soyeyya [love] by XDOGGinit

My current music video obsession. I think this may be one of the best Hausa-language music videos I have ever seen. The camera-work is great, and the story is well-told, and the rap beat is so catchy I have been listening to it non-stop since yesterday. Interestingly, this was apparently made in 2006 (which you can tell if you know the Kannywood stars featured--who have aged somewhat since the making of the video), but only just uploaded to youtube a few months ago. The Hausa is a bit non-standard (the use of danmama, danbaba, instead of yar for a girl) but exciting all the same. X-Dogg init is definitely a musician to keep an eye out for.

blocked

blocked, blocked, blocked, blocked, got up at 5am to write. nepa went off just as i realized i hadn't boiled water for tea to wake me up. stared at my screen and dozed between words. finally curled up on the couch with my feet on two stacked bound volumes of newspapers and my head in the deep hole in my couch and slept off with my laptop blinking and purring beside me. (thank God for my investment in an inverter and battery). woke up and decided to read a few more documents from the censorship board, three chapters for the ur-text on northern nigerian cinema culture by B.L. 11:42am haven't written anything. wishing i could do everything everyone wants me to do for them, wishing i could do everything i want to do, no duties, and instead doing nothing but read. sometimes reading helps me start writing. in this case, it just makes me wonder if i can ever write anything so long and so elegant and so beautifully cited, with theory interwoven throughout the historical detail.

i try to remind myself of the sermon in hausa i heard yesterday, "perfect love drives out fear." yesterday it was comforting, inspiring, left me with a glow throughout the day. now i just feel guilty. i do not love [this topic? myself? God? my lost love? my department? my friends whom i am disappointing by refusing to go out and visit?] perfectly, therefore i fear. i fear writing. i fear disappointing. i fear not meeting a deadline.

nonsense.

i do not fear writing. i love writing--this sort of meandering spiel, for example--the reason i started this blog back when i was writing my (awful) masters thesis. i can naval gaze through typing all day long and gain a lot of insight from it. i fear academic writing. the necessary perfection of it. the craft of it. the "jobness" of it. if this article were a blog post, I would be done with it by now, and with a million links and photos too. And probably hundreds of more people would read it than will read this book chapter.

enough kvetching, i've wound out some of the tension in my head. back to the article.

it's on censorship. and perhaps i should try getting myself to write by just not censoring myself. this is not an article for publication, i will lie to myself, it is a blog post that people can google at midnight. i can edit it out later.

Blogger Nostalgia

I spent more time than I really had this evening reading back over old blog posts from this blog. I miss it. I miss writing everything that I am thinking in diary fashion, a lot of which was boring but which sometimes turned up jewels of observation and description. I miss working through my thesis and my thoughts on this blog as if it were a workbook. I miss writing about random walks, the sleepless nights before travelling, about my childhood and my friends. I miss the blogging community and the other bloggers who would often leave comments here: Christian Writer, Teju, Texter, Toks-boy, Jeremy, even the gadfly Fred, and all the others. I miss the satisfaction that this blog brought, and the feeling that even if I was procrastinating something by writing here, that I was building up an archive that I could look back on, in dry spells, for inspiration. And I was right. It has been.

My attention has been taken over by my professional blog, with my real name. I can't write that one off the top of my head with little editing as I did this one (I've let it go too long without an update too, because I can't stand the thought of the hours it will take to properly update), and the damnable addiction of facebook, which has grown too large and too demanding and too invasive--yet i still can't leave it alone. Both forums lack the intimacy and playfulness of this blog that I began in the days when the Nigerian blogging community was just beginning and was still small and affectionate and not as glossy as it is now.

This is the way our lives progress. I now write for money, and am beginning (the key word is *beginning* here) to crank out academic publications. People now write my public email address with comments on my writing and "like" (I blush) my public facebook page. These things, too, are satisfying, but perhaps just as temporal as this blog. The next hurdle on my horizon is finishing the dissertation (in partial requirement for the PhD), which should have been done last year, or now, and perhaps I should return more frequently here as I try to write, much as I did when I was writing my MA thesis.

