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Tag: memories

  • Music, memories and messages

    Music, memories and messages

    You are cruising your Toyota Corrola on a sunny midday to a block of apartments called Sweet waters in the Northside of Houston, a forty-minute ride from the Southwest of the city where you took off. Tracy Chapman is entertaining you, keeping you company as you navigate the roads, conscious of the ubiquitous American police. As Chapman sings songs that made her a star, memories tug at your heart, memories of those days when you lived with an aunt in a flat on Orile Road in Agege.

    In those days, Boda Wale, your aunt’s immediate half brother, was a fan of Tracy Chapman and days after days, he terrified you with her sonorous music. You soon became a devotee and worshipped at her feet. In those days, you assumed she was South African.  It would take years before you realised your mistake.

    As she sings from ‘Baby Can I Hold You’ to ‘Fast Car’ to ‘Give Me One Reason’ and ‘Talkin’ Bout A Revolution’, you are back in Lagos, bathed in memories of years never to be experienced again and tears gather but do not cascade down.

    Tracy Chapman makes you remember other songs that take you way back, way, way back in time. This night you find yourself searching for a live performance of KWAM 1 on YouTube. You soon find it. He did the show at the National Arts Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos in the early 90s. Most mornings, a car radio your uncle installed in the boys quarters in Orile-Agege blared this show’s cassette on and on and on. You know the lyrics almost line by line.

    Memories seize you as YouTube does you the favour of having a copy of this part of your childhood for streaming. It reminds you of your father’s house on 26 Ayige Street, that house where he drove different models of brand new Peugeot, where he later drove a rundown SUV, where his second daughter died after years of battle with illness, where several family members lived with you, where your mother has battled all kinds of ailments for over two decades, where your father one day went for a medical test and was told he had a heart problem and he was dead that same day.

    You also remember the day you came back from primary school in June 1984, and your pregnant mother asked you to fetch her water to take her bath after which she left for Betta Hospital on Coker Road and returned with your last born, Seun, now forty years old.

    The song also reminds you of Wale Olomu, a journalist and brother to motivational speaker and author, Mr Dayo Olomu. In the song, KWAM 1 praised Wale, who died not long after the show. Dayo was KWAM 1’s manager. Both of them, though born in the United Kingdom, grew up in Orile-Agege and were members of a Celestial Church of Christ, which remains almost opposite your childhood home till date. The song also reminds you of Funmilayo, a sibling of the Olomus who was your classmate at Orile-Agege Primary School.

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    Another evening, Agidigbo FM, thanks to Radio App, is taking you to the Island town of Epe, your picturesque hometown where you interred your father’s remains on October 2, 2012, a day after he was told for the first time he had a problem with his heart. That day he chose to leave was his wedding anniversary. It was also Nigeria’s Independence Day. Since then, the day has assumed a larger than life image for you. Two of your books have been released on that day.

    The voice of Ligali Mukaiba is all it takes for you to be back to Epe, see its streets, have that feeling of walking into the sea when trekking on any side of its ring road, salivate for a taste of its fresh sea foods and crave its ikokore delicacy.

    Mukaiba, an apala singer, was and still is its most known musician decades after he breathed his last. His songs sinking into you through an earpod this evening reminds you also of your maternal grandfather. You remember how he used to put you on his lap each time you visited and how he used to call you his father because you are supposedly a reincarnation of his own father, the one they called Agbomeji. You remember the family house in Oke-Balogun, its mud walls, its tattered floors, its rustic look, the secrets it keeps and the remains you were told were interred on its grounds, even in rooms that bear no sign that bodies of ancestors are laid there.

    The voice conjures imageries of cows mooing, cats meowing, sheep bleating, bulls bellowing, ducks quacking, horses neighing, geese cackling, chickens clucking and peacocks screaming in corners of the town renowned for fish and Quranic education.

    Mukaiba reminds you of Epe and its illustrious sons. From Chief S. L. Edu, once listed by Time Magazine as one of the richest men in Nigeria, to Michael Otedola to Prof. Femi Agbalajobi, who tried unsuccessfully to become Lagos governor, and to Akinwunmi Ambode, the one who collapsed ancestral walls and sacred landed property to give his hometown a befitting road network.

    You also remember those times with your paternal grandmother, Iya Alate, at Ayetoro market, where you learnt to hawk groceries during vacation. The voice reminds you of your many Ileya festivals in Epe, of the ram-fighting competition at Epe Recreation Centre, of the ram slaughtering, boiling, frying and eating, of the new Naira notes uncles and aunts gifted you in the spirit of the season and of an era wrestled and conquered by time.

