₦airaland Forum

Abagworo:
Rwanda is not in any way comparable to Nigeria. How many cities are in the poor backward country? Nigeria has well over 200 cities with population exceeding 100,000. One can compare Rwanda with individual States and not even Lagos.

Akposb:
This article was inspired by the NCAN
(Name Checkers Association of Nigeria)

The antics of this group might seem innocuous but the consequence of their actions could be grim and unsettling. They have generated both laughter and derision, both emotions I have shared. It is a true representation of what we have in our larger society. This behaviour indicts our seeming ignorance of the reality that humans are made to cohabit with one tribe or the other.
The whole idea of humanity zeros on us as individuals. The individual is the foundation of the society before we bring tribe, state and country affiliations into consideration. The individual therefore has the choice of making another its enemy, friend or partner. In our bid to celebrate those hints of excellence that lives in Nigeria and abroad, we tend to claim an air of superiority either as a means to validate ourselves or ethnic group. The basic reality is that as an individual, you are capable of reinventing or delivering that achievement you celebrate in another.

Tribal affiliations and a false sense of superiority has been the bane of this country since time immemorial and this manifested itself fully in the civil war. The issue of racial or ethnic bias is all over the world space with the notorious example of Hitler’s campaign against the Jews in Germany. The reality is that in celebrating our tribe while casting aspersions at others, we are only creating a situation where war and disaster is inevitable. The major deficiency and fall-out tribal discrimination is depriving ourselves the benefit of having a positive and productive relationship with another person from a different tribe.
The individual is above all else, a representation of him/herself. It is not a subject of tribe or Country though we cannot rule out the importance of these two groupings but everything is determined by how well the individual puts its ability to use. The fact that you celebrate your fellow tribesman will not change the reality of your situation. The reality is that our lot improves when we find a way to work together. This write-up is not oblivious to the fragile situation we find ourselves in this country but it is pertinent to know that only the wise can truly build a good and sustainable nation.

Alliances across ethnic group has been built and I will cite an example here. Dangote and Babaginda are a significant part of Adenuga’s circle of friends. These two are from the North and the other from the South-West. The general thought is that these set of people have a good relationship but the reality is that everything is based on the individual. I came across a brief history of Adenuga and read about his exploits in the business world. It was inconceivable in the context of this essay that his fellow kinsman from the same state almost destroyed his dream of building a telecommunications firm. The Nigerian situation is a common trend irrespective of your ethnic group.

The individuals in a bid to better a condition will always appeal to any immediate group he belongs to. In our quest for change and development, several solutions has been mooted and one is that the nation should break up. If it happens, it is fine but why we remain together, we must find a way to appreciate our differences. Yes, there is a possibility that a solution could arise from separation but the prediction for such lofty expectation is lopsided. A good reason for scepticism is the performance of our state governments. My state has numerous ethnic groups but that notwithstanding, we have had the misfortune of being governed by a supposed indigene for eight years with nothing to show for it. If we were to go on our own, that will not change the fact that such greedy elements will not come along the leadership route. Bad and retrogressive leadership is almost a staple in all states of the Federation. The fact is that individuals represent how best to group efficiency not tribal affiliation. It is not for any reason that Lagos state with its eclectic mixture of people is the most productive and advanced state in Nigeria. It therefore goes to show that there is indeed strength in diversity.

Foreign Example

I will like to make a case for the benefits of integration and cooperation here. The UK in June, last year exited the European Union. It was not a consensus decision from my findings as most of the youth population wanted their nation to remain in the Union while majority of the elderly population and rural communities voted in favour of the exit. One major decision that influenced the decision to break away was the fact that immigrants from other European nations were taking over the jobs and opportunities in the country.

The UK exit can easily be seen as a litmus test for what separation does to a people who in their bid to lift their tribal affiliation to some inexcusable height end up destroying their advantage. For those not in the know, the European Union is a loose federation of several European nations who have agreed to come together as one despite their tribal and cultural differences. Citizens are free to live and trade among themselves without any need for Visa and passport regulation.

Britain has just triggered the clause that will lead to their formal exit. The nation is swamped with issue of financial struggles and fears about their economic future outside the union. Scotland, a part of UK is asking for a referendum in a bid to exit the union. The UK will lose access to the single market and also other benefits which comes with the membership of being part of the European Union.

The reality is that in a bid to create a distinct nationality they have hurt the equilibrium that ensures development for all. Freedom is not the absence of laws or burdens, it is the grace and right to thrive under this that matters at the end of the day. I used the example of Britain to illustrate the reality of how dependent we are despite our seeming excellence or superiority.

