₦airaland Forum

I do not care about IBB, it's the people that support him that I am worried about.

Those fool that wants Dora to resign should be the ones to resign they are the bad egg of Nigeria.
Dora is the best thing that have happen to Nigeria in a long time and I am proud of her.

Dora Akunyili for president.

You guys should pray for Nigeria not Yaradua.

Kobojunkie:
What Statistics? You came up with the claim that Scammers and dishonest Nigerians are in the MINORITY, yet EVERY Single day, across the globe, HUNDREDS OF thousands of Scam Emails are intercepted.

Dude, are you serious? I thought you were smarter than that. It does not take a whole nation of 150 million people to send this amount of scam emails. One individual alone can send thousands of emails in a day. It's called Phishing. DUH!

OH!! Now we redefine scamming? So, we should Judge a WHOLE NATION by a handful of people you claim to know? Your story here just brought to mind the case on Dateline yesterday. Particular man swore his friend was the most honest and decent man on the planet, yet this same friend of his turned out to be the one who raped his wife, and was later caught trying to kidnap a 17 year old, and then accused of taking pictures and stalking women. Goodluck with your “honest” bunch there but do not confuse them with the whole of Nigeria.

Neither you nor I have sufficient proof to back up our respective claims. We seem to have different perceptions of Nigeria. Me, I look beyond the hype created by the media and Nigeria-haters, and I see the good side (which clearly exists). Now that I know your mindset, Kobojunkie, I know you are the kind of person that I won't waste any more time arguing with. So don't bother replying.

Kobojunkie:
PROVE IT or stop spreading lies!!!

How can the majority be HONEST AND SAINTLY people, where everywhere you go, there is one crime being committed or another and the same look away and even accept it like it is NORMAL?
Last I checked at least 8 out of 10 Nigerians will readily pay bribe to get by. 7 out of 10 will ask for EGUNJE !

Where is your proof? Where do you get your statistics from?!
Of the Nigerians I know (i.e. friends, family etc.), the majority are good, honest people. Also, taking bribe is not the same as scamming people.
I have been around the world, to many countries, and the people I have come across are no better than Nigerian people. Plus, people are so focused on those few bad apples who scam people, that they overlook the fact that most Nigerians do not engage in such fraudulent behaviour. That is not to say there are no evil or corrupt people in Nigeria. I am just saying that they are in the minority. And speaking of crime, there are many countries with higher crime rates than Nigeria (e.g. South Africa).

agathamari:
you cant bitch at how people from nigeria have "tarnished" your image.  nigeria sueing sony for this would be like john gotti sueing hollywood for portraying him as a mobster.  it would be thrown out of court and cause everyone in the court to pee themselves with laughter.  you want the world to stop seeing nigeria as a land of scamers them stop scamming the world.  hello!

Are you serious? That is the worst analogy I have ever come across. But in your own head, you probably consider yourself to be a very smart person,
The minority of Nigerians are scammers. Most Nigerians are good, honest people. It is therefore unfair to generalise and protray all Nigerians as scammers! Have you ever heard of prejudice? Because the Sony ad perpetuates an unfair prejudice, and this is wrong!

what is the exact perecentage of Nigerians who are scammers? It is going to be less than 0.005%. A minute proportion!

Mad_Max:
What silliness, what rot. Get it into your daft, self-immolating skull that SONY had no right to insult an entire country, irrespective of what its govt does. Nigerians live in other countries and it doesn't help that horrible misconceptiions about us are stamped into their minds before any of them even meets a single Nigerian. Image is everything. Perception is reality. There simply is no justifying SONY's actions and it's disgraceful to have Nigerians gleefully applaud this and rant about 'corrupt' govt.You can protest and clean up at home and still protect your image overseas and Nigerians abroad, you know.

Spot on!

Obviously power is the top priority. But can someone explain to me (because this has been bothering my mind for some time): how can Nigeria, the country with the largest deposits of bitumen, have such terrible roads? Why can't they use that bitumen to improve the roads? What is stopping them?
Fixing the roads is another top priority. If Yar'adua could at least do one of the above, Nigerian citizens would remember him for it.

I think it's brilliant that the Nigerian government is responding to the Sony ad. Spot on.

