ftreasure@radionigeria.net

Ayinke Now!

With a smashing ‘come ye’ photo from Ayinke Martins on Nigerian Pride this week, what more could anyone say? My fear however is that contrary to her instructions, I have muddled up the photos and might have ended up with a nice photo of hers that she has not approved off.

A sunny afternoon in May, 3pm precisely, the day’s work had been wrapped-almost ,my make up melted ,a testimony that I had earned the day’s pay, Ayinke arrived for her interview on Nigerian Pride and off we went to studio E at the Broadcasting house, Ikoyi, Lagos.

Interviewing Ayinke was a delight for me-we had a chemistry going and it was such a struggle not to make two editions of the interview. Forthcoming and without airs, the daughter of a retired diplomat who schooled abroad reminisced with ease and laughed heartily, sometimes at the early days of her career in retrospect.
In spite of her well oiled family background, she is easy .

Ayinke is a jazz artist; she actually does African gospel jazz, her coinage really
From first contact, Ayinke oozed an air of confidence a self assured gait, who wouldn’t if endowed with a towering height, a curvy body and a sexy velvety voice indeed-and all without working too hard for any of them.

Born in the UK and educated there and so quite articulate and well spoken. My singular disappointment is that’s she can’t play the guitar-for my selfish inability to show off with knowing someone who does the guitar because I once tried learning and abandoned it myself.

She was a marketing manager with Nigeria Airways for 12 years so she is not exactly young. Music is an international language and only the self assured try the more difficult genres of classical and jazz music; audacious Ayinke chose jazz, I don’t mean the voodoo substance that dibias in Nigerian home videos concoct but the music she learnt from industry greats in jazz---Sarah Jewel, Ellena Channel who trained the likes of Shirley Bassey, George Micheal and other big bands.

 The striking thing about Ayinke is the fact that she has surrounded herself with the authentic  atmosphere of a Yoruba woman in modern day Nigeria-I observed to her that for someone into  Jazz music, her name Ayinke would have given way to some Natasha, Nicole, Samantha and so on ;her company ,Ajeji music would have been named Butterfly Productions given the sophistication of the UK environment where she grew up; and then her songs would have had the sophistry of Welsh and English culture given her education. She had a good laugh yet emphasized that she was proudly Nigerian without apologies too.

She has tracks like Labalaba, Niresa and Aiye n y’ilo in her CD. I have suffocated anyone who cared to take a ride in my car with these songs especially ‘Niresa’. Why? Because I am tickled by the fabled son of ‘Aresa’ who eats ‘moimoin’ (bean) pudding with horse meat as accompaniment amongst other intriguing things, that endeared him to most maidens.

 Thankfully, these non jazz enthusiasts-my captives, admit that the tune creeps on you so that you suddenly find yourself humming it.
The other day I read an interview of Funmi Iyanda with a Nigerian magazine and I observed that she had added Aduke to her name so that she is now Funmi Aduke Iyanda. There is something about brand Nigeria that is catching on with a particular generation of Nigerians, it would snowball soon into a movement and you better be part of it by being proud of your Nigerian heritage, whether there is a challenge with governance or not.

Back to Ayinke, with such an open spirit, I ended up giving Ayinke a gift of a mini book by a distinguished Nigerian Pride, Prof. Wole Soyinka as we made light talk after the interview because Ayinke is such an ‘encourager’. You know what, weeks after she responded with such a precious gift that would be dear to me for a long time to come.  

Thank You Ayinke.

Last line -Make sure you don’t ask for a ride with me if you are not prepared to be either be a convert or disciple of Ayinke’s brand of afro gospel jazz coz it’s still hot on my list.

Save the threat however and hunt for a copy when it hits the stores sometime this year, trust me, you would be delighted.

Out in the Woods

That I am in the Netherlands, courtesy of Radio Netherlands Training Center is no longer news. Quite expectedly I should make a few adjustments about culture, food and lifestyle. This is obvious.

These are the specifics. Chief amongst the variables however, is the weather. It has been most unpredictable. The other variables? Hold on; let me share my adventures with you. “The adventures of Souza” documented in the same titled book is nothing compared to the drama that my life has now become.

In my first one week, I had not only been lost in the wood but have been escorted home by the police.  Please it’s not what you are thinking! My penchant for being at the centre of the unusual had put me in a very definitive and conspicuous angle.  Perhaps I should hint you that I was the first to arrive in my specific group; my flight arrived about an hour earlier, that left me alone at the School in Amsterdam for quite sometime. Others started arriving after I had spent one hour forty-five minutes at the open space.

