The Nation Newspaper

Category: Arts & Life

  • Making waves in men’s world

    Making waves in men’s world

    It’s a changing world and women in Nigeria and across the globe are embracing the change as it comes. This is especially so in the area of job choices, as the female folks hitherto referred to as the weaker sex are braving the odds and encroaching into areas formerly thought to be the preserves of men. Daniel Adeleye, who encountered some of these women reports.

    The emergence of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Joyce Benda as presidents of Liberia and Malawi respectively shows that societies are changing. African women are increasingly able to brave the odds and choose and chart a course for themselves. Hence, it is no longer uncommon to find women running successful businesses across Nigeria and the continent, even encroaching on areas traditionally reserved for men. These set of women are gladly embracing new challenges, asserting their freedom and etching their names on crucibles.

    Four of such women share their story of determination, inspiration and challenges in disciplines rarely travelled by their fellow women.

    Iyabo John, injector pump technician.

    She is of middle-age, faircomplexioned and clad in a white overall jacket this sunny afternoon. Armed with a big hammer and bent-over an injector, she seemed lost in her world and it took nearly an eternity for her to mutter a reply of ‘welcome;’ even as she immediately returned her intention to the job at hand.

    You could tell it was one of those busy afternoons. But finally she lifted her head, looked this reporter’s way and indicated her readiness to give an audience.

    Her name is Iyabo John and she is Public Relations Officer, Fuel Injector Pump and Technicians Association of Nigeria, Lagos State Chapter. She spoke of how her strong desire to become an Injector pump technician came alive in her secondary school days in the early 80s, when she went to visit her sister who worked as a Ticket seller with the defunct Lagos State Transport Company, LSTC at their workshop. She never forgot that encounter; and it was like a dream come true in 1985, when after completing her Senior School Certificate Examination at Maryland Comprehensive High School, Maryland, Lagos, she met Uncle Larry, the man who was to become her trainer and boss. Uncle Larry had just returned to Nigeria to establish an Injector Pump Workshop in Lagos after completing his studies in Mechanical Engineering in the United State of America.

    Now fully matured, having gained independence a long time ago and ventured into her own practice, Iyabo rules her own world. “I have been in this profession for over twenty years, and I’m glad I visited my sister in that workshop that day. I’m also glad I met my boss, Uncle Larry.”

    She revealed that customers are comfortable with her work and easily entrust her with their vehicles. As a matter of fact, she said customers in her line of work prefer women because women are more trustworthy than men. More so, she said customers don’t doubt the quality and authenticity of her work.

    “Compared to the men, the number of women doing this work is minimal. But the reason vehicle owners are patronising women is because women are honest with whatever is entrusted in their care.”

    Does her husband support her career? We asked.

    To this she gave an answer that seemed self-sufficient. “My husband is a transporter.” She explained that the fact that they operate in a related field, means he understand her job and thus avails her, his sincere support.

    On the challenges facing the profession, Iyabo berated the insincere attitude of petroleum marketers, who convey different petroleum products with the same tankers. She said “The mixtures of these products pose a great danger to our work, as some simple problems defy simple solution, mainly because wrong formula of oil has been used on the engines.”

     Another challenge for her, especially as a lady is the constant pressure from the opposite sex. She agrees that she cannot rule this out since she deals mainly with men, but said she has an antidote. “If a customer brings work with a mind of dating, I will collect the work and tell him to hold on to the love matter because that work remains my first constituency.”

    She however said working for men is full of fun compared to women, especially when it comes to money issue.

    On her memorable experiences on the job, Iyabo’s face lightened up, a smile creeping up, and then an excited laughter. “My happiest moment on this job is usually when an apprentice is graduating and I see my colleagues on the high table, with my humble self amongst them. It gives me a sense of fulfillment to see that I am also turning out experts in the profession. On such days, I’m always full of praises and appreciation to God.”

    She however said that her low moment is when business is low and there are no vehicles to work on.

    To her fellow women, Iyabo offers a message of hope and upliftment. They should brace up and battle the economic tide that is turning against everybody and support their husbands, since according to her, “it is a group of trees that makes a forest.”

    Bunmi Akinde, apprentice motorcycle mechanic/repairer.

    Bunmi Akinde is a 19 year-old Senior Secondary School graduate of Queen Unique College, Sango-Ota. To some members of her family, Bunmi’s case could be likened to someone who had suddenly come under a spell, when she got up one day and told her mother that she wanted to learn motorcycle mechanic/repair. The situation was a bit of a worry, because she was then being persuaded by her mother, who runs a food canteen, to go to school.

    But Bunmi insisted that she would go to school under her own terms, and that would be after she had learnt the job of her choice, because of her burning passion for it.

     “I left college with nine credits in 2012. The grades qualified me to seek admission into any tertiary institution of my choice in Nigeria, so it was not a case of not having anything else to do. I just had this passion for the mechanic profession, even though it is heavily dominated by men. So I decided to go into it and afterward go back to school to study a related course in Engineering.

    “I am the first of only two girls of my parents; but I lost my father while I was in secondary school. However, my mother could still have been able to meet my demands if I wanted to go to school, but I want to study with my own money, made through this job.”

    She recalled the many barriers she had to scale in her quest to go after her passion. “When I decided to learn the work, my mother did not give me food for two weeks. She called a family meeting on me. Many of the family members thought I was insane for choosing such a profession. Where on earth do women learn motorcycle repair? They wondered. They threatened to disown me as their child. But I didn’t allow that to dampen my spirit. I hope to be able to have a big workshop that’ll surpass those of my male colleagues in the profession someday. I want to prove to the whole world that what a man can do, a woman can do it better. This is my aspiration going into the future.

    Asked if she is proud of the job, considering that it is not a job for ladies, Bunmi cuts in, “Yes, I am very proud of what I’m doing. I don’t feel shy. I mostly wear my workshop dress around, no matter the places they send me to; even if I am going to the bank. And I hardly have time for any other thing. That is why I cut my hair.”

     Like Iyabo John, Bunmi disclosed that her biggest challenge is contending with pressure from men. “I am working for men, and many of them come and say they want to marry me even at my age, but I know that most of them only want to take advantage of me to satisfy their sexual urge and I don’t have time for that. But there is a way to handle that, so I don’t chase away our customers. Although many of them confess their attraction to me, I can tell that they actually patronise our workshop because of the quality of work that we do for them.”

    While this interview was going on, Bunmi’s boss, Clement Kindjiku from Republic of Benin, who had been following our interaction with rapt attention affirmed that the coming of Bunmi to his workshop has been a great blessing to his business. He said her presence as a pretty young girl has brought a large number of customers in their tens.

    But Kindjiku insists that she is not all about pretty face: “Bunmi is also very hardworking, honest and a committed apprentice who has sight for the future. Some years ago, she used to come visiting at my workshop after school hours. She would be looking at us with keen admiration and telling me that she loved the job and would like to learn it. But I thought she was kidding and never took her seriously. One day, after she had completed her Senior School Certificate Examination SSCE, she came to me and said she wanted to learn Mechanic. To say the least, I was utterly surprised, but still didn’t take her seriously. Later I told her that if it came from her mind to learn the work, then she should come and resume. I however warned her that I wouldn’t welcome any kind of insolence or misbehaviour. But she went ahead and resumed all the same. To my greatest surprise, she became committed and has taken the work seriously ever since. It’s been too years today and I have never had any cause to regret taking her in.

    Abiodun Quadri  a bus conductor.

    Abiodun is a single mother of three and a hair stylist-turned bus conductor. After her shop at Ebutte-Metta area of Lagos was demolished by government some years back and her marriage was also crashed, Abiodun was left all alone, without any helper or means of living. Although both her parents who work with Federal  Bureau of Statistics in Abuja could have set her up in business again, Abiodun would rather embrace what she termed ‘operation work your fingers to the bone.’

    “I am a hair stylist by profession, but the government demolished my shop in Ebutte-metta some years ago and I was left with nothing. Soon after, my marriage also crashed. Although I have SSCE, but which work will that certificate fetch me? The income would not be enough to take care of my needs. Somehow, I leant that this one (bus conductor job) fetches a reasonable daily income, so I jumped at it.”

