₦airaland Forum

@Paw-paw,

Which one concern you Tayo? Abeg mind your business o.

Your royal pastoral highness. I will back off immediately. I no wan make you do me like Rev King.

@babyosisi,

I thought you said you were a pastor? which church?

God go punish that your mouth International Group of Condemnation Ministries.

@topic,

It is wise for people to hold off their tongues and pens or keyboard until all the facts come in and are analysed. That's one of the reasons I have not said so much on this topic becuase things are still unfolding.

@denex,

I feel your pain with the way Seun banned you. I personally think the only reason why anybody should be banned should be limited to character assasination and personal attacks. Airing your opinion, however way-off should be welcomed. Like it or not, either respond to it or ignore and move along.

You see why it isn't good to jump to conclusions? Instead of acknowledging your faulty information source, you would rather try to invoke another conspiracy theories about the numbers of dead and missing or wounded. I remember at the time the news was unfolding, CNN said 3 were killed and most of the local news agencies said only 1.

It is confirmed as at this morning that 5 people are dead. They are:
- Julia Blackhawk: A 32 year old mother of two with an American Indian heritage
- Sherry Engebretsen: A 60 year old mother of two who worked at Thrivent Financial
- Artemio Trinidad-Mena: A 29 year old father of four. a recent immigratn to the US from Mexico.
- Patrick Holmes: A 36 year old father of two and an exercice therapist and coach.
- Paul Eickstadt: A 51 year old truck driver. His death is the latest to be confirmed.

Still missing include a pregnant Somali immigrant with her young daughter amongst others. The number of missing will be reviewd downwards once contact is established between the individuals and their families or corpses are found and identified.

@daprince,

Right now, I'm in my bedroom and it's only logical for me to put that as my location. Hahaha

I no blame babyosisi for not chatting with you then. She no want any business with your bedroom. Mr "killer" fit get hot temper!

@daprince,

Do you reside anywhere apart from your bedroom?  

@Carlosein,

were there any nigerians?

So far I have heard of none. Trust, every one has been calling around to make sure all is well. I've even had calls from my relatives as far back as Naija. Friends all over have been calling as well.

@daprince,

It's unfortunate that people just blab without caution. I'm Nigerian and I could have been driving on that same bridge that day (my friend was fortunate to have missed that incident just 20 minutes before it occurred). I believe most people here who are saying crap are just being jealous.

You never know who could be a victim of such things and I just can't imagine others will use the opportunity to taunt. I asked a guy to meet me for his check after doing some work for me. He was so shaken up becuase the foreman working on the bridge was actually his friend. Infact, he was on the same crew with him until he sought another line of work due to injury. A Somali woman and young daughter are amongst those still missing. It is just a tragedy.

Tayo, what part of Minneapolis do u live?

I live in Brooklyn Park!

Thank God for the likes of you guys: Carlosein, ebos, daprince, nana and ralvy. It's good to know there are people who are able to reason crrectly. I am so ashamed of what some of my fellow Nigerians have said here.

Whether na bad belle, racism (yes, racism) or just plain hold fashioned hatred cause am, the bile some people have spewed here is totally unacceptable at a time like this.

Mushin Olosha was done by Broda Martins.

How about Dele Bamgboye? I think she now pastors with the Winners Chapel in one of the African countries. I can't seem to remember any of her songs but I know she really did some nice tunes.

@omoge,

baby wakakolombo lol was that  Charles Oputa (?)

I think you are refering to the song: "Baby Walakolombo". The song was done by Alex Zitto. It was his second attempt after his first hit: "Tickle me". Men, do I love that tickle me song. Let me see if I can remeber it:

@Segesexy,

Good marketing strategy, Nice song though!

I think your highlighted statement said it all. It appears he is again doing what he confesses to be his goal in the song: "Just a singer trying to entertain."

@topic,

Please permit me to introduce another perspective to this discussion.

How many people have thought about how to preserve whatever they are worth in their family?  Of what use is your present worth if your family can't benefit from it in an unlikely event such as your death.

I don't know why, but reading the inputs so far, I am reminded of one of my teachers back in secondary school. This was a beautiful woman who was humiliated and rendered bankrupt by her in-laws becuase of her husband's death. She was asked to shave her long and beautiful hair and they denied her access to the wealth that she built up in partnership with her husband. She was called a witch and accused of killing her husband. So I wonder, why boast of what you have now if you are not making provisions to keep that same means within your family in an unexpected situation like your demise?

In my case, I have secured a life insurance of about $1.5 million, which is what my financial adviser suggests will keep my family at the same standard of living we have now till my children graduate from college. Apart from the other assets we own, I have made sure that my wife and children will be well catered if I die prematurely!

