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Christopher Nolan
is on a hot streak. The British-born director of ‘Memento’, ‘The
Prestige’ and ‘The Dark Knight’ has arguably delivered his piece de
resistance with Inception. In between those movies he managed to
squeeze in the not-too-shabby ‘Insomnia’ and ‘Batman Begins’. Part of
the paradox of Inception is that it could so easily have gone very
wrong – or maybe it did and we are just not smart enough to realise
either way.

Intellectual
thrillers have the capacity to be either spectacularly brilliant or
mind-numbingly dull. Inception is mind-numbing alright but only because
the viewer spends the entire running time with a fixed frown of
concentration. You know a movie is rich in intellectual property when a
high-powered car chase comes as a welcome attention break. A ten-year
labour of love, it is clear that the finished product is as close to
the director’s imagination as possible.

On the face of it,
Inception plays like a typical heist movie. Leonardo DiCaprio, plays
Cobb, an international thief who assembles a motley crew of
personalities. All the generic elements are in place: the anti-hero,
the newbie, the lovable rogue, the brains of the bunch, the girl and of
course explosions – lots of them. The stereotypes, however, end there.
Cobb’s team specialises in hacking into people’s minds rather than
their bank accounts. The group is trained in entering into the
subconscious of their targets and extracting information stored therein
– the pin code to your ATM card for example.

When Cobb meets
Saito (Ken Watanabe), a gruff businessman who is himself a victim of a
dream invasion, he is coerced into reversing the process – incepting an
idea into a target’s head. The target in this case is Robert Fischer, a
young business rival played by Cillian Murphy, another cast member that
is part of the ‘Batman Begins’ brigade (Watanabe and Michael Caine
being the others).

The business of
implanting an idea is a major undertaking for Cobb and his gang.
Firstly they must find a new ‘architect’ someone who designs the dream
worlds that are supplanted into their mark’s subconscious. Secondly no
one has exactly done this type of thing before. Thirdly, and perhaps
most imminently dangerous, is the fact that Cobb’s wife, Mal (Marion
Cotillard) has the horrible habit of showing up at less than ideal
times within dreams – often brandishing a weapon. To further complicate
matters she happens to have been dead for a few years.

Confused yet? Well
you needn’t be. The plot itself is a bit of a red herring and
occasionally takes a back seat in a movie that is stashed with smoke
and mirrors. Nothing is as it seems. The plot is leaky in places but
the holes are masterfully plugged by Nolan’s sheer bravado. It’s almost
as if he is telling the audience: “Forget the plot for a minute, just
look what I can do.” And boy does he do a lot. He constantly plays with
the dichotomy of the real and unreal. Are they sleeping or are they
awake? Are they having a dream within a dream?

Dreams in movies
are hardly a novel concept – David Lynch has made a career out of it –
but Nolan creates just about the right balance of action, philosophy
and humour to make this both thought provoking and entertaining. Sadly
the one thing lacking from the mix is a greater investment in
characterization. Aside from Cobb, all the other characters are fairly
one-dimensional. It is left to DiCaprio to throw all the emotional
punches in the movie and to be fair, the final result is a knockout.
After the equally absorbing ‘Shutter Island’ this performance is
DiCaprio’s second Oscar-worthy role of the year. He has often laboured
under the leading man tag but we are now witnessing a bonafide star at
the top of his game.

Cotillard, as his
on-screen wife, plays off him extremely well and there is something
genuinely haunting about her character. Her fleeting appearances set
the pulses racing through just the power of her facial expressions.

The integrity of
their relationship, whilst central to the movie, is one of many things
that the audience is forced to repeatedly question. There is a real
emotion at its core and fortunately manages to provide enough of an
emotional pull to care about the protagonist. It’s all well and good
having beautifully constructed sets with cascading cities and inverted
boulevards but if there is no emotional pull, a movie can die a quick
death. Inception’s appeal is that amidst all the special effects, you
continue to care about DiCaprio and Cotillard’s characters.

When Nolan announced himself to the world with the equally mesmeric
‘Memento’, people wondered how he could possibly top that. Ten years
later, and with a body of impressive work already under his belt, Nolan
has not only equaled his cinematic debut, he has bettered it.

The Super Model

never minced words about

those “dirty-looking stones”

that came in a dirty-looking pouch

in the middle of the night

in dirty-looking Africa

The Magi (two this time)

who brought the gift

bowed dutifully low and left

Our Super Model

asked no questions

sought no answers

even as she threw open her door

to two imperfect strangers

in the middle of a dirty-looking night

The Super Model

swore she never heard about

how flirtatious Charlie Taylored that pouch

from the scrotums of castrated men

and the crusted blood which lent

the stone their dirty coat.

