₦airaland Forum

dinachi:
[s] I feel a deep sense of grief and bewilderment when I read a lot of misguided comments from my Igbo brothers with some calling for a violent secession from Nigeria. Most of the generation of people making these statement never witnessed the civil war. They did not see first hand the horrors of war. They did not experience the terrific impact of bombs or the loud ear splitting sounds of heavy artillery shells as the explode. Should I talk about the economic impact? How our people were reduced to paupers and had to start from the scratch. How beautiful daughters were forcefully torn from the warm embrace of their families and married off to leprous men in the North just to spite our people. Only a mentally deranged and prone to self destruction individual will ever in his life support a violent secession from Nigeria.

Our problem is not secession. Our problem is learning how to live with other tribes in harmony while doing our businesses. Our focus should be on how to build consensus across the nation for vital political interests.

I laugh heartliy when I see some misguided Niger Delta youths like barcanista and co trying to be clever by half by playing to our sense of entitlement. Speaking from both sides of the mouth about how our people are being pushed aside and marginalized.
Yet these are the same people that effectively sabotaged the Biafran struggle under Ojukwu. These are the same people that lead the enemy in through our backyards and betrayed their so called brothers. Now they have started a new song because their brother Jonathan who performed woefully was booted out by majority of Nigerians.

I want us to know sometime that is historical. The moment an attempt is made to secede, the I jaws will immediately turn their backs and negotiate us away to advance their interests. So we will end up alone fighting the whole of Nigeria and loosing again.

When the chips are down, we are always alone.

Another point to consider is that Nigeria has become too intergrated to break up. Almost every family has in laws across their tribe. How will that be handled?

Igbo are the most integrated people in Nigeria with business interests across the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria. Most of our people will become jobless or stay and be killed the moment a secession is declared.

Those who knew the truth will tell you that even inside Biafra there were still serious cases of tribalism and nepotism, even under the revered Ojukwu. That was why ahiara declaration became necessary to tackle these issues.

Finally, we are not ready militarily and would only be engaging in another massive waste of life if we insist on our ways.
So my people do not be deceived! Our best and only bet is to remain as law abiding citizens of Nigeria while doing our best to continue to be relevant in the scheme of things.
Ka Chineke mezie okwu.

[/s]

Femolacaster:
Sensible post from sensible Igbo man. Chukwu chekwube gi!

laurel03:
But one thing I know dt is certain is Buhari govt will be better than Gej govt

laurel03:
But one thing I know dt is certain is Buhari govt will be better than Gej govt

laurel03:
But one thing I know dt is certain is Buhari govt will be better than Gej govt

barcanista:
Thank you my broda. Dem wan share N9B for National Assembly, you no go hear say Gbajabiamila na yorubaman or Ekeremadu na igboman. You no go hear say Sen Sekibo na Ijawman or Ahmed Lawan na Hausaman. All of them de unite de share our money. When Otedola and Ifeanyi Uba de share our subsidy money, you no go hear say Otedola na Yorubaman or Uba na Igboman, all of them in unison de smile go bank. Yoruba, Hausas and Igbos are our big brothers in Nigeria (though we are all equal). There is no need to fight or revisit the past. All of us should learn the lessons of our fathers and learn to understand ourselves (not even tolerate). We all may have our differences but there are ways to solve them beyond fighting.

IROHINOodua:
“We look up to President Buhari to be faithful to his promise of change, and to avoid all beckoning of ethnic domination – the force which has been very instrumental in diverting Nigeria onto the path of conflicts, electoral fraud, instability and poverty.”

The most dominant group representing Yoruba in the Diaspora, Oodua Foundation, this morning has expressed deep concern over the alliance with the North which brought President Mohammadu Buhari to power on March 28. The group is led by Professor Banji Akintoye, a Senator in the Second Republic.
In a statement made available to Irohinodua this morning from the United States, (US) the group is worried that the alliance which is the first between the two most dominant geo-political blocs since the country was amalgamated in 1914, should not be allowed to flounder.

The group stated “We Oodua Foundation and the entire Yoruba nation therefore hopefully expect positive outcomes this time around – even in spite of some disturbing happenings in the new government in the past two weeks. And we urge both sides in this alliance to stay fully loyal to their dedication to change, especially to obviously needed change in the structure of the Nigerian federation. We warn against allowing the forces of corruption and sectionalism to step from the shadows into key positions in the government for the purpose of serving their own squalid interests rather than the noble interests of Nigeria.





