Comments on naijablog: Critique of NOI

It is important to recognize that there is no prec...

2006-06-03T00:11:00.000+01:00

It is important to recognize that there is no precedent for what Ngozi has managed to acheive, I choose to believe that now that the bar has been raised (even if there are those who don't consider it high enough!) people will no longer be satisfied with mediocrity, and the economy will continue to grow from strength to strength.

That Ibo comment was quite silly and I feel offend...

2006-06-02T09:50:00.000+01:00

That Ibo comment was quite silly and I feel offended by it. Sisi, you may be thinking it juvenile but you should be really sorry for unwittingly insulting others. Your apology is does make up for the hurt that you have caused.

Given that NgoziOW was subject of a well-orchestrated media campaign to raise more funds, over hyped media headline is not the way to help Africa, it is the way products are sold. It is a shame that our best is pretty much ordinary even though her achievements are quite outstanding for the region. Big fish is a dirty small bowl.

To the last 'anonymous', we don't know that 'sisi'...

2006-05-31T23:21:00.000+01:00

To the last 'anonymous', we don't know that 'sisi' is the same as 'sisi oge'.

Please, people...

sisi oge, yes, let it go. it could get worse.

2006-05-31T22:49:00.000+01:00

sisi oge,

yes, let it go. it could get worse.

Ha, ha, ha! I can't believe this.I've been mum but...

2006-05-31T16:20:00.000+01:00

Ha, ha, ha! I can't believe this.

I've been mum but please just this last comment:

So, ALL Ibo women can't tie headtie? And ALL Yoruba women cook oily/watery soup?

Sisi, let it go. I beg of you. Just let it go...

And Nigerians are all, without exception, corrupt ...

2006-05-31T15:26:00.000+01:00

And Nigerians are all, without exception, corrupt 419 people, everyone knows that, of course.

That doesn't stop them being nice people - abi, Sisi?

Anon

Really I do not see the harm in what I have said. ...

2006-05-31T15:18:00.000+01:00

Really I do not see the harm in what I have said. Ibo women can't tie headtie end of story, just like yoruba people cannot but cook oily/watery soup. Does the fact that NOI can't tie headtie remove from the fact that she is an intelligent woman? no, likewise a yoruba woman is no less a good cook, even if her stew/soup is stereotyped as being watery/oily.

You all are up in arms like I called her a nigger or used some other nasty slur to describe her.

Sisi, there can be no explanation for your earlier...

2006-05-31T11:45:00.000+01:00

Sisi, there can be no explanation for your earlier comments. So it is good that you have apologised and retreated. We all have to keep an eye on the ugly monster of ethnicity from raising its head. So apologies accepted and i forgive you

AB

A thousand apologies to all who took offence to my...

2006-05-31T09:14:00.000+01:00

A thousand apologies to all who took offence to my statement about NOI's headtie and her being Ibo (she is actually Delta-Ibo I am told).

I think here I should go into the why of my earlier remark, but I really don't have the energy.

Please retract the Ibo comment! Very Insulting!

2006-05-30T23:43:00.000+01:00

Please retract the Ibo comment! Very Insulting!

At first i found sisi's comment funny considering ...

2006-05-30T19:34:00.000+01:00

At first i found sisi's comment funny considering the stereotype, but later realised it's context. Nkem has a point, we really musn't carry on with segregationist attitude supposedly inherent in us human beings. It has to stop, afterall aren't we all preaching a better Nigeria?

It would be nice if the article in question to whi...

2006-05-30T18:41:00.000+01:00

It would be nice if the article in question to which MW is referring attracted the volume of comments that an individual personal opinion has. The very nature of a BLOG enshrines freedom of speech. Should MW not be allowed her freedom?

In a democracy, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. What many people find damaging is equally damaging to MW, because it appears she is not entitled to make such an opinion. Is this really correct?

Freedom to all!

Btw: Jeremy thanks for this post.

Ouch.. I've just read Moses' excoriating repost. B...

2006-05-30T18:05:00.000+01:00

Ouch.. I've just read Moses' excoriating repost. Beyond his gratuitous venting, he got one thing right-"the self-referenced universe" that is Abuja.
In the well known Nigerian tradition of skewered political punditry, it has always been easier to skewer personalities, curse the darkness instead of providing light. In all of this Moses, I see no burning bush, I see no encounter with light. We very often underestimate the complexities and the improbabilities of the Nigerian state. Say what you may about the sister's foibles, but you have to give her props for sticking her neck out and trying to do something about that infuriating quandry known as Nigeria. There is more to be done, lots more to be sure, but at least for the first time, we can see the footprints and the direction of new vistas..eh hem..promised land anyone?

When I saw the title of the article I thought it w...

2006-05-30T16:23:00.000+01:00

When I saw the title of the article I thought it was a critique of the Nation of Islam, LOL. MW, I once read an article about Einstein that once it had dealt with his theory of relativity alluded to him having a wardrobe full of the same items of clothing. So NOI's lack of dress sense might actually be clues to signs of brilliance...

The guy who wrote that stuff ovbiously has an ax t...

2006-05-30T16:06:00.000+01:00

The guy who wrote that stuff ovbiously has an ax to grind that he isn't letting on. Let's face it, (and especially when you compare her with her predecessors) the lady has done a good job, so we should give applause where it is due...

