Category: Uncategorized

PROF. CHIEF AKINWANDE OLUWOLE BABATUNDE SOYINKA

Akínwándé Olúwo̩lé Babátúndé S̩óyíinka  was born on 13 July 1934. A descendant of a Remo family of Isara-Remo, Wole Soyinka was born the second of six children, in the city of Abẹokuta, Ogun State, in Nigeria, at that time a British dominion.

His father, Samuel Ayodele Soyinka.His father, Samuel Ayodele Soyinka (whom he called S.A. or “Essay”), was a prominent Anglican minister and headmaster. His mother, Grace Eniola Soyinka, who was called “Wild Christian,” was a shopkeeper and local activist.

As a child, he lived in an Anglican mission compound, learning the Christian teachings of his parents, as well as the Yoruba spiritualism and tribal customs of his grandfather.

A precocious and inquisitive child, Wole prompted the adults in his life to warn one another: “He will kill you with his questions.”

After preparatory university studies in 1954 at Government College in Ibadan, he continued at the University of Leeds, where, later, in 1973, he took his doctorate.

During the six years spent in England, he was a dramaturgist at the Royal Court Theatre in London 1958-1959.

In 1960, he was awarded a Rockefeller bursary and returned to Nigeria to study African drama. At the same time, he taught drama and literature at various universities in Ibadan, Lagos, and Ife, where, since 1975, he has been professor of comparative literature.

Also in 1960, he founded the theatre group, “The 1960 Masks” and in 1964, the “Orisun Theatre Company”, in which he has produced his own plays and taken part as actor. He has periodically been visiting professor at the universities of Cambridge, Sheffield, and Yale.

During the civil war in Nigeria, Soyinka appealed in an article for cease-fire. For this, he was accused of collaborating with the Biafrans and went into hiding. Captured by Nigerian federal troops, he was imprisoned for the rest of the war.

From his prison cell, he wrote a letter asserting his innocence and protesting his unlawful detention. When the letter appeared in the foreign press, he was placed in solitary confinement for 22 months.

Despite being denied access to pen and paper, Soyinka managed to improvise writing materials and continued to smuggle his writings to the outside world.

A volume of verse, Idanre and Other Poems, composed before the war, was published to international acclaim during his imprisonment. By the end of 1969, the war was virtually over.

Gowon and the Nigerian federal army had defeated the Biafran insurgency, an amnesty was declared, and Soyinka was released. Unable to return immediately to his old life, he repaired to a friend’s farm in the South of France.

While recuperating, he wrote an adaptation of the classical Greek tragedy The Bacchae by Euripides. Across the millennia, the story of a state destroyed by a sudden eruption of senseless violence had acquired a special resonance for Soyinka. Another volume of verse, Poems from Prison, also known as A Shuttle in the Crypt, was published in London.

Soyinka also played a prominent role in Nigerian civil society. As a faculty member at the University of Ife, he led a campaign for road safety, organizing a civilian traffic authority to reduce the shocking rate of traffic fatalities on the public highways.

His program became a model of traffic safety for other states in Nigeria, but events soon brought him into conflict with the national authorities.

The elected government of President Shehu Shagari, which Soyinka and others regarded as corrupt and incompetent, was overthrown by the military, and General Muhammadu Buhari became Head of State. In an ominous sign, Soyinka’s prison memoir, A Man Died, was banned from publication.

Despite troubles at home, Soyinka’s reputation in the outside world had never been greater. In 1986, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, the first African author to be so honored.

The Swedish Academy cited the “sparkling vitality” and “moral stature” of his work and praised him as one “who in a wide cultural perspective and with poetic overtones fashions the drama of existence.”

When Soyinka received his award from the King of Sweden in the ceremony in Stockholm, he took the opportunity to focus the world’s attention on the continuing injustice of white rule in South Africa.

Rather than dwelling on his own work, or the difficulties of his own country, he dedicated his prize to the imprisoned South African freedom fighter Nelson Mandela.

His next book of verse was called Mandela’s Earth and Other Poems. He followed this with two more plays, From Zia with Love and The Beatification of Area Boy, along with a second collection of essays, Art, Dialogue and Outrage.

He continued his autobiography with Isara: A Voyage Around Essay, centering on his memories of his father S.A. “Essay” Soyinka, and Ibadan, The Penkelemes Years.

Meanwhile, Soyinka continued his criticism of the military dictatorship in Nigeria. In 1994, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) named Wole Soyinka a Goodwill Ambassador for the promotion of African culture, human rights and freedom of expression.

When a new military dictator, General Sani Abacha, suspended nearly all civil liberties. Soyinka Soyinka escaped from Nigeria on a motorcycle via the “NADECO Route”  to Benin and fled to the United States.

Soyinka judged Abacha to be the worst of the dictators who had imposed themselves on Nigeria since independence. He was particularly outraged at Abacha’s execution of the author Ken Saro-Wiwa, who was hanged in 1995 after a trial condemned by the outside world.

In 1996, Soyinka published The Open Sore of a Continent: A Personal Memoir of the Nigerian Crisis. Predictably, the work was banned in Nigeria, and in 1997, the Abacha government formally charged Wole Soyinka with treason.

Abacha later proclaimed a death sentence against him “in absentia.” With civilian rule restored to Nigeria in 1999, Soyinka returned to his nation. General Abacha died the following year, and the treason charges were dropped by his successors.

Soyinka has been a strong critic of successive Nigerian governments, especially the country’s many military dictators, as well as other political tyrannies, including the Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe.

