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Politics / Re: Charly Boy To Protest For Diezani Alison-Madueke's Extradition by osigiepurr(m): 6:18pm On Aug 24, 2017 |
01mcfadden:Oga, park well, shey dem tell u say EFCC headquarters dey Dieziani State? |
Celebrities / Re: Olajumoke Orisaguna Features In New Movie As A Bride (Photos) by osigiepurr(m): 7:06pm On Aug 23, 2017 |
SweetBoyFriend:#Oya, wo#.......Be speaking English on Nairaland while Olajumoke keeps soaring high from glory to glory...village goat. |
Celebrities / Re: Olajumoke Orisaguna Features In New Movie As A Bride (Photos) by osigiepurr(m): 10:03pm On Aug 22, 2017 |
SweetBoyFriend:Oga, people are talking about 2017 model and you are here erroneously talking about 1934 model that was used to fight World War,.....i weep profusely for your backwardness! Poverty will fall on you beyond measure if you can't appreciate others. |
Literature / How We Fought Apartheid In Nigeria – Pa Alfred Rewane by osigiepurr(m): 7:37pm On Aug 16, 2017 |
On my way to Federal High Court, Lagos recently, my route passed through Awolowo Road. One of the historic structures on the street is Military Hospital. It is to your right if you are coming from Onikan driving towards Falomo. I saw Nigerians trooping in and out of the hospital. And I remember that if not for the struggles of some Nigerian youths, the hospital could have remained a forbidden territory to Nigerians, at least until independence. When we talk of apartheid today, it is common to discuss the practice of racial discrimination with reference to only South Africa. This is not entirely accurate. There was a time in this country of ours when Nigerians were prohibited from accessing certain public facilities. Yes, you read that right. Some hospitals funded by the government were reserved for only Europeans. Some clubs did not admit Nigerian members. Some hotels were not open to people who were not white in colour. Onigegewura had already told you that Pa Tony Enahoro was the first Nigerian to be admitted as a member of the Ikoyi Club. How was this practice stopped? Who were the young Nigerians who spearheaded the struggle? Today, Onigegewura brings you the first-hand historical account of how the practice was forced to stop. The following account is in Pa Alfred Rewane’s words. And by a very strange historical coincidence, the road named after Pa Alfred Rewane is not far from the Military Hospital. History Does Not Forget -Onigegewura APARTHEID AT BRISTOL HOTEL, LAGOS In 1948, Mr. Ivor Cummings, a distinguished African-Caribbean national and a top official of the Colonial Office in London was scheduled to pay an official visit to Nigeria. Naturally, his first port of call was Lagos, then our capital. An accommodation was reserved for him at the Bristol Hotel, Martin Street, Lagos, then owned and managed by expatriates. Apparently, the hotel authorities thought, from the name Cummings, that he was a white Anglo-Saxon. But they were shocked when he presented himself at the reception to find that he was black. He was refused a room at the hotel on that ground. One witness to the incident was a Warri-based Sierra Leonean legal luminary called T. E. Nelson-Williams. He deeply resented the action of the hotel management but was helpless in the circumstances. It was a hot and humid afternoon and Nelson-Williams left for the Grand Hotel (now defunct), on Broad Street by Odunlami Street, Lagos, to rendezvous with friends for an afternoon drink. There, he met Frank Olugbake, the trade unionist, and others and narrated to them the Bristol Hotel incident. They later trooped to the Island Club where they met me and my friends, also having a drink and cooling off in the gentle breeze from the lagoon. The Onikan Stadium was not walled round then. Nelson-Williams told us what had happened, and we were dumbfounded, angry, outraged, furious and bitter. One of my friends at the Island Club was Oladipo Odunsi, a distinguished and enterprising Lagos lawyer. He stood up and exclaimed, “Our Nigeria of 1948, we cannot have this, let’s go and die.” I jumped up and shouted: “Die? No! Let’s go and teach them a harsh lesson.” The atmosphere of the club was now charged, and under Odunsi’s leadership, the late Milton Macaulay, the late Akiniran Olunloyo, Prince Adeleke Adedoyin, the late Garnet Williams and others and I marched through the Onikan Stadium, to the Marina. Our elder friends, the late JK Randle and the late Bolaji Finnih, wanted to join us but we asked them to go and get hold of two lawyers, the