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Archive for the ‘BAYO ADEBOWALE:A GREAT AFRICAN WRITER’ Category
THE VIRGIN AND THE NARROW PATH MOVIE NIGERIAN FORUM, FORUMS, SOCIAL NETWORK, NIGERIA JOB FORUM, BLOG, WEBSITE, SITE, NOLLYWOOD, ONLINE MESSAGE BOARD
January 27, 2010DR. BAYO ADEBOWALE,AFRICAN WRITER, TALKS ABOUT HOW HE SET UP AFRICAN HERITAGE RESEARCH LIBRARY!
June 6, 2009FROM UGANDANRURAL COMMUNITYSUPPORT.ORG
Rural Community Support USA
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«»‘Study Africa In Africa’ – Tempo Newspaper (Lagos)
– 17 November 1999
An African village, it is gradually expanding to become the most
profound centre of information on Africa and its people. OLUMIDE IYANDA presents
the brain behind Africa’s ‘authentic research centre’
“Very soon the whole world will know about Adeyipo Village.”
Those were the words of Dr. Bayo Adebowale, director and founder of Africa
Heritage Research Library, the first rural community-based African studies
research library. Adeyipo, the rural community that hosts the library, is a few
kilometres away from Ibadan, capital of Oyo State. The road that connects the
village to the city demands much resilience from visitors in its rough surface.
Every dawn, a horde of local farmers at Iyana-Irefin in Ibadan boards buses to
Adeyipo through Kufi, Idi-Igba, Idi-Ogun and Akobo. The environment presents a
commune of rural centres where farming dominates daily activities. The only
diversion is the one created by Dr. Adebowale in his library of African history.
The library is currently under intense construction towards expansion. Yet, it
boasts of three existing large halls lined with over 100,000 books and other
research materials. It is observedly a centre dedicated to research works on the
African continent and the blacks in the diaspora.
It stocks materials on subjects as diverse as politics, government, history,
arts and law.
The centre is a product of an event of eleven years ago. Adebowale was then a
lecturer at the former Oyo State College of Education, Ila- Orangun, Osun State.
One fateful day in 1988, he sat before his desk, going through an academic
journal. A particular article fascinated him. In the write-up, a foreign writer
“made a lot of disparaging remarks on Africa and Africans.” He portrayed Africa
as a continent on an endless rat race. The conclusion was most alarming. The
writer insisted that most African countries were not yet ripe for independence.
Adebowale saw many contradictions in the article. He, on his own, concluded that
the writer must have been a victim of sincere ignorance. But Adebowale was not
going to cast aspersion on the article and its author. He realised that the most
appropriate solution to the problem of the writer and many others in similar
shoes is enlightenment. There and then, a project was conceived towards proper
education on Africa, its history and ways of life of the inhabitants of the
continent.
Adebowale also recalled a case of a friend on a Ph.D. project in Yoruba. The
subject of the thesis was the Yoruba publication, Aworerin. Adebowale was
particularly disappointed that the friend could not find the publication in
Nigeria. He had to travel to Norwich, England, where it was discovered that a
library in the city had all the editions of the publication. These disappointing
experiences and the realisation that researches on Africa are best done in the
African natural environment, prompted Adebowale to kick off the library with his
own personal collection of 500 books. The idea was to bring students and
researchers on Africa to the continent, not only to read books but also to
experience the reality of the subject of their researches.
Adebowale got a good helper in Yeye Akilimali Funua Olade, an African-
American who was also working as chief librarian at the College of Education in
Ila-Orangun. She is currently the chief librarian at the African Heritage
Research Library. She takes care of the technical aspects of the library work.
As it was at the inception, the current goal remains aggressive book acquisition
programme. This includes an exchange agreement with libraries all over Africa
and other parts of the world. Many individuals have also donated books across
disciplines.
