Monday, September 29, 2008

BARKA DA SALLAH


Barka da
Sallah
Eid
Mubarak
Happy
Sallah
Happy
Eid
Allah ya maimaita mana amin.

Saturday, September 27, 2008

WMD & WMD

For GWB & TB

It is not about Weapons of Mass Destruction
It is about an emperor
Inflicted by War Mongering Disorder
It is about show of strength
Arrogance of power
It is about greed and
Postmodern neocolonialism

It is about misleading the public
“We must disarm him to douse our thirst”
At the expense the lives of women and children
They are expendable and not human enough
After all the High Priests have approved of it

The Emperor’s greed and arrogance
Is exposing the vision of his nation
The desire of your people
Who, though proclaimed freedom & democracy
In reality it is a tyranny it means
They have betrayed their call

My dear Emperor
Watch carefully where you put your step
Look back at the map of history
Many examples abound
Where injustice and greed
Destroys the fabric of civilization

My dear Monarch
The world is tired of your madness
Better understand bluntly
No power lasts forever,
All empires are destined to is to crumble
It is from the ashes and debris of old kingdoms
New ones will emerge

You are leading your people to madness
Proving your cowardice and racism
The world watches with interest
We shall see how the drama will unfold
You will not write the next history
History will write about you in blood
It is also watching and writing.

Kano
February 15, 2003

NEW FREEDOM

today’s world is enveloped
by the air of techo-aggression
shadows of hegemony are growing
freedom is being re-christened
the world techno-bullies are casting their nets
to catch the golden fishes planet-wide
in the dream of fashioning a new river in their image
to the high priests of new world order
freedoms means
abandoning all identities and creed
accepting new ‘fatwas’ from materialist priests
it means
agreeing with rednecks’ imperial hegemony
accommodating and legalizing acts of terror
by guns-and-money politics
destroying all resistance to self determination
new freedom means
believing in uncle sam’s wisdom
practicing big brother’s econometrics
but
it also means
the foolish is still dreaming

Birmingham AL
February 8, 2002

NEW IMPERIALISM

New economic models
+
Loans and debt servicing
+
Military coalitions
+
Hollywood stereotyping
+
Academic brainwashing
+
Mass media tyrant’s extravaganza
+
Psychological subjugation
+
Cultural redefinition
+
New conceptual paradigms
+
Labeling monopolisation
+
Covert this & that
=
New world order
~
N e w I m p e r i a l i s m
Birmingham AL
2001

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

THEY CAN SPEAK ENGLISH!

This article is a response to Corinna and subsequently many other German Students who want to know more about one of my poems titled THEY CAN SPEAK ENGLISH. It was Corinna who first ask some questions and I simply send the same response to all of them.

Corinna's email reads:

Hello Dr. Yusuf M.Adamu,
I'm from Germany and I'm 17 years old. In school we talk about your poem ,, They can speak English '' !
I have to do a presentation about it.
So I'have got some questions :
1. Why did you write this poem? What were your personal reasons ?
2.What do you think about English and England ?
3. Are you proud of your mothertongue and what is your mothertongue ?

I really hope you will answer my questions because it would help me alot !!!

Nice greetings from Germany !!!

Yours, sincery Corinna

My response:

1. Why did you write this poem? What were your personal reasons?

I wrote the poem in 1999 after reading another poem by Dollar Brand another African poet. Now I can’t remember what he wrote, but I can clearly remember why I wrote mine.

You see, in some parts of Nigeria, some people have taking English language to be a symbol of civilization and beyond that what makes one a full human being or a literate person or both. This opinion I did not share. But because of that perception, it becomes possible to stereotype some Nigerians whose pronunciation of certain English letters, seem to be wrong. For example, Hausa people in the north don’t have P , V and X in their letters, so most at times when they want to pronounce P, they actually pronounce F, for instance the word PEOPLE would be pronounced FEOFLE. This, makes Hausa speakers of English in Nigeria a laughing stoke by other Nigerians especially in the South. But, this does not mean that other Nigerians in the South, notably Yoruba and Ibo are any better. The Yorubas for example have problem when pronouncing A and H, somehow, the interchange them naturally. A Yoruba man will pronounce the word HEAD as EAD and the word HAND as AND, and so on and so forth. Our Ibo brothers have problem with pronunciation of the word THE, so they say DE instead of THE and the word MOTHER for example they pronounce it as MODA and so on and so forth.

