₦airaland Forum

But in a swift response, Okereke-Onyiuke said the event organised by ‘Africa for Obama’ was not aimed at raising funds for Obama but to sensitise Africans living in America.

The NSE chief who spoke with one of our correspondents on the telephone on Monday said, ”At no time did we say we were raising money for Obama.

“What we are saying is that Obama is for the world and he has been getting support from Europeans, from Arabs and from all over and Nigerians should not be different.

“We are not collecting money for Obama. I lived in the US for 14 years; I am a Green Card holder and I know the law. We are just mobilising people who are eligible voters to go out and register and voter for him and I don‘t know why this should be an issue.

If this is not 419, I dont know what else to call it. Somebody should send her to Alagbon to be sensitized. By her action, she has violated over 16 codes of the statutes of law in her own country, not counting about 5 of US laws. And if the money was raised in Albama, then she has violated some laws of that State as well, including a Jim Crow law that possibly is still in the books _ "a nigger lover".

@Post,

Some years back he had contested for the vacant seat of Katsina Emirate and he was favorite for the throne. I don't know if he succeeded and was enthroned or if he lost to a rival. Definitely dont know where he is now, I have not kept up with news update in the North for some time.

lmao,

I told you you're coming east of the Niger and you're doubting me
Oha is my people's soup Imo and Abia area
if you end up towards anambra side, it's onugbu soup
get ready
I promise I'll personally see to it that he's not a killer

Queen, consider Karma taken. She is already in the North,

I thought discussion was on the topic of homicide, , ;excuse me, murder,  so why the personal insults?  Dudu lay off my baby ya heard!  You are a man, exercise restraint.  Women will always express emotions with their tongues and sometimes it can hurt a man's ego but c'mon, no insult to Karma.  Thats my chick ok.  

@Post,  there is nothing we see here that wasn't happening back in Naija.  Its just that here in America or in Europe, murder is under the spotlight much more and is investigated and prosecuted.  So it is news here when someone is murdered.  Back home, its another death!  So generally it will not matter where it happened, it is wrong, period.  By their nature, women are a challenge to a man's ego.  When the man restrains himself, he grows within his own manhood as the head of household, as the husband, as the father, as the boyfriend or whatever role he may be to her, and after a while she learns to respect that in him which at first was irritating to her.  But if he reacts impulsively to her verbal insults, it does not stop her, it only escalates and causes more damage in relations.  To shed the blood of another human being in a cold blood fashion is on the extreme end of humanity.  Not acceptable, whichever way it is analysed.  He had opportunity to walk away, separate, go get another apartment, go stay with friends for a while let things cool down at home,

There are residuals. Transformations in tactics and strategy to keep black America forever marginalized. Right now a lot of things are kept underneath and supressed so as not to jettison Obama's chances for white house but honestly, top black political activists are deeply upset. Yes, Obama is by demographic definition, black american but in black american politics he is considered an outsider, a foreigner. That's one. The second one is Colin Powell. A big slap in the face! A concrete evidence of claims made by african american men in how the white men view them. True, Powell was a dissenter and he openly was opposed to Cheney and Rumsfeld, but so was George Tenet, so was Alan Greenspan. Why was Tenet and Greenspan not considered a bone in the neck but Powell was. J.C Watts, black republican representative from Oklahoma, Dennis Hastert and Newt Gingrich both felt his boldness to be discomforting to them. They railroaded him out of congress, forced the guy to resign in frustration.
The apology is only in language and as a matter of record, period! Nothing more than that, do not expect any material concessions to come from it, well, maybe to the african american women, but not to their male counterpart.

LittleKim,

Hey, CuteAss is in saying the advise (oh I forgot to how to spell) so you do it. Okay? Lawyers?? Don't worry, they are very poorly speakin, not polished in grammar. They skeap court scripts, okay. Screw them! Your english is good, okay, don't worry okay? Listen to cuteass.

Oriki, as usual, thank you for the thought, very generous of you.

