₦airaland Forum

subsurface:
All these na demo... money will reopened it.. check lekki gardens @ elegushi..

Lagos state prefer money and big men to the lives of the poor masses.. irrespective of tribe.

Mega city for only the rich..

shey it's big ,en that would have lived in the house after construction. If it had collapsed after completion, is it not the big men that would suffer it?

bjhaid:
You are right, my mom as visited multiple times, and she said we need to learn a skill here seriously, before going to further education in us, I don't think those living comfortably there will discourage anyone, it's those that are struggling that'll start telling the ugly stories.

But that's the downside - compare the numbers of those struggling to those living comfortably and you'll find out that way more people end up struggling. I know a few people whose families own several houses in Nigeria and lived pretty well in Nigeria but moved abroad and now complain about the cost of rent and how much they have to work to retain a minimum of the kind and level of life they left behind here. These are real people I communicate with, not stories I heard from someone. The fact is that sure, you can get a better quality of life there but you'll have to work more to get that and the attendant strain of the stress of working so hard to survive abroad would eventually tell. Here, you see people work 9-5 jobs with their weekends off, earn between 80 and 100k and complain that things are not good. There, Those weekends and afterwork hours would be used for more work. That's just an existence, not a life. Lots of the people living comfortably abroad either have a family funding their comfortable lifestyle or some other cushion or they work almost every waking hour for the comforts they enjoy.

bjhaid:
That's the bitter truth, Nigeria is a shithole country, visit the rural areas you'll understand better, a country that the president was flown abroad to receive medical treatment

The countries Nigerians are running to also have slums and rural areas. What do you expect the people in the rural areas of those countries to do - fly to to another planet? I was watching The Daily Show some days back and they did a special on a town in Texas where the citizens HAVE to drink and bath with bottled water because the water supplied to their homes was terribly contaminated. It's the same US Nigerians are falling over themselves to go to we're talking about o, not some village somewhere in Abia or Ekiti. See, those countries are just like ours - they have the privileged class, a middle class and a lower class. We just assume that if we went there we would be long to the at least the middle class because we already are middle-classers here. Then reality hits when you get there and find yourself at the lowest rungs of society.

bjhaid:
they won't talk about that, it's the ugly incidents they'll be spilling out, their are lot of successful Nigerians abroad it's just a matter of hard work, Grace and favour.

Some times ehn, it's necessary to tell people worst case scenario so they can make informed decisions. It's not about discouraging anyone - it's more about letting them know exactly how bad it can get because they already know how good it can get. It's basically just balancing it up.

Jman06:
But do something worse!

I hate it when some people pretend like naija is such a rosy place when the reality on ground says otherwise.

Nigeria might not be such a rosy place but trust me, it is much easier to survive here. We complain about how bad the Nigerian system is not knowing it favors a lot of us - A LOT. We don't pay as much in taxes as lots of the countries people are running to. You may not earn much here but it's easier to survive on the little you earn. I have had cause to compare the costs of accommodation and transportation in Nigeria and a few developed and even fellow African countries and even now that things are extremely bad here, we still have it cheaper. Cost of healthcare? Education? All these things are much cheaper here. Sure, the quality may not be up to what you would get in, say, the US or UK but trust me the same treatment for malaria that we take for granted here and the federal universities we keep complaining about are waaaay cheaper than trying to get services of an equivalent quality abroad.

I'm not living abroad but I kind of understand why those that are there feel it is necessary to fill those intending to come over in on everything before they take the leap. Sure, a bit of their motivation is selfish (because they know if you come over and start facing difficulties, it's most likely them you'll run to for bailouts and they have their own troubles to deal with already) but then they have gone through the experience and know what it is like first hand so they wouldn't want anyone also to just blindly hop on a plane, thinking that all they have to do is show up to enjoy a better life. Even people that live in cities here in Nigeria do the same thing for those living in rural areas. They know life is challenging and things can get so bad that you would be forced to do things you normally wouldn't just to survive. They also know first hand that some Nigerians would struggle to fit into foreign societies coming from ours due to language barrier and cultural dissonance. They don't want to have to hold your hands to guide you through learning to live in a new society because they have lives and things to do and also they don't want to see you come and fail and go back home disappointed. So they tell you everything they think you should know so that if you still insist on moving, your mind would be prepared for the realities you would meet.

obontami:
That's essence. But why do you call Kennis washed up label?

