What do you make of the recent campaign of calumny that Oprah Winfrey was said to have sponsored on the CNN against Nigeria?

According to a report i read on the Punch newspaper this morning, she was said to have advised the US govt to sever relationship with Nigeria on ground of corruption.

"all Nigerians- regardless of their level of education- are corrupt" she was quoted.

The report said her conclusion was because of a Nigerian of Igbo extraction who was said to have stolen 500,000 USD from a gullible foreigner through 'Internet fraud'.

Do u have a link to the story?

Don't forget that Judge Judy said the same thing on one of her shows last week!!!! Please give us link so we can see for ourselves and have a good debate on this one!!!!

http://www.punchontheweb.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art200707260133325

WELL HERE IT IS. i AM REALLY DISAPPOINTED THAT oPRAH COULD MAKE SUCH AN ILL INFORMED STATEMENT. HOW ABOUT WE JUDGE HER BY THE STANDARDS OF THE BLACK AMERICAN COMMUNITY?! SHAME ON HER!

Gbosa! Gbosa! Gbosa!  Well the good news is that she has no investment ties to Nigeria.  Her schools are in South Africa!!!  Maybe when she wanted to establish connections in Nigeria the "big guys" were demanding some hugh bribes!!!  You never know!!!  Oprah is not given to talking carelessly.  You can only imagine why she is saying all this!!!!  Nigerian customs and government must have shown her pepper!!!!

Well, take heart Nigerians---our reward is in heaven!!!!  Oprah's contract with ABC till she retires at 95years old is not going to suffer a dent!   I think we had a topic like "Is the average Nigerian fraudulent?"  Now Ophrah has upgrated it to "ALL"  REGARDLESS OF LEVEL OF EDUCATION!!! ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!!!  LAFF OH LAFF!!! Very funny indeed!!!!  This should be a very good breakfast topic!!!!!

Sorry Oprah------ George Bush likes our oil too much!!!!  America cannot sever ties because it needs oil around the world!!!! We are partners till the wells run dry!!!!!

@militia

do you think naija people/government understand the extent of this negative PR?

If they did there will be a stand-by quick response team that would at least show the other side of the story.

Not saying the woman dey lie, but naija's official position ought to be readily available, not some crummy looking diplomat that needs tele-interpreter to be understood, trying to explain our position.

Until our Govt. understands the value of PR like those of Israel, Kazakstan, and Philipines, we will continue to suffer so.

naijaking1:

@militia

do you think naija people/government understand the extent of this negative PR?

If they did there will be a stand-by quick response team that would at least show the other side of the story.

Not saying the woman dey lie, but naija's official position ought to be readily available, not some crummy looking diplomat that needs tele-interpreter to be understood, trying to explain our position.

Until our Govt. understands the value of PR like those of Israel, Kazakstan, and Philipines, we will continue to suffer so.

That is why I am laughing!  I am tired of crying on behalf of Nigeria! DO WE HAVE A GOVERNMENT    Which position are we going to explain.  Please let us not drag the matter oh!  Before the Oprah release under ground camera to expose all she saw on ABC, NBC, CNN, CBS and even BET!!!  Let the Nigerian "government" find out why she is saying this behind closed doors and deal with the matter.  You might be shocked that she is waiting to release another "60 Minutes" bombshell edition on humiliating experience in Nigeria!!!  I know how these people think.  This is a trap!!!  I beg make them carry go!!!

I say this woman does not talk anyhow!!! Perhaps she has had personal dealings with SOLUDO and ko!!!!  Who knows!!!!!  I am afraid to even dig deeper!!!!  Other countries will not even publish such rubbish but find ways to kill the story to save face.  Na only Nigeria go shit for church come take am rub the pastor!!!!! Who wants to mess with Oprah for God's sake  Make we chill oh!!!!  There is more to come!!!!!

oboatioko:

daughter of a slave - her likes are known for what they are - slave girl - I am glad i am not a slave girl - slaves in America knows not their roots.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!

Oprah!!!  we are sorry oh!!!! Please cover the unclothedness of your sisters and brothers in Africa oh! That is why I like Oyinbo people.  If you are mad at them---the first thing they do is to find out why without insulting you.  After investigating and clearing their conscience--then they will make a decision. 


My Naija people will first start with heavy curses!!!!  WHO IS YOUR FATHER   Make we siddon for one place dey make noise!!!!  See this one shouting "slave" ---"slave"!!!  If you see slave, will you recognize it   The treatment we get all over the world---I am sure slaves are better than us!!!

You are not a "slave girl"  Wetin you dey do for Yankee land

I no blame that woman at all. If no be Ogbanje wey she dey born, she for dey use her spare time to take care of her children.

Na Nigerians put Ogbanje pickin for inside her womb?

Make she gerroouttt!

lol!!!

denex:

I no blame that woman at all. If no be Ogbanje wey she dey born, she for dey use her spare time to take care of her children.

Na Nigerians put Ogbanje pickin for inside her womb?

Make she gerroouttt!

You don wake   I trust you to report to duty without fail!!!   Make we beg her oh!!!!! --------Typical Naija response!!!!

Can someone help me send this message to Oprah? Bleep HER, "YOU ARE INSANE"

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh!!! Baby!!!! More insults to come!!!!!

Let me get this straight. We are angry with Oprah for speaking the truth. Isn't that rather corrupt of us?

As for Oprah, I guess she's just angry with Nigeria because Dangote said he's much richer than she is?

she is probably jeAlous of dangote. lol

Seun:

Let me get this straight. We are angry with Oprah for speaking the truth. Isn't that rather corrupt of us?

.
ALL NIGERIANS ARE NOT CORRUPT. THE GENARALISATION WAS NOT  NECESSARY.

Hi Nairaland users have you guys heard this culled from Punch newspaper:[b][/b][color=#990000][/color][/size][size=8pt][size=8pt][/size]

Recently, America’s TV girl, Oprah Winfrey, called on America to sever diplomatic relationships with world’s topmost corrupt countries.

Worst of all the countries, Oprah surmised, is Nigeria.

According to her, “all Nigerians – regardless of their level of education – are corrupt.”

It is very pathetic that Oprah could ascribe to a larger population, the evil act of an insignificant number of persons in the world’s most populous black nation.

Oprah’s conclusion is based on the fact that a Nigerian of Igbo extraction was caught with $500,000, which was alleged to have been stolen from a foreigner through the Internet fraud popularly known as 419.

Oprah had sponsored an hour-long programme, which ran for several days on the CNN, with the sole aim of exposing the clever tricks espoused by this group of Nigerians to con their victims.

Much has been said about the greed of the victims themselves, and I need not say more about it.

However, at a time when Americans are committing heinous crimes against children and women, nobody has tagged all Americans as murderous.

So, why call all Nigerians rogues because of the sin of a few bad eggs?

Oprah regularly tells her life story: how she was sexually abused by close relations, how she ‘walked the streets’ (Americans’ euphemism for prostitution), etc., but nobody has ever deemed it fit to tag all American men as incestuous because of Oprah and others’ experiences.

She did drugs – just like the typical American teenager, but nobody has cast all American youths in the mould of drug abusers!

So, why should an individual that is supposed to know better sentence a nation to odium for the infraction of a tiny fraction of its population?

I urge Oprah and her likes to disabuse their minds about Nigerians.

Be wary of requests for money from strangers, and if you fall for a scam, blame your greed and not Nigerians.

So now, that woman wan mount her frustration on Nigerians.

Nigerians, no matter their level of education,

Abi na because she been dey try trace her ancestors come Nigeria, she come go find out say her ancestors na pigmies.

Devil solder her head! I know she has some kind of deal with South Africa to Launder their image and rubbish ours. Afterall, are these not the kinds of deals that have put $1.5 billion in her asset worth?

Or na dem Dangote she dey blackmail so that she will continue to be hailed as the imaginary Richest Black Person. I sorry for her. She should work harder and stop being jealous.

The generalization was not necessary

I agree with you. If she had just said, "many Nigerians, even educated ones, are corrupt", it would have been ok.

Oprah probably in partnership with "Dangote" too and knows how he got richer than her ---- by ripping her off!!!!

It wouldn't have been okay. It would have still been criminally bias. Oprah lives in the US and she sees all the ills going on there.

Crimes all over the world. Why Nigeria? Is there no war in Iraq? I see no much talk about it. What about the level of violence in South Africa.

Should she continue demeaning fellow African Americans that don't subscribe to her white wannabe lifestyle?

And people like MILITIA are smiling. They don't know that this recent comment is aimed at them.

OK guys, understanding madam Oprah shouldn't have been so collective in her negative judgement of the 'Nigerian corruption virus', we should face the truth and concede to the fact that most of us are infected with the virus (most may not even know it). public relations is bad enough i Nigeria, she shouldn't make it worse. and whether she likes it or not, she still has her roots here in Africa. so she should show some respect to the homeland.

denex:

It wouldn't have been okay. It would have still been criminally bias. Oprah lives in the US and she sees all the ills going on there.

Crimes all over the world. Why Nigeria? Is there no war in Iraq? I see no much talk about it. What about the level of violence in South Africa.

Should she continue demeaning fellow African Americans that don't subscribe to her white wannabe lifestyle?

And people like MILITIA are smiling. They don't know that this recent comment is aimed at them.

I am smiling well well!!!!  My belle sweet proper!!!  Someone credible as Oprah has finally added one more nail to Nigerian's coffin!!!!   YES!!!!! ALL ARE CORRUPT GENETICALLY--BY BIRTH----REGARDLESS OF EDUCATION!!!---I accepted my fate a long time ago!!!!  Please accept yours so the pain can be reduced!!!! CORRUPT NIGERIANS!!!

You better start begging before she exposes all of us plus your Dangote further!!!!!

ummm, am I the only one that can not see the link that actually shows Oprah saying, “all Nigerians – regardless of their level of education – are corrupt."

All I see is a letter to the Punch making this claim, please can someone show me such a link she actually said this?

Oprah will be insane to make such a statement with all her years of experience and advisers, until I see such a link (and not a letter from one  Okoli Vitalis) I say na lie!

is there a link to prove that oprah actually said this. looks liek the ahourt quoted her but i coudlnt find anything about her saying that

A few months ago, Oprah had a show featuring a Nigerian who got caught trying to sell some kind of currency-making scheme to an ABC TV undercover journalist.

At the end of the show, she said (paraphrasing) that so as not to get millions of emails, she is aware of Nigerians who aren't corrupt and who are hard-working individuals. I am sure you can search for the video on youtube to confirm. So for me to hear this 180-degree quote doesn't make sense.

Having said that, granted I think those who fall for the scams are the actual corrupt ones for trying to embezzle funds from another's country, and most of these scamsters are actually not Nigerian but other nationals hiding under the "All Nigerians are corrupt" umbrella (refer to photos on http://www.419eater.com/html/hall_of_shame.htm for proof of this), na we do ourselves o! A few rotten apples have unfortunately spoiled the bunch.

Regardless, I tout my nationality with pride. Anyone who dares approach me with that crap gets soaked, blued, bleached, washed, dried and starched to the point where the next time they hear "Nigeria", they get immediate diarrhoea

Obong, thank you oh my brother, na so dem dey put tire for thief neck, as dem talk assumptions is the mother of all fcukups

Hardly does any month pass without Oprah talking about Nigeria, was she jilted by a Naija boy?

Boys in America should research if this is the case and publicise it so as to silence her.

my2cents:

A few months ago, Oprah had a show featuring a Nigerian who got caught trying to sell some kind of currency-making scheme to an ABC TV undercover journalist.

At the end of the show, she said (paraphrasing) that so as not to get millions of emails, she is aware of Nigerians who aren't corrupt and who are hard-working individuals. I am sure you can search for the video on youtube to confirm. So for me to hear this 180-degree quote doesn't make sense.

Having said that, granted I think those who fall for the scams are the actual corrupt ones for trying to embezzle funds from another's country, and most of these scamsters are actually not Nigerian but other nationals hiding under the "All Nigerians are corrupt" umbrella (refer to photos on http://www.419eater.com/html/hall_of_shame.htm for proof of this), na we do ourselves o! A few rotten apples have unfortunately spoiled the bunch.

Regardless, I tout my nationality with pride. Anyone who dares approach me with that crap gets soaked, blued, bleached, washed, dried and starched to the point where the next time they hear "Nigeria", they get immediate diarrhoea

Easy oh!!!  Don't end up somewhere with terrorist charges around your neck oh with all this dry-raking!!!!!  Trust Naija---I GO DO THIS----I GO DO THAT---- I WILL SHOW YOU----- YOU WILL SEE---!!!!!  Can't fit to do nathing!!!!

Them don plenty oh Oprah! Please have mercy oh!!!! We are still your brothers and sister ke!!!! Please have mercy on your African brothers and sisters. We will change---I promise!!!! I am on my knees begging you Oprah!!! Fine fine sister Oprah!!! God will bless you sister!!!! Please no vex!!!!!

Just imagine Oprah, I used to like her so much but for this, i dont think i like her anymore

she doesnt know that she is including herself because i believe she is from igbo (one of d slaves)

This statement is damaging. If it is true then I urge Nigerian government through the infomation minister and foreign affairs offices to refute the allegation with statistics of many nigerians in diaspora who have made their marks. For Ophrah to say this is tantamount to someone speaking from the deluge of ignorance of whi Nigerians are. Nigerian government must act now or never. This statement will only add more salt to our injury especially for those of us in the diaspora. already, professional jobs  and contract are easy to get for Nigerians even without this type of statement coming form a reknown person of ophrah. Our image is important at this stage and we Nigerians must do everything possible to promote a positive image in any form. remember your children and life after. Whatever we sow in terms of our image, so we reap.