₦airaland Forum

@Fhemmy

Thank God I finally meet you here. Your name escape my memory and I have been searching for ir up/down.

Please, my budget is 1.1m and am interested in Infinity Q4. please contact me on mohdonuh@yahoo.com for further discussion pls.

Sincerely hoping to here from you.

Hello house pls I am in the process of pre-ordering a right hand drive free lander from europe. I was told it's easier to convert it to Left Hand Drive here in Lagos.
Pls how realiable and efficient this car will perform upon convertion? people with expirience pls cheer with me.
Pls I need your candid advice before commiting my hard earned money.
Advice pls!

For those who can not access the site, here comes the full aticle.

Tuesday, 13 September 2011 05:00 Boco Edet .inShare.0SocButtons pluginIn Nigeria,

it is common to find people urinating in public. Many are no longer shy or embarrassed about undressing slightly, and exposing what should be ‘sacred’. Our reporter investigates this new habit which is slowly turning the country into one large urine factory.

Abaniwonda
Remember Al-Mustaim Alade Abaniwonda? The late Lagos politician whose death was controversial because there were conflicting reports about how he died? While some newspapers said he committed suicide out of frustration after he failed to win a senatorial seat, others said his death was an incident.

If you paid particular attention to those who described his death as incidental, you would have learnt a simple lesson. Do not urinate in public places.

According to reports, Abaniwonda was pressed after a trip to the bank on the Lagos Island. He rebuffed the advice of his driver to wait till they get to the CSS Bookshop building located on Broad Street. He rather instructed him to park, stood by the express to pee, somehow slipped and drowned when help was not forthcoming.

You may wonder how someone of that repute would feel comfortable exposing his privates in public. That is, if you were a visitor to Nigeria. For the remaining over 150million of us, Abaniwonda’s act did not defy reason. It was only logical. Nature called and he answered with immediacy. It did not count that he was offending other road users and polluting the environment with his urine.

It is likely that since his sad death, millions of Nigerians have urinated in public places and thousands have stood at that very same spot where he lost his life to do the same thing that cost him his life.

33 million Nigerians defecate in the open

The UNICEF says an estimated 33 million Nigerians still practice open defecation in different parts of the country.

Dr Suomi Sakai, UNICEF’s Country Representative and Chief Ambassador, said this recently at the commemoration of the World Sanitation Day in Abuja.

“The most worrisome of all the unsanitary practices is the high rate of open defecation practice in the country.

“It is estimated that about 33 million Nigerians defecate in the open, depositing about 1.7m tonnes of faeces into the environment annually,’’ she said.

Sakai said that the development had resulted in a high level of contamination of the environment, in which garbage and faeces often find their way into water resources.

Sights you’ve seen

The road is busy; cars are parked on each side. Pedestrians are walking briskly on the side walk and hawkers are trading. Then from the crowd, one young, properly dressed and obviously educated man diverts from the road. He unbuckles his belt, removes his privates from his trousers and starts to form the rainbow curve with his urine. He even frees his other hand to remove his mobile phone from his shirt’s pocket to answer a call. Once through, he takes his time to properly tuck in and returns the phone to his pocket. It is just like everything on that street froze and he was standing in his toilet.

It just rained cats and dogs. The market is messy with mud everywhere. A child walks up to his mother who sells vegetables, tells her he is pressed. She stops trading to pull down his shorts and directs him to the path where visitors pass. Just as he is about finishing, a woman passing by, slips, and is covered in mud and the young child’s urine.

Most Nigerians are confronted daily by these sights of people urinating in public, when they are not the participants. No place is off the limits- markets, highways, beer parlors, houses. Just anywhere would pass. It is not a social taboo.

People are no longer bothered by decency and decorum where exposing their privates to urinate is involved. This is ironic because by comparison, Nigerians are still much closeted about discussing sexual issues.

If the urine was just a visual nuisance, perhaps it would not be so much of an issue. But these acts pollute the environment. Sometimes, after many people have urinated in a particular spot repeatedly, the stench becomes unbearable. It does not help if it is near gutters. This cannot be healthy for any human being.

No laws against public urination

The federal or state governments for that matter are yet to enact a law making public urination crime. At the rate with which the act is becoming rampant, one would think it would be a matter of urgency. Lagos state government made an attempt recently when Governor Babatunde Fashola vowed to prosecute Lagosians caught urinating and passing faeces in public.

