Nigeria, April 11 -- At first sight, you would think that you had seen Mammy Water, that fish god image created by Sir Victor Uwaifo, the famous "Joromi" singer, Nigerian musician, sculptor and university lecturer. Should you run or obey Uwaifo? In "Guitar Boy", Uwaifo sang: "If you see Mami water ohh,/If you see Mami Water ohh,/Never Never you run away,/Ehh, Ehh,/Never run away with your wife ohh."
Or better still, you could think you were watching a version of Wole Soyinka's The Trials of Brother Jero, a satiric comedy that parodies the hypocrisy and cunning of Nigeria's religionists, which they garnish with seasonings of fraud and charlatanism. First produced at the Mellanby Hall of the then University College of Ibadan in April 1960, J...