you're the one saying all this. The North Americans have already cautioned their president to stop worshipping Arab kings because oil doesn't mean their nation should lose its pride.

Obama went to Ghana to insure a stake in their newly discovered Crude Oil and some children are here saying rubbish about what they know not.

Neptunz:

America stands for an ideology which nigeria should nt succumb to, No matter how bad of a leadership we may have,we remain a sovereign nation, No ass-kissing to obama or ilari~Lfmao

wirinet:

If MRS Clinton wanted to address royal fathers, why did we not oblige her. You may never know what she wants to tell them. She might have intelligence report linking them to religious crisis in Nigeria. Also you cannot compare royal fathers in Nigeria to the king of Saudi Arabia, the Saudi king has executive powers, in Nigeria a Local Government chaiman is more powerful than an Oba or Emir

mccloud224:

@Black_Revo

That was an interesting comment.Please can you define what royalty means?Can you please tell me the factors that make a "royal father" a better human being than yourself?Can you please tell me what the "royal people" of Nigeria have done to reflect on your life positively?

The Sarduana's/Emirs support hatred against Christians/southerners at the background.I mean, there are many royal fathers in the north and yet over a 1000 people died recently from "religious" or rather politically motivated violence.What influence do they have on their people other than being glorified celebrities who receive mouth watering sums from the govt coffers every month for their "fatherly roles".

The Oba of Benin "decreed" some months back that no market trader should sell palm fruit (during a particular season).What has that got to do with empowering the people?Is that the problem of Nigerians?Palm fruit?

Then you have the Oni's and the Obas.Na these ones i no just understand.These "fathers" are the ones that back the "leaders" we have today.These people are the ones that go to lick Obasanjo's toes just to gain favors or be in his good books.

You know, it always amazes me the way we complain about the country's situation and YET, you'll see the same people ready to lay down their lives for these same people.For example, if i post a topic titled "IBB IS A THIEF", you'll be surprised at the hundreds of posters that will defend IBB's "integrity".

Hmmm.I sorry for 9ja.

The people who shunned her have their kids in American Colleges and facilities. Who is fooling who? Any need to have these men welcome you? She should have allowed opposition party members to but non-existent now. May be boys Scout should have. I need to get out of this cartoon before I see myself incorrigible

ocelot2006:

Protocol hitches as Clinton visits Nigeria
From Martins Oloja and Oghogho Obayuwana (Abuja)

http://odili.net/news/source/2009/aug/12/17.html

NIGERIAN officials yesterday alleged being kept in the dark by the United States (U.S.) Embassy in Abuja in the preparations for the visit of American Secretary of State, Mrs. Hillary Clinton.


The officials also decried her purported condemnation of Nigeria in Kenya ahead of her visit last night. They accused the American embassy of keeping matters of protocol itinerary of the visit away from the host country's officials.

The Guardian confirmed last night that the actions of the embassy and security officials may have led to the Senate President David Mark and the Speaker of the House of Representatives Dimeji Bankole not being involved in the reception formalities.

Even the Sultan of Sokoto, Abubakar Sa'ad, who was billed to organise traditional rulers for a parley with Mrs. Clinton on the platform of Nigerian Inter-Religious Council (NIRC) was alleged to have cancelled the deal last night because of the poor treatment of even the Foreign Affairs Ministry officials, who were reportedly spurned by the embassy's Protocol Department.

The American Ambassador to Nigeria, Renee Sanders, was said to have earlier asked for a list of traditional rulers to meet with Clinton, but the Sultan believed to be the arrowhead of the arrangement allegedly declined.

A Presidency official, who lamented the shoddy treatment of even Nigeria's security community, said: "Nothing about this visit passed through any Nigerian official. We have not seen a thing like this before. It is even embarrassing to us that there is no security clearance or cover for anything and if there is any emergency, the Presidency would be blamed. But it should be noted that it is the American government and the embassy that have planned security for the whole itinerary.

