The Nation Newspaper

Category: Arts & Life

  • First annual Lagos photo show holds

    First annual Lagos photo show holds

    Stars and celebrities such as Seun Kuti, Tiwa Savage, Basketmouth, Kelechi Amadi Obi and Temi Dollface trooped out in support of contemporary photography for the first annual LagosPhoto Fundraiser held at the Eko Hotels & Suites, Lagos recently. The annual event that celebrates the promotion of photography in Lagos and runs in conjunction with the LagosPhoto Festival,features exhibitions, workshops and large scale outdoor prints displayed throughout the city with the aim of reclaiming public spaces and engaging the general public with multifaceted stories of Africa.

    The LagosPhoto Fundraiser Launched in 2010, LagosPhoto is the first and only international arts festival of photography in Nigeria.aims to benefit the newly created LagosPhoto Foundation, which will serve as an extension of the annual festival and create a year-around permanent home of contemporary photography in Lagos.

    The evening, which began with intimate cocktails, saw guests inspecting the photographs that would be auctioned. With inspirational speeches from Kelechi Amadi Obi, leading Nigerian fashion photographer,Zainab Ashadu, Head of Public Relations for LagosPhoto, Ndidi Okpaluba, Director, PMO and Operational Strategy, Etisalat and Mr. Femi Lijadu, the audience was taken through a journey of the photographic community in Nigeria in an effort to highlight the importance of the art medium as a driving social force. Musical performances by Pauline Udiagha, Sésu, Temi Dollface, and a comedy sketch by Basketmouth set the mood for the lively festivities, and a three course meal added to the simplistic grandeur of the evening.

    As the intimate candle-lit dinner was underway and a musical performance by Sésu was drawing to an end, the distinguished guests of the LagosPhoto Fundraiser buzzed in anticipation for the Live Auction that was about to take place. As prices for art photography have soared globally in recent years and a new emphasis on photography in contemporary art has placed the medium in a prime spotlight, the art collectors, patrons, and tastemakers who attended the black-tie LagosPhoto Fundraiser knew well that such an auction could make Nigerian art history.

    The highlight of the evening culminated in a record-breaking live auction led by Roger Woodbridge, MD of Mainstreet Bank, of photographs that were included in the previous two editions of LagosPhoto. Photographers included leading local and international photographers such as Peter DiCampo, Benedicte Kurzen, Caline Chagoury, Hans Wilschut, Kadir van Lohuizen, Kelechi Amadi Obi, Medina Dugger, Judith Quax, Chantal Heijnen, Nana Kofi-Acquah, Alafuro Sikoki, Héctor Mediavilla, and Alfredo D’Amato. As the paddles were continually raised and friendly competition for the winning bids stirred in the air, auction prices set record highs when Caline Chagoury’s Delaissé (Left Behind) sold for N5,000,000 and Hans Wilschut’s The Warp sold for N2,800,000. The live auction garnered a total of N13,675,000, allowing the LagosPhoto Foundation to implement exciting new photographic projects in Lagos. The record breaking sales at the LagosPhoto Fundraiser cement photography’s prime place in the contemporary art scene in Lagos and set a precedent for the future of Nigerian contemporary art.

    LagosPhoto opens on 13 October 2012 at the Eko Hotel & Suites, with nine simultaneous satellite exhibition venues including the African Artists’ Foundation, A White Space, Nimbus Gallery, Omenka Gallery, Muri Okunola Park, University of Lagos, and the Falomo Roundabout.

  • An intellectual look at the Holy Book

    There are so many controversial issues in Christianity that many authors and scholars all together avoid. Their argument is it is better to let the sleeping dog lie than raise unnecessary dusts. This is where Apostle Israel Akinadewo stands out. He is bold and fearless to delve into any matter in the Bible, even if controversial.

    The book, Sanctuary message, attests to this. In it, Akinadewo, a Cherubim and Seraphim church leader, gives us rare insights into scriptural issues. The book is a collection of his weekly columns in newspapers over a period of one year. He addresses vital issues in the body of Christ such as restitution, living in bondage, Lenten period, Kingdom and the nation of Israel, among others.

    He writes in a simple, engaging way, ensuring readers gain access into the recess of his enlightened mind. He takes principled stand on each of the subject matters, attempting to lead Christians to take positions on fundamental issues. On restitution, for example, he writes “we must endeavour to return more than what we forcefully gained or stole.” This is a very debatable stance among Christians.

    On tithes, he traces the origin of the largely controversial issue, stating that it is an ordinance from God that must be obeyed. He also supports first fruit, sharing his personal experience on receipt of his first salary. He addresses issues like who should receive tithes, how much should be paid and where to deposit tithes.

    The 51-chapter book treats more of Old Testament issues. Over ten of the chapters dwell on the divided Kingdom of Israel and Judah where the author extensively concentrates on why the Kingdom is divided and sundry issues.

    Four of the chapters consider the exploits of the 12 disciples of Christ. Akinadewo looks into their contributions and what they bought differently to the faith and ministry of Christ. His summary is that God can use anyone from any background provided he or she is willing and amenable.

    In all, this compendium is a welcome addition to the world of Christian literary works. In it, readers will learn easily forgettable lessons from the Bible and deepen their knowledge of the faith. The language is simple and breezy.

    The author comes across as a consummate scholar determined to pass on simple, every day lessons. He is intellectual yet spiritual. There are also prayer points after each chapter that readers will find useful. Except for few typographical errors, the book makes an interesting reading. It is highly recommended to Bible students, scholars, seminarians and Christians desirous of deepening their biblical knowledge.

  • Africa unchained

    Africa unchained

    At last, the long-awaited Professor Chinua Achebe’s treatise and personal testimony about the Nigerian civil war of 1967 – 1970 is out. In this review George Ayitteyhighlights the essential ingredients that make the book vintage Achebe

    There was a Country, that is the title.

