Nigeria Content Online

Debut novelist
Chimeka Garricks has given the first reading of his book, ‘Tomorrow
Died Yesterday’ at the Rainbow Book Club on Saturday, March 27.
Moderated by Amie Emmanuel-Georgewill, the event held at the Le
Meridian Hotel in Port Harcourt.

Garricks’ novel
tells the story of four friends who grew up under varying circumstances
in the oil-rich Niger Delta. It explores themes of love, kidnapping and
militancy as well as conspiracy and murder, using locations from the
fictional coastal town of Asiama to the bustling city of Port Harcourt.
Also examined is the role played by government, the oil giants in the
face of the people’s struggle for resource control and self
determination.

“I wanted to write
a love story,” said Chimeka when asked about the motivation behind
‘Tomorrow Died Yesterday’. The love story ended up being coloured by
the frustration felt by the author about the rise of militancy in the
Niger Delta struggle. The time of writing coincided with the exodus of
expatriates working in the petroleum industry from Port Harcourt.
According to Garricks, the story naturally evolved, imbibing all the
elements in his immediate environment.

“I’m a Port
Harcourt boy,” was Chimeka Garrick’s response to a question by Rainbow
Book Club founder, Koko Kalango, on his background. His answer, a
refrain from Duncan Mighty’s popular song of the same title, elicited
an appreciative applause from the book reading audience. The author
described himself as a lawyer by day, writer by night and football
fanatic at the weekend. An autograph session followed the well
atttended reading.

The Rainbow Book
Club (RBC) organises quarterly book readings for its members featuring
guest authors in Port Harcourt. Some of the of high profile authors who
have graced the readings include: Uwem Akpan, author of ‘Say You’re One
of Them’ and; Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani, author of ‘I Do Not Come to You
by Chance’, which won of the Commonwealth Prize for Best First Book
(Africa Region) in 2010.

The club has announced that its book-of-the-month for April is
‘Tenants of the House’ by Wale Okediran, former President of the
Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA); and former member of the Federal
House of Representatives, now running for the Senate. The date for the
RBC reading featuring Okediran will be announced in due course.

Kunle Ayo is a
welcome breath of fresh air in Nigerian-South African international
cultural relations. He belongs to the second wave of a prominent
minority of Nigerians who in the turbulent waters of South Africans’
seeming anti-foreigners-sentiments; have kept their heads high and
proud whilst contributing immensely in enriching socio-cultural life in
the Rainbow Nation.

Kunle Ayo is
definitely not as prominent and revered nationwide in South Africa as
the Nigerian academic-cum-actor and advertising pin-up, Kole Omotosho;
or his famous son Akin, the TV series-actor. Neither is he as popular
as Nigerian footballers like Idah Peterside and Okpara who became
household names and were hero-worshiped in the vibrant big-money South
African Football League. Nonetheless, Ayo is ‘creeping-up’ and growing
in acceptance. Musically, he belongs to the second generation of
Nigerians who have impacted the South African music scene, though with
a difference. In the eighties, Nigerian keyboards- star Gboyega Adelaja
was a member of music icon Hugh Masakela’s band that performed around
the world while producing international hit albums.

Kunle Ayo, a
guitarist, is more involved in becoming a recognised brand on the
current South African music scene. When Adekunle Ayodeji Odutayo got to
South Africa he discovered that the people could not pronounce his
surname, so he started using the new name of Kunle Ayo, “which is
easier for South Africans to pronounce” and “is becoming a household
name.”

Starting out

He picked up the
guitar in 1992 and started playing with Ebenezer Obey at Decross. He
played with the band in church, at shows and on Obey’s first two Gospel
albums. Ayo credits Niyi Adams, a multi-instrumentalist and the Musical
Director of the Obey/Decross band, for his own musical progress.
Between 1993 and 1996, Ayo took time out to study Accountancy at the
Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro. He went back to music, working with The
Compassion Band of the Little Saints Orphanage in Palmgrove, Lagos
owned by Dele George (wife of navy captain, Jide George); a source of
income for the Orphanage, raising funds by playing at dinner parties
and concerts. The other members of the Compassion Band were Bright Gain
on bass, Sam Ibe drums, Philip George keyboards and Uncle Dan as lead
guitarist. After three-year with the Compassion Band, Ayo joined
Lagbaja in 2000; he toured Europe and Brazil (2002) with the masked
musician.

The guitarist
embarked on his own album project in 2002, and went to South Africa for
its finishing and release (Universal SA). He describes this first album
as “instrumental Gospel tunes because of my influences. My father is a
Reverend who relocated to the U.S.A. in 1991 and is back in Nigeria
now. The album was heavily gospel but instrumentally jazzy and South
Africans liked it!” His second album, ‘Beyond the Borders’, won the
2004 KORA Award for Best Male Artist from West Africa. Femi Kuti won
the same award in 2003.

Kunle Ayo describes
his music as, “very jazzy, very soulful and very youthful. A fresh
sound people really enjoy.” He went to South Africa, “because of the
long and huge jazz tradition there.” He is definitely right about that
country’s long and outstanding jazz tradition that has produced
international stars like Dollar Brand, Dudu Pukwana, Johhny Dyani and
Louis Moholo, to name just a few.

Ayo further
justifies his move south by asking, “In Nigeria these days, how many
[artists] are jazz musicians that are big? It’s more of hip hop than
jazz.! Know your Jazz

So, how can
Nigerians come back to jazz? “By educating the media to know what jazz
is about. Before you say you want to write about jazz, what do you know
and what do you want to know about a genre of music that is sacred and
unique? Jazz is the mother of all musical genres. Unfortunately in
Nigeria, jazz is also connoted to mean going to a juju or medicine
man!”Ayo replies.

