29092019 - 2023: Controversy over Pastor Tunde Bakare's prophecy on Buhari's

PAGE 32, SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 29, 2019
EDITED BY
osaamadi@yahoo.com
08070524223
McPhilips: His dirge at twilight Mcphilips Nwachukwu (1966-2013)
By Osa Amadi, Arts Editor
Inever met him, but the good
works and name he left behind
speak for him, even till this day.
Wherever I go, immediately I
introduce myself as Arts Editor of
Vanguard the discussion always centre
around McPhilips. Those who have
not read me would admonish me to
endeavor to be as good and brilliant as
McPhilips. What more could the dead
wish for besides the welfare of the family
one left behind?
On January 14, 2019, after reading
my part essay, part review of Emma
Okocha’s “Blood on the Niger” which
I titled Telling our children the truth on
Armed Forces Day, a certain man who
concealed his identity but impressed
me as a Very Important Person called
me on phone just to ask me where Sam
Amuka (the publisher of Vanguard
Newspaper) gets Arts Editors like Obi
Nwakanmma, McPhilips
Nwachukwu, and myself.
Back ‘home’ at Vanguard, the story is
the same: Those who knew him would
not stop talking to me about McPhilips;
what a brilliant and creative person he
was, and I believe it’s the best epitaph
for the dead. It is rare for dead people
to be remembered for their money
which often vanishes as soon as they
are gone.
Whoever missed the opportunity of
having a firsthand experience of
McPhilips Nwachukwu’s brilliance
So long a Night: A premonition of his death
By Chukwuma Ajakah
IN this anthology of introspective
poems, Mcphilips Nwachukwu
explores the vicissitudes of life as a
personal voyage fraught with thrills
and frills. The poet navigates
through the varying experiences he
has had in life, capturing the defining
moments in fine lines of poetry crafted
under divers titles and broadly divided
into three parts: Memory Space,
Moon Songs and Journeying.
The collection of poems published
in 2014 by Bookdoctors Press, Nigeria,
encapsulates earlier works of the now
late Mcphilips including those
featured in the literary journals of his
alma mater, the University of Nigeria,
Nsukka and University of Lagos as
well as the popular, Okike founded
annotated by the renowned African
novelist, Chinua Achebe. Some of the
poems have also spiced the art pages
of notable Nigerian daily newspapers
such as The Guardian, The
Champion and Vanguard where the
journalist cum poet worked as the Art
Editor before he died in 2013. As if the
poet had a premonition of his demise,
most of the poems in the anthology
depict the <strong>over</strong>riding theme
of death as an inevitable end for all
mortals while a few celebrate the
sunny side of a transient life fraught
with uncertainties and
disappointments.
The poems crafted in the similitude
of Kofi Awoonor-Williams ‘Songs of
Sorrow” contain predominantly lyrics
of lamentation as elegies mourn the
premature demise of members of the
family with the pervading mood of
intense loneliness and dejection. The
elegies in Memory Space which
forms the first part of So Long a
Night include: “Garlands for the
Serial Killer”, “Badge of Honour”, “Is
This the Way of the Faithful?”, “Easter
Ash”, “Disconnections”, “Laughter in
a Season of Agony”, “Son of My
Father”, “The Jungle Carnival” and
“Reincarnating at the Carnal”.
The second part of the anthology
subtitled, Moon Songs provides a
sublime-albeit temporal comic relief
from the avalanche of misfortunes with
titles like: “Timeless Dream”, “Return
of Early Risers”, “New Song of Life”,
“The Moon, My First Love”, “Rain
Song’ and “Time of Reckoning”. But,
•Late McPhilips Nwachukwu
and deep mind, his book, “So Long
A Night” (which is one of the
published, out of his many
unpublished works) is there, both as
a testimony and a historical record.
Although McPhilips died young
at age 47, he did not die suddenly.
He saw death approaching and
had time to reflect upon it and write
about his life and its imminent end.
“So Long A Night” is the product
of those grim reflections by
McPhilips the intellectual and artist
at the twilight of his earthly
existence.
As we – his friends, colleagues
even in this segment, there are
poems alluding to certain calamities
experienced within the nuclear and
extended family setting. These
include the following: “Evening
Benediction”, “My Exiled Hero”, “In
Search of Udengalasi”, “Unfilled
Earth”, “Betrayal”, “Angelus” and
“Ismail, My Brother”.
