₦airaland Forum

TayserMahiri:
I just wanna visit Edo and see for myself I thought the photo by Nowenuse was Photoshop?

I hope you don't catch a curse or something.
save your self abeg

fanficgirl:
Osinbjo is ten times more qualified than that dishonest idiot . I don't think its ironic, everything he said during his campaign was lies, from his net wealth to promises. How can you care for his health? I hope he's dead before he ruins Nigeria again.

that's a bit much. I don't wish anything on him. I just think he should step down if he's honestly too ill to run the country. Your health is more important. Yeah Osinbajo's economic policies are much better. The naira has risen and the recession has eased a bit.

fanficgirl:
That's how you know there is still a God in Naija all these dictators with mysterious illnesses

I think it's a bit ironic since he campaigned against medical tourism during the election. Change begins with who again? He couldn't even do a common check up in Nigeria while millions of dollars was budheted by renovating Aso rock clinic. Although I don't entirely blame him if he goes abroad, his health is important. That's why I am so indifferent about naija politics. On the brighter side, I'm happy for the Chibok negotiations and Osinbajo seems to be taken good care of things.

TayserMahiri:
What is he suffering from?

some mystery illness they don't want to tell us about. Welcome to Nigeria
When Yar'adua was president, that's exactly what happened until they later told the public he was suffering from kidney illness before he passed away.

@fanficgirl haha

Jay254:
Nigeria has grt potential but is still sleeping... the biggest attraction in Egypt are the pyramids...not the beach,cities or Animals.

Years ago tourists used to flock to Kano for the durbar festival and Yankari national park. Nigeria used to lend money to South Korea and Singapore in the 60s, look at where they've come now.

Everything is about oil now. If Nigeria loosens its dependency, then its potential can be realized.

Jay254:
Nigeria should also work on improving tourism to the country. Attractions differ from country to country.. Beaches, Wildlife, Artfacts, History... I believe so many ppl would visit places like Kano just to see and learn of the ancient times calabar can also be abig hit but they should add more activities and adventure.

At times I feel pitty to ppl like Forgiveness who will take tourist from Europe to see places Victoria Island.. seriously when someone is from more adversed countries Infrastructure is the last thing he is interested in unless they are investors...

Last but not least Nigeria should invest in great and unique accomodations.

I couldn't agree more.
Nigeria needs to recognize its tourism potential especially with the instability in oil prices. Tourism used to be a big industry in Nigeria until oil. Many of Nigeria's tourist sites are not properly maintained.

In terms if history, Nigeria has a lot to offer. There are many sites in Nigeria that are either recognized by UNESCO or are listed for consideration.

The kano medieval old city with its tubali architecture and walls.
There is also the medieval Benin walls, largest earthworks in the world.
Sungbo eredo fortress- the second largest earthworks after Benin's walls dating as back as 800 Ad (needs more exploration)
waziri Junaidu museum- hosting historical artifacts from the Sokoto region as far back as the 4th century BCE including terracotta, manuscripts, and swords.
Ile-ife
Osun-osogbo- an ancient grove containing the ruins of Osogbo as well as hosting an annual spiritual pilgrimage.
Sukurr- containing ruins of 700 year old ruins.
Esie- hosting the largest collection of soapstone carvings in the world from the 11th century
Ikom monoliths- series of monoliths dating up to 2000 years ago containing the ancient Nsibidi writings.
Badagry- A slave port with many colonial relics and also amazing beaches.

in terms if culture, Nigeria has so many cultural relics and traditions as well as hundreds of cultural festivities celebrated by its various ethnic communities.
Some best known example are
egungun festivals, eyo, argungu, new yam, carnival, durbar, etc.

many natural sites that could benefit from revitalization and tourism
Yankari, Okomu, Kanji, Gashaka Gumpti, Afi mountains, Obudu, Jos, Old Oyo, Cross river, Mambilla plateau, Lake Chad park, not to mention hundreds if km of coastal area for beach tourism.

chkil0:
what ?? agnostic belief that there is a big power rulling the univers but not the gods of actual religions , atheist they belief only what they see, measure and exist

not necessarily, there are actually two schools of thought on agnosticism (atheist agnosticism and theist agnosticism). The definition you gave is very close to that of theist agnotisticism.
There is a difference between atheist agnotistics and atheists. Atheists do make judgment based on what they see, and that judgment is that there is no God. Atheist agnostics can't make that judgment.

