@becomerich

again the "arabic" inscription on the naira is not arabic, its hausa written with arabic alphabets, the 1000 note says naira dubu, dubu in hausa means thousand, 1000 in arabic is alf. its like saying you shouldnt write yoruba or igbo with english alphabets. Africans,nigerians whether hausa,yoruba or igbo never developed their own script and writing system with alphabets so they have to borrow from british/latin and arabic. again its hausa language written in arabic instead of english alphabets since theyve been writing hausa language in arabic alphabets since 14th century. its just a historical symbol that they're reflecting on the naira!!!

@no21 or whatever

dont be a fool, we're having a serious conversation here, and you you those that begin insulting people dont have anything of substance to contribute. im giving you an example of countries with substantial muslim and christian populations similar to nigeria but you have nothing to say, what is uneducated, is education simple western? is that the only form of education? like i said, northerners have been using arabic for a long time as a means of literacy and education,like the 13th and 14th century, what were "biafrans doing then?infact you're not worth my time!so ill just stop here

@all

Let me first start by deconstructing your logic and proving to you that this "arabic" on the naira is something that you should keep quiet about, why the fuss in the first place.
look,
1. the weekend in nigeria is saturday and sunday
2. sunday is the holy day for christians and their day of worship
3. this was inherited or borrowed from the british colonialists who were christians and successfully converted a large portion of people to christianity
4. in the middle east where there are predominantly muslim populations, thursdays and fridays are the weekend to enable muslims prepare for our holy day of friday.
5. nigeria has a majority muslim population, yet the weekend does not reflect the majority religion and their day of worship unlike countries like egypt who have majority muslim population with a substantial christian population where the weekend is still thursday and friday.
6. in lebanon where there is a 50-50 ratio between the muslim and christian populations, the weekends are fridays and sundays unlike nigeria where the weekend is saturday and sunday albeit nigeria's muslim majority
7.do you see or hear any muslims complaining? that the national weekend is favorable to one religion, why do i have to go to work on my holy day while  the christian gets to relax, is that fair?
8. this thing about arabic on the naira, if you give an arab 10 naira, he wont understand the arabic inscription on it because it is not in his language, hausas have been using arabic alphabets as a means of writing, communication and literacy for centuries, way before colonialists set foot in nigeria and converted our sourthern and some northern brothers to christianity, look up "ajami" this is hausa language in arabic borrowed alphabets, is there anything wrong in placing a symbol or northern culture  and literacy on the naira? are northerners not equally nigerians?

@ezeagu

first of all, you have to realize that ancient egyptians lived over 3000 yrs ago, almost a millenium before christ. They diluted and mixed up so their original race is lost, that tanned brown that they had is no longer found anywhere. How can you connect them to igbos,they have nothing to do with igbos honestly! igbos belong to the niger-congo racial group, the ancient egyptians were afro-asiatic with strong semitic presence in their gene pool. so as you can see they are two distinct groups of people!! and dont even have cultural ties with each other!!

Let me ask you this, if blacks are not cursed and if the curse "you shall be the servants of servants" doesnt apply to blacks then why have blacks been enslaved by persians,arabs and europeans? the persians and arabs enslaved east africans, the europeans enslaved west africans!! why is africa so poor and why are their leaders so evil if not a curse upon the fact that there are many resources capable of making africa rich,the people have not been blessed with adequate intellect to help themselves hence the exploitation over and over again. you answer this. blacks are a cursed people whether you believe it or not, their condition speaks for itself. or prove me otherwise!

how are igbos ancient egyptians again, ancient egyptians are not even black at all not that they were white either, they had very tanned brown skin and were different from any groups or races we see today, they were completely different in appearence so stop with that!

