I'll summarise Akin's theory in the next post

Between Oduah and Ekeh By Akin Osuntokun,
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/between-oduah-and-ekeh/163187/



I often write in fear of not being accessible and widely understood and it is with the hangover of this apprehension that I approach today’s subject matter. It has to do with the daunting task of mediating between a distinguished political science professor, Peter Ekeh, and the Nigeria public. Ekeh is a towering intellectual but he is little known outside the environment of the ivory tower although I’m told that he has of late rediscovered his roots and has gone so far as becoming the President of the Urhobo Peoples Union.

Almost 40 years ago, he wrote a paper titled “Colonialism and the two publics of Africa-A theoretical statement”. It was a masterpiece and was published in the journal of Comparative Studies in Society and History. I encourage those who have the leisure and inclination to search for it and I would be ever so willing to lend a helping hand. Ordinarily it is a work meant for the hallowed precincts of the academia but its applicability to the ongoing crisis swirling around the Minister of Aviation, Miss Stella Oduah, is so compelling that I have decided to err on the side of drawing the attention of the Nigeria public to it.

This choice will require of me a higher degree of labour in carrying my audience along; moving from theory to praxis. By the way, praxis means adaptation of theory to reality. I will similarly crave the indulgence of Professor Ekeh for any error of omission or commission in the course of introducing and adapting his theory for the appreciation of the general reader.
By nature, I do not like to offend the sensibilities of people and aggregation of peoples especially those that I’m acquainted with; but I’m also a curious person who speculates a lot and follows his reasoning and reflection wherever it leads. Besides I have this dilemma of being a member of the political elite — the very class of people who substantially invites the scrutiny and criticism of public intellectuals. And by reason of this affiliation I have many of them as personal friends and associates. I also don’t like piling on offenders and therefore abstain as much as possible from kicking functionaries who has or is receiving bashing from all and sundry.

In anguish I sought the perspective of my editor on how to handle this troubling conflict of interest. She enjoined me to learn to live with this reality if I ever want to continue with my vocation of writing. And it is with this reluctance that I presume to judge the stewardship of Miss Oduah as Minister of Aviation; and even at that, I’m enlisting her not in her own right but as a variable whose misconduct conspicuously lends itself to the applicability of one of the most original and insightful theory of African politics.
I feel highly embarrassed at the grossness of her behaviour not the least on account of impacting so negatively on her principal — who honestly deserves a break from relentless savage critique in the media and interpersonal assemblies. May God save us from friends and the company we keep; I will now quote in-extenso the characterisation of corruption in Africa by Professor Ekeh.

‘There are two forms of corruption that are associated with the two publics-the civic (read the government and the state) and the primordial (read ethnic affiliation). The first is what is regarded as embezzlement of funds from the civic public, from the government, to be more specific. The second is the solicitation and acceptance of bribes from individuals seeking services provided by the civic public (the government), by those who administer these services. Both carry little moral sanction and may well receive great moral approbation from members of one’s primordial public (read ethnic affiliation). But contrariwise, these forms of corruption are completely absent in the primordial public. Strange is the Nigerian who engages in embezzlement in the performance of his duties to his primordial public-town union. To put your fingers in the till of the government will not unduly burden your conscience and people may well think you are a smart fellow and envy you your opportunities. To steal the funds of the (ethnic) union would offend the public conscience and ostracise you from society’.

Ekeh writes with so much clarity and lucidity that I really do not think he needs an interlocutor but I shall offer one here — as it applies to Ms Oduah. I will do this by typifying what he means by the two publics. The civic public here is represented by the Ministry of Aviation and the primordial public is identified as the Igbo ethnic nationality. The attitude of the Igbo in general and specific terms is not to condemn the behaviour of the minister but to defend and rationalise her misconduct. The extreme manifestatiom of this attitude was to threaten that the Igbo will not vote for President Goodluck Jonathan in the next general election, if he dares sanction Oduah.

