AKWA Ibom Deputy Governor Moses Ekpo has urged culture chiefs to fashion a blueprint for turning the nation’s culture into a major foreign exchange earner.

This, he said,  became necessary given the Federal Government’s re-investment drive in the culture and tourism.

Ekpo stated that Nigeria could become a global power in culture and a major exporter of culture with right mix of resources and tourism integration. He stressed the need for a massive cultural revival through strategic acculturation.

He spoke at the 45th meeting of the Chief Executives of Culture of the Federation (CEC) at the Governor’s Office Annex in Uyo.

The festival’s theme: Exploring the goldmine inherent in Nigeria’s creative industries, was adopted at the meeting. It will hold in Uyo between October 2 and 9.

National Council for Arts and Culture and Chairperson (CEC) Director-General, Mrs. Dayo Keshi, said the agenda for the meeting were the final adoption of the NAFEST syllabus, assessment the hosting state’s preparedness to host the fiesta and to elicit the input for a successful NAFEST.

Keshi charged the executives to find ways of improving on the presentation and marketing of festivals while inventing new ones.

Akwa Ibom State Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Otuekong Emmanuel Ibiok, called on stakeholders in the industry to explore the option of partnering with corporate and private investors to organise a  viable and glamorous NAFEST 2016.

At the meting were representatives of chief executives of federal parastatals of culture (National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO) and National Commission for Museums and Monument (NCMM), and 13 Directors of State Council for Arts and Culture/History and Culture Bureaux, including (Abia, Akwa-Ibom, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Ebonyi, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Niger, Ogun, Rivers, Plateau).

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Many artistes have documented various aspects of the nation’s socio-political life since 1999, using books, drama, music and movies as formats. The latest of such documentaries is Kolade Oshinowo’s Changing Times, which reflects the nation’s dark side, consequences of bad governance and lack of desire for progress, Assistant Editor (Arts) OZOLUA UHAKHEME reports.  

Chibok Girls, Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), Cries from Sambisa Forest, Immigrants and No Fuel, No Work: these artworks signpost Kolade Oshinowo’s collection of paintings and drawings in his forthcoming solo art exhibition Changing Times holding at Terra Kulture Gallery on Victoria Island, Lagos.

In reaction to these developments, especially insecurity, Oshinowo, who was working on fabric collage as theme of his exhibition, opted for the challenges plaguing the nation. Expectedly, scanning most of the works is akin to reading a newspaper filled with horrifying reports on insecurity and its attendant casualties.

Despite the tragic nature of some of the issues, Oshinowo renders the paintings in subtle tones that leaves viewers less troubled by the visual representation. For instance, paintings, such as Tears from Sambisa, Escape from Sambisa and Immigration, which mirror some of these horrible situations, are still colourful and interesting to behold. This trait is not unexpected of the former Deputy Rector, Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, who has sustained an artistic practice for over four decades as a professional.

Oshinowo graduated from Ahmadu Bello University(ABU), Zaria in 1972, a period that witnessed the post-Zarianist ideology that impacted on visual arts practice in Nigeria. Apart from the miseries on the land, the retired art teacher also mirrors the changing realities in the socio-economic spheres such as fuel scarcity, commerce, religion among others. No fuel, No work, Omo Oloja, The Arena, Return to Oyingbo, Divine Encounters, Enclosed market and The Assembly are some of the paintings Oshinowo uses to document the changing times in the society. Instructively, the theme of the exhibition aptly expresses the diversity of the collection as well as moments in the nation’s history.

Like many famous male artists, Oshinowo is never shy to paint female figures, especially in a group setting like market scene. Paintings, such as Youth wing, Neighbourhood fish hawkers, They come from Makoko, Celebrity and Socialites confirm the artist’s penchant for female figures. But the rendition of the works reflects the maturity of the artist in handling colours.

According to the artist, these are, indeed, troubling times. “My output includes works that attempt to reflect our dark side and the consequences of several wrong choices we have made as a nation. Negative reports have invariably overshadowed what we always assumed to be our ‘normal’ life. Our state of wickedness and penchant for ‘man’s inhumanity to man’ has continued to assault our collective psyche robbing us of our genuine desire for progress,” he said.

How does Oshinowo handle some of these realities? He finds it difficult to remove himself fromcertain elements. For instance, he has been painting divine intervention since 1998 and he is still painting it. “There is hopelessness in the land, so we seek God’s intervention. I work with a great deal of energy and passion; unending streams of responses to various stimuli within our socio-economic, political, cultural and environmental space. Decades of uninterrupted studio practice, searching, researching, exploring and discovering has often resulted in my desire to outdo myself.

“I try to subject reality to a preferential process of selection and choosing only what it is in concert or harmony with my own disposition. I allow my paintings to talk to me in a meditative engagement in my work. This dialogue has enabled me to give life to a large body of work,” he said.

Primarily, Oshinowo dedicates many of his  paintings to raising people’s consciousness about the excess luggage that come with absence of good governance and corruption in the society. He believes that he may not be able to solve the problems using painting as a platform, but can highlight them for the public. “For a long time to come, Sambisa forest will not be forgotten in a hurry because of the imagery it has created in people’s minds. In fact, any painting or drawing must have a story line, that is one sure way for it to remain timeless,” he said.

Oshinowo urged younger artists to be more creative and dig deeper in their works rather than lifting other famous artists’works. “In the short run, it may work, but in the long run, it will be disaster,” he added.

Changing Times, which will open from September 17 to 27, will feature 52 paintings and drawings. They include Lone umbrella, Survival, Ancestral masquerade, Vanity, Brothers, Return to Oyingbo, Omo Oloja, Enclosed market, The Arena and The assembly.

The post Changing Times: Nigeria in a master artist’s eyes appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

Former Editorial Board Chairman of The Guardian, Dr Reuben Abati, was a fiery columnist before he went into government between 2011 and 2015. Abati, winner of Fletcher Challenge Commonwealth Prize for Opinion Writing (2000), was Special Adviser, Media and Publicity of the President Goodluck Jonathan in 2011. In this chat with Evelyn Osagie, Abati speaks on his voyage into the world of criticism, his government days, the Buhari administration and national issues.

Being a critic, I am sure you would have offended some people. How have you been able to maintain your relationship with those you criticise and those who criticise you?

People should have a sense of humour. The first principle of intellectual work is humility. You are trained to know that you don’t know it all; and that every viewpoint is relative and important. When you are engaged in intellectual pursuit, you don’t act like your view is superior to that of others, because it is from the interplay of perspectives that knowledge is obtained and quality contribution made to scholarship. So, I don’t go about carrying in my head that this person criticised me; so this he/she is not my friend.Take, for instance, Rudolph ‘Dr Damages’ Okonkwo whose book, This AmericanLife Sef’s reading, I attended in Lagos, I have been a victim in his hands for more than 10 years, even before I went to Abuja.

He was one of those attacking me but we are still friends because we know that the larger objective is to move our country forward. It is not about personal issues, but about our commitment to the public space in ensuring that Nigeria is a good and open society for the benefit of all. We are friends, it doesn’t matter whatever our views are. And there is a rich dialogue going on out there about Nigeria by Nigerians in the Diaspora on issues pertaining to the country.

 How was the experience of moving from the critical mass into the other side of the divide?

I think it was a great experience. And in the process, I must have acquired some additional skills and experience. Also, it was an office that offered me additional responsibility – and it was a very challenging one.

Looking back also, it was a tough work because I was dealing with a very critical constituency. It was a very political period, with a very vibrant opposition that challenged every little effort by that administration. It was like going to war. Coming out from the warfront, when you get back home, there would be memories, there would be experiences; but at the end of the day, we thank God for the opportunity.

Of all the wars you fought  as presidential spokesperson, which was the toughest?

Well, politics is war by another means. One of the toughest moments was after the deregulation of the downstream sector. You know that marked a turning point for the Jonathan administration in January 2012 when we had Occupy Nigeria’s protest and all that. And trying to explain something that you would think was very simple to the public and straightforward enough was a problem because the opposition was ahead in imposing a certain prejudice. Ironically, a new administration came in and did exactly the same thing. Then, you begin to ask yourself: the same people, the same issue, but in one instant it caused so much problem and resulted in long-term loss of goodwill for one administration; but with another administration, the people just accepted it. I think it is something we can interrogate on another level.

Was it tougher than the Chibok girls’ issue?

The Chibok girls’issue was another turning point. But the very first was the deregulation of the downstream sector. That is what we call it officially, but you call it removal of fuel subsidy.

How has your being on both sides of the divide impacted your writing?

It enriched my perspective. And that is what is important. And you would how find it has impacted my writing in some pieces I have done in recent times.  I’d give you two quick examples. When everybody was saying President Muhammadu Buhari was travelling very often, that he should stay at home, I wrote a piece defending him. I said he is the Number One diplomat of the country and it is part of his job to engage the international community. And if there are things to address internationally, you can’t complain that he is travelling too often. A President cannot travel too much. It is part of his job. That is not the full summary of the article but the premise – and I offered a defence. If I didn’t go into government, I probably would have had a different perspective. But if you ask me 100 times, I would defend it because I was there and I know that Presidents don’t go on tourist trips. It is not a jamboree; it is a lot of work because I was involved. And recently when John Kerry was visiting Nigeria, I wrote a piece, John Kerry’s visit: Beyond the cover story. If I had not been in government, I probably would not have been able to write such a piece. Somebody who had not had my kind of experience would probably just write a general copy, full stop.

But I was there. I was involved in interfacing with the Foreign Affairs ministry; I was involved in preparing briefs on international trips, on foreign visits and diplomats coming to see the President. I was involved in helping to edit their copies, walking with diplomats, discussing with them and attending meetings. So, I had an idea. I know what a President would face when he has an important visitor like that. So, I could prepare a brief to guide foreign affairs. If I had not been there, I would not have been able to write such a copy.

  But some critics say the President does not need to travel so much since the Foreign Affairs Minister is there?