Lol, because they ARE washed. Kennis failed to realize that the Nigerian music scene was changing with the proliferation of other record well-funded record labels and artistes owning record labels. Also, they failed to properly "scout" the kind of talent that would catch the minds and fancy of Nigerians. Instead, they kept on pushing Jaywon, Essence and resigned an Eedris Abdulkarim whose career as a rapper was long over. Why do you think Mavin and other contemporary record labels keep looking for and signing new acts? It's because they know that the music scene keeps changing and they needed to stay current with those that could perform contemporary music. Running a record label is kind of like running a football club - you need to keep signing fresh, young talent to stay competitive instead of throwing money at people who are past their sell-by date. Kennis failed to move with the times and they were consequently left waaaay behind.

rheether:
The juju don clear for my eyes. This efe ugly sha..

That washed up label? Are they tired of that super story soundtrack girl already?

So the latest installment in the fast and furious season is out and, as usual, people (Nigerians inclusive) have lost their collective minds to watch the movie. I'm sure when it eventually premieres in Nigeria, there would be people faking illnesses and , I'm sure, at least one pregnancy or sudden childbirth to watch the movie (good luck explaining the conspicuous absence of a child to your boss in a few months on that second one). It's been absolutely amazing how they could even come up with a plot for a new installment. Anyways, should they run out of ideas, hey, we've got a perfect location that comes with it's own plot for Fast And Furious 32: Lagos Traffic and Fast And Furious 33: Road Safety Run! Here's why I think so:


C'mon, if they even need stunt drivers, have they boarded a danfo that the driver is trying to dodge LASTMA, Nigerian Police, VIO or Road Safety or any of the 500,000 uniformed outfits that litter Lagos roads? That's the day they would know that Vin Diesel and co have not been fast or furious enough. Just last week, I boarded a bus from CMS to Ojuelegba and the way driver took off, careened around corners and overtook vehicles, I'm sure my ancestors must have been concerned that they might be getting an early visit. My heart was virtually in my mouth all through the trip and in spite of the cries of "driver, gently na" and "die die" (is that how it's spelt? I'm not Yoruba so I must be forgiven), the driver drove like was auditioning for a role as Vin Diesel's stunt double. So they won't even need to ship down a load of stunt drivers - we've got them by the bucketful, and for much cheaper too.

But it's not just danfo drivers that drive crazy - it's basically all the other drivers too. The way a good number of Lagosians drive, I wouldn't be surprised to look into any car and find that red anger personality from Inside Out at the wheel. Lagosians drive like the road is a battlefield and the war can only be won by the element of surprise. It's in Lagos that you would be cruising along, thinking it's just you on the road and suddenly, one Okada would appear in your front like it manifested from another dimension. Wouldn't it be just perfect for all those high speed, downtown chases where Vin Diesel has to weave through traffic - just that thus time, the traffic is so unpredictable, it might as well be diabolical. Sure, it might result in one or two crashes, two people parked at the center of the highway and traffic that would stretch into Ogun state but tell me that wouldn't look solid in HD!

Of course there would be concerns about the danger element - I mean, what's a Fast and Furious movie without dangerous cliffs, explosions and driving cars of planes in flight? Well, the producers can be rest assured that we've got loads of danger, and of the variety they've never seen before! Falling trailers, tankers falling off bridges (there's actually a lot of falling involved), cars suddenly going up in flames from overheating and needing a sewage truck to put out the fire, potholes the size of volcano craters....the possibilities are endless! Infact, there would be so much danger, the producers would be asking Lagos to tone it down! That's movie production gold right there and you don't even have to create it or script it - it's all here for free and the unpredictability of some of these would certainly make audiences gasp and the ladies spontaneously get pregnant from all the awesomeness of it all.

