₦airaland Forum

@ Odumchi you are so so right! Indeed an Edo man would find Yoruba more accessible than Igbo man for real I also agree with u that Yoruba is the most accessible of all Nigerian languages perhaps it has to do with the domineering nature of Yoruba's culture across the country! Good point! What type of language did u use to compose ur signature?

Na wao, money, power and women in Nigerian politics.

Andre Uweh: Regarding Port Harcourt, some parts belong to Okrika people while a grater part belong to the Ikwerre Igbo speaking people. Most people who built Port Harcour today are the hinterland Igbo and till date, what Port Harcourt is today can be largely attributed to them.

Wao I am proud of u, indeed u are a walking encyclopaedia on Nigerian politics.U will still agree with me dat d 12 states messed up many calculations in d old Eastern region.

@Andre, ur last post was very insightful! Just to add to it I read sometimes in an interview granted by Joe 'Air Raid' Achuzia (the Biafran General)that Port Harcourt actually belonged to the Igbo speaking pple of the old Eastern region,how true? On the COR States I think Gowon's creation of the 12 States messed everything up and laid the foundation for the imbalance in the Calabar axis till date. good job andre

Andre Uweh: @Tom, there is nothing like Ogoja language. Ogoja is an extensive town made up of different languages. The languages there are different from one another but all classified as Ekoi (Ejagham).Some of the languages there is very similar to Igbo spoken in Afikpo e.g Legbo. Some sound like the Igbo spoken in Abakiliki eg bekpara.
But credit to these people for Kiven The old east a form of written language called Nsibidi.

Wao thanks a lot on that eye-opener!

Callotti: Gbam!

You are cute but could b funny sometimes on your signature, did u really mean dat?

Kslib: Abeg,why is cocaine illegal? E dey kill people? or E dey cause war? or e dey cause global warming? Abi e dey reduce natural resources?....

;Dabeg no kill person with laughter joor! Try one first then let's know your [B]REACTION[/B]

dayokanu: Viewing this topic: Olaolufred(m), Andre Uweh(m) and 1 guest(s)
WHo has already liked the post
Do you think you are fooling anyone? Everyone on here knows that you are fake. Physics even called you out yesterday.
Go and open another one claiming to be Ibibio.
Only a Bastard denies his fathers house.

I cannot even count the numbers of 'likes' I have becoz it doesn't bother me, u av just displayed ur boorish attitude in a dumbo style as usual.

[quote author=dayokanu][/quote]Ladies have a way of mellowing down the spirit of restlessness in a man, someone just called you a ‘full time criminal’ remember I have been calling you scammer for some times now. If you are not dogging me around, you are poke nosing on issues that you know diddlysquat about, always running to and fro Nairaland (like a Devil looking for whom to devour), why are you like that? Are you sure you are not under a curse? You have been on ‘Tomakint is ‘I am Yoruba’ for some weeks now and it’s not working for you, yet you are so over-worked with tomakint is this and that hmnnn**Lord have Mercy**! Son of Belial, the truth about you is coming out gradually and if caught up, it could be disastrous for you!!! Calling me Ngodigha, Abadaba, Andre Uweh (Innocent gentlemen that don’t even know you exist) will not take anything away from me but will make you the liar you have always been. Why would I create another moniker when I am ok with my tomakint? Indeed, you sure do have an antecedent as the grandson of Chief S.L Akintola (the traitor that brought the current political divides into Yoruba Political mainstream), little wonder, the Yoruba race are still enmeshed in that mess till date. Ogbomosho Goat, don’t you think you need a woman in your LIFE now before it’s too late?

Jamisco: then try secession again

Are you trying to be funny? Your response now just negates my submission at the bolded

Jamisco: i think you should sorry for the igbos whose lives and livelihood had being destroyed and are still under destruction.

please, go to the NPC to get the figures of those died in the Plateau and the entire north during these crisis and you would know that more igbos have being killed and billions of naira has being destroyed.

the boko haram sect is also using strategy of killing igbos by attacking mainly the igbo churches (catholic).

i hope you will get a reason by accepting defeat and embrace peace so that we can build this nation together or disintegrate in peace

If only the bolded can HAPPEN! I will be too happy!

y2kaustin: when will you people ever STOP complaining,analysis,crying,etc ...if it pains you people,you know what to do,engage them violently,squarely,iron for iron,sword for sword,fire for fire,blood for blood..thats the only way you will get a solution.before you attain a breakthrough,something have to be BROKEN!!!..your destiny is in your hands.if you guys are aggrieved,ACT!! and STOP!! complaining .

