By
BM Dzukogi
First published in 2009
Kraftbooks, Ibadan
Undoubtedly, Minna, the capital of Niger State, is a hub of poetry production in Nigeria, today. It is a valley with a history for the production of written text. Perhaps, what is of curiosity is how providence has made Minna and Niger State the fertile ground where great Nigerian thinkers emerged from.
Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, the first President of Nigeria, was born in Dunguru, now Zungeru, near Minna. His birth and book “My Odyssey” are the spiritual invocations and the sprouting inspiration for the emergence of writers in his birth state, Niger for all of us writing in English today. Zik of Africa wrote poems too, poems that predated Mamman Jiya Vatsa’s works renowned for his poetic effusion and large scale publishing. However, Abubakar Imam, born in Kagara, near Minna, is the legendary character of the muse in Niger State. He is of the Zik era.
Abubakar Imam, the king of storytelling, the unequalled craftsman of the Nigerian written texts and master of suspense. His works spiralled to over twenty fiction and non-fiction of literary haemorrhage. In Abubakar Imam is almost a flawless literary conquest that is irresistible and compellingly magical in narration and aesthetics. No soul, handy with his Magana Jari Ce (Wisdom is an Asset) is capable of putting it down without exhausting its content with a perpetuated yearning for more. The three volumes of his Magana Jari Ce, are classical of the Shakespearean literary perspiration. And no Nigerian writer has been able to scribble works as influential as his Magana Jari Ce since the country’s journey to literary production began, except Achebe. If you cannot read in Hausa language, and thus missed the texts it takes nothing away from the claim that they are real classical books in the country and that their literary powers have remained unmatchable. His first published work is over eighty years old. Achebe’s Things Fall Apart is only over 60 years. Imam is considered as a citizen of Niger State despite having his root from Katsina. His elder brother, Bello Kagara, is also a literary craftsman of high reputation.
Bello Kagara’s sojourn in the literary world was very brief, though the title of his book, Gandoki moved faster than him, especially among the average Hausa readers. The book is about a gallant warrior. Little was therefore known about him.
Cyprian Ekwensi, whose umbilical cords was buried in Minna and who in the history of writings in English became an icon of storytelling in Nigeria is a perfect identity of the valley of thinkers that Minna has become. How many of you will spare time to reel out his titles without getting tired. A history of creative writing in Nigeria without Ekwensi is simply null and void. Perhaps, Ekwensi is the only Nigerian that has played out Northern Nigerian environment in his works more than those who are northerners writing in English. Why won’t he do that as a nationalist whose spirit resides in Minna? If the goal of art is first to entertain, then Ekwensi’s African Night Entertainment has bundled all our laborious scribbling of today in one easy narrative of compulsive reading. This great icon of Nigerian literature was born in Minna.
Abubakar Gimba is a perpetual novelist, an articulate essayist and a magnetic public speaker whose voice is synthetically metallic on stage. Most of his spoken words have found their way into book form with profundity and passion, sometimes with a voice of a disappointed redeemer that awaken the next day with new vigour that holds you captive. No doubt, in recent history of literary production, he is firmly ahead in novel production in Nigeria. Indeed, what is alarming with Gimba’s deliveries is his fertility and how he finds time to give birth to his array of books without any adventure in the labour room; how with ease and fineness of a master craftsman he dishes out literary delicacies. In Northern Nigeria, the rest of the novelists line up behind him today. With over ten titles, Gimba is an anchor leg of a race in the literary arts in Nigeria. The quality of his essays, though with measurable philosophy are a beauty to read. Their logic is pleasurable and their appeal is irresistible. However, philosopher-essayists have long emerged in the valley, proving to be Usain Bolt of the art. Some whispers have contended that his essays are more literary than his novels. Whatever that means, he is a citizen of Niger State and a lead figure of the literati who resides in Minna and has lived his life, there.
Ben Okri, the Booker prize winner and the custodian of many other prizes was born in Minna. Okri is a writer with the third and the fourth eye. He has the gift of smooth navigation between your world and the one you are about to see when a mortal transcend to the zone where angels and demons reside. This magical man with literary sorcery is the king of his art and firmly takes custody of his kingdom of literary identity.
Yahaya S. Dangana resides in Minna. His life is in it and it appears it will remain till the kingdom come. His two novels are about the most interesting pieces around. He is a playwright of many titles that have taken him to places. He is the inaugurator of ANA Niger in 1988 and he pioneered its chairmanship. The poetry of Dangana is in his ability to craft memorable titles for his plays. He’s a highly resourceful and versatile individual. He headed the LOC for 1st Northern Nigeria Writers’ Summit, which Niger State initiated along with others and hosted. Dangana has almost seen it all as one who has written commissioned works and as event manager. He recently organised the Opening Ceremony of the 2009 National Sports Festival, KADA 2009 in Kaduna State. He has also been contracted to do the same for the FIFA Under-17 Tournament – 2009. Remember, he had his hands in the COJA 2005 games in Abuja.
Khalil Ayuba’s books were released in quick succession in 1996 and 1998 respectively. Darkness of Doom and Bubble Dream, both novels. He has the wit and the suspense loaded with intellect. Khalil has the insatiable quest for knowledge which has led him to forfeit some of his social requirements. Writers do come in oddities. Odia Ofeimun is over fifty without a bird on his nest. Is Khalil planning to break that record? The story of Minna being the valley of writers and poets has a hole without the mention of this brilliant geographer with expertise in remote sensing. As a worker with NEMA, Dr. Khalil as an administrator has refused to throw away his lecturing job and writing for they serve as natural calling for him. A pleasant discussant and a dogged researcher, the literary box of this descriptive writer keeps piling up with new scripts that are largely unpublished.
Jerry Galadima is a novelist, broadcaster and a news commentary expert on National Radio. He started out early as a writer with a published novel and many other unpublished works. He is a meticulous essayist and a writer with the eye for minute details which he believes leads to excellence. Jerry is an articulate individual in physical and literary sense whose carriage the teen authors should emulate to keep the flame alive.
