eedriyz: The OP is obviously a GEJ's lover. But no matter what he or anybody thinks, no matter what is happening in Ghana, the prof said d truth about GEJ! It's GEJ that should fasten his seat belt and let us see results instead of his boring talks. His "we will crush BH by June", turns out to be BH crushing us. He's just an ambitious fool. Damn him as he gave no damn about us

wow! Anoda mad man on d scene. U knw wat? I tink I lik u, especially because ur comment holds no validity, or atleast I shud say u're one of dose attention seekers. May b u shud try calling ur fada fool. Don't call someone a thief until u hav d opportunity of becoming one. Next time pls try n b constructive in reeling ur opinion or stop visiting dis section. ''ewu''.

Thank God they said he is a paid consultant who speaks the mind of his clients which means he doesn't speak his mind but that of who paid him and I once stated that this man was paid to say what he said about GEJ and Nigerians. Soon we will know who paid him

I live among them. D greatest prblm de have is dat de are very very lazy. 80% of biz in ghana are owned by naija people even phone and cd. Their women are hardworking but their men is very lazy, na just de pursue women. That is why their women prefer to marry nigerians. I am not surprise at all.

gboss4sure: Thank God the said he is a paid consultant you speaks the mind of his clients which means he doesn't speak his mind but that of who paid him and I once stated that this man was paid to say what he said about GEJ and Nigerians. Soon we will know who paid him

The biggest mistake GEJ haters are making is this: if you throw so much dirt at someone and he is able to contain it, he emerges a lot stronger and gains the advantage. They are only ensuring GEJ'ls landslide in 2015. Once the power reforms enter the next phase and power improves next year, and the agric reforms start yielding results, they will be soooo ashamed to show their faces and PDP will sweep the southwest in 2015.

Secondly, I find it funny when GEJ haters come here and post that most Nigerians don't like GEJ. Well, maybe on twitter. Because on the streets, that's not the case. Most Nigerians on the street still see GEJ as a man who has good intention for Nigeria and is only being distracted by BH.

I watched the various ministries giving their one year report this evening and its was amazing how much work has been done in one year particularly in agric, works, housing, foreign affairs, avaition, health and power. All with verifiable pictures and video. But then the anti GEJ camp are too scared to admit it. They will even tell you he hasn't achieved one thing. When you draw their attention to something they can't deny, they will quickly fire back by saying it was done by Yaradua or OBJ. One even challenged me the other day and claimed the Benin Ore road was done by Yaradua. A road that was sooo terrible as at January 2011. If you point them to another one, they will say its the person in charge that's working and not GEJ and that GEJ has nothing to do with it, even when its GEJ that appointed the person. One even praised Dasuki for visiting borno and said GEJ had no clue, like Dasuki appointed himself or Dasuki was working for himself.

The simple answer for these guys is just more work. Soon, they will completely shut their smelly trap! Lol

eGuerrilla:

You've got to understand that Naijapundit is doing a hatchet job for the powers that be.
If in doubt, count the number of articles provided here under the pseudonym "Alabi Johnson" just these past few days.

It is case of leaving the infestation of leprosy unattended to chase away tse-tse flies, but perfectly inline with what most independent observers have come to expect.
Or what better way exists to describe the lunacy in evidence here, when a 2010 article written about Ghana is reeled out in response to the comments made by just one Professor? You see where I am going with this?

Why not take the Prof's arguments apart on merit, for posterity if for nothing else, instead of reaching for poisoned, low hanging fruit?
What's with the jaundiced reasoning being exhibited by some commentators, when it was the vacuous leadership of Nigeria that was called into question?

Not that it matters...but is Ghana not the same West African country which currently attracts a size-able amount of foreign direct investment (FDI) as a result of capital flight from Nigeria?
Studying in Ghana: How Nigeria looses Billions of Dollars every year
How Nigerian Businesses are thriving in Ghana
Why companies will continue to leave Nigeria for4 Ghana

By the way, Responsible Journalism Needed Re Forbes Magazine 2010 Publication on Ghana's Economy serves as a perfectly good example of how to tackle the message as opposed to the messenger.

Watch the date of your LINKS. Every nation has stories of progress and praises. Now, it is 2012 Ghana economy has been seen as a failure in the future for some reasons presented by Forbes. Nigerians are one of the survivals of the informal and some part of the formal economy of Rat Ghanaians.

@ojobojo1,can you listen to urself? I am really ashamed of you.

ballabriggs: Hehehe a rubbish article from no other than Reno Omokri and Oronto Douglas. Thank God the figures are there on all international databases. Go to UNCTADstat, IMF WEO database or even the UNDP database, Nigeria is below Ghana in most economic indicators.

This is the Human Development Report 2011, compare Nigeria and Ghana's figures. The same Nigeria that does not report its reserve figures to the IMF yet claims it holds $35 billion in reserves whilst also seeking loans to shore up its reserves. I dey laugh, the world dey laugh, Jona dey chop cassava bread.

Below is the GDP per capita of both countries in PPP international dollars from the IMF WEO Database. Please download and compare so you can see the extent of desperation of these people.

