Cover, Edition 216, Dec 20 - 26, 2009

An African Xmas in Texas

By Lillian Agbeyegbe
Christmas! The season for the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Depending on where you are in the United States, you may not know it though. True, the Christmas tree is hardly ever missing. Neither is Santa Claus. But the manger scene? The angels? The three wise men? They are often missing. And you are more likely to hear the politically correct “Happy Holidays” than “Merry Christmas.”
Nigerians in the US are among those who are baffled by this concept of Christmas without Christ. So, on December 5, 2009, a group of Nigerian and other Africans staged a musical drama “African Christmas” at the Fort Worth Arts Community Center, in Dallas, Texas.
According to the project initiator, Mrs. Belemas Ipaye, “the thought of having an African Christmas was inspired by a gift of artwork, from a friend…It was a small nativity set carved out in coconut shell… all the characters were Africans dressed in traditional African attires. One of the magi (wise men) was presenting a tube of yam to the Infant King.” This year, she shared her vision with a group of friends, and “African Christmas” a non-profit organization, custodians of the “African Christmas” celebration was born.
The production opens with the song, “Give me an African Christmas”. Then prophets appear who foretell the coming of a Savior as is in the books of Isaiah and Micah. The story then begins to unfold in African community- girls, including Mary going to the river with water pots on their heads, artisans including Joseph conducting business around the village, traders at the market place and children playing at the village square. Mary is visited by an angel, and soon there is village gossip about a seemingly pregnant yet-to-be-married Mary! Joseph is also visited by an angel; he reconciles with Mary (although their break-up was not shown) and shortly after then must leave town for the upcoming census exercise. They find shelter at the inn of a “Baba Yard” and the Savior is born! A Kalabari song, ‘Oriyite’, summons the village to this august occasion. A town crier announces the birth of the Savior in Yoruba first, before translating the announcement in English. The three wise men appear in Yoruba and Kalabari traditional outfits and villagers break out in dancing as they celebrate. Choreographer, Wale Laja-Akintayo, weaves Yoruba, Efik, and contemporary dances steps into the dance sequences, and then goes on to do a solo ‘bata’ dance sequence as homage is paid to the new born King.
Director, Babs Ipaye, a 2009 Musical Theatre graduate of the Texas Christian University (TCU) said he was glad to use his training in theatre arts to help his mother realize a dream. He acknowledged that it was challenging to put the production with over thirty cast members together, primarily because of conflicting schedules that made it difficult to get everyone together for rehearsals. But he is pleased with the production and prayed that God uses the production for His glory.
The event was a free event, but called for donations to the Clinton Foundation to benefit AIDS Orphans in African. Chairman of the African Christmas, Dr. Michael Fadeyi, says future productions may raise donations for other issues of concern for the African continent such as malaria and tuberculosis, with the funding channeled through various Foundations.
Many of the cast members, including my 20-month old daughter, Toritse Omagbemi, who was the baby I carried on my back, as villagers responded to the announcement of the town crier, were making their stage debut in this production. Our prayers are that as this production becomes an Annual Event, it will play a distinguishing role of keeping the birth of Christ as part of the Christmas celebration in an American City.
Agbeyegbe is a Nigerian artiste in Texas (www.toritse.blogspot.com)





Different Christmas
(Just Life)
BY OMOLIGHO UDENTA
HE was trying to cross the express road. He looked left and then right and then left again and started to push this heavily laden wheelbarrow across the road.
It was full of an assortment of drinks. He made it safely across half of the road but had to stop midway because the road had this high, wide median and there was no way the wheelbarrow was going to be able to go over it with the drinks still in it.
I wondered what he was going to do. There was no way he could lift the wheelbarrow over because it was too heavy for him to do alone; instead he started to offload the drinks, pack by pack onto the median.
He then carried the wheelbarrow over to the other side of the road, went back to collect the drinks and reloaded the wheelbarrow after which he crossed to the other side of the road.
The way he went about it all showed he’d done this quite a few times. I wondered if he’d tried other ways of getting things across the road.
Looking around I saw an overhead bridge, which he couldn’t use because of the wheelbarrow and its load. It wouldn’t be easy to make it up all those steps.
But about 200 metres ahead of where he’d crossed there was a break in the median which he could have used.
I guess he didn’t choose that option because he’d have to push the barrow all that way and in the hot sun too. He’d found what was for him the best option and so he’d stuck with it.

Christmas is here again and I do hope we all have a good one. What I wonder is whether we’ll try anything different this year or any year.
If you were to ask most people what they did for Christmas their responses might not be very different. Most would go to church, and chicken and rice would feature heavily in most agendas.
Though people around the world celebrate Christmas in different ways, it would seem, the most popular traditions are those coming from the Americans and British. They usually give gifts and Santa Claus features heavily.
Most of us have found a way, our way, to celebrate Christmas (and other holidays, I might add) and we tend to stick with it for years and years.
Our children grow and take away the lessons they learned from us to their own homes. They generally continue their family’s traditional way of celebrating Christmas.
Christmas is generally considered to be a time for giving and giving is the act of generosity.
When we give we nourish the love in our relationships and build our spirit. People should give without expecting anything back in return. There are many ways to give.
We give with our encouraging words, by really listening to people, by paying attention and giving of our time and of course through the usual material giving too.
It has been said that ‘giving materially, emotionally and physically is the glue that holds people together and is a way to renew our love for one another, create lasting cherished memories, deepen relationships and create psychological health and happiness for ourselves!’

No one knows for sure how long he’ll be around here but we all know that certain seasons will come and go over and over again.
We all hope to be here for and experience many Christmases, New Years, birthdays. How we choose to celebrate it will be different for each of us but I hope some aspects will remain the same. Let us each have a happy, merry, different, more giving Christmas.
omoudenta@yahoo.co.uk





Healthy celebration
(PANORAMA)
BY REBECCA AKINMOLAYAN
THIS is very busy week especially for the Christians. Let’s look at how you can keep yourself health and sane this period.
As mentioned last week, be prepared for the unexpected including the miscellaneous because celebrations are supposed to be fun.

Don’t take on too much. You cannot be at every function, get-together or party you are invited to; neither can you host all your friends, school-mates or colleagues at the office. Learn how to say no.

Send your love. This is the right season to show your angelic side. Invite a non-member of the family or an orphan to dinner; go to concerts; give out your old clothes to charity; send meals to some disabled ones or the less-privileged on your street anonymously, give gifts to a widow or to someone who is grieving over the loss of someone while others are celebrating.
If you are the boss everyone fears in the office, smile for your staff this season, give them cards or send them texts. They will appreciate it and respect you more abi that is what you want. If you are the busy parent or the uncle no one sees throughout the year, remember you used the whole year to ‘gather’, take advantage of the holidays to spend time with your family this season. It will ease tension and cool tempers.

Do something unusual. As in, shake body small. Book a night with your friends at a restaurant, cinema or somewhere special. Must you go to the beach every year, how about having a candle-lit dinner with your family? Aside the conventional rice and salad, add something interesting and spicy.

Monitor your eating and drinking. Overindulging in large quantities of food, eating too many different dishes within a short span of time (after rushing a plate of hot jollof rice, you ask of iyan and vegetable soup and then finish up with coleslaw or pepper soup, haba). Drinking excess fizzy drinks or alcohol is an open IV to running stomach, will affect your health and will make the festive season irritable.
Put a check on the kids too; this is the time they eat what they like most freely. Ration their sweets and their fizzy drinks to one per meal or better still, serve them juice.





The Mushin makeover
(Strictly for the young)
BY TOSYN BUCKNOR

WHAT were you doing last weekend? What were you doing on Saturday, December 12? You could have been at a wedding, maybe a book reading or an exhibition. But, about 5000 young adults chose to spend that day at Mushin, to paint, to clean, and to give back!
The Mushin Makeover, organised by Gemstone 2025, was designed to raise as many volunteers as possible, who would beautify streets in Mushin for one day, thereby making a positive and visible change in one’s society.
Forget the PR speak for a second, and let’s focus on what happened on the day itself!
First of all, may I mention that the Nigerian young person has so much energy and passion that when it is channelled positively, anything can be achieved? I saw 30 minutes work done in five minutes!
But first, from the very beginning, always a good place to start!
The buildings and streets painted were mainly on Agege Motor Road, Olateju Road, Olanibi/Ojekunle street, Ladipo Street, Isolo Road, Palm Avenue / Fafolu Street, and Ogunmokun road.
There were registration points at various centres, and people had access to brushes, paint, and sometimes, gloves and facemasks. (If it had been pre-Halloween, my gloves would have found a re-use!).
So many youth groups lent their hand and their teams to the cause, like Rise Networks, and s.h.a.r.e, and so many celebrities took time out to hang out, and actually work! (For you know they could have been there and not done anything!).
We spotted Kenny Saint Brown, Frank Edoho, Kunle Snatcha of the Rooftop M.C’s, Banky W, Kel, Sound Sultan, Kelechi Amadi Obi, Dj Jimmy Jatt, DJ Gosperella, and more!
In case you were wondering if, as untrained painters, we did more harm than good, fear not! Professional painters were on hand to handle jobs we couldn’t. We kept busy doing the small, but still important work, of beautifying Mushin!

