Achebe Family Mourns Nadine Gordimer

*Nadine Gordimer 
(pix:southafrica.usembassy)

The family of late literary icon, Prof Chinua Achebe, has joined the rest of the world to mourn Nadine Godimer, a leading South African writer and Nobel Laureate, who passed away in Johannesburg on July 13, 2014, at the age of  90. In a statement issued on July 20 and signed by Professor Christie Chinwe Achebe for the Chinua Achebe Family and Estate, the Achebe family  said it was joining "the world in mourning the passing of Nadine Gordimer" whom it described as a "precious friend, great supporter of African arts and letters [and] an elegant soul..." 

President Jonathan To Buhari: You Have No Moral Right To Be So Carelessly Sanctimonious

“General Buhari talks about anarchy. He needs to be reminded that President Jonathan from his humble beginnings as a Deputy Governor in Bayelsa state to date, has never in his acts, or utterances, recommended or promoted violence as a tool of political negotiation… Also, President Jonathan has never at any time ordered that any Nigerian should be kidnapped or that anyone should be crated and forcefully transported in violation of decent norms of governance. We therefore urge General Buhari to tarry a while, ponder over his own antecedents and do a reality check as to whether he has the moral right to be so carelessly sanctimonious.”   - President Jonathan

STATE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE

Don't Blame Me For Your Party's Self-Inflicted Woes 

- President Jonathan Tells Buhari

We have noted with much surprise and regret, the statement issued by General Muhammadu Buhari today in which he made some wild and totally unsustainable allegations against President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.

President Jonathan 

Although he tries very hard to deny it in the statement titled “Pull Nigeria Back From the Brink”, there can be no doubt that General Buhari has sadly moved away from the patriotic and statesmanlike position he recently adopted on national security, which President Jonathan publicly commended, and has now reverted to unbridled political partisanship.

There can be no other explanation or justification for the completely unwarranted and very uncharitable assault on the conduct and integrity of President Jonathan which the statement he issued today represents.

British Expert On Terrorist Group Boko Haram To Open 2014 Achebe Colloquium

Chinua Achebe

The 2014 Achebe Colloquium on Africa] — African Literature as Restoration: Chinua Achebe as Teacher will be held at Brown University, from May 1-3, 2014. 

An International gathering of scholars, artists, musicians, writers, and officials will gather at Brown University May 1-3, 2014, to discuss and celebrate the cultural contributions of Chinua Achebe, the late Nigerian novelist and the David and Marianna Fisher University Professor and professor of Africana studies at Brown, who died in March 2013 at the age of 82. Achebe started the colloquium in 2009 to bring attention to issues affecting Africa.

On Thursday May 1, 2014, Elizabeth Donnelly, Assistant Head and Research Fellow, Africa Program, Chatham House, - The Royal Institute of International Affairs - London, Great Britain; will deliver the opening address at the Colloquium. Her talk will “focus on Boko Haram -what is known, what is not known, and the implications and what can be done.”  The event begins at 5:30 p.m. 

Chinua Achebe Colloquium To Explore African Literature

The 2014 Achebe Colloquium on Africa will bring together an international group of academics, activists, African government officials, and writers to examine the impact of the late Chinua Achebe’s writings on modern African literature. The colloquium will be held at Brown University Thursday, May 1, through Saturday, May 3, 2014.

*Achebe 

The 2014 Achebe Colloquium on Africa will be held at Brown University Thrusday, May 1, through Saturday, May 3, 2014, in List Art Center auditorium, 64 College St.

The Achebe Colloquium on Africa brings together an international group of academics, activists, African government officials, and writers for three days of intense examination of the impact of the late Chinua Achebe’s writings on modern African literature. The event is free and open to the public, but space is limited and registration is required.

This year’s colloquium, titled “African Literature as Restoration: Chinua Achebe as Teacher,” will center around the life and legacy of the late novelist. Achebe, the acclaimed Nigerian novelist and the David and Marianna Fisher University Professor and professor of Africana studies at Brown,died in March 2013 at the age of 82. Achebe started the colloquium in 2009 to bring attention to issues affecting Africa.

The Child, the Youth and the Country, Nigeria

 By Carllister Ejinkeonye

 When I saluted Nigeria on the occasion of her 53rd Independence celebrations last October, I was not too sure that my greeting rang out with joy and optimism. I, however, feel that an occasion like that, largely received with mixed feelings across the country, presents a wonderful opportunity to deeply reflect on Nigeria and share my very frank feelings about it. 