What can Nigeria
learn from South Africa in the sphere of music? “Too much. First, is
the love of art as a form of expression. To know how to appreciate the
art form of music and being able to improvise on it,” Ayo explains,
adding that “South Africans love their own people. They have a word,
ubuntu, which means humanity; human enough to tolerate others. South
Africa doesn’t necessarily have a lot of nightclubs. However, the
system enables people to function easily. You can stay at home and hear
good quality music on the radio. The deejays on the radio stations will
go look for great music old or new in all genres. And when you go out…
you will find… live music you will enjoy. In Nigeria people want the
musicians to play what they know.”

Best of Both Worlds

Was it easy to
break into the South African music scene? Kunle Ayo is quite candid.
“It wasn’t easy. I had my days of being seen as a foreigner. People
didn’t understand my music. Where is he from, they would ask. Nigeria
doesn’t have a great name in South Africa because the first Nigerians
that went to South Africa were into drug dealing. It wasn’t easy but
because of my passion and tenacity I kept on and over time they started
listening to my sound.” How was your sound different? “I write Yoruba
songs and Yoruba melody. Melody is influenced by your area and what
type of music you listened to. I grew up and lived in Lagos, so I had
to adjust to their sounds in South Africa and fused them with more of
my own. This is what I have achieved in my new album, ‘Best of Both
Worlds’.” Who are Kunle Ayo’s favourite guitarists? “People like George
Benson, Pat Metheny, Earl Klugh, Jonathan Butler, and Norman Brown
helped me find my voice.” What about style? “My style is crossover and
heavy fusion. I can play juju music like Ebenezer Obey, smooth jazz
like George Benson and bebop jazz like Wes Montgomery. I am a junkie
for speed on the guitar, and because of that, I like Montgomery and
Benson a lot. I also like a little of Jimi Hendrix and getting to know
more of his music.”

Kunle Ayo was in Nigeria recently to play at the Lagos Polo Club
with his Nigerian band, “offering quality music” as he put it. Whilst
here, his cover version of Joromi enjoyed a lot of airplay in the
run-up to Victor Uwaifo’s birthday. He believes the Nigerian music can
move forward and progress. “Our boys are trying hard and I hope they
will take serious music seriously and with passion.” Meanwhile Ayo,
unquestionably a good guitarist strives at jazz concerts and on records
to be a deservedly great and original guitar voice.

The Nigerian Idol
finale was recorded last Saturday at the Dream Studio on Bamako Street,
Omole, Lagos. The pre-recording, which was compered by comedian Tee-A,
started with a musical performance by Reeta, a singer largely unknown
to the studio audience. She performed an untitled song that sounded
like a fusion of soul, pop rock and reggae. The CEO of Optima Media
Group, the producers of Nigerian Idol, Rotimi Pedro was then called on
stage to make a speech. He talked briefly about how and why his company
obtained the franchise. “The Idols franchise is a global brand and
Nigeria deserves to be part of it that is why we wanted the Nigerian
Idol and not something for West Africa or Africa,” he said. He also
mentioned that the Nigerian Idol website had up to 7.5 million hits
during the course of the show.

The CEO of
Etisalat, main sponsors of the TV show, Stephen Evans also came up to
speak. He thanked the co-sponsors – Cadbury, Sony and Pepsi – and
mentioned that his company would love to continue sponsoring the Idol
franchise in Nigeria as it is the biggest musical reality show in the
world.

As part of a build
up to the main recorded show, there was a performance by Kele Kele Love
singer, Tiwa Savage, who first dedicated the song ‘Natural Woman’ by
Aretha Franklin to the two finalists, before singing her own hit.

Sponsors Idol

Tee-A then invited
representatives from three of the sponsoring companies, Royal Exchange
Assurance, Cool FM and Etisalat to come and perform in what he termed
the Sponsors Idol. Royal Exchange Assurance was represented by the same
dance group that performed on their TV advert while OAP Joyce was
called up for Cool FM and a staff from Etisalat, Gerald represented his
company.

The dancers
re-enacted the same dance-routines from the advert before giving an
original performance which earned them loud cheers from the audience.
Joyce wowed the audience with an acapella version of ‘Heard it through
the Grapevine’ by Marvin Gaye; which she sang in her beautiful alto.
The loudest ovation, however, went to Gerald who brought the house down
with his rendition of ‘Hello’ by Lionel Richie.

Tee-A then
announced that Sponsors Idol was actually a serious one with a prize
involved. The winner as chosen by the studio audience would go home
with a 42 inch Sony Bravia TV Set. However, the audience was unable to
conclusively decide between Gerald and the dancers from Royal Exchange,
forcing Tee A to declare a tie.

Top 13

The main recording
eventually started with the usual introduction of the hosts Annis
Holloway and Misi Molu followed by the judges Audu Maikori, Jeffrey
Daniels and Yinka Davies. The Top 13 contestants on the Nigerian Idol
were then invited on stage for a rendition of the National Anthem. The
first guest artist for the main recording was Banky W who sang his
popular hit, ‘Strong Thing’.

Clips from the show
which focused on the whackiest of the auditioning contestants, and
bleeps by the hosts and judges playing silly were then shown, to the
amusement of the audience. The contestants apart from the two finalists
Yeka and Naomi then came on stage again to perform Black Eyed Peas’ ‘I
Got a Feeling’.

After their song,
host Annis announced that one of the Top-Thirteen, Ola had won the
Pepsi Idol. The Pepsi Idol was based on online votes on the Nigerian
Idol website. Along with the gifts which the general gift for all
contestants (iPads and boxes of Tom Tom amongst others), Ola would also
get to go on a trip to South Africa with the top three finalists, Yeka,
Naomi and Emma.

The audience also
got to watch a recording of a song written by one of the judges Jeffrey
Daniels in tribute to the victims of the tsunami in Japan. Prior to
coming to Nigeria, the former Shalamar bandmember had made his home in
Japan. The song titled ‘Nigeria cares-Nigeria to Japan’ was performed
by Annis Holloway, the Top 13 finalists and two other contestants, Toun
and Godson.

