Abuja Carnival… The Hit, The misses

BY ANDREW IRO OKUNGBOWA
NOVEMBER 21 was not like any other Saturday morning for most residents of Abuja, especially those in Garki Village, Area One, down Festival Road and Eagle Square, as drums and songs woke them up.
In rhythm with the ecstasy of the celebration, they all poured out to the streets in their hundreds to watch the long cultural procession, reminiscent of the 2006 edition.
The evening of Saturday witnessed a more glorious outing with the Eagle Square, venue of the opening ceremony, covered in glittering colours and motifs of different hues, accentuated by the captivating and glitz appearance of the over 30 states including Abuja, Ghana, South Africa and Egypt delegates that were on parade.
The various troupes thrilled the audience with different dance moves and gyrations as well as exhibiting captivating theatrics, opening the four-day event.
With the high tempo of Saturday’s opening many people expected the second day, Sunday, to rise to the occasion too, but thanks to the youths and children, who entertained the audience with different theatrical performances.
Sunday evening witnessed a polo game, which was one of the newly introduced events to the carnival. It was a good outing by the different teams and players that were on display as they entertained with their masterful equestrian skills.
The durbar event was another of the evening’s showing with Yobe and Borno States being the only two states that showcased the rich durbar cultural heritage for which they are famed.

HOWEVER, for many followers of the carnival, this year’s durbar event did not quite hit the bull’s eye as the absence of many of the traditional durbar participating states was obvious — a minus for the entire package.
The evening was more of a time to relax and savour some of the finest and upcoming Nigerian artistes, who entertain in dance drama and other theatricals. The venue was the amphitheatre of the Arts and Craft Village.
For many, who took part in Monday’s event, the masquerade and boat regatta presentations somehow compensated for the failings of the previous day.
Again, the masquerade show was taken to the streets of Abuja where the artistes from the participating states enthralled with zestful acrobatic and artistic displays of various kinds.
Bayelsa, Delta, Kwara, Kebbi and Rivers States exhibited their mastery of the sea with each cultural float battling for supremacy and honour on Jabi Dam, venue of the rich display.
The evening of Monday, too, was quite memorable with the command performance held at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel. The national troupes of Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa and Egypt as well as troupes from Cross River, Jos and Nasarawa States gave impressive but energetic dance performances.
On Tuesday, the various troupes put on one last befitting performance at the Eagle Square, venue of the closing ceremony. The best adjudged states in the various performing categories were honoured and celebrated for their creative and innovative.

MTN’s Musical Show
ONE of the major highlights of this year’s edition of the Abuja Carnival was the contemporary musical concert that held for three nights from Saturday through Monday at the Eagle Square.
The telecommunication outfit was at its best providing fun and excitement for hundreds of youths, who patronised the carnival for three nights to savour the various vibes and tunes on display by the musical acts.
There was no dull moment for many of the audience members, who described the event as delightful. For the Regional Marketing Manager, North, Shehu Abubakar, who was part of the celebrations, the occasion afforded the firm an avenue to bond with a vital part of its clientele base.
He described the entire carnival as a befitting platform for the actualisation of his company’s aspirations, part of which is the promotion and celebration of the country’s cultural heritage.
He said the outfit would continue to throw its weight behind the carnival while urging all Nigerians to embrace the yearly cultural feast because of its benefits to the country.

