₦airaland Forum

This is 2019; we know better now! Lol!!!!

Snipper007:
Let soworeeee remain there 4 ever I won't give a f*uck aftrrall he helped buhari gain power with his Sahara group

Pls don't be this petty.

Only for him to be arrested wickedly immediately after leaving court.

This is TERRIBLE!

seunmsg:
This is not about me. No matter the side we support, we must come together to condemn today’s tragic event.

It is not so mature to seek every opportunity to gloat at fellow country people who supported Buhari. We are in this trouble together. No one should keep getting pained over 2015. Even GEJ has moved on!

Olusola Aladejebi

I bet you have failed before. I have. I have even recently failed in a project. Almost nothing worked the way I had planned. Success is the opposite of failure. Let me quickly state that my usage of ‘failure’ does not imply a finality. Some of you my readers have gotten an ‘F’ in courses, been fired from jobs, been jilted by a supposed lover, ran your business bankrupt, lost a pregnancy. Failure is never palatable.

However, in my view, life is in phases. And it is OK to fail in some phases of life. Here comes the irony. The people who are most successful are also the most comfortable with failure. Their comfort with failure is not that they are satisfied with failure. Not all! They however consider that a failure is packed with lessons—tough needful lessons.

The wonderful lessons that a period of failure offers begin only when we acknowledge that we have failed. That’s a big thing to accept for people who are used to succeeding. The first big failure rocks them to their being! It looks as though their previous strings of successes have been surreal. Now is reality!

Some people have been so used to succeeding they never recover from their first big failure. They deny the failure. They rationalize it. Their palates have never tasted such ‘meal’. Then denial turns to cynicism. Cynicism leads to depression. It would be good if they come to terms with the fact that they failed in a thing. If Ego comes in the way of such acknowledgement, real progress stops.

I want you to note these 4 things as you deal with your failure(s):

It is OK to fail

It is just human. Only God that never fails. Human knowledge is limited. If you failed your exam, it is not cool, but everyone fails at one thing or the other. Few people tell of their failures so you wouldn’t learn of them. But believe me, everyone hits rock bottom sometimes. Parents and teachers therefore have an important role in guiding children on succeeding and failing. Children need to learn that while success is the goal, their self worth is not tied to a success. This understanding helps them if they fail (or should I say when they fail) at a thing so that the failure does not damage them.

It is not OK to be content with failure

While it is OK to fail, it is not OK to be content with failure. Some people have come to see the lack of success as a norm. ‘Others may succeed but it is not just for me’, they tell themselves. A child who has become used to failing may grow into an adult who sees failure as the usual and success as the exception. The reason a child may experience frequent failures often may be because he has been put in an environment that is way beyond his ability. This happens in schools.

Parents want their children ahead of the class appropriate for them. These parents want their kids to be achieve quickly! Unknown to them, they may just be on the way to severely damaging their children’s self efficacy. (Self efficacy is an individual’s belief in his or her ability to succeed in specific situations or accomplish a task). Because these children are in classes beyond their ability they fail more than they succeed. Often these parents don’t retrace their steps by allowing the children ‘step down’ to places where their children can thrive better. The poor children may therefore settle in their minds that success was not cut out for them in the first place.

After Failure

The failure is a just set back. As it has often been said, ‘Failure is a knock down, not a knock out’. In boxing, when a boxer gives an opponent a series of heavy punches, he may fall on the ring canvas. The guy who is down has opportunity to stand up and fight back! And in some boxing bouts, the guy who has been knocked down twice eventually wins the match! Such should be the approach to failure. Swallow your ego and take the pill of acknowledgement of failure. Analyze the failure to identify why you failed. You may need to remove obstacles or build more capacity. Then develop the courage to confront the challenge again. At other times, a good calm analysis of the failure may reveal one is fighting a wrong battle. One therefore walks away to find a place where ones chances of winning is higher.

Some Success is indeed failure!

Life is in compartments (although they are all linked together). You probably know very successful academics and researchers who have lousy marriages; or very wealthy business owners whose children are wayward and hooked on drugs. All round success is beautiful and achievable. However, because humans are finite and lack ability and resources to be/do everything they want, they may need to choose to succeed here and fail there. Each person’s sense of value plays out here. The way people value things are so different that some would choose to win a game at the expense of betraying the trust of long-held friendship. Some would choose to cling to political power when they loose elections even though it would mean their country going up in flames. Isn’t such success actually failure?

All successes are not equal. All failures are not equal. So I wish you success in the most important things. And even if you fail once or twice or even three times, if it is really important, get up again and fight!



Choose Your Failures Carefully http://mouthpiece.com.ng/4406-2/

DCmonster:
Idiotic Mr falana, you were part of the people that foisted this useless and bleeped up government on innocent Nigerians. Fucking bastards.

