₦airaland Forum

redsun:
we got to let these people know we are here.This forum has been on for years now,still we haven't started making any practical impact in the society.I know there are people of reputable characters and disciplines on this forum that can effectively make immense contributions,one way or the other.

There is a case of someone that phoned Fashola for a tax receipt on this forum and he got it,talk less of a committee of serious minded people pointing the ills of the society and in most cases should be with press coverage.With a little bit of monthly or quarterly accountable contributions,we can mobilize and kick start our dormant world,people should be made to pay for their irresponsibilities,not just in lagos state but the whole country.

Just think of a student that was killed by soldiers for wearing green,madness,somebody should follow up that case.Soldiers are main to protect their own citizens not kill them,unless in a state of anarchy,

Not quite true, some groups have been born from certain threads and meetings and some people have been able to group together and make an impact in their own way. If anything I employ everyone to take this approach and back up words and rhetoric with actions.

mikeansy:
The kind of debate we are having here is why Nigeria will never get anywhere soon

This woman was effectively isolated and cowed . . . . . nobody stood by her in the last few days  . . . . . the so called people who want to call themselves opposition stayed out of it instead of at least coming to this woman's defence. (where was Buhari? Atiku's only comments were how the Ekiti crisis relates to 2011 which what only matters to him.)

And on our part we are her coming up with all sorts of speculations on compromise. Its most annoying that we who make all this noise have never contributed anything to the future of Nigeria.

Nigeria will not be great because u can sit in your corner and spew all sorts of nonsense on your computer.

If this woman succeeds in negotiating re-election in a ward where 15,000 votes where added to ballot papers and the office burnt down to destroy evidence . . . . . then I think she has done her part.

Its up to Ekiti and the Nigerian people to demand better atmosphere during the re-run.

Anybody who thinks she has not done well . . . . should tell us what their mother has done so far in Project Nigeria.

I generally concur (apart from perhaps the last sentence) : )

Moves:
I dont like the fact that she took her present post but There is absolutely nothing wrong in what she said, She Risked her life in fighting fake drug dealers whilst @ Nafdac, so for a fellow woman, I mean even Older woman of 74yrs to come out and say that she is unable to perform a function she was empowered to do, becos she is afraid, and wants to be crowned a heroine is totally wrong,

Dora Akunyili's achievements in NAFDAC will always be there for all to see no matter what other ventures she goes into and yes threats were made on her life and she still did the job, etc, however I think comparing Dora Akunyili and the REC official who handed in a resignation later does not make sense.

First of all, what is the job of the REC official? Does it include protecting ballot boxes from being snatched and fighting off violent, armed, hired political thugs? I really doubt if such is in the job description of an electoral commissioner, however as you postulated one of the duties of and REC is to announce electoral results, if this is what this woman is being castigated and called cowardly for not doing then I really don't get it. Do we just want hired zombies as public officials or don't we value the ability to analyse a situation and take required action anymore? Would it be better if she announced results which came from an obviously fraudlent election? You have reports of uprisings, people being arrested for massive thumb printing of ballots in residences, people dressed in police uniforms also partaking in electoral malpractices, and you feel the results should be announced? This is not necessarily about making this woman a hero but I think what she did was in order especially since it was done before announcing results, don't we want more public officials with a "concience"? How can you claim she is cowardly? Because you haven't heard from her in probably less than 24hours after her resignation even with all the reported threats on her person? Please let us try to be objective before jumping on the bandwagon.

ikeyman00:
and where were people like u when obj with oba were terrorising anambra state, even now the stupid Uba still on it.

just like the way some people respond to some shit whenever the pendulum swing the othe way!!

hmmm nothing change, maybe it in their genes

Struggling to see how what you just said is relevant to my post which you quoted. If this is going to descend into some petty squabble don't even bother to respond please cause I won't oblige. Have a nice day

