…. With contributions from other scholars.
Native: “An extremely offensive word for someone who lived in a country, especially in Africa, before Europeans went there."
- dictionary.cambridge.org
-
Photo: Bing
Masah, another job done, hia, hia… he, he he! Any adah wan… bring come. Sobidi, done! Naira down, down…economy haemorrhaged. Boy, je ko won ke... what’s my own... who kias (cares)? Base soon. Ani ko ma worry, Baba Toneh! Say Toneh! Boda Toneh, please keep doing your good work, don’t let (anybody) your people release the dossiers on me-o, Baba. These ya people, you sure pe dem go protect me so? Baba, se won ma protect me until 2027, eh? Se omo jo ijo awon kobokobo… awon yibo ton ma je okuta ma mu omi… ke di ko di, odin ma… eh, eh… ke di ko di, ani odin ma-a-a-a! Toneh, di de… di de. Ijo ti be re. Ke di ko di, odin ma…O’BAT-o, Re.. oshi oda… ma je kin awon people ko orin: On your Mandate mo-o! Ani ke di ko di, odin ma-a-a-a-a!
Nigeria, we hail thee,
Our own dear native land,
Though tribe and tongue may differ,
In brotherhood, we stand,
Nigerians all, and proud to serve
Our sovereign Motherland.
Our flag shall be a symbol
That truth and justice reign,
In peace or battle, honour’d,
And this we count as gain,
To hand on to our children
A banner without stain.
O God of all creation,
Grant this our one request,
Help us to build a nation
Where no man is oppressed,
And so with peace and plenty
Nigeria may be blessed.
*The just exhumed old national anthem after having been buried for 56 years - written by a colonialist, Lillian Jean Williams with music by Frances Berda.
CAN THIS BECOME OUR NATIONAL ANTHEM?
The Dome of Shame and the Headquarters of the Neo-colonial Apostles in Nigeria.
SONG OF NIGERIA:
NIGERIA WILL RULE THE WORLD
THE AUTHOR’S SONG OF NIGERIA
BY
JOHN ODEY ADUMA
BRITISH CHEVENING SCHOLAR AND PUBLISHER OF VIGILANCE - THE WORLD’S LEADING SECURITY MAGAZINE, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
Nigeria, great country, destined to rule the world
There’s no nation in the world as great as our Nigeria.
With God, this Nigeria, God’s own beloved nation will rule the world.
Yes, Nigeria, God’s own beloved nation, shall someday rule the world.
God, Creator of the heavens and the earth,
Help us to live together as one, brothers and sisters,
Accepting one another despite our differences
Understanding and forgetting such differences.
And working together side by side with our children
To build a strong and virile nation where in our diversity,
Every citizen is treated equally and fairly.
God of Nigeria, give to all those to whom you have entrusted
The task of governing Nigeria to govern well in a manner that will glorify you.
Give them the grace not to think highly of themselves,
But to in their entrusted little corners think of themselves as servant-leaders;
O God of Nigeria, give our leaders the grace to be selfless and patriotic;
Give them wisdom and hearts large enough to love and serve all;
Keep them away from greed and corruption,
So that instead of asking, “What’s in it for me?”
They will ask, “What’s in it for all of us?”
Give them the grace to in judgement be impartial, remembering the poor in our midst;
Showing no respect to persons, but acknowledging you always as the God of Nigeria who has placed them in authority over us;
Give them the wisdom to be broad and whole in thinking and in judgement.
And let them embrace strategic thinking and shift away from oil and genuinely diversify the economy.
O God of Nigeria, implant in the heart, mind, spirit,
soul and body of every Nigerian, love for each other,
Respect for each other in an atmosphere of peace,
Surpassing all understanding and having respect for one another’s faith without recourse to religious bigotry in dealing with one another
On daily basis, in truth, word and in deed.
Let this spirit of love permeate every fabric of our society
So that whether in the North, South, East or West of our country,
We shall in peace and harmony live together, doing justice to one another in an atmosphere of fraternal brotherhood,
In a country where there’s no North, no South, but one Nigeria;
In a country where there is no division as to ethnic nationality, but one Nigeria;
In a country where there’s no division as to indigineship, settlership, but citizenship only;
Where all Nigerians are citizens of one great and indissoluble nation,
Having one mission, vision, one dream, one philosophy, one purpose, one destiny with one commonality
As one people, set to take over the world in all things - politics, science, innovations, technology, sports, agriculture, cultures, standard of living, social welfare and per capita income, etc.
