AU ABROAD!!!

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johnson

Yesterday was a fun day when Johnson Joseph came to Port Harcourt, I had earlier asked him to pay for a room costing 1,500, he insisted it was too small and prefered to pay 5,000 naira to a "HOE" and crash in her room. OH yes he loves the girl

PROTEST MOVEMENTS IN THE COLONIAL ERA

This article is about the protests of Africans over the colonial rule. It gives some light on how the bourgeoisie assumed the attitudes of the colonial masters and treated their fellow people with equal disregards as the colonialists. This article outlines the different efforts (Protest Movements) of Africans against the colonial rule, some of which were religious protests, formation of trade unions, The West African Youth Movements and the African Bourgeoisie. Some of these protests were violent while some others were non-violent.

A very active area in the protest was Christianity. Africans tried to make use of religious practices in Christianity in order to get rid of the colonial rule. Some other Africans saw the introduction of Christianity as a form of racial discrimination. Because the discrimination in churches was much, this made some Africans to star up their own churches which grew and spread around Africa. The growth of these churches called for the attention of the colonial rulers. The protest in some African churches led to the development of Zionism, an example of which was the Aladura church in Nigeria. Ridiculous acts by the African bourgeoisie against the development of indigenous churches led to formation of separatist churches. These churches therefore assumed no link between European culture and Christianity. Besides Christianity, Islam also protested against the colonial rule. Mahdism (an Islamic practice) became a nuisance to the colonial rule.

Another form of protest was the formation of trade unions, a collective bargaining by workers that was not encouraged in African colonies. Although trade unions were allowed in white-settlers’ regions, the blacks were not allowed to form unions because the best practices of trade unions implied protest and included expressions of discontent towards the colonial rulers. The colonial rulers also despised these unions because they concentrated on the dissatisfactions of the general public. The writer gives an example with the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU) in South Africa which led political boycotts. The colonial government was completely not in support of the development of the trade unions, but the close relationships these unions had with the masses increased the activities of the unions and for this reasons, the colonial governments always opposed the unions.

African elites also formed organisations at different levels to protest the colonial rule. This didn’t involve any form of hostility or violence. They formed the National Congress of British West Africa (NCBWA) which met in different capitals of some countries under the leading rights of the British. Their protests mainly took the form of political parties like the Nigerian National Democratic Party. Most of their actions, although protests were considered as legitimate by the colonial rule. Prior to advancement of the colonial rule, the middle class gained knowledge about their policies and ways to counter unfavourable policies. This led to amalgamation of groups to build stronger movements. These movements led to stronger protests because of increase in number and knowledge of western education.

The last aspect of the protests against the colonialists was the Youth Movements which consisted mainly of the youth, as the name implies and concentrated mainly on politics. These youth movements had the intentions of taking over the control of politics from the hands of the older generation. An example of such Youth movements was the Nigerian Youth Movement (NYM) formed in 1934 by a journalist, Wallace Johnson. The NYM made demands that benefited the lower-class in the society and as a result got support from the general public. The NYM became a strong force in local politics and subsequently defeated the Nigerian Democratic Party which was run by the older generation.

The Psychological Impact of Colonization.

The Westerners in one way or the other has had a major part to play in our civilization today because of the result of colonization. This article, is talking about the impact of this colonization particularly in Africa. The Westerners, when they came to Africa to take over, had to force a lot of their disciplines on Africans basically in the areas of cultural elements. This included changing the way Africans do things, the food they eat, the language they speak, and even the language they spoke. Doing this was not going to be as easy as they thought due to the resistance which was put up against them. They had to enforce certain rules and regulations and even also applying their technology to express their superiority over the Africans. The article makes us understand that some Africans actually adopted the western culture and abandoned theirs and also, some other Africans still practiced their traditional cultures while they also tried to make others have impression that they were westernized.

Moreover, the article shows areas in which this westernization process had great impact. First, it all started with colonial conquest. The westerners had a very strong army which did not find it difficult to defeat those of the Africans. As a matter of fact, Africans had great fear in the army of the westerners because they had been defeated quite a large number of times and not just a mild defeat, a very merciless one. It is quite obvious that without the colonial conquest which involved the westerners using their army to conquer the Africans, it would have been difficult for them to build colonies in Africa. The colonial conquest also explains areas in which there was great opposition to the western army. The resistance which the Africans were leading was always headed by religious leaders who had an adamant belief in their traditional rituals. They always impacted the idea into their army that the bullets of the westerners could not harm them. Most times, they failed. They were still always defeated by these Europeans. As a result of these, the traditional leaders lost their positions and were often punished by their new colonial leaders. It is important to note that when the resistance of the Africans was conquered, the westerners don’t leave; they always stay and rule that area. As a result of colonial conquest, African leaders lost their social status and income, military positions and they were often restricted from getting new positions in the new government.

The mode of dressing and the names which Africans have is a strong reflection of their culture. This article makes us understand that the westerners made most Africans loose this aspect of their traditional culture. First of all, the westerners made Africans feel that their dressing has no sense of civilization (barbaric). Africans were made to wear western clothes rather than their traditional ones. The westerners also tagged the African attire as “costume”. No matter how good it looked, Africans could only wear it during a special occasion to represent the traditional background. In conclusion, most Africans agreed to the belief that dressing like a westerner was the proper way of dressing and wearing African costumes just made everyone laugh. Also, the names which were given to Africans were also altered by these westerners. Traditional names were no longer acceptable. The westerners believed that African names were not Christian. These Christian names could be obtained through baptism. As we read further, we understand that Africans no longer had a first name but a Christian name and a surname. Some Africans completely adapted the western naming system and felt going against it was unprogressive.

