Back to Stage

A recent production is part of the moves to popularize live theatre in the city, writes Rita Aleke

Abuja based outfit, Arojah Royal Theatre returned to the stage on Wednesday 31st October, with Zulu Sofola’s classic satire, ‘The Wizard of Law’ as part of its effort to revive the live theatre culture in the nation’s capital. The group is one of the few professional private theatre companies still operating in Nigeria despite the various challenges resulting in the decline of the live theatre culture in Nigeria, and Abuja especially.

The production was another stellar performance by a group that is gradually worming its way into the hearts of theatre lovers in Abuja. The eight-man cast rewarded the audience for their faith in the group, with their excellent interpretation of the play, as they left members of the audience reeling with laughter.

Oluwatoba Oyewale’s interpretation of the character, Lawyer Ramoni Alao and Seun Odukoya’s portrayal of the role of Sikira, lawyer Ramoni Alao’s wife, no doubt wowed the audience, as their entrance and exit were usually the greeted with a loud cheer.

The play, directed by Adesewo Fayaman Bay, the group’s director of productions, also featured Zeb John as Rafiu, Samuel Akawo as Constable, Lizzy Popoola as Clerk, Zubairu Jide Atta as Lamidi and the duo of Jovita Chukwuemeka and AIT’s Lara Owoeye-Wise switching role as the Judge for the first and second show respectively.

The ‘Wizard of Law’ is a satire about an old lawyer, Ramoni who tries to impress his wife during a festive period by purchasing nine metres of lace material on credit at a time he is penniless. The cloth seller, Rafiu, takes advantage of this opportunity to inflate his prices. Unable to pay the debt, Ramoni gets into more trouble and desperately looks for a court case to enable pay his debt.

According to the group’s founder and Artistic Director, Om’Oba Jerry Adesewo, sustaining live theatre in the city has been one huge task. “It’s not been easy doing this but we’ll continue to try,” he said. “We have continously put in our best to ensure that the live theatre culture in Abuja returns. We are worried about the level of audience at the moment but we are not dettered. With the right funding and enabling enviroment, live theatre will thrive in Nigeria. Government should consider putting up necessary facilities and funding to aid live theatre in Abuja and Nigeria at large.”

One Ever Busy Crescent

A bird’s eye-view of Adetokunbo Ademola Crescent

Yonge Street in Toronto, Berk Hampstead Street in England and Broadway in New York are all in a certain class of their own. The world has come to know these streets as the longest in the world, longest high street in England and one of the longest streets in the United States respectively. And then there is Adetokunbo Ademola Crescent in Wuse, Abuja.

This crescent has more than one jewelled feather in her cap. High street of Abuja, longest crescent in the city, and Abuja’s exclusive shopping district have all been conferred to Adetokunbo Ademola Crescent. Named after foremost Nigerian jurist Sir Adetokunbo Ademola, a prince of Egba Kingdom, this crescent spells royalty- as if commoners were forbidden from drawing near.

With its long, windy roads, Abuja residents throng Adetokunbo Ademola in the day and at night. Highly commercialised with executive shopping malls (Exclusive Stores, Amigo), exclusive apartment buildings (the crescent begins with Peniel Apartments), hotels (Chelsea, Rockview, Valencia), art galleries (Torch of Africa and Instant Portraits), bookshops (Pen & Pages, Book Plus, Next Level Books) and of course high-end furniture stores (Alibert, Choice, Fezel, Vina), no other place features modern architecture, stylish interiors and a collection of social amenities that create uniquely connected and incredibly convenient lifestyle.

Residents of this crescent can exist comfortably for years without stepping foot outside of it for sustenance. From designer clothing stores (Grosvenor Mayfair London) to telecommunication companies (Airtel and Visafone) to banks (every bank in Nigeria) and electronic shops (SAMSUNG, LG, Sharp), Adetokunbo Ademola has become the core of all sorts of activities in Abuja. Also not left out of this royal crescent are government agencies (EFCC, PHCN, NEMA, NITF).

Traffic at all sides of Adetokunbo Ademola Crescent is heavy at peak hours- mornings and evenings. At the West end of the crescent is the road leading to Abuja’s famous market- the Wuse Market. This accounts for a huge dose of traffic activity at certain times of the day. As the day winds down however, liveliness reduces as shops and offices close their doors for business. At that point, another set of crowd emerges- the night- crawlers, including fun- creators, fun- seekers and fun- givers.

