quote:World Bank rates Nigeria second poorest nation From Chinedu Uwaegbulam, New York
YET, another World Bank report has put Nigeria at the lowest rung of the world's development ladder. The new publication released at the ongoing United Nations summit offers new estimates of total wealth including produced capital, natural resources and the value of human skills and capabilities, which show that many of the poorest countries in the world are not on a sustainable path.
It cites Nigeria as a resource-dependent nation, which could have produced capital five times higher than it did in 2000, if only it had made a moderate effort to save.
The document: "Where is the Wealth of Nations? Measuring Capital for the 21st Century" launched by the World Bank listed the top-10 richest countries and top-10 poorest countries. Sub-Saharan Africa dominates the latter, with Nigeria standing on the ninth position only before Ethiopia, which has the lowest level of total wealth.
Switzerland heads a list in which the top-10 performers are all Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. European countries-of which two are Scandinavian-dominate the list and non-European economies are the United States and Japan.
Madagascar, Chad, Mozambique, Guinea Bissau, Nepal, Niger, Congo Republic, and Burundi are ahead of Nigeria in ranking. Their wealth per capital varies from $5,020 to $2, 859 while natural capital stood between 265 per cent and 42 per cent. The produced capital of the countries were put between 180 per cent and 6 per cent, and intangible capital 64 per cent and 39 per cent. Figures for Nigeria's wealth per capital are $2,748, natural capital 147 per cent, produced capital 24 percent and intangible capital is minus 71.
Although the statistics are four years late, World Bank officials defended the document saying, it is relevant as not much has changed in the countries listed in the report. "The calculations show how even a moderate saving effort, equivalent to the average saving effort of the poorest countries in the world, could have substantially increased the wealth of resource-dependent economies.
"In 2000, Nigeria, a major oil exporter, could have had a stock of produced capital five times higher.
Moreover, if these investments had taken place, oil would play a much smaller role in the Nigerian economy today, with likely beneficial impacts on policies affecting other sectors of the economy."
According to the World Bank, "the large share of natural resources in total wealth and the composition of these resources make a strong argument for the role of environmental resources in reducing poverty, fighting hunger, and lowering child mortality. The analysis in this volume proceeds from an overview of the wealth of nations to analyse the key role of the management of wealth through savings and investments. It also analyses the importance of human capital and good governance and engages finance ministries in developing a comprehensive agenda that looks at natural resources as an integral part of their policy domain."
Natural resource stock values are based upon country- Level data on physical stocks and estimates of natural resource rents based on world prices and local costs. Intangible capital, then, is measured as
the difference between total wealth and the other produced and natural stocks. The estimates of natural wealth are limited by data-fish stocks, and subsoil water over extraction are not measured in the estimates, while the environmental services that underpin human societies and economies are not measured explicitly.
"Everyday, decision makers in developing countries are faced with difficult choices regarding the exploitation of natural resources and the environmental impacts of development programmes and
policies," said Ian Johnson, World Bank Vice President for Sustainable Development. "But the tools currently being used are leaving out the natural resources stocks and intangible capital such as knowledge and skills. Sound management of ecosystems is key to a responsible path to growth. This publication challenges common assumptions about how nations generate their wealth."
There you have it my people as the Atiku's, Obasanjo's, IBB's, Dangota's, keep stealing from the rest of us.
TGIF. AUDI.
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The second poorest nation with the world's seventh largest oil deposits. What is wrong with this picture? Where are the One-Nigeria apologists who blame Biafrans for wanting out of a bad marriage?
___________________ The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves... Posts: 660 | From: Valle del Sol | Registered: Nov 2004
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quote: According to the World Bank, "the large share of natural resources in total wealth and the composition of these resources make a strong argument for the role of environmental resources in reducing poverty, fighting hunger, and lowering child mortality. The analysis in this volume proceeds from an overview of the wealth of nations to analyse the key role of the management of wealth through savings and investments. It also analyses the importance of human capital and good governance and engages finance ministries in developing a comprehensive agenda that looks at natural resources as an integral part of their policy domain."
