₦airaland Forum

Written By Mohammed Adamu

When I wrote the piece: Tribute to Tinubu: A Parody of Shakespeare?a few friends and colleagues said I was un-characteristically ?patronizing. Some wondered if I too had not fallen for the Tinubu ?cult of the personality; or as one of them put it cult of the insatiable power-seeker. And to quite a few of those friends and colleagues whose opinion about my professional integrity I do give a damn about, I did vouchsafe some cogent explanation: first I said that even as I was sure they knew me not to advocate for the devil, yet they should not forget that I was not one either not to give the devil his due.

I should say, for the records, that I believed ?and I still do- that Tinubu deserved that tribute which I paid to him; that I still think him worthy of all the sentiments contained therein and that I still feel proud that I wrote that piece. Tinubu has fathered a peaceful political revolution in Nigeria which has not only moved our democracy beyond a notch by its shattering of the myth of the invincibility of incumbency, but it has saved the nation from the malignance of a ruinous era of political impunity which was bent on balkanizing our country.

And let me say that if Tinubu, afterwards should, for any reason lend the instrumentation of his time, his prowess and his resources in the promotion of any contrary ideal odious or antithetical to the noble one of growing our democracy and developing our nation, I should also, with a measure of antipathy equal to the enthusiasm with which I had praised him, deploy the venom of my pen to harangue and to dis-approbate him.

But come to think of it, if you ask me whether I think Tinubu is evil?politically, I should answer as much with the affirmative.
Yes as with the negative?no. For as ?beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, logically-speaking I think, so should?ugliness? be also in the eyes of the beholder. And so to a bitter PDP whose defeat the Asiwaju?s deft, adept and adroit politics had caused, Tinubu is most definitely?evil; and thus in the subjective eyes of members of PDP Tinubu is uglier than the mythical Gorgon. But to the APC whose political fortunes Tinubu?s (even if) neo-Machiavellic master-tactic has now raised from nothing?to?everything, the Jagaban is most definitely no evil?but good. and thus in the objective eyes of sincere members of APC Tinubu should be the personification of beauty itself?politically that is.

Alas, as we see presently in the treacherous hustle and jostle for political positions, this is not so with the hawks and vultures in the APC who now masquerade as altruistic progressive change-agents of the Buhari government. To these neo-conservative opportunists, all of a sudden ?Asiwaju? ?The Leader? is now simply Tinubu ?The meddlesome interloper?! He is as they now claim?unnecessarily interfering with our democratic processes? and must thus be cut to size. And on this you cannot but have a sense of the poignantly disgusting and the de ja vu: especially if you recall what the then Rhodesia?s oppressive head Colonist Ian Smith said to the anti-colonial world of the 70s about Zimbabweans: "These blacks are spoiling my democracy? my democracy indeed!"

Or maybe if you have some appreciable knowledge of the UPN?s Second Republic politics when the then Adedibu ?of that era?s Ibadan politics, Busari Adelakun, after a resounding UPN victory achieved through the instrumentation of Adelakun?s political enfant terrible, was told plainly by Awo that since he had no western education, he could not be a Commissioner!

Though academics is not the basis of this comparison, Adelakun?s reply aptly typifies, today, the mentality of those who have contributed next to nothing to the birth and ascendancy of APC, but whose hubris is now questioning the leadership of the man who almost singlehandedly formed, midwifed and nurtured it to power. Adelakun was said to have asked rhetorically in Yoruba: adiye da lori iresi, sugbon ko da n kpalo?;, meaning: so cooked chicken is good sitting atop a bowl of rice, but a live one is not good to grace the hallow of the parlor??

They said that the Asiwaju wants to install surrogate leaders for the legislature so he can remote-control them. And I say: assuming, without conceding, that this is true, to what end, if we may ask, would Tinubu want to remote-control the NASS?? Is it to prevent it from passing good progressive bills that will give effect to the promise of ?change by Buhari? Or is it to egg the NASS on to anti-Buhari tantrums so that the General's government cannot effectively function? I really don't get it!

