Ignatius of Loyola was born in Northern Spain in 1491.he was a soldier

ibrahim Babangida was born in Northern Nigeria in 1941 also a soldier

1491 is just a rearrangement of 1941.

Ignatius of Loyola founded the society of Jesus on August 15 1543

Babangida was born August 17 1941"

Ignatius took up arms for the Duke of Najera.Broke his leg and injured another was known to limp,had surgery and spent a long time recovering after being taken home by French Soldiers .

Babangida fought in the Nigerian Civil war. Susstained a leg injury,radiculopathy known to limp,,had Surgery and spent a long time recovering in the Hospital in France

Najera is associated with the river Najerilla

Nigeria is associated with the river Niger.

The slang for Nigeria is Naija

Ignatius of Loyola died July 31 1556

Babangida laid the foundation staone of the presidential villa Abuja on July 31.Babangida is a General and Ignatius a Superior General

There was a reverend Father by the Name Babangida Audu at the Ignatius of Loyoa Church in Ibadan now Secretary of the Catholic National secretariat in Abuja.

Loyola was a spaniard. He lived in the Castle of Loyola in spain

Babangda lives in a 50 bedroom Mansion in Minna,Niger state.

Gbola Bowale is on Facebook. I met him on Facebook and he is something of an enigma as I have

observed him and his pre occupation with leadership in the best of traditions.. I have seen his Photographs near the white house.Photographs next to the Lincoln monument .And so many .He is based in the United states

photographs he displays on his page of great Leaders dead and Alive.He just had a write up on Speaker of the House of representatives, Dimeji Bankole on May 29,82nd birthday of American president John F.Kennedy.and tenth anniversary of Democracy in Nigeria

JohnTyler and Gbola Bowale were both born on March 29 1790 and 1970 respectively

look! 1790 is just the rea rrangement of 1970! By the calendar in China .tyler and Bowale were both born in the year of the Dog.You have the year of the Dog every 12years.

Tyler was President of the United states and Bowale seems to have a certain pre occupation with the presidency ever since in his 20s. He has been a volunteer campaigner in Presidential elections up to June 12. He made A1 in Government at School Cert level

John Tyler and Gbola Bowale have both been Divorcees

The foundation stone of the Presidentila villa Abuja was laid by the Soldier Man Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida on July 31.Gbola bowale had cause to mark July 31 as Loyola day.For he is an Old boy of Loyola College r Ibadan.At Loyola college was areverend Father by the name Audu Babangida.

Ignatius of Loyola was a soldier born in 1491.His feast day is July 31 he founded the socieyt of Jesus on Augus 15 1543.Ignatius was a Spaniard

Babangidawas born August15 1941 just aRearearrange ment of 1491and he is rumoured to have bought an estate in Spain. The Castle of Loyola is in spain.Ignatius was superior General and Babangida a General.

Tyler was a Lawyer and Gbola Bowale missed being a Lawyer

27 years back, one saturday morning, then an undergraduate of the University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University, a friend olatunbosun Oni and I were walking down the pavement, when we heard coming from the direction of the bookshop a voice saying “I will report you to the security! I will report you to the security!! Curious we went into the bookshop to find out what was amiss and to our surprise, we found this Caucasian lady blushing obviously out of embarrassment, she introduced herself as Jane, a Professor in search of Wole Soyinka. What I suspect happened was a case of communication breakdown. The bookshop assistant, seemingly uncomfortable, with her eyes half closed and unable to look Jane straight in the face might have been trying to tell Jane to enquire about the whereabouts of Wole Soyinka from the security post, a short distance from the bookshop and so what should have come out as advise tuned and to be threatening.

I apologized to Jane for what she had suffered in the hands of the Bookshop assistant and subsequently, Bosun Oni and I!, followed her out of the bookshop only to meet with 51 other Professors. “We are from California! We are from California!! We are looking for Professor Wole Soyinka” so said one of the Professors who stepped forward to meet Bosun Oni and I. It still remains the highest number of professors I have ever seen assembled on one spot. What made this professor who stepped forward to think that either of Bosun Oni or myself would have known Wole Soyinka?

Fortunately for me, I had head of Wole Soyinka. The first time I saw Soyinka in flesh and blood was when I was in the secondary school. Soyinka had come to my house in the company of an uncle, the now Chief Lanre Togonu-Bickersteth. Soyinka wanted to ease himself, and so he moved towards our staircase but on second thought, he chose not to ascend the stairs. Perhaps because we were all staring at him from a balcony. We recognized him as the enfant terrible. Interestingly, that area of Ibadan where we lived is called Kongi. Wole Sonyinka is also known as Kongi.

