₦airaland Forum

@dailynews,

Well,every disappointment to me is an opportunity in disguise. Since u tld me 2 of u showed up after my arrival in Yaba,I saved my day by heading down to Ojuelegba to get some art materials.
Bro. dnt be disappointed.Nothing worthwhile comes easy. If SW struggles to begin,it doesn't mean we won't do fine. Now,let's pick our pieces and carry on. I'll just say KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON. This is the word on the poster sent by the British Government to the British Army during the World War II to boost their morale.
So,let's fire on! Let's knw what is next!!!

@All other zones that have their meetings held successfully,I give KUDOS to you guyz.
YAN me more

TEAM SW How far nah? I am outta Lag myself. I dey come Lag all d way 4rm Abk. afta environmental san.restriction(God willing)
LASIGIDI LET'S ROCK IT!
Ciao

iRep SW

@sisi kill

I can't party now. Ramadhan fasting mode activated! Gotta Bluetooth a bucket of champagne with flute to you. ENJOY!

@shymmex,
Yes,nepotism is part of the major problems that causes corruption in our nation. Where kinsmen expect you to administer the public office entrusted on you by all tribes of the nation to favour a specific tribe. where favouritism is a custom.

@All contestants
shymmex,cooger,chucky234,cheddarking et al You are all winners.
Cuddlemii
2 thumbs up for u!
@Audience,Judges and Brains behind this creativity
Keep it up.
Grazie!!! [/b]That's how we say [b]THANK YOU IN ITALIANO!

where is shymmex's score?

@shymmex you a neophyte in politics?

Bro,tribalism in this part of the world had been abused to mean nepotism

@shymmex,
ABUJA WAS MOVED TO THE NORTH: error though.

Capital was moved to Abuja. and Abuja is central! roger that. Abuja aint in North!

Common! It is not a reasonable to argue that IBB moved the Capital to Abuja and you geographically located Abuja in the North! Abuja is in the centre of Nigeria without any root of specific tribe.
And if you argue that the points you listed below are forms of favours to the northerners,then you are still revolving the fact that ethnicity is a major cause of corruption. Tribalism is prominent in every government system in Nigeria and private organisations included

If Fashola agreed to dance to the tune of Fashola why did Fashola sanitized the street of Lagos making in a hell for Political hoodlums and miscreant that were on the payroll of Lagos state govt. during Tinubu's days in Office? Whyd Fashola sent most of them packing and refused to pay lump sum for their foreign trips?
I need to be convinced that Tinubu and his allies are the direct beneficial of Lekki toll gate revenue.

Could you please pin point the godfather's of Obasanjo himself? I will rather say Obasanjo is godfather himself.

It seems you fail to realize the fact that if we want to sanitize our system of government,it begins from ourselves. It begins from inculcating discipline and high standard of moral value to the mind of our people,right from the childhood days. We need to change our society to transform our government.

favour. From your point,"IBB's regime is an example of how an individual character can influence the phenomenon that affects the society" Tell me who are the godfathers of IBB? He lacked moral value and he was greedily and selfish. He was not transparent,not because any godfather was pulling strings in his waist but because he has cunning character as an individual. You do not have an alternative than to accept this fact.



You have shot yourself on the leg to argue that the names I cited made decision to favour the northerner at the expense of the southerner,because your argument buttress my point that Ethnicity is one of the major corruption. Meanwhile,I expect you to give me a nottable examples of the godfathers of the cited names. It is high time you join my school of thought and look beyond godfatherism as a major cause of corruption in Nigeria

Alhaji Ahmadu Bello, the late Sultan of Sokoto, was the political godfather of a lot of young northerners. Understanding the role of politics as well as the military in an evolving country, he placed his godchildren in both institutions. The rewards to northern Nigeria are today self-evident. Chief Obafemi Awolowo was godfather to a large number of today’s Yoruba intelligentsia that have applied and continue to apply his teachings to the benefit of their region. In both instances, the godfathers put the interests of their people before personal gain.
Chief Obafemi Awolowo was godfather to a large number of today's political figures and his view were shared among this inteligentsia,and they have applied and continue to apply is teaching to benefit their society. Alhaji Ahmadu Bello was political godfather to lot of young northerners during his days. He placed his godchildren in both military and politics institutions,and the rewards to northern Nigeria today are from his support. In the examples provided here,godfatherism is seen as a positive practice that benefits the godchildren and the larger society.

