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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-- kenneth w. harrow professor of english michigan state university department of english 619 red cedar road room C-614 wells hall east lansing, mi 48824 ph. 517 803 8839 harrow@msu.edu--
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