The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Okon

  • Okon to convene his own conference

    Ever since President Jonathan , in a sudden Damascus-like conversion, decided to convene a National Conference, the entire country has been agog with intellectual and political excitement. The presidency must be enjoying itself. It is like throwing a scrap of meat at the whippersnappers of change and asking them to get on with the feral scrape or get lost.

    Pundits have been moving from one television station to the other. Nobody now seems to remember the Indian origins of that word. Of great concern to an ageing snooper is how some of these chaps always manage to arrive at the station in the early hours without appearing bleary-eyed even as yours sincerely battles with insomnia. It doesn’t add up, or do the stations have five-star suites? This is what George Lukacs, in a famous swipe at Theodore Adorno, calls the Grand Hotel Abyss.

    But while snooper is wallowing in self-pity, you can trust the irrepressible Okon to cotton in on the latest road show in town. The boy has been assembling a truly historic cast of rogues, ragamuffins and other riff-raff on the margins of society for what he called a Conference of Real Ethnic Minorities of Nigeria, CREMON. One morning, the affable crook , drunk with self-importance, walked up to snooper.

    “Oga, we wan start. As dem fly dey chop madman, madman fit chop fly too”, the mad boy crowed.

    “Start what, and where?” snooper snarled.

    “Dem conference of dem real people of Obodo, all dat one wey dem yeye Yoruba lawyers dey blow grammar na wetin Fela call dem army arrangement. We no dey for mala magomago and dem Yoruba monafiki”, Okon calmly submitted.

    “I see. Have you obtained Police Permit?” snooper demanded.

    “Oga, we don get dem Learners’ Permit from dem license office.” Okon snorted with criminal relish. Before snooper could respond to this outrage, an irate Ibo who had been stomping and stamping around with a scowl suddenly exploded. “Nna, make we begin to fire now, now. If not for dis confluence I for don sell ten tires for Ladipo since morning.”

    “Stupid Ibo man. Na so, so money, money, money”, one man spat with contempt.

    “Watch your tongue. I come from Onitsha and I no be Ibo man”, the man screamed. A call to order suddenly rang out amidst the din. It was James Henshaw, the old Calabar aristocrat and hell-raiser ,who claimed to have seen action as a submarine crew during the Second World War. He had arrived on the premises a day earlier with a retinue carrying his fresh supply of crocodile and hippo meat. When he was not reading old newspapers or sniffing from an enormous pouch of snuff, he was eyeing everybody with a supercilious frown which could be quite unnerving.

    “I hereby declare the conference open. The mistake of 1914 is that the Brits didn’t make Calabar the Federal Capital. We will sue them for reparations”, the old bandit declared. A burly Ijaw man with rippling biceps suddenly jumped up.

    “I am not a Nigerian, and I don’t speak English, period”, he announced in English and with a ferocious scowl. The Ijaw stalwart then ordered his aide to translate what he said for the benefit of everybody. As the chap started speaking in some ancient Old Testament tongue, there was pin drop silence.

    “Kai, this is what they call Lingua Fracas”, Baba Lekki rumbled from the depths of slumber. Pole-huggingly drunk as usual, he had fallen asleep on the sofa while claiming to take minutes. It was at this point that an old Godogodo soldier who had been watching the proceeding with barely concealed irritation let go a brisk volley from a concealed revolver which sent everybody scampering for safety.

  • Okon targets goal against Mexico

    Okon targets goal against Mexico

    Samuel Okon has hinted that another goal in the final of the FIFA U17 World Cup against Mexico in Abu Dhabi today would be the icing on the cake for his career.

    Okon killed off anything left in the Swedish Under 17 side when he doubled the Eaglets’ lead in the 80th minute when they were desperate to get an equaliser.

    The Greater Tomorrow Academy player said he would be happier if he gets to score again in the final just like he did in the last four encounter played in Dubai last Tuesday.

