When there's a cock on your coffin

Like most of evenings recently, last Friday 10 May 2013 evening was no exception. After a day of cooklessness, I had no choice but to go fast food hunting: fried ripe plantains and beans or some other strange culinary pairing. As  I was about to leave with my booty, I  heard loud bike honking in the distance, wondered what was amiss and looked up to see a funeral convoy, nothing strange about that, right? But right along came a 35 seater bus carrying part of the mourning party; there was a coffin on top, normal, flanked by some dudes, normal and behold a cock on the coffin! A vintage thorough bred ‘contri fowl’ as it is affectionately labelled in these parts. Yes, a cock seated with regal purposefulness on the coffin, the wind blowing in its face, one could imagine, as the bus headed to its destination.

Fridays in Buea is usually set aside for corpse removal from the regional hospital. So Gbeans have been accustomed to the pale solemn and dark colours of death. But if this was all then we would not be here, would we? In addition and sometimes instead of the pale colours of death, Buea residents are now being treated to honk – blaring convoys, supposed - mourners wailing mockingly from behind fast - ridden bikes and ,yes, people as well as cocks sitting on top of coffins with their occupants already inside. This new imaginary is now part of life in this part of the world. This situation implicitly poses the question of what has become of the solemnity, silence and respect around all things death. Is there an ongoing desolemnisation of everything death? Sure public opinion would want us to celebrate the life of someone who leaves this world at the ripe old age of 100 but does this mean we should transform it into a toy with which we play and jest? Just asking. Daily and constantly we are witnesses to the carefreeness with which people now consider all things death related. Take wake keepings for example. There have now become fertile grounds for igniting new romances and consummating some. It is not uncommon to stumble on duos frolicking in the shadows while a corpse is lying in state nearby. There are also the perfect hunting ground for those looking for a free meal and drink. Sure death is part of life so why all the fuss? But then would you like people tapdancing on your coffin or grave just because your are dead?

Who is new Indomitable Lions coach Volker Finke?

The new man at the helm of the Indomitable Lions is 65 yr old German Volker Finke. He had an uneventful playing career from 1969 to 1986, when he played for TSV Havelse from 1969 to 1974, Hannoverscher SC for one season and moved to TSV Stelingen where he had player - coach duties till 1986 when officially retired from playing and started coaching full time.  His next stopover was at German side TSV Havelse where he stayed from 1986  till 1991 when he moved to another German side SC Nordestardt. After a one year stint as coach, he moved to SC Freiburg where he had his longest coaching spell of 8 years (655 games). He then  moved to Asia and took charge of Japanese side Urawa Reds Diamonds. He then returned to German side F.C. Cologne, first as Athletic supervisor and then Interim Coach for the 2010/2011 season. The sole highlights of his coaching career are the two German Division 2 champion titles with SC Freiburg in 1993 and 2003.

His appointment as Indomitable Lions' coach has as usual drawn criticism from some people who question the appointment for an ailing Indomitable Lions squad of a coach with an illustrious coaching and even playing career. His lack of experience coaching a national team has equally been excoriated. That said, who knew Winfred Schaffer would won even a plastic cup when he was handed charge of the Lions? Despite all the criticism, let's give Volker Finke his chance in the dugout of the Indomitable Lions. These Germans have a way of surprising us.

IdlePark's Urban Playlist of the Week

Somebody once wrote ' if music be the food of love, play on..'. So we are prescribing  you this playlist for a love filled weekend. Remember it is not a competition so nobody is first or last on this playlist. Just enjoy the good music.

'Get an education but don't learn' : the dilemma of being young and educated in 21st century Africa

I remember blurrly but clearly enough a situation that took place during my secondary school days in Baptist High School, Mankon. I was surely in Form 4 or 5. All I can remember with unimpeachable certainty was this ; something akin to unrest took place in school. Instead of seeking refuge in some mind - appeasing Biblical verse, the students in their finite juvenile wisdom culled inspiration from the depths of the classic on their syllabus 'Things Fall Apart' by the fallen Chinua Achebe. Whenever a figure of authority came around, one of them gave the cue and the rest would retort with vigorous enthusiasm. 'Umoufia, kweno', he would say and the reply would come 'ya'ah' everytime. My memory fails me a bit here but effortfully I seem to believe peace was finally restored, at the students' expense of course. Punishments and stuff for the ring leaders especially the voice of the 'revolt', Brain is his name if my memory serves me right.