"Those who spend time to watch a mad man eat from a refuse bin, are equally mad people" In describing a country's economy, u first consider its population relative to d per-capita income, Its resource base, Industrialization, government policies relative to socio-economic activities etc! Unfortunately for most countries; when economists make so much noise with some experimental theories, the fail to think about human behaviours, not in wants, needs, preferences but interms of corruption, ethnicity and morality! All these I just mentioned are really our problem in nigeria, if Ghana has better human beings with better moralit, with a less ethnic influence on politics and economic policies; then there is no basis for comparison! A smaller country with sensible people can grow to become a world power! Japan is a very Good example! If a bigger country with a larger population has sensible people; it becomes a force to reckon with(china) and if a larger country with a larger population of greedy people, selfish people and ethnically shackled by "self-interest" driven by corruption! Mismanages its abundant wealth, it can be brought to its knees; (Nigeria); summary of the whole bla; is that there is no basis, whatsoever for comparison!

Those of u posting dat businesses are leaving naija for ghana don't understand. Nigerians are only taking advantage of opportunities because wen u come to ghana to sell, u make almost 100% profit. Let me give u example, dstv is sold for 40k in ghana while in naija na less than 20k. Premium monthly subscrip in naija is. 10k. In ghana, it is 18k. A smart igbo guy will take advantage of dis, buy in naija and come to sell in ghana while a ghanain will b lazing around. De are huge deposits of minearals in d eastern region. Do u know d guys doing d mining? Chinese and nigerians. I agree and understand perfectly well wot d report is saying because I am ground and I hv travelled far and wide their country. Their poverty is self inflicted as a result of laziness. Can u imagine in dis world, public holiday, a petty recharge card seller won't come to sell because there is public holiday. Can u imagine a country that includes in their constitution that 10% of their university students shld be foreign students to pay high fees to subsidise fees for local students. As a foreign student, u are considered first for admission. Trust naija, dem say 10%, we don nearly make am 50%. Almost all biz are owned by foreigners. Initially, de were enjoying it wen foreign biz were bringin in their capital but now dem de hear am now because repatration of profit is starting now. Value of ghana cedis is fallin in an unbelievable rate not just daily but hourly. Their country is messed up. Big biz de repatrate profit, igbo guys wey de sell fone and cd de repatrate.

dedeike: Come on, keep quiet. Forbes ratings remains the best and its the universally acclaimed destination for such statistics.Just because they have brought out a report that exposes the lies and falsehood that the fake Ghanian Proffessor has been peddling , that is why you want to discredit FORBES. Which rating should we reckon with? SAHARA abi NAIRALAND? I took time to pick holes in the Ghanian Proffessor's tirades earlier in the week. First, he proceeded on the faulty and unfounded assumption that GEJ did not declare his assets. On twitter, I told him clearly that his paymasters did not properly brief him hence the high level ignorance that the Prof has been exhibiting on social media. I pity his students. A real prof would have taken prudent steps to verify the position of Nigerian laws on the issue of public declaration of Assets. Secondly, he goofed when he said our Agricultural revolution is only tied to distribution of palm seedlings. Every toddler in Nigeria knows the Agric minister is pursuing a reforms of fertilizer distribution in Nigeria and has succeeded in eliminating the middlemen cartel that made access to fertilizer very difficult. Beyond this, he has launched the cassava bread revolution campaign aimed at reducing our reliance on imported wheat. An Agricultural loan scheme has been floated alongside the CBN for local farmers. He is building silos across the federation and has imposed high import tariffs on importation of rice and wheats inorder to encourage local farmers. As part of the national campaign, the president on his democracy day speech directed that only locally produced food should be served in Aso rock and govt public functions. Thirdly, the fake Prof blabbed about GEJ's inability to use Maidugri Airport. If only this Prof was told by his paymaster how much renovation and rehabilitation that this govt has carried out in all the major airports in our country in just one year.Both the ABUJA, LAGOS, ENUGU, KANO AND BENIN airports are under massive reconstruction. On the flip side, the state of the runways of Accra airport is nothing to write home about. When it rains, the runway gets flooded thus leading to the crash of our cargo airplane recently. The prof should hve directed his tirades to his aviation minister, who came on air and made a useless defence of the flooded runways of ACCRA AIRPORT in this mordern age. Finally, the fake prof said our president is of unsound mind. That was the height of rascality by a prof who should know the language of diplomacy. I beg to ask those who have been supporting this retard prof, where did this man derive his allegations from? Which doctor or Health expert pronounced our President insane? What proof can he offer in support of his allegations that our president has a history of unsound mind? For all KOBJUNKIES of this world, I have one word for you.THE OFFICE OF PRESIDENCY is an institution, We should not sacrifice the integrity and dignity of that institution on the altar of hatred and beef for the present occupant. We don't know who will be president tomorrow. It may be you. It may be me. GOD BLESS NIGERIA.

Word

betrani: "Those who spend time to watch a mad man eat from a refuse bin, are equally mad people" In describing a country's economy, u first consider its population relative to d per-capita income, Its resource base, Industrialization, government policies relative to socio-economic activities etc! Unfortunately for most countries; when economists make so much noise with some experimental theories, the fail to think about human behaviours, not in wants, needs, preferences but interms of corruption, ethnicity and morality! All these I just mentioned are really our problem in nigeria, if Ghana has better human beings with better moralit, with a less ethnic influence on politics and economic policies; then there is no basis for comparison! A smaller country with sensible people can grow to become a world power! Japan is a very Good example! If a bigger country with a larger population has sensible people; it becomes a force to reckon with(china) and if a larger country with a larger population of greedy people, selfish people and ethnically shackled by "self-interest" driven by corruption! Mismanages its abundant wealth, it can be brought to its knees; (Nigeria); summary of the whole bla; is that there is no basis, whatsoever for comparison!

