dederocs: Scarcity is the real problem, it's demand and supply.
Government of Lagos should build high rise low cost apartments in the Lekki/Epe corridor, a lot of free lands there, if government can build 10 blocks of 30 units of flats each, it will go a long way.
You are right about inadequate high rises in Lagos and other cities but you are wrong about government doing it rather than facilitating private companies doing it.
Government should have no business doing business.
anonimi: Neo-black Problem: Must Blacks Be Ruled by Whites in Order to Prosper?
In short, the neo-black dilemma may be framed as follows: is it better to live under white rule without political dignity but with basic life-sustaining standards for many;
or to live under black rule with illusory political dignity and without basic life- sustaining standards for the majority? @ @ The path forward for Africa lies in cultivating higher and adequate levels of personal and communal agential integrity as well as full personal responsibility and productivity. Not to mention creativity (including epistemic creativity), productive justice (such as merit and freedom), harmony and reconciliation at local and international levels, and a proper domestication of capitalism and other related values and institutions.
Africa must stop wasting her time on dreams of socialism because it is a system of wealth distribution primarily. Whereas, capitalism is a system of wealth creation primarily, and wealth has to be produced before it can be distributed.
doyin01: The agents are the reasons houses are expensive for rents in nigeria most especially lagos.
You will hear that a house yearly rent is 500k and you will hear total package is 700k..like almost 50% extra to be paid all in the name of agency fees , caution fees and nonsense things..
Agency fees that is not supposed to be more than 10% , naija agents will charge even up to 40% ..smh
Displaced aggression of Stockholm syndrome suffer heads. Instead of facing Sanwo Olu and his predecessors who are only progressive in taxing Lagosians to death, you are here doing balablu against innocent agents.
That is how people like you do jungle justice for petty thieves but ironically hail your own personal persons who created the crime by their own bigger crime of stealing our commonwealth.
Realdeals: Jakande @ 90: 9 Achievements of Alhaji Lateef Jakande as Lagos Governor
1. The first governor to present a billion Naira state budget in Nigeria.
2. He phased out the shift system in Lagos schools in three months. He built functional classrooms to absorb those who only attend schools for three hours a day.
3. He opened up what is now known as the Lekki Corridor.
4. He built the biggest Housing estate by a state government at Abesan, along with five other estates.
5. He built LASU, LACOED, LASPOTECH and Technical schools to absorb the products of the free education policy.
6 He built General Hospitals and Health centers in all the five divisions of Lagos. He also upgraded General Hospital Ikeja to the Medical arm of LASU.
7. He created the Agric hub at Oko Oba. He also created similar hubs in Ikorodu, Epe and Badagry.
8. His government’s strict adherence to the party manifesto of Free Education, Free Health care, Rural integration and Housing for all, along with other UPN governors, created the largest pool of human resources in Nigeria.
9. He moved the Lagos State Government Secretariat from PWD to Alausa, which he built from scratch. He also lived in his personal house and drove his personal car throughout his tenure.
Are we not all picking ebilokan’s call to get our daily bread palliative, while praying for renewed hope to survive any stampede.
Glimpsetv: A large crowd of Lagosians was filmed in a long queue struggling to collect a loaf of bread. To maintain order, several military personnel were on the ground to control the crowd. This has triggered a lot of reactions online.
Watch the video, share your thoughts in the comments.
mannobi: Is it impossible for Africa countries to trade among themselves instead of these embarrassments from America??
Very valid comment but unlikely to happen because we hate free market, privatisation and deregulation capitalism as that means we all have to work as commanded by God instead of waiting for some okanlawon in the family to make money (even by stealing) to dash us, or for the government to do palliative sharing of pseudo progressive socialists that run big governments with corresponding corruption.
anonimi: Neo-black Problem: Must Blacks Be Ruled by Whites in Order to Prosper?
