₦airaland Forum

cap28:
. . . Research the way they operate in america and you will find out the following:

they pay their employees starvation wages and offer mainly part time work

. . . they take out life insurance policies on their employees known as "dead peasant's policies" which stipulate that when an employee dies a lump sum is paid to the employer and not the employee's family or dependants

most of their employees are so badly paid that they can not afford to have deductions made from their pay towards the companies health insurance or pension benefits and many have to supplement their meagre income with food stamps and other govt assistance programmes

none of their stores have union representation - (without union representation workers have no collective rights and can be sacked or have their pay cut  whenever the employer feels like) . . .

Amazing how they're able to justify keeping most of their workers in perpetual underclass while Sam Walton's heiresses make the list of richest billionaires every stinking year.

Katsumoto:
Sometimes, I seriously think you go to some left wing hangout meeting and smoke some Igbo.

Which unclothed picture did I post? I have some real amateur nakkid pictures I can post on this thread. Care to dare me?

Whatever!  I think you're high right now. 

"R" like in R-rating?  Are you a confessed prude?  Did you see the nekked picture Katsumoto* posted?  Something about a song by Maxwell, but methinks he just wanted to scandalize us.  Good thing, we all played it cool.    That'll show him.

Anyway, nothing surprises me anymore. 

*Just kidding, Kats.  I have to say that, even though I don't think you're humour-challenged.


DK,
What's the NL record?

WE (Yorubas) LOVE WOMEN!!!!!!! Fela 26wives, MKO over 20 wives, OBj countless, Dayokanu 47 girlfriends on NL alone

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=699938.msg8612805#msg8612805

AjanleKoko:
Was at Princeton to hang with an old friend today.

Wolfdogman,

You sure get around. What kind of trouble did you bring with you?

AjanleKoko:
@isale_gan,
You're at Princeton, right? I recall a post somewhere, where you said you were.

Not me, bud!  That's in NJ, isn't it?  Anyway, I finished school a long time ago.  

[quote author=ekt_bear link=topic=701633.msg8612281#msg8612281 date=1309315077]“Kwame Nkrumah pioneered the way when times were more unjust than these. He devoted his entire being to Mama Africa.  He was an excellent son. We follow him.

Sekou Toure refused to be anyone’s servant. Patrice Lumumba gave his life as did Samora Machel.   Obafemi Awolowo gave his wisdom. Nelson Mandela has given his years.  They were and are excellent sons.”

“If these sons of Africa can make such sacrifices, we must make our own. We must build a strong edifice based on the foundation which they made out of their bravery, hope and love for the people, and of the land.”

. . . “Why can’t we pool our resources together to fund research for better treatment and prevention measures?  We should no longer rely on the outside world to fund efforts to eradicate our major medical problem. This problem is not theirs. It is ours which means it is not only a medical problem, it is a test of our political will and love for the poor and weak among us. If we wait for others to solve it, we will be waiting for the longest time.”

. . . “I see our children no longer suffering the deprivations wrought by war and armed conflict. I see peace establishing itself in this continent.

Ultimately, I see a new breed of young men and women taking over public leadership and implementing laws and policies based on equity, transparency and liberty. I see them shunning the divisions of the past and working together to promote the welfare of every African regardless of race, ethnicity or creed.

I see a blossoming of democracy and good government; such that we shall no longer take lessons from the rest of the world but the world shall receive her better lessons from Africa. I see a day when Africa will be looked to for advances in the arts and sciences, as well as in politics and economics.”[/quote]Does he have a speech-writer?  This could go in the "Great African Speeches" thread. 

naijababe:
Some people go write book o

This reminds me of my series: The Many Adventures of Dollface.  It needs updating!  I've got some gems - Dollface's intro to criminal activity - Dollface getting the beating of her life from her daddy as a result - Dollface learning good manners the hard way. . . .

Katsumoto:
“If you know the enemy and know yourself you need not fear the results of a hundred battles.” - Sun Tzu

Please stop copying me and jealousin' my love for Sun Tzu. 


Meanwhile. . .  brilliant things my daddy says:

- Ile o n shu ni oro olorun;

- Fear no one but respect everyone.

(to be cont.)

Watching Wimbledon.

Federer is about to be taken out by a "newbie."  Oh yeah!  Looks black.  Tsongas(sp?).  Don't know the guy.

I love live events!

He just did it! 

P.S. Australian?

[img]http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2008/01/28/cnsTsonga_narrowweb__300x396,0.jpg[/img]

Reality Shows are ruining America.  lol.  And we thought Jerry Springer and Maury Povich were bad.    (Okay, those shows are slime.)

This Mob Wives is crazy fun though.   
Check out the 4th min mark - classic; and the ending, of course. 