The Nobel Prize in Literature 1986 was awarded to Wole Soyinka “who in a wide cultural perspective and with poetic overtones fashions the drama of existence.”

Soyinka sometimes writes of modern West Africa in a satirical style, but his serious intent and his belief in the evils inherent in the exercise of power are usually present in his work.

To date, Soyinka has published hundreds of works: drama, novels and poetry. He writes in English and his literary language is marked by great scope and richness of words.

Although presidential elections were held in Nigeria in 2007, Soyinka denounced them as illegitimate due to ballot fraud and widespread violence on election day.

Wole Soyinka continues to write and remains an uncompromising critic of corruption and oppression wherever he finds them.

Soyinka opposes allowing Fulani herdsmen the ability to graze their cattle on open land in southern, Christian-dominated Nigeria and believes these herdsmen should be declared terrorists to enable the restriction of their movements.

Soyinka has been married three times and divorced twice. He has children from his three marriages. His first marriage was in 1958 to the late British writer, Barbara Dixon, whom he met at the University of Leeds in the 1950s. Barbara was the mother of his first son, Olaokun.

His second marriage was in 1963 to Nigerian librarian Olaide Idowu, with whom he had three daughters, Moremi, Iyetade (deceased), Peyibomi, and a second son, Ilemakin. Soyinka married Folake Doherty in 1989. In 2014, he revealed his battle with prostate cancer.

In 2005, Prof Wole Soyinka was Conferred with the chieftaincy title of the Akinlatun of Egbaland by the Oba Alake of the Egba clan of Yorubaland. Soyinka became a tribal aristocrat by way of this, one vested with the right to use the Yoruba title Oloye as a pre-nominal honorific.

Professor Wole Soyinka was raised in a religious family, attending church services and singing in the choir from an early age; however Soyinka himself became an Ogun (an African Traditional deity of Yoruba origin) worshipper later in life. Some people will also argue with you that he’s an atheist.

References:

• Biography.com
• Achievement.org
• Britannica.com
• Nobelprize.org
• Wikipedia.org

COPYRIGHT

Copyright © 2020 by My Woven Words: No part of this published blogpost and all of its contents may be reproduced, on another platform or webpage without a prior permission from My Woven Words except in the case of brief quotations cited to reference the source of the blogpost and all its content and certain other uses permitted by copyright law.

For permission requests, contact the admin on admin@johnsonokunade.com, or WhatsApp/Text him on +2347036065752

THE STORY BEHIND THE DEATH OF AN IBADAN POLITICAL DIGNITARY IN 1958, ADELABU ADEGOKE (PECULIAR PENKELEMESI)

When next are you going to be in the city of Ibadan? One of the places you must endeavour to visit in the historic town is the Taj Mahal in Oke Oluokun. 

That’s the residence and final resting place of Alhaji Adegoke Adelabu, the Lion of the West. Adelabu needs no introduction. He was the afternoon star that scared the elderly. 

He was the morning dew that drenched both friends and foes. More than six decades after his death, he refused to be forgotten. 

Gbadamosi Adegoke Adelabu died at his prime. He died when his sun was at its zenith. It was a death like no other. It was not the death of an individual. It was not the loss of a family. Adegoke Adelabu’s death was a national tragedy. Ibadan stood still. 

Lagos was stunned. Nigeria went into a state of shock.

How did Adelabu die? Was it an act of God? Was he killed by his political opponents? Was Adegoke a victim of political conspiracy? What was Adelabu’s business with his Lebanese friends? What actually happened on that fateful day in 1958?

If there was a politician who understood the psychology of his people, it was Adegoke Adelabu. He was a master in the art and science of political psychology. And like the consummate politician he was, he spoke the language of the people. He was a compound polyglot. 

His Yoruba was flawless. His English was impeccable. Adelabu was not the one to mix Yoruba with English in the same sentence.

Though small in stature, he was intellectually a giant. With his brilliance, he dazzled and dwarfed his peers. According to Bola Ige, Adelabu was “a short man, but with boundless energy, he always seemed to be on the move, he went on foot from village to village. 

He dressed and appeared like a rustic villager. He never seemed to smile, not to talk of a laugh. His Yoruba was devastating in pithiness and sarcasm. He knew how to leave every audience with a phrase that could not be forgotten.”

Coming from Chief Bola Ige, who himself was a wordsmith, that was an eloquent testimonial. If any evidence of Adelabu’s mastery of language is required, you need to look no further than Penkelemesi and Ebullition.

The final journey of the grassroots politician did not start in 1958 when he breathed his last. It actually started three years earlier in 1955 when Adelabu was appointed the Minister of Natural Resources and Social Services. 

The appointment was indeed a giant leap for Adelabu, who started life from a weaver’s shed. His Lebanese friends, the Younan family, saw his appointment as a golden opportunity to market the Penkelemesi brand. 

It was decided that textile materials bearing Adelabu’s image and name be produced and sold. It was expected that the cloth would also serve as a subtle campaign strategy for Adelabu who was aiming to become the premier of the West.

When the first shipment arrived, neither Adelabu nor the Younan family, expected what happened. They had expected sales to be slow and gradual. 

To their pleasant surprise, the Penkelemesi fabric became an overnight bestseller. It became the social uniform, not only in Ibadan but throughout the Western Region. 

It was no longer aso ebi. It became aso ilupeju – a global uniform. It was used for weddings, naming ceremonies, funerals, housewarming, and every form of social function. 

