₦airaland Forum

[b]Eight Crew Members Kidnapped From Exxon Nigeria Facility
[/b]By Will Connors

LAGOS, Nigeria -(Dow Jones)- Eight crew members were kidnapped from an Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM: 70.87 ,-0.16 ,-0.23%) facility in Nigeria late Sunday, a person close to the situation said on Monday evening.

The kidnapped crew were all Nigerian, the person told Dow Jones Newswires. It wasn't immediately clear if other crew members were at the facility at the time of the attack.

Gunmen boarded an offshore facility Sunday night in shallow water offshore Nigeria's Akwa Ibom state, the latest in a string of incidents in Nigeria's oil-producing Niger Delta region.

The U.S. oil company released few details about the disruption, but an Exxon Mobil spokesman said in an email that "production on the facility has been shut in as a precautionary measure." The spokesman gave no details on the amount of production affected by the incident and didn't identify the name of the field affected.

The project that was affected in the attack was the Oso project, according to several people familiar with the situation. Oso has been targeted in previous disruptions in Nigeria. It has in the past produced some 75,000 barrels of oil a day with estimated reserves of 500 million barrels of oil, according to previous Exxon Mobil information.

Earlier, Exxon Mobil said in a statement that one of its Nigerian platforms "was boarded by unknown armed persons."

"Relevant government and security agencies have been informed and appropriate response measures are under way at this time," the ExxonMobil statement said.

The gunmen came in five "fast" boats, a security source told Dow Jones. Exxon Mobil was in the process of doing a head count of employees Monday morning, the source added. The attackers beat up some crew members and cut electricity to the offshore facility, according to two people familiar with the situation.

http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2010/11/15/crew-members-kidnapped-exxon-nigeria-facility-source/

I can only weep for this country, until I can weep no more. This is a pure shame.

I do not think it is exaggerated. However, blacks in general have different hues. I have seen many light Igbos and I have seen many dark Igbos. It is in our genome that we possess different colorizations. Let us not forget that we Igbos have high incidences of Albinism as well.

An example I like to use is that my brother is light, my sister is dark, while I am stuck in the middle as it pertains to color. We all come from the same parents.

Inked_Nerd:

Can you please tell me the name of the book you read this? I always wondered why there were some many Yoruba influences in the Americas than other ethnic groups. When I was elementary school when we'd learn about slavery, I realized that a lot of the countries they mentioned that had slaves were exported to the Americas from West Africa were people of Yoruba decent.

I have pondered the same question as well. However, keep in mind that in North America, the type of slavery that was practiced, was very different from the slavery practiced in Latin America, Caribbean and South America. Even though the systems were similar, you had different ways in how they were incorporated. Plus, the demographic factor played a part as well.

In the Caribbean, you had a small white planter class lording over the majority black slaves. These black slaves interacted with each other at greater rates and were able to keep many aspects of their culture. Plus, the whites in the Caribbean and Brazil did not try to suppress the culture as vigorously as the whites in North America did.

Remember that white slave masters requested that there slaves be a mix from different regions from Africa. How can an African keep his culture, if he doesn't have no one who knows his tradition or language? In Cuba and in Brazil, you had plantations in which one major ethnic group from Africa was the predominant culture of the plantation. They could continue speaking their language and practicing their culture.

Then he should face charges. I know the Nigerian government is not willing to pursue these criminals, but other nations will. When will we as a nation, stop defending and supporting these criminals? They are the ones who are keeping our nation from progressing.

This is very good development. Cultural ties should never be broken for political expediency. Welcomed news!

This is a very good idea. I support this battle 100%. We as Africans must never forget our culture, our heritage, nor our beautiful languages.

Obasanjo's unending war with Nigeria

By Salisu Suleiman
November 12, 2010 01:49AM

It is easy to miss, but along the Abuja airport road is a signboard "Obasanjo Space Centre". If it is intended as a joke, it has been an unqualified success. It makes people laugh. But even if no jest is intended by the sign, you can't help but laugh.

If the centre was named in honour of former president Olusegun Obasanjo, the same way the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida was named for President John Kennedy, then a monumental error of judgment has occurred. Kennedy is one of the most loved figures in US history; Obasanjo is one of the most reviled personalities in Nigeria.It would be coarse to join the on-going debate about Obasanjo's real paternity on these pages.

But the fact that a simple village bully would make his way to become the most prominent name in Nigeria's post independence history speaks volumes of how far fate has ferried him.Obasanjo, more than any other leader in our history, had the chance to be the ‘father of modern Nigeria'. He received the Biafran surrender in 1970 and nine years later, became first military leader in Africa to hand over power to an elected government. He is the only Nigerian to be military head of state and civilian president.But Obasanjo chose to let us down. He squandered the goodwill and hope we invested in him on the altar of greed and ambition.

In one hundred years from now, what will Obasanjo be remembered for, and what will be his legacy? Obasanjo practically destroyed whatever vestiges of democratic pretensions we had left in Nigeria with the way he rode roughshod over the politics and economy of the country during his eight years as president - a time that coincided with dizzying billions from record oil revenues. Inebriated with his sense of self importance, Obasanjo thought Nigeria was his personal fiefdom.