[flash=520,400]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHciExfMsUE[/flash]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHciExfMsUE
pt 1/3:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ShrrkGsoyQ
pt 2/3:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkSibvKEG8Y

[quote author=D_BestDoc link=topic=690649.msg8561811#msg8561811 date=1308666201]@Siena.Thanks.
just wanted 2 knw though.I think i would rather keep my mouth shut as d OP suggested.lol[/quote]I see no reason why you should not express your concern about the welfare of Nigerian children.  There was a story on Oprah about a foreign child adopted by an American; she was passed around to his friends to be molested and filmed!  They had it on tape!  And the girl was interviewed on Oprah.  I couldn't watch the whole thing. 

So, D_BestDoc, you can never ask too many questions.  Don't stop being concerned about the children.  Also, the potential adoptee will be asked a lot of questions; they might as well get used to it. It doesn't mean people or the authorities are suspecting them. If you act offended by simple queries, that's what will make people suspicious of your motives.

A neighbor called police after she saw Akwuba punching a child at least 30 times, the complaint said.
. . . Akwuba's blood-alcohol concentration was 0.102 (the legal limit to drive in Minnesota is 0.08).

If a 246-lbs man punched a 7-yr old 30 times, I doubt the child would be able to tell anyone what happened.  (The witness may have seen his arm move 30 times but there is no way his fist made contact with the boy 30 times!)

Sounds like the guy lost control and went overboard disciplining the kid - to the point of physical abuse.  If he has a habit of being drunk around his kids and showing violence, he's gonna be in a world of hurt.  Big problems for the whole family and his law license.  The biggest sway in the outcome may be the testimony of the children, but the story of a 2yr old and 4yr old may be ruled inadmissible, leaving the 7yr old victim as the main witness.  Really bad situation. 

I hope the boy is all right and this is not a normal occurrence in his life.

BTW, dude is 51 years old, being 44 when the oldest of the 3 children mentioned was born.  You think he'd have more sense and self-control than that.  He can't use the excuse of being "young and stupid!"

  My birthday's next month.  Thanks though.     

DK, I think Naijababe's birthday is tomorrow. . .  

Recently discovered this speaker.  His presentation is always compelling, but I heard some things about the transatlantic slave trade (true or untrue) I never heard before.  Some viewer discretion is in order here:

Leo Muhammad: HI-TECH LYNCHING pt.1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyggYclNra4

LEO MUHAMMAD: The True History of Slavery

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0tKvRl-vM8&NR=1

Heard this classic song and couldn't get it out of my head all day.   
That triggered my Crowded House kick.

[flash=320,300]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u54hIE1J0Js[/flash]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u54hIE1J0Js

Style Council - "You're The Best Thing"
Written by Paul Weller

I could be discontent and chase the rainbows end
I might win much more but lose all that is mine
I could be a lot but I know I'm not
I'm content just with the riches that you bring
I might shoot to win and commit the sin
Of wanting more than I've already got
I could runaway but I'd rather stay
In the warmth of your smile lighting up my day
(the one that makes me say, heh)

'Cause you're the best thing that ever happened
to me or my world
You're the best thing that ever happened
- so don't go away

I might be a king and steal my peoples things
But I don't go for that power crazy way
All that I could rule but I don't check for fools
All that I need is to be left to live my way
(say listen what I say)

'Cause you're the best thing that ever happened
to me or my world
You're the best thing that ever happened
- so don't go away

'Cause you're the best thing that ever happened
to me or my world
You're the best thing that ever happened
- so don't go away

I could chase around for nothing to be found
But why look for something that is never there
I may get it wrong sometimes but I'll come back in style
For I realise your love means more than anything
(the song you make me sing - yeah)

'Cause you're the best thing that ever happened
to me or my world
You're the best thing that ever happened
- so don't go away


[flash=360,300]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjBwAYIxUso[/flash]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjBwAYIxUso

[flash=360,300]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4mfRMdj-sg[/flash]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4mfRMdj-sg

[flash=400,280]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LO3936rTzQ&NR=1[/flash]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LO3936rTzQ&NR=1

Crowded House - "Falling Dove"
Written by Neil Finn

All his life
Blown by wildfire
Like a spark
Cause and effect
One loose word
Revolution
One kind act
Whole armies give thanks

Falling dove
Born of ocean
Found by man
Lived on his own
Lift a sail
Tighten the knots
Lift him up
Barely breathing

Falling dove
Do you believe in us
Like I believe in us
Is the outcome ever
Strange enough
You keep defending me
When I’m behaving badly
‘Cause you love me
‘Cause you love me too much

May the best of fortune bless you
Could any creature be unmoved
The humble nature of redemption
The simple act of finding a use
Hoping and almost praying
Believing for a moment it’s true

I make a rendezvous
In Moscow station
A midnight passenger
The café is closed
In St. Petersburg
The door slides open
And I’m a dead man
‘Til I see her walk through

Falling dove

Your new profile pic is hella scary.  But, leave it.  I know you're trying to cultivate this threatening persona. lol.  The power of self-reinvention. Or as Naijas would say, re-branding.

Cap, this is the best one yet.  Everyone should watch cos it applies to all Africans, never mind that the message is coming from a NOI member. 

