Kemi Badenoch

58 views
Skip to first unread message

Toyin Falola

unread,
Jul 9, 2022, 3:40:03 PM7/9/22
to dialogue, ya, Yoruba Affairs
Kemi Badenoch, highest ranking Yoruba minister in the ruling Conservative government, throws in her hat in the race to be PM.


PHOTO-2022-07-09-14-35-36.jpg


Sent from my iPhone

Oluwatoyin Adepoju

unread,
Jul 9, 2022, 7:39:20 PM7/9/22
to dialogue, ya
But, is she better understood as Yoruba or of Nigerian ancestry or Nigerian born?

The term ' Yoruba" might have little meaning in UK society.

Thanks

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Yoruba Affairs" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to yorubaaffair...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/yorubaaffairs/729D2217-4019-4B29-90D6-8789F21777E6%40austin.utexas.edu.

Oluwatoyin Adepoju

unread,
Jul 9, 2022, 7:39:27 PM7/9/22
to usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Wow

--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfric...@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDial...@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialo...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/729D2217-4019-4B29-90D6-8789F21777E6%40austin.utexas.edu.

Oluwatoyin Adepoju

unread,
Jul 10, 2022, 7:12:23 AM7/10/22
to usaafricadialogue, ya, Yoruba Affairs
Done a little Googling on Kemi Badenoch.

Her views on race and cultural issues suggest seeing her as Yoruba might be particularly problematic because she might not be living in a world in which such an identity has much relationship with her ideological positions.

thanks

toyin

--

Augustine Togonu-Bickersteth

unread,
Jul 10, 2022, 7:12:42 AM7/10/22
to usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Yorubas seem to be well known here in the UK.like we are told  .the culture survived the slave trade.  .ever since the time  of the West  African students Union.wasu.infact they played on the acronym  " wasu" to mean preach in yoruba! People here in uk tend to be very much aware of igbo and yoruba in uk
Let me also add that in the book ,Dynamism in African politics by J sofola  the central thesis is that the more dynamic of african leaders  have benefited from study in usa rather  than in the united Kingdom naturally you think of  obafemi Awolowo  in uk and nnamdi azikiwe on usa..the" competition" seems to be between the Igbo and yoruba in usa


On Saturday, July 9, 2022, Oluwatoyin Adepoju <ovde...@gmail.com> wrote:
But, is she better understood as Yoruba or of Nigerian ancestry or Nigerian born?

The term ' Yoruba" might have little meaning in UK society.

Thanks

On Sat, 9 Jul 2022 at 20:37, Toyin Falola <toyin...@austin.utexas.edu> wrote:
Kemi Badenoch, highest ranking Yoruba minister in the ruling Conservative government, throws in her hat in the race to be PM.


PHOTO-2022-07-09-14-35-36.jpg


Sent from my iPhone

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Yoruba Affairs" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to yorubaaffairs+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.

--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue+subscribe@googlegroups.com
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/CAGBtzfO8N8od9nGP3GfoPjGrdVy4zY%2BtbGesMCoat4GjgU2DuQ%40mail.gmail.com.

Oluwatoyin Adepoju

unread,
Jul 10, 2022, 7:53:02 AM7/10/22
to usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Thanks Augustine.

Is Kemi referred to as Yoruba in British news, particularly in connection with the PM race?

The term ''Yoruba'' does not seem to appear even in her Wikipedia page. For her Yoruba ancestry to resonate in the UK, she might need to emphasise it but her style of thinking seems to be one of total immersion in the dominant culture, not identifying with African particularities.

I wonder about the idea that British people generally have any interest in the concepts of Yoruba and Igbo. Do those terms have any coordinates they can relate to? Some scholars and students may know about them. But does the general public care about them?

I suspect Yoruba as a culture is better known in the US. Even then, it would be referenced in particular contexts and I doubt if politics is one of those contexts.

thanks

toyin



On Sun, 10 Jul 2022 at 12:12, 'Augustine Togonu-Bickersteth' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> wrote:
Yorubas seem to be well known here in the UK.like we are told  .the culture survived the slave trade.  .ever since the time  of the West  African students Union.wasu.infact they played on the acronym  " wasu" to mean preach in yoruba! People here in uk tend to be very much aware of igbo and yoruba in uk
Let me also add that in the book ,Dynamism in African politics by J sofola  the central thesis is that the more dynamic of african leaders  have benefited from study in usa rather  than in the united Kingdom naturally you think of  obafemi Awolowo  in uk and nnamdi azikiwe on usa..the" competition" seems to be between the Igbo and yoruba in usa

On Saturday, July 9, 2022, Oluwatoyin Adepoju <ovde...@gmail.com> wrote:
But, is she better understood as Yoruba or of Nigerian ancestry or Nigerian born?

