₦airaland Forum

^

LagosShia:
Do you answer a fool?
PRO 26:4 Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.
PRO 26:5 Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.

But of course the delicious irony will be lost on you.

nuclearboy:
Nice try but I wonder how close you are to people on the bottom rung

^
Err. . .

aletheia:
I am basing my assessment on the improvement I see in the lives of those around me who are not politicians but ordinary middle class Nigerians.
. . .But of course all that I have written above is based on what I see so it may be dismissed as subjective. . .

I don't know about the lowest income segments of the population but I know that the middle-class has expanded. That is often regarded as a measure of the economy. "The poor you will always have with you".

nuclearboy:
How has this govt or anything it is implementing, helped poor people? Health, education, jobs, transportation etc?

^
See reference to NHIS above with regards to health (this has actually increased access to health for a lot of people). The implementation has now moved on to the States' level; By the time it's fully functional, we will have something on ground similar to the NHS in UK. They could do more in the area of jobs &c. But surely you don't expect government to provide jobs for everyone, do you? Such paternalistic economic models have failed in the past. I prefer a private sector driven approach.

nuclearboy:
The issue of corruption and big-manism - how has this govt reacted to these?

Security of lives AND emphathy - do you believe you are safe in Nigeria?

^
Political corruption is a world wide phenomenon after all it wasn't a Nigerian who coined the quote: "Power corrupts". The problem is that in Nigeria it is worsened by ethnic rivalry and tribal bigotry which is a far bigger problem than the said corruption. Unfortunately we have bought the narrative that "Corruption is the biggest problem in Nigeria." No it's not: Tribalism is the problem. Deal with tribalism and corruption will be reduced. That was the chink in Buhari's armor that his opponents exploited; for he could not convincingly prove to the sceptics (of which I was one) that he was wholly de-tribalized.

I believe I am as safe in Nigeria as any where else outside a war zone. After all right there in Chicago, at least two Nigerians were brutally murdered during my stay there.

nuclearboy:
We both know you are far above the "its just 3 months" crowd! So tell me ONE (or maybe TWO) positive things you can ascribe to the HOS in the past 12 years he has been "applicable" in this system?

^
You are trying to turn this conversation into aletheia's defence of GEJ. I am not interested in defending him. He has enough "defenders". But one positive thing is the avowed commitment to push through power sector reform despite the entrenched interests of unions and others. Another will be the Sovereign Wealth Fund. . .See? The glass is half-full.

nuclearboy:
We all supported him against Atiku but looking back at the issue of "zoning" and the somersaults we have seen, would YOU, Aletheian do same OR support such "manouvering" as indicative of a sincere\honest person?

^
Care to be specific as to the "maneuvering" you allude to?

maclatunji:
I am too tired to read the rest of this thread but I just want to tell you that Aletheia prides himself as being smarter than virtually everybody else on Nairaland. He will not take kindly to your declaration, just saying. Have a great weekend everyone, I doubt I will come here until Monday Insha Allah.

^
O omniscient potentate: you were always too tired to read; hence your basking and wallowing in ignorance so profound that it transcends the Space-Time continuum to the point where you know what is on aletheia's mind and what he prides himself on.

BTW have you now found time to read the relevant portions of the Nigerian constitution that pertain to the powers of the Vice President?

nuclearboy:
I wonder if Aletheia will humor me and tell me what more you'd wish to go bad before accepting things have really been up-ended in this system. And what positives you see that incline you to believe things will improve

A brief summary. . .
I am apolitical as you know and so I am not holding brief for the FG or defending them but I am basing my assessment on the improvement I see in the lives of those around me who are not politicians but ordinary middle class Nigerians. We could argue GDP figures all day and even these show an expansion in the economy. More of these people now own cars than in the decade before. I know several that have started up successful businesses. Access to healthcare has improved among the demographic that I highlighted through the NHIS which is coming on stream.  Reforms to the pension scheme have been such that the PFA still atop a 2 trillion naira pile that the CBN wants to access for infrastructure development. Some state governors are doing well.

Granted there is still much left to do especially in power sector and political reform. . .but which will you prefer? That I see the glass as half-full or half-empty? Perception often shapes our reality. But of course all that I have written above is based on what I see so it may be dismissed as subjective. . .