Ignorance: Our Number One Problem
[flash=420,300]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jKo9Io-bDs&NR=1[/flash]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jKo9Io-bDs&NR=1


Viewer discretion is advised for this one, due to some disturbing lynching images:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyggYclNra4&NR=1

naijababe:
Unless I'm mistaken, this is Bilikisu Sungbo (supposedly the Queen of Sheba) that's being referenced in this article. The site 's in Ijebu - Ode.

If the Sheba myth is referenced in the article I posted, I completely missed it.  But, I have heard that supposition before.  I am convinced it is baseless, of course!  Another poor attempt to "validate" Africans through an unsubstantiated claim (though some exist) of a Biblical or Middle Eastern connection.

If you read this thread often, you know I like to watch Chris Matthews (Hardball on MSNBC).  Chris is a cranky incorrigible old guy, and I have a lot of patience for the cantankerous types.  He was in fine form on Monday, although he didn't yell at anyone.  Click the link and watch his vicarious thrill from Jon Stewart's appearance at Fox News.

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/chris-matthews-on-jon-stewart-chris-wallace-showdown-stewart-is-so-friggin-smart/

Here's a video of Stewart's Fox News appearance. Not sure it's the full unedited version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwyUdBp-cck

The Priestess in Their Midst
New York Times

PAULETTE BUCKLEY, a 56-year-old grandmother whose graying dreadlocks are adorned with beads, is a musician and singer who has performed with the African-inspired troupe Women of the Calabash at Town Hall, Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall, among other places.

To her myriad godchildren and spiritual advisees, however, Ms. Buckley is better known as Iya Nirvana, a prominent priestess in the city’s Santeria community. Ms. Buckley has spent more than two decades divining the future, offering spiritual guidance and assembling offerings for the orishas, the pantheon of deities who represent different facets of nature in the Yoruba tradition from which Santeria originated.

With a steady stream of visitors availing themselves of Ms. Buckley’s services at Westbeth, the artists’ co-op in the West Village where she has lived for a decade, even some of her neighbors have taken notice of the priestess in their midst and sought her counsel. Amid altars to the spirits of the sea and mountains draped in fabric and adorned with offerings, she talked about her life as a Santeria priestess and the growing mainstream acceptance of her religion.

https://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/07/06/nyregion/santeria190.jpg

[b]I was born in Harlem but raised in Brownsville, Brooklyn. The projects were new when we moved in there. My father worked for the transit authority all of his life, from giving tokens to being a dispatcher. My mama just stayed home with us. She didn’t believe in leaving children unattended. I’m kind of like that.

I was raised a Baptist. My father did not force us to go to church. It was my mom. We went to church on Sundays, and I sang in the choir. When we came home, my father would take us to the sights of New York. We’d be out in our nice little outfits, and he’d take us for hot chocolate and a piece of blueberry pie at Horn & Hardart down 34th Street. They had the best blueberry pie, 15 cents. It was good.

I lived in Brooklyn until I was 17. When I had my first son, Sulaymaan, I was 24, and I stopped all the wildness. I mean crazy wildness. Having that child saved my life, because I know how risqué the behavior was at that time. Free love and all that.

By then, I’d already been introduced to Lucumi, which is another word for Santeria. It’s a tradition that combines African and Cuban methods and ideologies. My grandmother in this religion was a Puerto Rican woman named Osa Unko, but everyone called her Sunta.

I was having trouble. I talked to Sunta about what was going on, and she gave me a reading with cowrie shells. Depending on the way they turn, they either have their mouth open or closed. If they have their mouth open, you read what they say. She told me: “Go out and get a snake plant, one male and one female. Then bring it here, and I’m going to plant it.” She told me exactly what to do. Orisha saved my life. I said to myself, “I’m having a miracle right here.”

I worked in my godfather’s house in Williamsbridge in the Bronx any time he had a ceremony, which back then was every weekend. He was a priest, his wife was a priest, and his oldest daughter was a priest. The joint was always jumping, a big house painted turquoise on 221st Street between Barnes and Bronxwood.

We were always cooking in the kitchen, making outfits and dressing the walls according to the orishas, each of which has its own stories. When they had to do ceremonies, I would run and get the honey, molasses, Florida water, 21 different herbs, coconuts, cowrie shells. That’s what you bring for the orisha to eat.

I was initiated in 1986. An initiation lasts a year and seven days. The first night is river night. They took me to a river blindfolded. I don’t know what river it was, but let me tell you, I know I was washed in the river. The next day all the songs are sung, all the waters poured. The next day a group of people come and dress you for breakfast and you sit on your throne, which is a stump of wood built by your godparents and consecrated for your seven-day stay.

The next day they dress you in beautiful clothing with pearls and gold and things your orisha likes, and there are big parties with drums and singing, with prayers, prayers and more prayers. Then you spend the rest of that week on that mat.

For the next year, you wear white every day and you eat on a certain plate with a certain cup and spoon. You cannot wear clothes with sleeves that cover less than three-quarters of your arms. You cannot look into mirrors or let people touch you. You’re not supposed to be out after dark. You sleep on the floor on a mat. You’re like a newborn.

