Happy Democracy Day

I dag er det en national helligdag, fordi nogle kloge hoveder i regeringen synes at vi skal hylde Nigerias… demokrati… What???

Naa men man hylder altsaa demokratiet i Nigeria. Jeg formoder at det er en dille de har hentet fra et eller andet smart magasin og taenkte at det kan aldrig goere befolkningen vrede med en ekstra fridag…

Demokrati-dag er i sig selv en god ide.. men jeg ser det som en hjaelp hvis man saa kunne lade praesidenten holde en visions/pro-demokratisk tale til befolkningen, men neeeej, ikke engang en banner kan ses paa denne hyldest dag…. de kunne i det mindste have lavet en eller anden form for reklametavle med definitionen af demokrati….

Jeg vil nu tage ud for at finde demokratiet.. vi snakkes ved… glaedelig demokrati-dag.

The African Queen

 

        Og her ser i saa skattekortet

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paa torsdag tager jeg ud paa et stoerre eventyr:

Ca. en times koersel uden for Lagos kan man finde resterne af en grav tilhoerende Bilikisu Sungbu i det tusind aar gamle kongerige Sungbo’s Eredo (Eredo= Grav). Sungbo’s Eredo blev opdaget i 1994, hvilket er temmelig sent taget i betragtning at kongeriget er tredive gange stoerre end Manhattan.

Det siges at byggestilen i nutidens nigerianske arkitektur stammer fra det stil der blev anvendt i Sungbo’s Eredo. Det er det bedst vedligeholdte eksempel der er fundet paa tusinde aar gamle bygninger i Nigeria og det meste af Vest afrika.

Arkitekturen er storslaaende da bygningerne stadig er staaende efter tusinde aar mangel paa vedligeholdelse midt i den sumpede jungle. Bygningerne er ny overgroede med traeer og mos, men skulle stadig vaere tydelige at se.

Fundet af Sungbo’s Eredo betragtes paa ligefod med fundet af pyramiderne i Egypten og endda med den store mur i Kina.

Man mener at Sungbo’s Eredo blev bygget til Bilikisu Sungbo, en rig, barnloes enke som oenskede monumentet i hendes kongerige.

Lokale legender hentyder at Sungbo var selve Dronningen af Sheba- som optraeder baade i Biblen og i Koranen som Solomon’s kone og hersker over Ethiopien. Nu skulle Dronningen af Sheba vaere ca. 3000 aar gammel, saa der er en lille tidsforskel paa ca. 2000 aar mellem disse to kvinder, saa der er nok ikke meget sandhed i legenderne… Paa trods af at det lyder meget imponerende.

Man mener at Sungbo’s Eredo blev placeret midt i junglen af forsvarsmaessige aarsager, da man kun kan se faa meter frem for sig i en regnskov. Og soldaterne benyttede derfor giftpile og snigangreb paa fjenden (hvilket jeg finder en del sejere end guns). Samtidig holdt terraenet befolkningen under kontrol, hvilket goer at riget kunne overleve laengere mod udefrakommende. Det menes ogsaa at riget blev holdt uforstyrret da folk fra aabne arealer var raed for junglen da deres lokale religioner digterede at junglen var hjemsted for onde aander. Det skulle ogsaa vaere derfor (en anden tiltraekkende faktor til besoege omraadet) at man har fundet tusindevis af skeletter ved ydremurene af byen omkring templet- De skulle holde aanderne vaek fra byen.

Indtil videre er der kun en mand som har studeret dette kongerige, og jeg undrer mig over hvorfor der ikke er flere arkaeologer som har faaet interesse for denne skjulte skat… Saa Onkel Jens, her er en opfordring til at feje stoevet af gummustoevlerne, komme ud af det museum og slaa et smut forbi Nigerias jungle- Hvem ved, maaske dine venner vil finde dig lidt mere interessant hvis du faar nogle nye historier at fortaelle (Jeg siger ikke at Vikingerne er kedelige)  

Saa paa torsdag gaar skattejagten igang.. noej hvor jeg glaeder mig

Politisk korrekthed er et andet ord for populisme

I dag fik jeg tilsendt denne artikel fra Reuters.

Den er lidt for interessant til at jeg kan holde den for mig selv

 

 

“An interesting reflection on, and a wake-up call for, social and political organization in the cultures of Africa, published in the Nigerian Daily Trust newspaper.
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I Agree with Dr Watson – by Idang Alibi

 

A few days ago, the Nobel Laureate, Dr James Watson, made a remark that is now generating worldwide uproar, especially among the blacks. He said what to me looks like a self-evident truth. He told The Sunday Times of London in an interview that in his humble opinion, black people are less intelligent than the White people.
 
