The Day I Was ARRESTED in Ekiti for... It was indeed an August occasion. One that I would never forget. I had been invited by Obasola Bamigbola to teach on the Business of Photography to a class of 20 hungry photographers in Ado-Ekiti. He had proposed we charge a fee of N2k and limit attendance to 10 students and I suggested we reduce the fee so as to reduce the excuse of the average potential participant for not making it because it was too expensive. The workshop was to hold on August 28 by 7:30am and I eventually got to the city around 1am. My sleep was short, my excitement was high, my expectations was optimistic. After a short meeting at 7am with the one of Ekitis finest photographers, Femi Adagunodo, I headed to the location where the workshop was to be help. The time was almost 8am and my nervous quotient was raised by a factor of 100. Just 5 more minutes and the workshop would start officially. Suddenly, I heard the voice of someone that sounded like a thug. He was asking for confirmation of where the photography workshop was to hold. After Obasola answered him in the affirmative, he insisted that no one should leave the room that we were all under arrest. Truth be told, I honestly thought it was a joke. After summoning his fellow thug compatriots, I realized that we were being treated like criminals whose crime was murder. At that moment, I knew that the police really isnt your friend. Or are they? I was about to find out. After arriving at the police station, we were directed to the office of the person that was supposedly the oga at the top. I was appalled at the level of treatment a police official hurled at a citizen before hearing their side of the story of whatever they were charged with. Apparently, the unwritten rule is that youre guilty until proven innocent. The Oga would eventually ask the other 8-10 photographers that were arrested with us to step outside while Seun Akisanmi (thats me) and Obasola Bamigbola remain in the room. Present in the same room were three individuals that had apparently filed the petition that warranted our arrests. The OgaATtheTOP flipped though a few pages of stapled petition and with a disfigured face (as if he just drank bitter leaf juice), demanded to know who I was and what I was doing in their terrain. After a 60-second brief reply to his interrogative question, I started glancing through the pages of my internal memory book to see who I might have offended enough to petition the police for my arrest. Could it be the 23 NiPHEC vendors I still owe one outstanding or the other? Could it be my mother-in-law that Im yet to deliver her 60th birthday album? Could it be my friend whose daughters birthday album was still in my archives? I was blank. The charges against me was three-fold and had been initiated by the leadership of the Ekiti State Association of PROFESSIONAL Photographers. The first charge against me was that I had advertised a training program that was part of an embezzlement scheme to defraud participants of the hard-earned N1000 and present certificates to them that will make them go into the photography world and spoil their market. It sounds funny right? You should have seen how I was smiling when I heard that. The words preposterous and ludicrous began to play table tennis in my medula oblongata (sorry, Im a distant relative of Senator Patrick Too Much Grammar). The second charge was that we claimed to be PROFESSIONAL Photographers without associating ourselves with the alpha & omega association of professional photographers in the industry. At this point I was looking at the faces of the 3 accusers of the brethren, two of whom were older than my father. Suddenly, I felt sorry for them after reading what seemed to be deep bitterness in their eyes. They were really cross with me that we didnt liaise with their association before advertising such a workshop. Honestly, I felt compassion for them in my soul. At that very moment, I had a mini-trance that gave me an understanding of what people like Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr went through. I was encouraged knowing instinctively what such an incidence will do the to proliferation of the gospel of photography. I smiled. I frowned. The thought of such association members loosing their market share of clients to the advent of digital technology made me feel sorry for a set of people that were unwilling to acclimatized to the wind of positive change blowing in the industry. The third charge against me was read: that Seun Akisanmi & Obasola Bamgbola have done a similar workshop in the last one year and embezzled participants N1000 without offering them value for their money. At that moment, the two words that were playing table-tennis in my head had a tie: this was both preposterous and ludicrous. I honestly dont feel it necessary to even start explaining the speech I gave in my defense. The summary of what I later educated the clueless Oga of police was that IT IS NOT COMPULSORY to join an association of skilled workers (barbing, photography, hair styling, makeup artistry, etc) before you can practice what youre passionate about. Ofcourse if what you do for a living involves risking someones life one way or the order (e.g. Medicine, law, etc) youll need a license from a governing authority. But photography hasnt gotten to that level yet (anywhere in the world) that youll need a license for practicing. We are t the station for almost 3 hours and were eventually dismissed after lawyers from the Justice Department came to our aid to educate the association executives and Police on our right to willfully join an association. According to Section 40 of the Consitution of Nigeria, we have the right to peaceful assembly and association. If photography association feel threatened by he new generation of photographers rising up now, the foundation of their tenets of association needs to be re-visited. Especially when Im being accused of training people that will get into the industry and start charging N50 per picture instead of N100. If only they know were out to raise world-class photographers and not just Ekiti-based local champions. I left the police station with a sorry heart for the system of Policing we have in this country. The same Oga of Police (along with his assistant) that had disrespected us when we showed up at the station was now asking us to give them something. I gave him something quite alright. I looked into my wallet and handed him the last copy of rectangular paper I had on me: my NiPHEC complimentary card. If he was surprised, it didnt show on his face. The workshop was eventually rescheduled to 2pm and we had a fulfilling time in the presence of the Lord, sorry, participating Photographers. Getting back to Lagos, I sensed within me that the industry is on the right track of transformation. Incidences like this one will only help promote the impact photography is having (and will continue to have) in our society. I also made a resolution not to be forced to join an association whose mentality borders on the fact that the sky is too SMALL for all us to fly. So after being arrested in Ekiti for being an associationless photography preacher & practitioner, my passion for what I do has been renewed. Dear WORLD, get ready for the revolution that is coming... ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Contact us on 08120129149, 08023008873 or info@elophotos for a detailed list of options of classes to take at eloPhotos Academy. It will be the best investment youll make in your journey to photography greatness. A new session begins November 3, 2014 ++++++++++++++++++++++++
Posted on: Mon, 08 Sep 2014 22:13:59 +0000
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