Category: Life – The Midweek Magazine

By Lanre Arogundade

 

It was as if even in the thick of battle the Comrade was hit by something that felt like a thunderbolt. The type described in Mario Puzzo’s epic film – ‘The God Father’ – when on the instructions of Vito Corleone, the Don himself, his youngest son Michael, relocated to the Corleones’ native Sicily after he had taken deadly revenge on a New York police officer.

Michael had while roaming the rocky fields of Sicily in the company of his bodyguard come across a beauty named Appolonia in an environment full of flourishing flowers.

The guard was soon to lead Michael to the father of the angelic creature to let him know that the exiling Corleone had been attracted to her daughter. “Our friend has been hit by the thunderbolt”, he announced playfully.

1984 it was and Yeni was there at the ticketing table and gate of Afrika Shrine on Pepple Street, Ikeja, as I arrived with my entourage of comrades and activists to deliver a lecture as president of the National Association of Nigerians (NANS).

Long haired, well dressed, athletically built and radiating in the afternoon sunshine, even if somewhat on the shy side under the sombre atmosphere, there was no disguising the authenticity of her beauty.

Even if my Comrade ‘guards’ had noticed the thunderbolt-like effect, there was no father to immediately convey the message like the Sicilian case as Fela was languishing in jail on trumped-up currency trafficking charges by the Buhari-Idiagbon regime.

The mission to the shrine was actually to deliver a ‘Free Fela’ lecture. I had earlier missed the opportunity to enter a plea of mitigation on behalf of millions of Nigerian youths upon the pronouncement of the guilt verdict (as was anticipated) on Fela by the Justice Okoro-Idogu tribunal at the Tafawa Balewa Square venue of the tribunal’s sitting as Fela’s lawyers, Kanmi Ishola Oshobu and Femi Falana had planned. That plan didn’t materialise as fierce looking armed soldiers insisted I had no business in the tribunal room especially as Kanmi, in the frenzy and confusion of the moment, introduced me as a Law student at the University of Lagos, the ID card of which I couldn’t produce since I was studying at the University of Ife.

The cool and calm disposition of young Yeni despite the pains and pangs of Fela’s prolonged incarceration registered. Registering later was also the fact that there must have been something intelligent, trustworthy and reliable about her to have been entrusted with a key business part of the sometimes unpredictable Shrine environment.

Looking back, it can be argued significant business stint at the old Afrikan Shrine must have been the roots of the managerial role that Yeni would later play in Femi’s Positive Force Band, the new Afrikan Shrine and the larger Kuti family.

Indeed, if we speak of the Kuti family in terms of the unity of love that binds them today despite tensions of the past, the ultimate credit must go to Yeni. Her deeper insight and perceptiveness that no sacrifice was too small or too big to sustain the radical Kuti legacy in general and Fela’s revolutionary one in particular, have been the magic wand. She pulls the strings that holds the younger generation Kutis together in an unbreakable chain.

Felabration, Yeni’s brain-child that has become an annual crowd pulling and globally recognised musical, educational and artistic celebration of Fela, is easily the greatest manifestation of that unity of love.

Often seen playing frontal role are the arrow heads including Yemisi (the matriarch), Femi, Dotun, Nike, Kunle, Seun and Motunrayo, who as the fourth generation Kutis, are the children of Oludolapo, Olikoye, Beko and Fela; the grand children of Rev Israel Oludotun Ransome-Kuti and Funmilayo Anikulapo-Kuti and the great grand children of Rev. Josiah Jesse (JJ) Ransome-Kuti acclaimed drummer and super composer of Yoruba Christian songs, from whom the musical blood apparently flowed.

Choreography is the stream of that blood that bubbles in Yeni’s veins – incidentally often the less talked about in what makes Afrobeat such an enthralling orchestra. The energetic waist writhing, buttock quaking, arms hovering, neck spinning, body twirling, front, side and back stepping give interpretative effect to the tunes coming from the horns, the saxes, the drums, the piano, the metal cones (agogos) and the beaded gourds (shekeres). It is arguable if the dancers are not the hardest working members of the Afrobeat orchestra, for they are also singers who regularly partake in the call and response choruses for which the musical genre is famed.