The term ' Yoruba" might have little meaning in UK society.

Thanks

On Sat, 9 Jul 2022 at 20:37, Toyin Falola <toyin...@austin.utexas.edu> wrote:
Kemi Badenoch, highest ranking Yoruba minister in the ruling Conservative government, throws in her hat in the race to be PM.


PHOTO-2022-07-09-14-35-36.jpg


Sent from my iPhone

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Yoruba Affairs" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to yorubaaffair...@googlegroups.com.

--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfric...@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDial...@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialo...@googlegroups.com.

--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfric...@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDial...@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialo...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/CAP9m8jKy4%2BCZM9W7onpx0d3EobDLUtWdw-YOx9rBKX8Ee948Eg%40mail.gmail.com.

Toyin Falola

unread,
Jul 10, 2022, 7:58:50 AM7/10/22
to usaafric...@googlegroups.com

Great one:

Identity is plastic. It is the Yoruba person who is claiming her as Yoruba, because of the name Kemi, that takes glory in her story. If she commits a crime, she becomes a Briton with Yoruba parents.

Who calls you an African in Lagos?

TF

 

 

From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Oluwatoyin Adepoju <ovde...@gmail.com>
Date: Sunday, July 10, 2022 at 6:53 AM
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: Yoruba Affairs - Kemi Badenoch

Thanks Augustine.

Is Kemi referred to as Yoruba in British news, particularly in connection with the PM race?

 

The term ''Yoruba'' does not seem to appear even in her Wikipedia page. For her Yoruba ancestry to resonate in the UK, she might need to emphasise it but her style of thinking seems to be one of total immersion in the dominant culture, not identifying with African particularities.

 

I wonder about the idea that British people generally have any interest in the concepts of Yoruba and Igbo. Do those terms have any coordinates they can relate to? Some scholars and students may know about them. But does the general public care about them?

 

I suspect Yoruba as a culture is better known in the US. Even then, it would be referenced in particular contexts and I doubt if politics is one of those contexts.

 

thanks

 

toyin

 

 

 

On Sun, 10 Jul 2022 at 12:12, 'Augustine Togonu-Bickersteth' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Yorubas seem to be well known here in the UK.like we are told  .the culture survived the slave trade.  .ever since the time  of the West  African students Union.wasu.infact they played on the acronym  " wasu" to mean preach in yoruba! People here in uk tend to be very much aware of igbo and yoruba in uk

Let me also add that in the book ,Dynamism in African politics by J sofola  the central thesis is that the more dynamic of african leaders  have benefited from study in usa rather  than in the united Kingdom naturally you think of  obafemi Awolowo  in uk and nnamdi azikiwe on usa..the" competition" seems to be between the Igbo and yoruba in usa

On Saturday, July 9, 2022, Oluwatoyin Adepoju <ovde...@gmail.com> wrote:

But, is she better understood as Yoruba or of Nigerian ancestry or Nigerian born?

 

The term ' Yoruba" might have little meaning in UK society.

 

Thanks

 

On Sat, 9 Jul 2022 at 20:37, Toyin Falola <toyin...@austin.utexas.edu> wrote:

Kemi Badenoch, highest ranking Yoruba minister in the ruling Conservative government, throws in her hat in the race to be PM.



 

Sent from my iPhone

Oluwatoyin Adepoju

unread,
Jul 10, 2022, 8:12:07 AM7/10/22
to usaafricadialogue
true.

anyway, i wish her hair were better done in that pic

Dr. Oohay

unread,
Jul 10, 2022, 8:46:38 AM7/10/22
to usaafric...@googlegroups.com
What are “African peculiarities”? 

Dr. Oohay

unread,
Jul 10, 2022, 9:25:51 AM7/10/22
to usaafric...@googlegroups.com
My Error Corrected
I meant to ask “What are ‘African particularities’?”