We arrived Bussum and checked in at Bastion, the guest house would be home for us for the next six weeks.

The national carrier of the Dutch completely spoiled me with lots of eatables during the flight.

Back to Halverson.

The adventures of Treasure started the day after the opening ceremony. Bus drivers were on a strike.  The class of twenty stood at the bustop for a while, then some of us decided to take a walk. The RNTC was not too far away actually.

Joyce then Brajesh, Jega, Evelyn then Jose Tembe, the West African ladies took a cue and followed behind. Joyce, one of the three ladies from Kenya led the way-she had been to RNTC for a course once-she thought she remembered, things went awry when she took a false turning.

We followed any way but we were nowhere near. Then we met a man by the mouth of the woods, we knew not how to speak Dutch, unfortunately most people knew Radio Netherlands by its Dutch name- Weredomrop. We learned the unfamiliar word just yesterday as it were.

Anyway the kind man who spoke broken - English eventually directed us through the woods. It was our best option; we were completely off the track.

So on a cold windy Tuesday morning with inappropriate shoes we made our way through the woods of Bussum hoping to emerge at RNTC.  The first lecture was to start at nine thirty. It was a structured time table; one class lecture would dove tail to the other. Our anxiety was palpable.

When we thought we were done and that the next turning would be short, it went on endlessly. When the Dutch tells you to go straight and turn left, its not far, you’d better be girded; it’s much farther than you may think. I guess, because physical fitness is a way of life for them.

It was a long winding walk indeed. We went through different emotions, Laurene; the Ghanaian was laughing and crying at the same time, the guys had grim faces.

Eventually we came out at the back of RNTC, one and a half hours after our infamous journey and thirty minutes into the first lecture. That journey should have been twenty five minutes

Mercifully, Peter Van de pol waited, eight of us were missing as it were. Speculations had gone on ahead of us concerning our whereabouts. We were dubbed the woods group, all eight of us.

I was not done with this unexplainable knack and propensity for drama.
The next day after an extra class on PowerPoint ended at 6.30pm, we trooped to the bustop to catch bus 107. By the way I am adopting that number for all the affliction it has brought me, the bus was not due until 40 minutes, this time I was prepared to wait while the others decided to walk back to the guest house.

Kelly from the Philippines decided to wait with me seeing that I was traumatized by yesterday’s walk. After 50 minutes of waiting however, Kelly and I became agitated. Would the bus arrive at all, how do we walk back without getting lost in the woods again? We had no Holland SIMS in our phones. Then we saw an Asian on a bicycle.
While he was trying to decode the complicated looking bus schedule by the bus stop, the police whizzed past on the other side of the road, we waved and they turned to find out what the problem was.

They tried to call Halverson bus station to know what was causing the delay…there was subtle questioning going on, then Kelly said under her breath “why don’t they take us?”  They heard the whispering, so they asked us into the patrol car and took us down to Bastion Guest House in Bussum.

It was the first time I was in a police car in more than three decades of my life. Kelly and I could not stop laughing all the way, we were laughing so hard, tears streamed down our eyes. We could imagine the faces of our colleagues when they saw us coming out of a police car.

ASA’S CONCERT BY FUNKE-TREASURE

Hello folks. The month of May has been busier for me in many ways.
I am sorry I have not kept faith here in the past three weeks. More on the reason, next time.

 What has however caught my fancy and which I can’t but share is the review of Nigerian Pride- Soul music crooner, Asa’s concert in the UK recently.

The writer/reviewer –Wilson Orhiunu is my friend and probably the only Nigerian that has attempted Mount Kilimanjaro - now don’t begin to ask when and how, because that is another story.

I published the story behind the climb in Guardian on Saturday about two and half years ago, when I was a columnist for the Nigerian daily.

Any way first thing first, here is the review of Asa’s concert in the UK.
Enjoy.

Asa Sings

Just like an assassin, Asa goes for the heart.

And so here I am waiting for the show to start.

Ben Onono starts off the concert with his song Badagry Beach. The packed room at the Carling Islington Academy went through the motions.

They clapped at the end of each song Ben offered never losing sight of why we were all gathered here in North London on Monday the 12th of May. Well, we came to see Asa and see her we did.

About five minutes past nine she came on. We heard for a few minutes the opening lines of 360 before we saw the spectacled singer come on. Then the great wrestling match began. Sections of the audience knew every line, every single lyric, every Oohh! And every aahh! It was reminiscent of the great wrestling match in Chinua Achebe’s novel “Things fall Apart”, between Amalinze the Cat and Okonkwo.

