₦airaland Forum

Steven Onowa, a graduate of Federal Polytechnic Oko, from Anambra State, was later arrested by men of the Akwa Ibom State police command over the murder of Daniel Bassey Solomon, his close friend and barbing salon employee.

erunz:
I'VE NEVER SEEN A SET OF CONFUSED PEOPLE LIKE APC BEFORE.

LIAR MOHAMMED:- BUHARI NOT APC PARTY LEADER
MALLAM OKOROCHA:- BUHARI IS APC PARTY LEADER.

IN FELA'S VOICE, CONFUSION BREAKI BONEY YEKPA, DOUBLE WAHALLA FOR DEADY BODY AND THE OWNER OF DEADY BODY.

PROUD WAILER

jay2pee:
igbos re d pillarsKILLERS of Nigeria, but Nigerians don't know that

ELTON123:
what is this one saying

ELTON123:
Mumu

BeeBeeOoh:
U thief, u cum die 4 custody; ah bin think sey the weight of the money fit save am??



Prayer Point: oh God they shall die but, shall not live scam/defraud our dear Nigeria again...AMEN!!



Our regards to Abacha

oluwalfa:
oily soup filled brain at work

oduastates:
In actual fact , the igbos leaders hate their own people.


Fatal flaws

1 A majority ethnic nationality perpetually behaving like a minority. Even the ijaws bark and bite like a majority.

2 A society without the mechanisms , whether historical or at the present, to moderate itself or check the excesses of some of her citizens ( e.g they allowed a man of about 30 years to drag them into a dumb war. Apparently, there was no adults in the room) .

3 A lack of perceptiveness of their environment. Do not know when the social climate in their immediate environment changes


4 A general lack of empathy ( boko haram was basically running riot , Fulani herdsmen were murdering people in the middle belt , yet they still thought the absentee CinC was the best thing to happen to those being murdered)

5 Self-centred and self serving politics and politicians

6 voyuerism : they basically wants what others have without trying to the leg work or grunt work required to get it .Because of Jonathan, the presidency will probably never be given to those who expect it to fall on their lap unprepared.In people's imagination, babangida simply decided to build third mainland bridge and not because of the pressure from SW elites who could have asked for a contract instead .

7 General lack of enlightenment even amongst those who are supposedly educated.

8 Too many with suspicious educational credentials . Let us be honest , many ( more than any other part ) in the SE carry degrees which they cannot defend and this always comes back to impact their society in other ways. E.g the SW virtually dominate the private sector because the credentials of many from the south east cannot get them past the aptitude tests.

9 The society Is only moderately questioning of suspicious wealth or income . In many cases , such is applauded praises

10 Everything said including rumours ,falsehoods etc are taken as the gospel without any form of fact checking.even when debunked, it keeps getting repeated.(e.g Most of Biafran propaganda was actually direct at the Biafran people)

11 the society hates collectivism , operates at a primitive clannish level and this creates all sorts of problems down the line. E.g the inability to use their numbers to lobby for federal investments.Create a society where there are boundless opportunities. Everybody wants to take , very few want to give .

12 as a result of 11 , there is little or no collective advocacy .

13 as a result of 12 , the society is tolerant of corruption. Little or no protest during the fuel subsidy fraud . They continuously defend or protect people whose hands have been caught in the cookie jar.

14 the society suppresses dissent . Rev Mbaka offered an alternative narrative during the election. Instead of stimulating a debate , the man was ostracised. Soludo gave a opinion on iweala , the following day , the elders attempted to turn it to a village matter.By the way, obasanjo is on Soyinka's case right now , no oba has called him to shut it up . It has stimulated a debate just like when Soyinka called obasanjo out .
You can take a visit to iweala's Facebook page and check out the comments .


15 ) as a result of 14 , should Nigeria break up ,the society is probably going to end up as a military or civilian dictatorship.

16 they have an innate ability to conjure dishonest stories from nowhere to smear people . This leads to mistrust from others .



I can go on an on .
The above are some of the impression I got not only from my interactions with the igbos, early Igbo history, Nigeria's pre and post independence history/politics ,account of the Politics before and during the Biafra war , foreign observation of life in Biafra ,but also from spending time in Igboland .
You have exceptions here and there made up of igbos who were born or grew up away from that insular worldview, or those whose parent allowed to freely express themselves .
The fact that the people ( excluding the women ) have not being able to break out of their medieval way of life and clannish view of the world will continue to hamper their development .
No society is special , none is without it's flaws but there is no disputing that the psyche of igboland is as insular as Ekiti. There is a lack of diversity of opinion , lack of credible voices (apart from ekwesili , pat utomi) whom I will happily vote for ) in regards of engagement with the wider world .

The beautiful ones have already left home .

Henry120:
..... But your coconut head President said the Air Force was non-existent?

So which Air Force is now doing the cut-off?

joseph1832:
They will continue to think otherwise. Imagine asking a local dog if it wants to eat garbage?.

tjadeniyi:
According to Transparency International’s
data from 1979 till date, the tenures of
both General Muhammadu Buhari and
former President Olusegun Obasanjo were
more corrupt than the tenure of President
Goodluck Jonathan.
The data also showed that under the
administration of President Jonathan,
Nigeria has recorded its best score in the
Corruption Perception Index (CPI) since
1979. This is in complete contrast to the
sordid picture of rampant corruption being
painted by the opposition, ardent critics of
the Jonathan administration and much of
the media in the last few years – especially
in the build up to the general elections.
But the point that the figures from
Transparency International make so clearly
is that, in comparative terms, Nigeria is
actually much less corrupt today, and per­
ceived globally to be much less corrupt
today, than it has been in the last 35 years
– including under the regimes of General
Buhari and President Obasanjo, both of who
wear the toga and chant the mantra of
anti-corruption. Shockingly, according to
the TI data, President Obasanjo’s first
tenure had the worst scale of corruption
during the 35 years period between 1979
and 2015.
The TI Corruption Perception Index is a
rating of countries from 1 to 100 showing
their corruption scale. A rating of 1 is the
worst and rating of 100 means a country is
completely free of corruption. The pass
mark is 50 and any country scoring below
50 is considered a corrupt country.
In the year 2000, Nigeria was ranked the
most corrupt country in the world – and
improved marginally in 2001 and 2003
when it was rated the second most corrupt
nation in the world in the TI’s Corruption
Perception Index. This was certainly not
under the watch of President Jonathan.
Since 2012, Nigeria has made steady
improvements in the CPI. Indeed, under
President Jonathan, for the first time in
decades, Nigeria is not in the list of 1-10
most corrupt countries in the world.
In the 2014 Transparency International’s
Corruption Perception Index, issued in
December, Nigeria was ranked 136 out of
175 countries surveyed in the report. This
ranking placed Nigeria, alongside five other
countries, as the 39th most corrupt country
in the world. This is Nigeria’s best ranking
in the last four years.
With this ranking, Nigeria leapfrogged eight
countries within a space of one year – from
the 31st most corrupt nation in 2013 to the
39th in 2014. This may be regarded by
cynics as a small achievement: but it
represents a big step in the right direction.
Indeed, the administration of President
Jonathan deserves some commendation for
the positive steps it has taken, and the
modest achievements it has made so far, in
the war against corruption – rather than
the vengeful knocks it is receiving from
various quarters.

reportsafrique.com/news/transparency-intl-rates-president-jonathan-govt-as-best-says-buhari-obasanjo-govts-worse/[/s]

appini:
He should take the gift straight to Duara.

