She is never gonna become president of the world bank. Better an America than some random over-hyped heavily accented Ibo woman.


Over my dead body

Gracie1818: Al haram,u now foolishly thing we,ll be under different laws but same tax regime after 100yrs when ur soul will be in hell with ur boko masters and that maybe ull inherit Igbo properrty.Look at the way poverty makes u think.A Yoruba friend teased me about buying my property at N20000 in event of a crisis.I laughed over it but it was a perfect revelation of a typical yoruba mind and prayers.Look my friend, better have a rethink. Cos what u invest daily in nairaland is laying foundation for future crises for ur children cos we are keeping records.U opened mile 12 and few weeks after ur housa master whipped killed ur son inmstead of amputation and u said yes sir,I love u while ironicaly hating Igbos in Ladipom.Do u like genocide so much as to say yes sir when ur brother is killed.Something that I was sad about and u say thank u sir,I love u sir to ur slave master.Only God will show u the truth when abokis start using dagas in ur bedrooms. Pls yorubas travel a little around nigeria and learn.ur too myopic and parochial for progress

Learn to use paragraphs and punctuation. Your haphazard Igbotic writing style is killing me already.

^^^ Good luck serving the interest of your people from the comfort of your studio apartment.

Osundare’s poem to feature in London Olympics



The poet

A poem by Nigeria’s Niyi Osundare, “Raindrum” has been selected amongst the poems that will be recited throughout the forthcoming Olympic Games in London at diverse public spaces.

“Raindrum” was selected as part of Poetry 2012: The Written World, a programme organised by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and Creative Scotland, which wants to use poems to capture the spirit of every nation at the 2012 Games.

The poem which is about celebrating the arrival of the rainy season is amongst the 205 poems selected for the games, that will be on display in major public centres in the United Kingdom (UK).

Osundare’s poem and others from every country participating in the games would be showcased during the games. There will be one poem from each country.

Niyi Osundare-a Professor of English Language, formerly with the University of Ibadan and now University of New Orleans in the United States, is a literary giant of repute.

In a letter to Professor Osundare, the organisers disclosed that his poem will be on display in the country and aired in a special broadcast series by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) to celebrate the hosting of the 2012 Olympics by the City of London.

Responding to the selection, Prof Osundare expressed happiness that the selection of poems from around the world is part of the celebration of the Olympics. “It is a lesson for the rest of the world. While it is important to run and jump, things related to the mind and culture are also important,” he said.

Besides the BBC, the poems will be broadcasted in major city centres in London, including on the London tube, the underground trains during the games.

Osundare’s poem selected is “Raindrum”, which was published in Selected Poems (Heinemann, 1992) and both its English and Yoruba versions would be aired. The Yoruba version, translated by the author himself, is entitled “Gbedu Ojo”. Another U.S.-based Nigerian professor, Akintunde Akinyemi, from the University of Florida, helped Osundare with the Yoruba tone marks for the translation.

The selected poems from around the world were not entered in any competition by the poets. They were all chosen by the organisers of the event, confirming the international recognition and honour that the selections entail.

According to the letter announcing this selection to the former University of Ibadan professor of English Language, the broadcast of the “Raindrum” across BBC’s Public Services “will include, but not limited to, the poem text being made available online, as audio downloads, and supported with visual content where required. In addition, the texts and translations of the poems may be reproduced as postcards or posters…”

The organisers noted that the project, which will include Osundare’s poem, “is educational in the widest sense”, while its “online resources will ensure that we leave a legacy of truly global scope.”

Besides, the organisers stated that they regard the broadcast of the poets from 205 countries of the world during and beyond the period of the London Olympics as a “vast and ambitious project” which will provide an “opportunity to bond poetry from many nations into the lives of people who might not ordinarily be interested in it, giving them a reason to enjoy and explore a great art form.”

Cultural Olympics

According to Osundare, the people who started the Olympics, the Greeks, had always noted the importance of a sound mind in a sound body, which is what the selection of poems around the celebration of the Olympics now promotes. He called it “a cultural Olympics.”

“I am particularly happy that my poem was not only selected but also its Yoruba translation” he said. Incidentally, Osundare who was a victim of the Katrina Hurricane attack in the U.S. in 2005 disclosed that the Yoruba version of the poem has been lost to the disaster, but he managed to rewrite it.

He added that, four years ago, his poem I Sing of Change was also on display in over 2,000 places around the world as part of an international programme.

Osundare, former Head of Department of English Language at the University of Ibadan, is a playwright, linguist, critic, essayist, media columnist and public intellectual. He has published over 15 books of poetry, including Songs of the Market place, The Eye of the Earth, Songs of the Season, and Waiting Laughter’s, two books of selected poems, four plays, two books of essays and numerous scholarly works and reviews.

