Now you're talking, so you think marrying a young girl is barbaric and we should start marrying our age mates, who informed this line of thought, your European masters of course!
You talk of evolution, our culture should be evolve coz marrying young girls is a thing of the past, hmmmm let me see! who are you to say it is barbaric and what yardstick are you using to measure the "barbarity" of a culture, CULTURE means total way of life by the way! You're honestly sounding more and more like your master by the day, remember when he came to AFRICA and told you that you were a barbarian, well now you have picked up his habits and are unashamedly tagging people as barbaric coz he has taught you so well

Beaf:

Sorry, but you are actually sounding incoherent. Who gives a be intimate with what any "culture" says. Is culture above the law? I asked you for your thoughts barbaric cultural practices like, tormenting "child witches" and human sacrifice; you somehow failed to answer. I wonder why? If a cultural practice is barbaric as child marriages are, then then culture needs to be booted into the modern age.
I don't care what reasons you pluck from thin air to justify ra'ping a child. Yerima is guilty under Nigerian law and must be jailed.

There is no disgust in Northern Nigeria about child ra'pe? Thats a big lie! Do you think your village makes up the whole of Northern Nigeria? have you heard of child marriages in Kwara, Benue, Plateau, Southern Kaduna etc? Charlie, you're just shooting your mouth!
I notice you have a way of fishing for the most child abusing cultures to latch unto. Do you have an identity problem, are you ashamed to be Nigerian? Cos I can't understand the references to Saudi and other foreign crap to justify events in Nigeria. Also. you really love to live in medievial times, forgetting the rest of us have moved on and left you behind.
Stop clutching at straws. Ra'pe is ra'pe, and its even worse when the victim is a child; it is unnaceptable when patriachal society wickedly codifies it into "culture".

Stone Yerima.

Why you are conveniently listing middle belt states like kwara baffles me, when you talk of the north kwara comes miles behind sokoto and kano!! after all, sokoto colonized kwara and imposed a ruler for the kwarans!!! Southern Kaduna people were slaves to Hausa people!!! Tat being said, let me state this one more time, marriage, building of a social institution is not comparable to ritual killing, murder based on superstition. Do not get it mixed!!

YOU HAVE FAILED to tell me what exactly is wrong with the age difference, what makes it immoral, universally immoral what the difference between me being 10 years older than my wife and 50 years older than her does age now determine sexual intercourse, In other words, If my wife is 30 and im 50, i cannot have sex with her?? if the girl is sexually mature and can physically have sex which is done all around the world, then why does the age of who has sex with her bother you so much all around the world, 13 and 14 yr old girls have sex particularly in the west meaning they are physically able to!! what manner of nonsense are you spewing!

Beaf:

He will never try it, because they will jail the daylight out of his arse!

Why do people like gadogado always talk about Western and Arab Worlds, whereas we are Nigerian?
Is this some sort of identity conflict or inferiority complex?

Yerima introduced sharia and since then people hands have been chopped of etc. What is the punishment for ra'pe under sharia? Stoning to death?
Lets apply it to the basta'rd paedophile, Yerima!

Now you're starting to be honest, it boils down to your bigoted hate of islam!! People like me say western this and arab that because in case you didnt notice, Westerners colonized half of the country while arabs the other half, both contributing and shaping or re shaping intellectual discourse, when you accepted Christianity and abandoned your traditional belief system, you became an extension of the west, you let them colonize you too, your legal code is the same as theirs so are many different aspects of your life!! you have nothing that is truly originally yours other than food!! your mind however and your society is either western styled or arab to the norh.

Fhemmmy:

There is a big harm done to a 5 year old that her future has been sold to the highest bidder without her knowledge.
Even God gave us will power to chose btw what we want and dont.
How dare some pervs now wanna marry some kid young cos they dont have what it takes to marry same when she is older.

There you go again with your concept of individualism, not all societies practice that approach!!! without her knowledge!!! she has a right to opt out of any marriage if she doesnt want it!!! Do you love the girl more than her family?? for you to claim theyre selling her or whatever you're insinuating in very condescending and an unfair characterization of the situation!! this is just your own assumption!!

Beaf:

We aren't interested in what little girls do with little boys in America or Europe. What alarms us, is what 50+ year old men do with girl children in Nigeria. In any case, the Egyptians you refer to have made it a crime for a paedophile like Yerima to have anything to do with marrying anybodyunder 18. Yeah! Thats Egyptian law!

The import of your arguments is exactly nil. A child is a child anywhere in the World and ra'pe is certainly not a Western concept.
More than the above, it is morally wretched for anybody to promote despoil, child molestion and other forms of criminality for "cultural" reasons. How about human sacrifice? No? How about child witches? No?