Kenyanstar:
It looks like your planned cities are not planned at all..... how can a city lack free public amenities... The top notch hospitals you are saying are most probably private hospitals which are majorly out of reach for the common citizen. In Mombasa there are also specialist hospitals but the public ones are majority best.

MOMBASA VISAL OSHWAL PUBLIC PRIMARY SCHOOL
1. Free education offered to all students
2. Free laptops & tabs to all pupils
3. Free books & learning materials to all students
4. All co-carricular sports amenities provided free by National Government.

where did you get your assumption from? They are public hospitals built by the government of Mimiko's administration.

TayserMahiri:
Believing.... Not believing is another thing altogether. It is the precise opposite of anything to do with believing. However, if the atheists gathered in someplace like a church or something to worship their lack of belief, maybe they can become a cult and eventually a religion.

true, but
Atheist have a strong belief that there is no God. Atheism is not a religion but it's a definite belief that no supreme power exists. You are confirmed in this belief even though you don't know if that supreme power exist or not just like religious people.

Agnostics don't have a religion nor a belief. Atheists have a belief but not a religion. Religious people have both.

TayserMahiri:
With this logic, believing in anything becomes a religion. Even believing that it will rain tonight.

But....religion deals with believing in God or supreme being.
That's the major criterion for religion.
rain is not God...

MtuMsuper:
Do Nigerians have a public health insurance scheme?

yes, I don't think it's popular though.

DonnieTheGreat:
Yes my point exactly.Being atheist is very hard in Africa. Also you are quite correct. Wole soyinka is a traditionalist.

Even,
I beg to differ that there is no such thing as atheism.

Atheism is defined as:
"disbelief or lack of belief in the existence of God or gods"

Religion is defined as:
"the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods"


Notice that BELIEVE is the underlying factor here and religion is defined by belief.
Hence,
An atheist is a religious person because he/she [b]Believes in the non existence of God.....So Atheism is also a type of religion.
[/b]

I agree. Either way, you are making a judgment. I think agnosticism is really not making any judgment because you don't know so you can't belief or disbelief.

Kenyanstar:
Am waiting to see PH public hospital if any.... i cant wait for the disaster to happen

Mombasa public hospital

I don't know about PH. Ondo state alone has so many top notch specialist hospitals. The past governor really tried.

I've always thought Arochukwu was Igbo.
why aren't they in Akwa Ibom? Maybe they view themselves as Igbo.

DonnieTheGreat:
Bro, Wole Soyinka is an atheist. He has a Noble Prize award. But he his an outlier. Am not saying its impossible.

But considering the various difficulties an average African child has to face. You need some sort of support mechanism(Religion) to cope with the stress.

All Civilizations start with Religion. Because religion helps you cope with stress. There is a reason more than 2/3 of the world's population is religious. its not being a sissy, its just being a history buff. (If you need examples i would gladly oblige)

Wole Soyinka embraces African traditional religions. Personally, I think being an atheist creates a sense of emptiness because you have nothing to fall back on. I've noticed that a lot of African atheists tend to fall back on traditional beliefs. They are more appreciative of the traditional beliefs. I think religious people need to learn to not judge traditional adherents so heavily.

I think being an atheist is tough in Africa. There is a lot of stigma that many people have to be quiet about it and you are surrounded by constant evangelism.

It's called Stockholm Syndrome, where the victim gains the trust and sympathy of the captor. It's a psychological condition that develops overtime after kidnapping.

Nowenuse:
Apart from Southern Kaduna and Southern Kebbi minority groups, North-central includes all the Northern minorities.
North-east is a minority region too, just that they are 2/3 muslims and Hausa-fulanis know how to use islam as a rallying point.

