₦airaland Forum

Yorisb:
hehe ihe nwanyi neme, Chei!

Kedi nke n gbasara gi? Jee choro oru.

All gone with corruption

madlady:
Sadly I know, your correct, fortunately it's not ALL Humans who feel like that, some are like the the @thread starter, very caring and understanding.

I've been given help FREELY, by many people, some on this site. I VALUE that MORE than anything I've paid for.

Yes, you made a good point. Sometimes we value gifts, advice, help and so on that we didn't pay for.

But if you look at it critically, you'll see that these ones too aren't all that FREE but involve what i noted earlier as SACRIFICE. If you get an gift, help or advice from Nairaland, you didn't just get it free. First, you needed to be on NL. You had to prove yourself to be a likeable person for whoever was assisting you to do so. Finally, you had to make effort to get that assistance.

So if i'll like to rephrased my stand again- Humans in general dont value things that didn't cost us anything.

He seems very versed in Benin Republic politics than with Nigerian politics.

Yes, it is true. Not only men. Humans in general value what they spend their money on than on what didn't cost them money.

But it is not always in the form of money, it could also be time, sacrifice, etc.

I think your husband may fall into the latter class. You can only judge him when he has money and doesn't like spending some on you.

slap1:
Great. Enjoy yourself, goodluck!

nwanne, iwe o newe gi. N nwere ike i hapuru gi ya o buru na-ichoro ya. Ihe mu na ya neme bu kwa egwuregwu. N ne chezi na obu Odunnu ka i choziri.

Odunnu:
Kunbee mata n ka ne?

kunbee, yarinya ne? ban san.

Don Allah mutanen na, ba n magana hausa sosai. Pls pardon my grammatical errors. Never been to hausaland before. learnt all these from Hausa friends.

^^^

Ashawo

Ileke-IdI:
Yea, my friend told me that TOYOTAs are reliable too. But they look ugly, I want something nice looking

What brand do you like? If you need something nice-looking in the brand of Toyota, you might consider a corolla.

If you still insist on aesthetic preferences, maybe a Honda might do. They are generally good-looking and have a similar fuel efficiency as Toyota. Only that the Honda automatic transmission system(gearbox) scares me. It could pack up in the middle of the road and get you stuck.

You might also consider a BMW. They are generally good-looking, only too electronic for my liking.

slap1:
^^ Don't start getting ideas.

bro, I dont think i want to stop doing that.

@ Inked_Nerd.

Thatz just exactly what i love in a choco-chicky. Ability to understand high lingo. You didn't disappoint me. Now i have to reach out to you less publicly. Really imagining what that will be like,

Jarus:
Odunnu,
Where you learn Hausa? Just curious

Ta koya hausawa a gidan na

Inked_Nerd:

Nothin' much sweetie. How you doin'?

I'm cool, ma cherie. Been watching out for your first post all week. Still expecting, You seem very witty, i was just imagining what it will be like.

Inked_Nerd

Talk to bk.homo. He's a professional grease monkey.

My suggestion: get a well-maintained toyota camry(4 plugs), if you are going for a used vehicle.

Go to the dealer with a mechanic you trust to help you inspect the car before buying it.

just my 2 pence advice.

Andre Uweh:
Spot on.
I envy your wisdom. Are you related to King Solomon?.

thanks.

steroid:
From the comments above, I see some anti-Jonathan posters have all of a sudden given their support to Jonathan. It means there is hope for Naija.


Well, I still believe that there are more hurdles to cross before Jonathan grabs the PRIZE- GOD HELP US.

In politics there are no permanent friends and permanent enemies. What you need to have are permanent interests.

It seems you've been on vacation on some isolated island. The events of the recent times have shown that GJ is the man to beat. Like most posters have said here, he's a one-eyed man in the land of the blind. Not really the best, just better than the rest masquerading themselves as candidates.

Dproducer:
i ain't sure, but i fink i've been smoking your dead grannys ashes,

Gosh! You are undoubtedly some kind of low life then. She died a loooong time ago.

@ Inked Nerd.

Girl, sup? What's good?

[size=18pt][center]2011: Why we back Jonathan, by Ohanaeze head[/center][/size]

[center]Emma-Enyinnaya Appolos[/center]



Ambassador Ralph Uwechue is Nigeria’s First envoy to France, a posting that he got in 1966. An indigene of Ogwashi-Uku in Anioma Local Government Area of Delta State, he is the President-General of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the pan-Igbo socio-cultural organisation. Uwechue, who holds the traditional title of Ogwuluzame of Ogwashi-Uku, was Minister of Health in 1983, Special Presidential Envoy on Conflict Resolution in Africa from 1999 to 2006, and ECOWAS Special Representative in Cote D’Ivoire, from 2003 to 2007. EMMANUEL ENYINNAYA APPOLOS, met him at his Africa House residence in Ogwashi-Uku during the week, and he explained why the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, under his leadership, is backing the bid by President Goodluck Jonathan to continue in office come 2011. The interview is presented below:

As the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, what will you have to say about the present political plight of your people?