We can rant irresponsibly about colonial masters and whatnot, but the simple fact remains; a crime that utterly disgusts the vast majority of Nigerians has been committed.

The paedophile, Yerima should be castrated and jailed.

Get it right, I made no reference to Egyptian "secular" law. In Saudi, there is nothing wrong with what Yerima did. In the Northern part of Nigeria, there is also none of your imagined disgust, its actually a norm in the north, again, do not use the standards of one culture to judge another.
How is his age difference with the girl immoral?? you must tell me what makes it immoral!! and then we must apply it universally!!! we must then put bench marks, 10 yr age difference is ok, 30 yr age difference is not etc!! Then we must then explain why one age bench mark is ok and why the other is not!!!

The only people really angry about this are European serving southern media of Nigeria. In your village, before your contact with Europeans, what was the average difference in age between a man and a woman at the time of the wedding answer this.
In America, Anna Nicole married the oil tycoon Howard when she was 26 and he was 84, no problem with that but because it involves Islam, what you imbeciles love to hate, its now pedophilia!No one can explain to me why age difference is immoral or wrong!! I dare you, all you say is that is wrong, why is it wrong? AS long as shes able to be intimate physically, then there is no problem, your white masters are busy handling sex at 13, 14 and 15

safariman:

@gadogado
Just because a culture is ok with ritual killings does that make it ok for the society to accept? These guys marrying or slaving under age children should be stoned according their culture

How can you draw a proximity between marriage, the building of a social institution to ritual killing, murder based on superstition. There is harm in ritual killing due to murder, there is no harm in marriage unless its an abusive one!!

Tuyis:


The simple fact is; thirteen year olds are not physically or emotionally ready for marriages or childbearing, they are babies themselves. They are not supposed to be mauled by dirty old men like Yerima.
Are there shortages of grown women for marriage? Why the morbid obsession with kids.
Do you need a Westerner or Easterner or whatever to tell you what you know in your heart is patently wrong?

How are 13 year olds not able to bare children when theyre doing so all over America!!! Furthermore, emotional maturity is something that is relative to an individual, there are 30 year olds who are emotionally immature and by your standards, theyre not ready for marriage, there are 13 year olds who will shock you at their level of emotional stability and maturity!! so your point fails to resonate!!

To call Yerima a dirty old man is uncalled for, do you personally know him? do you know his moral conduct? Can you blame him if he doesnt want to marry a 40 year old woman?? Who are you to dictate to him who and who not to marry and what their ages should be? If its his preference, then whats your own?

Fhemmmy:

Kinda funny that all of a sudden, you wanna talk about how marriage started.
Chief, from what you have said, it means you know nothing about how marriage started, i am not sure about your own religion or about your own culture, but marriage started by chosing a helpmate.
Yes in those days, they might chose a wife for a man and all that crap, but  not like that anymore Sir.
And kinda funny that you ignore my question to you, WOULD YOU GIVE YOUR 5 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER OUT IN MARRIAGE OR YOUR 5 YEAR OLD SISTER?

Mr. Phemmy, Id like to point or rather ask two questions, you said marriage evolved for the need of a help mate, ok is marriage conditional upon help? In other words, do I have to be married to you before can help or assist you in anyway?? In those times, everything was communal so the need for help was not even an issue, even if one needed help, his children or random women would help or be the mans slave!! no need for marriage!!!

Would I give my own daughter, funny question because it doesnt solve anything!!! but what Im saying is you have no right to criticize a man for doing what is considered ok in his culture!!! or using the standards of one culture (which is not even your own since you're not European) to judge and measure a different one!!

pelezico:

A girl of 5 is old enough to decide whether she is fit enough for marriage, whether she is mature enough to have an old man pull down his trousers and insert his manliness into her? Really.   A girl of 5-13 is old enough to understand the demands and relational aspects of marriage?  Why are you comparing what we know to be blatantly wrong with the West with this blatantly obvious abomination?  

Rather than looking at this pragmatically its always my rule to see this as being either right or wrong.  If this is right then its right for all however if this is wrong its wrong for all.  Whether she gets pregnant out of wedlock or marries at the age of 5 its STILL WRONG.  

Yes no one is forcing you to adopt Western lifestyle one that i am vehemently against but its not about Western this or that but whether your god allah allows this abhorrent behaviour.  

Interestingly Mohammed Your prophet sanctioned this because of his marriage to a girl of 6 therefore your god allah sanctions this because nowhere in your koran or hadith is this condemned.  The reason why they allow it today is because they are following in the foot steps of Mohammed. He sanctioned this.

Should'nt these Imams be moral bastions teaching unconverted sinful infidels how to live moral right or don't you have a moral compass by which you judge these things.  

