when you are in the village, chickens and goats roam about freely with no one stealing them to  cook, eat, or sell?

We all hear how there's supposedly a lot of 'hungry people' in Nigeria - yet this ancient custom remains totally unchallenged.

Could it be that there are ''two Nigerias''. Or even ''Two Africas''?

Two competing superstructures on the continent?

One, the Africa of the pre-colonial era, characterised by traditional moral codes strongly observed, and Two, the post-colonial Africa, in which foreign administrative structures have been super-imposed on indigenous systems, and have been unable to elicit the same social response?

roflmao!!!!!

Kobojunkie, for real, do you know what it means  to be identified in one's hometown as a thief?

To this day, in many villages the punishment is banishment, or some really effective form of ostracization.

Your entire family is shamed. Your offspring are marked for the next 7 generations.

Yet, for some reason, these high moral standards are not transmitted to our colonially inherited state apparati like councillorships, local govt, state houses of assembly, senate, the presidency and so on.

In these realms, an entirely different ethos takes hold.

A reversal almost.

Characterised by perfidy, graft, and general disrespect for the core tenets of the imported systems.

Back in one's village, one is seen as a SUCCESS if one can milk and abuse those systems to the benefit of one's family and community.

Interestingly enough, the recent Anambra elections were free of irregularities, and were hailed as the freest and fairest elections in Nigeria since the Abiola vote.

This near perfect election was largely attributed to the traditional oaths undertaken by all participants at the King of Onitsha's palace, before his traditional priests.

All contestants respected the oaths taken and acted accordingly as promised under oath.

Is the Nigerian and African problem REALLY that we are running away from who we are