People are entitled to their beliefs. Hell, some girl thought my poya (Espanol) was a demi-god.
However, gender re-assignment is not a miracle. It would seem God is only just catching up

Ijawkid and itsfact. I want to make a bold claim. Both of you have had something to do with JW. The terms being employed and they way they are used, are JW speak. itsfacts you were a former JW.

Ijawkid. Please take a look again at what itsfact wrote. I think his post is largely right. Although they did not come out to say Jehovah protected those people from the Dana crash, however they quoted what other people say, gave it prominence, put in such a way that it would sit in the subconcious of the reader as if they were facts. It is sublimal, suggestive. Hence the facebook support and related comments.

The very day you start to actually study the claims of JW and scriptures without the watchtower, that very day the scales in your eyes will fall off.

Address the issues, don't attack the individual.

During Mohammed's time, men aspired to be war-like, strong, fear inspiring, conquerors. Very few, if any, saw wrongness in such pursuit, or life style. Joshua, Solomon and David of the Bible, were all described and hailed as valiant men of war, wars in which they conducted pogroms, maiming, beheading, dismembering men, women, children, and even animals. The life style of some Christian religious leaders today is not much different from that of Mohammed.

They all had claims to divine authorisation. I would say they were SICK in the head. Their Gods should have known better than command them to go on a killing spree. One would have expected Allah, or the Jewish God to know that asking a human to kill another human is not just barbaric, it is morally wrong and repugnant, the same with taking a child as a bride, or enslaving your fellows.

Religion is a wicked concoction that should be rejected and systematically broken.

While Christianity is a bit tolerant today, Islam is yet to get to that stage, and I don't think we have the patience to let it under go that gradual metamorphosis, as too many people will suffer unnecessarily and probably have been killed within that time. It needs to be stopped now! Along with other religions and their bigoted followers.

~Bluetooth:


He made life miserable for people ? How exactly ? This is a capitalist society where the struggle for survival rules.If you find yourself at the bottom of the foodchain,blame it on yourself.

I don't understand how you do not see that the likes of Obasanjo, Gowon, Atiku, IBB, etc are responsible for the poverty and the unecessarily sufferings Nigerians have been put through for several decades now, and how they continiously plunder and steal public money. Obasanjo led an illegal and extremely corrupt military regime. Monies meant to develop infrastructure were routinely plundered under his oversight. His daughter mismanaged and stole billions meant to to provide electricity infrastructure in Nigeria. I don't see why he deserve the respect of anyone. George Bush and Dick Cheney did not bring the american economy to its kneels, they did not steal public funds. My father did not steal money and so does deserve my respect, infact he toiled under the hardship brought upon us by the very corrupt leaders such as Obasanjo.

What you should realize is that, your future has been stolen by people like him, because they did not invest in your future; this is why prices of simple commodities are constantly on the rise, and we are unable to produce basic food such rice to feed ourselves.

Just so you know, yes Nigeria operates a capitalist economy. A capitalist economy is meant to provide the opportunity for wealth creation and decent jobs for the vast majority. But these guys would not let it work due to their immoral and sickening corruption.

Please don't preach culture, if a culture permits a very small minority to take advantage of others to the extent that it leads to the senseless suffering and death of the lot, then I think that culture should be canned along with the protagonist.

FXKing2012:

I know the miracles are real and I dont need anybody's confirmation cos I've been a witness to it. For your information I dont even attend Winners Chapel but I have had a pastor (Pastor Chris Oyakhilome) lay hand on me when[b] I was really sick and I got my healing instantly. So I am witness[/b].

It's shame that people do no believe in miracle. I do. I have experienced it twice.

I was ill(well feverish) on a hot sunny day in 1994, I could hardly walk, I was cold and shaking. However I got up and proceed to the pharmacy to get fansidar, on my way I decided to eat at a local mama put's place as I have not eaten all morning. I ate two plates of solid pounded yam and egusi soup. By the time I finished I was sweating all over. My fever disappeared. I was miraculously healed by the pounded yam and egusi soup.

Another incident, I use to occassionally suffer unexplained headaches. One of those days, I was suffering such headache, it was rather severe this time. I lay down in sofar, just waiting for it to pass, delicately resting my head, and in came running my younger brother, he said to me, in a rather hush tone, "Hilary is at the door asking for you", I jumped, I was startled, the reason being that Hilary was one of the most beautiful girls in our area and the sort of girl you can only dream of as a teenager. Well she wanted me to take her through Maths home work etc. It was only at the end I realize my headache wasn't there anymore, and that infact from the moment I head her name, my headache disppeared. My brother healed me in the name of Hilary. Wow!