Also, i wanted to add that if a girl in America or in Europe can physically have sex at the age of 13, 14 or 15 then why not an egyptian? since i think whats bothering most people is the girl is too  young and cannot handle the sexual activity. As for those claiming, shes too young for him, look into you're own cultures before you were brain washed my colonialism, were your people, yorubas et al. marrying their age mates? what was the typical age of a man and a woman when they got married in say yoruba societies in the 1500's? For you to now bring in age difference into this is idiocy at it worst!! Age difference is a concept born out of western culture which came about during times of economic prosperity!! It is a WESTERN concept!! Ask yourself, why does it really matter? why does it matter how old the guy is? in America, Anna Nicole Smith married Howard when she was 26 and he was in his 80's. Does age difference really matter in a truly moral context, is it immoral if im 20 years older than my wife if so, why is it immoral, this you must answer!!
If you're one of those saying that its coz shes too young to make her own decision as to whether she wants to get married yet or not, well that is also a western concept, western culture places premium on individualism, you should NOT use the standards of one culture to judge another culture! cultures evolve at their own pace and in their own beliefs!! some societies are communal, the family decides whether your old enough and who you should marry!! Since you dont love that girl more than her family loves her then what is your own there??
This is how they've lived for thousands of years and you cannot criticize them, you have no right to!! Who are you to now say that it is wrong?? because your colonial masters say so!

pelezico:

A girl of 5 is old enough to decide whether she is fit enough for marriage, whether she is mature enough to have an old man pull down his trousers and insert his manliness into her? Really.   A girl of 5-13 is old enough to understand the demands and relational aspects of marriage?  Why are you comparing what we know to be blatantly wrong with the West with this blatantly obvious abomination?  

Rather than looking at this pragmatically its always my rule to see this as being either right or wrong.  If this is right then its right for all however if this is wrong its wrong for all.  Whether she gets pregnant out of wedlock or marries at the age of 5 its STILL WRONG.  

Yes no one is forcing you to adopt Western lifestyle one that i am vehemently against but its not about Western this or that but whether your god allah allows this abhorrent behaviour.  

Interestingly Mohammed Your prophet sanctioned this because of his marriage to a girl of 6 therefore your god allah sanctions this because nowhere in your koran or hadith is this condemned.  The reason why they allow it today is because they are following in the foot steps of Mohammed. He sanctioned this.

Should'nt these Imams be moral bastions teaching unconverted sinful infidels how to live moral right or don't you have a moral compass by which you judge these things.  

Ok you seem like a relatively intelligent person who can think outside the box! Lets go to the root of marriage, ask the question; why did marriage as a concept evolve in human societies! we know marriage was practiced before Abrahamic religions came to be, the sister religions namely: Judaism, Christianity and Islam!! all of who believe in the same God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Moses.
Marriage evolved for economic reasons, communities wanted to know who would posses a persons belongings after he died and the most natural answer was the mans children, by implication, the second question of how we can identify his kids came up, there had to be accountability, so the idea of a permanent woman as a wife who will give you children came up! There could've been different ideas but this "marriage" idea came first. Love, age difference, compatibility were concepts that were developed much later on. Marriage is primarily an economic tool for wealth distribution and inheritance!
In the north or the arab world, marrying for economic and tribal/kinship reasons is rife largely because the cultures allow it. The absence of romantic ideas like love face limited existence which is why the arab wold has some of the lowest divorce rates in the world!! as opposed to 50% divorce rate in america, one in two marriages in America will end in divorce.
This leads me to my main point. In the context of Yerima, marrying a young girl is in line with his culture, if you think he's wrong then you're attacking his culture! People in that culture give their daughters in marriage so that somebody else can pick up the tab in raising them and other expenses associated with a feeding and clothing a person. Again, back to economics. Early marriages occur more in poor societies than in affluent ones!! easy to see why!! Again the only question that Yerima need ask is, is she mature enough for sexual activity, if no then as tradition has it, he wont touch her (the marriage will not be consummated) until she is ready! In medieval Europe, Kings would marry off their sons and daughters at age 4 or 5 largely to the sons and daughters of other monarchs for political alliances but the marriage would not be consummated until the kids were well into their teens, which is way most European monarchs are related! I think if you're educate enough, you'll be able to understand where I'm coming from

Beaf:

Keep a child in custody until she is "ripe"? Sounds so very much like slavery!
. . .And who tests the so called "ripeness"? Its just got to be "good" paedophiles like Yerima, isn't it?

Even the term "ripeness" is derogatory and reduces thinking and feeling humans to mere objects, in this case mere objects for se'xual exploitation.

