Nigeria Content Online

(for SK whose letter from Uganda

provoked this ‘riposte’)

Dancing politicians are like water dragons

We see their surface dance

But will never know who beats their drum

In the mysty depths

One leg after another like stilt-dancers

Their jointless limbs are oiled by graft

The grease in their palms is enough

To fill a thousand barrels

Dancing politicians sway

Like dizzy masquerades

Their costumes are shrouds laundered

On the trampled acre of the nation’s grave

There is a spunk in their spin

Which unnerves the wind

A giddy pirouette which draws

The circle of a million volt faces

Dancing politicians mock

The dialect of the drum

The idiom on their lips

Is a lexicon of lies

There is no muse in their music

No sense beyond their sound

A four week
exhibition cum artist residency programme which held at ‘The
Whitespace’, Ikoyi, Lagos, culminated in an Art Auction on Wednesday
March 30. Works by Victor Ehikamenor, Alex Nwokolo, Richardson Ovbiebo
and Tayo Olayode, the four artists whose had participated in the
exhibition and residency, were auctioned at the event. “It was an
artist experience for four weeks”, said Ehikamenor who was the last
artist to show his works in interactive sessions with the public during
the residency. “Artists spent a week here and showed their works. Today
is the finale and some of the works done during the residency will be
auctioned,” he added.

The four-week
programme was organised by ‘Lost in Lagos’, an online portal that
provides up-to-the-minute information about where and how to make the
most of living in Nigeria’s commercial capital. “Lost in Lagos is an
online guide where listings for shopping, restaurants, spas, fashion
shows and many more can be found,” said Tannaz Bahnam, who runs the
portal. “We decided to take it beyond the site and give people events
to attend,” she added.

According to
Bahnam, this is the second event organised by Lost in Lagos. “We wanted
to do a different kind of art exhibition. Each week we had a different
artist and today we’ll be auctioning some of the works they worked on
during the residency.” On the criteria for selecting the artists for
the programme, she informed that, “We wanted a combination of
established artists and upcoming artists. I had seen Victor and Alex’s
works before. It was really all about personal taste, in addition to
showcasing works that are a diverse; a little bit of everything.”
According to her, ‘The Whitespace’ was chosen because they have created
a platform for people to use their space through affordability. Bahnam
disclosed that there are two more events lined up for ‘Lost in Lagos’
this year, including ‘The Chef’s Experience.’ “What we at ‘Lost in
Lagos’ [have] set out to do is to create the appreciation for finer
living and culture,” Bahnam said.

Ovbiebo, a sculptor, spoke about his experience during the
residency. “It was good. There was a lot of learning and I had the
opportunity to meet people, speak about my work and get feedback.”
Oviebo added that, “the experience was more about the feedback and the
relationships formed.” The artist, whose glass work, a piece of
installation art, was on display at the auction, described the piece as
mimicry of a skyscraper in Lagos. “It’s a metaphor for Nigeria and its
people,” he said. About four artworks were sold out of the 15 which had
been put up for auction.

The Centre for
Contemporary Art hosted a press conference in honour of veteran
photographer, JD ’Okhai Ojeikere, to congratulate him for winning the
Chobi Mela Award for Excellence and Service to the arts. The event,
organised in collaboration with Foto Ojeikere, was to follow up on the
award, conferred on the octogenarian at the Chobi Mela Photography
Festival, held recently in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

The press
conference also provided an opportunity to announce the first
comprehensive survey of Ojeikere’s work, titled ‘Moments of Beauty’
which opens this month as part of the ARS11 exhibition at the Museum of
Contemporary Art in Helsinki, Finland. Attending the CCA briefing was
the sound artist Emeka Ogboh, who is also participating as one of 30
contemporary African artists in ARS11, which holds from April 15 to
November 27, 2011. Ogboh will be displaying his work inside and outside
the venue. Other artists in ARS11 include: El Anatsui, Abraham
Oghobase, Georges Adéagbo, Samba Fall, Laura Horelli, Alfredo Jaar,
Otobong Nkanga, Nandipha Mntambo, Odili Odita and Barthélémy Toguo.

