Barewa
Jibrin Ibrahim
Barewa College and Civics: Do young Nigerians know that Christians and Muslims worship the same God?
Jibrin Ibrahim
Newsdairyonline August 16, 2018
Two weeks ago, 32 of us met in Zaria to commemorate our first reunion that cold day of 5th January 1968 as the new intake of Barewa College Zaria. There were 132 of us in the set of 1968. So far, 35 of us have transitioned to the next world. In our conversations on the departed ones, it turned out that most of them died in road accidents over the 50-year period. Surviving in Nigeria is a lottery and so many of us die early due to completely avoidable accidents. We reflected on changing times. In 1968, we were in the middle of one of the most bloody civil wars in Nigerian history. Nonetheless, most of us were simply directed to the motor park without any escort and took lorries and busses from our provinces to Zaria and on to the school. Fifty years later, many of us were apprehensive about going to Zaria due to the multiple conflicts in our provinces. Those from Adamawa, Sardauna and Bornu provinces spoke of the persistence of the insurgency in the North east. Friends from Plateau and Benue provinces were concerned about inter-communal conflicts and the pastoral challenge they face. The members from Sokoto, Zaria and Katsina provinces recounted stories of their communities being sucked into rural banditry while travellers from Kano, Kabba, Ilorin and Niger provinces said they too are no longer safe. The last hurdle was of course the Abuja-Kaduna crossing where everyone had the fear of kidnappers on their mind.
I had not seen some of my class mates since we went our various ways after the WAEC exams in 1972 and some of them looked very old. Maybe that was my brain telling me that I am getting old myself. We used the Golden Jubilee celebration to launch improvements to the school facilities sponsored by the Class of 1968 as we had been agonising for a long time on how dilapidated the school had become. One thing that surprised me was when some of my mates told the principal that they never came back for the school certificates. Within ten minutes, the principal was able to give all of them their certificates. It was good to see that all our files are still intact.
One of the greatest influences in our lives has been the broad introduction we had to comparative religious education in Barewa College. This was through daily readings in assembly from: “A Book of Prayers and Readings.” In 1958, the Northern Nigerian Governmentpublished the book for use in mixed assemblies of Muslim and Christian students. In his Forward to the book, Minister of Education Aliyu Makama made the important point that:
“Both Muslims and Christians are <people of the Book> and it is myearnest prayer and hope that from this book of Prayers and Readings the younger generation in particular may learn the vital truth that the things which unite us are far more important than the things that divide us.”
The daily readings created in us the realization that our religions have the same values and that everyone that respect their religion must also respect other religions that draw from the same belief and value pool. It is this education about comparative religion that is missing in Nigeria today and we have so many young people who lack education in their own religion and their ignorance pushed them into the belief that the other religion is the enemy whose adherents must be killed. The book taught us about the unity of God.
THE UNITY OF GOD
God is One, the Ancient of days: Eternal, having no beginning: Everlasting, having no end, continuing for evermore. He is the First and the Last, Whose wisdom extendeth over all. He cannot be likened to anything else that exists, nor is anything like unto Him, nor is He contained by the earth or the heavens, for He is exalted far above the earth and the dust thereof.
AL GHAZALI
I am the first and I am the last, and beside me there is no God.
ISAIAH
Stand up and bless the Lord your God from everlasting to everlasting: and blessed be Thy glorious Name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise. Thou art the Lord, even Thou alone; Thou hast made heaven and the heaven of heavens, with all their host; the earth, and all the things that are therein; the seas and all that is in them; and Thou preservest them all and the host of heaven worship Thee.
NEHEMIAH
GOD’S LOVE FOR MAN: MAN’S OF GOD
Readings:
Ere he made us He loved us, and when we were made we loved Him.
JULIAN OF NORWICH
Who so knows God, loves Him, and who so loves Him He makes to dwell with Him, and whom He makes to dwell with Him, blessed is he, yea blessed.
AL MUHASIBI
RELIANCE UPON GOD
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so cloth the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? Or, What shall we drink? Or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
1. MATHEW’S GOSPEL
If ye rely upon God as He ought to be relied on, He will provide you as He provides the birds; they go out empty and hungry in the morning and come back big-bellied at eventide.
UMAR (T.I)
PRAYER
Ask and thou shalt be given it.
IBNI MASUD (T.I)
Ask and ye shall receive; seek and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you.
