FASHION: Spring-Summer 2022: Emmy Kasbit

 

Fashion designer Emmanuel Okoro's "Emmy Kasbit" men's wear new collection for Spring/Summer 2022 collection shot at the National War Museum in Umuahia, Abia State, a heritage site and memorial of The pogrom and Biafran War. 

STAGE REVIEW: Three Sisters At The National Theatre

The cast of Three Sisters. Image: Richard Davenport.

BY TIM WALKER

Quite possibly in response to the vacuity of the times in which we live, the National Theatre seems to have adopted a policy of staging very long, cerebral and earnest productions. Inua Ellams' adaptation of Chekov's Three Sisters - running to three and a quarter hours - is a prime example.

Ellams has relocated the story from provincial Russia at the turn of the century before last and plonked it down in Nigeria between 1967 and 1970 during Biafra's attempted secession. An interesting conceit, but I fear not one that can be altogether sustained. I've no doubt that Chekov, who wrote this play in 1900, would find it perplexing.

I don't say that Ellams hasn't got some interesting points to make about British neocolonialism, but it would have been a lot more straightforward, if not also honest, to have just started a new play from scratch than to try to weld all his ideas on to an existing classic. He may say it's a "new play" that he has written "after Chekhov", but it feels as if he just hasn't the courage of his own convictions to do his own play.

The setting is a village in Owerri, where three sisters, sitting on the porch of their home, think back longingly to their halcyon days in Lagos. The sisters are pretty much the same as the sisters in the original. There's Lolo, the teacher, played by Sarah Niles; Nne (Natalie Simpson), the married middle sister who is engaged in an affair with a military commander; and Udo, (Racheal Ofori), who is the youngest and slowly becoming reconciled to never fulfilling her potential.

A lot of the friction of the original was about social class, but it is now about tribal hostility. The failure of Nne's marriage is now down to the fact it was arranged in accordance with tribal tradition when she was 12. It may all be very clever, but it feels clever for the sake of being clever.

All of the conflict and violence that inevitably comes with the setting is hardly in keeping with the spirit of Chekhov. He was famous for writing plays in which not a lot happens but a sense of despair gradually descends upon his characters.

In Nadia Fall's production, the focus is less on the characters and the mood than all the stuff that is happening. 
The acting is uniformly excellent and Katrina Lindsay's sets and costumes are impressive, but ultimately it's the idea behind it all that just isn't strong enough.

I might add, too, in these bleak times, the National Theatre should be in the business at least just occasionally of instilling spirit and hope in the citizens of a largely disillusioned and demoralised capital. This was clearly never going to do that. I look ahead to the productions being staged in the New Year and I see no grounds for optimism. Opening towards the end of January is a show called Death of England.

SOURCE: THE NEW EUROPEAN

Why Cultural Consciousness Is High Among The Yoruba

Azuka Onwuka. Image: Facebook

BY AZUKA ONWUKA

Most Nigerians, like most Africans, love to imitate Western ways because of the long-held view that Western ways are better. This manifests in our lifestyles: dressing, food, language, religion, education, personal names, holidays, and the like. For example, it is a thing of pride to speak English, French, Spanish and other European languages. A young and educated Igbo can proudly say: “I don’t know how to speak Igbo.” But no young and educated person will proudly say: “I don’t know how to speak English.”

When school owners want to advertise their schools as premium, they show off their White connection. If there is only one Caucasian child or a child of mixed race in that school, such a child must be used in the photograph or video of pupils or students for advertisement. If the head-teacher or any teacher of the school is from Europe or North America or Asia or North Africa, their picture must be displayed to show that the school is “international”. In addition, flags of the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan and other foreign countries will fly proudly beside the Nigerian flag. On the signboard of the school, there is usually a large announcement that the school is a Montesorri school or uses the American syllabus or the British syllabus, and takes Cambridge examination and other international examinations. If the school has gone on an excursion abroad, the photos of such a trip are proudly displayed within the school and in all communication materials.

This also applies in all facets of our life. When people visit Europe, America, or some parts of Asia, they proudly display their photographs on the social media. At social events or religious events or business events, people drop comments that suggest that they were away in Europe or America on holidays or business meetings. Local trips are hardly mentioned because they do not add any weight to the status and magnitude of the storyteller.

However, in spite of the pervasive nature of this in Nigeria, it seems the people of the Yoruba ethnic stock in Nigeria are the least affected. Even though they accepted Western civilisation and modernity, the people of the Yoruba ethnic stock seem to make a conscious effort to fight back the erosion of their way of life by Westernisation. Let us look at some examples to make this clearer.

The first is the way local names are spelt. Of all ethnic groups in Nigeria, it seems to be only Yoruba town names and personal names that are not anglicised. Igbo names like Awka, Orlu, Owerri, Enugu should be correctly spelt as Oka, Olu, Owere, and Enugwu respectively. Urhobo should be Urobo, while Itsekiri should be Ishekiri, and Ijaw should be Izon. Sokoto should be Sakwato, while Zaria should be Zazau. Similarly, in personal names, Okafor should be Okafo; Ejoor should be Ejo.

Conversely, Yoruba town names are spelt the Yoruba way: Ibadan, Idanre, Osogbo, Owo. In other ethnic groups a town like Owo could have been spelt as Orwor or Orwaw, while Ilaro could have been spelt as Ilaroh. Similarly personal names like Omowunmi could have been Omorwunmi, while Adebayo could have been Adebayor. There are efforts to ensure that a few Yoruba town names which are not spelt exactly the Yoruba way are changed. Examples are Otta, Ebute Metta (with double t) and Shagamu, Shade (with “sh”). The double t is being replaced with only one “t”, while the “sh” is being replaced with an “s” which has a dot underneath.

Similarly, it is easier to see Nigerians from other ethnic groups bearing foreign names than the Yoruba. A Muslim from the North is more likely going to have their first name and surname as Arabic names. That makes the person feel like a true Muslim. Examples of such names are Ibrahim Abubakar and Aisha Abdulsalam. A Christian from the North-Central, the South-East or South-South is more likely going to have a first name or middle name that is European or Jewish to make the person feel like a true Christian. Some may even have two English or Christian names. Examples are John-Paul Okeke, Henry Osagie, Akpoghene John Kome, and Judith Peters.

However, it is hard to use names to determine if a Yoruba is a Muslim, Christian, animist or even an atheist. The reason is that unlike in other parts of Nigeria where Muslims insist on bearing Arabic names, the Yoruba Muslims believe that having Yoruba first name and surname does not make them less Muslim. So when you hear names like Mr Fola Adeola, Mr Tayo Aderinokun, Chief Akin Odunsi, and Senator Gbenga Ashafa, nothing will tell you that they are Muslims. They do not flaunt Arabic names nor flaunt the “alhaji” title to prove that they have gone to Mecca for hajj. Christian Yoruba also flaunt their Yoruba names over Jewish and European names.

Similarly, the Yoruba do not flaunt Arabic attire or European attire to prove that they are good Muslims or good Christians. They flaunt their Yoruba attire whether in mosque or church. It is rare to attend an event like a wedding, a church service, or a funeral and see a Yoruba person who is above 30 years dressed in jeans, T-shirt, dress shirt, plain trousers, skirt or even suit. The Yoruba person is most likely going to don the traditional Yoruba attire. For most men, such dressing is incomplete if the agbada and fila (cap) are not worn. The women’s wear is also incomplete without the gele on the head and the ipele on the shoulder.

Note the reference to “gele.” Even though the English name for female headgear is scarf, the Yoruba have ensured that the Yoruba name overrides the English name. This name has been copied by even Igbo people who have the name “ichafu” for the female headgear. Gele has become so common that many Igbo women who are under 30 do not know that there is an Igbo name for it. Similarly, the three-wheeled vehicle which is called tricycle in English has been effectively named keke in Nigeria courtesy of the Yoruba.

Let us look at the foods. Yoruba people are not known to have the best cuisine in Nigeria. The contest for that title should be between the Akwa-Cross and the Igbo. But the Yoruba have ensured that none of their local dishes is given an English name. For example, there are no English alternatives for amala, gbegiri, ewedu, efo riro, and the like. However, a meal like usi has been given the awful name “starch”: a name that will make someone lose appetite. How can you tell someone to eat starch when you can excite the person’s imagination and appetite by calling it usi? Akpu has been christened “fufu” or “swallow”; ofe nsala has been given the horrible name “white soup;” ofe onugbu has been baptised and upgraded to “bitter leaf soup;” ogbono is now “draw soup” (whatever that means); while nkwu enu is now “up wine” (as if there is any type of palm wine got from the ground).

Meanwhile, those who created pizza, cappuccino, sushi, samosa, spaghetti, macaroni, sake, shawarma, etc, did not bother to give them English names.

Why is it important for a people to be proud of their culture and project it? It fires a people up to be more innovative, thereby creating things that will make them stand out. That belief drove the Romans to fabricate and construct superior weapons that helped them to overrun much of Europe, Asia and Africa and plant their language and civilisation all over the known world. The United Kingdom used it too. The United States took over from the UK. Today, China is using it. That was why Daniel Patrick Moynihan said: “The central conservative truth is that it is culture, not politics, that determines the success of a society.”

No culture is superior to the other. However, if a people do not feel proud of their culture and project it, they will be subsumed by the prevalent culture. The duty of every ethnic group is to ensure that members project the essence of that ethnic group.

–Twitter @BrandAzuka

SOURCE: PUNCH

Things Fall Together: Chinua Achebe Is Okonkwo of Things Fall Apart – Part 2

Chinua Achebe

BY JIMANZE EGO-ALOWES

The only difference is that while Achebe was Okonkwo-specific in his reportage, it is Achebe’s composite class of ex-colonials that were granted unimaginable wealth, position, and power. And this was typified by their moving into Government Reserved Areas, GRAs, after the white man left. The plain fact is that the Achebe composite class had no hand in building such a civilization or country. They merely inherited the rump of a British Empire and civilization. And as it turned out, they just could not run it. Achebe confesses to this even if obliquely. In his There was a Country, he writes: “Here is a piece of heresy: The British governed their colony of Nigeria with considerable care… British colonies, more or less, were expertly run.” (43). Of course, they ran it and handed it over to the Achebe composite class of ex-colonials.