The fight that was described as the fiercest, since the founder of their town engaged a spirit of the wild for seven days and seven nights.

The audience, which had under gone a metamorphosis into Amalinze, (with me as the eye brow) tried in vain to out sing the singer, but it was all futile.

Like a slippery fish, she proved too hard to pin down. We all enjoyed our defeat as it soon became obvious that with Asa, Things Fall Together.

 She took control and with the aid of her well rehearsed band had us all eating from her hands (on her terms).

360 had that catchy room. “Will be waiting” initially used by Youssou N’Dour and Neneh Cherry in their 1994 smash hit 7 seconds, a song which sat at No 1 for 16 consecutive weeks in the French charts at the time.

 The whole audience would let rip every time Asa led us down that road, will be waiting! ™

This became a pattern all night; all of the songs had a part, which everyone joined in.

Asa oozed star quality, and it was nothing to do with make up or clever lighting. She exhibited that rare quality of someone whose spirit was big enough to reach out and touch others.

 Soon the whole show blurred into one unique and pleasurable experience. Her next song, Subway had all singing, “..Mama told me be careful, if anybody tells you I love you ohh oh..” ™. I just cannot get that tune out of my head. And I wasn’t the only one. After the show as we trooped down to the London underground, those who had just left the show were easily identified.

They hummed or sang with a spring in their step. It was like taking drugs (not that I know anything about that).

Fire on the Mountain (My favourite) was dropped next. I thought of when I stood on Kilimanjaro in all its 5,895m of glory.

I became a child again, running and singing in primary school- there is Fire on the Mountain, run, run ,run! It was so liberating. I began to get that feeling of being in a group therapy session. No seats, little lights, everyone standing cosily close, too close if you ask me, as I found my hands accidentally striking the softer parts of the female anatomy as the dancing got hectic.

In the end I had to lift my two hands up and jump. The song was done well.

I felt Bob Marley, Fela and Nina Simone come to life all in one go in the vocal chords of Asa. I thought of the similar grooves on Gabrielle ™“When a woman”. It was Things Falling together with Asa. Her songs, to borrow the words of Chief Zebrudaya, “penetration deep down to lubricate whiter”.

Almost like the washing of the soul with that sweet detergent of music, the cleansing of debris off the brain’s memory cells with the pure flowing waters emanating for a truly gift conduit; the ultimate brain washing.

Then came a song about the virtues of telling the truth. “E ro o da..” the song went. This song was not on the album.

Two ladies went on stage to sing with her. Prior to that she had teased her audience rotten by asking for volunteers to join her on stage.

I got flash backs to primary school, when we all struggled with outstretched hands to tell the teacher the answer. Me teacher. Me! We all had hands up in the air. Me Asa, me! I found her comic timing impeccable.

She was funny with talent and none of that verbose slap stick gra gra that passed as comedy nowadays. She communicated well with the crowd.

It was a joy to see. Her use of language and facial expression were excellent. She didn’t just fill the stage, but filled the whole venue.

Next was Awe. The wrestling started again. As she built up to start the song (with the story of a boy and his lover), the audience could wait no longer and started having fits of premature singing (for want of a better word). Awe!

By 21:55 hours it was Peace. Yepa! For the ones not yet born. Next came Jailer.

The band excelled here. The groove had that kind of infectious base line that would easily feel at home on a Dr Dre jam. It felt like a big fat juicy beat was walking slowly downstairs with attitude.

You just have to stand up and dance (did I just say stand up? This was a no sitting venue, thank God for strong legs!). Jailer went down very well.
The crowd gave mad love. Sang every line..I am in chains, you are in chains too.
Beautiful was sang with the skills of a lyrical cardiologist straight to our hearts, by passing through ears and brains. The emotive subject of mothers (on the next day following Mothering Sunday) really struck a chord. Asa sings just like an Assassin. 

We sang..ntori omo..lo ji ya ni ile oko¦(hope I got the spelling).It was so moving.
Next song was announced as the last. No one knows tomorrow. An injection of hope. My take on this was no matter how bad today is, it can get better tomorrow, so don’t get depressed about it.  (This show had the pharmacological properties of Prozac).

She took a bow and left the stage. Awon boys and girls no belleful o! Few made for the door but I hung around. Then she returned and gave us Jaraâ. First Eye Adaba then a song by Nina Simone before doing Natural Mystic by Bob Marley.