    “I am happy to get a goal at the World Cup but I will be happier to get another in the final. It will be the icing on the cake and I can’t wait to achieve that. I won’t, however, push for it, but if it comes my way, I will gladly take it,” Okon told SportingLife at the Mixed Zone of the Rashid Stadium in Dubai.

    The Eaglets went ahead to win the semi final game 3-0 with goals from Taiwo Awoniyi, Okon and Chidera Ezeh in the 21st, 80th and 81st minutes.

  • The Okon and Baba Lekki road show

    While Snooper was enjoying a well-deserved holiday, the dismal duo of Baba Lekki and Okon reinvented themselves as roadside philosophers dispensing nuggets of rare wisdom for a small fees to stricken and afflicted Nigerians. Among their favourite topics are: state abduction, power as aphrodisiac, armoured cars, prebendalism in the postcolony etc. On the last topic, Snooper understands that Wale Adebanwi and Ebenezer Obadare a.k.a Ebino, sans topsy-turvy, serve as professorial consultants from the Diaspora.

    Last Thursday, Snooper watched quietly as a drunken Urhobo lady sidled up to Okon. After paying the “admission” fees, the woman wasted no time with customary formalities. “Okon, my name be Okiemute, and I dey sell fish for Ogba. My question be say wetin dis dem Jonathan man dey do for Jarusalem sef, abi enof wahala no dey home?”

    The mad boy looked at the woman with wry bemusement and then shot back with a pithy and pitiless Efik proverb. “ My sista, make una leave am. Dem thing wey drive monkey go climb palm tree still dey for the bottom of dem palm tree”.

    “Make dem man no go quench for Jarusalem ooo”, the woman drawled.

    “Why not?” Okon snorted.

    “No be for dem yeye place dem dey wake up after sotey three days?”the Urhobo lady noted with a devilish wink.

    “Sista, I hear you, I hear you” Okon croaked and waved off the naughty wench. It was then the turn of a Yoruba man in battered suit who stepped forward with professorial solemnity. With his tangled and unkempt hair style, he seemed on the verge of losing a long-drawn battle of the mind. The man lunged at Baba Lekki with cat-like agility.

    “Wo, Baba Elegiri, or whatever funny name they call you. Give me a sexual theory of armoured cars with immediate effect. I am tired of all this hilarious harlequinade”, the man screamed.

    Sensing a kindred soul, Baba Lekki eyed the man with tipsy affection and admiration. “Out of the welter of national confusion comes a sober and sane mind”, the old sage began and then suddenly lapsed into pidgin French with alacrity, “Mais mon ami, L’amour cest la paramour”.

    “Ha, ha mon ami, cest bon, cest bon”, the strange man nodded severally. It was at this point that a gang of irreverent urchins broke up the proceeding.

  • Okon satisfied despite loss

    Okon satisfied despite loss

    Super Falcons caretaker coach, Edwin Okon has expressed satisfaction with the performances of his wards in the two-match friendly against Japanese side, Nadeshiko in Nagasaki and Chiba, Japan.

    The Falcons were beaten 0-2 by the reigning world champions in both encounters.Okon said the performance in the test games showed that with more playing time together the six-time African champions will reclaim their hitherto pristine position in Africa and the world.

    “I’m satisfied with our performances against Japan in the two-match friendly though we lost but the goal margin stands out as the best for any African side.

    “Super Falcons are still a new born baby that needs further nourishment to blossom.

    “If the side were able to stand up against the Japanese side with two-week camping they’ll surely go places and become once more a formidable side.

    “We’ve noted our shortcomings, we just need to throw the camp door open to get quality players to strengthen the side for future challenges,” said the Rivers Angels coach to supersport.com.

    Okon said his side will not be threatened by Sierra Leone in the campaign for the 2014 African Women Championship (AWC) ticket in Namibia.

    “No team is a pushover but I think the Sierra Leone opposition is fine.

    “Falcons can face any side, we’re not afraid of any side I know we’ll qualify for the AWC.

    “We just need time to stay together, I assure you the Falcons will return to its pristine position in Africa and the world,” said the former Falconets coach.

