I'm going to concede on this one, Obakan. If I insist on my position, I might be becoming the "too known" Smart Aleck, claiming to know the mythical Osho's mother more than Osho himself. I am from outside looking in; you are an insider in the observation deck of home politics. I might be missing the body language of the young leader but I will go back and look it over.The Young Urban Professional, E. Macron, might be clad in new suits, though, I doubt if he has enough rags in the closet as the septuagenarian politician, Akuffo-Addo, has. And, of course, someone might ask, "who cares for rags, when you can look cool in French suits?" I do. Our ancestors do. Joke aside, let's see if this audacious pose of our statesman brings about any ripple effect - for better or for worse. Trust me, if the aftermath is a castigation of the already castigated, I would be the first to call and acknowledge you are right again. If not, you owe me. I know where you live Adeshina!
MOA
===
On Friday, December 29, 2017, 10:12:06 AM PST, 'Adeshina Afolayan' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> wrote:
Baami Olooko!
I hear you loud an clear sir! But i still dissent. When Nana Akuffo-Ado got to the issue of the African youths running off to Italy and crossing the tough and inclement Mediterranean, I sat straight. I was expecting to hear some straight policy assertion. He was right about migration arising solely from the plethora of lacks and deprivation from the home country. But the real challenge is to facilitate such a massive infrastructural development that will facilitate youth pride in their country. In Nigeria, almost everything depends on electricity. With electricity, we can jumpstart many startups! Who needs any talk-talk on such a straightforward development issue?
Baami, I had a hearty laugh when i got to you point about Africa being an oral-literate culture. Who needs too much talk in the face of dire needs? Did you read Macron's body language when the Ghanian president was blowing hot? If you ask me, the body language was: Hian...we shall see! And that is the truth! It is not enugh to throw a challenge to the youth; the real challenge is to provide enabling environment that facilitate youth engagement in developmental endeavors. When was the last time you heard from John Magufuli of Tanzania sir? There are too much to do clearing the Augean Stable to stand in shining suit and be talking about dependency and all sorts!
Adeshina Afolayan, PhD
Department of Philosophy
University of Ibadan
+23480-3928-8429
Department of Philosophy
University of Ibadan
+23480-3928-8429
On Friday, December 29, 2017 1:29 PM, 'Michael Afolayan' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> wrote:
Obakan mi, Adeshina:
Kò rí béè o (No be so)!
Like you, I've watched this video a few times. Unlike you, though, each time, I was impressed. Why? Trust me, the West has been put on notice with the piercing words of this single African leader. Of course, it would not go without a fight - the slave master never lets go of his slaves with mere handshakes. Recall Nyerere's declaration of the Ujamaa and his notion of education for self-reliance. Of course, the consequences on Tanzania, one of the most literate nations in the world were massive. But so what? There is no crown without its cross.
The challenge Nana Akufo-Addo is throwing to young Africans is to stay in and fight strong; not just to run off and seek greener pastures on the vast land of their slave masters. Seriously, it's okay to talk, not to brag, but then the man did not brag, neither did he threaten. Yep, Thomas Sankara was not a talker; but then, do you really want another handsome Thomas Sankara in the nice-looking army uniform, providing a hope that would prove abjectly effervescent, a "revolution" that never outlived its beginning?
Let's see how this plays out. Let's give leadership a chance. Africa is one mythical Dada who could not fight but blessed with an audacious little brother. Let President Akufo-Addo be that little brother fighting for his timid big brother. We've waited more than half a century. It can't hurt at this time. We are an oral-literate people. Let our words start the fighting.
Michael O. Afolayan
Jet-lagging Still
On Friday, December 29, 2017, 2:39:42 AM PST, Adeshina Afolayan <adeshinaafolayan@gmail.com> wrote:
I have also watched the video. Is this mere rhetoric. No; it is a beautiful one with all the necessary delicious and tantalizing soundbites. But it is a rhetoric all the same, and we have heard it before, from Nkrumah to Fanon. I don't think we need any more of this. A revolutionary who will include all these rhetorical issues in a solid policy transformation does not need talk. I doubt Thomas Sankara was a talker. We need action; a real transformation of the architecture of thinking, attitude and policy. No one needs rhetoric to do that; revolutionaries are not talkers! Action men and women act! And that is what Africa needs...action!
Unfortunately, most leaders become captive of the office immediately they resume. I have no illusion, for instance, about George Weah as the president-elect of Liberia. Pessimism has its own reward! And it stands solidly on the backside of terrible and protracted negative political experience.
Adeshina Afolayan, PhD
Department of Philosophy
University of Ibadan
Nigeria
+234(80)-3928-8429
On Friday, December 29, 2017 11:03 AM, Michael Afolayan <mafolayan@yahoo.com> wrote:
Thank goodness, there indeed comes a time when the tongue ceases to be docile. After six decades of docility, a Daniel has finally come to judgment! Let's hear the remaining 54 heads of governments of the remaining African nations follow the lead horse rider and speak out with renewed urgency, ardent resolve, native intelligence, and seriousness of purpose. Thanks, Prof. Africa shall rise!
Michael
On Thursday, December 28, 2017, 4:37:59 PM PST, segun ogungbemi <seguno2013@gmail.com> wrote:
Africa self-esteem
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