As we all know, towards the end of last year it was confirmed that Oprah Winfield spent 40m Dollars to build a school in South Africa for a-little bit over 100 students.

I love and admire Oprah, no doubt about it; I truly appreciate her style, generosity and sincerity, but is this 40m dollars school for just about 125 students in South Africa an effective move or contribution towards developing Africa?
Moreover, I'm very sure that 90% of these students are from elite families; which means at the end of the day the gift from Ms Winfield will not reach the appropriate group of children, that honestly needs it.

Looking at it from my point of view, I think 40m dollars could produce up to 50 schools effectively for over 5,000 students in Africa.

I truly do not see how a 40m dollars school for just 125 students could make a major impact in Africa, where schools are unavailable to more than 1million kids.

What do you think?
Please feel free to school me if I'm wrong.

[quote[b]]Moreover, I'm very sure that 90% of these students are from elite families[/b]; which means at the end of the day the gift from Ms Winfield will not reach the appropriate group of children, that honestly needs it.[quote][/quote]

please do your research properly, i dont think the students are from elite families-whatever that means

@loverBwoy:

Even if the 125 students are from the poorest families in South Africa, I still think the move is an ineffective one.

The money could have been used or spent systematically, which will eventually benefit a large number of kids in Africa.

It is fine to be generous and it is also great to spend money effectively and efficiently.

Example: A village is full of a very poor group of people (about 1000) who needs car to function or survive. There is also a beautiful queen who is well known, very kind and eager to assist these villagers with their locomotive problem. So, she decided to select 125 poorest folks out of this group. Few days later the queen surprised this selected subgroup with 125 brand new Bentley Azure (cars) for 40m dollars, while the rest of the group (975) are still poor as ever and still need cars to survive.

Don't you think it would have been much better (effective and efficient) to buy all of them 1000 Toyota Corolla (cars) for less than 40m dollars?  

Think about it.

the fact that her school only accepted 125 people still baffles me but I guess I do applaud her efforts.

I truly do not blame Oprah for nothing; I blame the pin heads out there in south Africa.
When these folks see money, they usually can't think properly just like their cousins in Nigeria.

Oprah is a visitor, she can only do what is recommended or presented to her

Bigb1 it's 500 and not 125. google the story

@MAMAJAMA:

I believe the total number of the students are around 157.

Even if the number is 500 as you've stated, I still do not think the concept of the idea is effective.

MAMAJAMA, how many schools and how many under-privileged kids do you have in your village?

Big, give it a rest, that's Oprah's money and nobody can tell her what to do with her money. At least she is using her money for beneficial purposes for Africa. I hope AFrican leaders tow her line, instead of stashing their illgotten wealth in foreign accounts.

Ndipe thank you, I am not sure why my friend is criticizing Oprah on this issue. we have leaders like ABACH, IBB and Mobutu starching away money in foreign banks, how may school have they built? even if its only 10 students per semester, multiply that by ten years, it's the thought that count not how many people are privileged to attend this school.
she could have used her money to buy another pent house in Chicago.

@NDIPE and MAMAJAMA:

Nobody is criticizing OPRAH; get familiar with the subject

You guys totally got it wrong as usual

It's definately NOT up to 500. When they were interviewing her in South Africa for her show she mentioned a number that was less than 200.

$40million for a school of 200 students?. . .Inefficiency at its worst. What could they possibly be teaching?

Some of you guys here speaking trash what is the average cost of a 3 bedroom duplex in ABUJA ? 5 to 8 Million. so what the hec if she wants to build best of the best for 40 Million, who cares. it's her money and she can spend it how ever she wishes.

what have our leaders or celebrities done in Nigeria? name one thing they have done to benefit the public.

The school was never built for less than 200 students, the number represents the first intake and as the students move from one class to another new students will be admitted.

Oprah made it clear that she wanted a school that she would be proud to attend herself and she should be encouraged, afterall she was not under any obligation to build any school for anyone for that matter let alone free school.

However, it seems that some of us never followed the story nor fully understood what had happened.

Some of you need to stop being so damn defensive and get out of Oprah's ass. People have the right to their opinions on this

Sure some think 40 million is quite alot for a school that is only taking in about 200 and find that weird, but we have to keep in mind that it's a boardingf school and all the housing amentities are going to be expensive especially if they are according to the taste that Oprah has.

I appreciate the effort personally however all these celebs REALLY need to consider places other than just South Africa.

$40m is still too much on one school if you ask me,

fine Oprah wants things to be of 'her standard', but what happens after school? is she taking them all to America?

or won't they have to 'come down to earth' and face the realities on ground - i.e. not everywhere is as posh as Oprah's school?

these kids need love, basic education and functional facilities, not some delusions of grandeur


in my humble opinion, let more people be touched by the money, rather than creating a showpiece 'the best of its kind in Africa' school

thats not what we need, we need the basics, get African's that and let them move from there, not this kind of 'from top to bottom' exercise

I dont think it is Oprah's duty to save the world. Even if her charity cared for just 10 kids, its a plus for her. She is afterall spending her hard earned money with good intention. If she had built a school for 5000 kids, there still would be kids needing education.

Lets take Big B1's ''analytical village of a thousand people in need'', for an example. If every 'very wealthy' poeple of africa would go in there to sponsor a hundred people each, dont you think this would be a better africa (or world)? So the lady did her bit.

And $40m isn't out of this world for a good school ( the poster could have been thinking of the naira equivalent); or how else would one explain the cut throat fees of western education? GOOD EDUCATION IS NOT CHEAP!

talk talk don't miss the point, the action is well applauded, and it is definitely worth emulating by other celebrities/ wealthy Africans

but the point it this: could more impact have been made with the same money? in my opinion yes!!

dude don't get it twisted, foreign students pay crazy fees in western countries to subsidize their own citizens, it doesn't take $40m to build one school

good education isn't sleeping in hilton quality bedrooms either, these people[b] need[/b] good, sound, basics. not just frills and creature comforts

debosky ur point is well taken. foreign students pay these huge fees, somebody pays it still. education requires large budget. i know the fund in question could be put to so many other uses as u say, but i still think this particular venture is worth the pay. this is not a school that would run out materials in 2 to 5 years to come. and i do not think the $40m is all used up already, even with d 28 buildings it's got. its a fund that will cater for the management of the academy over time, as it a free education scheme. these are just my own opinion, if u know of facts that i dont know, fell free to tell me.

Most of you guys are stupid, nobody is saying that Oprah did anything wrong or that the cause was not noble. The question is, could she have done more with that money?

She could have@donzman, but should we dictate to her on how to spend her money?

Ndipe:

She could have@donzman, but should we dictate to her on how to spend her money?

No, we're just trying to see other ways the money could have been spent to benefit even more people and at the end of the day, the money is still hers to spent.

By the way, why do all the celebrities only go to S.Africa like ThiefofHearts asked before?

partly because its the 'chic' place to do stuff in Africa, with the whole Nelson Mandela association

many other African nations lack such highly inspiring figures, according to Oprah, she promised Mandela to do it.

debosky:

partly because its the 'chic' place to do stuff in Africa,

Exactly and i find that VERY annoying.

Chapelle went crazy, ran to SA
Will & Jada, house in SA
including many others

They are all getting on my nerves with their SA fascination

Cant people make their own choices in life? Where should they invest in? Nigeria? Give us a break!!!. If Oprah chooses to spend 100 million dollars on establishing a school in South Africa, that's her prerogative, charity should not be confined to one's borders.

dude, calm down no-one is castigating Oprah, we're just expressing out views

no be by force, no one says she must by force come to naija,

Speaking of celebrities coming to Nigeria to perform wonder.

Don't you guys think that people in general are starting to stay away from Nigeria little by little.
Lately, even Ghana and Kenya are starting to get more positive or constructive attention much more than Nigeria, in-terms of tourism and foreign investors.

Nigerians are labelled as being crooks, while Nigeria as a country is being labelled as uncivilized, unstable and dangerous.

It's time to get our shiiiiiit together, folks.

Imagine Oprah coming to implement the same idea in Nigeria? I wonder what would have happened to the 40m?

Fact: The school is not designed for just only 157 students.
The 157 students represent the first set. The school is expandable and it will eventually be developed into a full blown educational institution; may be the best of it's kind.
The next set of students will be introduced sometimes this year.

Hence the implementation of Oprah Winfield's strategy is an excellent one and we should all embrace her generosity, sincerity and kindness.

Sorry for my ignorance.