Despite this, any person who cannot speak in English or read and write in English is seen by some as backward and illiterate, this is even if he can read and write in any other language. This is very annoying that some times I personally have to protest. For example, when people meet to celebrate weddings, at times English language is used as the language of communication, that prevents many from expressing their minds, so when I attend such gatherings I speak in Hausa language because that’s my language. That action always encourage other people to speak in the language without feeling bad.
In 1998, I went to the UK for an academic exchange program between my department (Geography) at the Bayero University Kano Nigeria and the School of African Studies at the University of Sussex , at Brighton . That was my first time of visiting Europe . It was during this visit that I realised that the English people are not worried about how I speak, whatever accent I have as long as I communicate, I also met other nationals who speak English in their accents, so I concluded that there is no English language, rather Englishes. So, why should any non native English speaker be more proud of the language than the native speakers. It therefore makes no sense to me that we take English language as a measure of success or civilization. My poem is therefore a reflection of these experiences.

It may surprise you to hear how my colleague and I suffered in a West African City of Abidjan from fellow Africans simply because we could not speak their colonial language of French. It was very annoying that I was coming from Kano in West Africa to Abidjan in the same region but my own brothers and sisters see me as different simply because I could not speak French. I have to tell them when they ask why that even the English language I was speaking was out of necessity, if I had chance, I would rather speak to them in Hausa which is the most widely spoken language in West Africa . It was shocking to see how the people of Abidjan takes the French language. That encounter led to the poem below.

ABIDJAN

Instead of staying for a while as transit
We were dumped by Bell view and rejected by Air Ivoire
In a land of elephants and lagoons
Of bare postcard breasts and fabulous women
A city where French language is sacred
And English could be seen as profane
Yet, Koumassi was pleasant with its baked chickens
And delicious Kef at Khamadi’s restaurant
The worshipers and the faithful abound
If not for those arrogant Air Ivoire women at the airport
Abidjan could have been a marvellous place


Grand Hotel, Bamako
(3:34pm) September 28, 2006.

2. What do you think about English and England ?

English language is today a global language. What was responsible for that include colonialism and neo-colonialism, imperialism and media. It dominates most languages in the world also because it is able to borrow and adapt new words and also because it is a language of business. But this does not make English the best language in the world, rather a powerful second language to millions. If I have choice, I would rather use my language in anything. Unfortunately, Nigeria was colonised by Britain and English is our official language, we were taught in it and we teach and do formal work in English at the detriment of our local languages. Still, English people and English speaking peoples have promoted their language through peaceful means and also through none peaceful means.

As for England , while there I visited London , Liverpool, Sven Sisters, Abury and the Stonehenge . So, I have seen their cities and country side, it is a beautiful country. I only feel that, Great Britain has not been fear to Africa , looking at what happened in the past and how things are happening today.
3. Are you proud of your mother tongue and what is your mother tongue ?

Of course yes Corinna. I am very proud of my mother tongue. Before I tell you more, I think I should first answer the other question attached to this. My mother tongue is Hausa. Hausa is a term used to describe a people and their language. A conservative estimate shows that there are over 40 million speakers of the language. It is the lingua franca of northern Nigeria and Southern Niger and is widely spoken in Benin , Burkina Faso , Ghana , Cameroon , Central Africa Republic , Chad , Sudan , Togo and Eritrea . It is the fastest growing literary language in Africa with over 200 women writing and publishing in the language. You can learn more about Hausa on the internet by searching through google.com and also from Deutsche Welle, where Hausa is one of the languages broadcast.

