Nurse, singer and mum-of-four Maureen Aku Disu, above, who came to Ireland from Nigeria in 2002 but is now an Irish citizen, was a guest on RTÉ R1’s Mooney Goes Wild, with Derek Mooney, yesterday
Ms Aku Disu came here with her partner, who was from another tribe.
At the beginning of his show, Mr Mooney read out a letter Ms Aku Disu wrote to him, as a means to introduce her to his listeners.
I’m newly graduated from Trinity College’s as a general nurse (St James’s Hospital) . I am an immigrant and yes, my first name is Maureen, although many Irish people find it hard to believe. The story about my name is a long one but I believe it’s destiny, my Irish name, migrating into Ireland and becoming an Irish citizen. Destiny is the only explanation for it. There are different types of immigrants, just like there are differences in Irish people but most people do not see people like us, who have been through hell to put ourselves through university and be meaningful members of society.
I went to school Monday to Friday and worked Saturday and Sunday to raise my school fees while students went away on summer breaks. I worked all through summer just to make money to pay my university fees. In total, it cost me over €40,000 to get my degree as I did not have my citizenship then, so had to pay fees. Life in Ireland has not been a walk in the park for me, like someone walking up to you on a street and telling you to go back to where you come from. Apart from being a nurse, I also have a passion for putting my feelings into songs.
Some of my experiences have led me to write the songs in the enclosed CD. I hope to send my message across via my songs but I have faced many rejections. I feel like some people don’t want my voice to be heard. Some music producers have asked me to change the words in my songs. They tell me that Irish people will not like my message. That I am wasting my talent with such lyrics. Some say I should change my lyrics to love lyrics or something else to make my songs more acceptable but I am not that type of a songwriter. I write from my heart. If I don’t feel it, I can’t sing it. Every single song that I’ve written comes from deep within me. I do not seek to entertain, I seek to pass a message across and I believe my message is clear. Being an immigrant does not make me less human.
As I have been through a lot of rejections, I am currently on a quest to find the person who will be willing to let me message be heard by playing my song on radio. I am hoping you are the one. But if you are not comfortable to let my message be heard, please let me know by simply putting my CD back into the envelope and just write ‘Return To Sender’ on it. It helps me keep track of the efforts I’ve made to share my message. If you’re happy to help to air my message please kindly let me know when you are planning to air my message/play my song.
Thanks,
Maureen Aku Disu.
Mr Mooney then interviewed Maureen, during which he asked her if she experiences racism in Ireland.
She replied:
“I just feel like people don’t, they don’t want, they don’t take the time to know you. People just, they have everything made up in their minds and because they don’t get to know you know you, they don’t get to know you and they don’t get to like you. One of the songs that I sung, I just say, you know, it’s like some people complain ‘oh they take all the jobs, they took all the jobs’ and at the same time, they’re saying ‘they take, they take all the welfare money’. I’m like ‘what do you want? do you want us to work. They just, like, basically, they just want you to just disappear, you know? So it’s a very difficult situation to find yourself, especially considering the fact that the colour of your skin means you stand out. You know? There are immigrants from England, white people from England. Nobody looks at them and thinks ‘oh look at that immigrant’.”
After the interview, Derek played her song Bloody Immigrants, in the video below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Dn2jotIkjw
These are the lyrics:
“I am an immigrant,
I am an immigrant,
I am an immigrant,
I am a bloody immigrant.”“That’s what some call us,
That’s what some always say,
They call us bloody immigrants.”“I have blood in my veins,
If you don’t know, then that’s a shame,
As long as there is blood in my veins,
I’m not gonna let my life be a waste.”“But when we work,
Some say we’re taking all the jobs,
And when we don’t,
Some say we’re taking all the welfare,
Can’t you see?
We can never please,
We can never please everybody.”“Think about what you are doing to me,
Someone, somewhere, someday might do it to you,
Think twice, think twice,
Of what you do to me.”“When we work,
Some say we’re taking all the jobs,
And when we don’t,
Some say we’re taking all the welfare,
Can’t you see?
We can never please,
We can never please everybody.”“I wanna be as free as the birds in the sky,
Just to be free to aim up high,
Oh no, I’m just a bloody immigrant,
Some don’t think that I have the right to have a life.”“I am an immigrant,
I am an immigrant,
I am an immigrant,
I am a bloody immigrant.”“That’s what some call us,
That’s what some always say,
They call us bloody immigrants”
Listen to the full interview here