    Each time YouTube supplies you ‘Stand Well Well’ and other early 90s songs of Lagos Island Fuji music star Musibau Alani, memories of your six years in secondary school torture you. They were spent away from home and from your parents, except on the few occasions you were home for holidays. You were free and many of your seniors and juniors misbehaved: sex, cigarettes and a few even tried Marijuana. You had strict housemasters and housemistresses, but despite that those who wanted to be bad found a way to be. Your school was surrounded by bushes and many escaped to smoke and do all sorts. Classrooms at night were also dark enough for shenanigans.

    As far as your parents were concerned, you were in strict hands and were bound to be of good behaviours, but there were instances when the teachers who were supposed to keep you all upright were the ones sleeping with the girls, many of them between 15 and 16 years, and the ones who refused were targets of punishments. At least three of the girls are now wives to their ex-teachers, one even wrote the Senior School Certificate examination pregnant for your housemaster. You only knew when she was delivered of a baby some six months after completing her studies.

    Now, your phone Playlist is treating you to Lara George’s ‘Ijoba Orun’. You become sober. Your head swells, your tear duct seems to open and you are suddenly seized by the quest to be holy as you prepare for life in the hereafter. It does this to you each time you listen to it. It has done so since it was released over a decade ago. Sinach’s world famous ‘Way Maker’, Ayewa Gospel Singers ‘Amona Tete Mabo’ and some Tope Alabi’s songs give you similar vibes.

    Lara George is reminding you that money can’t take you to heaven, your car can’t either. And neither can a spouse nor a friend. Only following God’s path can and you long to be pious, to be in this world but not of this world. But you fear that once the music stops, the world and its iniquities will not give up easily on you. And it dawns on you that life is an ever-continuing battle you can only win if you guard your heart jealously.

  • ICYMI: Memories of DSS invasion as Buhari, Daura hold talks

    President Muhammadu Buhari has met with  former Department of State Services (DSS) Director-General Lawal Daura.

    Last weekend’s Aso Villa meeting is said to be in connection with a report on the August 7, 2018 invasion of the National Assembly by hooded DSS operatives.

    It was also gathered that the  meeting centered on  the resurgence of the Boko Haram insurgency in some parts of the Northeast.

    The options before the President are either to close Daura’s chapter on the invasion or re-engage him in the light of what some have considered an intelligence deficit in the fight against Boko Haram and the seeming ethno-religious tension in some states in the last three months.

    The plight of Leah Sharibu and Boko Haram’s execution of Hauwa Amina Liman, one of the two kidnapped International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) workers were said to have created some intelligence gaps, which Daura was believed to have filled in the past.

    A Presidency source confirmed that the President “had audience” with the former DG of DSS. This is the first time Buhari has met the former spymaster since he left office.

    ”Their meeting had to do with a pending report on the invasion of the National Assembly before the President and the nation’s security apparatchik,” the source said, pleading not to be named because of the “sensitivity” of the matter.

    “Apart from reading the report, the President used the opportunity to hear Daura’s side of the security siege to the National Assembly by DSS operatives,” he added.

    The meeting followed what  the source described as pressure from Dasuki’s associate including members of the President’s kitchen cabinet.

    ”While some want the President to foreclose Daura’s case, others have insisted that the President should re-engage the former DG of DSS.

    ”Forces opposed to Daura have defended his sack by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo as a timely decision to save the nation’s democracy. They also see Daura’s return under any guise as a slight on the VP and a signal that the Presidency is disunited,” said the source, adding:

    ”They also claim that Daura did more damage to the security system and brought  much strain to the principle of separation of powers by the three arms of government, including  the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary. They pointed at the  arbitrary invasion, arrest and detention of judges by DSS.”

    But, to Daura’s associate what is more important is “the larger picture of the nation’s security”. They claim that Daura’s contributions far outweigh the infraction of August 7, 2018 more so when the ex-DG of DSS has insisted that he did not act alone.

    Said the source:  ”The pro-Daura elements attributed the recent intelligence setback in managing Boko Haram crisis in the Northeast to the absence of the ex-DG of DSS. The Army and the Air Force have lived up to expectations but the intelligence back up has suffered in the last three months, leading to the incessant ambush of troops.

    ”They claimed that Daura was a key link to Boko Haram contacts and negotiation with the insurgents which led to the release of Chibok and 105  girls of Government Girls’ Technical College, Dapchi in Yobe State even without the knowledge of the Nigerian Army and the Nigerian Air Force.