late Oladipo Moore and the late Alaba Akerele, and our other colleagues to go to Tinubu Police Station (now defunct) on Customs Street, which is now part of the land on which the Central Bank of Nigeria headquarters is located (then), to wait for us because we were sure that we would be arrested and brought there if we carried out our plan “to die or teach them a lesson.” At the Onikan Stadium point on Marina, we assembled all sorts of people known compendiously as Boma Boys, who collected their clubs and sticks and horse whips (koboko) and followed us without hesitation, although they did not know our plan or where we were headed to. We then launched an assault on Bristol Hotel. By the time we finished, the reception, bar, and restaurant were sacked and the white men in the hotel premises and its vicinity had a sorry tale to tell. The whole place was wrecked and left in a shambles. Meanwhile, some police officers arrived on the scene but, surprisingly, did not arrest any of us. The job completed, we trooped back to the Island Club, to a rousing reception and warm congratulatory embrace from members. But the then chairman of the club, late Mr. Omololu, was deeply concerned about our action, realizing that the then British Governor of Nigeria, Sir Arthur Richards, was himself the grand patron of the club. Mr. Omololu was sure that sooner or later we would be rounded up. We had only a pyrrhic victory and the inaction on the part of the colonial government was no more than the calm before the storm. However, we waited all day but there were no arrests. Meanwhile, Mr. Omololu contacted our patron, the late Sir Adeyemo Alakija, to intervene with the authorities to preempt our arrest. Subsequently, Sir Adeyemo made an appointment to meet with Sir Arthur in his capacity as grand patron of our club and it was suggested that we who led and participated in the sacking of Bristol Hotel should accompany him. We reluctantly agreed. A day or so before we were to meet with Sir Arthur, the Governor made a statement to the nation in which he referred publicly for the first time to the Bristol Hotel incident. His Excellency declared that some seventy years previously, there might have been justification for whites and blacks to live apart, for the reason, if none other, that there were some diseases to which whites were immune but which killed blacks, and vice versa. But for well over seventy years there had existed a medical department in Nigeria maintained at public expenses to find a solution to the problem and if no solution was found, then there was left only one of two choices, that is either to continue to live apart and abolish the medical department or to live together and continue to maintain the department. Sir Arthur then declared: “I have chosen the latter. With effect from today, there will be no more European hospital, club or reservation in Nigeria.” Thus, racial discrimination or apartheid was abolished in Nigeria. The European hospital in Lagos (now Military Hospital) and European Club at Ikoyi were renamed Creek Hospital and Ikoyi Club respectively. The European hospital at Warri serving the then Central Provinces of Ondo, Benin, and Warri, was changed to Maple Annex. The European hospital at Ibadan was changed to Jericho Nursing Home. Areas otherwise known as European Reservation were renamed Government Reserved Area (GRA). And so on throughout the country. There was general jubilation throughout the country. Led by Sir Adeyemo and Mr. Omololu, we later went to meet with Sir Arthur at Government House, Marina. Naturally, we expected a hostile reception, but we were widely mistaken. Sir Arthur, undoubtedly tempered by age and maturity and experience, welcomed us warmly, smiled broadly and, turning to Sir Adeyemo, said jokingly something in words like these: “Sir Adeyemo, I did not make my statement because of your young rascals, who took the law into their hands, but deliberately to preempt an imminent danger. This is the first time that violence has been introduced into the public life of Nigeria, and once it started, it may never recede. I have seen it happen in many countries where I served, in India, Burma, and the Caribbean. My statement, therefore, was to prevent violence spreading.” Apparently, Sir Adeyemo expected us to apologize to Sir Arthur but we never did. The Governor then turned to Sir Adeyemo and asked: “Will you and your friends like to have a drink with me?” Sir Adeyemo thanked the Governor for the invitation but expressed regret that we had no time and had to