FELA ...METAPHOR

FELA AND THE CORNED BEEF METAPHOR
Lasunkanmi Bolarinwa
laskyb@yahoo.co.uk

My friend saw the Fela! Show in the UK. He did not like it much. That is because he is more of a drama person. He thought he saw more of a musical concert than theatre. But as a musical concert, he gave it thumbs up. He was wowed by the stagecraft. When it came to Nigeria, or rather passed through here on a connecting flight, my friend took a flight. Reason? He was scared of being disgraced on home soil. Why? He could not imagine which of the venues would provide the kind of facilities that made the concert he had seen earlier a marvel. I knew I had to see it take him on on some of his assertions.
Unfortunately for me, I did not get to see the show. None of my friends volunteered to buy me the five thousand naira ticket and I did not have enough sense to have started a saving scheme with one of the itinerant community ‘banks’ in my neighbourhood ahead of time. Actually, I saved some money, only it was not enough. First it was for the show at the shrine. I had the one thousand naira ready two days before the show. But it dawned on me that I should have factored not walking all the way to and from the shine into the plan.
The scenario preventing me from the latter show at the Eko Hotel and Suites was more dramatic but have to be left till other times. That is because when I read of one prominent journalist lamenting that to see Fela alive at the shrine was less tedious than what she went through in the hands of the organizers, I knew the Gods were on my side. Only I did not know on time. I thus resolved in consolation that maybe I could save enough money to go watch the show in the UK sometime. After all, what is the price tag of dreams? Since then, I have been saving everywhere here. Inside pot. Under rug. Inside fridge. Under bed. You know now. Only hope is that I don’t end up as that Fela character whom overtake overtook. In the meantime, I expect to have the VCD flashed across my face somewhere between Maryland roundabout and Victoria Island soon. Except this is not Nigeria. I trust my brothers. If you know of a place where it is available already, please help a brother PLEASE.
In the meantime, so many issues have come up in the post Fela show days. Some felt we have been let down by our elite and leaders. Some spoke about the show and its organisers. Some about the person of Fela and his lifestyle. Some about the place of music in drama. Some about the commerce of art and so on and so frothy in the mouth. As events have proven, there is a group of my friends who went to see the show not for anything else but to be able to talk about it without respite as status statements and as a way of telling me that I missed a lifetime opportunity. Shame on them all. By the way, if any one of them is reading this, let them take this as notice of termination of friendship. That should have been my New Year resolution. But better late than never. All my friends who went to see the show without making provision for me are herby FRIED. I mean fired.
My choreographer friend is still in an orgasmic fit. She says it is better than sxx can you believe that?! What length would people not go to simply to make you feel bad for kicks? I am happy she is not in the cast. What does it matter anyway, she is no longer my friend.
I have a costumier friend who has been fantasying about the show long before it dreamt of coming here. He was willing to merely help with costume accessories back stage just so that he could earn the credit of being in the show. They denied him (he! he!) but gave him a free ticket to see the show, and not from back stage (mcheeeew!).
I have this other friend who runs a troupe in Bariga. He saw the show at the shrine and also at Eko Hotel and Suites (can you see how wicked people can be? I WILL NOT forgive him for that; considering the fact that I did not see half a show). At the end of it all, he seems to have entered an interminable moment of reflection. Asked why, he says because once again, the metaphor of the corned beef is playing out right under our noses.
Yes, the corned beef that sits pretty on the supermarket shelve that we starve to save and buy for those occasional delicacies is nothing but the same cow, nama, herded from Kano to the coast, cargoed to Europe, killed, processed and canned are what we use our hard earned foreign reserve to import and starve to consume. How Anikulapo must be dying over and over in his grave that we made corned beef of him.
Some argue that Fela was murdered in the show. Meaning that the essence of Fela was lost outright or somehow. Some think that it serves us right. Why wait for someone outside to come and tell us OUR own story? My take is that whatever ‘damage’ has been done can still be redressed. This is the time for someone who has more business ideas than all the rest of us ranting to conceive a production that is a rejoinder from here in which what we want said about Fela can be properly put across. The fact that there is one on broadway can also translate to a huge advert for this kind of idea.
However, the point might be: Who has the authentic Fela story? Or better still, who can be the best teller of this story that is nothing if not the description of an elephant by a gang of blindmen who felt its different parts? There are stories waiting to be told, there is money waiting to be earned.
In the meantime, enjoy your corned beef. Or the smell of it, if you are in my shoes.

