Friday
A Penny from me
Money they say can buy riches and make dreams come true, true talk but during my tour around Africa, I have met people of humanity, people who could not give money but gave all they could afford just in appreciation of our talent and knowledge, I mean those who could not afford to pay for what we offered but couldn’t get to the mountaintop of their gratitude, couldn’t reach out for expressions to lay down how much they appreciate and admire us. No matter how much funds we have been able to gather in the execution of this project can be swap over for the "Hold-Ups" we got from those that at one point or the other kept us moving, I have constantly searched for the most striking way to put my gratitude into few words, with all simplicity and humbleness that I’m filled with, I have searched for terminologies just as unprivileged as the naive good spirited faces i met during the tour, the numerous sudden populace who audience our performances in the public spaces.
LAGOS: A new dawn at the center of excellence.
One exiting thing about a dream is that the planned future will come to happen just like every other day, after a long preparation, series of emails, acquisition of visas, arrangement for flights and accommodation, gathering of energy and materials, eager to tell people about our project, which also arouse fear, curiosity and anxiousness in all the five individuals who make up this wonderful team, today, the 21st day of July 2007, Qudus, Christelle, Emeka and Françoise, all set out full of curiosity, searching for knowledge and most audible above all, going for an adventurous expenditure, the day Started on a rather tiring note than fun, after a long queue at the airport, we still battled with more than an hour delay before the Air-France flight (AF)-854 could take off, the plane landed by 5pm which is an hour 20mins late. The first impression has already began from the first air we breath in Lagos, it was a friendly and accommodating wind, we picked up our baggage to join the long waiting good people awaiting our arrival, amongst them was Matthew who make up the fifth member of the team, destination Surulere were the hotel rooms has been patiently awaiting our arrival, we dropped our stuffs and immediately hopped for a wonderful dinner at the Tasty fried chicken eatery.
we say E SEUN to Uncle Abbey, Sister Fatima, Fatai and Nureni who came to pick us at the airport, "it was a little thing you think you did, but that has gone a long way and left a lasting impression in each of our hearts", I give it all again to my lovely half brother Nureni Onikeku, who made our problems his problem, our ways his way from the moment we step feet onto the Lagos soil. Samson, is that guy we met at Eleko beach, where we made our first performance, which also instantly gave us a stunning impression on the people of Lagos apart from the junks we read about this beautiful city we will never stop to love, not so many people will rescue a show just few hours before the performance that was meant to be staged at one of the capitalist Gallerias, with all the riches that we visualize in there, still they want us to pay 200,000 naira (1.175€) before we could perform for just 30 minutes on their floor, to us it seemed ridiculous but we didn’t get angry anyway, we only asked them if we needed Cola Cola to dance? My brother picked up his phone to ring this messiah of a guy, SAMSON, it takes a real man to make the dream of another man come true, even knowing that he will gain nothing from it, after organizing the whole afternoon, a one man rioter, he alone provided electricity, the stage, the personnel that worked with him, the arrangement with the head of this locality and after everything he still made arrangement for some fresh coconut juice that refreshed us till our exit. "Merci beaucoup Samson".
During our five nights in Lagos we understood that the wonderful people we bumped into were not coincidence, Lagosians are fun people and always ready to help and willing to make themselves part of the success story of others, from the very moment I spoke to Makinde Adeniran about my project, he received it just as if I had promised him some millions of Naira if this turns out well, I was dazed by his numerous international calls, constant email correspondence and the worth of the job he has done before our arrival. Segun Adefila, is another strong man that I will ever hold strong to, I called all the way from France, I gave him my ideas and he gave me his words, all the many thanks to him for making the happening happen at the University of Lagos and Bariga suburb, which marks our 2nd and 3rd performance, the support we got at Bariga was also special, even before our arrival we were aware of whatever that can breeze up during the adventure. 25th of July 2007, this day we experienced one of the most serious heat wave in the realization of this project, there it was where our speakers got burnt putting us in a check-mate just at the number three performance out of eighteen, without beating so much a dead horse, the beautiful members of crown troupe led by Segun Adefila, had at a twinkle of an eye arranged for another alternative of drums and flutes to support us and make the show go on, Wale, Tobi, Alfred, Orobo and all other Rasta who mastered the situation we say Respect. Our meeting with the Director of the National dance company, Dr Ahmed Yerima, was a wonderful experience, for me especially, it was very important to listen to someone like him, it marks our first interview and it really shook and got me ready to return to Nigeria and contribute my own quota of the development of my Country.
