₦airaland Forum

Salewa97:
Since you guys are always interested in blaming others for your predicament, kindly continue blaming the British for your failure to develop your region.

When would you start holding yourself responsible for your own actions or inactions?

I did not say Nigerians do not bear any responsibility. Go back and read my last paragraph. Of course, we are responsible for solving the problems we are left with today but it is very silly to pretend history didn't shape the system we are currently living in. And it is false to claim the British had nothing to do with the underdevelopment of our region when they played a major role. Even those of the British who are experts on the subject will acknowledge the massive disaster they caused in the region. Ironically, it is often Nigerians that rush to absolve the British of any accountability.

How does imagining the British were not involved in the underdevelopment of our region or that our history is different from what it is, help us? We should be taking a serious look at our history, understanding the root our problems and using that to draw REAL, precise, effective solutions that can help us in the present day. That is how we take accountability.

ebukal67x:
This is an interesting take on the subject. But I think the focus should be more on how we fix the present and not so much on the past.

I agree but without understanding how we got here, it is difficult to understand our particular problems and without understanding that, it is hard if not even impossible to find the best path forward.

Dtruthspeaker:
See how you started talking about people's personal health problem only to bend it into 'progressing as a nation".

The 2 are incompatible.

As to why they listen to pastors over professionals, it is because they know that their ailments is as a result of their sin full conduct and behaviour

Lol. You are sending your own people to death over religious ideas that even the bringers have progressed beyond. Have some shame. Why can a pastor not give help where his capacity is and allow a medical professional to do the same? What does a pastor with little to no medical knowledge know about diagnosing advanced illnesses? It's a shame what religion has done to our society, instead of celebrating and seeking for advances in medicine, we celebrate the ill-advice of pastors. Why can a humble and considerate pastor not bring himself to say he does not know and he's church member should meet a medical professional, does the 10 commandments not teach "Thou shall not bear false witness"?

Many times, we argue and argue about Nigeria’s problems without talking about where many of those problems started. Yes—Nigeria has made plenty of bad decisions since Independence. But what laid the groundwork for so much of the dysfunction in the first place?

Two big forces: the transatlantic slave trade and British colonialism.

To understand the scale of the damage, you have to picture the numbers and picture how small Africa’s population was at the time. Nigeria is over 230 million people today. But as recently as 1900, all of Africa combined was estimated to be around 140 million. During the height of the slave trade, the region we now call Nigeria is estimated to have been about 12 million people spread across different societies and kingdoms.

Now imagine this: over 2 million people taken as slaves from what we call Nigeria today—and likely more when you account for those who never even made it to the coast to be sold. That’s around 20% of the population. And it wasn’t a random 20%—it was disproportionately young, able-bodied males as that is what the slave traders sought the most. Imagine, young men who are essential to any society's productivity and development. Indeed they kidnapped so many men, our societies became mostly women for periods of time.

Next, consider how societies across the region responded to Europe’s massive demand for slaves. Yes, there were wars before the transatlantic trade and forms of slavery already existed. But the Europeans scaled the demand to an entirely different level along with putting high prices on human beings. As selling people became one of the most profitable businesses, violence went from an occasional occurrence and became a part of the economy. Wars, raiding, kidnapping was frequent and insecurity became normal. For centuries, entire communities had to reorganize their priorities around defense or recovering from damages as opposed to investing in growth. Indeed, things were so bad there are reports of people being scared to go out and work due to fear of being kidnapped.

And then, after centuries of destabilization and we had finally become so weak from being driven to live in a war zone, it was time for colonialism.

British rule didn’t "create Nigeria” as a project for Nigerians to flourish; it created an administration for efficient control. It fused many distinct peoples into one political unit simply for convenience, concentrated power at the center, and organized the economy around extraction. Even the infrastructure priorities reflected it—routes that made it easier to move cash crops and minerals to ports mattered more than building deep internal industrial capacity.

The design has not disappeared after Independence, it has mutated. You can see it in how our economy still rewards exporting raw materials and buying back finished goods. We sell crude cheap, then import refined fuel at a premium price. The real profits stack up where processing, technology, shipping, finance, and insurance happen which is outside our borders— while we at home carry the instability, the unemployment, and the currency inflation at home. That is the colonial logic only without their flags: an extraction-based structure that keeps development dependent and value creation elsewhere.

So yes, Nigeria has made mistakes. But the playing field was damaged long before our Independence—first by centuries of population loss and insecurity that kept resetting development, followed by a colonial system of control and extraction and it's current form we face today. If we want real progress, we have to talk honestly about the origins, not just the symptoms.

danvon:
I partially understand your point but i disagree

Russia was very backward compared to the rest of Europe, but after the Tsar was overthrown it actually led to rapid industrialization that placed Russia and Soviet Union on par with the USA, that industrialization could have never happened under the Tsars.

USA was created for the very sole purpose of escaping the limitations of a monarchy society, limitations like one prince inheriting very large estates, estates that would otherwise have been used for agriculture or manufacturing but under monarchy it becomes a symbol of influence and power; being barred from certain places and opportunities simply because you didnt possess the right honorific; waging a war every time a King dies etc

China under Qing dynasty seriously stagnated and this led to the century of humiliation, China had to abandon monarchy and learn somethings from USA.

Germany's industrial boom didnt happen under the Kaiser, it happened under Otto Von Bismarck.

France industrial global peak began during the French revolution and Napoleonic era.

You made a point that the industrial capacity was already in those countries before they overthrew the monarchy, this is true but in those countries of high industrial capacity you'll find out that the monarchy was severely weakened to the point of being a status ceremonial symbol because the monarchy system by itself is usually opposed to industrial capacity and merely tolerates it when it becomes unavoidable.

The very idea of being a king is that you are born with a special and greater destiny than everybody else, how do you reconcile the principle of democracy and equality with such an idea?

