# Transcript: Black-and-white journey ## Description What can you expect when you decide to leave the Czech Republic and move to the heart of Africa? Is the search for roots and identity even worth it? Not only about black-and-white duality will Czech writer, entrepreneur, lawyer, and Nigerian tribal king Obonete S. Ubam talk at Brain & Breakfast. Who is Obonete S. Ubam? Obonete S. Ubam is a Czech writer, entrepreneur, lawyer, and Nigerian tribal king. He worked in the foreign relations department of the Ministry of Defense, where he served as a protocol interpreter for the minister’s cabinet and advisor to the Chief Inspector for human rights protection in the defense sector. He co-founded and chaired the League of Ethnic Minorities of the Czech Republic. In Nigeria, he took over the management of the family business and a real estate fund for several years. He currently lives in Spain. He has written several books, including the award-winning Our black-and-white world. ## Transcript **[00:00:00]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:00:30]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:01:00]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:01:30]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:01:33]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:01:36]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:01:39]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:01:42]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:01:45]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:01:48]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:01:51]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:01:54]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:01:57]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:02:00]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:02:03]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:02:06]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:02:09]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:02:12]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:02:15]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:02:18]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:02:21]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:02:24]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:02:27]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:02:30]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz 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**[00:09:18]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:09:21]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:09:24]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:09:27]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:09:30]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:09:33]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:09:36]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:09:39]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:09:42]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:09:45]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:09:48]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:09:51]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:09:54]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:09:57]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:10:00]** www.hradeckesluzby.cz **[00:10:00]** Still normal, in North Moravian Bruntál. **[00:10:04]** I was in the flute ensemble, played basketball, **[00:10:08]** I took dance classes, I was a normal student, then a high schooler. **[00:10:13]** With the exception that... **[00:10:17]** Sorry, after my first year at gymnasium, **[00:10:21]** my dad sent me a plane ticket and a Nigerian visa, **[00:10:27]** and I traveled to Nigeria to see him. **[00:10:29]** It wasn’t exactly planned, **[00:10:33]** but it was my first adventurous trip, **[00:10:37]** because I arrived in Nigeria to see him, **[00:10:40]** and at fourteen, I was at the airport, **[00:10:46]** midnight, in Lagos, a city of ten million people, **[00:10:49]** and no one was waiting for me at the airport, **[00:10:50]** because my dad had no idea I had arrived. **[00:10:54]** So it was a long ordeal, **[00:10:56]** before I traveled across Nigeria, **[00:10:59]** and after several days, I reached him, **[00:11:03]** by which time I had learned **[00:11:04]** basic English phrases like Hello, how are you? **[00:11:07]** So it really was... **[00:11:11]** It was a rich part of my story, **[00:11:16]** and I think that was the first turning point, **[00:11:21]** when I started thinking, **[00:11:24]** a bit more in 3D for a fifteen-year-old boy at the time. **[00:11:29]** Because Nigeria, not just that first night, **[00:11:32]** but the whole arrival, was a big cultural shock for me. **[00:11:36]** And at the same time, I learned that my dad, **[00:11:40]** whom I thought had been mourning mom for fifteen years, **[00:11:46]** wasn't mourning quite that effectively. **[00:11:49]** He already had two wives, **[00:11:51]** and the reason he was or could be polygamous was **[00:11:56]** that he had become a tribal king **[00:12:01]** within his community. **[00:12:04]** For me, this was another big shock in itself, **[00:12:09]** and the biggest shock came a few months later **[00:12:13]** when my dad packed my things and sent me to a Nigerian cadet school, **[00:12:19]** where I underwent several months of training. **[00:12:23]** And, **[00:12:25]** to be honest, it was an experience **[00:12:29]** that I later, back in Bruntál at high school, **[00:12:34]** took quite a long time to process because, **[00:12:38]** to put it briefly, we had no drinking water, **[00:12:42]** no electricity, **[00:12:45]** we got very little food, **[00:12:47]** but we got plenty of beatings from the Rákovská guard, **[00:12:52]** so it was an experience that I think turned that boy **[00:12:56]** into a young man. **[00:12:58]** And when I returned, **[00:13:00]** that experience obviously came in handy, **[00:13:03]** and I effectively became the first Afro-Czech soldier **[00:13:10]** in the history of the Czech Republic's army. **[00:13:13]** Although I admit, that wasn't the plan, **[00:13:16]** and older generations here know how hard it was to get a blue booklet and deferments. **[00:13:19]** Well, I fought for that too, **[00:13:24]** until I got a military notice, **[00:13:27]** and some captain said to me, "What?" **[00:13:30]** "See you in April." **[00:13:33]** So I enlisted in April, **[00:13:35]** but I was lucky, of course, **[00:13:38]** because I already had some military habits, **[00:13:41]** and as you can see, in uniform and a green beret, **[00:13:43]** I looked like an American soldier. **[00:13:47]** Which at that time, just before joining NATO, **[00:13:49]** was a huge advantage. **[00:13:53]** So at that moment, **[00:13:57]** mainly because of my appearance and because **[00:14:00]** I somehow learned English in Nigeria, **[00:14:04]** I ended up having a military career. **[00:14:07]** From some basic training, **[00:14:09]** I was sent to the military academy in Viškov, **[00:14:11]** where I taught English after a while, **[00:14:15]** then I translated, **[00:14:16]** then I became a senior sergeant. **[00:14:18]** And finally, I got an offer I couldn't refuse, **[00:14:22]** which was to leave Moravia and be transferred to Prague **[00:14:26]** and start working within the Ministry of Defense. **[00:14:29]** Of course, I didn't refuse that offer, **[00:14:31]** even though becoming a professional soldier **[00:14:35]** or a soldier in further service was definitely not my dream. **[00:14:38]** And it was a bit like that with the position of every guy **[00:14:42]** who was in the army, that whoever finally signed it, **[00:14:45]** it was said that those who didn't experience it wouldn't understand, **[00:14:49]** and those who didn't understand, signed it. **[00:14:51]** Well, I felt that I understood it, **[00:14:53]** but I signed it, **[00:14:55]** and thanks to that, after finishing **[00:14:57]** my professional service, I had the opportunity **[00:14:59]** to found a human rights