Category: Arts & Life

Dr Peju Layiwola recalls the historic return of the stolen Benin bronzes.

June 20, 2014 would go down in history as a memorable day for the people of Benin and advocates for the return of looted Benin artefacts taken during the infamous 1897 British expedition to Benin. About 4,000 objects were reportedly stolen from Benin by the British while some were destroyed during the imbroglio that occurred in 1897. The King of Benin, Oba Ovoranmwen was exiled to Calabar where he later died in 1914.  This important return comes on the centennial commemoration of his passing.

I arrived at the Benin Palace at about 10am, two hours before the presentation ceremony was to begin on that fateful day. As I alighted from the car, I could hear Christian choruses blaring from the direction of the harem. It was difficult to reconcile the choruses and the shrines I just saw as I came onto the palace grounds.  There was a huge tree tied with red and white cloth with chalk configurations at the entrance to the palace. I later found out that the music was emanating from a music shop located along right behind the palace.  I had wondered- in a postmodern and postcolonial society, there could be many possibilities.  The possibility that came to my mind was stretching the imagination too far.  As is usual of large events, the palace grounds were filled with several canopies and chairs.  From the quality of chairs under a particular canopy, it was obvious where the distinguished visitors were to sit.  From afar, Segun Alile, a popular Edo musician and his band were setting up for the day. Cars were beginning to arrive. All of a sudden a black jeep arrived with armed policemen literally flying out from the doors. The car stopped close to the shelter under which the several wall plaques and cement statuary made by an Edo artist, Ovia Idah were mounted.  Very gently, a tall slim ‘Oyinbo’ man, suave and impeccably dressed in a suit alighted from the car accompanied by two other men. This was the man everyone had been waiting to see in Benin, Dr Adrian Mark Walker.

In the past two weeks, television stations had been announcing the event of the return.  Posters of the event were pasted in front of the palace and around the central part of the city. The last time such an event had occurred in Benin was 78 years ago when the British returned the regalia of Oba Ovoranmwen to Oba Akenzua II in 1936.  There were armed police men everywhere- understandably so.  Two priceless works of art were about to be unveiled to the pubic.  It was difficult to tell if anyone had a different plan.  It was safer to have these fierce looking officers around and about to scare away kidnappers or thieves in a city where the duo gangsters, Lawrence Anini and Osunbor had held sway in the mid 1980s.

History was about to be made again with the return of two looted Benin bronze works.  Amidst fanfare and emotionally-laden speeches by government functionaries, Edo personalities, the Oba and members of the Benin royal family, the guest was heartily welcomed. Dr Adrian Mark Walker is a grandson of Captain Herbert Sutherland Walker.  His grandfather was not primarily a fighter but was a Special Forces agent, otherwise known as a spy attached to the British Expeditionary forces that conquered Benin. On seeing the mammoth crowd that had gathered in the Benin palace he remarked to the King “I would like to stress how very honoured I feel to be invited here by you and how very humbled I am by the warmth and enthusiasm that my colleagues and I have been given.  It makes me feel that this is a very special occasion and not just for me… I was very aware of the importance of this myself but I had no idea that it would cause so much excitement.  Seeing all these proves to me that this is the right thing to do.”  He presented the king with two bronze works – a bird (Ahianmwen Oro) and a bell (Egogo) looted by his grandfather.  The works had been in the possession of the Walker family since 1897. He also donated a copy of Captain Walker’s war diary to the king. I would be discussing Adrian Mark Walker’s return in the context of contemporary Benin history as it relates to the restitution of looted Benin artefacts.  Restitution being the willful return of artefacts that have been looted, or taken by force and had been in possession of an institution, museum or  individual to the rightful owners.

