Naming a Dog and Buhari’s Emerging Democratic Tyranny
Farooq A. Kperogi
By Farooq A. Kperogi, Ph.D.
Twitter:@farooqkperogi
Buhari’s administration is shaping up to be perhaps the most intolerant and petulant civilian administration in Nigeria. But it isn’t the intolerance and petulance in and of themselves that are disquieting; it is the crying incompetence of this government’s handling of dissent, which often ends up popularizing and lionizing nonentities.
It started with Indigenous People of Biafra’s Nnamdi Kanu. He was spewing his rib-tickling inanities on the fringes of the Internet and on a barely known radio station. Then, suddenly, when he started attacking President Buhari, Nigerian authorities moved in swiftly to contain him. They announced that they had successfully jammed his radio station, but came back a few days later to refute an alleged libelous falsehood the station made against Buhari!
Of course, news of the “jamming” of the radio and the press release refuting what the station reportedly said against Buhari (after it was supposed to have been jammed!) caused the station—and the ideology it espouses—to make national and international headlines. And there was an enormous spike in the number of searches for “Radio Biafra” and “Nnamdi Kanu” on Google and other search engines.
This, combined with Buhari’s unambiguous antipathy toward the southeast, has sparked a resurgence of Biafran and neo-Biafran movements and periodic sanguinary communal upheavals. This was completely avoidable. If the government had ignored (or quietly diluted) Kanu and his Radio Biafra and demonstrated even token large-heartedness toward the southeast (and the deep south) in the immediate aftermath of Buhari’s epochal electoral triumph in spite of opposition from the region, we wouldn’t know of Kanu and IPOB. But Nigerian authorities couldn’t stomach an insult at Buhari.
Now another man by the name of Joe Fortemose Chinakwe has become an international celebrity. He has been arrested, detained, imprisoned, and charged to court just because he named his dog Buhari. This is the height of petty intolerance.
Worse bile was directed at previous civilian presidents in the country. Tafawa Balewa, Shagari, Obasanjo, Yar’adua, and Jonathan were often at the receiving end of so much thoroughgoing hate, but the world didn’t know about this because no one was arrested and imprisoned. (Comedian Ali Baba said he named one of his dogs “Obasanjo” during Obasanjo’s administration and publicized it. In northern Nigeria, Jonathan and Attahiru Jega were called some of the vilest names I have ever heard—and in songs, too.) Public office is not for huffy crybabies.
I have read many Muslim commenters point out that giving a dog a Muslim name was offensive in and of itself. I agree. The problem is that the name wasn’t given to the dog to spite Muslims; it was given to make a political statement. If Buhari’s name was Smith Punapuna, the dog would be named precisely that.
But Buhari isn’t even a Muslim name in the strict sense of the term. As I pointed in previous articles, the name Bukhari (which we render as Buhari in Nigeria because many Nigerian languages don’t have the guttural consonant that the phoneme “kh” represents), is derived from Bukhara, which is the name of a town in what is now Uzbekistan in the former USSR.
The person who popularized the name is a 9th-century author of hadith collections known as Abū ‘Abd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Ismā‘īl ibn Ibrāhīm ibn al-Mughīrah ibn Bardizbah al-Ju‘fī al-Bukhārī.
In Hebrew, Arabic, and Farsi, “i” is added to the name of a town to indicate descent from the town. So “Bukhari” simply means someone from (the town of) Bukhara, what Hausa speakers would call “Dan Buhara.” It’s like someone taking offense because someone named his dog Dan Kano, Dan Daura, Dan Hadejia, etc., which, though names of towns, are borne by some northerners as last names (without the “dan”).
But that’s not even the most important point. How many people will the Buhari administration arrest for getting under the president’s skin? In other words, how many people will this administration make undeservedly popular because of its intolerance and incompetence? Many frustrated people who feel they have nothing to live for in light of the present economic crunch in the country are going to name their dogs after Buhari. Watch out. It’s now the surest way to cheap popularity, and the intolerance and incompetence of this government will ensure that they get all the attention, and possibly financial benefits, they crave.
But it isn’t only after Buhari that dogs will be named; dogs will also be named after key ministers of the government.
As I am writing this column, I read that a woman by the name of Ada Ogbonna has named her dog after the comically loudmouthed Lai Mohammed. “Meet my dog, Lai Mohammed,” she wrote on Facebook. “I named it after someone I admired.”
There will be several such publicity baits. A competent government with some clue won’t swallow such easy baits. This is all part of democracy. I live in America where the president of the country is called all sorts of dreadful names without consequences. For instance, many racists named their dogs Obama, but Obama disarmed them by naming his dog Bo, which is short for Barack Obama.
We can’t pretend to be practicing democracy and clamp down on people for merely saying hurtful things that get on our frail nerves.
This is particularly telling coming from a government that is caught flatfooted in almost everything, a government that daily inflicts misery on its poor citizens while its power structure feeds fat on the misery of the poor. It’s troubling when a government that took six months to appoint a predictable cast of characters as ministers wastes no time to arrest a person for naming his dog Buhari. It is concerning when a government that is mute in the face of the horrendous mass murder of hundreds of Shiites in Zaria arrests inconsequential people because they got under the skin of the president.
Maybe Buhari is not even aware that someone has been imprisoned because he named his dog after him. Maybe. But people who are close to and love the president should tell him that the emerging pettiness and intolerance of his administration are becoming intolerably embarrassing.
You can’t be paying over-sized attention to minor, inconsequential irritants while the country burns under your watch.
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"The nice thing about pessimism is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised." G. F. Will
Cornelius Hamelberg
Dear Professor Farooq Kperogi,
Salaam alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu and for all the good things that you say and do, of course, jazzak Allah khairan!
This matter of respect for the president ought not be treated lightly. This response is being partly dictated by great respect for the religion of al-Islam and its mores, its adherents/ Muslims and in the same spirit, my unadulterated respect and admiration for president Muhammadu Buhari for his dedication, sense of purpose and perseverance. I have followed his star since his first coming, suffered three rigged election defeats with him…
Charity begins at home. You want the racists and islamophobes etc. to be given the green light to start naming their dogs after prophet Muhammad – salallahu alaihi wa salaam? Should that not be a heinous crime? Or that some miscreant non-Nigerians should be given the green light to name their dog “Muhammadu Buhari”? “Farooq Kperogi”? Your namesake “ Umar ibn Khattab” also known as “Farooq?
Please tell us clearly: Is that what you are saying ?
Like you, I am disappointed in his handling of the massacre of Shia Muslims in the early days of his presidency. I personally believe that it is Satan/ Iblis that stupefies and leads the killers of the Shia - going back all the way to Karbala and the massacre of the Prince of Martyrs, Imam Hussein, alaihi salaam, mourned annually on Ashura ...
Unlike you, I am disappointed in your woeful assessment of Brother Buhari “Buhari’s administration is shaping up to be perhaps the most intolerant and petulant civilian administration in Nigeria” - especially when the evidence for your assessment is so very thin.
When it comes to freedom of speech versus intolerance, please correct me if I'm wrong , but wasn't it Goodluck Jonathan's Doyin Okupe who wanted to pass a law that would criminalise anyone who said that his master was “clueless”?
“A stick in time, saves nine “ - this applies to the handling of Nnamdi Kanu (after his call to arms) as a deterrent to various insurgents who want to advocate taking up arms against Nigeria's military. My impression is that it's this call to arms that jolted the authorities to action, and not – as you say, “when he started attacking President Buhari, Nigerian authorities moved in swiftly to contain him”
(I hope that it will be a Steve Biko type of public trial – in which Nnamdi Kanu will be given the opportunity to present his ideology - and to defend it – and in the interest of saving, not only Igbo lives, will use the opportunity to renounce violence, not even endorsing it as a last resort...)
“A stick in time, saves nine “ also recommends the handling of this recent case of Chinakwe's dog : That's not the way to show respect for your president, your father, your mother or your brother; in my book it's an insult and it should be good to put a stop to, so that we don't encourage okuru dogs being named after - in sensitive alphabetical order, Abacha, Adichie, Azikiwe, Bishop Ajayi Crowther, Jesus, Herbert Macaulay, running around and wagging their tails, forever at their master's beck and call. (Some disgruntled wives lack the courage to name their dogs after their husbands - although the said husbands intuit that it is they that their wives are cursing, every time they start cursing their dogs)
About naming the dog - or indeed his pig after Nigeria’s Muslim president would be an intentional insult, given what you know about the status of dogs in the eyes of Muslims. If he called his pet Budgerigar or hawk “ Buhari” that would not be an offence.
Don't forget Barney or “Tony Blair”
American presidents and their dogs
Dogs named after famous people
Your parthian shot was an exaggeration : “You can’t be paying over-sized attention to minor, inconsequential irritants while the country burns under your watch.”
It's not as if the matters you have mentioned are being given the government's 24 hrs. day attention, to the neglect of other matters, such as the war against endemic corruption , “while the country burns”
I leave you with the words of the most famous Bukhari : Sahih Bukhari
Salimonu Kadiri
Americanised and Europeanised Nigerian intellectuals are known for their being exaggerated democrats who always dress themselves in beautiful garments of democracy only in words and not in practice. That explains why they dissipate so much energy on the fate of Mr. Joe Fortemose Chinakwe, who is being arraigned in court for behaving in a manner likely to cause a breach of the peace. Our exaggerated democrats are saying that in Europe and America, one can name animals anyhow and as such there was nothing wrong in Mr. Chinakwe's naming his dog *Buhari.* But a name given to a pet animal in Europe and America is only known to the owner of the pet animal and his/her immediate close relatives or friends. Unlike Mr. Chinakwe the name given to a pet animal in Europe or America is never inscribed in print on both sides of the animal. If Mr. Chinakwe had named his dog Buhari without inscribing it in print on both sides of the dog, nobody would have cared to report him to the police as a plaintiff had done against Mr. Chinakwe. We must not forget that there are people who bear Buhari either as a surname or first name beside President Buhari. In fact, a man whose father's name is Buhari in the neighbourhood of Mr. Chinakwe's place of abode has threatened to kill him if he could lay hands on him for insulting his father. In Europe and America, one is stung if one touches the wasp-net with the head, as in Nigeria.
Mr.Chinakwe has been granted bail by the court, but he has not been able to fulfil his bail condition of N50,000 as his family has been able to raise only N20,000. Therefore, he has been remanded in police custody. If Mr. Chinakwe had been in Europe or America, there is likelihood that he might have been jailed for not taking proper care of his dog. A person who could take proper care of his dog should be able to fulfil a bail condition of N50,000. For now, what the Europeanised and Americanised Nigerian intellectuals who sympathise with Mr. Chinakwe should do is to send him money to fulfil his bail conditions and pay his defence lawyer. It is very disgusting to see that the degree of energy dissipated by the democratic pretenders have never been witnessed in the cases of treasury looters whose trials have been buried by the corrupt judiciary. Nigerians wallow in abject poverty and destitution today because of the backwardness imposed upon the country by those who held the lever of power in Nigeria from 1999 to 2015. Taunting Buhari in this wise is an invitation to argue about nothing and to learn nothing.
S.Kadiri
Skickat: den 27 augusti 2016 15:51
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Nkolika Ebele
From: Salimonu Kadiri <ogunl...@hotmail.com>
To: "usaafric...@googlegroups.com" <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, August 27, 2016 9:26 PM
Subject: SV: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Naming a Dog and Buhari’s Emerging Democratic Tyranny
Shola Adenekan
Americanised and Europeanised Nigerian intellectuals are known for their being exaggerated democrats who always dress themselves in beautiful garments of democracy only in words and not in practice. That explains why they dissipate so much energy on the fate of Mr. Joe Fortemose Chinakwe, who is being arraigned in court for behaving in a manner likely to cause a breach of the peace. Our exaggerated democrats are saying that in Europe and America, one can name animals anyhow and as such there was nothing wrong in Mr. Chinakwe's naming his dog *Buhari.* But a name given to a pet animal in Europe and America is only known to the owner of the pet animal and his/her immediate close relatives or friends. Unlike Mr. Chinakwe the name given to a pet animal in Europe or America is never inscribed in print on both sides of the animal. If Mr. Chinakwe had named his dog Buhari without inscribing it in print on both sides of the dog, nobody would have cared to report him to the police as a plaintiff had done against Mr. Chinakwe. We must not forget that there are people who bear Buhari either as a surname or first name beside President Buhari. In fact, a man whose father's name is Buhari in the neighbourhood of Mr. Chinakwe's place of abode has threatened to kill him if he could lay hands on him for insulting his father. In Europe and America, one is stung if one touches the wasp-net with the head, as in Nigeria.
Mr.Chinakwe has been granted bail by the court, but he has not been able to fulfil his bail condition of N50,000 as his family has been able to raise only N20,000. Therefore, he has been remanded in police custody. If Mr. Chinakwe had been in Europe or America, there is likelihood that he might have been jailed for not taking proper care of his dog. A person who could take proper care of his dog should be able to fulfil a bail condition of N50,000. For now, what the Europeanised and Americanised Nigerian intellectuals who sympathise with Mr. Chinakwe should do is to send him money to fulfil his bail conditions and pay his defence lawyer. It is very disgusting to see that the degree of energy dissipated by the democratic pretenders have never been witnessed in the cases of treasury looters whose trials have been buried by the corrupt judiciary. Nigerians wallow in abject poverty and destitution today because of the backwardness imposed upon the country by those who held the lever of power in Nigeria from 1999 to 2015. Taunting Buhari in this wise is an invitation to argue about nothing and to learn nothing.
S.Kadiri
Från: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> för Farooq A. Kperogi <farooq...@gmail.com>
Skickat: den 27 augusti 2016 15:51
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Ezinwanyi Adam
Thanks to Dr. Shola Adenekan and Prof. Nkolika for your responses to Salimonu Kadiri's write up. I found it quite unserious when examined in line with issues raised by Prof. Kperogi, which should get us thinking and proffering useful suggestions as Prof. Falola once called for on this platform.
Ezinwanyi
Okechukwu Ukaga
It is even more accurate to say from 1960 till date. (Although one can even go back before independence for colonization is essentially corrupt). That aside, while corruption was not as brazen and significant in the 60s and 70s as it is now, it has been present and increasing in both magnitude and effect with time throughout our history. As a result, things got worse (e.g. in terms of quality of life, infrastructure, discipline, law and order, security of lives and property, etc) with each administration (military and civilian). It is very dishonest to imply that corruption started in 1999 and ended in 2015. Was Abacha's regime not corrupt? What about IBB's? What about NPN? And is corruption not going on currently (even if in not so brazen fashion) with the budget padding, ghost workers, extortion by police at check points and offices, employment racketeering, selective prosecution, and having a more favorable foreign exchange rate/access for the connected and more challenging option for others? These are just a sample of corrupt practices that have been in the news over the past one year. And not much has been done to hold those involved accountable. And things are definitely worse at the state and local government levels. In fact, if we can get the state and local governments to be half as good as the federal government currently is, we will notice a dramatic improvement all-around. In any case let's stop peddling and buying the propaganda that it is only between 1999 and 2015 that we witnessed corruption in Nigeria --- for dishonesty is also a form of corruption. We had corruption before 1999 and we still have it now. so let's be honest with ourselves as a basis for fighting and eliminating what is left in terms of corruption in our dear country.
Okey Ukaga
"Nigerians wallow in abject poverty and destitution today because of the backwardness imposed upon the country by those who held the lever of power in Nigeria from 1999 to 2015."I think it is better to say 1999 to date. A lot of stealing is ongoing in many states and Local governments. The search light of the anti corruption agencies is yet to fish out many looters shortchanging their people at these levels of government.Nkolika
Sent: Saturday, August 27, 2016 9:26 PM
Subject: SV: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Naming a Dog and Buhari’s Emerging Democratic Tyranny
Americanised and Europeanised Nigerian intellectuals are known for their being exaggerated democrats who always dress themselves in beautiful garments of democracy only in words and not in practice. That explains why they dissipate so much energy on the fate of Mr. Joe Fortemose Chinakwe, who is being arraigned in court for behaving in a manner likely to cause a breach of the peace. Our exaggerated democrats are saying that in Europe and America, one can name animals anyhow and as such there was nothing wrong in Mr. Chinakwe's naming his dog *Buhari.* But a name given to a pet animal in Europe and America is only known to the owner of the pet animal and his/her immediate close relatives or friends. Unlike Mr. Chinakwe the name given to a pet animal in Europe or America is never inscribed in print on both sides of the animal. If Mr. Chinakwe had named his dog Buhari without inscribing it in print on both sides of the dog, nobody would have cared to report him to the police as a plaintiff had done against Mr. Chinakwe. We must not forget that there are people who bear Buhari either as a surname or first name beside President Buhari. In fact, a man whose father's name is Buhari in the neighbourhood of Mr. Chinakwe's place of abode has threatened to kill him if he could lay hands on him for insulting his father. In Europe and America, one is stung if one touches the wasp-net with the head, as in Nigeria.
Mr.Chinakwe has been granted bail by the court, but he has not been able to fulfil his bail condition of N50,000 as his family has been able to raise only N20,000. Therefore, he has been remanded in police custody. If Mr. Chinakwe had been in Europe or America, there is likelihood that he might have been jailed for not taking proper care of his dog. A person who could take proper care of his dog should be able to fulfil a bail condition of N50,000. For now, what the Europeanised and Americanised Nigerian intellectuals who sympathise with Mr. Chinakwe should do is to send him money to fulfil his bail conditions and pay his defence lawyer. It is very disgusting to see that the degree of energy dissipated by the democratic pretenders have never been witnessed in the cases of treasury looters whose trials have been buried by the corrupt judiciary. Nigerians wallow in abject poverty and destitution today because of the backwardness imposed upon the country by those who held the lever of power in Nigeria from 1999 to 2015. Taunting Buhari in this wise is an invitation to argue about nothing and to learn nothing.S.Kadiri
Från: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> för Farooq A. Kperogi <farooq...@gmail.com>
Skickat: den 27 augusti 2016 15:51
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Abdul Salau
I don't know where you got your sensibilities from but naming a dog after a president of the most populous Black country in the world is offensive and is distasteful culturally not because of the president because he is a mortal like all of us. But because of institution of the presidency. You may rationalize all you want about demoncrazy a wood that stays in the river cannot become crocodile. United States is not a democracy it is plutocracy governed oligarchs it is the same way that the elites of the United States named cars, helicopters Apache after native Americans.
Cornelius Hamelberg
“Like an arrow” - once you have hit that send button (maybe in a fit of rage) there's no calling it back although if you are lucky, an emergency regret telegram to Oga Falola saying “please discard my latest diatribe” could do the trick provided it arrives before he has also pushed his post/publish button.
It's unfortunate that Ogbeni Kadiri prefaced his remarks with the sweeping over-generalisation that “Americanised and Europeanised Nigerian intellectuals are known for their being exaggerated democrats who always dress themselves in beautiful garments of democracy only in words and not in practice. ”
Inevitably, all big-brain Nigerian intellectuals domiciled in the US and Europe could thereby feel that they have been specifically (and maliciously) targeted – never mind what definitions Ogbeni Kadiri could have in mind as his idea of “Americanised and Europeanised Nigerian intellectuals”. I guess that with some degree of contempt, his definitions could border on them being nothing less than a bunch of uncle toms puffed up with highfalutin theoretical notions of democracy to which they only pay lip service when they are in the crucible
Should that sentence have started with a qualifier such as “Some Americanised and Europeanised Nigerian intellectuals “etc. then all “Americanised and Europeanised Nigerian intellectuals” would not have felt specially targeted.
Over here in Sweden - if not a joke, it's a cardinal sin to ever suggest to a diaspora African that he has become Swedish or Oyibo (like Furo Wariboko, despite the blackass) - something that even the most assimilated and integrated African will deny hotly. The only concession that the diaspora African in Sweden usually makes to his fellow African traveller / sufferer is that of acclimatisation – that the Swedish climate is not satisfactory, he has got used to but but is not immune to the ravages of the Nordic nuclear winter. But come summer – he feels that he's back in Africa, once again it's “The sun's so hot I forgot to go home”
“Americanised and Europeanised Nigerian intellectuals! “ I guess that in Ogbeni Kadiri's mind it's akin to the difference between the House Negro and the Field Negro (the yessa massa being the house-Americanised pontificating - and entitled to pontificate in his academic toga) yours truly of course jungle. As Dr. Alban put it
“so why be
shy?
Why be humble? I just came straight out the jungle
!”
I first encountered this claim to a difference of perception between the jungle African and the been-to-overseas & studied and domiciled abroad syndrome way back in 1970 - (at the Institute of African Studies at Legon) in a discussion with Cyprian Lamar Rowe in which he compared and contrasted Chinua Achebe and Ayi Kwei Armah, Achebe emerging at the top as his very celebrated favourite “real African” writer, Armah relegated to being a writer who was “seeing” through western lenses. At least you must admit that Ogbeni Kadiri has not become Oyibo and would not become a “ Europeanised Nigerian intellectual even if he sojourned in Sweden for a thousand years.
It's amazing how often some of the members of this forum travel to Nigeria and back. That's keeping in touch.
As to roots , I bear in mind Joseph Brodsky quipping that he is “not a tree”
Unity of purpose : All Nigerian intellectuals...
On Sunday, 28 August 2016 12:17:00 UTC+2, ETMA wrote:
Thanks to Dr. Shola Adenekan and Prof. Nkolika for your responses to Salimonu Kadiri's write up. I found it quite unserious when examined in line with issues raised by Prof. Kperogi, which should get us thinking and proffering useful suggestions as Prof. Falola once called for on this platform.
Ezinwanyi
On 28 Aug 2016 7:40 am, "Shola Adenekan" <sholaa...@gmail.com> wrote:
Dear Mr Kadiri,I guess you do not have any concrete response to the issues Prof Kperogi raised in his piece, so instead you decided to insult him and those of us who believe in genuine democracy.You started with "Americanised and Europeanised Nigerian intellectuals are known for their being exaggerated democrats who always dress themselves in beautiful garments of democracy only in words and not in practice."Please tell us, what sort of democrat are you as a Nigerianised democrat? How is your interpretation of democracy more ´real´ than our version of democracy?I remember those days when you used to point out some of the undemocratic mistakes of Goodluck Jonathan´s government´- when you were running for office a few years back. Is it not right for people who truly care about democracy to discuss Buhari´s mistakes?Now on Mr Chinakwe´s case, you said: "But a name given to a pet animal in Europe and America is only known to the owner of the pet animal and his/her immediate close relatives or friends. Unlike Mr. Chinakwe the name given to a pet animal in Europe or America is never inscribed in print on both sides of the animal."Are you telling me you know a lot more about the rule of dog ownership in Europe and America more than those of us who live in these places? Do you know how many times people have called Obama unprintable names and the president - because he believes in the First Amendment - just laughed these off as part of what makes democracy great?You obviously did not do your research about Prof Kperogi. This man does not write without doing his homework. He takes his writing very seriously and that is why many respect and admire him. Did you ever look up what he wrote during Jonathan´s government and during the election that brought Buhari to power?If you actually care about knowledge, you will sit down and Google his work and also research how things actually work in a true democracy, and then you can come back on this forum and criticise Prof Kperogi. What you sir, have done is a very lazy job.Best wishes,Shola
On 27 August 2016 at 22:26, Salimonu Kadiri <ogunl...@hotmail.com> wrote:
Americanised and Europeanised Nigerian intellectuals are known for their being exaggerated democrats who always dress themselves in beautiful garments of democracy only in words and not in practice. That explains why they dissipate so much energy on the fate of Mr. Joe Fortemose Chinakwe, who is being arraigned in court for behaving in a manner likely to cause a breach of the peace. Our exaggerated democrats are saying that in Europe and America, one can name animals anyhow and as such there was nothing wrong in Mr. Chinakwe's naming his dog *Buhari.* But a name given to a pet animal in Europe and America is only known to the owner of the pet animal and his/her immediate close relatives or friends. Unlike Mr. Chinakwe the name given to a pet animal in Europe or America is never inscribed in print on both sides of the animal. If Mr. Chinakwe had named his dog Buhari without inscribing it in print on both sides of the dog, nobody would have cared to report him to the police as a plaintiff had done against Mr. Chinakwe. We must not forget that there are people who bear Buhari either as a surname or first name beside President Buhari. In fact, a man whose father's name is Buhari in the neighbourhood of Mr. Chinakwe's place of abode has threatened to kill him if he could lay hands on him for insulting his father. In Europe and America, one is stung if one touches the wasp-net with the head, as in Nigeria.
Mr.Chinakwe has been granted bail by the court, but he has not been able to fulfil his bail condition of N50,000 as his family has been able to raise only N20,000. Therefore, he has been remanded in police custody. If Mr. Chinakwe had been in Europe or America, there is likelihood that he might have been jailed for not taking proper care of his dog. A person who could take proper care of his dog should be able to fulfil a bail condition of N50,000. For now, what the Europeanised and Americanised Nigerian intellectuals who sympathise with Mr. Chinakwe should do is to send him money to fulfil his bail conditions and pay his defence lawyer. It is very disgusting to see that the degree of energy dissipated by the democratic pretenders have never been witnessed in the cases of treasury looters whose trials have been buried by the corrupt judiciary. Nigerians wallow in abject poverty and destitution today because of the backwardness imposed upon the country by those who held the lever of power in Nigeria from 1999 to 2015. Taunting Buhari in this wise is an invitation to argue about nothing and to learn nothing.
S.Kadiri
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Skickat: den 27 augusti 2016 15:51
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--Regards,Dr. Shola AdenekanAfrican Literature and CulturesUniversity of BremenEditor/Publisher:
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Salimonu Kadiri
Dear Mr. Shola Adenekan,
You may wish to know that I hold Professor Farouk Kperogi in high esteem just as I do to all human beings including President Muhammadu Buhari. If you think it is your democratic right to inscribe in print the name of Buhari on both sides of a dog and stroll around Nigerian towns and cities why should anyone think I am insulting the honourable Professor Kperogi by merely referring to Americanised and Europeanised Nigerian intellectuals as a bunch of exaggerated democrats who practise democracy in words and not in deeds?
You inquired, "Please tell us, what sort of democrat are you as a Nigerianised democrat?; How is your interpretation of democracy more 'real' than our version of democracy?"
Your first question is premised on false belief that there is a Nigerianised democrat. All Nigerians are Europeanised and Americanised democrats since we transformed from Westminster Parliamentary System of government to Presidential one and the country is governed in English language which 95% of Nigerians cannot speak, read or write. 98% of Northerners do not know what federal revenue allocation means and they strongly believe that it is Allah and his apostle, Mohammed, that give money to their governors to cater for their well-being. Thus, the Governors are not to blame if Allah and Mohammed do not give them money for onward transmission to the people. Similarly, 98% of Southerners do not know what federal revenue allocation is and the strong belief that God is the distributor of money is endemic. With regards to your second question, while you restrict democracy to the right of individual to cast vote for candidate of his/her choice and rights to freedom of speech, as calling a dog with the name of President, I am much more concerned about economic democracy. When there is economic democracy, there will be no need for *charity* as every Nigerian will get his/her basic needs of life.
You wondered, "Is it not right for people who truly care about democracy to discuss Buhari's mistakes?"
As human beings we all make mistakes now and then and since Buhari is not exempted from making mistakes, there is nothing wrong in discussing such, whenever occasion arises. I am only opposed to people taking delight in intellectual somersaults and logical acrobatics, twisting and turning facts to celebrate half-truths. Take, for instance, the case of Kanu which Professor Kperogi tried to simply as a small child rascality. Kanu was in the US to solicit for weapons to fight Nigeria. Thereafter, he traveled to Nigeria secretly and lodged in at airport hotel, Ikeja, Lagos, with a fictitious name, Ezebuiro Nwannekaenyi. Kanu has a Nigerian Passport with his name as Nwannekaenyi Nnamdi Ngozichukwu and a British Passport, with his name as Nnamdi Kenny Okwukanu. Please, take note of the two different names belonging to Kanu in the passports. When he was arrested at the Ikeja airport hotel on October 14, 2015, the Police found broadcasting and Communication gargets set for use with him. One of Kanu's associate, Benjamin Madubugwu had his home at Ubulusiuzor, Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State, raided by the Police and they recovered assorted arms and ammunition. Another associate of Kanu is a telecommunication Maintenance Engineer, David Nwabuisi. He was arrested on July 15, 2015 after he had admitted installing a Radio Biafra Transmitter on an MTN master in Ngwo, Enugu State, after receiving N150,000 from an IPOB member, Chidibere Onwudiwe. David Nwabuisi was employed by Ericsson, the firm managing mast sites for MTN in Nigeria. In view of the above account, I disagree with Professor Kperogi that the arrest of Nnamdi Kanu was an over-reaction by the government. Treasonable felony is never treated with kid gloves anywhere in the world.
Finally, I don't know about the rule of dog ownership in Europe and America where you are sojourned. You can do readers favour by posting video picture of people roaming around in the streets of Europe and America with their dogs wearing human names printed on both sides of the stomach, on this forum. My request is premised on the belief that you know the difference and psychological impact of calling a dog a human name and inscribing the name in print on both sides of the dog's stomach.
S.Kadiri
Skickat: den 28 augusti 2016 08:03
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Kenneth Harrow
Abdul, I liked your post, but a small set of reflections. If it is democracy you really want, then you must accept that a president is no more important than one else, and we are all free to use speech, even in offensive ways. That may not apply to a private usage, like this list, where we participate having agreed not to insult each other. But we can’t have meaningful criticisms of public officials without feeling free from theburden of their office. In other words, why criticize American democracy and yet complain about freedom of speech?
As for American democracy, well, in a real sense it is a democracy. We all vote, etc. but it is an imperfect democracy, exactly in the ways you indicate
ken
Kenneth Harrow
Dept of English and Film Studies
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Shola Adenekan
"Americanised and Europeanised Nigerian intellectuals are known for their being exaggerated democrats who always dress themselves in beautiful garments of democracy only in words and not in practice. That explains why they dissipate so much energy on the fate of Mr. Joe Fortemose Chinakwe, who is being arraigned in court for behaving in a manner likely to cause a breach of the peace. Our exaggerated democrats are saying that in Europe and America, one can name animals anyhow and as such there was nothing wrong in Mr. Chinakwe's naming his dog *Buhari.* But a name given to a pet animal in Europe and America is only known to the owner of the pet animal and his/her immediate close relatives or friends. Unlike Mr. Chinakwe the name given to a pet animal in Europe or America is never inscribed in print on both sides of the animal. If Mr. Chinakwe had named his dog Buhari without inscribing it in print on both sides of the dog, nobody would have cared to report him to the police as a plaintiff had done against Mr. Chinakwe. We must not forget that there are people who bear Buhari either as a surname or first name beside President Buhari. In fact, a man whose father's name is Buhari in the neighbourhood of Mr. Chinakwe's place of abode has threatened to kill him if he could lay hands on him for insulting his father. In Europe and America, one is stung if one touches the wasp-net with the head, as in Nigeria.
Mr.Chinakwe has been granted bail by the court, but he has not been
able to fulfil his bail condition of N50,000 as his family has been able
to raise only N20,000. Therefore, he has been remanded in police
custody. If Mr. Chinakwe had been in Europe or America,
there is likelihood that he might have been jailed for not taking
proper care of his dog. A person who could take proper care of his dog
should be able to fulfil a bail condition of N50,000. For now, what the
Europeanised and Americanised Nigerian intellectuals
who sympathise with Mr. Chinakwe should do is to send him money to
fulfil his bail conditions and pay his defence lawyer. It is very
disgusting to see that the degree of energy dissipated by the democratic
pretenders have never been witnessed in the cases
of treasury looters whose trials have been buried by the corrupt
judiciary. Nigerians wallow in abject poverty and destitution today
because of the backwardness imposed upon the country by those who held
the lever of power in Nigeria from 1999 to 2015. Taunting
Buhari in this wise is an invitation to argue about nothing and to
learn nothing.
S.Kadiri"
Read the opening paragraph again. You are the person who pointed out that there are Europeanized and Americanized Nigerian interllectuals, not me. Pray, tell us, who are these Americanized and Europeanized people you are referring to? And how does their interpretation of democracy different from Nigeria´s version of democracy. I think Kenneth Harrow has aptly commented on this: There is only one democracy, it´s either we practice democracy in Nigeria or we choose dictatorship. There is no in-between. Culture is not an excuse. As a matter of fact, the slogan of "this is our culture" has always been the precursor to tyranny. We have seen this in Nigeria, Uganda, Turkey etc.
One of the essential aspects of democracy is the freedom of speech and the protection of that freedom is paramount and more important than protecting the honour of President Buhari. Democracy also requires that the government follows the rule of law. In both Mr Kanu and Mr Chinalwe´s case, the current administration has bent the rule of law.
I have archived most of your submissions over the years on this list. I remember you criticising the Jonathan´s government for not following the rule of law. I guess now that your man is in power, that same criteria no longer applies.
Be well, sir!
Best wishes,
Shola
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Salimonu Kadiri
Dear Mr. Adenekan,
You have asked me to tell, "Who are these Americanized and Europeanized people you are referring to?" Your question is superfluous because you failed to read the complete sentence, which is as follows, "Americanised and Europeanised Nigerian intellectuals are known for their being exaggerated democrats who always dress themselves in the beautiful garments of democracy only in words and not in practice." The underlined part of that sentence answers your question, who are these Americanized and Europeanized people?
With regards to your lecture on the aspect of freedom of speech, I agree with you that not in any circumstance should it be contained. However, you should not confuse freedom of speech with freedom of action. Mr. Chinakwe did not utter any word to the effect that anybody bearing the name Buhari is a dog rather he dressed up his dog with a printed inscription of a human name, Buhari. Any human being bearing the name, Buhari, and irrespective of the person's status in the society, is likely to react violently to Chinakwe's freedom of action during encounter. Similarly, if you buy a monkey and dress it up with a printed inscription of Obama in the United States, the probability that you will be gunned down with your monkey is hundred per cent. Yes, you can call Obama monkey in the public but you cannot print the name, Obama, on a monkey and walk around with it in the public.
Your assertion that the current administration *has bent the rule of law* in Messrs Kanu and Chinakwe's case is totally false. A law is either applied or misapplied. It is up to you to tell readers which law has been misapplied in the case of the aforementioned law breakers. While it might be true that I criticized Jonathan's regime for one thing or the other, it might be wise to cite what aspect of those criticisms are relevant to your current reference.
S.Kadiri
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Shola Adenekan
Dear Mr. Adenekan,
You have asked me to tell, "Who are these Americanized and Europeanized people you are referring to?" Your question is superfluous because you failed to read the complete sentence, which is as follows, "Americanised and Europeanised Nigerian intellectuals are known for their being exaggerated democrats who always dress themselves in the beautiful garments of democracy only in words and not in practice." The underlined part of that sentence answers your question, who are these Americanized and Europeanized people?
With regards to your lecture on the aspect of freedom of speech, I agree with you that not in any circumstance should it be contained. However, you should not confuse freedom of speech with freedom of action. Mr. Chinakwe did not utter any word to the effect that anybody bearing the name Buhari is a dog rather he dressed up his dog with a printed inscription of a human name, Buhari. Any human being bearing the name, Buhari, and irrespective of the person's status in the society, is likely to react violently to Chinakwe's freedom of action during encounter. Similarly, if you buy a monkey and dress it up with a printed inscription of Obama in the United States, the probability that you will be gunned down with your monkey is hundred per cent. Yes, you can call Obama monkey in the public but you cannot print the name, Obama, on a monkey and walk around with it in the public.
Your assertion that the current administration *has bent the rule of law* in Messrs Kanu and Chinakwe's case is totally false. A law is either applied or misapplied. It is up to you to tell readers which law has been misapplied in the case of the aforementioned law breakers. While it might be true that I criticized Jonathan's regime for one thing or the other, it might be wise to cite what aspect of those criticisms are relevant to your current reference.
S.Kadiri
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Salimonu Kadiri
Dear Mr. Adenekan,
The boundary between the face and the head is the eyebrows and if one wears the cap beyond the eyebrows, as it appears you have done, one would not see what normal people wil see at a glance. Naming a dog Obama and printing the name on it in Shanghai has no socio-political and psychological effect as when that act were to be perpetrated in the USA. Thus, my assertion that if you were to dress up your dog with a printed name of Obama on it in USA, you will be gunned down by the FBI. You cannot contradict that with an online fable of a dog that was named Obama in Shanghai, China. If such a fable constitutes a big research for you, I am happy of not being a researcher to your likeness. You should know that dog's meat is a common diet in China, and it is not improbable that the dog named Obama had been slaughtered into the soup pot of your admirer in Shanghai, after 2010.
While your greatest democratic wish for Nigerians is to be able to print human names on their domestic animals, the democratic wishes of Nigerians are : potable water for every household, descent residential houses, modern and well-equipped hospitals to cater for the sick, free primary education for every child of school age, constant electricity supplies, functional crude oil refineries, motor-able roads and gainful employment for every healthy adult. From the aforesaid, your democratic priority and the democratic needs of Nigerians are two parallel lines that can never meet.
S.Kadiri
Skickat: den 29 augusti 2016 17:40
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Mobolaji Aluko
Real reason we charged man who named his dog “Buhari” to court -– Police
The police on Monday decried public comments linking President Muhammadu Buhari with the ongoing saga over a dog named “Buhari” in Ogun State.
A 40-year old trader, Joe Chinakwe, was recently arrested and arraigned in court for allegedly naming his dog “Buhari.” He has since been granted bail.
Some members of the public have however associated the president with the matter.
The Ogun State Police Command and Zone 2 Police Command, in separate statements, said series of uncomplimentary remarks against the president over the case were uncalled for.
In the statement by the Zonal Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, the police said the matter was grossly misconstrued, explaining that the president has nothing to do with it as it was erroneously perceived.
The police explained that the case before it showed that one Alhaji Buhari, the father of the complainant, Haliru Umar, both of who live in Ketere Area of Sango Ota in Ado/Odo-Ota LGA of the state, were involved.
The statement said, “The attention of the Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Zone 2 Command, Lagos, AIG Abdulmajid Ali, has been drawn to series of uncomplimentary comments and publications in respect of the case of a man, Joe Chinakwe, who was arrested and charged to court by the Ogun State Police Command for naming his dog “Buhari” and wishes to state categorically that the matter was grossly misconstrued.
“The Zonal Command wishes to clarify and set the records straight that the case, as it was erroneously perceived, has nothing to do with the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari, but with one Alhaji Buhari, the biological father of the complainant, Alhaji Halilu Umar, all of Ketere Area, Sango Ota in Ado Odo Otta Local Government Area of Ogun State.
The police explained that Mr. Chinakwe was not charged to court for naming his dog “Buhari” but for his behaviour and that the suspect had been having conflicts with Mr. Umar, which made him to name his dog after the latter’s father.
“Also, it’s fundamental to state that the man was not charged to court for christening his dog Buhari, but for the behaviours of the suspect and circumstances surrounding the matter when Mr. Joe, who had been having conflicts with his neighbour, (complainant) named his dog Buhari, his neighbour’s father’s name, inscribed Buhari on both sides of the said dog, and started parading the dog with swagger amongst his neighbours and/ traders who are mostly northerners,” the statement added.
“The said Joe was actually attacked by the people around for his action before he was rescued by the police. The timely intervention of the police prevented a crisis or inter-tribal crisis in the area.
The zonal police command called for the understanding of members of the public on Mr. Chinakwe’s action, which it said was capable of causing a breach of public peace.
It said the suspect was charged under section 249(d) of the Criminal Code.
“The Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Zone 2 Lagos, AIG Absulmajid Ali, appeals to the general public to understand the action of the police in the matter, which is in consonance with the primary duties of the Nigeria Police Force as enshrined in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and accept it as a professional way of preventing total breakdown of law and order,” the statement said.
On its part, the Ogun State Police Command, in a statement by its spokesperson, Abimbola Oyeyemi, also said the president had no connection with the matter.
“The attention of Ogun State Police Command has been drawn to a story in some section of the media regarding the case of Joachim Iroko who named his dog Buhari and was subsequently arrested and charged to court,” the police command said.
It said Mr. Umar reported the matter at the Sango Police Station to report claiming that Mr. Chinakwe provoked him by inscribing his father’s name ‘Buhari’ on both sides of his dog knowing fully well that it was his father’s name.
