₦airaland Forum

By the way Ndu-Chuks, before you start dragging oil rights, better go and helep your brothers wey flood wan kill, jus because una no sabi open ordinary gate for dam.

Anyways, my commiserations to them and I hope that the owners of the dams (state or federal) provide adequate aid and compensation to the affected people.

http://www.seattlepi.com/national/1105ap_af_nigeria_floods.html

Ndu_Chuks da Ndu_Chuks. N na geshua alhaji. Ka na lahia ko ?

Na waa for you. Why is this oil so important to you ? Why do you think that you will all shrivel and die without oil ? Na waa for unu.

In my opinion, the north has so much potential, which you guys have refused to tap. Build the the right type of houses and your land scape will be a sight to behold. You have the type of weather that would guarantee a boom in tourism, something in the mould of kenya. All you need to do is to develop some game reserves and stop the mass murdering of innocent people at the drop of a hat. More education for your people wouldn't be a bad idea too.

Now, you and Ango make me laugh with this your groundnut angle. While your fore fathers were on a Jihad rampage back in the days, the dutch, Portuguese and the British were trying to out do each other for the oil coming from the south (the hinterland of south - call that east- in particular), so much that UK signed a treaty with King Jaja and recognising his kingdom of Opobo as a Kingdom all because of palm oil. It was also because of oil that they deposed and sent him on exile.

Coming back to recent history. Umuahia was the largest palm oil exporting hub in Africa -make that the entire world- until the civil war and there were many British companies in Umuahia doing nothing but oil trading (John Holt was the biggest of them all). Enugu coal fields were among the largest in Africa. The south as a whole had more important cash crops than the North so why are you shouting groundnut this and that ?

As for seceding and the north still benefitting from oil; do you really believe that the north could fight the whole south if it came to that ?

I expect more of such bold moves from Jonathan. Time to grow some balls and recapture people like me who were losing patience in his lack of courage.

Now, he must also make his manifesto readily available to anyone who is interested and take his campaign to the grass roots. National dailies or the internet could be used for that purpose.

In my opinion, he is the one eyed man in the land of the blind. The presidency is his to lose, but he must show some grit, sincerity and leadership qualities.

________________________________________
Goodluck Jonathan's Declaration Speech - Full Text
18 September 2010 14:42 

Forty months ago my predecessor in office and I embarked on a joint ticket in the governance of our great country, Nigeria. Sadly, he passed away on the 5th of May 2010.

MAY HIS GENTLE SOUL REST IN PERFECT PEACE, AMEN.

With the death of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, the mantle of leadership of our great nation fell on me. However, the days leading to my presidency were very trying times for our nation. We confronted those moments and their challenges to national security with patriotism and care. I appreciate the role played by the National Assembly, Governors, Civil Society groups, the mass media, and other patriotic Nigerians.

The late President Yar'Adua and I shared great dreams for our country. We toiled together to realize those dreams in order to justify the confidence Nigerians reposed in us. Together we swore to execute a joint mandate and today I come before you to make a pronouncement based on that undertaking.

The past four months that I have served as President of Nigeria have opened my eyes to the vast potentials of this office as a potent instrument for the transformation of our country. I discovered that by sheer willpower, I could end the long queues and price fluctuations in our petrol stations. Today, all our refineries are working, saving us huge amounts of funds spent on importation of petroleum products. (Good to know, but it would have been good to acknowledge that the works were started by Yar’adua, who was widely perceived to be useless in office. Some credit wouldn’t do him harm and would highlight your honesty.)


I discovered that by insisting that the right things be done, we could begin a turnaround in our power sector by involving the private sector in power generation and distribution. As you can see from the lower quantities of diesel that you are buying today, power generation has significantly improved. (Did this happen overnight or were the ground works laid by Yaradua? What exactly have the private sector done in contribution to the present level of power supply? Have they started operation and when did they start rolling out their equipment? I have seen parts of the energy blue print and it looks like the right step and I hope that you would be committed to implementing it.)

I have put in place new gas policies and very soon, we will be saying goodbye to gas flaring in our oil fields. Working with the National Assembly, we rolled out a law that requires companies operating in the oil and gas sectors of our economy to utilize an appreciable percentage of their goods and services from local sources. We saw to it that normalcy began to return to the Niger Delta by ensuring government's fidelity to its promises, and this has helped to stabilize our national revenue. (In addition to that, we need a body to actually enforce the laws (I know we have the EP Agency, but they need to be empowered for enforcement actions). There should be an environmental protection act, which covers all aspects of the environment. The EPA should cover pollution by other industries as well. For example, breweries have been known to have destroyed entire rivers because of discharge of spent yeast into rivers, which propagate at an alarming rate and clog the water ways. Cement industries also send harmful effluents into rivers. The fines for defaulting should be unlimited and to the point of liquidation if need be.  )

In the last few months, I embarked on monumental projects in our road infrastructure to end the carnage on our federal highways. I began several projects to make our water resources available for drinking and farming. (I would like to know which roads have been rehabilitated and any new water project commenced since you became president. I propose a public contracts liability act, which forces contractors to redo substandard works at no cost to the government with a possibility of liquidation and jail time for the directors of such companies should the affected companies fail to comply.) I targeted our educational system to return quality and competitiveness to them. (How? )I re-addressed our drive for self sufficiency in food production.( How?) I have taken bold steps to confront our security situation. In this regard, we are pursuing the revision of our laws to be more responsive to international conventions and more punitive to criminals. (How? By promoting the erstwhile police boss in lawless Abia to the inspector general? Our laws are not the problems, but enforcement of those laws. What is your blue print for the reorganisation and retraining of the police force and the provision of adequate crime fighting equipment and good welfare package? What is your approach to flash points like Jos, Aba and Oyo state?)

