₦airaland Forum

For those who want details of the planned UK march, please see below.


We invite all Nigerians and friends of Nigeria to come. Nothing can be more important.

Programme:

Venue Kick off time 12pm to 3pm Parliament Square Westminster, London SW1P 3, UK 12pm prompt please click on link for map.


2nd Phase

Kick off time 3pm to 6pm.

Nigerian High commission near Parliament Square, Westminster, London SW1P 3, UK

Guys this is one to ignore, maybe they guy is forgetting what happened in Ghana before it got to where it is.

But well done to them

@afemai,

If you have been following my comments, you will note that my own vision lies in Nigerians making the desired change the democratic way. That is if you are so pissed off with what is happening then vote with your feet. It can start by you expressing your displeasure with peaceful protests while making a final statement with a responsible vote and protecting that vote. You also need to make them aware that we are not as stupid as they have always taken us to be.

We need to ask ourselves, what are the options, do nothing and continue complaining post 2011, welll that is what happened in 2007 and I warned people then. Maybe we have to go to such basics as a progressive Nigeria will benefits us all

@Onwan,

My broda no vex. I have tried to stay away from insults and finger pointing, cos I doubt we will achieve anything with that. Like I said, we are in a democracy so you are entitled to your opinion even if I dont like it. By the way did you attend the march, did you plan the march, did you contact the organisers of the march? if your answers to these questions are no, then if you cant put up shut up. Be part of change dont sit down like we ahev all done for so long and point fingers are those who are at least making an effort, no matter much you may disagree with thier plans. Go there are contribute you own, rather than sit here and cus people.

For me this represents change, no matter how small, a long journey starts with small steps.

@Onwan,

The truth is that this is a democracy and you are allowed your opinion, something Millions of Nigerians have been denied for so long. What we do is by choice, not finger pointing but by choice. It is very easy to sit and accuse others who make efforts no matter how small of secondary agenda, while we leave our fingers up our "you know what" doing nothing.


God Bless Nigeria

@ Londoner, I think it starts @ 12 noon, but I will confirm

@ Londoner, I am not sure if a weekend protest has been planned, someone else has requested that, however the protest will continue till 6pm, so might give you time to join in, even if it is for 10mins, the support will be very much appreciated.


God Bless Nigeria

@ Aisha2, Thanks my sister. It is the least our country asks of us.

@ Otawa, you have a point, but we all have to contribute what we can. some will be protesting in the UK on Friday, and Mr Soyinka and the others promised that yesterday was first of many to come.

We need to make those who lead us accountable and uncomfortable with thier current system of government. Let them know that we have all had enough, but Like I have always said, this is the time to awaken everyone to thier responsibility to Nigeria. You can show your commitment to change in the next election. We need to start a process of getting all involved, like I have always said it is time for all to put our hands together and move Nigeria forward, irrespective of what part you come from. Do your own little bit, please and let us stop picking holes.

@Aisha2, well done my sister. I knew you would attend.

Guys this is not time for unnecessary disagreement, and this has very little to do with if Jonathan assumed office or not. We have been raped for far too long, and we must all speak with one voice. No matter what part of the country you come from, we all have a common problem. So please unity and direction is what we must sustain.

For me, this hopefully is a defining moment for my country Nigeria. I am hoping that the momentum willl sustain us all to make a change democratically when the time is right. Most people did not vote @ the last election, but this has now given us all the true reason why we must all register and most importantly vote and defend your vote.

I will share my experience @ the last election with you all.

We had been told to queue up and register somewhere in lagos, registreration was going to be from 8:00am to 5:00pm. I got there at 7:50am to find good Nigerians already queuing up to register, so I joined the queue. We wiated for 5 good hours in the queue, the guys from Inec where nowhere to be seen, they finally turned up at 1:30pm. 2 guys, 1 laptop and a webcam contraption. So registeration started. Being the person I was, I was quite curious to know how long it took to register a single candidate, so I went up to the Inec guys and asked. I was told 3-5mins per person. I quickly did the maths on the queue which had gathered and was stretching well into the road. On a very conservative estimate we might have been about 750, but I was number 126 I think. Anyway the maths told me that 5mins per person would take 500 mins to do 100 people, that meant 6hrs, and these guys were prepared to stay till 5:00pm and leave even after arriving very late.
Anyway, 2hrs into the registration exercise, the battery of the laptops ran down, and the guys were preparing to pack up and leave, but I and a few other people challenged them. How can they come to register potentially 1000 people with a single laptop battery and no provision for backup? Saying that there was a photographers shop directly opposite the place registration was taking place, I went up to the owner and asked if he had a generator, which he did, and if he was prepared to loan it to us for a fee, which he was. After paying #1000 to the baba, and #750 fuel for the gen, registration resumed. This was after I had nicely asked the Inec officials if they were hungry, and wanted something to drink. We provided food for them and drink as well, and too my joy they happily resumed registration and promised to come back the next day.

