according to most southerners nothing ever good come from the north. they believed most northerners are illiterates and the one that are literates are dumb. but they forgot that one of the world widely acclaimed orator comes from the north in person of Alhaji maitama sule (Dan masanin Kano). he has a good command of english and he is very eloquent, even obama will study his speeches.

People keep making the mistake. Its not about eloquence or mastery of the English language. If you attended any good school,you will be eloquent. Its all about practice. Your innate intelligence is another matter entirely. Aminu kano,lamido sanusi, for instance, are truly intelligent people.

Has anyone here read the novel Balewa wrote before he became prime minister? Just wondering.

^what's the title? I will love to read it.
Waiting for your reply.

It's called Shaihu Umar: a novel.. I never read it (too busy). Just wondering if anyone else here has.

Okay, now, things are so bad for Nigeria, we have to rehash the life of Tafawa Balewa. With all our top-heavy Harvard men and women, we need to go back to Tafawa Balewa to find an intelligent Nigerian?

PHD leaders would never grantee Nigeria to be successful .

Having a good command of English is not even the case here. It is having the RIGHT frame of mind.

Buhari and Idiagbon the 2 best leaders in Nigeria history never got PhD

Abraham Lincon never did masters

I can keep going on and on.

Our so called PhD owners are just stealing us dry.

Nobody is looking for approval from arrogant southerners - least from frustrated nairaladers we see here and the dish washers and illegal immigrants in the west. I want no hypocritical patronage from these cannibals. They should call me "goro chewing Aboki cattle rearer " or anything worse if they like. It is good for one to know one's enemies.

Alhaji Tafawa Balewa is not just your average greedy and acrimonious politico.

He's a man of both integrity and utmost honor, well educated and intelligent to the extent that Obafemi Awolowo envied him to boot and made several attempts to assassinate him as revealed in Justice Sowemimo's court.

Enough of these legendary tales that's nothing but propaganda to prop we the Yorubas.

Samoo01:

Alhaji Tafawa Balewa is not just your average greedy and acrimonious politico.

He's a man of both integrity and utmost honor, well educated and intelligent to the extent that [b]Obafemi Awolowo envied him to boot and made several attempts to assassinate him as revealed in Justice Sowemimo's court.[/b]Enough of these legendary tales that's nothing but propaganda to prop we the Yorubas.

[size=16pt] [/size] abeg drop full gist instead of dropping appetizer and running away.

Samoo01:

Alhaji Tafawa Balewa is not just your average greedy and acrimonious politico.

He's a man of both integrity and utmost honor, well educated and intelligent to the extent that Obafemi Awolowo envied him to boot and made several attempts to assassinate him as revealed in Justice Sowemimo's court.

Enough of these legendary tales that's nothing but propaganda to prop we the Yorubas.

Abegi,no throw info around like dat witout backing it up wit evidence. Assassinate is a very dangerous word.

nagoma:

Nobody is looking for approval from arrogant southerners - least from frustrated nairaladers we see here and the dish washers and illegal immigrants in the west. I want no hypocritical patronage from these cannibals. They should call me "goro chewing Aboki cattle rearer " or anything worse if they like. It is good for one to know one's enemies.

Allah shiyimaka albarka It is better to be underrated than overrated, let them continue in their bigotry and inflated egos, time will come when aboki will really shine their eyes.

The problem Southerners had with Balewa was that he was seen as a puppet set by the British who wanted someone they could control when they reluctantly left Nigeria.  They couldnt have done that with a Zik, or Awolowo etc.  Southerners also felt Balewa was indirectly being controlled by the more powerful Sarduana of Sokoto, Ahmadu Bello who was the Northern premiere but had backing of the British as well as the Military which was Hausa-dominated (and still is). His death really was not necessary but unfortunately he was in the wrong position at the wrong time. As someone said on the thread, we really need to read up on our history. its very interesting.  See these links to see what led to the killing of Balewa and others which consequently led to the Civil War.   

http://www.kwenu.com/publications/siollun/1966_coup1.htm     

http://www.kwenu.com/publications/siollun/1966_coup2.htm

@mamazita

We all  know what the kwenu website will say but we know better.  The Igbo bloody coup of 15th January 1966 Was meant to remove all non Igbos violently. It was the first documented ethnic cleansing in Africa. Long before Rwanda.

@Nagoya Why not read it first before assuming? And FYI I am not Igbo. Im an objective Nigerian.