These days, I’m an Internet service between here and the worldwide cosmos. It’s not hocus-pocus. It’s a higher form of science. We have a church in Harlem and ceremonies every weekend in Brooklyn, Staten Island and the Bronx.

And it’s not just us. You see the stock analyst walking in his three-piece suit? He went and got his reading already. So did doctors, nurses and lawyers. Here in the building, I’ve given readings to women who just want to know what’s happening. Then there’s the security downstairs. When they found out who I was, they all started bowing down, saying: “We didn’t know! We didn’t know!” I said, “Come on, please.”[/b]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/06/nyregion/thecity/06sant.html?scp=8&sq=yoruba+father&st=nyt

[quote author=Kilode?! link=topic=590933.msg8510698#msg8510698 date=1307973665]. . . Now, I'm not surprised about the Lukumi Language story, I've heard several folks speak variants of these Yoruba-like languages especially those from old Yoruba-Bendel border communities. What I'm particularly interested in is the oral tale in bold.

Do you think it might be related in some way to the Ogiso-Ekaladerhan-Oduduwa story? especially this part;. . .[/quote][quote author=Kilode?! link=topic=590933.msg8512115#msg8512115 date=1307987232]The similarities are quite strong. I also think an Owo/Ikale/Akoko(Ondo state) or Owan/Ovia(Edo State) link is plausible. I was also curious because I  know some Deltans (Non-Itshekiris) with pure Yoruba names and Ikale sounding dialects and I often wonder about how their language and name managed to survive the Edo influence so far away from "Yorubaland" areas.

Anyway, thanks. The wandering continues. Post more info if you have, I need more reasons to annex some small small  people when I finally launch my conquest.

Right. I was looking at it from the perspective of road travel through Owan to Esan. Yes you are right, it is slightly North-East of Benin geographically.[/quote]Kilode, the rampaging conquering warrior!  Here's another Yoruba enclave waiting for you to annex them.   
Article is somewhat dated (1999) but still relevant.

Eredo Journal; A Wall, a Moat, Behold! A Lost Yoruba Kingdom
Off the main road in this unassuming town, a footpath that snakes through the thick bush and trees of the Nigerian rain forest leads to the remains of what is certainly one of the largest monuments in sub-Saharan Africa: a 100-mile-long wall and moat whose construction began a millennium ago.

The monument, called Sungbo's Eredo, was erected around a kingdom of the Yoruba -- one of the three main ethnic groups in present-day Nigeria -- and surrounds several towns and villages. Here, the Eredo's earthen bank rises 70 feet in the air from the bottom of a wide ditch, its reddish, vertical wall glistening with patches of moss.

Few Nigerians have heard of the Eredo; fewer still have visited it. Much of the Eredo lies in ruin, or hidden in the nearly impenetrable rain forest, ignored by locals and Government officials alike.

Over the last five years, however, a team of Nigerian and British archeologists and preservationists have succeeded in mapping the structure after the work of an earlier archeologist piqued the curiosity of Patrick Darling, an archeologist at Bournemouth University in Britain.

A carbon analysis of parts of the rampart showed that it dates from the 10th century and suggested that a highly organized kingdom existed in the rain forest at least three centuries earlier than previously believed.

Because many ethnic groups and cultures have inhabited Nigeria's territory over the centuries and because the country has drawn relatively few archeologists compared with its neighbors here in West Africa, Nigeria is considered a potential treasure trove.

''What else lies in the rest of the rain forest in Nigeria?'' said Mr. Darling, leader of the mapping team. ''There is so much in Nigeria that's not known.''

The Eredo, which encloses an area about 25 miles from south to north and 22 miles from west to east, is only about an hour northeast of Lagos, Nigeria's commercial capital. But as is the case with most artifacts in Nigeria, the need to preserve it has attracted little Government attention, said Willie Nwokedi, president of Legacy, a private conservation group based in Lagos.

The military Governments that ruled Nigeria for most of the years since independence in 1960 have allowed the country's historical sites to deteriorate. For instance, it is possible to see people freely walking atop the remains of the walls in Nigeria's ancient city of Kano.

Many of the country's museums have been looted; and when artifacts are discovered in digs, they are usually sold overseas, preservationists said.

''When you are a developing country,'' said Beatrice Fisher, an official at Legacy, ''the primary goal is to survive. Important issues like preservation of history tend to take a back seat in times of turmoil.''

Legacy will soon release a map listing 129 historical sites ranging from mosques in old Muslim cities of the north to shrines in the southwest to British consular houses in the southeast. Now that Nigeria has emerged from a period of military rule, making it easier for foreigners to enter and travel inside the country, the organization hopes that the map will attract tourists.

According to local legends, the Eredo was built by Sungbo, a wealthy, childless widow who wanted to be remembered by ordering a great monument. The Eredo, which was probably constructed over three centuries, served less as a physical barrier than as a spiritual one, Mr. Darling said.

Shrines rose along the Eredo, where locals left offerings for spirits to protect them from outsiders.

''It's like a double yellow line for not passing,'' Mr. Darling said.

