Emeka and his family and many others from Eastern Region and Cross
Rivers had to flee Lagos for safety to their ancestral homelands.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the war ends,
Emeka and his kith and kin are left to count their horrendous losses – in loved
ones and property. Meanwhile, the war had inflicted deep wounds on the national
psyche, with distrust now a national pastime. Emeka’s heartthrob, Bisi
(Damilare Kuku), has a hard time convincing his father for an inter-tribal
marriage with Emeka. But their love prevails and they marry, as a small sign of
a bright future awaiting the country.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, there are
as many narrative dimensions to the war as there were characters involved in
the war. Eno (Theodora Onoapojo) from the Calabar region certainly has a story
to tell, too, just like Emeka on whose ancestral land the battle for the
survival of a nascent country raged for three long years. Inevitably, he
sustains the greatest casualty. His mother and many others were bombed to death
in a refugee camp.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘This nation is a
vessel in expedition. Where we go, we do not know,’ a line from one of the
characters of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kakadu,</i> encapsulates
Nigeria’s condition from 1970 when the war ended. But where has Nigeria’s
journey led so far? Certainly not the destination the citizens desire. 45 years
on, the country appears drifting; conditions that led to the avoidable war are
still prevalent. What must be done? This is the sum total of the musical
theatre beyond the blitz of the entertainment it provided.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bad as it is, Nwokedi infuses a song of hope
and optimism in the narrative in the enchanting song that ends the performance.
It is also a question mark: ‘where do we go having arrived here as a people who
have been trampled under foot by those who believe the country is their private
estate?’<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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INDEED, more than the blitz of performance, stage magic and
entertainment generated, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kakadu </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wakaa</i> turned out politically engaging
pieces of theatre. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kakadu</i>’s<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>polemics is assured, with its politics
of war and how Nigeria has failed to move progressively forward since
independence<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>with the ghost of the
war impeding development. While <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kakadu </i>digs
at the ground norm of the country’s political failiure from foundation, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wakaa</i> takes the politics to the present with
its dirty nature characterised by pervasive corruption.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Four young people
leave university and set out on a journey into careers that finally define them
for what they are. Tosan (Patrick Dibuah) is the would-be politician who wants
to clean up the stable; his uncle Governor Sagay (Bimbo Manuel) is the typical
corrupt politician who sees politics as ‘a game of chop-I-chop, a game of
thrones’ and appropriates state’s funds for personal uses; Tosan sees it as his
duty to oust him from power for good things to happen to his state. Governor
Sagay’s political protégé Tosan is the man poised to do so when he breaks away
from him after confirming evidence of his uncle’s graft.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He teams up his
friend Ngozi (Ade Laoye) who runs a child development centre and her benefactor
Cletus (Chris Ubani) who gladly help him with his political ambition. Cletus gives
Tosan a platform to win elections and run a clean government to change the
political dynamics away from the rut undermining the country’s development.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nevertheless, the
political leanings of these two musicals are seamlessly woven into the fabrics
of the narratives and audiences were made to assimilate the politics along with
the stage magic engendered.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both performances
gave Lagosians and Nigerians something heavy to chew. They were not just
run-of-the-mill performances; the satire in them is palpable. But it wasn’t
just politics either. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kakadu </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wakaa</i> exemplified the theatre
performance festival that has been missing all along in the country’s cultural
calendar.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Easter, perhaps, is the next performance date
for lovers of these two theatres, especially for those who were too skeptical
to see the New Year shows.<o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anote Ajeluorouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06369548808615370047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1175218558750493333.post-91102404482032604462016-01-10T07:33:00.004-08:002016-01-10T07:33:43.614-08:00Man Talk Woman Talk… A classic treatise on gender war
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><b><i><br /></i></b><i>
</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: bold;">
<i><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">By Anote
Ajeluorou<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<i>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: bold;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: bold;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: bold;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: bold;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">There are
perhaps few texts that best exemplify the eternal struggle between men and
women over which sex best understands the other and what the relationship
between them should be than late Prof. Ola Rotimi’s<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Man Talk Woman Talk</i>. The closest perhaps are Eva Ensler’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Vagina Monologues</i> and Wole Oguntokun’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Tarzan Monologues</i> that also confront
the issues frontally. But the latter two are monologues that succeed in playing
up only one side of the bargain and do not give the other side a chance to
state its case. But Rotimi turns the tables and goes confrontational, in real
life situation of a debate as is wont to happen between a man and a woman.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: bold;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"> As
foremost academic and scholar, Rotimi adds a further pep when he decides to
intellectualise the argument between man and woman by situating it in a legal content.
By so doing, he is more able to provoke fierce fireworks that is sometimes
irreverent, sensual, acidic, peevish and even downright abusive and also
comic.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: bold;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">
Complete with Chairman (Opeyemi Dada) and Counselor (Omotunde Sogunle) as jury
panel to hear the case of man versus woman to find out the many contentious
issues between the sexes, boy (Seun Kentebe) and Girl (Abigail Nero) are locked
in bitter debate as how one relates with the other and which one between them
is more provocative, vulgar, aggressive, caring, loving. In plain terms, the
playwright is looking at reaching a middle point so as to forge harmony between
the two. As is often the case, the arguments and counter-arguments spiral out
of hand to produce a sparkling dose of sheer dramatic enjoyment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: bold;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"> Lovers
of theatre were treated to Rotimi’s finest theatrical delivery recently at The
Ethnic Heritage, Ikoyi, Lagos, when B/Rated Production staged <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Man Talk Woman Talk</i>, directed by Bimbo
Olurunmola to acclaim. Perhaps, one of Rotimi’s most comical plays, Man Talk
Woman Talk best typifies the usual intellectual ferment on campus characterised
by debates among students to bring out the best in them. Rotimi understood this
and eloquently brings out among law students who must resort to the legalese of
their trade to enrich the debate.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: bold;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"> Girl
fires the first shot. Who, really, is the prostitute, between man and woman?
That would seem easy enough, but Girl marshals such compelling argument to show
that men are the ‘real’ prostitutes in also always soliciting for sex from
women whereas women are innocent bystanders towards whom men perform the act of
solicitations. But Boy responds sharply; whatever solicitations men engage from
women are as a result of women’s open invitation through their revealing dress
sense. Women know that men are moved by sight, what they see and women
capitalize on this.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: bold;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"> But
Girl is not convinced; why should a woman’s innocent way of dressing be viewed
as invitation for sexual aggression and even violence if men’s brains are not
fixed the wrong way: between their thighs instead of in their skull? Indeed,
Girl argues that men are wrongly wired and through with their thighs rather
than with their brains and so sees everything upside down. It is the only
reason a woman’s dress form should be motivation for drooling. Besides, Girl
counters that men are not blameless on the dress sense score otherwise why do
men leave out a button or two to expose their manly jungle of hairy chest if it
wasn’t open invitation for women to see and admire them?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: bold;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">
Chairman’s son’s (Austin Onuoha) invitation to tender evidence causes a stir
between Counsellor and Girl, as he bursts into the ‘courtroom’ with clothes
that bare all his sinews that turn the women on. If anything the scene is a
win-win for both debaters: a man or woman’s bare-all dress sense is enough
tempting invitation for both sexes. The clincher, however, is the way forward
proposition. How can the sex war be tamed? Girl seems to have it worked out.
She proposes the ‘care,’ ‘attention,’ and ‘trust’ formula. She understands that
some women like the aggression in men, but she proposes it be in moderation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: bold;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">
Rotimi’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Man Talk Woman Talk</i> is
serio-comic, intellectualising play that puts the actors on their toes in its
provocative, energetic performance. There’s no pause or break to scene change.
To score a point depends on the logic behind it. Kentebe and Nero perform
excellently to win the heart of the audience on the lawn theatre at The Ethnic
Heritage Centre. Chairman of the debate committee, Dada, steered proceedings
expertly, comically, even if partially, to the admiration of the audience. He
helped to amplify and underscore both sides of the debate for the benefit of
the audience. His tending towards the Boy’s argument is understandable.
Counselor, too, isn’t unbiased; she tends towards Girl’s arguments; she is a
concerned party.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: bold;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">
Although chairman declares Boy winner on technical points, the audience went
away satisfied that a great dramatic reenactment had happened before them. It
was a moment to savour. It’s a piece of drama you’d wish you saw often. Bimbo
Olurunmola-led B/Rated production did a great job of staging; it will do well
to restage the play soon enough, but at a bigger stage for a bigger audience.
Evidently, he would need sponsorship support to realise restaging <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Man Talk Woman Talk</i>, one of Rotimi’s
finest plays.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: bold;">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment--></i><br />
<!--EndFragment-->Anote Ajeluorouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06369548808615370047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1175218558750493333.post-87385990330603928642016-01-06T07:38:00.002-08:002016-01-06T07:38:13.617-08:00Lottery Ticket… When greed taints morality
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By Anote Ajeluorou</div>
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Man is a creation of acute insecurity. That is
why he relies on the help of forces, sometimes supernatural, sometimes plain
ordinary, beyond outside of himself just to get by. It is this interventionist
reliance on outside forces that breeds in him hope for a better tomorrow so he
could realise the secret dreams he constantly nurtures. This is what Ahmed
Yerima conjures up in his pidgin play <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lottery
Ticket</i> that was recently staged at the grass lawn theatre of The Ethnic
Heritage Centre, Ikoyi, Lagos, by Joshua Alabi-led Kininso Concept Production.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> One easy way of getting lifted out of
poverty could be through gambling just as it can also mire one in deep poverty
as well. But lottery is usually promoted as a harmless gambling habit - raised
hope for the dream money one cannot ordinarily make at a work-a-day enterprise.
And so Landlord (Opeyemi Dada), Baba Tailor (Yemi Adebiyi), Yellow Fever
(Oladapo Jubril), Danger (Julius Obende) and Mama Lizi (Angela Peters), are all
addicted to this instant passport out of poverty. Who wins this
one-in-a-lifetime instant wealth jackpot?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> Mama Lizi works hard at her restaurant
with her daughter, Lizi (Bodunrin Afolabi), helping out, but Lizi is the
village belle at the centre of Landlord and Danger’s erotic imagination.
Landlord’s wife had abandoned him for a soldier; Landlord wants Lizi to inject
new life and blood into his old veins. He needs to win to be able to stake a
proper claim to Lizi. Danger is the regular street urchin called<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> area boy</i> who ‘collects’ what does not
belong to him if he approaches you nicely and you refuse to oblige. Lizi is his
woman, but he has another. He needs to win to be able to send her to Abuja and
set her up in a trade, but he doesn’t want to leave Lagos. It’s the
headquarters of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">area boys</i> where
business is booming.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> Tailor is diagnosed of so many illnesses
it’s a wonder he is still alive. He’s deeply in debt and needs to settle his
hospital bills and continue his treatment. He needs the lottery money more than
anyone else. Mama Lizi is not left out in the jackpot dream. She wants to move
to Ajegunle and set up a shop she can call her own that would give her business
proper leverage away from greedy Lagos landlords.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> The stage is set. When the result is
announced, Tailor wins. But at that moment of shouting out his joy, he
collapses and faints. But his friends take him for dead. They are scared but
act fast; Mama Lizi doesn’t want a dead man at her restaurant, so they prop him
up as having fallen asleep after a heavy meal. Negotiations about who inherits
Baba Tailor’s lottery ticket ensue.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Landlord
offered Tailor N50 to buy drink, but he turns round and claims it was a loan
and so he is entitled to half the share of the N1 million jackpot. Others
protest it, but Landlord isn’t moved. Mama Lizi also stakes her claim to the
money since Baba Tailor died in her shop. Lizi is aghast; she cannot believe
her mother is making such claim over a dead man’s fortune. She proposes the
ticket be given to Tailor’s wife and children; her mother is furious. She
disowns Lizi instantly. Danger finally stakes his claim and wants the ticket to
himself aloney. A scuffle ensues; in the process, Mama Lizi hits him in the
crotch. He, too, dies, and is propped up alongside Baba Tailor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> That is when police ‘Sajent’ (Aniefiok
Inyang) comes into the restaurant in a manhunt for Danger for beating up Baba
Tailor’s apprentice, Lasisi; he also wants Baba Tailor for questioning as well.
When he finds the two slumped over in a chair, he gets suspicious. However,
with N10,000 he promises not to hang the deaths on the heads of Landlord, Mama
Lizi and Lizi. But just when he returns to pick up the bodies, Baba Tailor
wakes and demands for his lottery ticket. And they all freeze in fear; their
greed is thwarted, as the rightful owner has come to claim his lottery win.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> Although a hilarious play and the actors
did their best to lift it, it isn’t Yerima’s best play. It drags ever so often
for the most part and the comedy doesn’t always come off as intended. Danger
over-exaggerates his part. Or is it the pidgin that is the stumbling block?
Would it have fared better had it been written in proper English? Just perhaps!</span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anote Ajeluorouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06369548808615370047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1175218558750493333.post-69819242076892900742016-01-02T04:33:00.001-08:002016-01-02T04:33:26.204-08:00What Will People Say?... A Family’s Bitter Irony Unravels
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By Anote Ajeluorou</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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How do families react to scandals? Why do families fear
scandals? Importantly, how do families avoid scandals from breaking among their
ranks? Indeed, what armour should families wield against the possibility of
scandals breaking? The fear of a scandal tainting the Fouries family seems the
beginning of wisdom, and particularly for the mother, Magda, who, fueled by her
religious obsession, drives her family to the brink. Her one obsession is ‘what
will people say?’ Ironically, things, bad things, happen right under her nose.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the story of
the Fouries family in a Cape Town, South African, housing estate for coloured,
poor community, Hanover Park where gang wars and drug problems are rife. Rehana
Rossouw’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">What Will People Say? </i>(Jacana
Media Pty Ltd, Cape Town; 2015) is one of the three shortlisted novels for the
Etisalat Prize for (African) Literature 2015 that will be awarded sometime in
next month. Rossouw delicately maps the lives of the Fouries – the father,
Neville, the mother, Magda, the elder daughter, Suzette, the second, Nickky and
the only son, Anthony. Neville was raised in an orphanage and saw firsthand how
the priests molested the boys and he vows to raise a proper family. Magda lost
her parents early and had to cater for herself and her only sister, Violet.
Both parents bear the ugly imprint of childhood; they fear their past and
determine to steer their children away from its ugliness.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But herein lies
their error. Neville is liberal enough and would give the children some space
provided they study hard to realize the dreams the parents had lined up for
them. But the mother, Magda, is a different proposition. Unlike her husband who
abhors church because of what he saw of the white priests that handled his
orphanage, Magda is sold completely to her religion and rules her home with the
sternness of a puritan. She overrules her husband in almost every aspect.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the children grow
older, they begin to find ways to circumvent their parents’ rules and steer
different courses for themselves that soon bring them in collision with their
parents and then lands the entire family deeply into the scandal the mother
desperately wants to avoid. First is the big sister for whom school is a
struggle; she wants to drop out and find work. Her mother’s condemnation of half
naked girls modeling in the factory where she works provides further incentive
although she knows she’d be in real trouble if she should voice her ambition to
her parents. Suzette wants to be a model, but she knows her mother would raise
hell.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anthony, just 13,
has attracted the attention of a gang in the neighbourhood, Junky Funky Kids
(JFK) led by Ougat and his minions. His sheben (beer parlour) is the meeting
point; he deals drugs of all types. When Anthony finally shows up at Ougat’s
sheben, the 13-year old, bored with school, does not know he has walked into
the lion’s den much against his father’s warning. He takes the gang leader as
the older brother he does not have. Anthony becomes Ougat’s drug carrier,
delivering drugs strapped in his school bag to avoid suspicion. When it’s time
for him to be inducted properly into the gang, Anthony finds it’s not the sort
of life he wants to live. But it’s too late.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nicky is the star in the family, but who is
burdened by the secrets of her two siblings – Suzette and Anthony. Suzette
drops out of school, but Nicky does not tell her parents; although Anthony does
not return home directly from school Nicky does not tell her parents. And when
the hurricane of Suzette and Anthony’s actions hits the family, Nicky is blamed
for keeping a sealed lip. When Suzette’s school report comes and her parents
find out she didn’t take the exams, hell breaks loose. Her mother throws her
out for modeling under-wears for strangers to stare at her naked body. She sees
her daughter as a whore. Suzette is unrepentant and leaves home. She has hit a
white boyfriend and things happen fast for her. Her dream of being a supermodel
isn’t long off.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although Anthony
does not want to belong to any gang, Ougat and his JFK gang aren’t the sort of guys
to mess with. Anthony has no say in the matter; he has earned his place in
Ougat’s schemes. At the initiation, JFK is branded on his arm; Nicky’s friend is
dragged in for him and the gang to rape to complete his initiation. After the
dastardly act, 13-year old Anthony can’t seem to live with the enormity of the abomination
he has been made to commit. He loses his power of speech until Ougat supervises
his murder for failing to live up as a JFK member.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His murder breaks
the family into pieces, and Hanover park as well. Even Suzette comes back home
to grieve with her family. Neville and Magda feel acute sense of failure as
parents; they get at each other for the tragedy, and take it out on poor Nicky.
