By Tunji  Ajibade

Sometimes, a man’s profundity may be better appreciated when seen in person. Such was the case with the man in the spotlight at the April edition of the Abuja Writers’ Forum’s Guest Writer Session.

The pre-event publicity had stated that the poet finds poetry rather enigmatic for its power of introspection, circumspection and translucence, and of all forms of poetry, he finds romantic poetry healthier for its therapeutic and cathartic effects on the human soul.

Dr Abubakar Othman however had something more weighty up his sleeve when he took the monthly “hot seat” on April 30 at the Pen and Pages Bookstore in Abuja. And this is what transpired.

The first poem he read from his an extra-textual collection was “Termites of The House” followed by “The House of Babel”. Both poems have a political bent, yet the fame that preceded, Abubakar said “romantic poet”; is what everyone knew him for.

He would soon be challenged as to why a romantic poet like himself veers off into the field of politics. Another participant at the event even added that as one who had been in politics, the lampooning that Abubakar’s poems portrayed of politicians is an indictment on himself.

The poet would go on to say that poetry as a form of art is variegated, and that when he wrote about politics, he wrote something in season, that seared his mind, touched his emotion and moved his pen – to write.

But he would add that he has been in and out of politics. When he was in, he knew he was in the dark, and he saw it as dark. Not many people in the dark see in the dark, not to mention seeing that it is dark.

Politicians as a breed, and by nature, he added, do not see in the dark, they don’t see that it is dark. Yet they grope. It takes a poet to see in the dark, to see what happens in the dark, and bring it out in his art a valuable, insightful addition to what is shown of politics to the public through the conventional medium.

The day did not start out on such a note of high wire, cerebral exchange though. It did on a lighter note, one that ushered every attendee into the relaxed atmosphere that characterized the event. Both entertainers and an artist took their crafts to the attendees.

First it was Lindsey Abudei who performed on her guitar. Ms Abudei is of the Nigerian Law School, and her songs, “What I Want To Do,” as well as “Don’t Look At Me That Way” had the audience clapping in appreciation. Next was Tokunbo Edward who did “The Videotape.” Tokunbo played what he called a mixture of rock and jazz, and it was no wonder the peculiar kind of guitar he used.

It wafted a ‘rocky’ sound into the hall and the ears of his listeners, long before its player mentioned the genre of music he performed. And there was Christie Makut on her guitar, too. Ms Makut is a broadcaster who features regularly at the monthly writers’ event.

In between the performances of the trio of guitarists, Sola Odulusi, a painter engaged the audience. Odulusi would pass for a lecturer introducing his students to the world of painting.

He gave background explanation to his work, a thing that made even the lay in painting get him straight, appreciate what he had on display, able to make meaningful comments as well as offer useful suggestions to the owner of the artworks. He showed, The Arrival, of a woman, alone, in a canoe, and on the river.

Odulusi said his character was returning from the market, she had good sales and so her canoe was practically empty on a good market day. His audience said, the painting reminded them of the Southern parts of Nigeria where women are familiar sights on canoes.

Another pointed out that “The Arrival” portrayed African women as hardworking, enterprising, independent, free. It was agreed by everyone in the hall that it was excellent portrayal of women, the opposite of women who sometimes are shown nude in paintings, shown as just another object.

But, could the painter have a receding sun behind the woman to indicate she was returning home after a full day’s work, and could he separate the water under her canoe from the skyline, using different colours? Such changes would give a clearer metal picture to the uninitiated, was the reason for the suggestions, to which the owner of the artworks, who also showed “The Message” said, “Noted.”

Then the Guest Writer came to the hot seat. He was of the Tanure Ojaide’s generation, Abubakar Othman. The two and some other notable writers on the nation’s scene and abroad were at the University of Maiduguri in the 80s’ and in the early 1990s’ where they had a virile creative writers’ outfit. Part of the outcome of their encounters at the time is Abubakar’s poetry collection: The Passions of the Cupid.

The title is a suggestive of the content, a show of the romanticist that the poet/author professes. But the poet did not start his reading from this book, he did from an upcoming collection, and from it, he read poems such as ,Termites in the House, Crocodile Tears; Thanksgiving; Buried Without Grave; The Bottle and the Gavel as well as The House of Babel;. He also read, on special requests, poems from The Passions of Cupid such as Do Not Wait; To The Bide’s Maid; I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, and Text Message II.