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It was his
spontaneous chuckle, which always graduated into a warm smile, that I
always remember of Matthew Faji. That I did not know that Matthew Faji
had died and been buried, is a sad indictment of how well the present
generation of editors of national newspapers know those, particularly
photographers, who have contributed so much to build and strengthen
what is now called ‘the new journalism’ in Nigeria. As one of his many
genuine admirers, Nkanu Egbe, said to me recently, “Matthew Faji’s
death should have been front-page news. He was a national treasure in
print journalism!”

It was a call to
another great friend, ‘younger brother and journalistic supporter’ of
Faji, Wole Olaoye, himself recuperating from an accident, that informed
me that Faji had been buried. And it was indeed sad that Olaoye, who
had made me know Faji and his body of work much better, broke the
terrible news.

I knew Matthew Faji
was ill and down. I had spoken with him; he sounded low in spirit, his
voice was weak and, I had promised to call him again. I had lost touch
with him and had last visited him at Oregun, at his Newswatch office
some years back. 2010 being a very special year for Nigeria, I had been
approached by a Frenchman and Swiss lady who were respectively
collecting photographic images for politics and fashion projects on
Nigeria at 50. I automatically recommended Matthew Faji as one of the
best sources for such archival photographic images on Nigeria. With the
help of Olaoye and Dan Agbese in particular, I was able to get the
phone number of Faji’s son who in turn put me in touch with his father,
Matthew.

In 1995, when Jide
Adeniyi-Jones, Don Barber, and myself were considering ‘veteran’
photographers of professional repute to invite to become protem
president of the Photographers’ Association of Nigeria-PAN – an
umbrella body for photographers from all genres – we decided to
approach Faji, Peter Obe, and Okhai Ojeikere. Faji was friendly in
turning down our offer, but that did not diminish the respect we had
for his huge body of work and immense contributions towards
strengthening the standard and quality of photographic work in print
journalism in Nigeria.

Master photographer

Matthew Faji was a
master photographer. His forte was documentary and news photography,
and his favoured medium was medium format black and white celluloid
film, working mostly with a twin-reflex camera.

I personally
considered him then, and now, as the father of magazine photography in
Nigeria. With the older Peter Obe as the doyen of newspaper photography
in Nigeria, the duo of Obe and Faji can be classified as the fathers of
print journalism photography in Nigeria. They definitely were not the
first, but were unquestionably both amongst the very best and had long
and very impressive careers in terms of magnificent and memorable
visual outputs.

In the 90s, Faji
was making a sort of comeback in that he was encouraged to dig into his
bank of characteristic strong and gripping images and offer them for
publication in the Plume, the in-flight magazine of ADC Airlines. He
had earlier made his name and earned professional respect and accolade
as a photographer with the Nigerian franchise of the original South
African magazine, Drum.

I called Olu
Obafemi, who had joined the Drum group as an Assistant Editor of Trust,
back in 1975. He was unaware that Faji had died, and of course
devastated by the sad news. He recalled that Faji was the Chief
Cameraman of the Drum group when he joined and, to him, “Matthew Faji
was photography!”

“Each time Faji
went out on assignment,” Olu Obafemi continued, “he came back with so
many excellent photographs that all the editors would be full of
admiration and they had difficulty choosing what photographs to use.
His photographs were always full of surprise!”

What were some of
his favourite Faji photographs, I asked Obafemi? “One of the greatest
was at Ikenne, during an interview with Awolowo. Awolowo was talking
and he and the editor had forgotten that Faji was around. Then
suddenly, Awolowo threw a long-range punch demonstrating the kind of
punch he was going to give his political opponent, and Faji captured
the famous Awo punch. This was in 1976-77. The other was during FESTAC
’77. A group of dancers from Southern Africa were performing on stage
and suddenly they made a move and Faji captured a stunning photograph
showing a row of their bare buttocks. My third favourite was a
photograph he took when we were interviewing Major Ademoyega of the
first-coup fame. Faji caught the moment when Ademoyega suddenly pointed
at something.”

