Nigeria Would Explode
Nigeria is founded on lies, deceit, laziness, retrogression, oppression and the sooner it dies and gives way to a just entity the better - either as a compact whole with federating units or separate countries. Until resource control is enthroned, Nigeria must die, die, die, die, die, and die! Nigeria is built on quick sand, on an uncharacteristic clay soil of perfidy, where slugabeds revel in bacchanalia, where myths gambol as reality.Commonsense is a strange substance in this land. Far from the barberry people eulogize, Nigeria is a pond of absurdity.
States rely on the Niger delta for oil with little or no initiative to generate wealth. Not one person has thought it fit to stray or vociferously pursue a bill to kill this monthly-allocation malady like the legal spearhead against slavery in Britain, William Wilberforce who pursued the cause with might and main until slave trade was delegalized in 1807.On March 25 Britain would remember him for being a strong voice against the dark, barbarous trade in humans.
People sulk at easy oil doles from Abuja and pride themselves with achievements derived therein without a sense of shame and contradiction. They’ve never thought it fit to devise more constructive ways from limited resources to exponential heights using their own land resources and leaving others absolutely to theirs.The afectless idiosyncrasy of the affecting plight of oil-producing communities would, I have no doubt, dynamite Nigeria to shreds unless a hands-on, immediate corrective policy is instituted.
Creativity is a strange man with four legs in Nigeria .There is little or no interest in diversification. I am looking for a governor, a minister, local chairman who would refuse oil allocations and come up with something creative to live on. I search for that government martyr willing to receive the sack over refusal to be another governor receiving oil doles monthly.I get irritated when a hear: ‘This non-Niger Delta governor gets a fifth of what Niger Deltans get and yet he is able to do much’? Why can’t that governor use his ‘prudence’ and find a way to earn money other than oil? It could mean exploring solid minerals in his land, taxing people and other abundance waiting for judicious use. Instead we swell the head of people averse to performance whose only faculty recognizes oil and pontificate therein.
If I ever get to any position of authority as governor/minister et al I would break ranks!I would rather be thrown out and let the message beam that a cause was advanced: to free Nigeria from the shackles of mediocrity and enthrone commonsense, talent, development. Not a Nigeria where all component parts prey on the largely weak ethnic groups of the delta but a Nigeria where everyone utilizes the resources within their borders and generates clean income for use in running government and society.
Nigeria is a vicious cycle of the same defeating occurrences, only with increased tempo at every turn. One government replaces the other in mediocrity, rhetoric, corruption, backwardness, and oil-dependence. Here we are now with the same drumbeats of: ‘Yar Adua would present good leadership. He is a meek man.’ Yet he had almost eight years to prove his mettle, instead he introduced Sharia and fought the Niger Delta over their oil resources. He is a bantamweight of no relevance and we must be spared further irritation by further promotion of his name. His recent predicament should teach him a lesson of the effect of poor leadership he helped nurture while his eyes were abroad.
The same lukewarm praises were said of this present government, the one before it and the one before. Litanies of sycophantic outpourings stream out on every turn. Few bother to check facts before speaking. Sometimes you wonder whether it is a pathological defect in reasoning. For goodness sake, how would a man of miserable performance discharge a greater calling? Shouldn’t the little legacy presage the future? But no this is Nigeria. The Odilis, Atikus, Buharis, Ameachis, Ubas et al still factor in people’s consideration for leadership. Under Odili’s governorship poverty worsened, hardship increased in heat. Yet these precedents do not sound an alarm.
Today there are people crying because Atiku was removed from the presidential list, a list I shudder with pity at the caliber of people therein, yet this is a man who under his joint trust $20 billion disappeared. This amount may never be discovered, it will be another historical theatre of accusations, denials as Babaginda’s regime. He has no scruples because the money wasn’t derived from his earth. Fire and heat never blazed in his hometown to acquire the money. There was no oil spill, no pollution to acquire the money.Yet we have to endure this clutched mediocrity as he runs around like a headless chicken around our courts.He should plunge his head into the dustbin of history.
