In Benin, the Beninese Yoruba describe themselves in exactly the same terms. I hear expressions like: ‘No matter what a Yoruba man does, even if he studies in the university, he has to come back to trade. It is simply in our blood.’ Those are about the same words with which the Nigerian Igbo describe themselves. Or, ‘Ha… Yoruba’s love money so much!’ Just like the average Nigerian says about the Igbo.

So, if trade is in the Yoruba blood, how come the Yoruba don’t have that kind of reputation in Nigeria? I point this out to many Beninese Yoruba and they normally don’t have anything to say about it. I then tell them that one has to pay a closer attention to history, and the particular development of each country, in order to be able to understand how each ethnic group came to acquire the description. One has to accept it that the stereotypes are largely true, especially about Igbo businessmen of Nigeria and the Yoruba businesswomen of Benin. Yea, Yoruba businesswomen; gender scholars have a lot to deal with in that.

The conference is open to all disciplines and methodological approaches representing the Social Sciences and Humanities. However, at the same time the Steering Committee is strongly inviting panel proposals which look into the re-scaling and re-shaping of Africa through the various references which are being – or have been – made to the spatial dimensions of human action (social, symbolic, imagined or otherwise). This includes processes of globalisation, regionalisation, transnationalisation, re-nationalisation etc. – at all levels and across time.

Panels are expected to consist of four papers, with a chair and a discussant. Larger panels may be accommodated over more than one session. At this stage the Steering Committee invites potential panel organisers to provide a title and some of the names of participants to be considered for inclusion in the programme. A 50 word abstract and 250 word description should be included. The official conference language is English (contributions in any EU language are possible, but there will be no translation services offered, except for key note speeches).

You can check the site for details

One advantage of this kind of case is that it would be difficult to fall into the pit of explaining away migration by giving the two reasons in the earlier paragraph. Any discussion of the case would have to factor in different nuances of economic interests, contextualized in historical realities. The same with discussions on identity. One cannot simply run away with explanations that simplistically make identity markers – like languages, for instance – the same as the explanandum; one has to pay attention to identity shifts at particular instances and situations. Of course, this has been suggested by many scholars, but it really comes home when one is in the field.

And last Monday, I gave a paper at a seminar in my old university, the University of Ibadan (had my BA there). The paper attempted to explain the reasons for the problems one finds in the institution of apprenticeship among the Igbo. It drew from my ongoing fieldwork with the used clothing traders.

I later learnt that there was a pub down the road where Chelsea fans had paid for all the drinks, and where only Chelsea supporters were allowed in. That shows the popularity of the clubs among Nigerians. I have been asking questions about the reason for the popularity of the English Premier League in Nigeria but nobody has ben abe to give me any satisfactory reply.

This morning I went to eat in at a bukateria ,and the main topic of discussion was last night’s game. One of the customers said that Man Utd was destined to win the match. Another replied that he too thought so. Didn’t we notice that Chelsea ‘pressed’ Man Utd in the second half of the match? He was pretty sure that Man Utd was going to win when two shots from Chelsea men hit the bar during the second half. Then I got thinking about what we mean by destiny. Is it simply one of those terms/concepts people throw around when there are things they cannot explain?

My research is on informal trade between Nigeria and Republic of Bénin.

Theoretically, I am interested in the Sociology of Association or Actor-Network Theory. I am also interested in New Institutional Economics and the ways institutions affect trade and economic behavior. There are of course others that I cannot think of at the moment. I will write about them as they arise.

This blog is going to be about general anthropological issues that I find interesting. My interests, as they will appear on this page, may be more slanted towards theories.

Yea, that is me. I should be back in some days.