Tailors were praying daily for Adelabu. There was no tailor in Ibadan that did not get one or two yards to sew.

The Younan family did not wait for the stock to run out before the second shipment was ordered. It also recorded massive sales. 

This time around, Idumota traders and Onitsha merchants joined the bandwagon. The Lion of the West was the toast of the moment. 

He was not only a successful politician; he had also demonstrated that he was business savvy.

With the 1956 elections approaching, and with his rising political profile, Adelabu was sure of victory at the polls. He was a master strategist. 

As a populist leader, he gave people what they wanted. In areas of Ibadan where the indigenes were in the majority, Adelabu ensured that natives were the candidates of his party.

In non-native areas, the Political Genius fielded non-natives. It was a strategy that never failed him.

He was confident of becoming the premier. 

His business partners were also confident. It was decided that in addition to the penkelemesi cloth already in the market, a special cloth should be ordered for his inauguration as the premier. 

The cloth was indeed special. It showed Adegoke Adelabu as the Premier holding the keys to the Western House of Assembly! It was going to be a hot cake.

To finance the project, Albert Younan obtained a loan from African Continental Bank. ACB was one of the big indigenous banks in Nigeria then. 

The bank became distressed in 1991 and was taken over by the Central Bank of Nigeria. It was later revived and was one of the banks that formed the present-day Spring Bank. 

The bank even had a football club. I can see elderly people reading this nodding as they remember ACB FC of Lagos!

Adelabu had however not taken into consideration the political wizardry of Obafemi Awolowo. 

As fate would have it, it was Awolowo who became the Premier. Adelabu became the Leader of the Opposition. 

Of course, you know that it is the Premier and not the Leader of the Opposition that would hold the key to the House of Assembly.

You want to know what happened to the cloth already ordered. 

You are not the only one. The management of ACB also wanted to know. More importantly, the bankers wanted to know how the Younans were going to repay the facility. 

Yet the cloth could not be sold as Adelabu did not become the premier.

Albert Younan found himself in financial jeopardy. The bank was writing to him every day demanding repayment of the loan. 

The cloth was in the warehouse, unsold. Adelabu was in the House, but not as the premier. This was not an ordinary matter. 

Ohun ti o mu bale ile wo aso iyawo re lo si oja, oro ti kuro ni se ko si nkan. Mewa nbe. (Whatever made the husband wear his wife’s dress to the marketplace has gone beyond ‘I hope there’s no problem’.)

On March 24, 1958, Younan sent a desperate message to Penkelemesi. It was a plea for help. The bank was on his neck. He had been given a final deadline by the bank. 

Adelabu decided to assist his friend by following him to the head office of the bank in Lagos to plead for further credit.

Adelabu woke up very early the following day. In addition to the meeting with ACB in Lagos, he also had some issues to discuss with Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh. 

He decided to use the same stone to kill two birds. He had just finished his morning prayers when he was informed that Albert Younan was outside. He bade his family farewell and promised to be back before evening.

..But he never came back!

The journey to Lagos was uneventful. The management of the Bank was happy to receive a politician with the stature of Adelabu. 

He was assured that his request would be considered. Younan was happy. Adelabu was happy. He went off to see Okotie-Eboh.

It was on the return journey to Ibadan that the unthinkable happened. It was on a straight stretch of road between Ode-Remo and Iperu. 

Albert Younan was the one driving the ash-grey Peugeot saloon car. Adelabu was seated beside him. Two of Adelabu’s aides were also in the car.

Without warning, the Peugeot collided head-on with a light yellow Austin which was on its way to Lagos. 

The force of the collision was such that the Austin somersaulted and came to rest upside-down facing back the way it had come. The Peugeot cracked under the impact. It burst into flames.

Ha! Ikunle Abiyamo o! 

Travelers who witnessed the accident rushed to the aid of the victims. They successfully extinguished the fire. Of the four passengers in the Peugeot car, only the driver, Albert Younan, was alive. Though he was injured, he was still breathing.

The driver of the yellow Austin was unharmed. It was as if he was not the one who drove the car. 

His two passengers were however not as lucky. The two Britons in the car, who were representatives of the Royal Exchange Assurance Company, sustained slight injuries. 

All of them, the dead and the injured, were quickly rushed to Shagamu Hospital. It was at the hospital that it was discovered that Penkelemesi, the Lion of the West, was one of the dead.

It was late in the evening that the news reached Ibadan. It started as a rumour. No one believed it. It could not have been Adelabu. Penkelemesi was a survivor. He was a fighter. 

He would never allow death to take him. Even if he was involved in an accident, the Lone Star would be unscathed. 

Bi Sango ba n pa Araba, bi o n fa Iroko ya, bi ti igi nla ko. If Sango, the god of thunder strikes at Araba tree and dismantles the Iroko tree, he must respect the baobab tree. Adelabu was baobab. He was beyond the reach of Sango.

It was not until the following morning when his death became the headline news that reality dawned on his teeming followers. 

Tragedy Strikes screamed the Defender newspaper. Adelabu Is Dead announced the Daily Times.

Anthony Enahoro, as the Leader of the Western House of Assembly, proposed an extraordinary adjournment as a tribute to the dead Leader of the Opposition. 

In his moving tribute, he said:
“We did not agree with him or his methods, and he too did not agree with us or our policies. 

Nevertheless, he was a tireless and doughty fighter who stood firmly by the things he cherished, and it may be that when the history of these times comes to be written, that is one attribute of Alhaji Adelabu which will be remembered better than any other.”