I miss anonymity. That is, perhaps, the major reason I do not write here as often. This blog has become too visible. Too linked to my public persona. I would say "I can't just kvetch here anymore" but I suppose that is what I am doing. Kvetching. Publically. Some would say "whining." For no good reason.

Many of my blogging friends from the days when I was regularly keeping this up have taken down their blogs, others let them lie fallow. Some of them have become famous authors, who have gotten rave reviews in world presses and nominated for major awards. Others write, now, for money too. But I can't bear to take this blog down. I let it remain, an archive, the place I file youtube videos I like, and my occasional outlet to write things that are not academic and are not professional--to write little rants and creative bits and bobs that fit nowhere else but here.

This space comforts me. I think I will come back more often.

Patience

Music video by Nas & Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley performing Patience. (C) 2010 Universal Republic Records, a division of UMG Recordings, Inc.

speechless.... incredibly beautiful on multiple levels....

Ice prince ft Brymo - Oleku (naija music 2010)

A song worth obsessing over. I've loved this Ice Prince song since I first heard it. An American journalist currently visiting Nigeria for the first time, just sent it to me again telling me how obsessed she was with the song. She also googled the lyrics, which can be read here. She was surprised (as I am) at the dismissive tone of a bjmighty on the nairaland thread who said "Just normal rhyming. He can do better."

Naija-people, sometimes we don't appreciate what we have, until someone from the outside points it out to us.

flame

fire flared fierce, then flickered down to a warm steady flame, a light that glimmers through cracks in clay, feeds on air and dust, faith, hope, and love, when wick and wax is gone.

#Jan25 Egypt - Omar Offendum, The Narcicyst, Freeway, Ayah, Amir Sulaima...

I should go to bed tonight, but I am obsessed with Egypt.

Here is a video that has been going around: #Jan25 Egypt. On YouTube, the notes read:

"Inspired by the resilience of Egyptian people during their recent uprising, several notable musicians from North America have teamed up to release a song of solidarity and empowerment. The track is fittingly titled “#Jan25″ as a reference to both the date the protests officially began in Egypt, and its prominence as a trending topic on Twitter. Produced by Sami Matar, a Palestinian-American composer from Southern California, and featuring the likes of Freeway, The Narcicyst, Omar Offendum, HBO Def Poet Amir Sulaiman, and Canadian R&B vocalist Ayah – this track serves as a testament to the revolution’s effect on the hearts and minds of today’s youth, and the spirit of resistance it has come to symbolize for oppressed people worldwide."

It begins

First they ignore you.

Then they laugh at you.

Then they fight you.

Then you win.

The song was apparently posted on YouTube a few days ago, but, as music and art so often is, it was prescient, confident of success, yet reflective on the anxieties of revolution: “We know freedom is the answer, the only question is, ‘Who’s Next?’

Requiem for Sazzy: Mr Chairman Music Video

A few months ago, I posted Sazzy's video "Doubt" that was obsessing so much that I must have hit replay for at least two hours. He was no doubt one of the most talented of the up and coming musicians in Nigeria.

Sazzy passed away on October 23, 2010. He had sickle cell anemia, but his friends point to the negligence of the doctor as a major contribution of his death.

When I watched this final video posted by Sazzy's friend, music-video director, and co-founder of Intersection media, Korex Calibur, I was overcome with both sadness and a strange excitement. The song is brilliant. The video is brilliant and evidence of how much we would have had to look forward to if he had lived.

Respect, Mr. Chairman. We will miss you.



To buy the mix-cd "The Take Over" put out by Sazzy and DJ Atte in June of this year (which also features Ziriums, whom I have written about before) , see NotJustOk.com.

Scrap of a myth--Draft 1

snake locked

and stone eyed, she guards

her lonely island. Stop

your ears, escape

with splintered oars.

Her song is not for you.