I have just read the interview itself, having post...

2006-05-30T15:53:00.000+01:00

I have just read the interview itself, having posted earlier.

All I can say is - shame on you, Moses. The woman is open, charming, intelligent....almost sexy (in a Harvard MBA kinda way)....

The best bit of the interview is when the interviewer asks about reforms continuing after she and OBJ are gone. She asks - "do you know the President of Switzerland?", interviewer: "No".

QED. Beautiful.

Anon

Ochonu is too splenetic to be taken seriously.Some...

2006-05-30T15:14:00.000+01:00

Ochonu is too splenetic to be taken seriously.

Someone can go back to his article and count the number of negative adjectives.

As our people say, handshake wey pass elbow don become another thing. Analysis cannot begin from a position of such deranged enmity. A case in point is taking Okonjo-Iweala to task for the title of the interview. Since when does an interviewee have editorial control over the title of a piece?

Of course, that's not to suggest that substantive criticism of Mme Minister cannot be made. It can and it should, but Ochonu does it in the wrongest manner possible.

Sisi, at the risk of turning a comment into a full...

2006-05-30T12:48:00.000+01:00

Sisi, at the risk of turning a comment into a full blown riposte, what other stereotypes do you hold?

Nigerians dont deal with criticism well and that s...

2006-05-30T12:39:00.000+01:00

Nigerians dont deal with criticism well and that stems from the fact that we're used to putting up with rubbish; so when someone thinks they're doing a half decent job, they recon noone has the right to tell them they could always do a half decent job a bit better; because there are thousands of lowlives not even doing any jobs in the first place.
On the flip side, Abuja speak is something every Nigerian politician has to unfortunately learn...there are too many people more interested in pursuing other peoples downfalls (haters basically) and power than actual progress, hence critisicm (more often than not - destructive) is too easily branded about before any though is given into it.
Its not so much a catch 22, but a case of too many people criticising others for the wrong reasons hence those that do have genuine concerns are also branded enemies of progress. she's obviously reeling from attacks from those after her scalp and like you said has become quite paranoid - but then again, who in Abuja isnt?

Folks, I am sure Moses has a point he is trying to...

2006-05-30T12:13:00.000+01:00

Folks, I am sure Moses has a point he is trying to make somewhere in his article, but he loses his way a little and comes accross as slightly bitter and cynical. I fear he doth protest too much.

He makes one really valid point: that it is too early to count as an unqualified success, the economic reform of one of Africa's most notable cesspits of corruption. He is absolutely correct - we must not, as a people, take our foot off the gas, nor our eyes off the ultimate prize: a growing economy and an equitable society.

The bear fact is that the structural reforms have not started touching the ordinary Nigerian. Given however that it can take up to 5 years for economic policy to filter down to the grassroots - I think it may be too soon to pass judgement. It is clear, however that a good start has been made.

It pleases me no end that Moses has not a single substansive accusation of corruption or mis-appropraition against Ngozi. All his criticisms are on her style, not her substance.

That, for me makes her about the best success story to come out of Nigerian politics for a long, long time.

Anon

Sisi. What does being Igbo have to do with NOI's a...

2006-05-30T12:02:00.000+01:00

Sisi. What does being Igbo have to do with NOI's apparent inablity to tie a headtie. I resent that comment. It's a rude racist/tribalist statement, and I ask you retract it. Please.

Sisi, just seen your post. I would suggest we don...

2006-05-30T11:59:00.000+01:00

Sisi, just seen your post. I would suggest we don't take this th ethnic way. I know lots of elegant Igbo women.

There are too many things to comment on, but at th...

2006-05-30T11:58:00.000+01:00

There are too many things to comment on, but at the risk of turning a comment into a full blown riposte... Mr Chonu shouldn't be naive enough to ignore the context in which the interview was conducted. It wasn't a necessarily a back slapping exercise for NOI, but for Bono (who guest edited the Indy that day) and could claim some credit for African debt relief.

There are obviously questions over the wisdom of borrowing $1b from China, but having $30b in federal reserves is not a justification of those questions. People might say that running an economy is like running a household, that's amusing but slightly disingenuous.

It is understandable that she'd be politically insecure and in need of Western validation. If her "reforms" will be scuppered, she has a right to feel politically insecure. Besides, she did say that she reckoned the changes her team had brought in would outlast her term. This doesn't sound insecure to me. It is also understandable that she needs Western validation, these are the people she has to please for Nigeria to achieve all the investment indicators.

It might be a good idea for Mr Ochonu to interview the minister, mano a womano, and probe her on the so called reforms. Should be a "frank exchange of views".

Let it not be said that I'm for seriousness only. ...

2006-05-30T11:57:00.000+01:00

Let it not be said that I'm for seriousness only.

Note the 'and' that begins the 2nd sentence in my last post. In addition to the headtie thing (which I've noticed many a time) the main point here is: I hold on to my small sense of disquiet concerning the persona in question.

I hope I'm allowed to have such.

@ MW - She is ibo, what to you expect?

2006-05-30T11:53:00.000+01:00

@ MW - She is ibo, what to you expect?