Chief Obafemi Awolowo saluted the man who had keenly desired to take his place as Premier of the West.

According to him: “Alhaji Adegoke Adelabu was, in his lifetime, and ever since he entered into politics, a fighter first and last, with all the characteristics of a fighter. He was fearless, formidable, forthright, often caustic, and uncompromising.”

It was a day no one who witnessed it would ever forget. Lanrewaju Adepoju, the redoubtable Yoruba poet, in a recent album, observed that Ibadan had never mourned anyone the way it mourned Adelabu. 

More than 75,000 mourners assembled to pay their final homage to the People’s Hero. 

According to an eyewitness account, the crowd was so dense that it took three hours for the funeral procession of over fifty vehicles to move from Molete to Oke Oluokun where he was to be buried.

Kingsley Ozumba Mbadiwe presented a coffin to the family on behalf of his political party, the NCNC. 

It must have been a special coffin. I remember that one verbal abuse that was popular in the West when I was growing up was to describe someone as having a ‘long head like Adelabu’s coffin’. 

Do you remember? Olori gboro bi posi Adelabu! (Long head like Adelabu’s casket)

Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, the Leader of NCNC, was not physically present at the funeral but he was represented by top notchers of the party. 

He later came to pay his last respects to his very distinguished lieutenant. At the graveside, Azikiwe announced that NCNC would provide scholarships for all of Adelabu’s 15 children. He also donated 100 pounds to the family.

Adelabu was not mourned by only the NCNC and the AG. 

On behalf of the Northern People Congress, Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello and Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa sent two top Ministers: Muhammadu Ribadu and Inuwa Wada to pay condolences and pray at the grave of a fellow Muslim.

Adegoke Adelabu was dead and buried. But the Lion of West did not die alone. His supporters took to the streets. They paraded through the city and stoned public buildings, including Mapo Hall and the courts at Oke Are. 

By the evening of that day, three people had been killed in various parts of Ibadan.
It was speculated that Adelabu was shot by his political opponents. 

An editor of a newspaper claimed that he saw Adelabu’s body riddled with bullet holes and that the car he was traveling in was deliberately crashed to make it look like an accident.

This claim was however without basis. Unknown to many at the time, Adelabu’s corpse did not arrive in Ibadan until late in the morning of March 26 because a postmortem was being conducted to determine the cause of his death. 

The autopsy was witnessed by Chief Joseph M. Johnson, one of Adelabu’s friends. Johnson was the first and the only non-indigene to serve as the Chairman of the Ibadan Council.
Adelabu died on Tuesday. 

He was buried on Wednesday. By Friday, all hell broke lose. Reports of murders and violence began to come in by Friday evening. 

One account put the number of death at sixteen. Another account sighted by Onigegewura recorded eighteen riot deaths. 

All the victims were said to be members or supporters of the Action Group. 

By March 30, more than 300 people had been arrested. Many of them were taken to Ilesha and Abeokuta prisons since Ibadan prison was already full.

It was also speculated that Younan had crashed the car deliberately in order to commit suicide as a result of his financial challenges. 

This was however denied by Albert Younan who insisted that there was no special cloth printed for the 1956 election and therefore no financial loss. He claimed that he went with Adelabu to Lagos for unrelated business.

The family of Adegoke Adelabu did not appear to be convinced. 

The family filed a civil suit against Younan and Sons Limited and the Royal Exchange Assurance Company. Their claim was for the sum of one hundred thousand pounds for the negligence of the two drivers which led to the death of their breadwinner. 

The trial judge was My Lord Justice Samuel Quashie-Idun, a Ghanaian. His Lordship later served as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

In his judgment, Justice Quashie-Idun held that no case had been made against the insurance company. His Lordship however found Younan and Sons liable. 

The firm was ordered to pay 6,030 pounds as damages to Adelabu’s children and 350 pounds as costs.

Younan and Sons appealed the judgment. Their appeal was successful. The Federal Supreme Court reversed the decision of the trial court on the ground that the plaintiffs who sued as Administrators of the estate of Adegoke Adelabu had no capacity to bring the suit.

At the time, the Federal Supreme Court was not the final Court of appeal for Nigeria. The apex court was the Privy Council in Britain.

Adelabu’s family appealed to the Privy Council. The appeal was pending when the parties agreed to settle out of court. 

The firm of Younan and Sons agreed to pay the family of the Lion of the West the sum of 3,000 pounds.

On the political front, a bye-election was conducted to fill the seat hitherto occupied by Adelabu.

Adeoye Adisa, a young lawyer who had returned to Ibadan two years earlier from his law studies in Britain emerged the winner of the bye-election.

Adegoke Adelabu died more than 63 years ago. He died at a tender age. He was 43. He was however able to cram into his short life what many who lived up to a century could only dream of achieving. 

At the time of his death, he was holding three critical posts. He was the Leader of the Opposition in the Western House of Assembly. He was the Chairman of the NCNC Western Working Committee. He was also the chairman of the powerful NCNC-Mabolaje Grand Alliance. 

More than six decades after his last breath, his footprints are still indelible on the political landscape.

In recognition of his achievements as a nationalist, politician, orator, and mass mobilizer, the government of Oyo State in 2016 listed his Oke-Oluokun residence as one of the tourist sites in Oyo State.

May the soul of Gbadamosi Adegoke Adelabu continue to rest in peace.

Let others know more about him by sharing this history with your friends.

Thank you!