Adrian Mark Walker is the son of Richard Sutherland Walker. Captain Walker, his grandfather, was a specialist in discovering potential enemy strains and had spent many years in East Africa.  After the Benin expedition, he went off to Ghana to continue with his profession as a spy. As a young boy, Captain Walker was born and had lived in India for 35 years.  This perhaps gave him the opportunity of living with people of different classes and appreciating them for whom they were.  His own father had been a surgeon attached to the Indian army. On his return from his sojourn in Africa, Captain Walker rose to the rank of a Lieutenant Colonel and later became the Chief Constable of Worcestershire until he retired in 1902.  He died in 1934 and was buried in a churchyard at Powick, Worcestershire, UK.

Adrian Mark Walker is a retired medical doctor.  He spent a sizeable part of his childhood in South Africa, having done his primary education in Johannesburg. After the Sharpeville Massacre, he moved over to England where he studied at Leighton Park, Quaker School in Reading and Cambridge University. He later studied medicine at the Middlesex Hospital in London after obtaining a degree in natural sciences from Cambridge.  Inspired by the earlier donation of a carved Benin six foot tall Benin Ivory tusk his grandmother, Josephine Walker, to the Jos museum, in 1957, Mark Walker believes that the two works should be returned to Benin where they are likely to be of the greatest cultural and historical significance.

He narrates a long personal history of how he came to return the Benin objects.

‘These objects have come on a rather long journey.  These objects only came into my formal possession recently with the death of my mother.  I remember seeing them in my grandmother’s house 55 years ago and really coveting them.  I thought I would really be proud to own such beautiful objects.  However, as soon as they came into my possession, I realised that if they meant a lot to me because of their connection with my grandfather, they must mean a lot more to the people of the place from where they had come.  Before my mother died I took the precaution of asking her if I could take care of them… I knew that she would not consent to my returning them at that stage because she is one from a very materialist generation.  My children, on the other hand, had no such materialist ambition.  I was very pleased to be in possession of them because they reminded me of my grandparents.  But when I heard from my children that they were not interested in the stuff (objects), I knew that I had to do something to protect their future.”

I have quoted Walker in extenso to understand and appreciate the commitment Walker has to correct the ills of the past.  Paraphrasing would lose the strength of his conviction. It becomes obvious that his urge to make peace overrode his desire to keep the Benin objects for their artistry and links to his family ties.  Furthermore,  Mark is convinced that neither his children nor himself would be adversely judged by posterity since he had done the right thing by coming to Benin to return works that were stolen 177 years ago.  He remarked ‘I will not be condemned as the grandson of a racist’. He went an extra mile to prove this by extracting excerpts from his grandfather’s diary.  Walker remarked that his grandfather was far ahead of his time in the civil manner he referred toBenin natives. Although accounts by ‘white men’ at that time used derogatory words in describing the natives, he on the contrary, had described them as gentlemen as much as his own countrymen and women and showed them milk of human kindness particularly natives at his mercy.  In welcoming Mark Walker to Benin, the Iyase of Benin, Chief Sam Igbe, remarked that by this kind gesture, he has become a friend of the city and would be welcome anytime. More importantly, he added that he was free of age-long curses the Edo people had placed on the looters.  The Oba remarked: ‘Walker would now have peace having done what is expected of him’.

 

 

 

If you think your teenager is unaware of teenage pregnancy, sexuality and HIV scourge, you will be shocked to learn what he knows when you read My Daughters and I by Ifeoma Theodore Jnr, Assistant Editor (Arts) Ozolua Uhakheme reports.

A re you having challenges in providing relevant guidance to your children about their fears and concerns, especially the girl child? Or you are in denial habits and too busy to spend quality time with them? Then, there are two books you must read o overcome all these challenges and be a true and responsible parent.

Last year November, social awareness consultant, Mrs Ifeoma Theodore Jnr published two books-Trapped In Oblivion and My Daughters and I as her contributions to bridge the gap between the informal and formal education of adolescents who could be misinformed by their peers. The graduate of English and Literary Studies is passionate about developing the girl-child focusing on the informal education aspect in order for her to gain confidence and grow morally.