@Darui
It doesn't sound like you have any education yourself. Certainly not in the history of Nigeria. Please get hold of the book " a right honorable gentleman " -by Clark -you would know that Tarawa Balewa could not have done better in one lifetime. In education , which was his first call and in sincere nationalists politics and not the tribal money so called politics of today.

people make a mistake in thinking that anyone who can speak english is educated. Education is one thing, language is another thing. I have met a lot of southerners who can speak good english, and they have attended 6 yrs of primary school, 6 yrs of sec. school and 4 or 5 yrs in a university, but still illitrates!
For me, education is common sense. You have that, you are educated, if you dont, well...

.

zaboy: people make a mistake in thinking that anyone who can speak english is educated. Education is one thing, language is another thing. I have met a lot of southerners who can speak good english, and they have attended 6 yrs of primary school, 6 yrs of sec. school and 4 or 5 yrs in a university, but still illitrates!
For me, education is common sense. You have that, you are educated, if you dont, well...

And I have met many SOUTHERNERS who have a PhD but have no common sense , have no capacity for productive thinking, and can't articulate their speeches very well. GEJ is a good example of this type.

It is a silly act of ingratitude to remotely juxtapose the eruditions of Azikiwe with those of Balewa. There is a great difference between reading a prepared statements and writing intelligible essays.

Dede1: It is a silly act of ingratitude to remotely juxtapose the eruditions of Azikiwe with those of Balewa. There is a great difference between reading a prepared statements and writing intelligible essays.

Zik was special and we all respect his intellect and education but I can see that you are making assumptions by " reading prepared statement " comment. I strongly recommend the book " Right honorable Gentleman " you will enjoy reading it and you will have so much enlightenment about many issues around Balewa and even Zik. Clark was the author.in any case the thread was not a comparison thread between Zik and Balewa so don't derail it.it just said Balewa was intelligent.

Darui: He was indeed intelligent but with out the education he acquired in Britain,he would be another aristocratic fulani Emir.
I wonder why since he became enlightened,he couldn't cajole the people he was closest to,infact force them to go to school. Nigeria's problem would have greatly lessened.

Another display of ignorance Balewa was not Fulani.

nagoma:

Zik was special and we all respect his intellect and education but I can see that you are making assumptions by " reading prepared statement " comment. I strongly recommend the book " Right honorable Gentleman " you will enjoy reading it and you will have so much enlightenment about many issues around Balewa and even Zik. Clark was the author.in any case the thread was not a comparison thread between Zik and Balewa so don't derail it.it just said Balewa was intelligent.

I have read from masters of wordsmith such as Azikiwe. It will amount to waste of my time to read from Clark. I hope you meant JP Clark.

AjanleKoko: Okay, now, things are so bad for Nigeria, we have to rehash the life of Tafawa Balewa. With all our top-heavy Harvard men and women, we need to go back to Tafawa Balewa to find an intelligent Nigerian?

He was Nigeria's First Prime Minister!

Dede1:

I have read from masters of wordsmith such as Azikiwe. It will amount to waste of my time to read from Clark. I hope you meant JP Clark.

You have got problem with comprehension. What you read from the master didn't seem to have worked. Please read the sequence again.

Dede1:

I have read from masters of wordsmith such as Azikiwe. It will amount to waste of my time to read from Clark. I hope you meant JP Clark.

I think, he meant Trevor Clark.

nagoma:

You have got problem with comprehension. What you read from the master didn't seem to have worked. Please read the sequence again.

I guess you have problem with writing skills. Any fool could have been Clark including you. It is not my style to read craps on less unimportant subjects.

ganye1:
I think, he meant Trevor Clark.

Thanks for the info.

BizBooks:

I forgot that one. That was another popular legend. This legend has it that Balewa did not know the English tea etiquette and ended up drinking 42 cups at a conference in London before Zik came to his rescue.

Notice that in all these stories denigrating Tafawa Balewa, Zik is always the "Cultured Hero" that comes to the "rescue" of the "Illiterate Northern Beast".

I rest my case.

[color=#000099][/color]

lagerwhenindoubt:

[size=20pt]Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar![/size]

I have always known that Northerners are very intelligent. Eventhough it took me many years to dispell some of the stories i heard about them as a kid. For example, i said to my self, if these guys have the brain of a cow, how come they have been ruling u ever since, that means I have a lesser brain than the cow. I also reasoned that if these guys were dumb, how come they are able to exert such control on the Yorubas with all their profs.
In my class in the University, i had one northerner that i loved so much because the guy was practicaly a genius. He knew the answers to mathematical questions without writing anything down. I therefore concluded that, though most northerners dont go to school because of Islam, those that go to school are highly intelligent like geniuses.

@lagerwhenindoubt, that ur chanting up there is what Boko Haram chant just before they kill. Are u one?

Dede1 and his big grammar sha... Even when he tries to "soften" it, it still comes out booming like misdirected lightening and thunder.

I always read his posts in my best okoro accent. Lol