Category: Life – The Midweek Magazine

Ten years ago, Princess Chidinma Ochu was one of the three female students that graduated from the School of Arts and Design, Auchi Polytechnic, Auchi in Edo State. Against all odds, she battled the male counterparts at every opportunity in and outside the art class to prove she was not just one of ‘those girls’. She won the polytechnic Rector’s award.

Last November, her entry Journey Towards National Development (pastel on paper) won the annual 6th National Gallery of Art National Visual Art Competition (Lagos zone) professional category. She also won the  same prize in 2009, 2010, and 2014. At the first Nigeria/Egypt art competition organised by Nigeria’s Egypt Embassy in 2009, she emerged the first runner up. She said her performances since leaving school were results of the quality of training she got at the art school saying, Auchi Polytechnic made her.

Ochu said her training in a male dominated art class at the polytechnic prepared her for the challenges in life, especially the Nigerian art market. “I have learnt to weather the storm among the boys while in school and the training in terms of skill also prepared me for the real practice as a professional,” she said.

The mother of two said but for her drive and passion for the art, she would not have remained a practicing studio artist till this time, noting that there are lots of distractions and challenges inhibiting the practice of art in Nigeria.  She observed that living on art alone has not been easy because art is seen as luxury item, while less attention is paid to the visual art unlike other genres.  “Fine artists have to do extra to make it in the society,” she added.

“I have been painting for about a decade now. It is something I love to do. The last one decade is not a waste because my paintings have gotten to where I will later get to in life. All of these are parts of the learning curve in the profession. I cannot do without art. If I was to study something else, it will still be within the creative arts,” she said.

She recalled that her parents never wanted her to study art in school because it was not the family’s choice, which is either law or engineering. Like a deviant, she chose to study fine art at the risk of  not being accepted by the family. “I was just following my mind when I told my parents I was going for art. At first, they discouraged me, but later gave up thinking I may not find it interesting to pursue,” she added.

In preparation for the task ahead, I enrolled into a private arts school in Oregun, Lagos where I got exposed to the rudiments of drawing and painting. The training I got there gave me an edge over some of my classmates when I got into Auchi Polytechnic, an art school noted for high standard,” she said of her journey into art world.

To her, the Nigerian art market is vast with lots of opportunities that are however difficult to tap into because of the inclement business environment. She lamented the low awareness of art in primary and secondary schools, as well as low patronage of art, which she said, continue to impact negatively on the overall appreciation of arts for national development.

She described marriage as a major distraction to most female artists’ career as they end up settling for a lesser career at the expense of art. According to her, she realised this challenge early and never allowed marriage to separate her from art.’

“Marriage is all about understanding. I chose art from day one because art is life and life is art. I am passionate about art and I don’t think anything can separate me from it,” she said.

As part of her contributions to grow the art, she is working on an art project designed for children to practice art while having fun.  This, she said, is to bring creativity to the grassroots as well as fill the missing gap in the development of creativity in children at early age. Already, her two children are among first batch of children being given such training and they are growing in the understanding of art.

Ochu who is not in a hurry to hold her first solo art exhibition has participated in many group art exhibitions including the annual Life In My City Art Festival and National Gallery of Art, Abuja organized National Visual Art Competition organised by National Gallery of Art, Abuja  among others.

 

US based Nigerian art historian Dr Moyo Okediji writes on the life and times of one of the Zaria Rebels, Prof Uche Okeke, who passed on last week. 

It was a humid afternoon in May 1979 when I knocked, unannounced and uninvited, on Uche Okeke’s office at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. I expected no response. But, an authoritative voice from the room yelled, “Come in.”

Heaving a sigh of relief I gingerly opened the door. I had been worried he was not in his office—maybe not even in Nsukka, or outside Nigeria, in Europe or America, or some other distant parts of the huge art world. He was certainly the most prominent artist in Nigeria at that time, and his schedule was tight, I imagined. To a kid like me, I was paying a visit to the ‘god’ of art in Nigeria.

I had been on the road for several days and would have been disappointed if he was not in his office.  Zaria, in those days, was a couple of days away by road from Nsukka where Uche Okeke was professor of art, and head of the Fine Arts Department at the university.  And I was driving straight from Zaria, via Ilorin, Ibadan, Benin, Onitsha to Nsukka.

