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Wednesday, April 19, 2017
New names emerge for HIV/AIDS, prostitutes in Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba
Sunday, April 16, 2017
A team of Nigerian linguists and medical experts have adopted new names for HIV, AIDS and prostitutes in Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba in order to reduce the scourge of stigmatisation.
A statement on Saturday by Prof. Herbert Igboanusi of the University of Ibadan, said the adoption was to eliminate stigmatisation and discrimination of persons living with HIV and AIDS.
He said that the study adopted the following names as more appropriate for the HIV/AIDS.
HIV in Igbo is Ori Nchekwa Ahu meaning something that fights or weakens the body immunity while AIDS is Mminwu, a condition that causes emaciation.
According to the statement the Yorùbá, appropriate term for HIV is Kòkòrò Apa Sójà Ara (KASA) meaning sickness that which kills the body immunity while AIDS is ààrùn ìs?d?`l? àj?sára a sickness that completely weakens body immune system.
In Hausa, HIV is now Karya garkuwa meaning that which weakens the body immune system while Kanjamau a sickness capable of emaciating one’s body has been chosen for AIDS.
Igboanusi said that the study was a two-year research titled “A metalanguage for HIV, AIDS and Ebola discourses in Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba” sponsored by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).
He called on speakers of the three languages to adhere to the use of these chosen terms in order to avoid confusing HIV with AIDS and consequently reduce their spread through behavioural change.
“It is the researchers’ belief that behavioural change is only possible when the people are familiar with the appropriate terminology for HIV and AIDS in their own languages.”
Similarly, the experts also adopted a new name for commercial sex worker in line with international practice.
“Since it is now more acceptable to refer to certain persons as “commercial sex workers” rather than “prostitutes”, we agreed that Nd? mkw??ghar? people who hang around for them in Igbo.
“Gbélé pawó, women who stay at home making money in Yoruba and Mata masu zaman kansu that is women who are living independently in Hausa.
THE IGBO RANT
BIBLICAL TRADITIONS OF NDI IGBO BEFORE THE MISSIONARIES CAME TO AFRICA* IGBO 101.
THE IGBO TRIBE AND ITS FEAR OF EXTINCTION
The Igbo: We die for causes, not for personalities
Written by Emeka Maduewesi
~on fb. 28th September, 2016.
The Igbo will never die for anyone. We will not even riot for anyone. But the Igbo will die for any cause they believe in because the Igbo have a true sense of justice and a determination to obtain it.
The Igbo will not riot because one of their own lost an election. Operation Wetie was the Western response to a massively rigged 1965 election. The Yoruba doused fellow Yorubas in petrol and burnt them alife. Properties were burnt with occupants. The Igbo will never do this.
In 1983, the Yoruba went on a rampage again over the massive rigging by NPN. Lifes were lost and properties destroyed. The riots were over personalities.
Contrast that with Anambra State where Chief Emeka Ojukwu was rigged out by his own NPN, who also rigged out Chief Jim Nwobodo. The Igbo did not protest because the goat's head is still in the goat's bag.
In the North, ba muso was the battle cry when Sultan Dasuki was imposed on the Sokoto Caliphate. The riot and protest lasted for days and crippled economic activities.
The Igbo will riot over issues and causes. The Aba Women Riot was over Tax. The Enugu coal mine riot was about conditions of service. The Ekumeku Uprising was over British colonialization.
Those of "Ekumeku" ancestry - Umu Eze Chima and Umu Nri - were at the forefront of the struggles for Nigerian independence, with people like Dr. A A Nwafor Orizu and Chief Osita Agwuna serving prison terms. Any struggles the parents could not conclude is continued by the children by other means.
The Biafran war was a response to the genocide. The war in fact was brought upon us. The battlefield was Eastern Region. The war ended in 1970 but the issues and causes were not resolved. That is where we are today.
The Igbo will also jointly rise to fight evil in their midst. They did it in Onitsha in the 1980's, Owerri in the 90's, and with Bakkassi in the 2000.
The Igbo will not die for any man. But the Igbo will stand by any man who symbolizes their cause and their pursuit of justice. Even if the man dies, the struggle continues, and like the Ekumeku warriors, the children will pick up the baton from their parents.
This is the Igbo I know, the Igbo I am, and the Igbo we are. This is my story. Feel free to tell yours.
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