the way Nigerian Politicians dress is a disgrace? Wow. Talk about priorities. Never mind they horde wealth in swiss banks while the citizens live in poverty. Or that they rob the country blind of the resources. Instead of spending time in International forums how about they not even travel and work on making Nigeria the functioning wealthy country it should be.

We got more important things as Nigerians to worry about than donning a suit to look good in the eyes of the International community.

I can't believe people are complaining about the president's attire, the only reason why don't wear loin clothes and walk around barefooted is I have ugly nails,

Seriously, if there's one thing our presidents and government officials are doing right, it's the promotion of our attire in international functions. We should applaud them for that because it means a lot. I find it very disturbing that some people are ashamed to be identified as Africans, Lord help us. Abeg let them (president and all) wear our sexy Dansiki and co, how many oyibo go wear babanriga to an international function held in African soil? Na wa for our people o, they have little faith in themselves

Tufiakwa,

what's wrong with wearing native wear to an INTERNATIONAL gathering.
it's an international gathering not a british or american gathering. what's wrong with representing your respective country?

if your country disgraces you so, burn your passport and get citizenship with some other country. simple as that.


I personally dig that native wear on our president.
he looks original and very presentable.


@Thief of Hearts, that's sweet of your sister. i wore my native to my 8 grade graduation too. a lot of people complimented me for it 'cause i stood out. not to mention that my dress was banging


steals pilgrim's pic
the guy with the blue turban is also representing his country.

Donzman:

Dressing up in suits is their official attire, dressing up in Babanrigas is our own official attire. If they do not take us serious for dressing in Babanrigas, we should not take them serious for wearing suits.

Finito!

WesleyanA:

what's wrong with wearing native wear to an INTERNATIONAL gathering.
it's an international gathering not a british or american gathering. what's wrong with representing your respective country?

Please tell 'em.

WesleyanA:


steals pilgrim's pic
the guy with the blue turban is also representing his country.

Nope, you didn't steal the pic, lol. But there again, you have a keen eye, and I thought most people would have noticed as well.

@babyosisi
I would rather have my president be intelligent rather than just look intelligent.

Bye

@jaymobb

you are not born again. You mean that where I can eat pounded yam with Egusi soup and Ponmo, I should eat live lobsters because I'm at an international event.

So what about during our traditional events? Are you trying to say that if JUDGE Bush should come to see the Kano Durba, we should make him an object of mockery because he is not wearing Babanriga?

Guy, African attire has been gaining international acclaim for a while now. Foreigners are beginning to adorn them. Now you want to tear all that down?

Abeg, I suggest all school uniforms should be converted to Nigerian cultural attire.

jaymobb:

do you think this other laeders are stupid(dressin in suit)
and don't ve their own cultral attire

Well kind of

jaymobb:

why must we make blind arguments.  can u wear your bedroom attire to a party .
There are different dress code for different occassion abeg, no one is saying babariga,
kaftan and whatever is wrong all we are saying is that suit is a more formal way of dressing
particularly in occassion of international matters or do you think this other laeders are stupid(dressin in suit)
and don't ve their own cultral attire and if u say his preserving our(culture) whatever, then that is jst bullshit,

Isn't that the nature of nairaland.
and some like my good friend TOH can't say their views without taking it personal.
Yaradua does look great in trado,he'll look good in anything,the man is blessed with good looks.
OBJ looked very unintelligent and spoke like one who was uneducated and frankly,I was ashamed of him as my president and the babariga did not help him

We don't wear babarigas to formal dinners in the States,we don't wear them to our commencements (graduation),we don't wear them to job interviews or to work except you are maybe running an African store,we don't wear them to international or foreign conferences.
There is a place for them and summit meetings except( in an all African affair) is not one of them.
There is an approriate dressing for any ocassion.

Someone mentioned the Dalai Lama,he is a religious leader,that is his dressing,I don't expect the pope to wear Jeans or mother Theresa to have shown cleavage .
We all know kilts are traditional scottish wear,they wear them in graduations,weddings and to play bagpipes but when it comes to meetings,they know when to keep the plaid skirts at home and so should we.

Most of the responders I can assure you have never worn those traditional outfits they claim to be so proud of to work,does it mean you are ashamed of your Nigerianess,of course not,it only means you are sensible enough to descern that it would not be approprite at the workplace.

Our leaders could welcome and entertain foreign guests in their own homes (Nigeria) dressed in whatever they seem fit even entertain them with traditional dancers shaking their bum bum,that is our culture but outside of Nigeria,they ought not to make themselves stand out conspicuosly especially when most times,they have nothing to offer.

Comparing our dressing at international conferences with Japanese/Chinese dressing at the same events is not right. Yes, they have their own culture and clothes but they don't wear them just like that. Maybe on traditional day celebrations, weddings, national days etc. Or has anyone gone to Japan and seen people wearing their kimonos on the street? Seen Russians wearing their woolen waistcoats and kosovorotkas with those baggy pants and knee high boots to the mall? Didn't think so.

Here, we wear trad all the time. It's normal. The Arabs wear their own clothes, so do Indians and Pakistanis. SO if Yar'adua goes for a conference in babanriga or King Abdullah in his own Abaaya and head gear or Ahmed Karzai (sp?) in his native, there's no surprise. That's what you see in their countries. It's not like Miss World showing her country's attire and trying to be the prettiest, it's just traditional wear worn on the international stage. NO BIG DEAL.

Afterall, it's not like Yar'Adua is wearing his hand woven fulani attire or the Akwa-Ibom multi-coloured, multi layered dancers' attire. Now that would be comparable to George Dubya wearing his cowboy outfit!

Some people are saying that Nigerians should conform to suit wearing. They even mention the Pope in citing examples. Yet they've not asked themselves why the Pope does not wear a suit at formal events even though the outfit he dorns is not his of his culture.

I have also asked them, since it is improper for Nigerians to wear traditional attire to European formal events, is it also improper for Europeans to wear their formal attire to Nigerian Traditional Events?

Should we mock Gordon Brown if he wears a suit to watch the Durba in Kano? Or do you think his people will even consider it an issue if he does. Do you think they will be a shamed of him for doing that?

Please lets think like human beings and stop reasoning like termite.

Which kind thing una dey yann for here!

so Yar' Adua should start wearing suit becos una dey Yankee!

Shame on u guyz mehnnn, U've lost ur Identity.

Agbada is a recognised formal wear and Whites in Nigeria wear them for formal meetings here in nigeria,

One go even wear his own come work tomoro for Friday work, he does not miss it.

U guys are begining to loose ur ID cos U're Abroad,

It's not good o

foolish nigerians MR president is listenin

shame yallllllllllllllllll

anumana!

total rubbish about wearing suits.

why should africans trade our traditional attire for western attire ??


i think its totally ridiculous to suggest that you wont be taken seriously because your are wearing your traditional attire.

lots of ignorant non africans already think that we have no native dress , that we were all walking around naked when the white man came to Africa. this is part of our cultural heritage and one we should be proud off.

our presidents should continue to stick to native attire especially at International events.

'the suit is in no way better than the agbada . so abeg go siddon.

its ridiculous to suggest that you wont be taken seriously if u attend an international conference with an agbada on.

This is part of our cultural heritage and one that we should be proud of. we already have enuff ignorant non africans running around thinking africans had no clothes or culture, that we were all running around naked when europeans came upon us. I am sure obasanjos outfits on his numerous international visits has caused some foreigners to do more research on Nigerias native attire and culture.

as to the acceptability of the suit, I dont recall africa ever having any input when the suit was supposedly adopted as the "international business dresscode"

to call our attire a "disgrace" is utter rubbish and stupidity .

maybe we should tell that [b]turban[/b]itor- they guy from india to cut his hair and remove his turban, its not very west formal is it?

Oh yea lets them them to wear the same colour suits and shoes

babyosisi:

We don't wear babarigas to formal dinners in the States,we don't wear them to our commencements (graduation),.

Speak for yourself osisi. Anytime I or anyone I know goes to Nigeria, it's mandatory they bring me back native for me to wear at parties and they are not just for Nigerian parties either. btw like I mentioned, my family wears native to graduations, weddings etc

Very soon we're gonna read about how Yardua should change his name cos it's not "English" enough

Dis Guy:

maybe we should tell that [b]turban[/b]itor- they guy from india to cut his hair and remove his turban, its not very west formal is it?

Oh yea lets them them to wear the same colour suits and shoes

LOl Abi o

Shey he should make sure he's wearing black Turban if at all he's allowed to wear any!

Abeg U too much jare

@ThiefoHearts

Lol

ThiefOfHearts:


Very soon we're going to read about how Yardua should change his name because it's not "English" enough

LOL!! I wont put it past them.

And i assume if President Bush et al wore top hats and carried canes a la Sir Winston Churchill, it would be perfectly alright for everyone else to adopt this 'international' manner of dress. Who makes these rules? We need to focus on what is important. Did President Yar'Adua make sense at the summit? Was he listened to babariga or not? Results people, results!

