Jalaa Writers’ Collective (JWC)

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Jalaa Writers’ Collective (JWC) is a new Writers’ publishing and promotional initiative consisting of ten award-winning and notable Nigerian writers. The writers are:

A. Igoni BarrettAbimbola Adunni Adelakun
Ahmed Maiwada
Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo
Araceli Aipoh
Joy Isi-Bewaji
Jude Dibia
Odili Ujubuonu
Uche Umez Peter
Victoria Kankara

Like many other writers’ collectives all over the world, the focus and aim of JWC is to produce high quality books, both in content and in form as well as aid in the development of literature in the society. JWC is a new business model for publishing.

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The name Jalaa is derived from a northern Nigerian language about to go extinct. Members are united by a common purpose of using the collective power of many to achieving individual writing and publishing goals.

Odili Ujubuoñu’s new book Pride of the Spider Clan and Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo’s Roses and Bullets will be released under the JWC imprint early next year.

Jalaa hopes to create a platform for improving the craft of its writers and closing the gap existing between books and readers in the Nigerian Publishing Market. 

More information on this group and the profile of its members visit its website: www.jalaawriters.com

Poetry At The Storymoja Hay Festival

The poetic world was represented by a selection of very good poets. On Saturday, 2nd October 2010 at 2pm to 3.30 pm, Khainga Okwemba hosted Phyllis Muthoni, Stephen Partington and Njeri Wangari in the Kwani Tent.

The topic of discussion was “New Kenyan Poetry”. The poets talked about their books and what inspires them to write. Njeri, the author of Mines & Mind Fields revealed that initially she wanted to give the book a different title; Fading Faces. But that on consulting one Magareta Wagaceru, they came to the conclusion that the title was a bit dull and wouldn’t attract as much attention as Mines & Mind Fields would. Mines & Minds Field represents transitions. The poems in her book lead the reader through transitions based on traditions, societal issues and religion too. Njeri is inspired by her personal experiences and close observation of what is going on around her.

Most poets would identify with this form of inspiration. Being aware of yourself and what is going on around you can bring forth poetic masterpieces that will be relevant today and 100 years from now. Anyone who understands human nature knows that human beings are the same yesterday today and tomorrow. The only thing that changes is the environment but the feelings, ideas, perceptions and reactions will remain the same till the end of time. Bless the poet who can capture any of the above because he or she will remain relevant for a very long and good time.

She also reads a lot and believes that what a writer reads reflects on what that writer puts on paper. This reminded me of a quote by Samuel Johnson that had been making rounds in my head the entire week; “The greatest part of a writer’s time is spent in reading. In order to write, a man will turn over half a library to make one book.”

Moving away from my ramblings, the second poet on the panel was Phylllis Muthoni. She is the author of Lilac Uprising. Partly inspired by the Jacaranda tree and her late grandmother. Phyllis’ anthology is definitely worth your while. Her personal favorites include The Road and We Became What We Ate.

Phyllis, like Njeri, also believes in reading a lot in order to produce good poetry. In her opinion, heroic artists do not just exist. There has to be a foundation or root from whence the good seed will grow. So, the more you read, the better you become. She also seems to have a close relationship with her thesaurus. Phyllis loves synonyms! I agree with her argument on synonyms because I apply them to my writing too. If there is a better fitting word that has the same meaning as the dull option that I intended to use first, I will not hesitate to replace the pat with a resounding slap. And yes, this requires a lot of editing too and Phyllis edits her work a lot.

Steve Partington, the author How To Euthanise A catctus, left a mark too. Turns out the title of his book was lifted from a poem in the anthology. The title is derived from a line in one of the poems in the book. Thinking, out of the poetic box, I’d say. This is a poet who rightly believes that poetry comes with obligation and a poet has to craft his work otherwise it is all just a diary.

 The moderator, Khainga brought into light a very valid question. He wanted to know what had brought on the new form of poetry that is less cryptic and lacking in metaphors. Steve spoke of how during former president Moi’s era, poetryhad to be cryptic. Because, otherwise, the consequences were not at all pleasant. A poet in those days had to find ways of passing a valid message through other stylistic devices that included metaphors. However the modern or new poet in Kenya has the benefit of freedom of expression that allows him or her to be less cryptic and get straight to the point.

On the question of poets being hired to work around a theme or writing to order, Steve clearly proclaimed that he would not to that. It wouldn’t be right to accept an offer of money to write against one’s conscience. This according to Steve has made certain poets lose their poetic relevance. He however made it clear that writing to order or for the benefit of certain cause for money is different from writing out of a sense of social responsibility. For example instead of writing poetry for a labor institution, a poet could write a poem for the workers in general.