Has the Super Model

ever seen amputated dreams

cat-walking the runway

of dirty-looking jungles, while handless

Stone Children* clapped, and pogromed

hordes watched with hollow eyes?

Thanks to the Court’s Geography lesson,

our Super Model

heard the word “Liberia”

for the first time;

what a dirty-looking buzz it left

in her regal ears!

The universe bows in remorse

for this dirty-looking inconvenience

to Charlie’s Angel. . .

Now, on to the Laundromat!

*Reference to Stone Child, Syl Cheney-Coker’s recently published collection of poems.

Fittingly, the
festival ended with a music concert sponsored by a consortium including
MTN, Star, Seaman’s, Dansa, Hyra Motors, and the Osun State government
at WOCDIF Centre on Friday, August 27. The concert featured upcoming
musicians and established stars including Isedale, Asindemade, Queen
Benny Black, Saheed Osupa, and Adewale Ayuba.

While Isedale and
his group sang some traditional Yoruba folk songs, Asindemade brought
back memories of the late Apala maestro, Haruna Ishola. Jimoh Buraimoh,
Ifagbenusola Atanda, and some others who couldn’t resist the pulsating
beats of the young man, showered him with crisp naira notes.

The biggest star of
the night, however, was self styled king of fuji music, Saheed Osupa.
The crowd welcomed him uproariously and later turned the hall into big
dance floor during his over one hour performance. The artist, who has
obviously mastered live performance and praise singing like his
illustrious forbears, Sikiru Ayinde Barrister and Ayinla Kollington,
stole the thunder of Bonsue fuji king, Adewale Ayuba, who rounded up
the show.

Arugba’s Circle

The Arugba Osun
(votary maid) was recognised when a statue in her honour was unveiled
at Oke Fia, one of the major roundabouts in Osogbo. Speaking at the
unveiling ceremony held on Thursday, August 26, Biodun Odejayi, senior
manager, regional marketing operations, MTN, thanked the people and
government of Osun State for allowing the telecommunication company
adopt the roundabout it will henceforth maintain. He stressed that it
is good to live in a good environment and pledged the company’s
continuous support for the festival.

Principal
coordinator of the Osun Osogbo festival, Jimoh Buraimoh, reiterated the
importance of the Arugba to the annual rite and expressed hope that MTN
will continue to support the festival. The Osun State commissioner for
environment, Olajire Omotoso, disclosed that his ministry is
facilitating the adoption of roundabouts “with a view to bringing a
facelift to the city and for the adoptee to brand their products.”

He promised that the renovation would not be limited to the state
capital and urged the people not to deface the renovated structure.

Despite the absence
of a sitting king, the grand finale of the 2010 Osun Osogbo Festival,
held on Friday, August 27, didn’t lack spectacle. Some had feared that
the festival would be low-keyed following the demise of the Ataoja, Oba
Iyiola Oyewale Matanmi III, on August 4.

Traditional chiefs,
age groups, and other socio-cultural organisations paid homage to the
late Ataoja during the ceremony, which doubled as a rite of passage for
the monarch. Governor of Osun State, Olagunsoye Oyinlola; Minister of
Tourism, Culture, and National Orientation, Sadiq Abubakar Mohammed,
represented by Bamidele Shobayo; dramatists, Adebayo Faleti, Akinwumi
Isola, and Femi Osofisan, attended the ceremony. They were joined by
blacks in the Diaspora who were in town to attend the conference of
Black Nationalities and the colloquium on Slavery, Slave Trade, and
Their Consequences.

Festival Eve

The palace of the
Ataoja, located at the centre of Osogbo, was a beehive of activities on
the eve of the annual festival. Indigenes and visitors alike thronged
the Aafin.

Though many
maintained that the festival and its preceding events were on a smaller
scale this year, owing to the demise of the Ataoja, the crowd that
swarmed to the place to herald the dawn of the festival was impressive.

On the large palace
grounds, parties and musical performances were being held
simultaneously with brisk trades in kolanuts, cigarettes, drinks,
decorative beads, and horsetails. Within the palace walls, Osun
priestesses sat in divination for adherents who flocked to their
consulting rooms with a pittance offering in exchange for prayers.

The Arugba, ensconced somewhere inside, was said to be preparing for the annual rite to be carried out by her in the morning.

Bead Traders

From far and near
locales of Ibadan, Ife, and Iragbiji, among others, bead traders had
arrived at the palace earlier in the evening to secure a vantage spot
to sell. All night long, they sat by their colourful wares, stringing
beads to create necklaces, bangles, purses, and hand-held staffs.

Perhaps, due to the
stiff competition, many of the women traders were suspicious of
photographers and would at the sight of a camera take to shouting, “Ma
ya mi o, ma ya mi o!”(Don’t snap me, don’t snap me!) Reassurances that
their beads, rather than they, were the objects of interest, did not
mollify them.

