The AfroBeat II
(back by popular demand, tAB 1.0 demise attributed to a wretched virus and a general lack of initiative to engage with the blogosphere; tAB II is born due to the return of that need to share random findings with the world at large, while resisting the phenomenon that is twitter ;))
Showing posts with label The Afro Beat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Afro Beat. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Thursday, October 1, 2009
A Toast to the Plans We Made to Live Like Kings...
What can i compare you to?
A mother in whose arms I feel, "the world is my oyster"
...Countless opportunities and real impact for those who dared take the first step
A happy childhood full of hopes and dreams
...I pledged to Nigeria my country to be faithful, loyal & honest
A burnt house with ashes left behind to remember what once was
...Poverty-stricken masses who numb the sickenly rich into further greed
A fallen king whose castle was once alight with laughter and dancing
...An oppressed populace who has forgotten its founding values
A false start at the sound of the gun
...Is this what democracy brings?
49...Glory lost, history forgotten, future hangs in the balance.
Who will rewrite the sixth decade?
Take it from me...
*************
HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY! Thanks to the Weepies for the title quote and a joint thank you to them and Shakespeare for the "what can i compare thee to" muse.
A mother in whose arms I feel, "the world is my oyster"
...Countless opportunities and real impact for those who dared take the first step
A happy childhood full of hopes and dreams
...I pledged to Nigeria my country to be faithful, loyal & honest
A burnt house with ashes left behind to remember what once was
...Poverty-stricken masses who numb the sickenly rich into further greed
A fallen king whose castle was once alight with laughter and dancing
...An oppressed populace who has forgotten its founding values
A false start at the sound of the gun
...Is this what democracy brings?
49...Glory lost, history forgotten, future hangs in the balance.
Who will rewrite the sixth decade?
Take it from me...
*************
HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY! Thanks to the Weepies for the title quote and a joint thank you to them and Shakespeare for the "what can i compare thee to" muse.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Shuffering & Shmiling
Another memoir from Ofilispeaks. Sad to think that 30 years later, Fela's insightful analysis of the Nigerian state of being is still ever so apt. As Ofili puts it, "Nigerians have bypassed the government and look to God for hope". Necessarily a bad thing? Not if it gets you through the day. However, this system of "shuffering and smiling" is not sustainable, as things cannot progress without an accountable (and active) government in place. As our leaders turned themselves into demi-gods and drove our nation further into the ground between 1999 and 2007, we suffered and smiled. As the new administration busies itself with nothing, we continue to do what we do best. I only hope that we don't wake up one day to find that we have raised a new generation of suffering smilers who have learned to expect nothing of their leaders and wait in vain for elusive divine interventions.
-------------------
Memoirs Of An Immigrant: Shuffering and Shmiling - Ofili
In the early 70’s popular Nigerian artist Fela Kuti released “shuffering and shmiling” a song that served to juxtapose the chaotic environment of Africa with the blinding optimism of its indigenes. Optimism that many times was the product of a mass flooding of religious hope into the minds of Africa’s people. According to Fela “suffer suffer for world, enjoy for heaven” was the motto that seemed to place the minds of Africans into a false sense of enjoyment, one that caused them to ignore their current and often chaotic predicament and remain enthusiastically optimistic for a future that was bleak. Not surprisingly Fela’s song received national criticism from the upper echelons of the Nigerian government, who condemned his obvious claim of suffering. And by the lower class Nigerian citizenship seemingly offended with the notion that somehow they were satisfied with their current state of poverty. In 2003 Fela would be vindicated posthumously by a World Value Survey carried out by the University of Michigan. A survey that listed Nigerians as the happiest people in the world. A happiness that occurred amidst nefarious statistics courtesy www.ruralpoverty.com showing that 35% of Nigerians lived in abject poverty with more than double that number considered as poor. All this while still being ranked as the 20th poorest nation in the world. But somehow we had found a way to the top of a happiness poll?