Let me first of all inform you that the Igbo are the largest in terms of population, not only in Nigeria, but also in Africa. There are ethnic units that make up the Igbo nation. We became part of Nigeria as a result of British colonisation and it was Ndigbo, represented at that time by our late leader and Pan-Africanist, the late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, who actually fought on the forefront of national struggle for independence. Unfortunately, we had certain issues that ended up to the civil war. And since then, Ndigbo had been relegated to a situation that we think, must change now, 40 years after the war.


For example, we talk about the zones. There are six zones in Nigeria, one has seven states, four have six states, and only the Igbo South-East has five states. We know that in this country, things that come from the federal coffers are shared equally on state basis. That is already, a handicap for Ndigbo and we think and have always said that it is not fair.

In terms of local governments that get grants directly from the Federal Government, some states in the north have more local government areas than the entire south-east zone. I think that, in terms of equity, Ndigbo have not got the right in this country and it is important that adjustments are made so that every section of Nigeria, whether it is Igboland or Yoruba land, will feel comfortable that we all belong and are equal in this country.

Your leadership as the Ohaneze President-General is at its departure lounge, given that it has a two-year term of office. In these two years, what will you say have been your efforts to ensure that the plights of your people are improved upon in Nigeria?

The Ohaneze Ndigbo is a social cultural organization. But it is interested in the political and economic status of Ndigbo. What Ohaneze does not do is to participate in partisan politics. Ohaneze is impartial when it comes to which political party Ndigbo will take interest in. But Ohaneze is blind to know who is a good or bad leader. We identify with the people we think can help Ndigbo, we don’t care what party they belong to and we ask people to support them because if good people are in governance, Ndigbo will benefit. So, it is important for people to know that we are not apolitical to extent of not caring whether a thief or a honest man is governing. No. We are not apolitical to that extent. We judge from what we feel will benefit Ndigbo and we come out to say this man or that woman from his or her antecedents merit our support, for our interest. We have been consulting, talking to our people in various groups and areas of activity in the country, making them understand that politics controls other things, and that they should organize to support and produce any one who has the right quality to help Ndigbo and Nigeria in general. Since I took over, efforts have been made to organise Ndigbo and promote our culture. We have organised two Igbo Days. Owerri in 2009 and this year, in Umuahia. Within the limit of our capacity, we have been organising lectures in universities, emphasising the need for people to learn Igbo language and help to promote Igbo culture.

There is a current controversy in Ohaneze over the 2011 presidential election and the position of Ohaneze that was made public recently. Contrary to that position which you, as the President-General signed, some Igbos are saying that Ndigbo as a people have not spoken. Before the arrival at that position as it was publically expressed, what effort did Ohaneze make to reach to prominent Igbo people to get their views on the matter?

I thank you for this question. Short of a referendum, there is no way of knowing what every Igbo man and woman thinks, but there is a way of finding out what the vast majority of the Igbos think. It took us five and half months of quiet consultations with various Igbo groups including the churches, before we arrived at the position that was made public. For example, four months ago, the Ijaw National Congress (INC) visited us as the executive of Ohaneze Ndigbo, and told us that they wanted us to support President Goodlcuk Jonathan; we told them that we had heard them, and we also told them that we were consulting the Igbos. We made a return visit to the INC in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital. The matter was also raised, both by the ICN leadership and by Governor Timipre Silva of Bayelsa. He also solicited that we support Jonathan when we paid him a courtesy visit. We repeated to them that Ndigbo was still consulting and we promised them that they would hear our position after necessary consultations. Precisely, on the 14th of August, 2010, we had an Imobi meeting of Ohanaeze Ndigbo in Enugu. Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu raised the point that Ndigbo should support Jonathan, and he gave certain reasons to back up his position. I told him that we had noted what he thought that Ndigbo should do, but I also told him that we would continue to consult Ndigbo at home and abroad until we felt satisfied about what the majority of Ndigbo wanted. And the consultation continued.

