Isalegan2's Posts
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 Foreign Affairs › Re: Foreign Affairs Section Year-end Wrapup And Best Poster Of 2011 by isalegan2(op): 7:16pm On Jan 06, 2012 |
hehehehe. I've already crowned him.  The Indisputable Champion Analyst of World History & Diplomacy, Current Affairs and International News = CAP28.  I actually didn't intend to force an election on us. I simply wanted to reminisce over the past year and acknowledge posters that I feel contributed immensely to this section.  But if majority of people want an official (s)election, someone else can take over the reins. You'll need to pick a date for end of nomination and simply count the results and declare from there. |
| Politics › Re: Boko Haram KILL 6 more on Sunday , Very very sad, over 60 killed since last week by isalegan2: 7:01pm On Jan 06, 2012 |
lol. Frosbel. Take my moniker out of that nonsense propaganda item there. Or I'ma slap you through your monitor. I'm not denying that there is some truth to this particular report of shootings at a gathering. The details are still trickling in, so I am not going to overreact and advice people to start abandoning their homes. As someone pointed out, many Easterners own homes and other property and have made a life there, and simply expecting them to shuffle from on town/state to another overnight is ill-advised and impractical. I haven't got your time to be honest. Your aim on Nairaland is simply malevolent, no matter how much you couch it under the cover of religious evangelism. You're the same person who's lambasting people for expressing their opposition to the subsidy removal. Isn't your beliefs supposed to be in favour of the poor and dispossed? FOOL! I'm done with you. |
| Politics › Re: Boko Haram KILL 6 more on Sunday , Very very sad, over 60 killed since last week by isalegan2: 6:47pm On Jan 06, 2012 |
Frosbel is a TOOL of immense proportions. He can never back up his claims with news/links from legitimate newspapers. He was peddling his rubbish in the Religion and Islam sections. Now he's moved his business to the politics section to add to the tribal hatred and unrest. Dude, You Need To Man UP And Stop Being A Tool, YOU BENT TOOL! |
| Politics › Re: Stop Moaning... Petrol Is 326.21 Naira a litre in the UK! by isalegan2: 8:21pm On Jan 05, 2012 |
I already said this boy calling himself Thor will never learn. See now, you people who were feeling sorry for him. He wants the attention and he loves to abuse Nigerians. He wants Naijas to "stop whining" about the cost of petrol, and at the same time, he says the "current generation of impotent citizens" prevents change. So, they should follow his admonition to accept mistreatment and price hikes, and then he can come back and call them impotent? You have no idea how bad it is and how bad it is about to get!  Do you know what happens in USA when gas prices go up? THE PRICE OF EVERYTHING ELSE GOES UP! That's what's going to happen in Naija. Right now, with the unemployment and fear of the future, things are so bad. . . everyone is affected.You this fake Thor. Stop annoying the oyinbo Sango and drop the name Thor, you nutcase.  When I have time today, I will remind you what the posters here think of you and your thread.  |
| Politics › Re: Goodluck Ebele Jonathan Dead Says Wikipedia by isalegan2: 7:28pm On Jan 05, 2012 |
It doesn't read that anymore. I just checked. I'm surprised they didn't "lock" the page though, if that happened. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodluck_Jonathan Wiki has done a lot to reduce instances of tampering on pages - from when it was very common a few years ago. |
| Politics › Re: Nigerians In The Us Protest by isalegan2: 7:19pm On Jan 05, 2012 |
nupac:How do I contact you? Or a place/site to go to get more info? |
| Politics › Re: Covered Number Plates Banned In Lagos. No More Chief Of Your Village On Plates. by isalegan2: 7:09pm On Jan 05, 2012 |
hehehehehe. Freechocolate can't ignore squat! She's a troublesome girl(?); Perfect match for the OP. She'll be back. *I wonder what her new year resolution is* Alaafin = King of Oyo AllAfin = We are all Albinos. |
| Islam › Re: O Allah, You Be The Judge Between Us And Our People; They Decevd And Desertd Us by isalegan2: 5:07am On Jan 05, 2012 |
LagosShia:All right. Very good. Thank you, broda.  vedaxcool:Ah! sorry. You're right. Age doesn't always signify maturity. One of the wisest most mature person I know is conservatively 25 years more mature than his numerical age. I just meant, sometimes you want to know if the person with whom you're talking had similar experiences to you. I also wanted to find similarities between you two, and amongst all three of us. No, I don't think Yorubas have any kind of patent on maturity. lol. You not being Yoruba only makes you more interesting, no worries. You Naija then? Never mind. Who's the pastor you were listening to? Was that during your Christian days?  I am glad we had this talk. I hope we can all learn from each other. . . especially me. You two are very knowledgeable and determined, even though I suspect one or both may be [i]slightly [/i]younger than me. You see, Vedaxcool, I am not above listening to the young 'uns.  Salaam. |
| Politics › Re: Nigerians In The Us Protest by isalegan2: 3:57am On Jan 05, 2012 |
Atlanta, at the Nigerian Consulate, would be a great location. |
