I have been trying till now to keep my nose out of what is none of my business. I am not a politician and I am not one to spend time debating on political issues. However, I am a businessman, anything that has to do with Nigeria and doing business in Nigeria is my BUSINESS!
I was minding my business and going about my online research when I noticed an article from Loy of StartUpsNigeria announcing that Google has launched Google News for Nigeria of course I was thrilled and I decided to check it out.
Well, maybe it was a wrong timing. I actually love the new services, but one of the first story that caught my attention is one posted by NigerianMuse about The N100 million dinner for Obama (written by Reuben Abati). You may be wondering what that has got to do with me. Well, the organizers of the dinner, Africans for Obama 2008 is being led by none other than the Director General of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Professor Ndidi Okereke-Onyiuke.
Well, that is not a crime, however, a statement credited to her is worrisome and that happens to concern me;
“Some skeptical people have been writing nonsense and rubbish in the newspapers that what is my business with Obama. But they are free to continue to write petitions. It is not their money that we are spending. Ask them is it your money that we are spending?”
The writer insists that those are the exact words of Professor Ndidi Okereke-Onyiuke, Director General of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, and Chairman of the Africans for Obama 2008. That is a rude shock to me. After reading the rest of the article, I could not help but ask, What is Nigeria’s business in Obama 2008?
I personally think that the Americans are in a better position to know what is good for them. They know the Presidential Contestants better than us, so What is Nigeria’s business in mobilizing vote for one candidate or the other? We have myriads of unsolved challenges facing us. Instead of getting busy at combating them, we are trying to educate those who are practically ahead of us! Maybe I am missing somethiing here. If you have a better answer, I will like to know.
Do you think that it might be racially motivated? Perhaps the Nigerian leaders want to support him because they like how he looks? I hope I’m not out of line in saying that, but I’m sure politicians of ALL backgrounds do this, even if it’s not a conscious thing.
It’s interesting that searching on Obama Nigeria in Google produces over 2,000,000 results!!! That’s a lot of connections between Obama and Nigeria. However, the “Five Million Nigerians for Obama” initiative at http://www.obamanigeria.org only has 1330 people enlisted.
😆 Welcome to my world. I blogged about Nigeria for Obama: A Misplaced Priority earlier this year and Nigerians descended on me. Some pro and some against but I think those pushing this thing are in it probably just for the money. Frankly.
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Nigeria for Obama, Africa for Obama: This NONSENSE must stop!…
I am so infuriated this dawn, after going through a few headlines on Google News Nigeria. When I blogged about Nigeria for Obama (ObamaNigeria.org): A Misplaced Priority in March 2008, putting a spotlight on an effort by some Lagos State legislators, I…
I think its basically a misplaced priority and the problem of having money and not knowing how to spend it.
As I read in the Punch Newspaper, Obama’s campaign headquarters has even denied the fund raising or rather sensitization has the NSE DG would call it.
Again where is the FUNDS going since the US presidential candidate is not allowed to collect funds from abroad?
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Thanks for the informative post… I searched for a while to find the right answer to my questions!
It is everybodys business to be concerned. I believe it was a high profile 419 led by the Director General of the Nigerian Stock Exchange. We should ask ourselves what has interest has Nigerians in who is elected in America when we cannot conduct a single election successfully. She has a misplaced priority shall we say? What is going to happen to the money raised? Small and medium enterprises are crying out for survival what effort has she made towards this. Investors are running away from Nigeria for many reasons. The companies relocating to the far east and even nearby Ghana. What has she done to attract investors. I believe she has forgotten about what her roles at thestock exchange and joined the bandwagon of professional contractors/419.