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| Hon. Rotimi Arugbo with Poetic Samurai himself |
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| African Michael Jackson- Bankole Kolawole (BankHALL) in his element alongside Mide-Fash |
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| Prophet Babatunde offers Arugbo a warm handshake as Princess Akapo smile at the background. |
I wouldn’t
want to delve into ‘too much details’, though, the context demands same. Daring
rationale behind hosting a ‘poetry-inclined’ event in a village where modern
spoken word poetry is hardly heard of, save for local chants (ewi, ijala and
the likes) is indeed unheard of, maybe unreasonable,
but then, great ideas are usually laughable, weird at first instance.
#HomeWord as the name connotes came from the ideology of bringing spoken word poetry
homeward as expressed by her chief host, Olayinka Samson Aremu (The Samurai), himself, a product of
Ado-Odo Local Council Development Area in Ogun State-Nigeria.
From an
eye-witness narrative, an active participant and as co-facilitator, I must state
here that HomeWord holds one memory I am not in a hurry to forget, at least for
the next few decades. Peeping into this historic event, from the articulate
master of ceremony, Babatunde Ayo Raphael
to the near-perfect mix of rare discussions on sick and sic music, taking responsibility, building a career, to rib-cracking comedy renditions,
out-of-this-world traditional and contemporary poetry performances from Akinwemimo Idris "Poet
Loaded"; the magical urban bard’s in-depth, filled-with-comic utterances to the
dancing African Michael Jackson of the
day; BankHALL alongside his
Afrocentric diva; Mide-Fash, then
Aditu Jesu, an A-List stand-up comedian from Faaji FM, it was a repertoire of
art, life and a surprise to all, especially when viewed from the eyes of the
town’s leading clergy, Prophet E. O. Babatunde, who was obviously impressed at
show of untamed emotion shining in the eyes of almost every performing
artiste that mounted the stage.
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| PoetLoaded Akinwemimo |
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| RED CARPET SEGMENT |
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| Aditu Jesu prostrates for the elder, Prophet Babatunde |
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| Tomisn Osoba with Poetic Samurai |
For me, one
of those moments that held me spell-bound was that of Tomisin Osoba (daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Olaide and Tomide Osoba).
This little girl is barely 10; her words speak a million language so much that
High Table Guests were moved to dashing her cash prizes from right, left and
center. It got Poetic Samurai leaping for excitement, fulfillment too. A brighter rewarding future awaits the
ancient city of Ado-Odo. The little diva got an autographed of Funke Awodiya’s poetry collection, - "Farmer’s Daughter" too.
The live
musical performance from that sublime soloist, Fabiyi Ayodele AKA Sunfab
Darichest, is not unnoticed. The love note in his song is a didactic tune to
turn lust to love and turn lost love around.
It will
amount to understating the power of brilliance, eloquence, angry determination
of that bad boy gone bard if I fail to mention the impeccable audacity of “omo
Iya Alagbo” (the herbs merchant)’s shining sun, convener of #HomeWord, Poetic
Samurai’s eye-catching, insightful, yet entertaining spoken word poetry renditions. He was made to perform several poems from the
archive in his head, one of which had this indigenous Yoruba undertone, in a
sing-song manner, he chanted, "Oku Abacha
ti a lo, ain! Won o ti e to shia rara, ain!, won o ti e se raisi rara, ain! ori
eni ti a joko si e, ni be l’ama yagbe si" (the funeral of Abacha we attended,
there was no chair, rice or drink….we had to sit and ‘shit’
on mats..), causing the audience to sing along with thunderous applause
from the sitting, current democratically elected chairman of Ado-Odo LCDA,
Engr. Saeed Olabisi Alagbe, along side other equally important dignitaries like
Hon. Rotimi Rahmon Arugbo, Princess Temitope Akapo, all offering a standing
ovation to this little shining super star! I do not envy him here.
We had a
wild time criss-crossing the streets of Ado-Odo, taking pictures and short videos
at some historic junctions with Dr. Olufunke Awodiya; one of Nigeria’s most
travelled poetess who coincidentally happens to be an indigene from the clan of
Ido-Elero by maternal right, like me too from Idosaye. Wonderful moments
captured in pictures and videos at random, See video here - https://www.facebook.com/soslams/videos/1369886743154327https://www.facebook.com/soslams/videos/1369886743154327//
Let’s do
more at the next edition, Sound Of Sages (SOS) will be putting all hands on deck to
ensure an even much more remarkable experience at #Homeword 0.2
The journey
has just began, Aremu, a mouse trap
cannot stop an elephant, itakun to ni k’erin re o ma wodo, tohun terin ni o
lo.
Bankole Kolawole “BankHALL”
Poet, Essayist, Performance Coach based
in Lagos, Nigeria.
PS:
Poet Loaded Akinwemimo
Idris (Editor-in-chief, Nibstears Press) had this to say of #Homeword:
The next edition of the
event would be greater than the first edition due to the exposition of the
first edition brought to the town of which stimulated the gathering of the
youth to share the same idea at a point in time. The best way to address the heart
of youth is through constant gathering and repetition of the school of thought
the youth are being expected to channel their reasoning.
In addition to this, the
first edition woke the political spirit of the youth who were in attendance. The
presence of political leaders is a re-awakening evidence of the dividends of
peaceful politics for the growth of Ado-Odo community. It would definitely give
the youth the medium to have second reasoning on the medium to remove hinderances to the growth of the community without considering the political
perspectives and school of thought. It was really a place to be for Nibstears
Press.