Action photographs

What made Faji such
a great photographer? “Faji captured events in details that are
frightening,” Obafemi explained. “He was never in a hurry, and he never
removed his eye from the lens throughout an interview, however long,
and he put the interviewee at rest. Yet, he was ready when the action
happened. He had great action photographs of Ahmadu Bello, Zik, and
Awo. Like the photograph of the bare-bottomed women dancers, there were
16 other photographers there but only Faji got that critical shot!”

How does Obafemi
rank Faji? “In photography, I place Faji on a pedestal a little higher
than Obe. Obe had success. Faji was exceptional. He was full of
surprises we all could not expect, and he had the knack for taking that
moment’s action that always told the story.”

I always believed
that in many ways Matthew Faji was a bit too quiet and self-effacing.
He underplayed his great talent and the value of his masterpieces. Olu
Obafemi in turn believes that Faji “was shy.”

Way back in 1977,
Faji had shown Obafemi over 2,000 of his photographs and they had
decided to do a book from them, but they got no sponsors. They were to
revisit the project many times decades later and again, could not
source sponsors.

Matthew Faji had
gone on to work with the weekly news magazine, Newswatch, where he
contributed immensely with his photographic images and was a source of
inspiration and knowledge for the younger photographers there.

He may have been withdrawn in life, but his creative and powerful
images will forever testify that Matthew Faji was indeed a master, and
one of Nigeria’s greatest photographers. Definitely top ten!

Why Art?

I came into art by
divine arrangement. I didn’t study art. I dreamt about it. I had two
significant dreams about 15 or 16 years ago. In one of the dreams, I
encountered a man using artwork on (his) floor. I mentioned it to my
friend who disagreed and called me a bush man. We pointed this out to
the man, who then said, ‘For the fact that you came here for the first
time and discovered that this is an art piece,’ he picked one and
handed over to me. I woke up and discovered the flair for me to draw.
This was 1993.

Training

I am basically
self-taught. When I was in school I used to draw but it was not
professional. After the initial set of commissioned works, I got close
to big time artists. I would invite them to come and critique my works.
I then build on the criticism.

Medium

I visited one of my
cousins, who was working on the medium called bone collage, using cow
horn. He gave me one of his old machines and I decided to be an artist.
I would go to abattoir, buy cow horns, clean it, segment it, cut it
according to the commissioned work and they buy. That time I was
working on purely bone. (Later), I elevated the bone to a graven art. I
am the only artist that has been able to elevate bone work, which is
craft, to what I call ‘graven art.’ Graven art is a medium (using) bone
and other materials. I incorporate other materials like sand, sawdust,
anything that people throw away, I pick them. I can even call myself a
recycler, I recycle waste. My mediums are bone collage, mixed media and
I have started painting.

Influences

I respect all the
masters of Nigerian art that have been able to elevate art to this
level, where other people come to benefit from.

Inspiration

Most of it comes in
dreams; some come when I’m talking with people. Inspiration comes
sometimes from what is going on in the country: some of my works
criticise government. What I see is what I put down in the visual form.

Best work so far

I don’t think I’ve
been able to come up with any. My best is yet to come. Maybe ‘The
Blood.’ Each time I do the work, people will come and as soon as I
explain (the work) they will buy. I have stopped doing versions of the
painting and I have only one now which I have refused to sell.

Least satisfying work

Do I know? It is
the people that will say that, not me. I keep improving every day. I
used to do only Christian-based works, but I discovered along the line
that I can’t limit myself, I have to be free; but there are some works
that I cannot do.

Career high point

I’ve been an artist
for close to 20 years now. The first newspaper that carried me, do you
know that I did not sleep throughout the whole night, because I was
surprised that, so, I can appear in the paper! I was also scared and
happy to be interviewed on live television by the late Fred Archibong.

Favourite artist living or dead

I give respect to
all the masters: Bruce Onobrakpeya, Yusuf Grillo and the contemporary
ones. They are the ones that have been able to path a good way for
people like us to follow.