Although the centre’s special interest is in African studies, it does not
discriminate in its book acquisition policy. It stocks books by writers from all
over the world and exposes its researchers to all views, leaving them to draw an
informal conclusion.
One subject that receives a lot of attention at the centre is music. The
library is a well-stocked store of materials on living and dead music legends.
A section of the library stocks pictures of jazz music greats of African
origin. There are also audio tapes of African artistes at home and in the
diaspora. An auditorium for music of Africa is under construction. Adebowale
says the auditorium is conceived to enhance appreciation of music as a means of
entertainment and education.
Musical audio tapes are being assembled to teach the history of Africa. “When
people listen to Haruna Ishola singing about Ojukwu’s war, they will remember
the Civil War of 1967 to 1970 and will reflect on its impact on their lives
now,” Adebowale insists.
The centre has a demonstration farm to inculcate in local farmers alternative
techniques in crop cultivation and control of pests. The idea of the centre had
sounded unrealistic, even crazy, at the conception. But Adebowale is today proud
of the level of awareness created even among the local farming population. The
centre has a board of Advisers constituted by eminent scholars from Nigeria and
abroad. These include Professors Niyi Osundare, Akinwunmi Ishola, Femi Osofisan,
Sam Asein, Elechi Amadi and Goke Adeniji from Nigeria. Foreigners on the board
include Ngugi Wa Thiong’o of Kenya, Oliver B Johnson and a host of other African
American intellectuals. Adebowale himself is a veteran in the field of research.
He attended the University of Ibadan between 1971 and 1974 for a Bachelor of
Arts in English. In 1976, he got a post-graduate diploma in Applied English
Linguistics. In 1978, a master’s degree in English, majoring in Stylistics was
added at the same university. He got his a doctorate from the University of
Ilorin. After many years of sojourn through various academic environments, he
was appointed the deputy rector of The Polytechnic, Ibadan last month.
Adebowale’s most impacting experience is rooted in those years at the rural area
where he had his elementary education. He has written many poems and books. Some
of these have won awards at home and abroad. His most recent novel is Out of His
Mind, published by Spectrum Books.
Presently, he spends 70 per cent of his earnings on the library and is intent
on bringing the attention of everybody to Adeyipo to sip from the ‘fountain of
authentic African research centre situated in the heart of the continent.’
P.O.Box 36330,Agodi,Ibadan,Oyo State Nigeria
africanheritagelibrary@yahoo.com
Publication Date: November 25, 1999
This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 17th, 1999 at 1:17 am and is filed under Uncategorized.
REVIEW OF “THE NARROW PATH” AT JAMATI.COM
May 5, 2008FROM jamati.com
Film
Sunday, April 20, 2008
The Narrow Path
Tunde Kelani’s film deals with an extremely touchy subject
Written by Laura Adibe Photography by NGEX website
What is admirable about Nollywood film is the ability by its filmmakers to put together films on moderate budgets with quick turnarounds. Kelani’s film, done on a moderate budget, pieces together a story with a very important message. The Narrow Path deals with such issues as rape, marriage, and innocence.
Tunde Kelani’s film in which he wrote, directed, produced and even partly shot has screened in numerous festivals such as the Women of Color Arts & Film Festival and the New York African Film Festival. The film, an adaptation of Bayo Adebowale’s novel, The Virgin and a sequel to The White Handkerchief follows protagonist, Awero (Sola Asedeko) , who must choose between three suitors who wish to have her hand in marriage. Her wedding night is transformed when she must cope with a shameful secret line that places her in an awkward position between shame and honor.
May 5, 2008
from naijarules.com
1st posted on PAGES
BAYO ADEBOWALE’S GREAT AFRICAN NOVEL “THE VIRGIN” HAS BEEN MADE INTO A FILM (FOR THE SECOND TIME) BY TUNDE KELANI
FROM naijarules.com
Who stole the ‘purity’ of this innocent girl?