Since then, some of us cannot hear anything else but the outrage of black people who feel demeaned by what Watson has said. So many people have called the man names. To be expected, some have said he is a racist. Some even wonder how a “foolish” man like Watson could have won the Nobel Prize. Even white people who, deep in their heart, agree with Watson want to be politically, correct so they condemn the man. Why are we blacks becoming so reactive, so sensitive to any remarks, no matter how well-meaning, about our failure as a race? Why are we becoming like the Jews who see every accusation as a manifestation of anti-Semitism? I do not know what constitutes intelligence. I leave that to our so-called scholars. But I do know that in terms of organizing society for the benefit of the people living in it, we blacks have not shown any intelligence in that direction at all. I am so ashamed of this and sometimes feel that I ought to have belonged to another race. Nigeria my dear country is a prime example of the inferiority of the black race when compared to other races. Let somebody please tell me whether it is a manifestation of intelligence if a people cannot organise a free, fair and credible election to choose who will lead them. Is it intelligence that we cannot provide simple pipe-borne water for the people? Our public school system has virtually collapsed. Is that a sign of intelligence? Our roads are impassable. In spite of the numerous sources that nature has made available to us to tap for energy to run our industries and homes, we have no steady supply of electricity. Yet electricity is the bedrock of industrialisation. When you agree with the school of Watson, some say you are incorrect because all these failures are a result of poor leadership. Why must it be us blacks who must always suffer poor leadership? Is that not a manifestation of unintelligence?

 

In the name of international trade, bilateral co-operation, globalisation and other subterfuges, the norm in the world today is for smart people to appropriate the wealth of other people for themselves and their countries. But more among the blacks than any other race, the practice is to steal from their own country and salt away to other people’s country. Is it intelligence that our leaders steal billions of naira and hide in other people’s country? Anywhere in the world today where you have a concentration of black people among other races, the poorest, the least educated, the least achieving, and the most violent group among those races will be the blacks. When indices of underdevelopment are given, black people and countries are sure to occupy the bottom of the ladder. If we are intelligent, why do we not carry first when statistics of development are given?
Look at the African continent. South Africa is the most developed country because of the presence of whites there. This may be an uncomfortable truth for many of us but it exists nevertheless. If the whites had been driven away after independence, we would have seen a steady decline of that country.
 
In terms of natural endowment, Africa ought to be the richest of the continents but see the mess we have made of the potential for greatness which God in his infinite wisdom has bestowed upon us. We have proved totally incapable of harnessing the abundant natural resources to become great. Today, there is a renewed scramble for the wealth of Africa. China, our new “friend”, does not bother about the genocide against fellow blacks in the Sudan by the Arabs who control the affairs of that country. They say they do not want to interfere in the internal affairs of any country. All they want is the oil in Sudan to run their industries. Yet, we blacks have not seen the Chinese action as an affront to our sensitivities. Every race takes us for granted because we are so weak and so foolish, if you permit me to say it.
 
I am really pained by our gross underachievement as a race. Instead of regarding bitter truths expressed by the likes of Watson as a wake-up call for us to engage in sober reflection, we take to the expression of woolly sentiment. For me, this type of reaction is a further evidence of our unintelligence. A man of intelligence recognises genuine criticism against him and takes steps to improve himself in order to prove his critics wrong. But for us blacks, our reaction is to abuse the man who expresses worries about our backwardness.
Other races are deeply worried about us because we are a problem to the world. We suffer from the five Ds: disorderliness, debts, diseases, deaths and disasters. Our disorderliness affects others or else they won’t be too bothered about us. Many are afraid because our diseases could infect them. Polio has been eradicated all over the world yet it is still found in Nigeria here. When they give us money to help us eradicate it, our thieving officials will embezzle the money; the virus will spread and endanger the health of not only our people but other people as well.
 
Out of a shared sense of humanity, some cannot bear to see how we die in thousands almost every day from clearly preventable diseases and causes. For years now, our people die extremely painful but perfectly preventable deaths from buildings which collapse because they were poorly constructed. How can you tell me we are as intelligent as others when we set traps for ourselves in the name of houses and others do not do so? Some people are extremely frustrated about us. If they have a way of avoiding us, they will be too glad to do so because we are a problem.

