₦airaland Forum

Afeni,

agnostism, atheism or whatever.

I can describe it: it is quite broad and accomodating, can be ruthless and its central or fundamental quality is that of being actively anti-God.

u may say it isn't a religion, however, going by this definition "a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith" from Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, it sure IS a religion.

OK. Maybe I should have said that Nigerians say they are all the same. What I mean is that we've made the same complaints about all our leaders. I also believe OBJ is doing well. In fact, I believe He is better than the past leaders though I've known only a few.

Afeni,


I liken it to being in the midst of people in a moving car who believe the sun is following them. I know that isn't true and I try to explain it to them. If they refuse to believe, I'd just let them be. That's their problem, not mine. That's why it's so funny, the effort you put into bashing Christianity, and other religions, and spreading your religion.

Afeni:
GL, you do not feel anything. You are brainwashed sorry, sorry person. People like you must be saved from yourself. If I was to guess, your parents probly fed you all this crap and you bought it. Its a pitty that some people find it hard to think for themselves.

I do feel something, and I'm definately NOT brainwashed. I know what I'm doing and I made a conscious decision to become a christian. If you really knew what christianity is all about, you'd realize that one can't be brainwashed to become a christian. Anyone who was forced or brainwashed is just a churchgoer and is only wasting his time calling himself a christian.

Yes, I was born into a christian family and practically raised in a church, but over the years I passed through different phases that caused me to question the faith. At a time, I was just a churchgoer and not a christian anymore. Memories of personal experiences I had as a child kept calling though and somehow I found my way back to God. While I'm not perfect (I'm very far from it), I am certain that this is my own choice. I made a conscious decision to become a christian, and make conscious efforts to live the christian life. So, I know what I'm doing, I wasn't forced or persuaded to do it. There are many issues, even religious issues, on which I hold different views from my parents and even my church. So this is not pandering to anybody's opinion; it is a personal thing between me and God.

spikedcylinder:
GL,i said forget the bible for a split second(if you possibly can).You do not know where the bible originated from.You only think you know because of what you´ve been made to believe.If indeed someone tried to convince you that the bible was a pile of crap,i believe you should be able to speak up for your beliefs based on what God told you,not through the bible because that rubbish is rubbish.

As I said, while I believe God talks to people, I've never heard directly from Him. I take His words in the bible as His words to me. However, my belief in God at the moment is based more on my personal experiences. He has become real to me. I really don't know how else to explain other than this, that's why I said in a previous post that you must enter the Kingdom of God first before you can understand what it's all about. Since, you don't believe the bible you may not believe this, but God hides Himself, and everything about Him, from those who want to reason Him out. Becoming a christian in itself, is a great step of faith.

mlks_baby:
I'm curious that almost all non-Christian religious systems that claim inspiration from the Bible have stressed the 'works' as a means to secure salvation. And they seemingly have followed the same pattern again and again.

Yes, it's very different from Christianity, where you are guaranteed salvation as long as you believe in Jesus. Christianity doesn't depend on works, though becoming a christian is a life-changing process that shows forth in ur actions.

When ppl decide to ignore somethings in the bible, they are more prone to deception by the devil. Most of these religions came from christians who only read or focused on James, which mentioned Jesus only once in the introduction and was all about works. This doesn't make it bad, it was addressed to people who claimed to be christians but whose actions did not show it.

Yes, even parents didn't want their kids to be seen speaking local languages. but i believe all that is changing because I see school children speaking local languages (especially pidgin) among themselves. In fact, it seems they love to be able to speak pidgin well. I attribute that to the many musicians and celebrities who sing and talk in public in local languages. Ppl now see that it isn't really detrimental to one's success. The emphasis now is on speaking good english. Language departments in universities should be able to package books/software/cassettes that would teach ppl to speak local languages. that way Nigerians in diaspora can get their kids to learn the languages easily. and someone like me might learn up to 10 languages.

Afeni, if Nigeria is divided into 3, what happens to the South-South? They wont stay with either Yorubas or Ibos. plus, the so many small tribes wont want to adopt a majority language

We've had Northern, Southern, Christian, Muslim leaders - all Nigerians. They've all been the same. There is corruption in the church, companies, government agencies. This means that we Nigerians - civilians and military - all have a problem. We think too much about riches, status etc. We choose role models based on success only without considering morals. Even gatemen are corrupt; some times you have to bribe them to make them perform their duties. Politicians use ordinary ppl to rig elections.

Even Nigerians abroad get involved in terrible things that give us a bad image abroad. They have the opportunity to work and get paid, but many would rather cheat. One Nigerian in South Africa said on an interview on NTA that it's mainly because their parents/families in Nigeria pressurize them to send the dollars home.

We need is a subject that teaches some of these moral values in our primary and secondary school curiculum. Media houses can help by downplaying the wealth and successes of celebrities and focusing on the moral vaules that helped them. (Nigerians are very motivated ppl, we really dont need to see Mr. A's yatch to want to be successful) Religious leaders should not only teach these things but practice them. Churches should stop collecting stolen/embezzled money.

i think Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala is from Delta state - Ibo though.

4play, the shareholders should, and probably would, sack him if he is found guilty of bribing with NB money. But for now, that's just a speculation; ppl say bribes were given and since he's chairman of such a big company it's natural to suspect he used company money. I dont know if that came up in the shareholders meeting, but their main complain was that he got involved in the whole 3rd term thing.

cassidy:
why Ngozi, what is she doing that is so special

we should try and see past their political magic, all those debt relief u are all talking about is not as they are sayin it. wait make baba comot 4 sit den we go know d truth.

una go talk say i talk am

probably because Nigerians tend to distrust the govt. in power, we have this mentality that anyone around the govt. (particularly the Federal Government, or our state govt.) is bad. We ignore any positive things they do and dismiss them all as bad. Part of the problem of this country is the negativity of Nigerians. Rather than appreciate any positive action by the govt., we look for some other negative thing. It's almost like we're trying to ensure the country doesn't rise up again.

Not that I'm always pro-govt., but I believe we'll be harming ourselves if we ignore the positive changes in the country and keep holding on to the negative aspects. This debt-relief (whether it was for OBJ's political uses or not) is a great and positive change. We are going to save NGN 100 billion that would have been used to service the debt this year alone! For that alone, the minister of finance deserves some credit. Even if you say they are going to misappropriate the funds, we have the facilities with which to probe and prosecute them when they leave office. She got the award of the finance minister of the year, i think many foreigners are seeing what Nigerians aren't seeing, or rather have decided not to see.

I went thru that same phase sometime ago, feeling that there are too many false brethren in the church, Jesus warned that it would be so, but we are also warned against forsaking the fellowship of the brethren. Fellowship is the key word here. Most of us go to church but do not have fellowship with God's ppl. Many churches are about showing off new clothes and money, no fellowship. Many times we mistake church going with fellowshipping. Fellowshipping involves caring, everyone must know and care about everyone. They must visit one another, pray for one another and share things with one another. they become a family. This isn't possible in the big church system we have today. Most of our pastors dont even know us. It's very important to have an avenue through which we can have fellowship with other christians, like the early christians did. It is my personal belief that this can only be accomplished in small groups. Rev. Yonggi Cho in S/Korea has one of the biggest churches (about half a million ppl), yet they have small cell groups for fellowship. We can go to hear God's word and pray in the big church, but fellowship works better in small groups. Most protestant Christians in China meet in small house-fellowship groups.

Also, that we are the Church doesn't mean we should neglect going to church. What is meant by we being the Church, or body of Christ is that God dwells in us, not in the buildings where we worship. The same passage that calls us that says that we need each other; the eye can't function without the brain,

Ndipe:
If you are not eloquent in the queens' language, you are deemed an illiterate. Unfortunately, even after our independence, we are still confined to this stereotypes, judging people on their ease with the queen's language. In schools, particularly private schools, you are deemed a "local person" if you converse in your native dialect.

It's not true that you're deemed an illiterate if you're not eloquent in the queen's language. Most of us are not, even graduates. So many of the younger lawyers you hear speaking on tv make a lot of grammatical errors. Some journalists are not even eloquent. So many teachers, pastors etc. Even our politicians too. Unless one's english is terrible, most ppl overlook mistakes as we all make them.

It's true that conversing in native dialects used to be looked down upon in private schools, but that is fast changing. You're not considered local because you speak native dialects anymore, as long as you can speak good english. I think this is mostly because we have respected musicians singing in pidgin and local languages and these songs are bcoming popular even outside the country. I hear a lot of secondary school (some from the expensive private ones) speaking pidgin and yoruba these days.

Pidgin is becoming more popular in Nigeria, and even though it is spoken in some other West African countries (with slightly different variations though), it cannot be our national language. It isn't as well developed as most other languages, and would limit our communication to neighboring countries. There's so much advantage in being able to speak english nowadays, as some of the biggest and prosperous countries are english-speaking - US, UK, Canada, Australia, S/Africa etc. Plus, it is the most widely spoken language, and young people in non-english speaking countries now learn to speak it.

I think what we need is to strengthen english language by ensuring that all teachers, particularly primary school teachers, learn to speak and teach it very well. Then we should ensure that we have enough native language teachers and that the curriculum is drawn up such that by 10, a child can speak a native language and english properly. This is doable.

Odimegwu had every right to express his support for the 3rd term, just as the NB shareholders had the right to express their anger over his support for the 3rd term. I really dont see why one's job should prevent him from expressing his views on national/political issues, but maybe that's their policy. From what I hear, the company has done very well under his leadership, I doubt that they would want to lay him off just for supporting d 3rd term, which is now moot anyway. Plus, NB is the most quoted (or whatever it is called) company on the stock exchange. Boycott their goods, and the company (and so many Nigerians) would lose money. Odimegwu may be sacked, but I doubt that he doesnt have other investments elsewhere. That's why the boycott cannot work.

In a democratic setting, I dont think someone should be punished for expressing his views, no matter whatever they are, on national issues. As Seun said, if he bribed senators then he can be charged with that.

I guess it makes the situation of things easier for some ppl to bear. They don't expect any thing good so they dont get bothered when nothing good comes. I believe we should be very positive about Nigeria. There are a lot of positive things in this country, besides we all make up Nigeria. Whatever our views about this country are, they are only a reflection of ourselves.

Concerning made-in-Nigeria products, we have this mentality that anything that comes from abroad must be better, and that anything that is more expensive must be better. It is like a status symbol when you use only foreign products; the more expensive, the better. This probably explains why we always love to go for big things. I decided recently that I would use more Nigerian products than I've been using. I just started choosing some Nigerian household products over foreign ones. They aren't always the best, but they aren't the worst. The funny thing is most Chinese products (or Asian) that are imported into the country are imitations and very inferior. I believe that Nigerians can make better products. I remember buying a Chinese calculator some years ago, d '4' button never worked. Nigerians can do better than that, yet we dont mind managing these inferior foreign products.

GANI and OKOTIE: Are more useful doing what they're doing now. They need to show that they are capable of leading even a small population b4 we hand over 130 million ppl to them.


When Audu Ogbeh resigned from his position as PDP chairman, I thought he might run for presidency come 2007. Now he's chairman in another party. He looks like someone with integrity.

I believe that we should be very careful to choose someone who has shown that they can perform. Plus, it should be someone who is not tribalistic. That's the main thing I like OBJ for. Most Nigerians are very tribalistic, even ppl who claim to be able to rule Nigeria are.

SOYINKA: I would definately not vote Soyinka because I've heard several ppl who were in the university at the time Pirates was formed link it to the beginning of cultism in Nigeria. In my opinion, that's a bad legacy. Pirates aside, he might be ok in the National Assembly.

KALU: The only big thing I've heard of that he's done as a governor is building up Enyimba FC. But he obviously did that to the detriment of other aspects of the state, as civil servants rejoiced when they crashed out of the champions league. I don't see him taking on the whole country successfully if he's not been able to do anything spectacular in just one state in 8 years.

YERIMA: Nigerians deserve much better than him. most ppl can only think of sharia when they hear his name. The same sharia that led to several riots, and deaths, since 2000. He's left a bad legacy and doesn't deserve to be president.

Centrist here.

I LOVE that woman. I would vote for her over IBB, Atiku, Okotie, Kalu, Yerima. However, she doesnt strike me as a politician. I think she'll be better as a Finance minister. I only hope the next president uses her, or someone as good, as his Finance Minister. Plus, I really don't see Nigerians voting in a female president, not yet.

Pat Utomi, Charles Soludo, Ezekwesili, Akunyili are all great people too, but I dont see them as politicians too. I believe it'll be better to leave them where they are. It's quite unlikely, though, that the next president would want to use the same officials that this administration has used. Donald Duke is ok.

How about Emeka Anyaoku? His job as the Commonwealth Secretary General should have given him the exposure and diplomacy required for such a job.

What she said that wasn't known is the Soleye/Ajibola stuff. I don't think ppl knew she or the family had a problem with them. Plus, it's obvious she doesn't feel satisfied with her marriage to OBJ. It seems she feels she has gotten less than is due her. That isn't shocking (as i said, it's a typical polygamous marriage), but i dont think it was known b4 now.

The way information makes rounds in Nigeria is funny, we hear all sorts of stories. I heard that AIT's license wasn't revoked. Rather, AIT Abuja was shut down because they announced on air that there was a plan by some ppl to bomb Abuja.

The US, UK etc, were more or less built on Christian principles which encourage monogamy. That's why polygamy is an offense there. That's not to say there aren't ppl practising or advocating it there.

It's different here because it is allowed, or rather encouraged, in our traditions. Christianity hasn't been able to destroy that culture totally in Nigeria, as it is still being practised. Also, Islam allows polygamy, which makes it more difficult to criticize it here since a large percentage of Nigerians are Muslims. In the West, where Islam isn't recognized within their constitution, they can afford to put a law against polygamy. We can't here - our VP and several governors are muslims and polygamous. There's nothing much we can do about this, as the ppl seem to like it.

That Western presidents are monogamous doesn't make them better fathers than our leaders. It doesn't stop them from having extramarital affairs too.

BTW, I remember during the last American elections, they were talking about John Kerry on Channels TV. They said he'd been married twice to rich widows. That didn't sound good at all.

Actually, Stella was the legitimate wife at her death. He divorced all his other wives when he came out of prison. During her burial, he said he remarried her in the Catholic church months before her death. So I guess Stella was also legal.

It doesn't seem like he had a first lady during his military tenure. Did he?

Polygamy is not a big deal in Nigeria. The most important thing is that the men take care of all the children and their mothers. OBJ is wealthy so I don't think that would have been a problem for him. Most of our big men here are polygamists. I don't think his being a polygamist affects his job as President. Most of our past presidents were polygamists. Abiola was a big one too. Atiku is. It's a Nigerian thing, even paupers want to enjoy the luxury of having several women. They inherited the culture from our ancestors. Majority of us descended from polygamous ancestors.

I can't make out what Mrs. OBJ's problem with Soleye (whoever he is) is. I wonder what OBJ and Iyabo's reactions will be like when they read this.

I'm not a wife, but I don't see myself in such a position. If I get married to a man with a difficult family (God forbid oh), I would make it clear to them that I am an equal partner, and owner, of the house and they are my guests. If they try to beat me, I'll beat up the sister and really warn the mother. Before things get this bad, however, I would have told the man (husband) to warn his family.

If I were a man my actions would show my family that they can't mess with my wife. If they beat her or disrespect her, I would ask them - in her presence - to apologize. And scold my junior sister in her presence, maybe even beat her.

What was the girl expecting to do in his room anyway? It's to be expected - she attended a party with him, they both got drunk and retired to his room, what else was she asking for? She got what she asked for, African China is innocent.

Prospective Medical Student!!!


this thread shouldn't get lost in the pile of threads in this forum. they should give us a special space in the education forum. kind of like the "christianity for christians" etc. in the religion forum.

they gave us corn and beans, and cornvita (which no one knew of or could eat)

Boarding school was FUN!!! there were the bad times but on d whole it was good. i attended 2 christian coed schools. never heard of gay/lesbian stuff, at least not in girls hostel. the food wasn't the best, but it was ok. there were times when there would be no water or light. there was a lot of witch talk. ppl from govt. schools used to tell us about bush baby, madam koi koi, shift-make-i-sleep (FGGC Sagamu), bunkshakers, the MAN (pronounced Mohn), iwin ogede etc. There were LOTS of funny, scary stories. It's about all the adventure that most of us nigerians ever have. those of u who are still in the boarding house, take time to enjoy urself. when u're out u'll be sorry u wasted ur time worrying about little things like food etc.


Scorpio, when did u graduate from Ibillo? I have two secondary school classmates who left Ibillo in 1999.

It's 9-3-4 and they're not increasing the number of years only joining the primary and junior secondary education. this is so that the minimum no of years a child can spend in school would be 9 years. I think it is a good idea and hope they can implement it. Hopefully, with the jail term awaiting any defaulting parent and the planned free lunch at schools, we can hope for a high literacy rate in some years to come.

i feel they should set up vocational or technical schools for some kids who may not have the will/funds to continue with secondary and university education.

The bible advises that christians should fellowship together. Fellowship was a very important aspect of the early church. Every christian sometime or the other sees the need to be a part of a truly christian fellowship. unfortunately, we have a lot of corrupt and manipulative "christians" nowadays. that's for another discussion though. But fellowship with other believers, rather than churchgoing, is a very important part of christianity. as a christian, u have responsibilities towards ur fellow christians, which can be fulfilled through fellowshipping with them. Thieves, murderers now go to church so churchgoing is just an activity and doesn't make one a christian.

What makes one a christian is having the mind of Christ in you, which is only possible when you make a conscious decision to surrender your life to Him. It is your relationship with Jesus that makes you a christian, not habits or activities (like reading the bible or praying).