Help us to build a nation where no one will be persecuted, killed for embracing or belonging to a faith;
Give us the spirit as a people to strive for excellence, competitive performance instead of the usual recourse to hereditary privilege;
Help us to do God and not religion, church or mosque.
O God of Nigeria, give us the wisdom, courage to bring up
Our children in the fear and nurture of you;
Give them and the coming generations the grace not to give up on Nigeria;
But that they should act their own part in the rebuilding of our Nigeria,
Never to be bitter, but be sufficiently angry
to challenge the status quo, committed, loyal and patriotic.
And when they shall ask us in this national odyssey,
“Are we nearly there?”
Let us then respond with love and inspiring words that
“We are not nearly there yet, but on our way:
And we shall arrive very soon on eagle’s wings.”
Yes, we shall soon arrive on eagle’s wings.
And some day our Nigeria will rule the world.
Again, we sing the song of Nigeria in unison:
Nigeria will rule the world!
- JOHN ODEY ADUMA
653 WORDS.
“Is "native" always considered offensive, when referring to a person who lived in a place originally?
Asked 11 years ago
Modified 9 years, 1 month ago
Viewed 10k times
When I read the definition of native in the OALD, I see the following:
(old-fashioned, offensive) a word used in the past by Europeans to describe a person who lived in a place originally, before white people arrived there
I remember that, when speaking with a friend of mine (American) about the people Columbus called indiani, I was said I should refer to them as American natives.
Is native always considered offensive, or is American natives the exception to the rule?
Follow
asked May 28, 2013 at 12:12
20.9k4040 gold badges110110 silver badges183183 bronze badges
- I don't know Italian, but I'm going to guess your question may stem from the possibility that the Italian equivalents for native and indigenous are both reasonably common words. And that "native" Italians tend to use the latter term when referring to their own genetic/cultural heritage. But Anglophones use "native" for all contexts, since "indigenous* isn't a very common word (the "noun" form indigene is vanishingly rare).
- @FumbleFingers They are both common words, even though it is indigeno that could be offensive. We say Indigeni dell'Amazzonia when talking of people living in Amazonia, but that word has more a connotation of "people with a less advanced culture." I have never heard of somebody saying gli indigeni atzechi to mean the Aztech. Then, the Italian Ehi tu, indigeno!" is more offensive than _Ehi tu, nativo!" The same is true for _Sono tutti indigeni! or Che indigeni che sono! (I am sorry, I had to use the Italian version, since there is not an Italian adjective for indigenous.)
– apaderno
- Well, Native New Yorker was both written and made famous by Americans, and you could reasonably expect I'm a native Londoner to be spoken with pride rather than shame. How does an Italian convey that he was born in Italy, or in some specific city?
- @FumbleFingers If I moved from Italy, I would say Sono nativo dell'Italia. Sono originario dell'Italia. or simply Sono nato in Italia. (The last is equivalent of "I was born in Italy.") If I am still in Italy, I would say Sono nato in Italia. or Sono nato in Italia da genitori italiani. if I want to highlight that my parents are Italians too (and they are not immigrants from another country). I could also say Sono italiano da generazioni. if I wanted to highlight my roots are Italian since generations.
– apaderno
- oic. Well, I guess the answer to your question is - if the speaker has a manifestly colonialist/imperialist attitude to the natives he's referring to, then native would indeed be "pejorative" in intent. But those natives might well refer to the speaker as a foreigner with pejorative intent. It's not really the words that are potentially offensive - it's the attitude of the speaker.
Actually the phrase is not "American natives" but "Native Americans".
I think what the writer of that definition was trying to say was that the word "native" as a stand-alone noun to mean a person from a non-Western culture with a low level of technology is now considered offensive. Like if you drew a picture of a group of people standing in front of a mud hut, with painted faces and carrying spears, and labeled it "Natives", this would be considered offensive.
The word "native" in general simply means some one or thing that originally comes from a particular place. In this sense it is a perfectly good word. I certainly would not be offended if you referred to me as "a native of New York". We routinely talk about "foods native to the region", about a person's "native language", etc.
But anyway, I don't think there's any simple rule as to what makes a word or phrase offensive. When I was a boy in the 1960s, members of a certain ethnic group were routinely referred to as "negroes". Then about the 1970s or so we were told that this term was offensive, and that we should call them "black". Then in the 1990s we were told that "black" is offensive, and we should call them "African-American". How did "black" go from being the polite term to being offensive? It just did. There's no pattern to such things.
