₦airaland Forum

bayooooooo

It's so funny how the nation so easily forget that unlike cocoa, rubber, groundnut and oil palm which used to be the backbone of Nigerian economy,  the oil in Niger delta does not arise as a result of the sweat of the people in the region.

Did the government own any of the commodities mentioned above? Were they surreptitiously commandeered by the government as "national" assets? The commodities were planted/developed by local farmers who own the land. Oil devastates/poisons the land and water resources of the people hence the strident actions of the people on whose environment oil prospection causes unfathomable damage to, quite unlike commodity grower's environment. It is not everything that has to be explained for you to empathise with the people of the Niger-Delta and oil producing areas of Nigeria. Please read or visit the zone to get a better understanding of the enormity of the problem.

@Op

I am surprised that some Nigerians actually take someone like Mujaheed Asari Dokubo seriously . Perhaps, some of us have forgotten how he was easily picked up by Obj and locked away underground until Yar Adua reieased him surreptitiously under bail etc. He is all noise and lacking thoughtfulness/introspection . He is presently ensconced somewhere(Abuja) perhaps enjoying the largesse from his act of petty crime and terror. We do need such irritants in the Nigerian space to remind us all of our own foolishness in not wanting to address the core issues of our collective enforced union.

Ttola

if people like him break niger-delta away from nigeria, they only stand to perish,

@^^ Why will they perish and how? . Why will you wage war or invade a people who have not declared war against you? Why are you afraid/concerned if they choose to break away from the rest of so called Nigeria? What is so special and interesting about Nigeria as it is now other than pain and misery ? .

Negro_Ntns

It is hard to believe he graduated university.  He is not properly schooled in the art of politicking or of formulating good policies

@^^Well, he is a zoologist fit for animal farm(Nigeria) . . He actually confirms/make one believe that UniPort must be a den of mediocrity and of low educational standards indeed. You do not need a degree to be a good creative leader either . In Nigeria, we are addicted and hung-up on "certificates"/degrees hence we celebrate mediocrity and poor leadership.

Abagworo

It is not as easy as people see them. The war that will break out if Nigeria splits will be the greatest genocide in history. Not less than 40 million people will die including the so called militants and politicians

@^^ How did you arrive at such fantastic thinking above? What do you know of warfare let alone that about 40 million people will die if NIgeria splits. Who will be killing who? Do you think that it is that easy to attack any group without suffering any reprisals? Have you thought about Plateau state? That is the ultimate lazy thinking that has not allowed Nigerians to confront the National question(National Conference/conversation) besides talking about oil as if Nations cannot survive/exist without so called oil etc .

Kobojunkie

Abeg, who we go belief ??

@ ^^^ None  They can't even tell a "good" lie let alone make up a good moonlight story/fairy tale.
They are inherently inept and corrupt. They lack integrity and honour hence the conflict in their "stories" to the gullible Nigerian populace.

@OP
I hope he admits too that majority of the top cross border oil smugglers in Nigeria are so called northerners long before southerners got into the act  .
I know of this because I am privy to that information from an impeccable source plus the fact that I have actually witnessed smugglers of fuel tankers crossing some northern borders(Karaye, Katsina state, Sokoto state, and Bornu state) hence fuel scarcity in the north of Nigeria has been a permanent feature of their existence for a very longtime and it is not stopping anytime soon either.
How do you think that there are so many very rich "alhajis" without any visible means of income or so called viable business of note including Atiku who was once the head of the Nigerian customs and excise?.
Sometimes I wonder how southerners reason and articulate their thoughts indeed .

Litmus

Sabi= To know (probably derived from the word Savvy )

^^ Over Sabi [/b]or you too [b] sabi>>>>= from Portuguese word >>>Saber = (To Know) you too know/ ITK

Islam is "religion of peace" by the Iman

@Op Did I not hint at "foreign" or "international" invitation by lucky Joe to "assist" in the war on BH? Lucky Joe is an opportunist bereft of any ideas etc. Looting is the only mindset they have in common. They have no iota of sympathy nor sensitivity towards the suffering hapless masses . According to lucky Joe we'll have to live with insecurity and terrorism(BH) as he mulls over foreign intervention in our Local wahala.

