SAY YES TO CHILD RIGHTS ACT
"Cradle Snatching"... That's what Oby Ezekwesili calls it. The recent debate on the floor of the Nigerian Senate that sought to ammend a section of the constitution has drawn opprobrium from the World. This section of the constitution was actually about the right of a woman to renounce citizenship when she is married and of age. While some Senators felt this vague provision of the law should be expunged others felt otherwise. This writer is of the opinion that all vagueness and unambiguity should be removed from our laws. This provision seems to assume that any married woman is of age, and as such can take such a monumental decision. This assumption is false. We all know that not all married women are of age.
Enter the Childs Right Act. This act specifically states that a child is only deemed to be of age at 18 years. Thus anyone found unduly exploiting an underage child is liable to pay 500, 000 naira fine and a jail sentence. Interestingly, the home state of this writer, Enugu State of South Eastern Nigeria is yet to domesticate this act. The last I checked 90 percent of the Northern States haven't domesticated this act. In the midst of all these, Former and present World Bank, United Nations officials have spoken and their voices will be heard.
I live in a country where street children and children on the street are an everyday sight. These are the children that grow up to become security threats to the nation. The young males are subject to radicalisation and the young females are sexually harrased on a day to day basis. The deception of marriage in getting a gullible woman to bed is an old trick. I must confessed that I have used this magic on women of age and to my surprise they have succumbed to my advances thinking I actually meant to marry them. This is what some men tell underage girls in my country "don't worry I will marry you".
Even when marriage actually happens early marriages are more likely to end in divorce. They are more likely to be unhappy marriages. The girls are more likely to forfeit their education. Their children are more likely to be poorly educated and may end up as street children or children on the streets. To assume therefore that a girl who hasn't reached the age of knowing who to vote for in an election can somehow decide whether to renounce her citizenship or not is preposterous.
These marriages are common place in poorly developed countries of the world. The least educated nations by population, tend to accept such as norm. But with enlightenment and good exposure, no lady will want her spouse to be chosen by her parents. If some benefactor wishes to help a poor family that is commendable. I lost my dad at 10 and we couldn't pay school fees for years. We couldn't even afford food. But we didn't marry our only sister off to some rich Ibo merchant. We prayed and believed and God saw us through. We had benefactors who paid our school fees, bought us school books, sewed our school uniforms but never asked for my little sisters hand in marriage. If any of them had tried such travesty I would have struck him with a machete! Today my little sister is married to a man in the United States. She is a Barrister and had Second Class upper in law school and in the Faculty of Law. She is pregnant with her first baby and she is 27 years.
Families that marry their under age daughters off tend to be so large that the bread winner can't cater for them. In my case we were just 3. If I ever get to the Senate, I will push a bill through the legislative process to insist that the maximum family size should be 3 children whom government would train through primary school, whom government will give free health care. This legislation has been attempted in the past but has failed because you can't tell a man how many children to have when you have nothing to offer him.
Families that marry their underage children off tend to be poorly educated. In my case we were from a family of academics, my paternal grand pa being an Indian trained Professor S. P. Obasi Kenechukwu of great fame, my maternal grand pa being the permanent secretary in the Federal ministry of Education, my dad being a pharmacognosist and my mum being at the time a holder of a PHD from UK. There was no way our only sister would have been married off to anyone! Things got rough for our family but with good education tough times won't last. Within 5 years our family economy was looking up. If I ever get to the Senate I would sponsor a bill that would make it mandatory to send children to secondary schools or else they wouldn't be allowed to vote when they come of age!
It is true that most girls are sexually active at a ridiculously tender age. In one clinic, the story was told of 2 primary school pupils who were sticking fingers into the others privacy! They were both girls. On further investigation, there was an adult boy who lives with one of the girls family. It was he who made a practise of dilating this girls birth canal with his little finger. If I were a senator I would sponsor a bill that would send that guy to jail!
It is true that in Federal Government Girls colleges, students use iron clothes hangers to terminate their pregnancies and report sick to class the next day. It is true that chemist men can abort a pregnancy for as cheap as 600 naira. If I was a Senator I would move for such chemist men to be locked up for life. I would move for the legalization of safe abortion. But the only discrimination will be that such termination services will be free for girls who can show proof that they are in school.
It is also true that University girls from ages 15 - 23 are used and abused at wild sex parties by leaders of my nation. If I were a Senator, I would sponsor a bill thay would empower whistleblowers. Nigeria needs her own Julian Assange and Snowden. We need our own Wikileaks that will expose the night atrocities of some men old enough to be grand pa's. We need a vibrant tabloid culture in my nation so that faces of such men can be splashed on the front pages.
Teenage pregnancy has its medical complications and I won't bore you with the details of Vesico Vaginal Fistula. I will only say that those Senators who agreed that the vague and ambigous section of our constitution be retained should have a rethink. This rethink should be devoid of religious bias. This is a social issue. It is an ideological issue. No Socialist mind will accept this. It isn't about religion. Please, every constituency who had a Senator support this travesty should kindly recall their Senator and ask Him to have a rethink. The House of Representatives should refuse this abberation. The First Lady should speak up as a Woman For Change...
I rest my case.
Iroko Obasi ND
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Monday, July 22, 2013
SAY YES TO CHILD RIGHTS ACT IN NIGERIA
SAY YES TO CHILDs RIGHTS ACT (CRA) IN NIGERIA
Biodun Awosusi
I have been inundated with calls, messages and tweets from friends about the decision of the Nigerian Senate on the retention of section 29(4) b. I commend several Nigerians who have participated in various protests across the country against this decision. We must continue to mount pressure on the national assembly until they rescind their decision. Child marriage is immoral and deprives girls of their human rights. What the girl child needs is education not marriage!
Is it just about renunciation of citizenship?
Frankly, this issue is more than Sen. Yerima, only myopic people will make it revolve around him. But I would like to ask a few questions: How on Earth will an old man marry a 13-year old? What will the poor girl do for him? What does she even understand at that tender age? She has barely just started menstruating and trying to understand her physiology! Does she cook for him? Does she just lay his bed? Does she sleep in a room where she will not be touched until she is 18?
What would have happened if all the leading ladies and women we have in Nigeria had suffered “cradle snatching”, as Oby Ezekwesili aptly puts this menace of child marriage? I do agree with Prof. Farooq that the contentious section is about renunciation of citizenship. The 1999 Constitution recognizes two definitions for a person of full age: 18years and above, or any married woman. Senators initially moved to remove the second definition because it implies that even a married underage girl is of full age. However, Senator Yerima (and his cohorts) in an attempt to legalize his marriage to the 15-year old Egyptian allegedly called the Senate to order: he argues that the Senate lacks the capacity to decide on customary or Islamic law. So, the two definitions must remain.
