Three kobo words
Three Kobo Book: Of Delayed Dreams Deferred Hopes
Those who contend that Nigerian writing might yet experience a renaissance or a rebirth are on the lane of truth. The optimism that the pervasive rot, which had percolated into the literary art from the general national malaise could be dislodged with time, is believable afterall.
There are indeed young, fresher views growing in the literary firmament. And the resourcefulness is not just manifesting in dynamism of vision, but also in the deployment of techniques and general craftmanship.
Ayo Arigbabu, DejoToye and Dapo Ogundipe, in truth, represent the new tendency for qualitative production in the arts. They are resourceful with their subject, throwing up mature visionary contentions; the language is deep and intense; a thorough understanding of the colours and dynamics of words and expressions; and a good grasp of the craft of writing; the place of sequencing and composition — all of which are the bane of most first new writings.
The three young writers have attempted, very articulately indeed, to master such pitfalls affecting some other writers of their age — logicality, arrangement, detailing, consistency of technique; and very important, styling.
It is instructive that the three artists are graduates of other disciplines outside of the arts. Ayo is an architect, Dejo, a lawyer, Dapo, a system manager. This is not itself new.
The community of Nigerian writers, especially after the independence era (and the second generation group), densely-populated by graduates of faculty of arts, have been mostly peopled by medical doctors, service men, town planners, pharmacists, lawyers and others.
These three chaps have only deepened the assertion that artists most often are born than made. Talents are intrinsinc virtues but skill acquisition help to nurse natural talent to inventive and effective deployment of resources.
Specifically, the strength of the content of Three Kobo Book is the depth of vision of the artists; each of the three having a sharp intellect that though young and fresh are aged in profile.
The writers are very observant of their environment, and have developed an uncanny ability to interrogate events and characters in the enevironment, in such a way that they could each offer insightful proboscis into the ettiquettes of the society. This ability which naturally is associated with age and worldliness — the vastness of the artist’s encounter with the vicissitudes of life — seem to be natural with each of the writers.
Thus their individual age, which is the late twentyish and early thirtyish does not reflect in the depth of the material they have imputed into the collection.
The poet, dramatist and fiction writer in this collection have also suggested a possible way of breaking the nightmare that publishing has become for the younger folks: cooperative publishing. And of course, this is a more concise format than the popular anthology culture. This is a venture that is based on mutual sharing.
In other words, these are drream-sharers.
In pooling their creative skills and resources toward this common publishing poject, the three chaps have been able to do inter-writers assessment of their individual works. This offers a good opportuninty for each of them to do a fair critique of each of the imputs.
For instance, the poet, Dapo Ogundipe must have gone through fictions of Ayo Arigbabu, while the dramatist, Deji Toye must have also reviewed the fiction and the poetry of his colleaguie and vice versa.
This cooperative is progressive.
This is expected in any case as the three had at one point or the other being key figures in the revolutionary student literary group — the Pen Circle — based in the University of Lagos.
In coming together, they, perhaps unconsciously, must have tapped from ancestral inspiration of the fifties that led to the flowering of Nigerian literature in the fifties and sixties through such structures as Mbari group at Ibadan and Nsukka. This workshop experience produced the most of the first generation of Nigerian literature; which was replicated in fine arts, as members of the famous Zaria Art Society that led to emergence of the icons of today's fine arts among others.
Dream sharers, yes. But these three are not copy-cats.
Each of the writers has an individualistic approach to writing that is very glaring in the imputs.
Arigbabu, the poet, is pethaps the most romantic of the three. His imageries bear roses with which they woo the heart of the reader. And his narratives are immersed in melodic riffs, which aid the digestion of his thought flows.
In Blue Notes, his collection of short stories, the graduare of Architecture, employs familiar but creatively subtle symbols of fertility, even when he is describing the chaotic hip-culture of Lagos vehicular movement in Yoruba jazz &Techno.
Of course, his caption is deceptive just as his narration. He seems to be talking about the culture of the Danfo (mini) buses but the narrator really touches on the violent character of jagged Lagos as seen from as simple a chore as taking a bus ride in this city of everlasting webbing.
Rain as a symbol of life and regenation, say renewal, course ever constantly thorugh Arigbabu's narration. It is in at least four of the seven short stories featured in the collection, even in the narrator’s rendezvous in the theatre hall with a certain Frank.
