The DISH

Unbossed and unbought news and information you can use

Vol. 9 No. 46…Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race…November 17, 2006

Bit of History

A Premature Harvest

The fourth child of Chief Onyeamaluligolu Oda, (James Okigbo), a Catholic schoolmaster, and Anna Onugwalobi-Okigbo, Christopher Ifekandu Okigbo was born in Ojoto on August 16, 1932. Nigeria was still under British colonial rule at his birth. Although his family was Catholic, he believed as his grandfather, Chief Eze Okigbo, who was an Ibo priest of Idoto, Goddess of the River.

Educated at the Catholic school of Umulobia, Okigbo went on to the State College of Umuahia in 1945. At the University of Ibadan, Okigbo met and befriended major writers, such as Wole Soyinka, Elechi Amadi, John Pepper Clark and Cole Omotso.

Originally a medical student, Okigbo began studying Greek and Latin after becoming intrigued by the classics. Serving as Editor-in-Chief of the University newsletter, he translated Greek and Latin authors. Graduated in 1956, he taught at the University of Nigeria, where he was librarian.

Okigbo met and married Judith Sefi Attah, the daughter of powerful monarch Attah of Igbira. The couple's only daughter, Obiageli Ibrahimat Okigbo, was born in 1964. A formidable intellect, Okigbo began a career in business with the Nigerian Tobacco Company and the United African Company. He moved on to politics and became personal assistant to the Minister of Information in Lagos.

Unhappy with these endeavors, Okigbo recalled, "There wasn't a stage when I decided I definitely wished to be a poet; I found I couldn't be anything else. And I think that the turning point came in December 1958. It's just like somebody who receives a call in the middle of the night to religious service, in order to become a priest. I didn't have any choice in the matter. I just had to obey."

Beginning in the 1960s, Okigbo was like every other young African poet, looking for a platform to exchange views and express his various talents. A pianist, he teamed up with Soyinka and played jazz clubs. They organized the Mbari Writers and Artists Club (1961), which had a decisive role in the birth of modern African literature.

Independence came to Nigeria in 1963. Like his country, Okigbo underwent an internal revolution. Path of Thunder was a turn towards a more political tone. Denouncing political oppression and neo-colonial exploitation, he emerged a radical spirit contemptuous of colonialism. Conflict broke out in May 1967 between Biafra and Nigeria. Ibo, Okigbo enlisted in the breakaway state's military. He was killed in September 1967 early in the war.

Today, he is recognized as the most outstanding English-language post-colonial African poet and major modernist writer of the twentieth-century. A premature harvest, Okigbo was cut down in his prime. A sapling just beginning to bear fruit, he left only 72 pages of exacting and penetrating poetry in Path of Thunder and Labyrinths. A prophetic and visionary personality, his poems tell readers "Not to be confined by cultural, political, artistic, creative and human limits." His words are a challenge to break free of physical and psychological restraints.

Obiageli, Okigbo's daughter, established The Christopher Okigbo Foundation (COF) in 2005. COF is collaborating with Boston, Harvard, and Massachusetts Universities and Wellesley College to host the First International Conference on the Life and Works of Christopher Okigbo next September 20-24, 2007. Hoping to garner more posthumous recognition, COF's newsletter points out, "The last two decades have witnessed a decline in reading, research and publications in scholarly journals generally in Nigeria and indeed other African countries where survival has become paramount." The COF will present recently discovered writings of Okigbo at the conference. (Sources: www.christopher-okigbo.org/ and obi.okigbo@skynet.be)

Intuit’s Vibe

The Passage

By Christopher Okigbo

BEFORE YOU, my mother Idoto,

Naked I stand;

Before your weary presence,

A prodigal

Leaning on an oilbean,

Lost in your legend

Under your power wait I

On barefoot,

Watchman for the watchword

At heaven’s gate;

Out of the depth my cry:

Give ear and hearken…

DARK WATERS of the beginning.

Ray, violet, and short, piercing the gloom,

Foreshadow the fire that is dreamed of.

Me to the orangery

Solitude invites,

A wagtail, to tell

The tangled-wood-tale;

A sunbird, to mourn

A mother on spray.

Rain and sun in single combat;

On one leg standing,

In silence at the passage

he young bird at the passage

SILENCE FACES at crossroads:

Festivity in black…

Column of ants,

Behind the bell tower,

Into the hot garden

Where all roads meet:

Festivity in black…

O Anan at the knob of the panel oblong,

Hear us at crossroads at the great hinges

Where the players of loft organ

Rehearse old lovely fragment, alone-

Strains of pressed orange leaves on pages

Bleach of the light of years held in leather:

For we are listening in cornfields

Among the windplayers,

Listening to the wind leaning over

Its loveliest fragment…..