He has won himself a name like many others - a name in ignominy, but of course he shoots on. Nigerian leaders do not understand the concept of falling on the sword. They stay because they never had an ideology that emphases vision. That is why we have had a president, vice president, governors, and local chairmen for almost eight years. They lacked the internal framework to throw in the towel after six months in government. They allowed us - and still do - feel the full force of the injection.This is never a time to feel pity for anyone. Time has far been spent on worthlessness, now our language and action must be plain.
Aside from the fact that the terrain of Niger Delta demands great funds for road construction and other efforts compared to the hinterland they deserve to enjoy the full flow of their environment. Those with gold, coal and other mineral resources can also join the South Africans, the Namibians, and the Ghanaians in reaping from precious earth. If not I implore them to tie themselves in explosion. The explosion of the Roman Empire and other empires or entities that have dwindled in world influence serve as lessons to those who can read the handwriting on the wall.
Those who revel in obfuscation and sophistries can only continue deceiving themselves until the sledge hammer of history that visited the Soviet Union, Apartheid South Africa, the Balkans, and Segregation etc smashes them into smithereens.Justice to my understanding contends that a deal under a ratio of 13:100 with component parts contributing nothing certainly is a bad contract and therefore an equitable remedy only right.
Perhaps no where does the fraud that is Nigeria find expression than the solid mineral department.Solid minerals held great future in the thrust for diversification and achieving a federating status as almost all if not all states have solid minerals of economic worth in their domain but the forces of uncertainty have hijacked the initiative. Since the Mining Act - designed to ensure exploration - was signed into law there has been a painful haze of confusion over the viability of the law.
The Tide newspaper reported on February 27, 2007 that forty-two (42) new mineral deposits were found in Nigeria. Until, parasitic, cave-dwelling Nigerians shed themselves of their inabilities Nigeria, I have no doubt heads towards extinction. History is a wonderful brother because it reveals great implosions certain for any unjust country.
Sunday 18 March 2007
Why I hate the rule of law
FOR Obasanjo to be impeached the rule of law must be observed. Rule of law enables the Rotimi Ameachis, Atiku Abubakars challenge various ‘infringements of their rights.’ Can’t there be any flexibity in throwing all these people out without resorting to the rule of law? Rule of law is time wasting and arduous. There may be little revolution in the people vested with authority to throw out erring members. This is my grouse with the rule of law. It provides a shield to rogues, serial under-performers, and treasury rapists. Under the rule of law criminals appeal for ‘rights.’ Rule of law says we have to provide enough evidence for prosecution: ‘Beyond reasonable doubt.’ Is rule of law all that modern ‘civilization’ has for a crime-free society?
A.V.Dicey’s famous pronouncement on the rule of law greeted my entry into government studies in secondary school. ‘No one is above the law, everyone is subject to law,’ so I was taught in Senior Secondary School (SSS).Rule of law, we were taught, requires basic submission to law. We were taught the importance of due process, separation of powers between the three arms of government, the various checks and balances and the insubordination of everyone including those in the top notches of authority to law. At the time Nigeria was under a dictatorship where violence was rife so the rule of law made sense to me but embryonic to conclude on its validity. Human life was worth less than a loaf of bread. Life was abused of any dignity by people ballooned with quick powers of violation.
At a very young age I was instructed by a relative many times to read newspapers. Not once, not twice would I be told so. The newspapers/magazines I would read ranged from Punch, Guardian, Tell, and Newswatch etc.The relative was himself a journalist who wrote with fire and brimstone in his time. He told me during his heydays as a journalist he was approached by some people who had come to apprehend him for writing so poignantly against their deeds.
I remember when Abacha came on stage. The whole stage was quiet. His appearance seemed to have been done very stealthy. The atmosphere I lived in was largely indifferent to politics. People cared about their immediate well-being. Market women, traders, teachers etc occupied themselves with activities that would ensure their existence. There was no one to look up to in government; the hoi polloi were left to their own elements.
The Nigerian newspapers as far as I was concerned offered me nothing. They appeared to be procrastinators unable to report progress because there were genuinely none. They never reported any tangible progress – it was always going to happen. This futuristic deception offended my straight-shooting inclination. I quit reading Nigerian newspaper because they were town criers with no audience. There was nothing good on the ground they could report, just vain rhetoric of corrupt sectional rulers. The newspapers had to survive so they kept their pages going with these empty, worthless renderings.
