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There are moments in history when the 'Constellation of Circumstances' register
as signposts for Times when the 'Sun Stood Still', however briefly. One such
moment was in August 1619 when the captain of a Dutch warship arrived in
Jamestown in the colony of Virginia in the so-called New World. The cargo of
the ship was described in the following words:
"not anything but 20 and odd Negroes wch the Governor and Cape Merchant
bought for victualle….at the best and easyest rate they could", (i.e. virtually
nothing).
The author of the report was John Rolfe, Virginia's first tobacco planter and
husband of Princess Pocahontas. (REF http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mtj.mtjbib:
image(267)).
In time it should be possible to tell whether or not Professor Chinua Achebe's
rejection of the Celebratory Honor and Title of Commander of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria registers in the same category as for Joshua and the
Israelites during their long-sufferance and journey out of bondage when the Sun
was first recorded to have stood Still for a purpose. Other events in the same
category are the moments of the detonations of 'Little Boy' out from Enola Gay
over Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, followed three days later by 'Fat Boy' out
from Bock's Car over Nagasaki, presaging the possibility of delivery of
Humankind into a Mathematical Black Hole at some time to come. This
'Harbinger' unfolded 336 years after the arrival of Africans and Humankind at
Jamestown in 1619. However the action of Professor Achebe inures through
time, it is at the moment the cause of extreme discomfort, indeed pain for many
Nigerians, as made plain via practically all the public comments on the matter.
Most Nigerians of the generation that attained adulthood when the country
became 'independent' are familiar with the popular song "Sweet Mother". The
song elaborates on the sacrifices and sufferings of the Nigerian Mother all for the
cause of her children. African cultures are unparalleled in the reverence reserved
for the cradle of motherhood as the source of all human life and solace on earth.
"There is no mountain high enough, no valley deep enough, no river wide
enough" to keep a mother's love from reaching into that crevice within the child
reserved specially for "Sweet Mother", (to borrow from the hit song by Marvin
Gaye and Tammy Terrell). It is doubtful that there is any Nigerian language that
does not have a song of veneration for the place of motherhood in human life-
cycle: (“Iya l’olutoju mi; Iya ku ise mi” is a song in Yoruba to say, ‘Thank you
mother for your unstinting investment in me’ and I promise never again to refuse
to run any errand you assign to me!)
Against this background we should note that Professor Achebe's work continues
to resonate deeply within all corridors of human experience; hence the
translation of "Things Fall Apart" into multiple major languages across the globe.
Now consider that a person of such celebrated insight into the State of
Humankind, and a Nigerian by Nature's gift of birthright would appear to spurn
the offer of the embrace of Motherland? "Na Whaa", something is terribly
wrong. Could it be the signpost demarcation of the place in Nigeria's history
when the "Sun Stood Still" to declare to Humankind how unrecognizable
Motherland has become? There was a time in Nigeria when "Gaskiya ta fi
kobo", speaking and boldly confronting the truth was more honorable than a life
of quiet shame and guilty conscience covered up with the glitter of imported
merchandise and empty pomp? As in the words of Bob Marley, we have been
'long-time' under the rule of "Police and thieving Politicians" we are not able to
perceive that the "PROMISE LAND" IS NOT a land territory anywhere on this
planet. The "Promise Land" is a "STATE OF MIND", it is delivery into the
epiphany that HUMANKIND in all ethnic forms belong to one and the same
GENOMIC DESTINY. Nigeria's needs, like human needs everywhere are ethnic
neutral. The Laws of Nature hold the same everywhere. The arithmetic gap that
accrues from using political machinations to temporarily abridge the laws of
nature cannot be subsumed under cover of Time: Nature guarantees that things
do add up; "pay de, some day".
There are no metrics to calibrate the fratricidal journey of Nigeria since so-called
independence in 1960. The fault-lines of ethnicity have been nurtured into
pernicious self-propagation by the Civil War followed by the deliberate
disassembly of the Nation's Infrastructure in pursuit of ethnic balance/national
character. One of the most troubling of 'unintended' consequences of this self-
mutilation has been life-time exile for many citizens of the two generations since
Nigeria 'gained independence'. Is there any reason that such a development
would not qualify as the 'moral equivalent' of fratricide; going from the rule of
'civilian and police thieves' to 'soldier and civilian thieves' back to the former?
The question for future generations of Nigerians is about which period of the
country's history is more like the tragedy in Alan Paton's book: "Cry the Beloved
Country"? The period before "Things Fall Apart"; the period of Things Falling
Apart; or the period since the first military coup? It doesn't take rocket science
mathematics to identify that Nigeria's Political History is abyssal, and
approaching the threshold for entry into the irreversible makings of a black hole.
Nothing said thus far is meant to dispute the response by President Goodluck
Jonathan to Professor Achebe's answer to the invitation for the award of the
Honorable Title of CFR. The President expressed his certainty about the
progress being made in Nigeria by his government in the interest of all
Nigerians. The issue here might simply be a reflection of the difference in the
spheres of the Dreams for Nigeria during the period when Professor Achebe was
constructing "Things Fall Apart" compared to the dreams attainable for Nigeria
within the contemporary setting. It should be noted as cautionary highlight that
this downsizing of the possibilities for Humankind is a global phenomenon, and
not just an issue for Nigeria. The heartache is that Nigeria has never gotten
organized enough and ready to approach the starting line when several other
less well resourced units have already made several laps around the Olympic
stadium. To be continued
as signposts for Times when the 'Sun Stood Still', however briefly. One such
moment was in August 1619 when the captain of a Dutch warship arrived in
Jamestown in the colony of Virginia in the so-called New World. The cargo of
the ship was described in the following words:
"not anything but 20 and odd Negroes wch the Governor and Cape Merchant
bought for victualle….at the best and easyest rate they could", (i.e. virtually
nothing).
