The Nation Newspaper

Category: Arts & Life

  • Terra Kulture: Celebrating a decade of excellence

    Terra Kulture: Celebrating a decade of excellence

    In the past 10 years, Terra Kulture in Lagos has  been a leading gallery, with over 80 per cent of renowned artistes. It has also impacted positively on  performing artistes, writers, fashion designers and Nollywood stars. In this article, its founder, Mrs Bolanle Austen-Peters, writes on the journey so far.

    Terra Kulture, Lagos, is an educational and recreational private sector organisation set up in 2003 to promote the richness and diversity of Nigerian languages, arts and culture. It commenced operations in 2004.

    Today, Terra Kulture is a resounding success recognised as a major cultural hub in Nigeria for expatriates, students, Hollywood and Nollywood stars, artists and members of the diplomatic corps. When Terra Kulture started, the founder Mrs. Bolanle Austen-Peters was supported by Mr. Tayo Aderinokun the late Managing Director/Founder of GTBank.

    Terra Kulture has positioned itself as the leading gallery in Nigeria with over 80 per cent of the major and young artists having exhibited at its gallery. The gallery has exhibited artists such as Kolade Oshinowo, Abiodun Olaku, Bruce Onobrakeya, Ablade Glover, Abayomi Barber, Olu Amoda, Sam Ovraiti, Alex Nwokolo, Ndidi Dike, Olu Ajayi, Sam Ebohon, Lekan Onabanjo, Defactory studio, Iponri studio, Guild of professional fine artists of Nigeria, Diseye Tantua and Segun Aiyesan .

    It has successfully changed the face of the art practice in Nigeria in the 10 years of its existence, professionalising the art business and promoting cultural heritage. It also started an art Auction House in 2009 with the late Aderinokun having raised the idea. Terra Kulture auction has grown to become one of the leading auction houses in Nigeria, stimulating activities and growth in the secondary art market with hundreds of works sold, boosting the growth in the primary market. The auction house has also helped in valuation of works and promoting price stability.

    In 2006, Mrs. Austen-Peters initiated the Theatre @ Terra project ignite growth in the theatre industry. Today, Theatre @ Terra is the only consistent theatre house in Nigeria with live plays every Sunday and with renowned Nigerian thespians that include Segun Adefila, Joke Silva, Wole Oguntokun, Kenneth Uphopho, Nick Monu, Sefi Atta, Uche Nwokedi and Gbenga Yussuf.

    Terra Kulture has also played a major role in the literary art with its bookstore promoting hundreds of Nigerian books and organizing book reading sessions to help promote reading culture in Nigeria. The centre has hosted writers such as Prof. Wole Soyinka, Chimamanda Adichie, Sefi Atta, Tony Kan, Lola Shoneyin, among others.

    Terra Kulture, reading room and, virtual office has been part of the success stories of many companies which started small at Terra Kulture but grew to own their own office spaces. It has also supported the ambitions of many people who have studied for many local and international exams at Terra Kulture

    Terra Kulture has played host to most of the foremost primary and secondary schools in Lagos who over the years have consistently visited the centre on excursions to learn more about Nigerian art and culture. Terra Kulture has also conducted cultural orientation programs for some embassies and foreign missions in Nigeria, teaching them about our culture, way of life and language.

    Nigerian fashion has also enjoyed the Terra Kulture touch with award winning brands like Ituen Basi, Tae and many more having been promoted at Terra Kulture. It has also played host to numerous fashion shows and fashion label launch.

    Of recent Terra Kulture has ventured into the promotion of Nigerian movies. Its introduction of Nigerian movies to the corporate world through corporate private screenings has revolutionalised movie promotion in Nigeria, thereby bringing Nollywood to the fore front of corporate entertainment.

    In its 10 years of existence Terra Kulture has organised over two hundred art exhibitions, seven art auctions, ninety plays, sixty book readings and over ten thousand adults and children have attended its language classes and excursions.

    In association with Bolanle Austen-Peters Productions, Terra Kulture raised the bar in the theatre industry with the production of SARO the Musical last year, a production which enjoyed numerous accolades and reviews from international media houses including the BBC and SKY News and has since produced five additional plays despite the lack of infrastructure to support such.

    A proudly Nigerian organisation, Terra Kulture has been in the forefront of the promotion of Nigerian art and culture, developing talents and creating employment in the sector with the employment of over 60 staff and the creation of over 150 additional ancillary jobs on a monthly basis through its theatre and arts products.

    Some of its staff have grown to become experts in art and culture matter, travelling to  various countries for work and professional development. This has positioned them to be leaders in the industry and has helped in making Terra Kulture a truly professional art centre.

    Despite the difficult business environment Terra Kulture has continued to excel in all aspect of the arts, a sector that is heavily funded by the government and grants all over the world but that suffers neglect in Nigeria. Terra Kulture has been passionately encouraging investments in the arts and cultural sector, building capacity and also discovering and developing talents.

    With the visionary leadership of the founder Mrs. Bolanle Austen-Peters, Terra Kulture continues to attract local and international attention and accolades, standing out as model in the art business helping drive growth in the sector.

    In celebrating 10 years of innovation and value add, Access Bank is partnering with Terrakulture in promoting its  programmes through its sponsorship of the anniversary celebrations and Saro the Musical 2 coming up between December  24 and28  . This is consistent with Access Bank’s commitment to the promotion of Arts and Culture and women owned businesses.