Today alas, Nigeria is run like chaos. The Nigeria – the Achebe composite class of ex-colonials, inherited – that was once expertly run by the colonial power is today alas run as disorderly as the gates of hell. Perhaps it is that this Achebe composite class of ex-colonials, came suddenly into a fortune they could scarcely imagine, not to speak of manage or organize or run, and it all collapsed on their heads – and ours too.

One is forced to conjecture that it was the downside of a sudden meteoric rise in fortune that laid Okonkwo low and out. Okonkwo could not handle the new and unbelievable wealth and power he ran into by his industry. Both the Achebe composite class of ex-colonials and Okonkwo were like modern Mike Tyson. A famed American boxer, Tyson’s unimaginable good fortunes was beyond and blighted him, fatally, unto ruins. Perhaps, all too perhaps, these types make up one class.

And it is not out of place that the Achebe composite class, an heir of the rump of a perishing British civilization never came to knowledge that they were merely a band of adopted heirs. They were not truly of the bloodlines. Yet, alas, they deluded themselves that they were. The fact of this delusion is their mother sin. That explains in part, perhaps, why Achebe, one of the best of the rot that is their class, wrote his prose, even if apocryphal masterpiece, The Trouble with Nigeria. His tract above all was aimed at rationalizing the shameful failures of his class, the merely adopted, not true heirs of British or any civilization. In other words, the Achebe ex-colonial composite clan lacked a dialectical knowledge of even who they are. So, how could they generate the leaders to lead the unknowns, themselves?

And that was similar of course to Okonkwo, one can extrapolate. If Okonkwo were to author his own The Trouble with Umuofia, it would have been as un-dialectical as Achebe’s The Trouble with Nigeria. But the truth of the fall of Umuofia is closer to this dialectical short-circuit than to whatever Okonkwo, would as Achebe, have conjectured. For Okonkwo as much as for Achebe, they are never to be complicit of errors. Umuofia’s fall is in their cosmological not leadership failures. They did not fully comprehend what the world was made of. Thus, they could not defend themselves on the “ecologically” indicated, even if to them, mutant manifestations. Therefore, if one editorialized, substituting Umuofia for Aztec, etc., the truth of Carlos Fuentes, a Mexican Achebe if you liked, rings perfectly true:

But the Umuofians didn’t know the world existed outside the boundaries of the Igbo universe. When the white man arrived, they died of fright. There was another world they never thought of, and they were paralyzed to death. (Moyers 1989, 507).

And this concludes and summaries the counterfactual history of Umuofia and the current and resistant reality that is Nigeria. This is a Nigeria procured and bequeathed by the Achebe ex-colonial class to present and succeeding Nigerians. However, it is on record that Nobel Prize winner, Professor Wole Soyinka, member of the Achebe class of ex-colonials, was more forthright, more honest, in admitting to, not rationalising, his own and his group’s complicity in the shameful Nigerian tragedy:
BBC: “Has your generation of older Nigerians failed the people?”
WS: “Yes, I believe so.”

The following question may be indicated. How did Achebe write accurately of his future unto his death, when he was only 28? The answer is simple. It is in the nature of the artist to be both analytic and a seer. Most great artists– Achebe is indisputably one – have Delphic insights and hints of who they are and the likely unfolding of those seed personalities.

One of the most immediate in our national memories, must be of the poet Christopher Okigbo. His last book Labyrinths was declared as ‘’prophetic’’ by his publishers in their blurb. And the facts of Okigbo’s future actually matched his fears as he prerecorded them. So, the rite of the writer as prophetic is nothing strange or exotic. And this is also known in other climes. For instance, in his essay on Richard Wagner, Thomas Mann, a German Achebe if you liked, writes:

It has seemed to people that Tolstoy, in his old age, fell into a kind of religious madness. They do not see that the Tolstoy of the last period lay implicit in characters like Pierre Besuchov in War and Peace and Levin in Anna Karenina. (Mann 1958, 200.)

So, an Achebe foreseeing his future is neither odd not outlandish. These things happen. And the Latin American author ties it all up in his half dream world of characters: ‘’Before reaching the final line, however, he had already understood that he would never leave the room…” (Marquez 1971, 383). Look, we are all doomed. Our greatest men are those who foresee these ends and try to counsel us on ways about or out of our fated tragedies. Achebe and Okonkwo were two of such, each after his own way.

Perhaps, why the self-evidence of Okonkwo as Achebe’s autobiographical double has eluded us is because of the elephant in our brains. We just could not think of comparing Okonkwo, a common ‘’wrestler’’, with Achebe, one of the world’s greatest minds. The error comes as follows. We are wrongly seduced by forms and categories. We gave up too easily, too suddenly, on content, on development; and content and development ironically are the defining assets.

First, it serves well if we came to knowledge that being an artist is not due to form. The conventional category of denoting artists by form may only be self-serving at best. The point is that not all novelists [that is users of the novelistic forms] are artists. Some novelists are in it, legitimately, for the money. Writers – or if you liked fabricators – of Mills and Boon titles are such types. Sometimes, other users of the novelistic forms are no artists too. But that is because they have no talents whatsoever. They remain journeymen, not artists, not masters. The German example of the so-called, The Good and the Bad Mann brothers are telling.

The analogue to the above is this. The so-called non-traditional categories or forms that are considered non-art, like wrestling, business etc. abound with visionary artists. Perhaps, they are rare, but history records they have been there. Fact is, if any man or maker advances the form, whatever form, or uses the current forms, for the search for perfection in whatever area, such as one is an artist, is a poet. Thus, it is not the form that creates the artists, the poets, the geniuses. It is the content, the innovation, the genius a given practitioner brings to the form.

For example, Donald Trump who is America’s current president once gave an insight in his autobiographical work, The Art of the Deal. It is now said that it was ghosted. However, the point is that he said it right: ‘’Deals are my art form.’’

Even if it is not true for him, the fact of it has been and still remains. Long before Trump for instance, one of the greatest banker-businessmen of all time have had his biography written. And an excerpt goes:

When I remarked that on how unusual it was to find a banker who was also a genuine man of letters, [Raffaele] Mattioli’s…: ‘’I see no difference whatsoever between a poem and a balance sheet…. At best, each is a work of art…. When I look at either a poem or a balance sheet, I try to see the center of gravity, the focal point. (Wechsberg 1966).

And it is not a matter exclusive to professors as Mattioli was. A signalling report on boxing reads:
Once, in answer to the Irish fighter Roger Donoghue, who asked how [Archie] Moore could throw punches out of a position that kept his arms crossed in front of his face, Archie replied, ‘’You’re talking about technique, Roger, and what I do is philosophy.’’ Editorialising Miller writes: ‘’Moore was to boxing what Nimzovitch had been to chess. (Mailer 2000).

And we can recall that Plato, rated as one of the finest minds ever, started out as a boxer. In fact, his name, Plato, originally a nickname which he finally assumed, is said to be derived from the fact that he had a broad chest, was a boxer. That Plato was so proud of his boxing endowment that he signed it as his proper name, should make us circumspect in dissing physical or martial grace. Let us suppose that Plato deployed to boxing, his strength and genius. Imagine what innovations he would have purchased for the world by that form, the form of boxing. That he finally chose the philosophical form against the martial kind, does not make him thus a greater genius or innovator. It was his content that was at work and play, and that same content would have been played out in whatever fields he has a knack for – and boxing, a martial-arts, like wrestling, was one of those.

In other words, that Okonkwo was a wrestler and farmer should not automatically degrade our assessment of him in contrast to other parties, say novelists and mathematicians. Rather, what should count is what innovations he brought to his trade, and the data is in his favour. Okonkwo achieved a deed, an upset, an innovation, that ranks him with the founders of the clan. In summary, Okonkwo was a supreme martial artist; and, by this fact merits comparisons with even the gods, literary or otherwise. So, we have to quickly slaughter the elephant in our brains and make meat of it, rather than allow it to decimate our minds as a scarecrow.

In conclusion, it is apparent we can see that Achebe’s and Okonkwo’s lives run nearly as one in character and in fate, essentially. The only differences are in matters of Achebe’s management of his family for which we have no firm data. Anyway, that rather closet, even petty detail, does not detract from the dominant broad strokes in the essential lives of these two characters. And a novel need not conform to the least commas and periods to be autobiographical. Just the essential details, and “Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.”

In all, it may now be safe to say and in justice that the author of Things Fall Apart is [Professor] Chinua ‘’Okonkwo’’ Achebe, not Chinua Achebe. Ahiazuwa.

Ego-Alowes is a notable critic and Nigerian publisher

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

In Nigeria, Dreadlocks Are Entangled With Beliefs About Danger

Flavour, a popular Nigerian musician, can wear his dreadlocks in peace because they are seen as a temporary fashion statement. Elizabeth Farida/Wikimedia Commons

BY AUGUSTINE AGWUELE

A grown man wearing his hair in dreadlocks is bound to attract attention in Nigeria. And it’s not always positive attention. Many Nigerians, regardless of their education and status, view dreadlocked men as dangerous. The hairstyle sometimes even gets a violent reaction.

This bias is deeply rooted in traditional religious beliefs and myths, especially those of the Yoruba and Igbo people.

My book on the symbolism of dreadlocks in Yorubaland tries to explain what knotted hair means to Yoruba people, and where these ideas come from. Numbering around 40 million, Yoruba people predominantly occupy southwestern Nigeria. In West Africa, they are found in Benin Republic, Ghana, Togo, Sierra Leone, and Liberia. In the diaspora, they are significantly present in the US, Brazil, Cuba, Haiti and the Caribbean.

An affront to society’s orderliness

A popular phrase used by Yoruba people to describe dreadlocks is “a crazy person’s hair”. The language also has an idiom that shows how people feel about madness. A person will ask, “kini ogun were?” (what is the cure for madness?) and get the response, “egba ni ogun were” (whip is the cure for madness).

Mentally disturbed people often wear dreadlocks due to neglect. Because they are unpredictable, they are avoided as they roam the streets, and sometimes beaten. Their knotted hair show disharmony with the community; being unkempt and unruly, they are viewed as an affront to societal norm of orderliness.

Adult men with dreadlocks are viewed similarly. They are perceived as volatile and dangerous. Their untamed hair connotes wildness. Therefore, they are associated with the wilderness; uncultivated and unruly. In traditional Yoruba and Igbo worldview, unkempt hair is akin to the forest – mysterious, dark, and to be avoided.