How do you promote industrial capacity in a society where any work aside from warfare and politics is seen as degrading, fit for peasants and slaves?

How can a country know its industrial capacity if it doesnt eliminate certain parasitic elements from its society?

Thanks for your excellent points. I'm very exhausted now but will respond to them tomorrow.

Kushites:
Excellent points. Nothing stops us from returning to executive monarchies at regional level.

The trick is what to do at national level.

Thanks. Exactly, executive monarchs with a clear constitutional limitation. For the head at the national level, I am now leaning towards a sort of committees led by a single official.

Fenrir:
Steadygo,

Your reply confirms one thing with perfect clarity: you do not understand the system you are defending.

You argue that Nigerian monarchies failed because colonial forces destroyed them. Yet you simultaneously praise today’s ceremonial monarchs for doing more for their people than the federal government. You cannot have it both ways. If the pre colonial monarchies were functional, and today’s version is powerless, then your argument collapses into contradiction. You want to revive something that no longer exists, yet you cannot explain how the revived system would avoid becoming exactly what we see today: tribal figureheads with crowns, titles, and no structural authority.

The moment you acknowledged that Nigeria’s monarchies were dismantled by external powers, you admitted the core point you tried to deny. If a system collapses the moment pressure is applied, it was never stable. A monarchy that depends on perfect isolation to survive is not governance. It is nostalgia.

You claim a unified structure can be built by empowering multiple monarchs through federalization. That is the same system Nigeria currently suffers under. It already has hundreds of rulers with localized loyalty, none with national legitimacy, and every tribe convinced its leader is the only one worthy of authority. You did not propose a solution. You proposed scaling up the very fragmentation that prevents nationhood.

You are trying to create national cohesion using the architecture of division.

Your logic is as follows

Nigeria fails because tribes fight for dominance
Therefore give every tribe more autonomous power
Then find a king who unites them

That is not political theory. That is a mathematical impossibility. A system based on fragmented identity cannot produce unified authority. You cannot assemble a nation out of leaders who only lead inward.

You say monarchs today do more than the federal government. If that were true, Nigerians would not be migrating, protesting, or begging politicians for basics. A functional traditional leadership structure is not measured by nostalgia, poetry, or ceremony. It is measured by infrastructure, security, accountability, and continuity. Where are the monarch built roads? Where is the monarch enforced rule of law? Where is the monarch led economic transformation?

If monarchs are your solution, produce monarch results.

Your final claim, that I attack you more than you attack me, reveals the real problem. You do not differentiate between argument and ego. You believe critique is insult because your identity is welded to your opinion. You are so emotionally invested in your worldview that logical pressure feels like aggression. That is why you never engage the content. You defend your feelings instead of your reasoning.

You say I insulted you. I dismantled your position.
You say I attacked you. I exposed the contradictions.
You say I am insecure. I am the only one answering the question.

A man who cannot separate himself from his ideas cannot improve his ideas.

Your own responses prove why monarchy cannot succeed in Nigeria. You cannot imagine power without personal injury. You cannot imagine disagreement without hostility. You cannot imagine leadership without tribal suspicion. If one conversation triggers defensiveness, how do you expect an entire nation to bow to a single authority without war?

Monarchy requires unquestioned legitimacy. Nigeria does not possess a shared identity capable of granting it. You can decorate the idea with history, nostalgia, and wounded pride, but the mathematics remains unchanged.

A fractured people cannot produce a unified throne.

Until you confront that reality, you are not proposing monarchy. You are romanticizing fragmentation and calling it tradition.

Now, if you want to continue, address the argument rather than my tone. Produce a structural model where multiple tribal monarchies willingly submit to a central crown without accusations of marginalization, ethnic dominance, or secession threats. If you cannot, then your idea is not a solution. It is a story you tell yourself to avoid facing the present.

Your move.

You don't seem to understand my points but are taking out from it and building your own ideas.

What gives you the idea that Nigerian monarchies were in "perfect isolation"? Lol. A system that collapses because it was faced by an even more powerful external power does not mean it was 'non functional' or in "perfect isolation". By your logic every nation that has been conquered would have prior been 'non functional' and every non-European one would have been in "perfect isolation". Even today in the modern world, there are countries that would be considered stable yet do not have as strong military might such as nuclear power. If a nuclear power decided to attack such countries, they will be conquered. Is it now fair to say those countries were 'not functional'? For monarchies to be doing as well for their people as they are doing today despite being stripped of their governing power, does not suggest those monarchies were 'not functional' in the pasts but suggests they had value. that people are.

People begging politicians for basics does not mean monarchs are not trying for their people, what it shows is that the monarch no longer have governing power. The people who actually control the budget, the laws, the security forces and the big economic decisions are the politicians. If those same politicians were not corrupt and were genuinely serving Nigerians, people would not need to beg them for money, or flee the country, or keep protesting every few years.

Even the “protesting” you mentioned actually supports my point, not yours. As 9 times out of 10, Nigerians are protesting failures and abuses that come from the federal or state governments, not from traditional rulers. That should tell you where the failure is coming from.

Now, in spite of not having any real power or authority, there is still visible work we can see these African (Nigerian) monarchs doing for their community. We see palace-led committees organizing funds for boreholes, schools, clinics and settling disputes.

It is not tribal wars or tribal conflict that is the main issue with Nigeria, it is a corrupt and ineffective federal government. And they hide behind tribal and religious statements to distract people from their own incompetence.

You did not "dismantle my position" or "expose my contradictions", you have not even begun to. It is not that I believe critique is insult either. It is that what you are producing are insults. Statements like "You are a jester", "You are nostalgic and insecure", "You cannot separate feelings from ideas", "Auditioning for head jester", and so forth lol. These are not analysis but attempts at character assessment. Continue this and I will treat you as unready for a serious discussion with me, and cease replying to your posts all together.