No, it is not the same thing in international relations. It is not enough to say, when the Minister of Foreign Affairs is there, why does he need to travel? It is not the same thing. Every minister is an appointee of the President. Even when he sends an ambassador, they are there as his agents. And the highest level of government-to-government relations is  between the  presidents of countries A and country B, sitting together and exchanging views. And it is a serious business. People can complain about the size of delegation;  that is not what I am talking about. But they cannot say the President cannot do his job as the country’s Number One citizen.

What is your take on the way the Niger Delta crisis is being handled?

I have written on that. In my last article on that I was saying, there was no point in adopting violence or military repression as a strategy – that the issues at the basis of the renewed protests would still need to be addressed.

Some say your articles are no longer as critical since your voyage into government …

That is not true. Since I left office, I have written on the Niger Delta Avengers; I have written on MASSOB. There is no topical issue that I have not actually treated. But I have not been doing frontline political writing because it could be misinterpreted as sour grapes. You can’t be a spokesman for the immediate past President, and immediately, you start criticising the people who are there. That would be sour grapes.

Do you have any regrets going into politics that you don’t want to talk about?

No regrets. In fact, it was a good experience. If you are in the private sector, you probably would not know what goes on in the public sector. But if you have that kind of experience that moving from one side to the other offers, in the long run, it’s an advantage.

It was an opportunity to learn a lot – I learnt a lot. Looking back, the kind of experience I have had, not too many people have been that privileged. So, it is not a thing to talk about regrets: it’s a thing to be grateful for because in 100 years, not many Nigerians would have the opportunity to even have that exposure.

I am sure you’ve had many people asking you, what next, after being presidential spokesperson? Let me be presumptuous, what next – journalism or memoirs?

Well, I have never left journalism. Immediately I left Abuja, I went to Oxford to do a programme on the side so that I could refresh, having been in the midst of politicians for four years. And immediately I came back, The Guardian asked me to continue writing my columns. And I have been writing those columns – Saturday and Sunday – for more than a year now.

Segun Adeniyi and Governor El-Rufai each wrote a book about their experiences while in government, are we expecting one from you?

Definitely, but when? I cannot say. Certainly, the experience was so rich and the exposure was so useful that it would be a disservice not to at least, someday, sit down and reflect on it. But, when you leave the government, I don’t think it would be a good idea to rush quickly and go and write. At the end of the day, you’d discover certain gaps. It probably helps to give some time for reflection. And in the light of what has been happening in the last one-and-a-half years, there are new revelations coming up that could guide anyone who wants to write about the President Jonathan years.

Basically, I think the kind of experience that we had should be documented and I would like to do it. Although when I was in office, there were people on the social media who were saying “we know Abati would write a book one day. And if he writes it, we would not read it, we would not buy it. And I used to be amazed – that a book that has not been written, people are already saying they would not read it”. (Laughs).

Have your phones started ringing…again?

The first line in my article, some weeks ago was that “It looked like my phones were gradually beginning to play Lazarus”. (Laughs).

The post ‘Working for Jonathan was like going to war’ appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

Visiting Osogbo? You do not have to worry about where to stay. Aenon Suites and Hotel International Limited has opened in the Osun State capital. It promises to give customers and tourists to the Osun Osogbo Festival, value for their money. Ass

Osun State tourism industry has received a boost with the opening of a multi-million naira hotel, Aenon Suites and Hotel International in Osogbo, the state capital.

Located on two-and-a-half hectares of land in the Government Reservation Area (GRA), the 41-room  facility has not only changed the leisure and tourism landscape of the city, but has also lifted the quality of services in the industry.

Its Chief Executive Officer, Ademola Adedapo, said he was inspired to embark on the project by his experience in 2012. While trying to get a good hotel in Osogbo, he recalled, he drove round the state capital for several hours.

He said: “In 2012 during one of my visits to Osun State, it was difficult for me to get an ideal hotel to stay. I went to about eight hotels, yet none was okay for me. The search lasted from 6pm to 9pm. So, this challenged me to start the hotel project and my dream was to have a standard hotel in Osogbo. Today, it is a dream come true,” he said.

Adedapo, an engineer, may not be in the hospitality business, but he has stayed in standard hotels across the globe. He has taste, knows what he wants and which hotel will deliver quality services. He said the hotel’s plan and its facilities show that “we are here for business, and I would have opened the hotel last year but wasn’t ready with quality.”

According to him, the long-term plan is to spread to other parts of the country and possibly sell the franchise to the world.

On what makes the hotel unique, Adedapo said he hired  managers with performance indices, who are tasked to keep the place as new as possible.

“If you appreciate quality and standard, Aenon is the place to be. I insisted in thoroughness and I have a taste for excellence, which influenced what we have here.

‘’Yet, it is affordable, and it is here for guests and as such should be affordable… We picked ideas from different hotels to give what we have now. We tried to model the hotel after a famous hotel in China. The beddings are modelled after Sheraton Dubai,” he added.

Apart from quality and standard of service, Aenon Suites is located in a serene environment where security is guaranteed. It is equipped with facilities, such as conference hall for seminars, bar, event centre, business centre, restaurant, gym, sauna bath, swimming pool tennis court and laundry services. At Aenon Suites, every worker is a marketing officer whose target includes Osogbo, Ekiti State, Ibadan and its environs.

istant Editor (Arts) OZOLUA UHAKHEME reports. 

The post ‘A dream come true’ appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

Penultimate Sunday at the Yoruba Tennis Club in Onikan, Lagos Island, members of the Rotary Club, Gbagada, installed Olanrewaju Akintilo their 33rd president. JOSEPH ESHANOKPE reports.

THE Greetings Hall of Yoruba Tennis Club in Onikan, Lagos, was a beehive of activities two Sundays ago when members of the Rotary Club of Gbagada inducted Olanrewaju Akintilo as their 33rd president.

Outgoing president of the club Otunba Olusola Adenuga-Taiwo was glad that he had completed his one year tenure. Presenting his scorecard, he noted that he completed at least one project in each of the six core areas of the Rotary Foundation.

He said the club also completed a project started by his predecessor Prof Olukayode Taiwo in Cotonou, Benin Republic, and chartered a new Rotary club in Ago Iwoye. It inducted four members, contributed immensely to the Rotary Foundation and PolioPlus Fund, and supported small scale businesses with N1.5million in Ososa, Ijebu, Ogun State.

Specifically, Adenuga-Taiwo praised Hon Isola Ogunsola for his support; adding that without him, he would not have achieved much. He gave him and some Board members of the club awards.

After his speech, Akintilo was called to the podium. He shone in his white dress, with office insignia dangling around his neck. After his citation, at 3.50pm, Akintilo was ‘sworn-in as the 33rd president amid a song titled: ‘It’s a small world. It is a small world. It is a small, small world.’’

At that moment, the District Governor (DG) Pat Ikheloa arrived in the hall. The MC, while welcoming the DG, said the DG came ‘’at the right time when the mantle of leadership is being passed to Akintilo’’.

Akintilo paid tribute to his grandmother Madam Segilola Adeagbo (Iya Ibeji) for his upbringing, and more importantly, for inculcating in him the virtue of doing good. He decried the resurgence of polio virus, two years after Nigeria was cleared of the epidemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Akintilo sought  support to tackle the disease and ensure that it is eradicated.

On his card for the year are the provision of two dialysis machines at the General Hospital, Gbagada and renovation of Ifako Primary School. So far, he has presented some materials to children suffering from clinic feet at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja.

Launching a special fund to prosecute his projects and programmes, Akintilo urged his friends and family members to assist his administration. The response was impressive as there was ‘naira and dollar  rain’ thereafter.

The President-elect Adefowoke Williams described Akintilo as a seasoned PR practitioner.  She reminded him that he was ‘taking over a winning club, noting: ‘’It is the leading club in District 9110, having won the ‘coveted best club award’ for 13 years, seven of which were back-to-back and produced three DGs since it was carted in 1984’’.

Lagos State University (LASU) Vice Chancellor Prof Lanre Fagbohun, who was guest speaker, sought support for youth empowerment, saying that the success of a nation depended on its youths. Education, he noted, could galvanise the youth for national development. With the right education, he submitted, the youth, would be prepared for national assignments.

Fagbohun , who spoke for about 15 minutes, praised Rotary and similar organisations for living up to their objectives and that they always look for ways to make lives better.

dent. JOSEPH ESHANOKPE reports.

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The gripping collection of 10 short stories, Blood Will Call by Sola Osofisan, aptly depicts a committed soul laden with the call of writing by blood.

Sola showed early promise while living in Nigeria with the unprecedented double-barreled winning of twin Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) prizes in the same year. He achieved the feats through the manuscripts he submitted which beat published books to the coveted awards.

The books were eventually published by Heinemann Nigeria in 1991 as The Living and the Dead and Darksongs. The publishing outfit Malthouse also released another  of Osofisan’s book Darkvisions. It is noteworthy that Sola now resides in New Jersey, United States after his family won the American Visa Lottery.

Sola’s vision as can be gleaned from the titles of his books is dark. In the new short story collection, Blood Will Call, darkness still rules the roost. The first story, “A Mother Screaming” is a heart-rending tale of a mother going into labour in the forest with her five-year-old daughter Ebitimi totally helpless. The stricken woman asks her poor daughter to flee with her new blood brother before the advent of the evil men of the wild who ensure that “she was dragged upright and added to the end of the jangling chain link” of the slave traders. Ebitimi bears witness to a reality that can unman the strongest of men thus: “Only the patch of drying blood on the ground was left of her mother.”

The title story, Blood Will Call props attention from the oral to the scribal and even to the audio-visual. The story starts ominously at a time that “was not a Storyteller’s night” because the moon “clung desperately to the night, seemingly fearful it would lose its grip and plummet in shame like a fallen god …” Itanpadeola, the acclaimed Storyteller of storytellers, comes to the village of Ifeoloju to tell his stories only to end up in bitter disappointment. His lament rings true: “Time has moved on…” He opens up to his brother Ogunbodede that the modern times have overtaken them, stressing: “How can one out-talk the radio, out-dance their television, out-run their motor car and in the same breath out-electrify electricity? If you know the secret, pray share. Tell me, how?” It is in accepting the book of stories, Tales My Father Gave Wings, authored by his son Itangbemi who had gone to the city that he learns that “more people may be reading it and hearing his son’s words than he had performed before his entire lifetime on the road.” Crucially the one message the son sent to the father is just a word: Forever. For the celebrated storyteller of yore, the city beckons.

