marcus garvey

obasanjo has been trying to "mediate" the congo conflict, what is the root cause of the conflict? any contribution is much appreciated.

@wilywily
why must you insult hausa/fulani people? why? for God sake why? you shouldnt do that!!we all know hausa fulani people were the first amongst african tribes to start a state pre-european colonization,they had the 7 or 9 emirates that were properly structured states.please lets try to stay away from insulting fellow nigerians,no tribe in nigeria is like that!!please!most presidents in nigeria are from hausa fulani extraction and we know they didnt come from people that do such things like shower in cow urine

@naijex

they are the dinka tribe and they're strictly nomadic people meaning the know nothing but cows,they eat the beef and drink the milk and shower with its urine and thats all they know,a cow!!
they have not been able to develop as far as human advancement maybe coz theyre black or maybe coz theyre not intellectually motivated. who knows,the fact is they have not developed at all for thousands of years.you would think that theyd want to develop other means of getting their hair orange or red or making the cow milk but nope.thats disgusting what they do.

its african people from sudan and this is their way of life obviously,any comments?

its african people from sudan and this is their way of life obviously,any comments?

these people have never clearly developed since the times of the earliest humans on earth. why do you think? they are the dinka people from sudan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY-bqsxC1AA

@huxley

you raise some very interestingly acute points. But i want to remind you that, since we all know science,technology and intellectualism is not an exclusive reserve of western europe nor was it invented there,then you should know that other civilizations that were devout in their spirituality (religion) also made scientific,technological and intellectual break throughs. I want to disprove you idea that religion (beleif in a higher power,since religion has this beleif as it fundamental pillar) has anything to do with intellectual under-development. Case in point, look at the rise of the arabian civilization that counquered europe all the way to spain. these conquests were simply a sign of super-powerdom meaning at the height of this power,arabs were the foremost in intellectual research, scientific innovation and so on but at the same time remained devoutly muslim in conduct and practise. islam did not keep them in the dark,as a matter of fact,islam heavily discouraged superstition. the mathimatical genre of algebra (al-jabra) was invented and developed by an arab named al-jabra. Same applies to the ottoman empire who were devout muslims yet thrived in education,military innovation and scientific advancements.

In other words, what im saying is you have to separate superstition from religion, specifically those religions that advocate moral purity. Superstition today is disturbingly entrenched in the psyche of the typical african. Superstition in my humble opinion is sort of a cultural cancer that prevents any culture from thriving. Africans much like the europeans of the dark ages managed to merge religious doctrines and teachings with superstitious and unintellectual beliefs but that superstition was not born from religion,prior to the introduction of christianity to africa,africans were a very superstitious people and it was so strong that religion couldnt fully dampen it. to an extent i feel superstition is human nature and to an extent i feel its a tool of the devil. look at the tribes that had no monothestic religion anywhere in the world, you'll find that their cultures were rife with all forms and manner of superstitious belief.

So superstition is the main culprit here not religion. the belief in one God can only help elevate a people or a culture. Africa is in the dark ages largely due to the bond african cultures have formed with superstition which is culturally retrogressive bcoz it makes people preoccupied with bogus and false realities such that they cannot collectively be productive or develop. Nollywood movies being a typical example of what african cultures are wired in.

my fav yoruba name is soji
my fav hausa name is bello
my fav igbo name is chuklumerije (coz its so razz)

@kobojunkie

why do you think zimbabwe is the worst,yes their currency is now uselsess but i think there may be alot of media over exaggeration when it comes to the reality of zimbabwe.you mugabe is against the west and they control the media so obviously they'll rubbish his administration as much as they can. why do you think african leaders have not said anything,they have not moved in to remove him from power or put that sort of pressure on him? its coz they know the truth behind the matter. its bad there but i think its exaggerated.

it puts nigeria on the world map as per contribution to humanity and national acheivment coz nigeria has exported nothing to the world but 419. That Dr. abalaki or whatever only claimed he found the cure for AIDS but the govt. shunned him may be coz there was no concrete evidence that he did making him a fraud. but if you recall,the govt. did not partner him on that AIDS cure. but here,with the diabetes,the federal govt. has partnered him and actually he is a federal govt. employee. and its the minister of health that has come out to say the cure is serious and official not just an unsubstantiated claim. now that being said, im sure giant pharmaceutical companies are going to work against the nigerian govt. to make sure the cure doesnt see the day of light since they dont like to hear "cures" but rather "treatment" so that you can be buying pills to "manage" or "treat" the disease as opposed to just curing it.then they'll be no money for them. we'll see what happens.