Nike Shehu gave
NEXT a short enlightenment about the beads and their worth. Shehu, who
came from Ibadan to take part in the two-day trade, placed the beads’
value at between 50 and 6000 naira, with varieties such as the locally
produced coral beads, iyun, segi, and their foreign variants.

She produced a
replica of the beads traditionally worn by the Arugba, a choker-like
neckpiece made with blue cylindrical beads (segi) and interspersed with
large reddish brown coral beads, which she called Iremorun. She also
identified the Sese Efun worn by Osun matriarchs, explaining that the
difference between the expensive beads and the cheaper varieties was
their weight, with the original coral beads weighing a lot more than
the plastic or glass variety.

En route the Grove

In small groups,
tourists and locals made their way to the Osun UNESCO World Heritage
Site, where the grove and many other shrines waited. Artistic
representations of the deities and walls decorated with traditional
images yielded little open arches through which a people progressed
into the leafy underbelly of the grounds.

Devotees of
different traditional sects were seen stopping to kneel in worship and
offer sacrifices to their various patron gods; while priest and
priestesses lined the entry way to the grove asking for offerings. Many
hands dipped into pockets to extract naira notes as offertories.

The grove was taken
over by visitors to the Osun River, most of whom came clad in white –
the colour favoured by the deity. Many came with plastic containers to
collect water from the river. The brown coloured water, locally called
Agbo, perhaps derives its name from its supposed medicinal qualities.

Many washed their
feet in the river, while others took to bathing. Mothers bathed their
children and babies, exhorting Osun to bless them as they did this. A
few came with live birds which they threw onto the water as offerings.

Preliminary celebrations

The arena was agog
with drummers who gave voice to their gangans and batas and sekeres,
while community hunters intermittently released celebratory shots into
the air from their dane guns. Finally, the procession of dignitaries to
the grove began down the wide flight of stairs crafted into the hilly
slope that led to the grove.

Governor of Osun
State, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, flanked by his entourage, was welcomed with
an ijala chant in his honour. Dancers, resplendent in cream and brown
aso-oke attires took the front of the high table where he sat and
expressed their joy at his attendance and support for the festival. A
path was cleared quickly among the crowd for spectacular acrobatic
somersaults by the Osun youth.

Osun priestesses,
chiefs, masquerades, and many other traditional religious figures
filled the grove and its grounds to capacity, awaiting the main
attraction of the festival. Soon shouts of ‘Arugba tin bo’(Arungba is
coming’) rent the air as the gunshots came in a furious staccato, while
drums bore the brunt of their owners’ excitement.

The crowd surged
forward, necks craning towards the entrance to the shrine while hands
held above heads busily snapped fingers in the continuous backward
motion, traditionally known to signify an act of warding off evil.
Chants of supplication to Osun were taken up by the crowd: “Ore Yeye o,
ore Yeye o!’

Arugba’s Arrival

The Arugba came,
surrounded by her inner circle of Osun followers and predecessors. She
wore a white strapless gown, walking barefoot with cheeks bulging with
kolanuts that had been placed in her mouth to prevent her from
speaking. Speech was a taboo as she carried the communal offering,
which was covered in an embroidered red fabric. She proceeded to an
unseen spot in the grove, where she divested her burden.

This was the
current Arugba’s fourth walk down the path to perform her votary duty.
Insiders say she has one more run. Perhaps, the most important
requirements for appointing an Arugba are that she be a descendant of
the royal family, and a virgin, chosen by the Ifa oracle.

So, does being the
votary maid militate against her living a normal life, or mark her
unfavourably in any way? Locals suggest she lives a normal life. Though
of course, being an Arugba means she is grounded in the traditional
religion and must adhere to the code of behaviour required by her
faith. On marriage, we are told it is an honour to be the husband of an
Arugba. She has several suitors and must marry from idile awo (a family
rooted in the cultic tradition).

Pomp without the king

Though the regent
and Ajagunna of Osogboland, Gabriel Oparanti was present, he neither
played the king’s role nor sat on the king’s throne. NEXT learnt that
this was so because the late king had kick-started the ceremony before
his demise. Oba Oyewale was symbolically represented at the grove by
his crown and staff of office placed on the throne.

The Ilu Moye
(highest ranking chiefs in Osogbo) opened the homage session to the
late Oba with dances and prayers for the repose of his soul. The
Iyalode group, led by Alake Kolade, the Olomo Oba (princess), which
included Oyinlola, Oluode (hunters), and Babalawos, also said prayers.
“Iku iba gbowo, owo la ba ma san, ojise olorun ki maa igbowo” (If death
would take money, we would have given him. But God’s messenger does not
take money) chanted Ifayemi Elebuibon, leader of the Babalawos (Ifa
priests), in lament for the Ataoja’s passing. The Ayaba, Oluawo, Iyawo
Ile, and Baba kekere, the administrative head of Osogbo, also paid
homage.