    The Falcons returned to Nigeria aboard Emirates Air on Sunday after the two-match friendly against Japan on September 22 and 26.

  • And a short farewell from snooper

    While we are still on the subject of death and departure, and of coming and going, it is meet to announce that this column is proceeding on leave. It is time for the masquerade behind the mask to take a well-deserved rest and to take stock of the future. For six and a half years beginning from January, 2007, dear readers, this column has appeared every Sunday. It has been a rich and rewarding experience. The more you know, the more aware you are of your ignorance. In the age of the dispersal of knowledge, the columnist as an omnipotent oracle is no longer feasible. A web of epistemic vulnerabilities binds all of us together.

    To our young readers who often marvel at its unstinting punctuality, let us say that the column is a triumph of the can do spirit which is typically Nigerian. This column is a testimony to the capacity of the human mind to push the body to the outer limits of punitive exertion and exhaustion. Before this column, the writer has never done a weekly column, preferring the fortnightly and monthly column which is more suitable to leisurely meditation and languid reflection. But certain political developments in the west in particular and in Nigeria in general changed all that.. Conceived as a light-hearted social diary, the column took on a life of its own and broke free of its handler.

    Snooper will miss our numerous readers and devotees of the column from far and wide, the parliament of pen-pushers , the web of warriors and the intensive care and caress of all those internees of the internet. Till we meet again, you can afford to sleepwalk with your eyes wide opened. Okon will be on long lease and a short leash.

  • Okon votes for child marriage

    It is not all over for All Over. While the distinguished senator from Idanre, Dr Ayo Akinyelure, a.k.a All Over, was weeping and crying like a baby as irate female members of his constituency pilloried him for rubbing them the wrong away over the child Marriage palaver, it was not only Senator Yerimah, the Oniyeri of Zamfara, that was having the last laugh.

    Okon had barged into snooper’s room with a strong message of support for the embattled senator from the rugged hills.

    “Oga, why dem Yoruba women dey shout about dem child marriage? Sebi dem dey do am too? “Okon demanded.

    “What do you mean?” snooper snapped.

    “Ah you see oga no vex.” The crazy boy began with a leer. “ When Okon first come Lagos as small pikin, he get one fat Yoruba woman for Mafoluku who dey greet me every morning and him dey say, oko mi o, oko mi o. I come ask dem wetin oko mi dey mean sef and they come tell me say na my husband. Naim I come pick race. I never even sabi piss proper not to talk of dem wire wire business, .so as dem mala dey do dem yanrinyan dem Yoruba women dey do dem yaro. Child marriage na child marriage. Equation don balance be dat, abi no be so:?”.

    “Okon, you are just a big fool. Get lost” snooper hissed at the rogue.

    “Oga I no be big fool. I be small fool for dem time. If to say na now now, dem fat Yoruba woman go smell pepper.” On that note, snooper kicked out the rogue cook.

  • Okon ambushes General Alabi Isama

    To the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs and its commodious Hall for the launch of General Godwin Alabi Isama’s much heralded war memoir with the inevitable Okon Francis Okon in tow. Never in living memory has this iconic hall been filled to this bursting capacity. The huge crowd spilled to the adjoining terrain with men and women of timber and caliber crouching to get a look in. Alabi Isama is a crowd puller any day. The boyishly affable and amazingly well-preserved former warlord has the rogue charms of a brilliant salesman. The clarity of his exposition was matched by the veracity of overwhelming details. The elephant has a long memory indeed.

    It was the day the dominated discourse of the civil war finally overtook the dominant narrative, leaving in its trail besmirched reputations and exploded myths of suspect heroism . A lie can travel for twenty years but it takes the truth only a few minutes to overtake it. In the end, perhaps nothing can match Brigadier Hillary Njoku’s description of the Nigerian civil war as a tragedy without heroes. Akinrinade, one of its most cerebral and measured products, has put it down to the fact that the civil war solved nothing and resolved little.

