₦airaland Forum

Anyone else noticed that in group discussions, Miracle never has anything to contribute?

Hirad:
It's a complex issue to be honest with you and it was a politically motivated move rather than 'Arab-wannabeism' as you phrase it. We were under the rule of Siad Barre who was a ruthless dictator that caused the eventual downfall of the Somali Republic. Furthermore, when Somalia joined the Arab League we were preparing for a war with Ethiopia to regain Western Somalia or what is today the Somali region of Ethiopia which is roughly around 1\4 of Ethiopia. We were looking for allies and financial backers, as we had recently severed ties with the Soviet Union over the issue of retaking Western Somalia at the time. Both the War and and joining the Arab League turned out to be bad moves as we lost the war and members of the Arab League sided with Ethiopia against us, namely Libya and South Yemen. Since the war, the country as either been in turmoil or under a transitional government until 2012. By the way, the Arab League also has observer states like Eritrea, Brazil and Venezuela.

Don't take me too seriously. I was playing with you

Yea, I know it was a political move more than anything else.

The kind of cherry-picking people do with tradition/culture.

Hirad:
Hello I am new here and I would like to know how we Somalis are Arab wannabes? We have our own culture, language, history and etc. All we share with Arabs is our religion and a long history of trade.

Joining an association called 'The Arab League' when you are not Arabs doesn't qualify as 'Arab-wannabeism'?

Just a question.

There is a village in Afikpo called Anohia that became predominantly Muslim in the 1950s. Like, nearly everyone in the village converted. If there is a stereotype that Afikpo people are Muslims (which frankly I haven't heard until now) it probably stems from the situation in Anohia.

Yes. Not a big number, but yes.

This baby thing was never fun for me to watch. With the introduction of grown babies it has reached new heights of "ridiculosity".

I think i'll find something else to watch on TV until this baby phase passes.

DevdanSanguine:
That's interesting. That figure personally seems like a lot for German speakers given Germany is the only country with significant population that speaks it as a majority. (80m). The rest are around below 10m with some in the thousands.

The overall numbers in that link of yours seem very inaccurate.



I think what they did is factor Nigeria's population increase and that of other countries where it's spoken. (Nigeria's population then was less than a 100m)




That's interesting. Maybe they weren't thorough enough but anywhere between 130 - 140 seems accurate in my books.

I reckon 90+ percent of Northerners speak Hausa. The rest of that figure can be accounted for elsewhere. If you put the population of northern states together it accounts for more than half of the countrys population. 90 percent of that should be about half of Nigerias population and like I said, the remaining figures can be accounted for elsewhere.

This is just my point of view. I'd love to hear yours.

Hm. Well, I do not know enough about the distribution of population across Nigeria or the preponderance of Hausa language in the North [I know it isn't that well-spoken in three Middle Belt states] to make informed speculation about your last paragraph.

It seems to me that outside the North of Nigeria and Niger, the population of Hausa speakers are small indeed (even the number in Niger appears small when compared with the teeming mass from Nigeria), making me doubt that the 'make-up' population would contribute that significantly to the numbers from the two countries.

All in all, I agree that the figure for Hausa speakers is in 9 digits. However, from I am quite skeptical about a figure as high as 150 mil.

DevdanSanguine:
https://mobile.twitter.com/i/web/status/960173602200064000

Here's the original source. How did you arrive at your figure for German?

Nigeria 100m minimum plus Niger 20m plus Sudan Mali Ghana Togo Chad Ethiopia Djibouti Saudi etc. Seems accurate. Population doesn't stay put especially given our lifestyle. I'm sure that ABU estimate was done a few years back.

I've seen German listed as between 175 and 229 on various lists of most widely spoken languages in the world. This particular list (which apparently didn't consider African languages at all, otherwise they would have had Hausa and Swahili in there somewhere) puts it at 229 mil.

http://www.vistawide.com/languages/top_30_languages.htm

I think the problem most people will have with that Spectator Index tweet is that it lists Ethnologue as its source; meanwhile Ethnologue didn't assign a figure of 150 mil to Hausa. Ethnologue isn't nice to Hausa speakers; it says they are only 47 million strong (I rounded up to the nearest milli.) Ethnologue's figures are outdated (1991). Yet the tweet used it as a source anyway, only changing the figures. Weird. Makes me doubt their integrity.

https://www.ethnologue.com/language/hau

The ABU, Zaria figure is actually not that old. December, 2016.