Remarkably, the narraror in Arigbabu's story appears an intensely, ruminative fellow with a mind that is ever pre-occuipied with wonderings and wanderings about the strangeness of life and its beings. The writer helps the narrator with simple but impactful diction, which helps to make him familiar and distant at the same time, thus casting an aura of mystery around him.
In Ogundipe's poetry, there is a mix of the various poetic styles. The poet is a lyricist with a huge heart for rhymes, metres and rhythms — essentials, which many poets of today have abandoned due to pretentious abtractions or a curious predilection for obsurantism; or, sheer negligence, carelessness, craft incompetence; or, impatience with the process of producing a qualitative piece of creative work, which, like giving birth, is laborious but sweetening.
And unlike some of the few who still respect the beauty of the verses, Ogundipe’s rhymes and rhythms are not forced; not contrived for shortcut effect! They rather come with his lyrical flow, gracing his thought into the consciousness of the reader. The music in the poems snake fluidlly from the very depth of the lines and diction; bearing the poet’s tapestry of picturesque imageries — love, life, conflicts and resolves.
Notedly too, Ogundipe has a fluent diction, unencumbered by concocted vast repertoires (collocations, really) of words which often end up producing soulless verses forested by strange, unwanted words and phrases.
The poet bears much love in his heart and this he shares — sometimes emotively, sometimes passionately; but never without an agenda; a motive, which could at any time be deployed in interogating the political or social space.
And even at the risk of sometime sounding simplistic , Ogundipe projects his thought simple, cute and concise.
Not unexpected, the dramatist, Deji Toye is the most political of the troika. And his drama bears pungent anger and exasperation with a system that walks living on its head and make monster of men through frailities of… Man.
Toye chooses the right model to probe the social political conditions. He engages the nebulous character-type — the abberation of modern African politics — the military; and explores the familar motives of war and attritions, with the attendant culture of grab and graft; and wastes.
His main character Aruwo is archetypal of the vampire politicians on the African political landscape, who peddle vile philosophy such as Aruwoism, which rather than reconstructing for reform, prefers to pull down and then enthrone void in the social equilibrium.
But most impactful in Toye’s The Botching of a Brute, is the symbolic setting of a ruined home— reflective of the carcass that militocracy has turned most African states. As recorded in Biafra, Rwanda Burundi, and now Darfur, the characters — destituted by the rage of blood — struggle in the ruins to reconstruct the remains of their life. The quarrelsome aged couple —Baba and Mama; and their derelict son, George are also archetypal of the relics of wastes. The picture is complete with a daughter, Marian who was uprooted from her home and taken hostage by the bloody tyrants but who returns as the ransome to sanctify the cheap victory by the militaricians; she returns more as a relic than a treasure.
The dramatist shares the passion (could read competence) for the right diction and fluent expressions with the poet, and the fiction writer. Particularly for the dramatist, words become stronger, effective vehicles of expression; his politics come out stronger as he filled the guts of his characters with the appropriate subtexts; much more in the near mystic character of theTramp.
Uniting the three authors here is a passion for sane living culture; a deep concern about protection of civilising principles that distinguish man from jungle beings; and above all, a reflection on the possibilty of attaining the ideal environment. The search for a space in which the real Man will exist and function progressively.
Yet the most affective thread in this union of the pen and intellect (and as well writerly disciplines), is a deep passion for the written word; a deep belief in the power of the art to reform and transform the society; or to restitute the soul of the society and human family generally.
They also remarkably share a keen interest in the deployment of craftmanship to realise qualitative work of literature.
Thematically, the authors have captured the entire realities of delayed dreams and deferred hopes; pointing at the cause, effect and danger of these twin-evil to human progress.
Delayed dreams Deferred Hopes say the authors of Three Kobo Book are like evil birds in flight; no one is sure of where they would land or what darkness they could cast on the peace of the human world.
But the author say that it is the society that bears the brunt of wrecked dreams and postponed tomorrow. It is Man that is the ultimate victim of the madness wrought by Man through his predilection for disingenous thoughts, words and deeds.
The Three Kobo Book is a song of delayed dreams, deferred hopes indeed…
…Eh, what are we saying?
Even this dream — Three Kobo Book – has been delayed by this 1759-word-weak foreword.