I once had a slightly unpleasant encounter with Wole Soyinka, he was standing in front of the Oduduwa Hall, Centre of Entertainment of which he was the chairman, management committee. I believe he was trying to reach out to Eddy Olafeso, then President of the Students Union, who happened to have been standing, far away from where Soyinka stood but was a few feet from me. At first I tried to clarify, by way of moving my hand if he needed my attention. But Soyinka just ignored me. Yes, I thought him to be great and larger than life but I also thought him to be cold. A related attitude has been ascribed to such poets like Robert Burns, Ezra Pound and Derek Walcott.

I think it’s something of significance that these Professors met with Bosun Oni and I, and also symbolic that they came is search of Soyinka. Bosun was a student of Electrical and Electronics Engineering. Believed to be the best of such programmes then, for any Nigerian University and I was a student of Engineering Physics, the only such programme then in Nigeria. Bosun Oni had a Hewlett – Packard calculator the only one I have ever seen. Hewlett – Packard (HP), had it’s origins in the San Francisco Bay Area, California. The physicists are very proud of Hewlett Packard, founded by Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard, one a physicist and the other an entrepreneur.

California leads in the United States in the production of electrical machinery and electronics goods. Actually, Bosun Oni and I, and one other student, made the highest mark in our first test in Electricity and magnetism. Perhaps these professors would have liked to meet, our electricity and magnetism lecturer, a Briton by the name, Dr. M. C. Isherwood, Dr. Isherwood was then the scrabble champion of the university staff club. So what was Wole Soyinka going to do at the staff club? Maybe we can explain it away by saying that Soyinka is a Professor of Literature and not a Professor of English. But the noted literary critic professor Biodun Jeyifous tell us that Soyinka comes third after Shakespeare and Marlowe in enriching the English language.

I think California is something of a Natural habitat for Wole Soyinka, the worlds most prominent exponent of the myth of Ogun, the Yoruba god of war, wine, the road, creativity, metal arts, gunsmiths and agriculture. California leads the united states in wine production, Agriculture, Aircraft and Defence industries, and the creative industries of Radio, Television and Film. All these bring into consideration, much that Soyinka has written about the Yoruba god Ogun.

What makes the Californians so interested in the Yoruba? A handful of these professors we met at Ile-Ife, asked us questions on the seeming rift then between the Ooni and the Alaafin, I hate to say Ooni of Ife or Alaafin of Oyo because there is only one Ooni and one Alaafin. A certain William Bascom Anthropologist at the university of California, Berkeley, writing in the Encyclopedia Americana on the Yoruba, affirmed that the Yoruba are the most urban of African peoples whereas the Microsoft Encarta, refers to the Californians as the most urban of the people of united states. Bascom also informs “The Yoruba produced the greatest wealth of Art of any African people and the ancient bronze castings found at the Yoruba city of Ife, rank among the art master pieces of the word”.William bascom

"We are trying to create an unforgettable world theatre by utilizing the theatre to confront and challenge crucial issues which affect our society with the ultimate aim of educating and entertaining audiences."so informs Jude Patrick Oteh Artistic Director and founder of the Jos Repertory Theatre(JRT)founded in 1997 the same year as the British Nigerian Theatre outfit,Tiata Fahodzi founded by Femi Elufowoju same age group as Oteh

Jude Patrick Oteh,born in the early 60s was something of a "Nuisance" on the basketBall court at Loyola College Ibadan,Nigeria.Then during Fesatc 77, perhaps had his mind on making the School Basketball team but he ended up being the School infirmarian and President of the Schools Drama society.He was from the very beginning a conscientiuos student and perhaps selfish with his study time.up to his final year,Jude Oteh always had something to add to the discussion in the Literatture class where he read Shakespears Macbeth,Kaundas Zambia shall be free and Eliots, Silas Marner.

In form one Jude Oteh had as his house work the sweeping of the infirmry.,Sweeping from the side of the infirmry to the back of the main building of the School was Paul Okolo.Paul okolo,to become a class jester ,swept in an artistic manner.you could see the marks of curves as he made with his broom on the ground and the Seniors pointed to it as an example of what had been done with the Broom. Paul okolo is the Kid brother to Felix Okolo who performed together on stage with Jude oteh at the University of Ibadan and went on to star on National television in Acada campus by Bode Sowande and in wole Soyinka Blues for a prodigal.Felix is now a Theatre director shuttling between Europe and nigeria.Paul has another brother Actor, Philip.Jude Oteh also a Martial Artist and Restauranteur,also went on to perform together at the Arts Theatre University of Ibadan with Ajayi Olatide,Head Dancer FESTAC 77.

