In today's Thisday, there's my rejoinder to my friend, Uzo Iweala's article 'Stop Trying To Save Africa'.
It's not short, so I will just post an excerpt here:
Until our own people know as much as Bill Gates, Angelina Jolie, or for that matter Madonna do about the specifics of our realities, they might just as well hold their peace and get up to speed. Even more to the point, if some of us go beyond ourselves, we would actually find out that people like Bono, through DATA and Edun and other such ideas, are doing exactly as we “ask”: promoting trade alongside aid.
If it has indeed become fashionable for the West and its celebrities and magazines to “save Africa”, then all we should feel is gratitude. Because the real tragedy is that while college students in America, no matter how misguided, spend their spare time doing whatever they can to draw attention to African causes, ‘real’ Africans who school and work in America and Europe do little or absolutely nothing, sitting pretty and advancing their careers and life, and then turning around to look Bono and Bob Geldof in the face and say “don’t insult my intelligence”.
What grandstanding!
As a matter of fact, it is my sincere hope that Africa continues to be more and more fashionable...
You can read the complete piece HERE.
And then, at the risk of being accused of doing a 'Yar'adua' - I think the President's Spokesperson, rising from the initial stumblings, has settled in quite well. Today, he explains in The Guardian the President's decision to over-turn himself and the beauty of accepting 'correction' HERE
9 comments:
Glad that Yar'dua had to over-turn himself on this AG/EFCC issue. I heard from the grapevine that it was Ibori/Nduka Obiagbena via the AG that orchestrated the legal memo that gave rise to AG/EFFC fiasco and that ThisDay reporters are paid Yar'dua mouth pieces...Now, I know why you are appropriately christened a 'Yar'adua'. Is dat true?
Please clarify Chude!
Chude, I didn't know you had exams o!!! I'm so sorry. Oya I will buy you something to congrtulate you. What shall I buy you? London Okpa?
all i have to say to people who want to stop saving AFRICA [uzodinma] is
' SHUT UP AND DANCE OR GET OFF THE DANCE FLOOR'....LOL
THANKS TO OPRAH AND BONO ..please keep saving AFRICA....
"There is no African, myself included, who does not appreciate the help of the wider world, but we do question whether aid is genuine or given in the spirit of affirming one's cultural superiority"- Uzodinma Iweala
Chude,how far now?Make you switch on your fone read the congratulatory msgs I sent you..I am really pleased for you dear..Paid mouth pieces?Thats serious o!
@ur article/write up....
i support u 100%
KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK.......
make sure u send it to uzo iweala..
Though I have some reservations about the whole publicity stunts woven around the Messianic streaks of Westerners in their bids to rescue the so-labelled Dark Continent, I kinda think Africans celebrities themselves should come to the fore so these messiahs won't think without them involvement, Africa is unsave-able.
Nice Blog you have there.
Well said Chude on your article. Yes, it does upset me atimes when I see Africa portrayed as a continent full of poverty and disease or Nigeria as a corrupt place.Until we can turn things around ourselves, we need all the help we can get.
@nigeria,
no be for my mouth dem go hear say teacher mama na winch!! Seriously tho, this much i will tell you: no one CAN control this president
@ide,
you are not getting off that easily o! we have to negotiate.lol
@mystories,
LOL
@uknaija,
thanks man for the congrats. On this, you see the problem with excerpting Uzo's article is that you lose its context. Many of the things he said surrounding that particular quite are actually directly contradictory to it. Such is the moral ambiguity of those who stand on the platform of one sense of superiority to denounce another.
@aloofa,
thanks
@adede,
true, true
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