Otherwise profound writers have laboured to disguise the severity of her offence by dressing it in the garb of generalisation, by advancing the argument that there are legion of precedents which were not reproved and sanctioned. Biblically minded observers will call this a case of following the multitude to commit evil. Soon after the scandal became the staple of public outrage, Dangiwa Umar pointed my attention to the folly of a writer ‘See the backpage of the Daily Trust. See how irrational even a Phd holder appears when he attempts to defend the indefensible. Clearly a case of ethnic solidarity, how can we create a nation out of this geographical expression — as Pa Awo would call it’.

The theory of the two publics is validated by its general applicability to those societies which constitute the independent variable severally and collectively. The Igbos are right in their summative argument — that the offence of the minister in question is the rule rather than the exception; and that any sanction against her would amount to unique victimisation, the exception and not the rule. To buttress the truism of this rationalisation I will mention other typical instances.

The late Chief Sunday Afolabi, may his soul rest in peace, in his capacity then as Minister of Internal Affairs, admonished another deceased fellow minister, Chief Bola Ige (of illustrious memory) not to rock the boat of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government to which he was called from the Alliance for Democracy (AD), to ‘come and eat’. One of the more creative recent turn of phrase reduced the phenomenon to the christening of ‘Turn by Turn Nigeria Limited’. Ahmadu Kurfi was more direct and matter of factly in his depiction ‘this arrangement provides opportunity for various groups in the exercise of real power in the governance of the country, unlike the present dispensation whereby the vice-president/deputy governor has little or no power: and act as a “spare tire” for his boss and can hardly dish out patronage for the people he represents in government’.

The twilight of the first republic was replete with stories of competition for the largese accruable from alliance with the party in control at the centre. The culture of quota and federal character became institutionalised in the mid-70s but it has deep roots in the crass nepotism that defined the latter days of the first republic. The less than meritorous appointments of vice-chancellors to the federal government-owned universities was cited as a unique manifestation of this culture.

The Premiership of Chief S L Akintola became the avenging angel for the Western Region when he reoriented the region from opposition politics to a happy union with the Tafawa Balewa-led federal government. This pratice was echoed in the appointment of General Shehu Yar’Adua who was skyrocketed in rank over his seniors to become the deputy to General Olusegun Obasanjo in his capacity as Military Head of State in 1975. The lucky towns and villages of high ranking government officials usually attract lopsided development infrastructural facilities and were conferred with the status of destination of choice for the location of institutions especially tertiary institutions.

The citation of certain offices as ‘lucrative and juicy’ has gradually become accepted as the idiom of appointments to choice offices and posts — often inciting fierce struggles among contending ethnic groups. To be found in this charmed circle are the minitries of works and the FCT; comptroller-general of the Department of Customs and Excise, the chief executives of Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), and the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF); and the Central Bank of Nigeria — to mention a few.

We equally hear of a number of offices, ministries and government agencies warehoused as the exclusive preserve of sections of Nigeria. There is a Yoruba adage that rationalises abuse of office for personal gain as ‘when you are given a hoe to till the ground, hoeing to yourself takes precedence over any other direction’. The theory espoused by Ekeh cannot by any stretch of the imagination, be interpreted as tolerance for the penchant of personalities like Ms Oduah, it only seeks to explain the typicality of her impunity and imprudence.

Her extenuation inheres in the generalised syndrome of corruption and abuse of office in African societies. In the manifestation of this syndrome what is criminal behaviour in public offices regularly gets rewarded at the primordial level. And the larger the capacity of individudals to misappropriate pubic offices and resources for personal benefit and the benefit of her kith and kin, the more prestigious the honour and chieftancy titles reserved for the perpetrator of the act of felony.

It is apt that to bring this exposition to an end by giving the honour to whom it is due. Professor Ekeh concludes as follows; ‘if we are to capture the spirit of African politics, we must seek what is unique to them. Our problems are maybe understood, hopefully solved, by the realisation that the civic public and the primordial public are rivals; that in fact the civic public is starved of badly needed morality. Any politics without morality is destructive. And the destructive results of African politics owes something to the amorality of the civic public’ — the state.

