The Nation Newspaper

Category: Arts & Life

  • Peep into making of Soyinka’s Ake film

    Peep into making of Soyinka’s Ake film

    Four months to the celebration of Nobel laureate Prof Wole Soyinka’s 80th birthday, the production crew of his Ake film has started rolling out previews.

    As the making of Ake plods on, the production crew has finally begun to give out portions of completed parts of the film in series of “sneak previews”. The previews are included as proportional foretastes so that the flavour of the whole film can be appreciated in advance.

    Filming had been concentrated on the HM’s home and household. Soyinka’s father was the headmaster of the Christian Mission School in Ake, Abeokuta at the period of the writer’s childhood, sometime between 1934 (when he was born) and 1945 when he was admitted into high school and the story wound to a close. Later Mr. S. A. Soyinka became schools’ supervisor in the entire Egba and Ijebu Districts.

    For production convenience, continuous work has been concentrated on the household in which Soyinka grew up, as narrated in the autobiography. The parents (Wild Christian the mother and Essay, the father) are at the heart of daily bustles of activities: the domestic life, the relationship with the school which shares the same expansive compound with the home.

    In the scenes featured in the preview, Wole gets into many troubles. First, is because he is fond of stealing hand-scoops of lactogen baby milk belonging to his younger sister Folashade. The wild Christian, who is increasingly concerned about Wole’s deliberate seclusion from the rest of the family and his indulgence in private “study” sets forth the plan  to bring Wole “back into the household” by depriving him of the privilege of hanging out alone in his father’s bedroom.

    “The family life which Soyinka writes about will be very familiar to a whole lot of us,” Dapo Adeniyi who heads the production says. “The pathway to the adult Soyinka is also very visible,” he declared.

    Ake in production has surmounted many challenges, principally because of the costs of actualising the movie.

    First of all, as Adeniyi commented, “we are not about to bring out yet another hotch-potch of a screen work and so the production values have to be high. But now that people can begin to see aspects of the work, it is about time we let them judge.

    “Moreover, we are bringing innovations that are not very usual in contemporary Nigerian movie productions. Because of the periodicity of the production, we delve into set extension and special effects in order to bring some gravitas into the work.

    “Wole travels to Ibadan to write the entrance examination into Government College, from Lafenwa Station, Abeokuta on a train. The coal train is no longer in existence. Actually, their remnants are in a “graveyard” within the compound of the Nigerian Railway Corporation in Lagos. So what do we do? We rebuilt the train using CGI. This has gulped a lot of time, beginning with test shootings, story-boarding and so on. All of those represent a very expensive route to making a film. Even so, many tall promises of support for the production at the outset have brought less than desired. Only a few made good their promise and they run far short of what was budgeted. The production company has had to raise facilities to the limit of its abilities. Because the work is still in progress, we have not given up optimism that more support is on the way,” he says.

    Asked to mention those who have so far supported the project, the producer says, it is much better to wait until the film is fully released when the permission of the supporters would have been obtained.

    A major film equipment leasing company has generously supported the production with most of the production hardware. The Nigerian Railway Corporation headquarters also gave permission to use all of its facilities from Lagos down to Jebba. And there are a handful of others who gave their support to the project.

    “The truth of the matter is that Ake is big and too important. It must get the best treatment no matter what. We have had to shoot and reshoot. Some scenes are still going to be reshot. Some due to audio problems. The environs in which the majority of the film is being shot seems quiet, but there can be eruptive noise especially from the praying muezzin and motorbikes hooting their horns. Of course they bear very heavily on the production.

    He continued: “The parsonage compound is a mixture of disparate environments located in Abeokuta, Ibadan and Lagos merged as one in film space. One of the delightsome aspects of the production is the children cast. We braced up for challenges here because we thought there could be problems of lack of adequate readiness but it turned out to be one of the strongest areas of the production. Some of the children were so familiar with their lines that they sometimes prompted some adults! Production camp time were very happy hours and they could not wait to resume work. Except for one minor case, I cant recall anyone falling ill.

