Moderator's Intervention

[Toyin Falola]

 On a "Republic of two thousand kings” by Professor Osuntokun which I posted to generate a vibrant debate, it is time to make my intervention before I begin to reject future postings on the subject:

 

1.     Scholars are expected to define and work for the ideals, as in our struggles to eliminate racism in the US, and dangerous group politics in Africa that have produced genocide in Rwanda, and civil wars everywhere.

2.     In defining those ideals, we are privileging civic/secular institutions over the primordial. The primordial has its values, and they structure our identities, but it has its limitations in terms of citizenship in modern states. Scholars have to look for the best in those primordial and look for the best in the evolution of our modernity. No one can ask me not to eat my favorite food, amala and abula, as I cannot stop anyone from eating their dishes. But my food preference should not be the total determinant of my being and politics.

3.     We have to be sensitive to people’s lives. Irrespective of practices, anything that can lead to violence, killing the innocent, exodus of people, etc. must not be encouraged. Any statement or measure that lead to the death of one person is irresponsible anywhere in the world.

4.     Local cultures must be respected. I have had alcohol in Sokoto, but I went to the spaces they created for it. I even had cold beer in Maiduguri but in spaces they allowed me to. The hotel in Sokoto said I should not bring alcohol into the room. I think it is disrespectful for me to smuggle alcohol into the room. If Muslims want no pork, why make institutional arguments over the selling of pork. If the Ondo people say they must have only one King, let it be, if only to protect the poor and the powerless, and call the leaders of groups and associations by other names, Chairman, President, etc. I am a Nigerian in Ondo, not an Ondo man, and this difference has to be respected. If they celebrate their Ogun festival, if I cannot join them, that should not be time when I will bring my Ibadan festival to their doors. They have the right to be angry.

5.     Our cultures are in transition, and there are those who profit from the  maintenance of the old. That profit may generate their conclicts.

6.     Without a diversified economy, xenophobic arguments will be made. We have not created enough opportunities for our people. We accumulate resources that are not distributed very well. Every human being deserves the right to good food, good health, access to water, and a good bed to sleep at night. We should work for this common good, see them as fundamental rights of citizens. The empty stomach of a Kanuri is not different from the empty stomach of an Ijo man.

7.     The poor are short-changed. New warlords have emerged all over the country collecting money from poor traders, transporters, market women, etc. The contemporary Eze, Sarkin, kabiyesi etc. are not “traditional” but new devices in the political economy of resource extractions and expression of bigmanism. The politics of the "big man" is a dangerous one which scholars should be careful to support.

8.     All scholars must support and promote the efficiency of the informal sector, as this is the key to the survival of the majority of our people.

 

 Dear scholars,  stop calling yourself names that undermine our collective integrity as migrant scholars: silly names as eccentric, Old Lady, xenophobia, eccentric, separatist, tribalist, etc. Make your arguments, as Mbaku, always the hero in all these arguments, do.

Toyin Falola

Department of History

The University of Texas at Austin

104 Inner Campus Drive

Austin, TX 78712-0220

USA

512 475 7224

512 475 7222 (fax)

http://sites.utexas.edu/yoruba-studies-review/

http://www.toyinfalola.com 

http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa  

http://groups.google.com/group/yorubaaffairs 

http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue   

[Oluwatoyin Adepoju]

Very exciting :

 

'... calling yourself names that undermine our collective integrity as migrant scholars: silly names as eccentric, Old Lady, xenophobia, eccentric, separatist, tribalist'

 

 I need to read through the thread to see where such juicy exchanges took place.

 

thanks

 

toyin

 

 

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[Bode]

Dear Moderator,

I would be the first to apologize for retaliatory name-calling. Thanks.

Bode  

--

[dijiaina]

Dear all,

May I use this opportunity to join the distinguished moderator of our forum to plead that we cast a look once again at the fact that blood not water runs in our veins. This defines our essence  and commonality not how robust or pale, how short or tall  we look. We have right to be emotional but our decency is promoted in moderating the emotion in us.

Sincere regards.

Ayandiji Daniel AINA, PhD

Professor of Political Science &

Provost, College of Management and Social Sciences

Babcock University,

Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State,

Nigeria.

Main email.          :ain...@babcock.edu.ng

Alternate emails   :diji...@yahoo.com

                             :dijiai...@gmail.com

"One of the truest tests of integrity is its blunt refusal to be compromised". Chinua Achebe

--

[M Buba]

Very timely intervention, indeed. But before this name-calling door is shut, and now that you've mentioned Sokoto (someone has to!), I'd like to point to the completely unprovoked attack on Sokoto, the Sultan and the Baobab tree on a piece about (1915) railway in a 10-point agenda for Buhari by Dele (Pulitzer) Olojede:

"Today Sokoto has a few baobabs and a Sultan. Who cares about baobabs and Sultans?"

I thought great traditions and diversity are at the heart of the narrative of Sokoto and its Sultan and its baobabs. So, we must all care about their symbolic significance in the light of UN's Sustenable Development agenda. Mr Olojede has caused unnecessary hurt to a whole value system, possibly because he's aware that no one cared enough to discuss his piece, let alone flag this unhelpful assessement of a 1915 puported dialogue between Lugard and the newly turbanned Sultan Muhammadu Maiturare! 

In this and similar unhelpful comments, the question to address is, as the Kenyan anti-corruption czar noted in his Uganda address: 

 "what must Africa do going forward?"

Well, one thing that Africa(n scholars) can do is to go beyond the borders and begin to spend some extended period of time in their 'home' universities, in order fully to understand, document and analyse the multi-layered discourse of ethnicity, citizenship, indigeneship and related identity-affirming nomenclatures. At the local level, these concepts become labels whether or not they are properly understood as such. As scholars, the need for you to come home and face these public policy fiascos has never been greater.

If there's anyone out there who cares about Africa going forward, and is able to overlook the shortcomings of the Sultan and our baobabs, we'd like to give them a place in the sun.

Wassalam,

Malami

Prof Malami Buba

Department of English Language & Linguistics

Sokoto State University

PMB 2134, Birnin-Kebbi Rd,

Sokoto, NIGERIA

--

[Bode]

Ugo,
I hope you have something to say here as well.

[Ugo Nwokeji]

Bode,

You keep goading me. I have nothing to say. There is no equivalency here.