    The defining experience of Chinua Achebe’s life was the Nigerian civil war, also known as the Biafran War, of 1967–1970.

    The conflict was infamous for its savage impact on the Biafran people, Chinua Achebe’s people, many of whom were starved to death after the Nigerian government blockaded their borders.

    By then, Chinua Achebe was already a world-renowned novelist, with a young family to protect.

    He took the Biafran side in the conflict and served his government as a roving cultural ambassador, from which vantage he absorbed the war’s full horror.

    Immediately after, Achebe took refuge in an academic post in the United States, and for more than forty years he has maintained a considered silence on the events of those terrible years, addressing them only obliquely through his poetry. Now, decades in the making, comes a towering reckoning with one of modern Africa’s most fateful events, from a writer whose words and courage have left an enduring stamp on world literature.

    Achebe masterfully relates his experience, both as he lived it and how he has come to understand it.

    He begins his story with Nigeria’s birth pangs and the story of his own upbringing as a man and as a writer so that we might come to understand the country’s promise, which turned to horror when the hot winds of hatred began to stir.

    To read There Was a Country is to be powerfully reminded that artists have a particular obligation, especially during a time of war.

    All writers, Achebe argues, should be committed writers—they should speak for their history, their beliefs, and their people.

    Marrying history and memoir, poetry and prose, There Was a Country is a distillation of vivid firsthand observation and 40 years of research and reflection. Wise, humane, and authoritative, it will stand as definitive and reinforce Achebe’s place as one of the most vital literary and moral voices of our age.

     

  • Culture as stamp of identity

    Culture as stamp of identity

    Recently, African culture eggheads met in Ethiopia at the instance of the African Union (AU) to remind Africans both home and abroad that culture is necessary for human and physical developments. Edozie Udeze writes on the imperativeness of this timely intervention

    Pan-Africanists, African scholars and culture technocrats have always maintained that African peoples wherever they are should not discard their norms and traditional values. All those positive cultural elements that bind the people together and give them leverage over other continents of the world should be kept and projected in order to make the continent of Africa and it crop of leaders excel and perform better.

    These and more were the issues raised in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, recently when a crop of African culture eggheads and technocrats met to discuss ways to use peoples’ cultural values and heritage to turn the continent towards meaningful development and advancement. The conference, termed the 3rd Pan-African Cultural Congress (PACC3), was organised by the African Union (AU) and held in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital.

    The central concern of those at the helm of cultural affairs in Africa is that globalisation should not be allowed to distract the people from those positive issues that have been good for the welfare of the African peoples. “Globalisation ofers great opportunities, but its benefits at present are unevenly shared… And of course, persistent inequalities and struggles over scarce resources are among the key determinants of situation of conflicts, hunger, insecurity and violence which in turn are key factors that hold back human development and efforts to achieve sustainable development,” one of the official sources said.

    Using culture as a predicate, the youths in particular, should be taught the culture of respect, honesty, handwork, diligence, love for their own dressing and traditions, and the need to be proud of what is their own. This was why in his paper titled Cultural Pan-Africanism as pillar for sustainable development in Africa, Professor Tunde Babawale of the Centre For Black and African Arts and Civilisation, (CBAAC) made it abundantly clear that if culture is the totality of the way of life of a people, that same culture must be used by the people to maintain distinct identity and behaviour.

    “This same culture,” as Babawale pointed out, “ought to be dynamic and should give order and meaning to the social, political, economic, aesthetic and religious practices of the people. Culture, therefore, gives people distinct image different from others. In other words, culture manifests in people’s ideals and ideas, beliefs and values, folklore, environment, science and technology and in the forms of their political, social and economic institutions. Equally, it is usually revealed in the aesthetic quality and humanistic dimensions of literature, music, drama, architecture, carvings, paintings and other artistic forms.”

    Babawale’s contention is that since the primary essence of culture shares almost some semblances, there is also a common agreement that culture is a preserve of human beings alone. Therefore, other creatures, though with their peculiar behaviour, are incapable of exuding culture. And if people can learn and share culture from one another, there is the urgent need to discard what is bad and incorporate what is needful to move forward. “Consequently, culture is as important to man as his existence. But for culture and its transfer, the contemporary world would not have been able to connect with its past and would have lost all vital knowledge that remain useful to the basic means of human survival,” he said further.

    The general understanding is that the peoples of Africa should at all times stick to those beliefs and norms that are not opposed to human development in order to make their existence meaningful. The conference re-echoed UNESCO’s submission that no cultural values should be lost, or neglected or discarded. For, according to UNESCO, “culture is a source of identity, innovation and creativity, a set of distinctive spiritual and material, intellectual and emotional features of a society which encompasses complex web of meanings, relationships, values and so on that frame people’s relationship to the world.” Without culture, people have no focus, no bearing and meaning.

    In order to make all these work in a globalised world, Pan-Africanists and those who have chosen to champion the cause of the continent and its diverse peoples have to wake up this spirit of cultural renaissance.

    This is so, because Pan-Africanism is a movement of a group of people that seeks to unify African peoples or peoples living in Africa into a one African community.

    Indeed, the AU charter defines it “as a political and cultural phenomenon which regards Africa, African and African descendants abroad as a unit, and aims at the regeneration and unification of Africa and the promotion of a feeling of solidarity among the people of the African world.” And so for this perspective to take its proper shape, it behoves on these champions of the people to boldly mount the necessary campaigns to free the people from cultural imperialism that has drowned most Africans and made them alien to their beliefs.

    For there to be a sustainable development driven by the people’s cultural values, every African must first of all see his identity as being of the best quality. For culture, development and Pan-Africanism to work harmoniously well to usher in a new Africa, there has to be a synergy of purpose among these elements. Over the years, Pan-African cultural heads of departments and directors in their many international and local conferences have called for leaders to emulate the Asian Tigers in their attitude towards Asian values. UNESCO has always made it clear that no continent or a set of people can develop meaningfully well if they do not resort to and concentrate on what is their own by nature. Asians have come to command the respect and attention of the world simply because they have consistently stuck to the basic elements of their beliefs and norms.