Perhaps the only gem amongst the sea of rocks. There is no basis of comparison whatsoever.

How does this article relate to the Prof exactly? How does it invalidate the man's integrity and submission about Nigeria? All you GEJ proponent are just simply hilarious! This is a cheap attempt at blackmail and it oozes stupidity and lunacy in its entirety.

what is this moronic igbo dog blabbing?if Ghana,the fastest growing economy is bleeped up,what will you call that piece of s-hit called nigeria?so nigerians are not grateful that Ghana opened its doors to you people who are villified all over the world.by the time Ghana kick ur dirty arses out maybe you'll be heading to chad,niger,somalia,who are your mates in poverty terms.we all know your cursed,miserable country is controlled by robbers,kidnappers,ritualists n militants,but it is far worse in igboland.at least you can sleep with your two ugly eyes closed in Ghana.you are a fool and so long as you remain on Ghanaian soil we'll track you down and serve you the treatment
animals like you deserve. Ewu

Umunede: Those of u posting dat businesses are leaving naija for ghana don't understand. Nigerians are only taking advantage of opportunities because wen u come to ghana to sell, u make almost 100% profit. Let me give u example, dstv is sold for 40k in ghana while in naija na less than 20k. Premium monthly subscrip in naija is. 10k. In ghana, it is 18k. A smart igbo guy will take advantage of dis, buy in naija and come to sell in ghana while a ghanain will b lazing around. De are huge deposits of minearals in d eastern region. Do u know d guys doing d mining? Chinese and nigerians. I agree and understand perfectly well wot d report is saying because I am ground and I hv travelled far and wide their country. Their poverty is self inflicted as a result of laziness. Can u imagine in dis world, public holiday, a petty recharge card seller won't come to sell because there is public holiday. Can u imagine a country that includes in their constitution that 10% of their university students shld be foreign students to pay high fees to subsidise fees for local students. As a foreign student, u are considered first for admission. Trust naija, dem say 10%, we don nearly make am 50%. Almost all biz are owned by foreigners. Initially, de were enjoying it wen foreign biz were bringin in their capital but now dem de hear am now because repatration of profit is starting now. Value of ghana cedis is fallin in an unbelievable rate not just daily but hourly. Their country is messed up. Big biz de repatrate profit, igbo guys wey de sell fone and cd de repatrate.

yd849ja: How does this article relate to the Prof exactly? How does it invalidate the man's integrity and submission about Nigeria? All you GEJ proponent are just simply hilarious! This is a cheap attempt at blackmail and it oozes stupidity and lunacy in its entirety.

So, your prof own is not?! slowpoke like you!

PetroDolla: what is this moronic igbo dog blabbing?if Ghana,the fastest growing economy is bleeped up,what will you call that piece of s-hit called nigeria?so nigerians are not grateful that Ghana opened its doors to you people who are villified all over the world.by the time Ghana kick ur dirty arses out maybe you'll be heading to chad,niger,somalia,who are your mates in poverty terms.we all know your cursed,miserable country is controlled by robbers,kidnappers,ritualists n militants,but it is far worse in igboland.at least you can sleep with your two ugly eyes closed in Ghana.you are a fool and so long as you remain on Ghanaian soil we'll track you down and serve you the treatment
animals like you deserve. Ewu

If ur phone hangs; due to ur "fidgety" fingers, and the same fingers decide to hit or slam it on the wall just to un-hang it, and it gets broken in the process; who looses?

yd849ja: How does this article relate to the Prof exactly? How does it invalidate the man's integrity and submission about Nigeria? All you GEJ proponent are just simply hilarious! This is a cheap attempt at blackmail and it oozes stupidity and lunacy in its entirety.

It is a media blitz funded directly by the Nigerian taxpayer!

You think these half-baked ideologues, foot-soldiers of a highly corrupt administration, don't know precisely what is at stake? Of course they do.
With these lot no bridge is considered too far - certainly not while operating under a set of rules that allows a messenger's reputation to be impugned in the event that the larger import of the message cannot be stifled.

I stand among millions who have never been in agreement with some of the Prof's prescriptions for Africa, but I also know well enough not to conflate issues.

A word of advice to the hirelings on this thread...if you value what little is left of your credibility, stick to the subject at hand.


Awakening The Sleeping Giant: Making Nigeria Work Again (I) by George Ayittey

One insightful way of describing

The myriad of Nigeria’s complex and inter-twined problems can be daunting and debilitating in unraveling or solving. Some Nigerians yearn for another military coup for a military dictator to knock heads and solve their problems. This proposal, in my view, is out of the question. First, the record of military rule in Africa is abysmal. Somalia, Rwanda, Burundi, Zaire, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Togo, and Chad, among others including Nigeria, were all ruined by military coconut-heads. They were all generals. Even General I.B. Babangida (rtd), himself remarked that: “Every military regime is a fraud. Anybody who heads a military regime subverts the wishes of the people”(The African Observer, Jan 18-31, 1999; p.6). Second, the entire West African region is fed up with military coups. ECOWAS will never support a coup in Nigeria. Witness ECOWAS response to the coups in Mali and Guinea-Bissau.

Some Nigerians have suggested a break-up of the country. This is also a non-starter. Even the hopeless African Union would not support that because it would set a dangerous precedent for the continent. Africa has more than 2,000 ethnic groups and if each aggrieved group were to break away, we might end up with over 1,000 little “Djiboutis,” each with its own national flag, anthem and perhaps a Swiss bank account for its president. And Nigeria could also end with over 250 mini countries.