The Koko Mix By ’Lasunkanmi Bolarinwa laskyb@yahoo.co.uk

The koko in the mix of the title of this piece is that same one that has been made popular by D’Banj. It is also koko, the Yoruba noun word that has been in existence for longer than one can recall. This is and is not the derivative from hip hop artiste D’banj. This koko has gone out of his reach. In choosing this title I am straddling the koko; the essence of the matter and the knot or the lump. The first of the latter meaning is neither good nor bad. All it refers to is the essential point or issue in an argument. The koko mix therefore is an examination of the implication of this interaction of art, passion and governance that this interview represents in view of the general perception of hip hop culture and music in Nigeria. KOKO, THE ESSENCE I think in going for the essence, the president’s men went for the knot or rather; they did not just go for the substance of the matter. To say they tied themselves in a knot is to be mild in summing everything up. They created a lump. Now, depending on where you find a lump, it may be good or bad. When doctors find a lump in a patient’s body, there is evidence of serious medical implication. When the lump is in your ikokore or tuwo or pounded yam, it might be something to roll round the mouth for a while and relish. In this case, I think we might be dealing with a malignant koko. Here is a koko that has dire political and artistic implications. There have since been pockets of debates on whether it is right for D’banj to assume he is a worthy representative of millions of Nigerian youths yearning to ask, “What about us?” There have been arguments moving between the pros and cons of a political office aspirant taking for granted the desires of a critical section of the voting populace and the need not to make a scapegoat of a poor artiste who is just doing business. WHAT ABOUT US? Beyond the linguistic implication of the koko word, the essence of this write up is examine the implication of the interview between Goodluck Jonathan and D’Banj in the face of all the argument it has generated. This has bothered on the appropriateness or otherwise of the interview. It has raised questions about how seriously should we treat the relationship between popular art and governance One website, naijafilms.com made an incisive projection a day before the interview was aired. It asks: “How is it that the President of the Federal Republic doesn't want to be interviewed by journalists but doesn't mind sitting down for an entertainer? What exactly is D'banj going to ask him? He will probably kiss-ass throughout the interview (D'banj is one of the many Naija entertainers campaigning for the president). Now a Chude Jideonwo or a Tolu Ogunlesi, or the guys from 'What About Us' would have done a better job.” By the way ass kissing was all D’Banj did throughout the interview. Maybe not because he so much liked the taste but because he apparently has no clue what the real issues involved in the elections are about. It is possible that apart from dreaming to become a mega star and the ultimate centre of attention of every woman, D’Banj has no other ambition in life other than this, which is quite legitimate. If aping Fela in the course of realizing that dream is required, he would, as he has proven times without number, be more Anikulapoic in his performances than Femi and Seun put together, he would do it to perfection. But let us face it, aping Fela does not give you the philosophy or wisdom or intelligence of Fela. The koko here is that if you say D’Banj is a performer who was asked to perform, he has done his performance. Whether it was a good performance or not is another question. But even as a performance, what was the role of Jonathan there? Guest artiste? Or should we ask? Whose show is it anyway? Is this Jonathan’s show where D’BAnj is merely playing to a script? I am swayed in favour of this later hypothesis. Then I have to say that the owner of the show is the long term loser. Is the society expecting too much from D’Banj considering the fact that he is also Nigeria's first United Nations Youth Ambassador for Peace. How many people reckon with this fact? Has he earned the title with a commitment to issues? Cant remember him speaking on the persistent carnage in Jos where peace has been ruptured and many youths are dying. Understandably, the president has also not been able to address this sore spot in our unfolding collective history. Is it not rather exploitative (and criminally so) of the situation to remember all of a sudden that you are an ambassador of peace on the eve of an electoral debate and use that to the detriment of the genuine aspiration of the age that look up to you? If this performance had been at the instance of D’Banj, then I expect him to feature all other presidential aspirants before we have the election so that all can benefit from his ass licking potentials. HIP HOP POLITRICKS When candidates refuse to attend public debates because they were not given questions ahead of debate, how can we be sure that they can tackle cases of exam malpractises in our educational sector when voted into public offices? How do you begin to convince yourself that a candidate who is given, or has the audacity to set his or her own question and appoint an invigilator but was unable to pass the exam is the best person to tackle the challenges of a nation like Nigeria? In my own plain terms, this is the case of a candidate demanding, as a matter of right, to be allowed to cheat so that he could do better than his/her colleagues. THE MUSIC MAN AND HIS TRADE One of the hallmarks of ingenuity, according to a mischievious friend of mine, is the inability to realise ones limitations. And he would go on to cite examples. If D'banj were to be a genius, this would hold true for him. He just could not say " No, I am an artiste and not a journalist and that I do not have the mandate of the youths to interview you. If you however expect me to do a track or album in support of your campaign and policies, all well and good. My manager will send you the bill”. D’banj might have been nothing but a scapegoat in this whole scenario. Incidentally, he has a song by that title where he is singing to his val. If Goodluck had been a woman, I would have been working up a different hypothesis. Take a look at an excerpt from the song: For all those guys that caused you pain they broke your heart and brought you shame If you need someone to blame, you can put that blame on me. For all those guys wey spoil your name those guys that drove you insane. Let me the one to pay At your beck and call day or night I'll stay committed to you girl I'll never fall your hand Then let them call me a fool girl Omo na them get their mouth o And then the chorus goes: I will be your scape goat honey cos you came through for me You gave me break through baby oh ahhh... (2x) LAST LINE Some have expressed the opinion that what happened here as far as D’banj is concerned is business. I cant agree with them more. The same way I expect them to agree with me that trading in blood diamond and child trafficking are also kinds of businesses. The forth coming elections would determine a lot about the rate of development of this country in the next one decade or more. Doing “business” with such prospect calls for serious introspection. Others have said it is the simple act of endorsement that is done all over the world and that it is some kind of recognition of the art and artiste. The more I see their point, the more it also becomes clearer to me that it is the same thing when a political office holder needs the art to endorse the act of ethnic cleansing but I quickly check myself because the instances are not close except that where the artiste does business without conscience, the line between exploitation and exploration are blurred.