His latest work, City without a People: The Katrina Poems (2011), based on personal and collective experiences during the Hurricane Katrina devastations in New Orleans, U.S., where he teaches, has been gathering rave reviews around the world.

The poet has won numerous prizes, including the Commonwealth Poetry Prize, the Noma Award, the Tchicaya U Tam’si Award for African Poetry, the Fonlon/Nichols Award for “excellence in literary creativity combined with significant contributions to Human Rights in Africa” and the Association of Nigerian Authors Poetry Prize.

Raindrum

By Professor Niyi Osundare

The roof sizzles at the waking touch

Talkative like kettle drums

Tightened by the iron fingers of drought

Streets break into liquid dance

Gathering legs in the orchestra of the road

Streets break into liquid dance

Gliding eloquently down the apron of the sky

A stray drop saunters down the touch of my remembrance

Waking memories long dormant under the dry leaves of time

Of caked riverbeds and browned pasture

Of baking noons and grilling nights

Of airless cornfield and tired tubers

Then lightning strikes its match of rain

Barefoot, we thread the throbbing earth,

Renewed

There is beauty in Tribalism, only ediots fail to see the inherent beauty in it.

Has freedom of speech been replaced by I-hate-tribalism-and-you-should-hate-it-too cult? Whenever the loud-mouths make an impassioned plea against what their little mind perceive as tribalism, which would take freedom of speech rights away from those sensible enough to exercise their rights, the Progressive response ranged from muted to inaudible to indifference.

It’s not just that Freedom of speech is deemed a morally trickier issue than Tribalism. The point is that, to some extent, the anti-tribalism culture has replaced the freedom of speech as a focus of open-mindedness, creativity and equality. When a Naija educated, barely literate air-head wants to come off as intellectual, what does he/she do? He opens a new thread filled with barely discernible trite and make a call for cessation of tribalism on NL. I’ve even seen well articulated sarcastic posts labelled tribalistic and hence rendered not-view-able by the powers that be , but no information, alas, on what makes the post not fit for public viewership. When the so called semi-illiterates c/u/m/ intellectuals want to impress their fellow estrogen-driven, high post rate, impressionable dimwits, what grave issue do they take up and condemn? Not Seuns authoritarianism, not nepotism, Not cronyism but “tribalism.” In the post-2006 Nairaland, issues like creation of retardeddd threads, perverted moderators, shady business practices by the administrator, and unwarranted personalization of issues seem to be too edgy for much public discussion, but Tribalism is all kunu.

So welcome to the anti-Bigotry Movement 2.0: Instead of fighting for more openness, we have retarrds advocating for more censorship. Instead of embracing the full spectrum of human intellectualism -- ethnic jingoism, tribalism, patriotism, nationalism etc -- we stick to narrow mindedness. While we used to march against authoritarian laws and practices, now we open threads advocating to stifle ourselves. And while we once sought full consciousness and participation of all perspectives, now we’re content to only entertain viewpoints we are comfortable with, which has come to mean one thing -- labeling as tribalistic ( and hence bad) what we perceive as off putting without seeking to understand its broader meaning and implication.

What we really need is a new approach to how we perceive issues, a new progressive movement that is not pretentious and elitist; one that’s sharp and skeptical enough to entertain all the hard questions: including those bordering on what retarddds &small minded, half-educated, Disaporan-based, out of touch, close minded creeps have hitherto labelled as tribalistic or bigoted.

ekt_bear: Any update?

If you want first hand updates, you might want to grab the next flight to Lagos. Dont forget to grab your machete. One is enough, just make sure it is sharp and in great shape. It will come handy once you get to Ketu. Dont worry about charms/ayetas, we have some untested ones lying around that you can use. It's time for all of us, NL loud mouths especially, to start putting our fighting skills money where our mouth is.

Thats too much money in the filthy hands of Fashola and Tinubu

ZUBY77: Cheap bill. I used to spend something bigger than that in Europe.

No wonder they deported you back to Nigeria. Are u Ibo by any chance?

andyanders: Roughly $267. That's not much. I spend more than that per night outing in the US. You take that to a strip joint and it is gone.

What do you? besides working from home with your yahoo account?

Ibo people sabi eat sha

Thank' god they did not appoint another Ibo' theif.'

Kobojunkie:

That image hunted my dreams for months. I can still see the useless expressions of the so called rescuers. Not a single one of them jumped in to help drag him out. It was horrible.

Read this again, sleep on it and tell us if it makes any sense to you.

