Hby Chimamanda Adichie

After William Heinemann overcame their reservations and published “Things Fall Apart” in June 1958, it became a critical success. Achebe, the Times Literary Supplement wrote, had “genuinely succeeded in presenting tribal life from the inside.” A novelty indeed. “Things Fall Apart” was pioneering not in its subject but in its African point of view, as there were already many well-regarded books about Africans written by non-Africans; tribal life had already been endlessly portrayed from the outside. Achebe himself first read some of the better-known examples of these “colonialism classics” as a secondary school student in the 1940s. “I did not see myself as an African to begin with,” he has written about his response to the African characters. “I took sides with the white men against the savages. The white man was good and reasonable and intelligent and courageous. The savages arrayed against him were sinister and stupid or, at the most, cunning. I hated their guts.” As Achebe matured and became more critical in his reading, he began to understand the enormous power that stories had, and how much this power was shaped by who told the stories and by how they were told. As a university student in the 1950s, in addition to reading Wordsworth, Shakespeare and Coleridge, Achebe also read Joyce Carey’s “Mister Johnson,” a novel set in Nigeria, which Time magazine had named the “best book ever written about Africa.” Achebe disagreed. Not only was the Nigerian character in the novel unrecognizable to him and his classmates but he also detected, in the description of Nigerians, “an undertow of uncharitableness … a contagion of distaste, hatred, and mockery.”

There has been much written about Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart” as a response to Mister Johnson, and one likes to think that Achebe would have written his novel even if he had not read Cary’s. Still, the prejudiced representation of African characters in literature could not but have had an influence on Achebe’s development as a writer. He would, years later, write a famous essay about the portrayal of Africans in Joseph Conrad’s classic novel “Heart of Darkness,” arguing not that Conrad should not have written honestly about the racism of the time, but that Conrad failed to hold an authorial rejection of that worldview.

The strangeness of seeing oneself distorted in literature – and indeed of not seeing oneself at all – was part of my own childhood. I grew up in the Nigerian university town of Nsukka in the 1980s, reading a lot of British children’s books. My early writing mimicked the books I was reading: all my characters were white and all my stories were set in England. Then I read “Things Fall Apart.” It was a glorious shock of discovery, as was “Arrow of God,” which I read shortly afterwards; I did not know in a concrete way until then that people like me could exist in literature. Here was a book that was unapologetically African, that was achingly familiar, but that was, also, exotic because it detailed the life of my people a hundred years before. Because I was educated in a Nigerian system that taught me little of my pre-colonial past, because I could not, for example, imagine with any accuracy how life had been organized in my part of the world in 1890, Achebe’s novels became strangely personal. “Things Fall Apart” was no longer a novel about a man whose exaggerated masculinity and encompassing fear of weakness make it impossible for him to adapt to the changes in his society, it became the life my great-grandfather might have lived. “Arrow of God” was no longer just about the British administration’s creation of warrant chiefs, and the linked destinies of two men – one an Igbo priest the other a British administrator – it became the story of my ancestral hometown during my grandfather’s time. “And No Longer at Ease” transcended the story of an educated young Nigerian struggling with the pressure of new urban expectations in Lagos, and became the story of my father’s generation.

Later, as an adult confronting the portrayals of Africa in non-African literature – Africa as a place without history, without humanity, without hope – and filled with that peculiar sense of defensiveness and vulnerability that comes with knowing that your humanity is seen as negotiable, I would turn again to Achebe’s novels. In the stark, sheer poetry of “Things Fall Apart,” in the humor and complexity of “Arrow of God,” I found a gentle reprimand: Don’t you dare believe other people’s stories of you.

Considering the time and circumstances under which he wrote, perhaps Chinua Achebe sensed that his work would become, for a generation of Africans, both literature and history. He has written that he would be satisfied if his novels did no more than teach his readers that their past “was not one long night of savagery from which the first Europeans acting on God’s behalf delivered them.” He has, on occasion, adopted a somewhat anthropological voice in his fiction: “Fortunately among these people,” we are told in “Things Fall Apart,” “a man was judged according to his worth and not according to the worth of his father.” But what is remarkable is that Achebe’s art never sinks under this burden of responsibility. A reader expecting to find simple answers in Chinua Achebe’s work will be disappointed, because he is a writer who embraces honesty and ambiguity and who complicates every situation. His criticism of the effects of colonialism on the Igbo is implicit, but so is his interrogation of the internal structure of Igbo society. When Nwoye, Okonkwo’s son in “Things Fall Apart,” breaks away from his family and community to join the Christians, it is a victory for the Europeans but also a victory for Nwoye, who finds peace and an outlet for deep disillusions he had long been nursing about his people’s traditions. When a character says, “The White man is very clever. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. Now he has won our brothers and our clan can no longer act as one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart,” the reader is aware that Achebe’s narrative is as much about the knife as it is about the vulnerabilities, the internal complexities, the cracks that already existed.

Achebe writes spare, elegant sentences in English but it is a Nigerian English and often, more specifically, an Igbo English. All three novels are filled with direct translations from the Igbo, resulting in expressions like “still carrying breakfast” and “what is called ‘the box is moving?’” as well as in laugh-out-loud lines, especially for an Igbo-speaking reader, like “the white man whose father or mother nobody knows.” It is, however, the rendition of proverbs, of speech, of manners of speaking, that elevate Achebe’s novels into a celebration of language. In “Arrow of God,” for example, Ezeulu eloquently captures his own cautious progressiveness when he tells his son whom he has decided to send to the missionary school: “I am like the bird eneke-nti-oba. When his friends asked him why he was always on the wing he replied: men of today have learnt to shoot without missing and so I have learnt to fly without perching…the world is like a Mask dancing. If you want to see it well you do not stand in one place.”

Achebe takes his characters seriously but not too seriously; he finds subtly subversive ways to question them and even laugh at them, and he refuses to rescue them from their foibles. Okonkwo, perhaps the best-known character in modern African writing in English, is the quintessential Strong Man, and is ruled by a profound fear that blinds him. His insecurities result in a relentless harshness and an extremist view of masculinity – he is so terrified of being thought weak that he destroys a person he loves and yet the reader empathizes with his remorse, repressed as it is.

It is impossible, especially for the contemporary reader, not to be struck by the portrayal of gender in “Things Fall Apart,” and the equating of weakness and inability with femaleness. More interesting, however, and perhaps more revealing, are the subtle ways in which Achebe interrogates this patriarchy: Okonkwo denigrates women and yet the child he most respects is his daughter Ezinma, the only character who dares to answer back to him and who happens to be confident and forthright in a way that his male children are not. My favorite part of the novel, and a small part indeed, is the love story of the old couple Ozoemena and Ndulue. When Ndulue dies, his wife Ozoemena goes to his hut to see his body and then goes into her own hut and is later found dead there. Okonkwo’s friend Obierika recalls, “It was always said that Ndulue and Ozoemena had one mind. I remember when I was a young boy and there was a song about them. He could not do anything without telling her.” This recollection troubles Okonkwo because, in his eyes, it casts doubts on Ndulue’s authentic masculinity. He says, “I thought he was a strong man in his youth.” The others agree that Ndulue was a strong man and had led the clan to war in those days. They do not see, as Okonkwo obviously does, a contradiction between the old man’s greatness in the realm of masculinity and his mutually dependent relationship with his wife.

