This issue is about patriotism dude. . .someone has said the biggest problem nigeria has is nigerians themselves, you wont catch an american for example going to do some sh it like that, even if the lady didnt mention "giant of africa" she still messed up big time, why couldnt they use south africans for the advert, do you think any right thinking south african would come and advertise tourism in nigeria on international T.V??
You people need to think well abeg

i do hope there are enough phrases besides giant of africa that people can use to describe whatever they admire.

has innovation gone extinct?


the perils of mass emigration.

Citizens Bimbo, and Seun Somolu
I will attempt to marry some disparate, and seemingly unconnected issues, in this article!


My four year old daughter told me suddenly the other day, "Daddy, the man said "Bobo ajah! I knew what she was talking about, it was the tourism advertisement on the virtues of an Indian holiday.






There is a rash of promotional materials spreading on the airwaves, and in cyberspace! Every country is touting the benefits a holiday within their borders would bring!


The "bobo ajah" line is one of the things that was said to the fellow who had experienced the whole gamut what India is! At the end of the day, the only way he could describe his ongoing holiday to those back home was "Incredible India!


Because the tourism industry is a competitive one, promoters of tourist destinations are plumbing the depths of creativity to put themselves in the consciousness of the holidaying public!






South Africa has been promoting herself as a premium destination worth visiting for years.


The World Cup, put the country at the center, in the tourism universe! It was a masterful stroke of genius!




I had noticed before the World Cup, that Yvonne Chaka Chaka, a popular South African musician, was the face of the "My South Africa",which later became "My South African Experience" promotion.




You could see that there was a method to the campaign. It was not some on the spur of the moment, off-the-cuff thing! Much thought had been given to the campaign! They started with an internationally identifiable face, one of theirs, to tell people south Africa was worth visiting.


Unknown to me, they were not satisfied to have one of theirs testify to their goodness.


So you can imagine my shock, when I saw citizens Bimbo, and Seun Somolu, a Nigerian couple that had holidayed in South Africa, promoting their South African Experience!






I have no problem with them doing that, it is their choice! Even when they showed madam baring part of her bosom on the massage table, it was her body to bare! After all, it was not my wife that was there!




I cannot be angry with them for going on enviable game viewing trips to see real animals, and dinning on exquisite cousine, I salivated, but held my peace. I was going to be eating pounded yam later!


You could see that everything was professionally packaged, to appeal to the discerning connoisseur!


That is something you do not see with tourism promotion in Nigeria! We seem to think that it is only when we put a picture of the governor, or the president, in our adverts, that people would believe us! It is counterproductive! People do not trust politicians!


Enough said about Nigeria; back to the Somolus; what I found most offensive, was what Bimbo said at the conclusion of the advert, she proudly declared, that South Africa, was the real giant of Africa!




That was the last straw! We had always contented ourselves with the belief, that we were the giant of Africa, albeit, a sleeping one!




Here was Citizen Bimbo Somolu, a Nigerian, declaring with perceptible glee, and gusto, that we were not, but that her South Africa, was the real giant! That must make us the fake giant of Africa!


As she made her shocking declaration, I remembered a Yoruba proverb, that it is only a child that was not taught properly, that would point to his father's house with the left hand!




I only saw four left hands on show in the advert, the right hands had been left behind in Nigeria!




MAY GOD BLESS MY NIGERIA,THE GIANT OF AFRICA,SLEEPING OR NOT, FOR EVER!

She is not obligated to lie about how she feels. Yes SA is the GIANT OF AFRICA.

MAy be she should just get SA citizenship then and Bleep off

Adrenaline:

MAy be she should just get SA citizenship then and bleep off

gbammmm

Allah be with you

Giant Nigeria, you had better wake up lo, or else I join these people that are laughing at you.

Most guys here are missing the point at stake here. No Nigerian will tell u he/she is happy with the state of Nigeria.

