₦airaland Forum

pazienza: And by the way, Ojukwu remains my no1 hero,even though,like all men, he had his flaws ,the fact that he was able to unite igbo tribes for a cause,speaks so much about his leadership qualities.

Did you have to issue the disclaimer above because of fear of being lynched or ostracized by fellow Igbos and other Ojukwu worshipers? You that you should be able to stand by your convictions no matter what whose ox is gored.

Dede1: You are spot on, dude. He was a former CONS. Some “copy and paste” addicts may quote this article as a source.

Not naming Rear Admiral Allison Madueke in the article takes nothing away from it but adds to the accuracy of the conclusions reached by the article's author.

pazienza: We don't need western or northern born or cultured leaders again, those brand of leaders failed us. Nzeogwu's efulefusm aka nationalistic spirit led him to start the coup, Ironsi's soft spot for the north plunged us into war,Ojukwu's soft spot for the yorubas(banjo,aluko,awolowo) denied us our only chance of winning that war,don't even get me started on zik.

What ndiigbo need is Dede1/pointB/onlytruth kind of leaders,yes you heard me right ,we need core 'igboists' with no western or northern affliation.

Are you now rejecting the leadership style/achievements of Ikemba, and Okorocha?

The people you are hailing here like Dede1 will never agree with you that Ojukwu's soft spot for the yorubas denied Ndigbo the only chance of winning the war. This is the first time that I am hearing this excuse for losing the war.

[quote author=Negro_Ntns]Why is it every Nigerian wants to hide under the cloak of facts ? What is it with our obsession on flashing out facts....it is as if by so doing our responsibility to the society is once and for all fulfilled and we can absolve our conscience of the guilt and inhumane reality that sorround us.

There is a reason a grown and unemployed man would go steel food to eat. The "fact" that he has commited theft and therefore violated a social order does not give the society a license to humiliate and lynch or burn him alive. Some would argue he should beg for money or food to eat.

Can we begin to state the "truth" for a change?[/quote]You have now turned philosophical on me, but you did not take your line of reasoning here, to its logical conclusion. Since truth matters more than facts as you posited, I’m sure you’ll agree with me that it is truthful to state that no one had any say on how his/her brain was wired during creation.

Additionally the wiring of the brain affects one’s intelligence and choices. Thus grown thief and unemployed man who stole and violated a social order made a choice to do so, based on the wiring of his brain which he had nothing to do with. What you therefore should be satisfied with, in the name of truthfulness, is the release of all criminals from prison, since they became criminals because of choices they made, due essentially, to the wiring of their brains – wiring which they did not put in place.

Don’t try to dodge by claiming that you do not believe in creationism,

[quote author=Negro_Ntns]In truth and with no prejudicial judgement I declare to you that Yorubaland offer to the Igbo man a far greater shelter and rest of mind and spirit than he would expect to get in his own home turf.....and not to mention the conditional tolerance he can expect in North. Igboman in Yorubaland has equal access and zero restrictions. Igboman in Alaigbo has to struggle to fit in, depending on his birth status as an osu or freeborn. We wont talk about Igboman in Hausaland......thats a hopeless risk.

So it is no surprise that the struggle for Biafran reawakening is held in Lagos with political fanfare and all. Fashola has repeatedly stood up to FG and advocated the democratic principle of free speech.....and through it all he had to endure insults from Igbos who see his emergence as a serious challenge for their 2015 opportunity to get the presidency, and so they attack his ideas.....but invariably they benefit from the promise of free and open speech curtailed and restricted everywhere else beside Yorubaland. If this rally had taken place in East the event would be raided by the Army and police and their oragnizers would not have been so lucky to enjoy the luxury of a soft and choreographed abduction designed to show proactive censure and self-correction and thereby keep boots and guns from coming for their heads.[/quote]The above is filled with a bunch of bullsh*t that I don’t even know where to begin.

I agree with you when you state that the Igboman in Alaigbo has to struggle to fit in, depending on his birth status as an osu or freeborn, but I ‘ll add that the Igboman is as sheltered in Yorubaland as in Hausaland. Infact, the Igboman enjoys more economic freedom in the North than anywhere else in Nigeria.