No one can accurately state the hundreds of billions wasted to actualize what was in effect a life presidency bid. Obasanjo, the ‘anti-corruption' champion wasted billions attempting to bribe his way to a life presidency but was thwarted by the peoples' will.Obasanjo has since embarked on a campaign of retribution on Nigeria. How else can one explain the candidate he pushed down our throats in 2007? If he truly believed in Nigeria, he would have chosen any of his Economic Team - Nasir el-Rufai; Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Oby Ezekwesili; Nuhu Ribadu to succeed him, or simply let Nigerians pick a leader of their choice.

But blind with rage, he went to the provincial backwaters of Katsina to fish out Umaru Musa Yar'Adua and imposed him, thanks to the most rigged election in the history of democracy.If Obasanjo wasn't exacting revenge on Nigeria, explain his privatisation of our national treasures to a close circle of friends. Recall how he promptly took 200 million shares of Transcorp in ‘blind trust'. Blind, indeed. What would he be remembered for? Would it be for the $16 billion that developed wings in the name of power generation? Or the roads for which over N500bn disappeared? Would it be for the over N700 billion drowned to provide water?

Except Obasanjo was fighting Nigeria, which other leader in history has signed away parts of his country and countrymen to please the ‘international community'? But that is exactly what Obasanjo did by giving away the land and people of Bakassi to Cameroun. The Nigerians who lost their ancestral lands will rue the day Obasanjo became president. Today, they are practically stateless; rejected by Nigeria and unwelcome in Cameroun. Even Abacha protected Bakassi with gallantry and patriotism.

If, as Chinua Achebe said, Nigeria's problem is that of leadership, then Obasanjo, having ruled for nearly 12 of Nigeria's 50 years after independence is a quarter of our problems. But Obasanjo has done even worse damage since leaving office: As the major beneficiary of the zoning system, he, more than any Nigeria should realise that it is an issue of expediency. But he has consistently fanned the embers of ethnicity and religion by his utterances and by nudging president Jonathan to disregard the arrangement.

Obasanjo's support for Jonathan is certainly not out of love for ‘Niger Deltans'. After all, he ordered the destruction of Odi and sent troops to fight what was in essence, a quest for social justice. Obasanjo's greatest fear is that a strong president will probe him. And he knows he may end up at his old cell at the Yola Prisons.

Hell hath no fury like an old soldier with a thwarted ambition,

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Opinion/5641488-148/story.csp

jason12345:
i think we can move forward if the following two issues are addressed

1) corruption:- we need to stop corruption at all levels and change the mentality of an average nigeria!
2) tribalism:- we should learn to employ, elect or appoint the best man for the job, not by quota system but by credentials and capability!

Corruption is deeply ingrained in the Nigerian mindset. It will be hard to separate corruption from the average Nigerian populace.

Also an interesting aspect about tribalism in Nigeria, is that the elite use tribal sentiment to arouse anger from the populace. When an elite is being attacked, they will say it is, because of their tribe or RELIGION.

I see religion that is preventing us from moving forward as well. Tribalism doesn't manifest itself in the dangerous way that religion can. People have committed horrible crimes in the name of religion.

1) Corruption
2) Religion
3) Tribalism

How to rebuild Nigeria

His roadmap on the way to go
A nation can only advance forward in the provision of pow-er, infrastructure, water supply, and security and as well revolutionise the state of agriculture, housing, education, health and employment, if there is Corporate Social Responsibility in governance. But from events and observations hereunder, it is not practicable for us to do so.

i) The Energy Information Administration of the United States Department of Energy indicates that Nigeria earned $48 billion from January to September this year, far outstripping projections for the year but has not been accounted for.

ii) It really boggles the mind that the country should be talking about engaging in borrowing at this critical period when there is an abundance of resources at her disposal.
This is probably why the House of Representatives threw out the proposal from the Presidency to take a loan of $4.4 billion, purportedly to take care of certain “critical infrastructure”.

iii) Nigeria’s debt is currently put by the Debt Management Office at $29 billion, out of which $25 billion is domestic debt. The Minister of Finance, Olusegun Aganga, explains that the country must borrow because the level of debt is still low. But must we borrow for the sake of borrowing? What kind of “critical infrastructure” does the government plan to provide that cannot be done without borrowing?