    In a similar conference held in Brazil (20 – 23 August, 2012), and titled Heritage, identity, education and culture: management of historical sites related to the slave trade and slavery in Nigeria, the argument was that no cultural or historical heritage should be allowed to suffer the fate of neglect or abandonment.

    The Brazilian conference held in the historic city of Rio de Janeiro where slave trade had one of its strongest taproots canvassed the view that all the slave route sites in Nigeria have to be preserved for the sake of posterity. Holding brief for the nation and its efforts to keep the sites in place, Babawale had argued that people should be educated more on the whole essences of these sites in the lives of the society. “They are all important in all facets,” he noted.

    Beyond identifying the numerous sites in Nigeria, he directed attention to the efforts of government in preserving those of Badagry and Calabar which, he said, have made the two towns important historical centres. “Yes, Badagry town has a unique history. Apart from being a slave route and port, it was reputed to be the first place where Christianity was preached in Nigeria. The first storey building in Nigeria was also built there in 1845 and still stands on its original site. On the other hand, Calabar is reputed to be Nigeria’s first capital city. It boasts of the first secondary school in Eastern Nigeria; Hope Waddell Training Institution (1895) and had been recognised as an international sea port as far back as the 16th century,” he stated.

    In all, like the myriad of other fora, conferences and workshops held on the place of history, culture and people’s attitude to what is their own, it was generally agreed that renewed efforts have to be put in place to make Africans come to terms with their various historical heritage, traditions and norms. African development must be strong on cultural values.

  • The rise and rise of eBooks

    The rise and rise of eBooks

    A global rise in eBook sales is turning many to take a second look at reading on screens. Joe Agbro Jr., writes

    People have always loved books. Whether academic, historical, fictional, non-fictional, fantasy, horror, comedy, or for leisure, books have always been a marvel. With the advent of the computer, modern man evolved to reading on electronic devices. Electronic books, referred to as eBooks, are a now a global rave. While Nigeria represents a minuscule in these figures, some Nigerian authors and publishers are beginning to take the e-route.

    When Olusegun Adeniyi, spokesperson to former president Umaru Yar’Adua, released his memoir, Politics, Power, and Death, presented at the launch was the hard copy as well as the eBook which was in a CD. And when Eghosa Imasuen released his second novel, Fine Boys, in 2011, it was first released as an eBook. At the moment, with a proliferation of digital tools enhancing reading, eBooks are generating a buzz in the literary circle and Nigerian authors and publishers are embracing the concept..

    AJ Daggar Tolar, Chairman of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Lagos State Chapter, believes it’s not a Nigerian thing. “Don’t get me wrong,” he said. “For Nigerian authors in the Diaspora, the question of eBooks has become an automatic thing because for people who already have standard international publishers, getting a book published automatically gets an eBook.”

    “We’re far away from any eBook readership in Nigeria,” he said, “except we just want to pretend we are part of a global phenomenon. Electricity continues to remain a disaster for all of us in the Nigerian economy.”

    He adds: “Certainly, for a lot of people, eBooks might be another way to overcome the entire crisis of enormous backlog of manuscripts. The publisher would have to ask you to cough out a lot of money which a lot of authors cannot afford. It’s cheap but that market (eBook) is not a Nigerian market.”

    Ironically, many Nigerians find accessing content of local authors of the internet a daunting process. Imasuen thinks this odd and said: “Ask anyone (Nigerian) who has tried to pay for content on Amazon. Hence, when we publish e-books, tragically, we do not aim for the local market, because of a lack of infrastructure.”

    Indeed, the commercial aspect of selling e-books in Nigeria is still a little bit cumbersome. “If your work gets critical acclaim and is seen above the din of voices in the eBook market, you stand to really make money,” Imasuen said. “But for me, looking at my primary audience, Nigerians, we are not ready for the eBook thing yet. Not until we can sell dedicated eBook readers, and streamline our electronic payment systems.”

    According to Ibiso Graham-Douglas, managing director of Paperworth Books, a bookshop and publishing firm, eBooks in Africa is still an “abstract.” Her outfit published tomorrow Died yesterday by Chimeka Garricks, which is on iBooks and on Kindle. She, however, says, “In a lot of cases, you find that the people who can have access to eBooks can also have access to the same books. So, it’s not like it’s breaking new barriers or it is a new frontier. Of course, it is a wonderful opportunity we can leverage for mass education.”

    She believes the cost of reading eBooks is higher compared to paperbacks. “It’s not that you close your eyes and you read eBooks with your mind,” she said. “You still need a device. It is more expensive to read than a normal book. And eBooks are costing almost the same as printed (books). For us in Africa where books are already a cost, you have to do opportunity cost to get it or you generally cannot afford it. It doesn’t make sense to have to buy a device first before you now get an eBook.”

    As far as sales of Tomorrow Died yesterday are concerned, she said, “I’ve sold more print copies than the eBook.”

    Drawing on data provided by 250 publishers, the Publishers Association’s Statistics Yearbook put the value of consumer eBook sales at £92m in 2011, representing a 366% increase from 2010. In the first quarter of this year, according to the Bookseller, physical book sales in the first three months of 2012 were down 11%, or £39m, compared with the same period in 2011.

    Dr. Adinoyi Ojo-Onukaba, a Media Arts lecturer at the University of Abuja, describes eBooks as fantastic and the future of reading. He says; “The sheer number of publications available to readers is unimaginable. It is unfortunate that most of the books published in Africa are not available electronically. African publishers should embrace e-publishing. Through it, they can reach millions of younger gadgets-savvy book buyers and readers.”

