“Aunt Akwe”, who was bemused at her appearance in my last post, just sent me a highly comprehensive dictionary of Nigerian pidgin. It’s very helpful if you want to decipher Emmanuel Oluwatosin’s translation of the 23rd psalm, which begins:
The Lord na my shephard, I dey kampe.
E make me sidon for where betta dey flow and come put me next to stream make mai bodi thermacool.
Or translate the lyrics of “I Go Chop Your Dollar”, for that matter.
(By the way, “Aunt Akwe” doesn’t live in Lagos, I don’t send money to her, and she tells me she’d buy the beer for herself, not for Uncle Pat.)
While we’re on the subject of the burgeoning Nigerian blogosphere, Imnakoya of Grandiose Parlor mentions that mainstream Nigerian newspapers seem to be catching on to the phenomenal growth of Naija blogs. An article in the Daily Champion features the Nigerian Blog Aggregator, which now features 130 blogs from Nigerians inside and outside the country.
If you read just one Nigerian blog this week (and who can stop with just one?), read “Teju Cole”, the lyrical chronicle of a journey home by a Nigerian living in the US. It’s hard to say whether his photography or writing is more beautiful, but they both demand your time and attention.
Do you really want to be on vacation in Nigeria, or you just there “in the spirit” :)
Give me a good excuse – an invitation to give a talk, say, with a coach plane ticket, and I’m there, Oluniyi…
Ethan- Thanks for the reference to Grandiose Parlor’s post on the Nigerian Blogoshere, and many thanks to you and the Global Voices’ Crew for amplifying the voices of Nigerian and other African Bloggers.
And about Teju Cole?…Serene and simply beautiful!
Another good document in Nigerian pidgin is the UN Declaration of Human Rights.
Thanks for the Teju Cole link. I hadn’t seen it before!
Robbie
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Thank you for the dictionary link! So much fun!
You know that Africa quiz you posted recently? One of the questions I got right through general knowledge, rather than actually knowing the answer, was the one about “I Go Chop Your Dollar”. I’d actually never heard of the song, but a) I quickly recognized it as Nigerian pidgin, and b) have enough intuition for pidgin to understand what “chop” meant in that context. I think it comes from listening to far too much Fela Kuti :)
Dear Fellow African,
I read with sadness – albeit wonders – that good people like you still spend their times and efforts concentrating news, insights, and discussions on internal affairs and ‘local championship’. Although, I am not a Nigerian, I admire Nigerians like the people who are behind the African Muslim Website http://www.esinislam.com because of their incise coverage of the international affairs.
The problems of Nigeria and Africa in general today is not internal politics. Whatever politics our people fight or kill themselves for do little to change destiny of millions of the Black people, especially their own as the world order is not made within their reach. Think about the UN, the IMF, WHO, Commonwealth, US, Israel, Palestine, Hague, G8, CNN, BBC, Ibadan’s Nigerian Tribune… Who really is in charge of how the Nigerians – sorry – the Africans are living? Shell or Dan Tata, Naira or Dollar, Obasanjo or Bush? Wake up! Get real!! Open your door for international engagements, insights, and informations.
My father who was serving as a pastor here in the United States before he returned to Ghana used to say to me many people don’t know who serve their meals. I couldn’t understand then. But, my world! How right a pastor. He also joked his Nigerian friends used to called Jesus Jesu but he could not find equavalent in Twi. Perhaps, the Africans are too lazy to pronouce Jesus. Thay are active to master English and therefore promote the heritage of those who enslaved them, chaining them and shipping them like commodities only to plant suagr cane for their…
Well, with website like http://www.esinislam.com – though Islamic and also available via http://www.islamafrica.com and http://www.islamicafrica.com
Wake up. Wake up Nigerians! Wake up Africans. Expose to a wider world. The problems today cannot be solved by talking only about ourselves. As African, we must see our problems from its ’emanacium’. It is the international politics that define our destiny not local issues.
Thank you for given me this opportunity to contact you. I look forward to your response on this important matter.
However, I commend you for your efforts
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