The US is using the law to remove all mentions/displays of God in public premises: schools, parks, etc. So many Americans are atheists and agnostics. Yet US is still called God's Own Country. Can an American, while advertising Italian/British/Israeli/Chinese tourism say: "Italy/Britain/Israel or China is actually the Real God's Own Country"? Will the US allow that advert to run on American TV? Will American citizens not raise hell against the ad and the American involved?

Let's keep our displeasure with Nigeria aside.

Just like someone said here, if Enugu or Kano were to change their slogan to the 'Real Centre of Excellence', how do you think Lagos would react?

I can't believe a simple RSA tourism ad has degenerated to a pissing contest! Here are the facts:
RSA is simply miles and miles ahead in any respect. However Naijja is reliably predicted to be a world economic player within 25 years. Also it has truly world class human resource in every endeavour. More importantly the black South Africans must first exhaust their uhuru generation with all their retrogressive baggage before the immediate post uhuru generation with techno savvy knowhow and non hierarchical values can (hopefully!)make their presence felt.

kikuyu1:

I can't believe a simple RSA tourism ad has degenerated to a pissing contest! Here are the facts:
RSA is simply miles and miles ahead in any respect. However Naijja is reliably predicted to be a world economic player within 25 years. Also it has truly world class human resource in every endeavour. More importantly the black South Africans must first exhaust their uhuru generation with all their retrogressive baggage before the immediate post uhuru generation with techno savvy knowhow and non hierarchical values can (hopefully!)make their presence felt.

I am sorry to say this, but if this is an exam, you will get zero for writing off point. Nobody is comparing Nig and RSA. We all know who is ahead. Just stick to the point. Or didn't you read the initial post and other comments?

this writer is delusionally deranged? he sounds like he lives Aso Rock?

When will we stop doing this to ouselve!!
We keep condeming ourselves! For how long!
Thats why every country is making mockery of us whenever we engage in an arguement,sometimes i wonder where those ghananian gets what they are saying about nigeria intheir forums and what mrs bimbo has done is jst a typical example!
I would have prefered a south african say that

The is that the economic situation is poor
Nigeria is highly rated in crime same as
south Africa. I see no difference batween
the two countries.    
its the way you present your self that
is how you are approached. what ever
we call our country, that is what foreigners
will address us.
that lady bimbo shomolu and her husband are
not proud of Nigeria, I don't blame they. Nigerians
can do any thing for visa, citizenship and resident permit  
lets learn to love and promote
our dear country.

Im actually shocked! , i believe the south african government were quite insensitive to our tag as the 'giant of africa'(be it true or false).we aint against using that,but hey,we all know nigeria is trying to thrive in the tourism business we know the south africans are ahead of us when it comes to tourism, that part of NIGERIANS saying s.a is the GIANT OF AFRICA should be edited out but hey,we know its wishful thinking,it wont happen,but s.a should be careful na,haba!!, its like a man.u. Fan saying chelsea are the red devils,both of them thrive in football,but we know that as of now,man.u. Is more 'in form',get it??
#but hey,in the real sense of it,i.e,economically speaking,we know s.a are the african giants.comon,lets be honest, they are better,they generate over 40,000 mega watts of electricity,we just managed to hit over '3,000'mw, ponder about that!deuces!

Joblessness at work - here I was thinking this was about someone flouting Nigerian laws or something.

to make it easy for some people to understand the question

lets try to sub divide the GAINTNESS i.e

ECONOMY

DEVELOPMENT

TECHNOLOGY

AGRICULTURE

INFRASTRATURE etc   put those two countries ONE on ONE

Some people shift goal post for them to win example one said "the economy is not in black peoples hands" we dont care about that we are comparing totals thats it

ssssssshhh wetin I dey hear, MR GEJ over to you and your PDP cacus, see how how dem yeye our Dear beloved country call Nigeria, If you have not left Nigeria for another country you will not know home sweet home is.

Bimbo or wetin be your name, a Yoruba couple for that matter soon our dear Igbo and hausa go dey open their mouth say Yorubas are corwards, you and your mumu husband sorry to say chop finish forget that Nigeria is the giant of African

A while back when are all fighting for SA to be freed now, them come say we are nobody, cool I hope we have good leader that will revive out lost Glory

God Bless Nigeria

The real Giant of Africa

LOL, Bunch of third world countries fighting for a silly slogan. Let one of them develop as a 2nd world country ( i.e China or Russia) ,then we can know the giant.

