Saturday, December 11, 2010

CRUCIBLES OF CREATIVITY: A DEBATE ON NIGERIAN ARTISTIC AND INTELLECTUAL CULTURE IN RELATION TO NIGERIAN UNIVERSITIES


From the Facebook account of  Uzor  Maxim Uzoatu

Uzor's Profile · Uzor's Wall
  • Uzor Maxim Uzoatu
    Wole Soyinka wrote his epochal play "Death and the King's Horseman" over one weekend!
    08 December at 08:54 ·  · 
    • You like this.
      • Yemi Soneye I wanted to say ha ha at first, but instead I say CHALLENGE!
        08 December at 09:03 via Facebook Mobile · 
      • Emmanuella Nduonofit Thanks for that tip-off info, Maxim. Hmm...
        08 December at 09:15 · 
      • Taiwo Obe Maxim, time to do that thing
        08 December at 09:41 · 
      • Adelakun Adunni Abimbola Wow!
        08 December at 09:44 · 
      • Kiru Taye Really? Wow. I love that play. Saw it at the National Theatre in London.
        08 December at 09:55 · 
      • Chuma Nwokolo Maximum, the real question is how many weeks or months the ingredients of the play had been stewing in the playwright's head. That weekend might just have been a 'secretarial' weekend. If you don't clarify this, any suicides by frustrated writers this Sunday will be all your fault...;-)
        08 December at 10:01 ·  ·  9 people
      • Rotimi Adedayo And " The Trials of Brother Jero" too!
        08 December at 10:03 · 
      • Charles Ogu Not that;'The trial of brother Jero'.'Death...' was not a weekend affair.Always confirm from us who attended UI, before you inform on anything.'Death...' was first written by Duro Ladipo as 'Oba waja...'; Soyinka version followed later, so it wouldn't have been a weekend affair.I really found it difficult to read drama(sometimes Literature) from people who didn't attend UI for their first degree, whether they are Maxim, Olu Oguibe, Kole etc.,
        08 December at 10:23 ·  ·  1 person
      • Emmanuella Nduonofit ‎@Charles Ogu, "'Death...' was first written by Duro Ladipo as 'Oba waja...'; Soyinka version followed later, so it wouldn't have been a weekend affair." Em, you're sure about this, hm? If so, na wetin Maxim dey talk now, eh? I concur with you, Chuma. Couldn't have put it better myself.
        08 December at 10:29 · 
      • Yemi Soneye Oga Nwokolo, like have heard you say, pointed point. He must have been carrying it around for a while.
        08 December at 10:32 via Facebook Mobile · 
      • Charles Ogu Maxim got it all wrong.I think Maxim has been in UI only once, and he nearly fought the day he came.That means, its only a 'hear say'.I remember Adelugba told me that it was 'The terial of brother Jero...'Maxim got it wrong.I don't simply have respect for people who didn't do their first degree in UI when it comes to African theatre or Literature.That includes Olu Oguibe whom I want to challenge in a debate,Maxim etc.,
        08 December at 10:37 ·  ·  1 person
      • Iheanyi Iwuofor Next you'll be telling us you don't care for any play that's not set in your village, however well written. A beg o!
        08 December at 13:27 · 
      • Emmanuella Nduonofit Abeg make I laf belleful here, o! Na wa! And see, I'm about to enter UI for the first time, into that department, for a one-year PGD program!!! Na wich wan I go take now? E be like say Charlie dey more current, o! Geez, this info is important to me, somehow. @Iheanyi, lol!
        08 December at 15:58 · 
      • Oluwatoyin Kole ‎@Charles why are you fishing for trouble? For your information JAMB admitted me to UI but I was only turned back because one of my papers was F9 or so. I left and went to UNIBEN to learn how to Ibori and Ajidua myself.
        08 December at 19:57 · 
      • Uzor Maxim Uzoatu ‎@Charles Ogu: please don't drag my brothers Olu Oguibe and Kole into your inanities; and you definitely do not need to attend UI or any university for that matter to not make a fool of oneself on Facebook.
        Thursday at 14:09 · 
      • Uzor Maxim Uzoatu ‎@Chuma: Soyinka said the idea sat in his mind for a very long time before it all poured out on paper over a weekend. Of course he went back to it, as you do know all serious writers do.
        Thursday at 14:11 · 
      • Toyin Adepoju 
        Charles,I beg tak am well.I went to Uniben but I hear that UI was/is(?) is in a class of its own
        But why is Soyinka's work full of so much stuff from outside Africa,from Buddhism to Christianity-that has nothing to do with UI? Why did Soyinka not graduate from UI but went to Leeds?Why is perhaps the foremost authority on Soyinka,Biodun Jeyifo not a graduate of UI and perhaps never taught there?
        Please help.We need direction.
        Thursday at 14:24 · 
      • Toyin Adepoju 
        ‎"I don't simply have respect for people who didn't do their first degree in UI when it comes to African theatre or Literature".Charles