I got registered @ about 8:00pm, over 12hrs after standing in the queue. But I didn’t mind, for me the joy was getting other Nigerians registered as well. The Inec officials called me Oga sir, and they were taken aback by my resolve, but at that point it was clear to me that people really need to do their own little bit to help our country. No matter how small. A lot of people got discouraged and dropped off the queue, but yet a few stayed on.  They could have been all sorts of scenarios coming out if a few of us had not stepped in. Yes it cost me 12hrs, maybe #5000, but to me that was a sacrifice what making to ensure people got the opportunity to register and eventually vote.

I think we have now got a genuine opportunity to make good the promise we all owe our country no matter how small. Be it turning up for peaceful rallies, registering to vote, whatever.

well said Gbawe.

Please let us not use this topic to fight, we all agree on a prgressive Nigeria, not one which has been forth with do-nothing. Let us all act for a better tomorrow if not for us, for our kids.

Some of us, our parents spoke, but spoke to quitely, others didnt speak at all, that is why I am resigned to the fact that the good in Nigeria may never come my way, but I should not deprive my children by not speaking the truth. I have been silent for far too long, and god knows I love Nigeria  with all my heart. So we speak today for a better Nigeria, no matter where you are, no matter what support you give, it is time for Nigerians to feel they are part of a country.


God Bless Nigeria

A defining moment in Nigeria's history, @ 50 the old lady is finally acting her age

and even more

Edoyad,

We march in the UK on Friday, dont worry yourselves with the dead-enders marching in support of a dying government. All hands to the pump, Nigeria must free of this prolonged evil.

God Bless Nigeria

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More Pictures

Well done to everyone that supported this effort. Nigeria will change if we all put our 1 kobo.

Lets stop getting to excited here. The fact of the matter is the our country has been failing in many respects, this is just one. MTN may have a very bad reputation, but it does not distract from the fact that the Nigerian business environment is far from friendly.

We as a people have a big job to do, it is not impossible, but we do have a big job, so the sooner we accept it and stop blaming others the better. Let us start from where is our President. Gone for 50days, has not decency to contact his citizens and then chooses BBC to break his slience.


If Nigeria is not so bad, how come the president had to leave the country from treatment, abi are we saying that in the giant of Africa, we cannot even establish and run one clinical centre of excellence?

If it is true that he actually spoke to bbc, then in my opinion that is a real disgrace. He would rather speak to bbc than his people, shows the regard his cohorts and him have for Nigerians.

It is like Gordon Brown speaking to NTA before he speaks to BBC

Those people made thier country desirable by working for thier country. What have you done for Nigeria lately? If you dont stand up for change you will forever be stock with a country like Nigeria. Start by supporting the protest march in Abuja on Tuesday.

You only need to read history to find out that US and the UK were not always as nice as it is now, they were times people in the UK were refered to as Barbarians, they beheaded thier queens and kings, burnt witches to stakes, didnt have toilets as you know then today, and by the way thier kings sometimes died from STD. So you see, it has not always been plain sailing, but they worked hard to change things and that is what we have to do now.

My people, until we have real leadership, crimes like these will continue to exist. Who monitors the police and thier actions? No one.

Gbawe, I totally agree with you and I am with you on this. We should have had a senior member of the Government (Jonathan), speak when the time was right, he should have engaged the Americans right from the start, in this case siddon look has not really helped us, and could be percieved as either being weak or lacking direction, in our case it is both.

Saying that Beef has a point, there is far more to this Yar adua's dissapearance and strange  47  days silence than we know, and there might be extreme sensitivity associated with his stepping in, but at some time we need to take the risk.

Aisha2,

Well done for this information. We all have an opportunity now to be counted and really help our country, we must all stand up for change.

seek change, get a credible opposition together and kick pdp out. Simple solution

At least some people are begining to do something. Nigerians must seize the opportunity to ask questions about thier country. Well done Femi, Pat, Tunde, Uba, Yinka and all the progressive Nigerians that really do want change.

Guys what aisha2 is saying is true. The problem we have is our inability to mobilise change. We are too sedate and lukewarm about resolving issues in Nigeria. We keep saying God should helps us, but we are not prepared to get involved in that change.

Yes, you will have thief senators who will prey on the poor by offering cheap rewards (rice, soap and wrapper), but we cannot let is go on for too long. It is this inactivity that has sustained and will continue to sustain the state of Nigeria. They know that Nigerians are not likely to do anything and they enjoy it.
We can carry on talking till the cows come home, but it wont change anything till people decide to act, and it only takes a simple letter to the senator. This is how other people have effected the change in thier own society, and if Nigerian's think it is any different, then we are stuck

This is what happens when we have no government. God bless his soul, and let justice prevail

45 days and counting. No presido.

We must keep asking questions, it is important that even if the politicians are not taken seriously, we as citizens are.

Lets not forget that it is not the president who has failed here, but the entire system in Nigeria. How can someone be gone for so long, and yet not system in place to address all the issues we have been facing. The question is, do we really have a system in place? what does the constitution say? should we be challenging our senetors and members of the house for answers, after all that is why they were elected into office. It is so frustrating that after 50yrs we still cannot get our act together.

What a real joke

We are in real troubled times. The truth is required, we must know what has become of our presido.

Why cant we tell the truth for once. Please see what our country has degenerated to.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/8445776.stm