This is an indictment of Nigeria’s feudal power structure (and the successive inept administrations) which has resulted in gross mismanagement of resources. This paradoxically named entity--“Giant of Africa”--has no sparse reserves of natural and human capital, but has consistently thrown up to leadership positions, befuddling incompetents in the area of capital management, resource control or indeed economic planning. Would God that these oil-wells turn dry! Perhaps, with no petrodollars to cart off to foreign banks, Nigeria would cease to be afflicted with visionless leadership—and secure a people-oriented set of technocrats to enact policies that will not only maximize her wealth, but also benefit an oppressed, destitute citizenry. This prescription is by no means a panacea—indeed in the current disabling atmosphere of corruption and unvarnished vice; these suggestions are billed to fail.
In the light of the fact that Nigeria isn’t faring well in spite of the compelling evidence of Igbo marginalization, it behooves Biafrans to rectify their own quarters even with the deplorable neglect of the federal government . It is therefore self-evident that the fore-front of the war to salvage Igboland from the throes of deep economic enslavement ought to begin at the doors of all the corrupt state and local council politicians of South-Eastern origin. When this is done successfully, and the little we have is effectively used to provide for our own, then the South-East will have a fulcrum upon which to anchor legitimate recrimination against a criminally negligent government. Indeed, while people decry the situation of things in the country, they should heap sizeable blames on their own state, local, council and possibly town area governments for abdicating their primary responsibilities.
Personally, I know that I will be more pleased IF/WHEN the core of the catechism of the Biafran struggle invites opponents to prospectively examine our efficiency even with arguably “sparse” resources and consequently make the logical deduction as to what technological, economic, and humanitarian heights that Biafra will transcend when she is stripped of the oppressive yoke of a foundationally imbalanced Nigeria—its plethora of self-serving economic theorists and half-baked fiscal strategists notwithstanding.
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"In the light of the fact that Nigeria isn’t faring well in spite of the compelling evidence of Igbo marginalization, it behooves Biafrans to rectify their own quarters even with the deplorable neglect of the federal government . It is therefore self-evident that the fore-front of the war to salvage Igboland from the throes of deep economic enslavement ought to begin at the doors of all the corrupt state and local council politicians of South-Eastern origin. When this is done successfully, and the little we have is effectively used to provide for our own, then the South-East will have a fulcrum upon which to anchor legitimate recrimination against a criminally negligent government. Indeed, while people decry the situation of things in the country, they should heap sizeable blames on their own state, local, council and possibly town area governments for abdicating their primary responsibilities."
Anaedo
I am sure you must have heard of the election held in Owerri last week, the succesful candidate was installed via a security report issued to the local INEC officials from Aso Rock. How are you going to hold that senator responsible for the underdevelopment of his constituency if tomorrow he decides to turn Owerri senatorial zone into pig style ?
We have gone through this before, even the local council chairman is not accountable to the so called "Biafrans" because he is there by virtue of belonging to the emperors camp not from anybody's vote. You have to reclaim your rights from those who disenfranchised you first before talking about holding people you did not put into office accountable.
I don't see how we can task the victim with an additional burden of proving he is in bondage before setting him free from his tormentors. Is this any different from asking why the field slaves could not hold the house slaves accountable for the miserable conditions they lived under master ?
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quote: I am sure you must have heard of the election held in Owerri last week, the succesful candidate was installed via a security report issued to the local INEC officials from Aso Rock. How are you going to hold that senator responsible for the underdevelopment of his constituency if tomorrow he decides to turn Owerri senatorial zone into pig style ?
We have gone through this before, even the local council chairman is not accountable to the so called "Biafrans" because he is there by virtue of belonging to the emperors camp not from anybody's vote. You have to reclaim your rights from those who disenfranchised you first before talking about holding people you did not put into office accountable.
Sir, I am sorry, but I have not yet heard about the election in Owerri last week. Also, I don’t know who emerged victorious and how he did. Therefore, I am going to take your word when you say that the senator “was installed via a security report issued to the local INEC officials from Aso Rock.” But, regarding the question that followed, are you intimating that the Senator should be given a carte blanche to turn Owerri senatorial zone into a pig sty because our gripes ought to lie with his Abuja overlords? Should the FIRST appropriate response to such proximate dereliction of duty be some harsh condemnation for the grotesque misfits in distant Abuja?