It added “We Oodua Foundation, a Yoruba think-tank organization with members in countries across the globe, and with headquarters in the United States, have been closely observing and analyzing the developments in the evolution of the executive and legislative arms of the Nigerian Federal Government since the swearing in of President Muhammadu Buhari on May 29. Our conclusions from our observations compel us now to speak up clearly for the Yoruba nation of the Nigerian Southwest – to speak up to Nigeria and to a world that is watching Nigeria closely.”

Excerpt of the statement is detailed below

We do not speak for any political party; we do not belong to, support or oppose any. We respect the voices of all Yoruba groups and individuals. Our organization exists only to promote and protect the interests of the Yoruba nation in Nigeria and outside Nigeria.

We the Yoruba people of the Southwest, by political tradition and culture, cherish truth, liberty, equity, justice and fair play as fundamental basis of governance. These are the age-long cardinal principles that have defined our Yoruba nation’s political tradition for centuries, and we Yoruba people remain committed to them as pillars of order, peace and stability in society.

As one of the largest nationalities in Nigeria, we have dutifully demonstrated our commitment to these principles, and to Nigeria’s success and prosperity, in all our contributions to the making of Nigeria. In that light, we have consistently and persistently proposed since the late 1940s that, because Nigeria is a country of many different nationalities, the only way to structure Nigeria for stability and success is to show careful respect to Nigeria’s various nationalities large and small and, therefore, to structure Nigeria as a proper federation in which each of the constituent units shall enjoy the right level of autonomy to manage its own unique concerns, competently promote its own development, and strongly make its own kind of contribution to the progress and prosperity of Nigeria.

Since the culture of elective representative government was begun in Nigeria, we the people of the Southwest and our leaders have sought partnership with the leaderships of other ethnic nationalities based on mutual respect, justice and the greatest good of Nigeria and Nigerians. In that light, many eminent political leaders of ours patriotically served in the leadership of political parties led by leaders of other nationalities. We also demonstrated this commitment to Nigeria’s success with open-mindedness when, in the final preparations for Nigerian independence in 1959-60, our foremost political leader, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, offered the position of Prime Minster in the Nigerian Federal Government to another leader from another nationality, while he himself was willing to accept for himself a lower position of Minister of Economic Development in the Federal Government. It was also in the same spirit of preserving and advancing Nigeria that our leaders worked with other nationalities to create the All Progressives Grand Alliance (UPGA) in the midst of the great crisis rocking Nigeria during the first years after independence.

In terms of socio-economic development, we Yoruba of the Nigerian Southwest have always loyally demonstrated great ambition for Nigeria’s progress, prosperity and power in the world. We have always regarded our well known ambition for socio-economic progress as our kind of service to Nigeria, our kind of contribution to the progress and greatness of Nigeria. We never desire or attempt to exclude other Nigerian nationals from our successes. Since we instituted Free Primary Education in our Region, countless thousands of children from other parts of Nigeria have come to benefit from our free schools. Our tradition of hospitality towards non- Yoruba nationals, our culture of religious tolerance and freedom, and the economic and business opportunities liberally provided by our many urban centres, all have made our Southwest the destination for millions of Nigerians migrating from their own homelands.

However, for all our nation’s contributions to Nigeria, what we the people of the Southwest have relentlessly been rewarded with is hostility, resulting in betrayal, as well as efforts to pull us down. Soon after independence, the powers of the Federal Government were maliciously employed to disrupt our Southwest, generate conflict in our Region, and eventually imprison our topmost political leader on totally trumped-up charges of treasonable felony. Even our other leader, Chief Ladoke Akintola, who took the step of forming an alliance with the group controlling the Federal Government, never enjoyed the full loyalty or respectful confidence of his apparent allies; and eventually, he ended up being violently killed.

Still, in spite of this sordid record of Yoruba experiences in Nigeria, when civilian elective politics was revived in Nigeria again by 1979, Chief Awolowo embarked on a massive effort again for Nigeria’s progress and prosperity. He worked with forward-looking Nigerians from all parts of Nigeria, and created a political party with an enormously ambitious agenda for Nigeria’s greatness. And when, as Presidential Candidate, he needed to choose a running mate, he persuaded his party to let him choose a promising professional from among the Igbo nationality which had been the most viciously hurt nationality in Nigeria – his reasoning being that such a step was necessary for healing a major part of the wound which the Igbo nation and Nigeria had suffered. But what did Chief Awolowo and all who worked with him get for their great ambition for Nigeria and their titanic efforts? By employing a patently crooked formula, the Federal Government of the day robbed his party of victory.

About fifteen years later, in 1990-2, Chief M.K.O Abiola invested his resources mightily in yet another effort to bring Nigeria together and heal the scars of yesteryears, scars that had been wantonly inflicted on the citizens and peoples of Nigeria through years of military repression. His reward for his great efforts and sacrifices was that his body was brought back home from Abuja.