Congrats Gbawe

I am glad NLs have affirmed my gut feeling and nomination of Gbawe long before the "bandwagon" effect- since(2010) .
You give us all hope about our dear country even when there's nothing to be hopeful about under lucky Joe .

Relax101

In the encounter, we over ran their major stronghold and their ammunition site”.

And as is usual in any such encounter, we lost 3 of our soldiers, 7 were wounded but we killed over 50 of their members. They came with sophisticated and heavy weaponry including GPMG’s, SMG’s and bombs but our trained soldiers subdued them”.

@ Do Nigerian soldiers ever capture opponents alive at all? Do they just shoot at anything in sight civilians and so called members of BH? It smacks of extra-judicial killings most especially as we have not admitted that there is a war going on in Nigeria yet. Describing the kind of sophisticated weaponry under the BH arms cache etc is not exactly informative but an attempt at appealing to our inherent prejudice against BH. Also, it's poor propaganda and an attempt to impress the blinkered view of the power mongers. The increased defence annual budget has just been publicised so it has to be justified by any means necessary by invading some obscure place Damaturu in Yobe state and causing more damage than they met. Nigerian soldiers/armed men are notorious of mindless and wanton destruction including massacres.
Are they not taught the basic importance of the art of war -  subtlety, [b]heart and minds [/b]in prosecuting any successful "war"? Are these basic rules simply ignored or that, they do not understand the importance such lessons? If as they claimed that they over ran the place then it follows that perhaps they had the opportunity of capturing some so called members of BH wounded/alive.

SapeleGuy

Nigeria needs 'No retreat, no surrender' patriots who will put our interests first. You don't need to go to school to have honour or courage.

@ ^^ Very well said***** bro! about the concept of HONOUR and COURAGE. Our so called power and ruling elite lack these qualities hence we are permanently in a mess and vulnerable to all manner of spurious economic ideas by Dr this/ Prof. that .

Jakumo

Nigeria is a nation of eternal optimists, whose abiding philosophy is that bad things never happen to those who pray fervently enough to any of the numerous patron gods enlisted for "spiritual" protection.

A fascinating behavioral trait worthy of mention is the typical response of the average Nigerian to ANY suggestion of danger or possible misfortune. On being informed about possible perils that may be encountered as a consequence of reckless conduct, the always devout Nigerian optimist will wave an arm over their head in a hair-brushing motion, snapping their fingers, as though to notify God that a special request is being voiced, while intoning the timeless phrase " God forbid bad ting".

With the aforementioned ritual enacted, the Nigerian optimist is then ready to confidently drive a rickety vehicle with bald tires, poor brakes and one headlight along a dark, pot-hole riddled highway at suicidal speed, with the calm assurance that God's protection from blatant idiocy has been requested and automatically granted. The same serenity, grounded in the blissful presumption that God's dutiful protection can be demanded on cue by any ardent believer, explains why folks in Nigeria rarely take pre-emptive measures for self-preservation, when civil order breaks down close by and within earshot.

Machinegun fire in the distance ? No problemo. God has been ordered to protect me, so all is well. Praise the Lord !

@^^^ . Fantastic observation and write up

realchange

notice how nigerians are absent on this thread! nonsense people.

@^^ Nigerians are inherently cruel and spiteful of each other. We are inured to pain and general wickedness around us. I've said it many times on NL that we are actually at WAR(low intensity conflict). In which war do you loose such significant number of citizens without internal outrage other than in Africa(NIGERIA). We do not really care about such matters because perhaps we are not touched/affected directly hence our indifference to massacres and genocide in our backyard(Naija). Most Nigerians especially southern Nigerians are concerned or conscious or Boko Haram yet we are not conscious enough of the past and ever present violence everywhere in Nigeria(from the contemptuous/abusive armed policemen on our high roads to so called Area boys and vigilantes. It is the unfinished business that we should be addressing as a people besides other mundane issues.

Onlytruth

His economic scoping/envisioning for Nigeria is somewhat stunted.  
Given the amount of money we have been making from oil, he set us back (or stopped our forward march) by many years.

@ ^^ He is only the head of the Central Bank and not a "policy" driver like the politicians/LuckyJoe @ Abuja. His job is to administer/monitor the banking system and nothing more than that. Perhaps, we are expecting too much from him as if he's the President or even a Governor of a State in Nigeria. His powers are somewhat limited let alone drive Naija economy single handedly .