Ambitions

I am trying to do a
solo show. There are a lot of modalities and input that I have not been
able to get a particular date and venue. As a family man, I mix art
with other things, but all (are) art related. What I’m looking at is to
have a solid group of artists that have been able to take the work of
art from a certain point to a higher point.

The massive three
piece bungalow on No 1, Queen Idiah Street, off Yakubu Gowon street,
was before now, one of many structures scattered across the length and
breadth of the nation’s capital that have for years been unoccupied,
because they are not readily affordable for those who have need for
them.

Therefore, when the
compound suddenly came alive on Saturday, April 24, 2010, courtesy of a
two-week art exhibition and workshops organised by Iroko Arts and
Lifestyles, it must have been some sort of relief for residents of the
Asokoro area of the city. The exhibition tagged ‘Evolving Currents,’
with the theme ‘Perspective on 50 Years of Contemporary Nigerian Visual
Arts’, opened with much razzmatazz.

A Grand Opening

It was a grand
opening which drew participation from far and wide. Nigerians and
foreigners who are great lovers of arts, turned out in large number to
witness the event. Those in attendance included the Ambassadors of
Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Hungary and Finland; a delegation from the US
embassy, Canadian High Commission and USAid. Frank Okonta (President of
the Art Galleries Association of Nigeria), artist Kolade Oshinowo, Tola
Wewe (artist and Commissioner for Arts and Culture in Ondo State),
Richmond Ogolo, and UWA Usen (National President, Society of Nigerian
Artists). Also present were Princess Folashade Adeyemi – daughter of
the Alafin of Oyo, Oba Adeyemi III (representing the monarch), and
Yinka Kola-Abiola, mother of Sururat Omolabake Kola-Abiola.

“The aim of this
exhibition is to examine the changing tides of Nigerian Art. It seems
almost a misnomer to label it Nigerian, as this suggests some inherent
homogeneity. Instead, it was interesting to see how the artists
self-defined by region and ethnic grouping,” Tosin Onile-Ere Rotimi
said in her opening speech. She added that Nigerian artists though
appeared to be less politically inclined than their Francophone
counterparts, not as a result of historical censorship, but rather as
part of the ‘look on the bright side’ mentality prevalent here. “Having
said that, Tunde Soyinka, Lucy Azubuike, Prince Momoh are all serious
social commentators, as is Nduwhite.”

The exhibition
received positive comments by artists, art collectors, regulators and
other stakeholders in the industry. For Richard Ogolo, Vice President
of the Arts Gallery Association, it is a remarkable initiative. “You
have opened up an entire new market and new possibilities” he said,
while the Abuja based Millicent Osumuo, one of the exhibiting artists,
described the exhibition as a rare opportunity “for upcoming Nigerian
artists to have the required exposure.”

With works by 50
artists on display, exhibition showcased fifty years of Nigerian arts.
The show cut across different generations of artists and periods in
Nigeria’s history. Included were the works of the legendary Bruce
Onabrakpeya, Nduwhite Ndubuisi, Millicent Osumuo, Yusuf Grillo, Twins
Seven Seven, Abiola Idowu, Jimoh Braimoh, Tola Wewe, Braimoh Gbadamosi,
Tayo Olayode John, Lexie Nzekwe, Nike Davies Okundaiye, Rahmon Oluguna,
Reuben Ugbine Phillips, and Sam Ovraiti. The exhibition explored
different media including painting, sculpture, ceramics/pottery, pop
art photography, video, and installations which showcased the
incredible talents in Nigeria and a positive side of our country,
Nigeria.

Free Workshop for Children

Concerned about the
dearth of art education in our schools today, the organisers decided to
include as part of the exhibition, a free art workshop for school
children. Facilitated by Rahmon Olugunna, a second generation Oshogbo
artist, the workshop enjoyed tremendous success as schoolchildren and
those brought along by their parents, joined in.

The workshop,
organised in memory of Sururat Omolabake Kola-Abiola, was something of
a page turner. Many of the children enjoyed their exposure to art and
wanted more of such opportunities.