GEMSTONE 2025, seeks to make unique stars and heroes in Nigeria, right at Mushin, and they also want us to know this is just the beginning. More areas will be visited, and more work will be done! Please check www.gemstone2025.org for regular updates
Pity the collective age of the people in charge is over 31, they would probably have been up for a Future Award nomination!
Speaking of the Future... It’s back! And the nominees in various categories have been announced!
You can also check the site out, www.thefuturenigeria.com for more information.
Some of the nominees include Wande Coal, Banky W, Rooftop M.C’s, M.I and Darey, for Musician of the Year! Lala Akindoju a fantastic stage actress, Ali Nuhu, Omoni Oboli, and Gideon Okeke are some of the nominees for Actor of the Year, and IK Osakioduwa, Toyosi Akerele, Tolu Ogunlesi, Cobhams Asuquo and more, for Young Person of the Year. Other categories include Best Use of Advocacy, Best Use of Technology, and Journalist of the Year.
Please check www.thefuturenigeria.org for more information on all categories, and to also vote for and support your favourites!
Merry Christmas in advance, and would love to know your New Year resolutions if you are making any!

tosinornottosin@yahoo.com

From UK, Wale Ojo returns for Streets of Calabar

By Armsfree Ajanaku Onomo
THE gangling figure walked into the joint with the relaxed mien of a man in control of his world. He looked every inch trim. “I am Wale Ojo,” he says with flourish, a beguiling smile pushing more light into his animated face. Ordinarily, this man should need no introduction, but his long sojourn across the world in pursuit of his art has made him somewhat anonymous in his native land. That brings to mind the worn out cliché about prophets having no honour in their own home.
There is a sort of restlessness about him; the undying hunger for a canvass on which, some action could be enacted for the entertainment and the enlightenment of others. If one of the roles of an actor is to reflect the lives of others, by portraying their travails, and triumphs, whether on screen and on stage, Ojo has well made his mark.
Straddling the United Kingdom and the United States, he has had major roles in some well-received movies under his belt.

WALE OJO is back home now, not for Christmas per se, but in a professional sense. He sounds eager to make his own contributions, in a more robust and structured way, to the development of the film industry in Nigeria.
“I am at home now to produce and star in my own feature film, which is titled Streets of Calabar. It is a thriller set in the city of Calabar. It is being produced by Spirit Creations, which is run by Charles Aniagolu. The film is going to be a big feature; it is being supported by Cross Rivers State government, and it is going to be very interesting.” Tourism is at the heart of the matter, so the film is being used to project Nigeria as a tourist destination. “There is going to be a huge launch of the film, both here and abroad, and we just want to make it, not only as a film, but to showcase the country as a destination. We are filming in Calabar, which is one of the most peaceful places in the country. We are going to be using the backdrop of Obudu cattle ranch. We are going to attend the Christmas carnival; we are going to shoot part of the film against the background of the carnival. In the film, Wale Ojo would play the part of a returnee Nigerian who gets into trouble in Calabar, and then manages to wriggle his way out of it. “There is a lot of action in it, and it is set against a wonderful backdrop.

BUT before delving into the fine details of the project, he relives his experiences as a Nigerian actor on stage and on screen in the United States and United Kingdom. Compared to the environment abroad, the actor says, “Nigeria is always more interesting and challenging. As an actor abroad, one can be very pampered, but the thing about Nigeria is that it always brings up fresh challenges, and new adventures, and whenever I do a project in Nigeria, I always leave it very invigorated because the problems that come test you, and your ability to deal with situations. When I do a movie abroad, I am very pampered, but in Nigeria, I really enjoy the hullabaloo, the rush and the chase that goes with it.”
Although the screen is the medium he is more interested in at the moment, especially with regards to his return home, Ojo has done a lot of work on stage. He narrates his experience with a near nostalgic voice: “ I have done virtually all stage, including the Royal National Theatre, the Royal Exchange Theatre, and the Royal Court; I would say I have done probably most of the major national theatres in the United Kingdom. And I have done quite a few in Germany, Denmark, and in Sweden. One of my most challenging works on stage was when we did a tour of Germany in the dead of winter; we had to work with beer barrels because the play was set on the sea; it was very challenging. The play was in a massive theatre that could sit close to four or 5,000 people. That was indeed very challenging”
Similarly, he fondly recalls playing two roles in Wole Soyinka’s Beatification of An Area Boy at the West Yorkshire playhouse in 1995. The play was at the West Yorkshire playhouse, and for me, it was a wonderful experience. But the greatest memory I picked out of the production was when Professor Soyinka called me aside and asked if I could play a second role. And I said: “Oga, anything you say, I will do.” So I played the role of a military man who I made very much to be like (Sani) Abacha, and the other role was as a judge, who was like a vagrant. In one of the newspapers, I think The Times of London, they mentioned that the parody that I made on Abacha was quite strong, almost frightening. Doing The Beatification of An Area Boy was great, and for me, it was one of the times I worked closely with Prof. Soyinka, who has always been my big Oga”.
Ojo’s sterling performance in that play created more opportunities to work with the Nobel laureate on other productions. Thus, he took part in 2001 production of King Baabu in Cape Town. “ We (Ojo and Soyinka) traveled together to South Africa to work on King Baabu, which we did in Cape Town, and it was great because it was a time when apartheid laws had gone down there, and Prof also gave a lecture, and we took the play to Lesotho, and other countries in Southern Africa. And of course, I was there when he did readings of Samarkand, his new book of poetry at the time. I was also in Death and The King’s Horseman to celebrate his 70th birthday at the MUSON Centre in 2004. I have always put Soyinka as my number one inspiration.”
Wale Ojo talks passionately about films and works on screen, and of all he has done, he talks glowingly about one of them. “There is a film I just shot in Durban, South Africa, called The Philanthropist; it was shot for a Hollywood studio; the NBC Universal shot this series, and I liked the way that they formulated it. I played the main guy in that episode. I played the part of the leader of the Niger-Delta militants. The whole story was about a white guy who was a philanthropist; he went around the world, being philanthropic, so when he came into the Niger-Delta, I asked my boys to kidnap him, and they brought him to the camp…In the process, he sympathized with our cause and came to our side. It is a great script, well written, and James Purefoy played The Philanthropist, and I played Chief Bankole, who was the leader of Niger-Delta militants.”
For a film that focuses on Nigeria’s troubled Niger-Delta region, expectations would have been that it be shot in Nigeria. Ojo reveals he actually wanted the film shot anywhere near Yenegoa in Bayelsa State. “But it wasn’t possible, so we had to go and find somewhere that looked like Bayelsa in South Africa. The country (Nigeria) missed out on that, in terms of what could have been gained. The Philanthropist did very well; it aired in America some months ago, to great acclaim; I would probably say it is one of the jobs that I am proud of doing, because it was great working with a lot of Nigerian actors in talking about a subject that is important.”

FOR someone who has made his mark abroad, there are no chips on Wale Ojo’s shoulders when he talks about Nollywood. Rather, he hurriedly waves aside criticisms of the industry, choosing instead to focus on the its potentials and strong points. His words: “Right now, the Nigerian film industry is raking in close to $300million a year or more. That ‘s probably a very rough estimate. If an industry is making that kind of money, it means that something right is being done. As for the question of quality or whatever, I like a lot of the Nigerian films that I watched. I have always wanted to work with a lot of Nollywood actors on Streets of Calabar.”
To raise the bar, he thinks it important for actors in the Diaspora to connect with those in Nigeria. “Nollywood has a lot of talents and advantages that we don’t have, and we have a lot of advantages that Nollywood needs. We could bring both together. That can only contribute to the growth of the Nigerian film industry. If we work together, we can even better develop what we have already.”
He continued: “In any industry anywhere in the world, there is always room for development. There is no single film being shown in London today that you can say is a hundred percent perfect. I have done films abroad, and after seeing the rushes; I said no, there is more work to be done here in terms of plot and character. There is no way I can tell you that we have reached the top level of professionalism in Nollywood, but I won’t sit here either and denigrate what has been achieved already. What has been achieved is great; we just need to achieve more of it. I am going to set up in London what I call a day of vintage Nigeria cinema, we would do a day in London and a day in Lagos, to celebrate our 50 years of independence from Britain. We will put the best quality films by filmmakers like Tunde Kelani, Eddy Ugboma, Ola Balogun, and Hubert Ogunde; those are classics, and hopefully, Streets of Calabar would join them as well.”
On the issue of government efforts to regulate the distribution of films through the Nigeria Film and Video Censors Board, Ojo says government focus should not be on regulation alone. He thinks that funding the industry is equally critical. “Don’t forget that when Nollywood started, there was absolutely nothing, so people were making movies from the scratch. I remember that there were actors who would make films, put it in a van, and drive around to sell. They still probably do it now. If government now sees it as a very profitable business and want to regulate the market, that is fine; it is the same thing they do abroad, but the governments that regulate that market abroad, also fund the industry. There is a national films board; it funds films. Government should give money to develop screen writing, the technicians, actors and other people behind the screen because they nurture the industry. There are lots of budding young talents that we don’t even know in this country, and they need to be developed and encouraged. To do that, we need funding. If the government wants to come in and legislate, please it should also come in and help in boosting the industry.
In spite of what has been pointed out as deficiencies, Wale describes the impact that is being made by Nigerian films abroad as very powerful. “I understand that people say that there is a complete mishmash of films, but I can’t really comment on that because it would be unfair for me to do so, since I am not on the ground. All I can say is that we should have more film festivals, so that we can bring in people to discuss; we should bring in the filmmakers and marketers here to discuss, let them sit down and explain why they shot a film this way, and then we would have workshops; that is how the industry can grow, because we will get to discuss and compare notes. Not by pointing fingers or saying negative things about the industry.”

