i have been to a good number of events sponsored or organized by toyin falola. they are a bit different from others i've attended--and that is a considerable number. he supports bringing young african scholars, giving them an opportunity by presenting their work, or by hearing other scholars, including both african and western. he doesn't splurge on high honoraria--as would be demanded by the likes of spike lee, say, or skip gates, or toni morrison, whom you mostly can't reach without going through their agents.
he really makes the speakers participate in the agenda of fostering african scholarship in this way. it is another kind of commitment, and his exuberance and decency require us to be idealists.
this is not about toyin, and his honors, multiple and deserved as they are. it is about a dinner. a simple dinner; an occasion to hear a speaker, to reflect on literary and political and philosophical values; to build an intellectual, and incidentally, a political constituency committed to making an african intellectual cohort come to life--one that is welcoming, not elitist and exclusive, much less dependent.
political leadership and intellectual profundity/honesty tend to be at odds with each other. their goals, their attachments to power, and with power the perks, are and ought to be at odds. we need to be at a distance not only to criticize power, but more important, to understand it, freely, and equally important to be able to critique and criticize it freely.
we need a free press; but they work ONLY on the surface of events. scholars, like those on this list, must understand the larger political and economic systems, and the ideologies that drive them
that's why adesokan's book reiterates the term "neoliberal global order" instead of just "global order" because the two are linked, and to understand neoliberalism one needs more than sound bites from editorialists. one needs book-length studies by scholars.
if that goes out the window, and the cry for technology drowns the intellectual voices, we will all build a society that is comfortable for those who know how to make profits, but not a better world.
a brief note of thank you to toyin falola. not everyone knows this about his commitment, if they see only his personal accomplishments. he uses them for a purpose that is not the same as that of the politicians. the more it is known, perhaps the more it will offer the kind of inspiration for what we all should be striving to support.
ken
(thanks moses, as always!)
On 1/8/16 12:01 PM, Moses Ebe Ochonu wrote:
Oh Ken, your American innocence is a joy to behold. Aww, you think dinner means dinner! I am sorry but I couldn't resist poking some fun as I was laughing hard here. In Nigeria, as in most African countries, a dinner is not just the food and drinks. A dinner is a euphemism for much more; it is not to be taking literally, although they seemed to have had roast beef as you said. So no need for all the arithmetic breakdowns and dollar comparisons. The 80 Million Naira was not spent on food and drinks alone. There must have been several contractors and subcontractors associated with this "dinner"--some whose purposes may have been to provide the "during" and "after" dinner entertainment, among other accompaniments.
On a serious note, without pronouncing one way or the other on the merit or veracity of the allegation since details are just emerging, this is clearly a political move designed to damage two APC/Buhari sympathizers at once--Soyinka and Amaechi. But that does not mean that it is not a legitimate allegation. As Governor of the oil rich Rivers State, Amaechi was known for feting the literati and literary folks in lavish parties and other expensive gestures of patronage (he was an English major in college and perhaps likes to see himself as a patron of the literary arts if not a literary mind). So let Kongi and Amaechi defend themselves as I am sure they can.--
On Fri, Jan 8, 2016 at 10:16 AM, kenneth harrow <harrow@msu.edu> wrote:
hard to fathom this story, for me, without looking up the exchange rate for naira. i got $1=200 naira; one naira= half a cent.
so, one million naira = $5,000.
80 million naira, $400,000 should feed trump for a week!
or lots of the rest of us for many years.
and you say, they only had roast beef sandwiches?
to come to the more serious reflection, how many occasions do the super rich spend a fortune on catered or restaurant meals. literally a thousand or more dollars. maybe even $5000 for a business meal, with expensive wines.
how many poor use food stamps?
that is the injustice that demands , at a minimum, the politics of bernie sanders, and at the maximum a revolutionary change to the neoliberal globalization that has spawned such inequality in the recent decades?
ken
On 1/8/16 10:46 AM, Oluwatoyin Adepoju wrote:
--
See posts and rich debates at respective links
For more type 'Wole Soyinka' into facebook searchMight require a Facebook account, which is a must for following developments in contemporay Nigerian history
1. Chukwudi Iwuchukwu
·N82m Dinner: Prof Soyinka replies Wike, says he can't ask his hosts "how much they spend"
2. Amaechi denies spending N82m on dinner for Soyinka, dares Wike to go to court
3. WHEN CORRUPTION FIGHTS BACK: Critical Questions for Embattled Professor Wole Soyinka
4. 80th Birthday Dinner: Soyinka replies Rivers govt
5. Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka has described as 'abominable distractions,' statement by the Rivers State Commissioner for Information, Dr Austin Tam-George, that the state would demand a refund from him (Soyinka) if it is confirmed that he collected cash from the N82 million allegedly spent by immediate-past Governor, Rotimi Amaechi on a dinner to honour him
6. " When I learnt of the scandalous accusation of a dinner worth N82 million Naira in my honour, I thought it was one of those accusations from politicians to lug me, into murky political waters. But having received an instrument from the Rivers state government to corroborate its stance. I'm even more saddened, and would like to posit, that I was only treated to a dinner, by the Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi administration. And I ingested only foods and drinks, and afterwards retired to the Rivers state government guest house, where I laid my head, and flew back to Lagos the next day. I wasn't vouchsafed with any pecuniary advancement or benefaction, that would worth that amount. I still would not want to probe into the catering and logistical implications of that dinner in my honour. However, my cogitation navigates, to what I will refer to as, corruption backed up by the absence of a public procurement act, by that government. It's either I was used as conduit to loot the treasury of Rivers state by that government or some contractors were not sincere. " ~~Prof Wole Soyinka
7. Soyinka and the Pornography of Excess.
8. Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka has described as 'abominable distractions,' statement by the Rivers State Commissioner for Information, Dr Austin Tam-George, that the state would demand refund from him (Soyinka) if he collected cash from the N82 million alleg
9. News: N82million ill-fated Wole Soyinka Dinner : Nobel Laureate says it's not his business to know how much was expended by his friend
10. Probe Me, Soyinka Dares EFCC
11. Former Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi has denied allegations that he hosted Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka to an N82 million dinner while in office.
12. Soyinka responds to Rivers govt's call for his probe over "N82 million dinner"
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Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
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