Of Solitude, Tragedy and Memory... but also of Encounters, Reflection and Opinion.
Aug 16, 2013
Of Zik, Awo and other unfinished matters.
Jun 27, 2013
When Nollywood invaded Paris.
Jul 14, 2012
Wole Soyinka. This tree won’t make a forest.
Apr 16, 2011
CHANGE - Towards a national life.
The path to a national life of any nation - as we know it in this 21st century - is a process which infuse a new rhythm, specific to a new generation of men and women, with a new language and a new humanity. For the majority of those who are attentive to the process that led to where we are as a nation, can surmise that after 50 years of attempting nationhood through decolonisation, from post-colonization, to dictatorship and eventually democracy; the situation of the Nigerian had slightly shifted from a state of being colonised to being endlessly neocolonised in various disguise, the expolitation has intensified but now justified by capitalizing on two or three slogans. These nouveau riche who disguise as leaders, demands a colossal effort from us in the name of national interest, without plans to improve our conditions. Major sums, however, were invested for the sake of wide roads, prestige cars, villas and all those loud goods required to build a new elite class living hundred times superior to the minimum wage.
50 years after our so called independence, these elite class at the corridors of power, who cruches the masses to a non-essential state, still utilizes the agressiveness of its class to grab our support for a change, in which even they don't believe. What is really misleading is that, this elite class is aware that the human and social sciences have accustomed us to see the figurine of a righteous man behind every social and moral event, just like Christianity taught us to see the eye of the lord looking down upon us. This lot can easily infiltrate and create a look alike of what they are not, they can readily use the secret knowledge of the books, of the arts, of the media and clever ideas to manipulate and claim to be on the side of truth and change. For them, the masses remains a bunch of "dehumanised things" that needed to be kept in order and be organised. We the "things" ruled upon become human only through the process of liberation. That is the natural process of new men, new nation and new life.
Times of election is generally bracketed by hopes, aspirations and violence. Change in political and national life - whatever the preferred expression for political correctness is - is always a violent event, because it is simply an absolute substitution of one "species" of mankind by another, that will go as far as establishing an entirely new nation, with a redefined diplomatic relations and economic and political orientation. The need for this change must exist in a raw, repressed and reckless state in the consciousness of the people. But the eventuality of such a change is a terrifying future in the consciousness of other "species" of men and women who sees nothing wrong in the status quo. When a group of minor men and women, however, set out to attempt a change of a certain order of things, which cannot be accomplished by the wave of a magic wind or a gentleman's agreement - Hence, the rise of the OPPOSITION - They are seen as radicals or tagged "angry people". This wind of change in our national life can only be significant when it is clamored for, desired and demanded by the majority, when the opposition is a majority and the majority opposes the status quo.
I am certain that each generation has its peculiar mission, to be realized under its own circumstances, fulfil it or betray it in relative blurriness. The values which we live by are the values that led us "here" in the first place, the moral negligence and ideological barrenness which led us to this point are still seen as continuing in the identity of this nation, and since this national identity has not changed, has undergo no revolutionary purge either in its guts or at the head. therefore, for a new national life to be attained, our efforts must be made of fragments, and not as a whole body, which signifies that, what we might possibly think to be the end, might in fact the beginning, we cannot begin to build a Utopia, until we have been able to control the damage by first discovering its source, this discovery must sink us down to the roots, to demolish and rehabilitate the foundations of thoughts and actions responsible for such damage, then begin to re-create. Our collective break/down will eventually result to our collective break/through, only in this way does every individual share in the holy mess and understands the real purpose and value of such a change towards a genuine national life.
(c) Qudus Onikeku.
October 13, 2010.
VOTE FOR BUHARI/BAKARE
Feb 2, 2011
Qudus on Global Nomad blog.

Originally from Lagos, Nigeria and now residing in Paris, France, Qudus Onikeku is a Dancer, Acrobat, Choreographer, avid Blogger, first time documentary film maker and some would say, a Cultural Activist.
Why are you a global nomad?
For we are in the age of global tribe, that’s the only way to be an active part of the future and able to tame the panther from whatever stand point. N.E.W is the future (Nomadism. Exile and Worldliness) Exile being a permanent state of being, rather than a condition.
What made you start this venture? Why are you doing this?
Questions, seeking for answers and because I know that I will never get the answers I seek, it leaves me endlessly stupid, endlessly poor. The will to endlessly get out of my stupidity and poverty is what leads to my many projects. Man’s journey can not be predetermined by his parents or his wishes, series of overlapping events and coincidence is what becomes our destiny, it’s not a human calculation. I’m naturally curious, adventurous, with a genuine love for the world and a strong compassion for its inhabitants.