Fenrir:
Steadygo,

You have now proven exactly what I predicted. When presented with a structured argument, a clear challenge, and a choice between reflection and reaction, you selected the only path your ego understands:

You ignored the content and attacked the messenger.

Your question “Are you a troll?” reveals far more about you than you intended. Let me clarify something, since mythology seems to be the only language you partially grasp.

In Norse tradition, a troll is not merely a nuisance. A troll is a creature that hides under bridges and attacks those who cross from ignorance into knowledge. It fears sunlight because truth turns it to stone. A troll cannot debate, cannot evolve, and cannot stand in the open. It only snarls from the shadows because reality would destroy it.

Look carefully at your response and tell me which of us behaves like that.

I gave you a choice

Engage the argument or expose yourself.

You chose exposure.

You did not refute a single point. Not the IQ premise. Not the brain drain. Not the tribal fragmentation. Not the religious indoctrination. Not the contradiction between Yoruba rhetoric and Yoruba behavior. You simply recoiled, hissed, and retreated into accusations.

This is not intelligence.
This is avoidance dressed as pride.

You ask if I am a troll because you cannot imagine a mind that confronts lies without kneeling to them. It is easier for you to believe that anyone who challenges your illusions must be some supernatural irritant disrupting your comfort zone.

A person who mistakes interrogation for hostility cannot grow.
A nation full of such minds cannot progress.

Understand this clearly

A troll in mythology appears when a hero attempts to cross a boundary into a better world. The troll screams, threatens, throws stones, anything to stop the crossing, because once the hero reaches the other side, the troll becomes irrelevant.

You are that troll now

Guarding the bridge to Nigeria’s potential
Screeching instead of thinking
Fearing truth like sunlight

And the worst part is that you genuinely believe the noise you make is argument.

I do not need to insult you.
Your reaction did it for me.

Next time, prove your words have spine. Address the argument or step aside. The bridge cannot be guarded forever by a creature afraid of daylight.

Your move.

Your previous post on IQ contained points which you had brought up before in an earlier post and I had addressed. I do not need to keep restating and clarifying just because you bring up the same thing again, especially when it was not relevant to the point of my original post the first time around. I also do not have to take the time to go through all your many insults and accusations against me, and prove to you how they are unfounded. Nor do I have the time to dabble in insults with you. I absolutely have more important things to do.

danvon:
USA, Russia, China, Germany and France all abolished monarchy, these countries became even more developed as a result and you want us a developing country to embrace it?

And who told you a King dedicates his life to rule the people in a monarchy? The king's viziers rule the people, the king mostly does nothing but pretend to be a god.

And what happens when the king dies? Then every single son-distant relative he has will start vying for the throne along with their courts and favourites.

Nigeria needs to abandon ALL traditional systems, South South, West, East or North

The development of the countries you listed can’t seriously be explained by they abolishment of monarchy. Their wealth and power come from things like early industrialization, access to global trade . Also, in the case of the western world much of their wealth is due to imperialism; slavery, colonial extraction as well as the resources they are able to get cheap today.

In fact, much of the military and industrial capacity that allowed for European imperialism was built while those states were still in monarchies. Britain, France and others developed their ships, guns and financial systems under kings and emperors, and used them to dominate global trade and colonise other regions. Germany’s core industrial boom happened under the Kaiser. Russia’s 19th-century industrialization was driven by the Tsarist state. France also had major economic and infrastructure growth under regimes like the Second Empire.

The United States started as a British colonial extension under a king. They later grew rich as a republic but after already inheriting industrialization from Britain and still relied heavily on slavery, and as native land seizure, and unequal integration into the world economy. China's industrialization is different and more modern, it followed the industrialization model of the western world so it doesn't take away from the larger point.

I don't put this down to at all defend slavery, imperialism or colonization but only to show that the historical record doesn't support the idea that abolishing monarchy automatically causes development. Many states built their power under monarchies and only later changed their regime type.

Fenrir:
Steadygo,

You are accidentally far more honest than you realize.

You say you took my coronation as a joke, yet your reply is the punchline because you have positioned yourself as exactly what I implied the jester who takes himself seriously.

A jester doesn’t know he is the entertainment.
He thinks he is part of the throne room because he stands near the king.
He mistakes proximity for power.

That is you.

Now, let us dismantle your argument piece by piece.

1. Your “multiple monarchies” already exist and already failed

You speak as though Nigeria has no kings and needs new ones.

Are you unaware of what country you live in?

You already have

Obas
Ezes
Obis
Emirs
Tor Tiv
Amanayabo
Olu
Sarki
And dozens of equivalents across over 371 tribes

Nigeria is a monarchy farm.
There are more crowns than functioning roads.

If traditional authority were the magical solution you imagine, Nigeria would be utopia by now.

Instead, what do these kings do

Fight over land
Collect homage
Meddle in marriages
Sell endorsements to politicians
Turn culture into commerce
Weaponize identity for influence

Your proposed return to monarchy is not innovation. It is expanding a system that is already failing on a tribal scale into a national catastrophe.

2. You want a unifying monarch in a country where tribes cannot tolerate each other

You proved my point without realizing it

“I suspect we will still need a unifying system”

Nigeria cannot unify around

Language
Religion
History
National holidays
A flag
A name
Even the pronunciation of jollof

Yet somehow your solution is

“Let’s crown more kings”

That is not politics.
It is cosplay with consequences.

3. Your worldview is not monarchist. It is tribal isolationism wearing royal perfume

Your every reply follows the same pattern

Attack the outsider
Prioritize tribe over logic
Use culture as a shield from accountability
Pretend criticism equals disrespect

That is not the mindset of a monarchist.

