Interesting photo in today's paper
There's a fascinating and revealing photo on page 3 of today's Nigeria Guardian (pronounced 'Gaydian'). Obasanjo (in agbada of course) is opening a new port terminal in Lagos. To his right is uber-banker Jim Ovia, standing behind the shoulder of some Italian guy who is now apparently the MD of the Nigeria Ports Authority. To Baba's immediate left is the Minister of Transport, Dr Abiye Sekibo, in Rivers State gear. The new Minister of Finance is two rows back, behind someone in uniform. Below the nose, she is smiling, but also wears a frown. The photo is a work of art, it reminds me of the subtle renaissance painters critiques of power and above all of Rembrandt. Once I've reloaded my camera application I'll snap and upload it.
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6 comments:
I dont know who you speak to but i know the guardian is not pronounced that way!
Gah-dian, more like.
Excellent photo, I agree.
She's frowning because the sun's in her face. Sometimes a cigar's just a cigar.
pronounced 'Gaydian'
Jeremy, please. I second Olamide. Who pronounces it that way? Temper your cynicism with some facts.
Give it a rest Ayoke,
Who are you to say its not a fact just because YOU haven't heard it before.
Typical Nigerian arrogance.
"I haven't seen/heard of this before and so therefore it doesn't exist".
perhaps its not quite 'gaydian' i hear - more like "gee-ah-dian"..there's an inflection in the first vowel sound which 'ay' doesnt capture. The typical British pronunciation would surely by "gaadian".. Whenever I ask for it with my usual back-home formulation the street vendors often don't know what I'm asking for.
Ayoke, how is it cynical to try to record what one hears? If I comment that Caribbeans/Africans often say 'peer' when pronouncing the word 'pear', and white Anglo Saxons more commonly pronounce it 'pare' am I also being cynical? Isn't it more like a poetical exercise, trying to write down phonetically what one hears? One could do this for any dialect of English. I recall a poem that is written phonetically in Geordie dialect which is extraodinary..I'm not sure the poet was trying to be cynical.
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