| Politics › Re: North Central Christians Mobilize Against Fuel Subsidy removal by isalegan2: 3:28am On Jan 05, 2012 |
[quote author=alj_harem link=topic=839123.msg9897555#msg9897555 date=1325725176]thanks I was gonna tell you, "I won't answer your questions until you answer mine!" lol. But I have resolved to be nicer+sweeter this new year. How am I doing? |
| Politics › Re: North Central Christians Mobilize Against Fuel Subsidy removal by isalegan2: 1:57am On Jan 05, 2012 |
Alj, You need to edit the opening post to add "Removal" at the end of the title. |
| Foreign Affairs › Re: Foreign Affairs Section Year-end Wrapup And Best Poster Of 2011 by isalegan2(op): 12:24am On Jan 05, 2012 |
What of memorable threads, discussions and specific quotes? I also have to mention the indescribable and enigmatic Buzugee. The Morpheus24-Cap28 Feud was something to behold too! |
| Family › Re: Are you feeling angry right now? Let-off steam here! by isalegan2: 11:05pm On Jan 04, 2012 |
@Isale GanOh! I'm not taking sides or castigating anyone. I'm just glad this thread is here. Anytime I wanna fight, I know where to come. Here's my current list of NLers I'm beefing DEBOSKY Mukina Katsumoto Kilode Freechocolate MacLatunji Idowuogbo OAM4J Poster names beginning with A, B, C All posters with names beginning D-Z |
| Family › Re: Are you feeling angry right now? Let-off steam here! by isalegan2: 10:05pm On Jan 04, 2012 |
Busy body/Big bumper GO and die!!!
Is this for real? Ooooh Wheee! Never seen the above poster this way. I think the OP has learned his lesson. Even though he wanted to help. That original thread should be retitled, "Are you feeling happy? Come in here and we'll make you suicidal."  |
| Foreign Affairs › Foreign Affairs Section Year-end Wrapup And Best Poster Of 2011 by isalegan2(op): 5:05pm On Jan 04, 2012 |
I am taking this opportunity to commend my personal choice for 2011 FOREIGN AFFAIRS POSTER OF THE YEAR 2011. There was no official election in this section https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-825481.0.html, but. . . CAP28. You are my choice. I thought we all could take this opportunity to mention the posts or threads that were most memorable or funniest or most meaningful, etc., to us. You could also agree or disagree with my choice of Best Poster of 2011 and select your own. Feel free to mention some worthy runners-up too. You don't get a car or cash award, so no acrimony necessary. I would love to re-visit some of the discussions from last year, so feel free to give a summary or provide links to the ones you especially enjoy. |
| Politics › Re: Let's Have Your Complaints Here by isalegan2: 12:43am On Jan 04, 2012 |
@Mukina, Okay. I'm cool. I saw your other PM, and appreciate the FYI. Just would have preferred to get a PM asking me to edit. |
| Politics › Re: Nzeogwu; How We Killed Sardauna (video) by isalegan2: 10:36pm On Jan 03, 2012 |
Cold-Blooded Murderer. Very dandy looking fella too. "Hey old chap, spot o' tea? I say, spot o' tea, old chap? Hip Hip. Cheerio!" Bloody Clown. [flash=480,320] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBKCgPMzrjI[/flash] |
| Nairaland General › Re: O Ye My People! by isalegan2: 9:21pm On Jan 03, 2012 |
* |
| Nairaland General › Re: O Ye My People! by isalegan2: 3:23pm On Jan 03, 2012 |
hahahaha. Mr. Oladipupo, (lucky guess?) I was only talking about his texting convo with me now. lol. I didn't tell him anything yet o. Nairalanders will not kill me sha. Kilode Ki lo n so? Ki lo she le? I got my eye on you o. This your clandestine double-dealing whatchumacallit o. Emi ati e. That will be the end of this thread. You're too smart by half. One day one day. My real new year resolution: Run away from Nairaland and Nairalanders. |
| Politics › Re: Stop Moaning... Petrol Is 326.21 Naira a litre in the UK! by isalegan2: 2:49pm On Jan 03, 2012 |
freecocoa:Not at all. He's not yet bothered. We need 10 more pages of real-life hardship tales and hard-hitting corrective responses from our people. Maybe then his eyes can be opened. Like this one: nikkykay: |
| Nairaland General › Re: O Ye My People! by isalegan2: 2:22pm On Jan 03, 2012 |
Ola Ola, I don't know what you're trying to say in your 3 posts o, To be forewarned is to be forearmed: The Old Man is merciless with the slow ones o. He don't got no patience no more. The last text I sent him, he replied, "answer the question directly, and tell me no stories." How the heck do you tell a story in a phone text? Seriously.  |
| Nairaland General › Re: O Ye My People! by isalegan2: 2:14pm On Jan 03, 2012 |