BEYOND the shooting of Streets of Calabar, is Wale Ojo going to put in place structures to sustain the making of good Nigerian films, or this is just a one off? He reveals that a structure is being built to raise the bar in the industry and ensure sustainability.
“There are a lot of people who have been working on the ground, but they are not really known to the Nigerian public. One of them is Frank Adekunle Macaulay, a fantastic director of photography. He shot a film called Dangerous Men and another called Area Boy, and those films were so wonderfully shot. There is no way I can utilize the kind of talents I want to use in Streets of Calabar; Frank is going to be the first Assistant Director on our project, and the whole point is to ask, where do we go afterwards?
“I don’t think it will be right for us to do it as a one off. At the moment, I am putting plans and investment in place to say we need a commitment to making such films continuously, and that is where the government, other writers and other filmmakers can help. I think it is no longer the time for me to just come to Nigeria, make one film and get off again. After Streets of Calabar, I want to move on to the next project. I want to be able to go to other writers and ask if they have other ideas; I really want to work with other Nollywood actors. I want to be able to facilitate workshops for directors, writers, and actors, through my own company; create a structure get a corporate body that is going to be based here in the country. Streets of Calabar is not a one off; it is the beginning of a series of films we are going to shoot in Nigeria.
Again, Wale does not see the peculiar challenges of the Nigerian environment bogging him down. He draws a lot from his involvement with theatre in Nigeria, since he was a child. “I then went abroad, came back, and I have been going and coming ever since, so I am not new to the challenges of the Nigerian environment; in fact, I welcome those challenges. I think that is what makes me a better and a stronger actor.”
In all of these, what is Wale Ojo’s motivation? He attempts an impression: “I think the motivation is my mother; she was an actress, and she brought me up in Nigeria, and she has always instilled in the importance of remembering where you came from. A German man might live here for long, but he will always remember to perform Bertolt Bretch at the operas. I as a Nigerian will always remember Baba Sala, Soyinka and others; so that fuels my creativity. What I gain from London is not the same as what I gain when I come to Lagos. I get different influences, which are also spiritual as well. There is just something about Nigeria that fuels my own creativity. At the moment, we live in a very global world, and I carry Nigeria with me wherever I go. Nigeria is always number one, anywhere I go in the world.”

Becoming a financial genius

(Biz tool Kits)
BY BRIDGET OLOTU
SOME weeks back, we treated Harmonising the three parts of your brain for wealth creation. There, I identified the fact that we have three parts of our brain that need to be coordinated for wealth creation.
The left brain, which is concerned with reading, writing, speaking and logic, and the right brain which is often associated with pictures, art, music, and other non-linear relationships that require creativity and imagination still need the third brain, which is the subconscious or primitive brain to function effectively.
It is the third brain, which is our intra-personal intelligence that controls most people’s addictions, fears and decisions.
People with high intra-personal intelligence have the ability to control the subconscious brain’s desire to fight, flee or freeze.
Instead of flee, they may decide the best thing to do is freeze. If frozen, they may choose to fight. The point is, they have the intelligence to choose the appropriate subconscious response. If angry, they can speak calmly. If afraid, they can confront their fear.
But the challenge has always been getting the three brains to cooperate and coordinate the activities of and in the human mind.
True education therefore isn’t simply teaching students to read, write and memorise answers.

TO be effective, true education has to align the power of all three brains. Instead of the three brains working against each other, they have to work together. If a person could align and develop all three brains, he or she would have greater chance of success in the real world. To win the battle of the brains, it requires personal efforts for two reasons: Our school system does not teach us anything about money. We are told to earn good grades, get more degrees, get better employments, especially those that offer retirement benefits, live below our means, save money, stay out of debt, and then by and by attain our middle-class aspirations. This is not bad in itself; it all boils down to what kind of life we want. Our schools do not strengthen the subconscious mind. In fact, rather than educate, schools depend on fear to motivate, threaten rather than teach, imitate rather than innovate, punish mistakes rather than encourage, play it safe rather than think bigger, and say what a person wants to hear rather than what a person needs to hear. Due to these factors, many people buy when they should sell, save when they should spend, spend when they should save, are fearful when they should be brave, and are brave when they should be fearful.
Growing your financial genius will require the following: Build up your library around books that can help you grow your financial genius. Your learning ability today is critical to your earning capacity. All those who have legitimately succeeded financially today were once students of some financial genius who knew about an investment or business better than most average people. Have a financial mentor. All my life, while growing up, I like to ask questions about why certain things are the way they are. I discovered that one of my financial mentors whom I have quoted copiously in these series shared that idea. He started his financial freedom sojourn when he was just nine years old. His poor but very educated dad was even the one who advised him to go to his classmate’s father who was “unschooled” but very wealthy to teach his son how to make money. His classmate’s father became his rich dad and mentor, raising for us today one of the world’s most successful and celebrated entrepreneurial and investment educators in the person of Robert Kiyosaki, a Japanese American. Robert’s concepts have changed my life, even though they came very late when I’d committed so many financial blunders. You need a mentor, too.
Strengthen the subconscious mind. You and I need to strengthen the subconscious mind to serve us rather than to dominate us. Many beautiful plans, ideas, investment decisions, business proposals, etc, are sitting with us because deep down we think they won’t fly, will fail and they’re too risky. What would the world have been if those who have made it such a beautiful place just sat down with folded legs and arms, daydreaming about the change they wanted in place? Developing your financial genius is your responsibility, and you cannot afford not to be financially intelligent if you must live a higher standard of living, expand your means and thrive in this hard global financial period. The choice is yours today.

Olotu is the CEO/Lead Consultant, DEAIM Innovative Resources Ltd, bridgetolotu@gmail.com







Why you behave the way you do
(LIFE COACH)
BY AGBOLADE OMOWOLE
THERE are points in our lives when we begin to think about our actions, the effect of our actions on our lives and on the lives of others, and how our actions have made us become better or bitter. To some of our actions, we are satisfied. To some, we may have regrets, thinking…had I known.
If you have ever thought about the reason that you do the things you do consciously or unconsciously, and wish to learn the behaviours that will make you successful, then this article is for you.
Your thought determines your behaviour. Before you do anything, you would have thought about it. Your behaviour will be positive if your thoughts are positive. If you think negatively, then you may act negatively.
Your thoughts determine how you feel. If you think about one thing consistently for thirty minutes, you will develop some feelings. Your feelings are an expression of your emotion towards a thought or a person. Your feelings then motivate you to a state of readiness to act.
Your decisions affect your behaviour. While thinking, you compare your present situation with your past experiences. Everything you have experienced in life has been interpreted and stored in your brain in a certain way. Your past experiences then serve as a yardstick for making decisions. Anthony Robins counseled “Additional references (or experiences) offer us the potential for mastery.
Get experiential knowledge. One major experience may worth more than reading fifty books. Furthermore, maturity is not a measure of one’s age, but a measure of your experiences in life.
Our judgments may be based on our past experiences. When you notice a pattern similar to a previous experience, then you can predict the outcome. By changing your concept and approach, you will be able to explore another way to achieve the same result. In the process, you will experience new things, and that gives you a psychological advantage.
Your values shape your behaviour. What do you value most in life? The things you value most in life are central to every decision you make, and every action you take. Take for instance, a youngster who values hard work and honesty will not get involved in unjust get-rich-quick schemes.
Your emotional state determines your behaviour. Emotions are part of a complex dynamic process and they determine how you interact with people and ‘things’ in the world. Your emotional state may influence your mood and your actions. In some survey research, people often report more than one emotion in relation to a specific event over time. These changes are referred to as emotional episode and may last from minutes to days.
Emotional states are not permanent. You can decide how you feel. You are sad not because someone made you sad, you are sad because you have not decided to be happy. Choose to be in a positive emotional state. Don’t let others determine your emotional state for you.
Your knowledge influences your behaviour. Some of your emotional responses result from your stored knowledge. Intuitive feelings occur when you cannot explain why you acted in a certain way. You can add to your knowledge base by learning from others. Life is too short to experience everything. Learn from other people’s experiences.
Your behviour starts from your thought, which is sieved by your reference frame which includes your values, beliefs and past experiences. You often compare your situation with your stored knowledge and your past experiences to make a judgment in the form of a decision, and then you act. That’s how you behave.
Ultimately, behaviours operate on the Hedonic principle. The Hedonic principle states that you approach pleasurable experiences and withdraw from painful ones. Most of the major decisions you have made in your life have been to avoid pain. In the words of Henry Ward Beecher, “Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody else expects of you.”