Violence and desolation are twice-told stories of the oil-rich Niger Delta as limned by  Osofisan in “Shifting Sand”. Kalada is the tragic prop of a terrain besieged on all fronts as he bears the heavy burden of post-imprisonment: “Kalada pushed himself to his feet, still reeling from the ailments that had gnawed away at his flesh in prison. Each bone in his body cracked reluctantly awake to feel the half-blind sun. It had been a while since he had witnessed the morning a free man. He swallowed two pills from the small stained envelope the prison nurse had shoved indifferently into his hand as he was released the previous day.”

The celebration of the so-called American Dream is never within the hemisphere of the characters that dominate Osofisan’s stories set in the United States. The American Nightmare suits their bill as in the story “Fallen” in which a Nigerian immigrant who speaks in “my carefully cultivated African American accent” is promptly laid low by the shady racist David Marone with the note: “You are not black American.”

The longest story in the collection “Don’t Come To America, Emeka” is hip and contemporary, starting out with the exchange of text messages between two medical doctor friends, Dr Emeka Asike in Nigeria and Dr Uche Ofoegbu in the United States. Uche’s advice to Emeka goes to the heart of the matter: “Don’t come to America, Emeka. If you must come, follow the example of the Northerners; they fly in for a brief spell to study, negotiate a big deal or purchase equipment for their factories and before the temptation to remain here germinates, they are back home in Nigeria. I can’t say I have encountered a single Hausa man in the African markets or on a bus in the time I’ve been here. Not one. It may be that my current psychological state keeps me from the circle within which they thrive, considering they tend to have deep pockets and I don’t. Nevertheless, stay in Nigeria where your wife treats you like a king and looks to you to provide for the family.” He of course defies the warning and comes to America, but fails for a fourth time to pass the America medical license exam, thus becoming a woe to his wife Martha who is a rich qualified Nurse and family breadwinner. He hits the wife in frustration but the wife does not call the police. The poor soul cannot wait long enough to quit America and his wife and kids for trouble-strewn Nigeria, only he has no money to buy the return ticket…

Osofisan has a gift for the demanding art of the short story. He can do arresting dialogue and delineates his diverse characters adroitly. Blood Will Call deserves celebration.

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The Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) wishes to announce The First ANA National Teen Authorship Conference holding at Logos International Secondary Schools Awommama, Owerri Imo State, from September 27-29, 2016.

With the theme: Mentoring Teen Authors for National Development, the conference will feature talks and a number of literary presentations devoted to encouraging literary creativity, reading and writing among young persons and teenagers in our schools.

According to ANA President, Denja Abdullahi, the occasion will also feature the launch of A BOOK-A CHILD-A WEEK Nationwide project of the Association, which is aimed at encouraging every child in secondary school to read at least one literature book a week outside the school syllabus. The event will also feature a one day, TRAINING THE MENTORS, seminar designed to train prospective mentors for the ANA teen authorship project.

Keynote Speaker: Prof Sam Ukala, Professor of Theatre and Drama, Delta State University Abraka, Nigeria; winner Nigerian Prize for Literature, 2014

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Last week, children of the late Mrs Jadesola Aboderin celebrated her posthumous 80th birthday in Lagos. Her first son, Wale, is the Chairman of Punch Newspapers Ltd. He spoke with NNEKA NWANERI about his childhood and how running the family business prevented him from becoming a pilot.

How has it been without your mother all these years?

I don’t even remember that I am fatherless and motherless, because I am not Godless. You don’t have anybody to look up to than to look up to God. Everything that I have said is in the biography written in honour of my late mother, Mrs Florence Jadesola Aboderin. It is entitled: Unsung Greatness. I can guarantee you that the book was not exaggerated or made up, because the only thing that was missing from my mother was the wings of an angel; and I mean it.

Why hasn’t her exemplary life rubbed off on society?

It is said that the good is varied with people, and I get a heart break knowing that that will continue to be the case because we don’t have a system in place whereby even the government recognises the proper hero and all the things they have done in life.  So I cannot expect people to change or things to go in another direction, but I can do my own little part to let people know so that maybe they can turn to honour some people while they are still alive. Make people know that because they are doing good, people should know them.

Just like the Holy Bible says, there is nothing that has happened that hasn’t happened before, and won’t happen again. But these occurrences are given to us as a testimony, so that those that see such things happening can key into it.

This is a very good example of what happened at my mother’s 80th posthumous birthday. It was an opportunity for people to remember her and tell stories of her, and in so doing, impact on those who do not know her; most especially the younger ones who in their own way can do better than she did.

Do you regret doing the house chores?

It’s so long ago, but I don’t think I have any regrets. We are very independent kids, we have to stand on our own when she’s off to work, and wherever we were we always took control of things. We have always been leaders. But I don’t think there was a time I regretted her not being around to do house chores.

Do you regret taking up the family business?

The only regret is that it has kept me from being what I wanted to be and doing those things I really love to do. I would have been a pilot, musician, an actor, or anything in the art which I really love doing and have a flair for. But my number one ambition was to be a pilot because I really love to fly.

What do you do at your leisure?

I have a female basketball team which I coach at my spare time.  I love to watch basketball on TV and the Paralympic Games which inspires me.

Why do you avoid social scenes

I want to attend parties, but I have consciously refused to  because I don’t have the time to tell lies. I am not saying this to say politicians are liars, but I would rather use my time thinking of ways to help humanity. Look at what is happening in America: Donald Trump came out to tell the truth, the establishment didn’t like it and are now doing everything to work against him. Yet, he keeps winning. Why? Because there is someone who wants to tell the truth and do things differently.

He does not talk like a polished politician, that is why people think that he is speaking ‘rubbish’. But we don’t need a politician…we need a leader who will speak the truth.

As for me, I will rather in my time and space, do what I can do by telling the truth.

When I go to places where my integrity would be compromised, the Devil sees it as an opportunity to get me. But as long as I know in my heart that what I am doing is the right thing, and that I am a brand and the brand stands for integrity; my personality, then I have no one to answer to.

God says in the Bible that he will convert our wisdom to foolishness. The foolishness of the Lord is better than the wisdom of man. Thus the reason why I like to do those things that people can’t understand. Let them gossip and talk. It gives me no good reason to look back when working because I am not afraid of anyone, neither have I lied to anyone. I just keep moving forward.

Why are you always playful and wear a smile?

People have often wondered why I keep smiling even when under stress. It is the peace of the Lord that gives me strength. I just keep smiling, even when someone has annoyed me. It takes more energy to frown when people have annoyed you. When they see you are unhappy, they believe they have won and I don’t have time for such people.

In my own corner, I’ll just keep smiling and let it expand from there, with the hope that it would be infectious.

A word for Nigerians

We are too populated in Nigeria. There is a saying that a child who loves his teens will remain in bondage. All we do is grumble, forgetting that if everybody can take one step forward, count the number of steps, we would have ended up going around the world doing good.  But here, nobody is ready to take that first step. If you can do a common favour to a stranger, the world would be a better place.

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On the eve of the Eld-El-Kabir holiday on September 11, a developer pulled down the 190-year-old national monument, Ilojo Bar, at the Tinubu Square, Lagos. Director-General, National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Yusuf Abdallah Usman, recalls the commission’s long battle to preserve the monument.

Ilojo Bar (formerly known as Casa De Fernendez or Angel House) was built 190 years ago and, in all these years, it stood as the best example of Brazilian style architecture introduced by Africans who regained their freedom from their “Portuguese masters” in Brazil. Its historical, social and architectural values have been well acclaimed, thus, prompting the Federal Government to give it special protection status as a National Monument through Gazette 25 Vol. 43 of April 5, 1956.

Since then, the National Commission for Museums and Monuments has been maintaining, promoting and preserving the monument with members of the Olaiya Family, Lagos State government and other stake holders both local and international.

The threat to this historic building has been unfolding for sometime due to rising commercial interest in view of its strategic location. In October, last year, a member of the family wrote to the Commission saying that one of them was trying to engage a private developer to demolish the monument and clear the place for commercial development.

In response to this, a meeting was called with the family members led by Mr. Daniel Adewale Olaiya on January 19, 2016. The meeting discussed the issues around the monument, including its legal status, how the structure is put to use and the grievances of the family members. It was finally agreed that the statues quo of the monument should remain while they submit their complains through appropriate official channel but nothing was heard from them since then.

The recent threat to demolish the monument came on July 2, 2016, when a developer in collusion with some members of the family mobilised a bulldozer and some armed men with the intent to demolish the structure. The National Commission for Museums and Monuments got information about the move and quickly mobilised the Lagos museum staff and Lagos State government officials, who accosted the group and frustrated the attempt. In the meantime the attention of law enforcement agencies was drawn.

On July, this year, the developer again mobilised to demolish the building and this action was again rebuffed this time through the intervention of Hon. Agboola Dabiri Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on the Lagos Central Business District.Following his intervention,a stakeholders’ meeting was summoned at Lagos State secretariat Alausa, Ikeja where Hon.AbikeDabiri-Erewa did everything possible to avert the demolition of the monument.

Subsequently on Tuesday, August 16, 2016 a stakeholders’meeting was convened by the National Commission for Museums and Monuments at the National Museum, Lagos involving major stakeholders. This include members of the Olaiya family, management staff of National museum, Lagos, representatives of Lagos State Ministry of Tourism and that of the Brazillian Consulate, Benedita Gouveia Simonetti and Adeniran Arimoro.

During the meeting, the stakeholders agreed that steps must be taken to safeguard the monument from any threat, including involving law enforcement agencies and placement of notice on the site notifying the public about the status of the building. The meeting also agreed to revive an earlier plan to organise a gala night to raise funds for the rehabilitation of the monument.

