Chief Tola Adeniyi's piece on Achebe leaves a sour taste in the mouth. What would otherwise have been a fine tribute to a truly deserving giant has been polluted by Adeniyi's hatred and malice for his un-named 'victim'. If the fallen 'Iroko' himself had read this piece, he would have dissociated himself from it, for part of what endeared Achebe to those who knew him personally (from the various tributes) was his genuine love for people. He was never known for any kind of hatred implicitly or explicitly directed at anyone. Prof. Achebe never compared himself with anyone. He towered above all in his own right and no one should rob any of us the joy we get when read tributes in his honour.
.......................................................................................................................................
Funmi Bammeke, Ph.D.
Department of Sociology
Faculty of Social Sciences
University of Lagos,Akoka
Lagos, Nigeria.
Tel: +234 802 323 0150
Email: obam...@unilag.edu.ng
--- On Tue, 26/3/13, usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> wrote:
From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Digest for usaafric...@googlegroups.com - 25 Messages in 16 Topics
To: "Digest Recipients" <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Date: Tuesday, 26 March, 2013, 17:03
Group: http://groups.google.com/group/usaafricadialogue/topics
"Abdul Bangura" <th...@earthlink.net> Mar 26 12:05PM -0400
But as we say in Washington, Afrikans are corrupt; Americans lobby!
One Night Paris Hotel Tab for Biden, over a Half Million Dollars
03/26/13
From Fox2Now.com:
If you think Paris is expensive, the City of Light costs a lot more when you’re traveling with the vice president.
Recent documents posted to a government website give a rare glimpse of Vice President Joe Biden’s overseas travel expenses.
Official business took him last month to Europe, a trip that included a bill of $585,000 for his one-night stay in Paris.
Also on the receipt was $321,665 for a limousine company and $459,338.65 for a hotel stay in London.
And while Biden was only in each town for one night, the London hotel bill, for example, included 136 rooms for multiple nights for his advance team, according to the documents posted on the website for Federal Business Opportunities and unearthed by the conservative magazine, The Weekly Standard.
Read more at http://www.reagancoalition.com/articles/2013/20130326006-paris-hotel-biden.html#k4wSm4jOCHt1GuDL.99
olatunji omowumi <ajaoo...@gmail.com> Mar 26 08:28PM +0800
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: olatunji omowumi <ajaoo...@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 26 Mar 2013 20:18:06 +0800
Subject:
To: alu...@gmail.com
Chief Tola Adeniyi should have honourably restricted himself to a
tribute for Prof. Chinua Achebe .
By using the tribute for self-glorification , abusing and denigrating
imaginary character or characters , comparing writers and awarding
imaginary Nobel Prize , he is displaying infantile delusions and
shameful opportunism . Chief Tola Adeniyi should be ignored .
Dr Olatunji Omowumi
Mobolaji Aluko <alu...@gmail.com> Mar 26 11:02AM +0100
Dear All:
Chief Tola Adeniyi is weirdly and apparently ATTACKING the only man whose
name is missing in this tribute below, but he (Adeniyi) appears just too
frightened to mention by name.
This is the reverse of the Yoruba adage where you are all but mentioned but
for name, but out of cowardice, you say "No it is not I" for lack of a will
to fight the abuser, in this case Adeniyi, who should name the abused and
let the devil be ashamed.
One wonders why...and I am surprised, not at his commentary - to which he
has a right - but at his cowardice as well as timing.
And there you have it.
Bolaji Aluko
Shaking his head
And Scratching it....
elombah daniel <elsd...@yahoo.com> Mar 26 03:33AM -0700
My brothers,
Chief Tola Adeniyi saw the truth, spoke the truth and wrote absolutely nothing but the truth...
Yes, Wole Soyinka, we all love him, but somehow in our quiet moments, deep in our hearts, we just look at the man, his works, his attitude, his grandstanding, his writings and quietly wonder......
I read Chinua Achebe as a primary school pupil.....but as a secondary school student, I only managed to finish 'The Man Died', mainly because of it's historical narrative.
As for the rest of Soyinka's works....For all my love for Literature, (I chose Literature as an option both in Secondary and Tertiary) I had to force myself to read them as an undergraduate, just because they were written by the great Wole Soyinka.
As for Soyinka's politics - wining and dining with all our former corrupt president's at night and pretending in the daytime to side with the masses, we also saw them, but still feel that his good sides outweigh his bad sides....after-all this is Nigeria, our Nigeria.....and yes we still respect Soyinka as Nigeria's worthy ambassador.....
Soyinka is great, no doubt, but Achebe is a colossus!.....and if you Bolaji Aluko wrote, just last night that there is nothing wrong for some disgusting and animalistic low-lifes on this forum to lie and speak ill of the distinguished and honourable Achebe in death, (You last night urged "dear all" to speak the good the bad the ugly about Achebe) it is rampaging hypocrisy for you for you to disparage Chief Tola Adeniyi for saying the truth as he saw them.
Daniel Elombah
+44-7435469430
+44-2088087999
Every Nigerian that has something important to say, says it on www.elombah.com
Follow us on twitter @Elombah
________________________________
From: Mobolaji Aluko <alu...@gmail.com>
To: Omo...@yahoogroups.com
Cc: "NaijaP...@yahoogroups.com" <NaijaP...@yahoogroups.com>; naijaintellects <naijain...@googlegroups.com>; "niger...@yahoogroups.com" <niger...@yahoogroups.com>; Ra'ayi <Raay...@yahoogroups.com>; USAAfrica Dialogue <USAAfric...@googlegroups.com>; Yan Arewa <YanA...@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, March 26, 2013 10:02 AM
Subject: NigerianID | Re: TOLA ADENIYI ON ACHEBE!!!
Dear All:
Chief Tola Adeniyi is weirdly and apparently ATTACKING the only man whose name is missing in this tribute below, but he (Adeniyi) appears just too frightened to mention by name.
This is the reverse of the Yoruba adage where you are all but mentioned but for name, but out of cowardice, you say "No it is not I" for lack of a will to fight the abuser, in this case Adeniyi, who should name the abused and let the devil be ashamed.
One wonders why...and I am surprised, not at his commentary - to which he has a right - but at his cowardice as well as timing.
And there you have it.
Bolaji Aluko
Shaking his head
And Scratching it....
>On Mar 26, 2013, at 7:32 AM, Adebayo Adejuwon <adead...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>>Who exactly is Tola Adeniyi attacking in the name of writing a tribute?
What would have passed for a good tribute in the memory of Late
Prof.Chinua Achebe, in my opionon sounds like a direct attack on
somebody Tola Adeniyi cannot confront directly.Read and form your
opinion.
>>Chinua Achebe: The uncrowned nobel laureate
>>By TOLA ADENIYI
>>The motto of Obafemi Awolowo University is ‘For Learning and Culture’.
No one academic in Nigeria reflects and personifies that maxim more than
Professor Chinua Achebe. The grandfather of modern English literature
in Africa was both a colossus in learning, as he was a thoroughbred and
highly cultivated individual in manners and character. Chinua Achebe’s
transition last week took the world by storm and he was genuinely
mourned by all those who appreciated the worth, both of his writings and
his character. His passing on into eternity was a personal loss to this
writer. It was in July 1965 that Uncle Segun Olusola took me to Chinua
Achebe, somewhere on Broad Street, Lagos, to seek his permission for me
to adapt his most celebrated classic, Things Fall Apart, published in
1958 into a play.
>>I had seen the dramatic elements in the novel
and decided to make a drama out of it. Achebe asked me a few questions
and satisfied with my answers, approved my proposal to adapt the novel
for both stage and television. Ambali Sanni’s Muslim College, Ijebu Ode,
provided the funds while the students made up the cast. The production
was taken round the whole Western region, including Lagos (minus the
colony) and was given loud applause by the likes of Derek Bullock and
Dapo Adelugba. That was the beginning of the romance with this giant of
letters, who, seven years later, hosted me and my wife on our honeymoon
to his official residence at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in 1972.
Achebe gave pride to African writing and to Africans. For the first
time, he provided a lens into Africa and presented Africa from the
African perspective.
