₦airaland Forum

shervydman:
HEHEHEHEHEHE................... GOMBE, gigantic cow .

Yes, Gombe means gigantic cow in Swahili. The names of Japanese cities even more hilarious. Did you know Japanese people have very good pronunciation of Swahili words?

freshest4live:
Outmuscle you? How na? Those in Kenya know better why they are there, discuss with them, l'm not their oracle, lol.

Okay Let me rephrase it this way: If I were you, can you convince me to try out Nigeria for business or professional opportunities? What can make me leave my "small" Kenya and put up some serious money into a venture in the GIant? I sincerely want to at least be a major player at something if not the Top Dog. Try and sell me a fantastic Nigeria. In other words, where's the money in Nigeria?

shervydman:
......... see u?

USA,CHINA and INDIA have the most travelled citizens in the world.
does that mean they did not improve home?

wealthy, mostly northern European countries like Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway have the most travelled citizens in the world. Income determines your ability to be well travelled. Countries with large populations have large numbers of their people abroad. That doesn't make them well travelled countries, just countries with loads of people. Only the USA has well travelled citizens, but alas, most of them are military types.

freshest4live:
OK, now you know better. There is no single Nigerian story, some places are more peaceful than others just like in Kenya, other places in Nigeria may provide what you need better than the others too. People travel also to see what another world looks like or to compete better. Kenya only overtakes Nigeria in terms of a more stable electricity which is what we don't have for most part of the country.

By this i take it that you mean to say it's your right to move elsewhere when business competition gets hot in 9ja, and you feel you have the right to out compete and out muscle your kenyan counterpart? I thought that was a description reserved for the Land of the Free and Brave aka the USA? Wouldn't it be better if you tried to be smarter and improve home?

shervydman:
hehehehehe.......... even here in Nigeria, some native words have different meaning to another tribe.

I can tell you something else : Enugu means "E - monkey" in a direct translation from kikuyu language of Kenya. There is a very large plain in western Kenya called Kano plains. No relationship with Kano City.
Oyoo is a luo name, very similar to Oyo state of 9ja, but different meanings. We also have kenyans with surnames like Amadi.
Oya, how did these things happen?

freshest4live:
For your information there are 4 million Nigerians in Cameroon, they are all over the place in countries worse than Nigeria so l dunno why you Kenyans should feel so big.

The brother who asked the question made an observation : Nigerians are in increased numbers over here. I attempted an answer.

Hbuyosh:


Okay, this is the joke we kenyans were sharing here.....

That the east African media would find it awkward mentioning Kumawood, given what those two words mean here.

The first word is a very vulgar Swahili word for the female' organ, while the "wood" is slang for a male organ.

Now if u combine the two.....too many would find that word extremely revolting.

hehehehe, a Ghanaian wouldn't understand! A Swahili speaker would instantly. A Ghanaian friend who once came to Kenya asked me what " thank you " in Swahili was. When i told him it was "Asante", he was even more flabbergasted. If you know Ghana well, that is the name of a tribe there and he was from the Ewe tribe who apparently have some beef with them. I told him he could use the alternative "shukran".
Another nairalander here called MtuFulani blasted Nigeria's Olympics misadventures very nastily, and most folks didn't know what his moniker means, they thought he was a fulani herdsman. I took inspiration from him to form my name since I like the comic superhero Superman.

African names and how they sound funny in another African language!

Jay254:
Guys am not sure if it's Nairaland or what?? The number of Nigerian in the City has really grown... Places like Roysa, Doni,Pipu,Rwaka,Kile is full of Nigerians.. Am not sure what is happening..

This is when you will know things like :
colorful supermarket plastic bags,
deep fried chicken,
a functional water reticulation system(all major towns in Kenya have a water company ),
affordable and super fast internet (faster than Germany! ),
above average electricity availability (admittedly, we need to work on the quality),
a peaceful and peacefully inclined population,
milk in tetra packs,
sliced bread in shiny wrappers,
$2 cheap alcohol sold at the street corner,
flashy and noisy but still overally peaceful electioneering and political culture with a zillion parties,
a vibrant media well watched across the continent,
a functioning and well patronised national airline(errrrm, minus the dubious Naikuni types ),
cute ladies,
cute men,
digital and computer literacy from day 1 in elementary school,
a comparative absence of violent and numbing armed robbery,
.........i will bore you if i went on and on and on like an Energizer Bunny on fresh batteries .......


