₦airaland Forum

Oby Ezekwesili is one of that rarest of breeds in Nigerian public life: an intellectual in the truest meaning of the word, a person who holds to actual principles for their own sake, rather than debasing herself by becoming a mindless tribal champion, or constantly selling her voice by changing direction with the political winds. To the millions of Nigerians who wouldn't know an ideal or a principle if it bit them in the backside, and whose political notions are restricted to base tribal chest-beating, Ezekwesili's way of thinking and acting must seem utterly incomprehensible, which is why she's routinely met with so much abuse on this forum. Ezekwesili refuses to conform to the simple notion of "my tribe/kinsmen above all else, no matter the circumstances", and all the unprincipled tribalists online hate her for it.

There is something very wrong with you people. It is your duty and everyone's responsibility to keep your country clean. Dunces. This woman is leading by example and you mock her. Shame on you for not being supportive. If I was in naija, would be out there with her setting an example. And would totally vote for her given the chance.

flyca:
It's only in an unbalanced society that this shit happens!

It is not your duty to keep the streets clean!
You are a doctor not a cleaner.
You are an engineer, not a cleaner.
You are a teacher, not a cleaner.
You are an athlete not a cleaner.
You are a musician not a cleaner.

That is the way it works in a healthy and balanced society!

And that is why you pay taxes.

Just tidy your house and drop your refuse in the dustbin! The rest is some else's job!

The govt job is to provide dustbins, employ and sustain cleaners, who work round the clock to ensure that communities are clean.

Wearing gloves does not prevent spread of dieases! Their faces are exposed. Their bodies are also exposed.

The cleaners are trained in their line of work and equipped with the appropriate cleaning gears. And yes, they go for annual medical check-up too.

Aunty Oby, thanks but this is not your job!

Dannymitcy:
She's picking dirt's near my compound

And how is that funny? Go out there and help out next time. You people should be there waiting for a miracle

Oh please!!!
You'll soon join lawma, nonsense

I don't know her history but from the little I've read, she wouldn't be the worst choice to lead Nigeria as present.

Ogasah:
There is something very wrong with you people. It is your duty and everyone's responsibility to keep your country clean. Dunces. This woman is leading by example and you mock her. Shame on you for not being supportive. If I was in naija, would be out there with her setting an example. And would totally vote for her given the chance.

Who is "you people"? You don't have respect, abi?

So it is your duty to sweep the streets, pack community refuse, clean the gutters and the sewages? Ok, I get. You are a cleaner. Okpo!

Why not bring your expertise and support home. Ebutta-meta community needs you.

flyca:
Who is "you people"? You don't have respect, abi?

So it is your duty to sweep the streets, pack community refuse, clean the gutters and the sewages? Ok, I get. You are a cleaner. Okpo!

Why not bring your expertise and support home. Ebutta-meta community needs you.

People like you who won’t lift a finger to clean their own community. Respect for a dirty dog? Lol

She's going to be atiku's vice

Ogasah:
People like you who won’t lift a finger to clean their own community. Respect for a dirty dog? Lol

Absoulutely will not! It's not my job. I clean my house and dispose my trash properly. Then allow my tax work because I live in a civilized society.

Why will I be doing my work and be doing another person's work? Please hold your govt responsible for your woes

flyca:
Absoulutely will not! It's not my job. I clean my house and dispose my trash properly. Then allow my tax work because I live in a civilized society.

Why will I be doing my work and be doing another person's work? Please hold your govt responsible for your woes

And this right here is exactly why nothing works in Nigeria: hardly anybody has a sense of civic responsibility, the assumption being an abstract "government" (which nobody is willing to even try to hold accountable) will do all the work.

This selfish "it's not my problem" attitude is what sets hellholes like Nigeria apart from civilized places like Japan, where nobody drops trash on the street even when there are no trash cans in the vicinity: Japanese people are raised from childhood to think about their communal responsibilities, and to not make trouble for others by behaving irresponsibly, while egocentric Nigerians think nothing of treating common thoroughfares as their personal waste disposal facilities. The funny thing is that the same self-centred people will be the ones wondering out loud why they live in a country that's such a cesspit, not seeing how they've helped to make it that way.

omohayek:
And this right here is exactly why nothing works in Nigeria: hardly anybody has a sense of civic responsibility, the assumption being an abstract "government" (which nobody is willing to even try to hold accountable) will do all the work.

This selfish "it's not my problem" attitude is what sets hellholes like Nigeria apart from civilized places like Japan, where nobody drops trash on the street even when there are no trash cans in the vicinity: Japanese people are raised from childhood to think about their communal responsibilities, and to not make trouble for others by behaving irresponsibly, while egocentric Nigerians think nothing of treating common thoroughfares as their personal waste disposal facilities. The funny thing is that the same self-centred people will be the ones wondering out loud why they live in a country that's such a cesspit, not seeing how they've helped to make it that way.

