Category: Life – The Midweek Magazine

His life dream was to be a poet and playwright. The first of 10 children, John St. Michael Olusoji Simpson was a child prodigy. A peep into his just-published collection shows a promising talent that was not to be. Why? He went missing 43 years ago. But his remains – the depth and richness of his mind – were unearthed when his poetry collection, Meditations, was unveiled during a poetry recital at the MUSON Centre, Lagos. EVELYN OSAGIE reports.

It is difficult to talk about a literary mind who is late, especially if he has his works documented – because the “poet really never dies”. But how does one remember a writer who went missing 43 years ago?
Family and friends of John St. Michael Olusoji Simpson chose not just to remember him but also immortalise him by unveiling Meditations, a collection of poems that cuts across diverse genres (odes, lyrics, ballads, sonnets) . The work, which speaks to the breadth and depth of the poet’s craft was unveiled to mark his posthumous birthday. If Soji were alive, he would have been 78 years this year. From a young age, he explored his creative side, especially poetry, to the fullest – in fact his life ambition was to be a poet and a playwright.
Like his name, Olusoji expresses the “promise of rebirth.” Meditations, the long-awaited collection of the missing poet, was unveiled at a poetry reading at the Agip Recital Hall of MUSON Centre, Lagos. It brought back memories of the poet and the richness of his mind.
The recital of his poems took the audience back in time – the days when the Lagos lagoon was a delight of young lovers, Lagos life, his thoughts on life, death, politics, women and more at the time.
The star-studded event, which had Basorun Jaiye Randle as chairman, featured high-profile recitals and reminiscences by former Governor of Ogun State Olusegun Osoba; Prof Idowu Sobowale, doyenne of theatre Taiwo Ajai-Lycett; seasoned actor Mr Taiwo Obileye; celebrated broadcaster Mr Patrick Oke, Akin Fatunke and Mrs Joke Olowu, among others. The event was also attended by the seasoned thespian-turned monarch, HRH Oba Gbadebo Sonuga and his wife, Olori Adepeju, and Joke Sylva.
They described him as a “bookworm”, “a great and spell-binding orator”, “a powerful debater and poet”, who “recited by heart all the 128 lines of Thomas Gray’s “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” at the initiation night ceremony when he resumed at King’s College”, among others.
Executive Editor of The NEWS and P.M.NEWS, Mr Kunle Ajibade, who reviewed the collection, described him as “a bright light taken away too soon”. According to him, Soji was largely influenced by all the romantic poets – William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley and William Blake. His poems, Ajibade observed, called for a more contemplative view of life. “He wrote passionately on love of women, on patriotism, hardwork, time—the unstoppable cycle of human existence and stupidities, tribulations and triumphs. Soji Simpson imbibed many of the elements of romanticism as a literary movement: their focus on the writer’s emotions, celebration of nature, beauty, idealisation of women, children, etc. We can, therefore, easily argue that in this collection published by Lanre Idowu’s Diamond Publication Limited, he is more of a romantic poet.
“In an age when the fashionable professions were Law, Engineering, Medicine and Accounting and Finance, he cared deeply about writing and ideas… It is gratifying that we are remembering Soji Simpson with a part of him that is not missing, a part of him that is a living testimony to his talent and exertions, a fitting tribute to a conscientious thespian. Femi Simpson, the compiler worked under the guiding light of his brother to get us to read the poems, listen to the sounds and melody they make, and derive pleasures in their meanings and significance,” he said.
For Aremo Osoba, who read Soji’s poem entitled: Hard Must He Work, the poet “showed deep genius and was a true academician, even at that young age”. Although they did not attend the same school, their schools were on the same street. He praised the family for their efforts at immortalising their son and brother.
Basorun Randle, a schoolmate of Soji at King’s College, who also read one of Soji’s poems, recounted: “We take it for granted when Soji was alive that Nigeria was destined for greatness. He just loved books and would engage anyone in virtually all components of literature – plays, poetry, essays and book reviews. In addition, he had a riveting sense of history – both African and European, which enabled him to authoritatively quote verbatim resonant events together with precise dates that made him a champion in inter-house and inter-school debates.”
Born in Lagos on April 8, 1939, Simpson went missing on August 8, 1974, at age 35. A thespian, poet, and playwright, he wrote over 70 poems in seven years – between the ages of 18 and 25 – while he was a student at the Lagos Baptist Academy and King’s College, Lagos.  He also wrote five plays (Too much too soon, The Vogue, If I forget thee, His Master’s Voice, The Mirage), which were performed by his Neighourhood Players, a troupe founded and directed by him. At that time, the Simpson’s residence in Lagos was the meeting point and club house for the troupe that has featured a good number of the celebrated thespians in Lagos in the late 60s and early 70s had at one time or the other. They included the late Rasheed Gbadamosi, Tunde Oloyede, Olu Obaseki, Adunni Cole, Kayode Aderinokun (Sailor), Grace Akpabio, Kofo Laja, Tunde Thompson, Bopo George and Dr Ademola Banjo.
The compiler/annotator of the poems and brother, Femi Simpson, recounted: “Soji Simpson went missing on the August 8, 1974 during a Neighbourhood Player’s rehearsal of Rasheed Gbadamosi’s play “Behold My Redeemer”, at the National Museum, Onikan, Lagos. He was the Production Manager on the said night, though he had acted the part of Professor Ilori in an earlier production of the same play. The story of his disappearance made headlines in most of the national papers. It also engaged the attention of DrumMagazine in its January 1975 edition.”
But it took the Simpsons 25 years to decide whether to publish the commemorative collection or not. “Sentiments and the dilemma of the format to adopt in the presentation and publication of the poems were largely responsible for the delay.
“The unconventional format that I finally adopted in the presentation of the poems is borne of the fact that this compilation is primarily commemorative. The poems were to have been published and presented at a recital in 1997,” said Femi.
The book’s publisher, the CEO of Diamond Publications, Lanre Idowu, praised the family for not aborting the project that has now been turned into a book “through negligence, misadventure.
He said: “We, at Diamond Publications, are grateful that the significant body of work that Meditations represents was not stillborn. May it also encourage you to engage in your own “Meditations” for the greater good of our society!”

