“Some” African Men and their flawed sense of leadership.

Aug

2006

Preface by Author: This article is not meant to present an unbiased view. I make no apologies.

If you ask me, I think Mrs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala got what she deserved! I mean, how dare she run where men - “Some” African men - have failed to tread? How dare she attempt to make monumental strides

and changes on the political-economic stage of a nation that have been ruled for so long by men who have pocketed the country in their private vaults? Who is the mumu of a man that she is married to anyway? How can he allow her to run around “buck wild” as if she is a man. Who wears the skirt in their home? Her husband is a disgrace to African manhood. Who takes care of him, who takes care of her family? She should as a matter of cultural decency and as a dutiful wife and mother, don her apron and step right back to where she belongs. Can we have some sanity please? What in the world is going on in the head of this crazy woman who thinks she can and should have the right to make a difference?

Next? Dora Akunyili, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf .

Now, what do these three women have in common? Leadership skills that have been lacking in a lot of the male leaders that Africa has ever produced, yes, some male leaders can be counted, but how many?. Three out of three women, and there are many more. First, it takes guts and a lot of chutzpah for an African woman to reach the pinnacle of leadership in Africa. I can only imagine the trampling these women have had to endure, the testosterone wills that have seek to wall them out. The smear campaign, and assaults on their persona. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf was even thrown in jail once, and was raped while there by her fellow African men. Out of that, she came out intact, and at an age where she should be enjoying her retirement and her grandchildren, she has taken on the daunting task of bringing sanity to her country, a country that was on the brink of total disintegration, by guess who, African men, the “leaders” of our great continent. I can only imagine how thick a skin these women have had to develop to get to where they are today.

In the recent spate of events leading to Okonjo-Iweala’s exit from the current Nigerian administration, reading comments from “Some” the mostly (typical male) Nigerian armchair politicians, one would deduce that this woman is evil incarnate, a spurn of the devil, judging from the backlash she has received…and some of these aspersions one would highly suspect is all because she’s a woman who has proven she is worth her mettle. So she must be vilified. How dare she, a woman have so much clout in the corridors of power of a nation like Nigeria?, where politics is a rough and tumble wrestling match preserved for men.

I’ve heard “Some” men beat on their chest, talking about “the good old days when men were men in Africa” When exactly was that? You mean when they sat and watched as their wives and children were carted away on ships by the white man as slaves to a foreign land?, a deed some of them willfully participated in, selling their own children and wives (albeit in some cases, victims of intertribal wars, but children of the land anyway) for pieces of junk and whisky the white man brought. The sins of which our generation are still paying for today. Or how could one explain the deplorable condition that Africa is in today? God is indeed angry with us. Our men, our leaders, sold her sons into slavery, are still selling her sons and daughters into slavery. African men need to atone for the sins they have committed against their own.

Or would any one go as far as to assert to me that it was the African Women of those days who sold her own children into slavery? willingly exchanging the seeds of her womb for useless material goods? My guess is that centuries ago, if any woman had interfered in matters concerning leadership, such effrontery could have resulted in her death, after all, “what does a woman know about the business and political affairs of running a clan?. It is the same foolhardiness in “Some” African men that persists till today. Never giving women the chance to voice their opinion. And the few women who have managed to raise their voices are being silenced, edged out or tagged feminists.

So, please, someone, tell me, when again were these African men “men”? was it during the colonial times when they were “yessirs” to the white men, or the post colonial era when they sold our conscience and exchanged all our valuable resources for power.

Is it not this same mentality that persists today where the primarily African male leadership in our largely patriarchal societies continue to sell our resources and the livelihood of her citizens for personal gains? Where exactly has male leadership led us? And when were these men “men”?