Dear, you keep lamenting over spilled milk.

netpro:
Will they keep quiet. How many people do the United States have locked away in Guantanamo Prison in Cuba and other CIA black sites across the world?

Tell those who stood surety for Sowore to go pick him up. We need to know who to pick up if Sowore runs like that Abino.

Tomorrow he will think twice before attempting to Revolt and overthrow his ancestors.

Do they lock up their own citizens that way? SMH! SMH!

babzo:
But when these same people you mentioned supported GEJ against Kingibe , Mrs Yaradua and the cabal of that time, they were not parochial?
Bros forget that matter: Falana, Soyinka and Sowore operate on a level of integrity and honor no contract can buy nor intimidation stop.

Your head is correct!

Racoon:
The biggest ridicule and embarrassment are so called educated people like Falana, Wole Soyinka, Sowore that allowed parochial sentiments to becloud their sense of sound judgement in order to enthrone the tyrannt Nigeria have today.

You are still referring to 2015 election! Instead of focusing on what we can change you are wailing for what happen almost 5 yrs ago!

UCH as Way to the Grave: Fact or Myth

Olusola Aladejebi

The University College Hospital (UCH) is the first teaching hospital in Nigeria. I came across a picture showing how UCH looked like in the 60s. I learnt also that the Saudi Royal family used to come to the UCH for treatment at that period. All that looks like fairly tale now. I have met many people who, when they hear that a patient is taken to UCH, believe the person would most likely die there. They avoid the hospital like a plague. Yet UCH is the foremost place for the training of doctors in Nigeria. This way-to-the-grave narrative didn’t add up so I set out to find out. Below is a summary of my findings. While some of the things I found out may be specific to UCH, they generally apply to the whole healthcare system in Nigeria.

UCH is a tertiary hospital. This means it is a hospital that is meant to attend to only referral cases from primary and secondary hospitals. Tertiary hospital are at the top of the health care system. This does not however mean they are more important. The same way a university is not more important than a primary school. One of the reasons many patients die in a teaching hospital is just because their cases are usually critical and the prognosis less cheerful. Their sicknesses could no longer be managed by primary and secondary hospitals and hence they refer them to the tertiary hospitals.

Many state governments do not employ enough doctors in the government-owned hospitals so many of these patients are referred from private hospitals. Since private hospitals are businesses, some of the doctors don’t refer the patients on time. They keep trying to manage what they clearly do not have specialist knowledge to handle because of money gotten from patients. By the time they eventually refer to a teaching hospital, the disease may have reached advanced stages.

Doctors in some good hospitals actually refer their patients early when they discover that the condition requires care that only a tertiary hospital can provide. However, the belief that UCH is the way to the grave prevents them from going to UCH. They would rather go another private hospital. Unfortunately for them, they may meet not-so-ethical doctors who would assure them of proper care. While there their situation only worsens.

For a tertiary hospital like the UCH to function well, the other levels of the healthcare system (primary and secondary) have to be able to handle health issues that fall within their purview. A situation in which doctors in a tertiary hospital spend time treating minor cases when the kind of health problems they were established for are poorly attended to leaves much to be desired. A resident doctor in eye surgery was pointing out that he needs to do refraction often.

A doctor in a teaching hospital told me point blank that health insurance is the only way comprehensive health care can be available to people. Health is what everyone needs regardless of socioeconomic class. He describes the despairing situation he faces when attending to patients who, although can barely feed, require expensive tests for proper diagnosis be made about their condition. These tests could have been within reach, were they subscribed to a health insurance plan. (The National Health Insurance Scheme(NHIS) is something more and more people should subscribe to. Some states also have health insurance schemes.) And talking about tests, that is an aspect of care at UCH that many people complain about. Tests upon tests. The medical people say in order not to merely treat symptoms, they must get to the root cause of the ailment. Hence tests must be carried out.

A colleague was telling my wife how their father was taken to UCH with an over-filled bladder. The man couldn’t urinate. They were told that tests need to be conducted first. The children took him away from there to a private hospital where they immediately relieved the bladder of bursting pressure. Afterwards, the old man said he believed he would have died had the pressure not been relieved in time. Such a man would not want to have anything with UCH.

When I related this to story a doctor friend he told me that a teaching hospital is very different from a little private hospital because the former seeks to benchmark against teaching hospitals in Europe and US. And in such places it is expected that no one attempts to conduct a treatment procedure without adequate knowledge (through tests) of what is being addressed. ‘Fast treatment does not mean proper treatment’, he says.