    Any device that can display text on a screen may act as an e-book reader, but specialised e-book reader designs optimise portability, readability (especially in bright sun) and battery life. Some popular eBook readers include the Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook, Kobo eReader, Sony Reader, and the Apple iPad. Many e-book readers can connect to the internet, allowing the user a seamless interaction with eBook sellers across the globe. According to a study, sales for all e-book readers worldwide rose to 12.8 million in 2010; 48% of them were Kindle models, followed by Barnes & Noble Nook devices, Pandigital, Hanvon and Sony Readers (about 800,000 units for 2010).

    According to Onukaba, “Libraries as we used to know them are fast disappearing. EBooks are convenient, easier to carry around and come in various forms, such as audio, audio-visual and read only. I have close to 5, 000 books in my iPad and iPhone which I carry around everywhere. These are quality books, the major western canons – including the complete plays and poems of Shakespeare.”

    While not all eBook titles are in all the formats, a survey of the number of contemporary and popular titles available from e-book stores revealed that Amazon.com has the largest collection, over twice as large as that of Barnes and Noble, Sony Reader Store, Apple iBookstore and OverDrive, the public libraries lending system.

    As this technology improves, Onukaba contends the academic community now relies more on electronic means to “access” learning. He also said, “Pastors now conduct services with iPads that are loaded with various versions of the Bible. Imams are learning to do same in mosques. Very soon, the entire Corpus of Ifa will be available electronically and diviners will no longer have to throw cowries on the floor.”

  • The reign of pirates

    The reign of pirates

    The war waged by the anti-piracy forces on Nigeria’s territorial waters seems to be yielding fruit, with the recent breakthrough over an organised syndicate arrested in Ondo State. Tunde Busari reports

    On the land they appear as harmless as they are innocent. Though these young Nigerians control a big pocket, which they exuberantly empty on wine and women of easy virtues at night clubs and joints, they put up unassuming look that portrays them only as fun-lovers.

    However, their lives while on water share a close affinity with that of a shark, a ruthless carnivorous fish which feed, fat on other fishes for its survival in the aquatic world.

    While these groups are not, in the real sense, living in the water, they are making a living on water by hijacking Nigeria-bound vessels loaded with fuel, and killing the crew according to their mood defined by the reaction of their victims to their onslaught.

    They use an EJENAVI vessel to hijack after which they move to a hired vessel named MT GRACE into which they siphon the fuel. The process then proceeds to the transferring of the fuel into the three storage facilities two of which are allegedly owned by a former minister and a traditional ruler.

    This operation is carried out some nautical miles offshore where they are sure of maximum security guaranteed by the state-of-the-art weapons in their arsenal.

    It was gathered that it is from the storage sites that oil marketers load their fuel tankers for onward distribution to filling stations across the country.

    The syndicate operates from an inconspicuous hideout located in the riverine community of Igbokoda in Ondo State where nationals from Benin Republic, Togo, Ghana and Cameroun are trained on the art of hijacking vessels on the high sea.

    The camp uncovered by a combined team of Nigeria Navy, Army, Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and Global West Vessel Specialists Limited (GWVSL) is strategically located in the jungle with a view to shielding the syndicate from suspicion from whichever quarters. This explains why the preponderance of the people of the serene Igbokoda community is oblivious of the existence of the strangers on their land.

    A discreet world

    “That is why locating the hideout posed some challenges which only our determination confronted and broke. The syndicate lived in a world of their own with the camp supplied with all necessary items to make them comfortable,” a source disclosed.

    Among other facilities in the camp, another source said, include a shooting range and martial art ground. Members are also taken through swimming training taking the advantage of the Atlantic Ocean while a weapon manufacturing factory is also cited there. Three flying boats are also available in the camp.

    As an organised gang with specific area of specialisation, the syndicate, it was further learnt, enjoys regular patronage of oil cabals with pronounced influence on the policy makers.

    The cabals engage the services of the syndicate who also exploit their contact in maritime industry to know when to strike. It is alleged that their operations are determined by insider information, revealing movement of vessels carrying fuel into the country.

    “Their informants regularly feed them with information needed to guide their movement. These informants have been responsible for the low success recorded in the past. The syndicate must have got wind of counteractive action plan even before we set out. This is the kind of frustration we have faced in the past but we are progressing now with the breakthrough,” a source also disclosed.

    However, the exploit was not achieved on a platter of gold. It went with some sweat even though the result eventually justified the effort. The syndicate initially proved impregnable with a fierce counter-offensive led by the leader of the syndicate known as Wazobia.

    The hostility was said to have lasted about 35 minutes after which Wazobia capitulated and consequently led his captors to another camp where about 13 members of the syndicate were also rounded up.

    They were pleading for mercy, having realised the futility in further dissipating energy on any prank against the team that had wholly occupied the entire ‘territory’.

    “It was an interesting encounter to put it that way. The leader of the syndicate knew quite well that we were there for a serious business. He knew his time was up but pretended to be what he is not. You know those people will still want to take some risk.

    “By the time we overran him, he became something else. It is a breakthrough that will definitely impact in the activities of these criminals on the high sea where illegal activities that sabotage the nation’s economy take place with impunity and also denting the image of the country in international community,” a source disclosed.

    At the time of the raid, it was learnt that the syndicate was on a standby for another attack on a vessel on the high sea. An operational map recovered from them revealed this.

    Other items recovered in the camp comprise 16 sophisticated weapons, including explosive devices, long range high calibre weapons, 10, 000 ammunition of various types; among other dangerous items. Three flying boats were later recovered at bay. They are now in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    A powerful clique

    The leader of the syndicate was said to have not only confessed about how his syndicate had successfully hijacked about 20 fully loaded vessels in the last 10 months, he also made what a source called a stunning revelation.

    He bluntly mentioned some oil cabals, top government officials, NNPC top shots, top oil marketers, including some traditional rulers as engaging in massive economic sabotage behind the scenes.