Back to square one! Hold your government responsible for being abstract aka useless!

I can only do those "civic responsibilities" when there is already a working system, not in a place where cleaners are non-existent (in this instance) and you expect me to wear gloves and go around packing people's poo. Maka why?

flyca:
Back to square one! Hold your government responsible for being abstract aka useless!

I can only do those "civic responsibilities" when there is already a working system, not in a place where cleaners are non-existent (in this instance) and you expect me to wear gloves and go around packing people's poo. Maka why?

I tell you that Japanese people are raised from childhood to be thoughtful of their communities by voluntarily cleaning up garbage, and you respond by saying you can't do anything until "there is already a working system"? How exactly do you expect the system to "work" when it is full of people who think exactly like you? Have you ever done a single thing to better the workings of your government? Have you ever spoken to a representative, or written to a senator? Have you ever attended a town hall with either of them? Do you even vote?

Here, take a look at this article on Japanese football fans picking up after themselves, and consider why your system doesn't work while theirs does. Here's a hint: a system is no better than the people running it, and the Nigerian system is full of people like you who ridicule conscientious individuals like Oby Ezekwesili, while doing nothing themselves to make their communities better. Keep waiting on "government" to magically come and solve your problems ...

omohayek:
I tell you that Japanese people are raised from childhood to be thoughtful of their communities by voluntarily cleaning up garbage, and you respond by saying you can't do anything until "there is already a working system"? How exactly do you expect the system to "work" when it is full of people who think exactly like you? Have you ever done a single thing to better the workings of your government? Have you ever spoken to a representative, or written to a senator? Have you ever attended a town hall with either of them? Do you even vote?

Here, take a look at this article on Japanese football fans picking up after themselves, and consider why your system doesn't work while theirs does. Here's a hint: a system is no better than the people running it, and the Nigerian system is full of people like you who ridicule conscientious individuals like Oby Ezekwesili, while doing nothing themselves to make their communities better. Keep waiting on "government" to magically come and solve your problems ...

You don't need to write a long epistle for me so send your message to the birds.

I clean my environment after me. Not after someone else! When I use a public facility, I keep it clean after me! But I can not dive into random Ebutte-Meta to clean so that gullible minds like you will see me as a patriot. As simple as that!

Keep exonerating your government from its responsibilities!

flyca:
You don't need to write a long epistle for me so send your message to the birds.

I clean my environment after me. Not after someone else! When I use a public facility, I keep it clean after me! But I can not dive into random Ebutte-Meta to clean so that gullible minds like you will see me as a patriot. As simple as that!

Keep exonerating your government from its responsibilities!

Ah, yes, it's "my" government, not yours as well! You must have your own, different government you don't share with anybody else, which is why you conveniently ignored answering any of the questions I asked you about your own civic engagement ...

As long as 180 million Nigerians think like you, nothing will ever change for the better. Meanwhile, I happen to be one of those who now reside in 1st world countries where civic responsibility is respected instead of being mocked, so in truth it's not really my personal headache if "my" government in Nigeria keeps messing up because it's run by and for selfish people just like you: my own streets are immaculate, not just because the streets are regularly cleaned, but because I and my neighbors know better than to litter (or tolerate others littering) in the first place.

By all means enjoy your socially and politically disengaged life in the pigsty that is modern-day Nigeria, just don't expect anyone else to come and bail you out of your own parochialism and laziness.

omohayek:
Ah, yes, it's "my" government, not yours as well! You must have your own, different government you don't share with anybody else, which is why you conveniently ignored answering any of the questions I asked you about your own civic engagement ...

As long as 180 million Nigerians think like you, nothing will ever change for the better. Meanwhile, I happen to be one of those who now reside in 1st world countries where civic responsibility is respected instead of being mocked, so in truth it's not really my personal headache if "my" government in Nigeria keeps messing up because it's run by and for selfish people just like you: my own streets are immaculate, not just because the streets are regularly cleaned, but because I and my neighbors know better than to litter (or tolerate others littering) in the first place.

By all means enjoy your socially and politically disengaged life in the pigsty that is modern-day Nigeria, just don't expect anyone else to come and bail you out of your own parochialism and laziness.

No wonder you are seriously attacking me. You think I live in that geographical location popularly known as a Zoo?
Muchecehe mucheceheee

flyca:
Absoulutely will not! It's not my job. I clean my house and dispose my trash properly. Then allow my tax work because I live in a civilized society.

Why will I be doing my work and be doing another person's work? Please hold your govt responsible for your woes

Then you are free to continue living in filth and rot. I tire for una who no get head. Selfish Bleep...

Ogasah:
Then you are free to continue living in filth and rot. I tire for una who no get head. Selfish Bleep...

I'm not living in filt and rot. I live in a sane society.
Please direct your frustrations to your government.