TIL Magazine

TIL MAGAZINE ...everything literary

ISSUE 1

POETRY SHORT STORY STAGE CRAFT REVIEWS INTERVIEW

EDITION 004

and more

THE RISE OF QUEERNESS IN MODERN AFRICAN ARTS

www.theinspiredlitmag.com.ng T E M P L AT E B Y I S S U U

‘

Life is inherently risky.

There is only one big risk you should avoid at all costs, and that is the risk of doing nothing

’

Denis Waltley

Editalk set of people. So, it is with this consciousness that everything in this edition has been carefully packaged to dwell on what really is strange and what isn't; to what extent is strangeness allowed, in what direction is strangeness allowed, for what purpose it is allowed and what effects it has on the society.

As you read along, you'll also find that the invocation of the words in this edition can mean many things to many people. To some, the words could be the message of the redemption they never thought of. To some, they could be the message of the 'perceived' hope and spread they have always wanted. To some, they could be the revelation of the hidden truth around us. To many others, the words could be a reiteration of their fears and openness. Beginning with words that open the eyes of your mind to the beauty within, we take you further to savour our juicy interview with Marvelous Dominion, Nigeria's most controversial actor who broke all moral rules to act completely nude before a live audience. Did I hear you say strange? Well, it is her craft. It is performance. It is professionalism.

Our cover story is a cornucopia of objectivity. The type that first, lays the foundation for what was, The world of literature is the world of entirety. The world where there are no restrictions or limitations. The world where writers act as watchdogs; where they are allowed to use words the way they want to create something from nothing. The world where writers experiment as they wish; where vices are sometimes exalted high above morality. The world where reality mingles with wild imaginations; where lies or distortions are presented as reality. The world where history is documented or recreated for generations unborn.

what is and how each influences the creativity of African writers. Then, the new trend of homosexuality in African themes, the factors responsible for its continual rise and the future of its propaganda. Also in this edition is ‘The Myth of Size in Sexual Intercourse’, an article that xrays the causes and effects of such on the quality of sexual intimacy. Others are entertaining poems and stories on strangeness and the sampling of the opinions of a cross-section of young Nigerians on the subject-matter.

If you look around today, you'll agree that contemporary African literature, in recent times, seems to have become littered with queer themes. The word 'queer' succinctly captures the sexual orientation considered abnormal in a

Like Professor Niyi Osundare says in We implore you to sit tight, read his poem Invocation of the Word, through, enjoy everything word for word and pick what meaning ‘Unwind the wind appeals to you.

Give rapid legs to the crouching leaf; Yamilenu Bamgboye Editor

The horse of words has galloped Through clouds, through thunder, through roaring waters...

Throw open the door of your ears...

The Word, the Word, is the woodpecker’s beak Which rattles the jungle of silence The cat’s eye which pierces the garment of night The Word... is the fearless symmetry of Zebra heights... the armpit of stone...

OUR TEAM

CONTENTS

Yamilenu Bamgboye

05

You Are Beautiful As You Are

Editor Ayomipo Akorede

09

My Life, My Art

Sub Editor

11

Book Review: Under the Udala Tree

CONTRIBUTORS

13

Interview

Theresa Elerubo

18

Vox Populi

JT Ayorinde

20

Movie Review

Kolajo Blessing

22

How to Become a Good Actor

27

The Myth of Size in Sexual Intercourse

Oluwatofunmi Ojo Cynthia Wright John Chizoba Vincent Olumide Labulo

29

Short Story: All Our Scars

31

Cover Story: The Rise of Queerness in Contemporary African Arts

PHOTO SHOOT Onemind Pixels

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From the Recesses

You Are Beautiful As You Are Ayomipo Akorede email: korede4ril@gmail.com

Beauty is a word that comes and goes.

It is a word coined from the nerves to describe the consonance of a quality first to nature and then individual perception: abstract or concrete, physical or metaphysical. Although it's been contentiously defined from many angles by different scholars however, one thing remains unchanged in all and that is acceptability---the willingness of a person to accept what is and isn't. Hume 1757 says 'Beauty is no quality in things themselves: it exists merely in the mind which contemplates them; and each mind perceives a different beauty. One person may even perceive deformity where another is sensible of beauty...' (pg136). So, if beauty is a psychological belief or what the mind perceives and accepts as truth, then there is every tendency that the mind could choose to perceive the most abominable thing as right. You feel me?

Sometime ago, I stumbled on a story as told by Nicole Gilley, a guest writer at Huffpost. A story that seemed more like a transformation than the 'true discovery' of one's sexual identity. In her account, she said she never wanted to be gay since she was raised by a religious single mother who taught her homosexuality was the one abomination God could never overlook. So, for the first three decades of her life, she did everything she could to make her gay go away. Every other night, she would get on her knees, crying and begging God to take it from her and the nights she didn't pray, she spent them underneath countless men whose names she didn't know just to jump-start her heterosexuality. Then one day, she gave up and decided to be a

gay. However, she didn’t have the nerves to be until she went to a therapist who taught her how to say the words 'I am a lesbian' reassuringly for about five months. Phew!!!

his graduate gay lover, he enrolled in a school where he started spending a lot of time with fellow students.

Before long, he fell in love with one of the girls and it resulted in the break up of his gay union and an end Another is Ned's story as told by Dr to his gay life.

Pepper Schwartz, a sex psychologist.

He said Ned had been gay his entire At creation, the Bible records that adult life. Though he had a few sexual God created all living creatures in relationships with women in high two different sexes: male and femalschool, he never thought of himself as e (Gen 2:5) and God saw that every heterosexual or even bisexual: Ned thing He had made was not just good liked women but he loved men. At 29, but very good (Gen 1:31). Ever ything was beautiful and perfect. No one he fell in love with another gay man body conjoined with another neither who was 10 years older. After about 23 did any have both sex organs like the years of being together with shemales we have around today (no TIL Magazine 5

thanks to biological hazards orchestrated by man at foetal formation though). As time crawled by, the Bible says that man became corrupt and the wickedness was so great that every imagination of his heart was continually evil (Gen 6:5).

Now, wickedness can be described as a mental disregard for what is right, just, true, honorary or virtuous; it is evil in thought and life (Bible Study Tools). To demystify this theory from a religious angle, Immanuel Kant, a philosopher, in his Religion Within the Limits of Reason Alone, postulates that human beings are by nature radically free and are continually inclined towards goodness and evil. Expressing this further, he says we have a morally good will only if we choose to perform morally right actions because they are morally right which invariably means anyone who does not have a morally good will has an evil will. He divides this stage of corruption (evil will) into three: frailty, impurity and perversity or wickedness. He posits that someone with a perverse will inverts the proper order of incentives. Instead of prioritizing the moral law over all other incentives, they prioritize selflove over the moral law. Thus, their actions conform to the moral law only if they are in their self-interest.

Then I wonder: is it this natural radical freedom that makes a set of people believe there is beauty in the opposite of nature's gender assignment at birth? Or what really?

From a standpoint, imitation which is the copying of another person’s behaviour consciously or unconscio -usly (and sometimes, without any logical attachment) forms the basis of what every individual knows and does today. This kind of social learning is what builds the customs and traditions that have formed a part of our existence and are passed down from generation to generation. We can’t track the history of homosexu-

uality to a particular time in the past but we can put our critical mind to work and deduce that it originated from an evil mind before it formed a habit then a tradition and then passed down from person to person. For instance, the perversive sexual preference of an adult can influence the sexual orientation of a growing child who is just forming habits and spends a lot of time with them. So, if Aunty K, a woman with two beautifully pointed breasts and a killer backside to match does stuff with only girls, there is a 90 % probability that the child that spends a lot of time with her will pick up that habit.

From another standpoint, the ‘born ga y’ syndrome takes a larger chunk. I have often heard people say they don’t know why they just get attracted to people of same sex. Some even believe certain kids express pure homosexual tendencies before they are old enough to know what sex is all about. Hmm… too much for the justification of the ‘born gay’ syndrome you would say. First of all, we need to understand that the mind is the kitchen where ideas are prepared and served. It is also that part of our being that creates the unconsciousness and consciousness in our thinking, feeling and intentionality toward our environment, to perceive and even respond to stimuli (Wikipedia). It is a very powerful tool. It’s with the mind one believes what isn’t as if it is. Once a thought has formed, a man literally becomes the complete sum through his actions. The frequented exhibition of

‘’ ,, Man is a growth by law, and not a creation by artifice, and cause and effect are as absolute and undeviating in the hidden realm of thought as in the world of visible and material things.

these actions is what leads to addiction. The devil knows this that’s why he targets the mind--the control room and injects perversive thoughts that await growth. If, for instance, he injects the idea of being a flirt into Jalong and he is careless enough to let it stay, he begins to think about what it feels like to be one, why he needs to be one and other reasons to be one. He thinks of how to start, with whom to start and the emotional reward. Henceforth, everything he does consciously or unconsciously from his words to his actions will be geared towards achieving that. In the same vein, when the natural order of people’s sexuality become perverted by the injection of this ‘born gay’ idea, they b e g i n to a l i g n t h e i r s e x u a l preferences consciously or otherwise in that direction and even act on them.

For the record, it is not a crime to admire people of one’s sex neither is it a crime to love them dearly like Jonathan loved David but when the admiration or love tilts in the direction of homosexuality, it becomes really dangerous. Funnily enough, to really validate this ‘born gay’ thing, a lot of scientists have saddled themselves with the responsibility of proving that homosexuality is genetic. Although the results of these researches are still inconclusive, I’m very sure, even decades from now, that it can never b e p rove n e xce p t t h e re a re manipulations.

James Allen in his book, As a Man Thinketh, says ‘Man is a growth by law, and not a creation by artifice, and cause and effect are as absolute and undeviating in the hidden realm of thought as in the world of visible and material things. A noble and God-like character is not a thing of favour or chance, but is the natural continues on page 9 TIL Magazine 6

Expressions

morning.

I swear my ears produce fire each time I hear this...

Emeka was burnt for stealing in the market, Aminat roasted in an unknown air crash, and Musa’s house caught fire, he was roasted like a fowl.

Would these men still burn in hell fire?

I know a Father will not burn his children twice.

Don’t conflict your mind anyway, ashes are dust of men flying to freedom, they don’t want to be fixed on A preacher said evil men would burn in pictures that will leave tears in the hell eyes of tomorrow. and the righteous would inherit heaven If men live to suffer here and later in he turned soft words into mirage of hell, burning hearts, Then life is as meaningless as dying some words should be locked in jail itself. forever!

Some beliefs should be banned in cages I have chosen the words they use for of memories! our nightmare There are not enough rooms to keep the Torture. Sorrow. Agony. Bitterness dead alive, Say the words the way you hear them they would have told us if these Torment. Anger. Lost. Tears. Foe. burning places exist, We are cascaded minds; torn there are places our eyes have to see to between seeing and finding believe.

Light. Darkness. Void. Confusion There are cities of grief and tortured We are broken entities dashing from dreams, here to there without a regular the Radio said yesterday after death pattern visited some places...

Gay. Lesbian. Fornication. Masturba Each time we burn here under the sun -tion. Backbiting. Falsewitness. of suffering, A mother was shot dead against her we don’t expect to burn again in hell will and a preacher told her ghost it fire! would go to hell fire!