Then we were treated to a freestyle medley of Fire on the mountain, Jailer and...                                                                                                                      Mo ti gba gbe sha! Babawilly was rocking too much to remember anything after that.

Big up to the band.
Janet on Vocals, Rodi on Bass/ Jeff on drums/ Nicola (White male- saw him singing Yoruba chorus!)/ Didier on key boards
 We were all on a high after the show. Will most definitely go for second round, third round and even a fourth round.

Did I tell you I won tickets for the show by entering a competition on Gospel tonight with Muyiwa on Premier Radio? Sky TV 968? Well, I have told you now.

Finally big up to Cobham Asuquo who is credited with some of the production work on this album. Na you biko!

Wilson Orhiunu.

That is my offering for you
Let’s have your comments if you found this review enjoyable and interesting.

Meanwhile think Nigeria!

Funke-Treasure Durodola

Salute to a Black Man
                        

Nigeria’s Pride, Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soykina is in the news again.
He has agreed to be the principal consultant to the production team that will produce “Kiriji”-an epic historical movie on the 19th century Yoruba civil- war.

I am still quite smitten by the childhood memoir of the sage. He is my muse. When I feel uninspired and dry as a writer, all I need is to read a few pages of “Ake, the childhood years” – bang! My creative juice begins to flow again.
                                                                                                       
Prof .Wole Soyinka is quite a thrill I hear in directing, what with the almost mystical performance of “Sango” at the All Africa games that held in Abuja.

The Nobel laureate has a penchant to make statements political or otherwise on issues or events of national importance.
Hear him on the Kiriji project being produced by Jimoh Aliu,

 “…The history of the black people is paramount to me. This is because the history of Africa has not been told by we black people but rather it has been told through the eyes of other people who use it to suit their own purposes”- Wole Soyinka, Nobel Laureate.

I trust the integrity of the Nobel laureate-when it comes to matters of putting history in the right perspective. Besides for long, as an authentic daughter of the Yoruba nation, I had thirsted for the original and authentic version of “Kiriji”

This is because of the inherent major disadvantage of oral tradition. History based on an individual’s retentive memory is subjective. It is therefore heart warming to me to read about the project.

Well so much about the Nobel Laureate-have you read his book, Ake?
I’d like to know your favourite portion of the book.
Mine is teacher Lemo’s experience with little Wole’s father. It always has me in stitches.

I expect your mail. It’s more fun when you share your thoughts with me too.
Write to ftreasure@radionigeria.net
Listen to Nigerian Pride on www.radionigeria.net on alternate Wednesdays at 7pm Nigeria time.

Bye then.

Think Nigeria.

The New Form of Racism

II was editing an interview to be aired in a future edition of Nigerian Pride recently. In the interview conducted in the United States , Ken Okere –FRCN’s Director Corporate Development and Communication ,the interviewer , asked the Nigerian in Diaspora if he had ever experienced racism in the US -now that is a favourite question of Ken.

Normally the interviewees share a personal experience with him but nothing prepared me for Mr. Alex Ikefuna’s dramatic response.

His story goes that he was passed over for a promotion to the post of a director by his employers and he went to court. The judge told the guys involved that they had better prepare a good case-it was a statement pregnant with meaning.
Well, the people decided to settle out of court and gave our compatriot the promotion to the post of a director that he merited. He turned it down and resigned anyway. According to him, he just wanted to prove a point.

It just so happened that while going through one of Nigeria’s dailies, I chanced on an article written by a Nigerian brother resident in London. It was titled “Wasting destiny of African Migrants to the West”-Daily Champion April 9, 2008.
I thought it was a succinct representation of the state of migrants from Africa and more so Nigerians in the United Kingdom.

Taju Tijani, the writer was described by the daily as a social and afro-centric scholar that lives in London. What I enjoyed most about his article was his description of the new kind of racism in UK presently.

Comrade Tijani says “….poor and jobless lower class whites blame the influx of illegal migrants as the source of their misfortune. Homeless whites blame illegal black migrants as the source of their sleeping rough on the streets. Old conservative whites shake their arthritis-damaged fist at the poor, underclass blacks as the cause of rising crime waves in their neighbourhoods. . .”

Even more thought provoking is the phrase used by Tijani in which he says “The ‘us and them’ syndrome is the new racist currency”

Meanwhile I gathered also from the article that the Mayor of London, Mr. Ken Livingstone has publicly acknowledged that proceeds from slavery underpinned the transformation of Britain into the kind of paradise it is today.

