THE NATIVE SONS OF NIGERIA

THE NATIVE SONS OF NIGERIA

The West African Examination Council, WAEC recently changed its literature syllabus. Among the newly introduced texts for African and non African prose are two important and interesting novels. Faceless is an African prose written by Amah Darko a Ghanaian author while Native Son is a non African prose written by Richard Wright an African American author.
However, both books deal with serious social issues which inspire this article.
While Faceless deals with vices ranging from broken home, sexual abuses, thuggery, street life and child labour among several others, Native Son deals with issues that are psychologically far worse than those aforementioned.

Native Son is the tragic story of Bigger Thomas, a poor, uneducated, twenty year old black man in 1930s Chicago, wakes up one morning in his family’s cramped apartment on the South Side of the city. Having grown up under the climate of harsh racial prejudice in 1930s America, Bigger is burdened with a powerful conviction that he has no control over his life and that he cannot aspire to anything other than menial, low-wage labour.
Anger, fear and frustration define Bigger’s daily existence as he’s forced to hide behind a facade of toughness or risk succumbing to despair.

After accepting to take up a driving job with a white rich family the Daltons who incidentally happened to be his landlord by quitting his robbery gang, he was to drive Mary Dalton the only child of the family to school on his first day on the job.
Mary is wayward and asked Bigger to drive her to meet her communist boyfriend, Jan Erlone. Eager to prove their progressive ideal and racial tolerance, Mary and Jan force Bigger to take them to a restaurant in the black settlement where the trio got drunk. Back home Mary was too drunk to make it to her room upstairs by herself and Bigger helped her but overcome by the power of alcohol and aroused by his unprecedented proximity to a young white woman, he began to kiss her and one thing led to the other Mary died accidentally due to suffocation when Bigger covered her face with a pillow to prevent her from making a sound that will give them away to her blind mother who entered the room.
Bigger on the other hand after burying the body in a fire place within the house decided to make profit from the development by writing a letter of kidnap demanding a ransom which was to be collected by his waiting girlfriend Bessie. Unfortunately, there was turn of events when the body was discovered unexpectedly and Bigger had to run away to inform Bessie of the new development but when he noticed Bessie’s reluctance he murdered her for her lack of cooperation.
Bigger is apprehended by the police and in the ensuing trial, Jan, despite the fact that Bigger tried to pin Mary’s death on him forgave him and got him the legal service of Max Boris who was also a communist party member.

Max tried to save Bigger from the death penalty by arguing that while his client (Bigger) is responsible for his crime, it important to recognise that he was a product of his environment.

Part of the blame for Bigger’s crimes belongs to the fearful, hopeless existence that he had experienced in a racist society since birth. Max warned that there will be more men like Bigger if America does not put an end to the vicious cycle of hatred and vengeance. Although, despite Max’s arguments, Bigger was sentenced to death by electrocution since he was not a traditional hero by any means.
However, Wright forces us to enter into Bigger’s mind and to understand the devastating effects of the social conditions in which he (Bigger) was raised. Bigger was not born a violent criminal. He is a “native son”: a product of American culture and the violence and racism that suffuse it.

This is the point, in Nigeria of today, there are many Bigger Thomases just like that of the 1930 America.
There is Bigger Thomas as human trafficker, Bigger Thomas as armed robber, Bigger Thomas as kidnapper or cultist. Bigger Thomas of cyber fraud, prostitute and child labour due to the poor and bad leadership that permeates African society and Nigeria as a case study.
Nigeria’s Bigger Thomases is not as a result of racism or racial discrimination and oppression but of class struggles and oppression which exist between the rich and the poor.

The Nigeria native sons are the ones you see by the roadsides picking items to sustain their bodies from hunger, they are the ones you see aimlessly roaming the streets without particular destination in mind. The Nigeria native sons are those mentally derailed individuals you meet on our public roads and places walking around naked who are supposed to be kept in an asylum.
They are the ones who attacked you in the nights to cart away your few valuables due to their failures and inabilities to handle the frustrations and aggressions of the Nigerian state and its agents.
The Nigeria native sons are those army of job seekers with no hope of greener pastures in sight.
These native sons are the people of low or second class citizens set against one another by the political class for their own selfish gain.
They are the humans subjected to inhuman treatments and strip of their selfhood and human dignity.
They are the ones you found under the bridge in the metropolis and other poverty infested ghettos.
The Nigeria native sons are originally not born violent persons or criminals, they are the products and creations of their socio-economic and political environment.