Over the years, Yeni scored excellent marks as lead dancer and lead trainer of dancers, a no mean feat in Femi Kuti’s pulsating fast tempo brand of Afrobeat. Age is no barrier, for each time Yeni steps out of retirement to dance to the compositions of Femi, Seun or Made, the shout of YK power would render the Afrikan Shrine air as the crowd stands to applaud. It cannot be otherwise.

If Femi is the king of Afro beat, Seun the crown prince and Made the heir apparent, then Yeni is the undisputed queen mother.

On this joyous occasion of her 60th birthday, I join in wishing the heart-beat of Afrobeat many happy returns.

It was an afternoon full of eulogies and reminiscences when eminent personalities, friends, colleagues and family thronged the MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos to celebrate, posthumously, nine media legends. The event, put together by The Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria, Nigerian Guild of Editors, Nigerian Union of Journalists and Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria, to celebrate the contributions of their departed heroes, underscored the significance of media in Nigeria’s odyssey. ASSISTANT EDITOR (ARTS) OZOLUA UHAKHEME and EVELYN OSAGIE write.

 

The photographs of nine fallen heroes of the Nigerian media welcomed guests into the prestigious MUSON Centre last Friday. It was an afternoon of tributes and melting pot for eminent personalities in government, corporate world, media, friends and families of the honourees.

Media icons honoured posthumously were Alhaji Lateef Jakande, Malam Ismaila Isa Funtua, Chief Gbolabo Ogunsanwo, Mr. Bisi Lawrence, Malam Wada Maida, Mr. Eddie Aderinokun, Mr. Ben Egbuna, Prince Tony Momoh and Sam Nda-Isaiah.

Tagged An Afternoon of Tributes, the event was attended by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo; Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu; Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi; Deputy Governor of Ogun State Mrs. Noimot Salako-Oyedele, Aremo Segun Osoba, and the Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar, among other personalities.

Describing them as giants of their craft, who used their noble profession to make enduring impacts on both the private and public sectors of the country, Osinbajo observed that the media has been at the forefront of the nation’s epochal struggles from the fight against colonialism to the struggle to entrench democracy.

He added that Nigeria is at a time in its national odyssey in which retailers of discord and merchants of strife are working assiduously against our collective potential as a people.

Osinbajo said: ”The media leaders in whose name and memory we have gathered today are giants precisely because they understood the struggles of their times and embraced their roles in them. In so doing, they wrote their names in gold and remain reference points for succeeding generations.

“I am gratified that members of the media profession are honouring the memory of their departed colleagues. There is a great need to memorialise those who have gone before us and ensure that their words and deeds are kept aflame as a guiding light for successive generations, especially so that the young Turks grasp the significance of the tradition to which they belong,” he said.

Their immense contributions to the nation and development of the profession cannot be overstated, NPAN President, Malam Kabiru Yusuf, said, as he welcomed guests.

His words: “The men lived eventful and impactful lives. They continue to enrich lives through their influence in various endeavours in the media, business and politics. And that is why we do not think of them in the past tense but in the present and the future.

“By holding them as examples, we hope to show that journalism is a worthwhile profession that has produced its own share of worthwhile men. As we carry on the torch, may they rest in peace!”

Eulogising their departed colleagues, notable media icons took guests down memory lane, while recollecting their contributions to journalism and the nation.

Moderated by two seasoned journalists, Deputy Editor-in-Chief, TELL Magazine, Ademola Oyinlola and former Editor, Next, Nigeria, Kadaria Ahmed, those who took turns to eulogise the honourees included Chief Segun Osoba, Mr. Sam Amuka represented by Gbenga Adefaye, Prince Nduka Obaigbena, Mr. Tony Akiotu, Mr. Ray Ekpu, Mr. Lade Bonuola, Mr. Lanre Idowu, Mr. John Momoh and Mr. Azubuike Ishiekwene.   The highlight of the event was when the families of the media legends were recognised and took the podium to take a group photograph with the Vice-President and the two governors. Osinbajo then presented a plaque to the representative of each family.

