IT was 16th edition of the Auchi day tagged “celebration of Allah Most” as both the audience, the Islamic choral groups, the traditional troupes comprising of Isiko (Hunters’ dance) and Alido folklore troupes waited patiently for the lectures to finish their presentations.

Despite the large crowd, Alhaji Abdul Lateef AbdulKareem’s speech entitled “Programming a community for eternal purity, progress and prosperity” found a rhythm with the large audience as they listened with rapt attention. The lecture drew quotations from the Holy Qur’an to the delight of the participants.

Among distinguished personalities that graced the occasion were Edo State Governor, Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole, His Royal Highness, Alhaji Aliru H. Momoh, the Otaru of Auchi; Omo ‘N’ Oba ‘N”Edo, Uku Akpolokpolo, Oba of Benin as the paramount royal father of the day.

The address of the Chairman of the occasion, H.R.H Major-Gen (Dr) Muhammedu Sani (Sami Gomo 11) the Emir of Zuru and delivered by his representative, Alhaji Mohammed Sanchi, the District Head of Sanchi Zuru equally sent sober feelings into the veins of members of the crowd: “there is hardly any aspect of Nigeria’s existence that is not under threat today as nothing seems to work in the country. Not even the country’s unity and peace are spared”

There was also an inspiring poem on the Arafat Mosque rendered by Princess Tohirat Haliru Momoh, it was climaxed with the wrestling bout between Iyekhei and Akpekpe villages. Abdulrazaq of Akpekpe village won the contest.

Musical renditions by various Islamic choral groups as well as presentation of hunters’ dance, Isiko with staccato strokes from the pots drum and the dancers’ dexterous dance-steps lifted the package to the delight of all and sundry.

HE first hit screens in the M-Net reality series Big Brother Nigeria, then became famous after a starring role on glam AfricaMagic soap Tinsel. Now Nigerian television personality Gideon Okeke is taking on a central role as the host of the hot new game show, The Money Drop Nigeria!

DStv audiences will be able to watch the series when it launches exclusively on AfricaMagic Entertainment on Sunday, January 13 at 20:00 CAT. Simple but riveting, each episode of THE MONEY DROP NIGERIA sees a pair of contestants get USD 100 000 in cash. Then the game begins…

And what a game it is!  Before each quiz question, contestants are given a choice of two categories. Once they choose a category, they are asked a question from it and are given a choice of possible answers.

Contestants must then place the money on the answer they think is correct. Or they can split the money and place different amounts on different answers.   The one rule - they must use all USD 100 000!

But, if they have placed money on the wrong answer, then they watch as it tumbles out of reach through a glass trapdoor. The tension filled process continues through seven questions after which whatever money they still have, they can keep.

With some contestants risking it all on one answer, and with others painstakingly dividing their money to keep their chances alive, it’s a game packed with emotion, tension and quite a lot of drama!

Given the exhilarating nature of the show, it’s no wonder that Gideon Okeke says that his excited reaction when told he was going to host the show was “over the top!” He goes on to say that viewers should definitely tune in to watch the series.  “Audiences are in for a thrill because it’s an exciting game show format that combines the elements of risk, reward, emotion and a more than generous start-off sum of $100 000 USD. “

With a diploma in Screen Acting (METHOD) from the acclaimed Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York, in 2008 Okeke starred in the feature film Relentless and appeared on stage at the Muson in Lagos in the production Fractures.  He has also received the following awards:  NEA Best Actor In a TV Series (2010, New York) and the FAB Most Stylish Male Actor (2011, Lagos).

“He’s definitely a star on the rise and one who M-Net has had a long association with,” says M-Net Africa Managing Director Biola Alabi. “From Big Brother to Tinsel and now to THE MONEY DROP NIGERIA, Gideon’s career in the spotlight is progressing forward steadily. In his latest role, he engages wonderfully with the contestants drawing out their personalities, while also guiding audiences watching at home through the game.”