Years on I am confronted with the same decision: should I stop reading Nigerian newspapers? They offer nothing because nothing is happening in Nigeria. Nigeria is not working. Government has been reduced to a vast business empire where the most shrewd and influential takes home as much as secrecy and greed would allow. After eight years there is nothing visible to show on the ground.Nigeriaworld.com was perhaps the first Nigerian news site I was given. I would go there from time to time, read Nigerian news as well as articles and feature articles. I found it all an interesting adjunct to the conventional media outlets because more voices prevailed in national discourse but still a sense of national unfulfillment trailed me.
Here we go again: the rule of law would enable Gov. Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, Gov. Orji Uzor Kalu, Muhammadu Buhari etc contest the forthcoming presidential elections.Atiku is now in court contesting his absence from the presidential list. He might eventually be reinstated. Why I hate the rule of law.
FOR Obasanjo to be impeached the rule of law must be observed. Rule of law enables the Rotimi Ameachis, Atiku Abubakars challenge various ‘infringements of their rights.’ Can’t there be any flexibity in throwing all these people out without resorting to the rule of law? Rule of law is time wasting and arduous. There may be little revolution in the people vested with authority to throw out erring members. This is my grouse with the rule of law. It provides a shield to rogues, serial under-performers, and treasury rapists. Under the rule of law criminals appeal for ‘rights.’ Rule of law says we have to provide enough evidence for prosecution: ‘Beyond reasonable doubt.’ Is rule of law all that modern ‘civilization’ has for a crime-free society?
A.V.Dicey’s famous pronouncement on the rule of law greeted my entry into government studies in secondary school. ‘No one is above the law, everyone is subject to law,’ so I was taught in Senior Secondary School (SSS).Rule of law, we were taught, requires basic submission to law. We were taught the importance of due process, separation of powers between the three arms of government, the various checks and balances and the insubordination of everyone including those in the top notches of authority to law. At the time Nigeria was under a dictatorship where violence was rife so the rule of law made sense to me but embryonic to conclude on its validity. Human life was worth less than a loaf of bread. Life was abused of any dignity by people ballooned with quick powers of violation.
At a very young age I was instructed by a relative many times to read newspapers. Not once, not twice would I be told so. The newspapers/magazines I would read ranged from Punch, Guardian, Tell, and Newswatch etc.The relative was himself a journalist who wrote with fire and brimstone in his time. He told me during his heydays as a journalist he was approached by some people who had come to apprehend him for writing so poignantly against their deeds.
I remember when Abacha came on stage. The whole stage was quiet. His appearance seemed to have been done very stealthy. The atmosphere I lived in was largely indifferent to politics. People cared about their immediate well-being. Market women, traders, teachers etc occupied themselves with activities that would ensure their existence. There was no one to look up to in government; the hoi polloi were left to their own elements.
The Nigerian newspapers as far as I was concerned offered me nothing. They appeared to be procrastinators unable to report progress because there were genuinely none. They never reported any tangible progress – it was always going to happen. This futuristic deception offended my straight-shooting inclination. I quit reading Nigerian newspaper because they were town criers with no audience. There was nothing good on the ground they could report, just vain rhetoric of corrupt sectional rulers. The newspapers had to survive so they kept their pages going with these empty, worthless renderings.
Years on I am confronted with the same decision: should I stop reading Nigerian newspapers? They offer nothing because nothing is happening in Nigeria. Nigeria is not working. Government has been reduced to a vast business empire where the most shrewd and influential takes home as much as secrecy and greed would allow. After eight years there is nothing visible to show on the ground.Nigeriaworld.com was perhaps the first Nigerian news site I was given. I would go there from time to time, read Nigerian news as well as articles and feature articles. I found it all an interesting adjunct to the conventional media outlets because more voices prevailed in national discourse but still a sense of national unfulfillment trailed me.
Here we go again: the rule of law would enable Gov. Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, Gov. Orji Uzor Kalu, Muhammadu Buhari etc contest the forthcoming presidential elections.Atiku is now in court contesting his absence from the presidential list. He might eventually be reinstated. Why I hate the rule of law.