The citizens had better be re-educated then to stop perpetrating this new form of racism-whatever happened to being global citizens. More importantly he that sows reaps-our forefather’s sowed tears and blood and died along the way, in hundreds albeit thousands to make Britain wealthy. So please leave the latecomer reapers alone!

So what do you think? You live in the Diaspora? Share your experience of discrimination as a migrant with us here.  Think Nigeria.

You can contact Funke-Treasure by sending an e-mail to ftreasure@radionigeria.net for your comments.

Funke-Treasure's Profile

Funke -Treasure Durodola is a breakfast show anchor and a presenter with
Metro FM 97.6, Radio Nigeria's foremost FM station.

She is a network news anchor on the Network service of Radio Nigeria. An
estimated 120 million listeners tune in to the service in one single news
broadcast.

She is a very articulate and witty presenter who is a household name in
Lagos, Nigeria where she has been a breakfast show anchor for  her 8 years
with Radio Nigeria, Lagos .

Through that platform Funke-Treasure has continually brought women and
children issues to the front burner.

Funke-Treasure has presented a number of popular programmes on the night
belt of Metro FM. Her soar away successes include Sharing with Treasure,
Divas of Africa and Juju music and How's your day been? She is fondly
called Treasure Lee by fans.

A multi- skilled broadcaster, She has gone through the three tiers of
training as a continuity announcer/presenter at the FRCN Training School,
Lagos. She has done the Basic Journalism course at the same institution.

She is also a news feature producer and a reporter. She  produces
"Nigerian Pride" -a programme that showcases and celebrates outstanding
Nigerians in the Diaspora, on the Network Service of Radio Nigeria.

She was a finalist of the Henry J. Kaiser HIV Journalism Category at the
2007 CNN/Multi-Choice African Journalist of the year.

She was nominated as Best Music Presenter at the AMEN Awards 2002.
Recently she was nominated as best female presenter at the Nigerian Kids
Choice Awards 2007

She has also won the Cadbury 2007 Education Reporter of the Year award and
the Best Feature Report -Radio at the 2007 Red Ribbon Awards on HIV/AIDS
organized yearly by Journalists against AIDS.
She was  a nominee for the local language reporting category at the same
award ceremony.

Funke-Treasure is a writer; she was a columnist with two Nigerian
newspapers - New Age and the Guardian on Saturday in the last four years.
Her writings bothered on women, children, social and media issues.

She is very passionate about Nigeria and proud of her Nigerian heritage.

She particularly loves "gari", made from cassava and like it most when
soaked in water. She loves watching stage plays and reading.

Funke is a fellow of the Thomson Foundation, UK.


You can contact Funke-Treasure by sending an e-mail to ftreasure@radionigeria.net for your comments.

Nigerian Pride

of Creamy Linens

Here I go again-my third missionary journey of writing my opinion on
issues of general interest. I know I have a way of showing up in the
dailies. First, I was on the pages of New Age; then I moved on to The
Guardian on Saturday. But this time around I am in my constituency-on
Radio.

Radio Nigeria's website (www.radionigeria.net) became a hit during
the coverage of the 2007 elections. Since then it has become a destination
for the discerning.

I'd rather stick with the vision and upward climb of Africa's largest
radio network-Radio Nigeria. Trust me not to defect.

My latest assignment on Radio Nigeria, aside anchoring the Network News and presenting Programmes, is to document and celebrate the achievements of Nigerians in the Diaspora. It is called "Nigerian Pride". It is challenging, demanding and quite exciting.

I was reading Segun Afolabi's book "A life Elsewhere", I thought it was a
refreshingly different writing style and approach, Segun won the 2005
Caine Prize for African Writing for his short story "Monday Morning"

I was just savouring his collection of short stories when I stumbled on
"Kemi's Journal", a diary of sort that talks about the struggles of  a
young lady with maintaining the lifestyle of a truly born again fellow.

Abidemi Sanusi, the author and another Nigerian in the Diaspora, got me
riveted from the first chapter. I had to go check her blog and there I
discovered a woman this generation of writers in Nigeria ought to be proud
of. Her third and latest literary offering, "God has daughters too" is
even more engaging. I hope to have her join us one of these days on
"Nigerian Pride" on Radio. She lives in UK and we hope to share with you
her story as soon as we can track her.

Just as I was about writing this piece, a colleague of mine intimated me
that her brother who lives in the US was in the country. He is the man
behind the Washington International Medical Mission.

Ike C. Ibe trained as a lawyer but has abandoned law for service to humanity. He uses the
leverage abroad to help communities in Nigeria in the health sector. A
total of 10 billion naira has been expended already through the mission at
no cost at all to the government.