To support your erroneous claim that the Igboman is not as sheltered in the North as in the SW, you people sight sectarian violence and BH type violence against the Igbos up North. You conveniently fail to mention that more Northerners suffer and die as a result of the said violence than Igbo/Yorubas/ and others, combined.

Why do you think there are more Igbos in the North than in any other region in Nigeria or the world for that matter?

It is an insult to Ndiigbo for you to come up here and state that Lagos and Fashola stood up for Igbo rights when they just deported Igbos from Lagos to the East a few weeks ago.

[quote author=Negro_Ntns]Do me a favor Alhaji Chucks and stop including almajiri in the list of those inneed of social support. There are two types of poverty, 1, circumstantial and involuntary; 2, voluntarily chosen path or self-inflicted. Almajiri is not involuntary.[/quote]The above is another proof that you belong to the elite who suffers from a 'disconnect from the masses'. How can you state, with a straight face, that Almajiri poverty is a voluntarily chosen path or self inflicted?

The victims of the bad implementation of the Almajiri system in Nigeria are kids, youths who are powerless and are typically forced into the badly implemented system. You elites should be ashamed of yourselves for not standing up for these children who are used, abused, dumped, and programmed to become poor and tools of politicians, and terrorists, alike.

The Almajiris are the most marginalized Nigerians and it is high time, you rich ones started helping them out. They are Allah’s children and sooner or later, you people will be punished for perpetrating all these atrocities against the Almajiris or for enabling the said atrocities.

igbo boy: these Yoruba boy biko mechie onu..ga cho ihe e ge ji ndu gi me'

I na-asu bekee? ewu illiterate ka ibu.

Jarus: Am I the only one that observes that many top Igbo personalities of old were either bron in the north or speak Hausa?

Zik, Ojukwu, Kaduna Nzeogwu, Ironsi, Achebe, Ike Nwachukwu and even new generation like Okorocha

Jarus, your observation is warranted and spot on.

There has not been any Igbo leader to write home about, who does not share the traits you described. Your observation is one of the reasons why I opened a thread titled Ndigbo Must Look Northward,Westward, Diaspora For The Next Crop Of Igbo Leaders

As expected, the usual suspects deemed the thread a Igbo bashing thread and bigoted.

[quote author=Negro_Ntns]ndu_chucks,

I wish to speak on behalf of Igbos on this topic.

It is an insult to tell a bona fide member of the nation that the rights of belonging taken away from them has been paid back with consolation appointments in federal bureaus.[/quote]There is nothing insulting about stating facts. The article looked at appointments in federal bureaus alone but does not state that that is the only way to look at the issue of reintegration, in order to reach a meaningful and reasonable conclusion.

[quote author=Negro_Ntns]This open up a dialogue on rights of congression and assembly. What paercentage of the country is owned by each constituting group or ethnic bloc? What index of measurement or social factor (historicals included) should guide the apportionement of the proprietary rights....is it population, land mass, manpower and productivity, the treaties and agreements with Britain, natural resources?[/quote]This does not open up dialogue on rights and assembly, or any other constitutionally provided right. There is no need to dialogue on this matter since the Igbo man enjoys those constitutional provisions as much as any Nigerian. I'm sure you know that the rights of the Igbos to assemble were not infringed upon when some of them, specifically members of the Biafra Zionist Movement, a group which had announced its plan to re-declare the Republic of Biafra in Enugu, recently demonstrated in Lagos while criminally displaying the biafran flag.

I remind you that they were allowed to enjoy their constitutional rights to assemble by the authorities. It was an Igbo group, MASSOB, which took the law in its own hands and abducted leaders of the protest.


[quote author=Negro_Ntns]What gives entitlement to some and denies it to others in an assembly of people such as ours?

Who determines the orderliness and social organizing for the society and where is the source stream of the creed and morals by which the standards are cut?

Plenty of questions to ask.....[/quote]Good questions. The Nigerians who are denied these "entitlements" are the poor, the unemployed graduates, the Almajiris and other down trodden fellow citizens. They come from all parts of the country but in greater number, up North. These denials, enable by elites such as yourself, because you fold your arms and allow the marginalization to continue, has resulted in the springing up of terrorists who hide behind fighting for these marginalized Nigerians. We all shouldn't be surprised if these groups enjoy the sympathy of the marginalized Nigerians you all choose to ignore.