She is a strong voice in the most challenging race to instill core values in adolescent, particularly the girl-child. In about one year, Ifeoma who is into social awareness and counseling put all her old materials together for publishing and her husband gave the first push and read through the manuscript.

“We need to start advocating for both formal and informal education of every child using up to date and relevant books or literature. Every parent talks about the recurring socio problems such as sex and sexuality that affect their adolescent every day.  But, no one is ready to address the roots of the challenges. In fact, no parents want to talk the issues with their children. Now is the time to give correct information. We must demystify sex for proper upbringing. So, my books will fill such gap,” she said.

The debutant who is into architecture and interior design, finds the zeal to author the two books in her passion to read all kinds of books and publications. “All of that capability is a function of my passion for reading. Also, I think outside the box in dealing with issues and people. In fact, I query some old fashioned norms. I am inquisitive by nature, “ she added.

With the success of the two books, she is planning to reprint more copies for readers who, she said, were touched by the content of the books, especially parents.

On the choice of titles for the books, she said: “I felt that when I wrote about these socio issues many parents shy away from, my daughter will read it in case am no longer around. Also, every girl-child that reads is like my daughter, hence the title My daughters and I. As for Trapped in oblivion, I see everyone trapped in oblivion because parents are in denial habits. Unfortunately, most of the kids are informed but misinformed by their peers.”

She disclosed that writing on socio issues affecting adolescent isn’t a big challenge as she interacts freely with them while feeling their pulse. According to her, she always transports herself to when she was younger in order to do the writing. “My interaction with them gives me the opportunity to balance the choice of language to convey the message,” Ifeoma said, noting that she was impressed and fulfilled by the responses from readers of the two books.

She is however not in a hurry to write another book for now. That will only happen after she has successfully taken the books to every home.

There are unquantifiable opportunities in public relations that if judiciously explored, would earn you self reliance and put you in good stead to contribute to national development. This must be a challenge for you all.”

These were among the admonitions of Dr Isah Momoh of the Lagos Business School as Guest Speaker at the induction of 101 new members of the National Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) at the LTV 8 Multipurpose Hall, Ikeja, Lagos State, last Friday.

Directors, commissioners and top-notch operators in both public and private organisations from across the country who graced the event gave nods of affirmation as Momoh dilated on ways that the inductees and other practitioners could make more positive impacts in the practice.

Similar applause shook the gathering when Mr Frank Tamuno, who chaired the outing, gave his edifying opening remarks as well as during a presentation by the Registrar of the institute, Dr Stephen Adebayo, titled: “Orientation: Professionalism, Ethics and Networking.”

Everyone hanged on the lips of the institute’s President, Dr Rotimi Oladele, when, with enchanting delivery, he enunciated robust intellectual, psychological and practical clues that could help the practitioners.

Interspersed with various examples, Oladele, who said marketing and public relations complement each other as image builders, added: “You must be proactive and also endeavour to be reliable ambassadors of the institute wherever you work. You must engage your brain productively and think ahead. By these, you will convince your organisation that you know your onions.”

Affirming the relevance of the institute as the nation battles various maladies, Oladele said: “NIPR is very relevant to finding solutions for the problems we now grapple with as a nation. There is friction arising from the conflicting interests of the divisions across the country. It calls for advocacy, mobilisation, information dissemination and management as well as image building. All these demand expertise and the NIPR has it.”

It was time for exchange of enlightening views during the question and answer session with the inductees. Momoh, Oladele and Tamuno simplified the issues to the satisfaction of all.

The NIPR chief declared the new members inaugurated after an oath taking, following which he gave out membership certificates to them. “As you are inducted today, you must work well with your respective state chapters henceforth,” he advised.

Book review

Title: The Interpreters: Ritual, Violence and Social Regeneration in the Writing of Wole Soyinka,
Author: Hakeem Bello
Reviewer: Sola Balogun
Publisher: Kraft Books Limited

 

An encounter with any literary work by Prof Wole Soyinka easily provokes scholarly or intellectual curiosity. This is because as a literary giant of no mean stature, Soyinka occupies a revered space in world literature; and indeed represents a leading voice on the African literary landscape of modern era. He has equally crowned these feats (in 1986) with his emergence as Africa’s first Nobel Prize winner in Literature.