@notoatheism
how are blacks not cursed, blacks have been exploited and enslaved by everyone, by arabs, by persians and by europeans, how on earth is that not a CURSE! please explain, what has the black man contributed to this world,pls tell me!! not technological advancement, not empires that shook the world, nothing! apart from disease,slavery and corruption,what does the black man have, oh yeah black people can run around a field with balls,we are good at sports (entertaining white people) so prove to me blacks arent a cursed people!!case in point, NIGERIA,nigerians hate each other and are utterly incapable of self help, same with african americans!!!

are igbo's really related to jews or israelites? if so, what exactly is the connection?

ummm first of all, its is unconstitutional to do what fashola did, coz you cannot take people and "deport abi na expel" them from a state when the constitution guarantees the freedom of movement, association etc. if you pick me up from lagos and tell me you're taking me back to the north for whatever reason, this would constitute an unconstitutional act provided it was against my will which is the case with "fashola v. northern beggars" look, the simple fact is that fashola is inflaming tribal tensions in the country by this action, i understand and support that he's trying to clean up lagos but surely there are other ways to go around that than busing people out of your state. what statement is that making? so next time, a northern governor will target yoruba road side traders in the north and bus them to lagos, what does that say about national unity and how does it impact our unity as a nation, remember the ever true saying "divided we fall"
all those clamouring for nigeria to break up are defeatists and losers. in a world where people are forming larger economic  and social communities, it is self defeating to break up and potentially weaken yourself. the key is to rise up and move beyond petty tribal sentiments that do nothing positive or productive and fashola sorry to say is demonstrating this. whats to say the beggars wont return?or is he going to turn lagos into a night club with bouncers at the lagos border turning around hausa beggars??since we're one country then he should find ways to better assimilate these beggars into society if they constitute a nuisance as some say since some of them have been in lagos for more than a decade.

all these southerners claiming that its good to "deport" people in their own country.thats fine but just understand that you guys make up the population of most nigerians in the diaspora and the way you treat less priveldged northern nigerians in "yours and their" own country is the way they'll treat you abroad, so dont complain firstly if they deny you visas at the embassy and dont complain when they deport you and kick you out of their countries. its already happening, look at south africa where the natives began attacking nigerians, watch the movie district 9 and it'll give you a solid picture of the nigerian image (yoruba and igbo) in south africa.

you stereotype northerners as "unproductive" and "parasitic" but when you guys go to the UK or the US, dont the majority of you engage in criminal activities that is not only parasitic but predatory in nature? dont you do 419 and steal from hardworking people? dont you defraud old people of their life savings? what can be more parasitic and cancerous than that? please tell me!!!look at the mirror before you open your mouths and yan rubbish about northerners.they are merely a consequence of government mismanagement as are you yoruba and especially igbo 419ners who are all over the west engaged in all manner of criminality and banditry. think before you think and think before you talk.

@noLongTing

The constitution of Nigeria along with laws and statutes give the CBN power to remove bank CEO's under certain circumstances of which this particular situation qualifies. Its not the he's acting as if the govt. owns the banks, its because the CBN is charged with the responsibility of overshight and regulation of all nigerian banks, so private or public doesn't even matter. I agree that his actions may not have been the wisest option but he has the power to do it "legally" but i still support him and his actions since it nevertheless is an attempt on his part to clean up the system.

i think he's well spoken and knows his stuff, he's knowledgable about banking and you can clearly see that his expertise is in risk management. on the substance of the interview though i think his attempt to shore up confidence in nigerian banks is somewhat contradictory. you can go abroad and say our banks are solid and safe and at the same time say that some major banks are nearing collapse due to poor risk management and non performing loans. so its a mixed signal that he's sending and i dont know how effective his trip will be as far as confidence building is concerened. I wish his agenda luck though. I think what should have been done is, for him to draw up an series of new policies that would remedy the non performing loan problems instead of sacking bank CEO's left and right. he should have found a way to set new policies that prevent poor credit practices in the future and penalties for those that dont conform to the new policies. things should've been a little more underground and hidden from the media so his actions wouldnt negatively affect the image of the nigerian banking industry.

comment freely

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4MtUELti0I

Reports have it that the president is not interested in seeking a second term in 2011, his family has tried to convince him to reconsider but failed woefully. As such, supporters of Turai are urging her to take over from Umaru since he is sick and not up to the task. Turai may seek the presidency of Nigeria and given the billions of naira at her disposal, she may win.
How do you think Nigeria will be affected if she emerges as the president in 2011??comment freely!