At Anthony’s funeral, things fall apart, as Pastor Williams condemns gangs in the
neighbourhood and Anthony’s parents for their failure to provide proper
guidance for their children. Indeed, the very scandal that Magda fears is blown
open in church to the entire world. She has nowhere to hide her head; she
sleepwalks through it all.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the end, things
turn a fine bend for Magda’s two daughters, Nicky and Suzette, even as Magda
divorces her husband…<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">What Will People Say? </i>is an intense piece of writing and Rossouw
invests an incredibly believable nuance in the narrative. Magnolia Courts and
its gang- and drug-infested neighbourhood comes alive in this magnificent story
that sheds light in Apartheid South Africa shortly before Nelson Mandela is
elected as first democratic president. Gang wars, drugs, the country’s
struggling poor and the liberation ferment and freedom fighters’ clashes with
the police and the law pepper the atmosphere of Rossouw’s narrative. Her story
gives a rare insider glimpse into the life of South Africa in the throes of
political change. The Fouries family also provides a stark backdrop on which
Rossouw paints an incredible tale of a country in ferment.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anote Ajeluorouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06369548808615370047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1175218558750493333.post-57084239856859033012016-01-02T04:31:00.001-08:002016-01-02T04:31:19.361-08:00Buhari must be careful with Jonathan, Cleric cautions
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By Anote Ajeluorou</div>
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As President Muhammadu Bugari’s war on corruption thickens,
a cleric, Primate Elijah Ayodele of INRI Evangelistic Church, has cautioned
that former President Goodluck Jonathan needs to be handled with care so it
does not boomerang. The cleric stated this in view of the tremendous goodwill
he enjoys for honourably stepping down during the last election and putting
Nigeria on a truly democratic path that the world admires. Ayodele spoke on
sundry socio-political and economic issues in his office in Isolo, Lagos.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although many of the
former president’s aides are mired in corruption allegations, Ayodele cautioned
against politicization of the corruption war. While noting that although Buhari
would expend a lot of effort on the corruption war, little would come out of
it, as he might shoot his administration in the foot in the process.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to
Ayodele, “Buhari’s government will make a lot of efforts in terms of fight
against corruption, he may not make much progress. In fact, he might shoot
himself in the foot. Buhari has to be careful with Jonathan; it may turn around
and boomerang. His corruption fight won’t go too far. In fact, Buhari won’t be
able to fight corruption as expected. In fact, corruption will weaken Buhari’s
government; it’s not going to be easy for the president. It will cause
inflation, prices of goods will go up, cost of living will rise and
retrenchment will be rampant in all sectors. Life will be hard for Nigerians”.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The clergyman also
said Buhari’s corruption fight would becloud him from attending to the economy
to effect the change campaign on whose back he rode to power. He also said the
president does not have the necessary team to jump-start the economy from the
doldrums, as economic missteps would characterise his administration and
frustrate his every step to make needed impact.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As he noted, “The
economy needs God’s intervention. Buhari does not have the people to run the
government and the economy well. Buhari means well, but he must be careful not
to play politics with religion and ethnic sentiments. The economy will not do
well under Buhari; it will fluctuate. He must make life easy for Nigerians and
so continue to retain their trust. The country needs a lot of prayers so we
don’t experience too many strikes. Some states will collapse economically. In
fact, the deterioration of the economy will confuse Buhari. Youth unemployment
will skyrocket. There will not be much improvement in energy and power sector until
2017 when we begin to get stability. The discos and Nnational Energy Regulation
Commission (NERC) will have crisis that will make for instability in the sector”.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, Ayodele tasked
Buhari to thread carefully with amnesty for youth in the Niger Delta and
Biafra, saying how he handled them would make a huge difference for his
administration. He said Buhari needed to handle amnesty well so riots and
militancy do not rear their ugly heads again, as Nigeria may not be able to
cope with war on many fronts. He advised him to dialogue with Biafra agitators
before the agitation escalates and gets out of hand.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ayodele also noted
that Buhari’s deadline for Boko Haram was unrealistic, saying the sect would
find another way to fight back and continue to cause harm to innocent Nigerians.
He stated that the international dimension of ISS must be taken seriously and
steps taken to cut off the link to further weaken the sect.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the suspended
Bayelsa State governorship election, Ayodele charged governor Seriake Dickson
to work closely with the grassroots if he is to be victorious, adding that the
election might end in a slim victory for him.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anote Ajeluorouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06369548808615370047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1175218558750493333.post-17287855970079753132016-01-02T04:30:00.002-08:002016-01-02T04:30:43.551-08:00On a mission to restore Nigeria’s coastal wetlands
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By Anote Ajeluorou</div>
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Nigeria’s inability to successfully manage virtually every aspect
of her socio-economic and cultural sectors has become legendary. Even having to
establish enabling laws and policy thrusts that could empower willing individuals
and corporate organisations to intervene and make life meaningful often poses
its own sets of challenges. The result is usually monumental and avoidable rot
in several aspects of national life.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One such neglected natural
treasure requiring urgent attention is Nigeria’s coastal areas and wetlands
that suffer from various degradations, with the resultant loss of a vital
economic resource. However, one organisation at the forefront of spearheading
efforts to restore, preserve, conserve and promote the coastal wetlands of
Nigeria is Eco Restoration Foundation of Nigeria (ERFON). It’s Executive Director,
Mr. David Omaghomi, is leading a major campaign that would see to the
regeneration of devastated coastland areas so they could play vital socio-economic
roles in the lives of the people.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To kick off this
nationwide campaign is the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">9Ja Eco-Charity
Festival</i> 2015 concert and other associated ongoing events being organised to
take Lagosians outdoors fun activities at New Lekki Beach, Elegushi, Lekki,
Lagos. Starting out on Christmas day, December 25, the charity show that ends
on January 2, 2016 features a lot of fun games ranging from <span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">music, comedy, dance, water sports,
beach volleyball and beach soccer which the organisation is utilising to
promote and raise awareness about environmental responsibility among Nigerians.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The fiesta also gave opportunity to
youngsters to showcase their talents as they performed to thrill the huge crowd
of spectators. Prizes were also won in various performance activities like
dancing, singing, rapping, fashion and lots more. Also, many others simply
caught fun splashing the ocean waves that crashed on the clean sandy beach and
on the abandoned ship moored on the beachhead. There was music, food, drinks
and assortment of games for children; some rode merry-go-round and horses.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">
According to the organiser, Omaghomi, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">9Ja
Eco-Charity Festival</i> 2015 is designed to raise awareness about
environmental issues in Nigeria’s coastline areas and how they could be made
clean and friendly for economic and tourism purposes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“We’re utilising the instrument of
entertainment to preserve and restore eco-friendly coastlines,” Omaghomi noted.
“It’s a Green Theme event designed to promote environmental responsibility and
sustainability. Participants are being trained on waste management practices at
homes and workplaces as well as planting of trees.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">
Omaghomi said the highpoint of the festival was the planting of 3,000 trees by
performing artistes and dignitaries on the beach stretch that would act as
buffer to the encroaching ocean and would last till the end of the festival. He
stated that the ocean surging had claimed over 500 metres of beachland and
still ragging. He further lamented the loss of the coconut trees that used to
be the attraction of Lagos beaches to the ocean surge. Omaghomi stressed that
if immediate intervention strategies were not deployed to stem further
encroachment of the ocean, Lagos would be robbed of its beautiful beaches in no
distant future.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">OMAGHOMI’S
restoration campaign project is multifaceted. He has a number of programmes
lined up next year that aligns with other world bodies’ efforts to draw
attention to the country’s environmental degradation with a view to providing
remedy. For instance, The Niger Atlantic Restoration Project conference would
be held on June 5, 2016 in commemoration of World Environmental Day. Also,
there would be inauguration of Eco Centre at New Lekki Beach to coordinate all
activities of the various coastal wetland campaigns.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ERFON will host Nigeria Aqua Tourism and Expo
June 5 – 8, 2016 in dual commemoration of World Environmental Day and World
Ocean Day. This would be preceded by the commemoration of World Wetland Day on
March 22, 2016.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Niger Delta coastlines devastated by oil
spills due to the activities of multinational oil companies is on the radar of
Eco Restoration Foundation of Nigeria. Also, the immediate removal of wrecked
and abandoned ships on various ports in the country forms another area ERFON is
working on to make seas shores safe for the contingent communities in port
areas.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bio-remediation of oil-impacted coastal areas
of the Niger Delta to rid of it of oil pollution, Omaghomi stressed, was key to
reclaiming the once beautiful aquatic life of those areas. Also related to the
bio-remediation is the removal of abandoned ships in ports and coastal areas
across the country. On the hull of the abandoned ship on New Lekki Beach is the
signature inscription, ‘Save Our Coast,’ through which Omaghomi is asking
appropriate authorities to tow such ships out of beaches for their effective
use as tourism and relaxation spots and fishing points as well.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“We intend to preserve the coastal wetlands
with a view to highlighting their contributions to the nation for their
alternative uses for tourism, sports and farming, especially aquaculture,”
Omaghomi said on the first day of the festival. “Lekki Beach is an impacted
environment, the most impacted ecosystem in Lagos having lost about 500 metres
of beachland and coconut tress to the ocean erosion. Our flag off here is both
symbolic and important to environmental issues”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To accomplish his work, Omaghomi has co-opted
several individuals and organizations as partners and ambassadors. Lagos State
Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA), Department of Petroleum Resources
(DPR) and Agency for Forest and Nature – Forest Support (Belgian Agency) are
some of the organisations ERFON is working with to realise environmental
sustainability in coastal areas. Individuals such as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nollywood </i>star Ini Edo, Frank Edoho, radio DJ, Diplomatic OPJ and
others.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The boss of ERFON who said he is driven by
passion and his concern for the environment expressed sadness at Nigeria’s
inability to tap into the rich economic resource of coastal wetlands as other
countries are doing. The Microbiology major from University of Benin, Benin
City, with certificates in environmental management, has worked with oil
services companies and has had firsthand encounter with oil spills and their
devastating impact on the coastal wetland of the Niger Delta, and from which he
draws his passion for his work.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Omaghomi who confessed to being very
nature-friendly, noting, “I have seen how oil damages the eco-system and robs
the local community of their livelihood. We cannot just sit back and watch. We
have to collaborate to help in our own small ways”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nigeria’s inability to tap into the resource
of coastal wetland is another motivating force driving his organization.
According to him, “It’s a shame we have nearly zero receipts from aqua tourism
as against other countries. The right time is now before our oil dries up. President
Muhammadu Buhari should consider Integrated Coastal Areas Management Plan
(ICAMP) which should look at adopting a national master plan for tourism for
the country”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He noted that the time had come for Nigeria
to set apart designated tourism sites across the country to encourage investors
in the coastlands and forest areas, saying such sites should be areas where no
one else would venture to build or farm on. Omaghomi also said the country
needed a 20-year development plan to kick-start tourism investment as it could
be the next money-spinner for Nigeria if properly managed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"> For
Omaghomi, Nigeria’s beaches and coastal areas are treasures – both economic and
touristic – which Nigeria’s complacence was allowing to waste away. He wants
the degradation halted so restoration and remediation measures can be carried
out to save the country’s neglected but rich natural resource in coastal
wetlands.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anote Ajeluorouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06369548808615370047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1175218558750493333.post-3978702835689923432016-01-02T04:26:00.001-08:002016-01-02T04:26:49.833-08:00Wakaa, Kakadu… Two Musical Theatres rock Lagos’ Christmas holiday
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By Anote
Ajeluorou</div>
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">IN
a country where stage performances suffer a huge lag on account of lack of sponsorship
and purpose-built theatres (without necessary acoustics) and acute audience
apathy, this week marks a perfect magical getaway audiences to enjoy the
holidays and immense themselves in the spectacle the stage represents. Two
fantastic Broadway-style Musical Theatres – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wakaa!
The Musical </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kakadu the Musical </i>-
will share two stages at MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos. While the Bolanle
Austin-Peters’ <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wakaa! The Musical </i>will
start showing today at Shell Hall, Uche Nwokedi’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kakadu</i> started thrilling theatre fans since yesterday at Agip
Recital Hall, and both will run till January 1st and 3rd respectively.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The two musicals promise to be the greatest
performance shows that will bring 2015 to a glorious end and also usher in a
promising year for live theatre in Lagos, a city that has witnessed a
resurgence of theatre activities through the doggedness of a few diehard
practitioners like Mr. Wole Oguntokun (Renegade Theatre), Mr. Kenneth Uphopho
(PAWS), Mr. Ikenna Okpala (Wazobia Theatre House), Mr. Joshua Alabi (Kininso
Concepts Production) and Mr. Bimbo Olorunmola (B/Rated Production) in the Lagos
theatre circuit. Austin-Peters (BAP) and Nwokedi (The Playhouse Initiative) have
also stepped in to raise the bar with their musicals that fuse history and
contemporary themes to produce amazing artistic results that always leave
audiences asking for more.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Saro
the Musical </i>that rocked Lagos in the last year two years, Austin-Peters is
adding <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wakaa! The Musical</i> to further
spice up the theatric space and give Nigerians what some usually travel abroad
to see. According to the boss of upscale Terra Kulture, </span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“Nigerians love music; Nigerians love to dance. Somehow, music
appeals more to Nigerians although musicals are three times more expensive than
ordinary drama. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Saro</i> changed the game
and it can only get better. It’s like we’re creating a mini-revolution; it’s
unbelievable. What we’re doing here is building capacity. In 10 years from now,
it will be great. What if we have a proper theatre? Things will be far better.
The game has changed.</span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">We believe that Nigerian theatre can be a major tourist attraction,
job- and wealth-creation driver and tool for socio-economic development”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wakaa!
The Musical</i> is a play about the trials, successes and experiences of six
young graduates with varied backgrounds. A wager among them after graduation
has a twist when the realities of life and the folly of their choices hit them.
Eventually, they unite, coming full circle. The story reveals the struggles and
challenges young people face in present-day Nigeria and abroad. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wakaa! The Musical </i>takes you on an
emotional roller-coaster and is a strong satire on Nigerian politics.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the
other hand, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kakadu </i>charts the music
and socio-political map of 1960s’ Nigeria before the bubble burst and the
resultant bloody civil war and its bitter aftermath from which the country is
yet to fully recover. </span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to Nwokwdi, “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kakadu </i>has its own energy; there’s a certain temperament all its
own about it. We’ve also made a lot of changes to it, especially in the musical
rendition. There are some drastic changes although it is the same story. Of
course, you don’t want to change a successful story. Although the same theme,
the cast is 80 per cent new. Kanayo Omo is director while Benneth Ogbeiwei is
musical director”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 252.0pt 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Visual artist, Polly Alakija, who is painting
the scenes of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kakadu </i>said, “This
production is no mere indulgence in the glamour and optimism of the 1960s.
