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Mandela’s Bones

By Sam Omatseye

60pp; Kraft Book

Almost 20 years to the day he walked free through the gates of Robben
Island, the infamous penitentiary in which he was held for the better part of
27 years, Nelson Mandela is once more immortalised in verse by Sam Omatseye.

‘Mandela’s Bones and Other Poems’ is one of several collections of Nigerian
poetry written to celebrate the heroic struggles of the Madiba that would in
1994 put an end to apartheid rule and usher South Africa into the era of
multiracialism. Perhaps the first Nigerian volume in this regard is Wole
Soyinka’s ‘Mandela’s Earth and Other Poems,’ to be followed by J P
Clark-Bekederemo’s ‘Mandela’ and Ogaga Ifowodo’s ‘Madiba’.

‘Mandela’s Bones’ is a collection of 27 poems centred round a miscellany of
subjects. In this collection the poet sticks to the typical issues of Nigerian
poetry: politics, governance, the decay of infrastructure, social anomy and the
pathologies of being a Nigerian and living in Nigeria. But more importantly
this poetry is in one sense an affirmation of the transformative and redemptive
powers of individual exertion on behalf of society.

There is a tendency toward realistic portrayal of issues which would accord
with Omatseye’s approach in ‘Baby Ramatu’, his other collection, also recently
published. In ‘Ita-Oko’, the first poem subtitled ‘Awo Museum at Lekki’, the
poet ruminates on the welfarist and developmentalist legacy of Chief Obafemi
Awolowo as can be gleaned from the tales of skulduggery and cloak-and-dagger
politics of the First Republic told by the pictures, newspaper cuttings,
figurines and other memorabilia that adorn the walls of the museum that was
opened to the public in 2009.

The poet compares Awolowo’s detention
in this swampy, waterlogged, mosquito- and later crocodile-infested island by
the Atlantic to that of the slaves held in the same place by Lequi, the
Portuguese slaver after whom the island – now popularly corrupted to Lekki –
was named: ‘those who wove shadows like/wreaths over blood on the
horizon/brought you here/in chains echoing the chamber century past/of blacks
hemmed in pens for their colour…/in those days bars branded your limits/just as
chains defined the slaves/of master Lequi here at Lekki.’

While evoking Mandela’s detention at
Robben, this poem subtly calls attention to and compares Awolowo’s equally
heroic struggles to the kind Mandela embarked upon to bring freedom to South
Africa. Calling the detention island ‘Ita-Oko’, the awe-inspiring name by which
it came to be known among Nigerians having been turned by the military into its
favourite gulag- referring to the detention place by this name foregrounds the
poet’s attempt to bring to the reader’s consciousness the sheer inhumanity of
the detention and the apartheid-like treatment that was meted to one of the
modern founders of Nigeria right after the dawn of independence.

Thematically, ‘Ita-Oko’ is in sync with ‘Mandela’s bones’, the title poem in
which the poet affirms the primacy of individual will, expressed in diplomacy
and dialogue, as opposed to violence in the dethronement of apartheid. As he
avers: ‘It was silence/not guns/that brought Pretoria/to its knees//mute canon
fire/ like Mandela’s bones/did not need/lips of Roben Island…//so the armoury
did/ not need staccato arguments…/quietly it was language/wombed in the
Greeks/reborn in the enlightenment…’

This same theme of the catalytic power of individual effort on behalf of the
collective is sustained in ‘Tiananmen square’, China’s own ‘Freedom Square’ and
site of the violent suppression of the people power movement led by students in
June 1989. The poet takes a retrospective look at the events of that day even
as he salutes the courage of the anonymous man that stood before armoured tanks
unfazed by the awesome might of the military-backed communist regime. It is
biographical details such as this gives Mandela’s Bones that edge of historical
meta-fiction that lurks between the verses.

The subtext of this detailed recounting of the heroism of this and other
individuals, ‘private rebel’ for a just cause will seem an acknowledgment and
restatement of the time-hallowed verity of the ultimate triumph of good over evil.
The subversion of the early promises of the Nigerian nation as reflected in the
dreams of the ‘founding founders’ is the focus of poems such as ‘What the
prophet said’ and ‘Ibadan’.

