₦airaland Forum

donkilidon: If his story is true,den its quite disturbing,I tink dey shuld take d bull by d horn assasinate des leaders of dem dat r wacking der salary

No disrespect, but how can you say the part in bold? Do you not see Nigerian Policemen in the Streets and what they have been reduced to by political wickedness, greed and myopic corruption? Have you missed the numerous expose showing the conditions our police officer live in which is not even fit for Pigs and Dogs? Please let us make ourselves aware of the serious problems of Nigeria and the serious leadership incompetence causing and perpetuating these problems. Nigeria is a Country of very wicked leaders, like Jonathan, who have no qualms using 10 airplanes while our Police officers live like animals. Or the gang that looted the $18 billion meant to equip and empower our military to fight Boko Haram to the extent the Nigerian Army is now the butt of jokes worldwide. The policeman was even being very modest talking about the problems him and his colleagues face.

http://www.punchng.com/news/policemen-live-like-refugees-in-dilapidated-barracks/

Policemen live like refugees in dilapidated barracks

DECEMBER 30, 2013 BY TEMITAYO FAMUTIMI

https://www.punchng.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Policemen-live-like-refugees-in-dilapidated-barracks-360x225.jpg
Policemen live like refugees in dilapidated barracks


In this follow-up report to “DPOs’ confessions: We run police stations on bribes and charity” and “No computers, no uniforms: Sorry state of Nigeria Police,” Temitayo Famutimi captures the state of police barracks in Lagos

It was on a sunny Friday afternoon. Inspector Joy (not real name) stopped by at the stall of a pepper seller on the premises of the Obalende Police Barracks, Lagos. After buying some spices she dashed into a beer parlour adjacent the pepper sellers’ spot.

“I really need to step down. It’s been a long and tiring day. You can join me if you wish,” she advises this correspondent who had requested to have an audience with her as she walked into the beer parlour.

The traffic policewoman who later requested a bottle of stout resides in the Women Police Barracks, situated behind the Obalende Barracks.

In a chat with this correspondent in the drinks joint, she laments that her experience over the years in service has made her desist from raising her hopes too high over improvement in welfare of policemen and women.

“Do I need to explain how I feel about the state of the barracks where we (policemen and women) live in? You have seen it all yourself here. It is the same situation in many places. Please, let’s talk about other things because it appears that we have long been forgotten,” she laments as she sips a glass of beer.

After finishing the bottle of beer, Inspector Joy, who notes that she is delighted to make the acquaintance of this correspondent, asks him to join her as she heads for home.

On getting to her room-and-parlour apartment in the Police Women’s Barracks meant for spinsters, the first item which strikes the attention of the journalist is a photo frame hung on the wall of the sitting room showing Joy and a well-built man.

Asked if she is married, Inspector Joy explains that she is “somehow married”, adding that she cohabits with her man who also happens to be a policeman.

“Don’t mind the inscription you see at the entrance of this barracks as it does not apply here. In this barracks, everyone is for himself or herself. My man stays here with me and goes to work from here just as it is the practice among other couples irrespective of if they are married or not.

“Nobody conducts checks on how we are faring and that also explains why the barracks is not being maintained and has become a total eyesore,” she explains.

No rehabilitation

The policewoman who occupies an apartment on one of the two-storey buildings in the barracks laments that since she moved in, no rehabilitation works have ever been undertaken in the barracks. But she said in the course of this year, she has, through the resident association, paid for sundry petty rehabilitation.

“The soak away recently got filled up and we had to contribute N4,000 each to get it fixed. Even the toilet we are talking about, there is nothing to write home about it. About 10 of us from three apartments make use of that dilapidated toilet and only one bathroom is usable on this floor and tens of people make use of it.

“This barracks can at best be described as a refugee camp as it is simply an eyesore and yet rent is being deducted in my salaries monthly.”

From meagre allocations that put police stations across the country at the mercy of charity from communities and criminals, the appalling dwelling places of policemen adds up to the several factors which make the Nigeria Police Force one of the most uninspiring institutions to work for many people.

