When daddy is a thief; and Obasanjo's interview.

Hi peeps,
How now? Hope all is well? Good. E don tey abi? Life has been happening ojare. I lost an aunt last week. To all my cousins, if you reading, stay strong, it is well.

Today's topic is based on an interesting encounter I heard about a few years ago. In addition to being a chronic acada, I also do some mentoring thingys with some of the African undergrads here. So one of them told me about a disconcerting experience she had when she first landed in these shores. Turns out that many of the non-african undergrads have very little exposure to the world outside the US, and so they ask some of my little girls some very interesting questions. Someone on her floor wanted to know how her parents could afford her tuition in a foreign country and wondered aloud, in front of my dear girl, whether her parents were in government, and were stealing money. Teheheheheheheh! To say that the girl in question was piqued by this question was to put it mildly.The girl was outraged, enraged, furious and fuming when she recounted the story to me. For the record, while I have no idea how her parents are paying her fees, it is in extremely bad taste to ask someone that kind of question, unless of course you have substantive proof that the parents are dubious.

What made me decide to write on this today, however, is this blog post by one of my fav bloggers ( though he blogs infrequently) who wrote an opinion piece here on this article here.

For those of you who don't want to read the whole thing, its an article on Chukwuma Soludo, the current governor of the central bank of Nigeria. We Nigerians are so used to corruption , that we find it hard to believe any public official is not stealing. We even expect them to steal, and steal big - often in the billions (of naira). There is actually a thread here devoted to tracking corruption in our polity, and believe me, it ain't pretty. However, even by Nigerian standards, our CBN governor is living large - if the article is to be believed. The core issue however, for the purpose of this writeup, are the kids. To quote Next directly :

One of their two children is enrolled at Ampleforth College, an elite parochial school known as “the Catholic Eton,” and where the Central Bank governor pays an annual fee of £25,000 for this privilege— roughly half his annual salary. The other child attends a similarly expensive public school— which in Britain actually means private school— so that in theory Mr. Soludo’s entire earnings of about N12 million a year hardly covers his children’s school fees

.

My people, e get as e be o. For me it is clearly unambiguous how we are supposed to treat thieves ( although in my neck of the woods there is almost never any consequence), but how are we supposed to treat the children of public officials who are living large off our taxes (or in Nigeria's case, the Niger Delta's oil)? We know who they are - many of them are in fancy schools abroad, chopping life with impunity.Some of us go(or have gone to school) with them. Some of us work with (or for) them. How do you treat a thief's child?

And if your daddy/mommy is a thief, if you know that either/both of your parents are public officials who normally should not be able to afford your car, your tuition, your plush apartment, but seem to be pulling it out, how are you supposed to react to it? Are you seriously supposed to say "Excuse me sah, please I don't want you to use stolen money to send me to Harvard?" Or do you close your eyes and spend the money?

I really am serious with my question: Are these charmed kids innocent beneficiaries, or are they accomplices to the crime?

Meanwhile, I leave you with an interview that the immediate past president of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, recently granted to a BBC reporter. This man was president of Nigeria twice - first between 1976 and 1979; and then between 1999 and 2007. He had an opportunity during his second coming (bad pun, I know) to create greatness, but he squandered it. SQUANDERED IT!! He did not have the willpower to fight corruption with any kind of seriousness. Many of the individuals who were indicted (we believe for show)got away with slaps on the wrists (6 months in jail for stealing billions of naira for example), and light fines (3 million naira for the theft of billions) that were frankly laughable, when compared with the amounts they were accused of stealing. He let us down so badly! Watch the video:




See Baba Iyabo (Iyabo is being investigated for corruption by the way), making gragra. Shaving our head and adding paint and expecting us to continue to say rankadede. GOD dey!

And a special shout out to all the students who turned out at the London School of Economics to protest his presence. Thank you, GOD BLESS YOU. About time we started to inform these bloodsucking vampires about how we really feel about their flagrant disregard for the rest of us. You can find that story here

So tell me, how are we supposed to treat the children of looters?

Gospel Music Spotlight: Rebecca Malope

Hailed as South Africa's most prolific gospel singer, Ms. Malope is the voice of inspiration that has touched many people's lives around the world. An immensely gifted singer and songwriter, she creates music that touches the very core of your soul and transports you spiritually.