The culture that encourages people to spend huge amount of money on irrelevant parties from Burial ceremony to Remembrance of the dead,which will eventually dig big hole in their pocket. The culture that gives chance to bribery by paving way for gift giving as normal expressions of loyalty or tributes to traditional rulers may be fabrics of the society. The society where wealthy people are placed high.even where and how the wealth is accumulated is no of consequence. You must be joking to argue that our culture is not rooted in corruption.

Do you realize that gen.Obasanjo lost his vote in the SW,because his kinsmen doubted if he would be able to practice favouritsm when he eventually got elected. They drew their conclusion base on the fact that he was against the Yorubas' quest of revalidate the election won by Chief MKO Abiola in 1993. In my view,Obasanjo could have been pulled down by his kinsmen on the fact that he was not transparent during his military regime,not because they doubt is capability to deliver favours towards them.
You must the cracking an expensive joke when you tell the masses you claimed to be representing that lack of accountabilty and transparency was caused by godfatherism. Who are the godfather's of James Ibori? Was he able to give account of the funds he mismanaged,siphoned and embezzled?
I firmly argue that the problem lies with our moral values,that consequently lead to other following symptom called godfatherism.

I continue to argue that godfatherism is not the main cause of corruption in Nigeria. My fellow debater is centralizing his argument mainly on Obasanjo and PDP,which I believe it is slightly off the line of argument. While he forgets that individual character is quite different from general phenomenon that affects the society. I want to state categorically that godfatherism is not by anyway a major cause of corruption in Nigeria not when indiscipline is a call of the day. Not when the absence of effective rules, regulations and policies are not featuring in the nation.

What I am driving out of this is that some leaders have ruled this nation and have held political offices without godfathers, yet they mismanaged funds, and promote different kinds of corruption far beyond godfatherism.
Corruption started killing the developmental growth in Nigeria from Shagari administration,Buhari administration,Babangida administration(our case study) These rulers do not have godfathers and godfatherism has not been prominent in the other arms of government in their era,yet corruption practices continue to elevate. If godfatherism does not exist in Nigerian politics,the main causes of corruption in Nigeria will still prevail,unless we change our orientation towards a soceity free of indiscipline and bad culture.

My fellow debater argued that Adams Oshiomole Governor of Edo state has been consistence in his administration because he does not have godfather. Are you telling me that if Adams Oshiomole's ulterior motive is to enrich his pocket with public fund and he actually carry out his motive,will he be able to gain the heart of the people of Edo to vote for him in the second term? If Oshiomole has not been transparent in his system of administration will the Edo people re-elect him?

Fashola against Tinubu

The former Governor of Lagos state,Asiwaju Bola Tinubu who is a godfather to the incumbent Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola. Why did Fashola refused to dance to Tinubu's tune? Why did he got elected again for the second term in office,after the report of numerous disagreement between him and his political godfather and despite the fact that he got to the seat of power with the support of his godfather? Reasons are not far-fetched. When an individual possesses admirable pedigree, high moral standard,leadership skill,good deal of discipline and prioritizing the interest of his people above personal gain;he will be able to run the affairs of the public office without being influenced by the strong forces of his godfather. Even if the incumbent governor has agreed to the conspiracy of looting and embezzling before he won the election, his high standard of moral and discipline has made him to disagree to Tinubu's political manipulation. Truly, wolves lose their teeth but not their nature. Now tell me,if Fashola has selfishly embraced corruption emanating from the ungodly act of greed, moral decadence and selfcentredness. will you blame it on godfatherism or individualism?


Missing funds in Obasanjo's administration

There were wide spread allegation of various public fund embezzlement in the administration of Gen.Obansanjo Rtd. both in the military regime(1976-1979) and democratic ruling (1999-2003/2003-2007) Prominent of the missing funds are listed below:

*2.8 billion naira petroleum fund- 1976-1979
*200 billion naira ecological fund- 1999-2007
*19.5 billion Aviation fund- 2007-2011
These funds got missing during the administration of Gen.Obasanjo Rtd. without giving transparent account of how the funds were mismanaged. was Gen.Obasanjo Rtd. been elected in the 1999 election with the support of godfather? Can you tell me Gen.Obansanjo's administration was transparent?