Christy Essien-Igbokwe

Then came a
performance by former Idols West Africa Winner Timi Dakolo who sang one
of his singles, ‘Heaven Please’. His emotive singing earned him a
standing ovation from the Idol judges and some members of the audience.
The biggest ovation of the night however went to the Lady of Songs,
Christy Essien Igbokwe. She was heralded by the two finalists Yeka and
Naomi singing ‘Seun Rere’, one of Ms. Igbokwe’s many hits from the 80s.
The sudden appearance of Igbokwe on stage caused the audience to scream
in surprise and then stand throughout the rest of the performance.

The last guest
artist for the night was former Project Fame contestant Praiz, singing
his own original song, ‘This is What She Needs’.

Yeka wins

Finally, it was
time for the finalists to perform. Yeka backed by fellow contestants,
Emma, Zoe, Chito, Nina and Aj, sang Whitney Houston’s version of ‘I’ll
Always Love You’. Next, Naomi backed by Alex, George,bibi, Ola, Tonii
and Glory sang, ‘Heal the World’ by Michael Jackson.

Jeffrey Daniels commended the two finalists, saying, “You two ladies
are superstars and nothing less than that. It’s been a great pleasure
having the opportunity to be judge for you and I wish you all the
best.” Audu Maikori declared that the moment was emotional for him,
adding, “It’s fantastic seeing people grow, and you will continue
growing.” Time finally came to announce the winner of the Nigerian Idol
competition, a job which compere Tee-A assigned to Stephen Evans as his
“heart was beating.” Mr Evans without preambles declared: “Yeka is the
winner.” At this point, Yeka knelt on the stage in disbelief. Cries of
“No,” could be heard from the audience as some yelled “Naomi is the
winner.” Despite these slight outbursts, the rest of the event
continued smoothly. Naomi after kneeling down to hug her fellow
finalist walked off the stage, as Yeka got up to her feet to make a
speech. The former Miss Abia thanked the judges, her fans who voted for
her and her vocal coach. She also exhorted the audience to “Follow
their dreams.” To close the show, Yeka sang a song which had been
written and produced by Jesse Jagz specifically for the winner of the
Nigerian Idol. After the song which was barely audible due to the loud
bangs that followed the release of the celebratory confettis and
balloons, Yeka Onka was presented with her cheque for 7.5 million naira
and thus the journey to becoming the first Nigerian Idol came to an
end.

The new
evangelical Christianity is a pernicious force in the West dumbing down
the populace in degrees every Sunday. The lack of spirituality here is
heart breaking; it is like watching malnourished people. It is a
mystery how people can subject themselves to such psychological abuse.
People are addicted to worshipping a narcissist, they will do nothing
else. I visit homes and there are absolutely no books in there other
than the bible and vacuous tracts and of course the torrents of
envelopes that come from thieving pastors exhorting the abused faithful
to tithe, tithe, tithe or go to hell.

The real tragedy
is that this dysfunction is being imported to Nigeria along with used
cars and toothpicks. The West can probably afford this shallowness but
we see the effect on a nation like Nigeria. Why are we mimic-people?
The new church of dollars and euro has been part and parcel of the rape
and plunder of Nigeria. Must we live like this? It comes down again to
a rank failure of leadership. Our intellectual and political leaders
have failed to manage the change that is necessary to move our nation
forward.

The new
Christianity has flourished like a plague under “democracy.” What
Christianity has done to black Africa is worse than the combination of
AIDS and the worst wars. What kind of God will allow adults to brand
children as witches and then maim and murder them? As we speak, there
is genocide going on in Akwa Ibom orchestrated by the new Christianity
against children. I say, let’s sweep them off our land. Our children
will smile again.

It breaks my heart
to think that Nigerian pastors are doing this to our people. I say, get
your heads and hearts out of those temples of doom. Build your own gods
in your own likeness. Mimicry is killing our race.

I am deeply wary
of organised religion, because, using Christianity as an example, it
has been an instrument of subjugation and state-sanctioned terrorism.
The so-called holy books are similar in one aspect – they are great
works of fiction crafted by insecure men to subjugate and keep under
control women, children and those that were born different from them
(gays and lesbians). The bible actively endorses slavery and bigotry
against homosexuals.

In the name of
their God and bible in hand, they bound our ancestors with chains and
threw them in the holds of massive ships to be slaves. Whenever I think
of what it would have meant to cross the seas under those conditions, I
want to find someone and exact my revenge. The expansion of Western
civilisation and the creation of mimic-fiefdoms (Nigeria, Haiti, Dubai,
etc) have been built on the backs of the conquered. Let’s be frank, the
yardstick today is the Eurocentric and we are the other. And what is
this nonsense parroted by Dinesh D’Souza and others that Christianity
brought Africa the great benefits of civilisation? At what price? Did
our civilisation not have poets, musicians, art pieces, etc, etc,
before the coming of the white man and his bible? Did they not loot,
bible in hand, our people and artifacts? And what has happened to our
people who are now told they must know Jesus before they enter a fairy
tale? Is my grandfather going to hell because he was unfortunate to die
before Jesus pamphlets came to our village? What has been the
unintended consequence of this conquest? We have lost everything and
all we do is mimic the conqueror. The loss of a people’s language is
the loss of self. Everything gets lost in the translation. They don’t
eat fish eggs, they eat caviar, and they say my people eat termites.
There is no word for termites in my dying language, and we don’t eat
termites, we eat irikhun.

