Komai lalacewar waina ai ta fi kashin shanu!

Today is end of March. We are getting into April in the next few hours. April is a critical month in today's Nigeria because the general elections will begin within the month. It's a make or break month.

Is Nigeria going to experience a smooth civilian-to-civilian transition? The fabled moment is also important to the survival of the country's 'democracy.' Thank God, President Obasanjo has been reiterating his commitment to hand over power. And the electoral commission (INEC) also keeps saying it is ready to conduct the elections in spite of the doubts being harboured by most Nigerians. Let them hold the elections, kawai!

Mu dai burin mu shi ne mu ga mulkin nan na dimokuradiyya ya na tafiya; ba mu son a ce ya karkace ko ya lalace. Domin komai wuya gwamma mulkin farar hula da na soja. Wai! Hausawa sun ce komai lalacewar waina, ai ta fi kashin shanu.

Our prayer is for Obasanjo to go, democracy to thrive, and our pathetic living condition to improve. Let's pray!

Friday John Abba, writer, detained

This is Friday John Abba, chairman of Kaduna Writers' League and vice chairman of the Kaduna State chapter of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA). He has been detained by the Nigerian State Security Services (SSS) since his arrest on February 2. Members of the association, led by the national president, Dr Wale Okediran, have been holding meetings with the security chieftains in order to secure Mr Abba's release from detention. International NGOs, including PEN International, have been intimated about the issue. The SSS say they are charging Mr Abba and a friend of his for gun-running and terrorism-related activities in Nigeria's volatile oil-rich Niger Delta region.

A delegation led by Dr Okediran, who is also a member of Nigeria's House of Representatives, have finally met with Mr Abba at the weekend and reported that except for a visible weight loss he was in good condition.

My prayer is that Mr Abba's case is disposed of soon. Holding someone incommunicado for this long can be traumatic, especially in Nigeria where detention centres are in appalling condition.

I believe that ANA must not be too optimistic about the assurances by the SSS. It should maintain the pressure. All writers should work for the release of Mr Abba. This type of incarceration could happen to anyone.

Shots from 'Sitanda'

These photographs are from a scene in 'Sitanda,' ace director Izu Ojukwu's award-winning movie starring Ali Nuhu and Azizat Sadiq.

Don't mind that they are upside-down! That's the way they are in the movie shot; inginious, isn't it? One of the defining moments in the movie is where Sitanda (Ali Nuhu) and Sermu (Azizat Sadiq) adore each other at the slave camp (pictured here). No wonder the film won prizes at the AMAA award held in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, on March 14.

More grease to the elbows of our own Ali Nuhu.

Ali Nuhu Targets Hollywood!

It was Ali Nuhu's night of glory on March 14, 2007 when the AMAA Awards took place in Yenagoa, the capital of Bayelsa State. Ali won the Best Upcoming Actor slot for his role in 'Sitanda,' directed by Izu Ojukwu (see review on page 27). For a northern superstar, this is has crowned the actor's ambition in the Nigerian film industry, best known as Nollywood. Ali has won the Best Actor prizes on several occasions in the Hausa film industry across the years.

Back in Kano after the Bayelsa outing, an ecstatic Ali (pictured here holding his prize) spoke to Frontline's SANI MAIKATANGA on his recent success and his future ambition. Excerpts:

FRONTLINE: How do you feel now that you have clinched this award?

ALI: I thank God. This award is not only a thing of joy to me but also to every Hausa person and our (Hausa) movie industry in the north and Nigeria in general. I am ecstatic.How did you feature in the awards?It was the producers of 'Sitanda' who got it in, and the judges considered me the winner.

How many of you vied for this particular prize?

Four of us reached the final stage, but more than ninety-nine movies participated from various African countries... They included Hamzat Abdulhakim in 'Abenie,' Umbok Udungide in 'Amazing Grace,' and a Burkinabe in 'Mokili.' When did you know that you were nominated?About twelve days to the day of the awards.

Did you ever hope to win?

Oh sure. In truth, I had watched 'Amazing Grace' and 'Sitanda', though I didn't see the others. And I realised that I was the main star in the movie, and that encouraged me to hope for the prize.What did the judges consider as your winning point in 'Sitanda'?(At the award ceremony) they showed where the princess commanded that I be brought to her palace, and she was questioning me over my disobedience to her as was done when anyone was brought to her. That's the scene I saw shown there.

Who else went to the awards ceremony from the north?

I was escorted by Saifullahi, and the Sokoto State government sent a delegation of three people. We met there, and I was glad to see them, especially the way we all dressed up as typical northerners.How did the ceremony go?It was as if I was in a foreign land because the glitz looked like the Oscars. Right from the airport at Owerri there was a jeep waiting to convey you to Yenagoa, with a security detail. You would be taken to your accommodation, and after you were ready to go to the venue they would convey you in the jeep.

