A Poetry Senator Comes To Town - By Abubakar Abdullahi
Aficionados of literature will have an opportunity on May 28, 2011 to share in the musings of a poet whose first name ordinarily would make him pass for a member of the national assembly. Emerging poet Senator Iyere Ihenyen is the featured writer at the highly-acclaimed Guest Writer Session, an initiative of the Abuja Writers Forum, now in its third year, by 4pm at the Pen and Pages Bookstore, White House Plaza, Plot 79, Adetokunbo Ademola Crescent, Wuse 2, Abuja. Born in Lagos in the 80s, Mr Ihenyen hails from Esan-West L.G.A., Ekpoma, Edo State, Nigeria and is the fourth child in a family of five.
Currently in his final year in a full-time Law Degree programme at the University of Benin, Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria, the budding poet and short story writer has served as the Campus President of Golden Minds Nigeria, a youth-focused organisation - publishers of Jingle magazine, where the author contributes as a staff writer.

The author of the debut collection of poetry, Colourless Rainbow, published by the Lagos-based Coast2Coast Publishing, is currently working on his second volume of poetry centred on HIV/AIDS. On World AIDS Day 2009, he launched the project, "Ripples Across Lives: Poetry Against HIV/AIDS", as an open avenue for all to let their voices be heard towards raising awareness and sensitisation on the epidermic.

In the review of Ihenyen’s debut collection, Peter Irabor observes that, “the ideas behind some of the poems in this collection go as far back as childhood. Thus, the innocence of childhood is captured with the central image of the rainbow, but without losing grip of the disenchanting and ‘colourless’ realities of the political and socio-economic experiences of his country, Nigeria. The thematic preoccupation of the work finds expression in its seven movements – The Mirror, Cameleons, Camoufladge, and Images on the Breaking Walls of My Heart serving as an interlude. Other movements include Masquerades, Crossroads and The Tide. “Interestingly, each of these movements is arranged in such a way that the colours are respectively depicted in ascending order. Also, each colour used in any particular movement symbolises the overriding emotion, thought and meaning of the poems. For instance, in the beginning of the opening movement, The Mirror, Senator Ihenyen introduces us to the overriding meaning of the poems contained in the movement using the very first colour of rainbow, red, suggesting the predominant atmosphere of blood

“The rest of the six movements also begin in this uniform style in the ascending order orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet respectively. I find this profoundingly engaging and pleasurable! It seems to be a symbolic representation of the disenchanting feeling of the poet towards the discovery that what had appeared to him as the rainbow (the poet had always been fascinated by the image of rainbow since childhood, says he in the Preface) turns out to be a colourless smokescreen. This is what the paradoxical title of the volume of poems seems to suggest and reinforce.”

While some of Senator Ihenyen's poems have been published in local dailies such as the Daily Times, New Age, Business Times and the Guardian, his early works have also been featured in international anthologies published by the U.K.-based Anchor Books, Poetry Stop, Canada, and the U.S.-based Voices Network, where his poetry has been given special international recognition. In 2006, he participated in the British Council Crossing Borders Workshop with Dinesh Alirajah.

Recently, based on his use of language, imagery and experimentations, Ihenyen's poetry was featured in Barcelona by Literatur ad Art, a Spanish literary movement, as 'the true voice of Africa'. His poetry has over the years been widely introduced to readers, especially on the Internet.

The event which will include the usual side attractions of poetry performance, mini art exhibition, and a raffle-draw will also feature live music by singer /songwriter and guitarist, Tokunbo Edward, who plays a fusion of rock and jazz. The Abuja Writer’s Forum meets three Sundays each month and hosts a reading on every last Saturday at the International Institute of Journalism and Pen and Pages respectively.

Abubakar Othman’s Heady Poetic Fusion - By Tunji Ajibade
Sometimes, a man’s profundity may be better appreciated when seen in person.. Such was the case with the man in the spotlight at the April edition of the Abuja Writers’ Forum’s Guest Writer Session. The pre-event publicity had stated that the poet finds poetry rather enigmatic for its power of introspection, circumspection and translucence, and of all forms of poetry, he finds romantic poetry healthier for its therapeutic and cathartic effects on the human soul. Dr Abubakar Othman however had something more weighty up his sleeve when he took the monthly “hot seat” on April 30 at the Pen and Pages Bookstore in Abuja. And this is what transpired.

The first poem he read from his an extra-textual collection was “Termites of The House” followed by “The House of Babel”. Now both poems have a political bent, yet the fame that preceded Abubakar said “romantic poet”; It is what everyone knew him by. He would soon be challenged as to why a romantic poet like himself veers off into the field of politics. Another participant at the event even added that as one who had been in politics, the lampooning that Abubakar’s poems portrayed of politicians is an indictment of the poet himself. The poet would go on to say that poetry as a form of art is variegated, and that when he wrote about politics, he wrote something in season, that seared his mind, touched his emotion and moved his pen – to write. But he would add that he has been in and out of politics. When he was in, he knew he was in the dark, and he saw it as dark. Not many people in the dark see in the dark, not to mention seeing that it is dark. Politicians as a breed, and by nature, he added, do not see in the dark, they don’t see that it is dark. Yet they grope. It takes a poet to see in the dark, to see what happens in the dark, and bring it out in his art a valuable, insightful addition to what is shown of politics to the public through the conventional medium.

