The Nation Newspaper

Category: Arts & Life

Writing the Wrong: Amuta’s Testament II

In contradictions of Journalism (Chapter 11), the intricacies of journalism are brought to the fore, viz soldiering and journalism. The occupational hazards of journalism premised on the death of Krees Imodibe and Tayo Awotunsin in Liberia, and the way the deaths of the two journalists were handled by the military, are food for thought.

Amuta also focused on the attempted closure of The Sun Newspaper by Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on the allegation of sleaze against the founder, former governor Orji Uzor Kalu. In this chapter too, the author questioned the government’s attempt to gag the media, as exemplified by the case of Channels Television which was the source of a report that President Umaru Yar’Adua was about to resign. Amuta did not spare the management of the television station for exercising bad judgment and lack of professionalism on a delicate issue all because of hunger for news. He also criticised the government for reacting in a Gestapo manner which lacked decorum. The author also weather through the travails of newspaper columnists who in most cases acted as judges (though not appointed as one). According him, columnists pontificate and adjudicate at same time.

Amuta makes comments on issues in governance (Chapter 1), the tyranny of governors. That our governors are becoming too powerful is stating the obvious. Also, the need for public officers to be well renumerated with emphasis on the dollar salary of some ministers during the regime of former President Obasanjo, is a point strongly advanced by Amuta. The lingering Chibok girls’ abduction is also given a thought with workable solutions. Amuta, a man with a caustic pen, attacked the Minister of Finance Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for characteristically trying to turn the issue of the abduction of the Chibok girls into an economic management problem.

I recommend this book to everyone. I declare its historical value germane to our national development. The organisation, style and production of this book is commendable, the language used by the author is lucid, engaging, meaningful and effective. Coming from someone with an academic background, the book is anchored on scholarship, strong analytical and theoretical frames, factual, objective and academically enriching. With the long years covered by this volume, feedback from readers would have enriched the book. Perhaps more importantly, readers’ guide would have made the volume easier to read. This is a book for every home.

February 11, 2015
Leadership, security and national development

Text of a public lecture delivered by Dr Bukar Usman at the Abdullahi Smith lecture Theatre, Faculty of Arts, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

This lecture focuses on leadership, security and national development from African and global perspectives. Security and what it constitutes can take many forms. However, it is all about the survival of an individual, a group or an entity such as a state. It should be noted that there is a duality in every country’s security challenges, and these manifest as the internal and external factors that shape its state of security. Due to socio-political and geo-political peculiarities, every nation’s security challenges and imperatives are, to a large extent, unique. This is why the security situation of one country, with its attendant implication for peace and national development, can be very different from another’s even when their external security challenges are similar.

Although national security problems arise out of conflicts or threats within or outside a given nation, how these conflicts are resolved, managed or contained is critically dependent on the effectiveness of existing governmental institutions for conflict prevention and resolution. This also entails the disposition and orientation of leadership at local and international levels. Social chaos is, therefore, often a manifestation of a failure of government machinery or governmental systems as may be revealed by a thorough and dispassionate examination of past conflicts. Indeed, government never became necessary until humankind saw the need to invent systemic machinery for managing social crisis and maintaining public order. This is why there is need to begin this discussion by looking at the evolution of formal or governed society as we know it today.

From State of Nature to State of Society

Overwhelmed by hazards in the unorganised natural environment and by the antagonistic effects of his own primitive self-centredness, man, generically speaking, needed a “neutral” authority to protect his life, family and property. Formal society developed out of this basic need to preserve oneself and one’s possessions. Organised society evolved over a long period before the dawn of civilization as we know it today. Political thinkers, notably the English philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), argued that individuals, persuaded by enlightened self interest, traded off the insecure “state of nature,”1 where only freedoms existed, for a state of society governed by a central authority that enforced the rights of everyone. The state of nature, according to Hobbes, was not only “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short” but also in its entirety “anarchic.”2 The emergence of centralized government, responsible for common security, is therefore meant to curb the excesses of selfish and unscrupulously competitive individuals.3

Although the modern nation state is commonly the most developed form of the state of society, monarchy, a crude form of centralized social order in medieval times, had preceded it. Under the monarchical dispensation, the people were ruled by supposedly divinely appointed kings who reigned indefinitely, often for life, before yet another king took over to, literally, lord it over the populace. With time, it became clear that what the people needed was governing machinery, not a ruling institution.

Defining the nature of the relationship which should ideally exist between the state’s governing authority and the governed, John Locke (1632—1704) stated that such relationship should be in the form of a social contract that is subject to periodic public renewal of confidence.4 According to Locke, the authority of government should be based on “just powers from the consent [i.e. delegation] of the governed.”5 This gave rise to variants of the social contract theory, particularly in the 18th and 19th century, that became the bases of the evolution of systems of government powered by periodic elections. Thus, in the event of the elected authority losing the confidence of the public, the people, under the Lockean social contract system of governance, reserve the right to change it through the ballot box or, if necessary, by violent means. By this stance, revolution becomes justifiable in the last resort.

It should be born in mind that for one to talk of security and national development presupposes that there is a country or state and that there is a governing authority. A state or country is recognisable under international law only if there is a defined territory that is reasonably populated and has a de jure or a de facto government. A de jure government obtains in the event of a government in exile which is recognized by others.

Socio-Economic and

Political Modalities

A democratic state, particularly one where the people directly elect the leaders, is usually founded on the basis of a constitution or some other governing set of rules. Such rules set out the modalities by which human rights and the state’s commitment to the provision of the basic needs of the people are guaranteed on a sustainable basis. For such a high level of expectation to be met, it would entail the formulation of policies and programmes for national development. The constitution would, of course, establish a structure of government and provide for security machinery to create an atmosphere conducive for individual pursuits and for government to prosecute its national development programmes.