According to Tosin
Onile-Ere Rotimi, the workshop was designed principally for those
schools where art is no longer taught, or not taught in a sustained
manner. “The workshops are being voluntarily facilitated by exhibiting
artists who are coming from all over the country. The central theme of
the workshop is ‘Jos Stop’, in reference to the Jos Crisis, where
statistics show that children were the principal victims,” explained
the director of Iroko Ats and Lifestyles. On Saturday May 1, Nduwhite
Ndubuisi, an ‘installationist’, and supported by Millicent Osumuo,
guided students of Cherryfield College in Abuja as they created a mass
grave using the swimming pool and newspaper cuttings. Explaining the
concepts, Ndubuisi explained that the concept of this site specific
installation represents the mass grave in Jos. “We make them speak for
the crisis in Jos, speak up for the children and women whose lives were
sniffed out carelessly. We use papers because we expect the media to
amplify the voice of these children,” said the artist.

Tales by Moonlight

The exhibition also
featured an evening of readings, storytelling, wining and dining. The
organisers chose to add a touch of African lifestyle and cuisines by
providing a platform for exhibiting artists and other art lovers to
exchange ideas, read poems, and tell stories with the help of undiluted
palm-wine and suya till late evening at the exhibition ground.
Ndubuisi, who is also a poet, entertained his colleagues and other
guests to the best of poetry in performance and storytelling.

The Historical Essence

A catalogue that
collates artists and works from 1960 to date and which crosses borders
in terms of generation, gender, and genre, is expected out soon as a
product of the workshop. Images in the voluminous catalogue will be
organised in alphabetical order, according to the names of the artists,
unlike in the exhibition where works were displayed by genre. The book,
titled ‘Evolving Currents’ will examine, for example, the Oshogbo
school, the Bruce Onabrakpeya factor, naturalism, postmodernims and the
metamorphosis of sculpture. It will also also include a spotlight on
Bisi Fakeye, student and nephew of Lamidi Fakeye, whose style
transcends his Yoruba heritage and moves beyond traditional
Yoruba/African sculpture.

Evolving Currents was on display from April 24 to May 8.

People love being
appreciated and Siji is no different. Though he isn’t yet a mainstream
musician, he is glad people responded warmly to his recent show at
Jazzhole, Lagos. “It only served to confirm my belief that there is
plenty of room for an alternative music scene here. The love they
(audience) showed was overwhelming, it was a beautiful thing,” he
recalls.

But I couldn’t
resist telling him that hip hop – rather than his, Ade Bantu, Beautiful
Nubia and Nneka’s kind of music – appears to be the rave among youth.
“We are a bit on the fringe because people in the media have yet to
show us any love. The media dictates popular taste. If you guys get on
board, everybody follows,” he replies.

Nonetheless, he has
been busy on the performance circuit; collaborating with other artists,
and using the Internet to reach out to people. He is also on a
promotional tour of West Africa. He has shows coming up in Abuja and
Ghana amongst other places. “I’m reaching out to people and planting
the seed. In the next year or two, I’ll be looking for key concerts all
over the continent. Nigeria turns 50 this year, I have a few shows that
I have lined up to do [mark] that. I have some work with Wunmi in
Ghana, the World Cup in South Africa is about to start, I intend to be
there and do some shows. Guerrilla style promotional tour; have voice,
will travel.”

Traditional artist

He featured a
recital of his oriki (lineage praise poetry) by his father on ‘God
Given’, his debut album. He explains why. “That was his way of giving
me his blessing. Initially, I didn’t get a lot of support as an artist.
I had to be an engineer first before I could be an artist. I studied
mechanical engineering and once I had my degree, I took off my hat and
plunged into music. The oriki track was very popular amongst people in
the Diaspora, especially among the non Yoruba speaking people. The
funny thing is that we are going through a generational change, I can’t
recite my oriki. It’s a beautiful thing that I recorded it on tape so I
can pass it down to my children and children’s children.”