@ illusion2
im very aware of the situation in nigeria. however, for you to conclude that i either join the "chopper" or "run" to the U.S is unrealistic coz it suggests that you beleive that there is no honest means of making a living in nigeria and thats just not true. even if government, there are honest people though they're the minority. Nigeria is simply against the proactive corruption fighters like ribadu and co. that being said. i beleive that once the old generation dies off, nigeria will change coz there is more awareness with the youth and much more exposure coz of the more travelling, more technology like internet, and more of a globalized world, so when a young person goes to dubai, the first thing that comes to his or her mind is why is nigeria not like this, i beleive and i remain optimistic that nigeria will change with our generation. most of them grew up in the 50's in mud huts and tiny villages and cities that were empty,so what they have and see now is good enough for them but its not good enough for my generation!! atiku abubakar said in an interview that the first time he saw electricty was in secondary school, you get my point? so obviously he will be contented with the nigeria he has today!!but i wont be.

@blackspade, im a northerner, live in the U.S and im an american citizen!! so go eat your heart!! but you know what, when im done with my masters, ill go back to nigeria!!how many northerners do you see running away to go live in the west?
Poverty is a nigerian problem. to squarely accuse the north of backwardness is just the way southerners engage in scapegoating and i suppose it makes you guys feel better or bigger than the north. well there's only two classes of people in nigeria, the poor and the big men and we all know that the big men conive with each other without giving tribalism a second thought, they then tell the poor that they should worry about tribes and religion so as to distract them!!if you cant wrap your head around that concept then i fell bad for you!!.

and some more

keep looking

Many nairalanders are now fond of either blaming the north for Nigeria's problems or accusing the north of living and accepting poverty. well here are some pics that tell you poverty is a nigerian phenomenon not just the north. look and comment. all these pics are from southern states.

please tell me if you understand what this man is saying and if possible, please translate.




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ub1Vy4HgYMU&NR=1

The video is about 30 minutes long and it starts out with the discussion of obasanjo's role in congo, then it moves on to sudan/darfur/icc and right around 14:17 it gets dramatic because the conversation turns to nigeria and obasanjo as usual is crude and at some point says "people like you" accusing the host steve of being biased. its a very funny video.





http://naijablog..com/2009/03/obj-on-hard-talk.html

where can PPE get you as far as nigeria is concerned? If i have a degree in PPE(philosophy,politics,economics) and masters in PP (public policy) with expericence in human resources from the U.S army, what are my chances of getting a decent job if i move to nigeria?? and in what areas are jobs going to be more available??

@flegflu

how can they have health care when they have stolen all the money meant for developing that sector? how can they have pension when they have created a system where pension funds are squandered and embezzled?? how?? abeg use your brain now,haba.

thank you very much uchenna, ifnfact, God bless you.

This poster is misled, how can you assume under any circumstance that corruption is good for any society?how can you even begin to justify that? comapring the mafia to government corruption in nigeria. do you think that if the u.s government was historically as corrupt as nigeria,they'd be where they are today? i mean seriously!!nigerian version of corruption is the most venomous as it involves sucking capital out of society and reinvesting it oversees where europeans gain from it. if a governor steals public money meant for improving infrastructure in his state and lodges this money in the u.k,who is benefitting? let me correct some of the isses you raised point by point
1. solid infrastructure attracts foreign investors i:e power
2. corruption turns investors away from a country because corruption is percieved as a major sign of political instability
3. lack of proper financial checks in a country discourages investors i:e what happens if he/she is defrauded?
4. the mafia does more harm to society than good,they dont pay taxes on the illegal commodities they trade on firstly,secondly, they cost the government money in rehabilitation of drug users, every productive citizen snatched away by drugs is a loss for the government and collective society.
5. what does the mafia invest in, casinos
6. corruption is the devil,it devalues society in every sense and it undermines the progress and development of people.
7. corruption cannot be used for good, you're advocating stealing money from the people so as to re-invest that money in the economy,is there a point to that??
8. nobody is saying stop corruption 100%,thats not quite possible but keep it as minimal as possible.the monumental greed by nigerian leaders has not,cannot and will never help nigeria in anyway,its a vice and a crime.
9. money thats meant to improve e:g education is stolen and used to invest in a business,so if that trend becomes normal,those businesses will resort to hiring illiterates who have 0 capacity of modern innovation that can assist local businesses compete globally. so back to square one.
10. if corruption is a way forward, howcome the least corrupt countries in the world enjoy the highest standard of living in the world?? i:e scandanavia

you see you are totally wrong and youre probably a child from the way you're reasoning.what kind of non sensical beleif is this?