What do you hope to achieve?
I am a glutton for a world of peace, for a world where what drives men is not opportunism and greed, a world where people of power and authority don’t despise us and enslave us, regiment our lives, tells us what to think and what to feel! Stop to drill us - diet us - treat us like cattle, use us as cannon fodder. Turn us to unnatural men - But teaches us the love of humanity and strive to build an empathic civilization.
How long have you been working on this?
This kind of project is a project of the heart, and since i realized that I have a tender heart for such subject matter, even before I realized my talent as an artiste I have been working on this.
What is the most interesting discovery you have made since starting this project?
For me that will be the initiation of my non-conventional space dance project that I titled “Do we need cola cola to dance?” It brought me to the realization of the powerful connection between artists of all kinds and human rights. Artist and activist sometimes stand up against the establishment to say what needs to be said in the name of humanity. The need to break bounds and refusal to hegemony brought about this project. This artwork communicates across boundaries of geography, politics, gender, race, cross all divides and belong to every individual in those public spaces. Freedom of expression is vital for an artist’s work and we work to protect that very right and in the end the relationship is more fundamental. We experienced art together with our audience, it makes us feel human, and moves us to protect the human rights of others. Everyone has a voice and should use it… No one sees the world in exactly the same way, no one sees the world through the same eyes as I do, nobody will see how I think and feel about the world unless I express it in some ways. The interactive moments we shared with our audience was another means of getting closer to them, I was ready to hear their stories as much as they might like to hear mine. This can awaken their consciousness in a way politics or radical activism may not, this on the other hand inspires both fellow artistes and our audience, give self-confidence to people who believe in something but feel that they are alone.
Where do you see this project in 10 years?
After the African tour in 2007, we made a movie with the same title in 2008, in 2009 I did a similar project in Sao Paulo, in 2010 I returned to Brazil for a tour in Londrinas, Campinas, Joao Passoa and Recife. All these tours proved to me that this is where my heart is, as I continue to create for conventional theaters to feed my secondary needs, I will as well continue to do this project all over the world, to feed my basic need.
When did you start traveling?
2001, it was the very first time I left Lagos my city of birth.
How and why did you travel for the first time?
I traveled by air and it was for the purpose of performance in Madagascar.
In what places have you lived and what languages do you speak?
I have lived in Lagos, Ibadan, Chalons en Champagne and Paris. and I speak Yoruba, Nigerian Pigin, English, French and a bit of Portuguese.
What’s your favorite city so far?
I’ll pick Lagos, for so many obvious reasons, but I felt a similar vibe in Sao Paulo, Johannesburg and New York.
If you could only take one item with you to travel the world (other than your passport), what would it be?
My Quran.
Give us your global nomad profile:
window or aisle? Window. I can’t just stop admiring the work of God.
boat or plane? I can only swim in a pool. So I go for Plane.
train or bus? I love fast Train.
walk or bike? Bike for sure, Okada like we call it in Lagos
metro or trolley? Metro, but it depends where, if it is in a dirty and disorganized metro like in Paris, no thanks, I prefer a trolley.
tropical, temperate, polar? Tropical
hotel, hostel or local’s apartment? Local Apartment for sure. Even in the most dangerous favela, the locals will show you their survival technique, being in a five star hotel in a very safe neighborhood doesn’t guarantee your security.
must have fashion piece when traveling? Ma ALL STAR, My ever ready to dance partner in any condition.
explore/map or tour guide? Explore without Map. I’m an African. My mother told me if you cultivate the habit of asking people your way, you will never get lost. And I also feel its a very social thing to do.
Sep 17, 2010
MY EXILE is in my head
MY EXILE
IS IN MY HEAD
Conception, choreographed and performed by Qudus ONIKEKU.
Original music performed live by Charles Amblard. Video conception and performance Isaak Lartey. Light designer Guillaume Fesneau.
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Production : YK Projects
Coproduction : Le CENTQUATRE and CULTURESFRANCE
with the support of: Centre National des Arts du Cirque, Centre National de la Danse, Bates Dance Festival Maine - USA and DRAC Ile de France
...More than a word, exile is a condition. It is a place, a knowledge, a narrative, but most importantly, it is a psychic space which is obvious to those who inhibit it, those who must engage and wrestle with it because only by so doing can they come to terms with it. Exile is poignant because it is bracketed by loss, it is not so much about movement, relocation or departure as it is about loss: of territory, of the familiar and the familial, of certainty, but most frighteningly, by the grave probability of the loss of memory.