Kobojunkie:

Wrong!! What I said is exactly what I meant. You only need to scroll to the beginning of this, READ THE CONVERSATION THAT HAS ENSUED, to learn of what has been said and why.

And for your information, suicide is probably very common in Nigeria. I mean where do you think the suicide bombers in the news the past couple of months came from? MARS?

From Tchad, Niger and other neighbouring countries.

you ve lost touch Kobo, it is time to go lie down somewhere far from civilization and die . . . for the good of Mankind. Your mother is waiting for you in heaven and the embryos ( now grown-ups in Heaven) you aborted when you were young are ready to forgive your past sins. You will be alright Kobo, now go somewhere and DIE. Die! Die!! Die!!!

Kobojunkie, Dieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

^^^

Kobo is not reasonable. This is how she spends her SS, argue with her at your own risk.

Kobojunkie:

So in your life, when people are against what you stand for, it means you should stop believing what you know to be factual?

If it is coming from your atrophied brain, I doubt it is factual.

Again, grow a brain

After, you get a life . . . fair?

. . come back when you have sufficiently developed one. T[b]hat a human being would suggest that Nigerians do not commit suicide[/b] or that calibre has something to do with suicide only shows that person is so far out of touch with reality and needs to be sent back to develop.

I actually don't know of any Nigerian who has ever committed suicide. But then knowing you and how you like to drive people crazy, there is no telling how many people you ve driven to that point.

^^^

So you have a man at home? So why do you spend so much time on NL? Well I wont go there; Okobo vs G/a/y vs you are not that good in bedmatics. Pick anyone that makes you sleep well at night.

Actually, i do have this Jamo that comes to suck my blokos everyy now and then, but recently she has been hoarding it, wants me to put a ring on it before she puts out gain. And you know now, I be Odua tokan tokan. Yoruba or I get disowned by my family.

I cant sleep Blazay, post a n/u/d/e photo of your hairy chest that i can m/a/s/t/u/r/b/a/t/e to?

Pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Callotti:

You are right.
The reason I prefer the white man's land as a willing slave.

You dont have a choice. If you cant change it, LOVE it

Much better than ANYTHING in Nigeria.

You would not have survived in Nigeria
S3x cells . . . ONLY in Obodo White man

Thank God for second chances.

. . . and second rounds on the cheap too

Chop your Nigeria I beg.

Chop your oyinbo small prick abeg

I don't have any business with a 10th world concentration camp.

Like we actually need a 10th class p/u/n/n/y to survive.

http://books.google.com/books?id=mbpUU3Atg7wC&pg=PA12&lpg=PA12&dq=yorubas+and+hausa+in+Sagamu&source=bl&ots=Lk8yYf139l&sig=Odo2E4lTzwAdsDk-tKAWyTMkx9A&hl=en&sa=X&ei=fgtoT7KiNceogwfz8tC8CQ&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=yorubas%20and%20hausa%20in%20Sagamu&f=false

Callotti: No wonder they can afford to build Bonny Island.
Good for them jor.
I cannot be paid enough money to work in Nigeria as a NIGERIAN, not to mention an expartriate.
Tufiakwa. Dem try gaaaaaaaaaaan.

Dont get ahead of yourself, kiddo. No one will pay you to work in Nigeria. Your skills, if you have any, are worth very little. The only way you can be more useful is to actually be the keyboard you are typing on. They will pay your laptop to work in Nigeria before they consider you as a volunteer.

lagcity:

bros, u dey fear? don't worry, u ibos are safe becos u r no threat. we dont even see you Igbos. the hausas will get it in a cold way. we've done it in 2000, we'll do it again. u ibos don't have any reason to run away to the east like u did back in 2000. we wont hurt u unless u want us to

Ibos are not safe, they will get it too. Trust me, they werent safe in 2000, they wont be spared in 48 hrs time.

To those with brains:

http://books.google.com/books?id=mbpUU3Atg7wC&pg=PA12&lpg=PA12&dq=yorubas+and+hausa+in+Sagamu&source=bl&ots=Lk8yYf139l&sig=Odo2E4lTzwAdsDk-tKAWyTMkx9A&hl=en&sa=X&ei=fgtoT7KiNceogwfz8tC8CQ&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=yorubas%20and%20hausa%20in%20Sagamu&f=false

God bless the great Yoruba race.

Yeske!:
Just the way you are trying to instigate Ndigbo to help you face the hausas in mile 12, my advice dear, face them and we might back you when push comes to shove.

Pray, tell, how many Ndibos are in mile 12? How many in Ketu. Stop confusing Alaba with Mile 12. . . two different places.