PS. Lets explore the level of teen pregnancy in western societies and compare it to that of predominantly muslim societies. I don't know what exactly it is with your anti-islamic, European loving arses!
Is the issue that the girl is too young?? or the senator is too old for her? Coz in America, girls start having sex at 13 same as in England. Some become mothers at the age of 15. For me, it'd be better to have that teen securely in a marriage than boinking some guy and getting pregnant out of wed lock. Teen sex is not an Islamic thing, Islam is saying than to allow sexually curious teens to fornicate, better they get married!!!
The west embraces individualism which focuses on whether an individual is mature enough to make their own decisions especially in regards to marriage. Islamic societies embrace family oriented communalism "for lack of a better term" both cultures and approaches have their pros and cons! You cant force us to adopt a western life style!! get it?

Beaf:

Keep a child in custody until she is "ripe"? Sounds so very much like slavery!
. . .And who tests the so called "ripeness"? Its just got to be "good" paedophiles like Yerima, isn't it?

Even the term "ripeness" is derogatory and reduces thinking and feeling humans to mere objects, in this case mere objects for se'xual exploitation.

According to your western oriented beliefs right? nonsense

Southerners are trying to be hypocritical because one of their own is in the presidency, trying to destroy a mechanism they initially pushed for and begged the north to grant them. All for short term gain. A pitty! political stability and equity out the door, bias, greed in, My southern brothers disappoint me!!

Source http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=176325

Even without zoning, the North can still win the 2011 presidential poll, the over 150 political leaders of the region that met in Abuja last Thursday have said. The Northern politicians including former military president Gen. Ibrahim Babangida (rtd) and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar had met in Abuja to strategise on how to ensure that the region retains the presidency till 2015.

Meanwhile, former Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Tony Anenih, has said the much-talked about zoning arrangement of the party is not sacrosanct and has been observed more in breach than in practice since 1999. A communiqué issued yesterday at the end of the meeting of the Northern leaders said the North can win election on its own numerical strength without zoning Also, they said they are not targeting their campaign at President Goodluck Jonathan, as the North has what it takes to win any election and never demanded for zoning in the first place. To this end, the communiqué titled, "Northern Political Leaders' Forum- Summary of Deliberations and Resolutions" resolved to take its campaigns to the Northern governors, Northern legislators at the National Assembly and Northern Houses of Assembly and Northern traditional rulers and Emirs.

The communiqué signed by former Senate President, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, said the position of the Northern Elders for "politicians and other stakeholders to respect political agreements and allow the principle of zoning to run its full course, should not be construed as weakness on its part" adding, "Northerners have all it takes to win free and fair elections without special arrangements.

" The Northern Political Elders further stated that the North never demanded for zoning of any political office in Nigeria, but only acceded to the "demands of their compatriots in the South who see zoning as the only mechanism for ensuring equal and easy access to power by every Nigerian regardless of geographical location." The Northern leaders, however, said "If anybody now believes that the principle of zoning is no longer required for equal or easy access to power or no longer relevant to the political stability of Nigeria, let them come out clearly and say so, not resort to puerile legal and constitutional arguments."

The leaders observed that constitutional arguments do not necessarily solve political problems, as evidenced in Jonathan's emergence as Acting President in March. The Northern leaders' views have continued to generate controversy, with frontline politician Alhaji Isyaku Ibrahim accusing them of merely seeking relevance. According to the communiqué, "The issue of producing the next president of Nigeria is generating unnecessary and unhealthy anxiety in the land. It is regrettable that the nation is sliding back to its pre-1999 situation whereby a deliberate and dangerous propaganda is being deployed to confuse Nigerians where the nation's next president will be coming from.

This was an issue, which has long been resolved, leading to the emergence of President Olusegun Obasanjo and President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua in 1999 and 2007 respectively. "The nation must not be dragged into avoidable crises whenever a political transition was about to take place. We must either agree to respect mutual political agreements or continue to stumble from one avoidable political crisis to another to the detriment of the nation and its political stability."

The communiqué said "a strong, united and virile North is crucial to the unity and corporate existence of Nigeria and must be pursued with all vigour, sacrifice and commitment." It said there is the need to ensure that the North remains united on crucial issues of national significance, especially where these issues affect the welfare of the people and their general well-being. It said that the demise of President Yar'Adua has thrown up a huge moral and political challenge, which the nation must face and resolve calmly, with sincerity, integrity and foresight. "While politicians come and go, the nation and its people will remain engaged in creating an enabling environment for mutual peaceful co-existence through a variety of political engineering mechanisms to ensure that the nation remains politically stable, economically viable and socially virile. "In this regard, the forum called on all Nigerians, especially politicians, to place the best interest of the nation and its political stability over and above personal or sectional interests," the communiqué stated.

