The Nation Newspaper

Tag: nostalgia

  • The Venus Bushfires presents Future Nostalgia

    The Venus Bushfires presents Future Nostalgia

    AWAY from what she is known for, Nigerian singer/songwriter, Helen Isibor, a.k.a The Venus Bushfires, has made her debut with a fashion collection tagged Future Nostalgia for Spring/Summer 2014.

    In putting the collection together, she said she collaborated with her cousin who makes the pieces using African fabrics from their great aunt’s store.

    The collection features her as a model adorned in African prints, capes, jackets, trousers with print inserts, head ties against an oriental- themed background.

    The Venus Bushfires is known for her artistic abilities, which include songwriting, spoken word, poetry, social commentary, creative arts and charity.

  • Train, thy name is nostalgia

    Train, thy name is nostalgia

    Olayinka Oyegbile who was in Norway goes down memory lane after a two-hour train ride

    MY flight from Amsterdam, The Netherlands, landed in Oslo, Norway about two hours before I was due to board the train to Lillehammer where the conference on Investigative Journalism which I was attending was to hold. The organisers in several emails to me prior to my arrival had said all delegates would be met at the airport where train tickets would be issued. As I walked out of the crowded arrival hall I saw a stand which I approached to get my ticket. After that I was directed to a doorway which led downstairs to the train station.

    At the train station the weather was cold. Perhaps this was responsible for its been deserted too. There was still about two hours before the train arrives. I took a novel out of my bag and settled down in a corner to read. After about thirty minutes I noticed I was still the only one in the station. At this point I began to wonder whether I’d missed my way. However, looking at the electronic board in the station, it showed that I was right. I decided to wait further. Thirty minutes crept into one hour, and one added a quarter of an hour. Few minutes to the arrival time of the train I noticed that the deserted station was getting livelier as more passengers began to troop in. Apparently, most of them had decided to stay put in the airport lobby which was warm than come to the station to wait for the long two hours in the cold. I’d learnt my first lesson.

    First lesson

    Shortly after a bell chimed in the distance and the train sneaked into the station. Yes, it sneaked in. It was to me a surprise that a train would appear in a station without noise and hullabaloo. The picture that first came to my mind was the kind of flurry and noise that usually accompany the arrival of trains in Lagos, especially in Oshodi where the tracks have been turned to bursting and bustling market places! There was no rushing, all passengers filed in quietly and sat down without any hassles.

    The first thought that came to my mind as I sat in the train was my secondary school days when I used to board train from the north to the south at the beginning and end of any school session. It was at this point that I began to get angry at the manner our leaders have led this country into ruins. In those days a train ride to school was one thing we used to enjoy. The train, apart from transporting people was also used to transport goods. I then remember those trains which had ‘Goods Only’ boldly written on their hoods and how our train from time to time met such at train stations from Jos to Minna, Jebba and several other small villages along the train tracks. It was from these journeys that one came across a lot of villages and hamlets that developed based on the level of commercial activities that were generated by the presence of train stations there.

    The train in Norway is powered by electricity and so it is fast and moves very quietly. It’s not like the noisy engines that pollute the environment that we have around here. It is so sad that almost fifty years ago after the colonial masters left the shores of Nigeria, not a single track had been added to the ones left by them. In fact, rather than maintain the ones left we have today vandalised them and made the tracks dangerous to put any engine to run on them. The two hour ride from Oslo airport to Lillehammer was so stress free that it could have been a flight in the air!

    As the train raced across the Norwegian countryside I remembered the same sceneries that used to fly past me in the train when I’m returning to school in those days. And I began to wonder why we are the way we are? In most airports of the world today train stations are built into the airport so as to make arrivals and departures from airports easy and less prone to dangers. But what do we have here? A so called modern airport as we have in Abuja does not have a train station. Although someone might want to explain it away by saying it is in the master plan. But the question is why complete an airport and begin to use before you build the train line? Is there anything wrong in doing the two together? The Oslo airport, I gathered was solely built for the 1994 Olympics Games which the country hosted, so why didn’t they just build the airport and leave the train station for later? The truth is that our leaders junket from one corner of the world to the other without coming back home to replicate the good facilities and things they see there. Norway is an oil producing country which is using its oil wealth sensibly and has not in any way neglected its agriculture nor dairies.

    In Nigeria, because we have oil, agriculture and the abundant fishes in the oceans and rivers donning the country have been relegated to the backwoods. We have failed to improve on nor maintain the legacies of colonialism as represented by the train. What story will my children tell about train? That they saw it in books and films? We have been short changed. As I prepared to leave Norway after a week-long stay, I felt sad. Not because I was going back home, far from that; I am a staunch believer and practitioner of the dictum that “there’s no place like home”! My sadness arose from the fact that I am going back to a country that is regressing while others are progressing. The more I travel either in Europe, America or even in Asia, which is erroneously categorised as a so-called Third World with Nigeria, I get angry. Angry at the philistines who wield power in my country, not for the good of the public but for their own selfish aggrandisement!