    “There are three Woles with the gradation of time. Ake is as exciting as it is challenging to make into a film”

    Work on the film is far from over. Many actors and actresses are waiting to get on the set. Some are also participating in an early edition of the Behind the Scenes which incorporates interviews and is set to be released soon. They include popular names such as Madam Taiwo Ajai-Lycett, Yinka Davies,Hafiz Oyetoro, Production consultant, Tunji Bamishigbin and DOP Lukman Rahman.

  • ‘I think of myself as a product of three nations’

    ‘I think of myself as a product of three nations’

    Born in Barbados to a Nigerian father and a West Indies mother, Yewande Omotoso’s voyage into the world of writing comes from a tradition of scholarship and curiosity. Her debut novel, Bomboy, which tells a gripping story of a lonely young man faced with an identity crisis, is one of the two books that made the final in this year’s Etisalat Prize for Literature. With Evelyn Osagie, she shares her passion, book experience and more.

    Growing up

    I was born in Barbados, Bridgetown in 1980. Within a year my family moved back to Nigeria and we lived in Ile-Ife until 1992 when we moved to CapeTown, South Africa. I’ve lived in South Africa ever since.

    Growing up was mostly fun, challenging, creative. I grew up with two intellectually curious parents and, both my parents were big readers. And they raised their children and encouraged that same sense of curiosity. Also I was in a household of artists, my father as a writer, my mother was really talented at drawing. I remember them putting a value on art lessons, music lessons and activities like that.

    I had access to a lot of books and I was encouraged to read and write my own stories. My parents would read to us in bed.

    All these things make for a good childhood but also for exposure to the world of “making things”. We were encouraged to explore our imaginations, when it comes to writing or making any kind of art that seems paramount. So I consider that lucky.

    I don’t really remember when i started writing. I guess at an appropriate age. In terms of writing stories, I think once I could write, making up stories came next and drawing pictures to go with the stories.

    Books I enjoy reading

    I’m very interested in reading as widely as possible. For this reason I read almost anything. The only things I struggle to read are books where I feel the writer is insulting my intelligence, spoon-feeding me, or serving up some kind of cliché, formula or stereotype.

     

    My favourite book/author

     

    I don’t have any favourite book or author. I have several and find this a difficult question to answer.Authors that inspire me are too many to list. I struggle with this question because almost every book I’ve ever read has inspired me and my pen. It feels unfair to single anyspecific one out. I am deeply inspired by stories and in fact art forms of all kinds. Dance. Music. I find just observing life and people in general incredibly inspiring.

     

    My thought on Nigeria

     

    Nigeria is complex. I think many things about Nigeria including what right I have to speak publicly about what I think about Nigeria. Along with the thoughts are a range of emotions from anger and disgust, to hope and nostalgia as well as a sense of responsibility. While there might be isolated things that need celebrating in the country (there are good people doing good work) it seems that what there is to resuscitate far overwhelms that. This is not the timeto celebrate. Perhaps the energies and considerable resources the leaders put into this 100 years celebration would have been better placed in addressing the reality: the absolute corruption, debased laws that violate human rights, vast inequality, religious and gender intolerance and poverty to name a few much more pressing matters.

    I am very privileged, I am middle-class and I live in South Africa so it might be easy to wax lyrical from a distance. That said the same concerns I have about the state of Nigeria, I also have about several other African countries. I’m not the most politically-informed person but I do read and I try and understand what is going on around me. Considering the quality of life the average Nigerian has to lead, I would say there has been much more failure than success. And that is not to be celebrated, it is to be acknowledged, addressed and worked upon.

    However, there are many things I love about Nigeria, one being iyan and egusi, Another being hearing Yoruba, a language I find very beautiful and speak only a little of, spoken around me.

    This is where I am from! I need very little excuse to come to Nigeria. Regardless of how many years I’ve lived in South Africa I think of myself as a product of three nations: Barbados, Nigeria and South Africa. Nigeria forms a very strong part of my sense of myself, my identity.

     

    The Etisalat prize experience

     

    It was wonderful to be shortlisted .I didn’t win, but the award is an exciting one. Congratulations to NoViolet Bulawayo on winning and Karen Jennings, the other shortlisted author. I think these are exciting times for readers and writers alike.

    On my book

    My book, Bomboy, is about a young man growing up and grappling with feelings of deep estrangement from society. He is black, adopted by white parents, but more importantly with no real sense of where he comes from. This sense of missing something festers through his childhood and early manhood.