African men, those of you who are still “men”, why don’t I see you up in arms marching down to Aso rock, and to the seat of power in the various corrupt African countries shedding your virile blood to protect those you claim to lead. Why don’t I see a revolt of a band of ‘heads of the families” leading your wives and children out of the bondage that has enslaved them to poverty in a land flowing with milk and honey? Why do I hear so much chatter and no action? Why haven’t you laid your lives down for the sake of those you lead as Christ did as the head of the Church, so is a man the head of his family I’ve heard over and over by the Bible thumping ones when they want to assert who is the boss in the home. As a true head of the family unit, when I see you make sacrifices that will enable your wives and children to live a better future, when I see you bleed on the altar of justice for your families and your nations then I will accede to your leadership. When you leave the comfort of your recliners and shed the excess baggage of the oversized gut brought on by drinking too much palmie, odeku, and gluttonous consumption of mama bomboys pounded yam to start a revolution instead of farting political jargon through your orifices, I will submit to your authority. When more Mandelas, Fawehinmis, Bekos, Sankaras etc and a few good men - arise among you to make considerable, measurable difference in the state of our continent, instead of the brutes among you butchering those who might make a difference to attain power by any means, I will bow to your supreme throne, but until then, please spare me the armchair politics and the toothless bite, because, the only place I’ve seen your leadership led us so far is to the bottom of the totem pole on the world’s economic and political stage, into the abyss of poverty and despair, earning disgrace, disrespect and scorn for your people in the international community. Historically, in Yoruba land decades ago, (and I believe this may still happen in some place), women have had to march naked to the king’s palace to unseat bad leaders or make demands of leaders. Is it too much to ask African men to do their own bit in these present day circumstances? After all, it is mostly your ilk (and a very insignificant number of some of the women in politics) that have created the mess that we find ourselves in today. Why do African women always have to clean up after you? Why does it have to take a Johnson-Sirleaf to clean up the chaos in Liberia? Or the late Agathe Uwilingiyimana to bring some degree of sanity to Rwanda pre the genocidal civil war? Who will sanitize Nigeria? Do we need another buffoon to take us for a ride post 2007? What will be left of Nigeria in the next century if we continue to let these unruly, unscrupulous men take possession of our nation? Men who have sold their souls to the devil and sacrificed the children of her nation to mammon. Leadership is earned, it is not a birthright brought on by a random combination of “X” or “Y” chromosomes.

The family unit makes up the society, and when men who can’t even lead their families attempt to lead a nation, what we have is a country like Nigeria and so many other African countries. What some men lay claim to as leadership is simply tyranny. They terrorize and abuse their wives and children. When men have pointed out to me that by default they are leaders because they were born male, I have vehemently disagreed. First prove to me that you are a good leader, and I will follow you. I will even obey you, but I will not confer leadership on you automatically simply because you stand on a “tripod“ (And for the shrinks among you, I don‘t have “penis envy“, whatever that means). I will not follow you blindly because of your assumed birthright as a “leader” - a role society has thrust upon you regardless of your leadership abilities - and pray and hope you don’t lead me to doom. I will not stake my future or the future of my kids in your hands until you have shown me you possess true leadership qualities. My respect for you as a leader and the “head of the household” you will have to earn. When we approach this in the same manner on a large scale as a nation, we will start to see where the leadership structure in most African countries have flaws. “This is echoed by Chikwenye Okonjo Ogunyemi's postulation that present-day Nigeria finds itself in the same quagmire as Umuofia of old because of a similar degree of machismo: Is it any wonder that the country is in shambles when it has failed to solicit the help of its better half [women] . . . for pacific pursuits, for the betterment of the country?" (NVS Article: WOMEN IN ACHEBE'S WORLD by Rose Ure Mezu.)

If the degree of tyranny that “Some” African men who reign supreme in the microcosm of their homes can be channeled to good use to unseat bad government, it would be a very good thing indeed, but so far, all we hear is empty testosterone chest thumping and ogogoro-induced beer palour politics.

Most African women, including myself will give our unflinching support to men who can lead, if they will show effective leadership and accountability. I doubt that the reverse is true. Women leaders have been derided and ridiculed. It is not to say all African women who have led are saints, but most have proven themselves to be worthy of the call to leadership. The nurturing side of women will not make them destroy the cradle of their birth, or the future of their children. And I will go as far as saying that their appetite for the consumption of the national cake is not as gluttonous as that of their male counterparts. Chop, but let others - the masses- chop too. The greed of our male leaders is mind-boggling!.

It is true that most of the countries that are world powers are still mostly male dominated, but at least, they have something to show for it. Besides, the ceiling is not so low that the women who are in politics in those nations are voiceless.

