Jonathan Dimbleby in Africa
The one man National Treasure visits Mali, Ghana and, in the final 10 minutes, Nigeria. In Nigeria he flies with Dangote in his private jet to his cement factory and asks him if he has participated in corruption. He then meets Naeto C and Sasha in Lagos.
After watching the section on the King of the Ashanti in Ghana and the moral/juridical/spiritual authority bestowed upon him, I wondered whether there is any equivalent figure in Nigeria among the Emirs and the traditional rulers of the South. It seems that in Nigeria, traditional rulers these days are simply business men who use their position to further their interests and have little spiritual authority. Perhaps that is a simplification however..
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4 comments:
Jeremy what is your beef with Nigeria Ohhhh?
The same question should be directed (and answered) about the monarchy in the UK.
Bollocks, Anon stop getting wound up for no reason.
Let's face it Nigeria is majorly messed up and people should be asking strong questions and demansing answers everyday. It seems some people don't want to face up to it.....maybe they're profiting from the mess.
@ Anon 2:59PM (and Jeremy)
Some of your comments and sentiments are unfortunately rooted in ignorance (of the innocent variety, I hope). The reality the world over is that the institution of royalty (a cultural fossile at best, and an archane repository of institutionalized social inequalities at worst) has often had difficulties reconciling itself with modern realities.
Even the Asantehene, whom Jeremy attributes so much moral authority is presently being rubbished in the popular press here for causing bloody hostilities with the Techinman (after threatening to kidnap the Techinmanhene) and for attacking the John Mills govt allegedly because of his ethnic bias and has been PUBLICLY working to reconcile Nana Akufo-Addo and Alan Kyerematen, the two leading NPP presidential contenders.
I will not even mention the likes of Sarah Ferguson, who was last seen on camera accepting and soliciting bribes in exchange for royal access (and presumably favors ), but the act is that royals have to negotiate and co-exist with modern realities where prestige and moral suasion are not necessarily the currency the once were. Nevertheless, there are many royal institutions in Nigeria (the Sultan of Sokoto, the Obas of Benin, Badagry and even Lagos, the Emir of Kano, etc) who have managed to hold on to some semblance of traditional moral authority while steeped in the realities of 21st century Nigeria.
All of you, including Jeremy too, have good points.....clap for yourselves!!
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