In another practice that continues to this day, women come to pray at the Eredo in the hopes of bearing children. Another interpretation, Mr. Darling said, is that some come to pray so that their children will survive and Sungbo will not kidnap them into the nether world.

Sungbo's grave lies near the Eredo in a Muslim area, a town north of here called Oke-Eri, at the end of a progressively narrowing road.

In the 1970's, the federal Government built a wall around the burial site as well as benches for visitors, but the bush has overtaken most of it.

A farmer in the area, Sunday Ogunjob, 57, said Muslims come to the grave site after Ramadan to make requests.

The grave lies beyond a fence, past a serpentine footpath flanked by trees with low-hanging branches. At the grave site, male visitors are required to take off their shoes. Women are not permitted to enter.

The Eredo is believed to have unified several communities in a kingdom. But when they were asked about the monument, people living near it today seemed unaware that the strange bank and ditch were part of something greater.

What is more, they now embrace a variety of beliefs -- Islam, Christianity or animism in a mixture typical of rural Africa.

Here in the town of Eredo -- which is believed to have some of the best-kept sections of the monument -- Taofeek Arowolo Sanni, farmer, taxi driver and unofficial guide, said a shrine called the Oluwaye is worshiped by Christian villagers during Easter. A stone's throw away stands a large tree, half of its trunk noticeably darker than the other, with a smaller tree growing out of it.

The locals used to worship the tree by bringing an offering of palm oil, a black cow, yam, a pigeon, a cork, fruit and white cloth, said Sanu Amusen, 80, a town elder. But in the last three years, they have been unable to gather the necessary ingredients, and Mr. Amusen fears that it may lead to problems for the community.

''Once we do it,'' Mr. Amusen said, ''the peace and progress of our community can be guaranteed.''

http://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/20/world/eredo-journal-a-wall-a-moat-behold-a-lost-yoruba-kingdom.html?scp=2&sq=yoruba&st=nyt

buzugee:
Why Do Nigerian Politicians Have Jacked Up Names ? Ohakim, Sambo, Goodluck

wtf kinda names are these ? these names sound like xters in lion king or something. what gives

Almost as "jacked up" as B-U-Z-U-G-E-E.

Someone is cruising for a bruising:
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-694757.0.html#msg8553932

Dude.  Duuuuuude!  Let's get real!  I AM a descendant of warriors.  You?  You are a PEACEMAKER.    I can prove both assertions. 

But, to me you're still awesome! The bestest, never mind what Naijababe says.

Kilode, you know there are lots of "smaller" Obas that most of us don't even know exist.  One of my best friends in Lagos had to leave school to move to some unheard-of small town when her unassuming dad was selected to become the ruler of their hometown.  I guess they were royalty, but no one knew it.  Poor royals are all over the place.    I wouldn't be surprised if Kilode himself is in line for some such throne.  Always acting so humble. 

[quote author=Kilode?! link=topic=590933.msg8554357#msg8554357 date=1308576335]Great pic BTW, is that your Kabiyesi ?[/quote]Dunno who the Oba is.  Was hoping someone would know, from the royal robes.

Naijababe, go take a nap.

P.S. Some of the problem I run into when searching for pictures online is, a lot of the sites are dubious, and the above is actually harmless, thank heavens. I found a few pictures I wanted to use for Fathers day and also for Tribal Marks but when you go to the home page, you are exposed to potentially harmful malware.

https://www.fretnotgospel.com/nigeria-yoruba.jpg

This is a stvpid site, but I found the above picture there.  They must be having a laugh.
http://www.fretnotgospel.com/nigeria.html

[quote author=Kilode?! link=topic=590933.msg8551089#msg8551089 date=1308529526]Hmm [/quote]Cogito Ergo Sum, turned on its head. 

[quote author=tpia@ link=topic=675773.msg8551434#msg8551434 date=1308537535]. . . however, when the continued efforts of all these people [christians included], led to insurgencies and slave revolts, many were deported back to africa [or different parts of brazil] while others left voluntarily.[/quote] How does a slave leave voluntarily?

[quote author=tpia@ link=topic=675773.msg8546231#msg8546231 date=1308455727]^very fascinating stuff.

ithe book i'm currently reading is prince of the people [the second one on katsumoto's list].[/quote]If you don't mind, how are you getting the books so fast? 

Are you registered on GoogleBooks, GoogleScholar, or using one of those readers like Kindle or Nook?

AjanleKoko:
^^
You be efiko o. Nerd gal

Happy Fathers Day, Nerd boy.

TRIBAL MARKS

[img]http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT2kTgMTlCfqkrntYJ5rWGb4vcV2Ugr0L0xGXwJV3vHyRkDpNHrdA[/img]

Scarification among African cultures

Among the recurrent formal qualities that can be found in African sculpture, scarification, along with hairstyles, is generally represented idealistically, implying its importance as a major aesthetic and cultural component. Among the Yoruba there is a "veritable connoisseurship" (Kerchache.1988.p280) bestowed upon scarification patterns in sculpture. Not only are they perceived as aesthetically pleasing, they are also functional, for example indicating one's lineage. The criterion of suitability is a significant factor in scarification patterning. Scarification is appropriate only to the human figure and not to the surface of pottery, although some of the patterns and forms are related.Scarification, as a cultural activity, is widely performed across Africa. In essence, it is the practice of incising the skin with a sharp instrument, (such as a knife, glass, stone, or coconut shell) in such a way as to control the shape of the scar tissue on various parts of the body.

