₦airaland Forum

It makes no sense, but who is surprised anyway,

Jonathan and his friends in government are terminal retards, and to think some folks applaud him for this?!  

If NFF can't be restructured, then STOP FUNDING them, na by force?? let them seek funds from the sorry local leagues they organize like every self respecting Football Federation,   just STOP FUNDING NFF!!!

No matter how much sugar you add to faeces, you are still eating shit!

but why I dey analyse this arrant nonsense sef,

true democracy is freedom of information, I would prefer the government sign FOI,

Word!!

lastpage:
@Our-turn,
No worries Big Bros, emotions run high at times
What with all the noise of those small-small Generators


[size=28pt]Kilode?![/size]

Lastpage, WALAHI that is how I feel

I know it sounds incredible, but another alternative might be to give our Political elites the liberte treatment, a la French revolution, but we don't want that now or do we?

Let's encourage them to Snitch, Witchhunt and Whistleblow themselves out of relevance, regular folks need some breathing space in this country. These thieves don't give a hoot about us.

I'm waiting for Atiku to bring out some dirt about OBJ.

Danjuma about Atiku

OBJ should rat IBB out too

The longer these thieves stay united in corruption, the more Nigerians will sufffer.

Ok, Lastpage went there too?  I just saw your post. Great!

My Naija people are waking up! we should owe no allegiance to these sociopaths!!

just keep preaching the gospel to those around you, until we all get it or at least reduce the population of those who act with impunity -against our collective interests.

deep sight said

Mr. harakiri - Would you care to suggest to me exactly where the war on corruption in Nigeria should start?

Given that -

1. All Nigerian politicians are corrupt

2. Politicians form the government -

- THE ineluctable reality is that no government will ever have the moral authourity to prosecute ANYONE for corruption.

Might i suggest to you that in a situation such as ours, we will have to rely on the in-fighting and vendetta amongst the politicians to fish out every now and then some corrupt politicians.

When that happens, rather than complain about selective justice (which is better than no justice), we should simply look to see if the accused persons are guilty as charged and thank God that another one has bitten the dust.

Gradually, they will all rat each other out.

Well Said!

Naija people!!! That is how I need y'all to start thinking, that is what we need, this detachment from the looters who only care about their pockets and no one else is absolutely valid and necessary!!

We need more Dog eat Dog, as a matter of fact, Political Dog eat Dogism should be a constitutionally protected right,

at least we'll know we aint' the only ones getting screwd until they all choke on their evil vomits!!

@Kobojunkie and platinumnk. Bravo!!

Faceless or not , it's so good to see y'all chipping away

Continue doing it! maybe Reason will eventually prevail over silly superstitions and some of these redundant cultural practices and beliefs that keeps Mama Africa down.

I'm so proud!


Maybe there is hope for my people after all.

Medlabgirl:
Why did the auto/correct change the word r*a*p.e to despoil? just doesn't work grammatically.

I feel your pain, Welcome to Nairaland

As unbelievable at it might seem to some, unfortunately this kinda situation happens too often among Nigerians. even in the diaspora,

It is a clear carryover from our various cultures, with our lack of respect or thought for individual liberty and freedom. That is Naijas main wahala

Kushe said it well,  but I disagree with the part about going to a pastor, Nigerian pastors are mostly products of the same Culture, in most cases they will only succeed in rationalising this nonsense or applying some stupid, religious explanation rooted in cultural respect, silly allegiance and duty, and bring out some out-of-context scripture to justify it all, they will hardly consider the individual liberty part of the situation, the same nonsense that keeps us down.

It wont be easy, but she will need to say ENOUGH, stand up to her mother and be ready to bear the consequences like an adult.

^^ good observation on Nigerians v foreigners treatment, if you've lived in Nigeria especially Lagos, you've prob seen it. It all comes down to the value we place on ourselves and the next Nigerian. Although the funny part is that these same looters who have little or no respect for the common identity we share as Nigerians are the ones screaming now. Until we embrace the        Ideas of equality, Individual liberty and freedom and fight for them both culturally and socially, our country is not going to progress.

@comechop! thank you!!

Nigerian leaders and their silly rantings Condeming the same people they stash billions of stolen money with everyday, and they expect to be taken seriously?!

