₦airaland Forum

DaPuncline:
You are still trying to vindicate abaribe, call a spade a spade: Abaribe and Marafa goofed. Let's be sincere to ourselves.

we can agree on that

TimeMod1:
You are too clever by half. Your logic at absolving Abaribe is absolutely flawed.
Did you read or skipped the last paragraph where other senators were reportedly eager to support the motion?. it's no brainer that it was pre planned.
The senator from zamfara had to buttress the motion raised by Abaribe... Hmm.. Igbos...The hypocrisy is deep-seated

point of order, I'm not Igbo.
if indeed it was preplanned, then it wasn't planned well

since we do not have the full story, I wouldn't want to jump into further hasty conclusions. if abaribe an Igboman tries to get Osinbajo impeached, there's no big deal, the saraki for instance is a Muslim and has northern alliances since many would argue that he's not a northerner, and he'd quash all forms of agitation from the east. that's why I didn't talk about abaribe, because he'll be the biggest loser, losing support from home as well. so I wasn't absolving him at all.. he's not worth all these talk

DaPuncline:
No loyalty displayed by saraki, he stylishly passed his message across through the senators. The message has been passed already. Why blaming marafa and ignoring Abaribe?

Abaribe can argue that he meant no harm. He just pointed out an observation that there was no president in the country, though he was being mischievous but was smart enough not to make it so clear. The zamfara guy has soiled his name

Unusual loyalty by saraki... well played. now osinbajo, owes him a favour. in the game of life, it is very bad to owe someone a favour cos you'll keep praying he doesn't ask for the impossible.
meanwhile the zfara senator is just a religious fanatic who doesn't know how to play chess

lalasticlala kindly move my thread to the front page. cheers .

Good evening folks
back then it wasn't unusual to find parents who massage their wards injuries with boiling water. A lot of parents still do it , but is it valid medically? is that trauma worth it?

can doctors in the house please contribute

omenkaLives:
Donald Duke and co representing.

And some fools want me to hate a people simply because they are Muslims, and call me a slave for failing to do so.

Religious bigotry is borne out of nothing but acute material and mental poverty, not forgetting post election loss trauma.

God bless all Muslims and Christians alike jor.

Hello Omenka. I have never responded to your views before now though my old moniker is quite popular.. Allow me tell you a short story. A personal story.

I was raised in the South south. I live in Yola presently, at least for the next 10 months. I am a doctor with specialty in endocrinology. I work here, offering scarce services to a few people.
I live in Yola town, somewhere in between the Lamido's palace, Abuja road, the market and Jippu jam. I don't want to be too specific, but at least clear enough to prove I really do live there. I didn't stay within the hospital because I wanted to prove or debunk the myths about northerners and Muslims. Myths that they were dangerous or were friendly except when their religion was referred to.

There is a packaging factory close to my house,  they also retail sachet water. The neighbours are OK, mostly friendly, they don't know what I do for a living, the children  are respectful though they fight incessantly. I enjoy their fights and their gists. Though a Fulani domain, hausa remains pidgin and I have a working knowledge of it since I sometimes consult in Hausa. My Fulani is close to null.

I don't discuss with them, the factory workers being children would not have much in common with me. But I'm nice, I paid for their food once and I split my bread with a kid almajiri once too. I dress decently, no indecent exposure or stuff like that - I dress as a professional would. And I patronize them too, buying stuff from them every blessed day.

I'm saying all these because I want you to understand where I'm coming from and relate it to what I'm going to say next...
During the fasting, I overhead the children discussing and arguing, and one of them said in Hausa "shey we've given them date to leave, let them not leave and we will slaughter them like animals". Their ages would range  from 10 to maybe 24 . My housemate, an indigene from Michika was surprised that I was surprised, and was asking me what did I expect? I didn't expect that from children at least.

Yola town is not like Jimeta which is the hub of the capital. Yola town is more or less a spiritual centre for them, the lamido's palace, numerous mosques and prayer houses, AUN,market, hospital, one bank, and businesses, with a sizeable number of outsiders. There is an Igbo woman selling fruits and roasting corn just by tasha, there is an Igbo Vulcanizer beside her, there is an Igala man at one of the market entrances sharpening tools for grinding machines , then there are numerous Igbo selling or as artisans along the market road. In spite of their friendliness and services rendered, the youth long for the day when they'll finally slaughter them .

My housemate from Michika told me it was expressly forbidden to befriend a Muslim in her place and in surrounding areas. They refer to them as snake-children because they seem nice but are potentially more dangerous than you can imagine. She recalled that during the last northern crisis in 2012, the youths went to the palace of the Lamido to seek permission to participate in the exercise but he refused saying he'd not permit it on his domain. Coincidentally, Mubi, Michika, Magdali and other areas with sizeable nonmuslim population were worst hit when BH came to Adamawa leaving Fulani cultural establishments untouched.

I'm saying these because you and Sarrki have quite a sizeable readership and followers, so you mustn't mislead our people into believing they have allies where there are no allies. Our people barely travel so we must give them the truth, no matter how distasteful it is. Muslims are not our friends. Even their Quran forbids friendship or assistance to Christians and non Muslims except in a situation where the nonmuslim appears to have a capacity to harm the Muslim. I'll post this in a new thread.
If northerners are very cautious about Muslims, who are we as unexposed southerners to differ? There is nothing such as political correctness, there is only white and black, life or death.
I wish you many successes in all your endeavors. Stay safe.

“Seinde Arigbede did not die, but unlike others, he did not have broomstick twitches driven up his penis…”


Those were my first storybook’s opening lines. Until I had a sibling in 1997, I’d spent the previous years in solitary confinement. Locked up securely on return from school on weekdays or permanently without air time in the holiday season after both parents had gone to work. I only had tons of newspapers, magazines; my much disliked Tell magazine, old copies of Primetime and Vintage magazines from the 80s which were my favorites with their sensational and fabulous reports – I recall the flooding of Lagos by a vexed Mammy-Water whose daughter was killed by a Lagosian… My comics were Benbella and Wale Adenuga’s Super story and Ikebe Super. Never heard of them, right?


