₦airaland Forum

tpia@:
^You nko?

Checking out butts online?

ChinenyeN:
ebele ngwa wo! nnaaaa, I seeeeriiiiously no kno sef whether to laugh or be ashamed for your sake. See, mma gh to nma. So wetin yu kno? Your mother must be the one from Ezilihite. You should listen to her, if yu no wan listen to me. but anyway, Ngwa and Ezilihite people know themselves, so no long story.

On a serious note though, I hope you find what you're looking for, when you go to visit UNN and other libraries in SE.

[size=13pt]PDP may zone House Speaker to North west[/size]
On May 16, 2011 · In News

By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor & Henry Umoru

ABUJA – THE Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, is moving to quiet the rebellion amongst its members in the next House of Representatives by altering the proposed zoning formula for the sharing of offices. The party’s move follows the seeming failure of Vice-President Namadi Sambo to assuage the feelings of the members-elect during a weekend meeting.

At press time, yesterday, the inclination of the party was not clear, but there were indications that the party would switch the position of Speaker away from the Southwest towards the Northwest where momentum is already building in support of the speakership ambition of the outgoing Deputy House Whip, Rep. Aminu Tambuwal.

National Publicity Secretary of the party, Prof. Ahmed Alkali, told Vanguard, yesterday, that the party was making consultations on the issue to the extent of addressing the matter. But pressed on to what extent the party would go, he declined to give further comments.

He, however, said: “The party is making consultations with major stakeholders and leaders of the party and it is not for the press to push us.” It was, however, learnt that the party was moving under pressure stimulated by other geopolitical zones against the zoning of the office of Speaker to the Southwest.

Out of the 202 members-elect on the platform of the PDP, the Southwest has only five members representing 2.5 per cent of the entire PDP caucus in the next House. Members were further peeved by the endorsement of Muraina Ajibola by the PDP Southwest caucus under the leadership of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

One returning member told Vanguard: “That endorsement was a big minus for Ajibola.” The other qualified returning member from the PDP, Mrs. Mulikat Adeola, despite being a qualified lawyer has been largely ignored by the influential Northern caucus in the House which has the majority of members. Many of the men from the North, it was learnt, are not inclined to have a female presiding officer even if a muslim.

There were, however, indications that the Akande campaign had struck a working relationship with the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, caucus which is to have about 70 members in the next House. A number of the ACN caucus members from outside the Southwest were, however, identifying with the Tambuwal campaign, weekend.

The constraints against Ajibola and Adeola were, weekend, working in favour of Tambuwal with many members of the Northwest caucus rallying around his campaign which has pitched camp at a popular hotel along the Airport Road in the federal capital.

Many returning members and new members were making a show of registering their presence at the hotel suite presently occupied by the Tambuwal campaign. Mrs. Akande was, however, hopeful of her chances as she discounted the reported endorsement of Ajibola as coming from a group. She told Vanguard yesterday that the national party had yet to make a decision on the issue.

The Southeast caucus is especially pained that despite contributing about 40 members-elect representing about 20 per cent that the zone was looked over for the Southwest for the office of Speaker.

Vanguard learnt that leading lights from the Southeast and South-south caucuses were also collaborating with the Tambuwal campaign. Despite the hiccups in the House of Representatives, the prospects for Senator David Mark were also increasing with more returning senators backing his move.

Senator Odion Ugbesia who is returning to the Senate on the platform of the PDP to represent Edo Central said that Mark was the logical choice to lead the next Senate. He said in a statement to Vanguard: “I am part of the vanguard championing his cause to return to the Senate as its president. And this support is borne out of my conviction and total commitment to David Mark’s purposeful and visionary leadership.”

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/05/pdp-may-zone-house-speaker-to-north-west/

ChinenyeN:
ebele ngwa ye! . . . I no know anymore whether to laugh or to be ashamed for you. haha.

Beaf:
Maybe she could become the first female VP or even President. The SGF is even closer to the President than the VP one.

Obiagu1:
Upon all the refineries and petrochemicals already in the SS, they are even getting more.
Though I don't object to them getting more but SE, an oil and gas producing region, should get at least one, just one.

Obiagu1:
Does anyone see anything that resembles SE in GEJ's plan?