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By Akeem Lasisi
Published: Friday, 4 Jan 2008
Tunde Kelani’s latest film, The Narrow Path, which he adapted from Bayo Adebowale’s novel, The Virgin, takes Nollywood closer to the ideal. One query that many Nigerian films have not been able to answer borders on how appropriately they have been able to represent or portray the realities of our society. But somehow, Tunde Kelani once again cleverly answers that in The Narrow Path, one of the films that kicked off the 2007 movie season in the country. Only that – well, if observing this matters at all – the 1: 38 minutes movie takes the viewer to some 100 years back in time.
Asedeko (Awero)
The Narrow Path is the story of Awero, a village belle, who, by the virtue of her unadulterated beauty, becomes the toast of several men who want her hand in marriage. At least, three men – hunter Odejinmi, moneybags Lapade and Dauda the sex monger – persistently express their desires accordingly.
Set in Orita Village, where the mud-house home of Awero’s father, Jibosa, (played by a veteran actor, Olu Okekanye) and his wife become a sort of Mecca where men pay homage to secure the heart of their daughter, actions move to Agbede and Aku, which are Odejinmi’s and Lapade’s villages respectively.
As each of Odejinmi and Lapade push their desires to have Awero, (Sola Asedeko) they clash openly occasionally. The two rivals adopt different approaches to achieve their desires: Odejinmi exercises restraint, preaching love to Awero, while Lapade is eager to flaunt his wealth. Yet, unknown to the two, there is Dauda, the Lagos boy, who is also surreptitiously enticing the lady with ‘city gifts’ such as Saturday Night Powder, Nku Cream and a big mirror. Along the line, Dauda – played by the leader of Crown Troupe of Africa, Dauda Adefila – forces Awero to an unholy and abominable bed where he rapes her and forcefully ‘disflowers’ her. Although he runs back to Lagos immediately afterwards, it is the abominable act that fast-tracks the conflict that pushes Orita and Agbede villages to the very narrow path of war.
The forced exit of Awero’s innocence is the beginning of a suspense and dramatic irony on which the success of the film largely rests. After the Awero family has given Odejinmi a nod, the process leading to the marriage becomes swift. Odejinmi endlessly dreams about the first night – which every villager is also eager to celebrate, as is the custom – when he will go into Awero and turn her into a woman. In the months that precede the traditional wedding, however, misery, depression and nightmares have become the lot of Awero, who cannot imagine the shame that will befall her and her parents when everyone gets to know that she is ‘a broken pot’.
Although The Narrow Path centrally celebrates marital processes in the traditional Yoruba setting, Kelani configures the plot in such a manner that every aspect of it drips with a message. It is a film in which costuming and language tell a story, for instance. Awero and her friends – among whom is Kabirat Kafidipe, popularly called Arapa-re-Gagan, based on the role she played in Kelani’s Saworo Ide – tie only wrappers round their virgin bodies. They don’t wear bras, for example. Yet, the wrappers are tied so tight that the girls feel safe, thus reminding the viewer of the days of guarded innocence.
Kelani further scores a point in his casting. He parades the likes of Okekanye, Seyi Fasuyi, Eniola Olaniyan, Joke Muyiwa, Lere Paimo, Olofa Ina, Mama Rainbow and Ayo Badmus who are able to blend into the rural environment of the film. Where he needs a clownish sanitary inspector, he goes for Papa Ajasco. And where a city girl/education officials required, he goes for Bukky Wright.
It is a good thing that The Narrow Path is subtitled. But there seems to be a puzzle here. The film is rendered in English. Yet, it is sub-titled in English. It is true that Bayo Adebowale’s novel, The Virgin, which is the parent script, is in English. But even if The Narrow Path has to be in the same language, why not subtitle it in Yoruba or French?
Also, in the film, Dauda wears a dreadlock. Some may want to argue that dreadlocks were not a popular sight at the time the story is depicting.