        I wonder if UI graduates have played strategic roles in the recent developments in African literature,West,South,East,Central and North,in the pst ten to twenty years?
        Thursday at 14:29 · 
      • Charles Ogu 
        Biodun Jeyifo attended UI, and for those who think they can comment on African theatre or Literature-of course you know its all about 'hear say''.I made a point that I don't listen to people who didn't attend UI on matters of Literature and theatre, that remains the point.Maxim, Oguibe and Kole didn't attend UI, its not my fault; anything they have to say on African theatre and Literature is 'hear say'.Sometimes its what we may have told them.Pius Adesanmi was excited doing his M.A in UI,and did his best to be part of the cultural movement there. I remember him giving me a play he wrote, but after reading it I knew he didn't have a future there, and I pointed him to the right part:Criticism and theory;he is trying today, though he still needs some dept.Nigeria never made much impart in Fine art because UI doesn't offer it. Those who graduated in ethnic universities like UNN, found it difficult getting to the international scene, though there are some pretences to that assumption.How can you make an informed talk on African theatre and Literature, without experiencing the cultural movement of the 60's or the 80's or 90's?Never taught by the patriachs of that era?Who taught you?Probably those not qualified enough to teach at UI then.I always get troubled when I hear these people sometimes make informed statement-no doubt;I keep asking myself who taught them? There is no reason to fight, if you didn't attend UI, your children will certainly, though it has become a common bowl for the village spit.And there is no innanities about this-even in the face of Face book
        Thursday at 15:36 · 
      • Charles Ogu 
        I don't know whether they teach African theatre and literature in other universities, though I know they read some African novels. Duro Ladipo wrote Oba Waja, which is a version of 'Death...'Soyinka was later to do another version of it -'Death and the Kings Horsema''. He actually complimented Ladipo's version, so how would he have written it over a weekend? Soyinka used Olunde(means Oluwamide 'My Lord(son) has arrived) as the name of Elesi's son, while Duro Ladipo adopts Dawodu, which is the name given to first son in Yoruba land.That incident has a film version before Soyinka wrote his, he made mention of it too.How would he have written it over the weekend?Maxim didn't study Theatre arts(I did), and does not speak Yoruba(I understand-die). I think Maxim should learn.He didn't listen to Soyinka very well.He can comment on anything, but not on African theatre.
        Thursday at 16:30 · 
      • Toyin Adepoju 
        ‎1. Correct.I made a mistake. Jeyifo went to UI.

        2. You are making a clearer case now.I see that you are not being just frivolous.I have a problem,though with your focus on the heyday of UI and the Nigerian university system in the 60s and 70s.I need to be educated on the cultural movement of the 80s and 90s you are referring to.If you are referring to UI of the 60s and 70s as exemplary in Nigerian education I can appreciate your point.Beyond that,though,I wonder what you base the point on.

        3.The centre for the study of Africa,in general and African literature in particular no longer seems to be in Africa with people like the great Abiola Irele,the remarkable Dan Izevbaye ,the multitalented Ulli Beir and Bidon Jeyifo,among others at UI and Ife,when that was a centre for the emergence of African cultural study.

        Can you name any book or even ONE essay of international acclaim on African literature published by anybody at UI or Ife in the past ten years? If you can name such a work from the past ten years I will know you are a real scholar of African literature. I will make an exception for Obododimma Oha,who is doing some very innovative work online.