To the memory of my loving father who taught me the strengths of manhood and never spared the rod, to my loving grandparents for teaching me my roots, educating me in ancient wisdom and spoiling me in ways that my parents would not approve of. To the fond memories of my all my deceased relatives. To the memories of all those who have gone before us, to them I dedicate this burning candle. May all these Souls rest in peace, Amen.

Ideally, yes, the nations of the world can come together and create a mega alliance to address the issues that UN has failed to address but what happens when that mega alliance fails in 50 or 100 yrs from now, then we push for a super mega alliance to address the failures of its predecessor. Here is what I propose - to address the root problems, not side-step away from them.

All the conflicts in the world have the single attribute, directly or indirectly, of territorial space and control. Territorial boundaries, air space, territorial water, fight over which country was first to plant flag in deep sea or in polar regions or even on the moon. To keep others from claims to these territories you enact laws. The laws alone are not going to keep competitors out so you create atmospheres within their own sovereign nation or between others Todsythat will distract them. Most countries are dealing with what started as territorial battle years ago that has now escalated into other domestic turmoils. These problems are monumental and weighing the UN down, add to that the fact that UN does not have an autonomous army that it can use to enforce laws and provide safety around the world.

If we are looking for improvement in relations, there are two instruments available to do that _

1. modify and improve the laws for better transparency and equity;
2. amass weapons and use them as deterrent to keep others at bay from messing with you as well as to keep their hands off your territorial interests.

Survival of the fittest, its the way it has all always been and it is the way it will continue to be. There is no territorial contest in sports, thats why its less bloody. Whichever approach you use to better relations, you are not resolving the root problem, you are only shifting balances in anarchy power. At their ideal best, yes, evolutions produce better conditions for all of humanity, but then at their worst, you'd wish those evolutionary gains can be reversed so we all can return to our simple nomadic lifestyles , where every land is a no man's land.

Hmm

Ajad,

Quite naturally, relationships are not absolute. From the simplest to the most sophisticated, there is always a leader at the peer level who in turn is being led by someone at the next level higher and this command structure is chained bottom-to-top/top-to-bottom and is repeated or duplicated in every aspect of human interaction. There is a physical explanation to it, where you can talk endlessly about observation of molecular structures and the points of lowest resistance. Of course that would be a model. Except that this observation is present in human behavioral pattern. It's a template in each of us.

The points of lowest resistance are easily influenced, the points of highest resistance are highly impregnable. This is my reason for saying a mix and match approach will bring about a sustainable balance for humanity on the globe. But thats only on the idealist side.

On the realist side and fastforwarding to your point, I will say its all about blood letting. Look at this step action for example "Ego>Branding>Protocol>Tribal>Color>Allegiance>Expansion>Dominance>Conflict>Bloodshed>Ego. It begins in ideology and it ends with ideology. In order for a nation to maintain and enjoy its status as a superpower, it must exist as a polar opposite of another counterbalance powerful nation, otherwise the privilege has no meaning.

If there's anyone out there still wondering why Nigerians lost Bakassi to Camerounians, ; it's obvious to see the reason in these responses. We are a push over!

Its a great insult for a slowpoke like Saakashvili to compare America's illusory project to Nigeria! To those who say it is nothing, when will it be something? When he makes belittling comparison between Nigeria and Afghanistan? Until then we should dismiss his moronic drools as nothing important, right?

You also insulted the northerners saying they are Guards and shoe shiners, at least they have dignity since they do it in their country and they are far better than you southerners whom have left their country to do security guards, prostitution, credit card fraud, robbery, drug trafficking, cleaning, identity theft, and all forms of fraud abroad there by bringing shame and destroying our countries image. How many northerners have been arrested for drug trafficking, credit card fraud, prostitution e.t.c abroad? All these are done at the detriment of the innocent Northerner who hardly leaves the country. I feel ashamed carrying Nigerian passport because of the damage you guys have done. Go to the embassy you would see the whole of the south west queuing up for visa with fake documents in a desperate attempt to leave the country and destroys the countries image. @deepzone i am sure you are doing one of those dirty jobs ( maiguard to KFC)    ,just like your maiguard in Nigeria so it takes two to tango.