In short, the neo-black dilemma may be framed as follows: is it better to live under white rule without political dignity but with basic life-sustaining standards for many;
or to live under black rule with illusory political dignity and without basic life- sustaining standards for the majority? @ @ The path forward for Africa lies in cultivating higher and adequate levels of personal and communal agential integrity as well as full personal responsibility and productivity. Not to mention creativity (including epistemic creativity), productive justice (such as merit and freedom), harmony and reconciliation at local and international levels, and a proper domestication of capitalism and other related values and institutions.
Africa must stop wasting her time on dreams of socialism because it is a system of wealth distribution primarily. Whereas, capitalism is a system of wealth creation primarily, and wealth has to be produced before it can be distributed.
tableshaker3: I like the way you console yourself with this kind of news. At least a departure from your usual wailings and frustrations.
Recall that there are poor people all over the world, queueing up for food and shelter. Even in America and ths western world, there are thousands of people that are poor, homeless and living on the street. So this is not limited to Lagos, Aba, Kano, Onitsha or Yaunde!
Will this info change your mindset? I don't think so.
Console yourself with poor people all over the world to rationalise the looting you support
If you’re not a frustrated wailer, then why would you compare us with other countries and cities for poverty when we rank so high globally on this issue and rank so low in human development index?
TheBedWench: The one-drop rule is a social and legal principle of racial classification that was historically prominent in the United States in the 20th century. It asserted that any person with even one ancestor of black ancestry ("one drop" of black blood)[1][2] is considered black (Negro or colored in historical terms).
This concept became codified into the law of some states in the early 20th century. It was associated with the principle of "invisible blackness" that developed after the long history of racial interaction in the South, which had included the hardening of slavery as a racial caste and later segregation. It is an example of hypodescent, the automatic assignment of children of a mixed union between different socioeconomic or ethnic groups to the group with the lower status, regardless of proportion of ancestry in different groups.[3]
The one-drop rule is defunct in law in the United States and was never codified into federal law.
DickDastardly: Oct 16, 2015 A former Governor of Akwa Ibom State and incumbent Senate Minority Leader, Godswill Akpabio, was on Friday arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
PREMIUM TIMES investigation shows that Mr. Akpabio was taken in by EFCC operatives at about 5.20 pm. He was said to have been accompanied a few aides and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Ricky Tarfa.
An aide to the former governor, who cannot be named because he is not authorised to speak on the matter told PREMIUM TIMES that Mr. Akpabio is currently being interrogated by top officials of the EFCC.
Nothing unusual in our zero principles politics that ignores governance.
Did Tinubu not repackage Buhari four years later as APC's messiah of change? How did that turn out? Shege promax that got him the ebilokan turn for extra level poverty and suffering.
Prospect of a possible alliance between the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN and Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, was dashed yesterday in Kano as the leader of the party and former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu described CPC as parading “expired leadership.”
Tinubu told ACN supporters in Kano during the party’s Presidential rally that: “What Nigerians need now is a transformation in leadership” as obtained in the advanced economy.
The two-term Governor of Lagos State explained that the leadership of ACN was offering Nigeria the brilliance of Nuhu Ribadu who, he said, is in the class of Nicolas Sarkozi of France, David Cameron of Britain, Medvedev of Russia and Barack Obama of the United States of America.
“What has CPC got to offer? We certainly don’t need expired leadership as we are offering the best in terms of brilliance, courage and patriotism in the class of Sarkozi of France, David Cameron of Britain and Barack Obama of the USA.”
Tinubu’s position came on the heels of Ribadu’s declaration penultimate week in Kaduna when he hinted during a political rally of a joint ticket between the two opposition parties to confront the dominance of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
The national leader of ACN criticised President Goodluck Jonathan for shying away from the national debate held last Friday, stressing that”that singular act exposed Jonathan as a coward who has nothing to offer.”
FuckFuckPastor: A new book has revealed how former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar, saved ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo from near bankruptcy before he emerged president in 1999.
According to the new book, entitled ‘’Too Good to Die: Third Term and the Myth of the Indispensable Man in Africa,’ Atiku made all his resources available for Obasanjo’s presidential campaign.
