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Morning yet in Ijegba creative resort: A visionary venture in season of primaries of chaos

By Segun Ojewuyi
21 October 2018   |   2:54 am
In the forests of Ijegba… away from the turbulence of a nation at war with itself; there comes a response of creative intelligence. As Nigeria disintegrates into a nation whose political brigands self-elect themselves by direct and indirect fornications of the ballot box...

Participants with Prof. Wole Soyinka

In the forests of Ijegba… away from the turbulence of a nation at war with itself; there comes a response of creative intelligence. As Nigeria disintegrates into a nation whose political brigands self-elect themselves by direct and indirect fornications of the ballot box; there comes an alternative vision sourced from the depths of creativity, integrity and a deep love of the nation that could be. The Ijegba Creative Resort is a growing initiative nestled in the extended woods of Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka’s A.R.I – Autonomous Residence of Ijegba.

Funded by the creative industry of its producers Teju Kareem, Segun Ojewuyi, Jahman Anikulapo and Tunde Awosanmi; we must underscore the commitment and unflinching support of its backers – Soyinka and Senator Ibikunle Amosun, Governor of Ogun State in the last eight years. One is a man of the arts and social justice; the other a man of politics, governor of a state, an actor in the political space whose two terms have not only transformed his state into a center of commerce, economic and manufacturing enterprise, but also into a hub of arts, literature and cultural industry. This meeting of the arts and politics must be highlighted and heralded for our political juggernauts who sometimes forget that the growth of our nation must give presence to the names of the central actors who bridge their political worlds with the interests of the people they serve.

In Ijegba is an immersion in visionary leadership; a capital investment of political, cultural and creative arts resources that if well managed; will shift our course from chaos to order, from self-ruin to self-reinvestment and development, now and the future! Amosun deserves the applause and respect of all!

The Ijegba Creative Resort – located in the thickly forested part of Ajebo Housing Estate, Idi Aba Abeokuta — has just concluded its first ever Creative Arts Residency spanning three intensive days of visual and media arts explorations. Attending were student sculptors, graphic designers, multimedia artists from neighbouring Moshood Abiola Polytechnic and some established professional craftsmen… For three days they lived and explored the expanse of natural forestation in Ijegba; they exchanged ideas, techniques and new thoughts on their arts and its collective effect on the nation Nigeria. All of this was an infusion of the eclectic artistic forays of the man Soyinka and his inseparable marriage of art, society and political engagement. In July there was also the annual festival of Theater and ideas; the Wole Soyinka International Cultural Exchange (WSICE) with a congregation of about 2000 children and adults who came from distances across Nigeria and as far as the United States.

Birth of the Wole Soyinka Cultural Exchange Programme
WOLE Soyinka’s creative exploits and activism had already established him as a major presence in African Theater, Literature and African socio-political discourse; long before the Nobel prize in 1986. He was already the recipient of an extensive and prestigious string of literary prizes and recognitions. Then came the Nobel to consolidate his firm presence as a conscience for the world, in causes that not only advanced Theater and Literature but most importantly the universal rights of Humans wherever they live and whatever their circumstance. Even with all this, it is clear that his own country Nigeria continues to struggle with how to respond to his towering intellect and sheer force of creative energy and life. Some see him as an inspiration for all that is good and can take the country to its ideal heights of glory; others, particularly the political class; see him as a persistent irritation whose voice and work should be muffled and marginalized by all means.

It is, however, the insistent voice of the creative class that is carrying the Soyinka banner into the future. This important coterie of a younger generation than Soyinka’s — theater artists, writers, visual artists, journalists amongst others – – see Soyinka as a vision, not just a visionary; as a movement away from underdevelopment and chaos; to new and lasting articulations of identity and egalitarian legacies for Nigerians, Africans and the world. It is the best of these aspirations that is articulated by the dogged enterprise of those behind WISCE, the Ijegba Amphitheater and now the Ijegba Creative Resort. Kareem, Ojewuyi, Anikulapo and Awosanmi – longterm students, friends and professional theater associates of the much older laureate. It was Kareem and Ojewuyi who established the festival of theater, literature and international exchange programmes WSICE; now in its 9th year – an unprecedented feat in the Nigerian artistic community. The festival was at first held in venues across the country and the United Kingdom; igniting new interests among a growing global community of artists and scholars and the general populace; engaging them with literature and the performing arts drawing upon varied themes of nationhood and development.

There were, also of course, theatrical performances in theaters with productions by Nigerian and international acting companies. Then there was the programming of visitations with traditional monarchs and custodians of culture; as well as visits with politicians and agencies of government. The festival lecture and colloquium series have equally become a sumptuous staple for the rubbing of minds between town and gown, old and young, local and international minds. All of these were to cover the breadth and depth of Soyinka’s restless but highly meaningful interests and engagements. All of these were dreams of development that required a special kind of political acumen and passion that was found in the government of Ogun State.