Funny! has this dude never heard of hoarding. He will simply create a frenzy of mallams buying dollars and saving them for later, when they will sell them for ridiculous prices. 
you can't satisfy the Nigerian hunger for the Dollar.

Oshoimhole, has some explaining to do. 

@topic That means the naira is going to be devalued further. yeh!

@ Topic, this is madness.

Let's play with the idea of having a female president for Nigeria.  NICE!

blacksta:
Ibb has turned a new leaf . Please give him a chance - This man will try and correct his many wrongs

This is the funniest thing I have read in a long while.

IBB at it again. Lol

Unserious people and juveniles came and hijacked the thinking of Nairaland.

Lol seriously this is a nice topic.

I don’t disagree with you. Insults aside, we probably have a similar opinion of Nigeria. It is the psychological impact of insults thrown about on message boards such as these, or even in casual conversations among Nigerians, which I am concerned about.
There are lots of Nigerians in the diaspora, some of whom have never been to Nigeria. Reading these insults will certainly not make them want to associate themselves with their home country. Or think of foreigners – would they want to visit Nigeria after reading all this negativity? What kind of image are we projecting of our country?
This is why I support Dora Akunyili – I totally agree with the idea of re-branding Nigeria. This is not to say that we should not talk about the flaws and problems in Nigeria. But we need to do this in a constructive manner! Constructive criticism leads to new ideas and solutions. Insults do not – on the contrary, they are extremely destructive and don’t produce anything positive.

Thor:
LMAO

Seems you are at least one person that has listened and you would have not replied.

Nobody is trying to say that Nigerians are stupid full stop. There are of course many extremely well educated Nigerians, but as a % related to the whole population, the number is small.

Maybe we should change the name of this thread to : Nigerians: 45% are Illiterate and the rest have a low standard of education

Correction: I did not read the post. After reading the title, I immediately lost interest - I merely skimmed people's responses, which confirmed my impression that this is yet another thread designed to slander Nigeria.
I think your suggestion to change the title of the thread is great!

I have noticed that a lot of people on this board take a real pleasure in insulting Nigeria and calling it stupid. You must come from a family of morons, probably your father and mother are stupid and your siblings are imbeciles. How can you insult a whole nation? Why not offer constructive criticism for once? Stop using these sensation-seeking terms to draw attention to yourself.
I think a lot of you are not even Nigerian. Just because you can write in Pidgin does not make you a Nigerian. Please don’t think you are fooling anyone. What kind of a slowpoke are you to keep insulting your country? Does that help your country in any way? Does it make things better?
If you have no solutions to offer, your posts are redundant and a waste of time. Moreover, when you insult Nigeria, this will not make people want to listen to what you have to say. Be constructive.

texazzpete:
So even after i've taken pains to show that her skills in spoken English aren't the issue, you still can spout this brainless assumption?
You're right. you're not like me. You're rather daft, to put it delicately.

So you really do think the majority of Nigerians practice witchcraft and visit Native doctors, abi?

This is not about what I believe; this is about Rita's observations and beliefs. You cannot dismiss them as dumb. This is what she has observed in the society she lives in. In essence, Rita was trying to explain that witchcraft is depicted so much in Nollywood that people who come to Nigeria will be afraid, as their view of Nigeria has been shaped by these images. Thus, as part of re-branding Nigeria, witchcraft should not be depicted in those movies to such an extent anymore.
Do you get it now? Or is it still not getting through? Too dense, are you?

texazzpete:
First you say she expressed her points in a way that any Nigerian should easily understand her. Now you claim she was not able to get her point across very well.
Can you stop the double-speak?

Now you are deliberately being obtuse, probably because you want to get the last word in.
Let me clarify: When I was saying that she was not getting her point across very well, I meant by international standards (or your standards). However, as a Nigerian, I understood her and I expect any other Nigerian did too.
I used to be like you, dismissing people as dumb because they lacked English language skills. However, I am older and wiser now, and I have learned that not being good at spoken English has nothing to do with being of below average intelligence.

texazzpete:
You don't read very well, do you? My point has never been solely about her abuse of the English language. i'm more concerned with the content of her discourse. I've said that before, so i cannot fathom why you idiotically harp on about her diction. I see your childish assumption of me 'sleeping better at night' and 'pointing fingers at her' as little more than a freudian slip.

