August Browne (centre) in a still from the Polish film Zolnierz
Zwyciestwa/Soldier of Victory (1953). Source: Fototeka.Fn.Org
The son of a
migrant longshoreman from Lagos, Nigeria when it was part of the British
Empire, Browne became a successful Jazz percussionist in Poland during the
inter-war years.
It has been
claimed that he was the first Nigerian to have recorded a jazz album which was
released in 1928 on the Syrena Record label. However, there is difficulty in
confirming this given that the label’s factory and archives were destroyed in
1939.
Browne is
believed to have taken up arms to fight the forces of Nazi Germany during the
Battle of Warsaw and the subsequent Warsaw Uprising during which he was
attached to Major Georg Antoczewiszka’s 2nd Battalion.
Codenamed
“Ali”, he fought as a member of the Polish Underground (the Iwo Battalion which
was known as the Armia Krajowa or Home Army) for the duration of the war and
remarkably survived.
Browne would
later act in a 1953 propaganda movie about the World War 2-era resistance in
Poland which was titled Zolnierz
Zwyciestwa (Soldier of Victory).
He migrated to
England with his second Polish wife in 1958 (some sources put the year down as
1956) and lived quietly in London until his death at the age of 81.
A memorial
stone unveiled in his memory in Warsaw in 2019 reads:
In honour of Augustine Agboola Browne, nom de
guerre “Ali”, a jazz musician and a participant in the Warsaw Uprising of
Africa origin. Poland was the country he chose to live in.
Miguel de Unamuno (left), and General Millan
Astray
The debate at
Salamanca University took place in front of Carmen Polo de Franco, the wife of
the leader of the Nationalists, General Francisco Franco.
The content of
the debate is now disputed, but it is generally accepted that Unamuno, the
Basque rector of the university, told the nationalist audience that while they
would eventually conquer Spain by brute force, their victory would not have
convinced everyone of their cause: "You will win, but you will not
convince".
An enraged
Astray, the officer who founded the Spanish Foreign Legion, is said to have
denounced Unamuno and called for the "death to all intellectuals".
Known as
"Glorioso Mutilado" because of war wounds which claimed one of his
eyes and an arm, Astray uttered his famous phrase "Viva La Muerte!"
A
Spanish-Argentinian film on Unamuno at the time of the military rebellion that
led to the Spanish Civil War was released in 2019. It culminates in the debate
involving Unamuno and Astray.
Wole Soyinka Featuring Tunji Oyelana & His
Benders. “Unlimited Liability Company”. Album cover designed by Ajayi K.
Mokwenyei.
Wole Soyinka, the acclaimed novelist and dramatist who during his life
has played the role of social activist and political agitator, once took a leaf
out of the book of his musician cousin Fela Kuti to compose a satirical song
lamenting the condition of his country, Nigeria. As with Fela’s “International Thief
Thief” (ITT) which had been released three years earlier in 1980, “Etike Revo
Wetin?” (popularly known by the lyric “I Love My Country”), focused on the
corruption of Nigeria’s political elite.
The song is performed by Tunji Oyelana and the Benders with Soyinka
adding harmonies during one segment of the chorus. It was released in 1983 on
Ewuro Records.
In 1996, Soyinka was charged with treason by the Nigerian military
ruler, General Sani Abacha and fled into exile, while Oyelana, who had been
involved in the production of Soyinka’s play “The Beatification of Area Boy: A
Lagosian Kaleidoscope”, was forced to remain in exile in England where he was
serving as both musical director and actor (acting in the role of a minstrel). The
play focused on the character of Sanda, the leader of a protection racket in
Lagos, and explored themes related to the post-oil boom era of Nigeria
including the corruption which thrived under military rule. It earned the ire
of Abacha.
Lyrics:
I love my country I no go lie,na in side am I go live and die, I know my country I no go lie na him and me go yap till I die.
I wan begin with history
that war we fight in recent memory wey music wey come from barrel of gun.
I get cancer for
me eye that's the reason why, cause when I look na two I see make I explain I
think you go ‘gree.
