“The difference that I’m noticing more now and it’s a perception which I’m sure can be debated but there is this extreme animus towards the various countries on the continent of Africa and their historical role in promoting the triangularity of the slave trade that culminated in a diaspora seriously adrift. We’ve encountered at times, a dismissive or condescending attitude towards American blacks by those who were born and reared in the various countries on the continent. This became painfully apparent when the dialogue about describing ourselves as ‘African-Americans’ became the topic on various blogs and if that is truly an accurate description. There seems to be a grace and forgiveness for those who provided a market (Europeans & western whites) for the selling and purchasing of human beings and also promoting one of the most virulent and devastating forms of slavery that the world has ever witnessed.”
Powerful commentary by Nigerian writer, poet, playwright and 1986 Nobel Laureate in Literature, Wole Soyinka, on Africa’s role in the slave trade and it’s consequences. These are 2 must read articles posted in the online magazine theRoot:
I’ve been following the news events about Nigeria’s supposedly Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram. However, something doesn’t sit right with me in the way the whole situation is being reported. Of course, western media as usual simplifies all conflicts into 2 opposing sides… in this case Muslims vs. Christians… with these Muslim extremists confirming all we are told to believe and expect from Islam.
The vast majority of us in North America, particularly of African descent, just shrug our shoulders, don’t seriously concern ourselves with African issues and just believe what they are told: “Africans are savages, ungovernable and tribal.” They don’t dig any deeper, to at least try to understand what is really going on in our Motherland. For example, the Obama administration’s policy of increased militarization in Africa via AFRICOM … especially in oil rich areas… in an effort to counter the increasing Chinese colonization of the continent.
According to the CIA World Factbook, Nigeria is the largest producer of oil in Africa, as well as the 7th largest in the world (see here). What better reason ruse than to fight Islamic terrorism, can be used (by the so-called “Christian” West) as a justification for not only increasing security funding to the pro-American Nigerian government of Goodluck Jonathan, but to also send in US military advisors and special forces.
Here are 3 articles that dig a little deeper and provide a fuller perspective into the issues surrounding the recent sectarian violence in Nigeria:
There’s a New Show on Broadway, the likes of which has never been seen on the stage before! Fela! by Bill T. Jones, famous director and choreographer, along with others have brought to the story of outspoken Nigerian Afrobeat musician and revolutionary social activist Fela Anikulapo Kuti to the American stage!!
Bill T. Jones does a great job of explaining his understanding of Fela and the reason he has brought his life to the Broadway stage. Personally, I have only seen clips on TV and Youtube, but I can see that the show is spectacular! The choreography showcases some of the most fantastic and energetic dancers and singers, and the multitalented Sahr Ngaujah, who plays Fela takes command of the role and becomes the man Fela!
The Broadway show starts with the performers slowly and sensually walking through the aisles of the theater to the stage, hips swaying as they pass the audience–hinting at the excitement to come. First Fela’s female dancers, then Fela and his male dancers who encircle Fela, dancing bent over at the waist while Fela dances, standing upright. The whole scene portrays Fela as being larger than life! The performer, Sahr Ngaujah, reeks of gorgeousness and sexiness! He’s one black man from whom you can not tear your eyes!! HOT and Cool!! This performer captures a bit the excitement and brilliance and contradiction of Fela Kuti!
As for the rest of the performers, I read a review here that sums it beautifully!!
SO WHO WAS Fela Anikulapo Kuti? A Broadway show cannot begin to encompass the man. Choreographer Bill T. Jones understood that fully.
Fela was born Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria into a middle-class family on October 15, 1938. His mother, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti was a feminist activist in the anti-colonial movement, and his father, Reverend Israel Oludotun Ransome-Kuti, who was a Protestant minister and school principal, was the first president of the Nigerian Union of Teachers.