organization called the League of Ethnic Minorities. **[00:15:04]** In the photo below is our opening press conference. **[00:15:08]** The tall man next to me is a friend, **[00:15:12]** who was the vice-chairman of the organization. **[00:15:15]** At that time, we somehow managed **[00:15:20]** to raise intolerance and xenophobia **[00:15:26]** as a key issue in Czech society. **[00:15:30]** We worked very well with the government office, **[00:15:33]** we cooperated with the government commissioner, **[00:15:36]** and maybe some of you older ones **[00:15:39]** remember the media campaigns against racism, **[00:15:43]** which took place in the Czech Republic after 2000, **[00:15:47]** billboard campaigns and TV spots, **[00:15:50]** and we were behind some of those campaigns. **[00:15:54]** Here I present the first proof of why the path is black and white, **[00:15:58]** because not everyone gets to be first a professional soldier **[00:16:00]** and then a human rights activist. **[00:16:05]** And all of that basically happened within one week, **[00:16:07]** when you finish one job and start another. **[00:16:10]** And at the same time, I would say, **[00:16:14]** that somehow here **[00:16:17]** the normalcy of my life ends **[00:16:20]** from the perspective of an ordinary mortal. **[00:16:22]** Of course, the experiences I just described to you, **[00:16:26]** I believe **[00:16:28]** most of you could be in my place **[00:16:30]** and describe those experiences, **[00:16:32]** because everyone naturally **[00:16:35]** goes through things that are the exact opposite, **[00:16:39]** things happen that force you **[00:16:44]** to respond with some change, some self-development. **[00:16:49]** But I feel that with the next slide comes something **[00:16:53]** that is not quite common **[00:16:57]** and I think it somehow brought me here to you today. **[00:17:02]** So sometime around then, **[00:17:06]** my father, the real African king, **[00:17:10]** I don't know if you imagined an African king like that, **[00:17:15]** well, unfortunately, he got cancer and died. **[00:17:19]** And I was walking somewhere down Týnská Street, **[00:17:22]** when I got a call from Nigeria and they literally told me, **[00:17:26]** Prince, your father has died. **[00:17:29]** And I was about 28 years old, placed in a situation **[00:17:34]** where, as the eldest son of my father, **[00:17:38]** which means that with his death, **[00:17:43]** I take responsibility for his entire family, **[00:17:47]** for his so-called territory, **[00:17:50]** and at the same time, I should somehow take the throne **[00:17:54]** that was vacated after him. **[00:17:55]** Which, of course, you will probably agree with me, **[00:17:59]** when you are walking down Týnská Street and someone tells you this on a Thursday afternoon, **[00:18:03]** it's sad news, but, you know, we get it, **[00:18:14]** and in many Eddie Murphy films, but not in real life. **[00:18:17]** But I have an adventurous nature, so guess what I did. **[00:18:24]** I went to Africa, and I thought, **[00:18:28]** I was extremely motivated, **[00:18:33]** that I was only twenty-eight or twenty-nine **[00:18:37]** and that I have the little siblings and now, like, I'm going to save the whole place, yeah, **[00:18:42]** that's that light, but innocent and well-meaning **[00:18:51]** arrogance of a white man, yeah, or a European, **[00:18:55]** or a member of Western culture, **[00:18:57]** who comes to a third world country, some banana republic, **[00:19:03]** and now tells them all how they should do things. **[00:19:05]** So of course, with that conviction, I arrived there, **[00:19:09]** and they, figuratively speaking, kind of eyed me up, **[00:19:15]** and looked at me like, really, really, you want to be our new boss? **[00:19:20]** And I thought everything was fine, **[00:19:22]** that everything would turn out well, but it didn't go quite that well, **[00:19:28]** just briefly, yeah, I got into situations, **[00:19:32]** that to this day I really can't, **[00:19:36]** explain credibly or convincingly to people **[00:19:42]** who haven't experienced them. I found myself in situations **[00:19:45]** where, for example, in front of my father's brothers, my uncles, **[00:19:52]** I had to hide food and lock the kitchen, **[00:19:56]** so they wouldn't poison me by accident, and I experienced there, **[00:20:00]** several shootouts and I also experienced a health condition there, **[00:20:06]** that bordered on the edge. I mean, **[00:20:12]** you probably know that malaria isn't exactly good for the human body. **[00:20:16]** You definitely know that typhoid fever is even worse, and when you get these **[00:20:21]** two diseases at once and on top of that get hepatitis, **[00:20:27]** and you're five or six thousand kilometers away from a place you know, **[00:20:33]** in a place not on Google Maps, and they recommend you to drink palm oil for the inflammation, **[00:20:39]** you kind of realize, **[00:20:44]** that this might be it, that this story probably ends here. **[00:20:49]** And that was the moment when, from my perspective, **[00:20:57]** now I paraphrase it, I say I found God, **[00:21:02]** because it's a popular cliché that keeps appearing in various **[00:21:07]** self-development manuals, that someone finds some spirituality, **[00:21:11]** but I was so strikingly in a situation where I really felt, **[00:21:15]** that I wouldn't return from Africa and I truly found some faith in something, **[00:21:24]** that I believed would save my life. **[00:21:27]** And that something did save my life, and when the tribe saw, **[00:21:35]** that against all odds they didn't manage to get rid of me in the first **[00:21:41]** or second year, after three years they realized that I had reached a level, **[00:21:49]** where I might be able to replace my father. **[00:21:53]** Sorry, I actually skipped one slide here, **[00:21:58]** these are photos from my dad's funeral. **[00:22:02]** And basically, after three, four years, to pick up where I left off, **[00:22:05]** they actually crowned me king. **[00:22:09]** And what can I say, it really exists, it really happened. **[00:22:17]** And of course, because I had problems with the fact **[00:22:21]** that every time I returned to the Czech Republic, **[00:22:24]** I tried to explain the story to my friends, **[00:22:29]** and the more I talked about it, the more they thought I had gone crazy. **[00:22:33]** So I actually sat down and started writing about the story. **[00:22:41]** And from that came the book 7 Years in Africa, **[00:22:45]** which I handed over to the Prostor publishing house after five years of writing. **[00:22:51]** And something happened that I considered a miracle. **[00:22:58]** I would never have believed that someone would be willing to publish the story, **[00:23:02]** that they would be willing to promote it, **[00:23:07]** but it happened, and I was lucky, **[00:23:10]** because with this book, I didn't want to say I competed, **[00:23:15]** but the book was selected **[00:23:20]** for the Big Book Thursday in 2019, **[00:23:24]** and it became a bestseller. **[00:23:29]** So for me, it was somehow a great satisfaction, **[00:23:33]** because I was able to retell the story in a way **[00:23:38]** that was understandable and maybe entertaining for someone, **[00:23:44]** and I don't want to say inspired, **[00:23:47]** because the only inspiration in the story is probably **[00:23:51]** survival at any cost. **[00:23:54]** But I was lucky and blessed **[00:23:58]** that the book became successful, **[00:24:00]** which means I kept writing a bit more. **[00:24:03]** Sure, this is the phase when the book becomes successful, **[00:24:07]** when I still didn't fully understand it, **[00:24:10]** but I was appearing there and here, **[00:24:13]** and that's why I asked if anyone had recorded it so I wouldn't repeat myself. **[00:24:15]** And when I was, as they say, in the flow and then covid came, **[00:24:18]** I kept writing a bit more, **[00:24:22]** so I published the book Our Black and White World, **[00:24:24]** which has the subtitle