When you face the mirror of the world Emptiness. Illusion. Demons. Devil. and hold your emotions together in Satan. Mirage. Solitude whisper, If so, we’ll all burn to ashes even the you’ll be amazed how here have sand is a culprit, reduced you. she has drunk more innocent blood A preacher said prostitutes are dead than any roamers, Blood. Horrible. Terrible. Miserable his daughter got pregnant out of everybody has a scar, a mark on his wedlock; face. he burnt her and killed himself before This poem won’t allow you see the

Hellfire

end of your miserable life.

Misery lives in your life when you allow them create this fallacy.

Fetishness. Idol. Wizardry.

Witchcraft. You’ve been broken with these words and now you are the worst version of yourself.

Hell is in your mind so as Heaven.

Author: John Chizoba Vincent. He is a writer, a filmmaker and an art enthusiast. You can hook him up on Facebook.

Vivid Description

Let's sip our pointed colostrum Forget his sheating conundrum Let's dip into deep Venice Forget his swordy penis Let's air a meddle Forget his dulling girdle Let's start a romanza Forget his timeless Bonanza We are misses Seeing men as faeces.

Author: Oluwatofunmi Ojo with the a.k.a Apeketheblackbard is an award winning poet and a graduate of English Education f ro m O b a f e m i Awo l owo University TIL Magazine 7

continues on page 7

but is the natural result of continued effort in right thinking, the effect of long-cherished association with Godlike thoughts. An ignoble and bestial character, by the same process, is the result of the continued harbouring of groveling thoughts’. Now, what is beauty to you: is it that which is true, j u s t , h o n e s t , p u r e , l o v e l y, praiseworthy and of good report or the imitative lifestyle birthed by the derailed mind(s) of a person or people? Or the sweet, twisted lies you've chosen to believe as truth?

Sophia Loren's saying in my version goes nothing makes a person more beautiful than the belief that they really are beautiful. It's all in the mind!

We Are Gay Let's go together Johnny On this accursed journey I will be the man You be the woman the marriage registry we'll avoid The church altar we'll void For the bill has not been signed And in the court we may be fined If we so proclaim That gay be our claim Two like poles attracted Against all magnetic Compacted Then both, gay be But to us only, gay be It will be our secret We will be discreet For our society is not ready The change is still messy Even though we know Our perdition we sow We will still persist All corrections resist Every help renounced Our doom pronounced Let us go on this death quest Your head on my chest I don't need no oranges No need for two oranges I've got my balls to play with We have yours too to start with

Mind not that man As well as that woman They know not how we feel Nor what we feel When we say we love Or when we show love We belong in another world We are not of their world For we are facing a challenge To show we are in bondage.

We are cursed We are crossed We are doomed We are confused Author: JT Ayorinde email:ayorindejamestaiwo@yah oo.com

Web Meme

What would you caption this?

TIL Magazine 8

Star Profile

My Life, My Art

Iyanu Adebiyi, Spoken Word Artiste

successes, etc. For Iyanu Adebiyi, a young Nigerian spoken word goddess, her sojourn here on earth took a painful but dramatic turn to discover what ‘Ori’ has chosen for her.

Iyanu Adebiyi was born on the 25th of March, 1993 in Abuja, Nigeria to educated parents occupying the middle class of the social strata. Her formation years we re s h a p e d by re l i g i o u s experiences of Christianity and her addiction to books. There was another addiction. It was repeated nightmares that left her most often troubled, shaken and over-feeling everything. She hated her womanhood, fought hard to be someone else with the low cut she wore and the continual bending of her back to hide the breasts springing out of ...But what is Ori? her chest until she developed a slight Is it that frame caput that serves hunch. Like most kids her age, she as a host for the face and brain? wanted to be many things in Or is it that thicker part of our body where hair adulthood: a doctor because she hated freely sprouts?... to see people in pain. At another time, Excerpt from Ori by Yusuf Gemini she wanted to be a singer because she grew up singing in church. Then a ‘Ori’ in Yoruba cosmology isn't just a nurse, then a lawyer, then a painter, referent of the physical structure that then a teacher, then a dancer, then an houses some of the vital organs in the actress. A writer? Nah! body, it connotes a far deeper spiritual significance. As explained by Apena Her first manuscript was inspired by a Fagbemijo Amosun Fakayode, the Otun schoolmate (a boy) who wrote very Amufawuni of Ibadan Land, ‘Ori’ is interesting stories that she loved to human consciousness and our direct borrow and read. One day, after connection to Olodumare, the Supreme begging for one of his books, he asked Force and can conceptually be when he was going to read hers. The interpreted to mean destiny or fate. In question was both a surprise and a espouding this a little further, Babalawo quickie. All she said unconsciously was Aworeni calls it a supernatural being 'I have my own book joor. When I finish that controls the destiny of an writing, you will read it'. But as it individual as he journeys along this turned out, she never finished the path called life. It is this being that manuscript and the boy never read chooses what one becomes (rich or anything she wrote. poor, very rich or very poor) and controls the events characterizing the Although Iyanu Adebiyi still finds it core of one's existence through hard to complete any story she starts discoveries, ideas, opportunities, writing, her career (in creative writing) wrong or right decisions, hardiships, officially kicked-off when she was disappointments and joys, failures and preparing for the Senior School Certif-

icate examinations (WAEC). She would write different stuff, submit them to her English teacher who would edit and make her write the stories again and again. This display of potential made her English teacher set her up for an essay competition she backed out of at the last minute because she thought she wasn't good enough.

She looked down on her writing.

She didn't trust it. She didn't love it. So, singing was the god her writing worshipped, she thought.

She embraced it and became a song writer. Hmm...

Ori...

it didn't just come to be from the

footprint of a cock The fatalists teaches that whatever will be will be...

Ise ti Kehinde a se ni le aye ti Taye ba danwo o le ru gi oyin ...ori loni se. Our success, our failure lies in ori inu the Ori inu--the ori bearer of our ipin, Ori apere Asiniwa ye the guardian ko s'orisa ti n da ni gbe lehin Ori but if we are left to choose what we become on earth why are some kings and some slaves?

Why are some rich and some poor?

Why are some always beaming with smiles and some teardrops?

A good destiny is ignited with iwapele Morality is the errand boy to Ori no one has chosen the ugly side of life but when we get to earth, we get influenced by things that don't exist then we get stranded, we loose our way the search begins and that is life some get missing on the road to find ayanmo some embrace the soil on the road to find ayanmo some give it all up but whose fault is it Ori or eyan?...

Excerpt from Ori by Yusuf Gemini

That continued until her self consciousness had been fully developed as a young woman. But instead, she woke up into darkness TIL Magazine 9

Star Profile

ness, into self-disgust. She sought refuge in a relationship that had her life and emotions crumble practically.

She became broken. Pain became her constant companion and everywhere she went, even in the midst of people, she would retire to herself and weep bitterly in silence. She was hurting. All the while, what played like a song on a loop in her head was to get drunk, have sex, kill him and kill herself. Ori knew she was missing it yet, the pain was a necessity for her to fulfil purpose. In 2014, after graduation from the University of Abuja where she studied Law, at the height of the pain, God came through for her at a prayer meeting. Right there, she felt the tingling of the oil dripping from her hands which was later confirmed in her spirit as a pouring of the healing anointing with a word of knowledge that goes 'There will be a transfer of spirits as you transfer the words your hands have made to the broken, the hurting, the tired, the scared, and they shall recover'. That singular encounter jump-started her healing process and her true purpose (of pain embedded in poetry): '...to scribble power upon paper with the ink of spirits‌'. From then on, she wrote poetry on paper, on social media, everywhere. She got positive feedback from people that read her poetry including those who got healed, aborted their suicidal thoughts like she did and decided to h a n g o n r e g a r d l e s s . S h e go t encouraged to do more even while she healed with her tears mixing with her ink. The pain of her past became her paint and she made art with it.

She searched for new truths to build her life on and finally conquered the voice of suicide. That same year, she published her first book which was a compilation of a story and poems as part of Sevhage Publishers chapbook series titled The Road Leads Me Home. At the end of the year, November precisely, she won an award for a spoken word video in the U.S Mission Nigeria's video contest on 'Strength in Diversity'. Since then, she has written more poems, performed on more stages, taught at workshops, made more videos including: 'Pointing At Love With My Mother's Finger' , 'Up Nepa', 'Identity', 'Voices', 'A Touch of Red' , 'Giving Birth to God'. 'Playing Hard to Get', 'I am Something', 'Time Piece', 'Keep Moving' and worked on her spoken word album. Today, Iyanuoluwa Adebiyi hasn't just found purpose but is privileged to be a young poet with a passion for hurting and broken people. Privileged to experience how being a writer is the closest thing to being God; how it is an opportunity to co-create with the creator. How it is the highest form of living, how it is a way of multiplying and stamping one’s DNA all over the world.

In 2016, she began to recite her poems because she needed to reach out to many more people who were not reading. So, she became a spoken word poet with great trepidation. She stumbled all over the stages that welcomed her, learning that her words would always be enough. In 2017, she reached rock bottom again which she considered was the best place for rebuilding faulty foundations.

TIL Magazine 10

Book Review

Under the Udala Tree Chinelo Okparanta

Reviewer: Olumide Labulo Year of Publication: 2015 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Under the Udala Tree is a novel that's specifically written to give voice to the LGBTQ community in Nigeria. With the Biblical reference of Hebrews 11:1 being Chinelo Okparanta's monumental epigraphic adoption, any religious fanatic would have thought they were about to read another creative meme immersed in scriptural condiments. But as they read through and can't connect the dots, it slips steadily into their subconsciousness until they are revitalized with the optimism of her character, Ndidi, who says the whole of Nigeria will be that place where love is allowed to be love between man and woman, man and man and woman and woman. Gbam!

That being said, the only question that rings in my head is why the author chooses to tackle this hostility from a religious angle. Is it because Nigeria, a cco rd i n g to W i n - G a l l u p I n ternational Global Index of Religiousity and Atheism, perceived index and other parameters, ranks as one of the most religious countries in the world? Or because religion has successfully snuffed life out of that idea in this part of the world? Or because she hopes to see the fulfillment of that and other relational scriptures like Hebrews 8 in gay relationships in Nigeria?

Well, the story runs on a simple plot

structure with Ijeoma, the only child of Uzo and Adaora being at the centre of it all. As events unfold, we are first introduced to her background and formation years. At this point, our attention is drawn to three notable happenings: the first prayer she offers about the civil war which she perceives does not get God's attention, the second about her father, his eventual suicide and the consciousness of her confused sexuality at age eleven. These notables transform into what we now see as she climbs up the ladder of puberty into adulthood charting a new course of emotional attraction--to girls her age, as against moral law--for herself, becoming conceited in her own belief of God's dynamism in replacing faulty old laws with new ones that let gay people be and the bitterness of her father's suicide together with her mother's abandonment.