Cicatrisation is a special form of scarification, whereby a gash is made in the skin with a sharp instrument, and irritation of the skin caused by applying caustic plant juices forms permanent blisters. Dark pigments such as ground charcoal or gunpowder are sometimes rubbed into the wound to provide emphasis. These cuts, when healed, form raised scars, known as keloids. The most complicated cicatrisation was probably found in the Congo Basin and neighbouring regions, and among the Akan speakers of West Africa.

Scarification is a long and painful process, and a permanent modification of the body, transmitting complex messages about identity and social status. Permanent body markings emphasise fixed social, political and religious roles. Facial scarification in West Africa is used for identification of ethnic groups, families, individuals, but also to express personal beauty. It is also performed on girls to mark stages of the life process, such as puberty, marriage etc. They can assist in making them more attractive to men, as the scars are regarded as appealing to touch as well as to look at, but also as testimony that women will be able to withstand the pain of childbirth. The Tiv of Nigeria value women with raised scars as mates because they consider scarified women more sexually demanding and therefore, likely to bear more children.

More here:
http://www.randafricanart.com/Scarification_and_Cicatrisation_among_African_cultures.html


Sketches of Yoruba Facial Scarification Patterns
[img]http://www.med.uottawa.ca/historyofmedicine/hetenyi/images/ayeni02a.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.med.uottawa.ca/historyofmedicine/hetenyi/images/ayeni02b.jpg[/img]

Source: Samuel Johnson. History of the Yoruba.
C. M. S. Bookshop. Lagos. 1921


Benin: Tribal and traditional family marks of Yoruba living in the Republic of Benin, details on ceremony including age, meaning of marks, and consequences of refusal to be marked

According to the First Counsellor of the Embassy of the Republic of Benin in Ottawa, the Yoruba who live in the Republic of Benin speak the same language and observe the same traditional practices as the Yoruba of Nigeria (20 May 2003).

The Counsellor stated that although the older generation of the Yoruba in Benin (45 years of age and over) wear tribal marks, this practice is disappearing among the younger generation "because of modernity and the awareness-raising campaigns of civil society and human rights activists" (20 May 2003). The Counsellor said, however, that currently, there is no law in the Republic of Benin prohibiting the practice of facial  scarification. He stated that non-Christian Yoruba families mostly animists and Muslims still wear facial marks. He opined that a person who refuses to be marked will face ostracism, threats and harassment from members of his or her family (20 May 2003).

A Minister Counsellor for Economics in the High Commission of Nigeria in Ottawa stated that the Yoruba of the Republic of Benin fall into two groups: the Ajase and the Egun (20 May 2003). He stated that the Yoruba of the Benin Republic speak a dialect of Yoruba that is different from but intelligible to the Yoruba of Nigeria. He explained that generally, facial marks are made when a child is still small, but with the advent of "Christianity and modernity," a lot of parents are refusing to have their children marked.

The Minister Counsellor was not aware of consequences of refusing to be marked (20 May 2003).

http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,IRBC,,BEN,,3f7d4d5a23,0.html


Attitudes to Facial Markings in SW Nigeria

http://www.santetropicale.com/resume/39103.pdf


Bonus: Ayo: The Yoruba Game Board

I prefer to deal with persons face-to-face, therefore I AM Yoruba.  

"It may be inferred that the way this game is played, face-to-face, reflects the values of the culture pertaining to interactions amongst people.  Yoruba people prefer interacting with others face-to-face, or directly, rather than sending messages through other people.  This value is revealed in the playing of Ayo."

http://www.clarku.edu/~jborgatt/discover/1meaghan/ayo.htm


Dying Culture Of Facial Marks
By DELE BODUNDE (NAN)
He has been asked many times if he was attacked by a wild cat, but it is always jokingly. That is because his scarification or tribal marks enhance the handsomeness of Saka Ajao, a 43-year-old civil servant, who wears the tribal marks known as “Abaja Owu”. The Abeokuta resident has three bold horizontal marks atop three equally visible vertical ones on each cheek of his handsome face.

“My father had 32 children; all the 32 children have tribal marks.

“As for any of us giving tribal marks to our children, we could not because we know that what gave reason for tribal marks is no more there. The marks were for identification during the tribal wars and slavery.

“When people were scattered by war, they used the tribal marks to identify their towns of origin and families. And now that there are no wars, we are praying for peace. You don’t have to give your children tribal marks,” Ajao explains.

An expert in African and Asian studies, Dr Kehinde Oladeji, corroborates Ajao’s statement by describing facial marks as a dying culture. Oladeji, a lecturer at the Department of Languages, University of Lagos, says the need for facial marks has become irrelevant.