    And now we asked her how she copes with the street urchins otherwise known as “Area boys” at motor parks and bus stops. We also wanted to know how she copes with insulting words from aggressive passengers.

    But Abiodun says she endures them all because she has no other means of livelihood. “I have no choice, I endure it all. Although when we were using Federal Government Assisted Transits bus, popularly known as “Blue Bus,” we had no problem of Area Boys. But now that they have been painted into Lagos commercial transport colour, our work has taken another dimension. In a day, we spend more than N11, 000 paying Area Boys at terminals. As for the passengers, I know where I’m coming from and I know where I am going. Mostly I don’t respond to them (passengers); but some of them do talk to gain relevance, and I don’t hesitate to give it to such people the way they want it. As conductors, we get a lot of insulting words and embarrassment from area boys and passengers, but since I have no other way for now, I endure it all,” she reiterated.

    Asked if she ever feels ashamed of the job, being a woman, Abiodun responded gleefully that she is very proud of her work, more especially because of what she has achieved through it. She quickly added that she has never regretted doing the job.

    “I am proud of the work because I know how much I make in a day and I know what I do with the money. Even if I stop today, I have enough to invest in another business of my choice.

    Before the face-off between the Federal and State Governments that led all transport operators to paint their buses into Lagos colour, most conductors used to take home between N6,000.00 and N7,000.00 at the end of every working day. Unfortunately, it is not like that anymore because of the huge amount of money we spend for area boys at terminals. Now if two conductors work on a bus, at the end of the day, they may go home with N2, 500, but if only one works, she will go home with N5, 000. So I am proud of the work and I have never had any cause to regret doing it. I have money to buy what I like and I eat what I want at the appropriate time. I pay my rent and others bills at my pleasure, and I am happy.”

    Maryam Muili- Commercial tricyclist.

    Maryam’s venture into the commercial tricycle world was borne out of necessity. Following her Senior School Certificate Examination at Mufu Laniwun College, Ibadan, she proceeded to study Fashion Design. On graduating in 2011 however, she had nobody to set her up in business and was therefore forced to design a new and vibrant way of meeting her life challenges.

    “After my freedom in 2011, there was nobody to rent a shop for me and buy the tools which the job requires for me and I didn’t want to become an extra burden to my parents. Besides, I knew that setting me up was beyond their capacity. So, I came to Lagos to face the reality of life.

    “On getting to Lagos, I worked as a salesgirl at a fabrics store at Oshodi, but when the salary there could not even take care of my immediate needs, let alone have any left-over to save towards my fashion business, I took a decision to quit. I went into hawking of Agbo (herbal mixture) at Ketu, Oshodi and Ikorodu. With my daily savings from that venture, I was able to rent a room at Ikorodu and began living a life of relative comfort.

    “One day, I was hawking Agbo when I saw a lady riding a tricycle. I found it very fascinating and approached her to train me on how to ride it. Fortunately for me, she did not object to the idea, and within one week, I’d become an expert.”

    “So,” she said beaming, “that is the short story of how I became a tricycle rider. I started about three years ago at Ikorodu, before moving over to Abule-Egba.”

    Asked to comment on the profitability of the job, considering that she operates on Abule-Oke Aro axis, notorious for its bad roads, Mufu said it is a profitable job, depending on how hardworking and committed one is.

    “Riding between Abule-Egba and Oke Aro is a good place to do the job, although the road is bad and I often returned home with pains all over my body.”

    On a good day, she said she turns in between N2, 000 to N3, 000 daily, and that is after putting aside her daily installment due of N2, 500 for the vehicle, N800 park dues; in addition to fuel expenses and feeding.

    She revealed that “A micro finance bank bought the tricycle for us and we pay N15, 000 instalmentally every week. So at the end of each day’s work, I save N2,500.00 for that purpose, which comes to N17, 500. After paying the N15,000.00 installment, I keep the remaining N2, 500 for any unforeseen occurrences, like servicing the tricycle. I take the weekly installment and maintenance very seriously because if one fails to pay the installment levy for two weeks, the bank will confiscate the tricycle. So I don’t ever want any situation where the tricycle will be faulty and I will not get money to repair it. So the extra N2,500 takes care of that.”

    A mild drama however unfolded when this reporter asked her if she is proud of what she is doing. Marian stared back for almost an eternity and then told the reporter to ask another question, saying “I don’t know how to answer that question.”

    Pressed further, she sort of brightened up and said: “I am proud of it”.

    But would she consider another line of work, something less strenuous but with prospect of more money?

    Of course yes, she answered in the affirmative. “What I will not consider is a job that is difficult and yet comes with lower income. My pastor tells me to continue with the work and that I will one day encounter divine favour on it.”

    She also said she has never regretted venturing into the job, because it fetches her daily income with which she meets her daily needs.

    Is she married or engaged we asked, and how will her husband or fiancé feel if he sees her at work, calling out to passengers and generally tussling it out with her male counterparts in the profession?

    First she said she is not married, but has a fiancé. And then she said “I didn’t tell him initially, because we didn’t see each other often; but when he finally got to know, all he asked was if it was convenient for me. I told him every other thing he needed to know about the job, and being a mechanic himself, he didn’t object.”

    She reveals that she manages men’s overtures on the job by being constantly jovial and friendly.

    “I am naturally a very lively person; so if any man tells me about love, I simply turn it into a joke. This happens regularly with male riders, with whom I play, eat and also drink; but I simply tell them that I’m their younger sister and that their responsibility should be to guide me aright, rather than mislead me into promiscuity.”

    On the emerging tendency of women to encroach on professions hitherto seen as preserves of men, Marian says “The world is changing and it is no longer a place where men are seen as demi-gods to their women counterparts. She condemned a situation where some women still rely totally on their husbands, saying this is a recipe for promiscuity or prostitution, especially if the husband is suddenly not able to fulfill his obligations.

  • ‘Early detection key to renal disease cure’

    ‘Early detection key to renal disease cure’

    Dr. Olugbenga Awobusuyi is a nephrologists and kidney specialist. A pioneer graduate of the University of Ilorin, Dr. Awobusuyi got his Fellowship at the National Post-Graduate Medical College, Ijanikin, Lagos and currently works as an associate professor at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH. He speaks with Bukola Aroloye on the need for constant health checks and why Nigerians should adopt healthier lifestyles. 

    What would you say to people who say renal failure is a rich man’s disease? That is rather unfortunate because renal failure is not a big man’s disease. It affects the rich, the poor, the young and the old, regardless of your position and status in society. It is a disease that has a very high prevalence in our society. The only reason people are not aware of it is because most times, individuals suffering from renal failure don’t have symptoms until late in the course of the disease. Someone could be harbouring renal disease and never become symptomatic until after about 10 to 15. At the very early stage, most people are not aware of it until very late and this is a major issue. By the time most people begin to show symptoms, treatment becomes very expensive. The issue therefore is, of what help will screening and early detection be? This is why we continue to have occasions like the World Kidney Day, the MTNF Screening Exercise and many of such screening programmes. The emphasis right now on doctors, nurses, technicians and all those who take care of renal failure patients, to detect kidney failure and begin early treatment.

    From your experience, will you say renal failure is on the rise or has it always been this bad?

    We must take into cognisance that there are different stages of kidney failure. The very early stage is common but the very severe stage is what we don’t see. As to whether it is increasing, yes, it is on the rise all over the world because the major factors that are causing kidney diseases are increasing.

    Tell us of these factors?

    Chief among them is hypertension. It is becoming a lot more rampant and one of the tissues in the body that hypertension damage is the kidney, and it is the commonest cause of kidney failure in Nigeria. Another one is diabetes, which is also getting a lot more prevalent in the society. Most people visit fast food eateries and ingest a lot of calories that are not needed in the body and at the end of the day, quite a number of them become diabetic. Meat also has a major role to play in kidney disease. We can also talk about infections and HIV predominantly in this environment. Although many HIV victims are living longer with the drugs they are taking, some of those drugs also cause kidney failure and we have quite a number of HIV-related kidney diseases.