RICHIE BOI:
PDP thought it would be business as usual in ekiti state they are in for a shocker. the resident electoral commissioner resigning at the time of election how embarrasing. this is a closely monitored election lets see how they will rig this one

I concur, that is why in another thread it was being stressed that monitoring of elections is vital in Nigeria for fighting electoral practises. When I mean monitoring I mean the sort that went on in Ekiti whereby we were all hearing and seeing what is going on. Imagine if this was a presidential election, this whole issue would have been swallowed up with focus being on all states, now that the focus is just on one state see what such scrutiny can achieve. Imagine presidential electrions being held with such scrutiny for each state. Let us see how PDP will rig this election and retain any moral ground in Ekiti state.

@mikeansy thanks a lot for you informative and enlightening second post. You and @blacksta have kept a lot of people online informed about different incidents that occured during the Ekiti elections. I agree with the idea that all Nigerians at this point should consider themselves from Ekiti state, because fighting against the behemoth that has become PDP and successfully winning a battle for the people and the majority will indeed set a very good precedence. The implications of successfully proving that past elections under thesame lady (who seems to have had a crisis of conscience this time around) were questionable are huge. If only the ammount of reported incidences during the past elections were well documented they way they were for Ekiti. The actions of the people even in the face of violent thugs and the peoples demand for justice and respect of their votes is quite encouraging, I must say I am more confident than I was that days of abracadabra elections in Nigeria are numbered. For people who shout change change without wanting to back such up with actions, the people (no matter how isolated such inceidences might have been) who fought to defend their votes in the face of violent thugs are indeed encouraging are commendable. This is backing up rhetoric with actions.

Wow, a rare occurence in Nigeria, someone resigning and leaving a position of authority willingly? Never knew for sure I would see the day. This is a good precedence being set, especially since the election results were not announced. Iwu didn't even have the decency to resign after releasing results to all the questionable (to put it likely) elections run under his administration.

linxon:
Okay, now you have read my post before responding, phew! I will re-iterate that you're attempt at an essay about CCTV, keeping balot boxes static and making sure the media behave was ridiculously poor and lacked substance.

And it is perfectly ok and fine with me that you think my suggestions were poor and lacked substance, I on the other hand thought the post in which you simply stated your ideas for solutions was quite sensible and I concur with most of the points on there. My issue was with your earlier was the last paragraph and the fact that it seemed to be bothering on one of those posts which while eloquent always seemed vague and full of rhetoric. It is ok for us to disagree.

linxon:
That is what I said an Hour ago! you did not concur then did you?

LOL, I did not necessarily disagree with your whole post, it had good points and all I did was respond on the basis of where I perceived it was all generally going. I did not completely agree with the last paragraph about it being a matter of simply waiting for the secondary or even tertiary pary of the industrial sector to develop and hence prove more viable before we begin to get some democracy. I disagree because government positions in America and Europe are also quite attractive and come with a lot of perks, yet you don't see the ammount of insensitive gross corrupt practices at the rates you see in Nigeria. The single sentence @blacksta posted, I simply agree with. Clearer now?

Anyway, as nice as the intent of this thread is, it would be more meaningful if the discussion could be carried out beyond the internet and by more Nigerians in Nigeria and abroad at a larger scale because this is a serious issue hence it will be a shame if it just ends here. Perhaps such wil lead to actions in varying degrees that can help remedy the situation even if it me ans succesfully conducting a local government election.

blacksta:
As i said i earlier  - until we have other alternative ways of making money, political positions will carrying on being the desired route.  It is just to attractive.

I concur and perhaps that is part of the solution to free and fair elections in Nigeria.

tombola:
The problem is with the people, what has government got to do with it? It is the people, the politicians who employ people to fight for them, the politicians who uses thugs, the politicians who will do it in a do or die affair, it is with the politicians and majority of the people who can have their conscience bought by these few rich politicians.