The foregoing achievements and many others expectedly prompted Hakeem Bello, a quiet but painstaking admirer of Soyinka to channel his scholarly interest in the direction of the Nobel laureate. As a young scholar in 1988 (Bachelor of Arts, Ilorin) and 1990 (Master of Arts, Ibadan) respectively, Bello focused his dissertations on the Nobel laureate, with a detailed study of his works and his utilisation of Ritual as a dramatic strategy to engender liberation and regeneration of the society. Bello’s new work, which encompasses the two essays, is entitled The Interpreters: Ritual, Violence and Social Regeneration in the Writing of Wole Soyinka.

Many years after his scholarly incursions, Bello reworked his long essays on Soyinka into a book form and got it published. And after reading through the book, this reviewer discovered refreshing angles through which Soyinka, a widely studied and criticised writer/dramatist, can be fully understood. First, Bello succeeds in analysing Soyinka’s often described difficult texts, in addition to sharing the views of many scholars on his drama. Secondly, Bello uses the book of nine chapters to produce a holistic study of Soyinka’s works in both drama and prose forms. This is a rare achievement in the sense that not many of Soyinka’s protégés or scholars have undertaken a study of their subject in both popular genres of literature in a single work.

The book of nine chapters is divided into two broad sections. The first five chapters provide an illuminating study of the plays of the Nobel laureate, while the remaining four chapters take a critical look at Soyinka’s two novels; Season of Anomy and The Interpreters.

In the first chapter, tagged “The Ritual Imperative in African Drama,” the author aptly traces ‘ritual’ to the primordial beliefs by Africans in gods, divinities and ancestral spirits, a condition which subjects people’s aspirations and existence to the mercy and will of the metaphysical entities. The fact that man’s existence or survival is always threatened by one problem or the other, makes it necessary for man to appease the higher entities (ancestors and gods) to intervene and restore harmony.

It is against this background that Wole Soyinka relates ritual to revolutionary ideals, using ritual drama as a change agent and as a tool for liberation in most of his works. The famous writer once declared that ‘ritual is the language of the masses, and a universal medium’, hence he consciously upholds the theory of ritual drama to interpret the African world view. Bello particularly emphasises how Soyinka, in deploying ritual as dramatic form (and sometimes blending this with western theories of ritual and drama) explores the Yoruba worldview of the living, the dead and the unborn in his literary works. But most essentially, this chapter examines how Soyinka uses ritual to celebrate the ‘various ways in which communal dislocations occur in the community and the various attempts at the cosmic restoration of continuity and order.’

Chapter two; Ritual as Form and Matter in the Drama of Communal Regeneration, also lends credence to the central idea in the first chapter. But the author extends this by highlighting how his subject also uses ritual not just to create form, but to also communicate as well as showcase certain aesthetic elements through his drama. Here the author refers to Soyinka’s The Strong Breed and Death and the King’s Horseman, drawing several instances where the playwright creates or recreates certain tragic characters (such as Ewan, the carrier in The Strong Breed), or uses symbols and effigies, flashbacks and flash forwards to communicate ideas about society and the need for change.

In Death and the King’s Horseman, Bello recalls how Elesin Oba, the protagonist fails to perform the Promethean- Ogunnian duty of crossing the abyss to secure a smooth passage for the departed King. This betrayal of Elesin’s heroic duty however spells tragedy for the entire community and he eventually loses honour to his son, Olunde, who hastily and timely offers himself for the ritual which his father missed as a result of his request for a bride on a day he is expected to die a death of honour. Elesin’s tragic flaw also demonstrates the Ogunnian creative-destruction instinct, to which many of Soyinka’s characters always succumb.

