USA Africa Dialogue Series - Reinforcing Dele's Counsel to Brother Abdul

Dele,

 

Let me extend the proverb about the fly in your posting to also echo what the Akans of Ghana, including Kwabena’s people, the Akuapem, say about a fly that insists on going to the grave with the corpse when the funeral is done and those who bear whiskers have gently tried to prod the fly away. It is the fly that overstays its time in the grave that is often buried with the corpse.

 

Many of us have tons of regard for Abdul. I know I do and he is aware of that. He is a respected member of this USAAfricaDialogue family. I personally wish that he will realize that the dance is over and someone other than the person he wanted wears the crown. No amount of doomsday horn-blowing and compositions of grave dirges for the man who now wears the crown can change the location of the prize. The dance is done.  

 

If I could persuade my beloved brother Abdul, in a language that only he and our Afrikan elders understand, I would tell him that the funeral is over; even the bereaved have overcome their grief and wiped their tears. Therefore, he who continues wailing at this time betrays the loss of that precious something that makes us sane.

 

Hope this brotherly counsel, too, finds its way to the Mwalimu’s heart.

 

Edward Kissi