Permit me to use your post as an example of what I was referring to earlier. If politicians offer people food and money to vote for them and the people take such items and go and vote for the politicans who iffered them money (even if in ideal elections no one should know if they infact took the food and voted for someone else instead) does that mean the elections were unfair? Sorry but I beg to differ, elections is about people exercising their power to choose, if someone chooses what might seem sacrificing long term substantial development for short term satisfaction then guess what, they have chosen and that is their choice. Elections don't guarantee that the "right man" gets in, it guarantees that people choose and their votes count. That was the reason why I was trying to avoid long debates of citizenry empowerement, etc. Such things are obviously important for the overall democracy and for ensuring "better" leaders get a chance to be voted for. However if we are strictly speaking of elections, its simply a choice issue, hence the reason why I disagree with @linxon, I do believe peculiar solutions to "elections in Nigeria" are obtainable.

linxon:
Sorry, whats that about?

Meaning some of the ideas postulated although sensible, are quite obvious and perhaps so obvious that stating them would be as patronising as saying don't forget to eat to stay alive, hence perhaps highlighting what @mikeansy was talking about (i.e. lack of actual will to implement such ideas). Do you understand what I meant now?

linxon:
Yeah I've got a problem with that I said "Cheap shot" not “petty shot” - JOKE!
Since we have found some common ground, my point was although he wanted solutions I belive that such measures will always be sabotaged by corrupt leaders. some of my sggestions would be:

1. Hold a referendum on a vetting system for candidates

2. As you mentioned live streaming of the vote count; with any disruption to the transmission leading to the votes being recasted.

3. finger printing

4. International observers

5. A cap on campaign funds

Do you mind elaborating on your first point? Like @chidichris stated, the power to appoint electoral officials needs to be removed from the hands of the president, it would make more sense to place such a responsibility on the house of assembly. The sad thing is that some of these points are quite obvious that suggesting them even seems patronising and self indulgent, the issue is finding a way to bring the issue to be discussed vocally by everyone (especially the media) in Nigeria to a point whereby pressure can be put on whoever pressure needs to be put on so that such things are implemented. One thing seems sure though, the current INEC set up is simply not working.

As for me, I am all for the ideas of getting elections in Nigeria right even if the elections have to take a month to be conducted. This issue just needs to be gotten out of the way; we just need one free and fair election, just one to build on even achieving such would mean a crude “one for me, one for you” style counting of the votes. Nothing else will do if not the issue of free and fair elections would continue to be comfortably postponed and procrastinated like some work you know you have to do but don’t really want to do it while you complain you have work to do.

linxon:
I have not got time to bore people with rhetoric, you must not resort to cheap shots and get all defensive about my constructive comments otherwise we'll end up exemplifying the current problem. You mentioned cctv and I made a comment about it, if its petty why mention it at all? I emphasized the fact that the solution is more than tinkering. I have mentioned the change I am talking about twice, so the fact that you are asking: "what does being “the change” mean " shows you did not read my post in its entirety.

No need to worry about our discourse degenerating into petty arguments and fights, I don’t do such, don’t partake in such and exclude myself from such conversations. If you feel I am being defensive over the CCTV thing as opposed to simply elaborating what I meant as a response to a statement you made which felt generalised then there is nothing I can do about it. However, I presented a case of what I meant, highlighting that the issue of monitoring is a major facet to the “elections in Nigeria conundrum”.

With regards to what you might term a “petty shot”, I did read your post in its entirety and I was responding to not just the quote you used at the end but the rest of it. The poster was calling for Ideas on how to run credible elections in Nigeria, I was just pointing out that such seemed to be the focus of the thread and that the premise of citizenry development, participation, etc, has been discussed en masse, I was simply making an observation, any problem with that?