The road was simply perilous. I had several narrow escapes between Ilorin and Kaduna, where my tiny Volkswagon Beetle almost got crushed by 16 wheeler trailer trucks, deadly contraptions loaded to the brim with all various goods moving between the north and south of Nigeria.

Near the town of Kutuwenji, I packed the car by the side of the road to calm my shattered nerves, after a huge trailer shot past me, edging me off the tarmac. The truck then plunged directly into an oncoming truck. Both trucks exploded all over my Beetle; but somehow the collision did not scratch my car, as I held tight to the steering wheel, my heart nearly jumping out of my agape jaws. It was about 8pm and I was too scared to stop by the scene of the accident. I drove to the outskirt of Kutuwenji before stopping to calm my nerves.

Two days later, I was standing before the legendary Okeke in his office. I looked dirty and unkempt. I had not washed for two or three days. But I had a chewing stick stuck permanently in my mouth to prevent me from falling asleep behind the wheel.

I snatched the chewing stick from my mouth and said, “Good day, sir.”

He was behind his desk working on a piece of paper—perhaps he was writing or drawing.  As he surveyed me, I felt shamed because I was conscious of my disgusting appearance.

He did not seem bothered that I looked so grimy. “How can I help you, young man,” he said. “You have been long on the road?”

“Yes sir,” I said. “Drove down from Zaria, sir.”

He pointed to the seat before his desk.

“That road … Dangerous,” he said. “Why are you here?”

“Actually, sir, I am from Ife. The University of Ife,” I explained. “But I drove to Zaria from Ife, and straight here from Zaria.”

He kept surveying me. Then abruptly, he got up and sauntered from his chair to a couch in the office. He fell into the couch. I noticed that he was built like Pablo Picasso: solid, short, in perfect control of his environment. In front of the couch was a large unfinished wooden sculpture. It seemed long abandoned, as there was no fresh cut on it.

“How is Ife—at the university?” he asked.

“Very well sir.”

“Rowland Abiodun, Agbo Folarin, Tunde Lawal…?”

“They are all doing well, sir.”

Slightly, he turned, looked behind him, reached out and grabbed an object from a shelf. It was an adze, a carving tool.  Lightly, he struck the unfinished wooden sculpture in front of him. It was a totally carefree strike, almost without any effort, as if he was playing around. A tiny chip dropped from the sculpture. He kept working. For some five minutes we did not utter a word. He continued coaxing the wood, and soon, a fresh angle appeared from the wood.

“You are hungry,” he remarked. “And thirsty.” I did not respond. He looked up, and stopped sculpting.

“We will go to the staff club for a bite,” he announced.

He returned to the wood. “They listen to me,” he said, not looking at me, keeping his gaze on the evolving wooden object. “Woods. They obey me. Whatever I tell them they do. And don’t think the wood is dead. Things don’t die. They just transform. Things are spirits.”

His statement struck me with a sense of deja vu. Where did I hear that statement before? Then I recalled my first visit to Demas Nwoko at his New Cultures Studios in Ibadan in 1974, when I went to him looking for a “vacation job,” or work for an undergraduate during the summer.

I recalled Nwoko saying something about wood being “spirits” that do his bidding. “There is no such thing as an ordinary wood,” Demas Nwoko told me. “Trees talk to you if you are sculpting them. They tell you exactly where to cut when you listen to them.”

The difference between Nwoko and Okeke seems mostly physical, but not aesthetic. Nwoko is tall, dark, ramrod straight, and floats on the air when he moves, like a ballerina.  Nwoko is not a spirit of this world. He belongs to another planet, like a visiting butterfly, attentive to petals, pollinating the world, subsisting on nectars. Somewhat nervous, Nwoko stutters when excited, his voice textured and rough with tough grits. Nwoko’s prominent hair shares same grandmother with Wole Soyinka’s Afro. His bulbous eyes and striking mien remind you of James Baldwin.

Okeke? Totally different. Squat, planted deep into the earth, immovable, unperturbed, he reminds me of Igbo male figurative sculpture. His voice is glace, unhurried, almost inaudible, as if forcing you to pay attention to every word. Of this world, he is deeply located in the center of the circle, the magnet that keeps the universe from falling apart into incoherent fragments. He is the rationale behind the folktale, if Nwoko is the song of that folktale.

I kept studying the movement of Okeke’s hands as he sculpted in his office. He steadily struck the wood at a particular angle all the time, as if his hands had a memory keeping them from straying from that particular angle.