In the former poem the poet paints a picture of contradiction presented by
those who lament the state of helpless deprivation in which Nigeria supposedly
languishes and the concrete evidence of nightly carousing in which ‘the whore
has her potion/the liar his profit/a party reels at every turn/every tomb hosts
a feast…’ In ‘Ibadan’ the poet laments the degeneration of this once-proud city
of pathfinders in which ‘history disables prophesy’ and where literally ‘the
thief became the/chief of our narratives’ (‘I should pray for you’).

This was the city of firsts that set the pace of development across Africa
but now reduced to virtual beggary and dilapidation with refuse-strewn streets.
Hostage-taking and armed militancy in the Niger-Delta are the concerns of
‘Kidnapper’ and ‘Bees and the beast’ while ‘This is our land’ affirms the right
and faith of Nigerians as stakeholders in the destiny of the country.

While the title poem seems spare and inadequate to carry the weight of the
entire collection, and enjambment as the most obvious feature of the poet’s
style is sometimes sloppy, Omatseye, now ‘In Touch’ and back to the ‘familiar
eaves’ of his home after years in exile, is the journalist-commentator and
chronicler of contemporary history who takes over the telling of the Nigerian
narrative from the thieves in our midst. Mandela’s Bones in its celebration of
individual heroism and sacrifice points in the direction of the ultimate
triumph of good over evil.

On Thursday, March 2010, the city of Abuja played
host to a special reading in memory of poet and art patron, the late Major
General Mamman Jiya Vatsa, former Administrator of the Federal Capital
Territory. The fiery soldier was implicated in an abortive military coup and
executed in March 5, 1986 by Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida’s military regime.

The reading was
organised by the Abuja Chapter of the Association of Nigerian Authors. Chair of
ANA Abuja, Seyi Adigun, explained that the celebration of Vatsa was borne out
of the need to ensure that those who have contributed to the development of
literature are never forgotten. Adigun added that Mamman Vatsa means a lot to
ANA Abuja and so, the need to have the special reading for him. “Mamman
Jiya Vatsa is the Patron Poet of ANA Abuja,” he declared.

Readings were
taken from some of the soldier-poet’s books. The event also featured a rich
discussion on the man, his visions, achievements and most importantly his
writings and contribution to literature and arts in Nigeria.

Vatsa, the
Soldier

Born on December
3, 1944, Mamman Vatsa enlisted in the Nigerian Army in 1962 and was
commissioned on February 9, 1964, at the age of 20. He attended various local
and overseas infantry and staff courses which embraced not only policy and
strategic studies, intelligence and security, but also equitation and physical
training and education.

He served as
instructor in the Nigerian Military School (NMS) and the Nigerian Defence
Academy (NDA) for several years; and was involved in Nigerian internal security
operations from 1965 to 1968, and during the Nigerian Civil War from 1967 to
1970.

Vatsa served as
Commander of many infantry brigades, as commandant of the Nigerian Army School
of Infantry (NASI), the country’s premier military training institution, and as
the Quartermaster General of the Nigerian Army. It was in his position as the
Governor (Military Administrator) of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, a
member of the Federal Executive Council, that he was implicated in a coup plot,
found guilty and executed.

Vatsa, the
Writer

There is a
diversity of opinion about the quality of Vatsa’s writing, but there is little
doubt he was a prolific one. He wrote many children books in English, Hausa and
Nupe. His books were used in primary schools all over the country. In 1974, he
won the first Prize in Poetry at the then North-Central State of Nigerian
Festival of the Arts; and in 1984, was awarded a gold medal by the Union of
Bulgarian Writers for his contribution to world literature.

Some of his
titles include: ‘Poems of Abuja’ and ‘Reach for the Skies’, two collections of
poems on and about the then budding city of Abuja. The building, the movement,
the beauties and attractions of Abuja were presented in what has become known
as the poetics of Vatsa. There is an unmissable show of patriotism that is
displayed in almost all of his poems. His other publications, numbering over 16
include: ‘Arise, Arise, My Country’ (a collection of poems on Nigeria, its
national symbols and people, as well as the War Against Indiscipline drive of
the Buhari/Idiagbon regime); ‘Back Again at Watergate’, ‘Nupe Children Rhymes’,
‘The Bird that Sings for Rain’ (a poetry collection for children); and ‘Tori
for don get K-leg’, one of his collections in Pidgin English.

Vatsa’s poems
appeared in many national and international journals and magazines; and his
plays have been broadcast over the Voice of Nigeria (VON) networks and the
Nigerian Television Authority (NTA).