    Like bicentennial egunguns, many of the old warriors of yore graced the occasion. Now shorn of power and prestige, there was something quaint and antique about these war veterans. Yet they evinced the aura of nobility and true professionalism. Officers and gentlemen, these aging soldiers represented the finest breed of the old Nigerian military caste. In the brave new world of recent coup mongers, they all looked like magnificent anachronisms.

    As soon as we reached the premises, it was clear that Okon was going to constitute himself into a nuisance and security menace. The mad boy had already begun mumbling some disjointed and clearly seditious nonsense. Snooper felt a chill down the spine as he whipped the boy into line with a severe frown. But as soon as we entered the hall, the crazy boy broke loose and began his customary hell raising.

    “And wey dem Black Scorpion sef, abi na all dem Yoruba dane gun hunters dem take me come meet?” the mad boy yelled.

    “Okon, they will shoot you here like a rat and nothing will happen,” snooper screamed at the mad boy.

    “Oga nobody fit shoot Okon. We no dey dem military rule again,” the mad boy retorted.

    “Okay we’ll see,” snooper rumbled ominously. But the crazy boy refused to be intimidated.

    “And wey dem baba and him gbetugbetu, abi dat one be shakabula soldier sef?” Okon began. “And wey all dem Efik generals, abi dem Yoruba and Fulani people don throw tire for dem like dem kaput General Dan Achibong again?”

    “Okon, another word from you and I will hand you over to the police” snooper growled at the mad boy. This seemed to have quietened him down a bit. But only for the moment. Okon’s eyes suddenly lighted on a sternly serene and sedate General TY Danjuma as he began officiating. “Kai kai, ogbologbo soldier” himself, Okon moaned. Then the devil took possession of the mad boy.

    “Danjuma,” he suddenly called out to the great warrior with the severe frown. “Wey dem Bianca, abi no be him marry dem fine fine Ibo girl sef? He be like if dem dey call dat one Ikenga of Nnewi and him don kaput” Okon noted with a malignant smirk.

    It was at this point that a security operative walked up to us with a worried look.

    “Who is this man?” he asked snooper.

    “Ha, Okon was batman to General Alabi during the war” snooper submitted. But the mad boy immediately put his heavy boot in. “Abi if I no be batman who dey catch bat for am no be lizard and man flesh him dey chop for Obubra?”

    “I see,” the security man said with quiet glee and walked away. It was at this point that snooper decided to apply the final solution by offering the crazy boy some sleeping tablets disguised as trebor mints. He immediately fell into a heavy slumber snoring like ten bandits put together. But when the august and royal looking Brigadier Daramola was asked to come to the microphone, Okon rumbled.

    Ha Baba rere, I beg greet dem Olu and dem Funso for me. I sabi dem for Kaduna when man be vulcaniser for Ngwar Rimi,” the crazy boy intoned. By the time the widow of the heroic Colonel Etuk was narrating her tale of woes and the husband’s lapse into terminal depression and death, Okon was back on his feet.

    “You see why we say dis na yeye country? Efik man good for war but him no good for oyel block, abi?” Then he would lapse into Efik, condoling and consoling the relic of the war hero.” Ein, ein, eyen ekami, eyen eka mi”

    It was time to leave and it has been a great and good day for General Alabi Isama. Snooper had accosted the old war hero to find out where the cocktail was holding. Long accustomed to military camouflage and deception, the wily one pointed in a direction which suggested that he was deliberately and strategically wrong footing the milling lubbers and social lunchers. But Okon caught the drift.

    “Alabi!” the mad boy called out to the vanishing general with disarming familiarity. “Which kind cock dey get tail? Abi dat one na dem Ilorin abami cock? Go tell dat to dem American marines”. Even the American marines would be proud of Alabi Isama’s war exploits.