Some people said I should have called for an assembly of Ndigbo to discuss the matter, but we reasoned that calling an assembly would make it difficult to achieve the goal, because if there are 100 people in attendance, 90 people would say Aye and 10 would obviously say Nay. The next day, screaming headlines of the newspapers would be that Igbos are not united. So, we did not buy the idea of calling an assembly. We consulted groups by groups and noted what they told us. Towards the end of our consultation, certain senior Igbo people, were invited to Enugu and they were hosted by K.U. Kalu, we all discussed this matter, and they also gave their position very clearly. Then the consultation was climaxed with the traditional rulers. The executive of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, led by me and some other Igbo leaders, including former Senate President, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim and Professor Anya O. Anya, and we spent two days in Abakiliki, that is on the 13th and 14th of October, consulting with the traditional rulers. The first day we met their caucus, the next day we met with the General Assembly traditional rulers in the South-East. The two meetings were chaired by HRH Eze Cletus Ilomuanya, who is the chairman of the South-East Traditional Council. Anyim and Anya actually addressed the traditional rulers, and explained to them the outcome of our consultations with other Igbo groups, and where we were going. The traditional rulers said that they supported our position and asked us to go ahead. After the meeting with the traditional rulers on the 14th, on the 15th, I issued the statement on behalf of Ndigbo, declaring the position of Ndigbo on the support for Jonathan.

So, those who are saying that Ohaneze Ndigbo did not consult anybody don’t know what they are saying. A bunch of Igbo people in Abuja think that they alone speak for the Ndigbo because they can dash in and out of government offices. We have done the consultation that has produced a result for our people. Somebody also raised issues with me alone signing the advertorial, arguing that it should have been signed by several people. I just laugh at that. The truth of the matter is that if the president of a country wants to sign a document on behalf of the country, he does not invite the Secretary to the Federal Government to also sign for the world to believe it as genuine. The important thing is that if the executive has given approval, then the president signs, and that is what we have done. This is not the first statement we have made on national issues, this is rather the third. When the late President Yar’Adua went for medical trip in Saudi Arabia, and people were asking whether he should govern from his sick bed in Saudi Arabia, we came up with a statement that we thought that Jonathan, who was Vice President then, should be allowed to take up the leadership of the country in an acting capacity pending the return of Yar’Adua. I signed that statement alone when it was approved by the Ohaneze executive. When the late Yar’Adua, may his soul rest in peace, was brought back to the country in a shrouded matter at night from Saudi Arabia, we also issued a statement. I also signed it alone after it was approved by the executive. This third one followed the same pattern. The important thing is that Ndigbo made consultations and were in total agreement with the executive of Ohaneze. Ndigbo are seriously for Jonathan, and we are not making pretense about it. We consulted at their various groups and they told us they are for Jonathan.

Before arriving at the conclusion, certain things of Igbo interest were put into consideration of which Ndigbo stand to gain if President Jonathan succeeds. What are those things Ndigbo that Ohaneze considered before opting for Jonathan?

They are simple. Jonathan comes from the South-South, and Nigeria has six zones and that if we reinforce the importance of the zones, other things would follow. And we insisted that the positions in the country should rotate among the six zones.

Also, those we consulted told us that they had been watching what Jonathan had done since he took over, that action speaks louder than words. They said that since General Aguiyi Ironsi was slaughtered in Ibadan, an Igbo is now the head of the Nigerian Army, and it was Jonathan who did it. They also said that for 50 years, Ndigbo have been asking why the Enugu airport has not been given the full international status. The people who have suddenly discovered that they are lovers of Ndigbo, feeding the public with false pretence, ignored the Enugu airport because making it an international airport would boost Igbo economic activities and save our people from travelling to Lagos and Abuja before flying out of the country. Jonathan has done it for us. For the first time in the history of Nigeria, an Igboman has been appointed Minister of Internal Affairs, this is an important ministry. When Senator Ike Nwachukwu was the Foreign Minister, when he was to be Minister of Internal Affairs, overnight, it was changed. They didn’t trust an Igbo man enough to head that ministry; they didn’t want an Igbo man to be in charge of security. That was how Ike Nwachukwu became Foreign Minister twice. If this man, Jonathan, is ready to give Ndigbo a level-playing ground, our people should take note of that. These are what the people we consulted told us and we noted it that formed our position; added to Ohaneze’s stand on zonal equality.

You said earlier on that Ohanze is a social cultural organisation which does not take a stand on partisan politics. Don’t you think that the position of Ohaneze to support President Jonathan, is partisan?

I can tell you one thing; one must be presented by a political party before he can stand for an election. In that case, are you saying Ndigbo should support nobody? We are not looking at the parties, but we are looking at the individual. If Jonathan had come from any other party that is not the PDP, we would still have supported him, based on the fact that he is a new generation leader, who can help Nigeria. If he decides to change party today, he is free to do and the support for him will remain. We are not seeing or supporting Jonathan as a PDP member, rather, we are supporting him as presidential candidate for next year’s election because he has declared to run.

