Well even though those are the only Latin words i know, i still think It's a brilliant language.
And for your not knowing what the African National Congress(ANC) has in connection with MEND, they're both organisations whose roots has is base on fighting for a better deal for It's people. The ANC also bombed oil installations and were labelled as terrorists when the objects of their infernal desire started to feel the pinch.
Pls look for a movie titled "to catch a fire" which has as It's lead actor african american, Derick Luke(who starred as Serena's hobby in a video of the rapper, Common ,alongside Alicia Keys and Kerry Washington). Or you could just google the movie and read the synopsis.

edoyad:

Well even though those are the only Latin words i know, i still think It's a brilliant language.
And for your not knowing what the African National Congress(ANC) has in connection with MEND, they're both organisations whose roots has is base on fighting for a better deal for It's people. The ANC also bombed oil installations and were labelled as terrorists when the objects of their infernal desire started to feel the pinch.

The Tamil tigers, Al-Qaida, and many other small terrorist groups, can make the same claim but that does not in any way remove the fact that innocent lives are trampled in their bid to gain an upper hand and so the government doing all it can to annihilate MEND terror is welcome development. The government in this case is also fight for a better life for its people.

Any who, like I said earlier, rather than make this “world vs. us” deal, can we please stick to MEND and Nigeria here? I am not willing to go down the ANC road on this thread since I still do not see the connections you are making. This is MEND; this is Nigeria; We need to deal with this rather than trying to draw connections that are meaningless in this case.

edoyad:

Pls look for a movie titled "to catch a fire" which has as It's lead actor african american, Derick Luke(who starred as Serena's hobby in a video of the rapper, Common ,alongside Alicia Keys and Kerry Washington). Or you could just google the movie and read the synopsis.

I am not watching an American movie to explain my stance or understand someone’s stance on this Issue please. Let us stick to debating facts here that apply to our situation instead.

Well kobojunkie you can see where our problem lies. I on one hand, believe that you cannot extricate the MEND phenomenon from realities of life, you on thee other hand believe that the MEND saga is the first of It's kind under the sun.
Man will has fought, is fighting and will continue to fight what he perceives as injustice or oppression whether it comes in the form of Apartheid, Genocide, State oppression or what ever form of it he is confronted with.

edoyad:

Well kobojunkie you can see where our problem lies. I on one hand, believe that you cannot extricate the MEND phenomenon from realities of life, you on thee other hand believe that the MEND saga is the first of It's kind under the sun.

Dude, No need to start playing “TWIST @KOBOJUNKIE’s WORDS yet AGAIN”! I don’t believe MEND is the first of its kind, even in Nigeria. Neither have I made any attempts to remove the MEND trend from reality as you claim. I have simply urged that instead of creating FANTASTIC realities around MEND by trying to connect it with groups in other parts of the world and other times, we focus on dealing with what we have and that is just MEND and not ANC or Al-Qaida or the lot.

edoyad:

Man will has fought, is fighting and will continue to fight what he perceives as injustice or oppression whether it comes in the form of Apartheid, Genocide, State oppression or what ever form of it he is confronted with.

That is still no reason for continued oppression/terrorizing of the innocent by both those who claim to be FREEDOM FIGHTERS and those who are hired to govern them. These people already have one scourge to deal with and that is government. Introducing a terrorist group in the mix only makes it worse and not better for their lives.

Kobojunkie:

The Tamil tigers, Al-Qaida, and many other small terrorist groups, can make the same claim but that does not in any way remove the fact that innocent lives are trampled in their bid to gain an upper hand and[b] so the government doing all it can to annihilate MEND terror is welcome development. The government in this case is also fight for a better life for its people. [/b]

Any who, like I said earlier, rather than make this “world vs. us” deal, can we please stick to MEND and Nigeria here? I am not willing to go down the ANC road on this thread since I still do not see the connections you are making. This is MEND; this is Nigeria; We need to deal with this rather than trying to draw connections that are meaningless in this case.

I quote Henry Okah who says the people in these camps are not genuine. These are the same people that the government you are lionising are paying N65,000 per month. This joke amnesty is your definition of a better life for the people?