Sadisu Mohammed (Teacher Eyekondunu) writes short stories with ease and has published a collection in 2004 with Kraftbooks Ibadan. This pioneer of Modern Nupe films in Nigeria is the leading Nupe Film Maker, actor, singer, producer and director in Nupe land. He is a song composer and poetry performer par excellence. Sadisu is multi-talented, unnecessarily restless and sleek; a default associated with gifted persons. The house becomes wet with his emergence just as it runs dry with his disappearance. Sadisu is like a bird; let him sing for you when you see him lest he flies away immediately. He is the most popular modern artiste and actor in Nupe land; a dramatist of quality. Sadisu holds a traditional title as the Sarkin Wasan Nupe, honourably granted by the Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar. Sadisu is a humorist whose transition into comedy, song, short story, poetry performance and drama is as easy as eating the dish you did not cook.
Hasiya Mohammed is one of the leading female writers in Niger State who was once the runner up in 2000 ANA Annual Prize for Fiction with her debut book “A Price to Pay”. She is the Chairperson of WRITA in the State. She loves humour and satire that could be creatively comical with pleasant literary spices. She’s a lecturer with the College of Education, Minna who also appear to be restless. It is argued that all writers have one type of restlessness or another whether loud or silent, Hasiya does not sleep once prickled by inspiration.
Usman Idris Gwarjiko is an educationist and one of the third generation entrants to ANA Niger. His passion is for the novel and researched works. Gwarjiko has published two novels, two researched works largely bearing on his experiences at various points of his career. As a former principal, legislator and an administrator, Gwarjiko is a brilliant educationist who has successfully combined his variety of interest with politics and publishing. He was once a member of the Niger State House of Assembly whose frankness and art threw him out upon seeking a second chance. In Nigeria politics you must dance to the tune or be thrown out. Gwarjiko who once served as the caretaker chairman of Wushishi Local Government has been graciously asked to head the LOC of this year’s Annual Convention of the Association of Nigerian Authors come October, 2009 in Minna. He loves detail (good for his art) and formality (not good for the art). Gwarjiko’s novel-writing has grown steadily from being unusually explicit and verbose to a more compelling art work.
Almamun Malam, the dramatist, crafty essayist, occasional poet, researcher and a meticulous critic is a Principal Education Officer who is the current Vice Chairman of ANA and the Secretary of the LOC charge with the organisation of 2009 Convention of the Association of Nigerian Authors in Minna come October. Almamun has more essays than his passionate area – playwriting. His essays are masculine, cunningly laced with wit and sarcasm. He is a fearless and ruthless craftsman and a pen-soldier who loves adventure and will not settle with holders of power whose tenure scuttled the path to growth and development of the society. He is evidently harmless but literarily inciting and dramatically forceful; Almamun appears to be caught between playwriting and the essay mode. Muteness is his answer for provocation and soon will you get his lethal reply through the art or the act. His penchant for grammatical appropriateness could be frustrating for those who do not know him and shocking to those who know him to be a holder of a Masters degree in Agricultural Economics.
Almamun is thorough, straight and out-rightly down to earth. His presence in the valley adds not only to the greenness of its colour but the freshness of its quality – Almamun!
Jimin Kwasende is another playwright whose literary fountain is ever wet. The Pensioner is his first play but not his first book. His concern for the retirees is not a misplaced inspiration being a civil servant with National Examinations Council who facilitated the council’s approval of a National Teen Authors Short Story Prize if ANA prefers to churn out a title each year. Kwasende is a motivational writer with an insatiable appetite for the regularity of the society. You do not expect less from a functional catholic and a father of many children.
In the trail of Imam and Gimba are some products of our Teen Authorship Programme, they run into hundreds doing their thing whether as ANA members or private individuals. Halima Aliyu, Zainab Manko, Maryam Bobi craft stories. Bobi with her first novel, bongel has the greater task of challenging Abubakar Imam who was married to a lady from Bobi Town; her own, near Kagara. But as winners of short stories in ASCAFS, theirs could only be a matter of time. Halima and Manko though in the early twenties like Bobi are published authors from their secondary school days. Bold and independent-minded characters, they are the heirs to the thrones occupied by the head-boys, headmen and the grand papas springing fresh waters and growing the lush literary vegetation of the valley called Minna. Halima is prolific, Manko is profusely prolific and the valley’s expectations are high for the continuous fertility of the land by their prodigious tendencies. Currently, as undergraduate in ABU, for Halima and FUT for Manko and Bobi they also have a duty to be peer models for other students. However, they have a new ‘threat’ in the house; Abosede Agbejule is a restless producer of fiction. This latest entrant arrived with three titles of novels in the works: “Passion and Scruple”, “Sinister Intimacy” and “Relics”. Within a short distance of her arrival, she has proved to be a versatile and pleasant discussant with knowledge of what she says. Aisha Kolo is another prodigious kid – Twen Author. She was first published in JSS, and in her twenties boasts of three published titles. Aisha’s fertility must have been influenced by her home of academic activities as a daughter of Prof. Ibrahim Kolo, the Provost of the College of Education, Minna. However, her literary outpouring may be drowned by the distance she keeps from her peers in the association as the group challenges you to do more.
Bilkisu AbdulAzeez Abarah is undeniably the Head Girl of the Twen Authors (female), she is now a mother by the way; a dogged broadcaster from her secondary school age where she head the girls that broadcast kiddies programme on CRYSTAL RADIO 9.2FM, MINNA. She was later employed in the station shortly after graduating from secondary school. Bilkisu is a contemporary of Alkasim; in fact they were in the same class with the pair becoming the leaders of the school literary society. They became published authors (Teen) while in SS 2, in their school anthology – ECHOES OF YOUNG MINDS. Bilkisu is probably one writer in ANA Niger that is trying her hands on translation, and her natural port of call is her teacher’s book, Sex is Beautiful. She writes poetry, short story and essays apart from public speaking. In this gem, the valley of poet has caught up with her clear voice on Radio. You need to listen to her do her thing in a master of the microphone oozing with poetic deliveries expected of a graduate of English from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
The man popularly called Usana in Minna is the elder brother of the current governor of Niger State who has largely remained unsung; he does not care a hoot about lack of acknowledgement of his literary prowess by a community inundated with writers. Usana is not his real name and if you ask me what the names are, I can hardly tell you without requesting others to remind me. With four old titles of novels he had to rework to make them fit for general reading. It is not easy to understand Usana let alone his works, so it was a relief that he too realised that and made a u-turn. This old man is an activist of the highest order. His appearance reminds you instantly of Mahatma Gandhi, pitiable and harmless but capable of folding up the earth beneath your feet. He is perpetually less materialistic, and permanently carrying the traits of Malam Aminu Kano and Pa Awolowo. His actions and public speaking are heavy doses of metaphysics, philosophy, mysticism, psychology, and sociology; he is a master of meditations. I heard our old teacher at the College of Education, Minna, Dr Fabunmi call Dr Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu a Philosopher-King. With respect to our teacher, the philosopher is Usana in the stream of their family blood for he is an embodiment of wisdom and wit; a master of internal meanings and a pragmatic soul of immeasurable escalation. The man is an intellectual, unassuming but promptly adequate. This is Usman Balarabe Aliyu popularly called Usana in Minna.
