The Nation Newspaper

Tag: stories

Stories around palm oil

Please perish the thought dear reader, Hardball would not dare repeat here, that silly tale about Malaysia taking a few palm oil seedlings from Nigeria in the 60s, blah, blah, blah. Even Hardball would probably cry if he hears that story one more time.

It is a sad tale about Nigeria’s failure; everyone knows it, everyone tells it to everyone who re-tells to everyone who re-tells, on and on, ad-nauseam. We have probably told it for all of three decades yes; 30 years in case you think that was a slip.

Yes, one whole, long generation of Nigerians have regaled themselves with this woe tales, yet concrete actions were never taken to change the situation.

Back then, Nigeria was among the top exporters of crude palm oil. But today, Malaysia is world leader in the commodity they say, but they don’t know that this is just a small bit of the huge oil palm story.

They do not know that other Asian countries like Indonesia, Thailand and Burma now dominate this oil trade, which has a global value of about $50 billion. They do not know that palm oil, like crude oil, can be broken down into different variants and grades. It is no longer the good red oil we used to know.

We are still fixated on the palm oil story of the 60s, but it’s a different story now for palm oil, which incidentally, makes up more than half of the oil and fats consumed in the world today.

It is a big industry, big business for countries, who know how to do big things. For instance, the oil palm research institute set up by Malaysia in the 60s has grown into a major Agriculture University. But its counterpart in Nigeria has become a shadow of itself, perhaps half overgrown by weeds. But why is Hardball getting so oily-soily today? It is about a report that Nigeria recently imported about N12 billion worth of palm oil in October and November. And that indeed, Nigeria needs about 2.7 million metric tons of palm oil yearly, but can hardly produce 1 million tons. She has to import the bulk of the rest.

How can this be happening when one state in the Southeast or Southsouth can produce Nigeria’s need? How can we now turn around to claim that some states are not viable or that they cannot afford to meet basic salary bills, yet they sit on a palm oil industry that yields more than all the money that accrues to them from federal allocation?

While the price of the much more favoured crude oil has been dropping that of palm oil is rising in global markets. The prospects for this native commodity are actually bright, but only those who are working will reap them, not those telling and re-telling old oil stories.

The only story left untold and which desperately needs to be told about the crop ancient to our land would be a come-back story. Let the world tell how Nigeria miraculously raised the dying palm oil industry back to number one in the world in a couple of years. That would be the story!

November 9, 2017
‘We publish stories that mean a lot’

In the past few years, books published by Parresia Book Publishers have been making waves on the literary scene. One of its books clinched the NLNG Nigerian Literature Prize in 2015. Another work titled: A Good Mourning, by Ogaga Ifowodo made the shortlist of three this year. Richard Ali, lawyer, poet and co-founder of Parresia Books, in this interview with Edozie Udeze addresses some of the reasons why its authors do well and the secret behind the firm’s success. Excerpts

In a few weeks from now another book by your company Parresia Books may be announced winner of this year’s NLNG Nigerian Literature Prize. How do feel about this?

I feel very excited because this year again, we have an author in the running for the prize. Ogaga Ifowodo made the shortlist of three with his collection, A Good Mourning. Let’s say, as publishers, we have been excited ever since he made the earlier longlist. Of course, there are several other of our poets whose works we feel very strongly about enough to publish and submit who did not make it. I feel that these poets being on the longlist would have had me even happier but prizes all have their own dynamic and it is beyond what even I, as a publisher, think great poetry is. It is enough for me that Dr. Ifowodo is on the list and in the running. It means what we are doing is good and we are on the right track re: poetry. As for the award ceremony, we will keep our fingers crossed. May the best poet win.

Talking about poetry, I would like to mention a new imprint called Konya Shamsrumi which is edited by 2017 Brunel Prize shortlisted poet, Kechi Nomu. It is affiliated to Parrésia through our foundation for Arts and Literature. It is an imprint we hope to grow to be the most definitive in Africa and we will rely on our poets, including Ogaga, Musa Idris Okpanachi and Amu Nnadi, to help achieve this. Konya Shamsrumi has at its core the KSR Collective which comprises Kechi Nomu, Umar Abubakar Sidi, Rasaq Malik Gbolahan, Funmi Gaji and myself.

Season of Crimson Blossoms by Abubakar Adams Ibrahim which was also published by Parrésia, won the prize two years ago. It was equally acclaimed a huge success. How did you foresee this potential?

Not so much potential as talent. Abubakar’s talent has been known to us for a long time now, you would recall that we published his debut collection of stories, The Whispering Trees. When we received the manuscript of Season of Crimson Blossoms from him, we knew it was an important book—he had my attention from the very first paragraph and it was the same with Azafi. His editor, the truly great Ellah Allfrey, was equally impressed and worked with him and us on the book for several months. Of course, we did not set out to win awards, only to get an important story out there. Our motto at Parrésia is “your words, in trust” and what we do is create a platform to introduce, project and secure important stories. When the writers we care about win awards and recognition and accolades, we feel like midwifes who have birthed a baby when that same baby grows well and strong. Publishing is a composite activity of several parties all come together because they recognize talent and want to bring the very very best out of it. The rest is extra.

A lot of critics are of the opinion that Parresia’s business consciousness is to publish only award-bound writers. What is your reaction to this?

Oh, I’m clear about it that such critics are either being mischievous or just being silly. We love each and every one of our books and what gets our attention is talent. If your emphasis is on talent, and you work on that, it’s likely that accolades will follow but that is not a strict science. Abubakar was the very first writer who trusted our then fresh new publishing house with his manuscript in 2012/13. He had won the BBC African Performance prize for a play in 2008, but no one imagined The Whispering Trees would be shortlisted for the Caine Prize that year. Nor is there a formula to predict that we would be the only in-Africa publishing house with work on the Caine shortlist that year. Emmanuel Iduma, Chika Unigwe, Amara Nicole Okolo, Ifesinachi Okoli—we all published their books and these books are being enjoyed by readers country-wide, but the books have not necessarily won awards, nor do they need to to validate their talent or inform our decision. Helon Habila and Molara Wood as well. What you must understand though is that in publishing, your writers quickly become like family and you all, publisher and entire authors list, share the successes of each individual member of the house as it were. Consequently, I am always interested in seeing the next manuscript of people we have published already. Even with this, we always ensure we publish new voices no one has heard of, we take that risk every year.

Ogaga Ifowodo’s A Good Mourning that is on the shortlist rings with ironies and hyperbole. How did you arrive at the title of the poetry collection?

The title came from him. Poetry is a very tricky genre in that there is very little you can do with it. A work either has the quality of poetry in it or it does not, and this quality, which I call poetry, the poetry of the poem if you like, is something only the poet can give. The poet, in turn, can only give to his creation what he has, cannot give more or less than what he possesses. How does a poet come to possess poetry? Now, that, my friend, is the question of the centuries. I mean whether it is inborn or can be learnt, whether it is intuitive or if experience forms it. So, when as a publisher you come across a work that has that elusive quality I have called the poetry, you approach it with respect. A Good Mourning is a perfect collection, from the name to the poems to the poetic vision that formed it. Changes were very minimal.

Can you tell us in a broader perspective what qualifies a manuscript to attract Parresia’s attention?

That’s a tight question, very hard to answer. Perhaps the best indicator would be to read what we have published? There’s got to be something beneath them all that might indicate a Parrésia quality? I like to think that what sets out our Parresia Books and select Origami Books is an uncanny perspective to the world. Beyond being well written, and beyond even the talent of an author, the story has to mean something, whether it is the relationship between an older woman and a younger thug in a conservative northern Nigeria or a collection that explores fragile national stories through unusual points of view, or the peculiar balance of women and their mothers. There must be that something. This is the best I can do. Perhaps literary critics can help with this further? Another thing, our resources are limited and we publish just a few mass market books each year, often under ten books. As a business, you cannot publish all the great books that come your way and compromises and balance are always called for.