"What is more, we even heard that instead of meeting our own security chiefs, the officials here invited our chiefs to their office for talks, which is not the due order. Of course, our security chiefs declined the demeaning invitation. They would not accept that in Washington if even our President were to visit.

"There were recent arrangements when even the Presidents of Finland, Russia and Premier of Spain came here. Specifically, when the Finland's leader came, there was a security arrangement whereby our operatives worked with the Finland's advance team. But for the Americans, nothing like inter-agency co-operation even for security arrangement," he said.

Clinton will hold discussions with President Umaru Yar'Adua, after meeting with Foreign Affairs Minister, Chief Ojo Maduekwe, by 9.30 a.m. today.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday that the high point of Clinton's visit would be an interactive session styled after the American Town Hall meetings with a broad session of Nigerian civil society at the Musa Yar'Adua Centre.

But the list of civil society and other activists' groups has not been made known officially. The visit, according to diplomatic sources, is laced with non-governmental activity.

Diplomatic sources said yesterday that much of her movements and meetings were kept under wraps owing to the fact that "this time, the Secretary of State wants to listen more to the Nigerian people who are outside of government, "

Information Officer at the embassy, David Renz, told The Guardian that "specific details of Hillary Clinton's visit have not been released. This information will be released by State Department when available."

The Abuja visit is part of Clinton's seven-nation tour to South Africa, Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, and Cape Verde.

And if I may add, the US did exactly the same thing to our then Attorney General of the Federation/Minister of Justice (during Obasanjo's tenure) when he visited the US Justice Department in Washington DC. So why're we all complaining?

Fhemmmy:

Is it Yar'Adua that is killing and Embarrassing Nigeria or the Nigerians?
We are the one that have allowed that sick dude to keep ruling despite the fact that we know he has nothing to offer.

mccloud224:

@ocelot2006

Nice comment.We could say that she assumed that everything would follow through considering the fact that LEFT is "RIGHT" in Nigeria and UP means "DOWN".lol.

On a serious note, i strongly believe that the actions of these leaders wasn't based on diplomacy at all.It was a way of getting back at the U.S for choosing Ghana as a hallmark of democracy in Africa and also, these "old men" consider women less important than cattle.To meet with her is "beneath them" thanks to their billionaire status from looted funds.Think about it, if it were Bill Clinton, would they have shunned him the way they did to his wife?Please think about and be honest with your reply.

And to those talking about the USA being far better than Nigeria moral/corruption wise, maybe you should take a look at the lobby groups (or bribers as they're known in Nigeria) that have EVERY US govt. official in their pockets, and as a result control govt. policies. And how about undemocratic govt. like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and others that the US props and supports overtly with tonnes of funds?Oh, and let's not forget Iraq where close to a million people have been killed (with 2 million displaced) as a result of oil, sorry, I meant weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). Nigeria is definitely not better, but please stop portraying the US as a "holier than thou" country.

If Ex-President Bill Clinton came under same capacity as secretary of state with the US embassy acting they way they did, then I'm afraid the same think may occur again. Besides, Bill Clinton has been to Nigeria for a lecture in Abuja (after his tenure as president ofcourse) and there were no fanfares or our Minister of Foreign Affairs running to the airport to pick him up.

[b]Why is it that Nigerians base their opinions on ego massaging and sentiments, instead of the reality on the ground. In foreign policy issues, the Secretary of State is very important, if not more important than the president. A serious government should have taken advantage of Clintons, visit to ask for assistance, in the area of the aspects she has problems with; namely, the Niger Delta crisis, Electoral Reforms ( after all it was the US that gave the world the modern form of democracy practiced in the world today), Educational, Technical and Technological Assistance, even financial assistance.
We have to face reality, every country ( especially developing countries need the US), go ask the Israelis,( who seeks the support of the US in every thing the do),  the south Koreans, the Japanese. The difference between North Korea, and between the former East Germany and West Germany is US assistance. It was even the US that help Europe win the World War 2 and help the reconstruction of Europe after the war. So those of you saying to hell with the US must be a relative of Yaradua - Clueless. I am not particularly a fan of the US, but when the US sneezes, the world catches cold.[/b][color=#990000][/color]

About Saudi Arabia, I do not think the US can impose democracy into a nation that had been autocratic for hundreds of years if not thousands. The US can only help the citizens if they clamour  for democracy. Are the Saudi people clamouring for democracy?. Also if the Saudi's run into problems like they did under saddam, who do they run to? - The US of course.