Produced by Endemol SA and sponsored by Nigeria’s Diamond Bank, THE MONEY DROP NIGERIA marks the first time that the format has been filmed in Africa. The show will be re-screened on AfricaMagic Entertainment on Mondays at 22:30 CAT, Wednesdays at 17:30 CAT and Fridays at 22:30 CAT. For more information on this and other AfricaMagic programs or channels, log on to www.africamagic.tv.

REVEREND Father Willy Ojukwu is a priest at the Cathedral of the Twelve Apostles, Abuja, Federal Capital Territory. He was the pioneer priest at St. Kizito Catholic Church, Kuje, Abuja in 1983 having been posted there by late Dominic Ignatius Cardinal Ekandem. Father Ojukwu trained as a journalist and video maker in Canada as well as a priest. He had been in Abuja in those formative years and has witnessed the transformation from a virgin land. Ojukwu went through some periods of trials and what came out of it was a book where he narrates how a journalist interviewed the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The book has now been made into a movie with a crop of Nollywood stars including Emmanuel France, the renowned actor. The Reverend Father who has passion for football presented this great movie in Abuja. Thereafter, he took it to the United States of America where it also received acclamation and public acceptance. As a result of the acceptance of his movie and other great works by Nigerians in Abuja and the United States, Father Ojukwu has begun the process of establishing what he called a Soup Kitchen in Abuja through an organization called Perpetual Helper Society.

During an interview in his office in Abuja, the cleric told The Guardian that he did the same thing when he was abroad many years ago and the Soup Kitchen tradition entailed people coming from all over the place to “come and eat free and go!” He disclosed; “We are looking for a big land in Gwagwalada or Kuje, where I can get a space, fence it and build it, and cook every food. All the beggars in the world can come, line up, feed and drink water.

“This is what I want to do. I discussed with former Governor Peter Odili and he was highly excited that he didn’t know what to say. The beggars and all these people at least will have food at least two times a week. Free food, eat well and go.”

Ojukwu who hails from the Agulu-Nanka area in the Eastern part of Nigeria has been working in Abuja Arch Diocese, for about 30 years.

He studied Journalism and had his first degree in Video from St Paul University, Ottawa in Canada in 1974. Although he does not practice journalism, he was inspired to write the book on Virgin Mary by acting as the journalist who interviewed her.

According to him, the story of his life which inspired the writing of the book which has led to the making of the movie began when he was sick a couple of years ago and he went to Dubai for treatment.

“I had surgery. Two days after I came out of the theatre. I had a very terrible pain. I was on my bed with my younger sister, she was sitting by the side in the hospital, I was crying. I was in pain. Then the doctor came in and he gave me one injection, then the pain subsided. Then I slept. As I slept, that was when I got the voice that I should write a book on Virgin Mary. I wrote two books on her in the end. That day, after I woke up I started searching for the title of the book I will write. Each one I got, my mind would say no. A voice asked; “why not interview Virgin Mary and tell her who I am?’ said the Priest.

He said further; “I called my sister who was sitting far away. I called her to give me a pen and paper. I was lying down there. Immediately, the title; “A journalist interviews Virgin Mary” came into my mind and then I started writing it down. As I wrote it down, the questions started coming into my mind and then I started writing even on my sick bed. Then when I had finished, I didn’t write much. In the morning I got up, I stayed another two days in the hospital. On my way back to Nigeria inside the plane, I was writing, it was flowing like that. The books have been sold all over. People who read them were thrilled.”

Archbishop John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan was asked to give an upstart and he did. Father Ojukwu also asked Dr. Martin Igwemezie Uzoukwu, Catholic Bishop of Minna Diocese to write foreword after reading the manuscript and he wrote it. The book was later published. The idea of the movie came up later.

Then when the idea of the movie came up, I believe in it and I supported them.

HOW was he able to become a priest after studying journalism?

He narrated: “When you are doing video making in Canada, in that University, you are exposed to all kinds of courses. So I took courses here and there.”

He recalled that his aim of studying journalism was that he wanted to write books and work in a newspaper house. But immediately he finished his degree, he switched over to Priesthood there in Canada. “it has been my dream since childhood to be a priest.”