And I even wonder more: did they not invest Tinubu with all the sobriquets and appellations of a Leader?? Did they not say that he was the courageous ?Jagaban; the one who led from the front? And did Tinubu not lead them from the front? Selflessly giving his time, his energy and his resources? Did he not put his life on the line of a hysterically dangerous incumbency desperately angling to keep power by hook or crook? Did they not say that Tinubu?s was a goal-oriented and decisively go-getting Leadership?

And need one also ask: did we not, to the occasional rousing applause of Nigerians, see them severally winning one political battle after another under the leadership of the Jagaban? From when Tinubu fought to win series of judicial victories to restore the political control of the South West into the hands of the progressives; a feat which gave the earliest fillip to the initiative for the formation of a formidable coalition of opposition political parties?

Did we not see the series of political mutations afterwards initiated and set in motion from the pre-natal stages, the singular efforts of one man to corral several ideological eggs into one political embryo, so as to give life to a new all-embracing political Party around which both progressives and even repentant fascists could congregate to make practicable what was thought well-nigh impossible, namely enacting the parting of the political Red Sea to say to the behemoth PDP ?let my people go!?

But maybe what we were seeing from aloof was different from what exactly was happening within! But I thought that we all saw Tinubu burning the political candle through nights and nights of vigils to disprove all the known theories of war which posit that more than one battle cannot be fought at a time; I thought we saw the Asiwaju take on both INEC and government in a proxy war with surrogate usurpers of the baptismal of the new political ideology, the A-P-C! -and which he won!

We thought that we saw Tinubu walk the miles from the North West to the North East; from North Central to the South East and from the South West to the South-South to build strong bridges of geo-ethnic and geo-political consensus; planning and strategizing to form alliances, to create leagues of political amity and to search out for men and women of weight and of mettle; political and non-political actors with diverse gifts and varying competences, to man the many points of the opposition?s political rudder.

These efforts were rewarded with successes in the creation of the first ever successful merger, the formation of the first ever peoples Party, the conduct of one of the most transparent Party Primaries, the emergence of the most popular presidential candidate, the running of the most competitive Presidential electioneering campaigns, and the first ever defeat of incumbency by an opposition party in one of the most transparent Presidential elections.

But now that the political dinner table is set, surrounded, unfortunately, by opportunistic political vultures and hyenas, they are telling us that although Tinubu is an excellent political cook, he is not as good in the culinary art of dishing. That the Party Leader must stay away from the Party?s First Political Supper! In fact like Caesar they accused the Asiwaju of ambition. The same Tinubu who had publicly announced that Buhari had offered him a chance to be on the Presidential ticket ?an offer which he said he politely declined.

Tinubu does not deserve this kind of treatment. The Asiwaju as the Party Leader and the Party are the veritable taproots of Mr. President. If they who care about Mr. President?s success are left at the mercy of the Party?s vultures and hyenas who only care about the spoils of politics, sooner or later the shrub of the Presidency and its blooming foliage will feel the wilt. It is both morally and politically expedient that Buhari steps in to restore rank discipline and to assure the Asiwaju and the Party hierarchy that he has ?got their back?; just like they, through thick and thin, had always had Mr. President?s back.

otokx:
A lot of IBO's stay in PH but to say it is the most widely indigenous language begets mischief. Ikwerre appears to be the major indigenous language spoken in PH; some IBO's erroneously mistake it for their language. Ijaw is the next popular language and both tribes are the ethnic majority landlords of PH.

spreading lies on this faceless forum won't do you no good. Fear God!
Ikwerre are part of aligbo and they speak igbo

Op your biggest mistake is that you never knew that Oyigbo, Obio/akpor are both igbo towns. Base on biafra war, the ekwerre renamed those towns from Umuokoro, Umuodara to Rumuodara , rumuokoro etc. And OBIGBO to OYIGBO

I be think say na only me dey observe am

THE BOND BETWEEN THE IGALA AND IGBO ETHNIC NATIONALITIES OF NIGERIA - SOME HISTORICAL FACTS.