“Facial marks and scarification were basically for identification during the period of inter-tribal wars and slavery. It was a simple means of knowing where someone came from.

“As it is said in Yoruba, a person with facial marks will not remain missing for too long. “Such a person, if separated from his relations during war or other conflicts, would meet someone who would identify his town and even his family through his facial marks,” he notes.

Oladeji, however, observes that such wars have ceased and that modernity and technology have made scarification a thing of the past. “Currently, it is pretty difficult to find facial marks on people who are younger than 35 years in most Nigerian towns.

The culture may linger a while with traditional institutions, but this also will let go with time,’’ he adds. However, Dr Demola Dasylva, of the Department of English, University of Ibadan (UI), notes that facial marks might remain with traditional institutions for a long time to come.

Dasylva, who has a bias for African culture and customs, says: “Some aspects of culture are so integrated that you cannot change them. “Great Britain is a developed democracy, yet the monarchy there is accorded so much respect. If facial marks are a condition for being made an Oba, Emir or Eze in any part of the country, concerned princes will only avoid scarification at their own risk,” he says.

Dasylva observes, however, that such scarification may be limited to parts of the body other than the face. Available records show that scarification can be on the chest, back, stomach, thigh or arm. Prof. Ohiomamhe Elugbe, of the Department of Languages at UI, describes some facial marks as mere inoculation against certain diseases.

Elugbe explains that the three-quarter-inch vertical mark on each cheek is an inoculation against convulsion, which is mandatory for babies in his mother’s family in Akoko-Edo area of Edo, when he was born.

Elugbe, a linguist, notes that since most childhood killer diseases now have vaccines, herbal or local inoculations that resemble facial marks are fast going out of fashion. Some past Nigerian leaders were easily identified with their tribal marks.

The late Adegoke Adelabu (Penkelemesi), a flambouyant Ibadan politician who died in a car crash in 1958 before the country’s independence, wore tribal marks comparable to those of the late Chief Lamidi Adedibu and Chief Richard Akinjide.

The late Premier of Western Nigeria, Chief Ladoke Akintola, was radiant with his Ogbomoso tribal marks.

The late Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, the country’s first and only Prime Minister; and the late Malam Waziri Ibrahim, the exponent of “politics without bitterness’’, had tribal marks.

The Eastern part of the country is not left out of this fast fading fad. Ifeanyim Ararume, who is still in court over the 2007 Imo governorship election and a serving Senator; as well as Sen. Ayogu Eze have tribal marks. But for Ms Angel Okon-Fasasi, a Lagos-based beautician, there is no need for permanent beauty courses in this modern world.

“Anybody who has witnessed a Fanty (Brazilian-like cultural festival in Lagos), Haloween or any fun parade will realise that make-up can give you anything from the ‘gombo’ of Ogbomoso to the Igala or Idoma marks that some jokingly call ‘whiskers’,’’ she says. According to Okon-Fasasi, tattoos have also taken over from facial marks.

“Tattoos are not just making beauty statements; they are also identification marks, depending on where they are made on a person.” She, however, explains that unlike tribal marks, tattoos are mostly non-permanent and can be removed completely or redone, even with another motif. Okon-Fasasi says that she is not aware of any Nigerian tribe without tribal marks. “The difference is that while some have several marks, some have just a mark. Also, while some have bold marks, some have almost invisible ones.”

A medical doctor, Shola Adebiyi, wonders why anybody should still be interested in scarification in spite of the deadly infections, including hepatitis and HIV, that can be transmitted in the process. Adebiyi advises that since the process, unlike male circumcision, cannot be done in hospitals with properly sterilised equipment, it should be discouraged.

An Abuja-based taxi driver, Musa Mohammed, 47, wears the “bille” tribal marks of his fore-fathers in Bauchi State. “I was not part of the decision to put these marks on my face. “It was made by my father. But I have not allowed facial marks on any of my seven children because I believe the culture belongs to the past. Besides, it has no religious significance.” Research has shown that scarification is not limited to Nigeria.

Australian Aborigines and tribes in Papua New Guinea have the culture. The Maori of New Zealand use a form of ink-rubbing scarification to produce facial tattoos known as “moko’’.

It is, however, practised in all of black Africa from Ethiopia to the Cape. It is also for the same reasons — identity, beautification, maturity rights and treatment of ailments. From the Bororos of Niger and Chad, the Dagombas and Ashantis of Ghana through to the Nuer of Sudan, it is tribal marks all the way. The significance of scarification among the Nuer of Sudan is that it marks the transition from childhood to boyhood; hence, it is meant only for boys from age 15 and above.

It is a ritual deserving a lot of courage as the “Gaar” or traditional healer usually cuts each of the six vertical marks so deep that the cheek bones are often exposed! After the marks heal, the Nuer boy becomes a responsible and respected man in his community. He can then marry and settle down to adult life.
Nevertheless, some effort has been made to outlaw scarification in some parts of Nigeria. The then governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose, made facial Marks and tattoos illegal in the state in 2006 in line with its Child Rights Law.