It is the mindset of a gatekeeper terrified of foreign scrutiny.

Your rhetoric reveals the truth

You do not want a king.
You want a tribal referee who silences perspectives you dislike.

A monarchy cannot exist in a mind that treats every foreign thought as an invasion.

That is not unity.

That is xenophobia with grammar.

4. Monarchies require trust. Nigeria has suspicion baked into its DNA

Historical monarchies thrived because subjects believed

The king represented them
The throne was sacred
Identity flowed upward

In Nigeria identity flows sideways

People are Yoruba first, Igbo first, Hausa first, Fulani first and Nigerian only during football matches or visa applications.

Your argument collapses on contact with reality.

You are trying to build a skyscraper on quicksand and ego.

5. The checkmate

You unintentionally confirmed the original claim

Nigeria does not reject monarchy because it is Western.

Nigeria rejects monarchy because Nigerians cannot agree on who deserves to rule even in theory.

Your response proves it

You could not engage the argument without attacking identity.
You could not debate without defending tribe.
You could not imagine leadership without suspicion of outsiders.

A nation that cannot tolerate criticism cannot enthrone a king.

And the man who reacts to foreign presence like a territorial rooster is not proposing monarchy.

He is auditioning for head jester.


Your suggestion is not visionary.
It is nostalgia dipped in insecurity.

You do not defend monarchy.

You defend a tribal echo chamber where unfamiliar voices must be mocked, minimized, or dismissed.

A king needs loyalty.
A jester needs an audience.
Your replies make clear which one you are.

The jester is always the loudest in the hall because he is the only one who fears silence.

Are you not aware that a lot of the monarchies, in their real sense, which you dismiss as "failures" fell after colonization and the monarchies we see in Nigeria today have little to no governing powers but are mainly ceremonial? Are you also not aware that many Nigerian monarchs are doing more for their people today considering their limited power than the federal government? Yes, the monarchies failed but you skip the fact that they failed due to attacks from external western powers. It is one of the reasons that in my post I mention there should be a form of federalization that recognizes and empowers the multiple traditional polities yet links them in a unifying framework.

You accuse me of being insecure but if I am throwing any attacks, you are the one throwing far more than me. Indeed, the majority of your post is insults and attacks not objective responses.

Sheuns:
Monarchy cannot work for regions. Take South West for example: who will be the paramount ruler of that entire region? Is it Ooni or Alaafin? What do you expect of other Kings in that region? The Soun, Timi of Ede, Akran of Badagry, Awujale of Ijebu, Alake of Egba?

Do you think these monarchs will submit to be under any other king as chiefs?

Monarchy can only work for a very small region of people with the same ideology.

The other way to have a sole king is by going to wars and battles.

Democracy is still the better option.

I actually meant smaller regions being led by their own traditional leaders, in a modern sense so without the backward practices of the past like human sacrifices. So for instance, Awujale of IJebu leading Ijebuland, Ooni of Ife leading Ife, Alaafin of Oyo leading his Oyo territory. Then all of these monarchs united under a federalized monarchy for the benefit of all Nigerians. We can also say some sort of federalized committee if being under a federal monarch system will just be too unacceptable for them.

Fenrir:
A monarchy sounds romantic until you remember one critical detail: Nigeria is not a homogenous country. You do not have one people with one identity who see themselves first as Nigerians. You have multiple ethnic blocs, each with its own history, heroes, grievances, and suspicion of the others. Now imagine placing a crown on just one head. What happens next?

If the king is Yoruba, the Igbo will scream marginalization.
If the king is Hausa Fulani, the South will accuse him of domination.
If the king is Igbo, the North will demand secession before breakfast.
If you rotate the crown, every tribe will still see the king as a temporary enemy in a robe.

Monarchy depends on one thing Nigeria does not have: a unified cultural loyalty. Monarchies survive when the citizens believe the crown represents everyone. Nigerians do not even trust each other over rice recipes, talk less of eternal national allegiance.

In fact, Nigeria would not have a king. Nigeria would have a tribal warlord with a better wardrobe.

And here is the irony: the same people shouting for monarchy are the same ones who cannot tolerate a governor from another tribe. You want a king? A permanent ruler? In a country where people argue over flags, names, borders, language, food, history, and even the correct way to pray?

A monarchy in Nigeria would last three weeks before:

One tribe claims the king is biased,
Another calls for self determination,
Someone somewhere shouts "not my king,"
And the South East forms a committee to create their own crown.

Unless of course, they make me king.

I have no tribe here, no ancestral enemies, no uncle waiting for a contract, and no hidden agenda. My only loyalty would be to my throne, my royal goat, and ensuring no one cooks jollof rice without a license.

In summary: monarchy in Nigeria is impossible, impractical, and guaranteed to collapse faster than NEPA power supply… unless King Sven rules. In that case, everybody gets suya and nobody fights. Problem solved.

Yes, of course a single king cannot rule of Nigeria. My post was to imply our forms of monarchy before colonization, which was not a single king but multiple kings across many independent tribes. I think that system worked better and when I think of it, I see no reason why it cannot be updated to work today as opposed to the western form of democracy we have now. I do think that even across all tribes of Nigeria and their monarchies or traditional systems for tribes which do not have monarchies, we still will need a unifying system. And I suspect a monarchy-like system will also be better for such a unifying system.

I take your suggestion of being the ruler of Nigeria as a joke.

Fenrir:
Steadygo,

Before anything else, you will address me with the same humility and respect you demand from others. My name is Sven, or my username Fenrir, not foreigner, not intruder, and certainly not whatever belittling label you invent to protect your ego. If you refuse, I will continue speaking about you with the same contempt you exhibit, the contempt of a man who mistakes arrogance for identity and nationalism for intelligence.

Now let us proceed.