If the collective wish of the masses supersedes the selfish resolve of some powerful individuals(godfathers) who believe they can dictate the affairs of millions of people from the confines of their bedrooms and the masses you speak for, abolish the corrupt practice of worshipping people in high places because of their wealth,do you think godfatherism will be the threat to our democracy? Hell no! We will only get things right in our society when we instigate high standard of moral value in the heart of our people;both young and old. When we frown at public display of wealth in occasion i.e spraying of money in public functions,parties and burial ceremonies;when you stop to collect bags and envelope from politicians before voting them.

James Ibori,the "flamboyant" former governor of Delta state was convicted for money laundering and embezzlement of the fund of people of Oil rich Delta state. The "common thief" as tagged by a British prosecutor,Sasha Weils was able to defraud his own people for his personal enrichment. Tell me,did he act on the manipulation,threat or blackmail of godfathers?

Let me not bore you all with long list of major problems that promotes corruption in our beloved country. Rather I will like implore us to look beyond godfatherism as the major cause of our problem (CORRUPTION) in Nigeria and change our characters and view towards proffering lasting solution to the causes, and stamp out corruption.

@mannylife,
Nobody is familiar with this top. I am also in the same shoes as u are,but living in Nigeria,listening to news and reading books,u will be able to make some points. Yet,it's cool you wanna learn from this argument. I am also here to learn from ppl.

@fellow debaters,
I respect you all for the good points.

Jarus: Salam,

I'm a Muslim too, and a judge here. You can grab your iftar on one hand and follow proceedings here on your phone on the other hand, as I'm doing here.

I don't like eating or drinking in my home office,especially in front of my laptop. I'm actually in front of my Laptop.

As a Muslim,it's time for Ifthar(Breaking fast) here and the scheduled time had been altered . Though I have taken some fruits and water. Yet,I need solid food. The decisions of the judges is holding me down... So,let carry on before things get messed up here.

waiting...

Cal Thomas wrote in a column “In a free society, government reflects the soul of its people. If people want change at the top, they will have to live in different ways. Our major social problems are not the cause of our decadence. They are a reflection of it” This made me argue vehemently against the motion that says: Godfatherism in Nigeria politics is the main cause of corruption and developmental crisis. Good evening ladies and gentlemen.


Godfatherism orginiated from the Baptist Christian group. Godfathers are chosen to help raise Christian boy and teach him christian values. In the recent times,the true meaning of godfathers had been twisted and changed to political figures that have power to determine who gets nominated to contest in elections and who wins. If godfatherism is applied selflessly, it will immensely contribute to the development of our nation. Former President of Nigeria,Gen.Olusegun Obasanjo(Rtd) was a godfather to the late President,Umar Musa Yar'adua. It is a known fact that The Niger/Delta amnesty programme which started and got implemented on 25th June,2009 during Late Yar'adua's administration was initiated by Gen.Obasanjo Rtd. In this case,Gen. Obansanjo had played a key role in the implementation of the progamme as a godfather to Lt.Yar'adua. He was able to get this done by throwing his support behind Lt.Yar'Adua to be elected as President.
In the example above, godfatherism is seen as a positive practice that benefits the society.

Godfatherism is a cause of high level of corruption in Nigeria but it does not come as a major cause but consequent cause beneath the listed factors below amongst many other :

1. CULTURE-
The belief,art of living,customs of people in a soceity is what defines the value and culture of the people. In a soceity where giving gift to Chiefs and Traditional rulers to express gratitude or loyalty is a norm,then a fertile ground is created for corruption in such society as in case of Nigeria. Indiscipline,greed and selfishness has been adopted in this part of the world as custom. If discpline has been used to replace our culture in Nigeria,this factor could not have emerge as major source of corruption to Politics.


2. ETHNICITY-
Another major cause of corruption is Ethnicity. Tribalism as it is called in Nigeria,impose strains on ethical disposition of Public office holder when friends and kinsmen seek favour from public official.

3.LACK OF ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY-
If people are not required to account for their stewardship corruption will flourish. All government ministries and organizations lack a transparent system of administration. The biggest corruption deterrent is when civil servants, ministers and all senior management in government corporations know that they are under scrutiny. I have lost count of how many times journalists have been detained in Nigeria simply for reporting the obvious. A transparent government has nothing to fear from the media.

Babangida Administration

The regime of general Babangida is seen as the body that legalized corruption. His administration refused to give account of the gulf war windfall, which is estimated to be $12.4 billion.

While I argue that godfatherism is not the main cause of corruption and developmental crises in Nigeria,I admit that godfatherism is an underlying cause of corruption in Nigeria.
Thank you!

Newacca. Standing firm and upright!