        Can you name any work of literature of global acclaim published by a UI graduate in the past ten years? I know even less about this aspect but the names I have been hearing are not names of UI graduates.The names I have been hearing are of Ben Okri of Famished Road who won the Booker Prize,Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie,both from Nigeria and other names from Africa,who have no IU connection.I await education,though.

        You would be on better ground in relation to the work of Akiwowo who seems to have inspired a locally based but internationally impacting school of sociology from Ife.

        Nigeria has made significant impact on the international scene in Fine Art,as evident from the example of El Anatsui,Bruce Onabrakpeya,Victor Ekpuk,Dimprozulike,among others,a significant number of them being UNN graduates.

        On Soyinka's method of writing.Soyinka's writing Death in one week,if true,is likely to be the time span of the process of writing,not of gestation.He states that he wrote his great epic poem Idanre,for example,I think in the evening of the day he visited Idanre.That is possible because of the fertility of his mind and the potency of the flow of inspiration he experienced and his skill as a writer.His reading of the sources that informed his work on Death could have taken more than a a week but a week of uninterrupted work could have been enough to do the job.

        I heard a lot about UI from my teachers at Uniben. They were in awe of the place on account of the time they spent there.If UI is still great we thank God.Marx Wagbafor bitterly regretted my coming to start my academic career at Uniben and insisted UI was the only relevant place to be. With time,I think he knew what he was talking about.

        As it is,such people think that even with the degeneration in the Nigerian system,UI remains incomparable.
        Thursday at 17:17 · 
      • Charles Ogu 
        Good.BJ made a first class in UI, and the other person that would have made another first class is Kola Amodu-once Nigerian chess champion, but they denied him, he quited. kola would have made a first class in any descipline.I tried helping him but we quarelled. I think there has not being a first 'classer' in that department since then. Okri, I believe didn't care much about university since he knew what he wanted.I remember my friend Pius Omole telling me-how he spent time in his flat in UI reading four books and writing at a go. Quite a lot of our literary alumunites have published original essays in good journals. Obodo would have been the best that ever happened to us, but he lacks the politics.Though, he was in the flow of the cultural movement of the 90s but wasn't part of it.But that has to do with his rural past.He tried advising me, but I didn't take his advice since he wasn't in the progressive movement.Yes, we had a flourishing cultural movement in the 90s.Harry Garuba was the leader of that movement, and we had people then visiting from Lagos and other university.The group other wise called 'Thursday' people because we met every Thursday to read poetry, argue and drink.We were quite a number.I remember Remi Raji visiting from Adeyemi college of education before he wangled his way to UI. We didn't actually appreciate him and later incident that happened between us after informed me why he wasn't appreciated.Though a literary enthusiast he wasn't particulary extra ordinary and made his way through politics which my brother Obodo lacks. Sola Olorunyomi(who was recently decieved into Institute of African studies) wanted to take over when Harry left for South Africa, but couldn't survive the envy and jealousy that was part of the group. Sola never drank, but called himself 'collector of poets', and provided much of the money used in many of those drinking nights.Remi Raji benefited so much from individuals and the group but never gave back. I love Marxim because he had helped publishing one of my book reviews in ThisDay. E.c Osondu had published a collection of poetry on Ken Saro Wiwa titled 'For Ken, for Nigeria' after the former hanging. I wrote a review on the book, which was afterall negative and gave it to Jahman to help me publish in the Guardian.But Jahman had already been compromised, he gave the review to the author of the book who was very bitter with me, since I'm his friend.I remember telling Kalu Uduma that Jahman was a hypocrite(who should have been) sacked a long time in the Guardian, but he argued with me.He was later thrown out from Guardian through the coniving effort of Jahman. I had met Maxim in UI, and told him about the review, he collected the review from me and published it immediately.I just want him to give honour to whom honour is due.I hope he will understand. His brother Isidore , a trader-writer is my friend.I found that appellation enthralling, and recently I had gone to work in a wood factory to pursue my art in that direction:to be called a carpenter-write.I am perfectly happy with that.That is already in my CV.
        Thursday at 19:01 · 
      • Toyin Adepoju 
        I like you.You are really an embodiment of an aspect of UI.I have some vague memory of the movement you refer to and I have met Sola Olorunyomi,whom I deeply admire.