The book, written by former chairman of National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, Chidi Odinkalu, and Ayisha Osori, author of ‘’Love Does Not Win Elections,” also revealed how Obasanjo beat late Alex Ekwueme to the presidential ticket of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the 1999 election.
Quoting an account from Atiku, the authors said the trio of Ibrahim Babangida, Theophilus Danjuma and Abdulsalami Abubakar wanted PDP to adopt Obasanjo as their presidential candidate “because they considered him the best person for the job.”
Obasanjo and Atiku “Implicit in their position was their belief that they knew how to manipulate Obasanjo and the fact that Obasanjo did their bidding in 1979. They felt secure that he could be managed again,” the authors wrote.
Atiku was reportedly asked to join a team to Ogun to inform Obasanjo that he was going to run for the highest office in the land.
“When Atiku and Obasanjo discussed the call to serve as president, Obasanjo said he could not be president because he was a nearly bankrupt ex-convict. Atiku, through General (Aliyu) Gusau, paid money into Obasanjo’s account to begin his financial rehabilitation.
“Head of State Abdulsalami Abubakar helped out by granting him an unconditional pardon. Atiku put everything he had at his disposal to support Obasanjo’s emergence as the PDP presidential candidate and, when he joined the ticket as the vice-presidential nominee, continued to make his assets available to Obasanjo and the campaign.
Lifestone: Atiku should drop his Presidential ambition. He's the cause of all these. He should come out openly, announce that he won't contest and simply help build the opposition.
Democracy without a strong and viable opposition is not safe. For El-Rufai, I can't trust him either.
How much work are you putting into having a strong and viable opposition in our country?
Meanwhile, wicked ologogoro Wike is the cause of this.
anonimi: 2023: PDP and politics of healing Wike’s self-inflicted injury
Then, the race began in earnest for three years now, reaching a frenzy with the works of the two PDP committees on zoning. The first was the Gov Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi committee on the zoning of the PDP party offices. The Ugwuanyi committee quickly told the world the committee’s assignment did not cover zoning the office of the president. Though this was true, the question is: why didn’t the Ugwuanyi committee zone the PDP chairmanship to the North without aligning it to the divide that would produce the PDP presidential flag-bearer? The second committee headed by Gov Samuel Ortom of Benue state was specifically on the zoning of the presidential ticket and, with the votes of the representatives of all the 17 Southern states without any exception, the Committee unanimously recommended throwing open the PDP presidential ticket, which the PDP NEC simply upheld.
One thing irrefutably stands out – Wike shot himself in the leg. Here was a man who had an overarching influence on both committees but could not insist that the ticket be zoned South. Many had wondered why? The reason is also relatively in plain sight: the Southeast factor. As the clamour for zoning of the presidential ticket of the PDP to South reached its crescendo, many had pointed out the fact that though the PDP Constitution had prescribed zoning of the office of the president to be between North and South since the South-west and South-south had taken their turns in producing the president and the vice in this current dispensation in the persons of Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan, zoning this time around, should not just be to the South but the Southeast.
Atiku Abubakar went a step further by offering to step down from the race if it would be agreed that the touted zoning to the South would mean micro-zoning to the Southeast. Wike and the rest could not take the Atiku challenge maybe because Atiku would likely back Peter Obi, who was his vice-presidential running mate in 2019 and an ally. The prospects of Peter Obi picking the ticket if PDP zoned South was so real compelling Wike to go for an open contest, believing he could pick it up ahead of Atiku, Tambuwal and Bala Mohammed, given his large war chest.
Is it ebilokan that can be trusted after making his CPC expired soldier into the messiah of change four years later in APC? How much change has happened in Nigeria for the past 10 years?
BTW, how many debates did terrible T-Pain attend in 2023
Prospect of a possible alliance between the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN and Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, was dashed yesterday in Kano as the leader of the party and former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu described CPC as parading “expired leadership.”
Tinubu told ACN supporters in Kano during the party’s Presidential rally that: “What Nigerians need now is a transformation in leadership” as obtained in the advanced economy.