Czech Conversations about African Roots and Fulfilled Dreams. **[00:24:27]** From my point of view, it's an inspiring book **[00:24:31]** about the fates of the ten most famous or most prominent Afro-Czechs **[00:24:35]** who somehow operate in the Czech Republic. **[00:24:40]** It includes the life story of Rej Koranteng, **[00:24:48]** Jemi, Zuzana Tvarušková, **[00:24:51]** Téa Gebre Selassie, Leilia Basová, Monika Bentabetová. **[00:24:55]** And these are stories that share several common denominators. **[00:24:59]** The first is that most of these personalities **[00:25:03]** actually entered life with a significant social handicap. **[00:25:09]** You’ll find heartfelt human stories about how Jemi, when he was fourteen, **[00:25:13]** lived with his mother and stepfather, **[00:25:18]** who was an abuser and alcoholic and wanted to commit suicide, **[00:25:22]** and he was constantly ill because of it. **[00:25:25]** Then a cut and a shot, 20 years later, **[00:25:28]** he is declared one of the 25 most influential Czechs, **[00:25:32]** travels the world with Kanye West, and choreographs **[00:25:36]** for Saturday Night Live, MTV Music Awards, **[00:25:40]** and I believe recently received the silver medal **[00:25:44]** from the President of the Senate, and it’s even possible **[00:25:51]** he could become the first Czech to fly to the moon. **[00:25:55]** A boy from Liberec with this story. **[00:25:58]** There’s Monika Bentabetová, who today is **[00:26:02]** a coach, I’d say, of European caliber. **[00:26:05]** She has several bestsellers in multiple languages, **[00:26:08]** clients for coaching and numerology worldwide, **[00:26:12]** and this girl comes from a social family **[00:26:16]** somewhere in Lisice, where her father was an alcoholic. **[00:26:20]** In minus eight degrees in December, they had no heating, **[00:26:23]** because their house was falling apart, meaning **[00:26:26]** they slept in winter jackets, and her parents all her life **[00:26:30]** prepared her for a career as a cow milker, **[00:26:33]** because they worked in agriculture. **[00:26:35]** And today she flies between Zurich, Milan, Malaga, Prague. **[00:26:41]** And the story these people have, **[00:26:44]** from minus ten to plus ten, **[00:26:47]** I believe, or I am convinced, **[00:26:50]** that at least for me, and I believe for some readers, **[00:26:54]** it is inspiring. **[00:26:57]** And basically, because the first book had some success, **[00:27:04]** when the pandemic came, we couldn’t go out. **[00:27:09]** So I locked myself at home for half a year, **[00:27:13]** and what I had left of my English, I put into translating this book. **[00:27:18]** And I managed to find a publisher in London **[00:27:23]** and the book From the Thorns of Medva Frice should be published worldwide **[00:27:27]** sometime at the end of this year, **[00:27:31]** or possibly at the beginning of the next one. **[00:27:34]** And of course, since literature is primarily a hobby **[00:27:39]** and a very non-profit hobby, **[00:27:42]** we want to send the book out into the world with some grace, **[00:27:46]** with a bit of PR, so it doesn't get lost among the huge pile of books **[00:27:53]** that come out every day. **[00:27:55]** In the time I've been talking here, about 30 minutes, **[00:27:58]** 6 books have been published somewhere in the world. **[00:28:01]** So for that reason, we prepared a small crowdfunding campaign **[00:28:07]** and I'll take this opportunity to mention it. **[00:28:12]** We have it on the online platform hithit.com, **[00:28:15]** which is a Czech platform. **[00:28:18]** And it's one of the leaders, so of course if anyone here **[00:28:23]** wants to support Czech literature, **[00:28:27]** showing the world that we can sometimes write something **[00:28:30]** that might be liked in New York or Sydney, **[00:28:33]** check out that platform **[00:28:37]** and you can send us 100 or 1000 crowns. **[00:28:42]** So, thank you for your attention **[00:28:44]** and I guess we'll move on to the next part. **[00:28:47]** Great. **[00:28:48]** That's all, friends. Thank you. **[00:28:50]** So, I believe we now have a field prepared **[00:29:02]** for many possible paths and many questions, **[00:29:06]** so definitely take advantage of that. **[00:29:08]** I was actually thinking about where to start, **[00:29:12]** on what level, and when I introduced this breakfast **[00:29:16]** I didn't yet know we'd be talking like this, **[00:29:19]** it's really nice to look at us Czechs **[00:29:22]** like in a mirror. **[00:29:23]** You actually have some distance, you've experienced it, **[00:29:26]** you're Czech and so on, but still you have the chance to see things **[00:29:31]** that we, who are mostly in that society, **[00:29:35]** simply cannot see. **[00:29:37]** And when you look at us like this, what do you see? **[00:29:43]** Well, you asked me a question I'll answer, **[00:29:47]** maybe this will be my last public appearance, but you know what? **[00:29:52]** Let's move on. **[00:29:53]** No, no, no, that was obviously a joke I wanted to start with, **[00:29:58]** because... **[00:30:00]** for example, one of the things I think is almost a shame, **[00:30:08]** is how incredibly intelligent, incredibly capable Czechs **[00:30:17]** present themselves. I feel like every time I come here, **[00:30:25]** I see people discovering amazing things with which they can succeed in the world, **[00:30:32]** but I miss a bit of that boldness, that American style, **[00:30:41]** where even if I don't have it, I feel like I do, and because I feel that way, **[00:30:45]** I just sell myself. From a professional perspective, I see it like this, **[00:30:53]** because I meet many Czechs who can really outshine anyone, **[00:31:00]** but I think they sell themselves too little and that among us there is somehow **[00:31:09]** still rooted not humility, but false modesty. **[00:31:18]** That even at important moments like receiving, I don't know, an award from the president, **[00:31:26]** we show up in crocs and a hoodie. **[00:31:31]** And to add to that false modesty, **[00:31:42]** we might not accept something or give it the importance it deserves. **[00:31:46]** And I feel this affects, hopefully, the last generation, mine, **[00:31:52]** and that our children, **[00:31:56]** who didn't grow up in an environment where you had to be as gray as possible, **[00:32:02]** where you had to have the same Škoda car as your neighbor, **[00:32:08]** where you had to have the same coffee grinder, the same TV, and the same couch at home, **[00:32:14]** I hope this will die out with our generation and that our children, **[00:32:18]** who have the opportunity to travel the world, **[00:32:21]** and who will learn to process things in that world, will move Czechia somewhere completely different. **[00:32:28]** One level further. **[00:32:32]** Thank you. **[00:32:34]** Okay. **[00:32:36]** I think when I look around us here, in this colorful room, **[00:32:44]** which is welcoming, I feel like we are still in Prague, **[00:32:51]** so it's a bit different than in Rýmařov or Bruntál. What about that? **[00:32:58]** Well, I think it's no secret that Prague has always been a bit different **[00:33:05]** from the rest of the country. I admit that when I lived in Prague, **[00:33:14]** I loved it immensely because compared to what I experienced in Northern Moravia, **[00:33:18]** it was incredibly open to me. **[00:33:23]** Even then it was somewhat cosmopolitan and by the late nineties, **[00:33:27]** it had an amazing atmosphere, a strong vibe, a huge aura of everything new. **[00:33:35]** But after seven years I spent in Africa, **[00:33:39]** I couldn't return on the other hand, because in those seven years **[00:33:45]** there was some quantum leap in development, in professionalism, **[00:33:52]** in what the new era was guiding us toward. **[00:33:58]** Because after the fall of the Iron Curtain, actually after November, **[00:34:04]** we had a very short time to socioeconomically stratify society. **[00:34:11]** That means it was necessary to build some