I will not attempt to write her biography as Mimi magazine did a beautiful feature on her here

I do leave you with her beautiful melodies though. I hope they bless you as much as they did me (even if I do not speak the language).













There is plenty more of her wonderful music on youtube as well. Where can you buy? Her stuff (some of it anyways) is available here .

Enjoy.

African Idols - funny auditions

Hello peeps,

I have a confession to make - I am a huge American Idol fan. Yup, I admit it; its one of my vices. I (almost)never miss an episode, but I don't vote - that is where I draw the line. Everybody who watches the show knows that the best part of the show is when the worst singers show up at the beginning of the season. What many people don't know is that there are many adaptations of the idol show in many countries across the world. There are currently at least three versions of the Idol show in Africa - East African Idols, West African Idols and South African Idols. Let me assure you that these shows have thrown up their own fair share of "interesting" auditions - to say the very least. I am putting up a few for your viewing pleasure. Please don't watch this while you are eating, because I assure you, you are going to choke on something!!

East African Idols








West African Idols:







South African Idols:











Bwhahahahahahahha!! I tell you, ehn, I laughed till I cried. So who did you think was funniest? Do we have a winner? LOL!

I am an African too!

Hi peeps,
How has the week been so far? I am tackling my pile of papers slowly but surely. Not as fast as I want, but how I for do now? I have a lot to get off my chest today so please bear with me.

I think a pet peeve of many Africans – including yours truly – is this assumption by many (too many) non Africans that Africa is a homogeneous continent - we have all met someone who has demoted it to a country. There is a great article here on this issue. It says everything I would want to say and more, so please read it. Read all the embedded links too - you will find them thought provoking. For some weird reason, it bothers me that people think like this. When I had to talk about it at a school function a couple of years ago, this was the illustration I used:


This picture here is what most people see when they think of Africa – a homogenous dark mass, no variation, no heterogeneity, nothing. If they had to describe the continent, it would be an interconnected mass of villages, all very similar, surrounded by forests, populated by individuals who walk around naked, speak the same language, and who all know each other, regardless of which corner of Africa they are from. What really bugs me, however, is that this perceived homogeneity is reflected not only in culture, language, or how close all our villages are to each other, but also in status and intellectual capacity. In other words, to be African is to be by definition - poor, illiterate, lacking self efficacy or self awareness, unintelligent and incapable of independent thought. My very favorite article on how to write about Africa can be found here. When you do not fit in that box, then you are not really African.

Why am I talking so plenty? Well, Sunday the 8th of March was the International Day of Women - a day devoted to analyzing women’s issues, and measuring the progress women have made and setbacks they have faced over the years. A few women's groups in my city decided to convene a multicultural panel to talk about women's experiences in different parts of the world. I was invited to speak on this panel and after some hesitation, I accepted. I was of course, representing Africa in general, and Nigeria in particular. Other countries represented were China, Indonesia, Columbia and Isreal.

The panel was asked to speak in a question and answer format - the moderator would ask a question, and we would all answer it. One of the questions asked was how my life differed from that of my mother and grandmother. I think they expected me to say that I used to live in a shack and that I was the first person to go to school in my family. It turns out that my mother is actually quite educated.The life I told them about did not differ much from theirs in principle and I could see the skepticism begin to show on their faces. They wanted to know a woman I admired in my country, and I told them about these girls here. Told them that they represented a new breed of women in Nigeria - young, ambitious, capable and very smart; women who challenge me to stretch myself and try something new.

At the end of the panel time, we were supposed to ask the audience questions. So I asked if there was anything they had heard from the panelists that shocked them. It was almost unanimous - I was the winner!! During the question and answer question, and after, when some of them were able to catch me one on one, they all told me, "you surprised me. I have never thought of Africa as having educated and capable women." One couple came to talk to me. The wife said that I was right, there was the need to be a little less simplistic in the manner in which people thought about Africa. Afterall, she said, she had an African in her office who actually spoke better English than her, and was actually good at her job. So, yeah, there was more to African women than the stereotype. I bit my tongue and agreed with her. Then, later on, an older lady came to find me. "Oooh, I enjoyed what you had to say", she said. "So, how is your country on war? Are you currently fighting anybody?" When I told her no, she said - "Oh, what about that guy in that country that is killing everyone and ruining everything - why can't they get rid of him?" I bit my tongue in the middle of that conversation too. Nodded and smiled stupidly. When I started to make my way out, another lady stopped me at the door. "You wanted to know who surprised me the most?" she said, "you did!" When I asked her why, she told me she was shocked to hear that there were educated women in Africa, and that she was sure that I was part of a very small minority of highly educated and capable women (almost her exact words!). By that time I was starting to get irritated, so I told her that it wasn't as small a minority as she would think. She sensed my irritation, told me they were there to learn and she was happy girls were going to school. I smiled and took my leave.

