Review: For peaceful voyage

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By Sylvesterour Asoya

alice, the Air Peace inflight magazine is more than just a journal to enhance passengers’ flying experience. It is undeniably, a magazine in a class by itself.

alice is beautiful. Anyone who loves design, literature or any form of writing may not likely escape the charm of its aesthetics and essence. Apart from the journal’s striking layout and excellent production that are eye-catching, alice is well packaged. The contributors and their columns are also unique and real. For anybody familiar with inflight journals here or outside the country, this latest addition has gone an inch further. It has also raised the bar with its writing, research and documentation.

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A magazine of this nature draws substantially from life stories and related issues around culture, history, health, cuisine, people, places, events, festivals and lifestyle. A good inflight journal should also accommodate reviews, exhibitions, books, theatre, music, visual art, dance and pottery. With the editions at my disposal, it is evident that alice is kicking and on course. And if the room for improvement is the biggest room, then the onus is now on the production and marketing teams to consolidate and keep exploring and experimenting. That, clearly is the only way to maintain the high standard.

I love alice and the reasons are not far to seek. I have always maintained that a people without knowledge of their history and culture are doomed. If you look around Nigeria today, you will agree that there could not have been a better time to address issues of culture, peaceful co-existence, history, mediocrity in high places, relevant education, national pride and solidarity.

For me, the question that usually comes to mind anytime I think about Nigeria, is: what is our national ethos as a people, our tongue and tribe not withstanding? This is a question that most Nigerians do not have easy answers to for very obvious reasons. But we all know the national ethos of the Unites States of America, which is the American Dream. In the belly of the inexorable American Dream, which is a set of ideals, are democracy, freedom, rule of law, inclusion, human rights, liberty, equality, equity, justice, opportunity and fraternity. These virtues are either absent or non-existent here and in most parts of Africa. But we can learn very useful lessons from these American standards and the Americans themselves who live in a far more complex and complicated environment.

But it is heartwarming to note that alice is filling some of the gaps and drawing our attention again to long-forgotten institutions, monuments, dynasties, artifacts, personalities and institutions we once held dear.

In the editions under review, I had the privilege of reading once again, the moving story of Mary Slessor, aptly titled: The Scottish Heroine of the Niger Delta. There are also other interesting stories like the Asaba Monarchy: a Historical Perspective; The Grandeur of Eyo Festival in Lagos; Ikogosi Warm Spring; Historical Facts About the Great Benin Empire; Connecting the World Through Sharjar, UAE; the Grand Bonny Kingdom and The Rise, Again, of Ghana. There are other features like Museums in Nigeria, 10 Must See Places in Owerri, Nigeria’s Street Food, Tips on how to Avoid or cope with inflight sickness, Best Places to Shop in Dubai and Must-See Places in Kaduna, among others.

The magazine has promise, but it must also innovate. I made this point earlier because the key to its success obviously lies in the journal’s ability to keep updating and adapting to changes. Personally, I would want to see great interviews, better photographs, travels and more festivals. In addition, pictures come alive only when they are captioned. Therefore, every photography, no matter how insignificant, must be captioned for identification and effect. Nigerians love life; they also like to celebrate. The journal can take advantage of all these and more.

If alice continues to celebrate and document Nigerians and their unique ways, I am sure it would have succeeded in inspiring young people and others in search of life. A new Nigeria is still possible if the right things are done. I commend alice for being a vehicle and I hope it remains true to its mission.

Kindly support the growth of journalism in Nigeria

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