But someone knocked on the door and opened it without waiting for a response. Okeke did not look up from the sculpture he was shaping, but it was clear that he discerned his new guest who did not fully enter the office but stood between the open door.

“El, meet my visitor,” Okeke said, still not looking up at the new guest, who then closed the door, moved fully into the room and extended his hand to me.

I quickly sprang up and took his hand in both of mine.

“Moyo Okediji, sir,” I said. I realised that I had not introduced myself to Okeke.

“El is from Ghana,” Okeke said, fully stopping his sculpting to look up to take both of us into his view. “El joined us here four years ago. 1975. Moyo is hungry, El. Will you take him to the staff club?”

“Certainly. I’m El Anatsui,” he said.

Another knock on the door, and a slightly built man entered, again, without waiting for a response. I recognised him immediately: Ola Oloidi. He had just returned from Howard University after earning a Master’s in art history. When he visited Ife, I briefly met him in Rowland Abiodun’s office.

“Hey Moyo, what a surprise” Oloidi said, pumping my hands. “What are you doing here? How is Ife?”

“Ife is fine, Mr. Oloidi,” I responded. “I’m here because of my interest in your graduate programme at Nsukka. I travelled to Zaria (Ahmadu Bello University) and took a look at their programme there. But I didn’t like it. I stayed with Gani Odutokun at Zaria. He is the only graduate student there. I love his work, but he dissuaded me from coming to Zaria. He has problems with his instructors.”

“Moyo,” Okeke said, “you should study art history. You are young. We need art historians.”“True,” Oloidi said. “African art needs art historians so urgently now.”

“In that case, Oloidi,” Okeke said, “you take him to the staff club, and persuade him to study art history.”

I said goodbye to Okeke and El and left with Oloidi. Outside, on our way to the staff club, Oloidi asked, “You want to study art history?”

I shook my head. “Painting,” I said.

“Don’t come to Nsukka, Moyo,” Oloidi said, “unless you want to study Uli art. You know this is what we do here.”

“I have no interest in becoming another Uli painter,” I said.

I shook his hand. Walked to the parking lot in front of the offices, got into my car, turned the engine and drove off. From the rearview mirror, I saw Oloidi transfixed, starring in disbelief at the back of the disappearing car.

As I drove off, my mind focused on just one target: I would drive to Benin and find Prof Solomon Wangboje at the University of Benin. He might be able to help me. At the Nsukka gas station, I filled my car with fuel, bought a loaf of bread and some akara balls. I had Lucozade in the car, as I joined the traffic moving out of the university town.

Everything worked out fine in Benin. I found Prof Wangboje at his Ugbowo campus office. He promised to initiate a graduate programme for me at his university. “You will be our first student, Moyo,” Wangboje said. “I will now contact Madam Ugbodaga-Ngu. You know her? She lives in the Cameroons. She will be your supervisor. Is that okay?”

“Yes sir,” I said.

“I will send you a letter of admission. This meeting is enough as your application. Join us in October next session, okay?”

I shook his hand and left.

Nearly 40 years later, this morning, January 6, 2016, Ijeoma Uche-Okeke sent a note saying her father, Prof Uche Okeke died.

This is not possible, I thought. Uche Okeke cannot die. I remember his words: Things don’t die. Things are spirits. He lives forever in me, and in the rest of us whose lives he has enriched with his talent, dedication and hard work.

Godspeed, laureate, as you transits.

They are threatened, shot at and kidnapped. Undaunted, they have remained true to their art. But what will make men rise against the arts (camera)? And how far can one go in pursuit of one’s passion, profession or pastime? Some artists share the bitter side of their art during African Foundation for Peace Love Initiative’s session for journalists, artists and art enthusiasts in Lagos. EVELYN OSAGIE writes that artists are at risk in pursuit of their trade.

A mean-looking militant stared intently at the cameraman, with his hands on the trigger of his machine gun. Some pipeline vandals stood, posing for the camera with their loot. A girl stands by, staring at the cameraman; behind her is an old man, who had served Nigeria. He appeared abandoned and impoverished as he looked penetratingly at the photographer.

The scenes, an everyday sight of the oil-rich yet impoverished Niger Delta, form part of award-winning photographer George Osodi’s gripping collection on a slides show at African Foundation for Peace Love Initiative’s session for cartoonists, photojournalists and developmental journalists , artists and art enthusiasts, tagged: Peace media parley.