****tomakint sobs****** oh yeah we are ready to FIGHT but we need a JOSHUA to lead us and I am nominating you as the new JOSHUA of this supposed REVOLUTION!!! No fall my hand oooo!

redsun: I am a custodian of african culture.I use to be a victim of not understanding it like most you guys,but now i am aware and i can use it to my on benefit.

Culture is dynamic,every generation create their own culture that you can leave for those that will be coming along.Innovations,but you guys just refuse to distance yourselves from the past,living out your own lives in generations that have long gone.

Well, you are free to believe your belief! I hope I have not infringed on your 'passion for your belief' in my first response?

redsun: You just reveal it all in your statement why they call africa the dark continent.You are one of the reasons with your deluded attributions to man made problems.

Spiritual my arse,even oyinbos that cant handle the "heat" and "coldness" of the system die like that on daily basis,talkless of a mad country like nigeria where NOTHING WHATSOEVER is in place to cater for the very vulnerable.

Friend are you a born Nigerian? if yes, are you still living in Nigeria? if no, where do you reside and how familiar are you with the Black man's culture?

This is a real picture of why the whites called Africa "Dark Continent" as it is in Nigeria so it is all over African countries! Ise Aiye le ri yen, ki Olorun ma je kaiye mu wa o!!!(That's the work of spiritual attack, may God not let them catch us)

This is what I call REAL HONOUR, not my own country that honours a Murtala Mohammed (a man who turn Niger River into red while slaughtering innocent souls during the Civil war despite strict orders from his Commander not to go to Onitsha)!

I can never forget when the General Officer Commanding (GOC) Two Division of the Army during the Nigerian-Biafran War, Major General Ibrahim Haruna (Rtd) was called upon to testify for the second day running of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) at the Oputa Panel for his alleged dastardly role in the war on 8th October, 2001, he declared that he had no regrets for the Asaba massacre in which over 500 Igbo men (civilians) were killed by his troops. He also revealed that Nigeria’s late Prime Minister, Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa-Balewa had a foreknowledge of the 1966 coup that claimed his life. (It was said that the then GCO Aguiyi-Ironsi informed the Prime Minister of an imminent coup a week before the coup, but he just didn’t budge). On the 14th of January, the British government were said to have given him invitation to pass the night at the British High Commission in Lagos to escape the coup, he turned it down revealing that the mutineers will still kill him there! Major General Haruna who was cross-examined by the Ohanaeze Ndigbo’s counsel, Chief Anthony Mogbo (SAN) said whatever action he or his troops took during the war was motivated by a sense of duty to protect the unity of the Country. Hear him in his own words, “As the Commanding Officer and leader of the troops that massacred in Asaba, Owerri and Ameke-Item, I acted as a soldier maintaining the peace and unity of Nigeria.” He went further, “If General Yakubu Gowon apologised, he did it in his own capacity. As for me I have no apology, it was as barbaric as the 1966 coup; it was as barbaric as the pogrom, if there was also any other atrocity, the Kano extra judicial killing was as barbaric as that.” Haruna also recommended that General Muhammadu Buhari, General Yakubu Gowon and General Ibrahim Babangida be charged with failure to investigate the 1966 coup during their different terms as head of States. He said, “Charge Buhari, Gowon, Babangida for not investigating the 1966 coup on the grounds of dereliction of duty.” (The clown forgot to mention the trial of the perpetrators of the July 29th retaliatory coup).

When he was questioned further on the rationale behind Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) tagging the 1966 coup an ‘Igbo Coup’ in spite of Alhaji Balewa, M.D Yusuf then a police officer, Col. Maimalari and many others of Northern extraction having prior knowledge of the coup, he declined response. He disclosed that the North had planned a Jihad on the day of the coup, insisting that the statement “Igbo, Igbo, Igbo you are no longer part of Nigeria” credited to the former Prime Minister (Balewa) was a misinterpretation of the actual intent.

On the Gideon Akaluka incident of 1994 in Kano, Gen Haruna said that it was wrong to say that the Kano State government never punished the killers of Mr Gideon Akaluka, saying 20 unarmed persons were victims of extra-judicial killings which were supposed to be a deterrent. In his words, “My Lord, I do not know who ordered the extra-judicial killing, nor where they were killed. All I know is that the Kano State Government killed 20 people linked to the barbaric act.”

Going by he above, Major General Haruna has shown that he is just like his boss (Gowon) although I love his gut he was bold to declare his position without mincing words, unlike Gowon who is pretending to be remorseful but still keeping a posture of “I am innocent” despite the fact that commanders under his watch were killing, maiming innocent lives!