Igala are an ethnic group of Nigeria situated east of the river Niger and Benue confluence and astride the Niger in Lokoja. Their religious practice is broadly Christianity and Islam, with, of course, some sketches of African religion, all of which do not in any way affect their interpersonal relationship as it is common to see in a family in Igalaland where either the Father is a Muslim and Mother a Christian or Parents are Muslims and Children are Christians or vice-versa, yet all relate amicably well in all ramifications.
The Igala population is estimated at about 4million and overflow to outside their home base to regions like Anambra, Delta, Edo and Enugu States, with strong traditional base, and now in ABIA State of Nigeria as partners for progress.



The Igala language is part of the Eastern Kwa sub group or the West Benue-Congo subgroup of the Niger-Congo language family where the Igbo also belong, depending on the school of thought of the observer. The traditional Igala society is largely agrarian, although fishing is also a mainstay of the people especially the Igalas of the riverine Idah area. The Igala are identified by the old oral tradition of Western Igbo as descendants of Igbo migrants who migrated westward during the expansion of the proto-Igbo peoples at the beginning of the 1st millennium.
The central geographical location of the Igala people has exposed them to a wide variety of linguistic as well as cultural influences from other ethnic groups in the country. Notable among these are the Bini, the Igbo, the Hausa, their closest sisters-Idoma and the Yoruba ethnic groups. They are ruled by a father figure called the Attah.

The word Attah means 'Father' and the full title of the ruler is 'Attah Igala', meaning, the Father of Igala.
Among the most revered Attahs of the Igala kingdom are Attah Ayegba Oma Idoko and Atta Ameh Oboni.
According to oral tradition, Attah Ayegba Oma Idoko offered his most beloved daughter, Inikpi to ensure that the Igalas win a war of liberation from the Jukuns' dominance while Attah Ameh Oboni was known to be very brave and resolute and revered for his stiff resistance of the British and his struggles to uphold some ancient traditions of the Igalas. When he got wind of a plan to depose and exile him by the British, he committed suicide by hanging himself to
forestall the plan; for this and other numerous exploits
recorded in his time, he is regarded by most Igalas as the
last real traditional Attah Igala.



The present Atta is His Royal Highness, Atta Aliyu Ocheja Obaje, a well read, intelligent and well respected Father. The Igala word for King is Onu, one of which has gathered us here today to honour some deserving people, the Onu Igala Abia state, his highness, Alhaji Usman Mohammed. To divorce the Igala influence from the modern Igbo cultural evolution would be a travesty of history. The evidence of the cross cultural mix appears to be genuine. According to several sources, Igbo people evolved over a long period of 4000 BC to 500 AD in Igbo land through waves of migrations. Oral accounts stated that her northern neighbours migrated into her heartland in search of fertile land and rich marine life.
The majority of which were the Igalas.
The Igalas settled amongst the locals east of the Niger, altering the historiography of many towns in today's Anambra state and parts of the present Oshimmili Local
Government in Delta state. For instance in Anambra state, there are traces of Igala history in some communities of the Local Government councils of the state such as - Ayamelum, Ihiala, Oyi, Awka North/South, Aniocha, Dunukofia, Onitsha North/South, Ogbaru, Anambra East/West and Njikoka.
The migration did not only affect the area known today
as Anambra state, a sizeable portion of Enugu state's
communities have Igala ancestry as well.
Thus, it would be right to call it a reverse migration, occurring about eight hundred years after which Eri was reported to have founded the modern Igbo nation with its set of unique religious doctrine. It was also a period one of his sons, Onoja, was said to have departed northwards and founded the Igala land. Eri's children were listed as Nri-
Ifikuanim Menri, Agulu, ONOJA, Ogbodudu, Onogu and his only daughter, Iguedo. Together and respectively, his off-springs were instrumental to founding the towns of Aguleri, Igbariam, Ogbunike, Nando, Nri, Enugu-Ukwu, Nteje, Enugu-Agidi, and so many other settlements in the East and West of the Niger.
From the foregoing and other numerous historical facts, it is
indeed difficult to draw a line between the Igbo and Igala
history. However, according to P.E OKWOLI, a native Igalaman, and renowned historian, in the ancient times, new rulers from the Igbo communities of Igala ancestry must go to Igala to be taught kingship rituals and ceremonials. Although he mentioned that Igala and Umueri towns are related, Umueri needed not to go to Igala for any sort of tutelage. An exemption that might explain Nri-Ifikuanim and Agulu's seniority to their younger brother Onoja, the founder of Igala.