The movement of civilisation has been at the expense of people of
colour. We have been hunted and haunted by the demons that inhabit
their narcissistic God. There is no excuse for what Christianity and
other alien religions have done to Black Africa, none. When Dinesh
D’Souza says that slavery and colonialism were the transmission belts
that brought civilisation to Africa and Asia, I shake my head. In
today’s Nigeria, the Christian God is a loud judgmental drama queen
keeping the “unfaithful” up at night with unctuous tuneless songs. The
weather is warming up here in America and thieving Nigerian pastors
with their jheri curls and fake American accents will soon be jetting
down here to buy designer crap with money stolen from the doubly
dispossessed. Why anyone would tithe ten percent of money they do not
have so that these pastors may live in sinful opulence is beyond me.
What manner of God will allow this pillage? They are all thieves and I
hope they all end up in heaven praising their drama queen. I wouldn’t
want them in hell with me and Fela.

The Centre for
Contemporary Art hosted a press conference in honour of veteran
photographer, JD ’Okhai Ojeikere, to congratulate him for winning the
Chobi Mela Award for Excellence and Service to the arts. The event,
organised in collaboration with Foto Ojeikere, was to follow up on the
award, conferred on the octogenarian at the Chobi Mela Photography
Festival, held recently in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

The press
conference also provided an opportunity to announce the first
comprehensive survey of Ojeikere’s work, titled ‘Moments of Beauty’
which opens this month as part of the ARS11 exhibition at the Museum of
Contemporary Art in Helsinki, Finland. Attending the CCA briefing was
the sound artist Emeka Ogboh, who is also participating as one of 30
contemporary African artists in ARS11, which holds from April 15 to
November 27, 2011. Ogboh will be displaying his work inside and outside
the venue. Other artists in ARS11 include: El Anatsui, Abraham
Oghobase, Georges Adéagbo, Samba Fall, Laura Horelli, Alfredo Jaar,
Otobong Nkanga, Nandipha Mntambo, Odili Odita and Barthélémy Toguo.

Important archive

Ojeikere’s wife
and daughter-in-law Yewande Ojeikere, who went to Bangladesh to receive
the award on his behalf, were present at the Lagos event honouring him.

Bisi Silva,
artistic director of the CCA and curator for the Ojeikere exhibition in
Finland, shed more light on the photographer’s works for ARS11. She
said that the works contain images of the visit of the Queen of England
to Nigeria in 1956; and a compilation of images on Nigerian education
between 1956 and 1972. She explained that the veteran photographer had
documented these images while taking his usual Sunday rides back in the
day. “They form a very important archive of images after independence,
they form the dreams and visions of a new nation,” Silva noted.

ARS11 is held every
five years; this year’s edition marks its 50th anniversary and it is
focusing on Africa. Five floors of the exhibition will be dedicated to
contemporary art from the African continent; an entire floor will be
used to exclusively display Ojeikere’s images.

In response to
Yewande Ojeikere’s account of her experiences while in Bangladesh,
Silva said that, “There is a huge discourse to be engaged in with the
southern hemisphere. They are developing countries, and we share
colonial history. So it is important we engage more with these places.”
The Chobi Mela Award funds a scholarship for one person to study in a
popular school of photography in Bangladesh.

For the love of art

The octogenarian
could not hide his joy at receiving the award. “I am extremely happy,
that at my old age things are taking a different turn”, he enthused.
“Apart from God, I thank Andrea Mayan who published my work in 1998 and
I have been showing abroad since. I thank CCA under Bisi Silva. It was
through her I first met the organisers of Chobi Mela,” he added.

“I feel 25 years
younger. I did not imagine that these things will happen in my
lifetime,” Ojeikere said. With the insight of a sage, he advised young
photographers to be focused, dedicated and patient. He observed that
young photographers always seem to be in a hurry, when it took him so
many years to make his mark. “You must be creative, work hard and do
not be in a hurry,” he said.

Asked if he still
takes pictures at age 80, Ojeikere replied, “Two or three days ago I
saw a beautiful cloud formation and took some shots. Most of the
photographs you see, I take. I take them for the love of art and
appreciation of nature. Since I started taking pictures I keep all the
negatives.” Silva pointed out that there is an inter-generational
dialogue going on, as Ojeikere will be the oldest artist showing at the
ARS11 exhibition. According to her, “His works cover the 60s, 70s and
early 80s and are important in Nigerian history. This collection is a
national treasure and so it should be held in a national space but it
is a crying shame that there is no museum for modern and contemporary
art.” ‘Moments of Beauty’ attempts to highlight the breadth and depth
of Ojeikere’s practice; chronicling his experiences as a
photojournalist, commercial photographer and visual artist and
presenting works that cover a range of subjects including architecture,
education, fashion, weddings and culture festivities.

Moments of Beauty

It marks the
beginning of current scholarship and engagement with the artist’s
practice, which spans more than half of a century.

‘Moments of Beauty’
according to Silva “aims at giving in-depth perspectives to the
practice of an artist whose formidable archive has become a unique
anthropological, ethnographic, and artistic national treasure.” J.D.
Okhai Ojeikere was born in 1930 in Ovbiomu-Emai, today’s Edo State. He
has been a practising photographer for over 60 years and has taken part
in several exhibitions in Nigeria as well as internationally at events
and venues including: Goethe Institute; Maison de France; the
Foundation Cartier, Paris; Kunsthalle Bern, Switzerland; Documenta12,
Kassel, Germany.

ARS exhibitions, which have been organised since 1961, play a pivotal role in shaping contemporary art in Finland and beyond.

The 2011 edition will focus on Africa as presented in contemporary
art, with individual approaches from within the continent and the
Diaspora. The exhibition investigates myths and ideas associated with
African culture and African contemporary art.

A four week
exhibition cum artist residency programme which held at ‘The
Whitespace’, Ikoyi, Lagos, culminated in an Art Auction on Wednesday
March 30. Works by Victor Ehikamenor, Alex Nwokolo, Richardson Ovbiebo
and Tayo Olayode, the four artists whose had participated in the
exhibition and residency, were auctioned at the event. “It was an
artist experience for four weeks”, said Ehikamenor who was the last
artist to show his works in interactive sessions with the public during
the residency. “Artists spent a week here and showed their works. Today
is the finale and some of the works done during the residency will be
auctioned,” he added.