To our greatest surprise however, on Saturday, August 27, 2016, the same developer again mobilised his bulldozer and actually damaged a portion of the building. A petition was written and submitted to the Area Commander of the Nigerian Police (Lion building), requesting  the arrest and prosecution of the culprits but apparently the police did not find the matter serious enough to detain or prosecute them.

Seeing the levity with which the Area Command handled the matter, another petition was written on August 29, this year to the AIG Zone 2 Onikan. Meanwhile on Thursda, September 1, 2016, Hon Dabiri-Erewa was again approached and he gave an official letter to the Special Adviser to the Governor on Urban Development requesting the ministry to withdraw a letter of permit for demolition said to be given to the developer. Another letter was written to the Governor intimating him about the status of the monument and seeking his assistance to safeguard it.

However, despite all the efforts of highly responsible and patriotic individuals and government agencies, the developer on the eve of Eid-el Kabir (September 11, 2016) sneaked in with his instrument of destruction and wilfully demolished the Ilojo Bar, an outstanding historic and architectural monument that has adored the cultural landscape of Lagos Island for nearly two centuries.

This sad event is a critical turning point in the history of heritage management in Nigeria. The shocking way the action was carried out without any shame and embarrassment is a source of serious concern for the National Commission for Museums and Monuments as heritage managers and for all responsible Nigerians who love history and culture. The action is not only criminal, but it has robbed us of an important heritage resource that helps defines us as a people and assist our understanding of our past and our projection of the future.

The demolition has destroyed a masterpiece of the only surviving Brazilian houses in Lagos with its attractive arches and fine iron works as statue described as being “Gothic in style and balustrade reminiscent of a Venetian palace”.  It has done great injustice to the credit of African craftsmanship in architecture which has exerted great influence on Yoruba architecture that is today visible in all parts of Yoruba land.

Indeed, the demolition has eliminated the tangible evidence of social and cultural impact of the transatlantic slave trade and its abolition. It has wiped away an outstanding source of memory and history of freed slaves and their roles and impact in the evolution and development of cosmopolitan urban Lagos. At the same time it has destroyed one of the outstanding symbolic evidence of cultural ties between Nigeria and Black diaspora in general and Brazil in particular.

This dastardly act has distorted the eminent position of Lagos in colonial history as centre where returnee slaves from Brazil built houses in the new architectural fashion when Lagos was created as a colony, thus impoverishing Lagos of its rich architectural urban history and undermining its acclaimed status as centre of excellence.

However, the NCMM will not rest on its oars until the perpetrators of this dastardly act are brought to book. In line with the powers and responsibilities conferred on it by NCMM Act, Cap N19, Laws of the federal republic of Nigeria 2004, the NCMM will ensure that criminal action is brought on the culprits as well as demand full compensation for the demolished monument. It will be reconstructed and fully restored according to professional restoration standards. We wish to assure all Nigerians that the Ilojo Bar will be restored as it is a fully documented National Monument with an up-to-date and comprehensive documentation of its architectural history and design details.   Consequently, NCMM is poised to restore Ilojo Bar back to its original authentic form.

In the meantime, the site of the monument being an integral heritage space is being explored for rescue archaeology and heritage impact assessment.

We call on all well-meaning Nigerians to join the National Commission for Museums and Monument in saving, protecting and maintaining our national heritage resources.

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His life is typical of the wise saying ‘never despise a little beginning’. Sunmi Smart-Cole remains a motivation to many. From being a teacher at age 15 with only primary school education, he worked his way up with determination. He became an accomplished draughtsman, drummer, barber, photographer and journalist. The high society came out in large number to celebrate him last Sunday as he turned 75. During this chat with EVELYN OSAGIE, he played the drums with finesse, showing that age has not diminished his skill. Smart-Cole talked about Nigeria, his talents and friendship with the late Afrobeat legend, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti.

It feels great being 75. I have no regrets. I feel extremely blessed and fortunate. I am grateful to God for great mercies and for sparing my life. Many born about the same time with me and some of my friends died in their 30s and 40s. I have been involved in three major accidents; and three times I escaped death. I was hit from behind by a big truck. The second time, we nearly ran into a trailer while Abike Dabiri now Dabiri-Erewa, and I were accompanying Mrs Maryam Babangida to Zaria and escaped. I fell down in a helicopter, broke my leg and neck, had my knee replaced by metal but survived.

I am a proud father of two young men. And I thank God for giving me five talents, and making me excel in them all. I have been a successful architecture (draughtsman): I designed the house of Sierra Leonean second Prime Minister Albert Michael Margai, after his brother was Sir Milton. I designed a house for the BBC producer called Pete Mayas, whose mother was from Venezuela and that he wanted a country home built there. And the house had a swimming pool on top, and you could see the silhouette of people swimming. I ran a successful barber’s shop. By God’s grace I had exhibited my photographs in five countries, travelled around the world, and photographed very influential people. Indeed, God had been gracious to me. For example, I was on President Obasanjo’s pre-inaugural tour, to 28 countries. I have taken photograph with Fidel Castro, some of our former presidents, including Yar’Adua that died, and excluding Sir Tafawa Balewa and Dr Goodluck Jonathan. I never cared about Jonathan and I don’t regret it. The first time we fought we met in a church in Calabar when he was Deputy Governor to Diepreye Alamieyeseigha.

I have also been a drummer and part of a musical group. Although I never played music for money, our group have gone to play in Ghana and America. As a journalist, I have also edited a popular paper, Lagos Life.

My worry about Nigeria

When I was growing up I wanted to be upright. I prayed to God that I didn’t want to become rich doing anything dubious or immoral instead, let me die poor. I won’t be the first. I had been tempted three times by some ministers – they’d steal money and I would help them to siphon it. One time, a minister who was appointed four days before called me and asked to recruit me; when he looked up and saw I was weeping, he thought I was overjoyed that it was time to become rich. But I was crying for Nigeria. He had not worked at all. All he was thinking of was how to steal money and how I would help him. This is my worry about Nigeria – it is unfortunate that there is too much corruption in the country. It is a pity that higher institutions keep giving politicians, “fly-by-night” pastors, honouree degrees. Meanwhile, there are many people who have made in-depth contribution but are not making noise about it. if I were in another country, I would have got one too.

In most Saro houses, you’d see the maxims: Cleanliness is next to Godliness” and “Godliness and contentment”. Both have been grafted on my heart since childhood. And I’ve made up my mind a long time ago that whatever life throws at me, I’d take and be content.

My growing up

I was born in and grew up in Port Harcourt. It was a very cosmopolitan place with people from many countries and diverse nationalities – the lingua franca was English. But my paternal grandfather, Revd M.S. Cole, landed in Lagos Colony in 1897. So don’t come and ask me if I am a Nigerian. Chief Obasanjo asked me that in Washington once and we nearly got into a fight. My grandfather was a priest. He worked at the Cathedral Church of Christ of Nigerian Anglican Communion at Marina and also at All Saints’ Church at Montgomery Road, Yaba, from 1944 to 46. My father was also a priest in Port Harcourt but I don’t want to get into that story because I don’t want you to refuse to buy my memoir which I am working on. I have been posting photographs of me and some influential personalities on social media, and some people would have been saying “is Sunmi Smart-Cole going to die?” (Laughs) No.

My self-education journey

I am not poor but I’ve known what poverty is. People won’t believe there was a time we couldn’t eat rice everyday but only on Sunday after church. My formal education stopped at the age of 14. I passed the entrance examination to three secondary schools – Kings College, Lagos; Baptist High School and Stella Maris Secondary, both in Port Harcourt; but I could not go because  there no was money. My mother was a dressmaker but a lot of things led to that. Anyway, she took me to the Bishop of our church at the age of 15, hoping to get a scholarship since most of the schools were owned by the missions. And the man gave a letter to the manager of schools and I came out dancing, thinking I had been given a scholarship. But he actually instructed him to give me a job as a teacher at the age of 15. I became a teacher, teaching Infant One and Infant Two at St. Cyprians Primary School, Port Harcourt. I taught until I was 17, and resigned the job. I love the children but I hated the job because I’d wanted to be where my friends were – in school. But I have always kept my head up and never allow any situation to keep me down.

I decided, at the age of 17, to educate myself, which was the toughest jobs I ever did. I learnt to speak English by listening, reading, and absorbing all sorts of things.

I went to where they sold second-hand clothing, what they called “Okrika wake-up” to buy old magazines and books – Time magazine, Newsweek, Reader’s Digest and National Geographic. I was particularly influenced by the column in Reader’s Digest that says “Word Power”. I read the Bible three times – from Genesis to Revelations, not in search of religion but in search of words. I listened a lot to radio and try to speak well. Listening to broadcasters were not just a joy but greatly influenced to me. I lived in America for 10 years and refused to speak like them because they don’t speak good English. So that is how I learnt to speak English and here we are today. At the same time, by God’s grace, my educational background did not stop me from being appointed Editor of Lagos Life.

My friendship with the late Fela

Fela was a great musician and my friend. He had a licentiate from the Trinity College, London. He was a musicologist just like people before him, like the greatest African musician and composer Fela Sowande. Fela was very good to his friends.

Because of my training as an architectural draughtsman, I used to design his posters for his shows. When I knew him, he drank only Fanta soft drink and couldn’t stand anybody who smoked. It was his trip to America that changed his life. Although before then, he was an Africanist; with the advent of black power movement, he was a sympathiser.

Fela and I used to pack at Campos Square to see his girlfriend, the one we called “the Ghost”. We used to called her so behind his back because she was very tall and unusually slim, and those were the kind of women he liked. Fela was somebody who liked women; but women like him more than liked them. He liked common people too.

His love affair with the area boys and common people had started way back then. On the day he received his salary, he would change it to small amount. And when we got to Campos Square, they would rush at him from all corners. It was like security, like he was buying their loyalty. They never deflated his tyres. One time armed robbers stopped him on the street while he was driving his brother, Beko’s ambulance, when they saw he was the one they prostrated, apologised and ran away.

When he came back from England he had forgotten about his Koola Lobitos in England, and formed Fela Ransom-Kuti Quintet, a jazz group. I could only play conga drums then.