In support of this position, distinguished Professor Farooq says the two definitions must remain so that the underage married girl can renounce her citizenship. He was right. He only reechoed the contradictions of these two laws. If Section 21 of the Child Rights Act (CRA) forbids the marriage of persons below 18 years with a punishment of N500, 000 or a 5 year jail term and section 29(4)b recognizes any married woman (including underage) as of full age, the contradiction is obvious.
There is no need for section 29(4)b if the CRA is in full force and the preceding section 29(4)a defines full age as 18years and above. Therefore, we must ask the Senate to rescind its decision to retain section 29(4)b. It is an anomaly that will pave way for Senator Yerima and his cohorts to perpetuate child marriage and the problems associated with it, such as adolescent pregnancy, hypertension in pregnancy and maternal deaths.
The selfish immoral motive behind child marriage
To further appreciate the issues at stake, we must not only look at the words of the law but also at the spirit behind the law. I believe if the motives and the letters are wrong, the law must be rejected. If the letters seem right but the motives are wrong, it should also be rejected. A law should be accepted only when the letters and motives are right.
Sen. Yerima and his paedophilic gang have one clear motive in mind: let us establish a legal framework to perpetuate child marriage and adolescent pregnancy in Nigeria. It is utterly selfish and reckless!
It appears the same in “the Arab region where 1 in 7 girls marries before her 18th birthday. Families who marry off their daughters at such a young age may believe that it is in the girls’ best interest, not realizing that they are violating their daughters’ human rights”, writes popular Arab researchers Farzaneh Roudi-Fahimi and Shaimaa Ibrahim. They add: “Early marriage often means an end to the girls’ schooling, forced sexual relations, and early childbearing. Moreover, girls who marry at a younger age are generally more vulnerable to spousal violence than girls who wait longer to marry. Child marriage often perpetuates a cycle of poverty, low education, high fertility, and poor health, which hinders societies’ economic and social development.”
So at what age can a woman marry? CRA says 18 years and above. We must support this. At this age, she can decide for herself, can vote and be voted for. She can make informed choices about her life and her future. However those who want section 29(4)b to remain are afraid of this choice. They claim their religion allows them to ‘keep in custody’ a girl less than 18years who they plan to marry. An adult male can receive a 6year old girl from her parents in exchange for money but as Sen. Yerima says “consummation of the marriage can only be done when the girl becomes physically mature and she gives her consent to it.” This position smells of impatience and selfish interests. it is barbaric and inhuman.
If you want to take care of a beautiful lady, why don’t you empower her parents? Why are the senators not interested in influencing the Executive to fast-track poverty eradication in Nigeria? Why abduct the poor girl who knows nothing about you? Why can’t you be patient till she is full of age and let’s see how good you are at wooing a lady? It is selfish to hoodwink her into your home until she is of full age when she would no longer decide clearly in her best interest! This is a form of slavery that warrants the attention of the CNN Freedom Project!
The devastating results of child marriage and adolescent pregnancy
We have long been advocating against adolescent pregnancy. When I wrote an article last week for the World Population Day on the plight of adolescent girls in Northern Nigeria, I did not have a clue the Senate could be swayed by “pro-pedophilia, pro-child rape and pro-child marriage group within it” as Femi Fani-Kayode calls the Yerima gang!
Why do we make so much noise about this burdensome issue? It is because adolescent pregnancy is a major risk factor for hypertension in pregnancy, anemia in pregnancy, prolonged obstructed labour, vesico-vaginal fistula and ultimately maternal mortality! It kills several women in Northern Nigeria before they can ‘consummate’ their abduction! Many of them have been battered by the trauma of unwanted sexual assault and domestic violence.
In view of this, all well-meaning Nigerians should rise to the occasion to help this disadvantaged species. They are weak and uneducated so we may not hear their voices.We all need to stand for them.
There are a few liars who are ready to sensationalize this issue in their favor. They do not listen to them. Sign the petition.
Drop your signature in support of this move against child marriage. Tell your friends, neighbors and colleagues to do same. Make them understand why this is necessary to protect girls across the country and ensure they get education and not ejuculation!
This will be beginning of civil involvement in the entire constitution review process. If Yerima and his cohort succeed, we would have failed a generation of girls who will never have the opportunity to become leaders like Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nike Adeyemi, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Joyce Banda, Remi Tinubu, Abike Dabiri or Onyeka Onwenu!
Can you imagine what would have happened if all the wives of the governors, female senators and house of Rep members, leading female managing directors and CEOs and exemplary ladies like Bisi Fayemi, Chimamanda Adichie, Asha, Mo Abudu, Omotola Jalade Ekeinde or Obiageli Ezekwesili were forced to early marriage at 13?
Biodun Awosusi
I have been inundated with calls, messages and tweets from friends about the decision of the Nigerian Senate on the retention of section 29(4) b. I commend several Nigerians who have participated in various protests across the country against this decision. We must continue to mount pressure on the national assembly until they rescind their decision. Child marriage is immoral and deprives girls of their human rights. What the girl child needs is education not marriage!
Is it just about renunciation of citizenship?
Frankly, this issue is more than Sen. Yerima, only myopic people will make it revolve around him. But I would like to ask a few questions: How on Earth will an old man marry a 13-year old? What will the poor girl do for him? What does she even understand at that tender age? She has barely just started menstruating and trying to understand her physiology! Does she cook for him? Does she just lay his bed? Does she sleep in a room where she will not be touched until she is 18?
What would have happened if all the leading ladies and women we have in Nigeria had suffered “cradle snatching”, as Oby Ezekwesili aptly puts this menace of child marriage? I do agree with Prof. Farooq that the contentious section is about renunciation of citizenship. The 1999 Constitution recognizes two definitions for a person of full age: 18years and above, or any married woman. Senators initially moved to remove the second definition because it implies that even a married underage girl is of full age. However, Senator Yerima (and his cohorts) in an attempt to legalize his marriage to the 15-year old Egyptian allegedly called the Senate to order: he argues that the Senate lacks the capacity to decide on customary or Islamic law. So, the two definitions must remain.
In support of this position, distinguished Professor Farooq says the two definitions must remain so that the underage married girl can renounce her citizenship. He was right. He only reechoed the contradictions of these two laws. If Section 21 of the Child Rights Act (CRA) forbids the marriage of persons below 18 years with a punishment of N500, 000 or a 5 year jail term and section 29(4)b recognizes any married woman (including underage) as of full age, the contradiction is obvious.
