₦airaland Forum

@potof soup:
My point is not whether she has american citizenship or not, I live in London and there are thousands of Nigerians with British passport all over the place, same goes for German, American, Spanish, etc. and I'm not saying there is a big deal in her appointment.
My point is that the Chinese or India government will not be jubilating or praising Obama for appointing an expert of Chinese or India descent into a position, they will rather be looking for way of bringing the expert back into their country, for their own development.

Even statistics has shown that during this global melt down a lot of Chinese Americans and India Americans will rather go back to their country of origin to work rather that looking for jobs in america. This is the type of level Nigeria should be moving towards, where people of Nigerian descent can come to Nigeria to work or do business anytime they want without the fear of insecurity or lack of infrastructure.

IS IT RIGHT THAT GOV FAYEMI SHOULD BE PRAISING OBAMA FOR APPOINTING  AN INDIGENE OF HIS STATE(EKITI) INTO ONE OF THE MAJOR AMERICAN HEALTH DEPARTMENT?

PERSONALLY, AS A NIGERIAN I THINK IT'S NOT SOMETHING WE SHOULD BE TOO HAPPY ABOUT BECAUSE IT'S PART OF THE BRAIN DRAIN THAT AS BEEN GOING ON IN NIGERIA FOR DECADES.
THERE ARE MILLIONS OF NIGERIAN PROFESSIONALS ALL OVER THE WORLD THAT HAS LEFT THE SHORES OF NIGERIA JUST BECAUSE OF LACK OF CONDUCIVE ENVIRONMENT I.E LACK OF POWER SUPPLY, GOOD SALARY STRUCTURE, SECURITY ETC.
IT'S THE DUTY OF THE GOVERNMENT TO PROVIDE AND CREATE A STABLE SOCIETY FOR NIGERIANS TO BE ABLE TO PRACTICE AND ENGAGE IN THERE CHOOSING PROFESSION OR TRADE WITHOUT HAVING TO LEAVE THE COUNTRY  AND IT'S ALSO THE DUTY OF OUR GOVERNMENT TO LOOK FOR WAYS OF BRINGING NIGERIAN PROFESSIONAL ABROAD BACK HOME.  THAT'S PART OF WHAT CHINA AND INDIA DID TOWARD BRINGING THEIR COUNTRIES BACK TO GLOBAL AND INTERNATIONAL RECKONING AND IMPORTANCE, I THINK NIGERIA CAN LEARN FROM THEM.


Please read the story from punch and let's know your opinion,

"Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has hailed the appointment of an indigene of the state, Prof. Olufunmilayo Olopade, into the United States National Cancer Advisory Board.
The governor said in a statement made available to our correspondent in Ado-Ekiti on Sunday by his Special Adviser on Media, Mr. Mojeed Jamiu, that “Olopade’s appointment bears eloquent testimony to academic and professional excellence Ekitis are renowned for worldwide.”
Mrs. Olopade is an authority on cancer risk assessment, prevention, and treatment. She is also a practicing clinician and director of the University’s Cancer Ris,  (punch, feb 28 2011).

@alagha:

That's one of the reasons, but then why should 60-70% of nigerian parents not understand their language in the first instance? I'm even talking about parents living in nigeria, even the ones that understand theirs be it ibo,hausa or yoruba don't want their children to understand it talkless of being able to speak it.
what point are we trying to prove? being multi-lingua actually shows how clever or intelligent you are.

I think it's a trend that needs to be reversed.

GUYS PLEASE WHY DON'T NIGERIAN PARENTS WANT THEIR CHILDREN TO SPEAK OR EVEN UNDERSTAND THEIR NATIVE LANGUAGE?

This trend that nigerian children don't speak or even understand their mother tongue has been going on for years and it's getting to a level now that i think parents should start trying and reversing the trend. There is nothing wrong in a child being able to communicate in their native language be it ibo,hausa or yoruba, it doesn't make them less intelligent, infact being multi-lingua shows how clever and intelligent you are.

The last time I was in nigeria I went to visit some friends in Ibadan, it was really shocking to hear most of their children telling me they don't understand yoruba whenever i try to speak yoruba to them! can you imagine that in ibadan ( the heartland of yorubaland).

Even in uk, the indians, chinese, parkistani children all understands and can speak their mother language whenever they need to, it's only the nigerian children that doesn't understand theirs talkless of speaking it, it's not right.
Sadly we will eventually lose our identity if we don't correct this.

@tennyalad:
That's very true, the consumer is always the priority and that's why i said the place or market where the products or sevices is going to be sold, needed or consumed has to be identified first or 'gap in the market' as people put it, or else the whole essense of starting the business will be defeated.

The 4cs which are:customer,competition,cost and communication are just like the newer version of the 4ps. whichever way both systems of categorisation are almost the same and are very useful.