Gozi explosion

By OYINDAMOLA LAWAL
RECENTLY, 35 years old graduate of Central School of Fashion and a trained Software Engineer, Ngozi Josephine Ochonogor, popularly called Gozi, joined the list of international artists to be profiled on J-Wave’s Modaista show. The interview brought Nigerian culture and music to millions of Japanese.
The lady revealed that she left software engineering for fashion and art, because “I thought I had something more to say. I felt that with engineering, I actually could not be the best that I could be and this is very important for me. I graduated from Imperial College with almost a first class but I know it still, I actually still do like programming for a few companies here and there, but I feel that I needed to give the world a little bit more and I found that, through fashion, it is working.”
At college, she concentrated on pattern construction, transforming men’s tailoring patterns into sexy ladieswear. She also worked at Anthony Reynolds Gallery where she gained inspiration from renowned contemporary British artists such as Mark Wallinger and the Turner Prize winners, Keith Tyson and Richard Billingham.
In her second year at college, Gozi created her eponymous label, which she sold at the funky Portobello Market. She quickly acquired a solid client base and became the go-to gal for stylists and Japanese clients. She also created her first collection for a small Paris SOP Lily per Pink.
Apart from chairing a panel of fashion designers at the Harvard Business School Africa Conference, she is founding member of the Fashion Business Club in London that provides a forum, which fashion entrepreneurs engage with, inspire and support one another. She says, “ basically, I was surrounded by all these great artists. They did film, they did sculpture, they did absolutely everything. I was really lucky to get that shop. My boss was thinking that I would give up lucrative career and to do fashion and I had no idea, I just walked into the gallery and said I was looking for a job, he was really intrigue by me and he gave me a chance. a lot of my work is actually art based because that is where I got my education from.”

In July 2003, after she graduated, Gozi set up her company Gozi Ltd. She launched her brand at London Fashion Week that year.
Her first catwalk show was very well received in Paris. The fall/winter 2004 collection, Biscous Josephine was selected by the Federation de la Couture to be showcased On-Schedule at the Carrousel du Louvre; unheard of for a new designer! It also attracted the attention of an impressive group of collaborators and sponsors: Swarovski, Erickson Beamon, and The Park Hyatt to name a few.
Her latest collaboration sees Gozi customizing the NY-born art figure Munny for Puma during the 2009 Tokyo Design Week, alongside 37 renowned designers.
Through her U.Mi-1, Gozi aims to bridge the gap between Japan and Nigeria, designing men’s and ladies wears. She says, “I make mens wear and ladies wear. When I did London and Paris Fashion Week, I started out as ladies wear designer. My clothes are actually quite strong, they are for the strong and comfortable women and as the mode change to very feminine, beautiful and filthy kind of clothes and I don’t do that. When I move to Tokyo, I created a new brand, UMi1, which is based on my love for Japan and afterward I decided to go back to menswear because I did study menswear at school. I do 70 per cent menswear and 30 per cent ladies wear now and it actually work for me.”

Gozi draws influences from a myriad of sources: from science, art and dance, to a love for traveling and learning about new cultures. In each collection, she strives to find harmony between apparently polar opposites.
Gozi explains, “I am inspired by artist, a lot of artists. I used to be a soft engineer, when I finished that I decided I needed an education in art but I went to couture school, so I decided to get a part-time job at a Reynolds gallery, luckily for me a got a job in one of the best and still best art gallery in London. About five of the artists have won the turner prize, Steve Macquineso, Mark Wallinger, Keith Tyson and Richard Billingham.”
U.Mi-1 (You. Me. One) is her second label and includes both mens and ladies wear. The U.Mi-1 brand embodies the similarities between two cultures: Japanese and Nigerian, and is her homage to the country she believes is almost like her own Nigeria. The brand aims to create a fashion as art brand through collaborations with home-grown artists.
She has collaborated with artist such as architect/artist Megumi Matsubara, Tamaki, textile designer Fumiko Egawa, sculptor Tetsuo Harada and design company plusminuszero. “Basically, u stands for you, mi is me and 1 is one. You actually refer to Japanese people, like I said when I moved over there, I felt that their spirit is similar to that of Nigeria, so, I decided to name my brand after the love in which I have for them.” Gozi states
For her, style is personal, she explains: “I think style is personal, its what you wear to make you look good and you have to carry it up properly. What I wear, will not fit you because we have different bodies and different look. For me, it is just about being comfortable in what you are wearing and having your own style and not following the trend and kind of looking good.”
She adds, “during the day, I am more like a jeans kind of person and during the evening I get dressed up. I work a lot, in the morning, I just want to wear my jeans, I have got natural hair, I don’t want to comb it, I just want to go.”

Talking about her impression of Nigerian designers, she says, “I think they have a long way to go. A lot of people are doing really great stuff, but we are still doing bespoke fashion. It is painful that We have not moved on. I actually loved that because I believe if we can take that to another level and make it polished, it is actually what people in the Europe do. We could actually still follow what is going on outside and make commercially viable clothes. We still have that pool of people who can actually make bespoke clothing and that what I do; I do a bit of both. I don’t need to work with African clothes. If you look through my photos, even if it is Europeans modeling it, you could see that the African spirit comes out of it.”
Gozi disclosed her prize range, “Shirt is about N30, 000, pants is about N70, 000. It is quite affordable. My brand is actually a denim brand; I make denims. What I do is, with the advent of denims, everybody makes denims, but I don’t do five pockets denims. Denims are quite special, so I incorporate leather and different fabrics into my denim, so, you can wear it to anywhere. There are some places where you cannot where jeans to go in but a lot of people still want to wear jeans, so there are actually dressy jeans. Basically, I use it as a fashion fabric, for me it is just cotton for male and female.”

The Christmas tree

THE Christmas tree today is a common custom to most of us. There are many interesting connections to ancient traditions such as Egyptian and Roman customs, early Christian practices, and Victorian nostalgia. However, most scholars point to Germany as being the origin of the Christmas tree.

• One of the earliest stories relating back to Germany is about Saint Boniface. In 722, he encountered some pagans who were about to sacrifice a child at the base of a huge oak tree. He cut down the tree to prevent the sacrifice and a Fir tree grew up at the base of the oak. He then told everyone that this lovely evergreen, with its branches pointing to heaven, was a holy tree - the tree of the Christ child, and a symbol of His promise of eternal life.

• Another story from Germany is about Queen Victoria. She often visited relatives in Germany and while she was there, she fell in love with Prince Albert. After they were married, they moved back to England to raise their family. Prince Albert decorated a tree and ever since that time, the English, because of their love for their Queen, copied her Christmas customs including the Christmas tree and ornaments. This story took place in the 19th century, around 1830.

• Another story about the origin of the Christmas tree says that late in the Middle Ages, Germans and Scandinavians placed evergreen trees inside their homes or just outside their doors to show their hope that spring would soon come.

• Another legend that has not been proved is that Martin Luther is responsible for the origin of the Christmas tree. This story says that one Christmas Eve, about the year 1500, he was walking through the snow-covered woods and was struck by the beauty of the snow glistened trees. Their branches, dusted with snow, shimmered in the moon light. When he got home, he set up a small fir tree and shared the story with his children. He decorated the Christmas tree with small candles, which he lighted in honor of Christ’s birth.

• The Romans were known to deck their homes with evergreens during of Kalends of January 15. Living trees were also brought into homes during the old Germany feast of Yule, which originally was a two-month feast beginning in November. The Yule tree was planted in a tub and brought into the home. But there is no evidence that the Christmas tree is a direct descendent of the Yule tree. Evidence does point to the Paradise tree however. This story goes back to the 11th century religious plays. One of the most popular was the Paradise Play. The play depicted the story of the creation of Adam and Eve, their sin, and their banishment from Paradise. The only prop on the stage was the Paradise tree, a fir tree adorned with apples. The play would end with the promise of the coming Savior and His Incarnation. The people had grown so accustomed to the Paradise tree, that they began putting their own Paradise tree up in their homes on December 24.

What you don’t know about Santa ?

Santa Claus, also known as Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle or simply "Santa", is a legendary figure who, in many Western cultures, brings gifts to the homes of the good children during the late evening and overnight hours of Christmas Eve, December 24 or on his Feast Day, December 6 (Saint Nicholas Day).

• While Saint Nicholas was originally portrayed wearing bishop's robes, today Santa Claus is generally depicted as a plump, jolly, white-bearded man wearing a red coat with white collar and cuffs, white-cuffed red trousers, and black leather belt and boots. This image became popular in the United States and Canada in the 19th century due to the significant influence of caricaturist and political cartoonist Thomas Nast.

• The American version of St. Nicholas, or Santa Claus originally came from the Dutch version called Sint Klaas. The Dutch settlers in New Amsterdam (New York) brought this fun and lively tradition (some even say cult) to America.

• Denmark: Julemanden

• Estonia: Jõuluvana

• Faroe Islands: Jólamaurin

• Finland: Joulupukki

• France: Père Noël (Father Christmas, also a common figure in other French-speaking areas)

• Germany: Weihnachtsmann (Christmas Man); Christkind in southern Germany

• Georgia: Tovlis Papa, Tovlis Babua; Georgian:

• Greece, Cyprus: ("Saint Basil"), it is also known as Hagios Nikolaos, Bishop of Myra (in the present day Turkey),

• Hungary: Mikulás ("Nicholas"); Télapó ("Old Man Winter"); Jézuska or Kis Jézus (Child Jesus")

• Iceland: Jólasveinn ("Yule Man").

