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Men in Suit? Give ’Em A Chance
By Onyeka Nwelue
When I first traveled to India, I was
thinking of seeing the head of the sub-continent as a
man, either in buba or long-flowing traditional
Indian clothing, but it happened that the Prime Minister
Dr. Manmohan Singh is a man in suit, like his colleagues
(because I had no idea that a leader in a Third World
country should be in English or Italian-made suit), who
are lidded in that riveting suit that makes the world
smile at them, even when they ‘terrorise’ the lives of
people in Iraq, although Dr. Singh (the most educated
prime minister in the world, as Indians tell me – not
knowing which criteria it was judged) has no interest in
invading any Afghanistan, because his Kashmir has not
being put to order. Because he is so interested in
making life better for the people of Bharat.
Then, I was bewildered to see that
the kind of people who have been in the forefront of
making life better for my country-people, are all in
that same clothing (that shows how colonized we are) and
one begins to wonder why it is so. Anyway, it wouldn’t
surprise anyone to note that Professor Charles Soludo of
the Central Bank of Nigeria is in that terrain, and it
might sound a bit crazy if I suggest that because of the
dress our leaders wear determines what they would be.
And this applies to the Information Minister, Frank
Nweke Jnr., who after all, can be able to rule Nigeria
(although he has shown no interest and that he is still
a product of the highly-despised Obasanjo
administration). What’s the more, if Professor Pat Utomi
can come out and say that he wants to lead us to the
said promise land, then we must consider him, because he
is in suit, while skeptics would say that Iran’s
President is in suit and still wants to wipe out the
Jew-dominated Iran overnight.
Whenever I realise that Nigeria has
completely been misruled, my eyes well up with tears and
it makes me wanna scream out loud. You don’t say good
things about a leadership you haven’t experienced and
that is why I am really, really weeping for this year’s
election, because it’s all going to be a bundle of crap.
Believe it or don’t. Something has to be done, and if
Nigeria is ready to meet an astrologer, then things are
going to be solved out. Why do I say this? Everyone is
interested in ruling Nigeria. What for?
Alright, let’s get back to Indian
politics (which although is more violent than Nigeria’s,
because of the assassination cases that have engulfed it
since Nehru and Gandhi wobbled into it), one would find
out that this subcontinent celebrates the largest
democracy in the world, looking at what Sonia Gandhi did
after the 2004 spring parliamentary election, where she
won the prime ministerial seat (being a member of the
Congress or so, the leader), but as people believe, she
instead handed over to the former finance minister and
technocrat, Dr. Manmohan Singh to lead the
coalition-government. And what amazes me is why a Hindu
decided that it would be better for a Sikh to rule.
Is this because she thought that the
Sikhs might think they are excommunicated from the
Hindu-dominated country? You can say whatever. Then, it
would fascinate you to note that the President of India
is a Moslem. This is a country where democracy and
equality exist, although people would want to know what
has gone beyond the caste system. Either way round, the
Igbo people of Nigeria still practice that fathomable
osu or Untouchability*.
And those who believe that breaking
away from Nigeria is the ultimate ask Pakistan how
peaceful they are with India.
But if our troublesome leaders could
sit down and learn from people who are exposed, they
would find out that the only way to resolve the
political tension in the country is to give every ethnic
group a sense of pride (as Mr. President is doing), in
the sense that Trinidad and Tobago could be of an
example, even the Netherlands. There are countries with
diversity in culture and race that need to be emulated,
so as to push us forward to embracing the so-called
democracy, which I believe is yet to come to Nigeria.
Onyeka Nwelue has studied in
Nigeria and India. His novel,
The Abyssinian Boy
is set for release this year.
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*Osu
or Untouchability
The Igbos are found
mostly in the Southeastern and South-central Nigeria
called Igboland or Igbo society (Alaigbo or Anaigbo). By
the late 20th century the population of the Igbos are
about 27 million.1 The majority of the Igbos
are Christians, but some of them practice the indigenous
traditional religion, whose major tenets are shared by
all Igbo-speaking people of Nigeria (Uchendu 1965). The
traditional religion is passed on to succeeding
generations, but the advent of Christianity in Igboland
around "1885" had some influence on the traditional
beliefs (Talbot 1969).
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The indigenous traditionalists believe in
the earth goddess, deities and ancestral
spirits and in a Creator-God, Chukwu, Obasi, Chi, or
Chineke, the "Supreme God" (Achebe 1959).
The Igbo traditional beliefs have some
positive influence on the culture and social
lives of the people. For instance, the
forefathers of the Igbos were known for their
righteousness, honesty, and hard work. And they were
opinion leaders, impartial judges, and people of
impeccable character.
However, a relic of the indigenous religious
practice of the Igbos is the dehumanizing
Osu caste system, which has divided and
alienated the Igbos. . . .
For this author, the Osu caste system is a
societal institution borne out of a
primitive traditional belief system colored
by superstition, and propagated by
ignorance. It is absurd to categorize a
human as a sub-human being. Although this
author is not a member of the group, he
condemns the practice of the Osu caste
system, because it is a human rights
aberration. The Osu caste system,
which is a form of discrimination, has
caused inter-communal discords and wars
between the Osu and the Diala in Igboland.
And many lives and properties have been
destroyed as a result. |
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Source: Victor Dike, "The
Osu Caste System in Igboland: Discrimination Based
on Descent" (Introduction to
The Osu Caste System in Igboland: A Challenge for
Nigerian Democracy.
Victor E. Dike, who lives in Sacramento,
California, is also the author of
Democracy and Political Life in Nigeria.* * *
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Sex at the Margins
Migration, Labour Markets and the Rescue Industry
By Laura María Agustín
This book explodes several myths: that selling sex is completely different from any other kind of work, that migrants who sell sex are passive victims and that the multitude of people out to save them are without self-interest. Laura Agustín makes a passionate case against these stereotypes, arguing that the label 'trafficked' does not accurately describe migrants' lives and that the 'rescue industry' serves to disempower them. Based on extensive research amongst both migrants who sell sex and social helpers, Sex at the Margins provides a radically different analysis. Frequently, says Agustin, migrants make rational choices to travel and work in the sex industry, and although they are treated like a marginalised group they form part of the dynamic global economy. Both powerful and controversial, this book is essential reading for all those who want to understand the increasingly important relationship between sex markets, migration and the desire for social justice. "Sex at the Margins rips apart distinctions between migrants, service work and sexual labour and reveals the utter complexity of the contemporary sex industry. This book is set to be a trailblazer in the study of sexuality."—Lisa Adkins, University of London |
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The New Jim Crow
Mass Incarceration in the Age of
Colorblindness
By Michele Alexander
Contrary to the
rosy picture of race embodied in Barack
Obama's political success and Oprah
Winfrey's financial success, legal
scholar Alexander argues vigorously and
persuasively that [w]e have not ended
racial caste in America; we have merely
redesigned it. Jim Crow and legal racial
segregation has been replaced by mass
incarceration as a system of social
control (More African Americans are
under correctional control today... than
were enslaved in 1850). Alexander
reviews American racial history from the
colonies to the Clinton administration,
delineating its transformation into the
war on drugs. She offers an acute
analysis of the effect of this mass
incarceration upon former inmates who
will be discriminated against, legally,
for the rest of their lives, denied
employment, housing, education, and
public benefits. Most provocatively, she
reveals how both the move toward
colorblindness and affirmative action
may blur our vision of injustice: most
Americans know and don't know the truth
about mass incarceration—but her
carefully researched, deeply engaging,
and thoroughly readable book should
change that.—Publishers
Weekly |
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posted 15 February 2007
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