As an immigrant into the United States I was confused, surely something must have been wrong with the survey sample. Surely the Nigerians that were surveyed were not the ones I spoke to on a weekly basis that complained about the bad roads or the consistently inconsistent power and water supply? Surely they did not include the hundreds of Nigerians that crowded foreign embassies clamoring for a chance of another life in any other country but Nigeria? Surely it did not include my Dad, who had his business run to the ground by greedy government officials insistent on getting paid undocumented business taxes? Surely it did consist of the Nigerians Fela had in mind when he sang…
Everyday my people dey inside bus, Shuffering and Shmiling
49 sitting 99 standing, Shuffering and Shmiling
Dem go pack dem self in like Sardine, Shuffering and Shmiling
Dem dey faint dem dey wake like cock, Shuffering and Shmiling
Dem go reach e house, water no dey, Shuffering and Shmiling
Dem go reach e bed, power no dey, Shuffering and Shmiling
Dem go reach e road, go-slow go halt, Shuffering and Shmiling
Dem go reach e road, police go slap, Shuffering and Shmiling
Dem go reach e road, Army go whip, Shuffering and Shmiling
Dem go look pocket, money no dey, Shuffering and Shmiling
Dem go reach e work, query ready, Shuffering and Shmiling
Everyday nah de same
But unfortunately it did. The survey consisted of the same suffering Nigerians who had somehow found a reason to smile for the World Value Survey; with a happiness ranking higher than both America and the United Kingdom combined. A ranking so economically illogical that it warranted a personal investigation by myself into the mechanisms that produced the survey results. The original article as published by the British New Scientist Magazine showed the survey results were determined from two key questions. The first question asked how “happy” an individual was at a particular moment. Under this context Nigerians came out on top. The second question asked how “satisfied” an individual was with life as a whole, finances and health. In this category Nigeria ranked near the middle for satisfaction. Both results were arithmetical averaged and Nigeria was determined to be the happiest nation in the world.
However, behind the survey science lay a trend that was hidden from much of news media outlets, out of all the countries surveyed, Nigeria was the only country in which its people were happy despite being less satisfied with life. Only Fela could have said it best, “Nigerians were suffering and smiling,” a situation that he blamed on the religiously influenced dogmatic optimism that possessed Nigeria. An optimism that not only isolated Nigerians from the apparent poverty they faced but also isolated the Government from its social responsibility to its people. Somehow according to Fela religion had made Nigeria dangerously optimistic.
This notion of religiously fueled dangerous optimism pushed my memories all the way back to my early childhood. A childhood in Nigeria that had religion as a mandatory part of life, almost everything involved religion...As a child I experienced my fair share of religious enthusiasm as a student at a catholic elementary school. Our morning assemblies consisted of both impromptu and memorized prayers that lasted up to an hour. And prayer did not simply stop at the assembly it continued in the classrooms at 12 noon when the bell rang for our prayer to Mary Magdalene. This was the norm for me, I just showed up and prayed whenever I was required to.
My religious innocence however became challenged as I got older and more socially conscious. A consciousness that sparked an internal battle between my religious and social spirits. I wanted to go out and do the things those teenagers my age did, unfortunately there was a slight problem. The problem was my mum; she was as religious as you could get. A missionary in Church, she prayed in the morning, listened to scriptures in the afternoons and preached to us at night. We went to Church almost every other day, Tuesday was bible study, Wednesday was prayer meeting, Saturday was Youth service and Sunday was the dreaded general service that lasted up to five hours long, it was terrifying. As a family we spent 50% of our lives in church, not even including the other 10% we spent at home praying. Suffice it to say, our family was as holy as you could possibly get.
Church sermons at that time revolved around a common theme, call on God for all your problems and he would answer you. This theme was spread through the sound systems of a myriad of churches across the nation. The theme focused on God as the solution of all of our nation’s problems, family problems, personal problems and even electric problem. Ironically I had a problem with this, one that was suppressed for years in Nigeria but only allowed to mature in America. In sharp contrast to Nigeria, church services in America were exceedingly short and straight to the point. But the key contrast did not reside in the length of the service, but rather in the theme of the service. A theme that, similar to churches in Nigeria spoke about God as the solution to all problems, but only if intertwined with an effort from the congregation. From their view point it was not alright to accept ones position of poverty with a hope that God in his time would make it better, you had to be willing to do something about your poverty. But ironically this part of religion is mostly overlooked in Nigeria, where God is pushed to the masses as the ultimate solution without demanding anything from the citizens. And the citizens in return don’t demand anything from their Government, instead they bypass the government and look up to God for hope. In doing so they expect little from the Government and little for themselves, this concept of little gives birth to the distorted conception by the world value survey analysis that somehow Nigerians are happy.