  • Okon upstages Seriake in Communication Theory

    Something new always comes out of Nigeria. With its endless assortment of political oddities and oddballs, Pliny the Second would have had a lot to say about contemporary Nigeria. Ever since Paul Dickson Seriake’s famous theory of “Dem say, dem say” journalism, snooper has been inundated by complaints from some South-south internet insurgents who accuse him of being slow to congratulate the Bayelsa governor for his landmark insights.

    With his formidable embonpoint, his burly and beefy frame and the bulging biceps, snooper fancies Seriake as a ferocious seriatim enforcer in the Praetorian Guard of some modern Ijaw emperor rather than as a Communication scholar, But we live in a world of scholarly surprises and it appears that the Yenagoa strongman has other fancies, Even Marshall Mcluhan, the famed Canadian Communication guru, would have applauded the insight and folksy wisdom of “Dem say dem say” journalism.

    But not so fast. In April 1989 at the London School of Oriental and African Studies, snooper partnered his friend, Stephen Ellis, formerly editor of the influential Africa Confidential and now professor African History at Leiden, Holland, to mount a seminar on Radio Trottoir or the use of pavement radio as a vehicle for rumour-mongering in Francophone Africa. It is not for nothing that the Yoruba call their old Rediffusion box, asoromagbesi, or he that talks without waiting for a reply.

    It was discovered that when people are denied access into the opaque treacheries of governance in Africa, they resort to rumour mongering. It is the invention of politics. Rumour is the integral lubricant of political abracadabra in Africa. In an interesting preface to a famous interview with General Ibrahim Babangida, the old Newswatch editors noted that apart from the coup attempts to oust him, the Minna born soldier had also survived “damaging rumours”

    But trust Okon who has no time for all this fancy stuff. According to the crazy boy, “Dem say dem say” journalism is an integral aspect of “Ngbati journalism” pioneered by the Yoruba people. When pressed further, it turned out that Okon had beaten up a Yoruba butcher at Agege market. When asked to narrate his ordeal, the man continued to sob “Ngbati, ngbati”. Okon then turned to the crowd. “You see, no be him say make I slap am well well, abi wetin be ngbati, ngbati?”.

    At the police station, the Ibo desk sergeant, after listening patiently to the “ngbati, ngbati” sobs of the butcher, promptly recorded it as a case of “when dem when dem assault.” Over to you, Dickson Seriake.

  • Film Adaptation can revive our Reading Culture —Augusta Okon

    Film Adaptation can revive our Reading Culture —Augusta Okon

    While growing up, literature and films have always been Augusta Okon’s first love. At the age of 14, she had become an author under the wings of Nelson publishers with her short story, ‘Bola and the kidnappers’. She won the maiden edition of the International Children’s Convention in ’93 organized by Interclassic ltd. Two years later, her second short story, ‘Trust No One’ was also published by Nelson. After graduating with a degree in Law from the University of Ibadan and proceeded to the Nigerian Law School, she’s directed her legal skills at the Entertainment circuit and is now a lady of many parts. She opened up on a range of issues bordering on film adaptation and the need to revive the declining reading culture in this interview with Entertainment Editor, VICTOR AKANDE.

     

     

    ORIGINAL works have always been the platform deployed in movie productions. Why the clarion call for Nigerian film adaptations?

    I have always had two loves in my life from back in the days till the present and they are literature and film. Classic novels from British authors, African Pacesetter series, recommended literary books in school coupled with Chinese, Indian, and American movies made the platforms my numero uno. Unfortunately the reading culture has become virtually non-existent, which has had a negative impact in the publishing sphere.

    Theatrical releases thrived back in the Golden years of cinema until it hit the folding up gong in the 80’s. However, its resurrection in the millennium alongside Nigerian filmmakers looking to the theatres to release their films rather than straight to VCD/DVD has given me hope that things are getting better. Over the years, there’s been a recycling of themes, dearth of originality in Moviedom and the success recorded by those who turned to film adaptations in Hollywood gradually turned the concept into a haven of box office hits. I believe it’s an untapped gold mine in Nigeria, it brings books to life via the big screens and since people love what they can see and hear to mere reading, there’s the huge possibility of a rise in the number of those who will storm the cinemas and buy the books at the stores”.