ST MATHEW’S GOSPEL
THE SPIRITUAL COMBAT
Readings:
In the field of this body a great war goes forward against passion, anger, pride and greed; it is in the kingdom of truth, contentment and purity that this battle is ragging and the sword that rings forth most loudly is the sword of His Name. It is a hard fight and a weary one, this fight of the truth seeker, for the truth seeker’s battle goes on day and night; as long as life lasts it never ceases.
KABIR
Know you not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the price? So run that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things, now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible. I therefore run not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air; but I keep under my body and bring it into subjection, lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
ST PAUL
HUMILITY AND PENITENCE
Prayers:
My God, of Thy mercy forgive me my sins. O Lord, through my sinful deeds make me fear Thy justice, yet the greatness of Thy compassion makes me hope in Thee. O Lord, I have not merited Paradise by my deeds, and I cannot endure the pains of Hell, so I entrust myself simply to Thy grace. Wash me from my sins; give me the hope of redeemed and in Thy mercy cast me not away from Thy presence.
YAHAYA B. MADH-EL-RAZI
Wash me thoroughly from my wickedness, and cleanse me from my sins; cast me not away from Thy presence, and take Thy Holy Spirit from me.
PSALMS
THE VALUE OF KNOWLEDGE
Wisdom is glorious and never fadeth away; yea, she is easily seen of them that love her, and found of them that seek her. She goeth before them that desire her, in making herself first known unto them. Whoso seeketh her early shall have no great travail, for he shall find her sitting at his doors.
WISDOM OF SOLOMON
Knowledge is to the mind as a lamp to the eye, and as the light of the sun to the sight. Knowledge was given to man by God, so that his reason, making use therefore, might enable him to realise how the darkness of ignorance veils him from the remembrance of the next world and the regard of his Lord upon him.
AL MUHASIBI
My prayer today is that state ministries of education should look up this book of readings and prayers and use it or a similar instrument to teach the younger generation what we learnt – that Christianity and Islam draw from the same principles and value pool. Let it be known that the greatest ignorance is Christians and Muslims killing themselves in “gods” name. Knowledge is knowing it’s the same God that we worship.
Oluwatoyin Adepoju
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Toyin Falola
Jibrin:
You are talking about the God we don’t see, Allah the beneficent, the omnipotent, the immanent and the merciful. My people understand this, and I am not sure this is the one they are fighting over. The tetragrammaton is not in charge of conflicts!
But they are fighting over the God we see: men who are our gods, our gods of money, our gods of power, with the dark triad—sadism, narcissism, egoism.
Your essay, I am afraid, cannot be about the God we don’t see, but the Gods we see.
I went to a madrasa as a young boy—the prophet does not like money; the prophet is humble, walking with his head down; the prophet was agonized (similar to how the Gospel of John described Jesus), even crying and begging God for His mercy. When next you see me, ask me to read to you
“It is by God’s mercy that you are gentle to them; and had you been harsh and hardhearted, surely they would have scattered from around you. So excuse them, and plead for forgiveness for them, and consult them in the affairs, and once you are resolved, put your trust in God. Indeed God loves those who trust in Him” [Quran 3:159]”.
The prophet was talking about people.
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OLAYINKA AGBETUYI
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Jibrin Ibrahim
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OLAYINKA AGBETUYI
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Jibrin Ibrahim
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Emeagwali, Gloria (History)
Prof. of History/African Studies, CCSU
africahistory.net; vimeo.com/ gloriaemeagwali
Recipient of the 2014 Distinguished Research
Excellence Award, Univ. of Texas at Austin;
2019 Distinguished Africanist Award
New York African Studies Association
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Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Barewa
Please be cautious: **External Email**
Cornelius Hamelberg
This is so deliberately provocative that it must be the misogynist he-devil or anti-Semitic she-devil that must be at work here, causing you to write that it is a religion itself per se and not a lapsed or “fallen” adherent of any such religion/ way of life that you are wrongfully accusing when you say that “One of them is heavily implicated in sex abuse lawsuits and has paid about 3 billion dollars in penalties / settlements thus far in the US alone.”
Your sole aim is to discredit a religion and to promote some discussion.
Of relevance to those who see some of what Judaism and Islam have in common - namely Judaic elements borrowed and adapted by Islam, including some of the Judaic myths, legends and midrashic stories in the Quran.