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE: that is, what do i do for the long term to make my product/services unique, and be able to compete with my competitors in the market to be able to have an edge for the long term. This is where strategies comes into play, that is, the way we have and maintain the competitive advantage.

All these things are very important for anybody wanting to start a business on a long term basis to consider.

Good thread!
As a business analyst I reckon I can contribute one or two things as well.

To start a business, whether in the US,UK,Australia,Nigeria or any country, there are always four important things we must consider, they are listed below:

1.PRODUCT: This means you must first identify the product you want to trade in e.g cloths, electronics etc, or in manufacturing business the product you want to be manufacturing. In business, product could also means services, e.g hairdressing,cleaning,consultancy,owning restaurants, etc, it could also means selling your talents eg musicians, actors, footballers.
Like people have written ealier, the product/service to trade in should be something you have passion for or your area of strenght and interest, because it's very important to have something that will be driving you on even when it seems the business is not going the way you want.

2. PLACE: This is your business location or market as they say in business, it's very important to identify the location and place where your product/services is really needed i.e where your product can sell quickly, or else you will be like someone trying to sell ice to the eskimos!

3.PRICE: This is important as well, with wrong pricing you can either make losses or even scare potential customer away. Therefore it's very fair and reasonable to have an idea about your pricing plan before you even start investing in the business.

4. PROMOTION: Make yourself and business known, advertise your product through the internet, friends and families, fliers, bill-board or sign posts etc.
Finally put God at the begining of the business, have passion for it, it's not going to be easy at first, but surely success will come.

It's shocking the level of hatred people are showing towards this murdered gay ugandan, even on Nairaland.
Life should be live and lets live, not live and lets die.

This is the kind of hatred the KKK were showing towards the blacks in america back then, It's should be people's perogative to have sex with even a PIG if it so pleases them.

@Pro01:
You don't have to stab or shoot someone before you kill them.

I live in London and I know a lot of nigerians that after living in uk for years decided to come back home to start a new life or start a business only to be scammed or 419ed as they say in nigeria. A lot of these scammed people ended up dying depressed or even take their own life. I personally know of a nigerian man that has to come back to London to be admitted to a mental home because he was 419ed of all his savings and investment in nigeria.

Even though people are writing that they are not glorifying this tobechi guy yet they respect him! guys there is no honour among thieves, whether he's your brother,cousin,friend or husband.

According to this article, Tobechi is an american citizen, he's clever and intelligent without any doubt, with this combination the sky is his limit. There are a lot of nigerians that are high achievers and making positives impact all over the world with their talent and intelligence without having to scam or swindle people.

I live in London and I meet a lot of very intelligent nigerians professionals, musician, programmers,businessmen and women everyday, These people chose to use their talent and brains to do something positive and lift the image of nigeria.
The sad thing is that a lot foreigners are now always cautious of doing business with nigerians, even when it's a legal business just because of the fear of 419.

Nigerians should realise that image matters a lot and goes a long way, that's why foreign tourists will prefer to go on holiday in kenya, tanzania or ghana than come to nigeria! these countries are poorer than nigeria yet they are safer and not as greedy as we are, so we cannot continue to use poverty as excuse for bad behaviour.

It is sad to see people glorifying and even seeing this Tobechi guy as a hero, he's not!

There are lots of nigerians in diaspora over the years that have achieved and risen to the top in their chosen endeavour; medicine,academics,banking etc, but unfortunately it is nigerians like this (Tobechi) that is rubbing mud on their achievement
and tarnishing the image of the country.

They view nigerians abroad now with suspicion all the time! which is very embarassing, even most of the time nigerians with good characters are treated like rogues and thieves abroad, just because of people like tobechi! A statistics came out last year here in the uk that 89% of nigerians in uk prisons are there because of scam and fraud! na cause!

Can you be the accused and the judge at the same time?

Dr Emma Okocha!!! Another Igbo clown!

The ways people make their comments on nairaland shows exactly what is wrong with nigeria in the first place. Do people have to be insultive or abusive before making their point? i don't think so.

A lot of things is wrong with governance in nigeria, we can never run away from that fact, federalism can never work in a country like nigeria, parliamentary system of government will work better, parliamentary system of government doesn't mean nigeria is breaking up as some people were insinuating, it only means every regions will have autonomy on their region and there will be an executive centre that will not be as strong as each regional government.

Because federalism works in america it doesn't mean it's going to work in nigeria, we cannot just continue to sweep this issues under the carpet.
We have to work out the system of government that will work better for us to be able to reduce all these tribal and religious tension affecting our politics. Until nigerians face this fact, people will just be writing rheotics and semantics in the dailies or even nairaland.

@Silami:

I'm not Igbo, but that's not even the point, my question to you is whether your tribe is united?