There is no need for section 29(4)b if the CRA is in full force and the preceding section 29(4)a defines full age as 18years and above. Therefore, we must ask the Senate to rescind its decision to retain section 29(4)b. It is an anomaly that will pave way for Senator Yerima and his cohorts to perpetuate child marriage and the problems associated with it, such as adolescent pregnancy, hypertension in pregnancy and maternal deaths.
The selfish immoral motive behind child marriage
To further appreciate the issues at stake, we must not only look at the words of the law but also at the spirit behind the law. I believe if the motives and the letters are wrong, the law must be rejected. If the letters seem right but the motives are wrong, it should also be rejected. A law should be accepted only when the letters and motives are right.
Sen. Yerima and his paedophilic gang have one clear motive in mind: let us establish a legal framework to perpetuate child marriage and adolescent pregnancy in Nigeria. It is utterly selfish and reckless!
It appears the same in “the Arab region where 1 in 7 girls marries before her 18th birthday. Families who marry off their daughters at such a young age may believe that it is in the girls’ best interest, not realizing that they are violating their daughters’ human rights”, writes popular Arab researchers Farzaneh Roudi-Fahimi and Shaimaa Ibrahim. They add: “Early marriage often means an end to the girls’ schooling, forced sexual relations, and early childbearing. Moreover, girls who marry at a younger age are generally more vulnerable to spousal violence than girls who wait longer to marry. Child marriage often perpetuates a cycle of poverty, low education, high fertility, and poor health, which hinders societies’ economic and social development.”
So at what age can a woman marry? CRA says 18 years and above. We must support this. At this age, she can decide for herself, can vote and be voted for. She can make informed choices about her life and her future. However those who want section 29(4)b to remain are afraid of this choice. They claim their religion allows them to ‘keep in custody’ a girl less than 18years who they plan to marry. An adult male can receive a 6year old girl from her parents in exchange for money but as Sen. Yerima says “consummation of the marriage can only be done when the girl becomes physically mature and she gives her consent to it.” This position smells of impatience and selfish interests. it is barbaric and inhuman.
If you want to take care of a beautiful lady, why don’t you empower her parents? Why are the senators not interested in influencing the Executive to fast-track poverty eradication in Nigeria? Why abduct the poor girl who knows nothing about you? Why can’t you be patient till she is full of age and let’s see how good you are at wooing a lady? It is selfish to hoodwink her into your home until she is of full age when she would no longer decide clearly in her best interest! This is a form of slavery that warrants the attention of the CNN Freedom Project!
The devastating results of child marriage and adolescent pregnancy
We have long been advocating against adolescent pregnancy. When I wrote an article last week for the World Population Day on the plight of adolescent girls in Northern Nigeria, I did not have a clue the Senate could be swayed by “pro-pedophilia, pro-child rape and pro-child marriage group within it” as Femi Fani-Kayode calls the Yerima gang!
Why do we make so much noise about this burdensome issue? It is because adolescent pregnancy is a major risk factor for hypertension in pregnancy, anemia in pregnancy, prolonged obstructed labour, vesico-vaginal fistula and ultimately maternal mortality! It kills several women in Northern Nigeria before they can ‘consummate’ their abduction! Many of them have been battered by the trauma of unwanted sexual assault and domestic violence.
In view of this, all well-meaning Nigerians should rise to the occasion to help this disadvantaged species. They are weak and uneducated so we may not hear their voices.We all need to stand for them.
There are a few liars who are ready to sensationalize this issue in their favor. They do not listen to them. Sign the petition.
Drop your signature in support of this move against child marriage. Tell your friends, neighbors and colleagues to do same. Make them understand why this is necessary to protect girls across the country and ensure they get education and not ejuculation!
This will be beginning of civil involvement in the entire constitution review process. If Yerima and his cohort succeed, we would have failed a generation of girls who will never have the opportunity to become leaders like Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nike Adeyemi, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Joyce Banda, Remi Tinubu, Abike Dabiri or Onyeka Onwenu!
Can you imagine what would have happened if all the wives of the governors, female senators and house of Rep members, leading female managing directors and CEOs and exemplary ladies like Bisi Fayemi, Chimamanda Adichie, Asha, Mo Abudu, Omotola Jalade Ekeinde or Obiageli Ezekwesili were forced to early marriage at 13?
Thursday, July 18, 2013
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MANDELA Part 2
YOU CAN'T KEEP A GOVERNMENT ON ITS TOES IF YOU'RE CRAWLING ON YOUR BELLY
There is a saying in ibo land meant for those who spread ill will, bad rap and bad blood. For those who will smear others and engender strife the ibo's would forever remind you that a 'Fowl flies when it farts because the gods of the earth pursue it!'
When in 1913 a land use act depriving blacks 87 percent of their ancestral land was enacted, When in 1923 an act creating African slums to supply cheap labor to white industry was enacted, When in 1926 an act banning Africans from practising skilled trades was passed to law, When in 1927 an act establishing the British Crown within South Africa made a White Monarchy installed by the Queen supreme over all African aras, the gods had had enough. Finally, when in 1936 an act of an all white parliament removed Africans from the voters register even Nelson Mandela had had enough.
The African Mine Workers Union formed in 1940, determined to continue negotiations. However being met with disdain from a government that reneged on all accords and with the tacit support of Nelson Mandela, over 700, 000 mine workers of African descent went on strike, intent on using the Indian example in which Ghandi had secured better working conditions for South African Indians.
The demands of the Striking Mine Workers
1. Attainment of full citizenship... No one must be made to feel like a second class citizen in His own country.
2. Direct parliamentary representation for all... Majority rule and peace within the state go hand in hand
3. Land Use reforms... The government doesn't own my ancestral land where my father was buried! It bears his bones and any resource underneath has been given by the gods of my land for the sustenance of my people. I may wish to pay a certain agreed tax to the government for Security, Road, Water and Electricity but to deny me resource control is against all Natural Justice and there can be no peace without reform.
4. Education for all, Mass Education for Adults... Like Malala recently said before the UN, 'those who fight Western education are afraid'.
5. Promotion of African culture through deliberate investment in African Entertainment... For those who think Nollywood has nothing to do with National development, South Africans knew the tourism potential of a flourishing entertainment industry over 7 decades ago and under Mandela pursued an aggressive state legislation in favor of South African art. Do you wonder why South African music, film and cinema ruled Africa until the Nollywood challenge. Look no further than the History of the South African struggle.