Xenophobic positions,  such as yours, are a well-known to cause of violence and genocide, which in turn is what Professor Falola's warning asks us to be aware of. As such, I have an obligation to call that out, anytime. Professor Falola pointed out that "without a diversified economy, xenophobic arguments will be made," but that in no way means we should not call out xenophobia, particularly when it comes from people who should know better.

There you have it.

Ugo

From my mobile phone

[Bode]

The contrast is clear! Word has consumed it's response! I will not respond out of respect for the list. I regret engaging you at all. You are incorrigible. Not worthwhile!

[Ugo Nwokeji]

And, Bode, you're seem so deluded you are oblivious of how Professor Falola's plea applies to you.

Ugo

From my mobile phone

[Okey Iheduru]

"If the Ondo people say they must have only one King, let it be, if only to protect the poor and the powerless, and call the leaders of groups and associations by other names, Chairman, President, etc. I am a Nigerian in Ondo, not an Ondo man, and this difference has to be respected. If they celebrate their Ogun festival, if I cannot join them, that should not be time when I will bring my Ibadan festival to their doors. They have the right to be angry" --- Prof. Toyin Falola.

1) As someone who has been called names or had innuendos unjustly hauled at me before on this forum, I couldn't agree more with Oga Falola's intervention about the need for civil discourse.

2) I do, however, wish to take issues with portions of Prof. Falola's take on the "Republic of two thousand kings,” especially the ones I've excerpted above.

As the Eze Ndi Igbo controversy raged, what continued to exercise my mind was this question: Why would or do Igbos in Akure need to have an Eze ("monarch, leader, spokes persons--take your pick) of their own in that city or territory? Is the Eze Ndi Igbo different from the Sarkin Hausa in Owerri or the Sarkin Garki, Okigwe? Is the title or purpose different from the Yoruba Oba in Owerri which position has been in existence since the 1920s when Shell Petroleum Corp established its first-ever headquarters in Nigeria right there in Owerri (ever heard of "Shell Camp", Owerri?)? In short, why would a group of Nigerian citizens of one ethnicity in another part of Nigeria dominated or "owned" by another ethnic group feel the need to have a "monarch" of their own? 

Two answers immediately come to my mind. One is the incomplete or unequal citizenship that has been the bane of all efforts supposedly geared towards creating social cohesion in Nigeria (and, indeed, much of post-colonial Africa). Our "one Nigerianess" is always defined by our ethnic identities that have been officially rendered irrevocable. The other answer is the frightening speed at which neo-medieval impositions and/or assimilation is ravaging the country while we pretend to pursue "secularist" and "modern" aspirations, even as we fail to grasp the contradictions. I'm referring to the apparent perfunctory assimilation of socio-economic and power structures similar to what obtained in the European "Dark Ages" of pervasive insecurity and which made recourse to self-help or the protection of rapidly multiplying "war lords" imperative as a matter of survival. Any wonder why those of us who are otherwise well-schooled in the liberal arts and sciences and who boast impeccable credentials as "democracy and human rights activists" would break your skull if you question why you should be somebody else's "subject" in a Republic? Not only that, being a "chief" seems to have become the crowning moment in the careers of many an academic in our neck of the woods. Why should the auto parts trader in Akure or Oturkpo be different, if in the Antonio Gramscian perspective, the intelligentsia are championing or legitimizing this pernicious brand of cultural hegemony that advances the interests of ruling elite?

Part of the reasons for our incomplete and/or unequal citizenship (hence, or social cohesion conundrum) is the colonial policy of defining and drawing ethnic identities in stone whereas these same identities have always been fluid in the same "Africa" we so fiercely claim to defend and celebrate in the Diaspora. This is why I am puzzled that Prof. Falola, our own Giant of African history, would make the following statement: "I am a Nigerian in Ondo, not an Ondo man, and this difference has to be respected." I'm not sure why, like the Flanders ultra-nationalist who do not foresee ever sharing their ethnicity with a French Belgian, Prof. Falola does not realize that he seems to have foreclosed the possibility--and the reality in many cases on the ground, even though some of us privileged intellectuals refuse to accept it--of cultural hybridization, assimilation, or even "exit, loyalty and voice" in the Albert O. Hirschman sense from identity groups as we know them today in Nigeria. Should academics lend legitimacy to rigidly exclusionary concepts of citizenship and at the same time wonder why the Hausa or Yoruba in Owerri--or any other similarly excluded group that have probably contributed more to the development of the host-community that continues to define them as the Other--would seek to create a "king" of their own? If we go beyond the seemingly irresistible excitement about "the Igbo problem," we are likely to discover that most major urban centers in Nigeria (and I dare say, in Africa) are grappling with this problem which African academics may be inadvertently exacerbating. 

A little factoid can help contextualize my stance on this matter. This Christmas, over 2,000 cows will be slaughtered in Owerri--as has been done since the last 100+ years, but there are no "indigenous" cattle breeders in that city. Millions of dollars, Euros, CFAs, yuan, etc. (perhaps greater than the entire money in the vault of the local Central Bank of Nigeria branch in the state) will be exchanged in the parallel forex market at Ama Awusa, Owerri. This "industry" is controlled over 90 percent by "Hausa" operators, with Igbos sometimes being contended as middlemen. All the stew pots cooked for all manner of ceremonies in the city will depend on onions that few Owerri residents care to know how they're produced. No celebration for chieftaincy, anniversaries, weddings, diaspora thanksgiving, etc. in the city will be worth it without a trip to Rotobi Street--named after the richest Yoruba family that have lived in Owerri longer than over 95 percent current of all residents of the city. Can we not see anything wrong with perpetually excluding these citizens from the life of the city? Is it justified to claim that a "Sokoto man" who has been in Owerri longer than Eze Njemanze III (the current "traditional" ruler of Owerri) can never be an "Owerri man," whatever that means?

Neither "Ondo people" nor "Owerri people" have historically or always had one king or festival. It would be patronizing, or even downright insulting for a non-initiated like me, to remind historians about the relationship between migrations and cultural osmosis and the making of the both ancient and modern Africa, nay our world as we know it today. Must we always see the performance of Birnin Kebbi festival in Owerri as a threat and "reason to be angry," rather than an opportunity to enrich the cultural heritage of all that live in Owerri? The latter perspective seems to be more in line with what modernity, let alone cosmopolitanism (really, why we're all academics/intellectuals) is all about. It calls for neither assimilation nor rejection of the Other, even from a minority, less powerful position. As Zvetan Thodorov (the French historian) reminds us, we're all cultural hybrids; and the 21st century belongs to those who, while not giving up who they are, are willing to borrow from the Other and create something new in a truly "transdisciplinary" sense. Perhaps, that explains why the Igbo are always "causing problem" wherever they call home. But they also cherish the fact that no one is calling for the arrest of the "President" of Egbe Omo Oduduwa in Washington, DC. because the First Citizen of the city--and the most powerful ruler in the world--who lives in the White House goes by the title "President."