Credits: OldNaija 

Thanks for visiting My Woven Words. We are passionate about historical heritage and we are dedicated to supplying nearly extinct historical and cultural contents to the world on a platter of gold. 

Support us on our quest with Your donations by clicking the donate button below

DONATE

COPYRIGHT

Copyright © 2019 by My Woven Words: No part of this published blogpost and all of its contents may be reproduced, on another platform or webpage without a prior permission from My Woven Words except in the case of brief quotations cited to reference the source of the blogpost and all its content and certain other uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, contact the admin on admin@johnsonokunade.com, or WhatsApp/Text him on +2347036065752

Truth be told; “In the mind of every artist there is a masterpiece. Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own beautiful nature into his pictures“

My Woven Words had the privilege of having an exclusive interview with a well talented artist; Joshua Oluwaseun Amusan. Just relax, you’ll definitely enjoy the interview.

• • • • • • •

• • • • • • •

Please, can you introduce yourself, sir?

My name is Joshua Oluwaseun Amusan
(Josbuk)

Can you tell us more about yourself?

I’m a native of Ogbomoso, Oyo state Nigeria,
I was born on 15th August 1997.
I started art since my early childhood stage.

Are you also a student or full time artist?

I studied fine and applied art at Emmanuel alayande college of education Oyo town, from 2014-2017.

Why did you pick that course of study?

Asides the fact that any time I’m doing Art work it’s gives me more joy than anything else. I really love it; half of my living hood art has taken much of me.
I’m going so far in this world of ART, I’m just getting started and I know I’ll definitely reach the top.

While on campus, how were you able to balance studies with being an artist?

Art is creative, so I’ll say creativity.
And creativity takes courage

Did practicing as an artist affect your studies in any way?

No, not at all. Most of my art work been done at my leisure time and late in the midnight.
I do work for 4-5 hours per day.

Do you have it in mind to further your studies?

Sure, very soon. I’m preparing for it this year, I pray God help me.

At what age did you start this work of art?

I started when I was 4yrs of age. I could draw well during my primary school days; my teachers used to call me then to help them out with drawing diagrams.
I finished my primary school in the year 2008, after which I gained admission into Gomal baptist college, Ogbomoso Oyo State. During my senior secondary school years, I was in Art class.

How did you discover yourself?

I discovered myself when I was in Junior Secondary School 2 in the year 2009.
After I discovered I have this talent and decided to delve into it, I had to get some sketch pad for myself and the journey started.
When my parents saw this talent in me, they were really of great help. They encouraged me and provided everything I needed for me so as to be able to follow my passion conveniently.

JOSBUK’S (JOSHUA OLUWASEUN AMUSAN) GALLERY OF ART WORKS

• • • • • • •

• • • • • • •

What motivated you to delve into it totally?

Actually, People around me encouraged me to delve into it totally. Also, nature inspired me; all what God has created is so beautiful

If not being an artist, what profession would you have been doing?

It Doesn’t actually matter, because I don’t see myself doing anything else asides this.

Were you ever under the tutelage of another artist?

Yeah!
That was when I was trying to learn painting.

Have you been able to monetize your artistic talent very well?

Yes
Just recently I started making money on my little money, although the money still take a lot of my art medium, I usually spend the money on my tool.
It doesn’t really matter because I’m not really after the money.

Do you plan to depend on your talent as your only source of money or you have other things that bring money?

No at all, no other thing except art and I want to grow old doing it.

What is your biggest achievement as an artist?

I haven’t really achieved much like I wish I could, But I’ll keep working harder and diligently for that precious day to come.

Do you have any regrets for delving into this profession?

No, not at all.

It’s give me joy more than anything, Does being an artist have any negative impact?

No.

As an Artist, any challenges so far?

Yes, my mates in this art profession.

What is your saddest moment as an artist?

Nil, Don’t have any.

What is your happiest moment as an artist?

Every time I think of a nature.

Have you won any award or medal before?

Not yet.

Do people approach you to train them?

Yes, in fact lots of people from different state and country.
People from Lagos, Ilorin and so on. But mostly people from Oyo state.
Also people contact me from countries like Zambia, Ghana, South Africa amongst others.

Have you worked with any organization or brand before?

No, not yet.

Do you have people working for you?

No, but I have some kids with me that I’m training.

• • • • • • •

• • • • • • •

Do you have a mentor or role model?

None. Nobody for now.

Where do you see yourself in the next five years?

To become a renowned and world class art educator and also having my own art gallery

What advice do you have for artists and people looking up to you?

Keep your heads up, your day is coming. Rome wasn’t built in a day; daily practice today can made you a legend tomorrow.

Ever since I started, I kept working despite all odds. I never give up trying, so no matter what, do not give up.

Remember that with God, all things are possible.

Thanks for visiting My Woven Words. We are passionate about historical heritage and we are dedicated to supplying nearly extinct historical and cultural contents to the world on a platter of gold. 

Support us on our quest with Your donations by clicking the donate button below

DONATE

My dear Gani,

Praise be to God for your life and the courage, fortitude and determination with which He endowed you. May we live long to be of service to each other in the contribution we make to the development, peace and justice/fairplay in Nigeria and beyond. The ” Express ” story is a hoax. True, both Anan and Anyaoku (apparently working together, although I saw them separately), wanted me to sign a statement that I will not, once again, demand my mandate, once released. They both believed such undertaking would expedite my release. To each of them, my answers were:

(1) Having been cut off from all both human and media contacts for 4 years, I was like a man put in an open grave, I quoted Rt. Hon. Harold Wilson’s statement October, 1964, a few days before his first Labour victory in 13 years: “24hrs is a long time in politics.”

