For Kwabena: understanding the anger of Naija's "internet warriors"

[Pius Adesanmi]

Kwabena: This piece by the editor of one of Nigeria's leading newspapers will, hopefully, help you understand the anger of Nigerian commentators/columnists. It should also, hopefully, help you see that columnists are not manufacturing orientalisms about Nigeria as the patriotic owners of ten yams and forty lies would have you believe. Watch out for the nice descriptions the angry Nigerians in the piece have for our leaders in Abuja. When you are done with the piece, add Nigeriaworld.com to your daily trips to Ghanaweb. Like Ghanaweb, Nigeriaworld is where you find the most complete collection of Nigerian newspapers and op-eds written by Nigerian journalists living and working in Nigeria. If and when you come across that good news in Nigerian newspapers that alienated Nigerian commentators living abroad are covering up, wake me up. Like Dr Ojo told, you can't manufacture what isn't there. And some of us will not eat those forty lies with the deluded patriots. Anyone is free to try and cover leprosy with saliva so long as they don't imagine they are fooling anyone but themselves.   Pius   From Singapore Through Dubai To Nigeria E-MAIL THIS PRINT THIS MOST POPULAR PDF VERSION XML VERSION TXT version Sam NdaBhy By Sam Nda-Isaiah   March 9th, 2009   Emirates Flight EK 783 took off right on schedule from the breathtaking Dubai International Airport on the morning of Saturday, March 7, 2009. I had travelled to Dubai and Singapore and was on my way back home. The Lagos-bound flight had several Nigerian passengers also returning home from other parts of the world. It was a classic anticlimax for us when we started descending onto Lagos at about midday. Sometimes, when travelling to Nigeria from outside, especially if there are many foreigners on board, it is better to sneak in at night when total darkness and PHCN's inefficiency conceal some of the products of long years of bad governance in Nigeria. Imagine the personal embarrassment at sitting next to an expatriate friend with whom you had flown through the exotic cities of Singapore through Dubai. I was soundly disgraced.   As we descended onto Lagos, you would think we were about landing in a country that had recently emerged from long years of war and probably also treated to a nuclear bomb in the process. The rusty rooftops, which were the tell-tale sign of mass poverty long before the global financial meltdown, were nothing short of a scandal compared to what you saw in both Dubai and Singapore. The foreigner sitting next to me, who obviously is used to Nigeria, wondered aloud how neat people somehow manage to come out of such dwellings. I didn't answer him. I respected myself. We then landed in Lagos. The immaculately manicured airport grounds in both Singapore and Dubai have now been replaced by an unkempt, dirty and unruly serial patch of thorns and weeds growing carelessly and unchallenged around the airport. The Lagos Murtala Mohammed International Airport, which is our flagship airport and also the largest, is, of course, only about a tenth or even much less the size of either the Changi International Airport in Singapore or the Dubai International Airport. That would not have been at issue at all if not that, at independence, our own airport was by far superior to, and better rated than, these airports. Yes, at independence, we were considered more advanced than both Singapore and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of which Dubai is a part. The difference in destinies between us and them is the difference in the quality of leadership that Nigerians have been treated to in the last 50 years, but more specifically in the last 10 when we earned billions of petrodollars and there is nothing to show for it. Chinua Achebe saw this a long time ago when he said the trouble with Nigeria is squarely that of leadership.   As we disembarked and made way into the arrival hall of the Murtala Mohammed Airport, the first thing we noticed was that the air conditioners were not working. As if that was not exasperating enough, a part of the arrival hall had been polluted by a putrefying odour that only suggested that the toilets in the hall had not been cleaned for a long time. It was at this point that one of the Nigerian passengers I was noticing for the first time snapped and blurted out what was clearly on everybody's mind: "What kind of nonsense is this?" he asked angrily. "Do we exist in a world different from others?" With this "defining comment", it was like hell was immediately let loose and virtually every Nigerian in the crowd got very abusive. "What kind of stupid leaders do we have?" "Don't they travel to other parts of the world?" "What happened to all the money that we have been earning?" Everybody was angry. People were speaking in Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo and English – all to the amusement of the few foreigners among us. It was at this point that I also noticed my friend, Adamu Adamu, in the crowd. We didn't see each other on the airplane and I also didn't notice him at the Dubai airport. While I came into Dubai to catch the connecting Emirates flight to Lagos from Singapore, he came in via Tehran. Immediately Malam Adamu saw me, he suggested, in his trademark humorous way, that we write a joint article on the shame that Nigeria has become. We both laughed it off in the very humid heat of the arrival hall.   