Peace as always!

Okey

[Toyin Falola]

Okey:

A brilliant response!

My intervention is always driven by the need for peace, the protection of the poor, and the warning to scholars to be responsible.

Let us factor the process into your argument, the long process of building enduring institutions. The post-colonial state has not been successful in doing this, and has built on colonial inheritances.

Read my statement along with No.

5.     Our cultures are in transition, and there are those who profit from the  maintenance of the old. That profit may generate their conflicts.

Many of what we want and wish for will not happen overnight—we have to work for it as a process, and hope for the emergence of a vibrant citizenship. The opportunity we are losing in this forum is not to build alliances and networks that are not shaped by ethnicity.

TF

Toyin Falola

Department of History

The University of Texas at Austin

104 Inner Campus Drive

Austin, TX 78712-0220

USA

512 475 7224

512 475 7222 (fax)

http://sites.utexas.edu/yoruba-studies-review/

http://www.toyinfalola.com 

http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa  

http://groups.google.com/group/yorubaaffairs 

http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue   

[Bode]

Much as I like Okey's piece, he argues two contradictory points:

1, Any wonder why those of us who are otherwise well-schooled in the liberal arts and sciences and who boast impeccable credentials as "democracy and human rights activists" would break your skull if you question why you should be somebody else's "subject" in a Republic?

This question presumes that a Nigerian should not, if he choses not to, be subject to a Monarch in Ondo by virtue of his right to live in a republic of modern Nigeria, not under a medieval-style monarchy. This is an important objection only if this were the case at hand. But it is precisely what professor Falola suggested when he said in italics "I am a Nigerian in Ondo, not an Ondo man, and this difference has to be respected." This I read both ways, but Okey seems to have read it only one way. Professor Falola spoke to the dynamics of national and local differences. The Nigerian in Ondo may choose not to be Ondo, that is, be subject to the Ondo monarch, and his choice should be respected. By the same token, it also means that the Nigerian must respect the difference that Ondo represents to him if he has chosen in Okey's words not to be subject to its dark ages milieu. The question to Okey would be, short of a violent outcome, what should the Nigerian do if the dark ages milieu in Ondo contradicts his personal beliefs and political stance? Professor Falola has it exactly right: mutual respect! Also, the problem with Okey's characterization is that the Nigerian in this instance is not asking the same question of the republic as Okey presumes. The Nigerian is asking to be subject to another medieval-style monarchy inside Ondo that is neither national nor Ondo. It is not a desire for republicanism but an exchange of monarchical subjectivity. I can wager that the Ondo may respect his right not to be subject to the Ondo monarchy if he invokes his right within the republic. They would rightly be perplexed though if he is instead setting up a parallel monarchy to rival their own Ondo monarch. It is in this sense that the Ondo people's right to one monarch should equally be respected.  

 

2, Rotobi Street--named after the richest Yoruba family that have lived in Owerri longer than over 95 percent current of all residents of the city. Can we not see anything wrong with perpetually excluding these citizens from the life of the city? Is it justified to claim that a "Sokoto man" who has been in Owerri longer than Eze Njemanze III (the current "traditional" ruler of Owerri) can never be an "Owerri man," whatever that means?

This second point is the better of the two but contradicts the first in the sense that hybridity already presupposes that the Nigerian no longer sees the milieu in Ondo as those of dark ages and is no longer as aversed to his subjectivity within it much as he is reciprocally accepted in the cosmopolitan spirit both as a Nigerian and as a member of the Ondo community. This point would suggest a rapprochement that would have eliminated the anxiety that produces the need for a parallel monarchical authority. If he left it here, I would have been glad and celebrated his piece. But he then goes on to suggest that there are two presidents in DC: the President of the United States and the President of the Association of Egbe Omo Oduduwa.  By this gesture, he vitiates the republican objection, which is the stronger argument, and admits rightly, though inadvertently, that the problem here is not monarchy versus the republic. The problem is new monarchy versus old monarchy. 

Bode Ibironke

[kenneth harrow]

i want toyin to know that there have been networks and networking, and production of scholarship, thanks to this list. i've reached out to people, they've reached out to me, and we've worked on ideas and projects. i am sure much of that happens without the full list being apprized of it, but it is productive, and a good reason to continue.
i appreciate his warning about respecting each other so we can build productively. and i also agree with those who like the spirit of free exchanges and lively debate. but the longterm goal has to be kept in sight, and toyin has been a champion in encouraging many scholars over the years to move toward the creation of strong educational institutions in and for africa. underneath all the debate which of us wouldn't agree and want to collaborate on that project.
ken

-- 
kenneth w. harrow 
faculty excellence advocate
professor of english
michigan state university
department of english
619 red cedar road
room C-614 wells hall
east lansing, mi 48824
ph. 517 803 8839
har...@msu.edu

[Funmi Tofowomo Okelola]

In reference to Ondo, I'm reading "dark ages" and medieval-style monarch."  Sigh.

I need to stop reading this thread. 

Funmi Tofowomo Okelola

-In the absence of greatness, mediocrity thrives. 

http://www.cafeafricana.com

[Bode]

And if we reinsert the term "federal" into the republic, we arrive at a much different understanding of the resolution to the dispute than if we were to simply emphasize "the republic". For the word "federal" is not ornamental, it is there to deliberately give the Ondo people some say in the matter, much as "the republic" is there to protect all individuals. That equilibrium between the right of the individual Nigerian and the Ondo in this instance is necessary to the maintenance of justice and fairness in the federal republic.

