It was an evening of celebration of words, music and dance at this year’s World Poetry Day held at Eko Hotel and Suites Victoria Island, Lagos last Thursday in honour of Nobel Laureate Prof Wole Soyinka.
He will turn 90 in July. Tagged: Engaging the quintessential poet @ 90, nine poets drawn from Nigeria and three other countries critiqued poems by Soyinka amidst spectacular poetry performances,
Nine renowned poets, six Nigerians and three from Kenya, United Arab Emirate (UAE) and United Kingdom celebrated the written words, culture and creativity as they took to the stage to honour the Nobel Laureate Prof Wole Soyinka who will turn 90 in July13.
In their respective presentations/performances, they held conversations with Soyinka by critiquing or engaging their chosen poems of Soyinka, in their individual dictions and styles. All through the evening, the poets showcased a diverse range of poetic expressions and performances that captivated the audience. It was this year’s annual World Poetry Day organised for the fifth time by Providus Bank in association with the Culture Advocates Caucus. Venue was Grand Ballroom of Eko Hotel and suites, Victoria Island, Lagos last Thursday.
This year’s event, which was anchored by the duo of Jahman Anikulapo and Dafe Ivwurie was not all about spoken or written words as there were dancing and exhibition that showcased Soyinka’s photos from his childhood till date, tagged WS: A Life In Full.
The poets that performed included Uche Uwadinachi, Salamatu Sule, Evelyn Osagie, Akeem Lasisi, Owoicho Oko, Ruth Mahogany, Malika Booker, Nathalie Handal, Ngwatilo Mawiyoo.
Managing Director/CEO Providus Bank, Mr. Walter Akpani said every year since 2019, the bank have hosted the festival featuring both young and old poets to give poetic interpretations to different issues that affect our world. “We only missed 2020, when we cancelled just a day before the event, due to the lockdown imposed because of the global COVID-19 pandemic. We have not missed a year since then. This year’s event is special for two reasons. The first is that this will be the fifth year of this celebration of Providus Bank’s support for literature via the World Poetry Day. The second reason is that this year, Prof. Wole Soyinka turns 90,” he said.
Setting the tone for the evening performances, Coordinator of the programme, Mr. Jahman Anikulapo explained that this year’s edition of the event was dedicated to celebrating Soyinka because ‘we have never had the opportunity to celebrate him.’ “So what the poets will do is to respond to some of the ideas already projected in Wole Soyinka’s poetry. They are not reciting his poems, and they are not doing tributes. If any of you should have tribute to Wole Soyinka, please remove it because he doesn’t even like that. You are responding to or critiquing Wole Soyinka’s poems. So, it is an engagement. That’s why the theme is World Poetry Day: Engaging the Quintessential Poet at 90, Anikulapo added.
The Nation’s Evelyn Osagie took the first shot with her dramatic poem entitled It is No Longer Leah, which is a response to Soyinka’s A humanist Ode to Chibok/Leah. Expectedly she held the audience spellbound with that performance, which was followed by Darkness at Dusk, a response to Soyinka’s poem, Darkness at Dawn. Earlier, putting her presentations in context, she said: “It’s an honour to be here today. Thank you Prof for being an inspiration to all of us. And for being the light we see in the tunnel. My apologies, for starting with this because this shows the poet as a seer. His piece “A Humanist Ode to Chibok/ Leah”, for me, is a timeless and timely piece. We all know what happened recently in Kuriga.
“That poem by Prof is still speaking to us. Last month was six years after Leah Sharibu was kidnapped, next month, 14th to be precise, it’s going to be 10 years the Chibok girls were kidnapped,” Evelyn said, while introducing her poem, “It is No Longer Leah”.
Uwadinachi who put up spectacular show in Her Joy and Night, also thrilled the audience using a female model in a blue skimpy dress to whom he ‘confessed’ his love on stage. Mawiyoo, a Kenyan poet recited Sweat Is Living For The Earth, Ujamaa, The Child Before A Mirror Of Strangers, The Kick and Goat Meat.
For Sule she presented In The Small Hours and Procession Hanging Day 1, which is a response to Soyinka’s Procession One, Hanging Day. While Booker read her One In Labour, Anoint My Flesh, The Section- Future – An Anthem To Humanism, Mahogany recited My Mom and Eulogy To The Ugly Duckling, A Child Before A Mirror Of Strangers, Civilian and Soldier.
Expectedly, Lasisi thrilled the audience with spectacular poetry performances done in both English and Yoruba in his In The Spirit Of Bringer Of Peace and The Savages Are Back In The Sacred Zone, which was written in response to Soyinka’s A Humanist Ode To Chibok/Leah. Handal recited Retrospective in response to Soyinka’s Selected Poems: 1965 -2022.
His sterling performance was capped with an invitation to the celebrator Soyinka and wife to the stage for photo shoot. Soyinka though obliged him, noted that the organisers jumped the gun as his birthday, which comes up on July 13, is still some months away. Humorously, he wondered why the hurry to celebrate his 90th birthday, and asked if it was their birthday.
“You jumped the gun. We still have a few more months to go. Why are you in such a hurry? Is it your birthday? Go and get a proper watch. So you know what the time is. Thank you. It’s been a very pleasant and touching evening. Happy birthday to all of you,” Soyinka said.
The World Poetry Day (WPD) is celebrated every March 21 globally as declared by the UNESCO in 1999 to ‘promote the reading, writing, publishing, and teaching of poetry throughout the world” and, to “give fresh recognition and impetus to national, regional, and international poetry movements.’ Since 2020, the Providus Bank under its CSR initiative -Providus Bank Poetry Café- has hosted the celebration of the Day, curated by the Culture Advocates Caucus, CAC, Directed/produced by Jahman Anikulapo, under the supervision of the Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka.
Officially titled, ProvidusBank World Poetry Day Café: An Evening with Wole Soyinka, the past editions have treated themes relating to the general human conditions, especially on ’ matters relating to preservation of the environment, education and mental empowerment of the youth, protection of the Girl-Child and respect for the female gender, among others.
The 2024 edition coincides with the 90th birthday anniversary year of Soyinka, who is a ‘globally celebrated poet, dramatist, memoirist, essayist; pubic intellectual, and above all, a human and civil rights defender.
The support that poetry is enjoying in the last five years from ProvidusBank is not only timely, but also instructive and healthy for the promotion of the creative industry. The event has thus joined other flagship arts events such as Art X, 234 Artfair, Ake Arts and Book Festival that are being backed by other banks as part of their corporate social responsibilities. Among guests that attended the event were Newton Jibunoh, Joke Silva, Koko Kalango, Bisi Olatilo, Taiwo Ajai Lycett, Kayode Aderinokun, Erelu Abiola Dosumu, Prof. Manthia Diawara, Professor of Film Studies, New York University, Prof. Jean-Paul Colleyn, Institute des Artte, France, and Awam Amkpa, Professor of Cultural Aesthetics and Dean Faculty of Humanities, New York University, Abu Dhabi.