If 24hrs is a long time, 4years  cut off from politics can be likened to eternity. Diplomats can guess: political leaders must be sure because credibility once lost can never be regained.

(2) Both diplomats spoke of arranging my UNCONDITIONAL release. With the demand for that kind of statement that will render me a “deserter”. Any release obtained on that basis would be the worst form of capitulation.

(3) The declaration of 11/06/94 was made at a major public rally to thousands of cheering supporters. A statement under the table of AGUDA House purportedly negating it will not be acceptable as authentic. My rejection will naturally read “duress” into it. Judged by the circumstances (therefore) it will not be worth the paper on which it was written. A declaration made publicly (at a major rally) and clear ( in the most unambiguous terms) at any similar rally.

You cannot render a man naked at the marketplace and prefer to dress him up in the bedroom!

(4) That a declaration, like that of 11/06/94, once made and in great circulation, needs no repetition, which, will be superfluous. Made when June 12 was suffering from a terminal illness – in-fact in a COMA – the June 11 shot-in-the-arm had over the years not only revived the patient (June 12) but has also established it firmly on its own base, such that its right to exist would today no longer be denied. In this situation, I could well concentrate on my release, on revamping my health, attending to the wedding of 4 or 5 of my children, re-establish the cohesion of my family, which has been almost totally eroded, especially after the brutal assassination of my Kudi whilst my leading supporters who have done wonders in my absence, take the full steps necessary for formal VICTORY by God’s grace. It is this point

(5) that have might been twisted or misunderstood by Annan and /or the section of the press who got it wrong.

(6) Finally, I reviewed the history of June 12. I told them that quite at the beginning, Obasanjo in July 1994 came to me with 26 traditional rulers to seek a similar statement. He was told off in no uncertain terms in the presence of the retinue of traditional fathers, after I had explained that the issue is one of God Vs a few “powerful elements”.

The voice of the people is the voice of God, ” Vox Populi Vox Dei”, a popular maxim long before Jesus Christ arrived.

I told them that IBB’s only reason for cancelling the free, fair and peaceful poll – a fact he could not deny – was that his leading officers (who would have been retired with him) threatened to kill him and to kill me if he ever swore me in. I did not allow him to use the Koran to swear to “blackmail”

IBB made the assertion to two Northern Emirs- mutual friends of the two of us and Chief Sonekan at a peace meeting called at the presidential wing of the ABUJA airport.

I would not accept the cancellation on that ground or any ground hence my ” hijra” of August 2 to mount worldwide campaign, as the local press had then been silenced. I said that if I had accepted what was done, it would have created a most dangerous precedent, not only for Nigeria but most of the third world. The saying would then have been – “who are you to resist what could be forced on Abiola?”.

The ultimate effect is that Nigeria would then become a land of “guided democracy “, of the type in the imagination of the late President Sukarno of Indonesia..ho used to issue ” voting directives” to his nation of 230 million. God forbid bad thing!

The lapse of five years since the election of 12/06/93 was regarded as fatal to the mandate. Both diplomats told me nobody will recognise me on the basis of the out-of-date mandate. Chief Anyaoku went on further to say he had sought and obtained legal opinion which confirmed the “death of the mandate”.

My reply:

Firstly, there’s no statue of limitation on valid elections provided the winner did not willfully refuse to take office. The struggle in Sierra Leone more than three decades ago between Milton Margai and Siaka Stevens is a case in point.  The Haiti issue re-Aristide is partially relevant.

Secondly, if that were so, then, criminals would have had a lawful right to take advantage of the criminal situation they have created! That, in my opinion, is against equity and the rule of law and, therefore, invalid. They illegally cancelled the election (which they had no power to do) and promoted their usurpation by putting in the most wicked incarceration ever known – 4 years without exercise, access to the sun or even the corridor outside my room.

Thirdly, no nation ever solves her nagging political problems through legal opinion. The Bar of public opinion has a code of practice totally different to that of a formed point of law. I asked Chief Anyaoku what was his interest in seeking the so-called legal opinion? I got no answer because by that time the exchange had become eyeball to eyeball. He looked most embarrassed and dumbfounded. Annan must know that if the majority of OAU member nations gave me recognition, the UN must automatically do the same e.g. the Angola situation between MPLA and UNITA.

The call for the recognition in the London Times of last Friday has taken the wind out of the sail of the “five leg” argument. There was no substance to it.

My final point is that although Time searches to destroys all things MATERIAL, a point made most convincingly by Shakespeare in his sonnets 5, 12 and 64, his emphasis on “never resting time” and the Spencer in “of time

and the River” where he stated that “dark times remind us of and the briefness of our days”. TRUTH, which is what June 12 is, is SPIRITUAL AL-HAQQU in Islam – one of the sacred names of God. Therefore, since all things in nature, life and creation are subservient to God(K2:116) willingly or unwillingly, TIME IS IN FACT AND INDEED ON THE SIDE OF TRUTH, K17:81, K34:49, K2:42 etc. and Gospel according to St. John 8:32, Psalm 62:1-2, Isaiah 40:30-31 etc.

It is falsehood, with its associated varieties and crookedness that must varnish as foam on the ” Torrent of time”.

The FMG, probably did not want to meet me at this stage. Hence, the arrangement made for the two to meet me.