        You need a broader view of the development of Nigerian artistic,literary and intellectual culture,though.As for Africa,clearly you are mistaking Nigeria for Africa.That kind of mistake might be understandable in the 60s when people like Ulli Beier with his journal Black Orpheus and Mbari club were defining modern African cultural studies from Ibadan and Osogbo.Even then,a decisive journal which has survived from those days to now,Transition, was based in Uganda,started by Rajeet Norgay.

        You need to take account of the influence of the Zaria Art school in redefining modern Nigerian art the way the Ibadan literary school did for African literature.Relevant names there are Yusuf Grillo and Bruce Onabrakpeya,Irein Wangboe and Demas Nwoko. I understand,however,that the school was moved from Ibadan to Zaria in the 50s.

        Some of the most globally prominent names from naija in the global space are from UNN.These people have strong theoritical and practical art skills,it seems from the way they are taught.Some names here are Olu Oguibe,Uche Okeke, Obiora Udechukwu.Some of these figures combine visual art,poetry and theory and criticism like Oguibe and Chika Okeke,Udechukwu and Dimprozulike.All these names are indispensable in a study of African,not just Nigerian art.

        The one Nigerian art curator I know with a global presence is Okwui Enwezor,one of the founders of the journal Nka.I doubt if he has had anything to do with UI.

        I expect scholars from UI will publish widely.Scholars from all universities publish widely.But for the kinds of claims you are making on behalf of UI to have value you need to demonsrate how UI scholarship and UI graduates define the field,even if only within Nigeria.You dont even need to go as far as the African and global impact of Achbebe,Soyinka and Okigbo,Irele,Jeyifo and Izevbaye or Beier.

        Forgive my ignorance on this last point.I dont have very much exposure to Nigerian or African literature.I wonder,though,if one can speak of any great poet from UI after Soyinka and Okigbo.Osundare is a poet of global stature but I wonder if he is a great poet.I find the two essays of his I have read much more compelling than the few poems of his I have read.I am also keen on a great novelist from UI apart from Achebe.The same for drama and Soyinka.My reading of Clark's Song of a Goat and two of his poems does not convince me although he is very good.I vaguely read an Osofisan play but cant remember much of it.UI might have achieved much more but the contradictions of the postcolonial space have not been kind.
        Thursday at 20:20 · 
      • Charles Ogu 
        Things you said are quite obvious.And I have known them since 80s.Transition was editted in Ghana, not Ugadan. You missed out a great deal on Nsukka art.The only propelling thing about their art is the use of ulli by Obiora Udechukwu;there is nothing else.The former may likely be discussed with tinge of ethnicism, but I'm an Igbo. I wonder how somebody from rural Nsukka can discuss theory, a thing you alluded to Oguibe.Who taught Oguibe theory? The best I know of Oguibe is that he is a painter, and have never heard he combind theory to it.You can't have good grip on theory when you have left university.After Nsukka, he was a 'hand work' graduate, that's the best he could have been at that time. I know he has improved.Tried his hand on Ipod art, but I knew it would be a failure.Now he is not talking about it again. The only person that knows as much theory there now- is Obodo.Nelson Fasina pretends he knows, but I think he is still very much in the periphery.There are other young fellows like Benson Eluma and Yomi who are promising, but doubts whether Ben would make it finally. I know about Zaria school of art, even if I sound arrogant.Since, you are a little general, you forgot Ibadan school of History.This is not a contest about universities;its about an era and a movement. I have since lost respect for UI,and does not consider it a university anymore. In some months time, I will delete it from my CV since I'm undergoing a process of 'De-schooling'. But one thing:Maxim would have been a champion if he had schooled in UI in those moments. I love his commitment to the literary, and he may fizzle out if he does not move to the west fast.He will do well as an academic,that means he will not do well in any other thing.Nigeria has a way of ascribing greatness to themselves, now I'm referring to the people you have mentioned.They are at best-Nigerian champions.Have you seen Demas Nwoko's place at Mokola? His elder brother Prof S.G Nwoko is my friend. My point again-I'm talking of an era and a movement.That what Maxim didn't understand.You made a point on Niyi Osundare, but his ''Waiting laughter'' is outstanding, but he had written some couple of bad poetry.The last was the one he did on Saharareporter, it has to do with Obama.The worst nursery rhyme I have ever read.You look promising.I have an advice like Odia would say:''keep your eyes on letters''.That's what Maxim has done all these years, but its time for him to evaluate himself again. He should head to one of the universities in the West.Today is my madness day, hope I won't get into depression again.This heals it.
        Thursday at 21:19 · 
      • Uzor Maxim Uzoatu ‎@Charles Ogu: pace WB Yeats - "The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity." - from 'The Second Coming'. Please, my dear brother, stop making a mad fool of yourself in a public forum. The nakedness of the madman shames his brothers. If you want a cure for your depression, then try to be reasonable... So sad...
        Thursday at 21:36 · 
      • Charles Ogu 
        ‎'The nakedness of the madman shames his brothers'', that's an Igbo proverb, but you spoke it and translated it like a white man.But peoples comments favour my position, except you believe they don't understand English.I come into this with facts and references.I'm sure the next time you will be careful when talking about African theatre.'Making a fool of oneself' is a cliche as you already know.A refuge for one who have lost out.Read all the comments, and see if there is anyone that favours you.The next time, we will pursue you out of your page and take it over.Ask Kole, he knows I have the will and the imagination to do just that.But literature has a way of curing depression, especially today that is -20 here.Your page has become a market square for my maddness.I know you won't tolerate me for too long.Do it now!
        Thursday at 22:31 · 
      • Toyin Adepoju 
        Charles Ogu has done a very good job here by sharing with us his passion for artistic and intellectual culture in the context of UI.His passion and knowledge have sparked an argument that amounts to a mini survey of Nigerian intellectual and artistic history in the context of the role of Nigerian universities in this history.

