My dear ChinenyeN,

My reason for differentiating between belief and knowledge or fact is important as evidenced by the recent comments by posters regarding the standards of God and the Bible. I am aware that these are dangerous waters to tread, but here goes!

Consider this: I believe that I am the child of my parents but can I be sure without a series of tests? I think not. Therefore my parentage is not necessarily a fact, only a belief which may or may not be factual.  In the same vein, your father believes that you are his son, but cannot in all honesty state that this is a fact. It is for this reason that Jewish society is matrilineal  so that you are classified as as Jew only of your mother is a jew. The status of the father is irrelevant.

If anyone wishes to believe in the Bible, the Koran, the Talmud, the Kama Sutra or any other belief structure, they must be free to do so, but this must never involve forced oppression, compulsive compliance and the disregard of minority views regarding
belief.  Religion and culture may or may not form the basis of our legal structure, but we should open our eyes and differentiate clearly between belief and fact.

To put this into perspective, a Rastafarian would claim to practice his religion by smoking marijuana (indian hemp, cannabis, igbo, wrap ), while we all know what fate  culture imposed on twins in Calabar and among the Yorubas.

If we are to be honest and precise,  the major religions practiced nowadays are as foreign as the frefrequently decried "western " practices, and there were ethnic, indigenous modes of worship in place long before the conquering Europeans and Arabs purloined the freedom of belief, Why don't we go back to those?

What I believe is of no consequence.

I may believe that being gay is the handiwork of Belzebub, or that NASA staged the fake moon landings, or that the mafia killed JFK, or that Hitler is alive and well in Paraguay.

I may even believe that an intelligent, good-looking, thirtytwo  year old, long-haired young man, who is unmarried and hangs about with a group of 12 single men (mostly sailors), frequently spending the night in gardens or parks would be jailed in Nigeria or hung in Iran, but that is neither here nor there.

I have previously presented the facts, albeit in lay terms, Anyone is free to verify the facts, our bigoted, racist, tribalistic, self-indulgent and often evil beliefs should have no place in the scheme of things,

I leave you with a quote taught to me about 35 years ago by Prof. Obinyan:

                               " Tribalism as a concept, is anachronistic to comparative analysis"

Those quasi-illiterates and ignoramuses who have exhibited the empty drums make the most noise syndrome should kindly crawl back into the caves from which they emerged!

At no time did I compare birth defects to being gay. I said that homosexuality was not a lifestyle choice, but rather an accident or incident of birth ( like being born in a taxi on the way to hospital.)

I find it amazing that some fellows are happy to display their lack of further education instead of listening to those who are trying to make sense from what may be termed non-sense. There is no need for me to blow my trumpet with regard to my qualifications or expertise in the fields of genetics, neuro-anatomy, anthropology, sociology and psychology, suffice it to say that I have had the privilege to study these and other disciplines to various levels,

The phenomenon of  homosexuality is not fully understood but a genetic component has been identified, as has a minor variation in a specific part of the brain. The  hormonal levels in the mother and the birth order of the boy is also significant. The problem we have is that all the factors so far identified do not "gel" and no one scientific theory answers all the questions. However, it is fairlycertain that nature, and not nurture is the key.

For those of you who say that it is  not part of the African culture to be gay, I regret to inform them that every society on earth has its gay component. Ask anyone who went to boarding school, or ask any Northerner what "dan Daudu" means. Furthermore, gay behaviour has now been documented among a large number of birds and mammals.

There does not seem to be a  link between paedophilia and homosexuality and these should not be lumped together. An active paedophile is a criminal as he consorts with minors who cannot consent.

In the German concentration and extermination camps before and during WWII, yellow stars identified Jews, pink triangles were for gays, red for communists and politicals, black for criminals,  brown or  green for Gypsies (I forget what mental patients wore) but all these disparate groups of people were all hunted down and gassed. What few realize is that blacks who were not suited to slave labour were next on the list

My personal observation. and I stress that this has no scientific basis, is that gays, for whatever reason, are over-represented in various fields of human endeavour, especially the arts, viz music, literature, dance, painting,  but also the sciences especially pure maths. That is how I see it, and I may be wrong but I am  not afraid to say it.

Let me leave you with a saying by the great Confucius:

            He that knows, and knows that he knows, is a teacher, honour him
            He that knows not, and knows that he knows not, is a student, admire him
            He that knows not, and knows not that he knows not, is a fool, avoid him

There is nothing new under the sun. There have always been and will always be male gays (approx. 5 to 8 % of the male population.)

Leave them be, as long as any activity is between 2 or more consenting adults, and in private. Those who make the most noise and are rabidly homophobic are most likely to be closet gays. Most truly heterosexual men have no problem with gays.

Nigeria is simply being backward (or blessed with backward looking lawmakers) in passing a stupid law that gays should be jailed. How many prisons are they planning to build? History tells us that up similar unenforceable laws were in place in many parts of the world up until the 60's, but apart from Sharia countries, they have mostly grown up and faced more important matters.

Note that being gay, green, tall or stupid is not a lifestyle choice, but an incident or accident of birth .

Homosexuality should be decriminalized and people should face important matters that affect their quality of life!

What planet are you on Sir?

Who on earth gave the Green Eagles the God-given right to take part in the finals?

It is indeed a form of National Disgrace for the "Giant of Africa" not to make it, but remember that Nkurumah called us "big for nothing" over 50 years ago!

The horse has bolted, the milk has spilt and the sand has entered the gari,  so face forwards, and don't look back.

These are the things we must do and do them NOW,  [repeat NOW],  not with a few months to go before the 2014 world cup:

        appoint a substantive manager/coach;   if we say we have money, then this should be a person with managerial world cup experience eg Scolari but this option is not cheap (approx 10 to15 million US Dollars per year)
                                                                        if we know we have no money, appoint a suitable Nigerian with experience in playing at high levels and perhaps managing at lower levels [Keshi or Olisa spring to mind]

Whoever gets the job must be given free reign to travel all over the world ( 1st Class) and all over Nigeria with excellent security and authority (exceeding that of a mere minister or even a genial general), in order to view and review players as , how and when he sees fit.

He will also need to select is staff which will be massive and may include Assistant Manager, Fitness Coach, Goalkeeping Coach, any other coach or coaches, Team Doctor, a  number of Physiotherapists and Masseurs (up to 5 or more may be needed), Dietician, Team Psychologist, Kitman,  Groundsman, part-time Scouts in every country where Nigerians play football and in every Nigerian State, Team Chef, Cooks, Stewards, Facilitators, Admin Staff (interpreters perhaps).

In addition there are other support staff like protocol and liaison personnel , IT technicians, admin staff, facilitators, drivers, cleaners etc that will be needed.Not forgetting the Hardware ranging from Vehicles (Team Bus, not bolekaja or molue) to Footballs and including all the player, medical and training equipment and kit, not forgetting  Audiovisual equipment to produce training dvd's etc etc. We are talking serious money here.

There is no point going there for fun. We can actually win the World Cup if we are serious, plan properly, place the correct people sans Federal Character and above all. do it NOW!