Category: Life – The Midweek Magazine

By Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf

Like sweet memories, Mandilas Christmas concert held in Lagos, will continue to linger in the minds of those who witnessed the epoch-making event.

Certainly, the Mandilas Group had every reason to pull all the stops just to celebrate its 70th anniversary. The event was in collaboration with MUSON.

Having survived the COVID-19 pandemic, the company continues to wax stronger. And although the management could not roll out  drums and cymbals to celebrate the day in a big way as it had planned, it hosted a few friends and associates to a soirée.

The company said the choice of marking its big day to coincide with the Yuletide was symbolic.

“It afforded us the opportunity of charity giving as well as appreciating our internal and external publics,” it said.

The event was in two parts, with the Muson Choir and Orchestra led by Sir Emeka Nwokedi dishing out a medley of songs and music rendered in English and the various local dialects.

The second part saw the introduction of a 14-year-old prodigy, Joshua Akinotan, otherwise known as Josh Praise, to perform three separate piano solos to the admiration of the crowd.

The highpoint of the occasion was the special appearance by the Mandilas Choir. Numbering 17 members comprising males and females, they sashayed onto the stage in eye-popping outfits made of flowery patterns of green and white almost mimicking Nigeria’s national colours.

Speaking about the growth trajectory of the company, the GCEO of Mandilas, Ms Ola Debayo-Doherty, said: “Indeed, Mandilas has been here for 70 years but because of the situation in the country, we had to cancel all other celebrations for just this one event. And it has been worth the while. What you have seen here with the performance of the Mandilas choir shows our diversity as a company which places a high premium on innovation. We will continue to get better.”

While drawing the curtain for the day, Chairman of MUSON, Mr. Louis Mbanefo (SAN), thanked the sponsors for helping to put the event together. “I’m delighted that we were able to put up this event with the Mandilas Group. I have also gathered that this might be a regular feature, so we look forward to many more years of collaboration with Mandilas,” he said.

By dele jegede

I saw him. Well, not him, him. It was his picture. Attired in his patented sartorial outfit of batik advertising a philosophical stance that privileges indigenous designs, he holds a microphone-the simple tool with which he has continued to assert his erudition at numerous symposia and lectures that became a habitual feature of his scholarly regimen since he retired from the academe in 2012.

It was his picture that I focused my gaze on. Has anything changed about my friend since we met in 2015 when he delivered the keynote address at events marking my 70th birthday celebrations in Lagos? As I continued to admire the picture, I also embarked on my customary banter and harassment of the image, much in the way I would if he were right before me: “Hmm.  Oloidi funra?” (In real life situation, this would instantly elicit a customary heckle! Stupid Boy!” Just then, I searched for the text accompanying the picture. And then. And then…. The world froze. It stood immobile. As I read the debilitating text announcing the passing of Ola Oloidi, I experienced thunderclaps. A sweltering air enveloped me. Oh! My world! My academic soulmate is gone! At 73, Oloidi has answered the call.

He was a proud and unabashed academic who exuded an irresistible joie de vivre that many who knew him would miss. His peers, students, artists, the news media, and the cognoscenti of the art world among others have just lost a gem of a scholar. For Oloidi was an astute scholar, indefatigable researcher, and a charismatic teacher. My casual acquaintance with him occurred at the Yaba College of Technology in the late 1960s. By the time we met again-at the 1978 Society of Nigerian Artists Conference which took place at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN)-both of us had completed additional studies: He at Howard University, Washington, DC and also Northwestern, Chicago; and I at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

It was to this time that I would date the emergence of Oloidi’s mesmerising persona. With a flavour for American panache, which was exemplified by his prewashed, double-stitched Denim top that revealed a tight, gypsyish beads strung tightly around his neck, Oloidi carried himself in an unmistakably self-assured poise. “I’m handsome,” he would proclaim, unprovoked and beaming.

And, indeed, my beloved friend was. There was nothing supercilious or narcissistic about this proclamation. It was often said in that boyish, take-a-look-at-me swagger by a young intellectual who suspected, and rightly so, that he was cut out for something extraordinary. In the 1970s, we all lived in a Nigeria where we dared to dream. Oloidi’s handsomeness essentialised the active element in the Yoruba idea that celebrates the essence of character: “Ìwà l?wà.” Oloidi emitted a harmless arrogance, a charming and playful coquettishness that jelled over the years, crystalising  into an inimitable quiver for his many playful arrows.