To the most important woman in my life, Hajarat Alli and also Tosan Doyle, Matthew’s fiancée, "we appreciate your presence in our lives and your role in the project, for the moral supports and the wonderful sandwich we took on the run for breakfast during the heavy downpour that wept over our departure from Lagos." As wonderful as it seemed everything good that comes still come to an end, it was already five days, 26th of July and here we are on the plane to Cairo, Egyptair (MS)-876, there and then i realized what i was into, Nigeria is my Motherland so it was more of a homecoming than getting to Cairo which sank me further into the project.
CAIRO: A Saga to contemporary civiliation
It was three weeks and two days before the commencement of my project and i still don't have a concrete contact in Egypt, i was really scared of going to Egypt as a tourist, this made me realize how favoured i was for the realization of this project, it seems so much like the solutions to all obstacles had already been laid down, all i need do was just go pick them up, it didn’t took me more than an email asking for a saviour to save our souls in Cairo before Khadijah (of AMA, one of our sponsors) passed me over to Reem Hassan who is based in Alexandria and because we already booked our hotel to Cairo then she made the link to a friend of hers Nora Amin and also made the possibility of visiting Alexandria for our third show in Egypt.
If there is one thing I cherish in life more than riches and fame, it is those who go an extra mile to touch the lives of others positively, Nora Amin, that solid woman who from the day we arrived in Cairo has forgot about her own plans, put everything aside and the only moving risk that matters was our success, a wonderful producer, a unique personality with a strong dignity, not minding the mindless banality of the whether that at times went up to 45°C or the political tension, I could remember her telling me that there were some state security men that approached her about her involvement with us, yet that won’t stop her from being part of this revolution. Shukran from the team, I have met artistes and I have also been invited to series of dinners, but have I ever been to a dinner organized strictly by artistes and for artistes? That was where meeting Jihan El Tahri, the big sister expanded further my scope of knowledge, a one woman full of souls and poetry and knowledge, our meeting was coincident but left us with a strong emotion, and later had an interview that lasted almost two hours of non-stop amazement, a big up to Waleed, the real myth behind the masquerade, Gracias for always being there in Cairo.
Our first show was a shock, the venue was in between walls, it was so small and that made our relationship with the audience so intimate and we could feel the warmth of their hearth, the kids were amazing, the ladies were unable to come see us but they peeping from the windows also gave a special effect. As difficult as it seem to get a public venue to showcase street shows in Cairo due to the political situation, even with all the risks that comes with it, the Townhouse gallery still offers us few minute to showcase our Happening, "it was a token but we received it big, we are grateful". Our last show in Egypt was at a Youth centre in Alexandria, we dashed to the bus garage where we head directly for the airport at 7 p.m., we got to the airport at about 12 midnight and by 2:25 a.m we were already in the Egyptair (MS)-839 that took us non-stop to Johannesburg.
JOHANNESBURG: The rainbow journey
Leaving from Cairo to Johannesburg, we thought it was only for the weather that will make a change, yes the weather was more easy on us but all these cool people also took our life to a whole new level, Dirce and Million who picked us up at the airport at about 10 a.m, Florence Sipalla, Laurent Claval, and that Zimbabwean taxi guy Aleck, we say Danke in the Dutch way to all the personnel of IFAS, arriving at the Melville Guest house, we thought we were close to heaven not knowing that we won't even had the time to enjoy the heavens of the bed, in Jo’burg i experienced what it feels like to spend four months in four days, our day seems more than 24 hours, we never had a totally organized stay like that of Jo’burg, in four days we met all the most interesting people we needed for the documentary film, we made our three performances, we met with dancers of moving into dance, had the first interview with David April, we as well had the opportunity to visit the dance factory, had an evening of dance with that wonderful dancer, Lucky, meeting Lucky also gave us a wider idea of the art-face of South Africa from the mouth of a directly affected and that helped us a lot during our interviews.
