Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - There was a Country: Baying at the ghost of Biafra

I actually saw the retort and dismissed it as not worth my time. I am not alone in worrying about the fate of generations of children trapped in our public schools. Of course, virtually all stakeholders are asking hard questions about what to do. This past week and weekend I was on Twitter engaging former Minister for Education, Ms. Oby Ezekwesili on education issues. She is in the news these days because of her recent convocation speech at UNN Nsukka in which she lamented the state of our nation, including the state of education. She should know. In my essay, I included a video of "schools" in Anambra state that children attend. If that video does not shake you to the core, nothing ever will. That video is simply representative of what goes on all over Nigeria. It is irresponsible to be asking for "empirical evidence" given the overwhelming stench that assaults us every day from virtually every public sector. Why, if you have "empirical evidence" that shows that Ikhide is full of it, offer it, it is that simple. If something hurts me, you say I should develop "empirical evidence" before I cry! How silly is that?

 

Let us put our money where our mouths are. I not only think and write about these things, I am an activist in the very real sense. You may ask Bolaji Aluko on this forum, ask Omoyele Sowore of Sahara Reporters; as recently as January last year we were in front of the World Bank picketing and demonstrating against her policies. In terms of literature, my passion, I not only write for free, I travel to places on my own dime, promoting our stories. I do not make a living as a "literary critic," whatever that means these days. I am an educator; so  should know a little bit about public education, I have over 30 years of working experience in it, 25 of them with Montgomery County Public Schools, Maryland, the 17th largest school system in the nation and a 2010 Malcolm Baldrige award winner.  In the past decade, as chief of staff to the school Board and Ombudsman to the school system, I have been a member of the leadership team of the school system that manages 147,000 kids, 200 schools, 22,000 employees, $2.2 billion in operating funds and $1.25 billiion in capital expenditures. Google that ;-) You don't manage such an institution on bs, it takes work and professional know how. Trust me on this, Toyin is profoundly unqualified to work for any of my staff assistants, he is welcome to google that. ;-) Na yam? And I don't do "empirical research." If I want it done, it gets done and delivered to me, with respect, we have an entire department that does all that :-) I know this is the Internet and it is an "equalizer" but there is a limit sha.

 

Finally, our people have this complex where they don't respect their own. You are dismissive of the work of your own, but when a white person comes around you start doing steppin fetchit. You will maltreat a black woman in the name of marriage and do nothing around the house, but come and see the same person married to an oyinbo, he will do all the write things, he will do the dishes, carry all his children on his back and feed the woman lovingly in bed, by candlelight, blah, blah, blah. You will go to the Jewish Holocaust museum and wail Mbakwe about man's inhumanity to man, but God help us if we dare say $3 million people died in a genocide in Nigeria, out will come stories and silliness, em where is the empirical evidence, are you sure, paramparam???? There is something wrong with our people jor. In my school system where I work, my children are expected to attend the schools because you shouldn't work in an environment that is not good enough for your children. I ask everyone on this ilo, how many of you will allow your pets near the schools featured in that video, how many of you? Is it not silly of Toyin to ask for "empirical evidence" under a situation that everyone has declared a crisis? If those "schools" where in America, Toyin would lead the charge for accountability. Inferiority complex naim dey worry my people ;-)

 

If Toyin did not need "empirical evidence" from me after watching the horrid videos and pictures of Ikeja Police College before showing concern about our police officers, your guess is as good as mine as to why he suddenly needs "empirical evidence" regarding my thoughts on Biafra. We should not allow our prejudices to destroy our good sense. Finally, Ms. Ezekwesili has been pushing Aso Rock to explain what happened to $67 billion that the Obasanjo regime allegedly left behind in reserves. On Twitter there has been a war going on about it; Twitter is now the battle ground of Aso Rock on one hand and former leaders (el rufai, Femi Fani Kayode, Ezekwesili, etc) on the other. I asked a simple question, why would you leave that much money in reserve when you have decayed barracks, decayed schools, bad roads, broken hospitals? Imagine what $1 billion (US dollars O) would do in terms of infrastructure. That is the real scandal, followed by the fact that no one seems to know where the money went except that some are saying it is not that much. We should be comforted that only $47 billion was stolen :-( There is something wrong with our people.