>>His writings were African-based but with
monumental universal appeal. Hence his maiden novel Things Fall Apart
got translated into well over 50 languages and sold over 12 million
copies. Apart from being the greatest writer of prose to emerge from
African continent, Achebe wrote for the masses. Achebe spoke so that he
could be understood. The beauty of his writings was that he was a most
excellent communicator, believing that the over all purpose of any work
of art is communication. Your work, be it dance, song, speech, drama,
gesture, painting must convey a message and that message must be
comprehended by your listener, your viewer or your audience. Anything
short of that is intellectual garbage. In fact, Achebe could easily pass
for a playwright of immense stature.
>>There is so much drama in
all of his novels. And this was the reason I started work on The
Theatre in Achebe’s novels. All the characters in his writings are alive
and touchable. The trees, the mountains, the rivers and valleys in his
novels speak. Chinua Achebe gave dignity and personality to art. For
him, you do not need to grow a bush on your head or grow rodents in your
hair to impress on the world that you are an artist or a writer. Achebe
was a man of character. He taught for many years at Nsukka and no one
ever heard that he drove his female students nuts, nor was he ever
accused of befriending or marrying his students. Achebe taught us what a
great mind should be. Achebe never went round state governors with
beggar’s bowl, soliciting for money or gratification nor was he ever
accused of sleeping with his friends’ widows.
>>Twice Achebe was
offered national honours. Twice he rejected them, arguing that he was
not one that would pose as holy in the day time and be in cosy alliance
in the night with people he accuses in the day time. The millions, who
have continued to mourn Achebe since his transition, do so in deep
sorrow and in sincerity, having discovered in the literary colossus a
most genuine and sincere human being. Achebe identified with his Igbo
nation. He shared the pains and sufferings of his people. And never for
once did he treat them with condescension that he was in any way
superior to his clan. Achebe was mature. He showed maturity in all his
dealings. He did not exhibit childishness. He was never petty or
small-minded. All those who had anything to do with him ended up
respecting him because he commanded respect.
>>Even when he was
in his thirties, he displayed unusual maturity and mastery of human
relations. As far as Achebe was concerned, a writer or any artist for
that matter was first and foremost a human person with deep human
feelings and ethos. Chinua Achebe eminently qualified for a Nobel Prize
before that hitherto prestigious prize got politicised and became not a
reward for distinction but a reward for those, who had mastered the art
and science of boardroom politics or global arm-twisting. Although
Achebe mentioned lizard in almost all his works, the honourable man of
letters never learnt the art of lizarding. Prose writer Chinua Achebe
shared the distinction of being the best in their arts with John Pepper
Clark and Christopher Okigbo, who, up till today, are the best writers
of poetry, with Professor Ola Rotimi, the best in playwriting and play
production, with Ene Henshaw, Wale Ogunyemi and Professor Femi Osofisan
as playwrights with greatest relevance and profundity.
>>This
explains why, to me, Achebe remains the uncrowned Nobel Prize winner
with most authentic claim to that crown. The Federal Government of
Nigeria must immediately commence the process of creating a national
monument to immortalise this rare genius of both learning and character.
Chinua Achebe was not just a writer; he was a distinguished writer with
the best and noblest of human virtues. A non hypocrite. A non bully.
Achebe was both a great ambassador of Africa and a true and respectable
specimen of the finest humanity. •Do not submit your happiness to the
whims and caprices of others…
__._,_.___
Reply via web post Reply to sender Reply to group Start a New Topic Messages in this topic (1)
Recent Activity: * New Members 1
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==============================
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Nigerian Professionals and Business Network. Our mission is to promote the spirit of patriotism, networking, and cooperation among Nigerians in Diaspora.... http://www.nidoa.org
Donate your used Glasses to the "Seeing Changes the View" Nigeria Project at http://www.proudNigerians.org and help someone today. ProudNigerians.Org is an informal movement of like-minded people who wants to see incremental changes in Nigeria and who are leading by taking simple actions and paying it forward. Mobilizing the people is our primary goal.
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.
__,_._,___
elombah daniel <elsd...@yahoo.com> Mar 26 03:33AM -0700
My brothers,
Chief Tola Adeniyi saw the truth, spoke the truth and wrote absolutely nothing but the truth...
Yes, Wole Soyinka, we all love him, but somehow in our quiet moments, deep in our hearts, we just look at the man, his works, his attitude, his grandstanding, his writings and quietly wonder......
I read Chinua Achebe as a primary school pupil.....but as a secondary school student, I only managed to finish 'The Man Died', mainly because of it's historical narrative.
As for the rest of Soyinka's works....For all my love for Literature, (I chose Literature as an option both in Secondary and Tertiary) I had to force myself to read them as an undergraduate, just because they were written by the great Wole Soyinka.
As for Soyinka's politics - wining and dining with all our former corrupt president's at night and pretending in the daytime to side with the masses, we also saw them, but still feel that his good sides outweigh his bad sides....after-all this is Nigeria, our Nigeria.....and yes we still respect Soyinka as Nigeria's worthy ambassador.....
Soyinka is great, no doubt, but Achebe is a colossus!.....and if you Bolaji Aluko wrote, just last night that there is nothing wrong for some disgusting and animalistic low-lifes on this forum to lie and speak ill of the distinguished and honourable Achebe in death, (You last night urged "dear all" to speak the good the bad the ugly about Achebe) it is rampaging hypocrisy for you for you to disparage Chief Tola Adeniyi for saying the truth as he saw them.
Daniel Elombah
+44-7435469430
+44-2088087999
Every Nigerian that has something important to say, says it on www.elombah.com
Follow us on twitter @Elombah
________________________________
From: Mobolaji Aluko <alu...@gmail.com>
To: Omo...@yahoogroups.com
Cc: "NaijaP...@yahoogroups.com" <NaijaP...@yahoogroups.com>; naijaintellects <naijain...@googlegroups.com>; "niger...@yahoogroups.com" <niger...@yahoogroups.com>; Ra'ayi <Raay...@yahoogroups.com>; USAAfrica Dialogue <USAAfric...@googlegroups.com>; Yan Arewa <YanA...@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, March 26, 2013 10:02 AM
Subject: NigerianID | Re: TOLA ADENIYI ON ACHEBE!!!
Dear All:
Chief Tola Adeniyi is weirdly and apparently ATTACKING the only man whose name is missing in this tribute below, but he (Adeniyi) appears just too frightened to mention by name.
This is the reverse of the Yoruba adage where you are all but mentioned but for name, but out of cowardice, you say "No it is not I" for lack of a will to fight the abuser, in this case Adeniyi, who should name the abused and let the devil be ashamed.
One wonders why...and I am surprised, not at his commentary - to which he has a right - but at his cowardice as well as timing.
And there you have it.
Bolaji Aluko
Shaking his head
And Scratching it....
>On Mar 26, 2013, at 7:32 AM, Adebayo Adejuwon <adead...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>>Who exactly is Tola Adeniyi attacking in the name of writing a tribute?
What would have passed for a good tribute in the memory of Late
Prof.Chinua Achebe, in my opionon sounds like a direct attack on
somebody Tola Adeniyi cannot confront directly.Read and form your
opinion.
>>Chinua Achebe: The uncrowned nobel laureate
>>By TOLA ADENIYI
>>The motto of Obafemi Awolowo University is ‘For Learning and Culture’.
No one academic in Nigeria reflects and personifies that maxim more than
Professor Chinua Achebe. The grandfather of modern English literature
in Africa was both a colossus in learning, as he was a thoroughbred and
highly cultivated individual in manners and character. Chinua Achebe’s
transition last week took the world by storm and he was genuinely
mourned by all those who appreciated the worth, both of his writings and
his character. His passing on into eternity was a personal loss to this
writer. It was in July 1965 that Uncle Segun Olusola took me to Chinua
Achebe, somewhere on Broad Street, Lagos, to seek his permission for me
to adapt his most celebrated classic, Things Fall Apart, published in
1958 into a play.