haha, wow,this is just wonderful,cant mugabe be gotten rid of? is he more powerful than the entire country?i dont understand africa at all at all,if he's ruining the country like this,he should resign!or the people should chase him out of power!

i thought this was so funny, look at this bill, damn its crazy.

my friend becomerich or whatever, why are you putting senegal in the equation,what is senegal.na wa oo

@congoshine
the people that wait at airports to exchange dollars for you,thats not hustling abi? the bureau de changes in nigeria are dominated by northerners. but thats not hustling,its better for me to stay and hustle in my country than go to someone elses country and become a pseudo slave,a contemporary serf, a modern day peasant.its much better to remain on your land than run away to be mistreated in another land.shebi there are skin heads and neo nazis in europe that attack black people aand kill you coz they dont want you on their land.theyre all over russia and germany etc. a hausa man doesnt like living where there are no mosques with loud calls for prayer shooting from the loud speaker = ALLAHU AKBAR.
hausa people are hustlers to the core. even the market for gold, the sellers are predominantly hausa.infact God bless hausa people.atleast they dont give their country a bad name abroad.

I think most of you guys are funny!!and the ignorance is serious on this thread.I actually had a yoruba principal in secondary school who had lived in the north (kaduna and jos) for almost two decades at the time,and he told me there's money in the north.he said this id imagine after careful analysis and experience having lived in the region for that long.
Anyway,is the north truely that much poorer than the south??i highly doubt it,some of you will say "almajiris" without knowing what that means, almajiri translates in old arabic as student.almajiris are quranic students that are sent from their homes not coz of poverty but coz of learning the quran,they practice living on the most minimal and basic levels to strengthen them spiritually.in a way,they are our version of monks.i doubt that they beg coz their families have absolutely nothing and are utterly incapable of feeding them.thats really not the case and if you doubt me,pull any random almajiri off the street and begin your case study,trace him back to his village and see his parents and you'll be surprised that they are not starving,not in the least bit.not rich at all but certainly not starving,its a culture thing that southerners especially those prone to bashing northerners wouldnt understand coz its totally alien.i dont want to offend anybody's ethnic stock or religion. God forbid but bashing the north is simply in my opinion a reflection of:
1. ignorance
2. frustration born out of jelousy of northern power domination
3. lack of information and prejudice

To be honest, i really think the reason the british had a soft spot for northerners is religion. this is only my humble opinion. the british also gave power to the northern sudanese (arabs) over the southerners.coz when they came to the area known as nigeria,it was the northerners that worshipid God and were muslim while the southerners were mostly pagan,same in sudan.otherwise,it'd be in their interest to leave power in the south where they shared a christian affinity with by the time they left,same with arabs in sudan,why leave power with them when they can leave it with the southern sudanese pagans and animists.the british respected religious societies and harboured extreme contempt for paganistic societies. if the north is so so so intellectually backward or at least behind the south as some have insinuated then why hasnt the south been able to wrest power from the north since the british are long gone. the idea that you are smarter than me yet i control your country politically which you have been struggling to get back but unsuccessful is a fallacy and an impossibility. food for thought,and stop with the northern bashing,it really cheapens you.