Hood Notes

Hunger in the Land of Plenty

By John Burl Smith

It is mind boggling to think that the solution to the problems of hunger, malnutrition and rural poverty in sub-Saharan Africa is literally under foot or hanging around, like disincarnate spirits of the past. It is even more incredible that in a region home to hundreds of indigenous vegetables, which have fed Africans for tens of thousands of years before colonialism, that Africans have forgotten what to eat to survive since the coming of the white man. Forgetting what to eat is like forgetting who you are.

Resilient, thriving in poor soil and well-suited to the small plots and limited resources of rural village families, such vegetables have proven their worth. If recognized and greater efforts are made to explore the value of such vegetables, African nations could enhance their agricultural productivity, develop stable food supplies, and realize higher incomes in rural areas across the continent. That theme has been preached for decades by many Pan-African horticulturists, but now Western scientists have verified and validated their claim in a new report from the National Research Council (NRC).

The NRC's report Native Vegetables Could Help Solve Africa's Food Crisis And Boost Weak Rural Economies was released in book form on October 31, 2006. This report examined 18 African vegetables capable of feeding millions of the world's growing population and spur sustainable development. African vegetables, like Bambara bean, Dika, Enset, Locust bean and Marama were judged less valuable than the well-known vegetables introduced to Africa from other parts of the world by colonialists. Europeans knew absolutely nothing about indigenous vegetables and spent no time studying and researching them, even though such plants had nourished many parts of Africa for centuries and are still cherished as basic dietary stables.

NRC researchers estimate that one-third of the population in sub-Saharan African lacks enough food to meet necessary daily requirements. Roughly, the same proportion of children is malnourished, and the number of poor families and individuals continue to rise. Recognizing that Africa has the potential resources and with changes in public policy to support and promote more research, native vegetables could quickly make larger socio-economic contributions to many African nations than the current colonial-based food production systems.

News You Use

Overlooked Bounty: Africa’s Lost Crops

Reviewed below are a few examples of African vegetables (leaves, tubers and legumes) that have potential as food and cash crops that continue to be overlooked by scientists and policymakers that can help overcome malnutrition, boost food security, foster rural development, especially among women and rural farmers, and create sustainability.

Throughout the humid lowlands of Africa and Asia, some fifty tropical and temperate countries grow vegetable Amaranth. The most widely eaten boiled greens in these areas, amaranth is a spinach tasting potherb with soft texture, mild flavor and no trace of bitterness. Considered "a poor people's resource," amaranth provides some Africans 25 percent of their daily protein, as well as, pro-vitamin A (beta- carotene), lysine, methionine and vitamin C. Minerals such as calcium and iron are abundant. Amaranth thrives in hot dry drought conditions. A regional stable in the Caribbean, Amaranth is known as "callaloo," and it is featured as an entrée or side order in restaurants. It is glorified in magazines, books, dance and songs.

The BAOBAB tree is among the biggest, bulkiest and longest living organisms. Carbon dating has placed the ages of some specimens at 2,000 years. One of the most useful living entities, the baobab is venerated by Africans as vital to life. Called "the bottle tree," its squat stalk is often hollow. In dry areas, it is used like a village well. A single bulbous stem may store as much as 10,000 liters of fresh clean water. The bark is used for fuels. The flexible fiber found just beneath the bark provides cord and coarse fabrics. The fruits are eaten with food or stirred into drinks. It provides exceptional quantities of vitamin C and other nutrients. The seeds are roasted and made into a sort of creamy butter.

Baobab leaves are consumed as greens by millions daily across the savanna from Senegal to Lake Chad. Steamed and eaten like spinach sometimes, but most baobab leaves goes straight into soups, stews, sauces, relishes or poured over yams, cassava, maize, millet and sorghum as a condiment. Nutritionally, baobab leaves contains 11 to 17 percent crude protein and amino-acids-isoleucine, leucine, lysine, phenylalanine, tyrosine, threonine, tryptophan and valine. Drought-tolerant and adaptive to Africa's poor soils, baobab is an excellent food source.

Cowpeas are consumed by 200 million people daily across Sub-Saharan Africa. Unlike other legumes, cowpeas can be consumed at different stages in development; they can be eaten as fresh green leaves, dry leaves, green pods, green beans or dry grain. The immature seeds and the immature seed pods are boiled and eaten as a vegetable. The seeds are also decorticated and ground into flour or crushed into meal that is used in buns, fritters and sauces.

Cowpea seeds are nutritious, possessing 24 percent protein, 2 percent oil, carbohydrate, minerals and lesser nutrients. It consists of 90 percent water-insoluble globulins and 10 percent water-soluble albumins. Cowpea is known in India, Brazil, the Caribbean and USA as black-eyed peas.

The fastest growing useful tree, moringa reach over 5 feet within a year after the seed goes into the ground. It yields at least four different edibles: pods, leaves, seeds, and roots. And beyond edibles, it provides products that make village life more self-sufficient: lubricating oil, lamp oil, wood, paper, liquid fuel, skin treatments and the means to help purify water, to name but a few. A poor-man's plant, moringa holds enormous potential for Africa . Its pods look like giant string beans, but they taste like asparagus. They provide a good balance of all the essential amino acids, one of the highest levels of vitamin C, also vitamins A and B, as well as other minerals. Containing more calcium than greens, doctors prescribe moringa for anemia.