    A particular traditional ruler is regularly mentioned as not only a sponsor, his son is also alleged to be the supplier of arms and also directly engaged in the sales of the stolen oil to marketers.

    Three weeks ago the storage facilities of Integrated Oil and Gas Ltd. located in Apapa, Lagos, and owned by a former minister Emmanuel Iheanacho had been identified and locked by the security agents after some of staff were arrested. However, the former minister was released a few days after, while security agents are currently mounting surveillance on the others.

    The prime suspect, according to a source, added that his syndicate had killed about 24 innocent persons including three foreigners and security operatives. He also stated that the last operation in which he hijacked a vessel occurred in August when he his gang killed a foreigner on board and also carted away undisclosed amount of foreign currencies.

    Before filing the report, the suspects were still undergoing series of interrogation details of which are being kept secret. There, however, is an indication that they would help the security operatives to dig more on the right measure to finally combat security risk they have constituted on Nigeria’s territorial waters.

    But the security agents are managing the information with utmost caution not to jeopardise their plan

    “This is not a regular crime and I think it is appropriate not to be carried away with this breakthrough. This is because of the fact that we have a long way to go. When you fight crime, experience has shown that, crime also has a way of fighting back. But I can say that with this arrest we are on course,” the source said.

    The strong determination so far shown by the security agencies have unsettled the alleged sponsors of the syndicate. Sources revealed a high-level pressure already being mounted on them to manipulate investigation and safe the faces of the alleged sponsors.

    To achieve this as it was allegedly in practice in the past, N1 billion is said to have been dangled at the security agencies, but the offer that has been rejected.

    Given this reason, the authorities have since moved the suspects to one of the Brigade Commands in the North to keep them away from the lobbyists. Security agents have also mounted surveillance on those names the suspects mentioned as accomplice in the crime.

    Notable among these people is the Managing Director of an oil company whose office is based in Lagos. It was learnt that the man of Yoruba extraction has on many occasions facilitated the movement of the stolen fuel from vessel to the storage sites.

    A report claimed that the man had to jump over a fence when security agents visited him. Also the son of the indicted monarch is said to have escaped to Benin Republic.

    According to a report from the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) on Global Piracy released in July,32 piracy incidents were recorded off the coasts of Benin, Nigeria and Togo in the first half of 2012. In the first two months alone, 11 reports were received from Nigeria, equalling the number reported in the whole of the area in 2011.

    The attention of the international maritime community was first drawn to Nigeria when in February the IMB raised an alarm listing Nigeria next to Somalia as the most troubled territorial waters. The report claimed that Nigeria’s water had turned a haven for pirates who killed and maimed innocent travellers.

    Although Nigerian authorities frowned at the report which they described as calling a dog a bad name in order to hang it, the July report seemed to have supported the IMB allegation.

    Meanwhile, the current breakthrough that nailed the detained suspects has received commendation from maritime affairs analysts. Lekan Williams particularly hailed the ingenuity of the NIMASA in contracting the Global West Vessel Specialist Limited (GWVSL) to be part of anti-piracy security team on Nigeria’s waters.

    “With due respect to other security agencies who achieved this success, the involvement of GWVSL is a creative idea by NIMASA I have seen in the recent time and I am sure that more results will be recorded in a due course. The problem in Nigeria is to put a round peg in a square hole because we want to play politics or in the name of nepotism.

    “This cannot take us to anywhere. Again I am assuring you that more success will soon be recorded in checkmating the activities of the pirates,” Williams said.

    Following the engagement of GWVSL to join the security agents in policing of Nigeria maritime domain in January 2012, critics went to town with a claim the decision was ill-thought.

    But Director-General of NIMASA, Ziadeke Akpobolokemi stood his ground and instead fired a salvo at the critics. “The illegal activities they are conducting in the maritime domain are all going to be exposed, including illegal bunkering, illegal ship-to-ship transfer and mystery discharges that are not authorized. These are the things they are afraid of,” he said.

     

  • Unusual secrets

    The seven secrets of a true champion authored by Uchendu Kingsley, is an exposition on how you can conquer whatever that will deter you from becoming what God had destined you to be.

    The book gives a chronological sequence of logical approaches to confronting and surmounting unavailable and yet threatening life challenges.

    There is no human under the heaven without challenges to face or battles to fight, but what matters is whether you want to be a victim or a champion. It has been said that “life does not give you what you deserve, but what you fight for.” Even from the bible days, great men and women encountered various challenges and most of them were able to overcome these challenges with mind-blowing strategies and principles. This is why the author decided to reveal the seven secrets to becoming a true champion.

    The first secret titled: “The foundation of a true champion is God” makes one to understand that life is a spiritual battle that you cannot win outside the strength of God. A lot of people fail to understand that without God, man is nothing. They rely on the human strength neglecting God. The God-factor is necessary in every human life who truly wants to win in the race of life. The reader is to understand that our faith in Christ Jesus who overcame the world for us, gives us the victory over life challenges when we make him our foundation in everything we do.

    In this chapter, the story of David and goliath in the bible was cited to make us understand how we always need God to win. As the foundation of every human life, God, matters most to the entire existence of that individual.

    “A true champion knows his giants” is the second secret according to the book. The writer narrates how giants are the problems, challenges, opposition, that every human being has to face. He makes us to understand that we have to recognise our life giants before we can deal with them. The story of David will never cease to amaze. As a young child, David was able to recognize goliath as a problem and a challenge, to the children of God.

  • Behold, a festival of love!

    Behold, a festival of love!

    The annual Igogo festival which showcases the culture and tradition of the ancient town of Owo was held last week, Taiwo Abiodun was there

    It is like the carcass of an elephant. It means different things to different people. Some call it a festival of love, others the Queen’s festival, while a few others call it festival of unity. But whatever it is called one thing that is certain is that it is a festival. This is because it is the only unifying festival that brings men and women together irrespective of their differences and political affiliations. It is called Igogo Festival and it is over 500 years old.