The very top meeting I had on Monday night with two of our service chiefs was to inform me about the death of General Abacha and my friend Ya’adua and talk generally. The atmosphere was most cordial and the service chiefs were most sympathetic. It enabled me to asses the quality and calibre of the two which are most high, indeed. I have gone St. John 8:32, Psalm 62:1-2, Isaiah 40:30-31 etc.

It is falsehood, with its associated varieties and crookedness that must varnish as foam on the ” Torrent of time”

The FMG, probably did not want to meet me at this stage. Hence, the arrangement made for the two to meet me.

The very top meeting I had on Monday night with two of our service chiefs was to inform me about the death of General Abacha and my friend Ya’adua and talk generally. The atmosphere was most cordial and the service chiefs were

most sympathetic. It enabled me to asses the quality and calibre of the two which are most high, indeed. I have gone into this minute detail because I heard you were upset when you read the exclusive report. You probably did not know me well enough! If I refused to listen to IBB, my personal friend of long standing, and ignored Abacha, will it be 2 international civil servants who would force my surrender?

Please, have more confidence than that in the future.

All my life I had worked for the result which God in His mercies, gave us on June 12, 1993. Quoting Jesus Christ (Luke 9) “No man having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God”.  The spiritual consequence of any desertion of a sacred cause like June 12 is HELL, which God forbids.

ANOTHER DIFFERENT POINT on 13/1/95, Abacha sent Prince Ajibola to me to say he (Abacha) would not allow me to get any trial because he knew I had large sum of money pad to my recognition which will force him out of office. Ied Prince what he advised. He sad ” Patience” Suru ni. I told him to tell my family and lawyers.

When Ore Falomo saw me on 10/5/97, I sent him to you on that. Did you get the messages? Remember me to the family with best personal regards.

I LOVE YOU.

Signed

MKO Abiola

ÒGBÓMỌ̀ṢỌ́

Ò gbé orí Ẹ̀lẹ́mọ̀ṣọ́,
Ògbómọ̀ṣọ́ ògbómọjúgun
Ọmọ afògbójà
Ibi tí wọ́n gbé ń jẹkà,
kí wọ́n tó mùkọ yangan.

Ògbómọ̀ṣọ́ begotten by Ajilete,
where they eat amala gobbling pap.
Ògbómọ̀ṣọ́ uses ògbó to fight like devil,
if Ògbómọ̀ṣọ́ is done fighting with you
and you are insensitive, you will think
Ajilete was frolicking with you.

Never defeated in wars before,
we’re now in our haven,
we can now rest and relax.
Ògbómọ̀ṣọ́, we hail thee!

A one time walled city,
fast becoming a cosmopolitan city.
Bordered in the north by Ìlọrin Àfọ̀njá,
to the South by Ọ̀yọ́ Aláàfin,
to the west by Ìgbẹ́tì ilé ọyẹ́,
to the east by Òsogbo and Èjìgbò.

First inhabited in 1600
by Aálẹ́ followed by;
Òrìsàtólú, Ohùnsílé,
Akandíe, Ogunlọlá.
Together they formed Ẹgbẹ́ Àlòngò,
a group of brave hunters and warriors.

Ìdágìrí, a tyrant that terrified Ògbómọ̀ṣọ́;
subdued by Ṣọ̀ún.
“Iwọ” a sound from an invincible
suspected to be Ẹ̀lẹ́mọ̀ṣọ́,
it also terrified Òyó empire; subdued by Ṣòún.
“Ìwọ wẹ̀, b’Ẹ̀lẹ́mọ̀ṣọ́ jà, ẹni táàrí”

Igi Àjàgbọn
an age long tree, old as the town,
still at the back of the palace.
Also is igi àràbà at Másìífà
very wide in diameter,
with deep history and significance.

Ogun ọ̀ jàlú
a small one roomed, doorless building.
The shield and war-inhibitor.
Never dare rest your back on it
or you’ll lose your way home.
Overturning clothes to regain senses.

Òkè-Elérin sọ̀kọ̀ sọ̀kọ̀, the elephant hill,
the genesis of Ògbómọ̀ṣọ́,
the metropolis of Ògbómọ̀ṣọ́,
abode of stone throwers.
Headquarter of masquerade festival.

Odò ọbà, the major river,
a tributary of River Niger.
“Óba rán ni nísẹ́,
odò ọbà kún.
Isẹ́ ọba kò sé má jẹ,
odò ọbà kò sé rọ́tọ̀.”

Takie square, clumsy and ever busy,
named after the first post office director Mr Tackey.
Commercial base of Ògbómọ̀ṣọ́,
filling stations, like we own the oil and gas sector,
book stores, like we control the education sector.
There, people hustle to earn a living.

The heavyweight of agriculture
known for food crops;
Yam, corn and cassava.
cash crop; tobacco
fruits; mango, cashew.
vegetables; spinach, amaranthus.

Staple food is Àmàlà
with the yellow and green soup,
ewédú and gbẹ̀gírì, jointly called àbùlà.
hence the part of the panegyric;
“Ibi tí wọ́n gbé ń jẹkà
Kí wọ́n tó mùkọ yangan”

Èlùbọ́ Ògbómọ̀ṣọ́,
produced from the best yams
hence called Èlùbọ́ isu.
“Bẹ́ jẹkà bẹ́ jẹkà ká ròkè Ọ̀yọ́ o,
Òkè Ọ̀yọ́ la gb’àmàlà sí o,
Àmàlà kere l’Ògbómọ̀ṣọ́ o.”

Morning is valuable,
it’s palmwine time in a place,
we use it to work here.
We farm and trade,
produce and build.
We’re so assiduous.