     

    My inspiration

     

    I wanted to tell a story about someone on the very edge of society, someone with no real social abilities, but someone also desperate to belong to something. The book is first and foremost character driven versus theme. But in telling the story ‘Leke’ the protagonist, I suppose deals with what the average person might deal with, just much more intensely: love, loneliness, identity, belonging, living in a foreign land, what to do when you find yourself a stranger at home.

     

    Choice of subject matter and title

     

    As a writer I believe very strongly in my characters. I write because of the characters that visit me not because of themes or big ideas to tell the story of an entire nation. I know there are great writers who do that but for me it never rings authentic. I enter stories through people. So I didn’t choose the subject matter. I fell in love with a character I dreamt up and I tasked myself with tracking and telling his story. In the process his life may well reveal certain things about South African realities, and if so, good, that’s like a bonus.

    On my choice of title, you canvas a number of titles and pick what seems the best. In this case my publisher agreed that Bomboy was a title that would spark interest.

     

    Timeline in writing my book

     

    I thought a lot about it. I wrote the final drafts of the book while completing my Masters in Creative Writing at University of Cape Town (UCT). Two to three years is a good estimate. I had many drafts before arriving at this book.

    Finishing the manuscript I submitted it to UCT for marking. Simultaneously I started searching for a publisher. A friend suggested Modjaji Books. I visited their website and sent a query along with a précis of the book. I received a response saying they were interested and within a few months I received an acceptance letter. I was elated, it’s been a big dream to write books and have other people read them.

    I have completed another manuscript. It’s set mainly in Cape Town and it’s about two octogenarians who hate each other.

     

    My melancholic storylines

     

    You need to ask my therapist! On a more serious note, I don’t know, I don’thave an answer. I don’t see myself as an unhappy person but I do have a sensitivity (a bent) towards what makes life and situations melancholic.I’m interested in people’s psychologies, their situations, yes, but more so the workings of their minds as they go through those situations. And the mind is incredibly complex. I’m interested in exploring more than just”good feelings”. Without having a ready reason, I just find this compelling material to work with.

  • Dead Roses: Story of a rape victim

    Dead Roses: Story of a rape victim

    To mark this year’s Women’s Day, Nigerian women threw their weight behind calls for a more stringent law against rape. Multi-talented Oluwakemi Omowaire’s novel, Dead Roses, gives a literary spice to the campaign against the inhuman act, writes Evelyn Osagie.

    What Saturday morning, the weather was right for enjoying a book. And Oluwakemi Omowaire’s novel, Dead Roses, was the pick.

    As I sat with the novel, a cool glass of Hibiscus flower drink in hand and the melodious tunes of the legendary musician, Tracy Chapman in the background, the book brought back memories.

    The first thing that attracted me was its cover design that bore the half-face painting of the author with patches of red on her eyebrow, lips and ear. It was no smiling Kemi, as she is fondly called, that stared at one, forcing one to pause and reflect on the significance of the picture and the colour red – love or rage?

    The novel tells a story of love that turns sour on a day when “love” is to be worshipped and celebrated. Ironically, the 13-year-old protagonist was gang-raped and died ultimately on Valentine’s Day. With the cases of rape on the rise, Kemi’s novel is a spicy addition to the many voices of reason.

    As I sat reading the book, as is usual with such pre-occupations, it drew various emotions and memories from within.

    I remember seeing the heated emotions her novel raised during its unveiling at the reading of the Lagos State Chapter of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA).

    Interestingly, Kemi chose to unveil her book few days to this year’s Valentine’s Day.

    I remember her being put on the hot seat; and her work rousing diverse issues that day, which ranged from the dearth of the art of letter writing; state of literature in the electronic age to the significance of women telling their own stories and more. But among the issues raised, the violent effect of “rape” on its victims and the need for drastic measures to curb the menace took centre stage.

    I remember the audience asking Kemi why her choice of concern, and she, answering so passionately, said: “The book is a tool to raise awareness and dialogue about rape, especially in our part of the world where it is rarely reported due to the social stigma cast on girls or women who have been raped. I chose the subject because it is something that I feel strongly moved about.”

