A thousand daemons at Ibadan
Toyin Falola
By Uzor Maxim Uzoatu
IBADAN has a strong pedigree in live theatre in Nigeria. It was no surprise therefore to visit Ibadan recently to watch the preview of a play whose live performance across four cities in Nigeria would have aficionados screaming for more. Chams plc is at the vanguard of the upcoming presentation of adaptations of D.O. Fagunwa's classic novel, Ogboju Ode Ninu Igbo Irunmole. Our own Nobel playwright Wole Soyinka translated that epic in the 70s into English with the arresting title of The Forest of a Thousand Daemons.
Prof Femi Osofisan, himself an outstanding playwright and trainer of performing artistes, has the commission to carry out a theatrical adaptation of Fagunwa's novel for an English audience. Chams also commissioned Prof Akinwunmi Isola, author, dramatist, down-to-earth academic, and Nollywood star, to do a similar thing for a Yoruba audience.
The journey to Ibadan was at the instance of Temitope Lakisokun, the charming CEO of Insider Concepts Ltd, and the firm that handles communications for Chams. I love their I AM CHAMS campaign, but that is a story for another day! She knew that one could hardly ever say no to an offer of the live theatre. Chams' CEO, the personable Demola Aladekomo, Prof Akinwunmi Ishola whom I informed that I acted in his play Madam Tinubu as a first year student of the then University of Ife, Prof Biodun Jeyifo, Femi Fatoba were among those who watched the preview of Osofisan's play.
As the major consultant to the project, Osofisan informed us that he and Akinwunmi Ishola undertook to do two completely different adaptations. The two authors decided they would not talk to one another until they finished their work. You could liken the result to a matrix, doing two plays or two productions, as it were. The Yoruba cast was holed up in Ife with Dr Kola Oyewo as director while the English group stayed in Ibadan with Dr Tunde Awosanmi as director. They worked together for one month but, as Osofisan quipped, "Man proposes, NEPA disposes!"
The preview we saw in Ibadan was, according to Osofisan, still "a work in progress." The play is clearly a remove from Wale Ogunyemi's Langbodo, which was Nigeria's entry in FESTAC 1977. Ogunyemi's Langbodo also drew heavily from Fagunwa's book. Osofisan's Adventures in the Forest of a Thousand Demons starts on a high with the triumphant Akara-Ogun regaling the village with his audacious visit and safe return from the forest of demons. He bids his adoring audience to make merry, asking them to eat and drink as much as they could ever want, much to the chagrin of the monarch of the land. The play re-enacts Akara-Ogun's life-and-death battle with the dreaded Agbako in which the over-matched hero was only saved from sure death by the timely arrival of the adorable spirit Iranlowo. Akara-Ogun falls madly in love with Iranlowo but she would not follow him back to the world of the humans, only promising that she would always come to his aid.
Akara-Ogun makes another journey into the heart of the forest of a thousand demons to behold the much-adored Iranlowo. He discounts all even omens such as hitting his left leg on a stone and seeing his kola nuts go awry. He is nearly done in by a menacing dwarf only for Iranlowo to reappear with the advice that all Akara-Ogun needed to survive was his brain, the only true weapon for man's freedom. Akara-Ogun thus gets the dwarf to eat cooked yam instead of its raw form and convinces him that the gun contains water, only to promptly shoot the dreadful midget to death.
The king of the land who is ill at ease with the loud mouth of Akara-Ogun asks him to undertake the impossible journey of getting to the very top of the fabled Mount Langbodo. Akara-Ogun selects a handful of crack hunters to go on the unprecedented trip. The irrepressible warriors encounter all kinds of odds until they are almost very dispirited, not knowing actually if Mount Langbodo ever existed. The final scene features the freeing of a tiger in its cage. The tiger promptly takes him captive only for Iranlowo to appear with the old advice that he should apply the brain to get the tiger back into the cage and to lock it inside. Key lessons from the saga are Gratitude, Compassion, Industry, and Honesty.
The performance is a rousing advertisement of total theatre. Music, dance, and well-spiced proverbs hold up the eagle feather of the grand performance. Ify Agwu as Iranlowo played the part with requisite aplomb while Tunde Adeyemo, Toyin Oshinake, Steve James held their forte. They delivered their lines with considerable mastery, and one wonders at the riveting prospect of seeing the full performance of the actual premiere of the play in Lagos in September. The plays, in Yoruba and English, will grace sundry stages at Ibadan, Ife, Abuja, and Lagos in due course.
Chams plc, Nigeria's leading company in information technology and card manufacture, has scored a bulls' eye in sponsoring the productions. As Osofisan said, Chams has charted a new and welcome cultural re-orientation course as opposed to other companies promoting only "mindless music and shouting." The youthful Bisola Oladipo who served as Chams' co-ordinator of the project stressed that Chams is poised at the high moral ground of recharging the cultural batteries of the new age.
Prof Biodun Jeyifo, a visiting professor from America's Harvard University, was full of praises for Chams and CEO Aladekomo for sponsoring the play, stressing that the company could not have chosen a better duo than Osofisan and Ishola to undertake the project. The fire-spitting professor better known as BJ promised to write a testimonial for the plays.