I saw a survey a few years back that found that a majority of American Indians prefer to be called Indians rather than Native Americans. For that matter, I saw a survey fairly recently where they asked black people what they prefer to be called, and 1% said "African Americans", 2% said "black", 96% said "don't care", and there was the usual scattering of other answers.
Follow
answered May 28, 2013 at 12:40
66.8k11 gold badge7171 silver badges147147 bronze badges
- Native is taken as offensive when applied to non-Europeans, for sound historical reasons. By and large, a strict adjectival use is less likely to cause offense, but if it is so deployed that it may be read as an attributive nominal this innocence is lost.
- I imagine that "Hey you, native!" would be probably taken as offensive, if I say that to somebody I don't know. :)
– apaderno
- @kiamlaluno I'd actually just probably think it was odd, because I don't know that we often use native by itself as a noun--when you say that, it sounds like you're using it as an adjective to my ear, even though you're not. I'm waiting for the rest of the sentence! ;) But yes, I definitely agree you shouldn't go around saying that, haha.
- Hmm. "Pierre Trudeau is a native of Montreal." Mr Trudeau is not a European, but I doubt he would find that sentence offensive. Or even if we take you to mean non-Westerner: "Jomo Kenyatta was a native of Kenya." Would he be offended by that sentence? Any non-Westerners please chime in.
– Jay
- Frankly, I think most reasonable people, i.e. not political activists trying to be offended, are only offended when someone is being intentionally rude. When I'm filling out a form and I come to a space that says "Race" with a box for "white", I am not offended for an instant. But if someone yelled at me, "Hey, white boy! Get the blankety-blank outa here!" I would take that as offensive.
– Jay
- 1
@WendiKidd "Native" can be either a noun or an adjective. "English is my native language." (adjective) "Jack is a native of England." (noun) Where I see the offensive nature is when you say simply "Jack is a native", meaning "a primitive, uncivilized person".
– Jay
Source: nouns - Is "native" always considered offensive, when referring to a person who lived in a place originally? - English Language Learners Stack Exchange: Accessed: 29/05/2024.
THE TROUBLE WITH TRIBE
How a common word masks complex African realities.
Topic
Invite your students to investigate the history and hidden meanings of the word "tribe."
For many people in Western countries, the subject of Africa immediately calls up the word "tribe." Few readers question a news story describing an African individual as a "tribesman" or "tribeswoman," or the depiction of an African's motives as "tribal." Many Africans themselves use the word "tribe" when speaking or writing in English about community, ethnicity or identity in African states.
Yet today most scholars -- both African and non-African -- who study African states and societies agree that "tribe" promotes misleading stereotypes. The term "tribe" has no consistent meaning. It carries misleading historical and cultural assumptions. It blocks accurate views of African realities.
At best, any interpretation of African events that relies on the idea of tribe contributes no understanding of specific issues in specific countries. At worst, it obscures the reality that African identities and conflicts are as diverse, ambiguous, complex, modern and dynamic as those found anywhere else in the world.
WHAT'S WRONG WITH "TRIBE"?
"Tribe" promotes a myth of primitive African timelessness.
The general sense of tribe as most people understand it is associated with primitiveness. To be in a tribal state is to live in an uncomplicated, traditional condition.
Most African countries are economically poor and often described as less developed or underdeveloped. Westerners often conclude that these societies have not changed much over the centuries and that African poverty mainly reflects cultural and social conservatism. Interpreting present-day Africa through the lens of tribes reinforces the image of timelessness.
The truth is that Africa has as much history as anywhere else in the world. It has undergone momentous changes time and again, especially in the 20th century. While African poverty is partly a product of internal dynamics of African societies, it has also been caused by the histories of external slave trades and colonial rule.
In the West, "tribal" often implies "savage."
When the general image of tribal timelessness is applied to situations of social conflict between Africans, a particularly destructive myth results. Stereotypes of primitiveness and conservative backwardness are also linked to images of irrationality and superstition. The combination leads to portrayal of violence and conflict in Africa as primordial, savage and unchanging. This image resonates with traditional Western racist ideas and can suggest that irrational violence is inherent and natural to Africans. Just as particular conflicts elsewhere in the world have both rational and irrational components, so do those in Africa.