Yes, today, we can blame the white man all we want for the woes that has fallen upon Africa and continues to hold her down, and I will never abdicate them for the rape of the continent, but the degree of access they have to continue to loot our resources is the degree to which we, especially “Some” African male leaders have allow them. You can’t continue to deal with the devil and hope to find salvation for your soul. African men have had their chance at leadership for centuries, and majority of them have disappointed us. They continue to dine, wine and deal with the devil in an uneven dangerous transaction, exchanging much for less, very much like back in the days of slave trade. So until the time when “Some” of the self appointed leaders by genetic disposition can stand toe to toe on the world’s political and economic stage and bring Africa out of the doldrums, until they can make us a nation to be reckoned with, I say to my fellow Nigerian and other African women (as I myself don‘t claim to have any political leadership skills), if you have what it takes to lead, since our men have failed us, arise, urge us your fellow women to ‘take our clothes off and head to Aso Rock‘. The Funmilayo Ransome-Kutis, Johnson-Sirleafs, Margaret Ekpos, the Yaa Asantewas and the Wuraola Esans, if you can truly lead, and have a flair for politics, please, we implore you, ‘put on your headgears, tie your wrappers‘ and lead the way, so we can have some sanity on our continent. And any African man who is worthy of being called a true leader is welcome to answer the clarion call too. Yes, we do need both men and women of stellar qualities to take over the leadership mantle in Africa, but as for Nigeria 2007, I say, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for President, Dora for Vice President. Long live Nigeria! Viva Africa!!.

Postscript

I've been musing for a long while about shooting a short documentary films on these types of discussions based on a dozen or so articles I've written as a series scrutinizing African relationships. I hope to be able to interview different participants over a period of 6 months. If anyone is interested in being part of this project (or if you know of other folks) , please email me at folasayo_documentaries@yahoo.com . Invitation is open to all who live in the US* for now. I will make allowances for people who may wish to remain anonymous although preference will be to those not. Demography sought are Single, Married, Divorced or Separated 18-50-something yr old African Men and Women. Or non-Africans involved with an African in a relationship.

A screening questionnaire will be emailed to those who express interest in the project. In the meantime, if you think you have a compelling personal story about the discussion on this thread, viewpoint, etc, please send a short briefing to me or just simply indicate interest, it may be a while, but I will follow up if interested.

*Those living close to NY are especially encouraged to participate for logistical reasons. However, if you live outside the US, or can’t participate for other reasons, you may email your thoughts and comments with your real identity for credibility. Text excerpts may be used in the final cut. Also, as the project expands, Africans who live elsewhere will be included to diversify the opinions portrayed.

Thank you.

Your Comments

Please make The Square an enjoyable experience for everyone by refraining from gratuitous ad-hominem contributions, defamatory comments and off-topic posting. Such posts will be removed.

Robot

# 1 | 20.08.2006 08:05

	...Read the full article.

katampe katampe is offline

# 2 | 20.08.2006 10:46

	"My cousin worked for the World Bank for almost 25 years. In truth, I have never had much respect for the World Bank or IMF, but I the reality is that many developing ountries have to deal with these institutions." Lola Ogunyemi On Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, she helped rape Nigeria.Above is a family member that loathes the World Bank and IMF.So, the problem is not about African women in positions of leadership, the problem is about african women that can be real leaders and nurturers and initiators of good economic and social policies. We don't want vaginal engagements in economics, neither do we want seasonal interventions that are cosmetic and fleeting ecstasies. Rather we want comprehensive and total economic and social economic policies that would remake a society that can make you the writer marry a mechanic or a fulcanizer based on lyour ove and your cravings for the magic in his loins. Body, mind and soul baby! So Ngozi was a disaster ...it was all fake and bandit economics that was shoved on the unsuspecting public all over again.If the truth must be told there was nothing original in her touted economic policies. On your article, it showed you are gradually getting there. It had sparkles of brilliance and I almost became converted to your way of looking at issues.But it is still lacking in good meat to start a revolution. You can do better that churning out this pedestrian effort.It reeks of the "copy-catism" of wanna-bee african women that are neither here nor there.Lost women that have no gravitas nor mojo to hold their own in the domain of western societies that growing up and sociliazation efforts has not prepared them for.They have become the modern day mad charcaters dancing naked on the information superhighway.But thank God you are not talking about vagina fistula or sharia for once like your other compatriots that have no real agenda, still your message also has one similarity , it is a fashionable agendas. Taking this male bashing from your arsenal you have no real message and everything becomes a pedestrian effort.No serious intellectual exercise here, it is all about the typical naija kind of essays, "he said she said" kind of essays.No serious intellectual effort there.Just plain emotional vituperations of a woman scorned and deserted after too many college degrees. And to be kind to you, you did get one thing right though, the men are all bastards.We are a race of baboons and we celebrate mediocrity.Our intellectuals that write copious notes on the issues back home should spill their blood and not talk and ejaculate on computer screens while unleashing ignorance on the uniniatated and helping start an orgy of violence that they would be far removed from.The men have failed the society you claim , and I agree .They sold the future of the continent on a mess of porridge and promoted and supported this orgy of poverty that is both chilling and atrophying.But you know what ? The women supported them with their hefty and voluptous bosoms, and encouraged them with their vaginal enterprise and ultimately sent them out on rampage to rape their collective wealth.So , say something new sista(?) So we can all have peace and fully focus on what is most important , and not this essays that say "she said , he said" that are either neither here nor there.These essays won't manufacture computers nor would it provide constant electricity.It is only when you women equally nurture men that have respect for their women and have the guts to believe in what is moral and ethical can the real conversation of nation building can begin.And not the occasional vituperations of a woman lost in wonderland , a wanna bee society woman that has lost her moral anchor and the attention of decent and moral men . save us your attitude please! you can please any white man you want and chase any red coloured fellow you so choose .It is a western world and delusions are bountiful and run aplenty either from the men that are pseudo-intellectuals and women that have finally "arrived" I have been too much on the streets to know a counterfeit from an original. Save us your message on your next attempt...it is lemon allover again! Poor Nigerians !