It is lack of consensus on the best formula or set of modalities for the achievement of such objectives that engenders continuing debate, nationally and internationally, among politicians, opinion leaders, and the intelligentsia. The issues under discussion have always been choice of system of governance, leadership disposition and orientation, performance of the institutions of government and management of resources. Around all this is the spate of continuing debate on the need for strong leadership or strong institutions or both.

The lack of consensus at the international level leads some countries or a bloc of them to resort to ideological warfare or armed intervention to persuade or cajole other countries to adopt certain socio-political and economic systems. This behaviour, which ensued for several decades, characterised the Cold War and still appears to be the pursuit of some powerful countries which act outside the dictates of the United Nations. With the ascendancy of the capitalist market economy system, following the apparent defeat of communism and the collapse of the communist bloc in the late 1990s, the intensity of the Cold War has greatly reduced. However, a strong undercurrent is still evident in some turbulent spots of the world.

Leadership and Global Security

International security covers a variety of interconnected issues within states that have impact on the peace, stability and survival of individuals and groups across states. The issues range from “traditional or conventional modes of military power, the causes and consequences of war among states, economic strength, to ethnic, religious and ideological conflicts, trade and economic conflicts, energy supplies, science and technology, food, as well as threats to human security and the stability of states from environmental degradation, infectious diseases, climate change and activities of non-state actors.”6

The leadership role of the United Nations, particularly the role of its Security Council, has been rather ambivalent. Events of the World War I (1914-1918) and the failure of the League of Nations, formed to prevent such wars in the future, led to the occurrence of the World War II (1939-1945) and the formation of the United Nations. The UN kicked off with the five leading victorious powers becoming the permanent members of the core group, the UN Security Council, and arrogating to themselves veto power. Those powers enjoying such a unique privilege have so far resisted moves to reform the Council and admit new members with veto power. This situation has prevailed in spite of agitation and significant contributions to the maintenance of world peace by UN member countries outside this club.

UN Leadership Style, Globalisation and Sovereignty

The leadership style of the United Nations, particularly its growing tendency to over-scrutinize the affairs of members of so-called developing countries while glossing over the malfeasance of some world powers, has reduced its credibility among the developing countries. This ambivalent leadership style has also led to a situation where globalisation has been allowed to undermine seriously the exercise of state sovereignty. There is now a thin line between what should be regarded as internal affairs of a country and what should be matters of international concern.

These days, foreign countries and organisations take more than casual interest in the conduct of elections and national census. While this may be excusable because of lack of openness and fairness in the manner these exercises are carried out in some polities, what about unsolicited foreign interventions in the policy-making process of sovereign nations? In many developing countries, the formulation and execution of national development plans are undertaken in collaboration with foreign countries and international organisations. Such collaborations, though helpful in many ways, can be suspect. Indeed, some foreign aids can be classified as the proverbial Greek gift while others arrive with conditionality that worsens the security and developmental challenges of recipient countries.

The motives and actions of some countries and international organisations may pose great dangers to a country’s survival. For instance, over the last few decades some foreign organisations and countries loaded some countries with ill-tailored loans, ostensibly meant for development, but which left those nations poorer, more debt-ridden and insecure. Social upheavals that compromise a country’s sovereignty and even jeopardise its very existence as a viable entity usually arise when the debt burden becomes unbearable. Some loans are so suspect that the supposedly friendly donors appear to have set out to deliberately mislead and undermine the development efforts of a target country just to subjugate or even destroy it altogether.

What could make a country to be so adversely targeted? A country’s commitment to an independent path of development could make it a target, particularly if it is a country of great potential. All kinds of accusations are usually contrived to intimidate such a country and make it toe the line dictated by some powerful nations threatened by its independent strides. Such tactics employed to undermine certain countries have been elaborately reported. One of such notable reports is that of John Perkins who revealed how targeted countries were ensnared, leading to high ranking individuals falling victims of “tragic story of debt, deception, enslavement, exploitation and the most blatant grab in history for hearts, minds, souls, and resources of people around the world.”7 According to Perkin’s account, the victims, mainly heads of state and OPEC member countries, were under constant threats and surveillance.

Nowadays, under any pretext, a country, particularly one without the backing of a permanent member of the Security Council, could be invaded for “reasons” ranging from human rights concerns to humanitarian considerations. Such UN-sanctioned interventions, these days, are hardly primarily based on the criterion of threat to international peace and security, which is the clear provision under the UN Charter.

The perpetual contest for power in international relations portrays a picture of predator relationship between the bigger and smaller nations. The bigger powers jealously protect their privileged positions, hegemony and spheres of influence against states perceived to have the potential to challenge their supremacy. Size of territory and population may matter in the assessment of power relationship but more relevant is the level of technological skill and general mobilisation of human and material resources. It has also become clear that the weapons of warfare employed in the power contest at the UN are no longer primarily traditional military hardware, more sophisticated though they have become. The media has become an important battle field, and would be more so in the future. An observer succinctly put it thus:

Global media, social media, ICT and powerful nations or regional groups working in concert are the tools of warfare, no longer merely tanks, missiles and battalions.8

A bit of such media propaganda and campaign was employed during the Cold War with positive results. Since then, there has been a general improvement in ICT and the medium is being perfected to a higher degree. Media warfare is real; hence, the increasing cry of cyber attacks and other acts of illegalities among world powers.

In spite of its shortcomings, the UN remains the organisation the world most direly needs for the maintenance of world peace. Its formation in 1945 became necessary when mankind and the powers that be realised that maintenance of international peace and security was beyond the capacity of a single nation. Supplementary to that was the felt need to establish international organisations as UN specialised agencies dealing with cross-border socio-economic issues that may endanger mankind. Hence, UN organs and agencies, such as the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), World Health Organisation (WHO), the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), United Nations Economic Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP),9 came into being.

