₦airaland Forum

@Johnie who did you support and why?

There is nothing wrong with full disclosure, it makes your intentions easier to gauge and helps people who want to honestly discuss with you.

I supported Buhari and Ribadu, I was hoping for an alliance because I wanted us to break the stranglehold of the "Cabal" and the "owners of Nigeria" I believe that Nigeria cannot make radical changes without pushing RADICAL actors to the top. I believe Buhari was more radical than the rest and had a greater chance of winning too. Some people disagreed.

I went with Buhari for President while supporting ACN in my Region, because I believed the people will continue to suffer under a strong center Party with no opposition.

I will like to know who you supported and why for several reasons, I will mention two

1. To gauge your credibility and measure your integrity and honesty.
2. To determine how strongly you feel about the "cabal" and their influence and also measure your understanding of the questions you are trying to ask.

EX: the owner of this forum supported GEJ because he wanted "Continuity" Now, it will be very funny if he comes on here now to complain about Cabals and deep pocket interests in government when he voted for the same people who are their friends and associates, the same people who continually patronized the powerful interests with contracts and federal support. You pamper them, and they grow spoilt. period.

If he had voted for a radical departure from "continuity" or someone the power brokers obviously fear, distrust and are uncomfortable with, then I will be will be willing to discuss with him, if not I will be cautious, because I'm not sure he understands how deep and radical our problems are if he voted for "continuity".  Just my opinion.

BTW, I do not think you supported PDP or GEJ( at least from your posts) but I'm not sure you supported anybody at all. I'm curious about that ambivalence too given that you want us to get rid of the cabal.

Who did you support in April sir and why?

Hahaha, oh yes I do but I doubt Seun will permit +18 type pictures

Yeah, It's a shame, Seun is such a geeky-prude. Very unfortunate combo. lol


@recent topic: It's amazing how much Yoruba elders get away with, It's like they enjoy scaring the bejesus out of little kids with those tales and rules.

^ I agree. just trying to point out the fact that extremism and inequality are the chief problems not necessarily that political/economic ideology.

Not rich enough to have massive # of unproductive government jobs, welfare, free college, free this, free that

I don't even think any country can be rich enough for this kind of craziness, except they are the sole military super power with total control over world trade, resources and international cash flow

[quote author=ekt_bear link=topic=664526.msg8296568#msg8296568 date=1305089981]They aren't morons. They'll oppose bad PDP policies and sign off on good ones.

This is just propoganda and cheap talk.

BTW, socialism sux[/quote]Extremities sux.

Extreme dog-eat-dog, brutish-survival-of the-fittest, money-and-profit-trumps-everything type of capitalism sux

Yes, extreme socialism sux too.

Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland with their social democratic system and some of the highest standards of living on earth do not sucx.

^^I understand the pessimism too, very reasonable, considering the history and antecedents of most of these people. I agree it is better to be cautious, Politicians do not deserve trust until they produce results. But I have a bit of hope in ACN than any other major party for now.

You know I sometimes forget Bisi was my Cicero's Deputy, I really expect more from him, but even Uncle Bola was not perfect. . .

But unfortunately, we are stuck with the likes of Akande and Tinubu as our representatives and foremost thinkers.

strategists? maybe, political operators? yes, But thinkers?? Nah, not yet.

They will need to explain their philosophy a bit more before I give them that tag.

[quote author=isale_gan2 link=topic=590933.msg8296500#msg8296500 date=1305087548]Saw the pic.  Now I'm hungry. Darn it!

I like the lacy white dress our lovely Iya Alakara is wearing. 

And a nice rear view of the assistant for the guys. hah!  Kats is da best! lol. Alas, not enough junk in the trunk. Anyway, I hope that's a chick.  [/quote]LOL maybe the dude is fruity like that.

Katz will need to post some Brazilian menina bonitas to even the score.

I'm sure he has a nice stash of those heavenly looking mixed Beleza's hidden somewhere


Akara frying permission granted, I will travel to Bahia for mine sha o, or can you fry Akara?

Katsumoto:
Akara woman picture uploaded

HAHAHAHAHAHA no waaaayy!! I refuse to believe that pic 

Damn! That is Akara for real complete with the Igba, Ewe and Iya sitting like she's from my Village!! 
Even the matchbox looks familiar

That is going on my bucket list, I'm visiting, it's final!

Permission to save pic?

zstranger:
WOW!

This is unfortunate coming from the ACN, almanjiri-type of reasoning IMO

ACN seems to be taking this 'opposition party' crap too far. As always, we fail to copy the right things form our 'oyinbo' masters. The Opposition’s role is not just [/b]to , antagonize, antagonize, antagonize.  The opposition, in proper settings, thinks of the role more [b]constructively as holding the government to account. If done sensibly with the right attitude, they can cause the incumbent government to adopt positive proposals. And, yes, cooperating with the incumbent government isnt always a bad thing.

Working together, when necessary, can only be good for the country.

I will give them the benefit of the doubt. I suspect it was just a poor choice of words or maybe a misquote or "mis-translation" by the reporter. I don't believe they want to oppose everything so blatantly and just for the sake of opposing.

Maybe they are referring to possible PDP ideas, policies, bills and positions that will not agree with their own ideology -something I expect them to articulate more forcefully so their supporters and other Nigerians can fully appreciate the alternatives they are ready to offer- I don't believe they are saying DO NOT COOPERATE NO MATTER WHAT.

I will wait for further clarification and hope this is just a mistake by some poor PR official or a lazy reporter.

I will fire the PR official too, or send them for training.

^^ Brazilians are not in the BRIC group for nothing. I can't wait to visit.

Wey the Iya Alakara ?

^^ seen! Wow, That's a beautiful sight!

Interesting, they light that stuff up at night right?

It's a shame really that we are not cashing in on the massive interest we can generate with Authentic Orisa pilgrimage and even theme parks all over Yorubaland. Our South American cousins will troop in, in droves. It will satisfy both economic-entertainment and spiritual pilgrims.

We have a lot of work to do.

Thanks!

Snooper-tatalo hit the home run on almost every paragraph.

Now to the question; Yes we can get a "new" Country, but unfortunately for us and according to every silly survey out there, Nigerians are the happiest people on earth. It is hard to argue with happy people.

