Benjamin ‘Kokoro’ Aderounmu (1925 – 2009)

/ Adeola / 3 Comments

The Nigerian Guardian Editorial (Sunday Feb 8 2009)

Benjamin Aderounmu, better known as ‘Kokoro’, the unmistakable and widely- known tambourine-playing minstrel, died in a Lagos hospital on Sunday, January 25, a month to his 84th birthday.

Kokoro’s life is clear proof that disability is not synonymous with inability. Born into a polygamous royal family in Owo, Ondo state on February 25, 1925, he became blind at age 10 and while this halted his formal education, he refused to be beaten by life’s adversity and he developed his unique art of singing to the accompaniment of tambourine to support himself. A jealous step mother was said to have been responsible for his condition. He relocated to Lagos in 1947 and soon became active in church activities in addition to his exposure to such major musicians of the period as Ayinde Bakare, Bobby Benson, and Victor Olaiya.

Over the years, Pa Benjamin Aderounmu transformed his peculiar type of music into a one-man entertainment band that was widely received for the depth and wisdom in his lyrics and he was, in the 1960s and 70s, a regular feature on Federal and Western region radio stations. In later years, he featured as a performer at Tunde Kuboye’s Jazz 38 in Ikoyi.

Tributes to Kokoro have come from the high and the low as if he did more than play the tambourine to remarkable effect. He has been variously eulogized as ‘a national cultural treasure of inestimable value’ by Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, an ‘uncommon talent’, by artiste and teacher Tunji Sotimirin, ‘and an encyclopedia of Nigerian music who knows music from the four corners of the country, according to UK-based producer and musician Lekan Babalola.

While he was never rich in monetary and material terms, he was nevertheless celebrated in life by an appreciative audience, including socialites at whose parties he was always welcome as an aside act. And in death he left a good and widely known name.

He influenced younger artistes too, as testified to by former member of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti’s Band, Duro Ikujenyo. Said he: ‘he was blind but he taught me how to arrange songs… he also taught me a new spiritual approach to writing song’. Sotimirin says that the blind minstrel ‘inspired many of us’ and female Jazz musician Ayinke Martins adds that ‘his songs and plays touched my soul greatly and inspired me’. It all goes to show that that the man can go far who discovers his talent and works hard at it. Kokoro was physically challenged but he was a man of great measure.

Kokoro performed for close to 60 years but never released an album in his lifetime. An early attempt reportedly failed due to the foot-dragging of the record companies. We commend the efforts of the Lagos state government to put Kokoro’s works in permanent audiovisual format for posterity. This collection is expected to be launched at Kokoro’s posthumous birthday next February. Besides, in life and in death, the Lagos government has also been generally supportive of the late minstrel and his family including giving him a two- bedroom house as well as paying part of his hospital bills. These are indeed how a responsive – and responsible – government should act toward its citizens and we especially commend Governor Fashola’s sense of duty in this respect.

It is said that adversity will either make a man, or break him, depending on how he responds to it. Pa Benjamin Aderounmu triumphed over life’s challenges, as evidenced by the celebration of his life, even in death, by many from various walks of life. The lesson he teaches us is that men and women can who are determined and are willing to apply themselves are bound to overcome adversity and life’s many challenges.

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Benjamin ‘Kokoro’ Aderounmu (1925 – 2009).

100 Best Blogs For Learning About Africa

/ Adeola / 2 Comments

100 BEST BLOGS FROM AFRICA

100 Best Blogs for Learning About Africa

It would be nice to know how the rating was done, how the selection was made, and how many blogs were actually screened.

Anyways, I got a surprise email on friday morning (30th Jan) that my blog has been selected among the 100 Best Blogs for Learning about Africa.

I didn’t think that I would have time for blogging until March or April-so it looks like a returning from early retirement.

There are many things/issues to blog about. I can’t still imagine that I didn’t blog about Obama’s inauguration. I thought Obama flopped with the swearing in but it was a relief to know that it was the officiating Minister that screwed up.

And to imagine that Nigeria’s number 1 man is now on holiday again is heartbreaking. The guy and his aides don’t seem to get the message, or they are simply ignoring us.

I see changes sweeping around the world this year, remarkable changes that will make many people sober and reflective. Nigeria will definitely not be left out of these changes. Things will happen that will bring succour to ordinary men and women, changes that will bring more Hope perhaps greater that what Obama has promised.

From Zimbabwe to Ethiopia and Eritrea, there will be ground shaking events and renewing of the hope of better days for Africans at home and abroad.

I hope to be back to real time blogging again as soon as I get my self sorted out on personal matters.

Have a good one everyone..!

1960-2008: Nigeria has wasted 2 generations and 48 years

/ Adeola / 1 Comment

By Adeola Aderounmu.

Not everyone will agree that 2008 was another wasted year but in actual fact, it was wasted. To those who have managed to climb up and away from the poverty zone, it is a year of accomplishment. To those who have succeeded through hardwork and a little bit of luck, it is a wonderful year.