>>I had seen the dramatic elements in the novel
and decided to make a drama out of it. Achebe asked me a few questions
and satisfied with my answers, approved my proposal to adapt the novel
for both stage and television. Ambali Sanni’s Muslim College, Ijebu Ode,
provided the funds while the students made up the cast. The production
was taken round the whole Western region, including Lagos (minus the
colony) and was given loud applause by the likes of Derek Bullock and
Dapo Adelugba. That was the beginning of the romance with this giant of
letters, who, seven years later, hosted me and my wife on our honeymoon
to his official residence at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in 1972.
Achebe gave pride to African writing and to Africans. For the first
time, he provided a lens into Africa and presented Africa from the
African perspective.
>>His writings were African-based but with
monumental universal appeal. Hence his maiden novel Things Fall Apart
got translated into well over 50 languages and sold over 12 million
copies. Apart from being the greatest writer of prose to emerge from
African continent, Achebe wrote for the masses. Achebe spoke so that he
could be understood. The beauty of his writings was that he was a most
excellent communicator, believing that the over all purpose of any work
of art is communication. Your work, be it dance, song, speech, drama,
gesture, painting must convey a message and that message must be
comprehended by your listener, your viewer or your audience. Anything
short of that is intellectual garbage. In fact, Achebe could easily pass
for a playwright of immense stature.
>>There is so much drama in
all of his novels. And this was the reason I started work on The
Theatre in Achebe’s novels. All the characters in his writings are alive
and touchable. The trees, the mountains, the rivers and valleys in his
novels speak. Chinua Achebe gave dignity and personality to art. For
him, you do not need to grow a bush on your head or grow rodents in your
hair to impress on the world that you are an artist or a writer. Achebe
was a man of character. He taught for many years at Nsukka and no one
ever heard that he drove his female students nuts, nor was he ever
accused of befriending or marrying his students. Achebe taught us what a
great mind should be. Achebe never went round state governors with
beggar’s bowl, soliciting for money or gratification nor was he ever
accused of sleeping with his friends’ widows.
>>Twice Achebe was
offered national honours. Twice he rejected them, arguing that he was
not one that would pose as holy in the day time and be in cosy alliance
in the night with people he accuses in the day time. The millions, who
have continued to mourn Achebe since his transition, do so in deep
sorrow and in sincerity, having discovered in the literary colossus a
most genuine and sincere human being. Achebe identified with his Igbo
nation. He shared the pains and sufferings of his people. And never for
once did he treat them with condescension that he was in any way
superior to his clan. Achebe was mature. He showed maturity in all his
dealings. He did not exhibit childishness. He was never petty or
small-minded. All those who had anything to do with him ended up
respecting him because he commanded respect.
>>Even when he was
in his thirties, he displayed unusual maturity and mastery of human
relations. As far as Achebe was concerned, a writer or any artist for
that matter was first and foremost a human person with deep human
feelings and ethos. Chinua Achebe eminently qualified for a Nobel Prize
before that hitherto prestigious prize got politicised and became not a
reward for distinction but a reward for those, who had mastered the art
and science of boardroom politics or global arm-twisting. Although
Achebe mentioned lizard in almost all his works, the honourable man of
letters never learnt the art of lizarding. Prose writer Chinua Achebe
shared the distinction of being the best in their arts with John Pepper
Clark and Christopher Okigbo, who, up till today, are the best writers
of poetry, with Professor Ola Rotimi, the best in playwriting and play
production, with Ene Henshaw, Wale Ogunyemi and Professor Femi Osofisan
as playwrights with greatest relevance and profundity.
>>This
explains why, to me, Achebe remains the uncrowned Nobel Prize winner
with most authentic claim to that crown. The Federal Government of
Nigeria must immediately commence the process of creating a national
monument to immortalise this rare genius of both learning and character.
Chinua Achebe was not just a writer; he was a distinguished writer with
the best and noblest of human virtues. A non hypocrite. A non bully.
Achebe was both a great ambassador of Africa and a true and respectable
specimen of the finest humanity. •Do not submit your happiness to the
whims and caprices of others…
__._,_.___
Reply via web post Reply to sender Reply to group Start a New Topic Messages in this topic (1)
Recent Activity: * New Members 1
Visit Your Group
UPCOMING EVENT| TORONTO 2013 NIGERIA-CANADA INVESTMENT & TRADE FORUM - May 2&3.
==============================
"No part of any discussion on NigerianID may be used, quoted, or referred to, without the express permission of the individual author, or the Chief moderator All discussions on NigerianID are the express property of the author and NigerianID." Copyright 2006-2013. NigerianID. All Rights Reserved.
Nigerian Professionals and Business Network. Our mission is to promote the spirit of patriotism, networking, and cooperation among Nigerians in Diaspora.... http://www.nidoa.org
Donate your used Glasses to the "Seeing Changes the View" Nigeria Project at http://www.proudNigerians.org and help someone today. ProudNigerians.Org is an informal movement of like-minded people who wants to see incremental changes in Nigeria and who are leading by taking simple actions and paying it forward. Mobilizing the people is our primary goal.
Switch to: Text-Only, Daily Digest • Unsubscribe • Terms of Use • Send us Feedback
.
__,_._,___
Michael Afolayan <mafo...@yahoo.com> Mar 26 05:01AM -0700
Based on this write-up, Tola Adeniyi is at the very best, a poor analyst and at the very worst, a restless gossip. My uncle has always warned that a good idea badly presented could be easily dismissed as a bad one altogether. What could have been a great tribute to a revered icon now reads like an emission of nonsense. Apparently, Adeniyi failed to recognize that Achebe and Soyinka, two
fairly good and close friends, wrote from two different genres, for two different
audiences and, logically, in two different styles. He took personal vendetta to a new low! This is a typical idle village women's syndrome, which only reminds one of Lanrewaju Adepoju's poem that he rightly titled, "Ede Aiyede I &II." In it, the poet made it clear that only the Yoruba are the living army that would shoot at its own wounded soldiers. Listen to him here, if you speak Yoruba: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqNa3JcNklc and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fISc4GBpNYg. . . O ma se o!
Michael O. Afolayan
________________________________
From: Mobolaji Aluko <alu...@gmail.com>
To: Omo...@yahoogroups.com
Cc: "NaijaP...@yahoogroups.com" <NaijaP...@yahoogroups.com>; naijaintellects <naijain...@googlegroups.com>; "niger...@yahoogroups.com" <niger...@yahoogroups.com>; Ra'ayi <Raay...@yahoogroups.com>; USAAfrica Dialogue <USAAfric...@googlegroups.com>; Yan Arewa <YanA...@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, March 26, 2013 5:02 AM
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: TOLA ADENIYI ON ACHEBE!!!
Dear All:
Chief Tola Adeniyi is weirdly and apparently ATTACKING the only man whose name is missing in this tribute below, but he (Adeniyi) appears just too frightened to mention by name.
This is the reverse of the Yoruba adage where you are all but mentioned but for name, but out of cowardice, you say "No it is not I" for lack of a will to fight the abuser, in this case Adeniyi, who should name the abused and let the devil be ashamed.
One wonders why...and I am surprised, not at his commentary - to which he has a right - but at his cowardice as well as timing.
And there you have it.
Bolaji Aluko
Shaking his head
And Scratching it....
>On Mar 26, 2013, at 7:32 AM, Adebayo Adejuwon <adead...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>>Who exactly is Tola Adeniyi attacking in the name of writing a tribute?
What would have passed for a good tribute in the memory of Late
Prof.Chinua Achebe, in my opionon sounds like a direct attack on
somebody Tola Adeniyi cannot confront directly.Read and form your
opinion.
>>Chinua Achebe: The uncrowned nobel laureate
>>By TOLA ADENIYI
>>The motto of Obafemi Awolowo University is ‘For Learning and Culture’.
No one academic in Nigeria reflects and personifies that maxim more than
Professor Chinua Achebe. The grandfather of modern English literature
in Africa was both a colossus in learning, as he was a thoroughbred and
highly cultivated individual in manners and character. Chinua Achebe’s
transition last week took the world by storm and he was genuinely
mourned by all those who appreciated the worth, both of his writings and
his character. His passing on into eternity was a personal loss to this
writer. It was in July 1965 that Uncle Segun Olusola took me to Chinua
Achebe, somewhere on Broad Street, Lagos, to seek his permission for me
to adapt his most celebrated classic, Things Fall Apart, published in
1958 into a play.