He went down memory lane; “I finished my primary school in 1956. I was very small and I was very much interested in being a priest. I went up for Priesthood at All Hallos Seminary, Onitsha. That was in 1957. It didn’t work out well. After three days I felt I should leave.  As it were, I felt it was easier for me to carry on provided I become a missionary to work for God and humanity. I was so tiny. I knew I didn’t know where I was going. Well during the war, I was so much involved on the Biafra side. Then with all that I saw on the side of Biafra and how Biafra suffered so much and the people I helped and I felt God has called me to be more on the part of helping the people. I established as it were, over 40 Kwashiorkor Centres and Soup Kitchens and refugee camps throughout Biafra’s period.

“After that, I moved on to Canada to join the White Fathers Congregation. That’s where I did my Philosophy in different Universities. I did my Theology and continued on to do my Doctorate degree. So after finishing in Canada, I went to England. From England I went to France for further studies and I ended up in America doing my Doctorate degree.”

Today, Father Ojukwu is happy that his book and movie projects have been accepted and are helping him tremendously to assist the poor in Abuja since August 1983.

He recalled: “I was here when Shagari was overthrown and the rest of them. When I came here in Abuja, there was no road as such, except this express road that is coming in from Lokoja, coming in straight away. We started developing Abuja right from day one.”

He expressed joy over the transformation that the city has witnessed over the years. “The Federal Capital of Nigeria was built so fast. It is one of the fastest growing cities in Africa and also the most costly city in Africa to live in. A lot of Infrastructures have been established since I came in and I want it to continue,” he added.

However, Father Ojukwu decries the fate of the Gwari people who originally lived and owned the land.

“My greatest regret is what is happening to the indigenes, those who call themselves indigenes like the Gwari people and so on. Their rehabilitation is very slow. They should be given a very good treatment as human beings, as Nigerians and as children of God,” said the priest.

He added; “That’s why I don’t agree with the former Minister who said Abuja is for the rich people. It’s not true, God is rich, if God presumes Himself like this, He’s rich, therefore we poor people, God shouldn’t have tolerated us. But we are all children of God, We are equal before God. There’s nothing like rich and poor people before God.”

On the book that led to the making of the movie, the Reverend Father said that in the book, the Virgin Mary told him all about her “biography, her life, her vocation as the mother of God, her joy being the mother of God, the qualities and the greatness of her son, Jesus Christ and also the consequences that follow being the mother of God and that’s why she’s called the Mother of Sorrows.”

The priest is a fan of Chelsea. Last year, he went to Stanford Bridge. His spiritual son in football is Samson Siasia. The priest was putting Super Eagle’s Jersey when this interview was being conducted.

On political development in Nigeria, Father Ojukwu said; “if you know me very well, I am very vocal, I don’t hide my feelings. I am not a politician, but I love politics, the politics that is clear. Politics is evil, it’s a science. It’s good, but people make them bad. I have been for the masses. Since 1914, when the Amalgamation of Nigeria took place, God has not given us a good leader. God has given us all sorts of good things, human and material. God is a Nigerian, but he has not given us a patriotic, selfless, and loving leader.”

He said; “Jonathan is trying, the present President. But unfortunately for him and for us, the situation which has been built up over the years, he cannot overcome it overnight. The problem is corruption. From day one, from everybody including myself, in Nigeria, everybody is corrupt in one way or the other at different levels and that’s why we have baptized corruption as if to say it is accepted norm. And that’s the canker worm of everything that kills us.”

Father Ojukwu said another problem in Nigeria is greed and avarice without realizing “that vanity upon vanity, all is vanity.”

“We don’t learn from history. That’s one thing with the leadership in Nigeria. They read history but they don’t put this history to practice. Nigerian leaders travel abroad, they go everywhere, enjoy everything, all amenities, amass all the money and send them back to those countries to develop those places where people have already developed and are enjoying.”

According to him, “If Nigerians can use their money very profitably, we can’t talk of unemployment in this country. We have enough of money to establish different types of industries in this country. We have beautiful climate.  We have water resources. We have enough gas and petroleum to give us energy. We have dams. There is nothing that we don’t have that cannot make us an industrialized nation. Once we have an industrialized nation, unemployment will go. Everybody will get something doing.”

MOST radio and television audiences are usually under the misapprehension that the on-air personalities who project the programmes that they enjoy, are solely responsible for this transmission. Little do they know that this presentation effort is only the frosting on the cake and that without the men and women who engineer the process of gathering materials and transforming artistic creativity to broadcast form, this feat would not be possible. Veteran broadcaster, Victor Johnson who celebrated 70 years of fruitful existence last Sunday at his Lekki residence in Lagos belongs to this latter category of broadcasters. According to him, “the party was intended to be low-keyed, but it turned out to be a huge event.”

Victor and I were in broadcasting together from the 60s to the 70s.I met him on 6th January, 1965 as a rookie staff of Gramophone Library of Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation, when, O. J. Nanna, the Librarian, handed him to me for training.  This was the beginning of a closeness that was to become a bond. Both of us were aficionados of tobacco, kola, black-beret, patronage of buka, support of Fela in his Koola Lobitos days. Kehinde Okusanya and Biodun Shobanjo soon joined to form a tight group. A mark of this bond was that it was Victor that Biodun chose to be the best-man at his wedding in 1971.

Victor boasts an aristocratic bearing: not surprising as his father, Frank E. Johnson of the Scott family, who was also my boss at the Regional Treasury in Ibadan before I joined the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), was one of the first to live with expatriates in GRA in the 50’s. Victor is junior to a sister, Mrs Bada, a nurse with the vaunted British SRN, SCM; another sister married to renowned broadcaster, Ishola Folorunsho and a brother, Prof. A.K. Johnson who became a Provost of the University Teaching Hospital (UCH), Ibadan.  There was an underlying gravity about him and a dedication for whatever he did.

He soon proved to be a man of many parts as, apart from his Library duties, he sneaked into Programmes Operations Department and became so proficient as to rival Biodun who was the all-time star. He also made forays into Production and became as good as the best. The ultimate was his production of The Big Beat, which I presented and was the biggest thing on Radio then. There was also “Fifteen Minutes with Biz Law,” a tight musical presented by veteran broadcaster, Bisi Lawrence. These activities brought him into conflict with many,  putting  the authorities in a dilemma as to how to handle a fellow, doing illicit jobs and doing them so well.

No wonder the Corporation appointed him to represent her during the Nigerian Civil War when the Army requested for a ‘senior staff’ to produce a programme for the welfare of Federal troops. But, how could a 26-year old, lowly Library Assistant have been seconded for such a sensitive national job? As usual, he discharged himself creditably. Based in Port Harcourt, headquarters of 3rd Marine Commando under the famous Col. Benjamin Adekunle, the Black Scorpion, he made weekly visits to Lagos to transmit the ‘Federal Forces Calling Home’ programme. There was some disquiet when his photograph with Gen. Gowon, then Head of State and staff officers on a visit to PH appeared in the Media & Unity in Faith, a book produced by the Government after the war.

A tighter relationship between us was fostered by our involvement with Fela’s music, a Fela that I managed from his days of Koola Lobitos.  Victor sometimes provided supportive roles. Now, how did this fellow acquire this varied technical expertise without any training?

However, he was lured in 1974 into the lucrative Advertising business by Biodun who, himself, had jumped ship in 1971 and was already firmly established in this new professional calling. His exit took him out of my horizon but didn’t severe the umbilical cord. My loss was Biodun’s gain, with Victor becoming fiercely loyal to him, out of gratitude for facilitating his entry into a better life. His legendary dedication catapulted him to the peak of the profession to make him the first black Head of Marketing at PM within six years where he  pioneered Events Management, sponsoring Oshun Oshogbo, Argungun Fishing Festival and the  playing tour of Nigeria by English Football Club, Orient in 1983.

