₦airaland Forum

tintingz: mumu so the Quran verses you qouted is not out of context? Read the Quran, hadith and history of Prophet Mohammed[saw] how the mecca pagans treated him, hate him and want to prosecute him because he is preaching 'one God' and later migrate to medina with is companion he lost his wife Khadija in the jorney, still the mecca pagan want to destroy Islam but Mohammed[saw] told his followers they should not fight. Until Allah[swt] said to Mohammed Quran 2:190: Fight in the way of Allah against those who fight against you, but begin not hostilities. Lo! Allah loveth not aggressors.
And Allah also told him 8:61:"But if the enemy incline towards peace, do thou (also) incline towards peace, and trust in Allah: for He is the One that Heareth and Knoweth (all things)."
just try and read more and use ur brain ok.

There is no use growing older when you are not getting wiser!

Bottomline: some things don't get said out loud, please use your brain and seek for the true GOD (JEHOVAH),HE is a merciful God! Boko harams, Al-Quaeda, and many others lay claim to Islam as their religion they even read out from the Qur'an before be-heading their victims, trust me a great curse is on them and those who share their beliefs! I thank God I belong to JESUS! calling one names says it all! May God have mercy on you especially, my point!

tintingz: Una christians and atheist(gentiles) no dey tire...always bringing up one topic "Islam is violents or Mohammed is a violent man" many times muslims have answered and rebunk this. I myself i've answered many christians with this same Questions quoting out context...if i start quoting out what jehovah(3headed god) has done in bible(war, killing, raping, slavery) or the violent speech christ Jesus said una go tell me na parables or holyghost thing...lemme give a tip maybe you start explaining from this verse
"Whosoever would not seek the lord GOD of Isreal should be put to death whether small or great whether man or woman(2 chronicles 15:13)"
well lemme reserve my post for now.

Bring it on, you have failed to understand what we are saying here, there is no point engaging you in a pointless slanging match, (of course, no christian is willing to do that) just listen, open up your heart and allow the word of life to sink into you. The passage you quoted was totally taking out of context, it was an agreement among the children of Israel to keep sin from their camp so that no defiler will allow the wrath of God to fall upon them during their time of consecration before God its a normal practise, unlike a religion that will brand some 'infidel' and then go ahead to attack them. Just read on and learn and be enlightened for once!

[quote author=O.D.B.]All religions are totally useless.

A wise man once said; Treat your religion like your genita1s, never expose it in public and never try shoving it down other people's throat.[/quote]The more reason I am a big fan of the WHITES, they are SPIRITUAL while we BLACKS are RELIGIOUS!

ADAMS OSHIOMOLE IS IT! VOTE OUT THAT DEMONIC, AIMLESS, VISIONLESS PDP OUT NOW!!!

[quote author=ekt_bear]Even muslims don't believe that islam is a religion of peace, lol

Let alone anybody else[/quote]Then why are they still in it? THIS IS BONDAGE PAR EXCELLENCE!

achi4u: yeah,they knw all is not well with islam(amabad)

Sometimes I wonder aloud to myself that despite the exposure of this 'damned religion' and the escapades of the progenitor, Mohammed, people will still in their hearts of hearts deem it fit to go this length in spreading a false religion as this. Men, not even in Animal Kingdom will this ever happen. Indeed, Karl Max captured it imaginatively well that, 'Religion is the opium of the people'!

History has it that Mohammed, the progenitor of Islam has friends among Jews merchants who ply their trades in Mecca then, no wonder the semblance of the religion (Islam) with Judaism and Christianity!
No doubt, there are no countries on this Planet that are more violent-prone other than countries in the Middle-East, North Africa and any other countries with more Muslim populations.

The word "Islam" has been falsely proclaimed by Muslims to mean PEACE. The word Islam, actually means "submission" to the Muslim god of intolerance and hatred. It comes from the root Arabic word "taslim". In Arabic, the word for peace is only "solh". Consider this fact;
Christians & Jewish martyrs say; "I will die for what I believe". A Muslim martyr says; "you will die for what I believe"! Now what do you pick from this;

Surah 47:4 says:

Fa'idhā Laqītumu Al-Ladhīna Kafarū Fađarba Ar-Riqābi Ĥattaá 'Idhā 'Athkhantumūhum Fashuddū Al-Wathāqa Fa'immā Mannāan Ba`du Wa 'Immā Fidā'an Ĥattaá Tađa`a Al-Ĥarbu 'Awzārahā Dhālika Wa Law Yashā'u Allāhu Lāntaşara Minhum Wa Lakin Liyabluwa Ba`đakum Biba`đin Wa Al-Ladhīna Qutilū Fī Sabīli Allāhi Falan Yuđilla 'A`mālahum

which means; Therefore, WHEN YOU MEET THE UNBELIEVERS, SMITE AT THEIR NECKS; At length, when ye have thoroughly subdued them, bind a bond firmly (on them): thereafter (is the time for) either generosity or ransom: Until the war lays down its burdens. Thus (are ye commanded): but if it had been Allah's Will, He could certainly have exacted retribution from them (Himself); but (He lets you fight) in order to test you, some with others. But those who are slain in the Way of Allah, - He will never let their deeds be lost.

I challenge any Muslim scholar to dispute this! In my own candid opinion, it is better for Nigerian Muslims (especially from the Yoruba extract) to understand that no matter the level of devotion they give to the religion, no matter the thickness of the Lawani on their heads, no matter how versed they are in the Quran, they (Yoruba Muslims) are still eternally inferior to Hausa Muslims, the more reason they keep killing them (Yoruba Muslims) anytime there is uprising in the North. If Islam is a religion of PEACE, then it is wrong for Muslims to tell others about that, I (non Muslim) as a person should be able to affirm that without anyone telling me, now a religion of PEACE has wasted more lives than you can ever imagine just in the name of fighting for ALLAH in order to spread your religion. As far as I am concerned there is no difference between Boko Haram or Fulani Herdsman or Mai-Suya, Mai-Tea etc they are the same thing. My pity always goes to the Yoruba Muslims who allowed Funky Mallams to proselytize them and yet don’t see them as brethren. Indeed, Islam is a RELIGION OF PEACE!

The group's official name is People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet's Teachings and Jihad, which is the English translation of Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad. What many failed to understand here is that, Boko Haram is a creation of the fundamentalist Northern Elite Class (Royal fathers, top military brass, powerful business men and top politicians). The bane of Nigeria’s development have always come and will always come from the Northern region unless we do something fast, the United States predictions few years ago about a disintegrated Nigeria before 2015 is about to come to pass!

Lest we forget, the British have placed them (Northern region) in a position that will see them ruling this country as much as they want it until recently. Nigeria is fifty-one years plus, northern representatives have been in power for 38 years leaving just a mere 13 years for other representatives of other regions, a living testimony to the strategy of the colonial masters. Here is a region that has allowed its megalomaniac instincts to take a better part of its quest for power order than national development. Despite their 38 years in power, they have only succeeded in making their people poorer than they were before; they used those inglorious years they were in power to consolidate their feudal systems to the detriments of the northern masses, hence, aggravating the suffering of the commoners in the North! What must be noted is the word, “JIHAD” at the end of the English translation of Boko Haram. Jihad is simply Islamic campaign against non – believers especially Christians, there is no point beating around the bush on this thorny issue, our President must go for the jugular before things get out of proportion. This northern agenda of Boko Haram is a well orchestrated plan by the northern elite class to create chaos for a southern president (Goodluck Jonathan), who they felt is not qualify to be in power. Adamu Ciroma and his cohorts have said it time and again that, they will never recognize Jonathan as President except they zoned the presidency to the north and anything short of that will threaten the peace of the land and one would think those words were child’s play. I thought as an elder statesman he claimed to be, what should be paramount in his heart is how this country can be taken to the next positive level and not the level of barbarism of playing ethnic and archaic regional games with the polity.