To be continued next week.
http://mouthpiece.com.ng/uch-as-way-to-the-grave-fact-or-myth/

Sissy3, dominique

ofwest47:
See Afenifebi O B J sponsored anti Yoruba group, take or leave it, Tinubu is the only well known Yoruba political leader and he is the next President of Nigeria comes 2023 by the grace of God. Bloody Afenifebi group fighting for I Before Others ( courtesy Zik) against Omo Odua. Re call, how O B J throughout his political era preferred and continued to install Hausa/Fulani as President from Shagari, Yaradua to Buhari (2015 ) on the Nation. Remember when he said Awolowo a Yoruba man the best candidate for the Nation will not win (1979,1983 )also recall when the other major contested candidates Aminu Kano, Wazir Ibrahim called for electoral college to support Awolowo over the inability to secure the required number of states required by the contestants to be declared winner according to the electoral law, was it not O B J that came out with 12,2/3 to make sure Awolowo whom he called the best candidate that will not win. Now they Afenifebi_OBJ have come back again to make sure no Yoruba candidate will emerge as President come 2023.

What is your obsession with OBJ. OBJ that couldn't win his Polling unit for PDP guber candidate in 2011.

ornicus:
yes, all the wonderful beatings have made us wonderful nigerians and world class leaders , not so?

i'm sure the yahoo boys, ritual u murderers, gang rapists , thieving politicians, fulani herdsmen, armed robbers, killer policemen, sars , drug dealers etc were never flogged in their childhood.

look around you and you can see the benefits of corporal punishment everywhere

laura ikeji much as i loathe her, is right.

all most of this beating does is reinforce a mindset that violence , solves all problems

and violence is the last refuge of the incompetent

that is why you see people , well dressed in a car accident immediately begin fighting. because that is what they have been taught by beatings
that is why youth corpers will go into an office to seize [steal] computers
that is why frustrated parents are beating their kids to death.

we see them on this forum too, unable to make an argument without threats of violence and i will deal with you.

you want to see what beatings do to a person - watch how tacha of bbn relates versus the way mike relates
that is what beating ultimately does, and we see it everywhere. we are all aggressive and violent

So USA wen they no dey beat their pikin, you no see as dem no dey fight? Lol!
What about the mass shootings??

Your argument is like saying all robbers and kidnappers and Yahoo Yahoo all took bread, so bread should be banned!

What makes children turn out badly is usually bad parenting. Not caning or caning is not the matter. And Believe me, good parenting usually involves caning when needed.

Born2Breed:
Some people are confirmed idio.ts.

If you think sparing the rod spoils the child then flog your biological child, not the child I put in your care after paying you.

This has never happened to me and will never happen. If you flog my child then I flog you outside the school premises.

One silly woman on the run now,flogged her daughter to death all in the name of I don't want to spare the rod bull crap.

Most people supporting flogging ain't even married,carry belle and open ur leg to push baby out then u go understand mother hen and the chicks story.

So you are the only one who has children. And most likely you have at most 2. What about billions of women like you worldwide who think some caning is beneficial for the babies they also carried in their tummy.

Adepet222:
From other point she is right because if some teachers should be beat in front of u, u will support her point.

You said, 'some'. So because some teachers or parents mususe caning, we should now prevent everybody?

Yakade:
a young girl, 10 years was seen roaming my street since morning, i called her asked her what happened. She said her madam sent her away for breaking her plates. She said she's from edo and this is her 3 weeks in akure. Please which organization should I contact on her behalf?

Ministry of women affairs. I know this is weekend but the ministry should have a kind of shelter house.

NwaAmaikpe:





Egbon....you and I know Sowore is an insincere mole.
Unless you want to make your Nobel prize appear well deserved, there is no need for the vocabularic tantrums.

Apparently, this letter seems to me to be more about you reminding the younger generation about your history in activism than about Sowore's misfortune.

Yes, you were a true activist.
But you didn't merit the Nobel Prize in Literature.
I'd always respect you for the former.

Bitterness. After all these years?!

festacman:
There is no doubt that Mr. Omoyele Sowore has right as a Nigerian citizen to question the government on its policies and protest against it.

He had earlier tried to sell his political agenda through the ballot box but unfortunately failed to agree and collaborate with other young people to convince majority of Nigerians to vote for him.

What is a bit of concern is why the same Omoyele Sowore who couldn't work with other young politicians now found it right and comfortable to subtly and covertly collaborate with Islamic Movement of Nigeria, Kwakwasiya movement and other divisive organizations to organize "Revolution Now" and "Days of Rage" in a period when there have been SUSPICIOUS increase in high-profile kidnapping and assassinations.

So na Sowore say make Buhari and APC government no fit handle insecurity and not doing enough to bring all components of the country together?

Incompetence is incompetence. This government is failing in many regards.

Goalgetterz:
These hungry boys are the ones you said are living expensive life style? EFCC running from main work wey dey obvious to everyone. Start arresting our governors and senators fools. Okorocha is now a senator.