The intrinsic character of the Niger Deltan is not to suffer oppression in silence, from Benin to Calabar our history is replete with heroes who have fought the powers of imperialism, colonialism and injustice. And funnily enough they . . .
Oba Ovoramwhen of Benin
Ovie Oghwe of Agbarha-Otor
Jaja of Opobo
Nana Olomu of Itsekiri
The tax rioters of 1927 in Warri that spread to Aba in 1929
The people of Odi
Ken Saro Wiwa
Adaka Boro
were despised and called terrorists by your ilk.  Continue your name calling but we all know what you are and what you stand for.

Whilst you and your prayer warriors continue your long grammar, hand wringing and dry fasting - Our people continue to pursue a noble cause with direct action.

SapeleGuy:

I quote Henry Okah who says the people in these camps are not genuine. These are the same people that the government you are lionising are paying N65,000 per month. This joke amnesty is your definition of a better life for the people?

Ok!! And you are here lionizing freedom fighters who are willing to accept payment of N65,000 a month from the very same government they claim to be fighting against?

SapeleGuy:

The intrinsic character of the Niger Deltan is not to suffer oppression in silence, from Benin to Calabar our history is replete with heroes who have fought the powers of imperialism, colonialism and injustice. And funnily enough they . . .
Oba Ovoramwhen of Benin
Ovie Oghwe of Agbarha-Otor
Jaja of Opobo
Nana Olomu of Itsekiri
The tax rioters of 1927 in Warri that spread to Aba in 1929
The people of Odi
Ken Saro Wiwa
Adaka Boro
were despised and called terrorists by your ilk. Continue your name calling but we all know what you are and what you stand for.

Whilst you and your prayer warriors continue your long grammer, hand wringing and dry fasting - Our people continue to pursue a noble cause with direct action.

Look . . . . I know you enjoy turning every single argument there that questions your reasoning into another “US vs THEM” argument but the fact is this, MEND, according the dictionary definition is a terrorist group. No matter what you want to term them, they are overall a terrorist group. It is well known fact that we have a disgrace for government but that does not in itself excuse any group from taking its self to decide the fate of the few.

We saw how the whole country united to have Boko Haram shut down only a couple of months ago. Do not be surprised that many also feel the same way of your beloved MEND.

The people in the camps are not freedom fighters. You can't fight for freedom sitting in a camp waiting for allowances.

You are wrong, whether people support MEND is not the issue (although they do). Majority of Nigerians from all regions are against the injustice that has seen nearly $500 billion from oil revenue only benefit the people that you indirectly support.

SapeleGuy:

The people in the camps are not freedom fighters. You can't fight for freedom sitting in a camp waiting for allowances.

MEND is no longer to be considered freedom fighters, claiming to fight on the behalf of the ND people?

SapeleGuy:

You are wrong, whether people support MEND is not the issue (although they do). Majority of Nigerians from all regions are against the injustice that has seen nearly $500 billion from oil revenue only benefit the people that you indirectly support.

Slowpoke!! I do not support anyone. That I condemn MEND does not mean I support an inept and corrupt government I spend more of my time on here condemning. Again, please STOP trying to turn this into yet another “US vs THEM” thread. Focus on making your point, whatever it is.

Majority of Nigerians are against injustice but that DOES NOT MEAN in any way that we will support any terrorist groups that rears its head. We have government to deal with and that is enough problems. MEND is not a Nigerian group,  we already know now what the group is made of since they were willing to accept monthly pocket money from the same government they claim to be against. I believe more Nigerians at this point are tired of people coming out of the woodworks, with different tactics, all to get their hands on the loot.

Sorry for the Interlude everyone
Kobojunkie this is why i said this issue cannot be extricated from man's ageless struggle with injustice. Whoever told you MEND are fighting against the Nigerian govt ? Their struggle is definitely against the structures that have been put in place by a malficent few to ensure that their kitties are perpetually reimbursed by the blood of common Nigerians- in this case the ND people.
I've giving you a clear example of the African National Congress that was labelled a terrorist group and Nelson Mandela who till this day is considered a terrorist by the US govt but you still insist on branding MEND as evil cos of the nomenclature certain parties have branded them under ? Well if being a terrorist is what is takes then so be it.