Governor Fashola said he was unhappy about the degradation of the environment by some Lagosians, and the government would no longer fold its arm and allow such act continue unabated.

As commendable as this is, until governments at all levels make laws and by-laws against public urination, mere condemnation would remain political statements.

Last Wednesday, the BBC reported a student was fined 100 pounds after urinating on the Derry peace bridge in London. Aaron McGeogh, 19, from Glenabbey Square, pleaded guilty to committing the offence of indecent behaviour on the bridge on 29 July. Police were contacted about a crowd of young men “drinking and urinating” on the bridge. A member of the public identified McGeogh as one of the group to police. The judge said he could not have picked a worse place to urinate in public. He said this is because the citizens of Derry are very proud of the peace bridge, and it was no surprise that members of the public reported this to the police.


Bringing the situation back home, such a judgment being passed is hardly conceivable. This is because the student would not get reported in the first place, as public property is regarded as no one’s property.

In many areas in the United States, public urination is a crime. Such laws are primarily governed by state and local laws, which vary by jurisdiction. It is possible to be charged with littering, public nuisance, indecent exposure, disorderly conduct, or other law, if the locality doesn’t have a law specifically addressing public urination.

Policing ‘offenders’

I visited Wuse market in Abuja and noticed that signs were written on the wall ordering people not to urinate there, as breaking the rule would attract a fine of N2,000.

That side of the market is particularly notorious for the stench of urine. It is the section where banks are located. Once, I stopped to use one of the ATMs at Intercontinental Bank and it took the grace of the Almighty to survive the experience. Everyone on the queue held their breath until they left.

So, the signs on the walls were a welcome improvement, if they were being obeyed. I decided to find that out for myself. I stood to observe from a point adjacent to the fence housing Intercontinental Bank, where one of the signs had been put up. Within five minutes of my patient wait, three men had come to urinate at the exact spot where the warning was written.

They would walk briskly to the spot, keep looking sideways like a thief about to snatch something and he wanted to be sure he would not be pounced on, then they would remove their privates to hurriedly pee and quickly walk off , after that adjusting their trousers in transit.

After it was evident, no one was following the rules; I decided to speak to the private security officers who were supposed to be responsible for enforcement.

Mark Abbas, Suleiman Zakari and Musa Dantani who are the guards at the bank put a new spin on the whole matter. They said putting the sign on the wall has not been effective, because before they reach the spot to catch the offender, he has finished.

When I asked what the purpose was of writing such sign if it would not be enforced, they said it only served to reduce the number of visitors to the spot.

Abbas even tried to see reason with such offenders, explaining that toilets in the markets were not many and too expensive. In the public toilets at Wuse Market, payment to urinate is N10.

“Let us say I come to the market with N350 and my transportation is N300. Let us say I have to urinate thrice that day, are you saying I should spend N30 out of the N50 I have left to do that? Then the distance to the toilet is far, especially when you are really pressed. As a sales boy, you tell your boss you want to ease yourself then you start walking a distance, he would be scared you probably took his money and went to hide it,” Abbas said.


After speaking with the private securitymen, I went out again to observe. This time, I would wait for them to finish urinating, then approach them posing as a plain clothes police officer to ask them to pay the fine.

A young man simply identified as Chinedu was my first offender. After he finished easing himself, I walked up to him and demanded why he had done so when there was a sign warning against such act.

His reply was, “What do you want me to do? Do I hold it? I was pressed. I did not even see the sign. Next time I would take precaution.”

I pointed at a public toilet and asked why he did not wait till he got there, to which he replied, “I could not have held it.”

When I confronted the next young man who stopped there to ease himself, he managed to drag me away from the spot to his shop in the market under the guise of trying to offer an explanation, when he was actually making sure he was far removed from there, so I could not claim the N2,000 as fine.

He admitted it was wrong for him to have urinated in the public, but explained that “it is the rainy season so the rain would wash it off. If it was dry season I would not do it. I know how I take care of my home.It is not good.”

Ossy was the most meticulous of the bunch. He strutted to the spot, eased himself and then took his time to tuck his shirt in.

Upon confrontation his reason was that he did not have change to go to the public toilet.

“I was pressed. I did not have change. One time I went there with N100, they did not have change and the next day when I went to collect the change they claimed they could not remember owing me. I know it is not right.Next time I would not do it again,” he said.


In the 30 minutes or so that I was there, only one woman stopped at the spot to help her son urinate. When I inquired why she was doing that despite the warning she apologized and said he was a small boy who was pressed, and she did not read the sign.