    With a decade of outstanding service to Nigeria, and now with the backing of Access Bank, Terra Kulture is well-positioned as the cultural hub of Nigeria and truly the   Cultural Centre.

     

    •Mrs  Austen-Peters is the proprietor of Terra Kulture  

  • ‘Things Fall Apart sold out in America’

    ‘Things Fall Apart sold out in America’

    Call him a ‘diehard fan of the  late Prof Chinua Achebe’, you may not be wrong. Emeritus Professor of African Literature Charles Larson,  a pioneer in African literature in the Western world, believes the late Achebe should have won the Nobel Prize for Literature.  Since 49 years ago when he taught his first African Writer class at the University of Colorado, Larson has become an inspiration to African writers across the world. His research and interactions with the writers led  to his innovative work, The Ordeal of the African Writer. In this  interview with Evelyn Osagie when he visited Nigeria, Larson recounts his travails as an African literature advocate, his first visit to the country few weeks ago and his encounter with the late Achebe’s books and more.

    If the late Chinua Achebe were alive, he would have been 84 last month. His book, Arrow of God, clocked 50 this year and the event was celebrated wide world. What is your opinion about the book and the writer?

    They say that 100,000 copies of Things Fall Apart are sold every year in the US. He has more readers in the US than he has in Nigeria – more copies are sold in the US than they are in Nigeria. I think it’s his most accomplished novel. Now, this may sound like there is an inconsistency here and some may ask such as: “How can Things Fall Apart said to be “the great African novel” and Arrow of God is Achebe’s major novel?” I am talking of a major novel in the sense that it is a more complex novel than anything he wrote. It’s still politically relevant, especially to Africa today where leaders have stayed in power forever because Ezeulu is a dictator who is constantly in conflict with even his own people and family – he doesn’t want to hear what they have to say, which is typical of African governments. It is a novel that deals with issues, such as negotiation, transparency, and above all, listening to the opposition or the other side. It is the novel that academics would teach because it has a detailed characterisation, the plot, the issues are more complex and the language is richer than his other novels.  And it probably leads to better discussions in class than Things Fall Apart because it is more subtle. But sadly I think it has been overlooked in favour of Things Fall Apart; and that is the essence of all those conferences across the world to try to make it more visible than it has been. It means one would also have to change the attitude of academics who teach. Although set in the past, it should be taught in schools looking at the situation today while examining its key issues.

    When did you first read Things Fall Apart and Arrow of God?

    I didn’t know anything about Nigeria before I visited the country in 1962, so, I got myself Achebe’s novels and read Things Fall Apart and No Longer at Ease  in the summer of 1962. After reading them, I thought I had read something extraordinarily different, rich, imaginative and original, unlike anything I had ever read before. I fell in love with African literature and decided I was going to go for my PhD in African Literature.

    And later, within months that Arrow of God was published in England in 1964, I bought it in CMS bookstore in Onitsha in the summer and read it the next day.

    Where were you working at the time?

    I was teaching as a Peace Corps volunteer at the Anglican Boys Secondary School, in the then Eastern Nigeria on the East of Onitsha about 12 miles away and about seven miles from Ogidi where the late Chinua Achebe grew up. I taught there for two years between 1962 and 1964. And I used to drive through there all the time to go to Onitsha to buy produce, go to the bank and the Post Office.

    When you were driving through Ogidi to Onitsha, did you connect the place to Achebe? 

    No. I was told that he had grown up there but I didn’t know which house was his family’s house. He told me much later that all the time that I went to Onitsha, I was always driving past his house.

    Aside 1962, what other time did you come back to the country?

    I have been to Nigeria about five times since I taught here for just short trips – and that is not so often and given the fact that that was 50 years ago. Reading Achebe’s books made me decide that this was such an exciting literature that I wanted to spend the rest of my life working with it; and that was why I kept coming back to Africa all the time. After that first visit to Nigeria, my interest in African literature grew. When I went back I didn’t just write about Nigerian Literature, I wrote about all other literatures across the continent. I became more interested in this aspect of literature and for about 40 years, I’ve worked to get the books of Africans in print in the US.

    I had a lot to do with seeing that universities in the US and in the West started teaching African literature. This led to my teaching African literature for 47 years in American University, Washington DC, US;I retired in 2011. In fact, I was the first to teach African Literature in the US. I was the only person who taught The African Writer, African-American literature and Third World literature, for years. And some people believe it is the first course ever taught on African Literature anywhere in the world.

    And what year was that?

    That was in 1965. There were no courses taught at that time.

    What was the experience like in those early days of teaching African literature in the US?

    It was really hard at the beginning because they were resisting all those changes. They didn’t want African writers, Latin American writers and Asian writers taught in American schools. But realising there was something very important here that needed to be written about, I was just excited about reading Achebe and others who were beginning to publish; and wrote my thesis in African Literature. It was also hard because the people who were teaching hadn’t read the writers, so they said: “Who’s going to monitor what you are teaching?” The thesis was probably the first in the US in African Literature ever written on African writers. Several places that I was interested in didn’t want me to do that. They said the literature was not significant enough. But I was determined until finally, I found a school that would let me do it. I found some departments – not English Department – that recognised the value of this – the African Studies Programme at the University of Colorado. They taught courses in African History, African Anthropology, African Sociology, African Music, but they didn’t have a course on African Literature. So, they hired me when they learned that I was teaching that. They were growing all of these areas. I was using Achebe’s novels, three Ngugi’s novels, three of Ayikwei Armah’s, three of Camara Laye’s that were in print at the time; and those are the ones I can remember now. And after a while, the English Departments realised that they should be teaching this stuff in the English Department instead of all the other departments. So that was the fight; it took about 10 years to get that worked out.

