The Nation Newspaper

Category: Arts & Life

  • Our battle against sickle cell -Mother and daughter

    Our battle against sickle cell -Mother and daughter

    Abimbola Edwin and daughter, Timilehin are both sickle cell carriers who have literally battled the ailment to a standstill. They have also been involved in advocacies against the condition, helping to lift several other people in similar condition. They share their stories with Medinat Kanabe.

    BORN 56 years ago by parents who were both AS genotype, one could say hers was a lucky family, as her parents ended up with only one sickle cell anaemic child out of six. That lone child was Abimbola Dada now Abimbola Edwin courtesy her marriage to Mr Edwin.

    As a child, she said the pains came typically, but the good thing was that her parents being elites discovered in time – as soon as she began manifesting the symptoms at four months – and took good care of her until she could manage it on her own.

    Now conveniently past the proverbial golden age, one could also say the luck that abided with her parents, has kept her company, as few children with sickle cell anaemia ever make it this far. She confirmed that as a growing child, she was assailed with stories of how people with sickle cell rarely live to be 20 and all such scary tales; but Abimbola said she prayed hard.

    “They gave me time but as God would have it even at that young age, I believed in Him and I knew somehow that nothing would happen to me. I didn’t know Him then as I know him now but I am glad I knew Him.

    “I never doubted for once that I would live long; so even when I gave my life to Christ, that was the first thing I asked of him – that by His Grace I would not die young.”

    Recalling how she met and married her husband, Abimbola said: “My husband told me that it was when he saw me in crisis that he took the decision to marry me. He said he couldn’t leave me alone because something told him I needed someone to take care of me.

    “At that time, he wasn’t even sure of his genotype but when he checked and found that he is AS, he decided there was no going back because it just seemed like the right thing for him to do. His family too have been supportive over these years.” She enthused.

    Asked if she would advice those who are not married yet to check their genotype before settling for a life partner, the Ekiti State born said she would, adding that this would definitely save them the usual trauma. She said: “As a believer of Christ, I know he will find a way out for them. If you have a strong faith, you will also know that anybody can die at any time, even if they are AA.

    “As for those who are already married and have children who are SS, they should not lose hope. They should visit the clinic, keep appointments, take their drugs regularly and live healthy.”

    Edwin, who is an international business woman says she takes time out to counsel people on the condition. “I tell them to take their drugs. I am not a medical doctor but sometimes when people are in a crisis and they tell me how they are feeling, I just give them a little therapy like; if you are gassed-up, simple soda water can bring you out of it. Personally I have studied myself, so I know when the attack is coming and therefore take my drugs and rest. Other people can do the same.

    “With more enlightenment, people will no longer be scared of having a sickler as a husband, or wife or child. Personally I believe there is nothing anybody of my age can do that I cannot do.”

     

    Timilehin’s Crimson Bow to the rescue

    Abimbola’s daughter, Timilehin, who also lives with the sickle cell anaemia, is also deeply involved in the crusade to overpower the sickness. She revealed that her blog, Crimson Bow, focuses on educating people on the different aspects of sickle cell anaemia, even as she confessed that she didn’t know much about the condition until she started the site.

    As a child, Timilehin said, “I didn’t really know what was happening until I got to secondary school. I thought I could play around and everything; but I started having frequent attacks. However, it wasn’t the attack that affected me but the psychological effects.

    “I was fortunate to go to a good school with a proper sick bay and my principal along with other teachers knew about my condition and hardly punished me. But my classmates didn’t know why, so they constantly bullied me, called me all sorts of names and generally picked on me because of my smallish nature.

    “Consequently, I was always coming home crying and my mother would go to school to see what could be done to stop the bullying. One day she told me ‘Timi you have to fight your own battles, nobody will fight it for you’.

    “Even as a child, that touched me. Thereafter, I have had attacks that could have taken my life, but I told myself that I won’t die. So I fought and survived them. Also watching my mum go through a lot to raise the three of us, holding a career and becoming an international business woman have given me the will to want to keep moving.”

    The 29 year-old explained that sickle cell anaemia has far more implications and conditions than many understand. “For instance,” she said, “when I started, I discovered that sickle cell causes stroke. I also discovered that many people don’t know about simple things like how to treat yellow eyes. A lot of people in this country would rather opt for traditional means than follow the proper medical treatment. There is the case of a woman who recently went to wash her daughter’s yellow eyes traditionally and as we speak, the girl is on the verge of blindness.”

    While explaining that what she does goes beyond just running a blog, Timilehin said she tries to get everybody concerned involved. According to her, many people don’t read; as a result, she goes out with her team to schools, campaign on radio programmes, and offer help to people who have financial problems, because, as she put it, “the condition can be pretty expensive to treat.”

    She noted that Crimson Bow is out to make people understand that they don’t have to take all the drugs in this world to get relieved. “For example, there was a time in my life when people were asking me if I have tried this or that drug and I kept trying everything because I was desperate, but nothing worked.

    “A lot of deaths by the anaemia can be avoided if the mind can be adjusted; but a lot of people just give up in their sick beds. I get calls from people saying they want to die, that they are tired of life; and I understand them because I have being there. There was a time when I felt I was tired of life too; although it wasn’t directly related to my SS status. I was being rejected in my relationships; but it was at that darkest moment of my life that the blog started.”

    The 2007 Mass Communication graduate of Covenant University and Netherland Business School also hinted that anyone living with sickle cell needs support from family members and friends. “I know of a young man who committed suicide at the end of the day. He had to do it when his family members rejected him by constantly taunting and ridiculing him. I want them to know that there is always the down point but what we do with it really matters.”

    On the issue of aborting foetus diagnosed with SS, Timilehin said she does not support that. “I believe the gift God gives us comes in different packages but we need to unwrap it first to understand the value. Thank God for medical advancements, there are so many things that can be done and you will be surprised that you will not get an attack as frequently as some other people.”

    Timilehin explained that Crimson represents the colour red while the Bow represents the shape of the human blood cells and a weapon for fighting, stressing that “In Sickle cell, you must fight to the end.”

  • A day in a lepers’ colony

    A day in a lepers’ colony

    Leprosy is a disease regarded by many as incurable. As a result, infected persons are often isolated, away from mainstream society, and despised. But is leprosy really incurable? Are those infected really dregs of society as they are made to look? Dorcas Egede who recently visited a lepers’ camp in Iberekodo, Abeokuta, relives her experience.

    AS far back as the Biblical days, lepers have been made to live in isolation, so as not to transfer their affliction to people around them. Back then, whenever anyone was afflicted with leprosy, whether as punishment from God, as in the case of Miriam (Moses’ elder sister), or happenstance, as in the case of Naaman, the Syrian soldier, they were immediately forced into isolation and kept far away from mainstream society. Literally speaking, they were seen as dregs of society and despised. For this set of people, life also literally stopped, as virtually all aspirations were put on hold.

    Thousands of years later and despite the landmark achievements in health and medical sciences and technology the world over, their plight hasn’t changed much. Lepers or leprosy survivors are still condemned to life in isolation and they still practically live without any remarkable life aspiration. This reporter in a recent visit to one of their settlements located in Ogun State found this out.

    As one approaches the settlement situated on the outskirts of Iberekodo, a village in Abeokuta North Local Government Area, Abeokuta, the feeling you get as a first time visitor is that of awe. The settlement is flanked on every side by different shapes and sizes of rocks, giving you an immediate inkling that you are indeed in a part of Abeokuta – the city under the rocks. there are also big trees scattered all over, complimenting the scorching heat occasioned by the rocks and at the same time providing shelter and aesthetics, while some benevolently provide food in the form of fruits like mangoes, pears and oranges.

    Not enough to deter love

    One of the very first lessons this reporter received as she began interacting with the leprosy victims in this community was on the solidity and ubiquitous nature of love. Even in the midst of the scary myths and despondency that have revolved around leprosy over generations, love still found a place to settle and underline its essence.

    Funmi Ogundimu, 23 seemed to be the only enlightened person this reporter could relate with in the settlement. She showed no hesitation whatsoever at telling this reporter about the people among whom she lived. She was born among the lepers to a leprous mother, she said. The last of seven children, Funmi told this reporter with a hearty laughter that leprosy is not the disease that many people think it to be. According to her, her father met and married her mother who was suffering from the disease, even though he didn’t have the disease and had never at any point in time suffered from the affliction.

    Seeing the amazement in this reporter’s eyes, she quickly supplied, “Love na. He married her because of love.”

    As this discussion got underway, Funmi introduced this reporter to John Ojoawo. Ojoawo had come into the colony 40 years ago, having been diagnosed of the condition. Two years later, he met and married Falilatu, who had arrived the settlement a couple of months after him.

