Ten Pictures

I attended a book reading event recently.  The plan was to come in, take about ten pictures and the event is covered. I’d never met or heard about the female poet and author, who was scheduled for this event, organized by the U.S. Embassy Resource Center, Abuja.  Like me, most of the audience did not know what to expect, while the few that have experienced her before had this anticipatory smile that seemed to say, “You guys don’t know what you are about to witness, but you will surely be blown away...”


Then she walks in... and the introductions were quickly done - Lady InspiroLogos, and she smiles modestly in acknowledgement. ‘What a name!?’, I wondered. There was little laughter and chatter here and there. Drum beats gracefully introduced her first performance, “Nigeria Arise”. As the musical instruments gathered pace in harmony with the artist’s, interpretation of her poem, incessant clicks from my camera trying to catch all the action in her movements and expressions began to irritate not only myself, but also the audience as they constantly shifted positions to catch a better glimpse of this spectacular performance that left them all  spell bound at the end.  So much so, the performance over, the audience could not find the voice to shout for  ‘encore’.

‘Total inspiration’ best describes the first performance.  I mean, could there be a better performance after what I had just experienced!? There was. “Where Home Is”, a poem which defines the personality of Lady InspiroLogos and introduces the audience to her number one fan, her mother.

The question and answer time was as entertaining and inspirational as the poetic recitation. Daring and willing to share, Lady InspiroLogos’ responses were a candid story about herself, her struggle and ultimate triumph over sickle cell disease.  Her seamlessly unique poetic story telling style in answering the audiences’ questions finally explained to me why she is called Lady InspiroLogos.  The name is derived from Greek which means to ‘inspire with words’.  She is also known as Ifueko Fex Ogbomo, in Edo (Nigerian language). Lady InspiroLogos is a bundle of talent, and the plan, if you remember was to take ten pictures and call it a day, but I ended up taking more than ten times that number of pictures.  I also became a proud owner of Lady InspiroLogos’ book “Yellow Eyes Gone White” with her autograph.