The two-term Governor of Lagos State explained that the leadership of ACN was offering Nigeria the brilliance of Nuhu Ribadu who, he said, is in the class of Nicolas Sarkozi of France, David Cameron of Britain, Medvedev of Russia and Barack Obama of the United States of America.
“What has CPC got to offer? We certainly don’t need expired leadership as we are offering the best in terms of brilliance, courage and patriotism in the class of Sarkozi of France, David Cameron of Britain and Barack Obama of the USA.”
Tinubu’s position came on the heels of Ribadu’s declaration penultimate week in Kaduna when he hinted during a political rally of a joint ticket between the two opposition parties to confront the dominance of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
The national leader of ACN criticised President Goodluck Jonathan for shying away from the national debate held last Friday, stressing that”that singular act exposed Jonathan as a coward who has nothing to offer.”
How can people who get daily bread palliative have empty stomach? Stop that joke please.
They just have to pray daily for God's protection so they don't die fighting in the stampedes for free food. Datsall.
Glimpsetv: A large crowd of Lagosians was filmed in a long queue struggling to collect a loaf of bread. To maintain order, several military personnel were on the ground to control the crowd. This has triggered a lot of reactions online.
Watch the video, share your thoughts in the comments.
anonimi: The eyesore on Bourdillon Road 2nd January 2025
Beyond his neighbours, there is something about the sight of people hanging around a president’s residence that does not speak well of his leadership capabilities. Maybe no one has nudged him to see it, but the impression that spectacle on Bourdillon Road generates is that Tinubu enjoys the sight of suffering humans and thrives in—and through— their poverty.
If all these years, impoverished people hang around you and you remain comfortable enough to keep them just so they can be handed tokens of your large heart, then it means you have a pro-poverty mindset. Such a frame of mind is oriented toward cultivating poverty rather than stimulating abundance.
That is why he could unproblematically relate the story of his “friend” who went from using five Rolls Royce to a far-less valued car and not consider the import of the nonsense he was saying. That spurious account was an indication that this is a man for whom poverty—of others, not himself—is an ideal.
Awon ara ile Dele ni Isale Eko are crying even more than your oga Dele and praying not to die in stampedes as they fight over daily palliative bread since APC has wrecked the economy into unemployment and extreme poverty.
Glimpsetv: A large crowd of Lagosians was filmed in a long queue struggling to collect a loaf of bread. To maintain order, several military personnel were on the ground to control the crowd. This has triggered a lot of reactions online.
Watch the video, share your thoughts in the comments.
VnAhunnaPl: Dele Momodu has been saying the truth all along.
Even in 2015 when he called Buhari the APC saviour of change when he was in fact the server of shege that terrible T-Pain has now taken to ebilokan extra level
Did he not join Tinubu to kick out the southern president in favour of a northerner who made everything worse than 2015?
hilariousdammie: Media mogul, Dele Momodu, is super excited about Muhammadu Buhari‘s APC Presidential primary win.
He took to Instagram a few minutes ago, congratulating Buhari on the victory with picture below with inscription: “#ANewNigeria Congratulations Nigerians! The Saviour is here”
Vinnie2000: The problem with such Decamping is that It will Bring together Strange Bed Fellows who will have Difficulty working together.
Dat's how Ned Nwoko Decamped to APC and started having problems with Ovie Omo-agege. Even some Elements in the Delta APC brought in Great Ogboru and currently the 3 men are at Loggerheads.
If APC allows more Defections to their Party, they will be unknowingly kickstarting a DESTRUCTION process of themselves.
This is the wishful thinking of mentally lazy people who simply WISH for things to happen with the passage of time instead of WORKING tirelessly for their goals.
Did APC destroy itself in 2013 when they merged and attracted PDP rebels, including Atiku and Obasanjo into their fold?
XueRengui: Former governor of Lagos State and one of the leaders of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has asked Nigeria’s former leader, Olusegun Obasanjo to serve as a navigator for the party. Tinubu made the call Saturday night, when a delegation of the party’s leaders met with Obasanjo in Abeokuta, capital of the western Nigerian state of Ogun. “You have come out of tribulation and held the highest position in this country. We are here because of your courage and salient points. Nobody can say he has information more than you,”Tinubu said.