The Last Word
ABUJA Carnival 2009 may have come and gone with its thrills and colours, but not without some issues that must be addressed by the organisers if the carnival is to achieve its ultimate goal, which is to make the country an international tourist destination and to encourage domestic tourism.
As acknowledged by the Artistic Director of the carnival, Prof. Rasaki Ojo Bakare, the performance this year would have been higher than the previous editions, but for the twin constraints of time and fund, though he scored the event a great success, stressing that the fact that it held at all is a feat to be celebrated.
If the dream of making Abuja Carnival a viable venture and by extension the Nigeria tourism industry, as expressed by President Umaru Musa Yar’ Adua, at the opening ceremony, is to be achieved then the country must braced up to the challenges facing the carnival.
The first major challenge is that of making it a real tourist event. In this regard, the concept and organisation have to be reviewed to make it all embracing and people-orientated. The carnival lacked this ingredient hence has failed to attract following from the people. It takes awesome time and resources to achieve this; the Federal Government, which is the promoter of the yearly feast, has failed to realise this.
The government for now has the responsibility to massively fund the project until such a time that the private sector can buy into the dream. Also, the organizers need to start early preparations for the event. The practice of appointing an organising committee yearly on ad hoc basis and three months to the schedule period and frequent change of dates are critical issues to be addressed too.
What is needed is a carnival commission with a clear mandate and tenure, say three to four years at the first instance, with the members drawn from mainly the private sector while government only assist with logistics where necessary.
Of course, the members of the committee should be tested professionals who have both the capacity and international clout to extend the frontiers of the carnival. Now is the right time to set up such a committee with the necessary empowerment given to it, otherwise the fortune of the carnival will remain threatened as can be seen from its beleaguered history.
Finally, the government must show political support for the carnival as former President Olusegun Obasanjo tried to do, though it was misdirected and not properly applied.
So far, this present regime has treated the carnival with disdain. President Yar’ Adua must be the number one promoter and audience of the carnival, if the event is to win the confidence of the community. Staying away from the yearly celebration as he has done in the last two editions is not good enough for the image of the carnival.

Mortal blows

BY WOLE OGUNTOKUN
THE Whisperer is back in town after a holiday that allowed him look at the world again with fresh perspective. He did not go to a perfect place, just one in which, well, things happened differently.
On my first day back in my country, I went to that place of starry-eyed internet providers with a branch office on Bode Thomas Street, Surulere, to renew my subscription.
I met with service so appalling from three different members of staff of the place, I knew the only reason they survived was because there is so little competition in their area of business.
I had just returned to this service providers who make me pay monthly, ten times what those in the place I had just visited pay, and that other place has ten times the speed of access. I do not exaggerate.
The only people who were showed courtesy as I sought to pay this exploitative sum for primordial services were the uniformed security guards and the very pregnant female who handled customer enquiries.
Apparently no one else felt they needed to be polite to customers. Still, with that kind of service, the time will come when the mortal blow they have dealt their relationship with their clients will show how hard an effect it has taken.

YES, The Whisperer is still talking about relationships, even if it is between telephone companies and the paying public that sustains them.
So, off I went, getting used to driving again after several weeks of clambering on trains and buses.
My next stop was Victoria Island, to pay the cable company and then have my car washed at the end of the street close to Kuramo Beach.
As I watched the fellow washing a 4x4 with one and half buckets of water and a plastic cup meant for drinking, I knew I was back in the land of drama.
I was not disappointed when about four feet from me I watched a scenario so surreal, it could not have happened elsewhere apart from my land. A drunken cook, who the day before apparently ‘borrowed’ his ‘master’s’ mobile phone, came to drink the liquid fire they call alcohol sold at the beach, met up with a fellow he claimed to be his ‘brother’ and then consorted with a prostitute introduced to him by this ‘brother’.
By the time the liaison was over, the prostitute was richer not only by the money paid her, but also by the phone she had lifted off the cook.
Now let me describe this cook to you — he was about five feet and three inches tall, very fair in complexion in a way that pays no compliments to very fair people, had a white T-shirt on with a faint spattering of blood and had no shoes on. His ‘brother’ was a fellow about six feet tall, dark as the sun in total eclipse and they called him ‘Osaz’.
Osaz who was as drunk as a skunk as was the cook on the flammable stuff that passes for drink in that area, was screaming at his “brother”, the cook claiming he knew nothing of the missing phone.
The interrogator was a quiet-looking well-dressed man; too well dressed for the area where we stood and who insisted the phone had to re-materialize.
Osaz continued to express his defiance only a few feet from me, everyone else yelling as well, and from nowhere, the well-dressed man produced a pistol.
Yes, that kind that perforates people if you stand in the general direction it is pointing.
By this time, there were about 20 people gathered who were some of the most-evil looking people I had seen in a long while.
The villains in the movies, City of God and the banned District 9 had nothing on these ones. These scarred people with dead eyes watched the unfolding scenario calmly, and when the gun was produced, I noticed I was the only one who flinched amongst those gathered.
All in a day’s work for these gentlemen. The fellow performing a miracle by washing my car with air instead of water didn’t even look to see what was happening though he could have touched the main actors with his sponge if he had stretched.
Osaz stepped aside to save his teeth from turning to rubble when the phone-seeking gun producer tried to swipe him across the mouth with the butt of the pistol.
For some reason, the main parties turned to me and began to report themselves. I tried to be calm as I listened.
According to the gun man (who apparently was a sergeant in the Nigerian Police attached to the owner of the stolen phone), the owner of the phone had sent him to retrieve his stolen property that had passed into the hands of an unidentified lady-of-the-beach.
The sergeant told me of the stupendous wealth of the phone owner and how he owned ‘almost three aeroplanes’. “Stinkingly (sic) rich”, he described him as he told me of the man’s businesses and where his offices were situated. I still cannot figure out why I was chosen to be a member of the jury in the proceedings.
It might have had something to do with my cavalier-style hat but the long and short of it was that the phone was retrieved after threats, cajoling and the same gun pointed at the lady who had lightened the cook off the burden he carried.

