₦airaland Forum

Tribalism is a big problem in this country. She wanted the right thing done, by the Hollywood producers . That's all. So why the backlash?

ifenes:
Think of it...If god really exists, the Atheists might be his favourite people.

Why ? Mos religious people treat god like a vending machine, always putting in prayers and expecting rewards. They help someone only because they want a sit in heaven. Every action is like a business deal with god.

But Atheists, they don't believe in any rewards system. When they help someone, it's not because of heaven or escaping hell...they expect nothing in return. Now tell me, who will god respect more ?

Funny how it is those who don't believe in god are actually doing what god wants....Being good for no reason at all is the new flex.

You have presented a popular atheist argument that is based on flawed logic.

A religious person believes God exists, commands them to do good, and promises reward. Acting on that belief is not hypocritical or inferior; it's consistent with their worldview. The good deed is still good. You're treating a reward motive as if it cancels the act. It doesn't follow. The deed isn't invalidated just because a reward was in mind

The atheists acts on different reasons. Neither is automatically superior. They also get rewarded or act expecting to be rewarded with praise, self-respect, and a clear conscience.

So, it's not about the motive. It's about who actually does good Both groups have genuine and transactional people .

And your final point on God's preference is self-contradictory. How can you claim to know the mind of a God whose existence you deny? If you don't believe God exists, you can't then claim to know what God would prefer or want.

If God does exist, I believe he would look at the heart behind the act, not just whether a reward is expected.

anonimi:
Where did you see ALWAYS in the post you replied to, reproduced below for ease of reference? Why do you have to tell lies to prove what point exactly?




What else is the cause of poverty if not that one group of people are not as productive as another group, which leads to them been dominated by the more productive group? Is that not how Oyo Alaafin dominated its vassal states, before the empire went into extinction

You've turned to accusing me of lying because you can't defend your bad argument. I did not lie. I don't need your exact words to summarise the obvious implication of what you said.. African poverty transcend the present moment. It has always been so unless you want to lie to yourself.

Your Oyo empire example reveals historical illiteracy. Oyo dominated through conquest and tribute collection, not productivity. Go back and reread your history books

The cause of African poverty is not a lack of production. . It is caused by poor leadership, corruption, colonial exploitation, resource theft, and global economic systems designed to keep Africa at bottom. Our resources have been stolen for centuries. Our leaders enrich themselves while the people starve.

Qatar and the UAE are very wealthy without producing everything, they export oil. Africa also exports oil, but where is the money? In the pockets of your corrupt leaders.

China produces most of what Americans consume, yet America is still richer and dominating them. So your logic doesn't apply.

You're confusing trade with production. That is basic economics Something you should have learned in secondary school.

anonimi:
I get am before na hiSTORY.



Do you have the answer or not

You have shifted the goalpost, from "we have always been poor and dependent to "we get am before ". That is a double shift. The argument is about what we are capable of producing ourselves but which for some reason we are not producing now. Your deflection reveals that you are not interested in defending truth, you are interested in defending a narrative of Black inferiority.

As for the clothes, most of the materials are locally sourced. ( Adire, Asoke and Kente) The bangles and beads are also made from local materials. So what else do you want to mention?

But even if they are not produced in Benin, it does not reduce the value of the culture, nor is it the cause of poverty.

Halloween costumes are made in China. Does that make Europe and the US poor and inferior to the Chinese? Of course not. What you think you have as valid argument is self hatred disguise as analysis. Period.

anonimi:
What % of the clothes, accessories they are wearing and other things used in the festival are manufactured in Benin?

This should help us know why they/we are poor people, who are dominated by oyinbos in various ways, including japa.

So you don't know your ancestors were producing their own clothes and accessories before the coming of the whites?

Please go research your African history and come back to edit your comments.

Isobug:
Primitive culture. African culture is Primitive, no modernisation just going back and back. Celebrating uncontributory activities. Now what will all these add to human and world development? Absolutely nothing

Would you say the same about Halloween, Oktoberfest, or St Patrick's Day in Europe?