     Other infections such as the Hepatitis B and C could also cause kidney damage. There is something called the Auto Immune Disease, in which the body produces some substances that are meant to wade off infection or invasion that could damage some part of the tissue. Ordinarily these substances don’t attack the organs but with people with Synthetic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), it tends to have effects on their organs and kidney damage is noted to be one of the problems they encounter. In elderly patients, especially men who have prostate enlargement that causes obstruction to the flow of urine, that could lead to back pressure on the kidney and ultimately kidney damage.

    You can also have kidney damage from common infections like typhoid and malaria. These diseases however cause acute kidney injury which the kidney can recover from but an acute damage may lead to chronic kidney disease.

    Also there are some pregnancy-related issues, like women who have hypertension during pregnancy and very high blood pressure during pregnancy, which could lead to chronic kidney disease. Patients who have sickle-cell disease are also liable to developing chronic kidney disease as part of the complications of the disease. Some patients have a lot of cyst, which are like tiny holes, but the holes can grow to become really big in some of the cystic diseases, and so many other causes.

    You have mentioned a lot of non-communicable disease that could cause renal failure. Would you say drug abuse or misuse is a major challenge with younger sufferers?

    Certainly, misuse of the right medication can cause kidney failure. A good example is the combination of pain killers that people take. It is not unusual to see people take paracetamol, profane, while some even add steroids. When you combine these drugs, they tend to cause kidney damage; we call them Analgesic Nephropathy. An analgesic is a drug you use to kill pain and when people consume them in large quantity over a long period of time, it can certainly cause damage to the kidney. The other aspect is that of native medications, the herbs that people take. People say herbs are natural, that they come from plants which God has made for the human race and so shouldn’t cause any harm. We are sure that herbs certainly cause kidney failure. We have seen many people coming down with kidney failure after taking those herbs. Some religious practices encourage the use of alternative medicines. Some encourage their flock to take what they refer to as Holy Water, which is greenish in colour because it has been made with perfume and all sorts and a number of people came down with renal failure after consuming the water.

    Shagamu used to be known for its red suya and people have developed Haemolysis- fragments in the red blood cells after taking the suya. It is not exactly the suya that caused the damage but because the patient themselves are deficient in some enzymes. The red suya causes some sort of stress on their red blood cells and because they are deficient in one enzyme, it causes their red blood cells to fragment. When it fragments, it releases a lot of haemoglobin in the blood, which damages the kidney. We have not been seeing too much of that recently. When some people go for certain x-ray procedures, they are required to take some injections which can lead to the development of kidney failure, especially people who are diabetic and require certain medicines.

    Being a member of the National Association of Nephrology, what measures is the association taking to disseminate information, especially to people who have a tendency to get reckless with their lifestyle?

    We have been at the forefront of disseminating information to the community through various channels. One of them is the MTN partnership, which is over four years old now. Every year, we run community health screening programmes. In the programme, we have an education and interactive session where a member of NAN or somebody in the renal care profession talks to the common man in the language they understand. A member of NAN from Calabar, for instance, will render the session in Efik. We also take advantage of the World Kidney Day, which is celebrated all over the world to organise some activities to mark the day. We usually screen members of a select community. The screening is usually free but we solicit for support and get screening materials for people to get their blood and urine tested. We do their blood pressure and check for blood sugar and what we are trying to do basically is to screen and detect kidney diseases early in its course. Not only are we detecting it, we also refer them to hospitals where they can meet professionals, get assistance on the abnormalities detected and get treated.

    Can someone be treated and cured especially if discovered at early stages?

    Yes. We can treat and cure the patient if the kidney disease is detected early. One thing about kidney disease is that there are many aspects to it. One is diagnosis, you can treat the underline cause of that kidney disease. When the cause is treated, then it’s not likely that the patient will end up on dialysis. I must quickly say that with kidney disease irrespective of the cause, once you have substantial damage, the tendency is for progression of the disease.  What we can do is identify factors that lead to progression, treat those factors and more often than not, reduce the rate of its progression. If someone needs dialysis in six months time, we might be able to add four to five or even 10 more years to the time that person would need dialysis. There are times we actually stop the progression. It depends on so many factors.

    The other thing that is also crucial in patients who have renal disease is the heart-related problems they might have. Most of our patients could die of heart-related problems and cardio-vascular disease even before getting to any stage where they would require dialysis. The beauty of early detection is that we also screen them for those cardio-vascular regions and actually prevent death and deterioration.

    Has there been a decline in the number of cases recorded since you started the community service?

    The issue is that after we visit places for the community health screenings, the hospitals get overwhelmed with the number of people coming in to access their kidneys and those we found to have kidney diseases during the screening. We believe that the screening exercise has brought a lot of enlightenment to those people and communities. Another aspect of the MTN screening exercise is to create awareness about the dialysis units in those areas, so people get to know the dialysis centres.

    What is the current situation with respect to how patients now engage the MTN facilities? Have there been improvements?

    I believe so. There are some areas where these dialysis units have made dialysis cheaper. In most places, dialysis treatment is far more expensive than what the MTN Foundation dialysis unit charge. In many places, it is probably the only dialysis unit in which patients enjoy the subsidised rate. In all the centres it is 15,000 naira. On the average in Lagos, you need about 25,000 naira, so it is about 10,000 naira cheaper.

    What is the relationship between NAN and the MTN foundation?

    NAN gives MTNF professional advice. We tell them what the requirements are for those dialysis units and NAN members are usually the nurses, doctors in those units as well as the hospital staff. For community screenings, NAN provides the logistics in terms of project management or design of screening, while MTN provides the financial support for the project. The staff are actively involved in screening the people and communicating with the medical directors of the hospitals. Essentially, that is what NAN has been doing with MTN Foundation.

  • Behold: World’s largest African heritage library

    Behold: World’s largest African heritage library

    The world last week celebrated the World Book Day with fanfare, lectures and exhibitions, but most Nigerians do not know that right here in Nigeria and somewhere in a village near Ibadan, Oyo State, is located the world’s largest African Heritage Library. Taiwo Abiodun who was there recently, reports.

    Located in Adeyipo Village, Lagelu Local Government Area of Ibadan, Oyo State is the African Heritage Research and Cultural Library (AHRCL) acclaimed to be the biggest African heritage library in the world.

    For the villagers, the complex, with its different structures and architectural designs is a Film village and tourist center that has put their little serene village on global map, but for the numerous visitors that throng the place, it is a world renowned African library of no equal, with its 500,000 books and volumes on Africa and African history, literature, culture and research. Not even the University of London, with its 250,000 books comes close.

    So says the brain behind the project, Prof. Bayo Adewale, who is proud to add that “we donate to African studies in Africa; we are the largest African collection in the world.”

    The library attracts scholars, students, teachers and researchers from Nsukka, Zaria, Lagos and other parts of the country and as far as London, USA and the Caribbean Islands. It contains music sections, books, artefacts, and traditional and other local arts materials cum products. On the walls are huge photographs of literary heavyweights and African nationalists like Professor Wole Soyinka, Bob Marley, King Sunny Ade, Nelson Mandela, Steve Biko, James Brown, Kwame Nkrumah, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo, and a host of others even in the diaspora.

    There are also libraries for the Arts, Science, African talking drums, flutes, literature works, and books from Classic to the contemporary, amongst others. Right at the back of the library is a botanical garden where one can get African leaves and herbs for curing various ailments. The Nation also found that some buildings are under construction, to underline that it is a constantly expanding project. It also has facilities for lodging.

    Borne of a desire to leave a legacy

    The library took roots 28 years ago in Ila Orangun, Oyo State, out of the sole effort of the good professor (Adewale) to leave a legacy. He had begun by piling up his personal books to form a library; and like the proverbial drop in the ocean adage, Adewale affirms that it has continued to grow and expand.

