SugarGirl44:
What kind of funny surname is this?
All these descendants of slavery should try and change their names back to a freeman's name fa.
But funny enough they now use it to buga.
Africans and colonized brian.

What's the difference between that name and the arabanised arabic name you bear? Choose your name, let another person choose his own. Remember, even Abdul means "slave" .

biafranrealson:
These are genuine Nigerians from their heart , they are here and joined the rally , no inducement, infact na dem pay , just like the upcoming Aba own , na we dey do our t shirts and caps plus banners

Can Obi restructure the country? Without going back to the basis, the country may couninue to journey in a circle.

shinealight:


….you mean the Igbos have already decided in favour of Obi! Mind you, Obi can secure 99% of the votes in SE and still lose the election.
The Presidency will be decided largely by the North…..make no mistake about that. As a result of perennial illiteracy, they are the only ones that still have an unthinking followership in large numbers that simply follow the directives of their leadership without question!
So, prepare for a shocker!!

Large population alone does not decide the winner. Otherwise GMB shouldn't have lost at the polls for 3 times until the amalgamation of parties in 2015. A wining candidate is also required to score not less than 25% of the votes in 24 out of the 36 states of the federation.

chiefoga:
They whole obidient movement is an emilokan movement too. It is Igbos way of saying it is our turn too. This whole election is ethnic driven. Anybody who says otherwise is lying and deceiving themselves.

Ethinic and religious. From it's the turn of the South to it's the turn of the South West and then to it's the turn of the South West Muslims. You see? Everybody fighting for a space.

openmine:


Obviously,you did not peruse my earlier point!
This is not about Obi....its about what the electorates want or desire!
It starts with electing the right people into important positions that will influence the path way to restructuring!
If we elect the same people that have kept us this way for more than 20 years of our democracy,we will still keep having this conversation!
The power to choose rest on the electorates not an individual!




The Confab report which you rightly talked about will not be discussed or done by the same leaders who want the status quo to continue!
The Confab captured resource control,state policing,Electricity decentralization etc and all we need is to ELECT TECHNOCRATS into the hollowed chambers to expedite on the laudable reports!




The national assembly should start with themselves first!
The humongous expenses they accumulate is affecting the economy!
Were they not the same assembly that approved the inauguration of these MDAS?
This is why our choice of leaders from presidency to LGA chairman is paramount!
Leaders with the willpower to declare that the present system of central Policing is obsolete and State policing is an idea whose time has come in Nigeria!
Technocrats that will waste no time in implementing the decentralization of electricity and allow states to generate their own electricity!



We cannot not be like the UK but we can chart a new course by knocking off the 'feeding bottle' federalism that we currently practice and imbibe fiscal federalism!

If the country's experience from 1960 is anything to go by, I'm sure time has spoken except we have chosen not to reason with the voice of time. If we want to continue to experiment and search for the leaders we've not had since the independence of 1960 and following the subsequent inglorious destruction of the regional system bequeathed to us, time will speak again.

One can either be a saint or sinner, no sitting on the fence. And I maintain that among the crop of politicians we have around us today, a saint is scarce. Aren't they the same set of people jumping from one party to another? Everyone fighting for their selfish objectives. So, where are the good leaders to appoint and who will appoint them? The mass illiterate and poverty-stricken people that constitute the bulk of the voters? People that have had their mind fixated by culture and religion to think in a particular way? The people you have not been able to change for over 100 years of amalgamation and 60 years of independence? I laugh...

The earlier the reality is faced, the earlier the problem is given a pragmatic solution. Your cultures, ways of life, approaches to issues and tradional ways of governance are miles different. That was why you were given the regional system in 1960. The problem that incursioned into the regional system post 1960 could have been avoided if the central government was still under the control of the British while each region continued to grow at its pace.

Fiscal federalism? Fine, but the indigenous status and the residence status must be preserved and retained. The Aborigines must not be made endangered speeches in their ancestral homes. Today, someone from Niger can cross the borders and find their way down the South to perpetrate crimes. In a normal clime that shouldn't be so. The borders are too porous and unmanned. There should be a robust database to maintain the data of people residing in a region/state with their indigenous status.