They continued: "The call to respect the principle of zoning is on grounds of principle and not targeted at speculated aspiration of President Goodluck Jonathan in 2011. That zoning will, for the foreseeable future serve the best interest of Nigeria and its political stability, at least in the short- and medium-term. "There would have been no need for special political arrangement to concede power to the South in 1999 if Nigerians were ready to accept their presidents to come, perpetually, from any part of the country.

"That, in practice, zoning as a political mechanism to stabilize the country since 1999, has applied to every political office in Nigeria at all levels. We must be certain that we are ready as a nation to jettison the practice at all levels before we throw it overboard or set in motion a process that may lead to avoidable chaos and anarchy in the land." Also, the leaders resolved that former Head of State, General Muhmammadu Buhari and Kano State governor, Ibrahim Shekarau, who have declared their presidential ambitions and others with similar ambitions be invited to future meetings.

The leaders also resolved as part of their strategy to engage the Northern Governors Forum, Northern members of the National Assembly, State Houses of Assembly and traditional rulers and Emirs. And to attain these objectives, three committees namely planning and strategy, contact and mobilization and publicity were constituted. The Planning and Strategy Committee has the following as members, Professor Ignatius Ayua (Chairman), Dr. Abubakar Siddique Mohammed, Prof. Yakubu Mukhtar, Dr. Sule Bello, Senator David Iornem, Prof. Nuhu Yaqub, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, Alhaji Usman Alhaji, Basher Yusuf Ibrahim, Farouk B. B. Farouk, Omar Shittien, Prof. Maxwell Gidado and Senator Salisu Ibrahim Matori The Contact and Mobilisation Committee has the following as members: Mallam Adamu Ciroma (Chairman), with North-central members as Babangida, Lt. Gen. I. M. Wushishi (rtd), Maj. Gen David Jemibewon (rtd), Chief Audu Ogbe, Ayu, Amb. Yahaya Kwande, Alhaji Shaba Lafiagi, Prof. Daniel Saror, Mr. Patrick Adaba and Alhaji Mohammed Hassan.

The North-east is represented by Atiku, Dr. Shettima Mustafa, Alhaji Mohammed Bello Kirfi, Prof. Saad Abubakar, Amb. Yarima Abdullahi, Sen. Abubakar Mahdi, Prof. Isa B. Mohammed, Alhaji Dahiru Bobbo and Alhaji Yakubu Tsala. The members of the committee from the North-west are Alhaji M.D. Yusufu, Alhaji Umaru Aliyu Shinkafi, Alhaji Lawal Kaita, Senator. M. T. Liman, AVM Hamza Abdullahi, Alhaji Magaji Dambatta, Maj. Gen. Mohammed Magoro (rtd), Sen. Garba Ila Gada, Alhaji Yahaya Abdulkarim and Alhaji Usman Alhaji The members of the Publicity Committee are Alhaji Magaji Dambatta (Chairman), Chief Audu Ogbeh, Alhaji Sani Zangon Daura, Mallam Mohammed Haruna, Mallam Bukar Zarma, Alhaji Ahmed Mohammed Gusau and Amb. Zubairu Dada. However, Anenih has said the PDP zoning arrangement has been observed more in breach than in practice since 1999.

He said the disrespect for the zoning arrangement was much more manifest in 2003 and 2007 when some PDP members disobeyed the party by purchasing the presidential nomination forms when they knew that their part of the country was not qualified to contest for the party's ticket. Anenih, in a six-page open letter to the party's National Working Committee (NWC) entitled, "A Thought on 2011 Presidency and Party Leadership," said in the circumstance, President Jonathan could be a candidate in next year's presidential elections regardless of the PDP zoning of the office to the North.

The letter, dated June 14, 2010 and addressed to the then Acting National Chairman, Alhaji Haliru Bello Mohammed, was one of the documents handed over to the new National Chairman, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, in Abuja last Friday. Anenih said Jonathan's candidature would be made possible if he performs creditably in providing good governance in the areas of electoral reforms, including conduct of free and fair elections and others. According to him, "There is no doubt that this is a very crucial year for the nation and if President Jonathan performs well and substantially meets the above targets, I and - I believe - majority of our party members and Nigerians in general will support his candidature.

"Therefore my advice to President Jonathan is that if he decides to take advantage of this rare and uncommon opportunity to run in 2011, he should for now focus his attention on good governance in the areas of electoral reforms, power and energy, even development and peace in the Niger Delta region as well as social stability all over the country. ", President Jonathan must bear in mind that the attainment of the above goals will require a lot of personal sacrifices and, sometimes, decisions that may be unpleasant to political allies, relations and friends.