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/12/hausa-speakers-nigeria-now-120m-communique/


PS: 100 million Hausa speakers in Nigeria alone would mean more than half the population of Nigeria are Hausa speakers. Are you sure you want to make that claim?

Probz:
Lool @ 2 vs. 3. You knew that’s what I was getting to innit.

Yep.

Probz:
Listen, what do you think about the population census? You reckon Hausas are really at the top and Igbos at number 3?

I think most population censuses that have been organised in this country have been controversial. It may well be true that we do not know how many we are in this country, but I do think Hausas really are the most numerous.

Don't ask me who is two and who is three, lol.

DevdanSanguine:
I think it's pretty accurate. They just lumped some languages like Bahasa melayu and Bahasa Indonesia and called it Malay, Urdu and Hindi which they called Hindustan. But overall this is one of the most accurate lists I've ever seen. But if you have reservations itd be interesting to hear them.

My major problem is with the fact that the blogger under-counted the population of German-speakers. There's actually 229 million of them, counting L2 speakers (since it is apparent the list is supposed to include L2 speakers of all the listed languages).

I am also somewhat skeptical about the figure assigned to the number of Hausa speakers. Major reason being the paucity of reliable sources. The blogger mentioned Spectator Index. Couldn't find a direct source/quote from Spectator Index. Meanwhile a group from ABU, Zaria put the number at 120 million. I believe upwards of 100 million would be in order. 150 million? Dunno, man.

This list is not accurate.

This doesn't make any sense. You make it sound like a budget of 1 trillion means the government will bring one trillion and share to people.

Saw these pictures the very day the show started (Sunday). No news here, really.

LOL. He is old, but not that old. I've since learnt that people of that generation (especially if they are illiterate) are usually bad at keeping record of their years. I know one old woman who swore she was over 160. We asked her how old she was when she gave birth to her daughter who was in her 60s at the time, and she said, "Around 70 or so."

You gave birth at 70. As Sarah or as Elizabeth that you are.

Deadlytruth:
I am not confused at all. I knew what I was driving at all along, and I am almost arriving at it. Here it is:
In trying to prove that the Jan. 1966 Coup was not an Igbo agenda coup, most Igbos often argue that the actors of the coup could not have been after seizing political power for Igbos because Igbos already occupied most positions in the Federal Cabinet. So who between you as a person and the generality of non-Igbo coup apologists do we believe now? Or what exactly do these apologist mean by the claim that Igbos already had most portfolios hence an Igbo agenda could not have formed the basis of the coup?

You are being disingenuous. You are just shifting goalpost anyhow, rather than admitting that you possess very little knowledge about the issues you are jumping into on this post.

Deadlytruth:
I might have been mistaken on Achebe's place in The Balewa-Azikiwe-Okotie Eboh coalition government but that doesn't change the theme of my argument that Igbos who held a larger chunk of the ministerial portfolios saw nothing wrong with the Balewa-Azikiwe style of governance until things began to fall apart.

Igbos held the larger chunk of the ministerial portfolios? Okay. Here is a list of the ministers in Balewa's government when it was constituted in 1960. Help me count the number of Igbos there. Me I counted only three o! Out of twenty-two names.

1. Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa: Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs. (NPC)
2. Mr TOS Benson: Minister of Information.(NCNC)
3. Mr Olu Akinfosile, Minister of Communications. (NCNC)
4. Malam Zanna Bukar Dipcharima, Minister for Commerce and Industry (NPC)
5. Chief JM Johnson, Minister of Labour and Welfare (NCNC)
6. Mr Raymond Njoku, Minister of Transport and Aviation (NCNC)
7. Mr Aja Nwachukwu, Minister of Education (NCNC)
8. Chief Fests Okotie-Eboh, Minister of Finance (NCNC)
9. Alhaji Muhammadu Ribadu, Minister of Defence (NPC)
10. Malam Usuman Sarki, Minister of Internal Affairs (NPC)
11. Malam Maitama Sule, Minister of Mines and Power (NPC)
12. Malam Musa Yar'Adua, Minister of Lagos Affairs (NPC)
13. Mr Jaja Wachuku, Minister of Economic Development (NCNC)
14. Alhaji Inuwa Wada, Minister of Works and Survey (NPC)
15. Malam Waziri Ibrahim, Minister of Health (NPC)
16. Malam Shehu Shagari, Minister of Pensions (NPC)
17. Dr TO Elias, Attorney-General and Minister of Justice
18. Dr MA Majekodunmi, Minister of State
19. Dr EA Esin, Minister of State (NCNC)
20. Mr Nuhu Bamali, Minister of State (NPC)
21. Chief F Omo-Osagie, Minister of State (NCNC)
22. Mr JC Obande, Minister of State (NPC)

[Source: Nigeria, an Introduction to its History by Michael Crowder and Guda Abdullahi]

In the five + years the government lasted, portfolios were reshuffled, some ministers lost their posts, but at no time did Igbos constitute a significant (talk less of the larger chunk) of the ministers in Balewa's government.