IMO, BBC clearly did us a favour by showing the same Lagos discerning, regular Nigerians already know about-Brutal, dirty, chaotic, crowded and unplanned, but also fun, fast, promising, lively, no nonsense and full of untapped opportunities. That is Lagos, a place where wealth, abject poverty and despair co-exist nakedly everyday.

The oyinbos get the rich part they don't need to see Lekki, Vi or Ikoyi, that is quite obvious from the stolen billions our leaders place in foreign accounts everyday. The screaming and shedding of crocodile tears by Mister Ambassador-trying-to-play-Pan-African-defender-of-the-black-race with his thieving employers is simply laughable. 

like my SAN said before he died:

"it is what you do at home to promote the welfare of your people that sells your image abroad" -Gani Fawehinmi

Not what you scream about abroad,

Shameless goats!!

allycat:
Our leaders will never be acountable because we are such a docile lot who dont think we deserve better. Mende maryland which I lived in for over 15 years on the surface may not  be classified as  a slum. While there is decent accomodation available, there are also people living in zink and wooden shacks in the same neigbourhood. People also live in partially sunken houses which have been abandoned by their owners. When I used to go jogging in the mornings, you had to be careful so as not to step on human faeces tied up in nylon bags, cos there are houses there ( face me I face you) still without toilets in this decade. Chickens from other peoples houses even used to stray into my compound from time to time, not to mention goats and stray dogs which wandered around the neighbourhood.
So while many of us lived in what we considered decent accomodation, a large percentage lived in what will be described as slum conditions . And I am sure this is replicated all over Lagos.Places like Amuwo Odofin low cost houses would be considered slum dwelling in civilized nations.
Unfortunately, once any of us gets some level of comfort we build a high fence, sink a bore hole, buy DSTV and pretend to ourselves that we have arrived. Shame of a nation.

Well said!

And I will argue that those who feel offended by the BBC docu and their statistics are the Ajebotas whose big egos have been bruised because their pretty, privileged Lagos is spoken of in the same breath as these slimy dirty Olusosun and Makoko slums

Did anyone ask the people of Makoko or the scavengers on the dump sites how they feel? I bet those folks would not mind seeing their story on TV, since Nollywood won't show them. We are a very funny people, always aspiring to greatness by screaming and posturing while ignoring the necessary dirty work of nation building.

Fashola is trying, that is fine, but work needs to be done and we do ourselves no favours by hiding that fact. while we all browse and sip cold drinks, the poor folks in Makoko and other slums all over Nigeria against all odds, are going about the business of survival, who will tell their story?

realwale:
i actually did not want to post my comment but decided to do so after going thr d thread.  Firstly it has not bn ascertained if he was drink driving. he  was coming from an assignmnent and calle his home he was on his way. i saw da grin's manager on TVc on saturday claiming he got a call from d truck driver who claimed he did not abandoned d truck as claimed. d driver said he was stopped by d police at d police station(d accident happenned in front of a police station)

the truck driver is claiming d police were trying to extort N12000 from so he parked and they were on this when they heared a crash from behind.they initially ran away but came back later. corruption is d key issue we shud address here. what of politicians that are supposed to light up d road, LUTH shud have checked for internal bleeding d moment he was brought in. too bad.


he is not d 1st artiste to be involved in an auto crash, wande coal,said balogun and a few others have survived, were they drinking too. let us be fair in our comments. we all know d way pple drive late in d night to avoid armed robbers, it all bore down to insecurity in our land.

Gbam!

that is the issue, your post plus the fact that Nigeria's life expectancy rate is 45 years and probably plummeting are the real points here.

Da Grin was a statistic waiting to happen. We all deserve some blame in his death and that of nameless Nigerians dying needlessly as I type, because we are "contented" with suffering and smilling.

We will rather scream Sai Baba, Oga Sah and Ranka Dede than fight injustice, we are all guilty, myself included. until we decide that we've had enough of this culture of ineptitude, corruption and oppression and push and fight for change and liberty for ourselves as a people instead of glorifying mediocrity, we will shed tears over another Da Grin very soon, over another totally avoidable death.