When we stop lying about our collective national emotion, when we stop hiding our true feelings as a people, we will get a "new" country.

For now, we will stay in this bubble and smile at the camera.

Is Another Country Possible?

By Tatalo Alamu 08/05/2011 00:00:00
[img]http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/thumbnail.php?file=Graphic1_955427673.jpg&size=article_medium[/img]
Mrs. Laoye-Tomori, Deputy Governor of Osun State (middle) sobbing while receiving the body of Ayotunde, one of the slain corps members at Governor’s office Osogbo.

Snooper downgrades all other activities in this column this morning to pay tributes to two of his nephews who recently fell in battle. They are Nigerian martyrs. They are NYSC members posted to Bauchi state on service to their fatherland. But they were brought back to their parents in body bags. They were not killed by foreign troops. They did not succumb to enemy fire in some far away battle zone. They were murdered by their own countrymen. They were hacked to death by a murderous mob. The enemy is here, and the warfront is here, too.

An entire town has been thrown into deep mourning. Cry, the bereaved village. The people are distraught and disoriented. It is a strange and tragic coincidence that two slain corps members should come from the same town, and a shouting distance from each other’s quarters. But there you have it. It is an epidemic of wailing and gnashing of teeth. The old people are weeping too, heaving with deep sighs of grizzled regrets. They have become wrinkled pouches of suborned hopes and withered aspirations. They are wondering since when it has become a crime to send promising kids up north. They are wondering when a country will stop slaughtering its most gifted kids at the altar of political folly.

Oh beloved nation, what type of madness is this? What type of diseased pathology and manic fanaticism would make children set upon other children in an sin assembly of murderous hate and disaffection? Where are the wise people of this afflicted and conflicted land? The mob knew the military encampment in Bauchi but did not venture there. They knew the police barracks but did not dare go near. Even a lunatic dog knows better than jumping into an inferno. It was only defenseless citizens that were a fair game.

One of the slain corpers, with prescient clarity and the deep reflective wisdom of his people, had intimations of mortality. He was acutely aware that he had been sent on a suicide mission by the state. He was conscious of danger and the risk he was taking. He was aware that death was lurking in the shadow. Yet he pressed on in the service to his fatherland. He had noted in his diary that if the king sent you on a perilous mission, you dare not disobey. But the old king was no more. He has since been replaced by a berserk post-colonial monstrosity; a deranged hen that sucks its own best eggs. And the boy died.

As this is being written, the eyes are clouding over. It is impossible to resist hot tears as they play poker with manly resolve. Perhaps, it is the pains and agony of being stranded in a faraway  enclave; of not being there to share the bereavement of a heroic town. This is the second time in three years that a corper well-known to this columnist will be slaughtered by an irate mob. Three years earlier, the son of Uncle Bola’s niece was hacked to death in Jos while on youth service. Master Akinjogbin and his two colleagues saw death coming, but there was nothing they could do before the mob overpowered them.

Who is going to be next?

Two caveats are immediately in order here. Those who know this writer will testify to a stolid and impassive character not given to emotional displays or wild outbursts. But Nigeria is beginning to get to one, once again. Things cannot just continue like this. A section of the country cannot continue to offer its best and brightest as sacrificial offerings at the altar of a fake unity.

It is about time the structure that permits these unending human sacrifices be revisited in the interest of those who have been unequally yoked together in this colonial contraption of world-historic cruelty. There is nothing absolutely sacrosanct about a nation or any nation for that matter. It is just a mode of organizing territorial space at a specific historical conjuncture. If it works, it works and if it doesn’t a better arrangement has to be fashioned out. We cannot be slaves to a colonial myth that has become an embarrassment  even to its own metropolitan progenitors.

The second caveat is even more in order. Those who know snooper very well will attest to the fact that he is not easily swayed by ethnic and religious affiliations. Even as a recuperating rebel, community associations, age-group rackets, sub-ethnic solidarity cartels are not his cup of tea. Snooper is a citizen of the world. Having left home very early to forage and slum it out in the megalopolis, snooper glides among classes and communities; among nations and nationalities and with effortless ease and assurance. Let no internet minnow tell snooper how to be a Nigerian nationalist.

The point is that the madness of contemporary Nigeria is driving everybody back to their primordial cocoons, their ethnic laager and not even its most international citizens are exempt from this growing primacy of pre-colonial identification. This is not a sign of a nation that is moving forward but a sign of a nation regressing and unraveling into its constituent parts. In order to arrive at the organic national community, a nation must move from the particularizing to the universalizing; from the disruptive norms of tribal segregation to the liberating ethos of national integration.

Fifty years after independence and almost a hundred years after amalgamation, the amalgamated units cannot boast of a coherent and cohesive national order or some core values.  

A great Dutch anthropologist once spoke about the phenomenon of “villagization”. He was referring to the process by which city dwellers ward off the hostility and adversity of a huge metropolis by reenacting the sacred rites and reinventing the totems and protective rituals of their tribal communities in the city. In contemporary Nigeria virtually everybody is going native, seeking the protection of old gods and associated deities against the baleful exertions of a post-colonial state gone haywire. It is the kraalization of the nation. The nation as a kraal is not a viable proposition.

The question, then, is this. Who will redeem the promise of Nigeria? Who will rescue the greatest conglomeration of black souls on earth from its millennial shame and misery? As we have said at so many forums, Nigeria is the greatest tribute to the colonial imaginary, and its self-subverting genius. But it also puts Africa as the cradle of humanity and civilization on the spot. This chaotic amalgam of violent contraries, this anarchic ensemble of mutually cancelling cosmologies is an impossible gridlock which requires superior visionary governance to get it off the starting block. 

But what do we get instead? A congenitally not-so-smart political elite bent on committing suicide. Even here there are vast and violent differentiations. Some of the constituting communities have chosen the fast track to Armageddon; while others are busy hedging their bets in the departure lounge to nowhere. And when all else fails, the federal might, like a vast homogenizing Leviathan, grinds the rest into brainless conformity.

It is in the sad context of this consuming national tragedy that one must situate the unhelpful comments attributed to Isah Yuguda, the Bauchi state governor, in the wake of the murder of innocent corpers under his watch. While the Deputy Governor of Osun State was openly weeping at the fate of the fallen corpers,  Yuguda was at his senseless and incoherent best. If this is the kind of people thrown up by the leadership lottery of Nigeria at this critical juncture, then darkness is visible indeed. 