Sitting in on the rehearsals was so much more than this. What I witnessed was
producer, director and cast re-living and learning about the political
situation in Nigeria in the 1960s and how optimism turned into destruction and
the pain and suffering that ensued. So my imagery could not be a mere visual
representation of a cast in character. The line between being in character and
living the pain has become blurred for this cast. I am not sure myself if I am
representing cast or character, but the emotions are real, be it pain, outrage
or joy”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Clearly, the two musicals on offer are must-see and audiences have been
promised unbelievable stage spectacle and magic.</span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anote Ajeluorouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06369548808615370047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1175218558750493333.post-12183352818731965622015-12-24T09:22:00.002-08:002015-12-24T09:22:44.226-08:00Mare Festival 2015… Enhancing Local Participation Of Idanre Populace
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<br />
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By Anote Ajeluorou</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
ALREADY in its seventh year and still counting, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mare </i>Festival 2015 organised by Ondo
State Government, roused up sleepy Idanre last weekend when the world converged
to celebrate among the ancient town’s rocky hills and caves. It was a one-day
event that packed many interesting activities together and threw Idanre into
festive mood.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps, it was Wole
Soyinka’s poetry <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Idanre and Other Peoms</i>
published in 1967 that first gave Idanre, a town tucked away in a vintage
corner of Ondo State, prominence, as rocky haven. Soyinka had visited the town
and, like the hunter he is, explored the rocky hills and caves, then decided to
explore the mythical <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ogun</i> through the
vehicle of poetry. Since then Idanre had remained a quest in the imagination of
readers who encounter Soyinka’s poetry.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But rather than Idanre festival, or perhaps
align the festival with Idanre communal traditional festival, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Orosun </i>Festival (which tells the historic
exploits of Idanre founders and its existence from time immemorial) already in
existence, the Olusegun Mimiko-led administration preferred <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mare </i>(meaning ‘don’t fall’) festival
instead to celebrate the natural hilly rocks and caves of Idanre as a natural
tourism destination. Indeed, the entire Idanre community is a time-frozen
tourism haven with its dark, brooding rock mountains forming a phalanx-like
shield round Idanre, further accentuated by Idanre Hills Resort in need of
rehabilitation to attract tourists.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From the early
morning Marathon Race at Habitat (Owena) Idanre to the Mountain Climbing
competition at Methodist High School, Idanre, the Cultural performances at
Idanre Hills Resort, it was all spectacle. A raffle draw at the resort
courtyard saw Idanre natives and visitors alike winning household and business items
like standing fans, pressing irons, fridges, a sewing machine and the star
prize of a motorbike.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
IN opening the festival proper, Commissioner for Information
and chairman, Local Organising Committee of the festival, Mr. Kayode Akinmade,
stressed the importance of tourism in human development. He noted that it was
why Governor Mimiko was investing heavily in tourism, adding that plans were underway
to “turn Idanre Resort into a tourism destination; <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mare </i>has entered into international lexicon as tourism festival. Director-General,
Nigerian Tourism Development Commission (NTDC), Mrs. Sally Mbanefo, has been
here. I watched the mountain climbing; our own people will begin to climb
mountains internationally from the experience gained here at <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mare. </i>In the coming years, our people
will begin to bring laurels to Nigeria. Our golf course is ready, and by
February, the Governor’s Cup will be held to attract ‘who is who’ in Nigeria to
Idanre. In years to come, I see our people competing in the Marathon. Idanre is
full of fun and activities that tell of our visibility, our strength and our
versatility”.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, newly
appointed Commissioner for Special Duties, Culture and Tourism, Mr. Femi
Adekanmbi, noted that under his watch, tourism development would be taken a
notch higher so as to position tourism in the state for better performance as
economic tool. Traditional dancers of varying hues performed to thrill
dignitaries in the open court of Idanre Hills Resort.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
MUSICAL Concert billed for the evening started early and had
many upcoming artistes entertaining the huge crowd. The star artistes were Ara,
Paul Play Dairo and 2face Idibia. Some of the younger artistes seeking to cut
their teeth included Samba, choreographers, Psalm 23 and Explicit Dancers,
Salome, Ondo State Cultural Band, ODD, Ojoro, Iyalode, Japh Extra, Emerald
Choir and Rough Ken. Of the youngsters, Deola, an upcoming rap artiste, stood
out and wooed both the audience and Governor Mimiko. Deola’s rap theatrics was
stunning as he adapted to virtually every situation the master of ceremony
subjected him. His fluidity, his swag and all-out delivery were spectacular. He
was the only artiste Mimiko shook hands with as a mark of his staggering stage
presence and rap virtuoso.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was only Paul
Play Diaro who got Mimiko, his wife and his cabinet members to their feet to
dance. And they danced. From one hit tune to another, Paul Play had the huge
crowd dancing. And so from his R&B, ‘Angel of my Life’ to his remake of his
father’s famous ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mo so rire,</i>’ Paul
Play led the groove in Idanre.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But famously, the crown
performer was 2face Idibia whom the crowd had been patiently waiting to come on
stage. Ara was barely tolerated as she failed to rise to any appreciable level
of performance. However, her introduction of 2face Idibia seemed a redeeming
gesture, as both artistes hugged. Indeed, if anything the super stardom of
2face was well assured on the night. It was well past midnight when it finally
got to his turn. But he turned the night on its head and pelted his audience
with his signature hits one after the other. But it would seem the night had
just begun; the large audience, made up mostly of young Idanre, didn’t seem to
have enough of him. They surged through the barrier and crowded the main arena
close to the stage and became one with their idol.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even when Governor
Mimiko had had enough and wanted to have a few words before leaving, the crowd
would have none of it. Energised by the crowd, 2face, too, wanted to sing on
till he possibly dropped. It was clear he hadn’t had such passionate crowd in a
long while by the show of love from Idanre audience.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, Mimiko
stressed how much celebration of culture the night was and the need to
appreciate tourism as a resourceful tool of economic sustainability. He
restated his commitment to the development of tourism as a driver of the
economy and the need to leverage on domestic tourism as an important tool of socio-economic
development. Mimiko noted that with the fortunes of oil as economic resource
dwindling and Nigeria’s economy on downturn, it would make economic sense to
turn to tourism as a way out. He called on governments at all levels to look
inwards for the economic resuscitation tourism could offer.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
HOWEVER, participation of local Idanre community in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mare </i>Festival since its inception seemed
minimal. Indeed, how much indigenous content does <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mare</i> festival boasts and how is it woven into Idanre social-cultural
fabric? An Idanre respondent to this poser, who craved anonymity, was
unequivocal in asserting that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mare </i>Festival
is foreign to Idanre culture and people and that the entire Idanre people have remained
mere spectators in a festival celebrated yearly in their town. Although he
commended the spirit behind <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mare</i>, he
could not but wonder why the local, age-old festival, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Orosun</i>, was not adopted instead of creating a new one that has no
bearing on Idanre culture and tradition.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As he put it,
“Idanre people cannot participate in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mare</i>
because it is not their culture. The biggest problem with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mare </i>is that Idanre community people are not carried along. They
are grumbling that an outsider is operating Idanre Hills Resort right before
them. They are made to pay to enter the resort that is natural to their
environment. So, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mare </i>is purely
government festival since inception”.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He sued for greater
participation of Idanre people in the festival as a way of making them the people
claim ownership of it, adding, “They need to allot roles to the people through
Idanre traditional chief. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mare </i>Festival
is an invasion of Idanre people although it impacts them somewhat. But it should
have been more like it happens in Osogbo during <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Osun </i>Osogbo festival, with the local populace playing varying
cultural and economic roles that benefit the local community”.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He noted that there
is a thriving local economy based on cocoa and timber and said Idanre economy
was bigger than those of most Nigerian cities. He advised Governor Mimiko to merge
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mare </i>with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Orosun </i>Festival, usually celebrated in May or early June, and
assured that the governor would be shocked how Idanre people would be
galvanised through it, given the impetus of government, as they would truly
claim it as their own and give it their all.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anote Ajeluorouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06369548808615370047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1175218558750493333.post-17690046206168885042015-12-24T09:21:00.001-08:002015-12-24T09:21:51.337-08:00Dreaming A Proper Country Into Being
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<br />
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By Anote Ajeluorou</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
NIGERIA is certainly ripe for a revolution. But what kind of
revolution should it be? Who spearheads the revolution that will usher the
country into an era of infinite possibilities and opportunities it has missed
so far since independence in 1960? These are some pertinent socio-political and
economic questions a writer poses and provides answers in the quest for a new Nigeria
that is the dream of a majority of the citizenry.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But is this revolution mere utopia in the
fictive imagination of its author, Mr. Anene Nwuzor? His novel, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Revolution in Wazobia</i> (Ann’s Indulgence
Limited, Lagos) published in 2013 provides futuristic vision of a fictional
country called Wazobia and events leading to its election in 2019. It is
politics of ‘change’ envisioned long before All Progressives Congress (APC)
‘change’ mantra came into popular imagination. But Nwuzor anchors his visionary
politics of change on two cardinal points – a cultural revolution championed by
a woman!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nwuzor’s fictive
country, Wazobia, is, in every respect, the Nigeria of today with all its
dysfunctionality, a place where nothing works and corruption a byword for
governance. Indeed, the current government looks every inch like the past administration
of Goodluck Jonathan. For Nzuwor, lack of ethical values and moral turpitude are
the hallmark of Wazobia’s failings. Efforts to change, as envisioned by the
change agent, a woman, Andora Addoh-Ochakpam (simply known as Andora), can only
come through a cultural revolution in which Wazobians must imbibe a new mindset
and a new way of being from its corrupt past, a country where things are done
correctly and properly.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having summed up all
the problems besetting her country before like minds in a meeting she convenes,
Andora unveils the Cultural Revolution association that will reverse the
negatives her country has become infamous.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She argues that there are no real heroes of
worth for young people to emulate, as she affirms, “My dear colleagues, we are
now at the real crux of our gathering here, and that is, our role in the
regeneration of our very sick country. After carefully considering everything
involved, including what I consider is within our ken – our understanding and
ability – I think our role is to take up a crusade, a mission of Cultural
Revolution in our society”.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A university
teacher, Andora embarks on a course of action that will rescue her country from
the cabals that hold her hostage and put it on the path of recovery. But it is
no easy task, as Andora and her soul mates come face to face with the antics of
those for whom change is anathema. To further amplify her regenerative crusade
of values’ reorientation in Wazobia, Andora launches a seminal book <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Up for Cultural Revolution in Wazobia</i>
both to raise awareness and raise funds to run her organisation.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The central thesis
of the book is “to tackle the basic issues of national values, the neglect or
absence of which has left our country a sick society,” and Andora assures all,
“We shall walk what we talk, to be models of our nation’s cultural values,
based on patriotism and loyalty to our nation, in a transparent show of
integrity, financial probity and selflessness”.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although premised on
apolitical foundation, Andora’s Cultural Revolution couldn’t avoid joining the
political fray when it seems obvious that Wazobia would slide farther into
anomie if good people and organisations like Andora and her group sat back and
merely watched. Gradually, the tenets of Andora’s Cultural Revolution -
integrity, values and patriotism – seeped into the fabric of society –
especially among the youths who seem more at the receiving end of the misrule
that characterize leadership of Wazobia.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
MEANWHILE, the president of the country is having serious crisis
of leadership and internal rebellion in his party. He is perceived to be weak; the
electoral umpire has planned to introduce an innovative nanotechnology machine
that would make election rigging a thing of the past and Mr. President’s party
members are up in arms against it. Rigging has been the ruling party’s byword,
and members feel threatened. The electoral umpire is being hectored into giving
it up, but he is adamant. Unknown to the party members, Mr. President will not
seek a second term and wants to leave a legacy of a strong electoral reform
which the nanotechnology machine would guarantee.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, although the old
political rogues are against Andora and her Cultural Revolution, they fear the
popularity it has begun to gain among the populace. Ten years down the line,
Andora’s organisation gains immense ground and rumour of it becoming a
political party sends jitters down the spines of the old politicians in the
other parties. The reality of those fears becomes palpable soon enough at the
launch of Andora’s New Age Democracy Party (NADP). She wins at the general
elections and begins the task of engineering a new a Wazobia.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Revolution in Wazobia</i> plies a thin line between dredging up real-time
socio-political issues plaguing Nigeria and Wazobia’s imaginary ones. The line
is so thin that it a fictional rereading of what is generally known. However,
Nwuzor introduces a new element into his narrative. He places a woman at the
heart of the ‘change’ that seeps through Wazobia society; it somewhat echoes Achebe’s
‘mother is supreme’ maxim when mothers come to the rescue of society when men
have failed irredeemably.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The values Andora
entrenches in society are those that ordinary Wazobia citizens desire, but
which its high and mighty politicians reject for their personal gains. When
illiterate motor park union godfathers like Chief Ononikpo support a former
killer like Etoh Ikenga for political office, surely such a country is doomed.
They fight dirty to retain their lavish lifestyles gained at the expense of the
poor. But unwittingly, they provide a fertile soil for a revolution to happen
like it does in Wazobia.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is such revolution
in the making in Nigeria as Nwuzor’s fictive narrative forecasts? Who is
Andora’s equivalent that will spearhead the needed cultural revolution? When
will the electoral body be firm enough to rid the country of electoral fraud? Does
Nwuzor’s fictional narration approximate Achebe’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Man of the People</i> that presaged change of government back in
1966, with a ballot revolution come 2019 election?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clearly, Nwuzor
narrative threads on a thin ice in separating fiction from reality, sometimes
blurred with striking resemblances too close to call. Trending on contemporary
issues sometimes makes it tedious, with the faction not being too cleverly,
subtly subsumed in fictive narration. For most of the time, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Revolution in Wazobia </i>reads as though
one is reading the day’s newspapers headlines in today’s Nigeria. Perhaps,
allegorical characterization and setting might just have served Nwuzor’s narrative
much better than the linear equivalent.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nevertheless,
Nwuzor’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Revolution in Wazobia </i>is a
fine attempt at polemical fiction that is clearly lacking in the country. It
provides a fine starting point for writers to explore polemic fictional in Nigeria<span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anote Ajeluorouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06369548808615370047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1175218558750493333.post-6029769009053048092015-12-24T09:20:00.002-08:002015-12-24T09:20:34.973-08:00The Ajumogobias… A Memorial Concert To Remember
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By Anote Ajeluorou</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
MANY musical concerts have been serenading all over cities across
Nigeria to herald this year’s Christmas. And audiences are being enchanted by
the magic of the season as they celebrate in honour of the Saviour Jesus
Christ. One such yearly concert is Ajumogobia Science Foundation concert that
clocked 10 and was celebrated last Tuesday at MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos.