    ”They pointed to the dilemma of a Dapchi school girl, Leah Sharibu, and felt only Daura ( as a member of the nation’s security set-up) can address it.

    Investigation revealed that there is a plot by some forces to mount pressure on the President to appoint Daura to another top security office .

    Another source added: “No doubt, there are plans to re-draw the nation’s security apparatchik to respond to recent challenges in the Northeast and other parts of the country. What is on the card is for the President to re-engage Daura  and give him a higher responsibility. But the President is also mindful of the possible backlash such a measure will attract.”

    “A major challenge is the moral burden the return of Daura might create for President Muhammadu Buhari because Nigerians will see him as indulging Daura and making the former DG of DSS indispensable.”

    While sacking Daura, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who was then the Acting President, told the nation that the disciplinary measure was necessary to end impunity in the country.

    He described the DSS operatives’ invasion of the National Assembly as ‘a gross violation of constitutional order, rule of law and accepted notions of law and order.’

    Inspector -General of Police Ibrahim Idris, in his report on the invasion of the National Assembly, claimed that Daura ‘acted unilaterally, without informing the Presidency. He did not share or intimate other Security Agencies on the unlawful operations’.

  • If only we can live before the end comes

    It was the morning after; it began well and ended in sobriety. It was a day with memories that will not be forgotten in a hurry. I woke up to the bizarre putting away and dumping of all things, from television to sound systems, money, cars and all that were thought belonged to the world.

    I was a kid, however a kid who asked questions. On inquiry, I was told a denomination of the Christian faith was putting their belongings away as it has been received that the end of the world beacons in some few days.

    It’s been years now and memories flood through the grey mist of time as the world has not only remained in existence but has created more ground breaking innovations although with its attendant evil too.  Memories help us to codify history, the putting together of history however leaves at our disposal the abuse and amoral use of memories.

    Today, we fondly remember the coming to the end of the world both in sobriety and reflection. If you think my submissions are too assuming take a walk into any hospital or burial site and have a firsthand glimpse of what the end or the expectation of it can do to a man.

    I got thinking recently that if there is a people that should stop or mildly preach about the end of the world it is Nigerians. My submission premised on the following: let us assume the world would end in fifty years time, 2068 precisely, will Nigeria have transcended into modernity then? Will the country have become Singapore or Malaysia in economic prosperity?  Will those things we dreamt of as young people become a reality? Will children ever become leaders? Would we have transcended beyond making manifestos that border only on basic things of life to the electorate?  Think on these things and find out why the excitement of an ending world does not belong to us.

    Yet because of our selfishness and the belief in the superiority of our faith above others we dance and wine over the coming to the end of the world, thinking we have found our own route to paradise.

    How can a people who haven’t lived or found paradise on earth desire that the world they have never lived in to end? The typical Nigerian has known no better life than that of deprivation and lack. In 2018, he does not have electricity as a given, bathing with shower is still a luxury to him, he still pays to get water, and still dies of meningitis; the education he went to school for takes him two centuries below modernity.

    Citizens of the first world can desire the world to come to an end, they have aspired, invented, innovated, affected humanity, not us.

    I blame not the Nigerian, he has never lived hence the possibility of a better life in paradise easily raises his expectations.

    • By Kehinde Oluwatosin Babatunde, Lagos.

     

  • I have memories of Fela Shrine, says French President

    French President Emmaneul Macron has explained why he visited the Fela Shrine last night as part of his official trip to the country.

    President Macron, who worked at the French Embassy in Nigeria in 2004, told reoporters during a joint briefing with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa in Abuja:  “First, because I wanted to find a good occasion to come back there. I know the place and I have some memories, I have to confess at a time that there was no President around; I hope I will not spoil the party.

    “I think that is such an iconic place for a lot of African people and African culture. And I think very often when you speak of the African culture in Europe, those who succeed in Europe and in France, which is different most of the times, are not dramatically very famous in Nigeria or in Africa.

    “And there is a bias because you know people are absolutely not the same. I mean Fela, Femi, Seun Kuti are obviously very famous in France and Europe, I mean they are big successes but the Shrine is a cultural hub, an iconic hub and it is very important for me on a personal level, and that is why I want to say with a lot of humility that I recognise the importance of this place, I recognise the place of culture in this current environment,” he said.

    The President added: “When you speak about new equilibriums about potential conflicts between cultures but ability to build a common project among different cultures, about migration and counter-terrorism, relaunching agriculture, you speak about Nigeria. And that is a sort of a small Africa.

