By Promise Adiele

According to Chinua Achebe, “proverbs are the palm oil with which words are eaten”. Thus, Achebe underscores the importance of proverbs as an emblematic paradigm in spoken and written communicative strategies. Proverbs are powerful. They constitute vestiges of the fast receding African identity. There is no ethnic group in Africa that does not have proverbs which guide its cultural and sublunary ethos. In a sentence or phrase, a proverb can tell the story of one thousand words. They are deep and incisive. When we encounter them, they simultaneously achieve a sublime rhythm in our subconscious minds through a penetration and withdrawal symphony. No wonder compilers of the Holy book dedicated a whole section to it.

The potency of proverbs in demystifying hidden reality is evident in the inherent multiple outlets of interpretation they offer. There is no narrative in any human endeavour that is not captured in a few words by a proverb. Unfortunately, many 21st-century youths are ignorant of proverbs. When I taught Oral African Literature, I asked students to write out twenty African proverbs and their interpretations. I had a good laugh reading the assignments. Some of them had to call their parents for assistance. The scenario changed completely in another course Popular Culture when I asked them to mention current trends in music, movies, and fashion. They came alive. I am wondering, will people still remember African proverbs in the next fifty years?

While pondering over the topic of this essay, one Igbo proverb in the Mbaise dialect came to my mind. “He who is concerned with personal existential challenges does not have any existence” (I am afraid the proverb has lost some flavour in English translation). That proverb finds relevance and validation in the title of this essay. Simply put, anyone who thinks of his life alone does not have a life. Certainly Nigerians cannot pretend that all is well when our brothers and sisters who teach in public universities are wallowing in want, penury, and poverty. It could be easy for someone to say ‘wetin concern me’ but it all concerns everyone one way or the other. The truth is that lecturers are dying, some consider suicide daily. It behoves all people of good conscience to be genuinely concerned about the plight of public university lecturers. How on earth are these Nigerians surviving? Recently, INEC advertised for ad-hoc members of staff. Expectedly, many idle university lecturers applied. Will it be possible for a hungry, bill-ravaged lecturer to turn down items of compromise in the line of duty? We must understand these underlying cross-currents to appreciate the virility of the APC government towards despicable ends.

Addressing the air chiefs in attendance, Brown stressed that in an increasingly complicated, complex, and uncertain world, the air forces of all nations represented at the conference must work together to succeed.

Quoting an African proverb, Brown explained, “’If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together.’

“The thing we have to focus on is being able to accelerate, being able to innovate and being able to collaborate,” he continued.

To promote thought-provoking conversations and share actionable ideas, the IACC included a day of moderated panel discussions where air chiefs and think-tank members traded thoughts on distributed operations, the information environment, and the recruitment, retention, and training of Airmen.

Nos lo recuerda, un proverbio africano, cuando dice que: “se necesita toda una aldea para educar a un niño”. Pero en esa población han de reinventarse métodos para instruir a los críos, para salvar el futuro de injustas discriminaciones. No olvidemos que indivisos vamos en el mismo barco viviente, y que todos necesitamos de todos en este mundo global, íntimamente conectado, lo que requiere de otras formas de entendernos y de otras maneras de actuar, promoviendo el respeto y la consideración en todo instante y lugar. Indudablemente, tenemos que abrir la mente a la situación. No podemos encerrarnos en  nuestras miserias. El reencuentro es valioso para caminar juntos. Todo está en complementariedad: el tronco de la genealogía, con sus ramas vinculantes, injertando entidad y socializándose humanamente.

Esto me lleva a recordar otra versión del proverbio africano: “Para educar a un hijo se necesita a todo un pueblo”. Así es, se requiere de mucha gente, comenzando por la parentela. Desde luego, los padres siempre inciden para bien o para mal, en el desarrollo moral de sus hijos.  Al fin y al cabo, lo que nos interesa es el buen juicio y la sensatez, que es lo que nos ayuda a crecer.  Por eso, en la docencia tampoco asimilamos solamente conocimientos, sino que nos ejercitamos también en los hábitos y valores. Allí, en sus aulas, han de darse lecciones inolvidables e integradoras. Descubriremos que tan significativo como la mente es el ánimo, pero también las manos que pueden acariciar o herir y el mismo andar, que puede hacer camino o crear desconcierto. En consecuencia, el acceso a las oportunidades de aprendizaje, no se le pueden negar a nadie, es una necesidad absoluta para hacer familia y para poder convivir en concordia.