Nelson travelled the country organizing support for the 5 principles above and more. He rallied resistance based on a strong socialist (and communist) ideals. He was friends with the Communist Party of South Africa and read Communist works more than any other. He had volumes as a lawyer of course. Most importantly his hob nobs with the jetsam and flotsam of communism was because he knew Africa is essentially communal though not communist. He knew that Capitalists hated Africa and only Communists would even sit in the same room with Africans at the time without pride and pre-ajudication. He however never hated any Capitalist he only hated domination in whatever form. He shared the same objective with the Communist party of South Africa - the unshakeable belief that African ideals can develop Africa with either western capital, eastern capital, middle eastern capital or preferably African Capital. Nelson encouraged African people to follow their own African beliefs. Even though white South Africa called themselves Afrikaans they lacked the spirit of Africa!
In 1961, Nelson Mandela made a speech before the National Action Council of the ANC "... The unprecedented intimidation by the state, the denial of our members the right to hold meetings, the incessant trailing and hounding of I, Nelson Rohilahla Mandela and my comrades by the special branch - an anti terrorism and anti - communism squad of police and military suppressors, collaborating with Prime Minister Margaret Tatcher, the heavy patrol of our premises by government and municipal police, the monitoring and spying of our movements and communications. These will not deter us. We shall stand firm and we shall stay at home... Non-collaboration is our weapon and we must use it to bring down this repressive government. We have decided not to collaborate with this government and we shall use that weapon fully and without reservation'. This was the speech that heralded the stay at home order given by Nelson to millions upon millions of South Africans. And did they comply in the face of threats from Government.
The above speech was so successful and is one of Nelsons greatest. So remarkable was it in its effects and so profound was its impact that Government fought back by launching all out against the man Nelson Mandela. HAD THEY KNOWN THAT BY ATTACKING A MAN WITH A FUNCTIONAL MORAL CENTER AND A STRONG ETHICAL FOUNDATION GLEANED FROM THE MAHATMA GHANDI AND THE HOLY BIBLE, THAT THEY WERE BIRTHING A LEGEND AND A FATHER OF MODERN AFRICA, the stupid white men would have left troublesome Nelson alone! They invoked the Suppression of Communism act and charged him! Stupidly, they locked him up for 27 years (not before he made another famous 4 hour speech in court) and as he lay in bed today, ill they immortalise him with July 18 as MANDELA DAY. My own contribution to the Legend of Mandela is to coin a new word with my writers license - MANDELISM : a brand of politics practiced by Nelson Mandela in which morality and ethics become the fulcrum of revolution.
In closing enjoy a copious extract from the famous 4 hour speech. An excerpt that has since become my religion and my MANDELA's CREED
'... The ANC ideology has always been the creed of African Nationalism. It isn't the concept of Nationalism expressed in the cry 'drive the white man to the sea'. The African Nationalism for which the ANC stands for is the concept of freedom and fulfillment for the African people in their own land. The most important document ever adopted by the ANC is the Freedom Charter. It is by no means a blueprint for a socialist state... The ANC has never at any time advocated a revolutionary change in the economic structure of the country, nor has it, to the best of my knowledge, ever condemned a capitalist society. I am an admirer of the Western Capitalist System... Of the parliamentary representative system... The Magna Carter... The petition of rights... The Bill of rights are all documents which like the ANCs Freedom charter I hold in high esteem. The British political institutions, the country's system of Justice attract my deepest admiration. I regard the British parliament as the most democratic in the world. The American Congress, the doctrine of seperation of powers as well as the independence of the judiciary arouse in me similar sentiments.
'... Having said this, the lack of human dignity experienced by Africans is the direct result of a western policy of white supremacy. White supremacy implies black inferiority. Legislations promote this notion... Blacks doing menial jobs which whites will never do promote this notion.. Our struggle is a struggle of the African people. It is a struggle inspired by our suffering and experience. It is a struggle for the right to live...
'... During my lifetime I have ddicated my life to struggle for the African people. I have fought against white domination. I have fought against black domination. I have cherishd the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunity. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be it is an ideal for which I'm willing to die'
HAPPY 95th, MADIBA
12 noon, Nigerian Time
July 18th, UN World Mandela Day
Iroko Ndubisi Obasi
There is a saying in ibo land meant for those who spread ill will, bad rap and bad blood. For those who will smear others and engender strife the ibo's would forever remind you that a 'Fowl flies when it farts because the gods of the earth pursue it!'
When in 1913 a land use act depriving blacks 87 percent of their ancestral land was enacted, When in 1923 an act creating African slums to supply cheap labor to white industry was enacted, When in 1926 an act banning Africans from practising skilled trades was passed to law, When in 1927 an act establishing the British Crown within South Africa made a White Monarchy installed by the Queen supreme over all African aras, the gods had had enough. Finally, when in 1936 an act of an all white parliament removed Africans from the voters register even Nelson Mandela had had enough.
The African Mine Workers Union formed in 1940, determined to continue negotiations. However being met with disdain from a government that reneged on all accords and with the tacit support of Nelson Mandela, over 700, 000 mine workers of African descent went on strike, intent on using the Indian example in which Ghandi had secured better working conditions for South African Indians.
The demands of the Striking Mine Workers
1. Attainment of full citizenship... No one must be made to feel like a second class citizen in His own country.
2. Direct parliamentary representation for all... Majority rule and peace within the state go hand in hand
3. Land Use reforms... The government doesn't own my ancestral land where my father was buried! It bears his bones and any resource underneath has been given by the gods of my land for the sustenance of my people. I may wish to pay a certain agreed tax to the government for Security, Road, Water and Electricity but to deny me resource control is against all Natural Justice and there can be no peace without reform.
4. Education for all, Mass Education for Adults... Like Malala recently said before the UN, 'those who fight Western education are afraid'.
5. Promotion of African culture through deliberate investment in African Entertainment... For those who think Nollywood has nothing to do with National development, South Africans knew the tourism potential of a flourishing entertainment industry over 7 decades ago and under Mandela pursued an aggressive state legislation in favor of South African art. Do you wonder why South African music, film and cinema ruled Africa until the Nollywood challenge. Look no further than the History of the South African struggle.
Nelson travelled the country organizing support for the 5 principles above and more. He rallied resistance based on a strong socialist (and communist) ideals. He was friends with the Communist Party of South Africa and read Communist works more than any other. He had volumes as a lawyer of course. Most importantly his hob nobs with the jetsam and flotsam of communism was because he knew Africa is essentially communal though not communist. He knew that Capitalists hated Africa and only Communists would even sit in the same room with Africans at the time without pride and pre-ajudication. He however never hated any Capitalist he only hated domination in whatever form. He shared the same objective with the Communist party of South Africa - the unshakeable belief that African ideals can develop Africa with either western capital, eastern capital, middle eastern capital or preferably African Capital. Nelson encouraged African people to follow their own African beliefs. Even though white South Africa called themselves Afrikaans they lacked the spirit of Africa!
