Moderator please place this on headline and permit me to post it here also because am even confused if it is the right place to ask or in culture segment since the question relates to our culture of calling our political office holders as Honourables. I can't stop thinking why we always call them Honourable ....does it mean that the rest of us dishonorable?
I know I am not dishonest and deserved to be so called honourable. I think I will henceforth call myself honourable too...
Because they really really like calling them that........ and for you to be in their good books and to benefit from them ...... you need to apply that wisdom which they know that you lied
isnigeriadead: Moderator please place this on headline and permit me to post it here also because am even confused if it is the right place to ask or in culture segment since the question relates to our culture of calling our political office holders as Honourables. I can't stop thinking why we always call them Honourable ....does it mean that the rest of us dishonorable?
I know I am not dishonest and deserved to be so called honourable. I think I will henceforth call myself honourable too...
Unless am missing some thing. Pls educate me.
It's just a title which reflects the honour and responsibility of their previous role...
It's also commonly given and used to anyone who holds or has held any office of importance in a state or nation...
isnigeriadead: Moderator please place this on headline and permit me to post it here also because am even confused if it is the right place to ask or in culture segment since the question relates to our culture of calling our political office holders as Honourables. I can't stop thinking why we always call them Honourable ....does it mean that the rest of us dishonorable?
I know I am not dishonest and deserved to be so called honourable. I think I will henceforth call myself honourable too...
Unless am missing some thing. Pls educate me.
It was inherited from the British.
naptu2: Do you remember that I had arguments with some Nairalanders who claimed that Nigerians were unusual because they loved titles? Back then (2013) I demonstrated that there was nothing unique or unusual about it and that a lot of the titles were inherited from Britain. Basically, majority of those titles were inherited from the British.
Dear diary, do you also remember that I told you about Dennis Skinner? I told you about Mr Skinner's practice of trolling Black Rod and in the post below I told you that he was often suspended from the House of Commons. However, I didn't tell you why he was often suspended. I'm going to tell you now.
Mr Skinner is a radical left leaning politician. He is a republican (he doesn't see why Britain should have a Royal Family), he fights for the welfare of the poor who suffer because of capitalism (for example, the coal miners that lost their jobs) and he believes in speaking his mind. This idea of saying what's on his mind often conflicts with the rules of the House of Commons. Here are some of the rules that he often breaks.
1) Members are required to direct their comments to the speaker, not to another member.
2) Members should not refer to another member by name, rather they should refer to other members by their title and their jobs (this is the origin of some of the titles that Nigerians use). For example, a member should not say, "Mr Peter Jackson" when referring to Peter Jackson, rather they should say, "My honourable friend, the member for Summerfield County".
If the member being referred to is a member of the Privy Council, then he or she should be referred to as, "My right honourable friend", if the person is a former member of the Armed Forces then he should be referred to as, "Honourable and gallant", if the person is a barrister then it should be, "Honourable and learned" and if the person is a member of the clergy then he should be referred to as, "Honourable and reverend".
(Members of the House of Lords are referred to as "The noble lord" ).
3) You must not say that a member has lied. Lying is a very serious offence and a minister that has lied to the House must resign. Therefore, members of the House of Commons must not accuse a member, particularly a minister, of lying. People who do so are usually suspended from the House.
4) Insults and unparliamentary words are not allowed.
Mr Skinner regularly breaks these rules. On one occasion he called the Prime Minister, David Cameron, "Dodgy Dave" and accused him of taking money from the mine workers' pension. He was suspended from the house. On another occasion he repeated the insult, "Dodgy Dave". The speaker appealed to him to withdraw the word. He asked the speaker, "Which word"? ( He knew that the speaker wouldn't be able to repeat the word). The speaker was confused at first, then he said that he was sure that the member knows the word that he used that begins with D and ends with Y and he asked him to withdraw it. Mr Skinner refused to withdraw it and so he was suspended again.
On another occasion he asked a minister if he knew that in the 1970s and '80s they would have been happy to have an economic growth of 1.75% in the poor coalfield areas and then he said, "the only thing that was growing at that time was the lines of coke in front of Boy George and the rest of the Tories". (In effect he was accusing the members of the Conservative Party of using cocaine. "Boy George" = George Osborne).
The Speaker immediately got up and said that it seemed to be a trend with the honourable gentleman and that he must withdraw that remark. Mr Skinner immediately shouted that it was reported in the News of the World. The speaker insisted that he must withdraw the remark and Mr Skinner shouted that he was not withdrawing the remark because it was true. The speaker said that if the honourable gentleman does not withdraw the remark then he must leave the chamber. "I order the honourable gentleman to leave the chamber". He then asked his clerks for the name of the member (It's a very serious issue if the speaker names a member). "I'm afraid that I am forced to name the honourable gentleman. I name Mr Dennis Skinner. He has taken my advice. He is leaving the chamber".
I believe that the only person that could handle Mr Skinner was the Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher. Their exchanges just pure entertainment.
In the last clip in the video below, the House was debating sanctioning a member and Mr Skinner began his statement by saying, "As an expert on being thrown out". He was truly an expert on being thrown out of the House.
Unfortunately Mr Skinner lost his seat in the 2019 election.
naptu2 post=85968121:
My favourite is the last one. The speaker permitted him to speak and the first thing he said was, "As an expert on being thrown out".
(What got me to this video was that I was wondering exactly how many times he has been thrown out of the house).
(I posted a video of his one liners and heckling a few years ago)
The most controversial comments by the one and only Dennis Skinner.