Madam Largarde's statement was unfortunate and rather very patronising . SLS does not need her/IMF approval.

@Horus

@ Thank you for posting the video by Louis Gates. It confirms my story and viewpoint about Brazil and indeed the whole of South America. Read my earlier posts again if you wish . I am writing from first hand and direct experience of the place and the people.

Abagworo

From my research so far it seems[b] all black Africans were very much alike in culture,religion and a lot of things before contact with Europeans. [/b]Most of these things we call our culture today are infact the things that killed our culture. Arabs and Europeans. Our real culture was beautiful and rich.
So we can actually say our true culture existed before the 16th century.

@^^ Haba! Are you serious? You are giving too much credit to the Europeans and perhaps to the Arabs in Africa. Please review your historical/anthropological knowledge of "self" before making such broad and senseless statements about Africa/people

Abagworo

A) Africans were purely the same and are still same to me. We were all unclad [/b]and [b]lived in mud houses with thatch roof and that is the truth. Going by all the older pictures I've seen only either the noble or elderly wore clothes. The children and common people were stack Unclad or show me any picture displaying other wise.

@ ^^ Again, your knowledge of the history of apparel in Africa etc, must be very lacking indeed. Being unclad in itself is no big deal but I guess that you do not fully understand the concept of 'clothing' in relation to your view of "all unclad"

Living in mud houses with thatched roofs is not inherently inappropriate for our environment either . Is it? I wonder where your sense of history is coming from or is it some kind of feeling of inadequacy and misplaced sense of 'shame'?. You need to travel extensively in Nigeria and learn a thing or two about your people and their environment etc before making such spurious statements as the "truth" by you. Please review the source of your knowledge and research, you may come away with a different viewpoint more in consonant with prevailing knowledge of our illustrious history(Egypt- RSA)Africa.

Cap28

Your last post about the mineral prospectors/ contractors etc in the DRC

.

@ ^ Well, what's new? People actually make money during war times and in War zones too. It's so easy, attractive and very tempting to the 'Saints' amongst our people let alone foreigners who have no emotional link to the DRC. I actually know some characters who helped sign away some of the so called contracts etc in Katanga and other places near that area. It's no different from our own OIL industry with all manner of subterfuge - bunkering, sale of oil blocks etc to cronies and foreigners of doubtful character in so called "peaceful" Naija .

We should take some[b] responsibility[/b] for our inaction and INERTIA. Your 'enemy' cannot liberate you nor wish you well. It is for us [/b]to devise effective methods etc to deal with such onslaughts on our terrain/people. It's [b]WAR [/b]of hearts and minds besides physical war activities. The countries you mentioned in your post did it by their own [b]self effort and self sustaining home grown ideas peculiar and appropriate to their own circumstance. Are we doing that? We are very aware and know so much about the West etc but do we know enough about ourself/Naija?. Our salvation is definitely in our own hands/backyard not in some distant lands/peoples. Fatalism is dangerous and we can ill afford such luxury except if some of us have accepted defeat already .

I am done with such conversation. I am tired of regurgitating and repeating myself on NL.

Igbo2011

THe situation in the congo is not really inter tribal wars. It is rwandan and Ugandan [/b]forces killing innocent people and causing hell

@^^ Hence I said in my previous post that the problem of the DRC(Congo) is her very mind boggling abundant [b]natural resources/wealth. The DRC is the size of Western Europe and a very difficult/large terrain to police or effect any semblance of authority. The size alone will humble anyone as there are practically no viable roads outside the cities. Mobutu was extremely narcissistic.

The DRC did not exactly help matters when they tacitly allowed the murderous Rwandan killers 'safe haven', bearing in mind that some Rwandan ethnic groups(Tutsi) etc, actually belong to the DRC. The enormous natural wealth of the place is very attractive even to the devil/saint. The ready excuse for invasion by the Angolans, Zimbabwe, Uganda and out of necessity Rwanda is very tempting indeed. Besides, those countries helped in the overthrow of Mobutu so there's always a pay back of course. Did Nigeria not interfere in the tiny enclave of Equatorial Guinea because of OIL and Investment Interests by our trigger happy ruling elite(OBJ)?
The DRC story/reality is very sad and terrible indeed. Nevertheless, the people are a jolly bunch and qualified manpower is very lacking.