Slave Trade Abolition:Britain braces up for Bicentenary Anniversary
Story was told about a Jamaican who while in an underground tube was approached by a ticket inspector seeking his fare ticket, to which he retorted with a passionate outburst: ‘My ancestors built this country.’
March 25, marks the bicentenary of the African slave-trade abolition by the Slave Trade Act 1807. Many remember the brutal legacies the dark trade left in its awake.
The Slavery Abolition passed on August 23, 1833, outlawed slavery. On August 1, 1834 all slaves in the British Empire were emancipated, but still indentured to their former owners in an apprenticeship system which was finally abolished in 1838.
The trans-Atlantic slave trade was a defining moment in human history. Scores of able-bodied men and women in West and Central Africa were taken captive to oppressive servitude in the Caribbean, North and South America. It is thought that up to 12 million Africans were loaded into deplorable slave ships – many died.
Olaudah Equiano, in his book The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano wrote: ‘The stench of the hold while we were on the coast was so intolerably loathsome, that it was dangerous to remain there for any time, and some of us had been permitted to stay on the deck for the fresh air; but now that the whole ship’s cargo were confined together, it became absolutely pestilential. The closeness of the place, and the heat of the climate, added to the number in the ship, which was so crowded that each had scarcely room to turn himself, almost suffocated us,’
In the famous 1783 Zong case, 131 Africans were thrown overboard providing fire for the abolition movement.
Before the discovery of the New World in 1492, slaves were used in parts of Europe.
In 1441 Portuguese captains captured 12 slaves from Africa and took them to Portugal as slaves signaling the start of slave trading in Africa.
In 1562 Sir Hawkins led the first English slaving exhibition and in 1672 Royal Africa Company was granted charter to carry Africans to the Americas.
Slave trade was a very lucrative trade. The trade reportedly powered the industrial revolution. It spawned an era of wealth and industry.
Southwark Bishop Thomas Butler, at the Anglican Church's General Synod stated, ‘The profits from the slave trade were part of the bedrock of our country's industrial development.’
Tony Blair wrote in an article in the New Nation newspaper: ‘Britain's rise to global pre-eminence was partially dependent on a system of colonial slave labour and, as we recall its abolition, we should also recall our place in its practice.’
He continued: ‘It is hard to believe that what would now be a crime against humanity was legal at the time. Personally I believe the bicentenary offers us a chance not just to say how profoundly shameful the slave trade was - how we condemn its existence utterly and praise those who fought for its abolition, but also to express our deep sorrow that it ever happened, that it ever could have happened and to rejoice at the different and better times we live in today.’
So great was the trade that a campaign of lies was embarked on to stifle any opposition to its abolition.
People who featured in the slave trading abolition movement include William Wilberforce, and Ignatius Sancho.
William Wilberforce (1759 – 1833) led the parliamentary campaign against the slave trade. His first bill in April 1791 was defeated by 163 to 88. On May 1789, he made his first major speech on the subject of abolition in the House of Commons in which he condemned the practice. In 1805, a bill for the abolition passed in Commons but was rejected in the House of Lords.
In 1787, Society for the abolition of slave trade was founded.
To counter the historical notion that African people were not normal human beings abolitionists worked tirelessly to present their plight in ships and the cruel treatment of slaves in plantations and other areas of slavery. They showed African artifacts to show that Africans were capable of sophistication.
The Anglican Church has apologized for their role in the slave trade. A descendant of John Hawkins, the English slave-trading trail blazer stunned a congregation last year when he lapsed in remorse in front of them over the deeds of his ancestor.
Different slave revolts occurred, including the ‘The Baptist War’ in Jamaica led by Baptist preacher Sam Sharpe but was suppressed, the slave rising in Demerara, leading to the death of 250 slaves and death sentence on Rev John Smith of the London Missionary Society.
In the largest Jamaican uprising in 1865, 17 Europeans killed and 32 were wounded.
The famed Underground Railroad enabled slaves escape to freedom in the Southern states of America.
Slavery was abolished in Cuba in 1886 and 1888 in Brazil.
A 1778 case Knight vs Wedderburn in Edinburgh ruled that slave trade was incompatible with Scottish law.