What would you say is your contribution to the promotion of African, more so, Nigerian literature?

Azafi and I have created, in Parrésia Publishers Limited, one more platform for projecting our best words in a continent where there are not enough platforms.

Most aspiring writers do not know some of the whims of this business of the assessment and acceptance of manuscripts. How does Parrésia come in here to assist?

There is very little we can do. I always advice writers to not send in their first draft, often of their very first work. Literature takes quite some doing to get right. A writer needs criticism and feedback, needs several rewrites and in some cases, re-imaginations, before a manuscript is ready for the publisher. A first draft will be rejected out of hand and this might discourage the writer or, amusingly, justify their own feelings of inadequacy by providing a big bad publisher to malign and rant against. A better draft has a greater potential to catch attention. Also, before sending out work to a publisher, try and read what they have published prior. Just as before setting out to write a book at all, you should have read books widely. A publisher is, at the bottom of it, a businessperson and while he may be sentimental about books, he is not a charity really and cannot teach people how to write.

September 10, 2017
Stories around palm oil

Please perish the thought dear reader, Hardball would not dare repeat here, that silly tale about Malaysia taking a few palm oil seedlings from Nigeria in the 60s, blah, blah, blah. Even Hardball would probably cry if he hears that story one more time.

It is a sad tale about Nigeria’s failure; everyone knows it, everyone tells it to everyone who re-tells to everyone who re-tells, on and on, ad-nauseam. We have probably told it for all of three decades yes; 30 years in case you think that was a slip.

Yes, one whole, long generation of Nigerians have regaled themselves with this woe tales, yet concrete actions were never taken to change the situation.

Back then, Nigeria was among the top exporters of crude palm oil. But today, Malaysia is world leader in the commodity they say, but they don’t know that this is just a small bit of the huge oil palm story.

They do not know that other Asian countries like Indonesia, Thailand and Burma now dominate this oil trade, which has a global value of about $50 billion. They do not know that palm oil, like crude oil, can be broken down into different variants and grades. It is no longer the good red oil we used to know.

We are still fixated on the palm oil story of the 60s, but it’s a different story now for palm oil, which incidentally, makes up more than half of the oil and fats consumed in the world today.

It is a big industry, big business for countries, who know how to do big things. For instance, the oil palm research institute set up by Malaysia in the 60s has grown into a major Agriculture University. But its counterpart in Nigeria has become a shadow of itself, perhaps half overgrown by weeds. But why is Hardball getting so oily-soily today? It is about a report that Nigeria recently imported about N12 billion worth of palm oil in October and November. And that indeed, Nigeria needs about 2.7 million metric tons of palm oil yearly, but can hardly produce 1 million tons. She has to import the bulk of the rest.

How can this be happening when one state in the Southeast or Southsouth can produce Nigeria’s need? How can we now turn around to claim that some states are not viable or that they cannot afford to meet basic salary bills, yet they sit on a palm oil industry that yields more than all the money that accrues to them from federal allocation?

While the price of the much more favoured crude oil has been dropping that of palm oil is rising in global markets. The prospects for this native commodity are actually bright, but only those who are working will reap them, not those telling and re-telling old oil stories.

The only story left untold and which desperately needs to be told about the crop ancient to our land would be a come-back story. Let the world tell how Nigeria miraculously raised the dying palm oil industry back to number one in the world in a couple of years. That would be the story!

December 8, 2016
Our life stories, by Nigeria’s birthday mates

‘It is disheartening that I am still struggling at 56’

FOR 56-year-old Jimi Christopher Pyne, the approach of his birthday every year is always a mixture of good and bad feelings.

“The approach of my birthday brings both good and bad feelings to me,” Pyne said.

Lafiaji, Lagos State-born Pyne, who sometime ago suffered a partial stroke, was born on October 1, 1960, same day that Nigeria obtained her independence.

At 56, like his beloved country and birthday mate, Pyne, who claims to be a builder, confessed that he is still struggling.

“It is disheartening that I am still struggling at 56. The truth about this is that I wish that I, and indeed Nigeria, are better off than we are today. The main problem that is besetting our nation is leadership.”

However, despite his parlous state, Pyne is happy for life. “I am happy to be alive. Even though life is tough, I still give God the glory for keeping me alive,” he said with a sense of thanksgiving.

Sharing birthday with Nigeria makes me special —Tonia Obiageri Ologwa

Tonia Obiageri Ologwa looks forward to every October 1st like a young girl looking forward to her first date. For sharing birthday with her country, Tonia sees herself as special. “Yeah, I am special,” she said excitedly.

However, Tonia wishes that Nigeria has done better than it is presently doing. She is sad that at 56, an age she said any human being would have qualified to be a grandfather, Nigeria remains a toddler.

“As a man or woman, at 56 years old, you should be talking about your grandchildren. But, when you are like Nigeria who is still crawling at 56, how would you realise that dream?,” Tonia asked.

Tonia, who is still single, believes that the situation of the country has made it almost impossible for prospective husbands to realise their dreams.

“The men are no longer up and doing like they were in those days. Before now, a job is waiting for you immediately you leave the university. They give you a decent apartment, car and all those things that would make your life good.

“But, the story is no longer the same. There is no job for the teeming youths who leave higher institutions every year. They continue to remain dependent on their parents, same way Nigeria remains dependent on foreign countries for survival.”

Asked if her high taste and those of other young ladies is responsible for driving young men away, Tonia said she would rather blame the situation on the economy, which she said has incapacitated most young men, thereby discouraging them from settling down.

“I am a home-grown lady. So, you cannot say that I am single because of my high taste. The truth is that the economy is not really friendly to young men. Most young men are incapacitated and cannot even dream of settling down, not to talk of marrying for now.”

Despite her reservation, Tonia is happy to share her birthday with Nigeria and has decided to celebrate the day the way she can.

October 1st is the best thing to happen to me —Maureen Amaka Dike

MAUREEN Amaka Dike is excited at the approach of her birthday and she is determined to mark the day with her baby and husband in a special way. For her, the talk about sharing her birthday with Nigeria is the best thing.

“It is the best thing to happen to me,” she said excitedly.

Her excitement, she confessed, is laced with the optimism that the future is bright for her and Nigeria.

“Whenever I tell people that my birthday is October 1st, they look at me with some special interest. What that tells me is that I am special. For me, I am very sure that the future is very bright for my country and for me as well.”

‘My dad used to tell me how important I was because of my birthday’

YETUNDE Joseph, born after independence, is always happy any time her birthday comes up. Right from the early age, she had been made to feel important because she shares the same birthday with Nigeria. “I feel elated to be sharing the same birthday with my country, Nigeria. As a child, my dad always told me I was very important and my birthday was recognised by the president, that was why we got a public holiday and everyone was at home to celebrate my birthday with me, although I never had a big birthday party. Aside the public holiday we all get, as a child although not vividly, I remember being crowned as Miss Independence Day when we went for a programme at the NTA 2 Channel 5 back then.”

Joseph is hopeful that someday, things will definitely turn around for good for the country. She posited that if Nigeria could attain the present feat at 56 when compared to the first world countries that are older in ages, then there is hope that things will definitely get better. She is optimistic that “Things will turn around for good.”