“The suspect was invited and he did not deny the allegation. All efforts to resolve the matter amicably between the two parties proved futile and it was about to degenerate to a serious crisis within the area, hence, the command took a proactive step by charging the case to court in order to avert unnecessary blood shedding,” the statement said.
“The command wants to make it clear to members of the public that the case has nothing to do with the President as some media are painting it to be. It is a clear case between the complainant and the suspect whose action was seen as one that is likely to cause breach of peace.”
The state police command said it was its duty to protect life and property, as well as to guard against anything that could lead to the breakdown of law and order “which is exactly we did in this case.”
Shola Adenekan:I did not watch the video - my African sensibilities cannot stand a young "colored" fellow abusing a 70-year-old man (the "Oba"of his country) - making millions of dollars doing so. You cannot make fun of an Oba's dick like that in a traditional village and get away with it.But your commentary below about Trevor Noah and Zuma's dick in a modern democracy seriously lacks context. That is political SATIRE, which is EXPRESSLY protected in America's Constitution, and may be also covered in South Africa's. If Zuma does not sue Trevor Noah, then Noah can go on.But Chinakwe's naming of a dog was not about Muhammadu Buhari - that would also be political satire - but about his neighbor's father's name - who happened to be Buhari. That Father Buhari is NOT a political figure, and his son COMPLAINED, and the local Police man at the station considered the complaint sufficiently weighty to detain Chinakwe, arresting him for "possibility of breach of the public peace." It is thereafter up to the court to say whether Chinakwe is guilty or not.It is as simple as that, and all this harrumping about Western democracy and the onslaught of tyranny because of tyranny smacks of something more grieving of you commentators than the dog. I think that you are just smirking secretly that a dog has been named after Buhari, which happens to be the President Buhari's name, the foe-du-jour.And there you have it.Bolaji Aluko
Mobolaji Aluko
Rex Marinus
Dr. Aluko, your reactionary and fascist instincts cannot stand a young "colored" man "making fun of the "Oba" of his country?!! O ma bloody se o! There are those who actually hoped that you, of all people, should stand up and defend "free speech" and civic protest, and a difference of political and cultural views, wherever they're expressed. You were once on the books for treasonable felony for simply backing your favorite political horse. And meanwhile, we are not in a "traditional village." We are in the 21st century with its rapidly urbanizing ethos. And Buhari is nobody's "Oba." We, the Igbo belong to that country, and give no fiddler's fart for that medieval aberration, which civilized people dispensed with about 300 years ago. Nigeria is a republic with citizens. Not a monarchy with subjects - even if your reactionary soul cannot stand that fact of human equality and civilized conduct. Chinakwe's act is the fullest expression of his rights to free speech, and it is satire at its best. It is the same kind of satire Soyinka used to deadly effect at the height of his career. It is the same kind of theatre that only really nuanced, and sophisticated imaginations can comprehend and be amused by, but which heats up the collars of dunces and reactionaries! I think you guys should give this oppressed Nigerian, Chinakwe, a break.
Obi Nwakanma
Sent: Monday, August 29, 2016 10:27 PM
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Shola Adenekan
Segun Ogungbemi
Sent from my iPhone
Mobolaji Aluko
Bolaji Aluko
Dr. Aluko, your reactionary and fascist instincts cannot stand a young "colored" man "making fun of the "Oba" of his country?!! O ma bloody se o! There are those who actually hoped that you, of all people, should stand up and defend "free speech" and civic protest, and a difference of political and cultural views, wherever they're expressed. You were once on the books for treasonable felony for simply backing your favorite political horse. And meanwhile, we are not in a "traditional village." We are in the 21st century with its rapidly urbanizing ethos. And Buhari is nobody's "Oba." We, the Igbo belong to that country, and give no fiddler's fart for that medieval aberration, which civilized people dispensed with about 300 years ago. Nigeria is a republic with citizens. Not a monarchy with subjects - even if your reactionary soul cannot stand that fact of human equality and civilized conduct. Chinakwe's act is the fullest expression of his rights to free speech, and it is satire at its best. It is the same kind of satire Soyinka used to deadly effect at the height of his career. It is the same kind of theatre that only really nuanced, and sophisticated imaginations can comprehend and be amused by, but which heats up the collars of dunces and reactionaries! I think you guys should give this oppressed Nigerian, Chinakwe, a break.
Obi Nwakanma
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Mobolaji Aluko <alu...@gmail.com>
Okechukwu Ukaga
Segun,
I agree completely with you. Chinewe's behavior was provocative, foolish, and totally irresponsible. After all, the right anyone has to swing/wave his or her arms stops where another person's nose begins. That said, I should point out that Chinewe's provocative behavior is not much different from that of a few contributors on this list who are in the habit of insulting an entire group/community by for instance, demeaning other culture as inferior to their own or - to use a more specific example - wrongly interpreting Ibo to mean "I before others". However, such behavior (like Chinewe's) is provocative, irresponsible and insensitive but not criminal.
Regards,
Okey
The issue of rights and freedom has taken a centre stage in this debate. I just want to say that parading a dog wearing a name Buhari within the Hausa community as an expression of freedom of one's right is provocative.Buhari's rights and freedom must be respected just as the advocate of rights and freedom seemed to have forgotten. The rights of Hausa community not to be insulted must also be considered as equally important in this discourse.Where there is a conflict in the claim of freedom and rights, we must take a harmless ethical approach.Prof. Segun Ogungbemi.
Sent from my iPhone
Dr. Aluko, your reactionary and fascist instincts cannot stand a young "colored" man "making fun of the "Oba" of his country?!! O ma bloody se o! There are those who actually hoped that you, of all people, should stand up and defend "free speech" and civic protest, and a difference of political and cultural views, wherever they're expressed. You were once on the books for treasonable felony for simply backing your favorite political horse. And meanwhile, we are not in a "traditional village." We are in the 21st century with its rapidly urbanizing ethos. And Buhari is nobody's "Oba." We, the Igbo belong to that country, and give no fiddler's fart for that medieval aberration, which civilized people dispensed with about 300 years ago. Nigeria is a republic with citizens. Not a monarchy with subjects - even if your reactionary soul cannot stand that fact of human equality and civilized conduct. Chinakwe's act is the fullest expression of his rights to free speech, and it is satire at its best. It is the same kind of satire Soyinka used to deadly effect at the height of his career. It is the same kind of theatre that only really nuanced, and sophisticated imaginations can comprehend and be amused by, but which heats up the collars of dunces and reactionaries! I think you guys should give this oppressed Nigerian, Chinakwe, a break.
Obi Nwakanma
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Mobolaji Aluko <alu...@gmail.com>
blargeo...@gmail.com
| From: Rex Marinus Sent: Tuesday, 30 August 2016 1:54 AM To: USAAfrica Dialogue Reply To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com |
M Buba
Mobolaji Aluko
With naming, as with many acts involving doing things with words, context and the conditions under which the ritual takes place require evaluation. Typically, you name a thing, e.g. a dog, upon possession. It may have been a gift or a purchase or an adoption.You can imagine Chinakwe bringing his dog home, and immediately noticing features and/or attributes that makes this dog to stand out for him. Chinakwe may be childless, for example, so he transfers his love for Buhari's height, long face, quiet mien or even the 'I belong to nobody' speech event in 2015 to his loving and caring dog. Chinakwe's neighbours will eventually know about 'Buhari', the dog. when its owner takes it out for its regular walk. Like Chinakwe, they may come to notice resembalnces between 'Buhari' and his namesake(s). Or it may be pointed out to them by Chinakwe during routine conversations.The point to note here is that naming is a joyous and positive community ritual, and it seems as though Chinakwe has chosen to let his neighbours in on his affairs through 'branding', which is clearly impersonal. And given a (wrong) context, in this case, Buhari, the neighbour or Buhari, the president, Chinakwe COULD be viewed as portraying a hostile disposition, I think.Hausa naming and its religious connection to blessings and remebrance of worthy kins is another matter altogrther.MalamiProf Malami BubaDepartment of English Language & LinguisticsSokoto State UniversityPMB 2134, Birnin-Kebbi Rd,Sokoto, NIGERIA
The issue of rights and freedom has taken a centre stage in this debate. I just want to say that parading a dog wearing a name Buhari within the Hausa community as an expression of freedom of one's right is provocative.Buhari's rights and freedom must be respected just as the advocate of rights and freedom seemed to have forgotten. The rights of Hausa community not to be insulted must also be considered as equally important in this discourse.Where there is a conflict in the claim of freedom and rights, we must take a harmless ethical approach.Prof. Segun Ogungbemi.
Sent from my iPhone
Dr. Aluko, your reactionary and fascist instincts cannot stand a young "colored" man "making fun of the "Oba" of his country?!! O ma bloody se o! There are those who actually hoped that you, of all people, should stand up and defend "free speech" and civic protest, and a difference of political and cultural views, wherever they're expressed. You were once on the books for treasonable felony for simply backing your favorite political horse. And meanwhile, we are not in a "traditional village." We are in the 21st century with its rapidly urbanizing ethos. And Buhari is nobody's "Oba." We, the Igbo belong to that country, and give no fiddler's fart for that medieval aberration, which civilized people dispensed with about 300 years ago. Nigeria is a republic with citizens. Not a monarchy with subjects - even if your reactionary soul cannot stand that fact of human equality and civilized conduct. Chinakwe's act is the fullest expression of his rights to free speech, and it is satire at its best. It is the same kind of satire Soyinka used to deadly effect at the height of his career. It is the same kind of theatre that only really nuanced, and sophisticated imaginations can comprehend and be amused by, but which heats up the collars of dunces and reactionaries! I think you guys should give this oppressed Nigerian, Chinakwe, a break.
Obi Nwakanma
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Mobolaji Aluko <alu...@gmail.com>
Rex Marinus
Sent: Tuesday, August 30, 2016 12:43 PM
To: Rex Marinus
Moses Ochonu
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Mobolaji Aluko
The point we miss is that Chinakwe has committed no crime. He may be insensitive, opinionated, and all what not, but there is no conduct warranting his arrest, and the charges brought against him. Anyone has a right to name their dogs after Azikiwe, Ojukwu, Okpara, or Awolowo, Gowon, and so on, and they'd be within their rights, for as long as they do not set these dogs after anyone to commit violent crimes. Chinakwe clearly did not physically attack his neighbors. He however was the victim of brutal physical attack. Rather than charge his attackers for battery, the police charged the victim for acts capable of causing public disturbance. And that act is one already protected under Nigerian laws: free speech. The only act of speech capable of causing injury in law is "libel." And this man is not charged for libel, but for "acts capable of causing public disturbance." It is a charge that validates intolerance, and that criminalizes the victim. It is the same kind of intolerance that permits the killing of 8 people in Zamfara for expressing different religious opinion. It is the same that permits the killing of the female pastor in Abuja for publicly proclaiming her god early on a Friday morning. It is the same impulse that permitted the lopping off of the head of Gideon Akaluka, or the killing of a 70-years old Elizabeth Agbahareme in Kano for blasphemy. Those who defend it today may become victims tomorrow.Obi Nwakanma
Dr. Aluko, your reactionary and fascist instincts cannot stand a young "colored" man "making fun of the "Oba" of his country?!! O ma bloody se o! There are those who actually hoped that you, of all people, should stand up and defend "free speech" and civic protest, and a difference of political and cultural views, wherever they're expressed. You were once on the books for treasonable felony for simply backing your favorite political horse. And meanwhile, we are not in a "traditional village." We are in the 21st century with its rapidly urbanizing ethos. And Buhari is nobody's "Oba." We, the Igbo belong to that country, and give no fiddler's fart for that medieval aberration, which civilized people dispensed with about 300 years ago. Nigeria is a republic with citizens. Not a monarchy with subjects - even if your reactionary soul cannot stand that fact of human equality and civilized conduct. Chinakwe's act is the fullest expression of his rights to free speech, and it is satire at its best. It is the same kind of satire Soyinka used to deadly effect at the height of his career. It is the same kind of theatre that only really nuanced, and sophisticated imaginations can comprehend and be amused by, but which heats up the collars of dunces and reactionaries! I think you guys should give this oppressed Nigerian, Chinakwe, a break.
Obi Nwakanma
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Mobolaji Aluko <alu...@gmail.com>
Mobolaji Aluko
Kenneth Harrow
I love this point obi is making. And just returning france I found exactly the same thing—blaming the victim—to have been true in the laws and persecution of women wearing the burkinis on the beach in france. this is not a small point: it is a question of tolerating different cultural forms of expression for women
ken
Kenneth Harrow
Dept of English and Film Studies
http://www.english.msu.edu/people/faculty/kenneth-harrow/
Farooq
Abdul Salau
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Rex Marinus
Dr. Aluko: I threw in the "Igbo" part, not in any reference to Chinakwe, but because you threw in the "Oba" part to circumscribe him. I am vigorously opposed to any presumption of the monarchy in any reference to the Republic and federation of Nigeria, because Nigeria is a secular state, and it negotiated its independence from Great Britain and its union as a nation on the basis of a modern republic. And yes, you're in good company with Obafemi Awolowo. I am ideologically opposed to "Awoism" because it grandfathered the current state of Nigeria in its various fragments, and its reactionary compulsion towards extreme or radical difference. As an Igbo, I live on that fundamental principle that accepts the idea that "all men are born free and equal. There is none who is king over the other. And that nobility dwells in all humans from their "Chi" rather than in a select few, ordained by the divine to rule them. Note also that in conceiving the nobility of all (wo)men, I do not restrict it to 'Igbo" men and women, because in the Igbo conception of humanity, there is no such profound difference as all is "mma ndu" as far as the Igbo are concerned. It is the ethos of Igbo humanism that I defend, not simply because I am ethnically Igbo.
It is actually immaterial that you now deny conspiring to sabotage the Nigerian nation under the military dictatorship of Sani Abacha, the point is that you were once accused, and evidence - manufactured or real - presented against you for which you were declared wanted by that regime. Thank the heavens that you have the opportunity today to deny any such accusations. Imagine that you were caught, brought to court, and tried by the "properly constituted courts" under that regime, and then you can also imagine why injustice ought not be tolerated. And I have not read you defend Chinakwe's rights! You remain consistent in your umbrage against him, and the evidence is even in the body of your mail where you claim to defend his rights! "One thing I know: Chinakwe has learnt his lesson: he ain't naming another dog Buhari soon, and parading him in that same neighborhood." Those are your very words, and it doesn't sound much like defence to me - especially when you go n to say he deserves to be beaten up by his neigehbors and charged falsely by the police because he is "a neighborhood troublemaker" simply because he named his dog "Buhari."
The very fact that the Igbo, and all those who raise issues of peoples rights, including the rights of the Igbo as a people among the many in Nigeria, to exist peacefully, equally, and without discrimination in that country are "anarchists" and "psychotics" to you speaks of your predilections for selective recrimination and underscores your reactionary politics (though you claim not to be a politician!!!). It is sad that establishment intellectuals like you continue to feed the fire in the forges that continues to create the all consuming force - that dark demi-urge to whom you bow - shaped with the hands you now use to beat down poor citizen Chinakwe to the soil because you're disturbed by his impulse for liberty and full self-expression. And all because your living "god" - the "Oba" was called a dog. Yet you talk ever so glibly about Goebel and the supermenchen. It is a dangerous habit to ascribe to others what you so frequently appropriate for yourself. And just to be clear, we Zikists do not claim to be "supermen." We only claim to be "men" in equal proportion to other humans, no more. If you must label, at least label me as correctly as I have labelled you a fascist and reactionary - an Awoist intellectual.
Obi Nwakanma
Sent: Tuesday, August 30, 2016 7:07 AM
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Ayo Obe
Ayo
Salimonu Kadiri
Mr. Dekeye, I agree with everything you wrote below. Definitely, there is no absolute freedom anywhere in the world. That is why the chief apostle of democracy in the world could confine some people into detention in Guantanamo, since 2003, without trial because they have utterred certain unpleasant statements publicly or privately on some occasions. However, our progressive anarchists claim that they are defending free speech and civic protest, and a difference of political and cultural views..... (as expressed by the dogman, Chinakwe). But freedom of speech can also be hate speech which in many Western Countries is punishable under the law. A free speech that is expressed with the intention to incite people into acting violently is criminalised in many countries of the world. Contrary to what Mr. Chinakwe has said that he named his dog out of love for President Buhari, the progressive anarchists are saying that he was exercising his right of free speech and civic protest, and a difference of political and cultural views. Dressing a dog printing on it a human name, Buhari, is not a speech but an action which, according to the progressive anarchists, is a civic protest and an expression of political and cultural views against President Buhari.
Since Buhari is from another ethnic group than the progressive anarchist, now turned to ethnic chauvinist, the dehumanisation of Buhari and his transformation to a four legged mammal was justified thus, ".....we are not in a traditional village. We are in the 21st century with its rapidly urbanizing ethos. And Buhari is nobody's Oba." Buhari can never be Oba because he is not a Yoruba but, an Emir as the traditional rulers are called in Northern Nigeria. The fundamental human right of Mohammadu Buhari not to be dehumanised is violated by the progressive anarchist thus, "We, the Igbo belong to the country, and give no fiddler's fart for that medieval aberration, which civilized people dispensed with about 300 years ago." Apparently, we are being told by the ethnic warrior that the Igbo man named Chinakwe has the right to dehumanize Buhari into a dog. The progressive anarchist boasted of dispensing with medieval aberration and that is a white lie. When Laggard came to Nigeria, he met functioning governments under the Obas with crowns in Yorubaland and Emirs/Sultan in the North. In Igboland, their reigned anarchy. Therefore, Lugard created Warrant Officers in Igboland and imported Red cap from Morocco with which he dressed them to run his administration. The warrant officers were latter converted to Eze with the red cap as their symbolic crown. Till date the Igbo are running around every corner of Nigeria with their Eze and their Lugard invented crown, the red cap from Morocco.
S.Kadiri
Skickat: den 30 augusti 2016 14:43
Till: Rex Marinus
Mobolaji Aluko
Dr. Aluko: I threw in the "Igbo" part, not in any reference to Chinakwe, but because you threw in the "Oba" part to circumscribe him. I am vigorously opposed to any presumption of the monarchy in any reference to the Republic and federation of Nigeria, because Nigeria is a secular state, and it negotiated its independence from Great Britain and its union as a nation on the basis of a modern republic. And yes, you're in good company with Obafemi Awolowo. I am ideologically opposed to "Awoism" because it grandfathered the current state of Nigeria in its various fragments, and its reactionary compulsion towards extreme or radical difference. As an Igbo, I live on that fundamental principle that accepts the idea that "all men are born free and equal. There is none who is king over the other. And that nobility dwells in all humans from their "Chi" rather than in a select few, ordained by the divine to rule them. Note also that in conceiving the nobility of all (wo)men, I do not restrict it to 'Igbo" men and women, because in the Igbo conception of humanity, there is no such profound difference as all is "mma ndu" as far as the Igbo are concerned. It is the ethos of Igbo humanism that I defend, not simply because I am ethnically Igbo.
It is actually immaterial that you now deny conspiring to sabotage the Nigerian nation under the military dictatorship of Sani Abacha, the point is that you were once accused, and evidence - manufactured or real - presented against you for which you were declared wanted by that regime. Thank the heavens that you have the opportunity today to deny any such accusations. Imagine that you were caught, brought to court, and tried by the "properly constituted courts" under that regime, and then you can also imagine why injustice ought not be tolerated. And I have not read you defend Chinakwe's rights! You remain consistent in your umbrage against him, and the evidence is even in the body of your mail where you claim to defend his rights! "One thing I know: Chinakwe has learnt his lesson: he ain't naming another dog Buhari soon, and parading him in that same neighborhood." Those are your very words, and it doesn't sound much like defence to me - especially when you go n to say he deserves to be beaten up by his neigehbors and charged falsely by the police because he is "a neighborhood troublemaker" simply because he named his dog "Buhari."