On my way home and ever since, I had to ask myself - why was I so irritated? The questions and attitude are nothing new. And nice little old ladies, sweet as can be, ask me if my country is at war all the time. I even understand why they do it. Have you seen the news lately? Yeeah? That is why they do it. But why does it bother me so? Several reasons:



First of all, Africa is not a homogenous, dark, simplistic country. It is a vibrant, colorful, heterogenous, continent, as this map so clearly shows.

Secondly, while it it true that the highly educated are a minority in Nigeria, it is also true that this is the case in all countries - developed or developing. For instance, in the United States, as of 2007 (latest data available), only 27 percent of Americans reported having a bachelor's degree or higher - see here. For any country to run with any semblance of order, it needs teachers, professors, doctors, lawyers, accountants - you know, a professional class. Every country everywhere in the world has one. To express surprise that a professional class exists in Nigeria is very strange to me. Even if only 5percent (I don't have the actual figures, so I am making a conservative estimate here) of Nigeria's 150million people have gone to college, that is still around 7.5million people. It is true that poverty rates are high and average standard of living is low, but educational attainment figures are not zero - otherwise the country would cease to exist!!

What has really been nagging at me the most though is this idea that there is an image of what an African must be, and anything that diverges is an aberration - a statistical outlier, an uncharacteristic exception ....... you get the idea!


The only acceptable and authentic African is this woman pictured here: She is poor,illiterate, hungry and living at a subsistence level. She lacks opportunity, or self efficacy, or any kind of complexity. And she is not self reliant. She has to be helped. She needs someone to swoop in and save her.

Okay, so I know absolutely nothing about the lady, except for the poor and hungry part (at least 20 years ago she was!), since the picture came from here. However,this lady and my wildly speculative assumptions about her represents the face of Africa to the rest of the world.

I want to be absolutely clear that this lady (and what we are assuming her situation to be) breaks my heart. For reasons ranging from famine to war to corruption, there are too many people living her life - a very basic existence. I feel her pain, I am sad for her. I give of my resources to her, I fight the system that holds her down. I pray for her. I try to help her in every way I possibly can. I believe that everyone in my position owes it to people in her situation to give a helping hand. But, I am not her. And I cannot be defined by her. I expect people to resist the need to put me in a box, to understand that both she and these girls can coexist in the same continent without contradiction. It is the same way I can understand and accept the fact that Manhattan and Brooklyn can both coexist in New York, that India's new technological elites can live side by side with the very poor who live in massive ghettos in Bombay. For some reason, I expect people to be able to have minds flexible enough to understand the fact that it is impossible for everyone on a continent of almost a billion people to be 100percent poor and illiterate.

If I really had to break it down, what really gets to me is this implied, yet unspoken belief that there is something inherently African about being poor, illiterate and needy. That is the core of my angst. It is this idea that to be African, you need to be pathetic, have this sob story and need a handout. Self esteem is not necessary. It is not true. That description fits many Africans today, because poverty has its own mindset (that is another write up for another day!). However, with an education and access to opportunity, they can stop being poor. They can gain some self respect and achieve something with their lives. When they do that, and many have, do they stop being African? Poverty and illiteracy are not African conditions. They are human conditions that exist - to varying degrees - in every single society. It would just be nice if people would stretch their minds a little and see beyond the stereotypes.

I leave you with my girl India:

Ghetto - India.Arie


India.Arie Ghetto Lyrics:
There are places in Havannah,
That remind me of Savannah.
Parts of West Virgina,
That might as well be Kenya.
Parts of New York City,
Parts of Mississippi.
Parts of Tennessee,
Look like another world to me.

[Chorus]
Oh, oh oh, Ghetto-o-o-o,
Might as well be another country.
Barrio-o-o-o,
Might as well be another country.
When you look around,
You live in another
country too (too).