Sadly, hints of resting the concert for logistics reasons trailed what has
become a concert to look forward to in the city’s classical and Afro-centric
music tradition.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Mr. Soboma
Ajumogobia noted, the Ajumogobia clan is now so far-flung around the world that
gathering them together for a yearly concert presents a peculiar challenge of
its own. A sizeable number of them were absent on account of travel-related
issues. Perhaps, he stated, the grandchildren will have to grow up fast to pick
up the concert trail from where the pioneers are now constrained to leave it
off.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nevertheless, this
year’s concert, like the others before it, was a perfect way to get the
audience in a ready mood for the Christmas. Held as a fundraiser for the
Ajumogobia Science Foundation (ASF) to support the work of Science Teachers
Association of Nigeria (STAN) to further the vision of the late head of the Ajumogobia
clan in deepening the country’s science and technological quest, the concert
has been a success story since inception. And, Tuesday night was no exception
to a sterling night of performances moderated by Mr. Yinka Akinkugbe, another
music family.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kaline’s ‘Bring them
home’ by Green Wood Band consisting of drums, saxophone, horn and piano kicked
off the show before Dr. Emi Renner, on the grand piano with Julius Nglass on
tenor, rendered ‘It Came upon a Midnight Clear’. It had Nglass’ marvelous tenor
soaring deep into the night. It was also sung in remembrance of the senior
Ajumogobia clan who started it all. This was followed by Yinka Akinkugbe’s
rendering of ‘Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town’ in a jazzy, bluesy feel
reminiscent of the negro spirituals of Harlem.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then Feni Ajumogobia,
a lawyer who came in from the U.K., took to the grand piano to perform ‘Widmung,
S. 566’ by Franz Liszt and Robert Schumann. He played the piano with a warm virtuoso,
with the notes rising and falling in equal cadences. He earned the admiration
of the audience that warmly applauded him.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Boluwatide Osinowo
rendered ‘I look to you’ with Nimi Akinkugbe on the piano while Awune and Toki
Ajumogobia did ‘Mary, Did you know’ admirably and complete with a young, female
ballet dancer who wooed the audience with her elfin, thin-ice, expressive dance
steps. Dolapo Akinkugbe performed ‘Prelude to C minor’ by Sergei Rachmaninoff rendered
in fast-paced, light notes.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was followed by
Soboma Ajumogobia performing ‘I’ll Make It Up As I Go’, in the accompaniment of
Girls Rule Band consisting of sax, horns, drums, bass and regular guitars and
piano. It was a moving performance made all the more charming by an all-female
essemble. Another charming performance, ‘Christmas Medley’ by Philip Uzo on
guitar and Chioma Dimiri on flute followed before the Steve Rhodes-Nash-led Orchestra
led by Gloria Rhodes performed ‘I love the Lord.’ All through Merry Makers
Choir was on hand and it made all the difference with its backup performance.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But by far the most
innovative of the performances was Bobby Benson’s ‘Taxi driver’ rearranged for
two pianos by Seun Awoaje; it had Nimi Akinkugbe and Ibiai Ani on pianos one
and two. The introduction of pianos and horns added something special to the
performance and transformed the music from its regular highlife standard and
gave it a jazzy, pleasing feel. Both the pianos and horns lengthened and
stretched the central theme of taxi driver. A male and female ballet dancers
also gave the music another, exquisite feel. The proper rearrangement of ‘Taxi
driver’ gave indication of the infinite possibilities inherent in any piece of
music composition if given the expert, professional touch.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bez’s ‘There’s a Fire’ introduced a funk-paced
rhythm to the concert. It was vintage Bez on his guitar alongside a drummer
that told the story of a fire that water cannot quench. His performance
signaled the interval to the concert as well.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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WELCOMING the audience back from the break was Tunde Sosan
on the piano until ‘I’ll give Him My Heart’ performed by four children – two
girls, two boys. Their story was unique and moving, as it awakened the audience
members to the many ways they, too, could praise and worship God through their
diverse talents. The youngest of the girls (about six years old) showed her
dexterity on the piano to stun the audience; it was her way of giving praise to
God until the two boys joined in, with the little one giving his heart in
praise of his maker.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A procession of other youngsters, clad in
white and bearing candles, came to also lend a halloo to the performance. It
was an emotional performance complete with all the innocence of children
seeping through to challenge probable adult laziness. It was followed by ‘O
Come, All ye faithful’ that had the audience singing along.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With Nimi Akinkugbe
on the piano, Yinka Davies took ‘O Holy Night’ to the audience and made a few
members sing it, with some croaking it. It energised the audience in its sheer
hilarity and novelty. Thereafter, the duo of Dein and Awuneba Ajumogobia,
husband and wife, intensified the concert offering, as they sang ‘Holy is the
Lamb,’ with Dein on the piano. It was sheer spectacle watching the pair
perform.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then svelt Kaline
(Akinkugbe), with her fluffy mane that framed her petite face, came from among
the audience and sang ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’ up to the dais. Thereafter
she sat down to the piano and performed her now famous track ‘Bring them home’
in honour and solidarity with the kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls. With the song,
she said, she wished to raise awareness about the plight of the girls to the
wider world so they are not forgotten. Described as having “<span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande";">a fresh, bold,
soulful, funky sound, she writes with purpose in the hope of empowering anyone
that listens to her music,” Kaline’s music has power to move listeners to deep
wells of emotions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Amin Jesu Olugbala</i>’ and ‘Me, I Love My
Country’ by Wole Soyinka, rendered by the Merrymaker Choir in African
traditional notes. It came with youngsters also displaying various Nigerian
ethnic dances. Also, the ASF divas, Yinka Davies, Faith Igwe and Kaline
performed ‘Silver Bells’ and ‘Little Drummer Boy’ before Kenneth Ogbeiwi did ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gbo Ohun,</i>’ with the audience singing
along. ‘O happy Day’ also had the audience singing along in participatory,
jolly mood.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Soboma Ajumogobia gave
the vote of thanks before all the performers came on stage to perform ‘All You
Need Is Love,’ as a fitting finale to an evening of enchanting performance.
They then bowed out after what was, unarguably, a memorable concert that will
trend for a long time.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anote Ajeluorouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06369548808615370047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1175218558750493333.post-14445406501757718862015-12-23T01:57:00.001-08:002015-12-23T01:57:45.652-08:00‘The Sixth Finger connects Africa to wider world’
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By Anote Ajeluorou</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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ALTHOUGH it was one of the most traumatic experiences in
world history, the dispersal of blacks all over the world through the
Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade ought to have placed Africans on an evangelising
mission of sorts, with African values firmly planted wherever they reside. But
the reverse is, however, the case, as the stigma of second-class citizen, engendered
by slave mentality, still taints the world-view of Diaspora Africans.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But a much-travelled
Nigerian author, Mr. Chux Onyenyeonwu, his debut novel, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Sixth Finger,</i> has taken the daunting task of chronicling the
slave trade experience in the lives of some individuals in an epic narrative
that spans all the continents Africans are now dispersed as a result of the infamous
trade. Clearly, Onyenyeonwu’s book is first of its kind in its wide-ranging
setting and narrative in knitting together disparate peoples albeit from the
same continent who experienced a common trauma.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to
Onyenyeonwu, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Sixth Finger </i>is a
historical fiction he started back in 1996 and which only just came out. The
length of time, he stated at an unveiling at Umutu Coffee, MM2 Airport, Ikeja,
Lagos, was so he could balance the facts and fiction of the story together, as
it required a lot of research. In fact, when he started writing the book, the
Internet was still some years away in Nigeria. So, he patronized libraries, but
the space widened when Internet arrived and facilitated his research work on
the book.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He noted, “I did a
lot of research; I needed to ensure whatever I’m putting down has to be proven.
I spent so much time in libraries; Internet also helped. I was concerned with
doing a watertight narrative. I was fascinated by Alex Haley’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Roots</i>’ main character, Kunta Kinte, who
defied all the suffering just to cling tight to his African name.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, Onyenyeonwu
said Haley’s film which he saw when he was young inspired him to write the book.
He stated that the title for the book “is one those uncanny things that knitted
the tale together.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Although the slave
trade is over, the aftermath is still there. Blacks have not been fully
integrated into their respective Diaspora societies in the U.S., Cuba, Brazil
and elsewhere. Blacks over there still have the mental attitude of slaves; they
need to free themselves mentally. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Sixth Finger</i> covers the history of the lands blacks are domiciled”.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although not
necessarily a spiritual book, Onyenyeonwu, who is also a pastor, said, “God was
aware of the enslavement of blacks, just as He is involved in all the affairs
of man. It’s by God’s hand that blacks are in Cuba, Brazil, America”.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Onyenyeonwu is not
happy with the state of affairs of the black man, even though he has contributed
immensely to the development of world civilizations. He laments that blacks in
the Diaspora are not accorded their rightful place as they are still put down
in their host societies. Without black labour in the plantations, Onyenyeonwu
said, America would not be the great country it is today. He decried modern-day
slavery disguised as America visa Lottery through which blacks enslave
themselves anew by working menial jobs considered too demeaning for whites.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anote Ajeluorouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06369548808615370047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1175218558750493333.post-83866647333618392162015-12-16T11:16:00.001-08:002015-12-16T11:16:27.198-08:00The Making Of An Olu, Through The Eyes Of History, By Agbeyegbe
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<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px;">By Anote Ajeluorou</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt;">Lawyer, playwright and minority political rights activist, Mr. Fred
Agbeyegbe is of Itsekiri stock and has distinguished himself in many fields of
endeavours. He sat with the late <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Olu </i>for
four hours during his 90-day period of seclusion in 1987 and gives insight into
Itsekiri historical evolution, the coronation process and other salient issues.
Excerpts:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt;">With the coronation of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Olu</i>-elect, a new era seems in the
offing. How ready is the Itsekiri nation to embrace it?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are times when the old
must pass away and the new must take over. It’s a natural phenomenon, and given
the shortcomings of life itself as made by God and nature, there is never a
perfect situation. The development and growth of nations are a quest that human
beings never stopped seeking. There is always hope that today will be better
than yesterday. To that extent, those of us who are older do not easily embrace
change. When change comes, you find the younger people in society embracing it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is hope in that the new <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Olu</i> is a younger person. The young
people are the ones who would naturally be involved with him; the only set of
old people he would be dealing with are the chiefs that he inherited. In that
respect, it is a new era for the Itsekiri people.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt;">There have been a lot of
inter-ethnic problems between the Itsekiri and their neighbours. How can the
new <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Olu</i> help sustain the subsisting
peace?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That would be good for the Itsekiri
people and all of those in their immediate surroundings. I don’t think that it
would be necessary, the Itsekiri and their neighbours being at each other’s
throats as you would have in every locality. It is not necessarily because they
are not from the same ethnic group; it is because of human nature. Wherever you
may be, because of scarcity of resource, there is always the need to
inter-fight (if there is a word like that) over the scarce resources of life,
those resources that human beings need to survive, whether it is land, general
resources and so on. We have the examples of the Yoruba, as demonstrated by the
Modakeke and Ile-Ife, which shows that it is not necessarily ethnicity that
brings about such neighbourly quarrels.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, for the people in the
Delta fighting, particularly the Ijaw, the Itsekiri, it is more acute there for
reasons other than ordinary neighbourly disagreements. For me, Delta State is
the Eldorado of Nigeria, if only because there is this one resource oil. The
Nigerian authorities have decided that the only resource that is worth pursuing
is the one resource that God naturally God gave them the right for it to be on
their land, but who are not allowed to enjoy it to any extent for that matter
and because it is the bread basket of the nation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is my firm belief, and
examples can be given, that it is not in the interest of the unitary Federal
Government of Nigeria that the Itsekiri, the Ijaw and the Urhobo would find
peace, because there is this anticipation that once they do, it would also cost
those powerful authorities who rule over the area, and they cannot suffer the
inconvenience that the peace in that area would bring. On the principles of
divide and rule, the three ethnic groups must forever remain in dispute. The
best example of that was the fight between the Ijaw and the Itsekiri not so
long ago.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt;">Could you give us the historical
background of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Olu</i>ship of the
Itsekiri?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As an Itsekiri man, my elders
taught me that the history of Itsekiri land had its origin in Benin. The fact
is that the titles of chiefs in Benin have the same correlation as the chiefs
in Itsekiri, and that is the linkage. That is why in Itsekiri, if you have a
title that is not in tandem with the titles in Benin, it will be known that you
are a modern creation, and that is why in Itsekiri you have what is called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Omajaja</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Otoloye</i> and you have the royal family. The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Omajaja</i> are those people who were there before the son of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Oba</i> of Benin came to rule over them. The
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Otoloye</i>s are the chiefs that the descendants
of the chiefs of the Oba of Benin that came with the first <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Olu</i> of Warri. Then you have the royal family; those are all the new
people that descended from the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Olu</i>s.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt;">It then means that the coronation
rites of the Itsekiri are similar to that of the Benin since there is the same
ancestral link?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes; it does, in every regard.
We have the same titles<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is the story of the
altercation, not long ago, between the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Oba</i>
of Benin and the late <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Olu</i> of Warri.
The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Oba </i>of Benin and the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Olu</i> of Warri were at a meeting, and he
said that ‘My son here’ (referring to the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Olu
</i>of Warri) is well aware of what I’m saying. That is how it goes by
tradition….’ The late <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Olu</i> retorted by
saying, ‘yes, that is how it goes, but I’m not your son; I’m your senior
brother.’ And, of course, you know how powerful the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Oba </i>of Benin is. It didn’t go down well with him at all. But the
late <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Olu</i> was a lawyer who was talking
law, he was talking history; he was talking ascendency. If the person who left
Benin to found the Itsekiri <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Olu</i>ship was
the first son of the then <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Oba</i> of
Benin because of a royal plot to kill him, it means that after he left, someone
junior to him on the succession line was the one who became <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Oba</i> of Benin. Then any new <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Olu</i> of Warri, tracing through that, is
the senior brother of any new <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Oba</i> of
Benin. So, to that extent, the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Olu</i>
was correct; but to the extent it was the son of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Oba</i> of Benin who went to found Itsekiri <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Olu</i>ship, the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Oba</i> was
correct in saying the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Olu</i> of Warri is
his son. There was a father-son relationship that went on for a long time, and
there was a senior bother to a junior brother relationships in modern times;
so, both of them were correct.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt;">How does the coronation of a new <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Olu </i>go?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the Secretary General of
Delta State Movement that led to its creation as a state, the late <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Olu </i>was just coming in and he was in
seclusion, and I had to go and brief him about what the state was all about.
So, I spent close to four hours talking with him before his coronation. I did
not do that this time. But of course, the Agbeyegbe went as a family.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt;">What happens during the
coronation?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Olu</i>-elect is presented by the priests to the generality of the
Itsekiri people in an open ceremony and the swords of his ancestors are on
display. And after the introduction, after all the ceremonies that they have to
perform; talking to their ancestors. You know, those who misunderstand Itsekiri
religion call them ancestors worshippers because they always talk to their
ancestors, but those who understand it better know that they only call upon
their ancestors to intermediate with God. Therefore, the so-called Itsekiri
religion is like the Christian religion, like the Islamic religion. In Islam,
you talk through Mohammed and in Christianity they talk to their God through
Jesus Christ. These are people who intermediate for them. That is what the
Itsekiri people do; they talk to their God about how the new era is about to
come to life. They are about to put the crown on the incoming <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Olu</i>’s head. Then they will get up with
their arms folded and be directed to where the sons of all past <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Olu</i>s are on display and they will pick
one of the sons to get his title. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you remember, the late <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Olu</i> was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Atuwatse</i>, and the sword that he picked was that of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Atuwatse</i> I. He is named after the sons.
The coincidence was quite impressive because he was a graduate; <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Atuwatse</i> the first was the first
graduate in Nigerian history. He went to Portugal to study.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt;">Whose sword does he pick?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are swords of the past <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Olu</i>s that are lying down there. So, if
you pick it, you keep it. Atuwatse II when he picked the sword of Atuwatse I
became Atuwatse II. Now he is gone and the sword goes back there as belonging
to the first and second Atuwatse. The incoming <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Olu</i> would have to pick his own sword and it will be too incredible
if he picks the same sword. But if by some coincidence he picks the same sword,
he automatically becomes Atuwatse III.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt;">Why are coronations usually held
at Ode-Itsekiri?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is the homestead of
Itsekiri royal family. The palace from time memorial was at a place called Ijaja
which is next door to where you have the refinery in Epan because that was
where the son of that Oba of Benin landed when he came from Benin with the
first sons of Benin chiefs in his party. That’s why the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Olu</i>s are buried there at Ijaja. Though he left there and went to a
place called big Warri, which is Itsekiri Odu. The palace in Warri is a newer
version of what is in Itsekiri Odu in performing the coronation and burial of
an <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Olu</i> on the mainland, they don’t do
any of those in the mainland.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt;">As a playwright you have not
always portrayed the monarchy in glowing light. It isn’t something you
obviously subscribe to, yet you have it as part of your cultural heritage. How
do you deal with this?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In all my upbringing, I have
been a libertarian. My political development has been in the liberal mode. To
that extent, there is some contradiction given my personal view of an<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Olu </i>or King or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Oba</i>. Those of us who have been seeking some amendments in the
Nigerian scene point to the fact that we are supposed to be a Republic. And we
are filled with pockets of monarchy. That is part of the contradiction of our
country. Yet the Federal Government identifies with my traditional ruler.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Yet the Federal Government identifies with my natural ruler. But differently
from all other ethnic nationalities, the Itsekiri and the Benin are at one in
the succession line. It goes through one family lines and it goes through the
eldest son. It doesn’t happen like that elsewhere. In Itsekiri, it is even
worse in that you don’t have the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Enogie</i>s
represent the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Oba</i> of Benin in the
districts, but the Itsekiri don’t have such structure. There’s only one <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Olu</i>, one ancestry, one ruler, one
monarch. Whatever you are or have, it is in Itsekiriland that you have
everybody keeping quiet once the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Olu</i>
has spoken. Of course, what that means is that he doesn’t speak first; every
other person would have spoken, including his advisers; that is why he is
called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Afomasin</i>, that party, that
entity or that deity, if you like, after he has spoken nobody dares, nobody
challenges him, nobody has any other thing to say. The loyalty in Itsekiri is
that nobody obeys, everybody believes, nobody dares.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Why isn’t the
son of the late <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Olu</i> the one being
crowned now? Why is it the brother? Is that the tradition in Itsekiriland?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"> No, the late <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Olu</i> was the son of the one that went before him. This one coming in
now is the brother of the late <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Olu</i>.