She also believes that for the country to achieve the desired greatness, all hands must be on deck, and has resolved to be part of those who would bring about the greatness. “As an individual, I aspire to contribute my quota to the country’s development, by giving voice to the marginalised in our society, so that everyone can maximise their potential, irrespective of whether you have a disability, an orphan, widow, abused and others.”

Joseph wished for a corrupt-free Nigeria, where everybody has access to basic amenities, quality living, good leadership, and employment opportunities.

Asked if she would have preferred to be born on independence, she said: “No, because I would not have been born through my mum. She was a child at the time of independence. I cannot trade to have another woman as my biological mother,” she said.

She is looking forward to Nigeria with humane leaders, constant power supply which is already gradually trending, quality education, improved employment rate and better standard of living for all.

“We should all continue to love our country and ourselves during the good and bad times, irrespective of our tribe, religion or cultural differences, and let’s all work towards building our precious home Nigeria, since there is really nowhere like home,” she said.

‘Independence connotes freedom and it helps my mindset’

I FEEL honoured sharing the same day with my country, a great country with blessed people.” These were the words of Leigh Tolulope, as she spoke excitedly to The Nation.

She further said: “Well, the date actually makes me feel exceptional at times, but I can t recall any day I enjoyed any kind of special treatment, when I mentioned my date of birth.”

Tolulope realised early that his birthday celebrations were always an holiday for the family and usually so exciting.

His aspiration is to be an accomplished surveyor and to contribute his quota to national growth and mankind. “Missed opportunities avail you new methodology to accomplishments. So, I dwell less on that, but focus more on the next,” Tolulope said.

As the nation celebrates her 56th birthday, Tolulope is looking forward to a great nation , “where you have that conviction that you are where you see your dreams come to pass, a country we will all be proud of.”

Unfortunately, he is not happy that the country is still far from where he had wished it was, despite the fact that it has what it takes to be great.

If he comes another life, Tolulope would still want to share national day with his country because, “independence connotes freedom, it’s so symbolic, it helps my mindset, like I was born to be free, so when life comes with its challenges, I don’t flutter, , I know I l be free of such situation soon.”

For this country to unite, he is of the view that we have an all inclusive government where everybody is adequately represented. “It gives a natural sense of belonging and responsibility, that makes us know it belongs to all of us, but if there’s a subconscious sidelining of a particular region or group, it won’t foster the love cum unity we all crave for.”

Looking forward to a better nation —Funmilayo Oyatayo

FUNMILAYO Oyatayo sees herself as a privileged citizen because she shares the same birthday with her country.

“It is a great privilege sharing the same day with our great country and I feel really excited about it,” she said, before adding: “Nigeria is the pride of Africa, a country with beautiful people and diverse cultures.”

She recalled how the hospital gave her mother loads of goodies for being an Independence Day baby.

“My aspirations include becoming a successful surveyor and I look forward to providing solutions to global issues that border on my area of expertise. I will rather learn from missed opportunities and make the most of the next opportunity that comes my way,” she said.

While Oyatayo is happy to be born on October 1st, she would prefer nature take its course. “Yes, I love the Independence Day feeling and the circumstances surrounding the date, because it connotes a day when the nation received her freedom. Although the breakthrough in medical science have made it possible for parents to decide exactly and plan when they want their children to be born, I’ll rather prefer nature take its course.”

On the occasion of Nigeria’s 56th independence, she is looking forward to a country that will shift from being a consumer nation to a producer nation.

“I hope to see a country where the green passport will be the most sought-after, a country where everything works because the giant of Africa is a land of endless possibilities, blessed with abundant natural resources that can translate to personal wealth for her citizens. We have a lot of untapped potentials and I can see individuals, private organisations and other corporate bodies working tirelessly to see this country attain that height once again. The process seems slow and steady, but I see us getting there. I’m really looking forward to it,” she said.

It’s good fortune sharing birthday with Nigeria —Chief Dozie Kaidi Obiaku

FOR Chief Dozie Kaidi Obiaku, being born on Nigeria’s Independence Day is a mark of good fortune. “I have the good fortune, yes, good fortune, of sharing birthday with my beloved country Nigeria.”

Though many Nigerians seem to have lost faith in the country, Chief Obiaku remains resolute that the country has the potential to be great.

“Many Nigerians seem to have lost faith in the country and have only negative sentiments towards the nation. But I really consider that sad for our great country. Nigeria is, at least, potentially great. Like Nigeria, I have also grown in age, only just two years younger.”

Speaking with The Nation, Obiaku said: “I started out well enough in life, born to parents who one would really neither describe as rich nor poor. I was a brilliant boy who made distinction in both my primary and secondary school education.

“I gained admission in 1980 to study mass communication at the famous Institute of Management and Technology, IMT, Enugu. I could be rightly described as a bourgeois student because, by the time I graduated in 1985, I had used two cars on campus.

“I went to Ibadan for my National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme between 1985 and 1986 and earned a Masters degree from the University of Ibadan in 1992. Three years after I got married. I also had a bit of my education overseas. Today, I live in Lagos where I am struggling with the prevailing economic recession in Nigeria.

“Life was a whole lot easier for me as a young person growing up in Nigeria in the 1970’s/1980’s than it is now as a middle-aged parent. Now I can hardly provide for my own children the things I took for granted when I was their age. Life in Nigeria has indeed been increasingly difficult, and I blame it all largely on misrule or massive corruption if you like.”

‘I feel that my fate or my life is tied to that of Nigeria’

SHARING his birthday with Nigeria is a refreshing experience for Yinka Oyegbile. For the veteran journalist and his household, October 1st of every year remains an unforgettable day on the calendar.

“Well, it makes me feel that the day is a day that I will never forget, and a lot of my friends don’t forget. One, because I am not a man that is given so much to marking birthdays, but whether you like it or not, even before the advent of Facebook.

“I remember in primary school, the very day I was registered, when my teacher heard that I was born on October 1, it became an annual thing, and every October 1, they will remind me, telling me ‘Happy birthday’. So, because I share the same birthday with Nigeria, it makes me remember it is my birthday.

Secondly, it gives you some sense of satisfaction and at the same time, a sense of burden. You feel satisfied in the sense that you share the same birthday with your country and you know that almost everyone will remember. A sense of burden because you look at Nigeria, you feel that the country should have moved forward more than were it is. On a personal note, I feel that my fate or my life is tied to that of Nigeria.”

He believes that the fortune of the country has rubbed off on him, like it has done on every other Nigerian.

“Personally, if there is any Nigerian who feels that the fortune of the country has not affected him in one way or the other, that person must be a Nigerian who either has been privileged to hold government office, or near someone who holds government office, or his or her parents hold government office.

“Come to think it, in terms of achievement, many will feel that if your country has succeeded, you will also have succeeded, because the way I see it is that, the success of Nigeria is the success of its citizens. I have, within the resources available to me, struggled enough. I am happy and I thank God as I am. One would have expected that someone like me, born almost at the same time as the country, in terms of year and date, perhaps I would have enjoyed scholarship, enjoyed bursary, but I have never in life had any government scholarship or bursary.

“So, if I did not have, with the way the economy is going now, is it my children that will have government bursary or scholarship? But at the time we were growing up, we knew people who were getting scholarship who were at the same pedestal with us, but because their parents wielded some influence, and that is very unfortunate. Nigeria has not been able to give every man a chance to prove himself,” he said regrettably.

I rarely celebrate my birthday on October 1 —Lagos bizman Asiwaju Agwunobi

CONTRARY to what many may expect from a man who shares the same birthday with his country, Lagos-based businessman, Asiwaju Martins Agwunobi, has never been enthusiastic about celebrating his birthday.