FUNMILAYO RANSOME-KUTI (25 October 1900 Abeokuta, Nigeria – 13 April 1978 Lagos, Nigeria), born Francis Abigail Olufunmilayo Thomas to Daniel Olumeyuwa Thomas and Lucretia Phyllis Omoyeni Adeosolu. She was a teacher, political campaigner, women’s rights activist and traditional aristocrat. Ransome-Kuti’s political activism led to her being described as the doyen of female rights in Nigeria and was regarded as “The Mother of Africa.” Early on she was a very powerful force advocating for women’s right to vote. She was described in 1947, by the West African Pilot as the “Lioness of Lisabi” for her leadership of Egba women on a campaign against arbitrary taxation of women. That struggle led to the abdication of the Egba King Oba Ademola II in 1949. Fela adored his warrior mother Funmilayo, for her powerful activism for women rights in Nigeria, yet Fela himself was considered chauvinistic and he was a polygamist!
Fela was sent by his parents to London in 1958 to study medicine, but he decided that he would study music instead at the Trinity College of Music. While there, he formed the band, Koola Lobitos, and they played a fusion of jazz and highlife music. In 1960, Fela married his first wife, Remilekun (Remi) Taylor, with whom he would have three children (Femi, Yeni, and Sola).
In 1969, Fela took the band to the United States. While there, he was introduced to the Black Power movement through Sandra Smith (now Izsadore)—a partisan of the Black Panther Party. The Black Power Movement in America greatly influenced his music and political views. He renamed his band, Nigeria ’70.
He later formed the Kalakuta Republic, a commune, a recording studio, and a home for the many people connected to the band. He later declared the Kalakuta Republic independent and sovereign from the state of Nigeria. Fela also set up a nightclub in the Empire Hotel, and named it the Afrika Shrine, where he and his band performed on a regualar basis. Many artists the world over has visited the Afrika Shrine–Hugh Masakela, Roy Ayers, Paul McCartney (who didn’t want it known that he visited)–for a little taste of the creativity, the danger, the excitement, the sexiness and madness of it all!
Fela was continually developing his political stance through his music. What I respect about Fela is that he was struggling to recapture his “African-ness”, a battle that many of us are fighting. He wanted black people to reclaim their black culture and, he wanted to help “re-Africanize the people through the music” He decided to change his middle “slave name” from “Ransome” to “Anikulapo” which means, “he who carries death in his pouch”.
Because Fela’s music spoke to the issues of oppresion of the people, it became very popular among Nigerians, and of course good protest music speaks to all people, so Africans across the continent became big fans as well. In fact, he made the decision to sing in Pidgin English so that his music could be enjoyed by individuals throughout Africa. As his music gained popularity with the masses of black people, he was hated more and more by the Nigerian government for his open condemnation of them and their tactics.
In 1977 Fela and the Afrika ’70 released the hit album “Zombie”, a scathing attack on Nigerian soldiers, using the zombie metaphor to describe the methods of the Nigerian military. The album was a smash hit with the people and infuriated the government all the more. The government retaliated with a vicious attack against the Kalakuta Republic, during which one thousand soldiers attacked the commune. Fela was severely beaten, and his elderly mother was thrown from a window, which caused fatal injuries. The Kalakuta Republic was burned, and Fela’s studio, instruments, and master tapes were destroyed.
Fela and his band retreated to a residence in the Crossroads Hotel along with his commune. In 1978 Fela married 27 women, many of whom were his dancers, composers, and singers to mark the anniversary of the attack on the Kalakuta Republic. Later, he was to adopt a rotation system of keeping only twelve simultaneous wives. The year was also marked by two notorious concerts, the first in Accra in which riots broke out during the song “Zombie”, which led to Fela being banned from entering Ghana. The second was at the Berlin Jazz Festival after which most of Fela’s musicians deserted him, due to rumours that Fela was planning to use the entirety of the proceeds to fund his presidential campaign.
Despite these massive setbacks, Fela was determined to make a comeback. Interestingly, he formed his own political party, called “Movement of the People”. In 1979 he put himself forward for President in Nigeria’s first elections in more than a decade, but his candidature was refused. During that time, Fela created a new band, and called it Egypt ’80. He kept it all moving and continued to record albums and tour the country.
He further infuriated the political establishment by dropping the names of ITT (International Telephone and Telegraph, Nigeria Ltd) vice-president Moshood Abiola and then General Olusegun Obasanjo at the end of a hot-selling 25-minute political screed titled “I.T.T. (International Thief-Thief)”.