Whether legislation or mere awareness will consign tribal marks or scarification to history books and artwork may take a while. It is, however, indisputable that the loss of tribal marks is likely to become the gain of tattoos, considering the current craze for the latter all over the world.

http://www.edoworld.net/Dying_Culture_Of_Facial_Marks.html


BEYOND DIVERSITY: WOMEN, SCARIFICATION, AND YORUBA IDENTITY
by Ojo, Olatunji

The recognition of only two scarification brands rather than many, points to Yoruba cultural similarities. In the long run, certain facial marks symbolized pan-Yoruba ethnicity. In the course of the early nineteenth-century Yoruba wars, the Oyo were easily identified by their tattoos. This phase of the warfare had an Islamic bias, and perhaps for Islam's transnational appeal it became fashionable for people to embrace tattoos that reflected this new ideology. At this time, p l -three short vertical lines of about an inch long on each cheek, not distinctive of any group, became popular.  Pioneers of this new mark included Yoruba   Muslims who opposed ethnic divisions, but loathed remaining plain-faced. Hence p l replaced j mgb d or m nd. and t r "distinctive of aliens naturalized amongst the Yorubas."88

All this lends credence to the primacy of fashion and social change. P l as a symbol of Muslim and pan-ethnic identity appealed to those whose fashion and religious views reflected the political and cultural realities of early nineteenth-century Oyo. Yet not every Yoruba group had facial markings, thereby limiting its role as "the" symbol of ethnic identity. Except for a few lineages, facial marks were generally unpopular in Kuramo (Lagos/Awori), Ikale, and for a long time, Ife. Hence the Ife were nicknamed Oj r' b. s , w.n k gb.d. f'oj kan ab.; s.b.r. b'on l j.; s.b.r. mi w m ; ibi dandan ni k' m a b al b. (the face abhors the knife and must avoid it. The plain face condemns a marked one; I love my unmarked face. Woe unto the tattooer).89 After 1880 the number of plain-faced Yoruba increased because the ethnic wars which had made markings imperative ended. The end of warfare made certain ethnic specifications no longer fashionable. Like the Muslim marks mentioned above, absence of marks reduced ethnic tension in postwar Yorubaland and reflected the simultaneous rise of Yoruba identity consciousness. Secondly, tattoos also declined because of social change. The loss of "tattoos" in the Yoruba diaspora reverberated in Yorubaland. Following the ascendancy of repatriated ex-slaves to elite positions during the second half of the nineteenth century and most of the colonial period, there began a conflation of plain faces with "modernity," "civilization," and "progress, and Christianity." In some areas people with facial marks were looked on as conservative, backward, and sometimes bullied. In schools, for instance, pupils with facial marking were mocked with having wrestled with wild cats.  Finally, the decline of marking, as with second-generation and child slaves absorbed into the culture of the adopting community rather than that of their parents represents what Lovejoy and Orlando Patterson call the loss of memory or social death among the creole population.90

VII

The above analysis has shown how warfare and population shift during the era of the slave trade altered Yoruba ethnic and cultural boundaries and produced incentives for state formation and the creation of new and broader ethnic loyalties. While older ethnicities did not disappear, situations were such that new
identities were required to survive this age of confusion. Many of the Ibadan, Ijaye, and Abeokuta soldiers, among others, came from mixed ethnic backgrounds, but fought mostly as "Oyo" or "Egba" and attacked towns described as such. That is, the notion of dual ethnic loyalty was real, mutually reinforcing, even if antagonistic. Military successes enabled composite and complex towns to rise, and powerful soldiers to accumulate a large pool of wives drawn from many ethnicities. Much as political instability and polygynous marriages strengthened the power of elite men and their surrogates, both also worked to bring people that hitherto were avowed enemies together. Ethnic and cultural heterogeneity began to break down as foreign wives settled down and assimilated into their husbands' communities. They learned new languages/accents and ways of doing things. Unlike the ethnic differences between many spouses and cowives, their offspring constituted a new Yoruba generation socialized as a plural society. In essence, several nineteenth-century towns and households were multicultural.In them, a range of orisa-old and new, local and foreign-was visible and patronized by everyone. Also, depending on where the wives came from, the more diverse the places of origin, the greater number of accents and aesthetic representations therein.

More here:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_7555/is_200801/ai_n32281459/pg_11/?tag=untagged


Bonus: Master Thesis on Yoruba Art
http://etd.lib.ttu.edu/theses/available/etd-04102009-31295006959844/unrestricted/31295006959844.pdf


Bonus: Ere Ibeji
http://www.randafricanart.com/sitebuilder/images/ibeji2_1_-490x464.jpghttp://www.randafricanart.com/Yoruba_Ibeji_2.html

[quote author=Kilode?! link=topic=590933.msg8548775#msg8548775 date=1308499996]^^^^^
Correct daughter!  [/quote]


I'm ready to get cracking and stop procrastinating.  Y'all better be ready when I finally get my act together and ask you pointed questions about Igbo Olodumare etc.