It’s official – a Nigerian scientist, Dr. Louis Obyo Obyo Nelson, has finally found a cure for the dreaded diabetes disease which afflicts over 123 million sufferers all over the world.

The Minister of State for Health, Dr Aliyu Idi Hong, yesterday described as “epoch and historical” the production of Antidiabetic Phytophar-maceutical by Nelson in collaboration with the Nigerian Pharmaceutical Research and Development.

Diabetes is a potentially life- threatening condition in mammals brought about by an inability of the mammals to produce insulin. Insulin, a polypeptide hormone produced in the pancreas of the mammal, controls the amounts of glucose present in the blood by stimulating the uptake of glucose by the muscle and adipose tissue.

THISDAY had exclusively reported on May 23, 2003 that Nelson had been granted a United States patent entitled “Medicament for the Treatment of Diabetes”, a feat that raised hopes for millions of sufferers of the disease worldwide. It also exclusively reported on June 5, 2003 a confirmation from the US Patent Office that indeed a patent had been made out to the Nigerian scientist.

Hong said yesterday at the signing of an agreement between Nelson and GDPAU, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA, for the commercialisation of an Antidiabetic Phaytopharmaceutical in Abuja that the drug would contribute to the quality of health care all over the world and boost the economy of the country.

The drug, which was said to have been administered on many diabetic victims, has been found to be very safe and highly effective. It was also said to have corrected erective dysfunctions noticed in those victims.

The minister said the drug would expand the landscape of medicare in the world and encourage more researches into herbal drugs in the country.

“I believe that there are so many of such leaves in the bushes in Nigeria that can cure many of these diseases that are proving difficult in the world. This is an epoch and historical day in the history of this country,” he said.

The minister noted that diabetes has posed a serious health challenge worldwide, and is the sixth largest killer in Nigeria.

“There is hardly a house you go to in Nigeria that one person will not be affected by this killer disease,” he said.

He pledged the support of the Federal Government to the efforts of research institutes, especially those who are into herbal medicine research.

Director-General of Nigeria Institute for Pharmaceutical Research, Dr. Ufot Inyang, described as unfortunate the inability of the Federal Gove-rnment to explore the enormous benefits in the herbal market.

He regretted that although the market had the capacity of generating over $100 billion annually, the country was not taking advantage of it.

He said the ongoing global economic crisis would adversely affect the fortunes of Nigerian pharmaceutical companies and stressed the need to focus on the herbal drugs.

“It is an opportunity we have been missing and I don’t want us to miss it again,” he said.

Representative of GDPAU, Prof. Ramesh Pandey, who described the drug as one of the greatest things that will come out of the continent, said it could go a long way in helping to launder the image of the country. He commended the efforts of Nigerian researchers, describing them as one of the best in the world.

The drug will be funded and marketed by a Nigerian company, TREC International Limited. It is estimated that it will cost the company an initial $10 million to deliver the drug to the market.

Nelson recorded a breakthrough in his research for a drug that could cure diabetes when the US government issued him with a patent (No. 6,531,461) for his medication, which can effectively treat Type I and Type II diabetes.

A documented proof of the discovery showed that Nelson, who then resided at Plot 574 Yakubu Gowon Crescent, Asokoro, Abuja, filed his application for a US patent June 4, 2001.

The 'Medicament for the treatment of Diabetes' patent with application No. 09/873,560 was approved March 11 2003.

An official of the United States Patent had confirmed to THISDAY on telephone June 4, 2003 that Nelson was actually granted a patent for his invention of a possible cure for diabetes.

The official, who simply identified herself as Mrs. Robinson, acknowledged that a United States patent with number US 6,531,461 B1 bearing application number 09/873,560 and dated March 11, 2003 was indeed approved for Nelson.

The enquiries at the US patent office followed the interest the story of May 23, 2003 had generated. E-mail dated May 25, 2003 to the United States Patent and Trademark Office seeking to establish the authenticity of Nelson's claim was replied, but with a directive to call the General Information Services Division (GISD) on telephone.