To be hungry in L.A.
Is just like starving in Bombay.
Homeless in Moracco,
Is a shelter in Chicago.
Right around the corner,
Just down the road.
Right before your eyes,
Right under your nose.

[Chorus]
Hey, the ghetto-o-o-o
Might as well be another country.
Barrio-o-o-o,
Might as well be another country.
When you look around,
You live in another
country too (too).

Now the dictionary says,
That the ghetto is a place
Of minority, and poverty,
and over population.
We live on this earth together,
ain't no separation.
When you're looking down,
From outer space.
We’re just a human race
and the world is a

[Chorus]
Ghetto-o-o-o,
Listen every place and every country.
Barrio-o-o-o,
it's in every place
and every country.
When you look around,
Do you see your brother when you
Look around?
it's a small world after all.
Look around,
You live in another country too.

(Ghetto) Jamaica is a ghetto
(Ghetto) Japan is a ghetto
(Ghetto) America’s a ghetto
(Ghetto) Slovakia’s a ghetto
(Ghetto) South Africa’s a ghetto
(Ghetto) Brazil is a ghetto
(Ghetto) Israel is a ghetto

Gospel music spotlight : Midnight Crew

From now on, I will try to consistently put the spotlight on African musicians (especially those who sing gospel) who are doing fantastic things in music. My first choice for this new category is Midnight Crew (formerly known as Clergyman and the Midnight crew). I picked their music because whenever I play that cd in my house, everybodi just dey shake bodi!! They seem to be one of the hottest groups in Nigerian gospel music at the moment. And when they hit London last year, churches (at least the African ones) could not get enough of them. So diafore, without too much yapping, I present Midnight crew.


Igwe: (Language - yoruba and Igbo)





Surulere: (play on the story of the Prodigal son - Language: yoruba)





Kelenume ya (Language: Igbo)





Yin Baba Logo (Language : yoruba)





So Worthy (South African style)





Aren't they fantastic? Please note that this is their second album. You can find their older stuff on youtube under the name Clergyman and the midnight crew.

If you are interested in making a purchase, I can help you out as well. This album can be found on cdbaby here on Myafricanbargains here and you can also find the dvd containing all these lovely videos here

Enjoy!!

Best interview ever!!

Hi peeps.
Its spring break, yay!! Not that it changes anything for this chica - I will spend it in my office trying to reduce that pile of papers I am supposed to be reading, but its still spring break (for some lucky undergrad!!). A lot has been going on, and I have been spending time thinking about what I am going to write about next. Watch this space in the next week or so - so much to write about, so little time (sigh!). However, for today, I want to introduce you to my very favorite journalists cum comedians - John Stewart. I know, he has absolutely nothing at all to do with anything african, and he is extremely liberal - there is a lot that he and I do not agree on, but he is a brilliant comedian, satirist and commentator. I love the guy - totally. If you have been following his show at all, there has been a feud between him and CNBC in general, and Jim Cramer in particular. CNBC is a network that reports on financial news, and Jim Cramer is one of their financial experts. Jon Stewart called them out on their inability to foresee the current financial crisis, Jim Cramer called him a "variety show comedian" and the war was on!! Finally, last night, Jim Cramer came on the show for the final clash of the titans, and took a beating, the likes of which I have almost never seen on TV. To think that a comedian would have the courage to go where most "serious journalists" would not!! For me, it is the best interview ever. For any of you with interest in financial markets (anywhere in the world), or even if you just plan to finance your 401k, it is best for you now to know the true nature of the some of the people controlling the stock market and giving you financial advice.

Please watch the entire interview - it is extremely illuminating.

The intro:

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Intro - Brawl Street: Get Ready to Buy Low! And Sell Die

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things w/ Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Jim Cramer

Part 1:

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Jim Cramer Unedited Interview Pt. 1

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things w/ Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Jim Cramer

Part 2:

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Jim Cramer Unedited Interview Pt. 2

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things w/ Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Jim Cramer

Part 3:

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Jim Cramer Unedited Interview Pt. 3

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things w/ Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Jim Cramer

Or you can watch the entire show here - edited, but just as intriguing:

http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/episodeId=220533

I have to give kudos to Jim Cramer for admitting his ommissions (kinda!), and I hope that journalists everywhere are watching and learning how to conduct an interview (sans the swearing of course!!).