“I rarely celebrate my birthday. That I was born on a date which marks Nigeria’s freedom from the British colonial authorities gladdens my heart, but it has turned out to be just like every other day to me for many years.’’

The 46-year-old Chief Executive Officer of Utmost Global Resources Ltd attributed his disposition toward the birthday to his childhood days which he said were devoid of celebration of his birthday.

‘’I was born on October 1, 1970 in Isunjaba in Isu Local Government Area of Imo State, but I left my hometown for Lagos to live with one of my uncles, who is late now. I was brought to Lagos before the age of five and I did not have the privilege of being celebrated on my birthday.”

Growing up, his birthday was never a special event to talk about around his uncle’s home.

“ I did not enjoy any special treat, because my uncle hardly remembers his own birthday, talk less of mine. The situation was like that till I finished my primary and secondary education and subsequently travelled to Germany where I spent over 20 years.”

Sharing his experiences, he said that providence played a part in his relocation abroad at a younger age, which also marked a turning point in his life.

”My stay in Germany marked the turning point in my life. I did not know anyone there when I travelled to the country. But I quickly adapted, studied their language and got married before too long because I lost my mother a few months after I left Nigeria.”

October 1, 2016
A dogfight and other stories

These are not the best of times in our country. Anywhere you turn to it is always the same thing people are talking about. Times are hard and they are terribly so. In the midst of it all there is some comic relief, but many of us still go about wearing long faces. It seems we have lost our sense of humour because of the prevailing economic hardship. We take what we should laugh over as something serious and we are ready to break bones over it. The other day in Sango, Ogun State, two neighbours nearly tore themselves apart over the name of a dog.

The dog owner, Joe Chinakwe, named his pet Buhari. Now, do not ask me why he did that? It is just like asking me why some one named his dog Clinton or Obama. Owners are free to give whatever names they like to their pets. And in most cases, they prefer names that are popular, which people can easily relate with. What is the use of naming your dog Lawal? That name will not turn heads when you walk your dog on the street and shout out its name to the hearing of all. But say Buhari and you will attract attention.

Perhaps, this was why Chinakwe named his dog Buhari. Coincidentally, our president bears Muhammadu Buhari. Some mischievous guys may want to say that Chinakwe is up to some mischief by giving his dog the president’s name. They should not be that fast in arriving at such conclusion because the president is not the only one bearing that name though he may be the most popular Buhari in the land. A case study is Chinakwe’s neighbour who felt offended that a dog was named after his father, Alhaji Buhari. The neighbour reported to the police that Chinakwe not only named his dog Buhari but also inscribed the name on both sides of the dog’s body.

You know our police. They are easily excited by such things. Before you could say IG, they had already taken up the case and invited Chinakwe for questioning. The matter went to court and Chinakwe was granted N50,000 bail. For days, he could not meet his bail condition. He eventually did and was allowed home few days ago. Since then, the police have come under attack for the way they handled the matter. People feel that if the dog had been named after a Lawal, a Mojeed or an Isaac, the police would have turned a blind eye to the case no matter the number of complaints lodged. ‘’Because it is the name of Buhari that is involved what do you expect from them than to be seen acting to protect the name”, they say, suggesting that the police are acting because the president’s name is at the heart of the matter.

The police too heard the insinuations. On Monday, the Zone 2 Command comprising Lagos and Ogun states explained why Chinakwe was arraigned in court. According to the zone’s spokesman, Muyiwa Adejobi, a Superintendent of Police, his arraignment has no connection with the fact that the president bears Buhari. For all the public cares, he may say that to the marines. Chinakwe, he said, was not arraigned for naming his dog Buhari, but for inscribing the name on both sides of the dog’s body and parading it around Ketere area in Sango Ota. Chinakwe’s action, he said, was capable of causing a breach of peace. What if he had inscribed Lawal or Sule on both sides of the dog’s body and paraded it in public would the police have raised an eyebrow?

Well, the police may have been doing their duty. Why do little things set us on edge these days? Is it because of the hard times? Emeritus Archbishop of Lagos Cardinal Anthony Okogie may have captured why we find it difficult to laugh at ourselves anymore in an open letter to the president. The serious issues he raised showed that the hard times have overwhelmed many. ‘’Today, cries of hunger can be heard across the length and breadth of our vast country…this letter is to appeal to you to do something fast, and, if you are already doing something, to redouble your effort. May it not be written on the pages of history that Nigerians die of starvation under your watch’’, he said.

Cardinal Okogie might have been in the spirit when he wrote the letter. Few days after his open letter, an unidentified man jumped into the river under the Mile 2 Bridge in Amuwo Odofin, Lagos, in an apparent bid to commit suicide. The man was said to have stood on the bridge for minutes brooding over his suffering and how things had gone bad for him. There and then, he decided to end it all. A passenger boat was said to have stopped and rescued him. The rescuers left him on the bank of the river where officials of Lagos State Ambulance Service (LASAMBUS) met him and gave him first aid. A witness said the man said he was tired of life and wanted to kill himself.

Many Nigerians are dying in silence because they cannot make ends meet. They have become walking corpse. This is why it is advisable that you go on your way these days and avoid altercation with anybody on the road because many out there are just looking for somebody to kill them. Yet in the midst of this distress, criminals are still on the loose. They struck again in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, on Monday, killing an activist lawyer, Ken Atsuete. He was killed when he went to pick his tenant who had been mistakenly kidnapped for him. The police have ruled out assassination, saying he was killed by kidnappers. I will not say the police are jumping into conclusion, but they should investigate first before arriving at their conclusion. What gives them the impression that it is a case of kidnapping and not assassination when they have yet to conclude investigation? They are the experts, so they know best.

Some men of God will not always act godly and be role model to the rest of us. In Enugu, a pastor was reported to have married a mother and her daughter. The woman, Mrs Calista Omeye, told an Enugu North Magistrates’ Court that she and her daughter married Pastor Timothy Ngwu with her husband’s consent. Her husband, Fidelis, she said persuaded her to meet the pastor because he wanted her to do the will of God through the cleric. So, the pastor ended up doing the will of God through her and her daughter! Reminds one of the kind of things that went on in Jesu Oyingbo’s enclave in the 70s and 80s in Lagos. Who knows, if the pastor’s wife, Veronica, had not shouted out in time her husband too might have ended up creating his own harem in Enugu just as the late Jesu Oyingbo did in Lagos those days.

Want a tip on how to survive these times? Try laughter – it is a good tonic to relieve tension and a sure way to live long.

September 1, 2016
Editorial: 100 Stories of change

Today is Impact Journalism Day, and 55 newspapers unite to celebrate changemakers everywhere

Our world is changing —in many ways for the better. Poverty and child mortality rates are declining, increasing numbers of primary age children attend school, and world leaders are taking collective action to counter climate change.

The media is uniquely placed to tell the individual stories behind trends like these. The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN IFRA) has also identified solutions journalism as a growing pillar for the media.

In our challenging times, the public is eager to read news about hope and positive impact. So are we, at Sparknews.

why we invited the world’s leading media to do something different: report on initiatives that are improving lives. When they first answered our call four years ago, inspired by Christian de Boisredon’s track record in the field of solutions journalism, Impact Journalism Day was born.

This year, 55 international print and digital media have come together to share stories of innovation and success.

You and 120 million other readers around the world will find that today’s news covers the same places and issues as usual, but in a different light. Meet those who have successfully brought answers in the fields of health, water, energy, finance, education, employment and more. Allow these stories to change your perspective on what citizens can accomplish. Be inspired.

Together, our 55 media partners believe that they can be part of the change they want to see in the world.