Meanwhile, I don't believe we can't have a system SIMILAR to the UK's, I only believe we can't have what is EXACTLY like the UK's. If a system worked prior to independence, why can't it work today? Like I said, time will tell if the coming elections will usher in the leaders that will solve the problems on ground. We'll continue to study the trend of events as they unfold.

openmine:

So if i get you correctly we should all as usual keep lamenting about our poor leaders and give up because the ones we have currently have failed us?
As much as i agree with you that we need to go back to the very foundation that adequately worked for the nation which is true federalism,we must also know that we the electorates have the mandate to elect the right personality to take us there!
The likes of Awolowo or Azikwe that you mentioned did not just find their way into leadership positions by imposition...They were elected by the citizens of the country!
We cannot keep complaining of bad leadership and yet sit still and do nothing hoping for God to miraculously drop a messiah as president to leader us...
If we want things to change,we the citizens must do our best to elect the right candidates not just in the presidency but the state and LGAs!

Can Obi restructure the country? Let's be sincere with ourselves.

I'm not saying people should fold hands. However, I think the issue of restructuring or the salient matters raised in the 2014 confab report should have been seriously addressed before the 2023 elections. That's why I said earlier that I don't still understand the magic wand any of the current candidates can use to solve the enormous problems.

The country currently uses about 90% of its revenue to service its debt. It has gotten to the point that the national assembly is considering scrapping about 400 MDAs to curb wastage in the face of dwindling revenue. There's a nation-wide security challenge while oil - the main stay of the country's economy - is reported to have been subject to continual theft. Which of the indicators on the performance dashboard is showing a positive sign currently?

The UK is made up 4 countries basically - England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. That was how the country was patterned up till 1960 - Northern Nigeria, Eastern Nigeria and Western Nigeria - when it gained its independence. The Welsh, English, Scottish, and Irish people have been able to retain their individual country till date as it were. Can that be said of your country where people are being kidnapped and killed in their ancestral lands at the moment?

newoffer:
If you experience agbero on daily basis u will not dream of supporting the Awon lokan of today politics.

Agbero is just one of the societal problems created by the kind of governance structures you have. There are so many others of such problems. Are you aware of people falling victims of fake imported drugs on daily basis? Many of such victims have died untimely while those importers smile to banks as "shrewd businessmen". If your focus is only on Agbero, good, but you're just wasting time without addressing the root cause.

openmine:

That is not totally true!

We have leaders who can do far better than what we are witnessing today!
Provision of Power supply,curbing insecurity,repair or rebuilding of refineries and encouragement of more local production is not rocket science if we have focus driven leaders not just at the apex of power but the buttom where you have the LGA chairman!

The mere idea that there is no magic wand is a ready made excuse by some folks who are benefitting from the mess that Nigeria is currently facing!

We dont need saints to make Nigeria better,we need the right leaders who understand what needs to be done and the will power to do so!

If this administration had prioritized the rebuilding or repair of refineries in their first 4 years while lobbying for the bill to decentralize electricity in the country,we wont be in this financial mess where we have to pay a whooping 6trillion for just fuel subsidy!

Seriously? The leaders who can do far better that your country has never had since its creation in 1960. Sorry! Some of your leaders who did that in the past performed when your country ran as a region-based federalism with the central government being administered by the British. That was when you had, for instance, the late sage - Awolowo - trail blazing in the Western Nigeria of then with astonishing performances. Since 1960 that the British left that country, it has never remained what it was.

You must go back to the foundation to address the root cause of your problem and stop chasing the shadows. Is this the kind of presidential system run in America? Is this the parliamentary system given to you by the UK? You can't leave leprosy and be killing ringworm. It's just a waste of time.

saintrow1:
Tinubu 2023

Nigerians who decided for OBJ in 1998 will decide when it's time.

openmine:

Please can you care to explain how the APC government has addressed insecurity?
Can you also give reasons why it took the FG 7 whole years to 'think' about how to get funds to fix just one refinery despite promising to not only repair the old but build new ones?

Hardly can you find a saint among today's set of politicians in Nigeria. Don't be deceived, as things are now, there's no magic wand any of the candidates has to resolve the myriads of problem confronting the country except it's restructured at least to how it was handed over at the independence.

Igbojew:
I have never ever seen people as greedy and this Yorubas.They eat and drink greediness and the annoying part of it is that they accuse Igbos of everything they are..........I am that Igbojew

The las las solution is to restructure Nigeria to a region-based federal structure with a weak central govt or a confederation.