go. On our way back to the Island Club, traveling in two cars, all of us somehow began to develop a guilty conscience about what we did at the Bristol Hotel. This was because of Sir Arthur, who had the security agencies and the full force of British imperial might behind him, chose to completely disarm us with his charm and unprecedented diplomacy. At the club, Odunsi was the first to speak. He addressed me and asked me how we could be sure that, in fact, all the white men we attacked at Bristol Hotel supported racial discrimination and the treatment meted to Ivor Cummings? Was it not possible that many of our victims would have disapproved of the treatment? How could we be sure that many of them were not innocent persons who did not even know what happened to Ivor? We felt thoroughly ashamed that in prosecuting a worthy cause, we might inadvertently have wronged innocent people. We were all convinced that if a similar act of discrimination was re-enacted, we would never yield to the violent reaction as we did at Bristol Hotel. Sir Arthur had taught us, as youths, an enduring lesson – to be responsible and give peace and reason a chance. I hope next time you are on Alfred Rewane Road and Awolowo Road in Ikoyi, you will remember this story and its inherent lessons. May the soul of Pa Alfred Rewane continue to rest in peace. Onigegewura© 1 Like
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Travel / Re: Osita Chidoka's Son In The Cockpit Of An Airplane (Photos) by osigiepurr(m): 12:41am On Aug 16, 2017 |
SalamRushdie:Be speaking English in side your living room. By the time the small boy become your governor tomorrow, you will still be there speaking English.... |
Celebrities / Re: Olajumoke Orisaguna Attends Summer Classes (Photos) by osigiepurr(m): 12:22am On Aug 16, 2017 |
Naijacost22:You can kill yourself for another person's matter. Your English spellings have really defined the type of homo-sapien you are. Ungrateful elements looking for Nairaland cheap popularity. 1 Like |
Politics / Re: IPOB Deceiving Igbo - Okorocha. by osigiepurr(m): 11:25pm On Aug 14, 2017 |
guterMann:Continue to make noise inside your living room by typing rubbish that "the land of the rising sun must set forth at dawn" 1 Like 1 Share |
Crime / Re: Father, Wife & Children Die In Anambra After Their Food Was Poisoned (Photos) by osigiepurr(m): 6:55pm On Aug 14, 2017 |
Anambra State again?......na wa o RIP to d dead. |
Travel / Re: Terrible Accident Between A Car And Okada Claims The Lives Of 4 In Anambra(pics) by osigiepurr(m): 12:36am On Aug 14, 2017 |
What is wrong with Anambra State?.... So many blood sucking vultures in d land....LORD have Mercy! |
Politics / Re: Middle Belt Youths Give Herdsmen Quit Notice To Vacate Region Before October 1 by osigiepurr(m): 12:26am On Aug 14, 2017 |
successmatters:When you have a principled and disciplinarian as president, people will say he is a dictator. And when you have an humble and loyal president, people will also complain that he is a weakling and clueless one. Which way Naija?......I hail una ooooo |
Politics / Re: Adeyinka Grandson Invited By UK Police Over Hate Speech by osigiepurr(m): 9:52pm On Aug 08, 2017 |
Why is that, all these rascals and insubordinate toothless bulldogs usually fall out from the UK? kANU and KAYODE suddenly appeared from the UK with their evil spirits.........I am beginning to suspect the letter-K in their names as Killers of dreams. |
Travel / Re: Terrible Fatal Accident In Onitsha(Graphic Photos) by osigiepurr(m): 10:50am On Aug 08, 2017 |
Oh Lord, in Anambra State again?....infact, Election must truly hold oooo |
Travel / Re: Terrible Fatal Accident In Onitsha(Graphic Photos) by osigiepurr(m): 10:49am On Aug 08, 2017 |
Oh Lord, in Anambra State again? |
Politics / Re: Nobody Can Stop Me From Visiting Lagos - Kanu by osigiepurr(m): 10:42am On Aug 08, 2017 |
Kanu is like a toothless Bull Dog that can only bark and rant but can't bite even without common sense......shame on Kanu! If Kanu's people are tolerating and enduring his nonsense in d the East, he should not think people in other region will tolerate his sarcastic habit. |
Travel / Re: Trailer Carrying Logs Of Wood Falls & Kills People In Imo State (Graphic Image) by osigiepurr(m): 7:37pm On Aug 07, 2017 |
RIP to d dead. BTW, what is going on in South Eastern States?...... Infact, all these killings are too much ooo. Yesterday was Anambra, Today is Imo, who knows where tomorrow's incident will come from? God have mercy oo |