“You have surmounted a number of crises. Nigeria is divided more than before. To realise a stable Nigeria, we want to encourage you to continue to speak the truth. We have resolved and determined to rescue Nigeria. We want you to be our navigator”, he added. The interim National Chairman of APC, Chief Bisi Akande,also a former governor of the state of Osun, told Obasanjo: “We have come to introduce our party to you; we are in the support of the 18-page letter written to Jonathan, you are capable”. Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha, who now chairs the 16 governors of the party urged Obasanjo to be upright on the issues concerning Nigeria. ” Many of the governors passed through your political school, the battle is for the generation on board. It is a task that must be done”. Obasanjo praised the APC for enhancing democracy in Nigeria through its reactions to issues, but also urged the party to play politics without bitterness.
Vanguard Online however reported that Obasanjo turned down the request to become a member of the party. ” I am a card carrying member of the PDP but the politics I play traverses Nigeria, Africa and the world in that order,”Obasanjo said. ” I am a democrat and one of the essential ingredients of democracy is opposition. A democracy that has no opposition built into it is not democracy. “In whichever party, for whatever office that contested or aspired in Nigeria since 1999, such a person, young or old man or woman can claim to be my political child and I can claim to be by virtue of the political office I have held. I can also claim to be political father; so, you are here and you are welcome”.
In attendance at the meeting, apart from Tinubu, Okorocha and Akande were former head of state, General Muhammadu Buhari; Alhaji Kawu Baraje,who led the breakaway PDP faction, former Borno State governor, Senator Ali Modu-Sheriff; Senator Bukola Saraki; Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State, former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu; and a former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode. Governors Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun), Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara), Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano), Babatunde Fashola (Lagos) and Senator Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo) were also at the meeting. The APC was said to be planning similar visits to a former defence minister, General Theophilus Danjuma, Chief Alex Ekwueme, a former vice President of Nigeria and Alhaji Shehu Shagari, former president of the country. The APC had also visited, former heads of state, Generals Ibrahim Babangida, Abdulsalami Abubakar and former vice president, Atiku Abubakar.
The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, has said politicians’ sins are forgiven when they join the ruling party.
Oshiomhole made this statement on Thursday, while welcoming new members to the party, at the APC presidential campaign in Benin.
As he reeled out names of those who have defected from the PDP to the APC, he said: “I am told that there are a lot of very very senior people from PDP who have decided to join forces with President Buhari to take the broom to sweep away PDP and to continue to ensure that APC continues to preside all over Nigeria.
“It includes my own brother, my friend who comes from my own clime, Henry Duke Genebe. He is the former organising secretary of PDP and we also have former vice chairman PDP and leader of Edo North of PDP. We also have my brother Chief Esheshi Godwin. He is also former council chairman and my very dear friend. We have quite a number of other leaders who have come.
“We have quite a number of other leaders who have come… in fact, once you have joined APC, all your sins are forgiven.”
Antoeni: Deplorable folks! Nothing makes sense in the Nigeria's political space anymore.
If people who went to school could spew this much garbage, the hopes of the millions of out-of-school children are permanently sequestered!
If people like you who went to school fail to advocate enough for your local and state governments to employ teachers for the free education of all children with matching federal funds from Obasanjo/Atiku's UBEC, then who should be blamed?
Should we not blame our own selfishness
anonimi: “The worst illiterate is the political illiterate, he doesn’t hear, doesn’t speak, nor participates in the political events.
He doesn’t know the cost of life, the price of the bean, of the fish, of the flour, of the rent, of the shoes and of the medicine, all depends on political decisions. The political illiterate is so stupid that he is proud and swells his chest saying that he hates politics.
The slowpoke doesn’t know that, from his political ignorance is born the prostitute, the abandoned child, and the worst thieves of all, the bad politician, corrupted and flunky of the national and multinational companies.”
adekolaelect: Wike !!!!!! Your Enemies will cry tire .
