Djelia features autobiographical and biographical narratives of individuals in different parts of Africa and the African Diaspora. A number of African scholars have stressed the importance of orature in understanding and theorizing the experiences of Africans. In light of this, the objective of Djelia is to give us a personalized insight into the different conditions of life in numerous regions of the world. We feature interviews and the narratives of individuals to enable us understand and appreciate the existential conditions of life facing people in parts of Africa and its Diaspora.
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Thursday, 03 January 2008 |
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One of the messages I intended to pass across is the importance of education. I’ve since realised that education is a key factor in every person’s life, so in all my writings you will find that in one way or the other the importance of education is the central theme. The Undesirable Element in particular is a reflection of what obtained in the Northern Nigeria of that period. The situation was that older men who were well-to-do were marrying young girls. And some of these girls were in school. They had to be brought out of school to marry. That was the social trend that time. It was money. Marriage were based on "I’m rich, I can marry young girls.’’ Once you were rich you could do anything in the North at that time. It was so |
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Thursday, 03 January 2008 |
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Religious is a delicate matter. If you want to cause controversy and be famous by it as some European writers have done, it is easy. But the consequences are always deadly. You could be objective by criticizing the adherents of the religion without criticizing the religion itself. But the temptation is always there to condemn a religion you don’t belong to. In my own case, I don’t actually criticize but expose people’s behaviours which are not in conformity with the religious doctrine. Through this, corrections could be made and the society will be better for it. |
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Saturday, 18 August 2007 |
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The first thing I did was I came out with my wife and then we -- I went to the community mosque and made two prayers, thanked god for this day. |
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Wednesday, 30 May 2007 |
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Comedian Bill Cosby touches people's lives, not only with his humor, but also with his activism. He'll soon head back to TV in his native Philadelphia. He'll be a creative consultant to the school district's local-access station. The programming will reinforce lesson plans and give parents the opportunity to talk with their children about education. Cosby attended the city's public schools, has a bachelor's degree from Temple University and a doctorate in education. |
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Saturday, 05 May 2007 |
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There is no better example of criminal activity against an oppressed people than the role the U.S. has been playing in the Congo, through her ties with Tshombe and the mercenaries. You can’t overlook the fact that Tshombe gets his money from the U.S. The money he uses to hire these mercenaries—these paid killers imported from South Africa—comes from the United States. The pilots that fly these planes have been trained by the U.S. The bombs themselves that are blowing apart the bodies of women and children come from the U.S. So I can only view the role of the United States in the Congo as a criminal role. And I think the seeds she is sowing in the Congo she will have to harvest. The chickens that she has turned loose over there have got to come home to roost. |
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Saturday, 05 May 2007 |
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When Elijah learned that his son Wallace had told me how his father had seduced his teenage secretaries (by telling them that he was the prophet Muhammad, and making each of them think she was to be his favorite and most beautiful wife Aisha) Elijah feared that my position of influence in the movement was a threat to him and his other children who were now controlling the movement and benefiting from its wealth. Because they feared my popularity with the rank-and-file Muslims, they were careful about any immediate or open move to curtail my authority without good cause, so they patiently waited until they felt that my statement about the late President Kennedy's assassination would give them the proper public support in any kind of action they'd take to curtail or remove me. |
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Friday, 08 September 2006 |
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I learned that one must remove themselves from their perpetual surroundings before he/she can really formulate it’s true value, as well as put into perspective it’s disadvantages. What Africans born in the West can never truly grasp until they remove themselves from it, is the constant pressure that comes from being were you don’t belong. When one lives next to a people who, for the most part are in control, and will never fully see you as their equal, who still cannot distinguish between yourself and the next African, there will also be an unease. |
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Saturday, 12 November 2005 |
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An interview with Professor Nkiru Nzegwu. The article was first published in Thisday on August 1999. |
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Saturday, 12 November 2005 |
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A memorial tribute to the late Julius Nyerere, one of Africa's few great statesmen. |
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Djelia (Voices) 