Oluwatoyin Adepoju

unread,
Jul 10, 2022, 10:04:20 AM7/10/22
to usaafricadialogue
thanks. 

i meant african ethnic identities and values

Cornelius Hamelberg

unread,
Jul 11, 2022, 5:27:37 AM7/11/22
to USA Africa Dialogue Series

Most people like Chuka Umunna  (who was being promoted as the UK’s possible equivalent to Barack Obama ) and many others like him identify as “ Black British

( We are to presume it goes without saying that folks like Margaret Thatcher are self-evidently British without having to add the adjective  “White”, to distinguish them as “White British” 

 When it comes to particularities, what a variegated people we would be classified as - Obama as Kenyan-American, Umunna - as Igbo-Brit, each Nigerian ethnic group vying for prominence - excellence, maybe even supremacy over the others.

Things have changed a lot since Soyinka*s “ Telephone Conversation”


Should Olukemi Olufunto Badenoch be elected the UK’s next Prime Minister, I suppose that in the near future, assuming that he also succeeds in getting himself  democratically elected as Nigeria’s next President,  President Bola Ahmed Tinnubu will be making his occasional state visits to Merry England,  making a beeline directly to our lady at  Number 10 Downing Street for a tête-à-tête in Yoruba…

Cornelius Hamelberg

unread,
Jul 13, 2022, 4:50:28 PM7/13/22
to USA Africa Dialogue Series

Result of first round to replace Boris Johnson

LEADERSHIP CONTENDER # OF VOTES FROM TORY MPS IN FIRST BALLOT :

Rishi Sunak 88

Penny Mordaunt 67

Liz Truss 50

Kemi Badenoch 40

Tom Tugendhat 37

Suella Braverman 32

Nadhim Zahawi 25 (eliminated)

Jeremy Hunt 18 (eliminated)

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-60037657

As dear Pius Adesanmi would have put it, “Naija No Dey Carry Last” :

Kemi Badenoch goes to the next round

At the end of the day, at the very worst she will probably bag a heavy ministerial appointment / anointment

Oluwatoyin Adepoju

unread,
Jul 14, 2022, 6:43:58 AM7/14/22
to usaafricadialogue
UK about to have first non Caucasian leader of a major party and perhaps first pm

im not surprised Sunak is leading

his visual and career profile and courage in being one of the first two to resign suggested he was heavily positively highlighted

a great triumph of the asian and particularly indian story in britain

this victory requires a deep historical analysis to properly contextualise
 
i cant see how he could not win with such a huge lead

the victory also suggests great progress towards deracination in britain

sunak is in his early 40s making him perhaps the youngest person in such a job in english history

most exciting developments

cnn and bbc plus others such as asia times are vital places to go for diverse angles on these sea changes

Cornelius Hamelberg

unread,
Jul 14, 2022, 7:42:12 AM7/14/22
to USA Africa Dialogue Series
Briefly:

I think that you are sadly mistaken Sir, and backing the wrong horse. We  won’t have to wait too long for the denouement , but Rishi Sunak  the next leader of The Tory Party and Prime Minister of Britain? Forget it. Which is not to say that we don’t have Sadiq Khan of Pakistani ancestry  as the current Lord Mayor of London, a prominent position that Boris Johnson once held. Or people like the late Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul or a fair smattering of people of Asian origin sitting in the House of Lords  or occasionally sipping tea with Her Majesty the Queen  - or even a Russian-born Lord such as the one identified here .But now, we’re talking about the leadership of the Tory Party  - and in that respect Britain which had no plantations is a far cry from the United States which has produced the likes of Barack Obama, Kamala Harris , Colin Powell, Lloyd James Austin III 

It’s all the stuff that happens behind the scenes that we do not see. On BBC World Service last night Rob Watson was asked on a scale of 1-20 in terms of Machiavellian politics, where he would place the second round onwards  in the battle to find Boris Johnson’s successor.  He said he’d say 20. The whole works: arm- twisting , cloak and dagger skulduggery. You’d be surprised what goes on behind the scenes, but what does anyone know, beyond paranoia, wishful thinking, conspiracy theories?

https://www.politico.eu/newsletter/london-playbook/knockout-phase-briefing-wars-rishis-license-fee-hint/

I’d like to be more explicit about all this but right now I’m off to an Art Exhibition at Prins Eugens Waldemarsudde  after two idyllic days at Runarö

Cornelius Hamelberg

unread,
Jul 16, 2022, 1:06:35 PM7/16/22
to USA Africa Dialogue Series

Understandably, Boris Johnson says he wants the Tory Party to elect   “Anyone  but Rishi Sunak” to replace him 

BTW, I’d like to ask e.g .Alhaji Atiku Abubakar what it would be like to be elected Commander-in-Chief of Naija’s National  Treasury. 



