₦airaland Forum

phinter:
I am a United fan but there is a bigger issue with officiating in the champions league and favouring Spanish teams. That hand ball call on Alonzo isn’t in a million years. They definitely wouldn’t give that as a pen and so why disallow the goal for something that doesn’t affect or hemp the player at all.

Wrong here.
It is a standard FIFA rule, revised the last time.
Any touch onto goal is considered an assist and will be ruled out, whether intentionally or not.

Who is the husband between the two men in the photographs.
Poor presentation.

gulfer:
A staunch Awoist..... I wonder why most of you missed that part

Because Nigeria has regressed and fallen into the pit, the abyss of racism.
For in those days politics and governance and life in Nigeria in general was about principles and ideologies which not a single aspirant, politician and very, very, very few citizens have these days.
She must have believed in what he stood for, his vision for Nigeria and was sold out to the quest.
Such ill be unimaginable today.

Today the only thing that will unite politicians outside their domains, thoughtless of regions is the quest for the power to corruptly enrich themselves. And they will only stretch their hands across the Niger and Benue if they can find willing accomplices to attain the minimum electoral requirements.

I have said enough about this Nigerian tragedy and offered candid advice time and again.
Nigerians are not ready to liberate themselves from the shackles of a structurally flawed entity that cannot protect them.
So they will continue to suffer.

Why do I just hate the word CONSENSUS.
No one is privy to the backroom deals and horse trading, particularly those poised to cast their votes in the general election.

So I simply cannot see what the electorate stands to gain here or with any other consensus arrangement across any other party.
Let there be a contest.... one of ideas and debates and let the people decide who to put forward.

The primary reason yours truly simply finds it impossible to vote in any election is that by the time two gladiators emerge in the ring of general elections, it is often not the 'box office' draw the INEC promises. Instead of Manchester City v Liverpool we will be getting Burnley v Norwich as title contenders.

I just do not understand how people join a queue for anyone he has not known in the real sense of it.
The election processes in other parts of the world is a long drawn out series of inquests, a vetting process that takes months through which every nickel and dime of the candidates are x-rayed such that the best and only the best stands in the ring.

Abeg I no dey like how we dey do things for dis country. Let there be competition of ideas.
I don't want to sound pessimistic but we will all see how the wrong person will be 'selected' out of this group.
And there will be no way to prove the choice when we will not have heard anything from them or learnt anything about their individual potentials.

Only in Nigeria..... and I'm waiting for a justification in 3....2....1....
We just love our feudalism....

I am a believer in affirmative action.
Be it to empower blacks in America, the United Kingdom or democratic South Africa.
I believe it can help Nigerian's of northern extraction for instance attend school albeit with relatively lower grades and help minority tribes and the womenfolk that hitherto do not have the numbers or resources into power..... but, but, BUT...

Affirmative action, consensus or whatever shady name it is called these days can only be meaningful and effective if conducted over a SET TERM LIMIT. Meaning that it cannot be allowed to run and run unending without grave consequences for the overall system.

For instance when quota systems are used to attract and engage educationally disadvantaged kids into schools, prolonged use will only lead to abuse, corruption, lower overall standards and promote laziness in the long run. Every kid then suffers.

In politics the consequences are just as bad, if not worse.
The pot of potentially qualitative candidates shrinks with every passing election cycle as we have witnessed across Nigeria since 1999 with those who are ready and able discouraged and disqualified by affirmation.

In this case, the 'cake' of political representation has gone round the geo zones of Enugu. The taste of power has gone round. After 24 years (which is almost a third of a lifetime) we should have weaned ourselves off 'sentiment' and began to drift towards competitive democracy because just as an 'affirmed' child in that timeline will have grown up to be an adult and his or her successes become a natural inspiration to the next gen of disadvantaged kids in his locality to strive for education without stimulus.

So the same in politics wherever this rotational game has been played round Nigeria. Our democracy should be an adult by now, having adult sensibilities and steeped in deep introspection, seeking only the good of ALL peoples and striving after values that are pan geographical.