How the government spent the $48 billion reportedly earned from oil this year is what Nigerians should be interested in for now.

i) Where has the money disappeared to; when the roads in every part of the country are in a most deplorable state?
ii) What has happened to the $48 billion if the power situation in the country has still not improved?
iii) How can we justify earning that kind of money when the rail system has remained in the same primitive state as when the colonial masters left the country more that 50 years ago?
iv) How can a country that has earned that amount of money and has been consistently reaping generously over the past 10 years justify the fact that only 17 percent of the people have access to clean drinking water?
v) What is happening to the education system where lecturers in parts of the country have been on strike now for the past 93 days?
vi) What is happening to the state of health care where cholera has killed more than 1,500 people?
vii) How can the country contemplate borrowing when even the funds earned so far have not been properly accounted for or disbursed?
viii) Why can’t the Nigerian government be thinking along that line of the advanced countries like the United States and Britain by cutting cost of governance?
ix) Why has the government not taken a look at the various areas of waste and how to cut back on such waste?
x) Why has the excess Crude Oil been distributed to the States when the Nation is in distress from power supply, education, agriculture, health and unemployment at a time when the people cannot be assured that the funds will be used for any other purpose other than politics?
xi) Why is Nigeria still selling crude and not refined oil?
xii) Why is it not surprising that more than four months after the renowned academic, Prof. Itse Sagay, revealed the huge sums of money that the legislators were earning, nothing has been done about it?

Sagay told Nigerians that the country’s political office holders were the highest paid in the world. He went on to state that the President of the Senate, for instance, was earning about N88 million a month, while other senators earned as much as N240 million per annum (about $1.7 million).

Are these not critical areas that must be reviewed, especially when compared to the fact that the American President earns $400,000 per annum and the British Prime Minister is on a salary of £190,000 a year. Money saved here could be ploughed into infrastructure development and power generation for industries, schools, hospitals, court of justices and leisure.
All the government firms that have failed to deliver, including the moribund refineries, Ajaokuta Steel Company, Power Holding Company of Nigeria and Nigerian Telecommunications Limited, should be resuscitated with the assistance of the World Bank and its subsidiary World Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

There is also the need to expand the revenue base of the country. It is a shame that 50 years after independence, the country still relies on oil for more than 90 percent of her external earnings. What happens to solid minerals and agricultural products which used to be big income earners in the early days of independence?

Road maps for Nigeria which shall consist of the following reforms
From the foregoing, the following recommendations are apparent and imperative:-

i) Amendment of the 1999 Federal Constitution to reflect the Federal Character of the Nation as expatiated upon by Tafawa Balewa in one of his speeches to the National Assembly during his tenure of office in July 1958.
In an analysis of the our normal budget by the writer, it is established that 82.6% of the current expenditure in any budget year is spent on travelling and salaries; but when the current expenditure on salaries and travelling in the 36 states of the federation are added, the figure of 92.8% is realised as Recurrent Expenditure for Salaries and Travelling in any one year; a burden which the Nation cannot sustain if we have to develop.

ii) The concentration of power in the Federal Government, especially in the agriculture, land tenure system, forestry etc is not in our National interest as Nigeria is a creation of the States and not vis-à-vis;

iii) The pursuit of corruption and the law relating thereto must be amended and entrusted to the Judiciary in order to enhance operational efficiency. The establishment of a Corrupt Practices Court is therefore imperative.

iv) The Central Bank should assume full responsibility for the custody, control and management of the funds of the Federation. The Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) should be enhanced so that its functions are not duplicated in the Central Bank of Nigeria;

v) The duties of Power Holding Company of Nigeria Plc (PHCN) should be amended to include “transmission” as no foreign investor will participate in the generation of power and thereafter transfer it to the Federal Government. Business is never conducted in that way in any part of the World.

vi) The Ecological Fund in the Constitution should be amended to include the protection of water resources in Nigeria so as to put an end to the present health hazards facing the citizens of the country because of the lack of good water supply and electricity.
Chief D. O. Dafinone, OFR

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2010/11/how-to-rebuild-nigeria/

This is very sad indeed. I am sorry for your loss.

Abagworo:
Nigerians are ingrates.Rivers and Akwaibom States which witnessed high level of infrastructural development since 2007 is still unappreciated.

I feel there is a regional bias. Nothing good can come from the East. However, one cannot deny the facts on the ground. Change is coming to many states in the East.

Thank you Andre Uweh for this wonderful post. This is clearly illustrating the beauty of Igbo culture.

Something sounds funny about this story. There is more to this story than meets the eye. I do not think this was a suicide, but a homicide.

Nigeria's debt profile on all time high

Nigeria's total debt portfolio may have hit an all-time high of N4.875 trillion ($32.5 billion), Ehigie Uzamere, chairman senate committee on local and foreign debts has said.

Mr Uzamere disclosed this at the opening of the public hearing on the Debt Management Office (DMO) re-enactment bill held yesterday in Abuja.

According to Mr Uzamere, this includes local debt and foreign debts the Nigerian government is obligated to.

"Presently, our external debt stands at $4.5 billion; Domestic debt is valued at over $28 billion and is rising. National and sub-national governments are going to the capital market to borrow for development projects and finance budget deficits," Mr Uzamere said.

He however said the total debt portfolio as calculated excludes and other securities the government, including states and local governments acquired over the past three years.

"There's no statistics on other implied debts from Public Private Partnership (PPP), government guarantees and bail out to banks, textile firms, etc. not to mention the arrears of contractual obligations by government. The list is endless," he noted.

The senate president, David mark, also condemned the rampant, public private partnerships and internal and external borrowing by all levels of government.

"One of the sources of public debt is public private partnership," the senate president said. "They look attractive on the surface but if faced with challenges it becomes a debt on government.