Unlike insulin which has been used for many decades to manage diabetes, Nelson's "wonder" drug can be administered orally, making it possible for patients to administer it as capsule, tablet or syrup. Insulin can only be injected into the body.

The award to Nelson, a graduate of Chemistry from the University of Ibadan, was made on the strength of his research, which determined the exact chemical structure of the active ingredient. The research was also able to determine the quantity of the drug, which could be tolerated in the human body, and yet be able to stem the patient's condition.

Nelson’s drug had been subjected to two clinical trials the last being at the University of Jos Teaching Hospital (UJTH).

At the first clinical trial, the initial extract derived from Vernonia amygdalina was orally administered to 26 patients all of whom had been previously diagnosed as suffering from insulin deficiency. For control, a group of five were used, who maintained diet discipline throughout the trial. The initial extract was dosed to the patients three times daily in 100mg aliquots for six months.

The blood glucose levels of all 31 subjects were closely monitored. It was revealed that the 26 patients receiving the initial extract no longer required maintaining diet discipline after the first month and examination showed remission of the disease after three months.

Fifteen patients were said to have continued receiving medication for the remaining three months of the trial.

The document that accompanied Nelson’s patent application showed that all those who volunteered for the experiment appeared to have recovered from the disease and have returned to their normal life prior to the diagnosis of the disease.

Nelson, 61, who holds a doctorate degree in Molecular and Computational Chemistry from the University of Ibadan, hails from Nsit Ubium Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.

He served as Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Science and Technology in 2001, worked with the Raw Materials Research and Development Council.


http://odili.net/news/source/2009/feb/4/203.html


THIS PUTS NAIJA ON THE WORLD MAP

@asha

why then are we collectively complaining about the state of nigeria if there is no feeling of nationhood?what are we all and the millions who are doing the same complaining about? the enterperise? no we are complaining about the nation,our nation. if you go abroad somewhere,doesnt matter where,if they ask you where you're from,you many people find it heavy to say nigeria coz of the shame!!! thats why nigerians in the u.k simply say theyre from other african countries. i disagree with the nationhood argument you put forward.
nija is a nation and the only nation we have,im sure all these big government theives know this.but theyre just too greedy!simple.

1) poor leadership/lack of vision/pettiness (unconcerned with greatness)
2) corruption at all levels
3) inability and unwillingness of nigerians to act for their own good caused by cowarice and hypocrisy of the ordinary nigerian.
4) retrogressive and backward culture
5) illiteracy
6) lack of politcal and intellectual development of the common man
7)witchcraft.beleive it or not,no society can develop if rampant evil magic is taking place because the entire society is spiritually backward.why do you    think europeans burnt alive suspected witches some 500-1000 years ago. need for cultural renewal and riddance of evil.
abject poverty caused by some of the above mentioned problems
9) mentality of the common man (no philosophy)
10) the willingness of the average nigerian to accept the living conditions thrown at them by their leaders.

@sammy107_d

the original post suggests this: development is when the average citizen of whichever country has access to basic social amenities such as access to good education and good healthcare,power,good transport network ie:roads,air,rail etc. how affordable are these basic amenities? how available are they to the ordinary citizen, the more the availability of these basics,the more developed the country. the idea is simple. economically,which country enjoys the highest employment rates and prosperity where the average citizen lives a decent life i:e- the ability to earn a dignified and honest livelihood by means of honest work.
nigeria doesnt fit in the above mentioned categories. when university lecturers are always striking,when you can go to a hospital and theyll tell you they dont have drugs,when there is no power,when our roads are filled with pot holes,when there are area boys and beggars all over our streets,when we have broken down infrastructure. people saying nigeria is in the top 5 sorry to say havent a clue what theyre talking about.

by the way infrastructure doesnt mean fancy sky scrappers that belong to govt,corporations and multi nationals.infrastructure means roads,bridges,solid hospitals,solid schools (not schools with no windows and doors and no chairs and tables) good sewer system, refuse disposal apparatus,dams. and then solid public and private buildings.