It is time all the zones come together and select the BEST amongst ALL. There is just no more time for kindergarten politics and juvenile standards governance. We should be electing leaders based on what they have to offer, their capacities to lead, the ideas the can generate and the resources they can conjur. And this is only possible when the BEST competes against the BEST AVAILABLE THROUGH AND THROUGH.

Finally it is a pity that Nigeria remains behind the curve when it comes to equity. That we still speak of marginalization 23 years after it all began and that just 3 out of the six geo zones and just 3 out of 36 states have produced the President of Nigeria speaks volumes as to the long, long road ahead to liberty, peace and development.

PS, there are 3 States at the top of my mind that have shared power round so called senatorial zones and in my opinion should shelve it as it is clear the quality of governance has deteriorated in those climes over the past 23 years.

Enugu, Abia and Cross-River comes to mind. Add more for observation if you please and remark if the quality of governance has improved to justify a continuation.

Penguin2:
Ikpeazu is a Chika-Ike-forking fool.

You left a centre table for years without doing anything on it but chose to be buying latest Range Rover Sports for your oloshos.

Now, peasant traders want to put the centre table to good use and you are talking nonsense.

I wish Abia can be liberated from the plague of bad leadership even if it means PDP losing the state.

Onye ala!

Haba... but street trading is a scourge that profits no one.
The economic value gained for every square metre is lost in gridlocks, wasted gasoline and horrendous cleaning bills.

...Hahahaha...halleluyah....!!!

How many times have we said that government has no business in business.
As long as money is exchanged for goods and services, the public sector will always fail to deliver.
There is NOT A SINGLE government enterprise that is doing well or rendering seamless, efficient services.... NOT ONE.

obedience4:
Don't mind that boy joor, if he wanted just the dombas while not start the operations there, while try to besieged keiv for 3 good weeks if you didn't want to take the capital,
Putin thought it will be a walk in the park.
Underestimating the will and strength of the Ukrainians

Ukraine was part of the old Soviet Union so their TRADOC is essentially Russian.
That is why it is difficult for Russia so far.
They know each other very well and there will be several nationals in each other's armed forces so they cancel each other out on the battlefield.
The only advantage Russia has is size and that is what the West is trying to even up but cutting down Russia externally and bolstering Ukraine internally.
It will be a long drawn out war in my opinion and the end game will likely be the partitioning of Ukraine with Russia likely to take the east and form a buffer between itself and the west of Ukraine which will eventually join NATO when the fighting ends just as East Germany was made a buffer between Western Europe and Russia.

The Cold war will start again and in another 10 to 20 years or so when Putin is dead and the Russian economy in ruins they will reform once again and try for the second time at democracy.
Democracy always wins. The human soul will ALWAYS long for liberty.
War has no winners and authoritarianism has no roots.

God1000:
I salute his bravery of going to war torn Ukraine.
The secret service won't allow US president to go that far.
President Zelensky later took Boris Johnson on a walk on the street of Kyiv

You can be sure UK Special Forces are around and the SAS not far.
The US has nothing like them.
The British has more experience when it comes to international 'conflicts'.
They have been fighting overseas for 'a thousand' years.

This is what enlightened citizens should focus on this week and going forward (since security is a lost cause)...
Why the downing of a single power transmission tower 600 kilometres from where I am will leave me without power for almost 48 hours.
For me it is unimaginable that such a thing can happen in 2022 and makes me feel that such strategic vulnerability is opening a new chapter in the myriad of wars being fought against the Nigeria state.

For where you have an abundance of dissidents, agitators, separatists all angling to hurt this country and drag us all into focusing on their warped causes, the infrastructure of this country may slowly become the new battleground and this is really scary.
Years ago this kind of thing was only heard in the Delta with oil and gas installations. A few days ago trains were attacked.... what next.