    Welcome to Owo, Ondo State. In celebration of the festival last week, the town was ‘painted red’. It was agog as all the citizens, old and young, male and females, set aside their political differences to dance round the town exchanging greetings and showering gifts on one another. Children, youths and elders were all ‘armed’ with long sticks painted in different colours. The sticks were used to replace leather drums as they were hitting them on the ground to produce sound in replacement of drums (drumming is forbidden during this period) and singing all kinds of songs.

    The male chiefs who were also participants could erroneously be mistaken for women when seen from afar off, seeing their protruding buttocks and false breasts padded with foams and the earrings dangling from their ears. As part of the festival, they are compelled to dress like women, wearing blouses, skirts, earrings, necklaces and brassieres. Not only that, they either plait their hair or braid them or wear wigs on their bald heads!

    Irrespective of their age and gender, they all danced along, and wriggled their waists while the beads on their necks, legs and wrists dangled along producing melodious sounds. It is held every year and full of fun. “Imagine my look, am I not a woman?”, one of the celebrators asked as he ran forward, backward and sideways, then wriggled his waist while showing the spectators his earrings and other materials adorning his body in his woman apparel.

    This festival is held every year no matter the condition. It must not be missed except on a rare occasion such as if there is no monarch.

    Royal strides

    The Olowo of Owo, Oba David Victor Folagbade Olateru- Olagbegi, the chief celebrator stepped out, shielded by his chiefs as he walked regally under a beautiful large umbrella to protect him from the scorching sun. Dressed in his traditional ewu okun beads regalia, a traditional sword called uda omalore was dangling beneath his big ‘skirt’. The monarch’s head was decorated with a beautiful feather called urere okin. His two outstretched hands and ankles were wrapped with special coral beads specially meant for his status as a king. The golden ring on his finger shone as he danced toward the King’s market (Oja Oba). With the palace praise singers screaming at top of their voices saluting him in royal way saying ‘ Oologho, Baba O,!!!, Wa a rehin odi (Our monarch, may you conquer your enemies) while the deafening ‘Aaaaase’ followed, as they sang his praises. Men and women who are friends, supporters, well wishers and all accompanied by the monarch’s family members were not left behind coupled with the retinue of his chiefs who were all in white apparels as they too had their hair plaited as they clanged on their iron gongs, singing songs of love and joy. As the monarch rendered a soul searching philosophical and thought provoking traditional songs in Owo dialect singing “Gbaragada alagemo e me i seran obe, e fo un Ogho d’oluwa tu wa se o” (Chameleon is not edible, warn ‘them’ to behave), he the song others joined the chorus, rendered singings and dancing along with him. In all, he rendered seven songs in the market place as is the custom. Later, he prayed for the progress of the town while the people, both the old and the young, went into frenzy, hailing and praising him to high heavens. In response, he smiled and waved to them in appreciation of their presence.

    Those who could not see him climbed to the tree top to have a limpse of him! It was indeed the radiance of a king.

    The festival which started over 500 years ago during the reign of Oba Rengenjen, who unknowingly married a beautiful woman, Oronsen, who was not an ordinary woman; she possessed a supernatural power. According to history, the monarch fell in love with this strange woman and kept her in the palace. He was so much in love with her that other wives became jealous of their love. However, Oronsen was said to have made the monarch wealthy by using her supernatural power to defecate expensive coral beads, but this, was only to the knowledge of her husband!

    Due to this the town became highly prosperous and popular. Later, out of envy, other wives, however, became more jealous and were in search of how to cause disaffection between the two lovebirds. Her taboo was that okra should never be mixed in her in her presence, nor firewood be thrown, and above all no water should be splashed before her! All these taboos were kept under wraps by the monarch while he warned his household never to try any of these.

    The story went on that, until one day when one of the wives got the husband drunk and was made to divulge the secret. One day, the monarch went out on an for hunting expedition while the other wives conspired against the wife and broke the taboos: they splashed water on the ground, threw firewood and mixed okra in her presence. The woman, sensing danger, and having discovered their conspiracy, fled the palace and ran for cover in a thick forest!

    But when her husband, the monarch returned and was briefed about what had transpired in his absence, he was annoyed. He, however, made frantic effort to bring her back and therefore, instructed the palace guards known as the Iloros, ayoyos to trace her out. Alas, it was only her scarf that was discovered along the Ulaja groove. This material was brought back home with long canes to discipline the other wives who perpetrated this ignoble act.

    Several efforts were made to locate her but all to no avail. But her voice was always heard weeping for losing such a lovely husband. Her crying was heard but she was not seen. In return for her love, she instructed the monarch to be celebrating her every year to get the town to progress.

    During the Igogo Festival, there should be no booming of guns, men and women must not wear caps and headgears, while no drums should be beaten. Wooden sticks and iron metal gongs are used in place of drums, while different songs are sung during this occasion.

    High Chief Ola Osenenpen, who was also dressed in woman’s clothes while speaking about the festival said “Nobody should miss the festival, it is a sign of showing love and honouring the king who is the chief celebrator at the festival. I am about 69years and since I became a chief 25 years ago, I have never missed the festival”. On the costs implication, Osenenpen said it cost him much, “I buy drinks and food for my visitors. In fact, I spend about N500,000.This is our own festival.”

    Chief Christianah Famulagun,91, the Obanuwa of Owo kingdom described the festival as a huge success despite the fact that she had become old and cannot go out again. She as a result of old age could not go out to join the dance but she observed it from her home. The septuagenarian in spite of her inability to walk, dressed in her own regalia decorated with beads and sang songs. According to her, she has never missed the festival since her enthronement adding that whoever does not celebrate the festival is assumed to be the monarch’s enemy.

