but the ezes in igboland say it is illegal for any igbo to claim themselves as ezes outside of
igboland.

Some ezes (in igboland) have been pleading with govts to ban ezes elsewhere because they say it is just
used to flaunt their wealth or new found status.

This is what I read, I don't know this as a fact.

Where is Sara1981 ? What is her take on this ?

Congratulations !

so it doesnt appear to you that the people who trade most are most likely to be the ones who mostly inhabit the said markets.

should i use the word slowpoke again?

You have nothing to contribute except name calling. No original thought I am not going to scoop to your level

server34:

Jaylon, I hate to say this but ur posts are irritating! because u dont read other ppl's post carefully b4 u reply. Isn't every1 here saying the same thing?

Everyone here are not saying the same thing. Some people are making it seem like igbo illegal traders in Lagos are marginalized and I am saying
it is not so.

tamme:



was it only igbos houses or shops that were destroyed?
so they went around lagos markets and asked whether your igbo or not, then if you are igbo then they destroy your

That is what they are making it seem like and they are insulting people because others are setting the record straight.

onye_ngbu:

maybe when the arguments about who dominates education in nigeria, you will come out to confess that igbos dominate trading and not schools.

Morons!

People from all tribes engage in illegal trading in Lagos; illegal in the sense that, they are using land/areas to trade that
has not been approved by the government.

The issue here is not who trades the most in Nigeria, that's not what this thread is about, the point I am making is that, every tribe is going through the pains of illegal structure demolition by the lagos state govt, not just the igbos.

afam4eva:

Where did this imbecil pop out from.

There is no need for name calling. Please act like a mature man afam.

afam4eva:

Nobody is saying that fashola is demolishing those structures because they are inhabited mainly by Igbos. I know there are other ethnicities in those markets but most of them are Igbos, why does it hurt you so much to admit it.

You are just turning a blind eye to when non-igbo people's structures are damaged. Because you just
completely dismiss them and focus mainly on the igbos.

server34:

Mr Jaylon - feeling like superman! Abi na Voltron! Aren't we still saying the same thing? that Lagos SG isn't targeting the Igbos but is only bringing down illegal markets?

The only part I disagree wit you is that you claim to visit these markets and yet haven't noticed that most of them are dominated by Igbo traders?

server34,

I am not going to respond to your superman/voltron comment because it is reminiscent of a 7 year old.

What I am saying is this, igbos, yorubas and other nigerians have had their illegal structures destroyed
by the lagos state govt.

I have seen igbo people's structures destroyed, but I have also seen yoruba peoples structures destroyed.

Fashola is not targeting anyone, please stop preaching false hood abeg

afam4eva:

You know as much as i do that these markets are predominantly Ibo occupied, don't deceive yourself.

afam4eva,

there are yorubas, igbos, ijaws, kanuri, nupe etc in all these markets.

I have said go and bring your proof that the illegal markets are inhabited mostly by igbos.

When the demolishing is taking place, I see people from all tribes panicking all over the place
yorubas, igbos, idomas, nupe etc.

Fashola is targeting illegal structures in Lagos, not illegal structures by igbos in Lagos
He is not singling igbos out.

Stop spreading false hood and hatred, please.

Strength10:


Why did'nt the government inform those individual ahead of time before destroying what most of them worked thier entire life to acquire?

Fashola always informs the traders ahead of time before demolishing their illegal structures. The man is a lawyer and respects their rights
Even the traders at oshodi said, yes, they had been warned ahead of time.

Strength10:

Why is it that >95% of what has been demolished belongs to the hardworking Igbo Business man?

Please proof to us that 95% of the demolished buildings belonged to igbos.

You are a bloody liar !!! Stop preaching falsehood

Strength10:

Why has Fashola not addressed the concerns and protest of those trader? Because he was apparently behind it and has turned blind eye to the atrocities of his officials

Fashola compensates people who had legal structures, not illegal structures. Many yorubas and others lost their properties because
they were occupying spaces illegally, not just igbos.

Strength10:

Why did he not provide other markets or structures for those traders to relocate to in advance?

There are places for the traders, but they cannot afford it, so they display their stuff illegally.

The rent is as high as N500,000 per year and you have to pay 2 years in advance. These petty
traders cannot afford this, so they put up structures illegally.

Strength10:

In developed countries, if governments plan to demolish things, they provide resources including land and money for those investors affected so it does not affect the economy as a whole.