[quote author=okada_man link=topic=732555.msg8909357#msg8909357 date=1313163038]Abeg carry your grammar comot jor![/quote]^
Truce?

[quote author=okada_man link=topic=732555.msg8909357#msg8909357 date=1313163038]I still trust them more than GEJ Spinmasters.[/quote]^
I hope you are not including me in the category of so-called spinmasters. . .else I would have to again demand proof of where I defended his policies.

[quote author=okada_man link=topic=732555.msg8908981#msg8908981 date=1313159967]So you fit abuse too? I be think sey you dey claim Pope before?[/quote]^
So I'm now the Pope. Oya bow and kiss my feet!

[quote author=okada_man link=topic=732555.msg8908981#msg8908981 date=1313159967]I'm glad I forced you to unmask yourself.  [/quote]^
Unmask? What was hidden from view?
My initial post is clear and quite plain for all to see. Does it irk you because it is the truth? Are you having a prolonged sulk because your preferred candidate lost? Just because one does not join in your chorus of hate does not mean one has said anything against your Buhari. Surely you see the fallacy of such a zero-sum worldview? All my posts are available and again I challenge you to produce one wherein I insulted General Buhari as your people repeatedly do to the president. Only then will I accept your charge of hypocrisy. Or do you just throw around unproven allegations just like others do here?

I have sampled some of your previous posts and you strike me as being a cut above the bigots and ill-informed sort that proliferate daily here. . .so you know better than to tar everyone with the same brush.

BTW: I still stand by my statement that things are not as bad as they are claimed to be.

newspump:
It must have sounded like a wonderful idea to somebody: a two-time national leader writing a newspaper column. Chief Obasanjo, whose sense of shopping must be worse than his sense of grammar, bought the proposal.

full story in the link below at the line acrross

^
Really? And what exactly is wrong with that idea. It's seems this post is actuated by your dislike of the man. . .compounded by ignorance, rather than a clear enunciation of the merits and demerits of such an idea. Olusegun Obasanjo is actually a prolific writer.

[url=http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_at_ep_srch?_encoding=UTF8&sort=relevancerank&search-alias=books&field-author=Olusegun%20Obasanjo]List of his books on Amazon.com here[/url]

@okada_man:
Both you and the "fellow goons [that] are jumping up and down blaming Buhari for stuffs he has no control over" are a bunch of silly pretentious children and pusillanimous dimwits. You are a bunch of nitwits and nattering ninnys of negativism, a gaggle of clueless dummkopfs with pretensions of grandeur who take yourselves entirely too serious, whereas your pseudo-intellectual pretensions are laid bare when one examines your so-called criticisms for one finds that they are mostly a farrago of vague intimations and jaundiced sentiments.


I dare you to show me where I called Buhari a jihadist or boko haramist. Typical obfuscating and emotional tactic of one with little of sense and substance to say.

@okada_man & Eko Ile:

My reply to both of you still remains:

aletheia:
. . .and the post-election campaigning continues. One gets the distinct sense that those whose preferred candidate lost the presidential elections are wont to look for opportunities to say: "We told you so" to those who supported the winner. How childish.

Despite the lamentations: things are not as bad as they are claimed to be.

Both your vituperative responses to my simple post illustrates just how childish you both remain. I guess I hit a little too close to home. You will do well to follow the example of haka nai.

Sweetnecta:
Alethea and Nuclearboy are here. MashaAllah.
the decision is that i am not a sunni, but a simple muslim. i told you not to put your foot in your mouth, but you don't listen because you do it, each time you open your mouth to speak. hunger does not heighten was not there, which is delusion. i am sure your christian mind will work it out that everyone in england rioting is a muslim.

So which of the "70" or "72" sects of Islam do you belong to?

Sweetnecta:
only if he can write the mother tongue of Jesus this well.

And I guess your god can only understand Arabic.

Sweetnecta:
monotheists christians and jews? are you for real or you have been playing around all the time? Jews in their monotheism rejected Jesus even as a prophet, even though the are expecting return of Elijah, the coming of messiah and the coming of that prophet. the christians in their monotheism say God is Trinity [meaning 3 persons, in the same way triangle is 3 angles; if i am a liar, you are a nuclear science mind, tell me what tri mean except 3], so they say Jesus is God, Holy Ghost without a Name [actually it does not exist except a holy spirit which is Angel Gabriel does exist, ghost does not exist] is God and the Third God is Yahweh. Is this really monotheism, nuclearboy? Omo yoruba nie. Ro nu e jile ko to dami lowun? Aa ma tete ngbo oro ni. Aki ma tete n fesi, tori o mi lati lo ogbon daa daa.