"It is his ability to manage these interrelated and, often conflicting forces in pursuit of the goal set for him by divine providence that will make him one of the greatest political leaders ever in the history of our nation. This is the situation that our uncommon circumstance has presented, and it must be understood by all." He faulted the argument by some that the zoning arrangement precluded Jonathan from contesting in the 2011 presidential election as untenable because, according to him, the arrangement has never been sacrosanct. To buttress his point, Anenih recalled how in 1999 when the presidency was zoned to the South-west following the hue and cry from the zone because of the annulment of the June 12, 1993 election, the late Abubakar Rimi from the North-west collected presidential nomination form in violation of the purported zoning arrangement.

He said the same thing happened in 2003, when the South was to have its constitutional second term, recalling how two aspirants from the North - the late Rimi and former National Chairman of the party, Chief Barnabas Gemade - also collected nomination forms and contested at the party convention. Anenih stated that the situation was not different in 2007 when the party zoned the presidency to the North as sixteen Southerners collected forms in breach of the zoning arrangement. He said, "A careful analysis of the above tables (which he displayed in the letter) shows that the purported zoning arrangement was observed more in breach than in practice, especially in 2003 and 2007.The fact that some aspirants stepped down for others is not a sign that the purported zoning was respected." He stated that the present situation in the PDP required a re-examination even as he observed that Jonathan is on the same ticket with the late President Yar'Adua for eight years (four years of two terms). According to him, "One half of that ticket dropped as a result of President Yar'Adua's death.

That half has now been restored, with the appointment of the Vice-President, to allow Jonathan complete the remaining part of the tenure." He stated that "The ball is absolutely in the court of President Jonathan and Vice-President Sambo, a situation that presents a rare opportunity for both men to make history. If they are able to organise a free and fair election, ensure excellent performance in governance and do justice to all without discrimination, the sky will certainly be their limit."

seanet02:

@gadogado, just as your name implies fraud, you need to go back to your illiterate emirs to teach you some lessons on what the south is capable of doing, so after ruling us for more than 30 years with no development and progress, you are just daft like your cattle heads, just go back to your village crooks and tell them what will happen if the south decide to secede, life would be like hell to you people (and you rogue inclusive) because you produce nothing to this nation, all your groundnut pyramids are not enough to provide the required revenue to meet the smallest state needs in the north. You will live in poverty and feed on cattle skins. Just let us get furious with, then you will know you have been living in a desert all this while, your land is so barren that it is also barren in the human sector (mind you not large but unproductive population but a productive one). Just let us secede and you will see that kano cant feed a single ward. No seaport, you will have to go through us to import and export anything and we will make you pay through your nose, we will not pity you and will make sure we sell the oil to you at international price. No big brother

Well i know the truth is hard to swallow for you, its a pity you're not able to come to terms with reality. You obviously have no idea what you're talking about! You fail to realize the dynamics of both local and international politics, no country in the 21st century will want to break up for sentimental reasons!!!a concession in both population and territory for any country is not the least bit desirable!
The south has much to lose if indeed Nigeria breaks up, much of your food i:e. beef, tomatoes and even rice come from the northern region. Furthermore, Most of the country's strategic military installations are located in the north. You seem to think its easy to divide a country, like you can get angry one day and decide to break up, your bigotry and generalizations only display your ignorance and lack of depth.
What the likes of you don't understand is that the sheer stress and problem associated with breaking up a country makes it worth it to stay together, to break up, you must first face either conflict or economic collapse, you risk foreign interference, in the case of Nigeria, its easier to remain one than to break up, can you muster the political will to break up an entire country? how hard is it to break up one insignificant marriage talk less of a country! Get to my level then we might be able to have an enlightened discussion

Nigerians are so short sighted, southerners are now claiming that zoning is unconstitutional ans should be done away with when in actual fact, zoning benefits northerners more. All because they want Jonathan for one single term! Now lets explore a few eye opening facts:

1) If zoning is done away with as some are clamoring for, Anybody from whatever zone will be able to run, good and fine but one should consider that the north has a larger population than the south, geographically, they dominate Nigeria.
2) They also have one clear homogeneous dominant ethnic group "hausa-fulani" that is able to have the entire northern region of Nigeria act as one bloc, In other words, they are more unified!
3) The south has two or three large groups that typically have conflicting interests and cannot act as one bloc.
4) The north, in the absence of a zoning system will always win presidential elections in Nigeria if they rally their region behind a consensus candidate
5) Nigerians are not politically mature enough to vote for a president based on character and merit alone, politics of religion and tribe will for now be a major factor in presidential elections
6) As such, the south has more to lose in the long term if zoning is done away with. The popular adage "be careful what you wish for" epitomizes our current predicament
7) Do away with zoning now, suffer more political domination in the future, its as simple as that! Nigeria will never ever break up unless the north wants it to break, the north politically speaking is an entrenched institution in Nigeria, the sooner you realize that, the better!!

