Comments on naijablog: Soyinka

Soyinka is a celebrity of some sort than a writer....

2010-02-04T19:26:34.518+01:00

Soyinka is a celebrity of some sort than a writer. He must go through hell all the time. I think people from good homes are aware that it is rude to talk to people as you wish, all the time! Those people were all ill mannered and shameless.

Well, I really think that our own individual appro...

2008-10-26T20:31:00.000+01:00

Well, I really think that our own individual approach to life matters. Talking of Role Models, I believe tthat the likes of Dr. Oluyombo Awojobi should be mentioned. Come to think of it, the man must have touched the lives of many more Nigerians that some of our politicians put together. The beauty of it is that he is not loud about it. God bless him. - Ademola Agiri

Anon 12.52, why are you even here?Surely there's a...

2008-07-01T23:01:00.000+01:00

Anon 12.52, why are you even here?
Surely there's a Tardis waiting to take you back to the Stone Ages.......

if he can't cope with the celebrity then he should...

2008-07-01T16:41:00.000+01:00

if he can't cope with the celebrity then he should go fuck himself

i preferred things fall apart anyway

....and Fashanu is a traitor fucktard that doesn't deserve the pres[ect I would accord to a steaming pile of shit/

Observing the reaction this weekend of a large num...

2008-07-01T12:14:00.000+01:00

Observing the reaction this weekend of a large number of kids who had just spotted Everton's Andy Johnson on their patch(Priory Court, E17) goes to show that maybe we lack role models all over the world.

@kody, if you quit the slavish boot-licking, I'm s...

2008-07-01T00:55:00.000+01:00

@kody, if you quit the slavish boot-licking, I'm sure nobody will pick on your comments.

@ me, 3:51, yes a lot of people will never see pas...

2008-07-01T00:52:00.000+01:00

@ me, 3:51, yes a lot of people will never see past the fact that Jeremy is white. Folks like you - who suddenly start to drool the moment they see white skin.

Efulefu.

PSTEEW! much yawa about nothing.... I dont know mu...

2008-06-30T21:27:00.000+01:00

PSTEEW! much yawa about nothing.... I dont know much about Fashanu but i remember him to be a man of style which is a quality i admire in anyone.

Y'all just want a let's piss all over Jeremy Weate party which i believe is a monthly affair

I am so done with this stupid discussion now so I ...

2008-06-30T20:26:00.000+01:00

I am so done with this stupid discussion now so I will move on to a point (not relating to the original post) that will no doubt stir even more (predictable) controversy.

I have found since returning to Nigeria that the more exposed (to other cultures) people are, the more accepting they are of arguments for what they are - an exchange of differing opinions as opposed to discussions that degenerate into an exchange of insults, flexing of egos, and point scoring.

People are just so bloody defensive about everything in Nigeria as if any opinion contrary to our own is a deep personal attack. Is one of the reasons we find it difficult to progress in this country.

We can argue 'for Africa', and if we argue, somebody must get the last word in or receive an apology or conceed defeat.....from my experience there is no such thing as agreeing to disagree in Nigeria, and God forbid, one of the parties should be a foreigner.

Jeremy is a white (British) guy that writes about ...

2008-06-30T15:51:00.000+01:00

Jeremy is a white (British) guy that writes about Nigeria.

Kody don't you get it? That's as far as some people are ever going to see.

I say sideline these people and continue to enjoy Jeremy's blog for what it is.

@anon 6:16"what you might (should?) have said was ...

2008-06-30T15:40:00.000+01:00

@anon 6:16

"what you might (should?) have said was that Nigerians have a culture that does not particularly respect private spaces... we are gifted at invading people's private spaces, incapable of realising that they might not particularly find it pleasing..."

This is SO false it is, frankly, stupid.

All the paparazzi here in London and in Paris and everywhere else - do theuy respect any private space? Have you seen Angelina jolie in a place and people filing to her while she's having dinner? Everywhere they invade private space of celebrities - you people always looking for some negative quality in Nigeia should really get your faces out of your asses.

And Jeremy,

you did say John was a POSITIVE role model so stop dancing around trying to defend it., you put your foot in your mouth in your bid to drop a name - now pick the name up, and with it, your foot.

Kody, 'yawn'

2008-06-30T14:07:00.000+01:00

Kody, 'yawn'

Yawn

2008-06-30T09:20:00.000+01:00

Yawn

@kody, Jeremy is great at describing the things he...

2008-06-30T04:29:00.000+01:00

@kody, Jeremy is great at describing the things he sees in Nigeria. Coming up with a novel idea as to WHY these things are happening, however, is where he typically falls short.