You have started your discombobulated ramblings again. Ghost means Spirit. Confused Abd. . .still repeating your lies about Ruh Qudus even after about a year of my waiting for you to prove from your koran and hadiths that Gabriel is the Holy Spirit. If you show me the word Trinity in the Bible. Then I will explain it to you. On the other hand, the Bible clearly shows from Genesis to Revelation who Jesus is.

Jesus is Lord. Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus is God! I say to you: Unless you believe that Jesus is He, you shall surely perish in your sins. Repent!

. . .and the post-election campaigning continues. One gets the distinct sense that those whose preferred candidate lost the presidential elections are wont to look for opportunities to say: "We told you so" to those who supported the winner. How childish.

Despite the lamentations: things are not as bad as they are claimed to be.

. . .it is Ramadhan again and the wrongly-guided ones are at it as they do during this month when the delusions are heightened by hunger. Really? So it's Christians that are rioting in London? Tell us another one. Between LagosShia and Sweetnecta; have you guys decided which of you is the real Muslim and which is apostate?

Joagbaje:
Being born of water is to be born of the word. The word is represented most times by water

^
I believe you are conflating two different things.
Being born again is to be born of the Word.
(1Pet 1:23 [KJV])
Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

Being born of water is to be born of flesh and blood.

. . .but is "the word most times represented by water"? I think that should read "sometimes".
Eph 5:26, Titus 3:5, John 15:3

Part of the misunderstanding of those critical verses in John 3 is that we often miss the "hebraisms and parallelisms" in the discourse between Jesus and Nicodemus; both of whom were Jews operating in a Jewish milieu with Jewish thought patterns.

Parallelism is most commonly found in the book of Psalms and Proverbs but is found throughout the whole of the Hebrew Bible. Parallelism is the expression of one idea in two or more different ways.
"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path". (Psalms 119:105)

The above example of a simple parallel and can be written in this manner;
Your word is;
   1. a lamp to my feet
   2. a light for my path

Here we see that the words "lamp" and "light" are paralleled as well as the words "my feet" and "my path". Below is another example of this style of poetry.
"My son, my teachings you shall not forget and my commands your heart shall guard." (Proverbs 3:1)

In this verse the words "my teachings" is paralleled with "my commands" and "you shall not forget" is paralleled with "your heart shall guard" and can be written as follows.
My son;
   1. my teachings you shall not forget
   2. my commands your heart shall guard

Here is another example of parallelisms from the NT.
Matthew 19:30
A. But many that are first
B. shall be last;
B1. and the last;
A1. Shall be first.

When we understand this, then the verses become clear and are not obfuscated by the inherited traditional interpretations that seem to suggest that being born again is of human effort: Indeed the very first chapter of John's gospel makes this clear but we often miss it!

(John 1:12-13 [KJV])
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood ([color=Black]born the first time[/color]), nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.[color=Black](born again or born a second time)[/color]

With this in mind the discussion between Jesus and Nicodemus becomes self-evident.
(John 3:3-7 [KJV])
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

Thus we note the parallelisms:
1. Except a man be born again - The Amplified translation has this as :Marvel not [do not be surprised, astonished] at My telling you, You must all be born anew (from above).
2. Nicodemus was confused and thought of it as physical rebirth
3. To which Jesus in setting him aright made use of parallelisms to underscore and emphasize the truth:
a. "Except a man be born of water. . ." parallels "That which is born of the flesh is flesh"
b. ". . .and of the Spirit" parallels "that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."

And indeed that "born of water" is synonymous to "born of the flesh" is elucidated by the same John here:
(1John 5:6 [KJV])
This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.
A passage that parallels this other one:
(John 1:14 [KJV])
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

[quote author=ekt_bear link=topic=729521.msg8879865#msg8879865 date=1312807367]Ultimately, I wish policy like this were not set on a national level, but a zonal one. If @alethieia's zone wants to subsidize education for all, more power to 'em.

