₦airaland Forum

Godman_n: [size=15pt]The Semantics Of “The Dog And The Baboon Will Be Soaked In Blood” By Umar Bello[/size]
Posted: May 18, 2012 - 05:17
By Umar Bello

The press once more appears to be in frenzy over a commentary purported to be made by Buhari. Buhari as usual is news. What so ever he does or does not do is a scoop to be splashed by the press. His commentary at the meeting with the Niger state CPC was rushed to the press without proper investigation. No sooner had the news reached the stand than the presidency, represented by Dr. Abati, furiously shot an unfortunate riposte building on the sketchy over-sensationalized opinions of Buhari.

One cannot help but be shocked with the descent of the country to pedestrian (mis)interpretation of issues with the sole purpose of impugning the sterling qualities of a person. All efforts are made to make this otherwise upright leader, who suffers phonies gladly and who has no regards for divisions, a violent regionalist. That is the way his Sokoto commentary has landed him a forced characteristic which has since then come to be his absolute definition in the Nigerian press trumping all his history of discipline and patriotism. It is a clear case of giving a dog a bad name in order to hang it, and remember this is not about a feline animal and a metal hook!

In this current situation, another deliberate fuss is caused to further hang this man by intensifying an already established stereotype. I just wonder; when have simple proverbs or political metaphors become literal representations of the objects they depict? Have we forgotten the ‘figuratively’ colorful first and second republics? When the late Mbadiwe (alias ‘a man of timber and caliber’) called himself ‘a political juggernaut’, I believe, nobody then thought of a monster caterpillar crushing all his political opponents to literal death. The Zik’s NPP was one time the ‘bride’ to be courted by other parties, did we at all think of a woman! What of Obasanjo’s ‘do or die’ declaration? Even if deaths had occurred at the election no one has related Obasanjo’s idiom to any casualties? Likewise, nobody has taken the late Bola Ige’s mentioning of the Northern ‘cows’ and ‘goats as part of the population census figures anything like livestock calculation more than the political slur it was meant to be.

Why is Buhari’s ‘kare jini, biri jini’ any different? Shorn of all the literal and decontexualized misrepresentations, it simply means ‘a serious contest’ i.e. the attitude of not giving up by the parties involved. ‘Kare jini, biri jini’, in a corpus checking on the contexts and collocates of the proverb, is mostly used where fierce competitions occur especially in sports and politics. Literal translation of this saying is mischievous crude and banal for even if we don’t understanding Hausa, are Nigerians actually ‘baboons’ (literal not figurative!)? One is disappointed that a person of Dr Abati’s intellectual caliber has taken this philistine ‘joke’ to higher planes to impute the calling of Nigerian voters as ‘baboons’ and ‘dogs’ to Buhari. This is to further estrange and alienate him from the people for their 2015’s political success. If someone, for example, told me that ‘it rained cats and dogs yesterday’, then my translation into, say, Hausa, will not only be that literal cats and dogs have fallen from the sky but that the people in the area have become cats and dogs also. Abati (PhD Dramatic Arts), this is the abysmal descent of that your unfortunate response and this analogy captures how yours may read to discerning minds. For the price of lucre, many great intellectuals have committed intellectual suicide and fallen prey to the wiles and machinations of politicians only to come seeking for that hard earned reputation when it is too late and when the orgy is over.

And probably that is why that irrevocable incorruptibility of Buhari has remained a great threat since it cannot be Ghana-must-goed. His views are misinterpreted for his daring to be different and not being part of the corrupt gravy train. But by every effort that is made to besmirch him, he emerges cleaner to his massive unbought constituency. And, as the Hausa saying goes, when the sky is out, it can’t not be covered by our palms. Buhari is the sky and the PDP gang is the palms.

Umar writes this piece from Jubail, KSA and can be reached at bello.umar@gmail.com

http://saharareporters.com/article/semantics-%E2%80%9C-dog-and-baboon-will-be-soaked-blood%E2%80%9D-umar-bello

Godman_n: [size=15pt]The Semantics Of “The Dog And The Baboon Will Be Soaked In Blood” By Umar Bello[/size]
Posted: May 18, 2012 - 05:17
By Umar Bello

The press once more appears to be in frenzy over a commentary purported to be made by Buhari. Buhari as usual is news. What so ever he does or does not do is a scoop to be splashed by the press. His commentary at the meeting with the Niger state CPC was rushed to the press without proper investigation. No sooner had the news reached the stand than the presidency, represented by Dr. Abati, furiously shot an unfortunate riposte building on the sketchy over-sensationalized opinions of Buhari.

One cannot help but be shocked with the descent of the country to pedestrian (mis)interpretation of issues with the sole purpose of impugning the sterling qualities of a person. All efforts are made to make this otherwise upright leader, who suffers phonies gladly and who has no regards for divisions, a violent regionalist. That is the way his Sokoto commentary has landed him a forced characteristic which has since then come to be his absolute definition in the Nigerian press trumping all his history of discipline and patriotism. It is a clear case of giving a dog a bad name in order to hang it, and remember this is not about a feline animal and a metal hook!

In this current situation, another deliberate fuss is caused to further hang this man by intensifying an already established stereotype. I just wonder; when have simple proverbs or political metaphors become literal representations of the objects they depict? Have we forgotten the ‘figuratively’ colorful first and second republics? When the late Mbadiwe (alias ‘a man of timber and caliber’) called himself ‘a political juggernaut’, I believe, nobody then thought of a monster caterpillar crushing all his political opponents to literal death. The Zik’s NPP was one time the ‘bride’ to be courted by other parties, did we at all think of a woman! What of Obasanjo’s ‘do or die’ declaration? Even if deaths had occurred at the election no one has related Obasanjo’s idiom to any casualties? Likewise, nobody has taken the late Bola Ige’s mentioning of the Northern ‘cows’ and ‘goats as part of the population census figures anything like livestock calculation more than the political slur it was meant to be.