  • Memories to be treasured

    A love feast? Yes, Love and falling in love can be compared to a love feast. When you are at the peak of affections turn table then there would be lots of loving in the air. It would be a time to wine and dine. Time to look gorgeous and be the subject of someone’s admiration, a time and a season to snap photographs to record these wonderful memories.

    One other thing that comes to mind when you are feasting and celebrating is to give and receive gifts. It is a way to show appreciation and be appreciated. And there are all kinds of gifts. You need to understand the personality involve to know the appropriate gift to shower on the one you love. There is no point spending a fortune on something that would not be appreciated.

    A Souvenir is a kind of gift that comes to mind at this point. It is something that is kept as a reminder of a person, place or event. When you travel out of the country we usually love to bring back souvenirs that would remind us about the wonderful places we’ve been to .Friends whose paths cross yours also give you some mementos to bring back wonderful memories shared later on in life.

    One interesting thing however is the fact that there are different types of souvenirs and their quality and attributes make them important or not. Its aesthetics and general design also determine where you would keep it, how long it would be treasures and what it ultimately means to you.

    Love according to a school of thought can be described as a souvenir. Something exciting to behold, something carefully designed and something valuable. Once you have given love to someone it can never be erased, it can never be forgotten.

    The only snag however is the quality and quantity of loving that you are giving or getting in return. You can actually assess this by cross checking the type of love that was doled out by your prince charming or the lady who has captured your emotions.

    You can do your assessments by looking at the different souvenirs in your custody. Some souvenirs are filled with memories; some are expensive, priceless, precious, fake or cheap. A romantic experience can also be filled with pleasant memories or bitter memories. What you get is what you give and the experience is going to stick on forever. Love can also be expensive. This means that it is going to cost you so much to merit the attention of the person you desire. Here you may give, give and give so much just to get the other party’s emotional attention. This does not mean that you are going to get value for sowing so much affection and love.

    If the person you are attracted to appreciates what you are doing then it would be a love feast indeed. The memories would be cherished and everything would fall in the right place as expected. This can also be achieved if you haven’t place square love pegs in round holes. Everyone must know and understand their duties and be dedicated to achieve results.

    Sometimes, the loving you get compares with fake and cheap souvenirs. Even if you really like these souvenirs there is a limit to how long you can keep such. Cheap souvenirs like love are likely to crack peel off or be broken. When it gets to that stage you would be forced to take it off the wall, away from table or shelf as the case may be.

    In the final category you would find souvenirs that are precious and priceless. Even when you know that you have come to the end of the road, you just can’t stop dreaming. The memories are so good, so exciting and each time you reminisce it is likely to transport you to fantasy land. It is surely going to be rated as one of the best romance you ever had. Like a dream you wish and wish that it is never going to end. It a tape that you just love to play and play all over again. A never ending love story. A tale of selfless love told by dreamers and generous lovebirds.

    For 28 year old Tola her experience can be classified into a fake souvenir category. Unfortunately for her the memories continue to reverberate even though she would have loved to sweep it under the carpet. A few weeks ago while she was driving to work a thought occurred to her. “I needed to get out of the relationship. It was obvious that we had come to the end of the road. I felt so sad because it was actually affecting my work and social life. Everything around me simply looked like it had come to a standstill.

    How did she get to this point and why did she allow herself to be pushed to the emotional wall before taking a decision.“I had been in a relationship for about four years and there was really no value placed on my emotions. Everyday and every minute I felt used and taken for granted.”

    Her dream and desire had always been to love and be loved. But somehow the more she tried to achieve this simple dream the more elusive it has become. Has love become so discriminatory? Was affection selective and partial? Sadly, she posed these questions to her bosom friend, Temi who gave her a personal experience that started with tears but ended on a happy note.

    “We met in church and everyone was so happy about the relationship. Somehow his parents and mine weren’t friends and we thought it was not going to end well. There was a lot of frustration in between but somehow things changed gradually and it worked out as planned.

    The truth of the matter is that every love story is not the same. But your love souvenir is determined by the goals that you set for yourself, dedication on the part of your partner and the dreams that you share in common. You can achieve this by sending the RIGHT CUES to a guy. No matter the obstacles on your emotional path always prepare for success.