If my zone decides to focus on its top 20 or 30% of JAMB takers, then we should be able to do so.

One-size-fits all, cookie-cutter approaches like rarely work out well.

And if each zone gets to set its own educational policy, within a short period of time we'd see what works well and what doesn't. So bad policy will get discarded more rapidly.[/quote]^
I agree with you on this. Devolve more powers to the federating units.

^Shall we agree to disagree then?

It is interesting to see people taking a satirical website that publishes spoof news as the real deal. No wonder the level of political discourse on NL is abysmally low.
@ Kobojunkie: did you not see this posted at the end of the comments section of that article.

Caution: This is NOT real! It's all BS made up to entertain you.
For REAL news, please go to saharareporters.com

I hope you posted this with that in mind. . .but I see no caveats in your post.

[quote author=ekt_bear link=topic=729521.msg8878764#msg8878764 date=1312797930]Hehe

Correlation is not causation, as you probably already very well know  [/quote]Agreed.

[quote author=ekt_bear link=topic=729521.msg8878764#msg8878764 date=1312797930]If I had to guess, the direction of causality is the other way (economic development => increased access to education).[/quote]Perhaps. But it's not often not so clear cut as that. The Americans won the race to the moon largely because they poured resources into education in the decade leading up to 1969. If Nigeria is to gain an edge in the global marketplace in terms of innovation and competitiveness, the more the proportion of our population has access to tertiary education, the better. Consider the National Demographic Health Survey which shows that increased maternal education correlates with improved infant and child survival. This is borne out by my undergraduate thesis which showed that increased maternal education was a significant predictor of child health. I think a university education helps to broaden horizons and provides people with the tools needed to succeed as entrepreneurs. Is it surprising that most of the more successful business men have had a university education? Perhaps our differences in opinion lie in how we view tertiary education. I consider it at an individualistic level i.e. it improves a man or woman, while I suppose you are looking at it in terms of the broader economy i.e. tertiary education as a means to a job.

[quote author=ekt_bear link=topic=729521.msg8878764#msg8878764 date=1312797930]At any rate, perhaps by 2020 the Nigerian economy can support the # of graduates we are producing now. But to hope that by 2016 it will be able to support 800k to me seems nothing more than wishful thinking. I don't think anyone is predicting more than 8% GDP growth/year in Nigeria over that time period, are they? With population growth close to 3%/year, I don't see how a case can be made for increasing the amount of university admissions by 3X or 4X.[/quote]Being a bit pedantic I guess, but 800K amounts to 2x the current levels and not 3x or 4x as you seem to suggest. An annual GDP growth of 8% over the same time period should be adequate to take care of that. Moreover we all agree that a growth rate of 8% can easily be surpassed once the Government tackles the problem of adequate power supply. I am optimistic that that will be the case.

[quote author=ekt_bear link=topic=729521.msg8878883#msg8878883 date=1312798984]To be clear, I'm not trying to be some sort of elitist pig. But you don't want to end up like Iran:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_drain_in_Iran[/quote]I know you are not an elitist pig.
Brain drain is a problem all developing countries face and is not alien to Nigeria especially considering that there is a shortage of personnel like doctors and nurses in some Western countries. In fact, it is stated there are more Nigerian-trained doctors in the USA than are in Nigeria itself. This is to be expected where you have highly mobile and well-trained professionals in today's globalized economy. What needs to be done is to put in place measures that will stem that Brain Drain. In the case of Nigerian doctors, it was the poor remuneration but with the recent pay rises effected for doctors that should stem the flow. You may also want ton consider the example of India which has been able to successfully attract some of it's citizens back into the country. For Iran, I would say the problem rises largely from the restrictive and authoritarian system of government in place there. Those most likely to feel the weight of these restrictions in freedoms and censorship would be the highly educated middle-class and they would react by emigrating.
I think Nigeria can only benefit by having a highly educated middle-class as these will only help to deepen our democracy.

[quote author=ekt_bear link=topic=729521.msg8878883#msg8878883 date=1312798984]Sinking a bunch of money into training college graduates that will then just be stolen from you by the US, Canada, Europe, etc.[/quote]Not every college graduate will be "stolen" by the US, Canada, etc. For example, throughout the period I was in the US, I had no desire to live and work there. Why? Because, I realized my standard of living wasn't any different from what I would get back home as a doctor. In some instances, living in Nigeria is easier. And this buttresses the point I made earlier: as the economy improves and standard of living rises, the Brain Drain is going to reduce.