I loved Abacha, handsome, and the fact that he was rarely mentioned directly: like our own you-know-who, I liked the way he appeared intensely serene in photos, big-rimmed glasses, nice facial marks and the exasperated look of a man misunderstood. And I loathed all the small time players, especially one of them who usually signed government releases, gladly I can’t even remember his name.. There was one Diya whose face on the cover of Tell magazine appeared as if he was pleading not to be admitted in the bowels of Hell…
But Wole was different, my storybook was a difficult read especially for an unexposed 9-year old confined in Benin city’s backwaters. Notwithstanding I trudged on. I loved the man and his ways. Refusing food was something I would have done too, manufacturing Soy-ink was worthy of an award and when it was confiscated I was angry for days just the way I mourned Ikem Osodi’s death years later! Towards the time of his release my interest waned, so did the pace of events, I had moved on. Years later I found the book’s cover that had been missing – the title being “The Man Died” and my revered Wole had indeed won an award, not for manufacturing an ink but a Nobel Prize, an international award for Literature. He was instantly deified in my plasticine mind and would remain so for a few years.


In spite of my exposure to extreme literature, I couldn’t bring myself to study it formally. In fact, I never enjoyed English lessons, especially the comprehension and writing exercises; I felt no teacher was robust enough to teach me English and Literature when I’d been under a Nobel Prize winner’s anointing. They spoke of potential, continually picking me for essays even when I failed with consistency and constantly digressing heavily in my essays. I didn’t like learning adverbials, adjectivals, modes, determiners etc. Though I was proud that I was seen as the best, I would never be able to motivate myself to write for a teacher to grade! It all climaxed with me making a mere C4 in my WASSCE though I would later go on to score 90 in my UME thus redeeming myself. Though the test being purely multiple choice made it less intolerable.


All this while I never forgot Wole, though he appeared to have vanished from the face of the earth. In time I evangelized Wole to my closest friends first then to anyone who cared to listen. “This man is the most sophisticated writer I’ve read, read the Man Died, you won’t be ab…” the former were genuinely not interested – I took a gamble in offering my storybook to my best friend, he promptly lost it. Alas, it was my father’s book. Luckily the old man did not notice another fading brown paperback missing from his hoard. From then onwards I knew there was either something wrong with me or with Wole. Why didn’t they like my book? The problem was me, there was definitely something wrong with me, there was something wrong with the difference between me and my friends. Why else would I enjoy the Godfather, the Count of Monte Cristo and How to Kill a Mockingbird and my friends didn’t even give them a second glance? To preserve my friendship, I never read another Wole book lest I became ostracized and labeled a special child. And till date, I haven’t, though for entirely different reasons. Just like our parents promised us lunacy on reading the 6th and 7th books of Moses, I believe that I may not be fully developed and sufficiently self-aware to grasp the esoteric secrets buried within his works. Constantly rereading them should unravel new meaning and deeper revelation.


I never cared for drama, it insists upon itself.
But I’d follow his statements closely, rarely not seen with a jacket, I loved how his speeches were veiled and direct, the complexities of his sentences, at least to a dunce like me. Lengthy essays that I ritually force myself to complete, His not so distant, not so recent intercourses; the dance with the Shepopotamus, the funeral for common sense, the Green Card affair and the adventures with faceless twittering e-warriors, his reaction to the corruption manual launched in Abuja was interesting, to say the least. I still liked him. He didn’t send a recorded speech or a representative. That’s something that matters. In spite of his age, he still saw the need to address people. He had faith in Nigeria. Or was it hope? Wole is hopeful for a better Nigeria? A return to wealth and nationalism? I’m in my 20s and I’m 100% sure that governing Nigeria is a poisoned chalice, the youth being the blundering fools that we are, devoid of common sense, bravery and tact, irritated by history, casually dismissing facts as propaganda, happy to be uninvolved in the scheme of running government, specialists at war-mongering and hypothetical situations yet unable to think of how the future could be if we continue like this. We’ve mastered the vain repetition of strange phrases; resource control, true federalism, political correctness, without understanding their use and context. Whether we like it or not, whether I’m abused or hailed I’ll continue saying this, we are not on the same level with our fathers, they didn’t have the internet, they had talebearers, and yet they were smarter, faster, more intelligent, braver, more respectful and more faithful. Our internet ate away a huge chunk of our brains, made us pseudo-intellectuals, we would never have gained independence if our fathers left that for us, we would not have designed a flag or composed an anthem, as certain elements would have claimed the Flag’s green is synonymous with Arewa’s green therefore not representative of the country’s diversity, or the anthem sounded too western, and thus imperative that an Arab movement be added somehow to appease the North! Except something abnormal, radical and revolutionary happens to us all, the question is not if we’ll go down but how low we’ll sink before clutching at something. Sadly, revolutions were fuelled by ideology and youthful vigour and our political class have found a way to suppress vigour with cash. Pay a 25-year old N1000 an hour and he’ll do anything for you, protest against his human rights, sell you his vote, sell his birthright and kill for others to sell theirs to you. That’s tomorrow’s leader.


Meanwhile, as I watched him speak, worry crept in. Wole now being in his 80s, armed with a lifetime of healthy habits could still afford to give speeches when some of his age graders are being fed crushed beef and struggling to recall their children’s names.

I don’t call him Uncle Wole or Pa Wole because I believe he is ageless. He is not corruptible, not subject to the laws of time and space, hence we must draw a distinction between Wole and the man, Wole. I know the man Wole would surely have his personal battles, but there was this unnatural calmness about him, acting like everything was the same, and I experienced an unusual ease as I watched him speak. The same way I felt shortly before I was notified of my father’s passing. That same ease that I’ve learned to fear. Anyways I’ve heard rumors. “The torrent of an old man’s water may no longer smash into the bole of a roadside tree a few strides away as it once did but fall at his feet like a woman’s but in return, the eye of his mind is given wing to fly away beyond the familiar sights of the homestead… ” Having swapped youthful virility for profound wisdom, my thoughts turn to you sir, how are you? Are you in health? I know you would have definitely taken measures to insulate yourself from this economic recession indefinitely.But how are you holding up? How does it feel experiencing a very different Nigeria from that you were raised in? If I am enveloped with grief when I remember that a bottle of Coca-Cola was N10 when I was a boy, how do you feel recalling that graduates were given cars and jobs in your youth? Do you have any regrets about things we could have done differently? Or things you could have changed? I wish I could do something tangible for you, do a comprehensive visual exam or review your current spectacles or get you hearing aids or provide you with well-trained guards if you see lapses in the current regime. What would a man like you even need guards for? Only since the herdsmen choose to shame those who mean something to us has it become necessary to hide our sages. I’d give all to meet you in person, and what hinders it? Distance, I’m close to a thousand kilometres away, your busy schedule – I’m aware you have so much to do while striving to get enough rest, and will you sir be open to having a stranger over just because he wrote that he’d idolized you and poured libation to you every week when he opens a fresh bottle of Whisky? And Sir, have you ever stopped and thought about our fate when you’re gone? Or you don’t care? Care about how people like me would survive? What are your thoughts on the afterlife? Is there really something out there? Would it be unreasonable and meaningless if it didn’t all end here?