[quote author=OYB_MEND link=topic=426927.msg5857169#msg5857169 date=1270767667]But he is an experienced idiot who can only improve the system from his past failure.

A new idiot will repeat his failure if not worst.[/quote]An idiot will never succeed at that job, that is the point.

But, to continue with Iwu's silly reasoning, I'll prefer a new fool in that office, we are bored with his foolish ineptitude, we need another idiot to amuse us while pretending to know what he/she is doing.

We don't want quiters we need those who can stay the course. Soyinka can not stand the antics of Nigerian politicians.

In this case, I prefer quitters over clueless administrators who clearly cannot solve the problem but choose to stay in office because of their egotistical/selfish interests.

IMO, We need more "quitters" in Nigeria. or at least more leaders who will admit they are wrong and either quit or commit seppuku

It's obvious that any fool can fail at that INEC job, so Iwu is not doing Nigerians any special favours by staying there. We can easily find another Idiot.

So the Yar' adua visit ain't "personal" afterall?

rebranded:
Jonathan will make sure they work, he has told them their job is to implement the budget no stories, no waste of time on fruitless researches

I like the part he said:

18. In the comforts of our offices let us not forget that majority of our people live below the poverty line and that many of the things we take for granted are in fact the long unfulfilled dreams of many of our country men, women and children. There is therefore an urgency here that must not escape our attention.

Alot of our leaders dont think that way, i have a feeling life is about to be better in Nigeria

Yeah, that was the best statement in the speech for me too. Unfortunately, I've lived too long in Nigeria to shake off my cynicism. I'm still as cynical as ever. This generation of leaders? with our "the people can go to hell" political culture? they have a lot of convincing to do.

Apart from the very few but expected "over-dramatization" e.g airport Taxi that looks like a 1940's WW 2 relic .
The drama is a very decent attempt at portraying what most discerning Nigerians already know; Our people are pawns in the hands of a very few greedy and evil overlords, regardless of tribe or language they all work together to strangle life and liberty out of our people.

Like someone noted earlier, I also find it very curious that this story has little or nothing to say about the the role of ethnic or tribal power play, a recurring theme in Nigerian social narratives. I guess the producers just don't want to cloud the story with that tired and overstressed reality. maybe, maybe not

Good Drama, I hope they will screen it in Naija.

The censorship is beyond silly, it is insulting, not funny anymore.

War Horse:
Guy! what is the difference between a 26 year old and a 30 year old? In my village, both are grouped within one age group.

  that's funny but true.

it's just funny how some of our "Modern" Nigerian practices contradicts a lot our traditional ones in very senseless, very unscientific ways,  (I thought it was supposed to be the other way round).

It now seems placing these age limits on employment is so backward even our forefathers will be as shocked as the rest of the developed world.

Sounds like another fire brigade, brain dead policy.


Nigeria; Ignoring foundational problems since 1960.

@biina

Urban myth? Pyrates was the first confraternity, and even though their initial goals were lofty and noble, they left the door open for miscreants to abuse the opportunity they created. He should dedicate himself to kicking those miscreant out and closing that door.

Those who inherited his ideas and ideals should deal with that, he did his part while in School and moved on, they should do and should have done theirs.

Wrong. No pyrates = No bucaneers = No airlords! The idea of confraternity was foreign, and like most imported things in naija, was adopted poorly.
I will condemn any inventor who creates a weapon of destruction and does not restrict who has access to it. Soyinka and co let those miscreants in.
The right analogy is that of some one who gets a gun permit and buys a gun, only to leave it unguarded and let a criminal use it in a murder.  The owner of the gun can be charged for negligent homicide.

Isn't that stretching the idea of negligent homicide too far? we can as well apply that to a foreign idea like the Nigerian university system itself and call every death inside, outside, on the way to, from or by anyone associated with a university as criminally negligent and prosecute the founders of the Nigerian university system for those deaths

Seems you miss the word 'entire'  

I did not, I was speaking more to the insinuation in your statement. I have my own ideas and understanding about the US judiciary, I agree with those who view US supreme court justices as politicians, all of them, with political ideas to push through the judiciary, but that is debatable, it will take another thread.