You said that the Imobi of Ohaneze met to discuss the issue, but some members of the revered body said that since you took over as president-general of Ohaneze, they had not been invited to any of its meetings. Was invitation to the meeting selective?

Well, I don’t know what any member of the Imobi told you, but if I believe that what you told me is accurate. I will reply by saying that, first of all, Imobi has large members, and some don’t attend to meetings. The invitation to Imobi meeting is done by the secretariat and the President-General is not supposed to call every member to know whether they will attend meeting or not. But if certain deficiencies are brought to his notice by the members, who don’t attend to meeting due lack of invitation, as the President-General, I will look into that immediately.

Your predecessor in Ohaneze leadership, Dr. Dozie Ikedife, while responding to the Ohaneze statement in support of Jonathan, said that such position was a personal and private opinion, heavily sponsored and expressed publicly. To him Ndigbo has not spoken. How will you respond to that?

If he said so, I have to say if because you are telling me, it is his private opinion. As we are talking, Ikedife, is not, I repeat not, the president of Ohaneze Ndigbo, but Ralph Uwechue is. Ikedife’s era in Ohaneze leadership is gone. He didn’t take dictation from Professor Joe Irukwu, who handed over to him. He can have his private views about me or the present executive. For example, the constitution of Ohaneze stipulates positions in the organization, including President-General, Secretary and all other positions, but Ikedife didn’t have a secretary. He ran Ohaneze alone as a private business. This is a fact and for him to point at people and describe official position as a private opinion is not right, and he is the least of people to criticise the present Ohaneze. He is the least qualified person to point fingers at anyone on this particular issue.

Ohaneze is not a profit making organization. This calls for questioning when Ohaneze gets involved in huge expenditure of projects without any public call for financial support from Igbos. Can you explain where Ohaneze got the money to finance the advertorial of its position that featured in the media because some have alleged that the position was sponsored from the Presidency?

Thank you very much. This is not the first or second advertorial that Ohaneze has issued as I have told you. If you check your records, the other statement of the Ohaneze were also publicised and broadcast in the media, the same way this one was done. And nobody pointed a finger at us that it was sponsored. It is those who disagree with us, who are looking for faults. For God’s sake, Ndigbo are not paupers and I am not starving. I built this Africa House 30 years ago, that was in 1979. I have personally – and I have said it publicly – been sponsoring Ohaneze’s activities from my pocket, and it is not stolen money. Again, let me inform you that there are some Igbo boys in business, who are very proud of the new line that Ohaneze is taking and they have been helping out. For example, this advertisement you are talking about, I don’t personally know the amount involved. Some people are supporting it, but not President Jonathan or any government agency. That is for sure. It is not a matter of being sponsored to say the wrong thing, not at all. Those who have been attacking that statement have not been able to pick one hole in what we said; they are only attacking my person. People are distorting facts, some people are saying that they were not consulted, and I ask, those who went and signed an agreement with some northerners that Ndigbo should support them in 2011, so that in 2015 they will support Ndigbo, did they consult Ohaneze or the governors of the South-East? Rather they did it on their own in Abuja.

It is not enough for Ohaneze to declare support for Jonathan. What is Ohaneze doing to ensure and mobilize Ndigbo to vote Jonathan for president in 2011?

That is not Ohaneze’s job to mobilise people to vote or organize political activities. Ohaneze is speaking for Ndigbo in an advisory capacity. After due consideration and consultation, Ohaneze comes out to tell Ndigbo what we think is good. In case of election, we advise them to vote for somebody who is credible and whom we know will help to advance the political life of Ndigbo.

Is Ohaneze working hand in hand with governors of the South-East states?

The governors, as elected leaders of the people, have their assignment to govern their states in the zone, cooperate with them and gives advice.

One wonders why Ohaneze has not spoken over the strike embarked by state universities in the south-east. Same questions go to why the Ohaneze has spoken over the level insecurity in the zone the way it has done by declaring support for Jonathan?

It is not correct to say that we have done nothing. What you can say is that we have not done anything announced to the public. We have been talking to the governors. On the strike issue, we have been talking to some of the Vice Chancellors of the universities. If you want to make peace, you don’t start by announcing; otherwise you fail even before you start. We have not been inactive; we have been discussing the matter. As far as kidnapping is concerned, everybody is concerned and is doing everything to ensure everything is put under control. We don’t have to tell you what we have done or what were are doing to tackle this menace.

http://www.compassnewspaper.com/NG/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=69169:2011-why-we-back-jonathan-by-ohanaeze-head&catid=53:interviews&Itemid=701

I had to add this excerpt of the interveiw with Ambassador Ralph Uwechue because it was more detailed than the Guardian report

It is simply uncivilized to hurl insults on other people, simply because you dont agree with their point of view.

Whatever happened to FREEDOM OF SPEECH? If you dont agree with a comment, simply state counter-arguments why you don.t, instead of abusing people. This is a debate forum for pete's sake, argue out your points.

When an article is pasted here, sometimes, the trivial aspects make for interesting discussion. If all posters just say 'yes yes' to everything, then this forum will be dull and dead.

Folks, lets learn how to accommodate opposing viewpoints. It is an important attribute to display in a democratic setting.

Katsumoto:
Don't you ever get tired of being nothing more than a forking tribal bigot? Aren't you able to have intelligent debates without getting into a tirade against Yoruba people or other non-Igbo people? Clearly something is eating you deep. The funny thing is you type these longs essays that are just filled with conjecture and crap. Why don't your posts ever have any facts in them?

Dude, the argument is about whether OBJ has an Igbo father or a Yoruba father. How do you expect the defence to go on without mentioning the name of these two? Are we trying to hide facts here or seeking for the facts?

@ Onlytruth

Thanks bro for the correction. I've replaced it with the right name. My bad!

I hope they come up with a more smarter COCK-AND-BULL story next time. OBJ has never been and CAN NOT display the attributes of an Igbo man, because he isn't. Blood is thicker than water. Let the Yoruba elders go and do their research hard enough. OBJ's type doesn't fit the Ndigbo description. Thanks.

Let me begin by saying the OP did well with his creativity. Good writing skills in all. Content and intention of writing? I'll reserve my comments.

There are 3 things here about the identity of the OP, and to save all these arguments.

1. That the poster is not the original writer of the article, who happens to go by the name Kunle Alaba

2. The OP is one and the same as kunle alaba

An opened letter by[b] a young
Nigerian[/b] to IBB.
Submitted by kunlealaba

3. That the OP is of Igbo and/or Yoruba heritage as he claimed. In all his posts, he talks a lot about Abia, which could mean either he grew up there or one(both) of his parents is/are from Abia state.

Michelin89, is just so busy these days that she hardly has time for NL. This crap junk thread belongs to Tribalism section. This is clearly a frontal attack on the Igbos. God saved you that you didn't post it in the politics section where more Igbo dudes can find it.

An arrant display of foolishness by the OP. No facts, no personal experience, NO NOTHING. Dude, what have you been smoking?

The Onyekwelu family should just come out with the true picture of the innocent Igwe(Joseph Okwudili Onyekwelu) to rebutt this callous LIE heaped on their father by these so-called Yoruba elders. 

The two photos are that of the same Olusegun Obasanjo. This is a crafty plot by the Yorubas to get a shot at the presidency before their expected 40-years' waiting period. Sorry to say, it's not gonna work.

Onlytruth You be Onitsha-bred dude. Na you suppose run background check to bust these LIARS. I have a feeling you schooled with some of the Igwe's kids.

@talknafree
Are you one of his own? What's your own? You try so hard but it's obvious who you are. anyway its cool to defend one of your own.

funkybaby:
why must women be the ones to protest nake.d  

the men nko?

am sure a ''one million nake.d adult men'' protest will most def shake the nation and will stop the men from looting


[s]**** giggles at the thought of different sizes of rods on public display****[/s]

Because theirs is more fair to the eyes.

olafolarin:
That explains why he won in all SE states in 1999 and lost all SW states including his "claimed" ward.
Ndigbo afterall supported one of their own.

Then why did the SW allow him to win all their states in 2003? You people should keep your abandoned property instead of looking for where to offload him.

udezue:
The Igbo in SE and SS should learn to stay back home and invest. Its not their responsibility to develop other parts of Nigeria. The government can do it.

You just captured my mind.

I think maybe the state governments of the SE/SS Igbo entrepreneurs may not be creating the enabling environment. But if it's truly that it's only the Igbos that invest other their homelands, then that's frightening. Why are others not doing the same?

Igbos need to get things right.

I knew there's always 2 sides to coin. That's why i demanded that the accused comes to tell his own side of the story. Now it's clear.

^^meaning- go figure it out yourself.

tpia@:
el dorado, abi?

El dorado is an unfit word to use for the folks he's encouraging to join Benin Republic.

~Bluetooth:
If i may ask ? Map of what ? A yoruba nation merged with edo,bayelsa,delta,benin republic. . . . .it look so unreal.

I think he's simply trying to save Nigeria from corruption. If that merging becomes real, Nigeria will be less corrupt.