The crescent’s clubs (Auto Lounge, Cubana, Klub Vaniti, Play Sports Bar, Verdict Karaoke, Sofa Lounge), pubs, restaurants ( Ciao Italian Restaurant, Ocean 11 Seafood, La Dolce Vita, Lazeez Restaurant, New Reno’s) and bars (Elevation Bar), continuously attract Abuja residents.

Adetokunbo Ademola Crescent is truly the centre of all sorts of activity in Abuja. Day or night, this crescent has its plate full of bustle for residents and visitors alike. Not even her introduction into a controlled-parking zone has slowed this place down.

State Matters

FCT's original inhabitants demands a say
Why some FCT residents want a state

Abuja original inhabitants want FCT to become a state. Tunde Akpeji finds out why this matters to them.

Residents of the glimmering city of Abuja were treated to a strange sight recently: half-naked men and women protesting for a cause. The city is getting used to regular protests, especially around the Three Arms Zone. But, with a lot of skin on display, this had a different colour. The protesters, however, were not nudists. They were members of the Original Inhabitants Development Association, (OIDA), who decided to use their traditional way of life as one of the tools to press for change.

The change they desire could save the cultural heritage of the Gbagyi, Gwari, Gade, Ganagana, Gwandara, Bassa, Ebira, Koro and Mama indigenous groups that originally inhabited the area now covered by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). But they had more than culture in their sight. Among other political and economic demands, they want to enjoy the same rights as other Nigerians, particularly the benefits that go with “coming from somewhere”. They want an elected mayor for Abuja and they want a state of their own, according to the charter of demands they submitted to the constitution review committees of the National Assembly.

Pastor Jeji Danladi, the President of OIDA, noted that some of these demands would not have arisen if the content of the broadcast of the late military Head of State, General Murtala Mohammed on February 3, 1976 had been implemented. For him, the failure of successive administrations to implement the founding concept of FCT has put the original inhabitants at a disadvantage as they lost the right to their land and have not been fully relocated and compensated.

Their demands also highlighted a failure to adhere to the original timeline for developing the nation’s capital. The concept announced in February 1976 would have had the original inhabitants relocated elsewhere at an estimated cost of N2.8 billion at that time. The failure to implement this in addition to the startup of the capital city in 1980 instead of the recommended 1986 saw indigenous groups become squatters in the city that grew around their ancestral homes.

According to Pastor Danladi, it is now challenging to implement the original concepts. Abuja indigenes would not be accepted anywhere if they were to be relocated in this contemporary time of controversial land ownership. One of their suggestions is to allow the 2000sq kilometers covered by the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) and part of Bwari Area Council, or the same area captured in the Abuja Master Plan, to exist as the Federal Capital while the remainder of the territory becomes a state with all the political instruments.

OIDA, supported during the protests by the Alliance for Credible Elections (ACE), wants the area covered by the Federal Capital City to come under the administration of an elected Mayor. The group wishes that the rest of the FCT becomes a state with its capital in Gwagwalada. The envisioned state would have its governor, three senatorial districts, five federal constituencies, its judiciary and a legislative arm— “Peoples’ Assembly of the FCT”—to take over the functions presently performed by the National Assembly. The group also wants the existing six area councils increased to eleven and designated as local government areas.

In a demand reminiscent of the agitation for resource control, the group also wants the Federal Government to remit 20% of all revenue from allocable lands and 40% of land within Abuja city to be allocated to original inhabitants. Of equal concern to them is the fact that streets in Abuja are named after foreign leaders, rivers, cities and countries without any acknowledgement of the people who owned the land before the Federal Government took it over. For a start, OIDA asked that streets be named after their nine ethnic groups and after persons whom they hold as heroes.

In demanding for a state, they are not just following the current fad, according to Pastor Danjuma. A state, he said, would have practical implications for his people. He disclosed that while the Constitution specifies that the FCT should be treated as a state and despite the concept of Federal Character, the original inhabitants cannot be appointed as permanent secretaries, ministers or selected in some other capacities. “Even if they would not give us a state, they should at least change these aspects of the Constitution that makes us into nobodies,” he said.

The traditional institution representing the nine distinct groups in the territory would equally enjoy what its counterpart in the 36 other states enjoy when it is brought under the ministry of local government and chieftaincy affairs. It presently reports to a department of the FCDA, which Danladi said constitutes an anomaly.

Some members of OIDA also believe that their present status makes them outcasts of sort. “It is a stigma,” said Giwa Bameyi, an official of the group. “My seven-year child was asked in his class what state he hailed from and he said FCT. They all laughed at him that Abuja is a no-man’s land. He came back home crying.”