Does that mean most Nigerians as 200 million of us are crying ebinpawa from the APC incompetence and corruption taken to ebilokan extra level thanks to the machinations of wicked ologogoro Wike?
anonimi: 2023: PDP and politics of healing Wike’s self-inflicted injury
Then, the race began in earnest for three years now, reaching a frenzy with the works of the two PDP committees on zoning. The first was the Gov Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi committee on the zoning of the PDP party offices. The Ugwuanyi committee quickly told the world the committee’s assignment did not cover zoning the office of the president. Though this was true, the question is: why didn’t the Ugwuanyi committee zone the PDP chairmanship to the North without aligning it to the divide that would produce the PDP presidential flag-bearer? The second committee headed by Gov Samuel Ortom of Benue state was specifically on the zoning of the presidential ticket and, with the votes of the representatives of all the 17 Southern states without any exception, the Committee unanimously recommended throwing open the PDP presidential ticket, which the PDP NEC simply upheld.
One thing irrefutably stands out – Wike shot himself in the leg. Here was a man who had an overarching influence on both committees but could not insist that the ticket be zoned South. Many had wondered why? The reason is also relatively in plain sight: the Southeast factor. As the clamour for zoning of the presidential ticket of the PDP to South reached its crescendo, many had pointed out the fact that though the PDP Constitution had prescribed zoning of the office of the president to be between North and South since the South-west and South-south had taken their turns in producing the president and the vice in this current dispensation in the persons of Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan, zoning this time around, should not just be to the South but the Southeast.
Atiku Abubakar went a step further by offering to step down from the race if it would be agreed that the touted zoning to the South would mean micro-zoning to the Southeast. Wike and the rest could not take the Atiku challenge maybe because Atiku would likely back Peter Obi, who was his vice-presidential running mate in 2019 and an ally. The prospects of Peter Obi picking the ticket if PDP zoned South was so real compelling Wike to go for an open contest, believing he could pick it up ahead of Atiku, Tambuwal and Bala Mohammed, given his large war chest.
Please who will apologise to us for All Promises Cancelled, APC change of PDP productivity and prosperity into unemployment and extreme poverty in the last decade?
From promised change to poverty shege.
thisweekng: The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy Chief Olawale Edun has said the last time Nigeria’s economy looked stable was about a decade ago.
He made this statement during his maiden press conference as Minister of Finance where he outlined President Bola Tinubu’s vision, agenda and strategy for the economy.
He said, “I think as we all know, we are not where we should be. The economy is barely growing above the rate of population growth.
“But it was not always so, and I think in trying to look at the way forward, if we now have a situation of slow growth, double-digit inflation, weak/depreciating exchange rate, as well as security concerns that are resulting in an economy that is not growing and not taking Nigerians out of poverty.
“If we think back to the last time when the economy was stable- when it was growing, when inflation was low, and the interest rate was affordable, that period was about a decade ago. Growth was about 6% in 2013 and 2014.” Private sector to drive the economy
Unfortunately Yoruba, Nigeria and even Africa is not agba anything if we are doing japa to work in neocolonialist countries for them to be much richer and have better living conditions than us.
What fraction of what we contribute to their economies do you think is remitted here? Up to 20%?
I want to sell a script to a Hollywood studio. The story is about a guy who owns a farm that constantly runs at a loss but never quite shuts down.
The farm is massive and underutilised, and the protagonist has all the opportunities in the world to improve its output and get a bumper harvest.
He has access to credit, machinery, free irrigation and gifts from neighbouring farmers, but all he ever does with these things is drink and smoke them away while his family suffers.
Nigeria has refused to grow up and achieve something, but it somehow feels as if it is living vicariously through the achievements of its estranged children around the world
Apart from drinking, smoking and generally being utterly useless, his other pastime is to pump out children at an industrial rate. Needless to say, he takes no care of his children whatsoever, and many of them fail to survive childhood.
Those who do survive have to leave the farm and hire themselves out as hired labour to the neighbouring farmers, having picked up some survival skills from home.