The Igbos have been fully integrated back into Nigeria and they are succeeding in government and the private sector alike. They Igbos simply suffer from good leadership, just like the nation, at large, does.

The article should have been titled "Igbos have been reintegrated back into Nigeria".

In an article he wrote for the UK’s Guardian newspaper last week, Nigeria’s acclaimed author Chinua Achebe said that after the Biafra-Nigeria civil war, “Igbos were not and continue not to be reintegrated into Nigeria, one of the main reasons for the country's continued backwardness.” How true is the claim that Igbos were not reintegrated back into Nigeria after the war?

IGBOS SHUNNED

After the war ended in 1970, life in official and government circles was certainly grim for Igbos. There was an undeclared glass ceiling beyond which Igbos could never hope to rise in the government or military. Many Igbos claimed that they were being unofficially punished for their secession attempt.

Igbos complained bitterly that nearly 40 years after Nigeria’s independence, and 30 years after the civil war, no Igbo had ever been appointed Defence Minister, Minister of Internal Affairs, Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Defence Staff or Inspector-General of Police. It seemed that there was an unwritten consensus to keep Igbos out of prominent positions.

Igbos were punished not only for the civil war, but were punished also for the January 1966 military coup staged mostly by Igbo officers, in which the north’s revered senior political and military leaders were murdered. That seared a permanent distrust of Igbo soldiers into the Nigerian army’s psyche. That distrust was amplified during almost 30 years of military rule, almost all of which were under northern led, or northern dominated military governments.

THINGS IMPROVE UNDER OBASANJO

However things improved for Igbos after Nigeria returned to democracy in 1999. Democracy has been much kinder to the Igbos than military rule was. Ironically it was the much maligned President Olusegun Obasanjo that did most to reintegrate Igbos. He appointed Igbos to head the ministry of finance, Central Bank of Nigeria, and the Director-General of the Nigerian Stock Exchange was also Igbo (Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Charles Chukwuma Soludo and Ndidi Okereke-Onyuike). Heading these three portfolios virtually left Igbos in control of Nigeria’s economy and monetary policy. That economic dominance remains as today Okonjo-Iweala has returned as Finance Minister, and Bright Okogu is the Director-General of the Budget Office.

In addition, Obasanjo appointed Fabian Osuji, Chinwe Obaji and Obiageli Ezekwesili (all Igbos) in succession as the Minister of Education, and Dora Akunyili as the Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control.

Later, Obasanjo broke a taboo by appointing an Igbo: Thomas Aguiyi-Ironsi (the son of Nigeria’s first military head of state, Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi) as the Defence Minister. After Obasanjo left office his successor President Yar’Adua appointed Mike Okiro to become the first Igbo Inspector-General of Police in Nigeria’s history. When Okiro retired, he was succeeded by another Igbo – Ogbonnaya Onovo. Yar’Adua also appointed Ojo Maduekwe as the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

President Obasanjo made history by appointing Air Marshal Paul Dike as Nigeria’s first Igbo service chief in 2006, when he appointed Dike as the Chief of Air Staff. Two years later, Dike made history again when President Yar’Adua appointed him Chief of Defence Staff, thereby making Dike the first Igbo Chief of Defence Staff and first Igbo our star General (when Dike was promoted to Air Chief Marshal) in Nigeria’s history. Igbos’ reintegration back into the military was completed in 2010, when President Goodluck Jonathan appointed Lt-General Azubuike Ihejirika as Nigeria’s first ever Igbo Chief of Army Staff. A few days ago, President Jonathan also appointed Vice-Admiral Dele Joseph Ezeoba as the first Igbo Chief of Naval Staff. Two of the three military services (army and navy) are now headed by Igbos.

Additionally seven Igbos have been Senate President (AKA citizen number 3 in Nigeria) for a combined total of 14 years. Azikiwe and Nwafor Orizu held the position from 1960-66, and Evan Enwerem, Chuba Okadigbo, Pius Anyim, Adolphus Wabara, and Ken Nnamani held the position for 8 consecutive years between 1999-2007.

