Ọjọ́ pẹ́ táa ti jọ ń gbáyé
Òní kọ́ la ṣẹ̀ṣẹ̀ bẹ̀rẹ̀ àṣepọ̀
A ò ṣẹ̀ṣẹ̀ jọ máa jẹun nínú àwo,
Báyé tógun ṣe wá dàìgún mọ́,
Tílùú adùn ṣe wá di ti jogbo,
Tórílẹ̀-èdè ẹ̀rín wá di tọ̀fọ̀ ni ò yé wa.
Gígún tàyé ń gún ló yẹ ó máa gún lọ,
Dídùn tígbà ń dùn ló yẹ kó máa dùn lọ,
Kó sóore tíkòórira ó ṣe ni
Ìwà ìkà ni àìláàánú
Ìwà ìkà ni ìkórira,
Ìwà ìkà ni ìṣekúpani
Kò sáǹfààní tí yóò ṣe fún wa,
Nínú Ìfẹ́ ni Ìlọsíwájú wà
Nínú Ìfẹ́ ni ìgbéga wà
Nínú Ìfẹ́ ni Ìfọ̀kànbalẹ̀ wà
Ẹ jẹ́ kí á yàgò fún ìkórira kí á sì yan Ìfẹ́ láàyò.
SHOPRITE,NIGERIA,SOUTH AFRICA!—- WE WANT BLACK DOLLS IN YOUR STORES IN AFRICA 000000!-LOOK WHAT YOUR STUPID WORKERS TOLD ME YESTERDAY OOOOO!-FROM SHOPRITE,NIGERIA,FACEBOOK
FROM SHOPRITE,NIGERIA,FACEBOOK
BLACK DOLLS I HAVE BEEN REQUESTING FOR AT SHOPRITE,NIGERIA,COCOA HOUSE IBADAN SINCE LAST YEAR FROM THE MANAGER WHO SAID THEY HAD ORDERED THEM!
YOUR WORKER IN THE MANAGER’S OFFICE YESTERDAY TOLD ME THAT “SHOPRITE DOES NOT CARRY BLACK DOLLS PERIOD!”SHAME ON YOU SHOPRITE-IN AFRICA YOU REFUSE TO HAVE BLACK DOLLS FOR BLACK CHILDREN! SEAT UP OR FACE OUR RAGE!
GO TO SHOPRITE,NIGERIA’S PAGE ON FACEBOOK AND TELL THEM YOU WANT BLACK DOLLS FOR BLACK CHILDREN!
Mrs.Yeye Akilimali Funua OladeAFRICA HAS A white doll fever,especially NIGERIA! IBO TRADERS SAY THEY DON’T BRING IN BLACK DOLLS TO SELL CAUSE THEIR MORE EXPENSIVE SO IN THE STORES/MARKETS ALL YOU HAVE ARE white dolls! THIS IS ONE OF THE REASONS NIGERIA HAS THE HIGHEST PERCENTAGE OF WOMEN BLEACHING%70 ACCORDING TO WHO- UNATIONS!
BLACK DOLLS! BEAUTIFUL BLACK DOLLS! BLACK DOLLS FOR BLACK CHILDREN IN AFRICA! WE ARE WAITING FOR SHOPRITE TO PUT THEM ON THEIR SHELVES! WE WILL BUY THEM CAUSE WE LOVE OUR GOD-CREATED BLACK SHELVES!
Shoprite NigeriaDear Mrs Yeye, thank you for flagging this with us. Shoprite in fact has carried a range of the mentioned dolls in the past, but consumer demand was almost non-existent. However, it is our every intention to satisfy the needs of our customers and if consumer preference now points to the demand to the extent that we could justify allocating additional shelf space towards it, we will definitely consider adding it to the range again.