In developed countries, you would not even have the opportunity to build a structure illegally, so the issue of the govt
demolishing illegal structures and re compensating does not even arise.

Strength10:

From all this, it is apparent that gov Fashola is not educated enough to know that those traders lives he destroyed will in one way or the other affect the economy and lives of other lagos citizens.

Like I said, the traders were displaying their wares illegally. In the first place. We have gotten used to this illegality for so
long in Lagos that any attempt to correct it is taken in bad light.

You can't build a structure illegally (without approval from the state officials) and now cry wolf when your property
is damaged. and like I have been saying, all tribes are affected not just igbos.

Strength10:

This is not Tribalism. Let us be truthful, if all those traders (95%) of them were Yoruba families, will Fashola government destroy thier lives and property without a contigency plan on how to restore their business and livelihood?? You have the answer already in your head.

Again, you are preaching false hood. 95% of these people are not igbos, people from all over Nigeria are affected by this
demolition exercise. If anything, yorubas are affected the most by these demolitions.

Strength10:

If he truly wants to be seen as the government of the people, he should provide those individuals the resources to enable get back on their feet so they can move on and rebuild thier lives,

The governor, like I stated, compensates those who had the permission to build in the first place. If you are displaying wares on unapproved
property, then you are breaking the law.

Go to these developed countries you mentioned and build a shop in an open space without the govt's approval, and see what
will happen to you.

We must learn to do things right for once in this country.

server34:

The Lagos state govt is targeting illegal markets and not Igbos

. Isn't it just a coincidence that most of the ilegal markets na igbo men dey there? Come to think of it sef which major markets for lagos no be igbo?

Most of the illegal markets are inhabited by yorubas and other Nigerians as well as igbos. I visit these places so I know this.

Go and bring your proof that most of the illegal markets are inhabited by igbos.

Again, stop spreading false hood.

Na bitterness towards others go finish una in return

100 Houses To Go On Lagos Island

http://nm.onlinenigeria.com/templates/?a=14508

Over 100 houses have been marked for demolition on the Lagos Island. The General Manager of the Lagos State Physical Planning and Urban Development Authority, Alhaji Taoreed Alli, disclosed this during an interactive forum with residents of the Lagos Mainland Local Government Area.

Alli, who was admonishing the residents of mainland at the forum on the need to ensure that their buildings meet required standards, made reference to the findings which LASPPDA made in Lagos Island.

“We inspected over 5,000 houses in Lagos Island. We discovered that over 100 have structural deficiencies. Hence, they were marked for demolition. It was also decided that over 400 houses would be tested for their strength.”

The LASPPDA General Manager said it costs government over a million naira to demolish a building. “It costs the state government over a million naira to demolish a building. When we mark a building, we don’t immediately demolish. We write letters to the owners to demolish the houses so that they can rebuild them. But if they refuse to do anything, we demolish the buildings ourselves and take over the land.”

The seasoned town planner explained that the interactive fora usually embarked on by the agency in Lagos communities, are to partner with the people on how to ensure that buildings that are being constructed are safe. Also speaking at the forum was the chairman of Mainland Local Government Area, Hon. Jide Jimoh.

He stated that the governor Babatunde Fashola government is a people-oriented one. “Government is to move closer to people to discuss and get positive results. We need to tighten our belt to make sure that every single street is monitored,” he said.

Are the 100 houses targeted here also owned by igbos ?

another nonsensical tribalistic thread

Fashola is not targeting any individual tribe in his quest to clean up lagos.

Quit spreading falsehood all over the place.

9jaganja:

I can't f**king believe[b] this guy that posted something and turned it to a tribal issue again,[/b] I hate you all and I hope you don't return to Nigeria ever again. Rot and die overseas. Idiots. what da fuk?? You can't even post something without being tribalistic about it. Always Yoruba Igbo competition. What about other 250 tribes? What is wrong with you all??

Afaukwu and others are exactly like that.

It is always igbos vs. the world (esp yorubas)

Hotstepper:

hehehehee. but its 2 igbos and one yoruba, wt does dat mean?

you sound really dumb.

What if all three candidates were igbos, would that imply no other tribes are smart in Nigeria ?

You cannot use the tribe of these people to judge who's smartest in Nigeria.

The thread starter, afaukwu, is just a tribal divisive figure like others have been stating.