With time, a number of them rise through the ranks and become senior managers, directors and even shareholders in these other farms while their father continues mismanaging his farm.
When good news about some of these successful children gets home, their father is filled with pride and joy, but when they end up on the wrong side of life, he acts as if he never knew them.
The successful ones make efforts to revamp their childhood home by sending back money and volunteering their skills and time, but all this guy ever wants to do is be a 62-year-old underachieving idiot carried through life by charity and luck.
Famzing” diaspora success is dishonest I’m sure before the end of the second paragraph, you figured out whose story I was telling. The 62-year story of post-independence Nigeria — which the Hollywood studio would surely reject for being too sad with no redemption — is that of our fictional antihero.
Nigeria has refused to grow up and achieve something, but it somehow feels as if it is living vicariously through the achievements of its estranged children around the world.
Remember how everyone from corporate brands to Abike Dabiri made a big song and dance about supporting Anthony Joshua the “Nigerian,” whose only chance to become someone in life came when his parents emigrated from Nigeria?
Remember how things turned when he somehow lost against that chubby Mexican dude whose name I can’t remember? Remember when the Super Falcons won the female AFCON title and received a congratulatory tweet from the president, only for them to have to stage a protest before being paid their camp allowances?
That’s what we do in Nigeria. We try to live vicariously through the achievements of people who have achieved great things under their own steam, simply because said people happen to be called ‘Ifeoma,’ ‘Efe’ and ‘Ayotunde.’
Even when Nigeria had absolutely nothing to do with said success, or in fact happened in spite of Nigeria, as with Divine Oduduru, we bask in the reflected glory of their personal achievements.
Sometimes when those people wear a Nigerian flag or post something about Wizkid or Jollof Rice on Instagram, we go crazy with the Nigerian flag emojis because oh my god, they identify with us!
This is not about being a Killjoy Somehow, the complete failure of Nigeria and our complicity in its failure is more bearable when we point at Nigerian immigrants doing great things in life and say “I knew Femi before he started calling himself Anthony.
His father and I were classmates in Aiyetoro.” It is unclear how exactly this helps our situation but hey, it’s also unclear how chugging the amount of alcohol we do helps either.
Escapism is a key part of our culture, and anyone who dissents must be a non-Jollof-eating, vegetarian heretic, and possibly also an atheist.
Now while all this is painfully cringey to my eyes, some will also point out that Nigeria is not the only country that has a weird obsession with its diaspora population.
Even ‘first-world’ countries like Ireland continue to have deep emotional and economic connections to their diaspora, and in any case Nigerians proudly supporting Anthony Joshua or the NBA’s Giannis Ante…African-sounding-name is basically harmless fun. They’re not hurting anyone. Why be such a killjoy, David?
The reason this matters can be found in a quote that has been dubiously attributed to Russian President Vladmir Putin, where he describes Africa as the place where its diaspora does not invest in, but returns to only to die and be buried with their ancestors.
While there is no concrete evidence that Mr. Putin ever actually made that comment, the truth in it is painfully poignant.
For diaspora success to be meaningful to Nigeria, it must correlate to on-ground results in Nigeria. The example of Somalia shows that having a well-educated, globally successful diaspora while being an absolute basket case are both possible at the same time.
Xammie001: Cry me a river We Lagosian's ain't complaining boss. The development we are witnessing in Lagos with the influx of people seeking new life in Lagos pray your state witness it.
So how do you know that I am not a Lagosian?
You may be right that some Lagosians are not complaining because of the free daily bread they are getting instead of jobs for earning living wages in dignity and adding to the country's collective productivity and prosperity.
You may be right about that.
Glimpsetv: A large crowd of Lagosians was filmed in a long queue struggling to collect a loaf of bread. To maintain order, several military personnel were on the ground to control the crowd. This has triggered a lot of reactions online.
Watch the video, share your thoughts in the comments.
Max24: People that are more Intelligent, accomplished, wise like Delta current and former govs are defecting, you say you have an idea, what idea do yo have?