Nice discussing with you though, I will give you the last word on this. I will now let it rest.

@ biina I have provided as much explanation and sources as I can, You don't have to agree. I stand by what I posted earlier.

BUT, I disagree with your description of Soyinka as a bureaucrat at FRSC, the Max Weber(father of Bureaucracy) definition of a bureaucrat is more of a career, public official, or a professional with a technical knowledge of a field or office, that FRSC job was a political appointment. Soyinka was not a road safety Professional.

As to his bringing a menace by forming the Pyrates, that is just delving into urban myth, as far as I know, he formed a student organisation infused with political and social ideals to fight for what he sees as an injustice, he was not the first to form a student fraternity, it is unfair for us to equate that with student cultism and not recognize that similar student fraternities exists in universities all over the world doing good works by giving students an avenue to develop their leadership skills, network, participate and push for social causes they believe in.

There is no sensible correlation between Soyinka forming the Pyrates and the unfortunate metamorphosis of some Nigerian students organisations and Student fraternities into banditry, violence and pure hooliganism, it's like condemning an inventor simply because people use his/her technology and ideas to perpetrate
evil and fraud.

Also, good followers of US judicial politics know that Supreme court justices are sometimes full fledge politicians, a recent example is retired Supreme court justice Sandra Day O'connor who was twice elected to the Arizona state senate, there are other examples, you can look it up on your own. Politics of the US judiciary is a major part in the study of US Jurispudence.

biina:
where are talking about defining 'politician' and not 'politic'. Whats next, everyone that doctors something, is a doctor?
Provide a definition for the word 'politician' and stop trying to get in thru the back door. Abi na u create the word?

FYI, a more detail description from wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politician):

A politician or political leader (from Greek "polis" is an individual who is involved in influencing public decision making. This includes people who hold decision-making positions in government, and people who seek those positions, whether by means of election, coup d'état, appointment, electoral fraud, conquest, right of inheritance  (see also: divine right) or other means. Politics is not limited to governance  through public office. Political offices may also be held in corporations, and other entities that are governed by self-defined political processes.

Considered a politician
* In a state, a member of the executive branch of government, or the office of Head of State, as well as the legislative branch, and regional and local levels of government.
* Any person influencing group opinions in his or her favor can be termed a politician. For example, a worker participating in office politics is a politician, but only so far as the operations of his or her workplace are concerned.
* Some law enforcement officers, such as sheriffs, and many judges who are elected or appointed because of their political views or popularity.

Not considered a politician
* Members of government who serve purely functional roles, such as bureaucrats.
* Members of the judicial branch, law enforcement, and the military are not usually regarded as being politicians since they are generally executing or adjudicating established law and custom.
* Ordinary citizens with the power to vote cannot properly be called politicians even though they can participate in group decision-making. A politician participates in public debate that leads to a group decision being reached, while a voter is simply responding to that debate.


So please provide a source that supports your definition of a politician.

I provided support earlier using the same dictionary you used, but you don't have to agree with me though, that is fine.

I placed parts of your wikipedia source above in bold because I believe they very well describe the actions and activities of Soyinka as a fomer FRSC chairman(a political appointment albeit under a military regime) and his appointment as a chief negotiator by Niger Delta militants/Yar'adu amnesty program is obviously because of HIS political views or popularity[/b]   also his numerous participation in public debates and activities that had led to group decisions, SNG was not the first group he participated, in Soyinka has been doing this since the 60s.

But this peep into his mind through his words might help also; [b]At the same time I also recognise that if I'm in Nigeria, it is impossible for me to remain a private citizen. In other words, whereas before, I was content with a kind of catalytic peripheral underground association with activists, and political movements in the country and been quite at home in it because don't forget that I am not a professional politician -- and I don't want to be one -- having been involved on that level, it is not possible for me to pretend a lather of creative sweat if I were to revert to what seems to be the only thing possible -- the debate -- and controversy -- political contribution. For me these two options are close; one, of remaining completely an unpoliticised individual and two, the option of pretending to myself that I am achieving anything by the debate-controversy method. I don't because of this condemn, or suggest for a single moment that it is absolutely futile, the debate and controversy method -- there is a lot of education which can go on with it, a kind of preparatory work, a kind of rerunning of attitudes [/b], from http://prelectur.stanford.edu/lecturers/soyinka/soyon.html