While we need the private sector to fast track infrastructural development, government must be ready to carefully scrutinise terms and conditions of every partnership to avoid pitfalls which can impact negatively on the economy and Nigerians."

According Mr Uzamere, the speedily growing debt profile is due to a lack of central regulation of government borrowing in Nigeria, hence the bill.

When the bill is passed into law, it will require DMO to issue guidelines on both external and domestic borrowing, federal government guarantees and on-lending to sub nationals subject to the approval of Federal Executive Council.

The office will also be required to develop a debt market for the state governments to allow them have direct access to borrowing through issuance of state bonds.

The bill is expected to plug the loopholes on borrowing exploited by states and local governments by making it mandatory for those governments to obtain finance minister's consent before they get loans.

"The National Assembly will not condone frivolous borrowings or misapplication of funds meant for development projects," the senate president warned.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/News/Metro/Politics/5640022-146/nigerias_debt_profile_on_all_time.csp

He is truly "the father of modern African writing."

Chinua Achebe Honored with the 2010 Gish Prize

And the winner is Chinua Achebe!   The converted Gish Prize for 2010 went to legendary Nigerian writer, Chinua Achebe.  Those who gathered last night for the highbrow and well-attended event at the Hudson Theatre, in mid-town Manhattan, New York, were not disappointed; not that they expected to be.

The Gish Prize, bequeathed by the silent movie stars, Dorothy and Lillian Gish for artistic excellence, spoke eloquently about the high honors in which the artistic community held Chinua Achebe’s literary creativity. The Gish Prize winners are generally nominated by the worldwide arts community and selected for their unprecedented impact in their chosen fields.

The 2010 Gish Prize was worth some $300,000. As the compeerer Lisa Philp, the managing director of JPMorgan Chase Bank remarked, “The legacy of the Gish Prize is its devotion to the continuing power of the creative spirit. JPMorgan Chase is proud to be a part of this legacy.”

The high honors to Achebe was best summed up by Toni Morrison, who described the award which placed Achebe in the renowned company of artistic greats, such as Bob Dylan,  Arthur Miller, Peter Sellers, and Robert Redford, as “the most distinguished and the most deserved.” Since its establishment in 1993, Achebe is the 17th winner and the first African so honored.

The niche of the Gish Prize is that it is not literary per se, but devoted to humanity and those who have singularly enriched it.  Indeed, Dorothy and Lillian Gish decreed that the Gish Prize is to be given to “A man of woman who has made an outstanding contribution to the beauty of the world and mankind’s enjoyment and understanding of life….”  That proviso and Chinua Achebe surely were like the hands and gloves.

The high literary, artistic and society personas that graced the event were many and included poet Sonia Sanchez, curator Lowery Sims, former NEA chair Jane Alexander, author Ekwueme Michael Thelwell, and musician Baba Ola Jagun. Philosopher and PEN president Kwame Anthony Appiah was unavoidably absent.

Achebe family members, friends and Nigerian Diaspora representatives were also present in large numbers and included notables likes author Okey Ndibe, author Chike Momah and his wife, Ethel Momah; Dr. Ofunne Omo Obaze, Chair of the NJ Chapter of the Association of Nigerian Physicians in the Americas (ANPA), Consul-General Ibrahim Awalu, and Nigerian painter and poet, Obiora Udechukwu. Their collective presence gave cognizance to the high esteem they had for Achebe and the value of the prize. As Michael Thelwel, exuberantly put it, “the guests graced the recipient, who in turn, graced the prize and those who were present to witness the honors.” To those present, the complimentarity was most explicable and unambiguously so.

Poet, playwright Sonia Sanchez – a friend of Achebe- did the honors of putting the evening’s event in its proper perspective. With her ululation and singsong cadence, she regaled Achebe, underlining all the while, his unparallel impact on world literature and “the international diaspora of African fiction and voices”.

Michael Thelwel in his drawn out remarks would not be outdone. He too regaled Achebe, and thrilled the guests with his vivid and endlessly anecdotal recall of Achebe’s memorable visit to Jamaica, during which a local sage encapsulated the revered author’s persona by characterizing him as “a black-hearted man”. This characterization, evidently, was a reference to Achebe’ broad and unquestioned role as the conscience, custodian and purveyor of African folktales, culture, mores, and the dissector of her taboos and political and moral quandary, all memorialized in his many works, with excruciatingly delicate balance and finesse juxtaposed with impenitent forthrightness, but one consistently devoid of moralizing.

Achebe, ever humble, measured and the optimist visionary that he is, had his say.  From his terse handwritten acceptance speech, he proclaimed softly:  “I have news for you! I’m a lucky man; very lucky indeed.”  He went on to observe that with the award of the Gish Prize to him, the guests had joined in “celebrating the universe of human creativity”.  However, his paramount accolade was reserved for his benefactors.  Of the two women, Dorothy and Lillian Gish, he had very endearing words. He observed that even though he and the women had never met, it was clear to him that back in time and from his far end of Africa, “I knew them and they knew me… May their kind increase and prosper.”