I just hope these dark fellows do not get the memo and target the obviously vulnerable power infrastructure which is strewn across the country and firmly embedded in the 'forest' where they are practically 'un-defendable'.
The onus is on the government to start thinking and quickly acting to strengthen the power grid and create multiple redundancies to ensure that a single incident does not and cannot bring the whole system down.

Whatever sentiment has caused us to place 'all our eggs in one vulnerable power basket' should be set aside. Let us properly liberalise the power sector, top down. It is clear this sector cannot become an industry in the forseeable future. There is just not enough investment coming in to bolster it so like the provision of pipe borne water in Nigeria, the government should allow everyone and anyone to generate, transmit and distribute power till a time comes when there is enough capacity to regulate.

But what we have right now is a 'David and Goliath' scenario where a hunter in Damaturu can aim for a bird on an HV line....miss.... and send us all into darkness for a season..... or am I missing something in my scary, exaggerated painting.

yanabasee:
Look at it from this angle....


At this point, the power lies with the North.... To get it, you must be appealing to them... Ones the power gets to your hand, they will be appealing to you... Except you want to be a puppet to them when they come up with juicy deals to lure you into their trap.

I think this was the mistakes GEJ did....

Tinubu is a leader and this is a huge turn off for the North, they want people like Osinbajo who listens and dance to their tune.. Or people like Amaechi who is all about deals.... Or Umahi who is just a puppet and doesn't really have a voice of his own.

Hmmm....kai.... all these 'tear them down' juvenile analysis eh....
That is what the man is saying essentially.... think before you talk.... because you may have to drink from the same cup you're pissing in.
To use such condescending words about other members of your party at such an early stage is a zero sum game that is not the preserve of the wise.... and one in which you may likely lose.... and then lose everything.

Nigerian politics largely remains infantile...
And that is why folks like me will probably never vote in this lifetime.
Just crass ignorance and sentiment everywhere you look.

My fellow citizen. Your interest in who governs you should be down to performance. That is all you will benefit in this life. And that is all the argument you should be pushing forward in selling whosoever sent you to advertise here.

tnerro1:
This system is wrong, don’t we have people with brains in the power industry. Power should be decentralized to regions or states. So if an enemy wants to go to war with Nigeria, all they need to do first is to steal a cable in cross river and the whole nation will be in darkness, it doesn’t make sense na

In the long and tortuous journey to privatization in the GEJ's regime a debate about the need to decentralize transmission was conducted but as usual the unwieldy nature of the Nigeria state prevailed.

The long and short story was that a decentralised grid will skew investment and thus services in favour of certain regions and localities at the expense of others.... and the best way to have 'equity' was a centralized grid with the 'government' in charge to ensure (in my opinion) the sufferings are evenly distributed and the real energy markets subsidize the fake ones.

chloride6:
Na because of vandalism for Ikot Ekpene light no dey for Kano?

This National Grid na wah..

Gaad!

But the same thing is happening in education where a dispute in a school far away will lead to industrial action, health same thing, security, the economy. A tanker driver somewhere is unjustly treated and the nation;s energy sector is totally grounded.

Due to our poor structure every little challenge become a national emergency.
When we say restructure to create multiple redundancies in public service across board, the owners of Nigeria will say no.
They feel that the quest to make the nation more resilient undermines their desires to have the back door constantly unlatched for vermin to creep in.

You can imagine if this nation faced external threats. Just one saboteur creeping in across the border and knocking down a few electric poles in a far away forest will cripple the entire country.
We are indeed too weak to be called a viable society of unified nationals.... too weak and too ignorant.

TheOgaBoss:
just wondering same thing,most military commands do not send top ranking officers into open battle.

Russia has a long tradition of battlefield operations by the officer corps.
Their generals lead from the front in typical medieval wars.

alsudan:
Not even a single legacy will this Buhari leave behind.
See heat, no light, no fuel.

Railway na.... haba.....

Father4all:
keep deceiving yourself. Why cant the world fight Russia?