So yes! all you doubting thomas believe and ye shall get your miracles! My only querrell with FXKing2012 and his likes are that you do not need to go to Pastor Chris(whom I consider one of the greatest fraudsters in living memory), or Oyedepo, or Adeboye to get your miracles, correct pounds or a beautiful girl's name can provide the same miracle experience. I KNOW BECAUSE I AM A WITNESS!!

frosbel:


So you are now omnipresent , able to monitor and assess everything happening in all parts of Benin .  

If you grew up in Benin, especially if you are a native of of Benin (not necessary a bini person), it would be almost impossible not to have friends and relatives in different part of the city who would be close to the source of an event when it happens. Ofcourse such stories will be a bit tainted as they are reported by word of mouth, however they will be largely correct. Therefore if the stealing, and indeed the illegal killing of cattle stocks were that high and rife, we would know. I for one will know(although I do not currently live in Benin. But the story appears exagerated to a level of being false.

I grew up in ikpoba hill, not too far from the cattle market. In the early 90s I witness first hand a stray bull slaughtered and shared by "boys". But these guys where caught and their parents made to pay for the bull in cash. But this was not a rife incident. This same sort of thing I am sure(might be wrong, but unlikely) has happened in Ekiti, ibadan, enugu, warri etc.

I think it is quite a low, for people to make sweeping comments about a group, based on common heritage, language etc. There are thieves everywhere in the world, a thief is a thief, irrespective of what they steal. But painting a whole group of people as thieves is very sick.

The governors are kicking against FG proposed sovereign wealth fund(SWF). According to FG, the fund will serve as form of savings for the future of Nigeria, and a place to draw funds from in times of financial need/crisis. On the other hand the governors are against the idea, they argue that all monies, or extra revenues acruing, should be immediately disbursed to the three tier of government as they need more money for recurrent expenditure, such as to finance the recent increase in public workers salaries etc. What do you think? who is right? and why do you think they are right?

maxpro-xl:

@ UGBO & THEHOMER. please read my response to JESOUL above
Am not selfish and egotistic (as ugbo said) and am not callous & over-bearing(as thehomer said): if l am, she wont av accepted me & l wont av proposed to her. the truth is she was able to hide her JW beliefs from me until she moved in with me. I NEVER INVITED HER TO MOVE IN, IT WAS HER DECISION. According to her, she doesn’t want other girls around me but l know it was because the place was more comfortable that her student house.

Seems both u(ugbo & thehomer) don’t under the concept of marriage. Its because of reasons like this that we av many divorce cases worldwide. Am being sensitive to the future. am not intolerant & not an extremist. l don’t even go to church every Sunday due to my work. Out of the 20-Sundays, l was only around for about 12-Sundays.

I met her half-way as both of u noted as that is the real sign of true love. Am not conformed to daystar or any other church(as thehomer noted). The truth is JW are extremist. Catholics, Anglicans, Methodist, Baptists are not and are very tolerant. If u must know, l was born into a Baptist family and still attend once in a while. Av dated girls in the past that l followed to catholic & Methodist churches so am not an extremist. those were my wayward days. Going the extra mile just to get a girl as a former player during my university days. but am a changed man now, old things av passed away.

Maxpro-xl, I am sure you are a nice guy. You seem to be mixing up a few things here, religious believes(including what you think is right and wrong), what you believe a marriage should be, and the place of a man and woman in the marriage institution. You've made up your mind that JWs are extremist, but catholics etc are not, how you arrived at that conclusion I am not sure, but I don't want to go into that. Anyway, I do understand marriage, I am happily married. Marriage is a union of two equals. That you keep insisting she must go with you to your church is what I consider egotistical and selfish. Did you offer to go to her church? What did you give up or do that was a compromise on your part? how did you meet her half way?

You also painted a picture of a male chauvinist, when you said : any woman that is not ready to massage a man’s ego, shld rather not get married. The reason there are so many divorce is because of such chauvinistic attitude which does not have a place in our modern world, plus women are beginning to demand fare treatment from their male partners. There are millions of very happy marriages the world over that not based on christianity. But I agree with you that you need to have the similar(not necessarily the same) set of believes or atleast tolerate each others believes to have a less argumentative union, however I do not agree to putting one person believes over the other, this is the same thinking boko haram, al qaeda, al shabab and other extremist set have, which is "I am right, you are dead"(2004; The Reith Lectures, Wole Soyinka).