This news should have been celebrated on the individuals' merit, but afaukwu has turned it into
a tribal issue. pitiful

Now that he is in trouble with the law, the american media is giving him so much attention, the same attention
he never received when he was a young star.

It is very unfortunate for Chris to hit Rihanna like that, especially considering the fact that hitting a woman is really
frowned on in the US.

I pray that God redeems the young man.

Sad sorry, but the act of their father was induced by poverty. I am not making excuses for the man, but poverty can make people do
really desperate things.

Still, the story is really sad especially for the 12 year old.

funmi do you work the graveyard shift on your job in MD ?

So based on your list above, the top universities in Nigeria are:

1. University of Ilorin
2. Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife
3. University of Port harcourt
4. University of Nigeria, Nsukka
5. University of Ibadan
6. Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria

But what happened to University of Benin ? I think they topped the list last year ?

Fhemmmy:


OBJ wasnt the brain behind GSM, it was IBB, and any fool cld have been the leader and still see an increase in the number of GSM lines.

I didn't ask who was the brain behind GSM, I said how many lines were there in 1999 compared to 2007 ?
OBJ's administration created the largest amount of phone lines in the history of Nigeria

Fhemmmy:

With all the private University, what has happened to what the common citizens can afford, how many nigerians can afford the tution for the universities,

The public universities are still cheap. The private ones are for the ones that can afford it.
Despite the price of private universities, there is still not enough room to accept students.

The private unis are paid for and full to the brim.

It was wise for OBJ to create private universities for those who can afford them to attend.

Fhemmmy:


at least in the time of IBB, Most school out of Nigeria respect Nigerians brain while during the time of OBJ, pple were told to go and write ESL exam, what a slap on nigerians face, with all out grammer.

The rot in the school system was Abacha's fault, not OBJ's. Abacha failed to subsidize higher education because he said
the students were always rioting and against his government. OBJ spent a tremendous time trying to correct the
brain drain caused by Abacha by increasing their wages as I previously noted.

Fhemmmy:

Bank Consolidation has helped the poor masses by what and with what, what has been the effect of bank conso to the Mama kunle on oshodi road.

Bank consolidation has kept the system from collapsing, it was near collapse because most of the 89 banks at the time
were seriously distressed.

Mama kunle on oshodi road has benefited because her money in the bank is safe; she has not been told that she cannot
make a withdrawal of her funds. Prior to the consolidation, we were heading in this direction.

Fhemmmy:

With the national Pension plan, tell me why all the pensionaires are still have problem collecting their money - i will admit dont know too much about that scheme.

The national pension plan was not created to pay the backlog of pensioners. It was created to let deductions be made from people's
pay check and some of the proceeds invested in the market. We never had anything like this in Nigeria prior to the OBJ administration

Fhemmmy:

Mention to me 2 achievement of EFCC, apart from chasing the small boys around all in the name of 419 and leaving the bigger 419 in office, they have made so much noise and no conviction or conviction with nothing to show for it.

1. Former IG of police Tafa Balogun had to refund the money he stole to the govt, his property was confiscated and he did jail time.

2. In 2005 Rear Admirals Francis Agbiti and Samuel Kolawole were court-marshalled and sacked for allowing the tanker African Pride to escape the navy port in Lagos.

Fhemmmy:

OBJ has more women in top position and i guess that explains what happened btw him and his daughter in law.

The daughter in law has nothing to do with this thread. We are talking about his performance vs. IBB

Fhemmmy:

Pvt firm in power generation, and where is the power that has been generated?

If Yar'adua had followed up from where he left off, we would've been better off today.

Fhemmmy:

OBJ Paid down the loan, waoh, that is nice,

Thanks for admitting this. Yes it is really nice and a great accomplishment of his.

Fhemmmy:

how much did he borrow when he was in office as a military man and what did he do with the money[/b],

Why don't you tell us

Fhemmmy:


i will not say he did jack, he only undo some of the mess he created.

But you just said he paid off the nations debt and it was nice of him

Fhemmmy:


Increase the salary, that is nice

Again, thanks for admitting that he increased the prof's salary and that it was "nice"

Fhemmmy:


however, the pay rate was still under the poverty rate of the world.

The pay rate is not under the poverty rate of the world. The poverty rate as prescribed
by the UN is less that $2 US a day. You obviously don't know what you are talking about.

