Archive for the ‘YORUBA’ Category
Yoruba Proverb o!
March 16, 2021YORUBA CULTURAL NATIONALISM -MOVEMENT SINGLELY CARRIED ONLY BY THE YORUBAS ON THE ENTIRE AFRICAN CONTINENT TO FIGHT WhITE COLONIALISM ! -FROM THE NIGERIAN TRIBUNE NEWSPAPER
December 30, 2013FROM THE NIGERIAN TRIBUNE NEWSPAPER
Yoruba cultural nationalism
Written by Diran Apata Sunday, 22 December 2013
A few days ago, in a leisurely discussion involving many Yoruba men, women and children, I mentioned the movement of Yoruba Cultural Nationalism of about one-hundred years ago. Most of my hearers had no idea what I was talking about. That is what always happens whenever I happen to mention this movement. It is painful that our people, especially our youths, know nothing about it – painful because the story of the Yoruba Cultural Nationalist Movement, spanning the last years of the 19th century and the first years of the 20th,is one of the most glorious stories in the modern history of the Yoruba Nation. It is a story that we should all know inside and out – a story that our children should be told over and over at home and at school.
The following is the background to it. From about 1885, various European countries came scrambling for territorial empires all over Africa. Peoples after peoples of Africa fell to the European forces. The British, the French, the Germans, the Portuguese, the Belgians, the Dutch, all carved out empires for themselves. Most of Yorubaland became British possession (later to be included in Nigeria), and the rest became French and German possessions (later to be included in what are now Benin and Togo Republics).
But the conquest of Africa was not only military and territorial; it was also massively psychological. Usually, small European armies were taking over African territories, because they were armed with better weapons, or because the African nations were not fully aware about what was happening to them, and because they did not unite to defend their homelands. Naturally, the European colonialists became enormously arrogant. Everywhere, they proclaimed the doctrine that Africans were culturally and intellectually inferior to Europeans, that Africans were incapable of developing any civilisation, and that it was the duty of Europeans to bring civilisation to Africans.
These attitudes gradually infected all aspects of European relationships with Africans all over tropical Africa. The growing disrespect of Africans even spread into the Christian missions. In the mission churches and schools, it was now being said that, to become a Christian, or to be regarded as educated or civilised, one must give up one’s native culture. One must give up such things as one’s indigenous name, clothing, manners, and language, and take on European ones. Even the Yoruba clergy working in the missions began to experience serious disrespect and discrimination from the mission bodies that they served.
For a start, some Yoruba Christian converts in Lagos did respond by trying to become “black Europeans”. They hoped that doing so would earn them acceptance into the “civilised” British community in Lagos. Many of these changed their names to European names. Some others adopted European dress items such as the stove-pipe hat, the feathered bonnet, high-heeled shoes, and gloves, etc. Some young persons who went to study in Britain returned home in only two or three years and claimed that they could no longer understand or speak the Yoruba language.
However, a powerful Yoruba reaction to all these rapidly brewed, and it soon became a great movement – the movement of Yoruba Cultural Nationalism. As it grew, most of those who had adopted aspects of European culture gave them up and returned to their Yoruba culture. There had been newspapers in Lagos for decades, and these newspapers joined excitedly in the movement. “We are Africans first (or we are Yoruba first) before we are Christians” became popular among Christians in Lagos.
This movement of Yoruba Cultural Nationalism produced very many effects. In popular culture and fashions, Yoruba Cultural Nationalism promoted a great pride in Yoruba clothes and dresses. The Yoruba way of dressing became very popular indeed. It became more attractive as new styles and modifications were added.
Yoruba men and women serving in the Lagos colonial service responded in their own way. Many of them resigned their jobs and started private businesses, schools and churches of their own.
In the Christian missions, the Yoruba clergy responded by introducing Yoruba culture into church services and church life. For instance, they introduced Yoruba music and songs, which the missions had earlier regarded as pagan. Some of the Yoruba clergy even went further than that. They withdrew from the service of the European mission organizations and started an African Church Movement. This created separate African churches in the various denominations – African Anglican churches, African Methodist churches, and African Baptist churches. The African churches brought Yoruba culture into the Christian church in a big way. They also wrote Yoruba hymns and published hymn books. But another movement soon started which went even further than the African Church Movement to integrate Yoruba culture into Christianity. This was the Aladura Movement. The Aladura Movement developed into a number of main branches – the Christ Apostolic Church, the Cherubim and Seraphim Church, and the Celestial Church of Christ.
Yoruba Cultural Nationalism also promoted a lot of interest in the study of Yoruba culture and history. Many books were written in these years on both subjects. And many literate Yoruba people wrote the traditional stories of their towns – some in English, and many in the Yoruba language. Lessons in Yoruba history and culture were introduced into schools, including the mission schools.
Yoruba Cultural Nationalism created a powerful Yoruba national consciousness. It unified the modern Yoruba elite for service to their nation. That unity was to express itself in many productive ways later – in the various Development Associations of the 1920s and 1930s, in the highly influential Egbe Omo Oduduwa from 1945, and in the first-rate government of the Western Region in the 1950s. It also charted great modern ambitions for the Yoruba nation – ambitions to acquire education, and to achieve modern economic progress, prosperity and power in the world. In these many ways, the movement of Yoruba Cultural Nationalism laid some of the foundations for Yoruba achievements and progress in the modern world.
All in all, Yoruba people did not merely challenge European cultural arrogance; they suppressed it quite successfully in their own country. Nowhere else in Black Africa, among no other Black African nation, did the Europeans experience another powerful cultural challenge like this.
A British colonial official who served for years in Nigeria in the 1950s testified to the later-day effects of Yoruba Cultural Nationalism. He wrote in his memoir that, in his experience, the Yoruba were one African people who never treated the British, or any other Europeans, as superiors or “as gods”. He wrote that the Yoruba are a people with “personal dignity and political finesse”. “In my experience” he added, “the Yoruba regarded themselves as superior to the British – – -. The Yoruba were often highly intelligent and they taunted the British with sending inferior people to Nigeria.” He also added that many other Nigerian peoples could usually not look the white man in the eyes, but that even the lowliest Yoruba servant tended to carry himself with confidence and pride.
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Published in Diran Apata’s Sunday message
THE BLACK MAN! -IN ALL HIS POWER AND GLORY!
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April 25, 2013WESTERN(white peoples’ DIET) DIET IS KILLING US ATI GIVING OUR CHiLDREN DIABETES! -FROM THE PUNCH NEWSPAPER,NIGERIA
April 20, 2013OYINGBO ONJE will KILL YOU! All this Iresi funfun ati bready funfun ati indomine with it’s poisonous flavoring ati giving omode biscuits,even babies is giving them DIABETES!
FROM THE PUNCH NEWSPAPER-NIGERIA
Western diet, route to early grave
2013-04-16 23:00:44

What does your breakfast look like?
The answer to this simple question may be as diverse as the ethnic tribes that make up Nigeria, what with our attitude towards food, which borders on consuming large portions.
Among the upwardly mobile, breakfast may consist of corn flakes (which are usually fortified with some so-called vitamins), bacon, fried eggs or omelet, white bread and tea sweetened with white sugar — or other forms of sugars that researchers say are not in the least healthy.
At work, lunch may not be better, as it may be a combination of fried chicken or sautéed fish, with a generous serving of French fries, to be washed down with a large, chilled bottle of sugary beverage.
nner is no better, as it may consist of some take-away from the numerous fast food eateries that line major routes. Yet, experts say you eat Western diet to your peril. The unambiguous conclusion among dieticians, nutritionists, physicians and researchers is that Western diet is unhealthy and should not be taken regularly or served at the family table for that matter.
The Medical Director of Mart-Life Detox Centre, Prof. Oladapo Ashiru, warns that a diet that comprises sugars, monounsaturated fats and other appurtenances of Western diet can only ruin the health.
He says the effects of such foods are as bizarre as they are deadly, because they don’t only make you obese, they are the paved roads to cardiovascular diseases, which may lead to stroke and untimely death.
He also warns that through clinical studies, unhealthy diet and lifestyle have been shown to contribute to incidents of infertility in male and female.
But then, what is it about Western diet that makes for strident condemnation globally? Ashiru, a professor of anatomy, notes that it may increase the risk of disease and certain forms of cancer, while it has also been linked to obesity in adults and children.
Again, he notes, Western diet is heavy in trans fats, which are considered unhealthy and dangerous to health. He also vilifies the diet because, as he says, it does not promote a complete, nutritious menu, as it usually lacks vegetables and fruits.
Nutritionists say even when you are served the so-called salad during a typical Western meal, the salads are usually bathed in creams that make a total mess of the intended dietary restriction.
Online portal, dietsinreview.com, says “The Western diet is known for its lack of fresh fruits and vegetables and its strong reliance on fast-food, high sugar beverages, high-fat dairy, refined carbohydrates and red meat.
It goes on to describe a typical day on the Western diet, “Breakfast may consist of a stack of white flour pancakes with a side of sausage, with whole milk and syrup; lunch might be a fast-food cheeseburger, French fries and a high-sugar soda. Dinner might be fried chicken or meatloaf with mashed potatoes and gravy. Desserts and snacks include potato chips, cookies, ice cream, candy bars and other processed snack foods.”
And, to buttress all the vilifications that have greeted the consumption of Western diet, a new research scheduled for publication in the May edition of The American Journal of Medicine, deals a final blow to the unhealthy way of eating.
The researchers write, “Data from a new study of British adults suggest that adherence to a ‘Western-style’ diet (fried and sweet food, processed and red meat, refined grains, and high-fat dairy products) reduces a person’s likelihood of achieving older ages in good health and with higher functionality.
The research team, led by Dr. Tasnime Akbaraly of Inserm, Montpellier, France, identified dietary factors that would not only prevent premature death, but also promote ideal aging.
Ashiru, whose clinic takes patients through weight loss programme via detoxification, says Western diet plans are not appropriate for weight loss.
He notes, “Dieters need to eat from all food groups. Bad fats, cholesterol and simple carbohydrates are three food groups to watch out for in the Western diet. Conversely, the Mediterranean diet is rich in healthy fats, green foods and lean proteins. Switching from a Western diet to a healthy diet with fewer simple carbohydrates and unhealthy fats is ideal for weight loss.”
He also notes that portion control is important, as Western diet tends to pack a lot of calories in a small space.
In a study published in the January 2011 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, researchers warn that leading causes of death have shifted from infectious diseases to chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and cancer, which, they say, may be affected by unwholesome diet. Their conclusion? Eating healthier means living longer.
So, what do we eat to be in good health? Researchers say diets high in vegetables and fruits are associated with less weight gain, being definitely better than diets high in red meat and fried foods.
Investigators from the Slone Epidemiology Center at Boston University say, “A diet high in red meat and fried foods can lead to consuming too many calories, because these foods contain more calories than the same amount of vegetables and fruits.”
The lead researcher, Dr. Deborah Boggs, say the findings suggest that replacing red meat and fried foods with vegetables and fruits could help to lower obesity rates.
In contrast, a research group from Spain studied the dietary patterns associated with a high intake of fruits and vegetables in Mediterranean populations, and concluded that it reduces long term risk of weight gain and subsequent obesity.
To be in good health and remain functional till the end, therefore, scientists advise daily intake of fruits and vegetables, which have been tested and proved over the years.
Online portal, dietsinreview.com, says “The Western diet is known for its lack of fresh fruits and vegetables and its strong reliance on fast-food, high sugar beverages, high-fat dairy, refined carbohydrates and red meat.
It goes on to describe a typical day on the Western diet, “Breakfast may consist of a stack of white flour pancakes with a side of sausage, with whole milk and syrup; lunch might be a fast-food cheeseburger, French fries and a high-sugar soda. Dinner might be fried chicken or meatloaf with mashed potatoes and gravy. Desserts and snacks include potato chips, cookies, ice cream, candy bars and other processed snack foods.”
And, to buttress all the vilifications that have greeted the consumption of Western diet, a new research scheduled for publication in the May edition of The American Journal of Medicine, deals a final blow to the unhealthy way of eating.
The researchers write, “Data from a new study of British adults suggest that adherence to a ‘Western-style’ diet (fried and sweet food, processed and red meat, refined grains, and high-fat dairy products) reduces a person’s likelihood of achieving older ages in good health and with higher functionality.
The research team, led by Dr. Tasnime Akbaraly of Inserm, Montpellier, France, identified dietary factors that would not only prevent premature death, but also promote ideal aging.
Ashiru, whose clinic takes patients through weight loss programme via detoxification, says Western diet plans are not appropriate for weight loss.
He notes, “Dieters need to eat from all food groups. Bad fats, cholesterol and simple carbohydrates are three food groups to watch out for in the Western diet. Conversely, the Mediterranean diet is rich in healthy fats, green foods and lean proteins. Switching from a Western diet to a healthy diet with fewer simple carbohydrates and unhealthy fats is ideal for weight loss.”
He also notes that portion control is important, as Western diet tends to pack a lot of calories in a small space.
In a study published in the January 2011 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, researchers warn that leading causes of death have shifted from infectious diseases to chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and cancer, which, they say, may be affected by unwholesome diet. Their conclusion? Eating healthier means living longer.
So, what do we eat to be in good health? Researchers say diets high in vegetables and fruits are associated with less weight gain, being definitely better than diets high in red meat and fried foods.
Investigators from the Slone Epidemiology Center at Boston University say, “A diet high in red meat and fried foods can lead to consuming too many calories, because these foods contain more calories than the same amount of vegetables and fruits.”
The lead researcher, Dr. Deborah Boggs, say the findings suggest that replacing red meat and fried foods with vegetables and fruits could help to lower obesity rates.
In contrast, a research group from Spain studied the dietary patterns associated with a high intake of fruits and vegetables in Mediterranean populations, and concluded that it reduces long term risk of weight gain and subsequent obesity.
To be in good health and remain functional till the end, therefore, scientists advise daily intake of fruits and vegetables, which have been tested and proved over the years.
BLACK VIRGINITY!–This Yoruba GIRL STANDS UP for VIRGINITY!–FROM THE NATION NEWSPAPER,NIGERIA
April 19, 2013A vote for chastity
These South African Virgins Are Celebrating Their after being TESTED!
From thenationonline.com
Posted by: Adebisi Adeniji
on April 18, 2013
in Campus Life
The term “virginity” has returned to be the discourse in certain circles. Coming in an age when obnoxious words reign supreme, of course, it could not have come at a better time.
Nowadays, it is hard to define who is a virgin in the real meaning of the word. The general meaning of the word “virgin” refers to a girl who keeps her chastity. Such a girl can be said not to have slept with the opposite sex at the time of being called a virgin.
However, people believe that such a girl is scarce in today’s world. Much emphasis is not placed on male virginity because the gender does not have hymen. The attention is on women.
According to an online statistics, 95 per cent of Nigerian teenagers cannot boast of being virgins. In an era where premarital and casual sex abound, girls who are as young as 14 have started experimenting with the forbidden fruit, causing an upsurge in teen pregnancies and abortions. Such act has also resulted in psychological breakdowns with the rejection of unwanted children.
There are many factors that contribute to the sexual decadence in our society. It should be noted that the mass media, which has, over the years, served as a source of socialisation, also has its negative effect on the society and the people. The media’s portrayal of sexual images to an already vulnerable audience has helped to increase the level of decadence.
Corporate advertisers are particularly guilty of this; bits of sensuality are infused into every advert they place or show on television. Even when it is not necessary, they employ skimpily dressed girls to advertise their products, passing a wrong message to the audience.
Peer pressure is also a factor. Teenagers, who do not indulge in the practice, are seen as greenhorns by their peers, who have had the experience. In order not to be the butt of jokes among their friends, some teenagers make wrong decisions.
Today’s forms of entertainment are also to blame. Songs with weird lyrics are the favourites of the young. Some of them would say: “We only love the beat; we don’t practise the message”. But, in reality, the songs are like radioactive wastes; they slowly destroy whoever listens to them. There is no way a 14-year-old girl would listen to songs, such as Lay on me, without having certain thoughts.
Some people have argued that virginity is not important in this globalisation age, claiming that in the olden days, girls married relatively early as soon as they reached puberty. Such early marriages, they argued, kept promiscuity at bay.
However, times and civilisation have changed the practice. Nowadays, the first 20 years of any girl are spent in the classroom. But, by that age, her features would have developed. It is reasonable for an unmarried 25-year -old woman to be sexually active.
It is so bad that many teenagers know some things about sex, which their parents probably might never know. A newspaper cartoon was circulated sometime ago, where a man was seen telling his teenage son that it was time for sex education. The boy answered: “Sure, what part do you want to know, daddy?”
Everyone has a reason for making certain decisions but it would be advantageous if such decisions are not based on external influence. Abstinence is the surest way of preventing sexually-transmitted diseases. The slogan “abstinence is the best method to prevent diseases” attests to this fact.
My advice to teenagers and the youth is that they must abstain from premarital sex. And those who are still chaste, should maintain this status. We must not allow ourselves to be the butt of jokes in the society.
There is a Yoruba adage that says anything that is protected doesn’t lose its value. We must not be deceived by the argument that virginity is an outdated value. It is not; it is a value we must nurture to ensure our society is free of decadence.
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