IdisuleOurOwn:
The decision of President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to take only 50 percent of the salaries approved to them is recommendable. The pay cut is a demonstration of leadership by example, which will go some way in projecting the idea that political office is for service to the nation, and not for the financial gains that can be made from it at the expense of the public.
But, this sacrifice by the two top citizens of the country should be seen only as the first of many steps that they need to take towards reducing the high cost of governance and ensuring more prudent management of the nation's resources.
The President's annual numeration, as approved by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMARC) is N14,058,820, while Vice President Osinbajo will earn N12,126,290 per year. With the pay cut, Buhari's annual salary will now be about N7 million, while Osinbajo will earn about N6 million. The President and the Vice President's decision has since been conveyed to the office of the Secretary of the Government of the Federation.
I commended Buhari, Osinbajo and some state governors who have also slashed their salaries and perks of office. However, despite this voluntary sacrifice by the President, the Vice President and a few state governors, a lot still needs to be done beyond the pay cut to rein in public expenditure. The fiscal crunch ravaging the country will likely continue if the economy is not properly managed. There is need to check financial recklessness at all levels of governance, including the local governments. Poor management of state finances has resulted in non-payment of workers' salaries and States' indebtedness standing at N660 billion.
This said development culminated in the recent bailout of over N700 billion.
The nation's poor financial condition that led to these pay cuts has again underscored the need to diversify the revenue base at the three tiers of government. Crucial, too, is the need for politicians to shun greed and ostentatious living, while ensuring prudent management of public funds entrusted in their care. Some sitting governors are living in obscene opulence. Some of those who have left office are facing prosecution by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on corruption charges.
This pay cut, must extend to the salaries and jumbo allowances of national legislators. Unless there is a drastic cut in the emoluments of public officials, especially elected officials, the essence of public service might be lost at the altar of personal aggrandisement. This is one of the reasons why calls for part-time legislators have received popular endorsement across the country. At present, lawmakers at the National Assembly are reportedly the highest paid on the continent, if not in the world, for sitting for a minimum of 181 days in a year.
Altogether, the tempers of these times call for creative thinking in the management of the nation's resources. It calls for diversification of the economy and a close monitoring of dwindling public funds to ensure that the available funds are deployed to areas where they will have the impact on the welfare of the people.
Beyond salary cuts, however, the allowances of all political office holders and the humongous security votes of state governors need to be reduced. There is also the need to expand the productive base of the economy and explore more avenues for wealth creation in the country.
Above all, we need more measures to ensure that aspirations to public office in the country are driven by genuine desire to render service to the people.

azimibraun:
Now I know some people's hate will never let them see truth. Is somebody telling me Lai Mohammed is not talking straight? He talked about a couple of things and am sure watching the trip report on TV is not contradictory.

dustmalik:
True. Such is my observation too

Businessideas:
they took everything I had, acquired illegally?

...Says the North/Southwest Alliance will always dominate Nigeria.

Former Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, who is the chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP Elders Committee in his native Bayelsa State in this interview, reviews contemporary political developments in the state and affirms that the alliance between the North and Southwest will never benefit his Ijaw people. He also narrates how late President Umaru Yar’Adua saved his (Alamieyeseigha’s) life among other issues. Excerpts.


Do you think recent defections will affect the PDP during the forthcoming governorship election?


Again, I think our people need to be educated, I can tell you that I was one of them in 2003 that formed Action Congress. At that time, it was becoming clear that President Olusegun Obasanjo, was going to chase most of us out of PDP, so we came together. About 18 of us. We said let us register a party and keep it in case President Obasanjo pushed us out of the party. We can have a platform to actualize our dream.
Also at that time, Obasanjo had cajoled the Southwest governors out of their seats. He deceived them. Bola Tinubu was very clever, he foresaw what Obasanjo was trying to do, so he was the only one that survived because the agreement was that all the Southwest governors should all support him so that he will return them as governors for second term.
Obasanjo’s election came first and he deceived them. Obasanjo himself, very cunning, formed Accord Party. When you hear of Accord, it’s Obasanjo’s party.

Severance allowance

[b]Tinubu provided the secretariat for the Action Congress, I, Alamieyeseigha, attached my Special Adviser on Political Matters, Chief T.K.O Okorotie, to that secretariat to put papers together. We invited Chief Tom Ikimi, to be the arrow head and he registered that party for us. It is that AC that transformed into ACN and the present APC.
So, there is nothing happening in APC today that I don’t know and they are the same people that are being recycled. So, my people should not be deceived. Politics is local.
And the whole thing is about self-interest. It is either they have not been given appointment, their severance allowance during Timipre Sylva administration has not been paid or they were not picked as candidates in the last general elections. Then I asked the question, must it always be you?
It is not right. Leadership is a relay race. You complete your assignment you hand over to another person. It cannot always be you alone every time. There is time for everything, so basically that is the problem. By the time we go into the party primaries all the noise you are hearing will die down, because it is only one candidate that the party will present. APC will present one candidate. APGA will present one candidate.    By then, they will better appreciate the political environment.
The expectations are high because we don’t have any industry in the state. Even the market woman at Swali Market will tell you how much is coming into the state every month. So the only industry we have in Bayelsa state is Government House. If you are shut out of Government House for four years, of course, I am sure your guess will be as good as mine. So, the struggle here is to always to be in government.[/b]


But what about the aggrieved PDP members that were expelled?


