OjuOponIfa

Preemptive Essay Writing Competition: Another Dimension to Reality Show By Natasha Bassey Wednesday June 16 started out on a mild note. Not sunny and with a hint of slight showers that was to come. The rain, however, allowed for the arrival of the five finalists and the crew to The Place Hotels, Ajao Estate, Lagos, where the final of the essay competition was held. The event was set up in the context of a pseudo-reality television show. The technical crew from Zmirage Multimedia Limited arrived to set up lights, sound and the stage set; they got to work around 8am, creating the ambience for the show. The producer, Lillian Amah Aluko was on hand at that time as well to ensure that preparations were made adequately to ensure a smooth running of the show. The narrator, Tina Mba, who would act as the voice of the competition was also ready. The five finalists — Mr. Lawrence Wakdet, who had come in the previous night all the way from Jos, Plateau State; Mr. Emmanuel Ugokwe traveled all n...

Rufus Abiodun Orishayomi (1947-2010) London Artistes Send A Good Man, Quintessential Artman Home (As published in The Guardian of June 6, 2010) By Lookman Sanusi Arcola Theatre in Dalston area of London on May 23 witnessed a marathon session of rehearsals and production in honour of the departed African Theatre pioneer in the UK, Rufus Orisayomi — ‘Papi Ru’ as he was fondly called by his friends and protégés. Old and young artistes, who had had dealings with Papi Ru one way or the other, honoured an invitation from Femi Elufowoju Jr. They went through the session of rehearsals and performance tributes that lasted from 10 am through 7pm, when the curtain opened; leaving well past 10pm, when the show ended. At the demise of Orisayomi, Femi Elufowoju jr. the outgoing Artistic Director of Tiata Fahodzi and Associate Artist, Almeida Theatre, London, who has carved a niche for himself in Black British theatre in the UK, promised to put a show together in the manner of the famous ‘We ar...

ROLE OF THE MEDIA IN PROMOTION OF CULTURE AND TOURISM (Being a paper presented by Jahman Anikulapo at a Workshop on Review of Parastatals under Ministry of Culture and Tourism) I should like to open with two preambles: both of which will suggest where my conclusion is headed. I would be a fraud to pretend that anything I say here before the gathering is NEW. In fact I should be sanctioned if I or any other person make such a claim. There is nothing I am going to say today that had not been said in the past about how best to engage the media as an instrument of articulating the cultural and tourism potentialities of, as well as agenda for the nation. Tons of presentations have been made in the past. The latest being as recent as about two weeks ago at the UWTO conference here in Abuja. I think what has been wrong all along is that we – governmental agencies responsible for managing our cultural and tourism sectors as well as the majority of stakeholders, have been both inept and as we...

The 'god's filled the bowels of the Museum in their voluminous robes that spread endlessly at the helm. Their hosts dressed smartly in suits of varying colours looked understated beside the huge, fat attires of the 'gods' of Yorubaland represented by their scions -- the Kings and chiefs drawn mostly from the cradle, where the collections of sculptures and busts dating back to an ancient civilisation had been sourced. The 'gods' did not travel light, they were hemmed at the sides by their dazzling Queens, who even appeared more resplendent. In those gynomous robes, the Kings and Chiefs and Queens and their acolytes made light the heavy pang of cold that had descended on chilly London. Were they to be equipped to speak the god-souls in the beautiful cases upstairs in the gallery space would have screamed ' we love this lavish honour' bestowed on us. But would those encased pieces of civilisations have wished to return home to be eternally (?) dumped in dus...

Outside It’s CHARLY BOY, Inside, Its CHARLES OPUTA (Being a presentation prepared for the launch of Charly Boy’s book, My Private Part at Musa yar’Adua Centre, Abuja, but which was never presented because… well, it’s a Charly Boy Show!!!!) Introduction I have decided to rebel against the topic given me by the organizers of this event to take this distinguished gathering through an exploration of the personality of Mr Charles Oputa and the character of Brand Charly Boy. In doing this I request you to indulge me to raise questions after questions. This is because just like many of us here, and including the celebrant today, there are yet aspects of the two entities that remain shady to me. Because of this lack of a complete knowledge of the phenomenon of a dual-personae, I have escaped into raising questions instead of providing definitions. Thanks for the indulgence anyway. Who is Charly Boy? Who is Charles Oputa? Are these two characters interfacing in anyway? Or are they intruding ...