The author of the report was John Rolfe, Virginia's first tobacco planter and
husband of Princess Pocahontas. (REF http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mtj.mtjbib:
image(267)).
In time it should be possible to tell whether or not Professor Chinua Achebe's
rejection of the Celebratory Honor and Title of Commander of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria registers in the same category as for Joshua and the
Israelites during their long-sufferance and journey out of bondage when the Sun
was first recorded to have stood Still for a purpose. Other events in the same
category are the moments of the detonations of 'Little Boy' out from Enola Gay
over Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, followed three days later by 'Fat Boy' out
from Bock's Car over Nagasaki, presaging the possibility of delivery of
Humankind into a Mathematical Black Hole at some time to come. This
'Harbinger' unfolded 336 years after the arrival of Africans and Humankind at
Jamestown in 1619. However the action of Professor Achebe inures through
time, it is at the moment the cause of extreme discomfort, indeed pain for many
Nigerians, as made plain via practically all the public comments on the matter.
Most Nigerians of the generation that attained adulthood when the country
became 'independent' are familiar with the popular song "Sweet Mother". The
song elaborates on the sacrifices and sufferings of the Nigerian Mother all for the
cause of her children. African cultures are unparalleled in the reverence reserved
for the cradle of motherhood as the source of all human life and solace on earth.
"There is no mountain high enough, no valley deep enough, no river wide
enough" to keep a mother's love from reaching into that crevice within the child
reserved specially for "Sweet Mother", (to borrow from the hit song by Marvin
Gaye and Tammy Terrell). It is doubtful that there is any Nigerian language that
does not have a song of veneration for the place of motherhood in human life-
cycle: (“Iya l’olutoju mi; Iya ku ise mi” is a song in Yoruba to say, ‘Thank you
mother for your unstinting investment in me’ and I promise never again to refuse
to run any errand you assign to me!)
Against this background we should note that Professor Achebe's work continues
to resonate deeply within all corridors of human experience; hence the
translation of "Things Fall Apart" into multiple major languages across the globe.
Now consider that a person of such celebrated insight into the State of
Humankind, and a Nigerian by Nature's gift of birthright would appear to spurn
the offer of the embrace of Motherland? "Na Whaa", something is terribly
wrong. Could it be the signpost demarcation of the place in Nigeria's history
when the "Sun Stood Still" to declare to Humankind how unrecognizable
Motherland has become? There was a time in Nigeria when "Gaskiya ta fi
kobo", speaking and boldly confronting the truth was more honorable than a life
of quiet shame and guilty conscience covered up with the glitter of imported
merchandise and empty pomp? As in the words of Bob Marley, we have been
'long-time' under the rule of "Police and thieving Politicians" we are not able to
perceive that the "PROMISE LAND" IS NOT a land territory anywhere on this
planet. The "Promise Land" is a "STATE OF MIND", it is delivery into the
epiphany that HUMANKIND in all ethnic forms belong to one and the same
GENOMIC DESTINY. Nigeria's needs, like human needs everywhere are ethnic
neutral. The Laws of Nature hold the same everywhere. The arithmetic gap that
accrues from using political machinations to temporarily abridge the laws of
nature cannot be subsumed under cover of Time: Nature guarantees that things
do add up; "pay de, some day".
There are no metrics to calibrate the fratricidal journey of Nigeria since so-called
independence in 1960. The fault-lines of ethnicity have been nurtured into
pernicious self-propagation by the Civil War followed by the deliberate
disassembly of the Nation's Infrastructure in pursuit of ethnic balance/national
character. One of the most troubling of 'unintended' consequences of this self-
mutilation has been life-time exile for many citizens of the two generations since
Nigeria 'gained independence'. Is there any reason that such a development
would not qualify as the 'moral equivalent' of fratricide; going from the rule of
'civilian and police thieves' to 'soldier and civilian thieves' back to the former?
The question for future generations of Nigerians is about which period of the
country's history is more like the tragedy in Alan Paton's book: "Cry the Beloved
Country"? The period before "Things Fall Apart"; the period of Things Falling
Apart; or the period since the first military coup? It doesn't take rocket science
mathematics to identify that Nigeria's Political History is abyssal, and
approaching the threshold for entry into the irreversible makings of a black hole.
Nothing said thus far is meant to dispute the response by President Goodluck
Jonathan to Professor Achebe's answer to the invitation for the award of the
Honorable Title of CFR. The President expressed his certainty about the
progress being made in Nigeria by his government in the interest of all
Nigerians. The issue here might simply be a reflection of the difference in the
spheres of the Dreams for Nigeria during the period when Professor Achebe was
constructing "Things Fall Apart" compared to the dreams attainable for Nigeria
within the contemporary setting. It should be noted as cautionary highlight that
this downsizing of the possibilities for Humankind is a global phenomenon, and
not just an issue for Nigeria. The heartache is that Nigeria has never gotten
organized enough and ready to approach the starting line when several other
less well resourced units have already made several laps around the Olympic
stadium. To be continued
By Segun Lawoyin
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Saturday, November 26, 2011
"Achebe's Rejection of National Honor Regrettable"?
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