wealth within one generation **[00:34:21]** and stratify society. **[00:34:23]** And it affected us in that extreme materialism was implanted in us. **[00:34:32]** And I think it really lasted until about two or three years ago. **[00:34:42]** And now, when I come to Prague, I notice **[00:34:46]** that everyone who wanted to be successful already has that house. **[00:34:51]** They already have the first car, the second car. They've been here and there and there and there. **[00:34:55]** They've kind of fulfilled that. And now I feel a big opening, **[00:35:01]** that my peers suddenly start to sense they want something more. **[00:35:10]** That the phase of material satisfaction has really passed. **[00:35:17]** I think that generation has fulfilled its role. **[00:35:21]** It created a certain prosperity. **[00:35:23]** And now I sense a greater openness to various other things. **[00:35:30]** I don't want to say spirituality, but things that a person needs besides material things. **[00:35:36]** And I think it also attracts a different kind of foreigners than those who were here before. **[00:35:42]** And it reminds me a lot of the kind of foreigners who were here in the late 90s. **[00:35:47]** So Prague is naturally becoming a beautiful cosmopolitan city, **[00:35:52]** where in the center you're surprised to even hear Czech. **[00:35:56]** And naturally, this is a wonderful example that **[00:36:00]** the evolution of one city or the evolution of a society in one city **[00:36:06]** is not fully transferable to smaller places, like the ones we both come from. **[00:36:12]** So naturally, it can be quite sad to see **[00:36:21]** that the opportunities offered by the capital city, **[00:36:27]** are not reaching the other smaller communities, and that the new **[00:36:34]** and I would say better things in life arrive there quite slowly. **[00:36:41]** You called it in many interviews I researched, **[00:36:46]** actually a handicap. Whenever that word somehow came up in my mind, **[00:36:53]** I always had that handicap in it a little differently than your context, the dark skin color and so on. **[00:36:58]** But still, it really resonated with me. So what kind of handicap is it? **[00:37:02]** What exactly are we talking about when we say handicap? **[00:37:08]** Well, dark skin color. **[00:37:11]** Well, of course, when Václav Havel wrote a sentence, **[00:37:14]** that when a person is long-term exposed to some form of oppression, **[00:37:22]** they then close themselves off into a kind of self-idolatry, which is a natural process. **[00:37:29]** I wouldn't want to come across this way, and at the same time I wouldn't want to speak **[00:37:35]** for people who perceive that they have some visual handicap. **[00:37:41]** I'd like to clarify that. Yes, those of us who grew up in the 70s and 80s, **[00:37:53]** We had our share. It wasn't easy, but of course, maybe it wasn't easy **[00:38:00]** for you, because you wear glasses, maybe it wasn't easy for you, **[00:38:04]** because you're too tall or too short, or if someone has freckles, **[00:38:09]** it's very easy to become a victim in your own story. **[00:38:16]** And I think that even if we entered life with some handicap, **[00:38:24]** we had a chance to compensate for it during life, because we managed **[00:38:29]** to get opportunities that we might not have gotten otherwise. **[00:38:33]** That's the case with Rej Koranteng, who is obviously extremely **[00:38:38]** professional, in his profession I would say almost unmatched, **[00:38:45]** today he is the longest-serving host on Czech television, **[00:38:50]** so professionally he really has his job well handled, **[00:38:56]** people like him, but if he weren't Afro-Czech, maybe he wouldn't have gotten **[00:39:01]** this opportunity. The same goes for Lejla Abasová, who is also a host, **[00:39:08]** who basically has a similar trajectory to him, **[00:39:13]** very professional, she masters the craft wonderfully, **[00:39:19]** but I think if she weren't darker-skinned, she might not have succeeded **[00:39:24]** in the competition with other candidates for this job. **[00:39:29]** That means my life experience is that we no longer have the right **[00:39:34]** to complain about this nowadays, and I am very careful about it, **[00:39:39]** because if we believe in some life karma or some balance in life, **[00:39:47]** I am convinced that what is taken from you somewhere is given back somewhere else. **[00:39:53]** Yes, in some way, excuse me, we had something taken away, **[00:39:59]** which is the heartbreaking story **[00:40:00]** about my mother being watched by the STB and then never meeting my father again, **[00:40:04]** but on the other hand, I also got opportunities **[00:40:07]** that I might not have gotten otherwise. **[00:40:10]** Sure, during my year in the army, I worked, **[00:40:13]** or during my service in the army, I worked in the office of the Minister of Defense, **[00:40:16]** not because I was super exceptional at what I do, **[00:40:19]** but because I looked the way they imagined at the time **[00:40:22]** a NATO soldier should look. **[00:40:26]** So yes, here a minus, here a plus. **[00:40:31]** Actually, it seems to me that... **[00:40:35]** Thank you. **[00:40:37]** That wasn't irony. **[00:40:39]** Actually, it seems to me that you often **[00:40:42]** just move past the things you would have experienced. **[00:40:44]** So I would try to go back to that kadecká school in Africa, **[00:40:47]** because right now I am actually, **[00:40:56]** because I didn't experience it and I don't have a limp or glasses and so on. **[00:41:01]** I played football normally with friends, I wasn't an outcast and so on. **[00:41:04]** So I didn't get that from myself, but still. **[00:41:08]** You said that when you went to Africa, **[00:41:12]** it was logically the center of cultures. **[00:41:14]** From the interview I listened to, I gathered **[00:41:19]** that you were looking forward to the oranges there **[00:41:22]** and that you would just go on safaris **[00:41:25]** and that everything would just be very easygoing. **[00:41:27]** And then you ended up somewhere **[00:41:29]** where maybe none of us would actually last. **[00:41:33]** And everyone humbles themselves as it is here. **[00:41:36]** I get goosebumps just talking about it. **[00:41:38]** So what actually happened there? **[00:41:41]** And how did the boy become a young man? **[00:41:44]** You know, I don't quite know now, **[00:41:52]** whether to go into some details **[00:41:57]** or rather talk about it with some philosophical perspective. **[00:42:03]** I'll try to tell you where I'm heading. **[00:42:06]** I would like to describe, very vividly, **[00:42:12]** Tunigary as such and everything related to it. **[00:42:15]** That means I would start maybe here, **[00:42:16]** then I would touch on how the country actually functions, **[00:42:20]** that there is no state. **[00:42:21]** Then I would also want to touch on religion **[00:42:24]** and what you would experience, tribal spirituality, **[00:42:26]** and that you believed in those things and so on. **[00:42:29]** We have time, many layers to describe Tunigary as such. **[00:42:36]** What is actually normal there? **[00:42:38]** Maybe I could have addressed that question earlier, **[00:42:40]** because this one is really complicated. **[00:42:43]** Briefly describe Nigeria in a few things. **[00:42:45]** No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, **[00:43:15]** And you stake it out like this, draw it on the map, and tell the people living there, 'You are now one nation,' and these people have nothing in common, **[00:43:31]** no common language, no common culture, no common history longer than 130 years. **[00:43:41]** And when you create this federation, where you still somehow rule as the British Empire, exploit the country, **[00:43:55]** you achieve creating a state that is relatively young and after independence must go through all its childhood diseases. **[00:44:15]** And among the childhood diseases of states are mainly civil war, corruption, rigged