The vast majority of African ethnic conflicts could not have happened a century ago in the ways that they do now. Pick almost any place where ethnic conflict occurs in modern Africa. Investigate carefully the issues over which it occurs, the forms it takes, and the means by which it is organized and carried out. Recent economic developments and political rivalries will loom much larger than allegedly ancient and traditional hostilities.
Ironically, some African ethnic identities and divisions now portrayed as ancient and unchanging actually were created in the colonial period. In other cases, earlier distinctions took new, more rigid and conflictual forms over the last century. The changes came out of communities' interactions within a colonial or post-colonial context, as well as movement of people to cities to work and live. The identities thus created resemble modern ethnicities in other countries, which are also shaped by cities, markets and national states.
IF "TRIBE" IS SO FLAWED, WHY IS IT SO COMMON?
"Tribe" reflects widespread but outdated 19th-century social theory.
As Europeans expanded their trade, settlement and military domination around the world, they began trying to understand the different forms of society and culture they encountered. Social scientists in the 19th century viewed societies as "evolving" along a sequence of organizational stages. One widespread theory saw a progression from hunting to herding to agriculture to mechanical industry. By this account, city-building -- the root of "civilization" -- arose from agriculture, and all forms of social organization and government that "preceded" this stage were considered tribal.
Over the course of the 20th century, scholars learned that such images tried to make messy reality neater than it really is. While markets and technology may be said to develop, they have no simple correspondence with specific forms of politics, social organization or culture. Moreover, human beings have proven remarkably capable of changing older identities to fit new conditions, or inventing new identities (often stoutly insisting that the changed or new identities are eternal). Examples close to home include new hyphenated American identities, new social identities (for example, gay/lesbian), and new religious identities (for example, New Age).
Social theories of tribes resonated with classical and biblical education.
Of course, most ordinary Western people were not social theorists. But theories of social evolution spread through schools, newspapers, sermons and other media. The term "tribe," which comes from the Latin tribus, was tied to classical and biblical images. The ancient Romans used tribus to denote segments of their own population, as well as the Celtic and Germanic societies with which many 19th- and early-20th-century Europeans and Americans identified. Latin and English Bibles adopted the term for the 12 lineages of Hebrews who settled the Promised Land. This link of tribes to prestigious earlier periods of Western culture contributed to the view that tribe had universal validity in social evolution.
The concept of tribe became a cornerstone for European colonial rule in Africa.
This background of belief, while mistaken in many respects, might have been relatively benign. However, emerging during the age of scientific rationalism, the theories of social evolution became intertwined with racial theories. These were used to justify, first, the latter stages of the Atlantic slave trade (originally justified on religious grounds) and, later, European colonial rule.
Some people who believed that Africans were a primitive, lower order of humanity saw this as a permanent condition that justified Europeans in enslaving and dominating them. Others held that Africans could develop but needed to be civilized by Europeans -- which often meant in "exchange" for their freedom, labor, land and resources.
This reasoning was used to support the colonization of the whole continent of Africa after 1880, which otherwise might more accurately have been seen as a naked exercise of power. Thus, all Africans were said to live in tribes, whether their ancestors built large trading empires and Muslim universities on the Niger River, densely settled and cultivated kingdoms around the great lakes in east-central Africa, or lived in much smaller-scale communities between the larger political units of the continent.
Calling nearly all African social groups "tribes" and African identities "tribal" in the era of scientific racism turned the idea of tribe from a social science category into a racial stereotype. By definition Africans were supposed to live in tribes, preferably with chiefs. The colonizers proposed to govern cheaply by adapting tribal and chiefship institutions into European-style bureaucratic states. If they didn't find tribes and chiefs, they encouraged people to identify as tribes and appointed chiefs.
In some places, like Rwanda or Nigeria, colonial racial theory led to favoring one ethnic group over another because of supposed racial superiority (meaning White ancestry). In other places, emphasis on tribes was simply a tool of divide-and-rule strategies. The idea of tribe we have today cannot escape these roots.
COMMON ARGUMENTS RECONSIDERED
In the United States no one objects to referring to Native American "tribes."
Under U.S. law, "tribe" is a bureaucratic term. For a community of Native Americans to gain access to programs, and to enforce rights due to them under treaties and laws, they must be recognized as a tribe. This is comparable to unincorporated areas' applying for municipal status under state laws. Away from the law, Native Americans often prefer the words "nation" or "people" over "tribe."