The event was also attended by the Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun represented by his deputy, Noimot Salako-Oyedele; Katsina State Governor Aminu Bello Masari, represented by his Commissioner for Information, Abdulkarim Yahaya Sirika; former Ambassador to Brazil, Patrick Dele Cole; founder of Zenith Bank, Jim Ovia, and members of the honourees’ families, including Alhaja Abimbola Jakande, Betty Egbuna, Abdurasheed Momoh, Bayo Ogunsanwo, Omowunmi Lawrence and Hajia Waida Maida.

Chairman, LEADERSHIP Media Group, publishers of LEADERSHIP Newspaper titles, Mrs. Zainab Nda-Isaiah, who gave the vote of thanks on behalf of the families of the honourees, said it was not only enough for the legacies and what the media leaders stood for to live on but to also be consolidated for a better society and Nigeria at large for generations unborn.

“A day like this brings mixed feelings, you are full of joy and sadness, because of what we are celebrating. How do you celebrate someone who has died just recently, but it’s a testament to their legacies that it’s not yet a year, yet they are being celebrated. I will like to speak for myself and on behalf of every one, that it is our great desire that their legacies will live on and that everything that they stood for will not only be remembered but they will be built upon to create a greater community and a better Nigeria not just for ourselves but for our children and children’s children,” she said.

For former Governor of Ogun State Aremo Osoba, who was close to former Governor of Lagos State, Jakande’s achievement in the Nigerian Tribune, how he made the newspaper one of the most respected and feared in the country, as a journalist – though not documented – was worthy of note.

He said: “The Tribune was one newspaper no government could afford to miss because of its rich editorial content. He (Jakande) did not have the time to document what he has contributed to the media profession. I feel upset, uncomfortable and unhappy about the demise of Grand Pa of Nigeria’s journalism. For today’s event, we should be happy of his enduring legacy.” Osoba urged that efforts should be made to document his contributions.

On his part, the CEO, Diamond Publications Ltd, Lanre Idowu, said: “Eddie Aderinokun was multi-talented and was at home in journalism as well as many other fields of endeavour, such as music, sports and poetry. He was fatal in his imagination and careful in speech. He was a noble soul who understood his own limitations.”

The Director of May Five Media, Mr. Ray Ekpu, in his tribute to Prince Tony Momoh described him as a man of dignity and simplicity, who was meticulous and thorough. He added that Momoh was a “Journalist of Journalists”, saying when Momoh was asked which religion he professed, he said he was not an atheist but a Christian when they did things right and also a Muslim when they did things right, but neither of them when they did the wrong thing. “He was professional to his finger nails…He made many things possible in journalism”.

Chairman, Channels TV, John Momoh, was full of praise for the former Director General, FRCN, Mr. Ben Egbuna, whom he described as a man with a “golden voice” and one of the finest journalists and media practitioners. “He believed in doing the right thing and doing things right. “He was selfless and uncompromising in all that is good. Ben was a thorough bred journalist, brilliant and innovative. He breathed news, ate news and loved news. He was a man devoid of guile.”

In his tribute to Mallam Ismaila Isa, read by the Provost, Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Gbenga Adefaye, who represented Chairman, Vanguard Media Ltd, Mr. Sam Amuka, noted that Isa, who was erroneously described as a member of a cabal in President Buhari’s administration, was a blessing to the Nigerian media who spent his life serving other people’s lives and organisations, while describing him as a successful businessman and a blessing to the Nigerian media.

Managing Director, DAAR Communications, Tony Akiotu, described the late Bisi Lawrence as exceptional and a man of many parts, a king among men and an enigma.

“A man of matchless courage, with him there was no cutting of corners, he was uncompromising and Lagos to him was everything. There was hardly any dull moment with Bisi Lawrence. He was a man of courage, integrity and honour. With him, there was no time for cutting corners. Lawrence had a great intellect and knowledge of vast issues.”