     

    This piece was first published in TELL Magazine in February 2009.

  • Excitement, nostalgia as college’s alumni re-unite in Omoku

    Excitement, nostalgia as college’s alumni re-unite in Omoku

    It was fun, opportunity to re-unite with old friends and make new friend when Alumni of Federal College of Education Technical, Omoku, Rivers State hosted both new and old students at the special median congress and homage at their alma-mater.

    The three-day event took place at the college campus and activities include lecture, football match, community service and presentation of awards. The congress tagged “The Home Coming” was described by the school authority as the greatest gathering in the history of Omoku College Alumni and afforded old boys who graduated about 15 years ago avenue to re-unite.

    Welcoming the alumni, the Deputy Provost, Sir Bassey Ubong, said the management of the college was happy with the turnout, especially those who came from the northern and western parts of the country.

    He said, “Alumni are just trying to be like other great Alumni in various institutions. But they should know that abroad the college or university cannot do without them. If you go to campuses today even in Nigeria you will find wonderful projects executed by alumni. We pray that in future the alumni will make progress by making themselves available to the collage.”

    The Registrar of the college, Pastor Emmanuel Onyije, said the greatest thing about the gathering was that it will send a strong signal to both old and new students to understand the importance of alumni and make them work hard for the interests of the association and the growth of the college.

    “They are the children of this great college, as they are gathering here today I know some of them are very rich they should not forget this collage. There is infrastructural decay; the college is in need of Good projects, so it is necessary to look inward about the challenges facing the college.”

    In his lecture titled: “The Challenges of Alumni Association a Collective Responsibility” the Deputy National President of the Alumni, Sir. Emeka Nwokocha, said without the effort of some persons who realised the importance of alumni it could have been impossible to achieve any success.

    He said the association metamorphosed to a new level where it was given a pride of place among the units in the college. “Many thanks to the provost, Sir Dr. Silas Oguzor and the Deputy Provost Dr. Bassey Ubong for their understanding in placing the alumni association on the pinnacle where they stand today. It is often said that whom much is given much is expected. With the appointment of a desk officer, creation of Alumni unit and lately appointment of a Deputy Registrar for the unit much was now expected from the association. The Provost in one of the inaugurations of the association’s caretaker committee puts it succinctly. In his words “Alumni association are integral part of every tertiary institution and their role in the development of the college is of essence.”

    Sir Nwokocha, however, said the basic problem of the college is under-funding. He noted that negative influence of corruptive and valueless political system, planning and implementation problem has result in many issues such as weakening of tertiary institutions administration, poor teaching and learning.

    The college alumni during the congress meeting presented award to distinguished members of the association who have contributed to the growth of the Alumni.

    The Chairman of People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Chief Felix Obuah and the Provost of Federal College of Education Technical Omoku, Dr. Salas Oguzor bagged the college Alumni Special Grand Ambassador Awards. Other members of the Alumni who have contributed greatly to the association were also rewarded with outstanding and distinguished Ambassadors Awards.

    The National President of the Alumni, Mr. Brown Isobonye Ebenezer presented the Award to Obuah, who was represented by his wife.

    Mr. Isobonye said it has become necessary to come back to the college and look at the challenges facing the school and contribute their own quota by giving back little of what the college has given to them.

    “We have decided that we want to appreciate Felix Obuah who was the pioneer President of the Alumni. The planned secretariat building of the Alumni will be called Felix Obuah Alumni Secretariat.”

    Mrs. Charity Obuah, who received the Award on behalf of her husband, said he appreciated the Award and will do everything possible to continue to contribute his own quota to the progress of the association and development of the college.

    She said “My lovely husband is unavoidably absent, but I must tell you, he appreciates the Award here tonight. His dream has always been how to contribute to the development of the society. So, I am not surprised that this association recognised his efforts. Don’t forget I am also a member of this association because I graduated from this college and I will encourage anyone to do his or her best to ensure the progress of the association. “

    Mr. Lawrence Igenewari, the leader of 1991-1995 set of the college who also doubled as the Chairman of Networking and Membership committee said though there are lapses, he believed that in future the congress will get better if all hands are on desk.

    He said: “If you want me to describe the congress, I will tell you that we have tried but that is not enough. We witness areas that need to be adjusted, next time we are hosting another congress, like the area of publicity we are below the expectation. We need to publish some advert and host press conference a week before the congress.”

    The high points of the occasion included football match, unveiling of Alumni secretariat building, congress lecture, familiarisation tour of the collage and presentation of Awards to some members of the alumni.