We have no Federal presence and still we'll get none. Open your eyes folks!

kasiem:
Onlytruth, ezeuche , chyz, u guys have said everything. My question now is there any way that our true leaders can be lured to come together on the platform of apga? For instance, somebody like ekwueme wouldn't find it funny to live a party that he formed, he'll definitely see it as an act of cowardice. Another thing, we as the youth which the future of this country revolves around, what are posing to any leader that betrays our interest in front of obj's stooge?
@mikeansy, thanks for portraying us as idiots in front the aliens with your political all-is-well.

jason123:
LOL! TOLD U SO. Anyway, I think an IMMEDIATE decamp is not the way. Wait to see what hè does after 1 yr then decamp to APGA but APGA must have a SOLID ideology in which the East can build on. Decamping to APGA with the ideology of dealing or punishing a people will simply back fire. If its socialism, or capitalism or whatever. Just make an ideology and stick to it. Then for 2015, deal with anyone that supports your interest BUT i'll advise you to deal with the west than the  north. The SS AND nC will automatically follow.

Anything other than what I said is a fallacy.

ChinenyeN:
Ezilihite is the 'Ngwa' part. . . unless there is an Ezinihitte in in Ahiazu that I don't know of.

ChinenyeN:
Also, good luck with your research. I recommend trying UNN though, as opposed to any libraries in Abia.

ChinenyeN:
Oh okay. Ngiri wu ama ebe i shi?

ChinenyeN:
Not much is written about Ngwa people to begin with, so I doubt you'd even find much on Aba-Ukwu specifically. The much I even know, apart from what I've already said, is that he hailed from Umungalagu-Obuba in Nvosi. On 'aba', I think I found a better way to explain that. You know how on a graph with x & y coordinates, you get an upward slope? That is what aba signifies; like a trending, positive slop. That's what that 'growth' means. I don't know if the word/expression/usage is used outside of Ngwa-Ukwa-Ndoki-Echee-Ikwere complex though, or better yet, maybe I should say that I've never heard people from outside that area use the word/expression. *shrug*

ChinenyeN:
I knew it. That one day when addressed me saying "otikpiri onu, ga kporu ali", I knew, though it sounded a bit a bit off to me at the time, but it all made sense later on once I found out that you are part Ukwuani. Anyway, which part of that area are you from though, the Isu, Uratta or the 'Ngwa'?

ChinenyeN:
The town was never 'named'. It just adopted the name of the area from which it grew, Aba, which is named after Aba-Ukwu who settled it. Best match I can come up with, in English for Aba is 'growth' (the good kind; qualitative and positive, if you understand me here).

Beaf:
^
Nah, a regional party isn't the way to go or you leave yourselves at the mercy of outsiders from national parties.
I'm sure there's a lot of great stuff coming the SE's way in the next 4 years. Its all about coming in from the cold and matching forward with natural political alliances.

Beaf:
They are simply lobbying. I can assure you that the threat is as empty as the one from the NE. The NE threatened to use the overwhelming Northern NASS numbers to award themselves the Senate presidency, but they have since calmed down.
Individual politicians are jockeying for their pockets, there is no need for the common man to carry their problems and sweat blood for them when there will be no personal gain.

Beaf:
Dude, nothing is going wrong. [b]SE representatives at PDP meetings are absolutely not campaigning for the speaker position, that fight seems to be led by Ohaneze which has no representation within PDP, but is powerful to the man on the street. Like I pointed out, there is a gap in political leadership. The SE needs a giant through whom they can channel their needs, so confusion like this never arises again.

Beaf:
Nobody will defect anywhere, you guys stop allowing people use your heads to break coconuts just to feather their personal ambitions. Why would anybody conclude that GEJ will burn his support base? Elections are over, but the man needs support for a variety of reasons. So why would he burn bridges, would you if you were in his shoes?

It is funny that the very same people that poked fun at the SW are the ones now shouting loudest; it is because they aren't paying attention to two facts. The first being that politicians are lobbying intensely for what they can personally get (you are their unwitting weapon), and the second is that rewards are usually given out of sight (they usually come as roads, ports, opportunities, powerful ministerial posts etc etc).
Why would anyone kill themselves over the speaker position? Of all the 5 SE senate presidents (not even speakers), which of theses have brought tangible FG presence to the region? There is still massive erosion, neglect and fvckup everywhere. Even most of the ND is not as fvcked up as certain parts of the East, but it is not because we have ever had a speaker or senate president, rather it is because of the FG. Those posts can do fvckall.