Akin building on Ekeh's theory suggests that a typical Nigerian is affiliated to two publics (or principals/communities)
One is the government/state, and the other the person's ethnic enclave

He suggests that folks dont see anything wrong in plundering the 1st public (government), as long as the goodies are moved towards the person and his/her 2nd public (ethnic community)

He goes on to narrate a yoruba parable that seems to support such aspiration
The parable suggests that when you are told to hoe a field during planting or harvesting,you will tend to dig more towards your direction than to other sides

With our lack of concern or loyalty to the 1st public, Akin suggests that the 1st public will self-destruct

Below is a pix of a woman hoeing towards herself
(Source: google images)

You will notice that the mounds her close to her, and far from her child
....visually thought provoking isn't it?

esere826:

With our lack of concern or loyalty to the 1st public, Akin suggests that the 1st public will self-destruct

Will self-destruct, or is already self-destructing?

Take Fashola who deports Igbos. Yorubas naturally side with the action, while Igbos scream blue murder.
Only a few individuals, stripped of ethnic loyalty, like Femi Falana, pointed in the direction of the constitution.

The 2nd public rubbishes any attempt at true development, truth be told.

esere826: Below is a pix of a woman hoeing towards herself
(Source: google images)

You will notice that the mounds her close to her, and far from her child
....visually thought provoking isn't it?

You remind me of the Muslims who interpret what the next guy is saying in the same language. If you don't understand it the first time I doubt if you will the second time.

Aigbofa:

You remind me of the Muslims who interpret what the next guy is saying in the same language. If you don't understand it the first time I doubt if you will the second time.

LOL.
There's a reason for that, and it's not really an Islamic thing. Apparently, the alfa (cleric) is not supposed to be raising his voice.

AjanleKoko:


Will self-destruct, or is already self-destructing?

Take Fashola who deports Igbos. Yorubas naturally side with the action, while Igbos scream blue murder.
Only a few individuals, stripped of ethnic loyalty, like Femi Falana, pointed in the direction of the constitution.

The 2nd public rubbishes any attempt at true development, truth be told.

We sided with fashola because they tribalised what was done in good faith.
There is also a breaking point ,at which you to say enough is enough.
Migration to Lagos has gotten out of hands.
You only need to visit a police station at night to see the no of orphans,homeless and under the bridge dwellers from other parts of the country.

AjanleKoko:

LOL.
There's a reason for that, and it's not really an Islamic thing. Apparently, the alfa (cleric) is not supposed to be raising his voice.

Thanks.

bloggernaija:

We sided with fashola because they tribalised what was done in good faith.
There is also a breaking point ,at which you to say enough is enough.
Migration to Lagos has gotten out of hands.
You only need to visit a police station at night to see the no of orphans,homeless and under the bridge dwellers from other parts of the country.

Quite.
But unfortunately, for those who share your view, the current laws of the federal republic do not permit deportation of any citizen of Nigeria, within Nigeria. And Lagos cannot exist in isolation of those laws. That's what people like Falana are saying.

Homelessness is not a crime, and does not deserve any punishment. It either has to be addressed by the government (preferable option) or ignored.

Aigbofa:

You remind me of the Muslims who interpret what the next guy is saying in the same language. If you don't understand it the first time I doubt if you will the second time.

sorry,

i cldnt process this
probably cos i know little of islam's rituals

bloggernaija:

We sided with fashola because they tribalised what was done in good faith.
There is also a breaking point ,at which you to say enough is enough.
Migration to Lagos has gotten out of hands.
You only need to visit a police station at night to see the no of orphans,homeless and under the bridge dwellers from other parts of the country.

yep,
loyalty and defence of the 2nd public
at the expense of the 1st public

esere826: I'll summarise Akin's theory in the next post.

Between Oduah and Ekeh By Akin Osuntokun,
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/between-oduah-and-ekeh/163187/



I often write in fear of not being accessible and widely understood and it is with the hangover of this apprehension that I approach today’s subject matter. It has to do with the daunting task of mediating between a distinguished political science professor, Peter Ekeh, and the Nigeria public. Ekeh is a towering intellectual but he is little known outside the environment of the ivory tower although I’m told that he has of late rediscovered his roots and has gone so far as becoming the President of the Urhobo Peoples Union.