The importance of such organisations is underlined by the realisation that peace and security cannot be guaranteed by application of military hardware alone. The activities of the UN agencies are therefore intended to forestall or mitigate occurrences that threaten the international system without the involvement of military means. Imperfect though the current arrangement, supported by regional defence groups, may seem, it remains about the only central machinery on which the maintenance of international peace and security is anchored. Success of this arrangement is supposed to allow member states to conserve their resources and focus their developmental efforts on meeting the needs of their people.

Unfortunately, such conserved resources are being drained in many countries by the challenges of dealing with the problem of insecurity.

muster every available means to quickly restore normalcy and reassure the public.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it should be observed that in spite of the centrality of man in security and development considerations, conduct and performance of states, group of states and non-state actors would continue to dictate events in the international system. As man in a state of nature is said to be selfish so are the states presently in their conduct, including the insensitive positions many powerful nations have taken on environmental matters. But there is a glimmer of hope in the determination of the global community to tackle the heating up of the environment which portends great danger to humanity.

The year 2014 was said to be the hottest in recorded history. After the Lima Conference of December 1-14, 2014, attended by 195 member countries, all hopes are now placed on the Paris Conference to be held this year (2015). At the Paris Conference, countries would be expected to specify their individual contributions towards checking climatic activities in their countries that contribute to carbon emission and global warming.

Unfortunately, many countries are only out to promote their national interests at the expense of others. Unwarranted violence inflicted against others and even beneficial collaborative efforts among them, such as the determination by certain countries to review the world economic order and create more global financial institutions to remove the prevailing bottleneck in access to money required for investment, infrastructural and social development, must be seen in that light. The United Nations as a supra-national body is not a government. It has no standing army. A few privileged members acting individually or in concert with other nations sometimes arbitrarily invade other nations hiding under a manipulated resolution.

An international court of justice is in place but a look at those who have so far been arraigned before it shows that it is selective. Some leaders commit similar or worse crimes against others and get away with it simply because they are powerful. Powerful nations act as predators against weaker nations who may be unjustly punished for trying to develop potentials that could rival their entrenched positions. Thus, the world, in spite of the existence of a supra national body, is still operating in a state of nature governed by the law of the survival of the powerful, a law that replicates or typifies the conduct of man in a state of nature.

Under the leadership of the United Nations, mankind may not have entirely escaped the savagery of the state of nature. However, some sections of mankind, like many nations of the Western world, have made commendable strides in leadership, security and national development. African leadership can galvanize positive changes in their various nations instead of looking up to the prejudicial leadership of the UN to bail the continent out of its current security and developmental challenges.

February 11, 2015
Church prays for Nigeria

The yearly fasting and prayer programme of Imole Oluwa Baptist Church (IOBC), Ejigbo Lagos began last Sunday. It will end on February 28. This year’s theme: “Under His Grace”, is to let Nigerians knows that ‘we can’t achieve anything on earth expect through the grace of God.

The Reverend in charge of the church, Moses Oke said the programme is an opportunity for the church to intercede for Nigeria and her political leaders.

“This yearly fasting and prayer came at the right time, at a period where by our country is having change in leadership,” he said.

He urged political leaders to desist from every unpatriotic attitude and plot that may lead to war.

“In order for us to have a peaceful election, the fear of God should be their first priority,” Oke added, noting that during the fasting and prayer, participants should confess their sins to God and ask for forgiveness of sins, particularly shedding of innocent blood, idolatry, bribery and corruption, so that God would have mercy on the nation and remove the wrath already pronounced on the country.

He also urged Nigerians to pray against the shedding of blood during the general elections.

February 11, 2015
Can you Say You’re One of Them?

can you Say You’re One of Them? was the question thrown to the over 170 people at the Port Harcourt World Book Capital, January Book-of-the-Month discussion and drama performance. It was held on January 25 at the Hotel Presidential in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital. Oprah’s book club author, Fr. Uwem Akpan, author of Say You’re One of Them was at the performance.

A panel made up of students from Rainbow Book Clubs in Secondary Schools in Port Harcourt, interacted with the author in a discussion moderated by Daniella Menezor of the Port Harcourt World Book Capital project office. Fr. Akpan asked the audience to close their eyes while he read a portion from Luxurious Hearses (one of the stories in his book). It was a narration of an incident where the hand of Jubril (a young boy) was going to be chopped off because he stole a goat and Jubril expressed how he felt about the consequences of his deeds. This dramatic scene set the tone of the evening.

The book is a collection of five stories about children in various parts of Africa and some of the tragic and traumatic situations in which they find themselves. These stories provoke questions such as How do you react to the ‘stories’ you hear and see in the media? Do you understand that these are real life situations? Can you imagine yourself in the shoes of the people in the stories, Can you really Say You’re One of Them?

The University of Port Harcourt Institute of Arts and Culture, gave an enthralling performance of An Ex-mas Feast, a story in his book about child prostitution. Reacting to the performance, the author commended the UNIPORT troupe, adding that “when I was writing the book, I never imagined something so visual and creative could come out of it.” The Port Harcourt World Book Capital outing was an eye opening and thought provoking one.

This month, the Port Harcourt World Book Capital adult book club will be reading Children of the Revolution by Dinaw Mengetsu at the Atlantic Hall, Hotel Presidential by 3pm on February 22.

February 11, 2015
Union of Nordic, West African art

penultimate Saturday, some major streets in Sabo, Yaba, Lagos Mainland got a full performance menu from Nigerian artistes and their counterparts from the Nordic countries. No fewer than 10 artists from Norway, Finland, Sweden, Cameroon, Ghana and Nigeria participated in the event tagged: Peformance Workshop Exchange between Nordic Countries and West Africa -Part 1.