Still other Nigerians say a strongman is needed to end the nonsense and clean up the mess but this is a wrong approach. Remember what President Obama said in Accra in July 2009: “Africa doesn’t need strongmen; it needs strong institutions.”

Road Analogy – Traffic Laws

[b]A useful way of analyzing Nigeria’s problems is to use a road analogy. In Nigeria, drivers are required to drive on the right and to stop at STOP signs or when the traffic light turns red. They must yield to pedestrians in crosswalks or zebra crossings and must obey the speed limit. If they are making a turn, they must switch on their turn signals. They must obey one-way signs and so on. The body of these rules and regulations is called TRAFFIC LAWS. If ALL drivers obey the traffic laws, there would be sanity on the roads and it would be possible to get from Point A to Point B SAFELY and in good time.

Now, imagine a situation where only a few drivers obey the rules of the road or traffic laws. Assume some big buffoon thinks he can drive anyway he likes at whatever speed – even the wrong way. Assume another nitwit insists on driving on the left side of the road because he is left-handed. Guess what would happen on the roads. There would be horrendous carnage, chaos, fatal accidents, and wreckage.

Ever driven on the streets of Lagos? The last time I was driven through the streets of Lagos in 2009, I tried to find and count the number of commuter buses without a single dent on it. I couldn’t. I also tried to see if drivers would stop at traffic lights, if you could find them. Few did. I will never forget the taxi ride to the airport – at break-neck speed. My heart was in my palm, thumping. Obviously, driving in Lagos would be much, much safer if all drivers obey traffic laws. But the federal government couldn’t ensure that. It built itself a new capital at Abuja and FLED from Lagos!
[/b]
This road analogy can be applied to the general Nigerian or most African societies. In any organized society, there is a body of rules and regulations which EVERYONE must obey and follow if the society is to survive, rejuvenate itself and progress. A society cannot exist without rules and principles that govern relationships between a person and other persons, the community, and the environment as well as handle problems that may arise within these relationships. A set of such rules, codified or not, may be termed “law.” Six may be distinguished: Natural, contractual, statutory, customary, religious, constitutional laws.

Natural law constitutes the body of rules people must follow in order to live and work in peace. First, they must avoid physical harm or damage to another’s work and property. Second, they must honor their obligations or contracts with others, and, third, they should compensate those on whom they inflict harm and whose property they damage. When people conduct their lives in this “live and let live” way, the natural order of human world is respected. There is peace and natural law prevails. The human world consists of many separate individuals, each capable of feeling, thought, speech, and action. Inevitable interactions create a web of inter-relationships and boundaries that separate one person from another in his words, works, and actions from those of other persons. When people respect that order and the boundaries that define it, they act justly – justice being nothing else than the will to respect the order of the human world and to recognize in word and action what belongs to another.

When people act justly, they refrain from treating another person as something other than a person or as some person other than he is and from treating what belongs to one person’s as if it belonged to another. They minimize and may even eliminate confusion about who said, did, or produced what. This in turn makes it possible to attribute responsibility, praise and blame, merit and demerit, to whom it is due. Thus, when people behave justly, they do not threaten one another’s life, freedom, or property, but act towards one another in peaceful, friendly ways. (van Notten, 2001; p.14). There are some groups who prefer natural law to laws promulgated by the state. For more, see this link: http://jim.com/rights.html

A contract creates a set of binding rules but it applies to only those who have specifically agreed to it. It is rather limited in its scope and does not empower a signatory to infringe upon the rights of others who are not party to the contract. The “contract” may be a verbal agreement or a promise to repay a loan in the presence of a “witness” and actions to be taken in case of default.

Statutory laws are “rules of conduct designed by government employees, legislated by a parliament, promulgated by a government official such as a king or a minister, and enforced by a police force controlled by that official” (van Notten, 2001; p.16). The police typically have a monopoly over the use of force or the weapons required for redressing injustices. In a dictatorship, statutory laws are decrees or diktats of the ruling despot. In a democracy, statutory law is “politician’s law.” The people have little say in its design, promulgation and enforcement. Their representatives do so in their behalf but there is no guarantee that they will do so or promulgate laws that protect life, liberty and property. Statutory laws can be oppressive. “While these powers (laws) are supposed to be used to defend every person’s right to life, liberty and property, the truth of the matter is that they are regularly used to restrict those very rights. Politicians do this with impunity by first establishing a monopoly over the country’s policing powers” (Heath, 2001).

Customary laws are not commands or legislated rules. They “are conventions and enforceable rules that have emerged and are respected spontaneously, without formal agreement, among people as they go about their daily business and try to solve the problems that occasionally arise in it without upsetting the patterns of cooperation on which they so heavily depend” (van Notten, 2006; p.15). Customary law does not mean every custom is recognized as “law.” However, when a particular custom is repeatedly recognized in a traditional court, it may become law.

Religious laws are by definition those laws that are derived from the Bible or the Qu’ran. For example, the Ten Commandments and the Sharia lay down laws, enjoining their followers to obey. Many of them are straight-forward injunctions such as “Do not steal.”