They are not foreigners or strangers, just like Bigger Thomas of the United States of America, they are native sons of Nigeria

By: OLA FALOLA M.

See also (copy this link and paste in your browser):

http://obasiafrica.blogspot.com/2015_12_06_archive.html

BLACKS IN THE BIBLE PART - 2

As promised in part 1, "In Part 2 of this article, we shall fast-forward to the time of the great flood (the flood of Noah) and look deep into the family that repopulated the earth after the flood.

BETWEEN 3740 B.C and 2500 B.C Continued.

Noah and His family repopulated the earth after the flood.

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Father Noah and his wife, Japhet, Ham and 

Shem with their wives.

Now this is where we are really going to start, since the flood had destroyed the entire population except this great family that later made up the entire nations of the world as currently constituted. It will therefore only make sense that we start here.

HAM: It is generally accepted that Ham is the father of the black race for many reasons we shall latter write write about, in that article we shall dive into the biblical trace and justification of slave trade and why it took place in Africa, but for now we will invest our energy on the topic, "BLACKS IN THE BIBLE".

In going through Ham one of the sons of Noah, we shall implore reveres genealogy method, i.e, we will start from our last known ancestor working forward towards us rather than the usual method of starting from us and working backwards towards our ancestors.

Now with Ham accepted as the father of the black race, these are his sons as indicated in Genesis 10:6 "And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan."

Now, we must understand the key🔑 to understanding this line of genealogy. The Bible does not identify people by race/color, rather, it talks about their family and their places of habitation.

Therefore, the KEY🗝 is in knowing their family and where they lived.

THE FOUR SONS OF HAM AND WHERE THEY LIVED

1. Mizraim  - (Egypt)

2. Cush - (Sudan, Ethiopia)

3. Put or Phut - (Lybia)

4. Canaan - (Palestine /Israel) The family of Canaan includes the Hivites, Jebusites, Arvadites, Girgashites, Amorites, Arkites, Sinites, Hittites, Sidonians, Perizzites and Emarites.

Now, here is the KEY🗝; Since we know that these tribes descended from Ham, then we should remember that wherever this names appears, we must think BLACK!

DESCENDANTS OF HAM #1.

Nimrod: Do you know that Nimrod was a descendant of Ham?

Genesis 10:9 "He was a mighty hunter before the Lord: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord."

Genesis 10:10 "And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar."

Babel: Do you remember the tower of babel? Where was it? What is the location now?

Are you wondering why this map? Are you asking if the Tower of Babel was in the location we currently know as IRAQ?  Yes your instinct was right, that place is currently somewhere in the Southern IRAQ.

Genesis 10:11-13: 

"11 Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah,

12 And Resen between Nineveh and Calah: the same is a great city.

13 And Mizraim begat Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim," 

14 And Pathrusim, and Casluhim, (out of whom came Philistim,) and Caphtorim.

15 ¶ And Canaan begat Sidon his firstborn, and Heth,

16 And the Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgasite,

Anytime anywhere you see these names, Think... BLACK.

Let us pay good attention to the Girgasite, because we are going to trace that line shortly in part 3 of this work. 

Genesis 10:17-18: 

"And the Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Sinite,

18 And the Arvadite, and the Zemarite, and the Hamathite: and afterward were the families of the Canaanites spread abroad".

Remember whenever you see these names, Think... BLACK.

Just to make sure we understand that these are the family of Ham, kindly take your studies to the account of  Genesis 10:19-20.

"19 And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as thou comest to Gerar, unto Gaza; as thou goest, unto Sodom, and Gomorrah, and Admah, and Zeboim, even unto Lasha.

20 These are the sons of Ham, after their families, after their tongues, in their countries, and in their nations".

In Part 3 of this article we shall look into father Abraham and his family, where they lived and whom they are married to through the linage of the Savior Jesus Christ our ultimate goal in this article.

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BLACKS IN THE BIBLE - Part 1.

Why this topic in the first place?