There is no political colosus in the SE, that is why this ugly state of affairs can exist. That is the where the real problem is, we need people like Chime, Rochas, Ngige etc to rise above local politics and take on the mantle of wider leadership. If not for the leadership void, we wouldn't be hearing of Ohaneze in a tussle for the speaker position, its not their place at all; the fact that they are the main proponents of the SE speaker, while top SE political representatives at zoning meetings have a totally different take, only speaks of the need for a hierachy of giants through whom the peoples interests can be channelled in unity.

It is my prayer that GEJ can help build up a worthy fellow to take on the reigns of SE leadership. It is an urgent task IMHO, that vacuum has been created by years of neglect and needs to be patched.

ekt_bear:
This made me laugh for some reason. I've never heard of this "Southeast Integrity Forum" before. Is it actually a prominent body? Or just a couple dudes giving their little club a fancy title?

ChinenyeN:
Chyz, where did you hear that? (the word 'aba' for bottle? That's our word) Also, Aba (the city) does not mean bottle, and I can give you two reasons why, tone and pronunciation. The word 'aba' for bottle has a high-high tone structure, and the 'b' is unnatural, while the tone structure for 'Aba' the city is low-high, and the 'b' in that one is natural.

Basically, you've got abhna or abha [HH] for bottle and Aba [LH] for the city, Aba. Aba city's meaning isn't 'bottle', but I've got a pretty good idea what it could actually be.

EzeUche_:
Welcomed news! 

Chyz you continue to be the bringer of good news.

Stand up Igbo politicians and show the Ndigbo that you stand with us.

[size=15pt] Mass defection from PDP looms in S’East over Zoning[/size]
•You can’t remain where you are not wanted –Ezeife, •Are we still part of this country, Nigeria? –Ikedife •Ohanaeze, S’East Govs under pressure to reject SGF

By Okey Maduforo (Awka)and Emmanuel Nzomiwu (Enugu)

The fortunes of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Southeast is about to dwindle following the current zoning formula by the leadership of the party which treated the zone with disdain.

High level scheme by elected National Assembly members to dump the party en mass is believed to be brewing.

Sunday Independent gathered that Southeast members of the National Assembly are not particularly happy that their insistence that the post of the Senate President or Speaker Federal House of Representatives be zoned to the area was turned down by the PDP leadership, hence the plot to defect is being contemplated.

Already, collection of signatures from members and top stakeholders of the party for the mass defection was said to be going on just as lobbing was still in progress at some quarters over the possibility of PDP reverting its position.

A member of the National Assembly who would not want his name on print told Sunday Independent: “These people have toyed with us so long and this is a bend or break situation. We mobilised our people, voted for PDP as our party and the only way they can show appreciation is to push us aside, it is not fair. You cannot beat a child and also ask him not to cry. Political party is all about people not name.

“We have started colleting signatures of members who are interested in this project and I can assure you, nobody would be a black leg. We have not decided for now which of the parties that we are going to join but at the appointed time, we will make it public.”

Hints of the planned mass defection is creating a more tensed situation within the ranks of PDP as, according to a source, “it may affect the required majority in the National Assembly for the election of a PDP Senate President or Speaker, House of Representatives in June this year.”

Regardless, indications emerged on Friday that leaders of the Southeast zone are pressuring Ohanaeze Ndigbo and Southeast Governors Forum to reject the position of SGF offered the zone.

Ohanaeze Ndigbo was the only major socio-cultural organisation in the country that openly supported the presidential ambition of Jonathan, while the Southeast Governors endorsed him as the consensus candidate of Ndigbo, even before the PDP primaries.

In the April presidential election, Jonathan who was the PDP candidate, polled 5,090,148 votes in the Southeast, amounting to 22.93 per cent of his total votes and the second highest after the South South zone, where Jonathan hails from.

Reacting to the zoning saga, former Anambra State governor, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife told Sunday Independent: “It is possible for our brothers and sisters to dump PDP. Yes it can be done. You cannot remain where you are not wanted. The party’s position shows that we in the Southeast are not wanted, so what is our business with the party?

“There is no reason or plausible argument that can be proffered by anybody as to why we do not deserve the post of a Senate President. When Obasanjo was there; a Southerner, we had a Southerner as Senate President. When late Yar’Adua was a president from the North, we had a Northern Senate President, David Mark. Now a Southerner is president, what is wrong in having a Southerner as Senate President?”

Ezeife further dismissed the argument that it is unfair to have a Christian as President and Christian as Senate President.

