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Nigerian
award-winning authors are leading the country’s charge in this year’s
Commonwealth Writers’ Prize. Helon Habila and E.C. Osondu, both past
winners of the Caine Prize for African Writing, are contenders for the
Best Book and Best First Book respectively for the Africa region in the
awards.

They are joined on
the regional shortlists by debut novelists, Chioma Okereke and Uzoma
Uponi. All four writers are based abroad. None of their shortlisted
books has so far been published locally.

The regional list
is dominated by South Africa, with eight shortlisted writers. Aminatta
Forna is the sole flag-bearer for Sierra Leone, for her novel, ‘The
Memory of Love’. The shortlists, released by The Commonwealth
Foundation, which manages the awards, was established in 1987 to
recognise the finest fiction by established and upcoming writers across
the world.

US-based E.C.
Osondu, winner of the 2008 Caine Prize, is shortlisted for ‘Voice of
America’, his debut collection of short stories, which has been
published to much acclaim in Britain and the United States. In a review
of the book published in The Observer (UK), Zimbabwean writer Petina
Gappah praised Osondu for “creating a vivid and fully imagined world
that is uniquely his own. It is a wonderful achievement.” Vying with
Osondu in the Best First Book category of the Commonwealth Writers
Prize are UK-based Chioma Okereke for ‘Bitter Leaf’; and Canada-based
Uzoma Uponi, who gets the nod for her novel, ‘Colour Blind’.

Perhaps the most
high profile Nigerian contender is Helon Habila, who makes the
shortlist for his third novel, ‘Oil on Water’, an exploration of the
Niger-Delta crisis. The Guardian (UK) noted that the novel is “topical
and urgent, as it ambitiously tackles the collision between the oil
companies, the people of the Delta whose lands are exploited and
ruined, the military who patrol the region, the militants or freedom
fighters who are there to disrupt business as usual, and the media who
are supposed to observe and record the ‘truth’”.

Habila’s first
novel, ‘Waiting for an Angel’, won the Commonwealth Prize for Best
First Book (Africa Region) in 2003. Earlier, in 2001, he became
Nigeria’s first Caine winner for his short story, ‘Love Poems’. A
former NEXT columnist, Habila currently teaches Creative Writing at
George Mason University in Washington D.C, United States.

The four regions
qualified for the competition are: ‘Africa’, ‘Caribbean and Canada’,
‘South Asia and Europe’ and ‘South East Asia and Pacific’. Every year,
prizes are awarded in the four regions for Best Book and Best First
Book. Eight regional winners then go on to vie for the overall prizes.

Past Nigerian
winners of the prestigious award include: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
whose debut novel ‘Purple Hibiscus’ won the regional prize for Best
First Book (Africa) in 2005 and also went on to win the overall prize
in the same category.

Jesuit Priest and
Writer, Uwem Akpan’s debut collection of stories, ‘Say You Are One of
Them’, secured the Regional Prize (Africa) for Best First Book in 2009;
and then went on to more acclaim by being selected for the widely
influential Oprah Book Club. Nigeria’s most recent winner of the
Commonwealth Writers’ Prize is Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani, who clinched the
2010 regional award for her novel, ‘I Do Not Come To You By Chance’.

The prize money for overall winners are £10,000 for Best Book and
£5,000 for Best First Book respectively. The regional winners will be
announced on March 3, while overall winners will be announced at the
Sidney Writers’ Festival, Australia, in May.

It’s about a week
to saxophonist Eji Oyewole’s 70th birthday and he believes he has cause
to be thankful. “God has been very kind to me,” notes the soft-spoken
artist who has been entertaining for over 40 years and who has
performed across three continents.

“The journey so far
has been good and bad but that is life for you,” he adds. The good
aspect of the journey for Oyewole is seeing people enjoy his music
while the bad is “the unpleasantness that goes with the way music is
handled in this country.” Specifically, the unpleasantness is the lack
of professionalism and opportunism prevalent in the industry. “The
music industry is down and it is so bad it gives room for just anybody
to say I run a record company. And it is a way of exploitation.