It is this rigidity of Okonkwo’s, in addition to his uncompromising nature, his rashness, his excesses, for which the reader feels impatience. Yet, when placed in the context of the many small humiliations of the colonial encounter, his actions become worthy of empathy. The power structures of his society have been so easily overturned. Okonkwo is left struggling to understand a world in which the dignity he had always taken for granted has disappeared, in which elders are treated with scorn and he, proud warrior that he is, is flogged by agents of the District commissioner. The reader is moved to understand the helpless rage, and final violent actions, that are Okonkwo’s response to the enormous, and perhaps baffling, political and economic power that came with Christianity and Colonialism. We are left, in the end, with an unforgettable tragic character: a man who is gravely flawed but who has also been gravely wronged.

Ezeulu, the character at the center of “Arrow of God,” which remains my favorite novel, is both flawed and wronged like Okonkwo, and is also held captive by what he imagines his society expects of him. Unlike Okonkwo, a character who was clearly in Achebe’s control, Ezeulu is wondrously unwieldy and his deep complexity lends “Arrow of God” much of its enduring power. I suspect that, as happens in the best fiction, Chinua Achebe did not have complete control over this character; ultimately the spirit of Ezeulu dictated how his story would be told. “Arrow of God” is told from the points of view of both Ezeulu and the British district commissioner Winterbottom; when the novel begins, the central event has already occurred, much like a Greek drama, and what Achebe explores is the aftermath. Ezeulu has testified against his own people in a land case with the neighboring town, because he is determined to speak the truth, and this action has earned him the respect of the district officer the as well as the ire of his local opponents. It will also act as a catalyst that – added to Ezeulu’s stubborness, his idealism, his pride – will contribute to his tragic end.

Like “Things Fall Apart,” “Arrow of God” shows the angry helplessness of people in the face of formalized European power: powerful men are treated with scorn by government agents, great men are flogged, the justice system is replaced by one the people do not understand and do not have a say in, and the internal dynamics of the society is turned around.

In “No Longer at Ease,” however, this helplessness is replaced by something inchoate but less suffocating, because the terms have changed during the short-lived optimism of independence. Obi, struggling with the pressures of the new Nigerian society, captures this change when he thinks of his boss the Englishman Mr. Green, who he is sure “loved Africa but only Africa of a certain kind: the Africa of Charles the messenger, the Africa of his gardenboy and stewardboy. In 1900 Mr Green might have ranked among the greatest missionaries, in 1935 he would have made do with slapping headmasters in the presence of their pupils, but in 1957 he could only curse and swear.”

Achebe writes in the realist tradition and there are often traces of the autobiographical in his work. He was born in 1930 in the Igbo town of Ogidi, southeastern Nigeria. His parents were firm Christians but many of his relatives had retained the Igbo religion and so he grew up a witness to both sides of his heritage and, more importantly, a recipient of stories from both. Influences of his great-uncle, a wealthy and important man who had allowed the first missionaries to stay in his compound but later asked them to leave because he found their music too sad, are obvious in “Things Fall Apart.” He worked as a radio producer in Lagos in the 1950s and the details of this life – film shows and clubs and bars, observing formerly expatriate clubs that were now admitting a few Nigerians – give “No Longer at Ease” its verisimilitude. It was through a radio program that Achebe heard the story of an Igbo priest in a nearby town who, as a result of a number of events with the British administration, had postponed the sacred New Yam festival, which had never been done before. He decided to go and visit this town and the story inspired “Arrow of God.”

All of Achebe’s work is, in some way, about strong communitarian values, the use of language as collective art, the central place of storytelling and the importance of symbolic acts and objects in keeping a community together. The American writer John Updike, after reading “Arrow of God,” wrote to Achebe to say that a western writer would not have allowed the destruction of a character as rich as Ezeulu. This is debatable, but perhaps what Updike had understood was that Achebe was as much concerned with a person as he was with a people, an idea well captured in the proverb that a character in Arrow of God recites: “An animal rubs its itching flank against a tree, but a man asks his kinsman to scratch him.”

This essay was original published in 2010, and republished on March 22, 2013, in Salon Magazine

Recall "My Oga at the Top" Commandant from Suspension
11 hours ago · 
"It is not his fault to say or talk abt oga at the top. So pls bring him back to his post. He has wife and children to take care of. So oga at the top, have mercy and bring him back." - Victor

At least he made us laugh...... Let's give him another chance.

http://m.facebook.com/search/?query=Petition%20for%20oga%20at%20the%20top#!/profile.php?id=488669334526291&slog=902796513&seq=1567438852&rk=20&fbtype=65&__user=1183930575[img][/img]

yuzedo:
This was the only thing I saw in this piece. F*ck Nigeria.

Falana is a smart guy... That's the only thing he wanted you (us) to see actually. Hope you get it now. If the Chinese wins the law suit.... And he gets 10%... How much is that ? Your guess is as good as mine. So he is making this noice to let the public know of the so called injustice being meted to HIM and his client

carehearty: Just saw on Aljazeera now, that the Setraco workers taken Hostage by Boko haram in Bauchi have been killed. Confirmation please.

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Nigerian Islamic extremists claim they killed 7 foreign hostages

Not French

Thanks

On State Of Origin Question

ON STATE OFORIGINQUESTION

President Goodluck Jonathan’s fondness for trying to amend the constitution is becoming all too familiar. I sometimes wonder if he ran on constitutional amendments or on concrete things to deliver like power, education and health. Nigerian constitution needs many amendments but he should be more engaged with EXECUTIVE ACTIONS. Let the Legislatures who have the charge to write laws deal with writing and amending laws while the president deals with making things happen, executing projects. Let the president get involved with the laws only when the laws stand on the way of carrying out his duties and his deliverable promises in education, health and agriculture.

Having said the above one can argue that state of origin got on his way when he was dealing with the appointments of Ms. Odili, Ms. Okonjo-Iweala, Ms. Olusegun Agaga, and Ms. Allison-Madueke and therefore needed to be addressed. The questions arose because of the inconsistency with which the appointments were made. If they had all been appointed because of their state of residency or because of their state of origin, the hullabaloo that ensued would have not arisen.

The lesson is “be consistent” from now on.

But now that the president himself has brought the matter in the open and would submit constitutional amendment dropping the requirement of “state of origin” it is time to say a word in favor of state of origin’s abolition. The term “state of origin” defies logic. As Mr. Ojo Pointed out elsewhere there is a distinction between ethnicity and residency. I am an Igbo man that is my ethnicity. And would remain so whether I live inAmerica,Lagos, Achi,Jos,Bangladeshor wherever suits my latest test. It does not change and cannot be made to change except by lies; as if I lie that I am a Hausa. Even this lie would seem to be true only when I am with non Nigerians. Once a Nigerian takes a look at me he would easily know that this Igbo man is up to something.

Where one is born is a historical fact that a birth certificate could provide. Those of my age would who were probably not born in a hospital (I was born in one) can only produce baptism certificate if they had early baptism or other such evidentiary documents that are acceptable to some officials. But those born in the 90’s would have birth certificates that duly prove place of birth. Obama was lucky to have one or his presidency would have been buried in an avalanche of propaganda. Proof of place of birth would not prove residency. I was born inNigeriaand now reside in US. This proof of residency needs other proofs such as tax receipts, school records, payroll stubs, property ownership and registrations. These are the easiest records to obtain.

There is no question that ethnicity has been abused inNigeria. It has been used to discriminate against millions of people. I will use some examples that are well known to me. There was the case of Saka, a Yoruba boy born inEnugu. He spoke Igbo (without accent, if it is possible to speak without accent) and excelled in Igbo just as he excelled in Math. He was not considered to have had any disadvantage and did not have one (he was born in the city like most of his classmates). He was the class monitor (class president in US). I never caught him speak Yoruba, although he might have spoken Yoruba at home with his parents who also spoke perfect Igbo. During the war he fled Enugu to his Yoruba ancestral home but was back promptly in 1970, just like other Enugu boys. The family still lives in Coal Camp.