    “Since we had both found ourselves in this situation, we fell in love and took a decision to get on with life. I reckoned that Falilatu and I could help each other somehow. She agreed and we were soon married.” Ojoawo said.

    Dreams aborted by stigmas

    Asked if she could follow in her father’s foot-step and marry a leper, Funmi protested with a vehement, “No way! I can’t marry someone with the disease.” Her reason, as this reporter soon found out, is because they are largely stigmatised. She told this reporter the story of a certain young man: “I knew of one brother,” she said, “he was brought to this settlement at about age 16. He was so passionate about getting an education that he enrolled in the settlement’s only primary school at that age. After his primary education, he went ahead to enrol in one of the government secondary schools in Iberekodo here…”

    But the story ended on a rather sad note, as she said: “The young man was forced to drop out of school because his classmates kept mocking him because of his condition.”

    That young man’s story may not be different from several others like him, whose aspirations have been cut short as a result of society’s stigma. But could one really blame those young people for stigmatising their mate, when even the society at large knows so little about the disease and still largely despises sufferers? At this point, even this reporter recalled how a senior colleague had vehemently warned her to be careful and keep a distance, when she informed him of her intention to visit to the lepers’ colony.

    Corroborating the stigma obstacle that they have faced, Ojoawo revealed that it is difficult for he and his likes to go out in the open for any kind of transaction, because of the way people treat them. “When I began to lose my limbs to the disease, people began avoiding me like a plague. Even now that I don’t pose any danger to others, I still find it difficult to go into the midst of my peers who are not sufferers and have any discussion or interaction. So, we make friends of ourselves…”

    A cry for government’s help

    After the chat in her mother’s apartment, Funmi, who had become like a guide to this reporter, took her to the Baale’s compound. The duo met the Baale or village head, Fatai Ogunseye, sitting on a park bench in front of his home. He appeared to be in his 80s, although he said he’s just a little over 60. He did say however, that in his days, there was no such thing as documentation of births. He couldn’t exactly recall the year he got to the lepers’ colony, but believes it is well over 30 years. According to his calculation, he must have been around 30 years of age when he came down with the disease.

    Before further discussions, Baale Ogunseye asked to know this reporter’s mission to the colony and whose bidding she was doing, coming over. He wanted to be sure if the reporter and whoever she represented didn’t have ill intentions against the government or occupants of the settlement. He noted that sometime in the past, one media house had published something untrue about them, which caused a lot of stir.

    After assuring him that all she wanted to do was enhance a further understanding of their situation among the general public and government, and possibly attract help for them, baba began to unburden his heart.

    Waving his hand in a sweeping manner, he said, “As you can see, all of us are mostly old people and we can hardly take care of ourselves. We are begging the government to have mercy on us and help us more than they are currently doing. The N10,000 stipend they give us monthly is not regular. For those of us being paid by the state government, we have not collected anything since the beginning of this year. That is even fair enough. Those who are being paid by the local government haven’t been paid for ten months.”

    While he expressed appreciation for what the government is doing to take care of them, he said there was much more they could do to ameliorate their sufferings.

    Asked if he had any other source of income, he enthused that he had been a farmer for a long time, and used whatever he made from the farm to support the stipend that came from the government. “But now, I’m too old to walk properly, much less, farm. And my children, who would have been of help, are struggling to survive too. They have not attained high positions, where they would have enough to take care of themselves, their families and me.”

    The same plea was raised by Ojoawo, who told this reporter that he had been in the settlement since 1975. Reliving how he found himself in the settlement, he said: “In 1964, the disease appeared on my body like spots. When the spots refused to clear out after a long period of self-medication, I decided to go to Our Lady’s Hospital in Iseyin. It was there that I was diagnosed of having leprosy and was referred to this place.”

    Ojoawo, who is affected on all four limbs, apparently spent too much time doing self-medication, thereby allowing the disease to fester and do much damage before seeking expert medical help.

    Momentarily, Ojoawo broke into songs of praise for the government, as it were, before letting out his plea. “Government is trying. They built this place where we all reside. They provide water, electricity, because we don’t pay any bill. They give us monthly allowances.” But he believes they could still do more.

    According to him, they had sent delegates to the government house to talk about the irregularity of the local government stipend; adding that they promised to do something about it, but that as at the time of this discussion, they had yet to do anything about it. He informed that they “will go back to the government house on Monday to remind them of their promise.”

    When asked if they had other source of income, considering that the monthly stipend from the government may not be enough to cater for all their needs, Ojoawo said, “Once upon a time, when outsiders had not come to occupy the open land around our settlement, we used to farm millet and cassava, and sell. But, we can’t do that anymore because we do not have free space to farm on.”

    Funmi told this reporter that the ‘omo oniles’ (land-owners) gradually took over the free portions of their settlement, claiming that the land does not belong to the government but to different families. This, she said, has accounted for the inability of many inhabitants of the colony formerly involved in farming to continue farming, whilst waiting on the government and other good-natured Nigerians for survival handouts.

    Ojoawo, who revealed that his marriage to Falilatu produced three male children, two of who are in a polytechnic and secondary school respectively, while the oldest is a bricklayer, told this reporter that paying the school fees of his son at the polytechnic has been like the proverbial camel trying to pass through a needle’s eye. He believes however that special scholarship schemes for lepers and other disabled people would do them a world of good. “We want scholarships for our children. My son, for instance is in the polytechnic and his school fees is N45,000. How am I supposed to pay that with the meagre stipend my wife and I get from the government, when it has barely fed the family?”

    He wondered if the government can help with scholarship for their children through higher institutions, noting that this would go a long way in relieving them of their burdens, help their children attain a height in which they can in turn cater for their ageing parents and reduce their burden and demands on the government.

    Kudos to supportive Nigerians

    Now in a hurry to rush off to attend to a friend, who had come visiting, Ojoawo noted with obvious gratitude, efforts of well-meaning Nigerians, whom he said have been of utmost support and succour to his colleagues in colony. Among them, he declared, are the Lion’s Club of Abeokuta, Alaba Lawson Foundation, several other NGOs, churches and some individuals, whom he said bring them gifts of clothing and clothing materials, food items and money.

    He revealed that the Alaba Lawson Foundation owned by the Iyalode of Yoruba land “has never left us for a moment. During the Easter celebration, she came with her team, gave us many gifts and clothes for the celebration. It is on the good graces of good Nigerians like her that we have been surviving.”

    Funmi also attested to the contributions and goodwill of these good Nigerians to the welfare of lepers in the colony. She showed this reporter buildings that have been renovated by the Lion’s Club of Abeokuta, just so people in the colony can also live a good life.

    ‘Not so hopeless,’ – medical expert

    In a bid to further understand and unravel the mystery behind the leprosy disease, this reporter, after the chats with the lepers, headed for the lone hospital in the colony. There, she met the matron of the hospital, who at first refused to pay her any attention, citing the fact that she is a civil servant and therefore prohibited from talking to the press. Besides, she said, “These lepers are in the habit of reporting the government to the media. Are they the ones who invited you?” She asked with a dint of annoyance.

    She maintained this stance until this reporter was able to convince her that she had indeed come of her own volition and with clean mind to perform her journalistic duties of educating the public and chronicling the lepers’ plight.

    She said: “Leprosy is caused by a bacterium called, mybacterium leprae.” Contrary to the pervading belief, she declared that leprosy is actually curable, but emphasised the need for people to speak up and go to the nearest medical facility, once they notice skin infections in the form of whitish or blackish spots on their skin, stressing that “early detection can help to curb the disease.”

    Expatiating further, she added that, “Leprosy manifests itself in the form of whitish or blackish spots. And it often takes a long time for it to deteriorate to the point where it begins to eat up the limbs. If a carrier reports the disease early enough, and treatment commences immediately tests reveal it is leprosy, the patient will be placed on a two-week medication, and that’s all.”

    She said a lot of people however choose to live in denial of the fact that they may have been infected by the disease, and therefore refuse to report to a doctor for proper diagnoses. While some of them resort to self-medication, she said others choose to go from one prayer house to another in search of solution, thereby worsening the situation.

    “More often than not, they run to us when the disease has festered and begun to eat up their limbs or other parts of their bodies so affected,” she said.

    Asked if the disease is genetic, she said: “Not necessarily because it is possible for a member of the family to have it without another having it. In fact, many of the lepers in the colony got married to each other and had children, and those children tested negative to the disease.” She noted however that where a person has the disease and is unaware or ashamed to disclose it, there is the possibility of transmitting it to those around him, through nasal droplets, or broken skin on rare occasions.

    If left untreated, the matron said leprosy can cause permanent damage to the skin, nerves, eyes and limbs, depending on the part of the body that is affected.