Apart from his
military exploits and writing, Vatsa served as a member of three Nigerian
University Councils, and as Chairman of the Army Museum Committee.

Vatsa, the
Art Patron

Aside from his
literary endeavours and successful military career, which culminated in his
receiving the national honour of Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) in 1979,
another reason Vatsa remains a cult hero, and especially among writers and
artistes, is his love and support for the art. As recounted by the likes of Dr.
Eddie Iroh, Odia Ofeimun, and Ben Tomoloju at the reading, the late Vatsa’s
support for the arts was unmatchable. Denja Abdullahi recalled that, “As
far back as around the early 1980s, Vatsa made writers have good sense of
belonging. He treated writers like kings by going as far as conveying writers
across the nation in a private jet to and from convention venues. The 1985
convention in Abuja was in itself a memorable one for Nigerian writers who
attended it. Like a fellow writer, he threw his door open to writers across the
nation. Eating, dining and frolicking freely with writers. No military officer
or civilian head of government, for that matter has been that close to writers
[since]. They avoid us like lepers. They make promises and pledges to writers’
bodies that they never fulfil.”

Unarguably,
ANA’s one and only asset today is the 56 acres of land at Mpape, a suburb of
the Federal Capital in Abuja. Currently valued at about ₦4billion, the land was
a gift from the gallantry soldier to Nigerian Authors when he hosted the 1985
convention in Abuja. But for his untimely death, the massive piece of land
would have been developed into a state-of-the art writers’ village, as promised
by Vatsa. The land was only recently returned to the association (it had been
initially revoked for having not been developed for over 20 years) by a former
Minister of the FCT, Aliyu Modibbo Umar.

Today, several
military officers are writers, perhaps thanks to the inspiration of Mamman
Vatsa, who challenged military officers then to document their field
experiences through writing. He was reported to have sponsored the publication
of books by military writers, in addition to the publication of two anthologies
of poems by officers of the Nigerian Army, which he edited. One of such is
Colonel J.I.P. Ubah, author of ‘Song of Lokoja’.

Immortalising
Vatsa

Mamman Vatsa may
be long gone, but his meritorious service to the nation as a military officer,
love and support for the arts has given him victory over death, as he is today
held in high esteem. “We are not interested in the politics of his death.
The truth is that a coup is the very uncertain politics of military
governments. He may not have committed this offence in the first place. And
even if he [did], what matters to us is his contribution to humanity. And for
that, we shall forever honour him. May those who killed him not die
again,” said Abubakar Abdullahi, a writer and senior public relations
officer with the National Library of Nigeria.

For Kabura
Zakama, poet and aid worker, Mamman Vatsa deserved much more honour than
currently accorded him. “If he has done as much as I am hearing now. If we
appreciate his gesture in giving writers an asset worth N4billion, today; if
this man has encouraged the arts this much, then he deserves more… [ANA]
should show its appreciation to this great man in a more elaborate function, to
be held either as a posthumous birthday celebration or anniversary of his
death. I don’t care how, but we must celebrate this man.” Zakama,
popularly called ‘the Fulani poet’, also pleaded that the association contact
Vatsa’s family, and or, the publishers, to re-issue some of his poems and make
them available to the reading public.

Thus, it was
agreed that an elaborate event be organised in honour of the soldier-poet. In
view of these, the National Secretary of ANA, Hyacinth Obunseh revealed that
the association is putting plans together to hold an International Colloquium
in honour of Mamman Vatsa and Ken Saro Wiwa, next year.

Hall of Grace, the
biggest hall at Jogor Centre, Ibadan, was begging for crowd on Monday,
April 2, 2010. The 1,500 capacity hall was less than quarter-filled
about an hour into the 80th year birthday reception of Joop Berkhout,
founder of Spectrum Books, a publishing company, based in Ibadan. It was
not certain whether the low attendance was by design or it was due to
the festivity of the Easter Monday.

However, what the
organisers could not achieve in quantity, they did in quality. Those
gathered at the venue belong to the select group of the movers and
shakers in Nigeria’s socio-political and economic spheres. The list
includes seasoned politicians, successful entrepreneurs, renowned
writers and great achievers, and they all gathered to honour Mr.
Berkhout, an Ibadan-based publisher, whose 8oth birthday was March 31,
2010. Yakubu Gowon, retired General and a former Nigeria’s Head of
state, led the the scanty crowd that witnessed the birthday reception.