In 1961, Nelson Mandela made a speech before the National Action Council of the ANC "... The unprecedented intimidation by the state, the denial of our members the right to hold meetings, the incessant trailing and hounding of I, Nelson Rohilahla Mandela and my comrades by the special branch - an anti terrorism and anti - communism squad of police and military suppressors, collaborating with Prime Minister Margaret Tatcher, the heavy patrol of our premises by government and municipal police, the monitoring and spying of our movements and communications. These will not deter us. We shall stand firm and we shall stay at home... Non-collaboration is our weapon and we must use it to bring down this repressive government. We have decided not to collaborate with this government and we shall use that weapon fully and without reservation'. This was the speech that heralded the stay at home order given by Nelson to millions upon millions of South Africans. And did they comply in the face of threats from Government.
The above speech was so successful and is one of Nelsons greatest. So remarkable was it in its effects and so profound was its impact that Government fought back by launching all out against the man Nelson Mandela. HAD THEY KNOWN THAT BY ATTACKING A MAN WITH A FUNCTIONAL MORAL CENTER AND A STRONG ETHICAL FOUNDATION GLEANED FROM THE MAHATMA GHANDI AND THE HOLY BIBLE, THAT THEY WERE BIRTHING A LEGEND AND A FATHER OF MODERN AFRICA, the stupid white men would have left troublesome Nelson alone! They invoked the Suppression of Communism act and charged him! Stupidly, they locked him up for 27 years (not before he made another famous 4 hour speech in court) and as he lay in bed today, ill they immortalise him with July 18 as MANDELA DAY. My own contribution to the Legend of Mandela is to coin a new word with my writers license - MANDELISM : a brand of politics practiced by Nelson Mandela in which morality and ethics become the fulcrum of revolution.
In closing enjoy a copious extract from the famous 4 hour speech. An excerpt that has since become my religion and my MANDELA's CREED
'... The ANC ideology has always been the creed of African Nationalism. It isn't the concept of Nationalism expressed in the cry 'drive the white man to the sea'. The African Nationalism for which the ANC stands for is the concept of freedom and fulfillment for the African people in their own land. The most important document ever adopted by the ANC is the Freedom Charter. It is by no means a blueprint for a socialist state... The ANC has never at any time advocated a revolutionary change in the economic structure of the country, nor has it, to the best of my knowledge, ever condemned a capitalist society. I am an admirer of the Western Capitalist System... Of the parliamentary representative system... The Magna Carter... The petition of rights... The Bill of rights are all documents which like the ANCs Freedom charter I hold in high esteem. The British political institutions, the country's system of Justice attract my deepest admiration. I regard the British parliament as the most democratic in the world. The American Congress, the doctrine of seperation of powers as well as the independence of the judiciary arouse in me similar sentiments.
'... Having said this, the lack of human dignity experienced by Africans is the direct result of a western policy of white supremacy. White supremacy implies black inferiority. Legislations promote this notion... Blacks doing menial jobs which whites will never do promote this notion.. Our struggle is a struggle of the African people. It is a struggle inspired by our suffering and experience. It is a struggle for the right to live...
'... During my lifetime I have ddicated my life to struggle for the African people. I have fought against white domination. I have fought against black domination. I have cherishd the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunity. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be it is an ideal for which I'm willing to die'
HAPPY 95th, MADIBA
12 noon, Nigerian Time
July 18th, UN World Mandela Day
Iroko Ndubisi Obasi
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MANDELA
YOU CAN'T KEEP A GOVERNMENT ON ITS TOES IF YOU'RE CRAWLING ON YOUR BELLY
12 mid day Nigerian time. July 18th is Nelson Mandela's birthday.
There's a saying in ibo land of south eastern Nigeria meant for dictators, oppressors and crass capitalists... If you insist on holding a man down on the floor you must needs be on the floor yourself to keep Him down.
Nelson Mandela - The Father Of Modern Africa, emerged as a youth leader of ANC in the 1940's under Anton Lembede the legendary ANC National Leader who saw potential in young Nelson, in his passion, his brilliance, sheer clarity of speech, immense charisma, contagious ideologies and a sort of adoring devotion to Anton. For wherever Lembede was found, young Nelson was bound to be lurking around. Such was the fierceness of his passion that the more senior Leader took him as a protege, fully convinced that there was something special behind that now famous Mandela Smile.
Nelson Mandela was profoundly influenced not only by Anton but also by Mohandas 'Mahatma' Ghandi, Mahatma by the way meaning 'Great Soul'. This influence of the Great Soul on young Nelson was in no small measure for Ghandi had lived in South Africa for a great part of his life. And though he maintained a thriving law practice, he lived such an ascetic, frugal, austere life. He sought to bring Morality into Politics and as such remains the Father of Non Violent engagement of Government, an ideology that abhors the loss of life in any struggle. He is therefore the mentor of all who like this writer, believe in mixing Ethics with Statesmanship, and insist that Love, Kindness, Patience and Long Suffering are Virtues that must be brought from religion to politics.
Nelson Mandela's willingness therefore to give up power was as profound as his ability to take up power. He was born a boxer and he fought all his life... He fought even death. He however had no idea the profound effect he was having on people around the world through his ideologies and through the choices he had made in his life. The Legend is told of how once walking on the streets of America, a woman had passed out on seeing the famous Mandela Smile, on seeing the man who had become a living myth. She had to be helped to her feet much to the annoyance of a visibly upset Nelson, who glanced at his daughter Zindzi and said in one of his most famous moments 'I see no reason why anyone should be so dramatic'. Really? The man was a legend even to himself.
Nelson Mandela's life brought out the best and the worst in people. It certainly brought out the worst in the Nationalist Party of white minority South Africa. It certainly brought out the worst in Margaret Thatcher, who called him a terrorist and never supported his release from prison choosing to support the Suppression Of Communism act that had him incarcerated on trumped up charges. Forgetting that by nature Africans are a communal people. We are not communists in the perverted Marxian sense of the word, we are Communal. Call us Neo Socialists if you like but Mandela brought out the best in us and he sure had an influence in the life of Barrack Hussein Obama - The Prince Of Modern Africa.
NELSON - The Freedom Fighter
Though Margaret Thatcher chose the irreverent word 'Terrorist' to describe Mandela, he was no terrorist. Though the Nationalists called Winnie Mandela a terrorist when her private army of supporters had lynched a boy to death presumably for leaking ANC secrets and for which reason she was tried, sentenced to 6 years in prison, a sentence later transmuted to house arrest even while Nelson was in jail, She maintained in an interview with Premium Times, that so much falsehood was peddled to rubbish the struggle. Though her daughter Zindzi Mandela was harassed and trailed for daring to read one of Nelson's famous letters from prison, the most famous one by far, the 'I SHALL RETURN' speech which she read to a packed full football field as a 25 year old lady, in which Mandela had said 'I value my freedom, but I value the freedom of my people more. I shall not negotiate for as long as my people are not free in their own land. For as long as I am not free I shall not be involved in any discussions. A prisoner doesn't negotiate'... Indeed though the Mandela name suffered all these attempts at tarnishing it, still it shone like Diamonds from Cape Town. His ethical and moral values made his politics shine.