Some people are not able to lose an argument.

edoyad:

Sorry for the Interlude everyone
Kobojunkie this is why i said this issue cannot be extricated from man's ageless struggle with injustice.

Saying this over and over is NOT going to excuse any of what you have said of MEND so far. So,  put it aside and focus on making whatever point it is that  you have been trying to make for hours now.

edoyad:
Whoever told you MEND are fighting against the Nigerian govt ? Their struggle is definitely against the structures that have been put in place by a malficent few to ensure that their kitties are perpetually reimbursed by the blood of common Nigerians- in this case the ND people.

. . . .  in otherwords the Nigerian government. Simple! Do you have to try every means to produce something complex from something so simple?

edoyad:

I've giving you a clear example of the African National Congress that was labelled a terrorist group and Nelson Mandela who till this day is considered a terrorist by the US govt but you still insist on branding MEND as evil cos of the nomenclature certain parties have branded them under ? Well if being a terrorist is what is takes then so be it.

I don’t care about ANC as I have said over and over now that this has Nothing to do with ANC or the cause they were fighting. This is MEND a group in Nigerian claiming to fight Nigerian structure to claim justice for the ND people, simple!

MEND according to dictionary definitions is a terrorist group and a menace to the innocent in the area who are content with dealing with their local/State/Federal government issues without injection of violence, and they are certainly a menace to those who have lost a lot in all this, and this is at all levels ( both legal and illegally).

Kobojunkie na oyibo, looking for relevance in Nigeria (a clown that claims Andoakaa is from the ND ).

Kobojunkie:

I don’t care about ANC as I have said over and over now that this has Nothing to do with ANC or the cause they were fighting. This is MEND a group in Nigerian claiming to fight Nigerian structure to claim justice for the ND people, simple!

MEND according to dictionary definitions is a terrorist group and a menace to the innocent in the area who are content with dealing with their local/State/Federal government issues without injection of violence, and they are certainly a menace to those who have lost a lot in all this, and this is at all levels ( both legal and illegally).

If you believe the injustice of the Niger Delta / Nigeria is worth rectifying then the end justifies the means - legal or illegal. To acknowledge the ANC in this argument destroys your position. Power is not given, it has to be taken.

Kobojunkie:

@edoyad ,Please do not resort to ATTACKING MY PERSON NEXT as that seems the way many on here choose to WIN at ALL COST!!

It's christmas eve, we give you amnesty provided you don't 'rolflmao' in that case hostilities may resume shortly.

SapeleGuy:

If you believe the injustice of the Niger Delta / Nigeria is worth rectifying then the end justifies the means - legal or illegal. To acknowledge the ANC in this argument destroys your position. Power is not given, it has to be taken.

No, it does not. If we used that there, then BokoHaram should have gotten the same treatment MEND has, from the government. ANC existed in South Africa and if you note, the government FOUGHT against these people, an action well within the laws of the land. Many of them served prison sentences and many died in prison, for breaking the law.
Your acknowledging ANC should also mean you accept that the government is justified in its fight against the menace called MEND, and so I see no reason for this back and forth. Like you said, power is not given, it has to be taken and if Government is willing to take it back, then we are all good, right?

SapeleGuy:

It's christmas eve, we give you amnesty provided you don't 'rolflmao' in that case hostilities may resume shortly.

Roflmao!!! I think it is shameful that grown up individuals resort of name calling and personal attacks when they run out of ideas and words. Xmas of not! Feel free to shovel the hostilities, does not affect me and I continue to debate as I choose, Just hoped you knew how small minded it makes you look!

Kobojunkie:

No, it does not. If we used that there, then BokoHaram should have gotten the same treatment MEND has, from the government. ANC existed in South Africa and if you note, the government FOUGHT against these people, an action well within the laws of the land. Many of them served prison sentences and many died in prison, for breaking the law.
Your acknowledging ANC should also mean you accept that the government is justified in its fight against the menace called MEND, and so I see no reason for this back and forth. Like you said, power is not given, it has to be taken and if Government is willing to take it back, then we are all good, right?
Roflmao!!! I think it is shameful that grown up individuals resort of name calling and personal attacks when they run out of ideas and words. Xmas of not! Feel free to shovel the hostilities, does not affect me and I continue to debate as I choose, Just hoped you knew how small minded it makes you look!