They stole that win from the USA, That third goal was perfectly legitimate, I suspect the ref got turned down for a green card coz he totally cheated them out of a fair and legitimate win

Can somebody please explain to me why our African countries have no indigenous coaches. Look at Largerback's utter indifference in all the games we played, he didn't really care because win or lose, his money is in the bank! why not African/Nigerian coaches who have a stake in our performance, a nationalistic, patriotic and passionate stake if our players perform well.
I would prefer a mediocre Nigerian coach who is passionate to a foreign oyibo man who cares little.

Which brings me to the question; are Africans so daft that they cant produce their own coaches, whats with European coaches? pls explain this to me, can Africans not coach their own teams? help me understand

abeg watch again, it was nothing but reflex action by kaita! nothing intentional! i understand people are angry and looking for a scapegoat. but the ref is an idiot and kaita's action was natural reflex after the greek player displayed aggression by pushing him like he was about to fight poor kaita.

pls pls pls and pls STOP PUTTING ALL THE BLAME ON KAITA. FIRSTLY, HE DIDNT INTENTIONALLY TRY TO ATTACK THE GREEK PLAYER. IF YOU LOOK WELL, THE GREEK PLAYER PUSHED HIM AND THAT WAS AN INNOCENT REFLEX, HE DIDNT EVEN TOUCH HIM, THE GREEK PLAYER FLEW TO THE GROUND 10 SECONDS AFTER KAITA HAD DROPPED HIS FOOT. THERE WAS NO CONTACT, THE GREEK HOWEVER PUSHED KAITA ON THE CHEST WITH THE BALL.

NaijaNaWaa:

Ribadu admitted that his father-in-law bought a house for him in Asokoro or Maitama for N40m. According to him, he would've raised the money himself (meaning that he's worth that amount) but demurred cos it will generate furore. He also admitted to owning a bullet proof SUV (watch his PBS interview). The questions are:

1. Who is Ribadu's father-in-law and what does he do for a living? Can we see his tax returns for the past 30 years to access his income?
2. How did Ribadu acquire a bullet SUV? From his regular earnings or another gift from his father-in-law?
3. How many policemen/public servants can afford a bullet-proof SUV?
4. Can Ribadu show us his pay-slips since he joined the police?

Somebody should tell Ribadu and his praise singers that we are smarter than he thought. I don't see any difference between Ribadu and Ibori. Period.

His father in-law is prof. Iya Abubakar, a former mathematics professor at ABU Zaria, former VC of ABU Zaria and former senator representing Adamawa State. Currently a businessman. His father in-law can afford a house worth 40 million naira as well as a bullet proof vehicle which is about $50,000.

I have it from a reliable source that Arc. Namadi Sambo, Governor of Kaduna State is the Pres. Goodluck Jonathan's vice president.

Ministry-Name of ministers
1. Agriculture
1.    Prof. Sheikh Ahmed Abdullah
2. Mr. Awodele Najeem Adewale


2.Justice-
    Mohammed Bello Adoke, SAN

3. Aviation
     Mrs. Fidelia Njeze


4.Commerce & Industry
1.    Sen. Jibril Martins Kuye

2.    Ms. Josephine Tapgun


5.Culture & Tourism
    Abubakar Sadiq A. Mohammed

8.Education
    1.Prof. (Mrs) Ruqayyatu A.  Rufa’i

7.FCT
    1.Sen. Bala Muhammed


8.Environment
     Mr. John Ogar Odey


9.Finance
1.    Mr. Olusegun Olutoyin Aganga

2.    Mr. Aderemi W. Babalola



10.Foreign Affairs
1.    Mr. Henry Odein Ajumogobia, SAN

2.    Dr. Aliyu Idi Hong
     


11.Health
   2. Alh. Suleiman Bello


12. Information & Communication
1.    Prof. Dora Akunyili
2.    Mr. Labaran Maku


13.Interior
1.    Capt. Emmanuel Iheanacho

2.    Mr. Humphrey Enemakwu Abah


14.Labour & Productivity-
      Mr. Chukwuemeka Ngozichineke
      Wogu
15.Mines & Steel Development
      Arc.  Musa Mohammed Sada

16.Niger Delta Affairs
1.    Elder Peter Godsday Orubebe
2.    Hon. Samuel Ode


17.Petroleum Resources-
1.    Mrs. Deziani Alison-Madueke

18.Defence-
1.    Chief Adetokunbo Kayode, SAN
2.    Murtala Shehu Yar’Adua


19.Power
2.    Arc. Nuhu Somo Wya


20.Police Affairs
     Alh. Adamu Waziri
21.Science and Technology
     Prof. Muhammed K. Abubakar