• Republic of Ireland: Santa Claus, Santy or Daidí na Nollag (Father Christmas)

• Russia: (Ded Moroz, "Grandfather Frost")

• In the US and Canada, his name is Santa Claus.

• In China, he is called Shengdan Laoren.

• In England, his name is Father Christmas , where he has a longer coat and a longer beard.

• Costa Rica, Colombia, and parts of Mexico, the gift bearer is el Niño Jesus, "the infant Jesus." In Brazil and Peru, he's called Papa Noel.

• Puerto Rico: In children receive gifts from the Three Kings on January 6, also called the celebration of Epiphany, the 3 Kings' Day. Each child puts grass under their bed for the camels. In the morning the grass is replaced with gifts. Also, Puerto Rico, being part of the United States, does its major gift giving on December 25, with the Christmas Tree and Santa Claus - in this sense, Puerto Rico is totally Americanized.

• Italy: Babbo Natale, which means Father Christmas, is Santa. Children put a pair of their shoes by the door on the day before Epiphany and the following morning they find them filled with small gifts and candy. Italy, like Spain, Portugal and most of the Latin American nations ( or countries speaking Romance languages ), is mostly Catholic. December 25 is a day of more religious observance, remembering the birth of Christ. The Epiphany, called Little Christmas, is the day for gift giving. However, Babbo Natale does come on Christmas Eve in some parts of Italy.

• In Spain children leave their shoes under the Christmas tree the night of January 5th and presents from the Three Kings (Los Reyes Magos: Melchor, Gaspar and Baltasar) appear the next morning. Santa Claus is called Papa Noel and some children receive presents both days on December 24 (from Papa Noel) and on January 6 (from the Three Kings).

• Morocco: He is known as Black Peter

• Japan, Santa Claus is called Santa Claus or just "Santa". Children often call him "Santa no ojisan," which means "Uncle Santa." (This information comes to you via the courtesy of Mr. Kazuo Miyasako of Dokkyo University. Many thanks go to the readers of Lone Star Internet)

• In Sweden, Jultomten visits the evening before Christmas day, pulling a big bag of julklappar (Christmas presents) in the deep snow.

• På Norsk ( in Norwegian ) "Julenissen" arrives on the evening of the 24.

• In the Netherlands, he is called Kerstman.

• Finland: It is called Joulupukki.

• Sinter Klaas in Dutch. He rides a white horse, leaving gifts in wooden shoes

• China: (pinyin: shèngdànl?orén lit. Christmas old man)

• Hong Kong: (jyutping: sing3 daan3 lou5 jan4 lit. Christmas old man) Santa Claus, Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas

• India Dada ("Christmas old man"), Thatha("Christmas old man" in telugu)

• Japan: (romaji: santa-san (lit. Mr. Santa) santa kurÿsu)

• Korea: ("santa kullosu")

• Vietnam: Ông già Noel ("The Christmas old man")

• South Africa: Sinterklaas; Father Christmas; Santa Claus; Vader Kersfees

• Lebanon: Papa Noel (Arabic: baba noel)

• Egypt: Papa Noel (Arabic: baba noel)

• Australia: Father Christmas, Santa Claus

• New Zealand: Father Christmas, Santa Claus

• Latvia: Ziemassvïtku vec¥tis ("Christmas pop")

• Liechtenstein: Christkind

• Lithuania: Senis ·altis ("Old Man Frost") or Kalòd˜ Senelis ("Christmas Grandfather")

• Macedonia: Dedo Mraz

• Norway: Julenissen

• Poland: Gwiazdor in some regions

• Portugal: Pai Natal

• Romania, Moldova: Mofl Cr?ciun ("Father Christmas"); Mofl Niculae ("Father Nicholas")

• Switzerland: Christkind / Babbo Natale / Père Noël

• Turkey: Noel Baba ("Father Christmas") Although Turks are mainly Islamic, many homes carry the tradition of "Noel Baba" and a Christmas (or New Year) tree.

• Turkmenistan: A˘az baba ("Father Christmas")

• Ukraine: Svyatyy Mykolay; / Did Moroz.

Online lab experiments come to OAU

By TOPE TEMPLER OLAIYA
Three African universities and an American college have partnered an online laboratory project that will expand the range of experiments possible to science and engineering students.
The Internet Laboratories (iLabs) project — real laboratories accessed through the Internet — was initiated by Faculty of Technology, Makerere University. It will be implemented in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Obafemi Awolowo University and Dar es Salaam University in Tanzania.
Prof. Stevens Sandy Tickodri, the acting deputy Vice Chancellor of Makerere, said iLabs project would enrich learning experience by availing remote experimentation platform for students and researchers.
Ugandan universities offering science and engineering courses will, for the first time offer students practical lessons online.
“There is need for change in science education in institutes of higher learning, as the traditional and strictly theoretical approach does not engage or train students adequately,” said Tickodri.





Oloyede is Nigeria’s best VC – Northern Students
Rising from a recent meeting in Markudi, Benue State, the North Central States Students’ Association of Nigeria (NOCSSAN), has pronounced the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Prof. Is-haq O. Oloyede, as the ‘Best Performing Vice-Chancellor’ in the country.
According to Ibrahim Alih, NOCSSAN president, Oloyede is a role model in university governance. “The performance indices of the don within the last few years are unparallel and unequalled across the whole country.”
“His use of available resources to provide basic amenities for the benefits of staff and students is highly appreciated by the association and it goes a long way to demonstrate his dreams and aspirations for our country,” he said.
“Undoubtedly, Oloyede has maintained peaceful and uninterrupted academic calendar, provided world class students’ hostels, renovated and beautified facilities, improved manpower and skills development, enabled the computerisation of students’ assessment such as Computer Based Test for post UME and regular students.”
Alih further stated that the association voted Oloyede the “Man of the year” because of his resourcefulness, which is a challenge to all serving Vice-Chancellors to effect positive changes in their schools.






UK group donates N2.1m books to FIIRO
BY ABIODUN FANORO
A UNITED Kingdom-based pro-education group, Centre for African Resources Research and Development centre (CARRD) has donated books worth over N2 million to the Federal Institute for Industrial Research, Oshodi (FIIRO).
The books, which also included some international journals, covered disciplines such as Organic Chemistry, Mechanics, Engineering, Applied Mathematics and Statistics.
Making the donation, the group’s representative in Nigeria, Mr. Abidemi Ajani, said the gesture was in furtherance of CARRD’s objective of promoting educational development in Africa and in countries where funding of education is hampered by poor economy. Ajani said FIIRO was the first research institute to benefit from the group’s resource assistance.
The choice of FIIRO, according to Ajani, was because of its strategic position as “the foremost research institute in Nigeria.” The group’s representative further stated that the gesture was part of efforts to help FIIRO fulfil its strategic national goal of promoting industrialisation and technology in the country.
Receiving the books, FIIRO Director-General, Dr. Oluwole Olatunji commended the group, especially its commitment to not just intellectualism but also to industrialisation and technological development of the country, through the promotion of research. Dr. Olatunji was also of the view that the books would be very useful in the training






Nigerians find unlikely education at Ukraine universitie
By Terrell Starr
Ukraine is not the first country that comes to mind for many African students wanting to study abroad. It certainly wasn’t for Jessica Oladejo, a third year medical student of O.O. Bogomolets National Medical University, Kiev, the capital city. In fact, the 20-year-old lady had never heard of Ukraine, a former republic of the fallen Union of Soviet Social Republic (USSR), until she considered attending a medical school in Ghana.
As Oladejo was deciding whether to attend the school, she learnt through some of her mother’s friends that the professors, who would teach her there, studied in Ukraine during the USSR era. “I was asked, ‘Why I have to go to Ghana to study, when the lecturers there studied in the former Soviet Union,’ So, instead of going to Ghana to learn from them, why don’t I just go to the Soviet Union and learn from the source?”
Oledejo is one of the 5,000 African students currently matriculating in universities across Ukraine, according to African Centre, a non-governmental organization, which tracks racial discrimination against Africans as well as their migration patterns in the country.
The Soviet government aggressively started awarding scholarships to African students willing to study in their country in 1957, which coincided with Ghana’s Independence. But with the death of communism in USSR in 1991, this generosity stopped. While Ukraine no longer offers the financial incentives it once did during communism, it’s still an appealing country for students like Oladejo.
One, it’s easier for Africans to get Ukrainian visa than that of any country in Europe. Tuition fees in Ukrainian Universities are also much cheaper than institutions in Britain or the United States. However, the financial and logistical advantages of matriculating in Ukraine aren’t without their social challenges.
In 2007, eight racially motivated murders occurred in Ukraine, according to African Centre. The murders continued into 2009 with some of the victims being African students. However, such incidents have ebbed as of late. To Ukraine’s credit, the national parliament recently passed anti-racism legislation, which made the crime to significantly dropped according to African NGOs that track racial incidents.
Surprisingly, many students say they had no prior knowledge of Ukraine’s xenophobia issues before arriving. One common complaint is that of being accosted with racial slurs and other demeaning language by Ukrainian youths on the streets.
Joshua Moses, a 21-year-old medical student from Akwanga, Nigeria, was on Nigerian government scholarship to study medicine in Ukraine. He said he enjoys living here although it’s not uncommon for him and his African classmates to be called ‘monkey’ and other names while walking around the capital. His response? “I just look at them and laugh because they know not what they do,” Moses said, borrowing a line from Jesus.
Nasir Abubakar, also a medical student from Nigeria, can’t recall experiencing any blatant racism during his two years stay. But Abubakar, 21, admits the stares and giggles he gets from Ukrainians while walking on the street, many of whom may have never seen or had contact with a black person before, which do make him a bit uncomfortable.