    You had the same thing here then. When I taught in Nigeria for those two years – I taught seniors for the schools’ certificate examination – there were no African writers on the syllabus, but Thomas Hardy and Victorian poets and so on. You may have inherited that from the British, but you didn’t change when you had independence. It took several years before Achebe’s Things Fall Apart was put on the schools’ certificate examination and, then, it was only that novel. It took a long time before your own schools’ system started teaching African Literature.

    Was that what inspired your book, The Ordeal of the African Writer?

    A school of thought holds that Achebe is the father of African Literature, what is your take on it?

    Absolutely! That was what I was saying in so many words. And this is because of two things. He wrote a truly African novel and changed people’s attitude about Africa – he changed Africans’ attitudes about their past. That is major. But the second thing is the African Writers Series – he picked all those titles to be published. You could call him a “Midwife of African Literature”. He birthed all those books and there wouldn’t have been many of those writers in print and many would never have been published if Achebe hadn’t edited that series.

    Achebe is the father of African Literature. But Soyinka is a major intellect from Africa. He is much more theoretical and wrote those wonderful plays and wonderful poems but later in life. he tended to write theoretical things about Africa. And many of those statements he made got Africans upset just as Achebe’s book, There was a Country.

    Some critics say Achebe’s books, although critical of Nigerian politics, were more ethnic-driven than Nigerian-driven?

    Well, some were, like the last book he published, There was A Country, was very controversial because he had sort of held that information in the whole time, waiting to come out. And I respect that opinion. But if there was any writer critical of what is going on in this country, it is Soyinka. And remember Soyinka was in prison for two years, censored and exiled at some point. And they are not the only ones -African writers all over the continent have passed through lots of difficult situations, even Ngugi was in prison for two years, because they criticised the powers in their countries.  Black writers often didn’t get published and if they did get publish, their books were censored and got burnt.

    Could this be the reason some literary critics are advocating art for art sake?

    I don’t like art for art sake or for beauty. I think it is fine for poetry. The novel and drama by nature are about the realities of life; and usually it’s about the things that are not working in life; personal, family and state tragedies. Let me say this, any writer who is worth his salt and has true value is by nature political, not just in Africa, but in Asia, Latin America and the United States. The great writers have been critical and political in one sense or another. Maybe African writers have been more critical and political than others because they’ve been fighting terrible government for so long that they have been super critical of that. Now in the West, in the US, there have been plenty of people who have criticised various American presidents, government. We supposedly have a democracy and capitalism but it’s… I won’t even get into that. Plenty of writers are just as critical but the advantage is they don’t get censored or put in jail or go into exile. Art should be critical of what is happening in a culture because it is the criticism of the culture that is going to provoke change, particularly in countries that do not have freedom of the press, the writers write critical things knowing that they may end up in prison and some of them have been killed, like the late Ken Saro-Wiwa, who was a fabulous writer. Sozaboy was a magnificent novel, and Abacha killed him. It is really sad because I thought he was brilliant.

    What is your position of Achebe not getting the Nobel Prize till his death?

    Oh, that is a real can of worms. The committee that makes those decisions is very  obscure – nobody quite knows how those decisions are made. But what is known is that one person on the committee of about one dozen of people doesn’t like the writer that one person can prevent the award from being given to somebody. And probably something like that happened to Achebe. We know it happened to Graham Green who should have got it. And it was notorious that one person, whom they even identified at one time, didn’t like Green’s works – so that’s all it took. Of course, Achebe should have had that award. Soyinka had and he deserved it. But Achebe should have had it also. I am just speculating that there might have been one person who didn’t like his work.

  • Osundare: A paragon of excellence

    Osundare: A paragon of excellence

    Tanto Nomini Nullum Par Elogium – Of this great man, no praise is adequate. The headstone of Niccolò Machiavelli’s tomb, in Florence, Italy, had this alluring epitaph etched into it only years after his demise. Niccolò is not alone in the tribe of beings marked for distinction only after their death. It took the shrewd sagacity of the Ikemba of Nnewi to aptly label Chief Obafemi Awolowo as ‘the best president Nigeria never had’. What was meant to be a mere entry in a condolence register has become an axiomatic post-humus endorsement of what should have been but never was. For the patriarch of astronomy, Galileo, who observed the farthest shore of stars and meteors, planets and comets from the antediluvian coast of the 15th century, long before man conceived it probable to explore the galaxies and celestial bodies; recognition, reception and respect were not bequeathed to him until he transited to the world beyond. Not until the late 1920s, did Thoreau, the foremost American polymath, philosopher and poet, reputed to be the protagonist of the American renaissance era, get the recognition he deserves.

