₦airaland Forum

blinx4real:
Every thing rises and falls on Leadership my pples,
The same way a crappy, incompetent CEo will crash a multibillion dollar company along with its capable staff and massive capital base, Nigeria is being systemically (note not systematically) collapsed.
The incompetence of our executives is so evident in their priorities and methods of resolving issues, i'll provide you with a classical example in the power issue.
Problem: Low power generation capacity;
Govt Solution: Award IPP contracts scattered all over the country from North to South
Addition problems arising from political location of IPP projects: Transportation of Turbine from Port to base, Laying of Gas pipelines to all IPP plants scattered all over the country, zero power distributon infrastructure, No gas processing facility available, etc etc I could go on and on and on,

A much simpler solutino would have been to adopt the European Commitee system, since the gas is in Niger Delta build the plants there, that removes the costly business of constructing pipelines, and transporting the turbines,
Simple solutions come only from minds that can reason, our current crop of leaders do not!

you talk well my brother.
[b][Incompetence made by GREED/b]. Our leaders choose a route, a long one whereas a similarly short route exist to the same destination. The aim: to perpertuate regional quota which allows them to steal more in the long run. In Nigeria, comparative cost advantage means, the route that puts the most money in the hands of the contractor

Iyke-D:
Lets face it, most Nigerians in the Diaspora do not hate Nigeria, what they hate is what Nigeria has become.
Of course, those of you in Nigeria may deny it due to patriotic reasons, but fact is NIGERIA IS A SHIT HOLE of
a country. I say that with love.

You guys can kid yourself all you want to, but fact is Nigeria is a laughing stock in the world and this has nothing
to do with those in the Diaspora.  A case in point is the country's preparation for the on-going Under-17 World
Cup.  You can bet yourself that it will be ages before FIFA allows Nigeria to host anything of that magnitude.

I carry a blue passport and I love it. If it makes any of you feel better to believe that all Nigerians in the Diaspora
are slaves, then continue to do so.  Last time I was in Nigeria (5 months ago), I saw so many Indians, Chinese,
and Ukranians being treated far better than most average Nigerians. I saw old Nigerians being abused and
mal-treated by fellow Nigerians - so much for us being slaves.

I commend Fashola for what he is doing in Lagos, I wish there were thousands like him in leadership positions
across the country, but lets not pretend that Nigeria is such a great place because there is nothing remotely great
about Nigeria. The country will begin the process of moving forward if collectively people can begin to acknowledge
that things are really bad and that a change of course is long over due. You and your family may have all the cash
in the world to burn, but that does not make a successful country.

@ Iyke-D,

We are witnessing a systemic grounding of the people's will to challenge the status quo by the Selected few. The suffering many are mentally in comatose, hardly can think and have accepted change will only come as a result of wait-and-see. Those in denial know and desire change but seem helpless, conditioned by the insticnt to survive first while dying slowly. We are in a dilemma. The stalemate where the many without the experience of any knowledge of change hang in hope that succor will one day come .
It is very complex, an intricate weave of dismay and hope. So we hear things like, '' when my brother enter, my uncle dey power, our own don beta''. Success to many here isn't viewed collectively, but singularly. That's why the road that leads to the mansion is either patchy or not tarred. People hardly talk of success and country in the same line of sentence down here*shakes my head*, the country comes second to people's aspiration and there my friend is the crux of the matter.

The dilemma that is our lot- people or state, which way the divide?
I have listened to chaps in diaspora and the ''we-like-am-as-e-dey'' homers, and my belief has never been stronger that Nigeria is at the precipice of change. We are due one, change that benefits the majority of the populace like clamored for by our been-to bros dem and one that takes the cloak of denial from our e-go-beta bros dem.

Personally I don't believe the chaps in diaspora hate Nigeria, more like frustrated about basic indices of development which have remained stagnant over the years as a result of poor leadership. Indices they want to see changed in the positive direction. The thing is like most of them those holding us hostage are arguably non-homers, chaps who at one time or another have had the privilege to learn from the best outside our shores, wether in the military or as civilians. So what hope for change?  A breed who have gone outside, seen how it is done yet fail to replicate same in their homeland, blind to their greed. Greed allowed by the many docily religious who think it is in another's hand that the instrument of change has to come .