In all fairness to the writer and her imaginative prowess, this book is a great read but her attempt at convincing us that homsexuality is a natural phenomenon in a set of people fails woefully. Just in between Ijeoma's transition from Ojoto to Obodoanuli Girls' Academy in Oraifite, we see how she has been entangled with Amina, the Fulani-Hausa girl she brings home on a fateful day and how connection has been sparked up almost immediately to birth further sexual explorations. At first, both are forced to stay away from each other after being caught pants down by the grammar school teacher in the hovel in his house. Howev-r, one thing leads to the other and they are back at it again until Amina yields her entire being to the teachings of the scriptures in her Sunday services, revivals and Wednesday evening devotionals. From that moment,

Amina begins to channel her sexual attraction to the opposite sex to the point that she falls in love with a young, promising Hausa boy whom s h e e ve n t u a l ly m a r r i e s a f te r secondary school.

Additionally, the author fails woefully in proving through Ijeoma, the narrator, that God justifies gay relationships among mankind. It's not worrisome that this very idea occupies the better part of the story but it's amusing to know it's just a wasted effort after all. Or how else does one describe a child whose conscience has been seared to resist any form of interference with the routine of the behaviour or lifestyle she must have acquired through previous repetition of a mental experience (according to American Journal of Psychology) we will never know before meeting Amina? And the delight she derives in twisting the scriptures in her brain to validate her immorality? Yes, she feels bad for being caught in the act nevertheless, the unwillingness deep down in her makes mockery of every effort her religious mother makes at cleansing and restoring her soul. This mockery doesn't stop there, it continues even when she feels prompted by the good will in her to pray about the abominable act and ask God for forgiveness. The second and third time she feels this way after a sexual encounter with Ndidi, the good will in her 'torments' her so much that she rushes off to church the follow-ng morning to pray. At this juncture, it's a merry-go-round. It begins with overwhelming emotions mixed with guilt but it relapses into unwillingness again after ignoring the cue to pray from John 8 where Jesus says he that is without sin should be the first to cast a stone.

Though her effort TIL Magazine 11

at convincing us fails, we can't shrug off the fact that she tries to raise some dust challenging certain religious dogmata like using a decanter filled with the blood of an animal for deliverance and the story of Adam and Eve in the Bible as the first set of humans on earth. Indeed, it's recorded that God declares Cain a vagabond and puts a mark of destruction on him so that anyone who finds him can kill him. It is also recorded that Cain eventually gets married. Now, if all of this really has no connection to allegory, whose daughter was Cain's wife then? Could there have been other humans on earth besides Adam and Eve at the time? Food for thought, hun?

For another patting on the author's shoulder for a job well done, we see that she tactfully and successfully employs empathy and the stream of consciousness techniques to explore Ijeoma's messed up mind, her helplessness when she sincerely makes an effort to become straight again after her marriage to Chibundu. All of a sudden, Ijeoma becomes endeared to us through her struggles and our feeling of hatred is shifted to Chibundu who feigns love and understanding or let's say mixes love and understanding with desire. So, the whole charade continues until Ijeoma gives birth to a girl as against his desire. Henceforth, her struggles worsen, her hope of redemption dampens and her willingness to keep trying vanishes completely. All thanks to Chibundu's sudden hostility.

The next thing we see is her decision one night to abandon her marriage with Chidinma, her daughter, to fully live a 'manless' life with Ndidi, her gay lover, since her willingness to try being with a man has brought more pains than she ever imagined.

There are one too many lessons to be learnt from this story. Although forgiveness and tolerance are portrayed in the negative from the author’s sense however, co-existing with one another in tandem with (natural) mo

-ral laws form the core of our existence individually and collectively. Yes, human beings are free by nature. And yes, it's simply true that this homosexual thing exists on a low key in some quarters around here like the author has pointed out. But from the mind of the critic that I am, in all honesty, I don't see it having a foothold in the Nigerian legal system no matter how hard these writers and other advocates try now and forever.

Am I Mad? Blessing Kolajo

now, I could do anything to find one for myself even if it meant sleeping with Isabella, my ten year-old niece.

’Pin pin pin…’, the honking of a motorist brought me out of my thoughts; as I made way for it, my eyes caught sight of my beloved niece in a taxi heading to our three-bedroom apartment just down the street. She waved at me with an indifferent look and I wondered why she wasn't so excited to see me.

Unconsciously, my legs turned me towards my street while I slowly walked like a lion that was going to devour its prey which was my niece of course. I Flash grew more impatient so I had to Fiction increase my speed. I walked so fast and absentmindedly that I didn't notice my tee shirt was getting soaked with my erotic sweats. Slowly, my conscience began to ridicule me. The innocent voice of Isabella on the day I deflowered her began to play so loud in my head like my neighbour's home theatre but the dangling thing below my belly got harder, making it more difficult for me to hide. On getting home, I opened the door to face my usual insecurity.

Isabella's sad and round face belittled my entire feeling.

I stepped outside into a gorgeous summer day. The sun made everything look bright and cheerful. It would have been an ideal day for a picnic—if I still had a special someone to picnic with. Nobody would have suspected the thunderstorm going on in my head, and the erotic feelings playing in my heart as I walked around the streets looking for a young girl to prey on. Since Isabella, my bedmate had travelled for Christmas with her mother.

As I strolled apprehensively along a cornered path, I had a nostalgic feeling of how Papa used to fondle my penis when I turned fourteen and how my aunty whom I lived with during my senior school days used to suck it for her pleasure when I turned sixteen. I was used to being a sex object by females and males at a tender age and

Uncle, I know what you are here for but I have accepted Christ already and I told Mama everything. She will be here soon’, she said. I couldn't reason along with her in the heat of my desperation.

All I could do was to beg for one more chance just like my father used to beg me for it in those days. I lured her innocence to bed and exposed her nakedness to my savagery. Suddenly, I heard the door bang. Her mother was standing right behind me. She starred at me before she grabbed me by the collar. She wept profusely.

‘So, what she said was true after all. I trusted you with my daughter. Why do you have this unusual feeling of sexuality; she is just a child!’ She cried out loud. In my mind, I wondered what was so unusual about wanting to make out with a child. Papa did it to me, my aunty did it to me. So, why can't I do it to my niece?

TIL Magazine 12

Interview

I am no nudist, I am an artiste Actor, Marvelous Dominion Have you ever wondered if some of the things we see in Hollywood cou ld actually happen in Nigerian mo vies? Have you ever been awed by their kind of stunts for make belief and more so, the harsh realities of unsimulated sexual intimacy betwe -en two or more actors in mainstre am movies just as we see in TV ser ies and cinema films like Spartac us (2010-2013), Strike Bac k (20102019), Game of Thrones (2010-201 9), Nymphomaniac (2014), Unive rsal Soldier: Day of Reckoning (2012), London Fields (2018) and the like? Conditioned by today's education acquired through differe nt means and on different platforms, there's no denying the fact that Nollywood has produced a number of crazy story writers and even direc-

ctors who push actors to accurately and convincingly interpret storylines , actions, near sex or sex scenes. For the record, Nollywood movies have had all except one--the unsimulated sex scenes. Does that sound like a crave now hun?

Just in the recent past, Jude Idada-- a Canadian based Nigerian writer and producer whose published works and productions include: The Tenant (m ovie), A Box of Chocolates, By My Own Hands, Oduduwa: King of the Edos, Didi Kanu And The Sing ing Dwarfs Of The North (books), Sankara, Exotica Celestica (stage plays), and the most controversial, 3Some, where he created a character to appear completely nude on stage-made tongues wag. Of course this is

Nigeria. No actor was willing to dare and the stripper that seemed to come through before Marvelous Dominion demanded a live in-to-in. Lolz. Marv elous Dominion is a trained actor with degrees in Contemporary Perfor mance Art from Oxford Brookes University and London Academy of Media Film and TV. For a budding actor like hers, one cannot but say she’s really daring. In this interview with Yamilenu Bamgboye, she explains the connection between the role and her personality which was her very why. Do have fun.

Since your return to the country, would you in all sincerity ascribe your fame to your nude style of acting and even posing nude for a magazine?

Yes, in a way. I think I would love to give credit to that, if I'm being honest. Obviously that caused a lot of controversy, hence the fame. I would also like to say during teenage years, I used to pose seminude at the studios. I would have an arrangement with the makeup artist and the crew and we would achieve great shots.

There was a particular makeup artist by the name Oge that brought out that inner gaga in me. We both went crazy with body art, make up, seminudity and all. I've always loved to express myself the way I feel, careless about nobody as long as it made me feel good. That's why when I heard about the magazine publication and heard the concept, and of course it was pertaining to the stage play I featured in, I had

no reason to decline. The Editor-in-Chief of the magazine, Azuka Ogujiuba is my kind of person to work with.

She motivates you to push, she also didn't care, all she was concerned about was bringing that craze to fruition, very artistic I must say. She made me feel comfortable about expressing my art. I'm not saying nudity or seminudity is art but I am saying that our body is a true definition of art, depending on how we wanna play and design and express it.

You see artists, sculpts, paints anything they wanna, make up artist applies makeup on our faces, we can do whatever we want with our bodies, and I choose to play with mine as a definition of my art, mind you I understand art to a certain level. I have worked as an artist TIL Magazine 13

Interview

for years. I have learnt and studied it.

So, therefore, my body is my definition of art. I had a lot of backlash from people that are very ignorant of this kind of art, sometimes I feel like I don't need to educate people like this and hope they'll come to a realization someday that we all are living in a contemporary age and time and in as much as I would like to say this is a contemporary art. I would also like to say this isn't new aas it's been there for many years. Well, I hope from this interview they might understand and learn a few things.

In 2014, you played a lead role in your first feature movie Love of a Daughter, and Chika Ike was your mum. I'm just curious, how old were you?

Lolz, now you wanna be smart on me to do your calculation. Ok, I was 19 years old at the time. Now, you know my age. I did that job when I had my short break in Nigeria from the UK. Could you tell us about it?

Yes. What I did in the UK that was Would you say in those teenage years of similar to this was a short Art yours, your craze was only limited to House film titled Future World posing nude and not exploring with and I had to like play the mother of boys? a dead child, a frail looking Well, I never implied sex in my mother. So, my character was very response. Besides, must people have intense and all artistic. I was in a sex to show off their bodies in the bath tub with a lot of things and I studio? Like really? I can't connect to was really looking frail and sad that question but if you wanted to from the demise of my child. So in know whether I was a virgin or not at that bath tub, I was laying in there that age, that could get an answer. nude, stark naked but they had to like 'body-art' me in there. That's You say you've always loved to express why I said it was very similar to yourself the way you feel regardless of what I did in the UK, you know. We wagging tongues. I believe it didn't start shot some scenes in the UK, some one morning neither did it start with the in Nigeria, some in Italy and the friends that helped you explore further. interesting thing is it won an award What things, what influences sparked it in Berlin for the best house film in off for you? the whole festival films that were For me, I think it was just innate. actually screened.

I am actually both. I am a model and I am an actor. I am also a performer in the artistic form that's what I'm working on. It's like my latest project that really investing my time into now. I can also consider myself as an artist when you think of paintings or sculptural makings. So yeah, that's it.

What's your take on people who feel uncomfortable with funny or unusual sexual orientation?