It is these values for which he lived and for which he was willing to die, these values which he had gleaned from extensive study of the Bible just like Ghandi who had taught that though Hindu, he had found Jesus Sermon On The Mount which he dubbed the RESIST NOT EVIL speech, as the great call to Non Violence, a discovery Ghandi made at Law School in Britain. This same discovery was going to give moral impetus to Nelson's beliefs.
This discovery of a moral centre inspired him to describe as most unfortunate, activities of some activists that led to death and casualties in their tens and thousands. Any course of action that causes the death of even one person is condemnable - and that was Mandela's position. Even when a section of the ANC cared less whether people died or not, justifying their blood thirst by claiming the establishment called for it, Nelson would have none of this. He referred to such miscreants as unprincipled, overzealous and uncultured. He insisted that no aspect of the struggle must lead to death. Even though the government defines the nature of any struggle, our moral compass defines our response. This was the point of insertion, the point at which morality found its way into Nelsons political rhetoric, to the admiration of the world. His willingness to oppose his own comrades who lacked decency and who were devoid of any strand of moral fiber was as legendary as his near god like stature in the ANC which saw his censure boom like rebuke from Heaven.
The values which Mandela left for humanity as an enduring legacy can be crystallized into these warnings against dictatorships and crass capitalists:
1. Governments fare better when they exist to serve people and not the other way round
2. The principle of Majority rule and peace within the state go hand in hand.
3. Governments that stimulate development and equal opportunity for both the rich and poor alike will attract more foreign investments and will be generally more attractive to their peers
4. Governments in which leaders enrich themselves with impunity will soon have the people turn against them violently.
5. Governments in which you must bribe for a job, an accommodation or admission will suffer increased isolation from the world.
6. It is cheaper to fight corruption and injustice than to condone it.
Nelson taught us that in this struggle, followers must abide by the principle of Non-collaboration. We cannot make our wealth from Government and think we can fight that Government... When you fight corruption and injustice it can only fight back if corrupt and unjust fingers fed you. But if you have never tasted money from corruption, that Moral High Ground will fight injustice and win. That is the ideology of Non Collaboration. For you can't keep A Government on its toes while crawling on your belly seeking rent and patronage from the same Government.
Mandela And The Youth League
Before Mandela became an established figure in the ANC his major contribution was in being among the 100 men, mostly Fort Hare graduates like him, who formed the Youth League. This proved to be the move that established Him as a top contender for eventual National Presidency of the ANC, for the Youth League was the militant arm of the party and Mandela had a firm belief in the younger generation. It was this faith in men much younger than he that would later cause him to chose the now famous MANDELA OPTION of relinquishing power with all its glamour after only one term at a time when South Africans would have wanted him as president for life!
It was his belief in the ideals of youths that led him to support the first Mine Workers Strike in 1946. This event was of monumental proportions and we can only grasp the guts it cost when we imagine a strike of black workers against their white overlords.
To be continued
12 mid day Nigerian time. July 18th is Nelson Mandela's birthday.
There's a saying in ibo land of south eastern Nigeria meant for dictators, oppressors and crass capitalists... If you insist on holding a man down on the floor you must needs be on the floor yourself to keep Him down.
Nelson Mandela - The Father Of Modern Africa, emerged as a youth leader of ANC in the 1940's under Anton Lembede the legendary ANC National Leader who saw potential in young Nelson, in his passion, his brilliance, sheer clarity of speech, immense charisma, contagious ideologies and a sort of adoring devotion to Anton. For wherever Lembede was found, young Nelson was bound to be lurking around. Such was the fierceness of his passion that the more senior Leader took him as a protege, fully convinced that there was something special behind that now famous Mandela Smile.
Nelson Mandela was profoundly influenced not only by Anton but also by Mohandas 'Mahatma' Ghandi, Mahatma by the way meaning 'Great Soul'. This influence of the Great Soul on young Nelson was in no small measure for Ghandi had lived in South Africa for a great part of his life. And though he maintained a thriving law practice, he lived such an ascetic, frugal, austere life. He sought to bring Morality into Politics and as such remains the Father of Non Violent engagement of Government, an ideology that abhors the loss of life in any struggle. He is therefore the mentor of all who like this writer, believe in mixing Ethics with Statesmanship, and insist that Love, Kindness, Patience and Long Suffering are Virtues that must be brought from religion to politics.
Nelson Mandela's willingness therefore to give up power was as profound as his ability to take up power. He was born a boxer and he fought all his life... He fought even death. He however had no idea the profound effect he was having on people around the world through his ideologies and through the choices he had made in his life. The Legend is told of how once walking on the streets of America, a woman had passed out on seeing the famous Mandela Smile, on seeing the man who had become a living myth. She had to be helped to her feet much to the annoyance of a visibly upset Nelson, who glanced at his daughter Zindzi and said in one of his most famous moments 'I see no reason why anyone should be so dramatic'. Really? The man was a legend even to himself.
Nelson Mandela's life brought out the best and the worst in people. It certainly brought out the worst in the Nationalist Party of white minority South Africa. It certainly brought out the worst in Margaret Thatcher, who called him a terrorist and never supported his release from prison choosing to support the Suppression Of Communism act that had him incarcerated on trumped up charges. Forgetting that by nature Africans are a communal people. We are not communists in the perverted Marxian sense of the word, we are Communal. Call us Neo Socialists if you like but Mandela brought out the best in us and he sure had an influence in the life of Barrack Hussein Obama - The Prince Of Modern Africa.
NELSON - The Freedom Fighter
Though Margaret Thatcher chose the irreverent word 'Terrorist' to describe Mandela, he was no terrorist. Though the Nationalists called Winnie Mandela a terrorist when her private army of supporters had lynched a boy to death presumably for leaking ANC secrets and for which reason she was tried, sentenced to 6 years in prison, a sentence later transmuted to house arrest even while Nelson was in jail, She maintained in an interview with Premium Times, that so much falsehood was peddled to rubbish the struggle. Though her daughter Zindzi Mandela was harassed and trailed for daring to read one of Nelson's famous letters from prison, the most famous one by far, the 'I SHALL RETURN' speech which she read to a packed full football field as a 25 year old lady, in which Mandela had said 'I value my freedom, but I value the freedom of my people more. I shall not negotiate for as long as my people are not free in their own land. For as long as I am not free I shall not be involved in any discussions. A prisoner doesn't negotiate'... Indeed though the Mandela name suffered all these attempts at tarnishing it, still it shone like Diamonds from Cape Town. His ethical and moral values made his politics shine.
