Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Fwd: Great Nation, Timi Dakolo

Beautiful song! Timi Dakolo remains a wonderful singer. But then, how do we read this song of patriotism, or any such song in Nigeria? At one level, how do the singers understand loaded concepts like "freedom," "tribes," "nation," "people," etc that add to the song's sonorous quality? Who are the "we" Dakolo refers to? Does that "we" bring together the elites/politicians/wealthy with the masses/poor/citizens? 

By reason of his status as a successful singer, Timi Dakolo gives credence to the hypothesis that patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel. Only the elite (politicians and the middle-upper class) are patriotic in the sense of a false sentimental attachment to a nation that is grounded on a status quo of injustice and inequality. However, Todd Gitlin, in "Varieties of Patriotic Experience," alludes to another sense of patriotism that makes one patriotic even if one rejects the sociopolitical practices and the way of life that define one's nation. I can be a patriot but not to my country. For instance, those that the Nigerian state has consigned to what Agamben calls "the zone of indistinction," a zone where the homo sacer are banned and abandoned, and opened to the vagaries of the state's irresponsibility, can band together in patriotic bond. This subnational patriotism derives from an epistemic standpoint of negative thinking, according to Marcuse. It comes from a thinking tat negates what is immediately before us, to quote Hegel. 

This is an exciting twist to patriotism that enables us to interrogate the relationship between unfreedom and freedom. What result will we get if we apply Agamben, Marcuse, Hegel to the unraveling of informality and patriotism in Nigeria?  

Timi Dakolo' "Great Nation" is a great song, but it will largely fall on the deaf ears of those who have been abandoned by the Nigerian state.  

Adeshina Afolayan, PhD
Department of Philosophy
University of Ibadan

+23480-3928-8429

On Sunday, April 29, 2018, 10:34:15 PM GMT+1, Anthony Akinola <anthony.a.akinola@gmail.com> wrote:

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Oladipupo Adamolekun <dipo7k@yahoo.com>
Date: Sun, Apr 29, 2018 at 9:59 PM
Subject: Great Nation, Timi Dakolo
To: OLADIPUPO ADAMOLEKUN <dipo7k@yahoo.com>

Sharing.  I listened to Timi Dakolo sing this song a fortnight ago. Under-50s in the audience - the majority - sang along standing and with passion.  Listen to the youtube, if you can.   

Video: https://m.youtube.com/ watch?v=Y2OhlyXx3kE

Viewing lyrics for Great Nation by Timi Dakolo.

Here we stand as a people
With one song, with one voice
We're a nation, undivided and poised
We will take our stand, and build our land
With faith to defend what is ours

Here we are as a people
With one heart, for one cause
We're determined to rebuild and restore
Where freedom reigns, and truth prevails
A land where there's hope for us all
A land where there's hope for us all

We're all we have, we'll defend our land
We believe in this nation, and we know we'll get there
We're all we have, we'll defend our land
We believe in Nigeria and the promise she holds
And that one day we'll shine like the sun
We're a great nation

Though we are many people
Different tribes, different tongues
We're united in our strength and resolve
To uphold the honour of our land
And for generations to come
And for generations to come

We're all we have, we'll defend our land
We believe in this nation, and we know we'll get there
We're all we have, we'll defend our land
We believe in Nigeria and the promise she holds
And that one day we'll shine like the sun
We're a great nation

Nigeria Nigeria
Nigeria Nigeria
Nigeria Nigeria
Nigeria Nigeria
Nigeria Nigeria
Nigeria Nigeria
Nigeria Nigeria

We're all we have, we'll defend our land
We believe in this nation, and we know we'll get there
We're all we have, we'll defend our land
We believe in Nigeria and the promise she holds
And that one day we'll shine like the sun

We're all we have, we'll defend our land
We believe
We're all we have, we'll defend our land
We believe

We're a great nation

Sent from a mobile device.

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