Yes that includes them too.
Some people consider Bauchi and Gombe as Hausa states even though the majority of the people are just Hausa-speaking minority ethnic groups. It's sad that many of the indigenous languages is only being spoken by the elders and not spoken by the young people anymore. Even though Hausa is a good medium for communication, many young people are not learning the native language as their first language anymore and have switched to only learning just Hausa the same way many young people in the South are loosing their native tongues to Pidgin. I think Nigeria needs to promote these languages and encourage speakers of them. More than 25% of the languages spoken in Africa are in Nigeria or 7% of the total world's total language. Nigeria is the third most linguistically diverse nation in the world and it would be a shame to see many of the languages disappear. The sad reality is that many of these languages are very vulnerable due to the few number of speakers but also the high rate of urbanism, so it's all a matter of time.

Nowenuse:
Many Southern Nigerians enjoy insulting and mocking Northern Nigerians because they are ignorant and don't understand that the cultures and terrain of the North are not the same with the south.

See the way most southern Nigerians have abandoned farming and have all migrated to the cities to form posh and civilized. If all Northerners behaved that way, i swear, Nigerians would starve.
Northern Nigeria is still the reason why Nigeria is not importing tomatoes, Onions, Potatoes, Beans, Groundnut, Carrots, Cucumbers and many other foodstuffs.
The pressure on northerners is now becoming too much, and many have started leaving farming to the cities too. Nigerian govt must act fast and do something about this, if not, the kind of food scarcity, starvation and food importation that will hit Nigeria will be terrible.

Am i saying the truth or not?
@Maduawuchukwu, 9jakool, freshest4live, forgiveness, uzzyfire, iblawi, shervydman, shaytun, Obi1kenobi

I don't blame Northerners necessarily. It's not good to generalize the North as Islamist backwards because there are hundreds of ethnic groups from various religious background. There are Yorubas living in the North, Tiv, Idoma, Igala, Nupe, Gbagyi, Berom,Kamwe,Tyap etc not just Hausa or Fulani. I would love for the minority in the North to have a distinct region of their own. The North central is good, but it's not entirely inclusive of all minorities. Hausa people are not bad nor Fulani, even though there are some who partake in violence. It's not good to paint the people with a broad brush. I think if there is better regionalism, the distrust could lessen.

Maduawuchukwu:
Do you mind the guy? So many organisations who do not have solid ground in Nigeria just report whatever they are told by people they interview so that they can just write something. If one wants the truth first visit Nigeria and then consult agencies on ground in Nigeria not groups that have no grounding here.

I agree. That's why their ridiculous claims are contradicting each other.

mtis:
dont trust much of what you get in the internet..e.g i dont believe people can survive on $0.05 per day

Ok

mtis:
So you agree on this report then

Sharp fall in price of oil in the international market, leading to a recession was also identified for the rise Nigeria stunted growth of the economy and a rise in poverty level of an average citizen, who now lives on $.05 per day from $1.1 in the past five years.
Other countries in the same parity with Nigeria before now, were growing from $2.2 per day to about $3.
The unemployment level was also cited for the bad situation that the country has found itself, as the report adds that more than 55 per cent youths are either unemployed or underemployed.
https://www.ripplesnigeria.com/nigerias-poverty-level-index-hits-72-2016-fitch-reports/

What is your diabolical game? What are you trying to prove?

vaxx:
well i think the issue with the haus a is much about ethnic than religion. so many hausa youth are going to school now unlike before but they still keep to their culture which is not islamic.

civilization help yoruba a lot. yoruba welcome all faith and even adppt the practise into their traditional belive. churches like cele and cheribum have a blended of traditional religion and christanity.

even islam is blended with traditional faith. it is not uncommon for you to see yoruba muslim still practise local worships to osun ,ogun and ifa in towns like oshogbo ,ibadan , egba in ogun state .

i also think usman dan foldio system of islamization is the product of what is happening now in the north.the approach was very radical

I agree with you 100%.

Maduawuchukwu:
So that 500billion dollars oil block lie has been debunked. You can go an check it on twitter. There is no oil well in the entire universe that is worth even a significant fraction of that amount. When China wanted to buy most of the oil blocks formerly operated by the European IOC's they offered 60billion dollars. So hw can Malabu be 500b illion dollars? I am not sure Shell capitalization is that much.

I'm not aware if its debunked or not that is why I said allegedly, anyways back to the matter.

Hbuyosh:
Get your fact right dude........Kenyans migrating where? Evidence?