  • Asaba: Memories of war

    “The stupid neither forgive nor forget.  The naïve forgive and forget.  The wise never forget but forgive.” —Thomas Szasz

    As the Asaba community both at home and in the Diaspora, prepare for this year’s memorial ceremonies in honour of the victims of the October 7, 1967 massacre in the town, it is perhaps an opportunity for a sober reflection on the unfortunate civil war, focusing particularly on Biafra’s controversial thrust into Midwestern Nigeria on that August 9, 1967 – a thrust which saw Asaba, Benin and a host of other towns fall in quick succession, but eventually tragically got lost due to a strange quirk of fate.

    In retrospect, one cannot but agree with Gen. Alexander Madiebo that “despite the unfortunate development in the course of the campaign, Biafra did the best thing at the time to have undertaken the campaign”.  Rationalizing the operation, Madiebo explained among other things that “we did it not to conquer Nigeria but to force her to bring the war to an end and start negotiations.  It also relieved pressure on our own troops in the northern sectors of the war, particularly Nsukka from where the enemy withdrew the bulk of the troops with which they initially fought back.”

    What many people did not know at the time is that it was the then Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria, according to Ojukwu, that sold the idea of the operation to him, having noticed a chink in the federal armour on the western flank of the River Niger.  In fact, six years later in 1973, Israel achieved a decisive victory in her fourth war with Egypt, adopting the same strategy.  Recall that in the Yom Kippur war, which the Arabs surprisingly launched against the Jewish state on October 6, 1973 while the latter was relaxing and celebrating the Holiest Day in the Jewish calendar, Egypt and Syria launched an elaborate attack featuring 5,000 armoured tanks on the Egyptian side and about half as many on the Syrian side.  Within three days of fighting Israel’s first line of defence had crumbled.  Besides the stunning collapse of her Bar-Lev-line in the Sinai Desert reputed to be the strongest fortress in the world, a sizeable percentage of her legendary air force had also been destroyed by Soviet-made ground-air missiles, while the enemy continued to blaze away in high morale.

    The Israeli Prime Minister, Mrs. Golda Meir, a woman known rather to be a stoic, wept openly seeing the heaviest casualty figures ever in Israeli history.  But the war suddenly took a dramatic twist as from October 9, when the Israelis took over the initiative and launched a counter –offensive, after noticing a chink in the Egyptian armour across the western bank of the Suez Canal.  Crossing the canal under cover of night using Pontoons, an Israeli general fresh from retirement deftly ferried troops and heavy armour across the water, established a bridgehead and swiftly advanced towards a nearby expressway to Cairo, the Egyptian capital, thus cutting off a huge chunk of the Egyptian army in the forward lines.

    Simultaneously, the same scenario was being replicated on the Syrian sector, where a column of Israeli troops was advancing along Damascus highway.  By the time the Israelis got to a shelling range of both cities, sensing clear disaster, President Anwar Sadat of Egypt called Moscow which reached out to Washington, and Henry Kissinger, America’s secretary of State, collaborating with the UN, effected a ceasefire on October 24, leading to the ultimate Camp David Peace Treaty signed by Israel and Egypt in March, 1979.

    Similarly, in the Nigeria scenario, in 1967, if the tempo and progress of Biafra’s robust trans-Niger campaign had not been compromised and stalled and Lagos and Ibadan were captured or seriously threatened, Gowon possibly would have had no choice but reach out to Ojukwu for a ceasefire. In the inevitable negotiations, the enforcement of the Aburi Accord being Ojukwu’s sole agenda obviously would have had a smooth ride and nobody would have faced all this restructuring wahala today, because as Ojukwu had to explain later in BECAUSE I AM INVOLVED, “the concept, Biafra, was a deliberate line drawn for a persecuted people to have a beacon of hope, a line drawn so that a fleeing people can hope that at least once they reach there they would have love and succour…  The philosophy was that of self-defence… an attempt to found an alternative base to continue the combat against neocolonialism.”

    Looking back now, what surprises some of us now in our 70s is not so much the bungling of the noble trans-Niger operation as the discriminatory attitude of the federal troops towards the Midwestern communities.  Apart from the gruesome decapitation of Col. Henry Igboba, whom they reportedly found in the Benin prison, no other atrocity was committed in the Edo area, unlike in Ika Ibo area, especially at Asaba where hundreds of able-bodied unarmed men were lined up and shot dead.

