My video tribute to Fela's song, Authority Stealing (U be Thief).
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ADDITION - MAY 2, 2008:
The following is a translation of a significant portion of the song, in response to requests I have received. It's too long a song for me to translate entirely, so I hope the two verses provided will be helpful. PLease note that this is my translation, and the choice of words may not necessarily be the most accurate, but they do convey the meaning of the song very well, almost line by line.
CHORUS -
[Accuser]: "You're a Thief"
[Defendant]: "I'm not a thief"
[Accuser]: "You're a rogue"
[Defendant]: "I'm not a rogue"
[Accuser]: "You're known for stealing"
[Defendant]: "I do not steal"
[Accuser]: "You're a robber"
[Defendant]: "I'm not a robber"
[Defendant]: "You're rather the Thief"
[Accuser]: "I'm not a thief"
[Defendant]: "You're a rogue"
[Accuser]: "I'm not a rogue" . . .
VERSE ONE -
Arguments about stealing
Someone has taken something that belongs to another
On a typical morning, we see workers brisking
Office workers, labourers, and all variety of workers
Some on buses, others on their motorcycles
On any day, among such crowds, you can hear
"Catch him, catch him" "Thief, thief, thief"
Then the chasing starts by passersby
They'll grab the alleged thief and beat him
They'll sometimes lynch him
Or the Police may show up and pick him up
He may not get to defend himself in court
The alleged may be jailed for one year
two years, five years, seven years . . .
Or they'll just shoot him for armed robbery
The accused are often poor and desperate,
and theft has become their way of hustling,
trying to make ends meet
VERSE TWO -
Now let's turn our attention to the right wing
That's where the Oga people are - "authority people"
Unlike workers, authority people are called "officials"
Unlike workers, officials ride with motorcades
Unlike workers, officials fly in helicopters
And instead of walking, workers walk for them
However, these authority people do steal too
When the public contributes lots of money
authority people steal it
Authority people do not pick pockets
Oh no, that's just petty cash
Authority people steal big
While the armed robber needs gun to rob,
the authority man needs a pen to rob
He's in charge of the money
His pen is mighter than the gun
If the gun steals 80,000 Naira
the pen will steal 2,000,000,000 Naira
But when that happens,
you won't hear anyone shouting "thief, thief, thief"
~
Tags: fela authority stealing be thief obasanjo abacha yar adua nigeria