However, more than 90m Nigerians are still below the poverty level. Many of them living desperately on less than 2 USD per day. To be sure, there are some people in Nigeria who do not have any money or material comfort. These people are neither covered by any form of social security nor consoled by the any type of social amenity. They lack the basic things of life: water, food and good accommodation. In general, their standard of living is below acceptable human conditions.

Several millions of Nigerians will start 2009 just the way they started 2008-poor and facing extreme hopelessness. They will start a new year without electricity in their homes. Nigeria is currently generating less than 3000 MW of electricity! Power supply in the last quarter of 2008 is one of the worst in the history of Nigeria. There are many days of absolute power cut and (sometimes) intermittent supply of about 30min in 2 days. Is Nigeria really a country?

Yet Nigerians are addressing Yar Adua as president. What has he successfully presided over since he was illegally bundled into power by Obasanjo and Iwu? Nigerians know that they are being held as captives but they don’t know how to release themselves from the bondage.

No one can deny that the Nigerian masses are being held as captives by a clique of tropical gangsters who have “bought” the country and turned it to their paradise and our hell. It is so unbelievable that these monsters have held swayed for most part of the 48 years of Nigerian independence. It is also remarkable how they re-group and recruit new accomplices in order to ensure that evil and terror are perpetually unleashed on the common man.

For instance Yar Adua’s fake government is oiled by corruption just like the others before it. How long shall we repeat this? Everytime I hear Yar Adua condemning corruption, I get stomach pains. How can you condemn something that you are enmeshed in, something you are doing almost nothing about in the interest of the public even though you have the transient or stolen power to do so?

Can Yar Adua tell Nigerians why Ibori is not facing prosecution? Why did Lucky Igbinedion pay just 3 million naira after looting for 8 years? Why are all the indicted governors and Ministers from 1999 to 2007 free people? Yar Adua should please save us the hypocrisy of his pseudo-leadership. It is not possible to fool all the people all the time.

It is now known to all and sundry that Ibori is the one controlling the EFCC nowadays. This would explain why Farida is his foot mat. Ibori has perfected the act of escaping prosecution. This guy stole Delta State to dryness and he is enjoying a post-governorship immunity simply because he donated more money than anyone else in sponsoring Yar Adua to the global centre of corruption aka Aso Rock.

Among the people who have contributed to the waste and hopelessness in Nigeria, one should never fail to mention Obasanjo. In Nigeria today, NEPA is generating less than 3000MW and the misdeeds of Obasanjo and his co-looters is a principal factor in this debacle. For 8 years, this man deceived all Nigerians and made us believed in vain. Nigerian are invariably in for another ride of deceit-waiting in vain for a declaration of a state of emergency in the power sector.

Maurice Iwu has joined the long list of the men holding Nigerians as captives. All the elections held even after the sham of April 2007 are still condemnable. The worst political comment in the world in 2008 was made by Iwu when he said that the US should learn from Nigeria when it comes to conducting election. The comments of senile Mugabe (“Zimbabwe is mine” and “no cholera in Zimbabwe”) are child’s play compared to Iwu’s venomous utterances. Nigeria is surely condemned when men without defined visions or missions are in control.

Anyone who has been following the proceedings of the Nigerian Senate under the leadership of the mega-looter called David Mark would really feel sorry for Nigeria. There is almost no room for intelligent discussions and Mark is usually way off the mark when he makes his comments. Nigerians have sacrificed intelligence for stupidity and looting games in the Nigerian Senate and House of Assembly.

David Mark has no business in the Senate anyway. After participating in the looting of Nigeria, it is quite easy to understand the negative contributions he brings with him to the senate. The war on corruption, if we had one, should have engulfed his likes.

The reigning gangsters and looters in Nigeria are surely having a jolly ride with a man like Michael Aondoakaa in control of the legal system. He is not only shielding and defending the looters in Nigeria and abroad, his idea of rule of law is very instrumental in the spreading of poverty and deaths in Nigeria.

What these bad leaders don’t understand is that every little misdeed adds up to the misery of Nigerians. Why protect people who stole monies that they cannot spend in 10x their life span? Obviously he is gaining a lot in the process! One day na one day sha!

There is no way Babangida will not be on this parade. More than 12 billion dollars of Nigeria’s money alleged to be in his possession is enough to keep Nigeria in the doldrums for another decade or more. If 12 billion dollars is pumped into Nigeria’s scientific and medical research and development (R&D), almost all Nigerian scholars abroad will be heading home to contribute to the progress of the country.

We don’t need a prophecy to know that Nigerians will continue to suffer because of a few men in possession of the country’s wealth. If there is war on corruption in Nigeria, many of the people parading government houses in Nigeria today should be answering for corruption and crime against humanity.