It depends on the subject under consideration.

My anger with 'some' Nigerians is that they fail to understand their own worth. [b]Nigeria is the giant of Africa [/b]not because she is the best nation on the continent but because of her size and versatility. Military,we are there. Football/Sports,we are there. Resources,we are there. Entertainment,we are there.Business,we are there.

Nigeria's influence stretches very,very far beyond her borders,thats also what makes her a giant (country wise). In Kenya for example,Nigerian music,movies,fashion and even our unique pidgin English is becoming a trend,same happens in Ghana,Zambia,Liberia and believe it or not even in South Africa.
A recent survey shows that of all the African countries,Nigeria appears to be the only one whose economic and business environment is controlled mainly by Nigerians themselves. But if this wealth is evenly spread amongst all Nigerians,that is another argument.
'Stupid' Nigerians who compare us with South Africa fail to realize that most of the economic structures in SA were already in existence since the 1700s. SA participated in the industrial revolution,i.e when Nigeria was still a bush,were slavery and colonialism reigned,SA already had modern cities. South Africa already had modern banks when all the 'Niger area' had was the Royal Niger Company but today,After SA,Nigeria has the most dynamic banking sector on the continent.  The whites,used slave labour to develope SA as their own home in Africa.

During the Aparthied era,SAs economy still grew by leaps and bounds while other African countries beg for foreign investors,South Africans did not have to because their 'foreign investors' LIVED THERE.

Nigeria is the ONLY black African country that built its own modern capital city (Abuja) from scratch. Ivory coast,proposed a new capital Yammosoukro even before Abuja,same as Benin republic for Porto-novo,yet these cities have never really taken off.
Nigerian leaders may have failed us in the past,but we must not fail ourselves,a distinction must be made between 'NIGERIA-the Country' and 'NIGERIAN LEADERS'. We should be proud of the former and perhaps LYNCH the latter.

Finally,i really HATE that South African tourism ad, i switch channels whenever the ad is running,i would have expected our NBC to use 'style style' and ban it, lol !!!  Just because my village in Mbaitoli is backward,obsolete & dirty,i still cannot come here and say LAGOS is truly my own home. No matter how much them pay me.

A thread opened solely  to promote an already debunked myth/lies.
Wonders shall never end.
I wont be surprised if some of the posters challenging the outspoken honesty of the woman in question are already passing on the lies of Nigeria being the giant of Africa to thier offsprings.And that my friends  is very dangerous,because it will blow in your respective faces.Your kids will not remain under 13s.Sooner or later they will be opportuned to leave their gated enclaves and see things on ground elsewhere for themselves.By then,I hope you will have the sincere courage to ask them their opinion about your so called moniker.

We should address issue here and the intension behind it. The Woman said South Africa is giant of Africa based on the tourism potentials and developments therein. Why do most multinationals do their adverts in SA? It is simply because of the potentials there. Let us develop our own tourism potentials in Nigeria,so that an American can boldly say Nigeria is the giant of the world.

debosky:

Joblessness at work - here I was thinking this was about someone flouting Nigerian laws or something.

na real war o my brother!

There's a cloud of sadness built up in quite a many folks minds these days, you'd be amazed the sorts of things that could get em upset in a heartbeat!

udezue:

She is not obligated to lie about how she feels. Yes SA is the GIANT OF AFRICA.

Yes SA is the GIANT OF AFRICA.

Yes SA is the GIANT OF AFRICA.

Yes SA is the GIANT OF AFRICA.

publisher:

My anger with 'some' Nigerians is that they fail to understand their own worth. [b]Nigeria is the giant of Africa [/b]not because she is the best nation on the continent but because of her size and versatility. Military,we are there. Football/Sports,we are there. Resources,we are there. Entertainment,we are there.Business,we are there.