    She also pointed out that all the lepers in the colony have been cured. “The first thing we do here is place any carrier brought into the colony on treatment. If the disease has festered, the treatment can take up to a year. That’s why we always encourage people to report cases early enough.”

    Once a Leper….

    On why the people still have to be retained in the colony, if indeed they have been cured, the matron said most of them there have lost their limbs and cannot fend for themselves. Aside that, she said there is a huge dose of stigmatisation to contend with out there. “People generally believe that once an individual has been infected, that’s the end. And that’s because even after the disease has been cured, the limbs that have been eaten up by the disease do not return to normal. They stay that way, and as long as they stay that way, people just believe that they are still leprous.”

    RADEV Early Education Centre

    Inside the lepers’ colony is a primary school for the children of lepers. The school, which has a most unusual name, Royal Advancement for Development (RADEV) Early Education Centre is the only primary school in the colony.

    When this reporter met the head of the school, he refused to proffer any information, insisting, like the matron, that he’s a civil servant and isn’t permitted to speak with the press. He however volunteered that “The children of the lepers are tutored here;” and that “there are no lepers among them.”

    Ogun State govt speaks

    The Ogun State government penultimate Saturday declared that it has paid stipends of the inhabitants of the Lepers’ Colony in Iberekodo, Abeokuta, up till February this year.

    Speaking through Adejuwon Soyinka, Senior Special Assistant to Governor Ibikunle Amosun on Media, the government said their March stipends would soon be ready.

    Soyinka, who said the colony was established in the early 1980s said “With respect to your request, I can assure you that in spite of the prevailing financial crunch, the Senator Ibikunle Amosun-led administration in Ogun State has continued to put the welfare of citizens on the front burner.

    “In view of this, the state government has ensured that the lepers have been paid up till February 2016, while their March 2016 payment has already been authorised and would hit their account soon.”

  • Kidney failure: Medical student seeks help

    Kidney failure: Medical student seeks help

    A THIRD year medical student, Olaoluwa Oluwamuyiwa, (Dr Lulu) who is down with renal failure has appealed to Nigerians to help save his life.

    Born on February 16, 1988, 28-year old Oluwamuyiwa hails from Ondo State from a small family of four, comprising his parents, himself and his younger sister.

    Dr Lulu, as he is fondly called, began to experience difficulties in pursuit of his childhood dream to become a medical doctor in the year 2000 when his father lost his job. Shortly after, he had a ghastly accident that made him unconscious for several months. Since then, he has been unable to fully use his legs.

    Undeterred by the challenge, Dr Lulu travelled to Ukraine to study medicine, but had to abandon the study owing to financial difficulty and come back to Nigeria.

    Not one to give up on his dream, he soon packed his baggage and headed for China to study medicine again. He is currently in his third year.

    However, Dr Lulu now faces a major life challenge as he is suffering from renal failure. He is currently undergoing dialysis pending the time he will be able to raise the N7m required for a kidney transplant.

    His family is appealing for assistance from good spirited Nigerians and corporate organisations to help raise the funds. He undergoes three dialysis sessions every week at the cost of N60,000, with his friends and family helping him run around to raise the fees.

    You can help keep Dr Lulu alive by donating to OLUWAMUYIWA OLAOLUWA OYINDE’s account no. 0108134961 at GUARANTEE TRUST BANK.

    Enquiries can also be made via telephone numbers 08177356420 (OLAOLUWA) or 08036607719 and 08029140079 (Dr Lulu’s father).

  • When history beckons

    Title: The Ijaw in Warri – A study in Ethnography
    Author: J.O.S Ayomike
    No. of pages: 146
    Reviewer: Edozie Udeze

    Who owns the land?  Does any piece of land ever exist in a vacuum?  Or put more succinctly, is there ever any settlement anywhere in the world where you do not have the original owners of the place?  These are the recurrent issues raised in this book – The Ijaw in Warri.

    Written by J. O. S. Ayomike, a seasoned author and an authority in the Niger-Delta history, the book is simply and precisely a work based on the fact that the piece of land known as Warri today has been an ancestral home of the Itsekiris.

    This is a study in ethnography, showing with facts, evidences and figures that Warri had been and will continue to be the original home to the Itsekiris.  This is why Ayomike noted that this issue is the homeland of the Itsekiri.  “Each nationality, that is, an ethnic group, in a given polity has a homeland; others live in it with them and it is known by all and sundry as the group’s homeland…  Therefore, this book, like its forerunner, seeks to describe the Itsekiri people in relation to their neighbour – and this time, the Ijaw – and show their symbiotic relationship.”

    Quoting relevant sources and documents and based on oral accounts where it is imperative Ayomike clearly stated at what point the Ijaw converged in Warri to become bona fide members of the society.  It is not to be argued further who owns the land.  It should not be a matter of dispute, because even based on the pattern of settlement, even previous census carried out in Nigeria, the Itsekiri have been known and proved to be the rightful owners of Warriland.

    In chapter one entitled: The Ijaw and Itsekiri Homeland, the author quoted what he referred to as the authoritative sources to back his story and clear the air on this matter.  “The position of the Ijaw within the homeland of the Itsekiri has been aptly described by Dr. P. C. Lloyd in his work on the Itsekiri people in these words.  “The Administrative Unit known as the Warri Division of Delta Province, whose area is 1,520 square miles is approximately co-terminus with the territory of the Itsekiri though it includes groups of Ijaw settlements in the extreme north and south…”

    Sources such as this are replete with historical facts and presented by world-acclaimed historians like J. C. Anene, J. F. A. Ade-Ajayi, John Hatch and more, who relied on water-tight evidences to situate facts.  Even though the Ijaws have been more in population and scattered in more areas in the Niger Delta, other historical happenings in the area tended to necessitate their closer movement towards the Itsekiri portions of the land.

    On page 23, it is clearly stated thus: “The principal peoples of the Delta are the Itsekiri and the coastal dwelling Sobo in the west, the Ijo in the centre, the coastal Ibibio and the Efik of old Calabar who live in the eastern Delta.  The Ijo, Ibibio and Efik have many similar institutions.  But the Itsekiri who founded the Kingdom of Warri in the Western Delta do not really resemble the central and Eastern Delta peoples.  In fact, the Itsekiri of Warri have much more in common with the Edo of Benin and their Yoruba neighbours.”

    Also quoting Professor Obaro Ikimi, renowned world historian and activist, it says: “The Itsekiri inhabit the North-western extremity of the Niger Delta…  Their neighbours are the Bini to the north, the Ijo to the south, the Urbobo to the east and the Yoruba of Ondo Province to the northwest…  Itsekiriland is watered by three large rivers, the Benin, the Escravos and the Forcados.”

    In his own account too, K. B. C. Onwubiko, one of Nigeria’s foremost historians stated:  “Thus arose such city-states as Warri and Sapele inhabited by the Itsekiri and Urhobo…  Bonny for example had its trading empire along the Imo River hinterland, Kalabari along the Sombreiro River interior; and the Itsekiri Kingdom with its capital as Warri controlled the Benin River hinterland.”

    Evidently, Ayomike resorted to these historical elements so as to give the public an authentic proof to show who the original owners have been.  This book arose essentially due to the nagging dispute over who owns the land.  For many years, wars had raged on among the many tribes in Warri over this matter.  And so when Ayomike chose to dwell on the issue, his intentions were made clearer and more distinctive.

    This is why each chapter delved into those knotty issues that have disturbed the flow of harmony in the region.  This is why this book is one to be taken with seriousness.  The facts are there to show history as it really is.”

  • ‘To be an artist demands sacrifices’

    ‘To be an artist demands sacrifices’

    Eluagu Nzubechukwu William, 30, is a 2013 graduate of Fine Art from the Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH), Lagos. His name may not ring a bell among art enthusiasts and collectors but he does the unusual by experimenting with found objects, materials and forms. He speaks with MOJISOLA CLEMENT-Omobowale on his  challenges while working on his final project: Your destiny is in your hands, an installation made from pet bottles in front of YABATECH School of Art and Designs.

    Why did you change from sciences to study fine arts?

    After my secondary education, I attended a church programme that was organised for the youth anchored by a female counselor. She lectured us about self-discovery and challenged every youth present to discover who they are when they get home. She asked us to lie down facing up and closed our eyes. And that we should look deep down into our soul. I went home to do that. But, I always knew I was an artist. When I borrowed my peers my notebook, they pass comments such as ‘your note is very neat, your diagrams look like an album.’

