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I was once told a story by the late HRM, the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero about how legends are made. We were on a flight from Kano to Dubai to attend a three day festival of the people of the desert. The motivation to attend was extended to the two of us; the Emir being the Chairman of FADE (Fight Against Desert Encroachment) Africa and to myself as the founder of FADE. During the flight, I explained to HRM who was also the Chairman of DIDI Museum, the plan I had to host an exhibition of Arts, Music, Fashion and Dance of notable Nigerians that projected and promoted the Nigerian arts and culture scene to the world.
The exhibition was also to honour such artists by exhibiting and showcasing their works in music, dance, poetry and literature. The names that I gave then were Saburu Biobaku, Yusuf Grillo, Segun Sofowore, Akin Eube, Ben Enwonwu, Wole Soyinka, Fela, Chinua Achebe, Flora Nwapa and a few others. These are men and women who have fought and won the grueling fight against social malaise especially as it relates to the culture and tradition of our nation. I had mentioned that the exhibition’s theme would be ‘The making of Legends’. HRM was so happy about the event and offered his support. He then told me a story of how legends are made.
The Sallah celebration was approaching and there were hundreds of gift items intended for the less privilege that had been donated to the palace by humanitarians. These gifts included hundreds of bags of rice and grain which were all placed in the courtyard of the Emir’s Palace. The Emir’s private quarters overlooked the courtyard and he often had the pleasure of witnessing the different activities taking place at the courtyard from the obscurity of his balcony. On one particular night, a few minutes past midnight, the Emir who was having difficulties sleeping decided to get some fresh air at his balcony. As he stood and stared out to the courtyard, he saw one of his steward walk towards the heap of bags. This particular steward kept looking around as if to confirm if anyone else was out by that time. This intrigued the Emir so he decided to remain inconspicuous. Once the steward was certain that all was clear, he ran towards the rice and picked up a bag, looked around again and dashed off with it. A few minutes later, he returned and went through the same process. As he was dashing off with the rice for a second time, his cap fell but he didn’t stop to pick it up. Instead, he returned after he’d stashed away the second bag of rice to pick up his hat, dust it, wear it back and walked away calmly like a man on an evening stroll.
The Emir observed all this and went back to bed. He woke up the next morning to sounds of commotion in the courtyard as people exclaimed about how theft had never taken place in the palace before. It was a sacrilege to steal from such a holy place. It appeared the theft had been noticed. More amusing was the fact that, the person leading the charge to find the thief and bring him to justice for such an act was the very person that the Emir had seen in the act the night before. He called the people to order especially the aggrieved steward who led the pack and assured them that Allah saw it all. He then went on to say that the same Allah that saw how the thief stole the first bag of rice, also saw how the thief stole the second bag of rice and even saw when the thief’s cap fell and he didn’t look back to pick it up until he had gone to stash away the stolen second bag. He went on to say that Allah saw how the thief returned to pick up his cap before leaving the courtyard. Immediately, the man exclaimed ‘Ah Sarki’ confirming that indeed the Emir was chosen by Allah because Allah speaks directly to him.
The story was told to entertain but it certainly shows how stories of past heroes sometimes stem from false interpretation of events. The exhibition about the making of legends eventually didn’t happen but I remained fascinated about legends. In Nigeria, we have our legends, dead and alive. They exist in the world of arts, music, literature and more. I have often wondered why many of our legends only seem to reach notoriety when they become internationally acclaimed. Their sojourn over the seas for some reason gives them the right amount of opportunity and exposure they need to secure their places in the book of legends. From the likes of Chimamanda to Wole Soyinka and Chinua Achebe, it appears that our brightest in the arts need to leave our shores or risk never achieving legend status. This is also the case with footballers who play domestically for a while with no real recognition until they are picked up by internationally scouts and end up playing for foreign teams. Often times, Nigeria starts to celebrate these people like we played a major role in their success. Recently, a popular Nigerian artiste was shot to A-list status after a couple of international features like a song with American artist Beyonce and appearance on a highly regarded American TV show by Jimmy Kimmel. It is almost as if Nigerians now value him because the rest of the world does. There are also cases of politicians with Nigerian descent exceling abroad like Adedamola Aminu, the then Mayor of Lambeth and another Nigerian-born Councillor – Donatus Anyawu who was the Deputy Mayor.
We ask ourselves if these people would have managed to achieve the same milestone in this country. Would either Adedamola or Donatus have been able to navigate the political minefield in Nigeria? Would they have been able to get enrolled into the scholarship programme of godfatherism or would they have exceled in the thuggery industry to emerge as powerhouses ripe for political positions? After all, it appears that these are the basis for the class of politicians we seem to have at the moment in many regions across the nation.
The story doesn’t end with the talents leaving the shores to become legends, it continues with their return. Now more than ever, we see a lot of well-established Nigerians in the diaspora returning home to showcase their skills and expand their base to cover their nation. This is highly admirable. Hopefully, this will create opportunities at home for people to be groomed and fully developed without needing to be exported. It would appear that as it stands our skills and talents are our greatest exports.
Artist Cornelius Tokunbo Browne is an example of a returnee whose leaving in the 90s enabled him build a portfolio that has now elevated his status in the art industry. This was a status that he otherwise lacked during his stay in the country. Toks Browne as he’s known to most of his contemporaries is a pioneering Nigerian artist who has been living in the diaspora since he launched his brand of faith-based Art; with a debut show in an art gallery on Lagos Island in 1987.
His latest exhibition in collaboration with DIDI Museum coming up on the 1st – 7th of August which has been entitled ‘Adumaadan’ explores his fascination with the beauty of black women and trees. ‘Adumaadan’ is a unique word used by Yoruba men to describe an exceptionally beautiful woman with spotless very dark skin. Literally it means “Black and Beautiful”. The series of skillfully crafted images in this show mostly relate to the relationship between the human form and trees.
Toks Browne is one of many Nigerians returning home to share their art with their countrymen. As we embrace them, I admonish us to think hard about how different their lives might have been if they didn’t seek notoriety outside their fatherland.