[quote author=ekt_bear link=topic=729521.msg8878883#msg8878883 date=1312798984]Imo, sink money into providing quality education up to the secondary level. Does it make sense to be saying you want 800k students entering university when Nigerian secondary students will probably do very poorly in international assessments like PISA or TIMSS?

Let's get primary and secondary education in Nigeria right before worrying about increasing enrollment in university, imo.[/quote]There is nothing wrong in increasing access to university education while improving basic and secondary education.

[quote author=ekt_bear link=topic=729521.msg8878883#msg8878883 date=1312798984]As my old man always likes to say, we shouldn't major in minor.[/quote]You seem to be saying this a lot this days.

[quote author=ekt_bear link=topic=729521.msg8877858#msg8877858 date=1312786400]I agree that 800k is small relative to Nigeria's population, but the economy doesn't really support even the current amount of people entering university, does it? Let alone 800k/year.[/quote]Agreed the economy doesn't support that now. . .the point is that this is a target for the future 2016, at which point it is hoped that the private-sector driven economic reforms would have kicked in resulting in economic growth that translates into jobs. Having a highly educated (relatively) population is not a bad idea. I believe there is a correlation between levels of educational attainment and a country's standard of living. Consider for example these figures:

1 - Canada - 44.0
2 - United States - 38.4
3 - Japan - 37.4
4 - Sweden - 33.4
5 - Finland - 33.3
6 - Denmark - 31.9
7 - Australia - 31.3
8 - Norway - 31.0
9 - New Zealand - 30.9
10 - South Korea - 29.5

Numbers indicate the Percentage of Population aged 25-64 that have attained a tertiary level of education (OECD Countries).

Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2007.

Now compare that with the first ten countries on the Human Development Index.

[quote author=ekt_bear link=topic=729521.msg8872478#msg8872478 date=1312708462]I know some folks who go to college here in the US, spend 4 years in university and end up with jobs that only require a HS education to do.[/quote]^
Did they end up in these jobs that require a HS education by choice or are they constrained to do these jobs because of a lack of jobs due to the depressed economy? I very much doubt if their intention while going to college was to end up doing such jobs.

800,000k is still actually a small number given the size of Nigeria's population.

maclatunji:
Did I ever say you will not find any duties of the Vice President in the Constitution, I said you will not find MUCH in terms of powers and duties ("real powers to effect change" as you put it. You are lucky that I am too busy to argue back and forth with you. However, your time will come.

^
And so you tuck your tail between your legs and run. . .having conceded that the VP has no real powers. Nonsense. I am sure you finally went and peeked at the constitution. . .hence this volte-face. "Implied" powers ko, "implied" powers ni.

The Nigerian psyche has been so traumatized and dehumanized by years of purposeless and directionless Military rule that we do not understand the basic tenets and norms of civilized democratic behaviour. So typically people like you confuse rabble-rousing antics and aggressive grandiloquent and populist gestures that ultimately are meaningless and lacking in substance for governance. The typical Nigerian mistakes quietness for weakness.

maclatunji:
I suppose you are waiting to read what the constitution says about the powers you have in your private office going by your logic.

^Please. Stop. Grasping. The Constitution says nothing about my private office. It does however say something about the powers of the Nigerian Vice President. Why don't you educate yourself instead of blowing all this hot air.

aletheia:
This is noting but emotional balderdash. Again I repeat:In other to prove your case in an unbiased and objective way. . .show us the powers of the VP that led you to conclude that the office has any real power to effect change.

I begin to see your example of the typical NL political punditry: high on emotions but bereft of ideas and substance and zero knowledge of the actual cut and thrust of politics and the basic grundnorm that is the Nigerian Constitution.

Before you presume to pontificate on the "powers" of the Nigerian Vice President, why don't you take the very basic step of educating yourself on what those powers are.

maclatunji:
The powers of the office of the Vice President are implied not express. So, you may not find much in terms of a list of powers and duties of a Vice President, but that does not mean the powers do not exist.