The publisher, THISDAY Newspapers, Prince Nduka Obaigbena, described his friend Mallam Wada Maida as always “gentle and quiet” but highly influential.

In his tribute to Chief Gbolabo Ogunsanwo, the Consultant, Guardian Newspapers Ltd, Mr. Lade Bonuola said Ogunsanwo invested a lot on human development and kept public officials on their toes.”He (Ogunsanwo) was an impressionistic writer who wrote with severity to put politicians on their toes,” he recalled, adding that not only did he write powerfully, he had a great sense of humour.

Describing former publisher of Leadership Newspaper, Mr. Nda-Isaiah, as a man of big ideas with patriotic spirits, who loved Nigeria dearly, the Editor-in-Chief, Leadership newspaper, Ishiekwene said: “He spoke truth to power, a gift he inherited from his father who was also a journalist, Ishiekwene said, adding that he was a bridge builder, a down to earth pundit. He was a man of big ideas, a man of infectious zeal and energy. He was not just a politician and loyal party man, but also made friends across party lines.”

Is crypto-art new bull in the business of art? Or is it fast becoming the Tesla of the visual art? What are stakeholders’ perceptions of this emerging bride and what is its desirability over traditional art?

Assistant Editor (Arts) OZOLUA UHAKHEME writes on the implications of this on Nigerian art scene

 

The global hype around crypto-art was literally put to test recently in Lagos when the Centre for Contemporary Art, Lagos (CCA) held an interactive session on whether non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are truly art as two UK auction houses Sotheby’s and Christie launched their first online auction sales of digital tokens.

While UK auction houses are testing sales strategies of digital artworks, which have soared in recent months, with surging demand for non-fungible tokens, CCA, Lagos talk programme examined what opportunities are there for local artists in Nigeria and what are the possible issues for artists, gallery owners and art collectors will contend with.

The session, which featured Jesse Uranta, Osinachi, Niyi Okeowo, Dolly Kola-Balogun and Teju Adeyinka as discussants, was moderated by Tomiwa Lasebikan.  The talk programme was held in partnership with Future Africa and Buycoins Africa, focusing on the recent explosion of crypto art.

The panelists talked about getting started with crypto art, their experiences within and outside Nigeria, challenges and prospects of the digital tokens in Nigerian and global scene.

Osinachi, who led the discussants, said the growing interest in crypto art, especially among players in the traditional art space, signalled that there’s a shift in the way digital art is perceived. This shift, he said, is brought about by the block chain, and what it means is that for the first time there is provable scarcity for digital art, a feature that increases their value and makes them just as precious as art made on a canvas.

”Players in the traditional art space are now including NFTs in their projects. This goes to show that the Crypto art space and the traditional art space will work hand in hand, each carrying its own value. We can’t talk about art now without mentioning NFTs.

”Crypto art isn’t new. It’s been there as far back as 2017, which was when I entered the space. The only thing that’s new is the unhealthy obsession with money which most new entrants into the space have. The talk about big money might die down (and I hope it does soonest), but what is being done in the space has no end in sight. 1000 years from now, so long earth still exists and there’s still block chain technology, people will be making art and putting it on the block chain,” he said.

According to Osinachi a Lagos-based visual artist, whose work interrogates personal experiences within a technological environment, digital artists deserve to have their work sold for huge bucks, especially if the work is worth it. At the same time, it’s not a good thing to put all the focus on the money. It can distract people from focusing on the primary thing which is the art.

On his experiences since he started in 2017, he said: “I didn’t have much challenge, if that’s what you mean. I was super glad to finally find a space outside Instagram where I can share my work with a larger audience. Crypto art is in no way a threat to traditional art.”

He is known widely as Africa’s foremost crypto artist and he started in NFTs in late 2017, as the first and only African in the space.

Meanwhile, founder, Omooba Yemisi Adedoyin Shyllon Arts Foundation (OYASAF), Omooba Yemis Shyllon, described crypto art as one of the business innovative investments of the future, which is driven by information technology that must be keyed into.