The musician’s dad
also opened his show at Jazzhole with his oriki. “Beautiful thing to
have done and I captured it for posterity. I’m a firm believer in the
fact that if we don’t keep the language of culture intact, overtime, we
will lose it and I see that happening already. I see little kids who
grew up here, who were born here who can’t speak a word of Yoruba and
it saddens me because you have the funny feeling that in a few years,
in a few generations down the line, the culture would have probably
vanished if we are not careful.”

Afro Soul

Though it is easy
to call his music folk music, Siji says it is actually ‘Afro Soul’. “It
is soul music at its core level but it’s heavily influenced by African
rhythm. It took me some time… I only started singing in Yoruba
recently. I was working with a great producer in New York and he
inspired me to start singing in my language. We did the cover song
‘Irinajo’ and that turned out to be a huge hit and really got me
thinking that wow, I need to begin to showcase my ethnicity more than
ever in my songs. It’s been an ongoing quest. I think I’ve found my
groove, I’ve found a comfortable medium within which to showcase my
ability, be it the instrumentation or the lyrics. I think I’ve found a
comfortable balance and I call it Afro Soul.”

Talking drum and
horns, he explains, are vital components of his music because, “When I
write music, the rhythm comes to me first. The talking drum itself is a
very tonal instrument. It’s a deep instrument; you can say a lot of
things with it. It’s been very helpful in anchoring that African rhythm
thing I’ve been trying to infuse my music with. And the horns of
course, you can’t go wrong with horns.”

Music and Engineering

Though he holds a
first degree and masters in Mechanical Engineering, Siji had always
been in love with music. “I found the perfect opportunity to satisfy my
musical curiosity while studying for my Engineering degree. They had a
grand piano in one of the theatres and I was always on it trying to
figure out sound. I taught myself how to play the piano while studying
for my degree, so it was only a matter of time. I guess the seed was
planted early while studying for my mechanical engineering degree.”

He hasn’t been
surviving solely on music, however. “The funny thing is that my
Mechanical Engineering degree has been an asset to me. I consult during
the down times in my music career; I was able to sustain myself by
consulting as an architecture draughtsman. My degree has always been an
asset, it’s never been a liability.”

The bachelor
reveals why his second album is self titled. “It’s a full portrayal of
where I stand as an individual and as an artist. If you noticed, a lot
of my musical pieces are autobiographical in nature, everything I sing
about are felt experiences on the one hand, opinions about life and
things. All my personal experiences I put them into my music. So,
‘Adesiji’ is a full portrayal of where I am today as an artist and an
individual.”

He is happy that
the album is “a great progression from where I was with the first
album. The African thing is at the forefront in my music now.” The
album includes tracks like ‘Morenike’,’ Irinajo’ and ’Enia Dudu’ The
artist who unwinds by cooking, travelling, walking and loves
photography, clarifies that ‘Morenike’ isn’t about a former or present
lover. “It is about the name itself. If I have a daughter, I will name
her Morenike because I‘ve always loved the cadence of that word. I
wrote it from that perspective. I’m not a father yet but I pray to one
day have a baby daughter I will call Morenike.”

Yearning for home

He made ‘Yearning
For Home’, his first ever video because “My friend had been telling me
I need to cut a video for my music. When he heard my second album he
said it’s like you have built the Empire State building but you haven’t
put any elevator in it. So, I listened to the record and I felt
‘Yearning For Home’ will be a perfect vehicle with which to tell a
particular story; my wanting to look at my ancestral homeland. It has
awakened my interest in video and one day, I would love to shoot a
movie or documentary. Getting behind the camera to direct my own work
opened the world of film to me.”

The proprietor of
Ivy Records draws inspiration from everyday people and everyday living
and has resolved to use “Nigeria as the backdrop for my next project.”
People he looks up to musically include Marvin Gaye, Miles Davis, Al
Green, John Coltrane, Fela, Haruna Ishola and Fatai Rolling Dollar.

Siji unwinds by cooking, travelling, and walking. He also loves photography.