    Teachers will call me to draw on the board. I was always drawing but most times they were not for publicity stunt. When I draw, it always looks like a photocopy. After the programme, I discovered that art was my line and I never wanted to do something I learnt but something that came to me naturally. So, I decided to be who I am. Initially, what I did was to contact my art teacher, Mrs Fasanmi. She was my fine arts teacher in my secondary school. The first day she saw me, she just loved me. I told her my intentions to be an artist and she was very happy. She gave me my first drawing materials such as brushes and paints and she wrote a recommendation to her colleagues on my behalf. She is an alumnus of YABATECH.  They run a studio called the Universal Studio of Arts (USA) at the premises of National Theatre, Lagos. I went there as an apprentice between 2003 and 2006. Between that period, I enrolled for GCE where I did the arts subjects.

    What kind of growing up did you have?

    Growing up was very interesting. It was full of fun. You know a typical child that grew up in Ajegunle. I grew up in an average family. I lost my father when I was 6 years old. He was a businessman who was involved in importation while my mum is a trader. Many children in Ajegunle grew up with a lot of play and experiment. We will make kites and on Saturdays we go to the dustbins and pick things that we use to make toys. We always look out for Saturdays. And each season came with its own type of play or game.

    Will you say your talent or skill is hereditary? I mean does it run in the family?

    Yes. I think from my mother from what I observed personally. She has some of her biology notes she used while she was still in school. She is a perfectionist. Though she was married to my father at a tender age, she kept all her notes, her notes does not get torn. She actually told me that she misplaced most of her books when she came to my father’s house. She said they were all borrowing her notes and never returned it. I saw her diagrams and I feel it flowed from her so I believe it flowed from them.

    I used pet bottle to create a sculptural work 10 feet six inches high then the base is like three feet. The title of the work is Your destiny is in your hands and it shows two sterilized hands holding a sphere and this sphere signifies ones destiny. It was supposed to be the world when I proposed the idea. The jury that examined the idea limited it to Your destiny is in your hands. Although I have already done the design so I couldn’t go back on it and I decided to continue with it. The sphere symbolizes one’s destiny while the hand symbolizes man and his action. Now from the composition of the art piece one would notice that the hand is composed in such a way that there is a wobbling, there is a struggle of these two hands, there is a struggle trying to control the ball which we all know as the way life is, it is struggle for us all to get to our destiny or our positive feet. It is always a struggle. Although it was done in 2013, it was mounted around January 2014 and pro to that time there were lots of challenges I had to face to do that work.

    What kind of challenges?

    The challenges include catering for my needs as a student and the first challenge was money followed by keeping to time.  Note that my project that had not been done before. I didn’t have any particular blueprint or a place I will go to see the work where it has been done. The material is somehow new especially in this environment. There are only few places that the project has been done like Brazil and China. So, the other challenge I had was supervision. The first lecturer that was supposed to be my supervisor turned me down.

    You said you were not a good student?

    I was not a good student because at a point my supervisor and I were good paddies. But it turned sour because I couldn’t meet up with my assignment.

    Why didn’t you meet up with your assignments?

    I had some contracts I was doing and I had to meet up. I was lagging in my assignments. I was not able to submit my assignment promptly. I was not even paying much attention. But they knew I was a good student. In the class, we were four. I don’t want to praise myself but I was a promising student even my lecturers knew. My only problem was that I was not meeting up.

    The second lecturer that took my supervision after much begging gave me a target and a particular time frame. Yet, I couldn’t meet up still because my clients were on my neck. In fact, during that period, I felt like running away from the school.  But, to God be the Glory I was able to deliver the works to the client who threatened that he would use police to nab me. By that time, I had already received query from my Head of Department Mr. Aderinsoye  Aladegbohungbe. So, I went to explain myself to him. Thank God he is a very understanding man. He admonished me.

    My next supervisor abandoned my project because I couldn’t meet the target. I didn’t get another supervisor after that so I had to do it all myself. I mean all alone without any supervision.

    What was the duration of the project?

    Really, I wasn’t counting anymore. But it may be around 90 days or three to four months.

    What were the pet bottles you used?

    I used different brands of pet bottles because all I wanted was something dynamic, something different. If I had gone for just a brand, I would have been limited. Let me give you an example, if I had gone for a the brand Pepsi, maybe Teem, I would only have a particular type of green so if you look at the work closely, there is a green that is lighter. There is also a green like 7up. So I used Teem, 7up and the lighter one is the H20 which now gradually faded into the white, I mean the clear one, the Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Fanta and Lacasera.

    How many bottles did you use in all?

    Wow. I made an attempt to count them and I lost count so it will be over 2000 and between four to five thousand bottles.

    So how did you source the pet bottles?

    I contracted the sweepers which were also my friends in the school because everything was gotten in the school, the students consume a lot of soft drinks and all I had to do was because I couldn’t pick them all. Although I picked some by myself, they were more in the position to gather it easier than me. I was buying it 30 naira per dozen. They were very happy supplying me with those bottles. I just kept stacking them.

    You stacked them before you embarked on the project?

    Usually when we have a project, we usually have a day of proposal.  You propose three ideas and from those ideas, you are permitted to choose one or they may choose for you if they notice that your ideas are not so good. But in my case, I proposed three ideas. Those ideas were unique and I was asked to choose any of it. I told them I will like to embark on this one.  My mind was on the pet bottles.

    Between 2008 and 2010, there was a research I was doing on plastics.  And I have been thinking of how to get money and turn it into art work. That preempted my idea about plastics.  I asked myself what can I do with them? Do I take them and melt them? I never knew it was going to be popular or people were going to be wowed by it. I just felt I wanted to do something different. I knew it was going to be difficult because I don’t have any blueprint or model to follow.

    I knew what I wanted to do but I did not know the technical ways to go about it so it is just as if I had a dream but I did not know the road to follow. When I started it, pressures were mounting on the different techniques to adopt.

    So aside from pet bottles, what other materials did you use?

    Apart from that, I used lights bulb which I used in lighting them. So during the day you will see it with the bottles and at night it’s glowing.

    I am still going to explain the reasons for all of them because they all have their symbolism. I also used metal. There are different types of metal, there are quarter rods, 8mm, 10mm, 16mm, 20mm which is as thick as three fingers joined together. So I had to look for a way of bending those rods and I bent them myself. I had to make do with whatever I was going to get. When some people and my lecturers saw me at that time, they were like why don’t you just cut them in pieces and weld them. I listened to them but I did not do what they asked me to do. By God’s Grace I was able to make it stronger.

    Some of them he told me categorically that Williams what are you doing? You are not serious, what are you trying to do? While doing the work I had people that donated money to me voluntarily. Lecturer like Mr Rukeme Noserime helped me financially.

    The work is signed 2013 because that was when it was actually done but mounted in 2014.

    In what form do you want to come out with those ideas?

    I will like to come out with installations. Installations are spiritual art that have been done for a limited period of time maybe three months.  But you go back and dismantle it when time elapses. I also want to have exhibitions because people have given me the challenge. Some people want the piece or want something of this nature in their house. I have also been able to think about how I can modify it to fit into peoples’ home. I have been able to come up with the ideas because between that period and now I am quite good at using clay for sculpting figures and human beings. I have been using that to sustain myself. I have a registered business. The name of my company is the Co-Creators art and design company. There I do architectural finishing, build fountains, interiors, kitchen among others.

    Did you receive any award or scholarship?

    I have not gotten any scholarship or contract or any endorsement yet. Although there were some rumours that I must have a distinction. I refused to tell the students that I did not get an A because I was scared they could go on a rampage.  I think it was a B or something like that.

    If you get the opportunity to travel overseas would you go?

    Actually I am thinking of that seriously as a way of going for further studies. I would so much appreciate it. Though I have never thought of going abroad to live but I have always seen myself as an international person. I see myself as a global person that is why the theme of the particular topic I chose is central.

    Who motivates you?

    Firstly my inspiration is from God not man because everything I do is from deep within me. I don’t do things that come from my heart. I usually have a hunch to do something before I embark on it. I also get inspired by Mr Segun Adejumo who taught me to draw and appreciate it and so many other prominent artists such as Mr Biodun Olakun and Mr Olubunmi that taught me to appreciate art and see it as a profession.

    Any regrets?

    The road to being an artist is not an easy one. It is something that if you don’t make up your mind on it, you cannot succeed. It is not easy either in this country or abroad. It has lots of sacrifices.

     

  • ‘Mbanefo’s visit is a boost to Adamawa tourism’

    ‘Mbanefo’s visit is a boost to Adamawa tourism’

    Despite the state of security in Adamawa State, Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) Director-General Mrs. Sally Mbanefo visited Bachama Kingdom to promote its tourism, Assistant Editor (Arts) Ozolua Uhakheme reports.

    The Hama Bachama of Bachama Kingdom in Adamawa State, Homun Honest Irmiya Stephen (Kwire Mana, Kpafrato II) has commended the Director-General, Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), Mrs Sally Mbanefo, for promoting domestic tourism in the country.