“That two of the world’s leading art auction houses, Christie and Sotheby’s are now expanding into the crypto art market, is of little surprise. Of course, within our immediate future, this type of business innovative investments would be the norm, whether we like it or not.

“This is expectedly so because, within the next decade, this our world, would be grossly operationally dependent and totally driven by information technology (IT). Hence for long term survival, every business and profession, are left with no other option, than to begin to key into the fast moving world of IT or become stale and obsolescent. Visual art is obviously no exception,” Shyllon said.

One of Nigeria’s contemporary artists, Isaac Emokpae, said it was a very interesting new opportunity that would likely take hold in Africa. He noted that lack of economic infrastructure would certainly make it more attractive to new markets.

The first NFT and ERC-721 smart contract was crypto punks from Larva Labs. It consists of 10,000 24-by-24-pixel images of various punky characters. When they made debut in 2017, you could get one by just paying the cost of an Ethereum gas, which is the price to interact with the smart contract governing crypto punks. That price depends on supply and demand for the computational power of the network needed to process the transaction.

NFTs are unique, traceable digital files that capture anything from images, art, video clips or music. A work by the US digital artist Beeple was sold at Christie’s auction house for more than $69m last month. It made its creator, whose real name is Mike Winkelmann, the third most valuable living artist at auction, after Jeff Koons and David Hockney.

Uranta is a Lagos-based 3D artist who creates visually-striking still images and animations with various computer softwares. He is a perfectionist with strong attention to detail, constantly trying new techniques and testing the limits of his creativity. Kola-Balogun is Founder and Creative Director of Retro Africa. With a degree from King’s College London, BA (Hons) in Politics, Religion and Society, in 2015 she launched a platform and gallery for contemporary art in Abuja. Alongside Igo Diarra she co-curated Learning From Timbuktu and Proud and Well at the Documenta 14 in Kassel Germany and Athens Greece.

Okeowo is a brand specialist, art director and photographer based in Lagos, Nigeria with an eye for creative solutions for existing organisations and startups. He has worked with reputable brands like Uber, Guaranty Trust Bank, Fidelity Bank, Facebook, Martini, Belvedere and Guardian Life to name a few. He has over seven years of creative experience, from full-time appointments to freelance positions, his approach to design and direction is thoughtful, minimal and expressive. A big believer in “fun side projects”, he started HelloMrColor, an ongoing expressive project that centers on futurism, storytelling, and colours from different ends of the spectrum.

Adeyinka is currently the head of Growth for Sendcash & Getcards at BuyCoins, a cryptocurrency exchange for Africans. She has worked across different roles in product management, operations, and growth for technology products.  She is passionate about leveraging technology to open up financial systems and facilitate the free, open, and borderless exchange of value for everyone. Over the last few years, she has worked to create products and content that have made crypto currencies and block-chain technology more accessible to Nigerians.

 

By Ozolua Uhakheme, Assistant Editor (Arts)

 

Have you ever thought of the relationship between honey and life? And do you know the link between honeycomb and human body? Answers to these question are found in Prof Ozioma Onuzulike’s recent solo art exhibition tagged The Way We Are at Ko Gallery, Ikoyi Lagos.

To the University of Nigeria Nsukka arts scholar, ceramics artist, poet and historian of African art and design, honey can be likened to liquid gold, and to get a gold, one needs to take risk and dig deep to reach the goldmine. Similarly, he believes strongly that the honey comb which is like a body holding the honey, is fragile and vulnerable too.

“Honey is like liquid gold. You need to take risks, dig deep to reach the goldmine. Life is the greatest natural resource and timeless treasure, and it is as sweet as honey. But the honeycomb, the ‘body’ structure holding the honey, is fragile. And so, I equally chose a fragile and vulnerable media for this studio project – terracotta (fired clay) and glass/glaze. “These are derived directly from the earth, the same material from which we are made and to which we must return. All of us – big or small, white or black – are as fragile as the honeycomb. Thus, for this project, I began by exploring the honeycomb as a symbol of the vulnerability of the human body housing our lives – a vulnerability that the COVID-19 episode greatly amplified,” he said.

