•Ndibe, a professor of African literature and author of two novels and a memoir (Never Look an American in the eye), is a contributing editor of USAfrica and USAfricaonline.com
The late musical maestro, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, sang of Nigerians suffering and smiling. That song is both an indictment and an anthem.
On the one hand, it portrays Nigeria as a veritable sheepdom, a space inhabited by oppressed humans who act like sheep. The hordes of crushed humanity retain a certain docility. They are quick to reconcile themselves to their man-made malaise. Where you’d expect them to rebel against the manufacturers of their woes, the oppressed frequently regale their oppressors with praise names. Instead of recognizing that the crises plaguing their lives are caused by human agents, they deafen the skies with heady supplications for relief. It’s a form of willful blindness, a variety of deflection. When they should hold the authors of their perdition to account, they believe it’s up to God to right the deliberate wrongs of humans. Meanwhile, as they wait, they smile.
On the other hand, Fela’s lyrics—whether the dynamo intended it or not—testify to Nigerians’ elastic capacity for endurance. Nigerians are indomitable. They have this ability to stare down unspeakable suffering. They can master the bleakest of circumstances with little or no shaking. The more hardship is piled on them, the more impressive their adaptive stamina.
Well, maybe things are about to change.
