In an event tagged ‘An Evening in Jos,’ Five Jordan, a new art for social development collective was formally launched in Abuja.
‘An Evening in Jos’ had Nigerian writer Richard Ali and his debut novel, ‘City of Memories,’ which is set in Jos, in the spotlight.
The occasion has filmmaker, Rafeeat Aliyu, read out a Jos city brief. Tonton Raymond performed a spoken word piece, ‘Mama Put,’ on the complexity of urban spaces where beauty and scum are side by side. Bash Amuneni also entertained with his piece, ‘I Have Come Back Home.’
Special guest, Richard Ali, spoke briefly about Jos as a cosmopolis and his growing up there, describing his 2012 novel as an attempt to find a penultimate moment, in memory, in history, before catastrophe arrived his hometown. The novel centers on Faruk Ibrahim and his girlfriend Rahila Pam against the backdrop of their parent’s intense political rivalry and religious differences.
In attendance were the heads of the United Nations Development Programme, DFID and UNAids; the First Lady of Kaduna State, Barrister Asiya Ahmed El-Rufai, former Chief of Staff at the Ministry of Interior, General Saleh Bala, amongst thirty guests. The evening ended with closing remarks by Alison Ojany.
When asked about what next to expect from Five Jordan, member and science fiction writer, Rafeeat Aliyu, whose 2019 film, ‘Beyond Tolerance,’ deals with traditional religious practices, said: “The Cities project is just a start. In the coming months, Five Jordan will use multidisciplinary events, film, photography, visual arts and graphic novels to completely change the perceptions of the world about Africa and of Africans about Africa. We are here to shake tables, break boundaries and be the day after tomorrow.”
Members of the collective are Alison Ojany, Richard Ali and Rafeeat Aliyu.
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