If you feel the same way, join the conversation. We want your feedback. That’s why we’ve developed new widgets, including one that many newspapers will incorporate at the bottom of articles in their web sections. Tell us if similar problems affect you, and if you want to see these solutions implemented in your country. Follow the changemakers featured in the articles.

Write to us and to your newspapers and share your experiences.

To keep up with all the activity taking place during Impact Journalism Day, follow our hashtags and

accounts on Facebook and Twitter (#ImpactJournalism, #StoryOfChange, @Sparknews, @thenationnews} or write to us at contact@sparknews.com. To discover more inspiring stories, follow the AXA People Protectors Facebook page, where AXA, as founding partner of Impact Journalism Day since 2012, spreads innovative solutions to better protect people and the planet.

If you know entrepreneurs, companies or projects that deserve to be featured in IJD next year, suggest them at tell sparknews.com.

Anyone can become part of the story.

Christian de Boisredon, Founder of Sparknews and Ashoka Fellow

Marie -Elie Aboul-Nasr, Media Alliance Development Manager at Sparknews,

Amy Serafin, Editor-in-Chief of Impact Journalism Day

June 25, 2016
‘Let’s write to tell our stories’

As Nigerian authors gathered last week in Lagos to discuss the theme: Everybody feeds on the author, but who feeds the author? it was clear that the yearly Nigeria International Book Fair is an avenue to proffer ways to prosper the book sector, Edozie Udeze reports.

One of the major highlights of the Nigeria International Book Fair every year is the gathering of Nigerian authors to deliberate on burning issues that trouble the book sector in the country. This year’s was not only interesting; it dwelt on a topic that intrigued everybody. With the theme: Everybody feeds on the author but who feeds the author?, it was disturbing to raise the topic particularly now when the reading habit has almost fizzled out.

Yet it was indeed time for authors to gather. It was also time for those who contribute to the making of books – marketing, publishing, library, et al, to say their minds on how to move ahead. But if the author feeds the public, who or how then does the author get fed? Professor Kole Omotosho who delivered the key note address traced the formation of Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) in 1981 and disclosed that the idea behind it was to encourage Nigerian authors to have a central voice.

“Before the war in 1967,” he said, “we had this association in place. But when our colleagues in the East left because of the crisis and the war, that left a big vacuum in the association. So what Professor Chinua Achebe and the rest of us did in 1981 at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) was more or less a rebirth of ANA. This is why I commend Lagos ANA for this authors’ groove every year. It is within the same spirit of keeping the sector active and relevant.”

Omotosho, a professor of English lambasted the Nigerian government for its inability to keep the book industry on sound footing. He berated pirates whom he said have kept authors out of business. “Nobody knows how they do it, how they publish and pirate people’s works even before the writers begin to reap from the fruits of their labour. This is disturbing indeed,” he said.

He challenged Nigerian authors to keep telling their stories irrespective of whether the West accepts them or not. “We do not need to worry too much about this. If you have a story to tell, to write, please do so. Everyone has a story to tell. There are lots of stories in the country. It doesn’t matter which political party that is in power. What matters now is that corruption is in charge. But change must come whether we like it or not. We cannot continue to live like this where we celebrate evil and eulogize those who bring us down. So, we have to write and expose these ills.”

In his own contribution, Sam Omatseye of The Nation Newspapers who is also a seasoned and prolific author, critic and columnist, chided the elders of the clan who could not mentor younger authors in a way to be able to carry on the mantle. “Now, it seems we have to wait for Britain or America to tell us who is a good writer among us. It usually takes America’s observation to tell us who is a good writer among us. It took America’s approval of the talent imbued in Chimamanda Adichie for Chinua Achebe to give vent to her writing prowess.”

Omatseye who described himself as an author of many volumes of works cutting across all genres of literature, said, “I am here not to bury the author but to inspire him. The author has to be more proactive. The author has to read far and wide. As a reporter I used to spare money to buy books to build my intellect. Even then every spare time I had, I used it to read. It could be in a bus, in my spare time, in the office or at night before going to bed. Constant reading and inquisitiveness should be the habit of anyone who wants to be a writer,” he proffered.

Omatseye, while reiterating the urgent need to stop piracy, charged writers to establish book clubs through which they can prosper their fortunes. “We should create book clubs and use them as an avenue to market our books. In doing this, we can incorporate other bodies and let the government key into it so that our books will go places. When we do this we can target schools, meet with the schools and harmonise on the modalities for this to function well. Now, if we put our minds to it, we can achieve. Now, we do not need writers like Ben Okri who have lost touch with their roots to tell us whether our stories are authentic or not. We have to write what we live and experience every day and what make our stories authentic,” he said.

Dayo Alabi who stood in for book publishers traced the genesis of the decline in the fortunes of the book industry in Nigeria. “But when we started this book fair in 1998, the idea is to bring nearer home what we used to attend in Zimbabwe and other book fairs around the world. If Zimbabwe could run an international book fair every year and attract the whole world, we can also do it. So with the encouragement we got from Professor Chukwuemeka Ike, Otunba Lawal Solarin, and others, the idea was berthed. Today, we are in the 16th edition of it.”

He, however, challenged writers to read well in order to produce quality crafts and materials. “If you do not read well, you cannot write well. Now, as a publisher, if you publish such a book you’ll not sell. At the moment we have serious problems in the sector. With the decline in reading culture where poverty and other exigencies have taken over, both the book publishing industry and the fortunes of writers are in jeopardy. It is the economy; the decline in the economic fortunes of most families, have forced them to move away from books. Books are only bought now when they are recommended in schools.”

He berated his colleagues, some of whom he said are not trust worthy. “Yet, not all publishers are bad. Some still publish and sell and declare profits to the writer. But what we all can do together is to combine forces to fight piracy. Piracy has killed creativity. It has reaped where it did not sow. A good book is published but piracy makes a big mess of it within days. This is not a way to encourage the sector to grow,” Alabi, the CEO of Book Company, decided.

ANA national president, Denja Abdullahi reminded his colleagues that the bring back the book programme put in place by the Federal government could not work because it was founded on a shaky foundation. “When you have such a programme without involving stakeholders in the book business, it will not work. You make all the noise, waste all the money, yet the books do not get to the targeted audience, it is a bloody waste of time and money,” Abdullahi lamented.

Almost everyone who spoke blamed the government for the lull in the sector. Now, most of the public and community libraries in the country are dead. Government no longer considers it imperative to establish, run and maintain libraries to encourage more people to read. This issue has to be addressed by government at all levels so as to recharge literacy.

May 22, 2016
CRC and other stories

Last week, this column featured the story of the imminent collapse of the Lagos Cardiac and Renal Centre, CRC, located at the premises of the Lagos State General Hospital, Gbagada. Less than 24 hours after the story was published last Wednesday, workers at the health facility downed tools. One of their grievances is that the management of the facility that owed them about six months’ salary arrears appears not prepared to pay them. Instead, the workers were being subjected to threats of dismissal or other punitive measures aimed at covering up the management’s inability to meet up with their financial obligations to the staff.

The management responded by intimidating the Indian members of staff. They were told that if they embarked on any strike action, they would instantly be deported back to India. That warning sent jitters through the spines of the expatriate workers. As for the Nigerians among them, the management quickly reached out to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH, in Ikeja, from where they brought in mercenaries who were to replace the Nigerians. But the mercenaries ran into hitches as they could not operate the machines at the renal centre. Stalemate.