It is these values for which he lived and for which he was willing to die, these values which he had gleaned from extensive study of the Bible just like Ghandi who had taught that though Hindu, he had found Jesus Sermon On The Mount which he dubbed the RESIST NOT EVIL speech, as the great call to Non Violence, a discovery Ghandi made at Law School in Britain. This same discovery was going to give moral impetus to Nelson's beliefs.
This discovery of a moral centre inspired him to describe as most unfortunate, activities of some activists that led to death and casualties in their tens and thousands. Any course of action that causes the death of even one person is condemnable - and that was Mandela's position. Even when a section of the ANC cared less whether people died or not, justifying their blood thirst by claiming the establishment called for it, Nelson would have none of this. He referred to such miscreants as unprincipled, overzealous and uncultured. He insisted that no aspect of the struggle must lead to death. Even though the government defines the nature of any struggle, our moral compass defines our response. This was the point of insertion, the point at which morality found its way into Nelsons political rhetoric, to the admiration of the world. His willingness to oppose his own comrades who lacked decency and who were devoid of any strand of moral fiber was as legendary as his near god like stature in the ANC which saw his censure boom like rebuke from Heaven.
The values which Mandela left for humanity as an enduring legacy can be crystallized into these warnings against dictatorships and crass capitalists:
1. Governments fare better when they exist to serve people and not the other way round
2. The principle of Majority rule and peace within the state go hand in hand.
3. Governments that stimulate development and equal opportunity for both the rich and poor alike will attract more foreign investments and will be generally more attractive to their peers
4. Governments in which leaders enrich themselves with impunity will soon have the people turn against them violently.
5. Governments in which you must bribe for a job, an accommodation or admission will suffer increased isolation from the world.
6. It is cheaper to fight corruption and injustice than to condone it.
Nelson taught us that in this struggle, followers must abide by the principle of Non-collaboration. We cannot make our wealth from Government and think we can fight that Government... When you fight corruption and injustice it can only fight back if corrupt and unjust fingers fed you. But if you have never tasted money from corruption, that Moral High Ground will fight injustice and win. That is the ideology of Non Collaboration. For you can't keep A Government on its toes while crawling on your belly seeking rent and patronage from the same Government.
Mandela And The Youth League
Before Mandela became an established figure in the ANC his major contribution was in being among the 100 men, mostly Fort Hare graduates like him, who formed the Youth League. This proved to be the move that established Him as a top contender for eventual National Presidency of the ANC, for the Youth League was the militant arm of the party and Mandela had a firm belief in the younger generation. It was this faith in men much younger than he that would later cause him to chose the now famous MANDELA OPTION of relinquishing power with all its glamour after only one term at a time when South Africans would have wanted him as president for life!
It was his belief in the ideals of youths that led him to support the first Mine Workers Strike in 1946. This event was of monumental proportions and we can only grasp the guts it cost when we imagine a strike of black workers against their white overlords.
To be continued
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
EGYPT - WHEN THE CURE IS WORSE THAN THE DISEASE
Timawus Mathias
timmathias64@yahoo.com
I had a medical reason to visit Egypt in 2009, and spent two weeks in Cairo, having suffered what i thought was stroke. It was bells-palsy. From the airport, just like in Abuja, I was hassled into an unmarked taxi, and though I had fears that being a stranger, I could be taken advantage of, I found courage on my bulky frame from seeing that the driver was a smallish push over. Besides he spoke some good English.
Once I was settled in the cab, Amr - that was his name - asked to know what hotel I was going, and guessed it right even before I told him. That was where most Nigerians stayed on medical visits, he assured. Of the three hospitals he mentioned in the area, my referral was to one. On his own, he told me, life in Egypt was awful and boring, that Hosni Mubarak, their President was as old in power as the sphinx!
"He was there before I was born", he muttered as if to himself. "I have known him all my life! It is me that needs to rest from hearing his name".
I complimented the physical development I saw around me, the boulevards, the flyovers, a city with more people and cars than Lagos and yet did not have our traffic nightmares. I told him so.
"It's a deceptive rose believe me Sir. Beautiful and scented sweet, but there are thorns. The people are fake. They smile in anguish. We have no money, no employment. Everything is costly. All the money has been stollen by Mubarak and his children. Thirty Years! We must get rid of them someday by Allah!" He nosed his car expertly into my hotel drive and I suddenly saw the neon sign, to my relief. Without commitment, he shuffled my luggage into the lobby, helped by the waiter and looked towards me for his money. Service rendered. I paid him thinking of the similarity between how he felt and expressed and his type on the African continent, more so my country Nigeria, where from State to State, I have witnessed such anger, such lethargy and resignation to class despotism. I knew it would boil over in Egypt. It did.
In 2011, a long popular unrest swept across Egypt, in which I was certain this cab driver participated, forcing Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to step down from his mercurial hold on power for the 30 long years. The popular unrests against Mubarak which began at the end of January 2011, got to a chaotic head with the Police abandoning the streets to protesters. In the second week of February 2012, President Hosni Mubarak resigned and fled from Cairo, and the army, without alternative, took control and set the country towards democracy and its very first democratic election.
They should have learnt miracle working from Nigeria where the election only confirmed the choice of the Military. They would not have been as laissez-faire. The Egyptian election was won 51% by the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood which had fielded Mohammed Morsi. In democratic parlance, the Egyptian people had chosen Mohammed Morsi to be their new president. What ever the establishment had done in the past to safeguard their interest in the secularity of the State came to a nullity. Fundamentalists had taken charge.
With that narrow margin of victory, it was obvious that President Mohammed Morsi was walking on thin ice and needed to be a genius to balance his act. What he lacked in a clear majority, he made up for in brazen ideological stubbornness. His supporters the Muslim Brotherhood wanted Islamic law established in secular Egypt. President Hosni Mubarak who ruled for 30 years had ensured that the Constitution included a clause that barred religion from ever being the basis for political rule of Egypt. This constitution was suspended by the Military after Mubarak, and Morsi's task became the fashioning of a constitution with which to rule.
He drafted a constitution that negated the secular principles, and went on to see to a contentious constitutional referendum boycotted by the opposition, and in which only 32.9% of the electorate was said to have voted, even as turn out was massive. Voters were asked to approve of the draft constitution that had earlier been approved by the Muslim Brotherhood-led Constituent Assembly on 30 November 2012. Amidst a boycott by the opposition, the constitution was approved by 63.8% of the vote in favour. In democratic parlance, the majority had carried the vote.
