Word: yorubas
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Meanwhile, a succession of military regimes has failed to resolve the tensions between the Ibo, Yoruba and Hausa tribes that flared into a civil war in 1967 when Biafra, the Ibo homeland, tried to break away. The strongman in power then, General Yakuba Gowon, healed some of the scars by declaring an amnesty at the end of the war, in 1970, but he was toppled in 1975 by other soldiers who objected to his costly schemes, such as the building of a $20 million sports stadium in Lagos...
...spellbinder with crowds, Shagari, a chain-smoking, onetime science teacher, edged his two main rivals, who hinted after the election that they might challenge the results. The two were Yoruba Chieftain Obafemi Awolowo, a major architect of Nigeria's independence, and Nnamdi Azikiwe, an Ibo leader who was the nonelected President during the brief parliamentary republic. In the campaign, Shagari emphasized his experience as a minister of finance, education and other departments in previous regimes. Though once a leader of an organization that advocated "national unity" under Hausa domination, he picked an Ibo running mate. Moreover, he managed...
...professional brought in from the big time, is a charming, witty and thoroughly well-performed fable that would make Moliere smile. The rather abbreviated one-act play revolves around the activities of one Brother Jeroboam, a self-proclaimed prophet of the Lord and small-time religious hustler. Soyinka, a Yoruba playwright, novelist and poet who spent three years in a Nigerian prison for alleged subversion during the tragic Biafran civil war, puts broad satirical strokes and rapid-fire dialogue to clever use to parody the frailties of the human race...
...Russell '76 turns in an almost-too-good performance as Jero. He captivates the audience from the opening scene, and although his movements become a bit repetitive after a few scenes, he plays the role to the hilt, complete with a lilting accent suggesting the mellifluous tones of the Yoruba tongue. If Russell's movements become a bit stale, his characterization does not, and as the central conflict emerges between Jero and his henpecked assistant Chume, Russell pours it on, never losing that vital energy...
...Yoruba, semi-official language in western Nigeria, having abundant modern literature, spoken by more than five million people...