Oloidi was a great admirer of Zik, whose command of the English language provoked a deep-seated quest for learning among many kids growing up in the bucolic environments of Ekiti in colonial Nigeria. In his hometown of Igede, as, indeed, in many Ekiti towns and villages in Oloidi’s boyhood years, education was the only industry. Oloidi had an abiding interest in the intellectual (as distinct from the political) Nnamdi Azikiwe, whose ornate prose was often delivered in memorable elocution.

When he left Northwestern University where he had begun his doctorate studies under Frank Willett, one of the most respected archaeologists/art historians of his age, Oloidi arrived at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. That was in 1976. It was sheer serendipity that pushed this budding art historian into the intellectual and creative orbit of Uche Okeke, under whom his study of modern Nigerian art history took off. Oloidi was one of the few friends in whom I confided as I planned my trip to Indiana University for my doctorate degree in 1979. You could not have had a better cheerleader and trustworthy friend. By the mid-80s, Oloidi had established himself as inveterate scholar and quotable authority on modern Nigerian art. He developed a compelling narrativity on the art of pioneer Nigerian artists, thus charting a path that many scholars on this topic cannot sidestep. In addition to a slew of scholarly publications on Nigerian modernity, Oloidi championed the cause of art criticism by turning his attention to what he saw as wimpy and effeminate jeremiads that passed as art criticism in many Nigerian newspapers of the 1980s. He turned art history into a sexy course of study at the University of Nigeria, where he retired in 2012, having supervised no less than 30 doctoral students.

He was as loving as he was generous. He specialised in making friend-in reaching out to touch somebody regardless of the situation and context. Femi Oloidi, his son, recalled an aspect of his father’s kindness that only very few people would know. He writes: “I stumbled on his diary, and I saw names and account numbers of more than 50 people that he normally sends money to everyone month from his pension. I noticed that  more than half of the people were also pensioners like him.”

That is the source of Oloidi’s unbridled magnanimity. He would stop at nothing to extract a smile from you. Here is an anecdote by Femi, which attests to his father’s benevolence:

One day, at the Nsukka park, we were about to pay for the transportation fee. There was a huge tall man also about to pay for his own fare. He looked terribly tired and wore a huge frown.

Immediately my father paid our fare, he turned and said to the man who looked even more dejected, “Hey! You, why are you frowning?” The man frowned harder and said with a snag; “You have no right to ask me that, sir. None of your business.” Furthermore, he raised his shoulders like he was ready to pounce on my father as he continued to say; “You can’t bring back the dead. When I am done with you, you will learn to mind your business.”

The man kept shouting to the ticket seller about my father, “Better tell this mad man to leave here. I go tear am o.”

The ticket seller kept smiling and staring at my father who wore the calmest face you will ever see. They all waited in anticipation of what my father would say. Meanwhile, I was waiting to kick the huge man on his balls, because that was the only way one could disarm such a giant. My father walked up to the raving man and said, “I know I can’t bring back the dead, but I will give you fifty naira if you can just smile for me.”

The man was stunned and wore a “this-man-is-really-mad-o” look.

My father said again, “Ok, I guess the money is too small. I will make it ten naira so you can smile better.” Everyone burst out laughing. This forced the ticket seller to say to the angry man who was already smiling slightly, “You no know Prof. The man na very playful and good man. “I was shocked when the giant of a man didn’t even wait for the ticket seller to be done with his introduction as he rushed to my father and placed his right huge palm on my his shoulders, saying, “I am so sorry, sir, Prof. I was not myself. I just lost my wife yesterday night. And I am rushing back to see her and my kids. So sorry, Prof.”

I was shocked.

Oloidi combined erudition with distinction as an academic. He was the go-to guru on modern Nigerian art. His passion for a new episteme will undoubtedly grow as his students spread out to disseminate the gospel according to St. Oloidi. Oloidi died in his sleep on November 2, 2020. He is preceded in death by a son, Kolawole, and survived by his wife, Jumoke and two sons, Olu, and Femi, and a daughter, Kemisola.

May the Oloidi family find solace in the indelible attainments of their patriarch.