@blacksta, your ideas are quite interesting however seem like factors to consider and develop for the long term. However, if you were asked to run the next elections then what steps would you deem necessary? It just seems like we have all accepted that the 2011 elections are doomed and we should be looking for fair elections for 2050, I however don’t buy that.

linxon:
Have'nt people been crying out for an overhaul all of the Universities in Nigeria because they have been taken over by cultists? All of a sudden universities are the solution. You are contradicting yourself slightly because on the one hand you are saying a saviour is in the making then on the other hand you are saying has anybody got suggestions for the saviour. Barrack Obama was elected because he had solutions, so that someone you suggested should have all of the solutions.
This is why the cycle continues, we are trying to build a house on a weak foundation. CCTV cameras can be disconnected or blocked then what? Use security guards to make sure the CCTVs are safe. All these measures are because the people in charge are corrupt and will hold on to power no matter what, dose the government have to spend half of its yearly buget to ensure free and fair elections?

The solutions will have to be more than tinkering with a faulty corrupt system - unfortunately it will take a new generation to come and change things bottom up. How? well, Nigeria derives most of its revenue from oil so the government in power has an endless supply of funds to retain power. Furthermore, the government can use legislation to solidify its position. Things will change when Nigeria is able to tranform itself in to a secondary economy, atleast. The new generation of entrepreneurs will have to find a solution to the power supply whether the state provides it or not and as a result the governments lion share of income will start to come from taxes. This is the point where the new younger generation will replace the so called God-fathers with respectable, internationally renowned citizens who only sponsor politicians who can match there standards. Since most on this forum like to quote President Obama, I remember he said: 'You are the change'.

That is why I brought the whole issue of the media playing a part and the fact that is CCTV means live streaming is possible and it is hence possible to catch images of people disconnecting cctvs before they do so. I don’t want to get into the whole technicality of it because this is not the intent of this thread however CCTVs aren’t just erected or thrown in any how, they are normally carefully networked so that things like successfully disconnecting cameras without your image being caught on camera and streamed to monitors are made more difficult than you might presume.

I don’t know whether it is necessary to inform people on here that they are the change or any of that, such rhetoric has been posted en masse on this forum already, yeah we know we are the change, etc. However what does being “the change” mean if we are not willing to work towards solutions to changing things or if we are not willing to work at all but rather sit in comfort knowing that “we are the change”? Such rhetoric isn’t new, it is like someone else coming to give another “the problem with Nigeria” speech as if we don’t know the problems. Correct me if I am wrong but the poster was looking for ideas.

chidichris:
@Lixnon,
After reading ur response, the first question that came to my mind is, are there countries where free and fair elections are held? If to u the answer to this question is yes, then are there not businessmen in those countries?
To me, the major problems of this country lies mostly on the issue of lack of institutions.
If Nigeria has an electoral body like inec that is not politically based, independent of the party in power, with the chairman of the body not appointed by the president. This body will definitely owe no party explanations at the end of every election.
Look at inec, just formed for the 1999 election with the president left with powers to appoint the chairman. What will u expect when a man is called by another to chair an election in which he is part of?
If mr. a manages to become the president of Nigeria tomorrow, the first effort to secure his second and possible third tenure will be to change the inec chairman with his close pal.
The so called businessmen will explore the loopholes given by the ppl in govt.
Presently, the major interest of pdp on the electoral reforms is in the area of who appoints the inec chairman. He who pays the piper dictates the tone.
Look at inec, efcc, and other commissions in Nigeria that are supposed to be institutions, they are all politicized to suit the purpose of that one who introduced them. No wonder every no govt will strive clear old bodies and establish theirs to make room for inordinate ambitions.

@chidichris your post makes a lot of sense, however are you saying it is going to be impossible to bribe a so called "independent" INEC chairman? As long as the laws which govern the operation and conduct of institutions like INEC are made more secure so vote rigging and malpractices are difficult to instigate, and as long as solid procedures which MUST BE adhered to are put in place and enforcedthen it might be more difficult for malpractices to occur at the rate they do in Nigeria. Basically laws and procedures need to be put in place which immediately serve as grounds for disqualification of the INEC chairman or an INEC official when such procedures are broken and also serve for annulment of results from a particular area or the elections in general. These procedures and laws need to be made known through ad campaigns and air time to the populace so they are informed of what is acceptable and what is definately not with regards to actions of electoral officers and security.