        Transition's origins in Uganda is stated at its current website:http://www.transitionmagazine.com/history.htm

        Ogu is not giving credit to Soyinka's own descriptions of his creative processes,though.Soyinka has stated that he values the gestative process as much as the process of writing.So the idea of writing a play like Death and the Kings Horseman in a burst of inspiration over one weekend ,to me,is plausible after the work has stewed in hs head for any length of time.

        Note,too,that the core of the play is not long but is very intense.The ritual dance of Elesin.I think I remember reading Soyinka describing himself as writing his autobiographical The Man Died in a farmhouse in France donated by a friend after he left prison.He also seems to have composed part of his poetic sequence A Shuttle in the Crypt in prison.The English poet William Wordsworth used to compose a good part of poetry in his head before committing it to writing.The intensity and clarity of the inspirational force energizing the powers of the mind and its contents is everything.

        I will check up those chaps at UNN you mention.As for Uguibe,you should read his "El Anatsui:Beyond Death and Nothingness" where the mythic,the philosophical and the aesthetic coalesce in a reflection of the progression of the pottery on El Anatsui.You could also see the essays on his website.I have not read is books but I expect a good time when doing so.Anybody who wants the Anatsui essay can send me their email in my Facebook inbox and I will let them have it.It is a demonstration of the study of art in terms of an African philosophical context that is in the same line of thought as Soyinka's discussion of drama in terms of classical Yoruba thought and to some degree African thought in Myth,Literature and the African World.Oguibe draws on classical Igbo thought and Anlo and Ewe thought from Ghana plus his own profound sensitivity to the relationship between creativity,metaphysics and epistemology-meaning of life and processes of arriving at knowledge.

        Did you not know that Oguibe went from Nsukka to do his PhD at SOAS and from there to the US as editor of an art journal and has remained in such positions since,being an academic and possibly a professor, in the US?

        Even if he was not in university,a knowledge of theory can be seen as significantly a function of reading,reflection and practice.True,dialogue can be priceless,but take note,in the Western world the opportunities for intellectual discourse are not fixated on being a member of a university,even though that is helpful.