Osun’s brides

An American lady
dressed in a flowing wedding gown was one of the sights at the
festival. Reporters and photo-journalists naturally milled around the
lady, who only gave her name as Ayo Olorisa, refusing to answer a
number of the questions. Her minders, some Osun priestesses and Ifalomo
Babatunde Olosun, who introduced himself as her husband, also declined
interviews. The American, however, explained that she was dressed that
way because she’s married to Orisa. A first timer at Osun Osogbo, with
fresh tribal marks on her right cheek, she described the festival as a
“wonderful sight.”

NEXT also met Susan
Gonzales, a Mexican adorned in traditional white iro-and-buba. She was
singled out for attention by a traditional priest who advised that she
bathe in the river in order that she be blessed with children and
riches. When asked how she got to know about the festival, Gonzales
explained, “I have been in Osun for a year and the festival is a big
part of the culture here.”

Visiting matriarchs

From around the
country, worshippers attended the rite that is considered to be the
most important in the practice of the faith. NEXT spoke with Adebimpe
Jagunmolu, the Yeye Osun of Somolu, Bariga, Lagos, on the festival.

“The Osun festival
is as significant to us as it is to the Muslims that they go for
pilgrimage in Mecca or for Christians who visit Jerusalem. It is the
most important annual rite for us to come to worship the Osun goddess,”
Jagunmolu said.

She said her
introduction to the faith began in childhood, “I was born into it, and
my parents ensured that they taught us the religion. It was bequeathed
to us.”

So has she been as
successful in passing it on to her children? She responded in the
affirmative. “I have four children who are graduates and are
traditional worshippers. I have a child who is a Christian too and
another who is married to a Muslim, but they know that during festivals
they must come around to felicitate with me.”

Jagunmolu also
shared insights about traditional religion, saying, “We all see
ourselves as one, though we make sacrifices to our different patron
gods. In our divinations, we are united and co-operative. Whenever an
issue confounds an Osun priest, he seeks counsel from the Ifa priest or
Ogun priest, and vice versa.”

As regards what
sets apart traditional religion from other popular religions, she
enumerated the differences: “We reach out to our gods directly, we do
not believe in going through human intermediaries and asking someone to
pray for us. Also, truth is our major emphasis; our religion does not
allow for you to peddle falsehood. Ask a politician to swear by water
when he makes a promise to the people. He cannot do so because he knows
that when he calls on a traditional god, there’s a repercussion for
falsehood.”

Why then is popular
idea of traditional religion as a means to achieve wicked acts? She
vehemently condemned the notion, saying, “Those who hold that belief
are ignorant people, scared of what they do not understand. We do no
harm to others. Do I look like I want to harm you now?”

Governmental support

The Osun Osogbo
festival, partly popularised by the late Austrian-born Susanne Wenger,
has in recent years received a lot of institutional and governmental
support, and is becoming one of the major tourist attractions in
Nigeria.

Governor Oyinlola
expressed his appreciation and support for the festival, and its
contribution to the tourism industry, saying, “Tourism is intrinsically
linked to the cultural heritage of humanity. The contribution of
tourism to international understanding cannot be over-emphasised.”

He observed that
the festival has been a way of generating employment and goodwill among
nations, while also expressing pride that “we have succeeded in opening
Nigeria up to the international community.”

Adunni’s grave

Though children of
the late high priestess of Osun, Susanne Wenger, aka Adunni Olorisa,
refused to disclose her final resting place within the grove last year,
a small number of people now appear to be in the know. Interestingly,
one of the reasons adduced for the non-disclosure of tomb was that
Wenger didn’t want her grave turned into a tourist attraction or
shrine.

However, NEXT saw
some Osun devotees ascending the stairways out of the inner shrine to
pray at Adunni’s grave, inside one of the huts at Iledi Ontoto. While
two of her grandchildren stood sentry inside the hut, believers
propitiated and made requests of the late high priestess; some dropped
money after they finished praying.

“She chose this
place herself and whatever they request for will be granted,” stated
one of the Austrian’s granddaughters. “It was the committee and her
children that decided to let people know the grave after the first
anniversary of her death. There was nothing sinister about why they hid
the location before; they just didn’t want people to start disturbing
her burial site. But they later decided to disclose the place and let
people interested pray there,” she said.

The Nanka community
in the Orumba North Local Government area of Anambra State, has
observed its annual Oririji (New Yam) festival, with a grand finale,
held on August 21. It was the highlight of the three-day festival, held
at the Isigwunwagu Central School Field, Ifite Nanka.

The 2010 edition
drew the Ozuzu Nanka (Sons and daughters of the town) who travelled
from far and near to their ancestral home and joined the regent of
Nanka, Igwe G.N Ofomata to commemorate yet another fruitful harvest.