Need to drive a car off a bridge into a large body of water for cinematic effect? Third Mainland and the Lagos lagoon would be the most picturesque location for that scene. Sure, the emergency service personell may never recover the vehicle (or the driver for that matter) mainly because half their marine retrieval equipment are probably wooden canoes owned by shanty dwelling fishermen but if you get the shot right first time it would be totally worth it and save you the cost of having to dump several cars into the Lagos lagoon with little hopes of retrieval.



Why It Might Not Work

Let's face it, if The Fast And Furious was ever shot in Lagos, it would most likely be "Fast And Furious: Slow And Steady". Lagos traffic is legendary with a capital "L". Instead of high speed, adrenaline pumping chases, we'd probably get Vin Diesel trying to figure out if that narrow road is one-way so he can avoid the traffic coming from The Island in the evening. Like half of the movie would be about Tyrese and Ludacris pricing gala and La Casera in traffic while heading towards Ikeja and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson trting to convince LASTMA officials that he's shooting a movie, not trying to park illegally. Not to mention all the agberos they would have to "settle" for "shooting rights" in various locations across the city. The producers would probably get frustrated and move to Ghana instead instead, where they would shoot "Fast And Furious: Seriously, Our Jollof Is Better. No, Seriously".

https://anigerianrealist./2017/04/28/who-else-thinks-lagos-would-be-perfect-for-the-next-fast-and-furious/

alignacademy:
Thanks for sharing.

At least now you know you don't meet the requirements of that organization, please look for ANOTHER job.

Various religious organizations have their own employment policies.

The motives may not be clear to some of us, but they do reserve the right to determine who they want to work with.

Just like most of us are not too excited about wearing ties, yet certain organizations DEMAND you wear them to work faithfully, again for their own reasons.

Not being a tithing member of THAT organization doesn't mean you should give up on yourself and say "Welcome to Nigeria".

Are they the only people hiring?

Please brush up your CV and look for people who need your skills.

But it's a school not a religious organisation.

Why can't he just resign and take care of his health for goodness' sake? He has a more than able vice president.

Haven't they been mulling over this since Fashola's tenure as Governor?

Whoops, I meant to start a thread

Took long enough......continued detention without a trial is unconstitutional.

His bail conditions though....

Probably one of the more confusing threads I've come across on Nairaland in recent times.

Abeg, who is fighting who exactly on this thread?

luckydion:
Before you approach someone as such you need to compose yourself... No one can just scold u out.... composure matter sssss.
How do you expect one that is busy or under pressure to just attend to another who is not bold... Delete self intimidation before such approach.

Good point there!

emmysam2:
Lawyers and judges will always root for and defend corrupt persons because that is where they get paid.
In corrupt ranking, Nigerian Police and Nigerian Lawyer/ Judges are like 5 & 6.
I can never trust a Lawyer just as I don't trust a Nigerian Policeman.
Yeye People

Lawyers are not pastors. They have to defend whoever they choose to defend even if they know the person is guilty as sin provided the person is paying up properly. It's a profession not an ecclesiastical calling.

Nigerian judges on the other hand.....

Let's just say Nigerians have been patient towards worse people....

Sorry is another word for Excuse me. Politeness. Ask Britain before you guys continue saying nonsense.

It does sound weird though. "Excuse me" sounds better for politely calling someone's attention...

Ironically, in Nigeria, people use "excuse me" to either angrily tell someone to go away ,that they are going away or that they will start ignoring you immediately after!

This is funny:

"....a more legal protest..."

What makes it more legal? Are they protesting with lawyers?

Ekinematics:
Mr. Man Port Harcourt is for the South South. Abeg kindly delete that SE.

Loool, I paused when writing that because I knew there might be objections to my including Portharcourt in the South East but I just did it for the purpose of discussion.