My view? Those in diaspora are lucky, they can afford *those who are there legally* to be in their respective adopted countries at an acceptable time. It wasn't that easy. People fought and died for whatever change they are enjoying-equality and justice for all and a right to freedom and happiness didn't happen because folks over there sat and wished, it happened cos there was need and people shed blood for it to be. This has to happen in Nigeria too as the greedy few only will love the status quo to continue. Reminds me of a simple Physics principle, that a body will continue to be in its present state of rest or if it is in motion will continue to move with a constant velocity unless a constraint brings about a shift in the established ''equilibrium''(read status quo). No one needs any reminding that Nigeria has been in 40 years at rest and that it is time we the stakeholders introduced whatever positive constraint we need to bring about change in the status quo. It is not a time for diaspora vs us It is a time when we should rally together with this instrument of change, NL and shift our expection into reality

Homosexuality is a choice rather than a natural order*some think it's a disorder * It apparently is gaining ground as a result of the failings of heterosexual relationships. A woman understands her fellow woman better than she would a man*at least that's what we hear*, so too a man with does his bud. The thing is like all things of life it has its shortcomings. One of the prevalent being the inability to produce offspring(s) from such offshoot. This brings me to the question, why do homosexual want kid(s)? - An aparent result only possible from heterosexual consumation. This is the crux of the matter. You want to be gay, be gay by all means, but why desire a child? Sounds rather contradictory,

throttler:
homosexuality=tear tear anus

nyama nyama

lol

It is strange that folks who engage in'arguably an unnatural act would desire children from a choice that gives absence to one. If their claim is anything to go by then the quest for a child through adoption is lacking and hypocritic. You shouldn't pay for a Benz and demand to have a Volvo, that simple. I have no problem with their choice or way of life but when their demands cross into the heterosexual then I question their motive. Each to his own.

Really sad some folks still don't get it and try too hard
We are failing as a nation because of nepotism and tribalism the had gone before and still on-going, so sad

It is a shame we are in an era of nationhood where these-likes are prevailing for history to record. A party formed without a sound ideology neither conscience to serve the governed is but like a train running outside its tracks. Buhari/Atiku/Tinubu and their ilks have little or no regard for the suffering many of this geographical entity called Nigeria. Neither does the current occupant of Aso rock villa. I tell you something a farce in leadership is all we see from these so-called poiliticians and when all is said and done they meet to share our commonwealth. Atiku has Intel logistics running the show in the oil  gas free zones in the deep south, why must he care in our suffering? Absolute control is what he seeks as he and his co travellers are neither democrats or believers in its ethics. Enough said.

*vavavoom shakes his head after reading various comments herein*
My conclusion: the hurt is deep, corruption rife-knows neither tribe nor colour. In our case perpetrated because allowed. The danger in Nigeria is not the few who are able to steal our commonwealth at will, it is in the thought paralysis that the many uncared for have been conditioned. So the custodians of our wealth amuse themselves at our disarray; like in any circus show we have become their pantomime. They sit as in a coliseum throw crumbs amongs our lot and watch in unconfined amusement as we confusingly fight amongst ourselves. Division is their motive, strife unleashed to grant stay on their thieving. Let us chew and decide on wether to continue to aid their practices or stand up against what is wrong irrespective of tribe.

nikkykay:
Why all the noise if we should continue to pay bride price/dowry or not.Where i come from i mean south west generally, the bride's father is given the bride price and instantly ,right there and on the spot[pls permit my english],he returns the money telling the grooom that he is not selling his daughter cos no amount of money could quantify the love,care and resources he has spent on his daughter.So the money authomatically goes back to the groom no matter the amount.

So presenting the dowry is just a formalty.

Quite rightly symbolic.

stillwater:
Hehehe, eldee wants to escape bride price. I feel you though.

Is that why some of them would rather kill their wives in the US so they won't leave? Abeg o.

To set that as a requisite will be sheer lunacy. Hard entry, hard exit I go die  4 laff inside this NL

sleak:
pay if u must.
if you feel d lady's family is unresonable with their demand(s),take a walk.