I was happy to find the following vimeo on Fela. The title is “The Music Is The Weapon” and in it Fela talks openly about corruption in Nigeria, colonialism and its effects, culture and music. He and his Queens also talk about the attack they suffered at the hands of the government, and how they attacked and destroyed the compound. The film is one hour long, but very interesting and informative–well worth watching in its entirety. The narrator gives it a slight bit of a racist spin, but it’s easy to ignore. In this vimeo, you can see Fela’s passion and love for his people–the film gives one a fuller understanding of the man. I should warn that there are a few graphic photos when they speak of the Biafran War.
In 1984, Fela was again attacked by the military government, who jailed him on a dubious charge of currency smuggling. His case was taken up by several human-rights groups, and after spending 20 months in prison, he was released by General Ibrahim Babangida. On his release he divorced his 12 remaining wives, saying that “marriage brings jealousy and selfishness.” Once again, Fela continued to release albums with Egypt ’80, made a number of successful tours of the United States and Europe and also continued to be politically active. In 1986, Fela performed in Giants Stadium in New Jersey as part of the Amnesty International Conspiracy of Hope concert, sharing the bill with Bono, Carlos Santana, and The Neville Brothers. In 1989, Fela and Egypt ’80 released the anti-apartheid Beasts of No Nation album that depicts on its cover then U.S. President Ronald Reagan, UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and South African Prime Minister Pieter Willem Botha with fangs dripping blood.
The musical style performed by Fela Kuti is called Afrobeat, which is a fusion of jazz, funk, psychedelic rock, and traditional West African chants and rhythms. Afrobeat also borrows heavily from the native “tinker pan” African-style percussion that Kuti acquired while studying in Ghana with Hugh Masekela, under the fantastic Hedzoleh Soundz. Afrobeat is also characterized by having vocals, and musical structure, along with jazzy, funky horn sections. The endless groove is also used, in which a base rhythm of drums, shekere, muted guitar, and bass guitar are repeated throughout the song.
Kuti thought that it was very important for Africans to fight European cultural imperialism, and he was a supporter of traditional African religions and lifestyles. He was also a supporter of Pan-Africanism, and called for a united, democratic African republic. He was a candid supporter of human rights, and many of his songs are direct attacks against dictatorships, specifically the militaristic governments of Nigeria in the 1970s and 1980s. He was also a social commentator, and he criticized his fellow Africans (especially the upper class) for betraying traditional African culture. The African culture he believed in also included having many wives (polygamy) and the Kalakuta Republic was formed in part as a polygamist colony. He defended his stance on polygamy with the words “A man goes for many women in the first place. Like in Europe, when a man is married, when the wife is sleeping, he goes out and f**ks around. He should bring the women in the house, man, to live with him, and stop running around the streets!”
Rumours started spreading that he was suffering from an illness for which he was refusing treatment. On 3 August 1997, Olikoye Ransome-Kuti, already a prominent AIDS activist and former Minister of Health, stunned the nation by announcing his younger brother’s death a day earlier from Kaposi’s sarcoma brought on by AIDS. (Their younger brother Beko was in jail at this time at the hand of Abacha for political activity.)
More than a million people attended Fela’s funeral at the site of the old Shrine compound. A new Africa Shrine has opened since Fela’s death in a different section of Lagos under the supervision of his son Femi Kuti.
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In 2008, an off-Broadway production of Fela Kuti’s life titled Fela!, began with a collaborative workshop between the Afrobeat band Antibalas and Tony award winner Bill T. Jones. The show was a massive success, selling out shows during its run, and garnering much critical acclaim. On November 22, 2009, Fela! began a run on Broadway at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre. Jim Lewis helped co-write the play (along with Bill T. Jones), and obtained producer backing from Jay-Z, Will Smith, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Stephen Hendel, and Stephen Semlitz. The show received rave reviews from The New York Times, saying that the musical “Fela! doesn’t so much tell a story as soak an audience to and through the skin with the musical style and sensibility practiced by its leading man.” Sahr Ngaujah was cast as the magnetic lead role, and Antibalas continues to provide the music, taking on the role of the Nigeria 70. On May 4, 2010, Fela! was nominated for 11 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, Best Direction of a Musical for Bill T. Jones, Best Leading Actor in a Musical for Sahr Ngaujah, and Best Featured Actress in a Musical for Lillias White.