So what options do people have in naija to secure their families' future? Doing that is easy over here becuase everything you have is regarded to be jointly owned with your spouse. No relatives, in-laws or out-laws can deprive a person of his/her spouse's estate.

In short, I am interested in knowing what everyone is doing to keep their wealth in-house and to cater for their children in the event of an untimely death.

@topic,

Anyone remeber the song Nigeria go survive? I guess the most popular catch phrase from the lyrics is the "Andrew no check out o"

@gbadex,

"baby mi jowo o jeka gbadun". . .something like that.

This song was done by Ebenezer Obey. I think I have the CD. I can check it out and send it to you.

@omoge, gbadex,

gbade, that's reminds me o. the singer was the cute Nkechi Ojugbana. Where is Nkechi Ojugbana?

The taxi driver song was actually don originally by the Late Bobby Benson. I do remember another lady doing the song, and I guess that is Nkechi Ojugbana!

@denex,

Which dirty sympathy? The sympathy we gave them for 911 that they have used to kill millions of arabs in Iraq and Afghanistan, is it not enough?

I always hear new things from you my guy. MILLIONS of Arabs were killed by America?! So how many has Al Quaeda and the Sunni/Shias people killed in Iraq? Tensn of millions?

Abi did they sympathise with Nigerians all the while that buildings and bridges have been collapsing in Nigeria.

Guess who provided the biggest relief to indonesia (a largely muslim country) when there was a natural disaster there? They do the same for every country under heaven and i just didn't realise your hatred of this nation is so huge that you are blind to these facts.

Abeg make them get out! You can imagine the rescue workers last night saying that they can't risk their lives anymore and they left. If it was Nigerian rescue workers talk that one now, everybody will condemn.

What is the point of getting into the water to retrieve corpses and put your life in danger? That is not only ignorant but stupid. You do not sacrifice a life to retrieve a corpse.

@The One,

To all our "America is perfect" peeps around here, how did this happen?

At a time when one will expect some sympathy, this one is here with another opportunity to bash! How warped can someone be!
And by the way, whoever said the US was fallible? Can you prove anybody said that or we should just take it as fact because you said so?

I'm sure our diaspora Nigerians wish that is the 3rd mainland bridge so that they can continue their onslaught on anything Nigerian. I wonder what they will say to this one.

One thing I am sure about is that you need to have your head checked out! How can you say such a thing about others? Do you wish the same for people? I guess it is those who nurse a thought that declare others have such intentions. You really need some psychiatric evaluation!

@femi4love,

Eku aigbagbe sir!

Na so my brother. I can't believe I still remember the song too. I was so young then. It's interesting how some things are just imprinted in your memory for so long!

This song is now playing in my head and I just can't remember who sang it:

If you wan marry a husband
If you marry a waka about
If you marry a waka about o
Na so so trouble trouble o, trouble
Na so so trouble, trouble, trouble
Trouble wahala o
Na so so trouble trouble o, trouble!

@topic,

I guess the body count will increase once more bodies are recovered. It is so, so sad.

But in everything, there is always a miracle. A school bus with 60 students was also on the bridge when the incident took place. All 60 are fine with just about 6 treated for major wounds. They are all reconciled with their families already!

@Mckren,

And for those giving examples of how Rusia will clamp down on whoever decides they don't want to be Nationals of a country.

They surely will.

If a people are agrieved and think they have no future in a certain country you have to give them a reason to stay economically, politically and otherwise through equity and fairness not militarily or any kind of force as that is undemocratic and against the principles of justice.

Afterall Sebia and Montenegro recently voted to live together or part ways.

That is true and is the reason why i said earlier that Nwazuruike should have been working with other ethnic nationals with similar goals to seek a legal way to reach their goal. I mentioned earlier that he should have been subtle enough to seek for true federalism. Believe me, he would have found companionship with other people in the west and south south if he had gone that route!

@Mckren,

Let us talk about what stands in court.

Ok. Though i am not a law expert but I can reason along.

In Law court references are made to previous court verdicts in determining later court verdicts.

That's what I mentioned earlier. It is called precedence.

While it is so true that in a law court you can not make an argument that an accused and arrested Mr. A should not be prosecuted because another wanted Mr. B (for the same offence) is still at large, it is not true to suggest that in determining the verdicts of arrested Mr. A & B which commited the same offence reference should not be made to the previous in determining the later.

Reference will be made in so much as both cases are similar. Besides, you have to show some basic principles that can be applied to both cases.

Asari and Uwazurike were arrested for treason, fair enough.

Thank God someone acknowledges this. I will probably put Gani Adams in the list too.