In my personal opinion no tribe is united in nigeria or anywhere in the world for that matter, what people call unity among the hausas is just 'brain-washing' by their political & religious leaders and this is possible because of the crass illetracy and ignorance in the north.
The yorubas are not united either, what you have are leaders and elders who uses culture to manipulate their people.

Finally, tell me a country or society in the world where there is unity?

@Dandabai:

The south don't need food from the north, or any agricultural product for that matter, the south has yams, palm trees, cassava, vegetables and fruits, cotton, rice, rubber, cocoa, petroleum and various natural resources, the list is endless. My friend it is the north that really needs the south.

However, I'm not advocating that nigeria should break up literarily, but we should change our system of governance from federal to parliamentary system where the southern and northern nigeria can have their own separate autonomy.

@Silami:

Pls what's the essence of this thread?
Is your tribe united? I strongly doubt it.

Silami can you relate to this verse :"You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye"

The fundamental problem in nigeria is corruption and bad leadership, not muslims vs christians or north vs south per se.

The main concern and debate should be how the followership can make the leadership  accountable to them.

Personally I don't really care where who rules nigeria comes from or even their religion or lack of it, as long as they can provide stable power supply, health care, good education, good roads, security, etc.  These are the issues nigerians should be concerned with.

Federalism can never work in a country like nigeria, it works in america because their society is monolithic. i.e they share the same culture, language etc. unlike nigeria where we have over 200 different cultures, ideologies, believes systems and languages.

We need to go back to the parliamentary system of government, where each region will have their own assembly/houses, their own ministers, manage their own economy and have their own premier or first minister as it is called in some countries, then we can have a ceremonial president in the middle with very little executive power. we will still be one country, using the same passport and free travel throughout the regions.
Take Britian for example, britain is made up of four countries namely;england,scotland,wales and north ireland , each of these regions have their own political authonomy, and are joined together politicaly in the middle at their house of commons.

It's high time we stopped deceiving ourselves about 'ONE NIGERIA' it's a mirage.   I'm not advocating that nigeria should break up literarily, but let us allow each region to have their own autonomy.

Friends what will you change in nigeria assuming you were giving a power to change just ONE thing about our country, and why?

are you sure?

The only thing that can unseat the pdp is the PEOPLE!
Unfortunately most nigerians fighting against pdp are not anything better themselves!

Great thread!

In addition, God's intention for us is to have relationship with him and not religion. Religion does not save, relationship with God saves.

One of the bible verse every christian should never forget is JOSHUA 1:8, in this verse God himself showed us how we can
constantly walk with him, how we can have fulfilling and successful life.

For christians experiencing one problem or the other, we should always remember that at one point or the other problems, trials, afflition will definately come, but we have to realise that it's not every trial or problem that we are passing through that it's caused by the devil, demon, our family or our enemies!

-Remember that joseph passes through slavery on his way to becoming the prime minister of egypt,
-The isrealites passes through the red sea on their way to the promise land,
-Daniel was thrown into the lions den for God's glory to be manifested,
-Even our saviour Jesus Christ was tried and nailed on the Cross for our salvation! what more , !
Therefore friends, what looks like problems or afflitions from the enemy in our lives most atimes is God taking us through the red sea of life to our promise land!

I pray that the Holy spirit will continue to teach, guide and strenghtned us through all the trials and tribulations of life, (amen).

It's a matter of demand and supply, Lagos is a major city, just like london,new york, belin, etc.

RIP Uche Okafor, one of the best set of eagles ever, So early to fly to the great beyond.

Managing a law chamber is quite different from managing any other type of businesses, a law chamber is what you start with your own vision, knowledge and intellect, is not just a line of business that can be inherited. Late Gani has done his own bit for nigeria and at the moment he can do no more because he's dead! Let the living nigerians take their own destiny into their own hands instead of critizising the will of LATE GANI FAWEHINMI.

Guys pls jokes apart, i heard this rumour about 7years ago when i was still in nigeria(i'm in uk now) from a very top civil servant who happens to be my uncle that Atiku is GAY, or sorry bi-sexual because he's married, i think i'm coming around to believe that now, !

?? so what? what about that?

Pls lets focus on the main point of this thread which is why marriages don't last abroad. It has nothing to do with race, colour etc as some people are turning it into.
1. As a matter of fact many white people don't even get married thesedays or if they do it doesn't last, even among themselves.

2. On the issue of inter-racial marriage, lets be objective here, a lot of black people, especially africans doesn't like getting married to white people as well and the ones that do especially the immigrants do so to get their papers, some do because of the belive that white women are more 'sexually active and proactive' over the years a lot of europeans ladies has been used, hurt and dumped as soon as some of our black brothers get their papers! therefore we black people sometimes should share part of the blames as well.

