Soon enough, on Sunday, in a very civilised and congenial atmosphere, over some sherry, Professor Bernard Porter wasted no time in highlighting the close relationship between the twin cities of Hull and Freetown
Further down the road, after a few more discreet glasses of sherry, I was reliably informed that there was no slavery in Britain during the period when such barbaric inhumanity was rampant in the United States. The judgement delivered in The Somerset v Stewart Court case was invoked as proof ….
#The Somerset v Stewart Court case
So the case against Uncle Sam for reparations is of quite a different hue from the hue and cry, all the hullabaloo and the hell that's going to be raised by third world members of the commonwealth, such as the Bajans ( Barbados) some of whose ancestors were directly affected by the adventures of early British buccaneers of the Elizabethan period such as Sir John Hawkins, Sir Francis Drake, and Sir Walter Raleigh and the later British pirates and buccaneers engaged in the slave trade
Where is Biko Agozino when I need him ?
On Saturday, 21 December 2024 at 20:43:12 UTC+1 Cornelius Hamelberg wrote:
Re - "How to be a Sleazy Nigerian " Dike Chukwumerijie on Kemi Badenoch
I begin with
Trumpet Highlife ( For Trump)
and we've all learned at least something
from the debacle of Kamala Harris
a story that started with a promise
of glory
This much we know for sure :
fat little chance has Linton Kwesi Johnson
of being elected Prime Minister of Westminster
because his surname rhymes with Boris Johnson
not after, unlike Boris, Kwesi singing Inglan is a Bitch
Not much of a chance being elected leader
of the Conservative Party either, after jiving
the following in Independant Intavenshan :
The Liberal Party them is not very hearty.
And the Tory Party I no feel no party
Badenoch stands by Nigeria comments after criticism
APGA Interactive Forum [AIF Media] - Checking on Our Leaders...
Harold Macmillan delivered his Wind of Change Speech to the Parliament of South Africa on 3 February 1960 in Cape Town.
We don't have to go too deeply into the roots which those of us who studied British history from 1066 to circa 1965 and from there to 2024, know all too well, at least enough to say that The British Conservative Party is no stranger to having "people of colour" or descendants of former colonial subjects vying for the leadership of that great party.
Once upon a time, not so very long ago, a nice whippersnapper known as Chuka Umunna was being touted as the UK's possible Barack Obama.
Fast forward and we are all familiar with Liz Truss's Kwasi Kwarteng, and her own replacement /displacement by Rishi Sunak . Later on, among those vying for the post, my favourite choice for the Party Leadership : James Cleverly ( born of a Sierra Leone Creole mother) - and you know that just like me, you too are a tribalist, even if of a slightly more international hue, like a German Jew.
In my view, Kemi Badenoch is being true to the values that were enunciated in Harold Macmillan's The Wind of Change Speech, 3 Feb. 1960.
Please permit me to direct your attention to the concluding paragraphs of that speech:
"Let me be very frank with you, my friends. What Governments and Parliaments in the United Kingdom have done since the war in according independence to India, Pakistan, Ceylon, Malaya and Ghana, and what they will do for Nigeria and other countries now nearing independence, all this, though we take full and sole responsibility for it, we do in the belief that it is the only way to establish the future of the Commonwealth and of the Free World on sound foundations …
We have tried to learn and apply the lesson of our judgement of right and wrong. Our justice is rooted in the same soil as yours - in Christianity and in the rule of law as the basis of a free society. This experience of our own explains why it has been our aim in the countries for which we have borne responsibility, not only to raise the material standards of living, but also to create a society which respects the rights of individuals, a society in which men are given the opportunity to grow to their full stature - and that must in our view include the opportunity to have an increasing share in political power and responsibility, a society in which individual merit and individual merit alone is the criterion for a man's advancement, whether political or economic.
Finally in countries inhabited by several different races it has been our aim to find means by which the community can become more of a community, and fellowship can be fostered between its various parts. I have thought you would wish me to state plainly and with full candour the policy for which we in Britain stand. It may well be that in trying to do our duty as we see it we shall sometimes make difficulties for you. If this proves to be so we shall regret it. But I know that even so you would not ask us to flinch from doing our duty.
As a fellow member of the Commonwealth it is our earnest desire to give South Africa our support and encouragement, but I hope you won't mind my saying frankly that there are some aspects of your policies which make it impossible for us to do this without being false to our own deep convictions about the political destinies of free men to which in our own territories we are trying to give effect. I think we ought, as friends, to face together, without seeking to apportion credit or blame, the fact that in the world of today this difference of outlook lies between us. "
If that forward-looking speech from almost 65 years ago, gave you goose pimples or better still, some food for thought, I should also like to draw your attention to this sentence, possibly a misunderstanding, that invites critical examination :
"And yet while happy to identify with tribe in Africa, she goes to Europe and wants to lead, and build, a multicultural nation there. Chai, you see this life eh? E no balance."