” Jegede is a Professor Emeritus, Miami University, Oxford. Ohio. U.S.A.

By Ozolua Uhakheme

When sculptor Dotun Popoola opened his sixth solo art exhibition titled Metala at The Grandeur Hotel, Lagos,  an artist’s journey in metallic breakthrough was exposed.

The exhibition, which has come to a close under the platform of new entrant, Art Pantheon is curated by Nana Sonoiki. The theme of the exhibition, according to Popoola came as answer to his search in connecting his last solo show with the next one. Taking a break for a chat shortly before the exhibition formally opened, Popoola shared his thoughts on the genesis of the Metala concept.

“After my last solo exhibition which had 15 works on display I needed to reduce the number, so 13 and seven came to mind. I settled for 13 as I suddenly realised that 13 is metala in Yoruba. And ‘la’ means to breakthrough in Yoruba.”  The breakthrough aspect, he disclosed, was a reality, noting that “since I started my journey in synergetic sculpture, my entire life has been transformed.”

He observed that quite a lot of people, spiritually, saw  13 as one of the odd numbers that give bad luck. “And on the contrary, some other persons, like metaphysics, for example, believe that 13 is a lucky number.”

Given the scale of the exhibition, which has quite a number of museum quality works and challenge of space, Popoola was faced with the task of picking the right curator. He argued that “Nana is an untapped resource” in art management, which was the exact factor that attracted him among all the names recommended to him.  “I curated seven shows in the United States, including my years at NGA, but I still wanted someone to curate Metala. I got quite a list of names, but I chose Nana. She is a good listener and I am proud that has delivered a standard show.”

Significantly, the synergy in rhythmic strength between pieces of welded objects and numerical expression makes Metala a rare exhibition in the genre of metal art.

“Dotun is a synergetic metal sculptor who has carved a niche for himself with his hyper-realistic monumental metal sculptures,” stated Sonoiki of Art Pantheon. Sonoiki said Metala has been made possible with the support and sponsors from The Grandeur Hotel, Seven Up, Tiger Lager Beer, The Luxury Reporter, Belvedere Vodka and George Osodi. More importantly, the exhibition will be observing the Lagos State protocols on COVID-19 as visitors may get more information from +234 909 227 7008 and inquiries@theartpantheon-ng.com.

The Metala show, Sonoiki assured, “promises to renew art lovers’ energy and projects amazing possibilities in recycling scraps or what we call useless and not useful objects, but being transformed into priceless luxury art.”

Among the works on display is a piece titled Portrait of Irinola, which takes metal sculpture in the depiction of a domestic animal to a fresh high. With his amazing creation from found objects, Popoola in the depiction of dog’s head celebrates the beauty in recycled materials as well as injects aesthetics into mechanical-like textures.

where he graduated as the best student in 2004. He had his first and second degree in Fine and applied arts with a specialization in sculpture and painting respectively in Obafemi Awolowo University Ile Ife, Osun State, Nigeria.

He trained in many art studios, and he is a certified hybrid metal sculptor; a resident artist in Lemmon South Dakota, at John Lopez studio, United States of America. Dotun won the Director General’s Award of Best Artist of the year in the maiden NYSC arts competition in 2009. He has featured in many exhibitions including the West Africa International Art Fair “ArtX Lagos” and he recently represented Nigeria at the maiden scrap art exhibition in Qatar 2019 and Global Art Festival in Gujarat India 2020.

She stated that Art Pantheon is a team of professional and creative minds who believe strongly in Contemporary African Art. We specialize in exhibitions, documenting private and corporate collections and offer appraisals and valuations for insurance and market evaluations. “We are very grateful to the management for The Grandeur Hotel for their amazing support in making this show a reality.”

Popooola is a synergetic metal sculptor who has carved a niche for himself with his monumental metal sculptures, he rose from a state hopelessness to becoming a dealer in hope; giving himself to service of humanity through his artistic practice and community services. He is passionate about touching lives through his artistic and leadership skills; turning trash to treasures, rubbish to rubies and waste to wealth.

Popoola has equally executed several monumental sculptures and large murals both in Nigeria and United States of America, he continues to provide landmark mentoring opportunities for Professional development for local and International artists in his studio in South-West Nigeria.