    Ostensibly, it is the unsavoury propensity of man to brush off the accomplishment of achievers and luminaries till they shuffle off this mortal coil. Then, we engage the services of professional mourners and garner obligatory dirge composers, who lament profusely and sing the praises of the deceased to high heavens. Perhaps, this was what made Jorge Luis Borges  to reckon that “a writer should have another lifetime to see if he’s appreciated.” Borges’ declaration is, however, of very limited application to the nub of this piece, Professor Oluwaniyi Osundare, whose assorted and polygonal literary odysseys have been overwhelmingly greeted by the adulations, adorations and exaltations of every stratum of the society. For Prof. Osundare, another life is unnecessary, reincarnation is uncalled for and re-embodiment is unwarranted for him to have a shufti to clearly see how much the world appreciates his colossal and monumental contributions to literature and society. While it is biblically noted and contemporarily evidenced that ‘a prophet has no honour amongst his own people’, the Nigerian State has obtained exoneration from this fell-swoop indictment by slating the 4th of December, 2014, as the day to further amplify the thunderous encomiums which have thus far been deservedly showered on this master of artistic imagery, don of efficacious satire, doyen of English Literature and patriot extraordinaire, by the conferment of the National Merit Award on him.

    Dennis Brutus, the South African poet of renown, must have had Professor Osundare in mind when he stringed these lines; ‘A troubadour, I traverse all my land; exploring all her wide-flung parts with zest; probing in motion sweeter far than rest; her secret thickets with amorous hand.’ Born under the cascading shadow of the Olosunta Hills in Ikere-Ekiti, Ekiti State, in the 40s, sparkling like a flawless effervescent diamond at Amoye Grammar School, Ikere-Ekiti in the 60s; transcending records and expectations at University of Ibadan in the early 70s; shinning like a thousand stars at the University of Leeds, United Kingdom, again in the 70s and scaling the Doctorate Degree huddle at York University, Canada with regal ease in 1979, he is indeed a troubadour who has traversed the globe, manifesting unparalleled quality and excellence in his enthralling exhibition of matchless intellectual assiduity. His calling is to write, his profession is to teach, his passion is to lit societal darkness with the piercing beam of his tongue, and his vocation is to ­­smoke out talents untapped and strap up potentialities unharnessed. Of smouldering embers fanned to blazing light, I am one. Straddling between the options of Geography, English Language and Law in various Universities across the nation, as a young man in dire need of bearing, Professor Osundare came in like a seasoned sailor, and gently steered me towards the cape of legal practice. Before then, he had initiated and inducted me into the writing ‘club’, right from our school days. He knows the way I write, and can even sniff the fragrance of my compositions. Behind me, he would deny what does not emanate from my tabloid, even if same has been widely credited to me.  To mark his 60th Birthday in 2007, he insisted that I should deliver the epoch-making on an otherwise alien (to me) topic, to wit, “The Role of Literature in the Cultural and Socio-Political Development of Nigeria: Niyi Osundare as a Case Study.”

    With laurels, including the prestigious commonwealth poetry prize, the Fonlon/Nichols Award for “excellence in literary creativity combined with significant contributions to Human Rights in Africa”, and the ANA award for poetry adorning his treasure chest, Egbon is indisputably a leading light in the world of arts and literature. His over ten published volumes of poetry, two books of selected poems, four plays, a book of essays, and numerous articles on contemporary socio-political issues, make him one of the most fecund writers in this generation. To Professor Osundare, ‘to utter is to alter’; and he has been resiliently consistent in his lofty quest to positively alter the skewed dynamics of our national construct from the regime of the saber wielders to the dispensation of the ‘agbada’ wearers. He haunted the military regimes with his timely and fearless censures. As a result, government agents conscripted his students to spy on him whilst he was lecturing at the University of Ibadan. It took five open letters to the Obasanjo regime, to steer the hornet’s nest of the then quasi-democratic regime. Osundare’s diligence in candour, obsession for truth, and fixation for probity is better captured in the words of Barry Cornwall in his essay titled the Genius of Shakespeare, where he enthused; “Governments and systems change; codes of law, theories philosophical, arts in war, demonstrations in physics. Everything perishes except truth, and the worship of truth, and poetry which is its enduring language.”

    From the ‘Songs of the market place’ to ‘the eye of the earth’ transcending into ‘Not my business’etc., Prof. Osundare has conscientiously and creatively enforced the truth content that must be the immutable nucleus of poetic orchestrations. His capacity for intellectualism is unassailable, his logic is impeccable, his scholarly depth is undeniable, and his unrepentant commitment to an egalitarian qua free society is non-negotiable. His words are a confluence of Native speech and syntax; and a phenomenal capacity to evoke images in the minds of even the most unperceptive. The siamese nature of this literary colossus’ professionalism and patriotism cannot be described more aptly than he has done. Hear him: “You cannot keep quiet about the situation in the kind of countries we find ourselves in, in Africa. When you wake up and there is no running water, when you have a massive power outage for days and nights, no food on the table, no hospital for the sick, no peace of mind; when the image of the ruler you see everywhere is that of a dictator with a gun in his hand; and, on the international level, when you live in a world in which your continent is consigned to the margin, a world in which the colour of your skin is a constant disadvantage, everywhere you go – then there is no other way than to write about this, in an attempt to change the situation for the better.” No doubt, when Professor Osundare speaks, he speaks for the love of the nation; when he writes; he writes from the bowels of his compassion for humanity and when he agitates, he agitates for the emancipation of the weak and downtrodden.