A report released by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport stated: ‘Although today everyone recognizes that it was morally reprehensible, politicians, businessmen, scientists and even churches justified the legitimacy of slavery at the time. British subjects were involved in the trade as shipping owners, makers of chains and other instruments of control, goods manufacturers and as plantation and slave owners.’
The report said: ‘It is argued that some of those after-effects include racism, poverty and conflict in Africa and conflict in Africa and the Caribbean, inequality, and complex cultural legacies. It is felt that these legacies continue to echo today in streets, workplaces and homes in this country.’
Government is encouraging the participation of different groups in the bicentenary anniversary.
Parliament would mark the bicentenary with a free exhibition in Westminster Hall from 23 May to 23 September 2007.
Today there are concerns of human trafficking across the world. People are thrown into sex slavery and other inhumane treatments.
References
1.http://www.brycchancarey.com/
2.http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/William_Wilberforce
3.http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/slavery/DG_065859
4. Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Reflecting on the past and looking to the future: The 2007 Bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade in the British Empire (http://www.direct.gov.uk/)
5.http://www.reference.com/ – search Slave Trade
Story was told about a Jamaican who while in an underground tube was approached by a ticket inspector seeking his fare ticket, to which he retorted with a passionate outburst: ‘My ancestors built this country.’
March 25, marks the bicentenary of the African slave-trade abolition by the Slave Trade Act 1807. Many remember the brutal legacies the dark trade left in its awake.
The Slavery Abolition passed on August 23, 1833, outlawed slavery. On August 1, 1834 all slaves in the British Empire were emancipated, but still indentured to their former owners in an apprenticeship system which was finally abolished in 1838.
The trans-Atlantic slave trade was a defining moment in human history. Scores of able-bodied men and women in West and Central Africa were taken captive to oppressive servitude in the Caribbean, North and South America. It is thought that up to 12 million Africans were loaded into deplorable slave ships – many died.
Olaudah Equiano, in his book The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano wrote: ‘The stench of the hold while we were on the coast was so intolerably loathsome, that it was dangerous to remain there for any time, and some of us had been permitted to stay on the deck for the fresh air; but now that the whole ship’s cargo were confined together, it became absolutely pestilential. The closeness of the place, and the heat of the climate, added to the number in the ship, which was so crowded that each had scarcely room to turn himself, almost suffocated us,’
In the famous 1783 Zong case, 131 Africans were thrown overboard providing fire for the abolition movement.
Before the discovery of the New World in 1492, slaves were used in parts of Europe.
In 1441 Portuguese captains captured 12 slaves from Africa and took them to Portugal as slaves signaling the start of slave trading in Africa.
In 1562 Sir Hawkins led the first English slaving exhibition and in 1672 Royal Africa Company was granted charter to carry Africans to the Americas.
Slave trade was a very lucrative trade. The trade reportedly powered the industrial revolution. It spawned an era of wealth and industry.
Southwark Bishop Thomas Butler, at the Anglican Church's General Synod stated, ‘The profits from the slave trade were part of the bedrock of our country's industrial development.’
Tony Blair wrote in an article in the New Nation newspaper: ‘Britain's rise to global pre-eminence was partially dependent on a system of colonial slave labour and, as we recall its abolition, we should also recall our place in its practice.’
He continued: ‘It is hard to believe that what would now be a crime against humanity was legal at the time. Personally I believe the bicentenary offers us a chance not just to say how profoundly shameful the slave trade was - how we condemn its existence utterly and praise those who fought for its abolition, but also to express our deep sorrow that it ever happened, that it ever could have happened and to rejoice at the different and better times we live in today.’
So great was the trade that a campaign of lies was embarked on to stifle any opposition to its abolition.
People who featured in the slave trading abolition movement include William Wilberforce, and Ignatius Sancho.
William Wilberforce (1759 – 1833) led the parliamentary campaign against the slave trade. His first bill in April 1791 was defeated by 163 to 88. On May 1789, he made his first major speech on the subject of abolition in the House of Commons in which he condemned the practice. In 1805, a bill for the abolition passed in Commons but was rejected in the House of Lords.
In 1787, Society for the abolition of slave trade was founded.