WaleAkin WaleAkin is offline

# 3 | 20.08.2006 11:26

	Folasayo, I read your article so well to be able to decipher correctly the points made but i'd say here that your Oestrogen took the better part of you hence the reason why Katampe lashed at you. Cheers, WaleAkin

African African is online

# 4 | 20.08.2006 14:01

	It is wicked to suggest that African women have in any way contributed to Africa's problems. Are these not the same women that African men have disenfranchised terribly? In any case how many women are in positions of social or political responsibility in comparison to the men at present? If African men lead properly, the women will follow. The responsibility for Change lies primarily and mainly and traditionally on men, not on women. Any attempt by African men to blame women is only a symptom of refusal to take responsibility. The article was very accurate in its assessments - African men have failed African women.

denker denker is offline

# 5 | 20.08.2006 16:11

	@katampe, you think say you be man, abeg go sidon for gutter, you no get phallus, your penis be artificial, the sister dey tell african men say them be disgrace and disappointment for human-race, na true she talk ojare. and you wanna rubbish her, you be no man, if say you be man you for just keep silent..abeg go sidon for gutter, you no get pee-pee, you be a brat..!

Auspicious Auspicious is offline

# 6 | 20.08.2006 16:22

	Originally Posted by 'ithinkbetter': @ katampe, you think say you man, abeg go sidon for gutter, you no get penis, your penis be artificial, the sister dey tell african men say dey be disgrace and disappointment for human-race, na true she talk ojare. and you wanna rubbish her, you be no man, if say you be man you for just keep silent..abeg go sidon for gutter, you no get penis, you be a brat..! Somebody is sure proud of his pee-pee. ITB to mankind: "Seek first the possession of a pee-pee, and the rest shall be added unto you!" LMAO! Auspicious.

salstep salstep is offline

# 7 | 20.08.2006 16:29

	=ithinkbetter>@katampe, you think say you be man, abeg go sidon for gutter, you no get penis, your penis be artificial, the sister dey tell african men say them be disgrace and disappointment for human-race, na true she talk ojare. and you wanna rubbish her, you be no man, if say you be man you for just keep silent..abeg go sidon for gutter, you no get penis, you be a brat..! ROFL :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

denker denker is offline

# 8 | 20.08.2006 16:30

	@Auspicious, just see how old monkeyhead like you dey maraud the cyberspace like a nuisance and a malaise parasitizing on my poor nerves, i think is time you take a break from the forum...you need to check your monkeyhead, i think you dey suffer from cow disease..monkeyhead...make you no talk where humans are talking, abeg go communicate with your mate, the undomesticated animals..!monkeyhead LMAO=laughing my ass off=Auspicious