My foray into the world of music

I belonged to a music group called the Soul Assembly, led by Segun Bucknor. I was the drummer. There were also James Nelson-Cole, vocalist and rhythm guitarist and his elder brother Mike, and alto saxophonist Isaac Olasugba.We played Soul music that people can dance to and a little bit of Jazz. We made a record. Our first record was God give me Soul. I organised the very first Jazz festival in Nigeria in 1965 at Kings College Hall. Art Alade brought the money and the last European principal of the college, P.H. Davies gave me five pounds I paid for the hall. The groups listed to perform were Art Alade and the Jazz Creatures, Wole Bucknor and the Afro Jazz Group, Fela Ransom-Kuti’s Quintet and another group called the Mother Jazz Chill. Segun was on the piano, Don Amaechi on bass and I played drums. But the show was not all that successful, but it is on record and set the pace for other Jazz festivals to follow. Our group started playing American Soul Music in Nigeria because before we started playing, we had some people, led by Yinka Balogun, who were members of Elvis Presley fan club. Another group, led by Pat Fame, were Cliff Richard’s fan club for European and American musician. Nobody was playing black American music. Although we went to Kingsway and UTC to buy records but nobody played it until Segun came back from America and we, our group, the Soul Assembly started playing Soul music (African America music).

We formed the group. And Mr Steve Rhodes, who was my boss at Rhodessoundvision, and in the business of managing groups and artistes like Fela, sacked me because of the group we formed. I was working for him. Segun worked for Niger Dam Authority, which was merged with Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN) to become National Electric Power Authority (NEPA). James and Mike worked with different tobacco companies. We wanted Mr Rhodes to manage us as he was managing other people but he refused because he couldn’t get us together to go play across the Southwest.

My barber’s shop

That led to my sack, made me feel very disappointed, and led to my establishing the barber’s shop at Yaba, which was made popularly by Sam Amuka, the then editor of Sunday Times. He visited my shop and saw me reading Times magazine. He said, “Where are the customers?” The next day he sent a reporter and a photographer to come and interview me. And on a Sunday, it came out on centrespread, Soul Brother Sunmi Cut his Name on Head.

The paternal grandfather of the wife of the Vice President, Dolapo Osinbajo, Chief Adetunji Soyode, was the man who gave me the money to open a barber’s shop – 20 pounds. It was initiated by my friend Niyi Soyode (Dolapo’s father’s immediate younger brother). It became very popular. I am blessed with great friends who had stood by me all my life; like the son of Nigeria’s Number one tailor M.O. Idowu, Ade, who has been making all my suits in the past 35 years.

He asked me to come for fitting about a month ago that he wanted to give me a suit for my birthday. I went and when I got there his hair was so bushy. I had my kit in the car. I forced him to sit down and cut his hair. He is giving me a suit free and I gave him a haircut free.

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Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank)  PLC has opened a virtual art gallery, ART635, in Lagos.

At the opening, its Managing Director, Mr Segun Agbaje, said the bank embarked on the project because it wanted to unlock people’s creativity.

He said: “Although African art goes back in centuries, the industry on the continent is still young and untapped’’, hoping that with ART635, ‘’we can drive its evolution into a lucrative and vibrant economic sector”.

ART635 Curator Mr. Uche Okpa-Iroha urged artists to be more critical and provocative in the execution of their works, adding that they didn’t have to shy away from being critical of their works.

“Address issues with your art works. Let your work be petition to the authority and engage more with the spaces around you. And if we work and synergise, we can transform the sector,” Iroha said.

Biodun Omolayo, who spoke on building the business of art, said artists had to make efforts to market their works, noting that every artist was a business man. He described the virtual gallery as a unique platform that would add value to art and artists.

Art635 is an online repository of African artworks and is set to serve as a leading platform for the promotion of indigenous artists across the continent.

At the moment, most budding indigenous artists in Nigeria and across Africa have limited space to showcase their works and make substantial living from their works.

The bank said the gallery would expand the exposure of these artists, provide an enabling platform for the marketing of their works and serve as a much-needed motivation for  further development of their artistic skills and talents. It allows every artist to upload his works on to the web for the curator to okay.

The launch of Art635 is the latest of the bank’s sustained efforts to promote African arts. Art is one of the four pillars of GTBank’s corporate social responsibility policy and its support for art over the years ranges from collecting art work from artists, to partner with Tate and other art institution to promote the value of African art in Africa and the international markets through project-lead initiatives

With ART635, the bank aims to further its support for African arts by helping African artworks become not just seen and appreciated, but also to turn them into a much more profitable and commercially viable venture for indigenous artist who earn very little from their works. This is in line with the bank initiative to go beyond the tradition understanding of corporate social responsibility as corporate philanthropy by intervening in the economic sector to strengthen small business through capacity building initiatives to boast their expertise, exposure and business growth.

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Penultimate Sunday at the Yoruba Tennis Club in Onikan, Lagos Island, members of the Rotary Club, Gbagada, installed Olanrewaju Akintilo as their 33rd president. JOSEPH ESHANOKPE reports.

THE Greetings Hall of Yoruba Tennis Club in Onikan, Lagos, was a beehive of activities two Sundays ago when members of the Rotary Club of Gbagada inducted Olanrewaju Akintilo as their 33rd president.

Outgoing president of the club Otunba Olusola Adenuga-Taiwo was glad that he had completed his one year tenure. Presenting his scorecard, he noted that he completed at least one project in each of the six core areas of the Rotary Foundation.

He said the club also completed a project started by his predecessor Prof Olukayode Taiwo in Cotonou, Benin Republic, and chartered a new Rotary club in Ago Iwoye. It inducted four members, contributed immensely to the Rotary Foundation and PolioPlus Fund, and supported small scale businesses with N1.5million in Ososa, Ijebu, Ogun State.

Specifically, Adenuga-Taiwo praised Hon Isola Ogunsola for his support; adding that without him, he would not have achieved much. He gave him and some Board members of the club awards.

After his speech, Akintilo was called to the podium. He shone in his white dress, with office insignia dangling around his neck. After his citation, at 3.50pm, Akintilo was ‘sworn-in as the 33rd president amid a song titled: ‘It’s a small world. It is a small world. It is a small, small world.’’

At that moment, the District Governor (DG) Pat Ikheloa arrived in the hall. The MC, while welcoming the DG, said the DG came ‘’at the right time when the mantle of leadership is being passed to Akintilo’’.

Akintilo paid tribute to his grandmother Madam Segilola Adeagbo (Iya Ibeji) for his upbringing, and more importantly, for inculcating in him the virtue of doing good. He decried the resurgence of polio virus, two years after Nigeria was cleared of the epidemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Akintilo sought  support to tackle the disease and ensure that it is eradicated.

On his card for the year are the provision of two dialysis machines at the General Hospital, Gbagada and renovation of Ifako Primary School. So far, he has presented some materials to children suffering from clinic feet at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja.

Launching a special fund to prosecute his projects and programmes, Akintilo urged his friends and family members to assist his administration. The response was impressive as there was ‘naira and dollar  rain’ thereafter.

The President-elect Adefowoke Williams described Akintilo as a seasoned PR practitioner.  She reminded him that he was ‘taking over a winning club, noting: ‘’It is the leading club in District 9110, having won the ‘coveted best club award’ for 13 years, seven of which were back-to-back and produced three DGs since it was carted in 1984’’.

Lagos State University (LASU) Vice Chancellor Prof Lanre Fagbohun, who was guest speaker, sought support for youth empowerment, saying that the success of a nation depended on its youths. Education, he noted, could galvanise the youth for national development. With the right education, he submitted, the youth, would be prepared for national assignments.

Fagbohun , who spoke for about 15 minutes, praised Rotary and similar organisations for living up to their objectives and that they always look for ways to make lives better.

Reeling off statistics, he painted a gloomy picture of daily living and that ‘our world is falling apart’’. To solve the problem, he called on everyone to contribute to make life batter, lamenting that some people pass through this world without giving a helping hand.

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A forthnight ago, children of the late Mrs Jadesola Aboderin celebrated her posthumous 80th birthday in Lagos. Her first son, Wale, is the Chairman of Punch Newspapers Ltd. He spoke with NNEKA NWANERI about his childhood and how running the family business prevented him from becoming a pilot.

How has it been without your mother all these years?

I don’t even remember that I am fatherless and motherless, because I am not Godless. You don’t have anybody to look up to than to look up to God. Everything that I have said is in the biography written in honour of my late mother, Mrs Florence Jadesola Aboderin. It is entitled: Unsung Greatness. I can guarantee you that the book was not exaggerated or made up, because the only thing that was missing from my mother was the wings of an angel; and I mean it.

Why hasn’t her exemplary life rubbed off on society?

It is said that the good is varied with people, and I get a heart break knowing that that will continue to be the case because we don’t have a system in place whereby even the government recognises the proper hero and all the things they have done in life.  So I cannot expect people to change or things to go in another direction, but I can do my own little part to let people know so that maybe they can turn to honour some people while they are still alive. Make people know that because they are doing good, people should know them. Just like the Holy Bible says, there is nothing that has happened that hasn’t happened before, and won’t happen again. But these occurrences are given to us as a testimony, so that those that see such things happening can key into it. This is a very good example of what happened at my mother’s 80th posthumous birthday. It was an opportunity for people to remember her and tell stories of her, and in so doing, impact on those who do not know her; most especially the younger ones who in their own way can do better than she did.

Do you regret doing the house chores?

It’s so long ago, but I don’t think I have any regrets. We are very independent kids, we have to stand on our own when she’s off to work, and wherever we were we always took control of things. We have always been leaders. But I don’t think there was a time I regretted her not being around to do house chores.

Do you regret taking up the family business?

The only regret is that it has kept me from being what I wanted to be and doing those things I really love to do. I would have been a pilot, musician, an actor, or anything in the art which I really love doing and have a flair for. But my number one ambition was to be a pilot because I really love to fly.

What do you do at your leisure?

I have a female basketball team which I coach at my spare time.  I love to watch basketball on TV and the Paralympic Games which inspires me.