Jude Otheh sat for his final exams in 1981 as a Science student but he did not make his papers and there he was to conclude that if he could not make "it" at a school like Loyola College then he could not make it any where and so he crossed over to the Arts to take a diploma in Theatre Arts at the University of Ibadan.Ever Since he has not looked back.He bagged a second class upper degree in Thetre Arts and topped it with a masters Degree in theatre arts and another in Diplomacy and international relations.and yet another in post colonial studies.

Femi Elufowoju who acted as the Ogre in Jack and the Bean stalk way back in Junior school in the United Kingdom, originally wanted to become a solicitor.was admitted to a Faculty of Law,precisely Universty of Ife,then the best place to study Law in Nigeria.As an undergradute he was a fan of Michael Jackson and all his Theatrics,he ended up studying Theatre at the Bretton Hall,leeds University which incidentally had Wole soynka after an uncompleted programme at the University of Ibadan.Elufowoju worked for six years as an Actor , like Wole Sotinka ,made radio plays for the BBC and trained as a regional theatre young director.

,Solomon Iguanre with a Masters degree in theatre arts from the university of Ibadan is a product of Osogbo Grammar School where he was influenced by his Ghanaian Literature teacher Mr . Frepong. Of course Solomon Iguanre is very fund of PANAFEST in Ghanawhich he has attended. And Osogbo is a very significant Cultural space in Nigeria..Of this generation of Theatre directors, Solomon Iguanre is the most versatile but with the least international exposure. Solomon Iguanre is aa Playwright, Book editor,graphic Artist,HIV/AIDS Educator,audio/visual technician, poet,publisher,curator,cartoonist,administrator, Theatre entrepreneur,short story writer ,a computer geek and Academic.Over 20 years back ,he co founded Laffomania oragisation to be described as the funniest Theatre out fit in South west nigeria as compared with Jos repertory Theatre ,the most Vibrant Theatre outfit in Northern Nigeria and TIATA FAHODZI the most vibrant British African theatre outfit in Britain.

We have had other committed directors like Yemi Akintokun,Saidat Odofin later,Saidat Garuba, Gregory Odutayo all from the University of Ibadan which was then the best place in Sub saharan .Africa to study Theatre.

Jare ajayi is a man of many parts.As a writerof poetry or opinions he is lucid and clear.He publishes a community Newspaper,Oloye,he has written the Biography ofthe world renowned writer, Amos Tutuola ,one of the first Nigerians to be featured in the Encyclopedia Americana.

Mr.Ajayiis a Television Presenter/Producer has also organised a series of talks and workshops on Development.A former Arts editor of the Nigeria Tribune, Nigerias Oldest surviving private Newspaper,Jare Ajayi is based in Ibadan the worlds largest indegenous city and the publishing capital of Nigeria.

Anthony Ebika based in Ibadan the publishing capital of Nigeria and the worlds largest indigenous black city,is a poet and founder of the Centre for Poets,He is as well a publisher and one of Nigerias very few Puppeteers

As a Pupppeteer,Ebika Anthony has performed on Television and at varous schools in Nigeria.Ebika ,also a publisher and a publicist, has served as the Chairman of the Association of Nigerian Authors of the Oyo state Branch.He has written for Children and Adults alike.

Ebika would say his generation is a generation in need of critics.Nigerian Critics seem to concentrate on writing about establish Authors.And so Writers like Ebika have not really enjoyed the right kind of critical support.Ebika is happily married with Children

Pearl communications is an outfit owned by Nigerian Youths based in South west Nigeria which has Lagos the industrial and commercila Capital of Nigeria. Pearl communications has a Network covering 25 Universities in the Souh west Nigeria It could prove a formidable vehiclein reaching a critical segment of the youth market in Nigeria,South west for those into the production of fast moving consumer goods(FMCG) .

Pearl communications is a multiple purpose vehicle with interest in the print and electronic media.Their aim is to enhance communication amongst Nigerian youth and also entertian them. They publish the Pearl magazine,They organise parties,Club Shows,Beauty pagents and other related events. They write on Lifesyle of Nigeria Undergraduates as well as issues pertaining to Entrepreneurship. to contact this outfit the email addres is info@depearlmagazine.com The contact persons are Prince Dayo Oyeniran Publisher and Editor- in- Chief and Solomon Famoriyo,Executive Editor Solomon Famoriyos also markets high end products for SKYE BANK Lagos Nigeria. I think there are awhole rang of products or services that this outfit can handle.