    “The centre is my own token contribution to educational development of the entire Africa and black race, and the objective is to minister to the needs of the community on the one hand, and the people and researchers of archives and documentations on the other. It is the first rural community-based African studies research library on the continent. In the universities, we only have Africanised sections of the libraries, but here we are talking about the whole library on African studies. The library collects books on African Studies in African education, literature, politics, music, Sociology and science. So it’s an Africanised library and we are trying to re-orientate researchers to begin to look inwards and gear their research towards being Afro-centric, rather than Eurocentric. We don’t want researchers on Napoleon Bornarpate; we want researchers on African phenomena like Agbekoya, and other African problems. The white people have done a lot of research into their own world and are reaping the benefits, so we want Africans to look inward and conduct researches that would benefit Africa and the entire black race, and address issues like poverty in Africa.”

    Continuing, Professor Adewale said “We have the music of Africa auditorium, the audio/visual section, the rural community development building; there is also the Dr. Olaiya Music of Africa auditorium, Afe babalola, N. Idowu and Wole Soyinka Building.”

    He explained that the Library engages in exchanges of books with other parts of the world like the Pacific Region, North America and Black America. Altogether, the centre has six different libraries: the Music library with its rich collection of African music, the Research Library (Africanised), Wole Soyinka Writers Library, Village Library and the Schools’ Library.

    The Library started with about 500 books of the direct founder; books he used in his college days. Gradually he spread the word that he had started an African Heritage Library, to which doubting Thomases laughed in his face. But in a matter of months the book collection had swelled to 12,000 volumes, with donations from Europe, America, Afro-America and the Pacific, and soon grew to 100,000 volumes, becoming the third largest Africanised library in the world, after World Western and London University.

    On the choice of a rural setting

    Adewale said “The choice of the rural setting was deliberate because of its serenity. Another reason is that most of the people living in rural areas are largely uneducated and we took it as a duty to spread the gospel of education to them. We also want to debunk the idea that library services are meant for the elite.”

    He recommended that Africans listen to African music for education on past occurrences like the various civil wars and other major events. He cited artistes like the late apala singer, Haruna Ishola, who waxed a song on the Nigerian civil war and war heroes like the Black Scorpion, Benjamin Adekunle.

    He also spoke on the cassettes and LPs in the musical library: “They are our materials. We can easily translate the cassettes into local languages of the people, so they can learn how to take care of themselves, treat snake bites and other ailments; understand more about the political setting of their environment, and even record important audio messages.

    A Mecca for gladiators

    The library has also played host to literary gladiators likes Professors Akinwunmi Ishola, Femi Osofisan, Niyi Osundare and Dr. Tony Mahiro.

    “Prof. Adebayo Faleti would spend weeks doing research here. This is where he finished his ‘Fere Bi Ekun’ film. Also we have featured John Pepper Clark here; the Association of Nigerian Authors used to come here to organise their reading sessions; so also the actors and actresses. The village is fast becoming a film village and several films have been shot here. We have hosted artistes like Baba Wande, Lere Paimo, Ojo Pagogo, Baba Geebu, who come here to shoot films. At least about four or five films have been shot here.

    “The Virgins, the first book I wrote in 1984 was adapted by Tunde Kelani into a film titled ‘The Narrow Path’. I wrote that book here. In fact, I used this place as my research base when I did my PhD research works, principally because all books are available for use here.”

    Even musicians are not left out. People like Tunji Oyelana, Apola King, Idowu Animasaun all visit our musical auditorium and spend days, hanging around. Some like Idowu Animasaun and Orlando Julius also donate virtually all their works.

    Immortalising Wole Soyinka

    “We are building an African Writers Enclave in honour of Professor Wole Soyinka. We’ve already intimated him about this and he even gave us his phone number to reach him in case we need his assistance. If you click on Soyinka on Internet, you will see our little effort at immortalising his name; our intention is to establish the biggest library in Africa in honour of Wole Soyinka. Like other world literatures, our own Soyinka is an international icon and global scholar. We’re also planning to train writers. We have given them fellowship are putting in place a literature prize for Soyinka, to come alive soon.”

    Financing the project

    “We have donors all over the world who assist us; people like Afe Babalola who donated a rural community building, Chief N.O. Idowu who helped us complete the visitor’s chalet; and organisation such as Mobil, that donated 8, 000 blocks, and several others who have donated cash from as little as 50 naira to 50,000 naira. Aside these, we go to our bank to take overdraft because our account is always in red. Some of the rural women here also offer themselves for cheap and free labour.

    “In terms of the buildings and acquisition of the books, we probably have spent something in the region of 2 billion naira. In appreciation, we have named some of our buildings in honour of some of our donors and great philanthropists. We named our visitors’ chalet after our father and philanthropist, N.O. Idowu. We have the JP Clark Garden and another building building named after the same renowned poet, who at some point was here on retreat for four days.

    Gift from Adeyipo

    Prof. Adewale revealed that the land on which the library is situated, running into about 20 to 30 hectares was donated to the project free of charge. “He said the villagers

  • 109 authors for NLNG Literature Prize

    109 authors for NLNG Literature Prize

    No fewer than 109 writers from Nigeria and other countries have sentered for this year’s Nigeria Prize for Literature, sponsored by Nigeria LNG Limited. The focus is on Children’s Literature.

    Considered Africa’s most prestigious literary award because of its uncompromising insistence on excellence and the US$100,000 cash prize, the NLNG sponsored initiative rotates yearly among four literary categories of prose fiction, poetry, drama and children’s literature.

    Contestants  send in their works, which are assessed by a panel of judges, comprising eminent literary scholars. The judges’ decisions and reviews are overseen by an advisory committee of equally distinguished academics and literalists.

    On the panel for this year’s edition  are Prof Uwemedimo Enobong Iwoketok of the University of Jos, the chairperson, Prof Charles Bodunde of the University of Ilorin, and the University of Maiduguri’s Dr. Razinat Mohammed.

    Members of the Advisory Board for the Prize are Emeritus  Prof Ayo Banjo, Prof  Ben Elugbe and Prof Jerry Agada.

    Kimberly Reynolds, a Professor of Children’s Literature at Newcastle University in the United Kingdom  and  past President of the International Research Society for Children’s Literature,  is this year’s International Consultant to the Advisory Board.

    Submissions are examined and shortlisted based on a number of considerations including editorial excellence, creativity and story plot with the aim of selecting a final winner who will then be publicly announced in October each year, to coincide with the date NLNG shipped its first liquefied natural gas cargo.

    “We have received a hundred and nine books as submissions by Nigerian authors to compete for this year’s prize in children’s literature. I can only wish all the authors vying for the honour, every success and the best outcome possible in the exercise,” said Kudo Eresia-Eke, NLNG’s General Manager External Relations.

    The last winner of the literature prize in the children’s literature category was Adeleke Adeyemi in 2011, for The Missing Clock,while Mabel Segun and Professor Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo were joint winners for the Reader’s Theatre and My Cousin Sammyin 2007.

    This year’s award for children’s literature will run concurrently with the prize for literary criticism, also sponsored by NLNG, and for which only one entry was received. Introduced in 2012, the literary criticism category is a yearly award and carries a monetary value of N1million.

    Elsewhere in education, Nigeria LNG in March 2014 publicly announced a N2 billion University Support Programme (USP). Under the corporate social responsibility initiative, Nigeria LNG is currently sponsoring the building and equipment of engineering laboratories in six universities across Nigeria’s geo political zones as part of its support to teaching, research and capacity building.

  • Buhari: patron or lover of arts?

    Buhari: patron or lover of arts?

    Going by his antecedent, President–Elect  Muhammadu Buhari may not be a frontline patron of the arts. But, some of his contributions qualify him as a lover of the arts. Former Deputy Editor of The Guardian  Mr Ben Tomoloju reflects on the cultural legacies Buhari left behind between December 1983 and August 1985 as Head of State.  