The level of bombings in the northern part of the country will further drive the north backwards economically and from all inclinations will make the return of power to that region a tall dream. 2015 is just around the corner, and if the northern elite class feels that power is going back to the north then they should think again, the pointer is this; the country is less safe in the hands of a northerner as President and Commander-in-Chief. Killing the desperadoes is not the solution but tracing the root cause of the Muslim sect is the best solution. Those elements who are involved in sponsoring the operations of this deadly group must be smoked out. The cause they are championing is purely Islamic, as they lay claim to Islamize the country by establishing a Sharia system of government in Nigeria. It must be noted that in the Nigeria of today, Christians are more than Muslims even the goats, cows, hens living within us can testify to that. It is a common knowledge also that the majority and minority dichotomy has been taken to the threshing floor of history never to rise again. Even the Northern hegemony of yesteryears is now history! So what are they (Boko Haram) championing? I think there is need for proper scrutiny of these group activities since their onslaught in 2009, here is a region that has been more of parasitic order than contributory to the developments of the country. Virtually all the infrastructural developments in the region have been as a result of contributions from the South-South region based on the northern inglorious 38 years in power. If the Boko Haram sect will still continue with the bombings in the years to come I don’t see the entity called Nigeria as one! The outburst of Mallam Adamu Ciroma while championing the zoning of the Presidency to the North, with the inflammatory statements credited to the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) on Boko Haram and the cunning speech of the Governor, Central bank of Nigeria, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi still on the Boko Haram sect will take years to fix the dented image of the Northern Elite Class – indeed, they are sympathetic to this Salafist Jihadist Terrorist Organization based in the Northeast!

woe betide you!

otondo55: Atiku, with your gift of bombs, making nigeria ungovernable.

God go punish you and your generation, billions fold !

Amen and Amen!

e kabo sir! u av every right to contest but you will always fail as usual. Common get your gay black ass off our radar. Imagine somebody like this man still talking, indeed, Naija na funny country!

why casting aspersions on him, let him wait and c what will befall his "demonic, political ambition" come 2015! I am more than convinced that POWER will never return to that Boko Haram-infested region called, NORTH! mark my words! North is history as far as Nigerian politics is concerned!

haba naija pple na wa for una sef, this is a prayer, fine you were caught off guard, but hey a prayer is a prayer just a little amen wuld suffice. Hmmmnnnnnnnnn

I am yet to come to terms with the football prodigy called, Lionel Andrés Messi who will turn 25 come 24th June, 2012. He has re-written major records in club football, he is expected to replicate these gestures at the International level for his dear country, Argentina, I can see him doing that very soon and that is for sure. He set a new record for all official goals in all club competitions for F.C Barcelona in the history of the game with a massive 73 official goals, a rare feat!

Surf the web at anytime or just type in the name, Messi or Lionel Messi in any online search engine and you will be shocked at the many articles written on this great subject. The question on everybody’s lips now is at 73 official goals what’s next, may be 80 something, or 90 something perhaps even an 100 goals is not impossible from this “wonder on the pitch”, he has etched his name in the list of the sport’s legends. Lionel Messi is simply a Living Legend! If this young lad was to be around in the era of Ancient Greece, he would definitely be one of the gods!
My bet on this magician is that 100 goals is very realistic from the feet of Lionel Messi, you just wait for it, in the not-too-far-distance Messi will surely do this. If at 24 he had battered many records and set very intimidating ones then before he reaches the age of 29 I am afraid the kind of records he would have set, obviously with Messi at his best at least for the next 4 years he is on a mission to define an era and he will surely do that, he is simply a delight to watch! Unassuming, focused, disciplined, caring are few of the qualities you can use to create the character called, Lionel Andrés Messi. Definitely, this MESSI can score a CENTURY!

I mean what do you call a democracy that is so sick that even the media are all suffering from general amnesia in the face of a grim situation as this “high level bribery scandal” I can bet that by the time the dust would have settled what will be exposed will definitely send shock waves across many hearts – just wait for it! The whole scenario is a ruse and very laughable especially from the press angle that are even expected to be partial and educative in their reports. Think about the case of the ‘giver’ (Otedola) being venerated while the ‘taker’ is being vilipended. If its not madness, tell me how Otedola is also not guilty in this messy case; remember the Farouk Lawan’s led ad-hoc committee revealed trillions of naira (public funds) being misappropriated by some faceless, fly-by-night oil firms in the fuel subsidy regime investigations which also include Otedola’s Zenon Oil company. We are talking about these demons (we all blindly called billionaires) messing with taxpayers money to the tune of trillions of naira and instead of the press to play the “unbiased, impartial umpire” we expected them to be, they are busy magnifying the story of one (the taker) while the other story (of the giver) is being silenced as if Otedola is innocent – what kind of press are we running in this country?

Back to our government, if the reports of the ad-hoc committee where monumental fraud was disclosed which indicted many top flight Nigerian billionaires sympathetic to this government can be fully implemented as promised by Jonathan I will for the first time believe in the seriousness of this administration to fight corruption! This is the time for Jonathan to match words with actions – we (concerned Nigerians) are waiting patiently on this!

A Spanish teacher was explaining to her class that in Spanish, unlike in English, nouns are designated as either ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine’.
“House” for instance is feminine; “la casa”
“Pencil” however, is masculine; “el lapis”
A student asked, “What gender is the computer? Instead of giving a straight answer, the teacher split the class into two groups, male and female, and asked them to decide for themselves whether “Computer” should be a “masculine” or “feminine” noun. Each group was asked to give four reasons for its recommendations.

The male’s group decided that “computer” is definitely feminine; “la computadora” because;
(1) No one but their creator understands their internal logic
(2) The native language they use to communicate with other computers is incomprehensible to everyone else
(3) Even the smallest mistakes are stored in long term memory for possible and easy retrieval in the future and;
(4) As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending half of your paycheck on accessories for it
The female’s group totally disagreed and concluded that “computer” is masculine; “la computador” because;
(1) In order to do anything with them, you have to turn them on
(2) They have a lot of data but still can’t think for themselves
(3) They are supposed to help you solve problems, but half the time, they are the problem and;
(4) As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you had waited a little longer you could have gotten a better model.
What is your stake on this? As for me, The Female’s Group won! You may air your views too.

It is no longer news that the N’digbo are warming up to present a candidate for the 2015 Presidential race, in my own candid opinion it is a dream project that has long been overdue. Indeed, this is the time we as a people (well, I am not thinking about the core North) should rally round our Igbo brothers and sisters in unison and see how this dream can be actualized come 2015 but still on one ground, that is, if and only if the entity called Nigeria will still be ONE!

