04042019 - Nigeria 7 other nstions home to world's hungriest - UN

38—VANGUARD, THURSDAY, APRIL 4, 2019
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*A scene from the play
How obnoxious law against
women led to The Wives Revolt
By Japhet Alakam
THE venue was Agip Recital
Hall, MUSON Centre,
Onikan and as expected, as
early as 2.00 pm, theatre lovers
were already seated at the
purveyor of the hall waiting for
the 3.00 pm, time for opening of
the gates for the play, Our Wives
Revolt, a drama piece by Prof. J
P Clark that took the audience
back to the good old days when
men were the lord in their
homes and the women were just
there.
The play which had a
command performance on 29th,
and later two sessions on 31st
was performed as part of the
activities marking the monthlong
celebration of Women and
was put together by African
Radio Drama Association,
ARDA.
As one entered the hall, the
setting spoke volumes of its
originality as carved chairs, mud
houses, moderated lights and a
makeshift acting area
constituted the homely theatre
ambience for the play. The local
voice of the women of the city
set the mood for the play which
begins with the appearance of
Okoro, Koko’s husband. Okoro,
equipped with the gong,
announces the enforcement of a
new law banishing goats in the
oil-rich Erhuwaren village.
That law sparks a feud in the
community between the men
and the women as the latter are
the owners of these forbidden
domestic animals. The law is
considered repressive by the
women. Already, the sharing
formula for the oil wealth has
been in three parts namely: the
elders, men of particular agegroup
and women. The women
reason that the elders are the
men and the implication is that
the menfolk hold the two-thirds
of the oil revenue. Hence, the
women plan to make men their
“domestic animals.” In their bid
to be heard, they deserted their
homes and their children,
leaving their husbands to do the
domestic chores such as cooking,
sweeping and other menial
tasks that the men would
otherwise treat as abomination
for the masculine gender. The
women travelled all the way to
Eyara while expecting to be
quickly recalled by their lonely
husbands. But their husbands
who felt a bit of what women
do at home are prepared for the
worst. At Eyara, the women are
accommodated and cared for
by Ighodayen, a notorious
prostitute where they contacted
a disease.
There are only three major
characters in this drama,
making the story easy to follow
from the outset. It clearly
dramatises the injustice the
women suffer at the hands of
their men. Unlike in traditional
times, when the fairer sex had
to swallow whatever males
gave them, the wives (and
even the mothers of the men)
of the Erhuwaren don’t take
‘no’ for an answer. They know
how to fight for their rights.
Okoro represents the deepest
kinds of misogyny: when men
don’t help their women to do
the chores, don’t give their
wives enough money for food
and yet complain the soup isn’t
tasty. Or those who beat up
their partners in a drunken
state and cap it all by accusing
them of crimes they haven’t
committed (Chinelo Oputa).
Koko, the wife of Okoro,
conveys female dynamism: the
living version of the saying, ‘as
you make your bed, so you will
lie on it’. If you want peace,
they’ll give you peace. But if
you want trouble, they’ll neither
spare you nor themselves.
Idama, the friend and peer of
Okoro, is the human conscience
struggling to create a balance
between a man’s longing to
satisfy himself and the need to
do so without offending anyone.
Speaking after the play, ARDA
executive director and the
executive producer of the play,
Alison Data Phido who stated
that the play demonstrated the
fact that an idea by the women
can change the society, however,
said that the choice of the play
was first to honour men and
women who have been fighting
inequality in the society and to
honour an icon of literature, J P
Clark now that he is alive for his
contributions to the literary
world.
Ikorodu, Lagos, Oladele
Medaiyese exposes the
intrigues, pains and struggles
of a nine-year-old Julia Aleem
whose bright life abruptly
becomes blank due to the
constant molestation from her
stepfather.
She calls him daddy, a 107-
page non-fiction novel reveals
the reality of the modern times
where quest for survival by
parents more often than not,
leaves the children to sexual
abuse and molestation by
pedophiles who most times are
close relations.
Julia, once the bright and
cheerful Basic five pupil had her
life turn upside down the
moment her mom left her in the
care of her stepfather, having
gotten a job two years after her
husband’s demise in an
accident.
Chapter one titled: Julia
carries a burden, captures the
readers’ curiosity of two
opposite lives; that of Olivia
Ighodalo and Julia. While the
former feels a sense of trust,
‘Africans must tell their own
story’ — Prof Eghagha
Medaiyese’s She calls him daddy exposes pains of an abused child
W
By Elizabeth Uwandu
hat happens when that
once vibrant child
becomes moody, unassuming
and detached? What happens
when a cheerful baby becomes
melancholic, deviant and
lonely?“ These and other
issues are what Oladele
Medaiyese interrogates in his
new book titled: She calls him
daddy.