In the last part, Journeying, the poet
presents five poems, namely:
“Pretorika”, “Homage”, “Different
Strokes”, “Out of Place” and
“Remembering the Jazz of Azania”.
In Journeying, the poet recounts
experiences garnered from his
travels especially within Africa
where the people seem to share a
common heritage of
underdevelopment and
backwardness. Journeying-as the
title implies, is a travelogue that
chronicles the poet’s observations on
the state of cities in African countries
like Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan,
Kenya, Sierra Leone, Congo and
Cote d’Ivoire. While the allure of
cities like Durban makes them
tourists’ delight and haven for
immigrants, the poet decries the
deplorable living conditions of the
natives as well as the spate of
violence, criminality, indolence
and flagrant disregard for
traditional value system prevalent
in these supposed prime cities.
The verses presented in Memory
Space and Moon Songs are
largely traditional while
Journeying, the concluding
segment can be categorized as
contemporary poetry dealing with
topical current socio-economic and
political issues like the exploitation
of the masses depicted in the
following lines of Remembering
the Jazz of Azania:
But the mistakes of many decades
Are still fresh
Populating the cities of Pretoria,
Durban, Cape Town
And all the streets of Azania
In these born again provinces
Old wounds still fester in the air
Brilliance, exhibition of works of splendor
By Osa Amadi, Arts Editor
Most prolific exhibiting art gallery,
mentor of artists and most
charitable, Alexis Galleries, is at it again.
This time, it is with a group exhibition of
paintings, sculptures, and mixed
media titled Brilliance which opened
yesterday, the 28 of September, and runs
till October 5, 2019.
Brilliance will parade the works of
seven brilliant artists: Patrick Agose, Ato
Arinze, Paul Ayokhai, Chukz
Okonkwo, Busayo Lawal, Luke Osaro
and Moses Ibanga. Six out of the seven
exhibiting artists who spoke to
Vanguard about their works exuded
confidence that the show will be a huge
success.
Popular sculptor, Ato Arinze is
showing 4 major (Pregnant Teenager,
Homage to mother earth, Motherhood,
Couple Resting) and 3 miniatures
(Meditation 1, 2, 3), while Chukz
Okonkwo, a painter who uses sawdust
as his primary material before applying
the paint is showcasing Mother’s Love,
Fisherman’s Invocation, Someday My
Prince Will Come, and Black is Beautiful.
Chukz’s innovative idea of creatively
repurposing sawdust came from the
and family – mourn McPhilips afresh
today on the 6th anniversary of his
death, we must not lose sight of the
fact that soon, and very soon, we will
all go to the place he had gone since
2013. We must also learn that what
really matters in this world is not how
long we lived on earth but what we
left behind.
Jesus lived for only 33 years on
earth (without money or property),
while Methuselah lived for 969 years
(certainly with money and property).
Today, Methuselah is only
remembered for his long years on
earth by those who bother to read the
Bible. But concerning Jesus, the
Scripture says: “Of the increase of his
g<strong>over</strong>nment and peace there shall
be no end…” And we (including
those who don’t read the Bible) are
all witnesses to the fulfillment of that
Scripture penned by Prophet Isaiah
(9:7) more than 800 years before
Jesus was born!
McPhilips Nwachukwu
remarkably played his role and
quitted the stage. We pray to God
never to leave alone the family he left
behind. To all g<strong>over</strong>nments in
Nigeria and across our borders, one
of the ways McPhilips children can
be assisted is to put in the school
curriculum his heart-rending poetry
book, “So Long A Night”. It is a book
of limitless resource for learning and
for life.
Rest in peace, McPhilips.
Standing from left: Exhibiting Artists Chukz Okonkwo, Patrick Agose, Luke
Osaro; Mrs. Patty Chidiac Mastrogiannis, Founder & Director of Alexis Galleries;
Artists Busayo Lawal, Paul Ayokhai and Ato Arinze. Sitting from left: James
Amedu and Samuel Gift, social workers at Sought After Women & Children
Foundation.
sawmill owned by his father.
Luke Osaro, another sculptor brings to
the exhibition, On My Wedding Day,
Desert Princess, Adam’s Heart, Daring,
Emancipated, and Perseverance. But
painter, Paul Ayokhai, perhaps hauls the
largest number of works at the exhibition
which include Man in Blue, Passage,
By Kennedy Onyema
If Mcphilips Nwachukwu was alive
today he would have celebrated
his 53 years birthday. But he died at
47, six years ago, precisely, on
Sunday, 29 September, 2013, at
Golden Cross hospital, FESTAC
Town, Lagos. He left behind his dear
wife Tina, their children and
numerous relations.