Cap28

the majority of americans and europeans  are[b] ignorant[/b] and have no idea what their govts are doing in their name - some of the ones who do know dont give a damn unless they are directly affected. [/b]only a tiny minority know and care enough to want to change things.

@^^ How are you Bro?
Well, I'm fully aware of [b]Igbo2011 knowledge etc but I am only trying to make him "ease off the gas pedal" of blaming or  pointing fingers at AAs, West etc whereas our own inherent and deliberate concocted problems by us are overlooked. Much of his thoughts are ok and understandable by any sane person but I'll rather we concentrated on our backyard(Naija) because we do have a lot of unfinished business. Too much energy is being wasted unwittingly by "Bright" young men and women obsessed and focusing on the "West" and the rest beyond our shores. We do understand very well the intentions of the West and the Rest I hope , nevertheless, let us try as much as possible to turn our attention a little bit to our backyard, otherwise a few persons have hijacked our collective patrimony/ sold us dummies .

The tragedy of the Congo is its abundant natural resources/wealth. It's sad that we have allowed ourselves to be bought for a few lucre, hence it's easy to engender endless violence/massacre in Central Africa and the DRC since so called independence. It's very easy to blame the foreigners and  the so called "victims". Us Africans should be able and man enough to accept our own "complicity" to the tragedy in our backyard. Believe me, I've witnessed a lot of such tragedies from Nigeria to the DRC and the end is not anywhere near to abating. I happen to personally know some key players in the DRC and truthfully the end of the suffering is not in sight. They are truly confused and lost just like us(Naija). The Mobutu doctrine of "you are free to loot or appropriate the national wealth if you can" runs very deep in their psyche. In such an environment of anything goes or is for sale, it doesn't take much persuading to do the wrong thing. It's not different from Naija, other than most Nigerians have this gross [/b]impression/[b]attitude and deliberate amnesia of their own enormous problems/wretchedness. Despite the war in the DRC the people actually feel safe and normal than the average Nigerian anywhere in the south of the country. Armed robbery and terror is very rare outside of the war zones in the East.
I am more concerned about what we do to ourselves and our people. The spurious assumption that Africans are the most hospitable on the planet can be challenged but I'll leave that for another day .
My brother, there's so much wickedness amongst us that sometimes I wonder why our people bother to go to their various places of worship(Christians/Muslims) and shout God this and Allah that endlessly . The West does not make any pretences about their intentions and interests "illegal" or not. What are our goals, intentions and plans to rectify our parlous situation as a people?.  With the kind of Leadership and Followership in Africa(Naija), lacking in self belief and positive consciousness to do the right thing, our susceptibility to all manner of blandishment and lucre is fait accompli . We cannot wholly blame the West for our internal subjugation and "lootocracy". Every 'nation' has the right to do right or wrong within the context of their national interest. It is for us to build our own systems and power to do right for our people. No shaking . Iran is on the right tract to building a cohesive nation possibly backed up appropriately militarily/weapons. That's what 'Unclad' Power is about not us whining endlessly. We do not have a nation we can proudly speak of because we are not a "Nation" yet. When we become a nation with all the necessary accoutrements then we can expect Respect and proper Recognition. Presently, we cannot actually protect and defend our people internally let alone externally. It isn't because of lack of capacity but outright wickedness, insensitivity, laziness and ignorance of what a nation to be, should be doing even on the domestic/local level. We are truly confused and not ready to build a Nation out of the cobbled up place called Nigeria.
Yes most people of the "West" are 'ignorant', 'apathetic' about the activities of their government and some who know do not give a damn either.
Well, is that really our concern ?. They can afford the luxury of being ignorant and apathetic . Those who care so much, the insignificant minority can also afford to indulge in public display of their outrage towards the authorities. Believe me, I do not care about their emotions etc. Those disparate emotions and attitudes are expected from citizens of "well fed", Powerful and stable societies. We should be concerned about Naija and the rest of Africa. Charity begins from home .

Ozin

The females on nairaland need to air their opinion o! Now u can settle in lagos and marry more than one husband o!

@^^ Gbam! Bigamy

Igbo2011

Is it a coinicdence that Mosedegh, Allend,ae, Lumumba, Chavez, Castro, Morales, Correa, Sankara, Kabila (2001), Nkrumah, Gaddaffi (pan Africanists)? All of them didn't want their country to be exploited and look what happened to them. Is that a coincidence? Then people who let their countries get violated by foreign companies are supported by the USA.