OTHER HISTORICAL POSITIONS

Also, in past governments Igbos held the following key posts: Vice-President (Alex Ekwueme), Speaker of the House of Representatives (Jaja Wachuku and Edwin Ume-Ezeoke), Chief of General Staff (Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe, as deputy to the military head of state), and Chairman of the Federal Civil Service (Professor Kesandu Ogan).

LAND IN ABUJA

Some might argue that the above examples apply only to the public sector. In the private sector, the former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory revealed that nearly 75% of the land in Nigeria’s capital Abuja, is owned by Igbos.

THE BIG ONE

Objectively, the key prominent portfolio that has eluded Igbos is the presidency. That is the final “big one” that is missing, and the final frontier for Igbos. [the Igbos on NL are not helping this cause - mumus]

Labaru

Baby mama: You need to open a book and educate yourself

Hmmm, you used your 4th post ever, on NL, to lecture me ko? Shouldn't you be looking for deadbeat dads to impregnate you in accordance with your NL handle? karuwa

[quote author=*Owen*]I refuse to believe you are in your right senses, matter of fact you damn right stuupid for daring to suggest that we should spread our arms wide open and award them contracts for wasting innocent lives, displacing families and causing general unrest in the country. Your mindset is venomous and should be purged. [/quote]Mallam Hypocrite, where was your outrage when Tompolo got his multi-billion naira contract to secure the very waterways he used for piracy and bunkering in the past? dolo

RIP General Shuwa.

Those of you gloating over the murder of an 80 year old man should be ashamed of yourselves.

@Dede1, stop making things up.You have no iota of proof that Shuwa or a single soldier killed any civilian in Kano. All the killings during the Pogroms were perpetrated by civilians including Southerners. Soldiers were trying to prevent civilians from taking the law in their hands.

Beync: if I may ask you, what does gombe state the headquater of Boko haram ur fellow nigerians contributes to the national income as compared to what the niger delta states contributes that would warrant giving them amnesty ?

Niger Delta states have contributed absolutely nothing to the national income. If you claim that they manufactured the oil underground, then you may have a point. Allah put the oil underground not no doggone Niger Delta people. ND folks are some of the laziest folks in Nigeria. As it is their so-called on-shore oil contributes less than 0.001% to national income. They can't even manufacture their own clothes, they typically use cowboy hats as their indigenous attire.

Most of the oil revenue comes from off shore activities where your boats are incapable of reaching. mumu

mapet: Until GEJ's adopt the global approach of "We don't negotiate with terrorists", then all these rubbish wont stop. I mean how can these Boko Haram sect be demanding terms when they should be standing trial?

I don't believe you offered the advise above when the Feds negotiated with MEND terrorists. Stop being hypocritical. Enough Nigerians have lost their lives and it is time to negotiate a ceasefire and bring these fellow citizens back into our fold. A few security contracts for BH members who cooperate, here and there, should be sufficient to control the violence.

Max Gbanite is a fool and a well known IBB hero worshiper.

222Martins: Exactly my bro.........The last time i checked, Tafa Balogun carried a staff while in office; same goes with Dr Chris Ngige.

What Ironsi carried around was not a staff or walking stick, it was a dead lizard/crocodile, probably gutted, dried, and stuffed. Ironsi was said to have carried it around like a purse/wallet in his hand.

nku5: On point. It symbolised his "ofo"

Please explain what "ofo" means and its significance to the culture or politics of the region.

[quote author=Negro_Ntns]_chucks, since you live in bokoharam territory and have refused to grow beard I suggest you go get a live tortoise to wear around your neck. [/quote]www.nairaland.com/attachments/229503_ROFLMAODog_gif3fa44b12f55ba64fc785c3a5794ba92e

I don't understand why we unnecessarily like to reinvent the wheel. Nasir el Rufai successfully got rid of Okadas in Abuja without all the anger from Okada owners and riders alike, because he properly planned for the expected fallout from him actions.

All Fashola had to do was invite the man for a visit and consultation. Akpabio of Akwa Ibom consults with Rufai regularly and we don't hear of anger from his employers, the people, like we do in Lagos. Fashola is losing the goodwill he enjoys from Nigerians very quickly.

hmmmm.