    Did Asaba deserve this savagery considering its contributions towards the evolution and development of Nigeria?  Asaba is the hometown of frontline nationalist Dennis Osadebay, the first premier of Midwestern State and a former opposition leader in the Western House of Assembly.  Osadebay once acted as Nigeria’s Governor-General.  Asaba is the birth place of Chief S. I. O. Odogwu, the renowned industrialist and large-scale employer of labour.  The historic Asaba Institute as far back as 1895 had raised people like Obed Azikiwe, the father of Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe who was among the architects of our independence.  At a point in our history, Asaba was the hub of Nigeria’s telecommunication system.  Had the inimitable economic instincts of Sir George Goldie prevailed, given its unique location, Asaba would have been the capital of the country.  And today, besides the generation of Odogwu et al, Asaba has produced a host of young entrepreneurs who believing that “economics drives politics” have developed venture capitalist conglomerates with tentacles in vast areas: engineering, finance, oil services, mining, healthcare etc.

    A good example is Alban Ofili-Okonkwo, a former governorship candidate and an advocate of robust private sector in Nigeria.  Incidentally, Ofili-Okonkwo is the arrowhead of this year’s remembrance ceremonies in Asaba, with the theme “Remembrance and Forgiveness”, and featuring a colloquium with a profound theme: In Pursuit of Rebirth – all geared towards Asaba’s resurgence.  The highlight of the event will be the presentation of the latest book on the Civil War.  Entitled “The Asaba Massacre – Trauma, Memories and the Nigerian Civil War,” the book was written by two distinguished scholars, Professor S. Elizabeth Bird (Anthropologist) and Professor Fraser M. Ottanelli (Historian) both of the University of South Florida.

    Let me conclude this piece with a parody of a Balewa/Johnson/Moynbee exhortation: “War avenges the dead on the living; the vanquished on the victors. The nemesis of war is intrinsic. Nigeria is large enough to accommodate us all, in spite of our differences. Let us therefore strive to achieve a federation in which the people  of the north and south work together for the common good; a country in which sectional groups do not confront each other in bitter hostility, but provide a framework in which North and south can act together to assure the security of all. The glory of war is moonshine”.

     

    • Nzeakah is a former newspaper editor.

     

  • Ola Rotimi: Memories of a legend

    SIR: Olawale Gladstone Emmanuel Rotimi, popularly known as Ola Rotimi was an accomplished literary gem. A pioneer in the art from this part of the world and reputed to be one of the first Nigerian graduates trained in the art of performing theatre and craft from America.

    ‘Timi’ the dramaturgist remains of the greatest indigenous directors of our time, playwright, critique and distinguished actor whose mastery in the art of stage performance and craft accompanied with good sense of aesthetics and technical depth earned him accolades both in Nigeria and abroad.

    Ola Rotimi made use of good fusion of music, dance and mime. He believed that ‘theatre in the round’ is more relevant to our African culture.  Especially taking into cognisance the typical traditional African dances, wrestling contest, court jestings, drama performances etc. which allow for audience participation and interaction between spectators and performers even while the action is still on.

    As a writer he communicated to the world in plain, lucid language as quite all his works could be read and understood by any average literate, from a primary school leaver to a professor.

    As a playwright, his ability to relate literature to real life was quite unique and profound. “Our husband has gone mad again” easily comes to mind.

    Even though, Professor Ola Rotimi did not die as a wealthy man, but I make bold to say, he died fulfilled. This is so because he died doing what he knew and liked doing best, imparting knowledge and grooming young talents in acting, play-writing, directing and stage designing.

    Even at the height of the brain drain problem in our universities when many of his colleagues left the country, he chose to stay back. Although he left the country for a brief period, his zeal, desire to help improve our local theatre industry prevailed and he returned.

    I will always remember him for his humility, simplicity, hard work and respect for scholarly tradition and creative talents.

    Maybe if ‘Timi’ were alive, he might have directed one of the largest ‘circus show of shame’ where National Assembly members exchanged blows freely on the floor of the hallowed chamber. What a vintage theatrical experience that would have been.

     

    • Samson Ayooso,

     Port Harcourt.