I thought you said your not female?

Kobojunkie:

No, it does not. If we used that there, then BokoHaram should have gotten the same treatment MEND has, from the government. ANC existed in South Africa and if you note, the government FOUGHT against these people, an action well within the laws of the land. Many of them served prison sentences and many died in prison, for breaking the law. 
Your acknowledging ANC should also mean you accept that the government is justified in its fight against the menace called MEND, and so I see no reason for this back and forth. Like you said, power is not given, it has to be taken and if Government is willing to take it back, then we are all good, right?
Roflmao!!! I think it is shameful that grown up individuals resort of name calling and personal attacks when they run out of ideas and words. Xmas of not! Feel free to shovel the hostilities, does not affect me and I continue to debate as I choose, Just hoped you knew how small minded it makes you look!

Boko Haram was manufactured by the govt and killed by the govt when they had outlived their usefulness. That is why they are different from the Niger Delta struggle.

Lighten up, I think you have overeacted here, as I said on another thread- I don't hold grudges. Nobody has called you names despite your subconscious invitation to do so. If we look through this thread it is you who has called people names.

SapeleGuy:

Boko Haram was manufactured by the govt and killed by the govt when they had outlived their usefulness. That is why they are different from the Niger Delta struggle.

The Niger Delta struggle I can understand.
What I seem not to understand is the instrument of the struggle----MEND.

Can U honestly draw parallels between the actions/activities of ANC during the apartheid era and the activities of MEND now? I am having trouble picking up the similarities , especially in their modus operandi.

May be some people should read the origin of states as propounded by such masters as John Locke and Thomas Hobbes to get an understanding why we even submit to govt in the first place.
When communism started to put forth It's extremist head in Europe in reaction to inhuman conditions that the common was facing, i believe it became a death sentence for one to be labelled as "communist". Now they coined a new word for the new extremists reacting to the inhuman sufferings of my citizens, TERRORIST . They always have to label any voice in opposition as terrorists . While i frown on extremism in all It's forms, i believe it is a "reaction" to something and not the cause of itself. That something definitely is "injustice"

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in "The Communist Manifesto".
Page 1, paragraph two
Where is the party in opposition that has not been decried as communistic by It's opponents in power ?

SapeleGuy:

Boko Haram was manufactured by the govt and killed by the govt when they had outlived their usefulness. That is why they are different from the Niger Delta struggle.

That to me is a very convenient way of arguing that ND is not in the same league as terrorist groups like BokoHaram when we both know that is not true. For one both are fighting for power and control of resources ( be it oil, masses etc).

SapeleGuy:

Lighten up, I think you have overeacted here, as I said on another thread- I don't hold grudges. Nobody has called you names despite your ssubconsciousinvitation to do so. If we look through this thread it is you who has called people names.

I am not speaking of holding of grudges. I am simply speaking of people resorting to insult others for simply having a different view. I notice we complain of how this section has, in recent years gone to the dogs, but then when people who complain are themselves some of the dogs, I wonder if they know it.

I have called NO one any name that does not deserve it (you usually have to call me names for a while before I lose it and descend to your level). I stay away from it because I know it makes me look as small as the one I insult back.  I am not just speaking of this thread but all threads, all posts on nairaland and beyond!

Kobojunkie:

That to me is a very convenient way of saying ND is not like BokoHaram when we both know that is not true.

Which natural resource did the Boko Haram people have that they were fighting for control of?

ezeagu:

Which natural resource did the Boko Haram people have that they were fighting for control of?

LOL - Haven't you heard of that most valuable commodity called sharia law?

edoyad:

May be some people should read the origin of states as propounded by such masters as John Locke and Thomas Hobbes to get an understanding why we even submit to govt in the first place.

I don’t believe one needs to read a book to understand why we submit to government in the first place. I don’t. I would watch anyone who feels he/she has to do that.

edoyad:

When communism started to put forth It's extremist head in Europe in reaction to inhuman conditions that the common was facing, i believe it became a death sentence for one to be labelled as "communist". Now they coined a new word for the new extremists reacting to the inhuman sufferings of my citizens, TERRORIST . They always have to label any voice in opposition as terrorists . While i frown on extremism in all It's forms, i believe it is a "reaction" to something and not the cause of itself. That something definitely is "injustice"  
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in "The Communist Manifesto".
Page 1, paragraph two
Where is the party in opposition that has not been decried as communistic by It's opponents in power ?