On Thursday, 14 July 2022 at 12:43:58 UTC+2 ovdepoju wrote:

Cornelius Hamelberg

unread,
Jul 16, 2022, 4:17:54 PM7/16/22
to USA Africa Dialogue Series

 Rishi Sunak is quite an impressive person. His Indian parents emigrated to the UK from East Africa. According to Wikipedia, “Sunak is a Hindu, and has taken his oath at the House of Commons on the Bhagavad Gita” ( More than enough evidence that the UK is far from being anything like a bigoted theocracy)

Putting money where mouth is, here are the odds at Ladbrokes on the next leader of the Tory Party

Cornelius Hamelberg

unread,
Jul 17, 2022, 1:41:07 PM7/17/22
to USA Africa Dialogue Series

Understandably, Boris Johnson says he wants the Tory Party to elect “Anyone  but Rishi Sunak” to replace him.

Why understably? Well, rationally if you so prefer,  in this world of cause and effect, because history records that “ Boris Johnson’s Chancellor of the Exchequer/ Minister of Finance Rishi Sunak and Health Secretary Sajid Javid resigned within minutes of each other”- and since Sajid Javid is not running for the post of replacement Prime Minister, it stands to reason that from the perspective of  Britain’s now interim Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the villain of the piece is Rishi Sunak,  the de facto leader of the rebellion against him which precipitated his downfall and of course, Dear Mr. Johnson is in no mood to reward the leader of the rebellion against him. As the great and most loved British bard ( Mr. Shakespeare) put it, " How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child !” 

No Sir, back at Number 10 Downing Street, no matter who’s occupying the hot seat, the code of ethics dictates that rebellion,  ungratefulness, a stab in the back, sharper than a serpent's tooth, shall not be rewarded. 

The vengeful Boris Johnson wouldn’t mind Kemi Badenoch ( currently at 40 to 1)  being elected the next leader of the Conservative Party and therefore the next Prime Minister - the first Yoruba Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, instead of the ingrate former Chancellor of the Exchequer who had the temerity to lead the rebellion with the intention of replacing his former boss.

As my mother used to tell me, “ despise not the day of little things”. She lived at Edgware and believe it or not, she was an ardent fan of Margaret Thatcher. Maybe it had something to do with “ woman power” 

I’m thinking about back in the day when Linton Kwesi Johson ( 1979) when he released “ Forces of Victory” and was all over the place toasting and roasting jiving and rhyming “ Independent Intervention”// Independant Intavenshan :

“The CRE can't set me free

The TUC can't do it for me

The Liberal Party them is not very hearty

And the Tory Party

I no feel no party”

Nota bene that back in the day Linton Kwesi Johnson ( a relative of Boris?) didn’t say “ The Conservative Party is not so hearty”  which does not mean to say that he did not take some flak from predictable quarters for chanting “ Inglan ( England) is a Bitch” - exactly the sort of thing that e.g Sunak cannot say if he really wants to be the UK’s next Prime Minister and leader of the Tory party.  

Will the majority of the party members listen to the interim Prime Minister's wish, " Anyone but Rishi!" ?

Given that the next Prime Minister is at liberty to appoint his own Chancellor of the Exchequer, what Sunak has going for himself is the fact that he is the most formally qualified of all the contenders when it comes to finance/ economics ( . Furthermore, I’m sure that he has all the Hindu Holy men  and Hindu Holy women on his side, and the likes of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and everybody in the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Indian National Congress praying for him , whereas the rest of the contenders (three women and two men) only have the Archbishops of  Canterbury and York , the Church of England, and if they are lucky the Church of Scotland too, praying for them in addition to a few Babalawos and Redeemed Christian Church of God and their affiliates praying for them.

Whilst we will all soon be in the grip of the inflation blues, Rishi Sunak says that he has the right medicine. He has already, rather prematurely promised that he will “scrap EU red tape within 100 days of becoming PM”. Easier said than done , of course.