As much as our days were packed up in Jo’burg, yet we didn’t miss out the JOZI night life with Tumi Morake, that wonderful, humour-full and beautiful lady filled with life, that night at the Horror café where the plenty Rastafarians were doing their thing, it was a fun night out to take us far from the chaos running through our heads. If we shall do this project again we would choose Johannesburg and spend much time to explore it, we had the impression that it was such a little time to explore. Before signing out of our visit to South Africa I must tell you of those beautiful humble individuals that was invited and showed up for our performances, even though it was not in theatre or other conventional venue, they came to share the natural flavour of the cold sun with us, either that of the Wits university or that of the Freedom square all the way in Soweto and also the last show at the mall at Rosebank, "we appreciate your presence, it springs up our energy and added light to our show"; Georgina Thompson, Adrienne Sichel, Selo Pessa (and your wonderful students), Moketsi koene (and that interesting photographer you sent down), Jasper who also made it possible for me to be part of a brain storming conference in Maputo, Melanie; that saviour of ours who made our happening at the Wits university possible, Kara, Mimi who was a wonderful companion and assistant, Peggy, Laurent Claval; the man behind the camera of our presence in Johannesburg, even though it was his Leave period from work yet he took time to come see us all the way in Soweto, Merci beaucoup Laurent, also Khulile Nxumalo and Retoepile Makanane who came all the way from SABC to Soweto to see us, we are grateful to you all, Seelan Naidoo the CEO of the National arts council of SA for the wonderful talk section we had with him. And finally to take us out of Jozi we give a special appreciation to Dirce who was the first to see us and also the last to leave us in Jo’burg.
MAPUTO: Happy people - Happy Nation
Our arrival to Maputo, "i heard a word from within that told me i think i have been here before" where that could possibly come from, i have still not understood, my friends from Mozambique i have always known to be lively people and very jovial but i thought maybe that was the effect of being an artiste, but hell no, in Maputo it seems that everybody was an artiste, as crazy as any crazy artiste i know, 8th of August, the day of our arrival, it was Sitoe who came to pick us from the airport, he approached us without introduction and he said "donne moi votre passport" (give me your passports) i didn't know which one to do, laugh or obey, we obeyed but i wasn't at rest until i was sure that he was from the Centro Cultural Franco-Moçambicano, this is the only country where we learnt few Portuguese during our tour, this is the only country where we performed on a conventional venue, this is the only country where we remained at the airport for over an hour, declaring all our materials and valuables, the fatigue that followed us from Jo'burg was still with us but said goodbye when we got to the Ibis Hotel where we saw a ready made flyers of our shows, then we said ok, this is another phase.
Jean Michel Champault, the director o the CCFM also added to my reason for reply "Mozambique" when ever I’m being asked of the country i did enjoyed most? i have met a lot of French in France and elsewhere and i can really say that i hadn't met many French like Jean Michel in terms of his level of human and generosity, everything was in place just as in Jo'burg, the first plan was to visit Catembe, our venues across the river, and we had to go by boat, a journey that last not more than 20 minutes and i was surprised at the speed at which the boat was transformed to something that looks to me more like a discotheque, it was a serious vibration, the authentic smiles on their face was something i had never come across during my three long years in France, and i said to myself i think we all need to redefine what we refer to as poverty because for me nothing could be richer than a happy soul with a good hearth.