Fhemmmy:

I will admit, OBJ change the salary, however, is it equivalent to what inflation is talking about? not at all.

Prove it. Let's see the numbers. What was the inflation rate in 1999 ? in 2007 ?
What was the salary in 1999 ? in 2007 ?

Don't just make unsubstantiated claims. Back up your assertions with numbers.

Fhemmmy:

My point is this, if IBB is given another 8 years to make ammendment, he will do way better than that guy called OBJ.

My point is, IBB ruled for 8 years and OBJ ruled for around 11 years (3 + . They had enough time to perform
All your give IBB another 8 years (making it 16 years ) is plain nonsense

Fhemmmy:

OBJ and IBB both created so much mess in Nigeria that history will never judge them well, however, give IBB another 8 years in office as a democratically elected president, and i am sure, Nigeria will be dancing afterwards.

Why didn't Nigeria dance after IBB's first 8 years ?

So IBB has to rule Nigeria for another 8 years (16 years) in order to perform ? Pitiful



I wrote a list of what OBJ accomplished. Why not do the same for your IBB

OBJ is 1000 times better than IBB (though he is not a saint)


1. How many phone lines were in Nigeria (esp GSM) in 1999 when OBJ took office ? How about 2007 when he left ?

2. How many private universities were in Nigeria in 1999 when OBJ took office ? How about 2007 when he left ?

We are complaining that only 200,000 of 1,000,000 UME candidates get admission into universities. Without all
the private universities licensed by OBJ, what would the figure have been ?

3. Bank consolidation and recapitilization

It is not that we have not had bright CBN governors in the past like soludo, the problem is the political will. Do you think
IBB would've agreed to the 25 billion naira recapitalization by banks ? The credit goes to OBJ fair and square


4. OBJ established the National Pension Commission - Pecom

5. OBJ formed the EFCC.

6. OBJ had more women in top positions than any other head of state.

7. OBJ cleaned up abuja and largely restored it to its original master plan

8. He formed the Niger Delta Development Commission - NDDC

Thirteen percent (13%) derivation for oil producing states

9. OBJ passed laws allowing the inclusion of private firms in power generation

10. We were owing over $30 billion in 1999, now we owe around $5 billion (paid our foreign debt)

11. OBJ met $3 billion in reserves in 1999 and left over $40 billion in reserves in 2007.

12. OBJ increased civil servants' salaries tremendously.

A full professor now makes a minimum of N 2,485,099 per annum. See the ad at UNAAB:

http://www.unaab.edu.ng/jobacademics.php

What was the amount in 1999 when OBJ took office ?

If this is true, then the Nig Labor congress (NLC) are going to be having their nationwide strike soon

Oshiomhole don join politics, so he no fit lead them as usual

TalkSmith:


No university in Nigeria may be on those list, but yet, Nigerians who studied their first degrees in Nigeria, march on into these universities and set records.

That is an excellent point you made there. If our schools are not good (as they are obviously implying), how is it our
first degree products are able to stand toe to toe with others in top rated western universities ?

There is a friend of a friend of mine who finished at Lautech (Oyo state univ) and aced his Msc and PhD in Canada.

Laudable, but I personally don't see it happening

Another side to the story:

[center]The Inside Story:

Nigeria's Ambassador to US fired?

Saharareporters, New York[/center]

The recently announced "sack" of Nigeria's ambassador to the US, General Oluwole Rotimi (Rtd) has revealed deep divisions in the team of Nigeria's Supreme Court-imposed president, Umaru Yar'adua. The ambassador, who spoke to Saharareporters briefly about his ordeal, said he is yet to receive any letter of sack from Yar'adua, contrary to a report by Thisday newspaper. When SaharaReporters reached Nigeria's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ojo Maduekwe, he also refused to speak about the reported sack of the ambassador. Throughout an intense question and answer with Saharareporters, he maintained he was away from Abuja and attending a burial. He directed our reporters to call "the headquarters in Abuja" to find out what is happening.



