www.klorofyl.com
ISSUE #3 | SEPTEMBER, 2012
KLOROFYL Magazine
The city is both the container, and the people crammed in, spilling out of it- our crucible of necessities and contradictions. Our clockworks of forced coexistence, and squabbles over those most contentious of commodities: a space; a chance; and, if we can, some happiness.
/EDITORIAL
Welcome to the third issue of Klorofyl. We have, as usual, lovingly put it together for you, in this issue exploring several facets of life and lives in our agglomerations of wanting-to-be. The city has become a definition of modernity and its inexorable influence on all our lives, direct or not. As one of our contributors in this issue said, we see cities not as they are, but as we are. And that is just as it should be, no? All that is around is all inside, or was, to some degree. Apathy and altruism; the sublime and the ridiculous; the villain and the helper; Shylock and philanthropist. Good, evil, the two nations warring within our souls. It is, therefore, too easy to view our cities as places of almost infinite turmoil. It is a melee of opposing forces, in tension, between control, and chaos. Welcome to the knife edge. The tightrope. The minute before critical mass. The flicker before meltdown temperature.
tion; love; illness; enterprise; integrity; utility and multiplicity; talent and despair; family; forgiveness; oppression and beauty; avarice; defiance; courage and hope; adventure; faith; poverty; travel; purity�and Heaven. You'll find us in the centre of this moving picture, too, wanting, hoping to be more. We hope to be better, fairer seers, and wiser Pilgrims.
It's not all grime and gore though, and if this assay of our modern lives begins to look like a catalogue of sorrows, it is not for lack of magic, or joy, but because of the alltoo-human observers, who you must, therefore, forgive. Adventure abounds, and opportunity. Latitude within these confines.
Sincere gratitude goes to all the contributors to this effort, and to the beautiful, beautiful team at Klorofyl. And to you, dear sojourner and travelling
And, in the final analysis, on these journeys through our habitations, we find that treasure can gleam from within jars of clay, our gold can transcend our grime, and joy, yes, can come in the morning. We can rise, vero possumus.
companion, we hope you'll come in and enjoy our hospitality, and we do hope you'll drop us a line sometime, to tell us how it felt, visiting with us, and how you've fared on your way. What's left to say? Delve in� 6 27'���� 3 23' 4��E Tolu Oloruntoba
��ut we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this allsurpassing power is from God and not from us.� Paul, in his second letter to the Corinthians. [2 Corinthians 4:7]
On the gradient through the coming pages, you'll find snapshots of truth: humour; honour; struggle; surprise; agency and resourcefulness; determination; introspec-
Tolu Oloruntoba, Editor-In-Chief
KLOROFYL Magazine
/NAVIGATION
Anthill The Bariga Philharmonic I'm not that old A midnight walk My New York City City Rules Bowl A Day in Town Rising
007 009 011 013 016 019 026 028 031
Exponere The Gene of Greatness Outliers, The Story of Success Ultrabooks The Path Rains and the city Symphonies I hear she is beautiful Burning Money COLUMNS #LETTERBOX__ 062 BOOK REVIEW__ 048 GEAR__051 #BUTSERIOUSLY__081 #FOLIO__098 PHOTOS
043 045 048 051 054 058 060 062 065
Checkmate Black Petal Apartments Lion's Tears BenchpressThis You Met A Girl
On Purity and man Remembering Surulere Sojourners
078 081 084 086 088 090 093 095 098
KLOROFYL Magazine
Klorofyl Magazine ©2012. The Klorofyl Press. Some rights reserved. The views expressed herein are those of the corresponding authors, and not necessarily the viewpoint of the publisher. This publication is offered free of charge, and may be distributed whole, worldwide, without modification and for non-commercial purposes only. The constituent pieces, however, may not be used or otherwise published or modified, without the written permission of the respective copyright owners, through
Klorofyl is an online magazine, with a focus on literary and graphic art, and the lives of young Africans. Editor-in-Chief Tolu Oloruntoba Editor, Literary Desk Olukemi Lawani Sub-Editor, Literary Desk Olatunde Asagba Editor, Graphic Desk David Olamide Craig Editor, Lifestyle Desk Osemhen Elohor Akhibi Editorial Consultants Nathanael Abayomi Ogunwale Nyamachayi Chipawa Sithabiso Alice Dube Photography Oyebola Famuyiwa Operations Caroline Tolulope Latona Business Olatunji Ajani Design and Layout Ethan Torti Obasi
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ON THIS COVER: PHOTOGRAPH �Ovie�, by Kunle Adenmosun. INSPIRATION A little groom at a wedding in Kaduna, Nigeria. COVER DESIGN Ethan Torti Obasi took.ethan@gmail.com
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Special thanks to: Seyi Ogunyemi, Seye Kuyinu, Mark Amaza, Tosin Otitoju, Abayomi Ogunwale, Tolu Ogunlesi, Nyamachayi Chipawa, Lekan Adio, Adefemi Adejuwon, Bola Famuyiwa, Elaine Irabor, Joey Parker, Femi Anifalaje, Efe Ori-Jesu, Laoye Jegede, Nwadi Quartey-Ngwube, Yolanda Lindsay Mabuto, And others, too numerous to mention.