There are exceptions: musicians and athletes who wear these hairstyles are “tolerated” as they are presumed to be assuming a persona that matches their brand. Essentially, theirs is a temporary fashion statement. And because they are famous and successful, they are protected from attacks on the streets.

Dark and frightening by tradition

The Yoruba thought system has it that some children are raised in the forest by gnomes and other mysterious beings. They come back into the community with supernatural powers, strange mannerisms, and sometimes knotted hair. Since they traverse the physical and spiritual worlds, it is believed that they can discern the destiny of others and can negatively influence them.

These knotted-haired people are avoided, more so when their dreadlocks are greying because “normal” adult Igbo and Yoruba males shave their heads completely, or they cut their hair very short. Deviating hairstyles are viewed suspiciously.

Unlike adult males, children born with knotted hair are revered and welcomed as a gift of the gods and not a product of the wild. Such children are called “dada” among the Yoruba in western Nigeria and the Hausa in the north. In south eastern Nigeria, the Igbo call them “ezenwa” or “elena”.

In Yoruba mythology, Dada is the son of Yemoja, the goddess of the sea, wealth, procreation, and increase. Dada is said to be one of the deified Yoruba kings. His younger brother is believed to be Shango, the god of thunder, who wears cornrows.

Children-dada are presumed to be spiritual beings and descendants of the gods by virtue of their dreadlocks. As such, their hair is not to be groomed and can only be touched by their mothers. They are the bringers of wealth, which is symbolised in both Yoruba and Igbo cultures by cowrie shells. They are celebrated. Feasts are held in their honour.

Their time on earth is special. It is marked by special rites that define different phases of life. In nearly all cases, their hair is shaved before puberty in order to integrate them into the community. The shaving ritual takes place at a river, where the shaved head is washed. The cut hair is then stored in a pot containing medicinal ingredients and water from the river. The concoction is believed to have healing properties and needed when they fall ill.

After the hair-shaving ceremony, the dada wears “tamed” hair in conformity with societal expectations. The child is still recognised as special and mysterious but is now integrated into society. The visible sign of their spirituality is no longer present. Any grownup, therefore, who still wears their dreadlocks is deemed to have been possessed by evil forces, or chose to do so malevolently; in either case, dangerous.

Challenges to the culture

Despite their negative associations, dreadlocks increased in Nigeria’s religious and popular cultures in the 1960s. Itinerant priests of the Celestial Church of Christ appear in white gowns and knotted hair. The famous musician and talented artist from Osogbo, Twin Seven Seven, performed on stage and television with his dreadlocks and white attire. He was the sole survivor of seven (considered a mysterious number in Yoruba tradition) sets of twins.

Yorubaland has the highest rate of twins in the world. Twins are considered spiritual beings, so they are also revered and celebrated. Being a twin, having knotted hair, and only wearing white clothes (like the gods or ghosts), further mystified Twin Seven-Seven in popular imagination and fanciful stories about him spread. For example, it was said that he was raised in the forest by spiritual beings, hence his creative imagination and hairstyle.

In the 1970s and 80s, other Nigerian musicians like Majek Fashek were inspired by the fame of Jamaican reggae artists to begin styling their hair the same way. From the 1990s, Nigerian footballers joined in by wearing cornrows and dreadlocks.

Barring these exceptions, adults with unkempt hair are judged deviant beings who have become conduits for evil. Since it is difficult to differentiate between adults wearing dreadlocks as fashion statement from those with “evil dreadlocks”, people either flee from them or attack them out of fear and self preservation.

SOURCE: THE CONVERSATION

The Business Of Music With James Ndubuisi

James Ndubuisi. Image: Twitter

BY UGOCHUKWU IKEAKOR

With over ten years experience helping a core of artists from the South East break into the Nigerian music scene, James Ndubuisi has built for himself a reputation as one of the best A&R and music business strategists in Nigeria. His client list includes Flavour, Phyno, Runtown, Zoro, KCee, Bracket, Wizboy, RuffCoin and the late MC Loph. He started his career with Eastside Records, after understudying Biglo and currently works with STARZ as the Soundtrack and Music Acquisition Lead. Flavour name checked James Ndubuisi on Destiny, a song on his second studio album titled Blessed. I sat down with James and he shared his experience on the business side of music.

How did you get into the music management business?

My entry into the world of music started immediately after my secondary school (2004). I got admission to study law at Obafemi Awolowo University Ile Ife, but the school was on strike. My elder brother “Jay Stuntz” was learning how to produce songs. We bought 2 Shotz first solo album after it came out and we loved the production of the album. There was a phone number on the album cover so we called to let the person know that we were interested in producing songs. Biglo picked up and we didn’t know it was him. My brother met him after that and he took him in to work with him at the studio. I was always hanging around the studio back then and that afforded me the opportunity to meet Durella, Ikechukwu, Ruggedman, Sasha and DBanj in the early days.

How did you get into music promotion?

After some months of meeting Big Lo, he wanted to release his own album. Jay Stuntz was working with him on the album and we were all involved in the process of songwriting and making of the album. A lot of people don’t know this but Big Lo started as a producer before he turned to a rapper. Big Lo produced most of the songs on 2 Shotz first album. From being in the studio with Big Lo and Jay Stuntz, I was able to understudy them to learn the basics about music production, songwriting and A&R. When the album was ready, a marketer (Uzi Music) dropped some money for the promotion of the album. Big Lo gave me some money and CDs to share his songs with top radio stations at that point. There was no mp3, so you had to submit physical CDs at different radio stations and give the presenters some money to play your song on the radio. Payola was normal then and it was the only way upcoming musicians could afford airplay on radio. It was at this point that I learnt that you can’t leave anything to the goodwill of people in the music industry. You had to pay to get presenters to play to your songs. The money served as an incentive for them to play your songs. From doing this for Big Lo, I started building my contacts and understanding how to promote and market artists, then A&R their projects to meet market demands.

How did you meet MC Loph?
After working on Big Lo’s album (Aristo) I had to go back to school. When I came back from holiday, my brother told me about MC Loph and played me some of the songs they made together. “Wrekognize” stood out from all the songs he played and I loved the song and I was eager to meet MC Loph. Jay Stuntz had perfected his production skills at that point but Big Lo didn’t allow him to mix and master songs. MC Loph believed in Jay Stunt ability to mix his songs which helped him perfect his mixing skills. Big Lo at that time was at the top of his career with the Delicious remix he made with 2shotz and was always on tour. For weeks we didn’t get to see Big Lo, that afforded Jay Stuntz and MC Loph the opportunity to work together in the studio and they were completing works on an album (Wrekognize) . I met MC Loph at this point, discussed some marketing strategies I used for Big Lo and what I could do for him when his own album would come out.

How did you meet Goldie and what did you learn from her?

Goldie was the person that changed our minds about the financial aspects of the music business. We didn’t know music pays good until Jay Stuntz and I wrote, composed and arranged an entire song for Goldie (Fashy). Goldie paid Jay Stuntz 100,000 naira in 2005. That was mind-blowing to us then. At that point we had been with Big Lo for years and we hadn’t made that kind of money from one song. Goldie paid me 20,000 naira separately for my A&R services and that was new to me.

Let’s talk about your experience with East Side Records and how it evolved.
One day we were all in the studio together and MC Loph got a call that he should come to Ojez Night Club in Surulere. Surulere was the hub of entertainment in Lagos at that point. A lot of Nollywood actors and actresses were living in Surulere and Ojez was the favourite spot for entertainers. He met with Ifeanyi Anagoh who was a movie producer, owner and financier of “Mega Movies”. His younger brother was a rapper (Sino) and he needed someone to feature on a song with him. Rappers like Ikechukwu and Ruggedman were difficult to get and someone recommended MC Loph. He recorded the song that day and shot the video of the song the following day. Ifeanyi Anagoh was impressed and signed him to EastSide records. I remember the night he got signed, it was wild. Loph came back with a “ghana must go”bag filled with cash. I will never forget that day. Loph couldn’t sleep that night and we were all squatting in the studio. Loph used the money to rent apartment. MC Loph told Ifeanyi Anagoh about me and he signed me to work with him at East Side records as their only Promoter and A&R exec. Jay Stuntz was signed as the in house producer. I was in my early 20’s, still pursuing my degree at OAU Ife. Ifeanyi Anagoh, on my recommendation also signed Nigga Raw “Mr Raw” to East Side records. At this point we were no longer available for Big Lo as easily as we used to be.

Jay Stuntz had a recording session with an artist at Big Lo’s studio, but because of his new engagement at East Side, he missed the session that night but came back the following morning. Biglo was pissed, but he wasn’t paying JayStunt salary for production. He wasn’t paying me for my promotion and A&R work- we had no contract with him. Jay could produce a song for an artist , Biglo would charge the artist 50,000 naira and only give Jay Stuntz 5000 naira. Sometimes, 3,000 naira.

At East Side Records, Jay Stuntz was paid 70,000 naira for a song and earning a monthly salary of 50,000. Big Lo gave us an ultimatum to choose between working for him and East Side Records after Jay Stuntz missed the night session, we chose East Side Records and that was the end of our working relationship with Big Lo. Working with Ifeanyi Anagoh “Mega Movies” we had the opportunity to meet nollywood stars who came to Mega Movies and interact with other producers who came to record at East Side Records. That experience made us understand better the music industry and opened us up to the movie side of the entertainment industry. And marketing films.

How did you meet Flavour?

If not for EastSide records and MC Loph, I probably wouldn’t have met Flavour. EastSide signed Nigga Raw, MC Loph and Sho’boi. 9ice came to Eastside record to ink a deal, but Ifeanyi Anagoh didn’t sign him because he wanted to work with Igbo artists only. 9ice already had some songs that was getting street buzz. I made recommendations and begged that we sign 9ice, but that didn’t happen. 9 months later Gongo Aso dropped, 9ice blew up and was the biggest artist in the country. I remember we even had to pay him to perform at one of the stops on Nigga Raw’s album tour. After we released Nigga Raw and MC Loph albums, Flavour asked for a deal, but that didn’t materialize for some reason. Flavour was featured twice on Dat Nigga Raw, Everything Remains Raw album.

