Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: Notes on the Farmer ,Olusegun Obasanjo

Ojogbon Cornelius  Hamelberg, your criticisms are most welcome. part of the benefits of  being on the platform. i am learning..you streghtenmy bones, shrpen my mind and bolster my spirit by your interntion. thanks a million.  

augustine  Togonu-Bickersateth

On Tue, Mar 14, 2023 at 5:29 PM Cornelius Hamelberg <corneliushamelberg@gmail.com> wrote:

Sir,

We are well aware that in the Faculty of Hagiography, there's a special department known for Yoruba Praise Singing, so at Uncle Olu's funeral, Osseh's mum asked him to please open the casket to confirm that it was really his dad that preacher man was praising to the skies. 

But please, Sir, let us not make every exception, even an outstanding one to be the rule. True: Praise should be given, where praise is due, just as we have seen in numerous eulogies lodged in the USA-Africa Dialogue Series archives, eulogies written by a generous spirit, Ojogbon Toyin Falola the master of eulogies, and I never cease to marvel at each and every one of them. 

There's this general rule of thumb:  Never speak badly of the dead. I have only seen this violated once ( by a Zionist) when he was told that Yasser Arafat was dead and he said, "good". The other time this dictum was almost violated was when Chinua Achebe of all people raised his voice against AWO being given a national funeral on the grounds, so he said, on the grounds that Chief Obafemi Awolowo " was not an Igbo God"  

Today, we can only thank God Pastor Obasanjo is still very much alive. 

Samuel Ajayi Crowther's translation of the Bible into Yoruba is another matter altogether, to date, my Yoruba Bible is " ETCHES on Fresh Waters " beautifully ilöluistrade and a veritable compendium of Yoruba ethics. It has the following all-encompassing chapter headings : 

Part A: Odes and Praises

Part B: Truth In Fiction 

Part C: The Genius of Absurdity

Part D; Desire and Fantasies

Part E:  Stress and Tensions

Part F: Concerns and Caution

Part G.  Politics and Modernity

I'd say that most of this thread and many other threads in this series, embrace parts A to G.

Since words have meanings, I think that we ought to be careful with our words. 

Sure, Brer Obasanjo is or was a pig farmer, and there's no denying that.

 In Old Major's ( Karl Marx's) speech to his curly-tailed companions in Animal Farm, he also puts it straight:  "we are slaughtered with hideous cruelty." As  you well know, pork is neither kosher or halal, which means that politically speaking Pastor Obasanjo's farm should not particularly endear him to halal-oriented Muslims 

You say of Olusegun Obasanjo, that  he is 

 " highly revered"

 "Foremost authority" 

"Oracle'' ( but dead wrong about the 2023 Presidential Election in Nigeria)

 "atimes almost deified"

 "Almost crucified." (Well, here's  Richard Dawkins sounding off about the real Jesus. About Brer Obasanjo  being "Almost crucified", perhaps some other praise singer could say of him, " almost human, he sank beneath your wisdom like a stone") 

"An astute political communicator" ( that's why he said" God will not forgive me"?)

"A torch bearer of 1.2 billion Africans and blacks worldwide." ( How much did he pay you to write this kind of nonsense?)

True too: Every dog has its day. The saying is that "The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones."

Do you know that there's a Sani Abacha Street in Freetown Sierra Leone?

The Nigerian Ambassador to Sweden told me, " There's no price that's too high to pay when it comes to helping our brothers in Sierra Leone. " This was during the  Sani Abacha presidency and the  ECOMORG bill was several billion naira when the naira was stronger than it is today…

If all of the above is too depressing, here's T.S. Eliot's The Ad-dressing of Cats

More cats: Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats

On Tuesday, 14 March 2023 at 12:27:36 UTC+1 Augustine Togonu-Bickersteth wrote:

Obasanjo: cultivating soil and mind; cultivating talent and friendship; cultivating peace.
Obasanjo is highly revered by many including those who say they belong to the Obasanjo school of Politics. He has been called "Foremost authority" and "Oracle" as it pertains to Nigeria and how Africa interacts with herself and with the rest of the world. He is atimes almost deified
In a world where we are told "If there are no sinners there would be no saints" Obasanjo has been accused of being a sinner. Almost crucified. He has been a target for humiliation much against the advice of the ancients of his country that you do not humiliate a courageous man. Nigerians have been enjoined to forget the messenger but study the message
A torch bearer of 1.2 billion Africans and blacks worldwide, Obasanjo is gracefully courted abroad and severally hosted by iconic leaders, world leaders who he may even interact with on first name basis .
An astute political communicator, now followed by the masses of readers of Nigerians newspapers, Obasanjo, sitting on his presidential throne, had quite rhetorically questioned the use of such disciplines of sociology and mass communication. His country Nigeria is now plagued by an interplay of sociology and economics. There are several youths and adults not in education, employment or training. Obasanjo had said then, that it is not the business of government to create jobs whilst admitting that there were millions of people unemployed. That business had been outsourced to entrepreneurs who as we know like to change the world. That business was also sorely outsourced to business men who strive to maintain the status quo.
On a significant Birthday, Obasanjo was seen as a Team Player complete with professional Jersey but his real sport is squash racquets, a dual sport which psychologists could use to reveal his style of leadership. Obasanjo affirmed that he needn't take advice from his advisers; infact he was reported to have lectured them sometimes. He kept the Oil portfolio to himself and practically usurped the functions of the foreign affairs minister in his days as President.
Going by the words of Wangari Matthai, Enviromentalist and Nobel Peace prize winner, Obasanjo, a Farmer and Avid Reader, is the Archetype person cultivating soil and Mind. But Obasanjo cultivates not only Soil and mind. He cultivates Talent and friendship and he cultivates Peace.

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