THE SURGICAL BREAKDOWN OF YOUR ENTIRE POSITION

You keep mistaking national pride for national competence. That is why every rational point feels like a personal assault, because your ego is doing the listening, not your intellect.

1. The IQ Ranking Issue

You wave IQ charts around as though they are divine scripture yet you have not interrogated how they are created.

An IQ score reflects

Quality of education
Nutrition and child development
Language familiarity with the test
Socioeconomic stability

It does not measure the intelligence of a tribe.

Norway scores high not because Norwegians are physically born more intelligent, but because the environment is engineered to allow intelligence to develop. You are trying to measure a seed by judging a field made of concrete.

That is not science. That is insecurity.

2. Nigeria’s Brain Drain

Nigeria exports intelligence in the same way it exports oil. Other nations refine it.

Nigerians leave because

Their brilliance is suffocated by tribal loyalty
Merit is secondary to ego
Innovation is treated like rebellion
Criticism is seen as insult rather than improvement

You are hemorrhaging your best minds because the average Nigerian must escape their country to be valued by it.

A nation that chases its brightest out cannot complain about rankings.

3. The Tribal Identity Problem

You, specifically, are the perfect case study.

You claim humility as a Yoruba virtue, yet your behavior is the opposite of humility. Yoruba culture once prized dignity and composure. Today, many weaponize it as a shield for arrogance.

If prostration were still genuinely cultural, it would be accompanied by responsibility, restraint, and honor. Instead, it has become ego maintenance, a ritual without substance

A performance of respect rather than the practice of it.

Tradition is not sacred merely because it is old. Most Yoruba traditions once celebrated communal accountability, yet you abandon those while clinging only to the ones that validate your ego.

That is not culture.
That is cosplay.

4. Emotional Nationalism

Your nationalism is not patriotism. It is fear of inadequacy dressed as pride.

The moment an uncomfortable truth emerges, you respond like a scorched child

Who are you to speak
You are a foreigner
You hate Yoruba
You are disrespecting Nigeria

None of these are arguments. They are emotional tantrums masquerading as cultural defense.

If geography determines truth, then physics collapses at borders.

5. The Personal Attacks

Your obsession with my origin proves the exact point you deny.

Your arguments are not logical, they are tribal. You cannot separate critique from identity because criticism feels like disinheritance.

You do not defend Nigeria.
You defend your ego inside Nigeria.

That is why discourse with you feels like babysitting insecurity.

6. The Yoruba Contradiction

You claim Yoruba are respectful and humble, yet your behavior disproves your claim.

Respect is not

Screaming hierarchy
Demanding obedience
Silencing dissent
Insulting critics

Respect is earned by dignity, restraint, and accountability.

If Yoruba men practiced what Yoruba rhetoric preaches, Lagos would not lead the country in gender based violence statistics, and accountability would not be interpreted as tribal blasphemy.

Your reaction reveals the truth

You want reverence, not dialogue.

7. The Religion Problem The Core of the Decline

Here is the final, fatal blow.

Nigeria is one of the few countries that forces religion into state education. Children are not just taught, they are conditioned

Forced prayers
Mandatory worship
Religious doctrine in academic spaces

This creates citizens who obey before they question.

The highest performing nations on Earth share one trait

Religion is private. Education is secular.

Norway. Japan. South Korea. Singapore. Germany. Finland.

These nations do not pray in classrooms. They think in classrooms.

Nigeria does the opposite

It replaces curiosity with obedience, inquiry with recitation, and innovation with superstition. You kneel where other nations investigate. You worship where others experiment. You accept where others adapt.

As I said already

When faith leads where knowledge should rule, the nation kneels before its own potential.

Your system teaches submission, not cognition.
It produces believers, not builders.

And then you wonder why engineers leave.

Religion is not the problem.
Its placement is.

THE CONCLUSION YOU CANNOT ESCAPE

Nigeria is not failing because Nigerians lack intelligence.

Nigeria is failing because

Emotion is valued over logic
Tribal pride replaces national cohesion
Religion permeates state institutions
Criticism is treated as hostility
Tradition is confused with ego
Intelligence must flee to be recognized

You asked for truth. I delivered it.

Your response now will reveal who you are

If you can engage the argument, you are intelligent.
If you attack the messenger, you are exposed.

And this time, I will not let you pretend you do not understand the difference.

Choose wisely.

You are back. I don't know why you always respond to me with things unrelated to what I post. Are you an internet troll?

mohbadliveson:
Trump please come quickly

Why does he need to come? Why does he not bring Nigerian Christians over to America like he was doing with white South Africans?

Fenrir:
Let’s be honest — sexual violence in Nigeria, shows most Yoruba men are the perpetrators and in Yoruba-majority areas like Lagos, Oyo, and Ogun, it is a serious crisis. Studies show that large numbers of women have experienced sexual assault at least once in their lifetime, and experts say most cases never even get reported. When you account for both reported and unreported incidents, the real scale is staggering.

That’s why it’s frustrating when people treat this as a rare problem or get defensive instead of acknowledging how deep the issue runs. You can’t solve it if you keep pretending it’s isolated or exaggerated.

At the same time, it’s perfectly fair and accurate to blame this entire ethnic group of men for a societal problem. The real issue is the culture of silence, weak enforcement, and lack of accountability that allows abuse to continue. Facing the data and calling for change is not an attack on Yoruba men its just the truth — it’s a demand for justice for victims and for a healthier community overall.