But just before we concluded our conversation, another man who had stopped there to urinate, nose poked to say the warning should have been put on a signboard and not just written on the wall, so it would be visible. As though that was what made it right for him to ease himself there.

I was very alarmed when I watched a mentally disturbed man stop by the spot to urinate. Whereas others backed the road users, he faced the road, removed his privates to ease himself. He focused on watching the urine, and while it lasted never raised his head to look at passersby who were walking off, embarrassed at the sight or simply staring in horror.

A visit to the toilets

I was still looking for an excuse for these young men I had ‘caught’. Even though they did not say it, I felt perhaps the toilets were too dirty and smelly for their use. So I decided to check the situation out myself.

I paid N10 to ease myself, walked into the toilet and for a public place especially a market where Nigeria’s multi-cultural people congregate, I was impressed. There was no sight of faeces in any of the toilets not in use. It just smelt of disinfectant which was evidence that it was washed.

The attendant outside explained that they wash it many times during the day ,as it is being used.

A trader who had just used the toilet, said it was better than urinating outside and N10 was not too much to pay.

Abuja Markets Management Limited

The Abuja Markets Management Limited manages Wuse Market. It is their responsibility to ensure the market is kept clean, organized and accessible.

Aminu Inuwa Dutse who is the Head, Monitoring & Enforcement said they have stationed security around to enforce the warning, but it was difficult.

Dutse said, “If you arrest somebody urinating, the law says you cannot keep that person in custody for more than 24 hours. And the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) court sits once a week you see that you cannot hold the person, and that is where it ends.

There is also no law backing the fine of N2,000, we just put it there to scare them. You know sometimes in enforcing a rule, you can fall on the wrong side of the law so we have to respect human rights.

Then the AEPB has so many cases to attend to that someone urinating in a public place is very minor.”

Way out

Is it possible that Nigerians can stop public urination? Abbas, the private security at Intercontinental Bank said the act would be minimal if government provides mobile toilets with water at every 2km distance at no cost to the public.


He said after making such provision, then public urination by-laws can be enacted in various states, so there is a legal backing to arrest offenders.

Another trader Chinedu who does not oppose public urination said “When nature comes calling you must obey, but do it somewhere private. It is also necessary that when people put up signs, they enforce it.

Timothy, a civil servant however believes the solution to the problem goes beyond provision of mobile toilets.

“It is the nonchalant attitude of Nigerians that has spread to all spheres of life. In those days when we were growing up in the village, even in the bush if you want to ease yourself you would have to walk farther. I believe the War Against Indiscipline (WAI) under Buhari-Idiagbon if it had stayed would have solved this problem.

But what we need right now is a complete re-orientation of our values. If you say you would provide mobile toilets you would see people who would go and piss by the side of it. Then you even make it worse by saying it should not be paid for, that gives room for misuse which Nigerians are good at.”

Folks! I stumbled on this column in Daily Trust Newspaper this morning and couldn't hold my breath, hence the need to share with every body.

Source:   

http://173.193.92.172/dailytrust/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=27584:do-not-urinate-here&catid=24:star-feature

Chei! Oyinbo with their black mail tactics self. Is this report true or false? if yes, how do we curtail this menace.

[/planning has never been our problem in nija, actualising is the main thing jare]

Actualising indeed!!

Source once again: http://www.tribune.com.ng/index.php/politics/26650-abc-of-jonathans-transformation-agenda

Source:http://www.tribune.com.ng/index.php/politics/26650-abc-of-jonathans-transformation-agenda

I am neighter Jonathan's supporter nor critics, I think it's imperative to post this topic for public digest since this matter has been largely debated upon (for and against).

Enjoy!

My little daughter always shout EPA'AA when light sudenly appear, even from my own gen set. and boooom when demanding for her bicycle. ITS REALLY FUNNY HAVING A KID!!!

[With your over five yrs work experience,most schools may even consider you for an MBA. Pls think twice b4 you loose your money]

@Chamber2

Can you please, expansiate on how does years of experience brightenes one chance of getting admission into various programme you have enumerated? and the scholls also.

Cheers!

When I returned the decoder, the seller insisted it was original, he bet me to buy a card, which I did. alas it was working with a new card. I even enjoy 6 free days on the paid channels.