Even Cubana and CCP were already putting on Tinubu Infinity cap and small you dey for Nairaland as if you know anything. Most of you are kids. What the elders see sitting down, the children cannot see it standing up. After 2027 I will explain what is happening to you.
Elders that have made our country a bleeding ridicule? Or what elders are you talking about?
olola4: Bunch of useless people; the only thing on their heads is winning the election, with no strategy for governance or how to improve the living standard of the common man, just how to align for their own personal gain to win election. ENKR!
Are you talking about the common man who is easily bought with stomach infrastructure and is a very tribal person
edet19892015: Unless you understand your role in society, you can never make any meaningful contribution.
According to the Greeks, they are three types of people on Earth, 1. The idiots, 2. The tribesmen, and 3. The citizens.
Studies show only 10% of Africans are citizens. The remaining 90% are either tribesmen or idiots.
1. When the Greeks used the word "Idiot", they did not use it as a curse word. Idiots are people who just don’t care. If they sit for exams, they will cheat. If they are in government they will steal.
An idiot does not care at all, if he eats bananas he throws the peels anywhere instead of putting them in a trash bin.
IDIOTS won't attend monthly neighborhood meetings. They won't pay security dues. They won't contribute to community development. Even when they see or know about something that will harm others in the community they won't report it. When they see/know/have something that will benefit their community they won't share.
In fact, Idiots don't care to register for or vote in an election, yet they complain the most. If they register to vote, IDIOTS will sell their votes for peanuts.
According to the Greeks, some societies have more idiots than tribesmen and citizens.
2. The next set of people are "Tribesmen", these are people that look at everything from the point of view of their tribe.
These are people that believe in you only if you are part of their tribe. It can be terrible to have a tribesman as a leader, he will alienate the rest.
When the Greeks talk about tribes, it’s not just about ethnicity, they also consider religion, gang membership, group membership, party membership and even cult membership as a tribe.
A great percentage of Africans are tribesmen, because they view everything from the point of view of their tribes. They trust only their tribesmen
3. The last group are "Citizens". These are people who like to do things the right way. They will respect traffic light rules even if no one is watching them.
They drive within speed limits. They respect the laws, and won’t cheat in exams. In government, they won’t steal. They are compassionate and give to others to promote their well-being.
Citizens often promote projects that benefit everyone. The Greeks called this group "The Citizens".
Some countries have more citizens than tribesmen and idiots, others have so many idiots.
A tribesman can become a citizen through orientation. And an idiot can become a citizen by training and constant enforcement of the law.
But things fall apart if you elect an idiot or tribesman to lead you if he has not been reformed.
Where do you belong? Are you an idiot, a tribesman or a citizen? Reflect on your life. Reflect about your immediate community, city, state and nation.
With Tinubu and APC at the helm, Delta will surely feel the impact of the government.
The impact that Lagosians have been feeling since 1999 of greater debts, higher IGR squeeze but no matching government services, amenities and utilities
Victor468: The point is not about turning the country to a one party state, it's his work that is speaking for him. Even in Lagos, did he compel anyone to join APC? NO! He laid a solid foundation that others are building on today which has placed Lagos in the global map.
Lagos on global map as one of the worst cities without basics of 21st century living and where the people have been taxed into extreme poverty beggars?
anonimi: The eyesore on Bourdillon Road 2nd January 2025
Beyond his neighbours, there is something about the sight of people hanging around a president’s residence that does not speak well of his leadership capabilities. Maybe no one has nudged him to see it, but the impression that spectacle on Bourdillon Road generates is that Tinubu enjoys the sight of suffering humans and thrives in—and through— their poverty.
If all these years, impoverished people hang around you and you remain comfortable enough to keep them just so they can be handed tokens of your large heart, then it means you have a pro-poverty mindset. Such a frame of mind is oriented toward cultivating poverty rather than stimulating abundance.
That is why he could unproblematically relate the story of his “friend” who went from using five Rolls Royce to a far-less valued car and not consider the import of the nonsense he was saying. That spurious account was an indication that this is a man for whom poverty—of others, not himself—is an ideal.