Although The Narrow Path also scores a point in bringing out the versatility of the several ‘Yoruba’ actors and actresses who now act in the ‘English’ movie, an actor such as Badmus fails to totally escapes the cross of mannerism even in his deformed state in the movie. At some points, his gesticulations are too close to what one had seen from him in other films he had acted in.
Beyond such observations, however, The Narrow Path, despite its moderate budget and the simplicity in its setting, fulfils the ambition of any standard film in terms of the significance of its message and entertainment value.
Who stole the purity of this innocent girl?
posted by Uyiuyi, on April l,2008
LANGUAGES OF NIGERIA ACCORDING TO WIKIPEDIA.ORG
May 5, 2008FROM wikipedia.org
Languages of Nigeria
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Linguistic map of Nigeria, Cameroon, and Benin.Nigeria
This article is part of the series:
Culture of Nigeria
Languages
Literature
List of Nigerian writers
List of Nigerian poets
Music of Nigeria
Other countries – Culture Portal
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The number of languages currently estimated and catalogued in Nigeria is 521. This number includes 510 living languages, two second languages without native speakers and 9 extinct languages. In some areas of Nigeria, ethnic groups speak more than one language. The official language of Nigeria, English, the former colonial language, was chosen to facilitate the cultural and linguistic unity of the country. The major languages spoken in Nigeria are Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, Edo, Efik, Ibibio and Annang language, Adamawa Fulfulde, Idoma, and Central Kanuri. Even though most ethnic groups prefer to communicate in their own languages, English, being the official language, is widely used for education, business transactions and for official purposes. English, however, remains an exclusive preserve of a small minority of the country’s urban elite, and is not spoken in rural areas. With approximately 75% of Nigeria’s populace in the rural areas, the major languages of communication in the country remain tribal languages, with the most widely spoken being Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. Foreign minorities speak their own languages aside from English and/or major native languages as their second languages.
Nigeria’s linguistic diversity is a microcosm of Africa as a whole, encompassing three major African languages families: the Afro-Asiatic, Nilo-Saharan, and the Niger-Congo A branch of the Niger-Congo family. Nigeria also has one unclassifiable language, Cen Tuum, spoken by a few old people among the Cham in Gombe State. This may represent an intriguing relic of an even greater diversity prior to the spread of the current language families.
Contents [hide]
1 Niger-Congo languages
2 Afro-Asiatic languages
3 See also
4 Wikimedia
5 References
6 External links
[edit] Niger-Congo languages
Niger-Congo predominates in central and southern Nigeria; the main branches represented in Nigeria are Mande, Atlantic, Gur, Kwa, Benue-Congo and Adamawa-Ubangian. Mande is represented by the Busa cluster and Kyenga in the northwest. Fulfulde is the single Atlantic language, of Senegambian origin but now spoken by cattle pastoralists across the Sahel and largely in the North of Nigeria by the Fulani (sometimes Fulbe) diaspora. The Ijoid languages are spoken across the Niger Delta and include Ịjọ (=Ijaw), Kalabari and the intriguing remnant language, Defaka, while the Ibibio language is spoken across the coastal southeastern part of Nigeria and includes Efik, Annnang, oron, Eket, and Ikot Abasi. The single Gur language spoken is Baatọnun, in the Northwest. The Adamawa-Ubangian languages are spoken between central Nigeria and the Central African Republic. Their westernmost representatives in Nigeria are the Tula-Waja languages. The Kwa languages are represented by the Gun group in the extreme southwest, which is affiliated to the Gbe languages in Benin and Togo.
The classification of the remaining languages is controversial; Joseph Greenberg classified those without noun-classes, such as Yoruba, Igbo, and Ibibio, as ‘Eastern Kwa’ and those with classes as ‘Benue-Congo’. This was reversed in an influential 1989 publication and reflected on the 1992 map of languages, where all these were considered Benue-Congo. Recent opinion, however, has been to revert to Greenberg’s distinction. The literature must thus be read with care and due regard for the date. It should be noted that there are several small language groupings in the Niger Confluence area, notably Ukaan, Akpes, Ayere-Ahan and Ọkọ, whose inclusion in these groupings has never been satisfactorily argued.