[size=14pt]For Congo Children, Food Today Means None Tomorrow[/size] https://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2012/01/03/world/JP-KINSHASA/JP-KINSHASA-articleLarge.jpg Protesters faced off with the police in Kinshasa after the deeply flawed presidential election in November. But the intense mass demonstrations many expected proved difficult to sustain, in part because of the daily struggle to survive. KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo — Today, the big children will eat, Cynthia, 15, and Guellor, 13. Tomorrow, it will be the turn of the little ones, Bénédicte, Josiane and Manassé, 3, 6, and 9. Of course, the small ones will fuss. “Yes, sure, they ask for food, but we don’t have any,” said their mother, Ghislaine Berbok, a police officer who earns $50 a month. There will have been a little bread for them at breakfast, but nothing more. “At night they will be weak,” she said. “Sure, they complain. But there is nothing we can do.” The Berboks are practicing a Kinshasa family ritual almost as common here as corrugated metal roofs and dirt streets: the “power cut,” as residents in this capital of some 10 million have ironically christened it. On some days, some children eat, others do not. On other days, all the children eat, and the adults do not. Or vice versa. The term “power cut” — in French, délestage — is meant to evoke another unloved routine of city life: the rolling blackouts that hit first one neighborhood, then another. Délestage is universally used in French-speaking Africa to describe these state-decreed power cutoffs, but when applied to rationing food it illustrates a stark survival calculus, one the head of a household must painfully impose on the rest. And unlike the blackouts, it is not merely a temporary unpleasantness mandated from on high. “If today we eat, tomorrow we’ll drink tea,” said Dieudonné Nsala, a father of five who earns $60 a month as an administrator at the Education Ministry. Rent is $120 a month; the numbers, Mr. Nsala pointed out, simply do not add up. Are there days when his children do not eat? “Of course!” Mr. Nsala answered, puzzled at the question. “It can be two days a week,” he said. Though residents here frequently gather on crowded street corners to argue politics, their daily struggle may help explain why the capital did not experience sustained mass demonstrations after disputed election results were announced last month. Sporadic protests and street clashes certainly erupted, but the margin of survival here is simply too slim for most people to demonstrate for very long. “People in Kinshasa are so poor, they are living hand to mouth,” said Théodore Trefon, a researcher at the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Belgium. “They simply don’t have the means to mobilize for a long time.” Beyond that, the government leaves little room for expressions of popular discontent. Human Rights Watch said that Congolese soldiers had killed at least 24 people and detained dozens more after the flawed elections that returned President Joseph Kabila to office. Whatever the city’s misgivings about the vote, daily life itself is enough of a challenge. “On the weekend, you’ve got to do everything you can to have food because you are at home with the children,” said Mr. Nsala, the administrator. “But there are days, for sure, when we don’t eat. I’ll say, ‘There isn’t enough to eat, so you, maman and the kids, you take it.’ ” Mr. Nsala, soft-spoken and precise in his diction, stared at the floor of his modest cinder-block, metal-roofed living room. Fuzzy television news played in the background. His wife was selling vegetables out front, to supplement the meager family income. Don’t ask him about meat. “Maybe, if we make a sacrifice,” he said, pointing out that a pound of beef costs $5. At the Berbok household — where Ghislaine’s husband, a teacher, earns $42 a month, adding to her salary as a police officer — there has been no fish in a year. “Délestage. That means: ‘Today we eat. Tomorrow we don’t.’ The Congolese, in the spirit of irony, have adopted this term,” said Mr. Nsala quietly. He added that the family had eaten the day before: “So, today, there is nothing.” The food délestage is not new in Congo, a country rich in minerals and verdant landscapes yet also one of the hungriest on earth, according to experts. It is last on the 2011 Global Hunger Index, a measure of malnutrition and child nutrition compiled by the International Food Policy Research Institute, and has gotten worse. It was the only country where the food situation dropped from “alarming” to “extremely alarming,” the institute reported this year. Half the country is considered undernourished. Ten years ago, even poor Congolese could expect to eat one substantial meal a day — perhaps cassava, a starchy root, with some palm oil, and a little of the imported frozen fish that is a staple here. But in the last three years, even that certainty has dropped away, said Dr. Eric Tollens, an expert on nutrition in Congo at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium, where he is an emeritus professor at the Center for Agricultural and Food Economics. Dr. Tollens blamed the “total neglect of agriculture by the government,” which is fixated on the lucrative extraction of valuable minerals like copper and cobalt. Less than 1 percent of the Congolese national budget, he said, goes to agriculture. Foreign donors finance “all agricultural projects,” he said, and “massive amounts of food” are imported in this rich land, so food is expensive. “Agricultural productivity is simply gone,” he said in an interview, adding that there was no reason for a lush, fertile country like Congo to be importing 20,000 tons of beans a year. “It’s worse than Niger or Somalia,” he said, citing two sub-Saharan nations perennially teetering on the verge of famine. “Come on, come on. With so many resources, what’s happening?” Half the population eats only once a day, Dr. Tollens wrote in an essay several years ago, while a quarter eats only once every two days. “Before, we ate three times a day; now, we eat by délestage,” said Cele Bunata-Kumba, a tennis