you can also read his description of himself as a political animal in his book The Open Sore of a Continent pg 128-129

here is a description of Soyinka by an educational institution; "The first African to win the Nobel Prize in Literature (in 1986), Wole Soyinka has established himself as one of the most compelling literary forces on the continent. Born in Abeokuta, Nigeria, in 1934, he is often regarded as a universal man: poet, playwright, novelist, critic, lecturer, teacher, actor, translator, politician, and publisher.  from  http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/cm/africana/soyinka.htm

Now, all these does not mean I'm right, but by my own understanding of the concepts of politics and politician and my observation of Soyinka over the years through his writings and activities, I consider him a politician, professionally or not. Although he just formed a party, I do not believe he will run for anything, I think it's in keeping with his idea of acting as political catalyst and I welcome that wholeheartedly.

Ibime:
Wole should concentrate on turning the Save Nigeria Group into a mass movement first. . . . I dont see how this is different from Pat Utomi contesting elections.

I agree with you. The social movement in Nigeria has always found it difficult to carry the masses along with them, that is prob. why we keep getting thugs and idiots in government. As much i support Soyinka, Utomi and co, SNG cannot save Nigeria Until they are able to carry Nigerians along, that is their ultimate challenge.

[quote author=~Bluetooth link=topic=415128.msg5721139#msg5721139 date=1268944922]if your above theory is to be viewed technically,i can deduced that nairaland should be registered as a political party while seun and kosovo become party chairman and chairman board of trustee respectively.roflmaolol[/quote]LWKM, that actually will not be a bad idea with almost 500,000 (very aggressive and opinionated members) we can pull some weight I'm worried about Seun though, I'm not so sure about him or maybe I'm just trying to be to be too political

[quote author=~Bluetooth link=topic=415128.msg5720823#msg5720823 date=1268941150]olodo.does carrying placards automatically makes you a politician?[/quote]you don't have to throw insults, that comes off as childish, although I find the word "olodo" very funny, anyway, my response and clarification is above.

biina:
I beg do not abuse the use of the word 'politician'.
Definition
1 : a person experienced in the art or science of government; especially : one actively engaged in conducting the business of a government
2(a) : a person engaged in party politics as a profession
(b) : a person primarily interested in political office for selfish or other narrow usually short-sighted reasons

"Soyinka has always been a politician, a social critic can by extention be political, MLk, Ghandi, even Rush Limbaugh in the US, it is not necessary to form a party and you can form one also to put pressure on govt or create a larger platform for your cause, you don't even have to win a single seat, pressure groups are an integral part of politics?"

I believe I have expressed my thoughts as well as I can in the post above. Taking a literary. short, or narrow dictionary definition will not adequately flesh out the meaning of very broad concepts like politics or politician.

POLITICS
1 a : the art or science of government b : the art or science concerned with guiding or influencing governmental policy c : the art or science concerned with winning and holding control over a government
2 : political actions, practices, or policies
3 a : political affairs or business; especially : competition between competing interest groups or individuals for power and leadership (as in a government) b : political life especially as a principal activity or profession c : political activities characterized by artful and often dishonest practices
4 : the political opinions or sympathies of a person
5 a : the total complex of relations between people living in society [/b]b : [b]relations or conduct in a particular area of experience especially as seen or dealt with from a political point of view <office politics> <ethnic politics>

Doing any of the above puts you squarely in the realm of politics, even a mere interest, either as a critic on TV, Nairaland, or in the house of assembly makes you a politician. studying it as in 1(a) makes you a politician, we can play with the word as long as we want but the bottom line is that; politics isn't only about party politics and critics too are political. So, by extension they are politicians. Wole Soyinka forming a political party is an extension of what he's spent the better part of his life doing.

He has a stated agenda to remove Iwu and reform the electoral process or get a sovereign national conference started, the same political ideas he's always canvassed for. they are "narrow" ideas because they do not cover every political interest in the polity and not everybody will agree with him, but that is what he's pushing. He has always been a politician. Forming a party now did not just transform him into one.