Newly installed National Secretary of the party of the late radical human rights lawyer Gani Fawehinmy, the National Conscience Party (NCP), Mr. Ayodele Akele has called for the resignation or removal from office of the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola over an allegation the Governor conspired with the military to return to the system.



In an open letter to the President, Mr. Akele alleged that Governor Fashola had called on the military to assist his administration in crushing totally commercial motorbike operators, which he had banned from operating on major streets of the State.


Mr. Akele requested that the Governor be immediately weeded out of office for following his compromise with the army, as he could no longer use the police to achieve the phasing out of commercial motorcycle operators in the State. Akele also accused Mr. Fashola of hypocrisy, deliberate denial of roles, betrayal and over-drunkenness with executive power.



The new NCP’s scribe alleged that Mr. Fashola was privy to President Jonathan’s decision to deploy soldiers to disperse peaceful Occupy Nigeria protesters from the Streets of Lagos but professed solidarity with the masses – a habit which he also said Mr. Fashola exhibited in relating with the motorbike operators after using them to achieve victory at the polls and declaring war on them afterwards.



The open letter addressed to the president, Senate President, Speakers of the National and States’ House of Assembly quotes verbatim in sufficient portion, Mr. Fashola’s letter in January condemning President Jonathan’s deployment of soldiers to Lagos, while flaking the Governor for indulging in what he had earlier condemned the President of doing.


[url=http://saharareporters.com/news-page/ncp-national-secretary-akele-calls-governor-fashola%E2%80%99s-removal-office]The Rest Of The Story[/url]

Dede1: This is show of shame both historically, intellectually and culturally.

I'm not following you, what's the show of shame? The fact that Ironsi carried the lizard around or something else.

@Abagworo is there some common knowledge that a Igbo person should have about the said lizard?

wissezy: I was also told that the reason he was called Aguiyi ironsi, was because of that wooden crocodile . For me, i think it has no supernatural power. Maybe it was a symbol of his authority.

Thanks. So Aguiyi was not his real name, I believe Aguiyi means lizard in Igbio, no?

Would any of you care to share with us, the official business which took Madam Conqueror to in Hong Kong, Dubai, and Taipei? Mucho Gracias.

I was told that Major General Johnson Thomas Umunnakwe Aguiyi-Ironsi walked around when he was commander-in-chief with a dead, treated lizard in his hand.

Is there a cultural or political reason for this and do some Igbo's still practice this act? Did Ironsi believe that he derived some sort of supernatural power from this lizard?

Please no bashing, I simply seek to be informed.

Too much power in a governor.

I trust people like Gbawe for standing for the truth. I wonder why he has been silent on this issue. Where is Eko ile or other ACN sycophants to explain these issues to us? Oyo o ni baje o.

She said: “I went on an official visit to Taiwan with my husband and we did not go to London. From Lagos, we went to Dubai, then Hong Kong and Taipei. From Taipei, we returned to Hong Kong, Dubai and back to Lagos

wow, you people have now become globe trotters spending awoof money belonging to the people of Oyo. What official business were you people conducting in Hong Kong, Dubai, and Taipei? Freaking lying barawos.

Stuff started happening the moment men allowed women to get out of skirts and wear pants. Under natural laws, bare-footed and pregnant is a virtue

[quote author=ekt_bear]Lagos State cannot indirectly support farms in other states through dams or whatever (since this costs money, but doesn't directly give benefit or even break even for LASG). And of course, the employment/tax revenues it generates in other states is not enough to sustain its support (for the same reason).

Within the state itself, land is limited.

So, your approach and others like it cannot work for LASG.[/quote]Ogbeni, I'm pretty sure you fully understood the points I raised. Nigerian state governments should not be running corporations, period.

ballabriggs: Let me give you an example of another critical sector imperative for development which is steel. Who is going to invest in such high-grade capital intensive project? The private sector? You must be joking if you think they will. The guys that bought Ajaokuta never took it beyond where they met it. In fact it was alleged that they ended up stripping Ajaokuta off its vital assets.