The moringa's tiny leaflets are boil like spinach. Nutritionally, they are remarkable for their methionine and cystine, which are difficult amino acids to acquire eating plant-based diets. The thick, soft roots taste like horseradish. The shoot tips, flowers and seedlings become boiled greens high in protein, vitamins and minerals. Seed pods are slit and a sweet, frothy, white pulp is sucked out, like a snack. Perhaps the most innovative and provocative use is the protein found in moringa seeds can be used to settle silt and other contaminants out of water. For more info on these and other crops, see http://newton.nap.edu/catalog/11763.html.

Disgruntled says: Africa is an immensely wealthy continent. Historically, its riches have been stolen and squandered by hoards of outsiders and legions of inept leaders. Many of Africa's countries are still haunted by the continent's colonial past. Indeed, liberation is still just a dream for so many. For a brighter future in which the continent's treasure trove of resources benefits its people, Africa must first learn the lesson of divide and conquer, which has been effectively used throughout history.

Disgruntled feels: Apprehensive! Now that Democrats have taken control of Congress, those who voted for checks and balances, against the war in Iraq and out-of-control spending did not bargain for a political lovefest. Nor, in the grand scheme of things, did we vote for more saber-rattling and preemptive US military action. Yet, the US and Israel seem to be following a roadmap to war against Iran over its desire for nuclear power. The thought of such war planning underway or already completed makes many of us downright apprehensive, especially since Israel enjoys such great sway among the Christian right, George W. Bush and members of Congress -- Democrats and Republicans.

Disgruntled wants to know: The US stock market reached a new historic high on Wednesday. Unemployment remains below 4.5 percent. According to Bush administration officials, the economy is strong, even with the housing market meltdown and many Americans unable to pay rent. Incomes are up, CEO compensation has gone through the roof under this pro-business government, interest rates are still relatively low, etc. They complain that the Bush tax cuts and economic policies are not given sufficient credit for the economic health of the country. Yet, there are nagging economic data that fail to make their way into the administration's economic analysis. For instance, there are the national deficits, which are sure to continue as the nation fights the war on terror on credit, the national debt, which has risen to historic levels under this administration, trade deficits and the flow of capital outside the country. Given all the negative economic data, is the US economy really doing so great?

Fighting in Nigeria

By John Burl Smith

In Nigeria's Rivers State, power is up for grabs and guns, oil and blood flow like water. A fact-finding mission documented fighting between armed groups in the southeastern oil-producing state escalated in late 2003 and continues in 2006. Clashes between the two main rival armed camps and government troops have resulted in indiscriminate killing of local people, displaced tens of thousands of villagers, and forced oil companies to evacuate staff and scale back production.

The current conflict has several offshoots, but clearly, the tap root is oil. Led by Asari Dokubo, the Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force (NDPVF) declared "all-out war" on the Nigerian state, after the government deployed troops to the delta on September 27. Officials said it took the action to control youth violence, but Asari, whose political patronage declined in mid-2003, saw the deployment as a pincer move to further undercut his power.

During the 1999 and 2003 elections, local politicians from the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) hired youths to help secure their victory through violence and intimidation. Now, with both the NDPVF and the Niger Delta Vigilant (NDV) led by Ateke Tom involving youth in the stolen crude oil business, the violence has become more frequent and deadlier.

Vulnerable, uneducated, unemployed and frustrated, young men are ready recruits for armed groups and unscrupulous politicians needing muscle. Similarly, these young men are a source of local conflicts. They understand the power traditional leaders have to control money local communities receive from oil companies' crude profits. Holding these traditional titles guarantees significant financial resources; young men desiring these highly sought-after posts increasingly engage in violent battles. With their newfound power and the proliferation of small arms, apparently, the government has decided to move against them before they consolidate power.

Spurred by these events the NDPVF and NDV battle for control of territory and exclusive access to lucrative stolen crude routes will only get bloodier. For instance, the NDV raid on the NDPVF at Amadi Ama signaled a worsening situation in the delta. Then the NDPVF attacked Port Harcourt, the hub of oil operations for Nigeria and capital of Rivers State. Brig. Gen. Alfred Ilogho was confounded by a report that Wednesday afternoon armed men attacked a convoy carrying supplies for Agip, a subsidiary of Italian oil company ENI SpA. He had no details; ENI made no comments. Fighting also broke out at a pumping station belonging to a Royal Dutch Shell PLC subsidiary in the volatile delta region.

Amidst the jockeying for money, position and power, all around Nigerians are dying. Trapped in a "Dance of Death," as described by Christopher Okigbo, Nigeria is still in the stranglehold of neo-colonialism. Like Africa's other lost fruits and vegetables, its oil resources are being sucked dry, while its people starve in the land of plenty.

|| 2006 Issues || The DISH ||