This column will not desecrate its hallowed space with Yuguda’s hair-brained inanities. Here is a man who in a famous Freudian slip once referred to Nigeria as a country of one hundred and fifty million naira.  That is the mindset of a mercenary misfit. If you remove a few naira (corpers) from the ingot, there is still a lot to go round from the naira glut. The former first son in law is still sitting pretty on his democratic throne despite the mob and despite blatantly rigged elections. It doesn’t get more nation-disabling than this.

Let it be noted that despite the personal tragedy, this column has been a staunch and unyielding defender of the National Youth Service Corps scheme.

After the ravages of the civil war, the NYSC scheme was a moment of radical epiphany, an instance of visionary genius for the Gowon administration. Many had thought that it was an attempt by a self-indulgent military administration to postpone much earned graduate gratification and the plums of upper middle class arrival. But it did not take long for many those who had violently resisted the scheme to come round to appreciate the intense patriotism and nationalist zeal behind its visioning.

This column has been in personal contact with some of the ranking echelons of the NYSC exchanging vital and valuable ideas about how to move the nation forward and how to sustain the visionary dream behind its conception and faulty execution. But in the light of current developments, it is now time to review the scheme and overall viability. In the absence of other ingredients of elite cohesion and coherence, the NYSC is like putting the cart before the horse. 

NYSC has exhausted its historic and political possibilities. The elite bonding it was designed to foster and facilitate is already in place even if it is by negative default. Nothing is more binding and bonding than the ethos of political criminality. As a rent-seeking class, the Nigerian political elite is cohesive and coherent. It is only as a nation-building class that it is historically remiss. Because of this criminal abdication of responsibility particularly by the feudal fraction of the Nigerian political elite, the ill-educated rabble and unlettered urchins who perpetuate the mayhem will never get to be NYSC members. But they will always get at NYSC members as long as the objective social conditions remain. Are we still talking about the NYSC or a Failed Elite Tribunal? Let somebody get serious please. 

Let us end by returning to the beginning, and the opening question. Is another country possible? This is a question that must form part of a national questionnaire in the quest to redeem a fallen nation. Let us for once look ourselves honestly in the eyes. If another nation is not possible, there is no point in continuing with the current murderous charade. Having been sacrificed at the altar of modern Nigeria, may the soul of all the departed corpers rest in peace.

http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/index.php/columnist/sunday/tatalo-alamu/5406-is-another-country-possible.html

@Katsumoto, great info thanks! Please post the pics as soon as you can.

I'm not an Orisha worshipper per se, but I do appreciate the Irunmoles and I enjoy the practice and beliefs of Yoruba Religion, especially the alternate views they present about faith, divinity and human purpose. It's kinda academic for me. I'm probably too religion wary to commit fully, but the search and discovery is very rewarding.

Yes South America is a treasure trove of Yoruba culture and religion, the resilience of West African beliefs, despite the history and legacy of slavery, subjugation, oppression and distance amazes me everytime I read about it.

More refugee news:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13332536

[quote author=ekt_bear link=topic=663658.msg8289306#msg8289306 date=1304994907]Hehe. I don't understand how the guy is so powerful. He is hated in the SW, disliked in the North, and probably not liked much in the SE or SS. Why is he so influential?
Very interesting stuff to me.[/quote]OBJ is one of the "Owners of Nigeria" 

That might sound like some grand unproven conspiracy theory to casual observers of the Nigerian state, but Yes he is a Nigerian establishment Stakeholder, as long as the center stays as it is, they have little to lose.

Those were the people I was hoping we'll wrestle to the ground together in April 2011. Some of us warned and typed till our fingers went sore, asking folks to look beyond Ethnic and religious propaganda, but we failed.

The opposition failed to own the message too (I support them, but I refuse to absolve them) So the owners of Nigeria retained their power at the center, the struggle continues bro.

BTW if you like comparative politics and history, please find time to watch this new PBS documentary about the Mexican Revolution titled The Storm That Swept Mexico. It's currently showing on PBS, I believe.

Just think about Nigeria as you watch and the similarities will hit you like a rock. I feel kinda sorry for GEJ(that is if he believed he could actually tame this people) anyway, he will make loads of money for his family to last for generations. . 

Mehn, Ileke Idi, you are posting fire today o! 

[quote author=isale_gan2 link=topic=590933.msg8294110#msg8294110 date=1305051225]Kilode,
I see you got spam-botted. I tried to copy an excerpt from your post but I got temp-banned too. lol. If anyone wants to read, they'd have to go into your profile. I advice not quoting though. Simply respond to the post without copying the contents.[/quote]I'm officially tired of this NL spambot. I got "spambotted" twice!

I already told whomever manages the antispam@nairaland.com email to post the article themselves.

It was a very good read BTW.

This is an interesting article I saw on the NVS site, Enjoy folks!

[size=13pt]In the Land of Orixas: Reflections of a Yoruba in Brazil [/size]
Written by Niyi Afolabi Ph. D.
Sunday, 08 May 2011 02:18

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This article originally ran in the November 29, 2004 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Editor’s Note: This article offers a rare glimpse at the practices of Afro-Brazilians through the eyes of a Continental African. The writing is a part of the New Orleans Public Schools Africana & Multicultural Studies Unit’s focus on the African Diaspora. The African Diaspora consists of all African peoples outside of the African Continent. This includes African-Americans, Afro-Brazilians, and others. These groups came to be as a result of one or more of the forces of migration, exploration and enslavement. In this work, Dr. Niyi Afolabi, of New Orleans’ Tulane University, gives his personal account of Yoruba cultural elements in today’s Brazil.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As much as the demands of academic life hardly allow one to do a travelogue upon returning from a research visit unless it is for the purpose of publication; the domain of the “scholarly” and “scholastic,” I appreciate this unique opportunity to reflect freely on my impressions of visiting Brazil over the course of the last two decades. As a Yoruba, the act is especially gratifying. The Yoruba number over 20 million people.