His words: “We had in the past elected a Muslim presidential and Vice presidential candidates during the late Abiola and Kingibe election, so the idea is backward and unacceptable. We the Igbo are insisting on the post of Senate President and we cannot take anything less than that. The Igbo of today are not the Igbo of yesterday. Things have changed and we cannot be led by the nose anymore.”

Former President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Dr. Dozie Ikedife, could not help  but describe the arrangement as modern day slavery.

“Are we still part of this country called Nigeria? Where has it happened in this modern age that a race would be subjected to perpetual slavery and we keep quiet in the name of national unity? When has PDP constitution or arrangement become grundnorm of the country’s power sharing system?. If we are given Senate President, heavens will not fall.

“We are law abiding Nigerians and we are not given to taking laws into our hands but justice must be done and be seen to have been done. I congratulate our representatives at the National Assembly for their spirit of comradeship and urge them to remain firm,” Ikedife said.

The duo of Uche Ekwunife representing Anaocha/Dunukofia/Njikoka Federal Constituency and Charles Odedo of Idemili North and South Federal Constituency told Sunday Independent:

“This is our stand and there is no going back. Forty-three of us have spoken and we made it clear that anyone of us that goes against this shall be disowned by us and our people. This is not a party matter but a national issue that affects the people of Nigeria in general and the Southeast in particular and it cannot be compromised at all.”

The reaction of National Vice Chairman, Southeast of the PDP, Olisa Metuh, that the position of the zone is only meant for the national leadership of the party and not for press or public consumption was however described by Dr. Chris Ngige (ACN, Anambra Central Senatorial zone) as a mere digression.

“We were the founding members of PDP and all zoning arrangements were aimed at ensuring fairness and to create a sense of belonging. It is not to kill some people. So the issue of keeping that position secret is not in the best interest of our people. You do not keep people guessing when things are absolutely going wrong,” Ngige said.

But fears are that the demand for Senate President by the Southeast may be bungled following agitations by a group known as Southeast Integrity Forum led by a chieftain of PDP, Ngozi Agudosi who contended that the posts of Secretary to the Government of the Federation and that of Deputy Senate President are the best offer for the zone. “The zoning is not against the Southeast. Those against the arrangement do not have interest of the Southeast at heart. We have had  five Senate Presidents from our zone and what did they attract for our people? Let one of them come out and tell us what they achieved for Ndigbo while they were in office. We had three National Chairmen of PDP, what did they achieve?

“The choice of Senate President is just to enhance private or personal ambition. If Mr. President says SGF; it is an honour done to the Southeast and for the first time in the history of Nigeria that Ndigbo is going to hold that position. So we urge Senator Ike Ekweremadu to brace up and take up the post of Deputy Senate President.”

Sunday Independent reliably gathered that, following the ratification of the new zoning arrangement by the PDP national caucus few days ago, some Igbo leaders had started mounting pressure on Ohanaeze Ndigbo and the governors to reject the position of SGF offered the Southeast.

The aggrieved Igbo leaders not only saw SGF as an insult to the zone but in addition, a stab on the back of Ndigbo by President Jonathan who Ndigbo gave unflinching and unconditional support when the Northern Political Leaders Forum (NPLF) wanted to unseat him.

Our findings further revealed that the Igbo leaders, whose names were not mentioned, have made representations to both Ohanaeze leaders and Southeast governors, trying to convince them to reject SGF.

None of the Igbo leaders contacted by Sunday Independent could confirm our findings.

However, those who spoke blamed both Ohanaeze and Southeast Governors Forum for conscripting the entire zone into the Jonathan project without brokering a deal with the President.

Former senate president, Ken Nnamani, who spoke on phone from Washington in United States, sounded cynical over the development, saying, “Our people voted 100 per cent of Jonathan, and why should they be talking about zoning now, as if zoning is still alive.”

Ikedife said the new zoning arrangement of PDP had exposed the folly of Ndigbo, adding that in politics you negotiate first before you take a decision and not the other way round.

Ikedife added: “Some of us were asking, what is the deal? They said we are reluctant supporters, but here we are.

“We shouldn’t have given our support without negotiation. The five governors and Ohanaeze were the people who took us there and said we should support this aspirant and not that aspirant. So, we expect them to come up now and tell us the result. The SGF is nothing, considering the support we have in the election. It is nothing for a zone that gave over five million votes to the winner of the presidential election.”

Ikedife however suggested that the Igbo should come together and talk to themselves and use their tongue to count their teeth and know what next to do, saying, “They should know by now that they are not wanted in this government.”

Whats the meaning and origin of Aba?