The festival had
earlier kicked off with the Iriji Igwe celebration on Friday, August
20, at the palace of the Igwe Ofomata. Usually held a day before the
New Yam festival, Iriji Igwe is set aside for the traditional ruler to
mark his own version of the event, usually seen as the dress rehearsal
for the grand finale. The Iriji Igwe attracts a lot of attention, as
all the chiefs and titled men in Nanka are expected to be in
attendance. This year’s event was a grand celebration during which the
Igwe took the opportunity to honour Nanka indigenes who have been
making the town proud in different fields of endeavour.

The grand finale of
Oririji Nanka 2010, held the following day, Saturday, was a success
despite the fact that rain started falling early on the big day. Some
apprehension greeted the heavy rains that started at eight in the
morning. But as providence would have it, about noon when people were
expected to start trooping from their homes to the assembly ground, the
rain had stopped.

The first slice

The ceremony got
underway with heavy drumming and dancing, heralding the arrival of the
seven villages of Nanka. Each village usually turns up every year with
at least one Igba (traditional) dance group. Each of the villages –
Agbiligba, Enugwu, Ifite, Umudala, Amako, Ubahu and Etti – tries to
outdo the others in adding colour and gaiety to the festival. The air
abuzz with heavy drumming and dancing, festival goers danced their fill
before the arrival of the Igwe himself.

Starting the
official activities, the master of ceremony for the day welcomed the
special guests, including Polycap Emenike, Peter Chinedu and chair of
the occasion, Kofi Obijiofo – all prominent names among the Nanka
people.

With the arrival of
the Igwe, other aspects of the ceremony took off, starting with a
prayer of thanksgiving for the new harvest year. Then there was the
breaking and sharing of the kola-nut, followed by the main event of the
day: the cutting of the New Yam. This involved the ritual cutting of a
piece of roast yam, a task performed by the Igwe himself in the
presence of Ozuzu Nanka. In days gone by, gods and goddesses were
invoked to be part of the cutting and eating of the first slices of New
Yam, but this is no longer so. The prayer is now done in the Christian
mode, to choruses of ‘Amen’ from the gathering. The king then cuts the
yam and eats the first slice. This represents the very first tasting of
the New Yam in the Nanka community, as no indigene of the town is
expected to have eaten it before this time. After the Igwe’s first
taste, leaders of each of the Nanka villages would come forward (in
order of superiority) to pick a slice on behalf of their territories.

Erosion control

With the new Yam
cut and eaten, this year’s gathering settled down to wine and dine as
speeches were made at the high table. First to speak was the Igwe, who
reminded his people of the challenge posed by the heavy incidence of
erosion in Nanka town. He urged all the villages to help implement the
erosion control measures that have been introduced in the area.

Others echoed the
Igwe’s concerns. One indigene, who donated a number of melina saplings
for planting in the many active Nanka erosion sites, blamed the neglect
by successive administrations for the continuing problem. He stated
that the nursery he donated had cost him a lot of money, but reflected
that it is infinitesimal compared to what is needed to check Nanka
erosion, the largest in West Africa.

“The truth facing
us today is that if care is not taken, Nanka will eventually go extinct
if government does not help us. All our efforts to check this erosion
are still a far cry from what is needed,” he said. According to locals,
the federal and state governments’ approach to this point has been to
provide relief materials for fresh erosion slides, forgetting about the
need to find a long-term solution.

“Government needs
to know that we the sons and daughters of Nanka are hard working
people. We do not need relief materials. We need government to address
the erosion problem headlong,” one said.

In his remarks,
Damian Okoye, chair of the socio-cultural group, Nanka Patriotic Union,
noted that the Federal Government’s Ecological Fund has continued to be
disbursed and expended annually “without a dime being committed to
Nanka erosion.”

He further said,
“We are beginning now to understand that past visits and promises of
‘doing something’ by government officials since 1960 were scam. This is
in spite of the fact that Nanka remains the mother of the monstrous
environmental degradation in south east Nigeria for the past 100 years.”

He reiterated that
Nanka people no longer welcome relief materials. “We are fed up with
relief materials. We demand practical solution. We demand reversal of
this criminal neglect.”

The event ended with recognition and awards given various
individuals for their contributions towards the development of Nanka
town, after which the drums boomed again and the dancing resumed. Soon,
masquerades came out to delight the crowd.

I am broke. At the
end of each month in America, my creditors start to bully me. They
start sending me angry envelopes with windows in them, screaming: “Pay
us! Idiot!” They get impatient with me, they call, they email me, all
anxious, demanding payment and what-not, threatening me with all sorts
of things if I don’t pay them. Sometimes they text me thusly: “Pls pay
us, idiot, LOL BRB!” It is at this time I remember my favourite all
time character in my favourite all time book: Unoka, the great flute
player and reviled father of the revered Okonkwo of Chinua Achebe’s
Things Fall Apart.