The gathering had Petter Pettersson of Lilith Performance Studio, Malmo, Stockholm, Sweden as producer; Marianne Hultman of Oslo Kunstforening, Norway and Bisi Silva of the Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA), Lagos as curators. Participants were Bernard Akoi-Jackson (Ghana); Christian Etongo (Cameroon); Henna-Riikka Halonen (Finland); Tori Wrånes; Sandra Mujinga (Norway); Taiwo Aiyedogbon and Odun Orimilade (Nigeria).

The workshop’s schedules included presentations in the morning and outdoor in the afternoon. The works of the Nordic participants viewed via the video screens were mostly indoor done either in studio or large scale sound stage.

On the final day of the workshop, the artists presented their works live in both indoor and on the streets. The work of Aiyedogbon was about ritual offering to appease the gods and avoid bloodbath during the forthcoming general election in Nigeria. Her work was performed out door, at the junction of Herbert Macaulay and McEwen Street, Sabo, Yaba.

Earlier, Akoi-Jackson led participants through the streets in his work based on environment and perception. The issue of copyright was raised by Hultman during the discussion time covering a wide range of issues beyond the frame of the workshop.

During 2015 Lilith Performance Studio in Malmö will carry out a large-scale collaborative project between the Nordic countries and West Africa, focusing on performance. The aim of this collaborative project is to create conditions for a broader public representation of artistic cultures and traditions that have not received sufficient attention in Sweden/Scandinavia. Basically, it’s about creating conditions for freedom of expression for all citizens in the Nordic region and West Africa. “We believe that all partners have as much to learn from each other, it is the only prerequisite for a productive and creative exchange. Because performance is still considered an independent art form, and because it has no historical “baggage” in West Africa, it makes it a useful tool for conversations about contemporary art, its place in society and freedom of expression,” the organisers said. The projects, according to them, aim to provide space and a voice to the West African artists on the Nordic art scene, learn more about performance and the art form’s potential outreach;

•Establish stable networks for future collaborations between artists in Scandinavia and West Africa,

•Increase visibility of African artists at art institutions and galleries in Sweden/Scandinavia,

•Offer the Lagos art scene an insight into the Nordic performance scene, through public presentations and a workshop based performance festival at CCA, Lagos.

•Offer Malmö a glimpse of the West African performance art scene, through four large-scale performance art productions at Lilith Performance Studio.

February 11, 2015
Thieves experience in rhymes

As a literary biographer, who had been writing short stories and poetry, it was an easy transition for Mnguember Vicky Sylvester to write a memorable historical novel based on the Tiv Uprising of the early 1960s following Nigeria’s political independence.

In fact, Long Shadows encompasses the Tiv experience of interaction with the colonialists from WW I through WW II and later involvement in divisional and regional politics in the young Nigerian nation through the first military coup to the civil war that began in 1967 to its end in1970. Sylvester writes a hybrid novel, partly historical and partly fictional, which recounts the Tiv experience through the actions of characters reflecting some known figures such as Joseph ( Suswam) Tarka and others during the tumultuous period.

With this novel Sylvester inscribes minority discourse into Nigerian/national and regional political experience. So often does one hear or read about what majority groups do in history but it is refreshing that here Sylvester does something different by registering in a compelling narrative mode not only Tiv resistance to oppression, discrimination, marginalisation, and exploitation but also the search for plurality and fair government in the regional dispensation of the time. The novel also proffers a vision of what other ethnic groups can imbibe for a free, fair, and just society.

Long Shadow begins in a captivating manner with resistance to the tax of two pounds and six shillings imposed on Tiv men, with the Damkor raiding and humiliating Tiv men, quite unlike in Makurdi and other areas where non-Tiv live and where the tax enforcement is not pursued with such vigor. While a tax to develop the area would have been a good thing, according to a leader like Suswam, they feel this tax was exploitative and discriminatory; hence the resistance, which further led to the highhanded local government police attack of Tiv villages. Suswam and other Tiv men also resist imposing a Tor Tiv on them from Kaduna as the NPC was trying to do. In one of such raids on a Tiv village, a Native Authority police attempts to rape Torkwase and she ingeniously killed him with an iron rod. The persecution of the Tiv intensified after the formation of the UMBC, a party of minority groups in Nigeria’s Middle Belt, as opposition to the NPC in the Northern Region. The UMBC, led by Suswam, allied with Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s Action Group, the predominant party in the Western Region. The new party focused on education of the young ones. The Tiv also created a Suswam Brigade to counter the influence of the Sardauna Brigade.

The narrative later focuses on Jime, son of Hemba who has been discriminated against, and who belongs to the UMBC with others in the party, lost his regional government job. With the discrimination, exploitation, and oppression of Tivs at divisional and regional levels, Jime and others took the Tiv cause to fight for. With many Tiv people being killed through attacks apparently organized by the Damkor and the Sardauna Brigade on Tiv towns, men and women mobilize to fight back. Feeling the safety of his family threatened, Jime flees to Jos and asks his wife, Ayima, and the children to join him later through a clandestine network assisted by a Catholic priest. Jime gets a job in Jos in the tin mines and later steals into Makurdi to take his wife and children from a secret rendezvous. By this time, Suswam was gravitating towards the NPC and lukewarm to Tiv matters because he wanted to enlarge his political base in the North so that he could vie for a national position. The story ends with the end of the civil war (1970) with many Tiv men joining the army and the sick Jime about to leave for England for treatment.

Long Shadows is a historiography of the Tiv people, their origin, and migration to their present abode. They are a people who cherish bravery and honor; hence they “die standing.” One of the most moving episodes in the novel is how Agbo, a Tiv clan head, was humiliated (75). The reader is forewarned that Agbo would soon join the ancestors. Then Agbo’s wife, Mnguhemen, prepares food with poisonous mushrooms for him to eat and die in sleep rather than leave him to hang himself (77-78).

