₦airaland Forum

^^^^
Let's dig in some more. Apart from June 12's saga, tell me how IBB was not good. Compare IBB and Obasanjo and Yaradua. Though it is really not a good comparison seeing that one was military and others were democracies.

After Bakassi, Cameroun moves to claim Obudu •It’s an empty threat -Cross River govt
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Written by Oluwole Ige, Calabar
Thursday, 29 July 2010

STILL basking in the euphoria of the ceding of Bakassi Peninsula to it through the World Court ruling at The Hague in 2002, indication has emerged that Cameroun has perfected plans to claim the ownership of Obudu Cattle Ranch Resort in Obanliku Local Government Area of Cross River State.

However, the Cross River State government has described such claims as an empty threat, saying “it can never happen, because it is a day dream.”

Reacting to the development in Calabar, on Tuesday, the Director-General of the Cross River State Border Communities Development Commission (SBCDC), Mr Leo Aggrey, said the matter was still considered an unsubstantiated rumour by the state government.

According to Aggrey, “the Camerounians are threatening to take over the Obudu Ranch Resort, the Cross River State tourism haven. This is quite surprising and we are not treating this matter with levity. I have already forwarded a memo to the state governor, Senator Liyel Imoke, concerning this new threat.”
He, however, described the development as an “empty threat” as anything serious on that would have been decided at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague ‘’as was the case with the oil-rich Bakassi.’’

Aggrey, who noted that the nation’s loss of Bakassi to Cameroun was painful in terms of potential revenue from the area and the displacement of Nigerians resident in the area, maintained that “the state government would not fold its arms and allow Obudu Cattle Ranch to be illegally claimed again.”

On Bakassi, Mr Aggrey said the state government had continued to accord priority attention to the needs of the displaced Bakassi people in respect of their plight, stating that a number of projects had been outlined for them to cushion the effects of their relocation.

The DG said although the State Emergency Management Agency(SEMA) had addressed certain needs of the displaced persons, a lot more needed to be done to assuage them, stressing that his commission had outlined areas of priorities and needs that the government was poised to address for the displaced.

‘’Bakassi matter is a creation of the partition for Africa. And the Cross River State government is very passionate about the Bakassi people and the boundary areas of the state,’’ Aggrey added.

http://www.tribune.com.ng/index.php/front-page-news/8948-after-bakassi-cameroun-moves-to-claim-obudu-its-an-empty-threat-cross-river-govt

Is Onovo still the IG or has he been replaced yet? Stark, raving madness.

^^^
What informs whom you vote for? How do you delineate rationality and sentiments in Nigeria's politics? You can as well leave june 12's animosity aside and vote for IBB. Afterall he is now campaigning at ya backyard.

^^^^^^^
Cut the crap about Jonathan being Igbo. He is as Igbo as I am Chinese.

2011: Ndigbo, think hard now!
Tiko Emmanuel Okoye

I’ve heard Igbo political leaders say for the umpteenth time that they have a burning zeal to give their kinsmen a strong, united voice that will unmistakably resonate in every nook and cranny of the nation. But I’m afraid that their present course of action is completely out of sync with their avowal. Earlier this month, the South-East governors met in Enugu and issued a statement to the effect that the zone will not present any candidate in the 2011 presidential election. This was interpreted to mean a tactic endorsement of Goodluck Jonathan who is yet to declare his intention, but is strongly believed to be positioning himself to grab the PDP’s presidential ticket.





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Shortly after that, Ohaneze held a meeting with the South-South Peoples Assembly with the ensuing communiqué highlighting the need for the presidency to be zoned to “South-East/South-South” in 2011. Not willing to be overlooked, Senator Arthur Nzeribe, the maverick politician of South-East extraction, addressed a press conference in Abuja in which he stressed “the need for a political resolution that will allow Jonathan govern for two terms of eight years.” He justified his call on the grounds that “the Niger Delta (South-South), where Jonathan hails from, deserves to be given the chance to rule the country for eight years having suffered marginalization.” Watching him characteristically enact his jeremiad you’d think his own geopolitical zone is an El Dorado .