You wouldn't, because you are viewing your own culture through colonial lens, where anything Black is backward and anything white is "civilised".

Culture does not need to produce a smartphone or a drone before it can be meaningful. Our cultural exports: music , dance, art, food, clothes, language etc have shaped the world .

Stop hating on your own.

Samantha125:
Yet you're triggered by the noise...🤦🤦🤦

And I don't have any energy to waste over some so called brew.

Yes , I was triggered, not by the noise you're now producing, but for a good reason: to correct the falsehood you started with, and also to make you understand that you were making comments about a biracial Nigerian man, whom you assumed pure white, without being aware of the actual reason behind your reactions. You were reacting unconsciously.

So , if there's anyone who is triggered for a negative reason, it is you , who cannot conceive of a biracial person, whom you assume is white, not rejecting their Black side. Because that is what apartheid taught you: that Black is inferior and must be escaped

I'm not by this supporting the racist whites in your country. What they did to your people in the past , and still doing years after apartheid was dismantled, still angers people like us. We are the same Black people. Your pain is ours too. The false boundary created by the colonialist to separate us is the reason we don't see ourselves as one people.

And that is why I am ending this conversation here, not in anger, but in solidarity. We are one people. However, stop universalising your your "South African" experience to conclude that every white person or White presenting people "don't want you" Or they prefer identifying with their European heritage alone if biracial.

Samantha125:
All those things that you've given me doesn't change the fact that he identifies by his British heritage...😮‍💨😮‍💨😮‍💨

And we don't have anything called umqombothi in my tribe, perhaps you guys do, but we don't.

You've shifted the goalpost to confuse yourself.

The debate centres on his nationality, not just his British heritage. He also has a Nigerian heritage which you can't deny. He's biracial man, not pure white.

You have already acknowledged his Nigerian nationality. That's what matters because the topic says "First Nigerian commercial pilot".

Everything else you're saying now is just noise.

Umqombothi is a traditional South African local brew. If you don't know it , ask your fellow South Africans or use a chatbot.

Samantha125:
You wrote all this bible just because you desperately want someone to be identifying by your tribe?

Go drink some water and calm down.

Your gaslighting tactics won't work on me.

Calling me "desperate " doesn't refute a single fact I've presented to counter the falsehood you started with on page one.

Now, you've shifted from arguing the facts to attacking my character, classic deflection when you have no answer left.

I've given you his birthplace, the local boarding school he attended with other Nigerians in the colonial-era , his scholarship , his passport. You've given me assumptions about how he looks and how you imagine he feels about his Nigerian roots.


If pointing out documented Nigerian history makes me,"desperate" then so be it. I'd rather be desperate for truth than comfortable in ignorance.

Oya , enter your kitchen and start preparing Umqombothi for your husband right away, while I go find water to drink.🤣

Kukutente23:
I really feel for Obi here
He was caught between a rock and a hard place.
If he backed Atiku's proposal, he will be seen as lacking originality and also lose his fellow billionaire friends who are the prime beneficiaries of naira devaluation which they've all applauded.

He had no choice but to play safe but I think he did it very weakly. Since Atiku raised that counterpunch, I expected Obi to have come from the angle of accountability. That's the lowest hanging fruit.

Whether subsidy is removed or reintroduced, the fundamental thing is accountability. If subsidy is removed, where's the benefit of the removal? If subsidy is introduced. How do we ensure its not corrupted and mismanaged?

In fact, I expected him to have raised a team of forensic analysts who would have shown how this govt has mismanaged the subsidy removal aftermath. Because that's why they are sending you to the govs. They can't account for the proceeds of subsidy removal on their own.

Obi seems unimaginative to me. He just goes with the flow and hopes the saintly and meek persona he's posturing (which makes him look like he's just catching cruise) will endear him to Nigerians as it did for Buhari. Unfortunately, he's dealing with a propaganda machine that can find dirt and magnify it even when none exists.