After the album was released, I met Flavour. I came back from Ife ‘cos we were on another ASUU strike. Flavour was working with Jay Stuntz in the studio when I met him. He had released N’Abania and was gradually coming up on the music scene. Eastside tried to sign him at that point when he started buzzing. But he didn’t need them again. Flavour had a great studio chemistry with Jay Stuntz and it was easy for both of them to create songs together. We had a chat that day and I convinced him of some strategies I could use to market his projects and that was the beginning of our working relationship.

How were you able to combine all this with your educational exploits?

Upon graduation from OAU Ife, I was posted to Nigeria Law School, Enugu. I called Jay Stuntz to inform him and he said he had moved to Enugu in order to complete production of Flavour’s second studio album Uplifted. When I got to Enugu for law school, I joined them at Obiagu where Flavour was staying. At that point, Jay Stuntz didn’t have any contract with Flavour when they were producing the album. As the album was nearing completion, Duncan Mighty released his second album titled Legacy. That album was everything. This is a secret but Flavour had to postpone his album release after we listened to the songs on Duncan Mighty album. We went back to the drawing board. We worked on the album for another 2 months before we came to the conclusion that the album was good . We were heavily influenced by how good the Duncan Mighty album was and created our album to match the work he released. I didn’t have a contract with Flavour either, but we kept on working. I A&R’d several songs on Uplifted. Also, I set up his social media accounts and handled PR. I worked on three album projects for Flavour. Uplifted, Blessed and Thankful.

What did you understand about social media that made you set up social media accounts for Flavour?

I understood the power of social media to reach many people at a time. I came to this understanding because of an artist I worked with in university, his name is Cyko. I used to promote him before I met Flavour. He became popular because of Facebook. Reverbnation was the only music site that accommodated sharing on Facebook so I set up a fan page for Cyko and people were joining and sharing his music. I knew what Facebook did for Cyko and how it helped push his music further. We were even getting gigs within the university for him. I had to translate that knowledge on a bigger scale for Flavour.

What one moment would you say changed your life?

After we dropped the Uplifted album, we recorded a video for Ashawo remix featuring some Ghanaian artists (Asem & Bradez Stones). The song was hot and it blew up in Francophone Africa and France. I got an email from Trace France about the video. They said they loved the song but the video was not good enough to air on Trace. There was no Trace Nigeria at at that time. I showed the email to Flavour and the team. I advised Flavour that instead of shooting a new video, we should redo the song, remove the Ghanaian artists and shoot a better video in South Africa. P Square had the best videos in Africa then and the videos were shot in South Africa by Godfather. The bill they gave us to shoot the video was 2 million naira, compared to what we had shot for 400,000 naira. Psquare level was the standard we were looking to achieve. I was able to convince Big A (Anderson Obiagu of Big A Ent. who was then the GM of Bad Beat Records who partnered with us for a bit) to fund the video shoot and he did it. After the video was shot, I sent it to Trace in France through DHL. The Ashawo Remix got massive playtime on Trace Urban and this cemented my position as a top promoter and music strategist. I still wasn’t getting paid because it felt like family business working with Flavour.

So how did you start working with other artists?

As a result of the success we recorded with Uplifted, other artists started reaching out to Flavour to find out who helped with his music promotion, marketing and A&R. Flavour kept referring them to me. I later on worked with Bracket, Kcee, Phyno, Runtown, Wizboyy etc. Because of my relationship with Trace France, I was able to help push their videos and handle other things for them. My connections grew, and the relationships I have built since I started working with Big Lo became very useful. I had contacts in Alaba and I was the go to guy for anything music promotion for these artists. These other artists were the ones that paid. Before I started working with Flavour, there was probably no Igbo artist from the East who had recorded the kind of success Flavour had in Lagos and across the continent

What do you think is the reason behind your success with these Eastern Artists?

It wasn’t my deliberate choice to work with Eastern artists alone. Some call me tribalist because of this, but this is far from the truth. It was a coincidence. Remember I asked Ifeanyi Anagoh to sign 9ice but he failed to do that. I would have worked with 9ice, if Eastside had signed him. Flavour’s success was visible to these Eastern artists and they could relate to him, knowing he came from Enugu just like them.

The reason behind the success of the Eastern artist I worked with was my ability to understand both offline and online audience. I understood what Alaba wanted. I knew how to push the songs on radio stations, navigate through Alaba and run power street campaigns. I knew the right industry connects that could help these artists at each point of their careers and Alaba was key in blowing up their songs then. Of course, times are changing.

From all the things you mentioned you did for these artists, promotion stands out. Taking their Eastern sound and blowing it up in Lagos through Alaba. What did you understand about Alaba at this point?

Promoting and marketing artists is also one of the roles of an A&R exec. I am of the opinion that online sales of music and streaming is still in the minority in Nigeria. Look, compare the numbers, without sentiment, you’ll see I’m right.Some people make the mistake of thinking that everyone who lives in Abuja or Lagos are educated and internet savvy. But that’s not true. Take a look at Lekki axis, you’ll see a combination of beautiful estates alongside horrible slums. From Jakande to Sangotedo, slums are everywhere. Majority of the people that live around here don’t know anything about streaming even today. Uploading music into people’s phones at Computer Village is still a thriving business in Alaba and Computer Village. Nigeria is a poor country and we have a lot of people who are not educated and don’t understand anything about streaming or paying for music. When I started, internet penetration was very low and Nigerians didn’t have access to streaming platforms. With this understanding, I knew that Alaba and the radio stations were the best channel to promote these artists because they could reach a mass audience easily.

What was the influence of Alaba at this point on Nigeria music and how did you become the go to guy for Artists in Alaba?
I worked directly with Obaino music at Alaba after I left Eastside Records. He is arguably the biggest marketer in Africa. But when I was working with Ifeanyi Anagoh, Eastside Records had a store in Alaba. They had their own store. Ifeanyi was a movie producer and these movie producers back then all had shops in Alaba, Iweka road (Onitsha), Pound road (Aba) and outlets in Asaba. So it was easier for them to move their music through the same channel as their movies. I understood the channel and links for distribution of music. Then working with Obaino, I was able to get the numbers of CDs we sold at each particular point. The numbers were very important to me.

What was the number of CDs sold for Flavour Uplifted album?
The last time I checked Obaino Music had sold 17 million copies of the Uplifted album. Yes, 17 million physical CDS.

Obaino Music confirmed this to you?

I knew when we sold a million copies and when we sold 10 million copies. Some people will say it is not documented. But my question for them is have they met any Igbo man that doesn’t document his sales? Even to the guys who sell okrika in Yaba, they have a book where they document their sales. The numbers are there in Alaba. Duncan Mighty has sold more than 20 million copies as an artist. P Square’s Game Over is still selling till today and I think it is the highest selling album in Nigeria. I am aware that the album had sold more than 30 million physical copies.

Do you still believe in this age of streaming that CD sales is important?

Yes of course. More numbers means more money for the artists. Some artists are okay with having their fans streaming their music online. But Nigeria has a mass market that you can still reach with your CDs.

Do you believe Alaba is no longer relevant today? And should artists do away with them?
Alaba is still relevant. Without them you can’t serve the mass market completely. If you throw them away as an artist, you’re the one losing. Because someone out there in Alaba is making money off your sweat. As an artist if you fail to print physical copies of your CDs, you don’t negotiate with any of the marketers in Alaba. You’re busy focusing on online alone. You’re losing out on a major cash stream. Because someone will print the CDs in your name and sell them to your fans.

Does this still happen today?

Yes it is still happening. Tekno and Teni have albums at Alaba.

This is piracy. How do Alaba do this?

It is piracy, but it can be solved. It’s a demand and supply problem. Before an album comes out there is already a demand for it. The distributors fund the production and printing of the album, and they pay a marketer who buys the albums from the artist to sell. If an artist takes his/her album to Alaba, negotiates properly with the distributors, you can easily checkmate the piracy of your work and earn money from the marketers at Alaba who buy the album from the artists. But when an artist fails to sell to a marketer, the distributors will bypass the marketers and illegally fund the production of the album to sell to the mass market who are ready to pay for it.

What can young artists do to prevent fix this and have Alaba work for them?
They need knowledge. A lot of them don’t know that Alaba still sells. Asa had decent numbers from Alaba. Adekunle Gold and Simi had good numbers from Alaba. I understand that the problem some artists have with Alaba is that of trust because they feel that the numbers can’t be tracked with tech. So they are afraid that the numbers coming out from Alaba is rigged against them.

So the main issue artists have with Alaba is trust?

Yes. Lack of trust is a big problem. A lot of marketers are dishonest. Just a few of them I can recommend that can show an artist their numbers without falsifying it. Alaba is a key part of the music industry, but these new artists are neglecting. They need to go to Alaba, do their own research, find out what is working against them and find a way around it and create the trust they need to push their music further. There are new marketers who are in Alaba, ready to show the artists their books and get decent numbers for them.

But online we have seen artists buy Youtube views to rig their numbers?

The difference between Alaba and YouTube is that, buying YouTube views increases the number for an artists. The artists prefer their numbers to increase than to decrease. So some of them will invest their money in buying more YouTube views, than waiting for Alaba to tell them they sold 100,000 copies. TJoe told Psquare they sold only 500,000 copies, it took their late mother confronting him to admit the truth about the number of sales he had recorded.

After all the success you recorded in the music industry, why did you leave?

I moved to California in 2016, after more than 10 years playing an active role in the music industry. I was tired of everything and I was done with music. I had no plan when I was moving to LA. But a friend was gracious enough to host me in LA. When I got there, it felt out of place. But after my friend saw my CV, she told me how good it was, it dawned on me that I could use my portfolio to get a job at Hollywood. Within the passage of time, I was invited to a meet up organized by Showtime. It was at that event that my friend introduced me to someone, whom I later found out was working with Starz. I had a meeting with the person the following week, they offered me a consultancy role for the projects they were working on. Towards the end of 2016, I moved back to Lagos to work with STARZ on a docuseries they were shooting in Badagry. They shot the docu series for 13 months in Lagos. There were a lot of interviews, research and ground work done. It was wild. The docuseries was about slavery in Badagry, I can’t speak more about it because it was eventually shoved aside.

When did your job with STARZ become permanent?
My consultancy role with STARZ lasted for months then I reached out to Netflix and HBO. When my boss got wind of it, they offered me a permanent role- Soundtrack and Music Acquisition for STARZ.

What advice do you have for any upcoming A&R?

The ugly truth is that A&Rs, producers and songwriters are at the mercy of musicians in Nigeria. Especially the young A&R, producers and songwriters. We need a structure that covers A&Rs, producers and songwriters when an artist is signing any contract that licenses his music or whenever they are working on any project. The contract should be inclusive in such a way that everyone involved in the project will get a percentage from it. Everyone involved in this industry should standardize this in our contractual process, doing this will ensure that artists don’t take everything and leave those who contributed to the project dry. For the young ones coming into the music industry, they must know that you don’t get what you deserve, you get what you signed for.

So what are you doing at the moment to help make this possible?

Whenever I acquire sound for STARZ, in the contract I make sure that the song writer, producer, composer, A&R, samples to be cleared and everyone involved in creating the song has a percentage from the money we are paying to you. That is how I am trying to correct this norm that is prevalent in our music industry and make sure that upcoming A&Rs don’t make the mistakes I made when I was starting out. It is my job now to verify and make sure that everyone involved in the creative process of making a song benefits from it. It is in the best interest of the industry, for other key players involved in the music industry to adopt this model and make sure artists don’t cheat anyone. Artists are cheats. Quote me anywhere. I once worked with an Artist who when he signed an international deal, he put down his name as producer, mixing, mastering, song writing, back up. His name was everywhere. He cheated everyone involved in the creative process. And then I knew these guys can kill.

Since you left the music scene in 2016, artists from the East are no longer topping the charts as they used to. Do you plan on coming back to help some of them again?

I think any advice I give will help them. I don’t plan on helping them again. The work I did for the majority of them felt like charity. I didn’t have anything to show for my labour and I don’t plan on doing that again. They need to get over themselves because they have some success now. They should hire people that are capable. There is nothing wrong in paying songwriters, A&Rs and producers that work for them. I used to go out of my way to get investors that will invest in some of these artists. They don’t have the culture of everyone eating- they made it difficult for people that will help them to get involved at this point.

Afrobeats is trending globally, and you’re in the middle of it acquiring afrobeats sound for STARZ. How has the experience been?
Thus far, I have been able to acquire sounds that STARZ will use in their upcoming shows from Nigeria. We have paid almost $250,000 to different artists in Nigeria. STARZ gives me song briefs to work with. If I can’t find the sound, I go into the studio with Nigeria artists to sing according to the brief. Sometimes they give me specific songs to acquire. Because of my position with STARZ, I have been able to plug in some upcoming artists from Nigeria, because it is easier to work with them and have them create the sounds you need.

What is the future of Afrobeats?
Afrobeats will fade away in 2023. There is no music that doesn’t fade away. We are not cashing in from Afrobeats.

So how do we cash in?

We all need to storm Hollywood collectively. If not time will come when no one will care about afrobeats, the same way no one’s paying attention to reggae music at the moment. This is not the first time world is seeking for a bit of Nigeria music- it first happened under Majek Fashek and King Sunny Ade. If we are not careful we can lose this moment. That is why I am making sure that our songs are used as soundtracks, making it easy for a lot of people to benefit from Nigeria music. Also, we need to stop limiting ourselves, everyone that is involved in the creative process of making Nigeria music should be involved with what’s happening beyond the shores of Nigeria. Seek opportunities outside Nigeria, protect the culture in order to prevent vultures from ripping and owning our sound.

SOURCE: CULTURE CUSTODIAN

After 44 Years Of Devoted Service, Ihe-Nsukka Honours El Anatsui

Anatsui dances after his chieftaincy installation. Image: The Guardian

• The Love For Fela’s Music Brought Me Here

• Nigeria Has Not Lost Much Of Its Culture
• Artists Survive In Environment Where There Is Idea Stimulation

BY GREGORY AUSTIN NWAKUNOR


First, the hair. They are silver, without space for any other colour. On a sunny day, the hair glistens like cumulus in the sky. They are not receding yet.

Seventy-five years old El Anatsui, the owner of this hair is one of the most respected artists of the contemporary era.

Born in Anyako, Volta Region of Ghana, and trained at the College of Art, University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, in central Ghana, his work with sculpture and woodcarving started as a hobby to keep alive the traditions he grew up with. He began teaching at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in 1975 and has remained in the university town till date.

The critic John McDonald says: “It has taken many years to find artists who can occupy a prominent place on the global circuit while choosing to reside outside the metropolitan centres. William Kentridge has made his reputation from Johannesburg, and El Anatsui has conquered the planet while living and working in the Nigerian university town of Nsukka.”

He did not dare get his hopes up too high when he got to Nsukka. He didn’t want them to be dashed. Many have had that as a welcome gift in new climes.

One year had gone by, and another, and then another, and he was deep into his stay in the university community, worming his way into the heart of Nsukka art School.

He was working day and night, weekends, putting off vacations, losing weight, gaining weight, growing pale and worn out, waking at odd hours.

With a hammer, chisel, rasps — a piece of metal that resembles a file, with small teeth all over the surface — and banker, a very sturdy workbench, used mostly by sculptors, by his side, Anatsui he was always ready.

Forty-four years is no joke staying in a foreign land. When you listen to him, you get a picture of what it was at the beginning: Excitement and hope.

“I was excited coming to Nigeria,” he says.

Pauses.

Anatsui is courteous and measures his words before bringing them out. “I knew something about Nigerians. I was in school with them. I knew something about the country from primary school. There were Nigerians who taught me, and when I finished secondary school, I taught one or two of them in class.”

He says, softly, “when I went to the university, there were so many Nigerians there. I found them very exciting people. In Ghana, at the time, we were on a government scholarship, but these people came and they paid fees. And for that reason, they tended to be more serious than we on a government scholarship. The government was paying us for schooling. So, I knew that when I got the appointment with the University of Nigeria, I was going to be with very serious people like the ones I met in my school days.”

He flashes a grin.

“Also, when I was in school, I was playing in the university band. I was a trumpeter, and occasionally, a drummer. One of our heroes or icons at that time was Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. I think it was in the final year that he visited my school,” he says.

That was when Fela was trying to introduce afrobeat “and we had the opportunity of playing during the halftime of his performance. I thought that if I came to Nsukka, Fela would be within five hours reach and that I would go and listen to his original music anytime I was in Lagos, which I was doing anyway,” Anatsui reveals.

His voice is gentle and cultured.

Now: try to imagine a Bohemian life.

“Each time I was travelling to Lagos, I made sure it was Friday. So, in those early days, I was always going by road for my long vacation,” he says. “I will come to Lagos and do my papers and international driving licence, and in the evening, retire to Fela’s Shrine to listen to good music. At dawn, I will take off to Ghana.”

The artist says, jocularly, “Fela’s music was original to many of us. It was the kind of music you want to hear over and over again. I didn’t want the situation where I would have to wait for him to travel to see his performance. All those things put together, my colleagues, who were hardworking, and then, Fela made it exciting for me to live and work in Nigeria.”

Why Nsukka and not any other place in Nigeria?

He adds, creating a world for the inner eye to inhabit.
“UNN was the place that gave me an appointment. When I came, I found the place welcoming and I didn’t think of going to another university. It was the time that I came that we had the likes of Uche Okeke, Obiora Udechukwu, Chike Aniakor, and so many artists around. Nsukka art school had a very prestigious formation. The staff were very good, and so, initially, I thought I would do a couple of years and then renew at the end. I kept renewing, and the university, on a couple of occasions, renewed without me knowing. So, I needed a place that was very exciting.”

He says, “an artist survives very well in an environment where there is idea stimulation and I have a lot of stimulation in the environment from the things that are cultural and even the language. I’m a very good fan of Pidgin English. It has a lot of art and imagery. Listening to Pidgin English being spoken can be interesting. The radio in my car is permanently on WAZOBIA FM where they speak pidgin. The expressions are revealing and entertaining at the same time. I see that in Nigeria, you haven’t lost much of your culture. The colonialists did not stay long here. In Ghana, they destroyed so many things. When I came, I saw that in this area, especially the Igbo community, a lot of the culture was still intact. In those days, I used to go to events; I even went to a place where a friend took ozo title. The Nsukka environment was exalting, people were experimenting, and sometimes, not experimenting but very active – one that urged you on to do something. It was a synergetic kind of, at that time.”

And he didn’t feel like joining the ‘brain drain’ movement of the 90s?

“I think the people who left mostly were not Nigerians. They were expatriate. Though I’m an expatriate. What I think I was earning did not have anything to do with money. More so, my practise was good enough for me to worry about money the way others would do,” he says.

He admits, “I don’t think I have any regret living here these past 44 years because you cannot imagine another scenario to compare with or maybe with the Ghana that I left.”

According to him, “that’s one thing I don’t know. It could happen, maybe not. The thing is that the kind of artist that I’m, somebody who is constantly working for a new way of doing things, Maybe I would have survived in Ghana, I don’t know. When you leave your domain or country where you are used to things and come to a new place, you tend to probably move faster than when you were in your home where you have all the comforts. You might not be adventurous enough or you might just relax, new things to learn, new challenges to move on.”

Anatsui reveals that his first experience with art was through drawing letters on a chalkboard. “During my pre-school years, I lived in a mission house with an uncle who was a reverend. We used chalk and slate. The letters always baffled me. I thought they were very interesting signs. I thought they were human beings,” the sculptor explains.

The smile on his face is huge. It looms large enough for a close-up shot. “When I went to university, sculpture looked interesting to me. That was an area I had not been introduced to in all the other stages of education. So, I instinctively chose to major in it. Having done that, I discovered that I made a very good choice because sculpture seems to be so wide that within it, you can have so many others,” he confesses.

He adds, “in sculpture, for instance, you handle colour like a painter — They are even restricted kind of to canvas or only papers. In sculpture, you’re handling colours in so many ways. You have all the other areas subsumed in it. As a sculptor, you can use fabrics, paints and just anything to work with. You can even use clay, which is ceramics. All the other areas are easily found in the discipline. As a sculptor, you have the freedom to work in all these areas.”

He expresses a variety of themes and demonstrates how African art can be shown in a multitude of ways that are not seen as ‘typical’ African.

