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Writing poems about
football is not a big deal, notes Ismail Bala Garba, as he explains why
he writes poems about the popular game.

“Poetry shouldn’t
necessarily be about the so-called important issues; it could be about
mundane issues like football. If someone writes a poem about football,
he’s not only showcasing his love for football, a particular player,
club or brand of football, he is also making a statement that art could
be serious. It could be high art and at the same time, it could be
about mundane issues like football,” he says.

Though he has over
20 poems on ‘Football Poets’, the website that carries the motto:
‘swapping shirts with Shakespeare’, the round leather game is not only
what Garba, a lecturer in the Department of English and French, Bayero
University, Kano, writes about. His poems have appeared in local and
international journals including ‘Okike’; ‘Poetry Review’ (England);
‘Poetry’ (Chicago); ‘Stand'(England); ‘New Coin’ (South Africa); and
‘Karogs’ (Latvia), amongst others. “It’s something that I do
occasionally. Even amidst writing so called serious poetry, you could
find yourself writing poetry about other issues outside the main domain
of what counts as serious poetry.”

The co-editor of
‘Pyramids: Anthology of Poems from Northern Nigeria’ with Abdullahi
Ismaila, and ‘Fireflies: An Anthology of New Nigerian Poetry’ with
Ahmed Maiwada, is so interested in football poetry that he considered,
“bringing out an anthology of football poems” at a time.

“I have a friend
who is very keen and passionate about football poetry; he is an
American with an African sounding name based in Belgium. I don’t know
what happened, maybe the idea died. But I hope one day to revive it.”

Garba, currently at
the University of Iowa, US, for an international writing programme,
became interested in writing poetry in secondary school. He later chose
poetry as his preferred medium of expression, “maybe because it was the
first genre of literature that I came in contact with and from there my
love for literature developed.”

The dawdler

Though his poems
have been published in journals, newspapers, and anthologies, Garba’s
personal collection of poems is yet to be published.

“I am afraid I
still don’t have a collection to show for all these years of publishing
poetry. It’s quite a shame, one would say, and I would agree. I am the
kind of person who dawdles a lot, who procrastinates. So, perhaps, that
may explain the delay of publishing my poetry in a book. To put some
logic to it, I see myself as being very patient with the idea of bring
out a collection,” he says.

“I wouldn’t say I
am like the great Lebanese poet, Kahlil Gibran, who kept the manuscript
of his ‘The Prophet’ for many years, submitting it only when he thought
he was absolutely sure about the poems. But all the same, I would like
to keep the poems I have written over the years until I feel some level
of satisfaction before I collect the disparate poems I have published
over the years. “Another way of explaining it is that what I have
written in the past, published around the world, was written in a
voice, in a style I don’t recognise any more. As my writing voice and
style evolve, I become sceptical about what I have written previously.
I have this knack for revising endlessly what I have written.”

The author of ‘A
Strip of Wonder’, ‘A Nigerian Elegy’, and ‘The President’s Face’,
amongst other poems, writes “anytime, anywhere, any day. Mostly, I
write my creative pieces after reading other people’s work. That’s the
best time I get inspired.”

Interestingly,
poetry is the only way Garba expresses himself because, “I’ve tried my
hands unsuccessfully at short stories. So, basically, I’m a one man
show. I just concentrate on poetry.”

More doggerel, less poetry

Assessing the
seeming popularity of poetry in the country, the poet and critic says
more Nigerians are taking to poetry. “Probably because it is much
easier to write than a novel or play, which requires long years of
training. I’m not saying poetry doesn’t require such effort, but it’s
easy for people to string words together and call them poetry.”

Co-editor of the
critical book, ‘Towards Sustaining Creative Writing in Northern
Nigeria: Proceedings of the First Summit of Northern Nigerian Writers,’
Garba is, however, not happy with the quality of poetry collections
being published. “Any discerning observer of Nigerian poetry must have
noticed that just as many books are being churned out daily with an
alarming alacrity, the quality, really, has significantly gone down. Of
all the books being published in the name of poetry, honestly, only
very few can lay claim to being called poetry collection.

“Poetry is not just
stringing words together; it has many requirements. You could begin to
say poetry must have this, must have that, but in the end, when you
read a good poem, when you come across good poetry, you know it,
irrespective of the technical aspects. When you see a good poem, you
know it’s a good poem. For me, much of what is being churned out today
in the name of poetry in Nigeria really is not poetry, it’s something
else. Doggerel, just words strung together. Lifeless, uninspiring.”

Like other
observers, he attributes the decline in quality to self publishing. “In
an ideal situation, any would-be writer writes and tries to get
published in journals and anthologies. Popular newspapers, presumably
they have good editors, will sift through all submissions, look for the
good ones, edit, and publish them. A person who is lucky to have his
piece published in a journal, newspaper, or anthology will now go on
and collect those pieces that over the years are published in
newspapers, anthologies and journals to form a collection. He’s not
just going to approach a roadside printer, no.

“In an ideal
situation, such poems considered for publication will be submitted to a
conventional, professional publisher, who would pass it on to his
editors for assessment. After it is assessed and found to be
publishable, it would be published in a professional manner and then
there would be the cultural aspect of it; the critical industry out
there in form of publications in scholarly publications and newspapers.

“Good literature
thrives in a place where many things work in tandem to help nurture
that literature. You could say that such vital requirements, which
helped develop Nigeria literature in the 60s and 70s, are no longer
there now. Maybe that’s why we have this problem.”

The remedy

A lot, he says,
needs to be done to remedy the situation. “We‘ll need to have a serious
publishing industry. Serious newspapers that don’t just publish
anything, and good editors who will look you in the eye and say your
work is not good, we are not going to publish it, and would be writers
trying to avoid self publication.”

Though he agrees
the South has an edge over the North when it comes to creative writing
in English, he believes the North has made significant progress in
writing in indigenous languages, especially Hausa. That progress,
however, faces a new threat.

“That improvement
is also being hampered by the rise of the film industry. We have a
vibrant film industry in the North, which is more or less a Kano affair
and is nicknamed Kannywood. The rise of that film industry coincided
with the decline in what is known as Kano Market Literature.

“Many of the writers have turned their attention to filmmaking
because that’s where money could easily be made. Whether it’s true or
not, I cannot say but this is what is happening.”

After a ten-year
career in banking, Biodun Omolayo decided to change course and pursue
his first love: Arts. The fact that he had no formal training in Fine
Arts beyond his secondary education in Imade College, Owo, did not
deter the Performing Arts graduate, who had in the course of his
banking career, been earning a side income from producing art works.

Soon after resigning from his banking job, he enrolled to study General and Graphic Art at the Yaba College of Technology.

“I decided that
since I did not study visual arts, I needed to return to school. I
considered Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and the University of Ife,
but I had to give up the idea of either because of distance,” he
explains.

During the course
of his degree at Yabatech, Omolayo established an outfit, ‘Specifics
Ventures’, which specialised in furniture design, calendar, card and
poster design and production. After graduating, he also established the
Biodun Omolayo Art Gallery and a few years later, introduced the
children’s art initiative, ‘Young @ Art’.

“When I started the
gallery in Ikeja, I realised that my journey into arts would have been
shorter if I had had someone to guide me,” the artist reflects.

So, starting with
his own children and those of friends, he began Young @Art with just
nine children. The training encompasses artistic creativity, such as
painting, bead making, sculpting, ceramics, origami, card design, as
well as theatre and dance.

To Omolayo,
“Creativity is more than drawing and painting. It cuts across all
phases of life. Lessons in creativity teach children to think out of
the box.”

He describes the
training as very dissimilar to the formal environment of academic
learning: “It is not a furtherance of what they are taught in school.
Here, they get introduced to different areas. We teach them to be part
of the solution, rather than the problem. We encourage them to impact
their peers positively and to manage people and relationships.”

Through the eyes of a child

Recalling the
occurrence that inspired Young @ Art, Omolayo says that while he was
establishing the Biodun Omolayo Gallery at the National Museum, Onikan,
“a man came to me and asked why I had spent so much money on the
gallery when people do not really appreciate art in Nigeria.
Immediately he left, a little girl walked in and spent two hours just
admiring the works before asking if it was possible for her to learn to
produce something like the works on display.

“I thought to
myself, there was the adult, thinking about money without appreciating
the art, while the little child was really inspired by it. It occurred
to me then that I needed to do something for people like that
seven-year old.”

And Young @ Art,
which runs for seven weeks during the long holidays, has in six
editions, grown in size to a formidable population of about 50 children
in the two centres.