The myth and realities of Northern domination in Nigerian politics
By Tanko Abdullahi Umaru
FIELD work was undertaken between February 2nd and May 7th 2008. A large volume of secondary and statistical data on representation of state, geo-political zones, groups and regions in federal service agencies were collected and interviews were conducted with selected target respondents as indicated in the progress report.
The central theme or focus of the research deals with the myth and realities of Northern domination or allegations of domination in contemporary Nigerian politics. It is premised on a critique of the veracity of much of the impressions currently pushed in the print and electronic media, publications in academic journals and in public consciousness and discourse, regarding Nigerian politics in the recent past. Impressions about facts in Nigeria seem largely inconsistent with the facts that are evident in available sources and data collected. These misrepresentations, exprerience has shown affect efforts aimed at nation building in Nigeria over the years.
The key questions the research seeks to answer are:
1. Has the North really dominated political power and economic resources in the politics of Nigeria from independence in 1960 to 2007?
2. Does the record on ground in terms of control of key indices of power i.e. the bureaucracy, actually reflect Northern domination?
3. Does the nature of political appointments or staffing in federal establishments either in the past or in the present reflect Northern domination?
Summary of field activities carried out
The researcher visited number federal parastatals/institutions in Lagos and Abuja to collect data on regional, geo-political and state representation in the federal service, between February 2nd and 7th May, 2008. Federal parastatals/institutions visited are located in Lagos, Abuja, Kano, and Port Harcourt and include the following. The federal office of statistics, Ikoyi, Lagos office, federal ministry of works, Ikoyi, Lagos office, the Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority Lagos and MTN office, Victoria Island, Lagos. Others are the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and Other Related Matters (NAPTIP), Abuja, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), central area, Abuja, the Federal Character Commission, central area, Abuja, the Federal Civil Service Commission, Wuse zone 3, Abuja, the office of the Secretary to the Federal Government (SGF), federal secretariat, Abuja, the National Planning Commuission old CBN building, Garki, Abuja, the Agency for Small and Medium Scale Industries (SMEIDAN), presidency, Abuja, the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), area II, Garki, Abuja, the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation (NOA), radio central area, Abuja, the Nigerian Security, Printing and Minting Company, Asokoro, Abuja, The National Assembly, three arms zone, Abuja, Federal Character Commission, Kano and Port-Harcourt offices among others. Materials collected include the nominal staff roll showing staff strength and representation on regional, geo-political and state basis. In addition, interviews were also conducted and discussions held with some serving and retired civil servants to get their views on group domination and marginalization in the federal service and Nigerian politics generally.
Observations and findings
A number of observations which can stand as tentative findings on the complex issue of domination in Nigerian politics looking at key indices of power and control in the federal service by regions, geo-political zones, can still be made even though the research is still ongoing.
A critical observation of the representation and distribution of states, geo-political zones, groups and regions at this level, i.e. in the federal service and federal parastatals clearly contradicts opinion presented in available sources in the print and electronic media, academic journals, public consciousness and discourse over time in the country. On the issue of allegation of domination of political power and by extension, economic resources by the North, because of its control of political leadership for a large part of Nigeria’s existence since independence, does not reflect what concretely exists in terms of representation and control of the federal service and agencies. For example in just two of the federal agencies the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA), now Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), and the Nigeria Security Printing and Minting Company (NSPMC), available statistics in the period under review shows that dominance of these parastatals in regional terms indicates dominance by the South (68. 56 per cent) over the North (31.44 per cent) in the Power Holding Company of Nigeria and South (63.16 per cent) over North’s (36.84 per cent) at the management level and South (16.87) over the North’s (38.13), at the junior staff level in the Nigeria Security Printing and Minting Company respectively. This is clearly a violation of the Federal Character principle that each region should at least constitute 50 per cent of the federal service. This is inspite of the fact that the Northern region has more than 54 per cent (2006 national census) of the country’s population. Geo-political dominance within the same federal agency shows the South-West (30.83 per cent) dominating others. This is also against the Federal Character formula which states that “at the national level the indigenes of a zone shall constitute not less than 15 per cent and not more than 18 per cent of the work force in a federal agency or parastatal. In terms of state representation (Ogun (9.2 per cent), state dominates. This also is above what is prescribed in the Federal Character formula and negates the provision which states that indigenes of a state shall constitute not less than 2.5 per cent and not more than three per cent of the total work force in a federal agency aor parastatal. Conversely states like Bayelsa (0.29 per cent), Cross River (0.68 per cent) located in the South South, Gombe ( 0.39 per cent), Taraba (0.33 per cent), Yobe (0.69 per cent) all located in the North-East, did not meet up with the prescribed minimum of 2.5 per cent of the total workforce. Data and statistics collected so far seem to suggest that similar situations may exist in the Nigeria Security Printing and Minting Company (NSPMC), the armed forces, police and other arms of the federal service.