The very fact that the Igbo, and all those who raise issues of peoples rights, including the rights of the Igbo as a people among the many in Nigeria, to exist peacefully, equally, and without discrimination in that country are "anarchists" and "psychotics" to you speaks of your predilections for selective recrimination and underscores your reactionary politics (though you claim not to be a politician!!!). It is sad that establishment intellectuals like you continue to feed the fire in the forges that continues to create the all consuming force - that dark demi-urge to whom you bow - shaped with the hands you now use to beat down poor citizen Chinakwe to the soil because you're disturbed by his impulse for liberty and full self-expression. And all because your living "god" - the "Oba" was called a dog. Yet you talk ever so glibly about Goebel and the supermenchen. It is a dangerous habit to ascribe to others what you so frequently appropriate for yourself. And just to be clear, we Zikists do not claim to be "supermen." We only claim to be "men" in equal proportion to other humans, no more. If you must label, at least label me as correctly as I have labelled you a fascist and reactionary - an Awoist intellectual.
Obi Nwakanma
Rex Marinus
Zikism is a system of ideas, and ideas do not die. It is also praxis. One of the cardinal practices of Zikism is in the theory of "Suru Lere," or what the Igbo would suggest to be, "adaruo ala, erie nka." It is a version of pragmatism rooted in African epistemology. Zikism as a method draws tactically from the methods of the Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus. That is the basis of the Zikist theory of organization: a non-linear application of process. Zikist humanism draws from a profound sense of the interconnections and linkages of all men, which the Igbo celebrate symbolically in the ritual of the kolanut, that affirms the universal connections of man, and of the universal rights of man as therefore inherent in being. Thus the ideological charge, "that man shall not be a prey to his fellow man" and that all political action and obligation must be constantly to restore and affirm "the dignity of man" ( already present in the etymology and value: "mma ndu") - which became the charge at the threshold, and the central mission of the university which he founded - which he conceived in its original vision to be the 20th century restoration or African renaissance as the "new Sankore" - a place where any African from the homeland and the Diaspora may find intellectual refuge. That is why he named its most symbolic places after great Africans - from the Hansberry Institute to the various Halls and Schools. Zikism is about constant renewal - the idea of a renascent Africa - and the activation of the spiritual ad mental energy of its youth in every generation. Zikism is a living idea, and it is ultimately the idea that will save Nigeria when it is ready to embrace it.
Obi Nwakanma
Sent: Tuesday, August 30, 2016 7:51 PM
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Kenneth Harrow
To what extent do you want the state to prohibit provocations?? What is a free society, in your view? A woman should have the right to cover herself on the beach, without imagining the French will go nuts. It is pure islamophobia that is at stake, and tomorrow, believe me, it will be Africans who will suffer, muslim or not. Racism is the ugly side of ultranationalism, xenophobia, rightwing extremism, the true sickness here
Kenneth Harrow
Dept of English and Film Studies
http://www.english.msu.edu/people/faculty/kenneth-harrow/
Cornelius Hamelberg
A short aside. Just cleaning my keyboard after which guitar will
get the afternoon's attention.
Re - “Nigeria is a republic with citizens.”
Feel good to be sitting there somewhere in the USA or Owerri (In my time Sam Mbakwe's Owerri – and most mornings I travelled by okada or in a friend’s “vehicle“ from Port Harcourt to Owerri (not from Owerri to Port Harcourt) we would come across a decapitated dead body on the highway – as once on the highway from Port Harcourt to Ahoada the police had stopped a peugeot in front of us and to everybody's horror discovered five human heads in the boot of the car. Destined to redeem one contractor by the name of O.C.C. Brown who the drivers said had been trapped in his house by his juju - his juju had allegedly demanded that Brown pay a ransom of five human heads in order to be released – or else!
Dangerous times. The maintenance of law and order in that domestic area where there were not so many internally displaced people was a huge problem, it was dangerous territory – and if that territory is like the rest of Nigeria - in the future – the comedian had better be more careful with his liberal use of “Freedom of Speech” and “Human Rights” when it comes to either insulting himself (to which he probably claims a divine ability or right) insulting his dog (which he could believe is his “Human Right” ) - and from animal to man, extending to himself the privilege to insult others with impunity...
The wise people dem sey, “Once bitten , twice shy” so in the interests of harmonious social relations Chinakwe must learn from history and had better not try any risky dog- naming and dog parade ceremonies in e.g. Zamfara, Sokoto , Kano, Katsina - not in the Buhari neighbourhood either.
Chinakwe's ingenious self-defence “But Buhari is my hero and my president “ will not delay the wrath of the mob that is known to be swift to deliver immediate justice - as appropriate. No delay. It's known as “taking the law into your own hands”
As Brother Obama said, “The Future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam”
I guess that you think it's all tight to lean back there in Harvard , pontificating about this and that revisionist history and now it's all about the right to slander and insult others, all in the name of unlimited freedom of speech
At night Mobutu was known as the leopard, can't remember who is or was the crocodile and the chimpanzee ( according to the Chinese horoscope this is the year of the monkey)
Från: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> för Shola Adenekan <sholaa...@gmail.com>
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Shola Adenekan
To what extent do you want the state to prohibit provocations?? What is a free society, in your view? A woman should have the right to cover herself on the beach, without imagining the French will go nuts. It is pure islamophobia that is at stake, and tomorrow, believe me, it will be Africans who will suffer, muslim or not. Racism is the ugly side of ultranationalism, xenophobia, rightwing extremism, the true sickness here
Kenneth Harrow
Dept of English and Film Studies
http://www.english.msu.edu/people/faculty/kenneth-harrow/
From: usaafricadialogue <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Ayo Obe <ayo.m...@gmail.com>
Reply-To: usaafricadialogue <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Date: Tuesday 30 August 2016 at 16:02
To: usaafricadialogue <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Naming a Dog and Buhari’s Emerging Democratic Tyranny
The phrase that is running through my mind as I read this thread is the one about "Freedom of speech does not include the right to shout 'FIRE!' in a crowded theatre."
AyoI invite you to follow me on Twitter @naijama
On 30 Aug 2016, at 4:18 PM, Kenneth Harrow <har...@msu.edu> wrote:
I love this point obi is making. And just returning france I found exactly the same thing—blaming the victim—to have been true in the laws and persecution of women wearing the burkinis on the beach in france. this is not a small point: it is a question of tolerating different cultural forms of expression for women
ken
Kenneth Harrow
Dept of English and Film Studies
http://www.english.msu.edu/people/faculty/kenneth-harrow/
From: usaafricadialogue <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Rex Marinus <rexma...@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: usaafricadialogue <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Date: Tuesday 30 August 2016 at 09:51
To: usaafricadialogue <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Naming a Dog and Buhari’s Emerging Democratic Tyranny
The point we miss is that Chinakwe has committed no crime. He may be insensitive, opinionated, and all what not, but there is no conduct warranting his arrest, and the charges brought against him. Anyone has a right to name their dogs after Azikiwe, Ojukwu, Okpara, or Awolowo, Gowon, and so on, and they'd be within their rights, for as long as they do not set these dogs after anyone to commit violent crimes. Chinakwe clearly did not physically attack his neighbors. He however was the victim of brutal physical attack. Rather than charge his attackers for battery, the police charged the victim for acts capable of causing public disturbance. And that act is one already protected under Nigerian laws: free speech. The only act of speech capable of causing injury in law is "libel." And this man is not charged for libel, but for "acts capable of causing public disturbance." It is a charge that validates intolerance, and that criminalizes the victim. It is the same kind of intolerance that permits the killing of 8 people in Zamfara for expressing different religious opinion. It is the same that permits the killing of the female pastor in Abuja for publicly proclaiming her god early on a Friday morning. It is the same impulse that permitted the lopping off of the head of Gideon Akaluka, or the killing of a 70-years old Elizabeth Agbahareme in Kano for blasphemy. Those who defend it today may become victims tomorrow.
Obi Nwakanma
Reply To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Naming a Dog and Buhari’s Emerging Democratic Tyranny
Dr. Aluko, your reactionary and fascist instincts cannot stand a young "colored" man "making fun of the "Oba" of his country?!! O ma bloody se o! There are those who actually hoped that you, of all people, should stand up and defend "free speech" and civic protest, and a difference of political and cultural views, wherever they're expressed. You were once on the books for treasonable felony for simply backing your favorite political horse. And meanwhile, we are not in a "traditional village." We are in the 21st century with its rapidly urbanizing ethos. And Buhari is nobody's "Oba." We, the Igbo belong to that country, and give no fiddler's fart for that medieval aberration, which civilized people dispensed with about 300 years ago. Nigeria is a republic with citizens. Not a monarchy with subjects - even if your reactionary soul cannot stand that fact of human equality and civilized conduct. Chinakwe's act is the fullest expression of his rights to free speech, and it is satire at its best. It is the same kind of satire Soyinka used to deadly effect at the height of his career. It is the same kind of theatre that only really nuanced, and sophisticated imaginations can comprehend and be amused by, but which heats up the collars of dunces and reactionaries! I think you guys should give this oppressed Nigerian, Chinakwe, a break.
Obi Nwakanma
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Ayo Obe
Obododimma Oha
My column in today's Daily Trust:By Farooq A. Kperogi, Ph.D.
Twitter:@farooqkperogi
Buhari’s administration is shaping up to be perhaps the most intolerant and petulant civilian administration in Nigeria. But it isn’t the intolerance and petulance in and of themselves that are disquieting; it is the crying incompetence of this government’s handling of dissent, which often ends up popularizing and lionizing nonentities.
It started with Indigenous People of Biafra’s Nnamdi Kanu. He was spewing his rib-tickling inanities on the fringes of the Internet and on a barely known radio station. Then, suddenly, when he started attacking President Buhari, Nigerian authorities moved in swiftly to contain him. They announced that they had successfully jammed his radio station, but came back a few days later to refute an alleged libelous falsehood the station made against Buhari!
Of course, news of the “jamming” of the radio and the press release refuting what the station reportedly said against Buhari (after it was supposed to have been jammed!) caused the station—and the ideology it espouses—to make national and international headlines. And there was an enormous spike in the number of searches for “Radio Biafra” and “Nnamdi Kanu” on Google and other search engines.
This, combined with Buhari’s unambiguous antipathy toward the southeast, has sparked a resurgence of Biafran and neo-Biafran movements and periodic sanguinary communal upheavals. This was completely avoidable. If the government had ignored (or quietly diluted) Kanu and his Radio Biafra and demonstrated even token large-heartedness toward the southeast (and the deep south) in the immediate aftermath of Buhari’s epochal electoral triumph in spite of opposition from the region, we wouldn’t know of Kanu and IPOB. But Nigerian authorities couldn’t stomach an insult at Buhari.
Now another man by the name of Joe Fortemose Chinakwe has become an international celebrity. He has been arrested, detained, imprisoned, and charged to court just because he named his dog Buhari. This is the height of petty intolerance.
Worse bile was directed at previous civilian presidents in the country. Tafawa Balewa, Shagari, Obasanjo, Yar’adua, and Jonathan were often at the receiving end of so much thoroughgoing hate, but the world didn’t know about this because no one was arrested and imprisoned. (Comedian Ali Baba said he named one of his dogs “Obasanjo” during Obasanjo’s administration and publicized it. In northern Nigeria, Jonathan and Attahiru Jega were called some of the vilest names I have ever heard—and in songs, too.) Public office is not for huffy crybabies.
I have read many Muslim commenters point out that giving a dog a Muslim name was offensive in and of itself. I agree. The problem is that the name wasn’t given to the dog to spite Muslims; it was given to make a political statement. If Buhari’s name was Smith Punapuna, the dog would be named precisely that.
But Buhari isn’t even a Muslim name in the strict sense of the term. As I pointed in previous articles, the name Bukhari (which we render as Buhari in Nigeria because many Nigerian languages don’t have the guttural consonant that the phoneme “kh” represents), is derived from Bukhara, which is the name of a town in what is now Uzbekistan in the former USSR.
The person who popularized the name is a 9th-century author of hadith collections known as Abū ‘Abd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Ismā‘īl ibn Ibrāhīm ibn al-Mughīrah ibn Bardizbah al-Ju‘fī al-Bukhārī.
In Hebrew, Arabic, and Farsi, “i” is added to the name of a town to indicate descent from the town. So “Bukhari” simply means someone from (the town of) Bukhara, what Hausa speakers would call “Dan Buhara.” It’s like someone taking offense because someone named his dog Dan Kano, Dan Daura, Dan Hadejia, etc., which, though names of towns, are borne by some northerners as last names (without the “dan”).
But that’s not even the most important point. How many people will the Buhari administration arrest for getting under the president’s skin? In other words, how many people will this administration make undeservedly popular because of its intolerance and incompetence? Many frustrated people who feel they have nothing to live for in light of the present economic crunch in the country are going to name their dogs after Buhari. Watch out. It’s now the surest way to cheap popularity, and the intolerance and incompetence of this government will ensure that they get all the attention, and possibly financial benefits, they crave.
But it isn’t only after Buhari that dogs will be named; dogs will also be named after key ministers of the government.
As I am writing this column, I read that a woman by the name of Ada Ogbonna has named her dog after the comically loudmouthed Lai Mohammed. “Meet my dog, Lai Mohammed,” she wrote on Facebook. “I named it after someone I admired.”
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Salimonu Kadiri
Provocations can be prohibited if they are born out of hatred which can incite and lead people into violence and lost of lives. A moustached and brown uniformed German wearing swastika symbol around his neck cannot travel to Israel and throw a pig head into the Synagogue without repercussion. Netanyahu cannot address a state visiting German Chancellor in Israel by saying, "Welcome to Israel, Mrs. Eva Braun" without hell breaking out. Is there a free speech that allows pale-skinned Americans to call dark-skinned people, Niggers? What is the difference between free speech and hate speech? Can one man's free speech not be another man's hate speech? If your free speech constitutes hate speech for me, how do we resolve the ensuing melee?
S.Kadiri
Skickat: den 31 augusti 2016 03:09
Okechukwu Ukaga
The Soldier Punctured Our Eyes By Emmanuel Ugwu
One of the worst misfortunes a Nigerian can experience is to fall into the hands of an angry Nigerian soldier. There is no predicting the inhumanity that will ensue. The potential victim stands the risk of sustaining a physical injury that would follow him to the grave and an emotional wound that is beyond the healing of time.
One of the worst misfortunes a Nigerian can experience is to fall into the hands of an angry Nigerian soldier. There is no predicting the inhumanity that will ensue. The potential victim stands the risk of sustaining a physical injury that would follow him to the grave and an emotional wound that is beyond the healing of time.
It's a whole new level of brutality when, by some happenstance, you become the pet peeve of a bunch of angry Nigerian soldiers. They make your torture a party. They compete to elicit the loudest scream from you. They jockey as if the act of harming you is a ritual that would improve their lives.
This week, I encountered one of the most extreme examples of their capacity for sadism. I read a stranger-than-fiction real life story of soulless wickedness, unconscionable assault and intoxicated impunity. And I have no hope of forgetting it because it is etched on my memory.
A group of 19 Nigerian soldiers were making a road show of brutalizing a hapless and helpless Nigerian citizen. It was not anything like the garden variety soldier-on-civilian beating that is a fact of life in our country. The soldiers were relentless. They wouldn't stop battering the bruised, bloodied and broken man. They were manifestly intent on quitting at the end point of his death.
Another Nigerian, a compassionate passerby, interposed and pleaded for mercy. The peacemaker, an officer of the Nigerian Road Safety Corps, Segun Enikuemehin, asked the soldier-gangsters to pause the violence porn and hand over the young man to the police, if he committed any criminal offence, instead of killing him like a bush animal.
The soldiers regarded Segun’s intervention as the meddling of a busybody and his voice of reason as an insult. They judged his person inadequate to interrupt them and decided that his appeal was an insufferable outrage. So they transferred their collective rage to him and began to lynch him.
They savaged him like a legion of vengeful demons. They mauled him as if he was the very incarnation of all their past disappointments.
In the heat of 'teaching the interloper a lesson', one of the soldiers, presumably the most malevolent of them all, reached for Segun's eyes, punctured the man's left eye and damaged the right one. He didn’t achieve absolute success. He had intended to gift Segun the handicap of blindness in both eyes.
Segun is in the hospital. The picture of his face does not bear watching. Doctors at Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) are battling to save him from a lifetime of total darkness. He was guilty of caring. He didn't turn a blind eye to the dehumanization of his fellow human being. He was his brother's keeper. He was a Good Samaritan.
And what was the crime of the young man Segun tried to save? He had worn some camouflage three weeks back. A mischievous solider hankering for a pretext to unleash the beast in himself summoned him and ordered him to produce the clothes. He replied that he had disposed it. That innocuous answer enraged the soldier and his company and turned them into a mob of bullies.
The soldier who punctured Segun's eye has been identified as Private Ihama Osaretin. He is based in Myoung Barracks, Yaba, Lagos State. He doesn't deserve a place in our military. He is unfit to be a soldier. He is also unfit to exist in a human society. He has the nature of a beast. He belongs to the evil forest.
Don't tell me that Ihama acted in a fit of fury. That he punctured Segun’s eye because he has a temper problem. Or that he was drunk. Or that a witch in his mother's village hypnotized him.
Ihama is entirely responsible for his atrocity. His puncturing of Segun's eye was no accident. It was a willful, inexcusable act of hate.
There was intention. Ihama suggested to himself the idea of blinding Segun. He desired to make the most consequential contribution to the abuse of Segun's body. He told himself that he needed to distinguish himself from the crowd. That he had to make a terrible impact on Segun to awe his mates. To shock them into conceding to him the title and respect of the meanest champion.
There was aiming. Ihama focused his eyes on Segun's eyes. Ihama fixed his gaze on Segun. Others were beating Segun randomly and arbitrarily but not him. He wanted to do a one-off damage on a specific site.
There was execution. Ihama has a seared conscience. He did the unthinkable. He punctured… Segun's eyes.
No reasonable adult would intentionally puncture a child's balloon. He lends you his toy globe in the hope that you know that what you are holding in your hands encompasses the world. That child will burst into tears if you blow his globe until it bursts.
If Ihama had gone out of his way to puncture the balloon of a child, he would be liable to be deemed a spoilsport. But he didn't puncture a spherical object that is produced by a machine and sold in the market. He punctured a biological organ. An eye. A human eye.
The Holy Writ tells us to pluck out our right eye and throw it away if it causes us to sin. The injunction was certainly not meant to be taken literally. It is the biggest hyperbole in the gospels: It was written to communicate the necessity of disciplining the flesh, of subjecting it to the rule of the spirit.
It staggers the mind that Ihama, somebody who claims membership of the human species, a person who purports to live by the light of this age, a so-called twenty first century soldier, in peacetime, looked upon his fellow human being, already made hors de combat by the beating of 18 adult men, and decided to add forced blindness to the cruelty.
Ihama was not satisfied with the ordinariness of Segun's lynching. He felt that Segun deserved a more painful and lasting ordeal. He persuaded himself that it behooved him to perpetrate the drastic measure that would make Segun's suffering permanent.
Ihama, a man who owns a pair of eyes and cherishes his vision, proceeded to puncture Segun's eye and render him blind because he wanted to demonstrate that Segun was ineligible to confront him. Ihama punctured Segun's eyes in order to subtract from Segun's wholeness. Ihama sought to validate his belief that Segun was not his equal. That Segun was less a human being than a soldier.
I imagine that when the soldiers were beating Segun, they were mocking him, telling him that he was nobody. And that they could kill him like a fowl. I suppose he pleaded, moaned and grunted, until the avalanche of pain overwhelmed him.
The Nigerian Army is not entirely populated by brutes and misanthropes. As a human organization, it has its fair share of the good, the bad and the ugly. And the good side of the Nigerian Army is celebrated all over the world. The Nigerian Army earns accolades from the international community on account of the conduct of our troops in overseas peacekeeping operations. Nigerian soldiers are lauded as paragons of professionalism, bravery and honour.
But that nice side is rarely the facet Nigerians in Nigeria are familiar with. Nigerians know soldiers who are quicker to act like thugs than comport themselves as defenders of the homeland. Nigerians know soldiers that are more proud of their barbarism than their veneer of civility. Nigerians know brash and bullish and brutish soldiers that seem to be hardwired to invent reasons to demean civilians and crush them as sub-humans.
Of course, bullying civilians is not the preserve of Nigerian soldiers. Other members of the Nigerian armed forces, as well as policemen and other individuals whose line of work requires them to bear arms and wear jackboots have anti-civilian proclivities. They appear to be perennially plagued by the urge to assert their brawny superiority over the bloody civilian. And everything, including nothing, can push them to 'arrest' you, curse you, disrobe you, slap you, scourge you, kick you, frog jump you... shoot you!