Bode

[Rex Marinus]

Bode, federalism does not mean particularism, it just means devolution of power between federating states. The thing with nation is that it permits the internal mobility of citizens. So that, you may be born in Akure, and you may decide to reside and purse your life in Minna, with no limits to your citizenship rights. If you were born in Ibadan for instance, and you choose to live in Enugu, you're obligated to change your residency status within a specific time, and all rights and privileges of living in Enugu will be permitted to you, as well as all civic obligation - which means that you'd be expected to pay your tax, and perform all other civic roles. But you'd still be entitled to your conscience, and your right to associate, and express yourself in whatever way you choose. In other words, you have become an Enugu state person or resident, even with your Yoruba identity intact. If the likes of you get to a good number or a density where you have enough votes, you may even say, we like to propose, and put to vote that the Yoruba language be included in the language taught in Enugu schools, and used for deliberation in the Enugu HoA, and you raise the petition, and campaign for it. If it passes, Yoruba becomes a language of use in Enugu state. And so on and so forth. My point is populations shift, settled cultures change, and even at that, all citizens are protected under federal laws, whether they live in Ekiti or Mushin. Federalism is a union of constitutions, and nothing more.

Obi Nwakanma

---

Date: Mon, 26 Oct 2015 03:16:57 -0400

Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Moderator's Intervention

From: omi...@gmail.com
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com

[Okey Iheduru]

Indeed, you should stop if that's all you could read in that thread. Good grief!

[Bode]

the particularism is yours, in your mind. when I say the Ondo have a say, I am saying the people living in Ondo, whoever they may be. I living in Lagos cannot impose on them and it requires a majority of them to have that say, so you have not said anything new that having a say by the people does not already capture. That say across the country is constitutionally protected in the federal republic

[Bode]

Okey, if those words of yours were used to refer to Owerri, I know people on this list who would call it genocidal.

[Ugo Nwokeji]

Obi,

I explained federalism to Bode back in April, using other examples of federal systems, including Canada and the USA where many of us live and enjoy the benefits citizenship, but he insisted in calling it a “unitary' system and that federalism means that citizens who choose or find themselves in states other than the ones their ancestors were born are entitled NO MORE than 'basic rights"! The quoted words are his. I don't know that makes kind of mindset makes him arrive at such conclusions.

Bode has a problem.

Ugo

From my mobile phone

[Bode]

Ugo,

You have a very limited understanding of the English language. It is a shame that if you don't know what basic means, you as a professor at UC Berkeley cannot use the help of a dictionary. I have just copied the Oxford English Dictionary for you to read and hopefully you will apologize to me if your ego is not too big for doing so for your malignant attacks. Rights in all societies where they matter are basic rights, that is, irreducible, fundamental rights that everyone is entitled to regardless of who they are and where they may be located. That is why the preamble to the American constitution only highlights right to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. These are basic rights across board. This would suggest that there are rights that anyone could claim and exercise depending on their location but which may not be basic or fundamental, some of these could be privileges of some sorts. What you want is all "full" rights and privileges regardless of location within a federal system, that is a unitary system. You are not attentive to nuances.

you have used the term xenophobia almost 100 times. you must have been watching too much American politics about how to define and demonize your opposition. that does not bother me, your ignorance bothers me.

[Bode]

Ugo,

basic, a. (and n.1)

(ˈbeɪsɪk) 

[f. base n.1 + -ic.] 

A. adj. 

1. a. Of, pertaining to, or forming a base; fundamental, essential: spec. in Arch., and in Chem. Also applied spec. to an industry which plays a major role in the national economy. 

   1842 W. Grove Corr. Phys. Forces 146 The amount of heat produced is determined by the basic ingredient.    1849 Ruskin Sev. Lamps v. 141 Its capital resting‥on its basic plinth.    1869 Roscoe Elem. Chem. 67 Basic oxides or bases act upon acids to form salts.    1884 Harper's Mag. Apr. 770/2 This is Miss Hill's basic principle.    1928 Rep. Liberal Industr. Inquiry i. 12 The great basic exporting industries of Great Britain—coal, metallurgy and textiles—have been in a bad way.    1929 Times 25 May 9/4 The industry [sc. shipbuilding]‥still had the highest percentage of unemployment of any of the basic industries in the country.    1940 R. Comm. on Distrib. Industr. Pop. (Cmd. 6153) iii. 28 The industries which, for the purposes of exchange, send their products to places outside the area in which they are situated, may be termed ‘basic’ industries.

b. That is or constitutes a standard minimum amount in a scale of remuneration or the like. Also ellipt. as n. 

   1922 Encycl. Brit. XXXI. 392/1 When trade unions fix the length of the working day, they mean the basic work⁓day, with a higher rate of pay for overtime.    1923 J. D. Hackett in Management Engineering May, Basic Eight-Hour Day, that period of time for which a specific wage rate is paid, beyond which a higher rate, generally ‘time and a half’, is paid.    1939 Times 25 Oct. 5/2 The next issue of basic petrol ration books will be made for a period beginning November 23.    1940 Ibid. 27 Feb. 5/6 At any time the unit of the basic petrol ration may be made smaller.    1948 Observer 11 Apr., The right way to check abuses of E and S petrol would be to confine it strictly to essential needs, leaving basic to fulfil its supposed purpose of allowing all motorists some pleasure trips.    1949 Ann. Reg. 1948 447 The ‘basic allowance’ of foreign currency for tourists outside the sterling area was restored.    1958 A. Hackney Private Life viii. 78 There's a job in Stores and Packing. Hundred and eighty-nine shillings basic.

c. Gram. Of or belonging to the base or theme of a word. See base n.1 14. 

   1885 A. S. Cook tr. Sievers' O.E. Gram. §86. 38 The development of the basic vowel into a diphthong.

d. Applied to a limited, ‘essential’ vocabulary in any language; spec. Basic English, a variety of the English language, comprising a select vocabulary of 850 words, invented by C. K. Ogden, of Cambridge, and intended for use as a medium of international communication; also ellipt. {Basic}. 

   1929 C. K. Ogden in Psyche IX. iii. 4 It is the continuous approximation of East and West, as a result of the analytic character of Chinese and English‥which makes this particular [Panoptic] form of English basic for the whole world. Many special captions or trade-marks for the system have been suggested, but Basic = British American Scientific International Commercial (English)—is for the time being as good as any.    Ibid. 97 (title) Translation into Basic English.    1930 C. K. Ogden (title) Basic English.    1931 Routledge Autumn Books, Basic English is a system in which 850 English words do all the work of over 20,000, and so give to everyone a second or international language which will take as little of the learner's time as possible.    1933 Discovery Sept. 280/1 Science itself‥might go forward with greatly increased efficiency if the language barrier were removed by the adoption of Basic for Abstracts and Congresses.    1933 H. G. Wells Shape of Things to Come v. §7. 419 It was more difficult to train English speakers to restrict themselves to the forms and words selected than to teach outsiders the whole of Basic.    1935 N. & Q. CLXIX. 145/2 The Swedish Anglic and our own Basic English.    1944 H. G. Wells '42 to '44 141 ‘Basic’ English, Russian or Italian is the minimum vocabulary necessary to talk understandably in any of these tongues.    1965 New Statesman 2 July 20/2 The tale is told in a Basic American style to represent the rudimentary nature of his mind.

e. spec. in Philos. Applied to a statement, proposition, etc. (see quots.). 