Furthermore, another important area in which the westerners gained control over the Africans was in the area of language use and education. Western language had to be learned so that you can acquire jobs to work to feed your family. Because of a little level of difficulty in learning the language, it was pidginized. As a matter of fact, in schools and other areas of learning, local languages could not be spoken. Therefore, it was difficult to acquire knowledge if you could not speak or understand the western language because it was the only language spoken there. Moreover, the article covers an area where the western language was used by missionaries to further expand the spread of the Bible and also translate the Bible into African languages.

Finally, speaking about African nutrition, it was tagged unfit for classy occasions. African dishes was to be eaten in homes and western dishes used for special occasions. Also, African music was said to be loud and noisy. The westerners always had a way to degrade the value of African tradition. All these change that was introduced by the westerners had a significant effect on Africans. Africans now had the strong feeling that they were no more inferior to the westerners. Also, traditional African beliefs started getting dumped and most people started picking up the western civilization. To be seen as westernized, Africans started distancing their selves from their fellow ones. They entered the cities and urban areas and started looking for jobs. Though the establishment of colonies in Africa helped to lead to our civilization, it is shameful that even we the Africans begin to forget our traditional background and adopt the foreign one. Also, we should not forget that the westerners would not have gained control over the Africans if not for their colonial conquest.

KELIMABE AND KELIKELIMABE

Kelimabe and Kelikelimabe were brothers from the same parents. Kelimabe the elder was ugly while Kelikelimabe was very handsome. As was practice then, Kelimabe got married to a woman from another village. When the woman met his brother Kelikelimabe, and saw how handsome he was, she wanted him to be her lover. She approached him with this but Kelikelimabe resisted her and swore that he could never do such a thing to his brother. The woman still did not give up and one day, when her husband Kelimabe was absent she approached his brother and tried to seduce him. Kelimabe resisted her and ran away from the house. She made herself and her room look like someone had tried to rape her using force and when her husband came home, she told him that his brother, Kelikelimabe had tried to rape her. This enraged Kelimabe and he rushed out in search of Kelikelimabe. When he found him, he accused him of trying to rape his wife, and when Kelikelimabe denied it, Kelimabe took out his knife and mutilated him, then ran away.
After Kelikelimabe regained consciousness, he decided to go in search of his brother. On his way to search for Kelimabe, he came to a village where a rich chief with his unmarried daughter lived. Kelikelimabe had asked in the village if anyone knows the whereabouts of his brother. Fortunately for him, a weaver who worked for the rich chief had seen his brother.
The chief’s daughter got to know about Kelikelimabe and his handsomeness and she insisted on marrying him. At first, Kelikelimabe refused to marry her but after some persuasion from the village’s holy men, he agreed to marry her. The marriage took place and they were left together as a couple. Kelikelimabe couldn’t consummate the marriage. He told his wife that he was going to the river to take a bathe and he was escorted by a hundred men. At the river, he tried to drown himself but he could not.
A man who had been watching him try to drown himself approached him and told him that he knows all about what happened to him and that he could help him. He told Kelikelimabe to bring him the foot of a Hira that was going to be hunted and killed the next day. He told him that if he could bring the foot of the Hira back to him before a bird he was going to send after him, he will be able to restore his manhood.
The next day, he took the fastest horse available and went to the forest where the Hira was to be hunted. After the hunters had killed the Hira, he took one of its feet and offered a reward to who ever could delay the bird which had been sent. He took the foot back with him to the old man. The old man made him undress and follow him into the bush to a large tree where they met an assembly of spirits, he had warned Kelikelimabe not to do or say anything. They took the foot and joined the assembly in silence. When it was over, they went home and the old man gave Kelikelimabe two male members to choose from, this he did and went home to consummate his marriage. His wife gave birth to a boy whom he named after his brother.
Kelikelimabe decided to continue with his search for his brother. He went to the leader of their tribe, the Gow, and told him that he wished to go find his brother. The assembled Gow agreed and offered t help him. They followed the direction which Kelimabe had been seen and after three days, they found out that he was in a wood where he has married the daughter of a great tree spirit. They went into the forest and found Kelimabe’s tree but they were attacked by his wife. The leader captured them both. Kelimabe did not want to return to his village because he was afraid of being killed for what he did. He asked to see his brother; they greeted each other and Kelimabe told his brother that he realized his wife had lied. Kelikelimabe told him what happened after that and how he got married. They returned back to the village and Kelimabe’s first wife was killed.
Such myths in my opinion play a traditional and cultural role in our society.
It conveys information about the geography which was mostly forest and rivers. They had good soil and they were hunters.
Our modern society also has such myths that exist in other forms.
The similarity between this story and other stories of origin that I know of is the use of magic and hunting. In many stories of origin, the people are usually hunters like in this story. They also use magic in their various activities such as fishing and hunting.
The myth shows us a society with a leader. It shows that every society must have a leader to guide them and protect them for example; in the story Musa Nyame is the leader of the Gow people. They seek his permission and approval before doing anything.
The story is a good parable intended to teach us to listen to the two sides of a story before taking action. For example, Kelimabe did not listen to his brother to hear what really happened between him and his wife before mutilating him in anger.

Hi

Group 5 - changing customs

Why to the characters frown on those who do not practice the old customs for negotiating bride price? What’s the point of the restrictions on palm tree tapping discussed in Chapter 8? How do these and other similar events in the story illustrate a changing world?