Oprah - 'all Nigerians Are Corrupt, Regardless Of Their Education'

Hi all,

I remember this thread http://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-64811.0.html where a whole lot of peeps had so many negative thoughts & words for Alh Aliko Dangote just because he dared to say that 'if the proper statistics were used he would be the richest black person in the world'.  And that considering Oprah's background and 'grass to grace' story that dangote should not be on the same pedestal with her.

I'll like to share this link from the punch http://www.punchontheweb.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art200707260133325 and ask if the same Oprah with her high and humble upbringing is right in stereotyping the generality of Nigerians (including your goodselves) According to her, “all Nigerians – regardless of their level of education – are corrupt.

I'll just like your different takes on this her outburst.

  Oprah Winfrey got it wrong
By Our Reader
Published: Thursday, 26 Jul 2007

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.

Okoli Vitalis,

legendchyke@gmail.com

Have never liked Oprah and wonder why she can't just be ignored.

She's an American and her comments on Nigerians come from her 'little world'.

She influences nothing in Africa, and is of little consequence in our affairs.

See generalisation, stupid ho

Did she really say that, or is her statement being misconstrued somewhere? I don't expect a person of Oprah's age and race to be spouting such sweeping generalisations.
As an African American, she should know the stupidity of generalising a whole group of people based on a few bad eggs, she knows what it is like to have people tar her with the same smallminded stereotypes of being a Black woman in America today, is that not why that store in France refused her entry?

I hear Colin Powell made the same type of statement about Nigerians in his book, (before he went to Abuja and came out  like a Cheshire cat of course). He, being of Jamaican heritage should know first hand about the misguidedness of  negative stereotypes.

Oprah likes docile Africans, thats why she is in love with South Africans.

She really disappointed me, but my fellow Naija's who give these people amunission, by being what they accuse us of have to take their share of the blame too.

since she wants to make sweeping generalizations, if all Nigerians regardless of their level of education are corrupt, then all african americans regardless of how rich they are are ghetto, including oprah herself.

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.

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.

Nigerians should be united in refutting generalized insults like this.

I implore Nigerians in the Diaspora to please counter and caution Oprah.

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

Who gives Opray a shit, even if she really said that, America will never cut relation wit nigeria and nigerians,  dey need us n we need them,

Maybe we should all sign sumin like a protest and demand an apology from her. Admin culd help us