2elliot:
It was this sort of nonsense sophistication politics by Akintola and Awowolo that caused the emergency rule and the breakdown of law, which resulted to the first coup that soon brought about the unitary system replacing federalism. The north is still exploiting that mistake. Now, you guys have come up with this one that may soon give the Muslim north greater power to use against us.

I don't support an MM ticket but leave Awolowo out of this. Akintola/Awolowo wouldn't have been an issue if the FG led by Zik and Tafawa had not supported Akintola to disregard the decision of the Privy Council in the UK. Can their wayo-wayo be separated from the Republic Nigeria got in 1963?

Gozac:

Remember North East and Southeast have not ruled and Southwest have ruled 8 years as VP and President respectively. If Atiku from North East clinches it Nigeria will never boil at all. Mark my words today

North East has not ruled? Yes! South East has not ruled? Lie. South East ruled from 1960 October 1 to January 15 1966 when Nnamdi Azikiwe was the president. South East ruled from January 15 1966 to July 29 1966 when Aguiyi Ironsi was the military head of state.

onuman:

For presidency to move to the south, Bola Tinubu shall step down and collapse his structures to Peter Obi's Labour party.

Your low IQ is why you think that if you associate Peter Obi with IPOB, you have made a point against Obi's candidacy.
By the way, IPOB is an organisation of intelligent people. Only Nigerian parasites like you see IPOB as a terrorist organisation.
How do you classify Oduduwa Republic agitators believed to have been sponsored by Tinubu as blackmail on Fulani to hand over power to Tinubu after president Buhari?
How do you classify those that literally carved out a new Islamic country in the 12 northern sharia states through adoption of unconstitutional sharia criminal laws that ushered in Boko Haram and its bandits offshoots?

Are you indirectly saying BAT will not win? Anyway, I don't know the magic that whoever wins will perform with the current situation of things.

onuman:

For Peter Obi to win in first ballot, Tinubu needs to collapse his structures in the southwest where he has a stronghold, if Tinubu truly wants presidency to come to the south.
Obi shall win in all the other southern states and win 25% of votes in the SW and middle belt, but Tinubu can't.
FYI, a presidential candidate must win 25% of votes in 24 states before proclaimed winner of Nigeria's presidential election.
Atiku is most likely to win landslide in the 13 states of NW and NE zones, but can hardly win 25% of votes in the southern states.
If the election goes into supplementary stage where two foremost presidential candidates contest for most popular votes, Atiku is most likely to win because the north is poised on retaining the presidency after PMB.

Your major fear is that your covetousness of Yoruba land will be contained should Tinubu win the presidential election, the country be restructured into regions or the West become a country of its own. True or false?

searchlight:
If we truly want equity, Fair play, justice and uprightness the presidency should go to the South East anything outside this justifies the north making claims. If Tinubu can contest why cant Atiku, infact if Obi can't get it the north should keep it Atiku precisely should have a shot

Which equity are you looking for that you have not been able to get since 1914 of your creation and 1960 of your independence? Your fear of losing big should Nigeria be restructured or broken is what is making you to call for a Northerner to continue in 2023, not because you so much love the Northerners. That was, no doubt, the same reason you aligned with the North in 1960. You're covetous of Yoruba land and afraid of what will happen to your economic interests should the West become a country of its own.

candidtalk:


Indeed. Incisive post. It is the patent dishonesty of Igbos that prevents them admitting the truth in their heart which is that they love everything about other Nigerians and their land more than even their own land and people. This is why the Asian who has never ser foot in Lagos is always more concerned about Tinubu and Sanwo Olu rather than Ikpeazu.

You're right that they are taking advantage of our civility but that will stop because it has to and not because we Yorubas want it to.

I still tell Nigerians to take a lesson from brexit but they won't listen. I voted for the UK to remain in Europe but majority voted to leave but I now understand and respect their decision.

Like the SW, the UK is relatively wealthy and more desirable a destination than nations of the EU around her whose citizens had the privilege to move to the UK and settle there.

In the end it became clear to the UK they were becoming poorer and less able to meet the needs of Britons because they had to share jobs, resources, accommodation and even healthcare with folks from several European Countries.