I think Obi doesn't have the stomach and the grit for 2027. That's my honest assessment. He should just collapse his campaign because in the end, He is being used as a canon to distract the opposition by the APC in my view.

You failed to critique what Obi actually said concerning subsidy removal. You only expressed your personal dislike for him.

And that is because you reacted based on the headline alone. Please go back and read the full story.

Samantha125:
Like I said, I give up on you and your history.

If you want to claim a biracial man who obviously identifies by his father's British side and has more of his father's phenotypical features than those of his mother, go ahead.

You're not "giving up" on me. You're giving up because you can't answer a simple Yes or No question without exposing your own bias. We're not claiming him .The man is ours because he has Nigerian blood flowing through his veins.

You keep saying he "obviously identifies" with his British side. "How do you know that?. What do you know about his internal state of mind to say that? And what makes you think he doesn't also identify with his mother's side?. Why do you continue to erase the mother as if only the father gave birth to him? ,Or are you just making assumptions based on what you're used to in your country.? That is the projection I am talking about

There are thousands of Nigerianns of mixed parentage who either live here or have chosen to live outside the country like every other Nigerian living outside the country. This hasn't stop them from identifying as Nigerianns . My aunt is an example. She chose to migrate to the US despite the fact her mother was British. She carries both Nigerian and American passports. She hasn't abandoned Us. She still travel down here from time to time. If I posted her picture here, you would call her pure white
But she identifies more as a Nigerian, Nigerian middle name, and speaks the local language very well. You really don't know about our history. You're using yours to judge it
And your comment about "Phenotypical features" is exactly the problem. It is the reason you declared on the first page he is white and has gone back to his fatherland, when he is clearly biracial. That is not how Nigerian identity works .
We don't operate on South African racial binaries.

Captain Hayes was born in Nigeria, raised in Nigeria, educated in Nigeria, selected on a Nigerian scholarship , not British, and traveled on a Nigerian passport. That makes him Nigerian. End of discussion .

I will respond later to one of your other replies, and after that. I'm done

Samantha125:
America is not the entire Western world... No need to be desperately claiming people who don't want to be claimed.

On what basis are you saying "who don't want to be claimed"? As a sangoma priestess, or you know him personally?

And who is the desperate one here? You, who has been trying to erase the man's Nigerian identity, or me, who has been feeding you with the facts you are ignorant of?

We are not South Africans. We are Nigerians. And we don't think like you people. Anyone born here, raised here, and schooled here is gladly accepted as ours. We don't reduce nationality to skin colour or surnames

You keep projecting your own South African racial binaries onto our history. That is your problem, not ours.

Samantha125:
The man literally bears his father's British surname...🤦🏾‍♀️🤦🏾‍♀️🤦🏾‍♀️... That tradition is only applicable when the father is also an itsekiri.

He's both British and Nigerian by nationality and ethnicity even though he's British by culture since he carries his father's surname and has settled in his fatherland.

I honestly don't know what to call this, implicit racism or an inferiority complex. Why do you keep erasing the Black mother? And you are not just a Black woman but a proud South African mother. What's this

Captain Hayes bearing his father's British surname doesn't make him British by nationality. It's just a surname. Following your logic, millions of Nigerians with colonial-era surname would cease to be Nigerian. That's absurd

Several people having itsekiri mothers identify strongly with the tribe and some even prefer to bear their mother's maiden name. Because of this other tribes around usually warn their men not to marry itsekiri women.

You have no idea how Captain Hayes personally identified. You are projecting British identity onto him based on a surname and the fact that he later lived abroad. He has not come out to say he no longer identifies as Nigerian or now considers himself fully British or White. You are just assuming and not making an argument. Your logic is deeply flawed

You have been replying but still haven't answered the direct question that matters.

So , I ask again:

Is Captain Hayes a Nigerian? Yes or No

ZaddyJ:
But in the western world they view you as a black person even if your dad is white.