Meanwhile in Chapter three; “Ritual as Framework in the Drama of the Returning Cycle,“ Bello examines how the playwright frowns against cannibalism as perpetrated in virtually all nations of the world today. Soyinka in view of this global crime used his three plays – A Dance of the Forests, The Road and Madmen and the Specialists – to wage war against evils of any sort. The playwright’s mission, as espoused in these selected plays, is to remind his audience that the cobwebs of evil and carnage against humanity have spread across the global terrain over the years. The solution, however, lies in exploring ritual as a dramatic device to effect atonement and to restore peace and eradicate further bloodshed of whatever form. The playwright’s vision here becomes prophetic as the Boko Haram insurgency which is currently plaguing Nigeria (years after writing Madmen and the Specialists) has further led to wanton destruction of life and property in the Northern part of Nigeria.

And as a way of underscoring the import of Soyinka’s ritual drama in this chapter, Bello quotes Femi Osofisan; another prolific playwright, referring to Soyinka’s works as ‘a symbiosis of rhetorical and ritualistic traditions, fusing essentially intellectual preoccupation with the structural machinery of rites’. All these are manifested variously in the plays; a festival used by forest heads for expurgation of sins (A Dance of the Forests), celebration of Ogun festival which is however aborted by Professor (The Road) and the suspension of the festival as Bero’s father and brother are yet to return from the warfront (Madmen and the Specialists).

In Chapter four; “Ritual as Form in the Drama of Liberation,” the author reviews Soyinka’s only radio play, Camwood on the Leaves, stressing the playwright’s predilection for African traditional values as against the Western ones. In the same way, the author examines how in Kongi’s Harvest, Soyinka uses ritual as metaphysical, communicative and aesthetic strategy to convey messages of peace and liberation.

In the same chapter, the reader learns through Kongi’s Harvest about how most African leaders revel in elongating their tenures only to degenerate into dictators who mainly oppress and victimise the people they are expected to serve. In the play, the protagonist, Kongi usurps and consolidates the throne of Ismaland but he is daily haunted by the need for spiritual control which still resides with Oba Danlola even in his state of incarceration.

The fifth Chapter;” Technical and Aesthetic Constants of Ritual Drama,” draws the curtain for the author’s analysis of Soyinka’s plays. Here Bello deviates from the textual account to the technical and symbolic elements. Of particular note is Soyinka’s choice of metaphysical and sociological characters as well as his eyes for graphic or cinematic presentations on stage. On one side is the choice of ancestral characters or gods such as Obatala, Ogun and Esuoro from the Yoruba pantheon while on the other, he chooses spirits and other living objects mainly to create special effects or symbolise certain dramatic actions.

Soyinka also makes generous use of choruses, music, flashbacks as well as other total theatre devices such as mask, dance, poetry, chants, mime and rhythm to evoke mood and spectacle as demanded by the play in question.

The second part of the book centres on Soyinka’s novels and Bello’s selection of The Interpreters and Season of Anomy becomes instructive. The author’s analysis of the two novels paints the ills of society in all ramifications, aside making reference to The Man Died, memoirs which Soyinka wrote after his release from prison and which equally recounts the sour tales of injustice, victimisation and oppression in the country.

In the sixth chapter, entitled “ The Anjonu Metaphor: Towards a Functional Man – Cosmos Organisation,” Bello explains how Soyinka castigates the political class for the frustration and neglect of the five promising young intellectuals in The Interpreters. He equally highlights how the novelist condemns warfare, disorderliness, corruption, injustice and tribalism in Season of Anomy. But the author is quick to remind the reader of how two members of Soyinka’s literary clan, Nardine Gordimer and Ngugi wa Thiong’o criticised The Interpreters. While Gordimer believes that the novel fails to suggest a re-ordering of society on political terms as solution to poor governance, Ngugi blames Soyinka for neglecting the creative struggle of the masses by his failure to create suitable characters ‘in the dialectics of the struggle.’

