[Article Comment]Sorry Chimamanda, We Need The Single Story Of Our Failures!

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[Auspicious]

Originally Posted by Balo

Chimamanda's "talk" was about the so-called narrow perspective individuals or even groups of individuals can adopt in looking at a more complicated issue in an overly simplistic manner and not on how positively or otherwise Nigeria should be regarded..

Ah, Balo o ma seun o - ah say tank yu!

You put it very simple. I don't think Mr. Iteshi was looking for attention with his piece (well, he at least does not have a history of such around here unlike that my friend who knows himself - sorry, can't 'elp it) but was reacting to Ms Adichie's paper as he understood it, which is fine.

I actually feel worse for folks shouting "Ignorance! Fool! Attention-seeka!" in response to the man's piece (I wonder if that is how I sound occassionally, when I diss that my friend who writes a hundred articles a week) because you needn't look too far for examples of "single story narrative than that.

Can we at least try and see what the man is trying to say, and debate him on the issue or 'upgrade his memory' if indeed it needs upgrading? Of course, shouting that he's ignorant or an attention-seeker hardly does the job, so don't y'all Denkers be coming in my face to tol' me dat you was trying to upgrade eim memory with insults!

Anyways, fire on!

Auspicious.

[Auspicious]

Originally Posted by Balo

No doubt you with empathise with Mr Iteshi, especially given the fact that you often come out as being similarly challenged in that respect.

HAAAA!

Bros yu know how it is, naw.

Dis tin, nor be everybodi get am.

Still, at least, I can fit 'get it up'.

After that, nothing else marrers!

Auspicious.

[Balo]

So you no fall for my post 23, hen? Nice one, impressed!

[Auspicious]

Originally Posted by Balo

So you no fall for my post 23, hen?

Not this time, Babes.

Oooh, not this time!

I don drink out of Denker eim "Shiraz"

Auspicious.

[ajede]

The question is not whether or not Western press is only full of negative publicity about Nigeria, it is rather, whether what they say is true or not. Nigeria makes billions of US$ from oil, but roads including even our expressways are death traps and in the worst possible unimaginable states of disrepair. Individuals and companies have to buy generators and fuel in order to have electric power. The list goes on and on, as we all know.

There are many very successful Nigerian individuals both in Nigeria and elsewhere, and this is an achievement for us as a nation. But as a country, there is no denying the fact that we are a failure.

A Yoruba proverb says, "Bi ogiri ko ba l'anu, alangba ko le r'aye wo iho": If the wall does not crack of it's own, the lizards will have no hole to crawl into. All the sores and rots in our society are there for all to see, and others wonder what kind of a people we are in spite of all the money that we make from oil, and in spite of all other natural and human resources the country is blessed with.

No amount of complaining about negative publicity will do, until you can provide tangible evidence that what is written is falsehood.

[Johntina]

I am forced to comment again because of the pathetic manner people are still reading my viewpoint as a literary competition with Chimamanda!
I have not said anything in this article which I never said in the past. As far as I know, I began saying that we have no excuse and little or not many positive stories long before I came to know about Chimamanda.
It is particularly interesting that when I wrote a similar article in 2006 countering what Uche Nwora wrote about branding (see http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/...failure-2.html), no one claimed that I was trying to copy Mr Nwora may be, because he was not a White world recognised writer.
I am ashamed at the manner in which we blindly worship individual accomplishments! Like I may have said before, it is not wrong to praise Chimamanda for her feat, but it is disgraceful to blindly condemn anyone who dares to differ with her on a contentious public issue.
The issue here is not about the domain of literature where Ms Chimamanda is undoubtedly princess. The issue is more about ideas about the development of the Black race, a field which I am entitled to claim some degree of expertise!
The Nigeria, where a non achiever irrespective of his rightness should not dare say something contrary to a great achiever's view is exactly that bad Nigeria I suppose we all belong to this village to change!