Thank you for this comment.
CC Samantha125

Samantha125:
Yet you kept contradicting yourself, but okay.

One error about a historical figure I brought in as an example, which I immediately acknowledged and corrected, does not amount to "You kept contradicting yourself". Where are the other contradictions?. Mention just one if you're not exaggerating to deflect.

The error you made, calling a biracial man "White" is why we are still debating this.

Samantha125:
So now the story has changed and the mother was the Portuguese one? Ahh!!! I give up...🤣🤣🤣🤣

The story hasn't changed. We are discussing the nationality of Captain Hayes, not Olu Dom Domingos.
I brought in that historical account to prove a point about itsekiri culture. So don't confuse it and give up yet.

Samantha125:
According to his biography, his father wasn't a Portuguese and the identity of his mother was never known.

You're right about one thing. I made a small error. Dom Domingos's father was indeed the Olu Atorongboye , not a Portuguese man. I stand corrected on that detail

However, mainstream records like Wikipedia, which you rely on, list the mother as " unknown, but oral history and genealogical accounts name her as Magheghoeye and Identify her as Portuguese. So the records is not settled but contested.

Whichever version you believe, the important thing is this: the itsekiris are a tribe with a well-documented history of interracial marriages. Children born from such unions are given equal privileges, regardless of whether the European parent is the father or the mother.

Samantha125:
His father's side of the family might've been Sierra Leonians by nationality, but that still doesn't change that they were British by ethnicity...🤷🏽🤷🏽🤷🏽

Learn the difference between nationality and ethnicity.

So only the father's side matters to you? What about his mother's? You keep erasing her because acknowledging her existence destroys your claim that he is white, when he is clearly biracial.

I already told you among the itsekiri, children born to our women are fully ours. I am Itsekiri. I know our customs better than anyone projecting foreign patrilineal rules onto our history.

As for your lecture on "nationality vs ethnicity, stick to the topic. The discussion has always been about his nationality, not his ethnicity. You brought up ethnicity or race to deflect and start a controversy.

So I'll ask you one final time, and I expect a straight answer:

Is Captain Hayes a Nigerian ? Yes or no?

Samantha125:
Doesn't change the fact that he was white privileged and ended up settling in his fatherland.

And why is your statement on this Dom Domingos person contradicting with his biography? Because it says otherwise, instead, he was the one who married a Portuguese woman.

Which contradiction are you talking about here?.

Samantha125:
Selected on merit during the colonial era, yeah right...😂😂😂

Tyla is from a multicultural and multiracial lineage dating as far back as the 1800s, hence she identifies as a coloured, unlike this biracial man with a British father and a Nigerian mother... He might've been born and raised in Nigeria, but he eventually chose to settle in his fatherland and he's entitled to a dual citizenship.

Why would a colonial government waste a scholarship to send a "British or White" person to train abroad, only to bring him back to serve Nigeria's airline? Does that make sense to you?

He was selected as one of three Nigerian students, because the goal was to train Nigerians to fly for Nigeria.

Now, about your Tyla double standard. You claim Tyla is "multicultural and multiracial ' because her lineage dates back to the 1800s. But guess what? The Itsekiri people have documented interracial history with Europeans dating back to the 15th, century, Portuguese, Dutch, and British. Captain Hayes is literally a product of that exact same centuries old multiracial heritage. His father wasn't just "British " his father's side was also Sierra Leonean, which itself is a multiracial lineage. So if Tyla qualifies as "coloured" and multicultural, then, then by your own logic, Hayes qualifies as Nigerian first and foremost because that's what the itsekiri tradition produced.

And finally, your obsession with " he settled in his fatherland". He traveled to the UK on a Nigerian passport, as a Nigerian citizen. Millions of Nigerians live abroad today as dual citizens, does that make them less Nigerian? Of course not

Stop cherry -picking race and projection to rewrite our history. We know our own.

Samantha125:
Doesn't matter, every child identifies by his or her father's side and not only was he white privileged, but he looks more British than Nigerian.