If all of the above is too depressing, here’s a soul brother  from Niger to cheer you up: Mammane Sani

Emeagwali, Gloria (History)

unread,
Jul 17, 2022, 9:12:47 PM7/17/22
to Cornelius Hamelberg, USA Africa Dialogue Series
Frankly speaking,  I agree with Johnson 
on this rare occasion. Sunak was the
 first to walk out on Johnson,  and the first
to  apply for the job-  with indecent
haste. That seemed like naked
opportunism to me.

Johnson himself is no angel. He fanned 
the flames for Brexit, with more concern
for votes, and  getting to No.10 Downing
Street, than the fate of Britain.Once he
got in, he couldn’t stop partying🎈 🎊 🎉 
even during Covid lockdowns.

In the final analysis, it is the Tory
party members who  will decide. 
Mordaunt seemed to have the
advantage  last week,  but that could 
change. Will the winner
 gain  the next island - wide election?
Time will tell. Labor is on the rise.

The election of  Obama  was
followed by more police brutality 
 against  Black communities,
the rise of racist  Trumpism, and 
the consolidation  of institutional 
racism, in some quarters.
Moves in about a dozen states
to  undermine the curriculum, ban
books challenging racism and so
on are in process. Voting rights are
being challenged etc. 

Would Sunak make a difference 
in the UK,  if elected? Having said
that,  it  is  good to see a diverse
range of candidates.






Professor Gloria Emeagwali
Prof. of History/African Studies, CCSU
africahistory.net; vimeo.com/ gloriaemeagwali
Recipient of the 2014 Distinguished Research
Excellence Award, Univ. of Texas at Austin;
2019 Distinguished Africanist Award
New York African Studies Association


From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Cornelius Hamelberg <cornelius...@gmail.com>
Sent: Sunday, July 17, 2022 1:31 PM
To: USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>

Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: Yoruba Affairs - Kemi Badenoch
 

EXTERNAL EMAIL: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click any links or open any attachments unless you trust the sender and know the content is safe.

Cornelius Hamelberg

unread,
Jul 18, 2022, 11:04:38 AM7/18/22
to USA Africa Dialogue Series

Gloria In Excelsis Emeagwali, 

There are more pressing matters in Nigeria. Always. 

You say that “ it is good to see a diverse range of candidates” lined up to succeed Johnson who described the job of Prime Minister of Britain as  "the best job in the world!”

 If only we could say the same about Nigeria - about those lined up to succeed Brother Buhari. I’m sure you won’t describe the Nigerian heavyweight contenders for  the most demanding, the most challenging  job in Nigeria as “a diverse range of candidates”, when we have a recycled, obsolete septuagenarian like Atiku Abubakar in the offing  as a front runner  - providing the only form of diversity known to himself ; extremism of the type in which many Nigerian and un-Nigerian commentators believe when they say, most sarcastically  - President of Nigeria is the best job in the world , if your aim is to line your own  pockets  - the kind of ethos that caused Olusegun Obasanjo to cry, 

God will never forgive me if I support Atiku Abubakar for president.” 

What we know is that Obasanjo is capable of changing his mind, and maybe his heart too. 

The diversity of which you speak is about to shrink according to one Kperogi  and his idol Peter Obi  axis of fantasy - though some may call it reality. The bugger says that there ain’t gonna be any election and that Obi should be declared Nigeria’s next President by default. Obi wants to take the piece of bread from Atiku’s mouth because of some legal/ constitutional mumbo-jumbo?  

Trust the kind of poetry that alone can say what has to be said and to get past strict censorship, past “strict party platform ties” - albeit not back in the das of  “Muhammad’s Dead Poets Society” - or indeed in any modern day dictatorship, in the countries where such dictatorships are to be found. We may thank our lucky stars that Nigeria is not a dictatorship and that by comparison the UK is infinitely not one.  As you know, the current difference between the two countries is that in Nigeria it's unlikely that e.g. our stoic Muhammadu Buhari is going to resign  because of something as trivial and the Pincher Affair, or  - God forbid, for partying at Aso Rock or Daura  during a lockdown or a curfew imposed on the whole of the country, speak less of failing to curb/ liquidate/exterminate Boko Haram or to adequately respond to the numerous allegations by bringing to justice all miscreants, all insurrectionists, all armed and dangerous gangs of marauding Fulani Herdsmen said to be terrorising other ethnicities; speak less of the wanton ransom kidnappings, and other crimes to humanity. 