I am not interested in having this discussion with you any further as your objective seems to be to debate and not learn. I also will not waste much more energy on an entitled foreigner so for the last time, I will clarify: Most Yoruba men are NOT rapists! The Yoruba men who commit acts of sexual assault do not make up the majority of Yoruba men therefore it is wrong to call most Yoruba men rapists or all Yoruba men, I do not know what is so hard to understand about this. No one here has said the problem of sexual assault is rare. On the contrary, it is a very serious problem but that does not amount to that a majority of Yoruba men make up the offenders. Your data does not come near to proving most Yoruba men are sexual offenders, and it is absurd you will think such. Even if you consider the full extent of cases which are not reported, it does not begin to come near to most Yoruba men being sexual offenders. And it is absurd you will think such. It also comes across as though you do not understand that case counts is not the same as perpetrator count — single perpetrators can account for multiple cases.
There are over 12 million adult Yoruba males. Show me what data claims that over 6 million of them are rapists, or retract.

Sexual violence is a global problem across societies world wide, it is not Yoruba culture. Specific behaviors and attitudes enable rape but that does not define Yoruba culture. Indeed, there are Yoruba men who may even go as far as to kill someone if they sexually abuse his daughter. You are like a white person in the US claiming every black man he passes is in a gang then defends himself when confronted by saying "yes, there is a gang problem in the black community.". I ask you again — if you were a Yoruba man, will you so boldly go out and proclaim that all Yoruba men are rapists when you yourself are not one and you see so many others who are not? Your language does not speak to your concern, it speaks to your indifference as a foreigner. We do not need foreigners who feel they are our helpers but only take us 2 steps forward, 10 steps backwards.

Fenrir:
Let’s be clear: I’m talking about the male half of the Yoruba community — the ones committing or defending sexual violence. Yoruba women and children aren’t raping or beating themselves. The violence comes from men, and pretending otherwise is cowardice.

Pointing this out isn’t hate; it’s accountability. The data from Lagos DSVA and UNFPA show thousands of women and children assaulted every year in Yoruba states, mostly by men. That’s not propaganda — that’s evidence.

Until Yoruba men start calling out other men instead of hiding behind “culture,” nothing will change. Silence isn’t dignity; it’s complicity.

You dont even care about your own people. You only care about the male half.

Go back and read my post, you are splitting hairs. My point is that most Yoruba men are NOT rapists. To speak as if they all are, and label it on your bio is wrong. And it goes back to my last point in my previous post, go and read it and take your time with it.

On the contrary, I care about all my people. That is why I cannot label the entirety of Yoruba men as rapists when many of them are innocent and are the personal supporters of their female counterparts who are victims of these sexual assaults.

Fenrir:
You’re overestimating your importance here. Yes, I started replying to your threads after your first accusation — deliberately. You made wild statements, and I decided to respond. It’s a public forum, not your private property. You don’t own any topic here, and you have no authority over who comments or where. If my presence annoys you, that’s your problem, not mine.

Now, let’s get something straight: I am not against Yoruba people. What I oppose is the distortion of Yoruba identity and history, and the arrogance that comes with shouting “tradition” every time someone dares to question hypocrisy. Not every old habit is sacred. Some things called “tradition” are just outdated behaviour being forced on others. Culture is meant to be lived, not weaponised.

And if discussing sexual violence upsets you, that says more about your priorities than mine. These are verifiable facts, not insults:

Lagos State: 24,009 sexual and gender-based violence cases were officially recorded between January 2019 and December 2023.

Lagos (Aug 2022 – July 2023): The DSVA handled 5,624 cases — 90 rapes, 72 sexual assaults, 235 defilements.

Lagos (Aug 2024 – July 2025): 8,692 new cases, including 243 defilements, 99 rapes, and 25 sexual assaults by penetration.

Oyo State: UNFPA data shows 17.1 % of women aged 15+ have suffered physical violence, 3.2 % sexual violence.

Ekiti State: The Moremi Clinic recorded 139 GBV cases in a single year — victims as young as 6 months and as old as 85 years.

Osun State: Ranked fourth nationally for SGBV prevalence. Among its cases: a 95-year-old woman raped, and a 65-year-old attacked while caring for her sick husband.

These are Yoruba communities — and these are the realities. Quoting facts is not “hate.” It’s awareness. Pretending these things don’t happen doesn’t make the community look stronger — it makes it look dishonest.

So, before you cry about being “followed,” remember this: disagreement is not harassment, and debate is not delusion. If my responses shake your comfort, maybe it’s because they hit too close to truth.

This is a public space. You talk, I respond. That’s how discussion works. If you can’t handle that, the problem isn’t me — it’s your ego.

Listen, I have clearly said I am not scared of you following me. Yet you say I want to control what you reply to and that I find disagreement as harassment, lol. You take one inch of something and fabricate the rest of it to project the image you like. Let me clarify, I do not care much about what you respond to or where you choose to be active on Nairaland. Indeed, I care of yours less than others. However, just as you have a right to post in a public space, I also have a right to disapprove of your posts in the public space. What you choose to do with my disapproval, is your business.

I really do not care for your rationale behind why you wrote what you did about the Yorubas. There are over 40 million Yoruba people. It is very telling when you as a foreigner comes here, sees problems within a subset of the community and takes it as an opportunity to represent the whole group. Indeed, you put it proudly on your bio. Let me ask you this, do you think a Yoruba man who is not among those sexual offenders will make that same comment you did about Yoruba people? The only person who can take the wrong actions of a small subset of a group, and apply it to the entirety of the group, is someone who he himself is not a member of that group and thereby does not feel such a comment can apply to him. Therefore, I call you Mr. Foreigner as freely as you write what you do about Yorubas in your bio. If that shakes your comfort, maybe it's because it hits close to the truth.

Fenrir:
Your message says far more about you than it does about me. You’ve constructed an entire story in your mind and now seem determined to defend it, no matter how detached it is from reality. That’s exactly why rational discussion with you quickly turns pointless.