These things don't exist in many African countries. Gentlemen and ladies, i have been to at least 8 African nations for a considerable period of time to say that, don't take anything in life for granted! Why would somebori not want to come to Kenya? You just go to the destination board at MMIA, you look at the destinations on offer, and choose an easy one like Nairobi!

genieluv:
I'd say i think Late Yar'adua n Goodluck were better.

Why? I find the former lacklustre, and the latter supremely corrupt. My thoughts.

Fidha254:
I was looking for details of nigerian SGR from official sources but couldn't find any... Am starting to think Nigerians are sketchy when it comes to facts/details...

Does anyone have details of Nigeria SGR ....

Things like tonnage capacity per year..
Maximum axle load..
The standard used..
Future provisions eg electrification
Number of bridges or tunnels
Cost per km on each phase
Expected cargo that will be handled by the rail...etc

I think this is what the people who write books with complex English call 'escape into hyperbole ', or simply "bombastic -ness. " Lots of grand sounding declarations and statements. You know, nigerians are the kings and queens of grandiose declarations in Africa. Also there is no compulsion on them to report back to the taxpayers about how their taxes do work. In Kenya, these kind of feedback is required by LAW and CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATION. That is why they post on both print and electronic media this kind of progress, so the random dude in Nigeria with internet connection can just be as informed on project status as you an I.

genieluv:
Holly I'm sorry but i find this statement of yours very absurd.
Most Nigerians don't really give a fucck about OBJ. If u guys so much love n admire him, u can take him to Kenya. I hate him.

Ok. Like him or hate him, he saved Nigeria's collective arse on so many occasions. History makers are never popular, their legacy is. If I were Nigerian, I might have also disliked him too, but as a keen student of history, he did alot, and restored a central principle in the psyhe of your country viz. it's normal and acceptable to have elections in order to replace leaders. Nigeria was a military coup ridden basket case before OBJ. He had to be the fall guy for all the nations problems, but you have to understand how desperate and disillusioned you guys were before democracy was normalized.

Hbuyosh:
Mh? Was it not with Raila's father, Oginga Odinga, with whom they drunk porridge in huge calabashes in Kisumu?

Correction taken. It was indeed with Jaramogi.

mtis:
Obasanjo is well known in Kenya than most of your former an current presidents ...if Buhari was sick its ok but the vp should have attended coz naija looks like one of those middle east crazy countries

Agreed, Obasanjo is a very historical and iconic African. This man is a walking encyclopedia! Just looking at him, i summarize post colonial African history in one man. He was a general in the Nigerian civil war, was unjustly imprisoned by that goon Abacha, he led the transition on Nigeria into the democratic fold. There is a picture of him somewhere drinking uji with everyday people in kisumu with his buddy Raila, i can't find it . This man, for all you naysayers and doomsday prophets, is the unsung hero of your country. Sheath your political swords and show him some respect!!!

genieluv:
I hate Ecowas! I don't see what Nigeria is benefitting from this so called useless union.
I wonder how foolish black west africans are not to knlw that Morocco only wants to take advantage of us.

****Well, Moroccans should not start complainning when millions of Nigerians arrive their country

~~Of course, myself n most Nigerians would prefer Kenya in a political union with us than moroccans~~

They only want market for their goods and to hold down the clamour for independence from the saharawis. They will spit on your face without thinking twice if they met you on the streets. They tried for decades to join the EU, but it seems even Turkey will beat them to it. Beware!

arinzeejikonye:
ekoatlantic.com

okay

arinzeejikonye:
..... Eko Atlantic

May Eko Atalantic proceed to completion within time and budget. Amen. But allow me to say something, for a major project of its size and importance, it doesn't even have a website. In fact alot of things Nigerian have a poor web presence. I was recently trying to get the web pages of Nigerian football clubs and i hit a brick wall with most. Why is this so, o GIant of Africa?

Fantastic! We Kenyans are sending our applications ASAP.
Oga Nowenuse, uzzyfire, genieluv, and others too numerous to mention, tell them about our good behaviour!

Kenyanstar:
KENYA AUTHENTIC

hehehe our friends from South of the border don't like to see or hear Kenya and Kilimanjaro in the same sentence, au siyo @Ramaa

Muafrika2:
I've come across a Teso called Olubayi. It sounds like it has some bukusu influence though because of the prefix. The current Chief registrar is Amadi. I think she's bukusu.

Unfortunately I don't know their meanings. I'll ask my teso and bukusu friends. Bukusu people have a very different naming system and names from ours.