DeepZone,  you see,,,,;I warned you on several occassions about your utterances, use prudence.  It's okay to express opinion but when you insult people as maiguard, shoe shiner,  look at it with balance.  Many times you have attacked these people as almajiris.  Are you not aware that their almajiri caste is borne out of a social welfare structure?  Wealth re-distribution!  Would you like me to list for you super wealthy hausas/fulanis that started in life as almajiris?  Watch your tongue sister, you have fed from the hand of an almajiri before and you didnt even know it.

Bela,

No disrespect but I think we will achieve a better organization and orderliness if this good point you have brought up is continued under this thread.>>> https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-158495.0.html

Ajad,

I read your post. Quite honestly, this is thought provoking. In my opinion, public administration require idealism while international relations demand realism. Above everything else, the mix and match of these viewpoints help to create a balanced and sustainable policies that the leaders of a nation can in turn use advantageously to build popularity at home and credibility abroad.

I don't know if Yar'Adua is an idealist or not, I haven't listened to him enough to form a opinion on that. However, if he turns out to be there are prime opportunities for him to gain support and rally the nation loyally to his administration. There are few things I will suggest that he should embark on domestically and I list them below. At the moment, I chose to exclude supporting narratives for the listings.

1. Patriotism and Nationalism
2. A review of the labor law
3. An effective standards and measure board
4. An increase in productive capacity and a way to measure and report it
5. Revive public works departments
6. Plan national infrastructures
7. Establish national welfare system

hhmmm,

"In our desire to please women (which we mistakenly think will make them like us), us guys are always doing things to get a woman’s “approval” or “permission”.

Another HORRIBLE idea.

Women are NEVER attracted to the types of men who kiss up to them… EVER.

Don’t get me wrong here.

You don’t have to treat women BADLY for them to like you.

But if you think that treating a woman well means “always getting her approval and permission for things”, think again.

You will never succeed by looking for approval. Women actually get ANNOYED at men who seek their approval.

Doubt me? Just ask any attractive woman if Wussy guys who chase her around and want her approval annoy her…"

Syma, now you have gone soft and nice, ; you are softening your earlier accusations. Looking for approval?

@Syma

Trying to get approval by giving it

Another name for it - Feedback. What is wrong with telling a woman you like how she fit in her dress?

Calling, visiting, writing often to prevent the woman from seeing other men

Or you can call it - competing to be the #1. Guys that are looking for long term relationship do this, they are maintaining and grooming the woman's emotions. Guys that want a hit & run care less about grooming or wanting to be number 1.

Giving too much, creating imbalance

It's also called - goodwill. You can never give too much if you believe in a goal. Its only imbalance if she fail to reciprocate, at which point you have a choice.

Selling too far in advance

Simply - sacrificing! Its a leadership skill. You step up with objectives and bring others up with you.

Become jealous and afraid of loosing a woman that they don't even have

call it - human nature. Out of many relationships, somewhere, sometime, someday, a man will meet a woman that arouses this human nature in him and he will readily respond to it, inspite of himself.

Sharing feelings too early

Same as giving too much or selling too far in advance above, this is repetition. If a man can acquire a wild animal, a man eating animal and sacrifice time, money, endure pain and fear to tame it for domestication, why does he fail to succeed in simple requirements of loving a woman?

Allowing the emotional infatuation to trigger obsessive behaviors and communication

Hmm - contradiction!! You have positioned nice guy as simplistic and timid. Simplistic guys are never obsessive, they live and let live.

The above list is the nice guys characters

What are the bad guys character?

There is a wisdom that when you are looking for a confession, once you have bared the conscience and obtained the truth, it is foolish to go any further and humiliate the spirit; the dignity of the spirit must be preserved. A person that is de-spirited is reckless in outlook and has nothing left worth living for.
               