Not true to say "every child identifies with the father's side". Ghanaians are famously matrilineal. Children identify with the mother's side, not the father's side

It's the same amongs the itsekiri tribe of Nigeria where Captain Robert Hayes is from.
The Olu of Warri , Dom Domingos , had a Portuguese father and an itsekiri mother, yet he became king, not his Portuguese relatives. This happened in the 17th century
The itsekiri custom is to fully adopt and give equal privileges to any child born to their women, regardless of their father's origin

Samantha125:
Still, he looks more white than black and he was obviously white privileged all thanks to his white father, hence he eventually moved to his fatherland.

And I'm sure he assimilates himself more with his father's side of the family than his mother's side.

It's not what he looks like. What is his nationality?

You're now guessing about his feelings and family dynamics because the facts doesn't support your original claim.

The article says he earned a merit -based scholarship alongside other Nigerians. Calling him white and claiming privilege ignores that he was selected on merit, trained to serve Nigeria and is recognised as a Nigerian pioneer.

Please stop projecting South African racial politics onto our history, in Nigeria. Tyla , who won the Grammy, is a mixed-race South African , and the global community, including Nigerians , rightfully calls her South African , not white. So why strip Captain Robert Hayes of his Nigerian Identity?

Nationality and cultural identify come from birth and upbringing, not just skin colour. If you're born here, raised here, represent us, you're ours, period. It's now clear why your people are trying to chase away Chidinma

Samantha125:
And he's white, the man even moved to his fatherland.

You just exposed yourself.

He's biracial, not white.

Morever, he was born and bred in Nigeria .

So what are you talking about?

Wealthoptulent:
GOOD to see THATY, NICE to MEET you SIR!

[/b]

so if he is the 1st commercial PILOT, who are those FLYING at the then AERODROME he visited ? them be AI?
or you mean only PRIVATE and CARGO flight existed?

if you BELIEV this, why u come they doubt HOLY BOOKS?

O boy, you fall hand o.

So you don't know anything about your colonial past?
I doubt you read the complete article.

flexyrule:
I really don't have time to be having this beer parlour arguement l with you, sir.

If you think Opay will overtake all the commercial banks combined in valuation and net worth before December, fine!

If you also think that Opay currently offers more value to Nigerians than all the commercial banks combined, fine!

It's too early to be arguing over what doesn't add a dime to my pocket. And I don't even see how both institutions add any value to my life in my current timezone.

You don't have time for "beer parlour arguments". yet you wrote multiple lengthy essays and copy-pasted a manifesto. Now that your arguments have been dismantled point by point, you suddenly want to run to Reddit and claim this conversation doesn't add a dime to your pocket. interesting and very funny.

I never gave any December timeline , that is your invention. I never said Opay offer more value than all commercial banks combined, another invention. You are building strawmen because you cannot counter the simple fact I started .

If the conversation doesn't add value to you, why did you engage so passionately?

Safe journey to Reddit. The rest of us will continue building the future.

flexyrule:
I thought I was drunk when I read this.




I responded to another fellow here

I don't know if you were drunk when you read my earlier response, but your latest reply confirms you failed to comprehend what both of us actually wrote. we both used the phrase "at this point", meaning we were asking about what is being built in the present moment, expanding to remote areas of Nigeria right now, not what happened in the past. I also used the word, "creating", which refers to an ongoing process, not completed historical milestones. Because you failed to grasp this distinction, you built a strawman and initiated a debate I never started. A company can only claim to be "creating" present value if it is growing its employment footprint. Traditional banks are shrinking, while Opay is growing

Every physical banking document represents demand for an economic activity somewhere in the supply chain:

Deposit slips
Withdrawal forms
Cheque books
Account-opening forms
Letterheads
Envelopes
ATM receipts
Transaction forms
Corporate stationery
Security documents
Marketing materials
ID-card materials
Branch signage

This creates business for printing companies, paper suppliers, graphic designers, packaging companies, stationery distributors, logistics companies and equipment suppliers.