I am not insecure to admit anything. I have acknowledged Nigeria's problems and I've laid them down in full details. Because I briefly mentioned Kenya in my explanation saying that the problem is universal across Africa, you are jumping on my back. Sorry to say, but many Africans like to appear great while at the same time we are not ready to come to terms with reality.

It seems you don't know, but let me reiterate it out for you. I first encountered this story 3-4 years ago after hearing the story of a Kenyan woman who was tricked, trafficked and escaped after years of abuse in Saudi Arabia. Disadvantaged Kenyans, especially those who are unemployed or in the rural areas are given contracts to work in gulf states and countries like Saudi Arabia. Many of them jump to the opportunity, but soon realized that the reality is not what it seems on the ground. Upon entering their job in Saudia Arabia, their documents are confiscated and they became enslaved receiving no pay. They become trapped working as maids in villas of rich people with many facing abuse and threats. Human trafficking is a universal problem.

Kenya is planning as we speak to amend a law to protect victims of human trafficking, which is a move in the right direction.

"Domestic workers in the Gulf have traditionally come from Asia but the number of African migrants is increasing, driven by the lack of opportunities at home, experts say."

"In Kenya, only 6.25 percent of those entering the job market each year find formal employment, according to the World Bank."

"One Kenyan woman interviewed by the Thomson Reuters Foundation spent two months in a Saudi deportation center after complaining about not getting paid."

"Saudi Arabia has for years been a destination country for many Kenyan women lured by the promise of well-paid work and a chance to escape joblessness at home only to discover abuse in the hands of employers."

Here see for yourself.
http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2017/04/21/kenya-to-amend-law-to-protect-human-trafficking-victims_c1547679

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-rights-domesticworkers-kenya-idUSKBN0OC02K20150527

MtuMsuper:
Would have loved to know where those stats are from, though. But seriously, there is a serial lack of opportunity amongst the 18-35 age group. How else would you explain this national obsession to simply get out.and go anywhere but home? Those crossing the Sahara and Mediterranean are the more extreme examples, but even so, their numbers just seem never to run dry!
The Abachas and other dictators i admit set nigeria back decades. I had a nigerian professor at university who was a good personal friend of mine who told me of the desperate conditions most academics in Nigeria were in then and the sheer madness of Abacha was a wonder to behold in both extent and depravity. Obasanjo really tried his best, but from my vantage point, it seems the problem lies in a lack of coordinated approach to getting things right. Nigerians were too hard on GEJ and from my observations, he was just a victim of regional machinations. YarAdua was lukewarm and staid, i cant really put a finger on any of his major achievements, unless you tell me. I personally would rather live in a place that gets 75% of things right than where almost nothing works.

I got my stats from the 2004-2014 report by United Nation's Multi-Dimensional Poverty Index and the Institut français de recherche en Afrique.

Yes Nigeria has an unemployment/underemployment problem to tackle with. There are so many brilliant young Nigerians who've graduated from college but are having trouble finding jobs. Some have the deep drive to leave the country at all cost, however many don't share that drive and have moved on and settle for underemployed positions doing jobs that don't match up with the degrees they hold. This problem isn't peculiar to Nigeria, in fact many parts of Africa share this problem. The sad reality is that Nigerians only occupy a mere fraction of the number of immigrants crossing the Sahara and Mediterenean. Many West Africans and East Africans are traveling across the desert and Mediterenean. immigrants from countries like Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Niger, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, etc are taking the risk to get to Europe or the Middle East. Many Ethiopians and Kenyas traveling to the gulf states or Isreal for a better life are trafficked along the way in places like the Sinai desert. Organ trafficking and abuse is very common. I even heard of Kenyans maids who were trafficked and then forced into slavery in places like Saudi Arabia. A lot of West Africans who cross the Libyan desert also face theft and horrendous abuse by their smugglers and traffickers. This problem cuts across the continent, but I wish things could change.
Nigeria are often caught in the political divide, which I think is quite irrelevant. Many people in APC are actually PDP politicians who have switched parties to APC. When one party has the upper hand, members from the other party switch over. It's a very common practice in Nigeria. What Nigeria needs is a genuine revolutionary and complete check. Yaradua had a 7-point agenda, however we couldn't see it manifest since he died while in office. I think Nigerians should be hard on their leaders regardless of party affliation, because it's the only way to held them to accountability. I guess you don't know about that GEJ was implicated in the Panama papers which revealed that he was allegedly involved in the Malibu scandal over an illegal oil deal. Oil companies, Shell and Italian Eni acquired an oil field in 2011 by paying $1.3 billion to the Nigerian government with $466 million allegedly forwarded to GEJ. The oil block is calculated and reported to worth 500 billion dollars. Things like that is why Nigerians need to be hard on their leaders. They need to understand that nobody is playing a game with them.

