Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Dimeji Bankole on HardTalk

Dimeji Bankole on HardTalk

Unfortunately, I can't give a personal opinion on this... But "smug" would definitely be one of my descriptions.

23 comments:

Frances Uku said...

wow. just wow.

Anonymous said...

Hello Nkem,

Thanks for posting this link, I missed the interview whilst travelling back from holiday.

Indeed, first impressions appear quite smug and did he not interrupt Stephen a good few times to make his point?

I need to view this again before I can write up any comments.

I hope you are fine and well, miss you wit and blogs.

Regards,

Akin

ijebuman said...

Thanks for putting this up.
I'm not impressed at all, what show does he think he is on, The Apprentice??.
I found the way he responded and his facial expressions really annoying, it looked as if he was bored or amused by the whole interview.

methinks he just went on the show to show off, interesting how he managed to drop in the fact that he studied in Britain.

Anonymous said...

Dimeji is a liar and a crook. they are already looting. Some of his colleagues at the house are even surprised at his behaviour for someone so young. what I have heard is that there is no hope for when it is biz as usual for these young guns coming up. Only problem is that educated people like themselves are taking in. As a person he is rather charming, but he is ideologically bankrupt and all he thinks about his money and how he will get lots of it for him and his father and croonies.

Waffarian said...

Heheheheheeh. Yeah, his facial expressions were quite irritating, I thought he was about to ask Steve for a date at any minute! The raised eyebrows, the arrogant smile...the cocking of the head to one side...where did he think he was? any minute i thought he'll be munching on peanuts and groping poor Steve.

Anyway, apart from the fact that at least he can speak English(I still have nightmares about Kalu Orji on hardtalk), I am not really sure...too diplomatic for me...we've seen this all before....need some one with bloody passion in that fucking country.

Thanks for posting.

x said...

Sackur is just as smug, and clearly takes his facial cues from St Jeremy Paxman. Thanks for the link

Unknown said...

I thought it was a brilliant interview. Facial expressions and smugness aside, the substance of the debate was profound and his answers were mostly devoid of sentiment. The jury is still out on this administration, but I think he helped rather than hurt their case.

mochafella said...

I will not be unhappy if his attitude is his worst negative at the end of his term.

Anonymous said...

Heartbreaking......

His comment on "spending money on some obscure village" really bothered me. For many reasons.

Anonymous said...

Why are you guys all bashing him?
Yes, he has this smug look on his face, but the substance of the interview can hardly be argued against.

C'mon guys. Give me a break. Don't always accentuate the negative, try to give a balanced view.

Anonymous said...

smug my a**. he's well-spoken and intelligent and those 2 things are very often mistaken for smugness. this won't be the first time or the last time. forgive the man if his agenda wasn't to kiss ass. he did a fantastic job in my opinion, and that's SO bloody sexy to me right now, LOL. what was he supposed to do? sit there looking like a third world wretch? so what was the essence of his extensive education if he's not allowed to have opinions and express himself? the world can't keep thinking we're a society of imbeciles who have nothing intelligent or worthwhile to say. he didn't buckle under the badgering and that's to be commended. if we keep acting like fools, we're going to keep being treated like fools. there's firm and there's smug. two very different things. and even if he is/was smug, i find his brand of smugness incredibly gratifying. this is the new face of nigeria, and there's a lot of pride to be had in that.

Beauty said...

Smug? Eloquence and dignity are the missing words you were looking for. Hard talk is just that, but fire fire fire worked well in the face of difficult questions. I think he has put forward a case for delivery on the current House of Representatives. Let us all watch the show in a couple of years from today. Thank you for the link.

Eyin'ju Oluwa said...

Thanks.

I think he did well.

the hedonistic nigerian said...

yeah i think whats left now is for us to watch and see how it plays out.Its commendable how he refused to buckle, and he made his points rather firmly.i think there was also something smug about steve.is it just me or is there something funny about dimeji's lips?..lol.

Anonymous said...

I think we should all pull resources together and get him braces for his teeth...I'm just saying.

And maybe lip reduction surgery. I did not hear what he was saying. Was too distracted by the whole mouth thing

UndaCovaSista said...

I wouldn't call him diplomatic as some other commentators have. I'd say he was very defensive, but tried to mask it with a smile (yes, smug). He didnt give a straight forward answer to a single one of the questions he was asked! But we've come to expect no less from our politicians, havent we?

Anonymous said...

someone made the comment about him needing braces. i think its his dentition that gives him that 'smug' expression. i am not sure that he was trying to be smug at all. just trying to compose himself. people do not realise how harsh the studio lights can be also. if he isnt used to them then he would have been squinting and tilting his head to get out of the light. he was a bit too diplomatic though but all in all, an interview that wasnt disgraceful to nigeria as they usually are.

Anonymous said...

While I realize that reporters can sneaky and real weasels, I feel Bankole was a little overboard with the defensiveness and arrogance, making it seem like he was running away from something.

I do not feel he made any real points or expressed any opinions of substance other than to tout his self-pride in his education and the fact that the political process can fix the system (e.g. 'the system can fix itself'). The latter has been the mantra of just about every regime in the past 40 years. To call it profound is being intellectually dishonest.

In the end, I am left wondering if there is anyone is left in Nigerian politics who really has the interest of the common person in their hearts. Or is it true that they only care about maintaining the status quo and fattening their wallets while making the occasional condescending remarks about not "spending money on some obscure village."

ababoypart2 said...

The excitement of being on the BBC must have gotten the better of him. All in all - OK, just

Anonymous said...

Folks lets do away with the facial expressions and body languages for a sec.

Speaker Bankole raised one important issue - the inability of legislators to ask questions and take intelligent stance on issues of governance. He also mention the need for Nigerians to be able to ask questions - "having the constitutional rights to ask questions...."

Well, this is one area the Freedom of Information Bill is relevant - but the House threw out the bill earlier this month - again. Is Bankole double-talking?

The speaker definitely knows the talks, but let's see how he walks the talks.

Anonymous said...

I am from South Africa and worked for a parliamentary monitoring organization there for a while in the initial years of democratic rule. While I am not privy to all the nuances of Nigerian politics, What he was articulating was the growing pains of the Nigerian parliament. And I think his defensiveness was more a sign of him as speaker to be diplomatic. As for alleged smugness, I am still looking for it.

Anonymous said...

Some said something about wghat show does he think he is on....i think that is a rather condescending thing to say.

so what if its the BBc hardtalk show...you all just putting sentimental stuff up here...its not gonna do any help...sometime i feel us Nigerians don't even have a thorough understading of what our challenges really are...i'm not surprised as we dont vote, we dont know people that are being elected...we dont really care about the political process of our constituencies...and thats a rather lazy and naive way to change our country dont you think guys.
back to Hon Dimeji's interview...i didn't get much from the speech..didnt expect to cos an interview on hardtalk dont say much or change anything about anything....but i enjoyed the fact that he attempted to help me see more clearly what the role of the house of rep ought to be like...what i'd like to see is them rolling out more bills...yeah i understand that the executive, the system is indeed standing in their way...but i know we will get it right some day!!

Unknown said...

Its really sad that he can go on international television and lie, Dimeji Bankole had always claimed he attended Oxford university, Havard University and that he was in the British ArmyN when he was asked on Hardtalk he denied of all. Like they say the truth will always prevail. Do you guys know that within his 1year in office he built a N1Billion mansion in abuja. Where is credibility and honesty in this NigeriaN the guy isn't even 40 years old yet and he's already following his predecessors. Tell me why then do we chastise his predecessor who was alleged to have stole hundreds of millions to renovate her official quaters. I rest my case o