Almost 40 years ago, he wrote a paper titled “Colonialism and the two publics of Africa-A theoretical statement”. It was a masterpiece and was published in the journal of Comparative Studies in Society and History. I encourage those who have the leisure and inclination to search for it and I would be ever so willing to lend a helping hand. Ordinarily it is a work meant for the hallowed precincts of the academia but its applicability to the ongoing crisis swirling around the Minister of Aviation, Miss Stella Oduah, is so compelling that I have decided to err on the side of drawing the attention of the Nigeria public to it.

This choice will require of me a higher degree of labour in carrying my audience along; moving from theory to praxis. By the way, praxis means adaptation of theory to reality. I will similarly crave the indulgence of Professor Ekeh for any error of omission or commission in the course of introducing and adapting his theory for the appreciation of the general reader.
By nature, I do not like to offend the sensibilities of people and aggregation of peoples especially those that I’m acquainted with; but I’m also a curious person who speculates a lot and follows his reasoning and reflection wherever it leads. Besides I have this dilemma of being a member of the political elite — the very class of people who substantially invites the scrutiny and criticism of public intellectuals. And by reason of this affiliation I have many of them as personal friends and associates. I also don’t like piling on offenders and therefore abstain as much as possible from kicking functionaries who has or is receiving bashing from all and sundry.

In anguish I sought the perspective of my editor on how to handle this troubling conflict of interest. She enjoined me to learn to live with this reality if I ever want to continue with my vocation of writing. And it is with this reluctance that I presume to judge the stewardship of Miss Oduah as Minister of Aviation; and even at that, I’m enlisting her not in her own right but as a variable whose misconduct conspicuously lends itself to the applicability of one of the most original and insightful theory of African politics.
I feel highly embarrassed at the grossness of her behaviour not the least on account of impacting so negatively on her principal — who honestly deserves a break from relentless savage critique in the media and interpersonal assemblies. May God save us from friends and the company we keep; I will now quote in-extenso the characterisation of corruption in Africa by Professor Ekeh.

‘There are two forms of corruption that are associated with the two publics-the civic (read the government and the state) and the primordial (read ethnic affiliation). The first is what is regarded as embezzlement of funds from the civic public, from the government, to be more specific. The second is the solicitation and acceptance of bribes from individuals seeking services provided by the civic public (the government), by those who administer these services. Both carry little moral sanction and may well receive great moral approbation from members of one’s primordial public (read ethnic affiliation). But contrariwise, these forms of corruption are completely absent in the primordial public. Strange is the Nigerian who engages in embezzlement in the performance of his duties to his primordial public-town union. To put your fingers in the till of the government will not unduly burden your conscience and people may well think you are a smart fellow and envy you your opportunities. To steal the funds of the (ethnic) union would offend the public conscience and ostracise you from society’.

Ekeh writes with so much clarity and lucidity that I really do not think he needs an interlocutor but I shall offer one here — as it applies to Ms Oduah. I will do this by typifying what he means by the two publics. The civic public here is represented by the Ministry of Aviation and the primordial public is identified as the Igbo ethnic nationality. The attitude of the Igbo in general and specific terms is not to condemn the behaviour of the minister but to defend and rationalise her misconduct. The extreme manifestatiom of this attitude was to threaten that the Igbo will not vote for President Goodluck Jonathan in the next general election, if he dares sanction Oduah.

Otherwise profound writers have laboured to disguise the severity of her offence by dressing it in the garb of generalisation, by advancing the argument that there are legion of precedents which were not reproved and sanctioned. Biblically minded observers will call this a case of following the multitude to commit evil. Soon after the scandal became the staple of public outrage, Dangiwa Umar pointed my attention to the folly of a writer ‘See the backpage of the Daily Trust. See how irrational even a Phd holder appears when he attempts to defend the indefensible. Clearly a case of ethnic solidarity, how can we create a nation out of this geographical expression — as Pa Awo would call it’.

The theory of the two publics is validated by its general applicability to those societies which constitute the independent variable severally and collectively. The Igbos are right in their summative argument — that the offence of the minister in question is the rule rather than the exception; and that any sanction against her would amount to unique victimisation, the exception and not the rule. To buttress the truism of this rationalisation I will mention other typical instances.