It is his elder brother who has passed away. He did not pass it on to the son
because changes in modern times are coming into the system. Otherwise, it would
have gone to the eldest son. When it used to be strictly adhered to, it used be
not just the senior son, but the first son that was born to him after he became
an <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Olu</i>. In other words, he could have
been there, and his father is sitting on the throne and he is grown enough to
get married and he gets married while his father is still alive, but he
eventually succeeds to the throne. When he is to be succeeded, because he was
married before his father died, and he’d had children before his father died,
his first in life may not necessarily be the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Olu</i>, but the son he has after succeeding to the throne as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Olu.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">What is the
position of women with regard to the throne in Itsekiri? Can they succeed to
the throne?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"> Historically, Itsekiri are not a matrilineal
people like the Ghanaians and some ethnic groups. Nigeria is largely a
patrilineal society. In Itsekitiland, the importance of women is not diminished
by the fact that they don’t get on the throne. As I remember it, there has never
been a female <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Olu</i> in
Itsekiriland. But there was one that could have broken, if you can call
it a jinx, that jinx. In the end, she did not make it although she had all the
powers. It nearly happened because there was no son at the time who could have
inherited the throne. It ensured a period of interregnum in Itsekiriland when
there was no <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Olu</i> for a long time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">So, how was she
schemed out of inheriting her father’s throne?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"> It was like fate
and the belief, of course, that a woman never becomes the head of an Itsekiri
community; that a woman can never become an <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Olaraja</i>,
the head of the people. In Itsekiri, the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Olu</i>
is the head of all Itsekiri. In itsekiri communities, the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Olaraja</i> is the head, the oldest man in the community. It must be a
man. When women are the oldest, the right to leadership falls to a younger man
who is the oldest man around, or the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Olaraja</i>,
the leader.</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anote Ajeluorouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06369548808615370047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1175218558750493333.post-69319325795282552042015-12-16T11:04:00.009-08:002015-12-16T11:04:58.627-08:00Kakadu ignites symbiosis of visual and performance arts at Christmas
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<br />
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By Anote Ajeluorou</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Perhaps, it is no longer news that two Broadway-style
musical theatres – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kakadu </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wakaa! The Musical - </i>will rock Lagos
city this Christmas. But what may be news for both new and old enthusiasts of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kakadu</i>, written and produced by Mr. Uche
Nwokedi (a Senior Advocate of Nigeria - SAN), is that a painter of immense ability
has also set to work to paint some of the scenes and performers onto canvas as
a way of immortalising the fleeting historical moments captured in the musical
drama. From this part of the world, this is obviously a first, and Nwokedi is
excited about it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At his Five Ways law
chamber in Lekki last weekend, Nwokedi expressed enthusiasm towards the new
synergy and praised Alakija’s passion in working among the cast, taking
photographs and painting furiously to realize the project. The paintings will
be on display alongside the performance of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kakadu
</i>starting from December 29, 30, 2015 through January 1, 2 and 3, 2016 at
MUSON Centre.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to
Nwokwdi, “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kakadu </i>has its own energy;
there’s a certain temperament all its own about it. We’ve also made a lot of
changes to it, especially in the musical rendition. There are some drastic
changes although it is the same story. Of course, you don’t want to change a
successful story”.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although the same theme the cast is 80 per
cent new, it tallies with Nwokedi’s historical projection of the musical theatre.
As he put it, “<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">I
thought that since this is essentially our 4th run of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kakadu</i>, it would be useful that the emphasis be placed on youth and
relatively new talent. Why? Nigeria at the time of independence in 1960 was a
very young country with plenty of human capital and potential. Some of our
ministers in the First Republic were in their mid-twenties, and when Yakubu Gowon
became Head of State, he was the youngest in the world at the time. Casting
this time was more to emphasise the historicity of the production”.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kanayo Omo is
director while Benneth Ogbeiwei is musical director.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kakadu </i>is a dramatic and musical recreation of Kakadu Night Club in
Lagos’ 1960s that mirrors the unbounded optimism and feel-good mood of the
period shortly after Nigeria’s independence in the music and the lifestyle. But
things soon come to a head with violence in the north that would lead to
avoidable bloody civil war that pitched one part of the country against another.
What has become of the soul of Nigeria after that needless war 45 years on
since the war ended in 1970?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An artist statement from Alakija on the
synergy between <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kakadu </i>and her
artistic rendering of it on canvas, says, “<span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">When I was approached by producer
Uche Nwokedi, to be a ‘visiting artist,’ to tell a visual story of the cast of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kakadu</i> whilst they rehearsed, I was
expecting that this would be a wonderfully hedonistic way to end the year. I
had in my mind the visual feast of the first production, the costumes, the
colour, the music and dance routines. How wrong I was.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 252.0pt 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“This production is no mere indulgence in the glamour and optimism of
the 1960s. Sitting in on the rehearsals was so much more than this. What I
witnessed was producer, director and cast re-living and learning about the
political situation in Nigeria in the 1960s and how optimism turned into
destruction and the pain and suffering that ensued. So my imagery could not be
a mere visual representation of a cast in character. The line between being in
character and living the pain has become blurred for this cast. I am not sure
myself if I am representing cast or character, but the emotions are real, be it
pain, outrage or joy”.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anote Ajeluorouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06369548808615370047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1175218558750493333.post-11148141692483967172015-12-16T11:04:00.007-08:002015-12-16T11:04:52.185-08:00Kakadu ignites symbiosis of visual and performance arts at Christmas
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<br />
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By Anote Ajeluorou</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Perhaps, it is no longer news that two Broadway-style
musical theatres – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kakadu </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wakaa! The Musical - </i>will rock Lagos
city this Christmas. But what may be news for both new and old enthusiasts of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kakadu</i>, written and produced by Mr. Uche
Nwokedi (a Senior Advocate of Nigeria - SAN), is that a painter of immense ability
has also set to work to paint some of the scenes and performers onto canvas as
a way of immortalising the fleeting historical moments captured in the musical
drama. From this part of the world, this is obviously a first, and Nwokedi is
excited about it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At his Five Ways law
chamber in Lekki last weekend, Nwokedi expressed enthusiasm towards the new
synergy and praised Alakija’s passion in working among the cast, taking
photographs and painting furiously to realize the project. The paintings will
be on display alongside the performance of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kakadu
</i>starting from December 29, 30, 2015 through January 1, 2 and 3, 2016 at
MUSON Centre.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to
Nwokwdi, “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kakadu </i>has its own energy;
there’s a certain temperament all its own about it. We’ve also made a lot of
changes to it, especially in the musical rendition. There are some drastic
changes although it is the same story. Of course, you don’t want to change a
successful story”.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although the same theme the cast is 80 per
cent new, it tallies with Nwokedi’s historical projection of the musical theatre.
As he put it, “<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">I
thought that since this is essentially our 4th run of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kakadu</i>, it would be useful that the emphasis be placed on youth and
relatively new talent. Why? Nigeria at the time of independence in 1960 was a
very young country with plenty of human capital and potential. Some of our
ministers in the First Republic were in their mid-twenties, and when Yakubu Gowon
became Head of State, he was the youngest in the world at the time. Casting
this time was more to emphasise the historicity of the production”.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kanayo Omo is
director while Benneth Ogbeiwei is musical director.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kakadu </i>is a dramatic and musical recreation of Kakadu Night Club in
Lagos’ 1960s that mirrors the unbounded optimism and feel-good mood of the
period shortly after Nigeria’s independence in the music and the lifestyle. But
things soon come to a head with violence in the north that would lead to
avoidable bloody civil war that pitched one part of the country against another.
What has become of the soul of Nigeria after that needless war 45 years on
since the war ended in 1970?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An artist statement from Alakija on the
synergy between <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kakadu </i>and her
artistic rendering of it on canvas, says, “<span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">When I was approached by producer
Uche Nwokedi, to be a ‘visiting artist,’ to tell a visual story of the cast of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kakadu</i> whilst they rehearsed, I was
expecting that this would be a wonderfully hedonistic way to end the year. I
had in my mind the visual feast of the first production, the costumes, the
colour, the music and dance routines. How wrong I was.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 252.0pt 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“This production is no mere indulgence in the glamour and optimism of
the 1960s. Sitting in on the rehearsals was so much more than this. What I
witnessed was producer, director and cast re-living and learning about the
political situation in Nigeria in the 1960s and how optimism turned into
destruction and the pain and suffering that ensued. So my imagery could not be
a mere visual representation of a cast in character. The line between being in
character and living the pain has become blurred for this cast. I am not sure
myself if I am representing cast or character, but the emotions are real, be it
pain, outrage or joy”.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anote Ajeluorouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06369548808615370047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1175218558750493333.post-68970664305409143642015-12-16T11:04:00.005-08:002015-12-16T11:04:38.466-08:00Kakadu ignites symbiosis of visual and performance arts at Christmas
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<br />
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By Anote Ajeluorou</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Perhaps, it is no longer news that two Broadway-style
musical theatres – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kakadu </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wakaa! The Musical - </i>will rock Lagos
city this Christmas. But what may be news for both new and old enthusiasts of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kakadu</i>, written and produced by Mr. Uche
Nwokedi (a Senior Advocate of Nigeria - SAN), is that a painter of immense ability
has also set to work to paint some of the scenes and performers onto canvas as
a way of immortalising the fleeting historical moments captured in the musical
drama. From this part of the world, this is obviously a first, and Nwokedi is
excited about it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At his Five Ways law
chamber in Lekki last weekend, Nwokedi expressed enthusiasm towards the new
synergy and praised Alakija’s passion in working among the cast, taking
photographs and painting furiously to realize the project. The paintings will
be on display alongside the performance of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kakadu
</i>starting from December 29, 30, 2015 through January 1, 2 and 3, 2016 at
MUSON Centre.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to
Nwokwdi, “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kakadu </i>has its own energy;
there’s a certain temperament all its own about it. We’ve also made a lot of
changes to it, especially in the musical rendition. There are some drastic
changes although it is the same story. Of course, you don’t want to change a
successful story”.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although the same theme the cast is 80 per
cent new, it tallies with Nwokedi’s historical projection of the musical theatre.
As he put it, “<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">I
thought that since this is essentially our 4th run of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kakadu</i>, it would be useful that the emphasis be placed on youth and
relatively new talent. Why? Nigeria at the time of independence in 1960 was a
very young country with plenty of human capital and potential. Some of our
ministers in the First Republic were in their mid-twenties, and when Yakubu Gowon
became Head of State, he was the youngest in the world at the time. Casting
this time was more to emphasise the historicity of the production”.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kanayo Omo is
director while Benneth Ogbeiwei is musical director.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kakadu </i>is a dramatic and musical recreation of Kakadu Night Club in
Lagos’ 1960s that mirrors the unbounded optimism and feel-good mood of the
period shortly after Nigeria’s independence in the music and the lifestyle. But
things soon come to a head with violence in the north that would lead to
avoidable bloody civil war that pitched one part of the country against another.
What has become of the soul of Nigeria after that needless war 45 years on
since the war ended in 1970?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An artist statement from Alakija on the
synergy between <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kakadu </i>and her
artistic rendering of it on canvas, says, “<span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">When I was approached by producer
Uche Nwokedi, to be a ‘visiting artist,’ to tell a visual story of the cast of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kakadu</i> whilst they rehearsed, I was
expecting that this would be a wonderfully hedonistic way to end the year. I
had in my mind the visual feast of the first production, the costumes, the
colour, the music and dance routines. How wrong I was.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 252.0pt 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“This production is no mere indulgence in the glamour and optimism of
the 1960s. Sitting in on the rehearsals was so much more than this. What I
witnessed was producer, director and cast re-living and learning about the
political situation in Nigeria in the 1960s and how optimism turned into
destruction and the pain and suffering that ensued. So my imagery could not be
a mere visual representation of a cast in character. The line between being in
character and living the pain has become blurred for this cast. I am not sure
myself if I am representing cast or character, but the emotions are real, be it
pain, outrage or joy”.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anote Ajeluorouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06369548808615370047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1175218558750493333.post-60261421373912173022015-12-16T11:01:00.000-08:002015-12-16T11:01:27.380-08:00Culture Community Besieges Special Screening Of Ake Film
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<br />
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By Anote Ajeluorou</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The culture community turned out in large numbers last
Thursday at the special premiere of the film adaptation of Wole Soyinka’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ake: The Years of Childhood</i> at MUSON
Centre, Onikan, Lagos. Directed by Dapo Adeniyi, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ake</i> is the first film on a literary personage in the country, obvious
reason many writers and other culture workers were in attendance.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The list was
impressive: Mr. Odia Ofeimun, Profs. Femi Osofisan, Adenike Osofisan and Remi
Raji-Oyelade, Mr. Chike Ofili, Mr. Kunle Ajibade, Mrs. Taiwo Ajai-Lycett, Ms
Yinka Davies, Information Commissioner, Lagos State, Mr. Steve Ayorinde, Mr.
Segun Oyekunle and Mr. Mahmoud Ali-Balogun among others. Dr. Olaokun Soyinka
represented the family in the absence of the hero of the film.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to Dr.