His work utilises conceptual modes that are used by European and American artists but hardly in Africa. He uses his inspiration and materials from Africa to speak about humanity.


In his studio practice, Anatsui creates experiences for his viewers conceptually. He believes that “human life is not something which is cut and dried. It is something that is constantly in a state of change.”

Anatsui’s preferred media are clay, wood and found objects, which he uses to create sculptures based on traditional Ghanaian beliefs and other subjects. He has cut wood with chainsaws and blackened it with acetylene torches.

After he moved from Winneba to Nsukka, wood became less accessible to him. This drove him to pursue clay as a medium.

“I have spent time doing some works. They call it ceramics. That was about three or four years ago. But that’s what I call ceramic sculpture,” the artist retorts.

Anastui’s Broken Pots: Sculpture was a series of vessels formed by shards of existing and created pottery. This series was Anatsui’s first experiment with using many parts to create a whole. Often providing new context or meaning to the pieces he was using.

More recently, he has turned to installation art. Some of his works resemble woven cloths such as kente cloth but were not intended as textiles, but as sculptures.

In his installations, draws connections between consumption, waste and the environment.

For him, art grows out of each particular situation, and artists are better off working with whatever their environment throws up.

He says, “as a sculptor, you’re delving into the meaning of form and the material. Let’s take a look at clay. It is soft and pliable, but when it dries, it is hard. When you fire it, it becomes harder. The main characteristic is that it is fragile. It breaks easily. A sculptor, for instance, might not be thinking of clay when he or she wants to do a work that is not fragile. I’m not restricted to any particular medium and grow into something else.”

According to him, “at this stage, I haven’t closed my eyes or signed off. My mind is constantly in search of any medium that will bring a new message. When I worked with wood, it was to explore certain ideas. It doesn’t mean that I’m finished with wood; I’m still working with wood, but not as much as I’m doing with metals. When I came to metals, it wasn’t as if the wood has been exhausted but because metal comes with a new message and idea. When a new medium shows itself up, then it tends to draw more attention. It doesn’t mean that I have left the other one.”

These works are made from found objects, usually metal bottle caps, which are tied together with wire to create vast sculptures that resemble tapestries. Anatsui incorporates Adinsubli for his works, an acronym made up of uli, nsibidi, and Adinkra symbols, alongside Ghanaian motifs.

With his metal hangings continuing to spread over the world, Western art critics began to connect Anatsui’s work with potential art historical references in order for them, foreigners, to create familiarity. For example, one mentions that his bottle tops could be compared to “Duchamp’s bicycle wheel” and “recall disparate Modernist sweet spots without quite settling into any familiar category.”

On Saturday, August 24, 2019, the traditional ruler of Ihe-Nsukka autonomous community, Igwe George Asadu, honoured the Ghanaian-born Nigerian artist with the chieftaincy title of Ikedire. This is the first traditional title conferred on him since his sojourn here.

On why he chose Anatsui for honour, Igwe Asadu said: “Ihe community searched around Nsukka and all its environs for a distinguished and outstanding personality to be celebrated. Out of the very few names shortlisted, no one qualified for this recognition more than Anatsui.”

He says, “the first time I heard, I thought it was good. It comes with a challenge. You are challenged to see how you can make things better. It’s an official way of having access to members of the community in terms of ideas that can help me and the community to move on. These days, you have artists not looking only in their studios. They are becoming involved in a series of collaborations. Now, if I meet a member of the community and I ask of an idea, they are not going to look at me like, who is this. They will take me seriously and try to collaborate.”

He continues, “when I first arrived in Nsukka almost four decades and a half ago, little did I know that I would be here today as a recipient of this great honour being bestowed on me. Nsukka has been my home for a longer time than even my place of birth and where I grew up in Ghana. I have spent more years living among you all than I have lived anywhere on earth. And, because of this, the town and people of Nsukka shall always remain an indelible part of my being and experience.”

Anatsui adds, “today, I am now being admitted into the honoured sanctum of this town, a few of whose historical antecedents I have tried to encapsulate here, as a reminder of what Nsukka once was and can build upon. I shall continue to do my best to assist in perpetuating some of these legacies.”

Anatsui won an honorable mention at the First Ghana National Art Competition during his time as an undergraduate student in 1968. The following year he was awarded the Best Student of the Year.

In 1990, Anatsui had his first important group show at the Studio Museum In Harlem, New York. He also was one out of three artists singled out in the 1990 exhibition, Contemporary African Artists: Chaning traditions, which was extended for five years.

He has since exhibited his work around the world, including, the Venice Biennale (1990), the 8th Osaka Sculpture Triennale (1995); the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (2001); the National Museum of African Art (2001); Liverpool Biennial (2002); the 5th Gwangju Biennale (2004) and Hayward Gallery (2005).

He also exhibited at the Fowler Museum at UCLA (2007); Venice Biennale (2007); National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, in Washington, D.C. (2008); Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2008–09); Rice University Art Gallery, Houston (2010), A 2010 retrospective of his work, entitled, When I Last Wrote to You About Africa, was organised by the Museum for African Art and opened at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It subsequently toured venues in the United States for three years, concluding at the University of Michigan Museum of Art.

His works have equally been shown at the Clark Art Institute (2011) and at the Brooklyn Museum (2013).

In a span of two years, he bagged three international Honorary Doctorate degrees from University of Harvard, USA; University of Capetown, South Africa and his own alma mater, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Arts, Kumasi.

Again, in 2014, he was made an honorary royal scholar and equally elected into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2015, Anatsui clinched the prestigious Golden Lion Award for Lifetime Achievement at the 56th international Art Exhibition of the Biennale de Venezia, and just this year, he was decorated with the glamorous Praemium Imperiale Award for Sculpture plus countless other numerous awards, recognitions and honours.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

Haunting Echoes Of A Commemoration

Chinua Achebe. Image: Leonardo Cendamo/Getty

BY OKECHUKWU UWAEZUOKE

A group exhibition, whose theme revolves around the 60th anniversary celebration of Chinua Achebe’s iconic debut novel Things Fall Apart, concluded its three-city tour of Nigeria in Lagos, after previously holding in Awka and Abuja, Okechukwu Uwaezuoke reports

First, there was a caveat. And it was offered shortly before the Lagos leg of the exhibition was officially opened at the Thought Pyramid Art Centre along Norman Williams Street in South-west Ikoyi that Saturday, August 24 evening. At a cosy end of the gallery’s upper floor, where a roundtable discussion was in full swing, its resilient curator, Chuu Krydz Ikwuemesi, had reminded the discussants that – though the exhibition, And the Centre Refuses to Hold: Homage to Things Fall Apart @60, was based on Chinua Achebe’s debut novel, Things Fall Apart – it was not really concerned about the illustration of the novel’s content.

Among the leading art personalities present at that session, by the way, were the Obi of Onitsha, Nnaeneka Achebe; the renowned art collector, Omooba Yemisi Shyllon; the cultural activist and former newspaper editor, Jahman Anikulapo as well as the Arthouse Contemporary Limited’s founder, Kavita Chellaram. Also sitting among several others at the roundtable were two of the exhibiting artists – Tobenna Okwuosa and Akeem Muraina.

Indeed, Ikwuemesi was only re-echoing what the literary luminary and Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, had written in his preface to the exhibition catalogue. Soyinka had explained that this endeavour was a continuation of the original “dialogue between image and word”, which began when his African publishers, Bookcraft, launched an outsize edition of Achebe’s iconic novel. This edition, it would be recalled, had featured contributions by a coterie of leading contemporary Nigerian artists. But, this exhibition, Soyinka reminded its audience, had set out “as original artistic tributes, for which the literary work maintains a ‘low profile’ as inspirational resource, leaving the artists to their own re-creative devices.” It is for this reason, he added, that it “should therefore be encountered as products in the vein of association of ideas, set as images, and not literal interpretations of the originating narrative.”

Featured at the exhibition, which ended yesterday, were works produced in diverse media by the following artists: Chuu Krydz Ikwuemesi, Tobenna Okwuosa, Ato Arinze, George Odoh, Tony Nsofor, Anthony Polo, Akeem Muraina, Ato Arinze, Chinyere Odinukwe, Nnaemezie Asogwa, Benjamin Akachukwu, Obi Nwaegbe, Iyke Okenyi, Jerry Buhari, Chris Echeta, Blaise Gundu Gbaden, Rita Doris Ubah, Doofan Kwaghhool and Abigail Nnaji.

Expectedly, the artists’ diverse backgrounds, experiences and idiosyncrasies gleamed through the works, among which were photographs, drawings, paintings, sculptures, installations and mixed media. These babel of expressions swirl around the trending issues in post-colonial Africa, through which the exhibition gropes for a unifying theme.

Take Akeem Muraina, the Lagos-based sculptor, for instance. Among the four works he contributed to the exhibition, two were metal sculptures while the remaining two were charcoal drawings. One of the metal sculptures, titled “Aremo” (Yoruba for step-father) depicts a bull and a young antelope co-joined in a prancing stance. The idea is to reflect the distinctions in class and status as well as a mutual affectionate bonding.

But, specifically, it metaphorically alludes to the relationship between the novel’s main character Okonkwo and his foster son Ikemefuna. Understandably, the old rugged bull, which symbolises Okonkwo’s bellicose disposition, finds its contrast in the antelope (a metaphorical depiction of the youth Ikemefuna), which exposes the soft underbelly of his fatherly love. The work, also a call to true humanity, urges affectionate bonding across artificial class distinctions. This is in reference to the love Okonkwo, a respected figure of Umuofia, had for a slave boy Ikemefuna, which he did not show to his own biological son, Nwoye.

Conversely, the photographer, Emezie Asogwa, with his body of works, titled “Wet Dreams”, makes no obvious reference to the novel. Rather, he expresses his thoughts about the power of the mind. Through blurry images hinting at motion, he tells the story of his dreams and the intrinsic energies of what he calls a “conscious unconsciousness” in a suite of miniature photographs. Thus, he guides the audience beyond the carnal imagery of his bodily experience and urges them to consider wet dreams as expressions of mental images in dense gross-materiality.

In the same vein, Obi Nwaegbe only tangentially references the novel in his acrylic on paper work, “The Protest”, but extends his musings beyond the obvious with his other similarly-rendered works: “Hangout at the Lounge”, “Women on a March”, “The Essence of Friendship” and “The Hawkers”. The Abuja-based artist seems rather more concerned about keeping a visual diary of the contemporary realities of his environment.