“Everybody hates the man with the camera,” began Osodi as he talked about the risks photo, travel and documentary journalists and enthusiasts often face in pursuit of their venture.

But why would anyone hate the man with camera, he was asked. “I think it is because everyone has something to hide,” said Osodi, who described his experience, covering the Niger Delta region as a photo-journalist and a documentary photographer/artist, as “a very risky business” that is not being given its pride of place and recognition by all.

With the theme, Picture Africa for Peace and Development, the event also had in attendance Prof Lai Osho of Lagos State University (LASU) School of Communication; former President, Society for Nigerian Artists (SNA) and founder of Omenka Gallery, Oliver Enwonwu; Vanguard Cartoon Editor, Dada Adekola (aka Dada Dekola) and Rev Titus. Oyeyemi.

For the guest artists, art is not just a pastime but a serious tool for effecting change that also comes some risks.

While many would assume photography, like other arts, is an exciting pastime that comes without any risk, Osodi revealed that many have been maimed and lost their lives in the course of going about their pastimes. He, therefore, called for government support for the arts, saying: “Photography can tell many stories beyond words”.

“I was once kidnapped by MEND in 2003 while I was on my way to shoot some pictures. Thinking I was working for the government, kidnapped me and asked ‘Who sent me? I was very afraid at the time. But I was later released when they saw I was going about my own business. Three years later, the same militants who kidnapped me, invited me to photograph them in 2006,” he recounted.

Besides being kidnapped,  during his artistic-cum-journalistic voyage, Osodi recounted further that he had also escaped being shot at and passed through other risky situations.

“In fact, I am lucky to be alive to say things like this. Everyone is not a friend of the camera, especially in the Niger Delta region. Even when the pictures I am taking are meant to draw attention to their plights and that of other downtrodden, they are hostile when they see you with a camera.

“It was in Warri that I first heard the sound of a bullet. Before then, I didn’t know bullets make loud sound when in motion on air after being shot. It was at NPA jetty, where I was on an official assignment as a photo-journalist. The army and militants were exchanging fire for more than 15 minutes; to be safe I slept in the mud the whole time. I was fortunate to come out of that situation unscratched.”

Although the practise of the trade may come with some risks, he advised artists/photojournalists to exercise caution and be security conscious in the pursuit of their art. “My works are politically-oriented. They focus on the impact of oil in the Niger Delta communities; but I am alson very conscious of my safety as I go about my work.”

 

Cartoon not jest business

 

It was 2015 election, and Muhammadu Buhari stood ready to go into a boxing bout with the then President Goodluck Jonathan with INEC Chairman, Attiru Jega as referee. The front-page cartoon, which had the words: No rigging, that’s hitting below the belt! No violence, you’re not allowed to use other things than the voters to defeat your opponents. This is sport not war. Another cartoon by Dekola showed a smiling President Jonathan was handing over an impoverished cow, christened “Nigeria”, to the newly-elected President Buhari in a cartoon by Dekola.

Both cartoons are reflections of role art can play in promoting peace and stability, while highlighting issues in the polity.

For the cartoonist, “a cartoon is not just a jest but serious business,” observing that artists are educators as well as entertainers. But like Osodi, his art is not without its risk. He said: “Being a cartoonist comes with its risks. I have also being threatened in the course of my job both by politicians and private individuals. But I would like to come to this world as an artist again. I’d advise parents not to stop any child that draws. Artists are innovators.”

 

Picturing Africa for peace

 

Picture an Africa free of terrorism and corruption. Visualise a continent with infrastructural development and a flourishing economy.Beyond being artistic impressions, the aforementioned prospects could someday become reality with the proper mind-sets, according to Enwonwu. Africa can fall or rise depending on the stories we tell and picture we paint, it was said.

Enwonwu called for creative pieces that focus issues of social change. He said artists to be fearless in expressing their arts, urging them to hold the leaders and citizenry to account through works, noting that human life is influenced by the world art.

He said: “Artists should use their works to call for change. Although it may come with its risks, we must be determined and focused knowing that truth will always prevail. The main perpetrators of violence should not be celebrated in cartoons or artworks but peace-keepers should. Bearing in mind that terrorism is not only local, artists should look beyond Nigeria and give attention to happening outside.”

Osho said cartoon and photojournalism have not received the much attention they deserve from scholars and media owners, observing that both are tools for social satire that enjoy more license than news. He urged journalists and artists (cartoonists and photographers) to do more works that highlight unity, peace and culture. “We can begin to emphasis our common plights, achievements; and think how we can forge ahead in unity in view of our social realities,’’ he said.