Technology companies also benefit from the bank's operations as Access Bank's operations require:

Core banking systems
Mobile banking applications
Internet banking
ATMs
POS infrastructure
Payment gateways
Cybersecurity
Cloud infrastructure
Data centres
Telecommunications
Software development
IT support
Network infrastructure
Data analytics
Artificial intelligence
Digital identity and KYC systems
Fraud-detection systems

Access Bank had thousands of branches. Abeg, just think about what it takes to operate hundreds of branches and service outlets.

There is demand for:

Architects
Engineers
Construction companies
Electrical contractors
Plumbers
Furniture manufacturers
Interior designers
Signage companies
Air-conditioning companies
Generator/energy companies
Security-system installers
Maintenance contractors
Property owners and landlords
Every new branch, office, ATM location or renovation can therefore generate economic activity outside the bank.

What about cash/branch management services that require

Cash-in-transit companies
CCTV suppliers
Alarm companies
Vault manufacturers
Access-control companies
Insurance companies

Just the physical movement and protection of money creates employment beyond the bank's payroll.

Let's not talk about

Corporate and investment banking
International trade
Government revenue
Shareholders

Now, to address the copy-pasted manifesto you have recycled without reading the context: you wrote an entire essay, but you made one fatal error, you described a shrinking economic model and tried to pass it off as a growing one.

Everything on your list is in decline because traditional banks are actively cutting costs. Let me dismantle your argument point by point

First, you listed withdrawal slips , cheques, letterheads, deposit slips etc. But let me ask you , How many people these days are using withdrawal slips. Banks actively discourage it, Tellers now ask, "Why didn't you use am ATM card?. Cheque books are almost going extinct. Banks are going paperless to save money, so the demand for printing companies from traditional banks is declining, not rising.

Meanwhile, 500,000+ Opay agents print thermal receipts daily, far more demand for paper and ink than remaining banking halls

Second, traditional banks are closing branches, 229 in 2022 alone, and more since, not building new ones. They are boarding up windows and firing staff. So where is the new jobs for the architects , plumpers, engineers, furniture makers you listed?

Meanwhile, Over 500,000 Opay agents,and the number is increasing every day, are renting shops, fixing roofs, buying paint, installing fans, buying generators or installing solar panels, hiring local carpenters for wooden stand, paying signboard makers for their banners. That is decentralised construction employment happening in every village and city daily, far more than Access Bank's shrinking real estate footprint

Third, you listed vault manufacturers, CIT companies, alarm companies. But physical cash usage in banks is plummeting. Banks are reducing their vault sizes and reducing CIT trips to save costs. Opay agents, however, need mobile money security and local vigilantes to protect their daily cash float. That creates grassroots security employment that never existed before.

Furthermore, you listed cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure, data analytics, and AI as if Access Bank invented them. Opay uses all that too, plus more, because they handle millions of real-time micro transactions daily Traditional banks mostly outsourced this to foreign firms like IBM and Oracle, while Opay employs more local developers and data scientists directly.

I do not dispute that traditional banks handle institutional money. But employment value is not measured by how much corporate FX you move, It is measured by how many families eat. Access Bank touches the 5% elite. Opay and others, via their agents, touch the other 95% of Nigerians who just want to send ₦2,000 to their village

Opay is in growth mode, expanding its agent network, onboarding millions daily, and creating decentralised micro-businesses that never existed 10 years ago

So "at this point in time" Opay is creating more employment value for the masses than traditional banks.

And here is the reality even Access Bank cannot deny: they have their own POS machine they give to agents, but mobile money vendors say they are exploitative and not profitable. Everyone in the field prefers using either Opay or Moniepiont. The market has spoken.

Your list is an obituary for the past, mine is a blueprint for the future

flexyrule:
Man, If you're of the opinion that Opay creates more value than Access Bank, I can't continue having a conversation with you.