To counter the historical notion that African people were not normal human beings abolitionists worked tirelessly to present their plight in ships and the cruel treatment of slaves in plantations and other areas of slavery. They showed African artifacts to show that Africans were capable of sophistication.
The Anglican Church has apologized for their role in the slave trade. A descendant of John Hawkins, the English slave-trading trail blazer stunned a congregation last year when he lapsed in remorse in front of them over the deeds of his ancestor.
Different slave revolts occurred, including the ‘The Baptist War’ in Jamaica led by Baptist preacher Sam Sharpe but was suppressed, the slave rising in Demerara, leading to the death of 250 slaves and death sentence on Rev John Smith of the London Missionary Society.
In the largest Jamaican uprising in 1865, 17 Europeans killed and 32 were wounded.
The famed Underground Railroad enabled slaves escape to freedom in the Southern states of America.
Slavery was abolished in Cuba in 1886 and 1888 in Brazil.
A 1778 case Knight vs Wedderburn in Edinburgh ruled that slave trade was incompatible with Scottish law.
A report released by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport stated: ‘Although today everyone recognizes that it was morally reprehensible, politicians, businessmen, scientists and even churches justified the legitimacy of slavery at the time. British subjects were involved in the trade as shipping owners, makers of chains and other instruments of control, goods manufacturers and as plantation and slave owners.’
The report said: ‘It is argued that some of those after-effects include racism, poverty and conflict in Africa and conflict in Africa and the Caribbean, inequality, and complex cultural legacies. It is felt that these legacies continue to echo today in streets, workplaces and homes in this country.’
Government is encouraging the participation of different groups in the bicentenary anniversary.
Parliament would mark the bicentenary with a free exhibition in Westminster Hall from 23 May to 23 September 2007.
Today there are concerns of human trafficking across the world. People are thrown into sex slavery and other inhumane treatments.
References
1.http://www.brycchancarey.com/
2.http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/William_Wilberforce
3.http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/slavery/DG_065859
4. Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Reflecting on the past and looking to the future: The 2007 Bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade in the British Empire (http://www.direct.gov.uk/)
5.http://www.reference.com/ – search Slave Trade
Friday 2 March 2007
Soludo’s Stupidity
I was speaking with an Indian workmate of mine when she said, she had to learn the English language upon migrating from India. Astonished, I pressed for more enlightenment, given her fluency in the language and the status of the English language in the Indian society. Whereupon, she told me, she studied in the Hindu language up to Masters level due to financial constraints. Academical institutions run in the English language in India, she said, are more expensive than those run in Hindu. The one aspect that impressed me was the fact that she studied in the Hindu language up to post-graduate level. To her, the language was a living organism. A sad contrast is found in Nigeria. Nigerians are largely a people infested by a diffident linguistical constitution. Language shapes the sublunary existence of a people.
I have often fantasized about the idea of establishing a university in Nigeria run in local languages. The idea would run through series of mental oppositions. To many a Nigerian, the use of local languages is anathema - consigned to primitivism. Our languages should be encouraged. The demeaning attitude towards our languages must cease. Everyone has a stake in it. People grow out of their homes with a poor view of their languages, unfortunately, instilled in them by their parents .Constitutionally, only three languages are allowed for communication in our National Assembly which is sad.
Central Bank governor, Professor Charles Soludo missed a golden opportunity to reaffirm the equality of all Nigerians . By limiting the language inscriptions on the new Naira notes to the Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo languages, he stoked up pent up emotions. This act calls, absolutely for our deprecation. While the country puts on a wooden overcoat, while the susurrus of divisions creep up our alley, this decision comes like an inexperienced prey grazing in the full glare of predators. A tenebrous future hangs in the air.
Embracing our language is a way of founding an identity.
History would record this decision as a most insensitive decision - one that did not take into recognition the ethnic plurality of the nation. This decision may be hailed as finally enshrining national languages into our system but not at the expense of other ethnicities. This was a wonderful opportunity to incorporate justice and show that Nigeria is capable of fair-play but o la la the same narrow injections were foisted on us.
In the wake of the 2006 census, I watched a man on a television show ask, with subtle hints of sarcasm ‘why can’t we do anything properly?’ against the background of lack of census materials and ill-trained census officials.