Important archive

Ojeikere’s wife
and daughter-in-law Yewande Ojeikere, who went to Bangladesh to receive
the award on his behalf, were present at the Lagos event honouring him.

Bisi Silva,
artistic director of the CCA and curator for the Ojeikere exhibition in
Finland, shed more light on the photographer’s works for ARS11. She
said that the works contain images of the visit of the Queen of England
to Nigeria in 1956; and a compilation of images on Nigerian education
between 1956 and 1972. She explained that the veteran photographer had
documented these images while taking his usual Sunday rides back in the
day. “They form a very important archive of images after independence,
they form the dreams and visions of a new nation,” Silva noted.

ARS11 is held every
five years; this year’s edition marks its 50th anniversary and it is
focusing on Africa. Five floors of the exhibition will be dedicated to
contemporary art from the African continent; an entire floor will be
used to exclusively display Ojeikere’s images.

In response to
Yewande Ojeikere’s account of her experiences while in Bangladesh,
Silva said that, “There is a huge discourse to be engaged in with the
southern hemisphere. They are developing countries, and we share
colonial history. So it is important we engage more with these places.”
The Chobi Mela Award funds a scholarship for one person to study in a
popular school of photography in Bangladesh.

For the love of art

The octogenarian
could not hide his joy at receiving the award. “I am extremely happy,
that at my old age things are taking a different turn”, he enthused.
“Apart from God, I thank Andrea Mayan who published my work in 1998 and
I have been showing abroad since. I thank CCA under Bisi Silva. It was
through her I first met the organisers of Chobi Mela,” he added.

“I feel 25 years
younger. I did not imagine that these things will happen in my
lifetime,” Ojeikere said. With the insight of a sage, he advised young
photographers to be focused, dedicated and patient. He observed that
young photographers always seem to be in a hurry, when it took him so
many years to make his mark. “You must be creative, work hard and do
not be in a hurry,” he said.

Asked if he still
takes pictures at age 80, Ojeikere replied, “Two or three days ago I
saw a beautiful cloud formation and took some shots. Most of the
photographs you see, I take. I take them for the love of art and
appreciation of nature. Since I started taking pictures I keep all the
negatives.” Silva pointed out that there is an inter-generational
dialogue going on, as Ojeikere will be the oldest artist showing at the
ARS11 exhibition. According to her, “His works cover the 60s, 70s and
early 80s and are important in Nigerian history. This collection is a
national treasure and so it should be held in a national space but it
is a crying shame that there is no museum for modern and contemporary
art.” ‘Moments of Beauty’ attempts to highlight the breadth and depth
of Ojeikere’s practice; chronicling his experiences as a
photojournalist, commercial photographer and visual artist and
presenting works that cover a range of subjects including architecture,
education, fashion, weddings and culture festivities.

Moments of Beauty

It marks the
beginning of current scholarship and engagement with the artist’s
practice, which spans more than half of a century.

‘Moments of Beauty’
according to Silva “aims at giving in-depth perspectives to the
practice of an artist whose formidable archive has become a unique
anthropological, ethnographic, and artistic national treasure.” J.D.
Okhai Ojeikere was born in 1930 in Ovbiomu-Emai, today’s Edo State. He
has been a practising photographer for over 60 years and has taken part
in several exhibitions in Nigeria as well as internationally at events
and venues including: Goethe Institute; Maison de France; the
Foundation Cartier, Paris; Kunsthalle Bern, Switzerland; Documenta12,
Kassel, Germany.

ARS exhibitions, which have been organised since 1961, play a pivotal role in shaping contemporary art in Finland and beyond.

The 2011 edition will focus on Africa as presented in contemporary
art, with individual approaches from within the continent and the
Diaspora. The exhibition investigates myths and ideas associated with
African culture and African contemporary art.

The new
evangelical Christianity is a pernicious force in the West dumbing down
the populace in degrees every Sunday. The lack of spirituality here is
heart breaking; it is like watching malnourished people. It is a
mystery how people can subject themselves to such psychological abuse.
People are addicted to worshipping a narcissist, they will do nothing
else. I visit homes and there are absolutely no books in there other
than the bible and vacuous tracts and of course the torrents of
envelopes that come from thieving pastors exhorting the abused faithful
to tithe, tithe, tithe or go to hell.

