₦airaland Forum

Martin Luther King once said: “We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the vitriolic words and actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence of the good people.”

I'd like to substitute 'silence' here for 'lack of will'. Yes, we have serious problems in Nigeria but giving up on her is not the way to go, neither is arm-chair criticism. The generation of leaders we have had has failed us, but is that an excuse for our generation to fail those after us. I for one don't want my grandchild to ask me "So, what did you do to make things better" and I should not be able to provide a good answer.

The truth is that most Nigerians, and not just the government, are responsible for the state the country is in. From simple day to day things, to the bigger issues, most Nigerians are found wanting. For example, take the dirty cities and consequential health harzards. How many people living in say, Lagos, can say that in the past one month, they haven't thrown out any litter from their car windows or thrown a wrap of gum (or anything else) on the streets. And then those same people would blame the government for having a dirty city. Most people that do this are those who are meant to be more intelligent. Some people that condemn and criticize, earn a lot and splash money around, yet cannot deem it fit to buy a few large bins for the streets of thier communities for a cleaner environment. People do not practice community and social responsibility though they have the capacity to do so. They prefer to scream 'government' at any problem.

We need to take responsibilty for the future of this country at our various levels. We call our leaders self-centred but many Nigerians only look out for themselves. We build more churches than schools and hospitals yet there is no evidence of commesurate dividends. I for one intend to play my part to make things better, no matter how little. I don't want my children and grandchildren to go through some things I've had to just because I am a Nigerian. However, it is not by mouth, it's by action and people need to be more active and talk less.

You just reminded me of something that we probably all did when we were younger.

Visitors come to check say your mum, and she doesn't want to see them so tells you to put them off by saying she's asleep. So what do you do? You say to the visitors "She said she is sleeping"!

Others:

You never jam anything (You haven't seen anything)

Go and axe (ask) him
If only people carried this out literally

Obama doesn't need Hillary. There are better qualified people who would work effectively with him and help him achieve the things he needs to in the White House. I feel Hillary would be too busy trying to make a name for herself and be a distraction to Obama's administration. She's better off at someplace like the Supreme Court as suggested by a lot of analysts. All those talking about working class voters, don't forget that this was just a primary. Most of them would vote Democratic in November anyway. Besides, Hillary and Obama's policies are far more similar than either of them compared with McCain's and it's those policies the working class voters are voting for. Obama, should go for someone with National Security experience, if possible a woman. That's what McCain has been trying to nail Obama on and getting someone with such experience would really help counter that. By the way, did anybody see McCain's speech? That was a really terrible speech and he still has the courage to challenge Obama to a town hall debate every week?

Anyone here played 'four-post' where you had four posts in a square area with a 'monkey post' on each square 'face'? You were not allowed two consecutive touches except with volleys and each person had to defend his 'post'. A goal against you and you're out. You always had up to six or seven 'substitutes' and the game just went on and on. We had a perfect area for it at the boarding house i stayed. Very enjoyable game. Sometimes you had cliques and people would cooperate say two against two or even three against one though there was always room for betrayal.

Yar'Adua has not done anything progressive in one year. Believe what you will from the media sensationalized power probe but the truth is that his administration actually stopped payments to power projects and spent almost nothing on the projects even into this year. The man hasn't got a plan for this country. Whether it's education, agriculture, transportation or the economy, he is so clueless that even people in his adminstration don't know what direction the government is heading. Our 'leaders' are making the same mistakes or even worse, that the past military leaders did. The result of a non-existent policy in the educational sector would be far more 'area boys' in the future, and more hardened ones at that. For one year now, there is no substantial evidence of a solution to the Niger Delta situation and we are being told that they are still talking to stakeholders. It's business as usual, all talk and no substance.
The other day I read about how a governor (or minister) was going to inaugurate vehicles for crime fighting. How do you inaugurate vehicles. These are things that ought to be provided without fanfare. The basic rights of citizens have been reduced to things that are celebrated when they are provided or done right. Yet the president is comfortable jetting off to Germany to treat an allergy and doesn't provide Nigerians with information on his health until he is in a foreign country being interviewed by a foreign journalist. Fantastic leadership! Thousands of kids die everyday from preventable conditions and the nation's health facilities are under-equipped and inadequate.
Yet some people would say that he appears to be slow and is taking his time because he wants to do a thorough job. Yeah right! Nigerians have contributed too, we accept far too much mediocrity and like to find ways around problems rather than confront them.

@Ezinwannem
Did my degree in the UK . Bad decision in hindsight, should have done it in US. UK is so much the wrong place to do a course like that but I discovered too late. Getting into the industry there is very difficult and there are not that many aerospace companies there. And no, I'm not a citizen of any other country.