Cc: Lalasticlala, Ishilove oya over to you, this thread deserves the frontpage!

The Oputa Panel (Human Rights Violations Investigation Commission) was set up by the Obasanjo administration in year 2000, to investigate human rights abuses dating back to the military coup of January 15th 1966 till May 28th 1999, the day before the last military handover to civilians. The body constitutes; Chief Chukwudifa Oputa (a Court Justice) as the head, Reverend Father Matthew Kukah as secretary, Mrs Elizabeth Pam, Dr Mudiaga Odje, Barrister Bala Ngilari, Mrs Modupe Areola and Alhaji Adamu Lawal Bamalli as members. Below are the timeline of the Oputa Panel sittings:

• October 23rd, 2000: The Oputa Panel began sitting officially
• November 27th 2000: Major Hamza Al-Mustapha testified
• December 8th 2000: Babangida and some former military intelligence chiefs were favoured in a high court ruling not to appear before the Panel on personal security grounds
• January 26th 2001: Ogoni people appear before the Panel in Port Harcourt
• April 18th 2001: Enugu sitting of the Panel to receive testimonies and petitions
• April 26th 2001: Ohanaeze testify in Enugu
• July 25th 2001: Ohanaeze, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) make presentations before Panel in Abuja over the January 15th 1966 coup
• September 11th 2001: President Olusegun Obasanjo appears before Panel to give evidence
• October 8th 2001: Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) testifies before Panel in Abuja where star witness, Major General Ibrahim Haruna was cross-examined
• October 18th 2001: Last day of sitting of Panel
• October 31st 2001: IBB gets a favourable judgment from the Court of Appeal “that the Oputa Panel cannot summon Babangida” to defend himself and his security chiefs on the murder of Dele Giwa
• May 21st 2002: Panel submits “Interim Report” to President Olusegun Obasanjo in Abuja in six volumes
• May 28th 2002: Panel submits “Main Report” to President Olusegun Obasanjo in Abuja in 60 large boxes
• June 3rd 2002: IBB files a suit still before Federal High Court asking it “to stop the President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, from implementing the report of the Oputa-led Human Rights Violations Investigation Commission”. This suit was jointly filed with the former Director of Military Intelligence, Col. Halilu Akilu and Brigadier General Kunle Togun. The defendants are; The President, Olusegun Obasanjo, Attorney General of the Federation and Justice Oputa and his Commission
• February 3rd 2003: IBB gets a favourable judgment from the Supreme Court that the Panel had “no powers to summon witnesses outside the Federal Capital Territory” and further “that the 1999 Constitution made no provision for tribunals of inquiry”.

Till date, as far as shocking and useful the revelations in the Oputa Panel were, the reports are yet to be published and those indicted are yet to be punished accordingly – what a country!

I can never forget the way the ‘clown’ was responded to in kind while he foolishly thought he can still regurgitate the garbage making rounds about the war shortly when Chief Ojukwu died;