Indeed. bukusus are full of culture! I once visited Mbale in Uganda and the tribe that lives there are called BaGisu. If i didn't know anything, they are just Ugandan bukusus, the difference are minimal even in names. Research the meaning of okubasu as well.
It might interest you to know that alot of luhya and luos share names, being close neighbors and all. That's why Uganda cranes goalkeeper Dennis masinde onyango who is samia by tribe, confuses alot of kenyans who know less.

9jakool:
Interesting...
What do okoro, olu, amadi and olubayo mean in Kenya?

Will get in touch with my colleagues from those regions to explain the meaning. Waiiiit! Muafrika2 , might you be in a position to offer one?

just enjoying myself. Wow. What a goldmine for sociology majors, eat your hearts out!

Pavore9:
Yes Kenya has:

Opara
Okoro
Ejimba
Ngige
Mbaka
Kanayo
Amadi
Olubayo

Some others include : Olu/Oloo, Agumba, Omoro... still compiling.
its scary how these names are so similar. In fact, my high school principal was called Amadi(may he RIP). Any kenyan reading this should know where i schooled! Could the meanings be the same? Who 'stole ' whose names or are we just lost relations wandering about the African continent, and assigning ourselves strange adjectives like Kenyan or Nigerian? A matter for the experts in African history like 9jakool.

Rossikki:
We are making giant strides that will DWARF whatever Kenya is doing. Kenya has nothing as extensive and sophisticated as the current $12 billion Lagos-Calabar project.

We need to pay attention to what the govt is doing in terms of projects. There is a push towards infrastructural development. Trouble is people here spend so much time fighting ethnic battles, watching BBN, following celebrities, actresses etc, that they've no clue what the govt is doing, or what projects are going on on the ground.

Eiiishhh!! Take a chill pill bro. They are free, you know! Does it pain you so much to hear another African country making progress?
If it makes you really need to know , this is just one third of the whole thang! It goes all the way to Kigali, Rwanda.

Eiiishhh!

shervydman:
yes.......send ur council of elders to us.

so, u have olubayo?

Ngige is a surname from the Kikuyu people. Its also a surname amongst the Igbo people. Pavore9 can confirm this. I will soon compile a list of strange coincidences of names between Kenya and Nigeria.

genieluv:
Oooh myyy! Nooo!
~~I have once seen a report where a black foreigner claimed that the number n influence of Indians n whites in Nairobi,Kenya is too much for a typical black african country buh i never thot it was that much~~.

TayserMahiri, muafrika2, PissedYagami, MtuMsuper
Is this really true?
I'm sorry if i sound so much of a critic or racist, i am not against foreigners in any way. I love em buh i don't like the idea of foreigners dominating or having so much influence in African cities. Nuuh i don't. Why should they?

Your friend with the strange number for a moniker is just one bitter and bitch a$$ African who is trying to sell a stale message with an expiry date : anything in Africa that is progress must be attributed to oyinbo/obroni.
While racial minorities do indeed exist in many African nations, "domination ", "controlling " or other very Nigerian like terms are his invention. In fact, i sincerely believe that your friend with the strange number for a moniker must have been frightened out of his wits when he first landed in Kenya, only to discover the sight of Kenyans wearing shoes and going about their business without having to try and eat each other in the process. He was sold a bridge before he came here, and is still trying to process the fact and reality that things like law and order exists in Kenya. He's going through a phase, help him.

genieluv:
Jeeee. great. **M happy that your govnmt is working on the fashion industry. Even we in Nigeria are working on our textile productions too. A lot of importation is also killing our local textile industries

Yaah true, Nigeria has an advantage in entertainment with the large market, buh i still believe progress can be made without a large market as such, or don't you think? There was a time when Ghanaian movies and even musics beat Nigerian productions in quality and heavily penetrated our markets.
Congo once dominated the entire Africa with their music due to the quality.
Tanzanian musics seem to be doing pretty well, i am amazed from the quality of music videos n songs i watch from Tanzania n i heard that they have heavily penetrated the Kenyan market.
Africans have similar cultures n values and we will always patronize ourselves if we have value to offer to our products, dontcha think?

There is a large swahili speaking population n market, won't Tanzanians, Ugandans n other swahili speakers patronize Kenyan swahili movies if they are of world class quality?