From Obalende, Surulere, Iponri, Bar Beach to Women’s Police barracks, all in Lagos the story is that of a sad tale of utter neglect. But the picture is similar in other states of the federation. While the sewage pipes in many of the barracks visited are damaged, their rooftops bristling with satellite dishes were adorned with largely broken, sagging roofing sheets – many of which have indeed fallen off.

At the Obalende Barracks, many wives of policemen have simply turned their respective kitchenettes into shops of some sorts where they sell their wares. At some other sections of the barracks, wives of policemen have resorted to cooking in the open due to the dilapidated conditions of their kitchens.

A visitor to the Surulere Police Barracks could think that it has been turned into a motor park as seven commuter buses were parked on the premises during this correspondent’s visit. Besides, two drinking joints sited on the premises of the barracks have also eaten up available breeding space, thus confirming the lack of close monitoring from the authorities.

At the Bar Beach Barracks, only four of the over 20 blocks occupied by inspectors show signs of renovation. All others were in dilapidated conditions.

During our correspondent’s tour of the dwelling places of the policemen, the Alausa Barracks, however, stands out amongst its peers as it is generally in a good condition. It was gathered that the police authorities recently carried out renovation works on it.

Home to rodents and reptiles

On the whole, apart from lacking in basic aesthetics, the barracks are largely in dilapidating conditions with many structures fallen off or on the verge of giving way. For instance, at the Surulere Barracks, it was observed that rodents and reptiles moved in freely into the kitchens, toilets and bathrooms as the windows and doors have been broken off and have yet to be fixed. Also, the cement castings covering the decking on some of the storey buildings are already giving way.

Besides, the open drainages and broken sewage pipes oozed out a repugnant smell while houseflies and other insects capable of transmitting diseases had a field day.

Sadly the budget of the Federal Government makes provision for the rehabilitation of police barracks on a yearly basis. For instance, in the just concluded year, the National Assembly allocated the sum of N425,060,826 for the rehabilitation and repairs of police stations and barracks across the country. Yet the state of many of these structures remain abysmal across the country.

No alternative to broken barracks

Findings reveal that in spite of the sorry state of the barracks, policemen and women still jostle to get accommodated in them. It was gathered that police officers and men usually ‘water the ground’ often by giving bribes to some officials attached to the provost offices in the various state police commands.

A police corporal at the Bar Beach Barracks, Lagos explains that before he got his apartment, a colleague of his who was moving out influenced the allocation to him.

“After meeting with the colleague of mine parking out of the barracks, I tipped him and he took me to the office of the provost where we also watered the ground. Afterwards, I got the apartment allocated to me,” the police corporal says.

Asked why he chose what looks like a life of squalor with his family in the barracks, the corporal explains that he opted for the barracks due to the exorbitant rents that many landlords place on their properties.

He says, “This barracks is not too good for human habitation. But I think I have got no other choice than to move out of the civilian residential apartment as my landlord was not fair with the rent as he put it up at will.

“Although I can’t put a specific figure to the amount I pay monthly due to the newly introduced e-payment regime, the rent in the barracks can’t be more than N5,000, which is far less than how much I paid in my former place of residence.”

At the Surulere Barracks, a police sergeant attached to the Nigeria Police Force Headquarters Annexe in Obalende, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, notes that he hardly makes use of the toilet he shares with other residents of his block. He explains that due to the dilapidated state of the toilet, he always makes use of rest rooms of one of the banks opposite the barracks whenever he is pressed.

“I try as much as possible to empty my bowels at the office but whenever I am pressed at home, I rush down to the bank opposite the barracks and act as if I’m one of their customers with a view to passing out waste.

“This is the third barracks I have resided in. I once stayed in Sunrise Barracks in Olodi-Apapa area of Lagos as well as in Obalende Barracks and I can tell you that the barracks are also in very worrisome states,” he laments.

The police sergeant says he has refused to allow his family to stay with him in the barracks due to the level of deterioration adding that the environment is not good enough to raise his kids.

In spite of the cooperation among the policemen occupying the barracks, which led to the formation of a development association on block basis, the police sergeant notes that only little has been done to salvage the situation.