Commenced almost
an hour behind schedule, the reception’s high point, was when tributes
were paid to the celebrant. Many of his associates gave testimony about
Berkhout and his contribution to the publishing industry in Nigeria.
But, more striking was the fact that though not Nigerian by birth, he
wielded so much influence in the nation’s publishing industry, and has,
probably, done than any other stakeholder in the development of the
sector in Nigeria.

Poet Odia Ofeimun
said he was fascinated by the celebrant’s ability ‘to make other
people’s problems his own’ and strives to find solutions to them. The
poet praised Berkhout’s efforts in recording Nigeria’s history for the
posterity. “His role is to make books visible in Nigeria. A man who
defends books is a man who defends the right to record history,” Ofeimun
said as he acknowledged the publisher’s well versed knowledge of
Nigeria and its history.

For Kunle Ajibade
of The NEWS magazine, Mr. Berkhout is respected for his business acumen
and good human relations, adding that these qualities were responsible
for why he could stay in Nigeria for over four decades. He informed the
gathering that as soon as he was released from jail in 1998, Berkhout
was the first person to approach him; and persuaded him to write a book
on his experience in prison.

Earlier, a mass
was held in the honour of the celebrant at St. Richard’s Catholic
Church, Jericho, Ibadan. The service was led by Alaba Job, archbishop of
the Ibadan diocese. In his homily, Job charged to be faithful in all
they do. He urged them to always pray to God for his intervention in all
things. “We need the spirit of God to guide us. No one is too big to
pray. Let us learn to be faithful in a token so that we shall be counted
worthy for big things. We should be faithful to our neighbours and our
country,” he counselled as he rained eulogy on the celebrant.

Matthew Hassan
Kukah, fiery catholic priest, who delivered the message of Pope Benedict
XVI to the celebrant, remarked thus: “You must be a holy sinner for God
to allow you to attain the age of 80 years”.

Beyond the
perception of his father by the commentators, what marvels Frans,
professor and scion of the Berkhout dynasty, was Joop’s vibrancy which
often bellies his actual age. “He is a unique person on his own. He is
always busy. He never loses his energy and power. Even when he is old,
he does not lose his power,” Frans remarked.

Donald Duke,
former governor of Rivers State and chairman of the occasion at the
reception, supervised the cutting of the cake.

Born in Armsterdam, the Netherlands, at 23.59 hours on the March 31,
1930, Mr. Berkhout came to Nigeria in 1966, having been brought to the
country by Evans UK to open an office. He has since made tremendous
impact in the industry. His contributions have not only warmed him to
the hearts of many powerful Nigerians, it has also earned him the
national honour of Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON), Okun Borode
of Ife, a title conferred on him by Oba Okunade Sijuwade, Ooni of Ife,
amongst others. His experience in publishing spans almost five decades
and he started his own publishing firm, Spectrum Books, in 1978. After
seeing the company to the zenith in the industry, he sold it out in
2008, itching to retire. Now, he has reactivated Safari Books, which he
is running together with George, his adopted son.

HRH Chukwuemeka Ike was, and still is, one of the household
names in Nigerian literature. With books like ‘The Search’, ‘Our Children are
Coming’, ‘Expo 77′ and ‘The Bottled Leopard’, amongst many others, he has
established himself as a leading light, in the mould of Wole Soyinka, T.M.
Aluko, and Chinua Achebe.

He is currently the King of Ikedi-Nowu, in Anambra State, South
East, Nigeria. He spoke to NEXT on a number of issues.

Writing and Ruling

I have been a royal father for only one year. One very difficult
year, I must say. That is, grappling with my new role as a royal father in a
rural area. I am still running the Nigerian Book Foundation. I am still
writing. There is a project I have at hand now; the only problem is that it is
going to take me a longer time to accomplish, on the ground of these other
engagements. For as long as I am alive, I will never give up writing.

I don’t think there is a retirement age for writers. In this
country, government wakes up and retires people, but in creative writing,
nobody can retire anyone. Writing is one thing from which nobody can retire me.
At the age of 78, I still wake up by 5am in the morning, and go straight to my
study to write. So long as you are willing, you continue to write. Nobody can
stop you.