Yorubas are now in that phase and I have seen this mood before. Same mood, driven by what had became an existentialist fervour, especially among older adults, pervaded the air before Brits shocked David Cameron and the world by choosing to Brexit.

I really pity Igbos because they are so materialistic and simplistic they really never see properly or appreciate what is nuanced but obvious.

The North, for example, know precisely what's up hence their desperation to hold on to power even at the risk of opening a Pandora box by truncating the North to South transition of power that is the only thing that keep the peace and still makes Nigeria somewhat predictably steady.

If Igbos had any sense they'd be agitating desperately with Yorubas for regional governance. Yet the part of your post in bold captures their reality brilliantly. They are genuinely afraid to go it alone and afraid of a Nigeria where they do not have access to the resources, land and markets of others.

They only ever make Biafra noise to blackmail Nigeria for power. No bigger proof of this than how Biafra noise is now non-existent because they think Obi stands a chance of winning.

Intelligent people are never fooled by the vapid and vacuous pontificating of Igbos.

I understood the reason why UK was pushing for Brexit then and I indeed supported the move. Thank God it wasn't too late for them. I respect the late sage so much but I've reasoned within me that Yorubas should have asked for total disintegration at independence or supported the British to continue ruling Nigeria until the other regions accepted the idea of that disintegration.

Advocate500:
I have nothing against a yurobaman , God bear me witness,I only pointed out the obvious,I believe in equity and fairness,so it will be difficult for me to criticize anyone who claim to be fighting the same thing.

But same cannot be said about most of you, south east leaders have made their mistake,is igboman going to live with the mistake of few individual for the rest of his life?

Oga you guys were at the forefront of the opposition against secession champion by an igboman , what have change within that space of time?

This is where the mistake is being repeatedly made. That some Yorubas continue to speak against the creation of Biafra should not be viewed as the mind of all Yorubas. Likewise, that some Ibos continue to speak against the creation of Yoruba nation or Oduduwa nation should not be perceived as the mind of all Ibos.

There are even some online commentors that are neither Ibos nor Yorubas but continue to speak against the creation of both Biafra and Yoruba nations as they fear what will happen to them should these two peoples be allowed to exit Nigeria.

There are also some Yorubas that are against the creation of Yoruba nation just as there are Ibos that are against the creation of Biafra all because of their selfish reasons. Whatever, no region should be forced to join a new marriage without the consent of its people.

What I consider hypocritical, however, is for some Ibos to keep saying what they saw in 1966/67 that made them to go the way of coup/civil war was not seen by the Yorubas until latter years. I consider that as being perfidous and an attempt to re-write history as Nigeria did not start in 1966/67. I hardly read the Ibos owing up to the mistakes of their leaders like you just did and condemning those mistakes the way they often attack the Yoruba leaders. The Ibos hardly admit that the Biafra of 1967 included many people of minority groups in the old Eastern region, especially those like Adaka Boro who had earlier wanted out of the Eastern region the way the Midwest was taken out of the old Western region.

That Nigeria marriage of over 60 years is not working is obvious to the blind. Nevertheless, I observed the current state of things and concluded within me that based on anticidendts, it will be easier for an Ibo man to be the president of the country if the idea is first well supported by the other two blocks in the South. To support that idea, however, I also concluded based on observations that the power at the center must be made weak to allow for regional autonomy such that no people's cultural and natural boundaries will be considered a 'no man's land', expressed or implied. Alternatively, the regions may be allowed to go their separate ways as being agitated now.

toneroforever:


It's very likely. Remember he promised to fight dirty. Since Buhari has said he won't rig the election for him, Tinubu knew it was game over for him except he acts fast.
He really wants to be a president come next year, whether of Nigeria or Oduduwa he just doesn't care. After all, president na president.

Which division? Even Atiku has said repeatedly that the country has never been thus divided.

PROUDIGBO:


We can’t!

The present status-quo and political-economy didn’t just happen like that! It’s the result of a decades long conscious effort to tilt everything in favour of the Fulani hegemony that hold sway today!

Asking for help from the face and physical representation of this hegemony, Buhari, to either change said status-quo and political-economy….or to oversee the disintegration of ‘one Nigeria’, is like asking a lion to give up a tasty meal of antelope meat! Impossicant as Zebby might say!