Rev Oyeyemi described the way artists tell their story through artworks as “simple and elegant”. He, however, urged artists (cartoonists) and photojournalists “to picture Africa for peace and development cannot be overstressed”, adding that media owners should invest on their training.

He said: “Cartoonists and photojournalists are men and women who create drawings, text and pictures used in political commentary, comic strips and animated feature. It is fun way to express oneself through the instrumentality of art. The 2015 Peace Media Parley seeks to encourage them to do more pieces that focus on positive aspects in the continents while speaking truth to power.”

A lecturer at the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, Sola Balogun in this tribute writes on the life and times of Prof Funke Ogunleye, nee Adesina, who died on December 26, 2015

Barely two hours to the new year, I received a text message from Emerson Golbert, a former senior colleague in the media, saying: While we woke up this morning, some other people were taking their last breath…we have cause to thank our God.

This short but instructive message at the twilight of 2015 immediately sent me thinking. I started meditating on the mystery of breathing in one moment, and that of losing the same breath in another moment. I concluded that it was natural for human beings to experience both living and dying, since there must be a time to live and another time to die. The implication of this natural phenomenon is that everyone who witnessed birth must also witness death, and that no one on earth can live forever.

Earlier on Saturday, December 26, last year, Prof Foluke Matilda Ogunleye, a renowned theatre practitioner, a don, scholar and media operator lost her breath suddenly. She died as a result of injuries she sustained in a ghastly auto crash, which occurred on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

Ogunleye was in company of three others, including her husband, Segun, her brother in-law and their driver. As fate would have it, sources said both Ogunleye and her brother in-law died, while her husband and the driver survived. It was reported that the two men who survived the crash are still receiving treatment at the University Teaching Hospital (UCH) in Ibadan.

Prior to this unfortunate incident, I had looked up to contacting the late professor on phone, mainly to welcome her to the country after a fairly long trip overseas. My mission was to make enquiries on the next edition of the biennial Ife International Film Festival which she single-handedly initiated in 2007. The festival has since recorded three successful editions (2007, 2009 and 2012 respectively) at the Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife. Today and, regrettably, I can no longer contact Ogunleye, except in the dream world.

Sadly, too, whatever dreams she might have had for the next edition of the festival may not be realised, except the university authority and the Department of Dramatic Arts where she trained and worked before her death continue from where she stopped.

A soft-spoken, quiet and unassuming scholar, the late Ogunleye was a rare achiever who blazed the trail in her chosen profession to record so many feats.  She was also a devout Christian who used her media and theatre practice to serve her creator before moving on to the academia for a long and fulfilling career. She was able to reach the peak of her career at a relatively young age, as she crowned her academic profile with an inaugural lecture on Tuesday, May 8, 2012 at the age of 50.

As one of her major achievements, Ogunleye’s inaugural lecture titled: Thespians and cineates as engineers of the Nigerian soul, was the second of its type from the Dramatic Arts Department of the Obafemi Awolowo University. Her own lecture came 32 years after the first one; The Critics in Society: Barthes, Leftocracy and other Mythologies, which was delivered by Nobel laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka in 1980. As an attendee of the amazing lecture, which held at the Oduduwa Hall of the university, I noticed how Ogunleye celebrated the Theatre and Mass Media as functional tools of social change and nation building. She also used the lecture to disclose how sentimental or fallacious people can be whenever the profession of Theatre or Drama is being discussed.

Ogunleye confessed how much she held the same sentiment as far back as 1978 when she was newly admitted to study Drama, only to discover that the course was by far more than an exercise in acting, dancing and writing of plays. To her amazement, Ogunleye (who was then a teenager as Miss Foluke Adesina), soon discovered she would need to learn technical theatre which entailed learning something about other areas such as electricity, design, carpentry, lighting, set construction, management and directing.

As if these were not enough, Ogunleye hinted of how every Drama student was also required to know something about human anatomy- an area which ordinarily should be exclusive to Scientists or Medical students.