    The Olowo of Owo said the festival is part of the town’s culture and tradition. “Though I am a staunch Christian and traditional royal title holder but we have the chief priest, Chief Adelanke who is the custodian of the town’s rites and rituals” He, however, denied that he has a plan to abolish or abandon the festival. “This is culture and there is a difference between culture and religion,” he said.

    Mrs. Akinola Grace Olajumoke, Assistant Chief Museum Education Officer, Owo, described the festival as a good one that can boost the economic power of the town. This is because “during this festival a lot of things are sold like ornamental beads, wigs, socks, and women attires. It is one of the richest festivals in Yorubaland.”

    Tunde Onibode appealed to both the state and federal government to come to the support of the festival, saying this is another tourist attraction Festival. Owo is well- known in Yorubaland.

     

  • Ex-banker turned police-man killed by robbers

    Ex-banker turned police-man killed by robbers

    Oluwatodimu Ifonlaja, a former banker who left the banking hall to join the police force was one of the law enforcement officers killed on that ‘Bloody Sunday’ when armed robbers struck in Lagos. Tunde Busari reports.

     

    The Ifonlaja family of Odogbolu, Ogun State had scheduled a meeting for Sunday, September 9, 2012. All was set for the all-important meeting called to take a stand on some crucial family issues. One of the issues at stake was to lay out the plans for the proposed remembrance anniversary of their late patriarch who was a very successful business man who died 20 years ago.

    By 3:00pm there was a full attendance except for one of them; the last born of the family, who is regarded as their pride on account of the consistent determination, with which he paddled his life right from childhood. He was Oluwatodimu Ifonlaja, a Constable with the Nigeria Police then serving under the Lagos State initiated Rapid Response Squad (RRS).

    Grim reaper

    While they were expecting him, the phone of one of the family members vibrated at the other end was Ifonlaja who was being expected at the family gathering. He announced that he had just received a distress call from his office at Alausa office. He said he would soon join them at the meeting. Ifonlaja was dead wrong! Death, the grim reaper, was already hovering around him and was only waiting for the decisive moment to strike and terminate his 37 years sojourn on the face of the earth!

    Alas! The next phone call to the meeting, which was reportedly from one of Ifonlaja’s colleagues, broke the bad news that he had been shot by a gang of armed robbers that turned that Sunday to a black one for the residents of Lagos.

    “The person that called perhaps used the last call he (the deceased) made some minutes before the incident to reach us. I don’t know how to describe what happened to us after the news. We shouted to ask about the place the incident happened. The phone was cut. It was while we ran out that we got to know that armed robbers had operated at different places that afternoon. Nothing can be done again because we were told that he died instantly on the spot,” a member of the deceased’s family who does not want his name in print stated.

    It was gathered that the late cop, after receiving the distress call, drove himself to the office where he parked his car, hoping to return to pick it and head for the family meeting after the operation. A source disclosed that he was also the one who drove the patrol vehicle that took his team to the field. That, according to another source, informed why he was the first target of the armed bandit when they struck.

    The deceased and his team parked their vehicle at a spot not far from Guinness plant in Ogba as a strategic positioning required at the moment of tension. Suddenly the rampaging robbers coming from Oke-koto, Agege axis where they had earlier robbed some Bureau de Change outlets, sighted them from a distance. The gang thought fast and instantly poured hot lead into the three-man team.

    They first hit the deceased as a deliberate strategy to demobilize the team with a view to paving the way for the escape they most needed. They were obviously being trailed by another team mobilised from Pen Cinema Divisional Police Headquarters.

    “That was why they launched the attack at that moment. Apart from the late constable, they also killed another one and seriously injured the only inspector in the team. They carried out this operation in such a way that nothing could stop them except if a more fortified team had laid an ambush for them from Oba Akran end of the road,” a source said.

    Soon after the gang had made good their escape, the corpse of the fallen policemen were deposited at the General Hospital Ikeja mortuary while the injured Inspector was admitted at an intensive care unit of the same hospital.

    The bereaved family of Ifonlaja, having agreed on the need not to keep the corpse of their son in the morgue more than necessary, arranged a befitting burial held penultimate Thursday at Ipaja, Lagos. The atmosphere at the Saint Andrews Anglican Church, Akinyele, Ipaja clearly reflected the mood of the family, friends and colleagues of the deceased from RRS who arrived early to pay their last respects to the departed.

    Cry of anguish

    The policemen, who wore long faces, kept on lamenting and also raining curses on the robbers with unanimous prayer to God to expose them. “With the amount of sorrow the robbers have brought to many families in one day alone, the God we are serving on that Sunday they operated, will definitely fish them out for the public to see.

    “God will fish them out from wherever they may be hiding. They are such merciless young men who live on blood. Ifonlaja himself could not have imagined he would end it in the hand of the same armed robbers because of whom he enlisted in the police,” one of the nine colleagues at the burial lamented.

    This lament, yet another source confirmed, is a rundown of Ifonlaja’s voyage to the police. He was said to have defiantly played down the unappealing image of the force, instead promising the critics of his decision and desire to contribute his quota to make the force attractive to other young Nigerians.

    “When he remained stubborn to his decision, we did not have a choice than to leave him because we know him as a man of principle. Despite that, some of us were still not comfortable watching him, with his background, wearing black uniform in a country where anything can happen. One thing I will always say is that he did not join the police to make money. He was comfortable in his own way before he joined,” the source said.

    The deceased before joining the police was an employee of a new generation bank as a Cashier. He had a National Diploma (ND) in Accounting from the Osun State Polytechnic, Iree. With this modest resume, he had an assured future that could see him to the peak of the career, all things being equal. His ambition and hunger to acquire knowledge also fired him to seek admission into the Lagos State University (LASU) even as a serving policeman.