I set the stage for free and fair elections by constituting an electoral commission comprising of Nigerians with impeccable credentials for firmness and incorruptibility. I charged our anti corruption agencies to speed up the war against corruption, and respect no sacred cows in the process. In the management of the economy, I advocated a more transparent banking industry, price stability, low inflation, and aggregate increase in productivity as a way to drive us to a more prosperous economy. In International Relations, I advanced the respectability accorded our country by effective engagement in global fora.

From the moment I was sworn in as President, I came under intense pressure to make a declaration concerning my political future, but declined to do so because it would have immediately distracted us from all the development initiatives we have accomplished so far.

As President and leader of this government, I decided not to place partisan politics above the immediate needs and priorities of our people. I therefore told Nigerians to give me time to concentrate on my work, and that at the appropriate time, I would make a public statement on my political future after widespread consultations.

Those consultations have now been concluded. The Independent National Electoral Commission has recently announced a time table for the 2011 general elections in the country. My party, the Peoples Democratic Party, has also published a timetable for its primaries.

In the circumstances and after a thorough self examination and prayers with my family, I, Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan have decided to humbly offer myself as a candidate in the Presidential Primaries of our great party, the Peoples Democratic Party, in order to stand for the 2011 Presidential elections. I pledge once again to all the people of this nation that they will have a free and fair election, even as I stand to be a candidate. In this race, I have the honour to have as my running mate, Architect Namadi Sambo, the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Our country is at the threshold of a new era; an era that beckons for a new kind of leadership; a leadership that is uncontaminated by the prejudices of the past; a leadership committed to change; a leadership that reinvents government, to solve the everyday problems that confront the average Nigerian.

I was not born rich, and in my youth, I never imagined that I would be where I am today, but not once did I ever give up. Not once did I imagine that a child from Otuoke, a small village in the Niger Delta, will one day rise to the position of President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I was raised by my mother and father with just enough money to meet our daily needs.

In my early days in school, I had no shoes, no school bags. I carried my books in my hands but never despaired; no car to take me to school but I never despaired. There were days I had only one meal but I never despaired. I walked miles and crossed rivers to school every day but I never despaired. Didn't have power, didn't have generators, studied with lanterns but I never despaired.

In spite of these, I finished secondary school, attended the University of Port Harcourt, and now hold a doctorate degree.

Fellow Nigerians, if I could make it, you too can make it!

My story is the story of a young Nigerian whose access to education opened up vast opportunities that enabled me to attain my present position. As I travel up and down our country, I see a nation blessed by God with rich agricultural and mineral resources and an enterprising people. I see millions of Nigerians whose potentials for greatness are constrained by the lack of basic infrastructure.

I see Nigerians who can make a difference in the service of their country but are disadvantaged by the lack of opportunities.

My story symbolizes my dream for Nigeria. The dream that any Nigerian child from Kaura- Namoda to Duke town; from Potiskum to Nsukka, from Isale-Eko to Gboko will be able to realize his God-given potentials, unhindered by tribe or religion and unrestricted by improvised political inhibitions. My story holds out the promise of a new Nigeria. A Nigeria built on the virtues of love and respect for one another, on unity, on industry, on hardwork and on good governance.

My fellow Nigerians, this is what has brought me to Eagle Square today. I have come to say to all of you, that Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan is the man you need to put Nigeria right. I have come to launch a campaign of ideas, not one of calumny. I have come to preach love, not hate. I have come to break you away from divisive tendencies of the past which have slowed our drive to true nationhood. I have no enemies to fight. You are all my friends and we share a common destiny.

Let the word go out from this Eagle Square that Jonathan as President in 2011 will herald a new era of transformation of our country; an era that will end the agony of power shortage in our country. Let the word go out from here that I will be for the students, teachers and parents of Nigeria, a President who will advance quality and competitive education. Let everyone in this country hear that I shall strive to the best of my ability to attain self sufficiency in food production.

Let the word go out that my plans for a Sovereign Wealth Fund with an initial capital of $1billion will begin the journey for an economic restoration. (While I am all for the SWF, I need a detailed explanation of what it is and its objectives including funding and discharge. )This restoration will provide new job opportunities and alleviate poverty. Let the word go out that our health sector will receive maximum priority in a new Jonathan administration, a priority that will ensure maximum health care and stop our brain drain.

Let all the kidnappers, criminal elements, and miscreants that give us a bad name be ready for the fight that I shall give them. Let the ordinary Nigerian be assured that President Jonathan will have zero tolerance for corruption. Let the international community hear that today I have offered myself to lead a country that will engage them in mutual respect and cooperation for the achievement of international peace and understanding.

To help me in these tasks effectively, I will re-train, revamp, and motivate the civil service.( I expexpect to see details of how, in your manifesto)

My dear good people of Nigeria, I got here today by the power of God and the support of all Nigerians; all ethnic groups, North, South, East and West. I am here today because of your support and prayers. I want all of you to know that I am one of you and I will never let you down! I want you to know that I will keep hope alive; I want you to know that your time has come.

