Thanks for taking that action, Bruce. And thanks for posting that update Felipa.

**

I admit that my interest in the words of these songs is more "folkloric" than political. I know that the limited folkloric study that I'm capable of doing isn't as important as the political ramifications/consequences of the actions reported via the Internet.

However, it's possible that other people may be curious about these songs as literary and sociological products. {I didn't add "musical" to that list because I've never heard these songs]. That said, I'm adding some thoughts that occurred to me about the song "Bingo".

Firstly, in that Net.com post, Abdalla Uba Adamu indicated that the [Hausa] song "Bingo" was recorded by the K-Boyz.

That name "K-Boyz" uses a speliing practice of substituting a "z" for an "s". I attribute this practice to hip-hop culture and I think this practice was influenced by the Phonics reading movement which was popular in the USA in the 1990s.

A popular early example of the "z" instead of "s" practice was the 1991 American movie Boyz N the Hood .

**

With regard to title of the Hausa song "Bingo", Abdalla Uba Adamu wrote "After listening to Zango's song, they [the K-Boyz] went to the studio and recorded a blistering counter-attack which they call Bingo. Bingo is a common name for a dog, and from my discussions with them (Hassan and Ibrahim as they are now), they said they use the word Bingo to refer to Adam Zango as a dog"...

-snip-

I'm assuming that when Adamu wrote that Bingo was a common name for a dog, he meant among the Hausas (or perhaps among all Nigerians).

It occurs to me that that name "Bingo" came from the American children's song "B I N G O".

The Mudcat Digital Tradition has this version of that well known song:

BINGO

There was a farmer had a dog,
And Bingo was his name, sir.
B-I-N-G-O,
B-I-N-G-O,
B-I-N-G-O
And Bingo was his name, sir.

The farmers black dog sat on the back fence, etc.

The farmer's dog's at our back door
begging for a bone, O etc.

Note: As a kid's singing game, do any one verse,
and repeat it, each time silently mouthing one
more letter of the spelling.
@kids @camp @playparty

@displaysong.cfm?SongID=644

-snip-

I've only heard and read the first verse of this song. In my experience, after singing the words of that verse, that verse is repeated with one letter dropped from the spelling of the name "Bingo", as per that note. So for the second rendition, people sing would say "I-N-G-O" and the third time people sing "N-G-O" and so forth until the end when no letter is sung.

I find it interesting that this children's song may have influenced not only the naming practices for dogs in parts of (or all of) Nigeria, but also influenced the composition of a politically charged African "Rap" song.

**

I'm wondering if the reference in that Hausa "Bingo" to "black dog" is an in-racial* putdown of Adama's dark complexion [if indeed he is dark complected. I've never seen a photo of him]/

*by in-racial I mean Black people insulting [putting down] another Black person because of his or her dark skin color.