Look at Libya, a more organized country than Nigeria, what happened after being a US antagonist for over 20 years, they retraced their steps and became an allay.

The funniest thing is that most of those abusing America today, would be ready to lick her foot ( Mrs Clinton) if she says come and collect a green card. Also most of or Government official's children hold's US Passport or Green Card, so if there are annoyed at Mrs Clinton, they should withdraw their children from US and burn their passport, so as to experience "the lies" being told by Mrs Clinton.

mccloud224:

YES, bribery/lobbying is in the[b] U.S AS WELL AS EVERY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD.[/b]I'm sure you've heard the term "politics is money".To win people over, you need to influence them with money.For goodness sake, supporters raised over $600 million dollars for the Obama campaign and you can bet your life that all those funds didn't go into propaganda alone.Some people had to be bought over.It's the norm everywhere (your point is baseless)

Secondly, THEY DON'T DIP THEIR HANDS public coffers and loot the treasury like it's their piggy bank.They have other means of compensating themselves e.g Bill Clinton commands a minimum of $1 million dollars to make a speech in public (do your findings).Talking about Iraq?Who is killing who?Is it the U.S soldiers setting bombs and wiping out families daily?

Hmmm.Speechless.

Nigeria is definitely not better, but please stop portraying the US as a "holier than thou" country.

Let's see, the payment of funds to government officials in return for political favour/future government contracts is what? That's right, CORRUPTION.

ocelot2006:


Let's see, the payment of funds to government officials in return for political favour/future government contracts is what? That's right, CORRUPTION.

mccloud224:

Emmm, i think you're mixing fan fare and diplomatic relations in one cauldron.They are two different things (well, i do understand that fan fare is an "African thing".We seem to have this "slave mentality" imbibed deeply in our roots).That's by the way though.The "leaders" out rightly shunned her and nothing more.Trust me, they wouldn't have the guts to pull that stunt if it were Bush or Bill in those shoes.

cooljade:

It's a shame that Nigerian diplomatic dept can say that they were not aware of her coming when common nigerian like me knew 3 days before, even CNN hinted on it.

What else do you expect from a bunch of unprofessionals? political criminals only after their interest

he US embassy and the State Department chose not to inform us of her itinenary. That on its own is a dipomatic NO NO and an insult to the host country

And speaking of Iraq, what sparked the killing and secterian violence over there? That's right, the US invation and occupation of a sovereign country. And how about the illegal detention and torture of Iraqis (Abu-Ghraib)? Oh, and did I mention that the actions of the US lead to the further radicalization of the middle-east as whole, and action that have the deaths of thousands of people from Pakistan to Yemen? But no, the US, in your eyes, is without blemish. They can do no wrong. It's no wonder these guys continue to look down on us.

oshkosh:

Truth is that Clintons behaviour has a lot to do with America's perception of our president today. Unfortunately, he just doesn't command much respect. He's dull, un-intelligent, ineffective, unwell, compromised, complicent, coniving,

Fortunately, the American goverment (led by the charismatic Obama) is just too smart to be respecting symbols. For him, I'm sure, nothing short of constructive and progressive interactions will do.

Simply because they don't trust our goverment's ability to get anything right, including providing security. I bet if she had her way, she wouldn't have stopped over in Nigeria at all, but I guess that would have just been too obvious after visiting all other African countries. [color=#990000][/color]

I'm so so ashamed of our leaders, to be honest.