20 tellers indeed!

You can continue enjoying the conversation with the people that you quoted.

Let's not pretend you didn't understand my point. I never said Opay is a superior bank to Access Bank, I said Opay creates massive employment value. The conversation was never about who has better Treasury Bills ,corporate assets, or more employment value,It was about your claim Opay doesn't employ people.

You're building a strawman to escape because you can't counter the facts: 500.000+ agents across Nigeria putting food on their tables daily. If you're blind to the employment value in this, there's nothing else I should be discussing with you.

Now, concerning your "20 tellers per branch, in 2026 how many branches of Access Bank actually employ 20 tellers?. Banks in Nigeria are aggressively cutting staff, deploying ATMs and pushing customers to apps to save costs. You're relying on outdated number while ignoring the half-a-imilliomi micro-businessness Opay empowered.

If you have a superior argument to disprove that Opay isn't creating value for Nigerians, bring it. Don't hide behind "I can't continue this conversation" just because you can't refute the numbers. Address the actual point: Does putting food on the table for 500.000 families count as employment or not?

flexyrule:
Every time a topic like this pops up, I see how ignorant and poor Nigerians are.

Putting Access Bank Plc. and Opay in the same sentence should be labelled blasphemy!

I agree, Opay and other Fintechs have done a great job in the area of cash transaction management, but heck, if your financial status hasn't reached the level of requiring services such as Treasury Bills, Overdrafts, PTA/BTA, FX transactions such as School fees payment abroad, Mortgage, Trade Invinsible Payments, then you'll continue thinking that Opay is the best thing after slice bread.

Someone on this thread even said Opay employs more Nigerians than the traditional brick-and-mortar banks. Phew!

This should be a sign that it's high time that I pack my load out of here and relocate to Reddit or Quora.

Stewpidity could be infectious!

My friend, you don't need to throw insults or call people "poor" and stupid" to make a point, it just exposes how disconnected you're from Nigeria's economic reality. Your comment and that of bigpicture001 in this thread perfectly proves you both have a casual and stubborn understanding of the term "employment" .

Employment doesn't have to mean wearing a uniform in a factory or wearing a suit and tie inside a glass tower. In the digital age, employment means value creation. Apart from directly hiring tech experts, data scientists, compliance officers, fraud analysts and customer support staff, Opay has created massive value which has empowered a legion of agents all over this country. Over 500.000 active POS agents rent a shop or space ( paying a landlord), buy a generator or pay electricity bills, hires an assistant, pays local government levies and feed their entire extended families. That's over half a million households directly sustained. Now tell me, how many families did Access Bank's 229 closed branches sustain after they fired those workers?


The Treasury Bills, PTA/BTA, FX and mortgages you mentioned sound like sophisticated services, but that's just elitist gatekeeping. Here is the reality. Over 60% of Nigerians are unbanked or underbanked . A market woman in Onitsha or a bike rider in Kano doesn't need a PTA form to send their child to a local primary school. They need to save daily cash safely, transfer money to their village, and buy inventory for their shop. Opay provides that at zero cost to the user's pocket, while the traditional banks you prefer charge from 10 to 50 per transfer, plus other hidden charges.

If your financial status is so high, why are you scared of an app that gives the " average" Nigerian the same digital financial power you enjoy?. Traditional banks aren't closing because of Opay; they are closing because they refused to innovate and prefer to cut costs by firing their own staff

So before you pack your bags to Reddit or Quota, take a moment to realise that putting food on the table for over 500,000 families creates far more national value than paying 20 tellers per branch to push paper.

Cc. maasoap, horlando30. Mrexcell

Kobojunkie:
This is why I can never take your religious folks seriously! See as you dey attempt to wiggle around what is obviously a case of "rule for thee but not for me". You lot label those who don't believe pagans/heretics/heathens. You read this from many of your favorite texts. But the moment this is pointed out to you, na to begin to dey wriggle and squirm like worm wey dem pour salt. Abegi, commot for here o'jare! 🥱🥱🥱

You have thrown common sense away in you attempt to defend the indefensible. The issue is not what Christians or any other religious adherents call "outsiders" to their faith, it is about context.. In this particular situation, the call for enslavement is linked to the label "infidel".