This is the sort of cat and mouse game that has been going on at the medical facility for quite some time. The bottom-line is that the management put in place at the health facility by the concessionaire, Renescor Health LLP, a consortium of international health experts saddled with running the centre, has actually messed up the place. Like this column said last week, the centre is on the brink of collapse due to the fact that the concessionaire lacks adequate working capital to properly manage the facility. And as a way of cutting corners, those at the helm of affairs at the facility have resorted to diabolical management practices bordering on blackmail, intimidation and strong-arm tactics to cow the workers who have been bearing the brunt of the inadequacies at the hospital.

Few months ago, some of the patients visiting the hospital were so moved by the plight of the workers that they embarked on a protest march to the Lagos State House of Assembly. Surprisingly and most unfortunately, all they got was that they were asked to go and put their grievances on paper and submit to the assembly. Since the protesters were renal patients who were merely moved to sympathy by the injustice being meted out to the staff by the management of the centre, all they simply did was to go in search of other places to do their dialysis while the rot and decay in the facility continue. As it is, the only thing that can change the misfortune of the health facility is for the Lagos State governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, to focus his binoculars on the activities of the hospital and rescue it from an impending doom.

Away from the CRC, the re-run election in Rivers State came up last Saturday, March 19. Now the election has come but not gone yet with the cancellation or postponement of election in eight local government areas. Even with the deployment of a large contingent of security personnel to ensure peace during the election, the exercise still recorded widespread violence and killing. In the run-up to the election, it was quite obvious that there was tension everywhere as political gladiators from the two major political parties – the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and the All Progressives Congress, APC – were busy fanning the embers of discord and acrimony all over the place.

Since the return of democratic governance in the country in 1999, peace seems to have taken flight in Rivers State. During the election in 1999, politicians in that part of the country were alleged to have armed the bad boys in the creeks who were turned into political thugs to unleash terror on political opponents. After the elections, these bad boys were not disarmed by their paymasters and they were abandoned. In a bid to survive, the boys organised themselves into cartels of militants and that witnessed an escalation of the political and economic agitations in the Niger Delta region. The late President Umaru Yar’Adua’s government invented a masterstroke by introducing the amnesty programme. As a prelude, there was an arms mop-up in which the militants were required to voluntarily submit their arms. The exercise recorded a huge success.

Though the amnesty programme is still in place, more arms have been pouring into the region thereby worsening the already bad situation in that region. The result is the spate of violence and killing all over the region particularly the Rivers-Bayelsa axis. During the last election in Bayelsa, it was the same story of bloodbath. In the case of Rivers, the politicians have consistently shifted the blame on cultists operating in the state. But there is no gainsaying that their godfathers and sponsors are some unscrupulous politicians who want to remain relevant in the politics of the state through unfair and foul means. These politicians have ensured that the politics that should have ushered in the greatest good for a greater number of people has now become a huge nightmare tormenting the people. This is very disheartening. Therefore, to restore peace and tranquillity to the state is an admittedly uphill task the security agents must do and do urgently before things get out of hand.

There are too many trouble spots in the country. It is quite sad that while the terrorism and criminality in the north-eastern part of the country seems to be abating, there is a resurgence of violence going on in some parts of Benue State. Today, the Agatu ethnic group in that state have suddenly been turned into the Tutsis of Nigeria. Remember the genocide in Rwanda in 1994 in which the militiamen of the Hutu ethnic group targeted members of the Tutsi tribe and moderate Hutus claiming thousands of innocent lives. It is like the whole episode is being re-enacted in Nigeria, this time, between the nomadic Fulanis and the agrarian Agatu tribe in Benue State. And the grazing routes for the herdsmen’s cattle, remains the bone of contention. This is the underdevelopment and double-standard we are talking about in Nigeria.

In other climes, herds of cattle are confined to ranches, but here they are allowed to roam freely, destroying crops and farmlands with impunity. All of a sudden, the Fulani man that was hitherto known to be moving about with a stick now parades AK-47 rifles and other lethal weapons with which he terrorises villagers as he moves his cattle from one community to another, destroying other people’s source of livelihood in the process. And the government has been slow in taking action to stop this growing genocidal attack on the hapless Agatu people. The questions are: Why is the government treating the Agatu people as second class citizens? How are the Fulanis getting their cache of sophisticated weapons with which they wreak havoc all over the place? Who are the unseen hands behind this brigandage?

And just as we are left to ponder the dilemma facing the Agatu race, Nigeria scored an international mark in criminality last week. The scene was at the National Mosque in Abuja. That day, Dr. Abdullahi Bin Abdul, the Executive Secretary of the World Muslim League in Saudi Arabia who was in Nigeria and had been accorded the honour of leading last Friday’s Jumaat Service at the National Mosque, lost his phone to some smart guys who defied the heavy security cordon around him to strike. Since stealing is a very serious offence in Saudi Arabia, perhaps, whenever the thieves are apprehended, they could be “repatriated” to Riyadh for trial so that they can taste firsthand, the Saudis’ religious extremism. Period!

March 23, 2016
‘Our stories about Africa’

Four Diaspora African writers in this dialogue talk about their constant touch with their native lands for their political and historical narratives. In this interaction with Edozie Udeze held during the just concluded Ake Arts and Book Festival in Abeokuta, Ogun State, they deliberated on the need for writers to continue to be in touch with their people

The basic lesson learnt from this year’s Ake Arts and Book Festival which ended in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital on 22nd of this month, was the ease with which African writers and authors from across the globe were able to discuss and digest diverse issues and topics pertaining to the basic concepts of writing. Every writer is influenced and shaped by events in his immediate environment. As such, no writer writes in a vacuum; no writer sits down at home expecting information or materials with which to write to fall on his laps or his doorsteps.

Whether he is given to fiction or non-fiction writing, the basic format remains that a writer is always forced by circumstances of his calling to go look for sources from among the people. But when a topic is titled a sting in the tale and infused somewhat with ‘political narratives in Africa’, what does it intend to convey or teach the general public? This was one of the themes that dominated discussions in one of the sessions. The panel featured authors whose works have in most spurious ways influenced and captured the political anxiety of different spaces within the African continent. These authors included Helon Habila of Nigeria, Maaza Mengiste of Ethiopia, Mona Eltahawy of Egypt and Vamba Sherif of Liberia. Moderated by Kolade Arogundade, the group discussed these books that reflected on the social and political realities of their immediate environment. The political realities of the Egyptian society with the upsurge of the Arab Spring influenced greatly the works of Eltahawy whose works Headscarves and Hymens dwell on the right of women in a perilous political corridor in Egypt, her birthplace.

A well-respected feminist writer, Eltahawy asked in her submission: “Why is it that the Middle East generally does not need a sexual revolution in which the total liberation of the womenfolk becomes an important agenda to turn the societies around for good?” Now, resident in New York, she was the first Egyptian writer to remind a CNN reporter that what was happening in Egypt was no fluke. “No, it is not violence. It is a revolution. There is Mubarak in everything we do and say. Mubarak in my kitchen, Mubarak in my private part, Mubarak in my school, Mubarak on the streets. This was why we had to remove these shades of Mubaraks, in order to be free,” she said, amidst thunderous ovation.

Just like her Ethiopian society had been embroiled in several stages of revolutions and fights to right the wrongs of external influences, Mengiste did not hesitate to look into what the Ethiopians did to remove colonial incursions into their society. The Italians wanted to invade the place and annex it, but the likes of King Menelik and Emperor Haile Slessie did not allow it. An award winning author of Beneath the Lion’s Gaze, her book did not spare the issue of immigration and what has to be done to stem the tide.

She said in her submission, “the role of a writer is to inform the society. There is now way we can write even if it is fiction, without backing it up with the problems that bother the people. This is why my novel is set on the revolution in Ethiopia. Even though I live outside of my home country now the basic issues of the society still inform what and who I am and what I write. In my works, you can always feel the pulse of the people, what they have and what they have gone through and still experience from day to day.”