For long I’ve regarded Libyan strongman, Col. Muamar Gadaffi, as a lunatic thanks to his oft-controversial utterances. After the just ended African Union’s annual conference, he was quoted saying things no sane mind can say after his bid to lead this organization for two terms was turned down. He thereof backed off and said he’d turn to the Arab League to get the same. What went on thereafter, nobody knows.
Gadaffi recently proved my take when he created quite a stir averring that Nigeria be halved into two, thanks to religious carnage it recently experienced whereby hundreds of innocent people were savagely butchered. Gadaffi remarks on Nigeria and religious terrorism attracted attention of many more than the first one.
This time, Gadaffi found his match. The speaker of the senate David Mark had this to say about the man and his irresponsible and noxious remarks: “A mad man who said the same thing about England … and he said the same thing about every other country and then you want to give him any prominence at all, truly, in my candid opinion, I don’t think he deserves our attention.”
For a person of Mark’s stature to reach this dressing-down conclusion, Gadaffi verily crossed the red line. Mark is right. How can a sane person insult Nigeria especially at this time it is embroiled in constitutional crisis resulting from the health of its bedridden president surrounded by power brokers? Nigeria’s response to this salvo it called irresponsible did not end up calling Gadaffi a mad man. It also recalled its ambassador from Libya as protest to this megalomania. Many still wonder how such divisive element was made a chair of African Union whilst his solution has always been simple and nugatory.
African dictators have proved to be and rabid out of touch. At the same time, Ugandan strongman averred that donors must stop lecturing him about good governance since he is an expert in the area! He was quoted as thus: “Donor aid should come in areas where Uganda needs development not in governance, I am already an expert in governance, who can again lecture me about governance?” Is Museveni an expert in good governance or bad one? Isn’t this mania really? If anything, Museveni is an expert in but manipulation, intimidation, corruption and what not.
More on Gadaffi. He’s always supported Islam at the peril and dismay of other religions, especially Christianity which he hates the most. In March 2008 when inaugurating the biggest mosque in Uganda he financed, he was quoted as thus: “The Bible we have now is not the one that was revealed to Issa [Jesus] and the Old Testament is not the one that was revealed to Musa. Muhammad is mentioned in both (original versions), but the Torah and Bible we have now, there is no mention of him.”
This simpleton did not end up there. He added in paraphrasing his salvos so as to clearly be understood. He said: “It means that it (Bible) has been forged. Prophet Muhammad was sent to mankind. Allah wanted mankind to have one religion. The Koran that we have is the only book that was sent by Allah. We believe in the Bible as well as the Torah.”
What does Gadaffi’s machination-cum-suggestion mean? Nigeria be divided so that he can fully support the Islamic north to attack Christian south as he was doing in Sudan when it was terrorizing Christian south. However, Gadaffi and the likes must understand. Like Sudan, northern Nigeria has no oil. Therefore attempting this suttee will nary help any Nigerians even if Muslims can be easily lulled into this gin.
When this self conscripted Islamic crusader- in-chief puked his puerile wisdom, many religious people in Uganda frontally confronted him by hitting back, reminding him how the book he thinks authentic is a poetic copy of the one he castigates.
Gadaffi’s Islamic crusade did not start yesterday. In 1978 he supported Idi Amin when he invaded Tanzania. The lesson he got for this insanity has nary escaped his memory. In 2006 Gadaffi was quoted as thus: “We have 50 million Muslims in Europe. There are signs that Allah will grant Islam victory in Europe – without swords, without guns, without conquests. The 50 million Muslims of Europe will turn it into a Muslim continent within a few decades.” This megalomania borders the one once proposed by some stupid immigrants in UK, that UK must be ruled Islamic leader and Koran not by the queen and the constitution.
More on Gadaffi’s Islamic fundamentalism appeared in 2009 in Rome where he went to attend FAO’s conference when he urged 100 Italian beauties to convert in Islam. He said that Jesus came for Jews whilst Mohammad came for everybody. But he forgot one cardinal in the Koran that say that Allah brought Islam in Arabic so that Arabs could understand it. To prove how lunatic the man is, at the end of the lecture of converting to Islam he gave the girls copies of Koran and 50 Euros each. One of them, Silvia Figliozzi, grumbled: ”We were at least expecting a snack.”