In the words of Desmond Tutu "When the missionaries came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land. They said "Let us pray." We closed our eyes. When we opened them we had the Bible and they had the land." A statement that lays emphasis on what happens when religion is drunk without the consumption of social issues. Nigeria and Africa as a whole have to take a page from the American religious system. We have to charge people to demand more from themselves and government, while simultaneously praying to God as a catalyst for the solution. Only then can we experience true happiness.
-------------------
Memoirs Of An Immigrant: Shuffering and Shmiling - Ofili
In the early 70’s popular Nigerian artist Fela Kuti released “shuffering and shmiling” a song that served to juxtapose the chaotic environment of Africa with the blinding optimism of its indigenes. Optimism that many times was the product of a mass flooding of religious hope into the minds of Africa’s people. According to Fela “suffer suffer for world, enjoy for heaven” was the motto that seemed to place the minds of Africans into a false sense of enjoyment, one that caused them to ignore their current and often chaotic predicament and remain enthusiastically optimistic for a future that was bleak. Not surprisingly Fela’s song received national criticism from the upper echelons of the Nigerian government, who condemned his obvious claim of suffering. And by the lower class Nigerian citizenship seemingly offended with the notion that somehow they were satisfied with their current state of poverty. In 2003 Fela would be vindicated posthumously by a World Value Survey carried out by the University of Michigan. A survey that listed Nigerians as the happiest people in the world. A happiness that occurred amidst nefarious statistics courtesy www.ruralpoverty.com showing that 35% of Nigerians lived in abject poverty with more than double that number considered as poor. All this while still being ranked as the 20th poorest nation in the world. But somehow we had found a way to the top of a happiness poll?As an immigrant into the United States I was confused, surely something must have been wrong with the survey sample. Surely the Nigerians that were surveyed were not the ones I spoke to on a weekly basis that complained about the bad roads or the consistently inconsistent power and water supply? Surely they did not include the hundreds of Nigerians that crowded foreign embassies clamoring for a chance of another life in any other country but Nigeria? Surely it did not include my Dad, who had his business run to the ground by greedy government officials insistent on getting paid undocumented business taxes? Surely it did consist of the Nigerians Fela had in mind when he sang…
Everyday my people dey inside bus, Shuffering and Shmiling
49 sitting 99 standing, Shuffering and Shmiling
Dem go pack dem self in like Sardine, Shuffering and Shmiling
Dem dey faint dem dey wake like cock, Shuffering and Shmiling
Dem go reach e house, water no dey, Shuffering and Shmiling
Dem go reach e bed, power no dey, Shuffering and Shmiling
Dem go reach e road, go-slow go halt, Shuffering and Shmiling
Dem go reach e road, police go slap, Shuffering and Shmiling
Dem go reach e road, Army go whip, Shuffering and Shmiling
Dem go look pocket, money no dey, Shuffering and Shmiling
Dem go reach e work, query ready, Shuffering and Shmiling
Everyday nah de same
But unfortunately it did. The survey consisted of the same suffering Nigerians who had somehow found a reason to smile for the World Value Survey; with a happiness ranking higher than both America and the United Kingdom combined. A ranking so economically illogical that it warranted a personal investigation by myself into the mechanisms that produced the survey results. The original article as published by the British New Scientist Magazine showed the survey results were determined from two key questions. The first question asked how “happy” an individual was at a particular moment. Under this context Nigerians came out on top. The second question asked how “satisfied” an individual was with life as a whole, finances and health. In this category Nigeria ranked near the middle for satisfaction. Both results were arithmetical averaged and Nigeria was determined to be the happiest nation in the world.
However, behind the survey science lay a trend that was hidden from much of news media outlets, out of all the countries surveyed, Nigeria was the only country in which its people were happy despite being less satisfied with life. Only Fela could have said it best, “Nigerians were suffering and smiling,” a situation that he blamed on the religiously influenced dogmatic optimism that possessed Nigeria. An optimism that not only isolated Nigerians from the apparent poverty they faced but also isolated the Government from its social responsibility to its people. Somehow according to Fela religion had made Nigeria dangerously optimistic.
