Professor Steve Okecha, Special Adviser on Technical Education to the Minister of Education recently launched a book titled ‘’Now l Know My People’: A Commentary on the Ndokwa Nation. Prof Okecha, former lecturer, Ahmadu Bello University and an astute university administrator brought his vast experience as a widely travelled scholar of international repute to bear at the double honours on the day he also laid bare “away with the Oligarchs – a hard knock on oppressors of the people in whatever guise.

In Lagos, this year’s World Music Day has come and gone, courtesy of the National Troupe of Nigeria. But having come and gone, the memory lingers on. The lingering memory is not as a result of fulfillment of expectations going by the demands of the event which would have involved an almost all day fun filled musical concert.

The Agip Hall of the Muson centre shook to its foundation recently with the spectacular performance of IPI NTOMBI, South Africa’s popular dance drama by students of Greenwood House, Ikoyi. Though stated for 5.30pm, parents, arts and culture enthusiasts filled the hall before the scheduled time.

Set to make its official debut with an exposé of a series of products dubbed Ivie, is a creative arts company, Lizaad. According to Chuma Anagbado, illustrator and founder, Lizaad is a creative arts company set up to seek and provide functional applications for a new art form, which he calls Spontinism.

The importance of poetry as a vehicle for proper historical documentation was brought to the fore last week during the commemoration of America Independence Day, held at the consulate’s office in Lagos.

Considering the central, even towering, role that journalists play in shaping the thoughts and perception of a nation, it often makes sense to acknowledge their contribution to national discourse whenever it comes in form of a book. For journalists who are blessed with long lives and remarkable careers in particular, the tendency to make their narratives the barometer for measuring the nation’s pulse is very high.

Poetry is one area that many people do not understand very well because it embraces the accessible as well as the inaccessible. But which ever way people see it, the mere fact that a poem is unclear does not disqualify it from being a poem as long as it possess all the poetic devices like rhythm, profundity, imagery etc. This is what many will see as they go through the refreshingly rich collection of poems by Abike Muyiwa titled “Uncut”.

As Nigeria gradually matches on to her centenary year come 2014, the modest effort of Port Harcourt based non governmental organization, the Rainbow Book Club, the organizers of Garden City Literary Festival, Garden City Book Fair and Get Nigeria reading may bestow on the nation a garland of honour in the area of book and human capital development.

All roads will, no doubt, lead to the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), venue of the launch and public presentation of two books written by former Chairman, Editorial Board of Vanguard, Chief Kola Animasaun.

African societies is the craze for European cultures at the expense of theirs. This is evident in the high level of western encroachment on the rural lifestyle of the people. But ordinarily, it is not supposed to be so as there are many positive values in some African cultures, hence the need to preserve and document them for posterity.