For dele jegede

dele jegede, Abuja, 2009. Copyright dele jegede 

This  past weekend a conference (with a keynote by my friend Salah M. Hassan) and book presentation took place at the University of Texas, Austin, organized by the indefatigable and influential historian and scholar Toyin Falola. Though I really hoped to participate in the events, other commitments made it impossible for me to go pay homage to a man who has been, for many years, among the leading lights of the Nigerian art world, and an important voice of that country's conscience. He, in this sense, occupies--along with Gani Odutokun (1947-1995) and Obiora Udechukwu--a special place in the annals of Nigerian art: Artists who with nothing but their palette/shield and brush/sword assailed the sordid beast that was military dictatorship and its small-minded but fat minions at a time their contemporaries--artists and intellectuals alike--looked the other way, enthralled by the spectacular violence of the regime.

Obiora Udechukwu, Tycoon and Stevedores, 1980. Copyright Obiora Udechukwu

Gani Odutokun, King, Queen and the Republic, 1987. Copyright Estate of Gani Odutokun 

The history of art in Nigeria during those dark has yet to be written (it soon will!), but in the meantime, I want to thank Toyin Falola for making possible this occasion, this festival in honor of a most deserving man and artist. I have not seen the festschrift published in honor of jegede, but I hope that among the many essays therein a few at least will provide critical examination of an artistic life so rich and eventful, as well as reliable and compelling accounts of a man so prodigiously endowed with the power of creativity and a deep sense of what it means to be human.  

Kofi Awoonor Killed in Nairobi

This unfolding tragedy in the Nairobi Mall, has claimed the leading Ghanaian and African writer Kofi Awoonor. Among his many books of poetry, fiction and non-fiction are Night of My Blood (1971); This Earth, My Brother (1971); The Breast of the Earth (1975). Awoonor also served as a UN Permanent Representative for Ghana, and was in Nairobi to participate in the Storymoja Hay Festival, an important literary event. Rest in Peace, Mr Awoonor; peace that triumphs over all violence.

New York Times on exhibition of Simon Ottenberg's collection

Just in case you missed this, I recommend this ongoing exhibition at the Newark Museum and the review of it by Holland Cotter of the New York Times. Though a modest show, as far as exhibitions go, it is a gem (you might say I am biased, given that I am among the exhibiting artists; but so be it!) in terms of its scope and the installation design. Congratulations to Perrin Lathrop who curated it; to Christa Clarke who oversaw the process of gifting of the collection to Newark; and of course to Simon Ottenberg who quietly put together the collection since the 1960s when many of the now venerable artists (like Bruce Onobrakpeya, Twins Seven-Seven, and Uche Okeke) had yet to become the established names they are today. The interesting thing is that he collected much of this work while on fieldwork as an anthropologist known world over for his scholarship on Afikpo masking traditions. For me, the highlight of the show is unquestionably Akinola Lasekan's enigmatic history painting, Ajaka of Owo (1944), below.

Image courtesy of the Newark Museum

ANNOUNCEMENT: African Humanities Fellowship applications now open

**This is an excellent opportunity for scholars working in African universities.

The ACLS African Humanities Program is happy to announce that application materials for the 2013-14 fellowship competition are now available online. To download the application documents, and for further information on this year's competition, please visit
http://www.acls.org/grants/Default.aspx?id=3210.

The application deadline is November 1, 2013. Applications should be submitted via email to ahp@acls.org. Late applications will not be accepted.

The African Humanities Program, funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, provides fellowships for scholars in the humanities who are nationals of sub Saharan African countries. Dissertation fellowships to support the final year of writing are available to scholars affiliated with institutions of higher education and research in Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda. Early-career postdoctoral fellowships are available to scholars who are eight or fewer years past the Ph.D. and who are affiliated with institutions in Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, and South Africa. The African Humanities Program supports research in any humanistic discipline, and invites applications from scholars working in any field in the humanities.

We encourage everyone to spread the word about this year's competition and to contact ACLS with any questions about the application process. Queries can be directed to ahp@acls.org

University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and the Certificate Forger: What is to be done?

Sometime in April, the Federal Government of Nigeria made appointments to the governing councils of federally-owned universities--basically the country's top tier universities, including my alma mater, the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN). Such appointments, like ambassadorial ones, are often used by whoever sits in Aso Rock to pay back allies, patrons, and to build political alliances. Which is fine, as far as the messy business of democracy goes. But there is one appointment that stands out for its odiousness and brazen disrespect for the academic enterprise. And that is the appointment to the governing council of UNN of a man who in 1999 was forced to resign as the speaker of the Nigerian house of representatives for lying and certificate forgery.

You see, a prominent news magazine, The News, had accused this fellow of false age declaration and, most pertinently, of falsely claiming that he had a college degree from a Canadian University. According to the magazine, after due investigation, it found that the Speaker never enrolled in the said university. In a now famous cover story, the magazine had a large photo of this man's face, hedged by the caption: "The Face of a Liar." The federal government probed, and found him guilty. In the end, the man, tearing up, owned up to his fraudulent action, begged the nation for forgiveness, and resigned.

It is this same man that had committed what amounted to academic fraud that has now been appointed to the governing body of my routinely abused alma mater. Like General Abacha who appointed a character called Umaru Gomwalk--known for his incredible disdain for academic standards, as Sole Administrator of UNN in the mid 1990s, President Jonathan now sees no problem asking this disgraced fraud to come help run my alma mater. This is so very distressing.

