₦airaland Forum

ferari90:
riday, 01 October 2010 07:55
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President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday honoured the nation’s founding fathers as well as prominent Nigerians who have distinguished themselves in various fields of human endeavour.
However, eminent Professor of Literature, Prof. Chinua Achebe shunned the award as he was neither at the event nor represented.
Former leaders honoured by President Jonathan were, first independence Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa; Premier of Northern Region and Sarduana of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello; first Premier of Western Region, Chief Obafemi Awolowo and first Premier Eastern Region, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe.
Also honoured yesterday for their contributions to national development included former leaders like, Gen. Yakubu Gowon, late Gen. Murtala Muhammadu, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar.
The president also conferred post-humous honours on late elder statesmen like leader of the Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU), late Malam Aminu Kano; founder and President-General of the United Middle Belt Congress (UMBC), late Senator Joseph Tarka; and last Premier of Western Region, late Chief Samuel Akintola.
Other Nigerians who received honours were business mogul, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Chairman Globacom, Mike Adenuga and Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka.



http://www.peoplesdaily-online.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=16050:again-achebe-shuns-national-award-as-jonathan-honours-zik-others&catid=16:national-news&Itemid=33

Some nationalist.

Ileke-IdI:
Dont you worry yourself abt that. . . we have one room in malibu.

@Onlytruth
Go and enjoy Ind Day with some family/friends. . . .enough of this gragra for one day

It wasn't gragra though; I meant business, seriously. I only hope that the Enugu state governor sees what I see in Enugu. All he really needs to do is to draw up a 21st century development plan for Enugu, and things will start taking shape gradually.
Frankly if Igbo leaders can see what I see in Enugu international airport, they would even make it the top priority for Igbo agenda in Nigeria.
Igbo enemies see that potential, I wonder why we are blind to it.

If I were Governor Chime, I will cash in BIG TIME after this airport is completed and turn Enugu into the Johannesburg or San Francisco of West Africa. Just draw up a solid development plan with high density buildings (high rise) at the core. Such a sound urban design plan will house current Enugu population at the city core (about 20% of city land area) on houses ten stories and higher. This will free up more lands for business parks and commerce, as well as industry and suburb living. The hilly terrain must not be tampered with! Whenever I think of Enugu, I see a city with great potential for exquisite tourism and modern living.

But first, this airport!

@Topic

This is what we've been fighting in Nigeria since the end of the civil war. Unfortunately for them, the evil schemes cannot endure for ever.
One of these days, Enugu will have an international airport, and that will be the beginning of the end for Lagos.

If Enugu state government under Chime plans properly, Enugu will explode in business and growth. Enugu can plan big industrial and commercial estates to take advantage of this airport. For the first time, an Igbo man can leave and return to Nigeria without passing through other local ports, BIG DEAL.
My company will control a particular business niche (which will remain secret) from Enugu.
We will rule Africa from Enugu.  

bk.babe97y:
What do u invest in? Hate/Bigotry/Tribalism?

I sell goat food fodder. You want some? lmao.

Bombing pipelines leads to loss of oil and capital. Bombing cities leads to loss of lives; big difference.
Nigeria can still limp on if pipelines are bombed. Nigeria will have to stop and deal with MEND or whoever is behind this because people died and more people could die if not checked.
This can actually be the first shots of a full civil war if not dealt with.

The issue is Nigeria's presidency.

edoyad:
@only truth, Nigeria is today pumping over 2 million barrels me oil which is by far better than what it could do a few years back.
Secondly anybody stup�d enough to carry out a coup in Nigeria today should be ready to be known in history as the man who finally broke Nigeria up.

A coup can still happen if there is enough reasons to convince the international community of the need for one.
Nigeria is one not because we want it, but because of international interests.
A coup has not happened because such interests will not support it. It they do, it will happen. That is why I cannot believe that MEND will hand such people easy pretext for a coup.

Nobody wants a state of insecurity, whether Nigerians or the international community.
Like I said, the main issue is really Nigeria's presidency.

edoyad:
MEND's bombing of abj has not in anyway hampered GEj's chances IMO. If anything this is the time for a person who understands the plight of the people from that region to try convincing them to remain.