For her, the role music played in sensitizing the people cannot be overemphasized. “Yes, the role of music to us as agent of change during the revolution was big. It helped for our freedom. Even my second book is on this role, where I took time to define it. You cannot also discountenance the role of women in this revolution and we need to constantly talk about it,” she said.

In his own submission, Sherif, a Liberian born author who lives in the Netherlands, narrated how the war in his home country drove him away in the 1990s. “We first moved to Syria from where we now went to Holland. It was tough and herculean, yet all these helped to inform my works and what the people suffer. Today, I am more proficient and write more in the Dutch language than in English. I also speak and write a bit in Arabic. Yet, the basic issues I raise are topical to human society, to change and good leadership. Africa needs good leadership to stem the endless tide of immigrants trouping into the world. You see what war did to Liberia and how many of us have scattered here and there?” he asked with a twinge of bitterness.

A Lawyer by profession, Sherif has chosen to be a writer and he said it is the best way to inform the world. Author of The Land of the Fathers, The Kingdom of Sebah, The Witness and Bound of Secrecy, these works have been translated into many world languages because of the urgency of their messages. “In spite of my situation and the gory story of the war, I go to Liberia from time to time to be with my people and collect materials for my stories. We have a responsibility to the people to inform them about the things that happen to them. There is no way I can write now without referring to the war in Liberia, what I experienced in Syria and now my role as a writer and lawyer.”

In his own contribution, Helon Habila, author of Waiting for Angel, Measuring Time and Oil on Water, first asked: “who does history belong to? Is it not the people who own their history and what happens to them? If that is the case, ours is to help them write about it. Our role is to collect and document history; it is to write about history; about politics and what informs politics and the social behaviour of the entire society. The colonial people made us to believe their stories about us. They twisted us and what gave us value. Now, it is no longer correct to our people. It is time to begin to write to suit your people, and we cannot shriek that responsibility right now.”

Habila who now resides in the United States of America where he teaches Literature at the George Mason University, Virginia, won the Commonwealth Prize for Best First Novel in 2002. Today, he sees plenty of stories emanating from Africa, “because events here shape the lives of the people. We own our stories and therefore we need to play down on issues of divisive tendencies. See what is happening in Burundi and some pockets of agitations here and there in Africa? Our writings have to give hope; have to discourage the superiority of one race over the other. Confusion shouldn’t form part of what we write. In history, you have to select themes that should encourage the people to grow; to live in harmony with one another. This is our duty as writers,” he posited.

Over all, the discussion harped on religion, sex and feminism. Above all, it was noted that African stories are full of immense concern to the people. Therefore writers have a lot to do to make deep meaning out of it all. Whether politics or not, these stories have to be written.

November 29, 2015
Silent stories of a deaf actor

Ever witnessed a play by a group of deaf actors? This was the spectacle recently at a live drama performance in Lagos by Magic Finger Entertainment, a group of deaf actors and actresses doing the hitherto unthinkable. Just how do they manage to achieve this feat? Yetunde Oladeinde caught up with the team leader and originator, Richard Ezekiel, an energetic, never-say-die actor who sees no barriers. Through an interpreter Ezekiel spoke of his silent world, challenges, memorable moments and early life.

For me, every day is interesting. The first thing I do when I wake up is to replenish, go for a walk and then go straight to my laptop to check and reply emails. There I confirm appointments, which include rehearsal appointments; I also chat, do indoor planning and research. At other times, I just read stuff and engage in occasional creative writing.

One basic challenge I have with the computer however is the abbreviations and special codes.

On the road, it is a different thing entirely because I have had to master how conductors pronounce different destinations especially in Lagos. Most times our conductors call bus-stops as if they have hot moimoi (bean cake) in their mouths. This also poses a challenge when one wants to flag down an okada (bike), or board a vehicle during rush hours; and when I am on board, what I do is type out where I am going on my phone to a passenger. Sometimes, you get understanding people to help, but most times it is vice versa. But in spite of everything, life has been fun and very challenging. But then Challenge is a bus-stop in Ibadan, where I was born and bred.

My advent into acting

My flair for acting is purely in-born. As a kid, my dad didn’t provide television at home even though he could afford it. So my brother and I used to sneak into our neighbour’s living room to watch TV, and always got serious lashing if we got caught. Luckily the primary school I attended, God’s Grace Nursery and Primary School and my secondary school, Monatan High School both in Ibadan gave me opportunities to act during end of the year parties. I later joined the school literary and debating society.

My mum also sings cultural songs a lot and that encouraged us to be active in church drama and choir. When I lost my hearing and switched to Methodist Grammar School Deaf Unit later in 2001, I was in social science and my subjects were limited. So I had to focus on learning sign language and adapting to the deaf culture. It was not easy at first; it took me a decade to finally accept that this is who I am and there are certain things in life that we can’t change. But if you are determined, then you can manage the situation properly.

After secondary school, I always visited my friends who were then freshers at the University of Ibadan. They lived in Kuti Hall, which was so close to the Theatre Arts Department; so, often, when they went to class and I couldn’t follow them, the department of Theatre Arts was where I was attracted to. There I read several write ups on the notice board and also used the opportunity to scout for auditions that I could attend.

Initially, it was tough but in the long run, I auditioned for a stage production and it was successful. Luckily an interpreter friend of mine Friday Azanor, was also casted in the production, which comprised mostly students of the department. I was in rehearsal and when it was my turn to block, Friday will interpret for me and I was given a role as a best friend of the lead character and as a deaf.

During one of the rehearsals, Dr. Remi Ademola Adedokun was there to criticise the work as they normally did; thereafter he asked about my background and invited me to his office.

For weeks, I was scared and thought I had broken some school rules and was afraid I’d be humiliated. I became sick with fear that I was going to be cut off from something that made me happy and left for home. But Friday kept telling me they were asking after me, so I went back and met Dr. Adedokun whom I came to understand was the HOD. He asked me ‘Why don’t you apply for Diploma through UI DLC?’

Like a hormone-driven adolescent, I rushed to get the form and enrolled for the 2006/2007 session as the only deaf student in the Theatre Arts Department, University of Ibadan and without an interpreter. I still hold that record till today. However, this was one of the most challenging years of my life, as I had to lip-read and take notes. All my classmates and lecturers were aware of my deafness, but that didn’t earn me any preferential treatment or sympathy.

My lecturer and mentor, Dr. Tunde Awosanmi, who also casted me in most of his productions always asked me why I was in the department when I knew I couldn’t cope. Whenever I told him I couldn’t do something, he would challenge me to get it done or carry-over the course. And since all eyes were on me both by the deaf students who believed I would be booted out of the department in time and my colleagues, who always wondered how I coped, I always ended up doing things even I didn’t believe I could do and got applauded. Now, anytime I look back at the situation and how everyone in the department took me like a brother and encouraged me to challenge myself, I’m just full of gratitude.

I am also the only deaf person in the drama department of TREM (Vision House) in Utako, Abuja, where I also acted and have an amazing group.

I have acted in so many stage plays that I have even lost count. I even played the lead role in Shakespeare’s play more than once and got a standing ovation. Since then, there has been no going back and I just keep pushing and doing what’s expected of me; and the more I do the thing I love, the more I realised I can do better, and the more I unleash my potentials. In trying to surpass my own expectation, success for me becomes a habit and old habits die hard.

Tell us about Magic Finger Entertainment?