CNN comments on the confrontation:

By most accounts, the showdown was pretty brutal.
Many declared Jon Stewart, right, the victor in his face-to-face with Jim Cramer on "The Daily Show."

Many declared Jon Stewart, right, the victor in his face-to-face with Jim Cramer on "The Daily Show."

Many watching Thursday night's "Daily Show" on Comedy Central felt that comedian-turned-media-critic Jon Stewart held bombastic financial guru and CNBC "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer's feet to the fire.

And Cramer flinched.

Stewart, known for his zany, satirical take on the news, was serious as he took Cramer's network to task for what Stewart viewed as their "cheerleading" of corporations at the heart of the nation's current economic crisis.

And despite the title of his financial show, Cramer came off as less mad and more apologetic.
"If it was a prize fight, they would have stopped it," said Howard Kurtz, the "Washington Post" media critic and host of CNN's "Reliable Sources." "I was stunned that Jim Cramer kind of did a rope-a-dope strategy and didn't really defend himself against Jon Stewart's assault."

See the rest here


Enjoy.

Celebrating Africa - Chioma and Oluchi Ogwuegbu

Do you have a bucket list? What is that? Well its a list of things that you want to do with your life before you - yeah you guessed it- kick the bucket. There was a movie made on that few years ago.

See trailer


Anyways, I have a bucket list. I have not written it down, but there are quite a few things I want to do, see , experience before I cross over to the other side. What's on my list? I aint telling! But there is one thing I will share: I have always wanted to travel Africa. I think that despite the bad rap , there is a lot of beauty on the continent. Imagine my surprise and delight (well, and a little envy!) when I discovered that I am not the only one who had this idea, but that a couple of girls were actually going to carry it out.


Chioma and Oluchi Ogwuegbu are two sisters who lived in Nigeria, had this dream and decided to Just do it!!

They quit their jobs, withdrew their life savings, and hit the road. So far, they have visited Ghana, Burkina Faso, Gambia, Mali, Senegal, Guinea Bissau, Cameroun, Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, and Sierra Leone. By the time they end this adventure, they would have passed through 20 African countries. Did you say wow? That is what I said too. They have a fabulous blog where they share their journey in colorful detail : See here


The press has also started to take notice - read about them on the BBC or in the Punch newspaper here and here you can watch them describe their experiences here; or you can listen to a short interview on the BBC here.

I am so inspired by these ladies. They make me want to go somewhere or do something!! Life is short, so I tell you, make your bucket list and start to do it. I am going to do the African thingy for sure - eventually (LOL)!!

Forgiveness and Justice

First of all, let me warn you, this is a long one!!

Several things prompted this writeup. First of all, I must confess that I am a Nigerian (well African in general) movie junkie. I just love those movies, I no go lie. One of my favorites is the "quadlogy" Total War and Final War (I know there is no such word, but a three part movie is a trilogy abi? What is 4 part movie?). I am usually horrified by the length of some of our movies, but this one made up for all the time wasting with a very creative and thought inducing story. I may start doing reviews some day, but for today, take my word for it - it is a good movie. So what was it about? Well Uche Jombo plays a lawyer who is engaged to a pastor(played by Francis Duru) who came to Nigeria as a refugee from Liberia. Uche's character's parents had been missionaries living in in Liberia during the civil war with her older sister, and they were killed in the violence. Her older sister(played by Omotola) somehow survived, but was so traumatized by her experience that she left for the United states after the war was over and had not been back since. However, her sister was getting married, so she finally comes back to Africa. She is introduced to her sister's fiance (the pastor) and she passes out in shock and horror. He turns out to be the ex-warlord who raped her and killed both her parents during the Liberian civil war. Na so kasala come burst o!! The question was - to forgive or not to forgive? In the movie though, forgiving him was equated with not handing him over to the authorities. Good movie (as Nigerian movies go). I recommend it.

Scene from the movie:


You know, I have a real bias against Nigerian movies and what I like to call “cheap forgiveness”, particularly in the area of sexual crimes against women – infidelity and rape to be totally specific. You see all these movies where all these men do all these horrible things, and then you see society exerting pressure on poor abused women to “forgive”. Usually, what this means is that there must be no consequences. Once he sees the light, you are duty bound to immediately kiss his almighty cheating behind. It is often very nauseating to watch. And yes, 99percent of the time, those weird movies were written by men!!

