The Perpetual Pain: 10 years after Hakeem Shitta)
A Season Wed. Text 28/8/2002 A season for distressed artistes By Jahman Anikulapo (It was 10 years ago in June that Hakeem Died) Only the Festac Town access bridge separates the two distressed men. The one lives in a black of flats in the Amuwo Estate, which he won in 1973 through a ballot. The other lives in a type-8 house 'loaned' to him in 1994 by his in-law. But the men created a coincidence on February 10. They rode the news in culture town. While the one in Amuwo was formally presenting his latest novel publication to his colleagues and friends at the National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos, the Festac Towner was on the airwaves, as guest on the afternoon belt magazine programme of Radio Lagos, The Beat. The coincidence however testifies to a season of distress, not only for the two men, but for the artist. While the National Theatre's heart palpitated to the appliances and backpating that heralded the ingenuity of Hakeem in producing perhaps, the first ever compendiu...