    He bore the pains of the discomfort this imposed on him and graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accountancy. “With all these efforts, was he the same person that should be killed without reaping the fruit of his sweat? It is painful to recall this. Even at work, it is not difficult to know that he was a different person.

    “There are some things you could not find him doing. His bank background always reflected in the way he related with people. But who are we to question the decision of God? He must be resting with the Lord now because he lived a life full of different experiences too many for his age,” a source also said.

    A chequered life

    He lived a chequered life. Two women he was married to and who had children for him are dead. His first wife who was then resident in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, died during the birth of his first child, a daughter named Iyanuoluwa. She is now 11 years old.

    He mourned his wife for some years before he consummated another marriage which is blessed with a set of three-year-old twins and a one-year-old boy. Tragedy, however, reared its head again as the mother of three lost a battle to cancer in December 2, 2011, turning the deceased to a widower for the second time. Ironically, the same ambulance vehicle that conveyed his wife to the burial site was the one used to convey his body to his rest place on Thursday.

    The awful experience drained the deceased’s further appetite for another wife, hence his determination to play a dual role for the four children his late wives left for him. Interestingly, the appearance of the children at the burial of their father attested to the kind of love the deceased had for them. Each looked radiant in their beautiful attires befitting children who survived their father.

    “That is why I said the deceased was not a typical policeman. The way he took care of the children showed that he had mixed with some ambitious people who appreciate the value of caring for their children. I am not maligning or blackmailing anybody but the deceased is a good example of how policemen should take care of their children. The constable did not allow the children to feel the absence of their mothers,” a source said.

    Incidentally, he shared the same birth date with his twin, September 23 and had scheduled an elaborate ceremony for the day apparently oblivious that fate would play a spoiler.

    The family have since rallied round the children who are now orphans. The Pastor who presided during the burial consoled the children and family that the deceased had gone to rest “With those unpleasant experiences he had passed through it shows that he has gone to take a deserved rest.”

    Meanwhile, barely 24 hours after the incident that claimed the life of the deceased, the Inspector-General of Police, Muhammed Abubakar, ordered the policemen serving at the Lagos State Police Command to wake up from “slumber” and ensure security and safety in the state.

    Abubakar, spoke at the presentation and inauguration of 114 security patrol vehicles, 40 motorcycles and other security items by Governor Babatunde Fashola.

    “It is no longer a tea party. There is no doubt that policemen in the state are sleeping. You must wake up from your slumber. The story of yesterday (the robbery incidents) should not happen again. We must not fold our arms and allow miscreants to take over the state.

    I have ordered the Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Zone 2, and the state Commissioner of Police to sit down and re-strategise and find a new way of fighting crime in Lagos. You have mobility, you have support, you have allowance from the state government; you must not allow people of Lagos to be terrorised by robbers. It can never be accepted anymore,” the IG said.

  • Life study of the master

    Life study of the master

    To honour art legend, Bruce Onobrakpeya, who just turned 80, visual artists in Nigeria did a life study of him and other forms of celebrations, writes Edozie Udeze

    As he turned 80 years, a number of visual artists in Nigeria came together to celebrate him. They all described him as an icon, one of the very first generation of visual artists to give voice to the profession. And so he is seen not only as great artist, he is also regarded as an iconoclastic enigma who braved the odds early enough to liberate himself from the clutches of neo-colonial artistic mentality.

    When on August 30, Dr. Bruce Onobrakpeya, turned 80 years, it was not only an occasion that made the artists to jump start a two-month celebration of him, it was also to showcase his many strides in the profession as someone who has trained and influenced many artists in Nigeria and abroad.

    Last weekend, the duo of Olu Ajayi and Sam Ovraiti, two artists who have consistently followed and admired the exploits of Onobrakpeya over the years organised a life study of him. In it, the master was made to sit on an elevated platform for other artists to draw, paint and sculpt. For six hours, Onobrakpeya sat there, with his gaze, staring at nothing, while his right hand rested on his lap. With the right hand on the arm of a cushion chair, Onobrakpeya posed like a tin-god with no care in the world.

    After every 45 minutes, the drawing would break; the master would then stand up to address his people. He told them of how they did their own drawing at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, in the late 1950s. “Then, we would begin to draw as early as 8 o’clock in the morning,” he said, as artists listened with rapt attention. “We would go for tea break by 10 o’clock and come back immediately. We would then continue till 4p.m .”

    Onobrakpeya encouraged the artists to continue to do what they know best. After a cursory look at the different postures of him from different angles by the artists, he exclaimed, “Yes, that is what it should be. Each face here is mine because every artist gives life study his own orientation and form. Yes, they all represent me,” he said, nodding his head repeatedly.

    For him, it was an honour for other artists to recognise his worth and ask him to come around to be so remembered. “What each and everyone of you has done today, will remain a legacy,” he said. “A legacy no one can take away from you for ever. Keep it up,” he said further.

    About fifteen artists were involved in the exercise. They included two sculptors and thirteen painters. Some of the artists were Olu Ajayi, Sam Ovraiti, Tony Okunjeni, Tunde Soyinka, Uche Nwosu, Victoria Udodighan and Juliet Pearce. Ajayi said the idea was to document and celebrate a master, an icon who has been the cynosure of the profession for more than five decades. At 80 years, Onobrakpeya is still actively involved in his textile and print-making works.

    Born on August 30, 1932, Onobrakpeya (MFR), was among the ‘Zarian rebels’ who discouraged their white teachers from forcing them to be euro-centric in their artistic works. He organises the famous Agbarha-otor Harmattan workshop every year to train and indoctrinate other artists in the society. This has impacted on a lot of artists who owe him a lot of gratitude.

    To date, he has received over 30 national and international awards and appointments. These include MFR, and in 2002, an Art Master for excellence was conferred on him. Also in 2005, he received the Living Human Treasure award by the Federal government in collaboration with UNESCO and lots of other awards and recognitions.