A Constitution may be regarded as a social contract between the rulers or government and the governed. Constitutional laws are those derived from the Constitution and when freely negotiated, is the law of the people, defining how their society is to be organized and governed. Constitutional laws specify the rights of the people and the limits of government. They are supreme, taking precedence over all laws. They are also sovereign, meaning they cannot be abrogated by one individual or political party with a majority in Parliament. The supremacy of Constitution law is due to the fact that a nation may be composed of different ethnic and religious groups. While each group may have its own particular laws, there must be one law – Constitution – that keeps or is binding on all groups within the nation.

Thus, every society must have some body of laws to govern itself by. For example, one does not arbitrarily go and steal or seize someone else’s property. All societies disallow that. Nor does one grab, rape and impregnate a woman if one wants to have a child. When everyone obeys and follows the same law, “the rule of law” is said to prevail, meaning it is the law that rules, not the whims of some autocrat. Thus, it is this body of principles and rules – or the rule of law — that stands between sanity or progress in the society and utter chaos or anarchy. Similarly, traffic laws are what stand between sanity and order on the roads and total chaos and carnage.

The rule of law is not something that is alien to Africa. Each traditional African society also has a body of principles and rules which everyone – including chiefs and kings – must follow. It is called customary law. It may cover a wide area — from nationality, land, chattels, marriage, testamentary disposition, defamation to modes of enforcing payment of debts. For example, ownership is generally recognized as arising from original acquisition or legitimate transfer by way of gift, purchase, etc. When a person applied his labor, superior mental powers or business skills to a piece of previously un-owned land and generated a product or developed an artistic motif, traditional law allow them to retain ownership of such land, product or motif.

In traditional Africa, one did not take the law into one own hands. There are customary ways of resolving disputes. A dispute may be taken to native courts – called gacaca in Rwanda – for a resolution. Among the Arusha of Tanzania, “there was a very strongly held value that disputes should be settled peacefully by persuasion and by resort to the established procedures for settlement” (Carlston, 1968:310). Similarly, the Tallensi of Ghana abhorred killings and violent resolutions of conflicts. For precisely this reason, they celebrated the Golib festival, during which all feuds and hostilities between clans were prohibited. This festival emphasized “the themes of food, harmony, fecundity, and the common interests of the people as a whole” (Carlston, 1968:109).

Customary laws enjoin respect for elders and parents, especially mothers. The elders are regarded as the fonts of wisdom and experience, while mothers are regarded as the pillars of society. This is captured by the African proverb: “Educate a man and you educate a single person but educate a woman and you educate an entire nation.”

Everyone, including chiefs and kings, are required to obey customary law. Even in the rigidly-controlled Kingdom of Dahomey in ancient times, Boahen and Webster (1970) found that,

“Although the king’s word was the law of the land yet he was not above the law. Dahomeans like to recount how king Glele was fined for breaking the law. When gangs of men were working cooperatively either on state roads or building a house for one of their members, it was a law that a passerby must approach the leader and make an excuse as to why he could not break his journey to assist in the work. Permission was almost inevitably given, the law being largely designed to reinforce courtesy. King Glele’s procession passed one such group without asking to be excused. He was stopped by the headman and fined many cases of rum and pieces of cloth for breaking the law…The fact that the kings of Dahomey (now Benin) were prepared to obey the laws they themselves created was the difference between arbitrary despotism and despotism which realized that its power and position rested ultimately, no matter how indirectly, upon the will of the people (p.108).

Traditional African custom required that the elders, the “old men” instruct the youth in native law and custom. As instructors, the elders were expected to be of good behavior and comport themselves well to serve as role models for the youth. Consequently, contraventions of the law by elders were viewed more seriously and punished more severely because the elders were expected “to know the law.” Consider the following cases from Schapera (1957):

Among the Kgatla, a man who had refused on demand to give up cattle that he was looking after for someone else was not only ordered to do so, but was also fined, `because he is an old man and ought to know the law’ (Kgamanyane Pilane v. Ntwai Moeng, 22/1938).

In a matrimonial dispute among the Ngwato, the husband’s conduct was found especially reprehensible , `because he is an old man, from whom younger people should learn how to behave’ (Dikeledi v. Makgoeng, 153/1938).

And in another Ngwato case, a village headman who had abducted another’s wife was fined more heavily than usual because in his position he was expected to set a good example to others (Monyanda v. Radipitse, 151/1938).

The chaos and carnage in modern-day Somalia is a telling example of what happens to a society when some groups refuse to abide by the SAME law. The road analogy is even more pertinent and applicable here: Somalia is a country where some groups refuse to obey the same traffic laws.

The Somali are ethnically homogenous and proud people. They are fiercely republican andbase their society on their customary law called xeer. They refuse to accept an alien system imposed upon them. Heath (2001) expressed it well:

“Most Somalis prefer their customary laws and institutions, which they call xeer. In their experience, the xeer constitutes the heart of the Somali nation. They believe that without the xeer the Somali nation would fall apart, lose its identity, forgo its solidarity, forfeit its civilization and relinquish its culture. The xeer is the cord holding the house of the Somali people together. Indeed, it is thanks to their customary law that the traditional political system of the Somalis took the form of a kritarchy, not a democracy.

But Somali politicians had other ideas. They hold the xeer in abject contempt and prefer contrived statutory law which will allow them to lord over the people. As van Notten (2006) noted:

“During the 20th century, the Somalis were subjected the heavy-handed policies of the colonial powers. These powers left a form of government behind that was at odds with indigenous Somali political culture. It took the Somalis 30 years to get rid of it and return to their pre-colonial political structure. Many problems arose in the course of this, but gradually the Somalis are resolving them. Foreign observers fail to understand what they are doing; they think the Somalis have been trying to establish a democratic government and constantly failing to do so. In reality, the chief aim of many Somalis is to clean their indigenous legal and political system of its foreign elements (p.139).