I stand before you today, humbly seeking your support for me, Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan, to run for the office of the President of Nigeria with Architect Namadi Sambo as my running mate.

We will fight for JUSTICE!

We will fight for all Nigerians to have access to POWER!

We will fight for qualitative and competitive EDUCATION!

We will fight for HEALTH CARE REFORMS!

We will fight to create jobs, for all Nigerians!

We will fight corruption!

We will fight to protect all Citizens!

We will fight for your rights!

My dear country men and women, give me your support, give me your votes and together we will fight to build a great nation of our dreams!

I cannot end this speech without thanking you all for attending this occasion. Your huge attendance is a loud testimony of your support for us. For this I am very grateful. I pray that the Almighty God abides with you and sees you safely back to your respective destinations.

When you return, tell all those at home that as we celebrate our fifty years anniversary as a nation, Goodluck has come to transform Nigeria and I will never let you down.

Thank You.

May God Bless you all!

And may God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria!!

- GOODLUCK EBELE AZIKIWE JONATHAN, GCFR.

(I understand that declaration may not equal to a detailed manifesto, which I presume you have. Where can we read your manifesto and how readily is it available to the man on the street? I expect the manifesto to give full details of the following:

Security, Transportation, Healthcare, Education, (including roads, inland waterways and railways). Environment, Drinking water.
Electricity, oil and gas, small scale industries, micro finance and mortgage finance, social security, children services (including orphanage, child abuse, domestic servitude, compulsory education etc). The economy (very detailed road map including diversification and government commitment). The Inland Revenue service. Food sufficiency. Ecological disasters.)

chiozor:
@slap1
just like Rivers have Emergency Call-112 which connects distress call to the Police Room, is there none for Abia State.
by the way, what was the justification of promoting the AIG in Abia to IGP,

That was an eyebrow-raising decision. The rate of crime in Aba alone should have been enough reason to put him on probation, talk less of promotion.

I weep for Aba. The place is gradually being brought to its knees. I heard that cost of accommodation has gone through the roof in Owerri and umuahia because of mass relocation from Aba, all because of a few rascals that shouldn't take more than 2 weeks to smoke out and flush out.

bawomolo:
it be like say you get experience for this business

I had an obsession for fire arms and military hardware when I was a lot younger. I also received some training for the use of fire arms and I loved the military and military life. I dreamt of being a combat soldier or fighter pilot and everyone in my family thought that I would be one of those. However, I hated regimentation and the fact that I would never be free to pursue riches while young unless I was ruthless to seize power by force like IBB and co . With regret, I went to a regular Uni, but it was the right decision as I am free to do what I want.

If I was a prince Harry and money was guaranteed, surely, I would have gone to the military.

Gamine:
Is someone kidding me

The trailer is filled with hilarity,

Only in Nigerian movies, you can kill someone from the roof with shotgun

Yes, you could kill someone with a shotgun fire from more than 500 yards depending on the type of explosive projectile used. Effective range is usually less than 50 yards when a cartridge is used but much longer when a shotgun slug or rifle bullet is used.

Ibime:
Song by Nembe people:

Erika nimiga ye re biyo bo
Igbobo ebetu tubo re o fe ma
Tubo re o nyana ma, Nembe n'ongu?


Translation:

I ask this out of ignorance
They say he is an Igbo, but who bought him?
And who is his master, people of Nembe?


Lesson:

There are 67 houses in Bonny. Name one house with Igbo name.

Anyone can make up a song and sing anything they feel like singing, doesn't make the song true.

Is it not possible that not everyone belongs to a house ? The Pepple house had Igbo originators. Some of the non-English names you imagine are Ijaw names might have meant something to the Igbo who settled there.

For example, the name of my clan "Afara" does not have any Igbo meaning to me. The following kindreds are found in my clan: Ohokobe, UmuOkeyi, Ohobo, Agata, Ishiama and one or two others.

Apart from UmuOkeyi and Ishiama, the remaining ones have no Igbo meaning to me, but might have had  meanings to my ancestors. There are many names like that in Ibeku and throughout Igbo land; does it make them non Igbos ? No, because I can trace the history of my own Ama to nearly 400 years in terms of who begat who and I know that at least Ohokobe and Okeyi were related and so do all the clans in Afara. The same applies to the non-Igbo sounding names in Bonny.

otokx:
But why should an Ugwuoha be heading NDDC? Does his village produce oil?

Such arrant display of ignorance, warped IQ and unreasonable hatred ! It's probably ok to embezzle NDDC money with a different name that sounds right to you

From all the documentations, it is clear that the Igbo were present in Bonny from the beginning and played a significant role in shaping the place, starting from the founder Azimini who was of Igbo descent.

My inference is that the Ibani/Ijaw were also present at some point, but have always been in the minority, hence the minority status of their language on the island to this day.

Everyone agrees that Bonny grew as a result of slave trade followed by palm oil trade, post slave trade era. Everyone also agrees that the two elements to both trades (humans and palm oil) were sourced from the hinterland while the buyers(market) were the Europeans who were anchored at the coast.

Back in the days, villages/clans were regarded as different countries, which made it easier for neighbouring clans to raid each other for slaves with the result that the Owere man for example did not have a problem selling the Mbaise man if he had the chance to do so.

All the slaves taken to Bonny for marketing were taken by Igbo merchants to the Europeans in their anchorage.