Why do you avoid social scenes

I want to attend parties, but I have consciously refused to  because I don’t have the time to tell lies. I am not saying this to say politicians are liars, but I would rather use my time thinking of ways to help humanity. Look at what is happening in America: Donald Trump came out to tell the truth, the establishment didn’t like it and are now doing everything to work against him. Yet, he keeps winning. Why? Because there is someone who wants to tell the truth and do things differently. He does not talk like a polished politician, that is why people think that he is speaking ‘rubbish’. But we don’t need a politician…we need a leader who will speak the truth. As for me, I will rather in my time and space, do what I can do by telling the truth.  When I go to places where my integrity would be compromised, the Devil sees it as an opportunity to get me. But as long as I know in my heart that what I am doing is the right thing, and that I am a brand and the brand stands for integrity; my personality, then I have no one to answer to. God says in the Bible that he will convert our wisdom to foolishness. The foolishness of the Lord is better than the wisdom of man. Thus the reason why I like to do those things that people can’t understand. Let them gossip and talk. It gives me no good reason to look back when working because I am not afraid of anyone, neither have I lied to anyone. I just keep moving forward.

Why are you always playful and wear a smile?

People have often wondered why I keep smiling even when under stress. It is the peace of the Lord that gives me strength. I just keep smiling, even when someone has annoyed me. It takes more energy to frown when people have annoyed you. When they see you are unhappy, they believe they have won and I don’t have time for such people. In my own corner, I’ll just keep smiling and let it expand from there, with the hope that it would be infectious.

A word for Nigerians

We are too populated in Nigeria. There is a saying that a child who loves his teens will remain in bondage. All we do is grumble, forgetting that if everybody can take one step forward, count the number of steps, we would have ended up going around the world doing good.  But here, nobody is ready to take that first step. If you can do a common favour to a stranger, the world would be a better place.

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Doctoral students of Mass Communication, University of Lagos (UNILAG) are out with a report chronicling factors that influence media organisations’ commitment to keeping the fabrics of the society together by promoting national interest.

THE obligation to keep the fabrics of the society together by promoting national interest of the country has been identified as the major factor of information dissemination mass media organisations, according to a study by this year’s doctoral students of Mass Communication, University of Lagos (UNILAG).

“National interest and other factors, such as ownership, commercial and political interests, have also influenced the media organisations commitment to these philosophies,” the report says.

Other factors are pressure to survive especially during periods of economic downturn; corporate and personal security of the staff; regulatory agencies; public relations consultants; and legal matters.

The study by the doctoral students was carried out under the supervision of communication scholar, Prof Ralph Akinfeleye and a senior lecturer, who is also acting Head of the Department of Mass Communication, UNILAG, Dr Oloruntola Sunday.

The philosophy of a media house is the collective vision that a media organisation brings to bear in its operations. Such a vision represents the standard and critical elements of a company’s organisational strategy and it is what drives the daily operations of the media organisations. Similarly, it constructs in advance the terms of any discussion that will take place about the organisation or any issue arising from the corporate life or purpose of the organisation.

Twenty-one media establishments, from both print and electronic, were covered in the study. They were purposively selected by the researchers for the study that was designed primarily to identify the philosophies of selected media organisations; determine the extent to which the selected media organisations adhere to their stated philosophies; and ascertain the factors that affect their adherence to these philosophies.

Although the operations of media organisations are guided by the stated philosophies, oftentimes enshrined in their mission statements, the observation that sometimes some of them have had cause to bend the rules in favour of certain interests, motivated the study. The researchers are Afoke Hope Orivri, Daniel Kunde, David Olaluwoye, Emmanuel Ojila, Husseini Hassan Shaibu, Kabir Alabi Garba, and Musa Sule.

Others are Olalekan Sote, Dayo Duyile, Peter Kehinde Akodu, Solomon Ntukekpo, and Vincent Nwanma.

Specifically, the study, which ran between April and August, this year, sampled the views of 21 senior media practitioners comprising correspondents, news and line editors, assistant and deputy editors-in-chief, managing editors and editors-in-chief who have at least five years of professional experience, using both survey design and structured interview methods.

While all these media houses possessed philosophies as expected, the terms accuracy, fairness, truthfulness, balance, objectivity, factuality, and safeguarding public interest were common key terms in their philosophies. While national interests easily passed for public interests in usage in all the philosophies, the usage seemed particularly emphatic in federal government-owned media. The covert commercial interest symbolism embedded the philosophies of privately owned media. Seventy percent of media organisations, especially the print media, attached greater value to news while 16 percent of them laid emphasis on entertainment and sports. However, the study revealed that organisational deviation from the stated philosophies diminished whatever values and beauties shown in the analysis of the findings.

Respondents pointed out constraints responsible for this deviation: vested interests and factors beyond the media practitioners’ control. Thirty-seven percent of the respondents maintained that their organisations’ adherence to corporate philosophies is low while 28 percent stated that their organisations moderately adhere to their philosophies. Only 10 percent of respondents thought the degree of adherence to the corporate philosophies is very high.

Also, the study sought a value-based answer in the area of organisational pressure of media practitioners to drop news item(s) when the news item does not in any way violate the corporate philosophy of the media organisation. Ninety percent of respondents admitted they have been under pressure to drop such news item(s), which they viewed as a violation of the philosophies of their organisations. However, 10 percent of respondents said they never experienced any pressure for dropping news items.

Ninety-five percent of respondents who were under pressure to drop some news items actually obliged, though unwillingly, while one respondent said he did not oblige. From the data, however, it would appear killing news in media organisations seldom occurs. The study appraised other variables like modulation of news item(s) to suit certain interests instead of outright killing of the news. Ninety percent of respondents have come under pressure to modify some stories to pacify some vested interests or fit into some contexts. Ten percent of respondents, however, never came under pressure to modify their news content. Twisting or scaling down news items appears not to be a frequent practice in the media organisations.

All the respondents agreed that national interest, one of the factors, impinge on their adherence to corporate philosophies of media houses as there is always the struggle to balance national and organisational interests. Eighty-six percent of respondents saw ownership interest as another dominant factor that negatively influences adherence to corporate philosophies by media organisations. Sixty-seven percent of respondents maintained that advertisers bear a lot of influence on their operational philosophy while 43 percent said political interests impinge on their adherence to their philosophies.

Twenty-four percent of respondents said threat to their corporate existence and security of staff are responsible for not upholding their philosophies while 14 percent of respondents said public relations practitioners did influence sometimes. Twenty-four percent of respondents said regulatory agencies are responsible for not adhering to their philosophies while one respondent said fear of legal matters makes his organisation to deviate from its philosophy.

From the context of this study, it is instructive to note that media organisations have philosophies, but the manner of professional practice does not sync with this confirmation. However, the knowledge of the factors that impinge on adherence to those philosophies such as national interest, ownership interest, economic downturn, threat to life, political influence, advertisers’ interest, public relations, and regulatory agencies will assist media managers to begin to fashion out strategies to mitigate the side effects of these factors.

Indeed, one issue raised by the study, which has continued to defy consensus among communication scholars and public policy formulators, is the definition of what constitutes ‘national interest’. The study asserts thus, “Unfortunately, there is no precise conceptualisation of what is national interest until date. To this extent, the constitutive and nuances of national interest are still ambiguous. The determination of what constitutes national interest still resides within the purview of the national security agencies and sometimes the instrument is used as ambush tactics by overzealous security operatives.  The implication here is that journalists often find it difficult to determine when they are crossing the borders and stepping on the landmines called national interest.”

Based on the findings, the study therefore tasks media organisations to ensure that they adhere to their corporate philosophy because it is their identity and the social bond between them and the public.

Also, it emphasises the need for media owners (government and private) allowing their organisations to operate freely to promote best professional practice, in addition to ensuring prompt payment of staff salaries “so that the staff can avoid unethical practices and protect the corporate integrity of the organisations.”

The study has special admonition for the security operatives: “They must respect the rights of media practitioners. In fact, they must realise that issues regarding fundamental human rights, freedom of information, expression, and rule of law are the bedrock of operation in a democratic system of government.”

If Nigeria’s desire to attain democratic maturity with all its nuances is genuine, both government and media operatives should pay attention to the findings of this study. It anchors this attainment on a free, responsible, self-regulated media, which is always in dialogue with itself and the reading/viewing/listening public.

The study’s argument is that “when the media regulates itself through constant dialogue with the public, such media will earn public trust and confidence, which are the ingredients needed to discharge its constitutionally recognized obligation of holding government accountable to the people, thereby stimulating good governance.”

The post The dilemma of media appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

Nigeria’s  famous playwright, scholar and literary giant Prof Femi Osofisan has been inducted as the winner of the prestigious Thalia Award by the United Nations Educational Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), global partner in the performing Arts – the International Association of Theatre Critics.

The event, which was attended by over 150 world authorities in theatre criticism from 66 countries took place last week in the German Embassy in Serbia.

The Nigeria Ambassador to Serbia and the German Ambassador to Serbia led the cream of the international community who witnessed the glamourous event.

Osofisan has by the feat become the first African to be so recognised by the respected Thalia Award Committee. The award is a unique professional honour, next only to the Nobel Prize for literature, which Nigeria won in 1986.

Enroute Belgrade to be installed as a Thalia laureate, Osofisan was celebrated by the African continent as one of its leading dramatists at an impressive ceremony in Egypt.

On September 20, Osofisan was honoured as one of the icons of African Theatre at this year’s edition of the Cairo International Festival for Contemporary and Experimental Theatre. This came few months after the Pan African Writers Association honoured him for his contributions to the literary development of the continent.

Osofisan thanked the organisers for the life-changing honour that has shifted global attention to African Theatre and Literature, which he believes has a lot more to offer humanity and the emerging global knowledge economy.

The post Osofisan inducted as Thalia laureate appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

On the eve of Eld-El-Kabir, September 11, a developer pulled down the 190-year-old national monument, Ilojo Bar, at the Tinubu Square, Lagos. National Commission for Museums and Monuments Director-General Yusuf Abdallah Usman recalls the commission’s long battle to preserve the monument.