Stephanie, Diana Manhiça, Marie Elisa, Quito Tembe, Paulo David Sitoe (Litho), Antonio Sitoe and all the super people of CCFM plus the wonderful life on the streets of Maputo will want me to go back to Maputo again and again, on the day of our first show at Catembe on the 5th of August, to our greatest surprise the venue was already taken over by a group of high spirited people, each of them with a bottle in their hands, either a soft drink, water, but mostly alcohol or local aperitif, ranging from all ages and sexes, i looked at Christelle and we realized that we really need to kill this people in a very different way from a cold war, for to them i think road show and outdoor performances is not a phantom to them even if they haven't tagged it, for the next thirty minute, our so called stage has been filled with both young and old, male and female all dancing to Sitoe's vibration who was the DJ, the challenges of performing in non-conventional spaces done on us and thank God we have one thing ahead of them, i am also an Acrobat, Christelle is also a Juggler, so that was the joker we played with, i bet if we were all about dance, then we would have been in a real checkmate. it ended up wonderfully as expected while we walk down the sea side to have some delicious sea food at Diana's place, Equador Espaço Cultural em Catembe, the next performance was in township (Bairro do Jardim), an evening with Matchume and his music group Timbila Muzimba, Matchume who also happens to be a friend i met during the Avignon festival in 2006, it was the tenth anniversary of his music group, so we were like the invited performers who added glamour to the evening.
As all these events were happening, on the other end i was part of a brain storming conference in Maputo with Jasper, Selo Pessa, Painebra Gabriel, and two other guys for two days as well as rehearsals for a collaboration with four other local artistes, Edna Jaime, Macario Tomé, Jorje Ndlozy and Francisco José Macuvele who performed with us during our third show at the prestigious open air theatre of the CCFM as proposed by the Director, so we said Why not.
NAIROBI: “Karibu Yumbani”
After a long journey from Maputo to Harare and then to Nairobi on the 8th of August, our energy was down, our spirits were low, we all felt like a place that just witnessed a section of erosion, it began to dawn on us all, even though it was no-more news for friction to happen among the group, we noticed one of the major misunderstanding ever during the tour at the airport, argument, dispute and anger almost tore us apart, François and Emeka almost ended up in a physical tussle (the devil is a lair i said to myself). It was a different wind that breezed up our spirit when arrived at the Jomo Kenyatta airport of Nairobi at about 6:15 p.m where Lailah Masiga was already awaiting our arrival, to offer a warming Karibu and be part of our world for the next seven days, for Kyalo that rushed and showered us with love, "this is just a shilling for you Lailah and Kyalo in exchange for the unquantifiable trip you gave us in Nairobi, you made us feel important and gave us a new life that survived us throughout our stay in Nairobi and forever towards the success of this project."
Highlife they say is a kind of music, but i have met a lady with a highlife, Wanuri who has not met us but anticipated our arrival, linked us up to Jacob the elder brother to Samuel, those wonderful guys doing great in the deep part of the slum of Mathare, Jacob has been a strong inspiration for most of in this project, after that long moment we shared with him right in his parent's hood, after the first show in Mathare, we all left fuller and heavier than what we were before meeting him, thanks for that warm welcome and support in Mathare, even though we didn't get to meet Dr Ezekiel who made it possible for us to be at the Kenyatta University for the second show, our presence there marked for sure one of the best moment and exchange we ever had with our audience, that an hour or more discussion we had with those who audience our performance has left us also a lasting impression and a better understanding of ourselves, I find myself in front of intellectual youths, fathers, teachers or scholars and academia, challenging them on issues facing the art face of their own very locality which later grew to a general overview of Africa, what other success do I then envisage with this project that has not already happened.
Not forgetting Ceciliah Adhola of the Yaya centre (Y go elsewhere) who accepted our proposal to perform at the door way of the Mall "It is in the ways of the Swahili we say a big Asante to all present at the afternoon of dance at the Godown art centre, co-organized by Lailah Masiga, thank you for taking us serious and for a wonderful exchange." To all the artistes and journalist who showed up at the forum to brainstorm for a new and better Africa.
Harsita Waters, Annabelle, Jean Michel Frachet, Anne, Ange and all other personnel of the Alliance Française Nairobi, we offer you the ultimate we can, Merci beaucoup for the love you showed us all, without you, we could have just pass through Nairobi just for fun, but you even extended our fun, and to Kebaya who turned up quite late but remained with us till the final moment, those F1 & F2 moments, your support at the kenyatta university and also that wonderful trip to the airport, in Kenya I noticed that everything is Linked to one man called Jomo Kenyatta, from the airport, to the face on their currency, as well as the University we performed, even the name Kenya can as well be linked to him.