The real tragedy
is that this dysfunction is being imported to Nigeria along with used
cars and toothpicks. The West can probably afford this shallowness but
we see the effect on a nation like Nigeria. Why are we mimic-people?
The new church of dollars and euro has been part and parcel of the rape
and plunder of Nigeria. Must we live like this? It comes down again to
a rank failure of leadership. Our intellectual and political leaders
have failed to manage the change that is necessary to move our nation
forward.

The new
Christianity has flourished like a plague under “democracy.” What
Christianity has done to black Africa is worse than the combination of
AIDS and the worst wars. What kind of God will allow adults to brand
children as witches and then maim and murder them? As we speak, there
is genocide going on in Akwa Ibom orchestrated by the new Christianity
against children. I say, let’s sweep them off our land. Our children
will smile again.

It breaks my heart
to think that Nigerian pastors are doing this to our people. I say, get
your heads and hearts out of those temples of doom. Build your own gods
in your own likeness. Mimicry is killing our race.

I am deeply wary
of organised religion, because, using Christianity as an example, it
has been an instrument of subjugation and state-sanctioned terrorism.
The so-called holy books are similar in one aspect – they are great
works of fiction crafted by insecure men to subjugate and keep under
control women, children and those that were born different from them
(gays and lesbians). The bible actively endorses slavery and bigotry
against homosexuals.

In the name of
their God and bible in hand, they bound our ancestors with chains and
threw them in the holds of massive ships to be slaves. Whenever I think
of what it would have meant to cross the seas under those conditions, I
want to find someone and exact my revenge. The expansion of Western
civilisation and the creation of mimic-fiefdoms (Nigeria, Haiti, Dubai,
etc) have been built on the backs of the conquered. Let’s be frank, the
yardstick today is the Eurocentric and we are the other. And what is
this nonsense parroted by Dinesh D’Souza and others that Christianity
brought Africa the great benefits of civilisation? At what price? Did
our civilisation not have poets, musicians, art pieces, etc, etc,
before the coming of the white man and his bible? Did they not loot,
bible in hand, our people and artifacts? And what has happened to our
people who are now told they must know Jesus before they enter a fairy
tale? Is my grandfather going to hell because he was unfortunate to die
before Jesus pamphlets came to our village? What has been the
unintended consequence of this conquest? We have lost everything and
all we do is mimic the conqueror. The loss of a people’s language is
the loss of self. Everything gets lost in the translation. They don’t
eat fish eggs, they eat caviar, and they say my people eat termites.
There is no word for termites in my dying language, and we don’t eat
termites, we eat irikhun.

The movement of civilisation has been at the expense of people of
colour. We have been hunted and haunted by the demons that inhabit
their narcissistic God. There is no excuse for what Christianity and
other alien religions have done to Black Africa, none. When Dinesh
D’Souza says that slavery and colonialism were the transmission belts
that brought civilisation to Africa and Asia, I shake my head. In
today’s Nigeria, the Christian God is a loud judgmental drama queen
keeping the “unfaithful” up at night with unctuous tuneless songs. The
weather is warming up here in America and thieving Nigerian pastors
with their jheri curls and fake American accents will soon be jetting
down here to buy designer crap with money stolen from the doubly
dispossessed. Why anyone would tithe ten percent of money they do not
have so that these pastors may live in sinful opulence is beyond me.
What manner of God will allow this pillage? They are all thieves and I
hope they all end up in heaven praising their drama queen. I wouldn’t
want them in hell with me and Fela.

Kunle Ayo is a
welcome breath of fresh air in Nigerian-South African international
cultural relations. He belongs to the second wave of a prominent
minority of Nigerians who in the turbulent waters of South Africans’
seeming anti-foreigners-sentiments; have kept their heads high and
proud whilst contributing immensely in enriching socio-cultural life in
the Rainbow Nation.

