₦airaland Forum

You have 2 girlfriends, your father insults you, your mother nags you but none of your girlfriends has chopped off your ........ You've got away way too lightly!!

2-face is doing well. It's not the first time nigerian music has been used in an american movie though. Sunny Ade's music had been used before.

What a pair of assets

Parents do what they do because they care about us. They may not always do or say the things we want but almost all, if not all, parents act because of the love they have for us. I think almost every one has at one time or the other felt 'pissed off' (for want of another phrase) by one or both of their parents - so, you are not alone. Whenever you feel that way, it may be of some help to remember that their intention is not to hurt, although the delivery may not be to your liking. Parents are not perfect, none of us is.

It will be very sad if you resort to physical violence against any of your parents. I am not sure any culture allows it and in Nigeria you will almost be ostracized from society. At your age, you will be able to talk to your parents when you think they have hurt you without knowing it. Take it with a sense of humour and just take some of it  on the chin.  

One thing though, you will find somewhere down the line that most of what they are saying came from experience and you will end up saying similar things to your kids - although your delivery will probably be better than your parent's.

So, chin up bro. In time you become more independent of your parents and you do whatever you want to do - and bear the consequences.

Pot noodles

I think you should find out from the different authorities how much you will end up paying before it is sent to you. It may well be cheaper buying it in Nigeria. I am sure that is what the Nigerian authorities will prefer and they will have to apply the necessary tax to discourage people having these things sent to them from abroad.

I would be weary of using a company that disappointed me before but you should relate your experience to the new company you want to use and let them assure you that you will not have a repeat of your previous experience. Both the US and Nigerian end of the company should let you know how much you will expect to pay in fees and taxes before you let them ship your good.

I don't know the modus operandi of Area Boys.

The marriage will work if none of them is devoted to their religion.

I have obtained a passport (in fact two) in Nigeria without offering a bribe. It seems some of us have allowed ourselves to become so cynical that we help in perpetuating those things we condemn.

Talking about political ideologies in Nigeria I think Awolowo did advocate a socialist/welfarist system and practiced it in the Western region in the 60s. Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) later campaigned along the same lines.

In present day Nigeria, the parties (and the politicians) are still jostling for positions and there are other issues that people consider more important than ideologies, many of which have been mentioned by previous contributors. In any case, maybe political ideologies are not as important - all over the world - as they used to be. Since the breakdown of communism, the lines between ideologies have continued to blur. Having said that, distinct party policies are likely to develop in Nigeria in future when the political system becomes more stable.

I feel what is most important for us in Nigeria is to have a sensible government, that will have the right ideas and strategies to tackle our existing problems and plan well against future challenges. It seems easy on paper but it becomes very difficult if you don't have honest people in charge.

Kokscity, the fact that a few Nigerians commit criminal activities does not mean all Nigerians are bad. And there is no need to mention ethnic groups - we are all Nigerians.

In the UK, some East European countries commit far worse crime than Nigerians do. Yet I have not seen any of them vilify the whole of their people. The Chinese triad and other criminal gangs commit crime all over the world but I have not read about the Chinese rubbishing all their people. We seem to be our own worst enemies. We want to change the world's perception of us yet we draw the world's attention to a few of our people who do the bad things. I do not tolerate bad behaviour, but I think it is best for us to talk more about our positive aspects. It is only us who can sell ourselves.

AbbeyMarie, I think the subject you have chosen is likely to be an extremely difficult one for a fourteen year old. Nigeria is a very diverse place, both in language and culture and many of the questions you have asked are better answered by experts, otherwise you may be further misled. Many of the views you will be given here are those of non-experts and are not necessarily correct.

One thing to say. Things Fall Apart addresses mainly Igbo culture and that is only a very small part of the overall culture of Nigeria. In some cases things are done almost in an opposite way in differrent parts. For instance, only one or two ethnic groups regarded twins as a bad omen - and that was a very long time ago, around the time cowboys were fighting Indians in America. In the Yoruba part of Nigeria, twins were almost revered and were said to bring good luck to their parents. They were desired.

It may help if you focus your project on a narrower subject. Then you can search the internet for books, written by experts and researchers, on the subject. There are many books covering various aspects of Nigerian culture. I wish you the best.

I don't want Nigeria to be like Ghana. I want Nigeria to grow to its ptential and, with our adventurous, never say die, won't take a back seat for nobody mentality it should be one of the most enjoyable places in the world.

