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Re: Nigerian Who May Become First Black British PM by MisterLongman(m): 10:41am On Aug 21, 2014
I doubt if UK will give him the opportunity because europe political atmosphere is quite different from america.... But let us wait till then and see if UK will eschew racism and create a level playing for the contestants...... As far as europe is concerned, UK is the only place he could get a shot at the position..... In countries in continental europe like germany and holland, he won't even get near the cabinet not to talk of PM while eastern europe is a no go area for his kind.....
Re: Nigerian Who May Become First Black British PM by Nobody: 10:46am On Aug 21, 2014
Chuka was not raised by a Briton but Obama was raised by an American.

It is possible non the less
Re: Nigerian Who May Become First Black British PM by suwailad(f): 11:18am On Aug 21, 2014
did anyone click on that miserable blog?
Re: Nigerian Who May Become First Black British PM by Daniel058(m): 11:20am On Aug 21, 2014
Igbo's opportunity!!!.. nDI IGBO,let's occupy the space.. but munwa ga-ano villa m biko...
Re: Nigerian Who May Become First Black British PM by iconize(m): 11:21am On Aug 21, 2014
suwailad: did anyone click on that miserable blog?

Yes I did!

Sue me.

2 Likes

Re: Nigerian Who May Become First Black British PM by sarmiie(m): 11:49am On Aug 21, 2014
fr3do: Igbo kwenu cheesy

But e for good if the article threw more light on his person, educational background, occupation, family life not just origin and similarities with Obama.

But its quite funny that no matter how minute one's black origin is (say 10%), they are still referred to as black alongside we the 101% black. In essense, a man with as much as 90% white origin but 10% black origin is not white but black.
This is disheartening, it makes the 100% white seem corruptible and delicate and the 100% black repulsive.

The 100% black should be called black and the >100% black brown or chocolate or something. angry


the reasons why this is so are two-fold:
1. Inferiority complex- d slave tin is still very strong in our bones, dt we often try to reduce any thing we feel d world may frown at. I remember watching yesterday's match, n on getting to d part where d grls were rolling on d floor in happiness, thought ''why cant dey behave demselves?'' then i thought ''y does it bother me so''. Only when i was abt to sleep dd i realise why. If it were europeans, i prolly wld av tot nfin of it, bt because dey r nigerians, i felt somehow.....most pipl av a variant of dis behaviour. It is usually subconcious, bt it is dere. Obviously d media too has its own part in it. I dnt want to expound on dt

2. Our general lack of infrastructures n d like: we r third world countries, n when u hear fallacious reports like ''d average nigerian lives on less dan USD 2 daily'' a lot, it becomes easier to succumb to d temptation of regarding pipl u'v neva met or known anyfin abt as ''lesser''. We r guity of dis too. I remember hearing abt d news of some liberians who believe dt ebola is a hoax, n someone beside me said ''those primitive fools .......''.den i asked him, ''do u know how much dey distrust dia government n believe dey r trying to always cheat dem?? . N dont 4get dt ebola does share characteristics with oda common infections. If u know nfing abt it, n live in a village in dt country, is it too much to imagine dt u wldnt bliv it too??'' he couldnt reply coherently!!!....

So abeg, dnt judge dem, huh?? N nor vex for my long epistle. E go better one day...

1 Like

Re: Nigerian Who May Become First Black British PM by fr3do(m): 12:32pm On Aug 21, 2014
sarmiie:


the reasons why this is so are two-fold:
1. Inferiority complex- d slave tin is still very strong in our bones, dt we often try to reduce any thing we feel d world may frown at. I remember watching yesterday's match, n on getting to d part where d grls were rolling on d floor in happiness, thought ''why cant dey behave demselves?'' then i thought ''y does it bother me so''. Only when i was abt to sleep dd i realise why. If it were europeans, i prolly wld av tot nfin of it, bt because dey r nigerians, i felt somehow.....most pipl av a variant of dis behaviour. It is usually subconcious, bt it is dere. Obviously d media too has its own part in it. I dnt want to expound on dt

2. Our general lack of infrastructures n d like: we r third world countries, n when u hear fallacious reports like ''d average nigerian lives on less dan USD 2 daily'' a lot, it becomes easier to succumb to d temptation of regarding pipl u'v neva met or known anyfin abt as ''lesser''. We r guity of dis too. I remember hearing abt d news of some liberians who believe dt ebola is a hoax, n someone beside me said ''those primitive fools .......''.den i asked him, ''do u know how much dey distrust dia government n believe dey r trying to always cheat dem?? . N dont 4get dt ebola does share characteristics with oda common infections. If u know nfing abt it, n live in a village in dt country, is it too much to imagine dt u wldnt bliv it too??'' he couldnt reply coherently!!!....