But this one was different. This one was deeper than the usual bubblegum “you are a women so you are a beast of nature” crap. What would you do if you came face to face with a war criminal who raped you, killed your parents and is about to marry your sister?

I was so touched by the movie that I started to do a little research on how other African countries that have faced civil wars have treated their war criminals. In the course of my research, I came across a gem of a documentary, based on the civil war in Rwanda. Entitled "As we forgive", it movingly tells the story of post-war Rwanda and their struggle to come to terms with the aftermath of a genocide that killed millions. While the new administration had imprisoned as many killers as they could, they did not have enough room. So they decided to release as many of the killers who had confessed to their participation in the mass killings and shown some remorse. The survivors, many of whom had lost entire families to these killers now had to live in the same neighborhoods and attend the same churches as the individuals that tore their lives apart. The state also put in place a reconciliation process (similar to the one in South Africa) that involved NGOs and churches. It was very intense, very sad, very thought provoking. I bought the documentary and showed it to my bible study group. We all wondered if we were capable of that kind of forgiveness. The filmmaker's website is found here

And then, there is the case of Ms Fiberesima that I posted last week here. After the first ruling, some of her supporters told to the protesters to be quiet - afterall, the family in question had forgiven her. That was not true of course, but that is beside the point.

The point, my major question is this : What does forgiveness mean? Does forgiveness preclude justice? Is it okay for me to say - I forgive you, but I think you should be in jail? If I demand justice for a wrong done to me, am I unforgiving? Does an apology mean that the person no longer has to face the legal consequences of their action? When I look at the South African model, and the Rwandan model, I marvel, but I also wonder. Would it be unforgiving for a person whose family was killed to insist on the murderer doing time in jail? To say I forgive you, but I need you to do time? Is that unforgiveness? Can a woman who has been systematically betrayed by a straying husband, can she say “ I forgive you, but I need to leave you?”, or does forgiveness always demand that she continue to live with him? Can a sexually abused child say “I forgive you, but I don’t want you around me?” to his/her abuser?


The type of forgiveness peddled in many African movies is forgiveness with no consequence – with the victim bearing the double burden of the crime, as well as the burden of no justice, being pressured by society to “forgive”. It makes me wonder, and it makes me angry, because of the message it sends. And it is reflected in our larger society. In Nigeria in particular, there is a so called “War against corruption” going on. They are arresting corrupt public officers, and trying to prosecute them for corruption. Here once again, we see our penchant for cheap forgiveness. They say they are sorry, they are made to return a minute portion of their loot, and life goes on. "Forgive us" they say. "We are depriving you of your future, but forgive us."

So what do you think? What is forgiveness? Would you stand by without prosecuting a man who raped you, killed your parents and sought to marry your sister - even if he is totally changed? Would you totally let it go? Do you think the Rwandan model of releasing 50,000 murderers back into their old neighborhoods is rational? Would you worship with the same people who took your family?

Let me know what you think.

Pearls : Sade, Angelique and India

I love music. I really do. And my taste is very eclectic - I listen to everything from country to fuji. One day, I will post what I think of what passes for music these days, but lets just say I am not often inspired to buy all the commercial dross that is out there nowadays - and that holds for music from around the world. However, once in a while, you come across music that makes you stop and say WOW!!!
What has left me so inspired? Well, India Arie just came out with a new Album. I love, love, love, love India. She makes music with meaning, soul, passion, zeal! Girl power baby!! I was checking out her new album and she has a song called pearls on it. The song sounded kinda familiar and I was trying hard to figure out where I had heard it before. Turns out it was on my Sade cd and I had never really listened to it. Well, I immediately corrected that travesty, and boy was I totally blown away! I was convinced that there was still yet another version out there that I really liked, so I did some digging, and it turned out to be a duet between Angelique Kidjo and Josh Grobin.

My people, there are singers and then, there are noisemakers. Abeg listen to some betta music jare and then tell me in your opinion, who sang it best? I am posting in the order in which the song was recorded. Enjoy, its an amazing song!!

Sade:


I tell you , it gives me chills!!

Angelique and Josh:


Ahhhh!

India:


I love this gellll!!

If you have never heard of any or all of them, check them out. They make incredible music.