    Although, his path as a poet is littered with confetti of encomiums and his career has been a catalogue of heroic achievements, dazzling in content and oozing in fulfilment, the Nigerian National Merit Award is unique in several ways. First, the award is a testimony that Osundare, unlike most ‘prophets’, is honoured in his land. Second, in a country where the phylum of qualitative awards is gradually fading and thinning out; in a nation where people exchange brown envelopes for recognition; in a society where the honour to be bestowed on a person is directly proportional to his net worth, this Award has interjected the downward trend by eschewing sentiments to honour an achiever, a trail blazer. By section 1(1) of the Nigerian National Merit Award Act, the award would only be conferred on “deserving citizens of Nigeria for intellectual and academic attainments that contribute to national endeavours in science, technology, medicine, the humanities, arts and culture and any other field of human endeavour whatsoever.” Truly, Osundare personifies these statutory requirements, as his impact transcends multidisciplinary areas of humanities, arts, culture and other fields of human endeavour. He conjugates art and philosophy. He is indeed deserving of this honour as he adds another feather to his already swarming cap. Niyi Osundare is unassailably a Professor with bountiful curriculum vitae. On this note, both the Federal Government and the Governing Board of the Nigerian National Merit Award must be sincerely commended for their abiding faith and respect for the letters, contents and spirit of the Act, by naming Osundare as the winner of the Award for this year, notwithstanding his biting criticisms of government’s actions and inactions.

    Indeed, Tanto Nomini Nullum Par Elogium – Of this great man (Osundare), no praise is adequate. Hearty congratulations, my dear ‘Egbon’, hero, guide, counsellor and role model. In ‘A dialogue of drums’, Osundare enthusiastically enthused that he hails from a line of drummers and understands the language of the leather. Today, he has to dance to the melodious symphony of the drums of merit, distinction and true national recognition.

     

     • Chief  Olanipekun is former President, Nigeria Bar Association

  • Alluring but risky trillion dollars art business

    Alluring but risky trillion dollars art business

    Nigerian Stock Exchange Chief Executive Officer,  Mr Oscar Onyema says though the art industry is worth over $3 trillion, with a yearly $30 billion turnover, investing in it is not as good as investing in property, land, bonds, equities or precious metals. Assistant Editor (Arts) OZOLUA UHAKHEME reports.  

    The guests at the 10th Ben Enwonwu lecture titled: Arts as an alternative investment, held at the Taraba/Rufkatu Hall of the Wheatbaker Hotel in Ikoyi, Lagos, were at home with the topic. So, also was the guest speaker, the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr Oscar Onyema, who was conscious of the expectations of the mixed audience- artists, investors, collectors, stock brokers, auctioneers, gallery owners, among others.

    Onyema said art is no longer appreciated for its aesthetic value and the expression of its lofty ideals as it is more than ever before, considered an investment.

    He said the amount paid for certain art pieces have attracted global attention. As an object of investment, art has become, particularly alluring. He cited Ben Enwonwu’s Seven wooden sculpture sold for £361,250 and Mystery for £300,000 and Edward Munch’s The Scream for nearly $120 million as examples of some of such art pieces. Art, according to him, has become the new hip, must-have investment.

    He said art as an investment has an increasing demand, coupled with an absolutely limited supply, and the ability to survive the economic downturn.

    “Art as an asset is in a class all of its own. As assets are grouped together based on the characteristics of their underlying companies, art is grouped based on the period in which it was made, the artist (whether they are living or dead), style and medium. Art acts as an asset because it is owned and holds monetary value, and it can be exchanged for such a value. The main attraction and the prime reason for the resurgence of art as an investment is its low correlation with other financial assets,” he added.  He however cautioned that putting money into art is not as straightforward as investing in property, land, bonds, equities or precious metals, such as gold.

    Onyema listed nine characteristics of arts that make it a high risk investment. He said:

    “•Art is a heterogeneous product, artworks are unique,

    •Loyalty to an artist is low, and the perceived value of the product very much depends on an art dealer’s taste,

    •There is a lot of competitive pressure in the industry, and barriers to entry are high due to high fixed costs.

    •Costs of exiting the industry are also high, as it is difficult to liquidate assets.

    •There is a mutual interdependency between firms, dealers and art fund managers. (The big three auction houses–Christies, Sotheby’s, Philips –are said to be price-makers and not price-takers.)

    •The art industry tends to compete on uniqueness of artwork, not on price.

    •The price of art within art markets is affected by uniqueness of product (the work of art), limited supply of works by the artist, production and sales costs, the market, and the macroeconomic environment.

    •The issue of value is often subjective, because of its heterogeneous nature and

    •There is an inelastic supply for art, since most tradable art is trapped in private collections.”

    He noted that despite the emergence of new products such as securitisation of artwork, structuring of private art collections into funds and other collective schemes, art financing–extending credit using art collections as collateral and art financing that guarantees minimum sales prices at auction, in practice, perfect knowledge of market never exist.

    “The art market can be characterised as highly uncertain, and knowledge is scarce. The imperfections in the market, thus, become a tool of competition,” he said.

    According to Onyema, the dividend from art is the enjoyment the collector gets from it because it does not pay dividend. “But you find increase in valuation of art over a time. It is the equivalent of what you get as dividend in stock market. Investing in art is very risky and volatile. And there are many things that go into what make people collect art,” he said.

    Onyema pledged the support of NSE for the establishment of an Art Fund, noting however, that the exchange is not the platform for its establishment because it cannot be quoted on the exchange.

    He said some of the advantages of the fund include that it allows access to art expertise, insider knowledge of the art market, low transaction costs if you are an investor in the fund, due diligence services, good advisory services, and the potential for higher returns. However, he identified liquidity, pricing, performance, costs, track records and conflict of interests as some of the disadvantages.