    Thank you. But I wish not to take the issue of discipline for granted in assessing a man of culture. Whether it is in terms of environment, society, a people’s spiritual engagement and world-view, or their creative and inventive capacities, discipline is paramount. So your admission concerning ‘his discipline’ presupposes, in the first place that he is a man of culture. A man of culture has the potential of being visionary, though his effort at making such vision a reality is a different kettle of fish. A man or woman of culture exudes great passion in pursuit whatever he or she considers a societal ideal. In the same vein, a man or woman of culture cherishes ideas and lives by them; which saying that he is a dynamic agent of enlightenment who applies his vast intellectual resources to the development of society.

     

    By these parameters, I believe that General Buhari can be described as a man of culture except for aspects of the last criterion where he had a terrible reputation in press censorship and the jailing of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti when he was a military Head-of-State.

     

    It is an established cultural imperative that a good statesman must be a patron of the arts. One cannot say precisely now that Buhari is a patron of the arts judging by his record nearly thirty years. Yet, for some who governed Nigeria for a year and seven months or so, he had a few points that qualified him to be referred to as a lover of the arts. But he must go beyond being a lover of the arts to that of a grand patron of the arts in his present, re-nascent presidential status.

     

    What were the cultural legacies of Buhari as Head-of-State between December 1983 and August, 1986?

     

    Yes, I believe it was General Buhari’s military administration that laid the foundation for an enhanced ministerial status for the cultural sector. And this is very very important. Before his administration, culture was lumped into one ministerial behemoth called Ministry of Information, Youth, Sports and Culture.

    But sometime in 1986, the Buhari administration appointed a Federal Sole-Administrator for Culture and Archives in the person of Colonel Tunde Akogun. The Federal Sole-Administrator, by that appointment was equivalent to the present-day Minister of State and he reported directly to the Supreme Military Council. This initiative of the Buhari administration, however shortlived, energised the cultural sector, although not without some sour experiences.

     

     Can you be specific in this regard?

     On the positive side, the Sole-Administrator restructured the sector. The Department of Culture and Archives was split. The two former divisions became autonomous departments in their own rights.

    But, beyond this, Buhari set up the panel on the review of Theatre and Film, chaired by seasoned University don and Artistic Director, Mr. Bayo Oduneye. Some of the members included, pioneering culture administrator and poet, Mr Frank Aig-Imoukhuede, Mr. Ben Murray-Bruce and representatives from other relevant ministries, including the police and armed forces. The recommendations of that Review Panel went a long way to open up the cultural sector and release its potentials as it made positive projections on the desirability of a National Troupe, the film industry, copyright matters and generally the promotion, propagation and preservation of culture among others.

    Part of the credit goes to the then Group Captain Sampson Emeka Omerua who was the Minister of Information, Youth, Sports and Culture.

    One of the problems culture stakeholders had with the Buhari administration of the military era was its side-lining of the National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFEST). On record, the 1993 edition of the festival was the last before the Buhari administration came to power. In spite of its high quality in concept and implementation, it was squeezed out of the nation’s cultural calendar. I do agree with those who remark that such posturing by anybody or government against a national cultural heritage cripples the collective intelligence. This happened nearly thirty years ago. I believe the General has experience more than a simple measure of the the democratisation process to encourage creative and other forms of expression to flourish. But it has to be admitted that, it nowadays, culture sometimes appears as the senior partner in a ministerial arrangement, Buhari charted the course.

     

    Can you recall such moments he lent support to major cultural event.

     

    You see….I don’t know….It seemed fashionable in those days for soldiers to look tough, wear stony, unsmiling faces except when they were in the mess. Buhari wasn’t caught out attending shows. It was his Minister, Omeruah and Sole-Administrator, Akogun who frequent the arts beats and clubs like the theatre, Art Alade’s Arts Place, the Jazz Club of Nigeria events, Jazz 39, Bala Miller and NUTAF Port Harcourt among others. But, the General actually was the Special Guest-of-Honour at the Command Performance of Ori, a drama production of the Lagos State Council for Arts and Culture. It was written and directed by Funmi Odusolu and Produced by the State’s Director of Culture, (now Oba) Gbenga Sonuga. That was on February 5, 1985. As Command Performance, it meant that the Head-of-State ordered the presentation of the play, which went on to tour the United States a year later even before the establishment of a National Troupe. I don’t if it was just one-off thing, but it was significant.

     

    Any chance of him re-enacting such in this new dispensation?

     

    Really, it’s not about General Buhari attending drama shows, art exhibitions and concerts, but to ensure that the democratisation process also guarantees the full democratisation of culture. If he had had the erroneous impression that the creative industry was on the fringe of the economy, developments in the movie, music and the popular arts in general today has proved otherwise. The good thing is that he laid the superstructure to some of these developments. You know, after the Oduneye Panel, enlarged group of culture stakeholders was constituted shortly before Buhari was overthrown on August 27, 1985. Papa Steve Rhodes, Mr Frank Aig-Imoukhuede, Bruce Onobrakpeya, Demas Nwoko, Bala Miller, Taiwo Okupe, Naiwu Osahon and Dan Awodoye were among the members. Permit me, I can’t remember all, but they were the leading lights. Ben Murray-Bruce and my humble self were the youngest. The Buhari administration gathered them from across Nigeria. Although he was overthrown in August, the brain-storming still held for two days in September, 1985 because the Federal Sole-Administrator whom Buhari appointed was retained by the successor. The group set a long term agenda for the cultural sector. And I think, Buhari should not find it difficult now to relate to the practical demands of the sector; for instance, job-creation and wealth-creation. Government should invest directly in culture. If it is possible for Governor Fashola to build mini-stadia across the Local Governments in Lagos, there is no reason why cottage theatres and art centres to accommodate the mass of artistic talents cannot be established in every Local Government Area in States where they are viable. This is our advocacy in Nigerian theatre today and one of the practical demands of the culture sector. And I think there is a chance of pulling this and other strategic agenda through because of the foundational role he played in the past. Government should encourage inputs into policy formulation and implementation from all interest groups, so that we can all claim the heritage and celebrate it as “Nigerian”.’

     

  • Foundation seeks more attention for women

    Foundation seeks more attention for women

    OVER 300 participants  converged on the Women’s Optimum Development Foundation (WODEF) for the celebration of the International Women’s Day (IWD), with the theme: Make it happen.

    They spoke of their commitment to national development.

    The event was held in partnership with the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC), Lagos.

    WODEF National Coordinator, Mrs Bimbo Oloyede, had drawn policymakers attention  and served as catalyst for change.

    She said some people had been asking what women have got to celebrate, noting that the answer given will depend on whether they are optimists or pessimists.

    Mrs Oloyede said: “Women have got lots to celebrate with a teenager like Malala becoming a global symbol for the education of girls, despite the fact that same remains unsafe in her own country of birth.

    “We are we celebrating when in India, over 90 women are being raped everyday amid a fierce debate as to whether or not the public should be allowed to watch a documentary film shot by the BBC, highlighting the issues surrounding a gang-rape which took place in New Delhi on a bus in 2012, from which the victim later died.

    “We are celebrating when instead of providing constructive and enlightening information, the internet and social media platforms are currently being used to promote a sophisticated on-line campaign to lure female recruits to Syria to perpetuate terrorist activities?

    “We are celebrating when over 200 girls, in their attempt to better themselves, acquire an education and liberate themselves from continued dependence are still at large, over one-and-a-half years after they were abducted in Chibok, in circumstances that are still not clear?

    “We are celebrating when because of Nigeria’s insurgency issues, hundreds of thousands of women, men and children have been internally displaced, forced to live from hand-to-mouth on paltry hand outs; so traumatised by the harsh realities of their present and the bleak uncertainty of their future that even if they had the opportunity, the last thing on their minds would be participating in the democratic process by coming out to vote. After all, we all know that the women and children are the hardest hit, don’t we?”

    These points, she said, make the question: ‘what are we celebrating salient whereas in our so-called democratic dispensation, are women more likely to reach reasonable levels of equal representation by appointment or through political Godfathers and less by the ballot box?

    “Our celebration will thus be more remarkable, if despite all the pictures painted above, each woman chooses to be an optimist which is why the IWD is not only recognise the global struggle of those working towards gender equality, but also to acknowledge the achievements of women who have made sacrifices in various ways to actualise development and improve the quality of life”.