Exile is a rupture, the cessation of things previously taken for granted, the collapse of a world of relative certainties, and therein lies its stings. It also underlines the inescapable desirability of belonging. It may be questioned, even ridiculed, but only those who have experience such loss can understand the rootlessness - and ruthlessness - of existence in the shiftless, treacherous territory of exile. Exile offers a refuge, but no consolation or pride. Every engagement with the lived experience of exile finds its most persuasive explanation not in fascination for there is no such thing as fascination for exile, but rather in the individual quest to come to terms with the fact of exile.
Every such effort is an attempt to explain exile more to oneself than to others. Through art the exiled is able to escape the burden of circumstance, even the temptation of bitterness and recrimination, and instead question, explore, ruminate, and attempt to repossess fragments of that which is lost. Through art the exile may return, in a manner of speaking, by reconstituting the past, participating in the present, as well as envisioning a new world.
Olu OGUIBE
( Nigerian artist, art historian and poet exiled in USA)
Through this piece I intend to deal with personal questions of home, belonging, non-belonging and exile. Above that, I also thought about creating a new homogeneous work, adaptable for conventional theatres as well as alternative spaces. At the moment, I am confronted with questions of other art making processes, through multiple improvisations; how DANCE, CIRCUS, LITERATURE, STORY TELLING, MUSIC AND VIDEO ART, could organically come together almost as a coincidence. An approach that involves the performers' bodies and the audience's eyes, the music we produce and the space that reunites us.
All these converging forces involved in this research laboratory will at the end become the incarnation of the performance in any given space and time. It is a challenge for us to think of a collective and new art making process, with an indefinite character, to create a deliberate contrast to the traditional incarceration of our works in-between four walls, and perhaps a response to the changing social and economic realities of the art world.
Qudus ONIKEKU
Sep 13, 2010
Nigeria: Fast food nation

Obj Chicken Nuggets, Pomo on the run and
Mugu Muffins. McNigeria - HAVE A TASTE OF HELL !
"Fast food" is generally referred to as food that is prepared in quantity by a standardized method and can be dispensed quickly at inexpensive restaurants for eating there or take away, which is widely considered as a trait peculiar to the United States of America, but that can largely be contested, because Nigeria has been seriously involved in fast food even before the advent of Mr Biggs who initiated the American style of fast fooding to Nigeria. In fact our traditional "mama put" and "nkwobi" joints with their "Enter food is ready" signs, is nothing but faster foods. You wonder how possible, when you see their menu list of rice, eba, pounded yam, beans, spaghetti, fufu, amala, yam porridge and in truth they are all ready.
What other approach will be most suitable for a people who are very impatient in nature, who cares less about quality when they can get its look alike cheap and fast. No wonder the Chinese are very successful in Nigeria. Due to the fundamental ills clouding Nigeria as a state, the Nigerian suffers from anomia; a loss of memory, characterized by a breakdown and absence of social norms and values. An uprooted people that lacks self realization but mistakes it for a Nigerian spirit. What spirit? that of false image? A spirit that gives preference to mediocrity over originality? spirit of nepotism and the cult of tribalism? A spirit that leads to a self fascist way of living; always wanting. Always hoping. Always dreaming. Yes the Nigerian dream is eventually an unrealistic dream that requires an awakening. WAKE UP!

What can be more terrifying than knowing that our future has Been held hostage by a conglomerate of terrorists disguised as leaders . What could be more terrifying than seeing our nation sink by an inch daily into a full fledged irresponsible monster. What can be more terrifying than knowing that millions of Nigerian youth wake up every morning, to watch TV, engage in idle talks of soccer, celebrities and luxury. BLIND RESILIENCE! Personally it terrifies me that frank and intense ways of "saying" is beginning to be prohibited to most Nigerians. Not because they don't love Nigeria. In fact that's where the problem lies. LOVE IS BLIND!
Before my fellow Nigerians hang me for treason, i haven't done anything unworthy of philosophy. I do not seek; I find. Let actions alone be the manifestation of the authentic being in defense of it's authentic vision. Please understand the psycho-effect of that parlance. "Love is blind", then you will understand what I feel for Nigeria above "love." So by any means necessary!