FDNY paramedic and rapper Farooq Muhammad reminds people to "Call 911"

I have been feeling a little homesick/nostalgic for Brooklyn recently, and this video, which I found when googling for "street medicine" after an inspiring meeting with street medicine pioneer Dr. Jim Withers yesterday (the public affairs section of the US embassy brought him to Nigeria to give several talks about his medical work with homeless populations in the US), hit the spot. The video reminded me of what I loved about New York, and also makes me think of my sister who worked as a paramedic for several years before starting medical school.

This music video was apparently made in 2009, but I love how, in the midst of all the shrill controversy about the supposed "Ground Zero" mosque, the presence of a rapping paramedic, Farooq Muhammad, who grew up in Flatbush, Brooklyn, reminds an audience that there are millions of Muslim Americans, many of whom who are as passionate about being good citizens and helping people, if not more so, than their cynical and ignorant "haterz." A New York Daily News article on Farooq mentions that he was one of the firefighters dispatched to the World Trade Centre on "9-11:

Muhammad has been with the FDNY for 14 years, and was at the World Trade Center on 9/11. Like a lot of emergency responders, he went down that day to help out, and ended up getting trampled when people fled the buildings.

He says the videos are not a way out of the department to a new line of work. He loves the job, he says. As he raps in the video, "I'd do it for free."

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/06/02/2010-06-02_paramedicturnedrapper_turns_to_youtube_to_promote_music_videos_about_ems_unit.html#ixzz10XgtUdeK

Enjoy...

Poetry that touches the deepest part of me

From Rabindranath Tagore's The Gardener

61.
Peace, my heart, let the time for the parting be sweet.
Let it not be a death but completeness.
Let love melt into memory and pain into songs.
Let the flight through the sky end in the folding of the wings over the nest.
Let the last touch of your hands be gentle like the flower of the night.
Stand still, O Beautiful End, for a moment, and say your last words in silence.
I bow to you and hold up my lamp to light you on your way.

62.
In the dusky path of a dream I went to seek the love who was mine in a former life.

Her house stood at the end of a desolate street.

In the evening breeze her pet peacock sat drowsing on its perch, and the pigeons were silent in their corner.

She set her lamp down by the portal and stood before me.

She raised her large eyes to my face and mutely asked, "Are you well, my friend?" I tried to answer, but our language had been lost and forgotten.

I thought and thought; our names would not come to my mind.

Tears shone in her eyes. She held up her right hand to me. I took it and stood silent.

Our lamp had flickered in the evening breeze and died.

--

And a John Rutter piece from the Choir Boys:



The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make His face to shine upon you
To shine upon you and be gracious
And be gracious unto you (X2)

The Lord lift up the light of His countenance upon you,
The Lord lift up the light of His countenance upon you,
And give you peace, and give you peace;
And give you peace, and give you peace;

Amen, Amen, Amen
Amen, Amen, Amen

from the priestly blessing in Leviticus (here sung in Hebrew):

‎"The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace." Numbers 6:24-26 (NIV)

Sazzy - Doubt

I usually have a more ideological reason for liking music/music videos, but I after hitting replay on this one at least ten times, I'm posting this one because I find it very groovable. Enjoy. Sazzy's "Doubt"

ZIRIUMS: THIS IS ME Music Video

Readers may remember my earlier posts on the Hausa hiphop artist Ziriums, who was interviewed on CNN, and who wrote the scathing song "Girgiza Kai," which was later banned by the Kano State Government.

Now based in Abuja, Ziriums started out recording with Intersection's S. Solar and T-Rex in "Government Money" and also on a Yoye track (no video) "If you no Like My Music." Ziriums now has a hot new single video "This is Me." His "twisting" in Hausa has a punch that isn't quite comparable with anything else in contemporary Nigerian hiphop, and I suspect it will take him far. For more on Ziriums, see his My Space Page. (UPDATE 2 September 2010. Ziriums also now has a YouTube Channel. To listen to and buy Zirium's other songs or his entire album, This is Me, see the links to the album on itunes, myspace, and amazon [below].)