BUT back to “mortal blows”. We all know of people we have loved despite all their shortcomings and limitations.
There are many people we have given our hearts to, whom in truth, did not deserve the honour.
Yet for reasons we have not always been able to justify, we have pressed on, loving unconditionally. Many would have asked us, “Are you just plain stupid? Can’t you see what he is doing to you? How he/she is taking advantage of you?” However, we are able to accept the person’s imperfections, which is as divine as love can get, I reckon.
We soldier on bravely, loving in spite of it all, gritting our teeth and accepting that love is not always perfect.
The person we are with cannot believe his/her luck, being able to get away with sheer murder in situations other partners would have long walked away from. However, as is the case in human relations, the partner who has been able to get away with everything, forgets himself/herself and continues to push, until a mortal blow is dealt the relationship.
The mortal blow is the one blow no relationship can come back from, no matter the amount of pleading by the party that has done wrong, or how hard the wronged party tries to forgive and forget.
It is literally the straw that breaks the camel’s back and it is a line you cross without realising it.
One day, the party that has accepted all the rubbish for so long simply cannot take anymore.
You do not know how you get there, you just find yourself in that place where you know you do not have the capacity to be insulted any longer. It might take months or even years.
But it will happen if one party takes the other for granted. It might be infidelity or abuse and I do not talk of physical abuse (no one should wait in that situation) but of the emotional degradations that attempt to decrease your self-worth.

I WRITE of that partner who does not give the respect that should be your right; who pushes until you have nowhere to turn and you finally look him or her in the eye and say “no more”.
I write this for those who have taken advantage of the love they have found and have abused it, imagining it will stay forever.
Love will go if you do not nurture it and you will stare in astonishment when you see you have nothing where once you were Lord of everything.
We all have a tendency to forget ourselves when we find a good thing; and to think love is a right. Having another love you is a privilege and we must never forget this.
For those of us who have dealt repeated blows on the relationships we have and have taken morbid delight in the resilience it has shown, a time will come when cracks and fissures will appear. And you will be unable to paint them over.

laspapi@yahoo.com

Orchestra tidings from Queen Beatrice

RECENTLY, the Queen Beatrice Orchestra had its inaugural concert at the Agip Hall, Muson Centre, Lagos and used the occasion to also launch its maiden album, ‘Am Ready’.
Led by Ima Kagho, a composer, arranger and director, the orchestra performed highlife and light classical tunes such as Arrival, Friendly Denials, Left to ponder, Dodo King, Dantsiki, Just for him, and Horns for today to the admiration of the audience.
All the pieces performed were short and easy to appreciate. They, thus, appealed to a cross section of members of the audience.