Similarly, Iyke Okenyi’s wooden sculptural offerings – “Dancer”, “Group Photograph”, “Heavy Rain”, and “Before I Die” – make no obvious references to the novel’s content. Yet, it leaves so much to the viewers’ conjectures.

This was not so the case with Tobenna Okwuosa’s paintings. For the Niger Delta University lecturer’s three oil on canvas works seem to be patently tied to the novel’s content. Yet, he lashes out through them at the mental slavery of the post-colonial African (in “Black Man, White Mask”); places the novel on a pedestal not just for its entertainment value, but also its possible use as a guide and text for mental liberation of the African (in “The Beginning of a Great Narrative”); and romanticises the heroism of its protagonist in the tradition of the Negritude writers (“Okonkwo”).

Nonetheless, not even the exhibition’s eclectic and impersonal attributes could have diminished its synergistic visual harmony. Hats off, therefore, to Ikwuemesi’s curatorial dexterity for the unobtrusive blending of the forms and the media.

Previously, the travelling exhibition – which featured a maximum of five works from each of the participating artists – had first held in October last year in the Anambra State capital Awka. This was before it held, more recently, in Abuja this year. And the Centre Refuses to Hold…,as a title, lends wings to the artists’ musings. It evokes a Tower of Babel scenario, in reference to the economic, political and social crises, which continually plague the continent. Thus, the novel’s account of the cultural conflicts between the colonial masters and their colonised subjects in the late 19th century echoes with relevance in the present. Beaming the spotlight on Unoka (Okonkwo’s father in the novel), it drew parallels between this character and the artist in the context of the contemporary Nigerian society.

SOURCE: THIS DAY

Osadebe Fest: Preserving The Legacy Of A Highlife Legend

L-R: Son of the Late Sir Stephen Osita Osadebe, Onyeka Osadebe, Convener, Osadebe Fest, Afam Dozie, HRH Igwe John C. Nwosu, Ezechimeleze the Eze Ndigbo of Mushin Lagos, Steve Onu, and Oranu Hillary Ikechukwu at the brand unveiling of the Osadebe Fest in Lagos recently

BY THIS DAY

A group of young men from the Igbo stock recently came together to bring back the life and times of a legendary icon, late Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe, one of Nigeria’s Highlife pioneers. MARY NNAH reports that they intend to go back to their roots to expound the culture and tradition which the late music icon propagated and stood for, believing this would help to project the Igbo culture and race globally

Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe, simply known as Osadebe, a Nigerian highlife musician from Atani, Anambra State is one of the best known Igbo highlife musicians in Nigeria and globally.

Born in March 1936, Osadebe’s career, according to the Wikipedia, spanned over 40 years. He was best known for his 1984 hit song, “Osondi Owendi”, literally meaning, “One man’ meat is another man’s poison”, which established him as a leader in the highlife genre and was one of Nigeria’s most popular records ever.

Yet, after his demise at the age of 73 on May 11, 2007 at Saint Mary’s Hospital, Waterbury, Connecticut, United States, nothing worthwhile has been done to preserve the legacy of a man described as the “doyen of highlife” in Nigeria.

Conversely, a group of young men, just recently, decided to come together and do something extraordinary by coming up with an innovative idea to bring to life Osadebe’s life and times, through an initiative tagged the “Osadebe Fest.”

The brand unveiling of, “Osadebe Fest tagged “Celebrating a Legend: In memory of Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe (The Highlife Music Icon)”, held in Lagos, which had in attendance the team behind the project, made up of the Convener, Afam Dozie, Oranu Hillary Ikechukwu; OAP and entertainer, Steve Onu popularly known as Yaw amongst others.

Dozie, an indigene of Otolo Nnewi in Anambra State, said Osadebe Fest is not just about celebration but to impact on the young people who didn’t meet Osadebe as a person or didn’t know what his songs stood for.

“We were fortunate enough to grow up with parents as typical Igbos who played Osadebe songs every morning as we listened. The kind of advice Osadebe gives in his songs are inspiring. That alone got me very involved with tradition. So, we decided to start this”, Dozie on how he got inspired to start the Osadebe Fest.

As the brain behind the project, he has got together young able-bodied men like himself, who believe in the same dream.

“I cannot do it alone; we cannot do it alone too. We need the Igbos; we need Igbos in diaspora, we need Nigerians, and we need everybody who believes Osadebe impacted on us in one or two ways through his genre of music, which is highlife. So we are projecting a bigger picture, this is just the official unveiling event”, he added.

The event which has the support of the Igbo elders as well as the family of the late legend, as was shown with the representation by one of his sons, Onyeka Osadebe, is funded at the moment by the founding team. However, Dozie said it is open to sponsorship by organisations and individuals with like minds.

“We are looking forward to get support from all nooks of life including the Anambra State government, media and brands that would associate with the progress of this event. We just want will-be sponsors to understand the vision behind this. This has nothing to do with personal interest but basically it is a collective effort of like minds coming together to take our culture to the next level.

“As an Igbo man, I strongly believe in my culture and I also believe that we need to take our culture to where it should be. So, through the entertainment filed, we have decided to use the Osadebe symbol to portray this idea and then push it out there. Like I said, the opportunities are endless”, he noted.

He revealed further that highpoints for the build up to the major event coming up sometime next year would include a novelty football match, symposiums, school debates on the music icon for secondary schools, festival of masquerades where all the masquerades from various quarters of the eastern zone would be brought together in one place to pay homage to late Osadebe and then the main concert which would crown up the whole event in Awka, Anambra State.

“The Osadebe Fest is not just for the Osadebe’s family but for every Igbo person. As team for this project, we are not selfish that is why we are putting it up for everyone, most especially for those that have done highlife music, to be part of the project.

“So, whilst we are preparing for the major event with the various activations that I have mentioned earlier, the musical competition will commence online, so that people who are in the same genre of music as Osadebe would showcase their talents and then winners would emerge who would play on stage during the main event. So, the Osadebe Fest is everyone’s business,. It is for the family, the country and the world at large”, Dozie added.

One of those working behind the scene for the success of the Osadebe Fest Concert, Steve Onu, popularly known as Yaw, said, “I have decided to be part of this project because this is something I have always wanted to do for the Easterners but you know it is not an easy thing, you hardly get support.

“Incidentally, when Afam approached me, and said this is exactly what he wanted to do, I just keyed into the idea. So we are just going ahead with this and believing that it would be a different case.”

Expressing optimism about the approaching event, Onu said, “I strongly believe that this would go a long way to project our culture internationally and otherwise. Before now I have been an advocate but it is a good thing that somebody is spearheading the cause because it requires a lot of work and team work as well. We need the support of everybody to make this a reality.”

Speaking further, Onu who perhaps has foreseen what the project portends, said, “This is no child’s play. African music cannot be talked about without Highlife and that is what the easterners represent. There are lots of brands coming with various styles of Highlife music because they know that African music is not complete without it. So, it means that we cannot run away from these things. I think this is what we need to do now to go back home a bit”.

Stressing on the area he is going to give his support, he said, “Apart from just being on radio, I run a TV channel online, I am a producer, content creator and all of that, so I can pull strings to ensure we come up with a wonderful event.”

On how significant the project is to him as a person, he said, “I am Igbo and a proud one at that and I would always be one. So, I would say that it would definitely be a huge one to help project the Igbo culture and race internationally.”

“You cannot run away from Highlife, it is our thing and that is what we are known for. And I think that every musician now, even though they say what they do is Afro-hip-hop, when you listen to it carefully you still feel some rhythm of Highlife embedded in their music. So we cannot run away from it”, Onu noted further.

According to Hillary Ikechukwu Oranu, another member of the team from Umuoji in Anambra State, the proposed event is intended to be held next year, tentatively in March, the birth month of late Osadebe.

“We are looking at next year because it is good for events like these to be significant with a figure. In the sense that you are either doing it on his birthday or you’re doing it in the period he died. We don’t intend to hold the even around the period he died. He died in May, he was given birth to in March so we are keeping our fingers crossed and hoping that around March we would be having the whole event”,Oranu said.

On how he got to be part of the project, he said, “Afam is the brain behind the whole thing. When he called me into the picture, I realised we shared the same idea. And so, we looked at the pros and cons of the project and we decided to come together to ensure that this comes to reality.”

Speaking further on the significance of the proposed Osadebe Fest, Oranu said, “Everybody would agree with me that traditionally, it is good to fall back home at some point, but we are not falling back home at this point because we are old but we are taking back our culture. We want to recognise what is rightfully ours; we want to put the Igbo culture and the Igbo tradition where it is meant to be.

“Basically, the whole idea about the Osadebe fest is not child’s play. It’s a project we intend to sustain for years. Osadebe is meant to be celebrated even in death because he is the biggest Highlife artist from the eastern part of Nigeria. So we felt this man shouldn’t just turn to dust, and vanish just like that. We need to sustain that name; he needs to be in the world map and bringing him into the map a whole lot of culture and tradition needs to be put in place.

“That’s exactly why we are doing this. We are not from his village, we are not his family members but we are just a group of Igbo guys who understand our culture and know where we want to place the Igbo tradition and culture. We understand the importance of Highlife and music in our tradition. That is the direction and vision of where we are going to.”

Stressing further that the planned event has the full support of the late Osadebe’s family as well as the traditional rulers in Igbo land, he said, “We are not just doing this on our own accord, we have the family involved in this, we have the traditional rulers of his village and also the council of traditional rulers and Igwes with the Ohaneze Ndigbo with us. So what we are doing is traditional, it is not just a comedy or musical concert. Permit me to mention “Felabration”, with time Osadebe Fest would get to that point.”

Unveiling the brand logo for Osadebe Fest, the Eze Ndigbo of Mushin Lagos, HRH Igwe John C. Nwosu, Ezechimeleze, said, “I feel highly honoured unveiling the logo for Osadebe Fest today. Osadebe is a great man in Igbo land, Nigeria, Africa and in the world because his music cuts across the globe. So, we are celebrating him today because he is a great man.”