The way we are, his 11th solo exhibition, which ended last Thursday, featured 26 works drawn from three recent bodies of work–the honeycomb project, the ceramic palm kernel shell beads project and the yam project. His collection is inspired by the social histories of the African continent and how such histories impact on the current realities around him, especially in the context of the human condition in Nigeria.

The works are a mix from three recent bodies of work – the honeycomb project, the ceramic palm kernel shell beads project and the yam project.

Drawing from his immediate environment, Onuzulike picks on yam, a sacred and prestigious crop among the Igbo in appreciation of its socio-economic relevance to the people. But, beyond all these, arts scholar sees multiple images of yam at different points and locations.

“When planted in a harsh, barren or impoverished environment, the yams become stunted, ravaged, devastated or totally destroyed. When they lie individually, I see in the forms of the yam tubers what look like motionless human bodies encased in body bags. When sorted and tied together (like in a typical African yam barn), they remind me not only of how African slaves were in the past crammed in slave ships like mere commodities, but also how they are today tightly packed in trucks and boats hazarding the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean Sea with the hope of going to “grow” better in a more conducive environment. Many have been lost in transit.

The debilitating conditions that have made the African continent a very hostile environment to grow her “seed yams” remain with us today, and are rather worsening by the day, he said.

These, according to him, compelled him to continue his exploration of the seed yam metaphor in his quest to draw critical attention to the devastating effects of these conditions on the continent’s youth population – the metaphorical yam seedlings. Beyond the beauty of works such as Africa, Our Africa, which he classifies under the honeycomb project, lurks the artist’s terse reminder “that Africa’s natural resources have been at the base of its woes.” In their breath-taking suppleness, they attest to the artist’s long manipulation of a medium that only a few of his colleagues would venture to explore.

The palm kernel has also attracted his attention, but for a different reason. According to him, it evokes “the lopsided trade/power relations with the Western world.  I see the palm kernel shell (the remnants of the palm oil/kernel production) as very historically charged. In their natural form, they look like beads – again, a trade token (popularly called Slave Beads) that carry a lot of historical baggage. I have made millions of palm kernel shells in terracotta, turning many of them into glass beads in a very laborious studio process. With them, I have woven mixed media ceramic structures that resemble Africa’s prestige cloths (such as the Nigerian Akwete and Aso Oke) or imported ones (such as the lace fabric) that are also highly regarded in Africa as markers of social status… In this way, I seek to call attention to the enormous burdens that Africa’s reckless politicians, and the elite in general, have to bear in their quest for ostentatious lifestyles (represented by the accumulation of the beads) that add nothing meaningful to the growth of their nations.”

Some of the exhibits included Treasure Islands I, Treasure Islands II, Lace I, Lace II, Lace III, Women’s Weave I, Women’s Weave II, Lace IV, Lace V, Lace VI, Women’s Weave III, August Meeting I, August Meeting II, Women’s Weave IV and Lace VII. Others were Royal Amour for the Giant of Africa,  Relics of Our Treasure , Mended Amour for King Jaja, Yam Bodies: Dry

By Ozolua Uhakheme, Assistant Editor (Arts)

 

 

Chairman, Guild of Nigerian Dance Practitioners (GONDP), Lagos State Chapter, Mrs. Ugo Obiayo, has urged dancers to remain united in their fight against conditions that can lead to problems in mental health, depression, anxiety among other challenges. She reassured that as dancers, they have the absolute treatment to these conditions, which is called ‘DANCE’.

Speaking on the theme Dance, a remedy for healing, marking this year’s International Dance Day in Lagos, Mrs. Obiayo tasked dance practitioners to cast their minds on the situation that brought the entire world to an absolute stand still.

She said dance practitioners have a lot to be thankful for at this time, after being through so much in the past one year when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the entire world. She noted that dance profession being a physical-based one was hard hit, due to the need for compulsory isolation, which eventually necessitated absolute lockdown of venues and cancellation of events and social activities through which we made our living. “Our confines became our work spaces and safe haven. Survival was key,” she added.