@^^ America(U.S.A.) have a right to do what is right for their own National Interest. That's what a true "Nation" does for her people/interest. It's for the Africans to do the right thing for self and protect/defend their own shikena! . Like I said in my earlier post, Power [/b]and [b]Respect does not just happen wily-nily. We are lazy, disorganised and criminally minded like most of our power mongers in our midst are. You become susceptible and can be bought and sold like slaves of old for lucre and cheap propaganda(blandishment). Please stop blaming others for your own incapacity, inherent weakness and outright home grown wickedness .

@OP

There is a clear difference between BIGAMY and POLYGAMY. I guess NLs are thinking both are one and the same thing. Please refer to your dictionaries again.

Kobojunkie

Now you see why labeling CONSPIRACY THEORY a disease, isn't such a bad idea. And yes, even the brilliant can catch that. ROFL

@^^ Yeah you are right . I guess it's a form of neurosis .

Igbo2011

Ask yourself why is it the Africans are the most hospitable people but are most discriminated everyhwere in the world?
Why do Africans have the richest history but are the most ignorant?
We must WAKE UP GLOBALLY!!! DEMAND OUR RESPECT!!

@^^^ . Well, you'll be discriminated against rightly so, if African so called leaders loot and transfer their national wealth offshore, Inflict untold pain and savagery on citizens, send their children/wards offshore and locally they are schooled in foreign owned establishments like the American international school(Abuja) where even our President's children go to school for so called education, solicit for endless 'AID' while their loot of national resources are in foreign banks and properties abroad. Most young men and women want to run away because home is not exactly what it should be like as seen in foreign movies,hence some compatriots trek across the desert or try to cross vast oceans by dug out canoe. Is that not desperation and suicidal? Does that make sense to you? You have to respect yourself first before others can respect and treat you with some deference/acknowledge your being in existence at all. Everybody wants to associate with success/winners and POWER. Africa is presently seen as Powerless and Africans themselves believe it too by our collective Fatalism hence Libya happened successfully under our nose and in our lifetime.

Africans may "have rich history but most are ignorant" as you put it succinctly. I wonder how you arrived at such conclusion. Are you speaking of those you know, Naija or yourself?

The world is not a cheap sweet shop nor Africa an under educated boisterous young man seeking attention either. Respect is EARNED . It's not handed out freely, like cheap sweets to undeserving little children. Even kids earn rewards/respect if they behave or do right for self and family/nation etc.
My friend I am rather tired with this banter/conversation.

Igbo2011[quote]

People don't know their past history and they only think that they were slaves. then hthey hav all these slaves movies but never have movies of great negro civilization like  Egypt (The Mummy painted them white) or the Moors empire, or Songhai, Ethiopia, Benin etc. Nollywood needs to make movies like that about the greaat culture before coloniztion. When African americans learn about white people history in school they learn about their great histroy and they see that they have nothing. Chocolate peple from around the world must know their TRUE history in order to make i t to the future. Chinese, Indians, middle eastern etc all know their history so they can go to the future.  Our history is hidden.[

quote][/quote]



@^^^ Please leave our cousins in diaspora/the so called New World alone . They are not coming to save/liberate you from yourself/bondage etc  . You have to do it yourself and let them slip in happily(home coming) .

Nollywood should be applauded for their efforts so far in raising our collective awareness of who we are as a people etc. It's a free market place, so you can get in and help make such movies that you wish/like them to make. I love Nollywood warts and all  .

Our history is not exactly hidden from us as a people. Our emphasis has not always been what it should be, like other cultures/civilisations you correctly identified/mentioned. You should be reviewing your own "education" and your national educational policy- (system, structure and process) otherwise we would not be having this conversation about the paucity of our collective African history(Nigeria) especially. We have a lot of unfinished business within our so called countries(Africa) so I'll sincerely wish that you leave AAs out of this discourse. Our conversation have digressed from the original topic and silly outrage over Kobojunkie injecting some humour to our humourless/sad NLs. Have a good day and think about Naija. We have enough 'issues' to grapple with to last us a life time than the "West", East and Arabs .