I clearly understood the message she was trying to convey. like most Nigerians, i understand and speak pidgin English. However, it should be obvious - even to one such as yourself - that understanding the content does not make it any less dumb.
Rita insists that

1. majority of Nigerians 'do demons'
2. The EFCC is under yahoo yahoo
3. The reason why the anti-corruption campaign has been unsuccessful in Nigeria is because the 419ers have jazz, and the EFCC have not been properly equipped with juju to fight back effectively.


Points #1 is laughable. She knows what the words 'majority' and 'demons' mean, so we cannot explain that away on bad english. Point #2 is funny. Point #3 is the silliest by far, and it shows a shocking lack of analytical skills, which is exclusive of the quality of anyone's language skills.
The fact that you support these ludicrous claims serves as an indication of your own level of intelligence.

In fact, you serve as an excellent example. You have a decent command of the English language, yet you're somewhat lacking on the intelligence front.

Right then, let’s address the content of Rita’s discourse. I am beginning to understand the problem: You’re confusing “being dumb” with “being naïve”. Rita comes from a Nigerian society, where the belief in witchcraft is commonplace. This becomes especially evident when watching Nollywood movies.
The content of what she is saying is not dumb, it is simply naïve.
1. majority of Nigerians 'do demons' = the majority of Nigerians practise witchcraft. She seems to be speaking from her observation; many people, Christians and Muslims alike, visit the native doctor. This is commonplace not only in Nigerian but also in African society in general. When people come to Nigeria they are afraid because of what they have seen on television, and this shapes their perception of Nigeria.
2. The EFCC is under yahoo yahoo = the EFCC are not well equipped; the Yahoo boys are better funded and thus ahead of them, being able to bribe their way out when arrested, and being able to outsmart the justice system. If this is not the case, then why are there so many Yahoo criminals out there? Clearly EFCC must not be doing their job properly.
3. The reason why the anti-corruption campaign has been unsuccessful in Nigeria is because the 419ers have jazz, and the EFCC have not been properly equipped with juju to fight back effectively. = again, this is her being naïve. Also, there could be people in the EFCC who think like Rita.

You claim to be intelligent, yet you have not produced one intelligible argument to refute her claims! You have merely dismissed them as dumb, laughable, and silly – anyone can do that. If her claims are indeed ludicrous, you as a supposedly intelligent person should be able to explain why they are ludicrous.
Furthermore, your analytical skills are shockingly lacking as you are contradicting yourself. Language and content of her statements are not mutually exclusive; they go hand in hand. As her spoken English is lacking, she is not able to get her points across very well, which inevitably results in people like you dismissing her as a dumb person.

texazzpete:
You people make me laugh. I cringe when i hear some people say English is 'oyibo tongue'. Whether you like it or not, you clowns are Nigerians, and English is your national language. it's a language you've been taught from birth as befits a national language. Rita's problem isn't with her lack of dexterity in the spoken English language. Look past the horrible english and focus on the message she was trying to convey in the youtube vid. Does that ramble about EFCC, Jazz and Yahoo Yahoo strike you as intelligent discourse? Does it really? We Nigerians do demons?

At the end of the day, you viewers will decide who wins. But don't focus on the English part and look past the dumbness.

Wrong. A lot of Nigerians do not learn English from birth; they are taught English at Primary School. Even then, a lot of teachers do not speak good English themselves, or are unable to teach the English language properly. Rita is a product of the poor educational system. She herself indicated that she missed a lot of school because her parents were unable to pay the school fees. Moreover, other housemates have criticised her English, but they do not speak good English themselves. Shona, for example, can't even read English properly!
Rita's spoken English is far better than that of the average Nigerian women (looking at Nigeria as a whole, not just the South). This is supposed to be a Nigerian show; Rita represents the average Nigerian woman.
Also, Pidgin is an acceptable language in Nigeria, because that is what most Nigerians understand.
Regarding the content of Rita’s discourse, if you are a Nigerian, you will understand the messages she is trying to convey. If you bothered to listen to her properly, you would understand her, unless, of course, you are not Nigerian, or you are too arrogant to want to understand. People like Rita probably make you feel better about yourself, because you can point the finger at her and say that your English is better than hers. Does that make you a better person? Does that make you sleep better at night?