   1933 Proc. Arist. Soc. XXXIII. 80 The facts upon which all facts which are the immediate reference of a true proposition are based‥may‥be called basic facts.    1936 Mind XLV. 273 A basic proposition is one which asserts that an object has a particular property or that a particular relation holds between two objects, e.g. ‘this is red’, ‘this is earlier than that’.    1937 A. J. Ayer in Proc. Arist. Soc. XXXVII. 138 Propositions which need not wait upon other propositions for the determination of their truth or falsehood, but are such that they can be directly confronted with the given facts‥I propose to call basic propositions.    1939 Mind XLVIII. 485 (title) On the class of ‘basic’ sentences.    1959 K. R. Popper Logic Sci. Discovery §7 p. 43 What I call a ‘basic statement’ or a ‘basic proposition’ is a statement which can serve as a premise in an empirical falsification; in brief, a statement of a singular fact.    1961 Proc. Arist. Soc. LXI. 180 We must‥treat some concepts as not requiring reduction to others; these I shall call basic concepts.

f. basic box, see basis box (basis III). 

   1914 J. H. Jones Tinplate Industry 141 Orders are often given for the equivalent of a specific number of basic boxes, for example, 10,000 boxes of 20/14.

2. Having the base in excess. a. Chem. (A salt) Having the amount of the base atomically greater than that of the acid, or exceeding in proportion that of the related neutral salt. b. Min. (An igneous rock) Having little silica in proportion to the amount of lime, potash, magnesia, etc. present. 

   1854 Scoffern in Orr's Circ. Sc. Chem. 400 The class of subsalts is now generally termed basic salts, because the base predominates.    1876 tr. Wagner's Gen. Pathol. 319 Neutral or basic phosphates of the alkalies.    1877 Green Phys. Geol. ii. §5. 47 The Poorly Silicated or Basic rocks.

c. Applied to an improved ‘Bessemer’ process of steel-manufacture, in which phosphorus is eliminated from the pig-iron by the use of non-silicious materials (e.g. limestone, dolomite, magnesia) for the lining of the converters, and for introduction in the course of the ‘blow’; hence also applied to the steel thus produced, etc. basic refractory, a refractory material with a high content of basic oxides. 

   1880 Roberts Introd. Lect. Metallurgy 20 The practical application of basic linings in the Bessemer converter.    1883 Birmghm. Weekly Post 18 Aug. 8/2 Basic steel and ingot iron, made from phosphoric pig.    1917 R. Moldenke Princ. Iron Founding viii. 277 The iron foundry has so far had but little to do with basic refractories.    1944 Gregory & Simons Steel Manuf. (ed. 3) xxi. 164 For this reason silica bricks cannot be used, and therefore magnesite, dolomite or other basic refractories have to be employed.

d. basic slag, slag from the basic or Bessemer process of steel manufacture, used as a fertilizer when finely ground. 

   1888 Chambers's Jrnl. 28 July 478/2 The value of basic slag as a manure.    1920 Conquest Aug. 487/2 Owing to the cattle grazing‥phosphates and lime are withdrawn from the soil, but a dressing of basic slag‥replaces this loss.

e. basic dye, a dye consisting of salts of bases containing aromatic amino- and substituted amino-groups. 

   1891 [see mordant n. 3 c].    1905 Cain & Thorpe Synth. Dyestuffs & Intermed. Prod. vii. 35 Wool takes up the basic dyes in a very uniform manner without the aid of any addition to the dye bath.    1952 J. R. Baker in G. H. Bourne Cytol. & Cell Physiol. (ed. 2) i. 2 When no further structure can be discovered in unstained cells, the effect of dyes of small toxicity should be tried. Many basic dyes are suitable.

See also monobasic, bibasic, tribasic. 

B. n. Usu. pl. a. The essential or elementary aspects of a situation, subject, etc.; fundamentals; primary requirements. 

   1934 E. McD. Gale (title) Basics of the Chinese Civilization; a Topical Survey in Outline.    1961 Newsweek 14 Aug. 45/2 The appeal of Mantle and Maris in 1961 comes down to one basic: the home run.    1965 Times Lit. Suppl. 25 Nov. 1062/3 Let us refer to basics again—to dialogue.    1969 Engineer 19 June 32 The computer is not a monster but a powerful ally. B. K. Cooper reviews the basics and explains the principal uses of this misunderstood machine.    1971 Hi-Fi Sound Feb. 25 A transcription unit with much more than ‘the basics’ for enthusiasts who don't require extreme sophistication of design.    1984 Times 25 July 5/2 People in northern Niger are going short of food and other basics.    1985 M. Gee Light Years lii. 340 Basics for Christmas, dammit. Turkey? Chickens?

b. back to (the) basics: a catch-phrase applied (freq. attrib.) to a movement or enthusiasm for a return to the fundamental principles in education, etc., or to policies reflecting this. orig. U.S. 

   1975 N.Y. Times 9 Mar. 1 The style and tone of the churches have undergone a major adustment‥, gradually turning toward a ‘back-to-basics’ approach.    1977 National Observer (U.S.) 8 Jan. 3/1 The current ‘back to basics’ movement, the campaign to give the highest priority to the teaching of the fundamentals of reading, writing, and arithmetic.    1978 Today's Educ. Feb.–Mar. 34/1 No matter how it is described, this back-to-the-basics issue is attracting more and more legislative and public interest.    1983 Times 23 July 13/1 Brown Shipley is launching a back-to-basics savings plan linked to term life assurance.    1985 Toronto Life Sept. 15/1 The public areas show a back-to-basics thinking.

 

 

______________________________

 

Draft partial entry December 2004

 ▸ Providing or having few or no amenities, accessories, functions, etc., beyond the ordinary or essential; of or designating the lowest standard acceptable or available; rudimentary. 

