THE GAP AT MAD

by Oroma Elewa | January 29th, 2011 | 2 Comments


Continue Reading →

Share

Olufunmilayo Ransome-Kuti: A Conversation with Scholar Judith Byfield

by Seth Markle | January 28th, 2011 | No Comments

[Mrs Ransome Kuti woman in glasses]
When the Nigerian military regime razed Kalukuta Republic, Fela’s (in)famous compound in February 1977 to the ground, it left Fela’s mother, Olufunmilayo Ransome-Kuti, severely injured after a soldier tossed her out of an upper-story window. A year later she died, partially as a result of this horrific act of state repression. Fela was devastated by the loss of his mother, spiritual advisor and political and cultural mentor. But he was not deterred.

He channeled his frustration, sadness and anger into his music. In “Coffin for Head of State,” Fela situates his mother’s death in a broader context of a youth-led struggle against religious oppression and state violence. He sings: “So I waka waka waka/ I go many places/ I go business places/I see see see/ All the bad bad bad things/ Them they do do do/ Them steal all the money/Them kill many students/ Them burn many houses/ Them burn my house too/Them kill my mama/ So I carry the coffin/ I waka waka waka/ Movement of the People/ Them waka waka waka/ Young African Pioneers/Them waka waka waka.” Not only did Fela carry her coffin, he delivered it to the central army barracks and ordered the army to bury her! Continue Reading →

Share

HERIETH PAUL

by Oroma Elewa | January 27th, 2011 | 4 Comments

Continue Reading →

Share

NIGERIA’S PROMISE, AFRICA’S HOPE?

by Oroma Elewa | January 18th, 2011 | 1 Comment


“AFRICA has endured a tortured history of political instability and religious, racial and ethnic strife. In order to understand this bewildering, beautiful continent — and to grasp the complexity that is my home country, Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation — I think it is absolutely important that we examine the story of African people. In my mind, there are two parts to the story of the African peoples … the rain beating us obviously goes back at least half a millennium. And what is happening in Africa today is a result of what has been going on for 400 or 500 years, from the “discovery” of Africa by Europe, through the period of darkness that engulfed the continent during the trans-Atlantic slave trade and through the Berlin Conference of 1885. That controversial gathering of the leading European powers, which precipitated the “scramble for Africa,” we all know took place without African consultation or representation. It created new boundaries in ancient kingdoms, and nation-states resulting in disjointed, inexplicable, tension-prone countries today.”
Read the rest of this amazing editorial in the [New York Times]

Opinions by Chinua Achebe | Published first in the The New York Times on 1|16|11

Share
keep looking »