Historically, the U.S. government treats all Native American groups as tribes because of the same outdated cultural evolutionary theories and colonial viewpoints that led European colonialists to treat all African groups as tribes. As in Africa, the term obscures wide historical differences in way of life, political and social organization, and culture among Native Americans. When we see that the same term is applied indiscriminately to Native American groups and African groups, the problem of primitive savagery as the implied common denominator only becomes more pronounced.
Africans themselves talk about tribes.
When Africans learn English, they are often taught that "tribe" is the term that English-speakers will recognize. But what underlying meaning in their own languages are Africans translating when they say "tribe"? In English, writers often refer to the Zulu tribe, whereas in Zulu the word for the Zulu as a group is isizwe. Zulu linguists translate isizwe as "nation" or "people." Isizwe refers both to the multi-ethnic South African nation and to ethno-national peoples that form a part of the multi-ethnic nation. When Africans use the word "tribe" in general conversation, they do not draw on the negative connotations of primitivism the word has in Western countries.
Avoiding the term "tribe" is just political correctness.
To the contrary, avoiding the term "tribe" is saying that ideas matter. If the term "tribe" accurately conveyed and clarified truths better than other words, even if they were hard and unpleasant truths, we should use it. But "tribe" is vague, contradictory and confusing, not clarifying. For the most part it does not convey truths but myths, stereotypes and prejudices. When it does express truths, there are other words that express the same truths more clearly, without the additional distortions.
Given a choice between words that express truths clearly and precisely, and words that convey partial truths murkily and distortedly, we should choose the former over the latter. That means choosing "ethnic group," "nation," "people," "community," "chiefdom," "kin-group," "village" or another appropriate word over "tribe," when writing or talking about Africa. The question is not political correctness but empirical accuracy and intellectual honesty.
Most scholars already prefer other terms to "tribe." So, among the media, does the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). But "tribal" and "African" are still virtually synonyms in most media, among policy-makers and among Western publics. Clearing away this stereotype is an essential step for beginning to understand the diversity and richness of African realities.
This essay was adapted with permission from "Talking About 'Tribe': Moving From Stereotypes to Analysis," originally published by the Africa Policy Information Center in 1997. The principal author was Chris Lowe, a historian of Africa who lives in Portland, Ore. Additional research was provided by Tunde Brimah, Pearl-Alice Marsh, William Minter and Monde Muyangwa.
One Zambia, One Nation
Zambia is slightly larger than Texas. The country has approximately 10 million inhabitants and a rich cultural diversity. English is the official language, but Zambia also boasts 73 different indigenous languages. While there are many indigenous Zambian words that translate into "nation," "people," "clan," "language," "foreigner," "village" or "community," there are none that easily translate into "tribe."
Sorting Zambians into a fixed number of "tribes" was a byproduct of British colonial rule over Northern Rhodesia (as Zambia was known prior to independence in 1964). The British also applied stereotypes to the different groups. Thus the Bemba, Ngoni and the Lozi were characterized in various colonial records as "strong." The Bemba and the Ngoni were "warlike," although the Bemba were considered the much "finer race" because the Ngoni had intertwined with "inferior tribes and have been spoiled by civilization." The Lamba were labelled "lazy and indolent" and the Lunda considered to have "an inborn distaste for work in a regular way." These stereotypes in turn often determined access to jobs.
After Zambia gained its independence in 1964, the challenge was how to forge these disparate ethnic groups into a nation-state whose citizens would identify as Zambians. The country's first president, Kenneth Kaunda, made a point of establishing policies and using tools that would promote nation-building, as reflected in the popular slogan "One Zambia, One Nation." Several factors reinforced the common national experience across the cultural spectrum.
First, the Kaunda administration attempted to achieve an ethnic balance in appointments to the cabinet and other key government positions. The intent was to provide Zambia's various ethnic groups with representation and hence a stake in the new nation that was being forged.
Second, with an economy focused on copper mining, the urban areas and mines became a magnet for Zambians from across the country and all ethnic groups seeking employment. By the 1990s almost half of all Zambians lived in urban areas. Despite ethnic stereotypes, no group had an overwhelming advantage in urban employment.
Third, Zambia adopted a boarding school system for grades 7-12. This system brought together children from all ethnic groups to live and learn together for nine months of the year. Along with English, social studies and several Zambian languages also became major components of school curricula, enabling Zambians to learn about and to communicate with each other. As a result of living together, interacting in the towns and cities, and going to school together, the average Zambian speaks at least three languages.