coach who lives in the Matongele neighborhood of Kinshasa with his wife and 12 children. “Today, it’s the children who eat,” he said. “We, the adults, we can sacrifice ourselves. We, the adults, we can get by,” he said, grimacing. “Yes, yes, of course, all day. With nothing to eat. No bread. Sure, that happens,” he added. In the immediate term, the street-smart Kinois — as Kinshasa’s residents are known — famous for hustling and adept at the art of survival in a harsh environment, must cope. They must feed their children, the top priority, a number of families said. In the household run by Elisa Luzingu and her sister-in-law Marie Bumba — Ms. Luzingu’s husband is out of work — the children range in age from 7 to 17. Délestage means no meals, three days a week. “My children are studying, so, it is very difficult,” Ms. Luzingu said. On the days without food, Ms. Bumba said, the children “will be very tired and hungry.” On a recent gray Sunday, at least, “everybody eats,” Ms. Bumba said, standing outdoors in the bare courtyard next to a simmering pot of matembele: sweet potato, palm oil, greens and a little fish. There were smiles all around. The food was almost ready. “The Kinois,” said Mr. Bunata-Kumba, the tennis coach. “For him, eating is day to day.” http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/03/world/africa/in-congolese-capital-power-cut-applies-to-food.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper |
| Politics › Re: Let's Have Your Complaints Here by isalegan2: 7:51am On Jan 03, 2012 |
I'm not aware that Moderators can edit posts, so I am directing this to the SUPERMODERATOR. There was no reason to edit this post: https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=835583.msg9873035#msg9873035. I simply advised a poster not to respond in kind to another poster who was insulting his mother and putting curses on his family. I also informed him that insulting a parent is a banning offense even though it happens all the time without the mods taking any action. I would have preferred you delete the post in its entirety (as usual for no reason) rather than edit it. Thank you. Meanwhile, there is a truly offensive post that is over a year old, in a thread that has been viewed over 1500 times, yet still viewable by anyone including innocent children browsing this site for human interest and current affairs topics. I have linked it to you via "Report to Moderator" button, since I would not want anyone to view it accidentally - other than the posters that enjoy and get a good laugh out of such filth of course. |
| Politics › Re: Great Speeches In African And Black History by isalegan2(op): 5:11am On Jan 03, 2012*. Modified: 5:07pm On Apr 16, 2013 |
Fredi Washington Chicago, Illinois, 1945 [img]http://bak2moi.files./2011/11/firedi-washington.jpg[/img] Fredericka Carolyn "Fredi" Washington (December 23, 1903 - June 28, 1994) was an accomplished dramatic film actress, most active in the 1920s- 1930s. Fredi was a self-proclaimed Black woman, who chose to be identified as such, and wished for others to do so as well. "You see I'm a mighty proud gal and I can't for the life of me, find any valid reason why anyone should lie about their origin or anything else for that matter. Frankly, I do not ascribe to the stupid theory of white supremacy and to try to hide the fact that I am a Negro for economic or any other reasons, if I do I would be agreeing to be a Negro makes me inferior and that I have swallowed whole hog all of the propaganda dished out by our fascist-minded white citizens. I am an American citizen and by God, we all have inalienable rights and whenever and wherever those rights are tampered with, there is nothing left to do but fight, and I fight. How many people do you think there are in this country who do not have mixed blood, there's very few if any, what makes us who we are are our culture and experience. No matter how white I look, on the inside I feel black. There are many whites who are mixed blood, but still go by white, why such a big deal if I go as Negro, because people can't believe that I am proud to be a Negro and not white. To prove I don't buy white superiority I chose to be a Negro." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fredi_Washington |
| Nairaland General › Re: O Ye My People! by isalegan2: 4:24am On Jan 03, 2012 |
The African Holocaust - The Slave Trade by John Henrik Clarke There is a need to look holistically at African history, good and bad. If African people are to be educated to face a new reality on the eve of the twenty first century, we must know about the good times as well as the bad times. We must also know that history has not made Africa and Africans an exceptional case. In the great unfolding of history, Africans have played every role from saint to buffoon and we need to learn how to live with the good as well as the bad. We need to understand the triumphs as well as the tragedies in our history. At the end of what I have been alluding to as the last of the three golden ages in Africa, we entered a period of internal and external tragedy, partly of our making, but mainly imposed on us by foreigners in search of new land, new energy and new resources. We made the terrible mistake of thinking some foreigners could settle our internal "family" disputes. Instead of settling our family disputes, the foreigner turned