The late Chief Sunday Afolabi, may his soul rest in peace, in his capacity then as Minister of Internal Affairs, admonished another deceased fellow minister, Chief Bola Ige (of illustrious memory) not to rock the boat of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government to which he was called from the Alliance for Democracy (AD), to ‘come and eat’. One of the more creative recent turn of phrase reduced the phenomenon to the christening of ‘Turn by Turn Nigeria Limited’. Ahmadu Kurfi was more direct and matter of factly in his depiction ‘this arrangement provides opportunity for various groups in the exercise of real power in the governance of the country, unlike the present dispensation whereby the vice-president/deputy governor has little or no power: and act as a “spare tire” for his boss and can hardly dish out patronage for the people he represents in government’.

The twilight of the first republic was replete with stories of competition for the largese accruable from alliance with the party in control at the centre. The culture of quota and federal character became institutionalised in the mid-70s but it has deep roots in the crass nepotism that defined the latter days of the first republic. The less than meritorous appointments of vice-chancellors to the federal government-owned universities was cited as a unique manifestation of this culture.

The Premiership of Chief S L Akintola became the avenging angel for the Western Region when he reoriented the region from opposition politics to a happy union with the Tafawa Balewa-led federal government. This pratice was echoed in the appointment of General Shehu Yar’Adua who was skyrocketed in rank over his seniors to become the deputy to General Olusegun Obasanjo in his capacity as Military Head of State in 1975. The lucky towns and villages of high ranking government officials usually attract lopsided development infrastructural facilities and were conferred with the status of destination of choice for the location of institutions especially tertiary institutions.

The citation of certain offices as ‘lucrative and juicy’ has gradually become accepted as the idiom of appointments to choice offices and posts — often inciting fierce struggles among contending ethnic groups. To be found in this charmed circle are the minitries of works and the FCT; comptroller-general of the Department of Customs and Excise, the chief executives of Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), and the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF); and the Central Bank of Nigeria — to mention a few.

We equally hear of a number of offices, ministries and government agencies warehoused as the exclusive preserve of sections of Nigeria. There is a Yoruba adage that rationalises abuse of office for personal gain as ‘when you are given a hoe to till the ground, hoeing to yourself takes precedence over any other direction’. The theory espoused by Ekeh cannot by any stretch of the imagination, be interpreted as tolerance for the penchant of personalities like Ms Oduah, it only seeks to explain the typicality of her impunity and imprudence.

Her extenuation inheres in the generalised syndrome of corruption and abuse of office in African societies. In the manifestation of this syndrome what is criminal behaviour in public offices regularly gets rewarded at the primordial level. And the larger the capacity of individudals to misappropriate pubic offices and resources for personal benefit and the benefit of her kith and kin, the more prestigious the honour and chieftancy titles reserved for the perpetrator of the act of felony.

It is apt that to bring this exposition to an end by giving the honour to whom it is due. Professor Ekeh concludes as follows; ‘if we are to capture the spirit of African politics, we must seek what is unique to them. Our problems are maybe understood, hopefully solved, by the realisation that the civic public and the primordial public are rivals; that in fact the civic public is starved of badly needed morality. Any politics without morality is destructive. And the destructive results of African politics owes something to the amorality of the civic public’ — the state.

It is unfortunate most Nigerians are beclouded by the intensity of tribal bigotry. When I saw this article, it almost reminded me there could be a Nigerian who really knew the meaning of corruption. However, it did not take long into the article to realize tribal bias is an inherent trait among the writer’s ethnicity.

Initially, the writer waved two forms of corruption, thus, bribery and embezzlement. I had relaxed and hoped the writer will explain how the procurement of two BMW cars by NCAA for ministry of aviation would take him into conclusion that Stella Oduah was a corrupt official based on the two forms of corruption the writer has earlier elucidated. Instead the writer in Akin Osuntokun could not overcome the undue pressure of ethnic bigotry, he jumped onto mambo-jumbos and jargons such as “civic (read the government and the state) and the primordial (read ethnic affiliation)”.