Where were you accommodated?

At the newly built Katsina State suite.How did you feel when your name was announced as the winner?I told you there was a delegation from Sokoto. They didn't even know that I was in the audience until when I got up to collect the prize, and they also got up, cheering. Surprisingly, when 'Sitanda' was released it had become a hit in the south, so when my name was mentioned everybody cheered and hooted. All of us that worked on 'Sitanda' were seated in the same section in the awards hall, and they all escorted me to the stage.

How did players within Nollywood take it?

I was amazed. See, the big players within the industry such as RMD, Kanayo Kanayo, Bob Manuel, Ejike, Francis Duru, Andy Amenichi, Amaka Igwe, all congratulated me. As I walked back to my seat Kanayo caught my hand and said, "Hey, this is a good outing!" He had thought that this was my first appearance in an English film; I had to tell him that I had acted in 'Mounting Blues,' which has not yet been released, and I was the lead actor. And he replied, "Ah! That is good. If you keep it up like that in the next two years you and I would be really competing," and we both laughed.Were you aware that the events were being aired live on television?Yes, we had been told beforehand. I told my friends and family to tune in.

Any text messages following your success?

I had to switch off my phone when I was announced as the winner, knowing I would be inundated with messages. When I switched on later I received fourteen text messages. Ishaq was the first to congratulate me on text, followed by my father, who had been watching on TV. And my wife and younger ones and many other actors also sent messages.

What happens after 'Sitanda'?

When I came out of the hall, watching 2-Face's performance outside, a producer met me and said he had been trying to reach me after he had watched 'Sitanda.' I gave him my number. He explaned the role he would like me to play for him in a movie. I'll be going to Lagos soon, where we will talk some more on the project. At least two other producers contacted me over their upcoming projects. I was really excited. Now that's where accomplishment is valued; if it were here (in the Hausa industry) people would be back-biting, saying why should so and so be given the award again? In Bayelsa, many filmmakers said since that's the kind of films wanted these days they would also gird their loins.

What are going to Lagos for?

(Smiles) I am going to collect my reward for the award.

You're talking about money.

(Laughs) That's right.

How did it fare for the director of 'Sitanda'?

He has simply made it. He has got two things because of this film. He has got another movie project worth N4.2 million from a foreign company. The producers of 'Sitanda' have given him another movie project. It's all due to his hard work. I really congratulate him. He's such a nice and easy-going fellow, and so hard working. Directors are usually hot-headed; like me, I'm a hard man when it comes to directing. But Izu is hardly mad at anyone on location. Now see what his sense of compassion has brought to him.

Does that mean you will emulate him?

Definitely I will. In fact, from now on I have stopped directing movies. I will concentrate on my acting career, because I am targeting Hollywood.

Do you wish to advice the filmmakers in the north?

I want to draw their attention to the fact that I have received accolades from friends and family over this award. It is a thing of pride that it's someone from the north who won the award for the best upcoming actor in the whole of Africa. It's a great thing. I want us to take our profession seriously, because from amongst us (Hausa actors) there are people who can win prizes better than those that have participated in AMAA. We should be taking our films to this award, please. The southerners are saying they don't see our films even though they are very popular up here.

More grease to your elbows.

Thank you.

The train that got stuck

By Ibrahim Sheme

I LOVE trains. Remember those halcyon days when the trains in this country were really moving right on track. The crowded railway stations, the hooting of locomotives, the chuck chuck of the wheels on the tracks, etc., have an immense nostalgic value. And the ride across the country, with the train hurtling through the hamlets and villages, over narrow bridges, stopping once in a while to pick up passengers. It was lovely. Somehow, somewhere, all that stopped, gradually at first, until the trains reached a station from where they could no longer roll. Of course, once a while you hear the hooting of train passing somewhere, but it’s not like the old days. Big problems have made the Nigerian Railways Corporation to merely exist without offering its requisite service – the rolling trains conveying passengers and goods – the main purpose of its being. The problems are said to be due to corruption, negligence and misplacement of priorities.