>>I had seen the dramatic elements in the novel
and decided to make a drama out of it. Achebe asked me a few questions
and satisfied with my answers, approved my proposal to adapt the novel
for both stage and television. Ambali Sanni’s Muslim College, Ijebu Ode,
provided the funds while the students made up the cast. The production
was taken round the whole Western region, including Lagos (minus the
colony) and was given loud applause by the likes of Derek Bullock and
Dapo Adelugba. That was the beginning of the romance with this giant of
letters, who, seven years later, hosted me and my wife on our honeymoon
to his official residence at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in 1972.
Achebe gave pride to African writing and to Africans. For the first
time, he provided a lens into Africa and presented Africa from the
African perspective.
>>His writings were African-based but with
monumental universal appeal. Hence his maiden novel Things Fall Apart
got translated into well over 50 languages and sold over 12 million
copies. Apart from being the greatest writer of prose to emerge from
African continent, Achebe wrote for the masses. Achebe spoke so that he
could be understood. The beauty of his writings was that he was a most
excellent communicator, believing that the over all purpose of any work
of art is communication. Your work, be it dance, song, speech, drama,
gesture, painting must convey a message and that message must be
comprehended by your listener, your viewer or your audience. Anything
short of that is intellectual garbage. In fact, Achebe could easily pass
for a playwright of immense stature.
>>There is so much drama in
all of his novels. And this was the reason I started work on The
Theatre in Achebe’s novels. All the characters in his writings are alive
and touchable. The trees, the mountains, the rivers and valleys in his
novels speak. Chinua Achebe gave dignity and personality to art. For
him, you do not need to grow a bush on your head or grow rodents in your
hair to impress on the world that you are an artist or a writer. Achebe
was a man of character. He taught for many years at Nsukka and no one
ever heard that he drove his female students nuts, nor was he ever
accused of befriending or marrying his students. Achebe taught us what a
great mind should be. Achebe never went round state governors with
beggar’s bowl, soliciting for money or gratification nor was he ever
accused of sleeping with his friends’ widows.
>>Twice Achebe was
offered national honours. Twice he rejected them, arguing that he was
not one that would pose as holy in the day time and be in cosy alliance
in the night with people he accuses in the day time. The millions, who
have continued to mourn Achebe since his transition, do so in deep
sorrow and in sincerity, having discovered in the literary colossus a
most genuine and sincere human being. Achebe identified with his Igbo
nation. He shared the pains and sufferings of his people. And never for
once did he treat them with condescension that he was in any way
superior to his clan. Achebe was mature. He showed maturity in all his
dealings. He did not exhibit childishness. He was never petty or
small-minded. All those who had anything to do with him ended up
respecting him because he commanded respect.
>>Even when he was
in his thirties, he displayed unusual maturity and mastery of human
relations. As far as Achebe was concerned, a writer or any artist for
that matter was first and foremost a human person with deep human
feelings and ethos. Chinua Achebe eminently qualified for a Nobel Prize
before that hitherto prestigious prize got politicised and became not a
reward for distinction but a reward for those, who had mastered the art
and science of boardroom politics or global arm-twisting. Although
Achebe mentioned lizard in almost all his works, the honourable man of
letters never learnt the art of lizarding. Prose writer Chinua Achebe
shared the distinction of being the best in their arts with John Pepper
Clark and Christopher Okigbo, who, up till today, are the best writers
of poetry, with Professor Ola Rotimi, the best in playwriting and play
production, with Ene Henshaw, Wale Ogunyemi and Professor Femi Osofisan
as playwrights with greatest relevance and profundity.
>>This
explains why, to me, Achebe remains the uncrowned Nobel Prize winner
with most authentic claim to that crown. The Federal Government of
Nigeria must immediately commence the process of creating a national
monument to immortalise this rare genius of both learning and character.
Chinua Achebe was not just a writer; he was a distinguished writer with
the best and noblest of human virtues. A non hypocrite. A non bully.
Achebe was both a great ambassador of Africa and a true and respectable
specimen of the finest humanity. •Do not submit your happiness to the
whims and caprices of others…
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elombah daniel <elsd...@yahoo.com> Mar 26 04:05AM -0700
Oga Joe
"Achebe wrote for the masses. Achebe spoke so that he could be understood. The beauty of his writings was that he was a most excellent communicator, believing that the over all purpose of any work of art is communication. Your work, be it dance, song, speech, drama, gesture, painting must convey a message and that message must be comprehended by your listener, your viewer or your audience. Anything short of that is intellectual garbage" - TOLA ADENIYI
...Of course not, I am not blaming Oga Soyinka, but my point became relevant in the context of was written above by Tola Adeniyi, and for which Oga Bolaji wanted to crucify the man.
Daniel Elombah
+44-7435469430
+44-2088087999
Every Nigerian that has something important to say, says it on www.elombah.com
Follow us on twitter @Elombah
________________________________
From: topcrest topcrest <topc...@yahoo.com>
To: elombah daniel <elsd...@yahoo.com>; Mobolaji Aluko <alu...@gmail.com>; "Omo...@yahoogroups.com" <Omo...@yahoogroups.com>
Cc: "NaijaP...@yahoogroups.com" <NaijaP...@yahoogroups.com>; naijaintellects <naijain...@googlegroups.com>; "niger...@yahoogroups.com" <niger...@yahoogroups.com>; Ra'ayi <Raay...@yahoogroups.com>; USAAfrica Dialogue <USAAfric...@googlegroups.com>; Yan Arewa <YanA...@yahoogroups.com>; "N Igerian World Fo...@yahoogroups.com" <NIgerianW...@yahoogroups.com>; "Naija Obse...@yahoogroups.com" <NaijaO...@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, March 26, 2013 10:46 AM
Subject: Re: NigerianID | Bolaji Aluko Re: TOLA ADENIYI ON ACHEBE!!!
.but as a secondary school student, I only managed to finish 'The Man Died', mainly because of it's historical narrative.
As for the rest of Soyinka's works....For all my love for Literature, (I chose Literature as an option both in Secondary and Tertiary) I had to force myself to read them as an undergraduate, just because they were written by the great Wole Soyinka.
Dan,
Surely that is not Soyinka's fault is it? Accessibility is a function of the reader not the writer IMHO. Alexander solzhenitsyn's Gulag Archipelago was incomprehensible to me when Father O'Conell introduced it to us as form 2 students. It remains a classic.
* * Part I The Prison Industry, Ch. 1 "Arrest" (p13, The Gulag Archipelago, Collins 1974)
* Every man always has handy a dozen glib little reasons why he is right not to sacrifice himself.
Joe
________________________________
From: elombah daniel <elsd...@yahoo.com>
To: Mobolaji Aluko <alu...@gmail.com>; "Omo...@yahoogroups.com" <Omo...@yahoogroups.com>
Cc: "NaijaP...@yahoogroups.com" <NaijaP...@yahoogroups.com>; naijaintellects <naijain...@googlegroups.com>; "niger...@yahoogroups.com" <niger...@yahoogroups.com>; Ra'ayi <Raay...@yahoogroups.com>; USAAfrica Dialogue <USAAfric...@googlegroups.com>; Yan Arewa <YanA...@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, March 26, 2013 10:33 AM
Subject: NigerianID | Bolaji Aluko Re: TOLA ADENIYI ON ACHEBE!!!
My brothers,
Chief Tola Adeniyi saw the truth, spoke the truth and wrote absolutely nothing but the truth...
Yes, Wole Soyinka, we all love him, but somehow in our quiet moments, deep in our hearts, we just look at the man, his works, his attitude, his grandstanding, his writings and quietly wonder......
I read Chinua Achebe as a primary school pupil.....but as a secondary school student, I only managed to finish 'The Man Died', mainly because of it's historical narrative.
As for the rest of Soyinka's works....For all my love for Literature, (I chose Literature as an option both in Secondary and Tertiary) I had to force myself to read them as an undergraduate, just because they were written by the great Wole Soyinka.