Mrs.Yeye Akilimali Funua OladeJOOO JUST LOVE THE NET! ALREADY I HAVE A RESPONSE TO BUY A BLACK DOLL FROM SHOPRITE FROM SENEGAL,DAKAR! DO YOU HAVE A STORE THERE
The death of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (1918-2013) has attracted a lot of emotions, comments and tributes from many current leaders and past leaders of several countries in the world. Some of these comments are genuine, others are insincere and amounts to crocodile tears. About 100 global political players, both current and those who have held positions of power in the world, including President Barrack Obama, current American President and three former Presidents- Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and George W Bush, and the heir apparent to the British throne Prince Charles as well as our own President Goodluck Jonathan and David Cameron, John Major and Gordon Brown, current and former British Prime Ministers respectively attended the official funeral ceremony held at a big stadium in Soweto South Africa. This must have been a security nightmare for the South African authorities. Mandela who initially embraced the non-violent philosophy of Mochandas Ghandhi-Ji later abandoned non-violence and was largely responsible for forming the Umkhonto we Sizwe (the Spear of the Nation), which was the armed youthful wing of the African National Congress (ANC). The young revolutionaries in South Africa by the 1960s were already getting impatient with the conservative and non-violent approach to African liberation espoused by the ANC. Members of the Pan African Congress (PAC) were already critical of the non-violent campaign of the ANC. We can therefore say Nelson Mandela reluctantly took to armed struggle because as he argued nobody can kill a wild beast with bare hands.
In the history of the liberation of South Africa some attention should be paid to the PAC and Azanian People’s Congress’ roles as alternative platforms for the liberation of South Africa. A comparable situation is what happened in the US where the existence of militant youthful groups such as Students Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) led by Stokely Carmichael and Rap Brown, as well as the Black Panther Movement of Huey Newton and Eldrige Cleaver, and the Black Muslims particularly the faction led by one of its charismatic leaders, Malcom X with their cry burn baby burn made Martin Luther King nonviolent campaign largely acceptable to the white folks. Even though the situation was not exactly the same, white folks saw Mandela as somebody they could ultimately do business with.
This does not diminish the achievements of Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela but it is important to put the two global icons within their historical context. The two share many things in common especially their ability to forgive their oppressors. Martin Luther King’s tolerance is firmly rooted in Christian religion while Mandela’s ability to forgive is rooted in political reality. He wanted to build a non-racial majoritarian democracy in South Africa and he came to the conclusion that the only way to do this was by forgiving his racist oppressors who had built in South Africa a first world infrastructure and economy albeit on the backs of the blacks. If he had adopted the Mugabe approach of land expropriation, he would have destroyed his much loved country of South Africa for which he paid huge price of 27 years imprisonment. Since 1994 when he became president and now after having been succeeded by Thabo Mbeki and the current President Jacob Zuma, the vast majority of black South Africans have remained largely poor. Of course centuries of Black marginalization cannot be removed within a few years but young black South Africans are not prepared to wait indefinitely for the fruit of majority rule. This is the challenge facing South Africa today. And some of the militant youths have been known to issue militant statements about the conniving and apologetic leadership of the ANC who are only ready to tinker with the white economic structure of South Africa without radically changing it. This is why incredibly as it may sound, Robert Mugabe is perhaps the most popular political figure in Southern Africa today. This also accounts for the tumultuous ovation he attracted when he entered the stadium during the funeral mass for Mandela.
I had the opportunity to meet Mandela in May 1990, when he came to Nigeria, and the University of Lagos conferred on him an Honorary Doctorate degree after leaving prison and before becoming president of South Africa. Professor Nurudeen Alao who was Vice Chancellor asked me and Dr. Tunji Dare to prepare a citation for the great man. We independently wrote this and after comparing notes, Dare said my citation captured totally the essence of the man, and he subsequently published his own draft, I believe in The Guardian. I remember that one of the things the great man asked us was that he wanted to learn how Nigeria has been able to create a forum like the House of Chiefs in the old regions for traditional leaders to participate in governance so that he could do the same in South Africa. I do not know what became of his interest in this regard.
After Mandela’s death, I have been thoroughly amused by the comments of our leaders. Some of these leaders have hailed him as a great man, a great African icon and a great world leader that is worthy of emulation. Yet some of these so-called African leaders held power for years without leaving any remarkable or worthwhile imprint on the society. It is surprising that those who overstayed their welcome in office are now acclaiming Mandela as their friend and as someone from whom they learnt something. One only hopes that our current leaders and those after them will learn from this great man’s example, that it is not the amount of money that one has that matters, but that it is the enduring and unforgettable legacies that one leaves behind that really matter.
The former American President George W Bush also went to South Africa to pay his last tribute to Mandela; I believe his sincerity. But we should not forget that his Vice President Dick Cheney regarded Mandela as a terrorist. And according to General Colin Powel, a former American Secretary of State and his successor Condoleezza Rice both of whom are blacks claimed that they were hugely embarrassed to find Mandela’s name on America’s terrorist list. It is surprising that the Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin and the Chinese President Xi Jinping were conspicuously absent in South Africa to pay their last respects to Mandela; they will not be missed of course. And the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu found a lame reason about security and the cost of the trip not to go to South Africa. Of course, the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was there because Mandela was a supporter of the Palestinian cause and liberation. Let it be remembered that Israel and the United States under President Ronald Reagan assisted South Africa to acquire nuclear weapons in the late 1970s.