(see below the video for my very rough rendition of the lyrics)

“THIS IS ME” (Thank you to Ziriums for providing me with the lyrics in Hausa of the first two verses. He and Professor Abdalla Uba Adamu did the translation of the third. I'm also grateful to Osama bin Music, Zirium's brother who helped me correct a few of the lines My translation is very basic and flawed, and corrections are welcome. )

INTRO:

ASSALAMU ALAIKUM – ASSALAMU ALAIKUM

YARA KU FITO HIP HOP,

Kids come out to the Hiphop

MANYA KU FITO HIP HOP

Big guys come out to the hiphop

YARA KU FITO HIP HOP,

Kids come out to the Hiphop

MANYA KU FITO HIP HOP

Big guys come out to the hiphop

CHORUS:

THIS IS ME –ZIRIUMS X4

NINE NAN – ZIRIUMS X4

(This is me, Ziriums)

RAP 1:

BA’KO BABU SALLAMA MUGUNE KU BIYO SHI DA ‘KOTA,

The guest who does not greet with sallama is evil, chase him away with a stick.

NI NA AJE GARIYO DA ADDA NA DAU ‘KOTA TA MIC,

I dropped my javelin and my machet, I took up the mic

DA FARI SUNANA NAZIR

To start with my name is Nazir

BN AHMAD HAUSAWA LUNGUN KWARGWAN

Bn Ahmad Hausawa from Kwargwan neighborhood

YAYAN OSAMA BN MUSIC

Big brother of Osama bin Music

AH’ SHUGABAN TALIBAN NA HIP HOP A K-TOWN

Head of the Taliban of Hiphop in K-town

REVOLUTION ZAN NA MUSIC NA ANNABI SAY ALRIGHT (ALRIGHT x3)

It’s a music revolution. All who know the Prophet, Say Alright (Alright x3)

NINE INNOVATOR NA RAPPING DA ZAURANCE TWISTING DA HAUSA

I am the innovator of rapping with twisting in Hausa.

NINE MAI SUNA BIYAR TSOFFI SU KIRANI DA ‘DAN TALA

I am the one with the the five names, the old folks call me hawker

MANYA SU KIRANI MUHAMMADU HAJIYATA TA KIRANI TACE NAZIR,

Other grown-ups call me Muhammadu, Hajiya (my mom) calls me Nazir

NIGGAS SU KIRANI DA ZIRIUMS

The Niggas call me Ziriums

SANNAN ÝAN MATAN GARI IDAN SUN GANNI SUCE NAZIRKHAN

Then the girls of the town if they see me, they say Nazir Khan

TO DUK KU KIRANI DA ZIRIUMS (ZIRIUMS. NI NE ZIRIUMS, ZIRIUMS)

TO, all of you call me Ziriums. (Ziriums. I’m Ziriums. Ziriums)

SUNCE WAI BA ZAN IYABA LA’ÁNANNU MASU HALIN TSIYA

They say I “supposedly” I can’t do it, that’s what the spiteful gossips say.

‘DARA ‘DAIRI YA ‘DIRU ‘DAIRA HATTA ZANANTU ALLAN YA HURA (BALA)

A little bigger circle, he jumps to a circle [CHECK] (Bala)

KOMAI NISAN JIFA ‘KASA ZAI FA’DO KAJI TIIIIIIM

Everything that goes up, will come down, you hear me Tiiiim

YAU GAREKA GOBE GA SOMEBODY,MAI LAYA KIYAYI MAI ZAMANI-AH

Today it is your time, but tomorrow somebody better will come along.

CHORUS:

THIS IS ME –ZIRIUMS X4

NINE NAN – ZIRIUMS X4

(This is me, Ziriums)

CHORUS

RAP 2:

IM HUSTLING TAMKAR ‘DAN ACA’BA DARE RANA HAR SAFIYA

I’m hustling like a d’an achaba (motorcycle taxi driver), night and day, until the morning

DAMINA SANYI DA RANI DA DARI HIP HOP NI NAKE SO

In the time of the cool rains and in the hot season and in the night, it’s hiphop that I love

I WILL NEVER RETIRE NEVER GET TIRED,ÇOS IM ROLLING LIKE A TYRE

I will never retire, never get tired, cause I’m rolling like a tyre

GABA DAI GABA DAI MAZAJE NA HIP HOP(SAI MAZAJE NA HIP HOP)