As for Soyinka's politics - wining and dining with all our former corrupt president's at night and pretending in the daytime to side with the masses, we also saw them, but still feel that his good sides outweigh his bad sides....after-all this is Nigeria, our Nigeria.....and yes we still respect Soyinka as Nigeria's worthy ambassador.....
Soyinka is great, no doubt, but Achebe is a colossus!.....and if you Bolaji Aluko wrote, just last night that there is nothing wrong for some disgusting and animalistic low-lifes on this forum to lie and speak ill of the distinguished and honourable Achebe in death, (You last night urged "dear all" to speak the good the bad the ugly about Achebe) it is rampaging hypocrisy for you for you to disparage Chief Tola Adeniyi for saying the truth as he saw them.
Daniel Elombah
+44-7435469430
+44-2088087999
Every Nigerian that has something important to say, says it on www.elombah.com
Follow us on twitter @Elombah
________________________________
From: Mobolaji Aluko <alu...@gmail.com>
To: Omo...@yahoogroups.com
Cc: "NaijaP...@yahoogroups.com" <NaijaP...@yahoogroups.com>; naijaintellects <naijain...@googlegroups.com>; "niger...@yahoogroups.com" <niger...@yahoogroups.com>; Ra'ayi <Raay...@yahoogroups.com>; USAAfrica Dialogue <USAAfric...@googlegroups.com>; Yan Arewa <YanA...@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, March 26, 2013 10:02 AM
Subject: NigerianID | Re: TOLA ADENIYI ON ACHEBE!!!
Dear All:
Chief Tola Adeniyi is weirdly and apparently ATTACKING the only man whose name is missing in this tribute below, but he (Adeniyi) appears just too frightened to mention by name.
This is the reverse of the Yoruba adage where you are all but mentioned but for name, but out of cowardice, you say "No it is not I" for lack of a will to fight the abuser, in this case Adeniyi, who should name the abused and let the devil be ashamed.
One wonders why...and I am surprised, not at his commentary - to which he has a right - but at his cowardice as well as timing.
And there you have it.
Bolaji Aluko
Shaking his head
And Scratching it....
>On Mar 26, 2013, at 7:32 AM, Adebayo Adejuwon <adead...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>>Who exactly is Tola Adeniyi attacking in the name of writing a tribute?
What would have passed for a good tribute in the memory of Late
Prof.Chinua Achebe, in my opionon sounds like a direct attack on
somebody Tola Adeniyi cannot confront directly.Read and form your
opinion.
>>Chinua Achebe: The uncrowned nobel laureate
>>By TOLA ADENIYI
>>The motto of Obafemi Awolowo University is ‘For Learning and Culture’.
No one academic in Nigeria reflects and personifies that maxim more than
Professor Chinua Achebe. The grandfather of modern English literature
in Africa was both a colossus in learning, as he was a thoroughbred and
highly cultivated individual in manners and character. Chinua Achebe’s
transition last week took the world by storm and he was genuinely
mourned by all those who appreciated the worth, both of his writings and
his character. His passing on into eternity was a personal loss to this
writer. It was in July 1965 that Uncle Segun Olusola took me to Chinua
Achebe, somewhere on Broad Street, Lagos, to seek his permission for me
to adapt his most celebrated classic, Things Fall Apart, published in
1958 into a play.
>>I had seen the dramatic elements in the novel
and decided to make a drama out of it. Achebe asked me a few questions
and satisfied with my answers, approved my proposal to adapt the novel
for both stage and television. Ambali Sanni’s Muslim College, Ijebu Ode,
provided the funds while the students made up the cast. The production
was taken round the whole Western region, including Lagos (minus the
colony) and was given loud applause by the likes of Derek Bullock and
Dapo Adelugba. That was the beginning of the romance with this giant of
letters, who, seven years later, hosted me and my wife on our honeymoon
to his official residence at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in 1972.
Achebe gave pride to African writing and to Africans. For the first
time, he provided a lens into Africa and presented Africa from the
African perspective.
>>His writings were African-based but with
monumental universal appeal. Hence his maiden novel Things Fall Apart
got translated into well over 50 languages and sold over 12 million
copies. Apart from being the greatest writer of prose to emerge from
African continent, Achebe wrote for the masses. Achebe spoke so that he
could be understood. The beauty of his writings was that he was a most
excellent communicator, believing that the over all purpose of any work
of art is communication. Your work, be it dance, song, speech, drama,
gesture, painting must convey a message and that message must be
comprehended by your listener, your viewer or your audience. Anything
short of that is intellectual garbage. In fact, Achebe could easily pass
for a playwright of immense stature.
>>There is so much drama in
all of his novels. And this was the reason I started work on The
Theatre in Achebe’s novels. All the characters in his writings are alive
and touchable. The trees, the mountains, the rivers and valleys in his
novels speak. Chinua Achebe gave dignity and personality to art. For
him, you do not need to grow a bush on your head or grow rodents in your
hair to impress on the world that you are an artist or a writer. Achebe
was a man of character. He taught for many years at Nsukka and no one
ever heard that he drove his female students nuts, nor was he ever
accused of befriending or marrying his students. Achebe taught us what a
great mind should be. Achebe never went round state governors with
beggar’s bowl, soliciting for money or gratification nor was he ever
accused of sleeping with his friends’ widows.
>>Twice Achebe was
offered national honours. Twice he rejected them, arguing that he was
not one that would pose as holy in the day time and be in cosy alliance
in the night with people he accuses in the day time. The millions, who
have continued to mourn Achebe since his transition, do so in deep
sorrow and in sincerity, having discovered in the literary colossus a
most genuine and sincere human being. Achebe identified with his Igbo
nation. He shared the pains and sufferings of his people. And never for
once did he treat them with condescension that he was in any way
superior to his clan. Achebe was mature. He showed maturity in all his
dealings. He did not exhibit childishness. He was never petty or
small-minded. All those who had anything to do with him ended up
respecting him because he commanded respect.
>>Even when he was
in his thirties, he displayed unusual maturity and mastery of human
relations. As far as Achebe was concerned, a writer or any artist for
that matter was first and foremost a human person with deep human
feelings and ethos. Chinua Achebe eminently qualified for a Nobel Prize
before that hitherto prestigious prize got politicised and became not a
reward for distinction but a reward for those, who had mastered the art
and science of boardroom politics or global arm-twisting. Although
Achebe mentioned lizard in almost all his works, the honourable man of
letters never learnt the art of lizarding. Prose writer Chinua Achebe
shared the distinction of being the best in their arts with John Pepper
Clark and Christopher Okigbo, who, up till today, are the best writers
of poetry, with Professor Ola Rotimi, the best in playwriting and play
production, with Ene Henshaw, Wale Ogunyemi and Professor Femi Osofisan
as playwrights with greatest relevance and profundity.
>>This
explains why, to me, Achebe remains the uncrowned Nobel Prize winner
with most authentic claim to that crown. The Federal Government of
Nigeria must immediately commence the process of creating a national
monument to immortalise this rare genius of both learning and character.
Chinua Achebe was not just a writer; he was a distinguished writer with
the best and noblest of human virtues. A non hypocrite. A non bully.
Achebe was both a great ambassador of Africa and a true and respectable
specimen of the finest humanity. •Do not submit your happiness to the
whims and caprices of others…
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Ikhide <xok...@yahoo.com> Mar 26 05:02AM -0700
As the world mourns Professor Chinua Achebe, as I sit in grief moping
about the loss of a man who, outside of my father, has been one of the
most influential men in my life, my thoughts keep straying strangely to
Flora Nwapa and that book of hers, Efuru that I fell in love with over
and over again. Nwapa (nee Nwakuche died in 1993 I believe). And Buchi
Emecheta. As a child growing up in the police barracks and the cities, I witnessed heart-wrenching marital and child abuse, of women and
children who had no voices to fight back. When I read Emecheta's Second
Class Citizen, I felt better, I felt like there was someone who could
speak truth to power. Emecheta is not the greatest of writers but she
sang the only way she knew how. As we mourn Achebe, I rise to salute a
great woman who spoke back to the men of my father's generation and gave it to them, blow by blow. Buchi Emecheta, you are a true pioneer and
trail blazer. And you are my Virginia Woolf. *applause*
*cycles away
slowly*
http://www.wmich.edu/dialogues/texts/efuru.html
- Ikhide
Stalk my blog at www.xokigbo.com
Follow me on Twitter: @ikhide
Join me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ikhide
"Spea...@ProudNigerians.org" <Spea...@ProudNigerians.org> Mar 26 08:13AM -0400
Exploitation At Nigerian Embassies, Diaspora Nigerians Protest By Uzoma
Ahamefule
Global Reporters Vienna
Embassy telephone lines commercialised, call and pay
“We should have our missions well-funded.