Ezinwannem:
Delta007 have said it all. Canada does not rank its universities as they have few and have high standards. It has high standards as one school does not want to go and do everything like medical school, alw school etc as Delta also pointed out.
Uni. of Cal. in Alberta where Canada gat oil and there is job prospect if u want to walk but housing is expensive.
Uni. of Windsor is aloso good as it borders Detriot
Ryerson is in Toronto which is another place for job prospect, Reyerson is good for its engineering programs and even business, I bro. did Aerospapce Engineering dere

So for people to help you beta, we have to know the course you want to study

@ Ezinwannem, just curious, did you get into the aerospace industry and in what role? Design or other areas? Just asking because I did a first degree in Aerospace engineering myself, up to the masters level in fact. However, i found the industry frustratingly hard to get into hence my wanting to do a masters in mechanical engineering to be more diverse. Though a major reason is that most good aerospace companies handle defence work and want you to be a citizen of the country you're working in. And as for Nigeria, the industry is very limited in scope.

Sad but true. And our current leaders couldn't care less about doing something to sort it out.

Damn that was so funny! The guy was already in a hole and just kept digging with so much vigour. He was obviously out of his depth and should just have humbled himself. He would have retained some respect that way. You could see the hate for Obama from the contours on his face when he was talking. He was given the humiliation he deserved.

I think she has the experience and character to do well. She has a very impressive resume. However, does she have the will and drive? I hope so.

nuzo:
What was the outcome of the siemens bribe scandal?

Gone with the wind, just like the Etteh scandal. Most of our leaders have no political will to do the right thing, and the PDP is a disgrace to democracy, generally speaking.

There is a severe failure of leadership in this country.

Thanks for the responses Delta007 and Ezinwannem. I'm going for a Master's program in Mechanical Engineering. I know that it is recommended that one has $10000 a year apart from the tuition fees. For places like Alberta and Ontario, would one actually spend this much or more? Thanks.

Can someone in based in Canada give me an idea of how good these three universities are. Thanks

University of Calgary, Alberta
Ryerson University, Ontario
University of Windsor, Ontario

Did anyone read the May 12 edition of Tell magazine about who's really in charge at Aso Rock? Very insightful. Yar'adua has never had the will needed to do the job properly.

Kidnappers are not militants , they are criminals and low-life devils. The media should report them as such.

Mr. Okiro clearly does not have the character for the position he holds or he is seeking relevance. Or both. In the first place, if indeed there might be such a threat at some point, he should be looking to contain such information until the threat is obvious and with some sort of evidence to back up such an assessment, so as not to cause public panic. Also, what killed it for me is him issuing orders through the media. He should be informing the media that he has already issued such orders and not making a public show issuing them. This is an utter show of unseriousness bordering on incompetence. Combine this with the fact that the public has little or no confidence in the police. Most people would dismiss the 'threat' as soon as they see the story.
In any case, I believe that national security threats would (should) be addressed by the SSS and not the police and any information regarding such should come from them.

The answer to that would be a big no. On the surface, it would actually be a great and probably unstoppable ticket. However, I doubt it would be workable in the White House. Hillary Clinton is just too dogged and ambitious to be a number two. She still allows sentiment to override objectivity and could well plot Obama's downfall. I think there are safer and effective options for Obama such as Jonathan Edwards.

I think Rev. Wright is just seeking relevance. He's listing the 'issues' without proposing any solutions (at least to my knowledge). He should go borrow a page from Bill Cosby's book. However, i think some criticsm of him is overboard.

No source was quoted in the original story so I always wondered where that came from


http://allafrica.com/stories/200805071185.html

7 May 2008
Posted to the web 7 May 2008

Washington, DC

The campaign of United States presidential candidate Barack Obama has denied reports that Obama appealed to a militant group to end hostilities in the Niger Delta.

"Senator Obama has not made any recent comment on the situation in the Niger Delta," the campaign in press guidance provided to AllAfrica. "The Senator does advocate an end to the violence in the Delta region and urges all parties to establish a process for addressing the relevant issues and grievances in order to create the conditions for peace and economic development," the statement said.


The Lagos-based This Day newspaper reported on Monday that the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend), an armed group in the Niger Delta, was considering an appeal from Obama for a ceasefire. In an email statement, Mend said "Obama is someone we respect and hold in self-esteem." Mend also asked the Nigerian government to improve living conditions for Harry Okah, its imprisoned leader.

In the email cited by the paper, Mend did not say how Obama contacted the organization with his offer.

Mend is believed to be behind a series of attacks on oil installations in the Niger Delta in the last two weeks. The attacks have forced cuts in production in the Niger Delta.

On Wednesday, a government official from one of Nigeria's Delta states told BBC that former United States President Jimmy Carter could play an important role in mediating between Mend and the Nigerian government.