It baffles me how a writer could fill a page or two with initial theme of bribery and embezzlement as two forms of corruption and yet could not link Stella Oduah to either of them based on the tribally wiped up allegations of corruption by certain ethnicity in Nigeria. Yet the Yoruba writer in Akin Osuntokun did not only condemned Stella Oduah but also castigated the Stella’s ethnicity that found the bases of allegation against Stella as tribally motivated and baseless.

There is no doubt Akin Osuntokun might know the denotations of bribery and embezzlement as two forms of corruption but seriously doubted if the numbskull really sought to answer the following questions:

Did Stella Oduah offer, give, receive or solicit any item of value to influence the actions of NCAA, Ministry of Aviation and Coscharis Motors Ltd? Did Stella Oduah dishonestly withhold asset for the purpose of conversion for private and personal usage?

I have no doubt the set skills of the presumed intellect which Akin Osuntokun indulged to write the above garbage is questionable because I did not the make out the ability of Akin Osuntokun to engage in sound rationalization and failed to find the tendency on Stella Oduah to usually do the bad things as Akin Osuntokun had suggested .

[size=18pt]I just wasted 3 minutes of my life reading this trash!
[/size]

Oh How I wish I am able to read that trash!

esere826:

He goes on to narrate a yoruba parable that seems to support such aspiration
The parable suggests that when you are told to hoe a field during planting or harvesting,you will tend to dig more towards your direction than to other sides

I said the same thing on this forum a coupla years ago. There are at least 10 Yoruba saying/parable/adage that support corruption, nepotism, favouritism, etc.
So, it seems normal to be corrupt. May God help us

DerideGull:


It is unfortunate most Nigerians are beclouded by the intensity of tribal bigotry. When I saw this article, it almost reminded me there could be a Nigerian who really knew the meaning of corruption. However, it did not take long into the article to realize tribal bias is an inherent trait among the writer’s ethnicity.

Initially, the writer waved two forms of corruption, thus, bribery and embezzlement. I had relaxed and hoped the writer will explain how the procurement of two BMW cars by NCAA for ministry of aviation would take him into conclusion that Stella Oduah was a corrupt official based on the two forms of corruption the writer has earlier elucidated. Instead the writer in Akin Osuntokun could not overcome the undue pressure of ethnic bigotry, he jumped onto mambo-jumbos and jargons such as “civic (read the government and the state) and the primordial (read ethnic affiliation)”.

It baffles me how a writer could fill a page or two with initial theme of bribery and embezzlement as two forms of corruption and yet could not link Stella Oduah to either of them based on the tribally wiped up allegations of corruption by certain ethnicity in Nigeria. Yet the Yoruba writer in Akin Osuntokun did not only condemned Stella Oduah but also castigated the Stella’s ethnicity that found the bases of allegation against Stella as tribally motivated and baseless.

There is no doubt Akin Osuntokun might know the denotations of bribery and embezzlement as two forms of corruption but seriously doubted if the numbskull really sought to answer the following questions:

Did Stella Oduah offer, give, receive or solicit any item of value to influence the actions of NCAA, Ministry of Aviation and Coscharis Motors Ltd? Did Stella Oduah dishonestly withhold asset for the purpose of conversion for private and personal usage?

I have no doubt the set skills of the presumed intellect which Akin Osuntokun indulged to write the above garbage is questionable because I did not the make out the ability of Akin Osuntokun to engage in sound rationalization and failed to find the tendency on Stella Oduah to usually do the bad things as Akin Osuntokun had suggested .

You obviously epitomize the 2nd public accusation. You are the defintion of bigotry.

To you...no Igbo can ever do wrong..while all other people can never do right.

You are a disgrace to old-age.

Ola one:
I said the same thing on this forum a coupla years ago. There are at least 10 Yoruba saying/parable/adage that support corruption, nepotism, favouritism, etc.
So, it seems normal to be corrupt. May God help us

Its not really corruption, when you evaluate the actions in line with the norm and statutes of the 2nd public.
There is no real corruption. But if we want fairness, equality and a just society, well, therein comes a clash of cultures.

