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Not quite two weeks
after his presence at the London debut of the Fela! Musical, Femi Kuti
was back at the Barbican, with his Positive Force Band to give the
Western world a taste of his new album, ‘Africa for Africa’.

Billed to start at
7pm, the audience was kept in breathless anticipation for a whole hour
while they valiantly persisted through several tracks performed by
British rap group, ‘Sound of Rum’.

Finally a shout of
Arararara galvanised the crowd to near euphoria as the Positive Force
jogged onstage in their matching African attires. And the anticipation
in the hall rose to fever pitch as the 10-member band began tuning up.

Femi, onstage, was
a delight to watch. Dressed in a multi coloured African attire, he
hurried onstage, rubbed his hands together as if in pure delight before
bending over his keyboard, shaking his head appreciatively as he
pounded the keys and issued forth the opening strains of ‘Truth Don
Die’.

The already
standing crowd seemed to surge forward as his mellow voice stole
through the instrumental sounds: “Na yesterday him talk, him wan to
travel for the world, to teach the people him word the true word of God
make people stop to lie say na lie spoil the world.”

Witnessing Femi’s
quiet opening and the energy with which he danced, he seemed both
intense and frail, and one could only wonder how he would last the
evening, as his physical appearance seemed not quite able to contain
the passions that streamed through his being. But the musician
surprised, and continued to do so, during the almost two-hour
performance, backed by his dancers cum back up singers.

‘Politics in Africa’

After his popular
opening track, Femi introduces songs from his new album. “I’ll be
concentrating on the new album. I’ll save the rest of my political
views when you have warmed up to me.”

But divorcing Femi
from politics was like taking away his voice. ‘Politics in Africa’ and
other politically critical songs followed in quick succession.
Including ‘Obasanjo Don Play You Wayo’, his take on the EFCC; and ‘Make
We Remember’, a song urging that the messages of his late father and
other black political activists should not be forgotten.

Femi sang, danced,
and played as if an internal inferno burnt under his skin. He belted
his music in a frenetic hurry. Where Fela had brandished his sax, Femi
showed almost more affection for his keyboard, vibrating his whole body
as he urgently picked out the notes; though when he briefly turned his
attention to his sax, it was with equal fervour.

Having never seen
him in performance before, I had always been wont to think that Femi’s
achievements had had a lot to gain from the legacy of his father. This
performance changed my opinion. He might have learnt from the master
himself, but his accomplishments were all his. Kora awards, World Cup
showcase, and a feature in the international videogame, Grand Theft
Auto IV, seemed paltry reward for his talent

But the music soon
streamed together into one long political complaint. Diversity seemed
not to be the strong suit of this new album. And even though his stage
presence and enthusiasm were infectious, the music soon became
predictable. That was before Femi turned his scathing tongue to history
and the developed world.

“It’s impossible to
understand the gravity of the slave trade, he said, “500 years is about
seven generations. Africans blame themselves for the slave trade,
that’s wrong information,” Comparing the transatlantic trade to the six
years of anti-Semitism, Femi would have us believe that the holocaust
was a lesser evil which benefitted from visual records. “What is six
years compared to 500?” he asked.

To have jettisoned
from memory the centuries of undocumented Jewish persecution in his
attempt to absolve Africans of their historical wrongdoings, seemed to
induce a brief disagreeable silence in the crowd, except of course for
some Nigerian fans who whooped in appreciation of his logic.

‘Beng Beng Beng’

While Femi might
have raised eyebrows mid-performance by his cavalier dismissal of one
of the worst times in world history, he soon had the audience dancing
to his tune yet again as he commenced a sexual enlightenment monologue
heralded by the beginning instrumentals of ‘Beng Beng Beng’.

“It’s impossible to
talk about politics without talking about sex. Who here has been
practicing my theory: Don’t come too fast?” asked Femi to appreciative
hoots by the audience, many of whom had been shouting out requests for
the song since he came onstage.

Femi led his avid
listeners into a sexual scenario of a girl’s first sexual experience:
“That girls have always been ahead of us (men) is a scientific fact
that has not been proven yet. So when a girl seems remorseful after a
sexual encounter, the boy thinks he’s had her cheap. He doesn’t
understand that he gave her bad sex – so gentlemen, don’t come too
fast!