There is no real anticorruption body in Nigeria and this is why politicians and government officials continue to steal. Obasanjo destroyed the EFCC by using it to crack down on all anti-third term groups and individuals. The rules have changed under Umaru-soft pedal for all and sundry. Slow and steady kill the case was the modification by Farida Waziri-a pure puppet.

If Nigeria has a proper anticorruption agency, it would be independent, open and sincere. The EFCC of today is a shield for the likes of Ibori and all the corrupt governors and politicians that served under Obasanjo. Those who served and lined their pockets before 1999 are not even moved. The only worried groups in Nigeria today are the yahoo-yahoo boys, cybercafé owners and of course the common man. EFCC has even dedicated a drama series to yahoo-yahoo boys on AIT. What a joke of an institution!

Forty-eight years of waste was solidify by the lukewarmness of the Nigerian judiciary. This organ of government has disappointed Nigerians over the years and more recently has produced highly questionable and contestable judgements. The court has made it possible for individuals who did not contest in elections to be winners. Serving convicts and ex-convicts contested and won elections in Nigeria. Imagine how many criminals are occupying political positions in Nigeria. The disposition of the Courts in Nigeria is one of the reasons that the police stations have been turned to firing squads. The Nigerian Police is a sick child on its own: a very sick child! When it mattered most, Nigerian law system usually becomes heavily compromised.

All of these evil acts that have confined Nigeria among the poorest nations in the world is actually the summation of the effects of a group fondly called “the cabal“. The cabal is the reason why sane and intelligent minds get to government houses and become stereotyped looting machines.

Even Nigerians who lived abroad before joining government have not been spared the initiation into the looting game. The cabal preaches a gospel of eat and go and don’t bug yourself with the status quo. This is why many nice people have become “new creatures” once they eat the forbidden fruits. It is because of the cabal that our elections have no values and are unworkable. The cabal is responsible for the annulment of the only free and fair election that took place in 1993.

The sins of the cabal are many but its prime approach is to promote fear and ignorance with the view of controlling the machinery of government forever. The newest approach being utilised by the cabal is the secrecy oath in the illegal presidency which is now being adopted across government institutions nationwide. What is secret about the illegality of the regime in Nigeria? What is the secret about the fact that they are all there to protect their personal interests and steal as much as they can just like the deceivers before them.

The problems in Nigeria are not going to be solved or ameliorated if we don’t take care of the stumbling blocks. Nigerians have been quiet for too long and everybody is after his or her own interests. It shouldn’t be like that. Some people have called for a revolution but Nigeria is a very complicated country and this complication is one of the weak points that the cabal and the corrupt leaders are using to oppress Nigerians more and more. Some people want the biblical call: To thy tent O’ Israel! The Niger Delta crisis, the threats of religious riots, tribal conflicts and secession bids are obvious indicators.

Rather than “every-man-to-himself” Nigerians should start thinking collectively of how rescue the over 90m people living hopelessly across the nation. We should come together and discuss whatever it will entail to capture this country back from the vultures who have been stealing and looting since 1960. If the outcome will send us back to our tents, so be it. Posterity should be the keyword.

After chasing Ghanaians out of Nigeria, they went home and built a formidable country that Nigerians are running to like rats. Ghana is now ranked as one of the most prosperous countries in Africa. The actions and leadership of one man changed Ghana forever. The lesson is that one man can make a difference. Enlightened Nigerians have the honour to take up this challenge and start building formidable forces and groups that will challenge the “status quo”.

We must do whatever it will take to break from this yoke. It’s too heavy a burden and one way or the other we all feel the effects. Let’s do what it takes to free our children and grandchildren from this burden.

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas Nigeria!

/ Adeola / 1 Comment

By Adeola Aderounmu

Merry Christmas Nigeria!

It’s Christmas again!

Merry Christmas Nigeria and Nigerians!

It’s another Christmas and my heart warm greetings to Nigerians all over the world. We have endured another long and tiring year so far. We have seen some breakthroughs this year for a few of our brothers, sisters and neighbours. We have also seen the failures that continue to impede the progress of many of us and thereby depriving us of that happiness that we sought.

Many of the circumstances that steer our lives have remained beyond our control. It will be like that for some time to come because of the ugly political landscape where everyone is scooping for “self”. One thing is sure and very predictive-a CHANGE will come to Nigeria soon. It will be inexplicable but it will usher in a new dawn of prosperity. It will happen!

As we approach 2009 many of us are keeping the dreams and hopes alive. That is the best way to go about it. Keeping it alive!

We cannot afford to give up at any stage of our lives. Where there is life, there is hope. Where there is hope, there will be a way. Let us not forget to make plans even though we live in a very nasty society where plans and dreams have been crushed without mercy. Our plans are actually the things that give us hope. That is the way it works. The CHANGE to come will help us to realise our plans-the dreams.

This is my short Christmas message of hope and support because I know what it is to live in Nigeria when you are struggling against all the odds that are in your way.

Dreams do come true. Believe in yourself and your abilities. Merry Christmas once again!