Interesting too, Judaism and Islam by Erwin I. J. Rosenthal and of course Jewish Views on Islam and some of the interesting differences with regard to what Islam says about Jesus (no crucifixion and no resurrection – the centrepiece of Christianity) especially in the light of sceptics such as Bart Ehrman and the aggressive Kenneth Humphreys views on Jesus
As you may not be aware, blessed are they who were not there and yet believe.
“Blessed are they who have not seen and yet believe.”
I know that Don Harrow is the best person on this matter with his vast experience of Islam in North Africa.
Please carryon with your discussion;.
Emeagwali, Gloria (History)
Prof. of History/African Studies, CCSU
africahistory.net; vimeo.com/ gloriaemeagwali
Recipient of the 2014 Distinguished Research
Excellence Award, Univ. of Texas at Austin;
2019 Distinguished Africanist Award
New York African Studies Association
Sent: Thursday, March 25, 2021 1:01 AM
To: USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Harrow, Kenneth
Sent: Thursday, March 25, 2021 7:46 AM
To: Cornelius Hamelberg <cornelius...@gmail.com>; USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Cornelius Hamelberg
The sex abuse lawsuits elegantly sidestepped as mortal humanity battles on. The salvific idea that Jesus has already died for all our sins must have something to do with such sexual transgressions, but the church continues to impose celibacy on the clergy so that the clergy ( the priests, the bishops and the nuns don’t start multiplying as their offspring would have to legally inherit their holdings on church property because this could lead to the gradual diminishing of the church's considerable financial assets in the kingdom of this world...
The baptism of the Ethiopian eunuch is very promising, that it happened immediately, whereas nowadays with The Eastern Orthodox Church it takes a while...
If only one had world enough and time one could looka here: The Pre-Nicene New Testament: Fifty-Four Formative Texts
I look forward to learning a lot from the experienced adherents of Christianity as they discuss Pastor Jibrin Ibrahim’s ideas. So far, my own very limited understanding is that even though the discussion is supposed to be focused on Christianity and al-Islam we cannot even begin a serious discussion without visiting the very foundations of those two separate religious developments arising from what is to be understood as the Prophetic tradition of the Hebrew Faith from which baby Jesus drew sustenance along with his mother’s milk, followed by Muhammad Ibn Abdullah, salallahu alaihi wa salaam who received his first revelation through the Angel Gabriel 610 years after the birth of Jesus.
Can Christianity or Islam exist, stand on their own two legs without reference or support from the Prophetic Tradition of Israel? Of course not, even if Christianity claims supersessionism and takes solace in replacement theology , whilst Muslims are confident that the houris are waiting for them in Paradise and that the Almighty Who Islam refers to as “Allah” is not going to accept any other religion but Islam as completed by Islam’s Last Prophet, salallahu alaihi wa salaam.
God forbid that I should run away from this kind of discussion. I’m not running away, it’s just that I ‘m really disinterested in arguing about such immaterial matters and any serious dissenter, rejecter or disbeliever could start by reasonably questioning the very foundations of Christianity which is most essentially based on the myth of the fall of man - that Adam sinned - and as Christian apologists are fond of quoting Genesis 3: 15 which states “And I shall place hatred between you and between the woman, and between your seed and between her seed. He will crush your head, and you will bite his heel " in support of their theory that “Jesus died for our sins” Galilean Judaism, or just plain “Judaism” which was the religion that Jesus was born into, has its own understandings of Genesis 3: 15 and it’s own understanding of Isaiah 53
Jonas
Gardell is
a comedian who has dabbled in queer theology and
written a fascinating and immensely readable book
“Om
Jesus”
(About Jesus). The
blurb introduces
his book with
this sobering conjecture : ”Most
skeletons found from the time Jesus lived show a lack of iron and
protein, skulls of forty-year-olds often have few or no teeth left.
