₦airaland Forum

i'm not a big fan of dreadlocks but i looove them when they're neat.
I prefer them to be a single color too.

i think loose hair is more versatile

I wish i lived in NY sometimes. that's like the most popular state.
never heard of westchester but it's still part of NY so that's cool

you guys have rivalries (sp?) and all that?

kids tend to disrespect elders when they feel comfortable enough to do so.
maybe if the elder play too much with them or agree to everything the kid wants. that's what i mean by being too "comfortable"
when the kid knows that he/she will get whatever she wants and sees the adult on the same level rather than on an authoritative, adult level.

i couldn't find a better word to use.

lol. lucky you live in Brooklyn

well you can tell them to put their hair in a bun or get it twisted. or braided.
No huge ass afro allowed in theatres. lol _{even though they look tres cool}

ikamefa:
ha! you get money! i don't stress my self when i need to care for my locks ,i use simple home remedies and they work great for me!

Go you!!!

yeah i use home remedies too. 'cause there's nothing else. but i'm still learning though.

I go to walgreens, they have a really small ethnic section so i just get whatever come home and mix stuff up (olive oil e.t.c)
i use vinegar too to mix with the water i use to wash my hair.
like i said i'm still learning.


that's why i always say natural hair is hard to care for because we don't have the resources to care for it. most of the stuff out there are just damaging. imo

gels especially and all the chemicals and heat I know there are some gels w/o alcohol but still.

natural is the way to go at least for me. now i just wish we had some industry dedicated to caring for black hair cair. tired of going to the store and 99% of hair product is made for straight hair.


i have so much pics. I'll exhaust the ones i have and probably look for more. lol

ThiefOfHearts:
don't really care, such people should just not sit in front of me at movie theatres/concerts.

It's alright. we'll wear styles like this to theatres

no haters please. I mean common, how often will you see a thread dedicated to natural hair (w/o chemicals aka relaxers, straigtening products, wigs, texturizers, dye e.t.c et.c).
you can check this cool link out
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-13787.0.html

I'll post some more later ciao

oh yeah, you can also post pics of african styles. e.t.c don't matter if extension is used.

I found them online.
please add some more pics if you find them or take yours.

NATURAL ONLY, and braids too if you have pics 'cause i love braids

Rule:
NO WEAVES PICS PLEASE. (it only gives haters something to say)

yeah good job.

be authoritative
don't let the kid get too comfortable with you.


beating doesn't always work. every kid is different. it can hurt your kids' self esteem.
if a kid listens to everything you say and never disagrees with one word of yours e.t.c because he's scared,
make sure your child isn't been cheated in the outside world.
because what you teach your kid at home can affect them outside too. They'll listen to everyone (including their peers) and won't learn to take charge in situations.

allow your kid to have their opinions too, listen to them. beating doesn't always work.
but don't let him get too comfortable or indulge him though.

ha you're sad

awesome.
i saw this one some other thread with pictures.
I hope it's true though


GOD BLESS NIGERIA

someone should come up with an fun idea. like a game or something.

guess what the person above you did and create a mini story out of it.

I personally think cute ass stayed up all night stuffing herself w/ pizzas, icecream and burittos last saturday and the she had to explain to others why she's so tired the following sunday morning

@Ashewo, so, what's your internship all about?
and, is it a paid one or voluteer?

.

yeah we need to add articles lots of articles

some one should add nairaland links to those sites too

dblock, you're my hero

hopefully, it can be fulfilled and not just talk.

I know right? I hope so too

whoever said laissez faire capitalism suck (kellorah?), I totally agree with him/her.
the whole "free trade" thing is one of the major reasons why most African countries are in a sad state.
"free trade" my poop

yo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
1069 articles

This is soo cool
Only I can't read yoruba all that well. I need lessons asap
I should have paid more attention in yoruba class (nigerian schools)

There's one in Igbo too
ig.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
14 articles

chukwu chukwu bia bia. Kedu ka odi odima

and Hausa
ha.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
20 articles

All three need to be developed though. so you can volunteer to do some stuff if you want. Go Nigeria!

