Former U.S. Ambassador Princeton N. Lyman Speaks at Achebe Colloquium

Princeton N. Lyman, Former U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria and South Africa, speaks on the panel "The Nigerian State and U.S. Strategic Interests" at the Achebe Colloquium at Brown University on December 11, 2009.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Nigeria
• Brown University
• Saharareporters
• Princeton N. Lyman

[Omolofa88]

This is hard to hear, hard indeed!!! But it is true on every level. Leaders and those aspire to be leaders need to listen to this and maybe, just maybe it will reach and deal with the hardness of thier hearts.

Nigeria has started to become irrelevant - just look at Obama's snub by going across to Ghana instead of Nigeria. When will we wake up????

[blesyworld]

What point did this man just make? he isnt saying anything new that hasn't been said before. Nigerians do not talk about themselves, other countries do because they see something in d individuals that always makes them shine. I wonder if any other country in d world could have survived such corruption like Nigeria. Who cares about Obama visiting or not? The white countries were d ruination of Africa. Nigeria will find its feet one day and it will be a shock to everyone. They shd bring solutions!

[blesyworld]

@RealAFRO are you alright? How dare u call Nigerians terrorist. The guy who did it does not even live in Nigeria (all his life). Y is it that all d white countries are only interested in killing whts left of Nigerian's image? we are not terrorist, not everyone in Nigeria is a scammer so pls watch ur mouth. Thank U.

[layitube]

I have tirelessly argued along these lines with friends and family over the years. My experiences travelling around the West Coast of Africa over a decade ago shaped my views.

A big part of our problem is that we do not love ourselves. Mr rich oppresses the Mr Poor, and Mr Poor in turn praise Mr Rich, forgetting that the same money, which public servant freely loots & selectively distributes, belong to the people anyway. How wicked a man is that condemns another to beg for his own food?

[layitube]

Nigeria's strength does not come from her past endeavours, nor does it come from her faded glory. Her strength lies in her people and that air of audaciousness that makes us believe that nothing is impossible. That is what makes Nigeria so unique, and irrespective of how Nigeria came to be, we have that union to thank for it.

We do not accept defeat, but this may also be our downfall.

[layitube]

We ignore the obvious even when the roof is caving in over our heads. We try and blame others for our own mistakes. No one can help Nigeria except Nigerians and Africa would be better for it. Humility is a good place to start, and love is all we need. We need to humble ourselves and accept that we've taken the wrong turn, and love our neighbours knowing that this is the same as loving ourselves.

[geligurl]

this is a message to our leaders. foolish nigerian leaders. even with the money they steal, if they use it to contribute, that would be something good. but they carry the money and put in their bank accounts. pple like babangida. babangida is worth billions of pounds and dollars .. i said billions not millions, take note. the rulers are the ones who steal all free. while the ordinary man is left there to rot and die. God go punish all those people wey dey put us through this living hell mehn.

[Biafrans7]

"Nigeria is deeply divided along ethnic and religious lines. More than 13,000 people have died in religious and ethnic clashes since the end of military rule in 1999." ---- Corinne Dufka, Human Rights Watch. Guardian Newspapers. Thursday January 21, 2010.

[tomiwa97]

That is the reality. Nigeria, with all its resources, both human and material, is not relevant to anybody else. Since we have failed to harness all our potentials, wwe are always living in self-delusion.

[justwanna007]

well