Life was hard and you died young. Only a minority got to experience
their twenty-fifth birthday. We would like to see Jesus as a
relatively young man, but when he started his business at about the
age of thirty, he was rather one who had
lived longer than most. We like to think of Jesus' gentle, loving
smile. So now add that the smile was probably toothless and we will
probably get a fairer picture. Can we imagine Jesus toothless? Can we
imagine him uneducated? Very few of our notions of Jesus Christ agree
with Joshua of Nazareth. A Jesus Christ rises before us as the King
returning from heaven to judge the living and the dead. And in the
periphery we see another figure fleeing into the shadows, a short and
stocky,
dark-skinned man aged prematurely by poverty and wandering. A simple
craftsman from the Galilee countryside who the government executed
for preventive purposes. A man who spread the message of the kingdom
of God. Exciting? This is only the beginning! “
My own personal study of Christianity began with a guided tour of the so called New Testament – through The Jewish Annotated New Testament - which situates the birth of Christianity, the life of Jesus, the stories in the Gospels and letters of Paul and other Apostles in their proper historical and cultural context, supplemented by The Jerusalem Perspective on Jesus
Cornelius Hamelberg
One gets sick and tired how the Islamophobes want to characterize Islam as terrorism’s religion.
Bishop Krister Stendahl ‘s three rules of religious understanding and Professor Kenneth Harrow’s non-aggressive summation of how it is, with his own emphasis on Sufism should help us safely on our way to peace and tranquillity.in this discussion
OLAYINKA AGBETUYI
This message is eligible for Automatic Cleanup! (Prof. of History/African Studies, CCSU
africahistory.net; vimeo.com/ gloriaemeagwali
Recipient of the 2014 Distinguished Research
Excellence Award, Univ. of Texas at Austin;
2019 Distinguished Africanist Award
New York African Studies Association
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Cornelius Hamelberg
Strange things
happening : I did not provide a link to ”tranquillity” in my last post and don’t
know how it got there. I’m not related to savant/ acquired savant or alcoholism ( my half a litre of Cointreau is unopened and so is my
70cl Loch Lomond and four cans of beer )
Hopefully, this link will will mot disappear as if my magic : replacement theology
I wish all the religious people what they wish for themselves
OLAYINKA AGBETUYI
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Harrow, Kenneth
kenneth harrow
professor emeritus
dept of english
michigan state university
Sent: Thursday, March 25, 2021 3:38 PM
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Subject: RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Barewa
Harrow, Kenneth
OLAYINKA AGBETUYI
Strange things happening : I did not provide a link to ”tranquillity” in my last post and don’t know how it got there. I’m not related to savant/ acquired savant or alcoholism ( my half a litre of Cointreau is unopened and so is my 70cl Loch Lomond and
four cans of beer )
Hopefully, this link will will mot disappear as if my magic : replacement theology
I wish all the religious people what they wish for themselves
OLAYINKA AGBETUYI
This message is eligible for Automatic Cleanup! (kenneth harrow
professor emeritus
dept of english
michigan state university
Sent: Thursday, March 25, 2021 3:38 PM
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Gloria Emeagwali
Biko Agozino
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Emeagwali, Gloria (History)
Prof. of History/African Studies, CCSU
africahistory.net; vimeo.com/ gloriaemeagwali
Recipient of the 2014 Distinguished Research
Excellence Award, Univ. of Texas at Austin;
2019 Distinguished Africanist Award
New York African Studies Association
Sent: Friday, March 26, 2021 11:06 AM
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Gloria Emeagwali
On Mar 26, 2021, at 13:25, Emeagwali, Gloria (History) <emea...@ccsu.edu> wrote:
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Cornelius Hamelberg
Lord Agbetuyi,
Re – Your premise “In the UK for example the abolitionists used the argument to end slavery, but the freed slaves did not because of that change back to their old religions...”etc.
It should be interesting to examine your conjectures as to the conditions that mitigated against the lost generations of returnees not reverting to their ancestral religions, and why, on the contrary, e.g. Yoruba religion flourished and is flourishing worldwide on the South American continent, in Brazil, Cuba, other parts of the Caribbean, in the United States where where a good number of Roots- conscious African-Americans are fleeing from what they call the “Judgemental religions” to Yoruba religion in either an older original form or developed with syncretic accretions. I have Santeria friends from Cuba, here in Stockholm, trying to teach me ancient Yoruba incantations – you should see their altars. Talking about “ judgemental” here’s no a single Muslim that I know that wouldn’t react with just their one word: Mushrikeen!