Before the furore of halving Nigeria, Gadaffi was at it with Switzerland. He wanted Muslims all over the world to fight the Swiss simply because they denied visas to Libyan officials! He was quoted as thus: “There is a big difference between terrorism and jihad which is a right to armed struggle”. Gaddafi added: “Let us fight against Switzerland, Zionism and foreign aggression”.
We’ve presented as many quotes from Gadaffi to prove how lunatic the guy is. In March last year International Christian Concern (ICC) slapped Gadaffi in the face after revealing how Libyan intelligence tortured Christian converts for weeks. What hypocrisy and double standard! Can such a biased- funky creature have any good lesson for Africa? ICC’s Regional Manager for Africa, Jonathan Racho, had this to say: “We call upon Libyan officials to stop torturing the four Christians and release them from detention. Libya must respect the rights of its citizens to worship freely and not to be tortured. We particularly ask the Libyan leader and the current head of the African Union, Mr. Muammar Gaddafi, to set the prisoners free and demonstrate his country’s commitment to respect human rights.”
In a nutshell, this is but a drop in the ocean of Gadaffi’s frenzy. His madness is unearthed when he goes around preaching the United States of Africa chaired by him on the one hand, as he preaches the division of African countries on the other hand.
Importantly, Africa needs to know. Gadaffi is dangerous and, thus, we must keep off from him despite his petrodollar many mumbo jumbos badly need. Indeed Gadaffi needs to have his head examined.
Nkwazi Mhango is a Tanzanian living in Canada. He writes regularly for “The African Executive” and also has a blog entitled “Free Thinking Unabii”. He is a regular contributor to AfroSpear.
Reports that Nigeria ailing president was on 24 Feb., smuggled into Nigeria at small hours without acting President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan being aware are disgusting. To add salt to injuries it’s said Jonathan did not even authorize the army to line up Abuja streets at the time his boss was secretly arrived. What’s more, the media in Nigeria was caught off guard thanks to the news of Yar’Adua arrival being broken by Al-Jazeera Television. It is said that even presidential press did not notify anybody about this event!
If this is true, there is a very big problem that needs urgent arrest of the same. What’s more, this is the typical replica of what is going on in many African countries whereby a kit and caboodle of power brokers surrounding big men can abuse the constitution by hijacking the president without being dealt with. If Jonathan was not aware off all happenings-cum-goings-on or being informed then who is screwing Nigeria? There are many more questions that beg answers. What is the root of this unconstitutionality in the first place? Who ordered the army to line up Abuja streets other than the Commander in Chief who in this case is Jonathan?
The first suspect in this power abuse and usurpation is none other than the first lady Turai, who barred Jonathan even from having audience with his boss, not to mention Yar’Adua relatives as per the media. Yar’Adua mother Hajj Dada was recently quoted praying that her son be allowed to go back to Katsina so that they can pray for his recovery. The pretext Turai offers is that doctors told her not to allow anyone to see the president! What rubbish! Ensconced amidst power brokers from Katsina the home of Yar’Adua, Turai is doing whatever she can to get away with it, shall the president die anytime. This has created much jumble in Nigeria.
For the people do not know what is going especially with regards to the condition of their president. Rumours are rife that Yar’Adua is in bad shape and therefore, anything can happen anytime. Turai and Co. are embarking on these abracadabras all aiming at creating conducive environment for power to change hand. Some refer to Turai as Nigeria’s Imelda Marcos after the influential wife of former Filipino strongman Ferdinand Marcos, who ruled for more than two decades before being driven from power by protests in 1986.
I once wrote on how the first lady and whiz kids surrounding African big men are tearing down our continent. They’ve become presidents and what not behind the curtain. In Kenya, the first lady was able to attack the media and beat journalists up without being punished for the abuse of the power of her husband! In other African countries first ladies are seen in public acting as if they have constitutional backing to act like rulers. In Uganda president’s clan-cum-family use the country just like their privy firm and nothing is done to arrest this anomaly! They are everywhere doing everything that can make money. All lucrative tenders and the like are under the control of their netherworld. Like the strongman himself they’re above the law.