It is so easy for people to veer this topic into some introspection of the Nigerian psyche and state of the citizenry, etc. The topic is 'how can we hold credible elections?' so I don't know whether it calls for the same old analysis of "the people need to change" or "the people need to demand" rhetoric which although might suffice we have heard a thousand times. Elections at is basics is simply selection of leaders by the people. I am making an effort to explain because I was expecting a thread with postulated ideas (which we might all think obvious) on how to carry out elections which is credible and produces results that represent the voting and the will of the people, not another introspection on the state of the citizenry.

Someone raised an idea a while ago of re running elections for however long it takes for a particular state until people who are rigging get it into their heads that elections that are fraudulent will be rerun until fair elections are held. Some jested at the idea but I thought it held substance behind the thinking. A precedence has not yet been set in terms of free and fair elections (unless we are counting the abiola incident which was cancelled anyway) hence there is nothing to look back on to inspire confidence or build a foundation on, hence I agree with the poster who raised that suggestion to an extent. With all that is happening in Nigeria and the past history, I don't think it should matter if elections take two months to be completed as long as we get it right so that a foundation and culture of free and fair elections can begin to develop. I was an ardent supporter of cancelling the elections which brought Yar Adua into power partly because of the reason I just stated, we can't just say "next election will be better".

At the current state of Nigeria and with the past history of the country I was quite surprised at the duration of the presidential elections. If I was to run elections in Nigeria I would run it 3 states a day or some system like that, why? Because elections take resources and if we are serious about it and want free and fair elections it also means we have to concentrate on were elections are held and hence have more of a chance of protecting votes and fighting electoral malpractices. Imagine CCTV cameras in all polling stations coupled with security personnel or imagine live coverage of all polling stations in one state. Every single polling station would also count their results under camera monitoring (even if it is a process of one person showing people each deposited vote and putting it on some tally) and post results after elections.

There should be no “moving” or “transportation” of the ballots because it seems in Nigeria transportation of ballots always seems to be the section of the election process were things go “missing” en route to their destinations. The Media will have a part to play by reporting, every polling station simply submits their results which are posted, made known and collated. After three states or so are done simultaneously we know those states have been done, then other three states next day. The point I am trying to make is if it will take long election durations to get it right then why not? Or do we all prefer the alternative of more wasted years of crying electoral fraud and using it as an excuse for underdevelopment?

Forgive me, just struggling to see the point of this thread in the politics section. With regards to poster, what is worrying is that while people who live abroad who claim to (as some have put it) have more of an open mind and see things clearer, such are actually falling into thesame label used to tag others. Sometimes it is quite obvious to see why people who live in Nigeria might be irritated with what they read online, the generalisation like some of those displayed on this thread are quite simply patronising. Such behaviour is noticeable in so many posts in varying degrees of subtlety which to be fair might not be done on purpose but perhaps more worrying might be done because people actually possess such views. Such things like starting every post with "the problem with Nigeria", when addressing posters based in Nigeria, as if people in Nigeria are perhaps too stupid to comprehend their own problems. And then things like shouting for people in Nigeria to instigate change as if a majority don't know they need to instigate change.

Anytime I have inciteful discussions with friends in Nigeria I am sometimes ashamed at the level with which (perhaps not as much as some do on Nairaland) I make assumptions which when I introspect on are based on patronising premises. People in Nigeria are not stupid, they are simply in Nigeria. It is easy to shout "the people should revolt" from abroad because then your lives are not on the line. Does that mean such is not necessary or a revolt won't be in order, I do not suggest that, but just making a blatant observation that it is easy to recommend and remedy solutions when you don't have to work towards realising such solutions. At times it seems there is such a level of self indulgence in some postings that you simply have to laugh it off and funny enough that is in no way limited to people who live in Nigeria, infact it is more common with posters outside the country. As @debosky pointed out, environments can be a valid factor in arguements and it is quite silly to assume such is not possible, just as silly as it is to presume everyone in the world is one colour and one ethnic group. The divisions do not come from the things that differentiate but comes from individuals and please let us not pretend as if it is a one way street with regards to the topic.