You have also now insinuated she moved into your house for selfish reasons, which is to be comfortable, well if this is the case, it means you really don't think much of her anyway, so why are you with her? why not end it. You seem to attend church for the sake of it, so why are you bothered that she wont go with you to church?

JeSoul:

The poster is a christian and asked for advice along those lines. If you find christian beliefs 'disgusting' that is your certainly your perogative. Cheers.

Please do read and understand comments before you reply. There is nothing in my comment that suggests that I find christian believes disgusting. I said your advice is. If you do a little 10minutes research you would find that JWs are christians, just as are seventh day adventist church, Christ Church, Christ Church of latter day saints, catholics, Anglican etc. They all are christians, but hold and espouse different views, even though the use basically the same biblical bases.

JeSoul:

My brother I really feel for you.

From the way you speak about her and your feelings for her . . . I'll advice you not to give up on her too easily. Pray and continue to talk to her, sometimes all it takes is time and persuation. Maybe you'll need to be physically away or 'seperated' from her for a while to show her you're serious and to also give her the chance to decide for herself if she loves you enough to move forward. You said she already said she'll change, give her a chance to demonstrate it. Its not easy to find someone you call "your best friend & closest confidant", so don't throw it away without a good fight and giving it your best effort. You're the man so you're emotionally stronger - she'll definitely need your help, patience and prayers.

 and by God's grace it shall be well with you.

What I find extremely disgusting about this advise, is the assumption of "RIGHT". How did you determine that she is in the wrong religion and he is in the right one? What makes you think your views are not extreme? that your religion is not the wrong one? why does she have to change her religion?. The poster exhibited extreme male chauvinism. Your intolerant attitude is not different from the extremism exhibited by islamic fundamentalist. You are blinded by out of date religious zealotry.

@poster, if you really want to be with her, you should meet her half way. It is selfish and egotistical to assume you are absolutely right and she is completely wrong.

I know Mike Igini from his days as the president of SUG, University of Benin. He had loads of girlfriends, I mean loads, he didn't exhibit any such tendencies then.

Gbawe:

My brother, with all due respect, this is more decietful myth than tenable excuse. GEJ is not duty bound to accept any nominee off the bat. He can reject recommendations and widen the scope of available nominees if he is not the "underwhelming" administrator he is known to be.

Before the election the excuse for GEJ's poor cabinet was that he did not not have the 4 years he needed to 'assert' himself politically. His apologist , even on this website, assured that GEJ's post-election Cabinet would be "superb" because it would be "his own team". When this has not turned out to be the case we are faced with this new excuse about the constitution and GEJ having to accept names submitted to him. Your argument actually makes GEJ look worse.

True, he can reject recommendations, but appointments to political offices are not as straightforward as you try to make it look. What you are saying would be possible in an autocratic system. In an inclusive system such as democracy, political parties have a strong hold on their members, as these are their primary constituencies. Politicians cannot operate without their party influence, they operate lobbyists to get their supporters, and financier's people into positions. This is why you see certain appointments and you wonder "why". In every democracy you find this sort things. What we need is a system to hold these public office holders accountable, a preventive system rather than reactive. Most of, if not all the ministers are very capable of delivering; but their attitude to business and intent, are usually fraudulent, they come with a culture to enrich themselves, and that is what results in failure. This is what needs checking and this where Okonjo comes in. Yes, let GEJ try a different system; since someone such as Okonjo will never ever be allowed to become president, except they go through the corrupt furnace of our political system, therefore I welcome her premiership, let us see what she can do as an outsider; it is a different system, lets see if it will work. It will great if GEJ can abdicate his all his responsibility to Okonjo.(this is just my wishful thinking)

I would say the insecurity issue lies at the door of our politicians, which GEJ represents at the top. The insecure environment in which we live did not start with GEJ; the decay that is seen in all aspects of the Nigeria polity is also evident in the area of security. Boko Haram bombings only served to bring it to the fore. A nation were armed robbers operate with impunity, with no existing mechanism or framework to respond to such crimes, cannot fight terrorism.

Although I completely hold GEJ responsible as the president, but the current state of affairs is not his making, it is something that has been since independence. No past government did anything to ensure proper security. They only try to fortify their personal security by building high wall fences, hiring ma guard etc, forgetting that a hungry ma guard poses an immediate and imminent security risk to them. My point is, a hungry and highly impoverished people is an insecure nation especially when a few appropriate the wealth to themselves and their cronies. Those who are most afraid are the big men. Obasanjo embarked on a bombing campaign of Odi, instead of addressing the root causes, he allowed sharia governments, rather than addressing it as it rears it's ugly head.