"While pondering over the topic of this essay, one Igbo proverb in the Mbaise dialect came to my mind. “He who is concerned with personal existential challenges does not have any existence” (I am afraid the proverb has lost some flavour in English translation). That proverb finds relevance and validation in the title of this essay. Simply put, anyone who thinks of his life alone does not have a life. Certainly Nigerians cannot pretend that all is well when our brothers and sisters who teach in public universities are wallowing in want, penury, and poverty. It could be easy for someone to say ‘wetin concern me’ but it all concerns everyone one way or the other. The truth is that lecturers are dying, some consider suicide daily. It behoves all people of good conscience to be genuinely concerned about the plight of public university lecturers. How on earth are these Nigerians surviving? Recently, INEC advertised for ad-hoc members of staff. Expectedly, many idle university lecturers applied. Will it be possible for a hungry, bill-ravaged lecturer to turn down items of compromise in the line of duty? We must understand these underlying cross-currents to appreciate the virility of the APC government towards despicable ends."

#metaglossia mundus

The control room at Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant is monitored 24/7 by three shifts of personnel to ensure rigorous safety measures are maintained. External international environmental organisations monitor the impact of the nuclear plant on the environment, the gulf of Finland and the people living around nuclear power plants.

Public information, participation and buy-in are central to the new units to be built, the mayor explained.

There’s an African proverb, with many variations: until lions have their own story tellers, hunters will always be the hero in their story”.

Russia will have to tell its story to the world instead of the villains that the West portrays it to be. 

Addressing the air chiefs in attendance, Brown stressed that in an increasingly complicated, complex, and uncertain world, the air forces of all nations represented at the conference must work together to succeed.

Quoting an African proverb, Brown explained, “’If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together.’

“The thing we have to focus on is being able to accelerate, being able to innovate and being able to collaborate,” he continued.

To promote thought-provoking conversations and share actionable ideas, the IACC included a day of moderated panel discussions where air chiefs and think-tank members traded thoughts on distributed operations, the information environment, and the recruitment, retention, and training of Airmen.

A Yoruba adage says “The size of someone's head determines the extent of their headache.” The size of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu's head in terms of his ...

SIR:  I released a motivational quote: “Always think and go beyond limitation, as you’re only limited and thwarted by the limit of your thoughts.” Thereafter,

A Yoruba adage is stated as “Aye loja; orun nile”. This proverb means that the earth is a marketplace and heaven is home. This Yoruba proverb reveals many facets, both literally and figuratively.

What role do elephants play in alerting local communities that it is time to harvest Marula fruits?

An old African proverb says, “the harvest arrives in the elephant’s shadow.” For thousands of years across Africa’s sub-Saharan plains, elephants are drawn by the scent of ripe Marula fruit to gather beneath their trees. This lets local communities know that the harvesting season (March-April) has begun.

Hay un proverbio africano que dice: “Si quieres ir rápido, ve solo. Si quieres llegar lejos, ve acompañado”. El mundo en el que vivimos, acelerado y cambiante, donde el estado del arte de la ciencia, la tecnología y la innovación se encuentra en perpetuo cuestionamiento y evolución, exige a las organizaciones, y en especial, a las empresas, que estén muy despiertas, que miren a su alrededor y sobre todo que busquen compañeros de viaje.

Taking its title from a Ghanaian proverb, 'the head and the load are the troubles of the neck,' this epic theatrical-music piece tells the neglected story of the millions of African porters and carriers who served British, French and German forces during the first World War. This has been called Kentridge's most ambitious project to date, and draws on every aspect of his practice to combine music, dance, film projections, mechanized sculptures and shadow play in a visionary theatrical alchemy.