*Mrs. Ejinkeonye 

I have been around for close to half a century now. From the experiences that came with those years, my environment and the many occurrences we have witnessed in my beloved country, I find it difficult to agree with the dictionary definition of the word INDEPENDENCE as freedom from political control by other countries or as the freedom to organize one’s life, make one’s own decisions and plans without the interference of other people. Truly speaking, it would appear I even became more confused about the word when a couple of months ago when I was reminded that Nigeria had attained 53years as an independent country. As I tried to make calls, I heard a recorded voice scream melodiously into my ears: ‘God Bless Nigeria!’ Now, I am forced to wonder: how would a man feel, if after 53 solid years,  he sits down to take a stock of his life, and all he discovers are that his woes far exceed his joys, his disappointments overwhelm his achievements and his failures swallow his modest  success? Certainly, he would immediately become miserable; in fact, his misery would be worse than that of a captive. Now, at 53, how free is Nigeria?  Think about it.

I am not here to merely enumerate and analyze the woes, disappointments, failures, or even seeming joys, assumed peace and what have you, which our ‘FREE’ nation boasts itself of. (Well, so much of that flood our newspapers daily.) I only wish to call our attention to a particular group of people which this self-styled giant of Africa, NIGERIA, has been most unfair to.

I discovered that on Saturday, 12 October 2013, at about 3:30am, I was just rolling on my bed. Soon, these words were dropped on my heart: ‘The Child, The Youth and the Country, Nigeria.’  As I struggled with this, every bit of sleep departed from my eyes, forcing me to stand up to write down this burden of my heart, which I am quite sure, is also the burden of many well meaning Nigerians.

Pastor Kumuyi Is Right: Christmas Is Idolatrous

By Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye

The recent statement by the General Superintendent of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry, Pastor W.F. Kumuyi, that Christmas is idolatrous has attracted widespread reactions.  Pastor Kumuyi was quoted in the Punch newspaper of December 13, 2013, as saying: 

 

*Pastor Kumuyi

“We don’t celebrate Christmas. It actually came from idolatrous background. That is why you don’t hear us sing what they call Christmas carol. Never! ... When you find anybody coming in, or any leader, trying to introduce the idolatry of mystery Babylon that they call Christmas, and you want to bring all the Christmas carol saying that is the day that Jesus was born, and you don’t find that in the Acts of the Apostles or in the early church, then you don’t find that in the church either.  If you don’t know that before, now you know.”

 These are indeed weighty, unsettling words on a widely cherished festival. The reactions they immediately stirred were, therefore, to be expected. However, it was a very courageous assertion by Pastor Kumuyi and I would love to pitch my tent with those who insist that he is right, and that those attacking him are either doing so out of sheer lack of adequate information on the matter or, worse, unwittingly betraying their reluctance to let go of a cherished idol.

Now, despite the din, pomp and fanfare that usually mark this annual December 25 ceremony called Christmas, I have for many years now excused myself from everything that has to do with it. In my household it is just like any other day. And the reason is quite simple: I do not believe that December 25 is the birthday of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. In fact, what my research has shown is that, just like Easter before it, Christmas is rooted in hideous idolatrous observances and, in fact, predates the coming of Christ to this world in human form.

One of the vehement opposers of Pastor Kumuyi’s statement (as contained in the same Punch report) is the Director of Social Communications, Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos, Monsignor Gabriel Osu.

Hear him: “I don’t know what he means by saying the practice of celebrating Christmas is wrong. Is he saying that Christ wasn’t born? That he didn’t come to die for us? Does he not celebrate his own birthday …The celebration of Christmas didn’t just start today; it is too public an event for anyone to say that they don’t know what it is about… Christ came to redeem us from our lost state; this was actualised through his coming, his birth; that is why we celebrate Christmas… Kumuyi is just saying what he feels; he is not making any doctrinal statement.”

Quite a passionate reply, one would say. However, as a Roman Catholic cleric, Monsignor Osu may wish to look at the 1911 edition of the Catholic Encyclopaedia which states that “Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the church … the first evidence of the feast is from Egypt.” 

Also, even before the New Testament Church was fully formed, Easter was mentioned in the Bible as feast already in existence, showing that it was not ordained by the Apostles of Jesus Christ to mark His death and resurrection (Acts 12: 4).

No doubt, what we today know as Christmas is one of the prominent, irremediably polluted children that emerged from the very ungodly marriage between a distorted and depreciated form of Christianity and (Roman) paganism which crept into the Church many years after the death of the Apostles of Christ and the genuine Christians that took over from them. 