us, one against the other, and conquered both. This is the great mistake we made in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries at the end of Africa's third golden age. It is the greatest mistake we are making right now. This mistake grows out of our misinterpretation of our greatest strength which is our universal humanity. As a people we have always been hospitable to strangers. The weakness in this noble gesture is that we have not been alert enough and suspicious enough to examine the intentions of the stranger that we have invited into our homes. All too often in our history strangers come in as guests and stay as conquerors. This is, at least in part, how and why the slave trade started. You cannot explain the slave trade and vindicate or rationalize the European participation in the slave trade by saying some Africans were in the slave trade and sold slaves to the Europeans. In some instances and in some regions, this was basically true. You cannot excuse the European slave trade by saying that slavery was practiced among the Africans before the Europeans came. In some instances and in some regions, this is also basically true. But the system of internal servitude in Africa that existed in some parts of Africa before the coming of he Europeans and the chattel slavery imposed upon Africa by the Europeans had no direct relationship, one to the other. In the African system of servitude which deserves critical analysis, families were broken up but not a single African was shipped out of Africa. In no way am I trying to say or imply that this system was good. My main point is that it was not the same as the European system. The European slave trade was a three continent industry that brought about a revolution in maritime science, international trade and a system of mercantilism that had not previously existed in world history. No Africans had this kind of international contact or were in a position to establish it at this juncture in history. For more enlightenment on this subject, I invite you to read the following books, Black Mother, The Years of Our African Slave Trade: Precolonial History, 1450–1850, by Basil Davidson, Forced Migration, by Joseph E. Inikore, Christopher Columbus and The African Holocaust, by John Henrik Clarke and How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, by Walter Rodney. Like most world tragedies the Atlantic slave trade, or the European slave trade, started slowly, almost accidentally. At first the Europeans did not visit the coast of West Africa looking for slaves; they were searching for a route to Asia for the spices and the sweets they had heard about because they needed something to supplement the dull European food of that day. In general they needed new energy, new land and new resources. Plagues, famines and internal wars had left Europe partly exhausted and partly under-populated. In the years between the first European entry into West Africa from about 1438 to the year of Christopher Columbus' alleged discovery of America in 1492, there were no slaves of consequence taken out of Africa because there was no special work outside of Africa for slaves to do. The creation of the plantation system in the Americas and the Caribbean Islands set in motion a way of life for Europeans that they had not previously enjoyed. This way of life and the exploitation of the resources of the Americas and the Caribbean Islands, after the destruction of the nations and civilizations of the people referred to as "Indians," renewed the economic energy of Europe and gave Europeans the ability to move to the center stage of what they refer to as world progress. This was done mainly at the expense of African people who are still not thoroughly aware of their impact on every aspect of world history. Education for a new reality in the African world, must train African people to understand the nature of their contribution to the different aspects of world history, past and present, and the possibilities of their future contribution. If slavery was the African people's holocaust, we should not be ashamed of saying so. We should have no hesitation in using the word "holocaust" because no one people has a monopoly on the word and I know of no law that gives a people the right to copyright a word as though it is their exclusive ownership. In relationship to this subject I have previously said that slavery was already an old institution before the European slave trade. However, the European slave trade in Africa is the best known and best recorded in the history of the world and also, in my opinion, the most tragic. The neglected tragedy of this system is that it did not have to occur at all. Had the European entered into a genuine partnership with the Africans instead of reducing them to slaves there would have been more goods and services to be had, both for the Europeans and the Africans, through contract labor. The European slave trade in Africa was started and reached its crescendo between 1400 to 1600. This was also a turning point in the history of the world. Europe was emerging from the lethargy of the Middle Ages. Europeans were regaining their confidence, manifesting a new form of nationalism and extending that nationalism into racism. The African had goods and services that the European needed, and the European had the basic technology that the African