Tehran, the capital of Iran, which like Nigeria is also an oil-producing country and is classified together with Nigeria by the West as Third World, has gone far ahead of us, Malam Adamu declared with resignation. Iran just recently successfully launched a satellite into space, not to talk of its nuclear programme for whatever purpose. Iran refines its own crude oil for local consumption and also exports to other countries including Nigeria.   The facts are aggravating. Nigeria and Singapore received their independence from the British at about the same time. When Singapore, which was originally part of Malaysia, desired to break away, Malaysia gladly allowed the small fishing island to leave. At that time, it was good riddance. The island was a small fishing village which offered no present or future promise. At the time of its independence, Singapore was probably not more developed than Nigeria’s Katsina of the 1960s. But the Singaporeans had one luck: they elected Lee Kuan Yew, the then 35-year-old Cambridge-educated lawyer who had a keen vision, as their first prime minister. Lee Kuan Yew was clearly aware, as he himself reminisced recently, that if his country did not develop fast, it would not even appear on the map of the world. He was quite certain of that and made it clear to his countrymen. He was disciplined and had a cast-iron determination. He knew it was possible and he also knew he had to design a set of rules to fight corruption and other forms of bad habits that stunt development - the types that have kept Nigeria down perpetually as an undeveloped nation.   Today, in his own words, he has transformed Singapore from "Third World to First". Singapore today is one of the most developed countries of the world and one of its wealthiest. The country doesn't have any natural resource, yet boasts of some of the largest refineries in the world from whence Nigeria occasionally imports some of its fuel needs. Singapore has the biggest port in the world and its national airline, Singapore Airline, remains one of the best in the world. Changi International Airport remains one of the most modern. If anyone doubts that Singapore is the most beautiful city in the world, it is definitely arguably so. If you love plants and flowers, then spend all your vacations in Singapore. It is the only one of its type in the world. And it is also virtually crime-free. As you land at the Changi International Airport, it is mandatory that the airline you are in – whatever airline it is – remind you that the penalty for drug trafficking is death. Several Nigerians have been executed accordingly in the last few years.   Singapore is the cleanest city I have visited and the whole country appears to be one huge garden. It is the greenest city in the world. And this is for a country that has to import its entire potable water needs from Malaysia, a neighbouring country. There is not a single fresh water source in the country. All these were achieved through deliberate good leadership. Corruption is virtually non-existent, and even though the government is a benevolent dictatorship with weird policies – like banning the sale of chewing gum in the country because it messes up their well-paved streets – the people are happy and well aware of their good fortune of having a good and visionary government. The citizens discuss it freely, comparing themselves with even some of their neighbours. Singapore is multi-racial, multi-religious and multi-tribal. The nation is made up of the Chinese, Malays, Indians and Eurasians and yet people live peaceably and happily with one another. The government houses every citizen and ensures that people of all races, religions and tribes live side by side one another. Segregation, or the type of balkanisation you see in Kaduna where some areas are marked for certain tribes and religions, is outlawed.   Singapore was discovered and founded about two centuries ago by a certain Stamford Raffles, a British trader who stumbled upon the small island in the course of his travels. But Lee Kuan Yew is the father of modern Singapore. He served as prime minister for 31 years, stepped down and he is now called and referred to as the mentor-minister, a position from which he serves as the guardian angel of his country. It is, therefore, not surprising that his eldest son, Hsien Loong, was recently elected prime minister. Loong is still prime minister.   A trip to Dubai, Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa, Ghana, Namibia, Mozambique and even neighbouring Cote d' Ivoire (which now buys our crude, refines it and then sells back the refined products to us) will convince anyone that the world has left Nigeria behind. In fact, Africa has left Nigeria behind. Even with all the trouble in Zimbabwe, they still have power supply for 24 hours each day. Ethiopia that has consistently been in a state of war for several decades still boasts a robust Ethiopian Airlines, its national carrier. Ghana has consistently shamed us by conducting free and fair elections. In Nigeria, almost five decades after independence, the country that was once the brightest promise for Africa is totally in a shambles. No power, no clean water, no railways, no national airline, no NITEL, no stock exchange, no security of life and property, no refineries, a collapsed education system, public hospitals worse than mere consulting clinics – and we now hear that Yar'Adua is preparing for a second term. What an insult!     Pius Adesanmi, Ph.D. Associate Professor Director, Project on New African Literatures (PONAL) Department of English Carleton University Ottawa, Canada K1S 5B6 Tel: +1 613 520 2600 ext. 1175 www.projectponal.com --- On Wed, 11/3/09, Cornelius Hamelberg <Cornelius...@gmail.com> wrote: From: Cornelius Hamelberg <Cornelius...@gmail.com> Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: Who Wrote Things Fall Apart? To: "USA Africa Dialogue Series" <USAAfric...@googlegroups.com> Date: Wednesday, 11 March, 2009, 3:00 PM Dr. Ojo, Not all of us succeed of have succeeded with this. Ebunolorun the mother of my daughters, herself is very limited in  the Yoruba language, and so they did not get it with mother’s milk. You must be complimented. Those are considerable family accomplishments and the dream of every immigrant African parent over here, for the children to be, as it were, culturally ambidextrous, to be both fully integrated, feel and  feel at home  - functionally sociable where they are whether in Europe or Africa – at least without the lack of mother tongue acquisition creating a language barrier – back home in Africa. or even via the internet. Over here in Sweden free home language ( mother/ father tongue) instruction is given to school children, as a part of strengthening the immigrant child’s sense of value for his cultural and language heritage. Acquiring a second language whether by birth and heritage or by learning it is part of a child’s intellectual and social development…. So parental responsibility aside, a little institutional support shouldn’t hurt the cause. Britain, USA, same language and some of the  born-and bred African in America kids might be feeling more like modern America and happily away from arranged marriages and all those quaint, African, tribal taboos, an understanding of which is more easily accessed through e.g. Yoruba. I saw a theatre piece “ Tickets and Ties” here in Stockholm – actors from Gambia, Sierra Leone Ghana and Nigeria. – it was about culture conflicts across the generation gap between parents and first generation immigrant children in settled in an English community. For me the high point of the play was the Yoruba father, resplendent in his agbada, collapses into the armchair in his English parlour… his son  has just told him that if he  as much as touches his  little sister when she returns from the disco at four o clock in the morning, he will “ call the f-cking police!”  The father murmurs  a mantra of disbelief, unto himself, repeating it over and over again , before he collapses into the armchair, “ Your father,  such language, you will call the f-f-ff-ff-f-cking police?”  The scene could have only been topped  if upon hitting the sofa he had said, “, then die Caser!” http://www.tiatafahodzi.com/past_projects.html#tickets Here some guys ( not goys) are whining again, their compliant is that Obama’s State Department  has Equated Britain with  Third World Countries. (  After being exposed to this kind of  continuous crap propaganda – the stigma of third worldness, is it any wonder that some of the  Amerio-African kids don’t want to speak the language of those who come from there ( third world) ? http://www.israpundit.com/2008/?p=10694#comments On Mar 9, 6:22 am, "Dr. Valentine Ojo" <val...