    He observed that participating in art fund gives access to co-investment and adds diversification to a portfolio. “But due to the high volatility of art’s value, it is necessary to invest over a longer period to adequately hedge.

    “•Understand international factors affecting art such as exchange rate movements, cultural factors affecting art and market preferences.

    •Rising demand for artworks and increasing prices are driven by increasing global wealth.

    •Artwork in the lower price categories react negatively to economic slowdown –demand drops while supplies increase, thus forcing selling.

    •Artworks in the top price categories hold up well during weak economic environments.

    •Art prices tend to have a positive correlation with inflation.

    •When the stock market is in a downturn the art market booms –investor appetite shifts to tangible investments,” he added.

  • Amaechi: Nigerians are too docile

    Amaechi: Nigerians are too docile

    RIVERS State Governor Rotimi Amaechi has blamed the growing insecurity in the country on poverty. He said if the government runs an economy that allows for the realisation of peoples’ aspirations, there would be less crime. The governor, however noted that Nigerians were not holding their leaders accountable as most pressure groups have become appendages of the ruling government. He spoke on Poisonous Gas: The crude politics of oil in Africa at this year’s Ake Art and Book Festival in Abeokuta on Saturday, urging Nigerians to always ask questions.

    “Unfortunately, institutions like the police, army and the state security services have become personalised to the extent that they now serve the man in power. In fact, there is no institutions to effect the rule of law in Nigeria,” he said.

    He added that the only viable option for Nigerians is to ask questions and hold their leaders accountable because there are no effective institutions that can act as check and balance. According to him, the only enforcement of rule of law lies in the hands of the people.

    Reacting to question on why oil producing states, such as Rivers have not challenged the Federal Government over the negative impact of oil exploration, Amaechi said all Nigerians would share in the blame. He recalled that the late Yar Adua did well by putting pressure on oil companies to redress the consequences of oil exploration on the environment. Amaechi blamed the failure of the present administration to follow up on what Yar Adua did on corruption.

    “Once you compromise with the oil companies, you will lack the morale right to enforce the laws. That is the situation in the oil sector. Unfortunately, Nigeria does not have the accurate data on the consequences of these pollution problems. Not even the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). On environmental problems what has Nigerians done? We have not been able to ask questions,” he said.

    On true fiscal federalism, he said: “If every administration manages the nation’s resources well, I will not mind whose hands the resources are.” He noted that the local government councils lack the human and financial capacity to develop the nation’s primary education, which is very critical to laying solid foundation for educational development.”

  • Echoes of World Wars

    Goethe Institut, Nigeria in collaboration with Alliance Francaise Nigeria  has held a  forum in Lagos on the two World Wars. It was held at the Terra Kulture on Victoria Island, Lagos to draw Nigerians attention to the need for peace.

    The speakers were historian, Emeka Keazor, a journalist from Benin Republic, Macus Boni Teiga and German journalist, Jorg Theis. Director of Goethe Institut, Marc-Andre’ Schmachtel said: “Remembrance is staged to bring back the memory of the lost loved ones, and tell the story to the new generation, not only as story but to make them know the implication of war in a country. War is not palatable neither is it funny to experience.  It’s terrible, horrible and never is it what any country pray to experience.”

    Keazor described the 20th century war as a stupid and useless war, which has no good impact on Nigerians rather than great loss. He noted that it was a war that nobody was right or wrong.

    “It was just a waste of life not minding the people with good minds-set and great vision for the country’s upliftment”.

    According to him, “Armistice Day was a time to make sure in our generation this does not happen again”.

    He said the forum was not about the death of the First World War, who may indeed have passed from living memory, but the second world war and subsequent  wars for which memories are still very much alive. However I still take the opportunity to reflect on the sacrifices of my fore-fathers.

    Keazor told Nigerians that ‘war is not fun, war is not Rambo, war is not like a film or a movie, rather war is suffering, war is pain, war is mother loosing children, war is poverty and pain. “There is nothing like fine war Nigerians should not be brainwashed by political leaders to cause conflicts.

    “The government should at all times remember the implication of the actions they take at all time,” Keazor added.

    Marcus Boni said: “In order for world war not to reoccur there is need for history to continuously be told to generations on the effects of war on a country and not to forget our cultures.

    “It is important to write our own history, so that new generations could have opportunity to learn from it and know the experience of the past.”

  • ‘To be HIV- positive is not end of life

    ‘To be HIV- positive is not end of life

    Mrs Stella Ebelu was a spinster when she tested positive to HIV 20 years ago. Now married, the mother of five , tells OYEYEMI GBENGA-MUSTAPHA  how she has been coping as a person living with HIV/AIDS. 

     

    How did it all start?

    I am Stella Ibianujulu Ebelu,  37 years old, living with HIV since 1994. I am at the moment a treatment support specialist. I read Hotel Management and Catering. I became infected with HIV through blood transfusion. I am a mother of five children, three boys and two girls and all of them are negative, that is, none of them is living with HIV. I had a growth on the back of my neck. I went to the hospital and after many tests and screening I was told I will need to undergo surgery to remove the tumor. And I will equally need blood for the surgical intervention. Then I was single. My people were told and my brother volunteered to donate blood for me. He is now late. The operation was done and I was discharged. After six months I started feeling sick. I developed herpes and I was taken back to the hospital. Screenings and other tests were conducted. There and then, I was screened for HIV and I turned out positive. My world collapsed like a pack of cards. I didn’t know what to do or make out of my life. As a single lady many thoughts crossed my mind and I became worried on how to carry on with my life. The hospital intervened by counseling me. The drugs introduced to me then, were highly expensive.