Still, years later, when it seemed as if a citizen from the minority Ijaw nation, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, was on the verge of being robbed of his constitutionally legitimate right of succeeding to his late President, the people of the Southwest and their leaders supported him powerfully through street demonstrations and global campaigns. Unfortunately, throughout President Jonathan’s 6-year presidency, the people of the Southwest were treated with hate and spite.

We in Oodua Foundation, and informed people all over the world, have watched in the past three years as a section of the Yoruba political leadership has worked and sacrificed to knit together the current alliance with the core North, again out of the Yoruba ambition for a stable, strong and just Nigerian society. Those efforts have now produced a solid possibility of a Nigerian Federal Government dedicated to the welfare of all Nigerians, dependably set against the cultures of corruption, ethnic chauvinism, and process manipulations, a Federal Government capable of leading Nigerian out of poverty into a new era of prosperity and national dignity and greatness.


'We look up to President Buhari to be faithful to his promise of change, and to avoid all beckoning of ethnic domination – the force which has been very instrumental in diverting Nigeria onto the path of conflicts, electoral fraud, instability and poverty.'

And we urge the Southwest leaders in this hopeful arrangement to maintain discipline in their ranks, so as to be able to render their very best service to change and prosperity. We urge Yoruba political leaders of all persuasions and partisan leanings to consciously give this new arrangement a good chance of success – in the interest of our Yoruba people and all other peoples of Nigeria. And finally, we alert the masses of our Yoruba people to remain vigilant, strong and resolute in the struggle for freedom – freedom for the Yoruba nation and for all other nationalities of Nigeria

Krankenhaus:
Hello mods, please I want to make a suggestion in curbing the ugly trend of tribalism on this forum. I will advise immediate closure and lengthy ban for any forumite opening trends on secessionist ideologies. All topics concerning the guy hiding in London and spreading hate speeches through the air-waves should be removed too and any poster bringing such topic here should also be ban for a period of six month.

thanks for the effort in making here sane.

cc ishilove,seun.

GBTYO:
[size=14pt]That political vulture, Osunbade is another June 12 for alutta people.

The North will demand for a transition govt rather than have that fake pastor as their President. We in the SS and SE will support the north on this and a new transition govt will be set up and elections conducted.

You will only occupy Obalende, share rice and dance to fuji music in between shouting "we no go gree". At the end of the day soldiers will be sent to chase you back into your dingy one room apartment where you will be confined in a 24hr curfew till hunger brings you back to your senses.


You will do nothing than take to twitter and facebook. Or how do you think you can pressure the central authority? Do you have oil? Do you have the courage to set up an armed insurgency? You have nothing but noise.

You have no ace unlike the ND who were ready to shutdown the country if Jonathan was not sworn in. What will you do? Not a damn thing.


Tinubu's disgrace in the National Assembly is what is about to be extended to you.


Back stabbing jealous ingrates.[/size]

fx45:
Being old and senile wont be reasons Unless he dies in office

lokoloko84:
It all depends on how you want deceive and make yourself happy.

lokoloko84:
Maybe you should read my post again.
We will never have the so called gentlemen like politician's in the SW for a long time after the current ones.
Go and study the political history of South west.The so called Fulani cannot play dirty politically than a typical thorough breed Yoruba politician.

Shymm3x:
Lol, I understand the dynamics of their culture and mentality, from an historical POV - and I know how they operate. Heck, I told Eurobomber last week that they're just warming up with their vengeance. Seriously, who among the Nigerian elites doesn't fear them? Even the normal folks fear them, judging by the way their bororos (the pikeys among them) go around killing/maiming folks with impunity. The first law of power is to put fear in people and they've mastered it. Anyway, I honestly don't know how folks can be shiit-scared of people who bleed just like them, to be honest.

Unity in the South is a pipe-dream based on how the country was structured from the get-go. The overly aggressive and emotional temperament of Igbos will never be able to unite properly with the peaceful and jolly temperament of the Yoruba. More like a cat and mouse game. And that will always play into the hands on the Fulanis, the owners of Nigeria - with just basic divide and conquer strategy.