Fight Russia for what reason?
Do people just wake up and seek to fight and die for no reason.
Russia had a reason to fight and it is they who are kicking the bucket.
Whether what they are fighting for is worth all the lives lost, all the damage caused and all the misery and sufferings to their people remains to be seen, but one thing for certain, this is an end game and no one will come out of this the same.
My bet is that the conflict will become protracted and the Russian state will slowly decay and eventually there will be a revolution there.

edmaraja:
I think american president also carry his own around only that he can't singlehandedly authorise the use.

He can if NORAD detects a hostile launch from anywhere across the globe.
With hypersonic missiles being nuclear tipped these days (though their veracity remains uncertain), that will mean just five minutes to respond.
That is not enough time to pander around, and the response will be immediate.

I have seen fewer things more disgusting than this.
Such a horrible looking creature and the extraordinary lengths we Africans go in searching for the next disease these things that will wipe us off the map, painfully and assuredly.

I don't like to do individuals but he is the best man for the job by a country mile.
Whether Nigerians are ready to move forward is another matter.
Sentiment is not on his side and Nigerians are not fed up with their sufferings and they will eventually elect another setback.

That should be a state matter not a federal matter.
Call your state governor.
Build your rail infrastructure to your border and the next (bordering) state will take it from there to form a network.
That is the easiest way.
Invest in railways which is an economic force multiplier and insurance against the humongous amounts spent on highway maintenance, instead of wasting scarce resources on useless flyovers and empty airports.

ken045501:
Zelensky ever see anything .. sometimes when you make the wrong choice your face ends up like this

Wrong choice to defend your country from invasion, occupation and decimation .... can you imagine this crazy thought....
Why not ask your President to surrender Nigeria to Boko Haram and bandits since they are attacking relentlessly.
What is the difference...

killmods:
Some tailors nor go even make hell

Abeg no kill me..... kikikikiki...

VPN11:
14m children out of school in Nigeria, 11m of them are from the Northern part of the Country

The system is breeding another set of future Bandits & Boko Haram.

The main priority of the Northern leaders is to make sure those children go back to school with an immediate effect.

Na so. And do you have 1 million, 2 million, 5 million soldiers and policemen to counter the possible problem.
The situation is becoming clear.
If you cannot have restructuring we will have to settle for conscription.

To complicate matters.
It is the young men in the rural areas that eek out a living providing food for Nigeria having been displaced by the first wave of banditry that are now themselves tapping into this unholy resource to 'survive' and since the government has no means of engaging them or finding emergency employment for instance through public works projects across the country, they will 'settle' themselves with all the vigour of angst against society and strength that their hardworking, back breaking rural jobs had taught them.

Nigeria by its defective structure has taken their hoes and cutlasses and placed AK47's in their hands instead of shovels and pick axes at the worst.

Hmmm..... again....

I think we ought to become seriously concerned.
The peasants cutoff from society and mired in absolute poverty are taking up arms, first against fellow citizens in a rat eat rat subculture, when there are no more rats to eat they will begin to eat the barrel of state.

Folks, I have spoken of a growing 'black', criminal network that is becoming equally resourced as the government. There is a certain threshold if reached will tip the security balance in the direction of a failed state.

If we cannot restructure for whatever sentimental reason, then we will all have to be conscripted into the armed forces.
And I certainly do not want a second stint in my lifetime.

Yes. Absolutely.
Makes them think twice when they go to bed at night.

Fahdiga:
We never had it this bad. Nigeria is now officially the most dangerous place in the world simply because Buhari is the president

No sir. Not because of the President alone.
But the people, that are not knowledgeable enough on the workings of democratic state.
We call it a democracy but by default ascribe everything to one person, the Head of State.
Yet we pretend we don't like autocracy.
With power comes responsibility and since the average Nigerian shirks responsibility he loses power as well.
Other democratic nations have their citizens at the forefront of change.
They tell the government what to do to address everyday challenges through representation in vigorous debates, through activism where bad policies become the order of the day and where these fail they force their views and ways through protests against government persistent intransigence.
Why are Nigerians not encouraged by the civil disobedience of ASUU, trade union for example that can stand for its rights against the 'mighty government' and withstand every form of intimidation thrown against them.
Why can't this happen for good governance on a wider scale and for everything that matters to life and limb in this challenging country.
Which of these are we as citizens doing to make Nigeria better.....

