A Date with Toni Kan’s Infidelity

A Date with Toni Kan’s Infidelity



Literary Buffs and friends of Toni Kan’s have been wondering what has become of Kan’s creative stories. Kan, the current editor of The Sun’s Art page is known for Night of the Creaking Bed, his collection of Short Stories, published in 2008. He is also the author of When a dream lingers too long, a poetry collection, and Ballad of rage, a novella, which he got honourable mentions at the Association of Nigerian Authors, ANA, and Liquefied Natural Gas, LNG literature prize in 2003 and 2004 respectively. He is involved in Infidelity amongst other things at the moment.
Infidelity is Kan’s forthcoming collection of urbane short stories set to be published later this year. Readings of Harbinger and Wasiu Karimu don Hammer, two of the stories of the unpublished collection was organised by the author and Kaine Agary, winner of the NNLG prize for Literature 2009 and author of Yellow Yellow, at Lifehouse,Victoria Island on 0ctober 14. Kan said that infidelity talks about crime, conning, and unfaithfulness.
Harbinger is about a Nigerian military man with the responsibility of informing family members of the demise of their breadwinners fighting at the Liberian peacekeeping front. Although the harbinger keeps to his duty, the story reads “he sleeps with the widows,...who told you...my Dad told my mum, my mum told me. The harbinger truly does use the loopholes of the military structure to feather his sexual nest, as he drives his 504 to the homes of emotionally troubled widows. The Harbinger lies to the wife of a military man who is alive in Liberia and had his way with her, that began the end of such activities. Wasiu Karimu don Hammer is a funny story about the frustration of the average Nigerian who began a life of infidelity with policemen in order to gain financial standing.
see pictures,
Highlights of the event were a room for questions and discussions. One of the issues discussed was the portrayal of negatives and poverty in Nigerian Literature. While some described it as a sort of exoticism that has cast a shadow on the existing hopes, excellence and aspiration of the people, others justified these writings, they said, “it was the duty of writer’s to create out of the existing realities”. Other issues were about the Art, philosophy and influence of Fela on the individuals present, and books that gained the approval and disapproval of Toni Kan, as fela’s song played at the background.
“Infidelity is about being untruthful, not being faithful. It does not necessarily have to do with sex as one may think” Kan told the magazine. He also revealed “ I am also engrossed with writing a novel entitled Lasgidi and its so interesting, I can’t stop writing”.

Names on the Cover, Watch Out for 2011 Election's Carpetbaggers

Nigeria's prestigious news magazine, TELL Magazine's cover story is an interesting read. Titled, All the President's Men, by Tajudeen Suleiman NO.35, SEPTEMBER 6, it also gave well researched revelation about some questionable individuals clamouring for President Goodluck Jonathan to contest for the forthcoming 2011 election.
Churning Spades and Spinning Yarn draws excerpts from the magazine.

like Anenih, Mantu was also a prominent member of the pro-third-term group for Obasanjo. He was the chairman of the Natiional Assembly committee that worked on the review of the constitution to accommodate the third-term agenda. he was also in the vanguard of those that supported and mobilised for the late military dictator General Sanni Abacha to succeed himself as civilian president.

The political history of the country is replete with people and associations that have played similar roles in the affairs of the nation. Sometimes,these roles have been quite ignoble. A handy example is the association for Better Nigeria,ABN,set up in the dying days of Ibrahim Babagida's military dictatorship in 1993. The ABN, which was led by a maverick politician Arthur Nzeribe, was used by Babangida to scuttle the June 12,1993 presidential election won by Moshood Abiola, the late business mogul.

The ABN secured a court judgement stopping a court judgement stopping the June 12 presidential election. The judgement was widely reported to have been procured midnight. Though the election was conducted by the military regime of Babangida, which later annulled it thereby denying Abiola the opportunity to take office as president. Nzeribe, the same figure behind the ABN has joined the campaign for jnathan 's presidential bid. Another campaigner is Godwin Daboh who last year suggested that Mrs Turai Yar'Adua be given the opportunity to succeed her husband in office.Daboh was also the president of the "Movement for Abacha for President '98"

Several other groups also emerged ostensibly in support of Abacha to counter the strong opposition from the National Democratic Coalition, NADECO, which condemned military rule and asked Abacha to organise election and leave office. The group that readily comes to mind is the Youth Earnestly Ask For Abacha,YEAA,Led by hitherto unknown lad called Daniel Kanu. The group, which was well funded by the government, organised a two-million man march on Abuja during which several persons was well funded by the government,which several persons called Abacha to succeed himself as President.