₦airaland Forum

texazzpete:
@FSU
what i want to know is, why the 'lol' in your topic? Why laugh at the lengths less priviledged people will go to preserve their lives. i think it's in pretty bad taste.

So I need to take permission from you before I can ''lol''? Who the hell are you?

Its a free world, where you ''lol'' and/or cry as you deem fit.

Massive Whale Swept Ashore At Seme Border 

By Laide Adekunle

A massive whale was swept ashore yesterday morning at Seme border. The whale, which was already dead, was swept into the Customs quarters at Seme by the waves of the Atlantic Ocean. Hundreds of people were seen this morning hacking at the fish, which was already smelling badly. But the stench did not deter the emergency butchers who all scrambled for a piece of the action.

As the crowd was becoming uncontrollable, the Customs officers chased everybody out of their quarters and later set the fish ablaze.

Not long ago, a dead whale was also swept ashore at the Lagos Bar Beach. It also attract a huge crowd and some people hacked it to pieces and carried them off despite the odious stench it was emitting.

http://www.thenewsng.com/modules/zmagazine/article.php?articleid=19975

Ijaw people have been formenting trouble in Rivers State, so that the Igboid people who are poised to rule that state forever may be replaced by an Ijaw. But which ever way it goes, Igbos will continue to rule that state -From Odili, to Omehia, to Amaechi. Ijaws are losers in Rivers state. Let's pop champagne[b][/b]

Ijaw people have been formenting trouble in Rivers State, so that the Igboid people who are poised to rule that state forever may be replaced by an Ijaw. But which ever way it goes, Igbos will continue to rule that state -From Odili, to Omehia, to Amaechi. Ijaws are losers in Rivers state. Let's pop champagne[b][/b]

S'Court sacks Omehia, okays Amaechi as Rivers gov
The Supreme Court on Thursday removed from office Mr. Celestine Omehia as governor of Rivers State. In his stead, the court's seven Justices that sat over the suit unanimously ruled that the former Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, should be sworn-in immediately as the governor of the state. The judgement was read by Justice Katsina-Alu Amaechi, who won the state governorship primaries of the Peoples Demoratic Party (PDP) last December but was later substituted with Omehia by the ruling party, had gone to both the Federal High Court annd Court of Appeal but failed in both bids to restore his mandate. Amaechi again headed for the Supreme Court to appeal the verdict of the appellant court. With Thursday's ruling, Omehia becomes the second state chief executive to be removed from office by the apex court in the current dispensation. The court had similarly removed Dr. Andy Uba from office as Anambra governor when it held that the incumbent Governor Peter Obi's tenure lapses in 2010.
http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/breaking_news/article01

Gumi: Neither Atiku nor Buhari could’ve won presidential poll    24/10/2007
     

From Godwin Isenyo, Kaduna


NEITHER Major-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) presidential candidate nor his Action Congress (AC) counterpart, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar could have won the April 21 poll, renowned Islamic scholar, Sheikh Ahmed Abubakar Gumi said yesterday.

Renowned Islamic scholar, Sheikh Ahmed Abubakar Gumi yesterday carpetted the presidential candidate of the Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, over the April 21 Presidential election.

He said on the Voice of America(VOA) monitored in Kaduna, that even if the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) had conducted the April presidential election in an atmosphere of free and fair, neither Atiku nor Buhari would have won the poll.

According to him, the refusal of the AC presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar and his ANPP counterpart to step down for each other was their undoing at the election. Gumi said this attitude confirmed that Nigerian politicians, including those from the North, are selfish, inspite of their much-hyped unity. He therefore advised that the days of seeing only Igbo politicians in that light are over

.

Now, where are those who say only Igbo politicians are not stepping down for one another?

quote from Denex

I believe anybody who is intelligent enough to invent something or create a prototype should have the common sense of knowing how to realise their dream. Even in America, is it the Government that is encouraging these people financially or they are going to corporations that have use for their inventions?

Thank you my brother. What is Dangote, the so-called richest Nigerian doing about this? The Helicopter maker is from his state of Kano. So he should take the lead in providing funds.

No govt sponsorship for any one, otherwise it should be for everyone. Enough of the double standards.