We say we are the giant of Africa but if you
can’t fund missions, you are not.”
Senate President, David Mark
According to the information displayed on the Nigerian Embassy website in
Vienna, with the headline “VERY IMPORTANT NOTICE!” the embassy introduced
awkward new commercial telephone numbers of the embassy beginning with
‘0900’. These new telephone lines are awfully exploitive, inconsiderate and
a national embarrassment as an oil producing country.
Since early this year, if one is looking for Nigerian visa or has got
passport related issues in Austria, one must call this number “0900 370 123”
and will be charged €1.80 per minute (about N300 - N400.00 Nigerian money),
and on administrative issues one must call “0820901269” at the cost of €0.80
cent per minute if one is calling from landline otherwise the cost to both
numbers could be more. The situation should not be different in other
countries. As at the time of writing this article, the above figures were
displayed on the embassy website in Vienna, but let nobody be surprised if
it changes to another figure because it has happened several times.
In Austria, these types of numbers are purely commercial business lines and
also very similar to prostitutes' numbers. Thus, Nigerian Embassy telephone
lines have gone commercial, even when you want to make inquiries, you call
and you pay like the trade of harlots through telephone calls. This policy
perhaps became imperative because the government could no longer afford to
pay the salaries of the embassy workers when due and also maintain other
administrative costs without struggling.
"Why is it that our leaders are so
Insensitive to our complaints and
The pains we are going through?
Most policies of Nigerian
Embassies are always based on
How to get money from Nigerians."
When I heard the unfortunate news, I felt so sad and went to the Nigerian
embassy to find out the true situation of things. Alas! I was officially
told that it was an order from the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
that somebody had come from Abuja and had made sure that the lines had been
installed and had left to other European countries with the same mission
because it was a policy not only for the Nigerian Embassy in Vienna, Austria
but for all the Nigerian embassies across the globe.
Unable to comprehend the reason why a country so naturally rich and
producing billions of barrel of crude oil every day should come up with this
kind of inconsiderate and hungry policy, I called a few embassies in Europe
and America of smaller African countries whose national budgets may not be
up to one month revenue generated in Lagos State, and surprisingly none had
this kind of uncaring policies, I wept. I wept because I rhetorically asked,
why in most cases Nigeria was first in this kind of harsh policies but
lacking behind most times when it mattered most.
I said so because self-acclaimed giant of Africa not long ago told Nigerians
in Diaspora through the National Assembly that Nigeria was not yet ripe for
Diaspora voting citing logistic problems and money as the reasons. But the
law makers have continued indiscriminately to promulgate laws that increase
their income and allowances to millions that have ensured that their
individual monthly salaries are more than that of President Barrak Obama of
the USA as reported in some Nigerian print media houses.
"Before one starts the usual song of ‘crucify Jesus
And give us Barnabas-kill Uzoma, kill Uzoma’,
How will one judge the current exploitation of so
Many helpless Nigerians at the Nigerian Embassy
In Vienna, Austria?"
If smaller African poor countries have managed to run their embassies
without imposing this kind of embarrassing and uncaring policy, why must the
giant of Africa, Nigeria do so? Does it mean that Nigeria's government
cannot successfully run their embassies without Nigerians gnashing their
teeth in agony and regret? Is Nigeria a poor country? Senate President David
Mark while reacting on the floor of the Senate about the shabby ways
Nigerians are treated by their host countries abroad and the ill equipped
Nigerian missions and the attitude of their staffs, said, “We should have
our missions well-funded. We say we are the giant of Africabut if you can’t
fund missions, you are not. The attitude of members of staff of our missions
abroad is not the best. Their first reaction is to defend our country. Our
mission staffs need to change their attitude.” As much as one could rightly
guess the disappointing tone of the number three citizen of the federal
Republic of Nigeria on these issues, but one thing is very clear, history
will never exonerate him from the cries of Nigerians as one that has been
active at the forefront of Nigerian politics for decades.
Why is it that our leaders are so insensitive to our complaints and the
pains we are going through? Most policies of Nigerian embassies are always
based on how to get money from Nigerians. From confirmation of names given
to new born babies, driving licences or stamp on any document for
authentication and even in their own failures like the non availability of
ECOWAS passport that has kept many Nigerians as prisoners in many countries
Nigerians are callously forced to pay heavily in tears like it is in Vienna.
Why? But when a Nigerian has a problem one will see them playing hide and
seek or a popular children game in Nigeria that goes like this, "Copyyyy oh
yes".
"As a matter of fairness I appeal that those
Nigerians that have already paid this €50
should be called by the embassy and given
back their money and those that are yet to
take their passports should collect them
without a further €50 toll gate fee."
Before one starts the usual song of ‘crucify Jesus and give us Barnabas-kill
Uzoma, kill Uzoma’, how will one judge the current exploitation of so many
helpless Nigerians at the Nigerian Embassy in Vienna, Austria?
In a state where so many Nigerians had applied and paid for international
passports at the embassy in Vienna and had endlessly waited for the past one
two or three year/s (as it may apply to individuals) with stories from the
embassy officials that this had been as a result of the non availability of
a passport printing machine, some of the affected people who could no longer
wait in the status of ‘Open prison’ they were confined to were
inconsiderably charged extra €25 (around N500) before they were given an
ordinary letter by the embassy that enabled them process their passports in
another country like Italy or Germany where these printing machines were
operational. Please, Ambassador Gbenga, were these exploitations fair?
Now there is a passport printing machine at the embassy here in Vienna,
again these same patient Nigerians that completed all what had been required
from them to get their passports about three years ago are again
compulsorily extorted€50 through an institutionalised system by the embassy
in the name of administration fee before they can be allowed to have their
passports. Please Ambassador Gbenga, is this fair? Please, is it fair, is it
fair? This process of exploitation and oppression against Nigerians through
policies should please be halted. We are human beings and deserve to be
treated with feelings. I have never heard of this kind of policy somewhere
else in my whole life.
These Nigerians ought to be given their passports with apologies and without
any demand of cash and harassments or insults in any form. As a matter of
fairness I appeal that those Nigerians that have already paid this €50
should be called by the embassy and given back their money and those that
are yet to take their passports should collect them without a further €50
toll gate fee. For God's sake, is Nigerianot the giant of Africa?
Uzoma Ahamefule, a concerned patriotic citizen writes from Vienna, Austria
uzomaah...@yahoo.com
+436604659620
Ikhide <xok...@yahoo.com> Mar 25 05:43PM -0700
It would have been nice if the University of Ibadan and The University of
Nigeria Nsukka had put a little tribute to Professor Chinua Achebe on
their website. Even a picture with RIP would do, nothing fancy. Just
saying.
But then, have you been to the University of Nigeria Nsukka website lately? Do you need your transcripts? Click here and you will see this blood-curdling message:
"***** Attention! *****
THE ITRANSCRIPT SERVICE IS ONLY AVAILABLE FOR UNDERGRADUATE TRANSCRIPT
"REQUESTS. PLEASE DO NO REQUEST FOR YOUR TRANSCRIPT VIA THIS PLATFORM IF
YOU ARE REQUESTING A POST GRADUATE TRANSCRIPT. KINLDY CONTACT THE
ADMINISTRATON, SCHOOL OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES, UNN""
This, from one of our premier universities, is DISGRACEFUL. There is absolutely no excuse for this, none. Every person associated with the leadership of that formerly great university should hang his or her head in shame. What is our problem?
