₦airaland Forum

My advice to you is to leave redeemed and join a nice place like the church of england if you're an anglican or a catholic church or methodist or wuteva else. I have friends who were in your situation and it cost them to fail a year of uni because of being too involved in the church.

I would normally say you should do things only when you can, but as someone who attended a service similar to redeemed as well as redeemed itself here in the UK I know how judgmental some of those folks can be so just kuku leave the church and go to a civil church where the hours are reasonable and you are not forced to volunteer or give offering (these guys sometimes ask for your account details if you dont have cash on you).

Nigeria is not going to move forward untill we are able to educate the masses. Everyone needs to be educated up to the secondary level and needs to be taught to think critically for themselves rather than listening to some scam artist posing as a preacher. I understand that people are bitter and as a result cling to relious beliefs to find comfort in their pain and suffering.

We need a grassroots movement in Nigeria. A movement with the sole purpose of providing education for the less fortunate amongst us. A movement would be run by dedicated volunteers. If we can do this, we will have a more educated population in a few decades who will stop blaming evey problem in the country on witchcraft and silly things like that. Eventually, we would have a significant population who understand that the reason for the sickness and poverty in the country is to do with bad government first and foremost, and then other factors such as laziness, lack of basic social ammenities and this inherent belief amongst Nigerians of lesser means that by just sitting down and praying for something it happens.

If the people are more aware of the role of government in their life, the government would be held more accountable. I dont care how many army men the government have, if the masses revolt and understand the reason for the revolt (which will enable people stay the cause) we will see serious change in Nigeria one day.

I also think that many of these churches that preach these messages of violence, intolerance and hatred need to be abolished. How can you claim to be a christian and yet support the killing of another human being for no reason other than a few people's paranoia. Its a shame

Now I'm not stupid! I know that Nigeria is soo spoiled that no one would even want to volunteer for this sort of programe for fear that it is a scam. Well, one can always hope.

NO.
Obama is 47, Yar' Adua is 57 (since when is that about the same).
Obama quit smoking, Yar'Adua continues procedure.
Obama is 6"1.5, Yar' Adua is 5"7.
Obama is athletic and healthy looking, Yar'Adua looks as though he doesn't need to worry about global warming.
Obama married one wife while Yar'Adua married two, the second one from 1992 to 1997.
Obama, the most charismatic guy of our generation, Yar'Adua can even inspire a mosquito.
Obama is deliberating, calculating guy wheras Yar'Adua just suffers from overall slow reactions to stimuli.
They are both quite liberal though and they both taught at some point. As for the tapping ass thing, how do you know, did they reject you?

merge:
He is not black.

Actually, I prefer if he loses

He is claiming black to get black votes and to make history.

He is the first black and white president.

Only a 100% Black men can say he is BLACK.

My opinion.

Merge, I have to respectfully disagree with with you. By your reasoning, I guess you also think that when he married Michelle he did it in anticipation of his presidential campaign some 15/16 years later. Democrats have been getting the black vote in recent history, John Kerry got 90% of the black vote in 2004 and I think we can all agree he is white. My father's grandfather was a white Englishman and my father and his sisters are as light as anything (lighter than Obama) as a result yet they (my father and his siblings) are considered black even in the heart of our village in Rivers State not to speak of the U.S. where they have the one drop rule. If you examine the DNA of African Americans, you will find that way over half of them have some European or Native American ancestry, by your standards there is virtually no African American that can claim to be black then innit? Maybe before there can be a truly black president in America, Americans have to come to the heart of sub-saharan Africa to find that 100% black guy/gal.

I have to disagree with you on scrapping the Nigerian film industry. Most of those movies are so badly done that I just see them as comedy, so please let's keep it as a source of comic relief to Nigerians and others around the world. On the other hand it is the third largest movie industry in the world and provides employment for millions of Nigerians. The best thing to do would be to regulate the industry as opposed to scrapping it completely.

Well, the reason why I support him (primarily anyway) is because I think his policies on energy can possibly lead to a more diversified Nigerian economy if our government and private citizens take heed from what his proposed energy policy is and set up structures that would in a few years time benefit the agricultural, manufacturing, energy sector (for instance coal- I think we have that in Enugu), automobile assembling and many others. If this happens (I know I'm being very optimistic) then we would be less vulnerable as a nation to shifts in policies of western governments in future as we'll have a much more robust economy. That said I don't think that Obama is planning on treating Nigeria and indeed Africa any different than others have in recent years. I would also be lying as would a lot of us if I said that the fact he was black was not a factor but that is not the reason for my primary support of Obama.

Mehn, I couldn't be happier with McCain's choice. The guy has obviously lost it (I doubt he ever had it). Meanwhile Obama did what I knew he would do by taking the higher ground and saying that familys' of candidates should be off limits, he even took a step further by saying his mom was 18 when she had him- Politics at its best. And Obama is now riding high with a lead of 8 points in some polls and when we look at the projected outcome of the electoral college votes the guy is fairing even better. It's funny how republicans are now saying that Gov. Palin's daughter is not aborting the baby and therefore has family values. How's about teaching your daughter to keep her toto to herself seeing as Sarah Palin is the "All American Mom". I genuinely think McCAin is losing it, first he forgets how many homes he owns and now he picks Sarah Palin after one visit and a 15 minute phone conversation. OBAMA for President!!!!! I'm in DC right now and the support for Obama here is overwhelming- think I'll go get me a t-shirt.

From what I've heard about the guy over the last few months and especially during the Democratic National Convention last week, the guy wants America to be independent of oil as a source of energy in ten years (I don't know if that's possible to be honest- but let's assume it is anyway). For this to happen, I believe America will have to be able to design cars that run on solar energy and electrical cars (there are some out already but they are highly inefficient, can usually only go a couple hundred miles and need six hours or more to be charged not to mention the cost of buying one- but lets assume it gets more efficient wit time anyway) but not bio-fuels though (at least not solely). If America is able to develop this technology in that ten-year period, I am pretty certain the Japanese Auto industry and others in Europe and around the world will develop that same sort of technology and Nigerians will inevitably import these cars (I really wish I could say develop similar technology but that is sadly not going to be the case in the near future).

Anyway, my point is that the demand for our bonny crude and crude oil around the world generally will face a sharp decline. As you may or may not know, oil makes up over 90% of Nigeria's Foreign Exchange with the rest of the world. We have failed time and time again to have a sufficiently diversified economy and if Mr. Obama can put his money where his mouth is Nigeria may be in even bigger shit than it already is- or maybe just the few Nigerians that benefit from oil (those who work for oil companies, sell the stuff, contractors, services companies, government officials etc) as it doesn't do much for majority of Nigerians. Then again maybe it will finally lead to a more diversified economy than we already have- one can dream. What do you think?

I used to get angry over this issue up until last month or so. The fact of the matter is that the vast majority of Africa is underdeveloped- I think we can all agree with that, well I hope we can. However, the media in western countries does not do us justice at alll, at all, at all. They are quick to show the slumps and huts and are equally quick to report bad news whereas good news barely even gets a mention in the news. I remember watching Christian Purefoy reporting from Ghana sometime last year and CNN made sure that behind him was completely pitch black, suggesting there is no electricity (in my opinion anyway). My sister has been asked by some Americans if we had monkeys as neighbours in Nigeria to which she replied: "oh certainly, my did went to work with one" and the sad thing is they believed her. I have been asked by some random dude if I know a girl named Ssanyu from Uganda-what kind of dumbass question is that, how many people even know everyone on their street talkless of a continent with a billion people or so. It's just silly and people are equally silly for believing such stupid tales.

Anyway, the reason I've stopped getting angry is simple, the western media in my opinion does what it does to make its citizens feel better about themselves and its time we did the same man. Do you know some of the stories happening in Nigeria are actually gotten from CNN and BBC whose headquarters are based in Atlanta and London respectively. What we need to do as a nation or as a continent is to develop our very own media house which would be broadcast around the world (I don't mean AIT, the service in London is very shitty). We need to develop a media powerhouse that can compete against the BBC's and CNN's. That's what we need to do but whether or not we can actually do it is the real issue.

It is indeed a shame. When I was younger my dad tried soo hard to make us learn our native tongue, Kalabari. He would bring in nannys that couldn't speak English, he would go for weeks without speaking English to us  but we strongly resisted learning the language because we just didn't see the point and the fact that my grandfather was a scholar with vast knowledge on the history, culture and language of the Kalabari people made things worse. My mum (whose mother is Kalabari) and her mum also encouraged us but with a softer approach than my dad, when all was lost my mum simply said I would regret it some day and boy has that day come.

That said, speaking good and proper English (not the half baked crap we here on AIT, NTA and from our so called English teachers in Nigeria) in this day and age is a must. It helps to bridge the communication gap between the many tribes in Nigeria and also gives us that freedom to move around the worls easier (the world is becoming more and more global by the day and it is not enough for us to just stay in our little corners of the world like we did in the 16th century).

On th whole I think the focus for African parents should be making sure their child understands and can communicate fluently in English or French(yeah right!!!) depending on the country and possibly Chinese if fortunate enough before trying to teach them the native tongue which I think serves  a very important cultural purpose but does not help one advance in life as we know it today.

It's not neccessary a bad thing. In my secondary school in Nigeria, (which was in a town called Offa in Kwara State) there were quite a number of Nigerians who grew up in the US and the UK who came there for their high school education and I personally think it is the best thing a Nigerian parent in diaspora can do for their kids because it enables them to learn more about their own culture, teaches them the value of respect and just generally helps them to better understand and deal with their Nigerian brothers and sisters. Of course these kids (along with many of us who lived in Nigeria at the time) all went abroad for our university/college education. What this does is that it gives the kids that flexibility in future after their education, they would be more flexible in making a decission as to where they want to settle down as they would have a relatively good understanding of both culures. Just my two cents.

Mine would have to be my father for his intelligence, independence and foresight, my mother for her good business sense, intelligence and most importantly her strength- in her ability to raise and provide abundantly for three small kids due to an unforeseen tragic event solely on her own, Abraham Lincoln (no mere mortal comes close to the great emmancipator's foresight and magnanimity) Martin Luther King jr, and Barack Obama (I recommend reading his books especially dreams from my father, it is the most honest piece of literature I have ever read from any politician) and I have to say Jesus for his unique ability to mobilise so many people even 2000 years after his death is nothing short of miraculous-while I know it is not possible to reach the heights of Jesus, I still feel He is worth mentioning here.
Others worth a mention are Mandela, Malcolm X, FDR, Theodore Roosevelt, Umaru Yar'Adua (lol), various uncles and aunties who have done good for themselves through sheer will and dogged tenacity. I guess you could say every step I have taken (starting last year anyway) has been influenced in one way or the other by these great people.

You

girl22:
More whites than blacks on welfare despite myth - 39% of recipients are white, 37% are African American - Brief Article
Jet, Nov 14, 1994
There are 14 million welfare recipients in America. And despite what most people think, the majority are not Black.

The truth is, about 39 percent of parents on welfare are White, 37 percent Black, 18 percent Hispanic and 6 percent Asian, Native American or another race.



"My bet is that most people, if forced to name a typical welfare recipient, would talk about a Black woman, whose mother received AFDC (Aid to Families For Dependent Children) before her and whose children will receive AFDC," says Univ. of Michigan economist Greg Duncan in USA Today. Duncan told the paper that the stereotype "just does not do justice to reality."

COPYRIGHT 1994 Johnson Publishing Co.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group

Your argument is flawed in a sense. True, there may be more whites than blacks on welfare, but you have to also consider the fact that blacks only make up 12.8% of America's population whereas whites make up 80.1% of the population. The population of America is 304.5million, therefore there are about 244million whites and about 39million blacks. If there are 14million people on welfare as you say and 39% are white, while 37% are black, it means there are about 5.5million whites on welfare and 5.2million blacks. This in turn means that about 2% of white Americans are on welfare while 13% of black Americans are on welfare . Of course, I'm only woring with the figures you have provided so my argument is flawed in the sense that there are even more black people on welfare now (which is just sad). I also think you misunderstand your post, you are referring to the proportion of people on welfare as 37% in 1994 and are now saying 25% of blacks are on welfare and you seem to think this is a good think when it really is not, in fact going by my calculations that would mean that the percentage of blacks on welfare has increased by 12% from 13% to 25% which is pathetic.

That said however, I don't think the media treats black Americans fairly in the sense that while a higher percentage of them as a whole are on welfare programmes as opposed to whites (the ideal thing to do would be to carry out investigations that go towards understanding the root cause of this problem, rather than portraying all black Americans as welfare beneficiaries on the news), they are not the majority on the welfare programmes (based on your figures of course) if you get my drift. God help us all.

I do support Obama's course, I have read a lot on the guy and followed his campaign all the way from the cnn-youtube debate last year (i think it was in august). I most admit, my curiousity about Obama started because the guy is black, but as time's gone by I have continued to read more and more about the guys policies on Iraq, Afghanistan and Healthcare so I know what he's about.
A lot of people also think the guy is some kind of angel but from what I read in the recent New Yorker article (you know, the one with the fist bump) I came to see that the guy is just a smart, very calculating kind of guy. That said I still hope he wins the election as does almost every other person in the world.

And these guys are supposed to be fighting for freedom and development. True freedom fighters don't collect bribes. These idiots are just freaking thieves and should go and eat cow dung or manure or maybe yar'adua's shit. Perhaps the rest of us should join the militants, if that's the consequence of their criminal actions, then it is obviously a very lucrative business to be in where there is nothing but huge profits to be made on virtually zero capital.

Most certainly. Last year, Unilever in the UK was interviewing 30 students at my university for a one-year mechanical engineering internship, 3 people were going to be chosen from that interview to proceed to the second stage and I was one of the 3. I sent a thank you note after the first interview and made it to the second stage so the "thank you" note didn't hurt (don't know for sure if it helps but I think it does). What the thank you note does is it keeps you fresh in the interviewer's mind and it shows you are very interested in the job, which means they will unknowingly have a more favourable view of you. Just my 2 cents.

I appreciate the fact that a senator feels compelled to take a radical step to save Nigeria from the evil PHSN. However, this guy does not seem very smart for someone whose name is Smart does he? This has to be one of the most stupid things I've ever heard of. Does the guy realise the effects this will have on the people and the economy? As if Nigerians aren't suffering enough already. Is it the people's fault power supply is crappy in Nigeria? No!!!! It is the fault of the bastard, selfish, uneducated, greedy, buffonish government we've had ever since I can remember (no disrespect to Smart, I understand he's trying to help). The effects of a ban would be crippling on the economy. People would not be able to keep their perishable items frozen because, PHCN doesn't exctly provide power frequently enough for that, moreover people wouldn't be able to take goods to their friends homes to store vecause their friends would equally be in the same situation and so on.

When the stupid idea starts affecting businesses, I wonder if that would include all the oil companies as well (the ones that line these idiots pockets) or will it just be Mr Ajayi's small supermarket in Diobu. If supermarkets don't have electricity most of the time, they would run out of business fast and that would keep happening all over the country driving the cost of goods high as Redman because supply of basic goods would be almost non-existant.

Perhaps what should happen is that the Commissioners, Local Government Chairmen/women, Senators, Ministers, Governors and the President and his vice should be banned from having generators, they are afterall the ones that need to set the wheel in motion and not the common Nigerian man or woman on the street.