They
use that to exploit unsuspecting artists, the younger ones who are
desperate to be in the limelight.” Like many musicians, Oyewole took up
music early in primary school. What however did it for him was
listening to musicians from across the world. “I must say that I grew
up fast in music awareness. I knew a lot of things people of my age
probably did not know at that time.” Listening to Highlife music from
Ghana, particularly E.T. Mensah, the Ramblers, Star Gazers and the
Uhuru further reinforced his interest. “I think E.T Mensah was actually
one of the musicians who opened my ears.

Then we had at that time Juju
musicians including Irewolede Denge. Though I was small at that time, I
was able to appreciate them and their very beautiful, intelligent and
philosophical songs.” Though he had started playing music
professionally before completing secondary school, the man, friends
call ‘Saxophone legend’ began fully after he was done schooling.

He
played with Adeolu Akinsanya; Eddy Okonta in Ibadan; Bobby Benson at
Caban Bamboo Night Club in Lagos and with Afrobeat legend, Fela
Anikulapo Kuti. “When Fela came back we were together jamming in clubs
and doing some radio programmes together. But I couldn’t join when he
was forming (Koola) Lobitos because then I was with Bobby and he would
not let me go,” he recalls.

Globetrotter

Apart from his job
as a journalist, the late Olabisi Ajala was renowned for his
globetrotting, which inspired a famous song by Ebenezer Obey. Till
date, the Yorubas refer to a person who travels a lot as Ajala. But
Ajala may actually not be as widely travelled as Oyewole, who embarked
on a tour of West Africa after leaving Akinsanya’s band in the 1960s.
The tour later transformed into an adventure around the world.

Cotonou, Benin
Republic was his first port of call. He stayed with some musicians who
kept him in the Francophone country for about a year before returning
to Nigeria. It wasn’t long before the travel bug bit him again. He
headed to Togo this time around and met the Black Santiago, a touring
Highlife band from Ghana. Fast becoming a roving minstrel, Oyewole
allowed himself to be persuaded by the bandleader to follow them to
Ghana where he met other Highlife musicians.

Oyewole wasn’t done
yet. He left Ghana for Abidjan, Cote d’ Ivoire to play in cabarets
before joining President Felix Houphouet-Boigny’s presidential band. “I
was with his band but I left and returned to cabarets because I was
preparing to go to France. I didn’t know whether to go to France, US or
Britain at the time, I did not make up my mind. But some French people
who saw me on a tour asked me to come down to France,” Oyewole
discloses.

He first stayed in
Lyon before moving to Paris where he played with some pop groups. He
met Johnny Halliday, who he describes as “the French version of Elvis
Presley” in Paris before moving to Geneva, Switzerland and later
Hamburg, Germany.

Oyewole sought to
improve himself in Hamburg by registering in the Music Department of
the city’s university. “I was there playing in between studying,” he
says, adding that “I moved to West Berlin where I was studying and
playing. Some Americans saw me there because I was playing in some
night clubs. I would leave the school to go and make some money.

The
Americans told me,‘‘We have a Jazz club, why don’t you come?’ That was
how I got to know of the Jazz Gallery band. Its leader was Billy
Brooks, very beautiful Jazz drummer. It was there that I met a lot of
great American musicians. Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davies, they all came
there. In 1971 I was able to play at the Berlin Jazz Festival.” The
saxophonist eventually joined the Gasoline Band formed by the group,
before doing a stint in New York and later London.

Oyewole studied
Music at Trinity College, London, but still couldn’t refrain from
playing. He eventually abandoned his studies to focus on playing music,
just like he did at Hamburg later.