Get out of the BOX -Think Afresh

Do I or do I not recognize the trap of my activities on facebook and this blog? I plead you all to summon kindred knowledge and kindred findings to your aid. Kindred rebellions against the lure of tragi-existentialism; for rage is no longer enough to combat the temptation to subside into unproductive, will-sapping social talks and intellectual masturbation, in which we all often get involved on facebook or Sahara reporters and other blog spots. I think every act of reflection is already an act of separation, there is no reconciliation or renewal without a former misunderstanding, so before we disagree to agree let's take away everything and let's talk on common grounds. 2011 is here calling on us all to save history and the future from eternal RUIN, but Babangida, that ruinous, disastrous, catastrophic, calamitous and cataclysmic dictator, that is worthy of a death by hanging in broad-day-light is presently topping opinion polls, and you and i sit our asses down, waiting to be dead. WAITING TO BE DEAD?
© Qudus ONIKEKU
www.qudus.blogspot.com
Jul 20, 2010
Felasophical views on Femi Kuti – Broadway deception
A Basic Aikido philosophy states that the strength is not in muscular force, but in flexibility, timing, control and modesty, its humanitarian purpose is to purify one’s aggressive reactions to conflicts of ego, “But people will say Femi, you don’t take the kind of risks Fela took…” this witty statement by Omoyele Sowore, that was meant to be followed by a question, will lead to a (no)interview with the son of the Afrobeat legend, Femi Kuti at the Fela! Broadway performance in New York. Before the arrival of the question that never came, revelation came; one could sense plenty ghosts of pretense past all came knocking at Femi’s heart for freedom, but for a Femi who is always on guard, swiftly seek escape routes to cover his open sore, like a boxer he counter-attacked “Who says?” having no clue of who Sowore was, he went on with his jabs “…Are you talking as a Nigerian or as a fool or as a naïve person?” amidst his many rehash “Do you want me to be killed like my father before you know that I am taking risks? you have to apologise before i answer your questions” Femi categorically stated that absolutely nothing was wrong with a Fela! on Broadway which was what concerns me the most and eventually prompted the coming alive of this piece of writing.
Fela! On Broadway.
"Moneymaking and historical memory are allies in the extension of capitalism. You cry with one eye and wipe it off with a cold beer, leaving the other eye open for gambling."
Toyin Falola, Nigerian historian
Folk heroes will at one moment or the other pay the price they refused to pay while alive, Bob Marley did, even Che Guevara did pay the marketable price he owe the world, and now it’s perhaps the time for Fela Kuti despite his Felasophy. Fela! Will be on Broadway till the 2nd of January 2011 and tickets range from 59$ to 127$. According to sources from Wikipedia “Broadway theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English-speaking world. The Broadway Theatre district is a popular tourist attraction in New York.” And according to The Broadway League, “Broadway shows sold approximately $1.02 billion worth of tickets in the 2009-2010 season, compared to $1 billion in the 2008-2009 season” in essence the dialectic of shows on Broadway is primarily linked to how much rather than how well, and this fundamentally go against Felasophy.
Some purists may find this development derailing, because more than a musical rhythm, Afrobeat is a rhythm of “otherness” realized largely in songs and lyrics, but also in cultural and political actions. Most acolyte of Afrobeat and its protégés often think of Afrobeat as a tool for speaking out the obvious truth in the name of the masses, but Afrobeat is above all an aesthetics of cultural politics. Its performance is equally characterized by the creation of a liberal cultural space that is admissive of a free discourse of society’s fears, doubts, and inhibitions. Now that Fela is on Broadway – or rather Broadway is on Fela – there is no reason to appear condescending about that; it will be fair enough on the legend and his legacy, to make way for a free discourse on the pros and cons of these “goodwill” that might require us to “cry with one eye and wipe it off with a cold beer, leaving the other eye open for gambling."
Femi Kuti, Seun Kuti and many other legitimate personalities have lent their voices to the pros of having Fela! On Broadway, which is the reason why I focus more on the cons for a balanced discourse. Even though I have not seen this show after a brief encounter with (the choreographer) Bill T Jones during a US tour in 2008, but knowing what a Broadway show entails and the publicity claim of it being “the true story of Fela Kuti” is deafening. Here I speak solely of its significance and not a reviewer of the show. The grandeur of Fela Kuti diminishes, as I’m certain that its exploitation on Broadway will certainly drain off deep content to attract consumers, and so its power worn-out by the parasitic deconstruction of commercial productions. Afrobeat is the symbol of this Fela! for mass media. By associating a symbol with a product, rather than letting it exist as the signifier of its framing experiences, it is robbed of its meaning and sense of truth. The commercial exploitation of Fela Kuti and all that he represents will only help in widening the rift between ideals and festivity, between choice of words and the truth. It will therefore, assault the ideal realm and appropriate subjective significance of Felasophy, and might in the end lose its ability to inspire metaphysical truth.
A set of Fela’s ideological outlook referred to as Felasophy (as stated in Sola Olorunyomi’s book AFROBEAT! fela and the imagined continent), builds the basis at which Afrobeat lies, the Afrobeat as championed by Fela engage a broad spectrum of ideas such as the African art and civilization, notions of slavery and western technology; views on religion and colonialism; his reaction to multiple imperialism and collaborating elites; his vision of Pan-Africanism and his version of “what to be done.” Other concerns range from the nature of knowledge production and its distribution, architecture, spirituality, citizenship, economy and development, to traditional medicine and the use of herbs, the environment, the judiciary and administration of justice, international relations and a myriad of other domestic issues.
Femi Kuti's relation to this Felasophy is quite misleading, as one might already note that in the tribute version of “Water No Get Enemy,” one of Fela’s most anthemic songs, in which other American hip-hop, soul and funk stars collaborated with Femi Kuti, for the Red Hot Organization. A line was deliberately omitted from the track:
T’omi ba pa ọmọ rẹ, omi na lo ma lo was not translated, thus, If water kill your child, na water you go use was substituted by “we don’t want that now.” Fela's point, which is part of his Felasophy manifesto, is that, as opposed to monotheist beliefs, nothing is intrinsically regard to as good or bad, that as pure as water could be, it has its negative/destructive attributes. In censoring Fela’s intellectual property, Femi has apparently dealt with things “diplomatically and gracefully.” As he explained to the New York Times.
I want that brand called FELA!
Many factors inform the classification of Fela’s musical practice as popular (music) art, as distinct from mass (music) art. Mass art as it were, presumably panders to the whims of its clientele and does not engage them in problematizing their social situations in a manner that popular art does.
Sola Olorunyomi
In an interview conducted in 1992, Fela denounced Afrobeat as “a meaningless commercial nonsense with which recording labels exploited the artist.” With this latest development, Afrobeat steps one more mile away from popular music to mass music. It is imaginable to believe –or believable to imagine – that the son looks like his father, and aspires to transcend his role, then begins by evoking aspects of his symbolism, both in form and in content, until the son becomes the father of his own son and so on. Without any doubt in my mind Femi Kuti is a skillful musician and a major custodian of part of the Felagacy that most of us benefit. What however, makes it almost impossible and pitiable for Femi Kuti –as well as numerous proponents of Afrobeat ideals – is that, some are temperamentally apolitical and lacks the technical and intellectual capital required, to trail the path of the great Fela and the Afrobeat agenda. Voila the birth of a new age of Afrobeat for sale, that still sing on behalf of the masses and express a Pan-African yearning without a prior knowledge of the underline ideology from which Fela easily drew his vocabulary and allusions.
The American public has been flooded by an eternal parade of commodities and fabricated spectacles that keep it preoccupied with the ideals and values of consumerism. Traditional cultural values of Western society are already degenerating under the influences of corporate politics, the commercialization of everything and the impact of mass media. Fela! on Broadway is only but an accomplice in the collective viewing experience and consumer trends, without integrating it “in problematizing their social conditions,” which is the basic transformative experience in encountering Fela Kuti and his ideology. Now that Fela! Will begin national and international tours, in Which Lagos will be one of its destinations. Even though Fela drew his musical temperament from Lagos, but contemporary reality no longer thrives on the social context in which he did. Lagos is now a unipolar world of its own, with the abiding influence of the intellectual Lagos youth being determined more by Lady Gaga and Stock market, than Fela Kuti or Kwame Nkrumah. So, a dissimilar approach to FELA! In Lagos is not guaranteed.
Alternative chitchat also has it that following FELA’s! success on Broadway, the big screen is taking its turn on the legendary. Steve McQueen, the producer of the popular film “hunger.” That stormed Cannes festival in 2008, is presently working on a biopic movie still on Fela! He shall be writing the script, in collaboration with Biyi Bandele; one Nigeria’s most versatile and prolific writers in the U.K. ‘capable of wild surrealism and wit as well as political engagement.’ The movie will be based on Michael Veal’s book, Fela: The Life and Times of an African Musical Icon and It will be co-produced by James Schamus, who said ‘The Broadway show is pure joy, but Steve and Biyi’s vision is very cinematic and distinctive. Fela was a revolution figure in world culture’. To accompany the team, Fela will be played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, Nigerian-British actor who already worked on a fiction linked to Steve Biko “Red Dust” in 2004 and many others. If this production turns out to be a well-done, perhaps it will attempt redemption of the Fela imagery, and if it fails, the next thing is to expect an amusement park called FELALAND somewhere in the west.