YAOUNDÉ: Even the Francophone speaks English
Cameroon was the only Francophone country we visited, all through the tour we didn't get response to our mails sent to Association MEKA who happens to be our wonderful host over there, we arrived at Yaoundé at about 8:30 p.m on the 14th of August, throughout the trip i was really scared of putting the whole group into situation we'd rather not be in, for if we get there and there was none to pick us up, that means we are done for in all ways that it could appear. But to my advantage Jean Michel and Jean Marie were already waiting for us and the introduction of the team was quickly made as usual, it was a real big relief for us all. Although the motivation was beginning to drop for us all, Zoom we drove off to the hotel that was already arranged for us, we only had to change some CFA to pay for the rooms, the day was a very long day so we all crashed to wake up the next day.
Then comes the next morning and quickly we were off to Elise Mbala's residence for a wonderful five stars breakfast that has enormous choice to select from, there we discussed what the program will look like. we had six night seven days in Yaoundé, so we had time to make interviews and performances but nature decided when it had to, our first performance was quite a wonderful one in the midst of a lot of kids and beside a local market, the second show was nullified due to the heavy downpour that didn't stop till late so it gave us a concrete reason to have a peaceful rest, most of us slept from 2pm till the next day, this also made me realize one of the constraints one need to have in mind making road shows. Cameroon, personally wasn't so interesting, we were all down in spirit, in energy and the French language didn't help so much, its not that i don't speak good French but when the brain is over charged and mind has began to transit to other venues, one will only be able to think in his mother tongue and this really affected the interviews we made.
The last show was such a brilliant co-incidence, we were in Elise’s car, scavenging for a floor to dance for it was quite a difficult thing to get a really good space for out door event like ours in Yaoundé, finally we got to an estate, we try to meet some young guys who eventually told us that they usually organize weekly street jams in the estate, then we were like "wow that's great" we met with Patrick the principal organizer, but the day it usually take place (Wednesday) was the same day we were performing at the market place, so we couldn't make two performances, so what we did was to attend the event later in the evening, showed about five minute presentation on the piece then invited them all to be around for Saturday for the real thing. it all went super well, a big up to Patrick the organizer for the love he showed us, Association Meka, Elise Mballa, Marie Germaine who never stopped ringing me and also took care of the organization of our return trip, Bell Simon, Jean Marie and a special mention for Jean Michel that never left us alone to confusion.
Tuesday
Au revoir
Finally it was Monday the 20th of August 2007, all goodbyes has been made at midnight, we've already began to miss one another and yet happy to go back home, it was my best moment so far, i looked at myself in the mirror, and i said "thank you" to who? i don't know, for why? i can't say. maybe for not falling sick, maybe for the initiation of such a vigorous project, maybe for being able to hold up the group to this point where the real affection for one another showed up without any form of pretence. Our bus to Douala was for 6 a.m, and it was a heavy rain that also wept over our departure, the gods are with us and above all almighty Allah never for once disowns us.
The adventure didn't end like a Hollywood nor Nollywood movie. Arriving at the Douala international airport, here i first notice, throughout my whole experience of travelling, Cameroon gave me a new surprise, there is a special tax to be paid by all passenger travelling internationally, so we had no choice than to change more money, even though we couldn't eat anything before rushing out to get the bus for it was not a priority, i lost my mobile phone during that transition, Matthew broke the locally fabricated Chess board he bought from Nairobi Massai market, we couldn’t cry out, our souls were already in Lagos, the only thing left in Cameroon was our bodies. another surprise, the Virgin Nigeria airline that left Douala to Lagos was redirected to Ghana, due to the weather condition in Lagos and it was this same flight that will come back to pick, this was already 2 p.m for a flight that would have taken off for 11 a.m, so we knew we are in trouble. In brief, the flight arrived around 8 p.m and finally we got to Lagos around 11 p.m.