First of all, even granted an unlimited poetic licence, unfettered by paucity or poverty of language or insensitive language understanding, as a sensitive old soul , wholeheartedly, I object to the title of the piece as posted in this forum "How to be a Sleazy Nigerian" - with reference to that outstanding albeit somewhat pushy individual known as Kemi Badenoch , as unbefitting her dignity and the hard-earned high esteem in which she is held - by me and by the many, because (1) There's nothing "sleazy" about her , and (2) because we - and that includes all Nigerians, and even if all of us don't have to be feminists as as Chimananda recommends , we ought to nevertheless respect Kemi , and, just as we respect our grandmothers, our mothers and Mother Africa , so too we ought to respect her courage, charisma, and determination which so far has lifted her from zero to where she is currently, as the democratically elected leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of His Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom - no mean feat and no ordinary achievement even by Nigerian standards.
And anybody who doesn't like what I said, well, just as Madiba Nelson Mandela said, such a one "can go jump in the pool" or better still, if "to be or not to be" is the issue, such a one
can go jump into the Mediterranean Sea
or take a swim in the Atlantic Ocean
(to cool down
Granted that a spoken word artist or poet should have as one of the foremost credentials what in Sweden is known as "en vass tunga ", for indeed a poet must have a sharp tongue and I for one do not hesitate to congratulate anyone who is not lacking in that dimension , for, if anything, the author of the piece that is being evaluated is a vast improvement on any staid, stagnant and lacklustre wannabe Owerri Motor Park artist, sadly, in his case, lacking in any of those particular commercial skills or attributes by which to pay the bills) and by contrast, the author ( Dike Chukwumerije) himself is obviously marinated in the tribal mix or the tribal mix-up / tribal politics in the crucible that is Nigeria , perhaps not so very different from the place where the Wimbledon-born Kemi spent the first sixteen years of her life Lagos, as the melting pot .
Hopefully, Dike Chukwumerije does understand that the UK is not Nigeria, and Nigeria is not the UK , just as the Naira is not the £ Sterling , Shakespeare is not Wole Soyinka, London is not Abuja, at least, not yet, and having said all that ( all of the above) I believe that Kemi has absolutely zero chance of being elected President of Nigeria or Governor of Lagos State whereas she has a much greater possibility of leading the Conservatives to victory in the next general election that's scheduled to be held no later than Wednesday 15 August 2029,.
I hold this optimistic view because of Kemi's views on multiculturalism generally, and her views on multiculturalism in Britain in particular, and also her current views on immigration
In considering her views we must bear in mind that she's addressing issues that are dear to members of her UK constituency -the whole country, and that her views are generally in sync with the majority of the diverse citizens of Europe where it's generally felt that multiculturalism has failed. I should know, having lived in and been a part of Sweden, the past fifty four (54) years…
Secondly, o ye of little faith, you could take a closer look at UK : immigration as an issue and whilst digesting these realities please don't forget this other "wind of change" : Europe is more or less in total agreement about immigration, and although our tears may add to the grand swell of the Mediterranean Sea where so many have found their watery graves on the way to the greener pastures of Europe, the fact is that this generation shall not pass away before we see the final stages of Fortress Europe being legally put in place.
Kemi will have to strike a judicious balance between appealing to the eligible voters in the UK electorate - those with an immigrant background - she should not antagonise that base, while at the same time stealing as many votes as she can from the likes of Nigel Farage who is being
lubricated ( well oiled and greased)
by Elon Musk acting as Santa Claus
by granting him ( Fa-rage) a whopping
£100 million aid package…
In the meanwhile we will most probably see more refugees from Ukraine to Europe - about refugees from Ukraine to the UK, on a very personal level Professor Bernard Porter (staunchly Labour) has had this to say about Ukraine . ( I hope that I have not antagonised him ( Professor Bernard Porter) because my Better Half & I and some other cherished guests are having lunch with him and his Better Half, tomorrow... and I sure hope that I know how to behave in such a civilised setting - a civilised setting of a motor park philosopher's imagination, a setting at which we have always disagreed ,without becoming " enemies"
What we are unlikely to see is the red carpet being rolled out for potential refugees from Gaza, West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Sudan, Congo, Nigeria, any time soon.
Interesting stats 👍
THE LARGEST DIAMOND EXPORTERS IN THE WORLD
Swedish -origin population outside Sweden
Largest Immigrant Groups in UNITED KINGDOMTop 100 Largest Immigrants and Refugees Groups in Sweden
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