Although the pagan worship of the SUN god had gained prominence in several parts of the world long before the birth of Christ, and had permeated and gained wide acceptance in imperial Rome, it was Emperor Constantine’s Edict in 321 AD which ordered the unification of the mostly apostate Christians and the pagans of that period in the clearly abominable observance of the “the venerable day of the Sun” that increased the influence of Christmas celebration in the Roman church. What has, however, become clear, judging from historical accounts, is that Emperor Constantine may not have truly become a Christian.

Obasanjo: A Hypocrite And His Epistle

By Ikechukwu Amaechi 

If I know Nigeria’s former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, well, he will be beside himself now with joy. He has done what he knows how best to do – monkey business. He is a master in the game of mischief and I will not be surprised if some Nigerians hail him over his letter to President Goodluck Jonathan.

 

 *Amaechi

Obasanjo’s Letter To Jonathan — Some Observations 2

OBJ’s letter to GEJ—some observations 2

By Chinweizu

14dec2013

sundoor999@gmail.com

1] Former President Obasanjo, OBJ, is a general. Like a good general he is trying to defend a city under siege by launching a diversionary attack elsewhere, to draw the besieging troops off to defend the target of his diversionary attack and give himself respite to defend his city. That’s a military strategy that’s been in use for thousands of years.

 

 *Presdent Jonathan

I think that’s the strategic objective of his 18 page letter to President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GEJ.

OBJ is a diehard defender of the Nigerian status quo, of which he has been a major lifelong beneficiary. This National Dialogue/Conference debate is directing serious attack on the 1999 Constitution and the status quo that is based on it. Presumably, being doubtful that the system can withstand this siege, OBJ has launched this diversionary attack on corruption, which he believes will capture the attention of the, supposedly, gullible Nigerian public and divert them from the issue of the SNC and a new People’s Constitution. We must resist the temptation to follow him and change the conversation to corruption from the issue of the SNC and a new Constitution.

Open Letter To Junaid Mohammed And His Fellow Shariyalanders--Re 2015 Bloodshed And Civil War

   



By Chinweizu

Sundoor999@gmail.com

December 6, 2013

-----------------------------------

2015: There’ll be bloodshed, if Jonathan runs, warns Junaid Mohammed

http://sunnewsonline.com/new/cover/2015-therell-bloodshed-jonathan-runs-warns-junaidmohammed/

Our Reporter December 1, 2013

--------------------

‘Supporters of SNC asking for civil war’—Junaid Mohammed

http://www.punchng.com/news/supporters-of-snc-asking-for-civil-war/

(Accessed December 6th, 2013)

-------------------------------------------------

Here is my three-point rejoinder to Junaid Mohammed and his threats:

1] The issue isn’t whether or not President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GEJ, runs in 2015 (that is his personal affair and his constitutional right) or whether or not there will be bloodshed if he does; the issue is whether there should be any further elections under the fraudulent 1999 constitution. That “constitution” is a self-interested creation of Northern generals, for the parochial interest of Shariyaland. Many genuine Nigerians hold that any future elections mustbe under a new constitution created by a transparent democratic process and approved by the people through a referendum. That is what the two-decades-long Sovereign National Conference, SNC, campaign has been about, and it is what will be decided through the ongoing National Dialogue/Conference process. In any case, there is already bloodshed--Boko Haram bloodshed, bloodshed by rampaging Fulani cattle herdsmen--all sponsored by the Caliphate bigwigs on whose behalf Junaid is speaking and making these threats.

The Obituary Walter Sisulu Wrote For Nelson Mandela

Towards the end of his own life, Walter Sisulu, Nelson Mandela's fellow freedom fighter and friend, wrote this very moving obituary for Mandela. Although, Sisulu died before it could be published, it is, no doubt, a great tribute to Mandela's life and struggles...

  -------------------------------------------------

"Thank You For Your Life, My Friend"

By Walter Sisulu

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nelson Mandela And Walter Sisulu In 1990

 

As he rests in his eternal sleep, I am certain of one thing: that Madiba's face is enveloped in a gentle, enduring smile. No, not the broad, beaming smile we are accustomed to. Not the one so full of warmth that one felt bathed in sunshine. Rather, the quiet smile, reflective, born out of looking over his life and times; a smile tinged with a hint of mischievousness for having beaten the odds, cheated the hangman and knowing he had helped make South Africa and the world a better place. Overarching his life of struggle, hardship, humiliation, pain and suffering there must be the sense of fulfilment that he has left an indelible footprint in the service of humankind.