The Yoruba cover a “cultural-geographical” space that extends between Nigeria, the Republic of Benin, and Togo, and farther extends in African diaspora connections and survival in countries like Brazil, Cuba, Trinidad, Haiti and others. Religious and cultural manifestations have been some of the “sacred” media with which Africans enslaved over three centuries ago have been able to retain their spirit(uality) and language relatively “untouched,” at least from the viewpoint of the odds against them after so many years of transatlantic dislocation and dispossession.

As a Yoruba, I was quite impressed to see the relies of my language and culture in Brazil and what I provide here in terms of reminiscences is only a sample of my deeply felt appreciation of Yoruba Brazilian connections I first visited Bahia (Brazil) in 1982 as an exchange student from Nigeria researching Afroculture; especially the Carnivalesque manifestations in Bahia, Rio, and Sao Paulo. The research was for the purpose of writing my Honors Thesis in Portuguese, Festanca Brasileira: Carnaval en Sao Paulo, no Rio e na Bahia (Brazilian Revelry: Carnival in Sao Paulo, in Rio, and in Bahia for the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University).

Six of us altogether (three ladies and three young men) who were sent on an immersion program, or what was called the Year Abroad Program. We were all studying at the University of Sao Paulo in southern Brazil, but given in the rehearsals of many cultural organizations, and it was at a Filbos de Gandhi meeting that I first heard members sing the traditional Ijexo chant in classical Yoruba. I was spiritually and psychologically transported back to Nigeria as I heard my own language as spoken in traditional rites.

After all I had read about Bahia, I felt my research would be incomplete without visiting Bahia in the Northeast. After we completed our first semester, I embarked on a three-day bus ride to the Land of African Gods/ Saints or “Bahia de Todos os Santos” as Bahia was and still is, called. Although I spent about a mouth in Salvador-Bahia, I still could not get enough of Bahia; I had to return years later for a re-immersion at my own expense. Aside from the similarities in clothing, architecture, food, and religious beliefs and practices; the most striking observation was the use of my Yoruba language in almost every area of Bahian life.

On the street corners of Pelourinho, Campo Grande, and Curuzu, for example, I could buy and eat “Acaraje” (bean cake which derives from its Yoruba original, “Akara”) as if I were in Nigeria. This food item still retains its original flavor if not diluted with salad and other Bahian staple food items such as shrimp, ‘atapa’ a and caruru’. What is interesting here is the corruption of the noun “Akara” (the bean cake) and the verb ‘Je” (which means “to eat”). One can only come to the conclusion that through many years of enslaved Africans offering “Akara” to each other as a gesture of invitation (“Would you like to eat ‘Akara’?”) the two words are now totally corrupted and integrated into one noun as known today: Acaraje’ in Bahia today.

As if this is not fascinating enough, there are buildings, places, stores, houses, and houses of worship in Bahia named after Yoruba Gods such as Orixa Shopping, Hotel Oxumare, Jardim Oxala, Edificio Ogum and Ile Axe Opo Afonja. A myriad of carnivalesque groups which illustrate their African connections with the names of their organizations, such as Ile-Aiye (House of the World), Olodum (Celebrant or a shortened form of the Supreme God, “Olodumare,” hence, Olodum (are)).

Although these have become popular through the internationalization of their music and cultural projects, the one that most symbolizes African authenticity is the Filhos de Gandhi (children of Gandhi); which ironically chooses not an African God or name, but the philosophy of an Indian hero, Mahatma Gandhi. In the course of my research, I had the opportunity of participating in the rehearsals of many cultural organizations, and it was at a Filhos de Gandhi meeting that I first heard members sing the traditional Ijexa chant in classical Yoruba.

I was spiritually and psychologically transported back to Nigeria as I heard my own language as spoken in traditional rites to which children are riot allowed even to this day. It is ironic that I had to go to Brazil to discover the intricacies and preciosity of my language – Far from being a matter for anguish, it was one for celebration. I was not only fascinated, I was bemused. My most memorable spiritual and cultural awakening in Bahia occurred when I visited one of the Candomble’ temples (terreiros) where I had scheduled an interview with a member of a carnivalesque group.

After six months in Brazil, my Portuguese was at a level where I needed to show off how “Brazilianized” I was and I proceeded to greet my host in Portuguese, state my name, where I came from (Nigeria), and my purpose in interviewing. To my surprise, this initiated worshipper of the Gods, spoke in Yoruba and not in Portuguese, although he understood me in Portuguese. First, he said: “Omo-Osun, se wa mu omi dudu?” This question literally translates as “Son of Osun, would you like a cup of black water?” Now, while I understood that he was offering me something to drink, I could not understand “Omi dudu” because it simply translates as “black water.” For me, as a Yoruba, “black water” may simply mean muddy water or stagnant water that has tuned into mud after rainfall, but this still did not make sense because such water is not drinkable.


I started to perspire and for a moment, I was faced with a dilemma: here is a Brazilian trying to speak my language, and I, the native Yoruba speaker, trying to understand him without speaking Portuguese. When my host realized that he was not communicating, he went into his house and brought what he was offering me in a flask. Then, he poured it into a cup, and behold, it was coffee! I could not help but stare in amazement at the ability of this Yoruba-Afro-Brazilian to negotiate the meaning of coffee in my own language, an effort I would rather not make, but to use the “corrupted” English loan-word that I will then render as “Kofi” [kawfee]. This anglo influence is very common in Modern Yoruba, especially in Nigeria.

Yet, the first part of my interviewer’s statement is even more interesting. Instead of calling me “son of Nigeria,” he chose to locate where I came from with the name of a God, Osun. By calling me “Omo-Osun” or “OMO-Oxun” in Brazil, he was simply calling me a Yoruba or Nigerian by associating me with one of the Gods from that region. I must confess my experience with this worshipper left a lasting impression on me, but he did not stop at that. He went on to give me permission to see the African Gods that are kept in their chambers. As he was about to open the first door, I quickly asked him to stop, for this is not a venture for the uninitiated. He looked at me curiously and obviously surprised that a Yoruba would not like to pay homage to his Gods. What he did not understand was the fact that colonialism had stripped us of those traditions and beliefs.