At the behest of Achebe, Michael Thelwel paid tribute to the memory of late Basil Davidson, the renowned British chronicler of African history, but Thelwel went further to heap nuanced but inimitable barbs and reprimand on those literary awards that seem to have become agenda-driven, politicized and not “totally unbiased” –read the Nobel Prize. The audience, in seeming unapologetic complicity, nodded their concurrence.  Such gesture, added further vim to the choice for the 2010 Gish Prize.

When the time came to end the event, which was well chaperoned by Lisa Philp, the immortal words of Chinua Achebe, read so eloquently earlier by Jane Alexander, still resonated in the ornate and grand cavernous bowl of the Hudson Theatre.

As the guests rose to brownnose, take pictures and obtain autographs from Achebe, the distant sounds of the drums of Baba Ola Jagun and the Ancestral Rhythms and the impromptu Igbo ululation by Obiora Udechukwu, all in tribute to the genius of Achebe, lingered unreservedly.

In the end and though unstated, what was evident to many had simply become so apparent all; Chinua Achebe, a legend in his lifetime and a man of unquestionable gravitas lived on, with great equanimity and unmatched humility, propriety and good taste in behavior and speech.

Chinua Achebe, may your kind increase and prosper.

http://www.kwenu.com/bookreview/obaze/2010/achebe_gish_prize_2010.htm

Very informative thread. However, I would like to know the cradle of civilization for the Igbo people.

I think she looks very nice. She is a very nice looking Igbo woman.

Ndiigbo and Politics of Distraction

CHINEDU MADUABUM
Onitsha, Nigeria

The primary element of social control is the strategy of distraction, diverting public attention from important issues at stake. Political and economic elites use the technique to overwhelm the public with continuous distractions and insignificant information. This strategy has no doubt surfaced once again as we enter another era of Nigeria's often riotous election period.

The strategy diverts public attention away from the real social problems and issues by emphasizing on matters that are completely irrelevant but capable of stirring public crisis. The idea is to keep the public very busy, with no time to think about the most important principles and the core facts behind the real social problems or issues at stake.

As we get ever closer to the 2011 elections, the political atmosphere is already charged with issues that if not properly addressed, are capable of causing crisis that can be damaging to our very existence as a nation. The recent October 1st bombing was so politically managed to gain public sympathy when the lives of 12 Nigerians were wasted. Only recently a shipment of alms was uncovered in Lagos and instead of allowing the investigation to be conducted in a professional way, it was immediately translated to another political jiggering. We should not allow our emotions and prejudice cloud our judgments over issues of national security for political gains. Neither should we feed the public with false information over issues that are capable of creating fierce division.

The nation is already divided on many issues leading to the 2011 general elections and it is better to educate the public on the true position of things instead of making sentimental and bias comments for political gains. We are presently divided over the issue of zoning and most of the reports we read daily on the subject are so emotionally and sentimentally bias; leaving Nigerians with very little or no options to decipher the advantages and consequences of zoning.

I have decided to take my time and focus on the strategy of political diversion in order to let Nigerians understand that this whole game is another ploy by politicians to keep the public busy with irrelevant issues so that they can continue to have power and control over the public. However, I will limit my scope and focus strictly on the Igbo people, who are always the first victims of such diversion to the detriment of the zone.

We are presently caught in a situation in this country that requires critical thinking before coming to a conclusion on how to go about with the 2011 elections and the masses must be fully involved in such debate. More-so when many more Nigerians and Igbo youths can assess information on the net easier and faster than the case some few years back. However and while other regions and regional interest groups are busy strategizing, the Igbo elites have once again not wasted time in telling their opponents that they have a divided house.

We have to make the Igbo public understand that the issue of zoning has nothing to do with the voting of X or Y. It must be explored from all angles regarding the position of the southeast before we can confidently tell the public to vote for X or Y. I must say that I was disappointed when the governors of the southeast came out and adopted President Goodluck Ebelemi Jonathan on behalf of the zone. It wasn’t long before the President of Ohanaeze came up with his own announcement backing the president.

I do not see any problem with adopting President Jonathan but what I am yet to hear from our governors or elites is one single reason for such adoption. If you claim to speak on behalf of a people and cannot consult or create a forum for public opinion before taking a decision of such magnitude then you are malicious. And this is exactly the diversion that our governors and elites have succeeded in creating among the Igbo.

The issue now is whether we should vote for President Jonathan or go with the north when in earnest it’s not the issue at stake. I am very sure if President Umaru Yar’Adua had not left us we would not have been talking about the above-mentioned issue. His death however opened a new page in Nigeria’s existence and what our governors and elites should do first is to inform the public of the new page and the advantages and disadvantages of such page with regard to our zone.

Our people should hear of such gains and consequences from the mouth of our leaders and not outsiders. If we cannot educate the people on the true picture then we have no business parading ourselves as leaders of the southeast. Igbo leaders are now trading words all over newspaper front pages over whether the Igbo should vote for President Jonathan or go with the north. Adding to that there is a grand rumour that the president gave Ohanaeze N250m to endorse him and such distractions can be felt on the ground.

