₦airaland Forum

@londoner, of course the government can be easily bypassed. However i hope it is not a means of raising hands up in resignation as to give up hope that government can ever improve. No one said anything about attatching name to anything or doing big man so where did you get that idea from? The question of "what can we do?" was meant to be a question by which people could contemplate and realise there is much to do so was kind of rhetorical. The government can be bypassed but i don't believe we should give up on the government because although we can do a lot without them, having government actually wake up to its responsibilities and stimulating government by even getting involved with it indirectly like political shows with actual credibility etc, we can do so much more and it would be more beneficial for a larger ammount of people. We can't keep raising our hands in resignation at the state of government. It doesn't have to be direct invovement, but it could be waking up the citizenry to demand better by even highlighting issues we discuss here and asking politicians and leaders of every level serious questions about accountability on how funds are spent etc. Now imagine millions doing this, you think they will all be ignored? Let it happen and let us see.

Another thing is getting some kind off a voice in the house of assembly as a group or other, it really isn't impossible.

@sheniqua, i hope that has not discouraged you from doing anything or getting involved? It just means the approach might have to be different, but i believe we are all of sound mind and can come up with ideas, i really do believe this. We have to get involved if we are to act. It might just have to be a different way of getting involved because i am sure there are also stories of people who went back and did something succesfully. Case in point, a good number of succesful businesses in lagos were started by Nigerians in diaspora who went back and got involved. the approaches seem endless

@londoner, forget about other people, what can those who want to do something do? I also don't think it is fair to condemn people who might not be so eager to go back to Nigeria when compared to others who are given the state of the country and how dificult it is to do anything there in the first place. The feeling of you must know somebody important or have a lot of cash to bribe people, etc. However,  really do feel that nairaland, especially this political section can be more than just a place for social commentary. I feel it can be so much more and can be used as a means to bring people together to do something substantial and make a difference. Among our discourses i feel it won't be difficult to come up with ideas on plans of actions or things to do, either together or individually. And no one said that Nigeria being the way it is justhifies what happened in S.A. Where did you get that conclusion from?

The first thing that came to mind about this whole AFRICOM base thing was terrorism. I mean, look at what happens in Kano all the time, someone drew cartoon in denmark and there is riot in Kano, someone said something in europe and there is riot, someone has diarrhea in mexico and their is riot, someone peed in South Africa and the pee had two streams and there is riot. Considering that fact won't having an american base give people the feeling of, if they can target the base then they can get back at america in some way?

@londoner, there are so many places to start from i don't even know where to start and i have said quite a few times. If anyone here feels helpless maybe because they are not in the country or for whatever reason, the first step is to get involved. Instead of us just being commentators, we could get involved. Contact chairmen of your LGA, contact the speakers from your state, what are they doing? What was their stand on certain bills? What about the commisioner, what are they doing? We have never had this culture of getting involved with government, we are part of the government. The citizenry is part of the government and for decades that arm of government has also failed. We need to take back the country and place its control in the hands of "the people" again. Contact media if you can about stories, set up forums where issues like we discuss here can be discussed, on TV or radio or whatever, so that Nigerians who don't have internet acess can also ponder on such issues and get involved also. Just get involved, it is the a step to begin with.
@Uche2nna, there are germans in america and americans in germany, the point is they each have their own country in order and have a place to call home that does not incite frustration everytime they think about it. A home that actually loves them back. People always say when you criticize Nigeria then you don't like it or you are not being patriotic. I don't believe that. When people come here everyday to discuss isssues, then i rather believe it must be close to their heart. Hence when they get frustrated and all that, and vent and insult, it is this love and passion manifesting itself.