    Kemi, the “advocate” raised alarm over the rise in the trend, saying: “Every now and then there are cases of forcible rapes. Cases of rape and other sexual assaults are increasingly on the rise and are becoming more common throughout the world. Almost every girl child has been close to being raped or assaulted at one time or the other either by a trusted fellow, cousin, close friends, even uncles or that elder brother in the neighbourhood.”

    When asked if she had been a victim of rape, Kemi smiled and said: “No”, that she was inspired by the story of a rape victim she heard while in secondary school.

    She recounted: “The girl was tricked to a stream on Valentine’s Day, raped and didn’t make it alive. Although I never knew her because she wasn’t in my school, I heard she was a good girl. I felt deeply hurt to hear that the life of a young girl was cut short because of someone’s sexual desires that couldn’t be tamed. I thought about her all through the night: imagining how happy she had been the night before and then, in the morning, her face wet with tears because of the pains she must have gone through while being raped. I didn’t want to forget her like that.

    “I decided to write about it to warn others that rape is not often all about carefulness. Some people have become victims regardless of their sexual orientation, age, gender, race, religion, or education. Many fall victim not because they are not cautious, but because their ‘predator(s)’ had it so well-planned that the victims are caught helpless in the face of their viciousness. I didn’t exactly know who the girl was but I decided to create a character named “Adebola” and built family, friends and events around her.”

    It was interesting how my mind would often wander from the book to the author and stories of rape one had heard. As I read on, I discovered another preoccupation worth noting.

    Aside rape, the book touches on the effect of broken marriage on the child. We see a young girl, who is trying hard to deal with the effect of her parents’ broken marriage and how far that singular event shaped her world for the worse.

    Adebola’s dilemma and state of mind at the divorce of her parents, took me a decade back into my childhood. The character reminded me of Ileya, not real name, who had a Jamaican mother and Nigerian father.

    In those days, she was a beauty to behold. She was every guy’s dream and every girl’s nightmare. I remember my elder ones and their friends talk about the pureness of her beauty and the many line of poetry they recited secretly in her honour. I remember older girls winched at the sight of her beauty while secretly wishing they had half of it.

    All went well for Ileya until her parents’ divorce, which was due to the death of one of their children. From then on, she moved from being the “village beauty” to victim of all sorts of abuse. Although, she was years older than I was, I remember feeling the pains in her teary eyes that had become a usual feature of her sad frame. I remember silently being angry with her parents for choosing divorce as last resort, while wondering whether the father, whom she was living with then, didn’t notice the changes in his daughter.

    That was the effect Kemi’s novel had on me that morning. Her concerns blended well with the lines,”What you gonna do, go and give a boy a gun…now there nowhere to run to…”from Chapman’s song Bang Bang Bang.

    Kemi’s work, not only highlights the consequence of divorce and rape, but, touches on the need for sex education and security tips at home and at school. Her imaginative attempt shows the discipline of a fine-artist that she is. Like her art exhibitions, she has again added another creative piece to the cause of humanity.

    Her background in psychology and biological science also comes into play in the story.

    With her second novel entitled: When Everything Good Comes on the way, one cannot wait to see which cause Kemi would be upholding this time.

  • Arrow of God @ 50 celebrations kick off in Ibadan

    All is set for the 50th celebration of the late Prof Chinua Achebe epic novel, Arrow of God, by the Nigerian literati.

    According to the chairman of the National Organising Committee, Dr Wale Okediran, the Nigerian segment of the global celebrations, tagged: Arrow of God@ 50, will take off at the University of Ibadan (UI), Oyo State on Friday with a symposium.

    The book’s 50th anniversary, which began in January by the Indian literati, is being commemorated across 70 countries.

    He said the book would also be celebrated in Otuoke (Bayelsa State), Lagos, Awka (Anambra), Ogidi (Anambra), Sokoto, Port Harcourt (Rivers) and Abuja between March 29 and April 28.  The literary festivities will include symposia, dramatic performances (including a stage adaptation of Arrow of God) and literary competition among secondary school pupils among others, at each of the eight centres.

    With the theme: Literature, Leadership and National Unity, the Ibadan’s version will begin with a symposium with Political Scientist and expert on Nigeria from the United States, Prof Darren Kew as keynote speaker along with other paper presenters.