It is the responsibility of our elites to educate the Igbo public why we should accept this political rigmarole to short-change the rules in the interest of other regions. There is no doubt that the sudden change of the rules midway will again make us victims of political frustrations in Nigeria. And if the public accept such position then we can confidently declare for X or Y.

This is the time therefore going by the situation for us to be more united against issues that are capable of taking us many years behind having survived the ordeal to get to this stage. This is not the time to play hypocritical politics of distraction. The North are fighting to remain relevant likewise the West and we are being seen and used as tools for their success or continuous emancipation. When are we going to learn my people when?

Has it not dawn to us that in this present situation we stand to gain if we are united and not allow ourselves manipulated for selfish gains. The North cannot do without our vote likewise President Jonathan since the West seems to have made their direction clear. We are in possession of the swing-vote and this we must be very much aware in whatever decision we take. And this is exactly what we should be telling the Igbo public and not to fill the atmosphere with irrelevant issues.

What about 2015? No one is talking about it. The public should know if we are discarding or sacrificing our very patient ambition of producing the president in 2015. Our elites are yet to tell us how they have bargained on 2015. If we are sacrificing it for X or Y then is it not better we know so that we can reposition ourselves and let those who wish to contest now to do so. It is completely misleading the way our elites are handling the affairs of general interest in the zone.

I have had so many conversations with Igbo youths on the ground and through the net – thanks to Facebook and our opinions are so divided without a clear focus and direction. But the northerners remain united more than ever over their quest to retain power. This is not the time for us to come and endorse or reject a particular candidate for our own selfish interest. This is the time for us to maintain fierce neutrality, with indebt forward-looking analysis of the pros and cons of going either with the South-south or North. And we must at all time, explain and inform the people of their choices and consequences as well as encouraging, the young internet readers to explain the issues to their parents and less fortunate relatives.

The internet has made it easy to reach a wider audience and it can be used to explain to the Igbo public on why we should take a particular course. This is without doubt a golden opportunity but once again our elites are being used to orchestrate political distraction amongst our people.

I have my fear that our elites will lead us astray once again for their own selfish ambitions but I am very objective that this may just be the last time we will be deceived. Our elites must understand that the average Igbo man is very much aware that we are yet to produce a president in this country and patiently we have waited. If they cannot educate the public of the true position of things they should bear in mind that more Igbo youths can be assessed and information circulated even faster through the net. And there are many more political and cultural groups with strong interest of the zone opening their offices on the net.
I am not just writing and warning as a columnist writing with KWENU (www.kwenu.com) but the Secretary General of World Igbo Youths Coalition - WIYC (www.igboyouths.com). And we are very much aware that this is a golden opportunity to ensure that the Igbo vision, hopes and aspirations for the masses is achieved no matter the sacrifice that has to be taken.
Negotiate wisely, my elites.

Andre Uweh:
I feel Igbo traditional religion should be reconciled with christianity. In any of our Igbo cultural events in London, that starts with the blessing of Kola nut. A priest in our midst does the prayers and after that, we have an Igbo elder bless it Igbo tradition.

Of course our traditional religion can be reconciled with Christianity. If other African faiths like the ones practiced by the descendants of Oduduwa and Dahomey (Voodun) practice their traditional religion alongside Christianity. However, I feel that we Igbos have forsaken our Old gods. This is the sad truth. The last of our people who practiced our traditional religion are dying off at an alarming rate and we need make sure our traditional religion is forgotten. We need to create more shrines for this purpose.

There is so much diversity in Alaigbo. I am just filled with pride when I hear about the different Igbo dialects.

It is our duty as Igbos to preserve our culture for future generations.

The fundamentals of Odinani

Odinani is anchored on the sanctity of Ani, the Earth Deity,

INTRODUCTION
The Igbo traditional religion is a philosophy that has stood the test of time. To understand the basis for Igbo philosophy, we must understand first the Igbo concept of the Cosmos, a logical concept that makes few pretensions about the great unknown. This concept has survived the introduction of Middle Eastern religious beliefs and modern science. The Igbo belief is therefore both metaphysical and scientific as well as sacred and socioenvironmental.

A very tolerant but conservative philosophy, its capacity for ecumenism is enormous. While not yielding an inch to mythical and unproven concepts of life on earth, the Igbo philosophy maintains an elastic but credible concept of the Cosmos and its constituents that is rooted in science rather than the traditional myths of some imported beliefs.