There is no doubt Nigeria has a lot of potential, probably better than Ghana. Ghana currently takes a lot of aid money, including some aid from Nigeria - believe it or not.

Mind you, I have also met Ghanaians who prefer Nigeria to Ghana. Also, when a lot of Ghanaians came to Nigeria in the mid 70s and early eighties (Ghana was virtually bankrupt at the time) some of them engaged in armed robbery. In fact they were some of the pioneers of armed robbery in Nigeria.

Medube, I know you talk of Ghanaians being taken back to Ghana from Nigeria but Ghana first did it to Nigerians - in the late sixties. It led to a massive refugee relocation work in Nigeria at the time as most of the Nigerians had lived ther for a long time. Some were born there and regarded Ghana as home. What was worse, the Ghanaian government at the time did not allow the Nigerians to take the proceeds of their business or any of their properties. So, they could not name any luggage after them.

@ododoman

Although I know you mean no harm, I think it will be inappropriate to refer to the Yorubas as a tribe. It is a nation of many millions of people. An ethnic group may be more acceptable.

I think the more accepted narrative is that the first Oba of Benin was a Yoruba prince who left to form the city of Benin. There are a few books written on this but I do not have the details to hand. I will post when I have them.

There has been quite a bit of discussion on the topic of recent.

There is love and there is love. The ladies should tell us how they like to be approached.

What is wrong with some of our Nigerian women sef. If you have nothing positive to say why not just keep quiet.

@nicetohave.

You are right. A prophet is without honour in his own home. Many foreign girls like Nigerian men.

Hello Hero. Nice to hear that Afican Americans are interested in visiting Africa and nice to know you have enjoyed your previous trips to Nigeria and other parts of Africa.

I do not agree with Kokcity about some of what he said about Nigeria. Nigeria is a great place and almost all the people I know who visited it have loved it. The people are great and the culture is excellent. It will be simplistic to say Nigeria is better than Ghana or the other way round or that Ghanaians have a stronger sense of citizenry (I am not quite sure where he got that from). Ghana has not got a more stable economy than Nigeria, if they did they will not be getting so much external aid while Nigeria gets virtually none (in fact Ghana was totally bankrupt a few years back). Again, even given the proportion of land size, Nigeria has far more high grade roads than Ghana. But, as you may have noticed, it is us Nigerians who often run ourselves down.

Anyway, thats not really what we are talking about. I am sure Ghana, Senegal are good places to visit and in any case you are not just visiting these places for the infrastructure they have but, maybe more so, for what they mean to you in terms of heritage.

Although Nigeria neglected the tourism industry for a long time, there are now efforts to revive it; although they can do far better than they are doing now. Hopefully, things will improve in the very near future. There are, however, quite a lot of places you can visit in Nigeria, centres built to cater for tourists; although I suspect, in the case of our African American brothers and sisters, you will also want to mingle with the people. I am sure Nigeria will also want African Americans to come over and stay and invest.

Regarding name calling; just like Kokcity I apologise for any offense caused. The fact is that many of those people who use those names do not know they are offensive. Although some of the names were derogatory when they started being used, they have somehow found their ways into the vocabulary over the years and some people use them without really meaning to offend.

Hope to hear from you when you come back from your next visit to Africa. It is your heritage as much as it is ours.

Well done, Vajinda, for the work you are doing. As the other contributors have said, I think we need more information to be able to assist. Okeke (if that is the right spelling) is definitely Igbo. Although it is not unknown in Nigeria for people from one ethnic group to give their children names from another ethnic group, it is still necessary to clarify the situation here.

Just like Zimbabwe, Nigeria (and the Yorubas) has a very rich culture and your brother and sister will be proud to know their cultural heritage.

Regarding the meaning of the children's names. The names you have given are all shortened forms of several possible names. You are right, Ayo means joy; but the full name could be Ayodeji (my joy is doubled) or Ayodele (Joy has got home) etc. Bola is also a shortened form of several names: e.g Adebola (one who arrived to meet wealth), Bolaji (One who wakes up with wealth), Omobola (child born into wealth - often for girls) etc. Odun means 'year' or big landmark or occasion. So, Odun may have been born during a major occasion (e.g Christmas or New year). The interpretations given are literal and these names tend to lose some of their more profound meanings when you try to interprete them into english.

