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The Color of Water by James McBride review - race, identity and transcendence

I once encountered a novel in the African literature section of a London library. It was about an out-of-luck black Nigerian man, Furo Wariboko, who went to bed and woke up transformed into a white man. Nothing else about Furo changes (held the same undergraduate degree, spoke in  Pidgin English  and even retained a  Black ass ), yet his social interactions in the vibrant city of Lagos improved overnight: from offers of high remunerating jobs to excessive deference towards him from his fellow Nigerians; all because of his newly-acquired skin colour. I remember sliding that novel back into the library’s bookshelf, thinking the synopsis around Furo’s life was outlandish even for a work of fiction. Not until I immersed myself into James McBride’s demure memoir,  The Color of Water , in which the author unfurled the life-world of his mother, Ruchel Dwajra Zylska, did I realise that I’d been limited in my imagination to think back then that Furo’s story was outlandish, and that reality can,
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Much Ado About Corbynism: the challenge has been perception.

The UK Labour Party’s new leader, Sir Keir Starmer, has the responsibility of returning the party to power whenever the next general elections is called. This is a Herculean task. A fighter knocked out cold, and only later slowly regained consciousness, would forever be wary of exposing their chin to take a clean punch. That fighter, filled with self-doubt, is the UK Labour Party Sir Starmer has inherited. And has to challenge a Boris Johnson-led Conservative government that triumphed convincingly in the last bout of winter elections with an 80-seat parliamentary majority. Many have said that had the UK Labour Party membership elected a wrong leader this past Saturday (and by wrong they mean Rebecca Long-Bailey), it would’ve been tantamount to reading out the great party’s obituary. And that Sir Starmer’s emergence as the new leader of Her Majesty’s Opposition party, thus leader of a government-in-waiting, marks the end of “far left” Corbynism. But is this true? Or better put: Doe
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UK Labour Party and Ethnic Minorities

Southall gripped the nation’s attention in 1979. Immigrants, mainly from the Indian subcontinent, huddled together to repel anti-immigration political party, National Front. It was one of the frequent race-riots of that era. Blue plaques with names of Gurdip Singh Chaggar and Blair Peach hang on the Town Hall’s brick wall to remind you. And footage of the street altercations, with the police either dispersing protestors or aiding the far-right group, depending on who you ask, survives on YouTube. But to assume that story a leitmotif for the area is to misunderstand what’s beginning to happen in this west London borough. Pakoras and jalebi still constantly sizzle in hot oil behind kiosks of street food vendors. And rows of shops displaying groceries, sarees, and more Asian wedding accessories under frontal  awnings   have grown longer in all directions. With HSBC bank, Poundland and Gregg’s appearing like aberrations here. Yet, change has occurred. Testament to that is, despite
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Brexit: Ignoring Burke, the UK political-right set off a Dictatorship of the Proletariat

So much was this trend that I was almost disappointed when 2018 ended without UK Girlguiding transgender row blowing up on  Damore-esque  scale. Perhaps, surfeited with Brexit, there was little room over Yule for the UK political-right to adopt that controversy as another spurious evidence of Britain  (indeed ‘the West’) slowly mirroring Saudi Arabia with the immediate condemnation of anyone who abhors ‘ legitimate concerns ’, whether it be over immigration, feminism or LGBTQ issues. Under guise of ‘free speech’ and allegation of ‘identity politics’ (a phrase that quickly disintegrates under scrutiny), the political-right have successfully triggered a proletariat angst across the West. The proletariat are now, of course, patriotically defending their societies, echoed in chants of ‘take back control’ in the UK and ‘drain the swamp’ in the United States.  That the human identity is fragmented, and the fragment of our identity we choose to prioritise differs individually, seems to e
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Tinubu and end of Village Tree Democracy

The market square humiliation of incumbent governor of Lagos, Akinwunmi Ambode, was excruciating to watch even for a non-supporter. It was a ‘power show’ by Bola Ahmed Tinubu. A demonstration that two decades after ‘great minds think alike’ billboards stood on major Lagos streets – a baseless comparison of himself to Awolowo and Gandhi, except for round-eyed glasses – his ability to steer voters in his preferred direction hasn’t waned. I’m mindful that it’s usually an overestimation when an individual is said to have such power over society. Nevertheless, it’s undeniable that Tinubu’s opinions hold sway in Lagos. Indeed, how Tinubu came about that political power, and how it can be brought to an end, is what I intend to interrogate. Majority of Lagos residents are Yoruba. Like many African sub-nationalities, they hold as ideal that, although individual need is self-evident, community need shall supersede. This is argued convincingly by Professor Segun Gbadegesin – what
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Accumulating Foreign Reserves: What’ll Jesus Do?

The fourth year of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration is winding up. It’s now clear to anyone following that Nigeria’s accumulating Foreign Reserves during his tenure has been penned down as proof of prudent economic management (i.e. savings), to be repeated tirelessly by campaign team during his 2019 re-election bid. Like technically defeating Boko Haram, this too is false. But increasingly worrying, media observers are regurgitating the Foreign Reserves claim as ‘fact’ without scrutiny. Like Channels TV’s Ajuri Ngelale, here . For clarity sakes, ‘Foreign Reserves’ is the wrong measure of national savings.   Controversial Excess Crude Account and improved version, Sovereign Wealth Fund , are.   Also, the much touted Foreign Reserves increase from $28.6 billion when Buhari took office in May 2015, to $47.6 billion as at May 2018, has been artificial. Thus, not by corresponding increase in national exports (which halved over the period, compared to 2013 export value
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"June 12" Presidential Election Was Neither Free Nor Fair - by Dr. Abubakar Siddique (Centre for Democratic Development Research and Training - Zaria)

Was the June 12th, 1993 presidential election free and fair? Was it the “freest and fairest election” in Nigerian history? If it was free and fair and it was actually won by Chief M.K.0 Abiola, the candidate of the Social Democratic Party, what electoral mandate did it give him? Did it give him the mandate to become the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Commander - in - Chief of its Armed Forces, for a period of four years, from 27th August, 1993, to 26th August, 1997, under the relevant provisions of the Nigerian Constitution of 1989? Or, did that election and its results, give him a special mandate, higher than the mandate given by any previous or, subsequent, Nigerian election, to become the President of Nigeria for four years, from any day he is installed, during his life time? That is, did Chief Abiola, on June 12th 1993, obtain a mandate from the electorate of Nigeria, which is not defined, or limited, by any time framework, any constitution, any laws, and even th
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