He also commented on the importance of the collaboration of various art forms. Creativity does not originate from one person. Creative minds feed of each other. A poet will be inspired by a painting and a painter will be inspired by a poem and et cetera. We all need each other.

Steve read a poem from his book; Praise Poem. The poem is about the positive side of the post election violence. It praises the man who did not rape the stranded woman and instead restrained his friends from attacking her, the other man who did not throw stones at a fellow human being and even the man who did not use his panga to commit senseless murder.

The next poetic experience that I led myself to was “Verse of Fire”  at the British Council Marquee on Sunday 3rd October at 4pm. Here Benjamin Zephaniah, Tony ‘Smitta’ Mochama and Njeri Wangari engaged the audience in a very lively poetic discussion. The moderator Keguro Macharia made the session even more informative with his comments and questions.

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Benjamin talked about secondary school poetry and how the teachers did not make it easy for the students to understand and love poetry. You remember those days in high school when you read a poem, thought that you had nailed its meaning and went on to confidently give the teacher your interpretation? Remember the teacher’s reaction? That reaction that made you go off poetry until now? Well, it turns out that this did not happen in Kenya only. It happened and still happens in secondary schools the world over!

  He also mentioned the importance of reading as many books a s possible plus the fact that he draws his inspiration from oppression and not ‘depression’. On the question of the modern wave of trendy poets who get dressed and  paid to perform to order, Benjamin reminded the audience that people who listen to poetry are intelligent people. They really do not care about what a poet looks like or which record company he or she is signed under. They only come to listen to the word. This definitely means that if the word is lacking, the audience disappears. Consequently the life line of a trendy poet is very short.

Most importantly, poetry should not and cannot be forced!

Smitta also made some valid contributions to the discussion. A good poet has to be disciplined and must read a lot because without language, nothing fruitful will come out. There has to be a combination of intellectual exercise and passion. He is inspired by the dark moments in life and not vodka as many would think.

On the question whether poetry has become available to Kenyans, Smitta acknowledged the fact that poetry platforms have increased. There are about nineteen monthly sessions in Nairobi and even bars have embraced this form of art.

Njeri also spoke on the new found freedom in performance poetry. Her questions though are; Is it really a good thing? Is poetry not getting lost in the middle of the entire “show”?

She performed one of her poems, “Maisha ya Hawker”. The audience loved the poem and the fact that she went into character had a lasting effect on them. It had a lasting effect on me too because I still hear the hawker saying, “Hawajui niko na AK. Ni risasi ndio natafuta!”

Courtesy: switchedonnaija.com

Quotes of the Day

 Miracles happen every day ... A lot of medicine is outside our control.
                                                                   -DR. MICHAEL LEMOLE,
The head of Neurosurgery at the University Medical Center in Tucson, Ariz., on the positive progress shooting victim Representative Gabrielle Giffords is making.

X-Fellaz crowned champions of African Street Dance

Malta Guinness Street Dance Africa is a series of street dance competitions organized for the sole aim of finding Africa’s best street dance talent.

The Malta Guinness sponsored Street Dance competition for all National champions is to provide the opportunity for the best crew to dance to the top of the world in the continent of Africa. With the Pan African debut in 2007, the third edition held in Ghana was bigger, exciting and better than the previous editions. The 2010 Pan African championship which happens to be the third in a row, the five competing African countries are host Ghana, Cameroun, Kenya, Tanzania and pride of Africa Nigeria. The National champions from the aforementioned countries were all represented by their National champion’s namely High spirit, Extreme Fusion, Sisko, Best Friend and X-fellaz respectively.

 
The Pan African championship which was aired on NTA Network for the viewing opportunity of Nigerians allowed to be a part of the mother of all street dance champions in the continent of Africa. At the championship venue in Ghana, series of themed dance performances were displayed  by all competing crew, which was full of creative flips, pops, stomps, locks, cramps, croppings, jumps, body moves and local dance routines. It was a keen contest for all competing crew which saw Cameroun, Ghana, and Nigeria scale through to the next round while Kenya and Tanzania lost out. The next round turns the heat on the last three crew and the judges so as to pick the two dance crew fit for the grand finale stage.

 
After the daunting task of selecting the last two crew, the judges, Glenn Ball from UK, Prudanse Maidou from Paris and Mike Ross from Uganda gave their nods to Nigeria and Ghana for the final round.
The grand finale round actually rekindled the old rivalry between the two familiar West African neighbours.  A coin had to be tossed to make High Spirit from Ghana the first crew to impress the judges before X-fellaz from Nigeria gave a stunning performance that wowed the judges and audience.
X-fellaz’s improved dance performance at the grand finale made them clinch the coveted prize of 35,000 USD as they were announced as the new African champions.