"After the Fulani Jihad and the fall of the empire of the city state of Oyo in 1818, there was a huge flight of refugees from the savannah regions of western Nigeria southward. Oyo, which had previously been the strongest Empire between Ghana and Cameroun, demanded tribute from neighboring vassal Kingdoms in items of western manufacture (guns, beads, cloth) which were mainly obtained by selling slaves to western traders. When Oyo fell, those vassals - particularly the Gbe speaking Fon of Dahomey - went to town selling Oyo refugees to the Portuguese. Those refugees were the key populations that founded the town of Abeokuta (which successfully turned back the Fulani/Hausa invasions) and swelled the small coastal town of Eko into the sprawling monster we now know as Lagos (which comes from the Yoruba "Ni Eko," where elided 'ni' becomes 'l') Christianity was adopted by many Yoruba at this time, and led to the rapid and widespread adoption of Yoruba as a written language, spreading the use of the term "Yoruba" to generically refer to the language of Oyo as the central "literary" dialect.

It was around that time (1815-1860) that people began referring to themselves generically as "Yoruba" whereas previously they would have reffered to themselves by the name of their kingdoms, such as Oyo, Ijebu, Ondo, Ife, etc. Brazilian and Spanish slaveships were intercepted by the British Navy, and their cargo of slaves were set ashore in Sierra Leone. The Yoruba speakers there referred to themselves as "Aku" which comes from the basic Yoruba greeting "E ku se?" (How's it going?)

Yorubas in the new world generally referred to themselves by their origin such as "Nagos" in Brazil and Haiti (Anago western Yoruba from Dahomey) and Ilesha (Ijesa) in Brazil, Ketu in Jamaica. In Cuba the term "Lucumi" derives from the Youruba for "my friend" "Oluko mi."

The British Navy - ever resourceful - did not offer the freed slaves in Sierra Leone passage back to Nigeria, but signed up thousands on twenty year indenturments to go to Trinidad, Guyana, and other Caribean colinies as labor, a practice that continued into the 1860s. Many of the communities which continued speaking Yoruba into the twentieth century descended from these indentured laborers, who already were referring to themsleves as "Yarriba" in Trinidad and Guyana."
http://www.languagehat.com/archives/002354.php

"the Ahmed Baba reference is the earliest to use the term "Yoruba" in print, but I have not heard any etymological comment on the possibility of its derivation from the Yagba and Yauri, two of the most northernmost groups that fall under the Yoruba ethnic identity. Baba's treatise referred to groups that Muslims were permitted to raid for enslavement in West Africa, and these northernmost groups would have been closest to Hausa and/or Fulani dealers. The ethnonym may have then been expanded to cover all speakers of a similiar language."

"A point of interest that is worth mentioning here is that the origin of the name ‘Yoruba’ has been traced to Arabic writers such as Ahmad Bābā (d. 1627) in his Mi'rāj al-su'ūd and Muhammad Bello (d. 1837) in his Infāq al-maysūr, both of whom were reportedly among the earliest to name this people ‘yarba’ or ‘yaruba’ or ‘Yoruba’ (y-r-b) at a time when they were still referring to themselves by their diverse ethnic identities. The earliest references to them by the British was as akus or eyeo."

http://www.languagehat.com/archives/002354.php

history stuff

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The Yoruba and the States of Ife and Oyo

The Yoruba-speaking people of southwestern Nigeria are heirs both to an ancient and cultured civilization, and a tragic history. Yoruba culture is known for its artistic triumphs, extraordinary oral literature, complex pantheon of gods, and urban lifestyle. Yet, it is also a civilization which sent millions of its men, women and children to the Americas as slaves. Their numbers and cultural impact were so great that their religion and culture have remained important in modern Brazil and Cuba, and are found today in the cities of the eastern United States. This combination of cultural triumph and human tragedy makes the Yoruba experience one of the most fascinating subjects of historical study in Africa.

The world, say traditions of the Yoruba people, began at Ife, a city of great historical and religious significance in the heart of Yoruba country. The earth was completely covered with water, these traditions tell us, when the Creator, Olodumare, equipped a party of messengers with five pieces of iron, a lump of soil, and a chicken. The party found a site where they could set down the iron, place the soil on it, and allow the chicken to begin spreading the soil with its feet. From this beginning, farm land spread across the world. 

While the precise date of initial human settlement in Yoruba country remains unknown, many historians find in these traditions important aspects of early Yoruba history. First, Yoruba tradition can be forgiven for having seen the beginning of Yoruba culture as the creation of the world, for Yoruba culture is indeed old. The language of the Yoruba separated from that of some of their nearest neighbors at least 5000 years ago; from their linguistically most closely-related neighbors, the Igala, they separated 2000 years ago. (The relatively close linguistic relationship between Yoruba and Igala has led some scholars to suggest that Yoruba country may have been settled by migrants who came from the region where the Igala now live, near the confluence of the Niger and Benue rivers.)

Yoruba traditions remind us that farmland was not merely discovered, but was created by agriculturists, and that iron-working must have played a crucial role in its creation. Surely the great achievement of early Yoruba-speaking communities was carving open spaces for farming out of the forests which dominate most of Yoruba country. Probably as long as 2000 years ago, Yoruba agriculturists were already using iron tools. Early farmers would have relied upon the varieties of yams and cocoyams indigenous to West Africa. By about 2000 years ago, farmers would have begun to adopt plantains (bananas) which, having been brought to East Africa from Malaysia, were spreading across the continent.

Just as the evidence available to historians allows them to say relatively little about when and how farming peoples occupied the forests of southwestern Nigeria, so too they are not certain about their early political development. Some historians have suggested that the oldest political communities were villages, and that villages consolidated together to form states. Yoruba traditions, however, speak about the diffusion of kingship from Ife not only throughout Yoruba country, but also to neighboring regions, including Benin (see below). They say that it was the sons of Oduduwa, the leader of the group sent by the Creator to establish land, who dispersed and created kingdoms.

These traditions have led historians to wonder whether they mean that Ife, the place where Oduduwa settled, was also the site of the first Yoruba kingdom. Scholars have long known that besides occupying a central place in Yoruba cosmology, Ife has had great symbolic importance in Yoruba politics. Even though Ife has not in recent centuries held political and military power, one of the ways in which a Yoruba leader won legitimacy in the eyes of subjects and fellow kings was by gaining recognition as a "son" of the king of Ife. Thus the king of Ife was considered the "father" of all legitimate Yoruba kings.

Yet, only in recent decades has archaeological research established the antiquity of Ife beyond doubt. Artifacts from Ife have shown that it has been occupied at least since the 6th century, and that from the 9th to 12th centuries it was "a settlement of substantial size," with houses featuring potsherd pavement. From this period date some of the terracotta sculptures and bronze castings which among students of African art are synonymous with Ife. The most famous Ife terracottas, which are believed to date from the 12th to the 14th centuries, along with the great bronze castings of the 14th and 15th centuries, mark the culmination of an artistic tradition at Ife which was several centuries old.

The study of Ife¹s famous Œbronze¹ castings has reminded historians about the importance of trade in Yoruba history. Finding that the so-called Œbronzes" are in fact composed of either brass or copper, scholars have been led to wonder about the source of the copper used by the artisans of Ife. They have speculated that copper may have reached Ife through trade routes extending to northwest Africa or central Europe. More recently, however, historians have realized that copper may have reached Ife from nearby deposits in southern Nigeria. If so, this would mean that copper was one of the many items, along with cloth, kola nuts, palm oil, fish, and many other goods, which were traded not only among the Yoruba themselves, but also between the Yoruba and their neighbors. 

Trade was also a crucial factor in one of the most important political developments in Yoruba history: the rise of the kingdom of Oyo. A settlement at Oyo, which is located in the far north of Yorubaland, already existed about 1100 A.D. It appears to have developed into a small kingdom in the late 14th or early 15th century. Some Yoruba traditions say that Oyo was founded by Oranyan, the son or grandson of Oduduwa; other traditions say that Oyo was founded by Sango, who became the Yoruba god of Thunder and Lightning. Whomever was responsible, its emergence as the dominant political power in Yorubaland occurred in the 17th century, and was hastened by Oyo¹s acquisition of horses. Undoubtedly the horses came to Oyo from savannah and Sahel regions to the north. Oyo traded various goods, including kola nuts and palm products, in return for horses and salt.

Using horses to create cavalry forces, the rulers of Oyo conquered much of Yorubaland in the 17th century, and expanded their empire to its greatest extent when, between 1730 and 1748, they forced the powerful state of Dahomey to the west of Yorubaland to become their tributary. Oyo also took control of the seacoast between Whydah and Badagry, and expanded trade with Europeans. Its merchants sold slaves to Europeans in return for cloth and other goods. Sadly, as exports of slaves from Oyo reached about 20,000 per year between 1680 and 1730, this portion of the West African coast became known as the "Slave Coast."