While I believe in my Yoruba Gods and their role as intermediaries of the Supreme Being, my upbringing would not allow me to enter sacred places without the necessary initiation rites. Such a defiance of tradition has its repercussions, at least the way we have been raised and socialized, and I was not going to break that tradition. Of course, my host did not understand my hesitation as an authentic Yoruba. I was revering his Gods by not wanting to defy or disrespect them. I did not want to show an ignorance of the necessary greetings required of me when I entered such a sacred territories.

Since that initial visit, my research has taken me to Brazil on many other occasions but the first impact has somewhat waned in terms of the positive shock and disbelief. While my interests overlap between the literary, the cultural, the musical, the sociological, and the linguistic, I continue to be fascinated with preservation of African traditional religion in Candomble houses, in music and in visual arts. Various African Gods adorn squares, murals in airports, trade and shopping centers, and even carnivalesque floats.

Samba, carnival, capoeira, soccer, and Brazilian mulatta women are some of the fantasies projected to the unsuspecting visitor/ tourist who does not fully understand that behind these realities are also myths and subtle racism. Samba, the most popular Brazilian music, used to be considered a “pagan” dance the same way candomble’ and capoeira were censured and forbidden among blacks – While the mulatta (mixed race) woman is considered beautiful and representing the perfect cosmic race, she is also exploited and humiliated and often depicted in narratives as a desirable “love-peddler.” Soccer and carnival also serve as “escapist” measures to ease the tension of the year and forget daily social problems with the illusion of merrymaking that these cultural phenomena offer during the few days they last.

Regardless of the racism which Brazil hides under the myth of “racial democracy,” Brazil is still a fascinating and culturally rich country. There, people tend to understand the rules and realities of their marginality and try to make the best of it in a somewhat questionable passivity. A Yoruba visiting Brazil, or any conscious brother or sister from the Africa continent or the African diaspora, must visit Bahia. Bahia is the African Rome or Mecca, where millennial African traditions are currently preserved and revived. The way forward lies in establishing and reviving Pan-African connections and empowering each other not with cosmetic words of solidarity alone but with political acts of change.

http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/guest-articles/in-the-land-of-orixas-reflections-of-a-yoruba-in-brazil.html

QUESTIONS

1. Dr. Afolabi discusses the “cultural-geographical” space covered by the Yoruba people. What forces of dispersal led to the Yoruba presence in so many different places?

2. Explain the corruption of the Yoruba word, “Akara.” Identify an English word that is similarly based on concrete African origins. Explain how the English and African words are related.

3. When people of differing cultures interact, confusion often occurs. Explain how, in Dr. Afolabi’s interaction with the Condomble initiate, a difficult moment resulted as each tried to be respectful of the other. Their efforts led to understanding for both in the end.

This article originally ran in the November 29, 2004 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly.

This is an interesting article I saw on the NVS site, Enjoy folks!

[size=13pt]In the Land of Orixas: Reflections of a Yoruba in Brazil [/size]
Written by Niyi Afolabi Ph. D.
Sunday, 08 May 2011 02:18

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This article originally ran in the November 29, 2004 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Editor’s Note: This article offers a rare glimpse at the practices of Afro-Brazilians through the eyes of a Continental African. The writing is a part of the New Orleans Public Schools Africana & Multicultural Studies Unit’s focus on the African Diaspora. The African Diaspora consists of all African peoples outside of the African Continent. This includes African-Americans, Afro-Brazilians, and others. These groups came to be as a result of one or more of the forces of migration, exploration and enslavement. In this work, Dr. Niyi Afolabi, of New Orleans’ Tulane University, gives his personal account of Yoruba cultural elements in today’s Brazil.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As much as the demands of academic life hardly allow one to do a travelogue upon returning from a research visit unless it is for the purpose of publication; the domain of the “scholarly” and “scholastic,” I appreciate this unique opportunity to reflect freely on my impressions of visiting Brazil over the course of the last two decades. As a Yoruba, the act is especially gratifying. The Yoruba number over 20 million people.

The Yoruba cover a “cultural-geographical” space that extends between Nigeria, the Republic of Benin, and Togo, and farther extends in African diaspora connections and survival in countries like Brazil, Cuba, Trinidad, Haiti and others. Religious and cultural manifestations have been some of the “sacred” media with which Africans enslaved over three centuries ago have been able to retain their spirit(uality) and language relatively “untouched,” at least from the viewpoint of the odds against them after so many years of transatlantic dislocation and dispossession.

As a Yoruba, I was quite impressed to see the relies of my language and culture in Brazil and what I provide here in terms of reminiscences is only a sample of my deeply felt appreciation of Yoruba Brazilian connections I first visited Bahia (Brazil) in 1982 as an exchange student from Nigeria researching Afroculture; especially the Carnivalesque manifestations in Bahia, Rio, and Sao Paulo. The research was for the purpose of writing my Honors Thesis in Portuguese, Festanca Brasileira: Carnaval en Sao Paulo, no Rio e na Bahia (Brazilian Revelry: Carnival in Sao Paulo, in Rio, and in Bahia for the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University).

Six of us altogether (three ladies and three young men) who were sent on an immersion program, or what was called the Year Abroad Program. We were all studying at the University of Sao Paulo in southern Brazil, but given in the rehearsals of many cultural organizations, and it was at a Filbos de Gandhi meeting that I first heard members sing the traditional Ijexo chant in classical Yoruba. I was spiritually and psychologically transported back to Nigeria as I heard my own language as spoken in traditional rites.

After all I had read about Bahia, I felt my research would be incomplete without visiting Bahia in the Northeast. After we completed our first semester, I embarked on a three-day bus ride to the Land of African Gods/ Saints or “Bahia de Todos os Santos” as Bahia was and still is, called. Although I spent about a mouth in Salvador-Bahia, I still could not get enough of Bahia; I had to return years later for a re-immersion at my own expense. Aside from the similarities in clothing, architecture, food, and religious beliefs and practices; the most striking observation was the use of my Yoruba language in almost every area of Bahian life.

On the street corners of Pelourinho, Campo Grande, and Curuzu, for example, I could buy and eat “Acaraje” (bean cake which derives from its Yoruba original, “Akara”) as if I were in Nigeria. This food item still retains its original flavor if not diluted with salad and other Bahian staple food items such as shrimp, ‘atapa’ a and caruru’. What is interesting here is the corruption of the noun “Akara” (the bean cake) and the verb ‘Je” (which means “to eat”). One can only come to the conclusion that through many years of enslaved Africans offering “Akara” to each other as a gesture of invitation (“Would you like to eat ‘Akara’?”) the two words are now totally corrupted and integrated into one noun as known today: Acaraje’ in Bahia today.