This notion of religiously fueled dangerous optimism pushed my memories all the way back to my early childhood. A childhood in Nigeria that had religion as a mandatory part of life, almost everything involved religion...As a child I experienced my fair share of religious enthusiasm as a student at a catholic elementary school. Our morning assemblies consisted of both impromptu and memorized prayers that lasted up to an hour. And prayer did not simply stop at the assembly it continued in the classrooms at 12 noon when the bell rang for our prayer to Mary Magdalene. This was the norm for me, I just showed up and prayed whenever I was required to.
My religious innocence however became challenged as I got older and more socially conscious. A consciousness that sparked an internal battle between my religious and social spirits. I wanted to go out and do the things those teenagers my age did, unfortunately there was a slight problem. The problem was my mum; she was as religious as you could get. A missionary in Church, she prayed in the morning, listened to scriptures in the afternoons and preached to us at night. We went to Church almost every other day, Tuesday was bible study, Wednesday was prayer meeting, Saturday was Youth service and Sunday was the dreaded general service that lasted up to five hours long, it was terrifying. As a family we spent 50% of our lives in church, not even including the other 10% we spent at home praying. Suffice it to say, our family was as holy as you could possibly get.
Church sermons at that time revolved around a common theme, call on God for all your problems and he would answer you. This theme was spread through the sound systems of a myriad of churches across the nation. The theme focused on God as the solution of all of our nation’s problems, family problems, personal problems and even electric problem. Ironically I had a problem with this, one that was suppressed for years in Nigeria but only allowed to mature in America. In sharp contrast to Nigeria, church services in America were exceedingly short and straight to the point. But the key contrast did not reside in the length of the service, but rather in the theme of the service. A theme that, similar to churches in Nigeria spoke about God as the solution to all problems, but only if intertwined with an effort from the congregation. From their view point it was not alright to accept ones position of poverty with a hope that God in his time would make it better, you had to be willing to do something about your poverty. But ironically this part of religion is mostly overlooked in Nigeria, where God is pushed to the masses as the ultimate solution without demanding anything from the citizens. And the citizens in return don’t demand anything from their Government, instead they bypass the government and look up to God for hope. In doing so they expect little from the Government and little for themselves, this concept of little gives birth to the distorted conception by the world value survey analysis that somehow Nigerians are happy.
In the words of Desmond Tutu "When the missionaries came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land. They said "Let us pray." We closed our eyes. When we opened them we had the Bible and they had the land." A statement that lays emphasis on what happens when religion is drunk without the consumption of social issues. Nigeria and Africa as a whole have to take a page from the American religious system. We have to charge people to demand more from themselves and government, while simultaneously praying to God as a catalyst for the solution. Only then can we experience true happiness.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
tAB!
Our first post (below) was written a year ago today. We would like to think we started with our hearts in the right place, we knew we didn't know much about the roots of the problems plaguing Nigeria but wanted to be enlightened by those who do, and those who equally share this hunger to know and to change things for the better.
We've always wanted to do more than just talk. We want the talking to spark ideas which will in turn dictate action and create impact. We've barely scratched the surface but we will get there. Thank you all for being a part of this.
---------------
The Afro Beat is a new movement, a fresh heartbeat, a racing pulse.
It is a club/ forum/ virtual gathering place for individuals of Nigerian heritage or association, who share the collective ambition to see their country move forward.
The Afro Beat is centered on the following:
The mutual and collective enlightenment of ourselves by discussion of our country’s plight,
The development of a sense of accountability to one’s peers,
The implementation of a series of realistic projects for the benefit of every Nigerian, and
The ultimate objective of improving the situation in Nigeria, one step at a time, and one day at a time.
How The Afro Beat will be kept going:
This idea was birthed by Misan, Tokini, Bitchy and theAfroBeat, but it is not “our” club alone. We’re offering ourselves up as mere facilitators. We desire the contribution of everyone who wants to learn more about their country, its past, and most importantly, about effective methods to contribute to its future. We’ve noticed a growing interest amongst our peers, in the injustices currently plaguing Nigeria, and simply wanted to provide a way for us to group together to share ideas on how to move the nation forward, and to have fun at the same time.