Many decent minded folks--including the UNN Alumni Association--have spoken against this travesty, but as usual, the Jonathan administration cannot understand the clamor against this apparently simple act of rehabilitation of man who, the President's spokesman Ruben Abati reminds us, was pardoned by a previous administration! In other words, since he received presidential pardon, the present administration sees nothing wrong with asking this disgraced certificate forger to sit on the board of Nigeria's first independent university whose motto is "To Restore the Dignity of Man." But why use the university To Rehab a Disgraced Man?

The Presidential Spokesman, true to form, defended the appointment but  he also challenged anyone offended by the appointment to act. According to him, President Jonathan  "can still go back on any of the appointments if there was a protest from the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) or from the concerned university.

So here are my questions: Is it that President Jonathan has not heard all the protests that have trailed this stupid appointment? And, what about the teachers and students at the UNN? Have they taken any position on this matter? Have they conveyed to the government their outrage over this unfortunate matter. Why can't they take up Ruben Abati's challenge and register their unequivocal rejection of the disgraced former Speaker?

I just cannot get this image of a certificate forger in the Governing Council chamber of the UNN or of any university, and something ought to be done to remedy this.

On that Unfortunate Dana Aircrash "Cenotaph" in Lagos

Recently, the Lagos State Government unveiled a memorial for the victims of the June 3, 2012 Dana Airlines Flight 992  plane crash. On the face of it, yes, it is a noble gesture for the State Government to memorialize the victims of this terrible accident (although the festive unveiling drowns out news of neglect of the victims' families, and owners of property destroyed or damaged by the crash). But, I have to say that the memorial, or Cenotaph, as the government prefers to call it, is a most unfortunate, macabre construction. It quite likely  achieves the very opposite effect of a befitting memorial, which is to re-traumatize families and friends of the Dana crash victims.

The so-called Cenotaph consists of a massive three-tiered platform covered in marble on which sits a crudely sculpted airplane painted in the white and red colors of Dana Airlines, its front-end fuselage broken and pointed downward. At the base of the platform are etched the names of the passengers who perished in the crash; inexplicably, the names of the dead crew members are excluded). Apart from the stupidity of just recreating the crashed plane, did it not occur to the "artist" and commissioner that the use of red color on this monument re-states the violence of the crash, and reminds us of the blood of the victims?

The first time I saw this dumb confection, I thought it was a joke pulled by some sadistic fellow bent on provoking the outrage of decent people. But on seeing photographs and Youtube videos of the Governor Fashola at the Cenotaph's unveiling, I could not but despair.

This Cenotaph says so much about everything wrong with Nigeria today.  I cannot imagine, and certainly did not hear, that there was an open call for design proposals, which would have allowed interested artists and designers to compete for the commission. There is no way, in a competitive process, this "thing" could have emerged as the winning entry, except of course if the jury consisted of shameless philistines So, it seems to me that it is the culture of cronyism, so endemic in public and private sectors that produced this obdurate monstrosity. Incidentally, none of the news reports tells us the name of the "artist" responsible for the Cenotaph--which is probably in the "artist's" best interest, because this is one work the maker should be ashamed of, as long as it stands. 

Criticism of this Cenotaph may not be as vociferous as I would wish; but that says something about the state of contemporary art criticism and discourse in Nigeria. One important exception is this response by Abimbola Adelakun--a former arts writer in the Lagos-based Punch Newspapers--who wrote:   

I have not quite seen anything so prosaic, so unimaginative and so tasteless. What is the idea behind this artistic choice that places a crudely sculpted airplane on the names of those who lost their lives? If it is the artist that has a taste for the macabre, why did the commissioners of the work allow this? (Read the article here).

Simply put, this monument is an eyesore, a scab on our memory of the Dana Crash victims. After the so-called emotional speeches by government functionaries, what remains is the marbled monument to bad taste.  This monument, moreover, is a waste of space and funds (no one has said anything about the cost of this project).  This, unfortunately, is what happens in a place where bureaucrats and conniving "artists" dream up, without due process or consultations, projects meant to satiate their inflated egos, and line their porous pockets, all in the name of remembering a collective tragedy.

There are many ways to deal with this scandalous monument. But perhaps the simplest of them all is the best. Pull the entire thing down, and turn the site into a public garden with the names of all the dead (passengers and crew) visibly and permanently listed somewhere as part of the landscape design.

This solicitation from a Herbalist

Two days ago, I received the mail below (posted verbatim). Since I do not suffer from "Romatism" and  stupiditis, I am not thinking of contacting the doctor cure-all! But give it to the 419 folks for comedy and creativity.

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My name is Dr. Aborisade Akande. I am a native of Ogun- State, Sango Ota. Am a member of ARABA herbalist Group {AHG}. Ogun-State.
I contacted you because i am a native doctor and i can be able to solve one or two problems you might be going through by the Special Grace Of God Almighty.
If you are going through Pains in life such as:  

POVERTY, Barreness, You want Promotion in your work place, Diabetes, Stroke, Romatism, Spinal Cord problem or a little Brain problem, Hypertension, Sleepless nights, BAd nightmares, Cancers.
Pregnant With Cancer, Miscarriages OR Pregnancy After Miscarriage, Fibroids and Uterine Fibroids, Abdominal pain, Anemia, Bladder cancer, Blood Pressure, Chicken Pox, Diarrhea, Depression, Eczema, Epilepsy Seizure. Heart Attack, Kidney cancer (renal cell), Leprosy, Leukemia cancer, Obesity, Paralysis, Asthma Attack, Syphilis, Tuberculosis, Tuberculosis,Ulcer  .E.T.C.

If you lack any of this deseases or you want me to pray for you, Kindly CALL me on any of my mobile numbers below OR you can reply me back on my EMAIL ADDRESS.

PHONE: 08180921043 or  08115571605
Email address: drakandeherbal@yahoo.com
Dr. Aborisade Akande  
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