Kunle Ayo is
definitely not as prominent and revered nationwide in South Africa as
the Nigerian academic-cum-actor and advertising pin-up, Kole Omotosho;
or his famous son Akin, the TV series-actor. Neither is he as popular
as Nigerian footballers like Idah Peterside and Okpara who became
household names and were hero-worshiped in the vibrant big-money South
African Football League. Nonetheless, Ayo is ‘creeping-up’ and growing
in acceptance. Musically, he belongs to the second generation of
Nigerians who have impacted the South African music scene, though with
a difference. In the eighties, Nigerian keyboards- star Gboyega Adelaja
was a member of music icon Hugh Masakela’s band that performed around
the world while producing international hit albums.

Kunle Ayo, a
guitarist, is more involved in becoming a recognised brand on the
current South African music scene. When Adekunle Ayodeji Odutayo got to
South Africa he discovered that the people could not pronounce his
surname, so he started using the new name of Kunle Ayo, “which is
easier for South Africans to pronounce” and “is becoming a household
name.”

Starting out

He picked up the
guitar in 1992 and started playing with Ebenezer Obey at Decross. He
played with the band in church, at shows and on Obey’s first two Gospel
albums. Ayo credits Niyi Adams, a multi-instrumentalist and the Musical
Director of the Obey/Decross band, for his own musical progress.
Between 1993 and 1996, Ayo took time out to study Accountancy at the
Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro. He went back to music, working with The
Compassion Band of the Little Saints Orphanage in Palmgrove, Lagos
owned by Dele George (wife of navy captain, Jide George); a source of
income for the Orphanage, raising funds by playing at dinner parties
and concerts. The other members of the Compassion Band were Bright Gain
on bass, Sam Ibe drums, Philip George keyboards and Uncle Dan as lead
guitarist. After three-year with the Compassion Band, Ayo joined
Lagbaja in 2000; he toured Europe and Brazil (2002) with the masked
musician.

The guitarist
embarked on his own album project in 2002, and went to South Africa for
its finishing and release (Universal SA). He describes this first album
as “instrumental Gospel tunes because of my influences. My father is a
Reverend who relocated to the U.S.A. in 1991 and is back in Nigeria
now. The album was heavily gospel but instrumentally jazzy and South
Africans liked it!” His second album, ‘Beyond the Borders’, won the
2004 KORA Award for Best Male Artist from West Africa. Femi Kuti won
the same award in 2003.

Kunle Ayo describes
his music as, “very jazzy, very soulful and very youthful. A fresh
sound people really enjoy.” He went to South Africa, “because of the
long and huge jazz tradition there.” He is definitely right about that
country’s long and outstanding jazz tradition that has produced
international stars like Dollar Brand, Dudu Pukwana, Johhny Dyani and
Louis Moholo, to name just a few.

Ayo further
justifies his move south by asking, “In Nigeria these days, how many
[artists] are jazz musicians that are big? It’s more of hip hop than
jazz.! Know your Jazz

So, how can
Nigerians come back to jazz? “By educating the media to know what jazz
is about. Before you say you want to write about jazz, what do you know
and what do you want to know about a genre of music that is sacred and
unique? Jazz is the mother of all musical genres. Unfortunately in
Nigeria, jazz is also connoted to mean going to a juju or medicine
man!”Ayo replies.

What can Nigeria
learn from South Africa in the sphere of music? “Too much. First, is
the love of art as a form of expression. To know how to appreciate the
art form of music and being able to improvise on it,” Ayo explains,
adding that “South Africans love their own people. They have a word,
ubuntu, which means humanity; human enough to tolerate others. South
Africa doesn’t necessarily have a lot of nightclubs. However, the
system enables people to function easily. You can stay at home and hear
good quality music on the radio. The deejays on the radio stations will
go look for great music old or new in all genres. And when you go out…
you will find… live music you will enjoy. In Nigeria people want the
musicians to play what they know.”

