Does it make you angry? Does it rile you to see your country portrayed as poor and suffering and full of struggle?

It burns you, does it not? To have some foreigner- who knows nothing of your history and pain, of the stories that flow within your blood- to have this foreigner come in and tell your story?

Is it not the height of disrespect and insensitivity? Does it not chafe against the thick skin you have grown to cover your other wounds?

Does it not make you angry?

We should wax sanctimonious about national pride being slighted.

We should vent our displeasure online.

We should occupy something.

Because God forbid the truth ever be told about what things really are.

God forbid a stranger remind us about those things we choose to ignore everyday.

God forbid we ever face the truth about ourselves.

God forbid we do not go on the internet and rail about how our country is being cast in bad light. God forbid we do not talk about how there is a small minority which lives better than portrayed. God forbid we do not ignore truth one more time.

God forbid we don’t.

@miabaga_dotcom

#RickRoss

”When I made this record..I wrote it in a mind of a N**** who may not have anything. You could stand in the rear, but that don’t determine where you end up” – Rozay

This article was written by The Editor and does not express the personal views of the Rapper MI Abaga.

Thank you.
http://miabaga.com/p/god-forbid-we-dont/

Nice piece by M.I... But atleast a foreigner shot a video in our country. But does he still shoot videos in Nigeria? and atleast portray the good part we have. Does he?

Rick ross video showed the truth about Nigeria. I'm glad MI recognized it. Rather than getting angry, do something about it. A statement to all nigerians

Y do nigerians get angry when d truth is being said,ok is it a lie dat d majority population in nigeria is poor,hungry and strugling,is it a lie dat majority of nigerians are not educated,is it a lie dat nothing is done about women and children who get raped everyday,d truth of d matter is dat because we ignored and did not do anytin about dis issues,a stranger came and pointed our attention to it so y is mi now whinning.i am not a fan to both musicians but theres a yoruba proverb dat says if there are no holes on d wall,d lizard will not enter.if we (nigerians) put nigeria (our home) in order,no foreigner will come to nigeria and make a video out of us so instead of whinning because some foreign rapper told u d obvious truth,lets work on what he said and screw wherever he is comin from.gosh! NIGERIANS STOP CELEBRATING DECEPTION.if a foreigner came here and told u what u want to here,u wont whine.mshewww

kulyie: Y do nigerians get angry when d truth is being said,ok is it a lie dat d majority population in nigeria is poor,hungry and strugling,is it a lie dat majority of nigerians are not educated,is it a lie dat nothing is done about women and children who get raped everyday,d truth of d matter is dat because we ignored and did not do anytin about dis issues,a stranger came and pointed our attention to it so y is mi now whinning.i am not a fan to both musicians but theres a yoruba proverb dat says if there are no holes on d wall,d lizard will not enter.if we (nigerians) put nigeria (our home) in order,no foreigner will come to nigeria and make a video out of us so instead of whinning because some foreign rapper told u d obvious truth,lets work on what he said and screw wherever he is comin from.gosh! NIGERIANS STOP CELEBRATING DECEPTION.if a foreigner came here and told u what u want to here,u wont whine.mshewww

My guy I tire for you o.

M.I is not whinning. He is trying to make Nigerians face the facts, instead of ignoring it and complaining about an already tarnished reputation.

Stop rushing to be the first post. Try to comprehend first. The "article" you've speedily written up there is a waste of space.

Wow! I thought M.I's piece was clear and straightforward, but it seems people are having a hard time understanding it.

He is challenging us to face reality, rather than condemn Rick Ross. We pass by these places/people everyday, why don't we do something about it (if we don't like what we see) rather than condemn someone who shows us what we choose to ignore.

kulyie: Y do nigerians get angry when d truth is being said,ok is it a lie dat d majority population in nigeria is poor,hungry and strugling,is it a lie dat majority of nigerians are not educated,is it a lie dat nothing is done about women and children who get raped everyday,d truth of d matter is dat because we ignored and did not do anytin about dis issues,a stranger came and pointed our attention to it so y is mi now whinning.i am not a fan to both musicians but theres a yoruba proverb dat says if there are no holes on d wall,d lizard will not enter.if we (nigerians) put nigeria (our home) in order,no foreigner will come to nigeria and make a video out of us so instead of whinning because some foreign rapper told u d obvious truth,lets work on what he said and screw wherever he is comin from.gosh! NIGERIANS STOP CELEBRATING DECEPTION.if a foreigner came here and told u what u want to here,u wont whine.mshewww

ehm ehhmm.. I think you need to read MI's article the second time. @post Nice one from the "short black boy".

Oh, I get it now.

This is not really about a video portraying the truth about the situation of Nigeria. But the fact is that the video should have portrayed both the positive and negative together so that it wouldnt look as if Nigeria is 100% slums. Some foreigners may think Nigeria is 100% slums just watching that video. And thats not really nice. Things like this is what fires up racism and portrayal of the black man as sub-humans.

One_Naira: Rick ross video showed the truth about Nigeria. I'm glad MI recognized it. Rather than getting angry, do something about it to all nigerians

Hmm..u hate nigeria. D onli time u comment is wen d topic is igbotic or biafranic.

Its quite unfortunate dat one foreigner who took our millions dat would have been enof to put irrigation system to our farmers to boost food production is given to a non believer I̶̲̥̅̊n̶̲̥̅̊ d word of God who jst came to bring down our image and reduce us to where we were I̶̲̥̅̊n̶̲̥̅̊ abt 30yrs ago. We all need to know dat nigerian are loved by people around d world and its videos like dis dat continue to wallow us I̶̲̥̅̊n̶̲̥̅̊ shackles of disdain I̶̲̥̅̊n̶̲̥̅̊ international community.M.I is a patiotic nigerian atleast he observed it n stood up and condemned it

M.I I HAIL ABEG WETN U TALK MEK SENSE DIE. And as 4 nigerians gettin angry over dat fat man's videos u guys cud go 2 hell. A foreigner came 2 tel us of wat we r suffering 4rm. Nigerians r knw 4 1 tin sufferin nd smilin,it hyh tym we hold our leadaz accountable. Dat videos wil neva change a tin abt our thiefin politicianz. Nd as 4 M.i hw many videos hz he shot in nigeria

datz da truth. rozay is just tryin 2 be d voice of d voiceless...

caseless: Hmm..u hate nigeria. D onli time u comment is wen d topic is igbotic or biafranic.

Hmmm Igbotic or Biafranic
LMAO

Y'all should read the write-up well. MI is not trying to potray anger. He's trying to create an awareness of our terrible state of denial. So much so that a foreigner had to remind us.

kulyie: Y do nigerians get angry when d truth is being said,ok is it a lie dat d majority population in nigeria is poor,hungry and strugling,is it a lie dat majority of nigerians are not educated,is it a lie dat nothing is done about women and children who get raped everyday,d truth of d matter is dat because we ignored and did not do anytin about dis issues,a stranger came and pointed our attention to it so y is mi now whinning.i am not a fan to both musicians but theres a yoruba proverb dat says if there are no holes on d wall,d lizard will not enter.if we (nigerians) put nigeria (our home) in order,no foreigner will come to nigeria and make a video out of us so instead of whinning because some foreign rapper told u d obvious truth,lets work on what he said and screw wherever he is comin from.gosh! NIGERIANS STOP CELEBRATING DECEPTION.if a foreigner came here and told u what u want to here,u wont whine.mshewww

Nonsense! Why crucify a brother for saying the truth? He did the same on US. If you people wanna get angry over the video you must get angry over what other news media have been showing around the world.

Please, get off your high horse and start building Nigeria! It is too dirty and poor.

If he did ryt ,y do people wen they ask u if u eat grass.a kid pooped on nd u left it sm1 cms nd rubs his face wv it nd u say afterall na em poop.if i may ask who poopd?hm .so am quite sure he is aware,u r 2.if sm1 did dat 2 ur kid wat wuld u do,a human being wuld 1st of all beat d hell owt of d stranger then tl d kid 2 stp poopin.its our situatn.so because naija bad make dm disgrace d poor.y didnt he insult d govt.wat did he do 2 change it.if we cnt help dm eat,we cn help cover dem frm shame .

kulyie: Y do nigerians get angry when d truth is being said,ok is it a lie dat d majority population in nigeria is poor,hungry and strugling, is it a lie dat majority of nigerians are not educated ,is it a lie dat nothing is done about women and children who get raped everyday,d truth of d matter is dat because we ignored and did not do anytin about dis issues,a stranger came and pointed our attention to it so y is mi now whinning.i am not a fan to both musicians but theres a yoruba proverb dat says if there are no holes on d wall,d lizard will not enter.if we (nigerians) put nigeria (our home) in order,no foreigner will come to nigeria and make a video out of us so instead of whinning because some foreign rapper told u d obvious truth,lets work on what he said and screw wherever he is comin from.gosh! NIGERIANS STOP CELEBRATING DECEPTION.if a foreigner came here and told u what u want to here,u wont whine.mshewww

Dude STFU! Hundreds of thousands of graduates are churned out every year

What Rick Ross did can be likened to the speech Hilary Clinton made at the legislative chamber, with all our theiving legislatures in attendance. She told them the bitter reality of how corrupt the entire Nigerian system was, and when words got out, we relished it, cos she told 'em the truth. Now how come she (Hilary) wasnt crusified by the same public crying over Ricks' video? Beats my imagination.