Naija for life Naija for life is offline

# 9 | 20.08.2006 17:18

	Folasayo While I profess the depeest admiration for your obvious intellect, I equally admit that I have found very little about your views to agree with. Until now. I have been one of your most vociferous critics in this square, passionately reproving your positions in defiance of the glowing plaudits accruing to you from female villagers. However, not only do I agree with you wholeheartedly about this much deserved and belated castigation of him wey dey make shakara pass everybody, but no get $hit for yansh, otherwise known as the Black male, it will hearten you to know that your stance enjoys a robust kinship in this square, and that equally patriotic villagers have lamented the black man's unfortunate abdication of his homeland and destiny, in favor of meaningless comfort in foreign climes. Without further ado, I will reproduce three posts, authored by fellow villagers that corroborate your thesis in every particular, and harmonize entirely with the predominant complaints Black women level at Black men I hope they affect you as they did me. BY NKIRE I donâ€™t mean to take you on and this is nothing personal but here is a question for you. What is wrong with war if it can lead to your freedom as a man or those of your children and loved ones? Tell me which country that is democratic and prosperous today that did not fight some type of war for the freedom that its citizens enjoy. Leave it to the African man to want freedom but refuse to stand up and fight for it. Instead of fighting to liberate himself and dominate his environment, leave it to the African man to beg for his freedom, dream about it and write long essays and grammar in someone elseâ€™s language for it. My brother, your description of lack of war in Nigeria as a POSITIVE is highly debatable. What makes you believe that Nigerian governance will magically change? If you are one of the elites, lording it over ordinary Nigerians, what incentive is there for you to change? Like one of the fellows (I believe it was Obugi) indicated here some time ago, what would Nigerians do if they wake up tomorrow and find out that President Obasanjo has turned the disputed foreign reserves (CBN says $34 billion another government agency says $12.5 billion) into his personal wealth? Other than to â€œprayâ€ and scream â€œGod deyâ€ what else would they do? After all, Babangida did it with the oil windfall of 1991/92 during the first Gulf war, an estimate of about $12.4 billion, which was confirmed by the Pius Okigbo Commission, thereafter President Obasanjo claimed that the report was missing, which was later proved be an absolute falsehood. In the final analysis, nothing happened to Babangida. He is still living and enjoying his 50 room Hill top mansion in Minna, free as bird, angling for ways to come back to lord it over you once more. You think Babangida and his ilk will magically change for a better Nigeria, dream on. When will the African man learn to be a serious person? We all want freedom but we are all scared to death to stand up for it, declare for it, and die for it. It is an inherent philosophical conflict to believe that good governance would come to Nigeria through dialogue, rationalizing and philosophizing and lengthy essays. The entrenched elites and their understudy will not willingly give up power. In the history of man, such has never happened, without a credible push. Power is what you take, serious people donâ€™t ask for power because it will never be given. I am remineded here of an aspect of the series of events during the June 12 debacle, when it was announced that Chief Abiola had asked Sani Abacha to overthrow Shonekan and them hand the reigns of Nigeria over to him. I laughed so hard at the infantile thinking faculty of many African men. Why would someone go through the life and death process of obtaining power via coup d'etat and turn around hand it over to someone else... Until the African man develops the kahunas to stand up for himself, he will be in perpetual slavery, the same fate await his offsprings, as well. Nation founding is not a risk free enterprise. Part of our problem is that many Africans did not fight for their freedom. Instead, we got snookered into all the foolish constitutional conferences where we were handed non-nations as nations and we have been failing right from the get go. Our cowardice is so transparent, it really can blow ones mind. All the time the European colonists dominated African lives in our homes, our backyard, our turf; there was never any successful organized revolt that threw them out. Instead we surrendered our religion, our women, land, you name it. The African man deserves to be rejected by his womenfolk for he has shown himself to be satisfied in a state of physical and mental enslavement! Here is something else to chew on â€“ if the Blackman does not get his acts together by the middle of this century, he will either be enslaved again or he will be killed off one way or the other because there are people that need resources underneath his hut and trashed-up jungle cities. A former U.S. president already had said that they want Africa without the Africans. What do you think he meant? BY OBUGI "No Black African Negro will ever in this life live up to your challenge. I predict that either the people of Nigeria or Cameroun will soon descend on the ppl of Bakassi with the usual violence that Africans reserve for themselves, the kind of violence and bestiality they would never dare visit on the true God they worship, the White/Arab man. And of course the Bakassi ppl will soon give up the fight, that is if they were ever serious. A few hundred casualties, give them a few jobs on an oil rig and they will fold. Nothing will ever come of this so-called declaration. NOTHING! Dem no dey fear? If you want to see ppl who love and fight for their freedom and self preservation, why not follow the Israeli/Arab conflict unfolding right now before our very eyes? Africans? Abeg make I hear word jare!" ALSO BY OBUGI What I mean is, Black Men who are expected to build up our Continent are taking the easy way out. Again this is totally understandable. I will use myself as an example. I am Igbo. By being in America, I am enjoying a more physically secure existence. I enjoy also better roads, healthcare, the peace of mind to think widely unencumbered by basic needs of food, clothing and shelter, because those things are easy to obtain in America. Remember, America was forests and a Red Indians when Oyibo came here. Oyibo took risk, killed off the Indians, cleared the forests, built schls and industry and made America comfortable. Not only in America actually, he also did the same in his European homeland. Basically, as an Igbo I am enjoying the fruits of Oyibo theft, aggression, risk, and ingenuity. The thing though is, Oyibo demands a high price for "the enabling environment" I am enjoying. The price is the gradual extinction of my ppl. I am given all this luxury to live in, and it takes away my initiative to create my own liveable country where I can be King of my domain and have a base from which to compete with Oyibo. Remember, migration attracts the resourceful and brilliant and aggressive ppl. These are precisely the sort of individuals that can make Igboland a nice place to live, but Oyibo attracts them away to his Obodo Oyibo, and then proceeds to tear their family