Mellow sound

Over time,
Oyewole, who started out as a saxophonist, later switched to the flute.
“I love the flute because its sound is very mellow, you can play it
anywhere. It is very portable. That’s why I like the flute. It’s more
or less my companion. I hardly go anywhere without it,” he discloses.

Explaining the type
of music he plays, Oyewole says, “I am an all rounder. Starting with
Highlife and graduating to Oriental music, Continental, Ballroom music,
Cabarets, laying Foxtrot and Tango. I play any kind of music now. I can
fit in into any kind of music but basically I can call myself Afro Jazz
musician. I play anything that has traces of Africa in it. Basically,
I’m a Jazz artist.” Charity begins at home

Having played with
different bands over the years, it is not surprising that Oyewole has
only six solo albums. He reveals how the first, titled ‘Charity Begins
at Home’, came about. “I came back for FESTAC 77 several years after my
sojourn; I represented the UK Black along with the Osibisa Band. During
that time, I recorded an album for EMI. I had signed the contract in
London where I could have recorded it but I decided to come back to
Nigeria to add Nigeria’s flavour.

Fortunately or unfortunately, the EMI
people did not do the right thing to release the album. It almost got
unreleased because of the politics at EMI at the time. Later, they
released reluctantly it but it wasn’t given the promotion it deserved.”
After FESTAC 77, Oyewole returned to England to join Island Records. He
recorded albums with a number of artists including Bob Marley and
played on the Reggae legend’s track, ‘Buffalo Soldier’. After several
years abroad, Oyewole returned to Nigeria finally in 1983 but still
travelled occasionally. It’s only in the last five years that he has
not left Nigeria’s shores.

Since one doesn’t celebrate 70 years twice, Oyewole, leader of the
Afro Bars Band has decided to mark the occasion on February 19 with a
concert at Bogobiri, Ikoyi, Lagos. “The reason I want to celebrate is
to appreciate God, the Father for keeping me till date and for giving
me the energy to play the saxophone. The saxophone is to praise Him ,
glorify Him and make people happy’’.

The contestants on the Nigerian Idol talent show are, to use a common phrase, really “falling” my hand.

Last week’s
performances were based on songs from movies, most of them ballads.
Unfortunately for me, these were songs I know and love, so it was
rather painful watching them being murdered.

The worst was Yeka
Onka’s rendition of the Elton John classic, ‘Daniel’. Before her
performance, she had deemed the song one she could relate with, having
lost people in her life. But at the end of the day, she was trying
rather too hard to reenact the pain of her loss than give a proper
rendition of the song.

For the first time
since the show started, the judges did not pull their punches, lashing
out at those who gave really poor performances. From where I stand, I
think this is too little too late. At this stage in the competition,
the contestants are already supposed to have a handle on their game,
delivering powerful performances that would not only earn them praise
but make the eviction process a difficult one.

Audu Maikori was
especially hard on the lucky three from the wild card- Toni, AJ and
Chito – which is to be expected, going by their lack-lustre
performances. Toni especially is still yet to tap into that superstar
quality which she possesses and which is palpable to everyone except
her. Her lack of self-confidence means that she keeps showing
“potential” and not the real thing. Mini-dress loving AJ gave such a
morose rendition of Roy Orbison’s ‘Pretty Woman’ that at the end of it,
guest judge Lami had to beg her to smile. Chito’s act was not memorable.

As was George’s.
For someone who started out with so much promise, the last two episodes
have seen him going down fast. The only excitement he is capable of
inciting these days is the one we would feel when he eventually gets
evicted, unless he loosens up and strives to become more entertaining.
One person who sure is entertaining is Zoe. But unfortunately, her
energetic choreography often means that she under performs the song
while overdoing the theatrics.

So far, the only
consistent performer is 19-year-old Naomi, currently the youngest in
the competition. The petite singer has managed each week to do justice
to whatever material she is given. Her notes are always on point and
her interpretation has consistently followed the message of the song.
It also helps that she has a powerful voice.