^
And so we come to this. All your hot air is beginning to deflate. Pray tell us what these implied powers are. Not only do you betray stark ignorance of the explicit duties of the Vice President as spelled out in the constitution, you also are grasping at straws in a vain attempt to buttress your case. What tomfoolery and buffoonery is this? This is the typical beer-parlor sophistry that Nigerians are good at: Building a case on crass and utter ignorance and misguided opinion while shying away from any attempt to educate yourself about the matter at hand as you yourself so indolently confess:

maclatunji:
I do not have to present the Constitution to you for any reason whatsoever.

maclatunji:
At least in our history we have had two No.2 citizens who have showed guts viz. Idiagbon as Buhari's deputy (that does not count in your opinion because he was a military officer, abi?) and then there was Atiku as Vice President. Both exercised considerable power and influence. You may not agree with their styles or philosophy but you have to admit they had guts.

^
An emotional argument and to be dismissed out of hand as worthless piffle! A military dictatorship and an ambitious corrupt backstabbing scheming deputy. Laughable and pathetic rebuttal.

maclatunji:
I do not have to present the Constitution to you for any reason whatsoever. You are the one who has hinged your arguments on its provisions and might need to quote it to buttress your point(s). I might as well Pray thee Kind sir to show me the part of the constitution that stateth that the office of Vice President is "moribund."

^
I do not need to quote the relevant portions of the Constitution. I have pointed you in the right direction but typical of the indolent Nigerian, opening the pages of a book to acquire knowledge leaves you petrified with terror. No where have I stated that the office of the Vice President is moribund, you silly and dishonest child; placing the word in quotation marks in an attempt to pass it off as coming from me. In any case stop bandying about words you probably don't know the meaning of. Moribund indeed!

maclatunji:
Don't play smart with me here, the office of Vice President is "useless" according to you. Yet GEJ presented it as "the most important proof of his experience" apart from being sworn-in as President after the "doctrine of necessity" drama.

^
This is noting but emotional balderdash. Again I repeat:

aletheia:
^
Such comments are laughable and seem to be couched in "willful" ignorance. Good sir, pray tell me what powers accrue to the Vice President and Deputy Governors under the Nigerian constitution?

In other to prove your case in an unbiased and objective way. . .show us the powers of the VP that led you to conclude that the office has any real power to effect change.

I can see you are tactically beating a retreat from the earlier nonsense statement that you supported:

we can even see something good in Yar Adua when compared to GEJ.

I begin to see your example of the typical NL political punditry: high on emotions but bereft of ideas and substance and zero knowledge of the actual cut and thrust of politics and the basic grundnorm that is the Nigerian Constitution. How do I know this? BY your petulant and childish statements as follows:

maclatunji:
If you want to be honest, Namadi Sambo is more involved and engaged as Vice President than GEJ ever was.

And that's because the President has allowed him free rein just as OBJ and Atiku in 1999-2003. Before you presume to pontificate on the "powers" of the Nigerian Vice President, why don't you take the very basic step of educating yourself on what those powers are.

maclatunji:
If you want to say that "he was not allowed." Then as a man of honour and valour, he should simply have resigned

^
"He should simply have resigned". Why? Allowed to do what? Was he prevented from acting as Vice President? That the President refused to delegate more duties to him? How silly and dishonest you are for saying "he was not allowed". No doubt you were one of those cheering Atiku on when he refused to resign after OBJ shut him out of government and even after decamping from the party platform on which he was elected (an act of political harlotry if ever there was one!).

I will continue to maintain that Nigerians are easy to hoodwink and deceive because they are always confusing spectacle and noise for substance and progress. Nonsense!

Who is Jesus?
The Son of God, the only begotten of the Father, God manifest in flesh! To Whom be all praise and worship forever. Jesus is the Stone against which the Jews and Muslims stumble.

Who is Paul
In his own words:
Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God

^
Such comments are laughable and seem to be couched in "willful" ignorance. Good sir, pray tell me what powers accrue to the Vice President and Deputy Governors under the Nigerian constitution?

hercules07:
we can even see something good in Yar Adua when compared to GEJ.

^
Is this meant to be a tongue-in-cheek remark or a joke. Under Yar'Adua that the nation stagnated in all areas, with zero progress in Power sector reform, the rise of Boko Haram, the shielding of Ibori from justice, Nigeria rapidly losing influence and becoming a laughing stock on the World stage etc.