Please focus on the topic rather than continue to distract us every now and then with this. We are on the issue of MEND attacking, after accepting a monthly stipend from the same government it initially claimed it was against. What is the point of this fight? When it already showed it was willing to compromise it’s supposed ideals?

@Uche2nna , if you know anything about the liberation struggle in SA by the ANC you'd know they bombed govt installations too back in the day. Like i told kj, just google and read the synopsis of the movie titled "to catch a fire" , a true story to get an idea of what the ANC was like back then and tell me how different they are from MEND.

Uche2nna:

The Niger Delta struggle I can understand.
What I seem not to understand is the instrument of the struggle----MEND.

Can U honestly draw parallels between the actions/activities of ANC during the apartheid era and the activities of MEND now? I am having trouble picking up the similarities , especially in their modus operandi.

Read the ANC activities in Angola and you will discover some things about their modus operandi

Kobojunkie you make me laugh . This supposed distractions of mine are the very motivating factors that drive the struggle.
And as for the creek boys accepting 65k in return for their ideals, i believe the joke is on the govt if after spending money on them the bombings still continue. But other than that, i believe Yaradua to be a man of his word from the little i know of him. If he makes good on his promise to bring what is deservedly theirs to the ND then would we say MEND fought in vain ? If they refuse to make good on their word and continue to deprive Nigerians of what is theirs then i can bet my life on not only the resurgence of MEND but the emergence ME Middle Belt, M E Eastern Nigeria, M E Yoruba Nation etc.

edoyad:

@Uche2nna , if you know anything about the liberation struggle  i[b]n SA by the ANC you'd know they bombed govt installations too back in the day[/b]. Like i told kj, just google and read the synopsis of the movie titled "to catch a fire" , a true story to get an idea of what the ANC was like back then and tell me how different they are from MEND.

I understand that very well. But dont u think that U are being unfair by just stating that the ANC bombed govt installations without adequately putting that into context. The ANC was not all about militancy, it was something more than that. The militancy was just a component of it, which not even everybody in the ANC supported. JT Gumede, a one time president of the ANC,  was actually voted out of office for advocating active opposition.

Add to the fact that PEOPLE actually came together (representatives of workers union, tribal chiefs, heads of religious bodies etc) and formed the union, conducted an election into various offices and set up a structure makes me think that MEND and ANC are , at least not yet, on the same page.

Why u keep asking me to read the synopsis of a movie to understand the workings of the ANC beats me There are better sources than that.

edoyad:

Kobojunkie you make me laugh . This supposed distractions of mine are the very motivating factors that drive the struggle.

No they are not. In fact I sense they are born out of an assumption that you are discussing this issue with uneducated beings. That is not the case. If you would look in the nairaland archives, we have debated the ANC/Mandela on terrorist list issue at length. So I see no reason why we need to go into that yet again. I would not accept what you are trying to do if I was debating an Al-Qaida supporter or a Tamil Tiger loyalist and I certainly will not accept it in your case either.

edoyad:

And as for the creek boys accepting 65k in return for their ideals, i believe the joke is on the govt if after spending money on them the bombings still continue.

I disagree!! I believe the minute they introduced that into the compromise, they killed off whatever it was they initially claimed they stood for.

edoyad:

But other than that, i believe Yaradua to be a man of his word from the little i know of him. If he makes good on his promise to bring what is deservedly theirs to the ND then would we say MEND fought in vain ? If they refuse to make good on their word and continue to deprive Nigerians of what is theirs then i can bet my life on not only the resurgence of MEND but the emergence ME Middle Belt, M E Eastern Nigeria, M E Yoruba Nation etc.

Lol  . . .  Yar adua a man of his word? Roflmao!!!

Any who, the payoffs already started going on, as that was reported last month. The ND fight was never really about MEND. As much as I hate  this government for making the deal it did with this men, I believe it was simply a case of one side trying to quiet the other so it can continue what it has always done, nothing for the people.


That more groups will rise does not mean the groups will be justified in their actions.