LOOOOL. Oh please stop you are cracking me up. Democracy? LOL. Which democracy does Nigeria have? Rule of law, rule of law, how many ex governors or ministers are in prison today? Electoral reform? It is a year now, so what has been the outcome of the electoral reform which was one of the main issues Yaradua promised to address, as well as the FOI bill and emergency in power sector? Sorry because i feel i am being rude after you took time to post this but i am just being honest with what i see. The way a democracy is meant to work is that the people actually lead the country, and that is why you have the legislature, judiciary and executive. It is all geared towards people being heard and being in control in some way by voting which is basic, and many other activities which are meant to represent the will of the people. Does any Nigerian not in a political position feel any sort of power whatsoever about what goes on in Nigeria? I just feel that if we were honest with ourselves then we can begin to progress. So does Nigeria actually have a democracy? Do votes even count?

"Africa is suffering from lack of self worth". You won't get any arguements from me about that at all. And that issue has manifested itself in the most wicked of practices which you don't need to look all the way to south africa to see. Just look at nigeria. Giant of africa, giant of africa. Who are we trying to deceive? Yes africa has had it's own share of plundering and pillaging and all that and the countries where not formed naturally as a result of common interest, etc, we don't really need to go into all of that because we all know this. Hence i can only imagine how it must have felt after independence, that feeling of, finally having our own place that is our own and run by us. Needless to say, it is no longer that we have a place of our own but what we have done with that place. If your house smells of urine and it was just filled with garbage, any right thinking person will either clean it up or go and live somewhere else at the expense of living in another man's house. So what have we done with our own home? This low self esteem that african governments and countries seems to have, has made it quite easy for african governments or any body for that matter to divide the people. This low self esteem has also been capitalised on by governments who just rape the resources of their citizenry and the citizenry itself, knowing that the people are too easily divided and feel no self worth as a people that they will not act and will just receive any scraps from their own table as a priviledge. This is such a shame because i don't know anywhere richer than nigeria, rich in resources, rich in variety, rich in culture, rich in human resources, and rich in potential. If only we could focus on acting together to clean up our mess so that when someone comes here and suggests that the government sends helicopters (do they even have enough?) to go and bring troubbled Nigerians back home it won't sound so hilarious. Are you sure those people won't swim back to the place they were "rescued" from?

The funny part of the whole Jonathan as vice president issue, just goes to underline how disturbing the citizenry really is!! The southern states were robbed by their own governments, run down, inflicted with political thuggery and cultism, but the whole idea was, if a southerner is appointed vice president then all is well and it will be ok. The horrifying part is that it seems to have worked and i just can't phatom it. So people can live in such an insecure condition but have the time to think "at least one of us is vice president"? Instead of holding the leaders they had and have accountable it is this that is the prize? It is just disgusting and the whole freedom fighting is just laughable. The only point at which i will take it seriously is when these "freedom fighters" leave innocent citizens alone and stop kidnapping them for money, and can find their way to Odilli's house and the rest of their Ilk and demonstrate some real "freedom fighting".

Jonathan? I just find the whole idea laughable if I am to be honest. When you mention Jonathan please do genuinely enlighten me as to what he has done with his vice presidency that would make you even consider him as president? Jonathan's position as vice presidency stinks of an action that was simply put in place to please a particular geopolitical zone and the sad part is that they fell for it. Again, this whole political culture of rotation, sorry i fail to see how it helps anything and fail to see how it doesn't stifle this so called democrazy.

Does Switzerland have even up to half the problems we have? How many ethnic groups does Switzerland have compared to Nigeria? The thing about rotation is the only point at which it becomes even viable is when we actually have a rich pool of candidates and most importantly when there is actually a genuine democracy in place. Does Nigeria even have a democracy if we are to be honest with ourselves? Do votes count? Is the system geared towards a democracy of government by the people, of the poeple and for the people? If Switzerland practices rotation good for them, personally i really don't think rotational politics will ever be viable for Nigeria, ever. Unless you are talking of a very distant future. But if it has to be in place it is only when we have a democracy that enables a rich and innovative pool of candates to emerge that people can choose from whereby their votes will be counted, not all this handing over from thief to thief. In Switzerland rotation can be seen as maturity, but sorry, as far as i can see in Nigeria rotational politics is not maturity but simply petty at best.