We are all accused of delayed dreams deferred hopes! All of us… even this fictionist, Ayo Arigbabu; this poetryst, Dapo Ogundipe; this playist, Dejo Toye… this forwardist…
— Jahman Anikulapo
Those who contend that Nigerian writing might yet experience a renaissance or a rebirth are on the lane of truth. The optimism that the pervasive rot, which had percolated into the literary art from the general national malaise could be dislodged with time, is believable afterall.
There are indeed young, fresher views growing in the literary firmament. And the resourcefulness is not just manifesting in dynamism of vision, but also in the deployment of techniques and general craftmanship.
Ayo Arigbabu, DejoToye and Dapo Ogundipe, in truth, represent the new tendency for qualitative production in the arts. They are resourceful with their subject, throwing up mature visionary contentions; the language is deep and intense; a thorough understanding of the colours and dynamics of words and expressions; and a good grasp of the craft of writing; the place of sequencing and composition — all of which are the bane of most first new writings.
The three young writers have attempted, very articulately indeed, to master such pitfalls affecting some other writers of their age — logicality, arrangement, detailing, consistency of technique; and very important, styling.
It is instructive that the three artists are graduates of other disciplines outside of the arts. Ayo is an architect, Dejo, a lawyer, Dapo, a system manager. This is not itself new.
The community of Nigerian writers, especially after the independence era (and the second generation group), densely-populated by graduates of faculty of arts, have been mostly peopled by medical doctors, service men, town planners, pharmacists, lawyers and others.
These three chaps have only deepened the assertion that artists most often are born than made. Talents are intrinsinc virtues but skill acquisition help to nurse natural talent to inventive and effective deployment of resources.
Specifically, the strength of the content of Three Kobo Book is the depth of vision of the artists; each of the three having a sharp intellect that though young and fresh are aged in profile.
The writers are very observant of their environment, and have developed an uncanny ability to interrogate events and characters in the enevironment, in such a way that they could each offer insightful proboscis into the ettiquettes of the society. This ability which naturally is associated with age and worldliness — the vastness of the artist’s encounter with the vicissitudes of life — seem to be natural with each of the writers.
Thus their individual age, which is the late twentyish and early thirtyish does not reflect in the depth of the material they have imputed into the collection.
The poet, dramatist and fiction writer in this collection have also suggested a possible way of breaking the nightmare that publishing has become for the younger folks: cooperative publishing. And of course, this is a more concise format than the popular anthology culture. This is a venture that is based on mutual sharing.
In other words, these are drream-sharers.
In pooling their creative skills and resources toward this common publishing poject, the three chaps have been able to do inter-writers assessment of their individual works. This offers a good opportuninty for each of them to do a fair critique of each of the imputs.
For instance, the poet, Dapo Ogundipe must have gone through fictions of Ayo Arigbabu, while the dramatist, Deji Toye must have also reviewed the fiction and the poetry of his colleaguie and vice versa.
This cooperative is progressive.
This is expected in any case as the three had at one point or the other being key figures in the revolutionary student literary group — the Pen Circle — based in the University of Lagos.
In coming together, they, perhaps unconsciously, must have tapped from ancestral inspiration of the fifties that led to the flowering of Nigerian literature in the fifties and sixties through such structures as Mbari group at Ibadan and Nsukka. This workshop experience produced the most of the first generation of Nigerian literature; which was replicated in fine arts, as members of the famous Zaria Art Society that led to emergence of the icons of today's fine arts among others.
Dream sharers, yes. But these three are not copy-cats.
Each of the writers has an individualistic approach to writing that is very glaring in the imputs.
Arigbabu, the poet, is pethaps the most romantic of the three. His imageries bear roses with which they woo the heart of the reader. And his narratives are immersed in melodic riffs, which aid the digestion of his thought flows.
In Blue Notes, his collection of short stories, the graduare of Architecture, employs familiar but creatively subtle symbols of fertility, even when he is describing the chaotic hip-culture of Lagos vehicular movement in Yoruba jazz &Techno.
Of course, his caption is deceptive just as his narration. He seems to be talking about the culture of the Danfo (mini) buses but the narrator really touches on the violent character of jagged Lagos as seen from as simple a chore as taking a bus ride in this city of everlasting webbing.
Rain as a symbol of life and regenation, say renewal, course ever constantly thorugh Arigbabu's narration. It is in at least four of the seven short stories featured in the collection, even in the narrator’s rendezvous in the theatre hall with a certain Frank.
