<INTERVIEW> As part of our ongoing curiosity into urban spaces, we’re always keen to hear the narratives of those on the ground, reflecting on their practice and local perspectives, providing a platform for comparative analysis with other global urbanist narratives.
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Ka’ssa INTERVIEW with KOLA TUBOSUN
Aminat Lawal Agoro caught up with one such local actor at the 2017 Lagos Studies conference held at the University of Lagos (Unilag). Kola Tubosun is a linguist and writer/researcher operating out of Nigeria. His recent enquiry into the demolition of the Iloja Bar, a 161 year old building in the Afro-brazilian style located in historic Lagos island, lays bare the ongoing tensions between issues of preservation, modernisation and our perception of African cities.
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How do you see yourself as an urbanist?
I approach the city with a conservationist mind. I want some things to remain (places of archeological, ecological, cultural, or touristic significance) even while the city grows. One of the things I love about Nairobi is the presence of lots of greenery within the city center. I grew up in Ibadan, a very big city with heart. The presence of historical and modern structures around the city is one of my draws to it. From Cocoa House to the Government House, to the old Ibadan city at Òkè Ààrẹ to the University of Ibadan, there is always so much to see and learn. In certain parts of town, I’m usually swept away in the reimagining of what history felt like there a hundred or two hundred years ago. So I’m drawn to places in which my imagination of the past is facilitated by the careful curation of what remains in the present.
What are some of the themes/guiding principles that are central to your diverse areas of work?
I am a linguist and a writer/researcher. Between 2009 and 2010, I taught Yorùbá as a Fulbright scholar at Southern Illinois Univeristy Edwardsville.
My personal research interest focuses on language and technology. I’m interested in ways in which African languages can be better represented on the internet, in technology, and in social media. Some African languages, especially those that don’t need special diacritics to write them, are currently being used in some of these domains. But these are few and far between. Yorùbá, my first language, doesn’t feature competently in any of the major translate engines on the internet, so I’ve been interested in ways to be of help in that regard. In 2014, we successfully petittioned Twitter to allow the platform be translated into Yorùbá, making it the first African language to be added to the platform. And in 2015, I founded YorubaName.com which is a multimedia dictionary of all Yorùbá names.
So, the thread that runs through my work is the desire to better preserve cultural and linguistic legacy. I’ve spoken of how it relates to language. The blog at KTravula.com and my use of it to document places of cultural and architectural interest is my second passion. In 2016, after the Ilojo Bar in Lagos was demolished, I was one of the people on the scene to document what happened there, interview relevant contacts to provide context to the demolition, and record the history and significance of the building for posterity. This was published on the blog in a five-part series syndicated with The Guardian and Premium Times in Nigeria.
I’m fascinated by history and how man-made and natural structures contribute to our appreciation of them. The Ìlọ́jọ̀ Bar story is all the more fascinating because of its connection to the pre-colonial Nigeria and the Caribbean dimension to slave trade and the history of Nigeria. The building was built by returnee Afro-Brazilian masons in 1855 at the height of their influence in Lagos Island. But it was pulled down in 2016 because of a myopic and totally preventable conflict within a family and a country. I’m interested in reading about, and documenting, these stories. It is a selfish pursuit, but it seems to also create some academic and social value as well.
'Africa rising' stands as counter narrative to the Afro pessimism that has been the prism through which Africa has been defined in the eyes of the world. Aspirations for western ideals and western modes of doing underpinned by the 'get rich or die trying' ethos, remain central to this new found optimism. What in your opinion and your experience gets left behind as African urban transformations yield to global, neoliberal logics of transformation and aspiration? Or what is gained?
My problem with urbanisation in Africa has been in what we ourselves choose to embrace and what we leave behind. Before colonialism, African houses were built with the guidance of the climate and environment. Today, our architecture is no longer guided by that but by foreign aesthetics, which in turn only leaves the occupant of a house sweating during the hot seasons. I wish we’d return to being inspired by what works rather than what is trendy.
We're coming to your city, what would you advise us not to miss?
If you’re coming to Lagos, go see the Afropolitan Vibes music events at Múrí Okùnọlá Park. If you’re coming to Ibadan, Agodi Gardens is highly recommended.
What's the most unusual - or the most useful - thing you've bought off a street vendor in an African city?
A harmonica, in Lagos traffic. A small talking drum in Bẹẹrẹ in Ibadan, and a Kora at Victoria Island, Lagos.
Describe a local phenomenon within a particular African city that highlights an ongoing urban process.
As part of the Lagos at 50 celebrations, a number of art installations have been erected around Lagos. I found them fascinating. On the negative side, ancient and historical sites/buildings are being pulled down to make way for malls and other bland commercial centres.
There's no Cape Town without the beach front; no Lagos without the lagoon; no Accra without azonto; no Lilongwe without NGO's. Complete the sentence for your (or your favourite) African city.
There’s no Lagos without traffic.
Is there an urbanist project which you're involved in (be it in the realm of design, architecture, art, culture etc) that you'd like to share with us?
Not particularly involved in any, but I’d like to see more bicycle lanes built into African roads. In the future, with less dependence on fossil fuel, we will need opportunities for commuters to get around without needing to ride in cars.
What should be the next question?... In our encounters across the globe we meet makers, breakers, urbanists, vendors, artists, bus drivers, security guards, thinkers, tinkerers, malams... What question would you like us to ask them next - keeping urbanism and Africa in mind?
What is your Africa? Where do you see it in 50 years?