life apart with exactly the sort of tactics I described earlier. Yes, myself as an individual, I'm getting mine. I say this as it is: it only takes $35k/yr in America to live a life that a very Big Man in Nigeria can't afford. Discount all else, just the emergency health care available to me is worth everything Chief Big Man owns. At what cost though? Yes, I can send dollars home, I used to think this would help, but in the long run it is a risk free proposition. Nothing can be built without risk. If for instance armed robbers are running rampant in my homeland, I should be there organizing my fellow men to create a more orderly society. Am I doing that? No, I'm here in America enjoying Pina Colada & Big Mac. Do you think our women don't sense this? Any wonder why Nigerian women look down on their men abroad? Did you see that CNN video with that fish farm guy, Mr. Alakija (sp)? How many of us Nigerians have the guts to take that kind of risk or put in that sort of creative effort? I'm really worried, the lust for an easy, risk free lifestyle seems to have inured us to our larger duties to ourselves and our people STILL MORE BY OBUGI No African will ever take up arms to choose freedom over physical discomfort. Compare what the Ijaw MEND ppl are doing with the fighting going on in the Mid East. Its even debatable as to whether this Bakassi thing is being fomented by Nigeria. I mean, when did an African ever care about who ruled him? The very notion that an African would put anything serious on the line over freedom and self determination is laughable. An African will sell his/her birthright, his culture, abandon his religion and even curse and deny his own if offered the barest amount of material reward. It is so bad now that even the HOPE of a reward is enough to turn an African into a craven dog. So make una forget this Bakassi thing abeg. OBJ should get Cameroun to offer them a few jobs on the oil rigs and they will go to sleep. Oil.....thats really what its all about anyway. Which African will choose freedom and self respect over the HOPE of oil benefits? BY YOURS TRULY Nkire, magic-wand and Spinoza-SCS, "Words fail me in expressing gratitude for the insight you have shown in indicting Africans for our cowardice, as Nkire so aptly put it, and our refusal to fight for our liberation. I hate to compound the catalog of shortcomings you already iddentified, but our extinction as a race of people might be even more imminent than Nkire predicted. A harbinger of this calamity might already have unfolded in the genocidal killing fields of Darfur. We Black Africans have sat impotent and indifferent in our places of exile, greedily wallowing in hedonism while fellow African males, targeted for the precise reason of bearing the same skin color as us, have been systematically murdered by Arabs, and their women raped and impregnated to the accompaniment of the death throes of their husbands, brothers and fathers. These unspeakably demonic deeds of barbarity, of unconscionable evil, have traspired with impunity over the course of months, eliciting only feckless condemnations from our equally impotent leaders. Through all this, black men the world over have remained unbowed. Blacks in the United States, for instance, walk with the most exaggerated swagger, expel the most vociferous rantings in the name of entertainment, and maintain a general dispostion that exudes a feeling of representing the center of the universe around which other mortals orbit on sufferance. Yet black males in America overwhelmingly own and control nothing of consequence. Their inconsequent "posing" belies the dispiriting fact that while they visibly labor in prominent facets of American life such as sports and entertainment, they own none of the infrastructure, be they physical or intellectual, incident to the operation of these enterprises. They occupy no strategic organ of government, yet walk with an attitude that suggests their entitlement to celebration for no other justification than a facility for glorifying lawlessness, scholastic apathy, sexual promiscuity and decadence in general. Around the world, and especially in Africa, the alienation of the black American from the halls of power in his country is replicated by his African brethren, and this fact has influenced the attitudes of foreigners towards blacks in general. The same kinsfolk of Arabs engaged in ethnic cleansing in Darfur are the same Arabs who have the run of Nigeria and other West African countries. The same Americans who were granted the right to shoot Nigerian citizens, as already mentioned above, are the same Americans who will not even mention the name of the same man who signed that pact on their news media, when he visits the United States. We gave the United States the right to kill our citizens, yet they refuse to even mention the Name Nigeria on Television, let alone show the Nigerian president communing with the President of the United States on television. In their perception, we remain slaves one and all, existing only at their pleasure, and redeemable at their convenience. This attitude was brought home to bear some time ago when I repudiated a white co worker for perjorative statements he had made about Africa. And would you believe he actually took umbrage at my objection to his patronage? Would you believe he was offended that I took exception to disparaging remarks he made about my homeland? The black man has indeed become a quaint and pititful specimen. Even as indignites are heaped on us the world over, we feverishly encourage the accretion of these indignities by embezzling our countries' wealth and stashing them in the ever welcoming vaults of countries like Switzerland, described so appropriately by Eezeebee as "Thief-zerland", and all the other seedy, racist, frigid backwaters of civilizations who see in the African, an inferior, shameless and greedy creature, denied by vainglory, the gumption to pursue lofty priorities such as statesmanship and nation building. Meanwhile, Africans are relegated to oblivion in these countries. The end might be nearer for us than we think. Now indigens of every riff raff European and Asian country descend at will upon our country with their insufferable messianic complexes, claiming to bear the solution to our problems. The ofscourings of European nation states, whose only exports to the world, are prostitutes and drug couriers, now come to Africa purpoting to "assist us". Currently in the headlines are statements from an official of one of the sumptous dregs of Europe, Hungary, declaring his intention of working towards Africa's edification. That would be Hungary, that pit latrine out of which no intellectual light ever shines, that hellhole where brilliant Nigerian students go to die. And why shouldn't they affect such effrontery? Afterall, didn't our own first lady tramp off to another third world country that basks in the achievements of England, France, Germany and Italy to die? Don't we think anything Oyinbo, even their dried and packaged fecal matter, is supreme? We should be so lucky if it only takes fifty years to do away with us." A very provocative treatment it is that you have unfurled for our introspection, Ms. Del-Ogunrinde. As I've already indicated, I have been one of your critics in the past, but I am hard put to it to misgive the merits of this piece. Lady, you've got pluck. Don't ever let anybody tell you different.