AjanleKoko:

Its not really corruption, when you evaluate the actions in line with the norm and statutes of the 2nd public.
There is no real corruption. But if we want fairness, equality and a just society, well, therein comes a clash of cultures.

You're right. It isn't corruption (Stella/Fashola) here but that parable also alludes to corruption in our society

Wow!! interesting contributions

I'll tell what excites me in this 1st and 2nd public theorizing
i suspect it cld offer potentials to tackling our challenges if used as a model for social engineering

for those that don't know, a model is a tool, that when you apply an input, you produce a predictable result


.....i'll use my self as an example for this model
i was raised up away from my ethnic concentration and without a strong ethnic cleavage
(my kparakpo grp wld easily reject me, and indeed, some of my siblings and I have been a victim of this)
so my 2nd public consists of my 'nuclear' family which spans about 4 ethnic groups and my friends who are from the entire south and middle belt of Nigeria

my 1st public is more of a global space and less of Nigeria

So, my natural instinct is to support 3/4 of Nigeria without any care for my ethnic group.
I also instictively see almost nothing wrong in nigerians plundering the whole world and bringing the goodies back to Nigeria
(much like how a number of americans wld see nothing wrong in drones killing foreigners with innocent collateral damages)
I support nigeria blindly (and probably stupidly)


**scratches head**

So,

if we cld support or create folks to the top of government who by reason of nuture have little or no ethnic cleavages
then there is a stronger posibility of improving the nigerian growth awareness

let's use obasanjo as an example
it would be hard to accuse him of being pro-yoruba
this has been his disposition right from time immemorial


if i am president, no matter how nepotic, i am
i cant imagine ploughing goodies to my tribe except as a political strategy to ensure i am no political orphan

my natural and primordial inclination would be to family and friends and the state i grew up in

esere826:

yep,
loyalty and defence of the 2nd public
at the expense of the 1st public

False equivalence at work. Fashola has deported indigents back to numerous states all across the country without respect for tribe or 2nd public as you put it. To suggest this is a case of tribal interest over public duty makes no sense.

I also "like" how you have managed to generalize one article to extend over all Nigerians. More likely you already have an opinion, and found an example to support your belief which you can do easily. If you had no problems while Yoruba writers were attacking other govt officials, why do you have issues now? I guess we are all cool with the SW being a hotbed of activism only when it favors us. Bros, you too have a 2nd public you havent admitted to

You can make an argument as to if Oduah's actions were corrupt or inappropriate. Fine. But enough of this back hand attempt to keep trying to rope in Yoruba into the issue.

if on the other hand, a fulani boy from from katsina state who also grew up in his state of origin surrounded by fulani friends get to power
it would be natural that his 2nd public is extremely ethnic, and has little overlap with his 1st public -the entire Nigeria

gurnam:

You obviously epitomize the 2nd public accusation. You are the defintion of bigotry.

To you...no Igbo can ever do wrong..while all other people can never do right.

You are a disgrace to old-age.

I say without equivocation that your stream of thought is humanly despicable. Nigerians need to disperse a walking carcass such as you in order to make room for articulate young Nigerians. It will amount to idiocy to ask you if you comprehended the two forms of corruption the goofy author advanced in his/her silly drivels. Wild insinuations are the delights of basement fools such as you. You are as good as dead, olodo.

birdman:

False equivalence at work. Fashola has deported indigents back to numerous states all across the country without respect for tribe or 2nd public as you put it. To suggest this is a case of tribal interest over public duty makes no sense.

I also "like" how you have managed to generalize one article to extend over all Nigerians. More likely you already have an opinion, and found an example to support your belief which you can do easily. You can make an argument as to if Oduah's actions were corrupt or inappropriate. Fine. But enough of this back hand attempt to keep trying to rope in Yoruba into the issue.

interestingly, i have neither conscious nor intentional toughts of yoruba in this whole equation
(like FFK, i can say i have had intimate affairs with yoruba ladies.. For example.......)
so if that is the way it appears, no probs

i guess this is what ethnic defence and sensitivity is all about

esere826:

interestingly, i have neither conscious nor intentional toughts of yoruba in this whole equation
(like FFK, i can say i have had intimate affairs with yoruba ladies.. For example.......smiley)
so if that is the way it appears, no probs

i guess this is what ethnic defence and sensitivity is all about

Apparently the thoughts are unconscious then. Which I suspect is the case for several other threads on this same issue. I mean, why cant an issue stand on its own. Why is there an automatic need to juxtapose the aviation minister's wahala with another tribe. And why is that juxtaposition one directional. You are obviously not as "above the fray" as you would like to think. The fact is you on purpose muddied an issue of accountability with ethnic jingoism. My calling you out has nothing to do with being sensitive.