Magic Finger Entertainment Productions was approved in July 2014 as a registered company and endorsed by the Federal Ministry of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation same year. And since then there has been no going back. Entrepreneurs with no special needs will tell you things are not easy, you can then imagine what entrepreneur with Special needs like me would be going through.

I choose the name Magic Finger because of how deaf people move our hands when communicating. Our Sign Language is a beautiful art and very fascinating. Hearing people who understand sign language will attest to this. I also think the name fits because it is a deaf-owned business and our focus is also to put the deaf individual in a better light where entertainment is concerned by encouraging and working with those interested in showcasing their special talents to the world.

Rough road to fruition

I always wanted to own my business and be financially independent, because I don’t believe everyone must wake up, wear suit and tie and go to a job expecting salary. My dad owned a catering business, he included our names to fill key positions even when all we did was just to count money, clear the table and wash plates. Then during my years at the University of Ibadan, I decided to add Theatre Management in my final year as a major, I was also opportune to go with student troupes who were already managing their own entertainment company successfully. Along the line I got little theatre contracts here and there, but my clients always asked if I was registered with the CAC (Corporate Affairs Commission). I told my dad about it, but the process he reeled out put me off. After school, I went to Abuja for the first time in 2010 and joined Silent Afro-Mime Troupe owned by another deaf man. There I learnt on the job for a few months and then returned to Ibadan with intention to further my education. Unfortunately, that didn’t click and I got stuck in Ibadan.

During that interval, I was contacted by the president of Speech Pathologist and Audiologist Association of Nigeria through a friend in the Special Education Department to prepare drama interludes for their upcoming conference. There and then, I decided to start focusing on alternative communicating form of entertainment, something to put people with special needs, most especially the deaf in good light, as against all the stereotypes out there. I discovered there was almost no entertainment outfit in the country doing anything like that.

Before Magic Finger Group, we had operated by different other names. Last year after working for a few months in a hotel in Abuja as a House Keeper, I was able to raise some money and decided it was time to get registered. I met a lawyer who guided me through the registration process. He was very amazed to meet a deaf person who wanted to do business registration.

Deafness not a barrier?

I would say that being deaf is not a barrier to creativity. In fact, Sign Language has proven that. If you don’t understand me, visit a deaf church and watch the choir sing in Sign Language. You will understand exactly where choreography evolved from. Magic Finger is using Sign Language to command attention through the aid of the whole body and majorly the hand to ‘magically’ express and dispense information to the anxious audience in an entertaining way.

Major projects we have undertaken

I have been directly and indirectly involved in a lot of projects, especially stage productions. I have also done lots of ‘waka pass’ roles. I recently played a role in a yet-to-be-released movie produced by Peculiar Communications. I am still working hard on my skills and learning on the job with every production. I am trying to expand my horizon in the field of entertainment to be able to one day say ‘I am a producer;’ and also to be able to thrive and bloom with my knowledge in the Arts.

Major challenges faced

You may be surprised if I tell you that my number one challenge is money. We wake up every day and go about our business because we want to make money to fulfill our needs and pay our bills.

I have escaped being hit by cars and bikes without headlights at nights. I have been insulted when I went to follow-up on proposals and the secretary not knowing my mission, took me for a beggar and offered me 10 naira. I have had people laugh and made jest of me because of my situation, but if I keep thinking about that, I would still remain in my shell. I’ve got lots of plans and things I want to do, but money is a big issue – to eat, to move, to cloth, to go to hospital, to be in a relationship and to be responsible. Money is not everything but it is part of everything.

In a few weeks, I’d be going on internship with a deaf theatre company in Europe, Sweden to be precise, where I hope to learn and work for a month. I am presently running around for sponsorship to make that a reality for me and my interpreter. Whatever I learn will be impacted on other deaf people when I return. My admission after five years of trying to further through Distant Education is also there and that means money too.

One other problem is that of harassment by law enforcement agencies and security operatives, who’ll deny you of entrance into important places just because you are deaf. To them, once you have a disability, then you have come to ask for financial assistance. I have missed a lot of appointments because I had to spend time in police stations and police vehicles trying to explain myself.

Memorable moments on the job

My first major stage performance outside Ibadan was when I was cast in Wole Soyinka’s KONGIS HARVEST as directed by Dr. Tunde Awosanmi and we went to perform at June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta. That night, the hall was jam-packed with who is who in Abeokuta since it was a command performance for Prof. Wole Soyinka’s birthday celebration. After the performance, Yemi Shodimu shook hands with all of us; as he was trying to tell me something, one of the casts quickly informed him that I am a deaf and he instantly became speechless and was just staring at me.

A few years later, we took the same performance to Yar’Adua centre in Abuja and it was filled with beautiful memories. On our way back, it was late and we had to park our buses inside Federal College of Education at Okene. Because we couldn’t find a place to sleep, we decided to start a gyration that ultimately woke up all the students. That night was mad fun!

There was also the production of IBOJI OKU, the Yoruba adaptation of Solomon Iguanres THE GRAVE ENCOUNTER, directed by Abraham Oladipupo. I was casted roles with very long speech that a lot of my casts started doubting if I was indeed a deaf. I wanted to give up that rehearsal because at every moment, someone would correct my pronunciation and I got really tired; but the director wouldn’t have any of that. I must say my time at University of Ibadan really taught me a lot about discipline, timing, focus and staying true to the course, as the show must go on!

I was also fortunate to attend a dance workshop organised by Mr. Qudus Onikeeku of QDance Centre, where we had the dance maestro, Ijodee in attendance. You can imagine what I learnt in two weeks with these dance professionals. There was also an occasion in my final year at the university when my group adopted one of my short film scripts for shooting in our project work, and on set, the director had to come to me occasionally to ask for understanding of some scenes and in the end we got good grades. Life at UI contributed a lot to what I am today and where I am going. I am proud to be an alumnus of Recte Sapere Fons.

Life as a deaf activist

I moderate Deaf World, a WhatsApp forum and also serve a ‘gateman’ for another forum that discusses matters relating to deaf advancement in Africa. I am a Special Adviser to the Excos of Ikotun Deaf Development Association in Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos. Currently, I am also PRO for Deaf Resources Centre, Nigeria. I was among those who pioneered NUDSA (National union of deaf Students Association in University of Ibadan, and I am an entertainment consultant and youth leader for NNAD (Nigerian National Association of the Deaf) at national level. It’s not really easy doing all these but I am always pushing myself to the limits for whatever cause I believe in.

My other fancies

I read a lot. I also try to be creative by writing; I have a few uncompleted works from prose to drama and screenplay that I have been working on for years. I am a composer too and I look forward to having a collabo with any singer someday by giving them my work. All I do in the music video is sing along using sign language and dance because having had the opportunity of living in the two worlds, the deaf and hearing, I don’t believe music is music until I see deaf people grooving successfully to its beats and lyrics. This can be achieved by a hard danceable beat and sign language in music videos and I look forward to experimenting with it someday. Note that I used to be a juvenile choir leader in church; I lost my hearing prior to my transfer to the main choir. I strongly believe it is normal to be different. I spend time online too looking to network with people on the international level most especially deaf entertainment practitioners. I also read a lot about business management, African History, entertainment and politics. And occasionally when I have the chance, I engage in sport. I play soccer, walk soccer and I swim as a hobby.

My family, my pillar of support

They have been very supportive to the best of their capabilities. Being a first child comes with its own challenges. Through thick and thin we keep walking. Family is important to me because at the end of the day, they are the ones by your side. It got to a point my parents realised that I have my own dreams and they just had to let me be. Today, they keep reminding me how very proud they are of me. Aside my blood family, I also have some wonderful people who today consider me as family.

November 22, 2015