Nigeria's long years of military rule is often cited as the cause of the lingering military chauvinism. But that is oversimplifying the issue. The foundation of this deep-seated culture of military predation is actually the socialization of our military men. They adopt a philosophy that tells them the sacrifice of enlisting as a soldier elevated them above other mortals. The youngest recruit may not to be taught that this in training. But culture is caught. He inevitably assimilates the ways Nigerian soldiers advantage themselves over the civilian population.
The Nigerian military believes that the Nigerian civilian is beneath the Nigerian in khaki. And that military men are entitled to stress that difference in class whenever, wherever and however they wish. It is this unwritten but ubiquitous code that is at the root of the adversarial relationship between the force man and the civilian. It is the reason why Ihama and his friends practiced war on Segun.
Sometimes, the code boomerangs. We see them abandon espirit de corps and fight as gladiators on the street. Naval ratings versus air force officials. They tear one another’s uniforms. They exchange blows. They wrest someone to the ground. They use the butt of their guns as pestle. They fire gun shots into the air.
We need to humanize the Nigerian military. We have to reorient our armed forces away from lawlessness to respect for the rule of law. We have to get them to unlearn their contempt for their civilian countrymen.
Military officers should not constitute a threat to the society or civil liberties. They should not defy the traffic light. They should not be free to maim anybody they don’t like –as a privilege of having a badge.
More importantly, the Nigerian state should address abuse of force by the military officers properly, swiftly and transparently. When their violence against civilians is ignored, minimized or rationalized away, we legitimize a habit we should not abide.
For instance, the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Yusuf Buratai, and the foot soldiers that massacred 347 Shiites in Zaria are still in the system. If the head of the Nigerian Army was promptly arrested, tried and sentenced for complicity in mass murder, Ihama and his gang would have thought twice before terrorizing a civilian in a public space. It is because President Buhari, a retired general, trivialized the genocide on national TV that Private Ihama mustered the temerity to puncture Segun's eyes.
Ihama should rot in jail. He should see only the perpetual night of an unlit cell until he draws his last breath. He did more than blind Segun’s eye. He punctured all of our eyes.
You can reach me at imma...@gmail.com or follow me on Twitter at @EmmaUgwuTheMan
Road Safety officer Segun Enikuemehin
Executive Director, Northeast Minnesota Sustainable Development Partnership
"You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete." - Richard Buckminster Fuller
Kenneth Harrow
Hi salimonu,
I don’t know how much time you and others on this list have worked on these questions. They are very complicated, and your examples should really be regarded not as closing down the argument but opening it up. I am not a legal scholar, but have heard a bit from some on free speech. There are universal conventions granting us all free speech, if our countries signed those u.n. conventions. As you probably know, some countries ban hate speech, and others do not. There is a vast difference between the u.s., whose first amendment and general history opposes banning speech, and only prosecutes if there is incitement to violence (which has to be very direct), or libel (where damage is caused), and france and Canada which ban it. I don’t know about African countries, but I bet most if not all signed the u.n. conventions, which accord us free speech.
I understand the desire to prohibit the ugly speech you cite below, but strong arguments could be adduced against them. In its simplest form, an oppressive, autocratic state will prevent its citizens from criticizing the govt. chidren in Burundi were arrested—dozens—for drawing over the image of the president whose election was highly controversial.
Not to mention zuma and art mocking him in s Africa.
Who gets to decide, in cases like that? You and I know: the police, the agents of the state.
On the other hand, I (against the views of bill Clinton) favored bombing radio milles collines in Rwanda that advocated genocide in 1994. Clinton wanted to stay out of it, to let genocide run its course. That was criminal.
We all have different views here. What I find truly distasteful, simply, is those who argue so forcefully against freedom of speech, assuming it is some Eurocentric notion that goes against African values. As anyone who has joined in the open spirit of a palaver knows, Africans value the right to speak out as much as anyone else. We can legitimately debate its appropriate limits, as you begin to do. But taking it to the next level, arguing basically for state repression, is to limit us all.
I believe we need to be able to criticize governments freely—100%. You can’t have that right and still be told not to insult anyone.
I like your last question a lot. It is a good summary. But it is not an answer. Try answering it, and you’ll find it is very very very complicated.
ken
Kenneth Harrow
Dept of English and Film Studies
http://www.english.msu.edu/people/faculty/kenneth-harrow/
My column in today's Daily Trust:
By Farooq A. Kperogi, Ph.D.
Twitter:@farooqkperogi
Buhari’s administration is shaping up to be perhaps the most intolerant and petulant civilian administration in Nigeria. But it isn’t the intolerance and petulance in and of themselves that are disquieting; it is the crying incompetence of this government’s handling of dissent, which often ends up popularizing and lionizing nonentities.
It started with Indigenous People of Biafra’s Nnamdi Kanu. He was spewing his rib-tickling inanities on the fringes of the Internet and on a barely known radio station. Then, suddenly, when he started attacking President Buhari, Nigerian authorities moved in swiftly to contain him. They announced that they had successfully jammed his radio station, but came back a few days later to refute an alleged libelous falsehood the station made against Buhari!
Of course, news of the “jamming” of the radio and the press release refuting what the station reportedly said against Buhari (after it was supposed to have been jammed!) caused the station—and the ideology it espouses—to make national and international headlines. And there was an enormous spike in the number of searches for “Radio Biafra” and “Nnamdi Kanu” on Google and other search engines.
This, combined with Buhari’s unambiguous antipathy toward the southeast, has sparked a resurgence of Biafran and neo-Biafran movements and periodic sanguinary communal upheavals. This was completely avoidable. If the government had ignored (or quietly diluted) Kanu and his Radio Biafra and demonstrated even token large-heartedness toward the southeast (and the deep south) in the immediate aftermath of Buhari’s epochal electoral triumph in spite of opposition from the region, we wouldn’t know of Kanu and IPOB. But Nigerian authorities couldn’t stomach an insult at Buhari.
Now another man by the name of Joe Fortemose Chinakwe has become an international celebrity. He has been arrested, detained, imprisoned, and charged to court just because he named his dog Buhari. This is the height of petty intolerance.
Worse bile was directed at previous civilian presidents in the country. Tafawa Balewa, Shagari, Obasanjo, Yar’adua, and Jonathan were often at the receiving end of so much thoroughgoing hate, but the world didn’t know about this because no one was arrested and imprisoned. (Comedian Ali Baba said he named one of his dogs “Obasanjo” during Obasanjo’s administration and publicized it. In northern Nigeria, Jonathan and Attahiru Jega were called some of the vilest names I have ever heard—and in songs, too.) Public office is not for huffy crybabies.
I have read many Muslim commenters point out that giving a dog a Muslim name was offensive in and of itself. I agree. The problem is that the name wasn’t given to the dog to spite Muslims; it was given to make a political statement. If Buhari’s name was Smith Punapuna, the dog would be named precisely that.
But Buhari isn’t even a Muslim name in the strict sense of the term. As I pointed in previous articles, the name Bukhari (which we render as Buhari in Nigeria because many Nigerian languages don’t have the guttural consonant that the phoneme “kh” represents), is derived from Bukhara, which is the name of a town in what is now Uzbekistan in the former USSR.
The person who popularized the name is a 9th-century author of hadith collections known as Abū ‘Abd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Ismā‘īl ibn Ibrāhīm ibn al-Mughīrah ibn Bardizbah al-Ju‘fī al-Bukhārī.
In Hebrew, Arabic, and Farsi, “i” is added to the name of a town to indicate descent from the town. So “Bukhari” simply means someone from (the town of) Bukhara, what Hausa speakers would call “Dan Buhara.” It’s like someone taking offense because someone named his dog Dan Kano, Dan Daura, Dan Hadejia, etc., which, though names of towns, are borne by some northerners as last names (without the “dan”).
But that’s not even the most important point. How many people will the Buhari administration arrest for getting under the president’s skin? In other words, how many people will this administration make undeservedly popular because of its intolerance and incompetence? Many frustrated people who feel they have nothing to live for in light of the present economic crunch in the country are going to name their dogs after Buhari. Watch out. It’s now the surest way to cheap popularity, and the intolerance and incompetence of this government will ensure that they get all the attention, and possibly financial benefits, they crave.
But it isn’t only after Buhari that dogs will be named; dogs will also be named after key ministers of the government.
As I am writing this column, I read that a woman by the name of Ada Ogbonna has named her dog after the comically loudmouthed Lai Mohammed. “Meet my dog, Lai Mohammed,” she wrote on Facebook. “I named it after someone I admired.”
There will be several such publicity baits. A competent government with some clue won’t swallow such easy baits. This is all part of democracy. I live in America where the president of the country is called all sorts of dreadful names without consequences. For instance, many racists named their dogs Obama, but Obama disarmed them by naming his dog Bo, which is short for Barack Obama.
We can’t pretend to be practicing democracy and clamp down on people for merely saying hurtful things that get on our frail nerves.
This is particularly telling coming from a government that is caught flatfooted in almost everything, a government that daily inflicts misery on its poor citizens while its power structure feeds fat on the misery of the poor. It’s troubling when a government that took six months to appoint a predictable cast of characters as ministers wastes no time to arrest a person for naming his dog Buhari. It is concerning when a government that is mute in the face of the horrendous mass murder of hundreds of Shiites in Zaria arrests inconsequential people because they got under the skin of the president.
Maybe Buhari is not even aware that someone has been imprisoned because he named his dog after him. Maybe. But people who are close to and love the president should tell him that the emerging pettiness and intolerance of his administration are becoming intolerably embarrassing.
You can’t be paying over-sized attention to minor, inconsequential irritants while the country burns under your watch.
Related Articles:
Farooq A. Kperogi, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Journalism & Emerging Media
School of Communication & MediaSocial Science Building
Room 5092 MD 2207
402 Bartow Avenue
Kennesaw State UniversityKennesaw, Georgia, USA 30144
Cell: (+1) 404-573-9697
Personal website: www.farooqkperogi.comTwitter: @farooqkperog
Author of Glocal English: The Changing Face and Forms of Nigerian English in a Global World
"The nice thing about pessimism is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised." G. F. Will
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Victor Okafor
In my opinion, we ought to cultivate, promote and nourish a political cultural value that can instinctively instruct/prompt us to recognize where to draw a line in our political discourse and behavior and say, "this action or pronouncement is reckless and falls outside the outside the boundary of reasonableness." Naming a dog after one's national president is one such act. It's grossly disrespectful of the institution of the presidency; it's an insult to Mohammadu Buhari on a personal level; and, in an ethnically-volatile society such as Nigeria, such naming stokes ethno-religious hatred or ill-will, and it could incite an ethno-religious riot or disturbance. So, we ought to collectively agree that the behavior of the person who named his dog after the incumbent president was unacceptable, and, in fact, it constituted a threat to civil order and tranquility.
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Salimonu Kadiri
In the intellectual game between Obi Nwakanma and Bolaji Aluko, the former dangerously kicked the latter thus, "And yes, you're in good company with Obafemi Awolowo. I am ideologically opposed to *Awoism* because it grandfathered the current state of Nigeria in its various fragments, and its reactionary compulsion towards extreme or radical difference." If it were in a football game, Obi Nwakanma would have gotten a red card and thrown out of the field. It is a historical suicide to proclaim a political ideology known as *Awoism* as there has never been one. Chief Obafemi Awolowo led the Action Group political Party that was officially inaugurated on April 28, 1951. The motto of the Action Group was FREEDOM FOR ALL, LIFE MORE ABUNDANT. They declared their belief that the people of Nigeria in general would have life more abundant when they enjoy - (i) Freedom from British rule; (ii) Freedom from ignorance; (iii) Freedom from disease; and (iv) Freedom from want. The basic principles that brought members of the Action Group together were stated thus: 1. The immediate termination of British rule in every phase of our political life. 2. The education of all children of school-going age, and the general enlightenment of all illiterate adults and all illiterate children above school-going age. 3. The provision of health and general welfare for all our people. 4. The total abolition of want in our society by means of any economic policy which is both expedient and effective. That was the ideology of the Action Group party led by Chief Obafemi Awolowo. That was why the Action Group was called in Yoruba, Egbe Afénifére. Obi Nwakanma cannot build something on nothing, and since there has never been *Awoism* as an ideology or philosophy, the blame on *Awoism* as grandfather of the current state of backward political and economic degeneration in Nigeria on his part is hallucinatory. As an intoxicated liar and a real braggart, Obi declared, "As an Igbo, I live on that fundamental principle that accepts the idea that 'all men are born free and equal." Contrary to Obi who, as an Igbo, accepts that only all men are born free and equal, Awolowo accepted that all human beings are born free and equal. The evidence for that is that he never ruled over a caste system of Diala, the master class and Osu, Ohu or Oru, the slaves.
Obi wrote, "Zikism is a system of ideas...... It is also praxis. One of the cardinal practices of Zikism is in the theory of 'Suru Lere' or what the Igbo would suggest to be, *adaruo ala, erie nka.*" Zikist Movement which was founded by Nwafor Orizu was inaugurated, in 1946, in Lagos. Orizu wrote, "There is one social myth upon which Zikism should grow and spread its branches. That myth is African Irredentism.... " However, by 1948 radical youths had taken over the leadership of the Zikist Movement whose President was Malam Habib Raji Abdallah, Vice President Osita C. Agwuna, and Secretary M.C.K. Ajuluchukwu. The radicals had plotted to make Nnamdi Azikiwe Nehru of Nigeria by planning a public lecture, titled :A Call For Revolution at which Azikiwe was to be Key speaker. On 27 October 1948, Glover Hall in Lagos was jam-packed with crowds but Zik was no where to be found. The editor of Lagos Daily Comet, Anthony Enahoro, was in attendance. When Nnamdi Azikiwe did not show up, the Vice President of Zikist Movement, Osita C. Agwuna, stood on the podium to declare Azikiwe as the head of the new People's Provisional Government and urging Nigerians to pay their taxes to the NCNC. The colonial government arrested and tried ten of the Zikists of which seven and a non-member, Anthony Enahoro, were convicted for sedition. By 1950, the fire-spitting Mokwugo Okoye had become Secretary of the Zikist Movement and one incident that occurred on 18 February 1950 caused the colonial government to raid the homes of Zikists in several towns. Mokwugo Okoye was convicted later of sedition for possessing revolutionary pamphlets and was sentenced to 33 months in prison. Over 20 Zikists were jailed between 6 and 9 months. Responding to a question by the Sunday Times on 17 April 1950, Nnamdi Azikiwe disowned the Zikist movement thus, "The Zikist Movement was founded by a group of young Nigerian patriots in 1946, when I was staying temporarily at Onitsha. My name was used without my knowledge or consent.... Why must I declare my stand on the method of the Zikist Movement simply because that organization bears my nickname, even though I am not its founder nor a member." That is the Zikist Movement Obi Nwakanma is proud of. Nnamdi Azikiwe was never a revolutionary, and Mokwugo Okoye, the Secretary General of the Zikist Movement, was direct in point when he wrote about the 1949 Convention of the NCNC where Dr. Azikiwe led the party's condemnation of the Zikists and ridiculed those who were political prisoners at the time. In his book, The Storm on the Niger, Okoye wrote, "After preaching revolution for a decade he (Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe), a successful businessman and a man of pleasure, was terrified when he saw one." As George Orwell put it, "In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act."
S.Kadiri
Skickat: den 31 augusti 2016 01:23
Till: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Mobolaji Aluko
In the intellectual game between Obi Nwakanma and Bolaji Aluko, the former dangerously kicked the latter thus, "And yes, you're in good company with Obafemi Awolowo. I am ideologically opposed to *Awoism* because it grandfathered the current state of Nigeria in its various fragments, and its reactionary compulsion towards extreme or radical difference." If it were in a football game, Obi Nwakanma would have gotten a red card and thrown out of the field. It is a historical suicide to proclaim a political ideology known as *Awoism* as there has never been one. Chief Obafemi Awolowo led the Action Group political Party that was officially inaugurated on April 28, 1951. The motto of the Action Group was FREEDOM FOR ALL, LIFE MORE ABUNDANT. They declared their belief that the people of Nigeria in general would have life more abundant when they enjoy - (i) Freedom from British rule; (ii) Freedom from ignorance; (iii) Freedom from disease; and (iv) Freedom from want. The basic principles that brought members of the Action Group together were stated thus: 1. The immediate termination of British rule in every phase of our political life. 2. The education of all children of school-going age, and the general enlightenment of all illiterate adults and all illiterate children above school-going age. 3. The provision of health and general welfare for all our people. 4. The total abolition of want in our society by means of any economic policy which is both expedient and effective. That was the ideology of the Action Group party led by Chief Obafemi Awolowo. That was why the Action Group was called in Yoruba, Egbe Afénifére. Obi Nwakanma cannot build something on nothing, and since there has never been *Awoism* as an ideology or philosophy, the blame on *Awoism* as grandfather of the current state of backward political and economic degeneration in Nigeria on his part is hallucinatory. As an intoxicated liar and a real braggart, Obi declared, "As an Igbo, I live on that fundamental principle that accepts the idea that 'all men are born free and equal." Contrary to Obi who, as an Igbo, accepts that only all men are born free and equal, Awolowo accepted that all human beings are born free and equal. The evidence for that is that he never ruled over a caste system of Diala, the master class and Osu, Ohu or Oru, the slaves.
Obi wrote, "Zikism is a system of ideas...... It is also praxis. One of the cardinal practices of Zikism is in the theory of 'Suru Lere' or what the Igbo would suggest to be, *adaruo ala, erie nka.*" Zikist Movement which was founded by Nwafor Orizu was inaugurated, in 1946, in Lagos. Orizu wrote, "There is one social myth upon which Zikism should grow and spread its branches. That myth is African Irredentism.... " However, by 1948 radical youths had taken over the leadership of the Zikist Movement whose President was Malam Habib Raji Abdallah, Vice President Osita C. Agwuna, and Secretary M.C.K. Ajuluchukwu. The radicals had plotted to make Nnamdi Azikiwe Nehru of Nigeria by planning a public lecture, titled :A Call For Revolution at which Azikiwe was to be Key speaker. On 27 October 1948, Glover Hall in Lagos was jam-packed with crowds but Zik was no where to be found. The editor of Lagos Daily Comet, Anthony Enahoro, was in attendance. When Nnamdi Azikiwe did not show up, the Vice President of Zikist Movement, Osita C. Agwuna, stood on the podium to declare Azikiwe as the head of the new People's Provisional Government and urging Nigerians to pay their taxes to the NCNC. The colonial government arrested and tried ten of the Zikists of which seven and a non-member, Anthony Enahoro, were convicted for sedition. By 1950, the fire-spitting Mokwugo Okoye had become Secretary of the Zikist Movement and one incident that occurred on 18 February 1950 caused the colonial government to raid the homes of Zikists in several towns. Mokwugo Okoye was convicted later of sedition for possessing revolutionary pamphlets and was sentenced to 33 months in prison. Over 20 Zikists were jailed between 6 and 9 months. Responding to a question by the Sunday Times on 17 April 1950, Nnamdi Azikiwe disowned the Zikist movement thus, "The Zikist Movement was founded by a group of young Nigerian patriots in 1946, when I was staying temporarily at Onitsha. My name was used without my knowledge or consent.... Why must I declare my stand on the method of the Zikist Movement simply because that organization bears my nickname, even though I am not its founder nor a member." That is the Zikist Movement Obi Nwakanma is proud of. Nnamdi Azikiwe was never a revolutionary, and Mokwugo Okoye, the Secretary General of the Zikist Movement, was direct in point when he wrote about the 1949 Convention of the NCNC where Dr. Azikiwe led the party's condemnation of the Zikists and ridiculed those who were political prisoners at the time. In his book, The Storm on the Niger, Okoye wrote, "After preaching revolution for a decade he (Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe), a successful businessman and a man of pleasure, was terrified when he saw one." As George Orwell put it, "In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act."