'I must crow, i must speak, i must flow, am not a chicken, am a rooster, am not afraid to speak so i let it out when am supposed to' excerpts from Mi's 'talk about it'. All i can say is, dude is really living up to his words.

I read this MI's piece about rick ross's hold me back video, on linda ikeji's blog last night, ol'boy u need to see people's comments, they were just castigating MI, saying he was this and that, most of them did'nt even understand what the "short boy was trying to say", I love d video, and I commend MI for speaking up, we are charlatans, we see these things everyday, but we behave as if it ain't real, and then a foreigner comes to open our eyes and we are abusing him, this shows that Nigeria is'nt ready for change, no wonder they say Nigerians are suffering and smiling, smh, I wish fela was alive,

Some people talking about positive and negative side of Nigeria and i ask myself what are the positive (Good) side. Is it some developed part of d country like some places in Abuja, PH and Lagos? Aside this places, where else?
Or do we expect Ricky to go to SA shot the vids and claim its Nigerian Version just like our own Teamhaya and co always do?
Why do we find it difficult to embrace the truth?

The fact is: Just about 3% of Nigeria is developed and it sums uo to nothing if we try to portray it to the world as a developed nation! Besides we're not even a nation.

Fuckin hypocrites! That's all you are. 'Rick ross said the truth, MI said the truth' abi? You're all foolish to undstnd dt unless u love yourself u can't make it. Do u knw the US ban the US version of the video? Does it means US are tryin to hide d truth, no?
The international world outside there don't give a fucck whether what is portrayed in the video is one sided or not, your image is tarnished more dn it already did. No wonder aljazeera don't give a fucck abt your pride or image!
Do u think the numbers of Nigerians dt live in the slums are more dn the ones in india, china or hiati?
There's no reason why countries like hiati, somalia etc won't be jumped to publish u as the number one poorest country in the world!
You fools must think those who live abroad are better off. What do u knw?
These people are jes satisfied and they don't kill themselves to live in big houses. Most houses are timber laced with POP walls. But most nigerians will snap their fingers backwards over their wretched heads and shout God forbid or their tufakia! If a nigerian didn't own a car, he aint okay. While over there no one gives a fucck.
Una dey kill yourself and una go die finish!
Better change your orientation. Every fool will rush to school jes to get salaried. Those who wanna start business thinks of 100% profit within a month! Stupid set of myopic fools you are!

When Ricky came to Nigeria, every1 had him as display pictures, every1 was so excited, every1 wanted a glimpse of the ugly pot bellied guy. Now e don come finish open una yansh all of una come dey complain. Whatever jare.

I'm not sure i understand what the article is on about?but

Its actually annoying that people get angry over the said video, as long as Rick ross didn't use another place and call it Nigeria, i don't see any reason for the noise making.

He showed Naija the way it is, whoever doesn't like that should use acid to wash down his meal.

that "hold me back" vidyo by Rozay was the nothing compared to what Nigerians actually go thru in some areas. I wish he could have captured more and exposed more. the long apapa and law school traffics, the scavengers looking for empty plastic bottles in heaps of lagos trash, the fighting in the house of assembly, the Jos chaos and Killings and boko haram bombings and scattered body parts in exploded churches, the butchered corps members, the fuel scarcity long queues, the police brutality the schools built with mud and schools filled with cultists.... i wish Rozay showed more in the video.

Akwenuke marho: I read this MI's piece about rick ross's hold me back video, on linda ikeji's blog last night, ol'boy u need to see people's comments, they were just castigating MI, saying he was this and that, most of them did'nt even understand what the "short boy was trying to say", I love d video, and I commend MI for speaking up, we are charlatans, we see these things everyday, but we behave as if it ain't real, and then a foreigner comes to open our eyes and we are abusing him, this shows that Nigeria is'nt ready for change, no wonder they say Nigerians are suffering and smiling, smh, I wish fela was alive,

Guy, am not suprised at the outburst of those other guys. Understanding varies, and most of these peopz dont even read they just follow.

The video was shot in Lagos... Fashola is working!!

Blackteeth: This is not really about a video portraying the truth about the situation of Nigeria. But the fact is that the video should have portrayed both the positive and negative together so that it wouldnt look as if Nigeria is 100% slums. Some foreigners may think Nigeria is 100% slums just watching that video. And thats not really nice. Things like this is what fires up racism and portrayal of the black man as sub-humans.

And who told u that nigeria is not 100% slums?

I HAIL

what is wrong with us nigerians! When we choose to embrace a forigner that came here just to insult and remind us of our pains... It is important to note that as we pray and work for a better nigeria, we should not allow anybody to keep giving us a bad image in the eyes of the internation community. Look at how ajazzera is presenting us and now an entertainer... Though we know our faults, we should not support those that want to us it as a market strategy and not to help...