Former Head of State General Yakubu Gowon stirred the hornet’s nest at the weekend when in his reaction to the death of the former Biafran leader, Dim Odimegwu Emeka Ojukwu stated that the former Biafran warlord should not have led his people to secede from the country.
Reacting to his comments this morning, prominent Igbo leaders in Nigeria condemned Gowon’s comments, describing it as nonsense and a dredging up of old wounds.
Gowon had in his condolence message to the Ojukwu family at the weekend said it was unfortunate that the late Biafran warlord took up arms against Nigeria, saying that if Ojukwu had been in his shoe, he would have defended the nation with zeal.
Speaking with P.M.NEWS this morning, Chief Chukwuemeka Ezeife said Gowon “is talking nonsense. Ojukwu agreed to go to Aburi in Ghana to broker peace but Gowon broke the agreement. He should not be saying this.”
Mr. Joe Igbokwe, Publicity Secretary, Action Congress of Nigeria, CAN, Lagos State and prominent Igbo leader blasted Gowon, saying if he had been in Ojukwu’s shoes, he would have taken the same position.
“Ojukwu was compelled to take the decision by his people. Gowon had sufficient time to have made this comment since 1970 when the civil war ended, why now? He is talking rubbish. He should allow Ojukwu to rest in peace.
“At the Aburi accord, all attempts to bring sense into the situation failed. Now, we have not been able to solve this same problem. Look at how they killed several youth corps members in the North.
“Gowon should allow sleeping dogs lie. If Gowon tries to stir up another controversy, there will be problem. The issue discussed 43 years ago in Ghana are still staring us in the face. Gowon should have averted that Civil War but he was arrogant,” he stated.
According to Igbokwe, the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election won by the late Moshood Abiola would have led to the Yoruba breaking away from the country, if not that the situation was well managed. “What is Gowon saying? He should go and talk to his people in the North. If Southern Nigeria had been a state, it would have contested with Europe today in terms of development. Gowon and his people are holding us hostage. He should address this and not remind us of past wounds,” he added.
In his own reaction to Gowon’s statement, the leader of the Movement for the Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB, Dr. Ralph Uwazuruike said whatever Gowon said about Ojukwu was of no consequence now.
“Whatever Gowon said is of no consequence. We are mourning. We have tears in our eyes and we are preoccupied with how to give Ojukwu a befitting burial,” he stated.
Current Secretary General of Ohaneze Ndigbo, Chief Nduka Eya who said he fought in the civil war and retired as Major, said those alive can say whatever they like. “People alive can say whatever they like. Gowon should know and admit, even though they labelled Ojukwu a rebel leader, Ojukwu was not a rebel leader. They should know that what caused the war was the northern programme against south easterners,” he explained.
Another Igbo leader, Barrister Eze Eluchie lambasted Gowon over the statement and described him as a poor student of history.
“Ojukwu did not break away from the nation but took the decision because several Igbo were being killed in the north.
“The Aburi accord tried to usher in peace but Gowon proved stubborn. Ojukwu’s move was to serve his people. Gowon’s statement is most hypocritical and uncalled for. The ideal thing is for Nigeria to sit down and discuss what led to the war properly and prevent another war.
“Things are going worse in this country and this time, it might not be the Igbo that will try to break away, it might be another group trying to break away,” he said.
Another prominent Igbo leader, Chief Chris Igwillo condemned Gowon over the statement. “That is his opinion. Okukwu was pushed to the wall over the maltreatment of the Igbo nation, a situation where the Igbo were being killed in Kano.
“The Aburi accord failed and he had no choice than to break away. We have no regret for trying to break away. Gowon can’t say that because there was no other option for him to take. Gowon is on his own,” he said.
A top member of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), Emma Saint George Ekeh, took a swipe at Gowon for making such a statement at this critical period. “I am still holding the former Head of State responsible for the security crisis in the country, especially the carnage in Jos, Plateau State,” he stated.
According to him, Gowon was at the head of the country’s governance when the Igbo were massacred in the north.
Recalling what he described as heinous crime against humanity, he said pregnant Igbo women and children were slaughtered on the streets of various regions of the country. He also recalled the killing of such pregnant women by troops led by the late Murtala Mohammed in Asaba on the orders of General Gowon.
“There is a way war is fought. You can see that NATO and the International War Tribunal are querying why Col. Muammar Gaddafi was killed’’.
“People have erroneously tagged the Aguiyi Ironsi coup as an Igbo coup forgetting that a coup is a coup and does not have ethnic affiliation and this was part of the reason the Igbo were massacred in the north. But I can tell you that some northerners were part of that coup, yet pregnant women had their tummies ripped open and children and innocent men were killed by the northerners.
“Gowon says he has repented but I leave him to God to judge the level of his repentance,” he said.
He maintained that the current security problems facing the country were foreseen by the late Ojukwu and that this was part of the discussion at the Aburi accord between the government and Biafra.
“If as Head of State, he didn’t renege in the agreement, these security crises would not be happening now. Up till now, I still hold him responsible for what is happening in the country,” he said.
Presidential aspirant in the April general elections, Barrister Chris Mustapha Nwaokobia, described Gowon’s statement as ill advised and inappropriate at this period of mourning.
“It exudes cowardice because while Ojukwu was alive, Gowon never made such a statement. I also believe that as Africans, we are not suppose to speak ill of the dead. So rather than make critical comments that would open up old wounds, he should be more mature with his age.
“He should also have looked at issues that led to the war and join the government to address them because they are still the issues on the front burner now,” he stated.
He said Gowon’s statement was unfortunate and borne out of insolence and that it was provocative. He described the late Ojukwu as a hero, among the Igbo people and the entire country.
“The issues he fought against are currently happening in the country where our people are killed at every opportunity. I am from Asaba and I can tell you that the area is almost a no-go area now.
“At this period of mourning, the best thing to do is to sincerely commiserate with the people and family instead of this cowardly statement,” he said.
Uche Ezechukwu, Journalist, who was a P.A. to Ojukwu in the 80s said.
“I don’t agree with him. To say that Ojukwu took the Easterners out of Nigeria is to indulge in the most falsification of history. Rather it was Gowon and his fellow officers of the northern origin who drove Ndigbo and their ilk out of Nigeria.
“At the time that Igbos were being slaughtered like rams all over Nigeria by soldiers led by Danjuma and Murtala Muhammed, Gowon took the reins of power and declared that the “basis of Nigerian unity no longer exist.”
“It was the people from all walks of life that mandated Ojukwu to declare Biafra. He didn’t have a choice in the matter.