After the performance, Chams plc CEO Aladekomo praised the work done and in a post-mortem at a Chinese Restaurant urged the playwright and directors to up the ante in reaching the epic promise of the work, promising that he would go back to his directors to provide more resources towards the greatest promise of the performances. Displaying a rare mastery of Fagunwa's work, Aladekomo made a case for the inclusion of the author's opening rendition in the original.
The journey to Ibadan was indeed worth its weight in grappling with the thousand demons of Fagunwa's invincible world. I will treasure an IV to the real performances, anywhere!
Uzoatu a poet and novelist, lives in Lagos
--
Toyin Falola
Department of History
The University of Texas at Austin
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Tony Iyare
TEXT OF THE PRESS CONFERENCE ON MR ABAYOMI OGUNDEJI’S DEATH ADDRESSED BY THE COMMITTEE OF FRIENDS AT THE INTERNATIONAL PRESS CENTRE, OGBA. LAGOS ON THE 21st AUGUST 2008.
Members of the Press,
The Nigerian Civil Society and our partners, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC), were shocked to learn of the brutal murder of a prolific journalist and prose stylist, Mr Abayomi Ogundeji – a member of Thisday newspapers editorial board.
Today we join the Ogundeji’s family in mourning and deeply regretted the untimely death of our friend, Mr Abayomi Ogundeji. It is impossible to quantify the great loss of Mr Ogundeji to the cause of the oppressed Nigerians, journalism, or the entire civil rights movement.
WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR On Sunday, August 17, 2008, our friend and comrade, Mr Ogundeji was assassinated by a gang of unidentified gunmen reportedly at about 10pm in front of the Tower Aluminium Company, Dopemu, on the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway. We know certainly that there was a checkpoint nearby on the fateful day but the police could not explain how the incident happened or arrest any suspect involved in the killing of a journalist with social consciousness. The initial reaction from the Police was to attribute the killing to robbery incident. We are relieved to learn that those who are entrusted with the protection of Nigerians including the late Mr Ogundeji, have now realised that this is a clear case of callous assassination.
OUR CONCERN
Firstly, it is beyond belief that less than 24hrs after the gruesome murder, the Police could blame armed robbery for the death of Mr Ogundeji before any real investigation is carried out. This is typical of an institution that lacks the will to investigate crime, apprehend culprits, and ensure justice is done. We are left wondering whether this is a deliberate case of cover-up or case of incompetence. This is bound to raise issues bordering on the ability of the police to carry out a full investigation of the homicide.
In the last 2-3 years, the country has been inundated with the unprecedented killings of Thisday journalists with no suspect arrested or convicted in all the cases.
We have tried not to be judgemental but are persuaded by the number of unresolved deaths and demand that Mr Ogundeji’s murder must be fully investigated.
The committee of friends note that the death of the former Chairman, Editorial Board of Thisday newspapers, Mr Godwin Agboroko, who was killed on Xmas eve in 2006, was equally attributed to armed robbery.
We are also yet to be told the circumstances behind the death of the papers’ former Deputy Editor, Mr Dave Enechukwu nor that of Mr Sam Famakinwa who died in his hotel room in Maiduguri in 2007. We are apprehensive of these strings of strange deaths.
We also note that no one has been convicted for the murder of Agboroko and others, and we are deeply concerned about the depth of investigations so far. We need to dig deep into the possible causes of the death of these journalists.
The antecedents of the Police in resolving high-profile assassinations are unimpressive. Nobody has been arraigned before the courts for the past killings of Thisday staff.
Also, we note that the management of Thisday newspapers reported that they have now written a petition to the Inspector General of Police on the killing of Mr Ogundeji.
OUR DEMAND Given the aforesaid, and the fast eroding confidence in the ability and willingness of the Police to unearth the killers, we demand for an independent judicial panel of inquiry to be set up by the Lagos State Government immediately to investigate the murder of Mr Ogundeji.
Thisday staff and Nigerians really need to know the real motive for the unexplained assassination of Thisday journalists. There must be a stop to these senseless killings. Our friend’s death is one too many for us to bear.
Let no one be in doubt. We seek justice for Mr Ogundeji and his family. We will campaign within and outside Nigeria until the killers of Mr Ogundeji and their sponsors are brought to account for their dastardly crime.
In conclusion, journalists are often in the line of fire due to the nature of their profession. We note that they are often not insured, and when they die in the course of discharging their duties, their families are often left uncared for. Hence, we demand that all proprietors of media houses and outlets must embark on an insurance programme for all journalists working for them.
Thank you.
COMMITTEE OF FRIENDS
Signed on behalf of all groups,
------------------------------ Tony Iyare (Director, JODER)
------------------------------ Biodun Sowunmi (Co-ordinator, ACLRE) Tony Iyare
Group Editor,
Daily Times of Nigeria Plc,
Lateef Jakande Road,
Agidingbi, Ikeja, Nigeria.
Mobile Phone:: 234-803-304-6943, 234-702-809-1704,
Home Phone: 234-1-850-6335
E-mail: ehia...@yahoo.co.uk
Website: www.dailytimes-nigeria.com --- On Thu, 21/8/08, Toyin Falola <toyin....@mail.utexas.edu> wrote: |
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