ROSSIKE:
There's absolutely nothing wrong with what the president has said. You'd be amazed what a GROUP of youths can achieve, even in terms of financing, as a well organized, professionally run agric company or consortium with a professional business plan.

Or you want YarAdua to also teach you how to package yourself?

We have thousands of companies across Nigeria started via the owner benefitting from some government-backed micro-credit scheme or SME funding drive etc. So things ARE possible, even without being ''connected''.

Oh, and I bet you not ONE of these moaners here has investigated A SINGLE ONE of the agricultural incentives mentioned with a view to harnessing them. Far easier to sit around doing nothing, knowing nothing, assuming the worst, and moaning.

Meanwhile, the sharp ones are this minute, combing every bit of info on what's happening and how to benefit. Tomorrow you'll see them in their Hummer and mansion and you'll accuse them of stealing from you.

Mschewwwwww. Nonsense.

I think you might be missing the source of agression or displeasure on this thread. I bet you would be hard pressed if asked to point out a post that postulates that a venture in agriculture is stupid or bad. It is obvious to many that diversifying the economy would be a big bonus and would be common sense. Just imagine the ammount of money spent on importing food products, Nigeria even imports rice in ridiculous quantities. We import everything and such things cost money and mean the country loses a lot of money through such avenues, hence no need to sing the benefits of agric or how self determination can be a defining factor in our personl successes. The issue is Yar Adua.

For crying out loud this guy has been the president and commander in chief of the federal republic of Nigeria for close to two years now, and we are going to take such award winning observations as achievements? Everyone keeps waiting for this guy to do something and I know some times it seems people just whine for the sake of it and to be honest a good percentage do. However what do we expect next? Do we next applaud Yar Adua when he comes out tomorrow and gives a press conference in which he advices everyone to eat in order to stay alive? Do we hand out awards for such little packages of insight like 'have a shower everyday to stay clean'? Sorry but i don't see such things as a sign of knowledge or discernment.

Although I am always a hopeful person, I stopped expecting any action from Yar Adua and have focused attention on Governors who are doing something and what I can do with the help of others to instigate development or bring change in whatever way I can. Such a stance beats feeling frustrated at Yar Adua and his antics and such would probably achieve more than whatever Yar Adua could possibly do (at the rate things are going) if more of use move beyond rhetoric and get involved in doing something about the situation.

I don't know why a lot of the responses have been about problems with data collection and monitoring, corruption, etc, instead of highlighting the obvious point and letting this discussion end there. The obvious is Nigeria cannot afford social security. It is not a "good idea" as some have tried to put it. What Nigeria needs is wealth creation. That phrase alone captures so much of what is needed and indirectly sought. Wealth creation which would be boosted by solid infrastructure including power, industrialisation and a good functioning economic environment which includes a supply of capable graduates that come from a functioning educational sector to power jobs, ideas and prospects which would enable Nigerians and Nigeria to compete at the world stage and have its own slice of the global pie. Forgetting about infrastructure for a second, there is simply no wealth in the country to drive such an idea and hence the postulation of such an idea is terrible at best. This is just a ploy to deceive people that the government is actually "brainstorming" ideas when in actuality instead of giving them an "at least they are thinking" pat on the back a slap should be in order for even attempting such a banal insult on the intelligence of the populace. I for one refuse to be deceived by such an insult. How can poor people be charitable? This is like asking a beggar to fund the upkeep of others.