In the small coffee table book
published by Elim
Pharmaceutical Limited,
By Elizabeth Uwandu
NIGERIANS have been called
upon to promote Africa’s
dexterity, peculiarities and diversity
in whatever way they choose, for
the development of the nation. This
was the submission of scholars who
spoke during the presentation of
the book, International Sisi Eko, a
collection of short stories put
together by staff and students of
English Department, University of
Lagos.
Speaking at the launch held in
the Board room, Faculty of Arts last
week, Prof. Hope Eghagha, HOD,
English Department, who
alongside Prof. Karen King-
Aribisala edited the book, pointed
out that the need for Africans to tell
their stories informed the writing of
the book published by Kachifo
Limited, under its Prestige Imprint.
On his part, veteran writer
and poet, Odia Ofeimum, congratulated
the students especially
the women who contributed
to the literary work. According
to him, “the women
who managed to contribute are
in the first class, they managed
to sit down to write despite the
distractions. They should be celebrated.”
Odia who cautioned
them not to let their efforts be a
one-off thing but a life time
enterprise, stated that what the
English department is doing is
filling the gap that some publishing
organisations are not filling.
“Maybe we are not writing
enough. We have a culture to
enjoy something and not pay for
it. A contributor to a book is
entitled to an honorarium,” he
added.
At the event that also had the likes
of Dr Rebeun Abati among others,
former Commissioner for
Education in Delta State
noted that “ The truth is
that Africans must tell
their story. We should not
allow another man tell our
story. And we should not
enter our house through
another man’s door. *Prof. Hope Eghagha(l), Odia Ofemum(m)
“When you tell your and others during the presentation.
security and independence
due to her liberal family
lifestyle of shared value and
love through communication,
the latter reveals that of a
broken, timid and insecure
child caused by collapse in
communication, lack of
affection and bond in the
family. Worse still, Julia’s
deviant actions to draw her
mother’s attention to her
suffering proved abortive.
Other chapters: An adventure
with strangers; Lost but found;
A storm gathers; Will this trap
work? Trouble brews for Mr
Akume; Stepfather in hot water;
and Police cell gets new inmate;
all take one into the life of an
abused child’s desire for escape
from a pedophile, the inherent
lack of trust and lack of the will
to live due to perceived fear of
threats from the molester; the
power of friendship and
communication in the form of
Julia being able to overcome her
fears and intimidation through
the efforts of little Olivia with the
help of her family.
story, you convey your pains, joy and
celebration and you do not just
communicate your weakness, but
your strength as well. So what we
have done is tell the the story of
Lagos as we have experienced it as
it has been said that Lagos has a
spirit, a mystic that holds and seizes
you. We have looked at Lagos from
different perspectives. And having
students and staff collaborate to write
this piece is a thing of joy. We are
happy with the calibre of people that
came to grace the occasion and the
success it recorded,“ he explained.
The piece of art, a collection of 16
stories has the following titles: I fixed
it by Lola Akande; The Long Night
by Paschal Nwankwo; Lucky by
Chris Anyoku; Gabriel in Egbeda
by Sola Ogunbayo; Mamman the
Party Man by Hope Eghagha; The
Thin Line Between by Bosede
Afolayan; Two face by Tope
Larayetan; and Two-Way Streets by
Abayomi Folaranmi and others.
Prof. Eghagha who expressed joy
that the book has become a reality,
said call for entries were poor as
people did not believe that
publication of International Sisi Eko
was possible.
“As I said earlier, the book arose
from a class workshop and it took
six to nine months to get it published.
We provided themes and the
contributors perfected their art
during series of workshops and
meetings before the final draft was
approved. Hopefully, we are going
to have volume two soon.
“So what we have done is to look
at Lagos from the international
perspective through the eyes of
locals. Surprisingly , we had more
female entries and the response was
poor as people did not believe we
can publish.”
In addition, the role of
education and counselling come
into play as displayed by Mrs
Efe George, class teacher to
both Olivia and Julia, whose
teaching on body parts ignited
Olivia’s passion to help her
friend.
For the author, parents
especially mothers’
watchfulness and close
observation would do a lot in
saving their children and help
them to break the silence. This
can be achieved through
building up communication,
friendship and trust as seen in
the family of little Olivia. This
is not forgetting the place of
sex education in the life of
growing children who
normally ought to start at home.
She calls him daddy apart
from few typographical errors,
is an engaging book for
everyone as its language is
simple, clear and concise. And
the inclusion of appendix add
to the beauty of the work of art
as readers especially children,
get the opportunity of learning
new words.