Visible Figures by Mike Tobi Aladetan is a motivational book. Motivational books are meant to inspire their readers to awaken the sleeping giants in them. The book is targeted at the young and the young at heart, as well as anyone in leadership position or who intends to lead others.
In a world where hard work and seriousness have been taken from our youths, the author, who interestingly is a young person,has taken the bold step to call his fellow youths to look at their families, societies, local government, state and country to see the road map to greatness, which is where they are heading. From the title of the book, Mike Aladetan informs the readers that the book covers every aspect of human angle.
This came about through a word in the sub-title of the book “organic” – that is living issues. To support his claim of motivating his readers, the author dedicates the beginning and end of each chapter (by the way, the little book has 13 chapters) that he labeled “quotes” to bring quotable or catchy memorial expressions from writers who have written on motivation before him. He at the same time, devotes a chapter (chapter 8, p. 48 –Words of Wisdom) to inspire his readers through memorable quotes.
This idea is a very good selling point for the author as he admits to his readers from the beginning that what he is doing is not new – that others who are more experienced than him have done it and he hopes his readers would benefit from their experiences.
An example is: Development catapults the wise to his zenith(p. 7). Also, he dedicates a chapter to education, (chapter 2,p. 11), where he addresses youth,parents and government to the essence of learning and skill acquisition.
Visible Figures is recommended to every young man/woman in the society as:
•It is broken into smaller chunks of 13 chapters,
•It is written in an easy to follow language,
•The book is not too lengthy or bulky (printed on a quarter of an A4 paper) for any average person to read,
•Each chapter has a little section where readers could make notes on what they have read,
•The whole book is summarised in the last chapter for easy understanding. However, there are some minor editorial issues on the final product.
Above all, the book, Visible Figures, is a good first work attempt by an author. We pray to read more from him, in the not too distant future. The book is therefore, recommended for every home, where there exists living being.

It was a celebration of the Ejiwa Festival – a special cultural day. For the Ojora of Ijora Kingdom, Oba Abdul Fatai Aremu Oyeyinka Oyegbemi Aromire, and indigenes of the community, it was a day to appease God for the forgiveness of their sins, and pray for peace, progress and development of the kingdom and Lagos State.
The event was well-attended by the traditional rulers, political stalwarts and captains of industries across the country.
The Nigeria Police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) and vigilante groups were on hand to ensure maximum security from the palace to the Ejiwa Shrine.
The shrine was jealously guided by the priests. Both men and women tied white traditional wrappers. The compound was fenced, and painted in white. The floor was not cemented, yet visitors were not allowed in with shoes.
The monarch, also dressed in white attire and white shoes, was ushered into the shrine by the traditional chiefs and received at the entrance by the priests who offered traditional prayers.
All groups, chiefs, women, including the children, paid homage to the king after he sat down.
Various ‘Oosa’ masquerades as they are fondly called, entertained the guests. They danced to the traditional rhythm of Sengbeto drums. All the Erelus remained standing when the beating was on and when any of the oosa was dancing.
The oba said, the event held yearly, was designed by the indigenes to celebrate their ancestors and appease God for the peace and progress of the community.
Underscoring the place of culture in social and economic well-being of the people, the monarch said Nigerians could not afford to downplay the role of culture in humanity, saying people and culture were interwoven.
He said they allowed their children to participate in the festival for its continuity. He noted that any feast that children did not participate in would not last.
He urged the Yoruba people to encourage, promote and preserve their culture for the benefit of the future generations.
Oba Ojora said the greatest thing that binds Yorubaland is culture. He urged Yoruba and other tribes to preserve their culture so that it can be transferred to the next generation.
Ayangburen of Ikorodu, Oba Kabiru Adewale Shotobi and Adeboruwa of Igbogbo, Ikorodu, Oba Semiu Orimadegun Kasali, hailed the Oba Ojora for allowing continuity of culture within his domain.
The monarchs appealed to Nigerians to guard against acts that could cause conflicts within the African traditional culture.
They appealed to the government to the promote culture, stressing that that such contributions would boost socio-economic growth.
The monarchs advised the people to promote their traditions and encourage their children to embrace it.
“It is of utmost importance for parents and the older generation to teach and promote our culture, customs and practices to the younger generations. This is to help preserve such practices and retain the rich cultural heritage of our great land,” they said.