I love Unoka. He
was a dreamer who played his flute all day long. He was allergic to
real work, proving that he was a very wise man. Who needs the stress?
His farm was a disaster area because his crops refused to grow. They
insisted on his presence in the farm. His crops were mean, needy and
lazy; they demanded to be watered and nurtured and sang to. Unoka would
only sing to them. For some reason, money and fame eluded him and he
was unhappy about that and so he sang sad songs about a mean world
through his flute. Since he always needed money, he always borrowed
money. People always gave him money, which was strange because he never
paid. He went to his grave rich – in debt. He was fond of laughing at
his creditors whenever they had the temerity to come ask for their
money back. On such a silly occasion, he would come up with a brilliant
saying, something like, “Nna men, you are asking for your money? Hold
my palm-wine cup while I laff! Heh! Heh! Heh! Heh!” It was a great
tactic, because the shamed creditor would then tiptoe out of Unoka’s
hut. I wish my creditors would behave like Unoka’s creditors. Mine are
rude. They live rent-free in my head and refuse to leave.

Okonkwo, Unoka’s
famous son, was a tragic figure. He worked hard all his life. He was
foolish; he liked to pay people what he owed them. He actually
committed suicide, not because he wanted to use the white man’s skull
as a palm-wine cup, but because he saw the IMF loan coming and the
thought of Nigeria dealing with a 1000 percent interest rate drove him
up a tree. So, the other day my credit card company called me asking
for their money. I don’t even remember what I did with the money; now
they want it back plus something called interest. I did the Unoka on
them, I laughed like a hyena and I shared with them a profound Unoka
saying: “Na Gawd go punish una! Ole!” The idiots were not amused. We
are in court.

I hope I am not
giving you the impression that I am a loser who avoids responsibility
like a child loves a cold bath in the harmattan. I have a financial
plan. The Federal Government of Nigeria will relieve me of my financial
misery. I have been trying to get the attention of the yeye rulers of
Nigeria for many years now. So far, they have been ignoring me. I miss
the Great Sani Abacha. Life under him was great, Nigerians actually ate
three meals a day. Abacha was an idiot who did not read anything that
was not on a dollar note. So you could say whatever you liked and he
ignored you. He thought newspapers were for wrapping suya sticks. Life
was great until Wole Soyinka convinced Nigerians to fight for democracy
because, according to him, we were miserable. We all believed Kongi
when he told us that there indeed was another heaven called democracy.
We would all return from the hell that is life in Europe and America
and live like real human beings in our own country.

Democracy came and our friends got into power in Aso Rock and we
thought our prayers were answered. They have stolen so much money for
themselves, Abacha is now officially a saint. I am shocked. Not one of
them has offered me a penny of the loot. A few years ago, the late
President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua visited us in Washington DC and wanted to
meet with important Nigerians. There were not enough important
Nigerians to fill the hall of the embassy, so I was allowed to visit
Yar’Adua. I went with many business cards. This was my opportunity to
be sprung from the hell and damnation of grinding poverty in America.
Unfortunately several yeye Nigerians had the same great idea. Yar’adua
almost died from the hailstorm of business cards that were flung at
him. Nigerians have no shame. I am still here. I am now a very good
friend of President Jonathan Ebele Goodluck on Facebook. I “like”
everything he says on Facebook. I would like to be his Minister for
Facebook Affairs. I hope the great man comes for me before the end of
the month meets me in America.

The first ever
Korean Film Festival in Nigeria which started in Abuja, as part of the
Korean Embassy activities celebrating the 30th anniversary of Korea’s
diplomatic relationship with Nigeria, ended on the evening of Friday,
August 22 with a screening of the movie, Le Grand Chef (The Grand Chef).

During the
week-long festival, no fewer than 2000 Nigerians, members of the
diplomatic corps, and friends of Koreans resident in Abuja, were
treated to the best of Korean movies, carefully selected by the Korean
Cultural Centre for the delight of their guests.

Featured films

The festival, which
opened on Monday, August 16, and was attended by an average of two
hundred people in a day, featured films like ‘Take Off”, ‘Rough Cut’,
‘Hwang-Jin-Yi’, ‘The King and the Clown’ and Jeon Yoon-Soo’s acclaimed
‘Le Grand Chef’ which most of the audience described as the star film
of the festival.

The Grand Chef is a
culturally rich movie which tells the story of a special cooking knife.
The last Korean Royal Chef of the Chosun Dynasty, in brazen display of
his loyalty to his king and patriotism to his country, cut off his
right arm to avoid being forced to cook for the Japanese bureaucrat of
the time. Years later, deeply moved by the Chef’s conviction, the
Japanese decides to return the special knife to Korea, and to whoever
who deserves to own it.