Nowenuse:
You are very correct.

All we other Nigerians can do is to give the core-northerners some time to catch up in terms of education.
Seriously, their main problem is illiteracy.
Most educated Core-northerners are not extremists and are fastly willing to adopt secularization. The fewer educated extremists and the illiterate masses are the ones dragging the society backward.

Look at this link below and see that North-east and North-west indigenes recorded the highest growth in average for Jamb registrations in Nigeria for the period of 6 years.

https://www.nairaland.com/3709501/see-jamb-applications-geopolitical-regions

Check north-central and see that we have almost caught up with the south in terms of education, but it was not so in the past.

Many northerners are now leaving their villages and illiterate enclaves and gradually getting exposed.
Remeber that education came 50 years earlier to thr south.

So true.
I don't even consider NC as part of the North. Geographically it's in the central part of the country. I don't blame Northerners for the lack of human development, I blame their leaders. Even though corruption is everywhere in Nigeria, the conditions NW and NE stands out the most. It was that senator from Zamfara, the one that married that underage girl that introduced Shariah to the North with Zamfara becoming the first state to adopt such laws. Ironically Zamfara is the poorest state in Nigeria. A lot of their leaders don't set an example for their people. Every region receives allocation. I believe things may change with more education, but first that shariah law has to be removed.

MtuMsuper:
Why is it that most nigerian elites tend to shun the topic of (very real) poverty by either falsifying facts or else presenting a denial? Especially when the fact of decades of oil wealth is known.

Some of the poverty stats are reasonable, others are plain out ridiculous. The disparity in statistics is laughable. Some stats say 30%, 40% others say 50%, 60%, even 70% sometimes. One such inadequate statistics a few years ago even stated that 70% of Lagos live in extreme poverty. The truth is that many Nigerians don't live in areas with high poverty, so they aren't familiar with the exact situation at hand hence the disassociation from the high poverty figures. There is a disparity in Nigeria's poverty rate from region to region.
The fact is that Nigeria's poverty rate is around 45%, at least according to the United nation's data. Now look at this, Lagos state in SW has the lowest poverty rate in Nigeria at 8.5%, while Zamfara in the NW region has the highest at an alarming poverty rate of 91.9%.
Here is the breakdown of poverty rates by region
1.) South-West -19.3%
2.) South-South-25.2%
3.) South-East-27.4%
4.) North-Central- Around National Average
5.) North-east- 76.8%
6.) North-west- 81.1%

The percentage of "poor" Nigerians in 1980 was 28.1%. Take note the percentage of Nigerians living in poverty at the time was far lower than that because the "poor" bracket included those living in poverty as well as those who were simply poor.
The oil wealth is more or less like a blessing with a curse. In the 1960s, the economy of Nigeria was solidified in agriculture. The North produced nuts, the West was known for cocoa, and the East was known for oil palm. Nigeria currency was stronger than the dollar and industrialization (textile, paper, car assembly, etc) was growing at a fast rate. The tourism industry in Nigeria was growing. Tourists would flock to Nigeria's national parks and Nigeria was going to be a formidable force. However the discovery and exploitation of oil reversed the trend. Nigeria's economy(foreign export) became heavily reliant on oil. Greedy politicians and dictators took to the stage and for decades Nigeria was under various corrupt military rules who plundered the wealth of the country at the people's expense. Oppositions and activists were jailed or executed. After the return to civilian rule, the damage done was too much. Manufacturing centers like Kaduna, Kano, Ilorin were filled with abandoned factories. Nigeria has also fell behind greatly in agriculture. The tourist sites became abandoned and many of the wild animals like the West African rhino and giraffes were all hunted to extinction in Nigeria. The once largest producer of oil palm in the world is now overtaken by Malaysia and Indonesia. The once largest producer of cocoa in the world is now overtaken by Ivory Coast and Ghana. I believe that Nigeria can return to its former era by loosening the dependency on oil and investing in what it does best. There are plans to diversify the economy and remove corruptions. So much money have been uncovered.
Anyways sorry for going into the long speal, but I had to give context.