The empire of Oyo collapsed during the first two decades of the 19th century. The increase of slave-holding likely played an important role. Enslavement had undoubtedly increased as slave trading expanded to meet European demand, and slave-holding probably increased further as a result of the British decision in 1807 to outlaw slave trading, for the gradual decline of European demand reduced the price of slaves, bringing them within the means of local purchasers. The increasing importance of slavery may have helped cause a revolt by an important military commander named Afonja in 1823. Afonja won support by appealing to Oyo¹s enslaved population. A 19th-century history of the Yoruba described Alfonja¹s rebellion in this way: "All the Hausa slaves in the adjacent towns hitherto employed as barbers, rope-makers and cowherds, now deserted their masters and flocked to Ilorin under the standard of AfonjaŠ and were protected against their masters.

With the collapse of Oyo, Yorubaland plunged into protracted warfare, leaving a landscape of ruined towns and huge numbers of refugees and captives. Perhaps 500,000 people migrated from the savannahs of the north, formerly the most densely populated portion of Yorubaland, to the forests and coastal areas of the south, where they founded new towns such as Ibadan and Abeokuta. This catastrophe may have prompted interest in new faiths. Christianity became important during the 19th century, and Abeokuta became the center of Yoruba Christianity. Its spread was largely the work of formerly enslaved Yoruba who returned home from Brazil and Sierra Leone. Internal conflict, however, prevented resistance against European colonial conquest. The British established a protectorate over the port of Lagos in 1861, and forced Ibadan to accept a resident administrator in 1893. Colonialism began a process which eventually would integrate Yorubaland into the Nigerian nation. http://www.uiowa.edu/~africart/toc/history/giblinstate.html#yoruba

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offtopic: I just found out that yorubas "exhibit the highest twinning rate in the world." I'm not surprised. I was even starting to wonder why i know so many taiwos and kehindes

ok.

OMG you guys are so sweet with each other. aww

but, you know you have to compete with Ugodaniel and White_Nkem though. they beat you hands down in the e-love business. You got to overtake them.

awww who could have thought

anyways,
zulu&Blue goodluck to you two

mushki:
its a pity that nigeria is being compared to countries like kenya which are semi arid, arid and grasslands and have never mined a single gem or pumped a drop of oil.
The previous commentators want to battle for nigeria to be the richest among the worlds poorest nations. How absurd.

From my understanding, you were the one who started the comparison with your "nairobi is a heaven compared to lagos" comment.
superman said that kenyans are corrupt talking about corrupt nigerians, and you made your kenya/nigeria comparision
If you know it was mostly arid land and slum and shouldn't be compared to Nigeria, why did you make the comment in the first place?

the "previous commentators" were only countering your statement.

it should be competing with the asian tigers like singapore and malaysia with whom it was at par pre independence.

[sarcasm] nah. that's low class. we can't bring ourselves that low. we compete with asian lions like Korea, Japan, China, Russia and co.
I wonder what asian countries Kenya competes with. [/sarcasm]

kenya has the biggest slum in africa and they use it for slum tourism with lots of success I think if Nigeria wants that title it can take it without much argument. However africa's most populous nation with significant oil wealth deserves much more and in that i think i can find consensus.

well, nigeria is OVERPOPULATED as you can tell (and it's really hurting us because as a result, everybody knows us and we get bad PR and image since we're all over the place even in Tanzania of all places ). and we've got a really corrupt goverment and western countries that steal our oil money.
that's a partial reason why we're not developed.

my point: Every country has its own share of problems and hating on each other won't solve any of it.

By the way i dond know how anyone imagines nairobi operates as it does hosting numerous international conferences and forums on a NEPA type of power supply. with generators? The WSF quoted above is a forum of the worlds poor and had a budget to match hence all the troubles it ran into.

maybe it's some of that slum money. _kidding

seriously though. may african coutries take loans from the west to operate stuff like that. and in turn, the west give us conditions to follow. these conditions hurt us a lot but at least we got the loan.

anyways, goodluck with the power supply thing.

Meet nairobi
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=271198
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=8221487&postcount=3

I believe this is what the guy was talking about.
i tried to find pics of murtala mohammed airport but had trouble. Can anyone please provide, also of lagos?

nice pics.
i don't have any links but you can look in the Travel section of Nairaland. dblock has all the pics.