22.Special Duties
     Navy Capt. Earnest Olubolade (Rtd)

23.Transport
     Yusuf Sulaiman

24.Youth Development
    Sen. Akinlabi Olasunkanmi

25.Women Affairs
    Iyom Josephine Anenih, mni

126.National Planning Commission
    Dr. Shamsudeen Usman


27.National Sports Commission
    Hon. Ibrahim Isa Bio
28.Water Resources


29.Works
1.    Sen. Sanusi M. Dagash

2.    Engr. Chris Ogiemwinyi


29.Lands, Housing & Urban Development
     Hon. Nduese Essien

remember, numbers matter, so the more people sign, the better for nigeria and the more effective the petition will be!!!!!

@ beaf

I dont think the north sees jonathan's ascension to the presidency as "last nail on the coffin" because the north has a combined larger population than the south, furthermore, the north is more unified than the south where theres "yoruba and igbo" that contend with each other, the north has hausa/fulani as the main power block. So in a democratic nigeria, the north will always have a slight edge over the south in terms of sheer numbers as it relates to electioneering.
The issue here is that the north doesn't want to lose power without completing its 8 year power rotation cycle. Thats why some people are panicing!!and want jonathan out. I prefer Jonathan to finish yar'adua's term so that it sets a good precedent (that the constitution reigns supreme) and then come 2011, they should put another northerner. Its a loss for the north but thats what happens when you gamble on a sick man and let yourself get tricked by obasanjo.

here's how i see the situation, any of the following are options:

1) The northern oligarchs parley with General Dambazau (who is from kano) and happens to be the chief of army staff to stage a coup and the reason they'd give to the international community (IC) will be "to save nigeria from anarchy and organize/conduct fresh elections" that way, the north will be in power and when the army organizes fresh elections, they'll still produce a northerner.

2) I heavily doubt that northerners will want a situation where jonathan is president and a northerner is VP, so they'll 'as stated' force his resignation which is obviously a bad precedent not to mention risky or they'll simply let him stay in power with many conditions (subject to betrayal) if they let him stay in power, they'll circle him like a bunch of wolves looking at fresh antelope meat. they'll control him firmly and being jonathan who is not exactly a suave politician, he'll remain docile.

3) Or they could just do what they're doing now and pray yar'adua doesn't die so he can remain in the hospital while president and come back when he's better (only for another episode to follow)

4) They could allow Turai to finish out his term as Ibori promised her or they could get a "turai approved" northern candidate, one of her in-laws obviously, more likely to be yuguda to finish out yar'adua's term in which case, NASS would mandate a special election for the office of the president and the PDP would install yuguda as president. This would certainly appease her since she seems to be very powerful (she can even sack a minister of petrolium), i doubt turai can make a good president, she would be the cause of much mockery, and i think some forces wouldn't let that happen to begin with. unless everybody in nigeria has become an inactive apathetic spectator.

pls give me some ideas,

how is balding or male hair loss viewed in nigeria, if you had to scale it from 1 to 10. 1 being negative and 10 being positive, where would you rank it. I say this because in the US, balding is a big negative and there are so many clinics and drugs to help that "problem" would these same drugs for preventing hair loss sell in nigeria??how is balding viewed in nigeria and what are the myths and general ideas behind it

No2Atheism:

Finally someone that understand what some other black muslims seem to find difficult to comprehend . . .

Islam and Catholism are two religions that have been perfectly disguised that those in it do not even realise that they are pagans . . . worshipping idols.

its quite obvious you dont know much about islam or abrahamic religions in general, you should learn, all the black stone and stone throwing you keep insinuating are symbolic rituals not the actual act of worship, the black stone is not God/Allah. The black box was built by Abraham. You are also attempting to send political mesages by insisting that non africans are always stealing aspects of african cultures. this is not true, instead of blaming others,why not blame blacks, has it ever occured to you that blacks are not welcome anywhere in the world??blacks are actually inferior to other races, the sooner you accept this the better. blacks have lower aggregate IQ scores than other races and we are also the the least developed in terms of human development. this is coz arabs and europeans stole african brains right? all blacks claim is egypt but even egypt was not purely black,it was a very racially mixed society with pale to beige to brown being the dominant colors. they had both hamitic and semitic admixture within egypt. so i say its blacks who are incapable of technological advancement and who have severe moral corruption entrenched in their cultures that are to blame not other races,fix yourself and dont blame others for your misfortunes.if today,you can instil discipline in our cultures then we maybe can progress

this is obasanjo playing a game of checkers with babangida (IBB) while abacha and T.Y Danjuma look on. so they were wayo people from those times.