Otherwise, the arguments you just tossed at Ken make for sad reading, cast shadows in the realm of the sorrowful and the regrettable. It’s not unlikely that the ghosts, the spiritual descendants and beneficiaries of the Church Missionary Society are either in tears or at work and down on their knees adding to their good deeds, this time ardently praying for your salvation which assuming that you are not already saved and need to be saved or redeemed, to begin with, can only be guaranteed by your sincere repentance, the change of heart, mind and stance that’s called for after saying the things that you just said. A change of heart from sounding like an ingrate to full acknowledgment of all the benefits that you have reaped and that you are still enjoy reaping thanks to the good works of the Church Missionary Society in Western Nigeria.
I daresay that if those missionaries had not been to that neck of what Trump would have called “the swamp” and produced men like Bishop Ajayi Crowther then there would probably have been no Chief Obafemi Awolowo – the one that we know and most probably his universal education plan would not have taken off when it did or succeeded as it did. Without all that missionary activity in Abeokuta there would have been no Wole Soyinka and I daresay, no Toyin Falola, D. Litt either. And just in case you are reeling or re-coiling in your armchair and detest words like “benefits” as employed here, well, here are some of the benefits: You are welcomed as one of the high megawatt lightbulbs in the English Language Empire and thanks to that language you have read Defoe ‘s Robinson Crusoe and Kipling’s The Ballad of East and West, you can communicate with any Fulani speaker at Aso Rock or even Buckingham Place, or any part of the UK where you have, understandably chosen to live.
Those are some of the kinds of arguments that have been advanced by some of the recalcitrant who don’t want to dish out any reparations (e.g. in Ten Reasons Why Reparations for Slavery is a Bad Idea for Blacks—and Racist Too) and of course I fully anticipate the tenor of your response to all of the above.
I though about the Falola D. Litt earlier in the day in this imperial connection, part of a much larger discourse: “The Indian mind had walled itself up in such a prison that only a new language could give it a ladder of escape”
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Cornelius Hamelberg
It's interesting, isn't it, that among the returnees Edward Wilmot Blyden - another missionary product unarguably conferred with the title “The Father of Pan-Africanism” and a strong advocate of Islam as the most suitable religion for Africa according to his seminal “ Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race” and his numerous writings scattered all over the place. He apparently maintained this position although he himself never converted to Islam. Would Blyden have revised his advocacy of in view of latest developments? In my very humble opinion the best book about EWB is still Edward Wilmot Blyden : Pan-Negro Patriot 1832-1912 by Hollis R. Lynch
I’m especially thinking of the returnees to Freetown, Sierra Leone and later on those who returned to Monrovia, Liberia - mostly detribalised and often met with hostility, in the case of Sierra Leone by the reception committee. Blyden’s problems in his encounters with the Mulattoes in Liberia as recounted by Hollis R. Lynch makes for painful reading.
The magnificent Balachandra Rajan and his equally magnificent work Under Western Eyes: India from Milton to Macaulay measured against a similar type of comparative study, perhaps yet to be undertaken, in this case the then on-going developments in English Literature and the evolving Western Intellectual Canon as a lens and on-going commentary on colonial practice in India - a difference that is obvious in the religious sphere is that of course unlike West Africa, India with its own strong religious culture and written scriptures could not be easily penetrated by the imperial Christian missionaries: However, vast swathes of India were ruled by Muslims for almost eight hundred years, and now of course we have Pakistan as a separate nation since the 14th of August 1947…
Before I go into hibernation, it should be remarked that Balachandra’s frequent references to Hegel’s racism in his The Philosophy of History , should not go unnoticed and that it should be interesting to hear what e.g. Samuel Zalanga has to say about this in connection with the African condition/s
Emeagwali, Gloria (History)
sites of sexual abuse, pedophilia and cruelty- but I guess this never happened in Trump's" swamp. " Right?
History Department, Central Connecticut State University
www.africahistory.net
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Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Barewa
History Department, Central Connecticut State University
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OLAYINKA AGBETUYI
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Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Barewa
History Department, Central Connecticut State University
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OLAYINKA AGBETUYI
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More info Lord Agbetuyi,
Re – Your premise “In the UK for example the abolitionists used the argument to end slavery, but the freed slaves did not because of that change back to their old religions...”etc.