   1932 M. R. Davie Probl. of City Life vii. 135 Each guest's sleeping room is equipped with a rug, chair, and locker, besides the bed. In addition to this basic accommodation, the guest has the use of large reading and writing rooms.    1953 Life 10 Aug. 74/3 It is important to buy panels that meet basic standards of quality.    1970 J. Earl Tuners & Amplifiers 7 Such equipment is already rising above the basic ‘domestic quality’ and entering into the hi-fi fringes.    1978 Dumfries Courier 20 Oct. 11/1 The newcomers range from fairly basic family saloons to the exotic Mazda RX7 and BMW's M1 sports racer.    2000 S. Fallon & M. Rothschild World Food: France 135 Pastries and other sweets in the north can be pretty basic.

 

 

______________________________

 

Draft partial entry June 2005

 ▸ basic pay n. orig. U.S. the standard rate of pay received by an employee before any additional payments such as overtime or bonuses have been included; cf. base pay n. at base n.2 Additions, A. 1b. 

   1916 Washington Post 24 Jan. 2/5 The higher wage demands to be made by the leaders of the brotherhoods provide that the *basic pay [per] day‥shall be changed to 100 miles or eight hours, with pay for overtime at one and a half times the new higher rate.    1969 National Herald (New Delhi) 29 July 8/6 All employees whose basic pay and dearness pay do not total more than Rs. 620 will become eligible for overtime allowance.    1999 Independent 18 Aug. i. 10/7 Working these sort of hours, for a basic pay of £16,710, would be enough of an irritation for junior hospital doctors.

On Mon, Oct 26, 2015 at 11:24 AM, Ugo Nwokeji <u...@berkeley.edu> wrote:

[Bode]

Ugo:

simple example: as the moderator stated of his experience. while he has the right to drink bear all he wants, that right is not a basic right and thus he cannot invoke his right of citizenship to violate the restriction that Sokoto places on that right. you get it? that is a federal system. in a unitary system Sokoto would not be able to place that restriction. The same goes for Ondo and Owerri. There are local restrictions everywhere that the communities put in place. so long as they do not violate the basic rights, the fundamental rights, if you have problem understanding the word basic, they can do so within a federal system. but you are questioning the right of those communities to the restrictions they happen to have because any Nigerian should not face any restrictions that the federal government does not place on them. while the right to association as a basic right is not in dispute, the right to a king or kingdom within existing kingdoms could be. You and Obi see this right to a king or kingdom within existing kingdoms as a fundamental right for which the Nigerian citizen could kill and die for, others, like me have the right to disagree.

[Ugo Nwokeji]

Bode,

Yo can't make this up: It is certified, mental illness is an ingredient in your xenophobia. I didn't even bother reading whatever dictionary definition of "basic". I cannot respond to you in kind because you deserve sympathy from all of us. It must be difficult to live a wretched and angry life. However, I cannot accept xenophobia, couched in whatever way, as part of enlightened discourse.

As I have advised you, for your own good, only you can cure yourself of your xenophobia. 

Basic rights are reserved for some categories of foreign immigrants, perhaps even illegal immigrants; citizens of a country are entitled significantly wider rights than "basic rights". Insisting your fellow citizens living in their own country deserve only "basic rights" is xenophobia. For context, you came up with this bizarre formulation when we were discussing the threat of the Oba of Lagos to drown Igbo residents of Lagos if they did not vote for his candidate.

Ugo

G. Ugo Nwokeji

Director, Center for African Studies

Associate Professor of African American Studies
University of California, Berkeley
686 Barrows Hall #2572
Berkeley, CA 94720
Tel. (510) 542-8140
Fax (510) 642-0318

Twitter: @UgoNwokeji

Facebook: facebook.com/ugo.nwokeji

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/profile/view?id=243610869

[Bode]

"What citizenship does is to guarantee basic rights to everyone within a nation. They are basic. One cannot argue with that. If a citizen does not enjoy the same basic rights as another, that would constitute injustice. I am not for that. So, we agree on equal basic rights for all citizens. Citizenship does not guarantee much beyond the basics. However, the presumption that being a citizen allows me unrestrained liberties anywhere so long as I am a citizen of that nation is erroneous. I am not sure that is what you imply. Within a plural society, laws and customs differ sometime immensely from place to place and those have to be respected as you said, even as those laws and customs change to reflect new realities. The idea that I am endowed with uniformity of liberty by unitary national citizenship."  Again, citizenship guarantees basic rights. There is a distinction between rights and liberties. Our liberties are always under constraints by other forces, and more so in a plural society. I recognize the plurality of a federal state, I do not celebrate it.  Bode April 13 2015.

When I used the term basic rights above, I used it in a global sense of universal rights. I have basic rights too.

On Mon, Oct 26, 2015 at 2:48 PM, Bode <omi...@gmail.com> wrote:

Ugo, the language of basic rights means Universal Rights.

http://www.amnestyusa.org/research/human-rights-basics

Human Rights Basics

Human rights are basic rights and freedoms that all people are entitled to regardless of nationality, sex, national or ethnic origin, race, religion, language, or other status.

Human rights include civil and political rights, such as the right to life, liberty and freedom of expression; and social, cultural and economic rights including the right to participate in culture, the right to food, and the right to work and receive an education.  Human rights are protected and upheld by international and national laws and treaties.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is the foundation of the international system of protection for human rights. It was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 10th, 1948.  This day is celebrated annually as International Human Rights Day. The 30 articles of the UDHR establish the civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights of all people. It is a vision for human dignity that transcends political boundaries and authority, committing governments to uphold the fundamental rights of each person.  The UDHR helps guide Amnesty International's work.

We also use these principles to help us define human rights and the issues we relentlessly fight for.

[Anunoby, Ogugua]

To change the conversation, there is tribalism. There is xenophobia. Does anyone know which is worse for its beholder and society?  Could one be a beholder of them both? Would the  beholding of either one of them, or worse still both of them, not be undesirable in world in which people need to get along better by embracing inclusion and rejecting exclusion? I wonder, in the knowledge that to wonder is to be discerningly curious- seeking the truth?

oa  

[Bode]

"You see, the Igbo must stop pussy-footing around Nigeria. Either choice they make will be at great cost. If they choose secession, it will not go unnoticed, and it will lead to many lives being lost. If they choose to fight for every ground the occupy in Nigeria, it is bound to cost them some lives too. So, I think they must gird themselves up, and put up that fight against anybody who threatens them in Nigeria, because frankly, the Igbo have no business giving up the Nigerian space which they now own by blood." Obi

Ogugua: How do you behold the above statement? Just curious.