    The monarch praised Mbanefo for promoting the cultural heritage, history and tourism in the kingdom.

    The monarch spoke during the visit by the NTDC boss to the kingdom.

    He said: ‘’The people of Adamawa are happy to host Sally Mbanefo who has brought the Federal Government’s presence to Numan Kingdom.’’

    “Sally Mbanefo is so courageous to have come to pay visit and honour the Bachama Kingdom, and the Adamawa people at large. She came to Bachama Kingdom when people are afraid of Adamawa State because of insecurity. No director-general of NTDC has ever visited the kingdom. In fact, the immediate past boss of the corporation, Otunba Olusegun Runsewe who is my good friend never honoured any invitations sent to him.

    “This kingdom and Adamawa at large are peaceful. In Bachama Kingdom, every tribe coexists peacefully. In fact, we have Igbo as political office holders and appointees in the state. And there is a good level of security; no insurgence whatsoever in Adamawa State. Bachama Kingdom has innumerable rich tourism potentials with enviable cultural heritage and history which are worth promoting and developing,” he said.

    The Hama Bachama of the Bachama Kingdom commended Mbanefo on her efforts at promoting tourism and culture in Nigeria, describing her visit as a hope for the development and promotion of the great tourism potentials, cultural heritage and history of the kingdom.

    The Kwire Mana, Kpafrato II urged the Federal Government to tap the tourism potentials of every state, particularly Adamawa whose rich culture is unique.

    Mbanefo described the Adamawa people as hospitable and very intelligent with rich cultural heritage and history, which are great tourism potential, if developed and promoted will not only create job opportunities in the kingdom and the state at large but will also strengthen unity among the people.

    “Tourism is a value chain, which cut across every sector. That is why NTDC under my administration will not relent on its efforts at promoting domestic tourism in Nigeria to create more jobs, promote unity among the Nigerian people, reduce urban migration and reduce crime rates in the country,” Mbanefo said.

    The NTDC boss, who was in the state to support the tourism efforts of the Hama Bachama of the Numan Kingdom, described the cultural heritage of the kingdom as unique and worthy of being exported globally just like the Sango festival in the Oyo town in Oyo State.

    “Sango festival has been exported to over 40 countries. This Kwete festival, among other festivals and the cultural heritage of Numan Kingdom are so fantastic that they will be well accepted and celebrated if developed, promoted and exported. And this will not only put the Numan Kingdom on the global tourism map, but it will also make Nigeria stand tall in the comity of tourism nations,” she added.

    Mbanefo promised to partner the Hama Bachama of the Numan Kingdom and the state government to develop and promote the great cultural heritage and tourism potentials in the kingdom and the state at large, while charging the community to continue their supports for the monarch.

    Adamawa State Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Mattias Ngaro also lauded Mbanefo’s visit to the kingdom, which is with a view to collaborating with the relevant authorities in the state to develop the rich cultural heritage and tourism potentials.

    “It is in my plan to bring the NTDC boss Mrs. Sally Mbanefo to Adamawa State to appreciate our rich cultural heritage and tourism potentials. But till now, I could not achieve this. Thank God that His Royal Highness, Homun Honest Irmiya Stephen (Kwire Mana, Kpafrato II), finally made this possible. The Adamawa State government will cooperate and partner with NTDC to ensure that our rich cultural heritage and tourism potentials are well developed and promoted for national and international acceptance,” Ngaro said.

    There were performances by various traditional dance troupes at the monarch’s house where the reception was held. The troupes included Wuro Kadwe from Lamurde, Jabin Imburu, Wuro Wajale from Lamurde, Igbo dancers and Mbowo Gra Njiya from Numan.

    After the reception, Homun Honest Irmiya Stephen, and the NTDC chief toured over seven tourism locations and attractions in the neighbouring villages where dance and warrior troupes entertained the visitor.

    The tourism locations and attractions include the fantastic big lakes, which are bigger than what is celebrated in America as the “big lakes,” and Women Exhibition Centre, Sangha and Lamurde Local Government.

     

     

  • Unusual art in Unfinished Business

    Unusual art in Unfinished Business

    In what may be described as romantic ingenuity, multi-talented Nigerian artist Chinze Ojobo painted about two dozen artworks. She exhibited most of them at the National Museum, Onikan in Lagos during an exhibition titled: Unfinished Business, Paul Ade-Adeleye reports.

    Like most of the artworks, the  collectors and enthusiasts at the opening of the exhibition were also not the regulars. Unfinished Business, a solo art exhibition, by Chinze Ojobo curated by Cornel Agwim, featured no fewer than 23 art pieces – paintings and sculptures.

    Ojobo, who studied Fine and Applied Arts at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, has been on the creative scene for over 20 years. Last week was not her first time of working with Agwim. He curated her first exhibition in Lagos and she has since held over 41 exhibitions in Nigeria, America, Bulgaria and London.

    Her art is unusual and it explores the most uncommon mix of media, which prompted Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Director General Dakuku Peterside who was at the opening of the exhibition to note that: “Let me say that Chinze is amazing. She’s got us thinking out of the box. If you come to an exhibition, you are looking out for an exhibition of the identity of the people, their contemporary challenges, what is happening in the society. Chinze has gone beyond all that. Another thing that is fascinating about her work is the use of materials. She’s not just our everyday artist. She can combine different types of materials to create things that are very unique to bring out the ‘African-ness’ in us.”

    Commenting further and urging younger artists in the country, he said: “I join millions of admirers to commend her. Look at her use of colours! She displays colours in ways that are unconventional. You can’t help but appreciate her. I am very impressed with her. I urge the young people of Nigeria to learn something from this. Don’t wait for any paid employment. You’ve got the talent and potential, get something to catalyse it and bring it to the fore! You have people to patronise you.”

    Her curator, Agwim, also expressed satisfaction at how her art has matured over the years. He said: “I am highly impressed because I have seen this transformation from her initial concept of just pure colours to the trans-symmetric unique combination of burlap (jutebag) and her use of specific themes; like the girl-child, and the use of social media in the society. She has moved from a unique style to a more unique style with more interpretation of social themes.”

    Ojobo’s first artwork on display, Journey of Life, is a magnificent 9ft x 8ft piece accentuating the artist’s mastery of the jutebag as a medium of artistic expression. She throws acrylic paint into the party and does not leave out fabric used for traditional wear. The artwork is partly sculpted in mid-relief and it is painted at strategic areas in a light brown tint. The parts of the artwork in relief depict three individuals seemingly heading in three directions. Two of them are cycling in opposite directions and the third is walking ‘out of the painting’, denoting different levels of industrial capacities. They seem to have been birthed of the same mother, but in their traversal through life, on the journey to self-discovery, they find themselves headed in opposite directions. It will not be smoke and mirrors to relate the piece to the contemporary ethnic tensions threatening to rip the country apart with each region heading to the four winds.

    While this individualism is sufficient to glorify the romanticist in her, her muse (the source of her inspiration) highlights an even deeper dimension to her art – a feminist dimension. She said: “Every Sunday, I teach teenagers and I keep discussing the same thing and the same girl-child issue. I decided to portray it. It is an unfinished business that needs to be sorted out. There is a solution to it. The girl-child needs education, she needs equal rights so if she gets what she needs, you will see you have taken care of a whole nation, not just a part of it.”

    Brushing at the political surface of the country and lending an air of romantic nationalism to her art is Politicians, a 63’’ x 56 ‘’ painting rife with impasto. In broad brushstrokes with thick oil paint, she depicts politicians garbed in different traditional attires but playing the same type of native drum. This is all painted against a background of thick yellow. Ojobo notes that the colour yellow means peace, tranquillity and general amiable agreeability. As such, she seems to be implying that if politicians play the same music, and dance to the same tunes, there will be peace in the country. For the tricky name this artwork bears, it hints at an optimistic vision of Nigeria’s future.

    Ojobo is certainly one of the true Nigerian artists with very active imaginations. If she keeps up her expression at this pace, she will, no doubt, soon have tomes dedicated to studying her life and her art, and posterity will find her artworks more costly than the giveaway price which they are currently valued at.

     

  • Ogun unveils Nigerian Drums Festival logo

    Ogun unveils Nigerian Drums Festival logo

    Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun has unveiled the logo and launched the raffle draw of the maiden edition of the Nigerian Drums Festival billed for April 19 and 21.

    Unveiling the logo and the raffle draw,  Amosun, represented by his deputy, Mrs  Yetunde Onanuga, said the event would foster development and unity, being the first of its kind in Nigeria and Africa.

    He said the festival would also promote the cultural heritage and tradition of the people. It would attract participants from the 36 states and Abuja, who will showcase their talents and skills on drum beating, dancing and performances.