Source: Daily Trust News.

http://dailytrust.dailytrust.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13374:dangoteboi-float-n5bn-micro-credit-scheme&catid=3:business&Itemid=3

While I trust Dangote to deliver on his promise, I hope this will not be hijack by our crazy politicians who will present long list of applicant on the guise/pretece of youth association or whatever.

What verifiable measures can we sugest for Dangote/BOI to ensure such credits are delivered to the targeted beneficiaries?

hisoccer:
some sellers are very heartless, too bad

I will be forced to take up with him if he try's to hessitate.

Fingers crossed!

I will return it back ASAP.

Thank u all!!

[/downlowing] "Downloading" don't mind my error

Hello House!

Please, I need your assistance.

I bought a sattelite decoder 4663 last week. The seller told me that the new version of 4663 does not support new Mytv card any longer. But he profer solution as follows:

- I have to look for an old card
- or if I am to buy a new card from him, he would assist me to configure the decoder with a special code which will cost me N 2000.

My request is, can someone assist me with the code or is it possible to upgrade the decoder by downlowing 4669 software from the net so I can use the new card.

Somebody should pls assist me.

mohdonuh@yahoo.com or 08075251650

Pls, check your email id its not going through from my end.

Will call you though later.

Let me have your email id or phone number. I can provide that

@ Ogbuefi 1

Tump up!!

Nigerian elderstateman and foremost nationalist, Anthony Eromosele Enahoro, died today in Benin, Edo state at the age of 87. Pa Enahoro was also a journalist and respected democracy activist.

Source:

http://saharareporters.com/news-page/pa-enahoro-dead

May his soul rest in peace! amen

While I condem this act in its entireity, It is wrong for us to start portraying Audu with lots of castigation.

Nigerians are good at given on-the-spot judgement by hearing from one side of the story: Let's wait for the reaction of Prince Audu to this allegation.

I know the duo has been entangled in legal battle for some time now, ranging from the woman filling a divorce before a Circuit Court in Montgomery County, Mary-land, United States so she can be privilege of confisticating the property. But the suit was decided against her, she was asked to immidiately vacate the property and warned not to remove even a pin from the said property.

Why didn't she hid to the advice of not taking the matter too far in the first place? Below is an extract from the court:

[b]Aisha, the estranged wife of former governor of Kogi State, Abubabakar Audu has lost her bid to retain a property at 12301 Glen Road, Potomac, Maryland, United States of America.

Aisha was the first lady of Kogi State when Audu was the governor.

A Circuit Court in Montgomery County, Mary-land, United States held that Gold Window, LLC, a company in which Audu is believed to have interest was the rightful owner of the property in dispute.

A copy of the judgment which was delivered on 18th November, 2010 was obtained by our correspondent.

The court held thus, "The plaintiff (Gold Window, LLC) is the lawful title owner of the real property located at 12301 Glen Road, Potomac, Maryland 20854 and is entitled to immediate possession of said property."

The court further held that Aisha Audu (the defendant) was wrongfully in possession of the property.

"The defendant, and any of her guests, agents or anyone else acting in her behest, shall not remove, damage, alter, destroy or diminish any furnishings, appliances, rugs, vehicles, or other property from the home or grounds of the aforementioned real property," the court further ordered.

Audu, and his wife, Aisha, are currently entangled in a legal tussle in United States over allegations of domestic violence.

Aisha had approached the court for a final protective order and also filed a divorce suit.[/b]
She wanted to outsmart the husband by going to court with the hope of confiscating the property, now she got what she deserve! I only pity the children.

Same David Mark who is frustrating the Bagana - Guto (Benue-Nasarawa) Bridge project for his believe that Obasanjo refused to locate the bridge within his constituency?

What can I said. Is it the monumental waste of federal government fund on this project (project abandoned), or the mass lay-off of site workers to the danger of the half way erected pillars is causing the local fisher men and the marketers alike who visit Bagana market via this river?

David! David!! David!!!, seek God's face on time oh lest God will Mark your face with David Golliath

Guys

Please I need someone to enlighten me about this product.

Can this laptop perfom office package (excell, word etc) programmes?
When I google for the fetures, below is one of the user's review I got.

Pros: This laptop has a bright BIG screen, fast processing, good standard RAM (upgradable to 8 GIG), nice webcam, and overall nice mulitmedia software to keep you busy. The appearance and "finish" on this laptop is like a luxury car. Keyboard is smooth!!