    I then relocated to Enugu, and started living with the determination to live and survive. How to go about my life not infecting others, as well as live without coming down with AIDS were utmost on my mind. There and then, a trader-man from Kafanchan showed interest in me. And said he wanted to marry me. Before we could go far in whatever existed between us, I told him about my HIV status. He doubted me and said that was a huge ploy by me to discourage him. He said he will not give up on me that he genuinely loves me. And said that he will only believe me if we both go for testing and screening in a hospital. I agreed. After the screening, the results indicated that he is negative and I am HIV positive. So, I asked him what the next step would be, and to my surprise, he said he will go ahead with his plan to marry me. I asked him why; he said I am truthful and that he loved me and can trust me with his life, because if a woman could not hide such a secret from a man that is well-off then the woman must not be given up. I saw through him, his sincerity and genuine love. So, I took him to my people. They welcomed him and asked him if he knew my status. He answered them in the affirmative. And that was how we commenced steps to marriage.

    As Christians, we wanted to do church wedding so we informed my pastor. My pastor said we should go for some screenings such as for hepatitis, blood type, Rhesus and HIV. We both did series of screening; the results were all negative, except mine that turned positive for HIV. He told my fiancée what he would be doing with a HIV woman, knowing he is the only son. My fiancé insisted he wanted me and no other lady. My pastor put his feet down that the marriage can’t hold, more so in his church. So, I and my fiancé settled for traditional wedding. As fate would have it, there were crisis at Jigawa that spread to Kafanchan so we decided to settle in Abuja. I enrolled for antenatal care at Asokoro General Hospital, Abuja; the drugs were not free then. Nurses and counselors really supported me. Then there was the introduction of Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV (PMTCTH). PMTCT is a top priority for PEPFAR, an international body that provided antiretrovirals (ARVs). In 2002, we had our first baby. I was resolute not to become a burden to my people, the nation or anybody. I took responsibility for my health by accessing the drugs and using them. I did not miss my antenatal clinic days. There were phases in the drug policy- from being expensive, to being subsidised and totally free. Because I was taking my drugs and kept to good diet and nutrition, my viral load really came down and I was able to deliver my children through birth canal (normal delivery) not through cesarean section (CS). And I breast fed them each for six months, no water, herbal drinks or baby food, just breast milk only.

    How did you survive the stigma and discrimination associated with breastfeeding?

    I suffered an intimidating stigma and discrimination at its highest peak. When I was single and confirmed HIV positive, my stepmother used to humiliate me. She will not associate with me or use anything with me in the house. If I used a cup to drink, she will either throw it away or restrict me to just that cup alone. She said the water in the kitchen pot will be infected if I used same. She will tell our neighbours not to play with me or didn’t they know my status. Many women will take away their children inside and tell them not to play with me. My friends in the neighbourhood abandoned me. At a stage I just summoned courage and decided to live my life.

    So, when I got married, and stopped breastfeeding my first baby at six month, I was naturally afraid of what people will say and actually people raised eyebrow. In fact, when we travelled to my husband’s place, his people were asking me why I stopped breastfeeding the child at six month, thinking I was wicked. But my husband will stand for me. He will tell them that he did not want me to suffer myself that six months were enough to breast feed. I can say boldly that my husband is my backbone. He supports me. So, with time people knew my pattern of breastfeeding for just six months. Some guessed reasons why. But all my five children, the last born, a male, is two years and does not have HIV.

    What do you do for a living?

    I have acquired experience and can share with others that being positive is not the end of life. I now counsel women, especially pregnant women. I visit them at home, encourage them. It is a delight when you see a pregnant woman move from fear to fulfilment, in terms of taking her drugs, to save delivery and producing negative baby.

    What message do you have for the society?

    The misconception people have about HIV/AIDS is high.  HIV is not a deadly sickness. One must do the right things for it not to move to AIDS stage. Just like managing High Blood Pressure from turning to stroke. I want to thank the government for providing the drugs for free. Positive people should be strong and forget what people are saying that can lead to stigma or discrimination. Let us mind what God says about us. His word is final. I will encourage all women to always check for their status and access treatment once positive. I could have five HIV Negative children because I know my status and accessed treatment. Many pregnant women should go to traditional birth attendants (TBAs) who don’t even know their HIV status or how to go about treating and caring for them. That is the first step, the second thing is to accept the reality of your status and thirdly, follow it up with adequate treatment. There are mentoring mothers, counselors and treatment support specialists in our hospitals nationwide to help you out cope with the status and the pregnancy, who will help out with their experiences.

    What advice do you have for Nigerians?

    The world has moved on in the area of HIV/AIDS. And Nigerians should update themselves on HIV/AIDS. And for men out there, they should emulate my husband. Support your wife, your family. What will you gain if you mess up your home by pushing out your wife and children? It is the way you package yourself and your home that will determine how others will relate with your family. If that man had chosen to throw me out, today I won’t be this happy because that aspect of my life will ever be there. And probably won’t be able to save all these lives am saving. Society at large should stop stigmatising but rather support positive people. And for positive people, nutrition is very good in the fight against HIV. Eat well balanced nutrition, HIV does not select food, like diabetes, ARV is toxoid and a lot of fluid is required, i.e eight cups of water in a day, rest and don’t compromise your treatment. Avoid alcohol, smoking, herbal concoction and live a productive life.