Even now, you won't believe how Ghanaian movie producers are giving Nigerian producers a hot chase in terms of movie quality, (Although Ghana n Nigeria works together a lot in movie production, so their movies easily gain the patronization of the Nigerian market), what stops a collabo btw East African actors, producers, directors n co? You musn't have a united union to do such. Nigeria n Ghana share no boundary, buh our movie industry is almost intertwined.

See a Ghana movie below, there r many more of high quality like this. Some of the actors are Nigerians (the light-skinned guy at the centre and the dark-skinned guy on the left)

I get away for a few days and am waay back at page 900! You guys have names that are similar to ours. A name like Okwara, Olubayo or Okech would be very much at home in Kenya as in Nigeria. Has anybody investigated this phenomenon? Should we send elders to each other?

vaxx:
cedi is stable for the past 24 months now. yes redomination was carried out in 2007 to improve transaction cost and reduce the essence of carrying large paper money around.

i can as well tell you ghana currency is strong. minimum wage in ghana per day is 8cedis 50 pessewas which is 255 cedis a month that translate to 60 dollars . best in west africa. i dont know about kenya.

You're the man on the ground, give us an account of what 1 cedi can buy. Also give us a picture of what an amount like say, 100 cedis can do. Am just curious if I might step in Ghana one day.
Pssst. There is this Ghanaian lady called Juliet bawua, is she really able to play football with high heels on? She was famous for some guiness ad some time back and she entered into men's folklore ever since.

Muafrika2:
I submit to you, that there are strong similarities ...

Kamba tribe, Kenyan Bantu ...

Imwe, ili, itatu, inya, itano, thandatu, monza, Nyanya, kenda, Ikumi

Swahili:
Moja, mbili, tatu, nne, Tano, sita, Saba, nane, tisa, kumi

I bet I would somehow comprehend the language if I heard it being spoken

Another qualifier would be the names of common animals and pronouns.

popizaino:
I watch citizen tv too as well and I can't see any difference in their accent with that of kansime.

Kansiime is from western Uganda from bakiga people. That is their normal,trademark accent. In Kenya, people tend to form humour around accents and the one from western Uganda is very hilarious to the Kenyan ear, so they imported her along with her jokes for tv. If you ever travel to Uganda, you will hear that accent alot. Even in Uganda, there are many accents. As an African, you should know accents and tribal origin are like 5 and 6!

genieluv:
Yah you are very correct.

Buh just that it's a free country and a free market. These cheap producers still have their customers and it also serves as a source of employment for many. Nothing can be done to stop or regulate them from the markets.

I think with time they will die a natural death as there will be loads n loads of these 1st grade movies in the market. First grade movies are mostly watched in the cinemas and only original copies sold (which might be expensive) for lower income citizens, until after some years.

okay. Still, movies are a window into particular country /society and how the world sees you. BTW, nollywood is very popular in the carribean as well.

9jakool has presented a very interesting analysis of some other aspects of bantoid people and language. Would you care to comment? Can you give us the names of common animals in your native tongue for comparison?

genieluv:
>>>1st grade Nigerian movies!
These are the movies dominating the African award shows. ** **

These look good. Hopefully.
Movies are how the rest of Africa sees Nigeria. Accents, drama and what have you. The number 1 ambassador of Nigeria to the world is nollywood. Those cheap movie producers better know that.

genieluv:
*** Interesting +++ Seems like you speak german?

Yaah, i get what you mean buh my point is that you cannot say English was a pidginized language. Native speakers of a language cannot pidginize their own language, now can they?
Since you are from Kenya, is it okay for us to say swahili is a pidginized language?

Yes to the first.
Well, strictly speaking, English had so many variants in its infancy, that it had to wait very long for standardization in both grammar and spelling. Centuries. But the common tongue still amongst the people of the British isles. Did you know there is something called Scots English? Spoken in Scotland, with that sweet accent. That aside, there are still many variants of English e. g international English, American English, Australian English, Indian English etc etc but they have STANDARDIZATION BODIES.

kiswahili had its origins as a tongue called kiNgozi. Some natives still call it so. It also had many regional variations, just like German or Yoruba . It was still mutually intelligible to its speakers. It wasn't until 1849 that the standardization began. And just like German, a common standard was established, based mostly on the Zanzibar dialect. Upon independence, both Kenya and Tanzania set up bodies to regulate the language and thus the language stopped being ambiguous but became a full fledged and independent language. That is the difference between a language and a pidgin. A standardized and official form, with a regulator.
Even Chinese has various forms. Does pidgin have standardization and a regulator?