With a sharp mind and very keen sensibility, Mnguember Vicky Sylvester portrays full-blooded characters that are so realistic that they appear like people with whom we share the same society. The writer succeeds in not only making history real but also makes the actors of that history living people who have the same character traits we have. Suswan, modeled on J.S. Tarka, comes out very alive from history. The Middle Belt politician is a versatile leader of his people and forms the opposition to the NPC. He aligns with Chief Obafemi Awolowo and his Action Group because he wants his people to have education.

Jime, Hemba’s son, carries the torch of the middle generation (his children the younger/third generation). While he is an individual, he represents the Tiv resistance in a middle ground—not violent like Gums and Biri but unswerving in loyalty to the Tiv cause; unlike Suswam who changes. He is a good husband and father involved in the struggle to win rights for his people. We see him closely and his flight to Jos reflects the dislocation of families resulting from the resistance. His wife, Ayima, is fully portrayed as a caring mother and a loving wife. A seamstress by profession, she holds her forte during the calamitous period when her husband is not around. She combines gentleness with emotional strength.

Two other characters that stand out in the novel are Gums and Biri. Gums is used to forment violence to keep the Tiv Uprising in the news. Biri, the ugly one whose name literally means monkey, is violent and commits heinous crimes in the name of the uprising. Sylvester uses his character to show the extent to which a good uprising could be hijacked to needless bloodletting. He is the hatchet man whose actions Gums describes as bestial. In the end, he falls victim of revenge, as the man whose wife he has killed kills him.

Mnguember Vicky Sylvester is an accomplished storyteller who uses her narrative resources to tell the story which flows on like a tumultuous river towards the ocean. Her major narrative technique is suspense. One example is when Gums, before the raid on the market, “had sent word to the Ameer and the Igbo transport union leader in Gboko through their representatives that it would rain that Ikyurav market day” (124), a password for violence. Another interesting suspense is in the statement that “Agbo will soon join the ancestors, perhaps tonight” 77) after being publicly humiliated. One expects him to commit suicide by hanging but the wife provides him a more honorable death by preparing for him a food of poisonous mushrooms which kills him. Ayima’s flight to Jos with the assistance of Fr. O’Connel is also suspenseful as the reader fears she may be caught. She escapes narrowly from being caught by the catechist.

There are also flashbacks to give depth and background to the story. Chapter 8 narrates how Hemba, Jime’s father, died. Jime was about to fetch water from a well and the memory came back to him. Sylvester absorbs oral tradition to tell her story. Much of this occurs when Suswam visitsVandeikya (160-161) with the use of traditional salutations, proverbs and axioms. Vicky Sylvester has the power to make episodes memorable by their significance. One of such is when the Tiv soldiers returned from WW II and they were being welcomed back home; others received a handshake and the Tivs were given sticks that were again taken from them to avoid shaking hands with them. It is instructive that Jime’s father refused the stick and handshake.

Long Shadows uses the Tiv Uprising as a window not only to view the world of conflict and uprising but also women’s response in such a period. Sylvester demonstrates feminist tendencies in the novel with the examples of Torkwase’s killing of the potential rapist and Dooshima beating her husband to show that Tiv women defend themselves. The women also meet to discuss how they should respond to the violence around them. Ayima’s care of the children and daring escape to join her husband show how active she is. The female characters thus exercise their agency and do not just stay passive and be victims.

Long Shadows is not just a historical novel but a saga of Tiv trials and triumphs over decades and throws into relief the contrast between then and now. The novel reminds us of problems still common in the Nigerian polity. Only resistance, Sylvester seems to espouse here, makes a people throw off the yoke of oppression, discrimination, exploitation, and marginalization and become a free and dignified people. The novel is very interesting to read as the writer uses narrative ploys to propel the story to accelerate to a climax at the height of the Uprising when there was much violence culminating in the civil war. The Nigerian civil war ends and Jime is to go abroad for treatment. The small prints need to be improved upon in the next edition,. However, Mnguember Vicky Sylvester has accomplished a marvelous task in making us re-live a period of Nigerian history that we should now try to avoid under a 20th century democracy. This is a book that enriches our sensibility and I enthusiastically recommend it to everyone to read.

February 11, 2015
Onobrakpeya, others mentor students

Renowned printmaker, painter and sculptor Bruce Onobrakpeya has presented some of his works to pupils of The Lagoon School – an all-girls primary and secondary school in Lekki, Lagos.

The event, which also featured talks by a Professor of Music from the University of Lagos, Anthony Mereni and the Curator, National Gallery of Art, Ekene Okoroma, was part of activities to mark the school’s vocational day for 2015.

With the theme: Relevance of Art and Culture, Prospects in Schools and Society, the occasion paraded artworks by the students. It was spiced with musical and cultural performances.

Speaking on the theme, Relevance of Art and Culture, Prospects in Schools and Society, Onobrakpeya said each child is born with talent and has something to express. He said art usually serves as the primary medium through which such gifts are expressed.

“The beauty of children’s art is that their simplicity, directness and innocence will make even great and experienced masters want to be able to repeat those attributes in their art,” he added.

Art and culture, he said, can be described as two sides of a coin. He explained that one is incomplete without the other. “Art and culture are innate to man. In other words, man did not have to go to school to acquire the knowledge of art and culture even though education in those subjects is very important,” he said.

Underscoring the importance of the study of arts, he said: “Over the years, man has developed what he probably acquired by instinct, and this is where education is very important, for it is through education that he can scientifically develop what was a natural talent. The school environment helps the child to recognise particular innate talents and teaches him or her skills to develop them.”

Onobrakpeya added that visual art studies lead to graduate and post graduate degrees in the educational system. This, he pointed out, opens a vast array of professions from which students can choose career paths.

The renowned artist also enlightened the students on the relevance of arts to various aspects of human endeavour such as: civilization, the environment, diplomacy, politics, the economy, tourism, investment and religion.