DAYSTAR BUSINESS FORUM

DAYSTAR BUSINESS FORUM INAUGURATION

date: Saturday 15th Jan. 2011
venue: Plot A3C, Ikosi Road, bESIDE Gtbank, Oregun, Ikeja.
time: 4pm

Paul Adefarasin set to move into N1b House On The Rock Mega Church

                                                                    Millennium Temple

After running the church for many years without a permanent site, Head Pastor of House On The Rock, Paul Adefarasin is set move into the new headquarters of the Church called Millennium Temple.

The new church, built along the Lekki-Epe express way (close to Liberty hall) is said to have cost over N1billion naira to build. Adefarasin confirmed this to his congregation a few Sundays ago and promised a move to the new permanent site in a few months.

D’Banj and Don Jazzy film “Mr Endowed” Remix Video with Snoop Dogg in LA

Don Jazzy tweeted the above pic and announced the finish of the shoot of Mr Endowed the remix with Snoop Dogg. The video, shot in LA, was directed by Luti Fagbenle of LUT! MED!A.

These guys are not playing...great stuff!

An Interview With A Change Agent:: Steve Harris

Steve Harris began his professional training as an Industrial Mathematician at the University of Benin, but he didn't complete it. Today, he is the head of the Consulting Group and Lead Facilitator at Visible Impact, a social enterprise set up up tackle social and environmental challenges and limitations with the aim to build people into super achievers and responsible leaders, build corporate organizations into global market leaders and responsible corporate citizens, as well as government in developing blueprints and programs that create a desirable environment for their people to do great things.

Steve is also one of Nigeria's sought after motivational speaker. He spoke to dgistcacter about his passion and what keeps him going against all odds.



1. How was growing up like
for you?

Growing up for me was a lot of
fun and excitement. I had a
pretty diverse upbringing in
interesting parts of the world
and Nigeria as well. I came
from a middle class
background, we weren’t
wealthy, but my parents gave
the best they could with their
resources, education being the
most important legacy. Though
my parents restricted our
interaction with other children,
we were raised to love books
and instilled in us, courtesy and
respect for others.

2. Tell us about your university
days.

I gained admission to study
Industrial Mathematics at the
University of Benin. Studying
Mathematics, in retrospect, was
a huge mistake as I ’ve always
hated figures and calculations.
I had my moments, as I guess
every college kid did, made
some mistakes, learned from
them and have no regrets. I
guess the most memorable
point of being in the University
of Benin was getting kicked
out of school in my
penultimate year. That was a
turning point in my life.

3. How and when did you meet
Fela Durotoye?

I met FD in 2005, after getting
kicked out of school. I ’d
stopped by church on a
Wednesday service (not
something I ’d do then) and
heard there was a guest
speaker coming; Fela Durotoye.
I initially disregarded the
speaker, thought that if you ’d
heard one, you’d heard them
all. But there was something
different about this guy, he
spoke from his heart, and he
spoke with great passion and
conviction. During his session, I
heard God say to me “This is
what I created you to do and
You would be a fool to let this
man go and not sow into his
anointing ”. I was initially
stubborn, because I was broke,
so I felt that God didn ’t notice
my financial condition. But as
I ’ve come to learn, it’s not what
you don’t have that limits you,
it’s what you have, but don’t
know how to use. So I pulled
off my wristwatch, waited after
the service and sowed it to
him, he prayed and prophesied
to me, and the rest, they say, is
history.

4. Tell us, how did the
consulting thing start for you?

Well, it’s a long story. You gotta
wait for my book to come out
in the first quarter of 2011. But
the executive summary is that
because I was a “college
dropout”, I wasn’t qualified to
be a consultant, so I was hired
as an intern/office assistant.
But because I was hungry to
better myself, I ’d sit in and
learn from our consultants
who were gracious enough to
mentor me and let ’s just say
I’m a fast learner!

5. Who is Steve Harris?

SteveHARRIS is just an ordinary
guy that has been privileged to
have an extraordinary
testimony. I believe that my life
epitomizes possibilities. I live
by the idea that “it’s not what
you don’t have that limits you,
but it’s what you have, but
don’t know how to use!” I’m
an unashamed Jesus lover (He’s
brought me from a “mighty
long ways and set my feet on
the rock to stay ”. I’m a
Management Consultant,
motivational speaker and
certified life coach.

6. Are you married? Tell us
about your family.

Yep! I’m married to my best
friend, my girlfriend, the
hottest chic ever! Her name’s
Imma and she’s my Owerri
Princess and my Nubian Queen.
She saw the KING in me even
when I didn ’t and she took a
chance on me and now, it’s
paid off to God’s glory.

