Artman In The House: At 77, I find fulfilment writing my own book ...

Artman In The House: At 77, I find fulfilment writing my own book finally ?Whiteman

Kaye Whiteman, veteran journalist and writer of the book: Lagos: A Cultural and Historical Companion, was the centre of a panel discussion consisting of the writers: Toni Kan, Tolu Ogunlesi and Femke van Zeiji, moderated by Deji Toye. The event was an Arthouse Forum organised by the Committee for Relevant Art, CORA in honour of Whiteman at 77 on March 7 at Freedom Park, Lagos. The event was as exciting as it was engaging with an after party at the park?s food court. Whiteman granted this interesting interview during the course of the event to Friday Flavour?s TERH AGBEDEH.

The first time you came to Nigeria was in 1964. How did you come and what was your impression of Lagos then?

In 1964, I flew in to Kano on a DC 10 of British Overseas Airways, as it was then called and they had to stop in Kano because they could not fly to Lagos. So, I went to Kano, Kaduna, before coming to Lagos.

So, I came in actually from Kaduna and my impression of Lagos was already pretty different, but I found that the lagoon stopped at the Marina and it was containable and manageable. There were a lot of people that were in the first flush of independence, people still felt that this was a country going places, even in spite of political crisis. It was not long before the election took place.

I believe I went to night clubs as I remember. I was at Daily Times, it was a big paper and they were the people who showed me around like the editor of Daily Times, Peter Enahoro. I had a guide called Kunle Animashaun, who also took me to Ibadan. I went to Ibadan and it was also a remarkable city. I enjoyed it.

When anybody sets out from the west to Nigeria these days, what comes to mind is the bad press that the country has abroad. What were the stories that were told about the country back then when you set out to come to Nigeria?

It was different. I think in those days, the Western press was particularly concerned to write about crisis and Nigeria. Athough Nigeria was having political problems but because it was considered to be pro-western, certainly, the British press wrote about it more favourably than Ghana, which was the great target of everybody?s opinion. (Kwameh) Nkrumah?s dictatorship, blah, blah, blah. But Nigeria, I don?t think got very much coverage, to say the truth. It was only during the civil war, where the country took on the foreign press.

There was tension and conflict about the reporting and it caused a lot of people in this country to grow up properly and to realise that the world was not an easy place to live.

Would you say it was your experience of Nigeria past and present that informed your writing the book, LAGOS: A Cultural and Historical Companion?

Not really, I wrote the book on Lagos first of all because I was asked to do it and I liked the idea. I wouldn?t have done it if I hadn?t lived here because you need to live in a city to understand and know it. I can?t say I understand Lagos, but at least to try to understand it.

The experience of living here made a difference for me to want to write the book. However, the difference between then and now is that there are several different aspects of West Africa as a region.

They call it a sub region, but the West African area which was a long time my stumping ground, was what I really got to know about in two different ways. The Frenchspeaking countries had a particular fascination for me for some reason, to go to Dakar or Abidjan.

These were very different. And, also, the whole question of observing history in the making, for instance, I covered the famous OAU (Organisation of African Unity) summit in Accra in October 1965, which was a remarkable decisive summit.

It was the last one before Nkrumah was overthrown. Nkrumah was there and at that stage, he was hoping to actually achieve his continental government and he was rudely awakened by his colleagues.

You could actually see people like Abdel Nasser and Haile Selassie counselling him, saying, ?no Kwameh, these things take time, it?s not possible?. It was a historic event which I was witnessing.

You were here when the euphoria of independence was still on and came back a couple of times perhaps even during the oil boom days, which had its own level of euphoria. What do you think went wrong with Nigeria?

It was a crisis of time, of growth and of managing a country so large and complex. There was the curse of oil, as they call it; the oil boom had a lot of side effects. But Nigeria has been through a lot of extremely trying times, through the whole experience of military rule and the crisis of independence that, in a way, could not have been avoided. But after 1999, I think Nigeria entered a new phase.

There are still some of the old symptoms as it were, but there are a lot of different possibilities now. I was always optimistic about Nigeria in spite of the crises I felt that it has the potential, the people and the talent that was going to make the country work. I see no reason why it shouldn?t get there.

You have just turned 77, how does it feel carrying the weight of those years?

The famous musician has a song titled, age is just a number and I often don?t feel more than 35. But I have had the sober reality of having been unwell, having to have surgery.

These are things that come when you are in old age. You get to be very philosophical in the whole perspective of life and death. You never know when you are going to go, so you have to carry on doing what you feel you are moved to do. I mean, having myself been a peddler of words all my life. I have concentrated especially in the last 10 years, only on writing and arranging words together in the way that I like.

One was always expected to do administration and management, management particularly is a word that sends chills through my bones. But I had to do it. Becoming a writer, remaining a writer and concentrating on it.

To some extent, in the last 10 years, I have found more fulfilment in being able to finally write a book of my own. But I have written so many articles all over different publications but now, haven done this book, I feel moved to be able to do more. There is no reason why I can?t do three or more books. I have my memoirs to do and I want to collect my writings in volumes.

Even the columns in BusinessDay, I see no reason why they should not make a small volume. Some of them may be wrong, some of them are up to date.

What did you do other than journalism?

I have always been a journalist from the time I finished at university in 1960. I come from a family of journalists and I thought of no reason why I should do something else.

I did have two interludes where I joined international bureaucracy, I went to work in Brussels at the EU. It was then a mystery to me, it still remains a mystery to me.

I did two very fine years at the Commonwealth secretariat with Emeka Anyaoku as secretary general. I was very happy that he was able to accommodate me for a time because that was a new dimension to my experience. But essentially, I am a writer and I know nothing else.

Have done poetry as well?

I did write a song when I was here and I haven?t really published my poetry, and I ought to. I have a few poems. The song is referred to in this book, it is not a long song. It needs to be performed and I used to perform it with Tunde Kuboye of Jazz 38 when he used to play a Nimbus. I don?t think anybody ever recorded it.

Is it a love song?

No, it has the title: Oyibo where you dey go? if you look in the book, I refer to it because it comes from Lagos. It is three times, Oyibo where you dey go? and then Na People?s Hotel Ajegunle. I need the right orchestra to have as background to sing it.

Because your song is in Pidgin English, do you speak any Nigerian language?

No, I should have learnt them, but I only have a smattering of words in the other languages and pidgin I picked up when I was living here. I ought to have done, but I didn?t.

There are some white people who come to a country and they learn the language completely. But for me, it was a question of, if you like. I have, maybe, several personalities existing in me at the same time.

And I had a personality. But I still know where I came from, know my identity and I just feel that my identity somehow, was transferable to this place.

READ FULL ARTICLE ON AUTHOR WEBSITE
Author: TERH AGBEDEH

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