I love my country I no go
lie na inside am I go live and die, when e turn me so I twist am so, e push me
I push am I no go go
Make you no worry both
nations be friends, even when they fight they soon make amends when one back
dey itch am, the other go scratch, when one lay egg the other go hatch, eggs na
eggs but some are rotten, but make I tell you some are golden. I tell you my
country no be one, I mean not to yesterday I born.
I love my country I no go
lie na in side am I go live and die, I know my country I no go lie na him and
me go yap till I die.
One go proud the other so
meek, one go hide, the other go seek, one country go slap, the other go turn
cheek, and assume dey are playing hide and seek. The lovely twins of whom I
speak, Mr. Country hide and his brother seek. Country hide 2.8B he tell country
seek, brother carry on, seek from Turkey to China sea, the more you look, the
less you see.
You thief one Kobo dey put
you for prison, you thief 10M na patriotism, dem go give you chieftaincy and
national honour, you thief even bigger den go say na rumour. Monkey dey work
baboon dey chop sweet-pounded yam, someday e go stop.
I love my country I no go
lie na inside am I go live and die, when e turn me so I twist am so, e push me
I push am I no go go.
One time we stack groundnut
so high, like pyramid nearly reach the sky, palm oil dey flow from here to
London. Cassava, plantain our fruits be champion, our cocoa compete with that
of Ghana, mouth dey water to do the banana ... yam wey big like wrestler's
thighs.
Which rice get fame like
Tappa rice, but now to eat na half my budget, food dey cost like golden nugget,
the rain wey flow from open sky e only float presidential rice.
...Where all this food
disappear; my belly dey rumble abi you no hear…
I love my country I no go
lie na in side am I go live and die, I know my country I no go lie na him and
me go yap till I die.
The day dey bring green revolution,
country seek say e get salvation. It give out shout, e think at last with green
revolution e go end him fast. Education is good for me and you, so let's give
praise where praise is due.
Green revolution was most
educative and coincidentally most lucrative, education alone chop one quarter
of the budget to teach the farmer what e never forget, posters left, and right
and centre. Green revolution by government printer.
I love my country I no go
lie na inside am I go live and die, when e turn me so I twist am so, e push me
I push am I no go go.
But that was nothing but
chicken feed; a nation in need is my friend indeed. Summon the chief chemical
analyzer to tell us the magic of fertiliser. Country seek hear, I no be miser,
billions dey hide for fertiliser.
I love my country I no go
lie na inside am I go live and die, I know my country I no go lie na him and me
go yap till I die.
I was back at
London’s Boxing Fayre which was held at the Dick Collins Hall in Camden, North
London on Saturday, October 8th 2021. On display at my stall were copies of my
biographies respectively on Dick Tiger (Dick
Tiger: The Life and Times of a Boxing Immortal) and Frankie DePaula (Jersey Boy: The Life and Mob Slaying of
Frankie DePaula). Also displayed was the Cambridge Companion to Boxing for which I contributed two essays:
“The Africans: Boxing and Africa” and “Jose Torres: The Boxer as Writer”.
Packed and ready for tomorrow's boxing fayre in Camden, North London.
Chas and Kymberly Taylor's event, the only of its type in England, will have many stalls selling a wide range of boxing memorabilia including books, programmes, photographs, magazines, signed boxing gloves, t-shirts, robes, paintings, prints, brick-a-brack and more.
The details are:
Boxing Memorabilia Fayre, Dick Collins Hall, Robert Street, London NW1 3FB.
1:30PM to 5:30PM.
There will be free parking and a licensed bar & snacks.
I'll be part of a panel later today on "Africa Speaks" which is presented by Steve Mulindwa.
The discussion will centre on the past, present and future of Nigeria which celebrated its 62nd year of independence.
It will be streamed live on YouTube and Facebook on OMEGA Live TV on YouTube and Facebook on Tuesday, October 4th 2022 between 7.30PM and 8.30PM Greenwich Mean Time.
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