“When you are
approaching or losing control, press the brake, reverse back,” Femi
admonished, eliciting raucous laughter before launching into the song
which is till date perhaps his most popular, despite having been
restricted from Nigerian airwaves soon after its release.

“The time is 12
midnight my brother, the girl lay on top my bed now…,” the audience
sang along as they gyrated to the popular track.

Says Robin Denselow
of The Guardian, UK, “Towards the end, he switched from politics to sex
with ‘Beng Beng Beng’ and a mildly risqué chat about relationships that
was more entertaining and original than much of the political protest.”

And one could not agree more.

People die. However, the understanding
of this finality to human sojourn on the planet never was able to
remove the sense of panic or loss that usually accompany the passage of
an acquaintance. It is worse when it happens to a close friend or
associate. Or to an artiste whom you spend most of your growing up
years adulating.

Every epoch has significant milestones
and, for a certain category of Nigerians, especially those from the
southwest part of Nigeria who are now in their late 30s to early
forties, that defining aspect of their youth was the exciting musical
rivalry between Sikiru Ayinde Barrister and Kola ‘Kollington’ Ayinla –
who were locked in love-hate battle for supremacy as the authentic
voice of Fuji, a music genre both claimed to have invented.

His greatest fan

I was always a Barrister fan, partly
because he was a more accomplished singer (Ayinla has a racier band)
and also because he came to my attention way before Ayinla did. Of
course, they initially struggled in the wake of the larger image of two
older giants in Yoruba music, King Sunny Ade and Ebenezer Obey, who
branded their own music juju music.

As opposite to Juju, Fuji is more
traditional Yoruba in conception and rendition and probably hacks back
to older forms of performers of Agidigbo, sakara, gudugudu, juju and
Apala music. With its percussion loaded with dundun (Ayinla settled for
the harsher (and harder) bata) talking drums, agogo (gong) and sekere
(beaded calabash), Fuji draws its listeners to waist wriggling and feet
shuffling dances that will amaze anyone raised on western music.

Barrister dominates his band though;
his voice cutting through the layers of the beat to deliver in message
in sometimes high-pitched tone. Most of his fans love his song; a mix
of evocative and pithy Yoruba sayings, wise sayings and sometimes
ribald. He was also a believer in using the medium of his song to teach
and his songs are usually laced with stories drawn from local lore or
tales that would be familiar to readers of Arabian Nights tales.
Barrister was a master story teller, a modern day griot with the gift
of a dynamic band behind him.

Rendition for Omowura

In some ways, Barrister’s music is a
more grounded version of the fare served by Ebenezer Obey, whom he
takes as his mentor. Ayinla was closer to Sunny Ade. But it was a mark
of the vibrancy of these two men that they gradually eclipsed their
mentors, as Fuji music became the dominant music form in Yorubaland,
with Sunny Ade (and occasionally Shina Peters) still holding the fort
for Juju music. Incidentally, Fuji music and Ayinde came onto theirs
after an earlier struggle with the older Apala music. In fact, the
earliest promoter (inadvertently it must be said) of Barrister was one
of the most popular Apala musicians, the late Ayinla Omowura. The eegun
Magaji (big masquerade) would denigrate the upstart fuji artiste in his
songs and warn him to stay in the shadows. Ayinla’s death, at the hands
of one of his band boys thrust Barrister into one his earliest
controversies as he was accused of being behind it.

His soulful rendition about Ayinla’s
death – and his plea of innocence – won Barrister more fans. It is also
an album that fans of the recently deceased musician should listen to
when they feel moved to mourn their idol.

From its ajiwere days, when Barrister
performed as an itinerant musician who entertains people during the
music month of Ramadan, the music evolved in scope and depth to draw in
from several traditions, including samba and reggae. Perhaps one of the
strengths of Fuji was its inifite adaptability and power to inject
other music forms in its growth. Younger Fuji artistes now rap and
freestyle to attract younger listeners, thus assuring that the music
form would survive for longer.

Fuji soldiers

Barrister, along with Kollington were
former soldiers and both embarked on their career after their
demoblisation. They were both civil war veterans, stories of which
found their way into Barrister’s songs. Name any human emotion and
experience, and barrister probably sang about it in his evocative ways.