My take on that is this. It's still quite sad that a lot of people are not willing to evolve with time. They're not willing to be adventurous or try new things to spice up their sexual lives. Uhmm... because we're not living in the olden age, we are living in the contemporary age and time has evolved and we need to evolve with time as well. We're not going to sit down and act like we're still backward in our ways. You know, it’s very sad not willing to adapt to the core Sometime ago, you said you did someth- Would you say you're more of a model of our existence basically. I hope they ing similar in the UK to what you did in than an actor considering the evolve, I hope they open their minds to 3Some here in Nigeria. Could you tell us numerous modelling deals you get?new things, newer things which is why TIL Magazine 14

Interview

we have marriage setbacks, couples having issues, misunderstandings... you know, one person is willing to go and grow with the flow, the other sits aback thinking it's weird resulting in broken marriages, husbands cheating on their wives because they are having much more fun out there because most of their wives are not willing to adapt. And inasmuch as we may want to blame the men for cheating on their wives, we also blame the women for not spicing up their sex lives and I hope they understand that time has moved past them.

Would you say your kind of art, body art as you love to call it, falls in this unusual category?

Hmm... unusual as in unprecedented in Nigeria because, I mean, this is something that hasn't really happened in our country if I'm being honest but to be honest with you, bod

-y art has been in existence for many many years. You know, the only thing is we are not well educated in things like this because... I mean they look new to us, and because we Nigerians, to be honest now, like to pretend a lot.

We are very hypocritical in our ways.

We pretend to hate what we love while reverse is the case. Tell me something: why do we have a lot of Nigerians go to pornographic sites to watch a lot of blue films, pornographic films and acting up, imagining they are they ones doing all they see in those videos.

These people, including the married ones too go on those sites to have fun.

Now tell me something: are you going to go to bed with your wife or partner or girlfriend with her clothes on when you know you're going to do stuff with her for example. No! You gonna strip the clothes off her damn body, you gonna whip her body up, I mean, you gonna do a lot of shit. So, why do peopl

-e act like it's a taboo? Besides, body art is not new. We have tatoos, body paintings and people who have tatoos don't cover their bodies because they want people to see what they have on them. So, people act like this thing I did is a taboo. Well, anyone who's going to come talk shit about it should better do with strong reasons because what I did is a form of body painting which is called body art. You can call me a nudist if you wish but I know I'm not. I am an artiste and I understand the theories of art. If you want me to explain, I can give you the histories of things like this. You know, it's crazy because people just go talking shit about what they don't know. If you don't know about a thing, the same phone you use in painting a thing black on social media can be used to gather as much information as needed on the subject matter. We are very hypocritical in our ways yet in our rooms we do it even worse. We love to see people go naked. All these men let call girls into their rooms and love to see them dance naked but wouldn't want to see such in public.

What movies or episodic films have you featured in here in Nigeria?

I have featured in a couple of movies and episodic films since my return. I may not be able to call everything out but I've featured in series like Hustle, Girls’ Quarter, Battle Ground; movies like Soldier's Story 2, Almost Perfect, Love of a Daughter and quite a couple of others. I can't remember everything right now.

For you, what other role could be more challenging than going completely nude in a stage play or movie?

I think for someone who has gone completely nude, that is the highest TIL Magazine 15

Interview they can go. So, I don’t think there’s any other challenging role I coul take.

Uhmm... besides me being asked to speak pidgin, proper pidgin because of my accent or so and my pidgin is not very good. When I hear people speak good pidgin, I'm always like wow you guys are good. I can try fifty percent though.

What about a role involving sex in front of a camera?

What, are you kidding me!?

Are you featuring in any movie at the moment? What's the title and can you say a bit about it?

Uhmm... yeah. I really can't say much about it except I get to be on set I guess but also I'm working on producing my own film because this country is so freaking messed up. You know, we'll get there.

What can a guy do to win your heart?

hoping it could be for a long time.

Uhmm... let's see. Really, I'm not that difficult to win. It's just for the guy to really show that he loves and cares for me. I think for my age, I could say I’ve seen a lot of shit in my life but love is one thing that's so typical for me to find not until recently anyways.

Because if I just want to go out with regular guys who just want to hit you up and that's it. Who don't really care about you but just want to hit you up sexually you know it's crazy when they see a pretty young girl and all they think of is sex. I'm not really up for that nonsense. I think I'm old enough to know what I want for myself. So, if a guy cares for me, I'm ok. I'm like anybody and I'm not desperate.

However, at this point in my life, I think I have the love and care and just

Can we pry a little more, tell us the craziest thing you've ever done?

The thing is, to be honest, I do not even know what is crazy anymore because I've friends who say I'm so crazy. If I say the craziest thing I've done is to stand stark naked, some people will say yeah, that's crazy to go stark naked for a project buh I don't really find that crazy because my own level of crazy is higher than normal. I believe the level of crazy for people varies, abi? If I want to talk about the crazy things I've done sexually, I cannot really say because these days, people transcend beyond their regular kind of things. So seriously, I don't know what's crazy anymore because I've done a lot of shit.

Have you worked alongside any of the big names in Nollywood?

Uhmm... big names I've worked with in the industry: Bikiyah of Battle Ground, Femi Jacobs, Chika Ike, Ngozi Izunoke, Ken Erics, Solomon Akiyesi, Ramsey Noah, Chigurl and a lot more.

What's your career dream?

At an early age, my career dream had always been to act although I added modelling by the side it's the thing I love to do. Then I decided to pursue acting at a higher level. I went to go study acting and stuff like that in the UK. While recently, I've got this really interesting dream which is producing not just producing my own films but producing my own projects which is what I'm working on and hoping it come to fruition.

TIL Magazine 16

Vox Populi Many intellectuals say for African art to be really African, it has to be rooted in African values, beliefs, customs and t r a d i t i o n s . H o w e v e r, s i n c e colonization or let's say civilization, there has been a continual clash between Western and African values such that each jostles for supremacy.

The discourse of homosexuality is not new on the continent but the wake of the millennium ushered in the legalization of this unnatural act in many European countries and then, the desire to let that spread all across Africa started. There was pressure, there was lobbying. Some of the developed countries even considered implementing laws that would limit or prohibit general budget support to countries that restrict the rights of LGBT people. As of today, of the 54 countries recognized by United Nations and African Union on the continent, homosexuality is outlawed in 34 and constitutionally banned in 9 with stiff penalties, some capital.

While it is allowed in 21, 2: Cape Verde and South Africa constitutionally recognize it. some capital. While it is allowed in 21, 2: Cape Verde and South Africa constitutionally recognize it.

Before Nigeria's President, Goodluck Jonathan, signed into law a bill criminalizing same-sex relationships and the support of such relationships, making these offences punishable by up to fourteen years in prison, there had been agitations from many individuals including writers and some civil societies on the subjectmatter. And with the criminalization in January 2014, one would have thought that that was the last that would be heard of it around here. We know how the fire

of creativity burns and how much a creative mind desires to explore new terrains of social issues. We also know it is way too absurd for any government

to set up restricting rules of creative explorations. The question that stares at us in the face, nonetheless, is why homosexuality (a generic term for same-sex relationships) is taking over in many new African writings. We hooked up with a cross section of Nigerian writers, spoken word artistes and students to hear what they think.

Elijah Olasunkanmi Odetokun a.k.a Hollic, an author, page poet and spoken word artiste says ‘as much as I’m liberal and provide perfect premise to understand everyone and what they do, I also yearn for fair ground for all but it seems the plain level offered by the African writers’ community is for homosexuals and related writings.

Because a thing is seen as against norms and we want to accommodate them doesn’t mean we should overemphasize them more than others. It shares a similar situation with girl child advocacy and feminism. No one is talking about being human because we all want to accommodate h o m o s e x u a l i t y. I t s r e c e n t prevalence in African writings is the fault of us all because bad things happen to bad people, it’s normal but when it happens to good people, we all begin to shout. It first started in Western writings but we saw it as normal because we perceive them as uncultured and abnormal people. But here it is today, in the midst of our so-called cultured Africans and we can only wail. It has come to stay and while we sip in its cup, let’s look out for other things we won’t want to wail about later.

Fr33zin' Paul, a popular spoken artiste says 'Well, homosexuality is a very sensitive topic, very sensitive. I know so many people who engage in it or advocate for those who engage in it. I want to believe it is their life and they are free to live their life the way they want but is homosexuality good? Of course not. It is abnormal and should be discouraged without insulting the personalities of those involved. Most people who claim to be homosexuals especially on social media or write about it in their books, do it just to trend, to get noticed and to appear woke. Deep down, they don't do it. The social media puts a pressure on us that if we are not careful, we try to please everyone. I mean, when you were born, you were given a genital not two. A male should be for a female and a female for a male. It is common sense.

Homosexuality is not a crime, homosexuality is like living your life in pretence and lies and lies and pretence should be discouraged'.

Mojisola Esther, an English student of Obafemi Awolowo University says 'Homosexuality is seen recently as a natural sexual feeling that shouldn't be judged by any religion. So, I think African writers see homosexuality as normal civilization that Africa should experience even as the global world advances alongside the tech world’.

John Chizoba Vincent a.k.a JCV, a writer and page poet says 'The issue of homosexuality taking over new African writings is a wave from the West. We all know Africans with their ways of getting acquainted with foreign cultures. If you don't write about queer, homosexuality or lesbianism, no one would recognize you. Since it is now under their laws, it is now legal to get married to your fellow man. Our young men here who find it difficult to manage women would prefer getting married to their fellow men than the women. And as for the writing sphere, I think since some TIL Magazine 17

of these Western awards are being won by these writers who write about homosexuality and queer as being normal to life, so the push now is that every writer out there is aiming at these awards and the only way to channel their perspectives and views to be accepted by the foreigners is to click or accept the fact that homosexuality is a good thing or normal to life. My take here on homosexuality is that it is not African and it is not good for Africans, not only Africans but the whole world entirely. If you consider the statistics of the world, there are more women than men. If all men start getting married to men, who will get married to the women? Or if all the women are getting married to each other, what will be the lot of men?bout homosexuality and queer as being normal to life, so the push now is that every writer out there is aiming at these awards and the only way to channel their perspectives and views to be accepted by the foreigners is to click or accept the fact that homosexuality is a good thing or normal to life. My take here on homosexuality is that it is not African and it is not good for Africans, not only Africans but the whole world entirely. If you consider the statistics of the world, there are more women than men. If all men start getting married to men, who will get married to the women? Or if all the women are getting married to each other, what will be the lot of men?

ion facilitated by Brittle Paper's Assistant Editor and finalist for the Miles Morland and The Gerald Kraak Award, Otosierieze ObiYoung with a handful of guests comprising Romeo Oriogun, Winner of the 2017 Brunnel Poetry Prize: Arinze Ifeakandu, Finalist for the 2017 Caine Prize for African Writing: Kelechi Njoku, Finalist for the 2017 Commonwealth Short Story Prize Africa Region and Laura Ahmed, Editor at 14 tagged Unsilencing Queer Nigeria: The Language of Emotional Truth to reveal why and how writing about queerness started for them.