1. To help us develop a sense of help

2. So like others, we could see our natives in the Scriptures.

3. To clarify the confusion about race as presented my most christian churches.

So often the  depiction we see in the most biblical publication indicates white (except in the case of Satan), you see a white person in this or that situation and you seldom see people color and at times that caused the blacks to feel there is no place for them in the bible. Or in the extreme it makes them feel that the bible is simply another tool of colonization and perpetual slavery (of the mind) of the blacks in the guise of religion, thou such is not the case but more work needs to be done on the part of ALL to unravel this and this article seeks to achieve that.

WHO IS A "BLACK" PERSON?

11,608,000 Sq. Miles
 (30,065,000 Sq. Km)

Africa presents the most dynamic mix of colors we often group as "black".

*The blue-black people in Sudan.

*Chocolate brown in West Africa.

*Pecan color in Ethiopia

When we talk of "blacks", we talk of all or any of these variation.

APPLYING THE "ONE-DROP" RULE:

The one-drop rule was a social and legal principle of racial classification that was historically prominent in most western worlds in time past that asserts that any person with even one ancestor of sub-Saharan-African ancestry is considered a black.

Well, in this article, we will go beyond the "one-drop rule" to establish the black presence in the bible.

IN THE BEGINNING: we are all familiar with the story of the creation as presented in the bible.

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 3761 B.C

According to Jewish Tradition, this is the date Adam and Eve were created in the garden of Eden. 

And between 374 BC and 2500 BC Cain, Abel, Seth and daughters were born to Adam and Eve.

We know that Cain killed his brother Abel and was exiled to wonder in the eastern "land of Nod".

In Part 2 of this article, we shall fast-forward to the time of the great flood ( the flood of Noah) and look deep into the family that repopulated the earth after the flood.

Credit: Inspired by Darius Gray. 

keep visiting http://obasiafrica.blogspot.com/ for the Part 2 and more.

South Africa has granted diplomatic immunity to Zimbabwe's first lady, Grace Mugabe amid controversy

                                         President Robert Mugabe and His wife Grace

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa has granted diplomatic immunity to Zimbabwe's first lady, Grace Mugabe, allowing her to return to Harare and avoid prosecution for the alleged assault of a 20-year-old model, a security source said on Friday.

South African police had put border posts on "red alert" to prevent Mugabe fleeing and indicated she would receive no special treatment in the case involving Gabriella Engels, who says Mugabe whipped her with an electric extension cable.

A security source, however, said immunity had been granted. The source also said Grace Mugabe had failed to turn up at a Johannesburg court hearing on Tuesday, as agreed with police, because of concerns she could be attacked.

The alleged assault -- Engels said it occurred on Sunday evening as she waited with two friends in a luxury Johannesburg hotel suite to meet one of Mugabe's adult sons -- is a diplomatic nightmare for South Africa.

The country has a difficult relationship with its northern neighbour. It is home to an estimated three million Zimbabwean exiles who regard President Robert Mugabe as a dictator who has ruined what was once one of Africa's most promising democracies.

But although he is also widely reviled in the West, Mugabe is still seen by many Africans as the continent's elder statesman and a hero of its anti-colonial struggles.

A senior government source said on Friday there was "no way" Grace Mugabe, 52, would be arrested because of the diplomatic fallout that would ensue from Zimbabwe.

Indeed, the 93-year old president himself arrived two days early in Pretoria for a regional southern African summit this week to help resolve his wife's legal problems.

The government source accepted the view widely held by legal experts that Grace Mugabe was not entitled to immunity because she was in South Africa for medical treatment, and said the government was expecting her immunity to be challenged in court.

However, the source said Pretoria justified its decision because of other countries in southern Africa that supported South Africa's ruling ANC in the long struggle against apartheid would also see Grace Mugabe's prosecution as a betrayal.

"There would obviously be implications for our relations with Zimbabwe. Sadly the other countries in the region are watching us and how we are going to act," the source said, asking not to be named.

"What is likely to happen is that she will be allowed to go back home, and then we announce that we've granted diplomatic immunity and wait for somebody to challenge us."

South Africa's foreign ministry spokesman declined to comment when contacted by Reuters.

"DISGRACE"

Engels' mother Debbie, who released photographs of her daughter with gashes to her head requiring 14 stitches, said it would be "very sad" if Grace Mugabe was allowed to leave.