Ijaw people did not go to Igbo land to raid them for slaves and any story to that effect is contorted and false.

When the land of Bonny prospered, it attracted people from neighbouring brass, Kalabari etc, but the migration was not enough to put them in the majority. They also called themselves Ibani, after Ubani which was already in existence.

At the end of slave trade, Igbo merchants also took palmoil from the hinterland to Bonny, which was already a prosperous trading port. The fact that the leaders of the two key houses at the height of Bonny prosperity were Igbo people, coupled with the majority status of their language gives credence to the reports by Europeans who actually lived in and walked the lands, that the Igbo/Eboe were probably the first to settle there.

It is note worthy that not much was recorded of the other houses and their leadership, if not, I am sure it would have been revealed that a lot of them had Igbo leadership as well. It is also note worthy that in Annie Pepples house, leadership changed hands from Igbo father to Igbo son and to a freed Igbo man. If the Ijaw/Ibani were in charge, that would not happen.

At this point, I would like to point out that some people have made concerted efforts to rewrite history. Example, I was reading an Ijaw article on Opobo and they refused to acknowledge the roots of Jaja, whom they kept referring to as King Jack Pepple or Juwo Juwo as opposed to Jubo Jugboha. What would it take from them to tell the same stories of Jaja as known by everyone else?

My conclusion is that both parties migrated from other lands, which were their origin and settled in Bonny and both parties have rights of ownership of they lands they occupy and since the tail does not wag the dog, the majority settlers would be right to frown upon an attempt by the minority to claim ownership of the land and if absolute claim were to be allowed, the majority easily have it bagged.

ChinenyeN:
Let's backtrack right here FACE. Where are you getting the bolded from? In fact, Onlytruth and I went over that exact same issue, in this exact same topic "The True Extent of Ala Igbo". Did you not see that in your reading? I don't know what the problem is, but you (plural: EzeUche, Onlytruth, 006, Andre, etc. and now you) seem to have a thing for insinuate stuff about me.

By the way, this example of yours, concerning me, doesn't fit in with the rest of your post.

Chinenye, don't argue what you don't know about. The Ngwa dialect is not homogeneous across the board. There are variations from the northern part to the southern part.

I have actually lived in alaigbo and the Ngwa are my hometown next door neighbours and I understand ngwa without straining my ears. A word like "gini" for instance is also ngiri, giri and nugu, nnu (sound) for different Ngwa groups. The relevance to my post is that going by your position on dialect, three or four ethnic groups should also materialise from Ngwa just like you have efik, Ibibio and annang.

Ibime, thanks for your response, I never knew that Okirika Ijo and Warri Ijo were mutually intelligible. I take it that Kalabari and Okirika speak the same language then,albeit different dialects ?

I have said that Ibime's brushed-up history of "his Ijaw" folks can only be as true as Ijaws claiming full and perpertual ownership of the stolen "abandoned properties" they're residing in PH.
From inventing thr regatta as war house canoes, to owing most of the water ways of the eastern naval command, these parasites Ijaws have no shame amending standard history to suit their immediate political needs.

Naijaking, I asked Ibime those questions because in my opinion, he says things as he believes them to be without the need to fabricate. Not that he is always right, but he is quite honest in that regard.

I asked him because I really want to know and I don't think that the answers to those could be fabricated as the questions are without ambiguities.

I once asked an Ibibio friend to clarify between Ibibio, Efik and Annang and I was made to understand that those language are dialects of each other. That is the same confusion (mine)  I seek to clarify from Ibime.

It's just like Chinenye saying Ngwa this and Ngwa that without realising that there are various Ngwa dialects With the Ntigha person speaking  a dialect closer to Ubakala(Umuahia) than the Ngwa dialects in areas near near Ndoki.

Ibime, just an innocent question cos I don't know but I beleieve you should know.

Are there any similarities between the Ijaw in Okirika and the Ijaw in Warri ? Do you have the same culture and do you understand each others dielect (even with some difficulty).

What makes some kalabari say that they are not Ijaw, do they not have common culture and Language ? Apart from beign water people and fishing, what other factors define the Ijaw nationality?

Beaf, kudos for avoiding the childish bait. The trap set for you was dead on arrival.

The introduction of his VP will signify the strength of his wisdom as an incredible leader.
IBB at his best can not be matched by any of these candidates.


*Unity
*Economy
*Education
*Medical
*Infrastructure

Are you sure ? All those areas went down hill during IBB. Endless strikes by lecturers, doctors and NASU. The beginning of infrastural decay and very bad policies. Wasted a lot of money on phoney transition to civil rule. The hyper escalation of curruption to a whole new level. He wielded absolute power then, why did he not achieve good development even by executive fiat ?

I can understand why people see IBB as a credible opposition though. The other aspirants have remained invisible and need to up their games. However, should IBB get there, just rest assured that he wont leave in 2015 and he would try to become a life president in 2019.

Jonathan in my opinion, has not shown any sign of leadership. He gives the impression of a dead wood and a liability, who is bent on maintaining the status quo.

I am still leaning towards Jonathan though because I like continuity.But continuity of what exactly ? If his dealing hands remain unseen and if he doesn't change his game, then another person gets my vote and that includes IBB.

ezeagu:
The examples you gave are not fully comparable to this topic, like for the Romans, not all British people were in contact with them, same as the Arab's, they didn't completely wipe out cultures. Then again in Bonny for instance the Ibani language still exists. You also have to consider the uses of a language that makes it more useful, for Igbo in these places it was a suitable language for trading all over the area.