The four-week
programme was organised by ‘Lost in Lagos’, an online portal that
provides up-to-the-minute information about where and how to make the
most of living in Nigeria’s commercial capital. “Lost in Lagos is an
online guide where listings for shopping, restaurants, spas, fashion
shows and many more can be found,” said Tannaz Bahnam, who runs the
portal. “We decided to take it beyond the site and give people events
to attend,” she added.

According to
Bahnam, this is the second event organised by Lost in Lagos. “We wanted
to do a different kind of art exhibition. Each week we had a different
artist and today we’ll be auctioning some of the works they worked on
during the residency.” On the criteria for selecting the artists for
the programme, she informed that, “We wanted a combination of
established artists and upcoming artists. I had seen Victor and Alex’s
works before. It was really all about personal taste, in addition to
showcasing works that are a diverse; a little bit of everything.”
According to her, ‘The Whitespace’ was chosen because they have created
a platform for people to use their space through affordability. Bahnam
disclosed that there are two more events lined up for ‘Lost in Lagos’
this year, including ‘The Chef’s Experience.’ “What we at ‘Lost in
Lagos’ [have] set out to do is to create the appreciation for finer
living and culture,” Bahnam said.

Ovbiebo, a sculptor, spoke about his experience during the
residency. “It was good. There was a lot of learning and I had the
opportunity to meet people, speak about my work and get feedback.”
Oviebo added that, “the experience was more about the feedback and the
relationships formed.” The artist, whose glass work, a piece of
installation art, was on display at the auction, described the piece as
mimicry of a skyscraper in Lagos. “It’s a metaphor for Nigeria and its
people,” he said. About four artworks were sold out of the 15 which had
been put up for auction.

(for SK whose letter from Uganda

provoked this ‘riposte’)

Dancing politicians are like water dragons

We see their surface dance

But will never know who beats their drum

In the mysty depths

One leg after another like stilt-dancers

Their jointless limbs are oiled by graft

The grease in their palms is enough

To fill a thousand barrels

Dancing politicians sway

Like dizzy masquerades

Their costumes are shrouds laundered

On the trampled acre of the nation’s grave

There is a spunk in their spin

Which unnerves the wind

A giddy pirouette which draws

The circle of a million volt faces

Dancing politicians mock

The dialect of the drum

The idiom on their lips

Is a lexicon of lies

There is no muse in their music

No sense beyond their sound

Award winning
photographer, Nick Danziger was the guest speaker during an interactive
session held on Monday, March 28 at the British Council, Ikoyi, Lagos.
The session featured slide shows from the photographer; discussions;
and a question and answer segment.

In his opening
speech, Kelechi Amadi Obi, photographer and moderator of the event,
gave a reason for the gathering. “We are creating an avenue for people
who are creative. This time, we’re putting emphasis on the visual arts
and to find ways to succeed in the creative industry,” he
stated.According to him, the choice of the guest speaker wasn’t a mere
coincidence. “The whole idea behind this programme is to bring
practical examples and what better way to do that.” Nick Danziger won
the World Press Photo first prize in 2004 for a picture of Tony Blair
and George Bush facing each other. It gives the impression of a man
looking at his reflection in the mirror.

In the course of
the session, Danziger showed his photos in a slide to the audience. The
photographs which were mainly taken on wide angle lens, revealed his
worldwide travels. There were photographs of his travels – from Iran,
Afghanistan, Pakistan, China, Turkey and back to London where he was
born.

He explained, “I saw different parts of life and that in itself inspired me.”

A depicter of real life

The different
parts of life captured by his camera included the issue of war,
poverty, drug abuse, depression, struggle for survival, discrimination
against women, smuggling and migration amongst others.

Danziger explained
that his love for capturing images which depict real life inspired the
photographs. Thus when a newspaper commissioned him to cover the Iraq
war, he readily accepted. “When the newspaper offered me a chance, I
took it because I thought I could do things that others hadn’t been
able to do,” he declared. He however learnt something worrisome. “Over
90 percent of the casualties are civilians,” he said. It was even more
worrisome that the newspaper that had commissioned him was unwilling to
publish the photos because “they felt that it will upset people as they
ate their breakfast.” During the slide-show, the audience saw the
injustices women face in Pakistan. Members of the Taliban prevent women
and female children who are ill from visiting doctors. Danziger
explained that there is only one ward in Pakistan where women can be
treated.

Contrary to popular
belief, Danziger sees the Taliban’s ban on women as a cultural movement
as opposed to a religious one. “I will like to say they are a cultural
movement. They will rather let their women die than be treated,” he
said. Danziger’s skiing photographs from Iran might have seemed at
first like those taken for thrills but they also depicted gender bias.

He explained that,
“In Iran, the laws allow both sexes to ski but they are not allowed to
ski together.” He however added that in all of the countries he has
travelled to, “the women have the greatest personalities.” The
slide-show also revealed the need for survival and migration to the
United States, thus creating cases of internally displaced persons.
Danziger affirmed, “This shows how many people look for opportunities
and travel where they think [exists] a life of opportunity.” He ended
the slide show with a brief summary of the photos. “I hope it gives you
some idea of the world at large and its diversity,” he said.

Victims of War

A short
documentary, shot in 2001, showed the attacks against civilians during
war and documented its effects on Mariatu, a 13-year-old from Sierra
Leone.

“I want to get
married. I really want to get married but I’m afraid that my husband
will leave me for another woman,” she says at the beginning of the film.

Her fear springs
from her belief that a wife should be responsible for taking care of
the home, but Mariatu cannot do this because she has no hands. Her
hands were hacked off during an attack while on her way back from farm
during the war. And she has to live in a camp with 213 amputees,
including children as young as two and three.