The individual is the most important hence let’s celebrate the individual, our tribe without casting aspersions at the other. We must recognize that we may have different colours, faces and tribes but we all have a common soul. The divine law says that we should love our neighbour as ourselves. Our neighbour is essentially any man or woman regardless of their point of origin.

Written by me.

.Calls for the boycott of beef to make government act

.Warns of possibility of herders using cows for suicide bombing


By Ahamefula Ogbu

Literary Icon and Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka yesterday raised the alarm that herdsmen in the country were going about with conqueror mentality, suggesting that there is a movement to enslave the entire nation.

According to him, he returned from a trip outside the country to see that his sanctuary in Abeokuta, Ogun State had been violated and this time, the herders not only went through his abode but took their cows to his door step.

Soyinka who spoke at Freedom Square, Lagos yesterday expressed worry that the government had left the citizenry to protect themselves, and called for a summit of all stakeholders involving herders, cattle owners, farmers and tourists “to chart a way forward in stopping the threat to lives and rapes that the herders spread,” pointing out that the mentality of the herdsmen had changed from the peaceful posture they used to adopt.

The Laureate said the fact that Boko Haram could use Chibok girls as suicide bombers underscored the danger and possibility of the herders using cows for suicide bombing, insisting that the society had to take actions that would force the government to act consciously in checking the menace of armed herdsmen.

“I see no other interpretation concerning these events, I have reported to the police and they have records. They are camping all over the place and they are not camping as peaceful neighbours but as conquerors, that is what is happening here and that is why I use the word enslavement.

“It seems to me that there is a movement to enslave the citizens of this nation wherever they happen to be, they show they are the masters of the land. There is an aggression, that aggression use to be in the forest. I told you before that there are certain parts of the forest that when we go hunting we no longer venture because of what we have seen unless we go enmasse and equipped more than for killing sparrows.

“But when cattle come right into your door step, I think we are in a very different territory. I think one has the right to assume that any cow that comes to one’s door step is a potential suicide bomber and to take preemptive action to ensure that our homes are not turned into Maiduguri. The leadership of this nation is taking this menace far too lightly.

“It is a year ago since I read that speech when the President promised that cattle assault will soon be a thing of the past. Is it going to happen in the next six months? Will the police still be busy chasing kidnappers, soldiers trying to preempt the remnants of the degraded Boko Haram? Is that pledge going to be fulfilled in the next six months since that speech was read?, He queried.

Stating further, “I am not going to dramatise the situation. What matters is that my home is being invaded as are the farms of my neighbours. Some are erecting barriers, things we have never seen in that area in the past since I began living there.

“There have been clashes by the way; there have been clashes between the farmers and the herdsmen. The police have had to intervene couples of time, chase them out, they returned, this time they beat a path to my doorstep. Let us not exaggerate but let us be sanguine about intrusions like this. These people have no respect for human beings and who use human beings including some of our Chibok girls as suicide bombers, why shouldn’t they decide to use cattle as suicide bombers?

“It is not an exaggerated way of thinking, it is accumulation of many things which we have been undergoing in this country not just in my area, in Anambra, Edo, Benue, where herdsmen are being appeased not to kill, not to destroy and what I am looking at in our neighbourhood are tentative polls to see how far these people can go.”

He said the type of dialogue he was advocating wasn’t for the creation of grazing route as it would cause more problems in the country but one where the security agencies would be about their duties while the leadership of the country would make it clear that no herdsman would commit crime and escape punishment.

“In any case, should we wait for another six months that no more Ogun State farmers are killed, Edo farmers are killed, their children raped, beheaded for going to their farms? Will the next meeting be like the one which was held in Benue over a year ago when the herdsmen actually arrived with AK 47 and were not disarmed and were allowed to leave with them?

“This is what is known as impunity, it is actually enslavement, poking a finger at the citizens of this nation. The crisis is very real; it is futile and suicidal to pretend otherwise.

“Some action is required to call leadership to order; maybe we should have a day of beef boycott, find other means of satisfying our protein and I know that vegetarians will be very happy.”

Reminded the issue was not a local one he said: “The threat is not a local one, it is not even a national one. If you remember a meeting I spoke of which followed some massacres in the north, the delegates admitted that they came from outside, all the way from Senegal or somewhere and said they had come and killed to avenge the death of one of their own people who had been killed so they mobilised across the West African region to come and avenge the death of one person.