Yet his state of Origin is given as somewhere in SW. If the war did not force him back to the SW, he would not have known how to get there on his own. I am sure his younger siblings born after the war would not know the difference between Ogun and Osun and would speak Yoruba (if at all) with Igbo accent. He is Yoruba for sure.

But is his place or origin Osun?

My father’s great, great grand parent’s claim ofEnuguresidency is based solely on the fact that he was born inEnugu. Why would Saka’s birth in the sameEnugunot give him the same rights? My father’s claim to be Igbo is based of his lineage and he shares that lineage with Imo, Anambra, Ebonyi, Delta, Rivers, Americans and other’ people. Saka does not qualify.

But Saka should claimEnuguas his state of origin for that is where he originated, but could not claim Igbo. What is so difficult to understand?

If he claims Osun as his state of origin, he would be lying. He never originated from there. And yet for years we have been making our people lie. He probably can trace his lineage to Osun. Just as some American descendants of slave could trace their lineage to Akwa-Ibom. Saka’s story is replicated by my cousin Ifeanyi who was born inLagos. Ifeanyi is Igbo and a Lagosian but not fromEnugu, Saka is Yoruba but a Coal Camp boy. Both should run for governorship in their respective places of birth and residency.

IfNigeriawants to develop.

When we allow this to happen there would no longer be anything like abandoned properties lies. It will become impossible for people to steal other people’s property just because they have powers temporal.

Last year I had a heated debate with the governor of Rivers State Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, on this subject, inProvidenceRI. He was bragging about how he sends about 100 Rivers youth to be educated abroad on state scholarship and I asked if this included all of the states children he said it included 70% indigenous citizens and 30% non indigenes and when I asked for definition of indigenous he explained it as ethnic Rivers people. I told him of Saka’s story, how he suffered like every Enugu citizen before the war, during the war and after; how he came back to rebuild the city; how before the war he took his soccer team to defeat PH in Eastern Nigerian Primary schools competition, and representing Enugu in Lagos in National competition after the war.

I asked if Saka’s son were denied foreign scholarship on behalf of his ethnicity what did that say of fairness. He muttered some unintelligible words.

If one lives his life and serves in any community he is a member of that community, no matter his ethnicity. I expect more Igbo, Hausa etc as ministers or even governors inLagosjust as I expect that the Ministers of FCT should come from Edo or Yobe if they were born inAbujaand live and served in the city.

If in the olden days one’s birth inIbadanmade him anIbadanperson, then the birth inMaidugurinow should make an Igbo a Maidugrian.

Benjamin Obiajulu Aduba

Boston,Massachusetts

http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/guest-articles/on-state-of-origin-question.html

shymexx:

With the exception of Lagos, which non-oil producing state in Nigeria has managed to achieve any worthy development?? Now, add oil to the equation and see why Lagos is on the verge of being the New York of Africa...

Without oil, its GDP will surpass Johannesburg by 2014 - now add the oil to that!!

Add oil to it, nothing will change. Though Lagos has no single oil well, most of the monies from Nigerias oil goes to Lagos and Abuja anyway.......directly and/or indirectly. The biggest oil companies have their HQ/ big offices in lagos and Abuja That is where money change hands and not those villages, certainly not offshore. So don't be deceived. Exposé yourself and travel to towns and villages that have this oil ... You will find absolutely no infrastructural development. No school.. No hospital... Nothing. The closest these communities can see development is at least 100KM (port harcourt , Benin) which to me are glorified cities.

Again don't be deceived . Nothing will change. Lagos is better off without oil. It will be better off without oil just like NY, J'bourg, London, Paris, Tokyo, Doha, and all other big cities.

Jarus:

I don't want us to turn this thread into tribal bashfest again, but have you guys ever sat down and thought why you are always the ones always crying foul in everything? Poster of the year, you cried tribalism; Hall of Fame, you cried tribalism; Hall of Shame, you cried tribalism. Haba, guys

As a moderator you should not play to his trap unless you are a bigot which IMO you are. Please who are the guys always crying foul. Let me guess, his tribe. If it his tribe you are referring to, I demand you drop an apology. We need to start taking tribalism seriously starting from the moderators.

Do you believe in prophecies or future predictions by religious leaders most of which have been fulfilled? As the year comes to an end, a chilling revelation has been made by the founder of INRI Evangelical Church World Wide, Primate Elijah Babatunde Ayodele.


Primate Ayodele who correctly predicted another air disaster after earlier predicting the one involving governor Danbaba Suntai of Taraba state, has warned President Goodluck Jonathan to sanctify his Presidential Fleet to avert an air disaster that would throw the nation into deep sorrow.
He said: “We are going into another year, again. Help me to tell President Goodluck Jonathan to sanctify his jet. Evil will not befall the nation. I could see the presidential jet developing human made mechanical fault.”
Primate Ayodele, while speaking in Lagos, said he saw in a vision that a presidential jet would develop a human initiated mechanical fault.
Calling on Nigerians to pray fervently, he said: “The Almighty will protect the president and may he overcome his enemies. I am neither an aviation expert nor a scientist, but God asked me to warn this nation and its leaders beforehand”.

http://www.informationnigeria.org/2012/12/renowned-primate-predicts-presidential-jet-will-develop-man-made-mechanical-fault.html?utm_source=&utm_medium=twitter

I had no single idea of how it came about. It is true that people like us have gotten to a point where we need to have means of movement that will help us. You may have heard me speak about my trip to Indonesia, to Jakarta.

In fact,  it wasn’t even Jakarta I was going to, but I had to stay inside an airport in Jakarta for five hours to wait for my flight, to get to the very city I was going. I was only going to preach for two hours there. I flew from Lagos to Dubai and I spent over three hours, changed flight to fly to Jakarta and then stayed five hours at the airport just to catch a flight to where I was going to, where I was to preach for just two hours.

And after everything, I got a flight from that place again to Jakarta, stayed at the airport again for another five hours, then flew into Dubai, stayed again at the airport for another three hours before I flew into Lagos. It took me four days to make a journey to preach for two hours. I’m a human being and I am not getting younger every day.

And locally, it is worse, for instance, the acting General Secretary of CAN lost his father in a place outside Uyo, Akwa Ibom State and I had to be there. I preached in a place in Lagos on a Friday and needed to be back to Warri on a Saturday, but at the end of the day, the plane that would have taken me was no where.

I had to charter a plane for N3.5 million to take me to Uyo, waited for me to finish and then take me back to Warri. Two weeks ago, a young pastor in Port Harcourt built a new church and had been on me all this while to come and dedicate the church and suddenly from no where, there was this flood that cut off the road to Port Harcourt.

There is no road now to Port Harcourt. If you want to go by road now, it takes you up to 12 hours to get to Port Harcourt and I had to preach in Port Harcourt, I had to preach in Lagos, I had to preach in Abuja and other places. Finally, I was able to find my way to Port Harcourt, it was on a Saturday.

I had to get to Warri that Saturday so as to be able to preach the next day, Sunday. Do you know what I had to finally do? I chartered a helicopter that cost me N2 million to drop me in Warri. When they dropped me here, ah, I can’t tell you how I felt that I had to part with that sum. But I had promised the young man and the church and if I had said  no, will it be right? I can go on and on and on.

So, sometimes, my schedule is so complicated. Now, with this plane, it changes everything about my movements. Now, I can move, I can even go and come back home. It is a bit more convenient for me and I suspect that this is one of the reasons a lot of these other preachers have planes.

