Good morning, fellow Nairalanders.

We got a serious problem on this forum, and have been having it for some time.

It seems like people cannot disagree with someone without being abusive, or without begining their argument by calling someone 'an idiot', 'unimaginative' , 'foolish', 'dumb' 'dolt' , etc etc.

Now I know that we are all suffering under this Buhari regime, and at the end of the day, when someone makes a point that appears to be 'insensitive', we are all angry and pissed , and say things that we should not say....but the fact is,behaving like that is not only unproductive, it also is useless in the long run.

In twenty years from now, no one is going to remember or recall the discussions we had on this site. No one is going to recall how we fought over Buhari, GEJ, or so on. No one is going to recall all that....we would be talking about something else...so why spill electrons over something so transient.

And then there are the politicans on this site. Calling people IPOB or Agbado urchins whatever their political persusasion ....is a nice way of not only not convincing people not to vote for your candidate, but pissing off potential undecided voters. Honestly, it is sad that in Nigeria we cannot have a decent level of discussion without abuse. Even now, I don't know what the candidates stand for or what they want FOR nigeria.

And any attempt to ask a candidate's supporter for details, is met with abuse and mockery.

Now I know we are all catching cruise, and we are all using this site for amusement....but please , and please, if someone comes on this site and makes a comment about policy X .....and you respond by calling the person a big fool, and other unprintable names....remember, that shows a lot about you, not about the other person. Yeah you may get a lot of likes and shares, but it still does not make you right.

So, let's tone down the language. You can disagree with someone without losing your cool. At the end, this is a site.....not your life, or my life.


So, make we coolu coolu coolu temper.....


(The Kobonaire.).


P.S This is addressed to all tinubuites, obdients, atikulators, ipob supporters, oodua supporters, radical christians, radical muslims, neutrals, etc etc etc.

PPS 2: If you don't agree with me, no problems. Life goes on.

6 ways to have a healthy debate.

Do your homework. When you are well-informed on a topic you will have more to say. If you can cite specific sources then your argument will have more authority and be more persuasive.

Follow in Socrates’s footsteps. Try the Socratic Method when in the heat of debate. Ask questions to make your point instead of making simple statements.

Stay calm. Carry on with your argument regardless of any offensive or infuriating statements made by your fellow debater. Anything insensitive or ignorant only weakens his or her argument.

Communicate clearly. Avoid ambiguous statements and elevated jargon. You want what you say to be understandable. Be prepared to rephrase or repeat yourself to achieve clarity.

Stay open to new ideas. Enter into debate with an open mind. Never assume you have all the answers. You never know when others might have an interesting viewpoint that you never considered before.

Be willing to admit defeat. Leave your pride behind and don’t go down with a sinking ship. Be willing to alter your course. Let go of the concept of “winning” a debate and accept the prize of a new insight no matter whose side it comes from.

The sauce

Well said

Kobonaire234:
6 ways to have a healthy debate.

Do your homework. When you are well-informed on a topic you will have more to say. If you can cite specific sources then your argument will have more authority and be more persuasive.

Follow in Socrates’s footsteps. Try the Socratic Method when in the heat of debate. Ask questions to make your point instead of making simple statements.

Stay calm. Carry on with your argument regardless of any offensive or infuriating statements made by your fellow debater. Anything insensitive or ignorant only weakens his or her argument.

Communicate clearly. Avoid ambiguous statements and elevated jargon. You want what you say to be understandable. Be prepared to rephrase or repeat yourself to achieve clarity.

Stay open to new ideas. Enter into debate with an open mind. Never assume you have all the answers. You never know when others might have an interesting viewpoint that you never considered before.

Be willing to admit defeat. Leave your pride behind and don’t go down with a sinking ship. Be willing to alter your course. Let go of the concept of “winning” a debate and accept the prize of a new insight no matter whose side it comes from.

The sauce

If only you follow the last point. You won't still be propagating lies about fuel subsidy and electricity tariffs
Unfortunate for those who don't practice what they preach

Agbegbaorogboye:

If only you follow the last point. You won't still be propagating lies about fuel subsidy and electricity tariffs
Unfortunate for those who don't practice what they preach

Petrol subsidies are killing the economy and you want them to continue.

Cheap petrol comes at some very high price. It plays a big role in the depreciation of the naira and high inflation. The cost of servicing debt next year is 123% of government revenue. Were the government to end both forex and petrol subsidies, it would drop to like 70% if not less.

If you want the subsidies to continue then don't complain when the Naira drops to N900 to a dollar.

In meeting up to the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Bill, the price of petrol will no longer will no longer be subsidized, but the price deregulated.

This should have been implemented this year but Buhari as usual, never has the stomach for such policies. It has therefore been postponed till June next year shortly after his second term in office ends.

grandstar:


Petrol subsidies are killing the economy and you want them to continue.

Cheap petrol comes at some very high price. It plays a big role in the depreciation of the naira and high inflation. The cost of servicing debt next year is 123% of government revenue. Were the government to end both forex and petrol subsidies, it would drop to like 70% if not less.

If you want the subsidies to continue then don't complain when the Naira drops to N900 to a dollar.

In meeting up to the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Bill, the price of petrol will no longer will no longer be subsidized, but the price deregulated.

This should have been implemented this year but Buhari as usual, never has the stomach for such policies. It has therefore been postponed till June next year shortly after his second term in office ends.

Not only petrol subsidy that's killing the economy.
There's a lot of factors killing the economy.
It's not true that subsidy is responsible for naira depreciation and inflation.
Cost of debt servicing have nothing to do with subsidy as well.
Nobody wants subsidy to continue. But you have to get the fundamentals right. You just don't remove subsidy for the sake of removal. If not, you'll still find yourself at square one.