As I write this, I do so with great pains in my heart because I know that God has given intelligence in equal measure to all his children irrespective of the colour of their skin. The problem with us black people is that we have refused to use our intelligence to organize ourselves socially and politically. It should worry us that we do not invent things. We do not go to the moon. Our societies are not well-organised. We have the shortest lifespan of all the races. Something must be wrong with us. Why are we not like others? Our scholars will be quick to say that these are not the only ways of measuring intelligence. They will quote other scholars to adumbrate their point, but the fact remains that we are not showing intelligence. Others are showing it more than we’re doing. If they are not more intelligent than we are, let someone tell me how to put it. God himself must be frustrated with his black children. They must be an embarrassment to him. He has given us everything he has given to other of his children; why are his black children not manifesting their own gift?

 

A few years ago, the whites used to contemptuously call the Japanese “little Japs”. Today, the Japanese and other Asians have pulled themselves up by the bootstrap and have arrived. No one speaks of the Japanese or Asians with contempt anymore. When people like Watson speak about us in unedifying terms, we should take it as a challenge to prove them wrong by sitting down to plan how we can become world-beaters. If our political leaders are the reason for our backwardness, we should resolve to get the kind of leaders who will be instrument for our rapid progress. I may not know how intelligence is measured but my limited knowledge of intelligence is that it can also be measured by the kind of leaders a people decide to have. If, for instance, our professors preside over the massive rigging of elections, it means that we do not have very intelligent professors. Such rigged elections will no doubt produce unintelligent leaders. Such unintelligent leaders will do stupid things which will prove that we are not as intelligent as other races.

 

Do I sound confusing or intelligent?

I am ready for some of our ‘patriotic’ intellectuals who will write and abuse me for the ‘outrage’ I have expressed here but I stick to my guns: we lack intelligence and as stated in the Bible, anyone who lacks intelligence should cry unto God who is the custodian of wisdom to bestow some upon him. We should go on our knees today and ask God why we do not appear as intelligent as our other brothers. I am confident God will reveal to us what we must do, and urgently too, to change our terribly unflattering circumstances.”

 

 

 

Jeg tror vi alle har hoert om Dr. Watson foer, og vi ved vist ogsaa alle at han er kendt for at vaere en kontroversiel figur med sine sex og race forskning.

Og hvis vi saa lige kigger paa hvad Dr. Watson egentlig sagde: kort sagt siger han at lige intelligens er en illusion. At det er en fejl naar vestens politik rettet mod afrika er ud fra en forstaaelse af at “sorte” har den samme forstand som “hvide” naar forskning antyder at dette ikke er tilfaeldet. Han siger at det ligger i generne at de “sorte” er mindre intelligente end “hvide” og det vil ikke tage mindre end et aarti for forskere at bevise dette. Menneskeheden oensker lighed i forstand som en universiel arv hos alle mennesker- men dette oenske betyder ikke at det er tilfaeldet.

her kan i laese hvad jeg har citeret Dr. watson for. 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/fury-at-dna-pioneers-theory-africans-are-less-intelligent-than-westerners-394898.html

Og her gik jeg og troede at det var at krydse alle graenser at ytre meninger tilnaermelsesvis i den retning, men naar det er sagt af nigerias egen mand vaekker det i hoejere grad opsigt og jeg tygger lige paa det en ekstra gang…. Haaber i vil goere det samme.

Asa [Asha]

 

 

 

“Jeg er i laenker, du er ogsaa i laenker. Jeg er i uniform, du er ogsaa i uniform. Jeg er en fange, du er ogsaa en fange Hr. Faengsler… Jeg taler til dig Faengsler, hold op med at kalde mig en fange. lad ham foruden synd kaste den foerste sten Hr. Faengsler… Du undertrykker mine strategier. Du er imod alt jeg staar for. Hvad du ikke ved, er at du ogsaa er et offer Hr. Faengsler… Du er ligeglad med mine synspunkter. Hvis jeg doer vil en anden arbejde for dig i stedet, saa du behandler mig som en moderne slave Hr. Faengsler…”

Sangen som repraesenterer den nigerianske befolkning. Nigerianerne har ikke megen indflydelse paa deres land, og regeringen repraesenterer ikke dens befolkning. Regeringen er ikke til for befolkningen, men befolkningen er regeringens “moderne slaver”. Det ovenstaaende citat har jeg hentet fra musikeren Asa [Asha].