@

@Op

Please, I am sleeping. Wake me up whenever Lucky Joe gets SERIOUS about Leadership not bribery of the Military, the Niger Delta miscreants and of course hand outs to the Abuja collective(FCT and the rest). We are not Serious indeed.

Igbo2011

Most Africans and Africans in the diaspora don't know their true history. They see everyone else with their great history and they only have slavery, when we had SOO much more. Our lack of prior history is holding us back and also religion is holding us back. We take the white people's religion after they tried to destroy us. We also take it under their white Jesus. This makes us their mental slaves. It is like we are worshipping them even after they did hell to us. Once more people know this the Chocolate race can rise up!!

@^^^ I appreciate your exasperation. There is no need to post "pictures"/paintings of Moors etc on NL to impress me about your knowledge of African history either. It's your personal growth and nobody else.
Are we designing systems or making plans to get out of our sorry condition of POWERLESSNESS in Naija ?.
I think that we should leave out our cousins in diaspora temporarily until we deal with our own internally generated problems. It's understandable that some of them would be ignorant of African history etc but are we any better on the continent especially Naija? Is there any coherent plan to enhance and enrich our educational experience(holistic) for national liberation or empowerment?. Certainly, none exists currently nor in the foreseeable future. We are not yet a nation, hence we do not have a nationalistic/patriotic outlook to urgent national problems. We can't even have simple conversation without recrimination, name calling or shouting down each other as if that gets us anywhere. We'll remain powerless as long as we continue in our usual inertia, slack and thoughtless ways .

Igbo2011[/b]But let me ask you, [b]why only African leaders in the International Criminal Court? Why not Bus, Tony Blair, Cheney, Sarkozy? NO just people like Gbagbo who wanted to free himself from economic servitude to the French. Why did France's army attack civilians in order to pull him out? Watch this video :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6g03HItPQc&feature=related


@^^I guess with (all due respect to your intelligence) that you've just become aware of international politics /Power[/b]etc.

It's about [b]POWER in its full glory and ugliness bro .
The question should be "what are we as Africans doing currently or in the not too distant future to assuage our Powerlessness and shame. We are easily susceptible to all manner of blandishment and lucre. We cannot always blame the West etc for our[b] lazy leadership[/b] and Followership. We are all complicit to our collective powerlessness(INERTIA). I guess you must've contributed more on banal "tribal topics" on NL than on edifying topics like "Economics" and "Politics" etc which may help empower you in some ways to[b] positive action[/b] against inertia/  status quo and indolence .

Igbo2011

You people are so deluded by the mainstream media. The government shows you what they want and they lie all the time and you believe everything. LOL even AFETER preople prove they lied you still believe it. This goes to show how much you guys are slaves and you on't even know it.  THe 4th branch of the government is controlling you.

Why did NATO attack Livbya?
Why are they going to Syria?
Why did Sudan split up, also who supplied the soldiers with weapons?
Why is there a holocaust going on in the Congo and the mainstream media isn't talking about it?
Why does the mainstream media portray Castro, Gaddaffi, Mugabe,  and Chavez badly?
Why does the mainstream media portray Paul Kagame well?
Why did they go to Iraw and Afghanistan?
Why is America so rich while other countries are poor?
Why are there drones over Somalia and Yemen?
What is the point of the IMF, WOrld Bank, and WTO? WHat good have they done to the developing world?
How does Greece feel about the austerity measures? Or Argentina in 2001? Why doesn't America get them since there debt to GDP is like 100%?
Why does America spend more money on their military than all countries in the world combined?

You guys are so deluded by the media so they can control your views. America brings hell to this world so the American people can have a good standard of living. Now the economy isn't as good as it used to be but why? WAKE UP!!

@^^ Why are you so obsessed with the so called "mainstream media" what about your own "lazy" media in Naija? Could you concentrate on Africa alone and please explain further about the Sudan, Congo etc.?

Kobojunkie

Like I said, the man has his opinions, and he is allowed to have them. They do not need to comform to the rules, since that is what opinions are really.

@^^ Yeah you are right and he certainly was not the first to weave theories about the media and language either . I sincerely wish there were more women on the politics forum besides the usual 'tribal' tittle-tattle/tirades that animate our people. We are going nowhere in Naija if the women folk are excluded/overlooked by 'sexism'.