Another issue is the likelihood of Jonathan running for a second term come 2015, which may likely push the Igbo Agenda till 2019 (I just hope my Odogwus will be willing to wait that long). The point is this, whether its 2015 or 2019 an Igbo President must emerge if Nigeria as a nation will still be in existence by then. As a country, we have tested with the Northerners for 38 mighty years (what a pity) out of our 51 plus years of existence – this is crazy! Anytime I run through the inglorious years of the Northerners in this country either as Military or Civilian rulers I cannot but exclaimed how on earth we allowed them to hold us hostage in a country we labored so hard to build especially when I realized that the Southerners labored more to bring about the progress and success we as a nation is enjoying today. They (the North) have been occupying this country as “Landlords” while the rest of us are mere “Tenants” in a land we all sweated blood to bring together as one. I still maintain that if by sheer providence, oil was to be concentrated in the North by now we would have gone our separate ways imagine that! Yet, it was this oil from the Southern part that they (the Northern Oligarchy) have been feeding fat on for donkeys years, they went ahead to in the pseudo – civil war they created to decimate the brilliant igbos in their millions just because of oil, I wish to declare here boldly that “WOE BETIDE ANY SOUTHERNER (BE IT SOUTH –WESTERNER, EASTERNER OR SOUTHERNER)” clamouring for these ‘funky Mallams’ to come and rule in this country, it is time to tell them (the Northern Oligarchy) to get their freaky fingers and sneaky eyes off our property and watch how to lead. They (the North) have been parasitic all along, always wanting to dominate at all cost despite the fact that they don’t know what to do with power, cunningly spreading their JIHAD Agenda throughout the country, remember how they infiltrated the civil service and many other governments establishments and now they have gone more sophisticated – courtesy BOKO HARAM!
How I wish my Igbo brothers and sisters will stop pursuing different agenda and come together under a unified voice for the common good of their FUTURE! To my Igbo compatriots I say to you all, it is never too late to put your house in order.

acidtalk: THE POWER OF PANOPTICON AS A SURVEILLANCE TOOL"


...THISDAY further learnt that Lawan visited Otedola’s house on three different occasions over the bribe issue. On each occasion, he drove himself in a C class Mercedes Benz. Five video recordings, lasting an average of eight to 10 minutes each were made on each of those visits.
According to a source in the security services, on the first visit, he had lunch with Otedola where the amount to be paid was negotiated and eventually agreed on.

On his second visit, which was around 11 pm, he collected the first tranche of $250,000 and during the third visit when he came around 5.05 am, he collected the second tranche of $250,000. He was dressed in green buba and sokoto with a cap to match.
Later in the day at the plenary session after he had collected the second tranche, he got the House to clear Zenon as one of the companies that bought foreign exchange but did not import petroleum products.

“In the video, Lawan was clearly seen stuffing wads of dollar bills into his pocket, when his pocket was full, to the utter shock of all those who have seen the damning video, he removed his cap and concealed the remaining wads of dollar bills inside it and replaced the cap on his head.

“Nigerians will reel with laughter if they ever get to watch this video. It is on the one hand hilarious and on the other, shameful,” a source said.

Further investigations revealed that Lawan’s resort to stuffing the money in his pockets and cap was done to avoid arousing suspicion from Otedola’s domestic help who would have seen him entering the house empty handed and coming out carrying a bulging envelope.

However, unknown to him, a surveillance video camera carefully installed by the SSS was recording all his actions."


http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/police-detain-farouk-lawan/118035/

Men this is sick to high heavens! I still don't understand why we (as a people) all believe in Democracy, no wonder FELA called it, "demonstration of craze" indeed it is! *yawning*

My 21 Observations and Suggestions

Introduction
This piece is meant to be meditatively studied and not to just glance through. It is not mere effusions from a confused mind, but that of a sound and discerning mind. It is the absolute truth about our great country, Nigeria. Initially, we as a division have our respective peculiar problems. Eventually, we became a unit as a result of the unfortunate, ill-planned, directionless amalgamation of 1914. Yet, our problem remains! There is no shame in towing the path of bravery by going our separate ways before things get out of hand (of course, the ominous clouds have started gathering foretelling what will unfold soon). The North have their peculiar orientations totally different from the South’s orientations, all we need do is to respect one another and come to a point of realization that when we part ways it will be a sign of mutual understanding for our different ideologies. Those who express fears that parting ways may throw each divided parts into more chaotic situations are not good students of history. Many countries have towed this path of destiny and just with a little perseverance are the better for it today – Nigeria will not be an exception!
We don’t have to wait and fold our hands as if all is well. I do not intend to insult the intelligence of any tribe, unfortunately anytime issues of this nature is reared up, it will always appear some peoples’ intelligence are being attacked. The subject of this piece is about our separation that can be done meaningfully through CONFAB – REFERENDUM, no point shedding blood, we can separate PEACEFULLY!

Observation 1: Definitely, Nigeria can never be one no matter how hard we try (ironically, for we to grow we need to be one). We will definitely understand the language of being one when we part ways on the long run, because we were not meant to be together in the first place.

Observation 2: Southern part and Northern part have to go their separate ways for any meaningful developments (be it structural, intellectual to take place). Northern part (especially the Northwest and Northeast) and Southern part are like water and oil, they can never mix together.

Observation 3: 2015 will definitely be too hot to handle for the governments security wise. Nigeria may likely open a new vista in her convoluted political history.

Observation 4: This politics of “it’s my turn to rule” is purely demonic and undemocratic”, as there have never been any reasonable and meaningful lasting developments targeted towards the many citizens of this country especially from “rulers” in the Northern parts.

Observation 5: Democracy will never fix our problems; we are different from the United States. This is a wasteful system of government as far as we can see, compared to even the military (before you axe me check your facts on this and you will be amazed at how extravagant our incompetent politicians are). Of course, I am not supporting the military comeback. A Sovereign National Conference or Confederacy (through Regionalism as practiced in the 60s may just be appropriate).The warning is this; Jonathan may just be the last Nigeria’s President!

Observation 6: Corruption gives room for all manners of shortcuts to “making it big” within the cycle of governments, hence we are at a standstill.

Observation 7: Our so-called leaders are not sincere with the led, the more reason we are not developing.

Observation 8: Good roads, stable power supply, vibrant agriculture, efficient securities at all levels, well-planned job creations and efficient educational and financial systems must be integrated into the system if Nigeria must attain stability in the near future.

Observation 9: Our judicial system is a farce and a great mockery to what genuine democracy is. Judgments have been slaughtered on the platter of MONEY – A big shame!

Observation 10: We are too fearful to take our destinies in our hands as a nation and this has affected virtually all the citizens of this great country.

Observation 11: We are fond of celebrating mediocrity and glorifying stupidity in almost all our endeavours towards nation-building.
Suggestions – Fielding qualified personnel to place of authorities and not political appointees is the answer to this anomaly.

Observation 12: The only thing constant in Nigeria right from her independence is LIES! No nation can develop on the foundation of LIES – I am still standing to be corrected!

Observation 13: Going our separate ways is not the end of the world, only greedy, blood-thirsty, visionless leaders always drums up support for our “unity that is not united”. We have been in the wilderness of this deception for too long, let the North go their way and the South go their way and we shall see the light we have been craving for instead of this groping in the dark.

Observation 14: Only “very few” Religion leaders in the country know the mind of God for this country and are still on the path of truth.

Suggestions – May God continue to keep this “very few” (Amen).

Observation 15: About 90% of Nigerians understand the language of FORCE; about 70% are ravished by POVERTY, about 60% of the working force is JOBLESS, about 40% are criminally-minded when not in PRIVILEGED POSITIONS/ PLACE OF OPPORTUNITIES, about 90% are criminally-minded when in PRIVILEGED POSITIONS/ PLACE OF OPPORTUNITIES. Indeed, danger looms in the not-too-far distance.

Suggestions – Point 8 should be strictly considered!

Observation 16: It is very certain that there is no LOVE among us, hence, the lack of unity. The more reason we cannot continue to do the same thing over and over again and expect different unique results – impossible!

Observation 17: Political parties are unique instruments of polarity as far as “Nigerian Politics” is concerned, this we shall see before 2015 – mark my words.