        As for Nsukka being rural in relation to the study of theory,the Nsukka scholars and artists in Fine Art I have met demonstrate a sensitivity to conceptual possibilities in their art and how to communicate this.From the example of El Anatsui at Nsukka it becomes clear that so much can be done in the integration of local and global thought. The Nsukka graduates also seem to have good international links as seems evident from their level of visibility in galleries and exhibitions in Lagos and the West,assisted by artists of international stature like Anatsui who remain at Nsukka as an inspirational base.

        In terms of Nsukka,indigenous forms like uli and their potential for theory,you might be underestimating the power of classical Igbo thought as evident in the novels of Achebe and such essays of his as "The Igbo Word and its Art" and "Chi in Igbo Cosmology",along with larger works like Onwuejeogwu's Afa Symbolism,After God is Dibia by Umeh who lectures at Nsukka, and the work of Patrick Iroegbu,very visible online,on Igbo healing and divinatory systems,and the cosmological explorations of people like Donatus Nwoga,among others.

        The potential is very potent for developing powerful theoretical thinking from any ethnic group in Nigeria.We need to be creative,avoid dogmatism and fixation on tradition and dare to use any conceptual tools necessary.

        Between this year and next year I will bring out at least three books that will demonstrate the artistic and cognitive power of Benin Olokun graphic art,Akan/Gyaman(Ghana and Cote de'Ivoire) Adinkra symblism and Yoruba/Orisa Ifa to levels not yet achieved.I am using these systems in thinking,like a native language,on their own and in dialogue with Asian and Western thought,in exploring a broad range of questions and phenomena.Anyone who wants to be alerted hen these books come out can leave me a message in my Facebook inbox or at toyin.adepoju@googlemail.com.I will also develop a central website for my work..

        Meanwhile anyone who is keen may see my blogs on blogger which I use as workshops.I also have two websites-one Lae-Lae Infinity,on Ifa and Olokun Centre for Research in the Humanities,Sciences and Social Sciences:http://www.wix.com/danteadinkra/olokun-centre-for-research-in-the-humanities-and-sciences,although they are still very experimental.

        Chika Okeke-Agulu is at Princeton,lecturing after teaching at Nsukka and Yaba Tech.After his BA at Nsukka,Sylvester Ogbechie is teaching at the University of California,along with starting and running AACHRON Knowledge Systems,for developing African art and cultural knowledge globally globally and the online art journal Critical Interventions.

        As for philosophy,in which UI seemed to be strong in the 60s to 70s,with scholars like Godwin Sogolo,the last I knew when I was in naija eight years ago was that Unilag philosophy was going strong,with consistent book production by members of the philosophy department.As for Nelson Fashina,he is making a significant effort in the study of Ifa.Nsukka philosophy journal is impressive from what i have read from it.

        If you do a Google search for Demas Nwoko,Bruce Onabrakpeya,Dimprozulike,Erabo Emokpae from Benin and Lagos,along with other names i mentioned,you will see they are not only Nigerian champions.Read any account of African art history that covers Nigeria and you will see a significant number of or all of these names.You could see the Heilbraun History of Art online.Another is Grove Art Online.Heilbraun is free,though.

        See Dimprozulike's Facebook page and you will see that he exhibits globally,the last two I know being in South Africa and Israel,I think,before that New York.Victor Ekpuk is based in New York as you can see from his Facebook page. Google him and you will see his exhibitions in Europe.He has also done workshops in Nigeria.His web page also shows the critical responses to his work from a range of critics,from Nigeria an beyond.I wold love to do a book on him but I wish he would allow me to start by making a short films of his work to place on Youtube work but he is not encouraging on that front.His transformations of Cross River Nsibidi and his own scripts is compelling,enigmatically potent.

        i wont pretend to now much about the naija intellectual scene but I expect one should make the most of where there is intellectual excitement and energy in relation to one's interests..Is that Lagos with its art galleries and literary events? Is it Ibadan and UI or is it Nsukka and its art school? One needs to investigate this question.
        Friday at 04:49 · 
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