  • Memories of a federalist: Tribute to Sir Olaniwun Ajayi

    Memories of a federalist: Tribute to Sir Olaniwun Ajayi

    With the passing of Sir Olaniwun Ajayi on November 4, 2016, a significant loss has been suffered by a wide array of people. First, I commiserate with the family he left behind – particularly my good friends Professor Konyin and his elder brother Dr Ola, and their wives and siblings-who are feeling the pain of losing their Patriarch and Guiding Light. The Methodist Church will sorely miss a revered Leader and Elder, a former Lay President, and a holder of its highest honour – Knight of John Wesley. The respected firm of Olaniwun Ajayi has lost its founder and his beloved Isara, Ogun State community is saying goodbye to one of its foremost sons. The Yoruba people will sorely miss this great nationalist, patriot and champion of federalism whose deep desire was to see a strong Nigeria play a leading, historic and exemplary role in the black world.
    On a personal level, my family and I, as well as fellow-members of a commited South-West group to which I belong, will miss a man who a visit to, whether in Lagos, Isara or London was invariably rewarded with an enthralling time, listening to his patient explanations and advice, historical anecdotes and trips down memory lane; all invariably geared to illustrating the richness of the Yoruba way of life and living. Any day, any time and almost anywhere- oftentimes with me it was in the car park of the Royal Exchange building on Marina where we both once had our offices – Sir Olaniwun was always ready to encourage the younger generation to look beyond their professional lives and become involved in the discourse on governance and national development. Together with the likes of Pa Abraham Adesanya, of blessed memory, he urged and cajoled us to join the political parties at the Ward or grassroots level, and to be bold and courageous in seeking to positively affect the course of events in our country. However, it wasn’t all business and seriousness with him. One was just as likely to come away from time spent with him, still laughing and smiling from enjoying the man’s wry sense of humour, his great wit and his wonderful capacity for story telling.
    The last time I had the opportunity to sit down to engage Sir Olaniwun, it was typically and fittingly in connection with his deep desire to see the leadership of south west Nigeria come together as one for the well-being of its people and the economic development of the region, in particular, and by extension, Nigeria as a whole. It was on March 30, 2016. A week before I had gone over to greet him at a function and the way he said to me: ‘Mo fe ri e’, (meaning come and see me). I knew that I was not going to dishonour his summons, neither was I going alone. Thus, in the company of a few friends, and fellow members of the aforementioned south-west oriented political forum that I chair, we duly turned up to meet Sir Olaniwun at his son Konyin’s Victoria Island home at the appointed hour. What followed was a session lasting nearly 3 hours during which Sir Olaniwun really poured his heart out about his concern for what he perceived as the lack of unity, lack of respect for time-honoured values and ways, and above all the lack of thinking and planning that he saw in the south west. No one was spared. He named names, from the executive and political leadership, even down to the likes of mere mortals such as ourselves who were sitting before him: Kini egbe yin se? (what is your group doing)? he admonished us. In his usual unhurried, even somewhat imperious, manner he shared with us his recent encounters and experiences with Governors and party leaders, including his visits to several of them. He had gone beyond mere talk, and submitted his proposals (containing his ideas and including the thinking of fellow Yoruba leaders such as Chief Reuben Fasonranti et al. Pointedly, he was still looking for a reaction or response from those in a position to implement.
    Overall, Sir Olaniwun left us with a deep sense of his passion for regional development, his keenness to see the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) implemented and above all his desire for unity and cooperation among the region’s states and its leaders. In culmination of his efforts and those of others, there was a pivotal gathering of Yoruba leaders in Lagos, recently, that was essentially aimed at re-affirmation of commitment to precisely the unity the Sir Olaniwun had long advocated and worked tirelessly for.
    My last interaction with Sir Olaniwun Ajayi was indeed a wake – up call, that we would do well to heed for the sake of our dear nation, as well as in honour of him and his legacy.
    May he rest in peace. Amen.
    Adieu!

  • Memories, laughter at Ali Baba’s Jan 1 show

    Memories, laughter at Ali Baba’s Jan 1 show

    Despite having the popular Headies holding almost at the same time, this year’s edition of the annual Ali Baba January 1 Concert came in grand style, leaving in its wake, memories of a performance that will linger.

    It was a harvest of comic performances, as colleagues and mentees of the foremost comedian graced the occasion as guest performers.

    Ali Baba who made an appearance on stage dressed like an army officer, said it is to remember the past heroes; men and women who laid down their lives protecting the country as their duty required.

    He also noted that he would have been a military officer, if he had passed the exam, in 1984, when his father got him the form to attend Nigeria Defence Academy, NDA, Kaduna.

    “I remember leaving Command Secondary School, Ipaja, 1984, in my dad’s green Volkwagen Igala.  Along that Agege Motor road, my dad handed me a brown envelope with the forms that he had gotten for me from NDA, Kaduna… And I humbly told him, I was not going to no NDA… Forget the long arm of the law. My dad’s slap is the law. I was eventually to resume for registration in Kaduna, six days later. I couldn’t go any earlier. The swelling on my left eye, when my dad and I were having the “go to NDA or not” conversation, had to come down significantly. By the 5th day I could see clearly… Especially from my dad’s point of view. And he was right. But due to some divine miracle, I failed all the tests, recruitment o! Fitness o! Academic o! Civics studies o! Health o! Eye test SEF o! That’s how I did not make it into NDA,” he posted on Instagram.