Soyinka, “I’m excited to be here. I particularly thank Adeniyi who has pursued
his dream of making this film doggedly. I’m very impressed by what he did; it’s
a labour of love, a film that should be made. I thank Adeniyi for realising his
dream”.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The director,
Adeniyi said he was seeing the film for the first time on the big screen having
only worked on it on a small screen during pre-production. So, “I was a bit
nervous. I’m looking forward to seeing the film. It’s a delight”.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although a
transposition of the childhood memoir unto film format and lacking the expected
gripping, cinematic thrill, its realisation among the rocky, rugged Abeokuta
terrain turns out a delight of some sort. Particularly, viewers will find the
precocious and daring young Soyinka a thrilling character that animates the
film.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What is more,
memorable characters like the famous, history-making Ransome-Kutis of Abeokuta
resonate in the film. But some things seem out of sorts, particularly the
costume. Some of it is too modern. Soyinka’s mother Eniola (Wild Christian) is
so Anglicised in the film that she doesn’t wear <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">iro </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">buba </i>except
during the protest period. Besides, viewers don’t get to know why her son nicknames
her Wild Christian.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nevertheless,
viewers will generally enjoy the laidback style and some hilarious aspects of
the film, particularly Rev. Ransome-Kuti’s school court session and how one of
his students outwitted him in a case in his own court.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anote Ajeluorouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06369548808615370047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1175218558750493333.post-60051043636774923722015-12-08T03:13:00.003-08:002015-12-08T03:13:47.584-08:00Art meets business: Wakaa! The Musical on the floor of Nigerian Stock Exchange
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
The cast and
crew of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wakaa! The Musical</i> engaged
officials of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) last week in a historic and
symbolic visit designed to endear the arts and culture community to Nigeria’s
business world. ANOTE AJELUOROU, who was there, reports</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">It was a
historic moment last week Thursday when some of the cast and crew members of
the new Broadway-style musical theatre production on the Nigerian scene, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wakaa! The Musical</i>, visited the eighth,
trading floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Custom Street, Marina,
Lagos. It was not just a courtesy visit, as the Executive Producer and Director
of the musical showpiece and boss of Terra Kulture, Victoria Island, Lagos,
Mrs. Bolanle Austin-Peters, had the singular honour of sounding the closing
gong for the close of the market at exactly 2.30pm for a market that opened
9.30am.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"> It was
a major first for the arts and culture sector, as only the Director-General,
Mr. Oscar Onyema, had the honour of performing that task or assigned the same
role to a highflying business personality. But Austin-Peters is no ordinary
woman or newcomer in the arts and culture sector of the economy that is usually
neglected or deemed unserious. Her upscale culture centre, Terra Kulture, has
made a business name for itself with its five star restaurant and bar lounge,
art gallery, bookshop and reading room, Nigerian languages’ teaching centre and
<a href="https://us-mg4.mail.yahoo.com/compose?to=theatre@terra"><span style="color: windowtext;">theatre@terra</span></a> segment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"> In the
past two years, Austin-Peters has made a major leap forward in theatre
production when she took up the challenge of making Broadway-style musical
theatres. Her inspiration came from Fela! On Broadway, based on the late<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Afrobeat</i> maverick, Fela Anikulapo, an
essential Nigerian story that was imported from the United States and sold to
Nigerians for a princely sum. It was symptomatic of most things Nigerian which
do not have value until they are first taken outside the country, repackaged
and imported back and sold to Nigerians at a premium.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Austin-Peters
felt challenged, as indeed all local producers should, and decided to change
the narrative. And thus <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Saro the Musical</i>
was borne as her resounding response. It paid off handsomely going by the huge
audiences that trooped, first to Oriental Hotel, and later, to MUSON Centre, to
enjoy the sheer spectacle of a great cultural extravaganza it offered. It also
caught the attention of international media which feasted on it to show what
Nigeria is capable of doing. Even austere President Muhammadu Buhari could not
resist the magic <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Saro the Musical</i>
promised, as he took off time during his election campaigns to see the theatre
showpiece last April.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"> It had
not happened like that in a long while since Festival of African Arts and
Culture (FESTAC 77) when the entire black race converged on Lagos in 1977 in a
cultural showpiece. In just two hours <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Saro
the Musical</i> packed so much punch and power that those who had seen it kept
coming back to experience anew the beauty of art at its peak. Not even Fela! On
Broadway came close to rivaling the grandeur of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Saro the Musical.</i> Now, Austin-Peters has promised even bigger
spectacle with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wakaa! The Musical</i>, as
it broadens its thematic scope to also engage political issues in an
irresistible dramatic form. Already, rehearsals are at advanced stage
preparatory to staging the musical theatre this Christmas holidays – December 30
through January 3. Last week, Austin-Peters’ directorial ability was put to the
analytical gaze when theatre professor from University of Illinois,
Carbon-Dale, U.S., Segun Ojewuyi and other renowned theatre experts like Mr.
Jahman Anikulapo, Mr. Teju Kareem, Mr. Ade Martins, Mr. Tunde Babalola, Mrs.
Aduke Gomez, Mrs. Alexandra Lustrati and Amritt Flora, previewed <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wakaa The Musical</i> just to ensure a tight
production worth the audience’s time money value was being made. She passed the
litmus test, as it were.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #153a69; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">IN
a rare, candid turn of financial accounting and market projection for her new
theatre project, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wakaa! The Musical,</i> Mrs.
Austin-Peters gave a breakdown of the cost implication and return-on-investment
for performing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Saro the Musical </i>which
started showing in 2013 through 2015. According to her, “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Lion King</i> musical has grossed over $6.2 billion since inception
in 1994, making it the most successful box office total of any work in any
media in entertainment history. It is followed by $6 billion-earning <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Phantom of the Opera.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Saro the Musical</span></i><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"> at its premiere in 2013 had over 7,000
people in attend at its nine shows in three days<span style="color: #153a69;">.
35% of the cost of production was realised for ticket sales. </span>In December
2014, another 8,000 people attended the 11 shows of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Saro the Musical</i> over six days<span style="color: #153a69;">. 50% of
the cost of production was realised from ticket sales. </span>In April 2015,
over 9,000 people saw the 13 shows in six days. <span style="color: #153a69;">55%
of the cost of production was realised from ticket sales.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“The cost for staging each of the three
productions above is between N70 and 80 million (cost both in kind and cash). The
majority of the cost goes into venue rental and technical cost since the venues
are not equipped for Broadway-style musical theatre productions like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Saro the Musical </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wakaa! The Musical</i>”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then she submits futuristically, “From the
above, you can imagine how much the production will turn over if it were to run
at its own venue for six months,” as all musicals are wont to do.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">AND so, on
the eighth floor when trading on the Nigerian Stock Exchange was coming to a
close, Austin-Peters had the symbolic honour of sounding the gong to bring
activities in the market to a close. Even the hardnosed traders who were
hunched over their computers poring over figures, monitoring the movement of
shares, advising customers to mop up shares with potentials to rise or dump
toxic ones sliding badly, Austin-Peters, in the company of Executive Director,
Market Operations and Technology, Mr. Ade Bajomo, sounded the gong after
addresses to the traders on the need for the visit from the arts and culture
community to the stock market and its potentials for Nigeria’s big businesses.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"> Bajomo
commended the Executive Producer and Director of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wakaa! The Musical</i>, Austin-Peters, for her astute business
initiative in not only seeing the business potentials in the arts, but making
the most of it by investing in it, with identifiable outcomes to show for it.
He further praised her for bringing attention of the business community to the
arts as never before thus generating awareness about the arts among business
leaders. According to him, it was Austin-Peters’ bold efforts in bringing out
the business in the arts that endeared her to his organisation, a foremost one in
Nigeria’s business world. It was Bajomo’s hope that now, more than ever, the
country’s business leaders would begin to see the business in the arts and
entertainment thereby look at ways of investing in that sector that is often
neglected largely because of lack of information backed by data, as to the
possible bottom line therein worth the investor’s time and money.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">
However, with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wakaa! The Musical</i> that
is following on the heels of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Saro the
Musical</i>, Bajomo hoped that business leaders would be better enlightened on
business opportunities in the arts and culture sector. He also enjoined those
in the arts and entertainment sector to look to also investing in stocks, as it
was a viable way of making money to further invest in their artistic endeavours
to further raise the stakes. By so doing, he posited that business leaders
would then begin to see the business potentials in the sector and gradually
make inroads into it. He said it had become necessary as a way of diversifying
the economy from its mono-product economy currently in recession.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"> On her
part, Mrs. Austin-Peters educated Nigeria Stock Exchange officials on how much
progress the arts and culture sector has made over the years. A trained lawyer
and economists, Austin-Peters stated that until now those in the arts and
theatre business had been perceived as illiterate and unserious people. She
noted that such perception was borne out of ignorance and unwillingness to
understand the sector, as most of those who performed in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Saro the Musical</i> and now in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wakaa!
The Musical</i> are trained lawyers, engineers and other professionals who had
turned away from those professions to their true passion in the arts and
theatre and were ready to make good as they would have done in the professions
they studied given the opportunity <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wakaa!
The Musical</i> has to offer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">
Austin-Peters also harped on the job-creation potentials of the arts and
culture sector. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Saro the Musical</i>
alone had about 60 cast and crew youth members. Imagine having five such
musicals in a year in the country employing about the same number of young
people, the effect, she said would be huge as it would help mop up most of the
unemployed youth roaming the streets and being tempted into anti-social
behaviours like crime, insurgency or militancy. It was clear from her
submission that the arts has a model worth considering for many reasons that
are beneficial to the economy, as she canvased a robust engagement with the
country’s arts and culture sector as a viable that could help solve the myriads
of problems plaguing Nigeria.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">
According to Austin-Peters, “What is significant with our visit and my sounding
the gong to close the market today is that in Nigeria, the arts are relegated
to the background. The business world needs to realise that there is power in the
arts to impact society. The world is taking note of the arts and also that the
stock exchange is also recognising the power that the arts wield in shaping
society”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"> For
the General Manager of Terra Kulture, Mr. Joseph Omoibom, “Theatre will be a
multi-million naira business soon enough. Coming to the stock market is to make
business people see the future in the theatre and for them to invest in it”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anote Ajeluorouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06369548808615370047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1175218558750493333.post-79680478928372972102015-12-06T05:46:00.003-08:002015-12-06T05:46:48.159-08:00Culture Community Besieges Special Screening Of Ake Film
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;">By Anote Ajeluorou</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">The culture community turned
out in large numbers last Thursday at the special premiere of the film
adaptation of Wole Soyinka’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ake: The Years
of Childhood</i> at MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos. Directed by Dapo Adeniyi, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ake</i> is the first film on a literary
personage in the country, obvious reason many writers and other culture workers
were in attendance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The list was impressive: Mr. Odia Ofeimun,
Profs. Femi Osofisan, Adenike Osofisan and Remi Raji-Oyelade, Mr. Chike Ofili,
Mr. Kunle Ajibade, Mrs. Taiwo Ajai-Lycett, Ms Yinka Davies, Information
Commissioner, Lagos State, Mr. Steve Ayorinde, Mr. Segun Oyekunle and Mr.
Mahmoud Ali-Balogun among others. Dr. Olaokun Soyinka represented the family in
the absence of the hero of the film.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to Dr. Soyinka, “I’m excited to be
here. I particularly thank Adeniyi who has pursued his dream of making this
film doggedly. I’m very impressed by what he did; it’s a labour of love, a film
that should be made. I thank Adeniyi for realising his dream”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The director, Adeniyi said he was seeing the
film for the first time on the big screen having only worked on it on a small
screen during pre-production. So, “I was a bit nervous. I’m looking forward to
seeing the film. It’s a delight”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although a transposition of the childhood
memoir unto film format and lacking the expected gripping, cinematic thrill,
its realisation among the rocky, rugged Abeokuta terrain turns out a delight of
some sort. Particularly, viewers will find the precocious and daring young
Soyinka a thrilling character that animates the film.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What is more, memorable characters like the
famous, history-making Ransome-Kutis of Abeokuta resonate in the film. But some
things seem out of sorts, particularly the costume. Some of it is too modern.
Soyinka’s mother Eniola (Wild Christian) is so Anglicised in the film that she
doesn’t wear <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">iro </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">buba </i>except during the protest period.
Besides, viewers don’t get to know why her son nicknames her Wild Christian.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nevertheless, viewers will generally enjoy the
laidback style and some hilarious aspects of the film, particularly Rev.
Ransome-Kuti’s school court session and how one of his students outwitted him
in a case in his own court.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anote Ajeluorouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06369548808615370047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1175218558750493333.post-1652897905426961342015-12-06T05:46:00.000-08:002015-12-06T05:46:25.049-08:00‘Many People Can’t See Through Political Satire’
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<br />
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By Anote Ajeluorou</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Satirical writing though a serious form of writing is sugarcoated
in hilarity and meant to provoke laughter at the expense of those it is
directed. And so how do its targets take it? How do Nigerians at the butt of
satirical writing receive it? How much satirical offering is on offer in
Nigeria and what impact does it make? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, satire is a difficult writing device
to execute except in the hands of those who are comically inclined and
facetious or wags. This informs the issues in a new book <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Loud Whispers</i> by a columnist with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ThisDay </i>newspaper, Mr. Joseph Edgar. He recently presented the book
at Terra Kulture, Victoria Island, Lagos amid banters at the expense of the
author who, it emerged, has also perfected the art of making others the butt of
his jabs.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the author
lamented the inability of most people to take or understand the import of
satire when it is directed at them. According to him, “At the highest level,
some people cannot see through political satire. In some of the cases, the
message is missed because of the angle it is coming from”.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A case in point was
when he literally ‘chased’ Osun State governor Rauf Aregbesola on Molaji
Johnson Avenue in Ikeja and made efforts to catch his attention without luck.
He wrote a piece about saying he wanted to ask him for lunch and possibly buy
fuel in some of the cars in his long convoy especially since he couldn’t find
money to pay salaries in his state. In order to soften the blunt edge of the
satire, his made a caveat to the effect that Aregbesola was his mentor and
someone he looked up to. Interestingly, Edgar said he got a call from the
governor’s aid to find out if Edgar truly meant it when he said his principal
was his mentor!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In another instance,
Edgar said having ‘yabed’ one big politician he got a call requesting him to
also ‘yab’ <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Asiwaju</i> Ahmed Tinubu (the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Jagaban</i>) thoroughly for him in his next
column. As he put it, “The book has gone places; it has done a lot of things I didn’t
imagine”.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact in his
typically flippant manner, Edgar confessed to poverty for inspiration for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Loud Whisper</i>. Although he works in the
financial services’ sector, he got a huge school fee bill in the six digit and
didn’t know to cope being someone who is averse to doing deals and anything
that suggests illegality. He then quickly thought of putting his writing
together and called his friend and boss of Terra Kulture Mrs. Bolanle
ASustin-Peters who encouraged. The result is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Loud Whispers</i>.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The book got
commendations from many industry persons in attendance who variously described
the book and the author in superlatives – ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Loud
Whispers </i>is a hilarious writing, but he makes sense; he’s just very bold
and it’s good,’ ‘His column in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ThisDay </i>sets
us on a path of political satire,’ ‘The book is a lovely compendium; Joseph has
ease with words. He knows how to whine everybody,’ ‘He has ways with words,’
‘His column helps take away the harsh aspect of Lagos,’ ‘The book is a
page-turner.’<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The author’s wife, Foluke, also testified to
the book’s hilarious aspect, when she said, “The book makes you happy even if
you’re down”.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Reviewer of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Loud Whispers</i>, Mr.
Ladipo Soetan, said of the book, “</span><span style="font-family: "Athelas Regular"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Yes, Mr Edgar’s roving eye, his wit and turn of phrase allow us to laugh
at ourselves, to shake our head and drink down a bittersweet broth of shame and
pride. Mr. Edgar’s book explains why once it was said that despite all our
tribulations Nigerians are the world’s happiest people. For without humor, the
Nigerian condition would be insupportable. However, the subtitle of the book
tells me that I am not saying anything new. Nothing that Mr. Edgar himself did
not consider when putting pen to paper, as the sub-title of the book is ‘a collection
of humorous satires celebrating the Nigerian Spirit.’”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An interesting
aspect to the book is already unfolding, as work has begun on turning it into a
stage play. Notable theatre director, Mr. Kenneth Uphopho, is hard at work and
said the play should ready Match next year, with comic star Ali Baba, who wrote
the foreword also playing a major role in the planned play.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anote Ajeluorouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06369548808615370047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1175218558750493333.post-62077976784043770922015-11-29T05:42:00.002-08:002015-11-29T05:42:28.233-08:00Holding Talks when action is needed
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;">By
Anote Ajeluorou</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;"><br /></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;">Nigeria’s
current situation since the inauguration of a new government in May typifies
Ola Rotimi’s absurdist play <i>Holding Talks</i>. There has been so much talk
about change, fight against corruption and how to make life bearable for all
Nigerians.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sadly, it has been all talk. A reversal of
the promises made during the campaigns has been the daily reality. As the sub-title
aptly suggests, ‘Relentless talks with no action kills a nation,’ and Nigeria
is fast slipping down the slope, the hope for change thinning out, with the
citizens beginning to wonder if this was the change they voted for.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;">
<i>Holding Talks </i>is one of Rotimi’s vintage plays that speak eloquently to
the African condition. So much is being said about the development strides to
be made by those who purport to lead but so little progress has beenachieved.
And that brings another round of talks about new, unrealisable agendas being
set with specific deadlines that don’t get fulfilled. One government after
another leaves office without as much as having made any impact or difference
in the lives of the people for whom they held office in trust.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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This was the dramatic plot that played out before a scanty audience last Sunday
at The Ethnic Heritage Centre on Raymond Njoku Street, Ikoyi, Lagos, when
Kininso Koncepts Productions performed <i>Holding Talks</i>, directed by Joshua
Alabi. There will be encore of the play performance today at the same venue.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;">
And so the play opens with a barber’s apprentice (Eriakha Edgar) leafing
through old newspapers and reeling out the various headlines on the crises in
parts of the world. His boss (Gbadamosi Oladapo) arrives and slumps on a bench
to rest. Soon enough, a man (Opeyemi Dada) walks in to have a haircut. The
barber reluctantly fiddles with his instruments. But just when he’s about to do
his job, he is interrupted by the man who has observed that his hand are shaking.
