Felabrations 2017 - VIP section at Federal Palace

Fela lives on

Every year in October, Felabrations commemorate the memory of Fela Anikulapo Kuti for a whole week. This edition has been widely celebrated in several places in town. Obviously the biggest part of it was taking place at the New Afrika Shrine in Alausa. Freedom Park, in Lagos Island, has also had its fair share of Afrobeat celebration every night of the week. And for the VIPs, a function was organised at the Federal Palace hotel under a properly air-conditioned tent used for up-market weddings. Large VIP areas had been demarcated for the occasion, furnished with minimalist white sofas and a few fancy looking chairs and high tables towards the front of the stage. The line-up was great: Bez, Nnekka, Seun Kuti and Femi Kuti. One could have thought that it was worth going to only this event because of the great artist line-up and the fact that it was much more comfortable going there than all the way down to the New Africa Shrine which offers a somewhat rough environment and only white plastic chairs to seat on.

The evening was sponsored by Glenfiddish which was, so to speak, the only drink on offer besides water and Coca-cola. The stage had been elaborately decorated with a huge print of Fela's face as background.

Bez, the man with the red shoes

As always, start-up time of 8PM meant that not much would happen before 9.30PM. It is when a musical on Fela (locally made) was interpreted on stage as warm-up. Bez was the first to come on stage, around 11PM, with a few songs and already a terrible sound.

Nneka after warm-up

Nnekka started probably an hour later. She also had to suffer the same quality of sound. I had to struggle to feel the same emotions that I had listening to her on a couple of occasions prior to this one. She is usually quite temperamental about the sound but it seems she did not make a point of it this time round.

Seun Kuti: one print from head to toes

It was obvious that Seun Kuti would not come on stage before 1AM as he is notorious for his late appearances at the New Afrika Shrine. He looked visibly pleased to play at home as he greeted the crowd with a smile. It was certainly something dear to him in the middle of his tours around the globe and a lot of time spent in the US. He started with a song from Fela as homage to his father and the following one was to pay his respect to the ancestors as a protest against monotheist religions who pretty much obliterated ancient beliefs in traditional gods. Seun was wearing clothes made of a single African print (a shirt, slim trousers faithfully espousing the shape of his muscles and assorted shoes). He played several of his own songs and encouraged people to come to the Shrine where he promised to offer his full show. His daughter was brought on stage to dance with her mother, who is one of the dancers (family tradition?). The young girl wasn't thoroughly enjoying the whole thing, judging by her repeated yawns. Her mother had to take her in her arms and dance with her. The sound is very bad, you should ask for a ticket refund from the organisers, Seun apologised, as he was leaving the stage.

Femi Kuti: the elder brother

Femi Kuti, came last around 2.30AM, as the elder brother, and played his usual set until nearly 4AM. He had five dancers to accompany him besides the regular musicians and of course his inseparable Hammond B1 keyboard. His first piece had obviously the colour of Afrobeat and the same time the energy of dancefloor beats which entranced the audience. He was wearing a purple silk robe with green embroidery which looked somewhat asiatic.

It was a pity that the sound of the horn section was so poor, if you are a serious music lover you may, after all, want to make it all the way to the New Afrika Shrine!

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 Arala of Benin Kingdom and his large family music band

High Chief Arala of Benin Kingdom, Prince S.B. Omo Lawal Osula At the intersection of two potholed market streets in the heart of Benin City, somewhere along Lagos street, stood three marquees. Two of them were covering rows of plastic chairs and a plastic table for special guests. The third one was covering a wooden stage with numerous microphone booms. A band was getting ready to play. The setup was facing the house of the Arala, a High Chief of Benin City. In front of the house painted in orange was a wooden bank on which traditional percussionists would seat later on. Seated guests were waiting for the Arala himself. The Arala had come out, dressed in a salmon-pink suit and red loafers, to welcome us personally upon our arrival while we parked next to the marquees. He is a man of small stature but fit and lively for his age (he is in his mid seventies). The Arala runs an NGO to help international organisations fund rural education projects around Benin city. The NGO spares the

Nigeria, the land of plenty

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