It was double celebration for the Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding (CBCIU), Osogbo, during its distinguished lecture and birthday bash for its Chairman, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, at the Ulli Beier Hall penultimate Saturday. Guest lecturer Prof Tunde Babawale,  who spoke on The need for the promotion of Nigeria’s cultural heritage, raised many posers on safeguarding the nation’s endangered heritage, Assistant Editor (Arts) OZOLUA UHAKHEME reports

“As at today, it is evident that our national treasures and heritage in Nigeria and indeed, Africa, are fast going extinct. Typical of our environment, we are often consumed by civil strife and all forms of instability that threatens the continued survival of these national treasures. Aside, we are also aware of how religious beliefs in certain countries contribute to the destruction or desecration of priceless heritage sites. Sites in Libya, Mali, Egypt and Algeria, among others on the continent,  have been vandalised due to internal and cross-border conflicts.”

This statement by CBCIU Chairman Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola set the tone for this year’s CBCIU distinguished lecture. The former Governor of Osun State decried the increasing spate of insecurity in the country, which he said threatened the continued survival of national treasures.

He noted that some of these heritage sites have faced serious traumatic stress as a result of colonial rule and religious monotheism while few others have suffered adverse entrapment. He added that it is to the foresight of our forebears and insistence by few others that some of these material cultures remain intact and abide with us today.

He stated that Osun-Osogbo Festival, the Groove, which houses alluring gifts of nature and home to thousands of Osogbo indigenes, non-indigenes and foreigners alike, was threatened by a number of human activities such as urbanisation, deforestation, hunting, and religious conversion, among others.

“In the 1950s, the Osun Groove faced extensive threats through acts of desecration. Many of its shrines were abandoned by its priests, weakening the age-long sanctions over the Groove. Similarly, the grove was exposed to fishing, felling of trees and hunting, all prohibited acts in the Groove. The arrival of Susanne Wenger stopped all forms of abuse and desecration in the Groove. Her tenacity paid off when UNESCO, in recognition of its global significance and importance to cultural revivalism, inscribed the Groove as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005,” he said.

Prince Oyinlola pledged that the CBCIU is working closely with UNESCO to ensure that many heritage sites in the country are removed from their tentative status and inscribed as World Heritage Sites. Osun Osogbo and Sukur Palace in Adamawa on the border with Cameroon in the Mandara Mountains are the two sites on UNESCO World list.

According to him, national heritages are very important to human existence, but it is clear today that they are under threats from various agencies. “The northeast is faced with both a serious humanitarian and security crisis. In the midst of the confrontation between the military and the Boko Haram sect are national treasures hidden deep in the forests and plains. The Niger-Delta region too has gradually returned to relative peace but recent actions on that part of the country may worsen the fragility of national monuments scattered across the creeks and crevices of the Delta,” he said.

In his paper “Reflections on the need for the promotion of Nigeria’s cultural heritage”, Prof Babawale said the cultural heritage of Nigeria as manifested in music, performances, costumes, body adornment, languages, religions, indigenous knowledge, laws, medicine, hospitality, values, cuisine recreational games, art and crafts, rites of passage, architecture among others, have come under the corrosive impact of foreign cultural values as a result of modernism, urbanisation and globalisation.

He identified reasons such as lack and non-implementation of a sound cultural policy and promotional agenda amongst others for the declining importance of indigenous cultures. He noted that the orientation and focus of Nigerians have been altered drastically in all areas of life, including language, religion, modes of dressing, beliefs, value systems, politics and economy. This, he said, led to the disappearance of virtues such as hard work, perseverance, honesty, transparency, accountability and above all, the omoluabi qualities, which were the ultimate and necessary requirement for good citizenry and true development.

He disclosed that a cursory examination of the present state of Nigeria’s cultural heritage and expressions revealed the depth of decay occasioned by the rampaging impact of modernism.

