Shades of Yellow... in Unbridled

updated: Tuesday 07-10-2008

Cover of the bookWriter and Programme Officer of Educare Trust, Folorunsho Moshood, attempts a comparative analysis of Yellow-Yellow and Unbridled, the two works short listed for this year’s Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas (NLNG) Literary Prize.

IT is no longer news that out of 149 entries received for this year’s Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas Literary Prize by the judges, only 11 made the long list. It is also no longer news that of the 11 works that made the long list, only two were short-listed for the coveted prize of $50, 000. The two short listed works are Jude Dibia’s Unbridled and Kaine Agary’s Yellow-Yellow.

These two works are unique in every literary sense since they have won at least a literary prize each in the recent past. Kaine Agary’s Yellow-Yellow was a co-winner of the 2007 Victor Nwankwo Book of the Year. It also won the 2007 ANA/CHEVRON Prize for Environmental Writing.

Jude Dibia’s Unbridled won the 2007 ANA/Ken Saro-Wiwa Prize for Prose Writing. Interestingly, Jude Dibia’s Unbridled beat Kaine Agary’s Yellow-Yellow to claim the 2007 ANA/Ken Saro-Wiwa Prize for Prose Writing. So, this is a contest of literary winners. Whoever wins the coveted literary prize this year will emerge the literary champion in prose writing for 2008.

Fortunately, the two books written by these young but experienced authors sent packing, like a pack of cards, books written by some literary elder statesmen in the run off to this year’s grand finale scheduled to take place on 11th of October, 2008 at the Muson Centre, Onikan, Lagos. Though the two books address two major different themes of social importance, they are very similar. While the central theme in Yellow-Yellow is about the colour/complexion problem and its attendant social stigma in the Niger Delta area, the central theme in Unbridled is about internet generated illusion of marriage and greener pasture. One must commend both authors, especially Jude Dibia, for addressing pertinent national issues with females as protagonists. Dibia, however, expands the scope beyond this national frontier

Appraising the two books critically, one will find the following undisputed similarities:

•The two books were written in first person narrative.

•The protagonist in both books – Ngozi in Unbridled and Zilayefa in Yellow-Yellow were ‘yellow’ in complexion

•Ngozi was thrown out by her aunt and met Princess and Uloma who provided her shelter among other things while Zilayefa went to Port Harcourt on her mother’s permission and met Sisi and Lolo who also provided her shelter among other things

•Ngozi and Zilayefa were female characters in search of a better life.

•Ngozi and Zilayefa were teenagers growing into womanhood.

•James, an European (Briton) and Sergio also an European (Spaniard) seduced and had sexual intercourse with Ngozi and Zilayefa respectively.

•Zilayefa and Ngozi had their background as villagers in the Niger-Delta area. Zilayefa hailed from a village in Rivers State while Ngozi came from a village in Delta State.

•The two books had Lagos as one of the settings.

•The protagonist in both books had something to do with unfinished education before running into crisis. While Ngozi was waiting for her WAEC certificate, Zilayefa sat for examinations into the universities.

•Zilayefa and Ngozi were strangers in their respective second homes.

•Lolo took Zilayefa to a market in Lagos State just like Princess took Ngozi to a market also in Lagos State.

•At the formative stage of Ngozi and Zilayefa, strict feminine characters trained them. While Ngozi was trained by her aunt, Zilayefa was trained by her mother.

•Ngozi and Zilayefa both had paternal problem. Ngozi was raped several times by her father while Zilayefa did not know her father

•The two books talked about the incessant hike in fuel prices.

•The two books were set at the twilight of the military regime in Nigeria.

•Admiral (Sugar Daddy) and Ngozi’s father, both elderly men, deflowered Zilayefa and Ngozi respectively.

•The wild jubilation that followed the death of Gen. Sani Abacha featured in both books.

•Zilayefa and Ngozi suffered emotionally in the hands of men. Ngozi suffered in the hands of her father and James while Zilayefa suffered in the hands of Admiral and Sergio.

However, if Ngozi in Unbridled had had her final stay in Lagos with Princess and Uloma to face her challenges like Zilayefa in Yellow-Yellow did in Port Harcourt with Sisi and Lolo or better still if Zilayefa had traced Sergio to Spain to face her challenges just like Ngozi traced James King to Britain, the two books would have become one written by two different authors of our generation– one a male and the other a female.

Conclusively, this issue of similarities is not about plagiarism and originality since both authors clearly demonstrate originality in style, structure, language and theme, rather it is about Jude Dibia and Kaine Agary thinking alike, within the Nigerian literary space, like two great creative minds writing two great books that can successfully compete in a global literary space.

Songs for a unique city

Cover of the book A review of Denja Abdullahi’s Abuja Nunyi by Omale Abdul-Jabbar.

The collection harboring a total of 41 poems, spread across what for convenience sake I’d prefer to call six seasons is a most read for Nigerians as well as the global community. The first season is titled Welcome song. The succeeding ones are Songs on the lips of modern Abuja, Songs the city taught me, and Songs of the future and Farewell song. One quick question comes to mind, why songs? For a song gives trappings of music, lyricism and musicality. It connotes a tale that is actually sung as opposed to a mere telling. Although the panorama and cruise effect of the poems and stylistic deportment may portray this, Abuja Nunyi is actually told while the first impression is something like the troubadour or minstrel of Ezenwa Ohaeto or his own very Mairogo chanting away.