Yeah. I agree. In my case I found out the range of my wife's bride price tallied it with my earnings and placed before her what I could pay without incurring debt. She took my offer pre-marital rites and sold it to her people. I guess mine went well. The thing is perception is not reality and some male ego go out of their way to try to impress their prospective in-laws falsely. The silent rule for such is get enough from him now that we can. It is like a ship waiting to be stranded.

madam L:
eldee,

No amount of abuse from you will change my views on the matter. Wait until you get a daughter and let her walk away with someone without a proper traditional send off. Men rage over this matter until it is the turn of their daughter to leave the house.

How much is enough or too much? It will still be a token even if you expend a billion naira!

what constitutes a proper traditional send off:  ''am not even happy with my own community because the highest you pay is #1500 and a list that #60,000''  something above #1500?. The belief that a man would value a woman more if he paid some perceived extortionist bride price is not necessarily true. If any thing acrimony sets in at the outset and wrongful reminder built in the event of little misunderstandings.

madam L:
@Poster

I am sure the poster is yet to get a daughter and if he has, she is not yet in primary school not to talk of university. No amount charged is too much. Those traditions are meant to ensure that entry and exit from marriage will be very hard. Check those tribes that give out women without much ado and you will notice that exit is also very easy.

I am not even happy with my own community because the highest you pay is #1500 and a list that #60,000 can take care of. I will then proceed to expend over a million naira on buying a car and other finery for the dowry.  I am plotting a way of crafting a more reasonable list for my two very beautiful daughters. The community list reads like my girls' provision lists when they are returning to school. verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry unfair.

Madam L, it is a dangerous preceedent  to set your happiness as a function of size of bride price. Like you rightly said no amount will be too much and I agree, what would you rather have, plenty cash as bride price and be treated with scorn or take what you can get and be happy for the symbolic gesture it respresents. Yes men should continue to pay bride price but leaving some men<especially the struggling ones> with extortionist feelings will only too well have a repercursion after the money has been paid. The bride price should be symbolic. Just my opinion.

sleak:
i think whats important here is moderation on the part of the families.some might be quick to throw the culture/tradition line, what stops us from discontinuing or modifying practices that have lost relevance or r not applicable in its entirety in present situations.they were propounded by some people who deemed it fit at the time.
jacob paying bride price was the jewish culture at the time.r jewish men still required to work for 7 years as shepards tending to the sheep of their would be father in law?

Sleak, I agree with your case-by-case treatment analysis but the question is should we or shouldn't we pay?  Are you saying, yes we should but moderately?

otukpo:
Believe it or not, Yar' Adua on his own, has the desire to fight corruption and cleanse the system. But whether the system and people around him will support him in doing that is another thing. Remember, when he came into power, he first declared his assets which was difficult for others b4 him to do.

If he is a mafia like Obj, he can break thru all odds on his way to clean up the system, but he is gentle and rule of the law person. the best we can do is to encourage and support him.

He spoke well, our officials are too corrupt to have immunity.

Let his action speak.

It is a natural tendency for a thing<corrupt practices by leaders allowed by followers> to stay the same unless a constraint<we the people> brings about a reversal and change in its direction. The ''system'' is made of people-elite who benefit and would rather go to any length to keep the status quo. Common sense tells me the system brought him in, and that while he's a better devil than many his words can only move me if met with action.
I magine puttign IBB, OBJ and co on trial! Hell will freeze before that happens. The system is the elite and don't give a hoot about how the many of us feel. Dem pikin dem bin dey school for yankee when poor man own dey house

@all,
My opinion is the poster got lost somewhere around the misapplication of tradition. My summary of his take is one of since we are not getting it right then we can as well do away with it. Tradition has to be fulfiled and it has become part of society's requirement to modernise this institution as she sees it. Is it right? Depends on who you are asking.