Dotun’s immense contribution to the growth of art globally has been featured in over 100 publications, both locally and internationally. His artistic practice is based on a personal philosophy that art should be explored as an agent of change, and as a tool of sociocultural review, reengineering and protest against environmental decadence. His body of works have addressed the issue of waste management and conservation, infrastructural decay, and the need to repurpose, recycle, and reuse the large army of wastes that make our environment unsightly and threaten the ecosystem. His goal then and now, is aimed at creating a luxury brand from discarded materials, and giving better values to dead and abandoned scraps.

He holds a National Diploma in Painting and General Arts from Auchi Polytechnic, Auchi, Edo State, where he graduated as the best student in 2004. He had his first and second degree in Fine and applied arts with a specialization in sculpture and painting respectively in Obafemi Awolowo University Ile Ife, Osun State, Nigeria.

He trained in many art studios, and he is a certified hybrid metal sculptor; a resident artist in Lemmon South Dakota, at John Lopez studio, United States of America. Dotun won the Director General’s Award of Best Artist of the year in the maiden NYSC arts competition in 2009. He has featured in many exhibitions including the West Africa International Art Fair “ArtX Lagos” and he recently represented Nigeria at the maiden scrap art exhibition in Qatar 2019 and Global Art Festival in Gujarat India 2020.

Omolola Afolabi

Title:        Thoughts of Babatunde Fadun 

Reviewer:    Omolola Afolabi

Publisher:    Grace Springs Africa

Pages:                  181

Going down the trajectory of history, young ones on significant happenings we missed before we were born, Babatunde Fadun, in his memoir, reaffirms to us that history should be licensed and not silenced. It features Fadun’s stories published in major newspapers in Nigeria and America, including ThisDay, Punch, The Guardian, among others, from the 70’s till the new millennium.

The book empowers both the young and old with a thorough sense of responsibility to pass the lit torch on to generations, so they may neither falter in their footsteps nor stutter in their spoken words.

“Thoughts of Babatunde Fadun” penciled down by former banker and administrator, gives a complete chronology of some “watershed” moments in the Nigerian history, typically based on the experiences and activities of key players who were disruptive and how their examples are resolutely relevant and shaped conversations and consciousness even till date.

In volume one,  with the theme: “Awo is 64 tomorrow, published on Daily Sketch, dated March 5, 1973, Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s rise from very humble beginnings to becoming one of the most regarded pioneering figures in politics and education is captured thus:

“His (Awolowo) is a unique instance of how a person can rise from very humble beginning to the very top in his chosen field. With father’s death, the ambition that has been planned for Obafemi had failed.

Poignantly describing the rise and fall of Richard Nixon in Volume 8, the author recounts that Nixon, a dexterous negotiator with a broad knowledge of world affairs, especially in Vietnam and China.

The foreword written by legal luminary, Femi Falana (SAN), describes Fadun’s writing as both universal and nationalistic.

“He passionately writes about foreign affairs as depicted in the various chapters, giving us an insight into the depth of the analytic mind of the political thoughts of the author. This makes the book to be proactive in nature as it connects the construction of reality in Nigeria and beyond”.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo is described as “Nurse of Democracy”, whose Obasanjo’s efforts towards peace building, peace keeping and independence of fellow West African countries is commendable.

Fadun in his typically expository narrative, describes how globally accepted and the appeal OBJ’s tenure created. “I can recall quite well back in the former University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife as an undergraduate, the former president was invited to attend a roundtable of the staff club of the university.

“While fielding questions from the academics, OBJ was questioned about his involvement in a particularly controversial issue involving workers by a professor who introduced himself as a “professor of flowering plants”.  Obasanjo responded, in a most dismissive manner: ‘Well, I don’t expect much from a professor of flowering plants”. This led to a war of words between the two elders; it took the intervention of the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Bamitale Omole to calm the fractious nerves.”

Fadun is an alumnus of University of Lagos (UNILAG), Akoko where he studied economics and majored in international trade and finance in 1978. His academic background in the field is displayed in the classical book, which Falana aptly notes thus: “This book will serve as priceless compendium, registering his confidence”.

It is said that what the older generation might have encountered should be a watchdog for the generation coming afterwards. A complete compendium, it also exposed to us a bit of cultural history in the spate of the Awori history where the integration of the Awori towns of Otta, Igbesa and Ado-Ido into Lagos State.