Nigeria's influence stretches very,very far beyond her borders,thats also what makes her a giant (country wise). In Kenya for example,Nigerian music,movies,fashion and even our unique pidgin English is becoming a trend,same happens in Ghana,Zambia,Liberia and believe it or not even in South Africa.
A recent survey shows that of all the African countries,Nigeria appears to be the only one whose economic and business environment is controlled mainly by Nigerians themselves. But if this wealth is evenly spread amongst all Nigerians,that is another argument.
'silly' Nigerians who compare us with South Africa fail to realize that most of the economic structures in SA were already in existence since the 1700s. SA participated in the industrial revolution,i.e when Nigeria was still a bush,were slavery and colonialism reigned,SA already had modern cities. South Africa already had modern banks when all the 'Niger area' had was the Royal Niger Company but today,After SA,Nigeria has the most dynamic banking sector on the continent.  The whites,used slave labour to develope SA as their own home in Africa.

During the Aparthied era,SAs economy still grew by leaps and bounds while other African countries beg for foreign investors,South Africans did not have to because their 'foreign investors' LIVED THERE.

Nigeria is the ONLY black African country that built its own modern capital city (Abuja) from scratch. Ivory coast,proposed a new capital Yammosoukro even before Abuja,same as Benin republic for Porto-novo,yet these cities have never really taken off.
Nigerian leaders may have failed us in the past,but we must not fail ourselves,a distinction must be made between 'NIGERIA-the Country' and 'NIGERIAN LEADERS'. We should be proud of the former and perhaps LYNCH the latter.

Finally,i really HATE that South African tourism ad, i switch channels whenever the ad is running,i would have expected our NBC to use 'style style' and ban it, lol !!!  Just because my village in Mbaitoli is backward,obsolete & dirty,i still cannot come here and say LAGOS is truly my own home. No matter how much them pay me.

good point brother.

This ur village?

But in d true sense things,SA is a whiteman's country though.Compared on black on black basis,nigerians are relatively way ahead,mentally and otherwise.

true talk.

those of you arguing in favor of this insult by our own fellow Nigerians tempt me to scream @ you and call you names, if not for the medium we find ourselves, i would certainly do so, the post is objective and in no way judgmental, i hope the couple mentioned in that advertorial that they have now adopted south Africa as their fatherland and would gladly name their son Mandela

The fact is that most of the comments here are based on ignorance. This is a woman who has lived in Nigeria and like most of us ignorantly believing that Nigeria is the giant of Africa. She went for a trip to SA and found out that Nigeria cannot be a giant in the same continent as South Africa. This is just a confession of a woman who have seen both countries hence her assertion is more credible than that of some of us that may not have crossed our states of residence in our life time.

You cannot compare yourself to yourself. This woman went to SA and proclaimed it to be the giant of Africa based on her experience. Rather than abusing her, we should see her more like a secret intelligence agent alerting us of the fact that SA has overtaken us as the giant of Africa. This new intel should rather inspire us to reclaim the giant of Africa position, rather than wasting our energy here on NL.

Contrary to what most of us think patriotism is not about covering-up your country. It is about expressing the truth, to inspire a change mentality. You cannot build a nation if you are delusional of how small or rotten your nation is. Our problem is pride and insincerity. We attack every negative statement about Nigeria yet we do nothing to change the fortunes of our country. After this those of us that collect bribe, give bribe, rig elections, vote for 'coconut heads', etc will go back to our daily routine of destroying our country, while we wait for another negative comment about Nigeria, so that we continue our abuse of each other.

The fact is that SA is in a class of its own. At the rate we are currently going it will take us decades to get to where SA is today. Nigeria is only in the same class as countries like Somalia, Niger, Eritrea, etc just like most international reports show. If you do not like it, go and hug a transformer, or better still begin to work positively daily to change the fortunes of your country. You can start by voting the best candidates in the April Poll and commit yourself to not get involved in all those things that have left Nigeria as a ‘Giant in the Sand’.

redsun:

But in d true sense things,SA is a whiteman's country though.Compared on black on black basis,nigerians are relatively way ahead,mentally and otherwise.

why shift post to say black on black


jamaicans labour built the london underground so we cant give the credit to the brits for their underground ?

chinese labour built the railways lines in america so we cant give them the credit

lets give credit were it is due

passyjango:

The fact is that most of the comments here are based on ignorance. This is a woman who has lived in Nigeria and like most of us ignorantly believing that Nigeria is the giant of Africa. She went for a trip to SA and found out that Nigeria cannot be a giant in the same continent as South Africa. This is just a confession of a woman who have seen both countries hence her assertion is more credible than that of some of us that may not have crossed our states of residence in our life time.

You cannot compare yourself to yourself. This woman went to SA and proclaimed it to be the giant of Africa based on her experience. Rather than abusing her, we should see her more like a secret intelligence agent alerting us of the fact that SA has overtaken us as the giant of Africa. This new intel should rather inspire us to reclaim the giant of Africa position, rather than wasting our energy here on NL.

Contrary to what most of us think patriotism is not about covering-up your country. It is about expressing the truth, to inspire a change mentality. You cannot build a nation if you are delusional of how small or rotten your nation is. Our problem is pride and insincerity. We attack every negative statement about Nigeria yet we do nothing to change the fortunes of our country. After this those of us that collect bribe, give bribe, rig elections, vote for 'coconut heads', etc will go back to our daily routine of destroying our country, while we wait for another negative comment about Nigeria, so that we continue our abuse of each other.

The fact is that SA is in a class of its own. At the rate we are currently going it will take us decades to get to where SA is today. Nigeria is only in the same class as countries like Somalia, Niger, Eritrea, etc just like most international reports show. If you do not like it, go and hug a transformer, or better still begin to work positively daily to change the fortunes of your country. You can start by voting the best candidates in the April Poll and commit yourself to not get involved in all those things that have left Nigeria as a ‘Giant in the Sand’.

well said

passyjango:

The fact is that most of the comments here are based on ignorance. This is a woman who has lived in Nigeria and like most of us ignorantly believing that Nigeria is the giant of Africa. She went for a trip to SA and found out that Nigeria cannot be a giant in the same continent as South Africa. This is just a confession of a woman who have seen both countries hence her assertion is more credible than that of some of us that may not have crossed our states of residence in our life time.

You cannot compare yourself to yourself. This woman went to SA and proclaimed it to be the giant of Africa based on her experience. Rather than abusing her, we should see her more like a secret intelligence agent alerting us of the fact that SA has overtaken us as the giant of Africa. This new intel should rather inspire us to reclaim the giant of Africa position, rather than wasting our energy here on NL.

Contrary to what most of us think patriotism is not about covering-up your country. It is about expressing the truth, to inspire a change mentality. You cannot build a nation if you are delusional of how small or rotten your nation is. Our problem is pride and insincerity. We attack every negative statement about Nigeria yet we do nothing to change the fortunes of our country. After this those of us that collect bribe, give bribe, rig elections, vote for 'coconut heads', etc will go back to our daily routine of destroying our country, while we wait for another negative comment about Nigeria, so that we continue our abuse of each other.

The fact is that SA is in a class of its own. At the rate we are currently going it will take us decades to get to where SA is today. Nigeria is only in the same class as countries like Somalia, Niger, Eritrea, etc just like most international reports show. If you do not like it, go and hug a transformer, or better still begin to work positively daily to change the fortunes of your country. You can start by voting the best candidates in the April Poll and commit yourself to not get involved in all those things that have left Nigeria as a ‘Giant in the Sand’.

You don't conclude like that. Am sure she has spend almost her entire life in Nigeria,and so she knows the good and bad things about Nigeria. You can only use her opinion if she stayed in SA for like 15years and not few weeks. if you want to know about the good and bad of a country you need to live there and experience what the country has to offer in terms on Employment, Transport, Security, Education and more. You cant just judge like that based on a vacation or holiday that only lasted few days or weeks. Did she also visit Soweto and other SA ghettos? Am sure she didn't.

The bottom line in my opinion is that both country are poor countries, they are not better that each other.