We intend to start with the simplest things.
First, we’ll begin by publishing articles on this blog, written by Nigerians and others, about Nigeria, that we hope you’ll be interested in. We’ll also publish articles by The Afro Beat’s members, to provoke discussion and commentary. We’re open to receiving anything you find on the world wide web or elsewhere, or that you yourself write, that you want to share with The Afro Beat’s members, and which you feel will be for their benefit. We hope to provide a worthwhile learning experience for us all, about our country.
We’ll also be opening up discussion about the projects we would like The Afro Beat to be known for. We have several exciting ideas which we hope you’ll see potential in, and which we know would benefit immensely from your contribution and participation.
Our address is: info@theafrobeat.com
“Every sector of society has been left to fend for itself”
- an observation about Nigeria by the Vanity Fair columnist, Sebastian Junger, in his article on the Niger-Delta entitled “Blood Oil”.
If The Afro Beat works as we hope it will, no journalist will ever be able to make such a sweeping statement about Nigeria again.
---------
We've always wanted to do more than just talk. We want the talking to spark ideas which will in turn dictate action and create impact. We've barely scratched the surface but we will get there. Thank you all for being a part of this.
---------------
The Afro Beat is a new movement, a fresh heartbeat, a racing pulse.
It is a club/ forum/ virtual gathering place for individuals of Nigerian heritage or association, who share the collective ambition to see their country move forward.
The Afro Beat is centered on the following:
The mutual and collective enlightenment of ourselves by discussion of our country’s plight,
The development of a sense of accountability to one’s peers,
The implementation of a series of realistic projects for the benefit of every Nigerian, and
The ultimate objective of improving the situation in Nigeria, one step at a time, and one day at a time.
How The Afro Beat will be kept going:
This idea was birthed by Misan, Tokini, Bitchy and theAfroBeat, but it is not “our” club alone. We’re offering ourselves up as mere facilitators. We desire the contribution of everyone who wants to learn more about their country, its past, and most importantly, about effective methods to contribute to its future. We’ve noticed a growing interest amongst our peers, in the injustices currently plaguing Nigeria, and simply wanted to provide a way for us to group together to share ideas on how to move the nation forward, and to have fun at the same time.
We intend to start with the simplest things.
First, we’ll begin by publishing articles on this blog, written by Nigerians and others, about Nigeria, that we hope you’ll be interested in. We’ll also publish articles by The Afro Beat’s members, to provoke discussion and commentary. We’re open to receiving anything you find on the world wide web or elsewhere, or that you yourself write, that you want to share with The Afro Beat’s members, and which you feel will be for their benefit. We hope to provide a worthwhile learning experience for us all, about our country.
We’ll also be opening up discussion about the projects we would like The Afro Beat to be known for. We have several exciting ideas which we hope you’ll see potential in, and which we know would benefit immensely from your contribution and participation.
Our address is: info@theafrobeat.com
“Every sector of society has been left to fend for itself”
- an observation about Nigeria by the Vanity Fair columnist, Sebastian Junger, in his article on the Niger-Delta entitled “Blood Oil”.
If The Afro Beat works as we hope it will, no journalist will ever be able to make such a sweeping statement about Nigeria again.
---------
Monday, April 30, 2007
Are We Indecisive Or What?
Okay so after that dramatic move to a different server, we're back on good old blogger.
All posts below have been copied from the old server here. So so sorry if you left a prize-worthy comment on a post and its now been lost.
Xxx
All posts below have been copied from the old server here. So so sorry if you left a prize-worthy comment on a post and its now been lost.
Xxx
Monday, February 12, 2007
A New Approach
Ekaaro, Bonjour, Kedu, Etcetera Etceteroo... Hope everyone had a good weekend?
To all "silent revolutionaries" out there ;-P we wanted to thank you for participating thus far by accepting the invitation (not everyone we invited did, so thank you sooo much). We also wanted to say that we understand how time-consuming it can be to read long articles, and how daunting it can be to compose a response to be shared with others who seem to know a helluva lot more about a subject than you do.