Calabar: Is This Nigeria?
By Mohammed Bas
As a young child growing-up in a heterogeneous slum in the ancient city of Kaduna, I have been so much filled with theories about Calabar, the Calabarians and Calabarism that I thought I know all about the city that pride itself as the cleanest in Nigeria. Of all the theories stuck into my childish brain then, three interested me most and formed the basis upon which I perceive and interact with anything or anybody associated with Cal-a-bar.
The first and most interesting of the three theories was that the most delicious delicacy in Nigeria is in Calabar. This aspect of Calabar interested me then, because as a child, my stomach is my number one priority. The assertion that every Calabar lady is a beauty to be behold also interested me because my restrictive upbringing did not afford me much time to explore the beauty of some Katafawans in my neighbourhood. Another theory, though not palatable was their mythical cannibalistic acts.
My earlier pre-knowledge of Calabar, its people and cultural practice was though the usual dem-say-dem-say channel, yet, it had a profound effect on my disposition and attitude to my present place of domicile. Reason being that I love the Calabarians on account of the first two theories, but I have a tactical resentment for Calabar on account of the third theory, which is Cannibalism. With this mixed feelings, I grow up to love and hate Calabar.
It was therefore not surprising that I received my NYSC posting to Cross River State with double mind. I came in contact with Calabar three weeks after I arrived Cross River State because I alongside other members posted to Cross River spent three weeks in the ancient, but remote town of Obubra undergoing orientation for the national service.
My prior jaundiced view of Calabar began to change immediately I stepped into the capital city of the state that pride itself as the people’s paradise. The first attitude charger was the cleanliness that pervaded the entire city. So clean was the city that I found it hard to drop a biscuit wrapper in the street! The second attitude changer was the warmness and courteous imbibed and exhibited by every Calabarians, I came across. The third and the most fascinating attitude charger was the high level of personal hygiene among them. At first, I thought their culture of neatness to be an eye service, but my personal investigation proved otherwise because the cleanness of the Calabarians reflected in all their dealings.
It was this astonishing discovery that forced me to ask a fellow Corps member this, “it this Nigeria or are we in another country?” The fellow gave me the must-appropriate-response. “We are definitely in the cleanest city in Nigeria.”
I also took time to reflect on the third theory about the Calabarians and conclude that maybe somebody somewhere has mistaken Calabarism for Cannibalism. Or is it possible for man-eaters to find a place in a city, so, hospitable and clean as Calabar? For me, the answer

BY TAJUDEEN SOWOLE
LEMI GHARIOKWU is presently busy showcasing his new work titled Afro Beat Goes On round Africa and other domains of the black race. Outside this, he recently unveiled another work pop art at the just concluded exhibition held at Artistic Licence art gallery, Victoria Island, Lagos.
Mounted at a position overlooking the entrance of the gallery was Redemption, a piece about the obnoxious Trans Atlantic slave trade. Interestingly, Ghariokwu tells his story of redemption using the ironic result of the trade by placing a slave against that of the United States President, Barack Obama, at the opposite ends of a slave ship.
Redemption is perhaps one of the common expressions for most artists, irrespective of genres. And so, one may ask: is the Black race really there? Ghariokwu, who is known for his consistent Afro-centric ideology states that “for those of us who hold strongly to the struggle of emancipation of the race, redemption is here – we are there.” But there is the other side of the people who “still believe that redemption is a mirage; to such people, we are not there yet.”

AND to get out of this mental slavery, his new work emphasises celebration of the people’ heroes. In addition to the Obama image, pop art on late legends, Fela Anikulapo Kuti and Michael Jackson stress that argument. Electrified depictions of a concert lighted-image of Jackson in Electric-I and a brownish-toned image of Fela, smoking with the title Ah-Free-Can are his thoughts on the subject. Electrifying, he declares, “is the most appropriate to describe Jackson’s stage image.” Ghariokwu has an adapted literary explanation for the Fela image as: Ah is a common exclamation; Free, unchaining from mental slavery; Can, ability to attain redemption. These, he says, add up to represent “African.”

Proclaiming this Africaness rests hugely on how heroes are presented for posterity. He cautions that exposing the psyche of children, for example, to characters such as Superman, Batman and other Western heroes without African alternatives is wrong. He asks: “What is wrong in promoting Sango as a comic hero?” Superman, he notes does all sorts of spectacles that we admire, “but when a-Sango character spits fire, some people would say, ‘it’s fetish’ or juju. But the truth is that it’s similar to the heroic act we see of Western heroes being promoted through the mass media.”
From the boring security routines at entry points of countries in Europe and America re-enacted on canvas in Biometrics, to the global economic crisis in Meltdown, the artist smells some hypocrisy of the West.
Beyond racial divides and class, come in Square Circles, a reclining figure that engages in the natural aging process and Life is a Weaver, a woven piece of craft, which takes you through shades and colours of life.
In August through September, he had a similar show titled, Afro Pop Art: Politics, Life and Lyrics, at Arc Gallery, Tottenham, United Kingdom.

Coltrane: The Reality of Sheets of Sounds

BY BENSON IDONIJE
FORTY two years after his death in 1967, John Coltrane’s popularity has continued to grow and assume legendary proportions, while his saxophone technique remains a relevant source of inspiration to emerging generations of musicians.
Even though he lived for only 41 years, his popularity should have been more widespread and deeply rooted if he had gone his separate way early enough in his career like Miles Davis and Chalie Parker. Instead, he spent years as a sideman because he was in great demand. And it was not until the remarkable experience with Miles Davis in Kind of Blue that he began to come into his own. And, left to shift for himself, the facets of his style that made him a candidate for greatness were immediately recognisable.
As a matter of fact, Coltrane has many sides to his art; and is so controversial that critics like me will continue to write about him as long as they have something interesting and fresh to say.
The tenor saxophonist first came to prominence in the middle fifties, reflecting compulsion, anxiety, anger, and fear, what pianist Cecil Taylor called “the realities of the day.” For all its chaos, the music had deep and direct emotional meaning for many listeners; and some insiders began to mark Coltrane as “the man.”
But it did not become Coltrane’s year until 1961, when he won three divisions in Down Beats International Critic’s Poll as best tenor saxophonist of the year; and, in the ‘New Star’ division, “Miscellaneous Instrument” (for soprano saxophone); and New Combo. He had come up with the quartet of outstanding musicians featuring Elvin Jones, drums; Jimmy Garrison, bass; McCoy Tyner, piano; himself on saxophones (tenor and soprano).

It behoves a musician to take such honours with a grain or two of realism, considering the situation in which he found himself at the time. For, as often as not, some of the same writers who made a current victory possible were those who once maintained that their favourite did not know how to play his instrument.
The experience of Sonny Rollins at the time indicated that it could be detrimental to read one’s own press notices, or so it seemed. It would have been disastrous for Coltrane too, had he taken his to heart, for his early notices were frequently negative, and he had been under fire several times since. That he continued to progress in the inexorable glare of a scrutiny that invested his most casual acts with significance was evidence of unusual conviction. Coltrane was probably the first major soloist of that contemporary era whose development largely took place under such scrutiny, and it should be of some value to examine that development.
On the back liners of one of Coltrane’s Blue Note albums, Robert Levine speaks of Coltrane’s “spearing, sharp and resonant sound that creates an ominous atmosphere,” and of his “veering, inconsistent lines.”
Those phrases, to my mind, characterise Coltrane about as well as it could be done, and highlight the qualities of original thinking that have made him the first major new saxophone innovator since Sonny Rollins, who in turn was the first since Charlie Parker.
But change is not always progress, and to a large degree, Coltrane contained within himself the elements that made his kind of jazz the most exciting that was played; and the elements that often seemed to be leading it (and him) down a blind alley.
Excitement is there, certainly, of an incomparable nature, and surprise. Most often, at the beginning of a solo, Coltrane enters from the unexpected place, creating a shock effect in the first phrase that leaves the listener limp for two or three choruses. Listen to him on Blues by Five on the Miles Davis Cookin album on Prestige. Coltrane is also possessed of an unmatched energy by which, in two choruses, he can lift an average flaccid bop record out of its rut and into the realm of major jazz. Hear his solo on Light Blue in the album, Interplay for two trumpets and two tenors.
Of his role as everybody’s recording sideman, Coltrane later said, “I wouldn’t do it now.” At the time, he needed the money. The result was that he appeared on a few records on which his was the only music likely to last. He also played on many others on which he merely juggled his own stock of pet phrases from one tune to the next, justifying his own assessment of himself as not “playing anything new or different.” On two of Gene Ammons’ records, he even reverted to the alto saxophone, his initial instrument.
Aside from his regular work with Davis, his best musical opportunity at that time was the chance he got to record an album of Tadd Dameron compositions with the composer on piano.