"...He explained that the Imam had preached against exercising civic duty by advising voters to give conditions to political leaders before electing them...."

Pls who has that Barack Obama meme.... because if this is not what democracy is all about, what are we wasting our time for.
It is only in an autocracy or a monarchy where people are zombies about the business of governance.

These ones are totally sold out to feudalism, honest.

We said it loud and clear in the run up to 2015, that there was a severe lack of capacity at the very top of the proposed government but I guess 'fighting corruption' was the watchword and illusion peddled to sway the uninformed.

And this 'lack of capacity' becomes all the more critical in a defective structure called the Nigeria state.
For in other climes you do not need a genius as President, because he does not have to think for the people and fashion out all the solutions to all the challenges because he has a functional Legislature to thoroughly debate and vett his thoughts, proposals and programs so added value is obtained.

He doesn't have to be athlete or at least a spring chicken because a functional government ensures only the best are by his side to do the 'hard running' and 'heavy lifting' in programs and activities. He delegates properly and appoints only those he can fire because they are 'not his friends or clansmen' courtesy of a Legislature and functional judiciary that ensures black sheep are culled and weeds uprooted.

And in the case of rampant internal insecurity the structure ensures that incidents are tackled at source and solutions found locally because governors and local government leaders have absolute power over the police, law enforcement agents and even the judiciary is 'grassrooted' so the President can sleep when a gun shot sounds in a forest thousands of miles away. It is not his problem and should not be.

Folks, we can wail all we like.
I have said it countless times. The structure of Nigeria is its downfall. Even the best of President's cannot succeed in reversing the fortunes of this country when the structure is akin to a monarchy with all powers domiciled at the centre leaving the fringes of society in the cold.
To have a leader that is not exactly cerebral, is not fit and is aged operating as sole administrator of this failed system is just asking for catastrophe.

Divide the entire number of security personnel by the land area of Nigeria and see that bandits outnumber, out gun and out resource them.
Divide the entire federal budget by the number of security personnel or number of active criminals and it just is not enough to train, equip and operate them effectively.
Then you come to a realisation that more resources are needed that the Federal Government simply does not have.

In the United States for example, the 'national police' equivalent, the FBI employs just about 35,000. Homeland security (half of which do not bear arms or conduct criminal investigations or conduct arrests) has a staff strength of about 400,000.
States and local police on the other hand amounts to over 700,000, with some big states like California with big problems having over 90,000 men in uniform, paid for by state and local taxes.

What are States in Nigeria, and local goverments (where these terrible crimes are committed) doing with their resources.... building stupid flyovers and roaming around in million naira armoured SUV's constituting nuisance while their people are being slaughtered....
What exactly is wrong with the citizens of this country that they are so ignorant and dumb not to demand for security literaly at their doorsteps.

If citizens can pay for security at the gates of their homes and business premises and pay for vigilante in their communities and pay for all these ragtag regional outfits WHY CAN'T THEY DEMAND AND PAY FOR a constitutionally recognized police service at their level WITH CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY to investigate, arrest, prosecute and punish crime and INDEED SHOOT DEAD (as directed by Mr. President again and again) any gun wielding, motorbike riding bandit at sight without recourse to Abuja and an old, sick man in the twilight of his office.

Why are Nigerians adamant at being so helpless. This is just ridiculous.
A hundred years ago California (with over 90,000 policemen today), Texas and much of America's west was bandit country.
Towns and villages were being robbed wily nily by outlaws on horseback.
It is the people that rose up and said, enough is enough.
That if Washington could not help them they will form their own, police, appoint their own judges and build their own gallows.
When will Nigerians become fed up with these vermin riding not horses but motorbikes today.

Shameful.
There are so many things wrong with this.
But Nigeria cannot be in the dustbin today if things like these were not possible.