“As we speak, the COVID-19 pandemic still has some parts of this world quietly defeated in their hope to exist, some are still experiencing the ravaging devastation of the pandemic, while  some seem to have bounced back in spite of it all…. and yet, we all are alive to witness this great day, April 29th,” she said.

She described this year’s theme as very apt because it brings good tidings of hope, survival and life, as well as a firm belief that we will live to dance another day.

“So, let us dance to health and life, for a great battle has been fought and won and today, we are standing victorious. My fellow practitioners, as we continue to heal our world through dance, may we stay ever so united in our fight against conditions that can lead to problems in mental health, depression, anxiety and more, because as dancers, we have the absolute treatment to these conditions and it is called “DANCE”,” she added.

The Lagos State Chapter of the Guild did not shy from exerting its essence as a stakeholder in the tourism, arts and culture sector, as it went ahead to engage, encourage and support the different Arts Forums under its administration to host dance programmes that would tell their tales of healing and hope.

The pre-IDD programmes, which started some days before the 29th of April had such activities as friendly football matches in Oworonshoki, a memorial dance programme in Bariga for the late Kodak, costume parade and cultural festivals in Badagry, Ajegunle and Lagos Island respectively. The Guild through these Arts Forums did not relent in making the International day one that would be remembered for a long time to come.

How time flies!

My dear wife, it is already one year since you exited this wicked world through the reckless driver of BRT bus No. 314 at a spot near Agric Bus Stop, Ikorodu Road, Ikorodu, Lagos.

We spoke last at 7.14pm on that fateful day.  And 10 minutes later, you had been knocked down while attempting to cross over to the other side of the road to wait for me.

Since that day, life has never been the same. The occurrence momentarily brought my world to a close. Darkness took over my space.  For days, I was unable to comprehend what hit me that less than 10 minutes after we spoke, you were gone. We were going to meet at a hospital across the road to run a medical check on a new house help. Then suddenly you were no more.

Even when I drove past the accident scene to meet you at the hospital as scheduled, little did I know that the gathering I saw around the accident scene was about you. I got to the hospital to ask after you, but no one seemed to give me an answer about your presence at the hospital.  But when I called our daughter to confirm whether you changed your mind and returned home, she broke the saddest news ever to me.

I found it difficult to believe that you were the victim, just 10 minutes after we spoke.  I raced to the scene only to see your lifeless body in a pool of your own blood. BRT bus driver had murdered my dear wife!

I must confess that my life without you in the last one year has been thorny.  To say the least, it was a mystery that I could survive the spate of incidence that happened to my existence as a widower.  The vacuum your absence created in the home is real.  The thoughts that you will forever be missing from the home kept going through our minds – your children and I. But it is stronger on me as the relationship of over 30 years cannot be wished away easily.

What about the love we shared together; the good times we had even when the resources were scarce?  What about the strong support you gave me to climb from the zero rung of the ladder to the point where we would have settled for a glorious evening?

What about the peace, love and joy you brought to the entire family, and by extension, to our acquaintances and church members? What about your major role of ensuring smooth running of the home to the delight and progress of the family?  That you were in charge of the home, like any other virtuous woman, was not in doubt.  You conceptualised; you directed; you executed plans that stimulated our progress within the over 30 years we lived together.

Talking about spate of occurrences after your death, they came in a staccato form, to the extent that I likened my life to the life of a man born without luck.  Worse still, the events seemed to be happening on the same date of 11 of subsequent months.

Since you have been gone, I have become particularly suspicious of the 11th of every month. It is for good reason. You left this world on that date; every other month since then, some unsalutary events tried to arrange themselves for that date. It is as if I should “beware of the ides” of 11 of any month. But God has reasons for the occurrences.  He is the One that controls the time and our lives.

Indeed, my trip home penultimate Thursday, the first since your departure, was dry, just as our country home we built together was empty.  It was devoid of the bustling of my kinsmen and your relations as well as old friends within the village who hitherto would troop into the house for the usual felicitations.

It used to be rendezvous of some sort.  You would cook almost endlessly to ensure our guests were entertained.  We would have them come at different times; sometimes late.