Does your congregation understand all these engagements?

They do. They feel the pain I go through and they feel painful for not seeing me most of the time. They don’t like it, they are troubled.  I know some people buy planes, I can’t buy plane. I can’t afford it. I don’t have that kind of money, I still don’t know the people that bought this plane, but I know that there is a committee.

I hope you will get to meet with some of the people in that committee, I don’t  know them. My wife is more involved with them.  She (my wife) never talked to me, (about it) and she was acting strange. Well, I don’t want to get involved in this. This is my story about the plane. And I’m not ashamed to own a plane, I think it is a necessity and not a luxury for some of us deeply involved in the work of God to own planes.

Former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon, has expressed his doubted on Prof. Chinua Achebe’s chances of making money from his new book, There was a Country. The elder statesman’s concern is not as a result of the controversy which the book has generated. Rather, it is as a result of the activities of pirates in the country – or so he wanted to paint it.
Gowon was speaking in Abuja on Thursday at the presentation of the Reform of the Copyright System in Nigeria organised by the Nigerian Copyright Commission. He said he wondered if the renowned novelist would make money from his intellectual property, saying it had been pirated.
The 78-year-old said he saw hawkers selling copies of the book in Abuja recently. In his words: “When I was coming to the hotel yesterday (Wednesday) I saw people selling copies of Achebe’s book, you know the one I am talking about… I don’t know if the chap knew I was the one inside the car – he wanted to get my attention… I said to myself, ‘so this book has already been pirated and is being sold in the streets?’… I don’t know if Achebe will be getting any penny from that book.”
Achebe in the book, containing his civil war memoir, accused the Federal Government under Gowon and the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, then Minister of Finance, of using hunger as a weapon of war against the Igbo. He had earlier described Achebe’s civil war memoir as the most controversial publication on the war.

http://www.informationnigeria.org/2012/11/there-was-a-country-i-dont-know-if-achebe-will-be-getting-any-penny-from-that-book-gowon.html?utm_source=&utm_medium=twitter

duwdu:

Woah, this is precisely the sort of thinking that got Hitler and his collaborators to where they led their people and their part of the world: self destruction.

The rest of Professor Achebe's writing, as used in the said article, is essentially of the same mindset - that of the tendency to look down on other people and races, and think you're of a superior race, just like the "superior" Aryan race that Hitler so believed in, that led him to his eventual humiliation and destruction. The prof even thinks the white man is superior to his own race! In that sense, I'm beginning to think that, it's either Prof Achebe is naturally delusional, or bitter out of the war, or he's trying to shape his own legacy among his people.

Whatever, it is just sad that this is the type of thinking that the prof is passing down to his younger listeners and followers. Absolutely sad. One thing the man is further succeeding in doing with this sort of writing, though, is not to necessarily just re-write history, or re-define what truth is, but to further drive a wedge between his people and the other ethnicity or nationalities in Nigeria.

One other possibility came to my mind when I realized that Prof Achebe was in fact a Minister of Communication of Biafra during the civil war: That he is just trying to deflect from himself and the then other leaders of Biafra, criticisms of of the war, as fought by them. Such criticisms include that the leadership of Biafra ought to have been tried for acts of genocide against their own people actually, for one, because they insisted on fighting, and senselessly continued with the war, even after it was clear that that their children - on their land - were starving, while their ill-equipped soldiers were feeding fat.

I honestly don't think Prof Achebe and the rest of the war-time Biafran leadership will ever know peace on account of what they did to their own people, due to their misplaced belief of they being a relatively superior race, or even with their definition of what self-pride was.

In any case, "those that fight and run away, live to fight another day."
...

After reading your article. it made me cry. We all should cry for this country. And to think that 41 persons liked your post.... It's a big shame. What has this man done wrong? Let me guess, saying the truth? Prove him wrong if you think other wise. If it was a Jew that wrote this exact words will you compare it to Hitler? For your information go look for " Jews Phenomenon" by Steven Silbiger . In that book Steven told us how the Jews are hated and how that hate has turned them into a formidable force today. He describe how superior the Jews are to any race in this world boasting of their achievable in American and around the world. He enlightened me about famous Jews ranging from Mark Zukerberg to Kenneth Cole. In the text, he said 25% of noble prices have been won by Jews. Instead of hating , I redigested the book and embarked on a journey. A journey to understudy the Jews. Why are they so great? Why don't we have a poor Jew. I am learning.

Now coming back to this post, like Achebe has said, the Igbo whether we like it or not have the biggest middle class in this country. Whether we like it or not, they contribute greatly to our not so dear Nigeria. From sports to Education to GDP to human resources. They are hard working and have a good sense of business. We should learn just like I am doing as regards to the Jews. We should learn from them and move forward. Also, folks commenting and insulting Achebe and his Tribe instead of attacking the message only validate Achebe so called stands.

HATE SHOULDN'T BLIND US.

Ileke-IdI:
The best solution for all these wahala, is for someone to write a book from an unbiased view point.

Achebe was a Biafran, so it's understandable if he piled most of the negatives with the Yorubas. Unfortunately, his views are biased.

I don't understand how he could name the Hitler (Ojukwu) almost blamess.

You want a book? Have this

"All is fair in war, and starvation is one of the weapons of war. I don't see why we should feed our enemies fat in order for them to fight harder." (Chief Obafemi Awolowo (Nigerian Minister of Finance, July 28th 1969)"Until now efforts to relieve the Biafran people have been thwarted by the desire of the central government of Nigeria to pursue total and unconditional victory and by the fear of the Ibo people that surrender means wholesale atrocities and genocide. But genocide is what is taking place right now - and starvation is the grim reaper.

This is not the time to stand on ceremony, or to go through channels or to observe the diplomatic niceties, The destruction of an entire people is an immoral objective even in the most moral of wars. It can never be justified; it can never be condoned."
(Mr. Richard Nixon, September 9, 1968- During the Presidential Campaign)."Federal troops, killed, or stood by while mobs killed, more than 5000 Ibos in Warri, Sapele, Agbor"(New York Times, 10th January, 1968)."It’s (mass starvation) is a legitimate aspect of war" (Anthony Enahoro, Nigerian Commissioner for Information at a press conference in (New York, July 1968)

"Starvation is a legitimate weapon of war, and we have every intention of using it against the rebels"(Mr Alison Ayida, Head of Nigerian Delegation, Niamey Peace Talks, Republic of Niger, July 1968)"The Igbos must be considerably reduced in number"
(Lagos Policeman quoted in New York Review, 21 December, 1967)"One word now describes the policy of the Nigerian military government towards secessionist Biafra: genocide. It is ugly and extreme but it is the only word which fits Nigeria's decision to stop the International Committee of the red Cross, and other relief agencies, from flying food to Biafra"(Washington Post (editorial) July 2, 1969).

"In some areas outside the East, Igbos were killed by local people with at least the acquiescence of the federal forces, 1000 Igbo civilians perished in Benin in this way"(Max Edward- Reporter on the ground-New York Review, 21 December 1967)."After federal forces take over of Benin, troops killed about 500 Igbo civilians after a house-to-house search with the aid of willing locals (Washington Morning Post, 27 September, 1967)."The greatest single massacre occurred in the Igbo town of Asaba where 700 Igbo male were lined up and shot as terrified women/children were forced to watch" (London Observer, 21 January, 1968)

"Federal troops, killed, or stood by while mobs killed, more than 5000 Ibos in Wari, Sapele, Agbor" (New York Times, 10th January, 1968)."There has been genocide on the occasion of the 1966 massacres, the region between the towns of Benin and Asaba where only widows and orphans remain, federal troops having,for unknown reasons, massacred all the men" (Paris Le Monde, 5th April, 1968)."In Calabar, federal forces shot at least 1000 and perhaps 2000 Igbos, most of them civilians"(New York Times, 18th January, 1968).