    “To all our fallen heroes and members of the armed forces dead and alive… We honour you for your selfless service to our country. And to those sent to the battle front with less to fight more… Thanks for your unshaken commitment to protect us in spite of the little protection you get,” he added.

    As part of the activities lined up for the night, comedians took turns reviewing major events of the year and roast-toast some selected popular personalities.

    Some celebrities at the event include Richard Mofe Damijo, Rita Dominic, Ayo Makun, Cobhams, Teju Babyface, Timi Dakolo, OC Ukeje and Chi gurl.

    The highlight of the2016 edition was finding the winner of Alibaba Spontaneity competition. The 12 contestants have jostled four times in 2015 to show their innate ability to make audiences laugh spontaneously. The eventual winner, D1, went home with a brand new car, a contract that will see him draw a monthly salary in 2016 and a chance to intern with any comedian of his choosing.

    The comedian also added colour to the event by giving out a pack of four piece socks, which had his picture on it as New Year gift token to all the men on the premium tables.

    Another thing that made the event to be different was the dress code, which the Baba described as a class act performance event.

  • Sad memories of ‘Rivers 100’ killed in cold blood

    Sad memories of ‘Rivers 100’ killed in cold blood

    On Monday, Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital witnessed a memorial event to remember over 100 victims of the violence recorded before, during and after the last general elections. On that day, gunmen even attempted to kill those on their way to the remembrance rally tagged Black Day. All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate Dr Dakuku Peterside relives the sad moments. Excerpts:

    We are gathered here for a purpose that is paradoxical. We are simultaneously mourning and celebrating our brothers and sisters whose lives were cut short by the inexplicable violence that characterized the general elections in Rivers State in March and April this year.  It is violence that has continued till today, merely mutating and transforming – from attacks before and during the general elections, now we suffer kidnappings, armed robberies, and assassinations by persons who are yet to be dispossessed of the guns with which they were “empowered”.

    Fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters and friends were attacked and killed in their homes in cold blood because of their political leanings. Some were attacked and killed while they were on their way to attend campaign rallies. Our campaign venues were victims of explosive devices and outright attacks by gun men. These were intimations of more unpleasant scenarios.

    On election days, ordinary citizens who wished to cast their votes as enshrined in the Statutes of our land were killed or maimed by trigger-happy and dagger wielding political thugs and mercenaries. In some cases, at polling units, elderly persons were beaten until their hearts literally stopped beating. Our brothers and sisters died because some politicians who were consumed with vaulting and inordinate ambition engaged in horse trading. More than 100 innocent persons were killed, victims of the evil acts of desperate politicians. You have heard chilling stories from their families, but for the sensitivity of our sensibilities, I wish not to recant that narratives here. Unfortunately, till date not a single person has been prosecuted for these crimes against humanity.

    Brothers and sisters, we are here to commemorate the memories of these victims of political violence. For us, they were not just victims but martyrs. They constitute the “strong breed” who have taken our collective burden to ensure the survival of democracy particularly in Rivers State and Nigeria in general.

    It would be callous of us not to remember and celebrate their sacrificial but untimely deaths. This commemoration is the more necessary because law enforcement Agencies have not provided any form of succour to the families and friends of these victims by bringing to book the perpetrators of the heinous crimes. We will therefore not shirk our moral obligation to continue to advocate for justice for these our fallen brethren. That is the whole essence of Rivers Black Day. To mourn and celebrate these martyrs of democracy; as well as cry out to God to show mercy on us as a people whose land has been polluted by the blood of innocent persons.

    Recall that we humans learn by relating previous experiences with current ones. Thus, what is the lesson from the tragedy of more than 100 human beings murdered as a result of immoderate political ambition? It raises questions about the character of those who want to lead us and the orientation of our political class. In accordance with the propositions of ancient Philosophers, that politics should be reserved for those with the character and experience required to make policy; I urge us therefore, that in all our dealings to always appreciate the sanctity of human life, and fashion out ways on how to direct the less enlightened in civic and civil conducts.

    We have recognised that at all times and in all situations we are “Greater Together”. Hence, today together we stand to say NO to any form of political intimidation and violence in our land. Brothers and sisters, welcome to Rivers Black Day, a day dedicated to the memories of more than 100 persons who were killed. May their gentle souls rest in peace in the bosom of the Lord. Amen.