But in shows like this, there is always room for surprises. Who
knows, maybe today, all the contestants including the timid and the
unnecessarily over-confident would suddenly realise why they are on
Nigerian Idol and finally ‘bring it’.

You can trust fans
of Afrobeat legend, Fela Anikulapo Kuti never to miss a chance to
celebrate the late music icon. The British Council Nigeria, National
Theatre (London) and British Deputy High Commission, Lagos, provided
them such an opportunity on Sunday, February 6 when they organised a
screening of ‘Fela!’ at the New Africa Shrine, Agidingbi, Ikeja, Lagos.

The production was
recorded last year at the Olivier (National Theatre) in London and had
been broadcasted by the BBC earlier this year. The screening at the
Shrine gave those who had missed the telecast an opportunity to see the
interesting show. And people seized the moment fully. The Shrine was
already bustling minutes to the 4pm commencement time of the viewing
and though there were empty seats initially, they were all later taken
by the multitude of Nigerian and foreign Afrobeat aficionados.

Welcome to the Shrine

Country director
of the British Council, David Higgs and daughter of the late musician,
Yeni, gave speeches before the show got underway. Giving a sort of
background to the event, Higgs disclosed that the National Theatre
likes to share its productions with audiences around the world. He
thanked Fela’s children and the management of the Shrine for hosting
the screening.

Yeni apologised
for Femi’s absence and seized the opportunity to allay the fears of
those who dread coming to the Shrine, especially first timers. “You can
see that we don’t eat people here. Go spread the news today, that we
don’t eat people here,” she said. Fela’s oldest child disclosed that
she was shocked months back when the British Council called to discuss
the hosting of the screening. Yeni also pre-empted critics by noting,
“Any criticism you have, remember this is an appreciation of a son of a
soil.”

Some innovations

The production,
directed and choreographed by Bill T. Jones wasn’t a bad affair though
the producers took some liberties in enacting Fela’s story on stage.
The men in Fela’s Egypt 80 Band never danced as vigorously as did the
male dancers in the National Theatre’s ‘Fela!’, neither was ‘Trouble
Sleep’ a duet by Fela and a female singer. Obviously, wishing to
respect the mood of Nigerians on MKO Abiola, the winner of the June 12,
1993 presidential elections, his name was deleted from ‘International
Thief Thief’. The producer’s decision to dramatise scenes in ‘Sorrows,
Tears and Blood’ was also a nice touch and the involvement of the
audience in the production was a master stroke.

It could also be
argued that the producers appropriated extensively from Carlos Moore’s
‘Fela: This Bitch of a Life’ in the parts involving his mother,
Funmilayo and the travails of his wives during the 1977 raid on
Kalakuta Republic.

Interestingly,
some of the scenes applauded by the audience during the live show were
also appreciated by those who saw the screening with both applauses
merging into one.

However, the
decision of the Shrine’s management to show the Chelsea versus
Liverpool match and later, the Real Madrid versus Real Sociedad at the
back while the screening was on wasn’t a very wise move. They only
succeeded in dividing the house. Nonetheless, it wasn’t a bad outing,
as some commentators noted.

Very fulfilling

“I think it’s
very fulfilling for us here. One must always be grateful when the
opportunity arises has it as today to showcase what has become an
international phenomenon at the New Africa Shrine. The only thing that
can top this for us is if the actual [musical] comes to the African
Shrine in March which we are looking forward to quite avidly,” said
Femi Odebunmi, one of those who viewed the production.

Fela’s son, Seun, said of the screening, “I feel it is essential to
make people have a taste of what the play is about and I’m sure with
time, the play itself would come here. This is just for people to
understand. I just pray that the right move be made to help people
understand what is going on out there about Fela.” For Higgs, screening
‘Fela’ at the Shrine was appropriate because, “the play is set in the
Shrine, so it’s the Shrine in the Shrine.” He added that beyond that,
“it’s an appreciation of Fela Kuti’s music. I mean his life in his
hometown but from elsewhere. I think that shows that Fela Kuti’s
influence was well beyond his own country.”

