(Fwd) Ooni and his tribe
Simbo Odunaiya
I refer to the footnote on this post, I am not agrieved but I believe
the people have the right to know so that they can make their own
decision. This should be news for everybody.
Simbo
------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
Date: Tue, 20 Feb 1996 09:08:57 -0800 (PST)
From: Qansy Salako <qasa...@ucdavis.edu>
Subject: Ooni and his tribe
Oodua Netters;
Please pardon my interrupting the peaceful activities here, but it is
important for me to post this to our peculiar net.
I was leafing through one of the numerous propaganda write-ups that
Abacha recently dispersed into the world community. Some Nigerian cab
driver somewhere in the US, must have succeeded in getting a contract of his
life for distributing tyrannical "disinformation leaflets" into our Northern
California environments. Did you get one in your neck of woods ?
Anyway, the one I am talking about is titled "NIGERIA - A closer look."
The write-up tried hard to "educate" readers on how much of a giant
Nigeria is in Africa and in the world. On how much Nigeria loves peace
and how Abacha may "well be that historical figure who could succeed in
setting his country ready for a future in which the turmoil of the past
would become customary history." Whatever that means.
It is a small 8-page pamphlet (including cover pages), each page about
half the size of a page of "Daily Times." Four of the eight pages were
dedicated to the recent visit to our sick country by the dubious 12
African Americans representing National Newspaper Publishers Association
and Black Media Incorporated. Aside from the idol-ridden photo-map of
Nigeria on the front cover, there are seven low-quality photos in all.
Five of the photos were on the infamous Black Press delegation. One of
them was on their visit to Ile Ife. The photo was captioned as "During a
visit to the Ooni of Ife, Tribal Leader in Ife, Nigerian members of
the Black Press Delegation posed with the Ooni and his tribe."
That's it ! Enough for me. Ooni and his tribe, how further low can the
Yoruba nation be stooped ? I asked myself. Just how lower in the hands
of the likes of a greedy and thoughtless mythological god, can a whole
people become ? In my own book of human emancipation, you cease to become a
hero or leader when you stop leading a cause for the larger good. What
we have today in my proud and celebrated Yorubaland are scores of
miserable community leaders. There is still probably one or two caring
Baales, but woebegone, a horrendous number of our kings ought to be
choked with the diamonmd stones in their crowns. So, so counterfeit Obas
and district heads we now have. Ooni of crocodile. Agba lowo meeri,
Baale Jontolo. Eleru of Alajobi. Odale of Yorubawa. Oloyibiripo of
Ayederu. Earthly gods without future with the Heavenly One.
Shenanigans. In that propaganda brochure, there was no photo of
any other Oba, Obi or Emir. Only Abacha, his wife and one other unnamed
Ogoni "chief" adorned it. Our Ooni posed in our ancestral regalia with
about 35 of his goons which included Abachas' infamous 12 naive African
American emissaries, and he was said to be photographed with "his
tribe." Kai, bashau.
Just how many more years of suffering will our parents, siblings and young
ones be led into by our temporal lords before they forsake their eternal
damnation for the glory of the community ? These are times for all of us
to sleep uneasy as we slip into our evening years. For only very few
(less than 0.1%) of us are outside. Those inside are doing their best
walking themselves into dishonorable graves underneath the colosal feet
of our Diyas, Adisas, Obas, Sarakis etc. It is spineless of us on
this net not to at least discuss our misfortunes in this era. It is okay
to be labeled as tribalist for discussing the reality that is our fate in
Yorubaland. It is alright. For it is better to be pointed at as a Yoruba
sentimentalist than as a federal enthusiast who cannot become a chief
medical director outside Yorubaland without being butchered like a
dog. Who are those giving the labels anyway ? They are the ignoramuses
among us. They are not informed either because they are young,
uninterested in the Nigerian structure (and did not know) before they
left home, they had privileged upbringing which blurred their view of
true national causes of human agonies or they are simply warped in their
reasoning.
Who says Nigeria should not remain one though ? It should mana, for if we
can get our acts together, each ethnic fragment will gain more from
within it than from going it alone. But finding ways to get the acts
within the units together is akin to finding ways to inject sense into
sensless Nigeria. Our Yoruba lords have contributed imensely to the
state of apocalypse that is Nigeria today. Many of them are stupid and
hollow in taste and dreams. Many just view political nominations or
events as they regard the catoon page of a newspaper.
We in this generation must reflect deeper behind every thing we see or
hear else our children will be genetically worse off. We must remember
that Harold Sodipo did jail terms over a sport that has now become our
national business, exclusively being handled by favored prodigals of our
Republic. Thanks to Obasanjo. We in this generation, must not forget
how all of our professionals are being bossed around by the unqualified
as chairmen/executive directors in our federal establishments which
include the insurance houses, banks, ministries, oil companies, ports,
airways, embassies, etc. We must not just read about Fela's saga
with the usual giggles without casting our minds on how many are drug
barons and homosexuals in other parts of the country, but whom are rather
preserved as fossils by our state apparatus. This individual disgrace is
part of a whole. Yet, it is our Yoruba political prostitutes that have
made it possible for the alien palm oil seller to soil the white cloth of
our Yemaja maiden dancer. Our people are suffering too much. Our
brotherhood, going; our leading educational system, going; our colorful
monarchy structure, gone.
Oodua netters, wake up. Stop being timid and keeping quiet like a parked
car. The dreams of a dog always live in his belly. But we are not
dogs. The grumblings of a pig always reside in his bowels. But we are
not pigs either. We are humans. We are colorful Nigerians. We are a
gifted nation within Nigeria. We are intellectual ! Talk. Discuss.
Focus first on our indegenous misery farmers. What can we do ?
Ordinary advertisements at home from concerned Yorubas in the diaspora
could do a lot in galvanizing morales of our forlorn folks.
Keep this arena alive forever !
Else, we'll be doomed in the hands of Ooni and his tribe.
No two birds go by the name of the hawk. I am one of those you hate to
love and love to hate. But who cares ? I am contributing my own tiny
quota by saying my piece, as I slip toward my expiration hour.
Emi ni, kaka kile kuu, ile a sa.
\ \ \ ~ // ~ / ~/
Omo Salako Oniluu ko fe kotu
~ ~ ~ / \/ \ ~ / /
Omo a bani gbele tuni lara
~ ~ / / /
Omo bo legbeje oogun, bo legbeje ado
~ ~ / / \ \\ \ / / \ \ /
Emi lomo Morohunfolu, inu're je jewe lo.
\ ~ ~ / / / / ~ / ~
Esi ku apero naa.
~
Ire o.
Kanzi Salako.
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I had to extract the time to write this to Oodua net, as I am currently
running a busy schedule. I am not subscribed to naijanet at this time,
but if any of you good Afonja descendants feel aggrieved or enthusiastic
enough as to forward this to Naijanet, it is not a hair loss off my
forehead. I will take care of interested fans whenever I return to the
net. Netters are my cousins, we know ourselves pretty much. Peace.