S.Kadiri
Från: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> för Rex Marinus <rexma...@hotmail.com>
Skickat: den 31 augusti 2016 01:23
Ämne: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Naming a Dog and Buhari’s Emerging Democratic Tyranny
Zikism is a system of ideas, and ideas do not die. It is also praxis. One of the cardinal practices of Zikism is in the theory of "Suru Lere," or what the Igbo would suggest to be, "adaruo ala, erie nka." It is a version of pragmatism rooted in African epistemology. Zikism as a method draws tactically from the methods of the Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus. That is the basis of the Zikist theory of organization: a non-linear application of process. Zikist humanism draws from a profound sense of the interconnections and linkages of all men, which the Igbo celebrate symbolically in the ritual of the kolanut, that affirms the universal connections of man, and of the universal rights of man as therefore inherent in being. Thus the ideological charge, "that man shall not be a prey to his fellow man" and that all political action and obligation must be constantly to restore and affirm "the dignity of man" ( already present in the etymology and value: "mma ndu") - which became the charge at the threshold, and the central mission of the university which he founded - which he conceived in its original vision to be the 20th century restoration or African renaissance as the "new Sankore" - a place where any African from the homeland and the Diaspora may find intellectual refuge. That is why he named its most symbolic places after great Africans - from the Hansberry Institute to the various Halls and Schools. Zikism is about constant renewal - the idea of a renascent Africa - and the activation of the spiritual ad mental energy of its youth in every generation. Zikism is a living idea, and it is ultimately the idea that will save Nigeria when it is ready to embrace it.
Obi Nwakanma
Rex Marinus
"Chief Obafemi Awolowo led the Action Group political Party that was officially inaugurated on April 28, 1951. The motto of the Action Group was FREEDOM FOR ALL, LIFE MORE ABUNDANT. They declared their belief that the people of Nigeria in general would have life more abundant when they enjoy - (i) Freedom from British rule; (ii) Freedom from ignorance; (iii) Freedom from disease; and (iv) Freedom from want. The basic principles that brought members of the Action Group together were stated thus: 1. The immediate termination of British rule in every phase of our political life. 2. The education of all children of school-going age, and the general enlightenment of all illiterate adults and all illiterate children above school-going age. 3. The provision of health and general welfare for all our people. 4. The total abolition of want in our society by means of any economic policy which is both expedient and effective. That was the ideology of the Action Group party led by Chief Obafemi Awolowo. That was why the Action Group was called in Yoruba, Egbe Afénifére. Obi Nwakanma cannot build something on nothing, and since there has never been *Awoism* as an ideology or philosophy, the blame on *Awoism* as grandfather of the current state of backward political and economic degeneration in Nigeria on his part is hallucinatory. As an intoxicated liar and a real braggart, Obi declared, "As an Igbo, I live on that fundamental principle that accepts the idea that 'all men are born free and equal." Contrary to Obi who, as an Igbo, accepts that only all men are born free and equal, Awolowo accepted that all human beings are born free and equal. The evidence for that is that he never ruled over a caste system of Diala, the master class and Osu, Ohu or Oru, the slaves."
-Salimonu Kadiri
Sent: Thursday, September 1, 2016 10:18 PM
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Subject: SV: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Naming a Dog and Buhari’s Emerging Democratic Tyranny
Joec...@yahoo.com
Victor Okafor
Mobolaji Aluko
Reading Nigerian intellectuals is often interesting. The hero in any discussion is the guy from my neck of the wood, the other guy from distance place is the wrong guy and there is always a case to be made. Guess that's Nigerian life
In the intellectual game between Obi Nwakanma and Bolaji Aluko, the former dangerously kicked the latter thus, "And yes, you're in good company with Obafemi Awolowo. I am ideologically opposed to *Awoism* because it grandfathered the current state of Nigeria in its various fragments, and its reactionary compulsion towards extreme or radical difference." If it were in a football game, Obi Nwakanma would have gotten a red card and thrown out of the field. It is a historical suicide to proclaim a political ideology known as *Awoism* as there has never been one. Chief Obafemi Awolowo led the Action Group political Party that was officially inaugurated on April 28, 1951. The motto of the Action Group was FREEDOM FOR ALL, LIFE MORE ABUNDANT. They declared their belief that the people of Nigeria in general would have life more abundant when they enjoy - (i) Freedom from British rule; (ii) Freedom from ignorance; (iii) Freedom from disease; and (iv) Freedom from want. The basic principles that brought members of the Action Group together were stated thus: 1. The immediate termination of British rule in every phase of our political life. 2. The education of all children of school-going age, and the general enlightenment of all illiterate adults and all illiterate children above school-going age. 3. The provision of health and general welfare for all our people. 4. The total abolition of want in our society by means of any economic policy which is both expedient and effective. That was the ideology of the Action Group party led by Chief Obafemi Awolowo. That was why the Action Group was called in Yoruba, Egbe Afénifére. Obi Nwakanma cannot build something on nothing, and since there has never been *Awoism* as an ideology or philosophy, the blame on *Awoism* as grandfather of the current state of backward political and economic degeneration in Nigeria on his part is hallucinatory. As an intoxicated liar and a real braggart, Obi declared, "As an Igbo, I live on that fundamental principle that accepts the idea that 'all men are born free and equal." Contrary to Obi who, as an Igbo, accepts that only all men are born free and equal, Awolowo accepted that all human beings are born free and equal. The evidence for that is that he never ruled over a caste system of Diala, the master class and Osu, Ohu or Oru, the slaves.
Obi wrote, "Zikism is a system of ideas...... It is also praxis. One of the cardinal practices of Zikism is in the theory of 'Suru Lere' or what the Igbo would suggest to be, *adaruo ala, erie nka.*" Zikist Movement which was founded by Nwafor Orizu was inaugurated, in 1946, in Lagos. Orizu wrote, "There is one social myth upon which Zikism should grow and spread its branches. That myth is African Irredentism.... " However, by 1948 radical youths had taken over the leadership of the Zikist Movement whose President was Malam Habib Raji Abdallah, Vice President Osita C. Agwuna, and Secretary M.C.K. Ajuluchukwu. The radicals had plotted to make Nnamdi Azikiwe Nehru of Nigeria by planning a public lecture, titled :A Call For Revolution at which Azikiwe was to be Key speaker. On 27 October 1948, Glover Hall in Lagos was jam-packed with crowds but Zik was no where to be found. The editor of Lagos Daily Comet, Anthony Enahoro, was in attendance. When Nnamdi Azikiwe did not show up, the Vice President of Zikist Movement, Osita C. Agwuna, stood on the podium to declare Azikiwe as the head of the new People's Provisional Government and urging Nigerians to pay their taxes to the NCNC. The colonial government arrested and tried ten of the Zikists of which seven and a non-member, Anthony Enahoro, were convicted for sedition. By 1950, the fire-spitting Mokwugo Okoye had become Secretary of the Zikist Movement and one incident that occurred on 18 February 1950 caused the colonial government to raid the homes of Zikists in several towns. Mokwugo Okoye was convicted later of sedition for possessing revolutionary pamphlets and was sentenced to 33 months in prison. Over 20 Zikists were jailed between 6 and 9 months. Responding to a question by the Sunday Times on 17 April 1950, Nnamdi Azikiwe disowned the Zikist movement thus, "The Zikist Movement was founded by a group of young Nigerian patriots in 1946, when I was staying temporarily at Onitsha. My name was used without my knowledge or consent.... Why must I declare my stand on the method of the Zikist Movement simply because that organization bears my nickname, even though I am not its founder nor a member." That is the Zikist Movement Obi Nwakanma is proud of. Nnamdi Azikiwe was never a revolutionary, and Mokwugo Okoye, the Secretary General of the Zikist Movement, was direct in point when he wrote about the 1949 Convention of the NCNC where Dr. Azikiwe led the party's condemnation of the Zikists and ridiculed those who were political prisoners at the time. In his book, The Storm on the Niger, Okoye wrote, "After preaching revolution for a decade he (Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe), a successful businessman and a man of pleasure, was terrified when he saw one." As George Orwell put it, "In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act."
S.Kadiri
Från: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> för Rex Marinus <rexma...@hotmail.com>
Skickat: den 31 augusti 2016 01:23
Ämne: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Naming a Dog and Buhari’s Emerging Democratic Tyranny
Zikism is a system of ideas, and ideas do not die. It is also praxis. One of the cardinal practices of Zikism is in the theory of "Suru Lere," or what the Igbo would suggest to be, "adaruo ala, erie nka." It is a version of pragmatism rooted in African epistemology. Zikism as a method draws tactically from the methods of the Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus. That is the basis of the Zikist theory of organization: a non-linear application of process. Zikist humanism draws from a profound sense of the interconnections and linkages of all men, which the Igbo celebrate symbolically in the ritual of the kolanut, that affirms the universal connections of man, and of the universal rights of man as therefore inherent in being. Thus the ideological charge, "that man shall not be a prey to his fellow man" and that all political action and obligation must be constantly to restore and affirm "the dignity of man" ( already present in the etymology and value: "mma ndu") - which became the charge at the threshold, and the central mission of the university which he founded - which he conceived in its original vision to be the 20th century restoration or African renaissance as the "new Sankore" - a place where any African from the homeland and the Diaspora may find intellectual refuge. That is why he named its most symbolic places after great Africans - from the Hansberry Institute to the various Halls and Schools. Zikism is about constant renewal - the idea of a renascent Africa - and the activation of the spiritual ad mental energy of its youth in every generation. Zikism is a living idea, and it is ultimately the idea that will save Nigeria when it is ready to embrace it.
Obi Nwakanma
John Mbaku
J.D. (Law), Ph.D. (Economics)
Graduate Certificate in Environmental and Natural Resources Law
Nonresident Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution
Attorney & Counselor at Law (Licensed in Utah)
Brady Presidential Distinguished Professor of Economics & John S. Hinckley Fellow
Department of Economics
Weber State University
1337 Edvalson Street, Dept. 3807
Ogden, UT 84408-3807, USA
(801) 626-7442 Phone
(801) 626-7423 Fax
Obododimma Oha
analyst given to rigour, I went clawing and digging and sniffing, and,
bow-wow, I came upon Jim Dratfield's book, Dogography, which features
interesting illustrations and quotes in doglore! Here are some great
sayings featured: "Dogs are us, only innocent" (Cynthia Heimel); "All
knowledge, the totality of all questions and all answers, is contained
in a dog" (Franz Kafka). Wonderful! Thanks, Chinakwe, for opening a
door.
-- Obododimma.
> *By Farooq A. Kperogi, Ph.D.*
>
> *Twitter:@farooqkperogi <https://twitter.com/farooqkperogi>*
>
> Buhari’s administration is shaping up to be perhaps the most intolerant and
> petulant civilian administration in Nigeria. But it isn’t the intolerance
> and petulance in and of themselves that are disquieting; it is the crying
> incompetence of this government’s handling of dissent, which often ends up
> popularizing and lionizing nonentities.
>
>
> It started with Indigenous People of Biafra’s Nnamdi Kanu. He was spewing
> his rib-tickling inanities on the fringes of the Internet and on a barely
> known radio station. Then, suddenly, when he started attacking President
> Buhari, Nigerian authorities moved in swiftly to contain him. They
> announced that they had successfully jammed his radio station, but came
> back a few days later to refute an alleged libelous falsehood the station
> made against Buhari!
>
>
> Of course, news of the “jamming” of the radio and the press release
> refuting what the station reportedly said against Buhari (after it was
> supposed to have been jammed!) caused the station—and the ideology it
> espouses—to make national and international headlines. And there was
> an enormous
> spike in the number of searches for “Radio Biafra” and “Nnamdi Kanu” on
> other search engines.
>
>
> This, combined with Buhari’s unambiguous antipathy toward the southeast,
> has sparked a resurgence of Biafran and neo-Biafran movements and periodic
> sanguinary communal upheavals. This was completely avoidable. If the
> government had ignored (or quietly diluted) Kanu and his Radio Biafra and
> demonstrated even token large-heartedness toward the southeast (and the
> deep south) in the immediate aftermath of Buhari’s epochal electoral
> triumph in spite of opposition from the region, we wouldn’t know of Kanu
> and IPOB. But Nigerian authorities couldn’t stomach an insult at Buhari.
>
>
> Now another man by the name of Joe Fortemose Chinakwe has become an
> international celebrity. He has been arrested, detained, imprisoned, and
> charged to court just because he named his dog Buhari. This is the height
> of petty intolerance.
>
>
> Worse bile was directed at previous civilian presidents in the country.
> Tafawa Balewa, Shagari, Obasanjo, Yar’adua, and Jonathan were often at the
> receiving end of so much thoroughgoing hate, but the world didn’t know
> about this because no one was arrested and imprisoned. (Comedian Ali Baba
> said he named one of his dogs “Obasanjo” during Obasanjo’s administration
> and publicized it. In northern Nigeria, Jonathan and Attahiru Jega were
> called some of the vilest names I have ever heard—and in songs, too.)
> Public office is not for huffy crybabies.
>
>
>
> <https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DK_Mhrrb8p4/V8EO26eqhvI/AAAAAAAAFEk/ClqyQDHXZjsKAzBYv_Hf7xPLCHP1DwQaACLcB/s1600/Goodluck%2BJonathan%2BInsults%2B2.jpg>
>
> I have read many Muslim commenters point out that giving a dog a Muslim
> name was offensive in and of itself. I agree. The problem is that the name
> wasn’t given to the dog to spite Muslims; it was given to make a political
> statement. If Buhari’s name was Smith Punapuna, the dog would be named
> precisely that.
>
>
> But Buhari isn’t even a Muslim name in the strict sense of the term. As I
> pointed in previous articles
>
> There will be several such publicity baits. A competent government with
> some clue won’t swallow such easy baits. This is all part of democracy. I
> live in America where the president of the country is called all sorts of
> dreadful names without consequences. For instance, many racists named
> their dogs Obama, but Obama disarmed them by naming his dog Bo, which is
> short for Barack Obama.
>
>
> We can’t pretend to be practicing democracy and clamp down on people for
> merely saying hurtful things that get on our frail nerves.
>
>
> This is particularly telling coming from a government that is caught
> flatfooted in almost everything, a government that daily inflicts misery on
> its poor citizens while its power structure feeds fat on the misery of the
> poor. It’s troubling when a government that took six months to appoint a
> predictable cast of characters as ministers wastes no time to arrest a
> person for naming his dog Buhari. It is concerning when a government that
> is mute in the face of the horrendous mass murder of hundreds of Shiites in
> Zaria arrests inconsequential people because they got under the skin of the
> president.
>
>
> Maybe Buhari is not even aware that someone has been imprisoned because he
> named his dog after him. Maybe. But people who are close to and love the
> president should tell him that the emerging pettiness and intolerance of
> his administration are becoming intolerably embarrassing.
>
>
> You can’t be paying over-sized attention to minor, inconsequential
> irritants while the country burns under your watch.
>
>
>
> *Why Buhari Should Leave Radio Biafra Alone
> <http://www.farooqkperogi.com/2015/07/why-buhari-should-leave-radio-biafra.html>*
>
> *After the Euphoria, What President-Elect Buhari Needs to Know
> <http://www.farooqkperogi.com/2015/04/after-euphoria-what-president-elect.html>*
>
> Farooq A. Kperogi, Ph.D.
> Associate Professor
> Journalism & Emerging Media
> School of Communication & Media
> Social Science Building
> Room 5092 MD 2207
> 402 Bartow Avenue
> Kennesaw State University
> Kennesaw, Georgia, USA 30144
> Cell: (+1) 404-573-9697
> Personal website: www.farooqkperogi.com
> Twitter: @farooqkperog <https://twitter.com/#%21/farooqkperogi>
> Author of *Glocal English: The Changing Face and Forms of Nigerian English
> in a Global World
> <http://www.amazon.com/Glocal-English-Changing-Linguistics-Semiotics/dp/1433129264/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1436569864&sr=1-1>*
> "The nice thing about pessimism is that you are constantly being either
> proven right or pleasantly surprised." G. F. Will
>
> --
> Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
> Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
> ---
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> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an
Salimonu Kadiri
Whenever a Yoruba person talks about WÈRÈ, Obi always assume that the Yoruba person is talking about OWERRI. Traditionally, Aba-Oba-Ku is an appointee of a newly crowned King of Ife (Ooni Ife) which is not a general practice in Yorubaland. Since, Johnson Thompson Aguiyi Ironsi was not Ooni of Ife, Lt. Colonel Francis Adekunle Fajuyi could not have been his Aba-Oba-Ku to which Obi Nwakanma would want to reduce Fajuyi's heroism to. The person that arrested Ironsi and Fajuyi was Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma, whose substantive rank as at July 29, 1966 was Captain. Jeremiah Useni was an unknown military figure at that time and could not have been part of the decision makers concerning the fate of Ironsi and Fajuyi. Obi is very good in the art of crediting people with statements they have never made. Where and when did Jeremiah Useni said he was among those who decided that Fajuyi should suffer the same fate as Ironsi and what was his military rank then?
Obi Nwakanma is like a child, who often washes his stomach only and claims that he has bathed. He wrote, "If Salimonu wants education, he should come with little humility and be informed. I would recommend that he reads Sylvia Leith-Ross's *Notes of the Osu among the Ibo of the Owerri Province* in the April 1937 issue of the Journal of the International African Institute." Most liars, like Obi Nwakanma, have short memories which is why they easily get caught in the cobweb of self-contradiction. The self-acclaimed progressive nationalist, Obi, is recommending me to read what a foreign girl wrote about Osu, to educate myself. Inconsistency is a known threat to truth and common sense!! Obi is asking me to travel to Sókótó to search for what is inside the pocket of my sòkòtò (trousers). Why should I bother myself with the views of Sylvia Leith-Ross on Osu, when I have access to superior written records on the subject by Nigerians, and most especially Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe. Hear him speak in the Eastern House of Assembly on March 20, 1956, while seconding the motion for the second reading of the Abolition of the Osu System Bill, "Mr Speaker, this Bill is a milestone in the long history of the struggle of African humanity for social equality on the continent of Africa. ....//... This Bill seeks to do three things: to abolish the Osu system and its allied practices including the Oru or Ohu System, to prescribe punishment for their continued practice, and to remove certain social disabilities caused by the enforcement of the Osu and its allied systems. The objects and reasons for the Bill are humanitarian and altruistic. They are a positive attempt on the part of your government ..... which found as a fact that certain persons suffered social disabilities and were stigmatized from the point of view of marriage simply because they were labelled as Osu or descendants of Osu, or Oru, or descendants of Oru.
What is the Osu system and why must it be abolished? ....//... According to this Bill, the Osu system includes any social way of living which implies that any person who is deemed to be an Osu or Oru or Ohu is subject to certain prescribed social disability and social stigma. An Osu may be a person who has been dedicated to a shrine or a deity and that person and its descendants are therefore regarded as social pariahs with no social rights which non-Oru are bound to respect. An Osu may be a person who is descended or can be proved to be descended from a slave and that person and his descendants are for ever proscribed as social pariahs......
Mr. Speaker, I call upon all nationalists on both sides of this House to disassociate themselves from a satanic practice which sentences our kith and kin to social degradation. ... Mr. Speaker, this Bill offers a challenge to the morality of Easterners. I submit that it is not morally consistent to condone the Osu or Oru or Ohu system. I submit that it is devilish and most uncharitable to brand any human being with a label of inferiority (slave)... (p. 91-93, ZIK: Selected Speeches of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe)" Obi as a historical revisionist is equating Osu to religious monk while Azikiwe who was seconding a motion to ban it in the Eastern House of Assembly in 1956 proclaimed it a satanic practice and vicious social system. Obi Nwakanma thinks we are blind and as such he lied to us that there was no salt in the soup and hoping foolishly that we were not going to taste it for verification. Dr. Thomas Ozodi Osuji once upbraided the type of Obi Nwakanma's historical inventions in an online media, Nigeria Village Square thus, "Their (Igbo) so-called intellectuals are currently writing pseudo history of them. Yet their pseudo intellectuals write fiction of what they think that their society was like two thousand years ago! This is made up history, make belief history, fiction and fantasy, imaginary stuff, wish for state of history, but not reality."