If the February 8
Barbican performance of the Creole Choir of Cuba were to be described
in one word, it would be called ‘Triumph’. A triumph that derives from
weathered collective challenges like slavery, displacement, bad
governance and natural disasters; and on this occasion, the barrier of
language.

The Creole Choir of
Cuba is a harmonious union of sages with voices raised in their native
tongue to tell the world their communal history. The Choir is more than
10 individuals wielding musical notes and percussion instruments; it is
a projection of bravery, endurance, talent and warmth.

Beyond language

The stage was laid
out simply, with no busy background accoutrements to distract the
audience; the choir of six women and four men dressed in simple, loose
fitting traditional attire was the cynosure of eyes. And from the very
first song, ‘Mangaje’, which with powerful solo and back-up acapella
recounts the disillusionment of African slaves in the new world, the
audience is transported to a temporal space where not words but emotion
is the Lingua-Franca.

The predominantly
white audience was given more than a glimpse of the soul of these
Haitian descendants of Cuba, who rendered one melody after the other
with remarkable flourish and verve; undeterred that a majority of their
listeners did not understand the language.

Perhaps because of
this, their faces, bodies, and movements reached where their vocal
expressions could not. They swayed, crouched, danced, mimed, pumped the
air in defiance or waved in victory. We heard in dirges, chants,
invocations, and laments as one story after another of pain, loss,
injustice and suffering was told with alternating emotions.

Mundane themes such
as the loneliness of a cattle drover travelling at dusk are woven with
those of war and political denunciation to create a spectrum of
thoughts and cultural insights. And with many of the songs performed
solo, the audience was given a taste of the choir’s versatility –
individually and collectively.

A frenzy of drumbeats

While the first
half produced a reflective atmosphere for past disappointments and
difficulties, the second was more upbeat. A frenzy of drumbeats,
dramatic dances and applause accompanied songs like ‘Ou Pa Nan Chaj’ –
as playful jeers where thrown the way of the diminutive male singer who
played a man ridiculed because of his inability to successfully woo any
female.

The show got more
animated when audience members were invited onstage to dance with the
undulating women to the excited hoots from the audience. The invitees,
who seemed to be familiar with the Haitian melodies, did not disappoint.

As if the Creole
and French speaking singers had not pleased the crowd enough, they
inspired even more appreciative applause when they broke into a
rendition of Nat King Cole’s ‘Unforgettable’.

The performance was
marked with an amazing sound clarity further complemented by indigenous
percussion instruments such as drums, choucounes and Haitian merengues,
which formed the sinew of the tunes.

Ten middle-aged
singers with remarkable memories in folklore can certainly do a lot in
communicating the brotherhood of the black race, with sounds and dances
reminiscent of the West African cultures to which their ancestors once
belonged.

Universality

Michelle Johnson,
a member of the audience, commended the choir and spoke on the
universality of black culture and music. “This performance shows the
strength and durability of black culture. The costumes, sounds and
movements are very similar to what I see in Jamaica or any other
African performance. Black arts [are] really self-rejuvenating.” “How
simple can you get – 10 voices and a few random bits of percussion and
the packed crowd was spellbound from the first notes,” remarked
journalist, Andy Snipper. Much as that is true. The Creole Choir of
Cuba, established in 1994, is no haphazard assortment. It is made up of
descendants of Camaguey (an old Cuban colonial town), who studied music
and nurtured the folk songs passed down orally to them since the early
19th century then gradually fusing it with modern Haitian sounds.

The smiles of appreciation at the end of the closing performance, ‘A
Tribute to the Sun’, told of the transcendental quality of music. This
Cuban choir eventually had the audience leaning out of their seats to
grab handshakes as they abandoned the stage and still singing, sashayed
into the crowd in a show of warmth rarely experienced in UK shows.