The need for the festival to have its own permanent home gave birth to the development of portions of the Ijegba forest for the amphitheater next door; practically in Soyinka’s coveted hunting woods and zones of peace and serene contemplation. It was Teju Kareem’s masterful skills in the corridors of politics and business that would doggedly attract the resources and attention of the state government. It was the combined creative leadership and intellectual content from Ojewuyi, Anikulapo, Awosanmi, Kareem and the Laureate himself, that has sustained the amphitheater in its five years of existence as a physical space for the staging of arts, theater and ideas. Now this is the year the Ijegba Creative Resort has joined the initiative, expanding the vision, actualizing the legacy of a man, an ideal and a will beyond the ordinary.

A link to the past… Politics as undertaker to Artistic dreams
IN the 1960s, Soyinka’s creative adventures led him and his cohorts – Chinua Achebe, Mabel Segun, J. P. Clark, Christopher Okigbo, Aig Imokhuede, Demas Nwoko and a couple of others – to the founding of the Mbari in Ibadan. With help from Uli Beier and a grant from an American foundation, they turned the Mbari in Ibadan into a hive of creative ventures that attracted the rest of the world. According to Soyinka himself, “Mbari was a cafe theatre, a place of creativity and cultural production to infuse some energy and alternative course of development for the newly independent Nigeria…this was what we were trying to execute.”

The emergence of WSICE, the Ijegba Amphitheater and the Ijegba Creative Resort is now bringing us full circle. It was the Nigerian civil war that disrupted Soyinka’s community of creatives and intellectuals with a strong sense for social justice; breaking up its central figures – Achebe, Okigbo, JP Clark, Segun and co – into factions of opposing interests. It is not hyperbolic in any form to signal that the doings of our politicians today; threaten our peace and progress again, especially, as we watch this primary season of chaos. We must be aghast as powerful political machines threaten to besmirch our people-serving politicians of merit and integrity; in favour and introduction of those with unknown resumes or identifiable records of service. The civil war splintered our national unity, set us on a course of significant mental and moral disorientation and chaos. These primaries of declared results by the two major political parties, do not augur well for our future.

Ijegba is the reawakening not only for the arts and artists; it is determinedly the reawakening of a dream suspended by the unrest between the regions in the 60s, the genocidal civil war, the wasteful Shagari republic, the prostitution of our nations collective ethos by Babangida and Abacha. Ijegba is a necessary reawakening of a movement for an alternative temperament, a more committed drive for the arts and persons of vision and conscience to change the nations orientation for the better; one profound step at a time.

Ijegba is designed and built from the natural resources of the forest. Ijegba is a return and dependence on the natural talents of vision animated, a force of positive alternative and a collaboration of skills. In these last three days of creative firmament like the many days and years projected for the resort; there was energy, practical visioning and resolve. As the trees of Ijegba swayed in resonant affirmation of an alternative path towards development, the arts take the lead, reeducating our citizenry with institutions, ideas, strategies and a mind set apart from the popular maddening Harlequins of our political theaters. The chirping of Ijegba birds have warmed their melodies into the hearts of the visiting artists and the long suffering but determined founders and managers of the Ijegba Creative Resorts and residencies.

Tejuoso the Dak-Art Biennale 2018 winner exhibited his winning installation and actor Toju Ejoh brought his performance verve to the pot. In the last day, the Nobel laureate, as he has done in the nine years previous, visited and shared thoughts with the young artists; mentoring in an appreciative gesture of what should come in the near and far future. Laureate, artists and executive producers; together they all affirmed that not all corners of our country have gone to the dogs, yet. They showed us that not all minds have gone to hell, yet. They renewed the hope that all is not lost for our country’s youth and future, yet.

We witness therefore that not all our politicians are damned into the pits of idiocy and profligacy, yet! Let the Arts touch our politics, let our politics respond with integrity, the kind that we have found in Governor Amosun in whose state and under whose watch so much has been done in such a short time. There is more in the pot; there is enough will, enough vision to still move us and reset our paths towards growth, industrial and economic development, and, cultural and ethical re-orientation. The Ijegba Creative Resort is already a story of huge dividends now and many years to come. Soyinka’s legacy is firmly established and the world will have a place to come to honor that legacy always. It is a physical and ideational legacy for the nation to embrace and nurture. For its own sake!
•Professor Ojewuyi, Head of Directing at the Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, USA, is currently on Sabbatical in Nigeria as a Carnegie Fellow.

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