₦airaland Forum

Fathia Balogun has taken a bold step to clock 40 now other female celebrities that do not want to clock 40 before now are now following

remain Dayo Amusa that used to claim 28

this man dey craz, he has never drove to his village on land before he rather took helicopter. Thank God for Buhari

Rubbish

Shooting star and Arsenal match is when?

I beg I need a picture of a bald pastor and black Range rover

LaudableXX:
Beautiful article. I wish everyone could think like this. But no...they will not. Even when you make an ordinary remark devoid of tribalism, the haters whose brains are filled with bile, would be the first to accuse you of bigotry and call you unprintable names.

At first, I used to be quiet. But now, I give them back a taste of their own medicine, by serving them straight with the same kind of gutter language, they used on me.

Abi na who be mugu?

I wish this article could make frontpage

ROME WAS NOT DESTROYED IN A DAY - Simon Kolawole


Sadiq Daba, the actor, ran into some serious health issues recently. He cried out for financial help to undergo foreign treatment. Pronto, Nigerians reacted overwhelmingly. But wait. I did not hear anybody talk about Daba’s religion or ethnic group. The people who tweeted and retweeted his appeal for help, and those who contributed money, were certainly not from his village. I was so so so so so happy. It confirmed, yet again, my pet theory about Nigeria — that we do not hate each other. We are just victims of the unending political manipulation of ethnic and religious identities for selfish gain. Evidently, ordinary Nigerians have the “Nigerian spirit” in their DNA.

Indeed. I have met extremists and chauvinists from across religions and races. I am yet to hear anyone declare that we were not created by the same God. One of the most astonishing things about life, to me, is the fact that although we can choose to be Muslims or Christians, and so on, nobody can choose to be Hausa, Fulani, Igbo, Yoruba or whatever. We just woke up one day to find ourselves as members of one ethnic group or the other. It was not our making. So why should you discriminate against me, and hate me, on the basis of an ethnic identity that is beyond my control? Is it my fault that I was born into a family that was clearly not my choice?

Today, I am going a little bit practical on how we can renew our minds. There is a saying that Rome was not built in a day, a proverb originated by the 19th century English playwright, John Heywood, who also gave us immortal expressions such as “out of sight out of mind”, “better late than never”, and “the more the merrier”. He said Rome wasn’t built in a day “but they were laying bricks every hour”. This, in some sense, tells us the value of consistent hard work, perseverance and conscious efforts at construction. If Nigeria is going to change, therefore, we must alienate those who see themselves, first and foremost, as ethno-religious champions. It all starts in the mind.

But, pardon me, Rome was not destroyed in a day either. It took ages to build the city but took a much shorter time to destroy it. Rome was sacked by the Visigoths in 410 AD. In three days, they looted, burnt and wrecked the beautiful city. That hastened the collapse of the Roman Empire. Same thing applies here: the destruction of Nigeria by ethnic champions and religious bigots will not happen in one day — it is a gradual, steady process. That is why we the people must guard our hearts jealously before we are recruited into the hate brigade under different guises. Those already recruited can decide to desert straightaway. We need to build, not destroy.

My suggestions. To start with, do not participate in the sharing of messages and materials that are clearly intended to preach hate and prejudice. Saying “shared as received” is pure hypocrisy. You can be critical of leadership without attacking or disparaging their religions and ethnic origins. As a matter of principle, I do not share messages that are clearly meant to spread hate. It is a duty I owe my conscience. We all have terrible things to say about other people. If we do not allow love to guard our hearts, we will keep adding fuel to fire. Therefore, before you press the “send” or “forward” button, ask yourself: what is my motive? Unto thyself, be honest.

Also, do not feed your children with hate and prejudice. Fill their hearts with edifying things. A senior colleague of mine, a Muslim, married a Christian, who then converted to Islam. He told me he once engaged the services of a cleric to teach his children the Qur’an every Sunday. One day, he overheard the cleric telling the children not to drink from the same cup or eat from the same plate with their aunts, who were living with them, because they were “infidels”. My colleague fired the “afa” on the spot. He remains a devout Muslim, sure, but he saw danger and immediately quenched it. This kind of hate messaging certainly fuelled the mindset that birthed Boko Haram.

This is how hate works: it focuses on what divides us rather than what unites us. If there are Qur’anic verses that say Muslims should love and care for Christians, the hate merchants will focus on where Christians are called “infidels”. If there are verses in the Bible that say “love your neighbour as yourself”, the messengers of hate will focus on “what fellowship does light have with darkness?” There is nothing you want to justify with the scriptures that you won’t find. If you truly have love in your heart, you will focus on the verses of love. The God that forbade eating four-footed creatures is the same God that ordered Apostle Peter, in a trance, to kill and eat! To the pure all things are pure.