elections, populism, all the worst things we experienced in Europe, say after World War I, **[00:44:34]** when, for example, Austria-Hungary collapsed for Czechoslovakia and the peace and formation of new states lasted only a short time, then came the great crisis, the so-called famine, **[00:44:51]** which led to Bolshevik revolutions in the east, fascist coups in the west, and 20 years later we had another war. **[00:45:00]** Well, not only Nigeria, but actually Africa has been going through the same thing for the last 50 years, since the colonial era dissolved into history. **[00:45:15]** The only difference is that today we get daily news about it and we know about it, unlike if we had to learn about the Holocaust only after six years of war from some black-and-white films. **[00:45:31]** We see it every day now, but interestingly, we pay much less attention to it because I think Africa is the most marginalized of all continents, **[00:45:47]** just by the fact that people talk about Africa as Africa. They don't talk about Asia, they talk about China, Korea, and Japan. **[00:45:56]** But Africa is talked about as one Africa, and there are people among us, many living in the United States, who think Africa is one country. **[00:46:04]** And there you encounter indescribable differences. You find 21st-century technology, and at the same table sits a tradition, **[00:46:22]** from the deepest Middle Ages. A real tradition, like female genital mutilation, and it's the year 2022. **[00:46:33]** It's a serious problem. It's a thing that exists and is a backward tradition. And it's not the only one. **[00:46:43]** You mentioned spiritualism, and of course I encountered it in Nigeria, but not only when I was, in quotes, searching for God. **[00:46:54]** At the same time, I had the chance to confront spirituality on the other side, which was Voodoo in the Caribbean, **[00:47:07]** which originated from West African Juju. And really, in 2022, Juju and thinking within Juju play, let's say, **[00:47:18]** a 30% role in every person's decision-making process. So if you want to make a professional move, **[00:47:29]** an investment, or decide to study something, seriously, besides doing research, **[00:47:39]** you also have to meet with a shaman who will either bless it or perform some ritual. **[00:47:49]** And of course, since I'm from the Czech Republic, which is mostly very atheist, **[00:47:59]** this seemed very funny to me when I came to Africa. **[00:48:05]** Sure, you can't do this or eat turtle soup or that, but after several years, **[00:48:12]** seeing the effects of Juju and Voodoo, one thing became clear to me, **[00:48:26]** that when your environment takes something as fact, and because they take it as fact, any thing has real consequences, **[00:48:39]** so if you reverse-engineer the idea, then that thing must also be real. **[00:48:48]** That means even though we are sitting here today talking on camera in a hyper-modern center, **[00:48:58]** I still somewhat believe in Juju. There are things I wouldn't do, **[00:49:06]** and it bothered me a bit—I'll lighten this now—that you poured me water and I didn't know where it was from, **[00:49:13]** and then I left and came back, and that's a red line, you can't do that, **[00:49:19]** you really can't, but sure, it sounds funny in some way. **[00:49:24]** To sum it up, the differences are so huge that one probably doesn't have enough time to describe them just in a conversation. **[00:49:33]** So if any of you, **[00:49:38]** I'll use this for a small commercial moment, if any of you want to know more about the differences **[00:49:43]** you might encounter in Nigeria, try the book 72 Frice. **[00:49:48]** Nigeria is a federal republic where the state apparatus basically doesn't function. **[00:50:00]** And what does it mean when the police withdraw and basically don't exist? **[00:50:07]** Well, if it weren't so tragic, it would basically be funny. **[00:50:11]** Because in Nigeria, taxes are very low, **[00:50:16]** but since you pay almost no taxes, the state provides almost no services. **[00:50:22]** That means everyone kind of fends for themselves. **[00:50:26]** And the state mainly lives off income from oil and other mineral wealth. **[00:50:31]** But what do the people live on? Hard to say for the state. **[00:50:36]** Interestingly, maybe it's a phenomenon of the old golden times, **[00:50:43]** but the older generation fondly remembers the colonial era, **[00:50:48]** when things were orderly and roads were repaired. **[00:50:52]** So, like in the colonized country, while in the colonizer's country statues are being torn down **[00:50:59]** and dust is being thrown on heads for what happened there, **[00:51:03]** which the colonized people today happily remember. **[00:51:07]** But of course Nigeria, because it is a huge country, **[00:51:11]** is the seventh most important country in the world, **[00:51:14]** and in 10-15 years it is expected to have a quarter of a billion inhabitants, **[00:51:19]** so the ability to govern, the governability, is naturally lower there. **[00:51:25]** That means various tendencies still pop up there. **[00:51:30]** In northern Nigeria, Boko Haram actually emerged, **[00:51:33]** which started a kind of unpublicized civil war, **[00:51:38]** that has been going on for over 10 years and has 50, maybe 60 thousand victims. **[00:51:42]** It has already spread to neighboring countries, and that is in the north. **[00:51:46]** While in the south, actually in the area where my family comes from, **[00:51:50]** there are militias, armed groups, **[00:51:54]** that somehow try to gain a share of the oil extraction. **[00:51:59]** That means wherever you go, there is some danger. **[00:52:05]** And actually the very place where my family comes from, **[00:52:08]** we, in quotes, specialize in kidnappings there, **[00:52:12]** so there are a lot of kidnappings in our area. **[00:52:15]** And you mentioned that the police disappeared. **[00:52:18]** That’s not an old story, it happened this spring or last autumn. **[00:52:24]** One of those armed groups basically declared war on the armed forces, **[00:52:29]** meaning they started attacking police and military checkpoints, **[00:52:34]** then police stations. **[00:52:37]** And within a few weeks, the army and police simply withdrew **[00:52:43]** and the state really lived for several months without police. **[00:52:49]** It’s nothing unusual, if someone breaks into your place, **[00:52:55]** or you have a problem in Nigeria, you call the police, they don’t come. **[00:52:59]** That’s part of the package: low taxes, few services. **[00:53:04]** But if the police really disappear for three months, **[00:53:09]** that’s a very serious problem. **[00:53:12]** And now, to put this back into the matrix **[00:53:19]** of the black-and-white world, this is happening in one place **[00:53:23]** while at the same time, huge **[00:53:27]** development contracts for land are being signed in a city, **[00:53:32]** just a few hundred kilometers away, where the land, **[00:53:36]** or the plots, are more expensive than Manhattan in New York, **[00:53:40]** and huge modern centers are being built there, **[00:53:43]** where the technology is probably from the 20th century. **[00:53:48]** And these two realities coexist side by side, and believe me, **[00:53:52]** that it's not easy not only to explain, **[00:53:56]** but basically even to understand. **[00:54:00]** I didn't quite manage it myself, **[00:54:04]** and it builds a kind of duality in a person, **[00:54:08]** an inner ambivalence. **[00:54:10]** And when I reflected on it in this context, **[00:54:14]** of the king, of the way **[00:54:18]** you describe Nigeria, it seemed to me **[00:54:22]** that it's like the Middle Ages, where a person has to defend themselves, **[00:54:28]** they are kind of on their own. **[00:54:31]** Even the kingdom there kind of is. **[00:54:35]** I actually wondered if the barber school, **[00:54:38]** or hairdressing school, wasn't actually for you **[00:54:43]** the best possible investment to survive there. **[00:54:46]** What do