Dsalvo: Look in the mirror for your answer. As the saying goes if everyone say they see letter A and you keep insisting you see B then check your own vision before claiming so many others are wrong.
Someone that said in the preceding statement that there's no war btw Igbos and Yorubas. He was clearly referring to the thugs as the political rascals and not Yoruba nationality. How could he have?
This constant advice to Igbos is really nauseating, you guys should give it up already
Philgafauto: This election period was painful and it is still painful even though i am not igbo. So i can imagine how you igbos feel in this period
I will list some facts below which i want every igbo to imbibe:
1. The Supreme Court will not dispense any justice for Peter Obi in the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal.
2. Igbos should keep pentecostal Christianity & Islam away from their land and embrace Orthodox christianity or Judaism.
3. Igbo leaders should plead with the violent and angry IPOB agitators to calm dial down the violence and exercise some patience to enable igbo intelligentsia to come with a development plan for the East.
4. Every igbo man or woman should know that they are hated by other Nigerians, but they should not go violent at this moment.
3. The igbos should study Jewish history and their journey into nationhood and the lessons learnt from available literature should be integrated into the school curriculum from primary school to tertiary level.
4. All igbos must love themselves because you are all you have got. Intra gbo love must be made compulsory.
5. As long as Igbos love Lagos, Abuja & other Nigerian cities more than igbo land, igbos will never be respected and will continue to be a 2nd class citizen in Nigeria.
6. An igbo will never be President of Nigeria.
7. Igbos must develop, inhabit and retain its best brains alaigbo(igboland).
8. Igbos must endure the pains of divestment from Nigeria and repatriation of their wealth back into igbolanand. Igbos must bear that pain, there is no alternative to the pain
9. Igbos should beg Simon Ekpa and his gang for a ceasefire. They need to be persuaded to allow peace to reign.
10. Igbos must, must, must invest in Agriculture like there is no tomorrow. You can study the Israeli model. After what happened to igbos during the civil war, i must confess that igbos are not serious not to have invested in growing their own food.
11. Igbos should beg Peter Obi to turn his gaze to igboland in order for him to be the moses of the igbos regarding good governance.
12. Igbos must sheathe their sword for now and invest in science and technology
13. Igbos should deemphasise the urge for quick money and concentrate on building a strong igbo land, even if it is your 5 States. Just develop that land.
14. Igbos should work with good igbo architects and town planners for the development of high rise buildings to conserve land.
15. I repeat, igbos must love themselves. It is essential.
16. The recorded messages of Nnamdi Kanu must be cleansed from the hate and violence and be disseminated to all igbos. That man is a great man.
17. Igbos should keep islam out of its society completely. That reiligion is a blood sucking cancer.
18. Igbos should try and use the ports in the South South for the meantime and work with the Tinubu Government. You must learn to stoop to conquer.
19. Igbos should swoop in on the directors of Igbo Nollywood to stop depicting igbo land as a village that needs to be abadoned by millions of igbos to survive.
20. I repeat, all igbos must love each other and channel all the hate for Nigeria into aggressive development of igboland.
This is a message from a yoruba man who loves you and wants to see you free someday.
You guys now look for ways to demonize the Igbos, una nor dey tire?
Dsalvo: No one is obsessed with Igbos. It is Igbos who court attention with their deceitful, hateful and hypocritical ways only to then be playing victim.
That is what even this thread is about. Look at the barbarism of Igbos on display in the land of others.
You do not want those who host your immigrant azzes in their Country to gain any ground in your church and community.
Yet you want a Yoruba-hating Chinedu Gbadebo to govern over Yorubas in Lagos.
All human being love to bust vile hypocrites and see them get their comeuppance. That is the case with Igbos and it is as simple as that. You are revilled because of your ways.
SmartPolician: Now, these people are crossing the line. These people should be reminded that the worst of democracy is better than the best of military dictatorship.
The military has been confined to the barracks and these people who probably don't even know what it feels like to be under a military dictatorship should not compel them to leave the barracks. Allow the court decide the fate of the Druggie.
The justices needs to be put under pressure. They need to know that there'd be demonstration all over the country if they uphold the Tinubus fraudulent election
Afamed: PDP and Labour Party agents are not giving up yet, They have tried on numerious occasions to hack my facebook, Tweeter, Nairaland Account especially during the elections.
Anything to bring down the country is ok by the devil children of confusion
Some Igbos can only leave Lagos if Nigeria breaks. Those Igbos born in Lagos are indigenes, they aint going anywhere.
omonnakoda: Don’t stay in Lagos, and benefit from the leadership, infrastructure and economy Lagosians built over time, yet carry resentment towards them. You threaten violence and de-market Lagos on social media. You have options. Behave or relocate!” – Reno Omokri.
Let me open this short contribution by saying that I completely agree with the views expressed above by Pastor Reno Omokri.
Let us hope that those he is attempting to offer such wise counsel appreciate and accept it before it is too late and things fall apart.
Related News Row Over Igbo’s Fate In Lagos: It was as if devil landed — Bode George Randy father impregnates daughter in Ogun Nigeria recorded 2,056 fire incidents, N1trn losses in 2022 – GOC I am constrained to go further by saying that I also share the views of my dear friend, brother and colleague at the Tinubu/Shettima PCC, Omo Oba Bayo Onanuga, who reflected the views and thoughts of millions of our fellow Yorubas when he expressed deep and legitimate concerns about the attempt by the Ibo community in Lagos to take over our land and claim it as theirs.
This is something that they themselves would never tolerate members of any other ethnic nationality to attempt to do in the East and neither would any of us try it.
The truth is that if you insist on living in someone else’s land or territory, you must respect them. And as they say, respect begets respect.
If you must live amongst us, kindly refrain from poking your fingers into our eyes simply because we gave you the space and afforded you the opportunities that you have refused to offer us in the East.
We do this because we are decent, civilised, kind-hearted, peace-loving and just people who believe strongly in the ethos of charity, a plurality of community, the efficacy of racial and religious harmony, peaceful coexistence and full and unfettered integration. That does NOT, however, mean that we are fools. Our history proves that we are slow to anger but irresistible in battle. It is not wise to provoke us or raise our sleeping swords.
Being too kind, accommodating and charitable has its price and it appears that we the Yoruba may have learnt this the hard way. Opening up your home to a stranger and being your brother’s keeper is one thing but giving him your head and all that is dear to you on a platter of gold is quite another.
And unless they change their attitude quickly and drastically it may well be better for them to go home.
As a consequence of recent events and the outrageous and insulting “Lagos is a no man’s land” battle cry and mantra which many Ibos in Lagos espouse and constantly bellow and mouth, many of our people believe that Alaba International Market, Computer Village, Trade Fair and other places that they have occupied and taken over should be evacuated and vacated and converted to schools, deep sea ports, housing estates and amusement parks.
That is the level of anger and view of millions of our people today and we ignore those views at our peril.
They also believe that we should act fast and make the necessary changes in our attitude to non-Yoruba settlers and aliens and reflect on our propensity for being too “woke” and too liberal in our dealings with them.
This view was ably reflected by Rotimi Adeosun when he tweeted the following day after the governorship election in Lagos on March 19. He wrote, “Congrats to putting an end to the issue of real ownership of Lagos. Going forward, let there be a review of the following: Land ownership and rent law.
Elective and appointive policy. The ethnic concentration of markets. Limits to liberalisation culture. The teaching of Yoruba history. Be wary of usurpers!”
Points are taken and forceful, compelling and lucid they are too.
In his own contribution, one Legendary Joe again reflected the mood when he tweeted the following: “We voted in Lagos today not along political lines but along the lines of heritage. We voted for our pride. We made a statement that our liberal nature should never be abused. What we won’t attempt in yours, do not force on us. We voted to retain Lagos”.
These are insightful and incisive contributions and they must be taken very seriously.
They can best be described as wake-up calls and the propositions and counsel that are being suggested and offered must be considered by all the relevant stakeholders in Yorubaland generally and Lagos particularly before it is too late.
Clearly thanks to the insulting ways and disrespectful tone, words and attitude of those that came from the East to settle amongst us yet covet our land and seek to destroy everything we value and stand for, Yoruba nationalism has come alive again.
Our gullible liberalism and naive wokeism have resulted in a dangerous, hard-line and pronounced backlash which is fuelled by anger and which cannot be easily managed and contained.
Our people are now counting the cost of our innocent yet disastrous open door policy and disposition as a direct consequence of the excesses and provocative actions of the Ibos in Lagos.
And what is that cost?
If you really want to know let’s go back in time a little.
Permit me to take you on a walk down history lane.
When Nnamdi Azikiwe, the NCNC and the Igbo State Union tried to take over Yoruba land in the 1952 Western Regional elections, he lost to Obafemi Awolowo and the Action Group by a very narrow margin.
I believe it was by two seats in Parliament and Action Group was saved from a Zik victory only because they went into an alliance with the Ibadan Peoples Party which gave them a majority of two in Parliament! That is how close it was.
Had it not been for that Zik, an Igbo man, would have been elected as the first Premier of the old Western Region and the Yoruba would have eventually lost EVERYTHING including their language, culture, heritage, land and values.
After his defeat Zik packed his bags and said the following famous words: “I shall return to the East from whence I came”. Thereafter he went back to the old Eastern Region to be elected Premier.
71 years later the story appears to have repeated itself.
The Ibo, this time led by one Peter Obi, a trader who was fuelled, strengthened and emboldened by his relative success and gains during the presidential election in the state two weeks earlier, tried to forcefully take over Lagos in the 2023 governorship election by intimidation, threats and propaganda and by fielding a young and impressionable man by the name of Chinedu Rhodes-Vivour who neither speaks nor understands Yoruba, whose family derives from Sierra Leonne and Opobo in Rivers State and who, like his aggressive supporters, claimed that Lagos is a “no man’s land” as his candidate.
Thankfully they failed and the young man was roundly defeated by Jide Sanwo-Olu, a young, diligent, hardworking, civilised, decent and focused administrator and bona fide Yoruba man.
It is now time for Peter, Chinedu and all their Obidient supporters to follow Zik’s noble example, tread the path of honor and either respect us and live with us in love and peace or go back to the East “from whence they came”. They will do far better there. We in the South-West must do a lot of soul-searching and educate the liberals in our midst about the dangers of being too kind, too charitable and too accommodating to the usurpers that have infiltrated our territory.
We can show them charity, love and kindness but this must never be at the expense of our values, identity, dignity, culture or heritage.
We must endeavour to ensure that history does not repeat itself again, that this terrible cycle of our Ibo brothers repaying our good with ingratitude and subterfuge stops and that they never have the temerity and effrontery to claim that Lagos, or indeed any other part of Yoruba land, is theirs again.
We do not take lightly anything that insults our collective sensibilities. Anybody who does not want a heavy backlash from the Igbos should be careful with anything that concerns us.
omonnakoda: They understand only one language,total uncompromising head flattening blows
MC Oluomo speaks the language they understand,as does Buratai and Buhari By the way that Odinkalu mumu is on Nairaland. With several hypocritical monikers
You guys should have rigged 25% in FCT as well, you oversight in doing this will be your undoing
seunmsg: Only extremely stupid people think FCT residents have a special status and can veto the vote of the rest of the country. It’s the silliest legal argument I’ve heard since I was born. Emotions and not common sense is what is driving the argument.
If the president is the governor of FCT, does it make sense to lack popularity even to the extent of not making 25% yet wants to govern them? That's illegitimacy
Sunmolar: An unwrinkled face is not good for a resounding slap. So it is somewhat indelicate for a lawyer who ought to be grounded in the ethics of the law profession to publicly criticize the opinions of other senior lawyers, who are revered to be authorities in their fields.
Afe Babalola, Gboyega Awomolo, Wole Olanipekun, J. B. Daudu, Lateef Fagbemi, Kanu Agabi, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, J. K. Gadzama, E. C. Ukala, Yunus Ustaz Usman, Adeniyi Akintola, Emeka Ngige, Chris Uche, Dr. Onyechi Ikpeazu, Mike Ozekhome, Dele Adesina, J. S. Okutepa, Mahmud Magaji, Dayo Akinlaja, Ahmed Raji, Femi Falana, A. Mustapha, Ebun-Adegboruwa, and many hosts legends of the inner bar are jurists who have become oracles of constitutional law and whose opinions carry weight and speak volumes. For some of these oracles of law, their names have refused to leave the pages of our law reports.
And when they lend their respected voices to public issues, their words are taken as gospel by laymen who lack the qualification and the intellectual rigour to interrogate their opinions. So, to laymen, the opinions of these senior lawyers are Yeah and Amen!
However, this electioneering season has been an eye opening one for some of us. It has been a season of unraveling and miracles as to how some legal professionals have, either by deliberate action or absence of proper research, interpret one of the simplest provisions in our Constitution as regards election to the office of the President and requirements of the candidate for that highest public office in the land.
We have seen those that should know and those who have held exalted and enviable positions hold curious opinions on Constitutional issues that embarrass our industry and harass ones intellect.
For some of them, politics have been mixed with law in order to please certain quarters of the political class. But this is a dangerous mix. There is politics, and there is law. While they can sometimes intersect, they should not be muddled up when discussing pertinent legal issues that affect the nationhood of the country and the collective development of her citizens.
A number of emergency analysts of the law we have never heard of, or are known for being passive about crucial National issues suddenly appeared to become public figure in interpreting the laws in our Constitution as if they are a collection of formal and informal texts in an English textbook compiled for letter writing.
It is quiet even disturbing when some of my professional colleagues across border were analysing those colloquial interpretations here on one occasion of our group interactions. I must confess that I felt uncomfortable with many of their comments.
As I write this, I find myself grappling with the question: when is politics taken too far? This question has far reaching ramifications, because a honest answer to it will reveal that some senior lawyers give certain legal opinions they do not even believe in just because they have been tainted by politics. It is the common man on the streets that suffers this dangerous game of deliberate obfuscation and misinterpretation of our laws.
Lawyers cannot frown at the attitude of people flouting court orders and still be the ones selling the law of the land for a token on the altar of political standing. Deliberately misinterpretation of the law by a lawyer is a mockery of our Constitution and the legal profession and such character has a way of turning to hunt its maker.
It is therefore incumbent upon some of us who understand that the primary role of lawyers as ministers in the temple of justice is first and foremost the attainment of justice. And justice cannot be attained without truth.
Consequently, amidst the brouhaha surrounding the interpretation of section 134(2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the multifarious explanations given by public commentators and senior lawyers alike, it is important to set the record straight and state the true position of the law, devoid of emotion and political chicanery.
The provisions of Section 134(2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), particularly sub-paragraph (b) thereof have generated so much fuss and controversy in the past few days, especially after the conclusion and announcement of the winner of the recently concluded presidential elections.
Basically, there are two opposing sides in the arguments the above section has spawned: those who argue that for a candidate to be declared winner, he must get 25% of the votes cast in FCT (asides meeting other Constitutional criteria) and those who contend that a candidate need not poll 25% of the votes cast in FCT to be declared winner, so far as he meets other Constitutional requirements.
For the sake of clarity, Section 134(2) provides that:
(2) A candidate for an election to the office of the President shall be deemed to have been duly elected where, there being more than two candidates for the election –
(a) he has the highest number of votes cast at the election; and
(b) he has not less than one-quarter of the votes cast at the election in each of at least two-thirds of all the States in the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
Even though the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja (FCT) is not a State properly so called, the Constitution has clothed it with the toga of a State. In other words, the FCT is treated like a State, and all the powers of a Governor in a State is vested in the Minister of the FCT. While the Houses of Assembly of the 36 States of the Federation legislate for each State respectively, the National Assembly makes laws for the FCT. Furthermore, while the States have their respective Local Government Areas, the FCT has Area Councils.
Pursuant to the above, Section 299 of the Constitution expressly provides that the provisions of the Constitution shall apply to the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja as if it were one of the States of the Federation. Section 299 of the Constitution has received the judicial imprimatur of the full panel of the Supreme Court in FAWEHINMI & ORS v. BABANGIDA & ORS (2003) LPELR-1255 (SC).
Hence, each time the draftsman intends to refer to the 36 States and FCT in the Constitution, it says “all the States in the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja (FCT)”, bearing in mind that the FCT has also been clothed with the toga of a State.
Having made the above clarification, the “and” as used by the draftsman between “all the States of the Federation” and “the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja” in sub-paragraph (b) of Section 134(2) of the Constitution cannot be interpreted to mean that what applies to other States is inapplicable to FCT. Rather, it means that the FCT is on the same pedestal as the States of the Federation, even though it’s not a State properly so called.
So, the intention of the draftsman as regards Section 134(2)(b) of the Constitution is that, the candidate, in addition to having the highest number of votes cast at the election, must also poll not less than one quarter (25%) of the votes cast at the election in each of at least two-thirds of all the States in the Federation (36 States) and the FCT (a State kind of), thereby making it 25% of votes cast in at least 2/3 of 37 States. 2/3 of 37 is 24.6.
Drawing from the reasoning of the erudite jurist, Otutu Andrews Obaseki, JSC (of blessed memory), in the landmark decision of the full panel of the Supreme Court in AWOLOWO v. SHAGARI & ORS (1979) LPELR-653(SC), there’s nothing like 24.6 States, for a State is a geographical setting incapable of being divided.
Borrowing a leaf from the revered jurist, the construction that two-thirds of 37 States in the Federation (FCT inclusive) is 24.6 States may be correct in the abstract but in relation to the Constitution, it is impracticable. Where there are two possible meanings conveyed by the words of a statute or the Constitution, it is the most reasonable one that should be adopted. Where the other meaning leads to absurdity or evinces internal contradiction, that meaning should be dropped for the first as the legislature never intends to be absurd or contradictory.
The word 'each' in the sub-section (2)(b) of Section 134 qualifies a whole State and not a fraction of a State and to interpret it otherwise is to overlook the disharmony between the word "each" and the fraction "two thirds". Two-thirds of thirty-seven (37), to avoid any disharmony, gives 25.
As a way of covering the base, the second school of thought contend that for a candidate to be declared winner, he must score 25% in the FCT (asides meeting other Constitutional requirements). If one agrees with this view, then it logically follows that if a candidate wins the entire 36 states of the Federation and polls the majority number of votes cast, if he fails to get 25% in FCT, then he cannot be declared winner. This cannot be the intendment of the draftsman, as the FCT cannot hold the entire nation to ransom.
So, once a candidate severally polls at least 25% of votes cast in at least 25 states, whether inclusive of FCT or not, he’s won the election so long he also has the majority of the votes cast all over the Federation.
The issue under reference has been before the Supreme Court, in 2003 in the case of Buhari Vs Obasanjo (2003) All NLR 168, the apex court in the land prophesied and held that if there’s any issue on the provision of Section 134(2), they’ll toe the part that accords with common sense. They further undertook that the court is bound to adopt a construction which is just, reasonable and sensible.
For the sake of emphasis, the operative words are "just, reasonable and sensible."
This then begets the question: is it just, reasonable and sensible to argue that a candidate who, for instance, won 36 States of the Federation and also polled the highest number of votes cast at an election but failed to score 25% of the votes cast in FCT, Abuja cannot be deemed the winner of the election? I think not. That would not be just, reasonable and sensible.
In Bakari v. Ogundipe (2021) 5 NWLR (Pt.1768) 1, the supreme Court held that by virtue of section 299(a) (b) of the Constitution, the provisions of the Constitution shall apply to the FCT, Abuja as if it were one of the States of the Federation.
If that is the case, why then would the FCT, Abuja be placed on so high a pedestal, like some lawyers have done, that it now supersedes other States of the Federation?
Buttressing further, If the provisions of the Constitution are to apply to FCT, Abuja as if it were one of the States of the Federation, then surely it cannot be ranked above other States of the Federation.
To steelman our arguments above, in Baba-Panya v. President, FRN (2018) 15 NWLR (Pt. 1643) 423, the Court held that the FCT, Abuja is to be treated like a State and it is not superior or inferior to any state in the Federation.
As a corollary, it would then be unjust, unreasonable and insensible to argue that scoring 25% of the votes cast in the FCT, Abuja is a mandatory Constitutional requirement, when no other State or even the entire States of the Federation enjoy this preferential treatment.
A reasonable, just and sensible interpretation of section 134(2) would then be that scoring 25% of the votes cast in the FCT, Abuja is like scoring 25% in any other State of the Federation.
lhordspy: This is what we have reduced Nigeria's democracy to.
When the likes of;
Jandor the Photographer, Funke akindele the comedian, Tonto Dike the yeyebrity, Chinedu the joker. Peter Ob! the clown, who should be operating a cyber cafe in onitsha market, Datt!-baba the emotional weak crying crocodile , Olumide the kid actor.
....... And other unserious fellow decided to start running for political post. I realised we are done. Nigeria's politics is officially a circus show for clowns and jokers.
Loool..yet allowed his thugs in Lagos to democratically prevent people from voting using violence. Different types of craze
anigbajumo: There is a statement of fact I want you guys to understand. “ No judge born of woman can impeach Tinubu till next four years” Except you are trying to live in self denial. It’s nothing but basic fact, I don’t force anyone to believebut this man has the other three arms of Government in his pocket, This is someone that’s even more democratic smarter than OBJ, GEJ and Buhari combine.
So if its established that indeed he was involved with drugs, no matter how long, even if he is not removed, his legitimacy is gone
anigbajumo: There is a statement of fact I want you guys to understand. “ No judge born of woman can impeach Tinubu till next four years” Except you are trying to live in self denial. It’s nothing but basic fact, I don’t force anyone to believebut this man has the other three arms of Government in his pocket, This is someone that’s even more democratic smarter than OBJ, GEJ and Buhari combine.
ivolt: You clearly don't understand how the US Justice department works. If there is any concrete evidence against a suspect who is nowhere to be found, an arrest warrant will be issued. They will pursue extradition if that is what it takes to bring a suspect to justice.
They don't ask nicely or beg suspects to come and "clear their name", that is something obtainable only in backward countries.
While the money found in Tinubu's account was from questionable sources, he remained a free man because they cannot prove his direct involvement in the busted drug operations.
When the drug and certificate case starts, we would know the identity Tinubu has been hiding when he changed his name and hide his past
N3TRAL: Integrity does not mean swearing on the life of your family that you'll never leave a political party, but you end up leaving two.
Integrity does not mean stacking looted funds at tax havens to evade taxation and asking people to go and verify.
Integrity does not mean denying your recorded statement because of national unity you don't believe in.
Integrity does not mean signing a peace accord before an election only to incite insurrection after you failed the election.
Integrity means forming a political party , nurturing it , becoming a governor under the platform and winning the toughest presidential elections in the history of your country with the political party.
Asiwaju means integrity.
[color=#7FFF00] ASIWAJU [/color] [color=#B8860B] IS [/color] [color=#7FFF00] COMING ![/color]
Whether afterthought or prethought, doesn't change the fact that we declared independence and fought Nigeria. The West was supposed to join us but they were too cowardly citing the too much military presence in the West
Deadlytruth: Your fight to leave Nigeria was an afterthought inspired by the failure of one-Nigeria to materialize in the way you had thought it would.
So last week Reno Omokri called Peter Obi an election Rigger in Chief. According to Omokri, Obi was the rigger-in-chief of the presidential election. He claimed that: “Tinubu did intelligent rigging. At least he used his conscience to give small votes to other candidates. Peter Obi’s rigging was so unintelligent. “In the history of Nigeria, when and where have you heard of a candidate getting 97% in some areas in the SE?
But now Reno Omokri has come out to apologize to Peter Obi as he was surprised by the kind of love shown to Peter Obi at Anambra State yesterday. He therefore concluded that it was possible and in fact real that Peter Obi got 97% of votes cast in Anambra State during the last presidential election.
Politics › Re: Church Members Fights Bishop In An Igbo Anglican In New Jersey USA by DMerciful(m): 11:24pm On Mar 27, 2023