Farida Mohammed resides in Minna as a teacher, writer and mother. She is a story writer with a real sense of dedication. After decades of writing, she finally released her first on the 13th of June 2009. A Dance with the Ocean which is the title of the novella is an interesting piece. She is one of those nurturing teen authors in her school thereby fulfilling her natural role as a mother of writers for which her Aisha’s (daughter) prolificacy a teen to marvel. Fati Ndako is practically a teen author who must learn the art of creative writing in the house. Her consistency in literary programmes will greatly influence her maturation in story writing which she prefers to do. Her first work is a novella LADIDI, which is a handy book of catechism for teenage girls in today’s society of limitless degeneration. Her early outing is characteristic of Minna writers whose literary incursions start early in life as natural craftsmen and women.
Godwin Bawa is one of the early starters of ANA in Niger State; a passionate art lover and teacher of English language. As an academic, Godwin loves to research into his cultural root and he has produced two volumes on Gbagyi (Gwari) the traditional inhabitants of Minna, the valley of poets and writers. He is a novelist who has the competence to produce poetry and he has done lots of them. He has this popular poem called Again and Again, which is my favourite. Godwin and Dangana where responsible for the emergence of our executive council in 1994, he, it was he that visited us one after the other inviting us to restart the association after three year of lull and slumber. Goddy is currently working with a member of the House of Representatives at the National Assembly; he is with my teacher of old in Sarkin Zango Primary School, Minna. However, politicians like A. A. Ibrahim; the current Speaker of Agaie Local Government Council has proved that politicians could actually get things done with his brilliant outing as one who combines politics and writing. The beautiful aspect of his, is that he has not left scribbling of stories since he got elected as a Councillor and Speaker. He is a focused young fellow whose Constituency Projects are bound to be succour to youths in his area. He has a published novel to his credit and other unpublished ones. Currently, his book, The Chief Servant is in the press.
All of the above are writers! The patches of poetry from their stables, is hereby acknowledged for the diversification of their creative worth and literary agility. However, writers often creep into poetry to add colour and credibility to their vocation which is not necessary. Agreed that some possess the special literary fitness to effectively navigate through the genres without stumbling, the ones above have the identifiable knack for fiction and essay and that’s where they belong in the valley called Minna. Here are the poets!
Now the Poets! Permit me to say that Mamman Jiya Vatsa is the father of poets here. He indulged in verses for children and was thoroughly obsessed by it. The titles are over twenty. A poet – soldier as he was fondly referred to was one of the few military indigenes that gave credibility to soldiering before being killed. Killing a poet is a sheer waste of time. Kill his verses and let us see. This thorough-bred and professional soldier for that matter has contributed immeasurably to the growth of Nigerian literature. He worked on the psyche of the Nigerian children on the need to be good citizens. It was from Vatsa that the idea of Teen Authorship sprouts when he published children of soldiers (Soldiers’ Children as Poets). Today, Niger State is not only the evangelists of Teen Authorship Scheme in Nigeria but the consistency of the production and nurturing of young creative minds in the literary arts has made Minna an unequalled hub of holders of tomorrow’s torch of literary light for the country.
Baba Akote is the current Chairman of the Association of the Nigerian Authors, Niger State and a direct literary descendant of Vatsa. To say, he is a poet might be too heavy a burden for him to carry; nevertheless, he is one of us. His verses are for children and nothing more except that he is the only one known to us who occasionally wanders and does his thing in Nupe language. His Nupe poetic offerings are highly fascinating to those of us who will love to do some scribbling in our mother tongue. This singular feat stands him out among poets of the valley. Akote is the one who asked me to embark on a poetic journey about twenty years ago. As a versifier like Vatsa he shares the same chamber with poets like Kamar and Sheikh in the name of children and therefore becomes one of the eyes from which the spring in the valley draws its content. Many writers would want to say that this children’s genre is not poetry just like some cynics said of Vatsa but the question is, what else do you want to call it? Akote combines literary art with journalism and has written extensively on Nupe culture though unpublished. He is one of the fathers or headmen of the Minna literary coterie having being a long time mentor of many young ones through ASCAFS introduced fifteen years ago, thus making him a pillar or one of the tall trees in the valley that gives confort to its dwellers. In his stead is another writer who likes to write in Nupe too; Isyaku Bala Ibrahim a cultural enthusiast that has collected more than one thousand proverbs in Nupe. His greatest ambition is to produce as many titles as possible in Nupe and Nupe language to generate enough materials for his next crusade on advocacy to introduce Nupe language in our primary schools. His next title on Nupe Grammar is in the works. Also, he has another title that is at completion stage, 101 Nupe Patriots (1530 – 2010). He has written a book entitled “The Rice of Servant Leadership”. For the fact that more than 90% of Nigerlites who are writers are Nupes these twosome bards (Akote and Bala) are capable of reawakening the Nupe literacy in an era that many Nigerian Languages are under, the threat of extinction through the massive encroachment of modernity and the powerful influences of Hausa and English languages that have engulfed the environment.
Olu Jacob, is one of the early starters in the Minna literary coterie. He is a critic and a poet with an eye for editing and poetic perfection, highly dramatic in his discourse and satiric in his mien; an articulate journalist who at various times served as the Chairman Editorial Board of the state newspaper and other journals. As a graduate of literature from the University of Jos, his quality is as matchable to his contemporaries as in Toni Kan and the younger one like Helon Habila. Jacob was a flirt at the National Assembly as an aid to another of his friend who was a Representative from Niger. Now, he is back to his constituency; writing and journalism. In other not to rust completely he has taken his capability as a wordsmith to a higher level, he now writes for NEXT Newspaper in Lagos. NEXT, in its few months of existence appears to be the paper to beat in Nigeria.