Someday, a long time after I’ve met you I hope, your time would pass, and the only Nobel Prize Nigeria could ever win ( I have my strong reasons backing this up) and the world would mourn but our leaders would be too thick in the head to say something simple like ” Our guiding light has been lost in the storm”, instead we”ll see tributes and odes conjured up, elegies chanted by vagabonds, newspapers decorated with all manner of posthumous nonsense, written by the same generation who can tell an elder ” Please shut up Sir!” There would, of course, be tales of last meetings, last interviews as though you were a mere social commentator, how you revealed one final secret, the truth about the secessionists or a lifehack you invented! In your own best interests I pray you leave instructions to make the final voyage a very private affair, not a state event, lest it be made a parody and another sterling testimony of the frequent victory of evil over good, or even worse so nauseating that you’d be forced into a hasty return to port and play a Lazarus. We’d love to be there but I prefer we were shut out. Instead, let it be a work-free day.


I’d sit in my house, the sweltering Sahelian heat pumping sweat out of my Wells, as usual, watching from my window as Fulanis exchange pleasantries, their children bickering incessantly, no tears, only a lump in my throat. Not from sadness due to the necessity that had taken place but at the reawakening of madness, the tendency to ethnicize and decrypt your legacy, the hypocritical backlash from other groups, the embarrassment of your peers (if any left) and the absolute vanity in confining your name to an institution of learning or an airport! Presently, the sheer force of your mortal existence prevents these various degrees of insanity. But for how long? Why don’t you intervene sir? Why don’t you call for the odes and tributes so you’d grade them? After all aren’t you the highest ranked English teacher in Nigeria? Why don’t you demystify yourself so that simple folk like me would understand? Help us to understand your perfect ways and how you became a rule to yourself, teach us to oppose injustice with tact, is it not possible for us to write and reason as you do? What made you so brave? Do we need to learn how to use a firearm or were you just acting during the radio hold-up? What can be done to discontinue the “just gimme summary” culture? The battles ahead are numerous, conventional writing may not survive the onslaught from blogging and the internet. Investigative journalism may become cost prohibitive in a time when Newspapers struggle to be read!
I wish you Sir, many more years of clear thought and conscience.


Osaremwinda Osarenokese Osazemwinde
Osanorekete@gmail.com
nairaland :diezani

*Why the Odds Favor Islam*
_WILLIAM KILPATRICK_

On May 22, an Islamic suicide bomber detonated himself outside a pop concert in Manchester, England, killing and wounding dozens, many of them young children.

The terrorist was a 22-year-old named Salman Abedi. A few days after the attack, I was reading an article about the mosque he attended—the Didsbury Mosque. “That’s funny,” I thought looking at the accompanying photo, “that doesn’t look like a mosque, it looks like a church.”

Sure enough, as I discovered, the Didsbury Mosque was once the Albert Park Methodist Chapel. It had been bought by the local Syrian Muslim community and transformed into a Muslim place of worship.

Similar transformations have been taking place in other parts of the UK. St. Mark’s Church in London is now the New Peckham Mosque, St. Peter’s Church in Cobridge was sold to the Madina Mosque. The Brick Lane Mosque in London was originally a Methodist church. But church-to-mosque conversions are only part of a larger story. There are now 423 mosques in London, and the number is expected to grow. Meanwhile, 500 London churches have closed since 2001, and in all of England 10,000 churches have closed since 1960.

The transformation of the Albert Park Methodist Church to the Didsbury Mosque is emblematic of one of the most significant shifts in history: the transformation of Europe from a largely Christian continent to a largely Islamic one. The transformation is far from complete, and there’s an outside chance the process can be reversed, but time and demographics favor Islam.

In several of Europe’s cities, the Muslim population now hovers around the thirty percent mark. In ten years’ time, that will be forty percent. Of course that doesn’t mean 40 percent of highly committed Muslims facing 60 percent of deeply devout Christians. Both faiths have their share of half-hearted “nominals” for whom religion is more a cultural inheritance than a deeply held conviction. Still, the “nominal” problem is a much greater problem for European Christians than for European Muslims. In many European countries, Sunday church attendance is the 5-10 percent range whereas mosque attendance is very high in relation to the size of the Muslim population. In England, there are already more Muslims attending Friday prayers than there are Christians attending Anglican services on Sundays. A study by Christian Research predicts that by 2020 the number of Muslims attending prayer service in England and Wales will exceed the number of Catholics attending weekly Mass.

It’s also noteworthy that the expanding Muslim population in Europe is relatively young, whereas the declining “Christian” population is an aging one. Sixty-forty seems like good odds until you realize that the average age of the 60 percenters will be around 55 while the average age of the 40 percenters will be around 25.

You may object that if there is any fighting to be done, most of the fighting on the “Christian” side will be done by the army, not by citizens in walkers and wheelchairs. But keep in mind that the military draws its recruits from the ranks of the young. As the population of the people that Islamists refer to as “crusaders” ages, European governments will be forced to draw more of their new recruits from the Muslim population. The same goes for the police forces. Many Muslims will serve their country or their city faithfully, but many will have divided loyalties, and some will have signed up in the first place with mutiny in mind.

Most likely, however, the transformation will be effected without major battles. It won’t be a matter of numbers or of military strength, but of strength of belief. Those with the strongest beliefs will prevail. Those who are not sure what to believe will submit without a fight.