"Bestialities and indignities of all kinds were visited on Biafrans in 1966. In Ikeja Barracks (Western Nigeria) Biafrans were forcibly fed on a mixture of human urine and faeces. In Northern Nigeria numerous Biafran house-wives and nursing mothers were violated before their husbands and children. Young girls were abducted from their homes, working places and schools and forced into intimate intercourse with sick, demented and leprous men''
(Mr. Eric Spiff (German War correspondence Eyewitness, 1967).

"There has been genocide, for example on the occasion of the 1966 massacres , Two areas have suffered badly [from the fighting]. Firstly the region between the towns of Benin and Asaba where only widows and orphans remain, Federal troops having for unknown reasons massacred all the men. According to eyewitnesses of that massacre the Nigerian commander ordered the execution of every Ibo male over the age of ten years"
(Monsignor Georges, sent down on a fact-finding mission by His holiness the Pope reporting his finding in Vatican Rome, Le Monde, French Evening newspaper, April 5, 1968).

"650 refugee camps, contained about 700,000 haggard bundles of human flotsam waiting hopelessly for a meal, outside the camps, was the reminder of an estimated four anda half to five million displaced persons, the Kwashiokor scourge, a million and half children, suffer(ed) from it during January; that put the forecast death toll at another 300,000 children, More than the pogroms of 1966, more than the war casualties, more than the terror bombings, it was the experience of watching helplessly their children waste away and die that gave birth to, a deep and unrelenting loathing, It is a feeling that will one day reap a bitter harvest unless, "(Frederick Forsyth, British writer January 21st 1969)

"I saw several hundred of Zombie-like creatures -men, women and children, lying, sitting or squatting in the midst of others who were dead. The living ones were completely reduced to skeletons and could not talk. I was seeing for the first time, kwashiorkor, Frankly, I took fright, I believe that any foreign troops from anywhere in the world occupying Ikot Ekpene or any other town in Biafra would have shown much more sympathy" (Gen. Alex Madiebo, Ikot Ekpene, July 1968)"One word now describes the policy of the Nigerian military government towards Biafra:- genocide. It is ugly and extreme but it is the only word which fits Nigeria's decision to stop the International Committee of the red Cross, and other relief agencies, from flying food to Biafra. "The Nazis had ressurrected just here as Nigerian forces" (Washington Post (editorial) July 2, 1969)

"The loss of life from starvation continues at more than 10,000 persons per day - over 1,000,000 lives in recent months. Without emergency measures now, the number will climb to 25,000 per day within a month - and some 2,000,000 deaths by the end of the year. The new year will only bring greater disaster to a people caught in the passion of fratricidal war, we can't allow this to continue or those responsible to go free" (Senator Kennedy appeals to Americans - Sunday, November 17, 1968)

"I want to see no Red Cross, no Caritas, no World Council of Churches, no Pope, no missionary and no UN delegation. I wantto prevent even one Ibo from having even one piece to eat before their capitulation. We shoot at everything that moves and when our troops march into the centre of Ibo territory, we shoot at everything even at things that do not move" (Benjamin Adekunle, Commander, 3rd Marine Commando Division, Nigerian Army to French radio reporter)."The war aim and (final) solution properly speaking of the entire problem, is to discriminate against the Igbos and in their own interest. Such discrimination would include above all the detachment of those oil-rich territories in the Eastern Region, in addition, the Igbos' freedom of movement would be restricted, to prevent their renewed penetration into other parts, leaving any access to the sea to the Igbos, is quite out of the question" (Federal Nigerian Minister speaking to E. C. Schwarzenback, Swiss Review of Africa, February 1968).

"Let us go and crush them. We will pillage their property, violation their womenfolk, kill off their menfolk and leave them uselessly weeping. We will complete the pogrom of 1966"(The theme song of Radio Kaduna, government-controlled, 1967-1970).
"Unfortunately this [Gowon's] enlightenment at the top level does not penetrate very deep: a Lagos police officer was quoted last month as saying that the Igbos must be considerably reduced in number"(Dr Conor cruise O'Bien , 21 December 1967 New York Review)

"Myself and The same UNICEF representatives went on to convey something of what lay behind this intransigence: "Among the large majority hailing from that tribe who are most vocal in inciting the complete extermination of the Igbos, I often heard remarks that all Nigeria's ills will be cured once the Igbos has been extaminated from the human map"(Dr Conor Cruise O'Bien (21 December, 1967, New York Review)

"All is fair in war, and starvation is one of the weapons of war. I don't see why we should feed our enemies fat in order for them to fight harder." (Chief Obafemi Awolowo (Nigerian Minister of Finance, July 28th 1969)"Until now efforts to relieve the Biafran people have been thwarted by the desire of the central government of Nigeria to pursue total and unconditional victory and by the fear of the Ibo people that surrender means wholesale atrocities and genocide. But genocide is what is taking place right now - and starvation is the grim reaper.

This is not the time to stand on ceremony, or to go through channels or to observe the diplomatic niceties, The destruction of an entire people is an immoral objective even in the most moral of wars. It can never be justified; it can never be condoned."
(Mr. Richard Nixon, September 9, 1968- During the Presidential Campaign)."Federal troops, killed, or stood by while mobs killed, more than 5000 Ibos in Warri, Sapele, Agbor"(New York Times, 10th January, 1968)."It’s (mass starvation) is a legitimate aspect of war" (Anthony Enahoro, Nigerian Commissioner for Information at a press conference in (New York, July 1968)

"Starvation is a legitimate weapon of war, and we have every intention of using it against the rebels"(Mr Alison Ayida, Head of Nigerian Delegation, Niamey Peace Talks, Republic of Niger, July 1968)"The Igbos must be considerably reduced in number"
(Lagos Policeman quoted in New York Review, 21 December, 1967)"One word now describes the policy of the Nigerian military government towards secessionist Biafra: genocide. It is ugly and extreme but it is the only word which fits Nigeria's decision to stop the International Committee of the red Cross, and other relief agencies, from flying food to Biafra"(Washington Post (editorial) July 2, 1969).

"In some areas outside the East, Igbos were killed by local people with at least the acquiescence of the federal forces, 1000 Igbo civilians perished in Benin in this way"(Max Edward- Reporter on the ground-New York Review, 21 December 1967)."After federal forces take over of Benin, troops killed about 500 Igbo civilians after a house-to-house search with the aid of willing locals (Washington Morning Post, 27 September, 1967)."The greatest single massacre occurred in the Igbo town of Asaba where 700 Igbo male were lined up and shot as terrified women/children were forced to watch" (London Observer, 21 January, 1968)

"Federal troops, killed, or stood by while mobs killed, more than 5000 Ibos in Wari, Sapele, Agbor" (New York Times, 10th January, 1968)."There has been genocide on the occasion of the 1966 massacres, the region between the towns of Benin and Asaba where only widows and orphans remain, federal troops having,for unknown reasons, massacred all the men" (Paris Le Monde, 5th April, 1968)."In Calabar, federal forces shot at least 1000 and perhaps 2000 Igbos, most of them civilians"(New York Times, 18th January, 1968).