As if this is not fascinating enough, there are buildings, places, stores, houses, and houses of worship in Bahia named after Yoruba Gods such as Orixa Shopping, Hotel Oxumare, Jardim Oxala, Edificio Ogum and Ile Axe Opo Afonja. A myriad of carnivalesque groups which illustrate their African connections with the names of their organizations, such as Ile-Aiye (House of the World), Olodum (Celebrant or a shortened form of the Supreme God, “Olodumare,” hence, Olodum (are)).

Although these have become popular through the internationalization of their music and cultural projects, the one that most symbolizes African authenticity is the Filhos de Gandhi (children of Gandhi); which ironically chooses not an African God or name, but the philosophy of an Indian hero, Mahatma Gandhi. In the course of my research, I had the opportunity of participating in the rehearsals of many cultural organizations, and it was at a Filhos de Gandhi meeting that I first heard members sing the traditional Ijexa chant in classical Yoruba.

I was spiritually and psychologically transported back to Nigeria as I heard my own language as spoken in traditional rites to which children are riot allowed even to this day. It is ironic that I had to go to Brazil to discover the intricacies and preciosity of my language – Far from being a matter for anguish, it was one for celebration. I was not only fascinated, I was bemused. My most memorable spiritual and cultural awakening in Bahia occurred when I visited one of the Candomble’ temples (terreiros) where I had scheduled an interview with a member of a carnivalesque group.

After six months in Brazil, my Portuguese was at a level where I needed to show off how “Brazilianized” I was and I proceeded to greet my host in Portuguese, state my name, where I came from (Nigeria), and my purpose in interviewing. To my surprise, this initiated worshipper of the Gods, spoke in Yoruba and not in Portuguese, although he understood me in Portuguese. First, he said: “Omo-Osun, se wa mu omi dudu?” This question literally translates as “Son of Osun, would you like a cup of black water?” Now, while I understood that he was offering me something to drink, I could not understand “Omi dudu” because it simply translates as “black water.” For me, as a Yoruba, “black water” may simply mean muddy water or stagnant water that has tuned into mud after rainfall, but this still did not make sense because such water is not drinkable.


I started to perspire and for a moment, I was faced with a dilemma: here is a Brazilian trying to speak my language, and I, the native Yoruba speaker, trying to understand him without speaking Portuguese. When my host realized that he was not communicating, he went into his house and brought what he was offering me in a flask. Then, he poured it into a cup, and behold, it was coffee! I could not help but stare in amazement at the ability of this Yoruba-Afro-Brazilian to negotiate the meaning of coffee in my own language, an effort I would rather not make, but to use the “corrupted” English loan-word that I will then render as “Kofi” [kawfee]. This anglo influence is very common in Modern Yoruba, especially in Nigeria.

Yet, the first part of my interviewer’s statement is even more interesting. Instead of calling me “son of Nigeria,” he chose to locate where I came from with the name of a God, Osun. By calling me “Omo-Osun” or “OMO-Oxun” in Brazil, he was simply calling me a Yoruba or Nigerian by associating me with one of the Gods from that region. I must confess my experience with this worshipper left a lasting impression on me, but he did not stop at that. He went on to give me permission to see the African Gods that are kept in their chambers. As he was about to open the first door, I quickly asked him to stop, for this is not a venture for the uninitiated. He looked at me curiously and obviously surprised that a Yoruba would not like to pay homage to his Gods. What he did not understand was the fact that colonialism had stripped us of those traditions and beliefs.

While I believe in my Yoruba Gods and their role as intermediaries of the Supreme Being, my upbringing would not allow me to enter sacred places without the necessary initiation rites. Such a defiance of tradition has its repercussions, at least the way we have been raised and socialized, and I was not going to break that tradition. Of course, my host did not understand my hesitation as an authentic Yoruba. I was revering his Gods by not wanting to defy or disrespect them. I did not want to show an ignorance of the necessary greetings required of me when I entered such a sacred territories.

Since that initial visit, my research has taken me to Brazil on many other occasions but the first impact has somewhat waned in terms of the positive shock and disbelief. While my interests overlap between the literary, the cultural, the musical, the sociological, and the linguistic, I continue to be fascinated with preservation of African traditional religion in Candomble houses, in music and in visual arts. Various African Gods adorn squares, murals in airports, trade and shopping centers, and even carnivalesque floats.

Samba, carnival, capoeira, soccer, and Brazilian mulatta women are some of the fantasies projected to the unsuspecting visitor/ tourist who does not fully understand that behind these realities are also myths and subtle racism. Samba, the most popular Brazilian music, used to be considered a “pagan” dance the same way candomble’ and capoeira were censured and forbidden among blacks – While the mulatta (mixed race) woman is considered beautiful and representing the perfect cosmic race, she is also exploited and humiliated and often depicted in narratives as a desirable “prostitute.” Soccer and carnival also serve as “escapist” measures to ease the tension of the year and forget daily social problems with the illusion of merrymaking that these cultural phenomena offer during the few days they last.

Regardless of the racism which Brazil hides under the myth of “racial democracy,” Brazil is still a fascinating and culturally rich country. There, people tend to understand the rules and realities of their marginality and try to make the best of it in a somewhat questionable passivity. A Yoruba visiting Brazil, or any conscious brother or sister from the Africa continent or the African diaspora, must visit Bahia. Bahia is the African Rome or Mecca, where millennial African traditions are currently preserved and revived. The way forward lies in establishing and reviving Pan-African connections and empowering each other not with cosmetic words of solidarity alone but with political acts of change.

http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/guest-articles/in-the-land-of-orixas-reflections-of-a-yoruba-in-brazil.html

QUESTIONS

1. Dr. Afolabi discusses the “cultural-geographical” space covered by the Yoruba people. What forces of dispersal led to the Yoruba presence in so many different places?

2. Explain the corruption of the Yoruba word, “Akara.” Identify an English word that is similarly based on concrete African origins. Explain how the English and African words are related.

3. When people of differing cultures interact, confusion often occurs. Explain how, in Dr. Afolabi’s interaction with the Condomble initiate, a difficult moment resulted as each tried to be respectful of the other. Their efforts led to understanding for both in the end.


This article originally ran in the November 29, 2004 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly.



I'm adding this comment from a poster on NVS because I agree with their reservation concerning Afolabi's Yoruba pop. numbers

Comments Page: | 1
posted on 05-08-2011, 09:28:48 AM Gorrjigen Re: In the Land of Orixas: Reflections of a Yoruba in Brazil
I will like to disagree with Afolabi's guess of the Yoruba's population, definitely it is more than that 20 million quoted. I think the main objective of his research should be the reasons responsible for the impermeable culture of the Yorubas. The culture has simply defied all odds and influences against it over the centuries from Mecca to Bahia.

[quote author=isale_gan2 link=topic=234706.msg8292341#msg8292341 date=1305035111]My first experience with gender discrimination was in the USA, the land of the free home of the brave and gender/racial equality.  'Nuff said![/quote]Of course, we all know how "primitive" and "backward" Oyinbo people are now

Even in year 2011, they still can't  bring themseves to print pictures of women
see this link SMH --> http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thecutline/20110509/ts_yblog_thecutline/wheres-hillary-hasidic-paper-breaks-the-rules-by-editing-her-out-of-white-house-photo

^^they cant even print pictures of a fully clothed Hilary Clinton. WTH?!!

Don't tell me Jews are not Oyinbos o, because they are the creators and spiritual backbone of Oyinboism.


We African-Yorubas on the other hand have enough pictures, images, sculptures and cultural practices respecting the role of women. We affirm the equality of our womenfolks while celebrating their unique abilities -complete with full features.

well, until we lost focus and embraced oyinbo ways. . .

I digress, back to topic. . .

[quote author=ekt_bear link=topic=234706.msg8289320#msg8289320 date=1304995142]There was a female Ooni?

Interesting![/quote]There are a few Yoruba kingdoms founded and ruled by female kings in Yoruba history. The deeper you delve into Yoruba history and religion the more you appreciate the duality and some interesting gender neutral aspects at its core.

We were probably doing female emancipation, checks and balances and equality before Oyinbos started wearing clothes 

This Ogun as a man issue is quite interesting, Katsumoto if you find more sources and info during your research please do share. My part of Yorubaland has an interesting tradition and tale that recognizes Ogun as a living breathing human being. and yes we have a connection to Ife and Oyo that goes deep into the Royal House itself, The Kingdom was founded by direct descendants of Oranmiyan according to oral and written tradition. How I wish they wrote more stuff down.

Hmm Isale, Katsumoto na Professor o, me I'm just a curious searcher.

lagcity:
"Maybe we will get there, maybe we will fully assimilate, not sure, but[b] I think we have a huge disadvantage due to culture, language and a different philosophical world-view[/b] from the currently dominant ones."

KILODE, this is the statement i disagree with. i also don't think there's any Nigerian or African philosophy or world view that's any more hostile/resistant to science than the western world view is. radically new ideas from scientists have always faced resistance in Europe (galileo galilei and darwin comes to mind) especially from the judaeo-christian quarter. In one of your posts, you credit the judaeo-christian thought with helping science thrive in the west.

I doubt you read all my thoughts on this thread or maybe you did but failed to place that particular statement in the proper context of what I was discussing with PhysicsMHD and others. I'll try to clarify;

My reference to a "huge disadvantage" was not to suggest or conclude that we are incapable of understanding SCIENCE or birthing original thought, discoveries, inventions, questions and ideas that will impact the world. NOT AT ALL. That statement was essentially referring to my theory and belief that we are lagging behind because our Culture, our UNIQUE philosophical world-view and ideas about life and it's meaning has been swallowed up and subjugated by beliefs, cultures, languages and ideas that are alien to ours, hence the lag.

So in essence, I believe that the Science and ideas that were created, taught and passed to us based on the context and languages of those alien philosophies might be difficult for us to connect to, until we make them ours. I referred to the "Judeo-christian" thought as an alien philosophy, I stand by that.

I went on to suggest that one way we can "own" and "master" these new ideas is by to transmitting them into our languages, or through some other organic medium so we can at least acquire a greater connection to them(I called it an "emotional connection".

THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT OUR CULTURE OR PHILOSOPHY IS INFERIOR. But like other societies in course of history, we can resist new ideas, which is natural, but it goes beyond just hostile resistance, I see a deeper disconnect because we've failed to align our UNIQUE understanding of life, science, philosophy with the new ideas we come across, we've failed at "owning" those ideas, we've failed to make them ours, and I blame that failure on many things;

I pointed out language and also mentioned Religion as another possible reason I think. I cited the case of how Arab scholars "owned" the works of Greek philosophers by translating them, and also by expanding and expounding on them. I went on to mention that although their connection was strong because they translated those works, but their larger societies couldn't go deep enough because of religious push backs, I added a few references to support that position.

Although My belief is that we might continue to lag behind those who've succeeded in making this knowledge their own until something changes, I still threw in references to the power of "time" as a great leveler when I said these;


"Maybe we will get there, maybe we will fully assimilate, not sure"

"The world is probably still very young bro, I bet there is still a lot to discover"

"We might have to wait around a few more millennias to know where the pendulum will swing, maybe we will zoom ahead eventually"


I said all those because despite by pessimism about our prospect, especially if we don't make those radical changes, I still believe we can get to become a dominant provider of new ideas and new science over time by becoming masters of other peoples languages and philosophical ideas through long term assimilation.


Lagcity, Now, If you still don't understand my position after this, you will have to send me some flight ticket, book some lunch and provide travel allowance so I can come over and explain it to you physically.  You can bet I will deliver my "theory" in Yoruba language.

PhysicsMHD:
The point is that PDP needs to be exposed as a Northern party, not a party of unity.

If all of the south leaves PDP, there's

1) a chance of a southern alliance (which could lead to meritocratic practices in many spheres of life being adhered to, if that alliance was to win)

2) a chance of the completely northern PDP weakening and fracturing along middle belt vs. core north lines, and the north being permanently weakened, or the middle belt might choose to align with one or all of the southern groups

3) a chance that if the southern alliance or the non-PDP parties are unable to beat the northern PDP, then the issue of the bogus northern population figures may be looked into and pressed by the southern groups. If this issue isn't rectified, perhaps it could be a good pretext for changing the power structure of the country to a more federal one, with more autonomy for different areas

This was the stuff we were trying to achieve with the election of April 2011, remember that election? It's like eons ago now.