This whole political region rotational policy is just one of the many vices that actually shows how seperated Nigeria is and exposes this fraud of unity for what it really is. This rotational policy is simply a vice of true democracy. If Nigeria was really united i personally don't see how on earth the region which a president comes from should be that important in judging if he/she is actually seen as the better candidate. So if the options to choose from are some highly intelligent candidates with an actual plan for the country and some guy who does not hold any vision for the country or have and plans for courses of actions to better the country we would have to choose the visionless guy because he happens to be from the north or whatever region is up for rotation that year? Unless i am mistaken, this whole rotational thing is not actually in the constitution and just simply a policy of some political parties eg PDP (feel free to correct me). Nobody should feel they have the right to any presidency and if the north is claiming such then it is simply dumbfounding given the history of "leadership" Nigeria has undegone in the hands of the Northern elite. Whatever the case, our democracy needs to be genuine and should be based on people with actual ideas wherver they may be from and not just because such people are from a certain are, it is just silly.

Tonim:
You are right.
One of the biggest blunders of OBJ was forcing Yar'Adull on us as president. I'm sure he is really regretting it as we speak.

Sorry but i really have to ask this. Who on earth gave OBJ the right to infringe anybody on us in the first place?? You speak as if this was just a simple blunder and Nigerians should be grateful that he at least gave us somebody. So Nigeria's future rests on who OBJ in all his graciousness takes out time in his busy life to inflict on us? Throwing us scraps of bone? What on earth happened to democracy? So Yaradua was the only viable option in a country of 140million? Who cares if OBJ regrets anything? How does that change anynthing? Sorry if i seem hostile i am just being honest and Nigeria seems to have this culture of being grateful at mediocrity and a lot of very below par achievements instead of demanding better which is rightfully theirs and ours. Why don't we just be honest? Why don't we stop romanticizing the issue as if it was a blunder of he went to toilet and forgot to wipe after? Let us say it as it is, he inflicted this person on Nigerians, this was done by wide spread vote rigging and thuggery or in some places no elections yet results being announced, etc. That is how it was done, it wasn't an innocent blunder. It wasn't a matter of he forgot to wipe his nose or an if you will, "oopsie daisy" situation, so let us not treat it as such or understate the matter in hyperbole. OBJ should stop contributing to Nigeria, it is enough, it is enough!! OBJ, IBB, Odilli, Igbenidion, all of them, they should just go somewhere and get another citizenship so that we can focus on cleaning up this mess and moving on without them. They have "helped" enough abeg. And who allowed these things to happen and carry on? Nigerians!! I trust, a man can go and rape a whole village but once he builds a road leaving the community with all of its many woes, all will be forgiven with the reasoning of "im try abeg, leave am". Only in Nigeria!!! The whole system seems to have failed in its duties, the legislature, judiciary, executive, and even more worryingly and shockingly, the citizens!!!

Yes, this people will be mourned and ministers and even maybe the president will make comments and hold services for the victims, calling it a tragedy, etc while the roads will remain unfixed. Thesame thing will happen next month and the whole charade and circus will kick start again. The circus continues ad infinitum while the masses continue just accepting it as part of everyday life.