I have been gaining new experiences every year. Now that I am a
traditional ruler, it is opening up new doors for me. So, how can anyone now
say because I am 78 years, I can no longer put these ideas into writing, and
tell people what I have to tell the audience through them? I am happy that T.M.
Aluko recently demonstrated that you can still write, even at the ripe age of
ninety one (91years) and in fact, with his health condition. I have not seen
him for a long time, but I am aware that he had stroke sometimes ago. I retired
30 years ago at the age of 48, and I am still writing. My latest book came out
two years ago.

Nigerian Literature, then
and now

I am not surprised that situations change every now and then.
All this will of course rub off on Nigerian literature over some centuries. One
may notice changes in one area or ages and another. There was a time I was
worried about young people not being interested in prose fiction. Many of them
were becoming poets more than anything else. Not that poetry is easy to write,
but the demands are different from writing prose which expects you to create
human beings, create situations, and so on. However, I am happy those in recent
years, a lot of them, are now getting involved in prose.

I am not talking about the famous ones like Helon Habila,
Chimamanda Adichie, and a few others. There are a couple of them now, fresh
from [university] and some of them still undergraduates. One of them gave me
his book, which was self-published, to go through recently. One may want to
quarrel with certain things about the quality but then, the good thing is that
that are developing the interest, and it can only get better. I was given one
of such recently but I was disappointed at the number of errors, so I asked him
to give it to someone critical to help him look at it. That is where self-publishing
has its problem.

This probably takes us to the present state of our education. I
have these Youth Corp members who worked for me; the kind of errors you find in
what they write is a reflection of the sad situation of education in the
country. So, publishers must see that they take a good editorial look at books
that come out on their label. And for those who self-publish, I can’t condemn
them but would only pray that they ensure that they give their works to people
who can help them take a good editorial look at it before going on to get it
published.

Literary Prizes and the
independence of writers

There are various types of prizes. There are prizes which I
certainly will support. I received one in December. It is the National Order of
Merit. It gave me joy, not one that gives me worry. I have never met the
President before, neither have I sought any favours from him. This is something
given as Nigeria’s highest national [honour] for intellectual and academic
attainment. And this is something that is done by experts in the field.

If you are nominated, you submit 50 copies of everything you
have written to the Order of Merit secretariat. Mine was in the humanities. If
they think that you merit this award, they give it to you. And of course, there
is the Board of Trustees who must approve it. If you are nominated and you
don’t get it, that is it! You are never going to get a second chance, unless
you have done something really outstanding. That kind of award is honourable
and is something that should be encouraged.

Now, let’s take a look at the NLNG Prize, which is the most
expensive literature prize available for Nigerians. I commend what they are
doing, and I suggest that in addition, they should consider giving a lifetime
achievement award; or to institute something like the equivalent of a Nobel
Prize for Nigeria that writers of all ages could enter for.

However, I know that there are other prizes that are not worth
their hype, in fact they corrupt the society. Those that are based on merit
should be encouraged because what they do is encourage [and] recognise the
effort and excellence of their recipients and fire them [up] to do more. But if
there is any writer that allows his or herself to be conditioned or compromised
by some kind of literary prize or awards, such writer is not worthy [of being]
called a writer because, a writer should be an independent, conscientious and
upright person.

Literature, the writer
and nation building

A writer is a social critic who all his/her life has been trying
to rebrand his/her country. Though you don’t call it that big name or go about
telling people that is what you are doing, but when you are talking about
corruption and other social ills, condemning and proffering solution for a
better society, what you are doing invariably is contributing to nation
building. Then, the rebranding thing. It really beats me the way they do these
things. I was drafted to be chairman of a conference on corruption,
transparency and accountability in Abuja.

It turned out that the chairman of the occasion did not turn up
and I was drafted to be the stand-in chairman. In my remarks, I told them that
the rebranding project is not beaming its searchlight where is is meant to. How
do you say you are fighting corruption, when the same government is protecting
corrupt people? The National Assembly, the political powers, and the public
officer holders, how many of them were really elected into office, if not by
corrupt means? It is clearly known that the political parties are rooted in corruption,
and so that deserves some attention. It is not enough to just put the
photographs of Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe and the rest on buses. No! Though it
shows that they recognise them, but it does not necessarily change anything.
Nigerian writers deserve much more than that because we are the real image
makers for this nation.