InyinyaAgbaOku:
Ekwueme was vice to shagari

lokoloko84:
Fasola and Fayemi to take over SW?I think you are a joke.
Without Tinubu,these guys are nothing. You think the politics we play in this country is for the weak the minds.
Look mister,I do not know you but remove Tinubu from APC,then the party is finished.
In as much as I do not not like Fayose that much,the truth is that he is more popular and well loved than fayemi.
The same Fashola that refused to support the SW agenda will now take over the political structure of the region.
The only politician that is well respected in SW today is Tinubu whether you like it or not.
Despite that,we do not have real leaders yet. But the next political leaders are on the way and will be more radical than the current ones.
Do you not know also that there are some politicians who are also unknown Tinubu loyalists that are watching what is going on presently.
When these individuals get to power one of these days, what do you think will happen?

tawa89:
hmmmmm.. but you ve to give to the Fulanis, they are best politicians in West Africa.

chukwudi44:
Let's implement it and I give you two years let's see who will be making use of the Lagos ports. You forget ports are built and are not natural resources

huptin:
Then Lagos too should get 100% of its ports and VAT revenue and then heavily tax every non lagosian currently utilising its infrastructure. Simple. Lets see who will be richer.

chinchum:
Till then, but now port is sitting in Lagos waters, and bulk of VAT shared across states comes from Lagos. Lagos deserves 13% of each. Over 1 thrillion generated annually from Lagos ports.

tinkinjow:
You guys should be thankful that Akwa Ibom and others are tolerating the meagre 13% allocation. If care isn't taken very soon you'll be left with zero allocation.
You hate on others working hard to make a living in Lagos yet you forget what other people resources have given to Lagos and the south west

Every Yoruba claim and pride him or her self over Lagos....
Sometimes I wonder whether south westerners outside of Lagos pay attention to the Lagos bent. Recently at the National Conference, Lagos delegates goaded by Tinubu and Fashola completely went against the demands of the Yorubas...the truth is if Tinubu have his way he'd since have seceded from south west.

Stop being envious of the Niger Delta, Nigeria owe them even more. And stop the shame of pointing to ur population, it's like a man who decided to have a large family marrying many wives and fathering a thousand children complaining at harvest that the other man with smaller family is getting more than he is forgetting that the harvest is from that same man's farm. If he wants more he should cultivate his own farm.
Please we should look away from the niger deltas oil and start creating our own revenue sources.
You think the Niger deltans are satisfied with what they get, they know their cities should be like Dubai, or at the least Lagos and Abuja which are created by their money...they won't stop until they get everything....and time is ticking.
Yorubas should stop sounding as if they don't want other places in Nigeria to progress. Enough said, one love.

bamidele029:
Only unintelligent people throw out insults instead of making sensible points. OP didn't insult anyone, can't you make your point like a civilized fellow thought you people claim only APC folks throw around insults unprovoked

Too many ill-mannered children on Nairaland these days

john650:
While their crime deserves some punishment, 55 years for smuggling small quantities of drug is excessive. How many years would a murderer get? Three to five years would have been sufficient punishment to make them have a rethink. And if they continue, then the courts can scale up the punishment to 10 - 15 years.

Why waste a young person's life for smuggling a few kilos of hard drugs? They need to be rehabilitated, not put away for life. Our laws are so out of date. The judges metting out this punishments lack basic common sense. Where are they going to house these people? Is it in that colonial era Enugu prison that is a death trap? What about our politicians that steal billions everyday? Has any of them gone to jail?

Evathyst:
The way and manner in which some of you argue at times makes me believe that illiteracy is still rife in our society. How dare you call an agriculturally sophisticated state like Osun a state of lazy indigenes? That the workers chose to be civil servants doesn't necessarily mean they are lazy. Also, that our civil servants don't engage in Okirika trading, CD piracy, fake drug peddling and other illicit trade during working hours like your people in that part of the world do, doesn't mean we're not business oriented. We're just content with our chosen endeavour.



Rather than join well meaning Nigerians in condemning the heinous act of Gov Aregbese, you're here spewing trash. I doubt if any member of ur present generation is in the civil service. How would they? When be sey na from 9yrs dem dey go serve oga.


Fo*l!

Ezenwammadu:
AregbeRascal is brought out because he blames his incomptence on the federal government,cries over oyel money though osun defenders told us the states IGR is larger than that of the southeast put together,engages in useless project like world tallest talking drum with no gaint to play it,chinko opon imo,wasting billions to feed children as if they don't have parents,buying helicopter for gallivanting about,spending millions to repaint GEJ trains touring abuja while his peopke starves though osun defenders praised the rascal for poverty allievation,indebted the state so much that it could no longer borrow from banks,building a phantom airport.

The state of osun is oweing Anambra state.They better start paying up

nortcentrallord:
Hahahahaha, you just blew the lid open. A small state is ungovernable for Aragberascal yet he called a man who was tending to the affairs of 36 states clueless. If this was mathematics, Aragbese will be said to be clueless raised to a power of 36 (clueless^36)

ammyluv2002:
Wow! Cool cash