MtuMsuper:
Why is it that most nigerian elites tend to shun the topic of (very real) poverty by either falsifying facts or else presenting a denial? Especially when the fact of decades of oil wealth is known.

Some of the poverty stats are reasonable, others are plain out ridiculous. The disparity in statistics is laughable. Some stats say 30%, 40% others say 50%, 60%, even 70% sometimes.

vaxx:
it is very unfortuante for the hausa to see yoruba muslim as fake. a progressive society should be able to accept diffrences. duabi is 100.percent muslim yet they welcome non muslm. and that is why is moving forward economically than saudi arabia.

Actually it depends on the person. I have seen many Hausa Muslims befriend Yoruba Muslims as well as Christians alike. Some Hausa may share those views, however I think it would be wrong to generalize them like that. In many parts if the SW, it's not uncommon to see Hausa and Yoruba in the same mosque, but it depends. I've heard that there are Yoruba imams in Abuja mosques who lead a congregation of mostly Hausa muslims. I like what you said about progressive society irregardless of religion. In Algeria and Libya, literacy including female literacy is very high. I even heard that there are more female lawyers than male lawyers in Algeria. I wish Northern part of Nigeria can adopt that form of approach to education and secularization and that starts by removing shariah law.

uzzyfire:
not south east but the east generally, they wanted to break out of Nigeria and call themselves Biafra which led to a civil war in d 50s.

but they are still agitating d break up ,even up till now .

The war was in the late 60s.

@mtis
The socio-political system is very complex than it may seems. it's not a black an white issue. Even the Biafrans can't unite the former groups in the old eastern region under the modern separatist movement as many hold on to a newer political South-south identity. You have so many factors like ethnic identity and oil politics that play into the factor. But as for now, Nigeria is united at least on paper.

I've heard about the Western cape separatist movement in South Africa. I think it's probably the most ridiculous separatist movement out there.

chkil0:
...

Just a side note, I think it's good that Algeria had taken initiative to recognize the Tamazight language.

Yyeske:
Another consolation line, you Yorubas should be ashamed for being reputed as the brown roof republic.
I was born and bred in Lagos, visited all states in the SW, visited virtually all the main towns and cities, speak Yoruba fluently and can boldly tell you that all towns and cities in the SW are same save for Lagos(Oba said it's not Yoruba anyway).
You guys should leave Lagos for a minute and go change those roofs.
That the yorubas had a head in education And western lifestyle doesn't translate to them leading in that department today, Ndigbo ti take over.

eh yaa another hypocrite spotted. If your region is all mansion and nice, then why come live in another region. Thank you for your analysis of the SW but Yoruba are not ashamed. You are here saying that Yorubas should leave Lagos and go to their brown roof republic, meanwhile your family migrated to the SW from a region suffering from it's own fair share of environmental issues. The SE is the most polluted part of Nigeria according to the World Health Organization and not to mention it's overpopulation and erosion problems. Next time you speak from your mouth reeking of hypocrisy, make sure your non-brown roofed region is free of pollution and erosion first. Going after brown roofs is misplaced priority. Brown roofs only look "unpleasing" meanwhile pollution causes health issues and kills.

As for that insincere side comment about Lagos, you should know as a Lagos born and bred, Lagos has over 50 Yoruba kings and Akiolu is just the king of Isale Eko. Many of his words should never be taken seriously. He's the same king that said people like you should be thrown into lagoon. Today he's your enemy, tomorrow he's your friend. Make up your mind hypocrite. You ungrateful sons from the land of ajeji exploit the secular and accommodating nature of Yorubas. Centuries ago before colonization or a country like Nigeria, you people were unknown to Yorubas. Lagos is under the domains of Awori in Lagos proper, Remo in Ikorodu, and Ijebu in Lekki and Epe. It sickening to see people like you live among the same people whose interests you pray against everyday. When the time comes, awon omo onile would claim what's rightfully theirs.