"Bestialities and indignities of all kinds were visited on Biafrans in 1966. In Ikeja Barracks (Western Nigeria) Biafrans were forcibly fed on a mixture of human urine and faeces. In Northern Nigeria numerous Biafran house-wives and nursing mothers were violated before their husbands and children. Young girls were abducted from their homes, working places and schools and forced into intimate intercourse with sick, demented and leprous men''
(Mr. Eric Spiff (German War correspondence Eyewitness, 1967).

"There has been genocide, for example on the occasion of the 1966 massacres , Two areas have suffered badly [from the fighting]. Firstly the region between the towns of Benin and Asaba where only widows and orphans remain, Federal troops having for unknown reasons massacred all the men. According to eyewitnesses of that massacre the Nigerian commander ordered the execution of every Ibo male over the age of ten years"
(Monsignor Georges, sent down on a fact-finding mission by His holiness the Pope reporting his finding in Vatican Rome, Le Monde, French Evening newspaper, April 5, 1968).

"650 refugee camps, contained about 700,000 haggard bundles of human flotsam waiting hopelessly for a meal, outside the camps, was the reminder of an estimated four anda half to five million displaced persons, the Kwashiokor scourge, a million and half children, suffer(ed) from it during January; that put the forecast death toll at another 300,000 children, More than the pogroms of 1966, more than the war casualties, more than the terror bombings, it was the experience of watching helplessly their children waste away and die that gave birth to, a deep and unrelenting loathing, It is a feeling that will one day reap a bitter harvest unless, "(Frederick Forsyth, British writer January 21st 1969)

"I saw several hundred of Zombie-like creatures -men, women and children, lying, sitting or squatting in the midst of others who were dead. The living ones were completely reduced to skeletons and could not talk. I was seeing for the first time, kwashiorkor, Frankly, I took fright, I believe that any foreign troops from anywhere in the world occupying Ikot Ekpene or any other town in Biafra would have shown much more sympathy" (Gen. Alex Madiebo, Ikot Ekpene, July 1968)"One word now describes the policy of the Nigerian military government towards Biafra:- genocide. It is ugly and extreme but it is the only word which fits Nigeria's decision to stop the International Committee of the red Cross, and other relief agencies, from flying food to Biafra. "The Nazis had ressurrected just here as Nigerian forces" (Washington Post (editorial) July 2, 1969)

"The loss of life from starvation continues at more than 10,000 persons per day - over 1,000,000 lives in recent months. Without emergency measures now, the number will climb to 25,000 per day within a month - and some 2,000,000 deaths by the end of the year. The new year will only bring greater disaster to a people caught in the passion of fratricidal war, we can't allow this to continue or those responsible to go free" (Senator Kennedy appeals to Americans - Sunday, November 17, 1968)

"I want to see no Red Cross, no Caritas, no World Council of Churches, no Pope, no missionary and no UN delegation. I wantto prevent even one Ibo from having even one piece to eat before their capitulation. We shoot at everything that moves and when our troops march into the centre of Ibo territory, we shoot at everything even at things that do not move" (Benjamin Adekunle, Commander, 3rd Marine Commando Division, Nigerian Army to French radio reporter)."The war aim and (final) solution properly speaking of the entire problem, is to discriminate against the Igbos and in their own interest. Such discrimination would include above all the detachment of those oil-rich territories in the Eastern Region, in addition, the Igbos' freedom of movement would be restricted, to prevent their renewed penetration into other parts, leaving any access to the sea to the Igbos, is quite out of the question" (Federal Nigerian Minister speaking to E. C. Schwarzenback, Swiss Review of Africa, February 1968).

"Let us go and crush them. We will pillage their property, violation their womenfolk, kill off their menfolk and leave them uselessly weeping. We will complete the pogrom of 1966"(The theme song of Radio Kaduna, government-controlled, 1967-1970).
"Unfortunately this [Gowon's] enlightenment at the top level does not penetrate very deep: a Lagos police officer was quoted last month as saying that the Igbos must be considerably reduced in number"(Dr Conor cruise O'Bien , 21 December 1967 New York Review)

"Myself and The same UNICEF representatives went on to convey something of what lay behind this intransigence: "Among the large majority hailing from that tribe who are most vocal in inciting the complete extermination of the Igbos, I often heard remarks that all Nigeria's ills will be cured once the Igbos has been extaminated from the human map"(Dr Conor Cruise O'Bien (21 December, 1967, New York Review)

I need new wine - Rev. Ayodeji Cole (Senior Pastor TREM Utako Abuja at the Day 1 of the Dedication Ceremony of the Cathedral)

Onyeka Anyene;
Hurria Lawal;
Maimuna Anyene;
Bakisumiadi Yindadi;
Ebuka Enuma;
Oluchi Onyeyiri;
Sunday Enuma;
George Moses;
Ogechi Njoku;
Noah Anyene;
Kamsiyona Anyene;
Stanford Obrutse;
Kaiyenotochi Anyene;
Okeke Hope;
Rev. Ayodeji Cole;
Ngozi Cole;
Noah Anyene;
Ailende Ehi;
Oluwasegun Funmi Abiodun;
and Shehu Sahad Usman,
Alade Martins;
Onita Jennifer (Mrs);
Onita Josephine;
Ike Ochonogo;
Joy Alison;
John Ahmadu;
Akowe Fatokun Anjola;
Fatokun Olaoluwa;
Fatokun Ibukun;
Buhari Maikudi;
Amina Idris Bugaje;
Ajani Adenle;
IkeAbugu;
Adijolola Abraham;
Obot Emmanuel;

Otegbeye Hadiza;
Ehioghae Sunny;
Onwuriri Celestine;
Abikalio Otatoru;
Noris Kim;
Eyo Bassey;
Njoku Charles;
Anibaba Tosin;
Okocha Christopher;
Sobowale Femi;
and Phillip Chukwu Ebuka,
Sparagano Lawrence;
Somolu Oluwakemi;
Ariyibi Temitope;
Meche Eke;
Ojugbana Amaka;
Ojugbana Christopher;
Buna Walter;
Coker Olumide;
Lilian Lass;
Mutittir Itsifanus;
Yusuf Alli;
Lt. Col. Jumbo Ochigbo;
Eribake Wale;
Zhai Shuta;
Wang Yu;
P. Awani;
O. Awani; N. Chidiac;
Rijoel Dhose; Li Hizha;
Apochi Godwin;
Lang Yi;
Yinusa Ahmed;
Faysal Inusa;
Mojekwu Adaobi;
Ibrahim D;
Bamaiyi Adamu;
Ifekowa Jones;
Peter Nosike;
Anthony Nwaokocha;
Mahmud Aliyu;
Nnadi John;
Akweze Elizabeth;
Dorothy Adedunni;
Echeidu Ibe;
Maria Okulehi;
Jennifer Ibe;
Okoko junjip;
Sarah Mshelia;
Ahmed Mbana;
Okonji Patrick;
Oyosoro Rajuli;
Oyosoro Ugbabio;
Kaikai Farida;
David Kolawole Fortune;
Eyinoluwa David Kolawole;
Kaltum Abubakar;
and Dakawa Mahmud.
Patience Sunday Udoh;
Asuquo Iniebong;
Onemonelese Aimeihi;
Onyeagocha Chidinma;
Onyeagocha Ogechi;
Ike Okoye;
Amaka Raphael;
Ijeoma Onyinjuke;
Garba Abdul;
Aisha Abdul;
Benson Oluwayomi;
Anthony7 Opara;
Taiwo Lamidi;
Awodogan Olusanmi;
Obi Chinwe;
Shaibu Memuna;
Major I.G Mohammed;
Nagidi Ibrahim;
Attah Anthonia;
Shaibu Sam;
Ifeanyi Orakwe;
Obinna Akubueze;
Li Rui;
Xie Zhenfeng;
Oko Eseoghene;
Chukwuemeka Okere;
Adetunbi Adebiyi;
Ibrahim Mantakari;
Was Ruth;
Wasa Awiyetu;
Ojukwu Alvana;
Lawal Anakobe;
Nabil Garba;
Mohammed Falmata;
Ibrahim Jangana;
Okikiolu Olukayode;
Komolafe Olugbenga;
Dike Chinwe;
Dike Chike Ezugo;
Olusola Arokoyo;
Adetola Ayoola;
Akinola Olumodeji;
Olukoya Banji Saka Otaru;
Adeleke Oluwadamilare;
Yusuf Ibrahim;
Ikpohi Obiola;
Aikhomu Ehimen;
Levi Ajuonuma;
Mbong Eventus.