He also condemned the hoarding of information on President Muhammadu Buhari’s health status which he likened to the way President Donald Trump of America hoarded his tax returns, insisting that as a public officer and leader, he had the obligation to let people know reality of his health to avoid speculations.

sarrki:
He should learn to obey our Constitution

sarrki:
He's an ex convict

NgeneUkwenu:
The remaining Conditions:


Kanu Must Not Be Seen In A Gathering Of 10 People

Kanu Must Not Grant Any Interview.

Kanu Must Not Travel Outside The Country.

Kanu Must Be Filing His Medical Status Weekly To The Zoo Government.

Kanu Must Not Appear In any other court While his trial lasts...


In fact, Buhari has succeeded in Chaining Kanu to the Zoo Cage....


Like Uwazuruike, Like Nnamdi Cownu....

Don't even Joke with the Zoo Government!

ademega:
Lesson learnt

emefav:
Following the bail granted him on health ground, and subsequently meeting the requirements for the bail, IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, has been pictured leaving Kuje Prison where he has been locked up since 2015.


He was pictured leaving the prison in a traditional attire that had Biafran design on it. He was driven out of the detention facility by former transportation minister Osita Chidoka. Here are photos;

http://www.lailasblog.com/2017/04/photos-of-nnamdi-kanu-leaving-kuje.html

Lalasticlala

sarrki:
Ifeanyi you fall my hand

It's a wrong move you just made

You do business with Nigeria government

That guy is a criminal

GoroTango:
It doesn't matter where he comes from as far as IPOB yoot are concerned, just being corrupt and embezzling money is enough for you to become their hero. Sambo Dasuki comes to mind

MrMaestro:
Not opinion, not fantasy, not hateful tribalistic comments. Give me hard, and factual proof with sources , as to how exactly any country split from Nigeria will be better than Nigeria. Its a very simple question. I want answers.

Let's recap,

1. Nigeria has Africa's Largest GDP: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_African_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)

2. Nigeria has the largest amount of internet users: http://answersafrica.com/africa-internet-usage-statistics.html

3. Nigeria has the second largest film industry in the world: http://fortune.com/2015/06/24/nollywood-movie-industry/

4. Nigeria has the largest music industry in africa (I don't even need to cite this. http://www.africanbusinesscentral.com/2016/10/24/the-boom-in-africas-music-industry-continues/)

5. Nigerians own 2 of the top 3 spot of richest men in Africa (everyone else in top 5 is white): https://www.forbes.com/africa-billionaires/list/#tab:overall

So again, i'm open to discussion. Give me hard, and factual proof with sources, how a spilt country would be better than Nigeria. Its a very simple question. Answer the question below Don't derail, or change the subject, just answer the question.

Okoyiboz3:
The initial part of your post shows the sort of upbringing you had, I'll ignore that.

You still haven't answered the questions in my posts. You'll think it doesn't matter until loafers like Ekweremadu and Uba start fighting for the leadership of Biafra.

jasawa:
how should it get me first while iam contented with my life. Its you people that are ingrate that the lagoon should swallow first.

jasawa:
well then go and hug transformer or better still you jump into the Lagoon.

jasawa:
Dum ass and all this while you people when to sleep until now . So what happen to the previous Presidents.

jasawa:
Day before yesterday you're shouting Biafra, yesterday you shouted Restructuring and today you're shouting Marginalization. Since when did you people realized these ? for 16 good years its PDP and you're in bed with them. If the election of 2015 was in the PDP favour you will shout Unity in Diversity and one Nigeria.But today because it is APC and PMB you want cause a problem, may problem attached to you for ever.

amaechi1:
I thought our hero and brother Jonathan developed everywhere.

Earth2Metahuman:
and who is stopping you exactly?

Earth2Metahuman:
Lmao lol hahahahahaha

beasterners will do anything except move away from other region back to the eroded red mud land.
Stop voting in lord luggard cesspit.
Stop collecting allocation from zoo.
Ask their leaders to stop looting nigeria's wealth.

LionDeLeo:
E still dey pain am.

See who dey talk about leeches.

Wetin Igbo dey contribute to fed govt purse?

E go soon dey talk say na oil.

1. Oil is in SS, not SE.
2. How is oil the "hard work" of the oil producing states?

So, now who is depending on who?

Gerrout.

LionDeLeo:
Choi, e pain am well well.

LionDeLeo:
10/10

ElsonMorali:
It's all about the money for them. Lawyers should be penalized for frivolous lawsuits like this one.

I wonder who gave Agbakoba the title of SAN.

shame on him.