Fourth, after independence, the marriage rate among people of different ethnic identities increased. In the same way that one should not immediately assume that an American called Syzmanski speaks or understands Polish, neither should one necessarily expect a Zambian with the last name of Chimuka to speak or understand Tonga. As in America, names in Zambia are often unreliable indicators of ethnic heritage.
Many Zambians do use the word "tribe." Its meaning, however, is probably closer to that of an "ethnic group" in a Western country than what Westerners understand by "tribe." The word refers to one's mother tongue and, to lesser extent, specific cultural traits. For example, in the same way that Jewish Americans celebrate Bar Mitzvah as a rite of passage into adulthood, various Zambian ethnic groups have similar rites of passage ceremonies, such as Siyomboka among the Lozi and Mukanda for the Luvale. An urban family may or may not celebrate a particular rite and may need to decide which branch of the family's older generation they should follow.
To a large extent, the effort to forge "One Zambia, One Nation" has succeeded. Zambians identify with the nation as well as with individual ethnic groups. Many trace their own family heritage to more than one Zambian group. Most Zambians live within but also beyond their ethnic boundaries. Identities at different levels coexist and change.
Adapted with permission from "Talking About 'Tribe,'" Africa Policy Information Center.
***Source: The Trouble with Tribe | Learning for Justice, accessed: 29/05/2024.
John Odey Aduma is at the Doctoral School of SOAS, University of London.
ABOUT JOHN ODEY ADUMA
John Odey Aduma, British Chevening Scholar, Author of The Diamonds Are Here, 2001, Be A Beacon of Hope in the World: A Message to Young Britain, 2022, and a renowned environmental journalist was born on December 13, 1963 at Okpoma, Yala in Ogoja, Cross River State of Nigeria.
He was educated variously at Christ the King’s School, Okpoma, 1969-1970; St. Mel’s Primary School, Woleche-Ebo, 1971; St. Gabriel’s Primary School, Ebo-Ipuole, 1972-1974; Christian Vocational Commercial School, Okuku, Ogoja, 1975; Faith Institute of Stenography, Shogunle, Lagos, 1976; Aladura Comprehensive High School, Anthony Village, Lagos, 1977-1982; University of Ibadan, Department of Adult Education, 1983-1984; Obafemi Awolowo University, 1985-1989, where he graduated with a B.A. (Hons) in English Studies; University of Lagos, 1991-1992, where he worked for and obtained an M.A. in English; and at the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Lagos, 1994, where he took a Post Graduate Diploma in Journalism; City University, London, United Kingdom, 2003 - 2004, where he was a British Chevening Scholar and studied for his M.A. in International Journalism with specialism in Environment; City Business College, London, 2005-2006 for a Post Graduate Diploma in Management Studies, but completed only the taught course; Voice Coaching, CSV Media, London, 2006; Radio Production, CSV Media, London, 2006 and the City and Guilds Certificate in Conflict Management, 2006.
Besides, he has attended many training courses in Planning, Writing and Production Skills on Communicating for the Environment.
He was the winner of the Nigerian Media Merit Award for Investigative Reporter of the Year and the Diamond Awards for Media Excellence, Reporter of the Year, both in 1992.
He also received a Community Service Award in 1997 and the Outstanding Staff Award of the Daily Times of Nigeria Plc in the year 2001.
In 1994, he edited Lord Rumens, a book on a prominent Nigerian business tycoon and Lawn Tennis icon, Chief Ajisomo Alabi.
He was a member of the Green Environment Movement, and the Nigerian Field Society; he was on the Core Committee of the National Technology Summit and was the Summit’s Publicity Chairman, and Products & Exhibition sub-committee, 1998.