We're working on a website at the moment which will allow more participation from all members, in terms of project ideas/articles/video clips you want to share, and all sorts of things. We feel The Afro Beat should be a community under the umbrella of which groups of you can get together to pursue one project or the other that you are passionate about. For example, you may be passionate about working with children or with health care or AIDS or alleviating poverty or education. We want you to be able to use The Afro Beat to link up with others with similar passions to yours, who may not even be in your part of the globe, but who will exchange ideas with you and encourage you to push on with your initiatives.
When the website is up, we will be able to provide you with the diversity you've demanded by (a) your silence on the Blog ;-P and (b) your private comments to us. But for now we ask that you pleeeease be patient with us, as working from a Blog has really restricted our plans for The Afro Beat. We have found ourselves having to cope with being nothing more than a talkshop, which was not at all the main aim of The Afro Beat.
To adjust to the fact that for the timebeing we will have to make do with being a talkshop, in its 2nd week (the best time to make changes ey?), The Afro Beat is taking on a slightly different approach. We've come up with what we hope is a more interesting way of diversifying the issues we put up for discussion every day. For the moment we're suggesting covering one of these areas per day of the week:
1 - A member's commentary on an issue (in the news currently, or otherwise)
(This week we're starting with Kome's perspective on MEND's disclaiming of the Koinange Interview. Bravo Kome for stepping up to the plate! Hehe!)
2 - An article (like the ones put up last week) that is either relevant to the 2007 Elections, or is a member's or journalist's reflection on the mistakes of the outgoing regime
3 - A profile on any dynamic individual in the music, literary or revolutionary fields
(Possibilites are Ken Saro Wiwa, Fela Kuti, Omotola Jalade [Did anyone know she was a U.N. Goodwill Ambassador??], Sefi Atta, Okonji-Iweala, Wole Soyinka, even randomers like Majek Fashek [where the *bleep* is HE now?])
4 - A critical event in Nigeria's past and its impact on Nigeria today
(Possible topics at the moment are June 12, The Biafran War [Its different phases - the Igbo coup, the Northern revolt, the war, the aftermath], Independence in 1960, The Slave Trade etc)
5 - Any other thing that comes our way (if it fits in with the general direction of The Afro Beat of course)
Please "Boo" or "Yaay" any of these ideas in the comments section. We really need to hear back from all of you so that we can get the direction of this Blog right (whilst we wait on our website). The Afro Beat will still be the place to come for constructive debate about ways to move Nigeria forward, but we just feel this needs to be done in a less intimidating and more diverse atmosphere. Let us know what you think about this new approach - ABEG leave a comment -------->
P.S. If you know a good/cheapish website designer ---> theafrobeat@gmail.com
Monday, February 5, 2007
The Afro Beat
The Afro Beat is a new movement, a fresh heartbeat, a racing pulse.
It is a club/ forum/ virtual gathering place for individuals of Nigerian heritage or association, who share the collective ambition to see their country move forward.
The Afro Beat is centered on the following:
How The Afro Beat will be kept going:
This idea was birthed by Misan and Tokini, but it is not “our” club alone. We’re offering ourselves up as mere facilitators. We desire the contribution of everyone who wants to learn more about their country, its past, and most importantly, about effective methods to contribute to its future. We’ve noticed a growing interest amongst our peers, in the injustices currently plaguing Nigeria, and simply wanted to provide a way for us to group together to share ideas on how to move the nation forward, and to have fun at the same time.
We intend to start with the simplest things.
First, we’ll begin by publishing articles on this blog, written by Nigerians and others, about Nigeria, that we hope you’ll be interested in. We’ll also publish articles by The Afro Beat’s members, to provoke discussion and commentary. We’re open to receiving anything you find on the world wide web or elsewhere, or that you yourself write, that you want to share with The Afro Beat’s members, and which you feel will be for their benefit. We hope to provide a worthwhile learning experience for us all, about our country.
We’ll also be opening up discussion about the projects we would like The Afro Beat to be known for. We have several exciting ideas which we hope you’ll see potential in, and which we know would benefit immensely from your contribution and participation.
Our address is: info@theafrobeat.com
“Every sector of society has been left to fend for itself”
- an observation about Nigeria by the Vanity Fair columnist, Sebastian Junger, in his article on the Niger-Delta entitled “Blood Oil”.
If The Afro Beat works as we hope it will, no journalist will ever be able to make such a sweeping statement about Nigeria again.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