Obi Nwakanma wrote, "Awo's work was dedicated to creating an ethnic counter force to the anti-colonial nationalist movement. And he was clear about it. He wrote about it. He practised it. The records of the positions of the Egbe and the AG from 1947/48 when they were floated can be read in archived work of the party's newspaper, the Daily Express, many of which can be found in various libraries today." Obi Nwakanma is basing his claim that Awo's work was dedicated to creating an ethnic counterforce to the anti-colonial nationalist movement on what he, Obi, has read in the Daily Express about Egbe and AG from 1947/48. Yet he failed woefully to tell his readers what Awolowo exactly wrote, did or said that qualified him to be an ethnic counterforce to anti-colonial nationalist movement. Readers should just accept as the truth whatever Obi Nwakanma asserts about Awolowo and the AG without any substantial written evidence other than Obi's historical Decree and pronouncements. Obi goofed when he asserted that the records of when Egbe and AG were floated in 1947/48 could be read in the Daily Express because that newspaper never existed in 1947/48. Rather, there was Daily Service which was replaced by Daily Express towards independence.
When Nnamdi Azikiwe returned to Nigeria in 1937, he met established political parties, among which were Nigerian National Democratic Party (NNDP) and Nigerian Youth Movement (NYM). Herbert Macaulay, the Secretary General of the NNDP had been in the forefront of anti-imperialism since 1922, with the colonial government jailing him several times and even imposing life-ban on him to visit Oyo province which was in force till his death in 1946. The Lagos Youth Movement founded in 1933 by Dr. J.C.Vaughan, Mr. Ernest Ikoli, and Samuel Akinsanya, had been demonstrating against the colonial government since its inception. The LYM was converted to Nigerian Youth Movement in 1937 when Henry Oladipo Davies became its General Secretary. In 1938, the NYM won all the three seats to the Legislative Council having defeated the NNDP that had won all elections to the Legislative Council in Lagos since 1923. After that election Azikiwe joined the NYM as a back-bencher together with Awolowo, Akintola, Tuyo, Subair, Ogugua-Arah, Sonibare and Duro Emamanuel under the leadership of Dr. Kofo Abayomi, Dr Akinola Maja and Jubril Martin. That Azikiwe joined the NYM only added more energy to the fire of Nationalism in Nigeria that had started long before his return to Nigeria from Ghana.
In early 1941, Ernest Ikoli had become the President of NYM after Dr. Kofo Abayomi that had departed to London for specialist course in ophthalmology and whose Legislative Council seat was declared vacant. Thus a by-election was to be conducted to fill his position that year. The President, Earnest Ikoli declared his interest to contest the by-election as well as the Vice President, Oba Samuel Akinsanya, and Dr. Akinola Maja. When the Executive Committee of the NYM met it decided in favour of Ernest Ikoli on the ground that it was the convention in NYM that when the President expressed interest to contest any election, he should automatically be selected. Dr. Abayomi had enjoyed that convention and it should be extended to his successor, Earnest Ikoli. Oba Akinsanya rejected the decision of the Executive Committee and contested against Ikoli with the open support of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe while Awolowo supported Ernest Ikoli. When the result of the by-election of March 5, 1941 came out, Ikoli won. Thereafter, Azikiwe and Akinsanya left NYM. It is remarkable that Awolowo could choose to support Earnest Ikoli, an Ijaw- man against not only a Yorubaman but an Ijebu man like himself. However, NYM was weakened by the crisis and consequently, NNDP began to win all elections to the Legislative Council from 1943. That same year, Nnamdi Azikiwe founded the Ibo Federal Union and installed himself as the President. He was immediately imitated by Eyo Ita who also founded Ibibio Federal Union. In 1948, Ibo Federal Union name was changed to Ibo State Union to become a central or pan-tribal organisation which unites a multitude of voluntary associations formed to foster civic welfare in the local communities of Ibo-land and in the Ibo settler communities of new urban areas throughout Nigeria. It is noteworthy that the founder of Zikist Movement, Nwafor Orizu joined the Ibo State Union in 1948. That same year, Ibibio Federal Union changed its name to Ibibio State Union. In 1948, Awolowo was in far away Ibadan when Egbe Omo Oduduwa was formed in Lagos by Adeyemo Alakija, Akinola Maja, Kofo Abayomi, Bode Thomas, Hezekiah Oladipo Davies, Akanni Doherty and others which Awolowo later joined and opened a branch in Ibadan. In his Presidential address to the Ibo State Assembly at Enugu on 15 December 1950, Nnamdi Azikiwe said, "In the Western Region, the Egbe Omo Oduduwa has been very active in seeing to it that only nationalist should enter the Western House of Assembly." I leave the rest to readers to judge who introduced tribalism into politics in Nigeria.
Obi Nwakanma wrote, "....... reactionary groups funded essentially by the British and their local interests, like Awolowo, made certain that the nationalists did not come to power." Who were the nationalists Britain did not allow to come to power in Nigeria? In fact they were Awolowo, Enahoro, Ikoku, Dr. Tunji Otegbeye, Aminu Kano, Mokwugo Okoye, Ajuluchukwu, Michael Imodu, etc. Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe had always been in power in Nigeria, directly or indirectly depending on his foxy and selfish calculations. The first federal elections of 1954, produced the following results: NPC 84 seats, NCNC 63 seats, Action Group 20 seats, KNC 6 seats, UNIP 5 seats, Idoma State Union 2 seats, Middle Belt Peoples' Party 2 seats, Igbira Tribal Union 1 seat, and Nigerian Commoners Liberal Party 1 seat. None of the political parties had a majority to form the government and a very important factor was that NPC was considered to be a party of feudalists and autocrats. However, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe while addressing the NCNC Federal Parliamentary Party and National Executive Committee on January 8, 1955, said, "I believe that the NCNC and the Northern Peoples Congress can work a government by agreement in which the former (NCNC) dominates the executive and the latter (NPC) controls the legislature..." The reason why Azikiwe wanted a federal government dominated by the NCNC with the NPC was because he viewed Northerners as educationally inferior. In his Presidential Address to Ibo State Union at Enugu on December 15, 1950, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe spoke about the North thus, "In the North, the feudal autocrats and their minions have spared no time in making it easier for non-English ciphers and illiterate dummies to flood the Northern House of Assembly." In 1955, Azikiwe was prepared to dominate a federal government where non-English ciphers and illiterate dummies flooded the legislatures to rubber stamp and thumb-print his executive dictums. About a year before the 1959 Federal elections which was to choose the government that would usher Nigerian into independence, Azikiwe paid a courtesy visit, on 14 June 1958, to the Premier of Northern Region, Ahmadu Bello. After the visit Azikiwe said that he was in a position to say that his appraisal of the Action Group was shared by the God-fearing compatriots who constitute the majority among the inhabitants of the North. Earlier, on February 17, 1958, Yoruba members of the NCNC had formed Egbe Yoruba Parapo (Yoruba State Union). Its President was Alhaji N.B. Soule, Vice-Presidents, H.O. Davies, Mr. Alex Joaquim, and Chief J.A. Oshibogun; General Secretary - Alhaji Adegoke Adelabu; Treasurer - Chief P.A. Afolabi; Legal Adviser - Chief Kola Balogun; and Auditor - Mr. G.B. Akinyede. Although they claimed to be loyal to the NCNC, they were determined to co-operate with other ethnic groups in the NCNC only on the terms of absolute equality. At that time the domination of the NCNC by the Ibo State Union was no longer latent which Adelabu and companies were prepared to challenge.
The final results of the December 1959 Federal Elections showed that NPC won 148 seats, NCNC and its ally, NEPU won 89 seats and AG and its ally UMBC won75 seats. Since NCNC, AG and their allies together had 164 seats as against 148 for the NPC, Awolowo proposed a national government led by Nnamdi Azikiwe as he, Awolowo, would not serve in a national government led by a feudalist. In spite of the protest of the ally of NCNC in the North (NEPU), Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe announced on Sunday, 20 December 1959 a coalition agreement between the NPC and the NCNC, in which the post of Prime Minister was ceded to Abubakar Tafawa Balewa of the NPC. It did not matter if Hausa man was the head of government as the saying went at that time: Hausa man wey e no sabi book, na we e go de rule. Awolowo chose to be leader of opposition while as Chinua Achebe confirm it, the Igbo led the nation in virtually every sector - politics, education, commerce, and the arts (There Was a Country, p 66-67). Whatever hatred we may harbour for the British colonialism, it would amount to historical falsification for anyone to accuse them of handing over federal government's power in Nigeria to the NPC when, in reality, it was Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe that ceded the head of government to Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. In 1948 and 1950, Azikiwe disowned the Zikist Movement to save his own skin from the whip of the colonial power. On September 7, 1968, he led a delegate of Biafrans, comprising of Dr. Michael Okpara, Dr. Kenneth Dike and Francis Nwokedi and others to Paris to negotiate Arms for Biafra which had been reduced to a small enclave. The French realizing the hopelessness of the military situation refused to pour in more arms. Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe exploited the occasion to forsake Biafra. Later, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe publicly accused Ojukwu of confiscating his poem, The Land of a Rising Sun, and adapting it into Biafran National Anthem, without his consent or approval. That was the history not of a nationalist, progressive or revolutionary, but of a fair-weather and chop-chop politician.
S. Kadiri
Salimonu Kadiri
In the UK, under section 5 of its Public Order Act (POA), one Harry Taylor, an atheist who placed drawings, satirizing Christianity and Islam in an airport prayer room, was convicted in April 2010 and given a six-month prison sentence. There is no freedom of, speech, action and expression anywhere in the world without absolute limit.
S. Kadiri
Skickat: den 3 september 2016 21:29
Till: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Ämne: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Naming a Dog and Buhari’s Emerging Democratic Tyranny
analyst given to rigour, I went clawing and digging and sniffing, and,
bow-wow, I came upon Jim Dratfield's book, Dogography, which features
interesting illustrations and quotes in doglore! Here are some great
sayings featured: "Dogs are us, only innocent" (Cynthia Heimel); "All
knowledge, the totality of all questions and all answers, is contained
in a dog" (Franz Kafka). Wonderful! Thanks, Chinakwe, for opening a
door.
-- Obododimma.
On 8/27/16, Farooq A. Kperogi <farooq...@gmail.com> wrote:
> My column in today's Daily Trust:
>
> *By Farooq A. Kperogi, Ph.D.*
>
> *Twitter:@farooqkperogi <https://twitter.com/farooqkperogi>*
Kenneth Harrow
All freedoms/rights are limited by others. No one in human rights theory disputes that. I bet, however, your example, salimonu, is incomplete. Was it for mocking the religions that this person was convicted. I bet you, without my even looking into it, that there is more to explain the conviction.
I’d go further.
No one should be barred from mocking anything in religion on the ground that religious beliefs or images are sacrosanct.
That’s how I would interpret freedom of expression.
On the other hand…and there is always another hand… the circumstances of the mockery might constitute a provocation that would directly lead to violence. I would want to adjust freedom to mock by taking circumstances into account.
Complicated stuff. Salimonu perhaps your comment simplifies it too much, implicitly claiming the crime had to do simply w mocking religion.
For instance, if you defile an image of Mohamed on a mosque, would it be the damage done to the building or to the faith of people that would ground the law?
Without knowing the circumstances of your example, I am willing to bet it is closer to the former than the latter, in the u.k.
ken
Kenneth Harrow
Dept of English and Film Studies
http://www.english.msu.edu/people/faculty/kenneth-harrow/
From: usaafricadialogue <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Salimonu Kadiri <ogunl...@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: usaafricadialogue <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Date: Sunday 4 September 2016 at 08:08
To: usaafricadialogue <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Rex Marinus
Salimonu Kadiri
Obi Nwakanma can diminish the heroism of Lt. Colonel Francis Adekunle Fajuyi who preferred to die than living in shame the rest of his life. What prompted him to do what he did depended on the Yoruba saying, IKÚ YÁ JU ÊSIN, as I have explained before. The same thing happened to Mrs. Ademulegun who was eight months pregnant but stood protectively in front of her husband when Major Tim Onwuatuegwu invaded their bedroom on 15 January 1966 (see p. 80, Nigeria's Five Majors by Captain Ben Gbulie who was among the coup planners and executors in Kaduna). Even the wife of Colonel Ralph Shodeinde was fatally wounded when she courageously tried to wrap herself around her husband. In Yoruba culture, defending ones integrity and honour to the point of death is well entrenched. A Yoruba Commander in Chief would not have boasted on 26 May 1967 that no military force in Africa could subdue his troops and later deserted his soldiers to flee into exile with his wife and children. That man, Ojukwu, led a thirty month insurgency to de-Nigerianize the Igbo and nine years after he abandoned his defeated army, Ojukwu shamelessly submitted, in 1979, nomination papers to Federal Electoral Commission (FEDECO) on Form E.C. 4D and declared, "I am a citizen of Nigeria and therefore qualified for election to the Nigerian House of Representatives on the ticket of the Great Nigeria Peoples' Party, Led by Alhaji Waziri Ibrahim, and in Nnewi Federal Constituency. The application was rejected. He was eventually pardoned by President Shehu Shagari and on his return to Nigeria he begged to apply for military pension as Lt. Colonel, the rank he held in the Nigeria before his insurrection against Nigeria, and he was granted pension as such. The disabled Igbo soldiers he led into war were left to their fates as they resorted up till date to alms begging for survival in major streets of Igbo towns and cities. The word shame or ridicule or reproach probably has different meaning in Obi's culture than in Yoruba's which is why he cannot comprehend and appreciate Fajuyi's heroic behaviour which Obi has reduced to mere 'death wish.'
On Osu caste system in Igboland Obi Nwakanma wrote, ".... only the likes of Salimonu Kadiri would call an accomplished woman like Leith-Ross*girl* just simply to demonize and discredit her and reduce her to some kind of nonentity that suggests that a *mere white girl* cannot have equal insight with men." Obi, I am afraid to use the right word, is not telling the truth. The gender of Leith-Ross is insignificant to me and I would still have rejected her Osu thesis if he were a white boy compared with indigenous knowledge espoused by Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe. It is only a gender extremist like Obi who believes that because females wear trousers, they can stand and hold their thighs together to urinate as men do!! Why did I prefer to believe in Azikiwe than 'lady na master,' Leith-Ross? This is what Obi wrote in his previous submission before the latest, *Leith-Ross says*: "ones's first impression is that the Osu form a caste apart, in the nature of the untouchables of India; yet as far as one is yet aware, amongst the extremely democratic Ibo (sic) no classes, let alone castes exist (207)." I don't believe Azikiwe was fooling himself or anybody by seconding a motion to abolish the caste system he described as satanic and vicious in Igboland. Based on Leith-Ross romantic views about Osu, Obi Nwakanma proceeded to bleach the dark history of Osu practice in Igboland into white thus, "First, Osu is not an Igbo-wide practice. ....//... Third, the Osu was connected more to religious practices than to political power, ... The closest description (of Osu) was a religious monk - one who either chooses willingly, or is dedicated by the family, to live in the external service of a divinity. .... the Osu is no longer an issue in the Igbo world or its cultural practice." After drawing attention of Obi Nwakanma to the speech of Azikiwe in the Eastern House of Assembly on March 20, 1956, in which he was seconding a motion for the abolition of Osu caste system in Igboland, he is now saying that the Eastern Region government was forward-looking in legislating against Osu caste system. Obi is challenging me to show him any "Osu" that I know who has suffered discrimination, whose status as "Osu" has permanently confined them to economic and social margins among the Igbo. This challenge is premised on Obi's belief that there are numerous Igbo captains of industry, top scholars, mandarins of the civil service, who were once "Osu." Therefore, he claims that categorizing such people as Osu do not make sense to his generation of the Igbo because the religious and spiritual foundations that once made "Osu" necessary is long gone. Let us meet in Nigeria, I will take you to Nzam in Onitsha where Osu are confined and referred to locally as Achi-Ebo, in Nsukka area they are labelled Oruma, and in Agwu area they are referred to as Nwani or Ohualusi. The people of Umuode in Nkanu East Local Government area of Enugu State are said to be descendants of the Osu and are, till date, being treated as slaves. In Oruku Community made up of three clans, namely, Umuode, Umuchiani and Onuogowu, the people of Umuode have limited social interaction with the rest of the community because of their Osu status. If I say, the dark-skinned race in the US are still being contemptuously demeaned and called niggers by the pale-skinned dominating race it will not be intelligent for anyone to ask me to show him or her any dark-skinned man that has been discriminated against because of his colour. It will sound funny to claim that a derogatory reference to a dark-skinned person as a nigger no longer makes sense since there are dark-skinned Professors of History, Economics, Literature, Science, Medicine and Engineering in the US. While Obi is white-bleaching the dark history of Osu that is long gone, Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju posted on this forum an article by one Daniel Akusobi, on 26 June 2016, titled, Igbo caste Practices and Her Original Sin. Reading through the article, a link on the subject was given: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2010/10/osu-caste-in-igboland/
The article on Vanguardngr.com was written by one Tony Uchenna and contrary to the white-bleaching of continuous practice of Osu in Igboland by Obi Nwakanma, Mr. Tonny Uchenna, a resident of Enugu wrote among others : Osu caste system is an obnoxious practice among the Igbo in South East Nigeria which has refused to go away despite the impact of Christianity, education and civilization, and the human rights culture. Traditionally, there are two classes of people in Igboland - the Nwadiala and the Osu. The Nwadiala literally means sons of the soil. They (Nwadiala) are masters while the Osu are the people dedicated to the gods; so they are regarded as slaves, strangers, outcasts and untouchables.
The discriminatory Osu practice involves inequality in freedom of movement and choice of residence, inequality in the right of peaceful association, inequality of residence, inequality in the enjoyment of the right to marry and establish a family, and inequality in access to public office. That is the crux of the matter with Osu in Igboland."
I don't know what caused Oluwatoyin Adepoju to post his message of 26 June 2016, but I know that the Diala, the master class, of Umuchiani and Onuogowu up till date refer to the residents of Umuode as 'Ndi abu ndi Osu anyi,' meaning these are our slaves.
Obi Nwakanma was not telling the truth when he wrote that Nnamdi Azikiwe broke with the NYM because of ideological differences. The West African Pilot, personally owned by Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, of 20 February 1941, stated the reasons why Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe deserted the first truly nationalist organisation in Nigeria thus : The political cauldron which had been seething since the Vice President, Oba Samuel Akinsanya, of the Nigerian Youth Movement opposed the candidature of the President of the N.Y.M., Mr. Ernest Ikoli, for the March bye-election assumed another aspect yesterday. Mr. Nnamdi Azikiwe has tendered his resignation from the Movement. It will be recalled that on the eve of the last bye-election to fill the seat of the Third Lagos Member, 'Zik' offered to resign from the Movement, in view of disagreement of views and methods between him and two others of the Movement, but he was advised by the overwhelming majority of the members of the Executive Committee to withdraw his resignation, which he did. On that occasion 'Zik' explained how he had lost materially and otherwise, as a result of the election campaign of 1938, for the political support which his business gave to the Movement, only to be told in the end that its aid, if any, was inconsequential. He, Azikiwe, asked that his letter should be accepted as his resignation from the Movement and he hoped that 'Our Movement live long and make worthwhile contributions towards the crystallization of a new Africa.
It is noteworthy that the West African Pilot of February 21, 1941 declared that the candidature of Akinsanya was rejected by the NYM because he was an Ijebu. Despite Azikiwe's campaign for Oba Samuel Akinsanya, Ernest Ikoli won the bye-election to the Legislative Council in 1941 and Azikiwe exploited the result of that democratic election that did not favour the candidate of his choice to quit the N.Y.M. Obi is not being truthful and objective when he said that Azikiwe left N.Y.M because it was dominated by Saro merchant class with its deeply Yoruba roots in Lagos.