President Jonathan in some kind of homily during a funeral service for Mandela said that Nigeria is not likely to have a man of Mandela’s stature. I disagree and I say General Yakubu Gowon remains the greatest Head of State of Nigeria with high moral stature on a comparable level with Mandela. Gowon’s case is that of a prophet that is with no honour in his own country. Here was a man who governed this country for nine years and ended up not having a single house or billions of naira, and oil blocs in his name but was responsible for most of the enduring physical infrastructure in the country. Here is a war leader who fought a civil war and ended it without show trials and executions of those on the other side of the conflict. Gowon represents our own Abraham Lincoln and Nelson Mandela rolled into one. Since leaving office, he went back to the university and earned himself a doctorate degree in Political Science and has never soiled his hands with filthy lucre. He has used his moral currency and goodwill to attract funds for good cause such as guinea-worm eradication and has spent along with others, years in praying for the peace of Nigeria. When he was in power, Gowon was a pan-Africanist and extended the reach of Nigeria’s foreign policy to the black Diaspora in the Caribbean. History will be fair to Gowon, he may not have had the press and publicity and international acclaim that Mandela has but Gowon among our leaders certainly made a difference. And he deserves to be celebrated now and in the future.
By virtue of their exalted positions, political leaders are invariably famous! We see their faces on television and in newspapers and we also listen to their voices on radio. The notorious ones among them intimidate us with their posters or statues, palaces and the exclusive streets they name after themselves. They would rather celebrate their own lives than be patient with history!
However, these fellows in positions of power are reduced to ordinariness as soon as they are relieved of political power. The most mischievous of them (the Samuel Does, the Nicolae Ceausescus, the Saddam Husseins and the Muammar Gaddafis) get consumed by the anger of the oppressed, begging in vain for their lives to be spared!
Fame or notoriety is transient, while greatness endures. Political greatness is about doing deeds whose consequences endure in history. Great political leaders do not come in rapid succession; they come once in a while.
The magnitude of political greatness is determined by the magnitude of crises or challenges a political leader is confronted with. It is not by choice that the political leaders whose names ring through history and in our subconscious memories have been those who were great nation builders, or great managers of wars, or great heralds of economic prosperity. The great nations of the world have their Abraham Lincolns, Winston Churchills, Mao Tse-tungs, Mahatma Gandhis and Otto von Bismarks, to mention just a few. Even in death, great political leaders inspire generations of would-be leaders.
The Black world, in the modern era, has donated two great names to the world of political mythology. Both Martin Luther King Jnr and Nelson Mandela were products of similar as well as contrasting historical circumstances. They were members of multi-racial societies in which their own peoples were at the receiving end of injustice and degradation. The majority white group meted out injustice to the minority black in one instance, while the minority white also meted out injustice to the majority black in another. Both King Jnr and Mandela were historical characters in the crusade to bring sanity to what was a hopeless situation.
They were men of exceptional courage, intelligence, eloquence, vision and character. King Jnr paid the ultimate price in his crusade for racial equality and justice, while Mandela had his freedom curtailed in an incredible 27 years of imprisonment. Today, we celebrate the fact that both men and their apostles have been vindicated.
The world mourns Mandela who died on Thursday, December 5, at the ripe old age of 95. His death has captured the imagination of the entire world. Of course, the role he played in ending the obnoxious apartheid system in South Africa is monumental; what, however, the rest of the world is celebrating today is the exceptional character of one individual. One doubts if he would have been that revered if he were vengeful, or had exhibited political greed by wanting to die in office. Neither was he obsessed with personal wealth and the perquisites that appeal to ordinary human beings. In suffering and forgiving his tormentors, Mandela, according to Prof. Ladipo Adamolekun, is the nearest we have to Jesus Christ in Christian mythology.
It is noteworthy that President Goodluck Jonathan declared three days of mourning in memory of Africa’s most illustrious son. This gesture is not enough. What can we learn from Mandela in terms of personal contentment and spirit of reconciliation? What can Jonathan himself learn from this global icon as he ponders his own political future amidst fierce disagreements and possible chaos? When one’s political right conflicts with the national interest, which one should prevail over the other?