In terms of state domination in the federal service and marginalisation of others as a result of this, available statistics in the period under review, like what we have in the two parastatals discussed above, indicates that most states in the Northern part of the country are least represented (especially, states in the North-East: Yobe, and North-West: Jigawa and Zamfara), states like Ebonyi in the South-East and Bayelsa in the South-South geo-political zones, all located in the Southern region, are also less represented or dominated like those of the North by domineering states like Ogun ( in the South-West), Delta (located in the South-South and Imo in the South-East, among others.
Available statistics in the federal service from field work and data collected so far, indicate that inspite of efforts by the Federal Character Commission at addressing regional, geopolitical and states imbalance in terms of representation at the federal level, there is an overbearing dominance of the South over the North generally, and the South-West, South-South and South-East geo-political zones over others. The least represented and therefore, the most dominated states are Jigawa and Zamfara in the North-West and Yobe in the North-East all categorized in the least represented and dominated zones of North-West and North -East in Nigeria politics.
Deep animosities and grievances still exist in dangerous dimensions between groups in Nigeria at five levels mostly arising from resource sharing and control of political office and the federal service being the centres of control and allocation of federal resources.
1. The animosity beetween the North and the South
2. The animosity between the two dominant religions in the country, Christians and Muslims, this dimension of the animosities and grievances is given impetus by regional elite manipulation of the sharp division of the country into a predominantly Muslim North and Christian South, for their own selfish motive in the bid to gain access control of political power or accrue more resources to themself.
3.The animosity between groups with a regions i.e. minority versus majority groups over resource sharing and political representation across the two broad regions in Nigeria.
4. The overbearing dominance of some states at regional and geo-political levels like Ogun state in the South-West, Delta in the South-South, Imo in the South-East among others.
5. The rabid and stiff struggle for resource control and sharing of political offices and the benefits accruing from these, which exist between and among various elites at national, regional and state levels.
These unsettled animosities and grievances, transmitted under the guise of allegations of domination, via the media, in public discourse, etc, most often seem to contribute in large measure to the galvanisation of derogatory opinion against some groups, particular region or ethnic group among Nigerians which has most often generated hatred against the particular group and region portrayed as dominating. Like in the past the hatred generated from these is presently expressed in violence against the target groups or people. This situation obviously, constitutes a serious threat to the national security and stability of the Nigerian state and if left unchecke by the federal, state may serve as a potential for stimulating a chain of unending conflicts, as the various groups alleging and counter alleging domination, plot to tame or prevent their perceived domination by a group or region within the Nigerian political system. Events currently going on in the Niger Delta support and buttress this assertion.
Conclusion
Conclusively therefore, data so far collected from field research seems to suggest that allegations of domination of Nigerian politics by the North as a result of its control of political leadership for most of Nigeria’s history, since independence are not true. As it is, other reasons/factors which may emerge or be unveiled from more data to be collected in the course of the research which is still ongoing may give a clearer view or true picture of the situation i.e. power configuration in Nigeria. There are still a number of possibilities with regards to answers to the research questions.
Culled from IFRA Newsletter, Vol. XV, 2008

@osisi
why are you writing crap like an ignorant person.cant you take culture into consideration? secondly, this is probably a stupid story thats not true and if he's doing that for real then im sure it'll be from his pocket not govt money. and if its govt money,im sure it will have to pass the state assembley and if it does then the state sees this as a solid policy for preventing social vice (in their opinion) so what are you talking about?
look not all northerners have multiple wives, as a matter of fact,many northerners have only one wife so the stereotype you're working with is completely fallacious, No wonder these people ran the country into the gutter?what? las time i checked,corruption was a nigerian problem not a hausa one or northern one.
i ask you to stop embarassing yourself with your utterly disgusting,outdated,worn out and ignorant stereotyping,you cant lump 70 million people into one ideology,there are many christian northerners and different people with extremely diverse world views and even cultures.why dont you concern yourself with governors from the south who are busy packing millions.northern this northern that.seriously give up already!!your stereotypes are worn out,over used and out dated.is it not enough for you to say the gov is spending govt. money for an illegitimate cause? why do you have to add "no wonder THESE PEOPLE" ran the country into the gutter" please open your mind.haba