how come the arabs are doing better in libya,tunisia,morocco, algeria and egypt,there seems to be consensus that those countries are in the top 5!! what does this mean?if they were equally colonized but are doing better than their black neighbours

yar'adua is rich,the entire yar;adua family is rich, from their father who is of royal blood and was in tafawa balewa's government as a minister of lagos in 1960, to his brother, general shehu yar'adua who was killed by abacha,he was a billionaire and the political godfather of atiku abubakar.yar'adua himself in his asset declaration is worth two billion naira or so.he can leave that for his kids and they'll be ok.the marriages are not about money. its more about political consolidation and power. the marrigaes mean that the yar'adua's as in future generations like his grandchildren will have a wider political network in the north and there are many many yar'aduas from that family. theyll enjoy goodwill and political expediency. its similar to the way royalty maintained marrigaes within the political class (elite). dont forget that yar'adua family are an aristocratic fulani family as in even before the british came into the are,they were a land owning family and had royal blood.
if you beleive that blood rather than opportunity or education determines your success in life then you'll understand their way of thinking (aristocrats) for example,in russia during the czar,they had nobles and aristocrats but when the revolution came and the communists forcefully confiscated all their money and property and made it state property,they were reduced to ordinary citizens but after nearly a century when communism ended in 1989,in russia today,its the blood decendents of those aristocrats of the 1800's that are today's billionaires in russia.notice they didnt inherit anything,its a function of blood.

berbers are authentic african not arabs

@chidichris

there isint a single country that is populated by arabs that has a democracy.nope.only the american export they forced on iraq which may not even last and the one that is in lebanon.have you noticed that lebanon is in perpetual conflict.where did the concept of democracy come from? the greeks rights ok what were the conditions in western europe that allowed those societies to radically change from monarchy to democracy in france and britain. and even germany??again dont you understand that culture plays a big role in whether or not a nation is fertile enough for democracy to take root and flourish. social cultural ideals should never be over looked in the political structures of any society,the culture (way of life and beleif system) either allows democracy or rejects it.arabs have a culture that favours monarchy. that being said gaddafi is a socialist in the real sense of the word and he is extremely educated,the fact that he is blunt makes people beleive that he doesnt know what he's saying but he does.
the idea of a united africa is simple,in a situation where governments are merging so as to be more competitive,you can only do the same,the EU,mexico,the u.s and canada are going to form their own currency called the amero,pacts and coalitions are being made left and right.africa ought to do the same for strategic positioning on the int'l stage.look around you and you'll see whats going on.

@all, gaddafi is not an arab.he doesnt even get along with arab states.actually he is a berber ethnically,and berbers are authentic arabs,if you know the tuaregs of mali then gaddafi's people are not too far from them ethnically. so he is not an arab.next is when they say united africa,its only coz there is a desire to consolidate african power bloc and influence on the international stage in order to make us more competitve and influential.through this,we can become more prosperous as an entire continent.when they say united states of africa,they are talking about an economic merger so as to strengthen african economy and currency as a whole like the euro. they are not saying that they want to force everybody into islam!!pathetic thought davidlyan.you're such a bigot its disgusting.
gaddafi is not proposing that we become one country with one president,its more of a confederacy where military and currency and such things that are beneficial to the entire continent are common and shared. the larger we are, the better off economically speaking coz we will constitute a big trade negotiating bloc that will be influential to all.if europe can put nationalism aside to form the E.U then we can certainly put religious sentiment aside for our own progress and collective good.see it purely as a tool for economic progress.

davidlyan is a hater of anything north. he's actually ignorant for that but he may not realize this now.you think big men in nigeria care about all this tribal petty hate.no.look at atiku abubakar,he may well be the next nigerian preseident but his first wife is yoruba,his second wife is hausa,his third is fulani and his last wife is an igbo woman.so pls if you want to hate northerners,be my guest.you should be praising the kaduna state governor for embarking on this extra ordinary initiative to be funded by private sector developers in partnership with the state govt. no niger-delta money,no federal govt. money.anyway this is a nigerian thing and all nigerians should be proud of it. david,dump you're stereotypes,they make you look foolish and youre simply embarrassing yourself. over half nigerias population are northerners and how is it that we're all the same