    The governor said the festival would boost tourism and create jobs.

    The Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Otunba Muyiwa Oladipo, said the festival would turn around culture and tourism  in Ogun State, Nigeria and Africa. The festival, he noted, would promote cultural heritage of the country which other African countries would take a cue from.

    ”Drum is a common factor that binds tribes and ethnic groups with different cultures and traditions in Nigeria and the Nigerian Drums Festival will be an avenue to bring the different types of drums together,” Oladipo stated.

    He said the unveiling of the logo has set the ball rolling and placed an official stamp on the organisation of the event which planning had begun in the Ministry of Culture and Tourism towards the successful staging of the event.

    He said: “The event is purely an initiative of the Ogun State Ministry of Culture and Tourism supported by the the Ogun State Government and some stakeholders, but more stakeholders and sponsors are welcome on board, the more the merrier”.

    The commissioner, however, said  the raffle draw was to create awareness and promote the festival amongst the people at the grassroots, adding that it would be an opportunity for buyers to win fascinating prizes to commemorate the Nigerian Drums Festival of the year.

    ”This is part of the side attractions of the Festival, there are other side attractions and they will be unveiled as time goes on,” the Commissioner said.

    The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Alhaja Salmotu Ottun, enjoined participants to be steadfast and focus as the event would bring about the cultural and traditional promotion of their states, saying that the event was first of its kind in Africa.

    She said the event would be soft-landing,  which other African countries would  emulate, as Ogun was known to be number one in cultural and traditional values across the country even in Africa.

    The event, which had in attendance, Minister of Information and Culture, represented by Ms. Grace Gekpe, Senator Olorunmbe Memora, Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Taiwo Adeoluwa, Commissioner for Agriculture, Mrs. Ronke Shokefun, her counterpart in Commerce and Industry, Otunba Bimbo Ashiru, House of Assembly members, Head of Service, Elder Sola Adeyemi, among other dignitaries.

     

  • ‘My relationship with Fela was beyond music’

    ‘My relationship with Fela was beyond music’

    The life of legendary broadcaster and music critic Mr Benson Idonije (aka Ben J) revolves round the media and music. He is  an encyclopaedia of contemporary Nigerian music reporting, dating back to the early 60s at the defunct The Morning Post where he was a music columnist. Idonije, who will turn 80 on June 13, is a jazz aficionado. He speaks with Assistant Editor (Arts) OZOLUA UHAKHEME on his passion for music, his relationship with the late Afrobeat legend Fela Anikulapo-Kuti’s band, how he persuaded the musician to open an  account and an office in the 60s, and the state of broadcasting, among other issues. 

    You came into print journalism after retiring from the FRCN. How was the flow from broadcast to print?

    In broadcasting my major area was music, although in the end I went into the mainstream and I retired as Chief Training Officer (programme production) because I went into training and diversified. But as a major, music has been my turf. I worked in gramophone library, which is the repository of not just music, but all broadcasting materials. I read and listened to all types of music. I listened to all types of programmes – I started from there.  In those days, if artistes were coming to perform, you had to be there. You don’t expect organisers to give you tickets as you must pay your way. But these days, you are given complimentary tickets and if you are not given, you won’t be there. You have to be there and when you come out, you do your story, which will be objective. Nobody paid for your ticket, nobody gave you dinner and when you come out of the performance, you will be objective.  But these days journalists are pampered. Over time, I developed interest in dance and highlife. I went around with musicians and at a point, I took up a saxophone, and I tried to mess around with it. I only did the theory of music. So, it has to do with interest and I tried to update myself too. I read magazines and listened to radio a lot.

    And that paved the way into print journalism after retirement?                                               Yes, it was easy for me to come into print journalism because I have the residual knowledge and the experience was there. I was writing from the participant/observer perspective. I took part in what I saw, so it made it very easy for me. For instance, in the 60s, Fela and I used to go to Ghana almost every weekend either to enjoy ourselves or to listen to Star Gazers Band and interact with them before returning to Lagos. All that experience is what I fall back on when I write. So, travelling from here and there to listen to disco bands has to do with interest. You know that I write on Jazz and African music because of my interest. I will not say that I am a fine writer but I know how to put my message across and people enjoy it.

    If you had not specialised in Jazz and music reporting while in the broadcast industry, what would you have done?

    Well, if I had not done that, I don’t know what I would have done. I was lucky to get into it because it was all through The Guardian newspapers. When I retired from broadcasting in 1992, the last eight years of my career was at the FRCN Training School at Sogunle, Lagos. My experience was that of coordinating programmes for broadcasters all over Nigeria and even West Africa – some came from Sierra Leone and Gambia. I organised training sessions for them. So, this was what I did for eight years. At the end of these sessions, I would write reports about every student who did practical and theory. It was based on these reports that they were promoted. At the end, a friend of mine said these reports are standard and that ‘when you write nobody can fault them.’ He said now that I have retired, I should write for a paper to publish. He pestered me till one day I went to The Guardian newspaper to see the Editor Mr. Emeka Izeze. I was at the reception when Jahman Anikulapo passed by and saw me.  Before then, he had wanted to interview me but did not work out.Apparently, Jahman loves music seriously and he is a jazz devotee and he was very excited to see me. He took me straight to Emeka’s office and that was how I started writing for The Guardian. I was given a column to write and it was a challenge. So, I had to do it well as it was a new turf. They had high expectations of me and that was how it started.

    How will you recall your interaction with music icons, such as the late Fela and the late Steve Rhodes?

    Well, with Fela Anikulapo Kuti for instance, you know that I managed him from the beginning. Not just  as a paid manager, but I organised the man. I did what even his parents could not do. I tried to organise him to be steadfast in his career. I tried to assist him form a band, assembled the musicians.  All this was because he was a good musician and playing music that I loved. So, I had to promote him and his art. I promoted him in many ways, even with my column in the Morning Post. I had a column in the Morning Post as early as 1963. I had a column every Friday and I used that to promote Fela. So, my interface with him was that of love for his music. For Steve Rhodes he was a fine player. He was a good music director and an impresario. He was responsible for raising the standard of the NBC Dance Orchestra. Before independence, there was a radio band called NBC Dance Orchestra.

    That was in-house?

    Yes, in-house.  But, the musicians were selected from all over Nigeria. Chris Ajilo was the leader of the band. Even some Ghanaians were there like Sam Plange. That was how my love for the music started- to learn to co-ordinate and direct a big band.

    You were still in broadcasting then?

    Yes, I was in broadcasting then. I joined broadcasting in 1957. I was listening to him while at Ibadan. I started from engineering and I loved what he was doing, so with Steve Rhodes too. I loved what he was doing and he kept it up till he died. Remember that in the later years, we were all together at the Great Highlife Party. He was always there to see what they were doing. He was interested in highlife and all types of music. So, for these two icons, the interface was one of love for their music and their art.

    Even after Fela’s death, you still have intimate relationship with the family so much that you are always at their major events. What is the bond?

    Fela was a rare musician. There can never be another Fela. Since he died, nobody has matched his musical competence. The fact is that we started as friends and what brought us together was Jazz and love for the same music. We interacted and we moved together and were like brothers. He was able to create for himself a sound identity that has become world beat. It’s unimaginable. In fact, what he has done is not even appreciated in this country. It is better appreciated abroad. His music was a new music – Afrobeat – it was the new music for the entire world. In the last Felabration, there were musicians from all over the world who played different types of Afrobeat and they owe it to Fela. So, my association with Fela is beyond manager-musician relationship. It was a love for what he did.

    If Fela were to be alive, are there some things you would have told him to do right considering his weird image?

    Musically, you can’t fault Fela. He was reaching out to higher levels of creativity all the time. But in his attitude and way of life, I mean… For instance, before he died, I wanted us to (when we started making money) open a bank account and rent an office. If he were still alive I’d like to talk to him about that. He didn’t believe in opening bank account. He believed in spending the money. He didn’t believe in renting an office where he could meet with clients. He believed in clients coming to his house and meeting with all the girls and everybody.

    You mean he did not separate his work from his personal life?

    Yes. If he were alive, I would continue to tell him about all this. But as far as his music was concerned, he was a great act. He would have gone beyond that. He said he was playing classical African music and equating classical music with African music. The way Beethoven and other classical are being respected was how he wanted African music to be treated.

    Was Fela’s songs put in notes?

    Whenever he wanted he scored his music before he played. Although they would not put scores in front of them before they played, but they had done a lot of rehearsals, they would have memorised it and would play it from their heads. But, basically he scored his music before going to the studio to record it. He scored every piece of his music.

    How was the public acceptance of Fela from his first major hit Jeun Koku till his new generation songs on activism?