The major turning point in Coltrane’s career seemed to have come in the summer of 1957, when he left Davis, who was temporarily dissatisfied with his group, to join Thelonius Monk. “Working with Monk,” Coltrane once told Down Beat, “brought me close to a musical architect of the highest order. I felt I learned from him in every way through the senses, theoretically, technically. I would talk to Monk about musical problems, and he would sit at the piano and show me the answers just by playing them. I could watch him play and find out the things I wanted to know. Also, I could see a lot of things that I didn’t know about at all.
“Monk was one of the first to show me how to make two or three notes at a time on tenor… It’s done by false fingering and adjusting your lip. If everything goes right, you can get triads. Monk just looked at my horn and felt the mechanics of what had to be done to get this effect.”

However, in the fall of 1957, Coltrane, a greatly improved musician, returned to Miles Davis, who was now beginning the modal experiments which were, in their use of fewer and fewer chords, to affect Coltrane greatly. The saxophonist had also changed. He had previously fallen prey to self destructive practices that lurk in the jazz world but had, by now, suddenly and definitely stopped. An interview he granted the press at the time reflected his new attitude. “Live cleanly… do right… you can improve as a player by improving as a person. It’s a duty we owe to ourselves.”
Not surprisingly, it was at this time that Coltrane began to be an influence on other players. He had also become a careful student of his own work, analysing it to a point that once caused him to remark, “I’m worried that sometimes what I’m doing sounds just like academic exercise, and I’m trying more and more to make it sound prettier.”
In Down Beat, Coltrane was able to dissect his style in a way that he had never done before. About this time, he wrote, referring to his second stint with Davis, the one that culminated in Kind of Blue, “I was trying for a sweeping sound. I started experimenting because I was striving for more individual development. I even tried long, rapid lines that critic Ira Gitler termed “sheets of sounds” at the time. But actually, I was beginning to apply the three-on-one chord approach, and at that time, the tendency was to play the entire scale of each chord. Therefore, they were usually played fast and sometimes sounded like glisses.
“I found there was a number of chord progressions to play in a given time, and sometimes what I played didn’t work out in eighth notes, sixteenth notes, or triplets. I had to put the notes in uneven groups like fives and sevens in order to get them all in.
“I thought in groups of notes, not of one note at a time. I tried to place these groups on the accents and emphasise the strong beats — maybe on 2 here and on 4 over at the end. I could set up the line and drop groups of notes — a long line with accents dropped as I moved along. Sometimes what I was doing clashed harmonically with the piano —especially if the pianist wasn’t familiar with what I was doing- so a lot of time I just strolled with bass and drums.
“I haven’t completely abandoned this approach, but it wasn’t broad enough. I’m trying to play these progressions in a more flexible manner now.”

In the summer of 1959, the growing critical and public dispute over whether Coltrane or Sonny Rollins was the most influential modern tenorman was settled, at least temporarily, by Rollin’s retirement.
Coltrane, once maligned, was now indisputably on top. Early in 1960, he made the obvious move, he left Miles Davis to form his own group, a situation that gave him the freedom to create those ‘Sheets Of Sounds.’
benidoni@yahoo.com

Koffi in Workerman Movement

Comedian Idowu Nuel, otherwise known as Koffi in the entertainment circle is taking his career to a higher level. Aside from being a comedian, the humour merchant has instituted an entertainment outfit — Workerman Movement.
Already, Koffi’s effort has started yielding fruit with the production of an album, All Eyes Open-12 Sessions, 5 Mics. A musical assemblage of five different artistes namely: Koffi, Yeankeyz, Outshine, Affroholik and Boomerang, is said to have been borne out of the need to foster serene and good music, which would be devoid of lewd lyrics and obscene contents.
Known as Workerholics, Koffi, who leads the group, is of the opinion that lovers of urban hippy music can easily identify with the production, while not disregarding the need for socially responsible thoughts. The 12-track album featured songs such as Jammin, S.E.X.Y, No Be Ashy, Adrenaline, Money, No Shigbin Shigbin, Take Over, Swagga Dis Swaga Dat, Going Nowhere, Workerholik and others.
“I’m into so many things, but right now, we would be releasing the album this December. We just wanted to show people that we can still do serious music,” he said.
On why he delved into music, Koffi explained that, “What we are doing is a full time job and should be treated as such. The same doctor that treats malaria treats cancer and also assists in giving birth to a baby. Those are different areas a doctor performs his duties. In the same vein, as a comedian, why can’t I do every other thing that I can do; as long as I don’t try to take another person’s piece of cake. I just try to express myself the best way I could.”

Unmasking Ajebo..

Many of his colleagues probably don’t know his given name -- Steve Eboh. Many people are used to calling him Ajebo — the popular tag for spoilt brats. Indeed, that is the name the Enugu State-born screen personality has been known with since he joined the industry close to two decades ago. A native of Oji River, Eboh is a gifted and self-motivated practitioner. Moviedom caught up with the gangling actor of vast credit and a one-time member of the Ministerial Committee on the review of the nation’s film policy.

Why they call me Ajebo
It was actually in 1994 that they started calling me by that name Ajebo. And it was on the set of an Igbo movie, Frame Up, which we shot in Imo State. I recall that it was the first time that such a large crowd of artistes would be travelling out for a movie shoot anywhere in the East. I think it started with Ngozi Ezeonu and Bob Manuel. They walked into my room on location and discovered that I had everything that would make my stay on location comfortable. My fridge was well stocked with assorted beverages. That was how they named me the original Ajebo — what they called kids who are pampered; and that was because I had everything I wanted to eat in my room. Since then, the name has stuck.

Before Nollywood
Before 1992, I was working on television — NTA like occasional appearance in the popular Tales by Moonlight and then Telemovies. I was working in a private firm and so I would always return to my job after shoot. I was also involved in some politics. I was part of the group that was campaigning for Bashir Tofa to be president. But along the line, I went into movies and dumped politics. That was when I took part in Dirty Deal by NEK Video Links. After that, I stayed on and even gave up acting on television since home video was the in-thing then.

Growing up
I am from Oji River Local Council of Enugu State. I was born down there but I was brought up in the North, Zaria, to be precise. I had my early school in the north, in Funtua and back to Zaria. My brother, who was based in Zaria then, nurtured me. They never wanted me to stay with my mum. They felt she was going to spoil me. So, I grew up with a brother who taught me how to be self-confident and how to think through a decision. That is why I don’t regret any of my actions and I don’t blame people for my fault. But it was from my brother that I took the lead, I mean as an entertainer. He was involved in a lot of extra curricula activities such as serving as master of ceremonies in events and all that. So, I took a lead from him. I came to Lagos, moved to NTA and then the movie industry.

Parental objection
No. I come from a very humble family and a family that would not interfere in whatever you are doing. All they demand is that you must ensure that you don’t tarnish the image of the family. But some people frown at my involvement. I recall that one of my intimate friends asked me to name anyone that has made it as an actor. I am sure that they would not ask me that question now because I would count myself as those that have benefitted from acting. Today they are all happy for me and want to see me in every movie.

Movie credits
I would have done between 60 and 80 films. The first one was Dirty Deal, and then Taboo another Igbo movie followed and then Evil Passion. I was also a major part of Frame Up, August Meeting, Last Burial and a whole lot of other titles.

Regrets
I have never regretted being in this industry. It has given me so much. I am comfortable by the special grace of God. At least, I am not begging. The fact that I can take myself from point A to point B without asking for a loan gives me joy. The other thing I like is the fact that I have peace of mind. The only pain is the impression people have about you. You see, people think that you are the same character you play on television in real life. They see you and what you hear is ‘chief bring the money for us to share’ as if you own the film. If you go to the village and they have to task everybody, yours will be higher because for some of them a millionaire in a movie is a millionaire outside the movie. You can’t walk the street freely.

Happiest moment
My happiest moment was when I stayed in the same hotel with Nigerian international Kanu Nwankwo aka Papilo. He is one person I admire a lot. But on sighting me at the reception area, he asked someone to stop me so that he could have the privilege of shaking hands with me. So in my mind I was saying, I thought I should be the one running after Papilo. I was too happy to see him and he was also happy to see me too.
If I were not an actor
I would have been a journalist. My brother was a freelance journalist back then. I admired the way he wrote. I would have also loved to drive. I admired drivers particularly those that drive big lorries and buses. I am sure I would have made a good transporter if I had gone into that profession.

Challenging work
My most challenging work will be Narrow Escape. Because that was the first time I came face to face with anything that had to do with cultism. I have never been so scared in my life like when we started shoot for the movie. It was a set we created but I tell you that we had to pray so that we don’t get attacked. We almost didn’t enter the hall because everything appeared scary. We had to pray and bind whatever that was putting fear into us. But the movie came out well and was considered very successful.