“During the rainy season, this whole place leading up to my apartment is always waterlogged and to add salt to injury, the human faeces in the broken sewage adds to the stagnant water around and pollutes the whole environment. This has been the trend for the three years I have been leaving here as no renovation has taken place. My children and wife stay in Ibadan where I got them a decent accommodation. To be realistic, it is not easy staying away from one’s family but this environment is not good enough. My children are still young and any of these structures around are hanging precariously and could fall on them,” he adds.

Senior officers embrace self help

But just as the rank and file of the police lament the state of the barracks, those in the officer cadre are not left out in the sad tale of neglect of their housing units. At the Ikeja GRA Police Officers’ Quarters occupied by those in the rank of Assistant Superintendent of Police up to those in the Deputy Commissioner of Police cadre, it was gathered that residents have been forced to self help to make their apartments and indeed the environment habitable.

A deputy superintendent of police who resides in the quarters explains that their various apartments appear to be in a fair state compared to other barracks because of the huge sums of money they expend on general maintenance.

The police officer who lives in a three-bedroom apartment in the quarters says, “It’s frustrating that one is being forced to expend huge sums of money on critical maintenance and sometimes outright reconstruction and renovation of a place you pay monthly rents. In the course of the year, the roofing and ceilings of my apartment got damaged, I spent close to N100, 000 to get it fixed.”

Asked if she made an attempt to claim the money from the relevant authorities, she says, “Who will repay you? The fact is that there is this culture of self-help that has grown tightly interwoven amongst officers and men due to the neglect we have been facing for many years now.”

Endangered psychology

A clinical psychologist at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, Leonard Okonkwo, says the poor state of the barracks may account for one of the several factors causing the “not-too-pleasant behaviour of many policemen in the country.”

According to him, shelter is one of the basic physiological needs of humans which should not be toiled with .

He observes that in the case of the police, housing needs ought not to be “partially met.”

The psychologist notes that there is a correlation between shelter and performance.

“When a policeman is made to live under shabby conditions you can’t get the best from him or her,” he says.

Okonkwo explains that toiling with the adequate shelter of those saddled with the responsibility of internal security of the country will only breed a police force populated with “disorganised and disorderly thinking” officers and men.

He adds, “If a man is not well sheltered he is not well motivated as shelter is a symbol of safety. When a policeman goes out to work, he should come back to the safety and comfort of his house. But in a situation where the barracks is not in a good shape, the policeman’s performance is affected.

“The policeman is always thinking about his or her welfare. If you are not well sheltered in a tidy and decent environment, the level of disorganised thinking is promoted and concentration on the job is affected. It is worthy of note that where you live boosts your confidence and in view of this, taking proper care of barracks improves the ego of the policeman as they are proud of their job, thereby ultimately boosting their performance.”

He explains that one of the potent methods some organisations from around the world have been devising to boost the performance of their staff is to provide them with good accommodation and a conducive working environment , adding that the Nigeria Police should not be an exception.

“Until our policemen and women are well taken care of in terms of the provision of decent shelter, Nigerians are not likely to get the best from them. I advise that their welfare should be a top priority.

“Since they are saddled with the responsibility of maintaining law and order and in the course of doing that their lives are at stake, the authorities concerned should know that our policemen will be more courageous to do their job when they know that their welfare is not been taken with levity,” Okonkwo adds.

Apart from the men and women who are on the receiving end of the negative consequences of staying in barracks that are of poor and bad conditions, experts are of the opinion that children raised in such environments are also at risks.

Trouble for barracks children

A lecturer in the Department of Sociology, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Dr. Oludele Ajani, says while the morale of an average policeman or woman who lives in a slum-like barracks is dampened, experience has shown that their offspring tend to exhibit deviant behaviours.

Ajani , whose area of specialty is development studies and social change, argues that the environment where one lives dictates and influences once behaviour, conduct and attitude to life.

He says, “The effect of the dilapidating state of our barracks is one of the issues we as academics have raised over the years. And that is why when you interact with our law enforcement officers, they are always on the edge, you begin to wonder who annoyed them. Poor environment and housing units affects their output and interaction.

“But more worrisome is the fact that children raised in such environments are generally deviant and become social misfits as they tend to take after the behaviour of their parents. And that is why people tag children raised in the barracks as “omo barracks” (barracks kids) – to depict those traits they exhibit which are against social norms. We are products of the environment.

“Allowing policemen and women as well as their children to stay in overcrowded housing units, which lack drainages and basic amenities, is not in the best interest of this all important institution. These children may not see beyond their immediate environment and this may affect their life goals.”

When our correspondent contacted the Provost of the Lagos State Police Command, Busari Okunola, who is in charge of allocation of barracks in the state, he declined comments over the issue.

The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide, who was at her office during our correspondent’s visit, says she is not in the best position to address issues relating to barracks maintenance and allocations.

“We operate a centralised police system. Please, direct your enquiries to them at the Force Headquarters in Abuja,” Braide notes.

However, successive attempts to get the Force Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Frank Mba, to speak on the conditions of the barracks proved abortive. On December 24, Mba told our correspondent on the telephone that he was in Yobe State and was not in a position to grant any interviews at the time.

On December 27 when our correspondent called him again, he simply went silent on the telephone after this correspondent introduced himself, in an apparent move to dodge him.

Also, an electronic mail as well as a text message sent to him had to get his reaction was not replied to as at 9pm press time on Sunday.

I think only self-destructive Nigerians will pretend not to understand the complaints of this Policeman. Is it a lie that the PDP has been in charge at the centre for 15 years since 1999? Is it a lie that our entire armed forces has regressed under the PDP and have become less competent?

In sane nation nothing, not even political or sectional bias, prevents the ordinary citizens from telling the truth about problems which affect them and their loved ones. This makes it very hard to understand which planet Nigerians come from with their readiness to lie over issues that promote their own interest and well-being. Do we want to now come here and lie that the PDP has been anything other than a disaster that has wrecked our armed forces? Is this not why progressive Governors like Amaechi and Fashola constantly demand State policing they feel will help their citizens escape the incompetence of the NPF? Nigerians, say the truth and shame the devil.

The state of our Police force is not something we should attempt to be 419ing the world and ourselves over because we are the ones who will always be the victim of insecurity and not Politicians. We should all be speaking with one voice against the deplorable treatment of these men and women who risk their lives to keep us safe.

skyfall: Another Abati indeed. He must be very broke.

Indeed my brother. His 'debauched' utterance, entirely partisan and irrelevant as usual, leaves no one in doubt that this guys is a compromised pro-PDP hack.

supersonic: Even the clueless one(s) who spent their money and time on this election accepted the result in good faith. I don't know why u who for a second never lost anything before or after election is complaining. If you are a true indigene of Osun state,u will respect their decision and stop using paracetamol for another person's headache.

Well-said. Ironic that a poster whose utterance reeks of bad belle thinks it is others guilty of it.

The rants of a sycophantic loser. The paid fool and hungry loser is not even pretending it is about good governance anymore. All he is now spouting off about is PDP and GEJ's 2015 fortune. What a cretin. Another Abati in reality and it is really sad Nigeria produces many of these unprincipled characters posing as intellectuals.

What a silly thread started by a poster with mindset destroyed by clannish affiliation for GEJ. First of all, the people of Osun have chosen their governor. Leave them to their choice and stop this talk that makes it obvious the Osun election, for you, was only about what assists the interest of GEJ and his misruling Party. The APC has nothing to worry about if lessons are learnt from the Ekiti and Osun election. What should worry clannish and ethnocentric backers of GEJ, like you, is the fact that Osun could not be turned against Aregbesola with the primitive efforts of the PDP to highlight an 'Islamisation' or "supporter of APC" agenda which seems to work very well in your region and on your kinsmen. The PDP's simplistically divisive ruse may have worked elsewhere but it is not tenable in the SW and bore no fruit against Aregbe same as it will do nothing for GEJ.

If Osun folks shunned the religiously divisive antics of the PDP to still see Aregbe as the man then you better believe that GEJ will be judged mainly on his very, very poor record. Don't try and take any consolation from the Osun election. Face what this election reveals which is that religious or ethnic scaremongering will not work in the SW as is the case for the SE and SS. At least there is always an element of independent pragmatism and unpredictability about the SW. Go and worry about you ultra-clannish and 'herded' region where all your folks have now 100% accepted the PDP, to the detriment of the indigenous APGA, and political choice does not thrive at all because the people of the region are, above anything else, sentimental and sectionally biased to the extent they have gambled entirely everything on a monumental failure who is only marking time and letting every corner of Nigeria down.

Sweetlemon: Haba! I'm not saying it's bad (didn't you see where I said I like the swag?) and I know it's MR. I'm just wondering why he's the only one actually adding the Ogbeni to his name.

I think Aregbesola made 'ogbeni' popular because of his belief that Yorubas should make a deliberate effort to preserve, celebrate and value their culture and social system . Aregbe kind of made it his focus to heighten Yoruba ethnographic consciousness. Even the resurrection of the word "omoluabi" in contemporary Nigerian online political diction can be credited to the determination of Aregbe towards his Yoruba 'Renaissance' drive. Aregbe is now the original 'ogbeni'. Aregberascal is just like 'Nigg*r with how it a derogatory word coined to malign others yet the intended victim of the slander has somehow shown the wit to turn such into a cool 'make lemonade with lemon' alias.

Obiagelli: another question is why did the minister lie about procuring enough vaccines and medicines to tackle ebola, what vaccine was he talking about exactly?

Because GEJ is an accidental boss, promoted far above his station, too preoccupied with self-aggrandizement and perpetuating himself in power to bother with what his employees (a minister in this case) are doing or saying. Under such a boss will you too not deploy wild deception and make inane promises fully secure in the knowledge that Oga does not "give a damn" enough to care whether you are deceiving Nigerians let alone be interested in sacking you for doing such?

I don't know when it will dawn on Nigerians that GEJ is not a leader but an opportunist promoted far above his station in a Nation where mediocrity is indulged aberrantly. Real leaders are visionary, proactive, resolute, selfless, pro-people and , above all, good at producing solutions. They lead by example.

Whereas GEJ, in contrast, is reactionary, incompetent, indifferent, divisive, self-serving and insincere. To boot, he luxuriates in garish opulence while grinding poverty is the order of the day for those he should be leading exemplarily. I am tired of even chronicling the man's failings and shortcomings. Suffice to say Nigerians will soon get the chance to boot out this man who has only succeeded in making himself and his cronies stupendously rich while Nigeria has gone backwards horribly.

El Rufai 100% on point.

For God sake!!! When will you people begin to move away from this malevolent obsession with Lagos and Fashola? Did someone not just mention that you are based in Enugu? Should you not be concerned about your own governor's efforts instead of coming here to confuse yourself via postulating stupid arguments that makes it obvious Fashola is the centre of your world to the point you mistake him to be your governor and President rolled into one. Tpia1 has already pointed this out your 'Confusion' to you yet you continue to talk inane crap that shows you view Fashola to be in charge of the entire nation. All this is doubly tragic considering the clannish support you and others host for the indolent, highly inept and inefficiently reactionary GEJ. Na real wa for you guys sha and your eternal 'mission'. You are just terribly confused and pathetic. Go and worry about your state and region abeg. Na curse?

hakimade: He is not cos them never catch am bring back our $20billion

Don't mind these deluded Jonathanians who dare to call others "thieves" when they do not have the decency to see they support the biggest looter in the land. By my own very conservative estimate, GEJ has supervised the looting of no less than $60 billion since coming to power. Which "thief" has topped that alone when even The past 4 presidents/head of States Nigeria has had probably did not steal that much combined?

RIP. Ofili was an acquaintance of mine and this is shockingly tragic news.

anago90: well said egbon. atleast now every sane homo sapiens have been convince beyond doubts, that the lying headless guinea worm is a world class liar. last piston this phoolish thread.

Yeah. Dump the thread. Let the children of anger and indoctrination go and choke on their obsession for hating and focusing on others 24/7. My own is to leave London, Paris, Rotterdam, New York today and be in Lagos tomorrow without feeling I have stepped backwards horribly. Making that a reality, through good governance, should be the focus of us all. Not this nonsense of coming here daily to fight people with 'unresolved' issues. Leave the aberrant folks to continue pursuing their 'enemy within' idiocy passed on from generation to generation. One day, hopefully, they will wake up to see what matters and reject their backward and hateful ways.

anago90: bros I would have ignored is madness knowing the guy as a world class liar. but he called me out. and mention my name and I have the obligation to shame him and his bandwagon of cretins. only phools will still support him on this thread.

You should not worry about being "called out" because no one here believes this Chino character. The entire forum, to include even his own hateful kinsmen, know he is a shameless liar. His kinsmen only support him here because that is what they are programmed to do I.e support their fellow Igbo blindly and clannishly whether he is right or wrong.

If you don't discern it yet, they have identified you as someone they can 'wind up'. If you ignore them for even a week, to keep your input here progressive and related to developmental politics , they will simply disappear . They are in perpetual pain due to how the indoctrination that sees them seeking post civil war vengeance against Yorubas drives them always to use everything as a 'battle' to assuage their bitterness over feeling they were "vanquished". Their antics is simply heightened currently because the Doomed GEJ presidency gives them what they believe is the perfect platform to 'strike back' and carry on a proxy war of attrition against "abokis" and "yolobahs".

Stop making yourself one of those they get 'joy' from. These cretins should be ignored so that those of us who still feel proudly Nigerian can focus on what will move our nation forward so it resembles the models of civility and progress we have the dignity and resources to demand. Stop joining issue with vengeful anarchist and indoctrinated children of anger. There is no future for them or for anyone obsessed with looking back in anger. They are already living in their own self-imposed 'prison' of hate which will consume them and their children.

Anago90 and others, why on earth do you guys indulge this cretin called Chino? I just don't get it. Honestly, I would want to think you have more to do with your time and better things to discuss than giving attention to a nauseating and hateful twerp who reeks of inferiority complex. The dolt cannot survive daily if he does not talk of Yoruba people or Yorubaland yet you guys continue to make him the arrowhead of hate against your own ethnic group with how you pay him attention. Can't you leave him to talk to his own fellow hateful kinsmen alone? Believe me, nothing will hurt them more than being ignored by Yoruba people. They want your attention and this is why they do this nonsense day in day out!! Deprive them your attention and they will wilt and die like a plant starved of water.

Must you join their madness all the time? Here now it is obvious the guy is a shameless liar and a little kid with conduct more shameful than a 3 year old child yet you guys continue to contribute to his notoriety here. Whether you like it or not, you are doing your bit to make this wretched urchin become a 'staple' here to the detriment of intelligent and progressive discussions. Aregbe won. Period. Most nairalanders know this twerp was never in Osun. Yet look at how you all pathetically helped to swell his idiotic and asinine thread. Stop all this "meet me" challenges abeg because it makes it obvious a pathetic pest, worse than a sewer rat, has gotten under your skin. When this thread begun I did not even expect it to gain a single response from a Yoruba person given that we all know what a vile bigot this Chino is. We all know This rodent called Chino is a pathetic liar and attention-seeking riff raff obsessed with all things Yoruba. For once, follow the saying "silence is the best answer for a fool". Enough is enough ojare. A word is enough for the wise.

wirinet: The same way there were no alternatives to IBB, Abacha and Obasanjo. There is never an alternative to any incumbent according to members of his tribe, political hangers on and benefactors. They talk as if Jonathan is immortal and would be there forever.

Indeed.

Arosa: Since we begged the US and they said no, have we begged Russia yet. I'm sure they have a cure too.

Russia ke? Putin dey face him own wahala right now. No time for us. We better extend our 'cure' begging bowl towards China and pledge 60% of our daily output of crude to them for the next 50 years.

jesuslovesme123: Comments like this are evidence of the lack of thought that has brought the black race where it is.

Evidently, the implication of this isolation unit on the control of Ebola is lost on you.

Indeed. Ridiculous cretinism. Imaging having a brain and refusing to use it. What condemns the black man to stagnate more than that?

nora544: That is the same what doctors without border have. They got also a mobile laboratory from germany. When you have such a disease in a country you have to look that you can work fast against it and the fastest is to put a tent where you can work. No one has time to build a house!
What lagos has is great and better than a tent!
In europa I know that most of the hospitals have special rooms for this and all what they need.

Are you minding these ignoramuses and illiterates? The need to rush in and blindly criticise anything Fashola and Lagos does has left them brain-damaged to the extent they cannot even think as effectively as a 5 year old child.

UrbanMystique: the ediat expect government to build empire state building or large mansion for the victim.. Very ignorant maniacs...
Once the disease has been put under control, they will burn the place down.

Ignorant people everywhere

Indeed and this is why one fears for Nigeria considering how we all know it is sin qua non that the greatness and progress of Nations is directly affected by the quality of its human resources.

earthgreeners: ilugunboy, omenka and Gbawe, thanks for ignoring those fools

Bros, I ignore fools in general. When adults talk they are the ignorant children who should remain silent yet we know cheap mobile browsing now gives every nuisance a voice and a platform to air their views however putrid and inane. That does not mean wise and intelligent posters should join issues with every one of these hateful and vile cretins.

Well-said Dele Momodu. Yet those too intoxicated with power never remember that power is transient in nature talk less of them thinking about what their oppressive actions portend for the future.

ilugunboy: Gbawe....

I agreed with you..but you should have in mind that not all southern Christians really are involved in this shameful act of religion bigotry....the major culprits are from certain zones in the south.

The SW is just too intertwined religiously than to bring religion to the fore.

I am aware of this. Factually, the main culprits are from the Southern part of Nigeria even as we all know those specifically guilty of ethno-religious bigotry and discrimination to the point of myopia and clannishness i.e the SE. The fact is that most Yorubas have never had any use for religious discrimination. Consequently not many Yorubas, except for desperadoes in the employment of GEJ and the PDP like Okupe et al, will peddle the childishly idiotic garbage that the APC is an Islamic Party or has an agenda of "Islamisation" for Nigeria.

We all know that this message is being driven by a desperate President wanting to retain power by all means without consideration for the lasting and deep damage he is doing which he will likely escape personally same as Odili has essentially escaped his deliberate wickedness of pioneering militancy to be living large today while others wallow in poverty and deprivation.

Jonathan has deliberately moved Nigeria back to the pre and post civil war days of mutual ethnic loathing and suspicion that, to the detriment of Nigeria, made it very difficult for Nigerians to be anything but their own worst enemies. A dearth of ideas everywhere and just 'cold war' standstill allowing GEJ and co to get away with hideous misrule and probably the worst level of looting Nigeria has ever experienced. We are seeing precisely same today as experienced in our darkest historical moment . Those doing GEJ's bidding blindly should consider the future beyond this Presidency when perhaps a Moslem Northerner is President yet they have childishly and self-destructively gone public with their hatred, deep disdain and intolerance of the North and Islam. Even the SW, because we have rejected the idea of hating the North blindly and refused to cast unquestioning ethno-religious support for GEJ, is not spared this mindless hate. Tomorrow some will cry 'marginalization' without realising the role their unbridled and hideously open show of hatred and intolerance against their fellow Nigerians played in making others afraid to trust them with ultimate power.

mickyarams: If that three bedroom bungalow is a quarantine unit, then Nigeria is doomed forever.

Why is it that it is you highly ignorant and scantily educated people who must always open your mouth without engaging your brain? This is an emergency quarantine unit and many may appear like this soon all over the place as temporary holding centres to be taken down in future after effective containment of a disease or epidemic.

Quarantine, in relation to diseases, essentially means isolation of infected victims to allow attention be given to them without risk of the disease being spread unnecessarily. Anything, as long as minimum standards of effectiveness are met, could essentially become a temporary quarantine unit as per the need to localise and isolate infectious diseases. Below is a UNICEF Ebola quarantine station set up for the containment of Ebola. Do you and your fellow ignoramuses know more than UNICEF? You people should shut up and stop disgracing Nigeria with your m0r0nic utterance. Go and play with your nintendo or Sony playstation if you are bored and let adults talk about important issues.

http://devpolicy.org/combatting-ebola-a-personal-account20120814/


https://devpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/ebola-kamalini-032.jpg

sandijey: Did u just type that? How are u able to sleep at night? How come we have people like u alive in this country or even walking the four corners of this world. You and everything connected to you should be shot dead.

It seem you have never experienced this vile creature before. I don't say this for many but the character is an absolute waste of space of zero worth to anyone or any nation. Disgusting beast of no nation. It is him and his sort now discriminating with Ebola to be making it a SW thing, merely because the virus landed in Lagos first, never mind that even children know that viruses do not discriminate against any ethnic group or landmass. This is pure hatred on show here. I.e the sort that has totally damaged reasoning, humanity and decency.

A much needed article that serves as a warning over the 'road to perdition' Nigeria has embarked on under the ultra-divisive current government led by GEJ. As someone commented above, it is obvious the North and Islam is demonised wrongly in Nigeria because the toxic intolerance and prejudice Christians are showing today ,and since GEJ was sworn in, actually marks out Southern Christians as more vociferously discriminatory, more intolerant and more prejudiced than others.

We did not see this madness, where every single issue is turned into religious discrimination against others, under Yar Adua who was a Moslem!!! As stated earlier, it is inevitable a Moslem will be President in future. What then for the Southern Christian bigots who cannot see beyond GEJ and have used his Presidency to go public with their prejudiced hatred of the North?

Ikengawo: They wash their hands in my village, don't defecate in their own living rooms, and don't eat bat where i'm from. There's a reason Ebola is where it's at. RIP the dead

What a hateful cretin!!! Do godforsaken creatures like you ever give hate and prejudice a break? The entire world knows how Ebola landed in Nigeria, and Liberia has even apologised officially, yet you here making a fool of yourself because of the wanton hatred of others. I normally ignore lowlife posters like you but you are the sort who makes even the most liberal Nigerian wish that there should be a remote Island where they could dump people like you too damaged by hate to be of any good to anyone let alone Nigeria. Vile and Bigoted idiat!!!

Kalvan500: Are you clueless?! Don't you know it's a Sin to do your Job in Nigeria??!!

Abi OOOO.

django1: Isha sesay exposed their ineptitude and they got angry. They could have avoided all that embarrassment if they had done the right thing. Fools.

Indeed. Even this thread is testimony to their angry and vindictive nature. Spiting Sesay over Ebola in her nation of origin is incredibly stupid considering what our populous nation is facing containing the disease. You can see how evil these Jonathanians are with how their hate knows no bound and is even self-destructive. The clowns don't even see what we are facing before attempting to taunt Sesay. Senseless people with minds destroyed by hate and bigotry.

AZeD1: Those focusing on Isha are GEJ supporters who are annoyed because she outed GEJ to the world

Precisely. These people give Nigeria a bad image lately with how they never pause to think before they transfer blanket hatred and malevolent aggression to any individual or nation perceived to have criticised their messiah or shown him in a bad light. These people are the epitome of clannish zeal and their readiness for mindless hatred knows no bounds of decency. Whether it is an accomplished and respected individual like Soyinka, much liked and dutiful professionals like Sesay and Amanpour, President Obama, PM David Cameron, USA, UK or even the Pope, anybody/any Nation is worth insulting and cursing once they have 'crossed' messiah GEJ. Never mind the goodness of those people/nation. The anger of these GEJ fans is scary ala ALUU style.

I was shocked the unprintable names fans of GEJ were calling the USA and Obama since last year till now. They shouted that America should "get lost" and "we don't need you because China is our new pal" merely because America criticised corruption under GEJ and made negative comments on how Nigeria is being run. Even last week they swore at Obama on this forum with so much shocking vitriol. Now imagine the hypocrisy of these mindless touts now begging the USA for the experimental Ebola cure? They have already taken to the net to castigate Obama and the USA for not 'giving the black man the cure' not remembering that (1) the USA owes us nothing and Obama does not lead for Nigeria plus (2) this is the same America and Obama who have been the object of non-stop insult from GEJ fan merely for criticising the sort of leadership indolence that led to this deplorable situation where a deadly disease plaguing Africa can only be defeated by a drug developed in a proactive and focused nation that plans ahead and faces what is important while our leaders ignore their duties to focus on looting and strategising to perpetuate themselves in power.

This attack on Sesay, once again, shows the worthless focus of the black man that leaves him, in a modern age of ideas, unable to provide solutions to his own problems. Tragic. At a time like this, when we should be looking at the hideous failure of our leaders and holding them accountable some some fools prefer to witch-hunt A journalist doing her job while ignoring our leaders who did not do same. Would all the money GEJ and co have looted not be enough to fund world-class research that would have found cures and effective therapies for much of the conditions, such as Ebola and Malaria, that uniquely plague Africans? Tragic.