Then there was this well-orchestrated meeting recently held by members of the “Goodluck Support Group (GSG) 2011” in Awka. Anyone reading the reports of the meeting in national dailies like THISDAY (19/7/2010) would readily swallow the fairytale that Anambrarians from “the state’s 177 communities, 21 local government councils and 326 wards,” regardless of party affiliation and ideological inclination, held “a Town Hall meeting” to beg President Goodluck Jonathan “to make up his mind and contest the 2011 presidential election.”


But let me not jump the gun. Let’s begin from the very beginning. Immediately Prince Vincent Ogbulafor was pushed out of the office of PDP national chairman – chiefly attributable to the strong-arm tactics deployed by South-East governors seeking to opportunistically consolidate their personal political interests – and was replaced by Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, the first act of the latter was to repudiate his predecessor’s earlier stance and predictably announce the demise of zoning!


But is this new policy of “No Zoning” and orchestrated calls on Jonathan by Igbo leaders to contest the 2011 presidential race in the best interest of Ndigbo? I’m afraid the answer is a categorical “No”! Igbo politicians must earnestly seek to be more than just two-bit players and errand boys. Those old enough would remember a time when the celebration of the Ibo State Union Day outclassed the nation’s independence anniversary in terms of pomp and pageantry. This was also when the Ibo State Union built educational and healthcare institutions in several parts of the nation and Igbo politicians straddled the polity like colossi.


Those now arguing that the zoning debate has run its course and should be jettisoned are simply indulging themselves in a detestable game of insincerity and sheer hypocrisy. If the irrepressible K.O. was still alive he would have said that the PDP is simply “unzoning to zone.” The proponents only want to unzone that of the president while ensuring that zoning still reigns supreme in filling the posts of vice-president, governor, deputy governor, secretary to the federal government, secretary to the state government, and the principal officers of the national and state legislatures! If they want the rest of us to take them seriously, they should similarly canvass for these posts to be contested on ‘merit,’ so the Bini in Edo, Igala in Kogi, Kanuri in Borno, Ibibio in Akwa Ibom, Urhobo in Delta, Tiv in Benue, and Ibadan in Oyo, for instance, can continue to ride roughshod over their co-habiting minority tribes, principally because, tokenism and miracles aside, ‘merit’ always favors the army with the biggest battalions – given that politics is a game of numbers!


Nigeria isn’t yet a nation-state and those now spuriously canvassing that “zoning is no longer an issue” should be careful what they wish for. They should be reminded that the clamor for zoning was spearheaded by the southern states frustrated by what they saw as the North’s monopolization of political power. Even the bastion of democracy, the United States of America , recognizes the paramountcy of zoning in creating a sense of ownership and belonging. If the presidential candidate comes from the northern half, his running mate usually comes from the south, and vice-versa. The first ticket to historically break the mold was the Clinton-Gore team (both southerners) and it took more than 200 years of nation-building to achieve this feat!


Ominous dark clouds are gathering overhead for the Igbo nation. Since Ndigbo leaders have their heads buried in the sand like ostrich birds, they have failed to see the rock aimed directly at their heads! Those who fail to drink water from the well of experience will one day die of thirst in the desert of ignorance. If they play their cards well the prospects of Ndigbo producing a president of Igbo extraction in 2015 are very bright, else they will have to wait till 2027 at the earliest if Jonathan runs! It is also germane to point out that with a “No Zoning” policy, the highest political office the zone can realistically look forward to is DEPUTY HOUSE SPEAKER (and National Secretary of the PDP).


This isn’t the time to gamble the future of the zone on the altar of government contracts, private oil blocks and what have you. Our elders say that no finger can make a snap without first consulting the thumb. Pushing for parity of geopolitical zones, using the current highest number of states (7) as the highest common denominator is a battle the South-East must successfully wage with the active support of key zones that can deliver. It is amazing that the South-East zone is yet to articulate a united stand on the issue of zoning devoid of double-speak. Such tardiness was unheard of in the days of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Dr. Michael Okpara and Dr. Francis Akanu Ibiam, among many other highly-principled and focused Igbo leaders. Ndigbo leaders of thought must aim at making the South-East the thumb of Nigerian politics, without whose solicited cooperation nothing significant can happen. They must understand that the zone’s best prospects lie with forging enduring strategic alliances.