Observation 18: There is nothing strange in Buhari’s utterances, that is what a typical Hausa – Fulani man is behaviourally (easily-provoked), the same applies to many of his tribesmen either in the elite class or the cattle-rearers. The only difference is that, he is not a pretender and he got the balls to express himself while his other “elite tribesmen” are pretenders and extremely dangerous – Jonathan beware!

Observation 19: There is nothing strange in Boko Haram’s activities as far as I am concerned, they believe they are championing the cause of Allah as laid bare in the Quran, and penciled down by their great Prophet, Mohammed. Remember the activities of an average Hausa – Fulani man during their many riots and how they dealt with their southern counterparts who reside in the North – wake up people!

Observation 20: Indeed there is a great confusion in the land, our leaders are just pretending to be in control, and time that heals all wounds will still be the definitive factor that will prove this noble truth!

Observation 21: There can never be PEACE in the core north why? Too many innocent bloods have been shed in that part of the country (start your personal research from 1955 and you will be amazed at the rate of the senseless killings) yet they are still incorrigible instead of them to be penitent!

Note: Only genuine prayers to God and a willing heart to turn away from these wicked acts can reverse the looming dangers – we can keep on dreaming thinking all is WELL, when indeed all is not WELL!

Nigeria hangs precariously on a cliff about to fall off, but the amazing thing about her condition is that she has been in this dangerous position for more than four decades only to keep hanging…..but the question is, for how long?


Let me start by asking, what can we really say is practically wrong with our leaders? Where did they get it all wrong? Are we destined to fail right from the onset? Is there another place we can call home besides this highly blessed country? Is it not a stark irony that Nigeria is rich, yet most Nigerians are poor? If this entity called Nigeria should break-up, are we really going to benefit or regret the aftermaths? It must be noted and I stand to be corrected, that of all the nations of this Blue-Green-Brown Planet, only the United States and the Russian Federation ranks higher than Nigeria in the concentration of non renewable natural resources. Non renewable resources are those in limited supply that cannot be replaced or can be replaced only over extremely long periods of time, e.g. Fossil fuels (oil and gas) and other mineral deposits. Virtually, everything that qualifies a country to be a RICH country is present in this country. We are Nigerians by virtue of cosmic destiny as designed by Divine Providence; hence, I am proud to be a Nigerian!

Straight to the point, I have been watching the chain of events in this country for more than 20 years now, and I cannot but lament that it is a country ravished by the spirit of confusion in all spheres; family cycles, places of worships, places of works, government cycles and so on. We have experimented with parliamentary democracy (Tafawa Balewa), military government (Aguiyi-Ironsi, Yakubu Gowon, Murtala Mohammed, Olusegun Obasanjo, Buhari, Babangida, Abacha, Abdulsalam), Confederacy (Odumegwu Ojukwu), democracy (that supports more of unitary system other than federal system) – (Shagari, Obasanjo, Yar’Adua, Jonathan), pseudo-republic, oligarchy, totalitarianism, capitalism, mixed economy and free-market economy. Obviously, I don’t need any soothsayer to tell me that these are off shoots of a confused State. The present one we are even practicing now is so multi-coloured that a “Professor of Politics and Government” and Political Analyst will be so confused to really classify our current system of government. It is that serious!

Obviously, democracy is too expensive for Nigeria to run! We need to chart a new system of government that will take us to the Promised Land before it is too late (our break up). Parliamentary democracy was handed over to us by our Colonial Masters, we only experimented with it for just 6 years and we lost it all. Right from1960 till now, if we are to take into considerations the level of ‘additions’ and ‘subtractions’ in infrastructural developments, people-oriented policies and political savvy on the part of our leaders it is very glaring that the ‘subtractions’ are on the high side. We should stop deceiving ourselves, we are no where near these developed nations let alone practicing their systems of government, it is not too late to sit down now and draw out a blueprint that will fashion out a “system of government” that will take us out of the woods. This multi-coloured thing we called democracy is not real either in theory or practice. A democracy that annually waste trillions of naira on unnecessary allowances of over 11,700 inept government officials (Presidency to Councillors) will take us nowhere. A democracy that switch between unitary systems, oligarchy, totalitarianism anytime bounties are to be shared at the top level (central government) and federal systems anytime thorny and sensitive issues (like fuel subsidy removal, rise in taxations etc) arise is too multi-coloured to be taken seriously. A democracy that will embrace capitalism now and in the next moment is romancing free market economy and mixed economy in the area of commerce is a sign of multi-coloured democracy.
Unarguably, if we are to look at the theoretical definitions of any political systems of governments (democracy, communism, socialism etc) anywhere in the world, no country is innocent of practically executing the tenets of these systems. The truth is, most of them at a point in their history sat down, designed a framework in which these systems berthed, and hence, it’s working for them. China for instance has been with Communism since the time of Chairman Mao Zedong in the late 1940s now they are globally recognized as emerging world power, that is a country with serious-minded leaders that have focus, India has been experimenting with Parliamentary democracy and it’s working for them despite being desperately poor at Independence (unlike Nigeria that was rich at Independence), Ghana (a black nation like us) just got their acts together recently now they are ahead of Nigeria economically! South Africa is an epitome of virtually everything good in the area of commerce and politics as far as Africa is concerned. But where do we stand? Refineries are left for dead or performing at abysmal level and we have paraded leaders who have experimented with anything in system of governments except for Communism and Socialism yet we have not fair well – this is sad! I don’t want to suggest any system of government but I can declare boldly that we cannot really apply this democracy to bail out ourselves from this quagmire – This democracy of ours gives room for more V.I.P (Vagabonds in Power), and more thieves the more reason we can’t lift up ourselves! This democracy does not suit us at all; it is more of an Oligarchy (selected leaders who really don’t care about the masses). The danger lurking around the corner is break-up except we rise to the occasion. If Nigeria falls, it will be too disastrous. We have been hanging on this weak cliff for too long – danger looms!

Don’t tell me nothing is wrong with the “removal of fuel subsidy”, I tell you what, more than one thousand and one things are wrong with it. Yar’Adua returned Obasanjo’s =N=75 ‘fuel subsidy’ to =N=65 remember? The question I want to ask Jonathan is this, who are the people he intends to use to manage the supposed =N=1.2 trillions he hopes to realize from the ‘removal of fuel subsidy’? Is it not these same criminal-minded government clowns – we called leaders, whose hobbies range from; rigorous Fuji-dancing, car-racing (with more than 10 exotic cars in a convoy), womanizing, drunkenness, wild-partying, unnecessary and fruitless globe-trotting, over-eating, over-dressing, embezzling of public funds, oppressing the masses, materialistic tendencies, lying and coveting. I am more than convinced that democracy can never (trust me it can’t) work in this country (the basis of this piece) under this current trend of no contingency plans! I have realized that a democracy lined with capitalism (a system that gives room for wide gap between the rich and the poor), a mixture of free-market (a system that encourages high-handedness from the elite class) and mixed economies (a system that makes government officials over-bearing on the masses) coupled with a blend of oligarchy (selected leaders who neglect their constituencies), totalitarianism (submission to the will of PDP led government and their President) and still trying to fix power, build good roads, with negative balance of payment, parading extremely corrupt leaders, defective constitution, soaring unemployment rates, lack of basic amenities, systemic collapse in all spheres of governments, insecurities at his highest, adumbrated blueprints with no connection to welfare packages, moribund refineries and the likes is nothing but a big joke. This Ship of State is definitely heading for the rocks; the indices are there for all to see except for the blind (our so-called leaders)!