Manifest of Dana Air------------------------
Onita jennifer, ike ochonogo, 146 passengers, john ahmadu, onyeka ayene, hurriya Lawal, berkisum yindadi, ebuka enuma, oluchi önyenyiri, sunday enuma, george moses, noah anyene, kamsi anyene, stamford obruste, kayinentochi anyene, okeke hope, rev ayodeji, ngozi cole, ailende ehi, oluwasegun funmi abiodun, shehu usman, alade martins, onita josephine, ike ochonogo, john amadu,aquade roger, osunbade aderoju, fatokun anjola, fatokun olaoluwa, ajani adenike, ike abugu, adijolola abraham, otegbeye adiza, ehioghae sonny, abikale otatori, ntoku charles, anibaba tosin, shobowale femi,somolu oluwafemi, ariyibi temitope, ojugbana amaka, ojugbana xtopher, muti, yusuf ali, lt col chumbo ochigbo, d awani, o awani, n chidiac, li huizhu, kang yi, inuza ahmed, fayzal, mojekwu adeobi, ibrahim d, peter nosike, mahmud aliyu, nnadi john, akwezi elizabeth, adedunni dorothy, maria okulehi, jennifer ibe, mtshelia sarah,Onyeagocha chidinma, ike okoye, amaka raphael, garba abdu, abdu aisha, benson oluwayemi, taiwo lamidi, awodogan oluwasanmi, major ig mohammed, attah antonia, li riu, ifeanyi orakwe, obina akabueze, chukwuemeka okere, adekunbi adebiyi, wasa ruth, nabil garba, ibrahim jangana, okikiolu olukayode, komolafe olugbenga, dike chinwe, olusola arokoya, olukoya banji, saka otaru, yusuf ibrahim, ikpoki abiola, levi ajuonuma, mbang

I have lost everything I have to Dana plane crash, says BAT worker

Ehime Aikhomu, son of former Vice President, Late Admiral Augustus Aikhomu, was also on board

1. Retired AIG John Ahmadu

2. Amina Doris

3. Elizabeth Adaeze

4. Ajala Adenike

5. Adekunbi Adebiyi

6. Agu Rogers

7. Tatokin Anjola

8. Tatokin Idris Abdulrasat Lawa

9. Abitayo Olatoci

10. Adekoya Ayoola

11. Northern Elder, Ibrahim Damcida

12. Dr. Levi Ajuonuma - NNPC Spokesman

13. Aladi Martins

14. Auta Jennifer

15. Auta Josephine

16. Ike Achonogor

17. Joy Alison

18. John Ahmadu

19. Rev. Ayodeji Cole

20. Ngozi

21. Noah Anyene

22. Ailendi Ehi

23. Shehu Saad Usman

24. Oluwasegun F. Abiodun

25. Anyere



26. Kasmisgona Anyene

27. Stanford Obrutse

28. Kayinetochi Anyene

29. Okeke Hope

30. Kaima Anyene

31. Sumyindadi

32. Ebuka Enuma

33. Oluchi Onyia

34. Sunday O

35. George Moses

36. Ogechi Njoku

37. Nsa

38. Onyeka Anyiene

39. Humra Lawal

40. Manuma

41. Ayune

42. Berki

43. Ehime Aikhomu, Son Of Former Chief Of General Staff,

44. Onita Jennifer

45. Ike Ochonogo

46. John Ahmadu

47. Onyeka Ayene

49. Hurriya Lawal

50. Berkisum Yindadi



51. Ebuka Enuma

52. Oluchi Önyenyiri

53. Sunday Enuma

54. George Moses

55. Noah Anyene

56. Kamsi Anyene

57. Stamford Obruste

58. Kayinentochi Anyene

59. Okeke Hope

60. Rev Ayodeji

61. Ngozi Cole

62. Ailende Ehi

63. Oluwasegun Funmi Abiodun

64. Shehu Usman

65. Alade Martins

67. Onita Josephine

68. Ike Ochonogo

69. John Amadu

70. Aquade Roger

71. Osunbade Aderoju

72. Fatokun Anjola

73. Fatokun Olaoluwa

74. Ajani Adenike

75. Ike Abugu



76. Adijolola Abraham

77. Otegbeye Adiza

78. Ehioghae Sonny

79. Abikale Otatori

80. Ntoku Charles

81. Anibaba Tosin

82. Shobowale Femi

83. Somolu Oluwafemi

84. Ariyibi Temitope

85. Ojugbana Amaka

86. Ojugbana Xtopher

87. Muti

88. Yusuf Ali

89. Lt Col Chumbo Ochigbo

90. D Awani

91. O Awani

92. N Chidiac

93. Li Huizhu

94. Kang Yi

95. Inuza Ahmed

96. Fayzal

97. Mojekwu Adeobi

98. Ibrahim D

99. Peter Nosike

100. Mahmud Aliyu



101. Nnadi John

102. Akwezi Elizabeth

103. Adedunni Dorothy

104. Maria Okulehi

105. Jennifer Ibe

106. Mtshelia Sarah

107. Onyeagocha Chidinma

108. Ike Okoye

109. Amaka Raphael

110. Garba Abdu

111. Abdu Aisha

112. Benson Oluwayemi

113. Taiwo Lamidi

114. Awodogan Oluwasanmi

115. Major IG Mohammed

116. Attah Antonia

117. Li Riu

118. Ifeanyi Orakwe

119. Obina Akabueze

120. Chukwuemeka Okere

121. Adekunbi Adebiyi

122. Wasa Ruth

123. Mbang

124. Nabil Garba

125. Ibrahim Jangana



126. Okikiolu Olukayode

127. Komolafe Olugbenga

128. Dike Chinwe

129. Olusola Arokoya

130. Olukoya Banji

131. Saka Otaru

132. Yusuf Ibrahim

133. Ikpoki Abiola

134. Shehu Sa'ad - Director Of Mainstreet Bank

[size=8pt][/size]
UPDATE: Unconfirmed reports indicate ex-Kano Gov & 2011 ANPP Pres Candidate, Ibrahim Shekarau among casualties of the Iju Plane crash

emiye: Wanting to Preserve the UNILAG name cant be explained to many Non-Akokites....Its like explaining flying first class to someone flying Economy

Stop your ugly opinion about other people based on your delusional sense of superiority

all4naija: I disagree with many of your points. There is nothing so much different and you can't scold them for not taken to the path of Egypt or Tunisia(did start off with the students, if I'm correct). Not only that, you haven't explained to us the conditions behind what took place in those countries. Indeed, I would be interested in the Boko Haram case as well to be blamed on them if you see this students protest on their right as unnecessary.

They should be scolded. we should laugh at them, just like IBB did. If they can protest for a mere privilege, they can also protest for their rights, Injustice, Corruption, Good, world-class education. They should protest for Boko Haram. George clooney got arrested because he protested for the arrest of Congo warlord KONI.