THE orchestra, according to Kagho, was conceived in 2007 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the death of his mother, Mrs. Beatrice Kagho-Omomadia. Its performance strategy is to produce traditional, contemporary and classical pieces in short, melodious and easily-appreciated orchestral arrangements.
According to him, “even when popularly appreciated, such music will not fit into the genre of popular music; rather it will have the durability of a music standard.”
Kagho said. “Subject to availability of trained musicians, similar orchestras are to be assembled in different cities of the country. One orchestra is also planned for each of a few selected secondary schools in the country. The more orchestras we have in the country, the more avenues there are for employment of trained musicians. Each orchestra is envisaged to become the nucleus of a music school and will contribute to the fruitful engagement of youths.”

KAGHO attended Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, briefly, between 1967 and 68, before he won a government scholarship to study at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. He read Electrical Engineering. He returned home in 1972 and worked in the Midwest State Ministry of Works. He was there from 1973 to 1981. Between 1982 and 1986, he was at the Benin Owena River Basin Development Authority; and from 1986 to 2007, he was with the Federal Ministry of Works, where he retired as Director Engineering Services in 2005.

Cover, Edition 212, Nov 22 -28, 2009

So, who is thinking of Tuesdays?

(Strictly for the young)
BY TOSYN BUCKNO
THERE I was on a random Monday, just thinking about life, and how everyone seems to hate Mondays. Wake up and interact on any given Monday and majority of the people you see are either complaining, not speaking because they are grouchy, or venting online!
‘Moan Day’ is here again, some people grumble, while others hit the snooze button more times than they should!
A friend of mine won’t switch his phone on till about 12pm on Mondays, and others hate to hear bad news on Monday as they think it would determine the rest of their week!
Poor Monday!
Friday on the other hand is such a huge contrast from Monday! You see people smiling while doing random things like filing papers or sending mails.
It is not the work that makes them smile, it is the realisation that they have a weekend to themselves coming! O the joy of waking up an hour or two later than you normally would? Friday is synonymous with worship, half-days at work (given or taken), and socialising!

Saturdays on the other hand, are synonymous with weddings! Some people also worship on that day!
There is a lot of laundry to be done, and ladies steal time to get glammed up. (Manicure anyone?).
The beautiful thing about Saturdays is the fact that there is still one more day left in the weekend!
On Sundays, there is worship going on, and a whole lot of relaxation! The dread starts to return at about 6pm on Sunday because you know the cycle continues and the alarm goes off at the usual annoying time from now on!
And back then, Sunday was when we made our hair... the smell of hair cream always reminds me of Sundays; Sunday television, and the feeling of dread that would always come upon me! Why can’t it be Sunday, 12pm permanently jo?

LET us not forget Thursday, the new Friday! Thursdays are so vibrant these days! There is always some party or the other, live band at Swe, Ladies Night at other places, and more!
Besides, there is a special smile reserved for Thursday. It is the smile that says, today might not be Friday, but tomorrow is! So one more cup before I hit the road!
Wednesday is mid-week, and that says it all! If it is not some mid-week service of some sort, it is ladies night or half price at the movies!

SO every day has something about it! If we do not hate poor dear Monday, we are celebrating on Friday or relaxing on Sunday. But wait a minute...
Who is thinking about Tuesdays?
Tuesday feels neglected! It says, no one smiles because it’s Tuesday (when last did you hear, Thank God It’s Tuesday?), and no one complains because it is Tuesday (have you ever said, oh no! Here is Tuesday again?). It is not the first day of the week, nor the weekend, nor is it even in the middle! It is just the day before Wednesday, and as a friend put it, one more day in the week!
While I could try to find an intellectual way of wrapping this article up by urging you not to be a Tuesday, but either a Monday that is feared, a Wednesday that is spoken about, a Saturday that is useful, a Sunday that is appreciated, a Thursday that is enjoyed or a Friday that is loved... Oh wait! I did that already!
tosinornottosin@yahoo.com






Living in an information-driven
(Biz tool Kits)
BY BRIDGET OLOTU
WHEN Bill Gates was about crossing the Canadian border a few years ago, the immigration officials came over to his car to search his luggage. They asked him to present his luggage and assets for thorough checking. He gave a pack of floppy disks containing Windows 85 to them. They looked at the pack and since they didn’t understand what it was, they gave it back to him and were more concerned with the luggage he was carrying which they thought could have better and more valuable assets than ‘mere floppy disks.’ Unknown to them, the success of Windows 85 brought Microsoft from being a challenger in the global software industry to becoming the richest and the leader.
We live in the information age. And in this knowledge economy, information is the single greatest asset. In previous ages, you owned factories, cattle ranches, gold mines, oil wells or skyscrapers to be rich.