A solo art exhibition, Exchange of Change, featuring drawings, prints, repoussé and chasing, mixed media paintings by Michael Fashakin has opened at the Grillo Gallery of the Yaba College of Technology, Lagos. Oliver Enwonwu reviews the show that will run till May 5. 

The exchange of change remains the internally generated fund from agriculture and art and tourism,” according to Michael Fashakin. In this one sentence, Fashakin offers us a deeper understanding of his thinking behind the title of his forthcoming solo exhibition in Lagos. Here, he asserts that the foreign exchange dearly needed to rejuvenate the Nigerian economy by the Buhari-led Federal Government, symbolically represented by its “change” mantra, can only be realised from a harnessing of our agricultural and cultural wealth.
In 32 works in diverse media, ranging from drawings, paintings and prints to mixed media, Fashakin aptly describes the Nigerian situation – an impoverished state brought about by years of mismanagement and financial impropriety by successive Nigerian administrations, which squandered away the country’s wealth despite the oil boom in the 1970s that brought about advancements in technology and rapid industrialisation. He calls for the urgent need for diversification of the Nigerian economy away from an over reliance on a mono-product – crude oil.
Today, Nigeria suffers myriad problems from poor infrastructure to epileptic power supply, youth unemployment, to a lack of basic healthcare facilities, and consequently an increased crime rate. Indeed, Michael Fashakin’s two-pronged solution to Nigeria’s floundering economic status is hinged on the Federal Government’s investment and close attention to agriculture and culture. It has been recognised that the arts, tourism and culture have the potential to engender economic transformation by creating jobs and stemming poverty.
Presently, the most visited destinations in the world include Paris and Dubai, replete with their renowned artists, art fairs, prestigious museums and places of historical interest. Of significance here, is Dubai’s heavy reliance on tourism as an economic tool away from its once large crude oil reserves as evidenced by major investments in tourism infrastructure, which saw a nine percent contribution to her GDP between 2015 and 2016. Other African countries like Egypt, Kenya and Mozambique have come to experience consistent income from the tourism industry; from the pyramids of Egypt to the wildlife and game reserves in Mozambique and Kenya. Likewise, Nigeria’s tourism potential must be harnessed through the creation of art fairs, the establishment of museums and identification of historically and culturally significant sites. The Federal Government‘s focus on culture will lead to increased appreciation of culture by Nigerians, as well as co-existence amongst our multiplicity of tribes and ethnicities. Fashakin also alludes to the importance of our rich cultural heritage in not only encouraging foreign investment but in also reinventing our collective image by challenging negative perceptions cast on us, including the label as a “fantastically corrupt” country.
Some of the works that are on exhibit indeed underscore Michael Fashakin’s position. For example in Ile ya (home, here I come), a drummer is depicted with the torn surface of his once taut drum, serving as a metaphor for a Nigeria unable to cater for the welfare of the majority of her citizens despite vast human and natural resources. In Future Leaders, Fashakin questions the capability of the younger generation of Nigerians to lead the country when precious time meant for the classroom is spent hawking wares on the street to support their parents and siblings. One Penny reminds us of a time when the naira exchanged for equal value as the pound. In How Long?, the sole figure is shackled, reminiscent of our recent history when a canon gun sold at the price of fifteen able bodied men – a metaphor for mental slavery. In Europe by Rope, Fashakin laments the brain drain – the mass exodus of professionals who migrate to the West in search of greener pastures, leaving their home country underdeveloped and in dire need of their services.
Born September 23, Michael Fashakin is a graduate of the Yaba College of Technology and holds a higher national diploma in painting. A former assistant general-secretary of the Society of Nigerian Artists, Lagos Chapter, he has participated in several group exhibitions including Times of Life (2009), NYSC our Influence (2009).
In all, the works are individually strong and together they underscore the contemporary artist’s heightened role as a beacon of hope and as a “change” agent in shaping society positively.
•Enwonwu is President, Society of Nigerian Artists.