Politics / Re: Igbos Are Marginalised, But Nnamdi Kanu Must Be Arrested – Edwin Clark by osigiepurr(m): 4:10pm On Aug 07, 2017 |
Amarabae:Hey young lady...you talk too much....You can't be wiser and older than your grandparents in terms of history....Be guided! |
Health / Re: Oldest Woman In Anambra Dies At 153 Years Of Age (Pics) by osigiepurr(m): 3:54pm On Aug 07, 2017 |
Na wa oooo....It seems it's only Anambra State we have in the whole of South Eastern Region. After Evans the kidnapper, comes the Ozubulu Church attack. Now, it's d oldest mama at 153 years old. Very soon, we go hear again say the biblical Methusela at 969 years old was an indigene of Anambra State........I hail una ooooo |
Politics / Re: APC Blasts Charly Boy: Buhari Will Never Resign, Stop Making Senseless Noise by osigiepurr(m): 11:33pm On Aug 06, 2017 |
NYAMIRI |
Events / Re: LASTMA Official Dancing Joyously With His Wife At Their Wedding (Photos) by osigiepurr(m): 2:11pm On Jul 31, 2017 |
NwaAmaikpe:If u are tired of vomiting nonsense from ur buccal cavity, come and collect sense......Onyara |
Celebrities / Re: Hushpuppi Step Aside, E-money Is The New Gucci King (photos) by osigiepurr(m): 1:45pm On Jul 27, 2017 |
IamAirforce1:Continue spraying rubbish to yourself like say no be ur mama born u. Kids of this day are quick to talk without thinking 1 Like |
Politics / Re: Igbos Will Suffer If Elections Do Not Hold In Anambra - Gov. Obiano. by osigiepurr(m): 10:23am On Jul 27, 2017 |
NwaAmaikpe:I know your acute yearning for cheap Nairaland popularity. Continue to deceive the myopic Yeeboo youths with your misleading comments. Your eyes go soon clear like DSTV. In every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. 1 Like |
Politics / Re: "Buhari’s Recovery Is A Miracle" - Dave Umahi, Ebonyi Governor by osigiepurr(m): 10:16am On Jul 27, 2017 |
serverconnect:At times, i begin to wonder if species of kind always reason from the Anus. Our proactive acting president is doing a good job already on his behalf, so what's the big deal?. Someone that is not officially on seat should make a broadcast while on Medical leave......Oga, you need mental realignment. 1 Like |
Politics / Re: There Are Only Two Tribes In Nigeria By Emir Of Kano Sanusi Lamido by osigiepurr(m): 9:05am On Jul 27, 2017 |
naijagobetter:Nice and wise comment you got bro. We should always try and extract the truth behind every messages passed across instead of busy attacking the messengers and the messages. 1 Like |
Politics / Re: There Are Only Two Tribes In Nigeria By Emir Of Kano Sanusi Lamido by osigiepurr(m): 11:54pm On Jul 26, 2017 |
Presidiotbuhari:Thank God say she no get any shame because she no kill anybody. But, u wey get shame, u are as confused as fugitive and a wanderer. Must everybody accept your ideology? Must u force ur stunt on everyone? I can really see the infant attitude in u. You need to get yourself a life..... |
Politics / Re: There Are Only Two Tribes In Nigeria By Emir Of Kano Sanusi Lamido by osigiepurr(m): 8:20pm On Jul 26, 2017 |
HajimeSaito:Sanusi has stated his point clearly that religion has never been our problem but d few elites are using religion to manipulate the populated masses out of their own selfish interest. I think the Emir has an intellectual point. In every secular society, we have the good and bad guys. As there are bad Muslims, so also there are good Muslims. It is the same way we have good Christians and also the bad Christians including other religions (Traditional worshippers). In actual sense, the wicked elites has been amending the constitutional laws out of their own personal selfishness interest inorder to oppress and suppress the poor masses thereby using Religion and Tribal/Ethnic sentiments as weapons of division to cause confusion and commotion among the people of Nigeria. But, the time has come for the youths to wake up from their sleep and slumber to face reality. 2 Likes 1 Share |
Politics / Re: There Are Only Two Tribes In Nigeria By Emir Of Kano Sanusi Lamido by osigiepurr(m): 3:25pm On Jul 26, 2017 |
StakerLives:Bro, don't preach what you don't really know. The youths needs to stand tall this time around and say no to cheap propagandas from evil leaders. 2 Likes |
Politics / There Are Only Two Tribes In Nigeria By Emir Of Kano Sanusi Lamido by osigiepurr(m): 2:22pm On Jul 26, 2017 |