Question and answer session

There was a
question and answer session during which the award winning photographer
fielded questions from journalists and other photographers.

In response to a
question on how he translates his work into money, he said, “I don’t do
this to raise money but to raise awareness.” He continued, “There’s no
easy answer on translating your work into money. Never equate how many
naira’s you will earn in an hour because you will be disappointed.”
Danziger’s advice to young and upcoming photographers was that they
shouldn’t delve into it for the money. “If you’re into photography or
journalism for the money, then my advice to you is, get a job.
Photography is a way to earn a living but it’s going to take you a lot
of time and tremendous hard work.” In addition to possessing the
required skills for photography, Danziger advised that photographers
should possess inner strength.

“Without inner strength, it’s difficult to produce, take pictures
and to paint,” he affirmed, further stating, “You should always be
critical of your own work. Stand your ground and believe in what you
produce.” When asked what he would like to change in photography, he
said, “I would like more outlets for photographers to do more real
stories. There should be less celebrity photos and more real photos.”

Writer and
academic, Kole Omotoso, eventually made it worthwhile for the small
group of people who waited patiently for the start of his reading at
Jazzhole, Ikoyi, Lagos on Thursday, March 24.

The event where the
South Africa-based scholar read from his book, ‘Achebe or Soyinka: A
Study in Contrasts’ was supposed to have started by 4.30pm but it
didn’t until 6pm. In spite of this, no one was in a hurry to leave when
the man with the greying beard started because he offered illuminating
insights into the writings of the subjects of his book.

Executive editor of
The News magazine, Kunle Ajibade, moderated the session; and asked very
meaningful questions about the book, first published in 1996 but now
re-issued by Bookcraft.

Worthy role models

The author of
popular factional work, ‘Just Before Dawn’ apologised for his lateness,
disclosing that he was held up at a voters’ sensitisation meeting in
FESTAC Town, before revealing why he wrote the book. The academic said
‘Achebe or Soyinka: A Study in Contrasts’ is a, “Compliment to two
figures that have been part of my development as a literary person.”
Omotoso who highlighted the similarities in the development of both
writers added that though they started writing in English, they are
well grounded in their respective languages. The book, he said, also
arose out of the need to appraise African literature by an individual
who shares the same linguistic antecedents with the two writers unlike
foreign critics.

“You cannot be a
critic of Russian literature if you do not understand and read Russian.
I cannot make a statement on Arabic contemporary writing if I didn’t
read Arabic and speak Arabic neither can I say anything about French
writing in West Africa if I do not read French. But it seems as if it
is possible for anybody in Europe and America to start writing about
African literature without knowing about the linguistic antecedent of
Africa.” He disclosed that the offer to write the book came in 1994 and
that it is “the only book as a writer in which I have earned a lot of
money because as a hard back edition, it was sold for 45 pounds and it
sold out.”

Nigerian sensibility

The main argument
in ‘Achebe or Soyinka’, the author disclosed, “is that it is possible
for a writer, an artist to write, to produce, to draw towards a
community of sensibility. That is, there is something we can call a
Nigerian community of sensibility. You can put it down even in our
local langauge, ‘tiwa n tiwa’ and ‘temi n temi’.But ‘temi n temi’
doesn’t disturb ‘tiwa n tiwa’ and both work together. What I have done
is to look at the background of the giants, look at their writings,
look at their politics, look at the critics and come to the conclusion
that Soyinka and Achebe represent for Nigeria what Dostoyevsky and
Tolstoy represent for Russian writing. You have two people coming from
the same community but representing two sets of ideas. And I think
Chinua and Wole represent that for us. Achebe or Soyinka, each is a
contribution towards that possibility of writing towards a community of
Nigerian sensibility. That’s what I have tried to do. I don’t know
whether it has succeeded.” The author of ‘The Combat’ also touched on
the politics of both writers, noting that contrary to the belief of
some artists, writers, musicians, dramatists and artists cannot remain
apolitical. “The issue is not that politics is not part of our art but
part and parcel of our Nigerian experience and I think we need to
accept that. My issue is with the younger generation of writers who
simply want to be known as writer and they think that is sufficient. It
is not enough for me and I think it is not enough for some people that
writing is not an innocent activity.”

No alternative

Omotoso, who read
excerpts from the first chapter of the work, stated his position on
criticisms of ‘unrelieved incompetence’ and ‘relieved competence’
Soyinka and Achebe said about each other. “Basically, it’s a question
of language. There’s an incredible playfulness in Yoruba which anybody
who understands Hausa or Igbo knows it’s not the same thing. Soyinka
endlessly centres language as an issue, he doesn’t take it for granted;
whereas Achebe came to the conclusion that English competently written
and with an Igbo bit of input is enough to carry this message. This is
alright because one of the greatest issues; and I raised this, is that
the success of most modern writers is to write one culture in the
language of another. Marquez in Columbia, Salman Rushdie living in
London and Achebe succeeds fantastically in that.

“But my worry is
this: if you critic Conrad and Joyce Carey as misrepresenting Africa
and yet write a book like ‘Things Fall Apart’ where at the end of the
story the hero commits suicide; you write ‘No Longer at Ease’ at the
end of which the central character goes into prison. You write ‘Arrow
of God’ at the end of which the community abandons their priest. I then
ask you, where is that alternative to the British, American
representation of Africa culture?”

A cultural matter

The actor who plays
Chief Abayomi in South African drama series, ‘Jacob’s Cross’ also tried
to rationalise some people’s perception of Soyinka as Eurocentric and
Achebe as Afrocentric.