I don't think you have studied the history of the First Republic closely. You still appear confused about a number of issues. Perhaps you should go back and have a closer look.

And while we are on the topic of substantiating claims, can you substantiate your claim that Azikiwe had a grand plan to foist Igbo dominion on Nigeria through a faux one-Nigeria agenda?

That over-quoted one sentence in a speech delivered while he was briefly president of the Igbo State Union (a position he resigned from when he realised it was clashing with his position as a nationalist) lacks substance and it is funny that people keep using it as 'evidence' of some Machiavellian scheme on his part. Zik was fund of highfalutin and verbose speeches: you should hear him go on about Benin or Mali or even Liberia.

Zik did not even propose a unitary government. Zik was in favour of a Nigeria made up tribal blocs, all with a certain level of autonomy. It was his hope that with time a Nigerian national consciousness will develop and the tribal blocs will then fuse into one nation. He never proposed a unitary government. You don't even know the man's politics and are just making things up as you go.

Deadlytruth:
Unfortunately you could not substantiate your claim that Awolowo was a tribal bigot.
The the laws of regional system back then dictated that each region's leader placed utmost priority on the interest and welfare of natives of their regions before others hence. Each region was autonomous and protectionist by law, hence Awolowo did not have a Western Region agenda any more than Zik and Ahmadu Bello had for Eastern and Northern Region respectively. Therefore the "One-Nigeria" philosophy which Zik invented had no basis in the prevailing circumstances and was therefore a dubious quest to pull the wool over others' eyes and then subdue them. But he failed in that bid.

Awolowo and Ahmadu Bello pursued their Yoruba and Hausa-Fulani agenda not at the cost of any other region's peace and stability unlike Zik who did not mind destabilizing the Western Region in the pursuit of his Igbo focused One-Nigeria agenda.

Okay, I have identified one of your major problems. You think looking out for your people's interests = tribal bigot. I said Awo had a pro-Yoruba agenda; I never called him a bigot. It is now become a little clearer to me why you throw the term 'tribal bigot' around a lot. You cannot distinguish between ethnic pride/ethnic awareness and bigotry.

Again, where did you read that Achebe held a ministerial portfolio under Balewa?

Deadlytruth:
There was never a time when Awolowo said Yorubas should vote for Yorubas. The only Yoruba man who pursued a Yoruba agenda was Akintola, and he was Awolowo's enemy but an associate of Zik together with FFK's father - Faani Power.

You are shallow in thinking.
Zik actually wanted an indivisible Nigeria in order to fulfill his dream and agenda of Igbo domination.
Zik read Anthropology from a prestigious university in Pennsylvania and lectured in it for some time before returning to Nigeria to resume politics. He learned it in his course content that a multi-ethnic society like Nigeria is best governed by a loose constitution - meaning such constitution should make provision for divisibility in order to instill in all its future leaders the fear of the consequences of misgovernance. But Zik kicked against a loose constitution and favoured a very tight one with a strong centre under which there will be no divisibility. In fact it was he who first used the expression that "the unity of Nigeria is non-negotiable". For an Anthropologist to return to his own home country and start preaching the direct opposite of the structure which the principles of his discipline told him was the only way to Nigeria's greatness means he was not sincerely committed to seeing a truly united and equitable Nigeria but was nursing a hidden agenda for his own tribe, hence a tribal bigot.
If he was sincere why was he preaching One-Nigeria in defiance of what he read in his course of study?

Sure, there were tribalists among all tribes but that doesn't change the fact that Igbos were the first to make and promote tribally divisive utterances before every other tribe followed suit in self defense.
Even till today it is evident that Igbos make the most tribal hate-filled speeches both online and offline.