The barber denies it, and this generates heated argument between them. The
apprentice urges his boss to admit that his hand shakes and let the matter be,
but his boss insists that the man is wrong. The customer offers to bet with
N1000 to the barber’s N150.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Meanwhile, the man’s hair remains uncut.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;">
But the barber hasn’t eaten all day and says he could only part with N100 for
the bet and spare N50 for food to which the man also halves his bet sum to
N500. A simple test and the barber finally admits that his hand shakes, but blames
it on hunger, that he has not eaten all day. Just then he collapses and dies.
The apprentice is alarmed and urges the man/customer to help take the man to
hospital, hoping the barber can still be revived. But the man is infuriated and
it brings out the worse in him, as he begins some lengthy argument on the
possible nasty results that simple action can bring them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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First, he accuses the barber of causing his own death when he should simply
have admitted the truth, but he decides to argue instead. Then he puts the
apprentice on the spot. Suppose he is the driver of a cab, would he allow a
dead man to be deposited in his cab? And suppose he is a fellow passenger in a
mini bus, would he allow a dead man to ride with him in it? Although he came in
a car, the man declines to carry the dead man in it; it isn’t the right action
to take, he argues.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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As last resort, he dispatches the apprentice to fetch the police. A policewoman
(Ikhatalor Blessing) arrives and she begins to ask the usually annoying police
questions. Who killed him? How did he die? What was the last thing he said? Who
witnessed him die? This line of questioning infuriates the man who also counters
the policewoman and points out the errors in her questions. At a point, he
refuses to answer more questions and the policewoman is shocked at his
attitude; she stomps off to fetch more men, just as the lights fade.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;">THE
Joshua Alabi-led Kininso Koncepts Production of <i>Holding Talks </i>did a good
job of staging the play. The play’s absurd and seemingly abstract nature makes
it quite a task to realise, being a one act play, both in its intense dialogue
that doesn’t give room for a pause or scene change. And in about 40 minutes,
Rotimi packs in so much the audience is riveted on the fast-paced narrative
that also says nothing meaningful in particular. It’s the futility of aimless
talks that yield no results. That in itself is the success of the play; so much
is said but nothing is realised. A man is dead or dying, yet nothing is being
done either to save him or take him to the morgue both by those at the scene
and the police that arrive later. Rather, they are all engaged in some intense,
aimless inquisition.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;">
While Alabi and his theatre group are doing their best to keep the centre alive,
the owners or managers of The Ethnic Heritage Centre need to do more
media-friendly artistic events, programming and campaign to attract audience to
it. Perhaps, they need to copy the Terra Kulture model to pull in the crowd.
While Kininso Koncepts Productions is on the right track and doggedly
propagating theatre performance, the onus rests more with the centre itself to
endear Lagos art and culture community to itself for the patronage it needs if
it is to be reckoned with.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That campaign should start now as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Holding Talks </i>takes c entre-stage again
today.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anote Ajeluorouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06369548808615370047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1175218558750493333.post-87580144873801878302015-11-21T06:24:00.002-08:002015-11-21T06:24:40.027-08:00Publishers’ Forum… Writers’ Neglect of Young Adult Readers Worrisome
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;">By
Anote Ajeluorou</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ALTHOUGH
only a handful of publishers attended this year’s Publishers’ Forum organised
by Committee of Relevant Arts during its yearly Lagos Book and Art Festival (LABAF),
it yielded positive fruits that would benefit Nigerian writers and publishers
in setting possible agenda for their writing henceforth. The forum is designed
to synergise the business of book publishing, distribution, sales and emerging
issues in the book chain.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It held at Goethe Institut, City Hall,
Onikan, Lagos.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With facilitation from the boss of Cassava
Republic Press, Abuja, Dr. Bibi Bakare-Yusuf, it had Managing Editor, Kachifo
Limited (Farafina imprint owners), Ms Uche Okonkwo, Editor, Storybooks,
Litramed Publishers (Lantern Books imprint owners), Ms Onyinye Nwaiwu, a few
others on e-portals who are creating new online platforms for book promotion
and sales and book enthusiasts in attendance. It focused on ‘Genre Fiction’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
Bakare-Yusuf pointed out that ‘literary or traditional fiction’ rather than ‘genre
fiction’ is the form of fiction Nigerian writers are more engaged in whereas
genre fiction, especially its romance/erotica sub-type is the biggest
money-spinner the world over grossing over USD$1.4 billion a year.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other variants of genre fiction highlighted
include crime, science fiction (scifi) and mystery. Nigerian writers were
encouraged to delve into these sub-genres and make the most of them, especially
as they cater to the reading needs of young adults who appear shutout of the
literary space at the moment with the emphasis on literary fiction.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bakare-Yusuf noted that a lot of books
written for young adults appear moralistic and a turn-off for young people,
which she said isn’t good enough. According to her, “Young people are just
discovering themselves in many ways; they are just discovering sex, their
bodies, sexuality. So, such issues that engage them should form the basis of
the fiction that they read”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For her, appropriate content of fiction for
young adults is key and morality or moralizing isn’t one of them. However, for
those who may feel squeamish about such position, Bakare-Yusuf was quick to
point out stories should have morals carefully woven into their fabric and not
‘in-your-face’ type of morals at the expense of literary finesse.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As she put it, “We must stop putting pressure
on writers by asking them to write moral books. We need to expand our
imagination so we don’t block young people’s cognitive reasoning. Authors who
write morals into the fabric of the book are the most skilled. A writer’s first
responsibility is to his craft and not burden it with social concerns. We need
more publishers and not just writers to expand the scope of materials being
published; we are not exploiting the breath of the publishing landscape enough to
add to our bottom line”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was generally agreed that Nigeria has a
huge young adult demography that can support literary fiction, but that the
needs of that demography are largely unmet with the kind of content being
produced. With a few or no books dedicated to romance and erotica, crime or
science fiction or mystery that ordinarily elicit the curiosity of young
adults, the country’s writers have not only shut out that segment of readers, but
have also denied themselves the huge revenues accruable from it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bakare-Yusuf noted, “So, publishers have to
be conscious about what they are publishing. It’s about demographical fiction.
Your storylines must have that conflict about emotions that young people deal
with. To be able to capture that 67 per cent of Nigeria’s population (80
million), we have to take content seriously, which means we have to take young
people’s sensibilities into account”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another area of concern is the medium of
conveying content, especially with the advent of technology, which Bakare-Yusuf
said has transformed their sensibilities. What used to interest young adults 20
years ago is not what interests them now. For instance, social media has
replaced the once-cherished art of letter writing:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“No more letter writing as against social
media; these must be reflected in the writing. Now, there are no restrictions,
as to what they can read, as young people (who are largely ‘Digital Natives’) read
variedly now than before. So, too, sales of e-books are stabilizing and not
decreasing. We need to get into the heads of young people when developing
content for genre fiction”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
ALSO, e-publishing or e-book formats and how to maximise online sales using
different portals featured at the forum, with Okechukwu Ofili speaking on his
OkadaBooks online portal for publishing and book sales and Elnathan John
discussing how to effectively use <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Twitter</i>
and social media platforms to maximize information to reach target audience.</span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anote Ajeluorouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06369548808615370047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1175218558750493333.post-88641496430388875512015-11-21T06:22:00.001-08:002015-11-21T06:22:43.768-08:00Change Eludes Culture, As Year Ends With Feast Of Books, Films
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By Anote Ajeluorou</div>
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<br />
THE year couldn’t have ended on a worse note for the culture sector with the
sort of change President Muhammadu Buhari executed when he showed utter lack of
understanding for one of Nigeria’s largest employers of youth labour. It wasn’t
really unexpected; several governments had towed the same path in the past and
subsumed culture into many irrelevant and even redundant ministries like
information where it has the misfortune of being domiciled yet again. In fact,
the country’s culture producers have excelled in spite of, and not because of,
governments involvement in directing the sector in any meaningful sense.<br />
A simple instance of what the British Council (Britain) or Goethe
Institut (Germany) or Alliance Francaise (France) does for their citizens back
home while still taking the gospel of cultural promotion and appreciation
abroad to impact citizens of their host countries should suffice and is a model
Nigeria, with its teeming youth talent, should emulate. Alas, our government
suffers from a dearth of ideas.<br />
And so when the irrepressible Nobel laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka cried
out last week that Buhari had further made the orphan status of culture more
glaring, it didn’t come as a surprise. In fact, the sector’s orphan status had
long become normal in the eyes of culture enthusiasts and producers alike. This
was even when Buhari was quick, during his election campaigns in April, to drop
by to see <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Saro the Musical</i>. It is
clear he’d gone to score a cheap political point, something his disdainful
action towards culture now clearly shows. Executive producer of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Saro the Musical</i>, Bolanle Austin-Peters,
would now know what Buhari’s game was all about when he swept into MUSON
Centre, venue of the show, without buying tickets for his large retinue. A sad
loss it was.<br />
With Lai Mohammed as minister of Information and Culture, it’s clear
where the direction would lead. However, he would soon find out that culture
can’t be used as a barefaced tool for government propaganda; this means culture
will just fade away and the few gains already made would slip down the slope.
Nevertheless, irrespective of successive government’s disinterest in promoting
culture, the sector has marched on strongly largely because of the passion and
commitment of individual Nigerians. This is evident in the array of culture
festivals that capped the year and showed the abundance of youth talent in
creativity from photography to writing and to filmmaking.<br />
The Efe Paul Azino-organised Lagos International Poetry Festival started
the year-end festival train with its explosive poetry concert that was simply
mind-blowing. Shortly after LagosPhoto Festival in came on and add its touch of
photographic magic with ‘Designing Futures’ as its theme. Both festivals had
Nigeria Breweries Plc and Etisalat respectively as sponsors; this gave the two
festivals needed mileage and boost away from the government’s madding crowd.
Soon after also Lagos Book and Art Festival (LABAF 2015), organised by
Committee for Relevant Art (CORA), came on. It was a feast of ideas and books dedicated
to late writer and environmental rights campaigner Ken Saro-Wiwa who was
judicially murdered 20 years ago for his activism against the Nigerian state
and multinational oil giants pillaging his native Ogoni land.<br />
Held at Freedom Park LABAF 2015 did not just show the indestructibility
of an idea, but how ideas, when they are the right ones, can help shape the
future. While at the time it seemed all right for government to clear all
obstacles on its path, including murder the innocent, to continue feasting on
the oil wealth unchallenged, government is now being forced to eat its humble
pie and find alternative sources of revenue in the face of oil’s dwindling
fortunes in the international market with buyers of Nigeria’s crude oil also
thinning out.<br />
So 20 years after Saro-Wiwa’s murder, what has the country gained from
oil proceeds? In what meaningful ways has it impacted on the lives of ordinary
Nigerians? And 20 years from now, what new strategies will government adopt to
change from dependence on oil and diversify the economy, clean up the damaged
environment in the Niger Delta and re-green it for sustainability? These were
some of the issues that engaged the critical minds at LABAF 2015, with notable
poets like Dr. Ogaga Ifowodo and Dr. Obari Gomba, prominent poets from the
Niger Delta who have written extensively on issues plaguing the oil-rich but
deprived and degraded region, leading the way alongside many other writers.<br />
LABAF 2015 had as theme ‘Texts of Self-Determination’ as theme.<br />
<br />
AND in Abeokuta where Ake Arts and Book Festival 2015 ended yesterday, it was
yet another convergence point for culture producers and promoters to feast on
books and ideas. With the theme ‘Engaging the Fringe,’ the festival had a full
day dedicated to environmental sustainability issues last Wednesday. Secondary
school students from nine schools in Ogun State were brought in for the needed
awareness on environmental concerns. They were taught on how they, too, should
be part of the fight for a cleaner and greener environmental by towing the
non-destructive path.<br />
The section had the support of cement maker Lafarge Africa Plc and its
representative, Mr. Greg Salami, made a presentation on efforts his company was
making to adopt biofuels and reduce the use of fossil fuels in its operations,
including planting of trees at its old quarry sites.<br />
Also, the wife of the state governor and an environmentalist, Mrs.
Olufunso Amosun, charged the students to embrace the ‘Green Empathy’ philosophy
of the three ‘Rs’ by ‘reusing, reducing and recycling’ materials to save the
environment. She encouraged the students to put a smile on other people’s faces
by giving out their old and discarded materials rather than throw them away to
litter the environment. Amosun also preached the philosophy of her pet project
‘Gefty Gospel of Green Education’ to them and distributed her book Green
Education for the Youth: ‘Empowering our Youth to Save the earth.’<br />
Abuja-based environmental campaigner Ms Funto Borofice spoke to the
students on taking responsibility for the environment for its sustainability.<br />
However, the highlight of the day was the documentary film <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nowhere to Run</i> shown to the students.
Incidentally, it has Ken Saro-Wiwa Jnr, son of the murdered environmental
activist, as narrator. The film was being shown to the public for the first
time, and it made a huge impact on the young audience for whom the monumental
environmental degradation in the Niger Delta was sore news. When they stood up
to express how they felt about the issues the documentary raised, some were
close to tears and said they didn’t know anyone was being subjected to such
horrendous hazards and urged those in authority to urgently mitigate the
disaster already foisted on the hapless people of all degraded environments in
the country.<br />
Nowhere to Run is a carefully crafted docu-film that lays bare the
country’s underbelly in terms of poor vision of managers of its affairs. In
fact, a deeply philosophical Igbo proverb sums it all up, “He who burns down
his own father’s house inherits the ashes!” Indeed, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nowhere to Run</i> explicitly depicts the waywardness of Nigeria’s
managers as foolish sons who willfully burn down their father’s house. What
would such wayward sons bequeath to their own children who come after them?<br />
And so from the desertification in the north that is driving people down
south and issues of cattle grazing on farmlands, cattle rustling and communal
violence as a result down to the Niger Delta’s polluted environment and the
hazard it poses to lives and erosion in the south-east, with whole communities
being washed away by erosion, a documentary couldn’t be more telling on the
implication of a people living recklessly and burying their heads in the sand
in the face of grave problems. It was Ake Art and Book Festival organiser Lola
Shoneyin who put it succinctly, when she said at the end, “We’re sitting on an
environmental disaster in this country!”<br />
The film has such telling sub-titles as ‘The Desert Dunes’ to highlight
desertification, the Lake Chad debacle, to ‘Fire in the Sky’ for gas flaring
and polluted Niger Delta environment and how what it means for climate change
that causes ‘The Rising Tide’ that threaten those living in coastal areas. Also
with the activities of man logging wood for economic reasons and not replacing
same sets the tone for ‘Disappearing Trees’ and ‘Loose Soil’ that accounts for
erosion in most places to the country’s inability to harness its solar power
potentials in ‘Power Starved Nation’ and ‘Doing it for ourselves –
Afforestation,’ the film created solid resonance that would affect audiences
across the world.<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nowhere to Run</i> has an
impressive array of environmental activists and those working to save the earth
as resource persons; they gave depth to the issues the film highlights. Nimmo
Bassey, Liza Badsby, Peter Jenkins, Dr. Michael Egbedike, Hannah Kabir, Amara
Mwampa, Godknows Igali, Inimo Samiama and several local respondents are among
those interviewed.<br />
Simple messages ring true from the film – We need to start seeing our
environment as a resource we need to protect – Government should rise up to its
responsibility; there should be a paradigm shift – We are not apart from
nature; we part of nature. We have only this earth.<br />
<br />
ASSOCIATION of Nigerian Authors (ANA) held its yearly convention in Kaduna
where a new executive was elected. Mr Denja Abdullahi defeated BM Dzukogu to
emerge president of the association. During the same week Africa International
Film Festival (AFRIFF) was held in Lagos to critical acclaim in celebration of
African films. Eko International Film Festival capped the film festival train
in Lagos. Yet to come though is Austin-Peters’ second Broadway-type musical
theatre Wakaa The Musical that would end a remarkable year of culture feast
that happened without government’s input whatsoever. Obviously, this should be
of concern to President Buhari.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anote Ajeluorouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06369548808615370047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1175218558750493333.post-42051246155424197872015-11-21T06:21:00.001-08:002015-11-21T06:21:49.926-08:00Becoming… Sonuga takes women’s issues to the big stage
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;">By
Anote Ajeluorou</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">BEYOND
the entertainment and feminine spectacle which it provided in amplitude inside Agip
Recital Hall, MUSON Centre, Lagos, the Titilope Sonuga-inspired <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Becoming</i> show last weekend is somewhat
difficult to describe. Perhaps, architect-turned-spoken word poet, Sonuga’s
telling title of her first act ‘Have you seen a woman?’ gives insight into the
direction of the all-women’s concert.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who exactly is a woman and happens in her
world? How do men perceive her, relate with her? Does she get the best from the
world she inhabits? What are her fears? What gives her happiness and how does
she get it? How do the men around her help her achieve happiness? In all, what
is her place in society?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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‘Have you seen a woman?’ is Sonuga’s loaded question for society and for the
men who co-inhabit different spaces with the women in their lives. At what
point does a woman’s ‘no’ translates into ‘yes’ that encourages men to inflict
all manners of emotional pain on her? It became the defining question for the
show, as Sonuga explored the many facets of a woman in the course of the
evening in her enchanting, impeccable spoken delivery in a poetry that
transported the audience’s soul to magical realms. Hers isn’t the usual ball-bashing
type like her co-performer in music Ruby Gyang, but a firm engagement with the
male folk. Neither does she spare women either; Sonuga wants her kind to be
clear-eyed in their relationships and to know when to pull back.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, it was an enactment of a woman story from
her beginning, early years and its travails, her midlife and its inevitable
crisis, with her men. This was Sonuga’s story of epic proportion told with
warmth and empathy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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But it was the free-spirited Falana, formerly based in Cuba, who started the
showpiece evening with her skills on the drums that produced a stirring
performance, as the hall boomed with her voice and hands in an all-female band
– two guitarists, one saxophonist, one drummer, Chopsticks and two vocalists.