/INFO
ELECTRIC POLE
AYODIMEJI OLUGBESEWA
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CONTRIBUTORS ABAYOMI OGUNWALE Abayomi Ogunwale is a writer, medical doctor, poet and social commentator. His articles have appeared in the Sentinel Literary quarterly, Subjective Substance, First editions, the Effectual magazine and the Sun newspapers amongst others. He loves a good read, and is in search of the perfect ‘short story’.
DAMI AJAYI Dami Ajayi studied medicine. He is a founding editor of Saraba Magazine.
DAVID T. MSIMANGA David Msimanga is a young man of many interests, writing being one of them. He is a student of Quantitative Management, and his passion for the things of God inspires most of his writing, and involvement in both church and community work. He resides in Johannesburg where he is pursuing his studies.
EDWIN ENWEGBARA Edwin is Nigerian, an Engineer, technophile and editor for www.techrascals.com. He is especially passionate about sustainable energy.
ELEANOR LEANNE BENNET A 16 year old internationally award-winning photographer and artist. Her art has been exhibited globally, and has won first place with National Geographic, The World Photography Organisation, Nature’s Best Photography, Papworth Trust, Mencap, The Woodland trust and Postal Heritage. Her photography has been published in the Telegraph, The Guardian, BBC News Website and on the cover of books and magazines in the US and Canada. http://eleanorleonnebennett.zenfolio.com/
DAVID OLAMIDE CRAIG Medical doctor by day, Photographer, Philosopher, Poet and Playwright by night. He is author of a series of children’s stories:*Adventures araound the Agbalumo tree and other stories* and founder of Dianoia Foundation and Club Chayil.
JIBOLA LAWAL Jibola Lawal is a budding Nigerian writer with a passion for photography. He uses both mediums tell stories that are commonplace, yet unique to a country like Nigeria and is fuelled by an undying passion to see these, (and by implication African) stories told on the world stage.
JIDE ODUKOYA Jide Odukoya is a Systems Engineering graduate turned photographer. His passion for the art grew when he discovered the beauty of Life could be captured and documented. He shares some of it at http://www.jideodukoya.com/blog
KOLA OSASONA Kola Osasona is an engineer by career and rap artist by profession. He lives in Lagos.
LAWRENCE MAWONI Lawrence Mawoni is a 28 year old writer, and a marketing and PR consultant from Zimbabwe. He is writing his first book, and is an avid gamer. He is married and a father of two.
MIROSLAV PARUSHEV Miroslav Parushev from Bulgaria, he grew up in the colourful atmosphere of visual arts. During his university years in Bulgaria, he majored in Public Administration, which later he found to be an unsuitable career and in 2006, moved to the United States to pursue his passion for photography. He graduated from the College of Southern Nevada in 2009. He is currently a full-time photographer majoring in fashion photography. Please visit www.parachue.com
NEL ROSALES Nel is an electronics engineer from Cebu, Philippines and is currently based in Taipei. When she is not wrangling with technical information, on a run, traveling, lost in Mandarin translation or reading, she writes on her blog – http://directionallyimpaired.wordpress.com.
OLANIRAN ADEDAPO AISIDA ‘Lani is a writer and blogger and aims to inspire people and share the gospel. His online forum, http://griptime. blogspot.com, reaches and draws thousands to the truth.
OLATOKUNBO AWORINDE Ola-Tokunbo. A simple man constantly looking to give voice to the various expressions that have been deposited in hi by Him.
OLATUNDE ASAGBA Olatunde Asagba is a Dental Surgical Intern in Ibadan
OLUBUNMI ODE Olubunmi is a nomad, restlessly following her feet through adventures in life and living; a pediatric intensivist; a laughing, reading, cooking, lover of people in general and children in particular. She is often torn between trying to save the world and just enjoying it medical missions or the Cordon Bleu...
OLUGBESEWA AYODIMEJI CHUKWUMA He is a semi-Professional Photographer and a student of Babcock University. Photography is his means of preserving good memories for generations to come.
OLUKEMI LAWANI Olukemi is a trainee-surgeon, poet, and increasingly, editor slash literary critic. She lives and works in Ibadan, Nigeria.
CONTRIBUTORS OLUMIDE OWOO Olumide Owoo grew up in Surulere, Lagos. He currently lives in New York.