Asa (udtalt Asha) er en nigeriansk kvinde som voksede op i Lagos. Hun levede et liv som en typisk nigeriansk pige med huspligter og koensundertrykkelse. Hun forlod Lagos for at forfoelge sine droemme om at blive musiker. Og det er gaaet hende godt. Hun har faaet et stort publikum i Frankrig, England og Tyskland og er hoejtelsket i hjemlandet Nigeria.

Hendes musik beskriver det nigerianske liv. Hun hylder moderens udholdenhed i et oedelagt aegteskab, hun raaber “vaagn op verden, og se at afrika braender” og hun fordoemmer den regering som har fejlet i at pleje sin befolkning.

Asa [asha] synger ikke paa traditionel nigeriansk viis, men med en dyb soul stemme. Hendes lyrik foregaar paa engelsk og Yoruba som er det lokale sprog der tales i Lagos, men paa troda af at dele af hendes tekster er uforstaaelige for mange forstaar hun alligevel at faa sit budskab igennem med sin staerke og foelelsesladede stemme.

Asa’s musik er tidsloes og universiel, hun har formaaet at fange den nigerianske lytter og har faaet et internationalt gennembrud med hendes debutalbum. Og jeg har forelsket mig saa dybt i hendes musik at jeg vil goere lidt reklame for hende her paa min blog.

 

 

Why not?

Why Not hedder stedet. Det er her man kommer hvis man vil have sex. Saadan lyder genereliseringen, men komceptet holder stadig. Why Not er en natklub paa Victoria Island der er (I hoejere grad end resten af klubberne her) kendt for at vaere vaert for mange nigerianske prostituerede og mange udelandske maend.

Og det er et nigeriansk koncept. Du finder ikke bordeller her, men natklubber er her nok af, og alle som har vaeret her blot et par maaneder ved i hvilke barer “the mosquitos” holder til. Mosquitos er oegenavnet der er givet til de piger som prostituerer sig selv i disse barer.

Pigerne forsoeger alt fra at tjene lidt kontanter til at faa byttet til at forelske sig i dem saa de kan flytte til en rigere tilvaerelse. Nu kalder jeg maendene som falder for pigernes dagsordner for byttet, hvilket nok ikke er helt korrekt. Lad mig tegne et billede af byttet; Der er ham vi alle ser for os: gammel, gusten mand som ikke kan vente paa at saette taenderne i noget ungt koed, der er den midaldrende mand med kone og boern hos sig i Lagos og der er den unge succesrige mand med kaereste i hjemlandet. Jeg tror naeppe at nogen af disse typer er bytte for ”the mosquitos”. Hvis de er bytte for noget er det deres mangel paa at kontrollere deres sexdrift- og mangel paa takt.

Og saa igen, er jeg i en position hvor jeg har ret til at doemme de som gaar til prostituerede? Hvis det var Danmark saa ja, da -paa trods af manglende straffelov paa omraadet- vi i hoej grad har et moralsk kodeks for ‘how low you can go” naar det gaelder hvem man kan tillade sig at have samleje med. Men her i Lagos er det anderledes. Det er ikke nemt for en udlaending at gaa ud og finde sig en ”knaldperle” for en aften da pigerne i Nigeria ofte ikke har nogen egenindkomst og derfor ser den hvide mand som en potentiel pengeautomat. Det er et simpelt regnestykke: liderlig mand + fattig pige = sex med prostitueret, og alle som kommer paa Why Not kender dette regnestykke.

Jeg har reduceret mange venskaber til koelige bekendskaber ved ikke at acceptere at det er bare saadan tingene fungerer her. Hvad driver en pige til at lade sig penetrere af en fremmed mand? Noget af det kvinder frygter mest er voldtaegt. At voldtage er at kraenke kvinden og aendre foelelsen af intimitet og kaerlighed ved samleje som er det taetteste man kan kan vaere paa sin partner til at goere det til noget afskyeligt… og til et overgreb. Da det er aabenlyst at det er desperation som driver pigerne til at saelge deres kroppe til fremmede, ser jeg det som graatonet voldtaegt disse maend begaar.

Kan jeg med dette synspunkt retfaerdiggoere at vaere venner med maend som jaevnligt begaar overgreb paa traengte piger fordi de bliver liderlige naar de bliver fulde? Og lad os vaere realistiske her- de er ikke kommet for at finde deres afrikanske dronning. Alkohol goer mange liderlige- alkohol goer mig aerlig, og jeg har haft mange diskussioner med bekendte over dette emne og kan deraf konkludere at jeg er en ung idealist som kommer hertil og tror at jeg kan redde verden, og det kan jeg bare ikke- so mind my own business.

TIA