When once asked to comment on the feud between ex-Bauchi State Governor Adamu Mu’azu and his successor, Isa Yuguda, the cerebral Ibrahim Tahir declined to comment on the basis that he neither knew the reason for their initial friendship nor the cause of their falling-out. Igbo leaders must equally refrain from rushing to take sides in an incandescent argument between the North and its erstwhile most reliable Southern collaborator, the South-South, over who gets the 2011 PDP presidential ticket. Their actions must be strictly guided by what’s in the best interest of the South-East, and having fashioned out a road map they must stake their claims for the right to produce the president within the shortest possible period, and not maintain an inglorious silence of the lambs or, even worse, dish out sycophantic platitudes injurious to the wellbeing of their kinsmen! Ndigbo, now is the time to think very hard!

I doubt if the shoe was to be on the other foot, the Igbo would get an equal amount of solidarity from a people with Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark as their leader. I am not against Jonathan being President beyond May 29, 2011. But if he must be with the help of the Igbo, then it must be discussed.

The Igbo and Jonathan’s presidential ambition
Ikechukwu Amaechi, ikechukwuamaechi@yahoo.com
http://odili.net/news/source/2010/jul/28/407.html

bk/babe90:
and I[b] dont meant [/b] just stinky, smelly, Biafran!

The only ''interesting'' thing up there. BTW, I thought you are a latino?

Katsumoto:
Don't mind the yeye guy. Will Mekus forget the chaps who made him change his pseudonym?   

Mekus = Nchara = Mr Fire

Sharap dia my friend; you are as predictable as day and night. You may change your name but we know you. A leopard can never change its spots.

I did not know you made mekus change his pseudonym. I thought he was either banned at the discretion of the moderator or left the forum of his own volition?
The name Nchara has always been on nairaland even before I began seeing the name mekus on this website. So I do not know who changed what name to what. Do you care to give us a chronology? Like I said most people certainly do not recognize your name and that includes me.

~Bluetooth:
see serious double standard.you are denying Fidelia Akpe who may possibly be a delta ibo while on the other thread,you are blaming edwin clark for insulting ibo from delta and rivers. . .is fidelia an ibo or delta ibo ?

How is Fidelis an Igbo name? Fidelis is English derived from Fidelity. Akpe is certainly not Igbo and must be one of the tens of other Delta tribes.

kildran:
Are u Mekus's mouthpiece? Its funny that even Mr. Fire kept quiet, but u had to rush in. I doubt if Mekus will ever forget Katsumoto.

1. What was he, Katsumoto, thinking refering to me as Mekus/Mr. Fire?
2. This is my thread. I can do anything I wish with it.

bk/babe90:
Ibos should shut the eff up, freakn crabs! You guys, thru your bearded warlord, already promised the Ibo vote to The Evil General. . . . .

As we speak the ''evil general'' is in Ibadan getting support from indigenes including Adedibu family https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-482631.0.html. Aren't you a hypocrite?

Fidelis Akpe is not Igbo. That name is deltaish.

Katsumoto:
Mekus, aka My Fire

Its nice to see that you are putting your brain and PhD to good use. The University/College that employed (I don't believe that for one moment) you must be very pleased with you.

Although Mekus can always speak for himself, but I am sure he does not remember non-descript, drab-appearing persons bearing names such as Katsumoto.

mikeansy:
The last time I checked Edwin Clarke is not running for anything; Jonathan Goodluck is.

Edwin Clarke's appology is no use to anyone.

Anybody who believes that Jonathan Goodluck is the best President Nigeria should have 2011 and beyond has a duty to vote for him regardless of sentiments.

For me I have other preferences purely based on abilities of the candidate in question.

The nexus between the two men is that Edwin Clarke is Jonathan's godfather and any opinion he holds against anyone will influence Jonathan's eventual decisions on that person. Thus, either Jonathan distances himself from an avowed Igbo hater or the hater himself apologises for all his unprovoked vents. Otherwise Igbos will withhold their votes for Jonathan. You may want to think about why Igbos have not made any categorical statement about supporting Jonathan up till now. We will not be stampeded to do so, not with people like Clarke parading themselves around the presidency. After all, every reasonable group fights for its own. Clarke cannot eat his cake and have it without something else giving in.

Years back, Edwin Clarke the undisputed Ijaw leader insulted Igbos and called them names. He insisted that Igbos of Delta and Rivers cannot contest the presidency when it comes to the turn of the south south whereas those people are citizens of south south Nigeria. Now the chicken has come home to roost and his brother Jonathan is at the verge of a presidential contest. If ever Igbos must vote for Jonathan, Clarke must apologize publicly to them for all the hatred towards the Igbo. Failure to do this implies Jonathan doing without Igbo votes. That, and the now public knowledge that the North may not vote for him means his impending presidency might be in limbo.

I do not see the difference between all these brown-envelope journalists and the police. Like journalists like police

Video and photos in link

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/africa/07/20/nigeria.scarring.ceremony/index.html?npt=NP1

Osogbo, Nigeria (CNN) -- In a dark room, the High Priestess used her ceremonial knife to cut two teardrop scars beneath her baby grandson's eyes. As baby Enitan cried out, the marks ran red with blood.

It took only a few moments, but scarred him for life.

In her small mud-brick home in southwest Nigeria, priestess Ifaponle Ogunjinmi performed the Yoruba tradition of giving tribal marks to the youngest member of her family.

"The tribal mark is to identify the family," Ifaponle said. "Everyone in the family must have it."

Ifaponle rubbed the secretion of a snail on Enitan's cheeks and then pressed dark charcoal dust into the open wounds to stop the bleeding. To finish the ceremony, a chicken was brushed across Enitan's head.

"The snail is for cooling the wounds, like water on fire," Ifaponle said. "And the chicken is to clear the body of all illness. It will be sacrificed in two days."

Yoruba tribal scars have a variety of patterns and meanings.

Most obviously, they appear as a series of cuts and lines across the face to identify a person's family and regional heritage. Others, appearing as lizards or scorpions anywhere below the face, are a form of body art.

But they all have spiritual significance.



Video: Tribal markings under fire in Nigeria
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Meta Ogunjimni, the child's father, led us into another dark, musty room at the back of his home. Sunlight from a small window cast an eerie light on a dark-red costume in the corner of the room, a shrine to the local goddess of Ifa, surrounded by a variety of bottles and blood-stained ornaments.

The costume consists of a large ornamental mask used in local religious ceremonies. It is decorated with three small wooden faces, each adorned with scars across their cheeks.

"I have inherited these facial marks from my grandfather," said Meta, pointing at the scarred wooden faces on the masquerade, "they help protect me."

Though facial scars can be found across Africa, they are becoming increasingly restricted to people in the rural regions.

The Nigerian government has moved to outlaw the practice, but many states have yet to approve the law. Many human rights organizations argue that the scarring of children is abuse and have often associated the practice with female genital mutilation.

However, regardless of their efforts, facial scars are becoming harder to find for a different reason -- displacement of old ways by Western influence.

"Our grandfathers, who made tribal marks compulsory for everyone have died," Ifaponle said. "In the modern world, many fathers don't allow any marks on their children."

In her arms, Enitan suckled on a bottle of warm milk. He will carry his Yoruba traditions with him for life, but he may well be one of the last.

Kalu can contest if he wishes.

This is not the Ohaneze that we all know. This one na fake. The governors have not stopped anyone from contesting. They simply said they will not contest. Other Igbos are free to contest if they wish. All Igbo governors still have one term to go so they are not available. It is not by force.

Congrats, Prof. But it is strange that the first african to become a full prof in Canada did so only recently (2009), while the USA, across the boarder, has conceivably had uncountable full african profs for decades now. Interestingly he got his PhD only in 1998. Taken together, except it comes from a canadian source, I am inclined not be believe that he is the first full prof in Canada of african descent.

Anambra Indigene Wins Canadian Award For Academic Excellence
By Emmanuel Nzomiwu, Reporter, Enugu


A Nigerian born don in Canada, Professor Obiora Okafor, has been awarded the prestigious nationwide, 2010 Prize for Academic Excellence by the Canadian Association of Law teachers.

Okafor hails from Ukpo, Dunukofia Local Government Area of Anambra State.

He is the first African and black person in history to receive a top Canadian nationwide award for academic excellence for his outstanding contributions to legal research and teaching in Canada and around the world.

According to a statement by the association, “He is the first African ever to be promoted to the highest academic rank of full professor at a Canadian University.

“Professor Okafor has previously received many other honours and awards, including the Governor General’s Academic Gold Medal and Award of Excellence of the Canadian Association of Black Lawyers.   