I am afraid that somehow there is no solution to Nigeria; I strongly believe that Nigeria is a failed state, and I do not apologize for that; people like obasanjo, Atiku, babangida, gowon, anenih, ibori, igbinedion, the entire arewa, afenifere, ndigbo, and their niger delta/south south counterparts bodies have, over time, sacrificed the lives of Nigerians for their personal benefits. When there is an accident that results in death, remember that the money meant to build/fix the road was stolen by anenih; when a child or someone dies from common curable diseases due to lack of proper health care, remember all the past ministers of health, they stole the money meant to fix the health system; when you sleep with mosquitoes and no electricity at night, remember the all past ministers of power and energy, they have sacrificed your comfort to finance their luxury. Bottom line, when you are experiencing poverty and insecurity, remember the causes are the politicians, whom GEJ current represents.

wow! objectivity has completely gone out of the door! in this thread I see one of the very many things wrong with Nigeria "Inability to question authority" or hold them accountable. GEJ is a servant not a lord. His primary duty is the security of lives and property; once there is a failing, such as this bombing, then he should be questioned and criticized; he owes Nigerians an explanation. Security is his primary job, that is what his is paid to do; he is the chief security officer, the commander in chief. This is not the first time boko haram will strike in Abuja. This is a,repeated failing on this part. He should resign immediately. He cannot be trusted with the safety of Nigeria lives and property.

Someone in authority should come up to explain to Nigerians how the government intend to deal with the situation, and calm the fears of Nigerians, it is not enough to go round hospital or ask your spokes man to put a word out in the dailies. I hold GEJ completely accountable for the lost of lives. it is time we start holding out politicians to account. Stop the partisan thing, it does not benefit anyone.

If una like make una curse me.

Ibori: Still a phenomenon at 53

Dan Amor, 0802  359  7734 (sms only pls)danamor67@yahoo.com


It is possible to distinguish three distinctive though overlapping phases in the critical evaluation of the Ibori phenomenon. The first centres on the validity of Iborian political doggedness as an adequate rendering of the Nigerian political life. This phase began with the reality of his humble background and his consuming desire and determination to rise above the common herd. Although specific scholarly argumentative study of the Ibori phenomenon will evolve with time, the larger-than-life stature the Oghara-born politician, publisher and businessman has assumed as a virtuoso of the Nigerian power game is sure to legitimatize the claim in some quarters that in spite of everything James Onanefe Ibori is a miracle. The second phase accentuates his passage to Asaba as one of the youngest of Nigeria’s 36 state governors when he secured a landslide victory as Executive Governor of the oil rich Delta State, South-South Nigeria in May 1999. This includes the challenges that confronted him as governor of a war-torn state and how he wooed the restive youths, pacified the feuding factions and confounded the bookmakers.

The third phase concerns the many battles he has had to fight and the victories recorded-an aspect of divine intervention which has helped to expose the futility of political persecution where the rule of law presides. Although political victimization and name-calling are popular weapons of chicanery in Nigerian politics since independence, never have they been prosecuted with such evil passion, hate and doggedness as witnessed in the fraudulent “ex-convict case” against Ibori. Official sponsorship of this brazen example of a matter cooked up with deceit and sustained by lies-including bad faith ensured that Ibori’s integrity was powerfully assaulted, but the man simply remained unbowed accepting rather to wade through the rigorous judicial process until his final vindication as an innocent man. It would be recalled that in the early days of pre-2003 gubernatorial election campaigns in Delta State, political bigotry, character assassination and the peddling of outright falsehood became flashpoints in the battle for the Government House, Asaba.

Two stalwarts of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Goodness Agbi and Anthony Alabi alleged to have been loyalists of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, conspired to institute a red-herring suit in the High Court, Abuja questioning Governor James Onanefe Ibori’s eligibility to contest the 2003 election. Through many tides and turns, the case gained a larger-than-life status due to Ibori’s enlarging image as a performer and monumental success as a visionary leader, with numerous radical ideas that have changed the face of Delta State for the good of the people. Ibori became Governor after almost 16 years of prolonged military gangsterism, rapacity and greed, a period when Delta State was the theatre of a war deliberately sponsored and promoted by the obnoxious central government in Abuja and its allies of multinational oil conglomerates in a divide-and-rule policy that pitched the Ijaws and Itsekiri against each other in order for the looters to have a free reign over the God-given oil of the Niger Delta. Like a typical war theatre, Warri the commercial hub of the State and its environs were completely desolate both physically and spiritually.