Fast forward to today and you're at the centre of a real school milieu unrest, dormant though, that has found its way to court. I am talking about the UBSU leaders being tried for organising a strike in February 2013. This protracted erratic upheaval has always pitted students against the administration, the young against the well - seasoned. During the first installment of unrest in UB when Dr Mrs Dorothy Njeuma wast at the helm, words like disrespect, insolence and discipline were put to frequent use when describing the student's actions. Disorder is not a flame that should be fanned, agreed but wait a minute. The residual impression one can get is strange. So every vigorous and solemnity - deprived demand for a right is indiscipline, disrespect and insolence. The blame here is implicitly and squarely saddled on the rampaging students, not the school and its authorities. But who taught these students that you have a better chance of being paid attention to if you shouted instead of talking , brandished sticks instead of pens, throw rocks around instead of ideas? It is the school, the professor, the history teacher. It is the folks who included 'Things Fall Apart' in the syllabus but expected us to understand only the words and not their practical meaning and implication for society. 

I don't know about others but at various moments of my schooling, I got the impression that I was supposed to get an education but never expected to learn. I was supposed to imbibe my teachers' sermons and remain indifferent to them, no conceiving of independent opinions and certainly no defence of  these. You are taught but not expected to think, act or react to the teachings . This situation captures one aspect of the on and off strikes in U.B. Student strikes are an actualisation of the lessons given to them in school, and not only a sign of insolence or disrespect.

The refusal of the authorities to recognise this dimension of this problem leaves the youth in a dilemma or predicament.You are taught but not expected to learn. You are taught of all the good revolutions engender but you are not expected to be  a revolutionary, not even in your dreams.

P/S : Surprisingly we're taught about condoms as well as mosquito bed nets and we are expected to use them. Selective education?

Are you a Christian by faith, birth or default?

Christianity was brought to Africa by the forerunners of colonisation; missionaries. Centuries and decades after, Africa is being touted as the future of the religion on earth  as Christianity's grip on western society weakens slowly and surely.

 The 2012 CIA World factbook in its distribution of religions says Christians make up 33.39% of the world’s over 7 billion people. Some consider Christians to account for 38.47% of the general African population, that is one in every three Africans is a Christian (www.religiouspopulation.com/africa). Once the dark continent  of pagans and polytheists, Africa is now the darling of those hoping for an end to the atheism thriving in former bastions like Europe and America. Figure - propped compliments as those above create the impression that most if not all Africans are Christians when they cannot be reality identified otherwise, as maybe Muslim for example. These cheap accolades apart and in light of on-the-ground realities, one question is worth asking:  are most Africans really Christians according to the Biblical definition or are they by virtue of having been born to Christian parents or because somebody considers them so/ Simply put, are Africans Christians by faith, birth or default? 

 

              The Bible is unambiguous – being a Christian means you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour and are living only according to biblical teachings.  As suggested earlier, the actions and reactions of most of the so – called Christians in our communities leaves just enough for doubt with regards to the Christianity of our Sunday bible-hugging brothers and sisters. Money and adultery - addicted men and women of God now vie for headline space with thieving politicians. One thus tends to wonder if some of those called Christians aren't wrongly named. Is their Christianity not a tradition inherited from their Christian parents, a relic from a childhood spent in the care of a christian parent? Is what accounts for their Christianity not a pathological reflex that has creeped into and settled in their habits. As soon as Sunday comes, they can’t help it but leave their beds, dress up and join the fray going churchwards. This is just a question. Churches have added to this sentiment by adding secular traditions to the sole condition for joining Christendom. Proof of membership in the Christian fold is no longer just accepting Christ, having and 'marking' one's church membership card is now in the mix. 

            Islamists and their idiosyncratic interpretations of the Koran introduce the notion of Christian by default. The proliferation of the word 'infidel' in the Islamist narrative makes all non-Muslims – Christians, pagans and atheists included - Christian. This radical conceptualisation of Islamic spirituality makes church goers and other persons remotely affiliated to Christianity Christian by default. This ‘Since you’re not with us, you must be with them’ definition puts real Christians, church goers, pagans and even atheists in one lot by implication. Thus some Christians become Christian by default.

So in your opinion are all those tagged Christians Christian in the real sense of the word? Are they Christian because they subscribe entirely and personally to Christ’s teachings? Or are they Christian because they were born to church - going parents and are vicariously perpetuating this tradition? Or maybe they're Christians by default, because they are cannot be identified as members of a certain group and Christianity accomodates everybody without complaint?

P.S/ This piece should not be perceived as an assault on any body’s spiritual orientation. 'Wo dee jos chat na chat, noh'oh? Lol.