Former Eastern Kwa, i.e. West Benue-Congo would then include Yoruboid, i.e. Yoruba, Itsekiri and Igala, Akokoid (eight small languages in Ondo, Edo and Kogi state), Edoid including Edo in Edo State, Igboid, Ibibio, Efik, Annnang, Idomoid (Idoma) and Nupoid (Nupe) and perhaps include the other languages mentioned above. East Benue-Congo includes Kainji, Plateau (46 languages, notably Eggon), Jukunoid, Dakoid and [[Cross River languages|Cross River]. Apart from these, there are numerous Bantoid languages, which are the languages immediately ancestral to Bantu. These include Mambiloid, Ekoid, Bendi, Beboid, Grassfields and Tivoid languages. The geographic distribution of Nigeria’s Niger-Congo languages is not limited to south-central Nigeria, as migration allows their spread to the linguistically Afro-Asiatic northern regions of Nigeria, as well as throughout West Africa and abroad. Yoruba is spoken as a ritual language in cults such as the Santeria in the Caribbean and South-Central America, and the Berbice Dutch language in Surinam is based on an Ijoid language.
Even the above listed linguistic diversity of the Niger-Congo in Nigeria is deceptively limiting, as these languages may further consist of regional dialects that may not be mutually intelligible. As such some languages, particularly those with a large number of speakers, have been standardized and received a romanized orthography. Nearly all languages appear in a Roman script when written, often with modifications allowing for a language’s particularities. The Yoruba and Igbo languages are notable examples of this process; Standard Yoruba came into being due to the work Samuel Crowther, the first African bishop of the Anglican Church and owes most of its lexicon to the dialects spoken in Ọyọ and Ibadan. Since Standard Yoruba’s constitution was determined by a single author rather than by a consensual linguistic policy by all speakers, the Standard has been attacked regarding for failing to include other dialects and spurred debate as to what demarcates “genuine Yoruba”. The more historically recent standardization and romanization of Igbo has provoked even more controversy due to its dialectical diversity, but the Central Igbo dialect has gained the widest acceptace as the standard-bearer; however many such as Chinua Achebe have dismissed standardization as colonial and conservative attempts to simplify a complex mosaic of languages. Such controversies typify inter- and intra-ethnic conflict endemic to post-colonial Nigeria.
Linguistically speaking, all demonstrate the varying phonological features of the Niger-Congo family to which they belong, these include the use of tone, nasality, and particular consonant and vowel systems; more information is available here.
[edit] Afro-Asiatic languages
The Afro-Asiatic languages of Nigeria divide into Chadic, Semitic and Berber. Of these, Chadic languages predominate, with 70+ languages. Semitic is represented by various dialects of Arabic spoken in the Northeast and Berber by the Tuareg-speaking communities in the extreme Northwest.
The Hausa language is the most well-known Chadic language in Nigeria; though there is a paucity of statistics on native speakers in Nigeria, the language is spoken by 24 million people in West Africa and is the second language of 15 million more. Hausa has therefore emerged as lingua franca throughout much of West Africa and the Sahel in particular. The language is spoken primarily amongst Muslims, and the language is often associated with Islamic culture in Nigeria and West Africa on the whole. Hausa is classified as a West Chadic language of the Chadic grouping, a major subfamily of Afro-Asiatic. Culturally, the Hausa people have become closely integrated with the Fulani following the jihadist establishment of the Sokoto Caliphate by the Fulani Uthman dan Fodio in the 19th century. Hausa is the official language of a number states in Northern Nigeria and the most important dialect is generally regarded as that spoken in Kano,an Eastern Hausa dialect, which is the standard variety used for official purposes. Eastern dialects also include some dialects spoken in Zaria, and Bauchi; Western Hausa dialects include Sakkwatanchi spoken in Sokoto, Katsinanchi in Katsina Arewanchi in both Gobir and Adar,Kebbi, and Zamfara. Katsina is transitional between Eastern and Western dialects. Northern Hausa dialects include Arewa and Arawa, while Zaria is a prominent Southern tongue version; Barikanchi is a pidgin formerly used in the military.