Each season addresses the particular thematic concern of their capturing, allowing the poet the ambience to wade and narrate his hilarious, emotive, serious, highly introspective, and historical cum educative tale of his enamored city. Denja‘s style or approach herein is really commendable and that issue of ambience as mentioned earlier, he wades into the tale from all angles , from the omniscient narrator, the first, second as well the third person respectively. The poems become really thrilling when the poet steps aside and the characters begin to converse among themselves!

By mere looking at the book and upon going through the interred pieces, it is evident that the poet meant for the collection to be simply assessable. It is poetry for every facet of the Nigerian masses and even children alike. The last point is so true when gleamed from the point of view of the absence of dense jets of metaphorical postulations we are often quick to jump into when writing to impress. His mentor, Meg Peacocke, who midwifed the birth of this collection via the British Council\ Lancaster University Crossing borders on-line mentoring project 2005\2006 opines: “these poems deserve to be read. I add that Abuja Nunyi (Gbagyi : This is Abuja ) deserves a place in the National Assembly , the Presidency, airports, prominent bookshops and Tourist centers across the globe as the poet’s task was to present the Nigerian capital city to Nigerian and the international audience alike.”

The poet engages the vehicle of illustrations, in other words, he calls on the aid of images to assist in conveying his messages. The publisher, Kraft books, deserves commendation once more for a job well done. The city gate, bright rising sun in full glory, rocky patches that welcomes the visitor to the city is well captured in the front cover of the book. The font size lettering readily betrays the accessibility of the poems within.

The entries begin with the singular poem ‘City gate’ in the first season, Wellcome Song, ending with ‘How has Abuja treated you?’ in the last Farewell Song The second season, Native Songs harbours nine poems ‘City of rocks’, ‘Suleja`s song’, ‘We the people’, ’Song of the native son’, ‘Gbagyi woman’, ‘To the honored potter’, ’Ushafa’, ‘Gbagyi dancers’ and ‘Giri potters’. All the poems chronicle the hydra- headed concerns of the aborigines of the city now owned and treasured by all Nigerians. Their joys, sorrows, pains and mixed expectations of the new dawn, especially their interaction\contract \negotiation with the Nigerian government when the federal capital was moved from Lagos to Abuja.

Has the deal been fair to the original owners of Abuja? Are they worse off or better off with this capital now posted here? What I find very distinctive herein about the poetic style is the personification of this place as characters who talk and the poet himself becomes an observer and spectator! Hear ‘Suleja` song’ on page 19:

“I saw them as they came
“They begged for my land…

“Already you get the feel of the poem. And it isn’t a sweet or happy song. She concludes thus:

“I saw as they built to touch the sky
“I rose to be embraced
“And I was told to wait”

‘City of rocks’ cries of erstwhile lure, rustic melody and the seductive algebra of rocks, here we witness a dialogue between Zuma Rock, Wupape hills, Aso rock and Katampe hill.

‘Gbagyi woman’ is a simple reminder about virgin primitive times before we modernized our lives and ushered in untold sorrow and misery. Now we laugh at the woman carrying her stuff on her shoulders, she tills and toils, yes, but her life is less complex compared to ours.

All the poems here harbour the theme of unfair deal, ruptured hymen of deceitful and callous phallic thrust! What have we done for the Aborigines of Abuja whose lands we joy in today? This is food for thought from the poet. The second season, Songs On The Lips Of Modern Abuja takes the visitor and inhabitants through a panoramic cruise of the nooks and crannies of the elite city, enabling him\her to feel her tempo and character. This is a ready map for the tourist as well as the inhabitants seeking adventure and a rounded knowledge of Abuja .The poems here are: ‘To the first poet laureate’, ‘Song of a masterplan’, ‘To the new laureate’ and ‘Hanging out in Abuja Garden’

A really thrilling poem that is in this season is ‘Aso villa’ betraying the vivid imagination of the poet and the writer’s eye for details that the ordinary folk would have missed. ‘Abuja babes’, versed in pidgin English narrates the ordeal adventure\mis-adventure often encountered by young ladies following dreams of greener pastures to the city.

Then a truly hilarious piece, also wrought in pidgin “carry go”, recording a dialogue between an “okadaman”, a cab and a bus driver who migrated to Abuja for the golden fleece and a robust   dream of returning to marry their enchanted maidens:

And a truly emotive one, ‘Gidan mangoro’, for the ordeal of the Loyola Jesuit children in the Sosoliso plane crash. But in the next season, Songs The City Taught Me, lies the true tourist map of Abuja, qualifying the poet as the true chronicler of tides. The notorious but very vivid poem ‘Zone 4’ tells you where you could patronize the women of easy virtue if that’s what you desire!

Other poems in this season are ‘Area 10’, ‘IBB Golf club’, ‘A.Y.A’, ‘International conference centre’, ‘Eagle square’, ‘Maitama’, ‘National Mosque’, ‘National Christian center’, ‘National Military cemetery’, ‘Mpape, writers village’, ‘Area one’, ‘Berger junction’, ‘Millennium park’ and ‘’Face me I face you’.

All the poems interred in this season most especially ‘’deserve to be read’’, to echo the opinion of his mentor. Here in my humble opinion lies the crux and true glory of this outing by Denja Abdullahi as they chronicle the past, present and future  which he separated into the next season, Songs Of The Future,  containing the two poems ‘Song of the shanties’ and ‘Songs of the area councils’ which is rather unnecessary . This is a very successful outing that would remain relevant in literary discusses for a mighty long time to come. This book will definitely be taught in poetry classes in the country and beyond!