Unfortunately, the Nigerian Tiger ("tribalism", religious sentiments, ethnic mistrust, and short-sightedness) was let out of its cage. It devoured us all.

You can replace PDP with Words and phrases like: Control, Central power, Pseudo federalism, the drag, the lie we tell ourselves, the wool over our eyes, the owners of Nigeria. Fake unity, Federal character magomago, Crude oil union. You won't be far off the mark.

Nigerians are not ready yet, when we are ready, it will be very obvious.

[quote author=EzeUche_ link=topic=663455.msg8287052#msg8287052 date=1304962905]I see Obasanjo as one of the biggest threat to Ndigbo aspirations in Nigeria. The Igbo political elite need to find some way in neutralizing him, because he still has the ear of President Jonathan. Zoning is dead and positions should be given based on support of PDP and merit. All of these zoning schemes based on religion and tribal affiliations is proving to be a distraction to PDP.

It shows that PDP has no political ideology, but is simply a national party that is trying to keep power in the center.

I see PDP as a bulwark to factionalism, but this infighting can prove disastrous for PDP in the future.[/quote]My brother, You are getting it!

OCCULTIST:
For those Useless,visionless,and insane people criticizing our Most Prstigious Fraternity ROF,Yes Rochas Okorocha is our beloved brother,just as 27 Governors accross the nation are also members,Just as 85% of Senators are Members,just as 80% Speakers are also, just as 65% FEC are also members,and just as 90% of serious,successful and influential business men and women of this great nation are also members,so what can you people do about it? We brought this nation out from the colonial masters and gave this nation independence,your all free to commit suicide because your all crying for something you cannot change.

For thgose interested in joining here is our website: www.reformedogboni.com all information on how to join is there.

Only the pure in heart joins the Reformed Ogboni fraternity,demons don't.

My brother, I agree. This religious discrimination must end!

The Bishop even forced the governor-elect to denounce a particular sect and/or religion, and people are cool with that?

It's not fair o!

We all must fight for our right to worship freely without discrimination.

Bro, I hope you too won't discriminate against demon worshippers with your last statement.

Everybody in this country should have the right to do Demon. ->a la Rita Kokolet

lagcity:
@ KILODE: stop grabbing for the straw. people from all continents have contributed science. nothing special about western culture or language gives westerners an edge in science even though they've contributed immensely to modern science as we know it. remember the west hasn't always led the world and i'm sure it won't continue to do so forever.

I don't see where you and I disagree bro.

^^ hmm ekt_bear is probably a College Professor trying his best to dumb it down for slow people like us o.
plus he's Ekiti, that agidi comes naturally with the package.

I enjoyed your conversation though, you both made great points.

Damn, Isale went hard!! Almost betraying  her royal aristocratic background in the process.

Ekt_bear, bro don't mind princess isalegan, she's passionate because of the Isakoles and royalties she get's to keep.

You both made great points though, I think we can copy best practices from outside while maintaining our unique cultural advantage.

SEFAGO:
jenifa is on to somethin. You made a thread under the influence, and you expect us to take you seriously  

For all we know you might be drunk of your rockers  

This cracked me up LOL

[quote author=isale_gan2 link=topic=590933.msg8283070#msg8283070 date=1304911135]**Picking myself off the floor after my fainting spell**  lol

Kilode ke?  Is this you?  Anyway, the "cowering" ones are the Liverpool fans. 

You're lucky I don't support any Premier League team.  I'd smack a ban on you so fast . . . lol

This is such a different side of you.  Jeez.  If ManUtd should win the title league AND Champs League, we'll have to shut down Nairaland for a week. [/quote]I have MPD, remember? LOL

@ bolded, you are very perceptive(should've used "when" though) but for the sake of Seun let's hope my other personas will sleep through it all.

Interesting stuff here.

Remii:
May be you can tell me the story behind the proverb Omode gbo agba gbon la fi da ile Ife, (Hint, check Alawiye Apa Kefa by J F Odunjo}

LOL

naijababe:
To say the Ooni is insignificant is not only a travesty but a very crass attempt to revise history.

I agree.

As far a I'm concerned, Alaafin and Ooni remain the political and spiritual heads of the Yorubas respectively. Myth or no myth, there's a reason why the staff of Oranmiyan sits at Ife and not Oyo. I don't necessarily think one is more important than the other.

I will like to end it at that, BUT but Politics is too fleeting, political power shifts with time and circumstances, If I read Katsumoto correctly, I think the point he was trying to make is that the significance of the Alaafin is derived from his military and political exploits. It could have been the Soun, The Timi, Awujale, Alake,  Ewi, Osemawe or even the Deji. But for the Ooni, his Supremacy and significance is derived from a more spiritual, more permanent role as the head of the Source.

This reminds me of what the Dalai Lama recently did; he decided to give up his political role/power and retained the spiritual one.[analyst's said he did that to checkmate the Chinese in case they try to influence the naming of the next Child Dalai Lama after his death]. .

. .At least, any child his Government-in-exile Oracle choses as the new Dalai Lama will have the more spiritual, more legitimate claim to authority even if he can't fight politically until he grows up.
http://articles.cnn.com/2011-03-10/world/india.dalai.lama_1_dharamsala-in-northern-india-tibetan-exile-movement-anti-chinese-slogans?_s=PM:WORLD

Dunno, Maybe we need to emphasise the differences between the Spitirual Vs Political more, so this people will stop embarassing us with their fight everytime.

.

*Walks in with a royal swagger*

*looks around*  

*saw they are all cowering*

*takes pity*

*Plants a crest and a blood Red "Esu laalu" flag on the thread*
[img]http://magnificentvista.files./2009/04/man-utd-crest.jpg[/img]
https://www.soccer-box.co.uk/images/shop/product_images/15424/manutd18xtitlesflag.jpg
Still printing the 19th Title Flag


*Walks out, blowing kisses at adoring moms and fainting ladies*




May 8th 2011, Shekpe capitulated!