In short, the crisis and carnage in Somalia is due to a clash of laws. Not all are following the SAME traffic laws. The Somali prefer the customary law, the xeer. The colonialists, political elites and the Islamists prefer other laws. When the colonialist tried to impose their own laws on the Somali, they fought them and gained their independence. When dictators and political elites tried to impose decrees and statutory laws on them, the Somali fought them too and drove dictator General Siad Barre out of office into exile. Obviously, if the Islamist group, al-Shabaab, tries to impose the sharia on the Somali, they will fight it too.

Clearly, the solution to the crisis in Somalia does not lie in having a strongman impose the Ten Commandments on the people; they will fight it. Nor does it lie in breaking up the country. For one thing, the Somali are a one-tribe nation (ethnically homogenous), so one can’t have one tribe going this way and the others going the other way. Even then, Puntland and Somaliland broke away but no country has recognized them. The obvious solution is get ALL Somali to obey the SAME traffic laws.

Now, which LAW must ALL Nigerians follow and obey: Natural Law, Statutory Law, The Ten Commandments, The Sharia, or The Constitutional Law? If you said, the Constitutional Law, you are right but has it been followed? And what happens when the president holds the Constitution in vexatious contempt, refuses to follow it and blurts, “I don’t give a dam”?

We explore these issues next.
_____________________
References

Ayittey, George B. N. (2006). Indigenous African Institutions. Dobbs Ferry, NY: Transnational
Publishers.

Boahen, A.A. and J.B. Webster (1970). History of West Africa. New York: Praeger.

Carlston, Kenneth S. (1968). Social Theory and African Tribal Organization. Urbana: University of
Chicago Press.

Heath, Frank Douglas (2001). “Tribal Society and Democracy” in The Laissez Faire City Times,
Vol 5, No 22, May 28, 2001, available at: http://www.afrifund.com/wiki/index.pcgi?page=CtrySomaliland

Schapera, I. (1957). “The Sources Of Law In Tswana Tribal Courts: Legislation And Precedent,”
​Journal of African Law, Vol.1 No.3:150162, 1957.
Van Notten, Michael (2006). The Law of the Somalis. Trenton, NJ: The Red Sea Press, Inc.

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Source

PetroDolla: what is this moronic igbo dog blabbing?if Ghana,the fastest growing economy is bleeped up,what will you call that piece of s-hit called nigeria?so nigerians are not grateful that Ghana opened its doors to you people who are villified all over the world.by the time Ghana kick ur dirty arses out maybe you'll be heading to chad,niger,somalia,who are your mates in poverty terms.we all know your cursed,miserable country is controlled by robbers,kidnappers,ritualists n militants,but it is far worse in igboland.at least you can sleep with your two ugly eyes closed in Ghana.you are a fool and so long as you remain on Ghanaian soil we'll track you down and serve you the treatment
animals like you deserve. Ewu

fastest growing economy in th world? hahahahahahahahahaha........you re on stupid illiterate......really one of a kind!!!

coolval83: It pains me when ppl compare mare Ghana dts NT up2 Lagos state to Nigeria,[b] nd I curse all Nigerians dt commented negatively abt Nigeria,[/b]we ve to learn hw to b patriotic,come rain come sunshine we re still d best in African

amen brother ...amen to that....I wonder why some nigerians have totally lost their sense of reasoning ...gosh

kcool2: fastest growing economy in th world? hahahahahahahahahaha........you re on stupid illiterate......really one of a kind!!!

all a fool needs to do is to open his mouth n you'll know. so why don't you crawl back into that dirty,smelly hole you came out from to expose your ignorance and lack of class? Jeez,with uninfomed morons like you your pathetic contri will remain in the dustbin for ever.

kcool2: fastest growing economy in th world? hahahahahahahahahaha........you re on stupid illiterate......really one of a kind!!!

Mekusnwa: it's obvious you re the biggest fool who believes the trash that the fake prof vomitted. what progess has Ghana made in the oil industry above Nigeria? What is there OPEC quota? how many international oil majors are operating in Ghana? How many liquified Natural Gas plants do they have? How many gas plants do they run? Can their state oil corporation be compared with the big status of NNPC which runs joint venture with SHELL, CHEVRON, etc what percentage of their population is gainfully employed in the industry? I don't know the area where you live in Nigeria. Common local government Chairmen do not break traffic rules here in Abuja. How many universities are there in Ghana? And how much do they pay as school fees? And how many of these products from Ghanian universities can compete favourably with their Nigerian counterparts in every field of study? The last time i checked, Ghana does not have more than 3 Universities. That will be dwarfed by our existing 27 federal universities, 36 state universities, and 31 private universities. The fake prof was not briefed by those who hired him that the govt which he seeks to paint black has been able to establish 9 new universities in less than 1 year. Secondly, unlike Ghana, the Nigerian Fed govt subsidizes education heavily. I attended UNIBEN and my school fees did not exceed N 9,700 fr each session. This is so given that in this year alone, govt' s subventions to UNIBEN is over 12 billion Naira. In Ghana, the story is not the same. Students cough out almost a million Naira for school fees. So why can't they afford a bit better hostel accommodation. In covenant university, where students pay that much too, their hostels are better than some guest houses in Kumasi. Learn to situate issues in proper context. Nigeria remains the only country where Education is heavily subsidized despite its teeming population. Ask anybody in any university in Uk or America, he will tell you better. Forbes has built a reputation over the years. They are not like You who has been bribed by some paymasters to come and fabricate lies and turn truth on its head on Nairaland.