Best of Both Worlds

Was it easy to
break into the South African music scene? Kunle Ayo is quite candid.
“It wasn’t easy. I had my days of being seen as a foreigner. People
didn’t understand my music. Where is he from, they would ask. Nigeria
doesn’t have a great name in South Africa because the first Nigerians
that went to South Africa were into drug dealing. It wasn’t easy but
because of my passion and tenacity I kept on and over time they started
listening to my sound.” How was your sound different? “I write Yoruba
songs and Yoruba melody. Melody is influenced by your area and what
type of music you listened to. I grew up and lived in Lagos, so I had
to adjust to their sounds in South Africa and fused them with more of
my own. This is what I have achieved in my new album, ‘Best of Both
Worlds’.” Who are Kunle Ayo’s favourite guitarists? “People like George
Benson, Pat Metheny, Earl Klugh, Jonathan Butler, and Norman Brown
helped me find my voice.” What about style? “My style is crossover and
heavy fusion. I can play juju music like Ebenezer Obey, smooth jazz
like George Benson and bebop jazz like Wes Montgomery. I am a junkie
for speed on the guitar, and because of that, I like Montgomery and
Benson a lot. I also like a little of Jimi Hendrix and getting to know
more of his music.”

Kunle Ayo was in Nigeria recently to play at the Lagos Polo Club
with his Nigerian band, “offering quality music” as he put it. Whilst
here, his cover version of Joromi enjoyed a lot of airplay in the
run-up to Victor Uwaifo’s birthday. He believes the Nigerian music can
move forward and progress. “Our boys are trying hard and I hope they
will take serious music seriously and with passion.” Meanwhile Ayo,
unquestionably a good guitarist strives at jazz concerts and on records
to be a deservedly great and original guitar voice.

The German Cultural
and Information Centre, Goethe Institut formally opened its office at a
new location, Lagos City Hall, Lagos Island, on Friday, March 25. The
centre ceased operations in its former office on Ozumba Mbadiwe,
Victoria Island, Lagos in December 2009.

The City Hall
opening ceremony was well attended by members of the arts and culture
fraternity. Kathrina von Ruckteschell-Katte, Regional Head of Goethe in
Sub-Saharan Africa and the Consul General of the German Consulate in
Lagos, Walter L. von der Driesch, were also present. In the opening
address, Marc-Andre Schmachtel, director of the Institut, expressed his
gratitude towards all who graced the occasion and spoke briefly about
the new location of the institute. “I am happy that this is a place
that is very central. It’s a good location, lively surroundings with
good parking space,” he said. He added that if people cannot come to
Goethe, then Goethe has to go to them and this informed their choice of
the present location.

Determined to
continue with its task of organising and promoting cultural activities
in Nigeria, Schmachtel, disclosed that the institut has created a
webpage tagged ‘Live in Lagos’ where information about scheduled
cultural activities can be uploaded free of charge. The director also
revealed that the institute would be celebrating its 50th year in
Nigeria in 2012. Ruckteschell-Katte, who also gave a brief speech was
pleased that the institut is no longer homeless.

She reiterated the
determination of the Goethe towards pursuing its goals. “The goal of
the institut is to bring together African artists and foster
intercultural dialogue.” The Consul-General in his address said that
the Goethe Institut has been in Nigeria since 1962 and has achieved a
good reputation among Nigerians. “In addition, Goethe Institut provides
a comprehensive picture of Germany by sustainable information about
cultural, social and political life in Germany,” he said. “The institut
permits continuous cultural work and language teaching in a decent
environment.” After the address, the director of the institute took the
attendees on a tour of the new office.

The well spaced office arena includes classrooms and a library. A
small exhibition of paintings and installation art were on display in
one of the rooms at the institute. There were also musical performances
by highlife singer Orlando Julius and his band, Nigerian-German
songster, Ade Bantu as well as Germany-based Jazz singer, Chinaza.

The Nigerian Idol
finale was recorded last Saturday at the Dream Studio on Bamako Street,
Omole, Lagos. The pre-recording, which was compered by comedian Tee-A,
started with a musical performance by Reeta, a singer largely unknown
to the studio audience. She performed an untitled song that sounded
like a fusion of soul, pop rock and reggae. The CEO of Optima Media
Group, the producers of Nigerian Idol, Rotimi Pedro was then called on
stage to make a speech. He talked briefly about how and why his company
obtained the franchise. “The Idols franchise is a global brand and
Nigeria deserves to be part of it that is why we wanted the Nigerian
Idol and not something for West Africa or Africa,” he said. He also
mentioned that the Nigerian Idol website had up to 7.5 million hits
during the course of the show.