Will Europe Defend its “Values”?
That’s the theme of Michel Houellebecq’s Submission, a novel about the gradual Islamization of France. The protagonist, a middle-aged professor, has a number of qualms about the Islamic takeover of the university system, but nothing sufficient to resist it. The things he values most—literature, good food, and sex—are, in the end, no impediment to accepting Islam. True, he is offered several inducements to convert—career advancement, plenty of money, and several “wives”—but one gets the impression that, even without these incentives, he would still eventually convert. At one point prior to his submission, he thinks about joining a monastic order as his literary hero, J.K. Huysmans, had done, but he soon realizes that he lacks the necessary Christian conviction. Indeed, he has no strong convictions.

His plight is the plight of contemporary Europe in a nutshell. Many Europeans see no sense in resisting Islamization because they have nothing worth defending. To be sure, European leaders still talk about “our values,” but they can’t seem to specify what those values are, beyond appeals to “diversity” and “pluralism.” For example, after the Manchester massacre, British Prime Minister Theresa May stated that “our values—the liberal, pluralistic values of Britain—will always prevail over the hateful ideology of the terrorists.”

I’m not so sure of that. In an earlier era, Brits would have connected their values to God, country, family, and honor. In other words, things worth fighting for. But “liberal, pluralistic values”? That’s not very solid ground on which to take your stand. Who wants to die for diversity? Indeed, it can be argued that the worship of diversity for its own sake is what allowed terrorists to get a foothold in England in the first place. No one wanted to question all those diverse preachers spreading their diverse message about Jews, infidels, and homosexuals. The trouble is, unless there are higher values than diversity, there’s no way of judging between good diversities and bad diversities—between, say, honoring your wife and honor-killing her if she displeases you.

The same is true of freedom. Freedom is a fundamental right, but what you do with your freedom is also important. There has to be some higher objective value that directs our choices to good ends rather than bad ones. Otherwise, freedom becomes a license to do anything one pleases.

An Attack on Childhood
Here we touch on a very touchy subject. I would not like to be in Theresa May’s shoes when, after a horrifying attack, she has to come up with just the right words. But one thing she said struck me as not quite right. She said: “We struggle to comprehend the warped and twisted mind that sees a room packed with young children not as a scene to cherish, but as an opportunity for carnage.”

It’s possible to fully agree with May’s sentiments while, at the same time, noting that there once was a time when a room full of children watching an Ariana Grande concert would not be considered “a scene to cherish.” “Her dress, dancing, and song lyrics,” wrote one columnist, “are deliberately decadent and immodest.” And, after watching some YouTube clips of her performances, I would have to agree. I’m pretty sure that most of the parents I know would not want their children to attend one of her concerts.

While the world was justly outraged at Salman Abedi’s attack on innocent children, no one seems to notice the attack on childhood innocence that the typical pop concert represents. The two “attacks” should not be equated, of course. The producers of pop concerts are not the moral equivalents of a suicide bomber. Still, the fact that so many parents saw nothing wrong with dropping their children off at the Manchester concert suggests a great deal of moral confusion in the West.

Unfortunately, such moral confusion leaves people vulnerable to those who are absolutely certain about their beliefs. The moral relativism of the West is one of the chief reasons why the Islamic cultural jihad has been so successful. People who can’t see that the soft-porn style of Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus, and Ariana Grande is not good for children will have difficulty seeing the problem with polygamy, child marriage, and other aspects of sharia law. In a relativistic society, the safest default position is “who’s to judge?”

Relativism Leads to Islamic Dominance
Earlier I said that Europe is being transformed from a Christian culture to an Islamic culture, but that’s not quite accurate because it’s actually a three-stage transformation. Much of Europe has already transitioned out of its Christian stage and into a post-Christian or secular stage. There are still many Christians in Europe, but Europe’s Christian consciousness has been largely lost. The next stage is the transition from secularism to Islam. That’s not inevitable, but it’s likely because without a framework of Judeo-Christian beliefs, secularism becomes relativism and relativism can’t offer much resistance to determined true believers.

Back in 2014, Theresa May said “we celebrate different ways of life, we value diversity, and we cherish our freedom to lead our lives as we choose.” But if your culture stands for nothing more than the freedom to shop for different lifestyles, it won’t last long. The contemporary Western fascination with pop culture highlights the problem. Pop culture is by its very nature a transient phenomenon. What is pop today won’t be pop tomorrow. Indeed, the popular culture of tomorrow may very well favor burqas, multiple wives, and male supremacy. There may still be a place for singer-dancers like Ariana Grande and Miley Cyrus, but that place would most likely be as a harem dancer in a Sultan’s palace or as entertainment for a Saudi prince who has bought up a country estate in Oxfordshire.

It’s hard to beat transcendent values with transient values. That’s especially the case when the transcendent crowd are willing to die (and kill you in the process) for their values. Most Brits, on the other hand, are not willing to lay down their lives for the sake of keeping bacon on the menu or porn on the telly.

Christianity vs. Two Forms of Totalitarianism
When I use the word “transcendent,” I refer only to a belief in an eternal life beyond this worldly existence. Quite obviously, as in the case of Salman Abedi, transcendent values can be twisted. The idea that God will reward you for murdering innocent young women in Manchester by furnishing you with virginal young women in paradise is a truly twisted concept. But apparently it is widely shared in the Muslim world. When, during a World Cup qualifier in Australia, a minute of silence was called to commemorate the London terror victims, the whole Saudi soccer team refused to observe it. As Sheik Mohammad Tawhidi later explained:

In their eyes the attackers are martyrs who are going to paradise. And if they stand for a minute of silence they are against their Muslim brothers who fought for jihad and fought the infidels.

As twisted as these values may be, it’s beginning to look as though secular values aren’t up to the job of opposing them. The trouble with secular values when they are cut off from their Judeo-Christian roots is that they are arbitrary. Autonomy? Dignity? Equality? Says who?

“If there is no God,” wrote Dostoevsky, “everything is permitted.” Secularism has no God and, therefore, no ultimate standard of judgment. The end result is that each man becomes his own god and does his own thing—even if that “thing” involves the exploitation of childhood innocence. Islam, on the other hand, does believe in God, but not the God Dostoevsky had in mind. The God of Islam is an arbitrary despot whose commands are not rooted in reason, love, or justice.