Does Akintoye actually think that if they allow the Yoruba to secede, Ndigbo would be looking on at proceedings without wanting to jakpa themselves!?

Are you saying Ceaser has crossed the Rubicon and Rome must prepare for its eventual fall?

Advocate500:
I for saw this,no tribe can endure what igboman have endured in Nigeria,yet they remain hopeful and resolute,is it tribalism, hatred by those in power, name it, even minority tribe challenge igboman for a squabble,yet it's doesn't deter igboman.


Yorubaman have been relatively peaceful with an hausa man because of what he intends to benefit at detriment of others,but it looks as if that relationship is not going to work again because of what is keeping them together is about to be taken away.

I know a day like this will come .

My Igbo brother's should neutral as event unfold or else they will use us to settle their difference as they normally do.

No be only Yoruba nation na,na Yoruba kingdom.

There's nothing you foresaw that had not been foreseen by the Yorubas. What you saw in 1966 that led to the first military coup and in 1967 that led to the Civil War had been foreseen about 10 years before then by the Yorubas. They warned and told you to have a secession clause in the constitution but you rejected the idea for economic reasons and due to greed for other people's lands. When the Yorubas saw your opposition to the secession clause, they settled for another alternative that was available, though not the best one, which is a federal structure with regional autonomy. That structure barely lasted for 6 years when an Ibo man named Aguiyi Ironsi destroyed it. So, save us the crocodile's tears and the cat's sermon.

Kasssandra:


At the end,it is not about voting, it is also about participating

And yea, Obi tinubu atiku are the same. I am not voting for anyone of them. Keep being super upset about it. None of my business

I don't care whether you vote for any of them or not as it's apparent there's a little any of them can do with the current situation.

johnmartus:
Lol we can't manage our diversity.

It's obvious.

2elliot:
What that tells me is that, the south west is the only willing tool that sabotages the disintegration of this failed country with the fulani. Mind you, it has nothing to do with them being sophisticated, unless you believe that Agonja was sophisticated too.

The WILLING TOOL can be found in the tribe that stood against the secession clause pre-independence and made doing so a treasonable felony thereby making it difficult for each region with its own cultural identity to peacefully exit the union. The WILLING TOOL can be found in the tribe that destroyed the regional structure so as to give its people a upper hand in governance. The WILLING TOOL can be found in the tribe that stood against late Adaka Boro's quest for the regional autonomy of the Niger Deltan's region. Meanwhile, if your region has gotten something to negotiate like the SW, be willing and free to bring it to the table.

olisaEze:


So the issue isn’t hardship again and the late Zik is the reason why things are now hard in Nigeria!

Oga, every election cycle since '99 the SW always brings up secession, it’s how they have always negotiated for a stake in any incoming administration.

If you have been following history and can read between lines, you will understand that the SW's agitation for self determination or regional autonomy dated back to before Nigeria's independence. Awolowo's performance during the time the regions operated with a reasonable level of autonomy alluded to their desire for self-determination contrary to Zik's predisposition. That's another reason OBJ is never liked in the SW as much as Awo is. That's why OBJ was not voted by the SW in 1999. It was other Nigerians that brought OBJ to power in 1999, not the SW people. The SW people understand the Fulanis antecedents and other land usurpers across the Niger. The hardship has always been there, it's just being more pronounced in the last 7 years and that had been foreseen from a long time ago; hence, the quest for having the secession clause in the constitution.

Kasssandra:


Because

1.It did not work

2.Minorities did not like it. Big tribes oppressed the smaller tribes.

3.None of the regions can live on their resources like they did in the 1960's...the populaiton has grown beyond that.

4.Regions were not as good as you think they were. Outside some parts of the cities, life was just as it is now. Even within the cities, life was harsh.

5.Most people want states, more states, not regions.

1) If you want states, then the states should be allowed to grant both residence and indigeneship status to those in the states. You cannot claim to be an indigene of a state if your forebears have no cultural relationship with the composite administrative divisions of that state as at 1914 when the amalgamation was done. The indigiounous status will be determined by the recognized traditional council of that state. The governor of the state reserves the right to grant or revoke the residence status of any person living in a state subject to the ratification of the state house of Assembly.

2) If you want regions, each region should be headed by a premier who should double as a VP to a ceremonial president. The governor of each state within a region will continue to meet and deliberate on the regional development of the region while the state functions as stated in (1) above.

