LITERARY NEWS™

Volume 1, Issue 3

August 1999

Ojo Maduekwe misses Mozart At Godi's

By Jim Pressman . . Culled from The Post Express.

RALPH Opara is my witness. He was there! He came all the way from Enugu, leaving all the coal behind. The second time he's done that is as many months. And as for his poetry reading, with a cane baton-beat to the rhythm, you should simply have been there. A special guest was conspicuously missing Chief Ojo Madueke, fiery thinker and social critic, politician of note recently appointed Nigeria's Minister of Culture and Tourism.You know how it is with national duty.You can never keep all the dates.

So poor honourable minister, he was not at No.433 lobito Crescent the Health Management and Fun Resort that hosts the Abuja Literary Society and its collaborators on Friday night every month, for the July 30th edition of the Cultural Night. He was not there when Mozart came calling. Don laugh, Mozart was there! Well, he stopped by in the form of a young man named Ageh. Ageh has just left a prayer meeting and was on his way home. His rendention of "Love hung Jesus to the Cross", confirmed the introductory remark by co-MC Dr. Ike Anya, that Ageh may yet compete with the Mozarts of tomorrow. He was simply fabulously "Mozartic". The regulars were there, too, from de embassies, from ministries and a few people (like Ralph Opara) also came in from Kano, Kaduna, Lagos etc. Besides the standng ovation for The post Express (Abuja post, silly) for supporting Godi and the ALS project, savoured on our behalf by Abuja Bureau Chef Tom Chiahemen, other notable highpoints of the July 30L Night of Culture include a beautifully finished story by Ayo Daniel read to the house by ALS quillmaster (President) Victor Anoliefo a friend ofthe author. It is the story of Shade and her husband, great lovers made for each other in heaven, until the ''baby'' came along. Like a wedge, the baby came in between them and all Shade's requests and desires, which used to be the husband's, command, were ignored and unfulfilled. "Anike", pet name chosen incidentally for the baby by Shade herself, became the idol. At the climax of Shade's frustration, when the husband called Anike when he meant to call Shad, the lady got a jar of  kerosene and a matchbox. She poured a good dose the of inflammable substance on Anike and set "here" ablaze. shade's own sobbing and screaming drew the hnsband to the scene of the baby-ANIKE-a car as it turned out !

The collaborative spirit between ALS and the Abuja Chapter of the Association of Nigerian autheors, ANA, got a boost with Godi's neighbour and chairman ANA prince Charles Edet stopping by to read to the audience three short extracts from his latest collection of poetry MUSE VESICAPICIS (due out this month): "Forever,""Baby" and ''I am not, I am that I am" (a spiritual piecer). Master of  the impromptu sketch, Albert Odulate of ''Bagco superbag" fame, got on stage with Stacy Okoro. in a hilarious comedy (Okoro nearly gave the joke away) they decided to split all the household items down to middle and quit, but there is a catch: Stacy was pregnant and since she wanted out, Albert said "okay, we share the unborn baby too, yau take your half, I take mine. " They left us hanging with laughter as  they went in search of a doctor to do the advanced foetus-sharing. Miss Tomike was a welcome interlude with her "Nigeria" song rendered like Mariam Makeba's ''Malaika'' classic, and the Yoruba number "Eko dara pupo,'' translated: learning is very good indeed. Tomike is bundle of life to watch at Godi's, where she is not only Policy news magazine ace photographer, but a great dancer, singer and active participant in all the art/literary stuff of which the monthly ritual is made.

Vincent Ighile came all the way from Kano to tell a ribcracking joke and sing a version of Daddy Shokey's new Ajegunle anthem,''Hosanah'' His partner joined in with a one-line refrain: ''We still dey for Kano, dem never cut our throat", a humorous reference to the gory Kano-Shagamu drama of death from which they managed to escape. Franklin did a second performance, by popular demand, with his marionette,''Oga Sounder b.laster". Next came a thrilling dance session by 8-year old little Diana and a musical interlude by the duo of f plump Mama with a sweet thin voice, and here slim-fit co-vocalist with a sonorous "boom'' and delicate twists of & waist to the rhythm of the men's instruments.