After so much struggles, internally and externally, combating revolutionaries and global conflicts, the seat of power for what remains of the former USSR had lost its spirit and as was correctly stated earlier by a respondent on this thread, the Russian circle of influence around the globe is a terminal one.  If George Bush  had maintained the squeeze on Russia where #42 left off; if he hadn't gone to Iraq and got bogged down in an endless war; if he hadn't squandered the relationships and contrary to the gains made by 42, labeled N. Korea an axis of evil ; if he had listened to his father, the 41st President and a former boss of the CIA and who also as Vice President to Reagan was instrumental in bringing down the Berlin wall to unite West and East Germany, , ;Russia would indeed be terminal by now. America suffered a short term Attention Deficit Disorder under Bush 43. In that short time span, Putin had quietly and strategically reversed terminal course and monopolized interests and created pseudo powers for counter balance against America and its allies.  I said it before and I will repeat again, I don't know about tomorrow, but today no one in the world can stop Putin from creating chaos in that Eastern region but Putin himself. What has Russia left to loose?  America and its allies will be the loosers if they stoked Putin's fire long enough to enrage him into an outburst.

Here is a list of high impact regional conflicts in which America is currently involved directly, half of them are highly unpredictable in projection and serious vulnerablility points for America.  Bush knows, Condoleeza Rice knows and Putin knows who holds the ball here. Unlike Bush, Putin says little and he does not mis-calculate moves.

1. Iraq
2. Afghanistan
3. N. Korea
4. Iran
5. Syria
6. China - (over Taiwan)
7. Russia - (over regional energy interests)
8. Venezuela - (over regional influence)
9. Palestine - (Israel interests)
10. Cuba - (communism)

Ibime,

Thanks for sharing this.  Unless the Guardian report on Russia-Georgia conflict is locked, I believe we would be best served by consolidating all the discussions on the conflict, whatever aspect it is addressing, under that one thread. Can you imagine if each person open his/her own thread on the war, that would be inefficient for brain exercise wouldn't it?

Oh my!!

@Post,

Bottom line, what you need is for your spouse to have morals and values and be literate. University education is a discipline and a means to an end for solving practical problems in the society. There are people that solve social problems and are not graduates and there are graduates that never apply the principles of their discipline to solving social issues.

@Post,

Sisi, how are you? Sensei is still waiting to hear from you. Again, the teacher thought the student was ready!

There is a lot in this report I could respond to but I have one suspicion and I will leave it at that. Mugabe is for self-dependency and wants as much to cut off outside influence in determining the growth within his own country. It is my suspicion that he has done this, foolish as it may look on the surface, to curtail importation of commodities and force the people to look for local alternatives for sustenance. Ifthat were to happen, then his vision of transformation could pay off handsomely for his people. Again, I do not know if that is the fact but I suspect thats what the guy is doing.

Can you imagine if we did not have Kingsway and Leventis and all those other departmental stores, or if we could not afford their prices, ;we would have developed our own indigenous retail industries and not be so oriented in British commodities.

@Post,

When asked in 2000, shortly before the November elections, Bush said he had no concrete policy for Africa. He repeated the claim after his inauguration and within the milestone of his 100days in office. This was in background to Clinton's popularity among Blacks in America and on the African continent. Anything Clinton, he stood against it. If he did not have a policy aimed in our interest, how is it that we should credit him for anything he ceremoniously (not strategically) championed on our continent?

Besides, his seemingly contributions towards AIDS is really not in our interest. Why? He is representing corporate interests of the pharmaceutical industries. They stand to gain from all of it in research (using our people as guinea pigs) and in profits (marketing impotent drugs to our governments for grassroot distribution) as well as image and branding by sponsoring NGOs (with grants and funds) for field deployments in the name of serving humanity and doing humane work.

hhmm

Global observation

Guys! Guys!! We are witnessing the beginning of Global escalations into a Third World War.  It is written all over the UN actions or inactions over the past few years.  UN has no teeth to enforce its charters and the principles of universal protocols governing territorial and sovereign limitations.  The UN was created to be a fair and balanced broker in promoting peace and safety to humanity period!  