@ThiefofHearts

I'm very certain that Nigerians will soon demand that Yar'Adua should Westernise or Englishise his name during international events since English is the most spoken international language.

I'm sure pronouncing his name can distract several leaders attending these events. And the name could be so difficult to pronounce and may even sound funny to some.

Maybe he could just change his name to Michael Stone. Well, I'm not saying it must be Michael Stone. Okay what about em, Henry Jones? Or Cletus Macaulay?

@rowlandwhy, what are you taking about?Our way of dressing is our identity,we can't be copy cats in every thing.White man wears suits because they are cold,Africa is hot,you gotto  wear white linen,silk,brocade,name it.Yaradua looks more presentable than obasanjo,that guy looks like a neanderthal.

Let's revisit FELA,colo mentality.

@topic
i wonder why people are such hypocrites. whats suit got to do with it. and who says the agbada is not formal. please go find something better to argue on. if he wants to dress that way, i don't see how it affects him in carrying out his duties. please rain on something else. hissessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

It's called culture. If you want to hide your culture and embrace other people culture, be my guest but don't try to impose it on everyother person.

Nigerians have a rather queer attitude. You dont have to showcase your culture at every global event. A global or regional political summit is not a cultural jamboree. As has been said, we're not the only ones with culture. Or are we?

Cold catch Oyibo man, e make muffler to wear. But to make look more fashionable, e make am into tie.

Winter affect Oyibo man, e make coat to wear. But to make am look more fashionable, e make am into suit.

Wetin concern Kastina man with all that one.

We never try? We wear T-shirt, we wear singlet, we wear jeans. All oyibo cloth wey "suit" our weather, we wear am by our own choice. But why some Nigerian organizations and some Nigerians wan force us wear suit.
Tell all these bankers to wear what they like to work and you will see more than 80% condemn their suits for babanrigas, jeans, T-shirts and other comfortable apparel.

What some of you are suggesting is that Eskimos in Alaska should wear shortsleeve jerseys and Shorts because they want to play football. FIFA no fit.

Nigerians have a rather queer attitude. You don't have to showcase your culture at every global event. A global or regional political summit is not a cultural jamboree. As has been said, we're not the only ones with culture. Or are we?

In reply to your answer. Well my dear that is your opinion. You are saying that because the white man doesn't have a culture per se. Lets just reverse the issue and say that agbada belongs to the white man and suit belongs to the Nigerians, what do you think everybody will be saying? Do you think that people like yourself and others will embrace suit as you are now. The answer is no. Of course you will think that agbada is the best outfit to wear in such a global meeting.  Maybe you should take a look at that photogragh again and notice the middle eastern man at the back wearing his culture long black dress with his head tie. Do you think that his people are over there critizing him? The answer again is no. The problem most of the time is that we always see other peoples way of living as the best way of doing things. That's is why our country is the way it is today
Well I really don' care if he wears a suit or not afterall they all have done nothing good for Nigeria that will make me to want to come out and start defend them.

denex:

Cold catch Oyibo man, e make muffler to wear. But to make look more fashionable, e make am into tie.

Winter affect Oyibo man, e make coat to wear. But to make am look more fashionable, e make am into suit.

Wetin concern Kastina man with all that one.

We never try? We wear T-shirt, we wear singlet, we wear jeans. All oyibo cloth wey "suit" our weather, we wear am by our own choice. But why some Nigerian organizations and some Nigerians wan force us wear suit.
Tell all these bankers to wear what they like to work and you will see more than 80% condemn their suits for babanrigas, jeans, T-shirts and other comfortable apparel.

What some of you are suggesting is that Eskimos in Alaska should wear shortsleeve jerseys and Shorts because they want to play football. FIFA no fit.

Thank u o my brother. with our kind of weather[b] I[/b] consider it an abominable act to expect people to mandatorily wear suits and tie. Gosh

yeah, i agree with bouncing.

if assuming agbada was the traditional wear of the europeans, and suit was the traditional wear of the africans,
which attire would be considered "formal." yeah you guessed it. agbada will be more "intelligent" and "proper"

We don't wear babarigas to formal dinners in the States,we don't wear them to our commencements (graduation),.

well, for the record, i (like TOH's family) wore a native dress to MY graduation and i can recall a few people who did who weren't even born in Africa (2nd generation africans).
it's all about choice. I like it, i wear it. esp if there's no official dress code about the event.

make mr president wear G-string!

foolish nigerians

course u can wear what u want!

yeye