Remarkably, the narraror in Arigbabu's story appears an intensely, ruminative fellow with a mind that is ever pre-occuipied with wonderings and wanderings about the strangeness of life and its beings. The writer helps the narrator with simple but impactful diction, which helps to make him familiar and distant at the same time, thus casting an aura of mystery around him.
In Ogundipe's poetry, there is a mix of the various poetic styles. The poet is a lyricist with a huge heart for rhymes, metres and rhythms — essentials, which many poets of today have abandoned due to pretentious abtractions or a curious predilection for obsurantism; or, sheer negligence, carelessness, craft incompetence; or, impatience with the process of producing a qualitative piece of creative work, which, like giving birth, is laborious but sweetening.
And unlike some of the few who still respect the beauty of the verses, Ogundipe’s rhymes and rhythms are not forced; not contrived for shortcut effect! They rather come with his lyrical flow, gracing his thought into the consciousness of the reader. The music in the poems snake fluidlly from the very depth of the lines and diction; bearing the poet’s tapestry of picturesque imageries — love, life, conflicts and resolves.
Notedly too, Ogundipe has a fluent diction, unencumbered by concocted vast repertoires (collocations, really) of words which often end up producing soulless verses forested by strange, unwanted words and phrases.
The poet bears much love in his heart and this he shares — sometimes emotively, sometimes passionately; but never without an agenda; a motive, which could at any time be deployed in interogating the political or social space.
And even at the risk of sometime sounding simplistic , Ogundipe projects his thought simple, cute and concise.
Not unexpected, the dramatist, Deji Toye is the most political of the troika. And his drama bears pungent anger and exasperation with a system that walks living on its head and make monster of men through frailities of… Man.
Toye chooses the right model to probe the social political conditions. He engages the nebulous character-type — the abberation of modern African politics — the military; and explores the familar motives of war and attritions, with the attendant culture of grab and graft; and wastes.
His main character Aruwo is archetypal of the vampire politicians on the African political landscape, who peddle vile philosophy such as Aruwoism, which rather than reconstructing for reform, prefers to pull down and then enthrone void in the social equilibrium.
But most impactful in Toye’s The Botching of a Brute, is the symbolic setting of a ruined home— reflective of the carcass that militocracy has turned most African states. As recorded in Biafra, Rwanda Burundi, and now Darfur, the characters — destituted by the rage of blood — struggle in the ruins to reconstruct the remains of their life. The quarrelsome aged couple —Baba and Mama; and their derelict son, George are also archetypal of the relics of wastes. The picture is complete with a daughter, Marian who was uprooted from her home and taken hostage by the bloody tyrants but who returns as the ransome to sanctify the cheap victory by the militaricians; she returns more as a relic than a treasure.
The dramatist shares the passion (could read competence) for the right diction and fluent expressions with the poet, and the fiction writer. Particularly for the dramatist, words become stronger, effective vehicles of expression; his politics come out stronger as he filled the guts of his characters with the appropriate subtexts; much more in the near mystic character of theTramp.
Uniting the three authors here is a passion for sane living culture; a deep concern about protection of civilising principles that distinguish man from jungle beings; and above all, a reflection on the possibilty of attaining the ideal environment. The search for a space in which the real Man will exist and function progressively.
Yet the most affective thread in this union of the pen and intellect (and as well writerly disciplines), is a deep passion for the written word; a deep belief in the power of the art to reform and transform the society; or to restitute the soul of the society and human family generally.
They also remarkably share a keen interest in the deployment of craftmanship to realise qualitative work of literature.
Thematically, the authors have captured the entire realities of delayed dreams and deferred hopes; pointing at the cause, effect and danger of these twin-evil to human progress.
Delayed dreams Deferred Hopes say the authors of Three Kobo Book are like evil birds in flight; no one is sure of where they would land or what darkness they could cast on the peace of the human world.
But the author say that it is the society that bears the brunt of wrecked dreams and postponed tomorrow. It is Man that is the ultimate victim of the madness wrought by Man through his predilection for disingenous thoughts, words and deeds.
The Three Kobo Book is a song of delayed dreams, deferred hopes indeed…
…Eh, what are we saying?
Even this dream — Three Kobo Book – has been delayed by this 1759-word-weak foreword.
We are all accused of delayed dreams deferred hopes! All of us… even this fictionist, Ayo Arigbabu; this poetryst, Dapo Ogundipe; this playist, Dejo Toye… this forwardist…
— Jahman Anikulapo
Comments