Posted by 9jabook.com on October 24, 2009 at 12:49am
The foreign media has been rightly accused of always blowing our ugly sides out of proportion while conveniently keeping mum on our good sides. Any time you hear the name Nigeria mentioned in any foreign media, especially CNN, chances are that it will be in the negative. Most times, even a good story about Nigeria is ended with one negative comment or the other.
But in the last few weeks, some young Nigerians were featured in great light to the delight of those who truly love Nigeria. First it was Nigeria’s actress Genevieve Nnaji that was featured on the high-profile The Oprah Winfrey Show. Then it was the award-winning novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie that was featured on CNN’s as the Connector of the Day.
Oprah Winfrey featured Genevieve as one of the Most Famous People in the World. Hate her or love her, Oprah Winfrey is the presenter of the show that is acknowledged as the highest-rated programme of its kind in living history. She is also rated as the most influential woman in the world. Any book she talks about on her programme becomes a bestseller. She was one of those who called on Barack Obama to run for president when he was just a fresh Senator, and was said to have delivered over a million votes to Barack Obama in the 2008 Democratic Party’ primaries.
Unconfirmed reports also have it that she said a few years ago that Nigeria is a nation of fraudsters.
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Also given that the world of most United States ’ citizens starts with the U.S. , touches some part of Europe and ends with Asia , it was pleasantly surprising for Oprah to add a Nigerian lady on that list. That was good public relations for the country, no matter how small it was.
Then last week, CNN featured Chimamanda Adichie as the Connector of the Day on Becky Anderson’s Connect the World. All the questions asked were mainly about Nigeria. In addition to all the awards she had previously won through her two novels Purple Hibiscus and Half of a Yellow Sun, Adichie was recently awarded one of this year’s MacArthur Foundation fellowships, popularly known as “genius grants”, which come with an obligation-free annual grant of $100,000 for a five-year period. That award was highlighted in that interview. The good thing about that interview was that it was part of the international news bulletin, rather than the Africa-focused programmes: Inside Africa and African Voices.
There are a few points to note about these positive achievements recorded by these Nigerians. The first is that none of them is a politician or a government official. Secondly, they are both women. Thirdly, they are of the same generation (the under-40 generation). Fourthly, they were both born and bred at home (in Igboland) before they got international fame.
This goes to prove that even in this unfriendly environment, one can rise to international acclaim. It is also a pointer to the fact that Nigerians as a people are winners in whatever field they may find themselves. They are very intelligent, skilful, resourceful and diligent. It is therefore ironic that while Nigeria as a nation is always rated lowly in all world rankings, her citizens are rated highly in whatever competition they participate in.
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