Other national and important committees on which Aduma had also served or headed included the National Planning Committee, Youth Development, Federal Ministry of Education and Youth Development, 1993; Core Committee, the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF)/Ford Foundation, Kano Eastern Bypass Roadside Tree Planting Exercise, 1997; Chairman, Planning and Organising Committee, Alhaji Babatunde Jose’s 75th Birth Day, 2000, (Dr. Jose was a doyen of Nigerian journalism and was the first African Editor, Managing Director and Chairman of the Daily Times of Nigeria Plc); Chairman, Planning Committee of the 7th and 8th General Murtala Muhammed’s Memorial Lecture (the late Nigerian Head of State, July 30, 1975 – February 13, 1976), 2001 and 2002; Chairman, Planning Committee of the Daily Times of Nigeria Plc’s 75th Anniversary, 2001 including sitting on many national techno-industrial committees (too numerous to mention here) in his capacity then as Executive Secretary, Foundry Association of Nigeria. In that capacity, he represented FAN on the National Steel Committee of the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Aduma, Communications/Environmental Consultant, Critic, Poet, Essayist, and Columnist, was formerly Staff Reporter, The Guardian (flagship of the Nigerian media) 1990-1993; Consultant/Chairman, Media, Green Environment Movement, Nigeria, 1990-2003; Senior Correspondent, The Independent Weekly, (1993-1994); Head, Environment and Property Desk, The Punch (1994-1997); Editorial Consultant and Contributing Editor, the Nigerian Conservation Foundation’s Tortoise Magazine, 1995; Contributing Editor, Pole Star Magazine (1998); Member, Editorial Board of The Nigerian Conservationist Magazine (1995-2000); Executive Secretary, Foundry Association of Nigeria, (1997-2000); Editor, Foundry Chronicle, (1998-2000); National Coordinator and Public Affairs Manager of President Muhammadu Buhari’s The Pastoral Resolve, 2000 - Major General Muhammadu Buhari was formerly Nigeria’s Head of State from December 31, 1983-27 August, 1985 and was the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 2015-2023); Chairman, Editorial Board of the Daily Times of Nigeria Plc (2000-2003) and Director, Media, Pronaco, UK/Europe (the Diaspora arm of the Pro-national Conference, Nigeria, which canvassed the return from military rule to democracy in Nigeria), 2005 -2007.
Mr. Aduma was one of the twelve eminent persons appointed by former President Olusegun Obasanjo (GCFR) of Nigeria into the Administrative Panel of Inquiry, also known variously as Presidential Panel, Commission of Inquiry, respectively to investigate the illegal trade in and smuggling of Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna into and out of Nigeria in 2003.
In year 2003, he attended the Chevening Leadership Programme, (sponsored by the British Council and Shell) at the elite Lagos Business School (the Pan-African University) in Nigeria and thereafter, proceeded to the United Kingdom as a British Chevening Scholar to study International Journalism at City University, London, where he worked for and obtained an M.A. in International Journalism, with specialism in Environment.
In addition to his array of degrees and extensive experience in international journalism, environment, development, international diplomacy and international security; international relations; international economy and politics, Mr Aduma who obtained the AET (Award in Education and Training), Level 3 in 2018 from CONEL, a Further Education College and member of the Capital City College Group (CCCG), London, also has a Further Education (FE) Certificate in Education and Training – the CET (Certificate in Education and Training) Level 4, 2018 and the Specialist Diploma in Teaching English: ESOL & Literacy, Level 5 from the same Further Education College in 2018.
He is currently the publisher of VIGILANCE-THE WORLD’S LEADING SECURITY MAGAZINE (www.vigilance-securitymagazine.com) and SCORPION NEWS CORP (www.scorpionnewscorp.com).
PUBLICATIONS
- Be a Beacon of Hope in the World: A Message to Young Britain, 2022.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMaK3EfE99Q,
- The Diamonds Are Here, 2001.
- Lord Lumens (ed.), 1995.
THE SUDDEN FLOURISHING IN NIGERIA OF NEO-COLONIALISM UNDER THE GOVERNMENT OF ROGUES, THIEVES, ROBBERS, BANDITS, KIDNAPPERS AND NEO-COLONIAL APOSTLES…
The Day that Shamed all Africa and all persons of African ancestry.
***The composer is happy to modify The Song of Nigeria to suit the purpose of a national anthem, but please call for entries nationally, both at home and in the diaspora, for if the political elements in Nigeria have presented themselves to the world as destitute of ideas, totally lacking creativity, imagination, innovation and inventiveness, this is not true of all Nigerians, home and abroad!
NIGERIA: A JOURNEY BACKWARD
BAT must withdraw his assent to this very bill as it is not just a return to our ugly past – colonialism and slavery, but a great embarrassment and stupendous insult to the founding fathers of our country and to all persons of African descent.
God bless Nigeria, thy beloved nation.
- ODEY OKABO OBOYA ADUMA,
ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM.