₦airaland Forum

BBC Shola Odunfa

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8161952.stm


In our series of weekly viewpoints from African journalists, Sola Odunfa decides to take a break from the hurly burly of Nigeria's biggest city, Lagos.

Shortly after my last column I felt I had had enough of the pressure and tension of life in my beloved Lagos.


  There were no robbery alarms in the night and I heard no gun-shots

I concluded that the perennial traffic jam had become insufferable; that I could no longer stand the sight of the large armies of street beggars and menacing rough-necks, whom we call "area boys"; that I longed for the long-lost luxury of being able to sleep at night without keeping an ear on alert for armed robbers.

In short I needed a break from everything in the environment which had given me, and continued to nourish, an apparently incurable headache.

Call it a holiday.

Cultural connections

My destinations were to be the coastal cities of Cotonou and Lome.

Ordinarily Cotonou, Benin's main city, should be an hour's drive from Lagos but it was far enough because the road to the border at Seme was as bad as any road could be in this rainy season.



Cotonou is much more relaxed than Lagos
Lome, Togo's capital, was to be about four hours' drive further.

The first thing which struck me in Cotonou was the very high tariff in good hotels.

I had to settle for a house which was advertised as a hotel but which, inside, looked more like a school hostel in Lagos. Good enough, because it was pocket friendly.

I still had the fears I would in any town in Nigeria. Fear of unwelcome visitors in the dead of night. Fear of a power-cut which would plunge the hotel into darkness.

Surprise, surprise! There were no robbery alarms in the night and I heard no gun-shots.

There was electricity all through the night. Power-cuts were not common, I was told.


These discoveries on my first night made the rest of the visit relaxing, except that I disliked riding commercial motorcycles because I considered myself too old for such adventures. Taxis were rare.

I found much cultural affinity between this part of Benin Republic and western Nigeria where I lived.

I did not understand the French language but I got by speaking my native Yoruba. A large part of the population there spoke the Yoruba language, with a slight variant though.

There was not much difference in their food and that of western Nigeria.

Fashion

Coming from Lagos, I noticed in no time that dressing here was simple.


 
At the border area there was a checkpoint every 100 metres, with officials at each demanding bribes to facilitate our vehicle's passage

Most men wore "boubou" and "sokoto", that is, traditional trousers and tops, made from wax-printed cotton.

Probably because I had no business in banks and offices, I did not meet any man in Italian-cut suits and London-tailored T M Lewin shirts which are the trendy wears in Lagos.

The women wore a wrapper of material and boubou, but the popular work dress was jeans.

The road from Cotonou to Lome was only slightly better than that from Lagos to Seme. The rains had washed off long stretches.

However the comfort of the coach in which I travelled compensated for the rough road. Lome itself was, to me, a dream!

The city was peaceful, hotels were not expensive, the food was familiar and good and the beach was long, clean and inviting.

In three of the five days I spent in the town, I would go to the beach shortly after noon, find an unoccupied bench, lie on the concrete and indulgently slip into dreamland.

'The Nigerian factor'

On the two days I didn't go to the beach I was kept away by rain.

I found much spiritual satisfaction just lying in the shade of tall palm trees and watching people go about their businesses and fishermen either pulling in their boats or tending their nets.



The beach in Lome offered hours of relaxation


The Togolese might not have the material standard of life of where I came from, but the quality of life was higher.

My return journey was uneventful, that is, until the coach reached the Seme border.

We had crossed the Togo/Benin border at Illah Konji without any hustle.

The problem began as soon as we arrived at the Nigerian side of the border at Seme and the notorious "Nigerian factor" descended on us.

At the border area there was a checkpoint every 100 metres, with officials at each demanding bribes to facilitate our vehicle's passage.

Beyond Seme the checkpoints came at one- or two-kilometre intervals, manned variously by the police, customs officials and anti-drug officers - all armed.

I wondered how the Beninoise and Togolese authorities maintained the discipline I noticed at their borders.

The supposed two-hour journey to Lagos lasted double that time.

I knew I had returned home and my heart skipped one or two beats.

This is how the oil deposit in akwa ibom looks like. So the north should forget bayelsa state. if jonathan does not want to join benin , his local govt is close to river state. just cut his local govt into river state.

The north should not be too greed and they should believe i am telling them the true. 70% of nigeria oil is in river and akwa ibom state, imo and abia. The north should forget bayelsa state , there is not so much oil in bayelsa state.

see picture. and here are the oil field names.




Some of the oilfield that would remain in Nigeria (70% 0f the oil)
Afam Umuosi,

Alakiri
Afam
Cawthorne Channel
Usan
Cross River-1
Abana
Ngboko 1 Ngolo
Agbada
Ekulama
Apara
Imo River
Akri / Oguta
Adanga

Adanga North

Oguta
Qua Ibo
Asasa
Buguma Creek
Asaramatoru
Adua
Adibawa
Oyo
Oron West
Ikong / Nkuku
Etim
Akpor
Ahia
Otamini
Obele
Oza
Korokoro
Yorla
Tai
Utapate South
Orubiri
Krakama
Okono
Bomu
Yokuru 1
Ubie
Agwe
Agbara

Onne
Opobo South
Ima
Ime
Inanga
Elelenwa
Inim
Mfem
Egbema
Egbema East
Egbema South
Egbema W
Odeama Creek
Kolo Creek
Oshi
Yorla South Nigeria Open Acreage
Kokori
Isimiri
Anieze
Akpo
Obodo
Obigbo
Obigbo north
Ohaji South
Akamba
Ekpe A
Ekpe B
Ekpe WW
Ekeh
Ubeta
Ubeta Deep Prospect

Ogbogene
Ogbogene West
Ofon
Ofon South
Robertkiri
Ameena
Ogbainbiri
Bonny
Akam
Nkali
Rumuekpe
Akaso
Alaoma
Akuba
Ukot Ukpam
Ukpeme
Bilabri-Orobiri
Bodo West
Bogi
Oghareki
North Oron
Gbaran 1
Samabri
Samabri East
Bolia
Stubb Creek
Yora
Bella
Dawes Island
Awoba
Chota
Uquo
Iyak
Iyak SE
Ibibio
Ibigwe Ibot 1
Obeakpu
Shokoloko
Okpoho
Esuk / Edidiana
Emem
Enang
Ekanga / Zafiro
Ikija BB
Unam
Owanare-1
Obagi
Uyai Prospect
Usari
Obiafu
M’Bede
Kalaekule
Izombe
Utue
Kahuna
Oyot
Nkarika
Santa Barbara 1
Santa Barbara South
Seagull
Idama
Obodugwa
Anyala
Nnwa
Giligili
Ohuru 3
Kita
Kito North
Ebughu and Extensions
Ossu
Egwa
Obodeti

black no reply

awo never stave anyone?

your igbo people went to war against nigeria and in war people suffer and it had nothing to do with awo. awo did not ask igbos to declear a civil war.? awo was in jail in the east during most of the story of the civil war. stop telling a lie.

awo paid igbo 20 pound. nigeria did not need to pay people any more. no africa countries have ever pay anyone money after a civil war. 20 pound those days was alot of money. it was the same salary of a teacher . it was alot of money most igbo would never earn 20 pound in thier life those day. teacher was like God. it was like paying igbo money you pay to God, even yorubas never recieve 20 pound for getting killed over the war. this is one of the reason the igbos took over trading in yorubaland. while the yorubas had no money to start a business , the igbos had 20 pound.

the supreme court ? there is no justice in nigeria either from the police, military or court system.

the court in nigeria is not different from the nigeria police. i do not see the nigeria court doing anything better than the police , nigeria court is like the nigeria police. it is full of injustice and innocent people are send to jail based on connection and mafia setting.

you people should stop listen to chuck odili and nigeriaworld.com this person be like say na 419. yar adua and tinubu are friends. even yar adua have know tinubu for more than 30 years. yar adua use to live in lagos. yar adua knows tinubu mother. yar adua father was a minister of the federal republic of nigeria and yar adua was living with his father in lagos.

yar adua had know tinubu before they went into politics. yar adua even worked in lagos before.

may be jj rawling made a mistake.

or did someone pay jj rawling.


what do you call all the cancel election in nigeria and re election after yar adua came to power. is that not call rigging. jj rawling may not have said so. or he does not know anything about , may be he made a mistake.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
arrest killers of mohammed yussuf. it is illegal to kill a prisoner before justice is done. and it is also illegal to walk into a mosque under international law to arrest a person because he share a different opinion of your religion.

this is why nigeria may face the ICJ. so yar adua have to quickly arrest all the people involve in mohammed yussuf killing. all the police and military men should be arrest now. if not the ICJ may hold yar adua accountable and may order for his arrest or even any nigeria governor, senators and rep, if you leave nigeria and go to other country.

arrest mohammed yussuf killer.

arrest killers of mohammed yussuf. it is illegal to kill a prisoner before justice is done. and it is also illegal to walk into a mosque under international law to arrest a person because he share a different opinion of your religion.

this is why nigeria may face the ICJ. so yar adua have to quickly arrest all the people involve in mohammed yussuf killing. all the police and military men should be arrest now. if not the ICJ may hold yar adua accountable and may order for his arrest or even any nigeria governor, senators and rep, if you leave nigeria and go to other country.

arrest mohammed yussuf killer.

eziachi, you and your biafra people better be careful. if not uwazubike would end up like yussuf mohammed. stop shouting biafra. it would never happen.

you see this is what would happen for peace. biafra would only result in a war. but removing the yorubas, edo, delta and bayelsa would not result in a war. igbos are not ready to fight over the fact that they remove the yorubas, edo, delta and bayelsa into benin republic.

blackspade look at this picture this is what would happen. do you say yes too.

who and who should go to the ICJ. Already nigeria have commited a crime under international law against human right abuse in the north and delta state. I think nigeria should quickly be smart before they order for yar adua arrest or the senators and others. remove the yorubas, edo, delta and bayelsa into benin republic. because nigeria have commited a crime.

if you remove the yorubas, edo, delta and bayelsa state into benin republic. who are they going to arrest . the old nigeria is dead.


Guantanamo prison is allowed under international law. in war you are allowed to arrest people. that what the USA did and they can not be taken to the ICJ. prison of war. but in the case of nigeria yar adua can be arrested and taken to the ICJ. Not only yar adua but the senators , representative and others can be arrested over it. look i can see danger in this. to avoid continue violent in the north. remove the yorubas, edo, delta and bayelsa into benin republic.

i predict there would be violent in nigeria during election, you need to prove how a northerner won an election. remove the yorubas, edo, delta and bayelsa into benin republic. , you make the north the majority. i would post all names of oil field the north would be getting from this.  this way you make the north majority and no need for election rigging. the igbos traders are not ready to leave their shop and fight for the remover of yorubas, edo, delta and bayelsa into benin republic. their are not ready to loss thier good and money because of this. they are mostly traders.


you dont want them to arrest people over some things. 

some Nigeria oilfield that would remain in nigeria. i would post others later.
Afam Umuosi,

Alakiri
Afam
Cawthorne Channel
Usan
Cross River-1
Abana
Ngboko 1 Ngolo 
Agbada
Ekulama
Apara
Imo River
Akri / Oguta

Adanga North
Adanga

   
Oguta
Qua Ibo
Asasa
Buguma Creek
Asaramatoru
Adua
Adibawa
Oyo
Oron West
Ikong / Nkuku
Etim
Akpor
Ahia
Otamini
Obele
Oza
Korokoro
Yorla
Tai
Utapate South
Orubiri
Krakama
Okono
Bomu
Yokuru 1
Ubie
Agwe
Agbara
Opobo South
Onne
Inanga
Ime
Ima

   
         
Elelenwa
Inim
Egbema
Egbema east
Egbema south
Egbema west
Mfem
         
Odeama Creek
Kolo Creek
Oshi
Yorla South  Nigeria Open Acreage
Kokori
Isimiri