And for the record, my bio is absolutely entitled to say what I want it to. I fought in Afghanistan for the rights of innocent women and children — for people who couldn’t speak freely in their own country. So you’ll have to excuse me if I’m not particularly moved when someone who’s never faced that kind of struggle tries to lecture me on what I can or cannot say.

If you feel compelled to attack someone simply because they’re from another country, that isn’t patriotism — it’s insecurity disguised as pride. No intelligent person uses nationality as a weapon in debate.

You can keep telling yourself I’m “following” you if it helps you feel important, but let’s be honest — you’re not nearly that interesting. I engage in open discussions, not personal vendettas.

I’ve met far more dangerous people in far worse places than this forum, so don’t flatter yourself — you’re quite safe. What you should really worry about is how small-mindedness looks when it’s laid bare for everyone to see.

You are the only one who has given any sign that you are prone to delusions. It does not mean much to me that you served in Afghanistan. You do not me or my life experiences, nor do I feel the need to share them with you. You are not being attacked because you are "from another country", you are entitled to say whatever you want and I am entitled to reprimand. And indeed, I WILL reprimand it when a foreigner of this land settles here then goes on to call Yoruba men 'rapists who want to be worshipped'. If it displeases you, then Mr. Foreigner, my aim is NOT to please you! As for the matter of you following me, you have replied to almost all my topics. Even topics I made before my encounter with you, you have replied to them. And all your responses started coming in only after my encounter with you. I am not sure how you wish to claim it is coincidental, hence why I suggest you are prone to delusions.

I know I am safe, I cannot be scared merely because you follow me around on an Internet forum.

Fenrir:
Relevance isn’t something decided by emotion, it’s earned by contribution — and right now, Nigeria needs every honest perspective it can get, whether it’s comfortable or not.

You talk about “Nigerian intelligence,” yet react to a simple discussion like it’s a personal insult. That’s not intelligence — that’s insecurity dressed as pride.

If you only want Nigerians to agree with you, you’re not having a discussion, you’re holding a mirror. And the irony? The world you reject opinions from is the same world Nigeria depends on for validation, technology, and investment.

So maybe the “irrelevant” foreign view isn’t the problem — maybe it’s the refusal to face uncomfortable truths.

Since it was in your mind you conjured up your half-baked truths, you should dismantle them in your own mind. However, Mr. Foreigner, I will give you a response - Nobody here is offended by your post. Nobody has insulted your post and it remains here unblemished for anyone to read. Nobody here has also shown to be looking for unanimous agreement. Your attitude is like a child who feels he must be welcome in every space. You know very well, the issue is you and not your post - you have been following me around on Nairaland after I reprimanded you for your bio and gave you my opinion on your presence in Nigeria. Now you are continually "surprised" why you are not met with the greatest warmth each time.

Fenrir:
You asked for “thoughts,” not passports. When we discuss something as universal as intelligence, the methodology and interpretation are open to everyone — that’s how knowledge works.

If hearing a non-Nigerian perspective feels uncomfortable, perhaps that’s worth examining, because insight doesn’t lose value based on who offers it. I didn’t comment to “fix” Nigeria, only to add reason to a discussion you invited.

True intelligence — the kind no test can measure — is the ability to hear a different view without taking offense.

I don't have time for your half-baked truths. A non-Nigerian perspective does not make me feel "uncomfortable", it is simply not relevant to me in this scenario.

Fenrir:
What you’re describing sounds noble, but the truth is that kind of unity isn’t possible in Nigeria as things stand. The country isn’t a single people — it’s 371 distinct cultures, each with its own history, priorities, and sense of identity. You can’t unite a nation that hasn’t yet agreed on what “nation” even means.

When people spend more time arguing over who’s right than celebrating the fact that they’re all different, division becomes the default. That’s the real fracture — not borders, but mindset. Even the NYSC was meant to help bridge that gap, to give young Nigerians a shared purpose, but that vision has long since faded.

Until something new comes along that unites everyone — not just university graduates, not just one tribe or faith — it’s difficult to imagine real change. You can’t build strength on resentment, and soldiers can’t hold a line when they’ve stopped believing in what they’re protecting.

Unity will only happen when people start seeing difference as strength, not threat. Until then, the idea of “taking back the country” remains just that — an idea.

You keep following me around, replying to my posts. Yet I do not make any posts for foreigners. If people had already agreed what a nation means, then there would not be need to unite them - they would already be united. And that agreeing, that unity, only comes about when the people start putting an effort for it. Not sitting around waiting for it to happen "naturally" or comfortably.

Fenrir:
And think the term you are looking for is "thought experiment"

I prefer thought question, but thanks.

Fenrir:
I’ve said it many times — Nigerians are among the most intelligent people on the planet. The problem isn’t a lack of brilliance; it’s how that brilliance is used. Too often, it’s turned inward, to compete and step over one another, instead of being harnessed to lift each other up.

And my name is sven not mr foreigner.

Indeed, they are the most intelligent. You are Mr. Foreigner to me.

Fenrir:
I think your question is fair and worth exploring. However, it’s important to take those IQ rankings with a big grain of salt — not because Nigerians (or any group) are “less intelligent,” but because of how such studies are conducted.

Most international IQ comparisons rely on samples that are not truly representative of the entire population. Factors like language of testing, education access, nutrition, socioeconomic background, and cultural familiarity with test formats all heavily affect average scores. In countries where education systems are uneven or where people take the tests in a non-native language, the results can’t reflect actual intelligence — they often reflect exposure and opportunity, not innate ability.

For example, Norway’s average IQ appears high in global rankings, but that doesn’t mean Norwegians are inherently smarter — it reflects consistent education quality, good healthcare, and less economic inequality, which all support cognitive development and performance.

As someone living in Nigeria, I’ve met many Nigerians whose reasoning ability, creativity, and problem-solving skills are outstanding — even without formal structures that support them fully. That tells me the potential is there; the issue is systemic, not biological.