Nevertheless, the point is made that Soyinka remains the ‘Anjonu’ or better still, the dual or incredible/strange creature who is constantly viewed through the metaphoric slant of his creative muse- Ogun- the god of iron who exists for both creativity and destruction.

The seventh Chapter; “Aesthetics: A Dialectical Paradigm, “ presents the flip side of the Soyinka creative impulse. Here the author balances his analysis of the great writer’s works by drawing the reader’s attention to critical voices such as Ossie Onuora Enekwe, Lewis Nkosi, Eustace Palmer, J.I Okonkwo and others. Many of these critics have accused Soyinka of several offences; among which are ‘linguistic complexity,’ words of iron’, and ‘sentences of thunder’. But a few of Soyinka’s scholars who are equally his avowed acolytes, such as Biodun Jeyifo, Niyi Osundare and Femi Osofisan hold a different view.

Bello asserts through Jeyifo that Soyinka cannot but be accused of linguistic complexity because of his choice of ‘the pantheons of gods, deities and supernatural beings and archetypal characters’. Another reason proffered by Jeyifo is that Soyinka’s novels are delivered in ‘elaborate internal, often hermetic language which yields a seemingly inexhaustible panoply of poetic symbols and conceptions.’ The implication here is that Soyinka belongs to the ‘strong breed’ of gifted writers whose language use/style of writing is considered elevated or complex, but could even be overtly esoteric.

The author, in Chapter Eight addresses “Social and Ideological Commitments: The Dividing Lines in the Novels of Wole Soyinka.” The great expectation here is to subject Soyinka’s prose works to thematic scrutiny, in addition to unravelling the source and extent of his ideological commitment as a writer. Bello again harvests diverse voices of scholars and critics of the Nobel laureate and concludes that Soyinka (as aptly observed by John Agetua, a Benin-based publisher) believes in ‘an egalitarian society uncompromisingly characterised by equal justice, economic welfare and the right of each individual to achieve maximum fulfilment.’

The author also agrees with this notion when he insists that Agetua’s views must have been the guiding principle of Soyinka in his literary and social life. However, the author recalls that Soyinka’s refusal to root his vision of society in a specific ideology has since pitched him against advocates of Marxism such as Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Niyi Osundare, among others.

Book review

Title: A Walk through New Testament
Author: Ogunseye Peter
Reviewer: Olubamwo Fagbemi
Publisher: Christ Evergreen Publications

Pagination: 242

Year: 2013

Almost belatedly, the chapters of the New Testament in the Holy Bible have been summarised in a new book, A Comprehensive Index of the New Testament. Ogunseye O. Peter’s 242-page book captures the essence of the teachings of Jesus Christ as narrated to corroborative effect.

From Mathew to Revelation, the treatment is the same: paying attention to details and sequence. If the writer cannot claim originality, he can at least claim impressive improvisation in re-telling the familiar exploits of Christ, his disciples and witnesses to the era of miracles and everlasting significance.

His direct style and grasp of subject matter appear to simplify paragraphs and verses without sacrificing the age-old purpose of narrative and plot associated with the New Testament.

The writer’s handy volume offers compelling evidence of Christian faith and instruction for more casual readers. For students of religion, it presents a test of knowledge of Biblical figures and relationships with God besides underlining the significance of quotes and context.

Going through the book, the keen reader may however experience some thirst for more information, in common with abridged editions of great books. That, to the writer’s credit, implies guaranteed interest. Once begun, the book sustains the reader’s interest to the point of complete consumption.

In common with first prints of otherwise unique literature, the writer’s aim of instruction would be better served by a more effective use of capitalisation, punctuation and appropriate tenses.

Instead of the noticeable halt in between, sentences should dovetail more for quicker assimilation. Terms could be broken down for ease of reference and understanding, especially for those outside the realm of scholarship and faith; those basically reading for enlightenment and information.

Beyond hitches, Ogunseye’s pattern of summarisation and centralisation of text seem quite capable of projecting the events of a memorable epoch onto willing hearts.