The 1987 sale of Philip Morris to the El-Khalil Family ended his career as he was obliged to leave with a restructuring that the El-Khalil introduced.  He had a stint as Marketing Director of Sona Dairies 1987/9 and forged soya-based milk concept in Nigeria. Sadly, the Company closed under bizarre circumstances.

With his becoming footloose, Biodun, ever sagacious and with a nose for assets, brought him back to his orbit to join his Insight Communications where, he deployed his tobacco marketing expertise to facilitate winning prestigious BAT (B&H SF) business in 1990. Arising laterally from B&H SF was Benson & Hedges Music (B&H Music) which brought in Golden Tones Concert, the first of which Victor arrow-headed in March 1994 with an unprecedented 12-day musical blitz to eight states in Nigeria

The crowning glory of Victor’s career was his feat at MC & A when he was appointed April 1994 to head the Agency when it crashed. He wrought a virtual miracle and, within six months, the prostrate Agency was up and running to consistently show profit till its shut-down in 2001. His singular loyalty made him stay with Biodun, even when it was the fashion for staffers to pull stakes to set-up their own outfits and smiling to the Bank with an assured future.

Unknown to us, Victor is a churchman and Choirmaster – born into a music family as his father was a Choirmaster. I was blown away in 2003 when I saw him on the organ at his Choir’s Festival. In 2006, Methodist Church gave him a knighthood of Charles Wesley, her highest award.

Victor is serious-minded, disciplined, unbending, hard-as-nail with an incongruous piety, a nil-social life, never missing his Choir practice or Sunday services with his family - a Deaconess wife and kids in the Choir, despite their academic fixation. Victor’s three kids are from Alero, who also had a stint with the NBC before going for a degree programme at the University of Ibadan.

Not many know of Victor’s huge sense of humour, extraordinary intimacy with Yoruba proverbs with which he spices his speeches to confound or intimidate. Victor is intellectually garrulous, no doubt, but he lives it: A virtual wordsmith, English grammar comes alive in his hands with an inimitable ability to string words to work for him in any direction.  A friend of ours once said that English is put in Victor’s hands to mould into any shape he desires. And because it was a true assessment, none of us could dispute the veracity of this judgment of Victor’s competence — which he has continued to demonstrate – even at 70.

All told, Victor Johnson is not only a veteran broadcaster; he is also a guru in advertising.

EDEWOR who just returned from a post-doctoral fellowship of School Of Oriental And African Studies (SOAS) University Of London, U.K argued that the progenitor of the dynasty, Olawoyin, should have been so honoured “and not Fakeye.” Edewor built his argument on the fact that the most famous of the Fakeyes, (Lamidi, 1928-2009), is widely referred as belonging to the fifth generation of the woodcarvers.

Tagged Bestriding Igbomina/ Ekiti Longstanding Woodcarving Traditions and Modern Nigerian Art; Lamidi Olonade Fakeye (1928-2009), it was one of the two presentations by Edewor at the SOAS and University College London (UCL) seminar rooms. His second presentation, he disclosed, was titled Evolution, Development and Challenges of Modern Nigerian Art since 1900.

At a gathering in Lagos after his return, Edewor analysed his research on the famous family of woodcarvers: “The family ancestry is popularly referred to as the Fakeye woodcarving dynasty, of which Lamidi belongs to the fifth generation and Olabisi his nephew belonging to the sixth generation. In my Ph.D thesis (2009), my data corrects this family nomenclature anomaly, which assigns the family identity to Fakeye Akobi-Ogun (father of Lamidi).” Edewor did not agree with Fakeye as a dynasty over Olawoyin. He added: “The appropriate taxonomy is “Olawonyi woodcarving dynasty”.