God Bless You!

PetroDolla: nigerians don't insult presidents of other countries,right?

Dude, kindly tell me/give me a link where a public figure(or in this case a prof)from Nigeria insulted d president of another nation. Please we shouldn't encourage things like dis. Its not right.

can anyone explain to me why flights originating from nigeria land in Ghana more than any other country in the world?add that to the dozens of road transporters who put buses upon buses,cars upon cars to Accra each day?ABC alone on a typical day can have 5 or more buses going to Accra-more than the number of buses that leaves lagos for abuja or port harcourt .add that to cross country,young shall grow,and the rest n tell me what you think is going on.idiots like you can say all the rubbish but every discerning being knows where people are gravitating to these days.shameless bigots who can't see beyond their noses!

PetroDolla: can anyone explain to me why flights originating from nigeria land in Ghana more than any other country in the world?add that to the dozens of road transporters who put buses upon buses,cars upon cars to Accra each day?ABC alone on a typical day can have 5 or more buses going to Accra-more than the number of buses that leaves lagos for abuja or port harcourt .add that to cross country,young shall grow,and the rest n tell me what you think is going on.idiots like you can say all the rubbish but every discerning being knows where people are gravitating to these days.shameless bigots who can't see beyond their noses!

@ petroldolla, ur a fool and uncivilized. Get a life, don't u have work or are u among the ghana association of unemployment youth. Lazy,ugly bastard ghanaians, after u finish showing ur stupidity in this forum, u will go home and ur wife or girl friend will feed u. No wonder nigerians and other foreighners control 98% of ghana economy. Lazy ugly animal, don't u know that ur a slave in ur country. My Ewe ghanaian girlfriend, will die rather than to have anything to do with u ghanaian guys because of u guys are ugly, lazy and inferiority complex.

I don't understand some Nigerians. Is it that we do not read or we are simply lazy to research and comprehend?

How can someone in his right senses use an article dated Sept 2010 (almost two years ago) to dispute another article that is about a week old? Are some people really this dumb?

Between 1970 and 2009 per-capita
gross domestic product in
Madagascar tripled in after-inflation
terms – to a whopping $448,
according to the United Nations.
Over that same time period per-
capita GDP in nearby South Africa
rose more than sevenfold to $5,700.
A history of military coups,
economic mismanagement and
steady population growth has left
Madagascar in the dust as other
emerging-market countries like
South Africa, India and Brazil surge
ahead. Yet another coup in 2009
forced the U.S. to yank Madagascar
from a preferential tariff program,
costing the beleaguered island
nation thousands of jobs in its
textile sector. Immunizations and
primary-school completions are
dropping, and 77% of the population
now lives in poverty.
It’s manmade problems like this
that landed Madagascar on the top
of the Forbes list of the World’s
Worst Economies in 2011. There are
worse basket cases (see: Somalia).
But among the countries with
relatively complete data tracked by
the International Monetary Fund ,
Madagascar, sometimes called the
“Eighth Continent” because of its
natural diversity, stands out for
political mismanagement,
corruption, poverty and lack of
growth.
Full List: The World’s 10 Worst
Economies
To construct our list, we ranked 177
countries according to three-year
average statistics for gross domestic
product growth and inflation
(including the IMF’s 2012 estimates),
plus GDP per capita and the current
account balance, a measure of
whether the country is importing
more than it exports.
There have been significant changes
to the list since last year. Onetime
losers like Ghana and Zimbabwe got
their economic acts together and
moved off the list while some
countries, including Armenia and
Jamaica, marched into the lower
ranks primarily because of the
global financial crisis. Others, like
Madagascar and Nicaragua, earned
their positions almost entirely due
to the ineptitude of their rulers. It
should come as no surprise that
eight of the 10 worst economies also
were in the bottom quartile of
countries in Transparency
International’s Global Corruption
Perceptions Index, with Guinea,
Kyrgyzstan and Venezuela scoring
close to the bottom.
“Beyond income, (corruption)
extends to economic development,”
says Transparency International’s
Robin Hodess, group director for
research and knowledge. “All of the
indices that reflect human
development suffer. Where
government doesn’t work,
economies don’t grow.”
Madagascar’s poor economic
performance mirrors the turmoil in
its politics. After gaining
independence from France in 1960,
the country went through a brief
period of prosperity. But per-capita
GDP has trailed most of the rest of
the world since the early 1970s as
Madagascar’s population has grown
faster than the economy.
The current round of troubles began
in 2009 when democratically elected
President Marc Ravalomanana
stepped down under intense
pressure from the military and
handed power to opposition leader
Andry Rajoelina. European
supporters cut back on $1 billion in
promised aid, and the U.S. was
required by law to drop Madagascar
from the African Growth and
Opportunity Act import program,
devastating the textile industry.
Much of the country has descended
to a barter economy, according to
the U.S. State Dept.
At No. 2 is Armenia, whose
economy shrank by 15% in 2009 as
an expatriate-financed construction
boom fizzled along with the world
economy. With a mediocre growth
forecast for the next few years, this
landlocked former Soviet republic,
dependent upon Russia and Iran for
virtually all of its energy supplies, is
struggling to keep up with the rest
of the world. Per-capita GDP of
$3,000 is less than a third of
neighboring Turkey, and inflation is
running at 7%. On top of that,
Russia cut back on supplies of
diamonds, hurting Armenia’s once-
thriving diamond-processing
industry.
Coming in third is Guinea, a West
African nation that sits on half the
world’s accessible bauxite reserves
but has trouble attracting
productive investment. Poorly
maintained roads, a 2008 military
coup and “insecurity created by
government hostility toward
investment” have slowed economic
development, according to the U.S.
State Department. The 2010 election
of Alpha Conde as president appears
to have reduced fears somewhat,
and Abu Dhabi and BHP Billiton are
proceeding with a $5 billion alumina
refinery project in northwest
Guinea.
No. 4. Ukraine has rich farmland
and generous mineral resources and
could become a leading European
economy — yet per-capita GDP trails
far behind even countries like
Serbia and Bulgaria. The U.S. State
Dept. blames “complex laws and
regulations, poor corporate
governance, weak enforcement of
contract law by courts, and
particularly corruption.” Jamaica,
coming in fifth, is almost entirely a
victim of the global financial crisis
that devastated its vital tourism
industry. On the positive side:
Jamaica’s poverty rate has been cut
almost in half to 10% in recent years
while literacy has increased to 88%,
according to the World Bank .
Perhaps the cancer that struck
dictator Hugo Chavez will bring
deliverance to No. 6 Venezuela,
which manages to keep its people
poor despite an embarrassment of
natural wealth. The only thing
healthy about Venezuela’s economy
is its oil-fueled current account
surplus. An inflation rate of 32%
and subpar GDP growth
demonstrate the ineptitude of
Hugo’s management. Nicaragua, too,
suffers under a president who
purports to support “the people”
but has led his nation into subpar
economic performance that only
hurts the poor. (Note this response
from Nicaragua, which says the IMF
has praised its recent progress in
reforming the government and
economy.)