Love, marriage ( and the imperative of
family planning), poverty, tribulations, democracy and good governance
– and death. He also drew on his deep knowledge of the Koran to enrich
his music, reciting verses from the muslim holy book to underpin the
message of his song. He was accepted ny all nevertheless as his fans,
Muslims, Christians and traditional religionists embraced the messanger
along with this message.

His music ran into a little difficulty
after a brief falling out with his lead drummer, Oyadolu in the 1980s.
After flirting with another Ibadan musician, Sawaba Iyanda, during
which that gained a little limelight, Barrister reunited with Oyadolu
and the music continued. Until death did them apart.

One of Barrister’s prayers was that the calabash decorator might
die, but that his products do not perish. Barrister is now sadly
departed. His songs lives on in our hearts and our ipods. May Alhaji
Agba meet the favour of his maker.

The writer Lola
Shoneyin lives life joyously on her own terms, tastefully wearing her
smarts and sensuality in a world bound in rigid emotional ropes of
hypocrisy. Her poetry is scrumptious, turning cold rocks into sniveling
lovers. She wields words like fierce weapons against the past tense
posing for tradition. This thinker of Nigerian extraction is ahead of
her time in promulgating innovative ideas and in the way she deploys
her myriad energies to the arduous task of jump-starting courageous
conversations in a complex society like Nigeria.

Cassava Republic
has just released Shoneyin’s novel, ‘The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s
Wives’. I adore this book. From start to finish, it is a triumph of
life over adversity, a joyful ode to the sensual mystery and resilience
of the human spirit. I love this book. Shoneyin brings together her
unique poetic senses and her love of the human story and wraps up a
great tale with muscular prose. Politely defiant Shoneyin bends every
cultural artefact and taboo in her brainy sensual path. This is a soap
opera between the covers. I love the author’s bold use of language and
imagery. She teases, she taunts, she soothes with her words. This is a
rebel gleefully tugging at silly clay boundaries. Every other page
hides sentences that desire to stir your consciousness – and your
loins. Nothing is taboo for Shoneyin; she is eclectic in a brilliant
near-reckless manner. Her words are defiant, and drunk with the sweet
musky smell of primal sex. Sexual tension keeps the pages erect and
thirsty for lusty sex. And the curses and trash talking rain down
freely, Nigerian style. You might as well be riding around in a
bolekaja enjoying Nigerian life at its most impish.

In ‘The Secret
Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives’, Bolanle, a university graduate joins Baba
Segi’s household as the fourth wife. Using this canvas, the author
inspects Nigeria’s motley issues, as if from a dirty window. It is
pretty, ugly, and riotous and secrets do not stay hidden for too long.
Nigeria is a market and everything is sold in the open. In the process,
we are entertained. Shoneyin taps furiously and insistently on social
issues, prying their doors open for the reader to confront. Issues like
marital abuse, rape, sexuality, infidelity, the relentless march and
meanness of the new Christianity, the ravages of a soulless consumer
society and the resulting mimicry of the other as in women bleaching
their skins to look attractive. There is an abundance of misogyny, and
patriarchy reigns supreme. Sons are a premium over daughters and well
sought after and celebrated by the society. Baba Segi is a loving
father, if a bit of a buffoon and a crude lover. He is an unattractive
man who has a disgusting habit of losing his bodily fluids when he is
stressed. But he is a good provider and the women humour him, to a
point. Women and children cope by manipulating men – with mixed and
unintended results.

Shoneyin addresses
the mystery and complexity of relationships and sexuality from a
woman’s perspective. Not many would agree with her sympathetic, almost
defiant take on the issue but she does give a powerful voice to those
whose crime is to be different from the tyrannical majority. In that
respect, compassion gushes from her pen. In the crush of issues like
arranged marriages and the expectation that women and children are
chattels beholden to men, there is a lesson here: women dream also of
the same pleasures and desires that men take sometimes violently.