I hope you know that there are those itching to conduct a coup in Nigeria at this time, but they lack genuine reasons.

Also, don't forget that Nigeria is a country with international interests. Such interests will not want a weak leader in Nigeria. They need assurances that oil will continue to flow. If MEND elevates itself to a terrorist group (which is what this bombing will achieve if they did it), any military response by any leader at the center will be welcome by such international interests.
Like I said, I'm looking at the strategic picture. And my guiding question is this:

Why should Jonathan continue in office if he cannot rein in local terrorists?

And I'm looking at the picture strategically, not tactically.

Right now, the main political issue is whether Jonathan will continue in office or not.
If I were a Niger deltan, I won't bomb Abuja at this point.

Unless, Jonathan does not have any control of his own base and region.

So, my focus is on Jonathan's presidency, or rather Nigeria's presidency going forward.

Unless of course MEND is a really dumb organization, because I don't see how their bombing Abuja enhances their goal of resource control.

Bombing pipelines and bombing Abuja are two different things. The latter option will only provoke national reaction and a massive military response.

I still can't believe that MEND did this.
Frankly I smell a rat.

It just doesn't add up.

What I see is an attempt by whoever to create a sense of insecurity and lack of control thereby casting Jonathan as an inactive president, thereby justifying a military coup.

I don't see anything else.

Dede1:
^^^^^ I do not want Ohanaeze to build anything in Abuja. If Ohanaeze wants to build anything, it should be in Igbo land.

I said that because according to statistics, Igbos already own 73% of Abuja properties. What harm would it do to use one of such properties for annual Igbo celebrations? There is Ohanaeze in Igboland. They can build a befitting national Igbo headquarters in Enugu. For now, we still have Nigeria, and until it disintegrates, we must deny our enemies some of their instruments of operation wherever we live in Nigeria. I say we own our festive grounds, wherever we live.

The writer of this article is tribalist monster and he is afraid. He is afraid of the effect of this airport on Lagos, his base and tribal section of Nigeria. Never believe his sanctimonious fears of the funds being misused. His main fear really is that when Enugu airport picks up fully, there will be a major demographic shift in Nigeria from Lagos to the east.
I know, because I am an investor and entrepreneur, and I already plan the headquarters of my company in Enugu in anticipation of this airport.

But, the writer is late! The cat is already out of the bag!

To deny jealous and dumb people the joy of a repeat in the future, Ohanaeze Abuja branch should build a bigger and better venue for annual Igbo day celebrations in Abuja.

It can be done. Yes we can! (the indomitable Igbo spirit).

We grow bigger, stronger and prosper more, while our enemies commit suicide out of envy.

~Bluetooth:
And what exactly are they celebrating ?

There are celebrating Oduduwa day.

I remember earlier this year when there was a story about militants operating in Abia, Akwa ibom, Rivers and Cross rivers. Initially they were thought to be MASSOB, but MASSOB denied that. So, it is true afterall that there is an insurgency in the East. I never knew they had camps! I'm just reading about camps for the first time.
If they have camps, then, this is not over by a long shot. Just my hunch.

Anytime that she-goat bk.babe97y comes across anything Igbo, she goes into immediate heat!

~Bluetooth:
Why can't they hold their celebration in Nnewi cuz I see no reason why an ibo celebration which ought to take place in iboland will be shifted to Abuja at exactly a time Nigeria is celebrating her independent.btw,what are they celebrating sef ?

Goat this is Abuja branch of Ohanaeze. Gerrit?

Justcash:
[
The Stup--id Akata She-male don enter. What is your business with Nigerian issues? Go back to your country. LOL! Akata disease. I thought the fact that your whoring mother that gave birth to you after being banged by an Igbo man has told you to chill. I don't blame you. I blame the man that paid your mother's hospital bill when she was in labor for you. You hate Igbos, Still the mention of "Igbo" makes you wet! You gat to be a NY-MPHO-maniac. If you want to enjoy your stay here, refrain from mentioning "Igbo", or else, you'll come till your dutty "M" string gets sticky. Ewu! LOL!

hehehe!

chyz:
He's the president. [b]You are part Igbo [/b]so you are only laughing at urself.

The guy is a green Yoruba. He has nothing to do with Igbo. Don't buy all those his lies about mixing with the whole world.

sbeezy8:
HAHA how many non igbos know that, the day was igbo day? Is igbo day recognised by the FG and non igbos?  Is there an Ijaw Day,  Bini Day, a Yoruba day, Hausa day or Urhobo day?

im really laughing right now.

You missed the issue again!
Did you say you are a student? How do you pass your exams?

The issue is about someone using a product or a service for which he/she has paid for three weeks ago.
It has nothing to do with "tribe day".

There is something fishy about this story. It is too simplistic for me to believe, unless there are more things going on than meets the eye.

youngies:
Onlytruth mgbe na adighi anya, aga anabata ya ime obi Ndi Ichie NL.
Mana tupu nke a eme, o ga aga hu Ichie Toshmann na Ikomi, ka ha gwa ya "ihe ana ere anu udele n'afor Nnobi"

Umu nna bu ike!

ifyalways:
So Only Truth wu onye Igbo ?
@Topic,Nwata nna ya ziri oshi na eji ukwu agbawa uzo.
A child sent to steal by the father does so without fear

Abum nwa Anaedo (Nnewi). Nwa afo kpom kwem!

ndu_chucks:
Onlytruth, please elaborate on the bolded part of your post. What exactly do you mean by this punch – I’m sure you are bold enough to speak clearly. I promise not to come and beat you.

I know you know, but I will elaborate because it is not a secret.

Since January 1966, Nigeria has been transmogrified into a strange non-descript animal. The country has been turned into an inheritance of northern Nigeria.

Before independence, there was relative stability, with power equally balanced between THREE regions.
However, for 40 years after the war, the north ensured that all strategic military installations and institutions of power were located in the north. The north also ensured that military recruitment was skewed to advantage the north leading to northern dominance of the military rank and file.

With that in place, the north then set out to design the future of Nigeria alongside its recidivistic paradigm, whereby Nigeria also became a fiefdom controlled by the north.

Before 1960, Nigerians could elect national leaders (president, senate president etc) without northern votes. That is how Zik became president (even if ceremonial, though I think it wasn't ).

Fast forward to 2010, nobody in Nigeria now believe a Nigerian president can emerge without Northern votes!
So what changed?

Today, I can't become president unless the north likes me. How did that come about?

So, to my punch.

First, I want Jonathan to conduct a proper census of Nigeria.
Second, I want him to take steps to return Nigeria to balance by moving and restructuring the military.
Finally, I want him to remove all hidden obstacles (planted by the north) to federal presence in Igboland.

Mind you, these are things that will ensure that Nigeria continues as one nation. He will not be doing these unless he is patriotic. Anyone who supports the continued marginalization of Ndigbo in Nigeria is unpatriotic and does not want Nigeria to survive. So, in essence, our punch is to have Jonathan restructure Nigeria for justice, fairness and balance.

If he can't do these, then, he does not deserve my vote.

I believe that Gani Fawehinmi should have made that list.

Pure foolish talk.

Igbo say that Nwata erughi eru we juo ihe gburu nna ya, ihe gburu nna ya egbuo ya!

All these kids who just come here to yap and insult their elders, I have one question for you.

Have you ever seen Yoruba kids insult their elders (no matter what), or Hausa youths insulting their own elders?

It just does not happen, no matter what.

If Igbo elders gather to discuss and find ways to make Igbo relevant in Nigeria, idiotic Igbo kids will insult them.
If they stay at home enjoying their old age and ignore Igbo plight, the same kids yaps up and down.

Anyone who feels that the Igbo leaders and elders are useless should step up and become that leader. If you can't, then SHUT UP!

Ojukwu was only 33 years when he led Biafra.

Most of you here can't achieve that even at 60.

Nonsense.

Kilode?!:
Maybe they should have thought like that also, I always wonder about the minds of those who did not think that way in the dying days of Colonial-West Africa.  I mean, we had all those British made nation-contraptions with people who hardly understood themselves or share the same cultural or philosophical worldview,  to make the whole scenario worse, they were basically forced to stay together.

So I agree with your assessment of Balewa, viewed through the prism of regional leadership, he pushed for the needful. Maybe he did so because he saw the folly of fighting for a poorly defined nation -a foreign creation that was ultimatley doomed for failure. But there is nothing wrong with negotiating for your our self interest, especially when you are scared and suspicious of those around you.

I wish they all saw that -all of our leaders from Macaulay to Okpara. maybe we would have been able to work out a better Nigeria under more autonomous regions as opposed to the pseudo-autonomous regions we had.

Now, I understand 60s Pan-Africanists like Nkrumah to some extent, at least they were not just fixated on Country, their vision was for a United Africa. But even Nkrumah failed to adequately convince  the people to share his vision, when he pushed for his socialist themed development projects, regional bickering's and ethnic suspicions led to turmoil, and of course, Imperialists were always ready to add petrol to the fire.

So I sympathise with those leaders who pushed for purely regional interests especially those who had a live and let live agenda (not sure about Balewa's ultimate intentions though).

As to my personal assessment of why they all failed;

I fault that part of our culture that allowed us to give too much power and reverence to individuals who abrogated the position of power and leadership to themselves, Colonialism dealt us very heavy blows, the biggest punch for me was that they used our culture against us while tweaking the rules.

I believe our people still feared and respected their leaders as their culture demanded, but the cultural tools that would have allowed us to checkmake their excesses were rubbished and made inconsequential by the European systems of government, laws, religion and philosophy which we all bought into or should I say; were forced into.

I still think we can learn and salvage something out of all these, after 50 years of coexisting we can't exactly say we don't collectively enjoy Eba-gaari, or salivate at the thoughts of a well spiced edikaikong soup served with cold Zobo

What I'm saying is we have a lot more in common now than before but we need to negotiate a new Nigeria where individual Nigerian citizens will believe that their interests comes first before any Cultural, religious, class or ethnic consideration.

The key is in individual liberties spiced with Africa themed egalitarianism. The Ranka Dedes and Oga Sir have to give way first or reworked to fit a new Society. Our people need their dignity back for our Country to work.

Make una Forgive my rant, na 50th anniversary thoughts cause am.

You did great in your assessment. It is by no means a rant.

MaziUche0:
Onlytruth,

But the fact in the matter is that Balewa was a true Northern leader. We as southerners may find his words crude, but the man was a leader. If only Nnamdi Azikiwe who I consider an idealist thought like this. The man is perfectly clear in what he wants, and that is northern hegemony and the modernization of the north.

Awolowo also thought like this. Nnamdi Azikiwe & Herbert Macaulay are the only people who could be considered true Nigerians.

Nna eh, to think that Zik somehow managed to form a government with this guy is one of the biggest puzzles I have ever seen in history!

The guy was not a Nigerian, he was a Northerner. He was NEVER a Nigerian.
How did Zik manage to bundle him into a national leadership?

Ibime:
These people are serious o. Jonathan should watch for the assassins bullet.

Just what I was thinking . .

I only hope he has learned the "Aguiyi Ironsi lesson". He should really watch his back. I hope he is.

There are steps he must take if he is serious about contesting and continuing next year. The north never plays fair.

He should just be smart and courageous. No shaking.

I'm truly baffled that someone who reasoned like that would be considered a Nigerian in any sense. To think that the guy is mentioned in the same places as the Ziks, the Herbert Macaulays and the Michael Imoudus is really a historical farce. He and those guys never shared the same psychology, philosophy or vision.

They had no business belonging to the same country in any way shape or form.

How did he make it into our national monuments like naira notes, etc?

The guy may even be fuming in his grave that people have destroyed his true legacy and beliefs.

We have never associated ourselves with the activities of these people. We do not know them, we do not recognise them, and we share no responsibility in their actions.

The guy spoke about fellow Nigerians as if they were aliens! lmao!

How did we even become one country?

Or rather WHY?

Chineke ekwela ihe ojo!