Upon graduation and cutting her teeth in her chosen profession, Ogunleye for many years combined her scholarly works with theatre and media practice. She wrote many drama scripts in addition to acting in many video films and producing quite a good number of plays on stage. In her efforts to sustain the Ife International Film Festival, Professor Ogunleye sought funds from local and international agencies, and went ahead to attract participants (filmmakers and scholars) from different parts of the globe, including United States, Britain, South Africa, Swaziland, France, Botswana, South Africa, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Morocco, Ghana and Uganda. The festival has not only promoted sharing of knowledge among scholars and students of different backgrounds, it has equally served as a veritable teaching tool as well as an avenue for prospective scholars and researchers to regain their focus and direction in the fields of drama and film.

On a more important note, Ogunleye had  hinted that the focus of her academic career was to use Drama, Theatre and Mass Media as veritable instruments to improve the society in general.  In her robust academic career, Ogunleye was able to publish more than sixty articles in reputable academic journals and books, cutting across performing arts, the media and the society. In the same vein, the late professor published many plays and relevant textbooks on African Video Film. Some of these include The Innocent Victim (2003), A Little Attack of Pregnancy (2003), Nest in a Cage (2004), Transformation and Advancement: The Video Film in Africa(2012), African Film: Looking Back and Looking Forward (2012), Africa Through the Eye of the Video Camera (2008) and African Video Film Today (2003).

As a demonstration of her Christian principles, Ogunleye also wrote and produced many plays for religious education. She has in the process, helped in popularising Christian drama among film producers and theatre practitioners alike. The professor did not just limit herself to creative and scholarly work, she also practised journalism to a reasonable level, having co-edited the publications of the American Studies Association of Nigeria with other renowned academics. In 2003, she was appointed the substantive editor of the association. During her career, Ogunleye also received various grants, awards and distinguished international academic fellowship. Some of these are Fellowship of the African Humanities Institute (African-American Cinema) from the  University of Legon, Ghana and Northwestern University, Chicago;  Fellowship of the Visual Literacy Institute in Maputo, Mozambique and The Prince Claus Fund for Development for the sponsorship of the Ife International Film Festival.

Part of the mission of the late matriarch of Nigerian theatre was to use the arts to build the society. She had used many of her works and papers to preach the gospel of theatre or drama for social change. She insisted that art does not exist only for pleasure, but that it should perform a functional role with the objective of affecting man positively. To this end, she summed up the totality of her inaugural lecture in the following words: The rebuilding of the crumbled moral and socio-political base of modern Nigeria should, among other things, form the major concern of Nigerian Thespians and Cineastes…we must continue to utilize all resources and opportunities at our disposal in a more sustained fashion to engineer and re-engineer the souls of our nation and its people.

There is no doubt that Ogunleye would be missed by most Nigerians, particularly her family members and the theatre community which she left behind. As a distinguished professor of Theatre and Media Arts, Ogunleye has, undoubtedly, impacted positively on the academia, training students and churning out numerous research works that would be of immense benefits to many generations to come. In fact, she would be missed greatly on the global platform by the community of film scholars, critics and producers. May her gentle soul rest in the bosom of the lord.

Ondo State Commissioner for Special Duties, Culture and Tourism Femi Adekambi speaks on his vision with Assistant Editor (Arts) OZOLUA UHAKHEME. 

What does Mare Festival mean to an average Ondo person and the state at large?

Thank you. Mare Festival to an average Ondo man means a festival that unites us together, a festival that showcases our cultural heritage in Idanre especially the beautiful hills, nice and cultured people. We are showcasing all this values to the world.

As the new Commissioner for Special Duties, Culture and Tourism what steps are you taking at ensuring that Mare Festival standard are sustained?

Let me start by commending the commissioner that has been overseeing the affairs of the ministry before I was sworn in. He has been doing a wonderful job. I am so impressed with the level they have taken Mare to so far and with my coming in means a new dawn.  It means a total turnaround of things. Turnaround in the sense that we want to make sure that Mare Festival is taken to another level. We will improve on what they’ve done and I can assure you come next year you will see a different  Mare.

It is observed that the level of participation of the local people is not encouraging as expected in a festival like this. What will you do to improve this situation?

It’s not that they were not carried along. A lot of consultations, sensitisation and publicity were carried out but much could still be done and more will be done and I can assure you it’s going to be a different Mare next year.

Does the economic crisis in the country affect the celebration of this year edition?

You don’t associate economic problems with culture and tourism because some of the nations in the world tap into tourism sector during economy recess. And they are getting out of their crises. So, you don’t associate economic issues with culture and tourism. Tourism growth doesn’t necessarily have to do with money, but the people, how informed they are about the development and the need to promote their culture and heritage which will transform into wealth.