It is proliferated by writers and thus proliferated by creativity. Olu’s presence there, coming off from Minna, the valley of poets will only add colour to its brilliance. We are proud of him. Olu’s editorial sagacity and bluntness in poetry does not put you off, it lifts the soul to greater creation. It happened to Othman Akanbi at the UK Bello Arts Theatre during one of our weekly meetings. Akanbi, the son of the retired judge from Ilorin was joining us for the first time and was also trying his hands on poetry for the first time. As soon as Akanbi finished reading what he brought, Olu Jacob who was the first to comment simply said “Has anybody got a poem to read?” when asked what Akanbi read, he simply waved the issue aside “I need poetry”. And there was laughter and Akanbi was angry, threatening not to read or write poems again. Today Malam, Mr Othman Akanbi has more than four poetry collections and he is one of the 2009 shortlists for ANA/Cadbury Poetry Prize.
A week later, Akanbi visited Olu in his house asking him to tell him what was wrong with his poem; Olu did and Akanbi promised to make the critic eats his words. It only takes poets like Akanbi to shut a critic down with a shortlist? ANA Kwara may claim him but this poet belong to the valley. A former union leader and graduate of Agriculture who abandoned banking for FADAMA Projects is not a boring discussant. Akanbi can engage you in crafty talk for hours without repeating himself. A friendly creature often patient with restless people he encountered. Each night, his wife, Hajiya Lhadija Akanbi, a reporter with NTA Network reminds me this dexterous poet anytime she comes on the tube.
Jibrin Bala Jibrin is as restless as Sadisu Mohammed, as dramatic as Dangana and as poetic as all us. Within ten years, this bard has poured out a massive collection of conk poetry after his first outing. If E. E. Sule comes in the form of Usain Bolt in a race for poetry production in Nigeria by littering the literary land space and harassing us with quarterly publications of poetic delicacies, Jibrin is his challenger. The only difference is that Sule has the capacity to publish his works while Jibrin does not. Jibrin’s poetry is shrouded by masculinity of no small measure which requires a concrete nail of intelligence to penetrate them. He loves Soyinka’s works like madness and appears to be possessed by Okigbo’s spirit.
Truly, Jibrin is a passionate ejaculator of poetry; so enamoured about their beauty, naughty in defence of their standing. He is loud in his disdain for shrubs of their standing. He is loud in his disdain for shrubs often referred to as poetry but gleeful at marvellous verses. He does not apologise for his critical eye. In drama production, Jirbin is on top of the art in terms of prolificity, which he must sharpen to get to the zenith. He has collected all of Ahmed Yerima’s plays and has read them with commitment and duty. However, he lacks the patience to grant himself the time for maturation. Since a large number of his works are unpublished, he stands the chance to take over from Dangana in playwriting with greater dedication to refinement. I wish he had the articulate mien of Almamun. But his place in poetic proliferation in the valley cannot be denied. He is one of the film makers and actors of Nupeland. Nupe films appear to rank fifth in production in Nigeria today and Jibrin is one of the anchormen.
The poetry of B. M. Nagidi comes forth like a laceration on the earth’s body whence cold water oozes with ease to pool in poetic stanzas well laid in a collection that strolls away into the dryness of the earth in lonely woodland. They are fringed with beautiful, cool, calm invocation of high literary attendance. In his rendition you could feel and see a feminine figure between two fully grown lawns of flowers; top, is a well shaven hair in aesthetic flow; below is where cosiness pervades the internal aura of both the listener and the performer. Nagidi is a master of rendition of his poems. There is little difference between his character and what his poems are; ever articulate and listening writer. His kind of poems I will like to live, to read and love. He is unpublished but shares the same platform with poets like Abba AbdulKareem. I wonder why Nagidi decides to abbreviates his first two names into (B.M).
Abba has short and punchy style of deliveries; short cakes of delicacies that do not need acceleration in biting the edges into the nucleus of their taste. In his homestead are his poems too; a man of gentle humour, polite sarcasm where the last streak of adolescence is beginning to withdraw for the serious business of writing. His offerings are cut between masculinity profile and feminine outlook. Popularly known as kid-elite, his artistic preoccupation is what will make him an asset to the valley and to the world for the glitters around him could glide him away from the noble task of enriching the earth. He is in the arts of art is in him, thus, saving the world of lack of poetic delicacies that are lyrical and musical. His first collection is entitled A Bard’s Balderdash published by Kraftbooks Ibadan from where the Honourable Minister of Information and Communication, Prof. Dora Akunyili read a piece during her parley with members of the ANA at the Sheraton Hotels, Abuja, recently. If anything, it was the beginning of the honours and awards that will come into the valley through Abba. As a graduate of Agricultural Engineering and Water Resources, this energetic poet becomes a life for the valley as one of the tenders and managers.
Gimba Kakanda Aliyu is one of the Twen authors with heavy doses of poetry production that some established authors like Maiwada and E.E. Sule have commended. With good diction and poetic obsession, Gimba Kakanda’s affinity with these reputable poets has burnt his art to the strength earthenware requires to hold water for irrigating the valley for vegetative abundance. Kakanda is fanatical with the poetic style of Maik Nwosu thus it is easy to locate the complex constructions of the magical realist and an unrepentant desire to show class. At a tender age Kakanda’s poetry is masculine and he could pass for the child of poets like Abdullahi Ismaila Ahmed. This Twen poet is strangely critical of the offering by his peers whose poems hardly come like his.
Quiet and withdrawn, his tentacle among Nigerian poets has spread as far as Uche Umeze’s colony. What the boy wants to do in India kept baffling me but this may not be unconnected with the adventures of poets around the world. In times ahead, anyone who ignores the young man’s poetry, a geologist in training at the University of Jos may have missed daring poetic offerings. He has a friend by name Abubakar Gata who readily comes in his stead. He carries what Kakanda carries in every sense of what I have said above. He too is a transit poet that dashes from one poetry circle to another; Diego Okenyodo now Maiwada, later and BenUbiri tomorrow, they are with them taking poetry lessons, tossing their works to the masters in a bid to learn and write.
I make bold to say Minna poetry kids are the most exposed young or Twen writers in Nigeria. Imagine Saddiq Dzukogi and Halima Aliyu taking pictures with Charles Nnolim and Emenyonu, Olu Obafemi and many great writers and critics. They did! We didn’t have this luxury when we were young. These kids have touched Soyinka live. They touched Achebe’s first edition of Things Fall Apart, they did! Gata, Kakanda and Saddiq are philosophical essayists. They don’t write stories, only poems. Kakanda who appears to have a better mastery of poetry than Gata and Saddiq does not recite them well but Saddiq does, quite well like Hamza Yunusa who is a beautiful performer.