Ilojo Bar (formerly known as Casa De Fernendez or Angel House) was built 190 years ago and, in all these years, it stood as the best example of Brazilian style architecture introduced by Africans who regained their freedom from their “Portuguese masters” in Brazil. Its historical, social and architectural values have been well acclaimed, thus, prompting the Federal Government to give it special protection status as a National Monument through Gazette 25 Vol. 43 of April 5, 1956.

Since then, the National Commission for Museums and Monuments has been maintaining, promoting and preserving the monument with members of the Olaiya Family, Lagos State government and other stake holders both local and international.

The threat to this historic building has been unfolding for sometime due to rising commercial interest in view of its strategic location. In October, last year, a member of the family wrote to the Commission saying that one of them was trying to engage a private developer to demolish the monument and clear the place for commercial development.

In response to this, a meeting was called with the family members led by Mr. Daniel Adewale Olaiya on January 19, 2016. The meeting discussed the issues around the monument, including its legal status, how the structure is put to use and the grievances of the family members. It was finally agreed that the statues quo of the monument should remain while they submit their complains through appropriate official channel but nothing was heard from them since then.

The recent threat to demolish the monument came on July 2, 2016, when a developer in collusion with some members of the family mobilised a bulldozer and some armed men with the intent to demolish the structure. The National Commission for Museums and Monuments got information about the move and quickly mobilised the Lagos museum staff and Lagos State government officials, who accosted the group and frustrated the attempt. In the meantime the attention of law enforcement agencies was drawn.

On July, this year, the developer again mobilised to demolish the building and this action was again rebuffed this time through the intervention of Hon. Agboola Dabiri Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on the Lagos Central Business District.Following his intervention,a stakeholders’ meeting was summoned at Lagos State secretariat Alausa, Ikeja where Hon.AbikeDabiri-Erewa did everything possible to avert the demolition of the monument.

Subsequently on Tuesday, August 16, 2016 a stakeholders’meeting was convened by the National Commission for Museums and Monuments at the National Museum, Lagos involving major stakeholders. This include members of the Olaiya family, management staff of National museum, Lagos, representatives of Lagos State Ministry of Tourism and that of the Brazillian Consulate, Benedita Gouveia Simonetti and Adeniran Arimoro.

During the meeting, the stakeholders agreed that steps must be taken to safeguard the monument from any threat, including involving law enforcement agencies and placement of notice on the site notifying the public about the status of the building. The meeting also agreed to revive an earlier plan to organise a gala night to raise funds for the rehabilitation of the monument.

To our greatest surprise however, on Saturday, August 27, 2016, the same developer again mobilised his bulldozer and actually damaged a portion of the building. A petition was written and submitted to the Area Commander of the Nigerian Police (Lion building), requesting  the arrest and prosecution of the culprits but apparently the police did not find the matter serious enough to detain or prosecute them.

Seeing the levity with which the Area Command handled the matter, another petition was written on August 29, this year to the AIG Zone 2 Onikan. Meanwhile on Thursda, September 1, 2016, Hon Dabiri-Erewa was again approached and he gave an official letter to the Special Adviser to the Governor on Urban Development requesting the ministry to withdraw a letter of permit for demolition said to be given to the developer. Another letter was written to the Governor intimating him about the status of the monument and seeking his assistance to safeguard it.

However, despite all the efforts of highly responsible and patriotic individuals and government agencies, the developer on the eve of Eid-el Kabir (September 11, 2016) sneaked in with his instrument of destruction and wilfully demolished the Ilojo Bar, an outstanding historic and architectural monument that has adored the cultural landscape of Lagos Island for nearly two centuries.

This sad event is a critical turning point in the history of heritage management in Nigeria. The shocking way the action was carried out without any shame and embarrassment is a source of serious concern for the National Commission for Museums and Monuments as heritage managers and for all responsible Nigerians who love history and culture. The action is not only criminal, but it has robbed us of an important heritage resource that helps defines us as a people and assist our understanding of our past and our projection of the future.

The demolition has destroyed a masterpiece of the only surviving Brazilian houses in Lagos with its attractive arches and fine iron works as statue described as being “Gothic in style and balustrade reminiscent of a Venetian palace”.  It has done great injustice to the credit of African craftsmanship in architecture which has exerted great influence on Yoruba architecture that is today visible in all parts of Yoruba land.

Indeed, the demolition has eliminated the tangible evidence of social and cultural impact of the transatlantic slave trade and its abolition. It has wiped away an outstanding source of memory and history of freed slaves and their roles and impact in the evolution and development of cosmopolitan urban Lagos. At the same time it has destroyed one of the outstanding symbolic evidence of cultural ties between Nigeria and Black diaspora in general and Brazil in particular.

This dastardly act has distorted the eminent position of Lagos in colonial history as centre where returnee slaves from Brazil built houses in the new architectural fashion when Lagos was created as a colony, thus impoverishing Lagos of its rich architectural urban history and undermining its acclaimed status as centre of excellence.

However, the NCMM will not rest on its oars until the perpetrators of this dastardly act are brought to book. In line with the powers and responsibilities conferred on it by NCMM Act, Cap N19, Laws of the federal republic of Nigeria 2004, the NCMM will ensure that criminal action is brought on the culprits as well as demand full compensation for the demolished monument. It will be reconstructed and fully restored according to professional restoration standards. We wish to assure all Nigerians that the Ilojo Bar will be restored as it is a fully documented National Monument with an up-to-date and comprehensive documentation of its architectural history and design details.   Consequently, NCMM is poised to restore Ilojo Bar back to its original authentic form.

In the meantime, the site of the monument being an integral heritage space is being explored for rescue archaeology and heritage impact assessment.

We call on all well-meaning Nigerians to join the National Commission for Museums and Monument in saving, protecting and maintaining our national heritage resources.

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The gripping collection of 10 short stories, Blood Will Call by Sola Osofisan, aptly depicts a committed soul laden with the call of writing by blood.

Sola showed early promise while living in Nigeria with the unprecedented double-barreled winning of twin Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) prizes in the same year. He achieved the feats through the manuscripts he submitted which beat published books to the coveted awards.

The books were eventually published by Heinemann Nigeria in 1991 as The Living and the Dead and Darksongs. The publishing outfit Malthouse also released another  of Osofisan’s book Darkvisions. It is noteworthy that Sola now resides in New Jersey, United States after his family won the American Visa Lottery.

Sola’s vision as can be gleaned from the titles of his books is dark. In the new short story collection, Blood Will Call, darkness still rules the roost. The first story, “A Mother Screaming” is a heart-rending tale of a mother going into labour in the forest with her five-year-old daughter Ebitimi totally helpless. The stricken woman asks her poor daughter to flee with her new blood brother before the advent of the evil men of the wild who ensure that “she was dragged upright and added to the end of the jangling chain link” of the slave traders. Ebitimi bears witness to a reality that can unman the strongest of men thus: “Only the patch of drying blood on the ground was left of her mother.”

The title story, Blood Will Call props attention from the oral to the scribal and even to the audio-visual. The story starts ominously at a time that “was not a Storyteller’s night” because the moon “clung desperately to the night, seemingly fearful it would lose its grip and plummet in shame like a fallen god …” Itanpadeola, the acclaimed Storyteller of storytellers, comes to the village of Ifeoloju to tell his stories only to end up in bitter disappointment. His lament rings true: “Time has moved on…” He opens up to his brother Ogunbodede that the modern times have overtaken them, stressing: “How can one out-talk the radio, out-dance their television, out-run their motor car and in the same breath out-electrify electricity? If you know the secret, pray share. Tell me, how?” It is in accepting the book of stories, Tales My Father Gave Wings, authored by his son Itangbemi who had gone to the city that he learns that “more people may be reading it and hearing his son’s words than he had performed before his entire lifetime on the road.” Crucially the one message the son sent to the father is just a word: Forever. For the celebrated storyteller of yore, the city beckons.

Violence and desolation are twice-told stories of the oil-rich Niger Delta as limned by  Osofisan in “Shifting Sand”. Kalada is the tragic prop of a terrain besieged on all fronts as he bears the heavy burden of post-imprisonment: “Kalada pushed himself to his feet, still reeling from the ailments that had gnawed away at his flesh in prison. Each bone in his body cracked reluctantly awake to feel the half-blind sun. It had been a while since he had witnessed the morning a free man. He swallowed two pills from the small stained envelope the prison nurse had shoved indifferently into his hand as he was released the previous day.”

The celebration of the so-called American Dream is never within the hemisphere of the characters that dominate Osofisan’s stories set in the United States. The American Nightmare suits their bill as in the story “Fallen” in which a Nigerian immigrant who speaks in “my carefully cultivated African American accent” is promptly laid low by the shady racist David Marone with the note: “You are not black American.”

The longest story in the collection “Don’t Come To America, Emeka” is hip and contemporary, starting out with the exchange of text messages between two medical doctor friends, Dr Emeka Asike in Nigeria and Dr Uche Ofoegbu in the United States. Uche’s advice to Emeka goes to the heart of the matter: “Don’t come to America, Emeka. If you must come, follow the example of the Northerners; they fly in for a brief spell to study, negotiate a big deal or purchase equipment for their factories and before the temptation to remain here germinates, they are back home in Nigeria. I can’t say I have encountered a single Hausa man in the African markets or on a bus in the time I’ve been here. Not one. It may be that my current psychological state keeps me from the circle within which they thrive, considering they tend to have deep pockets and I don’t. Nevertheless, stay in Nigeria where your wife treats you like a king and looks to you to provide for the family.” He of course defies the warning and comes to America, but fails for a fourth time to pass the America medical license exam, thus becoming a woe to his wife Martha who is a rich qualified Nurse and family breadwinner. He hits the wife in frustration but the wife does not call the police. The poor soul cannot wait long enough to quit America and his wife and kids for trouble-strewn Nigeria, only he has no money to buy the return ticket…

Osofisan has a gift for the demanding art of the short story. He can do arresting dialogue and delineates his diverse characters adroitly. Blood Will Call deserves celebration.