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of a country is the yardstick for measuring how rich and poor a country is. It is the broadest measure of aggregate economic activity and encompasses every sector of the economy or simply put, the total value of goods and services produced in a country. If GDP grows at a higher rate than the population, standards of living are said to be rising. If the population is growing at a higher rate than GDP, living standards are said to be falling. Think about this, there has not been any reasonable change in our GDP right from 1960 at least when one put into consideration the exchange rate. For instance, our balance-of-payments problem was revealed in the foreign trade figures for 1960. In that year exports were valued at £161,000,000 and imports at £215,000,000. Thus, there was a trade deficit of over £50,000,000, compared to about £20,000,000 in 1959 and £31,000,000 in 1958. Is it different from what we have today? Are we not spending more on imports than what we realize from exports? In the year 1958 it was on record that, Nigeria was the world's largest exporter of groundnuts, palm oil, and palm kernels, but what is our story today? In today’s world the GDP is based on 3 sub-units namely; (i) Agriculture, forestry and fishing; (ii) Industry (manufacturing, mining, construction and transportation) and (iii) Services (sector catering for small and medium scale industries - entrepreneurs).

[b]Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by Economic Sector

Countries GDP (as at 2006) Agriculture, forestry and fishing Industry Services
Nigeria $115.3 billion 23.3 percent (2005) 56.8 percent (2005) 19.9 percent (2005)
Ghana $12.9 billion 37.4 percent (2006) 25.4 percent (2006) 37.2 percent (2006)
India $911.8 billion 17.5 percent (2006) 27.9 percent (2006) 54.6 percent (2006)
China $2.6 trillion 12 percent (2006) 48 percent (2006) 40 percent (2006)
South Africa $255.2 billion 2.7 percent (2006) 30.9 percent (2006) 66.4 percent (2006)
Japan $4.4 trillion 1.7 percent (2004) 30.2 percent (2004) 68.1 percent (2004)
Russia $986.9 billion 4.9 percent (2006) 39.4 percent (2006) 55.8 percent (2006)
Germany $2.9 trillion 1 percent (2006) 30 percent (2006) 69.1 percent (2006)
U.K $2.4 trillion 0.9 percent (2006) 24.1 percent (2006) 75 percent (2006)
United States $13.2 trillion 1.3 percent (2004) 22 percent (2004) 76.7 percent (2004)[/b]

Note: A higher percentage in service over industry is a sign of a growing and matured economy while a higher percentage in industry over service is a sign of an ailing economy.

To move forward in the right direction, we definitely need leaders who will take government as a call to serve and not to be served. The above table is a sign that governance is serious business and not bed of roses as exhibited by our leaders right from Independence. We need a system of government where the wealth of this country will not be in the hands of just 3% of us. We need a system where we don’t have to be pampering myriads of figure-heads officials wasting public funds doing nothing. We need a working constitution that will streamline government spending on government officials to a reasonable level and also encourage punitive measures for corrupt government officials. We need a system where more refineries will be added to the existing ones and the existing ones are revamped. We need good roads, constant power supply, more jobs, good rail systems, working airways and ports systems, development of agriculture and regulations of prices of agricultural products, appropriate taxation, good salary and remuneration packages, adequate disbursement of pensions, strict monitoring of petroleum and other mineral resources developments, equipping the financial institutions against inefficiencies, encouraging more small and medium scale enterprises, prioritizing security at all levels including borders, proper maintenance of infrastructures and spirit of continuity, good food and fruits storage systems nationwide, vibrant fishing industries must be encouraged in all the coastal states, genuine support to farmers through mechanized farming, textile industries to be revived nationwide, proper and adequate funding of the educational sectors, and a rich balance of trade with a positive balance of payment. Good governance bereft of corrupt government officials and financial recklessness in all spheres of government will surely take us there but not this “multi-coloured system of government” we called DEMOCRACY!

This is the tale of a Country with a “Multi-Coloured System of Government” still hanging precariously on a cliff but this time around I know for sure one thing will happen, it’s either she falls over or adjust herself. I pray for the latter!

• SYMBOL: WOE


• FORMULA: W² (OE) ³


• PHYSICAL PROPERTIES: BOILS AT NOTHING AND FREEZES IN A SECOND. VERY BITTER IF NOT WELL USED.


• CHEMICAL PROPERTIES: POSSESSES GREAT AFFINITY FOR PRECIOUS METALS LIKE GOLD, SILVER, DIAMOND AND PLATINUM. TURNS GREEN WHEN PLACED BESIDES A BETTER LOOKING SPECIMEN.


• OCCURRENCE: FOUND WHEREVER “MAN” EXISTS BUT MOST COMMON WHERE “MONEY” IS.


• USES: HIGHLY ORNAMENTAL AND USEFUL IN EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH, THE MOST EFFICIENT INCOME-REDUCING AGENT EVER DISCOVERED.


• CAUTION: HIGHLY EXPLOSIVE IN INEXPERIENCED HANDS, SHOULD BE HANDLED WITH CARE.


• EXTRACTION: BY DISPLAYING SOME FORM OF WEALTH EITHER IN MONEY, PHYSICAL OR MOBILITY FORM.

I don’t know how long this young man will rule the world of football but something keeps telling me his best is yet to come, hence we ain’t see anything yet from Messi’s bag of tricks or magic. He began his senior career in the 2004/2005 season with F.C Barcelona but couldn’t breakthrough into the regular team not until the 2006/2007 season (we can say the 2011/2012 season is Messi’s official 6th year with Barcelona, because he only managed to score a total of 9 goals in all competitions in his first two seasons with Barcelona). Right from the 2006/2007 season up till now Messi has been the darling of many hearts in the world of football even claiming his second straight enlistment in the elite list of TIME’s Magazine 100 most influential personality (2011 and 2012), a pointer to his global appeal status. He is a wonder to watch on the field, he has broken many records and set new ones and the amazing thing about this unassuming personality is that he is just 25 years old. Many critics have argued that we are already looking at the new “King of Football” that it’s just a question of time when this reality would have been clearly spelt out. I understand the fact that he was privileged to be in the right club that suits his playing style but I will continue to say it loud and clear that put Messi anywhere football is played he will still distinguish himself (this I know when you watch him play for Argentina where there are no Iniesta, Xavi and Sergio Busquets). He is incredibly and frighteningly disciplined both on and off the pitch something rare among many of his peers. Messi is in his 8th year of professional football and he has amassed the following awards at just 25; 19 silverwares with Barcelona, 3 silverwares with country and 76 individual honours bringing his total honours to 98 with at least 12 years still to play football I am afraid by the time Messi will be hanging his boot he may go down in history as the all time best footballer in the history of the game no doubt! His closest rival, Cristiano Ronaldo statistics so far in his 10 years of professional football stood at; 9 silverwares with Manchester United, 2 silverwares with Real Madrid, no silverware with country and 57 individual honours bringing his total to 68, now you know what I am talking about.
What has been on for some time now is, who will win the FIFA Ballon d’Or for the 2011/2012 season, definitely there is no basis for argument the clear answer is MESSI! He turned the season into a year of “breaking and setting records in the world of club football” thereby making the season his personal year. Messi needs no contention either from the ongoing European competitions or any other events be it the Olympics to claim his straight 4 FIFA Ballon d’Or this season (mark my words)! Messi is to football what Michael Jordan is to Basketball, Michael Jackson is to Music, Michelangelo is to painting, and William Shakespeare is to the world of writing. He is simply out of this world; just a look at his stunning records this season below will prove his invincibility to you;
1. His 73 goals for Barcelona in all competitions is a new record anywhere club football is played in the world.
2. His 50 league goals make the first of its kind in the history of Spanish and other top flight European club football.
3. He emerged as the all time Barcelona highest goal scorer with 253 official goals.
4. He is the first and for now the only player to score 8 hat-tricks in a single league season in the history of La Liga.
5. He is the first player to be crowned top goal scorer in UEFA Champions League history 4 times in a row (2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012).
6. He emerged as the only player with most goals (73) and most assists (29) in a single season in all competitions (a new record).
7. He is the first and only player for now to score 5 goals in a UEFA Champions League match against Bayer Leverkusen which ended 7 -1.
8. He is the first and only player in La Liga history to score 35 goals in home games.
9. He is the first and only player to reach 100 points in the race of the European Golden Shoe Award (50 goals × 2).
10. He is the youngest player at 24 to pass the 50-goal mark in the history of UEFA Champions League.
11. He is the record holder in most goals scored in the Champions League knock-out stage with 26 goals compared to the previous record of 18 goals held by Raul and Shevchenko.
12. He emerged the all time top scorer in the Spanish super cup with 8 goals, surpassing the record of Raul’s 7 goals.
13. He scored in 10 consecutive league games (18 goals) equaling the record of Mariano Martin in 1942/1943 season.
14. He scored in 7 consecutive away league games to equal Samuel Eto’o record in the 2007/2008 season.
15. He is the 4th player in the history of Champions League (after Litmanen, Crespo and Thierry Henry) to score in 7 consecutive away games.
16. He is the first player to score 14 goals in a single Champions League season after the name and format was changed in 1992.
17. He is the youngest player (at 24 years, 270 days) to reach 150 goals in La Liga.