needed. Had the African needs and the European needs been considered on an equal basis, there could have been an honest exchange between African and European and the European could still have had labor in large numbers without the slave trade and the massive murder that occurred in the slave trade. This idea, only a dream in the minds of a few men, could have changed the world for the better had it been seriously considered. Slavery is taught as though it is something that victimized only African people. Slavery is an old institution. It is as old as human need and greed. It grew out of a weakness in the human character and the need to cover-up that weakness by dominating other people. In teaching about slavery, the one thing African people seem not to know is that for most of their existence on this earth they have been a sovereign people, free of slavery. The period of their enslavement is the best known and the best documented in history in comparison to other slave periods in history. When other people were the victims it was comparatively short. Feudalism in Europe, a form of European enslavement of Europeans, no matter what you call it, lasted much longer. This is why a holistic view of history is needed in order to understand this particular part of history that relates to a single people. This is where so-called Black Studies Programs missed both the objective and the subject in the study of slavery. In evaluating the African slave trade, there was another "Middle Passage" often neglected by most scholars—the Arab slave trade. It is often forgotten that the Arab slave trade in East Africa and the slave trade from North Africa into Inner West Africa was protracted and ruthless. Sometimes the Arabs from the north who were Moslem enslaved Africans in the south who were also Moslems, thereby violating one of the most basic customs of their faith—that no Moslem should enslave another Moslem. There is a small library of books on this subject that most scholars have chosen not to read, thereby making the Arab slave trade the best kept secret in history—although it is not a secret at all. Of the many books and documents that I have read on the subject, Slavery in the Arab World by Murray Gordon, 1987, and The African Slave Trade From the 15th to the 19th Century, in The General History of Africa: Studies and Documents 2, UNESCO,1979. I find the most informative the UNESCO book, especially the chapter, "The Slave Trade in the Indian Ocean." Like most strangers to Africa the Arabs entered Africa, allegedly, as friends. The Africans who are curious and uncritical about new people, new religions and cultures treated the Arabs as well as they treated other strangers. The Arabs were not always kind in their spread of Islam in Africa. In fact, they were usually ruthless and often disrespectful of societies and cultures that existed in Africa before they arrived. In North Africa the two wars of Arab conquest that came in the seventh and tenth centuries, the first being religious and military, broke the back of Roman influence in the area and replaced the corrupt Roman regimes. At first the Arabs were welcomed in North Africa as a replacement for the ruthless Romans. When the North Africans and Berbers discovered that the Arabs were also ruthless, although in a different way, it was too late because the Arabs now had the military upper hand. Another aspect of Arab conquest, generally neglected, is the spread of Arab influence in East Africa through accommodation and sexual conquest. Many times the Arabs moved down the coast of East Africa rendering the service of the much needed East African coastal trade. Soon after this, Arabs began to marry or cohabit with African women. This in turn resulted in a generation of African-looking Arabs. These Arab half-breeds facilitated the spread of the trade inland at a time when the Arab face was held in suspicion in this part of Africa. In the fierce competition in the West African slave trade, the Portuguese were driven from West Africa around to East Africa. The Arab slave trade, moving from north to east met the Portuguese slave trade moving up from the south. These two slave trades complemented each other and culminated with the establishment of one of the largest slave trading forts, in the history of the world, on the Island of Zanzibar. This event is well documented in any good history of East Africa, including the Cambridge History of East Africa, and The Cambridge History of Africa. Basil Davidson's A History of East and Central Africa to the late 19th Century, and certain chapters on East Africa in his Lost Cities of Africa is a popularization of the subject. There are two old but valuable books on the subject, East Africa and Its Invaders by Reginald Coupland, and the chapters on East Africa in the book, The Colonization of Africa by Alien Races, by Sir Harry Johnston. While the East African drama of slavery was unfolding with the Arabs and later with the Portuguese as the protagonists, the larger drama in West Africa was changing the course of history. The Africans, all along the coast of West Africa were being subjected to a form of humiliation never before known, in quite the same way, in their history or human history. The collecting of Africans, sometimes prisoners of war from other Africans, the movement of Africans from the hinterlands to the