I grew up in an atmosphere where the Hausa language was spoken with great pride. The Hausa language is a creole language. A Kafanchan, friend - who spoke Hausa and English - of mine once told me she couldn’t speak her native Kaduna language. Across the region the story is the same. People surrender their linguistical sovereignty to the Hausa language. The Hausa language is seen as a lingua franca , perhaps because of the perceived access to leadership by the speakers and the imagined advantages that come with speaking the language .There are more than five extinct languages in Nigeria. Economic consideration might be the driving factor to language relinquishment but all languages convey a message.
Children are taught at an early age that English is the only language to self-determination – others should be avoided. People , therefore inherently view their languages with great scorn. Until we underscore the importance of languages in our polity, a sense of nationhood would be a forlorn dream. Language is part and parcel of human make-up. That’s why slaves were made to relinquish their languages. I have curiously asked Jamaicans without success if they at least retain an atom of African languages.
To found a sense of nationhood a linguistical cohesion must be built. We must consolidate our knowledge of the English language which has a worldwide appeal and the Hausa language which enjoys a considerable generality.
This act of government must immediately be revoked in the interest of justice. Language may be dismissed as an inconsequential trivia but one needs to look at the debate the Arabic inscriptions on our notes stirred - the emotions .The non-Muslims might find English more appealing to them than a Muslim inclined to the Arabic language. CBN’s Deputy Governor, Economic Policy, Dr Obadiah Mailafia said the Arabic inscription had been introduced in the colonial era to describe currencies in the Hausa language because people then could not understand the Roman alphabet ( Source:Britain Nigeria Business Council, news reports, February 2007). People are anxious to beam an accurate picture to outside world. They fear the Arabic inscriptions portray Nigeria, as an Islamic country.
I wrote an article sometime ago titled Ethnic Minorities, Justice and Languages; in the article, I exhorted the need to embrace all languages. I argued that people might be drawn to armed struggle if their languages are not recognized, because stripping people of their language steals a part of their humanity. Limping can never qualify as walking, so every component of a man must be recognized.
When I was a kid, I used hear people extol the virtues of accommodation around me. It was said that a house is where peace is found against the turbulent tides of the outside world - so decorum must always be maintained within. The troubles of the outside world cease on entering your house. Soludo should have known the role houses and land play in Igbo cosmology. He must have known the average Igbo man’s desire to own a house because it confers a sense of fulfillment in the Igbo understanding. In the average Igbo man’s psyche ownership of house instills a sense of sanity and fulfillment. A man is not a man until he builds or buys a house. He can have all the money in the world but if he doesn’t own a house he calls home, he is disrespected . He could ride the best cars in the world; he would still be treated with scorn. Land is a very important asset to the Igbo – it could be seen in Nigerian movies. Any attempt to strip an Igbo man of his land naturally registers vengeance because you accuse him of impotence. The thinking behind this belief is that property ownership ensures the fulfillment of humanhood. It gives a soothing completion to existence. Hence every Igbo man retires home from work to the raving reception of his wife and children.
He has chosen to deny or be a party to denying people that sense of belonging and homecoming. That sense of ownership pride. Pity…
I was speaking with an Indian workmate of mine when she said, she had to learn the English language upon migrating from India. Astonished, I pressed for more enlightenment, given her fluency in the language and the status of the English language in the Indian society. Whereupon, she told me, she studied in the Hindu language up to Masters level due to financial constraints. Academical institutions run in the English language in India, she said, are more expensive than those run in Hindu. The one aspect that impressed me was the fact that she studied in the Hindu language up to post-graduate level. To her, the language was a living organism. A sad contrast is found in Nigeria. Nigerians are largely a people infested by a diffident linguistical constitution. Language shapes the sublunary existence of a people.
I have often fantasized about the idea of establishing a university in Nigeria run in local languages. The idea would run through series of mental oppositions. To many a Nigerian, the use of local languages is anathema - consigned to primitivism. Our languages should be encouraged. The demeaning attitude towards our languages must cease. Everyone has a stake in it. People grow out of their homes with a poor view of their languages, unfortunately, instilled in them by their parents .Constitutionally, only three languages are allowed for communication in our National Assembly which is sad.