You disagree with my point, which ones please #

P.S Mohamed Bouazizi (29 March 1984 – 4 January 2011) He started the Arab Spring. A Youth like me and you

all4naija: That's insignificant to you not to them. It their rights and whatever way deemed necessary to make their grievances know must be done accordingly. I am not in support of destructive protest but one that sends a message [b]they are not fool to be taken for anything [/b]without their consultation.

What right exactly, to protest. or to choose the name of their school? What rights... They are fools man, just like you and me. We have taken and still taking shit. Maybe you should read my earlier post. Not sure you read it

Lets give it a rest. You cannot compare Harvard with Unilag. Harvard is private, Unilag isn't. And Unilag is not our Harvard. Remember Yale was renamed, the best school in Nigeria Ife was renamed so y should Unilag be any different.

I just want to know why those kids are protesting. . Re naming schools no be new thing.... It has happened before, it will happen again.

Some say 50 years of brand name... I say what brand name, brand name as per high academic standard or brand name as per aristo ism. This new name might just be a face lift... Brands change names? Notorious Brand change name.. I know the notorious Unilag, not the High academic Standard Unilag. This new name might just end the RUNS GIRLS thingy

Some say due process wasn't followed... You can't just change the name of a school? I say it won't make any difference.... Due process or not, if it has to be changed it will be. He who pays the piper....... The FG can decide to close down UniLag, replace it with a poo hole and justify it. all it needs to do its to compensate. Tell the people you will build 20 more schools in Lagos and it will fly

Some say, If you don't like a decision you can speak your mind, that it's okay for those kids to take to the street.... I say where were they... The Nigerian youth during the occupy Nigeria protest

Some say Nigeria has better problems.... Renaming a school is petty.... I say protesting because of name change is also petty, those students should protest against corruption, lack of books, decay in the educational system... Etc No be their mate day Libya, Syria Tunisia,Egypt

Some also say schools should be name after its city... University of Manchester University of Aberdeen bla bla bla bla bla..... Yale, Harvard are people's name.

Why are these kids protesting? I want to know. MKO is not fit to have Unilag named after him? I kind of agree with is one.... MKO might just be over rated.... He won an election, GEJ also did that... He died in Prison for democracy.... Yar Adua senior and a host of others died too... OBJ almost died. Was Abiola more patriotic than OBj, I will say no.OBJ ended the Nigerian CIvil war... OBJ handed over to the first civilian president, OBJ is the symbol of this so called democracy day... Abiola was never proven.... He wasn't the president... I can't rate him. Was he corrupt? YES.... Who says he wouldn't have ended like his friends, IBB and co. Naming a big school like Unilag after Mko to me no follow, but still not out of place. Stanford University was named after the founders son who died of typhoid

The other reason why I think thrse guys are protesting is that the name dont just sound cool... Hehehe.... Funny but true.... But how does that change the academic standard... If Harvard changes its name today, will its ranking drop? Protest because of lost Swag? leaders of tomorrow. I now see reason with IBB in his interview with CNN when he said the youth are not ready to lead... we are busy dancing, chatting away and wearing jeans. When IBB and co were youths, they were leading wars and planning strategies .... Look what our youth now protest for.. NAME CHANGE.

Lets all stop being petty and think of other things, IMO, GEJ has just distracted us...Democracy day... are we not suppose to be protesting against rigging, corruption etc Something somewhere is not right....So Unilag students, no be today... Even countries de change name....if you no like the name, change school... Or better still ignore the FG, call yourself whatever you lik..... Na your papa get school.... My advice for you guys is to breath, take a chill pill, MAUL will Rock as well

all4naija: Should everything be ignored for the sake of it non-importance?! The right of the university is trampled upon.If the president has the right to dictate for the university because it is federal property then there is no right of the students in whatsoever that happens within the enclave. You speak as if all things listed by you and this issue are not mutually exclusive in nature. Right is right, whether it's for a particular reason or time it is what it is only that there are different rights.

Get your priorities right. You can shout in your mother bedroom how angry you are about anything, but protesting and blocking bridges because of name change??
What Rights... or you mean Privilege.

Lets give it a rest. You cannot compare Harvard with Unilag. Harvard is private, Unilag isn't. And Unilag is not our Harvard. Remember Yale was renamed, the best school in Nigeria Ife was renamed so y should Unilag be any different.

I just want to know why those kids are protesting. . Re naming schools no be new thing.... It has happened before, it will happen again.

Some say 50 years of brand name... I say what brand name, brand name as per high academic standard or brand name as per aristo ism. This new name might just be a face lift... Brands change names? Notorious Brand change name.. I know the notorious Unilag, not the High academic Standard Unilag. This new name might just end the RUNS GIRLS thingy

Some say due process wasn't followed... You can't just change the name of a school? I say it won't make any difference.... Due process or not, if it has to be changed it will be. He who pays the piper....... The FG can decide to close down UniLag, replace it with a shit hole and justify it. all it needs to do its to compensate. Tell the people you will build 20 more schools in Lagos and it will fly

Some say, If you don't like a decision you can speak your mind, that it's okay for those kids to take to the street.... I say where were they... The Nigerian youth during the occupy Nigeria protest

Some say Nigeria has better problems.... Renaming a school is petty.... I say protesting because of name change is also petty, those students should protest against corruption, lack of books, decay in the educational system... Etc No be their mate day Libya, Syria Tunisia,Egypt

Some also say schools should be name after its city... University of Manchester University of Aberdeen bla bla bla bla bla..... Yale, Harvard are people's name.

Why are these kids protesting? I want to know. MKO is not fit to have Unilag named after him? I kind of agree with is one.... MKO might just be over rated.... He won an election, GEJ also did that... He died in Prison for democracy.... Yar Adua senior and a host of others died too... OBJ almost died. Was Abiola more patriotic than OBj, I will say no.OBJ ended the Nigerian CIvil war... OBJ handed over to the first civilian president, OBJ is the symbol of this so called democracy day... Abiola was never proven.... He wasn't the president... I can't rate him. Was he corrupt? YES.... Who says he wouldn't have ended like his friends, IBB and co. Naming a big school like Unilag after Mko to me no follow, but still not out of place. Stanford University was named after the founders son who died of typhoid

The other reason why I think thrse guys are protesting is that the name dont just sound cool... Hehehe.... Funny but true.... But how does that change the academic standard... If Harvard changes its name today, will its ranking drop? Protest because of lost Swag? leaders of tomorrow. I now see reason with IBB in his interview with CNN when he said the youth are not ready to lead... we are busy dancing, chatting away and wearing jeans. When IBB and co were youths, they were leading wars and planning strategies .... Look what our youth now protest for.. NAME CHANGE.

Lets all stop being petty and think of other things, IMO, GEJ has just distracted us...Democracy day... are we not suppose to be protesting against rigging, corruption etc Something somewhere is not right....So Unilag students, no be today... Even countries de change name....if you no like the name, change school... Or better still ignore the FG, call yourself whatever you lik..... Na your papa get school.... My advice for you guys is to breath, take a chill pill, MAUL will Rock as well

May 29th will be the first year in office of GEJ, it all seem like 4 years

engineerd:

You are a bastard for bringing ethnicity into this! You will tell me what Akpabu means in Yoruba today.....phucking slowpoke!

Take it easy man, that was a joke.

New elected (selected) PDP YOUTH leader is SIXTY--60 YEARS--OLD...
I mean Mallam Umar Garba Chiza from niger state.......LMFAO