    So there’s the possibility that foreign movies we’ve watched at one point or the other are actually based on film adaptations than original works?

    Yes, Nigerians have watched many movies from the stables of Hollywood without knowing they were film adaptations and not original works. Examples are The godfather, Scar Face, The Davinci Code, I Am legend, Jurassic park, The Island, The last king of Scotland, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Man on Fire, Priest, Hunger Games, Troy, Chronicles of Narnia, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, V for Vendetta, Confessions of a Shopaholic, The King’s speech, The Hobbit, Life of Pi and many more.

    Are film adaptations strictly from novels?

    No, it can be from any other source. Film adaptations simply means the story was not derived from the original source i.e the script writer’s imagination. Adaptations could be from poems, plays, news, articles, short stories, TV shows, other films, and even comics.

    You seem to be confident of the box office mileage film adaptations can have, are you saying such gives instant success?

    It would be wrong to say that all film adaptations gives instant success because various factors such as the popularity of the author, the work being adapted, ability of the screenwriter to critically interpret the original work and make it exciting, the quality of the film’s production taking into cognizance vital elements such as sound, lighting, cinematography, editing, directing, cast, amongst other things, play vital roles in determining its success. However, it has been proven beyond our shores that in comparison to original works, film adaptations can supercede original works at the box office and other fora.

    Have we had film adaptations of Nigerian works?

    Yes we’ve had, but it’s a drop in the bucket in comparison to original works. The likes of Prof. Wole Soyinka’s “Kongi Harvest”, Prof. Femi Osofisan’s “The Restless Run of locust and Maami”, Elechi Amadi’s “The Concubine”, Bayo Adewale’s “TheVirgin” adapted by Tunde Kelani as “The Narrow Path”, TV series of the literary icon late Prof. Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart”, Adebayo Faleti’s “Thunderbolt”, Akinwumi Ishola’s “O leku”, and in recent times, Ebi Akpeti’s “The Perfect Church”, Olayinka Abimbola’s “Dazzling Mirage”, Femi Faseru’s “Married but living single”, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s “Half of a yellow sun”, Ola Rotimi’s “The gods are not to blame” are examples of film adaptations. Filmmakers can embark on potential film adaptations of works such as The Famished Road, Zarah the wind seeker, The Secret life of Baba Segi’s wives, The Great Ponds, The Forest of a thousand demons, Waiting for an Angel, Second Class Citizen, Efuru and many more. One can even start from simple adaptations of the popular Drummer Boy, Without a Silver Spoon, Passport of Mallam Illia before trending on those perceived as being complex and very expensive to make.

    Why do you think filmmakers are not keen on making film adaptations?

    I believe it’s because they’re largely unaware of the endless possibilities associated with the concept. They don’t invest in reading books hinged on the poor reading culture; invariably they’ll have little or no interest in such.

    A good example of a Nigerian filmmaker whose love for literary works has made him the number one producer of film adaptations is Tunde Kelani. Filmmakers also don’t want to go through the rigours of paying royalties to authors, which forces them to be legally complian and many still grapple with making churned productions. No author is going to be pleased in seeing his or her work churned out straight to DVD and watched as a home video. Authors want their books to come to life on the big screen; in theatres and when once a filmmaker has the vision to show it in Nigerian cinemas, he most often times than not, takes it out of the country for theatrical releases in the UK, USA and other parts of the world and puts it in for international film festivals. This gives the author wider exposure, the publisher gets to reprint the books while the filmmaker makes his money. It’s a win-win situation for the parties. Any filmmaker/producer going for film adaptations must be ready to produce with a good budget and not a shoe stringed one.

    Don’t you think that the demand for payment of high royalties from the author can scare the filmmakers away?