    Mrs Oloyede noted: “Because of Malala and abducted Chibok Girls, girl-child education is now on the front burner of the development agenda of most countries. Also, because the taboo on discussing sexual violence has been broken, several new fast track courts have been created to hear rape cases in India.  Because of IDPs, INEC can now acknowledge the democratic rights and needs of other vulnerable groups like the visually impaired, the albinos and the physically challenged. Because of glaring inequality at the polls, women are now working in groups to train and support each other against the elections in 2019”.

    She called on  the forum not to be passive about the inequality and injustice being witnessed all around but to remain active, vocal and willing to be hands-on to ensure that each person makes a difference to realise the IWD theme and make it happen!

    Mrs Oloyede said this year’s theme is to show that women play vital roles as agents of development -from food security to the boardroom and from the theatre to infrastructure- adding: “Women are making it happen and contributing their quota towards socio-economic development, gender equality, women’s empowerment, women’ rights and the eradication of poverty. It is however important for us to carry the young ones along and encourage them to aspire to higher standards by exposing them to real heroes and heroines of development, whom they can emulate”.

    Highlight of the occasion was the presentation of ‘Rare Gems’ awards to 16 schools involved in WODEF projects since it started last June. The project is built around the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

    Mrs, Oloyede said eight schools researched a goal each to identify, actualising each goal, the others evaluates the Lagos State Government’s efforts to achieve the MDGs.

    The awardees, she said, “were nominated by the students and selected finally by our panel of judges”.

    She congratulated them on their determination to make an impact not because they are looking for applause, “but because they were determined to break out of the box of ordinary, therefore, they have become extraordinary because they thought no one was watching”.

    Her NGO, Mrs Oloyede said, remained grateful to UNIC, UNFPA and other supporters for their collaboration, encouragement and partnership related to the Rare Gems project.

    The  awardees are:

    • Eradication of extreme poverty and hunger received by Mrs Omowale Ogunride.

    • Achieving Universal Primary Education went to Hajia Maryam Garuba.

    • Promote Gender Equality & Empower Women was awarded to Her Excellency

    • Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire was received by Dettol.

    • Improve maternal health/Reducing Child Mortality was given to Ms.Ifeyinwa Madu.

    • Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria & other Diseases went to Late Dr Stella Adadevoh.

    • Goal 8 winner: Developing a global partnership for development by Mr Saheed Adepoju.

    Dignitaries in attendance  included the Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Mrs Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, representative of Lagos State First Lady, Dame Emanuela Abimbola Fashola,  Mrs Rhoda Ayinde,  representatives of UNFPA, Dr. Amaka Haruna and UNAIDS, Dr O. Asa, who gave goodwill messages.

  • Ayo Lijadu, Bimbo Manuel lead actors in Shijuwomi

    Ayo Lijadu, Bimbo Manuel lead actors in Shijuwomi

    Top flight thespians, such as Ayo Lijadu, Bimbo Manuel and Tina Mba, are among leading dramatists featuring in Shijuwomi, a post-colonial cinematic adaptation of Rasheed Gbadamosi’s book, Behold My Redeemer. Other members of the cast are Judith Audu, Femi Adebayo, Olu Okekanye and Jude Chukwuka.  The filming of Shijuwomi led by award winning and director/screenwriter Niji Akanni started last Sunday.

    Renowned economist and accomplished art collector Chief Rasheed Abiodun Gbadamosi is Executive Producer for the project. He is the author of many short stories and plays for radio, television and the theatre, including Tree Grows in the Desert, Behold my Redeemer, Echoes from the Lagoon, and Sunset over Nairobi, which won first prize in Radio Netherlands Golden Windmill short story competition.

    When a pampered girl,Shijuwomi, who has travelled to England to study attempts suicide, prompting the decision to repatriate her home. At home, she is moved to an institution where she meets Dr. Ilori, a lecturer in Anthropology who eventually marries her. The marriage does not however provide the desired harmony and succor as Shijuwomi and Ilori are on a parallel scale in terms of pursuing their interests, forcing her to make another suicidal attempt.

    SHIJUWOMI is riddled with love and conflict from start to finish. It is a cerebral metaphor for Nigeria as a nation state and many African countries whose dreams of Utopia after freedom from colonial powers have all but evaporated, leaving behind hopelessness and frustration.

    Adapted for the screen by the trio of Prof. Ola Rotimi, Dr. Femi Olugbile and Bayo Awala, the man behind the project, Awala is neither new to adaptations nor directing. As a filmmaker, he acquired a lot of experience at the Nigerian Television Authority, NTA, where he directed such successful drama series as Village Headmaster, as well as independently produced series such as Winds against My Soul, Adio Family, By the Road Side, The Turning Wheel, The Young Ones, Jagua Nana’s Daughter, Tight Rope, Trauma and Doctors Quarters.

    In 2005, Awala directed the award winning political thriller, Prince of the Savannah, written by Yinka Ogun and starred Tunde Laniyan, Sam Loco Efe, Teni Aofiyebi, and Chidi Ukwu, who won the Best Actor Award at the ZUMA Film Festival 2011 for his role in the movie.

    “This project has been in the works for over two decades. I have always being fascinated with this story since I first directed it on stage in 1969. Its thematic relevance, the tempo-spatial canvass against which the narrative plays out and an opportunity to increase the volume of works adapted from our rich literary traditions are some of the reasons why we have decided to showcase this piece,” Awala said.

    SHIJUWOMI has received support from the Nigerian government’s Nollywood interventionist project; ProjectActNollywood’s Film Production Fund (FPF) and is being produced with the active collaboration of Ogun State Government.

     

  • Music and my life

    Music and my life

    Taiwo Iyere Osiname, popularly known as Shekinah (God’s divine presence), speaks of her marriage and  music career in this interview with Toyin Olasinde .

    How did you come about the name Shekinah?

    Shekinah is a Hebrew word, which means “divine presence of God”.  It is the name given to me after my encounter with the Lord few years back when I was at a stand still of my life. And all things that represented shame was my closet associate and I was faced with many challenges that made me feel God can never use me again in his vainyard. But God changed my shame to fame.

    I have always had passion burning inside of me to reach out to the people, expressing God’s love through songs and also to lead people into God’s presence. Having done a couple of studio recording in the time past, I finally released a debut single a few month ago titled Not Enough , which has been a tremendous blessing to the body of Christ. It is currently enjoying airplay on several radio stations.

    My fulfillment comes from the testimonies shared by people whose lives have been transformed by my music. The official video of my single is set for release soon and the debut album would be released before the end of the year.

    Under whose ministration did you have the encounter   with Holy Spirit?

    Funny enough it was not under any pastor’s ministration, it was just between myself and God alone in my room because then, I hardly go out of my apartment in order to avoid people asking me questions about the challenges of my life. But on that fateful day, while I was singing worship songs  to God and  all I felt was that I was totally lost in spirit and began to feel divine presence of God in my room. And all I could hear that very day was Taiwo am going to change you, change  your name and even change everything around you for good, just rightly there I started crying that God could this ever be? And that was how my life was broken down and remolded for God.

    What has been the secret of your musical career and how will you describe the journey so far?

    Actually, I will say God has been the secret and a strong pillar to my success because my journey so far was full of mysteries and many ups and downs, because I started singing and going to studio at the age of 10. I was born into a Christian family where the fear of God was all my parents at all time teach us, and  which really helped me stand through my tough time and that took me this far.

    I got most of my song inspiration through my past experience, which always lead me to praise God

    What should people expect from your next album?

    For the upcoming album it going to be wonderful and will be tracks that years after people will still be going back to it.

    How have you been coping with your office work and your music career?

    I must first of all give thanks to God who has always been the author and finisher of my faith and thanks to my wonderful husband and the glorious children God gave me for their understanding and support at all time. Even when am hooked up with some things they are still always there for me, I thank God for the kind of job He gave me because I have been able to manage both together without any conflict.

    Between your job and your music career, which is more fulfilling?