“In the realm of music, things have gone really depressing.  Nigerian musical genres such as Juju, Sakara, Highlife, Afrobeats, Akwete, etc. laden with philosophy and wisdom have been neglected.  Nigerian airwaves are now filled with noise disguised as music.  Gone are the good musical expressions of yesteryears.  In their place, we now have discordant noises that teach no morals and add no value to the society.  Our youths cut a pitiable sight dancing to this vulgar music in the name of modernity.  Music has now become a medium not for the promotion of societal values, but an avenue for undermining moral values, ridiculing feminist, encouraging criminality and materialism.

“Cultural costumes or dressing is another area where cultural heritage and expressions of Nigerians have been diminished as a result of contact with the outside world.  To say that Nigerians have very good fashion sense is to say the obvious.  But, Nigeria in the next 20years may have thrown away her cultural costumes due to the indiscriminate adoption of foreign costumes in the name of modernity.  Cultural costumes are a very good form of identity,” he noted.

Prof Babawale stated that one of the first signs of a nation going under is that her people will begin to jettison core values such as language that make them stand out as a people.

According to him, the world is a market place where different peoples and nations come to display, sell and profit from those things in which they have comparative advantage of uniqueness over others.  This, he said, is not the situation with Nigerians.

“We are tending towards abandoning core elements of our culture in favour of an indiscriminate adoption of foreign cultural values,” he said.

On religion, he said: “Nigerian indigenous religions have been undermined by foreign religions, par ticularly Christianity and Islam.  There is no denying the fact that these two imported religions have caused more damage to our traditional arts and culture than can be imagined.

“To conquer a people, says Karl Marx, you just have to block the transfer of values, morals and beliefs between generations”.  This is exactly what Christianity and Islam have done.  On conversion to any of these two religions, one of the things expected of a convert is to renounce his or her link with traditional religions, art and culture.

“Some converts even go to the extreme of destroying icons of these traditional religions and what are these icons? They are sculptural pieces.  By this practice, many invaluable sculptural pieces in wood, stone, ivory, etc. which could have been yielding capital to the people have been ignorantly destroyed.”

Executive Director CBCIU, Prof Siyan Oyeweso stated that though the centre was in bad shape, it is gradually been rehabilitated. He sought the support and collaboration of all stakeholders in order to sustain, project and protect our culture. He, however, lamented that Yoruba language is at the verge of extinction noting that at the Univeristy of Ibadan, ‘you find foreigners teaching Yoruba to our students. Centres for the study of Chinese language is being established across Nigerian varsities.’

The post ‘Modernism threat to Nigerian heritage’ appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

The 11th Jos Festival of Theatre will open in Jos, Plateau State, on March 4 after serving as nurturing ground for Nigerian artists to showcase their talents and creativity over the past 10years.

This year’s festival, which has as theme: “Creative expression in a time of Hope” will feature riveting plays as well as a variety of workshops for the artistic community. The classes in acting, dance, basic film production, and arts management will hold during the day with the theatrical performances taking place in the evenings.

The Jos Festival’s plays will present poignant messages concerning migrants, marriage, politics, revolt, and the abuse of power over the week of performances. The workshops will include facilitators from Lagos, Kaduna, Kano and Jos.

The 2018 edition is also showcasing the directing skills of five new directors, Osasogie Efe Guobadia, Ebuka Ifebunso, Seyi Babalola, Sunny Adahson and Akolo James Anthony, who will be directing the musical Brother Joachim’s Vocation, which he wrote. Among other plays that will be featured this year are two American classics, Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge and August Wilson’s Radio Golf. The Spanish contribution to the festival is Lope de Vega’s Fuenteovejuna, a true life story on events in the little Spanish City of Fuenteovejuna, with an overbearing leader, who faced revolt by the town’s people who eventually killed him on the night of a celebrated wedding in the city. The Spanish classic is being performed in English by local actors. A View From The Bridge is being directed by Patrick-Jude Oteh.