No, you are not in the jeremy fan club. Let's Nigeria-ize it; we Nigerians don't have fan-clubs: we have praise singers. So, how good are you with the drums?

chei! how did i miss all this? na wah, no week wey...

2008-06-30T01:44:00.000+01:00

chei! how did i miss all this? na wah, no week wey u no dey enter kata kata Jeremy! anyway, make i add my own kobo for the matter.

First of all, John Fashanu...the man go don old by now na!u mean say im still dey? we thank God!

As for Soyinka, na so life be, im self don turn to celebrity...why im no chop for house? dem send am message? see im mouth like chinese!

Ehen, role models...I no fit name celebrities because dem no affect my life for kobo...most of my role models were always people that i could see around me...all those big names were always too far away and too distant to hold on to...even now, my inspiration is always close to home.

We all hold on to whatever HOPE we can...and yes, sometimes it might be a footballer or an artist...I am betting there are lots of small kids in Warri thinking they can be the next "i go die".....life is as simple as that.

@kody, ok so I belong to the Jeremy fan club, and ...

2008-06-30T00:12:00.000+01:00

@kody, ok so I belong to the Jeremy fan club, and am a card holding member too...so whats anybody going to do about it?

Anonymous 4.49amAs you know, I certainly don't agr...

2008-06-29T07:59:00.000+01:00

Anonymous 4.49am

As you know, I certainly don't agree with Jeremy's opinion of Fashanu, BUT Jeremy does happen to have a wealth of knowledge about Nigeria and what is happening in the country. Its is one of the major reasons I read his blog -so less of the sweeping statements please.

Re 1) I and many others agree with him, but please lord we don't want to start THAT conversation again!
2) I don't think that can be used as evidence for lack of knowledge about Nigeria. Besides, you will notice that he did ask people's opinions about the accuracy of his interpretation.

Don't anyone please start on any 'Jeremy fan club' accusations -that discussion would just be predictable and boring..

This Jeremy dude knows very little about Nigeria. ...

2008-06-29T04:49:00.000+01:00

This Jeremy dude knows very little about Nigeria. In the past three weeks, he has made the following howlers:

1) 'ECOWAS is useless' claim. many wrote in about their own experiences.

2) 'Open your heart make I enter' song. Rubbish interpretation. A very Western look, I call it.

and now this gbola of all gbolas. Geeezuz!

Well, I think by now Jeremy has got the message th...

2008-06-28T22:01:00.000+01:00

Well, I think by now Jeremy has got the message that most Nigerians do not consider John Fashanu as someone they would want their children to emulate. So I beg, lets not rub it in..

Jeremy, you don keep quiet? You better renounce yo...

2008-06-28T13:09:00.000+01:00

Jeremy, you don keep quiet? You better renounce your Fashanu. So, those are the kinf of people you hang out with? Sanctimonious Jeremy. Bet you would have also sucked up to Abacha for a few bucks.

You know what Jeremy, you find me even one from th...

2008-06-28T06:21:00.000+01:00

You know what Jeremy, you find me even one from this group of "young Nigerians" who thinks John Fashanu is a role model, and I will become a vegan.

Trust me, he was being gawped at as a familiar face by the people in your compound, the same reaction someone like Bayo or any any other so called celeb (!!) from Big Brother would get.

Fashanu is widely regarded as a shady character who has done absolutely nothing inspirational. He is a failed footballer whose limited 'celebrity' had dimmed in the UK, who then suddenly decided to explore his Nigerian roots to make money. From what I can gather, much of his business dealings are certainly not legitimate. As a young Nigerian, I have no desire to emulate him.

My role models:
Dora Akinluyi, Ribadu (for all his critics, the guy made a difference, however small), Chinua Achebe, Chimananda Aduchie, Ben Okri, Lagbaja, Kanu, Gani Fawehinmi, Deola Sagoe and Soyinka.

It is not difficult to name 20 Nigerian role model...

2008-06-27T20:34:00.000+01:00

It is not difficult to name 20 Nigerian role models. I'll give it a shot (below) - just from names I remember.

I am from Oyo State and lived there until I moved to the US. I imagine that the list will vary with region, with those in the West being more familiar with Yoruba celebrities or role models, East with Igbo celebrities and so on. I have to point out the importance of UI (Unibadan) in shaping me and teaching me that there is more to life than chop-I-clean politics.