Naija for life Naija for life is offline

# 10 | 20.08.2006 17:34

	=African> African men have failed African women. The truest words I ever heard. African man, our shakara no be small. yet we be nothing. Foreign people don take over our country, and all of us dey hide here for Obodo Oyibo dey chop hamburger, like Obugi go talk. Arab man don rape Black women tire for Darfur. Dem rape Black women and call them dog as dem dey rape them, and we do nothing. In fact we don sell our country to the same Arab people finish. Look how Oyinbo man dey treat im woman, like queen. Oyinbo man put im woman for billboard, for magazine, for movie, im call im woman the most beautiful thing wey dey this world. Im invent everything inventable so that everything go dey jejereje for im woman. If she wan sweep ground, machine dey wey go do am. If she wan wash cloth, God forbid make she use her hand. Oyinbo invent machine for am. Work, nko? Oyinbo invent computers and build telephone networks, so that things go dey kamkpe for im woman. That one nay why many women wey dey Obodo Oyinbo fine well well, and their body smooth. Because them no dey go farm, them no dey pound yam with mortar, dem no dey carry water uphill with small pikin for their back. All this thing na the thing wey Black women dey do because yeye black man wey want make we repect am because im blocos big pass everybody own no fit do nothing for im woman. Abeg Folasayo and African talk true Jare. Black man yeye too much!

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