And I'm probably smarter than you. Dolt.

Which takes me to my next point: you claim to be smart, but what makes you feel that you are smart? A smart person is not someone who uses the biggest grammar, having looked it up in the dictionary previously. A smart person is patient and willing to learn. A smart person will try to understand other people, instead of dismissing them as dumb.
Are you really smart, Mr “I’m-smarter-than-Rita”?

texazzpete:
You people make me laugh. I cringe when i hear some people say English is 'oyibo tongue'. Whether you like it or not, you clowns are Nigerians, and English is your national language. it's a language you've been taught from birth as befits a national language.
Rita's problem isn't with her lack of dexterity in the spoken English language. Look past the horrible english and focus on the message she was trying to convey in the youtube vid. Does that ramble about EFCC, Jazz and Yahoo Yahoo strike you as intelligent discourse? Does it really? We Nigerians do demons?

At the end of the day, you viewers will decide who wins. But don't focus on the English part and look past the dumbness.

And you think you are smarter than rita?

blacksta:
It is only dumb people that believe this utter nonsense.

Only dumb people would dismiss this story without having reliable confirmation that it certainly isn't true.
This is reminiscent of the people who were dismissing the Holocaust at the time of the second world war, claiming it was not happening, when in fact it was. Until today, there are still people who claim that it never happened! They cannot believe that human beings could be so uncivilised as to commit such atrocities. Whereas history has shown us that genocide/mass execution takes place even in modern times. Think of ex-Yugoslavia, or Pol Pot, for example; never mind Africa. As I have stated before, the Nigerian government need to go and find out for themselves what is happening. People should not dismiss it before having investigated it first. After all, it is Hitler Gaddafi we are talking about here.

frag:
@beystwin

You do not truly believe that or do you?

Whether I believe it or not is not the point. The point is that it is not far-fetched to believe this story! Libya has a very bad track record where human rights are concerned. They have been known to execute people for trivial reasons. Also, it is a fact that they have accepted money from the European community for taking in illegal immigrants, as well as dispose of them. Thus, it does not require a far stretch of the imagination to believe this report - it is highly likely.
The Nigerian foreign office must act upon this and investigate, in order to find out if there is any truth in this.

Call Rita a mistake or not, the bottom line is, if she does not win, this show is a scam. Because this is meant to be a reality show, and in any reality show, it is usually the viewers' votes which count. And the viewers can have any reason they want to vote for their favourite person. They should not be dictated their reasons to vote for someone. This simply shows desperation on the organisers' part.
I have noticed that the show has changed in terms of how the votes were cast. In the beginning, it was the housemates who voted for their least favourite. Then, it was the viewers voting for their favourite. Now, they have decided to tally the points accumulated during the tasks. They are doing this because they want to give the prize to their pre-determined winner (Shona). I say to them: if they already know whom they want to win, why bother getting the viewers involved, and even make them pay money when in the end their vote does not count? They could have simply used a panel of judges. It is just like Nigerian democracy - a scam, I am sorry to say.

blacksta:
U r trully the mad one - European countries now supporting a genocide.

Let me not reply to your incoherent gibberish. However, I want to say that even in Germany, nobody believed that Jewish people were being mass-executed as part of the Holocaust. Genocide has happened numerous times in Europe.

blacksta:
Dont u think u r the dumb one for believing this utter nonsense.

It is clear that you are the dumb one, for believing that Libya would have to give any good reason for an execution. Looking at Libia's track record, you will find that they are very quick to execute people, e.g. those Libyan kids who had HIV. There have also been reports of Libyan soldiers using people crossing the border illegally for shooting practice. They do not have any human rights there. The prisoners probably do not have any legal representation, too. Gaddafi is a lunatic. The European committee are paying him money to dump illegal immigrants in his country and dispose of those who are already there, by all means necessary. The Nigerian foreign office need to go and check up on the Nigerians imprisoned there. It is not a case of being dumb; you have to bear in mind what country we are dealing with here.

You sound like a mad person.

Blacksta, you are dumb.

That is Gaddafi for you.