Of what impact is Mare Festival on the youths of the state?

You can see for yourself the level of involvement of the youth in the programmes. They are involve in the whole process  as Mare Festival also involve sporting activities such as marathon race, Ayo, raffle draw and other games.  Also, the creative ones among them produce souvenirs for tourists to buy and they make their money. Apart from this, the festival is also a platform for talent discovery and through Mare so many talents have been discovered and we have been working on some of them to ensure that they pursue and achieve success with their talents.

Ondo State is endowed with a lot of tourism potential. How do you want to ensure that these potentials are tapped for the economic development of the state?

That is where exactly I am going. I want to turnaround the tourism sector in Ondo State to become income generating sector as well as employment generating because all over the world tourism is one of the key sources of employment and wealth creation.

So, we will use tourism to transform our economy, generate employment for our youths and wealth creation for the people of the state. We are at a level where we don’t need to rely on oil money any more.  Everything is not about oil and we should look at how we can use tourism to generate income and I can tell you that our governor has given me a mandate to ensure something substantive is done to make tourism bring sustainable development to the state.

So what should people of the state expects from your ministry in the next one year

You should expect a new dawn. Everyone that knows me very well knows that I am a goal getter and when I set out for something I achieve it and with this ministry I will prove to the entire state that Ondo is a state for culture and tourism.  It’s a state that we value and cherish our rich cultural heritage. Basically, Mare Festival is going to be taken to another level next year and another festival will also join Mare.  By the grace of God come Easter 2016, there will be Ondo Carnival where you’ll see our Governor dress with costume and everybody from all the nooks and crannies of the state come together to celebrate our state. It will be more elaborate because we’ll bring the entire world to Ondo state during this festival.

How do you intend to bring the private sector into the development of tourism potentials in the state?

Basically, culture and tourism sector should be private investor-driven. We should be generating money from the sector through them and we are kick-starting by next week.

Are you collaborating with the federal government agencies to assist in the development of the sector?

Anywhere we can link up to including going abroad to source for private sector participation we will do that and I can assure you that we will invest our time and energy to make sure that we excel.

This is the seventh edition of the festival and one of the goals is to unite people of the state. To what extent has this been achieved?

Of  course, you can see that people  from all the local governments in the state are here and they are excited  about it because the festival offers opportunities to mingle and  relate with one another. One thing I want you to know is that Mare Festival is not about Idanre or  Ondo towns. It’s about showcasing our state to the entire world and by next edition we are going to see tourists  and  cultural troupes coming from Abuja, Mina, Kano, Lagos  and Akwa Ibom, Rivers and other states in the country as well as tourists  from London, American,  South Africa for the festival.

Is that not over ambitious?

It is not been over ambitios, it all depends on planning.

 

 

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Artsterix, an Enugu-based outdoor advertising firm,  Sir Soloo Akugha, has identified the inability to raise loans for projects, over  regulations, vandalisation of structures by ‘area boys’ as major challenges of advertising.

He said the crisis of government regulation in terms of rates is also forcing advertising firms to explore other options like the internet.

Akugha, who spoke in Enugu, expressed optimism, saying the fortune of outdoor business would improve for the better in future.

He described digital bill board as the new trend in outdoor advertising, which has elevated the sector. He noted that though digital bill board is quite expensive, it has added to the outdoor clienteles.

Akugha said the association has a lot to do in engaging  various governments in harmonising rates, such that regulatory bodies do not charge advertising firms arbitrary rates. He noted that outdoor operators should not be dragged into political campaign crises as witnessed by some agencies during the last general elections.

“Outdoor advertising is much cheaper compared to other platforms of advertising that are time bound. In fact, there is no reason to compare because most target audience of other platforms is limited, whereas outdoor reaches both target and unintended target audience,” he said of the state of the sector in Enugu State. He however noted that demand for outdoor advertising in Enugu State is okay, but that there are no big company advertisers. “There are short term advertisers,” he added.

According to him, outdoor advertising in Enugu State is not doing fairly well, but that producers of goods and services don’t find the need to advertise ‘’because they claim they have a ready market’’.

“We do most of our productions in Lagos. But lately, the opportunities are opening up to even do better jobs in terms of production. Lagos sets the pace in production and packaging. And the industry here is following closely to Lagos which is the hub. I will not rate it wonderfully, but we are not doing badly,” he added.