Nigeria ranked 131st among 190 world economies in the annual World Bank Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) Index in 2020; dropping from its 145th position in 2019. Many Nigerians believe that the private sector is the only thing working in the country. Despite the economic instabilities, new businesses seem to be emerging from all corners of the country as industries experience growth through innovation, investment and expansion. There is no big secret as to why and how a business should survive through economic turmoil, as most have not, since the Covid-19 pandemic. Crisis, however, breeds opportunity and business operators must begin to creatively make the best of the tough times. There is an African proverb that says, “smooth seas do not make skilful sailors”. Amidst challenges, are hidden opportunities that when navigated for benefit, could build successful, dominating, and adaptable businesses.  

When death comes, may it find you alive.

– African Proverb

Before I die, I want to be so fully alive, with so few regrets, that I will leave the party fully satiated. To have lived a life so complete, having honored marriage, the privilege and responsibility of raising and educating two children, mastering a profession, written a book or two, well, what more could any man want to have left behind?

To have crossed oceans, dove beneath the seas from France to Hawaii to Japan, to have explored the treasures below, to have skied the majestic Alps for an entire winter, to have flown paragliders in half a dozen countries, violent downdrafts leaving me weak-kneed and downright religious, and survived to tell the tale, well, what else could a man have even dreamed of?

The African proverb says: “It is only the tree that bears good/sweet fruits that gets hit by stones and sticks” must have had Prince Dapo Abiodun, MFR, the governor of Ogun State at the centre of its thought. Incontrovertibly, no one wastes their efforts at attacking and maligning a tree that bears sour fruits. For the governor, the saying rings true as he has been a tree blossoming with abundant fruit for which he cannot escape the stones and sticks thrown at him by politicians in the opposition party who are envious of his stances and (giant) strides. Aside from the fact that the people of Ogun State pride themselves as enlightened and politically conscious people who would not allow themselves to be led by a character who is best fit for the entertainment industry, they also care about the carriage, personality, and productivity all of which are absent in both the maker of the speech quoted above and the person he is advocating for but present in Prince Abiodun.

https://tribuneonlineng.com/ogun-talk-is-cheap/

Since May of this year, Somalia has had Hassan Mohamud as its new president. 

Mohamud is acknowledged for bringing fighting clans to the negotiating table and for uniting Mogadishu in 1997, as a ‘green line’ broadly dividing its north and south was removed, ending years of a capital controlled by Aidid in the south and the UN-appointed President Ali Mahdi in the north. 

Much later on, he would emerge as a prominent player who would create his own political movement before winning a landslide election at the polls this year. Mohamud now needs to reach out to the UN hierarchy and Europeans for help. And we should help Somalia and neighbouring Somaliland as the situation there now cannot be compared to the early ’90s. Climate change is inflicting its most barbaric and vociferous blow on these people, and they played no role in it whatsoever. 

But given the imploding economies of Europe due to the war in Ukraine, will they respond, or will Somalia be the latest victim of the West’s foibles or obsession with Putin? 

And can Biden “stomach the casualties” even if he has the guts to fix what was left undone in 1993? What is needed is action rather than words. Indeed, it is a Somali proverb that says, “a sweet hand is better than a sweet mouth”. 

As I write this I am sitting still, possibly for the first time today.  My days are filled with work: teaching, writing, and planning every detail of my daughter’s life–holding it all together by what seems like loose threads.  I’ve just finished cuddling with her, listening to a story that she’d just imagined, and reminding her how important she is to me.  There is no greater joy than watching this thing, which started out so tiny and needy, become so big, and strong, and free-thinking, and enchanting.  My baby shower invitations contained the Congolese proverb, “Children are the reward of life.”  And it's true. I love being a mother–mostly.