In fact, Ike and friends in the US equipped the Imo State University
Teaching Hospital with 25 dialysis machines, 10 x-ray machines, 9
ambulances and 5 million syringes  among other things. Ike told me that
through the initiative, about 1.2 million patients had been operated on,
free of charge. For Ike Ibe, "life is uncomplicated when you live it for
humanity".

Watch out for that interview on Nigerian Pride on the Network Service of
Radio Nigeria.

I can go on and on but this is a weekly meeting between us so keep your
fingers crossed; I will definitely serve you more exciting stories of the
achievements of our fellow Nigerians as the days go by.

Nigerians are amazingly enterprising . It is therefore a rare priviledge
and opportunity to share the achievements of this group of Nigerians with
you on the programme and on this blog. I have chosen to call them
unofficial ambassadors of the vast country Nigeria.

I believe Radio Nigeria is offering you an alternative window through
which you can view Nigerians living abroad and draw your conclusions on
the average character and world view of Nigerians generally.

 Let's do this together. Listen to "Nigerian Pride" and send me a mail at
ftreasure@radionigeria.net  to let me know what you think of our
compatriots in the Diaspora.


Welcome to my world.

All hail the mother tongue

Since the world celebrated the international mother tongue day on February
21, the Nigeria media has been awash with analysis, cries and calls for
the need to speak our languages more often.

On the morning of that day, I was on  Radio Nigeria Network News. Kelvin
Ugwu -my co-anchor and I decided to start the bulletin with saying good
morning to our listeners and linking up with our network centres across
the country in the major Nigerian languages. I had the first shot at it
when I said "Kedu ki mele" to Charles Anazodo in Lagos; "Ina kwana" went
to our Kaduna national station. Kelvin did the rest.

Dialectal variations of our languages are disappearing gradually while we
acquire British and American accents. These days, it is becoming a fad to
anglicize Nigerian names, Lagos is the production point for this latest
rot. Presenters on some radio stations in the city are pioneering the
unhealthy attitude. Names like kemi, gbemi, olateru -olagbegi and so on
have taken on slants that are foreign. It is a shame.

Once upon a time, the NTA signed off its news broadcasts with three main
languages. That was where I learnt "muk wana lafia" and "Ka chi fo". The
Television house jettisoned the idea years back. Here we are in year
2008.There is a renewed wave of patriotism and nationalism a la the Awo
-Zik-Balewa era (I say that with all sense of honour for the three
nationalists)

The youths are pioneering this renaissance. Nigerian youths are Naija
crazy in a stimulating way. T-shirts, headbands, jerseys, scarves, wrist
bands and many more with green white green splashed on them all.

There is a surge of pride lately; perhaps the continental reality shows
that some Nigerian youths participated in fuelled it. For instance, Dare
Art Alade represented well when he went in for Project Fame. He had a lot
of Naija branded souvenirs and paraphernalia in his corner. He was also in
your face with his Naija identity.

Then of course there are many "Proudly Nigeria"  projects all over the
place, pioneered of course by Radio and TV programmers.

New generation musicians have also been flying the Nigerian flag with
proud by code mixing English language with Pidgin English and their mother
tongue. Have you observed that most music hits these days are those with
enough hooks in Pidgin English?

Consider Style plus, Tuface, Faze .
Let's take Faze - "Omo na mental case, start to dey craze" - that's just a
line from the monster hit "Kolomental".

In fact, Pidgin English is fast becoming the un - official lingua franca
for the new Nigeria.      In the Niger Delta area of Nigeria, Pidgin
English is a language with its nuances.

Back to the mother tongue, you know what, I like to push it rather far-
ban vernacular speaking in school, it is not a crime to converse in our
languages. Some people are advocating using indigenous languages to teach
mathematics. I believe more pupils would show intetrest during maths
lessons. Result? We will have more scientist and researchers.

Let me echo Professor Molefe Kete Asante of Temple University in a speech
he delivered at the Africa Telecoms Awards recently, "Conquered people
adapt to behaviors and attitudes of their conquerors. On the other hand,
conquerors know that they have conquered not when they have defeated you
physically but when you dream in their language, when you think their food
is better than your own, when you think their concept of beauty as
standards by which you judge your husbands and wives.when these things and
others like them happen, you are truly a defeated person."

All hail the mother tongue.

Post your comments, write to ftreasure@radionigeria.net

Photo opportunity included - Kelvin Ugwu and I reading the 7am Network News.