hahahahaha I'm told insanity is a well defined feature of the nigerian.from your zoo-keeping president to a baby born today,all of you are mad in that cursed,destined-for-the dustbin shit you call country.that was exactly what Ashittey was talking about.hahaha foolish kidnapper,419ner,ritualist,terrorist bastard.I guess you 'control' the Ghanaian economy in your dreams,huh?have you finished 'controlling' your generator-driven economy?damn fucking illiterate bastard who doesn't know his left from his right.if you call igbo boys selling phones and stuff on the streets,n yahoo yahoo boys scamming people acts of 'controlling' an economy then you need to get your ugly,sicko head re-examined.the only reason nigeria is not worse than somalia today is oil,and we know the oil is flowing because foreign companies are responsible for oil production.anything a nigerian touches will die because you are cursed.finito.no nicer way to put it,slowpoke.the world's 7th largest oil n gas producer but can't provide power to it people,you earn billions of dollars but 99% of your people@are desperately poor-with limited access to good education,potable water,motorable road,health care,personal security.the charging of phones on the streets and riding okada is the main source of employment in that s-hitty country.no descent Ghanaian will want to date a filthy,lazy and criminally insane nigerian?hahahaha chei naija don wowo no be small oooh. Even your president can't stand the mess. no wonder he's always travelling. Naija we fail theeeeeeeeee oooooooooooooh useless specimen of the human race. every story about nigeria is bad. Even Papa God sef don tire o

Cusubaba: @ petroldolla, ur a fool and uncivilized. Get a life, don't u have work or are u among the ghana association of unemployment youth. Lazy,ugly bastard ghanaians, after u finish showing ur stupidity in this forum, u will go home and ur wife or girl friend will feed u. No wonder nigerians and other foreighners control 98% of ghana economy. Lazy ugly animal, don't u know that ur a slave in ur country. My Ewe ghanaian girlfriend, will die rather than to have anything to do with u ghanaian guys because of u guys are ugly, lazy and inferiority complex.

Cusubaba: @ petroldolla, ur a fool and uncivilized. Get a life, don't u have work or are u among the ghana association of unemployment youth. Lazy,ugly bastard ghanaians, after u finish showing ur stupidity in this forum, u will go home and ur wife or girl friend will feed u. No wonder nigerians and other foreighners control 98% of ghana economy. Lazy ugly animal, don't u know that ur a slave in ur country. My Ewe ghanaian girlfriend, will die rather than to have anything to do with u ghanaian guys because of u guys are ugly, lazy and inferiority complex.

choi. I yaff die

Ojobojo1: All ds foolish gej apologists,una de mad.How dare you try to confuse nigerians with ds stale news.D prof is right but you and ur egghead president dont wanna accept it,instead of improving, gej is sponsoring beaf and co to deceive us.make una tell am say e no go work.

fhuck u !

fool of d highest order

all4naija: So, your prof own is not?! slowpoke like you!

Truth is the biggest enemy to an ordinary Nigerian. He's not my Prof. but I can tell you he has only stated the obvious. slowpoke? No need for name calling just be civil next time and make your point.

Slicqy prizzy: come tel me da problems gh is facing.i realy wanna noe

what a m0ron!
Did u delete google or ask from ur browser?
Why cnt u ask google

What I can say is that; it is only sm1 with brain tumour that would see this silly topic and post or support it. In what way is Nigeria better than Ghana? Electricity? Road network? Social amenities or Security?

It is a pity that Nigeria may never get better because many of our youths have loss their senses of judgement in exchange for "peanuts".