Ahmed Yerima’s play on power, politics and betrayal, Mu’Adhin’s Call, will be performed alongside Sefi Atta’s Renovation, which will be used to celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8. Sefi Atta will make her second appearance at the festival after the premiere of her play Last Stand at the 9th Jos Festival of Theatre 2015.

The festival receives ongoing support from the United States Mission, Nigeria, in addition to an array of local and international supporters such as Grand Cereals Limited, the International Performer’s Aid Trust and the Jos Business School.

The pre-festival play is August Wilson’s award winning play Fences, which was the star feature at the 2017 Oscars awards. It will hold on February 25. The play, which deals with the domestic life of Troy Maxson, is set in 1950’s America when there was a new spirit of liberation but a liberation which makes Troy a stranger with an anger and a fear in a world that he never knew pitching him against his wife and his son whom he understands less with each passing day.

The post Jos Festival of Theatre opens March 4 appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

The book Kirikeni Aye Fie (Speak Kirike) is a practical guide to speaking Okrika language. The book begins with an Introduction – Berefinji Okwein, which gives us the geographical and cultural background of speakers of Kirike, the author’s background and a brief profile. It also makes reference to the audio book version of Kirikeni Aye Fie.There is also a section on The Kirike alphabet – Kirikeni Alifabetima which contains 37 letters, 9 vowels and 28 consonants, and the guide to pronouncing sounds in Kirikeni Okwein (Kirike language).

The book is divided into 15 lessons. Each lesson contains: dialogues, which are practical teaching tools. They deal with everyday subjects like greetings, house work, school and occupations, preparation to travel, tours, business, weddings, making of friends and health care.

Grammar Notes: The Grammar Notes focus on some similar words in the Kirike language, sentence structure, the present tense and past tense of some verbs and the rules for singular and plural words in Kirike.

Exercises: There are exercises involving both speaking the language and writing it. The exercises contain role plays in which two or more people dramatise a particular dialogue.

The book Kirikeni Aye Fie is a cultural Bank of Information. It highlights and teaches traditional foods in Okrika; traditional occupations; counting system; and aspects of traditional wedding.

The audio book version is priceless as the dialogues come alive in it. The exercises make the message crystal clear. The role play brings out the theatrical dimensions of the book. The audio version can be used as you travel, in the kitchen and indeed, as lie on your bed.

People often talk about problems without professing solutions on how these problems can be solved. Kirikeni Aye Fie is a definite and practical solution to the problem of the looming extinction of our indigenous languages.

The book is well written, carefully edited, expertly translated and professionally formatted to achieve its intended purpose.

It is an indispensable tool for rescuing the 25 per cent of children bellow 11 years, who are unable to speak the indigenous language of their parents, at least amongst the Wakirike people.

Revival can be started by passionate desire and the spoken word, but it takes the written word to sustain the revival. Kirikeni Aye Fie will not only enflame the passionate desire for the restoration of our cultural Heritage, it will inspire us to speak the language and above all sustain the revival of the language of the Warike people. Iyaminiapu, O ye wa Kirike niokweinmi fie.

The post Adopting written word to revive Kirike language appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

It was a patriotic gathering of the descendants of Yewaland, Ogun West District of Ogun State, as Yewaland Development Forum (YDF) celebrated one of its illustrious sons, the immediate past Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Prof. Rahmon Bello.

The forum, impressed about his sterling achievements in the public sector, hosted him to a colourful reception graced by distinguished personalities such as Ogun State former Deputy Governor, Alhaja Salmon Badru and Senator Felix Bajomo, among others.

Bello’s outstanding performance brought to fore the question of resourcefulness of Yewa people and their seemingly systematic marginalisation in the scheme of Ogun State political and administrative affairs.

The event served as an ample avenue for YDF, a more bonded union, to challenge the perceived injustice and inequity suffered by the Yewa people.

“The sectional marginalisation of Ogun West has long been anchored on unequal Yewaland resource distribution and opportunities, with its roots from the imbalanced political structuring of the state,” said the guest speaker, Senator  Bajomo in his address titled: “Ogun State Project: Stemming the Erosions of Economic and Political Agitations of the Underdeveloped West District”.