    With Jeun Koku he knew he had gotten a lot of acceptance. He knew he had hit and he had gotten what he wanted. He knew he had gotten his breakthrough. All he had to do was pattern his work after Jeun koku for a long period, but after then he upgraded. He upgraded with Zombie and Yellow fever. He was no longer on the level of Jeun Koku and Black man’s cry as he went to the level of classical African music with Beasts of no nation in 1986.

    Activism was part of it. But, he was using his music as a vehicle to pass across his message. His message was on top of his music. It is the message that people wanted to hear. But I am more particular about the music machine that propels the message. That machine that propelled the message was jazz, which is not easy to play. That’s why I have always advocated that to be able to play Afro beat you must be a jazz musician. You must have leanings towards jazz. So, that is the reason why a lot of bands cannot play Afro beat today.

    Talking of Afrobeat musicians of today,  do they have the craft like Fela?

    They are just singers! Forget about those computerised music; let’s talk about live bands. They find it difficult to get there. The likes of Femi and Seun – well you know these are his children and they are close to him and are drawing inspiration from their father. But, beyond that no other musician can render Afrobeat songs. Unless they are able to play jazz and they know what jazz structures are, and not only that, they must have the talent. It’s not enough to be able to play Jazz; you must have the talent. Fela had the musical knowledge, ability and talent. That is why he was different.

    Back to broadcasting. You were in the training wing before you exited. Now, looking back and comparing radio production and programming, how will you rate what is on air today?

    Well, I will say that broadcasting has improved in the sense that broadcast materials are quite available. There is internet where one can draw information and more educated chaps who have ideas are going into broadcasting. What is lacking is the ethics of the profession. The professionals are not drawing enough from the materials that are available.

    But there is a code of conduct?

    Sure. There is a code of conduct!

    And there is a supervisory body?

    It’s the NBC

    Is it forthcoming?

    Well, I don’t want to …. (laughs). I leave that to you. I heard some of them have brilliant ideas. They speak good English but you find that the code of conduct is not adhered to by practitioners. They are not drawing from the information on the internet that we didn’t have. You can find almost all the information there. Their programmes are not deep and researched. Broadcasters go on air and unable to say much. Their philosophy –more music, less talk is okay. But, in as much as you don’t need to bore your listeners with talk, if your talk makes sense, your listener will enjoy you. If you are waffling that’s when the listeners will tune off. These days you find that all the programme production points are no more there. Like in those days, you would find feature programmes, documentaries, magazines on radio etc. Now, they are no more there. You won’t even find radio drama.

    In terms of information and education, how strong is radio now?

    Programmes like features, documentaries and magazines started disappearing long time ago. It all started from the proliferation of electronic media.That simply means radio is not strong in the two areas.

    Was proliferation a wrong step in the right direction?

    It was supposed to be a right step but a lot of them felt that they have to cater for their overhead. So, they feel they can operate the way they like. That is why the NBC cannot bring them to order. There are videos that should not be broadcast, they call them NTB videos – Not To be Broadcast videos. A lot of them still go on air. There are records that should not be played. There is the language of broadcasting. You talk to people the way you talk in everyday life. But all those have been forgotten. In those days, everything you hear from the radio was sacrosanct. You learn from it. These days, you can hardly say so.

    If you are given the task of re-jigging the broadcast content and quality control, what will be your first step?

    Well, my first shot will be training programme. I’ll teach broadcasting in all the formats from the talk, to the interview, the magazine, the documentary, the features and drama. I’ll teach all these formats because those are the things that happen in radio. Even in the television, we’ll get them know how to perform because through teaching, you are telling them what to do at every point.

    How about regulations?

    I’ll teach regulations and the ethics too. What is happening is that even the people that are at the helms of affairs are not doing enough. Those days you record one programme it could be music, or magazine. The programme team would sit down and listen and make pronouncement on it. If that happens every week or every month, things will change. Unfortunately, people are doing commercial broadcasting. Everything goes. All we need is to make money.

    Is that a revenue challenge?

    Sure. But you see, you can’t run away from the ethics of the profession. BBC taught us broadcasting and up till today it is still holding to those ethics that they started with.

    What is your assessment of the media especially art and culture reporting?

    In those days there used to be investigative journalism. But it got to a point where not much of this can be found in most media content. I think it is a general problem. It affects all the spheres of our endeavours. Money came in with the oil boom and it is still affecting us till today. You discover that people could influence you with money and get their stories published. And if you didn’t make money, you didn’t look well and you didn’t buy car, you are considered not a successful journalist.

    So that’s where it started. It has caught on so much that it is difficult to reverse. I think that’s the genesis of this whole mess.

    What is the way forward?

    There is a way out. What you are doing in ‘Midweek Life Magazine’ in The Nation newspapers are serious minded art and culture stories.  I read your stories religiously– they are issues based. I also read Akeem Lasisi, he is very serious. And Chuks Ohai too is doing well.  I respect all of you. You see, if there can be more art writers like those mentioned above, I think they will set the pace. But, what I think we need to do is to hold seminars maybe once or twice a year and compare notes and discuss the essence of serious journalism. And what the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism is doing is also helping matters. For instance, I thought it was a joke, four years ago, I received an award from them for serious journalism and a few others too came to receive. These are the things that can encourage these journalists. They know that if you get an award for something you stand out. Maybe he will be encouraged. But as I said, financial considerations have ruined everything. It has come between journalists and their career growth.

  • Glorious 80 years of God’s good times (III)

    Glorious 80 years of God’s good times (III)

    In this tribute, Adewale Adeeyo writes on a worthy humanist and physician Dr Charles Oladeinde Williams who clocked 80 years. 

    The face of Dr. Williams communicates that it is hiding something about which I knew nothing, and never will. He interpreted my words very carefully and said “Wale, you shall not return to America, and “we” shall retrieve your job from the NNPC system.” I still remember the zealous haste, politeness and civility by which this good and gracious man burnished my sanity and restored my humanity. I was stunned by the immensity of his goodness when he offered that I should move to his home. Coming to Dr.Willaims was more than a little bit of good fortune in my life. I probably would not be living in Nigeria today if not for the compassion and mentorship of this person of staggering goodness who, in my own take, is an irreplaceable humanist. His singular effort permitted me to mingle with vast and ample chances in the landscape of our mighty country that may have eluded me.

    I can speak up without fear that Dr. Charles Oladeinde Williams is my iconic hero. He not only entranced me to his home but he actually inducted me into his feisty social life and connections that combined to forge his formidable business and personal lifestyles. He personally drove me around to important and high places. I met his buddy and brother,EgbonKunle Williams. A veritable and superbly gifted architect with a hugely successful practice in Lagos. EgbonKunle Williams remains unmistakably the truest Lagosian you could ever meet. But I was seized at once with a profound fascination with his completely absorbing European nature. A good man whose company is always cheerful largely because of his cerebral alertness that helped him to penetrate English culture without detachment from his all-consuming Lagosian identity. He always was, and remains the unknown factor that influenced and aligned my ambition with my real purpose in Nigeria, and thus always lend to me immense brotherly love andrealsolidbalance. Unbeknowest to EgbonKunle, it was him who emboldened me to stand up to, and conquer the perils of social and business developmentschallengesin Nigeria. I remain ever grateful to him for all the courtesies and untiring support.

    Dr.Funso Peters who was the principal partner to Dr. Williams at Unity Hospital was the only friend of Doctor that I knew before my association with Dr.Deinde Williams. His Uncle,AlhajiAshamu,lived on Adeeyo Street in Ibadan and four houses apart from my father’s house when he was a medical student at the University of Ibadan, and I was only in High School. He was by far senior to me and I never knew him up close except that I recognised him as Alhaji’s younger brother at the University. We looked at him withup to him with the highest regard great esteem and he was a fabulous role model who propelled my ambition for higher education.

    Mr Kunle Cole, now late, showed me love and friendship. He lived at Ibadan and was Governor, University College Hospital (UCH). Upon retirement, he relocated to Lagos and became a closer big brother and dearest friend. When I received Nigeria’s treasured National Honours in 2001, he was the first senior big brother and friend who called at 7am to congratulate me. Am I amat peace with the believe that EgbonKunle Cole is in the firm grip of God’s pleasure in Heaven.

