Written By: Jamelia Mmari—Genevieve Nnaji recently sat down with CNN International's Pedro Pinto for a full-length interview with African Voices. When asked what she likes about Nigeria and correspondingly, what she doesn't like about Nigeria, she had the following to share, proving why for many she reigns supreme:
I like that as Nigerians we are, we have some sort of neighborly love that we don’t understand, we have a way of coming to the rescue of complete strangers, we do have that bond and I think it has to do with you know our background and how we are raised and how Nigerians in a whole have been made to be morally you know, it’s like you have a moral duty to your society, to yourself, to your family so it’s like everybody’s business is everybody’s business. It’s a bad thing sometimes, but it does have its good sides. You know, so that is something we are. And you know, we probably don’t know as a people and if we don’t know we should know it now, it’s a good thing. What I don’t like about Nigeria…man, I never diss my own country, man! You know, whatever negativity is in a country is in every other country; it’s in every other part of the world. So, the thing is everyone needs to be treated as individuals and not a collective nation. You don’t judge one person or judge one person by another persons faults. So, I just take every Nigerian the way I see them. I would never live anywhere else to be honest, no.
Should we take a cue from Genevieve and stop airing our dirty laundry about our home countries? After all, doesn't she have a point when she said, "whatever negativity is in a country is in every other country; it's in every other part of the world." With that view of her country, it's no wonder Genevieve also shared that she would never leave Nigeria, and specifically Lagos, because that's her home and what she's used to—she is willing to work elsewhere, but her home remains Nigeria.
(Photo Credits: © Gary Fitzpatrick)
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1 comments:
She is an entertainer, her job is to make people feel good about themselves, but I think it is our job not to bury our heads in the sand when it comes to issues like education, health care, womens rights, corruption, an poverty that keep so many of us living in unconscionable conditions.
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