Diplomatic sources told Saharareporters that Maduekwe was pushing the sack of the ambassador and might have used newspaper reports to pressurize Yar'adua to act upon the decision to sack Oluwole, since it was taking too long. The minister, according to our sources, had reported the Ambassador to Yar'Adua during the swearing-in–ceremony of President Atta Mills in Accra. Maduekwe reportedly made available to Yar'Adua a letter allegedly written by General Rotimi and circulated widely within the Minister's close-knit circle, including former president Olusegun Obasanjo. In it, the ambassador allegedly claimed to have defeated the Biafran Army while he was "Adjutant –General" in the Nigerian Army, but General Rotimi denies ever writing such a letter. He told Saharareporters that he was never an "Adjutant General" in the Nigerian Army but a "Quarter-Master-General". Standing his ground, he asked the media to ensure that whomever made the allegation substantiates it. He claimed that as an old man, he has friends across Nigeria and could not afford to put such a divisive statement in a letter to the minister. With Maduekwe refusing to speak about the issue, Saharareporters has not been able to confirm the existence of the letter officially. Our inquiries from one of the Thisday writers of the story did not yield any results: we were directed to speak with the Thisday Saturday editor in Lagos who is supposedly in possession of the letter that is now the subject of an intense ethnic and political debate.



Further investigations by Saharareporters show that although the Minister for Foreign affairs may be using ethnicity to make his point in getting Rotimi recalled, he not exactly a respecter of people of his ethnic origin. Only last year, in a fit of anger, he wrote several letters in which he deployed and redeployed Nigeria's female Charge d'Affaires in Ethiopia, Mrs. Chigozie F. Obi-Nnadozie. He eventually sent her off to Trinidad and Tobago. Also a US-based Professor, Mobolaji Aluko, told Saharareporters that the minister, while he campaigned for former dictator Sanni Abacha to transmute into a civilian president in 1998, told him that they will have to solve the "Yoruba problem" Aluko said he still has Maduekwe's "final solution to the Yoruba problem in Nigeria" ringing in his ears since 1998. "Tell him that I said so, and ask him whether I did not confront him with it right there in New York at the Council of Foreign Relations". Abacha died soon after those events and Maduekwe moved to the new power brokers. His search for strong authority brought him to the top of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2007.



Sources say Madukwe may have resented Ambassador Rotimi from the beginning because it was Obasanjo who nominated the ambassador as the former president was reconciling with his successor last year after a prolonged period of frosty relations. Yar'adua's supporters however became concerned that Washington DC was too sensitive to be left in the hands of Obasanjo and his men. As a result, the ambassador was left in the cold over official diplomatic activities and his deputy, Ambassador Wakili, dealt directly with Maduekwe and the presidency. General Rotimi, Saharareporters learnt, resented having to follow the minister around, on account of his advanced age, especially as Maduekwe has a taste for frequent and prolonged trips to the US. "The minister was notorious for spending weeks in the US just roaming around", a source in the Nigerian embassy told Saharareporters. During the United Nations General Assembly and the recently concluded inauguration of President Obama, Maduekwe spent several days in the US doing nothing in particular. As Nigeria's representative to the General Assembly, he was not allowed to make his presentation until almost everyone had left; even then, it was merely to read the speech of Yar'adua, who could not attend on account of his failing health.



SaharaReporters also learnt that the Federal government sent two delegations to the Obama inauguration from Abuja even though no invitation had been sent to Abuja. Chief Emeka Anyaoku led one delegation while Minister Maduekwe led yet another. Ambassador Rotimi ran into trouble with Maduekwe when he requested that the two teams be merged together for managerial and reception reasons. Maduekwe, who is known to be a highly-egotistical man, refused all entreaties to accept that the older, more experienced Chief Anyaoku lead the two teams. He was also enraged by the refusal of the ambassador to surrender his inauguration tickets to him so that he could lead the Nigerian delegation to the inauguration. But this could not be done because the US Secret Service in Washington D.C. would not substitute or permit an uninvited Foreign Minister in place of an accredited Ambassador. Both Maduekwe and General Rotimi are close to former president Obasanjo, but as things fell apart between the duo, Maduekwe is said to have portrayed to Yar'adua that General Rotimi is still loyal to the former president as Rotimi had visited Obasanjo while the latter while Obasanjo was at the UN to present his report on the peace mission in the Congo. Coincidentally, Maduekwe himself also met with Obasanjo extensively and reportedly bad-mouthed Yar'adua to Obasanjo, telling the former president that Yar'adua arrives at Federal Executive Meetings (FEC) seated before everyone and doesn't move or speak as such, underscoring the gravity of his sickness. Saharareporters sources said Yar'adua will likely approve a statement by next week recalling Oluwole, since his hands have now been forced.