Arinze Ifeakandu says his first encounter with queer literature was Ju d e D i b i a ' s Wa l k i n g w i th Shadows which he read in the university. He says 'I remember how, before getting into university, I tried to find that book. I looked everywhere but did not find it. And before I started searching for it, I had searched for gay stories by Nigerian writers. Thinking of it now, it's pretty sad that I had to look that hard to find a single book. Reading Jude Dibia gave me the feeling of swimming in very charged waters, because politics was there fully.

There was so much self-explanation in it, too, which left me longing for more, for something dispassionate and middle-f ingerly— or not To wrap this up, we'll reproduce middle-fingerly, but, you know, excerpts from the Facebook discussunbothered…I had read a novel by James Hadley, Chase, can’t remember which, with queer characters on the fringes. I wrote an imitation of the novel, but placed the queer characters in the centre. I was not thinking of it in terms of subverting a

narrative or any of such adult stuff, no. I was merely writing to fill a void I felt but could not explain. That novel, my version of Chase, was popular in my class, I must add. Further more, he says ‘with Chinelo Okparanta, we are seeing the beginning of the breaking of the silence. I think it was in the essay, We are Here, We Queer, published in Brittle Paper, that I read that the absence of the queer body in Nigerian literature is an act of violence. I have never agreed so much with any statement. I am currently reading Happiness Like Water, reading a story titled Grace and it feels good just to see the longing one woman has for another.

What I find is that once a voice breaks forth, it opens doors for many others.

Romeo Oriogun says ‘…I didn’t read any queer literature while growing up; there was no book with a queer person as a character in the old library in Benin where I spent most of my holidays, and so I thought queerness was a thing to be hidden.

The first queer literature I read was a poem by Essex Hemphill. I think what that poem did for me was to open my eyes to the possibility of documenting the queer experience; that poem also led me to discover other poets that explore queerness in their works. I have always been indifferent about it, I never knew it could be written about, there was no precedent to look back on until I found Essex Hemphill. It was after Olubunmi was lynched to death in Ondo town that I started writing about queerness—there was an anger and a deep sadness that took hold of me, and the only way I could be free, the only way I could fight, was to write’.

TIL Magazine 18

Movie Review

The Psychological Effects Reviewer: Olumide Labulo Year of Release: 2014

Of Sodomy in Kunle Afolayan’s

October 1 October 1 is a Nigerian film written

by Tunde Babalola and produced by Golden Effect, a film production company run by the ace director, Kunle Afolayan. It features Sadiq Daba, Kayode Olaiya, David Bailie, Kehinde Bankole, Kanayo O. Kanayo, Fabian Adeoye Lojede, Femi Adebayo, Colin David Reese, Yemi Elebuibon, Nick Rhys, Ibrahim Chatta, and a host of others. Yes, the film is set in Colonial Nigeria to portray how Danladi Waziri (Sadiq Daba), a police officer from Northern Nigeria successfully investigates the frequent female murder cases in the community of Akote in the Western part of the country and challenges of having the mystery solved before Nigeria's Independence Day on October 1. However, amidst all is this silent but pronounced effects of a moral injustice perpetrated, worse off, by a religious custodian and guardian, Rev. Father Dowling, against two young boys, Agbekoya and Prince Aderopo, who were recipients of his scholarship. Now in their adulthood, we see how they are haunted by the memory and experience of their sodomization.

Garfield that borders on the testimonies of raped men by other men and published on www.independent.co.uk, a U.K man by the name Ben was explicit.

He said he had a normal life until he was raped in 1989 in Kesington by a stranger with a knife. While the rape lasted, the stranger made him do many unspeakable things and even peed in his mouth. Ben said after everything, he lost all sense of time, washed obsessively, burnt his clothes, became withdrawn, felt subhuman and welcomed multiple suicidal thoughts. Agbekoya and Prince Aderopo could have felt this way in those teenage years or even worse. Each could have developed different coping mechanisms to withstand the humiliation. Or how else can one compare the emotional wounds of one rape to what they experienced every other night for six whole years!!

Psychologists say the psychological and emotional effects of sodomization can be quite huge and range from multiple flashbacks to intense pain of regret, borderline personality disorder, suicidal thoughts, rage, revenge, nightmares,distrust, low self esteem, etc. In a 1992 article of Simon For some people, the experience of

sodomization could chart a new course in their sexual orientation as they grow older. In another article on ‘Homosexual Rape’ published on www.americansfortruth.com in 2015, May 1 precisely, the testimonies of many gay men today reveal that they became gay as adults because of their childhood experiences among which included rape by older gay men which were either family members, family friends or neighbours. But for the characters of Agbekoya and Aderopo, it couldn't do more damage than the intense bitter taste left in their mouths to birth rage and revenge. Agbekoya, thereafter, develops so much hatred for Western education such that he angrily decides to drop out of school and begins to nurture the thoughts of killing the Rev. Father. He gets the chance to execute his plans eventually when he (the Rev. Father) returns to Akote for an event organized in his honour. Aderopo, on his part, moves on with life, goes to the university like TIL Magazine 19

nothing happened. But somewhere in the recesses of his mind, he habours thoughts of hatred and revenge against his own Akote community where his father is king. He heaps the blame on the community for sending him off with the Rev. Father to Lagos to acquire Western education and plans to hit them back. On his return, he becomes the dreaded serial killer and rapist. Every other night, he goes all out on a target, usually a young virgin girl in a dead vicinity, and leaves a cross-like sign in-between her breasts. He continues in this manner to tell his story of rape and pain to the community whom he feels should feel much more. So far, five girls but one have told his story with their lives before his eventual arrest.

The sodomization of any individual, male or female, might not be the only thing that makes people feel pangs of death on the inside. However, the fact that it's usually forcefully imposed on them in their powerless states, against their will, puts it on the front burner.

Rape is bad enough. It is as bad as any evil done to humanity. Then the combination of the two: rape and homosexuality is so detestable. It's like adding salt to injury. God aside, the act of developing or having a SEXUAL attraction for people of same sex is so unnatural but these days, it's no surprise that these anomalies are portrayed by some pro-activist writers on the continent apologetically with the beauty that only those with perverse minds and orientation can perceive. I know they try to connect this to other natural phenomena.

Whether it works or not, the truth still stands. God didn't create homosexuality. The world did. It's thumbs up for Tunde Babalola, the writer, for reflecting on this theme, creating an awareness and reemphasizing that homosexuality exists even in religious circles and other high places. To that person whose hearts have been seared with this evil, it's your life. Just don't destroy another's with it.

Pendragon

Myth

Blessing Kolajo One night when the moon shone brightly, the king had a dream. In his dream, Prince Pendragon kidnapped his mother, Queen Otutu, took her to the river bank and made her have sex with a puppy.The king became confused after this dream. He summoned the village priest immediately but discretely.

Prince Pendragon being the only prince in the land of Kampey lived far beyond what he was destined for.

During the reign of his father king Otutu, a terrible misfortune befell the land. Animals began to walk like men, women no longer possessed their feminine qualities and even men seemed to be the next thing to stupidity. The land of Kampey became a subject of ridicule among other great kingdoms. Not quite long after the misfortune, the chief priest foretold the birth of Pendragon as the only solution that would heal the land of its abnormalities. Pendragon was born. Everybody worshipped and treated him like a king. As he grew older, the land of Kampey regained its lost glories and recorded bigger victories in war and productivity.

King Otutu was still the king but everyone knew that the reigning monarch was Prince Pendragon because the people believed he was the key to their salvation and prosperity. Years went by,and the gods blessed Prince Pendragon immensely. He stood out in all aspects. He was full of wisdom to rule, full of confidence and valour and of course full of pride and excessive love for women. Right from the age of 12, he became a voice whose sound could not be turned down by anyone including his father, King Otutu. The entire town danced along to his tune as he grew. They couldn’t sever his existence from their prosperity.

‘Greetings my king’, the priest greeted as he took his seat in front of the king.

After making consultations, he gave a sad look and said to the king ‘The prince must die else, a much more calamity than have ever seen will befall this kingdom. The gods have spoken’,

the priest said to the king.

King Otutu became worried and concluded not to sacrifice his son for his kingdom. Though he was aware of how autocratic he had become and how he defiled different maidens in the kingdom but he could not shy away from the fact that he was his only son.

When Prince Pendragon heard everything that transpired between his father and the priest through one of the palace guards, he decided to get rid of his father before his father decided to kill him. Filled with rage, he made way to his father's room and stabbed him continuously in his sleep until he died. Immediately, he proclaimed himself king and wore his father's crown. The gods were furious for his act of wickedness and decided to punish him with one of the things he loved the most. Since then, he became attracted sexually only to men like him, spreading this strange act across the land. The kingdom of Kampey became worse than it had ever been before and just like the gods predicted. After a long time, the people rebelled and sent him out of the palace.

TIL Magazine 20

Stage Craft

How to Become a Good Actor Theresa Elerubo

Lights! Camera! Action!!

Do you ever imagine what it will be like to become a big movie star? To have thousands of fans stay glued to their TV when your face comes up in a movie? Or to smile in front of the c a m e ra s wh i l e re ce iv i n g t h a t prestigious award for the best lead role in a movie? Do you ever imagine what it would be like to be a good actor?

Here are ten tips on how to become a good actor.

First of all, you don’t become a good actor overnight or after one feature film even if it’s a lead role.This is partly because the film industry produces thousands of films month after month and year after year with hundreds of buzzing actors aiming for the top just like you and also because you may not be that good after all. The Genevieves and Desmond Elliots of the industry did not become popular just like that; a deep search into their acting past would reveal years of practice and applications of some or all of the tips listed below.

Desire: To become a good actor, you have to actually want and desire it.

Without passion and desire, nothing good and long-lasting would come your way. Desire is a very strong driving force. Success is not just going to come naturally but like everything else you would want out of life, you must deliberately demand it. Most successful local and international performers would say almost the same thing. There was the desire to become good in their chosen fields and they started to take steps to get better. You too must begin with knowing what you want and what you have to do to achieve it.

his environment and how he reacts to it. Therefore, the actor must always be prepared and spontaneous to be able to gather skills, ideas and characters out of life’s situations to keep in his repertoire so as to be able to reproduce them at any time he needs to. For example, in an audition where an actor is asked to act like a mad man, a good actor’s mind immediately searches all the characteristics of a mad man he must have actively or passively observed in t he pa s t a n d s pon t a n e ou s ly reproduce it at that moment.

Whereas, a bad actor who has not observed his environment well enough would be lost or would perform badly.

Practice: The saying ‘Practice makes perfect’ cannot be overemphasized when it comes to a very practical profession such as acting. To become a good actor, you must be ready to have a lot of practice. Talent alone is never enough, to become a good actor, you should be ready to put in loads of work. The actor is meant to Spontaneity: Acting is, in some way, be fit physically and creatively which about reacting. An actor must be in requires several mind and body tune with his environment. The skill of exercises. Some actors put in days acting grows out of his knowledge of and months of work to be able to play

the roles that make them stars. To be better than the rest, you have to be prepared to put in more work than the rest. Accept criticism. While you are on your journey to be a better actor and a better person than you already are, you are going to meet a lot of critics on the way. Those who know and those who don’t know and most of what they say would discourage you but you must be ready to put bad criticism aside and recognize good criticisms. Accepting constructive cr i ti cal poi nts of vi ew from knowledgeable people would put you on the right track of becoming an allround better person.