Somehow, there is an uncanny comparison between the Nigerian trains and the Nigerian democracy. During the long interregnum of military rule (1983 - 1999) Nigerians had yearned for democratic rule. During the hey-days of the Abacha regime it was foolish to even hope for it; it was better to pretend or act for it. Many prayed for it. Many were hounded into exile because of it. Many, such as Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo, were imprisoned on account of their struggle for it. Many even died for it. Then God intervened suddenly. He took away some of the characters that constituted a stumbling block in the path of the march to democracy. And democracy came on May 29 1999, with Chief Obasanjo, a former military head of state, as president. His inaugural speech is a document I still love to read. It, together with his initial actions, gave folks like me hope that a new nation would be built. The promises he and his lieutenants made were legion. After his natural demonisation of the Abacha regime, he vowed to fight corruption, restore confidence in government, alleviate poverty, resuscitate manufacturing industries, etc. He even promised to bring the railways back to glory, among other things. Water, electricity, petroleum supply, health care, security, etc., would be adequately catered for. He vowed to appoint only “good men and women of proven integrity and record of good performance” into his cabinet. Please go back and read that speech, the title of which was “A New Dawn.” You would then see that we have been living in a fool’s paradise these past eight years, imagining an Eldorado that is yet to materialise.

To be fair to the president, he didn’t underrate the task ahead of him. “The entire Nigerian scene is very bleak indeed. So bleak people ask me where do we begin? I know what great things you expect of me at this New Dawn. As I have said many times in my extensive travels in the country, I am not a miracle worker. It will be foolish to underrate the task ahead,” he said on that bright day at the Eagle Square, Abuja. The situation was grim. But Obasanjo was not let down by God or by Nigerians. To begin with, he was opportune to have at his disposal an unspeakable quantum of human and natural resources to use to take the country out of the woods. God also made it possible for him to retain power in 2003, thereby giving him chance to make amends where he made mistakes in the previous four years. But what happens? The last eight years have seen more noise than substance. A lot of the promises the president and state governors made have not been fulfilled. You might cite some road and water projects executed by your governor, for instance, but what happens to the vast sums of money collected by your administrator with the responsibility of making life better? Is quality of life better today than in 1999? Are the roads no longer full of potholes? Has insecurity reduced? Are Nigerian masses richer? Is potable water available everywhere? Is education more accessible and cheaper? Are electricity, fuel, medicine, food and shelter available as promised? What of the trains? Are they back in their glory?

The truth is that Nigeria is back to square one in its hope for progress under a democratic rule. There is more despondency and uncertainty among the citizenry. Worse, political violence is back with renewed ferocity reminiscent of the latter days of the first republic. The great hope ignited by the prospects of civil rule in 1999 has vanished. Governance has been reduced to a deadly Tom and Jerry game of personal vendetta and attrition. We are at the crossroads where almost every Nigerian wants Obasanjo to just go away under whatever form of arrangement in order to try and see another “dawn”. If the president had fulfilled his election promises, he would be greatly missed. The furious opposition to his bid for a third term was instructive. Now a ‘Obasanjo must go’ spirit has consumed the nation just like the ‘soldiers must go’ campaigns of the IBB/Abacha days.

In concluding his first inaugural address eight years ago, Obasanjo said: “I shall end this address by stressing again that we must change our ways of governance and of doing business on this eve of the coming millennium. This we must do to ensure progress, justice, harmony and unity and above all, to rekindle confidence amongst our people. Confidence that their conditions will rapidly improve and that Nigeria will be great and will become a major world player in the near future.”

Well, well, well... We didn’t “change our ways.” Progress, harmony and unity have eluded the country. Nigerians have lost confidence “that their conditions will rapidly improve” because it didn’t in the Obasanjo years. Nigeria is still not a major world player, with US forces stationed in our ocean to oversee Africa.

On 5 June 2003, in his inaugural address (titled “Fast Forward into the Future”) to the joint session of the new National Assembly after “securing” a second term in office, Obasanjo simply rehashed his 1999 promises. He said, “Let us thank God that the hope is still alive as manifested in the enthusiasm in the last elections. The expectation may even be higher, now that allowance has been made for the lessons of the past four years, that the National Assembly and the executive, working together, should deliver dividends of democracy.”

Please, for how long should Nigerians live in hope and expectation of the so-called dividends of democracy? Can’t there be better food on the table than mere hope?

Frontline, the dream

At last I have published my dream newspaper, Frontline. The preview edition, which was printed in Lagos on Monday, was distributed yesterday. I have been receiving congratulatory messages.

With Fim, my glossy, all-colour monthly magazine (which has been published every month without fail since March 1999), you could say I'm on the road (or path, better) to becoming a mogul (!!). Move over, Murdoch!

My poem ignored, but...

Yahoo! Today I posted my poem, "She is Here," on the krazitivity listserve. But nobody has commented on it yet. Rather, some guys are more interested in the debate over the unfortunate killing of the schoolteacher in Gombe. I am being skewered again for expressing, strangely, a view that is similar to that of my opponents. My argument is that I am being judged for being a Muslim first, rather than on what I say. Someone from the Guardian (I knew the chap) even charged that I never contributed to the group. Ah! What of my poems, comments, etc of the past? I wonder when Naija would ever be correct, with people like those, who cannot see beyond their sectional noses.
Sigh.