The book gains confidence and traction with the turning of each
page. However, it was hard following the chapters as the points of view
changed. It stretches credulity to imagine Bolanle the fourth wife as a
university graduate married to a semi-illiterate polygamist. She does
not present herself as learned. The wives’ characters could have been
fleshed out a bit more robustly. In a few instances, the dialogue was
awkward. My worst line: “Well, you know before you wrap leaves around
liquidised beans one must ensure that the ingredients are complete.”
(p221) It is the worst translation of a proverb I have ever read. The
book is partly a conversation about paternalism and misogyny but it
comes across as hostile to men. Baba Segi is depicted as a hapless
buffoon who loses his bodily functions under stress. Men are typically
depicted as bumbling idiots with balls for brains and the book
gleefully lobs insults: “Men are nothing. They are fools. The penis
between their legs is all they are useful for. And even then, if not
that women needed their seed for children, it would be better to sit on
a finger of green plantain…” Regardless, the book will keep a reader
thinking for a long time. Not many would agree with the too-tidy
ending, life is too complex for that. But who cares? I love this book.

Chike Onuorah’s
latest exhibition, ‘Commitment’ opened at Terra Kulture on December 4,
2010. Displayed prominently on the gallery wall was the exhibition’s
title painting, ‘Commitment’, which encapsulated the theme of the show.

The painting of a
woman carrying a baby with three hands painted in different colours,
the artist said the work depicted dependency and then responsibility.
“Your kids are dependent on you. They give you a sense of purpose. It’s
only commitment that will make you nurture a child that can give you
nothing in return,” he said.He added that one needs three hands to
raise a child; one to love, another to nurture and a third for
discipline. Hardly surprising that in the piece, the hand meant for
discipline is the longest.

Onuorah’s
philosophy of commitment is one he holds dear. “There is no success
without commitment,” he pointed out. “It takes commitment to bring out
what is on the inside to reality.” Onuorah also practises commitment;
his determination to always mount an exhibition every year no matter
what it costs him, attests to this.

The week-long
exhibition showcased about 30 works of different media: oil, acrylic
and charcoal on canvas. One unique thing that did not go unnoticed was
the fact that the artist had attached a short poem to every single
painting on display.

On the reason
behind this, he said that a lot of people who have no eye for art would
come to an exhibition like this and leave without an understanding of
the works and the message they intended to convey. “The poems will help
the viewers in that it will lead them into a dialogue with the picture.
So they can get what you are saying,” he explained.

In addition to
this, Onuorah disclosed that the inspiration for each of the poems came
as he worked on the paintings; and they are meant for eventual
publication. The poetic accompaniment to one of the works, ‘Finally’,
expressed relief and a sense of accomplishment.Another one titled ‘Wall
Street’, with its portrayal of people and their different means of
livelihoods, expressed street sense and the importance of being skilled
in one’s chosen endeavour. ‘Togetherness’, which was a bit more
abstract and symbolic in design, carried with it an eight-line poem
that spoke about the spirit of unity.

On what influences
his art, Onuorah stated, “God is my influence. I have seen many works
and every artist has his own individual style. I am doing my own thing.
I paint what I see and feel”.

Asked why there
seemed to be quite a focus on the female figure in many of the
paintings, Onuorah said that women are expressive and he finds them a
fluid medium through which to express whatever he wants to say through
his paintings.

For instance, the
painting titled ‘Finally’ was a woman with one clenched hand raised in
expression that could be interpreted in different ways, even if the
poem had not revealed that it was an expression of achievement.

Onuorah studied
Fine Arts at the University of Benin and graduated in 1988. Aside from
art practice, he has worked as a creative consultant. The artist has
also conducted quite a number of exhibitions in and outside Nigeria;
and is a member of the Society of Nigerian Artists (SNA) in addition to
the Atlanta Society of Artists, USA and Romania Society of Artists.

The curator at the
Terra Kulture Art Gallery, Olumide Faturoti, commended Onuorah for his
commitment to his work. “His exhibitions have been consistent” he said.

‘Commitment’ is at Terra Kulture from December 4 to 10.

‘My Culture, my
Identity’ was the theme at this year’s edition of the Centre for Black
and African Arts and Civilization’s Children’s Cultural Festival.

The annual event,
which took place December 9 at the National Theatre in Lagos, saw
scores of school children turn out in their uniforms and in cultural
attires. The students were billed to stage various cultural
performances during the event, and they did not disappoint.