This structure, he said, successfully gave the impression that the zone was a minority group, leading to limited opportunities for its teeming population, wondering why a state endowed with foremost nationalists and democrats cannot serve as an example of true equity, fairness and justice.

“Since inception of the creation of Ogun State, inequalities were seen in the number of local governments and constituencies allocated to Ogun West, limited number of our people absorbed in the state civil service and the few infrastructures, which made the masses in the area to continue to live in poverty and unsanitary conditions with the merest fragments of education that continue to make Ogun West educationally disadvantaged and least developed area,” he said.

Bajomo feared that if the politics of marginalisation continued, it might result in systematic and comprehensive denial of human rights, generate public outrage or youth restiveness.

He urged political activist and technocrats from the Yewa not to “fold their arms and watch events unfold in a manner that deprive them of equal opportunity with their contemporaries from other senatorial districts”.

Former Deputy Governor, Badru in her address said the struggle for the development of the Yewaland would only materialise with the commitment of passionate indigenes like Prof Rahmon.

She said his honour was well-deserved as he was actively involved in the leadership affairs of Yewaland despite professional commitment.

She said: “Now that he is retiring he should even be more involved even though in retirement he might become more engaged with many national and international appointments. l want to plead with him that Yewaland affairs need his attention more now than before.”

She further noted that the organisation will continue to make positive contributions to the development of the Yewland, adding that Yewa Unity Games, regular interaction with political office holders from Yewa, among other impactful initiatives, would be brought forth.

YDF President, Alhaji Ayo Adeyemi however, enjoined people to support its drive to execute development projects for long neglected indigenes.

According to him, plans were underway to develop a data base for Yewa indigenes, youth and women empowerment, establish a computer and internet hub in separate towns in Yewaland and Yewaland TV.

He noted that the forum will not hesitate to provide leadership base and support for Yewa citizens in various sectors.  He said: “In these days of economic diversification and cultural regeneration, we plan to promote the development of Yewaland arts and culture to the level of economic gains and human capacity training.”

The post Yewaland celebrates erstwhile UNILAG VC Bello appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

The ‘tidal’ image has remained a staple in literary offerings by renowned poet and playwright Prof John Pepper Clark-Bekederemo. The 85-year-old poet has dished out another collection from his ‘tidal’ creative zest, entitled: Remains of the Tide. The book’s import and richness of the octogenarian’s mind captivated guests at its presentation at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), reports EVELYN OSAGIE.

Expert fishermen would tell you that a tide may ebb, but not end. The world is yet to see the end of the literary/intellectual output of renowned poet and playwright, Prof John Pepper Clark-Bekederemo, who publishes as JP Clark. The poet had just released Remains of the Tide, a new collection that revisits pressing contemporary issues, including the shared complexities of life.

Born on April 6, 1933 to Ijaw parents in Kiagbodo, Southsouth Nigeria, Clark, along with Nobel laureate Prof Wole Soyinka, is one of the most articulate and proficient literary artists from Africa. His poetry or drama works blend Western literary techniques with images, thematic preoccupation drawn from Africa’s traditional theatre, besides integrating folklore of his people, myths, religion,  masks, drum rhythms, and dance of the Niger Delta (Ijaw).

The man and his book drew,  distinguished creative minds to its unveiling at the JP Clark Centre at the University of Lagos (UNILAG). They included Prof Soyinka and his wife, Folake; literary critic Prof Dan Izevbaye; Prof Dele Kasunmu; playwright and Prof Femi Osofisan; Chief Akin Disu; Dean, Faculty of Arts, UNILAG, Prof Muyiwa Falaye; Head of Department of English and Literary Studies Prof Hope Eghagha; Media Consultant O.Mac Emakpore; veteran broadcaster Chief Julie Coker and Olorogun Oscar Ibru.