1) femi falana (lawyer and unflinching human rights activist)
2) gani fawehinmi (lawyer and unflinching human rights activist)
3) wole soyinka (writer)
4)dele olojede (writer)
5) prof. g.k. falade & prof ogunaike(distinguished professors of petroleum & chemical engineering, UI & U. Minnesota respectively)
6)funmi iyanda (tv hostess)
7)gabriel ogunmola (biochemist, director of Nigerian Science Foundation,foremer director of Carnegie Center at UI, hemoglobin researcher, Professor at UI)
8)ishola ogunshola (writer)
9)jf odunjo (writer)
10)ik dairo (singer)
11)haruna ishola senior (singer)
12)olu akinyanju (director of Nigerian sickle cell foundation, sickle cell researcher, physician)
13)victor olaiya (singer)
14)victor uwaifo (singer)
15)amos totuola (writer)
16) mabel segun (writer)
17)Entire TELL & Newswatch magazine staff of the IBB and Abacha years (journalists)
18)lagbaja (singer)
19)chinua achebe (writer)
20)ben okri (writer)
21)emeka anyaoku (former sec. gen. of commonwealth)
22)prof fatoba (writer)
23)femi osofisan (writer)
24) prof babalola (physicist, former UI professor. Part of UI team that became the first Africans to put an object in space)

Ok, I guess you get the point. Growing up under IBB and Abacha, these were the people my parents wanted me to emulate. Not the politicians, or the business men like MKO abiola the ITT, or indeed the madder musicians like Fela Kuti because of his drug smoking ways. More than anything else, I think every educated Nigerian child knows an upright Professor or doctor or lawyer who has not compromised on his ethics but has managed to achieve significant results in his field. Role models do not have to be celebrities and from my own experience, it was the people closest to my family - my parents' professor-friends or doctor-friends or lawyer-friends - that served as a model for me to emulate. There is no shortage of fine, distinguished nigerians in Nigeria, who are blazing a trail withough compromising on their ethics. It is there for those who want to see it. I believe jeremy missed yet another subtlety about Nigerian society - it is not that we have an absence of role models or indeed a paucity, instead we are cursed with a people who worship material wealth, mostly found with the three P's in Nigeria: Politicians, (football) Players and (roguish) Pastors.

There was never a shortage of role models for me when I was growing up, and I would say it paid off - today I am a Princeton-trained engineer, and I will never discount the impact people (like the ones I mentioned above) had in shaping my childhood dreams. I ignored the Adedibus and chose the Soyinkas because I (and my family) can tell the difference.

Don't forget Dora Akinluyi, abi she be politician ...

2008-06-27T20:08:00.000+01:00

Don't forget Dora Akinluyi, abi she be politician too?

Dele MomoduJim Ovia (why not; no bankers, business...

2008-06-27T20:06:00.000+01:00

Dele Momodu
Jim Ovia (why not; no bankers, businessmen or politicians? ok, Samuel my shoemaker under bridge for Ikeja...)
Prof. grace alele-Williams
Current UI VC
Justice Kayode Eso and co. (SANs)
Fashola (no politians)
Ribadu
Kanu/Okocha/Mikel
and the list goes on and on and on...

You people are very funny, no role models? Life is what you make of it, be it Paris Hilton, Bill Gates, Soyinka or your school teacher. Pray, why is this 'lack of role models' unique to Nigeria?

@ jeremy, I grew up in the 1990s and although I kn...

2008-06-27T20:04:00.000+01:00

@ jeremy, I grew up in the 1990s and although I knew the name John fashanu, I had to google a picture of him. I had never seen him before. For the younger generation of Nigerians (< 25 years), we grew up watchin Amokachi, Amuneke, etc play. We KNOW of the Fashanus, Abedi Peles, Sam Okwarajis, etc, but how many - but the msot die-hard footie fans - can identify Okwaraji or John Fashanu? Of course Abedi Pele has remained relevant, but a man like John Fashanu, let's face it, for the vast majority of Nigerians (and we are a very young country, with up to 55% of us under the age of 25), a man like Fashanu would walk the streets unnoticed. You try getting Taribo West or Kanu Nwankwo to do the same. Rashidi Yekini lived in my town (Ibadan) in the 1990s, and a lot of people looked up to him and admired his talent. That's somebody we are all familiar with. The reason, I suspect, that many Nigerians are unable to recognise our older players or leaders is that NTA has destroyed many of their old tapes and you cannot easily get replays on DVD. I must confess I have no idea how Tafawa Balewa looks, nor indeed how Zik looks, or any of the old leaders except Awolowo, and since I grew up in the SW, that is hardly a surprise. What does Gowon look like? I found out from Google. Shagari nko? Again from Google. Pick any leader before 1980, and I probably saw their face in my Social Studies textbook or on Google. John Fashanu is not recognizable enough to be a role model - I remember asking myself when I read the name on your blog whether he even played for Nigeria or England. (I still don't know the answer because I haven't googled it). As a kid, when folks talked about Nigerian players of old, the names I heard were Okparaji and co. Not Fashanu, who is, apparently, really shady.

Role model ko, role model ni.