There are days though, when I can barely drag myself out of bed, and caring for another human being seems impossible.  The first time I sat in a therapist’s chair, my daughter was a toddler and I was just entering graduate school.  “I feel like a slave,” I admitted to my therapist, while weeping and ensuring that my eyes didn’t meet hers.  I was ashamed.  I was failing as a woman surely, I thought.  I missed my alone time, my books, and my ways of wanderlust.  My identity had been buried, mocked and transformed, and I hated the idea of being reduced to only being a wife and a mother by almost everyone in my life and society as a whole.  I was also very angry that my husband’s life had changed very little, and it was in this moment that I finally embraced feminism.

Dr Tonderai Manyau| I strongly fear that we are losing it as Africans. The way we hate one another is becoming a pandemic. I have nothing personal against Dr Phophi Ramathuba, but her recent utterances about a patient straining the provincial system in Limpopo left me numb and shocked.

There is an African proverb that says, “a visitor can never finish your food”. This should teach us how to treat visitors despite their colour, race or tribe.

It is deeply rooted in the philosophy of giving and love for one another as human beings. How would we feel if or our children are denied food or water as visitors somewhere?

The problem of migration is a worldwide phenomenon and has been there for many years. There are so many reasons linked to this and we cannot exhaust them here. But, the crux of the matter is it is unjustified to dehumanise any human being based on their circumstances or migration status. Worse, denying them food, shelter or medication is more cruel. Remember we are all human beings and we should treat each other with dignity and respect always.

En una pelea de elefantes, las víctimas mortales son las hormigas: refrán africano.

Los efectos del conflicto en Europa Oriental serán duraderos. Se suman a la secuencia de procesos recesivos que ya acarreaba la crisis capitalista desde que inició la pandemia de Covid-19, entre los que destaca la carencia de bienes tecnológicos. Hoy, el panorama se oscurece por la escasez de alimentos, fertilizantes, altos precios de energía, saturación de puertos e incertidumbre política.

No obstante, es paradójico que la esgrima geopolítica de EE. UU. y la Unión Europea (UE) contra el Kremlin ya dejó, como primeras víctimas, a los propios estadounidenses y europeos. Éstos exigen a sus respectivos gobiernos abasto de los bienes que requieren para mantener su nivel de vida.

"«Tenía que llegar primero como fuera», dijo Alberto Torres al proclamarse ganador nada menos que de la Gran Transgoworld Aneto-Posets 2022, uno de los retos más prestigiosos del mundo, de 55 km de montaña con un desnivel de 3.630 metros. En la edición de 2021 había quedado segundo, pero no era solo el reto de superarse a sí mismo lo que le impulsaba.

Dice un dicho africano que subir una montaña cuesta menos si un amigo te espera arriba. En el caso de Alberto, era esto y mucho más: era su novia, que no sabía que Alberto se había prometido a sí mismo que si conseguía ganar la jornada, le pediría su mano allí mismo, junto a la línea de meta. Y así fue. Como en las películas, como en esos vídeos virales con peticiones de matrimonio en las situaciones más originales."

#metaglossia mundus

La cita famosa del día de hoy 

"Cuando ves a un tigre, el tigre también te ha visto a ti". - Dicho africano.

“If you think you are too small to make a difference, you haven’t spent the night with a mosquito,” says an African proverb. The threats facing the world’s biodiversity may seem daunting, but we can all play a critical role, which combined will lead to massive positive change.

There isn’t a single, one-size-fits-all way for individuals to contribute. We all have different roles in our societies, personal networks, job situations, and economic capabilities. While some people own gardens or land, and have a direct influence on the species inhabiting them, many others live in flats with a balcony at most. If this is you, however, you are still able to make a similar—or even a bigger—difference through your consumer choices and actions. I wish I could say that there’s no point in feeling bad about not doing much or enough, and that any action is better than no action. But the truth is that the only way to stop and reverse the loss of the world’s incredible biodiversity is for each of us to change our lifestyle radically and substantially, and to do that now.

An African proverb has been recounted to say, “Not to know is bad; not to wish to know is worse.”

The contention of this article is that God is hidden in plain sight both to our senses and to our souls. We can know him if we want to.