Richwine: the average Nigerian is mentally retarded*

[defacto7]

24. Absolutely asinine.

A little anecdote. My nephew's wife is from Togo. They live in the states now and still she cooks with a large wooden bowl and a pounding device sort of like a mortar and pestle only much larger. She will prepare meals for hours with what some might think are ways from the stone age. She goes through a long ritualistic routine of washing and dressing properly before cooking. If you ask her about using something more modern like a Kitchen Aid or an electric grinder she says, "yes of course I can use them... but why?" My way works better. I think she is right. Her first languages are Togolese and French, but she also speaks fluent German, English, Spanish, and a smattering of other languages she likes to pick up here and there. She also can write fluently in the first 5 that I mentioned. She likes to play Scrabble in English on the Internet with people from the US and Britain and among a couple hundred thousand participants in the US and Britain, she ranks #2... In English! Not her first 2 languages.

Did she study these languages? Not much... she just picks them up because she likes languages. In Togo she told me, they have a rigorous education standard. You have to pass a test to graduate that is very strict. If you cannot pass the test, you stay in school until you do pass it or you do not get a diploma. If you have to stay in school for years so you can pass it, you do just that. One of the passing requirements is fluency in Togolese and French plus a general knowledge of German. Minimum math skills are at least advanced Algebra.

Now if someone tells me that Africans are less intelligent than us white folks, I would challenge them to dare play Scrabble with my niece!