I ask you to read the synopsis of that movie to know that the ANC did not only have a political wing, but a military and youth wing as well with each one tasked with different responsibilities. In that movie you'll see an attemp to blow up a refinery, an act which even MEND i'm sure would consider extreme as a result of the wider consequences on the common Nigerian. I think their careful selection of targets that do harm to govt revenue and not the common speaks volumes of their
approach.
And as for you saying state govts receive millions from the FG, why don't you try explaining that to the fisherman who can't fish anymore cos of oil contaminated waters or can't sleep anymore cos of sick children. All he knows is that the govt in collusion with foreign oil companies come, extract and destroy his environment. Do the people who pay the state govt those millions not have a responsibility to make sure the state govts use those funds judiciously ?

edoyad:

I ask you to read the synopsis of that movie to know that the ANC did not only have a political wing, but a military and youth wing as well with each one tasked with different responsibilities. In that movie you'll see an attemp to blow up a refinery, an act which even MEND i'm sure would consider extreme as a result of the wider consequences on the common Nigerian. I think their careful selection of targets that do harm to govt revenue and not the common speaks volumes of their approach.

But, doesn’t the fact that Mandela is still on the TERRORISTS give you a hint to this? SigH!!!

That the ANC did carry out terrorists acts and many were convicted for this act, by the way, is no reason why we should look the other way while MEND does the same in the name of “Freedom Fighting in Nigeria”.

edoyad:

And as for you saying state govts receive millions from the FG, why don't you try explaining that to the fisherman who can't fish anymore cos of oil contaminated waters or can't sleep anymore cos of sick children.

But, if their local government receives millions in allocations and bonus pay each month meant for them ( this is government elected to represent them on the national level by the way), isn’t it up to the fishermen and women to demand their local governments pay them attention then?

edoyad:

All he knows is that the govt in collusion with foreign oil companies come, extract and destroy his environment. Do the people who pay the state govt those millions not have a responsibility to make sure the state govts use those funds judiciously ?

They do, but the people ought to attack the state government and local governments FIRST. Why allow those continue to sit right in front of you, milking you, while you go off to some far away land to attack someone who already gave out money for your welfare to those whom you elected to receive it on your behalf?

In line with the 13% derivation agreement and in addition to the gross statutory allocation

Bayelsa received 1,250,877,078 (Nov 2009)
Delta 2,637,633,662
Akwa IBOM 3,029,655,203
Rivers 2,744,340,457

In addition to their other activities , MEND should also be asking serious questions on how these were spend by the respective state govt every month.

Uche2nna:

I understand that very well. But dont u think that U are being unfair by just stating that the ANC bombed govt installations without adequately putting that into context. The ANC was not all about militancy, it was something more than that. The militancy was just a component of it, which not even everybody in the ANC supported. JT Gumede, a one time president of the ANC,  was actually voted out of office for advocating active opposition.

Add to the fact that PEOPLE actually came together (representatives of workers union, tribal chiefs, heads of religious bodies etc) and formed the union, conducted an election into various offices and set up a structure makes me think that MEND and ANC are , at least not yet, on the same page.

Why u keep asking me to read the synopsis of a movie to understand the workings of the ANC beats me There are better sources than that.

It might surprise you that Nelson Mandela, both made and deployed bombs. He also used firearms (a revolver). And don't think anyone forced him to do so, because he was the head of Mkotho We Sizwe, the armed wing of the ANC; that is why he was labelled a terrorist by enemy nations and the apartheid govt.
If you scour the internet, you will find Mandela's own quotes about firearms and bombs.

Power is not begged for or protested for, it is siezed.

Uche2nna:

In line with the 13% derivation agreement and in addition to the gross statutory allocation

Bayelsa received  1,250,877,078 (Nov 2009)
Delta                   2,637,633,662
Akwa IBOM         3,029,655,203
Rivers                 2,744,340,457 

In addition to their other activities , MEND should also be asking serious questions on how these were spend by the respective state govt every month.

Forget about asking governors questions, what happened to Ibori in the [b]Federal [/b]court in Asaba? If the FG can't deal with Ibori, why ask common folk to deal with him. The problem is the FG, solve it at that level and it will resolve itself at state level.