Study/Learn: To succeed in any field in life, there is always one overriding principle – studying. The acting sphere is not left out. You must learn to study new ways to better your art.

You must add to yourself on a daily basis. An actor’s tool is his body, his voice and his mind. Therefore, the mind must be in a very good shape and this is done through studying.

Leave your comfort zone. A lot of people are held back in mediocrity because they refuse to come out of their comfort zones. To become a good actor, you must dare to take on TIL Magazine 21

challenging roles and you must be actors and even surround themselves with them. In the pursuit of becoming bold enough to take those steps that a better actor, you must continuously watch others act and strive to be better. will carry you to the next level. Go for that audition! Accept that role! Go out of your comfort zone.

Master Your Emotions: A good actor is one that is in control of himself, his thoughts and his emotions. He must know what he is feeling and must be able to conjure emotions from deep within even if they are not what he’s feeling at the moment. For instance, a man who has just lost his child, is told to play the role of a jester or a woman who is very excited is told to render sad lines. In both situations, the actor must find these differing emotions and summon them. The actor then must be in control of his thoughts and must not let what he is feeling affect what he must feel while acting.

Seek Advice/Mentorship: In becoming a good actor, you must never underestimate the power of mentorship and advice from professionals. If you can, get your role Flash model to mentor your acting, to hook you up with new productions where Fiction you can learn and grow. If you can’t, get to meet the role model of your choice, then follow them, watch them and learn the good things from them.

Invest in Yourself: You must be ready to invest in whatever you love and cherish. Sometimes, what you need to be a great actor would not be free.

You may need to pay to attend workshops, seminars and events that would increase your passion (but never pay for roles). The impact of investing in your career is something you should never underestimate.

Time, effort and money needs to be set aside in growing yourself.

Watch Others: To be a good actor, you have to watch good actors and be ready to learn from them. Just as writers must read good books and dancers must watch trending dance steps, so must actors watch good

Bla Bla Bla

Yami Bamgboye the time, I walked up to him again. I adjusted his shorts, wiped his sweat and gave him some water. He was smart but I needed to boost his morale.

‘Hey sweetie…’ I started again, ‘when you get on stage, just say my name is bla bla bla and I’m here to bla bla bla before you start, okay? I repeated.

After his introduction, he walked up to take the microphone with so much confidence. As little as he was, he put up a brief performance that got parents giggling and smiling but little Johnny killed me instead.

‘Hey sweetie, when you get on stage, ‘Khn…khn…khn…’, he cleared his just introduce yourself and go ahead throat. with your presentation, okay?’I ‘My name is bla bla bla and I’m here admonished. to bla bla bla…’

My little nephew looked at me and nodded in affirmation. Few seconds to TIL Magazine 22

ST YLE TIPS

Photogrid

In View

Marturion Cinemas:

The New Hub of Entertainment in Igando and Environs When you think entertainment, more often than not, music is always the first to come to mind but is that all there is to it? Entertainment in the real sense is anything that gives you pleasure or relaxes your nerves.

It could be as little as fiddling with your phone, teasing a friend, visiting a usual hangout like a nearby bar, swimming, partying, listening to some cool music in your comfort zone, going to the beach or the cinema to see a movie on the big screen. For residents of Igando and environs, the hassles of going far away to the Island, Ikeja or Surulere to see a movie every other time might have denied many the fun they sought doing that. Many others might have been deterred and forced to seek succor in nearby restaurants and bars. But something had to be done. Someone had to re-write history. However, there was no Messiah, not a single one in sight for a long time. After the wait, like Providence granted the unspoken wishes of many cinema lovers in that part of the city, Marturion Cinemas came into existence on a beautiful Wednesday (6th precisely) in Dece-

mber, 2017 with an outlook of serving the underserved, ever busy, massively populated areas in Lagos first, with Igando and environs by bringing the cinema experience to this set of people that had felt so left out.

Owned by Marturion Group Limited and located at Brainfield Event Centre, Km 3, LASU-Isheri Road, Oko Filling Bus Stop, the outfit is dedicated to creating, distributing and exhibiting entertainment

content across all consumer bases particularly in Lagos and Nigeria by extension by offering the best of Hollywood and Nollywood movies in ve r y s e re n e a n d co m fo r t a b l e environment in addition to great concession services. Also inclusive are school excursions, movie premieres and special screenings. As it appears, it hasn't really been a smooth ride.

Although the acceptance of this multi-million naira investment in the locality has been awesome with the

increasing patronage on daily basis but the challenges have been quite huge too: from erratic power supply to s e c u r i t y. O f c o u r s e , e v e r y entrepreneur, you will say, is in business to make profit; this doesn't come cheap. It takes much more, according to Thomas Edison, to see opportunities like this dressed in overalls and look like work.

Consistency, hard work, patience are all its proponents. These challenges, no doubt, have brought with them some good in their pouch by putting the management on their toes and keeping them just right on top of their TIL Magazine 24

every day of the week: Monday to Sunday with show time beginning as early as 8:00 am till midnight. Among these days is a special one. The one officially called WOW WEDNESDAY but unofficially labelled YAKATA WEDNESDAY. Unlike other days, tickets for all ages and all movies are sold for a flat rate of just N500 pere. Can you beat that!?

Today, Marturion Cinemas has stepped up against all odds and in alignment with the management's drive to meet the needs of millions of film consumers in Lagos and Nigeria by opening a new outlet at Lekki Colliseum, Plot 14, Providence Street Off Admiralty Way, Lekki Phase 1, affirming its unwavering goal to rapidly expand over the next few years to five outlets in Lagos and each one in other major urban centres in the country in order to meet the needs of millions of film consumers across Nigeria. So, in few years, just in few years, Marturion Cinemas will become one of the big players and the most recognized brands in the industry such that when you talk cinema, you talk Marturion.

game with new ideas to build and rebuild the cinema culture in many more people within the metropolis with the continual screening of latest movies and those on high demand, to maintain the top-notch services rendered and to satisfy the yearnings of all their customers regardless of what sells: comedy, horror, etc.

Another is the introduction of not just competitive but pocket friendly ticket prices for all movies including the best local and international blockbusters.

Marturion Cinemas, Igando is equipped with a state-ofthe-art DCI and non-DCI screens mounted in each of the two air-conditioned halls that have the capacity of entertaining a total of 144 viewers at a sitting. It opens

TIL Magazine 25

Chronicles

The Myth of Size in Sexual Intercourse Ayomipo Akorede email: korede4ril@gmail.com

The society generally has a way of idealizing the tangibility or intangibility of everyday issues. Worse off, these idealizations are often mythical and world apart with realities.

Maybe that explains why little Johnny runs after every elephant mosquito he sees around the house because he’s heard (that) they cause elephantiasis or why a guy would shy away from loving a ‘minimally’ endowed woman (in both or either region) just because he would not be proud enough to show her off to everyone around him.

English, an offline dictionary, defines myth, in relation to this discourse, as a commonly-held but false belief, a common misconception; a fictitious or imaginary person or thing; a popular conception about a real person or event which exaggerates or idealizes reality.

The concept of myth can be ‘traced back to 4th century BC Greece, when the world of tradition, linked in one way or another to the orality, definitively gave way to the rationalistic-oriented writing culture, so that hardened in inevitably indurated texts, the mythoi appear to the new reading audience as only odd and incomprehensible stories’ (Journal of Studies in Social Sciences, page 39, Volume 6, Number 1, 2014) .

Today, myth is such that it magnifies the ‘projection of our internal desires and conflicts into the outer world’ (The Concept of Myth by D. H Monro, Page 115, 1950).

During my undergraduate days, on a fateful day, I was involved in a hot discussion that was chiefly driven by two plus size ladies who insisted vehemently that the size of the penis mattered a lot in sexual intercourse.

While one couldn’t really say why she held on to that assertion, the other was able to cite a personal experience she had with an ex who was rich but couldn’t dig her deep down. First of all, who chooses to be born the way they are born, the way they look, where they are born and to the parents they are given? Who chooses to have a broken marriage, be poor, childless or die in their prime? Who chooses to fail, be disappointed or even live in Nigeria? Loool!!! If we all had the privilege of choices over the aforementioned, wouldn’t we make better choices?

This belief (of ‘minimally’ endowed guys not capable of satisfying their women) is widespread. Some women even believe it could make conception impossible for them. Hmmmmm...are you wondering like I am? Now, if sex was all about size, why then do these endowed men suffer weak erection and quick ejaculation? If sex was all about size, why do TIL Magazine 26

majority of the ladies out there cheat on their partners that are well endowed? Why do they complain of insatiability as in not reaching orgasm after all the deep thrusting? More so, if impregnating a woman (permit me) was hinged on size, then why are some women whose husbands are heavily endowed not getting pregnant?

According to Daniel J. DeNoon in his article titled Is My Penis Too Small?, and other well-researched, reliable publications, we can confidently deduce that the only time a man can be ‘accused’ of having a small penis is when it is micro. A micropenis is the resultant of a health condition that makes the penis look unusually small and invariably makes sex impossible. It’s so worse that it’s not longer than 3 inches at erection and the only remedy for such is surgery. So, a man whose SPL (Stretched Penis Length) is around 5 or 5.24 inches has a big enough size. While something that is a little below falls on the average, only 0.6% (of men) have their SPL hit 6.8 inches and more according to Palmer’s statistics (2012). At this juncture, it is important to state that the true size of a penis, according to scientists, is known only when it is stretched (not erect) hence, SPL.

awesomely unique such that specific parts of their bodies (that give sexual excitement), as stated by Anna in her Here’s What Happens to the Female Brain During Sex article are connected to different brain regions activated to give orgasm during sex including the cortex which becomes hyper-sensitive to touches.

So, we can deduce that sex extends far beyond size to include a lot of foreplay: kissing, caressing and all that. We can also deduce that the utmost goal of sex isn’t leaving a woman hanging or fatigued without reaching orgasm (sexual satisfaction). Further research has also shown that a higher percentage of women derive orgasm from soft touches on the clitoris while only a small percentage have vaginal orgasm which is achieved through the penetration of the penis or both.

However, for women that fancy vaginal orgasm or both, their preferences may differ from person to person which in a way, reiterates that a man who possesses an SPL of 6,7,8 or 9 inches with the mentality that it’s all about his size may end up failing woefully while a man whose his is around 5 inches or a little lesser with so much focus on stamina and skills may be one hundred times better after all. You feel me?

It is pertinent to know that the mind is a powerful tool and everything we all do starts from the mind-- it begins there, it ends there! The inadequacies, so to say, of a man that is genuinely loved can be sincerely aided to perform even at the greatest altitudes. Therefore, it is explicitly mythical maybe wrong for anyone to think that men whose SPL are around 5 or 5.24 or a The body composition and chemistry of women is little lesser cannot be better lovers in bed.

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Short Story

All Our Scars Cynthia Wright

I watched him silently…my eyes strained on the conversation he was having, the way his hands wandered down her arm as they talked. She was beautiful, light skinned and had a dark mane of hair. Her eyes were bright as she stared at him, looking up at him with adoring eyes. He was smiling that smile again, that smile that’s made my heart ache, especially when it wasn’t directed at me. I couldn’t hear what they were talking about but I could tell that he was complimenting her at the moment with the way she giggled and flipped her hair over her shoulders with a shy smile.