So abeg, dnt judge dem, huh?? N nor vex for my long epistle. E go better one day...

Ur epistle make senx.
You don bring the problem to light.
A problem known is half solved
Re: Nigerian Who May Become First Black British PM by bokohalal(m): 12:44pm On Aug 21, 2014
jaybee3: Same thing they said about david lammy (though not Nigerian but Harvard educated and once compared to Britain's Obama)
Now chukka

It simply ain't happening

The demographics of the US made it possible since;
1) Only about 75% (appx) are white
2) There are large states with tons of electoral college votes where the whites aren't necessarily the overwhelming majority


Britain is very different. Whites are still around the 89% mark and only about 4% (As at 2010 election) of the total MP's are from ethnic minority background. The figure (ethnic minority) is around the 16% mark for the US congress
The British system is not Presidential. The leader of the political party that win majority of seats in Parliament form a government.

1 Like

Re: Nigerian Who May Become First Black British PM by F117A: 12:47pm On Aug 21, 2014
What is this nonsense?
The same deluded Kenyans that celebrated obama's presidency are the same people cursing him now for ignoring them.
Chuka is british through and through.
When will Nigerians learn?
Re: Nigerian Who May Become First Black British PM by Nobody: 1:54pm On Aug 21, 2014
Chuka is fine kiss
Re: Nigerian Who May Become First Black British PM by thewarrior72: 2:04pm On Aug 21, 2014
fr3do: Igbo kwenu cheesy

But e for good if the article threw more light on his person, educational background, occupation, family life not just origin and similarities with Obama.

But its quite funny that no matter how minute one's black origin is (say 10%), they are still referred to as black alongside we the 101% black. In essense, a man with as much as 90% white origin but 10% black origin is not white but black.
This is disheartening, it makes the 100% white seem corruptible and delicate and the 100% black repulsive.

The 100% black should be called black and the >100% black brown or chocolate or something. angry

Here u have it....A Nigerian, Chuka Umunna, could make history by becoming the first black Prime Minister of the United Kingdom replacing David Cameron in 2015. Chuka who was born and bred in the UK was born in 1978. His late father, Bennett, hailed from Anambra State while his Irish mother, Patricia, is a solicitor.

Co-incidentally, Chuka shares startling similarities with the United States President, Barack Obama, who is the first black President of the world’s most powerful nation.

For instance, Chuka is of mixed race, being the child of a Nigerian father and an Irish mother while Obama is also of mixed race, being the offspring of a white American woman and a Kenyan father. Also Chuka’s father, Bennett, was killed in a mysterious car accident in Nigeria in 1992 while Obama’s father was killed in a car accident in Kenya in 1982.

If history repeats itself as it is being predicted by British political observers, Chuka, who is also a six-foot tall lawyer like Obama, could become the first black Prime Minister in the UK.

Chuka’s life story is perhaps a better guide to his future political direction. It is the story of a rise from the streets of South London (scene of some of Britain’s worse race riots in the 1980s) to the parliament. But it is not the story that some might expect.

His father, Bennett, was a Nigerian labourer, who arrived in Britain in the sixties with one suitcase and no money. Having borrowed the fare from Liverpool to London, he worked in a carwash, became a successful businessman and died in a car crash when his son was 13.

Bennett began an import-export business trading with Nigeria and was starting to make a decent living when he met Patricia Milmo, a solicitor, at a London party. She happened to be the daughter of Sir Helenus Milmo, a Cambridge-educated High Court judge and a prosecutor at the Nuremberg Nazi trials. They later got married, a rare combination during a time of high social inequality and racism.

Chuka believed his father was killed because he refused to indulge in corrupt practices when he was running for the governorship of Anambra State during the administration of former military dictator, General Ibrahim Babangida (retd.).

Bennett died after his car ran into a lorry carrying logs along the Onitsha-Owerri highway in Anambra. Bennett had been splitting his time between London and Nigeria – where he unsuccessfully ran for the governorship of Anambra State and had taken a stand against bribery.

