By Professor Yemi Osinbajo SAN

When I was 10 years old, there was a girl in my class who I was quite certain at the time that I could give my life. So I wrote her a lovely poem over a weekend; I wrote the poem on Friday and finished it on Saturday. And it was, if I may say so myself, a work of sheer genius. It ended with the dramatic words; “your warm embrace may be the last desire of my heart before I die!”

I tucked it in my school bag and looked forward with a heart filled with love for Monday, to present to the object of my affections.

My mum, while cleaning out the bag, found the letter, and all hell broke loose. Needless to say, she beat the poetic genius out of me that terrible afternoon.

But that’s not the end of the story. True love as you know, will survive even the worst brutality. So, I bore my injuries as a worthy suffering for my beloved. On Monday morning, I found the best opportunity to give her a freshly written version of the poem. I turned away as she took the letter, I didn’t want to behold the sheer pleasure as she read it, but as I turned around, I noticed that she had actually handed the poem over to the teacher and she was pointing at me!

While my physical bruises have healed from that experience, from as you can imagine, what happened with the teacher, my capacity for writing romantic poetry had been greatly diminished.

Fantastical Futures is the audaciously inspirational theme of this iteration of the Ake Arts & Book Festival. Why do we in today’s world, dare to hope for a future so fantastic that it is described as fantastical? The reason it is, if I may offer one, is that there is for those who have cast this great vision; Lola, her friends and collaborators, they’ve have not allowed their vision to be beclouded by the cataracts of discouragement that so easily beset us. Two of those cataracts to our vision are worthy of mention.

The first is a disdain for introspection, which has just come over time, that capacity for deep thought, and making that the basis of planning and action. It is a disdain for introspection that causes our elite to spend or embezzle all the cash and opportunities of the present and make it the burden of a leaner future to pay for our corruption and carelessness.

A failure to interrogate the past, coupled with a reluctance to explain the benefit of deferring gratification. Is the creative sometimes, unable to stick to a cause because it may no longer be popular?

Niyi Osundare, the poet I’m sure we’re all familiar with, captures this elite inability to defer gratification in the provocative poem titled “Eating Tomorrow’s Yam”.

And I quote a portion of it, he said: “There is only one left in the village barn, the prodigal calls for a knife ‘what shall we eat tomorrow’, the people ask, ‘if we finish all the yam today just how shall we feel when the dunghill has relieved stomachs of their improvident burden? And says the prodigal: ‘tomorrow will take care of itself, how can we know the next day if we die of hunger today?”

The recursive one step forward two steps backwards of our histories, especially in Africa, has caused Prof. Tanure Ojaide, and I’m sure you’re all familiar with him as well, in his angry style, to ask “What poets do our leaders read?”

Again, Tanure Ojaide in his poem, “No longer our country”, remonstrates, and I quote him; “We have lost it, a country we were born into, we can now sing dirges of the commonwealth only of yesterday. We have a country that is no longer our own.”

But even he, that is Ojaide, will agree that men and women, not spirits build societies. Which leads me to the second cataract that blurs our vision. Imagine the failure to recognize the responsibility of the individual, especially the gifted individual.

Does the artist have a responsibility to society beyond that of the ordinary citizen? Is there a civic tax payable on talent? Does the fact of your genius place upon you, a moral burden to attempt to use the powerful voice of your art to fight for the soul of the land, especially to fight for the soul of the land from whence you came?

To take moral positions, are you by virtue of your intellect and creativity a moral agent? Or are you not? Can you or not be neutral? Can you be politically neutral? Can you in the face of so much that needs to be done, poverty, deprivation, and injustice, stay politically neutral? Can Africa afford to have its best talents wearing halos of political innocence and saying “let us leave politics to the scoundrels?”

There is a growing impatience of the deprived millions of our people with the elite, which includes all of us in this room; the bombs tied to the 11-year-old body of Safiaru a malnourished girl, who has never been to school, cannot distinguish between a lawyer like Yemi Osinbajo or a writer like Molara Wood. The bomb does not discriminate!

Two things

Earlier this year, the government established the Technology and Creativity Sector Working Group: a policy committee of Federal Government Ministers and Heads of Agencies with Creatives, Tech and Entertainment business owners.

The group meets to work on policy, including rules and regulations regularly. So, we do have now, a policy group, who takes into account the sorts of views that Creatives may want especially in formulating policy and that is so for persons of technology as well. So, I think there is plenty of room for expression, especially the way we want to see policies shaped that could affect our Creatives and could affect those involved in technology.