As he stood there I wondered what line he was using now and if he had used it once on me. The possibility of that was very high. Maybe he told her that her hair reminded him of a mermaid’s, the beautiful flow as it fell down her shoulders calling onto him like the seductive call of a siren. Or maybe he said her eyes looked like a thousand stars were trapped in them and he wanted to be the only one their light shone on. I could think of a thousand and one things he was saying to her, the tone he was using and the smile…that goddamned smile that he sent her way. His hands were covering hers as they talked some more. From where I sat I noticed she was leaning heavily on his body. He was rather tall, with long legs and a lean waist. He looked perfect to lean on and I didn’t blame her for taking the opportunity. I knew the moment he recognized the fact that she had landed in his perfectly set trap, he smiled large, his white teeth glittering in the sun and I chuckled a little because I knew that smile would come sooner than later. He was charming, and he knew it, every word that left his lips were aimed at her strengths, aimed perfectly like a sniper’s favorite weapon at all her walls, sending them tumbling down like a pack of oddly set

cards. It was a rather sad sight to see.

felt no tingles, no blimp in my heartbeat, no shortness of breath, I Another heartbroken soul to add to just felt… numb. the long list of ladies already cursing his name. Maybe at an earlier time I Mike placed his hands over mine and would have been disgusted at the gave my palm a kiss, resisting an eye sight, I would have turned my nose at roll; I looked back at James whose the way he caressed them, like I always eyes were already on me, watching did when he pulled out a blunt… now me silently. I wondered what ran it was familiar and rather amusing as I through his mind whenever he laid watched the impending heart break his eyes on me, did he think I was unfold right before my eyes. I guess beautiful? Or did he imagine me in with the amount of time I’d seen it erotic positions under him with his happen, I had become rather lips running slowly down my neck, unfeeling to the countless girls and my legs wrapped around his waist as their faceless faces because for some I g a s p e d a t t h e f e e l i n g o f reason, they always reminded me of penetration? My eyes had glazed myself. With the way they melted at over when I realized that I was the his smile, the way they laughed at his one imagining all of this, I was the jokes and most shamefully bent to his one who wanted to be beautiful in will. But what I do know…they had his eyes, I was the one who wanted to s o m e t h i n g I d e s p e r a t e l y be under him in the most intimate wanted…They had James. They had way possible. I hated when my him…I didn’t. thoughts took this direction because ‘Did you see her?’ He asks loudly as he I hated the reaction my body had to sits at our table, taking a swing of his the thoughts. Tingles. I felt tingles, forgotten beer, his eyes shining like tingles up my spine, tingles at my they did after the predator in him had gotten their prey, he watched me fingertips, tingles on my lips, I felt tingles everywhere. And sucking in a waiting for my response. sharp breath, I looked at my Nodding my head wildly I smiled and b o y f r i e n d . H e w a s t a l k i n g replied with enthusiasm ‘She was animatedly to James who was really cute!’ I wasn’t lying however, she laughing at his jokes and nodding his was beautiful. She wasn’t me. His dark head in amusement. I looked at brown orbs shimmered as he watched Mike’s face trying to find which me with hooded eyes, his lips curved imperfection was there that made it in a small smile as his eyes wandered my face, as if searching for something.

Our eyes met, and we maintained the eye contact, I held my breath as I watched his lips closely as they were about to move. ‘Baby, I’ve been looking all over for you!” Mike’s voice rang loudly in my ears breaking the concentration I had on James’s eyes.

Moving my gaze to my boyfriend as he sat beside me and pulled me in for a kiss, I closed my eyes tightly, trying to imagine the fireworks and butterflies I should be feeling at the simple fact that his lips touched mine. Numb. I felt numb, I felt no tinges, no blimp in TIL Magazine 28

hard for me to feel tingles, but I found nothing; his chocolate brown skin was a perfect fit for his dark eyes, his pale pink lips as he spoke and his bright white smile. The bright white smile that was directed at me…

Mike was mine. I had him. But for some reason he didn’t seem to be enough, I wanted more, I wanted something else. I wanted James.

James didn’t want me however, I wasn’t what he wanted, I could never be. Maybe in an alternate world, he would met me first and be the one pinning over me like a dazed lover, maybe he would be in love with me.

Maybe he would trail kisses down my neck, bite my lips lightly, suck on my collarbone and maybe just maybe he would do me right. Do me like Mike never does. Michael treated me ‘right’. He did all the socially right things to ‘steal’ my heart but he didn’t steal anything, I just felt obligated to give him something. I wasn’t in love with him, I should be but I wasn’t. If I think about it really hard, if I focus all my scattered brain cells on why I was with Mike, I would remember that at first, the fact that someone actually liked me was more than fascinating, it was mind boggling, someone actually liked me! The fact that other girls wanted this piece of perfect human chocolate didn’t help the situation, I remember how he’d smile brightly at me whenever he saw me in a crowd, at the mall, everywhere, he would smile, and the fact that I had that type of effect on someone was mind blowing.

I fed off that feeling. The feeling of attraction he felt for me, it has never happened before…at least not to that extent. So yes I was a weirdo, and yes I was an attention seeker. There are worse sins.

‘Hey Ola, I’ll catch you later, aiii?’

James says as he stands up from his seat and leaves without telling Mike goodbye. I watched him go silently, my eyes focused on his back as he left. I kept my gaze on him until he was out of sight. Sighing, I turned to look at my boyfriend to see him

glaring at me harshly, his eyes narrowed tightly as he looked like he was trying to find something.

‘What?’ I asked quietly as I tried to avoid his eyes, picking up my food in my spoon and then turning it over in the plate absentmindedly.

‘What’s going on with you and that guy?’ he asks with his face taking an unattractive look as he frowned in my direction.

‘I don’t know what you mean’, I murmured as I turned to look at him in the eye, hoping that he couldn’t see through the hardness in my eyes, hoping he couldn’t see my longing for someone that wasn’t him…Just hoping for something .I assumed my hoping worked because he said nothing and just moved closer to me, wrapping his arm around my waist. Mike was huge with PDA, he would touch, kiss, tickleand lick me right in front of everyone. I wondered if, maybe, he was trying to prove something. ‘ You look beautiful today’, he whispered into my ears, the warm heat from his words probably intended to make me melt only made me cringe. I had seen James do that to countless of girls and they had looked like they were in bliss… like they shared a secret. I forced a smile and replied ‘Thanks, you tell me that all the time’. Indeed, he always told me I was beautiful…problem was I never felt beautiful…never.

‘You wanna go up to my room? Wanna sex you up’, he told me with a sly smile as his hand wandered under my skirt and brushed over the lace panties. I didn’t squeal like the first time it happened, I didn’t flinch, I just nodded silently and got up to pick my books off the table. Throwing my bag over my shoulders, I pushed my glasses up my nose and walked beside him to his hostel.

As soon as the door was closed, I felt my back hit the wall lightly, and before I could breathe, I felt his lips on mine.

Holding his shirt tightly in my hands, I kissed back matching his pace, my mind already replacing him with the one I really wanted. His hands dragged down my back and pulled my shirt off, sucking in a sharp breath I moaned a

little at the sudden cold that attacked my bare chest. ‘Dig baby’, I said. He groaned as he unhooked my bra before pushing me back on the wall and then sliding my skirt right off my waist. I don’t know how we did it but we were suddenly on his bed, I was under him, my legs spread to accommodate his body. I always imagined feeling safe when he was above me, but I didn’t feel safe, I never did. His hands absentmindedly wandered my body, just caressing as if he was doing me a favor, as if I should appreciate the fact that he was touching me. His hands weren’t the hands of a lover, no, he was using me…And I swear I let him. I always did.He didn’t bite my neck like I was hoping he would, he didn’t suck my collarbone like I wished…he just went straight for the price that sat between my legs.

My eyes strain at the ceiling as I felt him push into me, my nails digging into his back as I let myself feel wanted, it was painful and not in any way enjoyable but he wanted me, I was giving him pleasure, I was making him moan. Me. I… I was doing that to him. I made him shiver in pleasure. I felt…powerful. Used, but fucking powerful. Gasping with every intrusion of him into my body, I felt a tear run out my eye as I felt him pound harder into me. The world was spinning around me, the colors were all dark and grey, I was looking for a silver lining... I found no escape. ‘Fuck’, I heard him say harshly over me, I knew he had reached his peak. His use for me was over; I couldn’t even decide if I was happy about that fact or that I resented it. A bit of both I guess.

Breathing heavily as he pulls out of me, before turning over and facing the other side of the bed, I heard him shuffle behind me before I felt his arm wrap around my waist and pull me closer. ‘Did I hurt you baby?’ I heard him whisper behind me.

Choking on a sob, I said ‘No…not more than usual’.

TIL Magazine 29

Cover Story

The Rise of Queerness in Modern African Arts Yamilenu Bamgboye

The word 'art' is an embodiment of all forms of creativity the world over: the use of imagination to express ideas or feelings in painting, writing, drawing or sculpture and its history is as old as the history of humanity.

The literature of the world today, as noted by Ibrahim and Akande (2000), deliberately aims at recreating the human society throu-

gh the exposition of human experiences, religious beliefs and socio-cultural motifs of a society within the imaginative framework of arts that rely heavily on skills that have been developed from time to time through constant practice or training.

This phase of metamorphosis has placed literature on the high pedestal of a social tool for propaganda, com-

mentaries, ridicules, forecasting and a liberating force that orchestrates our freedom from integral ideas placed on us by traditions and cultures of years gone past.

What History Was In prehistoric times, art started first with the words of mouth as cultural practices in different climes involving TIL Magazine 30

Cover Story festivals, incantations and storytelling portraying themes of traditional beliefs and morals, artifacts, sculpture, architecture, pottery, cave painting, handicrafts, rock art, metal smelting, rituals, coronations, dance, songs, clerical chants or magic charms recited usually by the priests and transmitted orally from memory to memory.

Durant, a historian, noted that this chants formed everything poetry today with other genres like the ode which existed among the Greeks and originally meant magic spell. All of these had the rhythms of bodily life apparently developed by magicians or shamans to preserve, transmit, and enhance the magic incantations of their verse. At this juncture, it is pertinent to say the poet, the orator and the historian (though differentiated and secularized) also belonged to these sacerdotal origins too. During the historic periods of these ancient practices, there were naturalistic developments including the production of elaborate Egyptian and complex works of art by professional artists and craftspeople first, to portray their religious beliefs on immortality and exhibit the influence of the civilization of the era through their advanced architectural designs. Given that their culture had a highly centralized structure and hierarchy, a great deal of their creations and monuments were also in the honour of pharaoh hence, their art was altogether symbolic. Others were the idealized depictions of the human body like we see in ancient Greek art where nude male figures were mostly the focus of innovation; ancient Roman art where gods were depicted as idealized humans with c h a ra c te r i s t i c d i s t i n g u i s h i n g features; ancient Byzantine and Gothic art of the Middle Ages where the dominance of the church necessitated the expression of Biblical and not material truths and the intertwining of art with writing which was about the greatest advancement from the tradition of

communication using pictures.