Whichever way, the cultural and traditional identity of each state and region should be preserved and not allowed to be threatened or overrun by some marauders either expressly or implied. One thing you should know, however, is that the Yorubas will no longer be BALKANISED after some Yorubas have earlier been balkanised to Benin Republic, Ghana, Togo, Northern Nigeria and SS Nigeria.

relaxandsmile:
It will get heated in the coming days. Mark my words!You know why? Their candidate may not be getting the aspired support from the North. They have closed their media houses against any criticism of the Buhari Junta with the hope that they will get a smooth ride to the presidency. Now it is getting clearer that the people they seek for support only knows themselves and nothing else.
Southern unity would have made other region to be careful when dealing with Nigerians. But no, they will rather have infighting while they all suffer.

Southern unity will be achieved the day the South recognizes that we are culturally different and respect our natural boundaries. When you know the root cause of a problem, you are close to solving the problem. You cannot have a united southern front where a tribe keeps coveting the lands of other tribes and calling them "no man's lands". It won't work. You cannot erase the ancient land mark.

Kasssandra:
Look closely, and you would see that the people behind the secession movement are either in PDP or supporting PDP.

When you are out of power, secession looks attractive. That's why Tinubu was saying things like..I don't believe in Nigeria unity...till he got into power.

I don't like secessionist and similar groups because they are not genuine. If many IPOB supporters suddenly became LP supporters, plus if many PDP supporters suddenly cried for Oodua republic when their party was out...and if Tinubu could be chanting restructuring when out of power...and now is a one Nigerianist when in power....

All in all, people want more and more of the national cake. Either way, Nigeria suffers.

Nigeria needs a leader who will remove subsides on power and petroleum, and widen the tax net. Now.

Keep looking for a leader you have never got since over 60 years of your creation. Wish you a happy search!

Fejoku:
After Oluwo of Iwo, others have responded to the petition of Pa Akitoye to the terrorist government of Nigeria. All fingers are pointing towards the disintegration of Nigeria and it should be rightly so. We all know that the current government will not heed to the request. They have their own plan which is the sole conquest of the South and middle belt. Those who don't appreciate IPOB today will eventually do so very soon. We are the ones that understand them very well.
NB: Oluwo's outcry isn't based out of any sincerity for equity but out of greed. His veiled speaking for Southern Nigeria isn't based on equity but rather out of selfishness. We all know who he is referring to when using Southern Nigeria. He has equated the denial of a single person being a president to the quest for secession yet has been speaking against those calling for the same secession after they've been treated with disdain for more than half a century in a country they fought hard to help free.
Like I'll always say, e go reach everybody.

The Ibos wouldn't have needed to fight any war in 1967 if Zik had supported the secession clause proposed by Awo about 10 years earlier. Ironsi collapsing the regional structure made things worse. All Ojukwu would have done is to activate the secession clause in 1967 if Zik had earlier supported the idea. Besides, the quest by Adaka Boro to separate the minority group in old Eastern region should have been granted just the way Zik granted the separation of the old Midwest (currently Delta and Edo) from the old Western region.

2elliot:
Don't be an slowpoke. There is a reason why south west is relatively peaceful, even despite your agitations. The federal govt no reason una matter reach 1% sef. If the federal govt had killed unharmed Oduduwa protesters continuously as they did ipob, you wouldn't have remained cool. But they allowed you all do your protests in peace.

Does that tell you that the SW has gotten something more than the SE to bring to the negotiation table?

NaijaRoyalty:

What makes you different from IPob?

Nigeria is one and will not divide

Support Peter Obi for a better Nigeria for all

And if PGO does not win, what happens? Go back to the trenches?

olisaEze:
The SW should be the last group in Nigeria to ever ask for a secession! If any one tribe has enjoyed the proceeds of democracy more than any other tribe in this nation, it is the SW.

Whatever hardship the good prof is talking about can be directed to the doorpost of their son the Vice President and his aged father Yekini A. Ogunlere!

Give us an example of a relatively peaceful and advanced country that is structurally ruled the way Nigeria is - USA, Germany, UK, Canada, Australia, etc.? Why was Zik against having a secession clause in the constitution and why did Ironsi collapse the regional structure given to us by the colonial masters? What was and is their fear?