Listening to Hamza Yunusa with his baritone voice that is arresting and capable of being a subject of envy for any broadcaster, the unpublished Twen poet always had his lines coming from inside him; lovely, romantic pieces that does not betray the preoccupation of his age. He dwells on narrative poems; telling stories like the tales of Arabia. By ranking he is behind the trio discussed above not by incompetence though but that they seem to be early starters before him. Hamza is a performer. Once he recites, you must listen. While Kakanda and Gata’s poetry stand masculine, Hamza and Saddiq’s poems stand in feminine poise. Saddiq M. Dzukogi has learnt the poetic philosophies and spiritualism of the home and of the valley. All he writes are poems, poems and poems; a soft spoken character that enjoys performing his poems. The philosophy that laced his poems is surprising just as his penchant to muse about death is shocking. Endowed with poetic competence, Saddiq is in tune with the valley and has thrown up a contest to his peers for a decent space by his first published title “Images of Life” in 2004. His second title is “A Flight of the Pen”, while the third is in the works. As the maiden winner of Mazariyya/ANA National Poetry Prize, a burden has been placed on him to prove his poetic authority among his peers. Currently, a 200 level student at the IBB University, Lapai, Physics, which he studies should greatly enhance his critical eye on the environment for poetry production. He too has been touched by the hands of Sheikh, Alkasim, Diego, Maiwada and other masters.
Paul Liam is perhaps the most prolific of all the Twen poets whose poetry need to develop fast to catch up with those of his peers. Education and personal study is the key to the realisation of this. Paul who has hundred of poems is in good stead to sharpen his literary skill being a regular and good contributor to the Saturday discourse in the house. Poetry is about beauty of verse construction moulded into nice stanzas with sequential arrangement of thoughts and leaving out what is not necessary to say that one’s product become compact, crafty and flowery.
Badu Joseph Jnr – Twen author had the special privilege of being published during his secondary school days through the Mazariyya Teen Authorship Scheme that published seven secondary schools in Minna, the Niger State capital. As a son of our teacher, Professor Badu, a psychologist; this articulate kid has great challenges to prove to be more articulate than his Papa and his Papa’s students. He has one asset of great people; brilliant listeners, articulate speaker and thoughtful character. This is the hallmark of thinkers. Badu is a poet in the making with many pieces in his school anthology I edited in 2007. The Gentle Emerald. But Suleiman Yusuf – teen author, has great work ahead of him to become a poet in the mould of Ismaila Garba, Alkasim or Seyi Adigun. Age is on his side as a young chap who has elected to indulge in the pains and beauty of refashioning human thought and behaviour. To be a conqueror in the ever busy world of poetry in Nigeria and beyond, practice is the watch word. Reconstruction is another. In Physical Education, practice or repetition leads to accuracy. Do you hear people often say “Practice makes perfect?” Yes you do. There is nothing extraordinary when you practice, for you soon shall master the act than you indulge in.
Shagabo B. Daniel is a premier winner of ASCAFS fifteen years ago. He was the most valuable contestant in the short story category but he is more identified with poetry today. He is a master cynic in craft and in discourse of literary offerings. This is what this country turns you into having encountered its mutilations and tribulations. Writers in the valley have responded adequately to the powerful influences of their environment. Shagabo Daniel is deft in poetic replication of his society. He traversed the length and breath of the land seeking poetics of the art which quest led him to days of literary copulations which established ones like Soyinka and Helon Habila in a British council mentoring programme that has sharpen his skills.
Pmabi Ayuba Sunday is a philosopher in the making when it comes to essays and short stories. His stories are highly technical and heavily laced with poetry and metaphysics. He is the Most Valuable Contestant (MVC) in ASCAFS and a winner in different categories, including songs over ten years ago. Ayuba has a magical finger that is smooth in poetry scribbles, delicate in short story and essays. He is quiet, reserved but critical, with an aura of certainty in his discussion and postulations. Ayuba’s essays are full of poetry, metaphysics and unlimited philosophy. In him is a re-enactment of Usana and a few other philosopher-poets or poet-philosophers in the valley. If Ayuba will give it the third and the fourth eye, he would be a Maik Nwosu type of fiction writer.
Alkasim Abdulkadir has found himself at the head of his group who has effectively fused into the higher level of written text production and administration; rising through the ranks from the state officer of the largest body of writers who combines creative writing with photography and broadcasting. He started appearing on television as a cast of a drama piece from primary five; a great poetry performer and compeer. He is a man of vast literary knowledge through ferocious readings and an efficient computer handler. Alkasim represent what ASCAFS stands for -generation; a humorist and satirist whose offerings are about the most widely spread in anthologies in Nigeria today. He and Ismaila B. Garba have refused to be ‘published’ for despite their enormous presence in the Nigerian literary scene you hardly can lay your hand on any book of theirs yet it is public knowledge that they have large reservoir of poetry and short stories. Call Alkasim a literary journalist and you will be right for he runs a column in the Weekly Trust Newspaper apart from being the Programmes Director with the Zuma FM, Suleja. Highly disciplined and hardworking whose reserved nature suddenly gives way to his lively discourse on matters of common interest. As a graduate of Estate Management from FUT, Minna which he does not practice, rather, he opted for creative writing and a brokecaster (broadcaster). ‘You know these things don’t pay in Nigeria, so you remain poor’, he once said.
Hussaini Yusuf Kodo used to be as restless as Sadisu and as hasty as Jibrin, but today he has come home to roost in the stead of the serious souls taking on the responsibility of keeping a home. You can call him a Vatsa kid whose poetry is all about children’s verses. And his comes with renditions both on stage and tapes; a beautiful innovation that caught the valley with ovation and glee. When he arrived and presented a poem largely constructed from a dictionary, he was outrightly told the futility of poetry writing with a dictionary by your side. But as a valuable asset to the valley, he quickly rediscovered himself in the nest of Vatsa and began large scale versification for children.