    I love the both but I feel more fulfilled in my music career because it always brings smiles to my face any time am singing.

    Why did you choose to sing gospel song instead of any other?

    Just like everyone know gospel means Good news and to anyone who hear of good news it always brings joy to the heart of people, so I choose to sing gospel in other to make people feel the happiness in Christ.

    Where did you get your song inspirations from?

    I must say I get my inspiration from God and also from beautiful things that happens around me, and from my past experience  because anytime I look at God faithfulness to me I get inspired.

    Why did you choose to sing worship songs and not praise songs?

    I choose to sing worship because I saw a longing for worship in the body of Christ. People really  love to praise and dance and not remembering that the two need to be balanced both praise and worship is what God wants and that  why I have choose to be a worshipper.

    When is your album due?

    My first album will be launched soonest, which I could assure you that it going to be life touching album and will always be album people will always at all time want to listen to.

    What period of your life has been unforgettable?

    It was in a concert at Ile-Ife when together with my band we went for a show only for them not to show any concern,  not to even talk of ministering there after all the time we wasted in order to make it to Ile-Ife from Lagos. It is really an unforgettable day for me, I will not like to mention the concert because it always a big concert organize yearly in Ife.

    Which is your happiest day?

    The happiest day of my life was when God change what was about bringing reproach to God’s name in my life to testimony. It was when I gavedth birth to my first child and only to see that he couldn’t open his at all for a month just more or less like a blind child, but God of wonders  opened his eyes to see for the first time ever during the second month of delivery. That real marked the happiest moment in my life.

    So far, it’s been God’s grace and favour at work. To get an excellent production you have to give it your best especially financial and as a gospel artist you don’t readily get sponsors compared with the secular world.

  • Prophetic declaration

    Prophetic declaration

    Life is a challenge; confront it, the maxim aptly advises. To live life in the illusion that there would not be challenges is as good as assuming that life can go on without oxygen. But confronting life’s challenges without adequate divine inspiration may lead to frustration and despondency. Make no mistake about it; inspiration is the backbone of any confrontation that would bring result.

    In his characteristic manner of being on-point in his writings, Ayodeji Ayopo’s new book titled ‘The spring of inspiration’ is timely and re-assuring, moreso when the dwindling economic situation of the country is making the heart of many to be ‘feverish’ and ‘low’.

    Stylishingly packaged with accompanying book divider ribbon, the book might be mistaken for the Holy Bible from a distance. The 366-page hard cover pocket size book takes readers through 365 days of any year with nugget and insightful prophetic declaration that stand as motivation in the face of whatever challenge each day of the year might birth.

    Though not encumbered with Biblical references, but one cannot miss the point that the writer is clear with the fact that God remains the ultimate source of strength in the face of challenges of life. Expectedly, the book affirms the supremacy of almighty God, and is explicit enough as to the fact that God is able to lift man beyond and above challenges that might be confronting him. Undoubtedly, the writer in a subtle manner crusade the position that light must come at the end of every tunnel.

    Each chapter is dedicated to each day of the year. And the general concern of man in his frantic effort to succeed is carefully taken care of. Is there any man, overtly and covertly, who is not concerned about breakthrough, success, fear of failure, storms of life, purpose, helper, sustenance, fulfillment, God’s presence, limitation, protection, tomorrow, guidance etc? These inner cries of many hearts are well addressed with prophetic insight.

    It is said language is the vehicle of thought. Though ability to wave thoughts into words is not common, but Ayodeji was able to articulate and convey his thoughts in fluid and flowing manner. His diction is simple enough to engage and connect with all strata of literate minds. Equally, they are flowery, descriptive and call to action. The writer’s ability to craft word must have been informed by his background in Business Communication and Strategy as well as Public Relations, the fields he has chosen to practice as a seasoned professional.

    The book is worth taking space in a serious library. It is more or less a daily companion that should actually form the content of any hand bag, be it male or female.

     

  • Tamuno: The sacred canopy of our rainbow coalition

    Tamuno: The sacred canopy of our rainbow coalition

    He who exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Matthew 23:12) “Blessed are the meek” (Matthew 5: 5)

    Professor Tekena Tamuno (1932-2015), a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, joined his ancestors on Saturday, April 11, 2015. He once used the metaphor of the “mother banana” and the “banana family” to illustrate the dynamics of the continuum and how our universe functions: that as the mother banana dies it gives birth to a new one! In essence, Professor Tamuno was this “mother banana,” forever green, immortal, and transcendental.

    Most certainly, there are greater minds to attest to Professor Tamuno’s long career; furthermore, there are hundreds of eye-witnesses to recount his days as the Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan; while there are also far more talented historians than my humble self to highlight his contributions to the writing of Nigerian history. Yet, as an act of fate as someone who interacted with him for over three decades, I have had the privilege of producing this tribute in his honor, and he deserves every laudatory statement I can make. I was drawn to Prof Tamuno in equal percentages: a third because of his personality; another third for his style; and a final third on behalf of his professionalism. Therefore, my tribute is arranged to touch upon each of these triple perspectives that together constitute his heritage. When Malcolm X died in February of 1965, Ossie Davis described him in his eulogy as a shining black star.  Similarly, Prof Tamuno, in my estimation, was one of our shining stars in the sky, one that we looked up to for the light that could illuminate the path on which we walked.

    Professionally, Prof Tamuno was a prolific historian, and without exaggeration, I can underscore, also without reservation, that there was none in his generation that out-produced him. On the leadership front, he was a talented leader, and there was no one that served on more committees, commissions and fact-finding missions more than he did. He got things done, and he produced consensus, indeed far more than anyone of his generation. His overall success, I had come to assume, was because he understood himself: He was open as well as being mutually respectful of others while still being conscious of his terrain and his place in history, unique qualities that he never exaggerated, not even for a moment.

    On my part, I can only offer a summation—indeed a précis—of his glorious career as a professional historian. In it Prof Tamuno was Ibadan personified in a variety of ways: he entered the University of Ibadan in 1953 and he continued to live in Ibadan City, with a few interruptions, courtesy of national and international engagements, till 2015. He was a citizen of the city of Ibadan and he was certainly pre-eminently far more qualified than I, the “son of the soil,” to be an Ibadan chief. There was no significant academic or administrative position at the University of Ibadan that he was not invited to occupy; and as the records clearly demonstrate, he never struggled for any of them, from the Head of Department to the Vice-Chancellor, all positions in which he served with distinction. From his PhD thesis to his very last piece of writing, he was perpetually pre-occupied by not less than six inter-related investigations: (i) the evolution of Nigeria, from its pre-colonial indigenous culture to the modern, and from the creation of amalgamated Nigeria through colonial conquest to the end of British rule; (ii) the creation of roads and railways to provide modern infrastructure and communication systems; (iii) law and order in a changing state, in terms of an indigenous security system, the police force, and the army; (iv) institutions of governance (how federalism evolved, and how our leaders managed and betrayed us); (v) the stages in our growth from 1885 to the present; and  (vi) our various predicaments, including issues of underdevelopment, poverty and leadership deficit.  In all, after offering a sober analysis, he would confess, as he once did in a keynote address delivered in 1983 for a conference on nation-building:

    We are humble enough to acknowledge that we know not yet all we wish to know about this great country, Nigeria, about its great people, and their great problems.

    Limited space is often a thief of money and time, sadly disempowering me from a detailed critical elaboration of the aforementioned points. Yet, I also know very well that space cannot steal reflexivity. “Nigeria matters,” Tamuno proclaimed to all listening ears. In all of his writings, he persuasively argued that the problems of Nigeria would ultimately yield to its success. He gathered tremendous amounts of data on specific institutions, always trying to highlight the weight and import of evidence, and more so the importance of the explicit over the implicit. He was, in varied ways, a masterful storyteller, bringing out variation upon variation in dealing with topics and themes, mapping debates, respecting various opinions, and creating his own ideas. He certainly understood the workings of a nation in formation, a political elite that was conflicted, and of institutions that were in the process of maturation. He had a firm grounding in archival sources, for many years unearthing more archival “gems” than many of his peers. His perspective was both regional and national, as he was always offering nuanced understanding of the Nigerian condition. Irrespective of the moment in our history, our anguish and sorrow, Prof Tamuno applied the gentle balm, as he wiped our tears, and he sang joyful songs, indeed as, inter alia, he once did in the following words:

    Hence, they are

    Songs of joy and sorrow,

    Paeans of pleasure,

    Groans of pain,

    That blends moments of mirth

    With those of wrath,

    But with no target enemies,

    With no firm friends

    With an appeal, or whatever,

    To all of goodwill over the world

    [Songs of an Egg-head (Alafeni: Port Harcourt, 1982).]