In his presentation, Professor Mereni sought to educate the students about the origin of music which he traced to ancient Egyptians. He also enlightened them on the different forms of music and its relevance in defining people’s identities. The professor also harped on the need to study music in tertiary institutions; while acquainting them with career prospects that abound in the field of music.

The Curator, National Gallery of Art, Ekene Okoroma, encouraged the students to pursue arts as a field of study, describing it as a noble and elitist profession. She commended the school’s management for its vision in educating the girl child to attain her full potential.

Earlier the school’s principal, Noemi Garcia, commended the speakers for gracing the occasion. She said the Vocational Day was conceived as a means to enable the pupils express their talents and promote healthy competition. Edna Abugewa Ekenimoh, Head, Vocational Department of the school, made a similar remark, emphasising the roles vocations play in educating children.

The pupils described the programme as an eye-opener and commended the school for its vision. Six schools were invited for the programme. They are: Dowen College, Lekki; Top Grade School, Surulere; Our Lady of Apostles Private School, Yaba; Dominican College; Yaba College of Technology Secondary School and Golden Cornerstone Private School.

February 11, 2015
Onobrakpeya, others mentor students

Renowned printmaker, painter and sculptor Bruce Onobrakpeya has presented some of his works to pupils of The Lagoon School – an all-girls primary and secondary school in Lekki, Lagos.

The event, which also featured talks by a Professor of Music from the University of Lagos, Anthony Mereni and the Curator, National Gallery of Art, Ekene Okoroma, was part of activities to mark the school’s vocational day for 2015.

With the theme: Relevance of Art and Culture, Prospects in Schools and Society, the occasion paraded artworks by the students. It was spiced with musical and cultural performances.

Speaking on the theme, Relevance of Art and Culture, Prospects in Schools and Society, Onobrakpeya said each child is born with talent and has something to express. He said art usually serves as the primary medium through which such gifts are expressed.

“The beauty of children’s art is that their simplicity, directness and innocence will make even great and experienced masters want to be able to repeat those attributes in their art,” he added.

Art and culture, he said, can be described as two sides of a coin. He explained that one is incomplete without the other. “Art and culture are innate to man. In other words, man did not have to go to school to acquire the knowledge of art and culture even though education in those subjects is very important,” he said.

Underscoring the importance of the study of arts, he said: “Over the years, man has developed what he probably acquired by instinct, and this is where education is very important, for it is through education that he can scientifically develop what was a natural talent. The school environment helps the child to recognise particular innate talents and teaches him or her skills to develop them.”

Onobrakpeya added that visual art studies lead to graduate and post graduate degrees in the educational system. This, he pointed out, opens a vast array of professions from which students can choose career paths.

The renowned artist also enlightened the students on the relevance of arts to various aspects of human endeavour such as: civilization, the environment, diplomacy, politics, the economy, tourism, investment and religion.

In his presentation, Professor Mereni sought to educate the students about the origin of music which he traced to ancient Egyptians. He also enlightened them on the different forms of music and its relevance in defining people’s identities. The professor also harped on the need to study music in tertiary institutions; while acquainting them with career prospects that abound in the field of music.

The Curator, National Gallery of Art, Ekene Okoroma, encouraged the students to pursue arts as a field of study, describing it as a noble and elitist profession. She commended the school’s management for its vision in educating the girl child to attain her full potential.

Earlier the school’s principal, Noemi Garcia, commended the speakers for gracing the occasion. She said the Vocational Day was conceived as a means to enable the pupils express their talents and promote healthy competition. Edna Abugewa Ekenimoh, Head, Vocational Department of the school, made a similar remark, emphasising the roles vocations play in educating children.

The pupils described the programme as an eye-opener and commended the school for its vision. Six schools were invited for the programme. They are: Dowen College, Lekki; Top Grade School, Surulere; Our Lady of Apostles Private School, Yaba; Dominican College; Yaba College of Technology Secondary School and Golden Cornerstone Private School.

February 11, 2015
A mission to Texas

Writing the biography of a famous Nigerian politician can be a nerve-wracking experience. It can also be fun. Part of the challenges of this onerous task include last minute cancelling of appointments, unanswered phone calls, delay in responses to text messages and emails, difficult interviewees and surprisingly, funding issues. Five years and three books down the road, I can write another book on my experience as a commissioned chronicler of the lives of the famous and the rich. A good friend of mine noted for his cynical view of politics and politicians has suggested a title, VILLAINS AND VICTORS; IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF FAME AND FRAUD.

As a politician myself, I am very sympathetic to my colleagues –espirit de corps- they call it. I know where the shoe pinches them. Apart from busy and sometimes unexpected appointments as well as unfounded and unprovoked attacks from detractors, politicians are also prone to occasional ego massages, exaggerated claims of near invincibility as well as an uncanny optimism which critics have likened to appropriate skills for gambling. No wonder, many of them fail to exit the political scene at the appropriate time thus corroborating..…… famous saying that ‘’All political lives unless cut off at a happy juncture end in failure’’.

In the course of my self- imposed profession, I have had to put up with a lot of hassles. From a last minute cancelled appointment in far away Katsina, to a scary air flight to Yola, an interview conducted in the middle of a campaign rally in Enugu as well as an angry wife in Port Harcourt who had protested my interviewing one of her husband’s numerous girl friends! This is apart from the fact that the job takes you away from family and friends and turns you into an antisocial animal who is always cocooned in his writing world.

On the other hand, I had also had some good moments. Apart from interviewing and dining with the high and mighty in the land, my assignments have also taken me to places such as Ghana, UK, and the US apart from several Nigerian cities where I made countless and invaluable friends. However, nothing in the business surpasses the exhilaration of the writing itself. Hunched over my laptop in the twilight or wee hours of the day, I enjoy the thrill of piecing together the fragments of other people’s stories, drilling into their beings like a surgeon working in the innards of a patient. I am also a historian of some sort for every Biography is unique in its own way and the art of researching and writing it, a historical journey.