[Segun Ogungbemi]

Ugo and Bode,

I think the Moderator has intervened and advised against using unacademic and disrespectful language in our contributions in this forum. 

We should respect him. 

Ogun agbe yin o. Aase Edumare. 
Prof. Segun Ogungbemi

This second point is the better of the two but contradicts the first in the sense that hybridity already presupposes that the Nigerian no longer sees the milieu in Ondo as those of dark ages and is no longer as aversed to his subjectivity within it much as he is reciprocally accepted in the cosmopolitan spirit both as a Nigerian and as a member of the Ondo community. This point would suggest a rapprochement that would have eliminated the anxiety that produces the need for a parallel monarchical authority. If he left it here, I would have been glad and celebrated his piece. But he then goes on to suggest that there are two presidents in DC: the President of the Unite parallel monarchical authority. If he left it here, I would have been glad and celebrated his piece. But he then goes on to suggest that there are two presidents in DC: the President of the United States and the President of the Association of Egbe Omo Oduduwa.  By this gesture, he vitiates the republican objection, which is the stronger argument, and admits rightly, though inadvertently, that the problem here is not monarchy versus the republic. The problem is new monarchy versus old monarchy. 

Bode Ibironke

4.     Local cu in the world.

[Rex Marinus]

Bode, my signature is on that statement, and I own it. I mean every single word of it: and let me break it down for you: no one should threaten the Igbo wherever they live in Nigeria, for as long as they are citizens of Nigeria. Do you agree or not? The Igbo should stop pussyfooting around the question of whether they want to be Nigerians or not, and should resolve this question about secession once and for all and claim, as well as insist on equal ownership of Nigeria with the rest of Nigeria. Do you agree or not? The Igbo should defend their rights as citizens of Nigeria and must not allow anybody, interest, or power to push them around, because having fought a civil war in which they lost about 3 million people, they have made a high sacrifice in blood, certainly more than any other group in that nation. Do you agree or not? The Igbo did not beg to return to Nigeria. A costly war was fought to force them back to Nigeria. Since the rest of Nigeria fought to force Igbo back to Nigeria, even though they fought for a separate state of Biafra, the Igbo must be prepared to defemd themselves against anybody, with every resource available to them, who threatens their lives and livelihood in Nigeria. Do you agree or not. As a matter of fact, I should also add that whatever I've said for the Igbo, pertains to any other group in Nigeria, who agrees on the equality of all peoples who are covered by the Nigerian constitution, and who consider themselves partners in the creation of a free, just, prosperous, and progressive nation. Do you agree or not?

Obi Nwakanma

---

From: omi...@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 26 Oct 2015 22:12:05 +0000

Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Moderator's Intervention

To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com

[Bode]

Obi, 

you basically are saying in other words what Okey Iheduru said in his response to Professor Falola. In an answer to the question that he poses: "why would a group of Nigerian citizens of one ethnicity in another part of Nigeria dominated or "owned" by another ethnic group feel the need to have a "monarch" of their own?" Okey states: "The other answer is the frightening speed at which neo-medieval impositions and/or assimilation is ravaging the country while we pretend to pursue "secularist" and "modern" aspirations, even as we fail to grasp the contradictions. I'm referring to the apparent perfunctory assimilation of socio-economic and power structures similar to what obtained in the European "Dark Ages" of pervasive insecurity and which made recourse to self-help or the protection of rapidly multiplying "war lords" imperative as a matter of survival."

For me, these are extraordinarily strong feelings. While I obviously do not share them, I cannot but ask myself whether the wall of intellectual abstraction isn't cutting me off from your reality. I know there has been some incidents this year of statements made during the elections and in Akure. But I must confess, I did not get the sense of how intensely threatened you feel even though I was in Nigeria just a week ago. I am shocked by these statements and I now feel I must step back to see what is going on, what is causing this renewed feeling of pervasive insecurity. Sorry if I sound detached. It is  always my position that all citizens have the same fundamental or basic rights. It is also my position that we must respect differences where those abound. So, I must say I agree.

Peace,

Bode 

[Bode]

Dear Professor Ogungbemi,

Thank you for your intervention. I access this list on the web, I do not download the messages on my computer in part to limit my access to the list. I like what google inbox does with the threads. It groups all the messages under one thread into a single mail that you can expand. This makes it easy for one to only pick the thread of their interest. There are threads I have not even opened yet. I could be wrong, but knowing how busy people are, even if they were following this thread before, they would have switched off long time. Now imagine performing to an empty auditorium! But, apparently, the auditorium is not that empty, at least you are still there, and the moderator too! I will alway keep that in mind. Thank you for bearing with our (my?) folly. And sorry to grate your sensibilities with harsh words. I mean this to all who remain. By the way, I have come to find out Ugo is a nice guy, which makes the tangle doubly regrettable.

Bode

[Rex Marinus]

Bode, again, I think you are either missing the pointing, or obfuscating! You excerpted a statement from me with a very specific statement, demanding answers, and I thought I put each strand of the statement in as much a context as possible. Your reference to Okey is second thought. I think, frankly, that you are side-stepping the intent of your question.  I did ask some specific questions of my own, and I'd appreciate it if you'd address those questions. But then, I'm also prepared to add to Iheduru's statement in response to Falola's question, because I agree with them. "Why should a group of Nigerians from one ethnicity in another part of Nigeria dominated or "owned" by another feel the need to have a "monarch" of their own?" The simple answer is because they can. The contradictions that make it possible for the monarchy to exist in a modern democratic republic in the first place , makes the existence of competing monarchies compelling. It is a fundamental contradiction. What Okey and I are however arguing is really quite simple: the monarchy, whether of the settled or the new, is an arbitrary distraction; an unnecessary institution which calls to question the very sovereignty of the modern nation itself. It should not exist. There is no stronger feeling expressed here than your unwillingness to see that the actual, fixed, and unrelenting position is the one that continues to circulate the furtive binary of owner/visitor/dominant/minority in your category of citizenship in Nigeria. And that is yours. And I suggest you re-examine it candidly.