There is something serious wrong with anyone who thinks that Yar'Adua is a good president. He remains the worst in a series of very bad types.

nuclearboy:
@OP:

You challenge me that what?

^
[size=3pt]Oga nuclear, how far? I am back in Nigeria.[/size]

^
How is describing Finis Jennings Dake's teachings as heresies an insult to you newmi? Are you Dake? This is typical: worshiping a man Dake, rather than the Lord Jesus who ransomed us with is blood. So in your mind the misguided annotations of Dake are Holy Writ of greater import than the actual words of the Lord Jesus?. . .similar to how the Pharisees elevated their traditions over the Word of God.
To you I throw the same challenge as to Joagbaje: show me here the Bible verses that prove that Satan was cast out of Heaven before Adam was made.

It is clear to me your tactic of obfuscation and hiding behind the fig leaf of imagined insults rather than straightforwardly producing the Bible verses that will shut me up.

@newmi: kindly show me the insults. You man introduces a lie. When challenged, he goes on and on about being insulted. I say show me the insults or shut up.

frosbel:
When you resort to insulting another Christian you make a mockery of the love commanded by GOD for all believers.

Et tu? Kindly highlight the insults you refer to. Indeed God commands we love the brethren but that is no excuse for wishy-washy sentimentality when false teachers come sowing their dangerous heresies. Indeed you yourself have used harsher words than I in your campaign against false teachers and false doctrines, so what mean you by this? That Joagbaje is a Christian? What Christian seeing this written in the Bible: (Matt 28:20 [KJV]) Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen, goes ahead to boldly declare that "Christians are not commanded to obey God".
Stop this sentimentality and follow the example of David who confronted ravenous wolves. And we were warned that wolves would come among the flock.

@Remii:

In my opinion, you have just highlighted all the reasons why I believe "Islamic banking" will fail and further impoverish the northern masses while enriching the northern elites who are once again using religion to hoodwink and scam them. Having realized the mounting resentment against decades of mass impoverishment occasioned by misrule, the northern ruling elite has once again hit upon a religious strategy to deflect attention from themselves and rally the "northern" masses as they did during the Sharia controversy. Thus it is shown that the poor Hausa masses have learned nothing. In much the same way they were promised that Sharia would solve all their developmental challenges (even though a decade on we see increased levels of poverty in Hausaland), they are now being swindled by the "great Islamic Banking hoax".

Remii:
1. When you keep money in the bank, banks have right to charge you administrative cost of keeping your money.

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Why would I a poor struggling Hausa farmer keep my money in the bank when I am going to pay the bank for that privilege in contrast to the conventional bank which pays me money for saving money. Thus we see that the argument that "Islamic banking" will encourage some people to save is fallacious.

Remii:
2. You have right to share from profit the bank made from trading with your money.

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And if the bank declares a loss, I am left holding the short end of the stick. This seems to me like a Ponzi scheme.

Remii:
3. You don't have interest form money kept with bank

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No problem with that, except that as you pointed out in 1) above the bank will collect even more money from me for the privilege of keeping my money.

Remii:
4. You don't pay interest on money you borrow from bank.

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Also to add that whatever loans the "Islamic bank" will give me will be subject to "administrative charges" which look suspiciously like interest only that it's not called interest. As the saying goes: A rose by any other name. . .
Such is the nature of "creative" Islamic jurisprudence.

Remii:
5. Bank will share profit or loss accrued from the business done with borrowed money.

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And knowing the notoriously bad habits of Nigerian "big men" when it comes to loans, what stops them from declaring losses. Read up on how Bank of the North failed.

Joagbaje:
^^^
Pls Clap for yourself

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Nothing to say for yourself, I see! No bible verses forthcoming. None whatsoever. So you agree you lied when you made that statement. Now run along and go and hide as you usually do. . .only to surface on another thread.

newmi:
to be frank l would kind suggest we maintain focus on the core concentrations of this thread rather than get personal over nothing. You can prove something is wrong by teaching what is right not by discrediting other people's understanding and infact going to the extent of black-branding the reknowned works of "Dakes". Where is the christinity in us if we resort to using insults to get our points across

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Your mentor Joagbaje must show the vile words I used in my post and show me the bible verses that prove that Satan wast cast out of Heaven before Adam was made. Simple.