It should be interesting to examine your conjectures as to the conditions that mitigated against the lost generations of returnees not reverting to their ancestral religions, and why, on the contrary, e.g. Yoruba religion flourished and is flourishing worldwide on the South American continent, in Brazil, Cuba, other parts of the Caribbean, in the United States where where a good number of Roots- conscious African-Americans are fleeing from what they call the “Judgemental religions” to Yoruba religion in either an older original form or developed with syncretic accretions. I have Santeria friends from Cuba, here in Stockholm, trying to teach me ancient Yoruba incantations – you should see their altars. Talking about “ judgemental” here’s no a single Muslim that I know that wouldn’t react with just their one word: Mushrikeen!
Otherwise, the arguments you just tossed at Ken make for sad reading, cast shadows in the realm of the sorrowful and the regrettable. It’s not unlikely that the ghosts, the spiritual descendants and beneficiaries of the Church Missionary Society are either in tears or at work and down on their knees adding to their good deeds, this time ardently praying for your salvation which assuming that you are not already saved and need to be saved or redeemed, to begin with, can only be guaranteed by your sincere repentance, the change of heart, mind and stance that’s called for after saying the things that you just said. A change of heart from sounding like an ingrate to full acknowledgment of all the benefits that you have reaped and that you are still enjoy reaping thanks to the good works of the Church Missionary Society in Western Nigeria.
I daresay that if those missionaries had not been to that neck of what Trump would have called “the swamp” and produced men like Bishop Ajayi Crowther then there would probably have been no Chief Obafemi Awolowo – the one that we know and most probably his universal education plan would not have taken off when it did or succeeded as it did. Without all that missionary activity in Abeokuta there would have been no Wole Soyinka and I daresay, no Toyin Falola, D. Litt either. And just in case you are reeling or re-coiling in your armchair and detest words like “benefits” as employed here, well, here are some of the benefits: You are welcomed as one of the high megawatt lightbulbs in the English Language Empire and thanks to that language you have read Defoe ‘s Robinson Crusoe and Kipling’s The Ballad of East and West, you can communicate with any Fulani speaker at Aso Rock or even Buckingham Place, or any part of the UK where you have, understandably chosen to live.
Those are some of the kinds of arguments that have been advanced by some of the recalcitrant who don’t want to dish out any reparations (e.g. in Ten Reasons Why Reparations for Slavery is a Bad Idea for Blacks—and Racist Too) and of course I fully anticipate the tenor of your response to all of the above.
I though about the Falola D. Litt earlier in the day in this imperial connection, part of a much larger discourse: “The Indian mind had walled itself up in such a prison that only a new language could give it a ladder of escape”
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Cornelius Hamelberg
I have to respond to Biko Agozino’s viscousness separately, I simply have to, because I just can’t afford to lean back and let him get away with murder - the kinds of things he’s saying; however, you Gloria can go on amusing yourself as much as you want to, you can be as polemical as you wanna be, but as for me no matter what you & Lord Agbetuyi and Baba Kadiri say, I’m gonna stay in hibernation until the coronavirus pandemic is over.
(I have been warming up for great event, and listening to King Sunny Ade continuously, this evening. From tomorrow morning I’ll start with Chief Commander non-stop on Spotify until 18th April,
With all due respect what Lord Agbetuyi says about Chief Commander Ebenezer Obey is utterly reprehensible and he should apologise to all of us worshipful fans for saying the following, and how dare he!: “I hope Dr. Fálęyę will be able to probe incisively the nexus of traditional (particularly Ifá) religion and Christianity in the Chief Commander's lyrics on our behalf, especially the syncretism that propelled him to full blown Christian ministry and the deleterious effect on the sophistication of his music, to the chagrin of music lovers and industry alike.”
For me, Chief Commander is at a level with Miles Davis and Art Blakey - they share the same generosity of spirit – just as Chief Commender has promoted many guitar talents given them the platform to perform and show their mettle by incorporating them in his band, so too Miles has promoted so many guitarists and Art Blakey has featured so many trumpeters and saxophonists in his band)
What you’re actually saying (blasphemy to the Believers) is that if only other people’s Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ had not been born and the Great Commission had not been taken so seriously then the missionary problem could have been averted and furthermore without the savvy from Africa even the paper on which the New Testament is printed could not have been possible. I hope that you know that you cannot say the same about the Torah Scrolls
In the meantime, please feel free to dream about alternative futures when the past can only remind us of what we are not now.
In the final analysis, the question which you could go on to discuss with people like Nimi Wariboko and Bishop Kukah , Professor Femi Segun and Professor Falola the Believer is this : Has Christianity been a positive force when talking about the Redemption of Africa
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