Go on go on all you hiphop guys (you hiphop guys)

DUKIYA MAI ‘KAREWACE,MULKI MAI SHU’DEWANE,HANYA MAI YANKEWACE

Wealth comes to an end, power passes away, the road is cut off

SAI MUN HA’DU CAN FILIN ‘KIYAMA ANAN NE ZAKACI ‘KWAL UBANKA

Let’s meet there in the place of Judgment, there you’ll suffer like you’ve never suffered before

BA ÝAN SANDA BA JINIYA-GA ‘DAN BANZAN GO-SLOW

No police to escort you, no siren, you’ll see a terrible go-slow

CAN GEFE GUDA WALAKIRI DA SANDA MAI ‘KAYA KAI MISTAKE YA TUMURMUSAKA

There to the side the angel of hell with a rod of thorns, if you make a mistake he’ll beat you stiff.

SANNAN DUKKAN GA’B’BAN JIKINKA DUKA SUNE ZASU BABBADA SHAIDA

Then all the joints of your body, all of them will give testimony

RANAR BABU P.A DA LAWYER BALLE ÝAN BANGAR SIYASAGGA MASU

That day there will be no P.A., no laywer, much less those gangsters of politicans who

SHIGA GIDAN REDIYO SUYI ‘KARYA DAN ANBASU NAIRA,

Go into the radio house and lie to get naira (money)

INZAKA FA’DI FA’DI GASKIYA KOMAI TAKA JAMAKA KA BIYA

If you’re going to say something, tell the truth, in everything walk in the way of your forebearers

ALLAH BAIMIN KARFIN JIKIBA BALLE IN TAREKA IN MAKURE

God didn’t give me a strong body, much less a body builder’s neck,

AMMA YAIMIN KAIFIN BAKINDA HAR YA WUCE REZA A KAIFI

But he gave me a sharp mouth, sharper than a razor.

YES I’M SAYING IT.

Yes, I’m saying it.

CHORUS:

THIS IS ME –ZIRIUMS X4

NINE NAN – ZIRIUMS X4

(This is me, Ziriums)

Third Verse

(translated by Professor Abdalla Uba Adamu (to the part about Dala Rock), after that it is translated by Ziriums, himself. Both Ziriums and Prof sent the translations to Alex Johnson and Saman Piracha for a documentary on Hausa hiphop, Recording a Revolution. Translations used by permission of filmmakers. I’ve made a few very small edits to both translations for a more informal feel)

CAN NA GANO FACE MAI SIFFAR LARABAWA

Then I saw a face like an Arab beauty

NA CE MATA ZO TA TAKA

I said to her, come on let’s dance

TA CE BA TA TAKU DA TAKALMI

She said she doesn’t dance with her shoes on.

SAI DAI IN TA TAKA A SANNU

But she will dance slowly

TATTAKA A SANNU

(Go ahead) dance slowly

AMMA KUMA KAR KI GIRGIZA

But don’t shake your body

DOMIN IN KI KA GIRGIZA

Because if you shake your body

RUWAN KOGI ZAI AMBALIYA

There will be a flood

SAI BARNA TA WUCE TSUNAMI

More destructive than Tsunami

HAR DUTSEN DALA YA TARWATSE

Which will destroy Dala Rock.

(From here translation by Ziriums)

TATTAKA KI TAKA RAWAR DON TAKU KI TAKE TEKU,

Dance, Dance my type of dance, so light you dance on the ocean-top

TAKE TAWA KISA MUSU TAKA TAMU AKE TAKAWA TAKA

Step like me ‘cause it’s our type of step they want to dance.