you think about that in hindsight? **[00:54:49]** Definitely, of course, I didn't see it that way back then, **[00:54:54]** especially when we only had beans for dinner **[00:54:58]** and we got beaten on the back with sticks. **[00:55:03]** But I remember when my dad took me there at fifteen, **[00:55:09]** and we spoke Russian together back then, **[00:55:13]** and I told him he couldn't leave me there, **[00:55:17]** because I assume you haven't read that book. **[00:55:20]** The first moment I came to that barber school, **[00:55:23]** I opened the gate, there was an atrium, **[00:55:26]** and about 30 boys were lying there, getting beaten **[00:55:30]** with rods and sticks on their backs, **[00:55:33]** and it was a huge shock for me, and my father told me in Russian then, **[00:55:38]** that we all have to suffer some pain. **[00:55:42]** And that's how he sent me there, but he knew **[00:55:47]** that one day he wouldn't be here and one day I should **[00:55:52]** take his place on his throne, **[00:55:57]** to take on some responsibility, **[00:56:00]** to provide some protection for the family, **[00:56:03]** and maybe help them, because my siblings **[00:56:06]** were around 10-12 years old when he died, **[00:56:09]** so I had to bear it, not collapse from it, **[00:56:14]** to be a kind of bridge for some time, **[00:56:18]** and he just knew that to manage this, **[00:56:24]** I needed courage. **[00:56:27]** And of course, I didn't have that until then **[00:56:30]** and after that barber school, I didn't have them either, **[00:56:34]** because I was quite broken by it, **[00:56:37]** but over time, as you process the experience, **[00:56:41]** you realize that the limits you thought you had, **[00:56:45]** are actually somewhere completely different. **[00:56:48]** And the fact that some experience pushes your frustration tolerance **[00:56:52]** miles further is really important. **[00:56:57]** The mentality, we know it from the Rocky movie, **[00:57:05]** it's not over until it's over. **[00:57:08]** And today we all laugh at it, **[00:57:10]** because it's a film from '75, but it's true. **[00:57:14]** Raising that frustration tolerance basically means **[00:57:18]** that you believe it's really not over until it's over. **[00:57:22]** And without that barber school, I probably wouldn't have made it. **[00:57:27]** Now another thread is coming to me, **[00:57:30]** which I wasn't sure if I even wanted to start here, **[00:57:33]** but I'll say it anyway. And that is the confrontation **[00:57:36]** with our Western civilization **[00:57:39]** and our Western culture, **[00:57:42]** which is actually happening now in the context of today's times. **[00:57:45]** Something is coming at us, although it's still far enough away, **[00:57:49]** but we are, after all, already comfortable. **[00:57:52]** And actually, whether at all, **[00:57:55]** you mentioned it too, **[00:57:58]** we are entering those worlds, **[00:58:01]** we come here to show you how it should be done, **[00:58:04]** and it can actually overwhelm us. **[00:58:07]** So what do you actually think about that? **[00:58:10]** I'll share a personal experience. **[00:58:18]** Which might bring us back to what **[00:58:21]** we talked about regarding Nigeria. **[00:58:25]** In Nigeria, about 50% of the population **[00:58:30]** lives without electricity **[00:58:33]** and below the poverty line, **[00:58:36]** actually at the initial edge of destitution. **[00:58:39]** And when you say 50%, **[00:58:42]** it's just a percentage. **[00:58:46]** But 50% means over 100 million people. **[00:58:49]** And every day you see the struggle to survive there. **[00:58:54]** You see families, **[00:58:57]** who are deciding whether they will have two meals a day **[00:59:04]** or just one meal a day. **[00:59:07]** And I very often encounter the argument, **[00:59:10]** which has some relation to the migration wave and so on, **[00:59:14]** and it often comes up, why do they have so many children, **[00:59:18]** if they can't even support them. **[00:59:20]** This can be explained very simply. **[00:59:22]** In a country without a social system, **[00:59:25]** your only social insurance, **[00:59:28]** your only pension, your only care, **[00:59:31]** when you can't manage anymore, are your children, **[00:59:34]** or rather those who survive to adulthood. **[00:59:38]** That is the economic model. **[00:59:41]** And you live in this kind of environment **[00:59:44]** and you see families living in conditions **[00:59:48]** that are indescribable. **[00:59:51]** Then you get on a plane, land here, **[00:59:55]** meet a friend **[00:59:58]** and get stuck in a twenty-minute debate about whether to have a cappuccino or frappuccino. **[01:00:00]** And I think one human brain is too small **[01:00:05]** to fully grasp this, or at least mine didn't fully grasp it, **[01:00:11]** I failed to do so. And I think the confrontation of these worlds, **[01:00:16]** the hardest part will be to find some common communication platform. **[01:00:23]** Because when we in Europe say A and someone from this part of the world says A, **[01:00:31]** it's a completely different A. **[01:00:37]** Everyone still imagines something completely different, and I think **[01:00:41]** the most crucial thing will be to find some common communication channel, **[01:00:46]** because otherwise we create a situation where we arrive there, **[01:00:51]** hands in pockets, send some technology there like this, **[01:00:55]** save the situation from our perspective, push something forward, say, **[01:01:00]** the level of development by a leap of 100 years, and then leave. **[01:01:09]** But that leap of 100 years has to be lived through, it has to be balanced. **[01:01:15]** And then the growing pains come again, and the problems come again, **[01:01:21]** and the big question arises why, for example, Western democracy doesn't work in Africa **[01:01:25]** or doesn't work in the Middle East. **[01:01:31]** Because the mentality, culture, history, and general worldview of these people **[01:01:34]** come from a completely different place, and from a place we know nothing about. **[01:01:41]** One of the reasons I invited you to this breakfast is that I feel **[01:01:48]** you have at least somewhat found that communication link by being there as a king, **[01:01:57]** That you were accepted. So how did you manage that? **[01:02:02]** Originally, I believed I would manage to connect my story, **[01:02:08]** which was about Afro-Czechness. What I mainly achieved was **[01:02:13]** that I became Czech in the Czech Republic and Nigerian in Nigeria, **[01:02:17]** and I live this schizophrenic life. **[01:02:24]** Here we talk like this, but when I leave, I call my steward in Nigeria, **[01:02:29]** and during those 20 minutes we talk, **[01:02:35]** I become the Nigerian tribal chief king. **[01:02:40]** And what kind of king will you be? **[01:02:42]** Of course, strict and just. **[01:02:48]** Well, I would like to be strict and just. **[01:02:54]** A little behind-the-scenes info. **[01:02:59]** When you are crowned king at 33, **[01:03:04]** it's quite a big ego burden. **[01:03:11]** So before you get used to the fact that it's not just about you, **[01:03:16]** that you are not the center of the world, before you get through the whole ego journey, **[01:03:23]** it takes some time. **[01:03:27]** And then maybe you have a chance to become wise and just. **[01:03:33]** So I don't think I can boast any wisdom at my age, **[01:03:39]** but I would like to believe that I have somehow realized **[01:03:44]** what is right, what is wrong, how I can be helpful to something, **[01:03:50]** and of course, things I used to think were right, **[01:03:56]** through the prism of my current age, I now see **[01:04:02]** thank God it didn't turn out even worse. **[01:04:06]** But at first, a person thinks it's all about them. **[01:04:14]** And even the myth from fairy tales, as we know it, **[01:04:18]** is based on this, but it's actually the opposite. **[01:04:22]** And we could clearly see this recently in the honors **[01:04:27]** given to Queen Elizabeth, **[01:04:32]** because she took the job, the task, the mission to the extreme. **[01:04:39]** And it beautifully showed that it's mainly about **[01:04:43]** service. **[01:04:47]** That the role is such that you must give those around you **[01:04:51]** direction, some certainty, and never hesitate when needed **[01:04:55]** to sacrifice yourself in some way for those you lead. **[01:04:59]** I really enjoy this question I have for you, **[01:05:08]** because I probably will never ask it again in my life. **[01:05:12]** What actually is the work of a king? **[01:05:16]** Well, we won't overdo it. **[01:05:29]** But seriously, you are above all, **[01:05:34]** above all, you are a symbol **[01:05:38]** and it's extremely important that every community, **[01:05:45]** any larger group needs someone **[01:05:49]** who will set the rules. **[01:05:53]** I saw this very clearly in my family's story, **[01:05:58]** when my father died, he left a huge void **[01:06:04]** and because he was the king **[01:06:08]** and in his civilian job was a police general, **[01:06:13]** he had enormous authority. **[01:06:16]** And as soon as he was gone, **[01:06:20]** our entire family, both close and extended, completely imploded, **[01:06:24]** totally collapsed. **[01:06:27]** And I realized from that, **[01:06:32]** that in every such community there must be someone, **[01:06:37]** who doesn't have to be and maybe shouldn't be too popular, **[01:06:43]** because trying to be loved and liked **[01:06:47]** versus wanting to be respected or even feared, **[01:06:51]** is more practical so you can be any kind of benefit **[01:06:57]** to the people over whom you hold this so-called **[01:07:02]** power position, they need the latter. **[01:07:06]** Because as long as everything is fine, **[01:07:10]** you are not important. But once things stop working, **[01:07:14]** you must have built enough authority **[01:07:18]** to intervene and prevent the worst **[01:07:22]** and so that the parties somehow respect you. **[01:07:25]** So I don't know if I answered that. **[01:07:29]** Of course, once that basic feeling of "wow, I'm the king" faded, **[01:07:34]** I started reading books **[01:07:39]** that might prepare me a little for it, **[01:07:43]** and I came across a quote from Marcus Aurelius in Meditations, **[01:07:53]** where he writes that doing good and receiving disgrace is the royal fate. **[01:08:01]** And that's exactly it, popularity is so fickle **[01:08:07]** that it isn't important to you, and you need to follow **[01:08:11]** your conscience and try to move your people forward **[01:08:17]** while also being their protection. **[01:08:20]** I'm not saying I've achieved all this, **[01:08:23]** but it's something I aspire to. **[01:08:26]** It's the place where I'd like to see myself after some time, **[01:08:31]** when I know I've reached it, **[01:08:34]** Regarding some life wisdom, regarding some maturity. **[01:08:39]** I still see big reserves, so I'm working on myself. **[01:08:44]** There are already a lot of questions here. **[01:08:48]** Many of them are actually about your title. **[01:08:51]** I know that, you are still the Nigerian king. **[01:08:54]** I'm not, yes, well, I'm not. **[01:09:01]** Now, of course, so the question doesn't lead to that, **[01:09:05]** so before you were king, you were a Nigerian prince, **[01:09:08]** and then I start apologizing for the emails and stuff. **[01:09:12]** Yes, the title I received is indeed for life, **[01:09:17]** but I would like to clarify that I am not the king of all Nigeria. **[01:09:21]** Because in every Nigerian city there are several nobles, **[01:09:26]** chiefs, and kings, and basically it comes from the fact **[01:09:32]** that before Nigeria became a federal republic, **[01:09:36]** the only power structure it had were traditional rulers. **[01:09:40]** And that means, just like in any military or corporate organization, **[01:09:45]** a smaller unit has someone who leads it, **[01:09:50]** and a larger unit consists of several smaller units, **[01:09:54]** each led by someone, and there is simply a pyramid structure. **[01:09:57]** That means I stand at some place in that pyramid. **[01:10:00]** Here is actually the question: how many subjects do you have and how large is the territory you govern? **[01:10:08]** Basically, these are some family estates, and whenever I get this question, **[01:10:19]** because it's not the first time, I refer to Prince Schwarzenberg, **[01:10:25]** to make it somewhat relatable; of course, in the 21st century he no longer has subjects, **[01:10:32]** but let's say he has his brewery, his forests, and his ponds, **[01:10:37]** and there he has some managers, some employees, and some tenants, **[01:10:42]** who today pay rent and used to pay tithes or do labor. **[01:10:48]** So yes, the medieval idea can't really be applied anymore, **[01:10:56]** and I don't know, it's in the range of a few hundred. **[01:11:05]** How many children do you have? **[01:11:11]** Another question? **[01:11:13]** Do you maintain any customs of Nigerian tradition here in the Czech Republic? **[01:11:19]** Do your African roots influence any hobbies you have? **[01:11:26]** I think yes, and I would definitely say so, but I can't recall right now, **[01:11:34]** because as a person, as it becomes part of you, **[01:11:40]** I might not be able to separate in my mind what is Czech and what is Nigerian, **[01:11:46]** but since today we have technologies that allow us at any moment **[01:11:54]** to talk live and see anyone live on this planet, **[01:11:59]** I basically still live the Nigerian life. **[01:12:03]** That means when I am in contact with my Nigerian part **[01:12:09]** and with my Nigerian heritage and my Nigerian people, **[01:12:15]** I act like a Nigerian, speak the language used there, **[01:12:23]** and do Nigerian things. **[01:12:26]** Here's a question about what language you speak there, because officially it's English, I think, **[01:12:32]** but there must be lots of different tribal languages, **[01:12:36]** so you probably had to learn them, or you already knew them? **[01:12:40]** You know, I thought I could easily get by with English there, **[01:12:45]** especially with the strong American accent I picked up in the nineties from CNN and MTV, **[01:12:51]** and that it would be really cool, but I couldn't communicate with anyone. **[01:12:56]** So I started learning the local jargon, which is common across West Africa, **[01:13:04]** it's called pidgin and it's a mix of English with, I'd say, **[01:13:11]** a kind of cute pronunciation plus some native words, **[01:13:17]** and naturally the grammar is a bit different, **[01:13:20]** so it's somewhat similar to Jamaican English. **[01:13:24]** That was it, because Nigeria has several hundred tribes **[01:13:30]** and several hundred languages plus some dialects, **[01:13:35]** so for example, we speak the Anang language, **[01:13:40]** but in the neighboring town, where one of my tribal employees comes from, **[01:13:46]** they speak Ibibio there. **[01:13:49]** Those languages are somewhat similar, like Czech and Polish, **[01:13:55]** but in another village or town 50 kilometers away, **[01:14:00]** they speak Efik. **[01:14:02]** So the solution for all of Nigeria was to introduce **[01:14:09]** this corrupted form of English, that is pidgin. **[01:14:13]** You now live in Spain, in Italy, so you probably understand that. **[01:14:20]** How often do you go back there, if at all, to Nigeria? **[01:14:24]** Well, lately, thanks to the pandemic, it's about once every few years. **[01:14:29]** You know, life is simply better in Europe. **[01:14:39]** So sure, I like to go back to see my family. **[01:14:44]** Of course, I have to oversee my duties somehow, **[01:14:47]** but honestly, it's not my favorite place. **[01:14:54]** And if you look at the basic news, you probably know, **[01:14:57]** that Nigeria and much of West Africa, **[01:15:02]** except maybe Ghana, is not a honeymoon spot, **[01:15:06]** where you could normally function without **[01:15:12]** being