This thread has been something else that is for sure. While i in no way defend what happened, i keep on maintaining that people get more shocked and want to act on issues that affect Nigerians only when it is outside Nigeria. What is even funnier is when people say Nigerians should just leave that "yeye place" and return home, as if Nigeria is paradise. I love Nigeria passionately and there is no place like it. However you want people to leave a country where they have electricity, water and a means to earn something resembling a living without being forced to play house boy or thug to some political ingrate or party to come to Nigeria where all of these and much more apply?? What i even find more interesting is when people automatically take people who want to be honest about the situation in Nigeria and are even more shocked about what is happening to people in our own country as being unpatriotic. I simply just don't get it to say the least. Almondjoy/Xiomarra came on ( a Nigerian herself if i am not mistaken) and people just went bersek LOL. Her posts always keep me entertained and are so to the point that's for sure (the responses it then gets never fail to amuse). Completely misplaced anger. It is like a family member coming into your house and saying there is feaces on the floor and then you get angry and beat the person up and then go back to living with the feaces. How does this relate to south africa you might add? Do you know how many people will be willing to give up a highly competitive salary abroad to simply go back to Nigeria and work just so they can be at home? If only they could simply be ensured the basics like electricity, water, etc, and know they won't have to keep cutting part of their salary as settlement for the armed robber that will be coming monthly? All this complaining about the incident is understandable. However i am just lost for understanding at why it is only when something happens outside Nigeria that we want to act. What about boycotting the Nigerian government? What about leading protest in Abuja to the house of assembly? But if a Nigerian catches cold in Ghana all hell will break lose in Nigeria. Someone said Nigeria is this Nigeria is that, ARE YOU MAD? GOOD. NOW WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT, WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO ABOUT IT? Instead of doing something worthwhile, waste more time and focus on insulting this person? And this is not the horse before the cart situation? Do we have a country to be proud off? Now what are we as Nigerians doing about it? This so called greatness of Nigeria eludes me. A country that has the potential to but is unwilling to take care of and provide for its citizens?

Lets be honest, the number of Okada riders as a form of public transport in nigeria needs to be seriously reduced. I mean, they are dangerous, a nuissance to other drivers, flaunt traffic laws, and i am sure we all know people who have been seriously injured as a result of Okada. However, if Okada is going to be banned in Port Harcourt then is the commisioner of transport or government providing any viable alternatives? Because if he isn't and is just going to ban okadas then it will be a symptom of the "action without thinking" that seems to have a hold on the vast majority of Nigerian leaders all to just put on a show. When Rivers State does something worthy of note or substantial then keep us informed. Until then please no more of this government banned okada, government commissioned pit toilet in mile one, etc

Getting frustrated at lack of achievement on this administration's path is getting quite tiring, exhausting and a tad boring. Nothing is news anymore, i mean you can even predict next months headlines: "Yaradua yet to do anything substantial". To be honest at this point all i hope and pray is that the electoral reforms are very seriously addressed. If he does not do anything and just that, then when next election comes it will be vital for the country to have a rich pool of candidates. If i am assured that votes count i will personally go on an email campaign and otherwise to make sure no one i know votes Yaradua into second term. He seems nice enough as a person but this presidential thing does not seem to be working out for him at all and i can see no vision whatsoever. If my life depended on him acting i'll plrobably take a sleeping pill that will knock me out for the next three years because i won't be missing much anyway. As the days go by i keep hoping desperately to be proved wrong about Yaradua and till date the whole charade goes on.

@OsunAmazon, i am sorry but i really don't see how this becomes a tribal issue or even a sexist one to be honest. So you are saying Etteh had nothing to answer for or no reason to resign and neither has Iyabo? If she did have something to answer for then should we have ignored it all in the spirit of making sure that yoruba women are not "victimised"? Instead of seeing it as she did wrong why do you first see it as she is Yoruba and then now see that she did something wrong? So does right and wrong now have tribal affiliation? Why must it all be defended with what as far as i can see is tribalism? If you have any qualms with Okonjo Iweala or Dora from NAFDAC, why not inform us to show us where they are falling short and actually educate us because i am genuinely curious to see evidence of this "victimisation" of "innocent" women?

londoner:
My general point, is that migration due to failed countries is NORMAL the world over. Nigeria would not be any different. I am comparing the phenomenon of migration, something which other peoples would not be condemned for.

The point I am making is that the only reason some are looking to justify this is because it involved the killing of Nigerians, simple. If it was just zimbabweans, even though their country is also failed, noone would be trying to justify it at all.

Nigeria has resourses yes, and those who have failed the nation are not the ones being burned alive, they are alive and well in Nigeria. I was not comparing Nigeria and Poland nin terms of ecomony , I am comparing the culture of migration.

You are hinging the justifcations of killings on the failure of government, thats just doesn't wash with me. The government is to blame for people leaving, but the fact that someone leaves for greener pasture does not justify that person being killed, it simply doesn't.