As much as I respect my subjects’ right to set boundaries for their stories, I am no spin doctor and will not embellish facts. Rather, I believe in ‘evidence based’ biographies where friends and foes alike will be interviewed so that a balanced view of the subject will be presented for posterity and history to judge. Thankfully, my current subject, a good friend of mine and a very popular politician (his opponents call him controversial) share the same views. Not only did he give me the leeway to interview people from all shades of political divide, he even went as far as suggesting names of some of his perceived political opponents for interviews.

During the course of working with him, I saw him as a brilliant, gregarious, hardworking and down to earth politician. Unfortunately, many of his critics don’t see him in that light. As far as they are concerned, he is an unschooled, arrogant and violent man who should be avoided like a fresh case of Ebola.

‘’Why do your opponents hate you so much’’? I asked my subject one day after I had finished interviewing several of his family members and constituents who had eulogised him as a good husband, father and leader. ‘’Envy’’ my friend, a writer’s delight with his effusive mannerisms had replied his eyes dancing with delight. ‘’They are yet to come to terms with the fact that at my relatively young age, I have achieved so much in my political career but I don’t grudge them. It is all God’s doing’’, he added.

Then one day out of the blues he called me;’ ’My brother, please get ready to travel. We are going to the US. The University I attended wants to honour me. Since these people said I didn’t go to school, I want you to come and witness and record the event.’’ And so it was that together with a few of his aides, I accompanied my subject to Houston, Texas. It will be my second trip outside the country on the Biography having visited another country a few months earlier to interview some of my subject’s colleagues and friends.

It was not a really good time to travel abroad because of the worldwide hysteria over the Ebola scourge which had cast Nigeria and a few other West African countries in bad light. Luckily for us, just two days before our trip, Nigeria was officially declared Ebola free by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Even at that, some of my US based friends were against the timing of the trip. ‘’ Even with the WHO clearance, you might still be embarrassed since the whole Ebola matter is currently driven not by scientific evidence-based ideas but by hysteria, anxiety and liberal doses of homophobia, xenophobia and possibly racism’’ they cautioned.

However, as we landed at the George Bush International Airport in Houston Texas, on that overcast Thursday morning, the warm and smooth immigration reception was an indication that the matter of the Ebola pandemic would not be counted against us.

It was my first visit to Texas and I was immediately captivated by the beauty and grandeur of Houston, a city named after former General Sam Houston, who was president of the then Republic of Texas. Houston was founded in 1836 on land near the banks of Buffalo Bayou (now known as Allen’s Landing) and incorporated as a city on June 5, 1837. It is the most populous city in Texas, and the fourth most populous city in the United States. In the mid-20th century, Houston became the home of the Texas Medical Centre—the world’s largest concentration of healthcare and research institutions—and NASA’s Johnson Space Centre, where the Mission Control Centre is located.

The award ceremony from one of the most famous Universities in Texas took place the following day at the Westin Galleria Hotel, 5060 West Alabama – Houston, Texas 77056. Basking in the euphoria of the moment, my subject who was the only non American among the six alumni who were honoured was the cynosure of all eyes. And when he was asked to respond on behalf of the other recipients, he took his time to thank the University authorities and his former teachers for the honour done him. The ceremony was then followed by a dizzying array of activities such as photographic sessions, toasts and impromptu speeches.

This generous spectacle continued the next day which was our last day in Houston with a breakfast, lunch and dinner events sponsored by friends, Nigerian organisations in Houston as well as the University. All through the activities, my subject kept reminding me to note everything. ‘’They said I have criminal records in the US but you can see how I am being treated like a star. They said I didn’t go to school, yet I am being honoured by my alma Mata’’ he reminded me for the umpteenth time.

Towards evening, we did a quick tour of the University facilities before proceeding to the airport for our departure to Nigeria. And as we waited for our flight, I took up my subject on the litany of allegations against him, especially those that came up during my interviews and some from my internet research. He tackled the issues with the mastery of a professional boxer blocking some punches, throwing some back at his detractors, deflecting others and sometimes weaving his way out of trouble. All the while, his trademark smile never left his youthful face as he occasionally sipped his hot tea which he was using to nurse a minor cold. “Check my records. There was no single instance during my long and brilliant political career that I was found to have embezzled money unlike some of my detractors. Not once” !! he thundered. It was a masterful act and I could not help burst into laughter at some of his postulations which will be well captured in the book.

As we later boarded the aircraft, I was looking forward to using the 12-hour trip to Nigeria to finish the first draft of the book. However, as I settled down into my seat with my Laptop, pen and paper at the ready, an elderly white lady sitting next to me looked up and smiled; ‘’Are you a writer’’? she asked. I was quiet for some seconds as I racked my brain on what to say. I did not want to make the mistakes I had made in the past by revealing my true identity and getting distracted. On one occasion when I had acknowledged my literary profession, my guest had brought out a sheaf of badly written poems and asked me to analyse them for him. On another occasion when I had agreed that I was a Medical Doctor, one woman had assailed me with a barrage of complaints, diagnoses and medications which spoilt my trip. However, my most unforgettable experience was when I confessed to being a politician. Before I knew it the two passengers on my either sides had launched into long winded political postulations laced with derogatory remarks about politicians thus ruining my peace of mind. Now faced with the same dilemma, I was determined not to be distracted from the work at hand. I did a quick thinking and quickly mimicked some hand language signs to my neighbour. It worked and the lady agreeing that I was deaf and dumb left me alone.

Immediately, I launched into the Biography working at a frenetic speed in order to finish before the Laptop battery expired. So engrossed was I that when the hostess later asked me for what I wanted for dinner, I merely waved her off. The work at hand was enough food for me.