At a point Bennett was also the owner of the Rangers International Football Club of Enugu, the darling of the Igbo people.

When quizzed about his father on Sky News, he had this to say: “There was a lot of speculation in Nigeria at the time around his death. He was a national political figure standing on an anti-corruption ticket and refused to bribe anybody.

“We don’t really talk about it because it is not going to bring him back but I think he would be bowled over that his son is now a politician just like him.”

Chuka, an English and French Law graduate from the University of Manchester, who also holds a Master’s degree from Nottingham Law School, says his interest in politics was shaped by seeing extreme poverty while visiting his father’s relatives in Nigeria and the social divide in his own Streatham constituency in the UK. He says that he is “not super-religious” but that his soft-left values are “rooted in my Christianity.”

The 35-year-old Labour Party Member of Parliament, however, has two hurdles to cross if he is to make history in the UK. This is because in the UK, for one to become the Prime Minister, the person must first be a Member of Parliament, the person’s party must win majority of seats out of the 560 seats in the House of Commons during the parliamentary elections and the person must be the leader of his party.

Presently, Chuka is the Member of Parliament for Streatham, a position he has held since 2010 but must re-contest in 2015 and win to retain the seat.

He is also the Shadow Business Secretary, a position held by a member of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition. The duty of the office holder is to scrutinise the actions of the government’s Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and develop alternative policies. The office holder is a member of the Shadow Cabinet.

According to the UK Telegraph, Chuka is rumoured to have the strong support of a former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, who was also a Labour Party leader.

According to the British newspaper, when asked if he was Blair’s anointed candidate, Chuka said, “I really don’t know anything about that.” However, when he was pressed further whether he aspired to head his party, he said, “I don’t entertain any discussion beyond winning the election next year. That would be completely hypocritical of me. To start thinking about hypothetical scenarios would be totally indulgent. All my energy is focused on winning the election, and so should everyone’s. It will be very close.”

Chuka is one of the youngest MPs in the UK having been introduced into British politics by the current Labour Party leader, Ed Miliband, while he was in his 20s.

It was Milband that helped him become an MP and later made him his Parliamentary Private Secretary before he was promoted to the Shadow Cabinet in October 2011. He is tipped to become Miliband’s successor and could become the Prime Minister should the Labour Party win next year’s election.

Chuka, however, claims to hate the comparison of him and Obama which he terms the “construct of lazy journalists.” He sharply divides opinion in British politics. Good-looking, articulate, new-media-savvy and a good orator.

According to FT Magazine, he is not universally popular among his own colleagues, who see more style than substance. “He just has a knack of alienating people,” said one experienced Labour MP. “He is probably the most natural communicator I’ve seen since Tony Blair. The problem is that each week he has fewer supporters than he did at the start of the week.”

Even potential allies recount stories of apparent slights or snubs. A senior party figure says, “Chuka has put people’s backs up. They feel he is inaccessible.” Another long-serving MP adds, “The idea of learning the trade first is only for mere mortals, not for him.” Peter Mandelson, the former Labour business secretary who played a key role in Blair’s rise through to the top, thinks the explanation for this is quite simple, “Envy plays a big part in politics,” he says.

Like Blair, Chuka sometimes connects better with those beyond his own circle. John Cridland, head of the CBI employers’ group, calls him “a guy with whom we can do business.” Andrew Tyrie, Tory Chair of the Commons Treasury Committee, say: “He’s extremely talented and charming.” Andrew Adonis, a former Labour minister, sums up his cross-party appeal: “The best politicians are those who look outwards not inwards.”
Re: Nigerian Who May Become First Black British PM by Nobody: 3:45pm On Aug 21, 2014
the same UK I schooled and lived in? not in a million years. Europeans are very conservative and not liberal like the Americans. That's why far right wing parties like BNP and racist group like English defence league thrive in the EU region. They have a culture unlike the Yankees.
Re: Nigerian Who May Become First Black British PM by sarmiie(m): 12:22pm On Aug 22, 2014
fr3do:

Ur epistle make senx.
You don bring the problem to light.
A problem known is half solved

glad to know we r on d same page..
Re: Nigerian Who May Become First Black British PM by ibedun: 12:31pm On Aug 22, 2014
Igbo dreamers everywhere. PM for UK? ~Its time to give whatever you are smoking a rest!

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