Xiamorra has no point, only hatred. She says all this, while herself being a Nigerian outside Nigeria.

Where on earth did i try to justify this action in my post? Where? All some people saw in the post was Xiomarra was hatred etc, but it actually reminds me of the kind of posts almondjoy used to make which were just hilarious and a lot of the time were to me anyway, on the point analysis. And then what was even funnier was when people did not see what she was trying to do (see what i saw anyway) and got mad  . Sure it might anger some people if you want to be angered, but while you took anger away from it, the point i saw was the point i tried to make earlier, which is that Nigerians don't seem to express any shock at the things happening in Nigeria.

Guys before you try and crucify Xiomarra try and actually understand part of what he/she is saying. I have already said these acts are condemnable and are just disgusting and no, it was not "a few people". It was an actual riot, and if you see the pictures, it was a mob action. However condemnable these actions are, @londoner you can't compare poland to Nigeria, please we aren't in thesame league, they have power and something resembling an actual economy. The thing is that people seem to only express shock and more importantly, demand action whenever something happens outside Nigeria. I really do wish we applied such shock to things that happen IN Nigeria which would lead us to demand better from our government and country too. How many times have riots broke out in the north whereby people were also beaten to death and so on due to intolerance to the fact that they were not mus.lim? Now how many of these people have ever been arrested or prosecuted? Now again, how many times has this happened? And then the state of the country which would take too much space to discuss which should get anybody shocked to action and yet, no action. I am not in anyway condoning these actions i just wished we also get same shock from the things that happen IN nigeria so that we are also driven to want to act as well and improve the country so that people won't be clamouring to leave when they don't really want to leave but have to because of the conditions caused by bad gorvernance and citizens that seem unwilling to get shocked or act. I bet if the situation we had in Nigeria was present in Ghana, we would be here shouting blue murder at how the Ghanian government is treating ghanians.

OlowoTee:
It's such a saddening situation, and it's so bad, very baadd that fellow Humans are treated in such demeaning manner!. I pity the poor souls who met their untimely death while struggling to make ends meet.

Our system as failed us. Our Government has failed us! Let all those that embezzle our funds and toil with our resources . . . .bury their head in shame. It's a pity that we suffer in the midst of plenty. . . .it's not the South Africans fault. . . .it's not their fault at all. . . . .it's not their fault,  . . .But we are all guity of our backwardness in one way or the other,  . . .it's not their fault,  . . .because they've been known for such violence and crimes overtime.

Oh yeah right, they are just burying their heads in "shame" in the midst of all their loot right now. So it is just now after all these decades that "shame" would suddenly slap them in the face? Do they have this so called feeling called "shame"? What good would their shame even do us now, i mean can we cash in such shame to obtain money? LOL.
I am not even concerned about whatever shame or guilt they might feel i just want them to leave the leadership positions and the politics of the country alone, period.

darfur:
africa should never be allowed to host any global event. we should spend all our recources in building a strong socio-economic and socio-political environment.
as well as strong security

To a certain degree i agree. Not necessarily about not hosting anything, but placing focus on developing ourselves and especially from within the continent. However it seems that a lot african countries or rather the governments are only interested in saving face, as if to try and deny the rampant poverty and hunger that are eating the respective nations. Instead when something bad happens the immediate reactions is "how do we look in front of foreigners". I just don't get it. Embarassment comes first before the genuine shock of something bad has happened.

@dafur, when S.A went from white rule to black rule things got worse? So apartheid was a good situation? So segregation was a good situation? I am really lost for words. A minority leave their counrtry, come into your own country and turn you into a second class citizen based on an audacity of superiority in a nation and continent that was not theirs in the first place, and that is better? So their was no violence in SA during that era?

@Uche2nna, out of genuine curiosity, why did you ever esteem south africa the hope of the black nation?

This will be even more pathetic if there was actually free elections. I mean, if the people of bayelsa state find solidarity with a political party that is not ashamed to use an ex convict as its poster boy and flavour of the month and then go out on election day and vote for that party then that is their own business. I just hope that those same people will be courteous enough not to come and bore everyone with rants about how their state is not making any progress and that their leaders are corrupt, because that is when it might become quite irritating.