@tpia, are you a child,what sort of question is "will it be open to southerners" like there are no southerners today living in different parts of kaduna,property sale will most likely be a first come first serve thing minus a few properties that may be reserved for certain individuals,apart from this,every nigerian that can afford it can buy property,what do you think northerners are seriously,you guys know very little about the north,your judgments of an entire region of over 70 million people is based on ill informed stereotypes that are worn out and over used and stink of ignorance. apart from the poor and illiterate folks (northern version of areaboys) who cause riots here and there,northerners and southerners are not very different.dont let a small section of the population pervert your image of everybody.haba

this is a question only you can answer since everyone has different morals and different backgrounds and philosophy. the fact of the matter is,if you know for a fact that all the money she's using for a spending spree is illegitimate and ill gotten,then if you spend it,you are just as guilty as her family that stole the money,the money ull be using for cars etc is money that should have gone to build a hospital and because the hospital wasnt built,someone died,it is money that was meant to furnish a school and coz the wasnt done,students in some primary school sit on the floor.it is money for roads and coz the road wasnt fixed,someone jammmed a pot hole and dies.in short,it is blood money and money of agony.so do your soul searching and ask yourself if your principles are strong enough to deny evil,coz its evil thats luring u into its cage through the love and lust for worldly material things but in actual sense,that money was supposed to uplift humanity one way or the other but the sin of greed prevented that from happening.if youre ok with all that then join the spending spree,if youre not then find another friend.me i wouldnt spend blood money.

doesnt mean i dont think my country is too under-developed for the blessings bestowed upon her. too under-developed ma friend. i want to know the most developed african countries and in my opinion
1. south africa
2. egypt
3. libya
4. botswana
5. mauritus

if you wanna go further
6. namibia
7. angola
8. morocco
9. algeria
10. ivory coast
,
33. nigeria
34. zimbabwe

this is him healthier

this is him sick,weight loss and all

@mrcrackles ok why dont you mention your own,which countries are the most developed in africa?? name your top 5 and mind you,we are not talking about the number of people doing 419 or flying in and out or affording return ticket as some people have said. we are talking about economic development,provision of basic social amenities like portable water and electricity.we are talking about employment opportunities and level of poverty.we are talking about the average citizen having the chance to live a dignified life like obama said.dignified meaning the ability to honestly earn a decent living where basic amenities to include access to good education,healthcare and infrastructure (no children sitting on the floor in a classroom) are made available to him by his government (responsible for it) rank african countries that enjoy the most and best of the above stated.

@igwe and charlesmund

this is supposed to be a question concerning the fate and development of the blackman,the question is a universal one that appeals to the intellectual not you wierd people.the fact is that no african country with black leadership in any part of the world has risen past third world status including haiti and other islands on the american continent,so by implication,if our inability to develop has racial dimensions as in blacks are an intellectually backward people or race incapable of sustaining or developing communities or societies then therein lies our problem,we meaning nigeria cant develop bcoz we are a black nation.simple!!!no african country seems to be meaningfully developing.even south africa that was flourishing to an extent under whites is now a retrogressing nation with corruption in all echelons of government.zimbabwe that was better off when it was rhodesia and controlled by whites is now a failed state and a refugee nation!!
these are the issues im raising and if you cant see the connection then maybe the reason we cant develop is bcoz of people like you who majority in nigeria and are intellectually backward.self critique and self examination is a good thing fyi.

@mrcrackles

what do you mean jokes? as in the coutries mentioned are not really the most developed in africa?? so why dont you mention which countries in africa are more developed than that? south africa is the most developed and advanced country in africa,even tho they have too much crime!!and its going down,how many south africans are living in nigeria as immigrants and how many nigerians are living in south africa in search of a better future?answer this pls. to the extent that the south africans started killing nigerians!!get serious

@IGWE
how is naija no 1? pls talk some sense to yourself, we dont have electricity in 2009,we dont have water,proper refuse disposal nko,we no get that one,our streets are filthy,how about our economy-not diversified,dependent on only one product(oil) what about our roads,what about crime,education,our hospitals,how about unemploymenthaba how about our universities?anything to write home about? how about endemic corruption? overall development,we no get am so how can you now have the guts to say naija is no 1.you no get shame
for a fact,botswana is better than naija in terms of human and infrastructural development, even ordinary ghana is better that naija in,atleast they can perform credible elections. pls nigerians stop deceiving yourselves,naija is not in top 20 as far as most developed countries are concerned as in where the average citizen is doing relatively well.