Falana’s stage presence was inspiring as she traversed, possessed it with the
ease and fluidity of a nymph.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The set design by Jude Okpala and his crew
provided a magical accompaniment to the near-all white-clad female performers;
it was a set for angels, and it lent a certain halloo to the acts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">
Sonuga’s second entry with the story of a girl-child’s birth and on which the
question hangs, came with the accompaniment of Yoruba chants supplied by
Deborah, an enchantress of some power. And so, at what point does the
gloriousness of such birth begin to transform into something other than what it
was to an object of uncertain future to be toyed by men? From here, Sonuga
begins to explore love found and lost.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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When Omloara came on with ‘I’ll be your love,’ she really got the hall rocking
to her beats. Then Sonuga came back with ‘There are a few things more beautiful
than a sunset…’ that ends with the inevitable pains a woman is plunged by the
one she loves. Falana then intervened before Sonuga could begin to rebrand
women and lift them up from the ashes of a bitten love with her 10 receipts, as
she sings softly, ‘Know when to leave…/know when to burn the bridges…’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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But Ruby Gyang will have none of that softness from women who are spurned in
love as her music ‘Ok’ takes a turn and asserts that a woman be strong and bold
to take the exit and not allow anyone crumble her world for her. She toughens
the ladies ‘on how to handle breakups and not beg.’ Beyounce is her inspiration
on this score.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">
From Sonuga, ‘a woman is not your rite of passage…/she is not your game of
numbers…’ explores how very useful a woman is, ‘a woman is busy… working’ and ‘
a woman is a writer, painter, dancer, singer…/they are all dreamers… follow your
dream, but don’t screw it up…/somewhere, there is a dream waiting for you to
start…’ Also, Sonuga affirms that there are second chances for love ‘even
(love) scars are masterpieces’ that a woman bears as trophy of her triumph in
love because ‘the heart is like a fist, (that) feels like throwing a punch’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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On a conciliatory note, Ruby Gyang wooed the men after she’d first bashed their
balls with ‘Shout out to my babe’ and enjoined the ladies with their men in the
hall to publicly affirm their love for them!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In ‘love scars don’t scare,’ Sonuga brings
her poetry class act to a beautiful denouement, as she says ‘…rock bottom is a
perfect place to start…’ as she enjoined women never to be shy of starting all
over again as they may be twice lucky in love. With ‘the victory dance is just
about beginning…/loving yourself without shame…’ she brought the show that was
part musical, part poetry and part dramatic journey of the ritual of becoming an
uninhibited woman to a close.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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The applause was as warm and encouraging as was the support Intel gave the show
in believing in women’s performative power. Surely, an encore performance that
enjoys support from women’s product makers back by strong publicity blitz would
help expose these amazing women of immense talent to a wider audience than
attended the November 6 show.</span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anote Ajeluorouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06369548808615370047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1175218558750493333.post-24932279306051861222015-11-21T06:20:00.001-08:002015-11-21T06:20:46.310-08:00Borderless Words… When Poetry Concert Lit Up The Big Stage
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;">By Anote Ajeluorou</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">NO one could have predicted
the innovativeness, the inventiveness and even explosiveness of a Poetry Concert.
But when it hit the audience at Agip Recital Hall of MUSON Centre, Onikan,
Lagos, it caused quite a stir. In fact, the fee-paying concert far exceeded
what you would ordinarily get from a five-star comedy performance. The three
and a half-hour long concert kept the audience glued to their seats, as every
performance moment was such an enthralling treasure. Remarkably, the poetry
festival found a moment to shine with the support of Nigerian Breweries Plc.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was Friday,
October 30 and day-3 of the maiden edition of Lagos International Poetry
Festival 2015, and poetry lovers, writers and others at JP Clark Cultural
Centre, University of Lagos, had been treated to a conversation with Clark,
moderated by Chuma Nwokolo, on sundry issues of literary and polemical
concerns.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the same day other issues of serious
concerns had also been discussed at two panels – ‘Witnesses or Legislators:
Does Poetry Make Any Difference?’ and ‘Verses in Bits and Bites: How Technology
is Changing Art and Poetry’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With Wana Udobang as anchor, the poetry
concert started on a seductive note, with Udobang showed her versatility as a
performance poet besides having a great voice as a former radio woman at <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Inspiration 92.3FM</i>. Her entry piece ‘Hips
don’t lie’ was riveting, combined with voluptuous bodily movements that sent round
shockwaves of ecstasy. Even when all else fails, hips indeed won’t ever lie in
the affirmation between man and woman. Young poets Chika Jones and Ehiz Momodu
burst unto the stage with spoken word all their own. Jones’ ‘How can I come to
Lagos and not slam’ was as exhilarating and as expansive as the Lagos’
expressive, boundless landscape. Momodu’s ‘I wasn’t a daddy’s boy’ shows the
frustration of an imposed manly ego; it cut keenly. Antoinette Okoye added her
peppery ‘I love Nigeria my country’ and ‘They think they know me, but…’ to
complete a night of budding poets on the ascendancy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again, anchor Udobang’s ‘She wears her
darkness’ left the audience in the depth of despair, as they inhabited a space
only a woman can possibly be. She also performed ‘Love is’ and ‘Dark planet.’ Udobang’s
final piece for the night, which came much later, was ‘Catfish’. Here, the lady
commonly called Wana-Wana deployed the imagery of the catfish pepper soup
delicacy into something poetically explosive and forbidden. It is the life of
her mother, the hard, oppressive life she has lived and how desperately she
doesn’t want her daughters and granddaughters to live it the way she has done.
It is an appeal for them not to be like the catfish which revelers point at
randomly as they wriggle helplessly in bowls and cooked and eaten in manic,
ravenous tastes!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">AUTHOR of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I Am Memory </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Birth of Illusions, </i>Jumoke Verissimo’s class act came next. She
does not belong to the rave spoken word category; she reads from her collection,
but it doesn’t appear like reading. She is so fluid, so fast-paced it appears
it is all from memory. And the calm cadence of her performance is a marvel. ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ajani’ </i>and ‘Hope’ were the two pieces
she served at the concert and she stamped her feet as a performer of immense
talent. Sage Hassan also came with his own brand of spoken word and he regaled
the audience with small, hilarious talk. ‘Breathe,’ ‘Black Jesus’ and ‘Her
body’ were the staples he also served an excited audience.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Next was Abuja-based Dike Chukwumerije, whose
firebrand performance act is a class of its own. His ‘The revolution has no
tribe’ reverberated with unbridled energy and said all the unstated
frustrations of the common people at those who have continued to put them down.
‘Devil’ also came with its own energy just as the piece dedicated to late Prof.
Chinua Achebe, the sole elephant in the forest of ideas and how his passing is
such a huge loss.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then came the turn of the South African
Natalia Molebashi; she performed ‘The mute also speak,’ ‘Now’ and Adam’s ribs’
which highlighted feminine issues and women’s relationship with men. Molebashi
described herself a feminist who would not be caged in the ribs of Adams (men).
She also read ‘I wish you happiness’ written to commemorate the International
Day of Happiness. Her great voice carried well in a song she sang. Also, London-based
Ugandan, Nick Makoha, came next with ‘Watchman,’ ‘Resurrection man,’ ‘Kingdom
of gravity’ and ‘The dark’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With Nwokolo, poetry assumed another dynamism
and charged energy. Like Verissimo, Nwokolo performed from the pages of his
collection. But even at that, it is poetry from a different plane. His piece
from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Final Testament from a Minor God</i>,
also his collection, regaled the audience with the protest of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sopono</i> who refuses the role he is cast
among the pantheon of Yoruba gods. He also performed ‘Mourning after’ and
‘Neocolonial <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">njakiri.</i>’<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>But it was in ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Oga</i> at the top’ that Nwokolo outdid even himself and got the
audience soaked in poetic mischief. It is the prayer of a thieving politician
in the firebrand, Pentecostal tradition asking everyone to bow to his maniacal
excesses and not be questioned for his misdeeds.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cuba-based Falana strummed her guitar as she
sang in a musical interlude before her soul mate Titilope Sonuga came on and
literally brought the roof down with the sheer seduction of her delivery. From
‘I open my mouth and found Amen’ to ‘Memory’, Sonuga mesmerized with her
layered imagery and the fluidity of her unique performance. Like she said, her
performance is a collage of images, of meanings, like ocean waves rolling one
onto another. The serenity and expressiveness of her spoken performance was so enthralling,
and when she finished, the hall exploded in standing ovation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Obii Ifejika dedicated her first piece to
fellow poets and writers; her second was ‘Love gone sour’ before she performed
her stirring piece on lost ones including kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls.
London-based Nigerian, Inua Ellams, roused the audience with his stirring
pieces while petite Botswana’s TJ Dema rocked with ‘Dreams,’ ‘Just because,’
‘Our man in Gaborone’ and ‘Bread for the birds’. Hers was solid poetry
performance. South Africa’s Lebo Mashile also did her stuff. Her historical
piece put in perspective Africa’s peculiar convoluted history that is sometimes
great and most times gross.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Port-Harcourt-based Amu-Nnadi also impressed
with his long narrative piece that had the accompaniment of two violinists with
Molebashi ululating along. The night did not end without Festival Director for
Lagos International Poetry Festival Mr. Efe Paul Azino capping it all with his
electrifying piece, ‘Storyteller’. And so at 11.35, a poetry concert came to a
rousing close. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Truly, the make up of the poets, their
performances and impact aptly bore out the festival’s theme ‘Border Less Words.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">THE first panel discussion at
Freedom Park on day-4, Saturday, October 31, 2015, ‘Shifting Tides: Women in
Society and Poetry,’ had Botswana’s Dema, South Africa’s Mashile and Molebashi
and Nigeria’s Verissimo, with Udobang moderating. For Verissimo, it is an
incredible journey being a woman poet and writer, as it gives her a platform to
codify her experiences and explain her society to herself and others.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Verissimo said, “I’m told I write on topics
that belong to men. This because of the men I relate with. The Association of
Nigerian Authors (ANA) meetings I used to attend were always on political issues.
I wanted to write as a woman but my influences are otherwise. I’ve moved with
distractions; now I want to listen and walk along, that I’m a woman. I’ve
always wanted to be immersed in the political. I’m concerned about the
political, how the future will be for my daughter”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For Molebashi the image of womanhood in most
parts of Africa is warped. Coming from black South African background,
Molebashi said growing up black and poor isn’t the best experience.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Growing up in a township, black and poor,
you get to know somebody can just break into your body. Those kinds of
experiences craft what you write. We live in a society that has profound hatred
for women – that is true. The atrocity I can’t get used to is, a girl getting
raped and beaten up. I need to always affirm my being as a human being. We live
in a space designed to hate women, abuse them; we have to change all that. We
have to get to a place where no woman has to be conquered. So, until we have
women in positions of power to change things, I will write the way I write, in
defence of women”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dema said the personal stories rather than
the so-called big political issues always resonate in her writing just as they
also reflect her political side, noting, “The personal is automatically
inherently very political. My poetry is very personal and accessible. If it’s
important to you, if it matters to you, then it’s part of your experience; then
it’s political. My politics is sometimes under radar”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mashile said, “Men don’t know how to affirm
women; such things, if ever said, are said behind women’s back, never in front
of them. The challenge is to speak my affirmation, to declare it. If I create
that language for myself, then I can amplify it. My society doesn’t allow
emotional language, which is masculine. Being homophobic and misogynist is not
being manly. I’m always being accused of being emotional. The men I feel drawn
to are feminist. Women’s issues and voices were mrginalised during Apartheid. But
it’s beginning to rise now. The story of black women artists was not always
easy”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anote Ajeluorouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06369548808615370047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1175218558750493333.post-33308067970000226902015-11-21T06:18:00.002-08:002015-11-21T06:18:47.844-08:00Ake Arts and Book Festival gets underway in Abeokuta
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;">By Anote Ajeluorou</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">WITH ‘Engaging the Fringe’ as
theme, this year’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ake</i> Arts and Book
Festival opened yesterday at June 12 Cultural Centre, Abeokuta, Ogun State.
However, one regret the Lola Shoneyin-inspired festival has, and which is also
widespread among festival organisers in the country, is that funding is hard to
secure. But Shoneyin is lucky to have generated support from outside the
country.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although there is some level of support coming
from Etisalat, Park in by Radison and Ogun State Government, funding from European
Union is the main driver of the festival. This reflects the premium both
government and corporate Nigeria place on cultural production. With President
Muhammadu Buhari completely sidelining culture in his ministerial configuration,
it couldn’t be worse for a sector Wole Soyinka aptly called an ‘orphan’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Shoneyin put it at a briefing last week to
announce the festival, “We suffer from leaders not supporting creativity as
much as there’s creativity on this African continent”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, for the author of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ake </i>Arts and Book Festival “creates a
space where Africa intellectuals, actors, scholars and writers converge for an
honest conversation, to engage with one another and the outside world. My own
personal experience organizing this festival is one of pure joy seeing
wonderful people coming together to discuss. We don’t have enough high level
conversation going on in Africa on issues plaguing us. It’s always about
personal biases and religious convictions. Yes, bring your biases, but listen
to the other side of the argument as well.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“The writing space in Africa, Nigeria is very
small. So, it’s important to engage all Africans to talk not only about what is
wrong with it, but to also celebrate the literature”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One
exciting aspect of this year’s festival, according to Shoneyin, is the
festival’s collaboration with an oil service company, Marine Platforms, to
bring writings from northern Nigeria to the mainstream. Beyond a prize to be
instituted, Marine Platforms will help distribute books to schools in the
northern as a way of encouraging reading and writing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“We will partner with Marine Platforms to
send books to school libraries in northern Nigeria so as to help those children
to be the best they can be,” Shoneyin said. “We will get 200 children to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ake</i>, and get them involved in the book activities
in collaboration with Lafarge Cement Company in creating awareness about
environmental issues. All the authors to the festival will go to schools to
inspire children”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ake </i>Arts
and Book Festival will witness a large gathering of writers, artists and
filmmakers from Africa and Europe in the ancient city of Abeokuta from which
the festival derives its name. As Shoneyin said of the festival’s name, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ake</i>, “It’s from Abeokuta, a sort of
magical place marooned in time. I’m interested in how best to retain the
quaintness of the place. It’s also about drawing people to the countryside”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--EndFragment-->Anote Ajeluorouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06369548808615370047noreply@blogger.com0