That’s why Museveni’s Brother Caleb Akandwanao aka Saleh Salim has nary been charged for sabotage and corruption. The situation is even gross in Algeria, Congo, DRC, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Libya, Gambia, Rwanda, Togo, Tunisia and Zimbabwe to mention but a few of countries where a family-crony axis of evil lords it over people.
Though it is scandalous and ridiculous, news that Yar’Adua wife glutted the acting president from seeing his boss without the fear of the institution of presidency is a blow to Nigeria. There is a saying in US when a winning presidential candidate is declared president. They say: “This is not a normal human being but the president of the United States.” This means that the president-elect ceases to be a family matter but a national one. In principle the president is supposed to be above petty things like family, tribe, religion, region and what not. As we ponder on Yar’Adua’s scenario-cum-fiasco, his wife has grossly erred to hijack the president of the people that voted him their leader. This crime borders treason shall laws be applied to the same.
We all know that Yar’Adua is bedridden, therefore incapacitated despite all the barbarity and lies surrounding his plight. That is why he’s nary been seen in public since November last year. That’s why his homecoming was secretive and controversial. Yar’Adua needs help of being freed from dirty hands of greedy hyenas using his wife who cannot become president under whatever circumstance. Despite riding roughshod over Nigerians for a while, Jonathan is still in charge despite Yar’Adua presence in Nigeria and all machinations and flaws surrounding him. Were I Jonathan, under the power vested in me under Nigerian constitution, I’d order the release of the information about the president’s bill of health come what may. This would help to stop anxiety and confusion about the president. And it’d stop the machinations carried out by Mafioso surrounding the president.
Legally speaking, Nigerians have the right to see and hear their president. For, they’re the ones that voted him their president. Mrs Yar’Adua needs to understand. If she does not get it, she must be brought to book. What she is doing is dangerous for democracy. Shameful as it is, what’s going on in Nigeria is a big lesson for Africa that we need to lop powers from first ladies and cronies defecate on behind the curtains. Even Prince Philip despite being the consort of the Queen, can nary barricade Britons from seeing their monarch simply because they share one bed. Turai’s mischievous stance has offended Nigerians.
Information minister Dora Akunyili was recently quoted as thus: “I believe that it is people around him that were gaining from the confusion, people around him that are doing to him today what 100 million political enemies cannot do to him. The cabal wants to continue with their usual statement of ‘the president said,’ and you must comply. They want to continue dishing out instructions even when the president did not say so,” the minister said. She warned: “This cabal should, please, stop heating up the system and allow President Yar’Adua to recover.” This statement shows how desperate and frustrated Nigerians are. The whole minister does not know anything about the health of her boss simply because his wife and the cabal do not like!
Paroxysms emanating from Yar’Adua affair do not end up in Nigeria. The US has already warned saying that Jonathan must be left alone to rule till the president is declared fit to rule. Nigerians are wary and balked. Professor Itse Sagay one of Nigeria’s political pundits was recently quoted as thus: “In the absence of that, being brought back in an ambulance and then taken by an ambulance, somewhere without being seen, simple is a token that his condition is still very bad, rather than the other way round.” And, so, this cannot make any difference to the institution of an acting presidency.
The big lesson we get from Nigeria is we should start thinking about how to curb president’s wives, cronies and other hyena-like power brokers behind the president or first lady. Importantly, Yar’Adua needs to be freed from the first lady and her inner sanctum bêtes noix.
Nkwazi Mhango is a Tanzanian living in Canada. He writes regularly for “The African Executive” and also has a blog entitled “Free Thinking Unabii”. He is a regular contributor to AfroSpear.
Nneka new album “Concrete Jungle” will be released in the U.S. on February 2nd. Check out this post by Afro-Europe to see her new video “The Uncomfortable Truth” (here).
I’ve been following the news events about Nigeria’s supposedly Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram. However, something doesn’t sit right with me in the way the whole situation is being reported. Of course, western media as usual simplifies all conflicts into 2 opposing sides… in this case Muslims vs. Christians… with these Muslim extremists confirming all we are told to believe and expect from Islam.