Dignitaries
expected at the event included: Abimbola Fashola, the first Lady of
Lagos State who was to chair the event; Senator Grace Folashade Bent;
and Abubakar Sadiq Muhammed, minister of tourism, culture and national
orientation, among others. All were however, unavoidably absent, and
sent in representatives.

“CBAAC is
statutorily entrusted with the responsibility of promoting,
propagating, and preserving African cultural values,” said Tunde
Babawale, director general of the centre, as he began his welcome
address.

Speaking about
cultural continuity, he stated that children deserve much focus because
they represent continuity and are the link between today, tomorrow, and
the future. It was therefore, appropriate that CBAAC was placing its
focus on children.

According to Mr.
Babawale, “This is being done because of the realisation that the
ideals which CBAAC represents are better inculcated in youth early. Our
interest in children is further strengthened by the fact that children
learn easily, and very fast too.

“It is in
recognition of these that we are investing in children in the belief
that they will assimilate the cultural values we represent, promote,
and propagate,” he added.

Mr. Babawale
decried the pervading influence of Western values upon the nation’s
youth, to the detriment of indigenous languages and cultures.

“Central to our
quest for cultural continuity is the need to restore and promote
interest in cultural values, which are continuously ebbed by the impact
of exposure to Western norms and values,” he stated.

He blamed the tide
of rapid urbanisation and changing economic situations for the
inability of parents and the elderly to impact African cultural values
on their children. He further explained that the theme of this year’s
festival, ‘My Culture, my Identity’, is the organisation’s way of
redirecting children’s attention to the beauty of African culture.

The chairman of
CBAAC governing board, Semiu Adesina Barkinson, echoed similar
sentiments in his speech at the event. According to him, “the
deterioration in our social values informed CBAAC’s decision to
organise this programme which targets younger members of our society.”

“This programme, I
am sure, will encourage children to showcase our rich culture in all
its ramifications,” Mr. Barkinson added.

The children’s
efforts did not go unrewarded as the stage of the main Exhibition Hall
of the National Theatre was arranged with various gift items which the
winning schools and their pupils went home with.

The minister of
tourism, represented by Gambo Doris, director general of the National
Orientation Agency, in his address, lauded CBAAC for the initiative of
the festival. He observed that the festival would make the children
good cultural ambassadors.

“Our continent and
country is richly blessed culturally. We can derive huge economic
benefits from our cultural diversity. These gains are only possible
when we identify with our culture,” he pointed out, underscoring the
benefits of culture to economic growth.

Zachary Madayi,
representing Folasade Bent, brought goodwill messages from the senator
for the children. She advised them to obey and respect their parents,
and also emphasised the importance of indigenous languages.

The consular
general of Ghana High Commission in Nigeria, Sylvester Parker-Allotey,
in his own remarks stated that culture goes beyond dressing. “When we
talk about culture, we see attitudes and ways of life,” he asserted.

He went on to task parents on what he described as the dying reading culture among children.

“Parents, outside of school textbooks, how many of you have bought a
book for your children? We have to address the dearth of reading among
our children in Africa,” Mr. Parker-Allotey said.

Six years after her
first appearnce in Tyrone Terrence’s ‘A Husband’s Wife’, actress, Joke
Silva, is set again to reprise her role in the marital thriller. Silva
played Tomi, the female lead opposite Richard Mofe- Damijo when the
play was first staged in 2004.She will however be starring opposite
actor and musician, Dede Mabiaku when the play is staged on Saturday,
December 18 at Agip Recital Hall, MUSON Centre, Onikan Lagos.

‘A Husband’s Wife’
is about a marriage gone sour. It is a tragedy about the mistakes of a
husband and his wife, which rocks their hitherto blissful union. Some
witty and incisive language employed in the play which has toured
countries including Ghana, US and the UK, further reinforces its
poignancy.

Rosewood Theatre,
Clipse Management and Theatre, which produced Terrence’s ‘Yoruba
Romance’, last year are facilitating ‘A Husband’s Wife’.

The production is supported by Promisador Limited. Tickets for the
show which comes at N5,000 for regular and N10, 000 for dignitaries are
already on sale at designated spots across Lagos.