To the ancient Igbo, the Cosmos is an endless space of visible and invisible beings. This Cosmo is divided into four complex constituents, [Onwuejeogwu, 1975: The Igbo Culture Area in "Igbo Language and Culture," F. Chidozie Ogbalu & E Nolue Emenanjo -ed.]:
Okike (Creation)
Alusi (Supernatural Forces or Deities)
Mmuo (Spirit)
Uwa (World)

OKIKE
The Supreme Being (Chi ukwu or Chukwu) is the God of Creation (Chi Okike), the Force that fires all forces. God in Igbo language is also called Chineke ("God in the morning of creation, " or "the God who creates" or "God and the Creator" (duality of deity),  depending on perspectives). Chineke is far removed from the perception of mere mortals. This Supreme Power (Ikekaike) is neither a living-dead (ancestor)  nor a spirit. It has no known physical form, yet indirectly impacts the affairs of the human world. Chineke manifests to our world as:

Anyanwu (the Sun)—Chineke is the mastermind behind the source of light, love and knowledge and, implicitly, earthly existence or life itself;

Chi (the godly guardian), the personal providence is a divine agents assigned to each human from cradle to the coffin;

Kpakpando (the stars) which manifest as the celestial beauty;

Enuigwe (the heavens), the home of all supernatural forces including the stars.
Chineke created everything visible and invisible. The concept of Chineke is incomprehensible; to know God  is the end of knowledge, which is probably why the Igbo do not debate those who say their ancestors dropped from the sky -- who knows! The evil forces that intrude into our lives and the physical forces of the universe are all put in place by the Supreme Force, the Godhead or Creator,  for definite reasons and to coexist in harmony and multiply and or evolve.

ALUSI
Alusi is a supernatural force. Although the forces are neither human beings (mmadu) nor  spirits (mmuo), they sometimes assume the attributes of human beings. Prof. Onwuejeogwu called them "being forces." Every Igbo town has a shrine dedicated to its communal alusi; every other community respects the deity. A priestly clan usually ministers to the revered communal deity on behalf of the community.

MMUO
Mmuo is the spirit of ancestors who lived, died, and moved on to the great unknown, the other side of the realm. Hence, mmadu (human beings) must die to become mmuo (spirit being). If a man was good while alive, upon his departure he could become an ichie or nna-mmuo —a hallowed ancestor spirit or a saint. Ancestor spirits are more commonly known by the collective term "Ndiichie." A respected, living elder can therefore be called ichie —a living saint. Ndiichie is also used for a group of accomplished and distinguished elders who uphold the morals of the society, dispense unquestionable justic,  and preserve the culture of the community.

A woman who has lived a distinguished life becomes nne-mmuo. Those who have lived horrible lives, and those who committed unpardonable sins (ajo njo) or alu (abomination) against Ani -- the Earth Deity, become ajo mmuo (evil spirits) or Ekwensu (Devil or Satan). The male ajo mmuo could be akaliogoli (a roguish spirit); the female counterpart could become either a mermaid (owummiri) or a bloodsucking amaosu (vampire) or some other gender-specific evil spirit. Some mmuo are so restless they come back to be born-again (ogbanje), not to make amends but to torment a mother, her family, and the community. [This must not be confused with the desired and celebrated "inouwa" or reincarnation.]

UWA
Uwa is our world, or the so-called "Mother Nature." [Compare with Hausa: uwa = mother]. This is the world we live in, the visible universe that directly impacts our life. Uwa is made up of two distinct parts: Igwe and Ala.

Igwe is the firmament, and it constitutes of the following:
Ulukpu (the clouds);
Onwa (the moon);
Alaigwe (the planets);
Ikuku (the winds) —the totality of winds and airs that hold the earth in place and help to make it everything it is.

While the ancient Igbo philosophers might not have measured the firmament by any known scientific method, they knew that it is immensely bigger than the earth, that the earth is but a revolving part -- not the center -- of the universe. Hence, the popular phrase Igwe ka Ala, which is also one of Chineke’s many names, Igwekaala.
Ala: Ala is the physical manifestation of Earth Deity, Ani. It harbors four components:
Mmadu (human being) — Man and woman exist to perform specific functions in the complex equation of conservation and preservation of the species. Humans are the beauty of life; hence it has been suggested that the word is from "mma ndu" = the beauty of life.
Anumanu (animal) — Like human beings, animals have their specific functions in the equation of life;
Ofia (forests) Vegetation sustains both mmadu and anumanu.
Mmiri (water) —The "life" of fish and all other beings in all water bodies is dependent on the quality of water. When the Igbo pray, they pray for the "life" of water because it is also the life of fish, which invariably provides rich sources of protein for humanity. Therefore, pollution of streams in Igboland is a taboo. All community streams are sacred and water fountains are deities, iyi. Menstruating women should not step into communal streams to fetch water. In some communities, women of childbearing age are banned all together from fountains.

GOLDEN RULE
The Igbo are very particular about constructive coexistence on earth. In the saying, "egbe bere ugo bere" (Let the eagle perch, let the hawk perch), the Igbo express the golden rule of the religion: Live and let live.  Some  go further and add: nke si ibe ya ebene, nku kwaa ya  (whichever says the other shall not perch, may its wing break). This supposedly "old testament" version seeks to ensure that whichever of the Earth’s components wants the other not to survive shall not share of the food chain and shall eventually become extinct -- so that others may thrive well in the ecosystem. Hence, the protection of lesser lives is imperative to good existence on Earth. Indiscriminate slaughter of animals or killing of human beings is an abomination of the highest order. To kill a female being  is even more atrocious because she assures the continuation and preservation of the species.

A "new-testament" version of the saying stipulates:  "nke si ibe ya ebene gosi ya ebe o ga-ebe, (whichever says the other shall not perch, may it show the other where to perch); but, truly speaking, there should be no reason in the first place to deny another an anchor on this planet.  This pacifist approach to the Golden Rule is similar to turning the other cheek.  Whichever holds in anyone's philosophy is acceptable. However, it is highly suspected that the original saying is simply: "Egbe bere, ugo bere." Period. There should be no room for compromise on the desire of one over the other.

ANI
Ani, the Earth Deity or so-called "Mother Earth" is also called Ala (land), which is actually the physical manifestation of Ani. This gives an erroneous impression of Mother Earth as "earth" --  a rugged land mass of fiercely boiling, molten core washed by bodies of oceans. It may be, but it is also alusi, the deity which made the evolution of the modern person possible. Its core spiritual component is Ikejiani ("the force that holds the Earth" or the force of gravity).

In Odinani, the reverence of Chineke or Chukwu  as the Almighty God  is so deep that mere mortals, while attributing all cosmic powers to this Head, do not normally bring petty petitions directly to the seat of Supreme Power. It is not only humanly impossible, the chances of success are slim because God cannot be manipulated in any way, shape, or form. Besides, there are so many forces to overcome from here to eternity that Ndiigbo deal with the forces they can either manipulate or with whom they can enter into peaceful pacts. But, most importantly, every life on earth is pre-destined.

The Igbo religion is therefore anchored on the visible, which is invariably controlled by the invisible Ani. We thrive and derive life itself from the bounties of Ani. What more could be as merciful as "Mother Earth."  It provides human beings with an anchor, a base on which Ikejiani keeps people without restricting their ability to move freely on land (ala); avails earthlings with nutritional  needs; protects all creatures from extended exposure to the Sun by providing day and night and the seasons; drains the unrelenting onslaught of rain from the clouds; shelves the wastes and, with time, avails earthlings with useful materials to make the passage through life an easier ordeal.

Together with other interlinked forces of our world (uwa), supernatural forces (alusi) and anyanwu (the eye of light, life, and love),  Ani controls the "day deities" (Eke, Orie, Afo, Nkwo) and the "year-force" (afò). The sun therefore does not "rise" nor "set" in Igbo philosophy: the Earth determines the length of days and nights and, with the moon (onwa), sets the months. Hence, there are seven weeks or 28 days in an Igbo month and thirteen moons a year.

The Earth Deity’s control does not stop here: its forces control agriculture and even the activities of good and evil spirits, which occasionally attempt to misdirect the destiny of human beings. For example,
Ifejioku or Ahiajoku ("the yam force" is very important for yams to do well.
Idemmiri ("the water force" is a being force that must be appeased to ensure healthy water supply.
Okeofia or Agwu-Ofia ("the forest-force" also plays important roles.

The Igbo enter into pacts with these forces to take into their benevolence. The process is called "igommuo"(to placate/negotiate -- not worship-- spirits). Even Agwu ("the divination force" or the trickster alusi,  which  causes confusion in the life of human beings) can be manipulated in afa (divination) to yield good effects.

Evil forces affect our lives adversely. The extent of their intrusion into our laid-out life-plan or destiny (akalaaka) can be curtailed by the intervention of  one’s Chi and also by the intercession of  ndiichie (ancestor spirits). The Igbo therefore maintain a special relationship with their ancestors by offering sacrifices to please their souls and working hard for the good of the lineage. Dealing with this spirits and deities is known by the same term "igommuo" or "ilommuo" ("to placate or ask of the dear departed/living-dead/ancestor spirit".

Ndiichie are not worshipped; they do not demand to be worshipped — they are not Chukwu, the Almighty God) to whom we owe praises and thanks. In fact, the term "worship" does not readily occur in Igbo theosophy. "Ifé alusi" ("to worship deities" is a colonial concept introduced by Euro-Christianity. The Igbo considered it more appropriate to negotiate and navigate natural forces around them; the will of God cannot be manipulated or changed. They just need to get there without too much hassles.

CONCLUSION
Odinani  is anchored on the sanctity of Ani, the Earth Deity, a creation of the Supreme Creator. O di n’Ani literally means "It is anchored on the Earth Deity." Hence, Igbo philosophy is  sacred, spiritual, and socioenvironmental. The Igbo attitude toward Chineke is unlike that of Euro-Christianity: Chineke has no form that humans can conceive nor perceive. Those who follow the teachings of Christian churches and Muslim mosques soon find out that the fundamentals of Odinani are unwavering in every Igbo community. Odinani is about doing the right things; it is about following the dictates of our personal providence, Chi. Failure to do so, Agwu or other more potent evil forces take over our lives; we would keep running in circles and meeting bad spirits (ajo mmuo) or even Satan itself (Ekwensu). But once we are at peace with Chi, we shall be on our way to our destiny. Which is why the Igbo say: "I buru Chi gi uzo, i gbagbue onwe gi n'oso." [If you walk before your Chi, you will do the race of your life.]