The CEO of
Etisalat, main sponsors of the TV show, Stephen Evans also came up to
speak. He thanked the co-sponsors – Cadbury, Sony and Pepsi – and
mentioned that his company would love to continue sponsoring the Idol
franchise in Nigeria as it is the biggest musical reality show in the
world.

As part of a build
up to the main recorded show, there was a performance by Kele Kele Love
singer, Tiwa Savage, who first dedicated the song ‘Natural Woman’ by
Aretha Franklin to the two finalists, before singing her own hit.

Sponsors Idol

Tee-A then invited
representatives from three of the sponsoring companies, Royal Exchange
Assurance, Cool FM and Etisalat to come and perform in what he termed
the Sponsors Idol. Royal Exchange Assurance was represented by the same
dance group that performed on their TV advert while OAP Joyce was
called up for Cool FM and a staff from Etisalat, Gerald represented his
company.

The dancers
re-enacted the same dance-routines from the advert before giving an
original performance which earned them loud cheers from the audience.
Joyce wowed the audience with an acapella version of ‘Heard it through
the Grapevine’ by Marvin Gaye; which she sang in her beautiful alto.
The loudest ovation, however, went to Gerald who brought the house down
with his rendition of ‘Hello’ by Lionel Richie.

Tee-A then
announced that Sponsors Idol was actually a serious one with a prize
involved. The winner as chosen by the studio audience would go home
with a 42 inch Sony Bravia TV Set. However, the audience was unable to
conclusively decide between Gerald and the dancers from Royal Exchange,
forcing Tee A to declare a tie.

Top 13

The main recording
eventually started with the usual introduction of the hosts Annis
Holloway and Misi Molu followed by the judges Audu Maikori, Jeffrey
Daniels and Yinka Davies. The Top 13 contestants on the Nigerian Idol
were then invited on stage for a rendition of the National Anthem. The
first guest artist for the main recording was Banky W who sang his
popular hit, ‘Strong Thing’.

Clips from the show
which focused on the whackiest of the auditioning contestants, and
bleeps by the hosts and judges playing silly were then shown, to the
amusement of the audience. The contestants apart from the two finalists
Yeka and Naomi then came on stage again to perform Black Eyed Peas’ ‘I
Got a Feeling’.

After their song,
host Annis announced that one of the Top-Thirteen, Ola had won the
Pepsi Idol. The Pepsi Idol was based on online votes on the Nigerian
Idol website. Along with the gifts which the general gift for all
contestants (iPads and boxes of Tom Tom amongst others), Ola would also
get to go on a trip to South Africa with the top three finalists, Yeka,
Naomi and Emma.

The audience also
got to watch a recording of a song written by one of the judges Jeffrey
Daniels in tribute to the victims of the tsunami in Japan. Prior to
coming to Nigeria, the former Shalamar bandmember had made his home in
Japan. The song titled ‘Nigeria cares-Nigeria to Japan’ was performed
by Annis Holloway, the Top 13 finalists and two other contestants, Toun
and Godson.

Christy Essien-Igbokwe

Then came a
performance by former Idols West Africa Winner Timi Dakolo who sang one
of his singles, ‘Heaven Please’. His emotive singing earned him a
standing ovation from the Idol judges and some members of the audience.
The biggest ovation of the night however went to the Lady of Songs,
Christy Essien Igbokwe. She was heralded by the two finalists Yeka and
Naomi singing ‘Seun Rere’, one of Ms. Igbokwe’s many hits from the 80s.
The sudden appearance of Igbokwe on stage caused the audience to scream
in surprise and then stand throughout the rest of the performance.

The last guest
artist for the night was former Project Fame contestant Praiz, singing
his own original song, ‘This is What She Needs’.

Yeka wins

Finally, it was
time for the finalists to perform. Yeka backed by fellow contestants,
Emma, Zoe, Chito, Nina and Aj, sang Whitney Houston’s version of ‘I’ll
Always Love You’. Next, Naomi backed by Alex, George,bibi, Ola, Tonii
and Glory sang, ‘Heal the World’ by Michael Jackson.