“The Yoruba culture
is a very accumulative culture; the Yorubas keep accumulating knowledge
no matter where it came from. I’m not sure we can talk about
Afrocentrism or Eurocentrism because the world has become smaller. It
has become a village but we don’t want to be the village idiot so we
have to participate, we have to make our voice heard and ensure that we
are also part of the society. So, the accusation that Soyinka is
Eurocentric, Achebe is Afrocentric is a non-starter. Yoruba culture is
acquisitive, continuously accumulating.” He added that while Soyinka
sides with his Yoruba kinsmen in projecting their culture after
colonialism, the opposite is the case with Achebe.

“It’s that fight
back that one sees a lot of in Soyinka’s writings but Achebe simply
stays at that period of negotiated communal humanistic existence.” He
added that Africa has spent too much time dwelling on the past. “You
find African countries everyday responding to the past as if the
totality of our experience is enslavement, colonisation, imperial
imposition and resource plundering. 50 years on, we are still
complaining; the white man forced us to adopt their language. Nobody
forced us to adopt their language. Anyway, if they forced you to learn
their language 50 years ago, why have you not changed it?

No regrets Omotoso,
author of other works of fiction including ‘Fella’s Choice’, ‘The
Scales’ and ‘To Borrow a Wandering Leaf’ also disclosed that he did not
regret embarking on a crusade for indigenous publishing. He said this
in response to a question from Ajibade, that the move probably accounts
for his lack of popularity outside Nigeria. “I had published two novels
in Britain when I was doing my PhD, I came back to Nigeria and nobody
knows I published books,” he began. “It became for me a need to begin
to cultivate a local audience so we started this thing about being
published locally. And it’s interesting that between 1972 when my last
novel was published in Britain and 1988 when I left Nigeria, I had
published nothing outside of the country. I don’t believe it’s a
mistake to do that.

“Within that
period, we started the Association of Nigerian Authors. I was the first
general secretary and I spent a lot of time travelling round setting up
local chapters. The failure of Nigerian publishing is part of the
failure of Nigeria. Publishers don’t publish anymore because there are
pirates but the issue is not to stop publishing because there are
pirates. What is important is that because of the technology we have in
our hand, we can stop pirates.”

Not political enough

Omotoso reads
young writers but he is worried that they have assumed problems older
writers highlight in their works have been resolved. “If you read
Adichie’s collection of stories, you‘ll begin to feel that sense that
we are not really that accepted by either the American or European
society. It filters through and it is to that extent that I think the
political is still a major issue in our writing and I don’t seem to see
enough of this in their writing. Of course, one Catholic priest guy,
his collection of short stories… In fact, I was a member of the
Commonwealth judges who decided that year on those prizes. It was a
straight contestation between him and a South African white woman
writer and I said the white woman doesn’t need it. I have to read (new
Nigerian writing) because I keep commenting on it. The only thing I
miss is: where are the new younger writers in Yoruba?” People assume
that it is only Nigerians that don’t read but Omotoso disclosed it’s
the same in South Africa. “Right now, only eight per cent of South
African secondary schools have libraries. The reading culture does not
exist. In fact, they say in South Africa, if you want to hide anything
from a Black man put it in a book because he will never touch it. There
was also the culture, and it is whites who say this, that black people
don’t like to read because they feel white people want to influence
them. But then, you will think they will continue their own oral
culture in their own language but they don’t. It’s a general problem in
Africa. I thought we had resolved it in Nigeria but it has come back to
haunt us. People are not reading, books are not being sold so what do
you do? I don’t know. We can use electronic gadgets, get an iPad, you
don’t have to carry books. I don’t know what we can do.”

Yes, Nollywood had
its worst outing ever at the seventh Africa Movie Academy Awards
(AMAA), held in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State on March 27 but there are
lessons Nigerian filmmakers can learn from the humiliation. That is, if
they are willing. Though some of the players had always canvassed
collaboration between themselves and their foreign colleagues,
Haitian-American actor, Jimmy Jean-Louis, reiterated it at the awards
ceremony somewhat indirectly. The movie star who was attending his
third AMAA, disclosed while receiving the Best Screenplay award (for
‘Sinking Sands’) on behalf of Leila Djansi that the cast and crew were
drawn from different countries. He said American, British and Nigerian
actors and crew collaborated to make the Ghanaian movie which
eventually took two other prizes.

Producer, Fidelis
Duker had also said the same thing at the ‘Reading and Producing
Nollywood’ international symposium held earlier that week at the
University of Lagos. Femi Ogunrombi, producer of ‘Aramotu’, one of the
two films that redeemed Nigeria’s image at the ceremony shared Duker’s
view. Indian Ramesh Babu Raparthy was director of photography during
the shoot of ‘Aramotu’, and Ogunrombi reiterated that Nigerian
filmmakers cannot do it alone. “There is no harm working with others
outside, we are good but we can still learn from our colleagues out
there.” Nollywood, which is famous for its ‘kpa kpa kpa’ productions
(movies shot under, or in a week) also paid dearly for its belief in
quantity over quality. A number of Nigerian filmmakers have been known
to boast of their ability to shoot films in under a week, going to the
extent of offering to teach their foreign counterparts how to do this.
But ‘Viva Riva’, the Congolese film that swept six awards on the night
has made a case for quality. Its producer, Boris Vanglis, disclosed
that it took five years to make and it’s instructive that ‘Aramotu’
which won Best Costume Design and Best Nigerian Film wasn’t rushed.
“Writing Aramotu, the first draft took about seven weeks, then final
draft another four weeks. We shot it for about three weeks in
Erijiyan-Ekiti and it took about 10 months after then for post
production,” disclosed director Niji Akanni in an earlier interview.

Africa Rising

Though it wasn’t
a good outing for Nigeria, it was the opposite for the rest of Africa
as the continent burnished its filmmaking credentials. “We received a
stunning range of films, films that tell us the cinema is alive in the
continent,” said Keith Shiri, who read the jury’s report on behalf of
its chair, John Akomfrah. The Zimbabwean had earlier disclosed that an
unprecedented number of entries were received and that there were a
number of ambitious projects made “with scope and verve.” Apart from
Ghana, South Africa and Nigeria, countries including Mozambique and
Cameroun also registered their names on the table of winners.
Jean-Louis also noted that it is time for Africa. He said, “We
shouldn’t underestimate the power of Africa” while receiving the prize
for Best Diaspora Short Film for ‘Precipice’ alongside the director,
Julius Amedume.