Fatima Takuma is a graduate teen author whose poetic offerings stated early in life. Her writings are laced with innocence and passion of a matriarch that watches her children grow like a tree in the grove. As a graduate of Himma International College where literary culture has been firmly established, she most in the end receive the torch of glow from her most senior colleague of Himma College, Khalil, the vibrant debater from Ahmadu Bahago Senior Secondary School, a veteran of ASCAFS and ABU Creative Writers Club who is now a Medical Doctor. Fati Takuma is one of the contestants for this year’s ANA/Mazariyya Teen Authors Prize for Poetry 2009. We shall see if she wins it.
Khadija Abdullahi finished from Government Girls Secondary School, Old Airport, Minna. She looks like a Fulani girl, I think she is. Poetry seems to have make this sensitive creature-teen author grow into a developing critical girl with an eye for accuracy, dexterity and logic. She is also a veteran of ASCAFS from JSS 2, always writing poetry for old airport.
“Have you observed that girl’s articulation and confidence?” Abdullahi Ismaila once noted.
“She doesn’t talk before ooo” I replied.
Khadija’s superiority of poetry was noted by Kamar during the Mazariyya Poetry Workshops for teen authors in 2007. And thereafter, we don’t let them go away. This little bard is one of the precious jewels of the valley. She has grown steadily from writing incoherent poetry into philosophical offering: so much quiet those days and so much criticism these days. This is what a group does to souls-behaviour modifications.
In the case of Khadija is Amina Jirbin the poetess from Kpakungu, the abode of Jibrin. You also have Elizabeth Dairo, Mohammed Awwal Abdullahi and Ummi Kaltume Abdullahi, the teen author from Himma International College and an asset to the year’s ANA/Mazariyya National Teen Authors Prize. This little girl’s poetic commitment is an asset to the valley. If she wins the national prize then Himma will be engulfed with poetic offering that is likely to change the thoughts of the students there. Ummi has a peer in the College. The boy fondly referred to as M.C. is another brightness of the sun in Himma College. However, he must be original for him to carry his own voice. M.C. is also a contestant in the 2009 ANA/Mazariya Poetry Prize. That this year’s convention is holding in Minna, these kid-poets can only be a source of pride to their teachers, parents, peers ad to the resident poets of the valley called Minna.
Mohammed Awwal Abdullahi is now in ABU. I was forcing him to be committed to poetry, the talent in him. I had to whip him one day for refusing to write what I asked him to write in secondary school. He ran away from school that day but his mother brought him back. “I am sorry sir” he said with his eyes down.
“I am not your sir! I am your father, boy!” I thundered.
Now, he does not only write poetry, he writes stories. I knew Awwal will write stories. He is a massive reader of novels. In their college days, I wished Saddiq was reading like him. Halima and Awwal were the greatest readers of that era.
Suraj King had poems I didn’t believe were his. They kept saying they were his and refused to be discouraged by my refusal to pay much attention to him. He said they were his. Well, I am waiting for time to clear my suspicion. The fact that he is still doing it means he would be the man to beat tomorrow. Go on boy.
Kamar Hamza, one of the critics in northern Nigeria is not only a member of the valley but one born in it and has been part of the making of the Minna literary coterie. A political scientist, an unrepentant poetry merchant, an effervescent writer of children’s writings, a Malam or an Alfa whose quest for societal reordering is unapologetic and whose goal of creating a large multitude of young writers is ever buoyant. I don’t know what Kamar, Alkasim and Ismaila Garba are waiting for without publishing their poetry collections even as they are widely known in Nigeria as men of the high stakes of our literary space. Kamar is a master of abstract thinking, philosophy, poetic precision, social relevance and a passion for extra-contemplation – Malam! He is an inspiration to me for years and our ongoing discussions will soon lead to a new light and subsequently another literary offering; this is the circle of occurrences among us all. Each of my encounters with him provokes a new thinking and experiment, always the first seer of my pieces. I wonder what would have happened without him. Kamar was the former chairman of the Association of Nigerian Authors, Niger State. He is a group worker. I think we function more with the group. This is so for 90% members of ANA Niger. So Kamar is one of the pillars that hold the house and a roof to many Teen and Twen Authors.
Abdullahi Ismaila is one of the oldest members of the Association along with Akote. They are older than me in ANA. You know, Abubakar Imam is alone and Vatsa is alone too. Then you have Gimba and Dangana then Dangana and others in another group. Abdullahi and Akote came off from this group until I joined. This poet is a perfectionist to the limit when it comes to poetry. He studied it to a Master’s level having picked Masters degree in International Diplomacy. Abdullahi is a staunch critic, editor, poet, story writer, essayist and lately a teacher.
In the early days of our convergence, Abdullahi’s poetic anxiety had reached fever pitch. And he wrote it as if his life leaned on it such that when touched, it would fall off the mark. He was unrepentantly masculine in his offerings and appeared to be enamoured by stern faces, you will think he is another Okigbo. If Okigbo were alive, he would probably have surrendered to the poetic power of the new Nigerian writers seeing the conditions they laboured to operate in and the abandonment that the older writers have subjected the new ones to while they enjoyed good mentoring those days.
Together, with other group members, Abdullahi was convinced that Minna would be a point to reckon with in new Nigerian writings. Believe it or not, it is today. With three poetry collections, a short story book, two critical works, a textbook on Social Studies, reviews and essays, Abdullahi has firmly established himself as one of the new hot entities of creative writing in Nigeria. His edited works are in numbers.
As a former Chairman of ANA Niger and former Assistant National Secretary, one of the architects of the Northern Nigerian Writers Summit, ASCAFS and other literary activities in Niger, he comes readily as one of the Kings of the valley, of poetry and of writers in Minna.
Ezekiel Fajenyo is the first Secretary of ANA Niger, who served in Dangana’s administration, a position I inherited from him and ran for six years. Fajenyo is a multi-talented being who is extremely prolific and restlessly unstable. He is a poet, novelist, playwright, essayist of alarming propensity. He has often been described as a man with the penchant for artistic experimentations. He is voluminous with his written criticism; an editor with great eye for accuracy.
Fajenyo effectively combines creative writing with journalism and has edited several newspapers, newsletters, magazines in Niger State and beyond. He loves to work on great literary icons in Nigeria, and you could count up to six of them that he is working on, right now. Ezekiel is a first generation critic of Minna, permanently committed to arts. He is always on the run in pursuit of art and journalism. He has detail about anything arts. This guy has the capacity to empty a pen all night with a bowel of kola-nuts.