Different courts declined granting Asari bail and as soon as South-South Governors led by Jonathan went into meeting with Yaradua, he was granted bail by a court lower than the previous ones that have declined his bail on the grounds of National Security. Yet people claim Asari was not granted political freedom but legal freedom.

The issue here is that the courts granted him bail. I have no clue if the charges were dropped or if the FG chooses not to prosecute him further. This is why I was asking if anybody has details of the court proceedings.

If it were a case of Uwazurike being arrested and Asari is not, some of these arguments you guys are making will make sense. But a situation where Asari, Uwazurike, Adams, Fashehun were all in custody, they release 3 and the fourth which out of hindsight could be argued as being the least violent is still in Prison custody raises a lot of question.

While those might raise an eyebrow, why of all reasons do we choose to go the route of ethnic bias? Could it be that these other folks have agreed with the FG to stop such activities and the FG decide not to prosecute for the sake of reconciliation, and Nwazuruike is still trying to prove he is in the right? We need to exhaust all these possibilities before going in the direction of ethnic bias.

Like Lai Mohamed rightly pointed out, Government should find similar excuse to release Uwazurike.

Maybe, but under what conditions? Has Nwazuruike accepted the Fg's conditions like the others probably did?

@Richyblack,

I wasn't necessarily filing brief on behalf of Uwazuruike and company, however, your statement in bold is preposterous because you're not a judge in this case. Correction to statement: that argument may not hold in a court of law. All kinds of arguments are brought in a court of law and only the jury or judge(s) can decide what arguments hold or not. And even at that, such a determination is never made a priori but after all other arguments have been heard.

Correction accepted! I should have used "may" instead of "can't" However, I was refering specifically to the argument in court that Nwazuruike should be released because Gani Adams, Dokubo and co were released. True, precedence is important in a case, but the precedence is based on principle. On what principle will this one be argued?

The other statement in blue is interesting. And therein lies the real problem - drawing the line between due process and ethnic bias. This problem is at the heart of race relations in today's America. I'm sure you have heard (and I want to wager that you have probably made statements like) "well, because he's black that's why that happened to him". Even in America, with a more matured judiciary, race sentiments still come up in high profile legal cases. Recall the Rodney King case that led to the 1992 Los Angeles riots - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_Los_Angeles_riots. It was a legal case that many (even whites) interpreted as racially biased. Class (rich vs poor) can also introduce bias in legal cases. An example was the OJ Simpson case (a peculiar case because race and class did not have the usual correlation of White-Rich and Black-Poor).

But that is exactly the thing I am talking about. Ethnicity, race or religion should never be a yardstick for judging a situation whether as the plaintiff or the defendant. Justice apparently wasn't brought to bear in the situations you mentioned becuase race and class was in the driving seat. This is why we shouldn't bring ethnicity into the case with nwazuruike and the other people mentioned. We should only be concerned about law and order, and of course justice!

My point is this: the fact that a case is being tried in court does not mean that it is devoid of biases (ethnic, racial, class, etc.), either from the prosecutor (recall Tom Sneddon who prosecuted Michael Jackson) or from the judge(s)/jury (recall Amadou Diallo's case in New York and the jury that unanimously voted to acquit the officers of all charges - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amadou_Diallo).

That may be true. But do you realise the accusations have been leveled against the FG when it should really be aimed at the courts? And if that is the case, are you expressing dissatisfaction with our judiciary? The FG has done its part by charging the man to court and as long as they are no violating a court order, they are in the right!

Nigeria is not that much different from many other countries still struggling with drawing a distinction between due process and ethnic bias. Two potential solutions to remedy this issue are: transparency and positive assertion. Transparency, in that the press (not necessarily cameras) be allowed in the court rooms so that Nigerians are able to follow the cases - this is standard practice in all true democracies. Positive assertion, in that the government spokesmen/spokeswomen should state clearly that the trials have no ethnic undertone and would be pursued without ethnic considerations.

The press is not always allowed in the court room. The decision to allow or restrict the press in the courts depend on the judge's discretion. Either advocates could also request that the press should be allow or restricted,with the final decision resting with the judge(s). Do you think those on the side of the defendent will accept as truth the fact that thier man is being tried without ethnic consideration even if the FG says so? I'm sure they won't. What I am concerned about is that if this man has indeed commited a treasonable felony, he should be tried and prosecuted to the full extent of the law! Same aplies to anyone, whether, yoruba, Igbo, Hausa or any of the minority ethnc nations.

@topic,

These days, people just blame others for what they are doing to themselves. The bottom line is that the militants are the once executing the terror inspired by their bosses (whether indigenes or not)! There won't be kidnappings if the militants aint kidnapping nobody! It is just like blaming the politicians solely for the election rigging. It took the combined effort of the politicians and the compromised populace who sell their future for a morsel of bread to rig elections! One is dependent on the other and the two cannot be effectual exclusively!