 

Nigeria. Oro pe si je.

 

 

 

 

- Ikhide

 

Stalk my blog at http://www.xokigbo.com/

Follow me on Twitter: @ikhide

Join me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ikhide

From: "Anunoby, Ogugua" <AnunobyO@lincolnu.edu>
To: "usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com" <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Monday, February 4, 2013 1:23 PM
Subject: RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - There was a Country: Baying at the ghost of Biafra

'To be fair, Nigeria's educational system is at best incoherent, in reality in shambles.'

ikhide

The person making this comment has nothing empirical  to back up his grand claims about Nigerian education.

Olu  A

Is there anyone who is unsure of the embarrassing and pitiable state of Nigeria's educational system?  Stakeholders in the system including educational administrators and teachers at all levels, employers, parents, students, and even politicians acknowledge that the system direly needs to be fixed. What is  arguable is why there is much talk about it and little constructive action to restore it to its former esteemed state and glory.
It is not necessary  to produce and present empirical evidence to support this settled fact. It is not a grand claim to state the obvious. More evidence is not always necessary.  It is not prudent to demand empirical evidence at all times or for its own sake.
I might add that primordial interests and politics, rather than the state of Nigeria's educational system, may have more to do with what I believe is the  gross misreading of Achebe's book.

oa 

-----Original Message-----
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of OLUWATOYIN ADEPOJU
Sent: Monday, February 04, 2013 8:08 AM
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - There was a Country: Baying at the ghost of Biafra

This is not true-

'To be fair, Nigeria's educational system is at best incoherent, in reality in shambles.'

The person making this comment has nothing empirical  to back up his grand claims about Nigerian education.

He simply spouts them.

He also fallaciously links criticism  of Achebe's book with his unjustifed claims about Nigerian education.

I beg, make we see road.

toyin


On 2/4/13, Ikhide <xokigbo@yahoo.com> wrote:
> [In which I compile my many various thoughts on Professor Chinua
> Achebe's book, There Was A Country: A Personal History of Biafra
> culled from my numerous postings on Twitter, Facebook and listserves.
> This is intended to serve primarily as a historical archive of my
> views. So I (we) may not forget.]
>
> I enjoyed reading Chinua Achebe's memoir, There Was A Country: A
> Personal History of Biafra. Many devotees of Achebe will recognize
> several chapters from previous essays; however he does a good job of
> putting them together to tell a majestic story. It is an important
> book, one that should adorn every thinker's book shelf or e-reader.
> What I am going to say here  is not a review or critique of the book;
> I don't think that the world could stand yet another review of that
> book. Yes, there are some really good reviews of the book and there
> are many atrocious rants posing as reviews. My favorite review is by
> Tolu Ogunlesi whose coolly cerebral analysis puts to shame the reams
> of hot air from several architects of Nigeria's ruin.  Reading the book clearly makes the profoundly sad point that many who have "reviewed"
> the book dispensed with the inconvenience of reading it. Too bad.
> Achebe's memoir is a great, nostalgic look back at a very complex 
> era, one that should have elicited a more coherent and respectful
> engagement than what we witnessed when the book was released. To be
> fair, Nigeria's educational system is at best incoherent, in reality in shambles.
> Not much of what Achebe had to say can be gleaned from Nigeria's classrooms.
> And so, many people have reacted with pieces of dog-eared crap because
> Nigeria has not invested in an instructional and intellectual
> infrastructure that keeps her history intact. It is Nigeria's loss, not Achebe's.
>
> Read the rest here...
>
>  
> http://xokigbo.wordpress.com/2013/02/03/there-was-a-country-baying-at-
> the-ghost-of-biafra/
>
> - Ikhide
>
> Stalk my blog at http://www.xokigbo.com/ Follow me on Twitter: @ikhide
> Join me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ikhide
>
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Comparative Cognitive Processes and Systems "Exploring Every Corner of the Cosmos in Search of Knowledge"

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