Maybe the examples are not fully comparable, but still a useful analogy.

By the way, Roman influence on Britain (Brittania to the Romans) lingered into the late 18th century. They ruled Britain and collected taxes for 400 years and their influence lingered at least 1200 years after their departure.

If you were learned but did not know Latin (Roman official language), even after the Romans had left, you still lacked education in old Britain. All official scripts were also written in Latin including the magna carta.

The evidence as regards Roman influence is all very clear when you go to Central London and you would see many buildings with Roman inscriptions on them and no English translation to match. Even their old law books and maritime books had a lot of Roman phrases and paragraghs transcribed to English.

The Arab conquests were always total and the wide spread use of their language would testify to that. Yet the conquered groups maintained their languages.

Yes, Igbo could have been a trade language, but it would have remained a second language if there were no people who were there as first set of inhabitants/migrants and spoke it originally.

Furthermore, it is very strange that original inhabitants would lose their language entirely, to slaves or few strangers.

Not even a brutal occupying force is always able to annihilate the culture and language of the occupied territory, worse case scenario is the establishment of a bilingual society or the absorption of the occupying force.

Look at Fulani conquest with all their ferocity, they adopted Hausa as their official language, even though they were in charge.

The Romans walked the face of Britain for 400 years and English survived.

The German/Brits enslaved South Africa for God knows how long and the best they came up with was Afrikaans.

Arab, the "take no prisoner" of them all colonised the Arab world, yet their local languages survived.

Hm mm, na wa.

Abam (near Abiriba and Item) were the real war people in Old Bende . They did war for a living and were often hired as mercenaries.

The link below is a brief history of King Jaja (a little bit long and may be a spambot victim).

http://biography.yourdictionary.com/ja-ja-of-opobo

Quite interesting to find that the two prominent canoe houses were led by Igbo people. By the time Jaja was "dashed" to the Anna Pepple House, Madu was the head of that house while  Oko Jumbo (another igbo) was the head of manilla Pepple House.

Madu died and his son (Alali) took over the leadership of Anna house. Alali died and left the house indebted to trade partners to the tune of £10000-£15,000.

Jaja, who had become an astute business person stepped up and took leadership of the house, paid off the debt in two years and prospered even more to the displeasure Jumbo , his arch rival.

A fire mishap which gutted Bonny, left Jaja in a vulnerable position and Jumbo attacked him then. Jaja left Bonny with his followers, accepted defeat very quickly and retreated to a virgin land which he called Opobo in Honour of erstwhile King Opubu.

Within two years, he declared independence, cut off Bonny from major trade and 14 other houses in Bonny moved over to Opobo in subservience to him. Bonny was finished. Jaja continued his march to prosperity until the British betrayed and sent him on exile from which he never returned alive.

That Igbo is widely spoken by natives in Opobo, is no coincidence. The founder (Jaja)was Igbo and took many Igbo along with him. That Igbo is also widely spoken in Bonny is also not a coincidence. Is it not curious that the two houses, who played a major role in shaping Bonny had Igbo leaders ? The other houses were not major players in the local politics, if not, their leaders would have been known as well and it won't be surprising to find that a good number of them were Igbo as well.

What happened to Mbari cultural centre and amphi theatre ?

PapaBrowne:
[size=16pt]Hmmmm!! Nigerians are Socialists!! We all need classic re-education to erase this socialist syndrome from our psyche![/size]

We want free Education. We want free healthcare. We want cheap transportation. We want subsidized fuel. We want free infrastructure. And we want cheap housing.

Yet we are not willing to pay taxes or tolls or health insurance!!

The truth is development comes with a huge price. Lagos state for instance has an infrastructural shortfall worth hundreds of billions of dollars. This money will not come from the sky. People are going to have to pay for it somehow or else there would be no development.

All the beautiful countries we all love to talk about pay massive taxes, huge bills and mega tolls. In London there is something called Congestion Charge. To drive your vehicle in the congestion zone, it would cost you  £8 per day= 2000 naira. If you fail to pay the charge, you will be fined btw £60 and £120= 15,000- 45,000 naira. In addition to that, many londoners pay almost 40% of their wages in taxes. When they get home, they also have to cope with massive utility bills. Add that to the fact that they have to constantly pay for health insurance.


[size=13pt]If we want development, we must be ready to pay for it!! Period!![/size]
It is not government that brought you to this world. They are not your father!! Nigerians should stop expecting Government to do everything including putting food on your table all for free.

You only put toll gates on brand new roads and bridges. If for any reason, you have to expand and toll an existing road, then you must provide an alternative route and consult with the people and get their opinion on the expansion and tolling of the existing road. No one expects to get all things for free, but no one wants to be exploited either.

You said that if people could not afford the charge, that they should move to the other side of town. How laughable and childish. You want people who were rightly given a good access to other parts of the state for free about 27 years ago to now move to another part of town, just because other people arrived the area and paid infrastructure dev. taxes to someone (govt) who decided to blockade everybody including the original residents unless they paid  toll fees each time they used the road ? Clap for yourself !

You referred to UK and mentioned health insurance. You do not need a health insurance in order to access NHS services as long as you have a right to be in the UK, including foreign students. Health insurance is by choice . In the congestion charge zone in London, not all roads are chargeable, as there are congestion charge free routes within the zone.

ezeagu:
The railway had to go through Umuahia to collect agricultural produce, as this was a major place for this type of trade, nothing Enugu had to offer compared to Umuahia in terms of market, there are other towns like Okigwe and co the railway could have gone straight past.

Trace a line from Enugu to PH and you will find that Umuahia falls within the line more or less. The railway line detoured to the left from Enugu to Afikpo Junction  before correcting itself again towards Umuahia and to PH. I went to school in north and I used that line millions of times from Kano to PH and I can still recollect how long it took from station to station.

I am not arguing that Umuahia was not a trading centre, but that the railway made Umuahia grow into a town centre,you can take it anywhere. By the way, what could Umuahia have been trading that was more significant than the export status given to it by the railway, which made it possible for people to bring their palm oil to Ogba mmanu for transport to the north and to the sea port in PH ? You think that if the railway station was at afor Ibeji or orie Ntigha (two equally big markets in close proximity to Umuahia) instead of Ibeku, that Umuahia would still have out-grown those towns ?


The name Umuahia, has nothing to do with the fact that Umuahia was a trading centre. Are you planning to tell me the history of Umuahia or what ?

ezeagu:
No, Umuahia, as even indicated by it's name was and always was a busy trading post in the area as a home to a host of trading communities, the railway itself bends for Umuahia, the planners could have had other places more important if Umuahia was not significant.

I know Umuahia was a trading post, afterall I am from Ibeku and my house is between Old Umuahia and Umuahia Ibeku train stations and the railway crosses our ama.

The railway gave Umuahia a boost in trading and made the town to flourish.

Enugu also had significant trading (orie Emene) but it was the coal mines that defined the town and the railway traversed Enugu because of the Coal. The railway did not bend for Umuahia.

Take a look at PH -Enugu express way and you would notice the same pattern. Umuahia is along the part from Enugu to PH. If anything at all, the railway bent for Afikpo junction which was an emerging town at the time.

Paddy lo, I am for true federalism, where there is a structure of how money should be shared from the federation account. We already have that structure in place and I detest spending of money by executive dictatorship. Yes the money should be shared without with holding/diverting any amount until the sharing or spending formula is revised and backed by law. Anything short of that is criminal and dictatorship.

No federal government will engage in reckless gambling of common wealth on foreign investments when the local economy is suffering. Unitary governments may do that but not a federating body.

No one has the right to freeze local or state government funds from the federation account, even if there was a ton of evidence that the money was being misappropriated by the state governors and local government chairmen. We have a structure for dealing with theft and the judiciary should be empowered to deal with those.

If the aim of the SWF is to create a foreign investment platform for the government, I strongly oppose the idea. The federal government should first of all create an asset management bureau if there is none already, reconcile all its assets and investments, identify all the liabilities and invest in our own economy for added value.

I disagree with u. . the investment is for unborn generations and for when the oil money will finish. . .whats the point of eating everything today,what about future generation of Nigerians. , are u so selfish that u don't understand that if this fund had been set up in 1980 like other OPEC countries did

we would not be in this situation today. . .?

Are you so naive as to think that we are where we are today as a result of not having an SWF account ? Corruption and embezzlement of public funds have kept us where we are today. And who informed you that if we had set up such funds in the past, that it would have been so sacred that no one would loot it or even sell what ever investments that was made in the past ?

With regards to the future of the children, a good national insurance scheme would secure that, but then again,that would need to have a legal force.

EzeUche22:
Actually it is the other way around. Umuahia was the first industrialized town in Alaigbo if I am not mistaken. Even before Enugu. When Umuahia was industrialized, Owerri was just a backwaters town.

Umuahia has never been more industralised than Enugu. Enugu was the main reason why Umuahia had any significance at all, because Umuahia was a railway town and the railway was built in the first place because of the Coal mines in Enugu. (No coal in Enugu, no railway in Umuahia - simple)

Umuahia, Enugu , Owerri and PH started urban lives at about the same time, circa 1908. They were all railway towns except Owerri, which was a junction town that also started life at about the same time, but railway was the advantage the other towns had over it.

Umuahia was a major commercial hub before the war with the likes of John holts, UAC doing business there and it was bigger than Owerri before the dynamics shifted in favour of Owerri when  Imo state was created.

Sam Mbakwe tried to develop Owerri, Umuahia and Aba simultaneously and was doing a good job before Buhari and co struck. Owerri was well planned cos it was built from the scratch. There is extensive underground (deep under)sewer system in Owerri all linked together and I don't know of any other place in Nigeria with same system. He built something similar in Umuahia but not as extensive.

Everywhere in Owerri looks like a housing estate and all houses are in line , ordered and the streets are mainly straight and broad. Next to Abuja, Lagos and maybe Enugu and PH, I doubt there is any other place in Nigeria with more good hotels.

Umuahia is my roots and it has the potential of being finer than Owerri if you like houses on hills and valleys like me but not today.

paddy_lo:
@Gbawe and others

Jonathan has proposed the set up of a Sovereign wealth fund. .$1billion of this money was withdrawn for that purpose

Now this $20billion u talk of is from 2007 till now. .

well the blame rests on yaradua,and the world financial crises.

However even if u look at it. . its about $6billion a yr shared btw the 36states and FCT in 3.5yrs

So go to the states and ask them what they did with it.  .

Am sure states like Lagos,Akwa ibom and co have done well with the dough

other Governors might have done poorly. . . .

I dont buy this arguement of waste,because to start with,the ECA has no basis in law
The states can rightfully demand that the money is theirs and they even took OBJ to court

Now this is why Jonathan has made the SWF a priority,to be backed by law
that way in the future,no-one can withdraw money anyhow

so tell me again what the problem is?

Is it easier to push for a new law to back a new account or to create a law to give force to an existing account, which already has a structure ? Who says that we need to create an account for investment purposes anyway ?

A federal government has no business investing tax payers money in overseas companies with no solid investment in the country. If the country had a lot of money to spare, they would divest their foreign reserve into two or three currencies and bonds from reliable countries like USA .

May I remind those talking about Dubai that Dubai is an emirate which controlled by a few families who own the wealth of the land, therefore they can afford to invest their money in whatever way they deem fit, even to the point of near bankruptcy.

Jonathan has proposed the set up of a Sovereign wealth fund. .$1billion of this money was withdrawn for that purpose

Is it not laughable that you would on one hand say that ECA is not backed by law (which I agree with) and on the other hand try to justify the withdrawal of money from that account for the purpose of funding an account that is not yet in existence ? An account which might not make it past the first hearing at the houses of assembly. The tail does not wag the dog neither does the cart drive the horse. What's the hurry ? Why not wait until the law backing SWF come into force before withdrawing money to fund the SWF ? You accept that the money rightly belongs to the federating units, but you advocate the spending/with holding of that money by executive fiat/dictatorship.

A SWF on the other hand is like an Investment account,which allocates capital to various asset classes. .e.g,stocks,bonds,Infrastructure etc
so when the SWF is set up Nigeria might find itself,buying into companies like GOOGLE,Holding Hong Kong bonds that yield 5% -6% and so on. .or an Infrastructure bond for road building in lagos

so you get a return on your investment in form of dividends and interest

If the purpose of the SWF was to able to fund federal investments in companies like google, barclays, et al; Some of us would rather see any excess money invested in our downstream economy, funding local projects and acquiring stakes in local technological industries who are not able to expand their business due to funds, but are keen to exchange a stake in their companies for funds. Furthermore, who says that those foreign companies might not go burst soon after the investments ?

Gbawe:
My brothers/sisters, you should all learn to ignore Beaf . He is a dangerous example of what is wrong with Nigeria . I.e a believer in the notion that "as long as me and my people are in power" blatantly obvious misrule is acceptable. Jonathan continues to show, by the day , that he is a shameless stooge who stands for nothing in particular. It will be Beaf alone , along with 'rented crowds', that will be in Mr.President's corner soon .

Look at the simple actions of David Cameron (UK prime Minister) compared to that of Jonathan . Cameron chose to fly on a commercial flight so that the people of the UK can see that their leader is in their corner in difficult times (credit crunch + reccesion + poor property market + unstimulated lending market/environment, et al) .

Jonathan , as the leader of one of the most poverty-stricken nations on Earth, who badly needs to win an election on merit and with the clear signal he is a departure from past leaders , chooses to insensitively augment an already bloated Presidential air fleet !!! Incredulous !!!

Mr.President insensitively approves billions for a 50th celebration for Nigeria when , if he is the right man for Nigeria , he should enjoin all of us to austerely focus on what is nationally important (such as our electoral civic duties) rather than encourage senseless profligacy that will make more elite Nigerians richer while increasing general poverty.

The same man approved of national honours for fraudsters, forgers and criminals !!!!

It does not matter to Jonathan's supporters , like Beaf , that Mr.President is now enjoying the support of the same evil men (OBJ, Danjuma, Anenih, Aondoakaa) who have shown consistently that they do not mean well for Nigeria. How can a "decent chap" feel comfortable in the company of so many overtly evil men ?

Aondoakaa (yes the same evil enemy of Nigeria who has been sanctioned by the USA) is now openly working for Jonathan .

There is so much more Jonathan is doing wrong !!!

Yet some folks still have the effrontery to show up here to support Jonathan . Clearly we can see that blind and obsessive love of region , ahead of Nigeria, will make some Nigerians support woeful leaders. They cannot see how they are pathetic , ignorant and unexposed local champions willing to ignore what is best for millions of Nigerians!!!!!

Ok Gbawe, now that you have highlighted the bad ways of Jonathan, could you also highlight the good sides to Atiku and IBB and Buhari ?

I am afraid other contestants need to up their game because they have been invisible.
The land consisting of only Jonathan and those three is akin to the land of the blind, and Jonathan as the one eyed man is king.

The truth is that Jonathan is fast squandering the goodwill and support many people had for him. In the months before the passing of Yaradua , whilst he was acting president, he showed lack of will and inability to assert himself in the face of severe onslaught on democracy and Nigerians by faceless people. He was eventually rescued because Nigerians showed unwavering support for him.

Like the op pointed out, while he has been busy clearing party obstacle (which is not bad) he is neglecting those that count,  the electorate ! Election is only but a few months away, no one knows whether he is going to contest because he has not deemed it necessary to declare his position and to sell his candidacy to the electorate.

There is a lot of skepticism on the ability of INEC to hold a free and fair election and it is business as usual in government.

While I concede that improving the availability of electricity is not a day's job, people have argued that he was heading the restoration of power supply while Yaradua was alive. Since we agree that things do not happen in a day or in a few months in Jonathan's case, I think it's now safe to ascribe some of the successes recorded within the first months of Jonathan to the slow works started by Yaradua. I will point to the "improved" power supply and petrol availability in reference to the above mentioned.

Yes, the first 100 days is always a yardstick for the likely direction of an administration, but all I have seen from Jonathan is the desire to placate the old school to ensure self preservation.

Going back to the Yaradua dead/alive -acting president saga, my submission is that Jonathan has not shown leadership, clear vision, sincerity, courage and the ability to stare discomfort in the face and call the shots. He relies on goodwill from people without showing why he should be carried all the time.

He has been carried so far and he should now stand and walk the walk and he might yet restore the goodwill he once enjoyed, otherwise, we do not need the type of leadership he has shown so far.

Good for the goose, good for the gander also.

The job itself is worth some amount and experience is also worth some amount. Siasia performed very well on his previous assignments for the country, therefore he has proved his capability in that regard.

Of course they are still negotiating but I want to see Siasia walk away with nothing less than N12M/month. If we were able to pay foreign coaches a lot more, why not Siasia ?

In football, no coach's initial contract should be set in stone and skewed permanently towards the demands of that coach. Permanent/Long term contracts should be based on the performance of the coach for that team and not past records, unless you were a dondada coach like Ferguson or Wenger.

NFA should agree to a progressive contract based on performance, and if Siasia delivers (discovers and nurtures local talents and wins games to the "sweetness of the eyes", his pay should approach or surpass Lagerback's pay. Yes $200k/month.

Football pay is not dependent on national income scale unfortunately, if not, there is no way Capelo would earn more than Cameron.

Double entry, Sorry.

Chxta:
The first Oba of Benin was Eweka who came to the throne circa 1200AD. Prior to him, the Bini have records for the Ogiso (rulers before the Oba) going back a further few centuries. What are you on about? Let's not be sentimental dear. . .

Chxta, I don't do sentiments. The only people in Nigeria with self composed written history are Kano-Hausa and to an extent the Sokoto Caliphate. Yes, Benin people do have a very good and admirable history, but the written records were not there prior to the arrival of the europeans. All the accounts were verbal prior to the arrival of the europeans.

I have been able to trace my roots to nearly 400 years and I have been able to establish that my kinsmen (lineage) have lived in our current location for that long and the reasons why they left our last ancestral home (about one mile away). I established that through an educated guess based on hand me down stories about who begat who and not written history. The person with written down history has a superior account of their history with regards to time and dates .

In the 7th century, Dala Hill, a hill in Kano, was the site of a group of a community that engaged in iron-working; it is unknown whether these were Hausa people or speakers of Niger-Congo languages.[2] Kano was originally known as Dala, after the hill, and was referred to as such as late as the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th by Bornoan sources.[3]

The Kano Chronicle identifies Barbushe, a priest of a Dalla Hill spirit, as the city's first settler. (Elizabeth Isichei notes that the description of Barbushe is similar to those of Sao people.)[4] While small chiefdoms were previously present in the area, according to the Kano Chronicle, Bagauda, a grandson of the mythical hero Bayajidda,[5] became the first king of Kano in 999, reigning until 1063.[6][7] His grandson Gijimasu (1095–1134), the third king, began building city walls at the foot of Dalla Hill, and his own son, Tsaraki (1136–1194), the fifth king, completed them during his reign.[7]


Gate to the Gidan Rumfa in 2005Muhammad Rumfa ascended to the throne in 1463 and reigned until 1499. During his reign, he reformed the city, expanded the Sahelian Gidan Rumfa (Emir's Palace), and played a role in the further Islamization of the city,[8] as he urged prominent residents to convert.[9] The Kano Chronicle attributes a total of twelve "innovations" to Rumfa.[10]

According to the Kano Chronicle, the thirty-seventh Sarkin Kano (King of Kano) was Mohammed Sharef (1703–1731). His successor, Kumbari dan Sharefa (1731–1743), engaged in major battles with Sokoto.

[edit] Fulani conquest and rule
See also: Fulani Jihad
At the beginning of the 19th century, Fulani Islamic leader Usman dan Fodio led a jihad affecting much of northern Nigeria, leading to the emergence of the Sokoto Caliphate. Kano was the largest and most prosperous province of the empire.[11] This was one of the last major slave societies, with high percentages of enslaved population long after the Atlantic slave trade had been cut off. Heinrich Barth, a classical scholar who spent several years in northern Nigeria in the 1850s, estimated the percentage of slaves in Kano to be at least 50%, most of whom lived in slave villages.[11]

The city suffered famines from 1807–10, in the 1830s, 1847, 1855, 1863, 1873, 1884, and from 1889 until 1890.[12]

From 1893 until 1895, two rival claimants for the throne fought a civil war, or Basasa. With the help of royal slaves, Yusufu was victorious over Tukur, and claimed the title of emir.[13]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kano

Please don't say Wikipidia because I also read the history from somewhere else.

The best records in all of modern day Nigeria were kept by the Edo people.

The Hausa (Kano to be precise) kept the best records, more than anyone else in Nigeria. They have documented evidence of their history dating hundreds of years. They had scholars who were versed and they can give a good account of their history going back more than a thousand years.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lg_dSLOKywk&feature=related Ikpirikpe ogu (war dance from Old Bende Axis from Ibeku - Abiriba)