@Presido,

I do not believe I am biased at all. I take my stance based on the facts available. Accepted, Bush may not be a likeable peerson, but that does not mean he is everything he is accused of. Ther is a proverb in yoruba land that says: "a child who will not permit is mother rest will also know no peace". 911 marked a turning point in world history and you really can't expect that the entire world will remain the same since then. While you may claim that Saddam has no direct link with 911, you should be aware that what the US now fights is not just the people who attacked them, but those who show the desire to do that whether capable or not. prevention they say, is better than cure!

@mazaje,

Of course he realises that the solution to Iraw will take more than military action. That the only thing you see in teh news are the violcence does not mean there isn't a lot of diplomatic efforts. Don't tell me you are not aware of them!

@Richy,

I find it difficult looking at issue from an ethnic standpoint. While I understand the perspectives you are arguing from, that argument cannot hold in a court of law.

Talking about the courts, here is a link to his case: http://www.independentngonline.com/?c=44&a=31697. It is interesting that the case is now at the Supreme Court and I wonder why the impatience now. His bail or otherwise will be decided on September 18. We should allow the courts to do their jobs and not try to make this an ethnic issue when it is predominantly a law enforcement issue.

Take note also that his bail, if merited would have been granted a while back if not that it was filed innapropriately. That is not the govt's fault, is it?

@Richyblack,

My question: why the seeming preference for one of the two identified actions above in your previous posts?

I really don't have a preference, and my position is certainly never borne out of any ethnic inclination. However, the information I really don't have is what the court ruling is on each case. What has the courts decided? Or is it that they were never tried in the first case? If the guy is being held against a court injunction, then the FG is at fault and must be confronted (and that only through the court of law). If on the other hand, the court refused the guy bail undtil a ruling is made, then he must bear his own burden.

What the guy is after should not be taken with kids glove. Over a million people died when Ojukwu attempted the same thing years back. Why do we want to take such chances now?

In my opinion, the guy needs to work with other ethnic nationalities in naija to seek for a federating unit in a true sense of the word. That would be a wise way to go rather than go head on against the government. He and others on such a mission will surely fail!

@denex,

You can twist what I said any way you like, it don't bother me. The fact remains that the US never colonised any country and is not interested in doing that. The fact is that the the US helped to establish a sovereign nation in the form of Liberia without even any military expedition. They provided the resources for the willing free-born and liberated slaves to go back to Africa to settle down.

Are you accsuing the US of blowing up the mosques? Now I know where your problem is. You must think Al Queda and the US are one and same entity. Please wake up, they are not.

I am not interested in divide and conquer. I am not here to conquer anybody or anything. If you remain afraid of people reminding you of the things you say, maybe you should be careful in your use of words next time!

@mamajama,

TayoD Thank you, instead of us as a nation to come together and condemn this self actualization actions, we are here classifying it to sub region and classification. when will people start obeying the law?

Isn't it pathetic that those who should be educated enough to condemn the flouting of our laws are here promoting the same. And the ignorant fool is audacious enough to say others are playing ethnic politics. So far, the only person advocating a line of action based on tribe and ethnicity is the same fool who double speaks all the time. Na wah o. What haven't I seen on nairaland!

@Denex,

You people are so desperate to blame the US that you neglect the same people who have turned on themselves and are killing themselves. How many countries in Africa were colonised by the Europeans? Yet we do not see such bloodshed in our midst. All through history, armies have invaded other countries and such citizens come together to fight off the invading army. In this case, the hatred these folks have for each other overshadows their hatred for the invading army.

Saddam was killing in his thousands without any sensational headlines because it provides no platform for US bashing. His invasion of juwait and Iran didn't cause the people to turn against each other. So why are Iraqis doing that to themselves? Are you telling us that they will stop killing each other as soon as the US leaves? I think not. The fruits of the years of oppression and misrule by Saddam is now what the country of Iraq is reaping.

And by the way, are you trying to tell us that more people have being killed by the US than was killed by Saddam? You can start counting Saddam's atrocities with the over 1 million people killed in the Iran-Iraq war!

@denex,

Iraqis have always killed iraqis, Afghans have always killed Afghans and Sunnis have always killed Shia (and vice versa) long before the US stepped into their shores.

@Mckren,

For the records, Asari has said so many times that the Nigerian State is an Illegitimate entity.

This is why I said all these people really need to be tried for treason. We are turning into more of a lawless nation with such flagrant violation of our constitutions and laws being allowed to go unpunished by interest groups.