So we have two arbitrary systems vying for control of the West—the soft totalitarianism of secularism and the hard totalitarianism of Islam. Both are really forms of slavery. Muslims are slaves of a tyrannical God, and secular man becomes the slave of his own desires and addictions. It may seem unthinkable that the West will ever submit to Islam, but many Western citizens are already in submission mode. Submission to their desires has put them in a bad spot. As a result, they are looking for something bigger to submit to—something outside and above their own fragile selves. Some have already turned to Islam. Many more will unless…

Unless, that is, there is a recovery of the Judeo-Christian belief that God is a God of love, justice, reason, and goodness—and that we are made in his image (a concept which does not exist in Islam). In the context of that vision, belief in human dignity and the rights of man is thoroughly justified.

People who believe that they and their neighbor are made in the image of God will generally have a strong sense of their responsibility to act accordingly. Such people will be far from perfect, but they will at least realize that it is wrong to submit both to Islam’s warped image of God and to secularism’s degraded image of man.

In the end, the choice for the West is not between Islam and pluralistic secularism. A rootless secularism will almost certainly submit to Islam. The only real hope for the West is the recovery of the faith that once inspired Christians to build a beautiful church near Albert Park in West Didsbury, England.

http://www.crisismagazine.co[truncated by WhatsApp]

Abujaexpress:
They live in Benin and the father must have joined while in Benin

definitely.. but Benin doesn't have monopoly of stuff like this. it is actually overrepresented in the news. I think Kogi state is far ahead of us in tems of spiritual nuclear capability

Zoolezoo:
The origin of Ogboni might be Yoruba, but nothing indicates this case is connected to Ogbonis in anyway!
Besides, Ogboni members in Edo are Edo people not Yorubas.

if you know even a few things about them you'd agree that they are 70% likely to be involved. your last statement isn't true. The ROF is worldwide, so you'd expect membership drawn from various backgrounds, and members of a lodge would include indigenes, settlers, businessmen, professionals, infact people from all walks of life, though majority may be Benin people. I only pointed out the origin in order to rebuff the stereotype of " edo and dark arts"

Abujaexpress:
Asigidi operate in the same manner as Ogboni in Benin

then it's one of them .. though ogboni takes the first son rule more aggressively. are there even esan people in asigidi?

very few people read the narrative. the story fits Ogboni confraternity patten, where a man's eldest son is expected to fill his shoes. on the death of the man, his wife was seen as shielding her children from replacing their dad.
and for those shouting edo this and that, ogboni na Yoruba confraternity.. even alhajis be membersvery few people read the narrative. the story fits Ogboni confraternity patten, where a man's eldest son is expected to fill his shoes. on the death of the man, his wife was seen as shielding her children from replacing their dad.
and for those shouting edo this and that, ogboni na Yoruba confraternity.. even alhajis be membersvery few people read the narrative. the story fits Ogboni confraternity patten, where a man's eldest son is expected to fill his shoes. on the death of the man, his wife was seen as shielding her children from replacing their dad.
and for those shouting edo this and that, ogboni na Yoruba confraternity.. even alhajis be members

I’d gotten an unsolicited news flash from MTN a few weeks ago on the Honorable Minister for Education, Prof Adamu Adamu saying that teachers were to become the highest paid workers in Nigeria. The implication would be an improvement in the educational sector.

Fast forward to a few days later, I’d gotten another story on a Nigerian celebrity who goofed when asked the meaning of B.Sc. This is an individual who I learned is a graduate of a tertiary institution, in fact, a college of Education. For those not familiar with the Nigerian educational system, a College of Education is a tertiary institution, primarily concerned with producing school teachers. It is expected to give all-round training to prospective teachers, who on gaining an NCE, would go on to impart that same knowledge on millions of Nigerian schoolchildren.

So, a teacher doesn’t know the meaning of B.Sc., or according to her makeup story, she couldn’t recall due to stage fever.

She is not the only one, she is merely a representative, and very good one, of the numerous College of Education graduates we have out there. While Higher Diploma holders from polytechnics have been clamouring for equality with B.Sc. holders, our NCE fellows have been silent. Beaming a flashlight on that sub-sector was very revealing, and saddening due to the fact that Ministers of Education – present and his forebears, heads of examination bodies and even parents have never raised these concerns that we would examine shortly.

Firstly, a college of education is the easiest tertiary institution to get into. Universities have the highest cut-off point for admission, followed by Polytechnics and finally Colleges of Education and trade schools. In plainer terms, a College has lower requirements. This means that the lowest scorers are sent to Colleges. I do not infer that these candidates are unintelligent, but we can all agree that test scores are a fair measure of academic ability and there is some form of positive correlation between test scores and intellectual ability. So we send our lowest scoring candidates to learn how to teach our children – who we have continuously echoed are our future. The scenario here is like that of a snake eating itself; if we send our least intelligent to teach our children, surely the latter would never reach our level nor their potential, then they too send their worst to teach their offspring and the cycle continues. Isn’t that evolution in reverse?

Secondly, having been forced into teaching, there would never be the same enthusiasm as you’d observe in a student studying a preferred course. This can also be physically verified on a ‘walking’ visit to any college of Education nationwide; on display is a higher than average level of disinterest, loitering, cultism, malpractice, indiscriminate sexual relations, truancy and a lack of understanding of their disciplines. A notable example is the College of Education, Ekiadolor, Edo state, who shocked us a few years back when cultists placed the decapitated head of a student at the school gate. The situation report from sister colleges isn’t different from this.

I know a few readers who would not be concerned, after all, they can afford the private secondary schools where most of the teachers have Bachelor’s degrees from Universities. I put it to you that there is very little difference. Again, in Universities Education courses are also the easiest to gain admission to, the lowest scorers are pushed there, though the system is better structured and they are taught better, this does not really improve the quality of graduates nor does it address the very important motivation issue. There is an additional peculiarity, the Faculty of Education in most universities is the official dump site and graveyard of academic dreams. On failing from, let’s say Engineering or Medicine, the student is transferred to Computer Science or Microbiology, with further failure he may pass through Faculty of Agriculture or go straight to Education, the faculty becoming a pool of rejects. So, is there any difference between the forced B.Ed. teacher and the NCE teacher? Don’t they all lack a sense of purpose accompanied by anger and frustration?

How can we talk about modeling after the Malay or the Chinese system when we have these foundational problems?
I do not speak for the elite, they can afford to pay hundreds of thousands of naira per term for their wards in private schools that employ B.Sc. teachers, teachers forced into teaching by unemployment and yet paid peanuts. I speak for the average citizen, who can only afford government schools, often free, and as a product of one, I know how much good can be done by improving on their standards. But can quality improve and students continue to pay zero tuition? Yes, it can be done. The key is by not adopting a 5-year working plan or any other time-based cliche like the other failures we’ve had in the past.
As Ikem Osodi, my fictional mentor in Chinua Achebe’s Anthills of the Savannah would say, ” Writers do not give prescriptions, they give headaches”. Howbeit for the purpose of nation building I’d raise another few points.

Since we cannot call for the abolition of Colleges of Education due to the economic impact; loss of jobs, a shortfall in available teachers, and also due to sentiments attached, especially from mature citizens who may have been products at one time, why don’t we use the word ‘restructure’ peacefully? Let us restructure our colleges of Education. Couldn’t we make them run 4-year programmes with an expanded syllabus and vocational training with a heavy focus on optimum subject delivery methods? I agree with the Honorable Minister that increased remuneration is in order, this also would drive traffic to Teaching as a profession, with increased number of candidates it would be logical to raise the cut-off points required for admission thus improving the quality of intakes. Though some may argue that increasing salaries would bring in people for the wrong reasons, is it not a better option to what we have today? But wouldn’t this proposal join numerous others lost in the labyrinths beneath the 3-Arms Zone?
I and many reasonable Nigerians would be very open to abolishing the tradition of transferring our worst students to Education and instead transfer them to trade schools or technical schools without the need to write a fresh matriculation exam. The act establishing the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board could be amended, upgrading it to a tertiary education board, facilitating horizontal transfers, serving as a liaison between institutions while the National Universities Commission remains a purely regulatory agency. Years ago, NCE meant a lot. TCII meant something. In today’s world, they are non-tenable. With bank jobs and other plum jobs looking for professionals like Engineers due to their versatility, and B.Sc., B.A. holders being forced to teach, where does that leave the NCE holder?

The B.Sc. holder knows all about science, the complex reactions, formulae and how to derive them but he doesn’t know how to teach a child. He has no knowledge of Child Psychology, methods of enforcing discipline effectively and overall assessment of a child. Another problem is that he too may have been a mediocre student who managed to pass or used the Nigerian tools, so he lacks subject knowledge and lacks teaching skill. Despite these shortcomings, he is preferred to the NCE holder. Where do these leave the child? Where do they leave our hope for tomorrow? Where do they leave our vision to become a world technological superpower by 2050? As we think of solutions, more problems surface.
Nevertheless, it is important Education is made a restricted profession, regulated and closely guarded. Since the Honorable Minister is planning to extradite the teacher’s reward from heaven, measures must be put in place to ensure it is not stolen by sharks and hawks. At this point, I must commend the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria who I hear have been doing so much to sanitize the system. Please do not compromise on competency tests and evaluations. I hope we are past the days when supervisors from the Ministry returned laden with yams, oil, and garri after “school inspection”? I hope we are past the days when teachers refused to go on rural posting but instead congregate in metropolitan schools selling lace fabrics and foreign bags? I hope lesson notes are being constantly updated in line with recent discoveries in Science – Pluto not being a planet at least…

Back to what we were saying, the tradition of retaining the best graduating or 1st class students should be applied to Colleges of Education too. With government funding made available, overseas training would be in order. With restructuring done, the NCE programme would continually be reviewed to accommodate for changes as the world evolves. Also, an overhaul would give graduates more options in the job market, with opportunities in Child Psychology and Mental Health, Career Counselling, Talent Spotting or even a full-fledged administrative career at the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs. Or who knows? even get exported to Europe as a social worker…
Most states have started conducting teacher verification exercises and results generally have been disgraceful. We’ve seen forged results, those unable to read, those who cannot write continuously and have all been teaching for years. Asking these people to return for revalidation and/or refresher courses would not be asking too much. It is a soft landing when compared with outright dismissal.
Furthermore, the Education Ministry should engage rogue private schools who claim to be using international curricula, adopting strange and confusing class structure and would rather have their students write “International exams”. This is Nigeria! We have an educational system and examination bodies. You cannot open a school in America and run 6-3-3-4 system because they have theirs. The Ministry of Education should not be coerced by the force of the word “international school”, there is no such thing. We must not allow our country to degenerate into a circus because we want to please a few people. Every country needs have its own laws, and if there are any lacunae being exploited in ours, we must close them for the victory of common sense over personal ego. And educational tourism would not do us any good in the short term or long term.

After all said and proposed, I have high hopes for this country, we have the potential to surpass the Americans, Malay, and Chinese, we have the will to survive and improve, we are only temporarily set back by indifference to issues affecting us and the intrigues of political maneuverings. Let us leave behind a Nigeria better than the one we met.

Written by Osaremwinda Osarenokese Osazemwinde
Osanorekete@gmail.com

https://thewillnigeria.com/news/opinion-the-nigerian-educational-system-an-urgent-call-for-restructuring/

lalasticlala
mynd44
ishilove
seun

laribari:
Madam, I didn't expect you or those who have read before to read again. Just scroll down abi? Why are you people making this such an issue?

Una leave the topic dey face me, I can't laff. I don steal the show, make una continue oo.

I have seen trends being quoted and I do not complain. There are some I enter and I just close it. Nor be by force!! I have rights to write what I want to write or quote here. Please don't question it.

Too bad if you hate it but you don't have to tell me, after all I quoted it just ONCE. It hasn't gotten out of hand.

Everybody sef wan talk. Well nor be una fault, I blame the OP becos this trend is too long and people can't pick anything there, so I'm now used as the trend.

T-H-R-E-A-D

Anyway I'm the Op. Cheers

laribari:
You are dumb if you didn't get the message. Over sabi wan kill you! I deliberately quoted it back FOR the OP for him to realize how long it is.

In my own quote I said I would have read but it's too long and quoted it for him to see (since he didn't realize) but your tiny brain works one way like a zombie or a vampizo that is programmed to attack people over nothing.

This is a public trend and you don't even own it or created it.

So what is the deal about the length? it's the lecturer's account as published! Quoting the whole story again makes scrolling cumbersome for others who have read the story already. There's no compulsion to react to or comment on the story

OrestesDante:
What is nice in the concept now?
Is it until they fall inside water catch river blindness?

you get river blindness from falling into a river?

SAN FRANCISCO, 08, (THEWILL) –
Omonefe Odunayo Ogungbemi, a Nigerian, is seeking refuge in Canada, alongside her husband, Olubunmi Seun Ogungbemi; and three children, Taraoluwa, Tifeoluwa and Tamilore, due to severe threat and assault by members of the Black AXxe Confraternity and their thugs while she worked as a lecturer in the Department of Optometry, University of Benin from June 30th, 2015 until her recent resignation on Monday, February 27 2017.

In a teary letter obtained by THEWILL, Omonefe revealed that she obtained her Doctor of Optometry degree in 2007; and most recently her Masters in Cell and Molecular Biology in February 2017 from the University of Benin, Nigeria.

After gaining some years of optometric private practice management skills, she applied to and got employed in the University of Benin as Lecturer II because the new job was more flexible and gave her more time to spend with her children.

Her troubles began in August 2016, after she marked scripts for a course (Epidemiology OPT 413) which she taught during the second semester.

Shortly after grades were given out, she received a strange phone call asking that she pass certain students and change their grades from “F’s” to PASS, in exchange for large sums of money

“To this I vehemently refused and told the caller that I was not selling at a market where grades could be bought. At this time, I did not report the issue to the school because there were no threats made at this time and I had no idea whom the caller was,” she wrote.

“In September 2016, a new school semester started and I had a new set of students. In the next month, October, I once again started receiving written messages on the front wind shield of my vehicle saying that no student must fail my course (Health Science for Optometrists OPT 428),  or I shall be severely dealt with.

“This was a threat and I reported to the school authorities who said that they would look into the matter, but nothing was done. In November 2016, I was in the middle of a lecture teaching 400 level students when a large group of students, who were also members of the Student Union Government, walked into a lecture theatre where I was teaching demanding that I end the class immediately.

“I politely asked them to wait because I had the lecture hall booked but they refused. They started reigning insults, were shouting and ordered my students out. It was only then that some of them identified that they were there to deliver a message from their cult- the Black Axxe Confraternity.

“They said that I had ignored them so far and unless I passed every student in my class for that semester, I would pay the ultimate price. This time, I reported their threats to the police; however; since I could not identify the men involved, the case was left unsolved.”

She however sought counsel from other professors who suggested that she did what was demanded of me, because failing a student was not worth her life which she disagreed and refused to be bullied.

“On the 24th of January, 2017 my house at 6, Restoration Way, Ogba was set ablaze by suspected arsonists. It was only on police investigation that we knew that this havoc was perpetrated by the cult gang, when my neighbor (one Mr. Sammy Kayode) reported that a man had come around a day before asking for the whereabouts of myself and my husband and also asking what time we would be home,” she continued.

“Thankfully, there was no one at the house at that time; however, we regrettably lost our dogs and a lot of our personal items in the fire.

“On my way to work on the 20th of February, 2017 at about 8:15 am, I had just driven past the University of Benin Teaching Hospital gate, when my car, a black Hyundai Accent was cut off by two other cars, both black Kia Rios and I was forced off the road, which nearly caused me to have a collision with an electric pole.

“The men who totaled five in number got out of their vehicles. One of them; who seemed to be the leader; was commanding me, while the others held their guns in the air. He demanded I came down from my vehicle while two others forced me into the back seat of one of the black sedans.

“The other two men (whom I later gathered were often referred to as “Pastor” and “Mobutu” by the other cult members during the course of my kidnap) entered their other vehicle parked further ahead of the scene.

“I had been kidnapped by five of them who were speaking an unidentified Nigerian language, which I guessed was most likely was Ijaw language. They drove towards Oluku junction for about 45 minutes and parked by some scanty bushes which I discovered as we continued to walk in was near a creek.

“We entered this bush by walking on a preexisting footpath. The final area we reached was swampy and marshy which made my feet very cold. I was kept in this area without extra clothing, food and my antihypertensive medication for five days.

“During this time they mentioned to me that they were from the cult and that one of my students was related to a high ranking member in the Black Axxe , also one of their ruses to getting students to join the cult is by promising them they will graduate with good grades and find jobs without hassles.

“Since I was not doing what they had always instructed me to, I had become a problem for them. I was terrified that I would be killed during those five days that I was held. I was also raped repeatedly by two of the men who wore masks on their faces all the time. There was even an argument as to if they should release me or kill me.

“I promised to do upgrade all scores and after five days of unbearable torture, I was finally let to go. I was led to the side of the Lagos Benin express way and I boarded a bus to Uselu market looking tattered and abused.

“The torture I had just experienced was too much to bear. At the time of my release, insect bites, and abrasion on my skin had become sore and painful. I was in so much fear and I began to suspect anyone that came across my path.

“My husband had reported the kidnap to the police, and on my release, we reported hoped up at the police station as well. We were then told that they would continue with their thorough investigation on the case.

“Consequent upon this, I received a phone call from an anonymous caller, telling me the Black axxe cult had their ears and eyes everywhere. He also asked why I had gone to the police to report the kidnapping against their warnings, and that this act would make them descend on my family. He made a promise that the next fire in our house would be carried out when everyone would be at home! I was petrified.

“At this time I had to abandon my phone number and I got a new line and a brand new handset immediately.  This was because I did not want them tracking me through any of the social networks or apps.

“Upon my release on the 25 the February 2017, I was taken to Liola Cross Hospital, Benin City. I was examined as an out patient and was given medications. As I left the hospital that night, we all left for Abeokuta, Ogun State and checked into a Royal Pavillion Hotel.

“To my amazement, I received a call on my new phone line from someone with the same voice I recognized as that of the anonymous caller quoting my room number; and also saying that we were not safe anywhere. It was at that time I concluded that this Black Axxe cult had the strongest network of criminals I could ever have imagined.

“I decided to quit my job at the university and Bunmi suggested a brief vacation so that the resignation could be finalized and things blow over. Before we left Nigeria, I marked my final papers and not wanting to compromise my ethics and intergrity, I marked the papers giving each person what they rightfully deserved and then handed in the papers along with my resignation on Monday, February 27th 2017.

