I am amazed that it took you 2 years to come that realization.
Now, we know the truth about local airlines...needless waste of life and dreams.

We need to get rid of this infestation of leadership in our country NOW! Our parents failed to stand-up for us and now we are suffering because of it and if we fail to stand up and keep fighting until the government changes his stance on corruption and stop passing the buck and deficit of leadership on to us, we fail our children.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/László_Tőkés
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanian_Revolution_of_1989

Its because of posts like this and comments from die-hard "subsidy" removal supporters that I always stay away from commenting on Nairaland but prefer to read from the sidelines, shake my head and wonder when we will be able to make a distinction between literate and educated Nigerians. Most of the commentators here are from privileged background and benefit from the rot in the system that has made an average working Nigerian a disenfranchised entity in their own land. For those that are touting removal of Fuel subsidy as the panacea to our economic problems; I have some questions and will appreciate responsible answers -
* Is it only crude oil that is the natural resource we have in this country to generate foreign exchange?
* Since the '80s when the man from Minna started removing subsidy by SAPPING us with MAMSER and giving BETTER LIFE to their cronies, what have they done with the windfall in terms of sound economic policies?
* What exactly is the subsidy if the Federal Government that benefits from the activities of the "NNPC" could not utilize the income earned over the past 25+ years constructively such that an average Nigerian has to run generator for at least 6 hours in a working day? The minimum wage has not increased in almost 10 years even though the same set of politicians making noise about the economy are the same set of people running the economy aground with unrealistic emoluments?
I find it very sad that Nigerians in the diaspora that claim to be technocrats are not better than Nigerians trying to survive in the system at home in terms of avarice and lack of integrity. There is no amount of grammar that Okonjo-Iweala will speak to make me change my mind about their league. For starters, if she had really wanted to make a difference, she should have returned to UI after her graduate study in the US and lecture like her Dad and show that she understands what it means to live and survive in Nigeria but people coming home after living a padded life in the US to come and take appointment as minister during Obasanjo regime where they supposedly paid up Nigeria's debt and lined their own pocket with huge consultancy fees are just political jobbers. Now, she is here again and the problem is we need to remove subsidy to do the things that my tax should have been used for in the first place.
Bravo to GEJ and his team for succeeding with the fuel hike using subsidy removal as a front. Now, more oil blocs will be allocated to their fronts and cronies, more crude exporting will be done and at the end of it all, we will still have them come to us in a few years with promise to repair the roads, build healthcare facilities, farm more lands and so on without a single refinery working.
I have always said we Nigerians have irresponsible leaders but totally useless and undependable followership. The unfortunate reality of this is that we live in denial and compensate with self-preservation and superficial religiosity while waiting for our statuses to change from "followership" to "leadership" and we then continue the venal cycle. So Sad.

Word.

This is a good idea that won't fly like every good thing in Naija.
The reason is simple; the C of S is serving as a way for the powers that be to protect their on-going interest and arm-twist any erring Aso Rock tenant from mis-behaving and pouring sand in their Garri.
Carrions (even when they fight) do not reject to feast together on a carcass and either some members are disgruntled or not, they won't want their stake taken away and lets hope "we the people" can request the ammendent that will expunge their existence but as I mentioned above, its not gonna happen. JONA is a new transfer to the club and can't mess up his playing chances - UNFORTUNATELY.