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She is a woman of many firsts. In her younger days, many of her male counterparts could not stand up to her. In a male, dominated world, she found her place early. But one achievement Otunba Ayora Bolajoko Aduke Dorcas Kuforiji-Olubi cherishes most is the gift of long life. She joined the octogenarian club last week. She celebrated her 80th birthday with family and friends at a high-profile thanksgiving at the All Saints’ Church in Yaba, Lagos Mainland. EVELYN OSAGIE reports.

Otunba Ayora Bolajoko Aduke Dorcas Kuforiji-Olubi is 80. Family members and friends joined her to celebrate the event at the All Saints’ Church, Yaba, Lagos Mainland.

Born in Lagos on September 28, 1936, Otunba Kuforiji-Olubi has excelled on many fronts. She is the first woman president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and an industrialist extraordinaire.

Widely recognised (nationally and internationally) as a financial expert and industrialist, she chaired several boards in private and government organisations. She is also a former Secretary (Minister) of Commerce and Industry; and a devout Christian of the Anglican faith.

It is no surprise that she celebrated her 80th birthday with thanksgiving. One could hardly believe she was 80. She looked respledent in a beautiful yellow and cream attire that complemented her skin.

It was a day of celebrations. But Mrs Kuforiji-Olubi was not alone. Her family and friends attended the event. Some of the notable personalities are former Ogun State Governor Gbenga Daniel; former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi; incumbent Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun, who was  represented by Secretary to Ogun State Government, Mr Taiwo Adeoluwa; wife of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Bola; wife of the late Ooni of Ife Oba Okunade Sijuwade, Olori Ladun; founder of First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Otunba Subomi Balogun and wife, Olori Abimbola and ace photographer Sunmi Smart-Cole.

They called her a “woman of excellence”, a “philanthropist”, “detribalised Nigerian”, whose early exposure to various cultures and religions are responsible for her ability to mix with people from diverse nationalities and in different areas of Nigeria.

The ceremony, which was officiated by the Vicar, Venerable Femi Fatile, had notable clerics in attendance. In his sermon titled: Put on new eyes, Most Revd Adebayo Akinde (rtd) called for sober reflection in the face of achievements. Akinde, who took his text from Isaiah 60, urged Nigerians to seek spiritual enrichment above material gains, saying such move would have positive impact on the nation.

Revd Akinde, a former Bishop of the Anglican Communion, said: “More than ever before, give yourselves to spiritual living. Many Christians are spiritually blind. Give yourselves to the study of God’s word. What are you living for? Each year we mark our anniversary, we are drawing closer to our final departure. Therefore, we must pay more attention to how we live our lives. What is the end of your earthly journey?”

Revd Akinde praised the Mrs Kuforiji-Olubi, advising guests to emulate the celebrator, who, he said,  remains humble despite her accomplishments. “I praise your character of goodness and love for God. Mrs Ayora Bola Kuforiji-Olubi, God has been good to you, and I know you know it. Despite intimidating challenges, you are still standing. You are a special daughter of God and the God, who has blessed you this much and that has kept you these past 80 years, will continue to strengthen you,” the cleric said.

Those who did not come sent their   messages, which the celebrator published in her programme.

In his goodwill message, Amosun described her as “a pioneering high achiever” who has attained several ground-breaking records. He said: “The occasion of your 80th birthday calls for the celebration of the remarkable achievements you have recorded over the years.

“Our dear  nation has benefited immensely from your invaluable contributions to the private sector of  its economy. I wish to note that your achievements when you served as  Deputy Chairman and Honourable Secretary (Minister) for Commerce and Tourism in the Interim National Government in 1993 remain a reference point.

“On this occasion of your 80th birthday, I pray that the good Lord will preserve you for many more years, in good health and sound mind, so that our dear state and nation will continue to derive inspiration from your exemplary life and benefit from your rich experience.”

Mrs Feyi George, who is also the celebrator’s cousin and former pupil, called  Mrs Kuforiji-Olubi her “hero”, saying: “Aunty Bola is a very special person I have admired all my life”.

“Today, aunty is celebrating her 80th birthday and it is with great joy in my heart that I salute her. I salute her as an icon, as a leader and as a good mother. Tokunbo, Kunle and Joke have a lot to be proud of and a great legacy to live up to. May this celebration of her 80th year on earth, remain a source of joy, not only to her but to us her aburos!”

One of Mrs Kuforiji-Olubi’s favourite teachers, Mrs Bess Santos, nee Enahoro, who is fondly called “Sisi Bess”, said: “A special wish to celebrate your birthday with you. Time rushes by so quickly, it’s hard to believe how fast and now we are celebrating that 80 years have gone past in your life!

“I remember a diligent young lady, who took her academics very seriously and whose excellence in mathematics could never be faulted … a student who was a pleasure to teach. It gives me great pleasure to send you this special wish on this joyous occasion. May God abide with you and keep you safe. Happy 80th birthday, Dorcas.”

Describing the celebrator as “a very charming lady, who had many suitors, but always too bookworm, her classmate, Mrs Henrietta Olaitan Anthonio, wrote: “Dear our beloved sister and friend Lady Dorcas Ayus is 80, yet she does not look her age. We praise God. She has very cheerful disposition. All our classmates loved her to assist us with our homework, we studied in the bush, you were very intelligent and not proud.

“Always helpful. No wonder you achieved so much, and are our Teacher, Miss Bess Enahoro, who later became Mrs Santos, padi. Her royal highness was very kind-hearted and sympathetic… always in top form. I can write about her without stopping. I brought out our school photographs in case you did not have, hey I pray that the good Lord will always be with you and the family, amen”

Goddy Jidenma Foundation sent its best wishes. Its message signed by its vice chairman, Prof Pat Utomi, and  executive secretary, Dr Ije Jidenma, reads: “We commend you for your great strides and the contributions you have made to our country, Nigeria as a professional and business leader having served as the first female president of ICAN, and Chairman of the United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA). Your contributions as a notable leader in other spheres are well documented, including your brief role as the Secretary for Commerce and Tourism in the Interim National Government. May God’s grace and infinite blessings and goodness not depart from you and your household.”

The celebrator thanked the church, clerics and guests for their support and goodwill. She thanked God for sound health and long life, saying she was ill, but recovered in good time for her birthday celebrations. “I thank you all for coming to rejoice with me. God bless,” she said.

The post Kuforiji-Olubi: Woman of substance at 80 appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

After three years of very successful performances in Nigeria and Davos, Switzerland, the award-winning Kakadu the Musical will be on stage at the Nelson Mandela Theatre, Johannesburg as part of the Africa Day Celebrations from June 7 to 18, 2017. This was announced by the Executive Producer, Jo’burg City Theatres Claire Pacariz.

“Kakadu is a highly creative, original production which has been internationally acclaimed as the first ever musical from Nigeria and that is why we are interested in bringing it to South Africa for the 2017 Africa Day celebrations. Africa Day as you know is the annual commemoration of the founding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) on May 23, 1963, when on that day, leaders of 30 of the 32 independent African states signed a founding charter in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia”, Ms. Pacariz said.

Kakadu, the Musical is based on several pivotal events that happened in Nigeria between 1965 and 1974, the watershed years immediately following independence from British colonial rule, leading to the Biafran War and the aftermath of that war. It is written and produced by one of the leading lawyers in Nigeria, Uche Nwokedi (SAN). Musical direction and orchestration is by Benneth Ogbeiwi and the artistic and technical direction is by Kanayo Omo.

With a strong plot, captivating storyline, spectacular dance and a blend of the anglo-american soul and pop music of the fifties and sixties that influenced musical expressions in 1960s Africa,  High life music, Afrobeat and traditional Nigerian folk music, Kakadu is the most wonderfully eclectic musical ever performed anywhere. It is a unique “must-see, must experience” production.

“It is quite significant to the ethos of Kakadu that we have been invited to a theatre named after Nelson Mandela, a champion of liberties…” says the writer and producer, Uche Nwokedi (SAN). Kakadu joins a long list of world-class productions invited to the Nelson Mandela Theatre in Johannesburg.

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A non-governmental organisation (NGO), His Marvellous Grace Support Foundation (HMGSF), has organised a pep talk for teenagers on the importance of sexual honesty. The talk, designed to equip teenagers with  tools to navigate a fast-changing world, was held at the Redeemed Christain Church of God (RCCG) Fountain of Grace, Ibeshe in Ikorodu, Lagos State.

The NGO, which has been helping and empowering teenagers since 2013, has provided free medical services and organised several empowerment and talk shows for young people, mostly in Ikorodu area.

Explaining the difference between love and infatuation, Timi Oyebode, said the decision-making part of the brain, which resides in the front, is usually not fully formed until one is 21. Therefore, many decisions made below this age are likely to lack maturity.

She spoke about the participants teenage years, telling them not to be too eager to experience adulthood. She said: “As teenagers, it is only natural that you want to be adults quickly. But how many of you have fallen in love or even know what love is?”

While these questions drew blushes from the teenagers, Oyebode used her experience to inspire the teenagers, explaining that she suffered sexual abuse as early as age  seven. This, she said, made her spiral down to depths of sexual escapades, including lesbianism and masturbation, advising the children to stay away from such practices.

She also recommended a therapeutic process to the teenagers in case any of them was already ‘hooked’ to any sexual vice. ‘The 21-day rule’, as she referred to the therapy, is an effective method to rehabilitate such a person. Such a person, she continued, must desist from this sexual activity before it deteriorated seriously enough to visit its attendant health and emotional challenges on the person.

Meanwhile, Oluwadamisi Tayo-Ladega of HMGSF noted that the foundation chose the topic of the event because of the rate at which the times were changing, and the way children were being exposed to sexual perversion. She said: “There are some parents who are ‘teenagers’. They do not even know their right from their left, and they certainly do not know the difference between right and wrong on this matter.”

Tayo-Ladega spoke briefly to the teenagers on the importance of imbibing a culture of courtesy and respect. Respect, she explained, goes beyond reverence for the elderly; it encompasses appreciation of the individuality of everyone, including the younger ones.

She expressed gratitude to the parish pastor of RCCG, Fountain of Grace and his wife, Pastor and Deaconess Ebenezer Sofowora as well as the children teachers of the churches under the parishes and HMGSF volunteers.

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