constantly on high alert. **[01:15:15]** And as you get older, you get less reckless. **[01:15:21]** So really, it's true that you have fear and concerns for your life there, **[01:15:25]** as you said, kidnappings, and this is probably the usual reality, **[01:15:28]** that happens when you arrive there. **[01:15:37]** Not everywhere though. Some parts of Nigeria are more dangerous. **[01:15:41]** Unfortunately, I come from a part that used to be safe, **[01:15:45]** but isn't so safe anymore. **[01:15:48]** Once, in an interview my mom did, **[01:15:52]** I somehow overheard how you consume news. **[01:15:57]** And how you view certain situations, **[01:16:01]** or things happening here in our context. **[01:16:05]** Try to give us some insight into this as well. **[01:16:08]** And I return again to the Czech mirror I started with. **[01:16:12]** We say, 'this is simply the worst thing that can happen.' How about you? **[01:16:16]** Well, I'm naturally curious and like to take time for myself **[01:16:20]** with a cup of coffee, so I watch Czech news, **[01:16:25]** I follow what's happening in Nigeria through Nigerian news. **[01:16:30]** I mainly live in Spain, so I also watch Spanish news. **[01:16:34]** At first it was a hobby, but then I suddenly realized **[01:16:39]** that some major events in other countries don't exist in the news here. **[01:16:43]** For example, I watch Czech news and couldn't find **[01:16:50]** what has filled Spanish news for the last 14 days, **[01:16:56]** which is Hurricane Ajen, which completely devastated Louisiana and Florida. **[01:17:00]** I don't know if it was mentioned here, but I couldn't find it at all. **[01:17:13]** It was absolutely huge news there. **[01:17:17]** At the same time, I noticed that daily coverage from Venezuela **[01:17:22]** didn't appear here at all. **[01:17:27]** And for example, when a terrorist attack happened in Nigeria, **[01:17:33]** killing 300-350 people, in other Western countries **[01:17:41]** the news was replaced by a traffic accident where everyone was uninjured. **[01:17:49]** This kind of 3D news watching puts you into the relativity **[01:17:55]** of the reality we live in. **[01:17:57]** Because you start asking what really is and what isn't. **[01:18:05]** All of Europe is terribly worried about the energy crisis now, **[01:18:09]** but it seems to me that the Czech Republic worries the most, **[01:18:15]** because in Spain almost no one worries about it. **[01:18:19]** In Italy, which depends on Russian gas just like us, **[01:18:25]** they don't worry either; the Alps provide residual heat there. **[01:18:28]** And it seems that some topics that we Czechs **[01:18:33]** get existentially shaken by and fear, **[01:18:37]** are not such a big deal elsewhere, **[01:18:45]** and instead, other issues are priorities for them. **[01:19:00]** which we simply just sweep off the table. **[01:19:04]** And another example, and I think this might be a bit controversial now, **[01:19:10]** was the migration crisis, **[01:19:15]** where I personally saw with my own eyes **[01:19:19]** that the migrants mostly live on TV. **[01:19:23]** Because according to the news, where I live, **[01:19:26]** several rubber boats with migrants are supposed to land daily, **[01:19:30]** for the last six or seven years, but I haven't met a single one. **[01:19:35]** So we're reaching a stage, and I would say, **[01:19:41]** that I've been in for some time now, not just a short while, **[01:19:44]** where the media reality **[01:19:48]** completely differs from the actual reality, **[01:19:53]** and I think it would benefit us to just look again at the fact **[01:19:57]** that one plus one is two, and not any other number. **[01:20:00]** Just use common sense and don't let yourself be manipulated into scenarios **[01:20:10]** that someone wants us to live for them and because of them. **[01:20:14]** Thanks for that, that’s exactly where I was heading with the question. I'm wrapping up now, beautiful question, too bad it's anonymous, **[01:20:26]** otherwise I would thank you a lot for it. What do roots and a person's identity mean to you, and what does home mean to you, Obonete? **[01:20:36]** You know, I think identity means everything, because you can't be anyone if you don't know **[01:20:48]** who you are. And honestly, for me, my journey to Africa was primarily a journey to find my own **[01:21:03]** identity and my own roots. In the end, not only did I find those roots there, but I stayed so long **[01:21:13]** that I actually put down roots there too. And despite everything we've talked about, which might sound sensational or tabloid-like, **[01:21:22]** this was the most important journey of my life, because I found the part **[01:21:34]** that I was missing. Whether you like it or not, one disadvantage of coming from two different genes is that you carry the genetic **[01:21:46]** experience, or in your genes you carry the experience of your ancestors. And when you live in an environment that satisfies only one part of your personality, **[01:22:00]** you are always like having only one hand and one leg, you are always only half. And even at the cost I paid, **[01:22:13]** emotionally and mentally, for what I now see as the strain in Africa, it was still worth it, because I had the chance to become **[01:22:24]** like a whole apple from that half apple. And I think I will be grateful for life that I figured it out, that I know it, that a trivial thing like **[01:22:40]** this palm tree was planted by my grandfather and my great-grandfather harvested coconuts from it, but that you find the other part of the story, priceless. **[01:22:58]** Thank you, Honete. Thanks so much for such a beautiful talk. **[01:23:02]** Thank you, and thank you all for coming. **[01:23:11]** I'll try to use the fact that we finished a bit early so you can especially sit in a small or larger circle today **[01:23:23]** and try to discuss the things we've talked about and touched on today in some way. **[01:23:33]** We would really appreciate any feedback you give us. **[01:23:37]** If you liked today's talk, even writing what made this breakfast interesting for you would be much appreciated. **[01:23:48]** Thanks a lot in advance. As I said, try to reflect, try to pause, we have plenty of time. **[01:23:58]** It helped me a lot, both this story here and when I studied it all, it opened many questions for me, **[01:24:06]** and I believe it can open some questions for you as well. **[01:24:11]** Of course, with Brain&Breakfast we will also have a follow-up discussion called Digestive, it's for digestion, **[01:24:20]** and it will be on November third. I'm trying to get all possible guests, unfortunately Jemi can't make it, but he sends his regards to you and you too, **[01:24:31]** but Klára Laurenčíková and a few others will be there. If you'd like to chat with us and discuss this in more detail, **[01:24:40]** on November 3rd from 1:30 PM you'll have the opportunity on the Red Button Edu platform. **[01:24:46]** Red Button continues with the book of the month project, and for November we have the book The End of Aging, **[01:24:53]** there's even a 30% discount for that month on it, so check out rbkniha.cz. **[01:25:02]** And of course, stay loyal to Red Button Edu, because there are many events and discussions there. **[01:25:15]** I would like to invite you to the penultimate breakfast of this year. **[01:25:22]** The breakfast will be hosted by Jan Habel, Associate Professor Jan Habel, and it will be about Jan Amos Komenský and mainly about character. **[01:25:34]** Jan Amos Komenský says that a learned but immoral person is a burden to the earth. **[01:25:40]** We will talk about character and what the teacher of nations gave us as a legacy, so we don't forget it. **[01:25:48]** So if you're interested in this next legacy, on November 14th from 8:30 AM, either here at Magenta, **[01:25:57]** or anywhere via the Red Button Edu platform. **[01:26:00]** Once again, thank you very much, thank you for taking the time. **[01:26:04]** Take care, goodbye and see you. **[01:26:10]** www.arkance-systems.cz