For Chinua Achebe, he held a ministerial portfolio in the oppressive Balewa-Zik-Okotie Eboh coalition government, and while that government was killing Tivs, Yorubas, Okrikas, etc, he did not resign. It was only when Igbos too started being killed that it suddenly dawned on him that sensible persons should not hold portfolios in a killer government. Can such a person be described as a genuine Nigerian patriot?

So many inaccuracies in one post. So many.

Awolowo had a pro-Yoruba agenda. To deny that is to be dishonest. I don't hate him for that though. Watching out for your own people's interests is not a bad thing.

Chinua Achebe was not a minister in the Balewa Government. Where did you even get that from? He was working with Nigeria Broadcasting Corporation at the time. As a civil servant he couldn't hold or stand for political office at the time.

Aieboocaar:
DEN OF THIEVES??!

50cent indirectly shaded Nigeria as a whole

Den of Thieves is a new movie he was in. Nigga was using style to promote the film.

Wait, Curtis 'Flatnose' Jackson made fun of someone's nose? LOL. I've seen it all. Talk about kettle and pot.

But Nigerians and other people's business sha.

Probz:
Apparently it’s for pepper soup.

LOL. Odiegwu.

Chimpanzees are supposed to be a protected specie going by Nigerian law. But trust this country na. Nothing will happen to this 'hunter'. We are only good in making laws and putting them on paper. Implementing is another issue altogether.

In a civilised country there will be consequences for this senseless slaughter.

Nigeria is so fractured that it is impossible to speak of 'the greatest Nigerian'. What we have are men who are great in the regions they come from... sectional great men.

I consider Usman dan Fodio the greatest northerner.

Obafemi Awolowo was the greatest southwesterner. [I would have said Oduduwa, but the character of Oduduwa is too misty to be considered truly historical, in my opinion.]

Ewuare the Great was the greatest south-southerner.

Emeka Ojukwu (like him or hate him) was the greatest south-easterner.

Nsukka was under the Benin Kingdom.
Chief Obaseki's father was from Nsukka.

Why didn't anybody correct these statements?!

Is FAPson really her name? Man, that's a weird-ass name.

Fictional Characters from Mesopotamian mythology were created in Ile-Ife? Okay.

Sherlock Holmes was a detective in Lagos. Kent Clarke was adopted and raised in Ijawland by Edwin Clark.

BabaIbo:
your quote is a display of ignorance in the highest other...

But it's now in history that Irish people have their own specie of potato...
The question or argument is simply "is rice cultivated in the south western part of nigeria both in the past and in the present?)... we are not arguing or talking about the first people that cultivated rice in Nigeria since no definite source linked it to a particular zone, what you can only find is suggestions...

I checked a file on rice and there is no record linking the domestication of rice to a particular country but researchers are linking it to two countries in south eastern asia but it's certain it's domesticated in Asia

Between the two of us, who is the ignorant one now? Just look at your ignorance-ridden comment. At your age you don't know that the southeast Asian rice is a different specie of rice that we only began to eat in modern times.

Before the Asian rice got to us, Africans in the inland delta in the savanna country of Mali (who were ethnically Mande people) had domesticated a local specie of rice, which subsequently spread to other parts of West Africa. The Mande empires had contacts with the Hausa, but never had contact with the Igbo. Consequently rice got to the Hausa first, and they had a name for it which was passed on to the Igbo later.

Look, son, pick up a book. I have neither the time nor the patience to educate you. That is the job of your father and your hapless teachers.

BabaIbo:
sorry for saying this, I doubt it, you are not igbo...

is there any proof to back what you mentioned above

You people's problem is that you argue without any sense of history whatsoever. You think because rice is widely grown in Ebonyi today it was always so. Potato is an Irish staple today, but it was only five hundred years ago or so that it was learnt from Latin America, and the name was adapted from Native American words.

African rice and millet and other African cereals were first domesticated in the savanna area of West Africa, among the Mande peoples, and then passed through other savanna peoples like the Hausa before reaching people living in the forested regions to the south (e.g., the Igbo).

scholes0:
Sharap there Bitterleaf is Ewuro in Yoruba and it is used to cook very well (Google Obe Ewuro) and see for yourself. You igbos just sitdown in one corner of Festac in Lagos and start making assumptions about all of Yorubaland. Lmao!
Ugu on the other hand is pumpkin leaves. and funnily enough, pumpkins aren’t even native to africa.

Yorubas have no word for punpkin leaves.

Ugu is called fluted pumpkin or fluted gourd in English, and it is native to West Africa. Look it up.

Perhaps, its natural spread didn't extend into Yorubaland.