For those who would argue that Nigeria has the money and is wealthy, I beg you to snap out of such an illusion to better wake us up to the reality. A man who has his house in order and still has money to throw around can be considered wealthy, in order words, countries with functioning infrastructure and working sectors like education, transport, etc, and still have money to spare can be considered wealthy. A beggar that has nowhere to go but has 5 million naira in his hands is not wealthy, he simply has more prospects and potential. By the time that money is used to put a roof over his head, get a car, borehole, etc, what money would be left? Unless the government has a genius plan, I find it difficult to see how growth and development can be implemented and sustained while supporting the majority poor, imagine all money the government gets from the only comodity it exports (oil) being used to fund this disaster, talk about funding of eternal poverty. You ask a rich man or one that has money to spare for money, not a beggar that has nothing.

Abeg. You could pretty much argue the whole "people eat it out of hunger" for pretty much any food. LOL. I don't see how that hunger arguement can apply to dog and not goat or lamb. From what I know, it is seen by some as a delicasy as opposed to eating out of desperation. It is an animal which we have been blessed with as meat, so what is the whole, "it must be desperation and hunger" arguement if it is meat that is local to an area? LOL. So what about snail then? Is that also out of hunger and desperation? A lot of people especially in western cultures will find the idea repulsive and quite disgusting, I mean imagine all the slime (yet quite tasty : ) ). No chop am if you no wan chop am

audio:
I give up. LOL. Eat Away and may the force be with you

Sorry, don't do dogs (not tried them yet anyway) : )

audio:
Are you on Crack. Didn't you read the topic before you posted, bloody hell.

@ Sky Blue, cool down. My point is this. Yes i eat goats, yes i eat chickens. Traditionally this has always been the case, but it's primarily based on the level of intelligence of the animal concerned. Dogs guide blind people, they can raise the alarm in a fire, they can be trained to understand commands and they will never leave you if you're hurt. It's the same reason we don't go and shoot monkeys and eat them. Or are you going to justify that as well?

The reason we don't kill and eat each other, is because we have attained the level of intelligence to know that it is wrong to do so. The more we cross that line with other species and justify it, the closer we get to who knows what.

No need to tell me to calm down, I am not riled up so chill : )
Intelligence? Do a search on intelligent animals, in fact try youtube sef, something should be on there in this regard. You have horses doing maths, pigs doing intelligent things, etc, so that point seems invalid to me. Can't goats also be domesticated? If you argued along the lines of "endangered species" or something of the sort, then fine. If not, I don't get it. And by the way, people do eat monkeys in Nigeria and other part of the world LOL.

And since when was it generally accepted that dog has been man's best friend? What about people in the middle east who would argue with you that their camels are their best friends? Again, it just seems so anglocentric an idea. So you mean in the days of okonkwo of[i] things fall apart[/i], they had dogs running around called chidozie that they kept as pets? LOL

audio:
About that incident, how could you possibly know the guy was Igbo? Did you interview him afterwards?

@Topic. Although Dogs are also meat, so are human beings. Dogs have been mans best friend for centuries. If we say it's okay to eat them, next thing we'll be killing each other as the newest delicacy. I can't believe someone will look at a dogs head to check the parts.

That to me is gross. I had several dogs growing up and i loved all of them to death. I'm sorry, but the practise is repulsive

If it repulses you then that is fine and up to you, I am not saying it is ok or not but the snobbery related to this topic is quite hypocritical. To equate eating dog to eating humans is worrying. Do you eat goat? Do you eat chicken? Do you eat burgers? Are those not meat too? So does that mean you can eat humans? So how on earth does one correlate with the other? So because you had an animal that you named growing up, that makes eating animals from same species "babaric"? What of those who could not afford dogs and had goats named bingo instead while growing up, should isi ewu and goat meat pepper soup be banned because of them? LOL.

blacksta:
I think it is wrong eat domestic animal especially after being traumatised by dog killing event i witnessed

If the event you witnessed involved a chicken or lamb as opposed to a dog, would you be more traumatised or less? Haven't you seen domesticated sheep or goats? LOL.

