ktravula – a travelogue!

Browsing the archives for the Observations category.

Re-reading History

For the past few days, I have been reading Nigeria’s history (again), especially as regards military politics and the slow and significant steps that brought us to where we are today. The curious search began with a visit to Ilorin and Kaduna where I first heard of Ibrahim Taiwo road. Now Ilorin and Kaduna are both very distant places from each other and the Yoruba military man must have been significant to have had a major road named after him in two (perhaps more) states in Nigeria. I came online, and I was led from one relevant link to another until I satisfied my curiosity.

At the end of two full days of reading through a verifiable history that has also been written about in many other publications, I came to very many realizations. One of them of course was that the civil population never stood much of a chance from the beginning, especially since military tasted power. Ego, politics, greed and corruption took over and we have not remained the same ever since, nor has the players since independence really stepped aside for others or dialogued with alternative viewpoints, for the most part. We could say that much of Nigeria’s military history shares the stage with much of its political history.

There were very many complex stories many of which lent itself to interesting engagement. The first coup and its ethnic sentiments, the counter coups and military politics, the civil war heroes and villains, the players and the losers, and the very many incidental occurrences that read like stuff for movies or great literatures. General Gowon stands out with his far-reaching reforms, his engaging personality, and his position at a crucial time in history. In comparison, he is the only one of Nigeria’s leaders that could stand in Mandela’s image. At the end though, placed beside the reality on the ground where at fifty years we have not been able to supply electricity uninterrupted to all parts of the country, all the gallantry and “gentlemanliness” or the Nigerian military officers (who have interestingly all remained in the political and diplomatic limelight since then) all fade away into the murk of irrelevance. A waste.

Much of those stories can be found online at Dawodu.com. People interested should check here, here and here for detailed analysis of the first coups and how it changed the course of the nation’s history.

Re-reading History was published on August 4th, 2010, with the tags , , , , , under the Observations, Opinion category. There are currently 4 comments on this article so far.

Going Way Back

I stumbled on a pack of seven albums of a legend called Odolaye Aremu a few weeks ago and my life has never been the same again. The famous exponent of a brand of poetry/music/chant called Dadakuada recorded more than two dozen albums of his brand of art between 1977 and 1990 in Ibadan. He himself is a product of the town of Ilorin. His art spanned decades of politics, religion, social issues, love, lust, feud and music itself, and my first intimations of it must even be earlier than I can even pinpoint, way back to pre-youth, when music was played only on record plates. The reproduction of the albums by the original production company (ORC) in Ibadan for mass distribution in today’s world there is a very welcome development. I’ve particularly had a very pleasant time reconnecting with the curious mix of musical styles hidden within the vein of this particular peculiar art form never since reproduced on this scale by any other indigenous artist before and since the death of Odolaye.

Dadakuada stands in equal stead with Apala, Awurebe, Ijala, amongst many other distinct indigenous styles of musical poetry from the sixties that have all but died off in their original forms. Thanks to digital technology, we still have enough of them now to remind us of the richness of Yoruba poetry, especially of the performance kind that, though commercialized, retained much of their original distinctness.

Going Way Back was published on August 2nd, 2010, with the tags , , , , , , under the Art, Observations category. There are currently 2 comments on this article so far.

Farewell to a Good Year

Never getting a chance at the end of 2009 to make the usual resolutions and contrite restitutions meant for the last moments before the year slips by, let me pretend that this is the last night of the year, a few hours before the countdown into a new year. On December 2009, I was in that faraway place with the shadow of an errant Nigerian panty bomber lurking just around in hush conversations. A better scenery than sitting in a church service amidst noises and supplications to the deity of the new year, I was floating in an imaginary continent of my dreamland; just one of those instances I can remember in my short life where the momentary passage of one day did not live to its expectation of being super grand. A few hours later, dozens of text messages from everywhere told me that another year had passed by, at least in our time zone. As the sun moved westwards, so did the day, and very soon we were all satiated in the ordinariness of such a significant passage, far less ordinary than December 31, 1999, just a decade earlier, spent in the throes of questions and skepticisms.

Tonight could be a more significant eve, who knows, perhaps because if this blog does not continue after today, we can at least say that it lived as fully as it could over twelve interesting moons. And if it does, we can say that the first year was good, and that the second should be better. In any case, there is cause for celebration. Now, in the style of the specialists of such occasions, there should be drinks and clinking glasses. Yes, yes, I remember when men were boys, and a good time meant plenty suya and a pleasant conversation amidst howling dogs and a quiet, or soft music-infested, environment. A bottle of Ponche spread around on cold soda drinks produced what has now become the legendary KT Martini. No, I don’t recommend that now. Get a bottle of yogurt along with a box of Don Simon. Get a mix in the right proportion, read a good poem (I’ll put one up shortly, the last post for this “year”) and drink to health, long life, and many more interesting adventures. Call it KTramarula, a drink on me.

Farewell to a Good Year was published on July 31st, 2010, with the tags , , , under the Fun, Observations, Soliloquy category. There are currently 10 comments on this article so far.

UNDP

I also submitted some photos for the UNDP photo contest last month, three photos each for a category. The theme was “We can end poverty.” Here and here are some of my photo entries. The result will be announced sometimes next month.

UNDP was published on July 30th, 2010, with the tags , , , under the Art, Fun, Observations category. There are currently 2 comments on this article so far.

Out With The Old?

Henry is running around the house with his brother and I yell at them to stop with the noise. They ignore me, taking over the administration of the living room. Their mother is in one corner enjoying the whole noise, or at least indifferent to it. By now, she is used to the ordeal of living with two young boys under ten. I’m on the computer and all I need is my serenity so I shout again. “Hey boys, unlike your grandmother, I don’t mind you running around as fast as you like, but please don’t make any noises.”

“It is Henry.” the brother screams.
“No, It is Oyin.” the other responds, and they resume the noise and the demonic speed all around the house.

I am peeved and I shut down my laptop and relocate to a different part of the house.

You see, this is exactly how people get old: new ones are born and they are so cute, and they take over all the attention in the house. They’re smart, they’re agile, and they are vulnerable. Yes, yes, they’re babies, and nephews, and nieces. And before you know it, the old guy is no longer the cutest boy in the house. Once upon a time, it was Laitan and I running around a far larger compound than this with dust on our brows and heels. Now she’s all grown and taken, Ha, and another aeon has gently replaced us.

This is exactly how people get old. What on earth happened here?

Out With The Old? was published on July 29th, 2010, with the tags , , , , , under the adventures, Observations, Soliloquy category. There are currently no comments on this article so far.