Première nomination et première déception pour X - Maleya lors des Trace Urban Music Awards

En dépit de nos meilleurs vœux et de nos voix, le boyband camerounais de l’heure X - Maleya rentrera les mains vides de la toute première édition de la cérémonie des Trace Urban Music Awards 2013 qui s’est tenue  hier le 14 mai à Paris. Nominés dans la catégorie ‘Meilleur artiste de musiques africaines’, ils ont vu la récompense revenir finalement à l'artiste congolais Fally Ipupa.  Ils ne rentreront certes pas avec le trophée mais leur nomination aux cotés des plus grands de la musique africaine est déjà une victoire en soi. Big up.

Interview with talented Britain - based Cameroonian singer Debra Debs

Debra Debs is a Britain-based Cameroonian who is making waves with her latest video 'Africa higher higher'. In the following interview, she took out time to tell us more about herself and music.

Idlepark: Hi there, can we call you Debra?

Debra Debs: Haha - Debra Debs sounds more exotic doesn't it?

Idlepark : Tell us some bit about Debra Debs

Debra Debs: I'm a soulful singer, song-writer, born in Africa [Cameroon]  who has been living in the UK for 13 years. I came here at 18 to study Film and Media  but somehow did a degree in Music. It's been a joyous adventure ever since. I released my first EP entitled WHUMAN in 2011,  my full album comes out later this year.

Idlepark: Most artists trace the start of their romance with music to their mother's pregnancy. Tell us about your own and the story so far?

Debra Debs: Hahaha I've never heard of that before but my mum was a big fan of Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong so I'd go round the house with her radio [bathroom, lounge, bedroom, outside] listening to these artists! I attended a missionary boarding school where we sang day in day out, joined the choir and a girl group writing our own songs. When I quit my Media degree I couldn't think of what else to do but music. My mum contested it but I pushed hard and now she's super-supportive! Although I did the music degree it took me a few years to finally release an album because I always felt if that I had to establish myself in other areas [career] in order to fund the music.I now have a super team behind me, we're working on the album release for later this year and all I can say is  'we can only go higher!!'

Idlepark: For the video to your Africa higher higher track you worked with Feb 16, what influenced your choice and how was working with him?

Debra Debs: My brother took a trip to Cameroon in 2011 and came back with tons of names I should check out on youtube. He showed me Jovi LeMonstre's video [Feb 16th's brother] and I was uber-impressed by what I saw! I'd heard he was one of the best film-makers in Cameroon and the numerous videos I'd seen him do for other artists on youtube cemented the fact that I wanted to work with him. I pitched the Africa video to be grimey, raw and real and he got it in 30 mins. He sourced locations, we shot the video and the rest is history. He's fantastic to work with as I can be a bit of a perfectionist hahaha [he'll know what I am talking about]

Idlepark: Going by your 'Africa higher higher' track, will one be right or wrong to call you an 'activist' musician and why not, if wrong?

Debra Debs: Activist? No. Advocator? Yes. My objective is to educate the world on the struggles of people from Africa. The continent is super-rich in resources and can be self-sufficient yet the rest of the world call us poor. Africa is not poor. The Debra Debs mantra is 'To fly the flag for Africa', so rather than a call to arms, I am calling on leaders to advocate for the under-privileged, to be more consistent and considerate when delivering socio-economic policies. When I wrote the song in 2011 during the North African revolutions I was hurting for the continent and still do. However, at the end of the video we showed Africa in positive light by displaying a female president [Joyce Banda] and the wealthiest man in the continent [Aliko Dangote]

Idlepark: How is the British music scene for African artists like yourself?

Debra Debs: It is supportive. There are tons of events and promoters who focus on promoting Afrobeats and Afro-folk. The British, Europeans and African diaspora are supportive if you work with the right teams to push you through.

Idlepark: Now that this video is out, what's next?

Debra Debs: I'm looking to work with corporations and policy-makers in the continent to help continuously fly the flag for Africa. So wherever they are, tell them I am waiting for that call. I've also got my album due for release at the end of this year so part of the focus is on that too.

Idlepark: If Debra Debs could be a male artist, who would she like to be?

Debra Debs: Tough one! To sing like my favourite gospel artist- Marvin Sapp!

Idlepark: Why him?

Debra Debs: Because he is the best vocalist I know. Unless you have better recommendations. Haha 

Idlepark: Any last word?

Debra Debs: Thank you to everyone who supports the cause and my craft including bloggers, TV stations, etc. This is my first official video and views are still growing so well done to the fans.

Idlepark: Debra, thanks for your time. we wish you all the best.

Debra Debs: Thanks to you too