Now to my relationship with my mother tongue, I take my mother tongue so seriously that I was the only Social Science student learning Hausa language and literature at my first and second year during my undergraduate studies at the University. I was a member of the Hausa Cultural Society and rose to the rank of Secretary General. I ensure that I not only write in the language, but also promote its use. I have so far published 3 novels in Hausa language namely Idan So Cuta Ne, 1989 (literal: if love is a disease), Ummul-khairi, 1995 (mother of goodness) and Maza Gumbar Dutse, 2007 (Men are a cake of stone) and have finished the following which are now awaiting publishing Dukan Ruwa, 1988, Gumakan Zamani, 1992 and Son Zuciya Bacinta, 1987 (Hausa play). I personally teach my children to read and write in Hausa language and have been a leading Hausa author and promoter of Hausa literature. Very soon I would dedicate a blog to the teaching of Hausa language.

Well Corinna, this is what I am able to get for you. I hope it would be useful and hope you won’t mind if I share this with others on my blog in the near future. I wish you success and hope that we would keep in touch.
The poem, They can speak English is reproduced below:

They Can Speak English
(After Reading Dollar Brand's Western Influence)
red-eared mentogether brought us
to live as nations
their languageto us they introduced
with it we communicate officially
later we even think in it
mother tongues second classed
stereotyped
back benched
if you speak english
you are civilized
praised, recognizedand respected
but in england
my pronunciation they bother not
my grammar they care not
if only they could understand me
i communicated well
but why should a black-eared red-ear one
be so proud to speak english
even at the expense of mother tongue
be proud not because you speak english
be proud only if in your mother tongue
be it hausa ashante or berber
swahili masai or kwa zulu
sango ashante or arabic
you can think and
express your thought

July 23, 1999

Thursday, September 4, 2008

GLOBAL VILLAGE: What I mean!

What follows was a correspondence between me and a German High School Teacher over a poem of mine titled Global Village which was published in Across Cultures, a German High School English Text. Enjoy

Arne’s email

Dear Mister Adamu.

My name is Arne Opitz, I'm an English-teacher at an private school in germany. I'm very impressed by your poems especially by the "global village". If it is possible, I would use this poem in a class test next month. But there's a problem: there are several interpretations and several/different thoughts about the meaning of the poem by teachers of our school. I would be very pleased, if you are able to send me your interpretation of the poem so I could use this in the classtest. Many greetings Arne Opitz

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My response

Dear Arne,

I am so sorry to have taken this long to send you my interpretation of “Global Village” I was involved in organizing an annual convention of the Association of Nigerian Authors in my State, where I happen to be the Branch chairman, it is over now and here is my response.

I wrote Global Village in May 1999, as a result of a sudden realization that globalization is not just about making the world an easier place to communicate and interact, it is not about making nations to relate more closely or harmonizing world affairs in such a way that mankind would begin to feel a sense of belonging wherever he may be on the planet. I came to understand that Globalization is about other things that would in the end not necessarily be beneficial to the whole of mankind, but to some.
Now to the basics:

GLOBAL VILLAGE
though we are all humanwe are made to be differentby forces beyond our clout
Here, what I am trying to argue is the fact that although every human being on the planet is here not by choice but by design, we are created differently, what I mean here is the fact that we were created into different races and sexes. None of us decides of what race he or she was to be created, therefore, our making into different races and nations is a fate we all have to share as we do not have control over that. This is in the understanding that I belief in the existence of God the creator. Most importantly, we became also different based on where we are created and how our culture evolved. It then means that different people have different cultures and beliefs thus different world views. Despite all the differences we as humans and inhabitants of the planet earth share one common thing: Humanity!
yet they want remake usin a new image of their choicein a village too big to be safe
Despite the diversity in our world view, beliefs, culture and social backgrounds, some people (nations/countries/races/class) are now trying hard through various means (media, economy, politics, intimidation) to make everybody think and act like them. Everyone is now being influenced by some ideas and concepts, by decision made by some cliques and indeed every human being is becoming vulnerable to the decision of some countries (these countries are the economically and technologically more advanced). In this way, the whole world would one day become a super-state and countries may end up as local councils as any decision taken is binding on all nations and peoples.
the world they now calla single village in the globewith a big brother to match
The world as argued elsewhere is becoming a super State. I used Gorge Orwell’s concept of Big Brother used in his 1948 novel titled 1984. The idea here is countries like the United States is assuming a position of policing other countries, by so doing having a say on how countries are run politically. With their economic tools; The IMF and The World Bank, they dictate to countries (especially developing) how to manage their economies (whether the dictation is good to them or bad) as long as that in the end would benefit them (US & its allies). America has therefore become the Big Brother of the Global Village and as you know “The Big Brother is watching” always.
as long as we are second classwithin that large village fashionedwe should not be subjected tosomeone’s standardssomeone’s culturesomeone’s technologysomeone’s understandingsomeone’s world viewsomeone’s theories and concepts
Once developing countries accept the ideology of Globalization, they would definitely become susceptible to the ideas of these nations in such a way that their lives would be entirely dependent on whatever is decided for them. Developing countries would become second class citizens of the global village. Granted, developing nations may have to be within this village, if so, they should be allowed to be what they are or want to be, and must not be subjected to certain parameters set by others. For example, Developed countries should not imposed on the rest of the world what they things is good for them MUST also be good to others. They should not say for example their human rights standards must be so everywhere. They must not feel that their way of life is superior to that of other people and whosoever live contrary to their way is backwards. They must not insist that developing countries must modernize to be relevant, modernization comes in phases and developing countries should be allowed to follow those phases. Our world view and understanding may be related to our backgrounds, cultural and religious beliefs. Because of that, it is very impolite and unfair for someone born and bred in the occidental to begin to assess the way of life of some one in the oriental vis-visa. This is what bred intolerance and unnecessary labeling. Why should someone in the US for example tell a Muslim in Iran to be moderate, in essence, trying to re-interpret Islam to Muslims. Why should Israel refuse to abide by many UN resolutions and left unchallenged by the UN veto powers at the same time insisting that Iraq must abide by same UN resolutions and disarm or be face the consequences and insisting that the world must agree with this view as politically correct and civilized view. Finally concepts and theories may not necessarily have universal application, developing countries should not be “forced” to use theories conceived and develop elsewhere.
they try hard in harder waysto make us part of that villagebut we know we are differentand shall strive to leave outsidethat fashioned unsafe villageThe media is constantly being used to propagate to the world, the new worldview; the High Priests of this global village want to impose. People who resist this worldview are label as conservatives, terrorists, fundamentalists, racists, backward, dictators, enemies, and so on and so forth. People who accept the new worldview are seen and propagated as civilized, progressives, moderates, allies, friends, and so on.
Despite all the labeling, some principled peoples continue to resist any new world view or idea that is judged to deprive them of their identity. For example while some Muslim societies are viewed as Fundamentalists and uncivilized by some, an Egyptian intellectual Syed Qubt (now late) in his seminal book Milestones argued that any society that an Ignorant society takes the “form of a society in which belief in God is denied and human history explained in terms of `dialectical materialism’ and `scientific socialism’ becomes its system. Sometimes it appears in the form of a society, in which God’s existence is not denied, but His domain is restricted to the heavens and His rule on earth is suspended”. Qutb’s view is an alternative not a sole view, that is how other views must be weighted.

Finally, the poem is a protest against a single worldview and a hope that as diverse as human cultures are, so are their worldviews and understanding that is what would make the global village safe for everyone not its re-making in someone’s point of view.

Mr. Arne, this is a brief interpretation of the poem as I conceived it, however as I earlier wrote to you, the poem may have more meanings some of which I may agree with some of which I may not, but the final meaning rests with the reader as argued Robert Penn Warren “Every poem is in one sense a symbol, Its meaning is always more than it says to you-the writer, and more than it specifies directly to a reader”.

I hope you would be satisfied with the little explanation I am able to make, and as earlier requested, I would be pleased if you may wish to share with me the views and interpretations of the poem by other English teachers and your students, I would be glad. I look forward to hearing from you soonest.
Keep in touch.
Best wishes,

Dr. Yusuf Adamu

Note: Mr Arne had a ghastly motor accident, I am not sure if he survived it, but someone wrote to tell me so in 2005. I pray he made it. -Yusuf