3. Still on the issue of inter-racial marriage, naturally human beings get attracted more to people of the same colour, tradition, faith, educational level etc as them.
A lot of nigerians family will never support their child getting married to a foreigner be it white, or even other africans. My friend's mum started crying when my friend told her he's expecting a baby with his white girlfriend and that they will be getting married shortly, racism? or what do u call that? even my own mum will always say pls for God sake do not marry a white lady.

4. On the issue of police or immigration harrasement, i have seen various things nigerians do in uk here that one will be ashamed of, like driving without license, infact 80% of nigerians drive in uk here drive without proper license, if the police then stops them the next thing is to shout racism, what about frauds, the list is endless, we should also take some responsibilities here and try to obey the law more, this society is not the lawless society we are coming from.


5.INSTEAD OF CRYING THAT THE WHITE PEOPLE SHOULD LIKE US, WE SHOULD START LOVING OURSELVES FIRST, LET THERE BE LOVE BETWEEN HAUSA, IBO, YORUBA AND OTHER TRIBES. EVEN THE LEVEL OF TRIBALISM PEOPLE PUT IN THEIR COMMENTS ON NAIRALAND IS SOMETIMES SHOCKING.
GOD HAS GIVEN US ALL WE NEED IN OUR COUNTRY THAT WE SHOULD NOT EVEN BE THINKING OF RUNNING TO A FOREIGN LAND IN THE FIRST INSTANCE.
IF WE LOVE OURSELVES ENOUGH IN OUR COUNTRY AND WE ARE DOING THE RIGHT THINGS FOR EACH OTHER, THEN WE MIGHT NOT EVEN NEED TO BE WORRIED WHETHER THE WHITE MAN LIKES US OR NOT.

6. FINALLY LET US DEAL WITH THE TRIBALISM ISSUE AMONG OURSELVES FIRST BEFORE WE START ACCUSING OTHER RACES OF RACISM!

Most Marriage break-ups is due to pride from both sides. husband and wife must be ready to sacrifice before their marriage can work whether in nigeria or westnern society, that is they must be ready to compromise some of their stance, opinions and ideas to meet in the 'middle'.

Scientific studies has even shown that people in happy marriages live more fulfilling,healthy and happy life that single people especially as they grow old, even regardless of wealth.

I live in london and it's shocking to see the increase in divorce rate, NO WONDER THE RISE IN THE NUMBER OF SAD AND LONELY OLD MEN AND WOMEN IN THE SO-CALLED 'DEVELOPED' WORLD.

@notcorrupt, you are not mad for wanting to go back, a lot of us are feeling the same way too, but my advice is that you should feel the water with your toe first before jumping into the pool.
Very useful thread for guys in diaspora, I've been living in london for 8years, i came over here after graduating and working for 3years with sagem in nigeria.
hopeful i will be going back to nigeria next year to see and meet up with old friends who are on ground in nigeria to find out the opportunities in nigeria, luckily most of them are professionals, but that will be after finishing my post graduate studies and/or my british passport coming through, lol.

On a serious note, i think the best thing guys in disapora can do before even thinking of going back home is to improve and develop oneselves either educationally or professionally, so as to be relevant to the society(nigeria) we are going back into. The mistake a lot of we nigerians in diaspora make is to forget about personal development as soon as we get abroad and just keep 'chasing' money, ironically a lot of people realise late that money is not easy or cheap to come by anywhere, even in the so-called 'developed' countries.

Going back home with billions or millions is not enough, but the ideas and experiences that one has gathered abroad goes a long way as well.

Nigerians need to wake up and take this more seriously.

I live in UK and the level of terror attack threat from islamic organisations in uk and the rest of europe is shocking.

These islamic terrorists thrive on fear, look at what is happening in parkistan, somalia, yemen, etc.
We all need to stand up and fight against this islamic extremism before it gets out of hand.

Ekiti people are among the most enlightened people in nigeria, this is a fact that speaks for itself. An average ekiti man knows his basic human rights and cannot be cheated easily, that is why we (ekiti people) were able to remove a 'governor' (oni) that the PDP imposed on us and install the right man (fayemi), how many state in nigeria has such courage to stand and fight for justice?

Every nigerian has a right to voice their opinion on any issue or political office holder in nigeria, president and vice president inclusive, their is nothing disrespectful about that.

@Mobinga
It's either you are ignorant or you support what Adamu did, which is very sad.

However i will quickly take you through the story: It was confirmed through investigative journalism that Amos Adamu (a nigerian) who is a Fifa executive committee member demanded for bribe from some countries contesting to host the 2018 world cup.

As martyns303 said, this issue is not about football but about corruption and the way the international community sees us. I know some nigerians like you(mobinga) might see nothing wrong in what Adamu did which is sad but until we as people especially our leaders starts seeing corruption as a major issue to our development then nigeria will never move forward.

I live in London and the news is a major article in their dailies/news throughout this week and it's very suprising that most people back in nigeria did not even hear about it which means the whole country is so much deep in corruption that it doesn't even make news no more.