I understand that radical steps need to be taken to solve the problem in the power sector, but the steps taken should not cripple the economy so badly. These guys all need to sit down and think of a strategy which makes more sense. I can give a million more reasons why this is a bad idea, but I have to start heading home, it's 5pm here (thereabout).

I currently work as a mechanical engineer on a one year internship programme in a pretty big company (fortune 500). I am mainly involved in the product development of new paper handling machines. I design test rigs which the company uses to conduct research on things like sensors, I conduct tests of my own on various other components, build prototype machines (which takes weeks at times) and occassionally I train other engineers on how to build the machines.

The job is certainly challenging, it has its ups and downs like most other jobs, ups being when you have a design solution to a problem and downs being when you don't . The pressure is crazy (especially when you have three managers in the room hustling you to finish an assignment so software can do their bit on the machine), the hours can be long and it takes a lot of innovation, imagination, hardwork and commonsense.

I am almost done with the internship however (it's been eleven months so far) and I'm looking forward to my final year of university. After that I might try my hands at investment banking (corporate finance) or go to work as an engineer for an oil service company.

Ultimately, my ideal job would be one where I successfully run my own business or businesses in Nigeria. I just think it would be best for me to try and gain a few years of experience here in the UK and maybe the US before going back to Nigeria to aquire the skills and swagger required to make it there.

如果大家您在這裡投票支持我在2027萘及利亞人的總統選舉，我會感激。 歡呼

This one is used by Nigerian journalists during interviews when they wanna ask for an introduction:

"May we meet you?"

And this one is used by a lot of kids when asked where they r going:

"Am going to nkem them their house"

(it can be any name, just used nkem)

cola:
the way some chaps reason here in this virtual cyber community makes me fear for the future of the Nigerian community
Or is it just that most intelligent young nigerians don't have the time for this kind of cyber community?

Agreed, there is still no electricity and there are street urchins,

so every other thing must be put on hold until power problem is resolved and all urchins rehabilitated!

even if second-hand smoking is a serious health issue?

without any intent to condescend, it's just that it's difficult sometimes to ignore some folks here!

God bless you oh! You hit the nail on the head. Whenever the government makes a positive move you have all sorts of people asking " is that the best they can do?". We need to show our appreciation for any positive steps taken by the government. Pa sisi. Please. Ejo. Do.

Had to remove this. In case it offends anyone.

I wouldn't have thought silverbird would take that sort of stupid risk. If their actions are discovered by international regulatory bodies against piracy then they'll be in trouble. They are gonna sue their asses to the point whereby they can't even afford star (abi na trust) tissue paper anymore. It would be soo stupid of them to try that sort of thing.
Then again I wasn't there with you in the cinema so I can't say it did not happen.

This is no joke. I saw it on the rivers state governments website. Someones name is Childlike Erotic Catechism. To make it worse the brotha has a title so its Rt Hon Childlike Erotic Catechism. The parents didnt think the surname was bad enuff, thay had to go the extra mile.

Queenisha:
Those pictures could be of any town or city in Naija.
Nigeria makes me want to cry.

While you make a fair point, the difference as far as I know is that other cities in Nigeria (Lagos, Port Harcourt, Abuja) as well as Zamfara State all have many upscale and decent looking areas. I don't know that Aba does and that makes it bad. Also, you really need to be in the Aba itself to know what it feels like being there. It was like one big freaking market.

Well, I'm not going to criticise women who get pregnant before marriage as being immoral or what not. Afterall it takes two to tango. However, I think it is important that a child grows up in a home where both parents are present (not neccessarily married but at least together). You look at what happens (especially) in the black communities in the U.K. and the U.S where a child is raised by one parent. It hardly ends up well (19 stabbings in London this year!!!). I'm not saying kids can't make something out of themselves in a single parent household, (I was raised by a single mother though this was due to the death of my dad when i was young) but they have a better shot when both parents are involved in their lives.