TO SWAT OR NOT TO SWAT
The Odu Ọ̀YẸ̀KÚ Ọ̀KÀNRÀN appears for #ENDSWAT.
Listen:
It was the lopsided Òro pear
Who cast Ifa divination for Amomo,
Who at dawn proceeded to the farm;
They warned him
To be spiritually mindful
And offer sacrifices
To prevent unforeseen circumstances
That could lead to his sudden death
THE VOYAGE
About 30 years ago, I slept at the Murtala Muhammed Airport for four days.
No, I was not a homeless vagabond.
I had bought the Nigeria Airways ticket to fly to the United States for a one-year sabbatical leave.
But when I arrived at the airport, I realized that my ticket was not honored, though I had bought it legitimately.
Whenever a plane was about to leave Lagos for New York, the NA officials posted a manifest list, and my name was not there.
There is a revolution going on in Nigeria.
They called it, at first, #EndSARS.
Then it morphed into #endswat.
Like an arrow in flight, nobody knows where it is going.
The youth revolution in Nigeria has caught the entire country by surprise.
The youths of Nigeria are incredibly talented.
Nigerian youths have been handed nothing by my generation.
My generation is the generation of pythons.
My generation of pythons can swallow everything and anything up whole and alive.
But after a python swallows up its victim whole, it cannot move from the spot.
Nigeria is a killing field. Human life is cheaper than the lives of the flies that feed on the bodies of the citizens of the country slaughtered by the very security forces trained and paid to defend them.The youths of Nigeria have taken to the streets and are demanding an end to the senseless taking of innocent lives by national “security” forces.These youths must not allow anybody to hijack their activism and silence their voices.We were here before, but the voices of the people were hijacked and silenced.
The Heavy Secret
Sometimes some secrets
are just too heavy to carry.
When you load people
with a secret they cannot carry
they will drop it
and it will break
The Heavy Secret
Sometimes some secrets
are just too heavy to carry.
When you load people
with a secret they cannot carry
they will drop it
MAMA
Mother is a tree
with fruits, rooted in
Traditions of nurturing,
watered in the womb of affection
Her milk flows
down the hills of time
from one generation of love
to another recuperation of hope
THE ORANGE SELLER
This is my fruit
eat it while ripe.
The harvest season yields
oranges and apples that you
must first taste
with your naked eye
Artist: Moyo Okediji
Title: The Orange Seller
Rape?
That was the last thing on my mind although it was clear to me there was something amiss about Gina. I was lost for words. My body felt numb.
It was an experience I could not imagine as a man. All I could think of was how humiliating it must have felt for a person you didn’t want to pin you down and force entry into your body.
I sat there for a long time and could not utter a word. I could not find any statement of consolation to bring calm to Gina. She looked paralyzed. It seemed the best thing to do at the moment was not to say anything. Perhaps by not saying anything, I could pretend it did not happen.
YORÙBÁ DÌDE
Ọmọ Yorùbá ẹ dìde
Dìde, dìde, dìde.
Ẹyin Yorùbá ẹ dìde
Dìde, dìde, dìde.
Gbogbo Yorùbá ẹ dìde
Dìde, dìde, dìde.
Ọjọ́ ti pé, ẹ dìde
Dìde, dìde, dìde.
Ẹ má sùn mọ́, ẹ dìde
Dìde, dìde, dìde.
Iṣẹ́ ti yá, ẹ dìde
Dìde, dìde, dìde.
Èrù ò bà wá, ẹ dìde
Dìde, dìde, dìde.
Àyà ò fò wá, ẹ dìde
ENGLISHMAN IN BENIN CITY, 1981 (Part Thirty-One)
Gina did not look glad or relaxed. I could read it in her posture, without even getting close to her.
Rufus said, “Moyo, Gina is back!”
Steve hardly allowed the bus to stop properly before jumping down to run and hug her.
“Is that her?” Adolo asked Felicia rather softly.
“Yes,” Felicia responded. “That’s her.”
I got down slowly, and took my time locking up the door. Then I went to Gina. She looked down and didn’t meet my eyes. I thought, “She must be mad because she didn’t see us at her father’s funeral.”
YORUBA HISTORIOGRAPHY: FROM YORUBA RONU TO YORUBA DIDE
Hubert Ogunde did the opera “Yoruba Ronu” fifty years ago.
It means Yoruba, use your sense.
We are now beyond the stage of Yoruba Ronu.
We are now in the phase of Yoruba Dide.
Yoruba dide means Yoruba, stand up.
Let us begin with Yoruba historiography.