And,  (for the doubting thomases) I still maintain that buses (the so-called Igbo jeeps and buses) are more relevant in addressing poverty in Nigeria than a helicopter. Proove me wrong. Muhammed, do yourself a permanent good: find your way to US or France, and get a mind-boggling job with established airplane manufacturers. Your skill is beyond Nigeria at the moment. Except of course you want to be employed in teaching the Nigerian civil avaitaion authority (NCAA) or the Nigerian Airforce how to repair/maintain aircrafts.

Sure. A car is easily much more affordable to the masses than a helicopter. If well planned, you could even give out the so-called Igbo jeeps/buses on hire purchase to Nigerians. The beneficiaries can subsequently better their lives with the proceeds therefrom. Can you do that with a helicopter?

Where will the market be for an African (Nigerian) Helicopter anywhere in the world? Are you going to build a helicopter just for building sake?

So you could not read a word of encouragement on my post? Did you youself encourage the Igbo jeep/bus builders? Don't be an ostrich.

What is the significance of this construction (for that is what it is) to the socio-economic development of Nigeria? Can it put food on the table of, and/or give health care services to the poor people in Sokoto, Borno, Abakaliki, Benin, Yenagoa, Ibadan and Ogbomosho? If not, then GOOD as it sounds, it is only of academic value with no foreseeable practical application.

The only good thing for him is that Mubarak has created the avenue to be poached by America (which is good for him, actually, and if the Americans are averse to his islamic name, then he can be poached by Iran.

Smart as he apparently is, this Kano guy has not invented anthing new. The Helicopter has been invented and patented long ago. He just cobbled metal parts together and simply motorised the scrap metal. Bingo!. Any smart  idiot can do that. At any rate, Dangote should sponsor him. They are both from Kano, afterall. No public (oil) money should be spent on that when millions of Nigerians are in dire need of food, shelter, education and medicare.

I am not on the side of anything with you. I am only having my pound of flesh on you people's rejection of my Igbo-made jeep and bus.

The bobo try sha. But only donkeys will fly in that crap. Flying coffin.

Kudos Bruv,

It is people like you that should matter in Nigeria. I hope you return to Nigeria with these scientific findings, to contribute your quota in the development of our country

Kudos Bruv,

It is people like you that should matter in Nigeria. I hope you return to Nigeria with these scientific findings, to contribute your quota in the development of our country.

Kudos Bruv,

It is people like you that should matter in Nigeria. I hope you return to Nigeria with these scientific findings, to contribute your quota in the development of our country

Akunyili is a fearless bull. She is taking on Adedibu, thus doing for the Oyo people what they should be doing.

ibis:
@ow11

you have spoken well

@ FSU

so your theory is that based on the number of property people from a particular tribe own in any state they do not indigenously belong to,
they now own that state and can lay claim to it as part of their fathers land?

please, igbo people, buy all the houses in ph if you like. it still does not make you a "son of the soil"

come and take port harcourt, we are waiting!

Small pikin,

You will wait forever. And as you do, even your father will sell his house to another Igbo man. Nobody needs to lay claim to anything. Every Nigerian can adopt any state he wants to. You are very myopic, for if I could become a European citizen, why should I not be a citizen of any state of my choice in Nigeria? It is either one Nigeria or no Nigeria. There is no sitting in the fence in this matter. Grow up.

Hey Folks,

Being a Yoruba with an Igbo wife, I am usually always caught in the rampant cross-fire between these two great ethnic rivals. Yet, I ask us to eschew double standards so that our days on earth may be long.

Between 1999 and 2007, there were five Igbo senate presidents, three of whom (Enwerem, Okadigbo and Wabara) fell by the way-side due to fraud-related circumstances (proven or not). Every single Nigerian I know saw it as an Igbo way of life, even though the generality of the Igbo did not send them to the senate to become thieves.

Between 1979 and 1999, certain northern elements misruled Nigeria so bad, and stole billions of our petro-dollars. Substantial number of Nigerians saw that misrulership as Hausa/Fulani way of life, even though the generality of the north did not send these rulers there to become thieves.

Now that Madam Etteh from my own neck of the woods has done it again, is it out of place to blame the Yoruba, given set precedence? This is especially so given that key Yoruba leaders (OBJ, Fasehun, 5 Yoruba governors, prominent Obas, Bode George, amongst million other) supported and still support her shameless act? I am not unaware that at least one-half of the Yoruba population are not in support of Etteh, including notables like Soyinka, Gani and some Afenifere members. However, if these other Yorubas could support a thief, why would outsiders not see her act as a Yoruba act? The position taken by Fasehun is particularly disturbing.

In Nigeria, it is usual for tribes to be equated with individuals. Thus, if Nigerians have accepted such ridiculous trend as a way of life, then the trend must go the whole hog. After this, perhaps we can learn that each defaulting individual should bear their cross.

I thought I should share this post with you guys. It was posted by a Yoruba man at the Nigerianvillage square. What thinkest thou?

The thieving, rogue rev is right. The money does not belong to the FGN. Nevertheless, he's got no right to steat state's money.

His urine (sorry blood) is on Etteh's anus (sorry head).

Do we really owe Taiwo Akinkumi?

IT has become quite a ritual every October 1 - Nigeria's Independence Day Anniversary - for 68-year Michael Taiwo Akinkumi to publicly blame the country and indeed all of us for his poverty stricken existence despite being the "genius" behind our extraordinarily bland green-white-green national flag.

The crux of Akinkumi's yearly lamentations is that Nigeria has not recognised his "historic" contribution to the development of the country by helping us to design such a "wonderful" national symbol. He wants national honour, employment for his graduate children, and perhaps a house, a car and some cash. His cries have not gone unnoticed. A few years ago, one organisation repainted his house in Ibadan in national colours, giving him back what he gave the nation. There have been gifts from corporate groups, according to media reports, but Akinkumi does not seem to be satisfied. It now looks like the annual blackmail will not end until the Federal Government settles him.

But do we really owe Taiwo Akinkumi? Should he continue to accuse us of neglect and betrayal over what true patriots would have regarded as a routine service to the nation? How is Akinkumi's contribution to the making of the Nigerian nation different from those of millions of people who toil daily as farmers, tailors, carpenters, bricklayers, traders, sports people, entertainers, journalists, writers, politicians, civil servants, doctors, lawyers, teachers, soldiers, etc.

Too bad that when journalists recycle the Akinkumi story every year they never really bother to raise some critical questions: Did Akinkumi really design the national flag? Who gave him the contract? Was he paid for the work? Or is he supposed to be on the nation's payroll in perpetuity? Was the national flag a solo or group effort? I believe that until these issues are settled convincingly, Akinkumi's claim to fame or his belief that Nigeria is perpetually indebted to him is suspect. Things are never what they seem in Nigeria. This is a country where a man who has never seen the four walls of a university can suddenly decide to add the title of "Professor" or "Doctor" to his name and no questions asked. This is a country where a leader who left his country almost worse than he met it calls himself or encourages sycophants to call him "father of modern Nigeria". I am not accusing Akinkumi of claiming to be who he is not. I am just suggesting that his claim be interrogated because it is beginning to look like a scam.

I am worried about the increasing gullibility of our colleagues in the media. Skepticism used to be an essential quality in our line of business. It is this skepticism that leads us to the hidden truth and saves us from being used by people. On October 6, 2007, one of our national newspapers published a story titled "Honoured At Last". In it, we learnt that a non-governmental organisation (NGO), Lagos-based Green White Green Initiative, had honoured Akinkumi by awarding him its National Merit Award and instituting an endowment fund in his name. The event, which was held at the O'Jez Restaurant in Lagos with a crowd of distinguished Nigerians in attendance, was hailed as a timely intervention and a great relief to those who can no longer bear Akinkumi's cries. (I hope the federal government will finally remember to award him a national honour if indeed he single-handedly designed the national flag).

But the Saturday Sun, story which had a photo of Akinkumi beaming with smiles, contained some claims that should be investigated thoroughly. For example, the writer refers variously to Akinkumi as "this great mind", "a prophet who lacks honour among his own people" and "the ageing hero who had not been recognised by the authorities for his feat". Really? A great mind? A hero? A feat? Perhaps I am wrong. I am not one of those who see the Nigerian flag as a great piece of art. What creative genius can one claim for putting green and white colours together? How is Akinkumi a hero? Beside the flag, what other remarkable thing has he done?

The report went on to assert that Akinkumi "had remained unnoticed and unrecognised despite the importance of his deed while men and women who contributed nothing to the making of the Nigerian dream feasted on the wealth of the nation and gave themselves innumerable national awards and honours". So this whole saga of poverty and the national flag designer is all about being given access to feast on the wealth of the nation. It appears to me that Akinkumi sees the flag as an invention over which he holds a patent or as an intellectual property with a copyright and we are required to pay (or settle) him each time Nigeria uses it or allows others to use it. If this is the case, we may have to call Akinkumi to a meeting to review the old colonial contract and negotiate a new one that makes the flag the property of the state to which no designer can ever lay claim. This matter has to be settled once and for all so that Akinkumi could leave us alone.

Back to the newspaper story, we are told that successive governments, including that of Olusegun Obasanjo, a fellow Owu, refused to reward the "ace flag designer" whose "name cannot be ignored while writing the history of Nigeria". I honestly suspect that reporters are even the ones pushing Akinkumi into this extortion racket. Historians are being told that the flag designer must compete for space with the Awolowos, the Azikiwes, the Tafawa Balewas and the Ahmadu Bellos in the history of Nigeria. A man of history, eh? I think we are taking this matter too far. What about those who wrote our constitutions or the national anthem and pledge? What about others who have brought Nigeria worldwide acclaim through their writings, music, sports, scientific inventions and religious works? Where do we put such people in history?

Finally, we are reminded in the story that the real reason for this contrived annual grumbling is that Akinkumi "lives in an uncomfortable condition (whatever that means) in Dugbe (where everyone lives and sells in an uncomfortable condition) and "cannot afford to send his children to higher institutions for lack of money". These are common problems for God's sake. Akinkumi's plight is not different from that of the average Nigerian. Why should we treat him specially because he designed the national flag? I find it nauseating this whole notion that Nigeria owes us something and must continue to pay for services rendered as part of our duties as good citizens. We cannot continue to treat our relationship with Nigeria as a business transaction. What do we give back to the state for all it has done for us? I am sure Akinkumi went to highly subsidised public schools, visited public hospitals and enjoyed the security of our country without paying a fortune for these services.

This attitude that the state is a no-man's-land to be exploited, plundered or pillaged for the good of the individual is at the root of some of our social problems. We all want to take what we can from Nigeria because of the feeling that it belongs to nobody. Sure this country has not lived up to our expectations. Sure, some of us would probably have fared better in life if we were born in saner places. Sure, Nigeria holds us back and limits our potential. But we are all responsible for the kind of country we have and we have to salvage it together. Akinkumi should please learn to treat the national flag as his own contribution to the making of the Nigerian nation and stop haranguing us every year about flag-related national debt. Nigeria owes all of us. And we all owe Nigeria.

Let the other side taste what the other side has been tasting. Fair deal, I would say?

That other thread was actually a mockery of the irony that Balarabe Musa stated in an interview. Please see the headline again.

I actually abandoned this topic days back. Never knew I had been challenged on my English language skills until a friend drew my attention to it. Can the accusers point to the mistake in my correction, so we can begin the contest from there?

The writer whom I corrected even went ahead to make further grammatical blunders in his rejoinder, thus confirming that he is a mediocre in his/her course of study. I am not an English Language student. But since he/she has thrown a challenge, let us discuss a basic/general but important issue of his/her choice. Create the topic, mate, and let's meet at the academic battlefield. Note that I would not have bothered with you if you had not sort impressed that you were a language (English) student.

bouzymill:
@FSUNo Sir.

Thank you so much for your corrections. I don't know exactly what to say to you but let me just drop some notes. I believe this is an informal cotext and that was so visible in everything i wrote. Besides that, I don't know you and i don't know your discipline, so my words are limited. But i'll tell you to go ask your lecturer, if you're a lecturer, go and ask a Ph.D holder in your school's languages department , and If you are a Ph.D holder, go and ask a Professor that What is the real basis of studying any language course in the university? The answer he/she will give you is not far from these words: Studying any language course in the University is more of analysis than any other thing. If you really want to speak and understand a language fluently, you go to the Country where it is spoken, don't ask me why, because the answer is straight from the FOUR LANGUAGE ACQUISITION SKILLS.

If you think you've done justice to what i've written, i'll tell you something; there is more to correct in there.

Who knows, maybe u study English too, let's bring up a thread and go into an academic battle if you dare. I don't care if you are a graduate.

Once again thank you for your corrections

@donaky 01
you also asked for the VC's website: www.musbauakanji.com

The truth is biting hard? So no responses to this revealing statistics?