And this is how prejudice works: because Chief Obafami Awolowo did not declare Oduduwa Republic in solidarity with Biafra in 1967, every Yoruba is a traitor — including the one that was born early this morning. Because an Igbo chap was arrested for 419, every Igbo person — dead, living or unborn — is a fraudster. Because Barkin Zuwo struggled with speaking English, every northerner is an illiterate; in fact, no northerner has a brain. Because of the insane activities of ISIS and Boko Haram, every Muslim is a terrorist, including your friend. Tragically, there are people that the only thing they can see in you is your language or religion, not the content of your character.

Let me quickly say this before I shut down my laptop and take a stroll: it is very difficult to resist the message of hate and prejudice in a society already polluted by manipulative politicians, their overpaid sidekicks and our inept leaders. I know. When everybody is saying there is casting down, it is very difficult to go against the grain and say there is lifting up. You just go with the flow. But maybe the “casting down” gang is not as big as the “lifting up” brigade — just that the latter has been intimidated into silence. They must begin to speak out. Rome was not destroyed in a day. Those working to destroy Nigeria neither sleep nor slumber.

As for me and my house, we resolved long ago that we would never feed our children with hate, prejudices and biases. These things are usually passed on from generation to generation. I resolved to follow the example of my grandmother by celebrating the best in others rather than focusing on their worst. I would rather talk about the dignity in labour you find among the Hausa, the creativity among the Igbo and the industry among the Yoruba. Accuse me of living in denial and I will accuse you of living in bitterness. Accuse me of being politically correct and I will accuse you of being self-righteous. Accuse me of being naïve and I will accuse you of being jaundiced. It’s all in the mind.

Just the way I see it.

comedy plenty in this country, so Metu has been on sick bed since when?

All politicians do that

Baawaa:
Though it sound foolish,but with God it is possible

gbenu soun !!!

gullible follower

I can relate to this ,

in 1993 my mum sent me an errand in the dark, suddenly i just see that something bite me i never knew it was snake. on my way coming back from where they sent me i see people killing a snake at the spot where i got bite this makes me to check my leg, behold blood has started coming out of me and i started feeling pain then i have to voice out that the snake bite me, 30mins after i couldnt talk again thank God for the babalawo (Alapasa) I would have gone since then.

Babay girl get well soon

Ooni Of Ife Ordered His Guard To Push Me At Public Gathering,
Oluwo Of Iwo Alleges

The Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Adewale Akanbi, has alleged that the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, ordered his bodyguard to push him out of the way during the meeting of traditional rulers in the country held in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital,Punch reports.
Oba Akanbi made the allegation in a
statement,
The Oluwo claimed that the incident happened on Tuesday at the Hotel Presidential when the Ooni was called to the podium to give a vote of thanks.
The statement read, “The bodyguard of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, in what seemed to be an errand message, pushed Oluwo at the public gathering of the first-class paramount rulers held at the Presidential Hotel, Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State last Tuesday.

But the Ooni, while reacting to the allegation in a statement issued by Oluwo
said, “There was no altercation between Oluwo and anybody at that venue at all.
“Kabiyesi Ooni went to make his speech in his capacity as a co- chairman of the National Council ofTraditional Rulers.

On his way back to the seat right beside the representative of the President,
General Dambazau (retd.), on sighting Oluwo who had come to the high table to take pictures with some dignitaries while the programme was still ongoing, he waited for some minutes to allow Oluwo leave the way to his seat.” #diaryofafricanchild

wolfenstein:
Some ppl sha, wat makes u think he hasn't got a land for himslf talk more of a house. Person say him want something u dey drag am go anoda direction. Just saying

and what makes u think that more property is bad for him?

Stevengold:
Do you know if that's his monthly Pay? Or do u think he doesn't even have a house already in VI

He can still have more bro

In 2015 Obasanjo knew PDP will not win the Presidential election because he doesnt want to be embarrassed hence he tore his PDP member card , so in 2018 he created his own party to defeat the incumbent president in 2019. Do not forget that he vowed not to involve in any political acts again.

Obasanjo is an hypocrite . We should not take him serious, all his letters are for his selfish interest.

2RUTHHURTS:
Please I have been having issues with phones for some time now, and I need your kind advice on a phone to buy with a budget of 50 to 70k, please state the spec's. Thank you

bro please double that 70k and get a half plot of land for yourself in ogun state, u may not have opportunity to gather such amount again.

my small brain advise

Buhari will still win come 2019

brothers from the yeast

cant we just reason for just one day in Africa?

Religion has eaten our brains .

Pastors are doing their own while Imams have started doing their own , Africans and gullibility

Where did black nation comes to existence in Quran and Bible sef ?

Despirado121:
But y is dis thread so silent like this

because this is not the onihaxy we knew

H

Pls what's happening to Nairaland moderators?

Why this topic on front-page when the topic says Feb 2017? Can't they correct the opposite error before sending it to front-page?

Some people are lazy sa

nice o

She is too pretty, But why is it that some muslim ladies dont like wearing hijab. seems hijab always add to women beauty.