“I and my family left Nigeria the next day and arrived Canada on the 1st of March, 2017. I got calls and whatsapp messages from my neighbor informing me that strange men had come to his home asking for me. I immediately called him back and he told me the members said they awaited to kill me and my children. I was terrified at this time and asked him to report to the police.

“He said he already had and that the police told him they were overwhelmed with work and there was nothing much they could do as I was already out of Nigeria.

“These men who had identified themselves as Black Axxe members sent me a message once more stating that my resignation would not be allowed. They warned that I had been treating them as a joke all this while, and that I had to return to my job to pass every student as I had promised during the kidnap, or my family and I would be killed as a warning to other professors who dared to go against them.

“I am so much more terrified because I was willing to let go of the job just to appease these gang members, and it seems as though they would not relent until they take my life and the life of my loved ones.

“From the way they tracked my all the way to Abeokuta, to the extent of mentioning my room number, It serves as an affirmation to the fact that Black Axxe Confraternity is well connected and diverse and that their members are spread throughout Nigeira and other countries.

“I rummaged through all the assault I had gone through while in the hands of the kidnappers and I am not willing to watch my children suffer similar fates. I decided to speak with a lawyer in Toronto and from there we were able to file for protection.

“It had never been my intention to make a refugee claim in Canada. I had always been favorable to the idea of living in Canada and applied through the express entry program, to which I am currently in the express entry pool for. However, based on the threats on both me and my family, we have decided to seek protection at this unexpected time, because we can not return home for fear of death.

“So far, the police have not been able to protect I and my family. I therefore am in consistent fear because I do not know what evil will be meted on me or my family next.

“My family and I are at your mercy. Please help


© THE WILL NEWSPAPER. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
http://thewillnigeria.com/news/special-report-cultists-force-lecturer-out-of-job-country/

This thread is defamatory. A report based on hearsay .. we shall meet in court

My warmest regards to fellow Countrymen in this hour of uncertainty, agitation and pseudo-optimism, in the era of N500 to a dollar and Customs officers looting shops and probably private kitchens in the very near future. I sympathize with Countrymen who are being harassed daily by uniformed and plain clothes defectives, I sympathize with those facing lengthy legal battles, those being persecuted for whistle-blowing and with those who are lonely subsequent to the departure of the Imperial Lord on a winter vacation. It is pertinent that I send Calvary greetings to our Monarch, the King of the North, defender of the 12 northern states (yes, twelve), protector of the Fulani hordes and King on the Leather-Couch-Throne in London.

Though we have not seen him, yet we believe that he is alive and as fit as a fiddle just like Femi said. I couldn’t agree more, in fact, I can mentally picture him sitting in the hospital lobby watching Arewa24 with repressed excitement, sharing tales of his Valor during military service with other geriatric (or moribund?) patients! Or is he at home right now? Has he had any meal today? Or maybe he has guests – called to book appointments, driven Mafia-style with black hoods over their heads to the King’s secret bunker… Oh! that opens a new direction of thought, is the King on the phone?

We have not failed to observe the King’s penchant for communicating with his call-and-tell Caporegimes, the governor of Kano state the latest in a series of calls, thanking him for prayers and goodwill as revealed publicly or giving instructions for ‘jobs’ as is the norm with Mafia bosses. I am not affection-deprived so I wouldn’t beg him to call me or call us, but I am concerned about the telephone bills considering that I and most of us pay the bills. Same goes for his medical bills, I would prefer that he was under the robust NHIS coverage as I am. It is very unfair that this government, his government, is finalizing plans to increase import duties on foreign drugs, meanwhile the Principal enjoys the warm hands of European nurses and their antibiotics!

Away from this digression, telephone bills are outrageous in the UK, I’m not a miser but I scrutinize my utility bills and I should at least know how my money is being spent, who was called and the topic of discussion as is the standard of practice in other kingdoms. I’d prefer those minutes on the phone were spent calling the South African foreign minister in light of recent Xenophobic attacks on our citizens and in the absence of our foreign minister or foreign policy. This would not be asking too much from him, just a little chit-chat, express concerns here and there- and that’s all.

I’d prefer those minutes were spent coordinating his pet projects so they don’t lose focus, like putting pressure on engineers searching for the elusive crude oil in the north, creating new local government areas for his hordes under the guise of establishing grazing reserves, extension of the services of the Hisbah to north-central states and the transformation of our ‘open-secret police’ under the leadership of his kinsman into Africa’s first Gestapo. Is he even aware they now invade schools and beat up teachers over pupil discipline?

His bonus airtime (if he is roaming or using Vodafone) should be spent on calling overzealous Caporegimes who are developing schemes to undermine the position and authority of the Ag. President of Nigeria or Prime Minister as I prefer to describe him. These sycophants as Omokri calls them, must reassure their radical subjects that the King is fine and urge them to continue the pro-king rallies in the north. It is very important that this is done in order to maintain this divinely arranged two-leader solution. None of us envisaged an ideal situation that we are in, if the King were to abdicate or join his ancestors there would be tension and possible breakdown of law and order, so it is better he remains a figurehead, a ceremonial monarch and leave administration for his intellectually superior Prime Minister. Let us remember to pray for the King to remain in health and in high spirits.

I would recommend other Channels at 10pm in order to stay abreast of current happenings in our country and developmental strides of his intellectually superior Prime Minister-whose commitment to removing business obstacles and the planned conversion of illegal refineries to modular refineries are particularly noteworthy. Our national television station under the direction of the Minister for disinformation has become an intensely empty propaganda outlet and a national embarrassment alongside everyone associated with government press releases. In fact the King should consider severing the Ministry of Culture from that of Disinformation lest the world conclude that we have a culture of lies.

God Save The King!

by Osaremwinda Osarenokese Osazemwinde Feb 23, 2017
osanorekete@gmail.com

SeverusSnape:
I love that Arumah, She's so beautiful.
Diezani is also beautiful, but there's something about that Arumah that is so enchanting.

thank u

wachakuta:
Olisah metuh and madam diezani.. make una come talk oo

the audit report is flawed

Itulah:
Mumu , you have disgraced yourself and you must be punished.

yeah ... I think i remember