Déjà vu and the Aftermath
On our way to Africa, we left with one hundred empty tapes and the irony behind it all is not just having all hundred tapes full of image materials, knowledge, information, experience, exposure and encounters, but we realize that we have never in any occasion been able to acquire as much experience in such a little period of time, it was so brisk but efficient, its Deja vu will remain with us forever, we had no time to think, we had no time to digest, we were only chewing and accumulating and at a point we were sick and tired of seeing one another.
if i was asked whether i got THE answers to all the questions i left with, my answer will be based on all the exuberant people we met during the one long month, i will be thinking of all those people that saw us and really wished to be us, all the wonderful interviews we made, the change in weather, change in reality, change in cultures and people, change of environment, our speakers that got burnt, better quality performance that grew with time, my response will be based on the process at which i put this whole project together, based on all those that encouraged my fearless bold step, this is my first ever big project that didn't remain in my journal of ideas and concepts, so my question needs no further answer than being there, who knows what "THE TRUTH" is, my answers has always been with me, it flow with every cell of my blood, i see it everyday on the streets of Paris, i school with it in Chalons en champagne, i lived with it in Lagos, it grew up with me throughout my childhood and i will continue to live with it all through my encounters in life.
I only feel somehow guilty for what I’m not responsible for, this is not all about me, its about the millions of consumers we've got out there, those who knows not what come behind their daily bread, those who has not gotten to that level of consciousness, those who have not asked themselves why they are so addicted to peril, those who knows what is wrong but not capable of doing right, for the youth... Our own attraction to peril is so high that i fear for the generation of my own children and children's children, remember the older generation had more to fight then, from colonial struggles, to the creation of a Nation that is still fragile for them to handle, the then dark continent was a mere land of backwardness and of primitives. but today the claustrophobic atmosphere of the west has kept all the vultures of the world focus on the land of hope, a land with no tall buildings but of wider space for us to dance, poorest in economy but richest in humanity, our objective was not to go to Africa to take some "SUN", take SOME pictures and perhaps have a nap on the green grassy grounds close to the beaches.
Our interest was not on natural resources but human resources, we were not there to teach anybody anything (moreover what do we know) we were not practically wanting them to look up to us as another Zebra colony(of blacks and whites), we know that some claws are tightly on our culture, the civilization mission is still on. So we the youth are the ones the beak of the vultures are pecking profusely at... this will only make the strong amongst us stronger and the weak weaker. so it is then the responsibility of the strong amongst us to scream and shout it out, Dance it to the deaf and dump maybe one day he will be able to read our jests, Sing it out to the ears of the blind, maybe he will understand our lyrics... if only the beautiful dance steps of the Dancer and the sweet voice of the Singer don't get them carried away. And seeing others who seem so passionate about my affairs made me understand myself better, my relationship with the group and my ability to hold on and never let go has improved.
The project has already gave an outcome, being there in the streets, at the market places, at the Malls, at the down town, at the beach and all other non conventional spaces we showcase our happening has left an out come to those we really wish to get really close to, another outcome is the present book titled CROSSING BOARDERS and the documentary film title DO WE NEED COLA-COLA TO DANCE?, this book and film represents and valorise our existence as part of the younger generation of scholars and intellectuals in the continent, our critical appraisal or our harsh criticism is not to appear as a slap to other creators or our continent nor to the west, it’s a fight against ourselves, a wake up call for a revolution.
- -MESSAGE-
I assume criticism become more delicious when it is from the left side of the story, because when the appraisal is coming from a positive view point then it becomes a praise.
This will send messages, meet the youth and creators at their point of hunger, the young generation is hungry for life, they jump on every thing that comes, and in a life where everything goes, we are confused about what to hold on to, Religion? Culture? Or the Media... we imbibe the new culture and this new culture will only lead us to a further destruction of our nullifying "Self"?
- -WEALTH-
(Our Obsession)
Above all for the average youth of this 21st Century are so poor that we don't know it, looking at the definition of poverty we have to understand under what circumstance we say someone is poor (material mongers), are we in the material world or that of thoughts and ideas? The quality of the human being, joy, spiritual richness, all these has not yet been determined by the amount of money one has. so we still need something to hang on to, in other for us not to end our lives foolishly, we still need a strong point where the older generation and the contemporary generation meets while we move on from where they stopped and not just in a quest of creating a new culture that will only rumble, mumble and stumble before sun set.
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