Hausa is a highly atypical Chadic language, with a reduced tonal system and a phonology influenced by Arabic. Other well-known Chadic languages include Ngas, Mwaghavul, Bole, Ngizim, Bade and Bacama. In the East of Nigeria and on into Cameroun are the Central Chadic languages, such as Bura, the Higi cluster and Marghi. These are highly diverse and remain very poorly described. Many Chadic languages are severely threatened; recent searches by Bernard Caron for Southern Bauchi languages show that even some of those recorded in the 1970s have disappeared. However, unknown Chadic languages are still being reported, witness the recent description of Dyarim.
Hausa, as well as other Afro-Asiatic languages like Bade (another West Chadic language spoken in Yobe State), have historically been written in a modified Arabic script known as ajami, however, the modern official orthography is now a romanization known as boko first introduced by the British regime in the 1930s.
[edit] See also
List of languages of Nigeria
[edit] Wikimedia
Systematic graphic of the Niger-Congo languages with numbers of speakers
[edit] References
Blench, Roger (2002) Research on Minority Languages in Nigeria in 2001. Ogmios.
Blench, Roger (1998) ‘The Status of the Languages of Central Nigeria’, in Brenzinger, M. (ed.) Endangered languages in Africa. Köln: Köppe Verlag, 187-206. online version
Crozier, David & Blench, Roger (1992) An Index of Nigerian Languages (2nd edition). Dallas: SIL.
[edit] External links
Ethnologue Listing of Nigerian Languages
Blench, Roger (n.d.) Atlas of Nigerian Languages, ed. III (revised and amended edition of Crozier & Blench 1992)
[hide]v • d • eLanguages of Africa
LIST OF NIGERIAN POETS ACCORDING TO WIKIPEDIA.ORG
May 5, 2008from wikipedia.org
List of Nigerian poets
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nigeria
Poets from Nigeria include: BAYO ADEBOWALE (1944-)
Toyin Adewale-Gabriel
Gbola Adiamoh
Dr. Jerry Agada
Richard Ugbede Ali
Chidi Amaechi
Ngozi Obasi Awa
Ibukun Babarinde
Tubal Rabbi Cain
John Pepper Clark
Etebom Ekpo
Tade Ipadeola
Okinba Launko Aka Femi Osofisan
Ahmed Maiwada
Ayodele Morocco-Clarke
Uche Nduka
Austyn Njoku
Onyeka Nwelue
Kenneth Nwobosi
Emeka Chike Nwogu
Maik Nwosu
Enenche F. Ogiri
Seni Ogunkola
Tolu Ogunlesi
Chris Ogunlowo
Obododimma Oha
Ezenwa Ohaeto
Francis Ohanyido
Paula Iriowen Ohanyido
Dr. Tanure Ojaide
Gabriel Okara
Promise Okekwe
Diego Odoh Okenyodo
Niran Okewole
Christopher Okigbo
Ike Okonta
Olatubosun Oladapo
Prince Joshua Olawuyi
Emmanuel Onwi
Chidi Anthony Opara
Dennis Osadebay
Dare Oshinuga
Sola Osofisan
Niyi Osundare
Naan Pocen
Remi Raji
Ken Saro-Wiwa
Wole Soyinka
Mazui Tonganawa
Chime Hilary Uchenna
Ugonna Wachuku
AFRICAN LITERATURE:IN HONOUR OF AFRICAN WRITERS: 1. BAYO ADEBOWALE 