OLUWASEYI ALADE Oluwaseyi Alade is a freelance artist, writer, poet, copy editor and illustrator. She loves tennis, operetta, carpentry, museums and horses, and speaks English and French. Currently lives in Lagos.
OMOYE UDUEHI Omoye Uduehi. Bookish couch potato, epicure, student of history and engineering, dreamer... http://ogirlsays. wordpress.com
OSEMHEN AKHIBI Osemhen Akhibi currently lives in Port Harcourt and is still a lover of alternative rock, books and FC Barcelona. She blogs at www.eurekanaija.com.
OYEBOLA FAMUYIWA Is a photographer and engineer.
PETER-BEN FEMI ANIFALAJE My name is Peter-Ben ‘Femi Anifalaje, a musician, freelance photographer and lover of life. My interests are varied and many yet one thing common to all of them is simplistic beauty. I live in London, England and I am happily married.
REMI-ROY OYEYEMI Remi-Roy is a magazine editor and freelance writer. Her works have appeared on several print and online platforms including, Effectual magazine, Exceed magazine, Gemwoman Magazine and Femme Lounge. She was recently shortlisted by Farafina Books for the New African Writing Contest. She lives and works in Lagos, Nigeria, and blogs at http://.royremi.blogspot.com
SITHABISO ALICE DUBE
ADEKUNLE ADENMOSUN Ever since he discovered the gift of drawing, he knew his path would be inclined towards the creative arts. True to his word, he ended up studying fine and applied arts and bagged a B.A from the University of Benin.
SEGUN ALAWODE
Sithabiso, is a Zimbabwean-born Medical Doctor and avid traveller, currently lives and practices in Kenya, and is the founder of Media Medix Health Communication which seeks to bridge the gap between health workers and the community through media. Her writing has appeared in New African Woman, and other publications, and on her blog, www. sithabiso.blogspot.com
SYLVA NZE IFEDIGBO Sylva Ifedigbo, a Nigerian creative writer and freelance journalist, is the author of The Funeral Did Not End, a collection of short stories coming soon from DADA Books Nigeria. He lives in Lagos, Nigeria.
TOLULOPE OLORUNTOBA Tolu Oloruntoba. Physician and Prosist.
TOSIN OTITOJU A 31-year old engineer and academic, Tosin Otitoju has published two collections of poetry: Comrade (2010) and Yalla! (2011). She blogs at http://www.lifelib.blogspot. com
UTOMI PIUS EKPEI Pius Utomi Ekpei is a photojournalist of international repute. He was born May 5, 1962 at Ebu Town, Delta State in Nigeria, and has been a resident photojournalist, with the Agence France Presse (AFP) in Nigeria, since 1998.
LEKE ALABI-ISAMA
PHOTO CREDITS Special thanks to everyone who has contributed one way or the other. No name omission is deliberate, should any name be missing. Special thanks to the following for the supply of illustrations and/or source photos: Obasi, Torti Ethan__ illustrations on pg 9, 13, 14, 43, 81, 82, 84 Pius Utomi Ekpei__ photograph on pg 33 [Man in Lagos] JoeBlaze1989__ http://www.panoramio.com/ user/1229804?with_photo_id=10007564 on pg 96 Jibola Lawal__ image on pg 95, 96 [Remembering Surulere] Ryan ArĂŠstegui__ source image for pg 93 [On Man and Purity] seer on sxc.hu Luke Patridge__ O.R. source image for pg 88 Svilen Milev__ DNA image for pg 45 [www.efffective.com]
next issue: Open the door. Peel the cover. Peer into the future, in planes near or far, alternate or imagined. What does it hold? What can, or could it? Pierce veils of possibility, resultants, outcomes, effects and eventualities- where can our choices or our present take us? Where are we going- individually, and together? Klorofyl, the online literary and graphic art magazine, is accepting submissions towards her fourth issue, of futuristic ruminations, themed tomorrows. Send in your written words- poetry, prose, fiction and non-fiction, and photography, but not just. Send in video, audio, painted, animated, digital art and audio interpretations of our theme. Surprise us with unusual variations, interpretations and plays on the theme. Answer questions or question answers- makes no matter. Delve into ruminations; direct projections from our present; speculative, science or fantastic fiction or flights of imagination. Submissions should be sent to sub[at]Klorofyl[dot]com, before midnight (GMT) on October 15, 2012, and should contain a photo, and brief bio of the contributor. Submissions should be original, and previously unpublished. Submissions in text form should be preferably kept around 600 words or less. Photographic, video, or other content can be sent by attachment. Only submissions being considered for publication will be responded to, by October 30, 2012. Accepted contributions will appear in Klorofyl magazine, and/or the blog or website. Other submission guidelines and information can be found on the submissions page: http://klorofyl.com/submission/