I was watching AIT this morning and was shocked to learn that Hilary Clinton was not received on her arrival by any Nigerian official, not even a foreign ministry official. Is that as a result of the observations she raised a few days earlier about Nigeria inability to refine her own petrol being 6th largest crude oil producer in the world?. If it is, then the yaradua government apart from being clueless,is very immature. To me it is a very embarrassing diplomatic blunder. Yaradua needs to be schooled in basic diplomacy. even when two countries have serious diplomatic conflicts, decorum demands warm reception in public.

Clinton is the third highest US official, and the most important in terms of US foreign policy. So how do you think the US will relate with Nigeria after this.
[/quote[b]]

She do not want to be SEEN hobnobbing with thieves, This was a strategic move on her part[/b]

I think the first thing Hillary has to learn is that I am given an unbias view of Nigeria. When I said don’t go, I mean it. We are different, we have culture , history which make our story unique.

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-301082.0.html

The truth is we have no other choice at the moment than to remove the yorubas, edo, delta and bayelsa into benin republic. What hillary Clinton does not know is that there is power play in Nigeria based on ethnics loyality. After seen the satellite picture of Nigeria. In the mind of every Northerner the removing of the yorubas, edo, delta and bayelsa into benin republic is the only solution.

There would never be Biafra, never because of the politics of Nigeria. And because the so call people calling for Biafra are just less than 10% of the population of Nigeria.

While for this solution of removing the yorubas, edo, delta and bayelsa into benin republic majority of Nigeria would vote Yes to the solution. I would say about 80% of the population of Nigeria to avoid a civil war.

And a nation have to weight what is best for 80% of its population and not less than 10% of its population. Even among the less than 10% of the population, the educated igbos know Biafra is not possible.

Another reason is igboland have ecological problem of erosion, which can not be corrected if you look at satellite picture. You would need trillion of dollars to correct them. We don’t have it. So igbos have to immigrate by force.

And while 90% of igbos are traders. If a nation call Biafra exist, it means 90% of Igbos would be JOBLESS. The reason is since most igbos are traders, you must have people who would buy from you. And if every igbos man is a spear part dealer where are the buyers in the Biafra.


It is only uneducated igbos that would not see the advantage in igbos been part of the new Nigeria with the north. And while the removing of the yorubas, edo, delta and bayelsa into benin republic is the only solution.


There would never be Biafra. The igbos can not live in 29,000 sq km , they are traders, who are they going to sell thing to. 90% of igbos would loss their source of living.

This is the reason why they can never be Biafra.

Look what the USA and other do not understand is that there are two major powers in west Africa. Fulani/hausa and the Yorubas.

While the Fulani/hausa dominate the north in several countries. the yorubas dominate the south in several countries.


The Yorubas and Fulani/hausa together are spread in about 18 countries in Africa. This is why we have to redraw the map of Nigeria to avoid a civil war. The igbos have no military strength in the Nigeria army to oppose even the decision. They would be crush. I can even tell you this. Knowing Nigeria politics if the igbos stage a coup against it. In less than 6 hours they would be remove from power. And most likely the coup would fail.


Seen the satellite picture, we have to redraw the map of Nigeria to avoid a civil war. This is why it is important not to listen to the useless shout of Biafra. It is not possible and would NEVER happen. The force against it is too many. Even if the west support it. west Africa politics would block it. Biafra would be block in west Africa and Africa.


Removing the Yorubas, edo, delta and bayelsa into Benin republic would pass in the west Africa parliament by a 90% vote. All countries in west Africa would support it and 90% of Africa countries would vote yes to the decision. It is the only solution to avoid a civil war.

Hillary has to get it. She have to join in the movement to remove the yorubas, edo, delta and bayelsa into benin republic making the north have 70% of the oil. This is the only solution. And the USA have to Openly support the plan to remove the Yorubas, edo, delta and bayelsa state to Benin republic to make the north have majority , this is the only solution to avoid a civil war.

ocelot2006:

The US embassy and the State Department chose not to inform us of her itinenary. That on its own is a dipomatic NO NO and an insult to the host country. I can't just come to your house without informing you on the time of my arrival and my plans (or at least a glimpse of it) . I won't lose any sleep over this event.