Although in these times, writing was accessible only to the elites, its contribution to the documentation of artistic inclinations and creativities was invaluable. As such, it allowed scribes to record the events of their times as well as their religious beliefs thereby creating an art form (literature) which was not possible before the written word. While this new invention grew on people, writers like the Mesopotamian priestess Enheduanna (2285-2250 BCE) daughter of Sargon of Akkad whom history regards as the first writer ever began to emerge. She wrote hymns to the goddess Inanna and Matter of Aratta consisting four poems that documented the dealings of King Enmerkar of Uruk, his son Lugalbanda and The Lord of Aratta. However, The Epic of Gilgamesh was considered the first epic tale in the world and among the oldest extant literature composed at an earlier time to tell the tale of the great king of Uruk Gilgamesh and his quest for the meaning of life. These activities, therefore, paved way for the recording of other genres like the myths of the people of Mesopotamia, the stories of their gods and heroes, their history, their methods of building, of burying their dead, of celebrating feast days, etc. for posterity (Joshua J. Mark).

As time crawled by, the innovation of writing spread across the world.

Soon, different periods of civilization (in different climes) dictated the pace or interfered with what had always been. And modernism took over.

Now, the world of art began to experience a paradigm shift both in style and expression. Many artists and writers, though still heavily influenced by tradition and culture, chose to move away from the narrative towards abstraction which seemed to afford them the freedom they needed to explore new terrains of creativity portraying the present

activities of daily life in all spheres: economic, social, and political thus, conditioning the introduction of new themes, new styles and new discoveries. For instance, Aeschylus, a playwright, 'invented' the idea of dialogue and interaction among characters in his Oresteia trilogy of plays which invariably was an improvement of the existing structure of drama. Sophocles and Euripedes followed in his steps. While Sophocles on the one hand skillfully developed irony as a literary technique in his play Oedipus Rex, Euripedes channeled his energy in challenging certain societal norms and mores in his works: Medea, The Bacchae and The Trojan Women. On the other hand, in Roman or Latin literature, while Augustine of Hippo ‘invented’ autobiography through his work Confessions, Ovid explored Greek myths again in new ways by creating a form that succeeded the stream of consciousness genre and Horace became the first writer to expand on satire and made it a tool for argument.

The literature of the Islamic world (the Arabians) introduced science fiction, an entirely new genre, to the l i t e r a r y wo r l d t h r o u g h ‘ T h e Adventures of Bulukiya’ featured in their collection of stories One Thousand and One Nights. In later years, the new style in English poetry went metaphysical with the spirit of intellectual investigation of the spiritual, a new wave of scientific development and investigation in Europe started a trend that became a part of human understanding.

Here in Africa, the periods of modernization were-- though not initially, considering how literate some African societies like Ethiopia, Egypt, the Swahili coast, etc. had been-- heavily influenced by the spread of Western civilization. This made those who had been schooled and exposed write or document traditional myths, folklore, folktale, chants, incantations, etc. in English, the language of civilization. Many TIL Magazine 31

Cover Story indigenous writings that sprung up a n u n u s u a l a t t e n t i o n o f of harnessing support, from all thereafter included slave narratives e.g homosexuality in contemporary corners, by advocates in all spheres,

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano (1789), and those that attempted to correct history and or certain social issues that were prevalent e.g Ernest Dhlomo, South African writer’s The Girl Who Killed to Save: Nongqawuse the Liberator (1935), Ngugi wa Thiong'o’s The Black Hermit (1962), Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart (1958). Others recorded colonial impact on tradition, delved into liberation, segregation, independence, the black race and a couple of other happenings that caught their fancy. In the post-colonial era, attention shifted to more contemporary issues which mostly were oppression by indigenous governments, civil war, terrorism, military coups, corruption, moral decadence, gender equality, romance, extreme sex, homosexuality, etc.

Homosexuality is one social issue that has been from time immemorial. Our first encounter with this subject matter dates back to the Biblical days of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 1:9) where people did all sorts of evil including having sexual relations with people of same sex. Henceforth, notwithstanding its contribution to the destruction of the city, it became widespread--without much notice though--and passed down from generation to generation. Afterwards, it started crawling into the open, into literary space, gaining currency among people of like minds such that it drove the allowance and abolishment of the trend at different times until some countries started criminalizing it as an offence against nature. In 1791, the Kingdom of France became the first West European country to decriminalize homosexual acts. This gesture birthed the intensification of strings of advocacy from different stakeholders and LGBT societies that had been formed over st time for its legalization, in the 21 century, in all civilized societies across the world and informed the decision of

African arts.

Why Queerness is Taking Over Queer is the euphemistic or assimilationist word that has been adopted to refer to sexual and or gender minorities who are not heterosexual: succinctly, the LGBT c o m m u n i t y. A c c o r d i n g t o Wikipedia, it originally meant strange or peculiar before it became used pejoratively against those with same-sex relationships in the late 19th century. Abnormal sexual behaviour has never been a strange discourse on the African continent. Research says homosexual activities had been prevalent in many African societies before the arrival of European missionaries who campaigned against it. On the list were Congo, Madagascar, Ethiopia, Cameroon, Egypt, Gabon, South Africa, Ghana, Uganda, Sudan where the Zande tribe had a tradition of lesbianism in p o lyg a m o u s h o u s e h o l d s a n d warriors marrying boys and paying a bride price as they would for girl brides. When the boys grew, they too became warriors and took boy-wives.

Nigeria isn’t left out on the list.

Although it’s herculean to trace it to a set of people where it was a tradition, there is no denying the fact that it existed here. Wole Soyinka features this theme in his 1965 novel, The Interpreters, through the character of Joe Golder a queer AfricanAmerican and his discovery of the same practice among a handful of Emirs with boys. Femi Ademiluyi did the same through a prisoner in his 1994 novel, The New Man. The increasing trend of this notation, in recent time, among new generation writers, has birthed a kind of radicalism that has never been seen in contemporary African arts. To what end this really aims, one can’t tell in totality. But from a viewpoint, probably on the surface, we can say that it tilts in the direction

for people with unusual or abnormal sexual orientation (in the class of LG BT a n d m ay b e B D S M b y extension). We see this in mass protests (in writing) of writers like Chinelo Okparanta, Romeo Oriogun, Sahro Ali, Munachim Amah, NoViolet Bulawayo, Akwaeke E m e z i , Pe t i n a G a p p a h , M i a Mc Ke n z i e , K . S e l l o D u i ke r , Tatamkhulu Afrika, Beatrice Lamwaka, Binyavanga Wainaina, etc. who may or may not be gay themselves. Their writings oppose, largely, the existential ‘homophobia’ believed to have been started by Christianity or Islam in many African societies; presenting it as a natural p h e n o m e n o n l i k e heteronormativity.

We see this in Chinelo's Under the Udala Tree through the characters of Ndidi, Ijeoma and the circumstances surrounding their continual existence in Aba, Nigeria and the whole of Africa by extension.

Ijeoma is apologetically portrayed first as a young girl who just helplessly gets sexually attracted to other girls. Next, she becomes so immersed that every 'attempt' she makes to let go proves abortive. As she grows older, she gets tortured by the spiritual truth she's been filled with but chooses to ignore and the society's hostility towards the practice after witnessing the brutal killing of two of her club members in the hands of an angry mob. In the end, she abandons her marriage to become a full-fledged gay with her l o v e r, N d i d i , i n a d i s c r e t e relationship. Jude Dibia portrays this from another angle in his Walking with Shadows fiction. Here, we are introduced to Adrian Njoku, head of a risk business unit whose past sexual orientation is exposed by a colleague he's sacked on the grounds of corruption. At this point, Adrian is on the verge of losing everything he's worked for including his marriage.

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Cover Story shield him from condemnation by sympathetically portraying him as congenital, a trait his parents, brothers hated and made them abandon or treat him with inferiority i n c h i l d h o o d . Fr o m a n o t h e r viewpoint, we can say the radicalism aims at refuting the impression of dehumanization and anomaly perceived to be created by the society and supported by foremost writers like Emeka Ike and others through the amplification of the practice on the continent and humanization of those involved in it. These boy-wives, girlhusbands are made to look normal, act normal, have normal jobs and even profess love the way heterosexuals do.

We see this in certain anthologies dedicated to this cause. Their true stories are documented to tell the continent they exist here, their emotions of fear are erased, the confidence or comfort they have in that state is x-rayed and the society becomes nonexistent in their affair.

Sometime in 2014, Nigeria and Zimbabwe criminalized same-sex relationships and the support for such. This gesture signaled nothing but extreme hostility and oppression to proactivist writers (gay or not) who work hard, developing homosexual themes aimed at becoming the voice of the 'oppressed' minority and reversing the criminalization of this anomaly in all the African states it's been outlawed and backed up with severe or capital punishments. We see the portrayal in John Greyson's 2003 movie, Proteus. This film relives an early 18th century court record from South Africa's Cape Town. Here, we see Class Blank and Rijkhaart Jacobsz both serving different prison terms on Robben Island spanning long years.

For Blank, his journey to the prison has been orchestrated by an insult hurled at a Dutch citizen while Jacobsz' has been unnatural acts with another man. After their meeting, they form a bond that leads to a discrete relationship where trips to a private water tank afford them the

opportunity to copulate every other time until they are caught and executed by drowning for sodomy.

So knowing, as of now, that of the 54 countries recognized by United Nations and African Union on the continent, only two: Cape Verde and South Africa constitutionally recognize it is reason enough for interested individuals and even international bodies to plunge into the discourse through sponsored (q u e e r ) l i te ra r y awa rd s l i ke LAMBDA, Nebula, etc. specifically created for that purpose.

From another viewpoint, we can say this radicalism aims at extending the tentacles of the 'ideals' of antiheteronormativity to younger generations through propaganda.

Propaganda is a common tool adopted by warring parties mostly, to spread falsity to influence and control the opinions, thoughts, actions and behaviour of a good number of people. It is also a common tool a government adopts to warm up its way into the hearts of many. In this regard, truth about the unnatural act of homosexuality is subverted, the spirituality serving as the basis is constantly ridiculed and undermined; all for the exaltation of its acceptance in the society. Chinelo Okparanta's Happiness Like Water and Under the Udala Tree say it all.

She makes her characters question Biblical truth on homosexuality, relating that part of the scriptures to nothing but an allegory. Brethren, do we say gone are the days of critical, intellectual writings that possessed powerful charms of evoking intense emotions and logical reasoning? Or what runs wild in the minds of new generation writers like most Nigerian musicians is nothing but quick fame or wealth thus, driving the vehicle of creativity towards nothing but pure abstraction?

Conclusively, this terrain of discourse is such that exhibits a newness many other creative minds may also want to innocently explore.

As well, it forms a model for further explorations of more daring terrains.

Truth be told, the disadvantages of this course far out-weighs the noise made about the oppression, dehumanization, etc. of homosexuals. Among which include quantum increase in other moral vices like stealing and prostitution which may one day catch the fancy of a set of new voices on the scene, advocating for their legalizations too. For the future of queerness in African arts, this wave of radicalism will be nothing in reality but a referential era in the history of the development of contemporary African literature.

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