coast, where very often seven out of ten lost their lives, were forms of unrecorded genocide. This is one of the numerous missing statistics in the attempt to estimate the number of Africans who died in the slave trade within Africa, the number of those who died in the slave dungeons waiting for shipment to the Americas, and the number of those who died on the journey to the Americas. The precise figures will never be known. Good estimations in this case are the best that we have. There are a number of books describing the tragic living conditions in the slave forts and dungeons along the coast of West Africa. Books written by Europeans tend to tone down the tragedy. Books written by African scholars tend to be academic and objective to the point of being noncommittal to the tragedy of slavery. The following is a brief description of some of the conditions in these slave dungeons. In the early slave trade the forts sometimes contained between three hundred to five hundred captives. During the eighteenth century most forts had been adapted to the larger scale slave trade and they held many hundreds more. There were sections for the female captives and sections for the male captives. There were smaller and more tortuous dungeons for the rebellious and unruly captives. The conditions within and around these slave holding castles were great tragic horror stories. Within the castles there were no beds, no drinking water, no installed toilet facilities, and no means of day by day sanitary maintenance. The apartments of the slave traders and captains were directly above the main holding dungeons. And they lived there in luxury and were unmindful of the misery and degradation one or two floors below. These conditions were forced upon a people who had never done European people any harm or had ever allied themselves with the enemies of the Europeans in any way. The Europeans who forced this condition upon African people professed to believe in a loving God who was no respecter of kith, kin and geographical boundaries in the dispensing of his mercy and understanding to all human beings. In their action toward the Africans that would last for more than three hundred years, the Europeans were saying that Africans had no soul or humanity, no culture or civilization worthy of respect, and that they were outside of the grace of God. The long journey across the sea was another tragic story of misery. Figuratively, the slave ship was a floating city of prisoners presided over by a crew of ruffians gathered from the human scum of Europe. The period of the European slave trade in Africa is best known to us because it is the best-documented. However, the documentation is often confusing because it was created by people who were trying to justify the slave trade. Most people, especially Europeans who created most of the documents on the slave trade, write about the subject with the intent to make the victim of slavery feel guilty and to vindicate the perpetrators of this inhuman trade. There is probably more dishonesty related to the interpretation of this subject than any other subject known to mankind. The African slave trade, like African history, is often written about, but rarely if ever understood. This misunderstanding probably grows out of the fact that we nearly always start the study of the African slave trade in the wrong place. The germ, the motive, the rationale for the European aspect of the African slave trade started in the minds of the Europeans in the fifteenth and the sixteenth centuries. And this slave trade could not have started at all had there been no market for it. The slave trade started when the Europeans began to expand into the broader world. And the market for slaves was created by Europeans for European reasons. The story of the European slave trade in Africa is essentially the story of the consequences of the second rise of Europe. The peopling of the so-called new world by African people in the Americas and the Caribbean Islands was an enterprise of monumental proportions. This act would change the status of Europe and the world forever, and the Africans brought to the new world would be transformed into a new kind of people, neither wholly African nor wholly American. They would not easily adapt to their new condition though they gave their slave master, in some cases, the impression that they were doing so. They did not easily give up their African way of life, in spite of the attempt to destroy and outlaw it. This was the basis of massive slave revolts throughout the Caribbean Islands, South America, especially Brazil, and the more than two hundred and fifty slave revolts recorded in the United States. Every attempt was made through the church and through oppression to deny that Africans hid a revolutionary heritage. There is documentary proof that Africans fought on the shores of Africa to keep from getting on the slave ships. After being forced on the slave ships they continued the fight. Some fought to keep from being taken off the slave ships. Many, many more continued the fight once they got here. In parts of South America, and on some islands in the Caribbean where the slaves outnumbered the Europeans, some Africans bypassed the auction block, fled into the hills and the forests and never became slaves at all. Some of these Africans who escaped slavery were called Maroons. The