If anything, Nigeria’s development could benefit from a stronger focus on critical thinking and science education. A clearer separation between religious practices and formal learning — for instance, prioritizing study and analysis during school hours while keeping faith a personal or community matter — might help create more time and focus for developing those skills. Education and faith can coexist, but keeping their roles distinct tends to produce better educational outcomes, as seen in many other countries.

So the better question might be: what environmental or policy factors can help Nigerians maximize their already existing potential? That’s where progress starts — not in the IQ number itself.

Mr. Foreigner it is a thought question intended for fellow Nigerians. I do not believe Nigerians really have low IQ, indeed I believe we are of the smartest people in the world. But thanks for your contribution, nonetheless.

Fenrir:
When the Mind Sleeps

You speak of numbers and rankings, yet few ask why the measure falls.
A nation’s mind dulls when its children are taught to repeat words instead of to reason.
When the classroom becomes a chapel, and prayer is praised more than curiosity,
the flame of thought flickers low.

This is not scorn — it is truth spoken in calm air.
Faith has its place; it steadies the heart, it comforts the lost.
But when faith rules where knowledge should lead,
when worship replaces inquiry, the land forgets how to build.

In the North we learned this long ago:
the gods are honored, but the world is understood.
We prayed, yes — to Odin for wisdom, to Thor for strength —
but still we studied the stars, the seas, the patterns of life.
For even the gods grant favor to those who use the minds they gave.

When a people kneel more than they question,
they trade their inheritance for illusions.
Temples rise, but schools decay.
Prophets multiply, but engineers vanish.
And then they wonder why the world passes them by.

The fault is not in the people’s blood, but in their priorities.
No tribe is born dull; the mind must be trained as a sword is tempered —
in heat, in challenge, in discipline.

So if the land would rise again,
let worship return to the spirit, and learning to the halls of study.
Let children be taught to think, not merely to recite.
Let reason and reverence share the same sky,
but let reason hold the map.

That is not an insult — it is an invitation:
to awaken, to stand, to remember that the mind too is sacred.

What's all this? Did you not see that I asked for posters thought on the methodology, why do you say I do not then ask why the measure falls? We do not need you to fix our country. You are not qualified to be our savior.

Adaisback:
Pls sir, tell me one single thing you or this government did to stop the genocide going on in northern and middle belt part of this country?

Pastor Ezekiel and the Catholic bishop of Benue that first called on trump did it as a last straw to save the lives of their people.

May God not let you lose your loved ones. May your wife not be raped before your eyes and may your sons not be killed before your very eyes and may your mother and daughters not be raped in your presence.

If you say Amen to this prayer, then allow Trump to come and save our middle belt brothers and sisters coz that is exactly what they are going through. If you cannot join us, don't rub salt to their injury. Thank you

My sister, I am deeply sorry for the suffering you and your loved ones may have experienced in the North and Middle Belt. No matter how difficult it may be to do so, terrorism in this country must be stopped. However my sister, US is not the way. When hyenas have made it into a flock of sheep, someone does not then send an invite for lions, they might kill the hyenas but will certainly also kill the sheep too.

Noblechykk:
Let me not say you are daft because I think you are intentionally being mischievous. Is Nigeria stabilized? So what exactly is U.S coming to destabilise? Nigeria is a failed British experiment.

You say Nigeria is a failed British experiment and your solution is to call back the same western colonizers the British belong to, to fix the problem. Even after you have been informed they will only make things worse, you go ahead and ask such an elementary question that is essentially, "how can something that is bad be made worse"? It is hard for me to not see this as an attempt at mental gymnastics all so the white man can come in your country, your effort is not even towards whether it will make your daily life worse or not, so long as he steps his foot here. You will even welcome your death if it means the white man can step foot in your land.

Noblechykk:
Oga this your epistle is stale. Tell us something else we have not heard before

If US comes here, you will live it with your own flesh and blood. Maybe then it will not be stale anymore. Someone has presented you with information that points to how the US is hear to further destabilize your own land, but you sir, are so mentally colonized that you refuse to accept any information but that the colonizer is here to save you.

Didijiji:
so you are happy with the way APC and Tinubu has scattered Nigeria

Where did I say I am happy with how APC and Tinubu have scattered Nigeria? You do not put off a fire by adding fuel to it, the US is fuel! That Nigerian government is terrible does not mean that I will now begin to imagine the US is now not an enemy to Nigeria. 2025 and Nigerians are still begging for their colonial masters. Decades after colonialism, we will not look at each other to solving our problems. The world is laughing at us. Yet we still think our colonial masters, who are and have always been beneficiaries to African corruption, care for us. Corruption and insecurity will only be at a rise when they leave.

Savenigeria2023:
Nigerian Elites would rather sacrifice the entire masses to maintain the status quo

Make no mistake about it, the Jihadists are on track to kill and occupy the entire country and the political class care less as long as their pockets and families are not impacted.

This is the only hope for the average Nigerian Christian. Cry for your salvation now or get killed, forget your popular pastors as they are working closely with your elites

Look at how mentally colonized you are. You aren't even ashamed. Crying for your salvation from the colonial master. You ignore the entire track record of the US in similar scenarios, how they left such countries worse than they found them. But you are so desperate to believe your colonial masters care about you that you are inviting them in to the very thing they really care, make your life worse. When will we as a country start learning the very obvious facts of who our allies are and who they are not? Yes, the Nigerian government is terrible but it only takes a little bit of research of the history to understand that the USA is worse for us!

Jagabanfromcali:
STFU

You are telling him STFU because you would like to welcome a country that has a record for leaving every weak country it claimed to "help" worse than it found it. Are you so mentally colonized that you ignore the entire track record even though it is you that will suffer it at the end of the day, just so you can believe in the colonial masters?