Why is Buhari’s ‘kare jini, biri jini’ any different? Shorn of all the literal and decontexualized misrepresentations, it simply means ‘a serious contest’ i.e. the attitude of not giving up by the parties involved. ‘Kare jini, biri jini’, in a corpus checking on the contexts and collocates of the proverb, is mostly used where fierce competitions occur especially in sports and politics. Literal translation of this saying is mischievous crude and banal for even if we don’t understanding Hausa, are Nigerians actually ‘baboons’ (literal not figurative!)? One is disappointed that a person of Dr Abati’s intellectual caliber has taken this philistine ‘joke’ to higher planes to impute the calling of Nigerian voters as ‘baboons’ and ‘dogs’ to Buhari. This is to further estrange and alienate him from the people for their 2015’s political success. If someone, for example, told me that ‘it rained cats and dogs yesterday’, then my translation into, say, Hausa, will not only be that literal cats and dogs have fallen from the sky but that the people in the area have become cats and dogs also. Abati (PhD Dramatic Arts), this is the abysmal descent of that your unfortunate response and this analogy captures how yours may read to discerning minds. For the price of lucre, many great intellectuals have committed intellectual suicide and fallen prey to the wiles and machinations of politicians only to come seeking for that hard earned reputation when it is too late and when the orgy is over.

And probably that is why that irrevocable incorruptibility of Buhari has remained a great threat since it cannot be Ghana-must-goed. His views are misinterpreted for his daring to be different and not being part of the corrupt gravy train. But by every effort that is made to besmirch him, he emerges cleaner to his massive unbought constituency. And, as the Hausa saying goes, when the sky is out, it can’t not be covered by our palms. Buhari is the sky and the PDP gang is the palms.

Umar writes this piece from Jubail, KSA and can be reached at bello.umar@gmail.com

http://saharareporters.com/article/semantics-%E2%80%9C-dog-and-baboon-will-be-soaked-blood%E2%80%9D-umar-bello

tallfact: In my opinion this will only introduce checks and balances in the face-off between the doctors and the lagos state govt. Yes the doctors have every right to ask the govt to fulfil its promises base on the signed agreement but they should remember that politicians are more powerful, can do and undo with impunity. The doctors should remember that theorems are differ from practical when it come to relating with people. If am in lagos state shoe today, I will take the same decision because I need to let you know that I can appeal to the public supports knowing that this affect them most not even when I had completed 80% of the agreement which made doctors in lagos far better than the rest in the country. Mind you there are other professions that are not enjoying half of what you enjoy today.

THIS WILL ONLY CREATE FEAR IN SOME OF THE DOCTORS AND BRING DOWN THEIR RAISED SHOULDERS.

sleek29: Even when not on strike, I have known nigerian doctors to be the most wicked professionals the world have ever seen, my sister was rushed to an accident & emergency ward only to be left to die despite her cries for help, another woman lost her baby in her womb in abuja her because she could not get N3000, they are the most insensitive of creatures, I would sack them if I was the governor, they all own private hospitals & go on strike to transfer traffic to their hospitals. Fashola, I'm 200% with you on this one, they are supposed to save lives, that's what they should do, a doctors who was a tottenham fan ran unto the pitch to save the life of fabrice muamba, a nigerian doctor that I know would never do that!

stine b: @Otox, the health workers demand is not based on any trait of Inferiority complex.No particular professional is superior than the other because they work inter dependently to see to good patient management. It is only in Naija that the ill informed masses like yourself see the Medical Doctors as superior to other health care professionals like Radiographers(Imaging diagnosis) Pharmacists(Drug andministering) Medical Laboratory(Fluid diagnosis) Nurses(Patients Care)Physiotherapist(Patient Rehabilitation)Doctors(Treatment) and other ranges of professional with their duties which vis a vis complement each other.

tiarabubu: I guess you are a medical worker.

May God bless you guys real GOOD! You guys and those who troop to help in every way possible are the heroes of this tragedy. Put in your best - for through you we have won a small but significant victory yet; they try to take what you strive hard to preserve. May all the patients make a full recovery. Amen!

Nigerians!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TOGETHER WE CAN DEFEAT THESE BEASTS! Lets all do our part from the constructive critics to the life savers and everyday citizen.

tiarabubu: I guess you are a medical worker.

May God bless you guys real GOOD! You guys and those who troop to help in every way possible are the heroes of this tragedy. Put in your best - for through you we have won a small but significant victory yet; they try to take what you strive hard to preserve. May all the patients make a full recovery. Amen!

Nigerians!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TOGETHER WE CAN DEFEAT THESE BEASTS! Lets all do our part from the constructive critics to the life savers and everyday citizen.

tiarabubu: I guess you are a medical worker.

May God bless you guys real GOOD! You guys and those who troop to help in every way possible are the heroes of this tragedy. Put in your best - for through you we have won a small but significant victory yet; they try to take what you strive hard to preserve. May all the patients make a full recovery. Amen!

Nigerians!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TOGETHER WE CAN DEFEAT THESE BEASTS! Lets all do our part from the constructive critics to the life savers and everyday citizen.

tiarabubu: I guess you are a medical worker.

May God bless you guys real GOOD! You guys and those who troop to help in every way possible are the heroes of this tragedy. Put in your best - for through you we have won a small but significant victory yet; they try to take what you strive hard to preserve. May all the patients make a full recovery. Amen!

Nigerians!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TOGETHER WE CAN DEFEAT THESE BEASTS! Lets all do our part from the constructive critics to the life savers and everyday citizen.