₦airaland Forum

C'mon girl, did you read that thread very well?

It never implied what you wrote up there. I mean it's just for you to say it's cool that's all. And that timing and date will take a long while before it will ever happen again - if it will ever happen again.

It's the way the numbers were arranged that fascinates me.

You know, 01,02,03,04,05,06. Isn't that interesting?

Someone sent this in to me just now, and I felt like sharing it.

On Thursday 4th of May 2006, at two minutes and three seconds after One o clock, the calendar and time will look like this -

[size=13pt]01:02:03 04/05/06 [/size]

Believe me; this will never happen again in your life time*. So, stop, take a break and, cherish the moment.

@Kajad,
What are you talking about? What are you doing with Chukwu and ike in there? and the biko, I'm not very good with Igbo language, but please let me in on what you're talking about. Maybe you're not referring to me.

@babymine,
I've just looked her up. It's OK, all well and good.

Ocho? Who in da world is she? How long ha she been here?

Anyways, since everyone's wishing her HBD, I'll just join. So, HBD to you Ocho.

Vongauche:
Everyone is at fault. Simply getting more money or autonomy is not going to make a difference and is not the answer!

Hey! man, let's try that option first. I mean getting autonomy and more money, lets try it first and see if it will solve our problems or not.

My brother Owo,
I thought I was the only one who read that article. Everyday, some folks just dig up some of OBJ's past to let him in on how to swallow his own spit.

Great highlights.

I never knew Chinani could be that pretty. This life. So many pretty girls.

Let me spoil the ''beautiful show''

nferyn,

Those kiddies are NOT beautiful.

You got the gist, don't ya?

WesleyanA:
But I'll try getting/downloading? a new YIM account.

No probs. I like YIM - More than the others.They(I mean the others) are good too, no doubt.

delarontus:
Regardless of what Obasanjo is and the more important things we need in Nigeria, that bill has been long overdue.

Its such a disgrace the things we subject the official currency to. Its part of our identity as a nation state yet we take no pride in it. In as much as we blame government for everything, we as individuals need to contribute our quota to make a change. The advert on the naira typifies what we do to the currency which is not palatable at all.

Hmnn,
I agree with you, BUT, you must know that it will take AGES for this message to sink in into the average Nigerian. I don't want to elaborate, no time.

Preach on Sis, I hope they'll listen.

chrischidi:
OBJ is more of a movie actor than a president.
our problems are far from what we do with the naira when we get it. we should be talking about how to get the naira.
if OBJ and his numerious adviser lack what to put into laws, let them think about the electricity and water of the country which is the pillar of production and development.
let them think about the security lapses in high and low places.
if amendements in the constitution is compulsory let them think about phasing out old and over aged players from the pitch of presidency.
i suggest our able home movies producers and writters come up with a movie with Pete Edochia or Justice Essiri as a president so that every Nigerian will be convienced that OBJ is less than a screen actor in other words the afore mentioned actors can do better than Mr. confussed.
the secret of paying up our debts lays in his interest to gain the minds of international communities in supporting his third term agenda.
we are not riped as not to owe.

Well said, Chrischidi. Very well said.

Dela,
This write up is from my mentor. Mr Reuben Abati, prolific writer, erudite scholar and public researcher. I hope you and every other person on this forum will find it a refreshing and revealing read.

A nation in doubt
By Reuben Abati

THERE is so much skepticism in the land, so strong, so present, so forceful you can feel it with a feather. Nigerians have learnt to doubt everything. They have no faith in the idea of government. They do not trust politicians. They are convinced that civil servants are thieves. They are cynical about public service. Over time, they have resolved themselves to the fact that anyone who claims to be acting on their behalf is actually interested in himself or herself. This attitude is not restricted to the public sector; even in private situations, the average Nigerian does not believe that there can be standards or norms of human conduct. He lives, he imagines, in the midst of enemies masquerading as doves, who may suddenly transform into wolves.

And so, every day, the Nigerian prepares his mind to doubt everything, to live in a constant state of denial and suspicion, and it is this that governs human relationships within the country, and more importantly the relationship between the people and the government. This is at the root of the country's failure to develop and make progress; it accounts for the distrust among ethnic groups and communities; it explains why it is so difficult to put a light finger on the value of Nigerian citizenship. Countries grow and stand out because the people have a sense of ownership of the development process.

In countries where the people have a sense of ownership, where a person sees himself or herself as a part of the whole, where citizens willingly submit themselves to the idea of the nation, such countries record phenomenal success because they operate at near optimal capacity reflecting the fullness of the human potential at their disposal. Singapore. China. Japan. America. Canada. And so on. But in those countries where the people see themselves primarily as victims, as outsiders, as helpless things of fate, as prisoners in a chamber of death, those countries are bound to be recursive: they take two steps forward and four steps backward. Nigeria is such a country.

Nigerians have learnt to disbelieve everything including their own existence and future. Everything that happens around them: the open gutters, the unkempt environment, the continuing failure of government, the malicious conduct of public officials, the inefficiency of public institutions, the inhumanity of man to man in private situations, the general lack of civility, the cut-throat competitiveness of individuals, the increasing population of evil persons, the uncertainty that pervades everything else, all these push them into private zones of selfish desire, with the only certainty being the ambition of the self.

The root of this is historical. The grounds for it were prepared by specific experiences which early in the country's life damaged its potential for collective, participatory growth. The intervention of the military in Nigerian politics: This is an experience that will forever define the Nigerian nation or non-nation as it were. The military threw up all the divisive elements of the Nigerian federation and turned them into eternal issues of contention. Ironically, the same soldiers who sowed the seeds of anomie are the beneficiaries of the historical process. The civil war: after 1970, Nigeria was already a damaged country. One fellow was explaining to me the other day why the South East cannot or rather, should not, produce a Nigerian President in the nearest future. According to him, "it took the American South more than 100 years before producing an American President, after fighting a civil war". He thinks Igbos should wait for at least 100 years too, and that they should count themselves lucky for having produced a Vice President so soon after the civil war. That fellow may not be alone. He was in fact reporting the resolution at the meeting of a privileged political group. He didn't even need to offer a report. The truth is that the civil war in Nigeria never ended. After 1970, it merely assumed different shapes in form of ethnic and religious conflicts in various communities. Each time there is religious or ethnic violence in any part of the country, what is being tested is the idea of Nigeria. Each time, one ethnic group excludes the other on the grounds of religion or indigeneity, what is being said is that Nigeria is not yet a nation. Each a time a group, ethic militants or armed area boys or religious fanatics or political thugs throw stones or shoot guns or explode bombs against symbols of the Nigerian state, they remind us all over of the doubt that pervades our existence as a nation.

International reports on Nigeria continue to affirm this on an annual basis: the latest of such reports is the current 64-page Human Rights Watch Report on Nigeria which draws attention to the crisis of disunity and the dilemma of citizenship. Although we claim to be a nation, certain Nigerians are denied citizenship because they live or seek opportunities in other parts of the country, even if the Constitution forbids any form of discrimination. The Human Rights Watch Report tells us what we already know: that we need to rebuild our nation around a set of commonly shared core values, and reconstruct the Nigerian identity. Other reports have pointed to widespread corruption, failure of institutions and mass poverty amidst galloping oil wealth.

But it is all so sad that this is the case in 2006. When Nigerians fought for and achieved democracy in 1999, they had great hopes that the exit of the military and the advent of civilian rule, against the backdrop of history, would provide them an opportunity to reform their lives, reinvent the collective spirit and build a new nation afresh. They thought that with democracy, they would gain the opportunity to define a new social contract that will be binding on all the federating units. In seven years of democracy, this has not happened. It is like old times all over again. In the past few months, the events of our daily lives have only shown us that it is not civilian rule that moves a nation forward but the spirit of the people and their level of faith, the quality of humanity that they bring to the public and the private space. The common good continues to suffer in our land and we all seem so helpless. We are a nation without citizens. We are a nation of cynics. And so history continues to repeat itself, it continues to beat the same ugly rhythms, without respite.

Last week, bombs exploded in the streets of Port Harcourt claiming lives and property. The same thing happened under similar circumstances in the days of General Sani Abacha. Another fellow told me that it not impossible that those bombs are being exploded by the agents of government to create an atmosphere of instability and a corresponding notion that a Third term is inevitable so that such problems may be addressed by one man who seems to have a bigger stake in Nigeria than the rest of us. In Kano, the President's convoy was reportedly stoned. In the days of Abacha, Presidential visits had to be cancelled because there were fears that Abacha could be attacked. It is sheer madness to attack the convoy of a Presidential convoy. It does not matter what the convictions of the President or his Deputy may be; the Presidency is the primal symbol of democracy; when it is exposed to ridicule, it is the nation itself that is threatened.

But this Presidency must also accept the blame for the spread of cynicism in the land. It has placed politics above service. It has turned individual ambitions into issues of urgent national importance. In its last moments, it has reduced the Nigerian interest and the substance of democracy to a single issue, popularly known as "third term", a euphemism really for the personal ambitions of a few. The effect is that a government that could have enjoyed much goodwill and expression of gratitude in its twilight season is now the target of organised protest and simulated anger. Third term politics reaffirms the people's doubts about their own future and place in the Nigerian arrangement. It throws up fresh fears about the workability of the workability of the Nigerian contract. It ignites primordial passion and anxieties. Sadly, it provides for all kinds of aggrieved person an umbrella under which they can register their dissatisfaction with Nigeria.

It makes its promoters vulnerable in the same manner in which it made the King of Nepal so vulnerable, he had to succumb to the people's will. In Nepal, the impeding chaos was prevented only because the King succumbed to the popular will. He may end up losing his throne. Those who want the third term desperately are victims of doubt. They are not sure of tomorrow. They do not trust other Nigerians who may succeed them. They have created a rich foreign reserve running into $30 billion, up from a miserable $2 billion: what if a renegade government takes over and blows all that money in three months? They have set in place a reform programme which is yet to bear all its fruits: what if a government of adventurists and speculators turns up and reverses all the initial gains? And if they leave power, these "Third termers", what will happen to them, having offended so many people with their general conduct? An extension of tenure will allow them to buy time to make amends?

The opposition is also pushed by its own doubts. Governors who have stolen public funds and who are being told that there would be no immunity clause in the Constitution to protect them any longer are afraid of going to jail. The lawmakers are equally interested in the arguments for the sake of personal profit. And so in the end, this is all about Nigeria: its character and future. We have remained in the same spot because we are yet to find the will to work together as a people. The politics of Third term is a symptom invariably of Nigeria's original sin.


Source: www.ngrguardiannews.com

[quote author=la_vivi link=topic=11398.msg319593#msg319593 date=1146151316]am sorry it just that am bold to speak out![/quote]It's OK. But you don't have to type em all out in bold, you know. Anyway, it's all well and good, though.

@La_vivi,
Yep no doubt that will be the next thread on the Gunners.

You always post in bold. Why? Bold posts makes my eyes pop out, dripping tears.

clemsonfan:
What is a naira in U.S Dollars

Something like $1 = N125 or so.

Gas prices are no doubt less in Nigeria than in the US. But I guess as things go in here in Nigeria, I think we are warming up for another fuel price hike. I see long queue of vehicles at filling stations here in Warri. This has been attributed to the Niger Delta crises, but I know we are warming up, big time.

Geeez, niterider, that's great!! I'm happy we made it to the final.

And la_vivi yo! you're cute.

Danmasani:
@ Ono

Ibrahim Mantu is not a newcomer in the turbulent Nigerian politics. He has seen it all and has always been on the bad side actually. Mantu has been in governemnt since the Second republic ( Buhari even locked him up for some time), was a major player in NRC, an Abacha boy and now a man attracted to manipulation of the constituition to suit his master. Well society can't be without devils, so its good that we have a Mantu, at least he can be the mantle to carry out acts hell prescribes!

Really? I think he's doing a good job as a mantle for carrying out hellish acts!

Yeah Priscilla. I'm a Gunner too. But I think Barca's the best team for now. If they win (and I think they would) I wish them goodluck.

But if my darling team put up enough pressure to clinch that cup, I'll love em forever. It's going to be an uphil task for the Gunners to beat Barca to it, not with the kind of display I saw Barca put up against Milan yesternight.

omoifa:
I don't know where you get your "facts" from Jibitoye. First of all our woes started seriously during the second republic. That is precisely after OBJ. In any case you can only say OBJ was a part of the mess we found ourselves in in the 70's by the mere fact that he was a soldier and because soldiers were in power. I don't think anyone doubted his exceptional leadership in 1976-1979. In case you don't know he was the Federal Commissioner for works in Gowon's cabinet. Ministers were then known as Federal Commissioners.That was when all those lagos flyovers were built, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway was built. This were all under his portfolio. I repeat, I am not saying he is a saint but let's not call him the devil either.

For your information we are very lucky because it is the same man that left power to the civillians in 1979 that took it back as a civillian in 1999. I say we are lucky because this guy was able to tell us what he left behind in 1979 and what he met in 1999. It is best  not to imagine the type of tale. Nigeria Airways from 30 planes to 1. Only one power station built in 20 years when we should be building every year, etc etc.

I don't think anyone should doubt that OBJ is giving us purposeful leadership. If we should compare what we had to what we have now we should give thanks to GOD. That is not to say we are getting the absolute best. Far from it. However what we are getting can be classified as the best amongst all we have had in the past. This i think should be acknowledged. There are so many pointers to that.

I might sound immature here but we should really let our political culture evolve. We need to get out of poverty and get our economy running normally as priority. I sincerely don't see how our political culture can have evolved under 7 years. Remember that when the soldiers are around you dear not go politicking. I don't see how that can be fast tracked. It is like fast tracking the democratic culture.

My dear I don't think you should have any beef with anybody. If you have any beef at all it should be with those politicians of yester-years who mortgaged our future and who are spoiling to come back to re-mortgage it.

I was fortunate, or is it unfortunate, to be with one the other day. He described graphically how they will jail everybody and eat up, like termites, the 36 billion Dollars the "foolish" man is saving. I hear that by the end of the year the 36 billion would have become 50 billion Dollars reserve.

My people we should beware. We are dancing to our doom. If we decide to get OBJ out we should not get in the Termites. All the talks about institutionalising things is seriously going on. Parastatals with Chief Executives who are performers are doing the job the way they should and sending bills to the national assdembly to strenghten their institutions. I mean really strenghten and not bills that will allow them siphon money. In any case bills to siphon money will not pass through a parliament. 

I was totally indifferent to the third term like most other Nigerians until I heard one of the Termites speak.

I know good things don't come easy. You want our political culture to evolve and you want us to ''allow'' it. I must say I don't know how I as a person have prevented this politico-cultural evolution you want from getting it's roots in the country. You should tell that to our ever greedy and lousy leaders who like sharing the national cake among a clique and pauperise the general public.

All I believe and know is that this country is still one today because the resources of the Niger delta people are still being taken as the national cake meant to be shared. Let the Delta people take away this national cake and get to know what will befall this mammoth combination of sickheads called Nigeria.

Why do you think the general public do not like protesting against any evil done by bad leaders up there?
Why do you think mediocricy still thrive in the country, when we should be encouraging excellence?
What about the wastage in every sphere of government, the over bloated civil service?

I tell you the answer: It's because the general public, especially the many uneducated folks and the few educated elite knows that most of what they have today in their cities and communities do not really come from their sweat. It came from the forceful acquisition of the resources of the Niger Delta people, which they used in building their town and cities up. And why would the Yoruba, Hausa and Igbo want to spoil something that's going good for them?

If there's any protest from any of these tribes against bad leadership, it's what I'll call ''crocodile protests'' - from Crocodile Tears. It's not genuine, because when the chips are down, they will align with those who are giving them free source of livelihood from impoverishing the innocent people of the Niger Delta. If there is any genuine voice amongst them, know that the voice will be whittled down by the many voices against such protests. The Anikulapo families are a very good example in this case.

I see. But, why change your name?

What do you mean by stealers? And who's this Nwoke from the blues?