The main reason why Azikiwe left NYM in 1941 was that he wanted leadership position which he knew could not be achieved by the calibre of the leaders in the N.Y.M. Moreover, he did not want an Ijaw man, Earnest Ikoli, from the then Eastern Region to outshine him. Because of selfish political ambition Azikiwe scuttled N.Y.M., and sought a new platform to achieve his political goal. So by 1943, Nnamdi Azikiwe founded the first tribal organization in Nigeria called Ibo Federal Union and installed himself as the President. The only Nigerian who followed the foot-step of Azikiwe by founding Ibibio Union was Eyo Ita and for that Azikiwe never liked him. After the foundation of Ibo Federal Union, Azikiwe moved swiftly to single-handedly found on 26 August 1944, the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons. On page 312 he wrote, "At the third meeting of the Inaugural Session of the NCNC, provisional officers were elected at a mass meeting assembled in the Glover Memorial Hall, as follows : President (Herbert Macaulay), Vice President (J.O. Lucas), General Secretary (Nnamdi Azikiwe), Financial Secretary (A.M. Howells), Treasurer (L.P. Ojukwu), Auditors (L.A. Onajobi and A. Ogedengbe), Legal Advisers ( E. J. Alex-Taylor, J. E. C. David, E.A. Akerele, O.A. Alakija, Ladipo Odunsi, and J.I.C. Taylor." The list of the provisional officers of the NCNC as presented shows that apart from Azikiwe and Louis Philip Ojukwu, as he was then known, all the officers were the same Sierra-Leonean and Lagos Yoruba that Obi Nwakanma asserted that Azikiwe could not work with in NYM. Strange enough, Azikiwe wrote, "Letters were forwarded by the Provisional General Secretary (Azikiwe himself) to the above gentlemen, dated 23 September, 1944. Some replied or sent messages giving reasons for their inability to accept office. Those who were willing to serve as the original officers of the NCNC included Herbert Macaulay, Nnamdi Azikiwe, L.A. Onojobi, A. Ogedengbe, E.A. Akerele and Ladipo Odunsi. Questionable in the above is why were only six out thirteen said to have been elected at a mass-meeting willing to accept their elections? Why was it necessary for the provisional Secretary to write to elected officers if they were present at the mass meeting where they were elected and if they accepted the offices to which they were elected? It was a political 419 of 1944 magnitude played by Azikiwe. There was no mass meeting at which provisional election of officers of the NCNC took place. Azikiwe sat somewhere, compiled a list of provisional officers and hoped that his appointed officers of the NCNC would gladly accept the offices allocated to them by the trickster. Noteworthy is the fact that Herbert Macaulay was the General Secretary of the Nigerian National Democratic Party (NNDP), since inception in 1922. Apart from 1938 to 1942, the NNDP has been winning all elections to the Legislative Council in Lagos. The old and fragile 80 years old Herbert Macaulay did not need a new party, NCNC. Azikiwe knew that Macaulay's life was approaching an end and he needed NNDP to ride to political fame. Macaulay died on May 7, 1946, and Azikiwe inherited NNDP and when the election into the Legislative Council was conducted in December 1946, Azikiwe did not contest on the platform of NCNC, but on the platform of the NNDP which he won.
In December 1948, Ibo federal union met in Port Harcourt and changed its name to Ibo State Union. It is a gross abuse of word to call Nnamdi Azikiwe, the person who introduced tribalism into politics in Nigeria as a Nationalist. The Egbe Omo Oduduwa was formed in February 1948 in response to Ibo Federal Union that was founded in 1943 and it was the same reaction that led to the founding of Jamiyyar Mutanen Arewa, Northern Peoples' Congress, in the Northern Region in May 1948. We should not forget that it was the activities of the Ibo Federal Union in Jos that led to the massacre of the Igbo by Jos indigenes in the first ethnic riot in Nigeria, in 1945.
Obi wrote that the British organized the Ibadan *carpet crossing* fiasco of 1951 in its bid to prevent Zik from leading a government... This fairy tale has been repeated many times by the likes of Mr. Nwakanma although, Nnamdi Azikiwe who was supposed to have been victim of carpet crossing in 1951 has never seen or experienced such carpet crossing. On page 314 of his Selected Speeches, Azikiwe asserted, "In alliance with the Nigerian National Democratic Party the NCNC won all the three seats for Lagos at the 1947 elections to the Legislative Council. The same alliance (NNDP/NCNC) won all the five seats for Lagos at the 1951 elections to the Western House of Assembly. We should note that Lagos was part of Western Nigeria in 1951. Noteworthy too is that Azikiwe mentioned only the election results for Lagos and not the rest of the Western Region. It is also remarkable that he was in alliance with himself since he was in control of NNDP and NCNC. However, on page 324 of his Selected Speeches he wrote, ".... towards the end of 1949, a new Constitution confirmed the carving up of the country virtually into three constituents, as originally conceived by Chief Bode Thomas. Not only that; a new political party had arisen on the horizon in Nigerian politics, with the name of Action Group, and carrying this Thomasian banner of extreme regionalization, it won majority seats at the (1951) general election to the Western House of Assembly to form the government of the Western Region." Here Azikiwe was honest enough to concede election victory to the Action Group while Obi Nwakanma is imagining a history of *carpet crossing* organized by Britain in favour of Awolowo.
Mixing up history, probably with the intention to falsify, Obi wrote, ".... the strategic capacity was aided by Awo's minder, Mr. Foot, who was almost assassinated by one of Azikiwe's followers, a clerk in the Secretariat, who was arrested and sent to the Yaba asylum." The fact is that the Zikist Movement under the leadership of Socialistic Zikists, including Nduka Eze, Mokwugo Okoye and Francis Ikenna Nzimiro had intensified its program of positive action. Copies of the "Call for Revolution" and other radical papers were circulated throughout the whole country. On 18 February 1950, Chukuwonka Ugokwu, a 24-year-old, 2s.8d a day labourer of the Posts and Telegraphs Department attempted to assassinate the Chief Secretary to the colonial government, Hugh Foot. That led to the arrest of Mokwugo Okoye, Nduka Eze, Francis Ikenna Nzimiro and about 20 Zikist Movement Members who were convicted for inciting to revolution and possessing seditious documents. On April 13, 1950 the colonial government proclaimed the Zikist Movement an unlawful society on the ground that it sought to stir up hatred and malice and to pursue its seditious aims by lawlessness and violence. In the Sunday Times, owned by the Colonial Government, of 17 April 1950, Azikiwe denounced the Socialistic Zikist Movement. Azikiwe was not a socialist and when the Zikist Movement wanted to hang the socialist beads on his neck, he withdrew his neck into his shell like a tortoise. On point of correction, the attempt on the life of Hugh Foot on February 18 1950 had nothing to do with the election to the Western House of Assembly in 1951; Mr. Chukuwonka Ugokwu, the assassin was not a clerk at the Secretariat but a daily paid labourer at the then P&T.
With regards to the results of the 1959 elections, Awolowo never sought a government that would exclude the North or the NPC. Rather what he called for was a national government of all the major political parties led by Nnamdi Azikiwe as he, Awolowo, would never serve in a government led by a feudalist. Obi's original postulation that Britain handed power over to the North, instead of the 'Nationalist Zik(?)' is invalid because it was Zik who ceded the Prime Ministership to the NPC on the ground that it favoured his Diala ideology of ethnic domination. If Britain had funded the Action Group and supported Awolowo, it must be interesting to know from Obi Nwakanma where Azikiwe got the money to start his newspaper's businesses, founding and funding of his Ibo Federal union, later Ibo State Union and the NCNC. The crisis of the Action Group in 1962 and the role played by the NCNC and Azikiwe is a lengthy history that should be told at another occasion.
S.Kadiri
Till: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Ämne: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Naming a Dog and Buhari’s Emerging Democratic Tyranny
Rex Marinus
Cornelius Hamelberg
In the good old days of the USSR, one watched Horisont TV and was awe-struck by the cultural diversity of the Soviet Empire in the fields of music and dance. There's even greater diversity in Africa and I daresay that there are more varieties of music in Nigeria than in any other country in Africa or South America.
Africans are generally proud of their continent, the second biggest continent in the world! Smaller countries must envy Nigeria's size, ethnic diversity, cultural achievements (Benin Bronzes, Wole Soyinka's Nobel Prize in Literature, Jay Jay Okocha, etc. and all the other distinctions of which Nigerians are proud, such as “one in every four black persons on the planet is of Nigerian ancestry!”; whilst this could be statistically true, one could also pay some attention to Nigeria's DNA connections with other African people and this came to mind ( conjured by Ogbeni Kadiri's reference to The Saro of Lagos :“Obi is not being truthful and objective when he said that Azikiwe left N.Y.M because it was dominated by Saro merchant class with its deeply Yoruba roots in Lagos.”
( My Aunt Nelly (my Yoruba uncle John Jeffrey-Coker's Dutch wife ) taught Charlotte and me to use the word ”fib” instead of “lie” - too strong a word for a child)
Well, my Better Half spent a few months July - September 1971 poring over the colonial archives in the British Museum researching I.T.A. Wallace Johnson , Zik, Kwame Nkrumah's West African Youth Movement...
Could we please get to the bottom of this about Zik of Africa leaving” because it was dominated by Saro merchant class with its deeply Yoruba roots in Lagos.” ?
Salimonu Kadiri
In his latest submission Obi Nwakanma wrote, "Salimonu Kadiri is the one insisting that Fajuyi had a 'death wish' not I." Yet in his submission of 6 September 2016, he equated the heroic behaviour of Fajuyi in refusing to abandon his guest and GOC, Ironsi, to Abobaku. Thereafter, Obi explained, "But to the point: the master-death companion idea is what I think animates Salimonu when describing Fajuyi's 'death wish' - the idea of the inexorable servant who must accompany his master in death rather than suffer dishonour." In my last reply I have explained that Ironsi was not Ooni of Ife and Fajuyi could not have been his Abobaku and consequently it was cynical of Obi to reduce Fajuyi's gallantry to 'death wish.'
Obi latest imaginary history about Fajuyi's death is : He was killed because he was Francis Adekunle Fajuyi, military governor of Ibadan, and member of the Supreme Military Council who championed the cause of the January 15th coupists vociferously in council. ....//... The choice of suicide to honourable death reduces the truth of Fajuyi's death. Obi is impacting rudeness and not knowledge on readers by referring to Fajuyi as a military governor of Ibadan and not as a Military Governor of Western Region. One may pardon Obi for his rudeness since it is inborn, genetically. However, it will be intelligent for Obi Nwakanma to tell readers what exactly Fajuyi did or said at the Supreme Military Council that amounted to championing the cause of the January 15, 1966, coup executors. The Supreme military Council and Federal Executive Council headed by General Ironsi consisted of Lieutenant Colonels, Ojukwu, Ejoor, Fajuyi and from June 1966, Major Mobolaji Johnson, Military Administrator of Lagos. Other members were the two chiefs of staff (Armed Forces and Army) Brigadier Ogundipe and Lieutenant Colonel Gowon, and the Commander of Navy, Commodore Wey. The influence of Fajuyi in the Supreme Military Council was minimal and if he could not influence Ironsi to release political prisoners, including Awolowo and Enahoro, or convince Ironsi against unitary government Decree No. 34 of 24 May 1966, how then could Fajuyi have had influence on the fate of the perpetrators of 15 January 1966 coup?
Departing from Fajuyi's *death wish* Obi Nwakanma now says Fajuyi committed suicide by not abandoning Ironsi even when the end result was to pay with his life. Neither Obi nor I was at Ibadan Government House on 29 July 1966 and whatever information we might have received must have been through second- or third-hand reports or books written about Nigeria between January 1966 and January 1970. The credibility of the writers would depend on their source of information and their relations to or acquaintances with the actors in the political fracas. Frederick Forsyth, the writer of :The Biafra Story - THE MAKING OF AN AFRICAN LEGEND was a supporter of Biafra and a confidante of Ojukwu. About what happened on July 29, 1966, he wrote, "Inside the house Ironsi and Fajuyi heard the shooting and sent down Ironsi's Air Force ADC, Lieutenant Nwankwo to find out what was going on. (Ironsi's Army ADC, Lt. Bello, a Hausa, had quietly disappeared, ....). Downstairs Nwankwo was arrested and his hands tied. After waiting almost till dawn Colonel Fajuyi descended to find out what had happened to Nwankwo. He was arrested. Finally at 9:00 a.m. Major Danjuma went upstairs to find General Ironsi and arrested him." John de St. Jorre, the author of The Nigerian Civil War wrote, "Finally, Major Danjuma (......) took some of his men upstairs, confronted and questioned the Supreme Commander, saluted him and ordered his arrest. The General was led downstairs to join the others. The three captives (The Western Governor, Fajuyi, who with great gallantry refused to leave his guest and Commander, and Ironsi's ADC) were now stripped and their hands tied behind their back." The second in Command to Ojukwu in Biafra, Philip Effiong wrote in Biafra My Story thus, "It must have been broad daylight by this time. Danjuma and his officers were organised, waiting to arrest Ironsi. Then his host, Lieutenant Colonel Francis Fajuyi emerged from State House. ....//... Danjuma promptly arrested him. Fajuyi was then told that all they wanted was to arrest Ironsi. Colonel Fajuyi then extracted a promise of safety for the person of General Ironsi from Major Danjuma who readily gave it in full hearing of the soldiers and some of the other people who were sitting around. It was after this little drama that Fajuyi returned to the house, no doubt, to apprise Ironsi of the situation. The time was about 9:00 a.m., on 29 July 1966. Danjuma and his escort met General Ironsi and Lt. Colonel Fajuyi in a small family lounge where he accosted the General. Here again General Ironsi asked Danjuma what he wanted and Major Danjuma replied, 'You are under arrest.' You organised the killing of our brother officers in January and you have done nothing to bring the so-called dissident elements to justice because you were part and parcels of the whole thing.' General Ironsi said, 'Who told you that? You know it is not true.'' Since Philip Effiong admitted he culled the encounter between Ironsi and Danjuma from the Biography of Lieutenant General Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma titled, Danjuma: The Making of a General by Lindsay Barret, I will like to point out that when Ironsi said that the accusation levelled against him was not true, Danjuma retorted, "You are lying. You have been fooling us. I ran around risking my neck trying to calm the ranks and in February you told us that they would be tried. This is July and nothing has been done. You will answer for your actions." In the book, The Nigerian Military: Sociological Analysis of Authority and Revolt 1960-67 By Robin Luckham, it is recorded, "At about 5. a.m., they (Ironsi and Fajuyi) were surrounded and their guard disarmed. An attempt was made to dispatch Lieutenant Colonel Njoku, the Brigade Commander of the Second Brigade (Lagos), who was in Ironsi's entourage, in civilian clothing to assume control in Lagos, but he was recognised by some of the arriving troops. He escaped wounded, but was unable to proceed. Ironsi was not confronted until 9. 00 a.m., when Major Danjuma of the fourth Battalion went upstairs in Government House with an escort, saluted him, questioned him and ordered his arrest." In the Barrel of a Gun written by Ruth First it is recorded, "But it was not until the following morning that Major Danjuma confronted the Supreme Commander, ordered his arrest and had him led into the Police vehicles awaiting outside. Fajuyi had insisted that if the Soldiers were removing the Supreme Commander, they should take him too." The central issue in the above excerpts from books by different authors was that the chief abductor, Major Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma, only questioned and accused General Ironsi of complicity in January 15, 1966 coup and his failure to try the so-called dissidents. The only conversation between him and Fajuyi was when the latter sought a guarantee for the safety of Ironsi's life. Fajuyi did not hang himself, he did not poison himself, he did not slice his own throat and cut his nerves to bleed to death, and therefore, no sane person could ever claim that he committed suicide by defending his integrity and honour as a soldier.
Obi Nwakanma pretended as if he did not know why I brought in Ojukwu into the discussion but he then turned around to write, "Well, Ojukwu was Igbo, and among the Igbo, suicide is the highest form of abomination. It is not heroic." To fight to the end in defence of ones rights and principle can never be regarded as suicide anywhere in the world. Ojukwu declared before his kangaroo Consultative Assembly on May 26, 1967, that no Army in Black Africa could subdue his forces and on the basis of that he de-Nigerianised the Igbo and the minority ethnic groups in the then Eastern Region. After wasting millions of Igbo lives, he as the Commander in Chief of the Biafran Army abandoned his soldiers and fled into safety, a behaviour that is abominable in military tradition and culture world-wide. In the history of warfare, it is a tradition that the Commander in Chief should lead his soldiers to fight to the end either to achieve total victory, or be defeated and surrender with his troops, be killed in the war front or fight the opponent to standstill for the purpose of achieving negotiated settlement. It is never heroic for a Commander in Chief to run away and to abandon his soldiers in the war front. There was nothing Igboic in starting a suicidal war that reduced Ojukwu's Biafra into an enclave within a year and despite that, he continued the war for two more years (in a collective suicide).
When Azikiwe left the US in 1934 he did not return to Nigeria. Rather, he landed in Accra, the capital of the then Gold Coast where he accepted to edit the African Morning Post, which was a new daily Newspaper. In 1937, Azikiwe and his deputy editor, the popular trade unionist I.T. Wallace-Johnson of Sierra-Leone, were prosecuted for the publication of a seditious article. Due to the reversal of their convictions on appeal, Azikiwe returned to Nigeria. In history books on Nigeria, I am yet to come across the name of Dr. Simon Onwu as the first modern Ibo doctor in 1932. On the contrary, history books reveal that the first Igbo doctor was Francis Akanu Ibiam who returned to Nigeria in 1935, while the first Igbo lawyer, Louis Mbanefo returned to Nigeria in 1937 the same year Azikiwe returned to Nigeria from Accra after arriving their in 1934. Thus the assertion that Ibo Union was formed in 1932 and that the same organised a reception for Azikiwe in 1934, whereas he did not set his feet in Nigeria until 1937, is false. What is well established in historical archives is that Nnamdi Azikiwe founded the Ibo Federal Union in 1943 after scuttling the NYM and installed himself as the President. When the name was changed to Ibo State Union in 1948, Azikiwe continued as the President. Contrary to the assertion of Obi Ibibio Union and later Ibibio State Union were formed as a rival to Ibo federal Union and Ibo State Union.
Azikiwe did not join the NYM in 1937 but in 1938 after the elections to the Legislative Council in Lagos had been won. Azikiwe stated in his Selected Speeches (p. 307-8) thus, "By 1937, a brilliant Nigerian had returned home from the United Kingdom in the person of Hezekiah Oladipo Davies, who became the General Secretary of the Movement, and the name of the Movement was changed from Lagos to Nigerian Youth Movement." Hezekiah Oladipo Davies was a lawyer who actually wrote the Charter and the Constitution of the NYM. After the NYM had won the elections in 1938, Azikiwe joined the NYM as a backbencher (p.309, Selected Speeches). Concerning the role played by Azikiwe in destroying the first true national political organisation in Nigeria, Obi Nwakanma wrote, "Basically, he (Azikiwe) supported S. A. Akinsanya because he believed in the rights of *outsiders* to contest elections in Lagos." Ernest Ikoli was an Ijaw from the Delta Area of the then Eastern Province and at the same time President of NYM after Dr. Kofo Abayomi. Samuel Akinsanya was deputy President of NYM and from Ijebu. The dispute of who should contest the bye-election to the Legislative Council had nothing to do with their place of birth and origin in Nigeria but to follow the Movement's convention that where the president of the movement indicated interest in election, he was automatically nominated. Should we buy Obi's argument of *outsider's* right to contest in Lagos, Ikoli is more outsider in Lagos than Akinsanya. Both Akinsanya and Ikoli contested the bye-election in which the latter won. Why then did Azikiwe and Akinsanya refuse to accept the verdict of the electorates as democratically expressed? Azikiwe was systematic in his betrayal and destruction of the NYM and immediately he succeeded he founded the Ibo Federal Union as a base for his political carrier. Thereafter he founded the NCNC and tricked the old man Herbert Macaulay into accepting to be the President and when Macaulay died two years later, Azikiwe became bona-fide owner of both the NNDP and NCNC. Until 1951, Azikiwe was contesting elections in Lagos and Western Region on the platform of NNDP while in the East it was on the platform of NCNC. Azikiwe buried the NNDP after 1951 elections to the Western House of Assembly which he lost.
On Awolowo's call for a national government led by Azikiwe and not the feudalist, Obi averred that it would have been bad politics, because it would have alienated the critical base of the North, and it would have been bad politics. In other words, Obi has changed his earlier opinion that Britain rigged the 1959 federal elections to install Northerner in power. However, Obi failed to show how a national government comprising of the three major political parties would have been bad politics that would have alienated the North. No, Azikiwe studiously calculated his political steps and entered into coalition agreement with the NPC on the belief that his Igbo ethnic group would dominate the federal government since the North were in shortage of educated people as the Igbo. Even though there were minorities in the North, East and West, he spear-headed the carving out of Mid-west Region from the West while the North and the East remained intact. He conspired with the NPC to overthrow the Action Group controlled government of Western Region but his adventure backfired when Akintola and Fani-Kayode thumbed his nose by resurrecting the NNDP which Azikiwe inherited from Herbert Macaulay in 1946 and buried in 1951. Thanks to Azikiwe, for the tribal politics that we still have in Nigeria till date.
S.Kadiri