@md.metrocast.net> wrote: >  "As an African woman raising two children in America, I took pride in > teaching my children my rich Yoruba language and the treasure of > African culture. Yearly during the Black History Month, I volunteer to > tell Yoruba folk tales in their individual schools. Last year, my > daughter’s class play was based on traditional Yoruba story in which > both classmates and teachers participated." - Kemi Seriki >  Similar to your own case, Kemi, my two younger children currently > attend a Catholic private school where they elected to perform the > Yoruba Christmas carol, 'Betelehemu', during the last Christmas > period. >  The 8th Graders among whom I have one of my children chose 'Nigeria' > as one of the 8 national cultures - along with China, Mexico, Brazil, > Hawaii, Germany, etc. chosen by the other grades - they portrayed in > preparation for their graduation as part of their 'International Week' > activities. >  They had displays of Nigerian art, carvings, masks, musical > instruments, farm products, and pictures of sceneries from Nigeria, > and listened to various Nigerian music. >  They even constructed a typical Nigerian open market where they had > aso oke and adire (provided by my wife), yams, plantains, rice, > pepper, tomato and onions, canned goods, etc. to sell, and learnt to > haggle about prices Nigerian style! >  The children were also taught a few Igbo and Yoruba words to > illustrate 'tone' as employed to distinguish meaning in the tone > languages of West Africa. >  My wife also made adire T-shirts for all the children in the class > (24 in number) which they all wore during the entire exhibition week. >  I am talking of a school that's 90% white where my wife is the only > Non-white member of the faculty. >  'Alaso ni o ma pe aso re ni akisa' - it's the owner of the cloth who > describes it as a piece of rag, and people treat it as such. >  If you show that you value your own culture, others would learn to > value it as well. >  My children have been seen and treated as very valuable additions > and assets to the rich culture and history of this 100-year old > Catholic private school in a rather conservative communtiy in Southern > Maryland. >  We each can do a little within our own respective areas of influence > to uplift our respective cultures, and teach the much we still know of > them to our children. It's better than doing nothing at all. >  Or we can elect to continue blindly aping our European 'mentors'. >  Dr. Valentine Ojo >  Tall Timbers, MD >  On Sun 03/08/09 10:18 PM , Kemi Seriki ajokot...@hotmail.com sent: >    .hmmessage P { margin:0px; padding:0px } body.hmmessage { > font-size: 10pt; font-family:Verdana }     >         This is not a new phenomenon it has been in existence for a long > time. Many of the so called educated elites all around the African > continent denied their children the treasures and the essence of > African tradition or engage their children in conversation in African > language. Many Africans rather converse with their children in > European languages such as French, English, Spanish etc.. Depending on > which European came to colonize and enslave the mind, there is a > general believe that perfecting European language equate to success > and smartness. The commoner who lack European education only speaks > the “local African language”. Abnormality becomes normal when it > becomes a believe system that has ingrained into the fabric of our > daily existence.   >         The same trend could apply to the ideology of speaking without > accent, which is very common among the new generation of Nigerian. One > could see this behavior among those who never set foot abroad and the > new comers who is trying to blend in the main stream of American > society without being detected. One could compare this shameful act to > those African who rather take pride in speaking European language such > as French, English, Spanish to fellow Africans whom they share the > same rich traditional African language.     >         I remember watching Giorgio Armani the famous designer on 20/20 few > weeks ago. This man never spoke one word of English during the whole > interview even though he make millions upon millions of dollars in > profit from American people. The man conducted the interview in his > native language. French or Spanish, I am not sure which language he > was speaking. All I could see is that the man does not feel he is > obligated to speak English. He appeared confident and proud of his > native language. But for Africans, it is not so.   >         As an African woman raising two children in American, I took pride > in teaching my children my rich Yoruba language and the treasure of > African culture. Yearly during the Black History Month, I volunteer to > tell Yoruba folk tales in their individual schools. Last year, my > daughter’s class play was based on traditional Yoruba story in which > both classmates and teachers participated. They said, “Charity > begins at home”. I would challenge the Africans on this forum to > allow the changes to begin with us. > >           Dr. DeGruy conducted research on Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome and > her book is on Amazon.com. In this book, Dr. DeGruy encourages African > Americans to view their attitudes, assumptions and behaviors through > the lens of history and so gain a greater understanding of the impact > centuries of slavery and oppressions has had on African Americans. The > same lens could be used to diagnose many problems facing the Africans > today. We need a research on the psychological impact of colonization > of Africa people, which continue to foster itself from one generation > to another, which continues to pull us back.       >  Kemi Seriki > ------------------------- >  To: USAAfric...@googlegroups.com >  Date: Sun, 8 Mar 2009 17:01:52 -0400 >  Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: Who Wrote Things Fall > Apart? >  From: val...@md.metrocast.net >  CC: joanovi...@gmail.com; esula...@gmail.com; > sholaadene...@gmail.com >   .ExternalClass {font-family:Arial, Helvetica, > sans-serif;font-size:12px;}  "I know a yoruba student in my university > here, a third year undergrad, who is proud or not ashamed to announce > that she cannot speak yoruba. I thought she grew up in Canada, no! She > only came here after high school for higher education, and she has > been in this country only 3 years!" - Amatoritsero Ede >  Amatoritsero: >  Allow me to match that experience. >  Shortly after I arrived in the US in the 90's, we had a Yoruba > female student who was taking courses from both myself and another > Yoruba, a senior to me, at rather small college in Southern Maryland. > After a couple of weeks into the quarter, we compared notes, and noted > that the young lady whose name clearly identified her as Yoruba, just > like our own two names, avoided us like a plague. Other students would > hang around to ask you questions or talk about their work, or even > stop bye at your office, but not this Yoruba young lady. >  And from the quality of her work - or lack thereof - it was obvious > she could use some extra help. >  So one day, the older colleague decided we should call her to his > office, which we did. And we ascertained that she was indeed of Yoruba > parentage, brought to the US at the age of 8, and now about 18. We > asked if she understood or spoke any Yoruba, she admitted she did, but > that her parents have discouraged her from speaking Yoruba, so " it > would not ruin her American accent" - her own exact words in a voice > laced with heavy, artificially acquired American affectation - not to > be confused with 'accent'. >  We looked at each other, the other egbon and myself, and we decided > to drop the issue, and simply advised her that should she ever need > extra assistance with her two courses, she should feel free to drop > bye anytime at our offices, or stop us after a class. >  She thanked us - in her American affected style - but she never took > us up on the offer. And she had to drop out of the college the > following year due to her poor performance. >  What was that you said again: >  "The pedagogic vanity, which mimics western accents, foibles, > habits, is simple colonial hangover. We are a conquered people > afterall - and i speak in a more overarching terms here. In religious, > educational, cultural terms, we have been conditioned to look up to > the west. We equate speaking english to a rapid social climb ." - > Amatoritsero >  Amen! >  Dr. Valentine Ojo >  Tall Timbers, MD >  On Sun 03/08/09 1:41 PM , "joan.O'sa Oviawe" joanovi...@gmail.com > sent: >  Ama, >  Unfortunately, this phenomenon has permeated the psyche of the poor > and so called lower class.  In Benin, many people don't speak Edo > neither do they speak proper English, the lingua franca is pidgin!  It > is typical to see a grandma speaking pidgin to their grandkids.  These > folk are linguistically occupying an in-between space that is neither > here nor there.  I read and write Edo at the third grade level, > ironically, if I had the same low proficiency in English, I'd be > considered semi-illiterate. I am on a personal mission to re-educate > myself in my mother tongue. >  joan >  ______ >  Happy International Women's Day! >    ("`-''-/").___..--''"`-._ >    `o_ o  )   `-. (     ).`-.__.`) >    (_Y_.)' ._    ) `._ `. ``-..-' >   _..`--'_..-_/ /--'_.' .' >  ((!.-.-'' ((!.-' ((!.-' > Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail >  On Sun, Mar 8, 2009 at 9:18 AM, Amatoritsero Ede  wrote: >  Folks, >   I join this thread late. But i have personal experience of Mr. > Adenekan's experience. I have cousins who have lost their nation > languages - that was even as far back as the 70s when the middle class > was still intact. Thier father was a VC of a premier University. These > kids can hardly speak passable yoruba. They spent thier holdiays in > 'jand', going for summer when in fact nigeria has eternal summer and > 'jand' - London, is teary and misty most time of the year. The > pedagogic vanity, which mimics western accents, foibles, habits, is > simple colonial hangover. We are a ... > > read more »