Under the new constitution, the Parliament took on more powers than the Presidency, but the snag was that it did not place the Armed Forces under the President and Head of State and instead left them with just the same powers as they held during the three decade Mubarak rule. This is the ghost that has now haunted President Morsi.
What did Morsi do wrong? He tried to bend a dry stick and it broke. Elected 51% as President meant that there was 49% recognisable dissent. If we truly believe in democracy, winners even by a wide margin must learn not to take short cuts. The political divide in Egypt is not along religious lines - notable in the revolt against Morsi are many of his own party members, and affiliates. His draft new constitution was non consensual and Morsi appeared bent only towards guaranteeing a hold on power by the Muslim Brotherhood, so much that this past year saw Egypt more in political wrangling than in stability and advancement of the economy. Initially even weak, Egypt has been broke, with a telling effect on the public, thereby eroding the much needed grounds on which the fragile democracy would have advanced.
Morsi was tactless and ignored the fact that the all powerful Military clique, jaws greedily open wide, was only waiting on the wings to reclaim the power they had held these past 30 years. And so while the military waited 300 days of protests to oust Mubarak who had ruled for three decades, it took them only 30 days to topple Morsi, who had ruled for only one year.
The military intervention is difficult to justify because a protesting electorate is one of the challenges of democracy. In spite of Morsi's shortcomings,the democratic channel options for a solution were far more advantageous than the obviously hasty ouster of a democratically elected regime, that had only been one year in power. Cure worse than the disease, I must say.
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
MANDELA-A PERSONAL HERO OF ALL NEO-SOCIALISTs
Nelson Mandela's favourite joke: When I get to heaven, I'll open a branch of the African National Congress there, I'll take all my belongings in paper bags up to the Pearly Gates and ask if Oliver Tambo ( a fellow activist is inside )... I'm sure th angel will tell me he is busy, he is always busy. Then I will ask to see Luthuli ( another great legend of the struggle )... True to his type also, he will also be busy. Then as I get to my single room, I would see Adolf Hitler scrubbing the floors. Then I will know I'm really in heaven because 'you will only know you've got to heaven if you're in a place where dictators are humbled.' As told by Zindzi Mandela
Monday, July 1, 2013
ACHIEVING CAPITALIST VICTORIES WITH SOCIALIST WEAPONS 1- The concept on neo-socialism
As my friend taught me I say - I am responsible for what I write. You are responsible for what you understand.
4 am Nigerian Time.
I'm sitting at my writing desk bent over. I need to adjust my sitting position due to an understanding of ergonomics and for fear of low back pain. I ignore this trifling thought for adrenaline courses through my widening veins like water cascading down a water fall.
I'm full of words - the soup with which thoughts are eaten.
I'm awake. Inspiration interrupted my sleep. Inspiration is both the desire and the demon of the creative person. Inspiration is the mother of eccentricity and the child of originality. I write at the first splash of dawn. I strain my strained eyes already couched behind reading glasses. My source of light is a NOKIA phone and touchlight device creatively hanging over the edge of my reading table as I now lie on the floor to enjoy its service.
My reflection this morning is on what it means to be truly African in a modern world that seeks to impose everything Western.
I am from a little clan in a rustic village of ibo people astride the magnificent hills of south eastern Nigeria which touch the skies lazily in the land of the rising sun. I am truly African. By moonlight we watch the clouds float idly by, we run around singing folk songs stopping intermittently to take in the thought provoking scenery of giant iroko treetops in the gaping valleys hundreds of metres (or even kilometres below). We are a people accustomed to awe. We live with wonder everyday. A long lost treasure of the White man - Wonder.
The last words I heard my grandpa say before he went to meet his chi in the home of our ancestors was - Wonderful.
We are a wonderful people in the midst of awe inspiring seeming oddities. We are awed, still prancing in the moonlight, by the sight of vehicular traffic a kilometre or two away at the Zenith of my mother hill far up in those clouds. From this vantage point, we only know there are vehicles there creeping slowly, crawling on, careening painfully in slow mo headlights battling relentlessly with fog. Awestruck I wonder. How can I in one glance see the very iroko tree tops and still have several kilometres to climb till I'm home. My teeth are at war now, chattering violently, noisy like fencing men.
I am truly African.
My home is prone to slides. The hills convulse on occasion. The other day mother hill had a seizure and she flung a mighty emboli of debris that took the greater part of 30 minutes to come crashing down from the peaks as people watched more in fear this time than in awe!
I am truly African.
My home is a region of springs for that is all we drink. Your water is treated by your government mine by my hills... By the benevolent spirits of my hills. You were here before O! White man. Legends have it that you were prevailed upon not to escavate both by reason and by the elders for fear of the great waters you heard in the belly of my hills. To celebrate this, there is a carnival every new years day where we as children listen to the slapping, hissing and splashing of great waters in the hills with eyes wide open (or shut), mouth agape, ear fixed on the womb of my Mother hill listening as she gurgles and grumbles. Grumpy old hill! A section of a neighbouring community was indeed submerged in flood after an attempted excavation some 5 years ago. Mother Hill was upset at the effrontery, insolence and impertinence of the west.
Why should a man such as I therefore not listen when elders in these parts speak?
I am African.
I listen to the elders who looked death and decimation in the eye and wouldn't die. I listen to the men and yes to the women who earned the respect of the forces of nature by daring to live where angels fear to tread. I listen to them for the sake of all they have suffered from climbing up and down these hills. I listen to them for their bravery, for that alone, and O! For their chivalry. The youths must be crazy.
It is western nonsense to look an elder in the eye and parrot obscenties. My chi would cleave my tongue to my palate. It is White stupidity to come to the home of my fathers to ravage, ransack and to what? Excavate Mother Hill. If wonder is dead in the West, not here. It is a certain strange type of arrogance to think that I am somehow ill educated or suffer some nutrient deficiency simply because I BELIEVE IN MY PERSONAL GOD - My chi, created by the great CHI - UKWU, the great CHI, that creative CHI - OKIKE. I'm a believer... Just that I believe differently. I believe in all that is high and lofty. I believe in all that is Republican... Truly Republican not in the perverse sense of it. As we are bound to pervert even the Holy. I believe in that restless independence of soul, that certainty and vague eccentricity borne out of creativity and not empty Pride.
I believe in the gregarious nature of the African, the communal inclination of everyone being in everyone's business. Call it being communal, call it being socialist. I believe in Kwame Nkrumah and his theory of the seeming socialist in all Africans.
This is Africa's finest hour.
To be continued.
Iroko Obasi ND
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