If the Muslim cleric had just said you are an infidel or unbeliever and stopped, we would not be having this conversation. But he did not stop. He called for enslavement. Your whataboutism is a tired deflection. Two wrongs do not make a right. I'm not a Christian, but please stop pointing fingers at Christians and address the issue: a Muslim cleric called for the enslavement of non- Muslim, and you are downplaying it. There is no common sense in that. You are being complicit.

Kobojunkie:
.... You folks are outraged at the wrong things. Being called an infidel/sinner/unbeliever is not a bad thing. There are at least 4000 different religions out there. You are literally an infidel/sinner/unbeliever as far as all religions you do not belong to. Stop letting your emotions carry your common sense away! 🥱🥱

The bad here is the call for your enslavement. That is what you ought to be threatened by. That is what should get you to ensure that the very Constitution of Nigeria, which enshrines sharia above all other religious ideas in Nigeria, should be turned off and a new one created with all Nigerians in mind. 🥱🥱

If a Muslim cleric calls non-muslims "infidels" and then calls for their enslavement, both statements are wrong.

The label "infidel" and the call for enslavement are not separate Issues, they are connected. "Infidel" is the justification for the call for enslavement. Without the label, there is no moral or religious ground for the action. You cannot accept one and reject the other. Anyone who tries to separate them is either ignorant of how prejudice works or dishonest about their own intentions

Babatunjo:
Call it good or bad, but society has changed.

Women marry later, date longer, and are far more sexually liberated than they were a generation ago. It's no longer something limited to the "wild girls." Even your regular, educated, career-focused, church-going lady may have a sexual past.

Because of that reality, many men have adjusted their expectations.

These days, the questions are different.

Is she loyal?

Can she bring peace?

Is she emotionally mature?

Can we build a stable home together?

A woman's past may still matter to some men, but for many others, her character, values and how she treats you now carry more weight.

You don't have to like the change. But pretending it hasn't happened won't change reality.

But we have lots of women, especially in this part of the world, who insist on marrying as virgins.

What advice do you have for those ones?
They shouldn't keep it?

MrPresident1:
This fellow came to my thread to spread lies. I said there is no such thing as Palestinians as a distinct identity,

everyone living in Palestine is Palestinian.
better name for the Arabs of Gaza is Gazans, but this fellow was lying so much.

Golda Meir carried a Palestinian passport. She said at one point she was Palestinian because they were all Palestinians Jewish, Arabs, Druids, Medes etc., everyone who lived on that land was Palestinian regardless of origin or race or identity, it was a blanket term. It was not about the identity of the people, it was about the name of the land.

So it is incongruous to call any distinct race or group Palestinians, you cannot usurp the role or name unilaterally.

This fellow lied so much

But the truth is coming out now.

The Gazans of Palestine or the Arabs of Palestine
The Druids of Palestine
The Jewish people of Palestine
The Kurds of Palestine
No single ethnic group or race can claim to to be Palestinians

Hehehehe!

Are you listening to yourself at all?

Read your own words: "everyone living in Palestine is Palestinian". That's exactly what I argued from the beginning. "Palestinian" is a national Identity, not a race or tribe, just like Nigerian.

You're now arguing against your own definition while accusing me of lying. I have repeatedly asked you to show me where I stated that "Palestinian" is a distinct ethnic group. You can't, because I never said so. "Palestinian" refers to those living within that region ( You just confirmed that) . Gazans have been living and still living within that region and yet to attain statehood. So why shouldn't they be called Palestinians?

You're confused, and your confusion is because you keep conflating national Identity with ethnic Identity, they are not the same.

I'm not willing to go down this dead-end-road with you again, as you would never make sense or admit your own failure.