    Mr Sunny Jegede, who later became Managing Director of Total Oil Company remains a close associate of Dr. Williams with whom I interfaced. But it was when Doctor drove me to the residence of Mr.Shyllon in Ikoyi that my job placement with NNPC was invigorated with official authority. Mr Shyllon was managing Managing Director of the National Oil Company who wrote me a note to a director of the NNPC, Mr Olaiya, who would ultimately raise a fresh and firm letter of employment for me. I also met with Mr.Wale Ige, who was then a high ranking civil servant with the Nigerian Telecommunications Company (NITEL). The NNPC Director, Mr Olaiya, was his cousin to whom he gave me a letter. Mr Ige would later become a Minister of Communication of the Federal Republic. The combination of letters from Messrs Shyllon and Ige influenced Mr Olaiya to swiftly induce the NNPC system to do the right thing at once so that my previously illusory placement would be accorded a satisfactory status with the order for instant commencement of duty.

    In the epic movie, The Godfather, Marlon Brando played the mafia Capone (boss of all bosses) who brought help and comfort to his devotees but misfortune and punishment of painful death upon his rivals and foes, real or imagined. One of his criminal underlings and indeed major enforcer had gone to him for assistance. Before he would agree to lend help, this plainly wicked and blood thirsty gangster who routinely sponsor criminal expeditions to eliminate even his family members asked,”do you have family? The enforcer replied, “Sir, No”. The Capone, a monstrous killer of souls gave a response embedded in the kind of philosophy that could have been authored by Socrates. He rested his head and then raised it with an idiom that remained immutably inscribed in both my mind and memory. Calmly, The Godfather muttered,”a man who ain’t got family is not a real man”.iIt is mystifying that a professional criminal, who perpetually has blood in his hands could interpret life with this kind of cheerful and profound exhortation. It was through these words of The Godfather that I recognised that family is the greatest strength that a man could ever possespossess.

    I have eloquently talked about Dr. Williams through the trajectory of my providential meeting with him in New York and my surreal re-union with his person in Lagos, to illustrate how the selflessness of one person can bring comfort and relief to the life of another and how especially we all are but pawns in the hands of destiny, at all times.

    Dr Williams is forever fascinated by the science of medicine, and especially its practice. Doctor is an astonishing workaholic who keeps working with a sacrificing spirit. His father was a Pharmacist and he had opted to become a physician because his meekness and love of humanity offered his soul to the profession of medicine. He certainly could not have succeeded as a priest. But he surely could have floweredas a successful politician. So great his is love of medicine that it forever takes his breath away. He drove himself hard practicing medicine and so did he play very hard on the stage of life.

    Doctor was a very lovable man who exerted himself very hard at work but even harder  whenat play. Women loved him immeasurably, and he loved them back with even greater passion. I met his wife, Kehinde, for the first time when I moved into his household. She was a lovely lady with dark silky skin who worked as a bio-technologist at LUTH, Idi Araba, Lagos.

    She was gracefully kind to everyone and would soonest become my truest sister.There never was any oppressive show off about her. She was inimitably meek and humble.At the time we met, she was nursing her son, Seun, who was less than one year old and I thus fondly call her “mummy Seun”. She lovingly doted on her son who today, like his dad, is a medical doctor

    “Mummy Seun” strictlyconcerned herself with affection for her husband and her family. By the time Seun was two years old, his mummy was already in the family way and this intrusion ushered Rotimi into the world. Rotimi is a graduate of “Great Ife” and an entrepreneur in Lagos who is married with children. By the way, Seun joyously married a physician like himself.

    The phantom fate of life is what hooks us all to what destiny has ordained. Destiny must be fulfilled and none can alter or avoid it, even if it is leads to great conquest or into an abyss. And so it is that human arrangements, no matter how sensible or rational, can easily be undermined by impudent and awry forces that always is greater than the power of material reality. We all just must learn to move on when human impulses, conflicts, feuds and doubts step onto the earthly stage and demolish relationships that once were happy and joyous. There is unremitting torment to marriages that break up but there is always cause for comfort and relief when we suppress our anxiety with faith that sustains courteous and reasonable friendships.

    Today, the wife of Dr.Deinde Williams, Olufunke,is my  delightfulsister who I fondly call “Grandma”because of her gigantic grace that God put together to forge an idyllic, sensible and humble personality. I am always fascinated by her predictable niceness and prodigious love of her husband. I never have had a feeling of deep self- satisfaction as I experienced these past two years when she, with great pleasure, calm devotion and steady attentiveness, nursed and took care of ourDoctor from the debilitating geriatric aliments that severely disturbed her husband and also tormented her person. Courageously, Grandma embraced faith with robust convictions that conquered these immense challenges. Believe, Grandma, nothing would ever be able to take away your man because you are amazingly strong and secure in God’s love and protection. Grandma has carried on with equanimity and the highest graces of selfless devotion for her husband. You are bound to prevail. I salute the Doctor for his magical restorationand extend to this fabulous couple a beautiful long life of joyous peace.

    Dr Deinde Williams always thrived on sound wellness and God blessed him with prodigious capacity by which he sired many children. I know all his children very well and they have broken away,to far and distant places, all over the world, and are doing very well at the highest top in a vast array of academic pursuits. These graduates include computer technology specialists, a couture designer, management and business administration experts, a medical doctor and even a female pilot, Bukola. These extraordinary blessings are the finest proof of God’s love of this fabulous man to whom he has gifted a good and grand life.

    Doctor attracted to his life good and fabulous people. My dear Aunty Bola whom I call “Mmama Lara” remains a dear sister for whom I have the greatest respect. I extend my highest esteem to Bose in the UK and her mother. And the Chicago resident and married mum, LoLaLola, is the first child of Dr Williams.Doctor expressed no resistance to God’s blessings and even snatched my real sister, Funmi Williams, “mummy Mummy Segun”, a woman of undiminishing and self-sufficient energy, poise and character.

    Life can be grand and magnificent, depending on who one encounters in our tedious journey of life. We may never fully understand the meaning of irreversible destiny. But we may use the experiences of my personal excursion through life to calibrate the prism of the vast goodness inherent in the person of Dr.Deinde Williams, and thus extrapolate the very essence of the fates that inexorably paired us together as we trudge on for 41 blissful years.

    Crime and punishment, injustice and revenge, doing good or evil – one always follows the other, sooner or later. But whomever doesgood has done the will of the Lord and Almighty God shall gift to that person considerable advantage and perpetual victory. How much difficulty lurked therein in life, how many riddles and mysteries surround our existence, we may never know. We just need to be accustomed to the exacting mechanical and spiritual movements of life so that we may realise the computation of rewards that help us to conquer our distinct problems through the goodness and favours that other people extend to us from the overall benevolence of Almighty God.

    There ever shall be incessant collisions and innumerable contacts connected to our life’s trek in as long as our sojourn moves through uncanny orbits, and along trajectories that intersect at an infinite point of God’s munificence.

    May the angels nudge us allto glorious destinations of God’s mercy and glory. 80 years of living, by all necessary means, is a dramatic ascent. I sense a historic storm brewing, great blessings approaching, and glorious bliss coming to stay with you, forever.

    My father whom the Doctor knew very well died at a faultless age of 95. My big egbon and dearest Doctor, you shall match him, and indeed surpass him. Katherine Hepburn wisely observed life and said “love has only to do with what you are expecting to give – which is everything.” You have a delectable and exemplary wife who has an extraordinary place with God because she has given much of herself, in love and care, and with such conviction that your total wellness has acquired a magical resonance from her personal devotion and ceaseless prayers. Every day, and in every way, Grandma is getting better and better, and God shall continually direct the lives of both of you into a peaceful realm of sunshine and sustained joyous motions.

    It is happiness toward which our innate nature obliges us to eternally tend. Doctor, I thank you profusely for making me and my family always happy and joyous. I appreciate you more than you would ever know, and I always pray to God to gift to you immense wellness that wrought flawless longevity

    In the face of confusion and hardship, my ambition and confidence would have been obliterated by Nigeria’s callous and inefficient bureaucracy. God supplied me a defensive shield. I won’t ever be able to thank Dr Deinde Williams enough for the selfless goodness that he extended to my rumbling life at the time of utmost need. You have acted on the law of God and as reward, His graces in your life shall never wane, and further benefits shall touch all the seeds of your body plus those of your larger family.

    Your life has achieved a glorious accomplishment that assembled all the disputations of your early life into a feast of triumph and happiness that is immersed in God’s boundless powers of love for your entire family. What a life of charm!

    Sir, with a merry heart and the highest esteemed always, plus infinite gratitude, I heartily say,congratulations!

    Your children shall always encounter helpers allotted by God in their individual pursuits in life. All of them, including your grand childrengrandchildren, shall rise to lofty heights and God shall keep their feet firm on the soil of the earth. All of us who have come to share in the great joy of today shall forever be blessed. May our power of faith and love of one another fetch life’s most glorious victory as we strive to serve humanity and ever honour God.

    Most of all, let each of us love one another just a littlebit more, do good always, and live with justice and with the ever present fear of Almighty God.

    I sincerely thank all my brothers and sisters in the Lord for listening