Working with
children now takes priority over the artist’s other involvement, as
according to him, “Everything else stands still for this programme. I
feel fulfilled, I feel appreciated, and it has given me a niche. Now,
when you mention children’s art programmes, the first thing that comes
to mind is Biodun Omolayo.”

Young dilettantes

On his training
resource, he says he insists on the best art material and does not
skimp on cost, despite the fact that the children are mostly young
dilettantes.

“You need to see
the quality of the art materials we provide for the children. Now, they
know the difference between oil and acrylic and can differentiate
between brushes. They can use pallet knives, and they know what priming
is all about.”

With the success of
the programme, Omolayo is taking his initiative of educating children
in the arts to admirable levels with his registration of the Young @
Art programme in the just concluded International Art Expo.

“When I got a booth
here, I decided to get one for them too, and they have been responsible
for operating the place,” he says with pride.

Despite these
efforts though, Omolayo considers that Young @ Art still has a long way
to go in propagating an appreciation for the arts.

“Sponsoring less privileged children would be a start,” he says, “but proximity remains a problem.”

An alternative he
devised to involve children whose parents ordinarily would be unable to
afford the training is the Young @ Art event held at City Mall, Onikan
on Children’s Day.

“We spent about 1.8
million naira on that day; and had about 450 children who participated
in the programme for free. We had to employ 65 tertiary students as
programme facilitators,” he recalls, while expressing hope that Young @
Art can replicate the feat in future.

Lack of sponsorship

The one challenge
the programme faces, however, is a continued lack of sponsorship,
although Omolayo hopes that the situation will improve soon with the
likely support of a multinational company.

He reveals also
that, “we are talking to the Lagos State government about establishing
more centres.” He further praised Governor Fashola of Lagos State as a
role model. “He is one of the most creative governors we have had in
Nigeria. And I point him out as an example to the children when I tell
them that leadership is about service,” says Omolayo.

This class of 2010

This year’s Young @
Art programme, which admitted children between the ages of four and 16,
culminated in an exhibition that held September 4 at the gallery, in
Onikan. Omolayo maintains that there was no selection of the children’s
best works, explaining that, “The programme is not academic; everyone’s
work is the best. Prices are moderate, but we want children to be
appreciated. Last year, a piece went for about 7,500. This year, it
went for 10,000.”

Revenue from the
works will be split between the children and the organisation, and
Omolayo advises that parents let their children get hold of the money
from the articles sold. “Let them know that for their creativity, they
have earned this particular amount,” he declares.

Omolayo’s love for
children and his enthusiasm to develop their artistry is infectious. He
opines that teaching children art does not just require teaching skills
or a degree in art, but a genuine love for the children and a
willingness to pass your knowledge to them in the most pleasant of
ways. He concludes that facilitators who work with him usually “get
infected with the love I have for the children.”

The children mirror Omolayo’s emotion as, in a chat with NEXT at
their booth at the recently concluded Art Expo, they extol the
personality and efforts of the artist whom they fondly call ‘Uncle
Biodun’. According to Damilola Akindele, one of the oldest students,
who had been involved in the training for the third year in row, “Uncle
Biodun encourages you to do what you love to do. If you can paint, he
gives you loads of canvas. It’s fun.” Ten year old Osemudiamen Okozie
also remarks that the artist gives them confidence to “use our
imagination to create new things that will develop our environment.”

Why Art?

Art is my life and a major part of my development. It makes me create and search for depth.

Training

A Bachelor of Arts degree in Fine and Applied Art from the University of Education, Rivers State, with a major in Painting.

Medium

Acrylic, oil, and goache.

Influences

Picasso. I really like so much of his work and style.

Inspirations

I am inspired by
African historical relevance; traditional mode of life and art; and
finding my cultural root identity challenging.

Best work so far

Not yet on canvas. Entire works sold and paid for; works I see no more.

Least satisfying work

Sometimes, I get
meticulous about details on my works. Least satisfying work most times
turns out to be my best work of art because a lot of meaningful time,
passion, and study would go into it. I love to celebrate every work,
but most of all, I love to show my best pieces.

Career high point

So far, I will say
my shows, presentations, and professional experiences in the United
Kingdom; and my works, personal projects and portfolios.

Favourite artist, living or dead

Seal.

Ambition

To be competitive, relevant in the global art scene, getting into contemporary mode of expression with my works.