WOW. I am still shocked that such a thing could happen. I knew south africa was a violent place but. . . . . This is condemnable and just, i mean beating people to death? One could claim that shooting someone to death, the shooter could claim some diconnection from the victim, but beating someone till they actually die and watch them? You really have to wonder at how much anger and hate must be present.  Whatever people choose to do to protest this, i just hope that people will make that same effort of 'doing something' when next we get news about people who are not mus.lims being killed and also beaten to death in the north. This is so sad and i don't know if anybody could be more shocked than me but it is just so frustrating when people come and want to take action and call on the Nigerian government for everyone else not in Nigeria, but when people are beaten to death also in Nigeria as a result of riots also born from intolerance and hatred it is just taken as a norm and as a given. Can't we also please start expressing some shock for Nigeria?

Here is my only problem with this, the double standards. That is simply it. "Distinguish between a cabinet's collective responsibilty and an individual ministerial responsibility"? So wasn't OBJ part of the cabinet too? He was the head of the cabinet wasn't he? Why must we use double standards? When you want to speak of Anenih then it becomes individual responsibility and then when those it become cabinet responsibility? Why the double standard? I might be misunderstanding you but it again seems to me like attaching all the good to OBJ and then all off a sudden absolving him of any wrong and putting the blame for anything bad on someone else. Why do that? If OBJ was head of the cabinet and a minister went around practising corruption and the head of the cabinet did not say anything, then please, whose responsibility is that really? You want to blame the child for misbehaving but you don't want to blame the parent for not doing anything whatsoever? Why don't we just be honest? Is as if you are saying OBJ and Annenih and Odili and Ibori do not deserve to be spoken of in thesame sentence. Why is that? Was OBJ not the leader? I just find it funny. If you said Anenih was an angel then i would not argue with you about OBJ, but to now say Anenih was bad and then not include OBJ? I am sorry but i just don't understand that.

@brownbonno we really should be looking forward agreed but are you not contradicting yourself? On one hand you praise OBJ as saying he "tried his best" (how do you know he did?) and then on the other hand you are quick to criticize people like Tony Anenih, who was a minister in whose administration? Who was his boss that let him run so rampant in his corrupt ways? Castigating the house for not passing the FOI bill is one thing, but doing that after saying OBJ did his best? Why did OBJ not pass the bill when he was in the twilight of his administration? Why do you seem to be selective in your memory of the past administration? Anything good immediately attach OBJ but for the monument of bad in the face of the minute good you immediately call others who were all part and parcel of that same administraion, so why seperate it, is that not being biased? An administration that saw the plummet of democracy whereby thugs like Adedibu and Peter Odili where celebrated? Did Peter Odili not win something like "governor of the year"? Have you been to Rivers State? An administration that glorified bad leadership in which we saw election standards plummet consecutively?? Any PDP led state that does not see PDP as the cancer destroying that state (if any) seems to be the exception to the rule. Why assign OBJ the good and exonerate him of the monument of wrong? Did he really leave the nation in that good a state? Really? And then attacking Yaradua? Who installed Yaradua as president? Sorry, i really believe our focus now should be trying to salvage what we have left, however when looking back why don't we exercise some objectivity and just be honest with ourselves?

Destroy culture? So because someone wants to hold party whole streets have to be blocked, causing traffic everywhere? Causing people delays to their own activities because someone wants to have a party? Is that not just pure selfishness in the name of culture? Can't these people find backyard? Can't they go and block roads in their own respective villages?

@Sagamite, port harcourt has practically seen little to no meaningful development in the 8 to 9 years, just a lot of very bad governance. Don't take my word for it, call anyone who lives there and ask them for yourself. Ask them what meaningful development they have seen?
You don't have to live in Nigeria to be able to contact your rep.

@Sagamite, so you have tried and it did not happen, or you just don't feel like trying in the first place?

@Sagamite, development in Port Harcourt? Since when?