If you know the full names, we can give you the full meanings. Several books of Yoruba names and their meanings exist and there are web sites giving meanings of Yoruba names (although some that I have seen are not very accurate). If you do a search of 'yoruba names' you are likely to see some of them.

Have a nice day and give my regards to your brother and sister.

Sickle cell anaemia is a debilitating condition that affects black people in most parts of the world. In Nigeria, it is said that about 100,000 children are born with this condition every year. Many of them suffer, from their childhood, and will not live past their 5th birthday. Those who live longer suffer pains from time to time and have a low life expectancy.

Sufferers cause their parents and relations a lot of hardship and pain and must be a drain to the health service. Over the years, the Nigerian governments [b][/b]did not seem [b][/b]to have a strategy to tackle the condition and the situation has not changed. Yet the condition can be prevented.

Currently, what it takes to prevent the condition is for two people not to bring a child to the world if they know they are likely to produce offsprings that will have sickle cell anaemia. It may mean government will have to test Nigerian kids at a stage in their lives (before they start having relationships) to let them know their sickle cell status. Those who know that a union between two of them may lead to children with sickle cell anaemia may then have to avoid marrying each other. The questions are:

1. Do you think the Nigerian government should test all children to let them know their sickle cell status? If so, at what age?

2. Would you not marry someone you love because both of you may produce children with sickle cell anaemia?

3. Have you ever been in a dilemma because having children with someone you love may lead to children with sickle cell.

Please let us know your opinions and experiences.

There are very many good Nigerian/African men around. But if you go looking for only the 'flashy' ones, the good ones will pass you by without you knowing it. And remember, it takes two to tango: a bad woman can bring out the rare bad part of an otherwise 'good' man.

If at all this headline is true, I think we need to know the details of the contract before people start to say negative things and looking for who to crucify. For instance, is it just a one-off contract or is it to run for many years?

I work abroad, in an industry where several miilions of dollars is spent annually on vegetation maintenance around infrastructures. This maitenance involves constant clearing and weed-killing as the need arises and ensures that a company is always taking care of that aspect of things, instead of awarding another contract every year - fire fighting approach.

I am sure the vegetation around the airport(s) needs maintaning, for as long as the airport(s) is/are functional. If this contract is for the long-term maintenace of vegetation, then it is a good thing (as it eliminates the fire fighting approach we are all used to) and it is better to look at it in terms of overall value-for-money rather than just looking at the total contract sum.

When ladies say they are looking for a good man, what do they mean? Who is a good man?

Wunmi didn't win. We were robbed!

@ hotspice.

Nigerians are not as pretentious as you think. I have net many more pretentious people from other nations, even in Africa.

I will love the opportunity to see an all-Nigerian BB. I thnk it is overdue. It may turn out to be part of a good sociological study. We may be able to see how people from every area of our diverse nation interact, as long as the orgainisers choose the participants to reflect (as much as possible) the diversity within the society.

People should remember that BB is a game and all the contestants want to win. So, the person you see on BB is not necessarily the person in real life. So, Bayo may not be pretentious (if at all he was pretentious, I did not see the show) in real life, but perhaps he thought he needed to be pretentious to win the respect of the other house mates. I understand he went far, so , maybe it worked for him to an extent.

Worst things than bathroom scenes are shown on some other countries' BB. In any case, since contestants know they will be shown in the bathroom, only the extreme exhibitionists will expose themselves. And you can vote them out if you don't like them.

I once used a company called D&K Freignt Services (London) to send some parcels to Nigeria and they were excellent. I did not have to pay any customs duties on the goods and they called me to let me know that my parcels had been delivered in Nigeria. They even spoke to me in Yoruba, which was nice. Unfortunately, I think they only operate from London.

I sympathise with you WL, but I think you should put an official complaint to both FEDEX in Nigeria and in the States. They should give you back any money taken from you which did not form part of the original contract. You should also find out if there was insurance cover on the parcel. If that is the case, you should be entitled to compensation. In any case, if FEDEX have been careless in handling your parcel, then they should at least give you something back as a gesture of goodwill. You have paid a lot for an extremely poor and customer-unfriendly service.

I have used DHL to send parcels (documents) to Nigeria and they were often good (but, it is really not rocket science, is it?). On one occasion they were about 48hrs later than promised and I demanded an apology, which I got.

I wish you luck as you try to reclaim money you have had to spend unnecessarily.