Tribalism is not our problem. Tribalism and religion are artificial problems created by selfish leaders for their own personal interest. There are only two major tribes in Nigeria. The Elites and the Masses. Once you make lots of money, you belong to the elite tribe. When you are a commoner or suffering, you belong to the tribe of the masses. If you are an elite, and you need more power, or elective position, you sow seeds of tribalism and religion among the masses, so as to sway their emotion for your personal victory. This happens at both the national and state level. Unfortunately, after the election when they have won and joined their “sworn enemies” to drink and party, the gullible masses continue to fight each other. Even smart people who belong to the masses, sometimes will sow seeds of tribalism and religion among the masses, and then the masses will carry them up until they belong to the elite class. It is a classic strategy used over 3000 years ago in the art of war. A commoner who aspires to sit with the elites, could stir up powerful tribal or religious sentiments, such wave if properly utilized either by shedding blood or destabilizing the elites, carries the commoner to the elite class. But once there, he immediately mingles and makes peace with the elite tribe, and turn his back on the same masses that helped him get there. Youths are the worst victim of this powerplay, they kill each other, call other tribes unprintable names, do terrible things and sometimes, even lose their life, thinking they are fighting for their right, not knowing that they are fighting for the personal welfare of someone, whose own children are probably safe in America or London. So youths, don’t hope on the government. If you don’t have a job, create one. There is abject poverty in the south as well as the north, whether Ogoni or Maidugri. At the same time, there is massive wealth in Lagos, Onitsha, Nnewi, Aba, Kano, Abuja, irrespective of zone. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it well and never remain idle. No job is too low for an idle hand, or else the devil will find work for you. As you become independent, and grow your capacity, do not lose hope in Nigeria. We are the largest economy in Africa and soon the world will fear us. Western powers, don’t like big economies that threaten them, America will do anything to break China, but China is wise to resist that. China has 1.6 billion people, Nigeria has only 170 million, and we are talking of breaking. China has 5 major religions which are Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Islam and Christianity. Nigeria has only 2 major religions, Christianity and Islam. Yet we claim that religion is our problem. America, the strongest economy is comprised of every tribe in the world, since they accept anybody from any part of the world. Yet they are united and extremely patriotic. Nigeria has only 3 major tribes, and we claim tribalism. Think clearly and deeply, and you will realize that empowering yourself is the best course of action, not fighting each other. And once the youths are empowered, they can begin to take back their future from the hands of the old and corrupt generation that has been blinding Nigerians with hatred, while looting all her resources. Sani Abacha’s loot is still stashed away in Switzerland, did he use it to develop the north? Those that stole billions under GEJ stashed it away in foreign banks, bought expensive toys, jets and foreign homes, are they using it to develop the south? . Now the ones stealing currently, including the “grasscutters”, are looking for Ikoyi apartments, abandoned houses, and pit toilets to hide it, are they using it for the youths in their tribe? NO! Youths shine your eyes ! Don’t always fall for this tribal, religious sentiments over and over again. Nigeria is bigger than these corrupt elites. They are the problem, not the poor masses. 7 Likes 1 Share |
Crime / Re: Kano State Police Shoot 3 Robbers Dead,Recover Weapons(photos) by osigiepurr(m): 8:47am On Jul 25, 2017 |
Donald7610:I am wondering the kind of school you went to. I weep for your upbringing. I will have to rest my case here because I am done with you since you belong to the group of Nigerians that breaths and think from their Anus. |
Crime / Re: Kano State Police Shoot 3 Robbers Dead,Recover Weapons(photos) by osigiepurr(m): 9:47pm On Jul 24, 2017 |
Donald7610:I wonder if some Nigerians breath and think from their Anus. Oga, Special Anti-Robbery Squads (SARS) usually operates on mufti inorder for them to camouflage as civilians and have easy access in apprehending notorious armed robbers. Dont be quick in your judgment to avoid fallacious analysis of events and social activities.....Be wise bro! |
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