Your Ajaokuta example is the best case for why governments should not be running corporations. The government has been operating the Ajaokuta Steel outfit since 1970 wasting $billions, you unable to produce a single pin even after 30 years of operation.

[quote author=ekt_bear]Elaborate.

What would you suggest is a better approach than the current one Lagos is taking?[/quote]I gave the Nasarawa state example earlier. Let me provide additional details - this is one area where GEJ is actually working, but silently:

Nasarawa state has just pledged to support a $90 million investment projected to be Africa’s largest rice farm established by Olam Nigeria Limited. The farm will cover 10,000 hectares of fully irrigated commercial farm in Rukubi-Ondorie area of Doma in Nasarawa State. More Details Here

To support this new commercial farm, the federal government has pledged to resuscitate Abandoned Dams including the Doma dam which will support the said rice farm and others.

2000 hectares of land had been developed for sprinkler irrigation at Doma, and the funds for the purchase of pumps, generator and pipes had stalled the completion work on the irrigation project. GEJ has now pledged funding of the dam and many other dams across the country. See Report On President’s Pledge Here

As far as the doma dam is concerned, a consultant has already been chosen to understudy the electricity generation capacity of the dam and would soon be on site to commence work.

Note that the state government and Federal government is creating the environment for Olam Farms and others to succeed. The state is not running the farm but will benefit from employment and tax revenues.

[quote author=ekt_bear]I would ordinarily agree with ndu_chucks...I'm very much against the government interfering in things best left to the private sector.

But, for various reasons, the private sector is not sufficiently interested in industrial farming in Nigeria.

If it takes Lagos State's initiative to stimulate this sector of our economy and reduce importation of food, then perhaps the benefits will outweigh the costs.

Anyway, time will tell.[/quote]I completely agree that the role of the government should include stimulating the Agric sector. What I am opposed to is the government itself running Agribusiness or directly running related corporations, especially in a country such as ours.

ballabriggs: I'm sorry but you are saying total crap with your "government has no business being business". In the UK today, who owns the Royal Bank of Scotland? The UK government had to nationalize as a reesult of the crisis in the bank. It did it for social considerations. And this is the issue here, agriculture and food in Africa is not a business venture when there is a massive food shortage in the continent. It is a social and economic venture and government has every reason being involved to sway it towards feeding Africas growing population. The risk involved in Agriculture especially on the large scale needed to feed Africans is massive and there are few private investors who will take the risk to invest in such a venture. Furthermore, note that with increased output in such a sector comes lower profits and it is thus subject to fluctuating prices. If you say provide the grants to private the sector, then you are missing the problems that come with information assymetry.

Government has every business being in agriculture to sustain food production for Africa's growing population.

Please settle down and reread my posts, but more carefully. Multinationals conduct Agribusinesses even in your beloved UK and Scotland. Please point out a single Agric corporation owned by the government in UK or Scotland.

I will repeat for the umpteenth time that government has a major role to play but not that of actually running corporations. Government officials are simply untrained, unequipped, too inefficient and to do so.

Onlytruth: My brother you are welcome. Thanks for your observation. I am working on an idea that would clamp a strong sanction on any Igbo who insults or ridicules the Eze in this forum. It is one of the things I plan to bequeath to my successor on December 31, 2012.

The sanction would be designed in such a way that either we have a strong Eze, or we scrap the entire Eze thing.

Dalu nwanne.

You people are delusional, how are you going to sanction people in a faceless forum? Do you really believe that the owners of this website will give you any power beyond and above what every other forumite has? mtcheeew.

On a separate note, as an observer, I am disappointed with some of you ungrateful posters who waited until a new Eze was selected to muster the courage to attack the incumbent Eze. It would have been better to have addressed issues concerning the Eze privately rather than publicly washing the dirty laundry here.

We all know that the foolish Eze is a stubborn goat, but by golly, he fought for your cause gracefully on NL and for that, you people should show some respect and appreciation.

We now have a new Eze with a different leadership style who believes in building bridges and being less confrontational. The new Eze's leadership style is what I'd classify as "Reverend Father Leadership Style" or "The Sam Ikenna Leadership Style". While people like me think the style is a dan daudu (Sisi) style, lets wish the new Eze and Eze nwanyi well.