Timipre Sylva’s secret

Being an election
year, one would have expected Governor of Bayelsa State and chief host
of the event, Timipre Sylva, to make political capital out of the
event. Though he couldn’t resist urging people to support President
Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election bid, he refrain from trumpeting his own
quest.

He dwelt on the
growth of the movie industry and thanked the filmmakers and actors for
their efforts. “The movie industry has grown tremendously in Nigeria
where I have lived for over 40 years now. We can remember vividly those
days not far gone when the only entertainment available to us was ‘The
Village Headmaster’, ‘Baba Sala’ and later ‘The New Masquerade’. Today,
we have moved steadily forward, thanks to all of you practitioners in
this most important industry.” Sylva, who kept his secret till the end
of his speech, urged filmmakers to stop portraying Africa as a dark
continent, saying we should “position her in the mind of the world
outside Africa as a land full of opportunities.” He commended the
founder of the award, Peace Anyiam-Osigwe, for incorporating more
events into this year’s ceremony and then disclosed that, “We in
Bayelsa are deliberately positioning our state to be the capital of
moviemaking in Africa.” It’s all good but…

There were
significant improvements at this year’s AMAA but organisers can still
do better. The first ever media interaction with the AMAA jury at an
awards ceremony was a master stroke which afforded reporters the
opportunity to clear the air with the jurors on issues including
quality of entries, submission of entries and rules of the AMAA. Steve
Ayorinde, Ayoku Babu, Berni Goldblat, Shaibu Husseini, Dorothy Werner,
Keith Shiri and Hyginus Ekwuazi all took questions from journalists to
prove that there were no underhand dealings in the selection of the
last 30 films.

The training for
50 youths of Bayelsa in various aspects of filmmaking was well received
and the intellectual angle added by the book fair was a welcome
development. Writers Jumoke Verrissimo, Ayo Arigbabu and Mobolaji
Adenubi were among those at the fair.

Another noticeable
improvement was the stage at Gloryland Cultural Centre during the
awards ceremony. It was beautiful and people couldn’t resist talking
about it. The only problem was the organisational hitches which Peace
Anyiam-Osigwe and her team will do well to address in subsequent
editions. They can also take lessons in prompt timekeeping.

Tee-Mac, Wande Coal and others

Like previous
editions, this year’s awards ceremony witnessed a number of
performances. The choice of internationally renowned flutist, Tee-Mac
and his band to open the show was an inspired one. People, especially
the three dancers with South African band, Malaika, danced with abandon
to numbers including ‘Nefertiti’ and ‘Island of Happiness’ from the
maestro’s album, ‘Just Like a Dream’. He would later blow away the
crowd with jazzed up instrumentals of Asa’s ‘Mr Jailer’ and Dbanj’s
‘Fall in Love’ amongst others.

The guitar
clutching Tare, a Project Fame finalist, gave a forgettable performance
while the Bayelsa State Cultural Troupe was only marginally better.
Malaika gave an energetic performance while members of Mo Hits Crew, Dr
Sid and Wande Coal, wowed the audience with a number of songs. Sid, a
Dentistry graduate of the University of Ibadan had people dancing to
his hits: ‘Something About You’, ‘Pop Champagne’ and ‘Over the Moon’.
Coal, for whom the hall practically stood still, sang ‘Bumper to
Bumper’, ‘You Bad’ and ‘Se Na Like Dis’. The only downside of their
performances was that they sang to beats of the songs which didn’t
quite synch in places.

Peace’s tears

Two issues that
seem to hurtfounder of AMAA, Peace Anyiam-Osigwe, is the lack of
corporate sponsors for the awards, filmmaking in Africa and the
perception that the awards is all about her. Anyiam-Osigwe, who never
fails to seize any opportunity to drum support for Nollywood and
African cinema, did so dramatically during the ceremony. She requested
filmmakers in the hall to stand and told them, “It’s your award. We
have to change how people perceive us. If people don’t appreciate you,
you have to appreciate yourself. We are getting there but it’s a slow
process,” she said. Anyiam-Osigwe also pleaded with corporate
organisations and governments to take the filmmakers seriously. “You
and I need to tell our government to take us seriously, we are the
reason Africa’s perception is changing. The positive thing coming out
of Nigeria is Nollywood. I am not here to campaign but I need my
industry to be taken seriously. I need piracy wiped out of Africa, we
should recoup our investment. That’s the responsibility of our
government. I love to see filmmakers make money out of our films.”

Galaxy of stars

This year’s AMAA
was witnessed by a number of foreign and Nigerian stars who added
glamour to the event. Actress Rita Dominic who was loudly applauded by
the audience; ‘The Figurine’ and ‘Anchor Baby’ star, Omoni Oboli; Kunle
Afolayan; Paul Obazele; Gloria Dede, O.C. Ukeje; Kate Henshaw-Nuttal;
Chioma Chukwukah; Idiat Shobande and Folake Aremu (Orisabunmi) were
some of the Nigerian artists in attendance.

The inimitable Olu
Jacob whom fans kept disturbing for photographs and who got an even
bigger applause than Rita Dominic when he came on stage, was also
present. Kannywood star, Nuhu Ali, was not left out.

Lydia Forson, a
past AMAA winner, the handsome Majid Michel and Ekow Blankson were
among delegates from Ghana. Stars from the US also registered their
presence. They include Jimmy Jean-Louis, Nate Parker, Hakeem Kae-Kazeem
and LaQuita Cleare. In all, it was a well attended AMAA.