His is a life that touched millions not only in South Africa, not only in our continent of Africa, but throughout the world. For the greater part of his life he was a beacon of the struggle.
In his later years he became the symbol of hope. In death he stands confirmed as the embodiment of humanity's hope for the future.

Nelson Mandela: Bill Clinton's Tribute

*Mandela And Clinton (BBC)

Former US President Shares 

Memories About Mandela(BBC)

Nelson Mandela Dies At 95

*Mandela: Time To Say Goodbye

One of the world’s most respected statesmen and former South African President, Nelson Mandela, is dead. He died on Wednesday, December 5, 2013, at about 20.50 pm, surrounded by his family. He was aged 95.

In a broadcast shortly after his death, South African President, Jacob Zuma, announced to South Africans: “Our nation has lost its greatest son; our people have lost a father”

Below Is The Full Text Of Mr. Zuma’s Statement:

“Fellow South Africans. Our beloved Nelson Mandela, the founding president of our democratic nation has departed.

“He passed on peacefully. Our people have lost a father. Although we knew that this day would come, nothing can diminish our sense of a profound and enduring loss.

“His tireless struggle for freedom, earned him the respect of the world. His humility, his compassion and his humanity earned him their love

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the Mandela family. To them we owe a debt of gratitude.

“They have sacrificed much and endured much so that our people could be free.

“Our thoughts are with the SA people who today mourn the loss of the one person who more than any other came to embody their sense of a common nationhood.

Opening Frontiers To The Future

eLearning Africa 2014 Call For Proposals Now Open

Many African countries are undergoing an economic boom, with ICTs seen as a major tool supporting growth. While Internet penetration rates remain low, innovative technologies are helping to ensure connectivity for more Africans than ever before.

The buoyancy in the African eLearning market is yet another sign that the potential of this diverse Continent is already being realised. There are, however, major challenges ahead. Inflated trade tariffs and restrictive border controls between many African countries, for example, are stifling intra-African trade and collaboration, frequently presenting an all-too-physical barrier to continued, sustainable growth.

Out of this environment of challenge and opportunity, eLearning Africa has announced a Call for Proposals, inviting participants from across Africa and the world to submit their ideas, innovations and research, under the main theme of “Opening Frontiers to the Future”.

UN Celebrates Chinua Achebe

A Celebration and Tribute On The Occasion Of The Birthday Of The Late
Chinua Achebe

Music, Film, Readings And Recollections By Family And Friends

Friday, November 15th 2013, 1:30-2:30pm
 Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium
United Nations Headquarters
New York, NY

(Entrance on 47th Street and 1st Avenue)

 

Please RSVP here to reserve your seat or contact
darrel.holnes@rutgers.edu

This event is co-sponsored by
the United Nations SRC Society of Writers,
the United Nations SRC Film Society,
and the Rutgers University Writers House

Ghanaian President To Deliver The First Chinua Achebe Leadership Forum Lecture

President John Dramani Mahama Of Ghana To deliver The First Chinua Achebe Leadership Forum Lecture At Bard College, December 10, 2013

*Chinua Achebe 

The Chinua Achebe Foundation is pleased to announce that on December 10, 2013, at Bard College, New York, President John Dramani Mahama of the Republic of Ghana will deliver the first Chinua Achebe Leadership Forum Lecture.

The Chinua Achebe Leadership Forum is being organized as a high profile international platform to discuss Africa's challenges in keeping with Professor Chinua Achebe’s life’s work. The theme for the gathering this year is Africa's Future: Hopes And Impediments – inspired by Professor Achebe's work. President John Dramani Mahama’s lecture is entitled: "Women In Africa: How The Other Half Lives."

An Encounter With Port Harcourt's Gridlock

  
By Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye

Since graduating from the University of Port Harcourt many years ago, I always look forward to any opportunity to reconnect with Port Harcourt, although it is always difficult to say what exactly fires the attachment. Maybe, the inexplicable  joyful feeling that often wells up in one at the thought of visiting again a place one had spent some very useful years of one’s life. Whatever it is, that feeling betrayed itself again when I had a reason to visit Port Harcourt two weeks ago, specifically, Saturday and Sunday, October 5&6, 2013. Although an important assignment had taken me to a sub-urban community in Rivers State a couple of months ago, the last time I was in the Garden City was in 2009 to attend a literary conference we had put together to mark the 70th birthday of my former Creative Writing teacher, INC Aniebo, who was formally retiring from the University of Port Harcourt.