Jeffrey Daniels commended the two finalists, saying, “You two ladies
are superstars and nothing less than that. It’s been a great pleasure
having the opportunity to be judge for you and I wish you all the
best.” Audu Maikori declared that the moment was emotional for him,
adding, “It’s fantastic seeing people grow, and you will continue
growing.” Time finally came to announce the winner of the Nigerian Idol
competition, a job which compere Tee-A assigned to Stephen Evans as his
“heart was beating.” Mr Evans without preambles declared: “Yeka is the
winner.” At this point, Yeka knelt on the stage in disbelief. Cries of
“No,” could be heard from the audience as some yelled “Naomi is the
winner.” Despite these slight outbursts, the rest of the event
continued smoothly. Naomi after kneeling down to hug her fellow
finalist walked off the stage, as Yeka got up to her feet to make a
speech. The former Miss Abia thanked the judges, her fans who voted for
her and her vocal coach. She also exhorted the audience to “Follow
their dreams.” To close the show, Yeka sang a song which had been
written and produced by Jesse Jagz specifically for the winner of the
Nigerian Idol. After the song which was barely audible due to the loud
bangs that followed the release of the celebratory confettis and
balloons, Yeka Onka was presented with her cheque for 7.5 million naira
and thus the journey to becoming the first Nigerian Idol came to an
end.

Subtitling and the
place of women in Nigerian movies were the main issues discussed at the
fourth plenary session of ‘Reading and Producing Nollywood’, the
international symposium on Nigeria’s movie industry concluded at the
University of Lagos on Friday, March 25.

The trio of
Onookome Okome, professor of English and Film Studies, University of
Alberta; Bic Leu, a Fulbright Fellow currently researching Nollywood in
Nigeria; and Duro Oni, Dean, Faculty of Arts, University of Lagos
convened the three-day meeting attended by players from all sectors of
Nollywood. There were three scholarly presentations during the session
where the topic, ‘Reading Culture, Women and Religion in Nollywood’ was
examined. Former Director General, National Theatre, Ahmed Yerima,
chaired the meeting while Executive Secretary, National Institute for
Cultural Orientation (NICO), Barclays Ayakoroma, presented the first
paper. It was titled ‘Giving Women Pride of Place in Nigerian Video
Films: A Critical Reading of Andy Amenechi’s ‘Egg of Life’.

Beyond decorative objects

Ayakoroma noted
that film scholars have always felt that women do not play significant
roles in Nigerian video films, especially the epics, which he
classified into three. “They are reflected more as decorative objects
in the palace…They are never part of the decision-making process in
the community; and they are never meant to argue, even if such
decisions are not in their interest,” he said.

The theatre scholar
however noted that Amenechi broke the mould in ‘Egg of Life’, which he
described as a female version of ‘Igodo’, a male epic the director had
earlier co-directed with Don Pedro-Obaseki. “It is more of a feminine
version of ‘Igodo’, probably in the bid to display gender sensitivity.
It is apparently in pursuance of the need to portray women as heroines,
capable of saving the community in times of need,” he further explained.

‘Egg of Life’ is
about seven maidens who undertake a dangerous quest to save the king’s
son and the soul of the community. They succeed eventually but it is at
great personal costs. Ayakoroma explained that the film gave women
pride of place because, “instead of the women sitting with their hands
between their legs, waiting for their husbands or sons to return from a
journey of redemption, they undertake the epic quest.” He added that
“the film posits that the feminine gender could assume leadership
positions and move the country forward.” The untranslatable Emmanuel
Adedun’s paper, ‘From Yoruba to English: The Untranslatable in Selected
Nollywood Movies’ generated a lot of reaction from the audience,
probably because of the scholar’s position. The lecturer in the
Department of English, University of Lagos, contended that English
subtitling of Yoruba films contain linguistic and cultural inadequacies
which causes a gap in communication with the audience. Adedun was also
of the belief that the low standard of subtitling in Nigerian movies is
due to lack of professionalism. Using slides from three Yoruba movies,
‘Ipile Wa’, ‘Apaadi’ and ‘Aba’ as examples, Adedun noted that there are
some chants, proverbs and incantations that filmmakers find
untranslatable in English.