Born on January 7,1966, at Ezuhu,
Umuhu Okwuato in Aboh Mbaise
local g<strong>over</strong>nment area of Imo State.
Mcphilips attended St. Gregory’s
primary school and Mbutu
Secondary School Aboh Mbaise.
His passion for literature, even
though science inclined, took him
to study English and Literary studies
in the prestigious University of
Nigeria Nsukka. He graduated in
1995 with a bachelor of Arts degree,
upper credit. While in Nsukka he
was an editor of the Muse Journal
and a beneficiary of the Pius Okigbo
prize on Poetry.
Mcphilips later went to the
University of Lagos and obtained a
Master’s degree in English. But for
his untimely death in 2013,
Mcphilips would have completed
a PhD in Oral literature, a program
he has advanced reasonably well
before he died.
Nwachukwu was a consummate
journalist and a diligent scholar. He
published books, especially on
Whistle Blowing, L<strong>over</strong>s, Royalty, Pepper,
Music and Cow & Cake.
Busayo Lawal brings 4 major works
(including The Dreamer’s Paradise, Hero
Yester-Years, The Revealer, To Live Again)
and Portrait of Mrs. Flamboyant 1-4,
while another sculptor, Patrick Agose,
showcases Masks 1-3 (made of ebony
poetry, and by dint of hard work,
Mcphilips rose to become the Arts
Editor of Vanguard Newspapers,a
position he held till death came
knocking.
As Vanguard’s Arts editor, “The Arts
Column” became a must read for arts
enthusiasts. His masterful exposition
of literature, Arts and Culture drew
many intellectuals to the page. His
devotion to his profession also took
him to different countries of the world
and endeared him to the high and
mighty.
Mcphilips Nwachukwu will be
remembered for many reasons
including “So long a Night”, a poetic
recollection of his harrowing
experiences when he was first
diagnosed of a kidney malfunction.
Mcphilips also has some
unpublished works of poetry to his
credit. His family is optimistic that
some good spirited Nigerians will
help bring the dream of publishing
the book to fruition soon.
Most importantly, Mcphilips
chose to be remembered by the lucid
poetic narrative of his last moments
on earth. The poem collection “So
Long a Night,” a 71 page book
personally scripted by late
Mcphilips, was published and later
presented to the public during his
one year memorial program.
Below is one of the poems titled
“Laughter in a Season of Agony”,
an excerpt from late Mcphilips book
“So Long a Night” P.25:
Putrid smell of man’s wickedness to
man
A legacy of violence…
The language of the poem is
relatively simple as the messages
are presented in a narrative style with
easy to understand words. The
poem has a dominant melancholic
tone intermingled with sarcasm-as
in Garlands for the Serial
Killer which sarcastically derides
the household enemy that derives
pervasive pleasure in the deaths of
members of the personae’s family.
The poet reveals an attitude of
pessimism to life in most of the
poems. Except for the later part that
portrays a tinge of optimism, So
Long a Night can safely be
described as a localized adaptation
of George Kofi Awoonor-Williams’
“Songs of Sorrow 1 and 11”
especially with regards to its
message laden with wailings and
style of presentation.
woods), Fulani Maiden (stone cast), and
Against All Odds (made of bronze).
As usual, Alexis Galleries will donate
part of the proceeds from the Brilliance
exhibition to another charitable NGO,
Sought After Women & Children
Foundation. James Amedu social worker
at Sought After, told Vanguard that the
foundation which presently caters for 42
kids in its Orphanage and 15 girls at its
Rehabilitation Centre, has funding as its
greatest challenge.
Sought After takes care of lost but found
kids, abandoned kids, and those that need
shelter. Eight of the children under their
care have presently written the Joint
Matriculations Examination waiting for
money to proceed to the universities.
Brilliance is sponsored by Tiger, Pepsi,
Indomie, Mikano, Delta Airline,
Amarula, Nederburg, Cobranet Internet
Service Provider, Cool FM, Wazobia TV,
Art Caf and The Homestores Limited.
According to Mrs. Patty Chidiac
Mastrogiannis, Founder & Director of
Alexis Galleries, “Alexis, in nine years,
has engaged in the presentation and
dissemination of contemporary art in the
media of painting, drawing, mixed media
and sculpture. We have established
ourselves rapidly as one of the best
galleries in Nigeria, a meeting place for
artists, collectors and enthusiasts of art.”