John Iteshi

[ozoodoo]

Thank you Mr Iteshi for the article above. You have thereby refused to buy into the fraud of a slogan re: "Nigerians, Good People, Bad Leaders". The leaders are not from another planet. The system we operate provide the stepping stones for the criminals that call themselves our leaders to get to their present position. How can we be good people when more than 90% of our "successful" people are known criminals. How can we be good people when more than 90% of the role models in our society are known criminals that we venerate with the title of "big men" and "big woman"?

[ozoodoo]

Tortoise, Nigerians and our vanishing sense of shame

http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/edito...e%20of%20shame

[Auspicious]

Originally Posted by Johntina

I am forced to comment again because of the pathetic manner people are still reading my viewpoint as a literary competition with Chimamanda!

Nna calm daun, wetin dey do yu sef?

Wetin dey "pathetic" for say man dey mention why di koko of ya message dey miss road wit di plenty pepo wey dey read yu? Di froblem na say pepo like yu fit to kritisize oda pepo dem, but wen 'e reash to do di same wit yu, na so-so hyperfentilation, na eim all-man dey inhale - plus exclmation point and all.

Be like say yu na wan kain touchy so-and-so. If so, comot Kitchen if yu nor fit take small heat. Abi how yu go-go stream, come dey complain say wata toss ya bodi? Abi wish kain Oyibo yu dey folo man yarn sef? Oi, look ehn, if nor be for say today na Monday, AH SAY IF NOR BE FOR SAY NA MONDAY WE DAY, hmm..forget.

Anyhow, has a nice week, yu hia?

Auspicious.

[emj]

Originally Posted by Johntina

blah blah blahderdash
It is particularly interesting that when I wrote a similar article in 2006 countering what Uche Nwora wrote about branding (see http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/...failure-2.html), no one claimed that I was trying to copy Mr Nwora may be, because he was not a White world recognised writer.
dare say something contrary to a great achiever's view is exactly that bad Nigeria I suppose we all belong to this village to change!

John Iteshi

Bia Mr Man, did i read u well? You said Ogbuefi Uche son of Igwe Nworah is not a White world recognized writer.....oloppppppppaaaaaaa o...u had better start frog matching urself...na which hand u take write am? Answer me quick/fast


PS>>>>....U and him no dey the same category...se u hia...he's a world re-known writer of no mean repute...repeat after me....drat.
When next u go looking for trouble, look for one ur size or in the same category.

[felix]

As we progress , it seems like a little mischeif is being introduced to a pompous article already brimming with an overdose of utter ignorance. We just read somebody who claims to know better coming forward to call a whole race "dumb"! Maybe he was introducing himself. That must go down as one of the dumbest posts ever made here. Yet such positions cant take away the fact that the problem here is that this article is flawed from different angles! Lets highlight just two areas that formed the integral part of this write up that can easily be pointed out for the obvious lack of substance..

1) That somehow in Ms Adichies analysis, she seem to insist against reason that: a) The telling of Good African stories could be helpfull in finding solutions to African problems... b) That the motivating factor behind Adichies position is to encourage a situation where more positive African stories are told even if the stiffling of the negatives is counter productive and c) That somehow we can conclude from this position that she belongs to the rank of Africans who instead of washing our dirty linens in the public, work hard to stiffle bad stories emanating from the continent all in a bid to dress up an ugly wound. In essence she is more interested she is more interested with the way she is looked at and not the way she look....

2) The writer, as he has always argeud in the past, beleives that when a sick man is sent to the hospital for cure, the best medication expected from the doctor is nothing but maximum tongue lashing! In essence, it is useless to ask such questions such as; what are the symptoms of your sickness? When did the sickness start? Why were you unable to get medication earlier when others did rather than coming to the hospital when you are almost in a comatose state? This writer always make the mistake of creating a situation where those who seek to know the reasons for Africas problems end up looking like crying babies making endless excuses.It is not so..


As is always the case with articles like this, there is always the temptation to loose sight of the fact that there are no effects without a cause. Why then do causes get short shrift in the anaylses? Adichie never said that African bad stories should not be told and there is no need to lecture anybody here on the need to expose evils going on say in Nigeria because lets face it; that is what 99% of the posters on this board for example do on daily basis. What she said, atleast from the video i watched, was that there is a need to go further and present the whole, treu story from multiple perspectives in a way the told story can be called the complete story and not just another exercise on hyperventilation or an insidious definition of a people from warped tentacles! She never said tell the good story only, neither did she say tell the bad stories only...She said , tell the whole parts of the story!

She actualy gave some example with her family bomboi and with the tendency to lampoon and lambast underacheiving African states without pointing out the devastating effects of the western foisted boudaries which makes no sense and has helped in no small way to foster conflicts. If you dont want to hear this because you feel she is making excuses for Africans, tell me; how do you then plan to find solutions to African conflicts? By talking down on everybody based on facts you and you alone consider sacred? Is that not a worn out style that has made little or no impact? When one points to the fact that colonial borders maintained by African states have led to the replacement of white colonialism with black colonialism, it is branded a defence of African ineptitude but alas those who make this carricature have nothing in their arsenal to confront mismanagement in the continet other than depositing windy articles and empty threats all over the place.

You can not sweep facts under the carpet just because you want to get at Africas endless list of blundering politicians. Political bimbos occupying elective offices in Africa in my view are not the real problem. The real problem lies with the checkerd political process that rockets them to power. If you concentrate your venom on this personalities or cliques only without making serious efforts to dig deep so you can tumble the ladder that throws them up , you will end up instigating a 'change of faces' and not the type of institutional changes that is necessary for rapid development. So while it may be a healthy hobby to ceaselessly unload on our politicians while 'carricaturing" our collective fairlurs, the road to progress starts when a serous effort is made to understand the genesis of this crises and they way such crises have evolved. And i must add that doing this does not require a one sided analyses. To fathom the reasons that are resposible for Africas current predicament, one must be ready to face the raw facts. And that includes the good and the bad. That is what the lady was talking about.

[Exponent]

What stays in the dark DIES in the dark. All secrets DECAYS a human being.

Africans that like to hide and sequelter secrets should NOT complain when your society continues its decay.

A society CANNOT change with secrets are preventing it from changing.

Tell the truth - shame the devils!

[emj]

Eherm, Metamucil

[Ph3y]

Mr Johntina, Welcome to the re-branded NVS...Where we attack the writer and his/her article [Especially if he/she is trying too hard to make us buy their opinion]...We're only testing you to see your level of 'e-ruggedness'....and so far you are not doing badly....But there is still room for improvement.

Just keep on watching......You have written your article, let us write ours o....

[Eja]

Mr Iteshi, you strongly imply that all Nigeria needs is the "single story" of its failures: the key word is single - all that Nigerians need to hear (as far as you are concerned) are repetitions of all negative attributes and stereotypes.

Mr Iteshi, consider this: if all you hear serves only to tell you that you are worthless, do you not think that you will come to view yourself as a worthless individual?

Consider the following question from a strategic/practical view-point: What types of people do you think are easier to manipulate and misgovern? The ones who think of themselves as worthless or the ones who know that they are worth more than they are currently been made to endure?

Imagine a picture of a man who fell into a cesspit, a man covered from head to toe in filth...imagine if this man now came to see himself as a creature of the pit. Do you think he would ever attempt to climb out?

Mr Iteshi, it is not enough to know where you are, you also need to know where you were before, how you got to your present position and, you need to know that there is a possibility that you can get somewhere else....how could you do this if all that resounds in your head is the "single story" that says "I am in the s**t."?

The purpose of multiple narratives is not (as you seem to think) to massage egos and mislead, no, the purpose of multiple narratives is to get an all-round point-of-view on all relevant elements (including those who are presently not overly prominent). What misleads is the single story because it tells us that there is only ever one outcome possible regardless of what is done. How realistic is that?

[CredoWorld]

the paucity of leadership is our bane

 

[Albany]

Mr Iteshi,

did you really watch that video ? If you did, then you obviously missed the part where Chimamanda said:

........the single story creates stereotypes; and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete