adaxxy: Boeing 747 takes about 400, kabo and max air both have the type.
I provided a link as I usually do, to remove all doubt. Smart Alec - What's a 747 got to with the discussion, when Titan Airways only has the following aircraft in its fleet:
Cessna Citation CJ2+ -- 6 seats Boeing 737-300 Standard Class -- 130 seats Boeing 737-300 Business Class -- 44 seats Boeing 737-300 Cargo -- Cargo duh! Airbus A320-233 180 Seat Standard Class -- 180 seats Airbus A320-233 168 Seat Standard Class -- 168 seats Boeing 757-200 Standard Class -- 202 seats Boeing 757-200 Business Class -- 80 seats Boeing 757-200 Split Standard/Business Class -- 40 seats Boeing 767-300ER Standard Class -- 265 seats
You still think I only post online to shoot the breeze?
"One of the most exciting places to be in Abeokuta is the Olumo Rock. The rock holds much history about the Egba people. Get a closer look at the Rock and all its beauty in this Documentary on Olumo Rock."
IsraeliAIRFORCE: Nigeria is the giant of Africa and a major trading partner with UK hence shouldn't be compared to toy countries.
If this government did enough and mounted considerable pressure on UK government, the threat by Nigerian diasporans to picket the Nigerian embassy in London wouldn't have been issue but because of the lackadaisical attitude of this government towards the inhumane treatment of her citizens in UK, they were disappointed.
It does not work that way brethren.
Look at the chart attached below (for 2014) and tell me if India is less of a trading partner than Nigeria is.
NOV 2015 Tuesday 24TH posted by Joana Ramiro in Britain
ONE hundred people are set to be deported in a chartered flight from Stansted airport tonight as campaigners accuse the Home Office of using “excessive” restraints.
The 22.30 Titan Airways flight heading to Nigeria, Ghana and Sierra Leone is thought to also be carrying a Belgium-born man who has lived most of his life in Britain.
According to immigration activists, many are being boarded under duress and issued travel documents unrelated to their actual country of origin. In a statement, the deportation and detention support charity Unity Centre said it had “opposed these flights for years.”
A spokeswoman said: “Detainees are taken from detention centres across the UK throughout the afternoon leading up to the planned routine charter flights after being locked up in individual rooms from the night before.
“This practice is believed to avoid any resistance with individuals suspected of resisting being placed in solitary confinement for days or weeks leading up to the flight.”
She added that since the death in custody of Angolan detainee Jimmy Mubenga, security firms outsourced by the Home Office have used new, unregulated restraining methods.
Restraints are said to go around the whole body and keep the arms and hands pinned down.
The group also said it “received a distressing call a few months ago after this contraption was used upon a Nigerian national held in Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre.
“As a result of the force used and severe pressing upon his chest he was admitted to the emergency room.
“One detainee reports seeing the use of these devices as an ‘everyday thing’.”
IsraeliAIRFORCE: This happens when 19th century mindset Military dictator is elected president in 21st century democratic government.
As I said before the election, the peoples general is not wired nor can he be synchronized with 21st century diplomacy to forestall this type of embarrassment on Nigerians living abroad.
A man who couldn't leverage on the political capital generated by peaceful handover of power in Nigeria to better the country's image and economy but preferred badmouthing and denigrating his country before the international community while declaring us all as bunch of corrupt creations except himself.
Who or which country will deal with or transact business with people whose president declared as unrepentant criminals and corrupt establishments?
Get off you high horse! What exactly was "the General" supposed to do? Threatened to impose trade sanctions? Place an embargo on all flights into Nigeria's airspace? Some of you just go on and on throwing mud all over the place, in the hope that something sticks.
Activists Slam Excessive Restraint Of Deportees
NOV 2015 Tuesday 24TH posted by Joana Ramiro in Britain
ONE hundred people are set to be deported in a chartered flight from Stansted airport tonight as campaigners accuse the Home Office of using “excessive” restraints.
The 22.30 Titan Airways flight heading to Nigeria, Ghana and Sierra Leone is thought to also be carrying a Belgium-born man who has lived most of his life in Britain.
According to immigration activists, many are being boarded under duress and issued travel documents unrelated to their actual country of origin. In a statement, the deportation and detention support charity Unity Centre said it had “opposed these flights for years.”
A spokeswoman said: “Detainees are taken from detention centres across the UK throughout the afternoon leading up to the planned routine charter flights after being locked up in individual rooms from the night before.
“This practice is believed to avoid any resistance with individuals suspected of resisting being placed in solitary confinement for days or weeks leading up to the flight.”
She added that since the death in custody of Angolan detainee Jimmy Mubenga, security firms outsourced by the Home Office have used new, unregulated restraining methods.
Restraints are said to go around the whole body and keep the arms and hands pinned down.
The group also said it “received a distressing call a few months ago after this contraption was used upon a Nigerian national held in Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre.
“As a result of the force used and severe pressing upon his chest he was admitted to the emergency room.
“One detainee reports seeing the use of these devices as an ‘everyday thing’.”
mryoungdon: The Ndigbo United Assembly, NUA, yesterday spoke on the renewed agitation for the realization of Biafra.
Speaking to newsmen during a demonstration embarked upon by members of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, President-General of NUA, Comrade Peter Okala said: “The Biafran agitation is positive in the sense that our colonial masters knew our differences before making a contract of amalgamation to try if we could understand ourselves.
“But the fact remains that till date, the centre could not hold and the South East is still hated with passion by our Northern and South West brothers
“Could you imagine Wole Soyinka using Igbo people to popularize his seminar topic in far away United States of America, where he was quoted as saying that Igbo people can only vote at the direction of their stomach? What kind of a hopeless statement from a so-called prominent citizen is that?
“In Nigeria today, if one is asked to name 100 most corrupt people in Nigeria who have emptied our treasury, hardly will an Igbo man be among them.
“We are abused in every part of Nigeria as people, who could do anything to get money simply because the West is in control of the media and the North has partnered with them to marginalize the South-East.”
Okala also observed that the inability of political office holders in the South -East to join the pro-Biafra movement was not a crime because it may be a treason in Nigerian laws, but “it’s the right of every person to choose an association or a country he or she should belong to and there is no law that will empower anyone or institution to stop.”
However, a coalition of civil society organizations based in the South-East geo-political zone has advised the Federal Government to stop trying to compromise some individuals and groups, in an attempt to suppress the on-going agitations.
According to the group, such will end up escalating the issue, which may threaten national security.
In a press statement, yesterday in Onitsha, Anambra State, the groups stated that the Federal Government must be told in a clear terms that those being compromised and influenced to recant are not in control of the movement and millions of its supporters and sympathizers.
The statement was jointly signed on their behalf by Comrade Aloysius Attah, for CLO; Comrade Peter Onyegiri for Centre for Human Rights & Peace Advocacy; Comrade Samuel Njoku for Human Rights Club (a project of LRRDC); Comrade Justus Uche Ijeoma for Forum for Justice, Equity & Defence of Human Rights.
Others are Comrade Chike Umeh for Society Advocacy Watch Project; Obianuju Joy Igboeli, Esq. for Anambra Human Rights Forum; Comrade Emeka Umeagbalasi for Intersociety; Comrade Alex Olisa for South-East Good Governance Forum and Eze Eluchie for: PADDI Foundation.
They said the the first step was to withdraw all trumped up charges leveled against IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu and release him unconditionally with immediate effect.
Continuing, the groups said “This is why in a bid to justify crumbs federally received, they end up on the pages of newspapers with their faceless and mushroom groups.
“A Nigeria of pluralism and democratic constitutionalism, equality and fairness with no distinction in theory and practice as to ethnicity, place of birth, education, sex, class, oligarchic or aristocratic background and religion is always a preferred option and can be safely described as a united Nigeria.
“But a Nigeria of the opposite remains the worst option, while assertion of right to independent statehood is its best alternative. This is because it is better to live free in a land flowing with poverty than to live buoyantly in a land shackled and manacled by chains of slavery and enslavement.
“To assuage the earth-shaking agitations and placate the people of the Southeast zone, all the age-long structural imbalances must be redressed especially the country’s geopolitical imbalances including lopsidedness in the number of States, LGAs, Senatorial Districts, Federal Constituencies, Federal Roads, Fiscal Allocations and geopolitical compositions of the field formations and headships of the Army, Police, Air Force, Navy, DSS, NIA, FRSC, Prisons and Customs.
“In the area of federal public office holders in Nigeria drawn from the six geopolitical zones, the Southeast zone is abysmally represented. For instance, no senior police officer from the zone is among the current heads of the country’s 12 Police Zonal Commands and the few serving AIGs from the zone have since gone on statutory retirement leaving the zone no known serving AIGs out of the country’s current Police AIGs of at least 22.
“All these are owing to age-long deliberate policy designed to stunt their promotions and posting till in the twilight of their statutory retirements when they are given retirement promotions. The composition of CPs and AIGs’ cadres of the Nigeria Police Force is also grossly lopsided in fragrant breach of Section 14 (3) of the 1999 Constitution.
“The same gross lopsided composition is the case in the Nigerian Custom, Nigerian Immigration Service, the Nigerian Prisons Service, the DSS, the NIA, Army, Navy and the Air Force.
“In the headships of SPUs, ATSs, SARS, Federal Highway Police, the Mobile Police and Border Police composition and headship in the Nigeria Police Force; same is the case; likewise the country’s federal Appeal and Federal High Court and Appeal and Supreme Court Judges and Justices in which the zone is acutely represented.
“The same gross lopsidedness and exclusion are the order of the day in federal ministers, directors, headships of federal executive bodies as well as Service Chiefs and other top non ministerial federal appointments”.
Enough of this "IPOB" tyranny of lies. No one is stopping you from advancing your struggle for self-determination, but repeatedly bearing false witness and peddling housewife tales has to stop.
As no serious liberation movement has ever anchored its destiny on perfidious and whimsical arguments, cooler heads need to assume the mantle of lIPOB leadership
A word is enough for the wise!
Soyinka denies making disparaging statement against Igbos
An angry Wole Soyinka, Wednesday, lashed out at news outlets which credited to him with a disparaging statement against the Igbo ethnic group in Nigeria.
In a terse statement, Mr. Soyinka attributed the report to the handiwork of “cowards” who fasten their “imbecilic pronouncements” on others.
“I have just read a statement attributed to me on something called The Cable, a news outlet, evidently one of the Internet infestations,” said Mr. Soyinka, a professor of Comparative Literature.
“My lecture at the Hutchins Centre, Harvard University, was video recorded. Anyone who believes what I am alleged to have said must be a slowpoke – repeat, a slowpoke.
“It is demeaning, sickening and boring to have to deal with these cowards who cannot fight their own battles but must fasten their imbecilic pronouncements on others.
Several online news media (not PREMIUM TIMES) had reported Tuesday that Mr. Soyinka had described the Igbos as a “greedy” group.
“The Igbos are probably the only group of Nigerians that you can predict with great accuracy whom they will vote for in an election, because they tend to put their votes where their stomachs take them; suffering as it were, from incurable money-mindedness, as they would stop at nothing in their quest for personal financial gain,” Mr. Soyinka was quoted as saying
The Nobel Laureate had delivered a lecture on April 29th titled, ‘Predicting Nigeria? Electoral Ironies’ at the Belfer Centre for Science and International Affairs in the U.S.
The alleged comment ignited a scathing backlash against Mr. Soyinka on social media as critics likened the statement to the anti-Igbo speech of Rilwanu Akiolu, the Oba of Lagos.
But Mr. Soyinka denied making such a statement.
“Only the mentally retarded will credit this comment attributed to me regarding the Ndigbo voting pattern in the last elections,” he said. “I strongly suspect the author of this despicable concoction, and may make a further statement, once the source is verified.”
The Kilimanjaro Capital Ltd. Capital Board brings a broad range of business skills and experience to the Company, providing an independent view on matters of strategy, performance, risk and conduct. The Board is responsible for developing strategy, overall commercial objectives and the day-to-day business of the Company.
Zulfikar Rashid – Director/CEO
Mr. Rashid was born in Uganda. His parents immigrated to Mombassa, Kenya after the First World War and operated tea, coffee, and sugar cane plantations. His family was expelled from Uganda during the regime of Idi Amin. Mr. Rashid completed a degree in Electrical Engineering from Napier College in Edinburgh, Scotland and joined his family in Canada. In 1976 he founded and still runs Rodeo Express Delivery courier service in Calgary. In 1988 he helped set up Shamrock Resources, a TSX junior oil and gas company. And later was instrumental in financing Petrocal Energy, Tartan Energy and more recently Silk Road Energy on whose board and audit committee he serves. Mr. Rashid founded Kilimanjaro Capital Ltd. Capital for the express purpose of investing in Africa while making a positive impact on the lives of its people. He draws his inspirations from his long-time support for the Aga Khan Foundation and the NGO World Vision.
Clement Chidi-Ife Chigbo - Director
Clement Chigbo was born in Port Harcourt, Biafra. He was educated at the University of Ibadan Nigeria, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria Nigeria, and The Nigerian Law School. He also completed advanced studies at The Eugene Dupuch Law School, Nassau, Bahamas. The Universaid De Oriente, Santiago Cuba, The University of London and The University of Aberdeen. He was admitted as a Barrister, Solicitor and Advocate of the Supreme Court of Nigeria in 1995. He is also an attorney-at-law admitted to practice (Pro Hac Vice) in Turks and Caicos Islands, British West Indies and a solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales and a registered associate of the Supreme Court of The Bahamas. His areas of practice include property law, personal injury, commercial and corporate law, international tax law, commercial arbitration and ADR, foreign investment and immigration. Mr Chigbo has authored four books; Conveyancing: Title Searches and Allied Matters. The Law and Regulation of Business and Investment in the Bahamas, Land Law: Conveyancing, Wills, Probate and Administration and Company Law and Practice in the Bahamas. He also consults for a leading Canadian land registration company - Teranet Inc.and is a professor of law at a leading Nigerian university. He divides his time between Nigeria, The Bahamas, and England.
Thomas Easton – Director/Corporate Secretary
Thomas Easton is a semi retired attorney specializing in human rights cases. Mr. Easton is a member of the United States Supreme Court Bar and other state and federal bar associations. His legal practice has focused on addressing civil and human rights abuses and includes Second World War era restitution claims and representing victims of torture, genocide, and inhumane punishment. He has been an outspoken critic of law enforcement brutality in the United States and Dubai. Mr. Easton has also represented clients seeking justice from Internet based scams, charitable fund raising abuses, and whistleblower retaliation. Mr. Easton became a Quaker (Religious Society of Friends) in 1978 and sits on the Company audit and compliance committees
BIAFRA Kilimanjaro Capital Ltd. on December 17th 2012 signed an Oil & Mineral Assignment Agreement with the Biafran Government in Exile to obtain 49% of the ownership of all onshore and offshore oil and mineral rights in Biafra. The region contains Africa's largest known petroleum reserves and significant untapped opportunities for gold, uranium, coal and other resources. Biafra's borders are over 29,848 square miles (77,310 km2) of land including the Niger Delta. Kilimanjaro Capital succeeds Banque Rothschild of Paris which was the original Biafran concession holder.
On Monday, Global Witness released a report condemning the actions of the Canadian company Kilimanjaro Capital Ltd. The report, written by Global Witness, accuses Kilimanjaro Capital Ltd. of purchasing billions in oil and mineral assets from secessionist groups across sub-Saharan Africa from 2012 to 2014.
Among the nations listed were Angola, Cameroon, Zimbabwe, and Nigeria. The report argues that the opaque nature of these dealings may have incentivised violent conflict across. For example, the deal struck in Cameroon included a clause requiring the separatist group to achieve “full independence” encouraged the separatist group to ignore peaceful methods of settling their grievances.
Kilimanjaro argued that all funds they dispersed were earmarked for education, diplomacy, humanitarian, and legal purposes. However, Global Witness noted that the many of the separatist movements which signed deals with Kilimanjaro have violent histories.
According to the Global Witness report, the secretive nature of many of these dealings makes it exceedingly difficult to ascertain the true intentions of Kilimanjaro or the separatist groups. The human rights organization also questioned the company’s ability to aid these groups in the development of their oil and mineral resources.
Global Witness called for Kilimanjaro to release more information regarding their dealings with these separatist groups as well as all of the terms and conditions of these arrangements.
The possibility of Kilimanjaro being only one of many companies that would attempt to make deals of this nature.
The full press release of the report can be viewed below: Listed company buys multibillion dollar oil assets from separatist movements
Publicly listed company, Kilimanjaro Capital Ltd, claims to have bought multimillion and multibillion oil assets from secessionist groups across sub-Saharan Africa in eight oil and mineral deals from 2012 to 2014. A report released this week reveals that these opaque agreements may be incentivising violent conflict in these regions and would deprive the potential independent states of much of the benefit of their natural resources.
The company has bought up rights to some of the most valuable mineral assets in the world in regions like the Angolan enclave of Cabinda and in Cameroon, Zimbabwe and Nigeria. The company claims it is buying these rights from ‘governments’ of new states, in reality these groups are separatist movements who have yet to achieve independence or gain control over the assets they are selling.
Kilimanjaro Capital claims that funds are contractually earmarked for education, diplomacy, humanitarian and legal purposes with royalty funds being subject to audit and escrow requirements. However several of the separatist movements identified as signing deals with Kilimanjaro Capital have violent histories. In the case of Cameroon the requirement of the deal to achieve full independence incentivises the movement to ignore the peaceful alternatives recommended by the international community.
Kilimanjaro argues that this is a positive move for the countries involved, yet the identity of those they are buying rights from is often elusive or hidden, and the way they describe these partners misleading. This opacity raises concerns that private individuals could be benefiting at the expense of citizens.
There is also little evidence to indicate the company’s financial capability or expertise to develop oil and mineral resources. There is a lack of transparency around the terms and conditions of the agreements. It is unclear therefore what the company really intends to do with its assets if these movements were to achieve national independence.
This raises questions over whether these deals reflect the best interests of citizens in a potential newly founded state. It also raises the question of where the company’s money is being spent; whether it could be subsidising violence in these regions. These findings should be of concern to the international community as the company attempts to lay claim to some of the largest oil assets on the continent.
These questions can only be dispelled by making more information publicly available about this company, which individuals signed these deals and a full disclosure of all terms and conditions of these agreements.
“The fundamental question left is what is to stop other companies following Kilimanjaro? There is no clear legal precedent internationally, so apart from the obvious financial risks, what is to stop a company buying natural resources from a rebel movement and altering the course of history purely for its own profit?” says Maria Fsadni, author of the report.
“These questions can only be dispelled by making more information publicly available about this company, who they made deals with and a full disclosure of all the terms of these agreements.“ added Fsadni.
Simple answer - Because Yoruba chieftains can't put the Yoruba interests above their selfish interests.
Merging of states would solve this issue of bloated civil services. Why can't Ogun merge Lagos, Oyo with Osun, and Ondo with Ekiti?
Have three big states with more autonomous LGs for outreach to citizens?
Like you, I believe this is the way to go. But wait a minute...I think we may have to leave Lagos out of the equation to begin with. The combo of Lagos-based politicians who fear being subsumed and E-siders that only pay lip service to regionalism, are likely to rail against any attempt to merge with Ogun state.
(b) a Referendum is conducted in each of the States proposing to merge with 75% of the eligible voters in each of those States approving the merger;
Nah, we need to demonstrate the benefits of a merger with our interior states first - lest we end up with some semblance of the much derided sene-gambia union.
Thanks for that. It would appear that the groundwork has been done already. All that remains is for the appropriate reps/senators to politic to bring this to actualization in their respective states.
Do the following resolutions not speak to our yearning for regionalism?
5.12 POLITICAL RESTRUCTURING AND FORMS OF GOVERNMENT
1. FEDERALISM Conference agreed that Federalism denotes a political arrangement in which a country is made up of component parts otherwise called Federating Units. Thus in a Federation, political powers are constitutionally shared between the central government and the federating units. These powers basically, represent the functions of each tier of the federation.
Conference also noted the inherent advantages of a federal system of government in a heterogenous society such as ours. These include:
- the sustenance of unity in diversity; - expanded opportunities for the various peoples, including minority groups, to participate in the governance of the country; thus minimizing the fears of domination and/or marginalization among minority groups. It also and promotes broad-based development
Consequently, Conference unanimously resolved as follows:
1. Nigeria shall retain a Federal system of Government; 2. The core elements of the Federation shall be as follows: i. A Federal (Central) Government with States as the federating units; and ii. Without prejudice to States constituting the federating units, States that wish to merge may do so in accordance with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).
Provided that: (a) A two-thirds majority of all members in each of the Houses of Assembly of each of the States, in which such merger is proposed, support by resolution, the merger; (b) a Referendum is conducted in each of the States proposing to merge with 75% of the eligible voters in each of those States approving the merger; (c) the National Assembly, by resolution passed by a simple majority of membership, approves of the merger; and (d) States that decide to merge shall also reserve the right to demerge following the same procedure and processes for merger.
2. REGIONALISM At independence in 1960, Nigeria had three regions and by 1964 had added a fourth region. All four were autonomous but subordinated only to the Federal Constitution. Then came the military in 1966 when aspects of the Federal Constitution were suspended leading to the creation of 12 states, (six in the north and six in the south) in answer to political exigencies including the protection of minority rights;
More states were created to satisfy the yearnings of various ethnic nationalities which fear domination by some others. Nigeria now has 36 States plus the Federal Capital Territory. In spite of this subsisting arrangement, there continues to be demands for the creation of more States.
After extensive consideration of Regionalism/Zones, Conference decided as follows: (i) The States shall be the federating units; and (ii)Any group of States may create a self-funding Zonal Commission to promote economic development, good governance, equity, peace and security in accordance with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).
So why are all Yoruba chieftains in the current government oblivious to this document?
I have been unable to locate the submissions made by our kindred from Kogi. At any rate, these were superseded by the conference resolutions copied in below.
5.10.2 INTERNAL BOUNDARIES 1. There is need for the Federal Government to embark on full scale sensitization program to address the challenges faced on the resolution of internal boundary disputes. Lack of political will on the part of some State Governments to support the implementation of the agreed boundary resolutions has hindered the success of the process;
2. Traditional institutions have key role to play in ensuring peaceful coexistence between border dwellers. They command respect and at such must be involved in the facilitation of the peace process;
3. On the issue of resource control, sole claims of resources that straddle interstate boundaries by one community or State have also created problems in the management of boundaries in Nigeria. In this regard it is hereby recommended that joint exploitation of cross-border resources be pursued;
4. A policy for equitable sharing of straddling resources between affected States and Local Government Areas, and Communities should be evolved and applied;
5. National Boundary Commission being an agency of the Federal Government charged with the responsibility of defining and determining the limits of the boundary should be strengthened and adequately funded to enable it discharge its responsibilities effectively and timely;
6. The National Boundary Commission’s mandate should be broadened to include recommendations on boundary adjustments where necessary and be given powers to implement its decisions, working in collaboration with the relevant authorities of States of the Federation; and
7. The Federal Government should ensure that approved boundaries are enforced.
5.10.3 ADJUSTMENT OF INTERNAL BOUNDARIES 1. Conference agreed that all stringent conditions should be removed from the Constitution so as to give effective implementation to the result of settlement of disputes over boundaries, and in response to credible application by communities for boundary adjustment;
2. In particular, Conference agreed that Section 8(2) of the Constitution should be expunged and replaced with the following provisions;
3. The boundary of any existing State(s) and Local Governments and shall be adjusted by the National Boundary Commission, which shall act upon receiving an application from the area requesting boundary adjustment, provided that: i. the application is supported by relevant stakeholders from/representing the communities in the area demanding; ii. the area concerned is geographically contiguous with the state to which the area will be adjusted; iii. The proposal for adjustment is approved by a simple majority in a plebiscite conducted for residents of communities situated in the area to be adjusted, provided that the receiving state agrees to accommodate the adjustment; and iv. A National Boundary Tribunal should be established to adjudicate on boundary disputes.
5.10.4 In concluding its deliberations on Land Tenure Matters and National Boundaries, Conference observed that: i. proper land management is essential for guaranteeing citizens’ and communities’ access to shelter, employment and for achieving food security and other social conditions necessary for decent living. At the same time, land resources should constitute an important source of revenues for States of the Federation and other sub-national public authorities. Improvement of public revenues could enhance our common drive towards socio-economic development, including the provision of enabling public infrastructures. However, the achievement of these goals is hampered by the existing land management framework, which is governed by the Land Use (Decree) Act. The Act, which contains inconsistencies, has not been properly implemented. Moreover, the insertion of the Act in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has made its amendment impossible;
ii. Issues of proper delineation and delimitation of internal and external boundaries are important. The elimination of extra-rigid stipulations for adjustment of internal boundaries, which have been drawn following colonial era frames, could have profound implications for security and the attainment of developmental objectives and social justice for individuals and communities, and the Nigerian nation at large; and
iii. While there is a general consensus in Nigeria on the imperative of reforming the current weak and contradictory land and boundary governance frameworks, access to land is an issue of rights, and that land administration should recognise the importance of strengthening the federating States as building blocks of a united Nigeria.
Whatever we think of Jonathan's hurriedly assembled conference, it actually did provide a framework for regionalism-lite. Why aren't we pressuring the party at the centre to follow through with those recommendations, as advised by Afenifere?
MayorofLagos: Im trying to stay out of commentaries on Northerners. Their understanding of scholarship is far richer in the North than ours.
They see scholarship as a true study of man and nature and they preoccupy themselves with reconciliation of the two. They do not see western education as a superior academy to their trsditional cult of madrasa teachings.
Can you imagine if Yoruba would see Ifa teachings as a better scholarship for us than western education?
I have got absolutely nothing to quibble here Mayor. The question you posed at the very end of your post is one that fully resonates with me.
Question for all - Where do we locate the teachings of IFA in our reclamation efforts? Is it possible to engender true Yoruba-renaissance without the underpinnings it affords us?
Most folks believe Odudywa came with the crown, a wrong notion if you ask me. Obatala owns/owned the crown, Oduduwa and Obatala engaged in a face off, Oduduwa won and as a result seized the crown and exiled Obatala to the depths of Mokuro, former Ugbo settlement.
The crown was kept away in the palace and unused until after Oduduwa, it became the object of coronation and spiritual fortification for the Ooni.
Where Oduduwa came from and many other details about him remain a secret to the Oduduwa adherents/house in Ife but for me, he came from one of the 13 hamlets in Ife to usurp power, unify into an entity and set up a central administration system - an ambitious guy.
If he was out of town then how would he have been able to communicate or even convince the likes of Obameri, an Ife man to join his team against Obatala? Plus, he would have left an Arabian imprint on the system.
I believe there is a reason his adherents/house look to Oke-Ora but they won't give details
Yes, the chain is at the compound but I've never seen it. There are certain off limits for my family and their family - getting to each other's compounds itself requires not sitting in some places or taking one's leave when some processions start; the ewos are so many and na due to the beef since Obatala and Oduduwa period.
I am following your posts closely 9jacrip. It is a shame you are not updating that FB group as well, you know
Katsumoto: The same constitutional provisions that allow for State creation can be used for state boundary modifications. The only issue I have with this is that some mischievous never-do-wells will request for an Okun state when the Yoruba LGs should simply be added to Ondo, Ekiti and Kwara.
If the provisions don't exist, nothing stops the senators and reps from that state from moving a motion.
If there are more Igalas in the State House and a majority don't want an Okun Governor, then they can impeach the governor at any time.
Ogagun Kats,
If memory serves me correctly, I think the Okun representatives at the last Northern Conference argued a case for boundary modification rather than state creation.
modath: Superstar abeg tell 'em ... Even if abok1 be church rat, he must get transistor radio ..
Southerners often wonder how they manage to congregate & ready for war, it is cos they have foreknowledge of what is buzzing in the polity...
Seems you talked abot Yobe sometime ago, Potiskum or Damaturu? Rest of Yobe is
Ilekehd , aareonakakanfo, ramdeuter , katsumoto , mayoroflagos , onreflection , iyaiode , et al, are you gentlemen & ladies familiar with any hausa/ fulani person, beyond the stereotype / rhetorics ...
Zimoni , I nor go ask you, you & the sabo crew already don share boundary.
Nah, I have never held a one dimensional view of our northern compatriots. I know enough about West African history not to peddle any simplistic assertions beyond "inoffensive" and jocular musings.
I will say this much though; I despair at the number of northern children who are not enrolled in schools, and fear for what this connotes for the country's future stability. The religious fervour which has turned the political class in 12 states into theocrats (at least on paper) is also not fully appreciated in my view. More on this later.
The Nigerian government has commissioned a Hydrocarbon plant in Ikenne, Ogun State, to produce high grade Hydrocarbon refrigerants which are to be used in the Refrigerants Services sectors.
The plant was built in a renewed effort to ensure the phasing out of Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) by the year 2040 in line with Montreal Protocol agreement on Substances that Deplete the Ozone layer to which Nigeria is a party.
At the commissioning of the plant, the Minister of State for Environment, Mr Ibrahim Jibril, said that the plant would greatly mitigate the negative consequences on Nigeria’s ecological system and human health occasioned by the use of Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS).
He stated that the first stage implementation of the Hydrochlorofluorocarbons Phase-out Management Plan (HPMP), which commenced in 2011, was expected to be completed before the end of the year.
“The hydrocarbon pilot project is one of the main components of the project and it is designed to demonstrate the feasibility of replacing the current use of HCFCs refrigerant in the Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning (RAC) sector with the Hydrocarbon refrigerant-based technology,” Mr Jibril explained.
The Minister further said that the ministry would ensure that stakeholders in the sector nationwide would be properly trained in the use of the new technology.
Mr Jibril stated that economic development had largely been unsustainable because it had been supported by the use of hydrocarbon fuels and chemicals which unfortunately were damaging the ecosystem and harmful to human health.
He maintained that, with the commissioning of the plant, there would be a remarkable economic development, as the project had the potential of creating jobs, providing foreign exchange and building local capacity to produce energy efficient low Global warming Potential (GWPs) gases among other benefits.
The Minister further called on the private sector to invest in the operation and marketing of the hydrocarbon refrigerants products, stressing that the Government was considering harnessing the products of the Hydrocarbon plant (Butane), as a source of clean fuel for cooking and an alternative for firewood.
KinkyAngela: So one mans opinion/suggestion/proposition has now given you the carte blance to sterotype a whole tribe.
He be like say una wan make i help una scatter this thread
A Nupe warrioress who is quick on the trigger. Chai.
Oya, no vex. I took poetic license too far, so your admonition is perfectly in order. In truth, it is just that we shoot straight on the side of tracks I hail from.
MayorofLagos: The site was taken'down due to controversial revisions. Everyone is embellishing their history nowadays. Some of the descendants are claiming that Landuji Oshodi was a Nupe prince.
Yes, I read about that particular fissure. You may recall that I did say, the Nupes are a rather ambitious lot. It is one thing to dispute a historical account that locates Oshodi-Tapa as a slave but quite another to ascribe to imperial leanings, in the absence of veritable proof.
Thankfully though, despite what is widely seen as an attempt to whitewash the past, they have made no attempt to declare Lagos "no man's land".
Oshodi-Tapa Wasn't a Slave of Oba Kosoko, Says Family
6 May 2015
By Ikechukwu Onyewuchi
THE Oshodi-Tapa Chieftaincy family has refuted claims in the media that its patriarch, Chief Landuji Balogun Oshodi, was a slave of Oba Kosoko.
The family was reacting to a publication on December 29, 2014, by Damola Awoyokun titled Lagos, Slave Trade and Founding Fathers (1), where the author claimed, among other things, that Chief Oshodi-Tapa was a slave of Oba Kosoko.
According to Awoyokun, "Prince Kosoko, who was Oba Eshinlokun's son, did not wait to be King before becoming a major slave trader. Princess Opo Olu, Kosoko's sister owned 1400 slaves. Oshodi Tapa, Dada Antonio and Ojo Akanbi, like Ajayi Crowther, were former slaves, but unlike Crowther, they rose to become merchants themselves."
But the family, in a statement insisted that the author erred, as historical facts showed that Chief Oshodi-Tapa was a prince, who rose to relevance in Lagos during the reign of Oba Eshinlokun, the father of Oba Kosoko, after having migrated from Bida in present day Niger State and later placed to oversee security in the inner section of the palace.
They said: "As a matter of historical fact, Chief Landuji Balogun Oshodi had, long before the coming of Kosoko as Oba of Lagos, established himself as a notable figure in Lagos. The coming into Lagos was during the reign of Oba Eshinlokun, the father of King Kosoko.
Funny enough, I always thought the Oshodis have Bini ancestry. Now I know better.
Bruv, based on anecdotal observation, I would argue that Nupe folks are more territorial and ambitious than people recognise. Although largely disenfranchised within the current federal structure, I find their hussle admirable. In fact, I recall once repping a thread on these boards - where they laid claim to being the fourth most populous ethnic group in the country.
Now while I have always acknowledged that bit of my ancestry and responded to any misdirected missives (when I am propelled by unidentified Nupe warrior genes), it was with some alarm that I read Abdullahi's revisionist account of history (copied in below). On reading the sections I highlighted, I had little choice but to summon the cavalry - Abdullahi had taken chicanery too far. Check out the way he negated Ife's contributions to the art and tell me you are not similarly offended.
NUPE AS EPICENTRE OF NIGERIAN ARTS
March 31, 2014 by Staff Writer By Oji Onoko
He wears two caps: Secretary, Nupe Culture & Resource Centre, Bida and Head, Reseach & Documentation, Governor’s office, Minna, Niger State. Though a medical doctor by training, Ndagi Abdullahi has spent several years researching not into medicine as many would expect but the Nupe Culture and Arts! And he has several published books on various aspects of Nupe Culture to show for it. So it was only fitting that he was the Guest Speaker at the maiden Nupe Art Conference/Exhibition organised by the National Gallery of Art, NGA, penultimate week in Bida, Niger State among others.
The topic was simple enough- “Nupe Arts: A Renaissance.” But what a stir Ndagi Abdullahi caused when he declared that the ancient Nupe Arts was the origin of the famed Nok Culture, the Ife figurines and the Benin Art all rolled into one! “The ancient Nupe people were not just the masters of Arts, but they were by and large the originators of the Arts of ancient Nigeria,” he declared, adding: “The ancient Nok culture is now being discovered to have had its epicentre, and origin located in the Greater KinNupe of former times whence the culture actually spread to the Jos Plateau area where it is now associated with Kwai and Jos Tin mines!”
Quoting authorities to buttress his claim, he stressed that when Prof. Leo Frobenius first came across the Ife figurines in Yoruba land, he rightly predicted that the original centre of production of these figurines must be up North in the KinNupe general area since there was not any institutionalised background for the so called Ife figurines in Yoruba land and that Prof. Alan Ryder demonstrated far back in 1965 that the so called Ife bronzes are actually Nupe bronzes “since and as he proved, the ‘Ife bronzes’ were actually produced by the Nupe people!”
According to the guest speaker, Ryder and other scholars have remonstrated that the so called Ife bronzes actually predated the present city of Ife and that the Ile-Ife Yoruba have no tradition of bronze casting. “These scholars said that the so called Ife bronzes of today actually originated from KinNupe during the days of Prof. S. F. Nadel’s Bini Confederacy,” he emphasized. On Benin Art, he said Ryder and others also argued that Benin Art originated from KinNupe. “As a matter of fact, Captain Hugh Clapperton documented the fact that as late as the 1930s, the people of Benin and Nupe were the same one and the same Bini Nupe people,” he assrted.
Indeed, Dr. Ndagi Abdullahi postulates that the ancient Nupe people were such masters of high Arts and Craft that to this very day they continue to dominate the Arts horizon of the African world! “Every Art historian and student of sub-Saharan archaeology today knows that the most naturalistic and the greatest work of Art ever to come out of sub-Saharan Africa is the Tada Seated Figure popularly known as the Tsoede bronze. It’s asymmetrical and life size, naturalistic proportions made it unique and unparallel in African history,” he stated. According to him, Tony Craig of the Royal Arts Academy, UK, observed that “This figure shows such sophistication equal to European Renaissance sculpture of the same period so much that many refused to believe that it was the work of an African artist.”
Categorizing Nupe Arts into two broad areas- the general or mundane arts and the specialized or spiritual arts- he explained that the general or mundane arts are the recreational and occupational arts engaged by the generality of Nupe people, mostly the commoners while the specialized or spiritual arts are those that require specialized guilds of professionals, adding that the specialized arts of the ancient Nupe people were not for aesthetic reasons but were for spiritual purposes. “Culture and Spiritualism were inextricably interwoven in the life of the ancient Nupe people. The entire culture of the ancient Nupe people was spiritual in nature and that was why they were able to produce those artefacts that were of outstanding beauty and refinement.”
He traced the rise of Nupe Arts to as early as 2000 BC when KinNupe was a high centre of superlative Arts with the Nok culture taking root from it some 1500 BC. And by 500 AD, the Kisra people came with their spiritual arts including the Maltese Cross “and what is known today as the Northern knot or the Arewa symbol.” They were followed by the Akanda people with their Egbe dance and much later the Ife and Benin artefacts. He stated, however, that the decline in the production and exquisiteness of Nupe cultural artefacts began from the latter half of the second millennium and went spiralling down when the Muslim Jihadists and the Christian missionaries came and condemned most aspects of Nupe Arts as fetishism.
But Abdullahi was confident of the renaissance of Nupe Arts devoid of its spiritualism noting that “the spiritualism that drove Nupe arts, especially the specialized arts has long since been lost to history somewhere in the middle of the second millennium when foreign influences of Islam and Christianity became paramount in KinNupe.” What can be salvaged he pointed out are the aesthetic and materialistic aspects of ancient Nupe arts which includes performing arts, artefacts and craft like wood carving of stools and doors, weaving of mats, baskets, sacks and local fans with grasses, the various types of Nupe songs and musical genres and the Nupe martial arts among others. Going back to history, he recalled that when the Fulani became paramount rulers over the Nupe nation, they revived and reinvigorated ancient Nupe arts that were not driven by the ancient Nupe spiritualism of Eba, Sara or Gunnu but systematically concentrated skilled and specialized artisans into state orchestrated guilds in Bida from the late 1850s onwards. “That was what gave rise to the glass and brass works of Bida which are unparalleled throughout Africa today. The emergence of the powerful industries of glass, brass works, wood carving, bead making, etc, in Bida in the latter half of the 19th century right into the 20th century is a great testament to the fact that the ancient arts of Nupe people can be revived,” he surmised.
But why did the emerging arts of Nok culture, Benin masks and Ife bronzes become so popular while Nupe Arts which was the cradle remained at best obscure? Abdullahi was silent on this. This is a subject art scholars, critics and historians must interrogate…
* Onoko, author and journalist, writes from Lagos.
ProfShymex: I honestly doubt it. Then again I don't know much about the ruling houses of the Island - Mayoroflagos should help you with that. I'm only conversant with the Idejo Chiefs.
However, I do know the Dawodus from the Island (there's a next Dawodu from Ikorodu who're Ijebus) have Nupe ancestry. I know an uncle out here who's from that bloodline. But they're Yorubas now.
There is a lot of evidence that supports your very first post.
I've got some Nupe ancestry by way of a great-grandmother (on the father's side), so I always keep an eye out for any useful material.
"Aiye gba Tapa, o kole Igunnu" - Out of complacency in Oshodi Lagos, they established a masquerade (Interesting take here: Census 2006 Counts Some Out Of Lagos Again -- http://www.gamji.com/article5000/NEWS5769.htm).
Aljharem's backgrounder, which was culled from a website that has now gone offline, also provides some illumination....
aljharem: Chief Balogun Landuji Oshodi Tapa was an outstanding warrior and a statesman. During the reign of King Eshilokun, he immigrated to Lagos from Bida in what is now known as the Niger State. This was after he had lost his parents in a tribal war when he was only six years old. He put himself under the protection of the King as his servant in order to prevent himself from being taken and sold into slavery. The King in turn put him under the supervision of one of his trusted men, Fagbemi.
Some years later, one of the Portuguese merchants, a friend of King Eshilokun, asked the king to let two of his children accompany him to Portugal and he promised to bring them back. The King was very wary of this offer and he thought instead of risking the lives of any of his own children, he would offer two people loyal to him. Hence he chose Oshodi and Dada Antonio to go with the Portuguese merchant.
While the King thought he was protecting the interests of his own children, he was in fact denying them an opportunity that would have benefited them more in the future.
Oshodi and Dada Antonio went with the Portuguese merchant to America and they were later returned to the King after many years.
On arrival from America, Oshodi was employed by Messrs. G. L. Gaiser as a Commission Agent and Toll Collector. With the arrival of the ships of the Portuguese merchants, business flourished, and Oshodi’s commissions from sales increased and he eventually became a rich man. Oshodi never forgot the hands that fed him, so to speak; he continued to be loyal to the King and was made a chief solely responsible for looking after the King’s wives. He was the only one who could go into the Queen’s apartment to oversee repairs, if the need arose.
After the death of King Eshinlokun, Chief Oshodi remained loyal to his children. He particularly cast his lot with Idewu Ojulari who succeeded his father. After the reign of Chief Idewu Ojulari, Kosoko, a son of Oshinlokun, was said to be the rightful heir to the throne, but he was an enemy of Chief Eletu Odibo, whose duty was to install and crown any new king. It was said at the time, that young Prince Kosoko had seduced Eletu Odibo’s would-be wife. In retaliation, Eletu Odibo used his powerful position to crown Oluwole as the next King of Lagos in 1836.
Kosoko and other descendants of King Eshilokun were not satisfied with the decision
and were ready to show their resentment. They waged a war against King Oluwole and Chief Eletu Odibo. Kosoko and his warriors invaded Isale-Eko. The battle was fierce and prolonged but ended with victory on the side of the king’s army. Kosoko fled to Whydah, realizing the consequences of his action.
When King Oluwole died, Akitoye was crowned in 1841 as the next King of Lagos.
Conscious of the right of Kosoko to the throne, Akitoye justly decided to search for Kosoko his nephew, who had taken refuge in Whydah. He believed that he must enjoy his patronage while on the throne. Akitoye organized a search party under the command of bold and gallant Chief Oshodi. The rapidity with which the party achieved its success was directly related to the military might of Chief Oshodi.
Kosoko finally returned to Lagos with Chief Oshodi in a vessel belonging to a merchant called, Domingo.
Henceforth, Chief Oshodi worked to maintain peace between Kosoko and Akintoye, and eventually brought the two together on terms. The peace effort was thwarted by Chief Eletu Odibo who had employed all the persuasive words he could, to dissuade King Akitoye from bringing Kosoko back to Lagos. He believed that Lagos would not contain the two of them. For a while, he did all he could to create conflicts between them, but later left Lagos for exile in Badagry.
When a war broke out between King Akitoye and Kosoko, Chief Oshodi loyally pitched his tent with Kosoko, the son of Eshilokun, through thick and thin. Akitoye asked Eletu Odibo to return to Lagos with his warriors to fight on his side. Akitoye’s men led by Eletu Odibo were soundly defeated. Eletu Odibo was captured in an ambush and killed.
With the death of Eletu Odibo, the elders advised Akitoye to escape to his mother’s town in Abeokuta. When Kosoko heard about the plan, he detailed his war chief, Oshodi, to lay ambush for Akitoye, kill him, and bring his head before him. Akitoye was in fact caught by Oshodi in the Agboyi waters, but instead of killing him, he paid homage to him and his Lord and prayed for his safe journey and safe return.
Chief Oshodi returned to report to Kosoko that Akitoye had escaped by the use of a powerful charm which put them all to sleep when he was passing. Historians were not able to assign any reason for the treatment which Oshodi gave Akitoye when in fact he was on orders to bring his head to Kosoko. In 1845, Kosoko defeated Akitoye and ascended the throne. In the meantime, Chief Oshodi remained Kosoko’s “Abagbon” war chief.
While in exile, Akitoye appealed to the British Government for help to restore him to his throne. A war broke out; the British started to bombard Lagos, setting the town on fire. Kosoko’s defense under the command of Chief Oshodi was effective and modern by the international standard of the time. After nine days of consecutive serious military actions, the British fleet unleashed excessive gun power which resulted in the defeat of Kosoko’s fleet. Under this unfavorable condition, Kosoko had to flee to Epe with Chief Oshodi and his warriors on the night of the13th of August 1853.
Akitoye was brought back to Lagos by the British Consul and was restored as the King of Lagos. Akitoye died on the 2nd of September 1853, about two weeks after Kosoko and his men had fled. In the afternoon of September 3rd, 1853, his son, Dosunmu was formally installed as the King of Lagos.
Although the war seemed to have ended with Kosoko in exile, there were sporadic raids on Lagos from Epe; disturbing the peace and trade of the island. The raids caused the British Consul Campbell, the Elders, and White Cap chiefs of Lagos, to initiate a move to reconcile the warring royal relatives.
On the 26th of January 1854, a peace conference, historically known as Langbasa meeting, was held at Agbekin (Palaver Island) about four months after King Dosunmu’s coronation. The British Consul’s party included the Commander of HMS Plato with other officers under his command, and Kosoko’s party which included Chief Oshodi Tapa and Chief Onisemo Adeburusi of Epe. They came without Kosoko in about sixty canoes each containing forty men. King Dosunmu was represented by several white cap chiefs and war chiefs.
At the opening of this remarkable conference, the Epe people, led by Chief Oshodi Tapa expressed their strong desire to return to Lagos a to the British Consul and be at peace with their friends and relatives. Chief Oshodi proposed that Kosoko be allowed to return to Lagos and live as a private person.
The proposal was not agreeable to the Consul on the basis that two Kings could not rein in Lagos. As an appeasement, Chief Oshodi was offered to return alone as the Consul for the people of Epe, but he declined the offer and insisted on Kosoko’s return from exile. Several years later in 1862, Kosoko was allowed back to Lagos with his war chief, after signing a peace treaty negotiated with the British Consul by Chief Oshodi.
Governor Glover was very grateful for Chief Oshodi’s contributions to peace in Lagos.
On their arrival to Lagos, Governor Glover sought permission from Aromire to give part of Epetedo to Chief Oshodi. For himself, his family, his followers, and servants who returned with him from Epe, he held the area under the native customary law of land tenure, subject to the native system of the devolution of land.
The palace of Oshodi is located in the center of the area of land in Epetedo. The area is uniquely laid out into 21 compounds. Four of these compounds; Oshodi, Akinyemi, Ewumi, and Alagbede courts belong exclusively to Chief Balogun Oshodi’s extended family.
For the most notable and extraordinary role of Chief Oshodi in the restoration of peace to Lagos and his contribution to the Government of Lagos, he was presented by Governor Glover on the Lagos Race Course grounds with a sword from Mr. Cardwell, the Secretary of State to the British Government. The sword was inscribed “presented by the Government of Queen Victoria to Chief Tapa in commemoration of the loyal services rendered by him to the Government of Lagos”
With his background of having been to America, Oshodi did not miss the opportunity to educate his children. He solicited Governor Glover to educate one of his children in England. This child later assumed the surname of Oshodi-Glover.
Chief Balogun Oshodi Tapa died on 2nd of July1868 about six years after his return from exile in Epe, leaving forty six surviving children. His body was laid to rest at the center of Oshodi Street in Epetedo, Lagos. The descendants of Chief Oshodi constructed an imposing edifice at his burial site, as a monument to the memory of the renowned warlord, peacemaker, and statesman. This monument has been classified as a historic site by the Lagos State Government.
It remains unclear how the ruling houses were determined by the Chieftaincy Committee under the Obas and Chiefs Law of the century. Nevertheless, the following are the twelve ruling houses in the Oshodi Tapa Chieftaincy according to the Registered Declaration:
Ruling Houses:
1. Feyishitan
2. Eshugbayi
3. Fatusi
4. Obadimeji
5. Jose
6. Lagbayi
7. Sakariyawo
8. Amore
9. Ewumi
10. Kobile
11. Modina
12. Alli-Igunnu
In the event of a vacancy, the order of rotation is as above, starting from Feyishitan Ruling House having taken into account those ruling houses that had produced chiefs after Chief Balogun Oshodi Tapa.
tpiadotcom: um , no, sorry to disappoint you but akata is not from Yoruba.
check Congo.
Ireke meaning sugar cane has nothing to do with the discussion. Both words have k in them but so does black.
Why do you have a knack for jumping into conversations sideways, before outlining tpia-esque parameters with all the haughtiness in the world? "check Congo" for what? Explain yourself.
Ilaje44: Iro o, panther ke? Ekun ni panther/Leopard. Ko si Tiger l'Afrika.
Fox ni Yoruba npe ni AKATA.
As far as I know, you are absolutely correct.
@All, given that these terms - "akata" and "ireke" - are now considered offensive by our once displaced kindred; should we not refrain from using them altogether?
Travel › Re: It's A Lie! Only 48 Nigerians Deported- Immigration by OnReflection: 1:29am On Nov 26, 2015