  

 This time, I came in by road from Owerri, and I had nothing but anger for the Federal Government which owns that road. From the point a green signpost welcomes you to Rivers State (with this rather rude advice: “Do No Not Litter”), the wide, dualised road is so smooth that most drivers are virtually flying, which, ironically,  sometimes makes one wonder if it was not even safer to leave Nigerian roads in very bad shape, if only to slow down some demon-pursued drivers. But there is a state agency called the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), whose job it is to control over-speeding on our highways; they need to wake up to do their job and save the many precious lives being wantonly wasted daily in this country. 

The part of the highway that falls into Imo State can only be best described as the road to hell. So, what is the meaning of that? That part of the road wears an angry look always and viciously attacks cars in such a way as to suggest it is punishing them for mustering the effrontery to ply on it. Now, was the contract for the entire road awarded to the same contractor? Why is one part made so good and welcoming and the other left to remain so dangerously bad? President Goodluck Jonathan should order the immediate completion of work on the Imo State section of that road or he would be sending a very ugly signal whose interpretation would be very hurtful to his image.  That he does not need to pass through that part of the road on his way from Port Harcourt Airport to Otuoke does not mean it should be left in such a horrible state. Other human beings with red blood equally running in their veins also use that road. Well, enough said on this for now. 

Port Harcourt town, in my opinion, now effectively starts from Rumuokoro, although one could notice its very rapid encroachment into hitherto rural communities like Igwurita, or even as far as Omagwa where the airport sits – that is, if for you, township means the disappearance of long stretch of bushes on both sides of the highway and proliferation of shops in small buildings on the hitherto quiet, uninhabited lands where those bushes once stood guard. Rumuokoro itself used to be a near-lonely bus-stop where we disembarked in those days as students to find buses or taxis to UNIPORT, further down the East-West Road. It is now a hub of human and vehicular activity, and equally, the starting point of Port Harcourt’s greatest and most enduring challenge, namely, terrible traffic congestion.

President Obama's Address To The United Nations General Assembly

Tuesday, September 24, 2013 (New York)

Mr. President, Mr. Secretary General, fellow delegates, ladies and gentlemen:  Each year we come together to reaffirm the founding vision of this institution.  For most of recorded history, individual aspirations were subject to the whims of tyrants and empires.  Divisions of race and religion and tribe were settled through the sword and the clash of armies.  The idea that nations and peoples could come together in peace to solve their disputes and advance a common prosperity seemed unimaginable.  

*President Obama

It took the awful carnage of two world wars to shift our thinking.  The leaders who built the United Nations were not naïve; they did not think this body could eradicate all wars.  But in the wake of millions dead and continents in rubble, and with the development of nuclear weapons that could annihilate a planet, they understood that humanity could not survive the course it was on.  And so they gave us this institution, believing that it could allow us to resolve conflicts, enforce rules of behavior, and build habits of cooperation that would grow stronger over time. 

For decades, the United Nations has in fact made a difference -- from helping to eradicate disease, to educating children, to brokering peace.  But like every generation of leaders, we face new and profound challenges, and this body continues to be tested.  The question is whether we possess the wisdom and the courage, as nation-states and members of an international community, to squarely meet those challenges; whether the United Nations can meet the tests of our time.

Obasanjo Lied Against Me, Says Farida Waziri

...Threatens To Expose Him

My attention has been drawn to a number of allegations made against me by Chief Obasanjo. One of such was the alleged involvement of former Delta State Governor, James Ibori, in my appointment. While I hold the office of a Head of State, either serving or retired, in the highest esteem, I will like to put on record for the umpteenth time that this is totally unfounded, blatant lie and arrant falsehood.

Child Marriage: Ahmed Yerima And Stella Damasus Slug It Out

VIDEO

Senator Ahmed Yerima, Stella Damasus (Nollywood Actress), Professor Ishaq Akintola (Lagos State University)  and  Aminu Gamawa (Lawyer and Doctoral Candidate At Harvard University) Discuss Child Marriage On  AlJazeera 

Ahmed Yerima                                                       Stella Damasus Actress 
Nigerian Senator

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                    What A Passionate Debate...      
                       Capable  Of Drawing Tears...
                  But Wait A Minute! 

The Child-Bride In The Centre Of This Storm Is Also A Human Being With Flesh And Blood Whose Life Is Being Endangered By Callous Men In Search Of  Odious Pleasure... 
What Is Her Opinion On This?   

Professor Ishaq Akintola                                                                          

 Aminu Gamwa