Wole Soyinka's Trump Card – 'I love my country – I no go lie'
by Tjebbe van Tijen
Wole Soyinka in the news these days as he said he would cut up an American green card (work permit) when Trump would win… for the young & new generations there was mentioning of Soyinka being a Nobel Laureate in literature, but this may give many the wrong idea about this lovely obnoxious man and his biting satire and independent stance in his corruption ridden home country Nigeria.
Many years ago I bought this then rare record for the collection of the uNiversity Library Amsterdam (documentation modern social movements) must have bought it in some obscure shop in London.
Tunji Oyelana and the Benders singing “I love my country” song written by Wole Sonyina… Happily there is a full copy of that song (with a bit of faulty jumps of the needle at start) on-line on Youtube…
I did not find written lyrics, so I must confess to miss half of it, but still it is a hilarious critique… ones aks oneself why Soyinka did not make a Trump Song… that would have been more effective than the tearing up of a green card. Last… the USA is a safer place than Nigeria… so it is certainly not a gratuite gesture…
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Listening again to this lovely litany I am struck by the relation it is has in it’s format with the political lyrics in Caribbean calypso (like Mighty Sparrow’s “Our model nation” (1956), only the text of Soyinka is sardonic and sarcastic compared to the anti-colonial songs of the fifties (Sparrow :We must follow our leaders”) … who will make a transcription and full annotation of “I love my country”? or has it been made already… did I fail seeking.
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“It should be noted that he is the only known “celebrity” to follow through on his promise to leave America if Trump won the presidency. Amy Schumer, Lena Dunham, Barbara Streisand, and countless other celebrities vowed to leave the United States. Unlike them, Soyinka appears to be keeping his word.”
See here
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