Cons: Can get sluggish here and there which is surprising for a laptop with good specs, but not too bad. A little heavy if you're on the go. Not much more to complain about than that!

Summary: Bottom line, great laptop, great visuals, not sure about gaming because I use my Playstation and Wii. Price seems right, I bought mine used on "an auction site". Seems like a great buy, so far, I am very impressed.

Somebody please enlighten me 'cos I am in the process of acquring one in a short while!!!

[/Cheww chi chi, I dey laugh.Nigerians would always be Nigerians even in Hell.
]

Indeed!!

A man dies and goes to hell. Once there, he finds that there is a different

hell for each country, so he tries to seek out the least painful one.

At the door to German Hell, he is told: "First they put you in an electric

chair for an hour. Then they lay you on a bed of nails for another hour. Then

the German devil comes in and whips you for the rest of the day."

He does not like the sound of that, so he checks out American Hell, Russian

Hell and many more. They are all similarly gruesome. However, at Nigerian Hell

a long line of people is waiting to get in. Amazed, he asks, "What do they do

here?"

He is told: "First they put you in an electric chair for an hour. Then they lay

you on a bed of nails for another hour. Then the Nigerian devil comes in and

whips you for the rest of the day."

"But that's the same as the others," says the man. "Why are so many people

waiting to get in?"

"Because of the power cuts, the electric chair does not work. The nails were

paid for but never supplied, so the bed is comfortable. And the Nigerian devil

used to be a civil servant, so he comes in, signs his time sheet and goes back

home for private business.

Coil from "ToluOgunlesi"

@ poweredcom

No doubt, Igala tribe is a nice tribe. We are peace loving and hospitable.

Sure you can get a book on Igala language even there in Lagos, but you must have a mentor to put through the book.

Try and get a mentor that will be willing to put through while I conduct a reaserch on where you can get the book in Lagos.

Me gba chaka! (thank you all)

Interesting indeed!!

The Clown:
With time though, 'enw ki kp'ane na a d'oji dufu fai.' (Literally: That which cracks the land will bring out its head with time).

I am believing it to be a good time then!

Come to think of it, with those strong proverb of yours 'am begining to think you may have little knowledge about "Egwu Affia " masqurade (about 10mtr tall proto-ancestral masqurade that emerges from the sacred grove yearly). believed by the elders to be a spririt of their dead fathers.

Those proverbs and lots of other incantations are chants on the "Egwu Affia" masqurade to either appease, command, influence or pacify the spirit in the masqurade. Some of us who grown in the village knows better about this.

@ The Clown

The Clown:
Hello, I'm Idoma but can speak broken Igala (If you know what I mean).

I'm from Benue, considering the distance of my town from the closest Igala town, I would say I'm in the heart of Idomaland, but, every old man in my village seem to understand Igala. We the younger ones can only pick few words.

Also, I've ever visited an Igala town and I was to suprised that everybody, ie both old and young understand both Igala and Idoma! Why is that?

Again, on travelling out, I saw that Igalas are often mistaken for Idomas and verse versa. And they tend to act like brothers whenever they meet each other.

Meanwhile:

Agboni ma kpe r'agboni

Ogijo da ne, Ache a ch'Imoto n

Alu Ogijo Ma gbulu Omi Eka

Ukpa n'alu amo, Unedo ki nya ch'omi mo

Una una ma j'odo abia.

Popular proverbs used by elders in my village whenever that they want Igala, not without putting the phrase "the Igalas said".

Megba chaka.

I hope to start an Idoma threat like this someday.

Those proverbs were replica of the proverbs my father use to make when he was alive, it's only an aged man that make such proverbs, there are all in parables, and it takes a wise man to deduce the meaning.

History has it that Igala and Idoma have co-existed for long. The following is an extraction from wikipedia on Idoma.

Other scholars point to historical and linguistic evidence that suggests that Idoma have ties with the Igala people to the west, concluding that the two nations came from a common ancestor. Among this group, there are those who believe both ethnic groups fled the same kingdom at some point in history. [b]It is interesting to note that many traditional Idoma spiritual chants and “secret” tongues spoken during traditional ceremonies are actually Igala dialects and there are some Idoma themselves who assert their Igala ancestry.[/b]I am suprised you said you can only speak broken Igala language. These proverbs are highly delicate even to some of the born and breeded Igala man.

A great day indeed!

But you can't rule out the possibility of others trying to imposed or make their culture more relevant over the other.
Even animals does so, it's just natural.