    High is relative in this case. What is perceived as high to one filmmaker may not be the same to another. Authors put in a lot of effort into creating beautiful stories, taking months and sometimes years to perfect. As you know the story is the fulcrum of the movie, so why shouldn’t they be paid well? If you can afford to pay the lead cast mouth watering fees why shouldn’t ‘the brain’ behind the story be equally paid well?

    You can have the best A-list thespians, but if the story has no depth, it bombs! A filmmaker can also reach a compromise with the author, for example, legendary adaptation filmmaker, Tunde Kelani, once said that back in the days he had no money to pay Adebayo Faleti for the rights to adapt his work into a film. He asked the author to be part of the production, thereby waving his rights, which he gladly obliged. There can be compromise on the part of the author, just make sure what you’re bringing to the table is worth it.

    Nigerians don’t buy books to read, they say it’s expensive due to the economic crunch, what’s your take on that?

    Have heard that assertion before, but can you buy what doesn’t interest you? The dearth of a reading culture stems from the once fazed away public libraries, parental indifference, strong contenders for our time and money such as entertainment, inadequate book competitions and publicity, low level of research in schools, and of course the internet. Many surf the internet for information only when a school assignment has been handed down.

    Social Networks, social bookmarks, sports, entertainment sites and blogs are largely surfed for fun, latest gist and gossip. How much do books cost?, say between N500 N2,500 depending on the genre, number of pages and whether it’s a hard cover or paper back. Now let’s compare it to others. How much do you spend to leisurely browse on your phone or at the café in a month?, how much do you pay to watch a movie at the cinemas for an hour thirty minutes or two hours depending on the running time, that’s between N1,000-N1,500, and if you’re a student it’s N500. A good number of Nigerians can afford to buy books, but there’s just no motivation to do so.

    Why would you consider film adaptation to be important?

    Besides serving as a better alternative source of recouped investments to original works, it creates a combination of literature and film which makes us eventually want to read the book, watch the movie while listening to the characters dialogue. It can re-vitalize the reading culture with time, build a book into a brand, and strengthen the collective promotion of the book between the publisher and filmmaker. Authors can make valuable contributions on set to the director and screenwriters who specialize in adapted works. It also boosts healthy competition between adapted and original film productions.

    Are there any potential challenges faced in opting for film adaptations rather than original works?

    Well there are always two sides to a coin. There’s the possibility of the film falling short of readers expectations and even the author’s, for example Wole Soyinka was unhappy with the 1971 Calpenny’s production of his work, Kongi Harvest. Some readers might prefer the film to the book and vice versa. Some might not like the modification, deletion of certain parts and would rather prefer the exact replica of the original work. There are lots of pages to compress within the two hours or less time frame, bearing in mind that an hour and a half movie will get more slots at the cinemas than a two hour movie. There’s also the possible shallow understanding of the work by the screen writer, replicated in the incorrect interpretation, that’s why it is good to engage the services of one who specializes in such or connects with literature and can easily interpret same.

    What are you doing to promote the film adaptation concept?

    Well besides, the media platform, such as this remarkable one I’m using to promote the concept, I also run an online blog, 9aijabooksandmovies, where I unveil books and also movies hitting the theatres. I see it as a platform, which with time, will become the reference point by filmmakers who seek books to adapt into films and net surfers will get latest information about both spheres. I have some other things lined up in the pipeline as well.

    Do you think the concept is attainable in Nigeria?

    I believe in proper growth and development. When a baby is born, he or she undergoes certain phases of development with time. Imagine being drawn to a four months old baby who is lying on the bed, the baby looks at you, sits up, jumps out of bed, walks to you, and then begins to speak fluently in English or your mother tongue, won’t you scream and run?.

    You would, because it’s abnormal! That’s the biggest challenge we have in the system and in the country as a whole. We want results at once, we don’t want to follow the laid down stages and principles, guided by time in achieving things. It’s not done! Home videos had been in existence since the 80’s but Ken Nnebue’s ‘Living in bondage’ set the stage for the home video explosion or revolution. It’s one step at a time, and if filmmakers are patient and if they play their cards right and there’s a numeric explosion in cinema chains alongside distributors who know their onions, then the concept is certainly attainable.