Nma Hassan has spent about one and a half decade doing organised scribing in artistic preoccupation. He is versatile and dynamic in many artistic expressions ranging from poetry to lyricism, from fiction to children’s works, from playwright to song composition. He prefers to be called ‘Prolific Writer of Unpublished Works’, those days. Now, he says he is the “Imam Sheikhspear”; a restlessness that all writers must encounter on their way to maturation. Nma Hassan Muhammad has a cunning way of writing his name on his titles. He joins the first two names to become NMHASSAN as if it were one name. Chike Ofili had once told some writers who carry that emblem as fatherless writers; he was talking to the late Ebereonwu and Chinweizu. Nmahassan is the current Secretary of ANA Niger and is on the shortlist for 2009 ANA National Prizes. He is a good guide for the younger ones behind and one with an eye for grammatical appropriation; a good editor and a pleasant discussant who will seek articulation from his mates. As a lyricist he plans to put his poems on CD. Nmahassan studied Estate Management at the Federal University of Technology, Minna and now works with the Niger State Urban Development Board. He also deals in computer and computer accessories in a private capacity. He has a close pal Al’Ameen Sheikh, the former Chairman of ANA Niger whom he moves with regularly such that you would think they were twins. Indeed they were because ANA Niger guys call them “the Moon and the Star’ taken from the title of Sheikh’s first book, a collection of verses for children. One clear beauty about Nmahassan is his ability to read and performs his works in total clarity, evoking the mood presented in the poem in a precise manner. He holds a professional Diploma in Mass Communication. He sings, writes and smiles, just watch him for a minute. If smile is charity as Prophet Muhamad says, then Hassan is headed for Janna, paradise for all his stay with you is full of smiles.
Aminu S. Muhammad is also Al’Ameen Sheikh. A former chairman of ANA Niger and a member of ANA National Committee on Writers Village is an Estate Manager by profession from Federal University of Technology, Minna. He is a very good leader who is at every moment occupied with balancing his steps that all may not only feel belonged but satisfied. Highly independent minded and firm. He does not like shrewdness in his ways and always calculative and measured. Sheikh is harmless, truthful, prompt and honest even with his poetry and characters in his fiction. He is an advocate of social order and punctuality. At his age, selflessness has overwhelmed him and he commands the respect of his elders who are willing to entrust great responsibility to him. Sheikh is a master of his art. He prefers writing for children but he is versatile in all the genres and he does them well. Sheikh is a functional group member who believes that we could realise ourselves more collectively. He’s an old member whose presence in the association spans one and a half decade, a romantic poet whose works are laced with satire and humour. Sheikh is conscious of himself but would not push himself out, he allows time and his wit to prove his worth. He is a critic and an essayist of Abdullahi Ismaila’s order; heavy, masculine and rocky. Toning down their language sometimes becomes problematic for them. But Sheikh’s offerings are as clear as water. Truly, the man we call ‘Sheikh of Poetry’ in the valley is a role model for the Teen and Twen Authors in character appropriation and a symbol of responsibility to any group. I call him SHEIKHITO. He is predictable making him a nice character to work with. Sheikh is humane, humble and a gentleman. Kamar call him PAPA SHEIKH.
Danjuma Terfa has taken after Lucky Oghuvwu the Awe poet who popularised performance poetry in the valley. Lucky, Dzukogi, Kamar, Saidu and later Sadisu and Hussaini were the real poetry performers in Minna. Happily Terfa, a student of the Federal University of Technology and one of the bearers of the literary torch of Minna is the new custodian of the stage poetry. At ASCAFS he is the MC, an art I left for him to colonise. He is a spectacle on stage; a compelling deliverer and a master of his verses, cool, clam, articulate and sonorous. This Twen hard holds the height that future performers wish to arrive at. It was at such occasion that the Ministry of Arts and Culture caught him to present at the National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFEST), Minna 2009. With him, the valley’s voice and echoes will meteorise across the earth in a ricocheting gait of beauty and solemnity.
Daniel Joseph is one of our promising Twen Authors from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria studying Microbiology. One noticeable trend with the Teen and Twen Authors is that 80% of them are science students. This unusual dimension I am sure will give researcher a junction to ponder in future. As for me, I am already concluding that, scientists being highly observant for scientific imagination may actually not possess the dominant convergent traits mostly associated with them but could actually have the divergent traits in equal measure. Perhaps, the effect of environment may have the deciding element of which direction they eventually tilt to in life. Alkasim, Bilkisu, Pmabi and company were science students. Saddiq, Kakanda, Bobi and company are science students. This is what I mean, and then you find out that they are more poets than fiction writers. Daniel is one.
Lucky S. Oghuvwu is a poetry merchant both as a writer and as a performer. He is one writer that popularised poetry performance in Minna. He is natural in poetic agigation; always wanting to perfect the essence of poetry. Lucky studied French and has translated his play ‘Mr Culture’ into French. Minna is home to this Niger Deltan and one of his literary revivalists after the 1991 convention. He was my Assistant as the Secretary from 1994 to 2000.
Bamma Baba Suleiman (BBS) was former Vice Chairman of ANA Niger and a writer of poetry, plays and fiction. He is resourceful and a mentor to the many students he taught in secondary school. He loves to chant his poems and does it beautifully. As a broadcaster with the voice, he comes in delightful oozing of sound.
Evuti Idris Awwal is a young man and doesn’t look it. He is a developing poet like most young ones in the valley. A very hardworking character who at his prime is doing what I admire most in life; marry at young age, have a functional job that will condition you to sanity, he is a lecturer at the Federal Polytechnic, Bida. Evuti is a general volunteer that is untiring. He is ever there to do all the works, and without complaints. He is a published poet whose poems tell a lot about the writer; mild, cautious, innocent, and sarcastic and unglamorous. Evuti’s poems evoke the genuineness of life, purity of living and the loveliness that souls should traverse its plains for their wellbeing. He is the current Assistant Secretary of ANA Niger and a great son of the house upon whose shoulders it will flourish to heights.
Opeyemi Adedayo is well read in literature and has mastered the basic artistic ingredients for penning emotion. He is a man of many writing colours; poetry now and play later, then the next minute it is criticism, he is full of examples that buttress his points. As a student of the Federal University of Technology, Minna, he carries the torch of literary light that FUT, Minna has come to assume in Minna, the valley of poets, painters and writers. With numerous collections, he needs a publisher to set him forth to the market place of literary craftsmen. All these men of might live in Minna.