In the Information Age, information alone can make you rich many times over. The young entrepreneurs, who created Yahoo, Google, MySpace, YouTube, etc, have proved that.
With just a few dollars, some information and the leverage of technology, these 20 and 30-year-olds have become billionaires.
The information age officially started with the invention of digital computers.
In the Information Age, information leveraged by technology is wealth, and very inexpensive and abundant resources such as silicon, produce the wealth.
In other words, the price of getting rich has gone down. For the first time in history, wealth is available, affordable, and abundant for everyone, regardless of where he or she lives. Socio-economically, there are now four groups of people: the poor, middle class, the rich and the super rich.
Bill Gates is the most obvious example of the Information Age super rich.
Today there are young people who became super rich with the inexpensive and abundant resources of technology, information, and their ideas. The common bond among all these is that information enabled the coordination of resources at a much quicker and higher level than ever before. It is this coordination that creates the super rich.
Tips on how you can become relevant in the knowledge economy

Buy and read professional business, and motivational books. The Africa continent is where it is today because of our high-level illiteracy. The more uneducated a people are, the more unenlightened they become and the more shackled they are to poor conditions. To improve your learning curve therefore, you need to pay to acquire information. In this era, your earning ability is tied to your learning capacity.

Attend seminars, conferences and workshops. Because of the information overload and rapid change we are faced with in every sector and human endeavour in this era, seminars, conferences and workshops can provide us the opportunity to be abreast of the latest and relevant information we need to get ahead.

Acquire a little more education. Even as much as I believe that wealth is not a function of academic qualifications only, because there is overwhelming evidence to the contrary, I very much still believe that requisite education can give its possessor a terrific edge to be more competitive and up-to-date in this era. The world yearns for more multi-skilled people.

Be a problem solver. Let’s take a cue from the super rich; they are consummate problem solvers. Forget it – to be rich in this era, you must find problems and provide solutions for them.

Meet the needs of people. There are needs everywhere. Riches only go to that man/woman who strives through the creation of a product or service to meet such needs.

Be resourceful or create ideas. Look at the example of the million-dollar website fellow. Only idea people rule in this economy.

Use and master relevant technology. This age is a technology-based and driven era. I once joked with a colleague that very soon, the world is moving from computer and internet literacy to ICT and network literacy. If you can read and write in this century, you must learn how to also use the phone, the computer, internet, and very soon have some knowledge about computer security and networking.

THE world is truly changing. You cannot afford to stand still lest you grow roots. To matter in this era, and with regard to financial stability and success, as a nation and people, we must begin to move away from our Agrarian and Industrial Age mentality and begin to embrace the opportunities and possibilities that the Information Age affords. Only then can we grapple with and overcome the financial and other challenges of this century.