The book, published by Mosuro Publishers, according to guests, was well-timed. And just as fishing maestro emphasised the significance of mastering the tides in steering a raft to safety, highlighting diverse contemporary political and social issues within and outside Nigeria, it appeared the poet laureate through his new book was warning all, especially the political class, of the need to “master the tides” of the pressing issues to prevent a crash of “the raft” called Nigeria.

At the event, a lot was said about the legacy and immortalisation of writers in writing and monuments, as well as the need for writers to look beyond the fog and become an inspiration to the nation through their writings. As four students took turns to recite poems from the collection, the lines revealed a mix of the poet’s frustration with local/national/global issues, futility of life and love, the celebration of people (dead and alive) whom the poet is very fond of, such as wife Ebun (in Devotion), Triage (for Alao Aka-Bashorun), and The Message from Boro (for the publisher of Vanguard Newspapers Sam Amuka), among others.

Clark was described as one of “Africa’s enduring writers”, who is “fully and totally dedicated to his art”. Literary critic Izevbaye dubbed him  “one of the very few of the older generation, who started modern “Africa’s literary turf”, saying like wine, the poet gets better.

“He has a special place within that generation because of the way he sparked off creative writing at the University of Ibadan. Many of the members of that generation are now gone, it is heart-warming to find him and his friend still around and still creating. It is good to see this coming up. And it is good to see students turn up in such large numbers and appreciating the works and contributions of one of those, who can call themselves the founders of  Modern Nigerian Literature.

“One of the things he has introduced to poetry is clarity without losing the significant and profound elements that we normally associate with poetry.  It is good and he has not let go the basic complex of images, which sustained his writing from the start – Niger Delta (tides) an image which is important for poetry. And he manages to use it to express a wide range of experience and feeling,” he said.

The event was chaired by the Vice Chancellor UNILAG, Prof. O.T Ogundipe, who was represented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Management Services), Prof Ben Emukufia Akpoyomare Oghojafor. Oghojafor said Clark was highly appreciated for his contribution to the development of literature in the university and globally. “It is of great delight that the giants that made the English Department what it is today are here present, e.g Profs Soyinka and Clark. We are very proud of Prof JP. His intelligence is highly appreciated. He is able to bring us a book at 82.

“It is of great significance that at the age of 82 he still finds time to reflect on contemporary issues and put them in poems. And I’m sure a number of people will learn from them as they go along in life. The lesson there is that we should never stop writing until we are gone,”he said.

Eghagha said:” Our own Prof JP is an icon worthy of celebration, we have tried to continue the legacy. There is a clash of events in the university, that is why the VC is not here, but he sends his greetings. Writers live on in writing and monuments. Prof wanted students to be there. His work is a call for the poet to look beyond the fog and inspire the nation. JP has dedicated himself fully to the art and has continued to express his art. Something tells me he still has work to do.”

When asked why the poems in the collection sounded very melancholic and spoke more of death, the poet’s nephew, Olorogun Ibru, said: “I think he wrote this when he was in sorrow because he also mentioned my Uncle Sam Okodu, he mentioned my dad, Uncle Bruce, who is still alive and painting, JP keeps talking about death, but he’s not going anywhere soon. His two elder brothers are still alive and they are much older than him. It is in the gene of my family to live long. My grandmother died at 96. She was Uncle JP’s aunt – so that is how we are related. We are hoping you would live to a hundred. We are all expecting another book on his poems that he has written about joyful and other memorable things. I’m going to talk to him about that and tell him to stop that. ”

Other distinguished personalities at the event were Dr Chris Anyakwu; Dr Lola Akande; ace sports commentator and former President of Nigeria Tennis Federation, Chuka Momoh; CEO of Honicomb Nigeria Limited, Dr Titus Okereke; Sesan Dipeolu; veteran filmmaker Iria Enakimo; sister to one to the foremost northern women writers, Kankara, Anna Kankara-Mohammed; representatives of the Lagos Chapter of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) led by its Chairman, Yemi Adebiyi, and members of Clark’s family, among others.

The post From JP Clark, another ‘tidal’ collection appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.