For our nation, one urges that we reflect on the struggles of our racial compatriots in the United States of America and South Africa. They had more vicious experiences to contend with than many of us could imagine. With purposeful leadership, we should prevail and ours be counted among the most important nations of the world. Great leaders like Mandela and King Jnr re-write history because their dreams transcend big mansions and private jets! Great leaders live their lives for the sake of others.
BLACK-SKINNED WOMEN: QUEEN MOTHERS OF THE BLACK RACE AND ALL BEAUTY!
Why do I sing Praises of your Beautiful, Black, ebony,velvet skin,”Blacker than the sky at midnight”{1},your full mushroomed mouth, your beautiful broad nose, your generous “Congo hips” {2}and full-flowered backside? Because for too long many of the Black Race have abused, dishonored you, degraded and denied you your crown, Queen of Queens,Queen Mother of the Black Race, Black Beauty Supreme! From you all the beauty of the Black Race springs forth.In fact all the world’s beauty springs from you,Mother of all beauty of all the races of the world! Your Black midnight,licorice,dark black chocolate,beauty, is Blackness concentrated in your beautiful “Black-blueberry”{3} face!
First in the order of creation is always given respect by Afrikan tradition. The 1st wife, the 1st elder, the 1st kingdom, the 1st original inhabitants, of the earth-all are considered with honor. So it should be with Black Beauty-our darkest -skinned Sisters are the 1st Mothers of the Universe-Black as a color came before all the many tones of brown,red,yellow and white. But for too long our Dark-skinned Queens have not been given the respect and place of honor they deserve. IN FACT THE WHITE BOY HAS INTIATED the cycle of reversing the true order of things by turning upside down the pyramid of Beauty, and placing white-light on top and relegating the most beautiful Black-skinned Beauties to rock bottom!
So Black people have been taught well how to deny our most
beautiful one her crown, taught how to reject our Blackest, most Afrikan features, full lips and nose and mouth and woollest hair, for the weaker characteristics of the white race. Shame on Black people! When will we wake up to this Black Beauty concentrated, from whence all our lesser beauty comes. When will we give the crown of crowns,the throne of thrones, to the Blackest Queen of Queens?
Most of us who suffer from”mulatto-mentality” and “yellow fever”, as Fela, our great Nigerian Musician calls it, will go on and on about what about us lighter queens-aren’t we/they beautiful too, yet you/we should be aware that such queens have gotten all the play in the past and that even in Black Egypt one of the reasons for its downfall was the allowing the lighter ones of the race, to place themselves above the rest of us in the name of lightness and pride of light-closer/to/whiteness. So if we’re yellow,to light brown/red, then we should give respect where respect is due and not live off of the artificial white thrill of having “white features” as if it is an advantage. Where would you be without your BLACKEST great Grandmother? We should honor the Blackest part of ourselves, thus giving us true pride of Blackness, not verbal signifyin’ but real testifyin’ that BLACK is beautiful! If the Blackest, most Afrikan-featured Sister isn’t respected as the Supreme Beauty of the Race,the Black woman’s beauty is not really respected at all for what it really is(only in terms of how closer to white we look). We all reflect the strengths of this concentrated beauty in ourselves, all the manifestations of how Blackness can present itself are seen in our faces. Down to the milk-lightest of us, our Blackness is what dominates us whether physically or mentally. But the Mother is greater than the child and so the Blackest is greater than all the other tones of the Black Race. If we don’t respect our Blackest Queen, we don’t respect our True Black selves. We must have a Black value for BLACKNESS in features and skin tone. We must have a Black Standard of Beauty based on the Black-skinned woman. ALL PRAISES DUE TO OUR BLACK-SKINNED QUEEN-MOTHERS!
Sister Yeye Akilimali Funua Olade
1981,Lagos,Nigeria
BLACK NOTES: Let me give tribute to Brother Damu,House of Umoja(San Francisco) for{1}
{2}Brother O.O. Gabugan in the poem “Black Queen For a Day”,{3}Sister Sonia Sanchez in her poem “,Queens of the Universe”,for the quoted words used in the first part of this article.
GABOUREY SIDIBE IS A BIG BLACK SKINNED BEAUTY WHO HAS BROKEN THE IMITATION WHITE GIRL GLASS STANDARD OF BEAUTY!
