bigheart2013:
When some people said Africans cannot lead themselves we shouted "racism". How come we always have this kind of situations since 1960? How much progress have we made? Even some GRA's abandoned by the colonial masters in the 60's remained the best part to live in in some state till date.

Pavore9:
Most of our politicians are in dire need of pyschiatric evaluation!

bigheart2013:
When some people said Africans cannot lead themselves we shouted "racism". How come we always have this kind of situations since 1960? How much progress have we made? Even some GRA's abandoned by the colonial masters in the 60's remained the best part to live in in some state till date.

engrchykae:
you are wrong,the politicians are very sober and very focused on their target of impoverishing the electorate,thereby reducing the electorate to rice beggars during election.it is the electorates that are confirmed to be mad and suicidal in their voting pattern.

LastSurvivor11:
North has always been the problem with the north..
They have the richest black man yet the are the poorest tribe in Nigeria..
They have ruled Nigeria more than any other tribe yet the most impoverished.

Nigeria can never progress with Northern backwardness...

mmsen:


Because this happens in the north doesn't mean that Africans cannot lead themselves.

As much as you might want to fall back on our self-hatred the facts are that Nigeria is in a better place now than it was in 1959 - the literacy rate is higher, the poverty rate is lower, average earnings are higher, the infant mortality rate (whilst still too high) is lower and the further south you go the better the stats are.

The problem here is the North and the unwillingness of the masses to hold their leaders (religious and secular) to account for the various crimes.

Kondomatic:
Politicians don't care about the masses

mmsen:
Because this happens in the north doesn't mean that Africans cannot lead themselves.

As much as you might want to fall back on our self-hatred the facts are that Nigeria is in a better place now than it was in 1959 - the literacy rate is higher, the poverty rate is lower, average earnings are higher, the infant mortality rate (whilst still too high) is lower and the further south you go the better the stats are.

The problem here is the North and the unwillingness of the masses to hold their leaders (religious and secular) to account for the various crimes.

sage:
http://www.leadershipnigeria.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=28:the-vague-future-of-nigeria&catid=28:friday-column&Itemid=56


Lord Lugard, the former governor-general of Nigeria, in 1926, wrote his unfiltered thought about Nigerians. From his book, The Dual Mandates, come these excerpts: "In character and temperament, the typical African of this race-type is a happy, thriftless, excitable person, lacking in self-control, discipline, and foresight. Naturally courageous, and naturally courteous and polite, full of personal vanity, with little sense of veracity, fond of music and loving weapons as an oriental loves jewellery. His thoughts are concentrated on the events and feelings of the moment, and he suffers little from the apprehension for the future or grief for the past. His mind is far nearer to the animal world than that of the European or Asiatic, and exhibits something of the animals' placidity and want of desire to rise beyond the state he has reached.

"Through the ages, the African appears to have evolved no organised religious creed, and though some tribes appear to believe in a deity, the religious sense seldom rises above pantheistic animalism and seems more often to take the form of a vague dread of the supernatural. He lacks the power of organisation, and is conspicuously deficient in the management and control alike of men or business. He loves the display of power, but fails to realize its responsibility - he will work hard with a less incentive than most races. He has the courage of the fighting animal, an instinct rather than a moral virtue. In brief, the virtues and defects of his race -type are those of attractive children, whose confidence when it is won is given ungrudgingly as to an older and wiser superior and without envy. Perhaps, the two traits which have impressed me as those most characteristic of the African native are his lack of apprehension and his lack of ability to visualize the future"


Guys lets discuss the thoughts of Lord Lugard. he had  a supremacist view obviously. But is he right in the way he describes Nigerians and Africans in general? How many of the issues that he raises are valid?

Letz get some responses

tillaman:
Haba, this could have combatted poverty in some kinda ways

Nengak:
Every politician suppose collect 200 strokes of ƙpānkerẹ́ b4 7am daily, it will enhance productivity among political elite[color=][/color]

seguno2:


Africans have not improved our outlook on life, since Lord Lugard wrote the observation below

iukpe:
So it has not combatted poverty? Did anyone tell you that the people who imported these items are still poor? You are also combatting poverty by keeping the rich rich.

mmsen:
The stats are there for all to see but you keep telling yourself that a foolish man who pushed the peoples of southern Nigeria into a union with misguided Islamists spoke logically or reasonably.

mmsen:


Because this happens in the north doesn't mean that Africans cannot lead themselves.

As much as you might want to fall back on our self-hatred the facts are that Nigeria is in a better place now than it was in 1959 - the literacy rate is higher, the poverty rate is lower, average earnings are higher, the infant mortality rate (whilst still too high) is lower and the further south you go the better the stats are.

The problem here is the North and the unwillingness of the masses to hold their leaders (religious and secular) to account for the various crimes.

seXytOhbAd:
Later on, some pathetic ignoramus will come here and say is it your money or something stupid like that.
It's time we wake up and realise that Nigeria is a failing. We have ministers, senators, governors and a partially blind and deaf president without any sense of accountability, or responsibility.

kabrud:


The north? Really? At most, those tricycles cannot worth more than $500k. One of ur governors in the south was recently scammed of $10m he wanted to stash away in a foreign account by his mistress. The money is part of the FG bail out fund. If wastage of property that is not worth $500k (very bad actually) is a problem, wastage of $10m is problem ×20.

LastSurvivor11:
North has always been the problem with the north..
They have the richest black man yet the are the poorest tribe in Nigeria..
They have ruled Nigeria more than any other tribe yet the most impoverished.

Nigeria can never progress with Northern backwardness...

Kondomatic:
Politicians don't care about the masses

seguno2:


Have you checked our HDI ranking?
What is the % of school enrolment for all our children, tap water, good roads compared to 1980?
Meanwhile outlook for society well being is different from individual prosperity.
Please note.

engrobidigbo:
Rather than waste money like this, these politicians can do better by investing in people oriented projects yet get all the money they want.

Kebbi state has enough arable land that can be turned into a great agro industry...

I saw a pix of a modern farm in Norway where there's little soil for vegetation yet the people used solar energy to grow a large vegetation in the world's 1st solar farm!!!

Why cant our politicians use their brains?

Pavore9:
Most of our politicians are in dire need of pyschiatric evaluation!

wink2015:
Governor Atiku Bagudu can afford to waste the money because he is not sweating to get allocation as the federal government dish out the oil money from the niger delta to the northern ruling class free of charge.

If he were to sweat through agriculture to raise money he will think twice.

mmsen:
Literacy for many parts of southern Nigeria was below 50% - the average is now well over 50%.

Infant mortality rates were far higher than they are now.

Nutrition was formerly an issue under British colonial rule - it is far less of a concern now.

Maternal mortality rates were far higher than previously. The number of doctors per patient has dropped from what is was previously.

There are lot more paved roads than there during the colonial era.

Average earnings are higher than they were during the colonial era.

In summary, whilst things seem bleak they have actually improved noticeably since independence. Some people have painted a rose tinted image of an era that was anything but.

And for all you people who keep quoting Lugard's foolish quote as if the man was wise - do you ever ask yourself why a man such as himself found himself in Nigeria and wasn't kept close to the British establishment in Westminster?

seguno2:


You can watch Britain's Who Wants to be a Millionaire and compare with the Nigerian version for some answers to your question.
Cheers.

mmsen:
That doesn't answer the question.

I've never watched either.