Create job. You no wan create, one fool will tell me unemployment still doesn't justify their involvement in scam when their mama is dying of hunger, no means to pay rent, You don't even know how dem dey take pay school fees.. thunder fire all Nigerian leaders and EFCC

Those like you who think stealing is Ok are liking. How ever will this country progress? May be everyone should stop creating value by producing goods and services and let's see what your likes will steal?

Yahoo Yahoo is stealing. God will never bless stealing.

The employees asked whether it would take their jobs. They were told(more like deceived) it wouldn't. Of course the robot would take jobs.

If an employee leaves, rather than employ another, they may just decide that the robot would take over that person's job.

Whobedatte:
Some of you do not want to leave your comfort zone, and want result.
Better leave your ilorin, oshogbo, and find your way to LAGOS.
Even if na computer village dey go everyday go hustle, at least N1k sure for you.

No just enter Lagos anyhow o! Anyhow fit happen to you o. Find someone you can live with first.

Gforce2019:
Why can't her family stood as a surety for her?
Irrespective of your status, I can't stand as a surety for anybody.


We don't borrow in winners chapel.

I beg your pardon?

Oshigun:
Why would Yorubas do that when, to a large extent, we have conquered illiteracy, barbarism and savagery? Think properly dude. The Buhari you Igbos hate so much is working to end the Almajiri system that keeps Northern children illiterate. Yet you will support Atiku, Danjuma, Babangida, Shetimma, Yerima, Modu Sheriff and other born-to-rule Northerners who see nothing wrong with this retrogressive culture. Which Northerner has been sincere or brave enough to propose what Buhari, the same man you lot love to hate, has as a permanent solution to our insecurity woes? Note the bolded section as well that referenced the good and progressive free education work of Awolowo, you Igbos love to hate, that sensible Northerners like Buhari now understand is the only way forward.


https://www.pulse.ng/news/local/buharis-govt-bans-almajiri-system-over-insecurity/g03hdwq

The way you paint Buhari as a statesman or nationalist is sardonic. Are you pretending not to know how clannish and tribalistic Buhari is?

Why has he been defensive in treating the Fulani atrocities? Why does he put all security agencies under the command of northerners except the Navy? ARMY, AIRFORCE, DSS, EFCC, NIS, NIA, NCS, NSA, NPF, NSCDC, NPS, etc.

Olusola Aladejebi

In 2015, two of my friends were discussing a thread (topic post) put on nairaland and one told the other that he would quit the site for some time. He said there are spirits who are registered on the site! Although I had been hearing of nairaland before that time, it was that discussion that stirred my interest to register. Since then it has been a wonderful experience. Of course there are no spirits on nairaland. Lol! It is just that, on it, one finds the angelic, the wonderful and the utterly bizzare.

A quick introduction. Nairaland (nairaland.com) is a big, broad discussion forum for Nigerians (although persons from any nationality can join). It covers politics, business, health, religion, entertainment, science and technology—all areas of human society. The site can be viewed without registration, however in order to post topics or contribute to discussions registration is required. As at June 2019, nairaland has about 2.3million registered members. This makes it one of the most visited sites in Nigeria. Founded in 2005 by Seun Osewa, the site has navigated the vagaries of business life including a vicious hack into its database in 2014.

The members of nairaland operate anonymously through usernames. No one knows anyone and any person can contribute to discussions and express their opinions without fear. This however does not imply that total anarchy rules on the forum. There are moderators who try to keep some modicum of sanity. How successful the moderators are in their task is another matter.

Nairaland actually binds Nigerians together. Nairaland is a one stop place for news and trends, especially for diaspora Nigerians. Even the name elicits some kind of espirit de corps. Naira. Land. It communicates a common Nigerian feeling that is oblivious to outsiders. Anyone who has lived in Nigeria who sees the name immediately identifies with it in some way.

Even though the forum operates on the basis of anonymity, there are occasions people become quite close. Recently the demise of one of the members was announced on a post. I was surprised at seeing comments that showed a real feeling of loss of the member although scarcely any of these people had actually met the deceased member. They knew him through his posts. Also,some people in need of desperate help have gotten assistance on the forum. Some receive financial assistance. Some suicidal members receive support and hope for living. Also spouses are gotten. And then jobs!

It is not surprising that the most active in nairaland is the politics section. Nigeria right now is desperately in need of transforming itself into a more viable state. (Has there ever been a time when this country never was?). Harold Lasswell succinctly defined politics as who get what, when and how. Going by this definition, people are letting their voices be heard on issues that concern them—how they are led; how elections are held; the credibility of electoral umpires; the competence or otherwise of the president and governors; how Nigeria should exist and even if she should exist any longer. Remember, views come through usernames so it is no holds barred.

While it is great that people can express themselves freely, there are many users of the forum that really abuse the opportunity. Immature behaviour sometimes makes the forum unattractive to those who are more sensible. Sometimes a good topic is made a rubbish through the back and forth insulting comments of these people. Another thing very obvious on nairaland is animosity among ethnic groups in Nigeria. This is not the forum’s fault. The discussions on nairaland only reflect how we really see other ethnic groups. Narratives are told with the intent to denigrate other groups. The bigotry sometimes churns the stomach. Agreed. it is pure nonsense to pretend that injustices have not been meted to some groups by the Nigerian state under the supervision of some ethnic groups. We cannot continue to chorus the make-believe story that we have all been our brothers’ keepers. But even then truth can be told in civility, free from insults and derogatory stereotypes.

While trying to find out a little more about nairaland I came across some interesting data. Nairaland is ranked 9th in sites that are most visited in Nigeria. It is 5th among the indigenous sites. As one would expect, google.com is the most visited site in Nigeria. In fact Google is the most visited site in almost every country except China and Russia. Even for Russia, YouTube which is the highest visited site is owned by Google. This next fact amazes me greatly: the most visited indigenous site in Nigeria is Bet9ja. So Nigerians bet this much!? I don’t bet. Serious entrepreneurs also don’t bet except maybe for fun. They understand the workings. A betting company is set up to make profit after paying their staff. So surely more money comes in than would ever go out! The gambler lives on hope of the big pay out—which almost never comes! Building anything—a life, an economy, a family—cannot be based on luck. If too many Nigerians hope in luck, that mindset may be one of the reasons our economy is not growing as it should.

Nairaland, keep the naija flag flying!

http://mouthpiece.com.ng/nairaland-naijas-melting-pot/

President Muhammadu Buhari must be commended for recognizing June 12 as Democracy Day. It is has even gone beyond recognition, it is now a law made by the National Assembly. June 12 Democracy Day took its roots from the 1993 presidential election held on that day, which was won by MKO Abiola, but annulled by the military government of Gen. Ibrahim Babangida. The political crisis that followed the annulment was experienced most in south western Nigeria—where Abiola comes from. The struggle to enforce the mandate of the Abiola who was then in detention was primarily waged by Yoruba people although support came from few persons in other ethnic nationalities. It is however a thing of delight that June 12, which had only been observed as holiday in the 6 states in the SW, has been elevated to a national celebration of democracy.

Democracy, however, is not just something to be celebrated on a day. It is supposed to be a philosophy that undergirds the existence and workings of a nation. Going by this, one wonders how much we should celebrate. On one hand recognition of June 12 as a celebration of democracy by this administration builds a sense of togetherness. On the other hand quite many of its behaviours pull the country apart.

On this same June 12, 2019 some socio-cultural groups in south west Nigeria decided to hold a rally against kidnapping and general insecurity in the region. These Yoruba groups perceived threats to the peace and stability of the region. The social media has been awash with accounts of the experience of kidnap victims. Based on these accounts, perpetrators of the kidnappings have mostly been by Fulani. This is against a backdrop of other heinous crimes allegedly committed by Fulani herdsmen in Benue, Plateau, Kaduna States. Clearly, our national security architecture is weak because it is not intelligence driven. But beyond that there are concerns that security and safety is skewed in favour of some parts of the country. Concerns and fears are subjective. Let’s examine some hard data. The heads of the following security agencies are headed by persons from northern Nigeria.

National Intelligence Agency, State Security Service, Nigeria Police Force, Nigerian Airforce, Nigerian Army, Nigeria Immigration Service, Nigeria Prison Service, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, National Security Adviser, Nigeria Customs Service. The National Security Adviser who coordinates national security is also a northerner. Throughout President Buhari’s first tenure the ministers of defence and internal affairs were also from the north.

Some say, ‘competence is what matters regardless of where the person comes from’. I would be the last person to advocate for incompetence in order to fill in a quota system. However, the question is: Is competence to head security agencies found only in certain parts of the country? Of course not. What if the lopsided security appointments are coincidental? The decision of the President Buhari to reverse the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s (then acting president) appointment of Matthew Seiyefa from Bayelsa State as acting head of the State Security Service (SSS) shows it is no coincidence. In his place he appointed Yusuf Magaji Bichi. Seiyifa is senior to Bichi and is due for retirement in July 2019. But the presidency somehow felt that the 10 months Seiyifa was to be Director General of the SSS was not appropriate for the country’s security architecture.

Given this exclusionary manner of appointments, one wonders the philosophy of nation building the administration has. Is it only through infrastructure? By constructing roads and rails alone? By Npower alone? Through half-hearted fight against corruption? Doing projects and social empowerment is good, no doubt, but it can be likened to a family in which the father pays the school fees for all the children but forbids some children from publicly associating with him while he warmly welcomes others. Envy, jealousy, rivalry, animosity would have a field day. That’s clearly not how a family is built.



Back to the rally organized in the across Southwest Nigeria. The Oyo and Ondo States’ rallies were crushed by the SSS and other security agencies. Some of the leaders were arrested. Ordinarily, there was no reason for such action against a rally against insecurity in the region. But maybe the security agencies perceived some self-determinist tendencies in the rally. Here we go again.

There is a real feeling in southern Nigeria that the way the country currently operates (and has been operating since 1966) is faulty and must be altered. This feeling must be addressed by talking. The closest we got to addressing it was the 2014 National Conference. Unfortunately, the current government thinks it is meant for the ‘archives’—in other words, the rubbish bin.

A nation is essentially a feeling of oneness. A true feeling of oneness is not achieved by coercion, not through a barrel of a gun. Territory is secondary to nationhood. The Jews have always been a nation even when there was no geographical Israel. Many people in southeast Nigeria hate the way the country exists currently. Some Igbo people even want to leave the Nigerian State entirely. Likewise the feeling of Nigerianism has started waning in the south west. The actions of this central administration have aggravated the lack of nationalism.

I will conclude this way. Journalists and writers report and comment on the socio-political reality. They also participate in setting agenda for society. These two roles are intertwined. The agenda setters of yesterday are partly responsible for the socio-political reality of today. Now this is what a repressive government does. It tries to crush the agenda setting role of writers. It goes further to also maliciously tag the reporting of socio-political reality as agenda setting and seeks to crush it. We have been there before as a country during the various military regimes. We hope never to come there again because if we ever do, then, is all hope not lost?

http://mouthpiece.com.ng/june-12-democracy-day-and-threats-to-nationhood/

yemex04:
Because they are the real architects of Nigeria's problem..majority of them are against June 12 as a democracy day.Now tell why they will be there.

While Buhari is the long awaited saviour abi?

Tough words.

The simple minded would not understand.

The 'Otoge'(Enough is Enough) rally billed for today 12 June, 2019 in Ibadan has been squashed by security agencies. The rally was organized to protest Kidnappings and general insecurity in the south west Nigeria. An amalgamation of some Yoruba social cultural groups lead by Yoruba Koya Movement (YKM) organized the rally.

However, some of the leaders in of the movement in IBADAN, Oyo State have been arrested today by the SSS(State Security Service).What transpired in other states is yet to be known. But we will let you know as soon as we know.

Daguccizgreat:
Your analysis is so shallow and holds no water

I consider his argument pedestrian and capable of swaying only the very gullible.

tactius:
No, there is a problem, and it needs fixing.

The problem is, the population of Nigeria is growing. Land is running out for free range grazing and even for farming. As a result, it is becoming difficult for fulanis to find place to graze cow. So...crisis between them and the farmers break out....and the mess we have results.

The issue is people like FFK, Obasanjo and even Buhari are using the matter for political purposes, both in the past and in the present. Even on Nairaland, all we see here is tribal fighting...when the real problem is poor land management, and lack of desire to modernise.

The time has come for an end to open air grazing, and an end to shifting cultivation, and better land management practice.The fulanis, Nigerian farmer, government....everyone needs to change. Not APC chanji...change. Fix the railways, so that we can transport cows via rail.

I smile. You know when Hitler and the Nazi began, they could have stopped very easily. But some 'intellectual' explanation like the one you put forth was used to disregard them. Soon after ALL OF EUROPE bowed to their iron rule.

What am I saying? Your sensible theory don't cut it. Let us assume that there is a fulanization agenda (that you believe is merely alarmist). But for the sake of discussion, let's assume one. The questions I ask is: which way would an fulanization project be carried out if not the way it is been done now?

Herdsmen killing and ransacking villages ALL OVER the country; Kidnappings all laid at the feet of fulani herdsmen They are for now untouchable as this government don't consider them a threat.

If you lived in a village that had been wiped out by Fulani, certainly your view would be different. But must you wait till then for you to see correctly?

No wonder we are so unproductive as a nation!

At the slightest opportunity we declare holiday. Are the citizens the ones to swear the president or governors in? Must they declare holiday for a low key event?

By Olusola Aladejebi

Some pundits have said that in Nigeria, banking and media belong to the southwest; Southeast controls commerce; and political power belongs to the north. And it has more or less been like that since we became an independent nation. In the pre-independence Parliament, the Northern region had more seats than the southern regions put together so the north had the power to swing the colonial administration’s policies and programmes to their advantage. Politics is a game of numbers anyway. Also at independence a northerner was the prime minister and the north had more seats in parliament still.

A senator from Zamfara State was lamenting few weeks ago at the floor of the Nigerian Senate that his home state is in a state of war. Even before the escalation of violent crimes in Zamfara was public knowledge, a professor of conflict studies had painted an almost hopeless picture of the situation in Zamfara State. His position was that when there is combination of mass illiteracy, exploding population, poor security infrastructure and a ruthless political class, the kind of crisis we are witnessing now is the natural outcome. This scenario is not limited to Zamfara State; the whole of Northwest Nigeria is feeling the acute pain social disintegration. The Senator went as far as saying that people know those behind the violent killings but nobody wants to talk because it might mean death. Those conditions of life are reminiscent of life when Boko Haram hoisted its flag over vast territories in Borno State.

Talking of Boko Haram, unfortunately it has refused to go away. Nigerians in the Northeast still live in the fear of terrorist attacks. We are grateful they have been restricted by our military to the Northeast but unless they are wiped out completely, Nigeria remains in danger of much wider spread of their activities.



After the first coup that truncated civil rule in January 1966, it was only six month before the north regained power from Gen Aguyi Ironsi. I say the north because Gowon was not at the time of the coup the most senior military officer—he was the most senior northern military officer. The coup plotters who were mainly of northern extraction would not have it any other way. And if we consider it, the country’s prime minister until just 6 months before then—Tafawa Balewa—was a northerner so in the thinking of the counter coup masterminds they were out to reclaim what was theirs in the first place.

Shortly after the coup, we had the unfortunate civil war. During the first republic, the presidency went to the north. They retained it also during the 1983 election under what some consider controversial circumstances. The Sheu Shagari government was toppled by a Gen. Buhari while successive coups plotters until 1999 ensured that the heads of State were northerners. A peaceful election in 1993 which would have brought the presidency to the south was infamously annulled by Gen. Ibrahim Babangida. The southwest whose son, Moshood Abiola, won the annulled election was insistent that the presidency during the 4th republic should come to their region as a compensation for Abiola who died in detention.

After Olusegun Obasanjo’s two terms as president, the presidency went back to the north. Unfortunately, President Umaru Yar’Adua died in office. Goodluck Jonathan completed Yar’Adua’s term and won his own election. He lost his re-election as power went back to the north. It has remained there till now.

You might wonder why so much value is placed on which region the head of State comes from. Nigeria’s presidency is so powerful that the region whose son heads it considerably tilts the power equation in their favour, Nigerqia being effectively a country of many nations. In all of Nigeria’s independent national life the north had held power for 42 and a half years while the southern part was president (head of government) for 16 and a half.

No doubt, the political class in northern Nigeria are masters at the political game. They have always had a clear view of their goal and device strategy after strategy to achieve the goal. That goal, even if not formally declared, is to always ‘control’ this territory called Nigeria. The means the northern elite utilize to achieve this may not always be fair to other regions, nay to their own people, but they don’t seem to care.

Recently there are however indications that the northern political capital is being reduced to shreds. The acute social problems being faced in northern Nigeria today are pointers to dwindling value of their possession political power. Of what use is political power if religious, traditional and government leaders in the region are no longer assured of safety. Criminal gangs kidnap traditional rulers and politicians for ransom. Violent bandits sack villages and steal cattle. Some other groups ‘kidnap’ whole villages and demand for ransom. Community leaders mobilize for the ransom payment. A local government chairman in Zamfara also confessed that they pay ransom to these bandits daily otherwise disaster may come knocking. While this is happening many farmers are fleeing and leaving their villages where they have farms for safety. The fragile economy of the north may suffer yet another blow because of this.

All security agencies—except the Navy—have not been able to arrest the growing anomie. Ironically, this is despite the fact that all security agencies—except the Navy—are headed by persons from northern Nigeria. Unprecedented.

During the Jonathan administration there were conspiracy theories that alluded to a deliberate restraint by the administration in quelling the Boko Haram menace. ‘He wanted the north to suffer’, they pontificated. But everybody now sees such theories as nonsense. (Not that I believed it for once. GEJ didn’t look that mean!). Now even with a retired no-nonsense general at the helms, the region has been plagued by conflict of various types.

Some persons from the south may be tempted to gloat at the north for the current crisis situation. Some recount ethnic and religious killings which have claimed thousands of southern lives over the years. But would gloating be a proper perspective? Isn’t it the fact that the northern elites have misled their people severally? Do these foot soldiers who have been denied education and enlightenment really know any better? Even as we must not shy away from the truth, gloating is an immature response. Through the confession of a German clergyman, Martin Niemoller, after the Holocaust we learn the imprudence of rejoicing at another’s disaster. The poetic rendition of the confession is so deep in instruction that I wish to quote it below:

First they came for the socialists, and I didn’t speak out—

Because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak out—

Because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak out—

Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak for me.

In my view the leaders in the north should come together to have a serious conversation about the future of the region. (The embattled emir of Kano began such a conversation shortly after he became emir. As the years passed I guess he sensed he was a lone voice and turned down the volume). They may wish to reconsider the end-justifies-the-means approach to power grabbing. Those who sow the wind reap the whirlwind. They should also give honest and serious attention to a restructured Nigeria. If denying the people education has been a strategy of control it may not work as well as it used to. With population bursting at the seams, this mass of people that are not empowered will not be able to contribute much economically. And idle hands are satan’s workshops, the saying goes. In fact, it would be good if leaders (not just political) in every region hold such serious conversation.
http://mouthpiece.com.ng/norths-political-capital-being-torn-to-shreds/


Mynd44, Seun, Lalasticlala

The biggest problem of Ugandans or Africans in general is this illusionary belief that they could change their countries by voting a different person into power. It is this belief that all problems of a country start and stop with the President. That if you could just have the right man in power, then all of a sudden, Africa would transform. This is what they call chasing a mirage, imagining some utopia. Unfortunately utopias are never realized in life.

The actual problem of Africa is not the presidents. From where do these presidents come? From within. The problem of Africa, the problem of Uganda is its citizens, their shared values and mentalities. The day Africans wakeup, and stop looking for an external enemy and realize that they themselves are Africa's problem is the day we shall get closer to finding an African solution.

I have often told friends that I am happiest whenever the MPs draw bigger salaries every financial year. As Ugandans we lambast our representatives in public for drawing these salaries. In private, we drain our MPs. We invite them for funerals, for introduction ceremonies and expect them to contribute out of pocket to save us. A Ugandan MP attends no less than 10 functions in a week on average. They are expected to find jobs for their people. They must contribute towards the least of needs. These big salaries they draw, they all go straight to the people they represent. Yet it seems some of us live in an illusion called Uganda. We expect our MPs to act as MPs in UK except that in our case, we also expect to play donor to their people's needs.

We decry the corruption in the country yet we bribe to get our children in the best schools. We bribe our way out of police tickets. We have no respect for traffic rules. We are every evil we see in the president and his team.

Every ill you can diagnose in Museveni and his government, you will find twice or thrice the magnitude in a Ugandan citizen.

We complain of government incompetence, yet go ahead to champion incompetence in every aspect of our lives where government has no control. Our carpenters produce substandard furniture.

I often ask myself; if the public sector is too incompetent, how come the private sector has not been any better? How come you are more bound to have a misdiagnosis in a private hospital than in a public hospital?

Daily Monitor, Observer, Red Pepper, New Vision write stories everyday that highlight government incompetence. Yet, there will never be a single day where you will pick up a Ugandan newspaper and fail to find an error on every page.

Perhaps one day as Ugandans we ought to self reflect, and look within and realize, that we are demons we are trying to fight. If Museveni and his government were the only incompetent people and everyone else was competent, then Uganda would be a scandinavian country of sorts. Why don't we have world class restaurants in the country? Why is it that customer care sucks in private institutions just as it does in public institutions?

Every Ugandan I meet complains of the system, of the incompetence. Then I ask myself; "you dear Ugandan, where can I find examples of your excellent output?"

The same people who complain of poor working conditions run slavery rings in their own homes. The day maids of this country decide to speak out, we shall be shocked at the evil we sustained in our homes.

I now suspect that our anger, our rants, our complaints about the system are all because this system is a daily reminder of our own incompetences, our own weaknesses as a people. What this government has done is hold a mirror up to the Ugandan society and we are not happy about our own reflection.

Today I read a sad story. That there are about 20,000 Asians in Uganda, less than 0.5% of the Ugandan Population. And that these pay 64% of our tax revenues. To put it simply, even the taxes we complain that government mishandles, more than half of them are paid by non-Ugandans. In other words, we don't even have a right to complain.

That should signify an innate Ugandan problem. There is something deeply wrong around how the Ugandan and African societies are constructed. Ugandan Citizens promise so much and deliver so little. Our shared beliefs, mindsets and values have been constructed in such a way that regardless of the president in power, we shall always produce substandard results. It is no wonder that all over Africa, we complain of the same problems. Littered cities, corruption, failed government institutions, name it all. You could fly from Uganda to Malawi to Ghana to Zambia and not notice a difference. Because? It is not a problem of presidents. It is a problem of the African citizens. But they are too scared of self-criticism, they have dabbled in escapism and found scapegoats in their leaders.

As Plato wrote in the Republic; "like man, like state." We can't expect to have better leaders until we have better people. You can't create great companies without great employees. It doesn't matter how great the CEO is, if she has crap employees, she will have a crap company. That is the case of Uganda and other African countries! #Copied