"Yinks is a young woman who loves life..she is awed by the ingenuity of a Supreme artist who brillantly colours the world with huge superb brushes..the gold of a setting sun..blue vividness of the sky..green liveliness of swaying trees.."

You can call Oregbemi Olayinka a fourth or ffith generation Nigerian writer.She is quite a revelation.If you are also a young generation publisher you might want to try her.

I attended the London Book Fair which opened from April 20 to 22 , 2009 particularly to

see what the cook book publishing industry looked like and possible lessons for Nigeria..Of course several other aspects of the Fair caught my attention.

At the London Book fair I met Spain based Pilar Gutierrez,,Director, World Cookbook Awards ..Gutierrez was quite excited at the propect of having a Nigeria cookbook.Having never come across a Nigerian Cookbook she expressed her desire to enter such books for The World Cookbook Awards.

According to the Gourmand Year Book 2008,which I got from Gutierrez,,the world Cookbook Awards are in 39 categories which include, First Publication,Desert,Single Subject,Health and Nutrition,Children and Family,Vegetarian,innovation,Local,Foreign,Television Celebrity.Woman Chef,Photography,illustration,Design,Bread,Chocolate etc

I met Richard Howells of the Harvard University press. He describes himself as a cook book collector.He would love have to have Nigerian Cook Books.There are hundreds of thousands like him around the world

My search on the web revealed only three Nigerian Cook books The first is titled NIgerian Cookbook by H .Anthonio and M Isoun,(1982,Macmillan),another is Black Eyed Bean Recipes by Grace Kerry(2004,Amazing Grace publication ) Nigerian Cook book by Laura Edet(1996) Divine Grace Publishers London and lastly Contemporary Nigerian Cuisine by Funke koleosho( 2009, Jok Publishing) .Funke Koleosho has been featured on British Television and she talks about what constittes Nigerias National food. the Chinese Have Rice,the Italians, .Pasta and the British Potatoes.What is Nigerias National Food for instance as is to be served at the State Banquet in The Presidential Villa Abuja? Maybe our Food writers,Food scientists and Nigerian Chefs can help us with this.

This Ccookook industry not only helps to promote and preserve culture and wellness
but could have significant roles to play in the fight against poverty by driving demand on the global front for agricultural products from Nigeria.
.Organisations like the FAIR TRADE FOUNDATION have the Fair trade Cookbook and have specificaly asked for authentic Nigerian recipes making use of ingredients covered by the fair trade label. Amongst other issues Fair trade woks to ensure fair prices for farmers in the developing world and they parer with supermarkets in Europe,They Also try to ensure the developmnt of the local community harbouring the Farmers.

At the Bookfair Africa made a poor outing. i counted just over 10 blacks at the first day of the Book Fair and on the third Day,the final day there were more blacks around and even Nigerians but this time the overall attendance was very poor.This has been attribute to the Global ecoomic crisis.
From Ibadan, the Publishing Capital of Nigeria came Femi Anulopo of the Bookshop learning Solutions.He informs he has been in the Book trade for about two decades. I caught him in the midst of a discussion on electricity criisis in Nigeria.Interestingly he is an electrical engineer turned Bookseller. I think it is better to read a good book with Candle light than to sit infront of the Television described as the "Romantic Candle light' power by Electricity.Its right here in London we had Michael Faraday workig in a Book binders shop there he discovered an article on Electricity in an edition of the Encyclopedia. Brittainica From there Faraday as a Physicist and Chemist became known as the Father of electricity having discovered the principle of generating electricity on Octber 28 1831.. I hope mr Anulopo took a few volumes of the Encyclopedia Britaitnica back home.Of course i am aware of the fact that there are human factors responsible for the energy crisis. The solutions to these problems could also be found by reading and research.

At this fair,publishers from Africa ,, were represented by the Africa Book collective and Afican Authors were represented by African freedom Press basd in the United states.These two "Afrcan" outfits did not impress me as they paraded well known Nigerian Names.Names that have been on the publishing scene for, 20,30,40 years.Its a real challenge for those of my generation. I am 40 plus but i have read people in their 20s and 30s and Ifeel they have a lot to share with the rest of the world.

Lastly i read about a workshop on African Indigenous Knowledge and intellectual Property Rights: Implications for Nigerias development ,at the University of Ibadan in the Guardian Newspaper of Apri 22 2009.ideally many of the participant at that worshop should have been here in London for the bookfair unless of course "Ibadan" is trying to send a strong message to the organisers of the London Bookfair otherwise the days of the workshop(April20 to 24) should not have clashed with the days of the London Bookfair. I hope they wouls all make it to Franfurt in October for the worlds largest Bookfair.
I