The last thing, did you enjoy the story I told earlier? It was fiction. I wish us all a fantastical future!

Source: Read Vice President Osinbajo’s Love Story that has People Talking

Fraudulent story of a liar

Truckload of bullshit coming from the Vice President of Strippers.

Firefire:
Fraudulent story of a liar �

So much hate. The man says it is fiction and you are still dragging issues.

Opinionated:


So much hate. The man says it is fiction and you are still dragging issues.

He should get lost with his useless fiction.

Osibanjo or Obanjosi...
Aaaaa...!!!

Osubande, wrong association with the tyrant wasn’t the best for your political career

Is this kind of fiction and fantasy that make the jobless aggressive lazy idiotic pigs of bia-fra terrorist are confusingly thief atikulating.

JasonScoolari:
Truckload of bullshit coming from the Vice President of Strippers.

can obituary be creative like this.,
You think is all about importation business.

That's why we must ask candidates the questions listed here : https://www.nairaland.com/4813361/what-key-plans-presidential-aspirants

What are their plans for
Fulani crisis, NNPC, Education, Debt, Diversification and other pressing issues? You can join the discussion.

Why I don't agree with prof on his current political association and comments, I must still admit he is brilliant!

SolutionMee:

Someone that should be serving Nigeria is busy writing love story. Thank God that I hate love stories. Otherwise
.... Wait oh! The story is even a work of fiction. A leader that is supposed to be leading Nigeria is busy writing fiction.
I said it that Nigeria is not real. It is the fictitious work of British experiment.

Funny. We might just see "The Love Story of Ade and Nneka" written by Prof. Yemi Osinbajo soon. It should be a hit.

Buy Jerseys Guys

h

wow, scamming story getting closer to election

Osibanjo is a shameless fake pastor.. so after inviting stripers to tweak and grind on him smiling stupidly on camera, he's still having mouth to talk..

I know the love story is a lie, that's what he and APC are known for.. shameless pastor..

You are a disgrace to the Yoruba race(my distant cousin tribe) the Yoruba are distant cousin to the Benin and you just insulted them by rejecting restructuring.

Big fool

Firefire:


He should get lost with his useless fiction.

Why you so bitter? He's you VP till 2023 don't forget. If you can't withstand that, find the nearest lagoon.

Hmm

The Love Story of a Midget That Found Love in Royal Palace - written by Midget Prof Osinbandele

How I Fell in Love with a Midget - by Awolowo's granddaughter

How the lying midget lied his way into the heart of a rich man's daughter and also lied his way into Nigeria's presidency! - an undercover story by Jarfaru Jarfaru

The story of a lying lawyer turned Pastor cum Vice President, shocking revelations

"Dinning with The Pharisees: The Political Journey of a Midget Pastor and The Unholy Devils" - by Killian Presty

I loved these books and documentaries, get a copy and read to know more about Osinbajo

Lies


A signature of APc

Osibanjo, a good wife material married into an irresponsible family (APC)





I still don't understand why APC is explaining Atiku to Nigerians instead of telling us what they have achieved and why we should vote for them.

Fantastic story

Riduane:


Why you so bitter? He's you VP till 2023 don't forget. If you can't withstand that, find the nearest lagoon.

I pity you...

Who cares? How does his love life affect me?

He is a great intellectual

Firefire:
Fraudulent story of a liar �

5%

3rd CLASS CITIZEN FOR THAT MATTER

Hate will get you nowhere, It will sink your lots in the coming election

Hate has never taken anyone far

Firefire:
Fraudulent story of a liar �

I don't blame you.

When someone comes from a family of liars, he sees everyone as a liar.

Firefire:


He should get lost with his useless fiction.

Even if they subtitle the post into your native language, you can never understand it. It's simply above your IQ level.

BTW, low IQ is inherited, I hope you catch my drift.

buhariguy:
can obituary be creative like this.,
You think is all about importation business.

Young boys in Nairaland importation section have done better than Obi in business with the little resources they have.

Osinbajo as AG of Lagos personally supervised the rewriting of the Laws of Lagos. The FG copied the law verbatim and it became the laws of Nigeria. Just an AG of a state o!

The blockheads supporting Obituary can't mention a single achievement of Obi. Ask them and they'll be telling you that Obi saved money. Money that wasn't earned but was dashed by the FG. Meanwhile, Anambra pays less than the present 18k as minimum wage o!

Obi is an uninspiring, unintelligent trader brought to rule a state of illiterate traders. He can't give a speech like this in the presence of literary geniuses like Soyinka, he'll simply run mad.