Minna is a natural formation tucked between rocks, hills and mountains. Nothing is artificial about it. The above elements are natural symbols for poets, artists and writers, living below these earthly phenomena. This kind of environment makes and remakes you into a cogent creative being of the above callings. This quiet city is simple and not running like Lagos and Kano. While others can lay claim to being cities of poets, Minna is their natural abode, for the bards found in her aren’t transit craftsmen or new settlers, they were made with the fresh hands of the creator in its bowel and billed to live in it time after time.
I live in Minna, the valley of natural poets. I know it, she knows me. We were those babies; products of her virginity until she was initiated and circumcised as a capital city. As an internal explorer of her youthfulness, like IBB, Abdulsalam, Talba and the likes, we tore through her virginity from Bosso and Niger Baptist College hills, I mean Ahmadu Bahago Teachers’ College to Paida and her hills to Kasuwan Dare and Fillin Sharo or rather Fillin Kaci Uwaka to Rafin Green running from Unguwar Kaje through to Sabon Gari and down there. We were regular visitors to Minna airstrip usually running from Sarkin Zango Primary School during tara, (breakfast) past Rev. Father O’Connel several times to watch those planes landing and taking-off so that at GTC Wushishi, it was easy to learn that the phased out Concorde Plane was faster than air. I had seen the speed of a plane on the Minna runway. I know Minna Central Market very well. I know the numerous corners of Minna while chasing monkeys, plucking mangoes, cashew, shea-nut, berries and all the likes and running away from Mai-gona. “Ga mai gona nan! Ge mai gona nan!!”, we would scare ourselves off. We were in there, in the bush chasing rats while making forewood on the hills. We sang for her; Minna in Primary School and at the College. We cried, I cried for departing her for Wushishi College each time the holiday was over and we would go to River Kaduna and the bushes of Wushishi to sing for our dear Minna, we sang this song:
Minna, Minna
Minna Dadi
Oh no Allah
Ibirilion Ibirilion
Minna, Minna, Minna Daadi!
Minna, I know you very well; your narrow road from up the Bosso-end leading away to Dungurun, (Zungeru) the birth place of the Great Zik and this way up, away to Abuja, I mean the natural Abuja, now Suleja. I know the trees that lined the roads, very tiny roads. I know the Parade ground, where we used to match past our heroes present. I saw Gowon those days while standing there with excitement in my tiny eyes to see the then Head of State. We had also chanting by the roadside in Hausa, thus:
Gowon na Victoria ya zo,
Muna maraba da mai girma
Gowon na Victoria ya zo.
The place is now called U.K. Bello Arts Theatre. It was our ground. Beside the ground was Bahoven, that Mr Bahoven with those big fat dogs that we go to watch and threw stones at. Climbing the Rest House from across the River Green up the artificial staircase to watch the Oyinbos and top civil servants was fun. On the same hill today are IBB and Abdulsalam with the rest of us surrounding them at the bottom. Alkasim Abdulkadir is also there now. He is now a dweller of that hill. I know Mami Market, 123 and all those points that define the frame of the valleys, hills, plateaus and plane lands called Minna. In Minna are Yorubas, Fulanis, Tivs, Nupes, Gwaris, Igbos andothers.
I have traversed her belly and membrane, I lived in Kuta Road and moved to the heart of Paida; we lived with harlots who brewed Burukutu. I didn’t know how vulnerable it was to be with local gin brewers and brothels listening to the Gbagi and Tiv guitarists and others, Walo Shatan Gwari with adults dancing to nudity. Akote didn’t know how dangerous it was to be a neighbour to another set of harlots also in their beer huts in Makera, very close to his house. I know these places; Kwangila, Limawa, places whose youths had established notoriety as growing urban kids. Minna city has all the emblem of poetics. We encountered them before she lost her virginity to modernity.
Paida sits directly behind the Emir’s Palace and we would walk behind the palace to Sarkin Zango with iron box of books on our heads. We would pass by the Central Primary School and watched Kid-Elites who were moved from Sokoto (North Western State) when Niger was created in 1976. Public schools were excellent like mine but these kids were looking nicer. We were to learn that it was a Capital School created for kids of senior civil servants moved from Sokoto. God! Among those kids, I might have been watching my wife at the time. Her father had moved too from Sokoto to now work in his state. He died in 1983. She was there. Her mother got married to my friend’s father in Bosso and suddenly we hooked in 1987 in a nocturnal journey. So, I was watching my wife those days. Between us are only 4 or 5 years. She would be 40 in three months time.
I know Minna. I know when Handball came to Minna and where it was first played in front of Sarkin Minna Palace. We played it too, and on bare ground until David Mark tarred the arena, and Lawan Gwadabe came to beautify it when the state hosted Commonwealth Handball Games in the late nineties. At Wushishi, I was caught between playing Football and Handball. I know Jan Gada in Minna, the bridge close to Jonapal Supermarket, where we watched boys swim and dive into the deep pool of muddy water. I might have done so too. Down it was the Mango groves of IET and the entire Airport Quarters built before our eyes. All these Minna roads were built before our eyes, when Dumez, Taylor Woodrow were breaking the rocks and pounding our homes with fright; roofs, doors and windows cracking and weakening. I know it all! See what I wrote on my Minna, over years ago…
Minna
I never knew
You are a golden glow
Until I saw the rusts
That made Ibadan, Ibadan.
I never knew
What a serene land you are
Until I was confronted
With the growl that
Made Lagos, Lagos.
I never knew
How homely you are
Until I saw the
Surface tombs
Made homes in Zaria
Now, I do know that
Your doleful face
Is not an expression
Of unchastity
For a doggie grows
To bear siblings
Adorning her loneliness
My little orchard
In you are now bare lands
With them whose hearts
Roll like a wheel;
My pals;
Those comical monkeys
I parley with
One tree-tops
Have been driven
To new lands
Time, a sundry parity
Has broken my friendship
With your breezy nights
Of moon glow
In a delightful scenery
Your chastised paths
To stream sides that
Refreshed our burnt bodies
Have grown haywire
With thorny grasses;
Painstakingly
Fruits in the orchard
Now form pores as juice
Pretty little orchard
Age now poses a threat
To your subtleness
The rusts in Kwangila
The encroaching Bosso and Paiko
The growl at ‘Mobil Roundabouts’
Now lay ambush
To your innocence
I may lose you
To the rape of time.