In April, Mend wrote to U.S. President George W. Bush, asking for Carter and actor George Clooney to mediate in the Niger Delta. In that letter, Mend said its aim is "the crippling of the Nigerian oil export industry."

Mend told the BBC that Carter had accepted its invitation to mediate, a claim that the Carter Center denied. "The Carter Center's correspondence with Mend emphasized that President Carter would seriously consider undertaking a mission if he were formally invited by all relevant stakeholders in the Niger Delta conflict," a center statement said, according to the BBC.

I'm keeping an open mind on this one. I hope something good comes out of it.

Especially when it's being paid into personal accounts. These guys have no moral conscience.

If the council results are anything to go by, the Tories could well win the next general election. With all the complaints about Polish and eastern Europeans, i don't expect an immigration policy from them that would particularly favour Africans. Generally speaking though, I think the UK faces some challenging times ahead in terms of community and religious/race relations. The signs are already there.

I just wish our government would show more interest and urgency in dealing with the agricultural sector. Here we have people with expertise and experience. They should me doing more to tap into such experience. We have enough resources to produce almost all our food needs! These things are not as hard as the government likes to make out, it just needs people at the top with a sense of vision, integrity, awareness and commitment to start and keep the process going.

Definitely. Love my country for life!

Yar'adua is in a no-win situation here. He says something or nothing, and people will still complain. To the question of if he did the right thing, yes he did. These things have to start from somewhere, at least he has shown that he is concerned and has made a stand for Nigerians. That's a good first step even if nothing concrete comes out of it. If only one other person in his administration takes a cue from it and it rubs off positively, it'll have achieved something. If people at least see that the governement cares, it might start to change some mindsets. Many are quick to criticize, but few offer any solutions or positive steps. It's always easy to spot the negative, but we should learn to build on the positive.

akinalabi:
Ronaldo has not dabbled into showbiz. Dating a model doesnt
mean you're into showbiz.

Fat Frank Lampard, John Terry all date models and they have nothing
to do with showbiz. Even Rooney's girl, Coleen does a bit of modelling
as well.

Yeah Ronaldo's certainly more focused than Beckham. He's even rejected some lucrative deals.

http://www.tribalfootball.com/article.php?id=87801

Since Messi is playing and considering the way Barca line up, he'll most likely be up against Evra. I think Evra should be able to handle him adequately. Also, Anderson has to start in place of Scholes but I'd still start with Giggs, just because of his guile and experience, to help us get through the initial pressure from Barca.

What's up with this Gudjohsen guy mouthing off so much. The guy hasn't even played much for Barca this season.

http://www.tribalfootball.com/article.php?id=88974

[url]http://www.football365.com/story/0,17033,8699_3454242,00.html[/url]

This is some heartrending stuff. People need to get real about how to get themselves out of poverty. All kids deserve a PROPER education. In a proper school, they would still be able to learn about their holy book.
Education is the backbone of any strong nation and Nigeria needs to be taking bigger strides in our educational sector, the current pace is inadequate and i can't see any good vision from the ministry in charge. It's like they don't realize the seriousness of the situation.

Not a bad group but the boys have to maintain the right attitude.

Wow! This is some thread.

@topic

I think people should not be so quick to judge and discount Mr. Omotade's story. Without saying that he was treated the way he was because he is Nigerian, my own opinion (and don't insult me if you don't agree, knowing nairaland) is that his treatment was influenced to some degree by that fact. To those saying that they have never experienced any problems on BA flights, that doesn't mean that others haven't and that the crew love you either. All it means is that they are doing their jobs professionally. This is not about some inferiority complex or whatever else you chose to call it, it's about the reality of the perception of Nigerians.
It's typical of Nigerians to say 'it's none of my business' and some people here are condemning the man for speaking up, he should be commended for standing up to his principles and his concern for his fellow Nigerian. Until I hear otherwise, I'll accept his version of events that he was civilised in his approach.
A good number of Nigerians are hypocrites. Don't forget that you could be a victim someday in some other situation. Some people like to criticize without offering anything constructive. Some people on this thread have talked about how Asians and Indians unite when there is a problem with one of their own. It's easy to see from some comments on this thread why that is not the case with Nigeria. However, I do not think a boycott is necesary or is a solution.

@D-Reloaded
You should have realized by now that there are some 'enlightened' people on narialand that must win every arguement discussion . You have no chance with them because they have something to counter whatever you say. Just visit any thread in which they have a arguement discussion. Sometimes I wonder how different that is from Obj's way of doing things. Be more mature than them and let them have the satisfaction of 'winning'.

So much for leading by example. As alfaprime said, he should have put the Abuja hospital in shape, especially since he already knew his condition when he came in to power. What is his vision for this country I wonder?