7. What are your
developmental habits?

I read biographies and listen to
a lot of inspirational messages
from Reverend Sam Adeyemi,
Paul Adefarasin and other
accomplished speakers.

8. Do you have mentors? And
who are they?

I love to learn from people who
both inspire and intimidate me.
I have FD, Tonye Cole (CEO,
Sahara Energy) and Pastor Paul
Adefarasin as my mentors.
They have a total balance of
success in marriage, ministry
and business.

9. Advice for the youth.

Don’t let nobody tell you
different. “It’s not what you
don’t have that limits you, but
it’s what you have, but don’t
know how to use!” You’ve
gotta take responsibility for
your own life, nobody will
value you more than you value
yourself! They say “time and
chance happen to us all”, but I
say, you can’t afford to leave
your time to chance!

10. What does success mean to
you?

I don’t pursue success. I
deliberately pursue
significance (making a positive
difference in the lives of
everyone I come in contact
with), and as a result, success
follows naturally. The truth is,
not all successful people are
significant, but most significant
people are successful.

---Interview by Yinka' Falola

OBI ASIKA: TOWER OF POWER AND LADYBRILLE MAN OF THE MONTH

ladybrillemag.com

Pat Utomi, Abike Dabiri, Tunde Bakare, Poju Oyemade, Omotola, Banky W, others for The Future Pre-Awards Conference January 29! January 11, 2011| No Comment

Registration has begun for the annual The Future Pre-Awards “Do Something” Conference. This is the third edition of the conference and it holds on Saturday, 29 January 2011 at the Main Auditorium of the University of Lagos, Akoka, Yaba by 11am.The awards proper hold the next day at Landmark Events Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos.
“The ‘Do Something Conference’ is always an attempt to use the popularity and network of the awards to motivate young Nigerians in whatever field,” said Kenneth Oliko, the awards’ spokesperson. “Young people are always seen to complain about how difficult Nigeria is and the many challenges that they face; but this conference shows them role models who have survived with integrity in spite of these challenges and who have excelled. With this conference, we are leading young people to stop complaining, stop waiting, stop wanting and start acting – to go out and improve their work or businesses, or to make change happen in Nigeria.”
The conference is a rare opportunity for these young Nigerians to meet with high-achieving role models who they would otherwise not have the opportunity to meet. The speakers don’t give lectures – rather, the participants ask them any questions on their minds about how they
succeeded or how they achieved and get real time responses that are practical and useful.
As usual, it promises to be an explosive session with speakers such as
• Professor Pat Utomi (Director, Centre for Applied Economics, Lagos
Business School)
• Abike Dabiri (Member, House of Representatives)
• Dr. Rasheed Gbadamosi (Former Chairman, Petroleum Product Pricing
and Regulatory Agency)
• Professor Oye Ibidapo-Obe (Former Vice Chancellor, University of Lagos/President, Nigeria Academy of Science)
• Tonye Cole (Executive Director, Sahara Group)
• Pastor Tunde Bakare (Senior Pastor, Latter Rain Assembly/Founder,
Save Nigeria Group)
• Poju Oyemade (Senior Pastor, Covenant Christian Centre)
• Betty Irabor (Publisher, Genevieve Magazine)
• Iretiola Doyle (Actress/TV Presenter)
• Steve Babaeko (Creative Director, 141 Worldwide)
• Banky W (Musician/Performer)
• Ayo Animashaun (Founder Hip Hop World Awards and Executive Producer HIP on TV)
• Debbie Ogunjobi (C.E.O Everywoman)
• Kemi Adetiba (Director/ TV Presenter)
• Tosyn Bucknor (Radio Presenter/Writer)
• Fela Durotoye (Development Strategist)
• Nicholas Okoye (CEO, Anabel)thefuturenigeria.com
• Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde (Actress/Musician)
• Peace Anyiam-Osigwe (CEO, AMAA Awards)
Tickets are now on sale for N1000 (however for students with ID cards, they go for N500). The tickets are available at any Ouch! shop in Lagos Surulere, Maryland, Ikota or the Silverbird Galleria – or at the venue of the conference – Unilag Main Auditorium.
Participants who want confirmed seats can however register on www.thefuturenigeria.com.
This event is supported by Access Bank, HiTV and the Miccom Golf Resorts. Official Media Partners are Y! (www.ynaija.com), Cool FM and Wazobia FM.

20 Things You Can Learn From Nollywood - A book by Nollywood producer, Fidelis Duker

Go to his website to know more about the book.