Phobia Feared objects or situations

Acrophobia Heights
Aerophobia Flying
Agoraphobia Open spaces, public places
Aichmophobia Sharp pointed objects
Ailurophobia Cats
Amaxophobia Vehicles, driving
Anthropophobia People
Aquaphobia Water
Arachnephobia Spiders
Astraphobia Lightning
Batrachophobia Frogs, amphibians
Blennophobia Slime
Brontophobia Thunder
Carcinophobia Cancer
Claustrophobia Closed spaces, confinement
Clinophobia Going to bed
Cynophobia Dogs
Dementophobia Insanity
Dromophobia Crossing streets
Emetophobia Vomiting
Entomophobia Insects
Genophobia Sex
Gephyrophobia Crossing bridges
Hematophobia Blood
Herpetophobia Reptiles
Homilophobia Sermons
Linonophobia String
Monophobia Being alone
Musophobia Mice
Mysophobia Dirt and germs
Nudophobia Nudity
Numerophobia Numbers
Nyctophobia Darkness, night
Ochlophobia Crowds
Ophidiophobia Snakes
Ornithophobia Birds
Phasmophobia Ghosts
Phobophobia Phobias
Pnigophobia Choking
Pogonophobia Beards
Pyrophobia Fire
Siderodromophobia Trains
Taphephobia Being buried alive
Thanatophobia Death
Trichophobia Hair
Triskaidekaphobia The number 13
Trypanophobia Injections
Xenophobia Strangers
Zoophobia Animals

The group's official name is People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet's Teachings and Jihad, which is the English translation of Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad. What many failed to understand here is that, Boko Haram is a creation of the fundamentalist Northern Elite Class (Royal fathers, top military brass, powerful business men and top politicians). The bane of Nigeria’s development have always come and will always come from the Northern region unless we do something fast, the United States predictions few years ago about a disintegrated Nigeria before 2015 is about to come to pass!

Lest we forget, the British have placed them (Northern region) in a position that will see them ruling this country as much as they want it until recently. Nigeria is fifty-one years plus, northern representatives have been in power for 38 years leaving just a mere 13 years for other representatives of other regions, a living testimony to the strategy of the colonial masters. Here is a region that has allowed its megalomaniac instincts to take a better part of its quest for power order than national development. Despite their 38 years in power, they have only succeeded in making their people poorer than they were before; they used those inglorious years they were in power to consolidate their feudal systems to the detriments of the northern masses, hence, aggravating the suffering of the commoners in the North! What must be noted is the word, “JIHAD” at the end of the English translation of Boko Haram. Jihad is simply Islamic campaign against non – believers especially Christians, there is no point beating around the bush on this thorny issue, our President must go for the jugular before things get out of proportion. This northern agenda of Boko Haram is a well orchestrated plan by the northern elite class to create chaos for a southern president (Goodluck Jonathan), who they felt is not qualify to be in power. Adamu Ciroma and his cohorts have said it time and again that, they will never recognize Jonathan as President except they zoned the presidency to the north and anything short of that will threaten the peace of the land and one would think those words were child’s play. I thought as an elder statesman he claimed to be, what should be paramount in his heart is how this country can be taken to the next positive level and not the level of barbarism of playing ethnic and archaic regional games with the polity.
The level of bombings in the northern part of the country will further drive the north backwards economically and from all inclinations will make the return of power to that region a tall dream. 2015 is just around the corner, and if the northern elite class feels that power is going back to the north then they should think again, the pointer is this; the country is less safe in the hands of a northerner as President and Commander-in-Chief. Killing the desperadoes is not the solution but tracing the root cause of the Muslim sect is the best solution. Those elements who are involved in sponsoring the operations of this deadly group must be smoked out. The cause they are championing is purely Islamic, as they lay claim to Islamize the country by establishing a Sharia system of government in Nigeria. It must be noted that in the Nigeria of today, Christians are more than Muslims even the goats, cows, hens living within us can testify to that. It is a common knowledge also that the majority and minority dichotomy has been taken to the threshing floor of history never to rise again. Even the Northern hegemony of yesteryears is now history! So what are they (Boko Haram) championing? I think there is need for proper scrutiny of these group activities since their onslaught in 2009, here is a region that has been more of parasitic order than contributory to the developments of the country. Virtually all the infrastructural developments in the region have been as a result of contributions from the South-South region based on the northern inglorious 38 years in power. If the Boko Haram sect will still continue with the bombings in the years to come I don’t see the entity called Nigeria as one! The outburst of Mallam Adamu Ciroma while championing the zoning of the Presidency to the North, with the inflammatory statements credited to the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) on Boko Haram and the cunning speech of the Governor, Central bank of Nigeria, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi still on the Boko Haram sect will take years to fix the dented image of the Northern Elite Class – indeed, they are sympathetic to this Salafist Jihadist Terrorist Organization based in the Northeast!

My 21 Observations and Suggestions

Introduction
This piece is meant to be meditatively studied and not to just glance through. It is not mere effusions from a confused mind, but that of a sound and discerning mind. It is the absolute truth about our great country, Nigeria. Initially, we as a division have our respective peculiar problems. Eventually, we became a unit as a result of the unfortunate, ill-planned, directionless amalgamation of 1918. Yet, our problem remains! There is no shame in towing the path of bravery by going our separate ways before things get out of hand (of course, the ominous clouds have started gathering foretelling what will unfold soon). The North have their peculiar orientations totally different from the South’s orientations, all we need do is to respect one another and come to a point of realization that when we part ways it will be a sign of mutual understanding for our different ideologies. Those who express fears that parting ways may throw each divided parts into more chaotic situations are not good students of history. Many countries have towed this path of destiny and just with a little perseverance are the better for it today – Nigeria will not be an exception!
We don’t have to wait and fold our hands as if all is well. I do not intend to insult the intelligence of any tribe, unfortunately anytime issues of this nature is reared up, it will always appear some peoples’ intelligence are being attacked. The subject of this piece is about our separation that can be done meaningfully through CONFAB – REFERENDUM, no point shedding blood, we can separate PEACEFULLY!