    I knew him well as a Nigerian! As I still recall, I was with him for a few days in 1990, when he was at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies at Kuru where he worked temporarily as a Visiting Professor.  In excitement, he took me to visit a plot of land that he bought in Jos to build his retirement house. To my surprise, he confided his retirement plan with me, saying that living in that part of Nigeria, the center of the country, represented his affirmation of the country’s oneness.

    The seriousness of his “oneness” understanding of Nigeria as a nation was the driving force of his intellectual career of well over half a century. He chose themes of oneness, from the evolution of the country’s boundaries to the institutions of managing the state, such as the police. Bothered by issues around violence, he devoted considerable space in his scholarship to the analysis of conflicts and strategies for peace. His demeanour, words, and strategic choices represented peace—both in over a dozen private discussions as well as in public where his humility was always fresh and striking. He was never tired of welcoming guests, giving them food from his garden, laughter from his heart, and generosity from his spirit.

    Symbolically, Prof Tamuno was one of the few lines in the colours of rainbow, the arch in the middle that formed in the sky for us to see and admire. He constituted a shield linked with the cosmos, the extraordinary being of colours, dispersed by the sun’s light, blessed by water droplets from the far sky. We cannot chase the rainbows, as they are too far high in the sky, but Baba Tekena Tamuno brought the lines and colours closer to us, making them reachable and touchable, and ever projecting as well as displaying his light and sunshine.

    He was not easy to imitate, and impossible to clone, for no one can ever garner the rainbow of medals that adorned his walls; and no one can ever come close to the rainbow of love that filled his heart and chest. We have to keep struggling to reach the silver-lining of his illustrious clouds and the gold located at the end of his rainbow. I won’t even try, for his resilience is uncommon, his patience is legendary, and I am too small to learn at his feet.

    A master of long narratives, his nuanced conclusions were open-ended, elastic, and never threatening. Our personality can be embedded in our intellectual projects and self affirmation, as it is possible to link Wole Soyinka’s iconoclasm to Ogun, the Yoruba god of iron. Prof Tamuno was probably seeking to imitate some aged saints or, like a riverine man, he was guided by the calmness of the sea. The rough waves possibly frightened him, and he rather stayed at the banks. That calmness of the sea crystalised into a “Tekena formation” that became defined as the “Tamuno’s humility.”

    There was one Saint Humility during the European Medieval Ages, a real saint, not an imaginary one. In fact, I am suspicious that Prof Tamuno, at one time or the other, might have read about this saint! For, as those who knew him well, as I did, would attest to, he had multiple faces to his personality: one face that looked to spiritual forces, humbling himself before God and His agents. Grace becomes superior to one’s achievements, as Prof Tamuno magnified his own limitations. But there was also the levelling equality with fellow men, in which he constantly lowered his being and self in relation to his colleagues, superiors, and subordinates.

    Being agreeable is no sign of weakness. The definition of a place in history, in space and time, is a recognition of one’s influence. Walking gently, to avoid hubris, does not compromise pride. Recording a life history devoid of narcissism is no limitation to being grounded in humilitas. As one thinks of all of these unique qualities, what comes to mind is the Tamuno magic!

    Prof Tamuno’s writing and life-style became the way to encode the spirit of humilitas, a careful use of oneself to teach practical ethics. I visited his house at Ibadan where he wore his simple top and shorts with many pockets, showing me his plants, his fruits, and his seeds. On one occasion in 2005, in the company of Prof Chris Ogbogbo, the amiable Head of the History Department and Prof Ademola Dasylva, both of the University of Ibadan, Prof Tamuno tried to recruit us into his way of thinking and lifestyle, warning us to be cautious, to exercise restraint, to cultivate wisdom. He invited me to dinner the next day, an appointment that I was unable to keep, thus denying myself of valuable fatherly lessons.

    As younger scholars, the moment we entered our car, we were united in our conversations, engaged in comparing Prof Tamuno to another professor we visited before him, who was full of arrogance and vain words; we chose instead to praise Prof Tamuno’s wisdom. He was modest in prosperity, honourable in status, and graceful in moderate opulence. The visitation, one of many, triggered a series of reflections in me: the Kantian formulation of linking truth-telling with humility; and the Jesusian formulation of death and agony as sacrifice and redemption.

    If the great Prof Tamuno learned from history, and he prospered by it, let us learn from him as well. In violating the tenets of his modesty and humility, I want to create a template for the Tamuno model of living: love Nigeria; read and cultivate skills; use talents; promote virtues; be meek; think of and appreciate others; make your ego small to realise your true humanity and place in the universe; and appreciate your smallness, but remain steadfast and true to your principles!

    Nietzsche, the philosopher, will quibble with my generosity, for he sees humility not as a virtue but as a weakness, a strategy of survival, deployed by the weak to minimise the damage done by the strong, the Übermensch. Prof Tamuno would be a dysfunctional element in the pool that Nietzsche studied made a study of.  To the contrary, Prof Tamuno recognised my own talent and was in praise of it, just as he recognised the talents of others. He did not deny others their honour, even when he was unjustly attacked. He did not build a cult of individualism and never asked anyone to worship him.

    Our star has relocated, not extinguished: you and I are like dust, insignificant, but hopeful: hopeful that what he wanted, a peaceful and united Nigeria, will surely eventually be created.

    Professor Tamuno, sleep well, the great one, and permit me to sing a dirge:

    ‘The honey eater

    Looks not at the edge of the axe

    The astute trader

    Bothers not with the din of the marketplace

    The egg lover

    Regards not the anus of the hen

    Thirsty throat befriends weeping palm tree

    Stretch out your calabashes

    I have poured libation

    Come join the spree

    Baba, rejoice, for you are already fit to receive grace:

    Poet, sing your song

    To the resonant din of the bell

    Ko ko, ko ko, ko ko, ko ko

    At its instance, the rhumba

    Là là, ko ko, là là, ko ko

    The earth must open for the earthworm

    Là là ko ko fè fè, là là ko ko fè fè

    The potter must get her clay

    And the painter his colors

    With a face and nose to the ground

    The writer surely must find his words

    To make flow the rivers of ink

    Là là, là là, là là, là là

    Là là, ko ko, là là ko.’

    Prof Tamuno, I offer a promise: we will keep history alive: If we stay alive, songs and drama will come from Mouths of truth that seek no rewards enduring pain without any gain.

    Great one, we will serve others as a constant reminder of your humility and greatness:

    Judge us: this is all that you know

    Condemn us: the passion of your spirit

    We forgive: when we cross the passage of

    Time, asking questions:

    Were you with us in the grasslands?

    Who laughed with us in the savannah?

    Who cried in the forest?

    Did you hear the story before the stream?

    What did we say at the bank?

    Did you cross the river with us?

    Sir, be assured, we will descale our obsequiousness but enscale our memory of you:

    Flourish Greenfingers

    Like the cornstalk

    Rising in its season

    Flourish, Greenfingers

    The years of your triumph

    Call for celebration

    The labour of truth

    Is evergreen.

    Flourish, Greenfingers

    The one

    Who has earned

    His purple robe

    Swirl, Sway, Swirl Greenfingers

    Ignore the heads in the clouds

    The sure footed

    Must reap bountiful harvest

    Swirl, Sway, Swirl, Greenfingers

    With royal gait

    As you arrive to dine

    At His pavilioned regal tables.

     

    •Prof Falola is of The University of Texas at Austin, US.