We must ask, peace and safety against who?  Who is out there with aggression and threat of annihilation against humanity?  Is it the Aliens from outer space; maybe the Africans are on the path of wiping out humanity with their spears and arrows; it could be the American Indians; or the Europeans, Americans, Soviets with their bombs and weapons of mass destruction?  So, over 60yrs since it was established, how has UN truly and effectively safeguarded humanity from the threats of mass destruction?  UN did not end colonialism, the individual colonies fought for their freedom; UN did not protect the rights of indigenous endowments and nature that its statutes demanded; UN did nothing to stall the dangers when Europe was selling soil-deplenishers, bagged deceptively as fertilizers and replenishers to African farmers; UN did not stop the aftermath when arable lands suddenly began turning into arid lands; UN did not stop the incursion of genetically modified foods into Africa; UN was created as an after thought coming out of German euthanasia of the Jews and the resulting Second World War, yet UN failed to stop Apartheid in South Africa and it has failed to stop the aggression of Israel against Palestines; it failed to stop America from waging an un provoked war against Iraq.  Can we depend on UN to prevent Iran from waging war against Israel? Can we depend on UN to stop Russia from violating the sovereignty of Georgia?  With the increasing tension and aggression all over the Globe, how much effectiveness does UN have to block the outburst and prevent a war?  If the answer is no, then humanity need to look for alternatives to UN.  
_______________________________________________________________

@Post,


Is there anyone in here that disagrees that Salaashnikov should be deposed?  Listen to what he said "this is not about Georgia, it's about America".    In diplomatic circles certain truths are best left to the imagination and should never be vocalized.  This is a fool and incompetent, he should be removed from power regardless if Russia do it or his own people vote him out.  In effect what he is saying is - I am not the one loosing here if Putin over runs my country, it is America!  Bush must face Putin and block him from overturning Amerivan interests in his backyard.  That is one of the worst statement a sovereign head of state can ever make, that is an insult to the ears and the brain - he should be removed by whatever means and replaced with someone competent in diplomatic protocols.  If Putin did not take over the country, then Bush need to replace Salaashnikov with a more sensible person that will not unecessarily provoke Putin insuch an open challenge.

Here is what is at stake:

1. The European Missile Defense project, led by America and sanctioned by EU is planned to be installed in one of former USSR member state.  Putin is vehemently against it.  

2. NATO is pushing to admit into its membership former USSR member states. So does the European Union.

4. There is a frontal ring around Russia from the West, it starts in Azerbaijan and wraps around them ending in Finland.  The plan is to limit Russia's influence as an effective global power by containing them behind a curtain and then using internal rebellion against the government to implode the leadership.

5. Oil.  Strategic pipelines that run through Azerbaijan, Armenia and into Turkey.  This was the reason behind USSR's failed invasion of Afghanistan back in the 80s.


My projection is that Putin is going to over run Tbilisi and install a government in there that is anti-West.  This will be his payback for the West's support of Kosovo breaking out of Serbia.  In addition, it will serve as deterrent to Ukraine, a former Soviet member state with a very ambitious leader.
If Putin were to occupy Georgia, there is nothing anyone can do to remove him.  Europe will not face him militarily, they have the power collectively to do it but the ruins and human suffering that will result will explode beyond the borders of Russia and Georgia and deep into the hearts of Europe and this alone is the deterrent for them not to take a military action against Russia.  America will definitely not do it; hell no!  But they will look for surrogates in Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Armenia and will supply materials to them to face Russia. Its a risk, a very big one!  If Russia defeats those states, it will seek to re-amalgamate them back into the old Soviet constituents.  China is ally with Russia.  Japan will not jump in unless their own territorial interest is under threat, other than that forget it.  UN, we already concluded that it is ineffective, it cannot do anything to block Putin.  So who can stop Putin from taking over Georgia?  Only Putin can stop himself now!

What are your projections and thoughts?  What can we expect out of this war?
________________________________________________________________

American Politics

If this war prolongs into the election months, I think it will help to boost McCain's credibility on American Foreign Policy and may catapult him ahead of Obama into the Oval Office.  I also think that at the convention the Democratic super delegates may take the war into equation in the way they vote.  Clinton backers were staunch veterans in foreign policy, especially against the former Soviet and they are very intimate with Putin back when he was a KGB operative.  Their presence in the Clinton's cabinet may be a better promise than Obama's foreign policy heads when it comes to executing policies and strategies to limit Russia's ambitions at expanision.

How do you project the outcomes and how the war may influence political decisions in America?