Abeg make I hia word, sushi nko? You neva chop am? I am sure if the dog meat of a thing was served in microscopic portions in some upscale french restaurant and was called le viande de chien and the price was quadrupuled una go dey rush am dey think say una dey buy class or say na una trendy pass. LOL. Because some people have been watching lassie we no go hia word again.

Jakumo:
Mmmmm So how tasty is it then, El Razur ?

Also could you elaborate a bit on what filet of dog is like as well ?

Did you not read the article? Use the right terminology that can be understood, what part do you want to enquire about from El Razur? Do you mean the gearbox, tyres, headlight, suspension, fueltank? Which one? Don't really have any experience but I would assume all parts have their own unique tastes, peculiarities and subtle nuances in flavour : )

@Jakumo, I see what you were trying to do there but you just killed that song lol.

[quote author=A_K_O link=topic=263637.msg3753915#msg3753915 date=1240214801]Nigerians don't know anything about animal rights. In fact, a typical Nigerian would think you are crazy for touting animal rights. I can't blame us, we have 'more pressing issues' to deal with.[/quote]Animal Rights? Now that is funny, the country is yet to grasp the concept of human rights. So what is all this animal rights about? Does it stop chickens being murdered for consumption at KFC? I just don't get it and it is just beyond me that some people think keeping an animal "comfortable" before it is murdered for consumption is a mark of being civil, it is amusing. So I am guessing it is civil to walk into a fancy restaurant, sit down and order your steak rare or medium or whatever and wait for it to be served with a side dish of salad, but it is not civil for some people to enter mamaput and order roundabout or kill their meat for consumption? What really is the difference between the two scenarios? That one is less pretentious and honest while the other is done in a fancy restaurant where the killing is done for you a priori? LOL, how amusing. If people really want to fight for animal rights why don't they fight for ceasing the murdering of innocent animals, period? Making animals comfortable before they are murdered does not mean they are not murdered anyway, or do people really believe making sure the chicken's head is placed on a fluffy pillow with some Al green in the background makes the beheading more diginified? I just don't see how non vegans can claim moral high ground on this issue. This is some ridiculously funny stuff

Personally i don't know what the big deal is and what all the "yuck" and "eww" is all about. I am not saying I advocate eating dogs but from the way people are talking you would be excused for believing they were told people were eating trash or drinking from the gutter. Isn't dog meat also meat? Is it because it has been accepted as "cute" or pets in western conciousness? Its just like when the brits were going mad over canadians clubbing seals, that was the most hypocritical trite to come out of england in a while. What on earth gave England the audacity to go and tell canadians they can or cannot club seals if they wanted to? Do chickens just magically appear in the stores? Oh that is it, chickens commit suicide en masse and that is where KFC and stores get their chicken from, abi? LOL. It is like when westerners or people from other countries express disgust at the thought of eating snails meanwhile Nigerians eat it and so do the french (best when fried or incorporated in soup : ) ). Anyway, to each their own, if you no wan chop am no chop am, na democracy : )

ElRazur:
He's got good ideas. However, he needs to elaborate more on the government's plan and unveil any plans/initiatives asap.

For those of you saying he lacks vision, well I disagree. If oil runs out today in Nigeria, we will be left behind and forgotten like Sudan, Eritrea and those sub-Saharan countries with no resources.

Again his ideas are good, but he needs to back it up.

I disagree, he does lack vision. It is all well and good for anyone to say we will build roads, we will awaken agric sector and other sectors to diversify the economy, we will fix the power situation to improve quality of life and business, etc. Thats all well and good and anyone can say that, what shows real vision is actually being able to come up with a design or feasible plan to achieveing such, i.e. something tangible that can be worked on or developed. We can't eat words and after close to two years now of being president and pretty much achieving nothing i would have to say he DOES lack vision and does not know what on earth he is doing or supposed to do. Someone that apparently loses sleep over the power situation without being able to do anything to remedy the situation? Someone who "laments" on being excluded from G20 meetings without any plan backed up with substabnce as opposed to wishful thinking of how to get the country developed? What vision has he?