Observation 1: Definitely, Nigeria can never be one no matter how hard we try (ironically, for we to grow we need to be one). We will definitely understand the language of being one when we part ways on the long run, because we were not meant to be together in the first place.
Observation 2: Southern part and Northern part have to go their separate ways for any meaningful developments (be it structural, intellectual to take place). Northern part (especially the Northwest and Northeast) and Southern part are like water and oil, they can never mix together.
Observation 3: 2015 will definitely be too hot to handle for the governments security wise. Nigeria may likely open a new vista in her convoluted political history.
Observation 4: This politics of “it’s my turn to rule” is purely demonic and undemocratic”, as there have never been any reasonable and meaningful lasting developments targeted towards the many citizens of this country especially from “rulers” in the Northern parts.
Observation 5: Democracy will never fix our problems; we are different from the United States. This is a wasteful system of government as far as we can see, compared to even the military (before you axe me check your facts on this and you will be amazed at how extravagant our incompetent politicians are). Of course, I am not supporting the military comeback. A Sovereign National Conference or Confederacy (through Regionalism as practiced in the 60s may just be appropriate).The warning is this; Jonathan may just be the last Nigeria’s President!
Observation 6: Corruption gives room for all manners of shortcuts to “making it big” within the cycle of governments, hence we are at a standstill.
Observation 7: Our so-called leaders are not sincere with the led, the more reason we are not developing.
Observation 8: Good roads, stable power supply, vibrant agriculture, efficient securities at all levels, well-planned job creations and efficient educational and financial systems must be integrated into the system if Nigeria must attain stability in the near future.
Observation 9: Our judicial system is a farce and a great mockery to what genuine democracy is. Judgments have been slaughtered on the platter of MONEY – A big shame!
Observation 10: We are too fearful to take our destinies in our hands as a nation and this has affected virtually all the citizens of this great country.
Observation 11: We are fond of celebrating mediocrity and glorifying stupidity in almost all our endeavours towards nation-building.
Suggestions – Fielding qualified personnel to place of authorities and not political appointees is the answer to this anomaly.
Observation 12: The only thing constant in Nigeria right from her independence is LIES! No nation can develop on the foundation of LIES – I am still standing to be corrected!
Observation 13: Going our separate ways is not the end of the world, only greedy, blood-thirsty, visionless leaders always drums up support for our “unity that is not united”. We have been in the wilderness of this deception for too long, let the North go their way and the South go their way and we shall see the light we have been craving for instead of this groping in the dark.
Observation 14: Only “very few” Religion leaders in the country know the mind of God for this country and are still on the path of truth.
Suggestions – May God continue to keep this “very few” (Amen).
Observation 15: About 90% of Nigerians understand the language of FORCE; about 70% are ravished by POVERTY, about 60% of the working force is JOBLESS, about 40% are criminally-minded when not in PRIVILEGED POSITIONS/ PLACE OF OPPORTUNITIES, about 90% are criminally-minded when in PRIVILEGED POSITIONS/ PLACE OF OPPORTUNITIES. Indeed, danger looms in the not-too-far distance.
Suggestions – Point 8 should be strictly considered!
Observation 16: It is very certain that there is no LOVE among us, hence, the lack of unity. The more reason we cannot continue to do the same thing over and over again and expect different unique results – impossible!
Observation 17: Political parties are unique instruments of polarity as far as “Nigerian Politics” is concerned, this we shall see before 2015 – mark my words.
Observation 18: There is nothing strange in Buhari’s utterances, that is what a typical Hausa – Fulani man is behaviourally (easily-provoked), the same applies to many of his tribesmen either in the elite class or the cattle-rearers. The only difference is that, he is not a pretender and he got the balls to express himself while his other “elite tribesmen” are pretenders and extremely dangerous – Jonathan beware!
Observation 19: There is nothing strange in Boko Haram’s activities as far as I am concerned, they believe they are championing the cause of Allah as laid bare in the Quran, and penciled down by their great Prophet, Mohammed. Remember the activities of an average Hausa – Fulani man during their many riots and how they dealt with their southern counterparts who reside in the North – wake up people!
Observation 20: Indeed there is a great confusion in the land, our leaders are just pretending to be in control, and time that heals all wounds will still be the definitive factor that will prove this noble truth!
Observation 21: There can never be PEACE in the core north why? Too many innocent bloods have been shed in that part of the country (start your personal research from 1955 and you will be amazed at the rate of the senseless killings) yet they are still incorrigible instead of them to be penitent!
Note: Only genuine prayers to God and a willing heart to turn over from these wicked acts can reverse the looming dangers – we can keep on dreaming thinking all is WELL, when indeed all is not WELL!

Nigeria hangs precariously on a cliff about to fall off, but the amazing thing about her condition is that she has been in this dangerous position for more than four decades only to keep hanging…..but the question is, for how long?



Let me start by asking, what can we really say is practically wrong with our leaders? Where did they get it all wrong? Are we destined to fail right from the onset? Is there another place we can call home besides this highly blessed country? Is it not a stark irony that Nigeria is rich, yet most Nigerians are poor? If this entity called Nigeria should break-up, are we really going to benefit or regret the aftermaths? It must be noted and I stand to be corrected, that of all the nations of this Blue-Green-Brown Planet, only the United States and the Russian Federation ranks higher than Nigeria in the concentration of non renewable natural resources. Non renewable resources are those in limited supply that cannot be replaced or can be replaced only over extremely long periods of time, e.g. Fossil fuels (oil and gas) and other mineral deposits. Virtually, everything that qualifies a country to be a RICH country is present in this country. We are Nigerians by virtue of cosmic destiny as designed by Providence; hence, I am proud to be a Nigerian!

Straight to the point, I have watched this country for more than 20 years, and I cannot but lament that it is a country ravished by the spirit of confusion in all spheres; family cycles, places of worships, places of works, government cycles and so on. We have experimented with parliamentary democracy (Tafawa Balewa), military government (Aguiyi-Ironsi, Yakubu Gowon, Murtala Mohammed, Olusegun Obasanjo, Buhari, Babangida, Abacha, Abdulsalam), Confederacy (Odumegwu Ojukwu), democracy (that supports more of unitary system other than federal system) – (Shagari, Obasanjo, Yar’Adua, Jonathan), pseudo-republic, oligarchy, totalitarianism, capitalism, mixed economy and free-market economy. Obviously, I don’t need any soothsayer to tell me that these are off shoots of a confused State. The present one we are even practicing now is so multi-coloured that a “Professor of Politics and Government” and Political Analyst will be so confused to really classify our current system of government. It is that serious!

Obviously, democracy is too expensive for Nigeria to run! We need to chart a new system of government that will take us to the Promised Land before it is too late (our break up). Parliamentary democracy was handed over to us by our Colonial Masters, we only experimented with it for just 6 years and we lost it all. Right from1960 till now, if we are to take into considerations the level of ‘additions’ and ‘subtractions’ in infrastructural developments, people-oriented policies and political savvy on the part of our leaders it is very glaring that the ‘subtractions’ are on the high side. We should stop deceiving ourselves, we are no where near these developed nations let alone practicing their systems of government, it is not too late to sit down now and draw out a blueprint that will fashion out a “system of government” that will take us out of the woods. This multi-coloured thing we called democracy is not real either in theory or practice. A democracy that annually waste trillions of naira on unnecessary allowances of over 11,700 inept government officials (Presidency to Councillors) will take us nowhere. A democracy that switch between unitary systems, oligarchy, totalitarianism anytime bounties are to be shared at the top level (central government) and federal systems anytime thorny and sensitive issues (like fuel subsidy removal, rise in taxations etc) arise is too multi-coloured to be taken seriously. A democracy that will embrace capitalism now and in the next moment is romancing free market economy and mixed economy in the area of commerce is a sign of multi-coloured democracy.