To determine the
rightful owner of the royal knife, the bureaucrat’s son announces a
cooking contest to find the best cook for this knife. Thus, the
predestined cooking contests between two grandsons of the two
apprentices of the royal chef.

The high point of
the movie, which drew applause from the audience, is the manner in
which the movie uses food recipes to discuss such national issues as
internal democracy, as represented by the recipes the eventual and
rightful winner uses to cook the ‘secret king’s soup’ during the final
of the cooking contest.

The Korean Wave – Hallyuwood

America has
Hollywood, India has Bollywood, and Nigeria has Nollywood. Likewise,
Korea has its own ‘Hallyuwood.’ This newly-coined word combines the
meanings of the word “han (hal),” for Korea, and “ryu (lyu),” which
means ‘wave’. When these two Korean syllables are put together, it
gives us a new word meaning “Korean Wave.”

The Korean Wave is
a trend of increasing popularity for Korean pop culture, including
television dramas, films, and music in Asia and around the world. This
phenomenon began in the latter half of 1990s and is still growing and
spreading worldwide, including the Middle East and South America.

Some Korean TV
dramas have also been introduced to Nigerian audiences. “Jewel in the
Palace” aired on AIT; “The Painter of the Wind” is now being shown on
the same channel every Sunday morning; while “Winter Sonata” is also
being broadcast by the National Television Authority (NTA).

Silent motion
pictures were first introduced to Korea in 1903, and the first movie
with sound was produced in 1935. During the 1950s, the government made
great efforts to promote the film industry and later introduced a
screen quota system to ensure that domestically produced films had the
opportunity to be shown widely. In the 1960s, Korea witnessed its first
golden age of the film industry. After a setback in the 1970s caused by
the widespread penetration of television, the film industry rebounded
with even greater strength, thanks to increased investment by large
companies into film making and distribution in the 1980s. With the
emergence of young, talented film directors and the liberalisation of
the market, Korean movies began to occupy a major share of the domestic
market and Korean film exports started to grow. All these have laid the
foundation for the Korean Wave and the subsequent popularity of Korean
films all over Asia; and lately Africa and the rest of the world.

In his remarks at
the opening of the festival, the Korean Ambassador to Nigeria, Park
Young-Kuk said, “Korean films have developed on the strength of
incessant creativity, despite challenges from international film
markets like Hollywood. I hope you will be able to see and appreciate
the different styles and merits of Korean films, and enjoy what they
have to offer.”

A reward for friendship

As a means of
engaging the interest of festival goers, 20 Nigerians received various
prizes, ranging from Satellite TV decoders, wristwatches, footballs,
phones and other valuables as a reward for their friendship with the
Korean Embassy in Nigeria. One recipient, 28-year-old Amarachi Amunabu,
commended the Korean Cultural Centre for present and also commented on
the featured movies. “I have watched all of the five movies featured
and I must say that I am impressed at the quality of creativity and
positive projection of the ways of life of the Koreans. The quality
also is superb and commendable. I have always thought Asian movies are
all about kung fu. This is the first time I am watching a subject-based
Asian movie and I am very happy to have had the opportunity.”

In his speech, Suh
Jeong Sun, Director of the Korean Cultural Centre in Abuja, indicated
that the festival is to become a yearly event. “The Korean Film
Festival in Nigeria will hold every year. The 2011 edition will take
place in Lagos and Sierra Leone while the 2012 edition will return to
Abuja,” he said For Abuja residents whose interest may have been
sparked by the festival, Mr Sun had this announcement: “If you love
Korean movies, you can visit the Korean Cultural Centre’ studio every
first and last Fridays of the month for a free show of Korean movies.”

“There was an
Independence Trade Fair held on the grounds of what is now Bonny Camp
in Victoria Island and there was a pavilion for Art,” Bruce
Onobrakpeya, the doyen of the Nigerian art scene, recalls with
nostalgia. “Uche Okeke, Demas Nwoko and I decorated some of the other
pavilions,” he continues “and the works of the older artists like Ben
Enwonwu and Aina Onabolu were shown as well as those of us younger
artists.” Onobrakpeya was speaking to me a day after his 78th birthday
and at the National Museum, Onikan, Lagos, after the re-commissioning
of a new Murtala Mohammed Gallery in the Museum complex.

Interestingly, a
photography exhibition, ‘Nigeria Yesterday and Today’, made up of black
and white photographs of past leaders; traditional, civilian and
military, was hung on the walls surrounding the bullet-ridden black
Mercedes Benz car in which General Mohammed,then military Head of
State, was assassinated on his way to work in 1976.