“One of the leading international law and human rights experts in the world, he has also served as an expert panelist for the United Nations working group on people of African descent. Professor Okafor who received his PhD in 1998, teaches at Osgoode Hall Law School of York University, Toronto Canada, Canada’s top Law Faculty and one of the leading global law schools in the world.   

“He has published seven books, edited three special issues of leading academic journals and written over 60 scholarly papers and book chapters. His latest book on African human rights system was issued by Cambridge University Press.”

Reacting to the award, Okafor expressed happiness that he has been accorded recognition for his contributions to legal research and teaching in Canada and around the world.   

The professor of International Law expressed gratitude to the prestigious association for the award, saying that the honour would spur him towards making greater contribution to legal research and teaching and academia in general.

Okafor, who promised to continue making Nigeria proud, also expressed gratitude to all those who have contributed to the success of his career, including members of his family, colleagues, friends and well wishers.

There is erosion and flooding also in the middle belt. Moreover potential volcanic eruptions around Lake Nyos (a volcanic lake) in nearby cameroun will affect Taraba and some other middle belt states located eastwards of the country.

~Bluetooth:
Ikechukwu is for now guity of this crime.if the cotroller and all his boys are also guilty,time will tell but until then,the status quo sticks.ikechukwu is the only suspect known.

How did you find him guilty already? Are you the judge? In any court of law worth its salt, both Ikechukwu and the prison officials will go down. Ikechukwu has nothing to lose because he is already in prison and will only get additional years. In contrast, we know how much the prison officials will lose.

Bluetooth,

By the time the case comes up in court, of course the judge will like to know how Ikechukwu got the cell phones. I believe Ikechukwu will not like to go down alone. Thank God the EFCC has the phones and good enough, the EFCC head is not a Yoruba (who may be bribed by his brothers from the prison authority to throw the phones into Lekki Lagoon in order to obfuscate the evidence). I rest my case.

~Bluetooth:
what you learn from home,you will surely practice it outside.i have seen YORUBA folks commit crime but the sophistication in which ikechukwu executed his own is outstanding and commendable.i mean condemnable

The practice of 419 is not news in Nigeria. What is news is that this was done from the confinement of a prison cell. That possibility was achieved because the prison officials whose place of origin are around the region where kirikiri is located (get that fact) assisted him; we know that money must have changed hands here. Mr Bagunjoko and the rest of his boys should be rounded up and put in that same cell. They are as ''sophisticated'' as Ikechukwu on this one.

^^^^^^
Despite the migration, millions of people are still living in these places and making their millions? If anything, the migration may be towards Lagos which we know is also prone to severe flooding and ocean-front erosion. So what are you talking about? However, migration is also towards the oil hubs and commercial cities across the Niger; the extent may be different.

The North suffers from desertification and flooding, much as the south suffers from erosion and flooding. Obviously you know little of the different environmental concerns in Nigeria.

~Bluetooth:
yeah,i get it but how could you suddenly deduce that his accomplices are yoruba when an investigation has not been conducted ? how many times am i going to repeat myself to you.i said ''charity begins at home'' besides big words and sophisticated go unnoticed in a forum which makes simplicity a better option.so reprensible or not,his action is a very bad one simple.

We know that Ikechukwu could not have succeded without inside help. We also know those in charge at Kirikiri prisons. My bringing that up was in direct response to your tribal taunts. That answers your question. Now please answer mine and stop vacillating. How did Ikechukwu's con business turn into an Igbo one? You started this whole thing first, remember.

sjeezy8:
I dont any of non-indigenous people in those places who live and work in those areas[b] MAJORITY outside of Gas and Oil industry.[/b]

I have family that live in the SE and SS but they are either NDeltans (from those areaS) or non- deltans WORKING IN THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY.

can you please name anything worth living in the ND outside of Oil and Gas (mind you everyone cant work in the Oil and gas industry)- waiting. . . .

sjeezy8:
Mind you I said Southern nigeria including parts Ogun and Ondo.

As foolish and childish as ever. Is there any oil production in Aba, Onitsha, Nnewi, Calabar. Is everyone in PH, Warri and Yenagoa working in the oil and gas industry? Moreover, if non indigenes for their personal reasons refuse to invest in those places, has that stopped indigenes from doing so? I also know that many non-indigenes invest in these cities. We have seen those topics here on nairaland. OR are you implying that only oil and gas workers are in the middle class in these places?