However, some other sources have shown that Lamidi and other members of the Fakeye dynasty, have naturally, conformed with Yoruba-oye tradition by using a title bestowed on their great-grandfather, Olawoyin. According to the sources, Fakeye is oye (a title or honour) given to Olawoyin by a king of Ila Orangun (now part of Osun State, southwest, Nigeria) in recognition of the carver’s excellence in wood sculpturing. And because in Yoruba tradition, the oye ascribed to the head of a family could be taken as oye-idile (family title), the descendants of Olawoyin, in this context, have the right to Fakeye, hence it becomes the family name. Based on this, change of the family name from Olawoyin to Fakeye has not, and should not in anyway alter the family chain of over a century old woodcarvers; Olawoyin’s legacy has not been eroded as argued by Edewor.

Although Edewor claimed that his Ph.D thesis (2009), “corrects this family nomenclature anomaly which assigns the family identity to Fakeye Akobi-Ogun (father of Lamidi),” but it appears that his research did not consider the ‘Fakeye’ title given to Olawonyin as well as a 1971 exhibition, which seemed to have given more prominence to the term ‘Fakeye Dynasty.’

During Lamidi’s last solo exhibition titled Timber’s Titan, held at Mydrim Gallery, Ikoyi, Lagos in June, 2008, it was revealed that a group show titled Exhibition of Three Generations of Fakeye Woodcarvers, held in Ibadan, in 1971, featured the works of Lamidi and other Fakeyes.

Further investigations have indicated that the nomenclature, Fakeye Dynasty, most likely, emerged from the Ibadan show. In fact, one of the living members of the Fakeyes who participated in the 1971 show in Ibadan, Bisi Fakeye, 70, confirmed during a chat over the phone, few days ago that the Ibadan exhibition featured three generations of descendants of Olawoyin. And that the theme of the 1971 show emphasised ‘three generations of Fakeye’, perhaps, support a conscious effort of the exhibited artists to promote Fakeye as a dynasty of woodcarvers.

From Olawoyin to Fakeye, the chain of family of woodcarvers is approximately one and a half century old. From then till now, the family of woodcarvers who are from Ila-Orangun – an embattled town during a nineteenth century war with Ibadan – have earned tremendous attention of scholars, home and the Diaspora, particularly in higher institutions of learning across the U.S. and Europe.

What is however not contentious in Edewor’s scholarly work on Lamidi’s style and technique, is the influence of the carver’s western exposure. Edewor argued that the western influence makes Lamidi a modernist. He noted how Lamidi’s “progression from Igbomina longstanding woodcarving traditions” fuses into another form the artist adapted from the Oye-Eliti workshop, and “eventual oversea studies at Paris, France.” Further in his scholarly studies of Lamidi, Edewor grouped his work into periods across seven decades: “Pre-Oye-Ekiti, (1938-1948); Oye-Ekiti, (1949-1960); early Post Oye-Ekiti, (1961-1996); Late Oye-Ekiti, (1997-2009).

Indeed, Edewor’s observation about Lamidi’s modernist characteristics showed in the late carver’s last show Timber’s Titan. The works on display were though largely native in themes, but covertly modern in technique and style: slightly blurring the line between African and western expressionism. One of Nigeria’s leading collectors, Omooba Yemisi Shyllon whose new book Conversations with Lamidi Fakeye is scheduled for launch soon wrote in the catalogue of Timber’s Titan: “Prof Lamidi Fakeye is an exceptional artist. In the past, traditional works of art did not appeal to me. I found them ugly, out of proportion and of no aesthetic value
“Over time, I have come to appreciate these works and to understand that traditional African Art should not be viewed from the prism of European Art, as the inspiration for both are from different origins. They exist side by side and have been known to influence each other. For example, Picasso was greatly influenced by traditional African art”.

On his second presentation in the U.K, Edewor noted the dearth of literature in Nigerian libraries, adding that it affects “the level of awareness of the public about what art is, and how it functions in the development of modern society.”

He urged art historians, critics and others rescue the visual art through more publications. “While I wish to challenges art historians and critics to put their ideas into publishable form, institutions should also seek partnership with international publishers to obtain licenses to their electronic resources. This will help individuals and students to access a wide range of data that could ease research.”

Edewor is a Senior Lecturer, Fine and Applied Arts Department, Delta State University, Abraka, and Associate Fellow, Center for African Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.