This is one of the reasons that discouraged me from commenting on Nairaland for a long time - living in denial, mindless bickering over who is right or wrong, comparing ourselves to others and showing to every Tom, D* and Harry in every part of the world that can use the internet and read that we are indeed what they have been told. Rather than learn the "core lesson" of life in Nigeria taking Lagos as a micro-sample and call for a forum where each person can offer proactive suggestions, we blame the messenger rather than the message which unfortunately is the truth and a harbinger of the dark future if we don't change.
We Nigerians do not need mindless patriotism that will defend "our honor" against what any foreign media has to say; they are in business to say that and will not stop. However, what they have said about us, is it the truth or not? This is about "our own land" and what leadership and followership problems has created. I have seen enough in Nigeria to know that we the "followers" have bigger problems than the so called leaders - we lack the will to change. Most of the folks chatting here and defending the honor of Nigeria will perverse the course of justice if they have a little power and authority (cousin uncle or even friends in power) and until we learn to make everyone that represent us take responsibility for their actions, the danse macabre continues. In Nigeria, we have VERY few leaders, most of the so-called leaders should be refered to as men with power or position of authority and this is where the leadership disconnect starts from and frittles down to me and you and every average joe on the street. If Aljazeera has said something offensive about your land, do something about it; don't cry about their bias or start comparing us to other countries (thats the my mercedes is bigger than yours mentality among us that has made us extremely selfish to the point of wicked rulership), rather do something by making your leaders or the people in authority accountable.
We are all guilty afterall Wole Soyinka said the man dies in all who keeps silent in the face of tyranny. My point is this; I was at the checkin counter of Emirates 2 days ago to see some folks off and the custom guys were hassling Nigerian travellers over Garri, Crayfish and other condiments (thankfully no one in my entourage has such issue) and at a point, some Indians came in to check in and when they were supposed to move over for custom's inspection, one of them just smiled at the custom's officer and did a quick sweep of his folded hands crumpling some cash towards the man, the custom's dude, swiftly grabbed the hand, palm the cash and smiled back and all the luggages packed by these folks were skipped. All of us Nigerians that were there saw it and did nothing but shook our heads (thats some frustrated heads innit?). Now,I have been around and can't recount how many times I have been stopped in many Asian and Australian airports for explosive scan ( I jokingly told one of them if its because I am BLACK) and I am sure that Indians won't allow any Nigerian do that and if another foreigner should get that incident on tape and show it to the world, we will start blabbing that they are trying to spoil our rep. I felt bad that I could do nothing about it even though I have every mind to go and slap the custom's guy.
So, you and I are the people that have been doing things and need to do less of what we don't want Aljazeera to report.
Enough story; please if you have an outgoing governor in your state, make sure he does not escape abroad without giving you all stewardship report.

For SEVIS Fee payment from Nigeria, you might want to consider www.mysevisfee.com
They seem to be assisting Nigerian students with the payment.

To hell with all these tribal sentiments.
The first Nigerian to actually win the Rolex Awards for Enterprise is an Hausa Man almost a decade ago.
Nigeria is indeed an ethnic boiling pot.

now,

THEN
Turai and her broods,

For crying out loud!
"Yeah a dull backside" is not in Nigeria, why do we keep deceiving ourselves?
This whole cover-up is glaring for anyone to see.
Yar'adua body or corpse was not on that plane, this is a serious diversionary tactics and Nigerians are being brainwashed again!
As for Jonathan or anyone in charge, what Nigerians want is change not all this political tussle that will not impact positively on the common man. Sooner or later, the chicken will come home to roost and this so called Nigerian entity will dis-integrates.

For crying out loud!
"Yeah a dull Ass" is not in Nigeria, why do we keep deceiving ourselves?
This whole cover-up is glaring for anyone to see.
Yar'adua body or corpse was not on that plane, this is a serious diversionary tactics and Nigerians are being brainwashed again!
As for Jonathan or anyone in charge, what Nigerians want is change not all this political tussle that will not impact positively on the common man. Sooner or later, the chicken will come home to roost and this so called Nigerian entity will dis-integrates.

Karl Max was correct; "Religion is the opiate of the MASSES"
Most of the so-called religion of the modern age points to that. The worst terrorist is the human mind. Check out Tom Cruise & Scientology (a religion based on Science Fiction for God sake!) and you will understand that sooner or later, Islam or whatever the opium might be, the chicken will come home to roost!
However, the problem with Nigeria has never been leadership alone but to a large extent "irresponsible followership". Nigeria will change when WE individual Nigerians do not sit in front of our computers and turn to Pew Institute but act out the change desired. The individual makes the collective!

Uhmm! Cesspit indeed!

Typically Nigerian!

No offense taken.
You just have to learn that "your collective responsibility" as "some of us" still does not warrant unreasonable posts.
The reverse psychology of your "moderating the moderator" is off the mark.

OK then.
As you are not high, why have you locked my post (and some others that I am sure are not so much different from the open ones) without providing a valid reason for the lock down?
Oh my, I must broken one of the Nairaland 11 commandments, right?
Seems to me to be a locking spree. Anyway, I am still wondering why this is still open.
Bluetooth, unless you are the moderator alter ego, if you have itching fingers, why don't you post in other threads?