But none of these happened this time round.  It was as if they held a meeting to promulgate an unwritten rule that none should visit simply because the “chief entertainer” is gone.  They may have imagined who would warmly welcome them with that wifely disposition. I sat in the large living room alone with a reflection of how your gregarious presence attracted them.  I recall the financial and material support that we pass on to all.

With a feeling of nostalgia, I reminisced on how the warmth of your presence in the village attracted our acquaintances. Only then did I realise that your presence at home was like the honey-comb that constantly attracted the bees.

My dear Nkem, as we fondly called each other, your untimely exit is difficult to forget even when people around encouraged me to do so. As the legendary reggae musician, late Bob Marley sang, “he who feels it knows it much”.  I feel it; I know how it pains; but only God, the Owner of the whole earth will help the family to cope. Driving past the spot of the tragic accident, constantly throws up some chilling feelings in me. It reminds me of that terrible moment when I felt my world was finished and completely collapsed.

We had our evening full of hope; hope of retiring into a quiet life of full-time ministry; hope of helping our children to nurture our grand children; hope of working for humanity.  Indeed, the hope of enjoying the home we built together.  But that hope was dashed by a careless, reckless and wicked BRT driver exactly one year ago.

As I mark the first year of your exit, I pray the Almighty God to grant you eternal rest in His bosom.  I pray and believe that we shall be together some day, to part no more.

 

Adieu, my Love!

 

 

 

 

By Ozolua Uhakheme Assistant Editor (Arts)

 

Deputy Chairman, Governing Council, Redeemer’s College of Technology and Management (RECTEM), Mowe in Ogun State, Pastor Samuel Bode Olaniyan, has urged students of the college to remain focused, work hard and operate with Godly mind. He admonished them to  avoid any form of distraction that can stand between them and attainment of their dream.

Pastor Olaniyan, who spoke at the third matriculation of the college last Friday, urged the students to live and run with the vision of the institution, which is to create world class institution that can bring out world class materials to fill the middle level technical manpower gap in the country. He observed that Nigeria today lacks middle level technical manpower in its economic development, which demands urgent attention.

No fewer than 336 students were matriculated for 2020/2021 academic session from an initial 50 students at inception in 2017.

He said:  “The matriculation ceremony is an epoch-making event in the life of the institution. In spite of the challenges we are in, with God on our side, we will go through. For the students, they must live and run with the vision which is very important. The vision is to create world class institution that can bring out world class materials to fill the middle level technical manpower gap in our nation.

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“It is very obvious that Nigeria of today is deficient in middle level technical manpower. We need to fill the gap. Our father in the Lord stands for excellence, hence he has put so much in the institution in terms of equipment, teaching faculty and other resources. For the students, they need to be focused, work hard and operate with a Godly mind. Without God, nothing any man can do successfully. We hope they will come out as champions in whatever field they chose.”

According to him, the vision of RECTEM is to train world class middle level technical manpower required to operate our local industries and to raise entrepreneurial champions who are creators of values and wealth in our economy.

He described the commencement of 10 programmes in the college including three engineering programmes approved by the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) as a testimony to this vision. “Our journey in  the past two years has shown a clear path of growth in students’ enrolment, expansion of facilities especially in engineering programmes, entrepreneurial training expansion of library, students hostels etc. To the glory of God, RECTEM can boast of a very dynamic learning environment,” he added.

Rector Redeemer’s College of Technology and Management Dr. (Mrs) Stella Mofunanya praised the courage, faith and vision of the members of Governing Council of the college for their dogged commitment that has made the project achievable, noting that RECTEM is not only registered as a private polytechnic but is also enlisted by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) as a recognised private institution.

“It is integral that you continually remember that the distance between today’s ceremony and your convocation seems far but in reality is close. It is very important that as champions, you conclude this journey in triumph and success. To achieve this, you need to be regular in attendance at lectures, serious with your continuous assessment, shun deviant behaviours and other vices and resist the temptation to commit examination malpractices and fraud,” she urged the students.