Commonwealth ship idea ridiculed

Chief Anyaoku is leading the ship fundraising efforts

The former Commonwealth head has been sharply criticised for suggesting that children should help raise funds for the organisation to have its own ship.

Chief Emeka Anyaoku has launched an appeal to raise some $180m to build "a flagship for the Commonwealth".

In a BBC interview, he said it could serve as a venue for Commonwealth leaders, wherever they decided to meet.

But the idea is "incomprehensible", say anti-poverty campaigners.

David Archer, head of Action Aid's international education unit said: "Over seven million children in Nigeria don't even go to school. It is incomprehensible that kids in poor Commonwealth countries should be asked to help finance a luxury yacht for VIPs.

"If anyone is raising £100 million for the Commonwealth, the priorities should be things like education, health and the fight against HIV/Aids," he said.

Symbol

Chief Anyaoku, who received an honorary knighthood when he stepped down from his Commonwealth post, said he hoped the ship would become a symbol of the ties that bind the Commonwealth together.

"It will be big enough to host all Commonwealth governments at the time that they meet," he told the BBC's Network Africa.

He said they planned to raise the funds, beginning with children and young people, because they had the greatest stake in the future.

"If a schoolchild in the United Kingdom were to give one penny and in Nigeria one kobo and in Canada one cent that would be a means of registering their interest in this flagship," he said.

But Mr Archer said that companies and individuals who would like to help the Commonwealth would be better advised giving money to the Commonwealth Education Fund.

The Commonwealth is a loose association of primarily former British colonies and dependencies with historical ties to Britain.

If the Commonwealth raised $180m, should they spend it on a luxury ship or something else?

---

Your comments:

They should definitely buy a luxury yacht. And if any children voice their opposition to the plan or refuse to donate, Chief Anyaoku should run them down with his limousine and then claim diplomatic immunity.
Daniel Ryan, Paris, France

I think it is crazy to spend that amount of money on a ship that will have to be maintained at even more expense. It should be spent on providing education and health services in so many wanting commonwealth countries.
Romeo Frederick, Cayman Islands

What a superb idea. I suggest that once the ship is built we invite the Commonwealth leaders to dine aboard the vessel, tow it out to the mid-Atlantic and then torpedo it. Perhaps the next generation of leaders will then think a little more carefully about representing the people who elected them. $180M well spent.
Paul Howland, Wassenaar, The Netherlands

I don't see any sense in that while millions of people are starving and dying of Aids . I hope the organisers should come into their senses and use the money wisely for the benefit of the less privilleged and not the VIPs.
Ismail Yusufu Maulidi, Johannesburg, South Africa

They should NOT buy a luxury yacht. They should spend it on relief funds for underdeveloped countries, or the fight against Aids or education or any number of things except a yacht. It's absolutely ridiculous to even consider it!
Tara Bailey, Selkirk, Canada

Sure, but why not build a huge cannon on this ship because we all know that poor countries spend all their money on weapons?
Miran, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

How does it make any sense to spend $180m on luxury when your vital needs for people aren't met? Maybe they are forgetting that there are many people in the general population that aren't as fortunate to eat a three course meal or have a formal education, let alone take a luxury cruise on a ship.
Rizwan, NY, USA

A ship for the Commonwealth would be a great idea to encourage more contact between members and break down travel barriers between them. I'm not sure it's entirely fair that those in poverty should be asked to pay for it but there would surely be many different ways of paying for it. The Commonwealth is an organisation that does a great deal of good in promoting development and fighting poverty and discrimination, particularly in poorer countries and a new ship would certainly help it to achieve these goals in a greater capacity.
David, Sydney, Australia

I think there are enough ships, already available for any leader who wishes to use them for their so called World/Commonwealth or other meetings. The way to solve poverty is not through luxurious ships & unnecessary meetings while eating lobsters and drinking champagne. The way to solve these problems is through directing money to training, educating and developing those who need it most.
Nikolas H N, Manchester, UK

If today were April 1, I would have a good laugh at this story. However, so long as megalomaniac nincompoops display bad political judgment and blatant disregard for the real needs of people, reality will always be stranger than fiction.
Ezra Mirzafarian, Akron, USA

Appalling idea. Only someone completely disinterested in improving the lot of millions of ordinary people of could come up with such a pointless waste of funds.
Chris Horscroft, Canberra, Australia

Idiotic ship for a bunch of idiotic leaders. Sounds like a good idea to me!! Maybe we could idiotically sink it when it idiotically goes out to sea!
Mark, London, England

NO! Not a single penny should be spent on the already lavish pomp and ceremony surrounding the glorified commonwealth tea club. I am shocked at the suggestion! This is the common problem with leadership: their wealthy privileged lifestyles are so far removed from the daily toils of the man in the street, that they cannot even begin to appreciate how much starvation and subsistence living is going on out here. Education, has obviously not bought this man the ability to empathise. And to think that he received an honorary knighthood too!
Sean, Brussels, Belgium, ex South African

I had a similar idea once - It was great - Get everybody to give me 1p and then I can afford my own ship. With rudders and things. This guy is a genius I tell you! Genius. Now pass me some more of that space cake.
Marco, Italy (UK Citizen)

If they managed to convince people to pony up $180m, it should be spent on something worthwhile, not on a luxury ship. Being one who would like to see the dissolution of the Commonwealth, I would prefer to see those ex member countries look after their own interests. I feel that CHOGM stands for Clowns Holidays on Government Money, or something similar.
Mike, Brisbane, Australia

Spending money on luxury while people starve is what made Britian Great. Now, it can make the commonwealth ... common.
Tony Gallery, Geneva, Switzerland

As a person working in shipbuilding business, I say hooray!
Hese, Helsinki, Finland

The man who came up with this idea of spending $180m on a luxury ship actually had a Commonwealth post? No wonder Africa is in so much trouble! How could those poor people have any hope for basic survival when their governments aren't concerned about them in the first place?
Kimberly, Charlotte, NC USA

Just another example of humanity's madness.
Austin Agho, Trinidad and Tobago

Marie Antoinette got beheaded for saying "If they can't eat bread, why don't they eat cake"? The modern day version effectively translates as "If they can't eat bread, why don't they let us build a luxury yacht?" and this guy was Commonwealth head! That tells you something the Commomwealth.
Anindya, Mumbai, India

A ship? A ship? There's certainly one person missing from the lunatic asylum...! This beats my mind...In Ghana, $400 can keep a child in secondary school for a year. And guess what, many parents find it difficult to raise this amount. This suggestion is obscene; it makes me sick.
Martin, Accra, Ghana

Another political 'leader' who's completely out of touch with reality. I suggest they name it the "Poseidon".
Andrew, USA

One old man in my little Nigerian village used to say that "sense is common, but common sense is not common". This is equally true of the so-called commonwealth - full of sense but lacking the essential. I am disappointed by brother Emeka, I hope he reads all these reactions.
Chidi Nwamadi, Nigerian/France