Obi Nwakanma

---

From: omi...@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 27 Oct 2015 02:50:01 +0000

[Anunoby, Ogugua]

Great statement and good advice for the intended audience. If only more people will reason as Obi has done and have the courage to put out similar reasoned statements for public consumption. I neither intend nor presume to speak for Obi. He can speak for himself better than I or indeed anyone else can for him. Unlike some forum contributors, he does not have a muddled understanding of the meaning of a constitutional republic. He recognizes that Nigeria is a constitutional republic. He believes in the primacy of the constitution and the equality of citizenship including rights, obligations, and privileges, that it promises to all law abiding citizens, as all non-indulgent faithful citizens of a country should be. He understands that custom and tradition may be part of citizens lives but recognizes as some seem not to do, that they are not the law, are subordinate to the law, and may only be practiced within the law, not outside it. He seeks inclusion and rejects exclusion. He is not only a good student of history, he learns from it. I commend him as he should rightly be.

 

oa

[Bode]

Obi,

You go on to say:

"I want the Igbo read the poet,  Olu Oguibe's powerful poem, "I am Bound to this Land by Blood." The should walk firmly in Nigeria, make so much money that they can buy up the National Assembly, and the Federal government if they choose, whether they occupy political positions or not. In fact, they should ignore public positions, and let others do the work for them, while they control the leverage of power in the shadows, with the principal aim of defending the Republic, so that no Nigerian, who subscribes to the ideal of the nation, should suffer discrimination, abuse, or injustice, irrespective of whether they are Yoruba, Hausa, Idoma, Igbo, Igala, Berom, Efik, Urhobo, etc."

This seems to me to be primarily a program of Igbo empowerment, which is totally legitimate. Yes, secondarily, you link Igbo empowerment to the liberation of Nigeria from the autocracy of tradition and the promise of citizenship rights for all. But again, how can this not be construed to be very much like the Napoleonic vanguard and imperial battle to export Republicanism and free Europe from the dark ages of medieval monarchy. So, it is not my intent but your words that should be in focus. Much as I loathe to do this for my esteem of you, and would want to retreat from this discussion, your question prompts me instead to ask you to be sensitive and think about what other Nigerians reading your statements would think about them. They are more likely to take away from it not a campaign for citizenship rights but a political aspiration in your words to "control the leverage of power in the shadows." I repeat for an umpteenth time: I am for citizenship and/with respect, these are not mutually exclusive. I can in fact work with you on the empowerment of the Igbo in whatever capacity you want me to if it is based on citizenship and respect. Also, I can from my neck of the woods remind us all of the ethics of African hospitality as a more pragmatic solution for the protection of the rights, and more importantly, welfare of migrants and minorities. That is of course in addition to what must be our collective insistence on just and equitable laws.

cheers,

Bode 

[Okey Iheduru]

"But again, how can this not be construed to be very much like the Napoleonic vanguard and imperial battle to export Republicanism and free Europe from the dark ages of medieval monarchy" --- Bode Ominira.

Just wondering where Europe (and, indeed, the rest of the world) would be today had "Napoleonic vanguard" not "export[ed] Republicanism and free[ed] Europe from the dark ages of medieval monarchy"?

A peak/pick at the social and intellectual history of Europe would give some clues. Napoleon Bonaparte was much more than the British historians with their imperial blinkers want you to believe.

[Bode]

Well, Okey,

There are those in Europe who are thanking God for Waterloo! It is complicated.

Peace.

Bode Ibironke

[Rex Marinus]

Bode,

As an Igbo, I believe that all men are born free and equal. My statement is a statement of inclusion that summons the Igbo to work in equal partnership with all who believe in the equality and liberty of all peoples. So, you might rightly say, I belong to the Vanguard of the Republic. I might just as well say that you, being a royalist, and a defender of the hegemon, belong to the royalist/monarchist vanguard. We are ideologically opposed in that regard. But you cannot call me an imperialist, since we belong to the same country, unless you dispute this, and I am not expanding the frontiers o Nigeria, just expanding the frontiers of Nigerian liberty. The Imperialist is made of a different kind of fiber. But yes, I advocate that the Igbo should work towards the spreading n Nigeria of the ideas of individual liberty and the end of the kind of false privilege upon which corruption has been founded and maintained in Nigeria; and which has excluded a vast array of Nigerians from the benefits of independence and sovereignty on the false premise of protecting culture and tradition.  
Obi Nwakanma

---

From: omi...@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 27 Oct 2015 14:33:41 +0000

Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Moderator's Intervention

To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com

[Bode]

Obi,

I think there is Imperialism with capital "I" and there is imperialism with small "i". But that is another discussion for another time.

Bode

[kenneth harrow]

which nappy are we talking about? the consul, the general, the emperor? or the liberator of spain who shot the national resistance?
or maybe like athens and the u.s., the exporter of republicanism, the demos of rule by (some of) the people?
it amazes me how napolean's reinstituting of slavery in the caribbean is taken by the french as something forced on him!
and yet there is truth that a republican revolution was begun in 1789, and the napolean became both part of it and part of ending it with the assumption of the triumverate rule and then imperial rule. what follows napolean is more consequential: the revolutions of 1830 and esp 1848, which took us closer to the modern turn in europe with marxism finally arriving. great heady days for revolution.
and now, alas, our neoliberal world order is so far from most of those ideals, especially with democracy having becoming "democracy" and rights swept aside. europe the modern bastion of rights? or europe the seat of far right xenophobic, ultranationalist parties?
the discussion of xenophobia, tribalisms, autochthony on this list has been particularly illuminating.
ken

-- 
kenneth w. harrow 
faculty excellence advocate
professor of english
michigan state university
department of english
619 red cedar road
room C-614 wells hall
east lansing, mi 48824
ph. 517 803 8839
har...@msu.edu

[Rex Marinus]

Bode, I know about one imperialism. It is the mother-of -all expansions. But I'm quite curious about the other, and would be very glad to learn something of it from you. I mean, you do know something I do not.

Obi

---

From: omi...@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 27 Oct 2015 16:11:17 +0000

[Bode]

In addition Obi, between the bloody axis of revolution and reaction, there is large space in the middle, which is where I take my stand, with caution. 
Bode

[Salimonu Kadiri]

As a *NIGERIAN*, I believe that all men are born free and equal. Consequently, I am against the DIALA, Master Tribe, whose aim is to make, *OSU*, Slaves out of other tribes of Nigeria. 
S.Kadiri
 

---

From: omi...@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 27 Oct 2015 16:40:21 +0000