Mairogo hits Benue
By Maik Ortserga - June 20, 2021
THE Theatre Complex at the second campus of Benue State University is a short walk from the gigantic Faculty of Arts building. At 4: 30 pm, recently, one could hear it buzz before one could see it. There was a crowd milling around the entrance in an attempt to get in and find a space at a good location to watch the consummation of the marriage between poetry and drama.
The director of the Benue Poetry Troupe (BPT), a wonderful guy called Oko Owi Ocho (aka Africa), already on his way to becoming an international star in spoken word poetry, was all smiles as he swaggered across the stage with an almighty spring in his steps. He and his crew had defied all challenges: lack of costumes, meager resources and with most of the crew members combining their school work with rehearsals, it was no mean sacrifice.
Inside the theatre, the Makurdi temperature climbed to 30 degrees with the overburdened fans making more noise than air. Yet, Eyes shone, teeth flashed, hearts thumbed; thoughts raced. The long awaited moment was here at last to watch Denja Abdullahi’s Mairogo: A Buffoon’s Poetic Journey around Northern Nigeria. The book itself was destined to be an artistic success as demonstrated in the critical attentions it has received by scholars at undergraduate, masters and doctoral levels across universities in Nigeria since it was published some years ago. The good news, however, is that this was the first time Mairogo would be performed on the stage.
By 5pm sharp, the poet, Sam Ogabidu, a former Chairman of ANA Benue, mounted the stage with his bamboo height and penetrating eyes of a critic to chair the panel session that preceded the performance of Mairogo: A Buffoon’s Poetic Journey around Northern Nigeria. He was followed to the stage by Mallam Denja Abdullahi himself in all the bulk of his frame. Immediately after they shook hands, Sam Ogabidu descended on the author of Mairogo with his proboscis and what came out was the standard of talent, artistry and the rare linguistic experimentation which characterized Denja Abdullahi’s Mairogo. Through the voice of the persona, who is a half –mad man, the poet creates a moral code against which various levels of the Northern Nigerian society are played to bring out the inadequacies of the people. Mairogo’s moral code is at least honest, especially in comparison with the hypocrisy of the rest of the society he is out to lampoon.
At last, the lights went down, the performance started, the cast danced on to the stage to the admiration of all. In 45 minutes they buried their individuality in the character of mai-rogo for the good of the group and the play as a whole. It was a perfect demonstration that with a good session of rehearsals, performance becomes a pleasure. The integration of beautiful Hausa songs into the play was awesome. The audience sat there entranced as they watched with their mouths agape. Right from the very first scene to last, there were good vibrations from the audience. The crowd did not know when they stood up and started cheering as the performance came to an end.
Among those who joined Mallam Denja Abdullahi to watch the performance were: The Director of News and Current Affairs, Radio Benue, Mr. Igba Ogbole, The Director of Programmes, Radio Benue, Barr. Onwanyi Ulegede, the Head of the Department of English, Benue State University, Prof. Moses Tsenongu, the National General Secretary, Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) Maik Ortserga, the National Legal Adviser (ANA), Barr. Bentex Torlafia, the ANA Benue Chairman, Mr. Paul Ugah and ANA Benue Vice-chairman, Mrs Regina Achie-Nege, Others were Hon. Otse Otokpa, Mr. Abo Agbechenu, Barr. John Ifer, Queen Obekpa, ANA Benue Secretary, Stephanie Abughdyer among numerous other dignitaries.
The visibly excited Mallam Denja Abdullahi who jumped on to the stage with his speech at the end of the performance said that the Benue Poetry Troupe (BPT) is determined above all to be taken seriously as actors, but they need support. He quickly extended an invitation to BPT to bring Mairogo to the stage in Abuja August 2021 with a promise to provide all the necessary support that will ensure a better production.
The director of Benue Poetry troupe (BPT), Oko Owi Ocho (Africa) gave a short closing remark laden with extravagant praises of the Author of Mairogo and others who provided support to ensure the successful performance of Mairogo even as many people started making donations in support of the troupe.
May 22, 2021 will forever remain indelible in the minds of the entertainment and fun loving people of Benue State as the day when Mairogo took his poetic journey to the theatre.