Unarguably, if we are to look at the theoretical definitions of any political systems of governments (democracy, communism, socialism etc) anywhere in the world, no country is innocent of practically executing the tenets of these systems. The truth is, most of them at a point in their history sat down and design a framework in which these systems berthed hence, it’s working for them. China for instance has been with Communism since the time of Chairman Mao Zedong in the late 1940s now they are globally recognized as emerging world power, that is a country with serious-minded leaders that have focus, India has been experimenting with Parliamentary democracy and it’s working for them despite being desperately poor at Independence (unlike Nigeria that was rich at Independence), Ghana (a black nation like us) just got their acts together recently now they are ahead of Nigeria economically! South Africa is an epitome of virtually everything good in the area of commerce and politics as far as Africa is concerned. But where do we stand? Refineries are left for dead or performing at abysmal level and we have paraded leaders who have experimented with anything in system of governments except for Communism and Socialism yet we have not fair well – this is sad! I don’t want to suggest any system of government but I can declare boldly that we cannot really apply this democracy to bail out ourselves from this quagmire – This democracy of ours gives room for more V.I.P (Vagabonds in Power), and more thieves the more reason we can’t lift up ourselves! This democracy does not suit us at all; it is more of an Oligarchy (selected leaders who really don’t care about the masses). The danger lurking around the corner is break-up except we rise to the occasion. If Nigeria falls, it will be too disastrous. We have been hanging on this weak cliff for too long – danger looms!

Don’t tell me nothing is wrong with the “removal of fuel subsidy”, I tell you what, more than one thousand and one things are wrong with it. Yar’Adua returned Obasanjo’s =N=75 ‘fuel subsidy’ to =N=65 remember? The question I want to ask Jonathan is this, who are the people he intends to use to manage the supposed =N=1.2 trillions he hopes to realize from the ‘removal of fuel subsidy’? Is it not these same criminal-minded government clowns – we called leaders, whose hobbies range from; rigorous Fuji-dancing, car-racing (with more than 10 exotic cars in a convoy), womanizing, drunkenness, wild-partying, unnecessary and fruitless globe-trotting, over-eating, over-dressing, embezzling of public funds, oppressing the masses, materialistic tendencies, lying and coveting. I am more than convinced that democracy can never (trust me it can’t) work in this country (the basis of this piece) under this current trend of no contingency plans! I have realized that a democracy lined with capitalism (a system that gives room for wide gap between the rich and the poor), a mixture of free-market (a system that encourages high-handedness from the elite class) and mixed economies (a system that makes government officials over-bearing on the masses) coupled with a blend of oligarchy (selected leaders who neglect their constituencies), totalitarianism (submission to the will of PDP led government and their President) and still trying to fix power, build good roads, with negative balance of payment, parading extremely corrupt leaders, defective constitution, soaring unemployment rates, lack of basic amenities, systemic collapse in all spheres of governments, insecurities at his highest, adumbrated blueprints with no connection to welfare packages, moribund refineries and the likes is nothing but a big joke. This Ship of State is definitely heading for the rocks; the indices are there for all to see except for the blind (our so-called leaders)!

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of a country is the yardstick for measuring how rich and poor a country is. It is the broadest measure of aggregate economic activity and encompasses every sector of the economy or simply put, the total value of goods and services produced in a country. If GDP grows at a higher rate than the population, standards of living are said to be rising. If the population is growing at a higher rate than GDP, living standards are said to be falling. Think about this, there has not been any reasonable change in our GDP right from 1960 at least when one put into consideration the exchange rate. For instance, our balance-of-payments problem was revealed in the foreign trade figures for 1960. In that year exports were valued at £161,000,000 and imports at £215,000,000. Thus, there was a trade deficit of over £50,000,000, compared to about £20,000,000 in 1959 and £31,000,000 in 1958. Is it different from what we have today? Are we not spending more on imports than what we realize from exports? In the year 1958 it was on record that, Nigeria was the world's largest exporter of groundnuts, palm oil, and palm kernels, but what is our story today? In today’s world the GDP is based on 3 sub-units namely; (i) Agriculture, forestry and fishing; (ii) Industry (manufacturing, mining, construction and transportation) and (iii) Services (sector catering for small and medium scale industries - entrepreneurs).



Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by Economic Sector

Countries

GDP as at 2006

Agriculture, forestry and fishing

Industry

Services

Nigeria

$115.3 billion

23.3 percent (2005)

56.8 percent (2005)

19.9 percent (2005)

Ghana

$12.9 billion

37.4 percent (2006)

25.4 percent (2006)

37.2 percent (2006)

India

$911.8 billion

17.5 percent (2006)

27.9 percent (2006)

54.6 percent (2006)

China

$2.6 trillion

12 percent (2006)

48 percent (2006)

40 percent (2006)

South Africa

$255.2 billion

2.7 percent (2006)

30.9 percent (2006)

66.4 percent (2006)

Japan

$4.4 trillion

1.7 percent (2004)

30.2 percent (2004)

68.1 percent (2004)

Russia

$986.9 billion

4.9 percent (2006)

39.4 percent (2006)

55.8 percent (2006)

Germany

$2.9 trillion

1 percent (2006)

30 percent (2006)

69.1 percent (2006)

U.K

$2.4 trillion

0.9 percent (2006)

24.1 percent (2006)

75 percent (2006)

United States

$13.2 trillion

1.3 percent (2004)

22 percent (2004)

76.7 percent (2004)



Note: A higher percentage in service over industry is a sign of a growing and matured economy while a higher percentage in industry over service is a sign of an ailing economy.

To move forward in the right direction, we definitely need leaders who will take government as a call to serve and not to be served. The above table is a sign that governance is serious business and not bed of roses as exhibited by our leaders right from Independence. We need a system of government where the wealth of this country will not be in the hands of just 3% of us. We need a system where we don’t have to be pampering myriads of figure-heads officials wasting public funds doing nothing. We need a working constitution that will streamline government spending on government officials to a reasonable level and also encourage punitive measures for corrupt government officials. We need a system where more refineries will be added to the existing ones and the existing ones are revamped. We need good roads, constant power supply, more jobs, good rail systems, working airways and ports systems, development of agriculture and regulations of prices of agricultural products, appropriate taxation, good salary and remuneration packages, adequate disbursement of pensions, strict monitoring of petroleum and other mineral resources developments, equipping the financial institutions against inefficiencies, encouraging more small and medium scale enterprises, prioritizing security at all levels including borders, proper maintenance of infrastructures and spirit of continuity, good food and fruits storage systems nationwide, vibrant fishing industries must be encouraged in all the coastal states, genuine support to farmers through mechanized farming, textile industries to be revived nationwide, proper and adequate funding of the educational sectors, and a rich balance of trade with a positive balance of payment. Good governance bereft of corrupt government officials and financial recklessness in all spheres of government will surely take us there but not this “multi-coloured system of government” we called DEMOCRACY!

This is the tale of a Country with a “Multi-Coloured System of Government” still hanging precariously on a cliff but this time around I know for sure one thing will happen, it’s either she falls over or adjust herself. I pray for the latter!