Saturday, June 11, 2016

LAOLU OGUNNIYI




Nigeria has produced quite a number of illustrious playwrights over the decades - like Wole Soyinka, Zulu Sofola, J. P. Clark, Femi Osofisan, Ola Rotimi among others.

The highly talented and charismatic Laolu Ogunniyi is however synonymous with the (small) screen more than any other playwright - with millions in west Africa enamoured with his work over the decades.

Laolu Ogunniyi obtained Graduate Diplomas in TV production and Cinematography from the Television and Film Academy of London. That was decades ago in his youth.

He would subsequently work in London University, University of Ibadan, Lead University, among otherss over the years. And in television he produced wonders!

Selected plays by Ogunniyi

Fateful Eclipse
Onibonoje Press
1975
87 pages

Riders on the Storm
Onibonoje Press
1975
71 pages

Candle in the Wind
Onibonoje Press
1977
75 pages

Better Days
Macmillan, Yaba Lagos
1982
73 pages


Secrets to be kept Forever
(broadcast on tv)

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Anatomy of female power.. By Chinweizu





This is a controversial and provocative work; it is also a scholarly and intellectual contribution. The author apparently believes that women run the gauntlet of controlling and manipulating men. A plethora of eclectic references and allusions and comments are cleverly served up to convince us of the overt and covert powers of the fairer sex. Reality, sleight of hand, or 'bunkum' so to speak? Perhaps it depends on the reader, the race, society, class etc. As an African, I'd be reluctant to believe women are as powerful as this - the facts show that even in modern times most women are not only suppressed or oppressed in the continent but are actually cruelly treated, viciously raped, kidnapped, abused, especially in war-torn areas and in many rural communities. Polygamy is fairly common in Africa too, with many educated women finding themselves part of the harem of rich, powerful, and or even average men. Would one describe such women as having unbridled powers over their men; or that they are enjoying the situation they find themselves in? Or perhaps the author has western women and their ilk in mind; liberated women wearing the trousers at home? If only it were that simple - we tend to forget that even in the "civilized" world women were certainly at least second class citizens until comparatively very recently in world history. Africans perhaps who might doubt this can examine the themes of just two classics of literature in the western world. In The Mayor of Casterbridge (Thomas Hardy) a western man actually sells his own wife! Also consider The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (Anne Bronte) where what seems simple now – a western woman "closing the door" on, and leaving a most debased, shocking husband was regarded as a revolutionary deed at the time! So yes, it has not been all roses for women, even if one concedes in our modern world that ladies are (in theory at least) every inch "equal" to men. The author here takes intellectual pains in explaining, delineating types of men and women, and how some women even gloat about their power over men! One suspects that all this is exaggerated and despite the physical attractions and allure of women, men cannot be such suckers...at least on a permanent level. But this is not to deny that women can be very powerful in their own way too; many men have fallen by the wayside because of the opposite sex, but it runs both ways. These days brazen, shameless female prostitution is multiplying in our societies, and can this by any stretch of the imagination be depicted as women manipulating or using men? Or are women victims; to a large extent hapless? On the whole, this work is intellectually intriguing and satisfying, a brilliant extended essay. But one has doubts about the conclusions the author apparently draws
- Malome