P.M.NEWS NIGERIA

Andre Uweh: Tom, you are my champion. May the peace of our Lord be with you.

You're welcome Sir

StarFlux: Yoruba also has many idioms, and are used frequently.

Examples:
Lati jeka - to eat fingers (regret).
Lati gbese le nkan - to put down foot (stop something).

Yoruba, Igbo and similar languages are often very rich in idioms and proverbs. You are right, it makes the language difficult to understand when it is spoken in this way.

you are funny with the above! to eat fingers is actually - o ti ika abamo bo enu! yes it's regret while the second is 'mo gbese le' is usually attributed to our Kings popularly referred to as 'Kabiyesi' yeah you are right it means to 'stop something'

Andre Uweh: @topic, as I said earlier that the Igbo language is so full of idioms, as a result a lot of people who are not originally Igbo may not understand it. For example, if an Igbo says nwata ahu nwere nti ike. A non Igbo may not know that it means nwata ahu anaghi erube isi (that child is disobedient or stubborn).

You are right back in my days in Isuikwuato, I can not forget how my Igbo friends tried so hard just to 'put me in the know of the language' and each time I grasp one, by the next day it's off my memory and this makes me sad, its a language I really want to learn but trust me its quite difficult based on what you just pointed out here. Andre, what is your submission on 'Ogoja language'?

I am still of the opinion that if there is way the Pretender-In-Command can be made to answer for his greed where our once beloved ‘Bakassi’ was turned into an irredenta based on his naïve judgment just to placate the blood suckers in his government, truly, Gowon seems clueless about what is before him.
One thing is clear in all this, Gowon was a used-and-dumped property during the ill-fated Nigerian-Biafran war if not, as the Head of State of a government that partook in that war by now he ought to have released series of books, memoirs, detailing his parts during the war from a truism angle. For over forty years, Gowon is yet to talk of something new in that war which I know he is still holding closely to his chest for fear of “open convictions” except for the usual, old school psychobabbles we have been hearing time and again. While others were busy exonerating their “dark activities” during the war, Achebe (whose other names Chinua means “God Fights My Battle”) was busy preparing his all-time best seller, “There Was A Country” (what an imaginative name for a book) which is all over the world now and may be heading for a Pulitzer Award soon! The 333-page book is loaded and to a large extent quite unbiased and very revealing, those who are not contented with its contents are challenged to write their rebuttals.

Callotti: Romney's concession speech.
God bless America!!!!!
What a night!!!!

Can this happen in the UK?
Never!!!!!

Congrats to Obama, at the bolded, because they are just like us (Nigerians)!

And all these Boko Haram escapades is happening just because a Christian and a South-South man is at the helms of affairs whether they (the core North) likes it or not it is Jonathan all the way till 2019 (provided Nigeria will still be one, going by the spate of senseless bombings here and there)

Barack Obama of the Democratic Party or
Mitt Romney of the Republican Party!

Let's see how good you are in Predicting Events.....

Whobedatte: He is from the bottomless pit. How will any sane individual type that? What of his parents are victims of BB menace, we need to think with our heads

abeg go easy with the kid I guess he is new and being unnecessarily naive

cyril83: maggot on nairaland....who is diz stinking baboon

Pardon his ignorance, he is a son on NL. Educate him and I believe he will not repeat that folly again!

StarFlux: Here is the online version: http://www.ewidgetsonline.net/dxreader/Reader.aspx?token=50e2154d200844a8b8cde0cc8244ba43&rand=934330786&buyNowLink=&page=&chapter=
Online version of the book.

Thanks

...and u are sure I can get the French version in Nigeria? To be on a safer side, can u send me the electronic version thru my email; tomakinta@gmail.com I will be happy to study it, if its excellent as u said

ashson: This a good development. f.g. i support u. just do dis and end d menace and lets have peace in our land.

Son, I don't know which Planet you are from, but here in Planet Earth 'we don't negotiate with terrorists' it's a deadly trap, it has never worked anywhere especially in developing nations

Well how I wish I can speak many languages but can just speak Yoruba(any Yoruba speaking tribe,I do understand and can speak) Ondo,Idanre dialects (all in Ondo State). Languages I really love to know; Spanish, French, Portuguese and Latin