Hobbies
I love football a lot. I love to play table tennis to. I like hanging out with friends. And I can stay on a football match for a whole day. I also love discussing politics. I am not married yet even though I have completed all the rites. My wife should be joining me soon. She is not an actress. And you see I don’t rush things in life. I take my time. I have always prayed to God to give me my wife and at the right time too. I have been under tremendous pressure from my family, age grade and even the press but it can only happen at God’s time and I have been assured that the time is not too far from now. I have found the person and to God be the Glory. No regret. Acting is life. It has given me so much joy and peace of mind. For food, I like yam and maize. I am on the quiet side, so I don’t like noisy music. But I am impressed with what our boys are doing with hip-hop.





Around and about Nollywood...

NOPA 2009 Honours Henshaw, Williams, Isong
DESERVING practitioners and stakeholders in the Nigerian motion picture industry were honoured at the 2009 edition of the Nollywood Outstanding Personality Award (NOPA) organised by the Association of Movie Journalist s(AMJ) and Stanword Media Group. The award, which is in its third edition, was held on Sunday December 6, at White House, Toyin Street, Ikeja, Lagos. It was chaired by ex-Executive Director of Programmes of the Nigerian Television Authority and current Director General of the National Lottery Regulatory Commission, Mr. Peter Igho, MFR. On the NOPA honour list were Adim Williams, Kate Henshaw-Nuttal, Dagogo Diminas, Emem Isong, Stephanie Okereke, Jonathan Gbemutor and the duo of Chinedu Ikedieze and Osita Iheme. Two journalists — ex- deputy editor of Thisday Newspaper, Oji Onoko and Shaibu Husseni of The Guardian were honoured given the Diamond Pen Merit Award for their outstanding contributions to movie journalism. Also, life time achievement awards were conferred on Sir Mike Adenuga for his passionate interest in the entertainment industry and Sir Dr. Walter Ofonagoro for his contributions to Nollywood and arts in general as former DG of NTA and Minister of Information and Culture. The Vanguard was honoured for its incisive coverage and reportage of Nollywood at the event that was spiced up with musical performances and stand-up comic act. The award with the theme ‘the seal of excellence in professionalism’ is an initiative of Stanword Media Group and hosted in partnership with the Association of Movie Journalists (AMJ), NOPA was actively supported by Nollywood, and Nigeria Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB), National Film Corporation (NFC), corporate bodies and the media. It has also enjoyed sponsorship from LIFF, Gold Angel, Orbit Audiovisual Studio, CLOUT Media and Super Max (Fuel Savers) and the management of White House.

Entries for AMAA 2010 still open
THE Africa Film invites filmmakers to submit their Feature, Short, and Documentary works for consideration by the 6th AMAA, the premier Africa film awards. Each completed entry form must be accompanied by all the supporting materials listed on the submission forms, including the synopsis of the film, the list of credits, marketing stills of the film, filmography of the directors and producers, 10 DVD copies of the film and proof of the right to submit. Only films produced and released between December 2008 and December 2009 would be entered for the 2009 celebration of African Cinema to be held in 2010. It will be announced in Ghana in February 2010. AMAA will hold on April 10, 2010 and will be televised across the world. Submission forms are downloadable from the AMAA Awards website. For further information, please contact AMAA at info@ama-awards.com.

Entries for Zuma Film Festival open
ALL is now set for the 5th edition of ZUMA Film Festival organised by the NFC. Scheduled to hold in Abuja from May 2 to 6, 2010. Call for entries opens on Tuesday, December 1 and closes February 28, 2010. The theme is Global Images, Global Voices, which according to the organisers, seek to consolidate on the gains of previous editions. Emphasis will be on bridging existing gaps between developed and developing film cultures as universal themes and global best practices will be adopted. The focus on the global nature and impact of the film medium will be encouraged during the film fiesta and at the same time platforms for filmmakers and filmmaking nations to globalise their films without losing the rhythms and practices that make their artistic cultures distinctively different will be provided. A statement from NFC said that entries should be accompanied with a two minute trailer must be submitted in three copies and must be on the DVD format with the typed synopsis on A4 paper-size. Submissions, the festival organizers said, would be accepted in the Competitive and Non Competitive categories. The Competitive category includes Feature film, Documentary, Children film, Student film, Animation/cartoon, Short film and Emerging talents while the Non Competitive category includes; films on Nigerian Panorama, Universal films, Diaspora & African films, Retrospectives /Tributes. Interested participants can make enquiries by e-mail to md_nfc@hotmail.com and md@nigfilmcorp.com. Similarly, entry forms can be obtained and returned to any of the Corporations offices in Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Jos. ZUMA Film Festival, a major activity of the Nigerian Film Corporation is designed to provide a platform for the recognition and reward of excellence and creativity in the Nigerian motion picture industry and other film cultures around the globe.

24th Fribourg Film Festival holds March
THE 24th Fribourg International Film Festival (FIFF) will hold from March 13 to 20, 2010. Since it began, the festival has committed itself to the promotion of cultural diversity. Its programme features essentially work from Asia, Africa and Latin America. Each year, the event plays host to a hundred or so national and international premieres. Today, the FIFF carries the reputation of an unparalleled platform for creative and cultural exchanges; furthermore, the event distinguishes itself as a Mecca of cinematographic discoveries. The festival enjoys a good international reputation, and is also recognised as a national reference. The artistic director of the FIFF is Edouard Waintrop, a former film critic for Libération. In 2010, Waintrop presents his third edition of the Festival. The competition section introduces around 12 feature films and documentaries completed during the year preceding the current edition, and which have not been screened in Switzerland or in Europe. The Grand Prize carries a CHF 30,000 reward. There is also the Panoramas, Retrospectives and Short Films. In that section, the thematic programmes featuring 5-18 films are compiled by the artistic director or film specialists. These films approach and discuss current trends, question established genres, reveal uncharted episodes of film history and pay tribute to personalities of outstanding merit. The short film programmes present the work of young contemporary filmmakers. The Forum@FIFF platform is dedicated to film professionals and hosts conferences, debates and encounters that promote the exchange of experiences, deepening of knowledge and networking in general. Filmmakers can get additional information on the festival at www.fiff.ch.


Waka pass…
Producer- Amebo A. Amebo
Director- Mr. Gossip
Actors- Nollywood Celebrities

Nollywood absent at ION closing event
HOW come, one waka pass asked, as he looked around during the closing gala of the ION film festival in Port Harcourt. The waka pass said he could count the number of top Nollywood actors who were there. The waka pass, who said it was unbecoming for these celebrities to stay away from events that concerned them, was very furious when he said only three of Nollywood natural beauties — Genevieve Nnaji, Stephanie Okereke and Rita Dominic at the event and wondered what happened to Funke Akindele, Chioma Akpotha, Nkiru Sylvanus, and even Hilda Dokubo, who needed to take just a drop from her house to be at the event. Though a few actors made it to the event; the waka pass gushed that their presence didn’t equal Nollywood at all. I think he said he saw the deep actor and university teacher Sam Dede… then Alaso Woriboko, then Yibo Koko and then Julius Agwu. The waka pass was going to continue reeling out names but we stopped him because having mentioned Agwu, he was likely to add Ali Baba (who was compere) to the list of actors he saw at the closing gala just so as to make the list appear equal to Nollywood.

Emeka Ike is President?
WONDERS shall never end in Nollywood’ that was how one waka pass reacted when another of his kind hinted that star actor and school proprietor, Emeka Ike, has emerged President of the AGN from the back door. In fact, but for a published picture of his swearing-in- ceremony conducted by a fellow; a lawyer the waka pass described as ‘any weather’, he almost dismissed Ike’s emergence as one of those huge jokes told in some ludicrous movies. Anyway, this is how we were told Ike emerged: ‘In a bid not to appear used and dumped by the Ifeanyi Dike-led Board of Trustees (BOT), Kanayo O. Kanayo (KOK) insisted he must serve out his six months tenure as Interim President of the Caretaker Committee and to do that, he must conduct the election he had planned. Before the election, the BOT had unceremoniously dissolved the interim structure and in its place formed a contraption it called ‘Government of National Unity’ headed by embattled AGN president Segun Arinze. It was because of the manner in which he was sacked that KOK insisted on holding the election that saw the emergence of Ike as President. Meanwhile, KOK was there; body, soul and spirit when the BOT sacked the Ejike Asiegbu-led administration in like manner’. What this means is that there are two AGN presidents — Arinze and Ike — both of them illegally and unconstitutionally elected. Maybe it’s time to declare a ‘state of emergency’ in the actors’ folds... or what do you all think?

For Tricia, it shall be permanent
BY the time you are reading this, celebrated actress and television show host,Tricia Esiegbe, would have been married. For many who are familiar with the actress of many credits, yesterday was indeed the day the Lord made for Tricia, who has been linked with a number of people including football stars. A number of celebrities both in the field of sports and entertainment, we were told, showed up at her very colourful wedding, which held in Lagos. Waka pass couldn’t make it to the ceremony because we were busy with the rehearsals of the special number we intend to perform at the couples outing service in church today. The title of the special number? No, let’s just give you the first stanza and then you can join in the chorus…one …two… three… go: ‘It shall be permanent… It shall be permanent. What the lord has done for Tricia… must be permanent! To God be the Glory!