Central Bank governor, Professor Charles Soludo missed a golden opportunity to reaffirm the equality of all Nigerians . By limiting the language inscriptions on the new Naira notes to the Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo languages, he stoked up pent up emotions. This act calls, absolutely for our deprecation. While the country puts on a wooden overcoat, while the susurrus of divisions creep up our alley, this decision comes like an inexperienced prey grazing in the full glare of predators. A tenebrous future hangs in the air.
Embracing our language is a way of founding an identity.
History would record this decision as a most insensitive decision - one that did not take into recognition the ethnic plurality of the nation. This decision may be hailed as finally enshrining national languages into our system but not at the expense of other ethnicities. This was a wonderful opportunity to incorporate justice and show that Nigeria is capable of fair-play but o la la the same narrow injections were foisted on us.
In the wake of the 2006 census, I watched a man on a television show ask, with subtle hints of sarcasm ‘why can’t we do anything properly?’ against the background of lack of census materials and ill-trained census officials.
I grew up in an atmosphere where the Hausa language was spoken with great pride. The Hausa language is a creole language. A Kafanchan, friend - who spoke Hausa and English - of mine once told me she couldn’t speak her native Kaduna language. Across the region the story is the same. People surrender their linguistical sovereignty to the Hausa language. The Hausa language is seen as a lingua franca , perhaps because of the perceived access to leadership by the speakers and the imagined advantages that come with speaking the language .There are more than five extinct languages in Nigeria. Economic consideration might be the driving factor to language relinquishment but all languages convey a message.
Children are taught at an early age that English is the only language to self-determination – others should be avoided. People , therefore inherently view their languages with great scorn. Until we underscore the importance of languages in our polity, a sense of nationhood would be a forlorn dream. Language is part and parcel of human make-up. That’s why slaves were made to relinquish their languages. I have curiously asked Jamaicans without success if they at least retain an atom of African languages.
To found a sense of nationhood a linguistical cohesion must be built. We must consolidate our knowledge of the English language which has a worldwide appeal and the Hausa language which enjoys a considerable generality.
This act of government must immediately be revoked in the interest of justice. Language may be dismissed as an inconsequential trivia but one needs to look at the debate the Arabic inscriptions on our notes stirred - the emotions .The non-Muslims might find English more appealing to them than a Muslim inclined to the Arabic language. CBN’s Deputy Governor, Economic Policy, Dr Obadiah Mailafia said the Arabic inscription had been introduced in the colonial era to describe currencies in the Hausa language because people then could not understand the Roman alphabet ( Source:Britain Nigeria Business Council, news reports, February 2007). People are anxious to beam an accurate picture to outside world. They fear the Arabic inscriptions portray Nigeria, as an Islamic country.
I wrote an article sometime ago titled Ethnic Minorities, Justice and Languages; in the article, I exhorted the need to embrace all languages. I argued that people might be drawn to armed struggle if their languages are not recognized, because stripping people of their language steals a part of their humanity. Limping can never qualify as walking, so every component of a man must be recognized.
When I was a kid, I used hear people extol the virtues of accommodation around me. It was said that a house is where peace is found against the turbulent tides of the outside world - so decorum must always be maintained within. The troubles of the outside world cease on entering your house. Soludo should have known the role houses and land play in Igbo cosmology. He must have known the average Igbo man’s desire to own a house because it confers a sense of fulfillment in the Igbo understanding. In the average Igbo man’s psyche ownership of house instills a sense of sanity and fulfillment. A man is not a man until he builds or buys a house. He can have all the money in the world but if he doesn’t own a house he calls home, he is disrespected . He could ride the best cars in the world; he would still be treated with scorn. Land is a very important asset to the Igbo – it could be seen in Nigerian movies. Any attempt to strip an Igbo man of his land naturally registers vengeance because you accuse him of impotence. The thinking behind this belief is that property ownership ensures the fulfillment of humanhood. It gives a soothing completion to existence. Hence every Igbo man retires home from work to the raving reception of his wife and children.
He has chosen to deny or be a party to denying people that sense of belonging and homecoming. That sense of ownership pride. Pity…
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