There is a gross lack of knowledge about politics and who a politician is in Nigeria, I blame that on the long years of military rule, and their attempt to keep the population in ignorance and under control i.e they removed simple civic education from the school curricula in the 80s & 90s.

Coupled with what we've seen in the last decades, that is why a lot of us are cynical. Soyinka has always been a politician, a social critic can by extention be political, MLk, Ghandi, even Rush Limbaugh in the US, it is not necessary to form a party and you can form one also to put pressure on govt or create a larger platform for your cause, you don't even have to win a single seat, pressure groups are an integral part of politics?

They can form a party(labour and green party in the western world) or align with other parties. Unfortunately, most of us grew up to know politicians as big men with agbadas and suits who occupy political offices. They've really messed with our head in this country. I see hope though.

0hsisi:
Then he should prepare to meet allah!
look at this shameless thief
Is politician a career?
Useless aboki

^You prob didn't intend it to be, but i find that very funny

Seun said "What has the protest achieved, really, besides blessing us with the very nice cleavage photo above?"[/color]

Seun, really? are you really that silly or cynical? what is not noble about the actions of these young Nigerians? and to think you operate and own a "Nigerian forum"  your ignorance is just sad.

So the girls cleavage was the only thing you saw in the pics? someone like you should be at the front fighting for a proper freedom of information bill, considering you operate a website/technology created by a system and culture that thrives on the freedom of speech, something people died fighting for.

and if you were trying to be funny like someone else suggested then that makes it sadder, there is nothing funny about a group of young people asserting their rights in front of a bunch of gun toting, poorly trained police force. they are fighting for your kids future, at least they will drive on those same death traps called roads, need electricity without inhaling carbon monoxide everyday and hopefully live in a country where they can start a business and live without having to bribe a thousand people to operate it. You disappoint me dude.

erico2k2:
man just check what you wrote up there, now if OP was flying Nigerian Airways or virgin nigeria then its all good, he was flying virgin atlantic,a british based airline, so what do you expect? and mainwhile they Uk sometimes use Surname as well as last name and in all of our bank Cards, first name comes first b4 last name, thats where and how its being derived, its not a form of international standard, its like we saying bank Holiday while in Nigeria its called public holiday.copy that?

It seems we are both arriving at the same conclusion, but let me clarify with your example, If you are speaking to a bunch of Nigerian kids and you mentioned "tomorrow is a bank holiday" they will probably react with a hun?? and that will be understandable, but if you had said "tomorrow is a public holiday" I'm sure very few will be confused about what you mean, that is the difference as I understand it.

You and I know that lastname and surname means the same thing, but for a company like Virgin Atlantic they shouldn't have assumed that, then charge their customers 30pounds. It has nothing to do with the ignorance of customers, I can totally understand why that will be confusing. Virgin should have done their home work better, lastname is correct but surname would have been better and less confusing or better still, write one and place the other in parenthesis, I've seen this on forms before, a good company should have thought about that. Western Union did. Virgin did not.

nice talking to you though.

[quote author=omo~fat link=topic=413009.msg5704747#msg5704747 date=1268754445]Dude you cannot be for real. The average nigerian *really* doesn't know that your surname is your last name which is your father's name? - You can't be serious.

We can talk about and condemn virgin atlantic's bad practices and not being customer oriented, etc., but please let's not encourage or make excuses for ignorance.[/quote]Really? Nigeria is not a country that is serious about data and statistics, so I will offer a "guesstimation" based on what I believe is sensible. If you attended school in Nigeria, even if it's just Primary 1(grade 1) you will know that surname = your father's name, that is how we are taught based on the British English tradition used in Nigeria, that is what Nigerians expect to see on forms used in Nigeria, that should be a no brainer, if you attended school in Nigeria you will know.

So, that was prob. why the OP asked  "why didnt they just say surname" this has nothing to do with ignorance, you are expecting too much if you think Nigerians should know a convention that is foreign to theirs. Virgin should have done their homework like W/U did.

Lastname is not the  normal British English way of writing[b] Father's name[/b] and Virgin should know that. That long line of Nigerian travelers can't be that silly, ignorant and wrong. Virgin is the ignorant one here.