TATTASAI TANKWA DA TUMATIR ITA TASANI TONON TANA

Chilli pepper soup and tomatoes make me dig for earthworms

TATTABARU TARA NE NA TARE TUN RAN TALATA MUKE TAKAWA,

I gathered nine doves. We’ve been stepping out since Tuesday

(The following stanza is an old Hausa poem (according to R.C. Abraham’s dictionary) sung for a “children’s game of prodding heaps of sand to find things hidden there.” Zirium’s brother Osama bin Music explained that the game includes catching the hands of one on whom a twig falls. Ziriums left it untranslated, but I’ve translated the latter part, which I think I’ve understood correctly. If I haven’t please correct me!)

GARDO GARDO –GARDON BIDA

ATTASHI BIRE –KAMANIMAN

GYARAN FUSKA –DA WUYA YAKE

ZAN KAMA KA –

I’ll catch you!

KAMANI MAN

Catch me, then

KAMANI MAN

Just catch me then

CHORUS

THIS IS ME –ZIRIUMS X4

NINE NAN – ZIRIUMS X4

(This is me, Ziriums)

Shout outs:

Intersection, Jam Bigz, Pro Okassy, Jah kozy, Sallama, Korex, Solar.

The House, man! You know what I’m saying?

Osama bin Music, Pastor Dan, Yo, this is Intersection, Jam Bigz,

K-town, baby. Daga Kano, Bahaushe, yeah Ziriums

When Ghana gave us hope...

i have a conference paper to write but that must wait for this most important match. NEPA takes the light around 9:15pm.

I search frantically for live streaming of the match, but it seems that world sports networks do not support Nigerian virtual spaces. ESPN says:

"ESPN3.com is available at no charge to fans who receive their high-speed internet connection from an ESPN3.com affiliated internet service provider. ESPN3.com is also available to fans that access the internet from U.S. college campuses and U.S. military bases.

Your current computer network falls outside of these categories.[...]"

Univision says:

"Lo sentimos, no este disponible donde te ecuentas otros utilizando la funcion de busqueda...."

I send out a status update plea to the Facebook masses and 18 comments later find live streaming on

http://channelsurfing.net/watch-fifa-world-cup-3.html

My solitary room is dark except for the glow of my laptop. The live streaming gives me freeze frames with brief moments of sound and action. outside i hear the gutteral growl of generators and in the distance, screams and shouts. i cannot tell whether they are joyful or devastated. I press refresh on Facebook every 20 seconds.

Into that uncertain space, come the written groans and profanities of FB friends.

There were these few days when it seemed possible--that the Black Stars of Ghana might lead Africa where Nkrumah never did. And that if they won, if they kept winning, if they should somehow reach that final match in the African Cup, then that would be a sign. all else would fall miraculously into place. Leaders would no more make pronouncement like kings. Africa would be the top of the world. The media would have to report something positive. The continent would be led by youth who follow the rules.

The World Cup for me was always more about the community I watched with than the game itself. Now, as I keep clicking refresh on Facebook to see the next comment, My laptop warns me that I have 5% battery remaining.

I am left lonely, restless and sad.

Youth Peace Rally, Jos Stadium, Thursday, July 1

A youth peace rally is planned in Jos for Thursday, 1 July 2o1o, 10am. The rally will be held in the Jos Rwang Pam Stadium along Tafawa Balewa road. The rally anticipates between 20,000 and 40,000 participants.

The organizers of the event, an NGO the Young Ambassadors for Community Peace and Interfaith Foundation, which includes a nearly equal representation of Christians and Muslims, has planned eight other events in Plateau State in the past few months. According to Yakubu Pam, the executive director of the foundation, whom I spoke to on the phone, the first event was was held at Kwarafa Cinema, Jos, and had several thousands in attendance, the second was in Bukuru and again had over a thousand in attendence. The rest, held in smaller communities, were as follows:

3. Dadin Kowa, over three hundred participants,

4. Rayfield, over three hundred participants

5. Tudan Wada Stadium, over two hundred participants

6. Nassarawa Gwang, over two hundred participants,

7. Riyom LGA, over one thousand participants,

8. Nepa (sp?) community in Jos, over one hundred participants.

The rally planned for Thursday is a private initiative and is not sponsored by the Plateau State Government. It hopes to bring together young people from Plateau State and surrounding states to make a commitment for peace.

The Daily Independent, in it’s coverage of the Bukuru event on 1 April 2010, quotes Yakubu Pam on his vision for grassroots level youth talks:

“When I look at other peace conferences that had taken place in Jos and other places in respect of this Jos crisis and discovered that only select group of people were called to come and discuss in the peace talks, yet nothing happens at the grassroots because they were not made to be part of the peace process and that is why my foundation target audience is the grassroots,” Pam stressed.

Pam said the youths were the active participants in the recurring crisis in Jos and other parts of the state and must be taken into consideration by the government in its quest to seek for lasting peace in the state.

He pointed out that his foundation has engaged youths, which cuts across Christians and Muslims in the state and the result of this, he said, was the bringing them together to discuss and chart a new course towards getting out of the recent crisis that rocked Jos and Bukuru metropolis and the councils in Northern part of the state.

“Due to our contacts with these youths before now, we were able to have acted swiftly last week Wednesday to avert another crisis that was looming at Bukuru community in Jos South. We called on the warring Gyel youths and Hausas to lay down their arms and return to their respective homes without hurting each other. We know them and they give us their listening ears,” he said.

Pam challenged Plateau State government and the Presidency to change their approach towards finding lasting peace in the state from selecting only few privileged ones on the Plateau to be engaged in peace talks on behalf on the people; rather the youths should be engaged directly so that government could know what are their problems and find a way of solving them to put an end to youth restiveness in the state.

Here are a few articles about the other events planned by the Young Ambassadors for Community Peace and Interfaith Foundation

“Dialogue with Plateau Youths, CAN advises Govt” from the Daily Independent, 13 April 2010

“Fulani, Berom Leaders Resolve to Embrace Peace” from the Vanguard, 2 June 2010

“Tension Brews in Jos” from the Daily Champion, 6 June 2010

The website for the organization is still under construction, but you can view what there is of it here.

ONE DAY- eLDee (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)

I take a certain amount of aesthetic delight in posting this video by candlelight. Powerful new video from elDee...

To buy ElDee's album Big Boy (which does not include "One Day"), click below:

Lyrics to M.I.'s Jehovah: the "gospel that he be preachin'"

This morning, I am obsessively grooving (can one obsessively groove?) to hot Naija musician M.I.'s Talk About It album. On the (next to) last track "Thank yous and ova ish," he gives a shout out to his Jos based "evangelist" parents with a sheepish admission that "yeah, I know I'm not doing gospel music, but, um, I'm still, this is my gospel. Let me preach it."

His "gospel" includes fantastic tracks full of Proverbs-style wisdom on the state of Naija, such as the sardonic "Crowd Mentality" in which he says "I've changed my mind I'd rather be the same as/ all these fake ass entertainers," who "use words like 'no bad language on regge'" or "Money," where he observes: "the rich get richer, the poor get screwed," and

"Money can break you, she's so unfaithful.

Don't love her too much because she will forsake you

Some give her everything and shower praise

But what a bitch, money never stays,"

with the chorus "money slow to enter/money quick to go." But, beyond M.I's streetwise takes on Christian wisdom, there is at least one directly "gospel" track on the album, "Jehovah," featuring Eben and Lindsey, which I must have listened to at least 10 times this morning. When I went in search of the lyrics online, I couldn't find them, so I decided to transcribe it myself. Here are the lyrics (keeping in mind that I'm sure I missed a few of the words and perhaps wrongly inserted what I heard rather than what he said. Any corrections welcome!)

Prelude:

(Girl’s voice)

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

He maketh me lie down in green pastures.

He leadeth me beside still waters.

He restoreth my soul.

He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil, for thou art with me.

Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

Thou annointest my head with oil.

My cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,

and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

(M.I.)

Verse 1

Yeah, I fill my life’s pages, with the goodness of the Rock of Ages

The drama in my life is stages ,to fight the blazes

Going through life with seeing through many different phases

One way to run but with different paces, will track you different races

I bet on God because he knows all the aces

I give him everything in him my places

Because I ain't trying to waste this

Serving Jesus till my soul he raises

So call self, for in clay, we all vases

Different ranges, but I will argue as his vase he makes us

So he won’t let me face this, unless he knows that I can take this

The world remains, how my situation changes

Though the wrath of rages, he stands courageous

Because I know my basis

I read my Bible and I say my graces

I spend my time with him instead of reading Hadley-Chases.

And I’d forgotten that this is the basis, to going places

So when the wells dry up, Jesus is the oasis

Chorus:

Oh Jehovah, (yeah)

Still watching over (yes he is/yes he does)

X2

Verse 2

Let me tell you what I do in crisis,

Whenever trouble rises.

I know that Christ suffices, and I receive his sacrifices

When the water rises and living tries us

The economy is shifting prices and when the world is cold and lifeless

It’s then I open up my eyes and realize this

That no weapon comes against us as long as he’s beside us

You see I read that he is promises that he’ll provide us

Whatever we need as long as he live inside us

So when the light of life is burning dim, he’ll reignite us

And when we lack the strength to fight the world, he’ll send us fighters

Angels to lead and guide us, until he’ll reunite us

Under his arms he’ll hide us, and he’ll provide us

So I don’t even know who you are or what you’re going through

But you see I know my Jehovah can be there for you

And I believe it’s true, the Bible says it too

I ain’t a preacher, just a sinner. He too beautiful

Chorus:

Oh Jehovah (watching over you and I)

Still watching over (watching over you and I)

X4

Chorus of voices: Jehovah Jehovah Jehovah

X8

(I fear no evil, thou art my rock of salvation, yes you are, yes you are, God on Jesus, God on Jesus)

Verse 3

I ain’t a minister, though I administer the truth

But one thing remains, while my sin is to youth

That is defendin’ the truth, when I speakin’ the proof

It’s a messenger here, bringing lessons of his

And the messenger is—not important at all

But I wholly fall at his feet and declare

You are marvelous, gracious, wonderful, beautiful, bountiful, merciful

You are everything

Chorus:

(simultaneous. Woven Together)

That’s who you are X3

Jehovah, Jehovah, Jehovah X24

(Yes, you are, yes, you are. God on Jesus. You are my salvation. God on Jesus. God on Jesus. Yeah. Strong Tower. The name of the Lord. HE’s a strong tower. The righteous call on him. Yes he is.)

Oh Jehovah, Still watching over X4

Rise Up Naija: Let there be Light [Sound Sultan ft M.I 2010(official video )]

Striking new video from Sound Sultan, featuring M.I. A significant piece on multiple levels.

"I want to be like Moses
Show my people dem to the promised land
[....]
Me I fear this government evil
Rise up Naija
Raise your hands far
Tell them you're tired of their evil"

While the most obvious message of the video is ostensibly critiquing the government promise of electricity by 2010, the reference to "light"/"darkness" and "government evil" and the "promised land" calls on the "Naija" generation to tackle the many layered problems of the nation. "We've been living in darkness for too long."

Note at the end, the poignant dedication:

Let there be light
dedicated to the lost souls in Jos.

Longing

Poems, that fill the moment, from this Sufi poetry site:

Awakened by your love,
I flicker like a candle's light
tryin to hold on in the dark.
Yet, you spare me no blows
and keep asking,
"Why do you complain?"


Rumi - "Whispers of the Beloved" - Maryam Mafi & Azima Melita Kolin

Let sorrowful longing dwell in your heart,
never give up, never losing hope.
The Beloved says, "The broken ones are My darlings."
Crush your heart, be broken.

Shaikh Abu Saeed Abil Kheir - "Nobody, Son of Nobody" - Vraje Abramian

Longing is the core of mystery.
Longing itself brings the cure.
The only rule is, Suffer the pain.

Your desire must be disciplined,
and what you want to happen
in time, sacrificed.

Rumi - The Essential Rumi - Coleman Barks

Zo mu zauna

beautifu Hausa fim song (sorry, my keyboard is having probems with one key...guess which one....), featuring two popuar Hausa artists who have since passed on: Ahmad S. Nuhu and Hauwa A i Dodo.