    The event, which starts by 10am at the Department of Faculty of Arts Lecture Theatre, will bechairedby the Vice Chancellor, Prof Isaac Adewole; while the Chief Executive Officer, HEB Publishers, Ibadan, Mr Ayo Ojeniyi is expected to be the special guest of honour.

    The symposium will be followed by the finals of the literary quiz on Arrow of God among pupils from 20 secondary school acrossthestate.

    There will also be in the eveninga stage adaptation of the novel, entitled: When the Arrow Rebounds by Emeka Nwabueze to be produced by the Department of Theatre Arts.

    The day’s event will be rounded-up with a cocktail party at the Department of Theatre Arts’ Courtyard.

  • Boost for breast cancer campaign

    Boost for breast cancer campaign

    To raise fund for breast cancer patients, a group of professional female photographers led by Yetunde Ayeni-Babaeko has held a photo exhibition at Goethe-Institut in Lagos.

    Guests wore long faces on seeing the half nude pictures of breast cancer survivors, who had one of their breasts cut off. The photographers captured and recorded the aftermath of surviving cancer by these women in order to tell other women living with breast cancer that they too can survive.

    The photographers include Yemi Disu, Koleosho Kikelomo, Damilola Kuku, Bisola Ijalana and Jokotade Oshomowo, who spoke through Ayeni-Babaeko at the event said that they are also using the exhibition to encourage women to go for test: “Because early dictation is one of the ways of fighting breast cancer. The theme of the exhibition is;Battle Scars. “Photographing these women have been a great experience for us, we are using this exhibition to bring you closer to the subject…I believe these pictures have touched each one of you present here today and is to inspire you to help these women,” they said.

    “All the sales of these works will be taken to breast cancer foundation where the money will be distributed to the patients in order to enable them buy their drugs,” Ayeni-Babaeko stated. To them, stigma is one of the challenges those living with cancer suffer on a daily basis and the fear of death. Breast cancer has claimed the lives of many women because of ignorance.

    However, the nude images were presented in a stylish way, preventing the audience from seeing the faces of the subjects. One of the photographs had a mirror on the face of subject; reflecting the face of anyone who gets closer to it. Putting the exhibition together costs the photographer two years of hard work just to make the project a reality.

    Sebeccly Cancer Care and Support Centre, a charity foundation, one of the supporters of the exhibition said that Nigeria lacks the adequate equipments needed in battling cancer. The foundation believes that the exhibition will inspire the public to join them in fighting breast cancer. In line with target 5 of the World Cancer

    Declaration, which is aimed at reducing stigma and dispelling the damaging myths and misconceptions, the foundation shared belief in raising awareness of cancer survivor and reducing stigma associated with cancer in Nigeria.

    “With persistence high death rates caused by breast cancer, is it important to create awareness, advocate for better cancer care, raise funds to support cancer treatment and strengthen cancer care institutions.”

    The fund raised at the exhibition will be donated to 1K4 Cancer project to support cancer patient on Sebeccly waiting list. The exhibition is also supported by The Perspective, Camara Studios and Goethe-Institut. The exhibition is still running and will close on March 29.

  • Schools get multi-purpose centre

    Schools get multi-purpose centre

    The Bolanle Marinho Foundation, a non-governmental organisation, has donated a multi-million naira multi-purpose children activity centre to Hope and Ireti Primary Schools, Ikoyi, Lagos.

    The centre, commissioned by Lagos State Governor, Mr Babatunde Fashola, will be replicated in at least 10 schools in the state, according to a Trustee and Executive Director of the Foundation, Mr Akinola Marinho.

    The multipurpose centre comprises an Art workshop, Computer room and Music room. The aim, according to him, is to encourage children from lesser privileged backgrounds to experience and appreciate other educational and artistic means of expression that students in the expensive private schools of Ikoyi and elsewhere in Nigeria and the world take for granted.

    The project was designed by internationally trained Architect Oludolapo James and constructed to exact standards by Projectscope Limited, a foremost indigenous construction company.

    The site is a single-storey building on a raft foundation and is approximately 130 square metres in area and finished in brilliant white.

    The building has aluminium windows and an aluminium roof finish. The project is also served by a small generator house which is of a similar construction and is approximately 6 square metres in size.

    Both buildings are set within a landscaped area which is paved with concrete interlocking tiles which serve as paths for access between both buildings as well as the adjacent school compound. The project is demarcated with a fence.

    Commending the Foundation, Governor Fashola, represented by Commissioner for Education, Mrs Olayinka Oladunjoye said the gesture show that quiet and targeted philanthropy is still active and well in Nigeria as exemplified by the choice of public schools as the beneficiaries of the Foundation.

    On the choice of beneficiary and rationale for the donation, The Foundation Chairman, Chief Lanre Emmanuel urged the beneficiaries to ensure careful use of the facilities built for them. She thanked Mrs Gbolahan Dawodu, Chairperson of the Lagos State Education Board and Mr Taiwo Lukmon, Education Secretary of the Eti Osa LCDA for their strong and unwavering support.

    Headmistress of Hope Primary School, Mrs. Abibu Shakirat Modupe described the foundation as very unique, saying its activities will impact positively on the pupils, who take pleasure in the new-found conducive environment for learning. The pupils, staff and parents, according to him, will be eternally grateful to the Foundation for their kind and generous gesture. He particularly thanked the late Adepeju Marinho who started the project in memory of her late son but was unable to see the project to completion as she died suddenly 18 months ago.

    The Foundation was set up by the family of Bolanle Marinho, a resident of Ikoyi and an indigene of Lagos State in 2011 shortly after his sudden death in 2010. The aims of the Foundation are to establish Multi-purpose Children Activity Centres for the purposes of helping and educating children through activities to develop their physical, mental and social interactive skills and capabilities

  • Ezekwesili, Fayemi’s wife for women conference

    Women’s role at nation-building will be in focus at this year’s Daughters of Destiny (DOD) Interdenominational Fellowship’s women conference.

    Tagged: The Woman as a Change Agent, the conference is a capacity building programme to charge and empower women from all walks of life as positive political, social, economic and spiritual change agents within their sphere of influence.

    According to the organisers, it is targeted at women of all age-groups and social status because women are the gatekeepers of the home and the nation. “There is a God given ability in every woman to travail and bring forth…. Women have wombs naturally and carry visions and birth destinies,” according to them.

    It will feature renowned women speakers such as wife of the Ekiti State governor and the Founder of the Ekiti State Development Fund, , Erelu Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi; Dr Oby Ezekwesili of Africa Economic Initiative Open Society Foundation and Pastor Nkoyo Rapu of Women of Change – This Present House.

    Others include Founder/President of Daughters of Destiny Fellowship, Pastor Busola Jegede; Prophetess Arthurine Wilkinson from Christ Worship Centre – Illinois USA and Dr Lucy Nganga Mbugua, Women of Grace – Kenya.

    The event, the second in the series, holds on Friday and Saturday at the Orchid Hotels, Lekki, Lagos. The event will also feature an unveiling of Succour For Women Care Foundation (SWCF), which is a new initiative at Daughters of Destiny geared towards providing medical outreaches and economic empowerment to the underprivileged women in Nigeria in particular and Africa in general.

    “We invite to this conference, women who have purpose and desire to add value to their own lives and the nation. DOD is charged with the vision to raise women both single and married, as intercessors for the family and nations. At DOD women are inspired, encouraged and taught how to maximise their potential by achieving purpose and backing up their vision with active and gainful ventures. Indeed, we have only one choice to be change agents otherwise we will be like salt that has lost its flavour according to Matthew 5:13. Certainly we do not want to lose our relevance and significance. God is waiting on us to fix the anomalies we see on our path everyday,” the organisers said.

  • ‘We spent N10million a month on diesel’

    ‘We spent N10million a month on diesel’

    Seventy-two years on, Airport Hotel Ikeja, Lagos, which started with a five-room facility, has grown into a hotel of first choice for many. Last month, the hotel embarked on the renovation and upgrading of its facilities to meet the growing needs of its clients, Assistant Editor (Arts) OZOLUA UHAKHEME reports.

    The Managing Director Airport Hotel, Ikeja Lagos, Mr. James Kayode Adenigba has decried the increasing costs of providing comfortable and affordable services in the nation’s hospitality industry citing huge bills from purchase of diesel for power generation as one of the biggest challenges. He said apart from other overhead costs, the provision of power is enough to make many hotel operators go bankrupt. He described the power problem as one calamity that deserves top priority attention by the authorities.

    Adenigba who spoke with tourism journalists in Lagos during facility tour at the weekend disclosed that Airport Hotel sometime spent about 10million naira in a month on provision of light to power its facilities. This, he said, forced the hotel last year to acquire a 33kv PHCN transformer to boost its power supply apart from the four generators bought by the hotel. “It is unfortunate that in Nigeria, issues such as electricity and water supply are serious factors hindering effective service delivery in the industry. Notwithstanding these challenges, our charges and rates are pocket friendly,” he said.

    The Managing Director described the on-going renovation in the hotel as a deliberate effort at repositioning the hotel to meet the needs of today’s clients noting that as the oldest hotel in the country, its infrastructures needed to be upgraded constantly. He noted that though the hotel is old, but that it is still very relevant in the industry. “It has not been an easy challenge in terms of infrastructure upgrading as the oldest hotel in the country. And we have been trying to update the facilities on ground in order for us to compete with newer hotels. Also, this will ensure turnaround of the entire facilities. Since we came on board the management has renovated the Adebayo Extension that has 60 rooms as well as the main Adebayo Block. The Independence Block is 50 percent completed,” he added.

    On growing green to preserve the environment, Mr. Adenigba said the hotel is looking forward to partnering some investors on the green environment project.

    The hotel renovation is however not limited to rooms and existing infrastructures as a new Gym/Fitness Centre equipped with modern facilities and backed by a medical clinic was recently opened in the hotel for customers. The centre is managed by a seasoned sports and fitness instructor, Mr., Daniel Ukpe.

    The hotel’s Controller Sales and Marketing Mr. Ayodele Adebayo stressed that the decision to undertake the renovation of the hotel is a function of market research aimed at improving service delivery. He noted that at the completion of the renovation, ‘we should be able to shore up our revenue base while operating at maximum level. For now, we are operating for the medium segment, but after completion, we will catch the top segment. Again, the location advantage of the hotel is there.’

    Mr. Adebayo identified age advantage, experience and ability of the hotel to carve niche for itself in African dishes as parts of the hotel’s unique selling points. “Also very unique to us is the provision of security of life and property,” he added.

  • Women rising in literature, music holds in Lagos

    Fresh women voices in the world of literature and music were celebrated last weekend in Lagos.

    Former Arts Editor of NEXT, Molara Wood, Indigo, was guest at the literary event, tagged: TheLetters and The Lady.

    Excerpts from her debut collection of short stories, Indigo along with a variety of prose, poetry, spoken word and song lyrics penned, inspired by, or written for women were read last Saturday at the Wheatbaker, Ikoyi.

    The 2014 Etisalat Prize for Literature winning and shortlisted books – NoViolet Bulawayo’s We Need New Names and Yewande Omotoso’s Bom Boy were also read and shared.

    In the same vein, fresh women voices in music were also celebrated at an evening of concert last Sunday at the Federal Palace Hotel, Victoria Island. , It featured a host of talented local and international female musicians that included: WAJE, Aramide, Diwari, Fatima, Dupe Kachi, and Lala with Pilani Bubu (South Africa) and Sian Thomas (United Kingdom).

    The performances were flavoured with reading interludes and special guest appearances. Lala Akindoju and Smooth 98.1FM’s Aderonke were the night hostesses.

  • World Theatre Day holds March 26

    This year’s World Theatre Day (WTD) will hold between 26th and 27th of March at Mini Garden of Queen Amina, and Cinema Hall 1, National Theatre , Iganmu, Lagos. The 2-day event will witness the investiture of Mrs Toki Mabogunje as distinguished personality of WTD.The theme of this year’s celebration is The present, Our future: The Renaissance of Nigeria Theatre in the 21st century. The event will feature advocacy walk from NTA compound to the National Theatre in collaboration with sister association, nurturing and tagging ceremony of the 1st entertainment tree planted by NANTAP Lagos chapter and awards for patrons of the art, culture ambassador, awardees and certified thespians and the launch of endowment funds for NANTAP community theatre project. Guest speakers are, Mr Greg Odutayo and Mrs Toki Mabogunje.