Is this thread still open?
I was expecting to be in the lock down already

Nigerians!
Always misplacing their priorities.
Nobody is seeing the effect of this guy's action on the opportunities that will be denied and limited to others intending to travel outside Nigeria for same purposes.
Nobody is seeing that the same guy's family belongs to the same elites that do not have to worry about NEPA, Bad Roads, increased transport fare due to fuel scarcity engendered by non-functional oil sector crippled by the same people among other basics of life that is so hard for a Nigerian to come by whereas they are forgone privileges in other climes that are not as rich and endowed as this country.
As the original poster mentioned, what has Afghanistan and Iraq got to do with a Nigerian focusing undue and unwarranted global attention of Nigerians at this time?
Nigeria is indeed a nation in her worst season of anomie.

So, what is with similar posts?
That speaks for different ways of expression.
Ever wonder why different tabloids have the same story with varying headlines?
@Bluetooth
I am not a bitch, I don't know about you.
I am not making a fuss either rather I am asking a pertinent question more so that the moderator locked my thread without giving a cogent reason.
Nairaland is indeed a true reflection of Nigeria.

Hey dude,
Why don't you lock this thread again, or better lock my user ID
You seem not to understand that the same freedom users on this site have to express themselves is the same you are abusing by locking threads indiscriminately.
No wonder Nigerians produce a lot of folks like you in the political scene.

Good riddance!
Soon enough, she will be remembered as a saint after all, Nigerians always suffer from such amnesia.

@ Politics Section Moderator:
why are you locking my post?
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-372197.0.html

Yeah, its starting already,

http://www.sphere.com/nation/article/airlines-say-transportation-security-administration-has-new-rules-for-passengers-in-seats/19294497?icid=main|netscape|dl1|link5|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sphere.com%2Fnation%2Farticle%2Fairlines-say-transportation-security-administration-has-new-rules-for-passengers-in-seats%2F19294497

BTW, is the moderator also being a terrorist by locking my post?

The goods:
http://prelectur.stanford.edu/lecturers/soyinka/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/profile/chinua-achebe.shtml

The bads:
http://www.thenewblackmagazine.com/view.aspx?index=508
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibrahim_Babangida

The Uglies:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8431470.stm
http://www.sphere.com/nation/article/passenger-jasper-schuringa-says-he-helped-thwart-terror-attack/19294599?icid=main|netscape|dl1|link1|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sphere.com%2Fnation%2Farticle%2Fpassenger-jasper-schuringa-says-he-helped-thwart-terror-attack%2F19294599
http://www.crimes-of-persuasion.com/Nigerian/abacha.htm

Sometimes, its so much FUN being a Nigerian.

Whao!
I will take a break now from reading these comments and come back with my comment.
Oh thou Nairaland, thy has missed thee a lot!

There is no middle class in Nigeria.
You are either rich (with varying degree) or poor ( with same variation)
All the folks claiming to be rich are just at one or another step on the ladder of their category - the sticking rich and aspiring rich, while those that are comfortable are actually poor but at the upper part of the poor ladder.
This Rebranding issue has been OVER-Flogged!!!

Nigeria is re-defining her essence as a coarse cohesive nation once again. Naija!

And the list continues,

Nigerians again!!!
Nigeria is a fragile entity enjoying a "borrowed" political peace due to the resilience of some ethnic groups. Imagine what would happen if everyone goes the way of the Niger Deltans, afterall every group already have a semblance grouse with the country.
Sooner or later, the country will be balkanized and then every group will now start afresh,

Uhmmm, Naija!
Interesting and valid points that we all know too well were raised by the writer. Nigeria has become a land of contradictions where our education has lost all its values and we think its the contemporary ones that will solve our problems for us. Charity,they say begins at home.
I will say again and again that mediocrity,self denial,hypocrisy and all other vices we gripe about and yet condone daily are the bane of that much sought liberation we want.
A country where the leaders are mediocres reflect the inane dispositions of the followers no matter what form of abhorrence we display to outsiders. Until we address the basic issues of right, wrong, development (albeit sustainable), holding ourselves responsible for the so-called leaders that have emerged (whatever the process) among the pool of followership the rest of us belong to, the danse macabre continues indefinitely.
Nigeria; thou hath faileth to manage little, yet ye want plenty.