Curlieweed:
Even if Biafra will be worse than those countries, we will love her all the same. Monkey no fine but him mama like am.

The first point the guy made is almost hilarious, "there is no post-independence plan". This is like asking a man who is saving and scrimping to buy a plot of land, how come he doesn't have a building plan yet. The poor guy will be bewildered. Like WTF! Does he know if the land will be triangular,a square, a rhombus or what? He just wants to get his own freaking land and then he can plan with what he gets.

Moreover plans are overrated, anyway. Like Mike Tyson said, "everyone has a plan until they're punched in the face". Like any general or entrepreneur will tell you few plans survive first contact with the enemy (reality). The Soviet Union had meticulous 5 years plans but today they have collapsed. The US, by contrast had no such nonsense and today they are sole world power.

The other point he seems to have made is the one about corruption. Again the issue of corruption in Nigeria is very misunderstood. On the one hand, there are numerous rapidly developing countries with very high levels of corruption (China is a prime example). On the other hand, the scale and pervasive nature of the corruption in Nigeria is also the symptom of a deeper issue. Namely, a general lack of ownership. No one sees the country as their own. This is classic case of the Tragedy of the Commons (The tragedy of the commons is an economic theory of a situation within a shared-resource system where individual users acting independently according to their own self-interest behave contrary to the common good of all users by depleting or spoiling that resource through their collective action). This also explains why there is no emotional investment in the country .This also the reason why volunteer professional soldiers of a national army regularly run in the face of resistance from ragtag insurgents. No one wants to give their lives for a meaningless diagram on a map.

By contrast, Biafra will be owned by the people. I am happy that the movement is truly grassroots. It's bottoms up. There is an emotional investment in it and people are ready and are willingly making the ultimate sacrifice for it. That in my opinion is the key ingredient that makes Biafra vastly superior to any thing this current abomination will have to offer.

Plans are overrated? Really? Would you give your child that advice - to just "wing it" through life? If plans only survive first contact with the enemy, it's because plans are made to be reviewed and adjusted as necessary to reflect changes in conditions and reality.

You seem to have this idea that Biafra would succeed because the majority of the people speak one language and have a common cultural heritage. Do I need to give you examples if countries around the world that fit this bill and are still mired in underdevelopment and corruption? Doesn't that tell you that those aren't intrinsic to the success of a nation and it's development?

Bevista:
I will refrain from making a contribution to the Biafra discussion, but I must observe that you are incredibly matured, intelligent, articulate and well-read. I wish we could have more of such discussions on NL covering all topics (politics, economics, sports, etc) rather than the infantile tantrums (afonja, ipob, zombie, wailer, etc) being thrown on the forum everyday.

Reading your submissions is really quite refreshing. Folks like you are proof that all hope is not lost for Nigeria (or Biafra).

My dear, in spite if what my profile says, I have been on Nairaland for a very long time. It wasn't always this emotional, shocking and basic. There was once a time matured discourse was the norm and immature tantrums were the exception; when even if emotions ran high, people were still civilized, coherent, rational and logical, not this childish emotion that pervades the forum today. I guess those who wanted reasonable discussions realized there was no space for them anymore and left. Those if us that are left behind try our best but a tree doesn't a forest make.

To some extent, I would agree (though limiting it to Pentecostals is a bit unfair - even we Orthodox worshippers have our fair share of excesses). However, I think globalization and exposure is a strong driving force for atheism in Nigeria. I mean, we Nigerians got our major religions from a similar system (the foreigners came with their religion and enough of us followed to relegate our erstwhile major traditional religions to insignificance. Now though, with the internet, the "gospel" of atheism is reaching us though this time the "missionaries" don't have to brave an ocean crossing to convince people here to be atheist.

I think what I find interesting about atheism though and what makes it unlike religion is that you don't really need someone to "preach" it to you to become an atheist. All you just have to do is stop believing. I mean, imagine if one of our forefathers before the coming of the missionaries thought "abeg, abeg. All these gods and oracles don't exist. We offer sacrifice yet they don't do what we ask for. In fact, they don't exist". Boom, you have one of our earliest atheists (I think someone on the thread earlier said something similar).