The day did not start out on such a note of high wire, cerebral exchange though. It did on a lighter note, one that ushered every attendee into the relaxed atmosphere that characterized the event. Both entertainers and an artist took their crafts to the attendees. First it was Lindsey Abudei who performed on her guitar. Ms Abudei is of the Nigerian Law School, and her songs, “What I Want To Do,” as well as “Don’t Look At Me That Way” had the audience clapping in appreciation. Next was Tokunbo Edward who did “The Videotape.” Tokunbo played what he called a mixture of rock and jazz, and it was no wonder the peculiar kind of guitar he used. It wafted a ‘rocky’ sound into the hall and the ears of his listeners, long before its player mentioned the genre of music he performed. And there was Christie Makut on her guitar, too. Ms Makut is a broadcaster who features regularly at the monthly writers’ event.

In between the performances of the trio of guitarists, Sola Odulusi, a painter engaged the audience. Odulusi would pass for a lecturer introducing his students to the world of painting. He gave background explanation to his work, a thing that made even the lay in painting get him straight, appreciate what he had on display, able to make meaningful comments as well as offer useful suggestions to the owner of the artworks. He showed The Arrival, of a woman, alone, in a canoe, and on the river. Odulusi said his character was returning from the market, she had good sales so her canoe was practically empty on a good market day. His audience said, the painting reminded them of the Southern parts of Nigeria where women are familiar sights on canoes. Another pointed out that “The Arrival” portrayed African women as hardworking, enterprising, independent, free. It was agreed by everyone in the hall that it was excellent portrayal of women, the opposite of women who sometimes are shown nude in paintings, shown as just another object. But, could the painter have a receding sun behind the woman to indicate she was returning home after a full day’s work, and could he separate the water under her canoe from the skyline, using different colours? Such changes would give a clearer metal picture to the uninitiated, was the reason for the suggestions, to which the owner of the artworks, who also showed “The Message” said, “Noted.”

Then the Guest Writer came to the hot seat. He was of the Tanure Ojaide’s generation, Abubakar Othman. The two and some other notable writers on the nations scene and abroad were at the University of Maiduguri in the eighties and in the early 1990s where they had a virile creative writers’ outfit. Part of the outcome of their encounters at the time is Abubakar’s poetry collection: The Passions of the Cupid. The title is a suggestion of the content, a show of the romanticist that the poet/author is. But the poet did not start his reading from this book, he did from an upcoming collection, and from it he read poems such as Termites in the House, Crocodile Tears; Thanksgiving; Buried Without Grave; The Bottle and the Gavel as well as The House of Babel;. He also read, on special requests, poems from The Passions of Cupid such as Do Not Wait; To The Bide’s Maid; I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, and Text Message II. It became obvious the kind of poems Abubakar had in his published collection, The Passions of Cupid, with a poem such as Love Is… which reads: Love is/the invincible companion/that makes you talk in/voiceless monologue/Love is the fluttering voice/of silence/that makes you smile/in your loneliness/Love is the binocular eyes of the heart/that brings a distant object/close to you/and shuts all other objects/from your eyes/Love is the psychopathic fever/that makes the old tremble/with infantile desire/and the young burn/with incandescent pleasure/Love is when eternity is too brief.”

A poem such as The House of Babel from his extra-textual collection would tell what he thinks of politics and politicians: “The House today/is in plenary/flowing gowns compete with/flying hats and head gears/in bebelicious vivacity/The Househead/hoisted above the Household/Presides over the Session/The Chief Cook of the House/Announces the day’s menu/Two Bills on/Shopping Allowances and/Touring Advances for/Honourable members/Sponsored by the majority looter/supported by the minority eater/of public welfare Bill/sent in by the Human Rights guild/The two Bills passed/with thunderous ovation/only the public welfare bill is defeated by floccinaucinihilipilifaction/and deferred to another Legislative day.”

The Question and Answer Session turned out to be as variegated at Abubakar’s poems. Attendees had observations to make on writing in general and about writers. Some of the comments centered around Abubakar’s poems, and others made remarks that sounded like a critique, while they at the same time appreciated the profundity of the man they came to interact with. It was Abubakar’s views on diverse issues that showed his revolve on moral as well as literary issues. He believed the word love is bastardized, that love is not the exclusive reserve of women, and that love is not just above what it has come to be linked with. Rather, it is deeper, beyond the touching, kissing and such public show of it that it has become. He would also frown at what he called showing off of the female geography that has come to be linked with beauty, and beauty pageantry. He is definitely not a lover of beauty pageants, the type that is “dehumanizing and degrading” requiring that females bare what should be for the one who pays the bride price. Surely, some of Abubakar’s comments, views were strong enough to make those with more liberal views take up arms, but he appeared to have an audience that saw things the way he did on that occasion. When he was asked how he coped with “writing and your busy official schedule” as well as for his advise to younger writers, he said he enjoyed both his writing and doing his official duties, and for him, the two are inseparable parts of him. Younger writers, he advised, should share their skills, expertise, attend critique sessions, but continue to write. Sometimes, Abubakar said, it takes years to get it right and get to where one wants to go as a writer, just like it had proved to be for him and his contemporaries.

Born in the serene suburban town of Madagali in Adamawa State, Abubakar is a graduate of Literature from the University of Maiduguri and A.B.U Zaria, and has been on the teaching staff of the Department of English, University of Maiduguri since 1983. Since 2010, Abubakar has served as the Special Assistant to the Executive Chairman, and head of the Public Enlightenment Unit of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

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