The land of valiant people;
Brave and strong
Industrious and adventurous
Scattered all over the earth,
feared wide and near.
a stronghold fort with brave men.

An haven for over a thousand
towns and villages during war.
“A dé inú ọkọ̀ A sinmi o
A dé inú ọkọ̀ A sinmi
Ogun ọ̀ jà jà kó kó Ògbómọ̀ṣọ́
A dé inú ọkọ̀ A sinmi.”

A land of many kings and monarchs,
with notable matriarchs and patriarchs
The most eminent of them is Ṣọ̀ún
“Àti aya àti ọmọ kí wọ́n máa ṣọ̀ún o”
more Yorùbá nation generalissimo (Ààrẹ ọ̀nà kakañfò)
than any other town.

In politics; Samuel Ládòkè Akíntọ́lá, baba lámi lámi.
In the army; Benjamin Adékúnlé, the black scorpion.
In folklore; Daniel Àmùdá Ògúndáre Fọ́yánmu.
In the Police Force; Late IGP Sunday Adéwùsì.
In Nollywood; Lérè Pàímọ́, Ẹ̀dá onílé ọlá.
In Music; Alexander Abọ̀lọre Àdìgún, 9ice.
Amidst several others.

Outstanding institutions;
Pastors manufacturing in NBTS,
Doctors and nurses manufacturing in BUTH,
Professionals manufacturing in LAUTECH.
“Ọmọ Ládòkè, ówọ́ lókè.”
amidst other notable institutions.

In media and communication;
NTA Ògbómọ̀ṣọ́ Channel 5
Ajílété FM 92.1
Parrot FM 101.1

In sports;
Amos Àdàmú, ọmọ ẹbu ọsẹ.
Sòún stadium, home of Crown FC,
Ògbómòsó Recreation Club, home to
a golf course and tennis court.
Ayò ọlọ́pọ́n; a game that dates back to ages.

A place where your careless watching
could be a death trap.
hence the popular saying,
“Ìran wíwò ni yó pa Ògbómọ̀ṣọ́”
Careful and sensible ones survive.

I’m not a tourist guide.
But I’ve guided you through the whole town,
Not need to pay me.
Just pay the town
a visit.

By Èlíjà Ọlásúnkànmí Ọdẹ́tókun.
©️hollic

Hello guys, in the recipe corner of mywovenwords blog; we will be learning how to prepare a very popular soup among the people in western Nigeria and even all over the world. It is called “efo riro” (stirred vegetables).  This soup can be eaten with various types of swallow and some include amala, eba, pounded yam, wheat, semovita etc. this soup is so interesting to prepare and eat because various types of fish and meat can be added. So let’s begin.

INGREDIENTS FOR EFO RIRO

Spinach leaves (popularly known as soko by the Yorubas).

Pepper (rodo)

Tomatoes

Smoked fish

Goat meat

Ponmo

Grinded Cray fish

Salt

Seasoning cube

Palm oil

Dried fish

Onions

Chicken or turkey

The above ingredients are measured based on the amount of people you are preparing for. If it is just you, a bundle of vegetable which I guess is #50 will be okay but if it is for 2-4/5 people two bundles should be okay. You can also include any other type fish or meat. It depends on what you like. Cow meat can be used, fresh fish can be used, and prawns can be added. All these depend on the person cooking. So let’s start cooking.

 STEPS EFO RIRO

– Chop your vegetables and you can rinse with warm or blanch it to remove dirt after which you squeeze out the water from the vegetable and put it in a bowl.

– Boil all your chicken and meat well and put aside to cool.

– Wash all the dried and smoked fish with warm water and shred them well.

– Blend the pepper, tomatoes and half of the onion together.

– Dice the remaining part of the onions

– Wash the ponmo well and rinse the prawns and locust beans well.

– After the above steps, rinse your pot and pot on the fire to dry.

– When it has dried, pour 2-4 cooking spoonful of palm oil in the pot and leave it to be a little bit hot, then put the diced onions and stir with the palm oil and leave it to fry until the onions become translucent in the palm oil.

– After the onion has fried a bit, pour in the blended pepper and add your seasoning cube and a sprinkle or half a table spoon of salt. The salt should not be too much neither should it be too small because the vegetable will swallow the pepper so if the salt is too small, the efo might be tasteless and if it is too much the efo might be too salty. In this case what I advise that you do is that, be applying the salt little by little and be tasting it until you feel it is okay.

– Add the washed locust beans to the pepper and stir together. Leave it to fry well but stir constantly so that it will not burn. When it fries well, add the shredded fish, the boiled meat, rinsed ponmo and the assorted fish or meat you got and like to the fried stew. Mix together and leave for 30 seconds for it to fry a bit.

– After 30 seconds, stir the mixture on the fire and add the vegetable morsel by morsel after which you stir everything together. Stir very well until the fried stew covers the vegetable.

– When it has covered it well and you see to make sure no stew remains unmixed with the vegetable, cover the pot and leave it to simmer.

– After 3 – 4 minutes, check and taste the vegetable to make sure it is soft and easy to chew. Also taste to check to make sure the salt is enough, if not you can add little more and stir. If it has simmered well, you can take it off the fire and your delicious “ efo riro” is ready.

Follow our Instagram page

Thanks for visiting My Woven Words. We are passionate about historical heritage and we are dedicated to supplying nearly extinct historical and cultural contents to the world on a platter of gold. 

Support us on our quest with Your donations by clicking the donate button below

DONATE