best books on the subject are, The Maroons, by Mavis Campbell, Maroon Societies, by Richard Price, and The Haitian Maroons, and Black Jacobins by C.L.R. James. The drama of African survival in what is called the new world went beyond drama itself. In conditions that defied human imagination, for a protracted period lasting over three hundred years, Africans, using various techniques, pretenses, and acts of both submission and rebellion, went beyond survival and prevailed in order to live and still be a people in spite of the massive effort to destroy every aspect of their humanity. Part of what kept them alive, away from home, is that they would not give up their African culture in spite of being consistently pressured to do so. Many Africans, away from home, depending on the prevailing conditions that could change any day or any moment, had to become two persons in a single body. Some went beyond schizophrenia and changed their personality to suit the prevailing situation in order to survive so that the next generation could prevail. http://www.africawithin.com/clarke/part30f10.htm |
| Nairaland General › Re: O Ye My People! by isalegan2: 4:12am On Jan 03, 2012 |
The Kingdom of Benin Royal Court Art The objects in bronze and ivory from the Kingdom of Benin (Nigeria) made the kingdom famous when it comes to African art and culture. They were objects with religious and spiritual value made only under royal command. The Oba (King) commissioned the Igun-Eronmwon (members of the guild of bronze casters) to make a bronze-cast of significant events that took place. The ancient Kingdom of Benin was raided by a British military expedition in 1897 when most of the priceless works of art were forcibly removed from their context and dispersed to England, continental Europe and United States of America. Their total number being estimated at over 4,000 (Philip J.C. Dark 1982). . . http://wysinger.homestead.com/benin.html https://wysinger.homestead.com/benin7_op_301x600.jpg 15th-16th century: The bronze head date from the creation of the title of Iyoba, awarded to the woman and mother (Uhunmwun-Elao) who literally, gave birth to the future king, Oba Esipie (1504-1550) https://wysinger.homestead.com/benin10_op_549x600.jpg 16th century: The battle scene plaque shows four Benin warriors accompanied by a hornblower and five of the enemies. 20th century https://wysinger.homestead.com/benin5_op_426x600.jpg Oba Akenzua II during a palace ceremony. March 3, 1964 21st century https://wysinger.homestead.com/benin6.jpg 2005/2006; Omodamwen workshop; Shown here is an idealized portrait of Oba Erediauwa, presumably with the first wife of his four wives, to whom there also corresponds a special role; both are appareled in the regalia in use today. https://wysinger.homestead.com/benin8.jpg 1997: The four wives of Oba Erediauwa during a palace festival. Only the queen who bears the first male child will become the Iyoba, Queen Mother of Benin. Therefore she is the woman most often represented in court art. |
| Nairaland General › Re: O Ye My People! by isalegan2: 3:19am On Jan 03, 2012 |
Ola one:I shall do due diligence* before I notify the old man nau. Gimme a couple of days. I shall return with some pertinent queries. *Reading ya posts. |
| Nairaland General › Re: O Ye My People! by isalegan2: 12:39am On Jan 03, 2012 |
Katsumoto: Katsumoto, that list was supposed to be OUTRAGEOUS, poking fun at all the other resolutions we all make. lol. Did you not see where it went from realistic to ridiculous? The only aspect totally do-able this year is number 1, and probably not by March. Number 2 is only partially do-able by December 2012. Mehn, the bloom is off the rose. You're just like mortal men after all. I am sorry for all these Yoruba boys; you will get your Bottom.es kicked if you take that gidigbo thingy outside Africa. SMDHYou're an honorary Yoruba. So, stop. We've twice had the motion to make you the Aare Ona Kakanfo of Nairaland. And I heartily and completely support that move (now). You know my visionary soul actually tells me you can be the Aare Ona Kakanfo of the entire Yorubaland (at least, of Eko-Ile/Lagos) in 15 years tops. As it is written so shall it be done. Who dares to challenge me on that? You don't have too many enemies on Nairaland, do you? I think previous nominees/supporters of your Aare NL title have been: Negrontns Desola ______ ______ Some other people I can't remember. Anyway, I shall support the motion. You might have to duel with Dayokanu sha. Me I know dey stay for the same room as DKm, sorry. |
| Nairaland General › Re: O Ye My People! by isalegan2: 12:13am On Jan 03, 2012 |
I'm not single! I'm married, with 6 kids! |
| Nairaland General › Re: O Ye My People! by isalegan2: 12:09am On Jan 03, 2012 |
I also see the dirty-minded MJA4O is creeping back. Lord help us. Me, I dey go hide in Politics section. I'm sure not to run into you over there. Katsumoto, I see you o. Just taking my vitamins, doing my exercise, getting myself psyched up to tackle whatever issue you seem to be having with my beloved Kilode. |
| Nairaland General › Re: O Ye My People! by isalegan2: 12:05am On Jan 03, 2012 |
I'm not sure I like the new tougher meaner O4AJM that says "There is no Excuse for Failure" or some &^$%." I think I prefer the older easier blissful 4AMOJ. |
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