In view of the popularity of my subject and the copious amount of interesting and controversial material hitherto garnered, I knew I was working on a masterpiece. So riveting was the story, that on several occasions during the course of my writing, I had to suppress my laughter. However, at a point when I came across my subject’s caustic answer to another provocative remark from one of his several opponents, I couldn’t hold myself anymore as I burst into a raucous laughter that must have reverberated round the aircraft. For some moments, my startled neighbour kept staring at me probably wondering how a supposedly dumb man could have laughed out so loud.

February 11, 2015
‘Jazz music defines my art’

Nissi Ogulu whose norrd art is making waves right now has just concluded an exhibition in Lagos. A second year Mechanical Engineering student of Warwick University, England, her paintings dwell more on what she describes as phenomenal art, something different from the rest. She spoke to Edozie Udeze on her form of art, why music has come to form the basic component of her form and more.

The peculiarity of her works distinguish her from the rest. This is perhaps why she describes her works as the norrd phenomenon. For young Nissi Ogulu, painting and experimenting with deep colours to give a unique surreal feeling is part of what she has come to learn differently as an artist.

During her just concluded art exhibition at the Terra Kulture, Lagos, Ogulu, a second year engineering student of Warwick University, England, told The Nation that painting is a passion she cultivated and imbibed at a very tender age. A granddaughter of the famous music icon and columnist, Benson Idonije, Ogulu who also plays some musical instruments and often indulges herself in jazz at her spare time, says arts runs in her family. The norrd phenomenon was adopted by her “just to be different from what others have been doing. It is an experiment that is totally unique and not common in the Nigerian society” she says.

The intriguing aspects of her works dwell in her ability to use profound colours in loose and dropping forms to juxtapose her subject. While the exhibition was going on and as guests and art patrons hovered around within the premises to view her array of works, a jazz instrumentalist was busy playing a saxophone in the background. “Yes, Ogulu intones, “parts of what I did in most of these paintings, the times when I conceptualised them, music was indeed playing in the background. I am mostly inspired to draw unique woks when the music is on and I am transported to a higher realm. For me, music and painting go hand-in-hand. My family has deep love for music, for art generally and this is what I often bring to bear in my works”, she says.

The deep etchings of droppings of lines, the endless use of loose colours that define oriental form of painting, all depict strings of musical instruments. These lines are like the jazz instruments, like a huge musical band pelting out series of sounds to sooth the people. Some of the lines drop like tears. But to Ogulu, they are tears of joy, tears of artistic expressions imbued with love; mixed with the inner feelings of someone in a deep nostalgic feeling of ideas. Ideas, like it is usually said, define the line of thought of a committed artist.

Basically, Ogulu brings emotions into her works. “Emotions, real deep inner emotions, reflect in the art of painting. It shows how reflective or otherwise you were when you were doing a particular work. “This is why I often experiment in such a way that my works look unfinished. This is deliberate; but you can see those array of colours of surrealism dropping down the lines on the canvass. What do they say to you? That art is often an unfinished matter. It is just like music that does not end and will never end. It goes on and on and on, seeping into your soul And who can stop the flow of good music? She asks, stooping a bit for emphasis.

In most of her works, the introduction of black and white colours in the background helps to bring out the total epitome of the beauty of the subject-matter. In one of her most outstanding works depicting Massai warriors from East Africa, she shows a complete abstract piece which serves as a reflection of the current times. The theme is instructive of the nature of one of the tribes that make up Kenya as a country. She goes on to situate the Massai warriors in their beauty and as one of the most dreadful in terms of costuming in Africa. Yet, today, the warriors have been integrated into the East African larger society. “If I had used the same colours here, I may not have got the desired contrast,” she explains.

In who am I, one of her most outstanding works on exhibit, she demonstrates life in a global context. “At times, someone doesn’t know who he or she really is. You often look everywhere to discover who you are. It is always for some people to also discover and define what plans God has for them. It is a problem common to people from across the globe. For some people therefore, it can take them a whole length of time to discover the direction they are headed while for others it is not so. In that case, I try to find myself; I try to discover myself from within. It is a total realism of the state of man on earth’, she reflects, smiling.

So in trying to bring something different into the Nigerian art scenes, Ogulu took her time to understudy the situation properly. “I saw that everybody is doing basically the same thing. So, based on this, I asked myself, how can I be different, how can I move away from the routine and give the Nigerian society the sort of art that is unique. It was like artists here are scared of playing with colours. But for me, deep application of colours, give the art its profound meaning and appreciation”. And so the norrd art as defined by Ogulu has come to make issues clearer to appeal to human conscience.

Today, her phenomenal art can be turned into contemporary, yet it brings nostalgic feelings into the minds of those who tend to show interest in and appreciate her works. Initially, when the experiment began to blossom, Ogulu thought the better of it was to forget the usage of black colours completely. But with time, it began to down on her that she could equally use black to make bold artistic statements. “Yet other colours say more about the norrd art, about the uniqueness I have been talking about”, she says.

Over time, she has come to have very vivid and imaginative art form that gives her distinctive signature. “I am realistic and imaginative. Just me, making reality interesting. That is what I really want to do. Be wild and colourful, so that it can be contemporary in its own way, and at the same time remain vibrant. That my works look the way they are is deliberate because I’d like to do things I’ve never seen before. I usually think outside the box. It took me about two years to arrive at this, to be able to say okay even though I am still learning, I am still in the process of experimenting my own form. Let me be who I want to be. For me there is never a defined demographic scene in mind during the process of this creative journey. Once I come up with an idea, I put it down and then I make a piece. I am constantly thinking of reinventing myself. That is indeed my motivation.”

In her art also, she tries to take Nigeria abroad and bring back other people to reflect a total global village. This is what I want to expand; that horizon of art that is all encompassing, all inclusive. A native of Ahoada in Rivers state, Ogulu says she is now set to overcome the world with her form of art.

February 8, 2015