P.E. Okwoli stated inter-alia some binding revelations that "In Nsukka and the rest of Igbo land, there is a popular masquerade called Agabaidu, and this is a significant cultural point. In Nsukka, the word Agabidu is
used to refer to an eminent man, while it is used to refer to a King in Igala.

Also Asadu is the word for kingmaker among the Igbo, while it is called Achadu among the Igala. There are some other words which are signs of close cultural ties shared by both Igala and the Igbo. These include Atama, which means Chief Priest in both languages. Ajogwu means warrior among the Igala and the Igbo" Both the Igbo and
Igala have four market days which are – EKE, ORIE, AFOR &
NKWO in Igbo and EKE, EDE, AFOR & UKWO in Igala seriatim.
What more can be more binding! Is it that we both eat OSIKAPA as rice, ABACHA as cassava, EGWA/AGWA as beans, store our clothing in AKPATI called box or that the names - Okolo, Oji, Okwoli, Akoh, Odiba, etc in Igala are called Okoro, Orji, Okoli, Akor and Odida in Igbo?
What is more important is that we are today celebrating togetherness. Long live Ndigbo, Long live Igalas and long.
Thank you all for the attention and God bless us all!!!
AGONO, Enemaduku, OIK. (OFFICER of the IGALA KINGDOM) 28th November, 2010.

Source: www.humorclux.gq/others/the-bond-between-the-igbos-and-the-igalas/

omololu2020:
i can see ur brain is not workin,cos only a daft fool will tell me itsekiri av somtin in common wit ibos

They have comon sense than that of a SW breed

A nun asked her class, What part of the body goes into heaven first? A little girl raises her hand and says, I know, I know, the top of your head. The nun asks, Why do you say that? The little girl says, Because when you die, you go straight up, and the top of your head goes in first! The nun replies, That makes sense, anyone else?
Another little girl says, I know, I know, the tips of your fingers. The nun asks, Why the tips of your fingers? The little girl replies, Because when you put your hands together to pray, the tips of your fingers go into heaven first! The nun says, OK, anyone else? Akpos is in the back waving his hand.
The nun says, OK, Akpos, please tell us what part of the body goes into heaven first? Your feet! Your feet do, for sure! yells Akpos. The nun, puzzled, asks, Why do you think your feet get to heaven first? Because I was walking past my parents' bedroom last night, and my mom was in there, and she had both her feet sticking straight up in the air, and she was yelling 'Oh God, I'm coming. Oh God, I'm coming!' and if my Dad hadn't been holding her down, I think she would have gone!

source: www.humorclux.ml/jokes/akpos-what-part-part-of-the-body-goes-to-heaven-first/

ekim004:
Ur name says it all . Biafrans bunch of jobless pipu

by the mention of biafra, every nigerians trembles in fear

This is css3 at work .
I told the op to use Font-awsome to achieve this menu but he ignored it

This OP is one of those born troway PEJ was talking about

Lol, seconded.

My own na Abokees and Amala Eaters (na oil money go kill una).