While commending the group for coming up with such innovative idea and also giving his blessings for a successful outing, Eze Nwosu said, “How can a great man like Osadebe just vanish from the society? For these young men remembering him by planning an event like this, which they would be showcasing him and his music every year, is commendable. They have done very well and I pray that God would always be with them as they carry on with the project with steadiness.”

Stressing that lyrics of Osadebe’s music are loaded with lot of meaning and blessings, he frowned at the kind of songs being propagated by the youths of today.

He however encouraged young musicians to emulate the likes of Osadebe in creating music that would endure the test of time.

“Whenever we remember Osadebe, we remember the good work he did by promoting our culture, using his music to educate us on things concerning our culture. I don’t think that in years to come, we can get somebody to replace him. We miss a great man. We can only advice the younger generations to try as much as possible to emulate such legends who did wonders with their songs in the music industry in Nigeria.”

Hon. Jude Obiekwe, the Akpokwuo Dike, a businessman and politician, described the idea as novel, saying, “We are seeing this for the first time and It is a welcome idea to the generation of today. Osadebe is legend and when you see young minds coming together to honour him, we must give kudos to that. So I am very proud of this team.”

He promised to render the group every support needed to ensure the project sees the light of the day.

He called on the present generation of musicians to learn from music icons like Osadebe and their genre of music, adding, “Osadebe’s music is for everyone, not majorly for the Igbos, it cuts across the globe, so, it is things of joy that this is coming up at this point in time.

Igbo Women And The August Meeting Festival

BY CHRISTIANA NWAOGU

Across Igbo land, August Meeting, the annual mothers’ congresses held in the month of August, usually witnesses massive home-coming of ‘Igbo women’ to their marital rural hometowns, where they unite with their rural-based colleagues for community development purposes. Despite negative commentaries about hosting or attending these meetings, the buzz is still as loud today as it was many years ago, CHRISTIANA NWAOGU writes.

The ‘August Meeting’ has a critical mandate in Igbo political affairs and represents the socio-economic and cultural development initiative of women. Indeed, this feast truly has typified the rise of women as a social force and their conscious pursuit of development.

The annual event has been entrenched in the calendar of Igbo women and they always look forward to it. It has become customary for most women who are civil servants to fix their annual leave in August to enable them interact with their fellow women in the rural areas without having to worry about their offices during the period.

The yearly reunion , which began over 21 years ago, and is currently celebrated by women in all the Igbo states including Imo, Enugu, Anambra, Ebonyi and Abia, is a yearly ritual that invites Igbo women living at home and abroad to return home in what is considered a desperate move to complement the efforts of the men in providing essential amenities such as roads, health centres, electricity and churches among others, in their communities.

The ‘August Meeting’ is indeed, a powerful and purposeful sociopolitical symbol and strategy for the exercise of power and maintenance of identity among the Igbo, affecting all realms of life and ‘restoring’ the once strong political voice of the womenfolk in traditional communities.

In other words, through this annual home-coming congress, Igbo women hold some socio-political influence and have become active actors and agents in the Igbo public sphere.

In the pre-colonial era, however, Igbo women had direct involvement and considerable influence in the public sphere, which was defined through institutional provisions as the socio-political arena, the advent of colonialism, however, introduced some policies which put women and their activities down, and considerably diminished women’s status and agency in Igboland.

In the years that followed, the Women August Meeting evolved from an offhand annual gathering into a dynamic platform for the empowerment, reorientation and mobilisation of women for community building and political participation.

In some states for instance, the association has governors’ wives to thank for that. Since most of them took the decision to become host of the meeting, each edition of the yearly event has identified challenges facing women in their state and taken the pain to offer solution.

Take Imo state for instance, in 2011 when it started, the theme was ‘Women: the Home Builders,’ in 2012, it was ‘Women: The Vessels for Transformation,’ in 2013, it was ‘Managing Stress and Unity of Purpose,’ in 2014, the theme was ‘Imo Women: Making a Difference through Involvement and Commitment’ and in 2015, the theme was ‘Women: Dare to Dream,’ with an accompanying slogan, ‘it is possible.’

In 2016 there was a visible paradigm shift in the theme and focus of the August Meeting. The title was ‘Looking at the Next Generation of Mothers’ and the accompanying slogan was ‘we cannot afford to fail.’ This peculiar edition was a wakeup call for women to inculcate the right values in their children who are the next generation of mothers and fathers.

In 2017 the theme was ‘Women: Building Bridges of Friendship Across the Niger,’ it was a clarion call on women to deploy their inherent talent to promote unity, peace, friendship, justice, equity and love not only in the Igbo nation but in Nigeria at large.

Then the 2018 edition had the theme, ‘Sharing our Common Cultural Values’ which was intended to turn the country’s diverse culture into a tool of national integration and society development.

Apart from this, the 2019 edition of the August Meeting is profoundly special because among other things, it was the first edition for the wife of the current governor of Imo State and some first-time lawmakers.

The organisation, attendance, performances and emotions that are usually showcased at this time, proves beyond doubt, that the Imo and the south east August Meeting has bonded the women, irrespective of status, class, creed, politics and religion.

This annual reunion also gives opportunity for the wives of governors to present gifts to women for their love and support in the saddle and mostly for their husbands.

The crowd at various venues where August Meetings are held is usually beautiful to behold as these places are usually filled to capacity with women from across the local government areas of the state who sleep over at the stadium preparing for the D-Day.

As it is done, after a circular announcing the date has been sent out to women leaders at the various local government councils and a time table of various events has been rolled out.

At this point, the host, who is mostly the governor’s wife, in an uncommon display of charity, which has sustained in the last years through her pet project and non-governmental organisation, gives out three, sometimes between two- three bedroom fully furnished bungalows to three indigent widows and mini-buses, a fully stocked fabric shop, as well as thousands of expensive gift items including refrigerators, gas cookers, motorcycles, generators, household items, thousands of bags of rice and other food items, kitchen wares, clothing and cash to deserving winners of various competitions.

In most cases, all the women that attend the August Meeting go home with a gift item.

There is usually a colorful, rich and intriguing display of culture from across the country including dance, food, agriculture and other attributes that underscore the country’s cultural identity.

Dance troupes from various states including some from South-south states such as Delta, Cross River and Edo perform to the admiration of the surging crowd.

Other various side attractions include a parade by women from various local governments of the state celebrating, comic competitions like the ‘osu mmiri,’ dancing competition by senior citizens, beauty parade and raffle draws. All these add colour to the event.

For a regular participant of the event, Madam Evelyn Nwaogu, the meeting helps preserve the Igbo culture. “Our culture is our way of life and we should hold tenaciously to it and must not let it go into extinction.

“The achievements of the August Meeting in the past years has shown that when mobilised, women can be consistent in piloting and championing developmental projects in communities.

“I have personally realised that the potentials embedded in Imo, my state of origin through August Meeting, especially from the angle of women empowerment, family consolidation and unity, as well as the community development, has really revolutionised August Meeting into a historic event, effectively packaged to actualise its potentials.

“Our leaders, past and present, have introduced events like arts and culture, agricultural products and food exhibition, thereby enhancing the discovery of talents and potential in women in view of their roles as home builders and agents of positive change, strengthening their collaboration and participation in meaningful societal development.”

According to Madam Nwaogu, some women who are in the politics in Imo State were discovered during August Meetings as a result of how they participated and carried out their responsibilities.

Nwaogu, who went down memory lane also said that the issue of attire almost marred the essence of August Meeting after attendance began to drop in many communities. “In those days, some women would package three different attires for the three-day meeting and the topic shifted from discussing community matters discussing the trending wrappers in town.

She said, the issue also began to cause dispute in some families as wives began to mount undue pressure on their husbands to buy expensive wrappers for them, a development which she said separated different marriages.

Speaking on the family disputes caused by August Meeting, another participant of the annual meeting, Mrs Esther Nwachukwu Uhah said adopting a uniform attire for all the women was what saved the day. “There was a big relief when a decision was taken that women should appear in uniform during August Meetings to end the competition on quality of wrappers women wore to the meeting.

According to Nwachukwu, since the era of wearing uniform at the meeting, attendance has increased tremendously and the friction in many families over what is worn to the meeting has ended.’’

Usually, August Meeting is broken into three segments. The first is organised at the village level, then at the community level and finally, at the church level during which the women offer thanksgiving in their various churches to formally end the meeting.

Mr Okpo Uzorhuo who dislikes the forum said, August Meetings have broken many homes and ruined marriages and businesses.

A lawyer of Igbo descent, Barrister Ogorna, opined that most women engage in untoward acts during this period just to go with the bandwagon. ‘‘You know how vain some women are, every woman likes to meet up with others. Nobody wishes to be intimidated by other women. Both the poor and the rich wish to meet up with the fashion of the time. And for them, they must meet up.

“As we are aware, women care about their looks and if their husbands cannot provide for what they want, some will start to look elsewhere just to satisfy themselves, thereby causing problems in the house. Many of them would go to the extent of stealing, prostituting, and doing all sorts of evil, just to meet up with others. Many borrow money, clothes, some other things in the bid to meet up, and thereby disgrace their husbands.

“During August Meetings, women compete with each other to know who wears the best clothes, handbags, shoes, earrings, necklace and so on. Women don’t joke with this and that is very bad.

Another Respondent Mrs Confidence Ikechukwu stated that the August Meeting, an annual gathering of women, has evolved into massive platform for the empowerment and reorientation of the women.

She noted that through the August Meeting, most women in the region have abandoned unproductive lives and assumed the roles of home and society building.

“With determination and unity of purpose, dangerous routes like laziness, gossip, insubordination, antagonism and rancor, have been closed while, with wisdom we widened many parts that lead to development, bearing in mind that success of one Imo woman is the success of all Imo women.

“Indeed, we have rekindled the light of positivism and togetherness and by so doing, have removed the primordial barriers of zonal sentimentalism, creed, social status and others that do no one any good, she added.”

The truth remains that married women among the Igbos, through their annual ‘August Meeting’, are moving into the public sphere, which was hitherto largely considered the exclusive domain of men.

Though the dates and time of the meeting vary from community to community, the important thing is that it falls within the month of August. And it is customarily binding on women to attend the August Meeting because not attending attracts a surcharge by the leadership of the women organisation. Fundraising and execution of projects usually forms the crux of the meeting and that is why projects funded by women dot many communities.

SOURCE: LEADERSHIP