He submitted that
as a result, there are communication gaps, misleading semantic
inaccuracies and embarrassing grammatical infelicities in a significant
number of Yoruba films. Adedun, however, did not fail to offer some
suggestions. He noted that cultural matters can and should be
communicated and that Nigerian filmmakers should pay attention to
subtitling. Adedun also recommended hiring of competent professionals
to subtitle; and the establishment of centres and institutes of
translation studies.

Igwe!

Olaoluwa Senayo’s
‘Igwe!!! Monarchy, Paradox and Cultural Passage in Nollywood: Some
Preliminary Notes’ centred on the portrayal of the republican Igbo
society as a monarchy in Nollywood movies. He argued that productions
have popularised the Igwe theme to the extent that Nigerians and others
erroneously believe that the Igbos are monarchical. Senayo, who
disclosed that the paper is part of an ongoing research and who used
‘My Kingdom Come’ as example, submitted that Nollywood has succeeded in
diffusing the concept of Igbo monarchy into Nigerian popular culture.

Beyond the ordinary

“Translation and
credit are areas people have not concentrated on. We are planning a
workshop for translators and people in Nollywood have to focus on
credits. The way their own names are spelt is an apology,” noted
Ayakoroma while reacting to comments on the papers. He also seemed to
suggest that subtitling is unnecessary, saying, “subtitling subtracts
from the viewing experience.” Adedun, who was taken up on his
dismissive comments, insisted that Nollywood has a long way to go with
subtitling. “Nollywood movies are content-driven, they are
message-driven, unlike Hollywood and Bollywood productions that are
action driven,” he declared. Though he agreed that there are
theoretical and cultural factors that guide subtitling, he insisted
that what currently obtains is not subtitling. Adedun who also admitted
the difficulty in translating chants and proverbs, urged Yoruba
filmmakers to strive “to go beyond the ordinary.” Director of ‘Tango
With Me’, Mahmood Ali-Balogun who attended the session with some of his
colleagues including Kunle Afolayan and Bimbo Manuel, defended
filmmakers against flaws highlighted by the speakers. He explained that
every frame in a movie tells a story and that language is just to help
the viewer. “Why subtitling appears to be problematic in Nollywood is
because movies are not well made,” he said, adding that things are
changing.

Ali-Balogun also commented on the negative portrayal of women in
movies. He explained that patriarchy is not the cause but that
“producers tell stories they want to tell. My own movies give women
voice. Most of the issues your papers are on are being taken care of.
Very soon, you won’t dwell on them.”

The book, ‘A Benin
Coronation: Oba Erediauwa’ written by Tam Fiofori, a columnist with
NEXT newspaper was launched at Oba Akenzua Cultural Centre in Benin
City yesterday.

Chair of the book
launch, Sam Igbe, the Iyase of Benin Kingdom,said that the Benins
should remain grateful to the author of the book for a job well don
which he said is an window to the past. He expressed satisfaction with
the River State-born author, who was raised in Benin City, for
capturing the events of the coronation of the Benin monarch 32 years
ago, describing it as a wonderful job.

The book reviewer,
Eghosa Osaghae, vice chancellor, Igbinedion University, Okada,
described the book as a timeless masterpiece. He said the book was a
vivid reminder of everything that happened during the coronation of the
Oba of Benin; going further to note that the book is not only about the
coronation, but is also about the history of Benin Kingdom. Osaghae
observed that, by compiling the pictorial book of the coronation which,
the author did himself, his family and the Benin kingdom a great
honour. Edo State governor Adams Oshiomhole, who was represented a the
book launch by the state commissioner for Local Government and
Chieftaincy Affairs, Victor Enoghama, described the book as one of
important and inestimable value to the state.

He assured the
photographer-author of the state government’s support, just as he
launched the book with the sum of N1 million. Tam Fiofori, who said he
regards Benin City as his home, described the book as a pictorial
demonstration of the Oba’s coronation. “I can call myself, a non-Benin,
a Benin boy,” he said.

He described the book as one with a lot of history behind it. He
also expressed his love and respect for Benin culture. “The book is to
re-affirm my love and affinity for the Benins,” Fiofori said.