Now as long as you are a product of a party, the party is supreme. If you are a product of that system, you must respect that party. If you sabotage the party, the party has a mechanism to discipline erring members.
There should be no sentiment about this. Some of them that were expelled did not do well. From evidence available, they sponsored opposition parties against their own party and no party will accept that. Again as elders, we have intervened and those decisions have to be reviewed, and very shortly, too.
 
Working committee

We shall review them, the working committee will sit down and review it on individual basis. Some of them will be reprimanded, while some will be admonished. And at the end of the day, I think the matter will be resolved amicably.


Would you say Governor Dickson has done enough to deserve a second term?


Governor Dickson, has done well, what I have seen on ground in the last three years in the state is very encouraging. Our problems has been the continuation of policies and programme of government. I served this state for six and a half years, Goodluck came in, served one year, the remaining six months he was campaigning for the office of the Vice President, Governor Timipre Sylva came in.
Of course I didn’t see anything visible on ground, I am not castigating him, but you could walk from Igbogene to Swali Market, I did not see anything that was added to what I left behind, even to complete the project I started was a problem. I feel very bitter when you come to government with good intention, you start a project for the good of the people and that project is abandoned.
So that period I think was a setback. Dickson has come in, we can now drive to places that were impossible before and we can see changes.


Are you worried by the strong followership the APC is drawing from the youths?


This state is a PDP state, we the elders will not allow foreign bedfellows take over this state. An Ijaw man has never been conquered, we would not allow it to happen. You can call it any name. Weather they come from the Southwest, whether they come from the North to conquer us. If anybody tells you as an Ijaw man that these people love you, it’s a lie. I know them and they know me too.

The South-west and the North if they come together they will continue to produce the president of this country for life. We have no hope, so we must consolidate on what we have here.

We cannot afford to fall into that trap. We will perpetually be slaves to the bigger tribes. We should protect what belongs to us, we shall not allow our young men to be brainwashed.
This country must be restructured. We must practice true federalism, otherwise these people will continue to exploit us. We had a President from here. They just decided to take it back, and they took it. Is that the system the young people want to run into? What will even the Federal Government do to you if you decide to stay where you are.

You are receiving allocation from the federation account, the federal government is equally receiving its share, what do you expect from them? Is it not better to utilize what you have received and be able to be ingenious enough to attract investors to develop your local economy, than depending on the federal government?

The whole thing is deceptive. What they did not get from the 13% derivation, they are getting through the back door through the local government system? There is no federation in the world where local government is a federating unit.

Don’t be afraid, this youth population you are talking about. They have leaders that control them. It is like my humble self, going to Amassoma and I say this is the direction we are going, which of my children will stand up and say no? They will follow my direction.


How has it been since you left office almost 10 years ago?


The Lord, Almighty God is Holy and has sustained me and my family effortlessly. Though the challenges are always there, but if you are serving God you don’t need to be worried about tomorrow. He has always sustained me. I am not doing anything that is income generating per se. I am also, not begging anybody for help. I am contented with the little pension I receive. I am a man with a contented heart. I am always happy. My family has not also complaining.
Little pension

This earth, where we are is a workshop. So, it is expected we must pass through certain experiences in life. I have learnt my lessons for good, a leader must also be capable of enduring pains when it comes. You can never have comfort all the time. If what happened to me, if it were today I would have known how to handle it better.

So many things happened anytime I sit down and recollect some of these things I laugh over them. I thank God, I would not have been here talking to you, I would have been a dead man because several attempts were made to eliminate me. But thank God I am alive today and I also thank late President Umaru Yar’Adua, who saw it coming and called as a president and saved my life.

He said “Ganuwa Katsina” they will kill you, if you think anything will happen, nothing will happen. He said weeks after your death, your people will make noise. After, it is the same your people that will send CV’s for appointment and that will be the end of you.

This Nigeria, don’t argue with any body, if it requires removing your dress so to set your self free come out of it. I did not sign any paper that set me free, they signed everything by themselves, they took everything I had, I came out of detention with only N500. Everything I had since I was born was taken away from me.

Even this house we are in now, if it were located outside Bayelsa State it would have been taken away from me. They couldn’t try it because they would not have been comfortable in it, my people were ready to protect it. It is good, we are alive to be telling these stories so that the younger ones who have not experience these things will learn from our experience.