Ibori was, therefore, faced with a mountain of challenges: socially, politically and economically to contend with. In fact, what compounded Ibori’s task and made the degree of challenges faced by his administration assumed a frightening proportion were, in part, the several years of neglect and mismanagement by successive military administrations, the disunity among the various ethnic nationalities in the state, the environmental degradation occasioned by oil exploitation and exploration and the concomitant restiveness and agitations among the youths. Asaba the State capital was like a glorified village. The unmanageable rural-urban drift precipitated by the untold neglect of the rural communities, came to increase the problem of congestion and the menace of squalor and urban blight in Asaba. It is against this backdrop that the confounding but staggering achievements of the Ibori years in Delta could be adequately articulated. Senator Olorogun Felix Ibru, first executive Governor of Delta State was to declare in July 2006: “I think there has been some progress since I left office and I must give Governor James Ibori a pat on the back for the massive development of the state”.

Because, as Governor, he wanted to get things done, because he was often impatient and combative, because he felt simply and cared deeply, he made his share of mistakes, and enemies both within the state and the country. As a federalist, he it was who hosted the first ever conference of Niger Delta Governors and members of the National Assembly in Asaba in 2001, to take a position on the need for the oil producing region to be allowed to control its God-given resource and pay tax to the Federal Government as in a true federal state. Thus, he kick-started the official agitation for resource control. That was to be his greatest undoing, as the overbearing central government led by an equally overbearing and intemperate President saw him as a monstrosity and his action, an affront that must be halted. This was the beginning of Ibori’s travails. But, as an expedient, demanding and public-driven realist, he won all the battles against him and is still battling. He is profoundly revolutionary when viewed in the context of his time. More apparent, and more self-conscious, was the need for a new sense of identity and state character. What special qualities would distinguish the people of Delta State? What would be the habits and attitudes and characteristics of its people? What would they epitomize or stand for in Nigeria? Ibori laid the foundation for this new identity in Delta State.

Everyone knows that despite the numerous developmental strides the Ibori Administration made in Delta State which include roads in all nooks and crannies of the state, electrification, housing, educational institutions, health facilities, sport facilities, transportation, security, etcetera, Ibori built the Ase/Igbuku Bridge, the Ughoton-Omadina Bridge and the  famous Bomadi Bridge-bridges of hope and transformation – which demonstrate a classic testament of the journey into the new Niger Delta. The revolutionary significance of the Ibori years in Delta State is implicit in the nature and style of his administration. Though Ibori’s story is in its own way marvelous and majestic, like any other account of human dignity and potentiality, it nonetheless meets anyone who cares on his own ground. His overall testimony is therefore uplifting, challenging, relevant and revolutionary. For him, vanity, sloth, dissipation, timorousness, and hypocrisy must be shunned, while intrepidity, honesty, hard-work and charity are worthy attributes that must be promoted. As we celebrate him at 53, it is the desire of this column that his detractors and adversaries live long to see what he will become in the years ahead.

I am in a perpetual state of surprise, I am amazed that Nigerians still throng to churches and religious shenanigans for miracles, even when they still do not get any reprieve from poverty; the situation in Nigeria is getting worse every single day despite prayers in various forms, from mountain and fire type prayers to the healing schools of the self styled pastor Chris. Nigeria is one of the very few nations of the world where miracle working is believe by a vast number of people, unfortunately the poverty in the land helps to fuel this believe. Most of the rich nations of the world have a very large atheist population, and they are prospering, Nigeria and Nigerians are closest to God and yet extremely poor. It is fraud on a national scale, a crime against humanity. What surprise is me is this: in a country where there are no jobs the miracle workers promises not just jobs, but prosperity, wealth; also saying the lack of job or the cause of sickness or death is because of some enemies somewhere, not because of the corrupt politicians or bad economy or poor healthcare, poor food intake or dirty environment, thus taking the blame off our politicians onto children, the old, the mentally ill, poverty stricken, sick men and women.

Now the painfully part is that in many places education is an eye opener, it helps people reason and question the status quo, it is through such questioning the science has progress and thus technology which translate into human development. One would expect literate young to question the usefulness of institutions such as churches and traditional rulers/monarchs and their activities, how and if it benefits Nigerians. Unfortunately our universities are centres of religious zealotry, where what we learn does not seem to translate into real life application. Where there are pockets of fellowships left right and centre taking up class rooms hitherto used for studying.

I am interested to see anyone take up the challenge pose by doro.

PLEASE PARDON MY TYPO, DIDN'T READ THROUGH, TIRED FROM WORK.