Africa’s Future
I follow the Nigerian blogger Max Siollun. In his recent blog he referenced an article from the Financial Times and included the article.
Hans Rosling, author of new book about development
Siollun begins by saying, “[The article] makes a point that I often do as well: that development in Africa has to be measured on a long-term evolutionary (not short-term revolutionary) basis. It took Europe and North America centuries . . . so it is unrealistic to expect African countries to do it in only a few years.”
Yes, I too try to remember that when I get frustrated with some aspect of Nigeria’s lack of progress. What do I expect after all?
David Pilling, the author of the article, writes about the late statistician Hans Rosling who worked in Mozambique in the 1980’s. Rosling was amazed by the changes when he returned 30 years later.
“Where first-time visitors saw only poverty and lack of development, Rosling noticed improvements everywhere. In the hospital, he saw that the wards had lightbulbs and that the nurses had glasses and could read and write.”
Another example the author uses is about education. It’s easy to criticize schools in Nigeria and elsewhere in Africa for poor teachers and inadequate supplies. But primary school enrollment has doubled from 1990 to 2012, he says, “according to a 2015 Unesco report.”
Not all children are getting an adequate education, but education is becoming closer to the norm.
Rosling wrote a newly released book called Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World–and Why Things Are Better Than You Think with his son and daughter-in-law, though only the daughter-in-law’s name is on the cover with his. Rosling fought and wrote against the “destiny instinct,” a belief that African customs, or its history, will restrict the continent from development.
Their book recommends monitoring progress. Small improvements can add up to major changes, they say. 
My “Bakers Dozen” book group at our annual lunch. I hope we’ll discuss this book or the other I write about soon! I’ve just ordered the book to read on my iPad!
The Igbo People of Jamaica
Pulse is one of the online Nigerian news outlets where I sometimes find intriguing stories. This one about the Igbo people of Jamaica was a couple of weeks ago.
The writer Adaobi Onyeakagbu says that, “There is a group of people in Jamaica called ‘Red Ibo’ because of the light-skinned nature of the original Igbo slaves.”
She explains the strong influence. “Besides Virginia, Jamaica was the second most common disembarkation point for slave ships arriving from the [Bight of] Biafra,” she says.
She points to three words in the Jamaican Patois that come from the Igbo language:
- unu meaning you
- soso (pronounced saw-saw) meaning only
- akara for bean cakes
She also writes about the Jamaican Jokonnu, or yam festival, which she says is derived from the Igbo New Yam Festival, with masquerades and dancing.
Then she says, “The Igbo also influenced the culture with actions such as “sucking-teeth” coming from the Igbo “ima osu.” Sorry, Jamaicans! This is in my mind one of the least pleasant Igbo practices!
Do you know it from Jamaica or from Nigeria?
The Awkward Black Guy
I loved this piece by Jason Johnson, a Black American who pretended to be Nigerian! Igbo people had told him over the years that he could pass for Igbo.
“So when a Nigerian-American friend of mine invited me to the 14th annual Umu Igbo Unite Nigerian cultural conference in New Orleans last week and since I was going to be in New Orleans anyway, I said sure. I figured it would be fun learning about my possibly-not-quite-sure culture. I’m not Nigerian but I can at least play one for the weekend, right?”
There were over 1000 people attending for business networking, workshops, speeches, food, and of course, lots of dancing.
It was at the same time as our DMGS Convention in Newark. I’ll bet there were some DMGS people in New Orleans instead of Newark. I think it was more of a happening!
He was surprised by the custom of “spraying,” which he called throwing money at someone dancing. I wouldn’t have said “throwing money,” but rather “showering the dancer with money.”
But most meaningful was the contrast he made between being Black in America and being an Igbo in Nigeria. “Whatever the issues there are in Nigeria, and there are plenty, everyone at Igbo Umo Unite knows that there is at least one country on planet Earth that loves them, whether they were born in Nigeria and moved to Prince George’s County, Md., or if they only knew their home country from their parent’s photos. Over a couple of days, I got a glimpse of what that feeling must be like, even if it was all just from the shape of my head.”
Imbolo Mbue, author of Behold the Dreamers
Behold the Dreamers
Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue is on my phone for listening at the gym. Sometimes I also sneak in a few minutes of listening before falling asleep.
(I was so happy when I discovered the “sleep timer” on the phone. I can set it for 15 minutes. The next day at the gym I may have to go back a couple of minutes to see what I missed after I fell asleep!)
“A compulsively readable debut novel about marriage, immigration, class, race, and the trapdoors in the American Dream—the unforgettable story of a young Cameroonian couple making a new life in New York just as the Great Recession upends the economy,” says the summary on Amazon, where I learned that Behold the Dreamers is an Oprah Book Club selection.
