Nigerian front-line novelist,
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, has taken a swipe at Nigerians for criticising former
Minister of Petroleum Resources, Dieziani Alison-Madueke over fraud
allegations.
According to her, Dieziani’s case
would not be capitalised if she was a man because stealing money is a norm
practised by Nigerian politicians.
While speaking at the university
of Edinburgh, Chimamanda stated that assumptions that men are expected to steal
and women should be like angels aggravated the former Minister’s fraud case.
She said: “We shouldn’t assume,
that because a person is born a woman, that person is somehow is just one step
lower than angel.
“I find it quite dehumanizing for
women because what is means is that women cannot be judged on the same terms as
men.
“I remember once a politician in
Nigerian who was a woman had stolen money which is an exercise most nigerian
politicians are very adept at
“she was pilloride, i remember a
jounalist saying and she’ s a woman.
“Somehow the assumption was it
will be better if she was a man because then Nigerians would not judge her
harshly since we expect men to steal.
“I think the idea of women being
another specie of angel is bad for both women and men because it makes the
standards uneven. I dream of a world in which women are seen as women where
women are allowed to be many things.”
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We respect Chimamanda because she deserves respect. We don't respect her, simply because she is a woman. Anyone who earns respect would be given respect, just as anyone who deserves disrespect would be disrespected. It has nothing to do with gender. Similarly, stealing is stealing. It has nothing to do with gender. Men who have allegedly stolen are being constantly criticized by Nigerians. Is Chimamanda implying that stealing is not condemnable when a woman is allegedly involved in it?
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