However, her daughter's legal team -- which includes Gerrie Nel, the prosecutor who secured a murder conviction against Olympic and Paralympic track star Oscar Pistorius -- would counter such a move, she said.

"Gerrie Nel and the team have contingency plans," she told Reuters, without elaborating. "They will run with it."

Afriforum, an Afrikaans rights group that Nel joined in January after quitting as a state prosecutor, said it would be illegal for Pretoria to give Mugabe immunity and branded the plans a "disgrace".

"The government has two responsibilities: one, to protect its own citizens and two, to act according to the law. And the granting of diplomatic immunity would transgress the law," chief executive Kallie Kriel said.

Harare has made no official comment on the saga and requests for comment from Zimbabwean government officials have gone unanswered. The South African government has restricted all official comment to the police ministry.

The Engels incident is not the first time Grace Mugabe -- who is lauded in official Zimbabwean media as "Mother of the Nation" - has been in legal hot water.

In 2009, a newspaper photographer in Hong Kong said Grace and her bodyguard had assaulted him. Police said the incident was reported but no charges were brought.

(Writing by Ed Cropley; Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)

source: Yahoo news.

3 Years Ago Dangote Was Worth $25 billion, But in March 2017 he is worth Half of That and Still He is the Riches Man in Africa, What is Wrong?

He is the owner of the largest cement producing company in Africa.

The Nigerian businessman Aliko Dangote was worth a cool $12.2 billion as of March 2017, according to Forbes.

Dangote's  fortune, which amounts to almost 3% of Nigeria's total GDP, has made  him the richest person in Africa by a huge margin.

That's pretty impressive, but it's almost a half of His worth in 2014, when he was worth a  fortune 

 $25 billion. So what happened? Why is he still the riches in the Continent? Where are others and

 what are they doing? Is something wrong?

Dangote's investments  span several African countries. He owns cement plants in Zambia, Senegal, Tanzania, and South Africa. And he is set to build a $12 billion oil refinery in Lagos Nigeria which will be opened in 2019.

The Perfect Picture of the Economy Under GEJ of the PDP and PMB of the APC. True or False?

                                PDP                                  APC

Which of These Cows Describes the ECONOMY under the current NPP and the Immediate Past NDC Government?

                          A                                                  B

Share your opinion with us.

Guess who their running mates will be in 2020

BREAKING: KENYA ELECTION ....... KENYANS NEED YOUR PRAYERS NOW...

Kenya opposition presidential candidate Raila Odinga has said the electoral commission's IT system has been hacked to manipulate the election results in favor of the seating presidnet , President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Mr. Odinga said the partial election results being released by the electoral commission was fake.

"They (results) are fictitious, they are fake," said Mr Odinga.

He further alleged early results from Tuesday's vote indicating a strong lead for President Uhuru Kenyatta was as a result of a system hack.

The electoral commission is yet to respond to Mr Odinga's accusation, but politicians and statesmen/women have called for calm.

It would be remembered that the election violence of 2007 which cost the lives not less than 1000 Kenyans and left over 700,000 displaced is still fresh in the minds of many affected families as well as every Kenyan and the world at large.

He (Mr Odinga) alleged that the hackers gained access to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) computer system by using the identity of the commission's IT manager, Chris Msando, who was allegedly ‘tortured to death’.

The opposition leader had earlier told journalists the results coming in were "fake", sighting the failure of the electoral mission to present documents, forms 34A and 34B from the polling stations, to verify the results.

Electoral officials say that with 91% of results in, Mr Kenyatta is leading with about 54.5%, to Mr Odinga's 44.6%.

These results mean Mr Kenyatta appears to be heading for a first-round victory. In order to avoid a run-off, a candidate needs 50% plus one of the votes cast and at least a 25% share of the vote in 24 of Kenya's 47 counties.

There were eight candidates in all, but apart from Mr Kenyatta and Mr Odinga the rest had not polled more than 0.3% of the vote.

http://obasiafrica.blogspot.com/2017/08/i-will-create-new-region-within-my.html

I will create new region within my first six months in office - Nana Addo

"New region will happen in my first six months of office" Nana Addo

Perhaps the NPP are using a completely different kind of calendar or mine is faulty.... Kindly help me out.
They are counting o our bad memories