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

Things Fall Apart returns illustrated

At the public presentation of a new version of Things Fall Apart Illustrated, the audience was treated to bouts of explosive laughter. The book is an illustrated version of Chinua Achebe’s 50-year old legendary novel, Things fall Apart as published by BooKraft. Of particular interest were the coincidences that have trailed the life of His Majesty, Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe for sharing the same surname with the respected author. These he gladly shared with his audience in his remarks. He was either the writer’s son, brother or some form of relative to the majority of those he usually encountered, especially at intenational airports around the world.
It was the sort of mistaken identity he could not run away and which he has come to treasure. He described Prof. Achebe as a “bigger masquerade” from whom smaller masquerades ran whenever they made their appearances. The Obi saw himself as a small masquerade where Prof. Achebe is; Prof. Soyinka he also similarly ranked. His open admittance was an exercise in humility coming from a ruling monarch.
Not least was how a flight was delayed for an hour so the confusion in their names could be resolved at Heathrow Airport in London. Whether at home or abroad, His Majesty has had several occasions to say he was not a relation of the erudite professor of English. But he was glad to be part of such happy coincidences with the revered author, to share his greatness although momentarily.
The Obi of Onitsha referred to the new Things fall Apart Illustrated as a unique book written by a unique author and presented in a unique form. The all gloss hardcover book bears the artistic impressions of 26 Nigerian contemporary artists, who interpreted scenes and incidents from the classical novel using uli/nsibidi motifs. These images help readers, especially young readers, to understand some of the contexts in which the story was cast.

On the other hand, Prof. Wole Soyinka sounded relieved that he got away from talking politics and the perennial problems plaguing the nation, which have engaged him for the past week or so to the humanising field of Literature, where sanity reigns. He called those who have hijacked the nation’s wealth as colonialists in black skin, who were unrelenting still in plundering of the nations’ till.
The book reviewer, Chief Rasheed Gbadamosi and Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe — who had both served in government agencies related to regulating fuel prices — would not talk government’s planned deregulation or opposition to it to anyone because they had talked too much to an unheeding system that is deaf to sound advice on the way forward for Nigeria.
On the whole, the public presentation of Things Fall Apart Illustrated was a success in spite of the poor audience attendance at such an important literary event. However, like the revered author himself testified, the book “has found a treasured home” at last as a world-class work of literary ingenuity in its illustrated form.
The book is a publication of Ibadan-based Bookcraft; it got support from Diamond Bank Plc, C&F Porter Novelli and Pendulum Gallery.

Seun, Yinka, Crown Troupe, Toasting Alliance Francaise @ 50

BY CHUKS NWANNE
Alliance Française, Lagos, rolled out drums recently to celebrate its 50th anniversary in Nigeria. The event, which was declared open by the French Ambassador to Nigeria, Jean Michel Dumond, began with a special concert, with Seun Anikulapo-Kuti, Yinka Davies and the Crown Troupe of Africa on parade.
With a special cocktail party staged towards the end of the Expo Hall, Oceanview Restaurant, Lagos, the event was not a night of long speeches, though some French dignitaries and the president of Alliance Française Nigeria, Chief Omolade Okoya Thomas, had the opportunity of recounting their experience over the last 50 years of the centre.
Immediately after the speech/cocktail session, guests were moved to the main stage, which was filled with all sorts of musical instruments. It was a live show, not ‘DJ track one.’
Crown Troupe of Africa got the first slot to entertain the crowd comprising of both expatriates and locals, who came out in their numbers to join in the celebration.
Led by Segun Adefila, the troupe, through a dance-drama piece, captured the long journey of the culture mission in Nigeria.
Their colourful costumes, well-choreographed and energetic dance steps, earned them several rounds of applause from the excited crowd.
Jazz artiste, Yinka Davies, mounted the stage with so much drama; first, she started with the National Anthem, before getting the audience soaked in her beat, provided by her 5 & 6 Band.
After collaboration with two French artistes (a guitarist and a saxophonist), Yinka gave the crowd the surprise of their lives; she invited Afrobeat master, Orlando Julius, on stage. Within few seconds, Orlando appeared with his saxophone hung round his neck. At that point, Yinka turned to a backup singer and the rest was history.
Highlife legend Fatai Rolling Dollar, who was lured into an impromptu performance, had a good show.
Seun Anikulapo-Kuti resurrected the spirit of his late father at the event with his electrifying performance. His display that night sparked up debate as to whether he was a fitting replacement for the late Abami Eda; he actually performed some of his father’s songs.
However, his song, Many Things, which won him an award at the recently held Nigeria Music Video Awards, caught the attention of the audience; lyrically, he was on point in that track. Those, who couldn’t hold themselves, had no option that jumping into the dance floor, swinging their waists to the beat of the boy of yesterday, whose music career got lifeline from the culture mission’s stage.