For a National
Museum, the quality of most of the photographs displayed was
embarrassingly poor. Some of them had been digitally-treated and
re-copied; but all the same, this display speaks volumes of our lack of
depth in preserving and respecting our national archives. There were a
few excellently-conceived portraits; particularly from the military
regime eras; taken by the great photographer Peter Obe. By some quirk
of coincidence, the first photograph in the exhibition was that of a
distraught Oba Ovonramwen of Benin on a ship on his way to a
British-imposed exile in Calabar. This historic and world famous
photograph was taken in 1897 by Nigeria’s first master photographer,
Jonathan Adagogo Green of Bonny in now Rivers State. It is a shame that
the supposed custodians of our national archives do not know this fact.
Yet, it took two American Art-History professors, Anderson and Aronson,
to discover and identify Green’s body of extraordinary photographs in
the nineties!

Pockets of celebration

In Onobrakpeya’s view, the bullet-ridden car is not an appropriate commemoration of Murtala Mohammed as a leader.

“That car reminds
us of violence. There should be a more befitting monument to him like
they have done for leaders in Asia, Kenya and Ghana.”

How are we using
Art to celebrate Nigeria at 50, I ask him? “Whatever we are celebrating
in the Arts now has its beginnings in the Independence Art Exhibition,”
he explains. “Art in Nigeria has grown and developed because of the
resilience of the artists, sponsorship of patrons, emergence of Art
galleries, Art workshops like the annual Harmattan workshop and
government’s efforts like FESTAC ‘77 and more recently, ARESUVA. For
Nigeria at 50 there are pockets of celebration. The exhibitions of old
pottery and the re-commissioning of the Murtala Mohammed Gallery at the
National Museum Lagos is part of it. One would have wanted a central
focus that would be spread for a whole year. I suppose if you put all
the pockets of celebration together we will have a great celebration,”
he concludes.

Bolanle
Austen-Peters, MD of Terra Kulture, believes that Art is gaining more
relevance and the industry is vibrant. “We still need additional
government sponsorship and visibility. For all the money voted for the
celebration of Nigeria at 50, how much was allocated for the Arts? At
the last minute, a lot of charlatans will be used instead of creative
people with experience and know-how, so we will not have a meaningful
and significant input from the Arts in celebrating Nigeria at 50,”
Austen-Peters predicts.

Arinze, a
celebrated ceramics artist is emphatic. “I am not sure we are doing it
rightly,” he says. “There should have been an Art competition that is
juried after which there would be one big Art Exhibition opened by the
President. Artists were invited by the Nigerian government to hold an
Independence Art Exhibition in 1960. From this Exhibition came the
Society of Nigerian Artists (SNA) which has been in the forefront of
developing Art and artists in Nigeria.” Arinze, the Director of ArtZero
– a collective of artists that hold yearly exhibitions and participate
in group exhibitions and the Art Expo – knows the dynamics of the
present Art scene in Nigeria quite well.

It is heartening
that the Art community and artists are not waiting for government to
set the tune or show the direction in using the Arts to prominently
celebrate Nigeria at 50. In fact, evidence that government had no
clear-cut policy strategy for the role of the Arts in celebrating
Nigeria at 50 had been obvious for quite some time. As many artists
point out, plans for involving the Arts in celebrating Nigeria at 50
should have been rolled out more than a year ago.

Last minute efforts

There are ad hoc
and last minute official efforts to integrate the Arts into the huge,
planned celebrations. The idea of building a commemorative tower was
muted and unresolved. Various art groups and associations have been
asked to submit artworks, at their own expense and as late as
September, for an exhibition to be mounted at the National Stadium,
Abuja.

President of the
Guild of Fine Artists and a much respected painter, Efosa Oguigo is of
the opinion that the lack of commitment from government agencies in
planning a huge contribution from the Art community and artists, “will
make the forefathers of the SNA unhappy.” “Immediately after
Independence,” he points out, “the SNA was formed and the government
started to court them. That is why we have so much great art by
Nigeria’s best artists in our public spaces, government buildings and
government galleries.” He laments that plans to involve the Arts in
celebrating Nigeria at 50, “are disjointed because we just see concerts
of efforts. I would have thought that there would be a streamlined
thing that would have the punch it should have.”

It’s not that Nigeria at 50 just crept up unexpectedly and took
everyone unawares. We are notorious as a country for not planning well
ahead and being meticulous about detail. Amazingly, the Presidency and
the chambers and committee rooms of the National Assembly have many Art
works on their walls. Are we to believe that other more important
aspects of the celebration distracted the decision makers from seeing
these Art works on their walls and deem them fit to be part of
celebrating Nigeria at 50? Or is it just a subtle way of telling the
nation that Nigerian Art has not inspired them to greater levels of
appreciation? But then how many of our fifty-odd political parties have
policies for Arts and Culture in Nigeria?