    What about the African continent?

    It’s good to start from somewhere and home happens to be the best place to start. However, I’m not limiting myself to our borders; I believe that film adaptations can be used by African filmmakers and producers. In fact some have begun to see the possibilities.

  • Okon romances Bigfoot at Ife

    To the lush, alluring and eternally enchanting OAU campus at Ife and its celebrated Staff Club with Okon in tow. Nestling among giant trees and overlooking a magical mountain range straight out of the fabled Igbo Irunmole, the OAU Staff Club remains a tribute to Hezekiah Oluwasanmi’s visionary genius.

    It was here in the seventies and eighties that some of the most brilliant debates about military rule and the fate of the nation took place under an iconic almond tree. The almond tree was still there this Friday afternoon—or was this an optical illusion? But the presiding deity was nowhere to be found. The deity in question, Professor Akintola Aboderin, a.k.a Akin Abod, supervised the debates under the tree while beer and much bile flowed. Aboderin was a Yale prodigy who was already turning in research papers as an undergraduate. But all that now belongs to institutional memory and aborted hopes.

    Okon had been dazzled and dazed by the architectural beauty of the landscape, But not to be fazed, the rummy lad immediately began running errant commentary.

    “Chei, Oga na god go punish dis wicked Yoruba people. So na here dem come sink all dem Oyel money?” the mad boy crowed.

    “Okon, watch your tongue. This is an important place.” Snooper admonished the mad boy.

    “So na important place go mean make man see dem truth make man no talk?” the rogue charged back.

    “Okay then” snooper said ominously. This seems to have quietened the boy a bit. But all hell was let loose as soon as we entered the club\s premises.

    “Wey all dem yeye professors, abi werepe don finish dem for dem farm?” the mad boy charged. An embarrassed snooper tried to hush the boy up.

    “You lunatic, I have told you these people are eggheads,” snooper cautioned.

    “Ah oga,” “na true, he get one of dem I dey see and him head come be like dem tolotolo egg.” The mad boy jeered. It was at this point that Luke, a veteran staffer of the club, hailed snooper.

    “Ha Mr president.” Luke saluted. But the satanic boy quickly picked the scent of blood.

    “Chei, we dey pray make god give us better pikin. Oga, so na for here you come be president?” Okon chortled to snooper’s seething rage. It was at this point that Charles Ukeje, an Associate Professor, reverentially guided snooper towards a row of immaculate whitewashed chairs. Charles’ father, the late and much beloved Animalu Ukeje, a,k.a Comrade Animal, was Vice President to snooper.

    “This is the elders, corner,” Charles intoned.

    “No wonder, but why dem chair no get wheel?” Okon grunted sarcastically. It was at this point, and as if on cue, that the elders started trooping in. Welcome, Mr Sagay a.k.a S.O.G, welcome Professors Adewumi and Monone Omosule, welcome the ever urbane and courteous gentleman, Professor Aduayi, welcome snooper’s buddy, Professor Owolabi Ajayi of Cobra fame and ,of course, welcome Dr Bunyamin Kukoyi, a.k.a Bigfoot, prizefighter and inimitable master of urban affray. It was Bigfoot that immediately caught Okon’s fancy.

    “Do you remember the day I wanted to beat you up at Ifewara for rowdy conduct?” Bigfoot asked a bemused snooper without any sense of irony. The old pugilist immediately began regaling us with his duelling exploits, particularly his encounters with local thugs who always ended in hospital. One of these, a local toughie called Agbo, fouled his trousers after Bigfoot administered physical therapy.

    The most hilarious was the occasion in secondary school when he was sent home to bring his father after a nasty fracas. In place of his real father, Bigfoot rented a local Ijebu man who wasted no time in slapping him several times as the principal reeled out his offences. Okon was immensely impressed. He never uttered another word that afternoon. The fear of Bigfoot is the beginning of wisdom. It has been a wonderful afternoon, folks.