For Jahman Anikulapo at 50

It was my dear friend Rotimi Fasan who first made me have a close encounter with the man whose stories I have read on the arts pages of The Guardian. I was about to go for my National Youth Service and wanted to serve my father land in a media house. I had taught I would be posted to Lagos since I had someone who promised to help ‘fix’ my posting to Lagos. And so when I told my friend, Rotimi about it, he said we could visit The Guardian together to see the famous Jahman Anikulapo. When he said so, my heart raised and my throat tightened at the thought of meeting this great man. Before long, the appointed date came. And I was confused as I wasn’t sure if Jahman would be willing to take me in his newsroom. Rotimi and I walked through Rutam House straight into Jahman’s office after going through security scrutiny. Contrary to my thought, Jahman received us well and Rotimi told him the purpose of our visit. I thought we were going to meet some resistance from Jahman but he politely told us there’s no problem. He typed a letter signed it and told me to take it with me to camp as soon as it resumes. ‘Just like that!’ I had thought. No questions, no interviews, nothing! Jahman made it happen even before I got my posting. Unfortunately, I wasn’t posted to Lagos hence I never had to use the letter. I never had the opportunity to work with Jahman in The Guardian. But I kept the letter for a long time. Be that as it may, my fascination for Jahman grew especially during those days of the poetry readings organised by the Committee for Relevant Arts (CORA) titled: ‘Under the Samarkand Tree’ at the National Arts Theatre. Jahman has many ‘aburos’ like us whom he has inspired in journalism especially arts reporting. He criticises us just as much as he appreciates what we do with BusinessLife Magazine. It was when I read Ifeanyi Mbanefo’s piece titled: ‘He knew he was right’ (a profile which Taiwo Obe asked him to write in honour of Jahman on the Everything Journalism Group on Linkedin) that I had a clear understanding of where Jahman was coming from. It was then I understand perfectly why he made it a habit to help young helpless people rise to stardom in journalism, arts, culture, film, music etc. This quote from the piece sums it all up: “We started in Lagos Island. My dad decided that we were getting too much into the Island culture. You know what I mean by that. So he moved us to Agege. But I think it was a mistake on his part because Agege turned out to be worse. So I left home early, at about 14 years old because I was playing football and then into theatre arts. Of significance, for me, about my upbringing, is that many of the people I grew up with in that environment have turned out to be ‘Area Boys.’ I would have been one of them if I had not encountered the man who rescued me. “My buddies never got education and became layabouts. It is recurring in our system so I am working, fighting and struggling so that no young person will ever get into that kind of trap. I’ll rather do something to bring them out which probably defines my deep involvement with the arts. That is why my work in journalism embraces developmental programmes that would bring young people out of that kind of situation. This is because anytime I see what we call ‘area boys’ I look at myself and say I could have been one of them.” Like Taiwo Obe wrote on his post on the Everything Journalism Group on Linkedin Jahman deserves more and we can’t all wait till 16 January, his birthday, before we celebrate him. Happy Birthday, our dear Jahman Oladejo Anikulapo. Igba odun, odun kan!