Intimate affairs abi? lol

birdman:

Apparently the thoughts are unconscious then. Which I suspect is the case for several other threads on this same issue. I mean, why cant an issue stand on its own. Why is there an automatic need to juxtapose the aviation minister's wahala with another tribe. And why is that juxtaposition one directional. You are obviously not as "above the fray" as you would like to think. The fact is you on purpose muddied an issue of accountability with ethnic jingoism. My calling you out has nothing to do with being sensitive.

Intimate affairs abi? lol

in as much as i lack any loyalty (neither any special love apart from the intimate ones) to either of the tribes in the fray
however, as a 'better placed impartial' observer i can make out the ethnic strains of the arguments surrounding the Odua 'ethical' scandal


This article was particularly useful to me because it got me thinking beyong the present scandals to those before it, and those to come
it also gave me a visual stimulus that lends itself to a workable solution
such i have expresed in the need to (in our little ways) support folks who due to nuture circumstances have a greater affiliation to a wider group of Nigeria as their 2nd public
-this takes away the need to trust anyone as being capable of setting aside a natural inclination to ethnic bias

When I refer to ethnic strains in the oduah 'ethical' scandal
i am by no means pointing my fingers at any tribe,

but rather, seeking to understand and explain causal relationships
In all my readings on the the arguments for and against Oduah
i am yet to see any one step back to review why we are all in this frenzy

....this is what i believe happened and is happening

DerideGull:

I say without equivocation that your stream of thought is humanly despicable. Nigerians need to disperse a walking carcass such as you in order to make room for articulate young Nigerians. It will amount to idiocy to ask you if you comprehended the two forms of corruption the goofy author advanced in his/her silly drivels. Wild insinuations are the delights of basement fools such as you. You are as good as dead, olodo.

now...one word to describe this old fool...

SENSELESS...

gurnam:

now...one word to describe this old fool...

SENSELESS...

It should be an insult to zombie if I call you a demented jackass.

It all started with the deportation
, and yes, the book, and yes the civil war
fast forward to the recent happenings


FFK after a massive misyarn by Kalu, struck out at the entire igbo race
many of us had a long time ago concluded that FFK lacked a certain mental ability despite his educational pedigree
(afterall, one of the leaders of the BNP is an Oxford or is it Cambridge grad)
But that a 'modern', young man who happened to have been a minister of the republic could brood such shallowness and actually spew it was quite shocking

I can safely conclude that all igbos i know were instantly anti-FFK
interestingly, some yoruba's i knew (even some that had previously felt FFK was a mad man), were gloating. not all sha
Fastforward again to a month ago or thereabout..........

Oduah seemd to have launched the East into direct contact with the international community with her international airport project
at this point she was anointed as a true daughter of the east
and the east fought off any criticism of her whatsover

.....then the 2nd plane crash, and guess who barks first
YES. ......FFK
the one already accepted by the East as an igbo hater

this is where it all started... the East would have nothing of it
their own wont be crucified by a mob that had had the appearance of being whipped up by FFK
they immediately went into the defensive, and have been in the defensive ever since,
all scenario now conveniently fit into the yoruba vs igbo narrative

-FFK was a yoruba minister of aviation, why was he not probed during his time
-The yoruba press is anti-igbo
-the Director's of the aviation agencies are yorubas
-make dem persecute other people b4 dempersecute our own

etc

So like Yerima did by introducing political sharia to shield himself from corruption prosecution
Oduah and FFK have succeeded in doing in making the present ethical scandal a case of ethnic rascality