- Ikhide
Stalk my blog at www.xokigbo.com
Follow me on Twitter: @ikhide
Join me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ikhide
Chidi Anthony Opara <chidi...@gmail.com> Mar 26 02:24AM -0700
Institutions in Nigeria do not really think that websites and other
paraphernalia of the Internet age are necessary, even the "Ogas at the
top". The telephone numbers on the website of the Nigeria Customs
Service do not work, the -emails though seem to be working but mails
never get answered.
A Rivers State Commissioner of Information, once told me on an
occasion I requested for his e-mail address over the phone, to confirm
a story, "My brother, I have e-mail address, but we are too busy here
to be checking e-mails". That man is now a member of the House of
Representatives.
A Police Public Relations Officer at the Rivers State Police Command
headquarters, once told me on a visit to her office that their
Internet facility had not been renewed for three months, when I sought
to know why; she told me that her subordinates, who were supposed to
effect the renewal were "busy with more important matters". She was
doing her doctorate at the University of Port Harcourt at that time.
Last week, a lady who said she lectures at the Federal University
Otuoke, and also a doctorate student(I do not know which institution),
was asking me questions about Google scholar, Wikipedia, etc, which
suggested that she has very scanty knowledge of the Internet. Sounds
like fiction? sure, but it is true!
CAO.
Bola Aina <aina...@googlemail.com> Mar 26 08:24AM +0100
A good observation, right on point. As it is, in a world where webometric
factors remain one of the measure of visibility and ranking, our
universities will perpetually remain under. During the last year PG
admission, the UI website was so crude that one can only complete the PG
applications on Microsoft Internet explorer, the page wouldn't just open on
other browsers. I think the Alumni Association should create a Volunteers
programme in various fields of endeavour that can be accessible to the
school. The PG School website was created sometimes in 2004 by a
pharmacist, an MInfSc student. Though it has witnessed a lot of
improvements, lot much is still desired.
It's really sad, that UI hasn't been able to paste anything on Prof. Chinua
Achebe on its website, but it may not be unconnected with the challenges of
frequency of page update by the webmaster. CHINUA ACHEBE remains one of the
leading lights of UI.
❦ I SURVIVED NIGERIA! When you give somebody responsibility beyond his
capability, you render him incapacitated. ❦
Ikhide <xok...@yahoo.com> Mar 26 01:54AM -0700
"I finally met Mr. Achebe in person years later in New York. When he
entered the room, everybody froze in reverence. He was not a physical
giant with a booming voice. He was a gentle needle that sewed tattered
clothes, a minuscule scorpion's tail that packed venom. He answered
every question with the precision of a sniper. He was a man who spoke
gently, yet he was a writer "in whose company the prison walls fell
down," as Nelson Mandela said.
Mr. Achebe was a source of pride
to many Nigerians, an elder we could point to when the world laughed at
our shortcomings. We often invoked his name like that of a fierce god.
Beyond his literary prowess, Mr. Achebe was known to stand for what he
believed in. When those who did not know the African story told it to
glorify themselves, he rose like a lion and thwarted the hunter's tales
with truth. Not only did he fight back against the mistelling of our
story by white explorers; he equipped other writers to do the same."
- Victor Ehikhamenorperches atop the iroko tree and sings the praises of the great oneChinua Achebe
http://mobile.nytimes.com/article?a=1042049
- Ikhide
Stalk my blog at www.xokigbo.com
Follow me on Twitter: @ikhide
Join me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ikhide
"Ifedioramma E. Nwana" <ien...@yahoo.com> Mar 25 08:40PM
Osu is different from slave. An osu is one dedicated/sacrificed to a god; he or she is holy and one does not hurt him/her without incurring the wrath of the god to whom he/she is dedicated. A slave is an ohu or oru. He/she belongs to another human and may, indeed, be able to purchase his/her freedom, become a free citizen and rise to any height.
IEM Nwana
From: OLUWATOYIN ADEPOJU <tva...@gmail.com>
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, 19 March 2013, 21:37
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Henry Louis Gates is Wrong about African Involvement in the Slave Trade
I read somewhere that the Asante used slaves in clearing the forests on which they built their communities.
Is that true?
What about the osu cast system in Igboland? To what degree were the osu not slaves? I know little about this but a pic I saw of an osu and a dibia on the Igbocybershrine blog a powerful and unforgettable pic, suggested something that reminded me of slavery.
toyin
On Tue, Mar 19, 2013 at 6:48 PM, Ibrahim Abdullah <ibdu...@gmail.com> wrote:
Skip gates is not bill gates. And a slave mode of production was not dominant in any african society by 1500. It became dominant and hegemonic in some societies only in nineteen century--a result of their involvement in the european slave trade.
>------
>On Mar 19, 2013 10:45 AM, "Ikhide" <xok...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>"There are some fundamental facts. First, no African kingdom used slavery as its principal mode of production. Africa has produced no economies based on slavery. It was left to Europe to create a system of slavery where humans were chattel to be used as tools in the development of wealth. Secondly, in all massive enterprises where there are oppressors and the oppressed there will be collaborators. It is no secret that some of Afriica’s best minds, Fanon, Memni, Karenga, have isolated incidents of collaboration among victims of oppression. Blacks were police officers in the white minority regime of South Africa but one cannot blame apartheid on black people. So when Gates claims that Africans were involved in the slave trade one can accept this, but what one cannot accept is that Africans were equally culpable for the slave trade. Nor should one blame the Judenrats (Jewish Councils) of Germany for Nazi atrocities although they often collaborated
with
the Germans. Indians collaborated with the British colonialists in India and some Chinese collaborated with the Japanese in occupied China, and while there is no excuse there is certainly explanation for collaboration."
>For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
>
>
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"Akurang-Parry, Kwabena" <KAP...@ship.edu> Mar 26 02:54AM
Bro Toyin:
The answer to your query quoted below is a big yes and it is applicable to all societies that used slaves. It is called exploitation of slave labor!
"I read somewhere that the Asante used slaves in clearing the forests on which they built their communities.
Is that true?"
Kwabena
________________________________
From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com [usaafric...@googlegroups.com] on behalf of Ifedioramma E. Nwana [ien...@yahoo.com]
Sent: Monday, March 25, 2013 4:40 PM
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Henry Louis Gates is Wrong about African Involvement in the Slave Trade
Osu is different from slave. An osu is one dedicated/sacrificed to a god; he or she is holy and one does not hurt him/her without incurring the wrath of the god to whom he/she is dedicated. A slave is an ohu or oru. He/she belongs to another human and may, indeed, be able to purchase his/her freedom, become a free citizen and rise to any height.
IEM Nwana
From: OLUWATOYIN ADEPOJU <tva...@gmail.com>
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, 19 March 2013, 21:37
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Henry Louis Gates is Wrong about African Involvement in the Slave Trade
I read somewhere that the Asante used slaves in clearing the forests on which they built their communities.
Is that true?
What about the osu cast system in Igboland? To what degree were the osu not slaves? I know little about this but a pic I saw of an osu and a dibia on the Igbocybershrine blog a powerful and unforgettable pic, suggested something that reminded me of slavery.
toyin
On Tue, Mar 19, 2013 at 6:48 PM, Ibrahim Abdullah <ibdu...@gmail.com<mailto:ibdu...@gmail.com>> wrote:
Skip gates is not bill gates. And a slave mode of production was not dominant in any african society by 1500. It became dominant and hegemonic in some societies only in nineteen century--a result of their involvement in the european slave trade.
History does not repeat itself: you do not swim in the same river twice. Agents of /in history make mistakes but it is not the historical process that is being reproduced. You cannot drink in the same cup twice!
Ib Abdullah
------
On Mar 19, 2013 10:45 AM, "Ikhide" <xok...@yahoo.com<mailto:xok...@yahoo.com>> wrote:
"There are some fundamental facts. First, no African kingdom used slavery as its principal mode of production. Africa has produced no economies based on slavery. It was left to Europe to create a system of slavery where humans were chattel to be used as tools in the development of wealth. Secondly, in all massive enterprises where there are oppressors and the oppressed there will be collaborators. It is no secret that some of Afriica’s best minds, Fanon, Memni, Karenga, have isolated incidents of collaboration among victims of oppression. Blacks were police officers in the white minority regime of South Africa but one cannot blame apartheid on black people. So when Gates claims that Africans were involved in the slave trade one can accept this, but what one cannot accept is that Africans were equally culpable for the slave trade. Nor should one blame the Judenrats (Jewish Councils) of Germany for Nazi atrocities although they often collaborated with
the Germans. Indians
collaborated with the British colonialists in India and some Chinese collaborated with the Japanese in occupied China, and while there is no excuse there is certainly explanation for collaboration."
- Molefi Kete Asante
http://www.asante.net/articles/44/where-is-the-white-professor-located/
Hmmm/ It is incorrect that "no African kingdom used slavery as its principal mode of production." That is silly hagiography. There are many ways to counter Bill Gates without minimizing the role of Africans in the transatlantic slave trade. Africans are just as culpable as those that came to take away our siblings. *cycles away slowly*
- Ikhide
Stalk my blog at http://www.xokigbo.com/
Follow me on Twitter: @ikhide
Join me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ikhide<http://www.facebook.com/ikhide>
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"Abegunrin, Olayiwola M." <oabeg...@Howard.edu> Mar 25 03:36PM -0400
May his soul rest in perfect peace
Layi
From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com [usaafric...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Emeagwali, Gloria (History) [emea...@mail.ccsu.edu]
Sent: Monday, March 25, 2013 10:20 AM
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Cc: Anun...@lincolnu.edu
Subject: RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Fwd: [Raayiriga] NYT: Chinua Achebe Examined Colonialism and Masculinity
Where were you when the great Chinua Achebe passed away?
I would have to say Addis Ababa.
May his soul rest in peace.
From Mekelle University, Ethiopia
Professor Gloria Emeagwali
Prof. of History & African Studies
History Department
Central Connecticut State University
New Britain
CT 06050
africahistory.net
vimeo.com/user5946750/videos
Documentaries on Africa and the African Diaspora
________________________________________
From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com [usaafric...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Michael Afolayan [mafo...@yahoo.com]
Sent: Sunday, March 24, 2013 7:59 PM
To: Africa-USA Internet Network
Cc: Anun...@lincolnu.edu
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Fwd: [Raayiriga] NYT: Chinua Achebe Examined Colonialism and Masculinity
What a great soul Professor Achebe was, so humble and unpretentious! You are right, oa, "what a man Chinua Achebe was" indeed. His was a life fulfilled and a mission accomplished. I had an encounter with him years back when our Program hosted him in Wisconsin for a few days. It was shortly after his accident and he had relocated to Bard College. I was very moved by the wife's commitment to this man as she meticulously pushed him around on the wheelchair all day. I then volunteered to help Mrs. Achebe and she obliged. It would be the first time I pushed someone for a fairly long time on the wheelchair, and so I would occasionally bump into something or inadvertently run into a pothole. Each time this happened, I would naturally cringe. I expected Professor Achebe to say something like "Ouch!" or something like that; but each time it happened, he would softly say, "Thank You!" Apparently, he was thinking more about me than about himself. and that almost
brought me to tears. It was such a great honor to get to know such a humble man with extra-human characteristics at that personal level and cannot but pray again that may his gentle soul rest in perfect peace!
Michael O. Afolayan
________________________________
From: "Anunoby, Ogugua" <Anun...@lincolnu.edu>
To: "usaafric...@googlegroups.com" <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, March 23, 2013 11:36 AM
Subject: RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Fwd: [Raayiriga] NYT: Chinua Achebe Examined Colonialism and Masculinity
In 1990 Mr. Achebe was paralyzed from the waist down in a car accident in Nigeria. The following year he gave an interview to Bradford Morrow in Conjunctions magazine.
Mr. Morrow asked him about the accident, and Mr. Achebe spoke about it with stoicism and good humor. "Children are born deformed," he said. "What crime did they commit? I've been very lucky. I walked for 60 years. So what does it matter that I can't for my last few years. There are people who never walked at all."
His car accident offered him similar lessons. "It is an opportunity," Mr. Achebe told Mr. Morrow. "It's a lesson. It's so much. It is an enrichment. I've learned so much. I've learned how much we depend on each other."
Dwight Garner in The New York Times (3/23/13)
What a man Chinua Achebe was.
oa
-----Original Message-----
From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafric...@googlegroups.com> [mailto:usaafric...@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafric...@googlegroups.com>] On Behalf Of OLUWATOYIN ADEPOJU
Sent: Saturday, March 23, 2013 6:00 AM
To: usaafricadialogue
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Fwd: [Raayiriga] NYT: Chinua Achebe Examined Colonialism and Masculinity
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: aliyuba...@gmail.com<mailto:aliyuba...@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 23 Mar 2013 07:24:11 +0000
Subject: [Raayiriga] NYT: Chinua Achebe Examined Colonialism and Masculinity
To: dandali...@yahoogroups.com<mailto:dandali...@yahoogroups.com>, YanA...@yahoogroups.com<mailto:YanA...@yahoogroups.com>, raay...@yahoogroups.com<mailto:raay...@yahoogroups.com>
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/03/23/books/chinua-achebe-examined-colonialism-and-masculinity.xml?f=20
Sent from my BlackBerry(r) smartphone provided by Airtel Nigeria.
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Mobolaji Aluko <alu...@gmail.com> Mar 26 02:55AM +0100
Felix:
How many wished Achebe "Hell"?
Maybe one or two, from all I can tell....
But the overwhelming majority wish him "Well"
So it is on those we must dwell
And there you have it.
Bolaji Aluko
Mobolaji Aluko <alu...@gmail.com> Mar 26 01:30AM +0100
Dear All:
Ayo Ojutalayo's position below pretty much sums up my position on the
present discussions, and we should cut out the pretence: with the
inimitable Prof. Chinua Achebe now gone to join our forefathers and his
Maker - and that time being so close to the publication of his
controversial farewell book "There Was Another Country" - it would be
UNREASONABLE to expect that the Good, the Bad and the Ugly will not be
written about him, with the Good assuredly eventually overwhelming the Bad
and the Ugly for this Master Story-Teller of Five Phases of a Changing Life
- (1) His pre-Ibadan/Lagos days; (2) his Ibadan/Lagos Days; (3) His War
Years; (4) His Post-War/Physically-Mobile Years, and (5) his last Less
Mobile/Exilic Years!
May his soul live in perpetual/eternal rest. [Amen.] I am thrilled that I
met him - three times - and chaired one of his Brown University Symposium
sessions.
And there you have it.
Bolaji Aluko
"John N. Oriji" <jor...@calpoly.edu> Mar 25 06:12PM -0700
Tribute: To Chinua Achebe A Tribute
The world-wide tributes paid to Prof. Chinua Achebe, are manifestations
of his heroic accomplishments in African literature, embodying unusual insights
in history, politics, the social sciences, and other dimensions of the human condition. Prof.
Achebe was reputed to be a very simple,frank, and humane scholar-sterling qualities that
are manifested in his publications, from the world-renowned novel,"Things Fall Apart" to his last
and contentious work, titled, "There was a Country Called Biafra." Prof. Achebe was not only a colossus,
who occupied a front seat among the world's literary specialists, but also a very eminent
social critic. Hence, in keeping with the canons of his profession, he cared for the common people,
shunning the arrogance, high level of greed and corruption, and the Machiavellian principles of some members
of the Nigerian political class.
Some of us who were associated with Prof. Achebe in the 1970s, when he was teaching at the
University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) remember his candid, short and simple response to a student who inquired
about how he could become an Achebe, and acquire commanding heights and reputation in African literature:
"It's not going to be easy for you to be Achebe", because I belong to a different generation from yours.
Prof. Achebe's response which was based on his uncanny knowledge and understanding of the
hard and didactic lessons of history, are helping a younger generation of Nigerian writers to address different
issues relevant to the the dynamics of their society
Both in Nigeria and US, Prof. Achebe was seen as an institution. In fact, "The Achebe School of Literature",
spans across Africa, Europe, North America, and other continents, where some students of the school almost
"venerated" him as if he were a god, an immortal who would not pass away. Prof Achebe is not an immortal,
but his towering legacies will certainly remain immortal.
John N. Oriji
Professor of African & Modern World History
California Polytechnic State University
San Luis Obispo, California.
|