  • NewsDirect holds anniversary lecture

    NewsDirect holds anniversary lecture

    Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun will lead  top government functionaries to the fourth anniversary lecture/award ceremony of Nigerian NewsDirect today at Eko Hotel and Suites on Victoria Island, Lagos.

    Others expected at the lecture are former Aviation Minister Mr Femi Fani-Kayode  the keynote speaker, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment Dr Olusegun Aganga and  Managing Director/CEO, Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NPDHC) Mr James Olotu.

    The theme of the anniversary lecture is Dwindling Oil Revenue: Roles of infrastructure and security in fast-tracking economic growth and sustenance of democracy. Individuals, institutions, government officials will be honoured during the event in recognition of their contributions to economy.

    According to the Chairman of the Award Committee, Mr. Ayo Fadimu, the preparation for this year’s anniversary started  early to meet guests’ expectation.

    “We decided to hold the fourth anniversary lecture/award at  Eko Hotel &Suites for the comfort of our award recipients and other invited guests”, he said.

    The Publisher/Editor-in-Chief, Nigerian NewDirect, Mr. Samuel Ibiyemi noted that the difference of this year’s award from the previous ones is that governors, ministers and  top industry players  started confirmation of  participation very early. This, he said, encouraged the committee to relocate the venue from Renaissance Hotel at Ikeja  to Grandball Hall of Eko Hotel in Victoria Island  to  accommodate all  guests of  political leaders that will brainstorm on the theme of the lecture..

    “This  event will be a place for them to brainstorm on how to contribute more to the Nigerian economy,” he said.

    The NewsDirect boss added: “This is part of Nigerian NewsDirect’ s corporate social responsibility programme designed to assist and encourage our leaders to be steadfast and dedicate resources to boost investment in  infrastructure.”

    He said the lecture would also enable both leaders in the private and public sectors to recommend best form of collaboration that will encourage direct investment in infrastructures so that challenges of insecurity will become a thing of the past.

    “This will also enhance transportation of agric products from the rural areas to the market centres,”  he said.

  • Mabati Cornell Kiswahili Prize for African Literature makes its debut

    A new Mabati Cornell Kiswahili Prize for African Literature was unveiled at the Ake Art & Books Festival held in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

    The prize is to recognise writing in African languages and encouraging translation from, between and into African languages. The inaugural prize award will hold October next.

    Director of Mabati Rolling Mills, Kenya, Sarit Shah said: “Supporting literature and literacy is crucial to the development of a thriving culture, and Mabati Rolling Mills is proud to provide financial support for the foundation of a new venture in African language publishing. The new prize for Kiswahili Literature seeks to reward East African writers, artists and thinkers who, through their work, encourage literacy at all levels of East African society. We believe it is vital to reconnect the world of ideas with the practical world of business and commerce, and to do so with relevance to the communities which have been pivotal to success of our business in East Africa for over 50 years.”

    Director of International Initiatives at Cornell University’s Office of the Vice Provost for International Affairs, Laurie Damiani, said the office “is pleased to co-sponsor this exciting new initiative, Under the leadership of Vice Provost Fredrik Logevall, we have taken steps to expand our robust array of international opportunities for the Cornell community and to provide additional avenues to deepen their understanding of our diverse global society. It is an honour to be part of an effort that promotes vibrant literary traditions and encourages meaningful interaction between the peoples of East Africa.”

    Board Member Ngugi Wa Thiong’o said that “the Mabati-Cornell prize is a major intervention in the struggle for writing in African languages, for their place and visibility in the global sun of literary imagination. Prizes have generally been used to drown African Literature in African languages under a Europhone flood. With the Mabati-Cornell prize the dreams of Diop, A.C. Jordan, Obi Wali and others are very much alive. I hope that this prize becomes an invitation for other African languages to do the same and much more.”

    The co-founder Mukoma Wa Ngugi said that the “prize recognizes that all languages are created equal and no one language should thrive at the expense of the other. But beyond that recognition, the Prize sets a historical precedent for African philanthropy by Africans and shows that African philanthropy can and should be at the center of African cultural production.”

  • Gallery holds Children’s Funfair December 6  

    The National Gallery of Art (NGA) holds a funfair for children on Saturday, December 6 at the International Conference Centre (ICC), Abuja. The fair tagged, Rainbow Art Children Expression, with the theme, Unlocking Creativity-Christmas through the eyes of the child is geared towards stimulating values, identifying talents, motivating parents to love art and encouraging young ones to choose art as a career.

    It will feature seven segments: Art competition, Folktale, Face painting, Hat making, Bead making, Head tying and Cartoon characters. Each category has specific tasks for the children to bring out their innate talents. In the Art competition,  participants will produce art works from a given theme in a competitive environment. This in turn will expose their level of creativity, engender the spirit of competition and generate perceptual appeal.  Other attractions include selected cultural performances from some of the 45 participating schools, Puppet theater performances, Magic Time and Fun Cartoon characters. The funfair is supported by Skye Bank Plc, Setraco Nigeria Ltd., Pepsi and Indomie.

    According to the Director, Educational Services, Dr. Evelyn Otaigbe, the eventseeks to engage the mind of the child in more ways than one. “Children learn more through play and we believe these festivals like Eid- el-Kabir, Easter, Christmas and Eid-el- Malud would be great opportunities to interactively engage our children’s minds with a reflection on lessons about the season.