Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - NIGERIA IS A CEMETERY

Interesting. Along the same line, the former President of Mexico Vicente Fox made a comment that was similar and it got him into public relations trouble internationally.

 When he was in office, there was a time people in the U.S. started seriously complaining about immigraiton from Mexico to the United States. They made it look like that would be the end of the world. In response to that, President Vicente Fox appealed to the American public to calm down and in the process of the appeal, he said that afterall the jobs that the Mexicans are coming to do in the U.S. are jobs that "even African Americans" do not want.

Well the "even African American" got him into trouble. The question then was what was teh status of African Americans in the United States? And in this case, Ghana in the African continent?  English language from a social realist epistemology can reveal deeper and underlying access into one's social imagination of the world i.e., one's perception of social reality ow what one considers normal. 

Like the Japanese ambassador, President Vicente Fox had to tender a public apology because leaders in the African American community appropriately objected to his imagination of African Americans in the U.S. as second class citizens.

When Nigeria celebrated her 50th independence anniversary and I was asked to be the keynote speaker, I sicnerely told the gathering that Nigeria is larger than Burkina Faso but the Nigerian should get used to it that the Burkinabe  person is as human as any NIgerian. The fact that Nigeria is big does not mean a Burkinabe is less human.

 Just as U.S. citizen must be genuinely and sincerely careful not to come across as looking down on other nations, so also Nigerians must be careful. We just have to come to terms with the fundamental principle that all humans are equal.

 I attended one church in Ilorin some years back while visiting and attending a conference in Nigeria and felt very concerned at the way the preacher portrayed God as if He was a Nigerian. I know it was not his intention but the whole sermon came across as God does not care of others. Sometimes you hear such sermons too among Americans who believe in the concept of "American Exceptionalism." For some, it means America can judge other nations but because of her excetioanlism, only God can judge the U.S. because she is a "City on a Hill."

 Amazingly, I visited one small town in Guatemala known as Magdalena, close to Angitua, where my students stay for semester abraod program and when I viited one of the churches there which was built by a U.S. group, I saw a huge American flag attached to the pulpit. I could not help but asked the pastor about it and wondered what is the theological justification for that? In strict theological sense, it is idolatry for anyone nation to domesticate God.

In spite of the strong forces and tendency against the idea, we have to struggle to maintain commitment to the fact that we are all human.

Samuel

On Sun, Mar 8, 2015 at 10:03 AM, Assensoh, Akwasi B. <aassenso@indiana.edu> wrote:

Brother Okey:

 

Just as our philosophical Brother Folu underscored briefly but aptly in his usual few axiomatic words, you did say it all and also well for many of us about many rich Nigerians spending their riches overseas (or outside Nigeria) but returning home (to Nigeria) to die and to be buried at home (often with funerals that my dear Baba Ijebu would describe as with "theater and pomposity"), thus making your axiomatic question saying it all:   Is Nigeria a cemetery?

 

However, several brothers and sisters from Ghana (who read your words below) are asking for the hidden meaning or what you meant with the caveat "even" in your reference to Ghana, indeed in your otherwise beautiful poetic words? The line of concern is quoted here: "When they want to host weddings for their children, they go to Dubai, Malaysia, South Africa, and even Ghana."

 

Why does "even" worry these Ghanaians? Well, a few years ago, back in Ghana, a Journalist colleague told me how a Japanese Ambassador to Ghana felt seriously offended by then President Jerry John Rawlings' use of "even" in referring to his country (Japan), when mentioning several countries that used to be less significant, but today Ghanaians were looking up to them technologically and, by implication, saying "even Japan"! The Ambassador reportedly registered a strong protest! 

 

There you have it, as VC Aluko would beautifully say!

A.B. Assensoh.  

 

 

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From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] on behalf of Folu Ogundimu [ogundimu3@gmail.com]
Sent: Sunday, March 08, 2015 8:08 AM
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - NIGERIA IS A CEMETERY

Okey:

Very thoughtful, you said it all. It is a sad commentary on what counts for elitism and leadership in Nigeria. Keep us thinking. 

F. 

Sent from my iPhone

On Mar 6, 2015, at 5:30 PM, Okey Iheduru <okeyiheduru@gmail.com> wrote:

When they want to stash away their loot, they go to London, Monaco, Cayman Islands, and Lichtenstein.

When they want to "rest at home", they go to London or Houston.

When they want education for their children, they go to Europe, America, an Canada.

When they want to host weddings for their children, they go to Dubai, Malaysia, South Africa, and even Ghana.

When they are sick or want medical check-up, they go to India and Europe.

When they want to see the real God in His Majesty, they go to Mecca, Rome, or Jerusalem.

But, when they're about to die or want to be buried, they go back to Nigeria.

Is Nigeria a cemetery?

--

Okey Iheduru, 

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Samuel Zalanga
Department of Anthropology, Sociology & Reconciliation Studies
Bethel University, 3900 Bethel Drive #24
Saint Paul, MN 55112.
Office Phone: 651-638-6023

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