The worth of a woman steadily over the years has been rising. Bread winners, family support, CEOs, you name it so that era when she used to be valued like a piece of furniture is long gone. She has a say in how she gets married and it is a change any man who so desires has to agree or no show. At such competition has been thrown into what formerly used to be an affair for both families only. Surely, it is the times were in. While it is true that the price paid for the bride used to be in cowries, sheepskin, etc and still is in some quarters, it only now sysmbolises the past in modern times. Her worth has increase, so too her stock. So inflationary trends brought in as a result of modernisation has caught up with good old cowrie. It is what change has brought us. However, it is case dependent too, for every father and mother of a bride desires that their willing daughters get married and make a home. Me I price well well and others too should irrespective of the size of their pockets. So my take is tradition like change has undergone change. Who knows your view may just come in down the line. For now, make we pay to take her home.

, that day when in unity, us-the many against whom their sustenance has been built rise and refuse to be docile anymore then only then will sincerity in governance begin. As for today, words have been spoken, of little truths, half and tongue in cheek Like the many who gather to be lifted we live in hope and have just been told what we want to hear, @ AFAm, that which you have spoken we must demand, but the listeners are deaf to reason killed by the inherent spirit to amass wantonly. MY PEOPLE WE GET TO FIGHT FOR THIS CHANGE, by sweat, blood and any means.

In this age and in our strife as a nation folks choose to defend tribe against right, I shudder because shout to high heavens if all of those being defended had done what was required to propel us as a nation,
Perspective is a big room filled with opinions of varying truths. I come from the troubled Niger Delta and no matter whatever scholarship DSP Alams throws at people it doesn't take away his being culpable in the backwardness for the period in which he reigned, so too Ibori, Odili et al. I admonish everyone to fight for what is right irrespective of tribe and region. Now to the question at hand I ask, Is it a prerequisite for an elected government wherever to fund religious rites? Obviously we are a deeply religious people but hardly godly and we must sit and talk how such issues should or shouldn't be incoporated into our national lives. If it is what a tribe want for its people and they agree, I have no qualms.

@ Poster,

not just my bank but banks in Nigeria should have the capacity to help develope small businesses that have replicative potential to stimulate employment growth. As a lending institution it must find a secure way to give loans and work with SMEs that have workable plans. A road-side fancy-blocker mason has an enormous potential to expand greatly if partnered and shown the way. Why can't our banks take to this role and pursue marginal profit while developing manpower? Assign their staffs to monitor projects at the beginning till the end when it comes to fruition.

It's a shame! What should unite keeps us apart.
The greed in the country is cyclical- a chain that MUST be broken for us to climb out of our current state of stagnation.
The perception that holds sway on NL whenever financial fraud is on discourse is , ''make dem first catch the big thieves first'' and so each one to his own. As stakeholders of this ''country<some say geographical entity>'' our watch should be zero tolerance towards any kind of fraud, be it in church, mosque, at the office, wherever, only then will we begin to see change. It is not a time to be intemperate

What more can I say other than WOW! After reading from Pharoh, Rosabelle et al.

Both sides of the divide only succeeded in confirming the given belief that change is hard.

Generalisation-the common trend of putting every other sex in the same bracket is wrong.

I hold the belief as a man that those intolerable of change will more often than not have difficulties relating with any sex. While it is human, it is hardly excusable. Marriage is not for everyone, man or woman. On the contrary happiness is, and again not for a particular sex nor people. I don't subscribe to the view that a woman/man must be married to be happy. The pros should be weighed, the cons evaluated; the strife begins when we give into the demands of another empowering them to take control of our will to discern.

Rosabelle & co, go wherever it pleases you, find happiness in your endeavour. If and wherever your journey takes you you find and fall in love with a man, that allows the you in you to soar, be free and be happy.

Pharoah et al, the value and identity arguement worked in a bordered world, when we as africans were isolated, without the knowledge of the outside. Those are thinning very fast now, cable TV is here and so too is change.  Change that sees and makes a woman head of a fortune 500 company, the days of stay-at-home are gone, with our parents I should add. Now the woman is a partner, an equal owner in the man and wife business. Something tells me, like I have experienced; if a woman is treated well and laid out properly like a tile it wouldn't matter if she brought home the bacon she'd still cook the food if she got the respect in return.  I'd rather have that kinda happiness than worry about not doomineering. In between, am a man.

@poster

While it's unfortunate, the prepared hardly suffer such,

Even lamp sef dey diss Us

@ poster,

My pity. My thinking? The value system is almost extinct-some say turned on its head. A man wants to shag without second thought about the implication of his actions. A woman wants a car she barely can afford
The dilemma has been everyone of us actors desiring what possibly is not in us from another. Perhaps ''too much'' awareness and a stay on karma? In a system where rewards are hardly handed instantenuously continuation in the pursuit of the unholy have become prevalent. Liberalism is preached without responsibility. After all it is about the pursuit of happiness. So we have all forms of practices accepted by society. How much of society look at and praise the effort of a noble man, catious in his mannerism and positive life style? We see him as a Jew, one who does not belong. In the long run society determines what we accept and become. Yes responsible bachelors are hard to come by because good sisters have measures dictated to them by a society unwilling to act responsibly in the pursuit of happiness. The question I'll throw back is this: do you as a spinster/bachelor possess the qualities you seek in another? Responsibility is just one.

@poster,

The true state of this MEND-FG dilemma can hardly be acertained. Besides the perception held by any amongst us can barely be touted as reality as we are on-lookers and hardly partake in the mind games. Some of us think MEND as reprobate, others try to sympathise with its principles but not its actors. The true position in this circumstance is hardly known.
Are our govts ripe for prosecution? Surely, yes!
Where we disagree is who the prosecutor(s) should be.
That brings the question of the constituents of MEND. Who and what are its members' motive, what drives them?
Fallouts from the recent amnesty would suggest to onlookers that in any sincere struggle for the right believers of such consciousness do not abandon neither settle for less their stated goal(s). Can we then say halleluyah to the remaining strong, willing to battle to the final end? Or is it just a ruse, a circle we, the onlookers have been drawn into? It is difficult to call especially on men who've had pact before dagger's drawn. But again rather any justice than none in this circumstance.

Beaf:
Can you do the same laughable thing for your own state to? Thats if it aint "Columbus Ohio".

OMO IBO:
ROTFLMAO

Since when did before and after pictures become the barometer for measuring development?

e b like say una no like dis Junkie chap o!

okunoba:
@Presido1, Abiola was not ruling the country, IBB, OBJ and the others u mentioned were, big difference.

Grins at this line of reasoning
Buck-passing, please find; This house has fallen: Midnight in Nigeria by Karl Maier and read.

Sagamite:
I never proposed a was a saint. I doubt most of the richest businessmen in any country are.

But to give the impression that he was some looter of public funds. Give me a brake.

I hardly know what your rant is all about, the monies he and the his conniving friends stole were public, from the nations treasure Abeg make we hear jo!

Homonide:
@ Sagamite.

Just read that lengthy thread about Abiola and June !2, and i've come to the conclusion that even though some of the allegations were not factual,

they still show that Abiola was never a saint. I'm just astonished that the man i thought was a saint wasn't afterall. the ITT palaver for instance is

mind-boggling.

@ Homonide, try reading: This House has Fallen: Midnigth in Nigeria by Karl Maier and you'll begin to see how systematically a few Nigerians and their penchant for greed have brought us to where we are; mind boggling. It's on Amazon, corruption is endemic and the grave thing is their children are steadily and rapidly brought up to take over from where they stopped. See mohammed Abacha.

Aloy~Emeka:
Businesses rise and fall. The military junta helped frustrate some of his businesses too. Volkswagen Nigeria ran out of gas because Nigerians became too poor to buy new vehicles under the military government.

Karma at work: he helps them loot the treasure and sets up businesses neeeding people he and his co travels had denied every platform to be self-sustaining and then expects same to be able to afford the new cars built by a plant he bought into, hmmm! . Why they <elite thieves> don't see beyond their greed is bafling. They need people who they have failed to empower to buy their goods! The same shit can be seen in the banking system. Cecilia and co won't grant small loans with little interst rates to a workable plan made by ordinary Nigerians whose monies make up the bulk of what is given to the their rich cronies but fail to seek collateral when doing business with the Aliko's of this world. Yet the Alikos are a fraction compared to the many in need of capital. This many who in the right sense are the engine for rapid develoment. so sad

@poster, perfection is but an end. A good relationship perhaps one could speak about; am sure a great deal of understanding between the partners will help in filtering down the individualist tendencies that rare their heads in most relationships.