So, my answer is yes, to some extent it is.

If you read the interview from start to finish, you'll find that the Bishop made a number of excellent points. Unfortunately, in true Nigerian fashion, some would only go as far as the title of the post before skipping to comments.

Solumtoonna:
eiyaa, ego this man ga egwu mmiri river Niger

Till Nigerians start seeing proper leadership as a function of willingness to serve and competence and not tribe or religion, we will continue to be stuck in this mire of underdevelopment we currently fond ourselves in. I won't vote anybody just because we share tribal or religious values. If you can prove to me that you are competent, of sound mind and are fit for the position of leadership, then I don't care where you come from - you have my vote.

Oildichotomy:
We have the highest numbers of double-speakers and hypocrites in the globe. Believe and take sides with any Nigerian politician at your own peril

You can take that to the bank.

Strongly agree with this

Obdk:
[s][/s]

Wen afonjas remember Biafrans will go and leave dem wit hausa fulani

Yhhh, if you think you've found someone to play a pointless game of throwing insults with you, you'll have to keep looking. I'm not that childish. Those I will respond to from here on are those with reasonable rebuttals not people that have no point to make yet want to shout from the rafters.

Have a wonderful day. At least you've been noticed.

kmariko:
There seems to be a bit of dissonance in your current post...At first you seem to agree that cultural norms and values is what gives for a successful nation , now you are against it..Which is it.

Coming to igbos or other ethnic group in Nigeria for that matter their norms, values and practices cannot be divorced from the confining and restrictive nature of the space..In this case Nigeria where they find themselves..isnt it the restive nature of the state that the whole wahala is all about..

Differing ethnic groups can not function within a confining space and contribute to it's development where there is mutual suspicion and perceived persecution...This is real life and human nature not mere Utopia..It's not about elites or no elites it is simply the nature of "man" ( woman included).

On the political side, if in your contention that Nigeria is "failed" how come we are talking about representatives as if they are not part of the failure of the structure that failed...A "failed" stated , produces a failed product, a failed representative through a failed process..Votes..
Are the so called governor's, senators, etc elected through the rigours of an election or merely "appointed " by the "failed Nigerian state"

You misread my post. I'm saying that it's not impossible to have different cultural values and still work together to forge a successful nation.

Let's come down to an individual. How come an Igbo, Hausa or Yoruba man can go to the US or UK or Canada or other developed countries around the world and live at peace with them, work with them to build their society and contribute to their development - people who have only the remotest things in common with him - but once he comes back to Nigeria, oh he suddenly can't live with or work with people of different cultural values.

This impossibility for the tribes to work together - it's in your head. We don't have to be utopia for it to be possible, we just need to stop selling these silly ideas that we are too different to work together to future generations. Look at children - they don't see differences in skin color or culture or ideas when they meet other children. It's usually their parents and other people they look to for guidance that tell them "so and so people from so and so tribe are wicked. They hate our tribe and you must have nothing to do with them". And so a hate cycle continues that we can deal with.

As for the political failures, it's not aliens that failed on our behalf. It's human beings - Nigerians of all tribes and cultures that collectively failed Nigeria but now, nobody wants to take responsibility for the roles they have played and are only interested in passing the blame to everyone but themselves.

MrMaestro:
What does that have to do with the success of nigeria? You do know that Nigeria is the most economically successful country in africa? If ethnic differences is the main hindrance to that, south sudan would be the richest place and most successful place in the world. Switzerland wouldn't be as successful as they are, and Nigeria wouldn't be were it is today. In comparing Nigeria, ghana, kenya, and other african countries that have multiple tribes, to countries that have a singular major tribe, it is quite clear that countries that have multiple ethnic groups are the ones that are performing the best.

Thank you! I don't know where this assertion that once there are different tribs living in one country, the country will suffer comes from. It's just the blame game the leaders sell to the people and the people buy it whole-heartedly.