But today, everybody wants to sit in judgement over Boris Johnson. As the Holy Bible tells us , Matthew 7:5, “ Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.”

Re - Terrorism and  UK Govt’s travel advice about Nigeria ; " Most attacks are conducted by Boko Haram or Islamic State West Africa (ISWA) and occur in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States in the North East '' . Adamawa State sticks out like a sore thumb, because Atiku Abubakar hails from Adamawa State , and the question remains , all these years, what has been his contribution to fighting terrorism?  As Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju observes in a parallel thread, “Why did Atiku backtrack on his condemnation of the mob murder of Deborah by Northern Muslims who accused her of blasphemy? Because  the responses to his condemnation from Northern Muslims indicated he was going to lose their votes by that condemnation.” Does that mean that the terrorists are going to vote for him? That he is their man? Or is he telling them that if he wins he’s going to wipe out terrorism? 

When poetry - and especially satire which the onlooker can take with a pinch of salt, fails to do it then that’s where humour - if you have it, comes in and can do the trick. For a  nice dose of British humour, some of it  below the belt and all of them below the headlines, there are these cartoons of Rishi Sunak 

I’d say that yours was a near perfect summation, to some extent in sync with the grand overview of Professor Bernard Porter’s Runners and Riders  - the main difference between you being that Professor Porter has forever had an axe to grind with Boris and from way back, with the Conservative Party under any kind of leadership whatsoever.

Accusing Rishi Sunak of  “naked opportunism” is subjectively or objectively in sync with Boris Johnson’s view.  How do you explain Sunak’s popularity - and Sunak doing so well so far? Sunak himself may believe - sincerely  - that he is a patriot  - ( like St. George and the dragon)  sent by God to kill inflation, to save the UK economy, to reinvent the wheel, to salvage what’s left of the good deal , the Brexit which he supported. For all we know, Sunak could be the Brutus of the piece : ” He only in a general honest thought and common good to all, made one of them.”

Objectively speaking, in order to qualify myself with a much better understanding of the kind of patriotism in question,  the kind of patriotism that is bubbling  like champagne in Rishi Sunak’s mind, I had first better read and digest  Professor Porter’s freshly published “Britain's Contested History - Lessons For Patriots”

Oluwatoyin Adepoju

unread,
Jul 18, 2022, 11:18:24 AM7/18/22
to usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Another innimitably fine piece by Cornelius

Cornelius Hamelberg

unread,
Jul 18, 2022, 7:09:06 PM7/18/22
to USA Africa Dialogue Series

This is quite a fascinating piece of latest gossip : 

 A United States-based Nigerian-American professor, author, media scholar, newspaper columnist, blogger and activist, Farooq Kperogi, has projected that Nigeria’s Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, may emerge the next President by default owing to infractions by two major political parties.”

This time it looks like he’s onto something big 

For ordinary folks like me it’s back to basics about the Peter Obi debacle, according to which his allotted destiny is slotted for presidential  victory “ by default”!

Can someone such as a constitutional lawyer whose mother tongue happens to be English please explain the simple meaning here and then, hopefully, the plain meaning doesn’t have to be “ interpreted” :

The Electoral Act 2022 requires political parties to notify INEC of their intent to conduct primary elections at least 21 days before the date of their convention.

My understanding of “ at least 21 days before'' means anything from 1 - to 21 days before is glorious, is well within the time limit and is VALID.

But if we are to abide by Farooqi Kperogi’s  understanding, then the questions are, what are the implications  - does Tinubu get disqualified from running because  his giving 17 days notice, “ actually “ falls short of the at least 21 days notice the Electoral Act 2022 requires.”?

And is dear Alhaji Atiku Abubakar likewise already disqualified from running because his and his party’s infraction of another electoral stipulation automatically disqualifies him from fulfilling his life ambition to run for President, one more time? 

If the two major front runners are already down and disqualified by the electoral laws to which they have no choice but to submit, then isn’t it about time that they were informed about this so that they stop spending any more money with the main aim of winning the Naija Presidency?

Should it come to pass that they are thereby disqualified, then what’s next? The elections are cancelled? Postponed? Peter Obi rides to victory, unchallenged? In the chaos and confusion that would follow, time for the military to come stepping in ?  

“Only a matter of time  till night comes stepping in”

Joker Man 

Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages