Kwara State: green and mysterious

game hunter in Kwara state

Kwara State is located half-way between Lagos and Abuja. Ilorin is the next big town. The area is largely covered with forest and still offers pristine nature beside agricultural land. A mostly agricultural state where deliciously pure honey can be bought on the roadside without fearing it is cut with sugar or other substances. It is part of Yoruba land.

local delight in Kwara

I stayed at the "Top-most Hotel" of the fringe of Oro town. Basically a compound with light colour - painted bungalows, in good shape. I was the only visitor but could have dinner at the restaurant served by two teenaged-girls very excited about my presence and very talkative too. A boy also joined them in the conversation at the end of my chicken and chips dinner washed down with some german-named not so good beer.
The most talkative waitress had been living in Lagos before. She was forced to come to Kwara state after her father died. She came back to live with her maternal family. She is a secondary school student during the day and a waitress during the evening and the night. So too was the other girl.
The waitress confessed that she loved Lagos and hated Kwara people for their conservative narrow-mindedness, she loved wearing leggings which were perceived as very daring for a teenaged-girl. In Lagos she said no-one would have bothered looking at you.

brazilian architecture

As Kwara is mostly covered by forest, people regularly eat game meat that they hunt. In a restaurant, we met a man who used to have a prominent position locally and he talked about visiting a nearby waterfall which is set in a nice remote place. He was blaming the government for not investing in developing the place for tourism. I imagined, as he was saying it, that the pristine place we were visiting could be turned into a fun park made of concrete and soon littered with plastic that no-one would even consider as a nuisance. Perhaps it was a blessing that development had been postponed.

the waterfall

The waterfall was not the reason why I wanted to visit Kwara state. I actually wanted to visit a national museum located in the town of Esie which hosted a collection of perhaps 1500 soapstone statues which are a mystery to everyone. There is the local explanation for them and also the scientific version but none of them seem really satisfying. They are kept in a patio style inner courtyard. The figures were found at the end of the 18th century arranged in circles around a tree and looking at a dignitary. What is extraordinary with this figures is the incredible richness of variety of features used to make each of them unique and from a distinct origin. It is as if emissaries from all over Nigeria had been gathered in an assembly.

Esie soapstone figures (source google images)

I was told about the local legend. Following the death of a king, there are several things that are taboo including eating some specific food and leaving the area until the new king is nominated. The elders discuss who should the next king. At that time, the likeliest candidate was very sure of himself and decided to break rules by engaging in a taboo. The next day the whole habitants of the village had been turned to stone which would be the statues we now see. Obviously this does not tie-up with the diversity of features observed on the figures but this is what locals seem to believe.

Esie figure, details (source google images)

There are a number of articles about them in case anyone would want to find out more: nairaland, vanguard, MET, national mirror, red list

The Ogiamien family in Benin City: about wood and history

Roland Ogiamien in his wood-carving workshop Wood Roland Ogiamien is a renown wood carver. He is now retired in his home town of Benin City and is now in his 80s. We met him in his simple workshop, a barn opened on the surrounding greenery. A part of the studio is used to store wood pieces and make sure they are well dried. He is using a collection of german ustensils to carve and polish the wood. He spent most of his career working out of Lagos before relocating to Benin. Roland was explaining that the wood he uses today is different that the one he worked on in his early days. Ebony has become rare and wood carvers have had to switch to other types of wood. Traditional heritage is a large part of his inspiration which he translates on wood with his own particular style, exploring various techniques for the finish of his pieces. Roland Ogiamien and two of his favourite masks History Ogiamien is the name of an important royal family in Benin Kingdom. Towards the end of the

The mysterious stones images of Esie

turned into Stones Chief J. Agbo Ooye had been waiting in the shade of a large tree, in front of the National Museum of Esie, dressed in ceremonial costume with a velvet hat incrusted with crystal beads sown in the shape of his title and his name. He was sitting next to his wife on a bench, expecting our arrival. His wife, he would tell us later, was his best friend and she was actually demonstrating it by guiding his frail body from one place to another and guiding his hand when it came to sign autographs of his books. Chief Agbo Ooye is the author of two booklets on the Esie Stones. The first one, called A Personal Account of the Esie Stones is giving an overview of the differences between the scientific and the traditional interpretation of the Esie Stones. The second one is called the History of Esie and gives a brief account of Esie's history from the early settlement of Yorubas in various groups (Esie, Oro, Eku Apa, Igbonla, Edidi, Igbesi, etc...) to the present day. Thos

The Ejiogbe Twins, fine stone carvers

Kehinde and Taiwo dancing hand in hand Taiwo and Kehinde Olabode Ejiogbe: now and then Drums could be heard in a distance as we approached the open compound of the Ejiogbes. Two slender white-clad silhouettes, those of two Obatala followers, were dancing forward in our direction, sometimes hand in hand, sometimes not, but synchronised at all time. Taiwo and Kehinde Ejiogbe, the stone carver twins of Inisa, Osun state, were now greeting us and welcoming us in an open courtyard where a marquee had been arranged with rows of plastic chairs. Taiwo's simple lines I had met the Ejiogbe Twins about a year ago in Iragbiji and had bought some of their carvings which I still like very much. So it was natural to go and meet them again in their abode. The compound was decorated with the many stones carved by the Twins. Taiwo's works were displayed on the lawn separating the road from the house. Large pieces with an asiatic touch in the simplicity of lines of the carvings.

Nigeria, the land of plenty

Search This Blog