Fareed ZAkarai was recently invited as a guest speaker in Airtel's "night of influence" in Lagos. Thisday suggests that "Power, influence and class were the determining factors" in selecting the invitees.

Reading excerpts of his delivery was a delight in some aspects (especially his conclusions), but generally got me worried. Segun Adeniyi describes a portion of Fareed's delivery as follows:

"This optimism, Zakaria argued, was founded on the familiar sequence of asset bubbles and financial crises that have characterized the last forty years and the boom and bust they have always engendered. He sees a consistent pattern where every of such upheavals was usually followed by a period of prosperity even when experts usually spoke in absolute terms in painting doomsday scenarios that almost always turned out to be grossly exaggerated". Source http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/obasanjo-s-introspection-on-zakaria-s-night/131335/

Why was I worried?
1) Did Fareed for any reason think that the Nigerian "elites" were soooo ignorant of this rudimentary economics concept of the boom and burst cycle?
(My guess is that he would'nt have said something like that to an influential gathering in the Western world, but he could have said it to any '3rd' world country)

2) If he did, why would he think that our elites could be so divorced from such a historical boom and burst cycle reality?

3) Are our "powerful, influential and classy" elites ignorant of this basic concept? Or, do they even care about this?

I read comments around Fareed's delivery, and all the comments I have seen so far seem to potray people who were star struck by Fareed, and happy to be associated with him courtesy of the event

I am an admirer of Fareed, but I think he needs to be told (reoriented) that our elites are not simpletons?
-or are they (our elites) actually simpletons?

.........Umhhhhhhhhhhhh



Also see
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/the-glitz-at-airtel-s-night-of-influence/131591/

Star struck by Fareed? Before or after his plagiarism battle? Dont get me wrong, I'm a fan but I dont see how I'd ever get star struck by fareed not to weigh his opinion objectively and I believe same holds for those that made those comments - Fareed presented a great lecture/speech, heck he pocketed upwards of $50,000 and it had to be earned and it was.
I know there are those that view him as a highly overrated analyst but that just the way it is. I'm no fan of Segun Adeniyi as I find his write ups too empty and bland except when he's offering a narrative but even he could'nt take away anything from Fareed. Maybe you read some other portion I didnt but from Segun's summary, It seems most unfair to pick out those few sentences and point to it as evidence of a sadonic speech.

esere826

I read comments around Fareed's delivery, and all the comments I have seen so far[b] seem to potray people who were star struck by Fareed, and happy to be associated with him courtesy of the event [/b]

I am an admirer of Fareed, but I think he needs to be told (reoriented) that our elites are not simpletons?
-or are they (our elites) actually simpletons?

.........Umhhhhhhhhhhhh

@^^ Yes you are correct that they are star struck and actually simpletons . He'll never be taken seriously in his homeland(India) let alone they being star struck like the Nigerian so called elites. Academic certificates and money does not necessarily make one an "intellectual" or elite in its pure sense. In Naija we muddle things up and think everybody with money and a few dubious certificates in all manner of subjects qualifies one to have an "enlightened"/ "intellectual" output- the type that advance/shape a country into a viable nation. Unfortunately, there are no such characters around in Naija . Your skepticism and concern for our pseudo-elites are in order Bro .

wesley80: Star struck by Fareed? Before or after his plagiarism battle? Dont get me wrong, I'm a fan but I dont see how I'd ever get star struck by fareed not to weigh his opinion objectively and I believe same holds for those that made those comments - Fareed presented a great lecture/speech, heck he pocketed upwards of $50,000 and it had to be earned and it was.
I know there are those that view him as a highly overrated analyst but that just the way it is. I'm no fan of Segun Adeniyi as I find his write ups too empty and bland except when he's offering a narrative but even he could'nt take away anything from Fareed. Maybe you read some other portion I didnt but from Segun's summary, It seems most unfair to pick out those few sentences and point to it as evidence of a sadonic speech.

Don't get me wrong. I did like a large portion of Fareed's speech
I especially liked his conclusions on the opening-up/widening of the 10 percentile global power/intellectual/wealth space to people from a more diverse background

However I feel it is only fair to pick out portions of someone's delivery and critique it (not neccesarily the person at first)
It has a way of driving the originator of the 'comment' being critiqued to improve in the next delivery

Also, as one critique these little portions of information, it is not imposible to find out that they are rooted on wrong personal assumptions that need to be corrected (by either (or both) the critic and the person being critiqued)

For example Sarah Palin once thought that Africa was a country.
Imagine her making comments about Africa as a vice-president of the US if those assumptions were not corrected
She could maybe say stuff like "Africa is a failed state because it has Mugabe as a president"

Another example of how personal and erroneous assumptions could be the root of faulty commentaries/decisions
is the mistake that some western media analysts make with Nigerian (9ja) vs Nigerian (Niger)
I have seen instances (can't recollect exactly where now)where Niger's woes have been attributed to Nigeria because of this thinking pattern

So great guy Fareed is, yep
but i have a thing for sensing or seeking to discover the engine/assumptions that drives people's actions and delivery

^^^
"How does this affect the price of Garri"? some may say

My critique is highly ineffective with regards to getting to the major subject -Fareed, and challenging what I suspect to be borne out of faulty assumptions
He go make im cool cash commot
I have no bitterness on this

1) But the very act of critiquing constructively in a public space like this helps me prune my critical-thinking/analytical skills which is crucial to my own line of business
2) It helps one or two other persons discover/carve out an alternative view point which could be useful to them now or in the future
3) It helps me further discover the default view that foreigners could have of me, thereby giving me the advantage of being steps ahead
4) You never can tell, a future president (no matter how small the probability is) might be reading these things. This could help shape his/her mindset in developing strategies to take Nigeria to the next level

Y'all have any idea how much this man Fareed charges as speaking fees for such unlicensed lectures? SMH..

wesley80: Star struck by Fareed? Before or after his plagiarism battle?

Hehe

Starlett: Y'all have any idea how much this man Fareed charges as speaking fees for such unlicensed lectures? SMH..

Umh, new angle
Was he taxed in Nigeria for his speaking fees?

(*Kai see my joblessness o. I don turn to Internal revenue board*)