You see, I am working on a different paradigm. It’s a paradigm that says that “Charity begins at home” or that “one must take away the log in one’s eye to see clearly to take away the log in another’s eye”. Now when you say that “the local council chairman is not accountable to these so-called “Biafrans” because he is there by virtue of belonging to the emperor’s camp not from anybody’s vote.”, then I expect that you should complete this logical progression by demanding that such local council chairmen be made to leave such offices because they simply lacked the people’s mandate. As a matter of fact, if you also went ahead to demand that such transparent thieves must thenceforth begin to prove themselves accountable to the people they were supposedly “elected” (read rigged in) to serve, you wouldn’t be straying far from common sense. Why? Because, that’s what they are supposed to do when they get to such positions. That is stipulated by the constitution, and as public servants, they owe their constituents such accountability and good service. If they cannot render account, you are well within your rights to denounce such senators forcefully, engage in some visible campaign to draw attention to such senators’ improprieties, or possibly seek redress in whatever fashion that appeals to you. You just don’t suspend your responsibility to yourself, the people of your immediate Owerri senatorial zone and throw your hands in the air or bemoan a much more malevolent entity like the Federal government. Action has to start from somewhere.
The Alamieyeseigha incident could quite possibly happen in Igboland. Should we then, like Alams’ clansmen, ignore Alamie’s scandalous desecration of public trust to blame the unworthy hooligans at Abuja? Shouldn’t common sense dictate that while it is appropriate to decry government’s selective application of justice, Bayelsa citizens must take immediate corrective measures to rid themselves of Alamie-like pests? The hypocrisy of the Ijaw response was too transparent—for since they could not distance themselves from Alamieyeseigha’s malfeasance or condemn his wanton thievery in the harshest language, they unwittingly disqualified themselves from seeking accountability at the hands of the Federal government. Yes! If you cannot be prevailed upon to exercise brotherly affection for your fellow lumps of clay, how indeed can you affect some fondness for a non-corporeal entity such as God?
Think about it for a second. Not only has Nigeria lacked proper leadership, it has equally lacked proper followership. In real democracies, the people take their elected officials to task if they are found wanting. Why can’t that be the case in Nigeria? Why have vandals continued to prosper in Igboland? Could it not be that the collective will-power of the people has been broken? Could it not be that majority of people living in present day Igboland have been so cowed by the trappings of state and local government power that they have simply internalized their own seeming weakness thus becoming psychologically, mentally, and motivationally crippled to speak the truth to power or act in unison to seek redress? So you see, its not really a question of not knowing who has the larger portion of the blame—it is more about effectively managing a little task so that one can have the gravitas to seek a larger task.
Nd’Igbo spoke with one mind (on that Massob-organized sit-at-home-protest day) about the marginalization they have continued to receive in Nigeria since the end of the Biafra-Nigeria war. Now, why can’t such resounding firmness of purpose and unity of will be translated into concrete actions? Why couldn’t it be channeled towards demanding accountability at least from the ruffians that rule Igboland? Or is there some curse that has rendered Igboland incapable of tackling the collective problem they have properly identified? If the Ubas, the Nzeribes, the Mbadinujus, the Offors are silenced or else forced out of Igboland, and serious civic pressure is brought to bear on colluding, corrupt officials at the State, local government and township/clan levels, then we stand the chance of making the thieves in high places very unsettled at the prospect of popular dissent. As a matter of fact, that collective action could serve as blueprint for others to throw off the yoke of oppressors in their midst. Ojukwu and Achuzie are not elected officials, but by virtue of the position they hold, there are utterances that they could make which would call for public and sustained rebuke—which rebuke you have spared no expense at dispensing. Now, if the groundswell of Igbo disillusionment could be channeled against the hoodlums that make merchandise of Nd’Igbo, there can be no overstating the benefits of such actions.
We are entering a new political dispensation. Very soon, many people will come out to vie for positions of trust in Igboland. If your attitude is that since it is likely that some errant Igbo sons will liaise with criminals to rig elections in Igboland, therefore, we should simply retire our condemnation of such malodorous mischief or rather attack just the top-rung of the collective conspiracy to rape democracy, then, I must say that is sadly, unfortunate. Because, just as the current vandals holding elective positions in Igboland rigged themselves into power, the top-players at the Federal level are equally guilty of such crimes. If you maintain that the folly of these local politicians should be overlooked (because in your estimation, there is a bigger fish in the pond), I don’t see why such tendentious rules cannot apply to the federal government rogues robbing us blindly whilst splurging in bacchanalian Abuja establishments. Indeed, why are you to hold Obasanjo and his merry band of rogues responsible for turning Nigeria into a pig sty? Couldn’t some double-speaking smart Alec come out to demand that you must hold the Western Powers culpable for supporting or indeed facilitating the ascendancy of Obasanjo, Anenih, etc? Couldn’t such a person contend successfully that Obasanjo is firmly in the pocket of his European masters and therefore deserves little or no public rebuke for his maladministration? Where will the concatenation of accountability-evasion end?
quote: I don't see how we can task the victim with an additional burden of proving he is in bondage before setting him free from his tormentors. Is this any different from asking why the field slaves could not hold the house slaves accountable for the miserable conditions they lived under master ?
Since this is primarily a discussion about how Nigerians (or Igbo people as the case may be) have continued to remain destitute despite the material and human resources in the country, or why the country has not been effective in managing both renewable and non-renewable resources, I will venture to say that the field-slave/house-slave reference is simply untenable here. This is because there are two sides to this discourse—the rulers (those in power at whatever decision-making levels) and the ruled (the citizenry who should abide the decisions of the governing body). I will not fashion some dubious third categorization, to wit, public office holders in Igboland.
So, who is the tormentor that needed to be deposed here? Are the Igbo thieves who rob and pillage their respective state and local government coffers deserving of that appellation? Are the rapacious Igbo mercenaries who have been co-opted to exacerbate the economic emasculation of the Igbo people worthy of being called tormentors? Should the way-ward, relevance-seeking Igbos hobnobbing with the avaricious vermin at the top echelons of power (consequently becoming effective tools for Igbo exploitation) be branded by that designation? You be the judge.
Before I come back for you, first familiarize yourself with what happened at Owerri two weeks ago.
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Wednesday 7th December, 2005 HOME | Previous Page --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Declare Ahamba winner of bye election, anpp tells INEC
By Ben Duru
Correspondent Owerri
The All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), whose candidate, Chief Mike Ahamba, SAN, was declared second by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the Saturday, December 3 Senatorial bye-election for Owerri Zone has called on the commission to declare Ahamba as the winner of the poll.
Briefing newsmen in Owerri, the Imo State capital, ANPP State Chairman, Dr. Vitalis Orikeze Ajumbe, insisted that his party won in all the polling units in the nine local government areas and found no reason why INEC should give victory to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Ajumbe, who officially gave the stand of the party in the bye-election which the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Imo State, Mr. Moses Ogbe, said the PDP won with over 200,000 votes maintained that he rejected the declaration.
Ahamba had in the morning before the announcement of the results declaring Eze Ajoku as winner sent in a letter of protest to the commission urging that the results in some local government councils be cancelled due to large scale malpractices.
According to him “it is a shame that at this era of cleansing of the society of corruption, those whom we thought are the arrow heads of the anti-corruption crusade are in fact those breeding corruption.”
He explained that before the election INEC and the security agencies in the state had assured the participating political parties of a free and fair election and that the commission tried to keep to this promise until about 11a.m. on the election day when he got security reports that there was an order from above to return the PDP candidate at all cost.
He went on that at about 1p.m. he received a message from an unidentified staff of INEC that ‘oga things don change’ and it was alleged that the local government council chairmen in the zone were compelled to supervise, manipulate and ensure that the ruling party scales the polls.
The essence of bringing up the Owerri bye election issue is to first show you how those you want to hold accountable at the local level came to be in position in the first place. What you see happening here has been the pattern in the South East and South South of Nigeria since 2003. It is only people who want to be mischevious that attribute the actions of the selected local representatives to be representative of the people they supposedly represent.
quote: You see, I am working on a different paradigm. It’s a paradigm that says that “Charity begins at home” or that “one must take away the log in one’s eye to see clearly to take away the log in another’s eye”. Now when you say that “the local council chairman is not accountable to these so-called “Biafrans” because he is there by virtue of belonging to the emperor’s camp not from anybody’s vote.”, then I expect that you should complete this logical progression by demanding that such local council chairmen be made to leave such offices because they simply lacked the people’s mandate. As a matter of fact, if you also went ahead to demand that such transparent thieves must thenceforth begin to prove themselves accountable to the people they were supposedly “elected” (read rigged in) to serve, you wouldn’t be straying far from common sense. Why? Because, that’s what they are supposed to do when they get to such positions. That is stipulated by the constitution, and as public servants, they owe their constituents such accountability and good service. If they cannot render account, you are well within your rights to denounce such senators forcefully, engage in some visible campaign to draw attention to such senators’ improprieties, or possibly seek redress in whatever fashion that appeals to you. You just don’t suspend your responsibility to yourself, the people of your immediate Owerri senatorial zone and throw your hands in the air or bemoan a much more malevolent entity like the Federal government. Action has to start from somewhere.
My understanding of the above is that you are calling for a rebellion, to be specific an armed insurrection because you know ( I hope you do)the court as a recourse is no option, neither is civil protest and that leaves one with the AK47 option. You should be bold enough to call for that rather than being suggestive, something tells me though that the people are not too far from that if that is what it would finally take to rid themselves of the filth.
If you already know the source of your problem is engineered from far away, why engage in self deceit by claiming that charity begins at home? Does it not make more sense to take the fight to those in Abuja who constantly send instructions to the INEC people in Owerri ? Perhaps this is why most people are not factoring in the likes of the Igbo representatives in their quest for freedom. Those people are there to do the bidding of those who installed them, they have no interest in what the common Igbo man is seeking.
quote: The Alamieyeseigha incident could quite possibly happen in Igboland. Should we then, like Alams’ clansmen, ignore Alamie’s scandalous desecration of public trust to blame the unworthy hooligans at Abuja? Shouldn’t common sense dictate that while it is appropriate to decry government’s selective application of justice, Bayelsa citizens must take immediate corrective measures to rid themselves of Alamie-like pests? The hypocrisy of the Ijaw response was too transparent—for since they could not distance themselves from Alamieyeseigha’s malfeasance or condemn his wanton thievery in the harshest language, they unwittingly disqualified themselves from seeking accountability at the hands of the Federal government. Yes! If you cannot be prevailed upon to exercise brotherly affection for your fellow lumps of clay, how indeed can you affect some fondness for a non-corporeal entity such as God?
I am sure you know the average Ijaw had no hand in either the installation or removal of Alameyeseigha. You seem only too eager to place the burden on the people with no regards as to how they found themselves in their current predicament.
Alamayeseigha rigged himself to power with 97% of the votes counted, he did not need any Ijaw man to put him in power.He only obtained the permission of those in Abuja to install himself. He did not start stealing this year, and had he not fallen out with his friends in Abuja he would still be stealing today. Can you show me the complicacy of the average Ijaw in this situation, because if it was not a shame when he ascended the throne through dubious means facilitated by the FG how did the people loose their rights when he finally fell out of grace? Is it that difficult to understand that people like Alams would always have supporters regardless of what depths they descend to in a society like Nigeria? The real issue here is how to return the franchise of the people not blame them for not impeaching a man they never put in power. There can be no grassroot accountability where there is no mandate.
quote: Think about it for a second. Not only has Nigeria lacked proper leadership, it has equally lacked proper followership. In real democracies, the people take their elected officials to task if they are found wanting. Why can’t that be the case in Nigeria? Why have vandals continued to prosper in Igboland? Could it not be that the collective will-power of the people has been broken? Could it not be that majority of people living in present day Igboland have been so cowed by the trappings of state and local government power that they have simply internalized their own seeming weakness thus becoming psychologically, mentally, and motivationally crippled to speak the truth to power or act in unison to seek redress? So you see, its not really a question of not knowing who has the larger portion of the blame—it is more about effectively managing a little task so that one can have the gravitas to seek a larger task.
You already identified the most important thing, which is that in real democracies there is accountability. The question then is, is there real democracy in Nigeria ? If there isn't how do you expect there to be accountability ?
When there was some semblance of democracy in the same Imo state, K.O. Mbadiwe lost an election to an unknown Dr.Emezie, and Sam Mbakwe without being a money bag was the clear choice of the people twice. That should tell you that the fault is not in the people, because when it was within their power they held their leaders accountable.
quote: Nd’Igbo spoke with one mind (on that Massob-organized sit-at-home-protest day) about the marginalization they have continued to receive in Nigeria since the end of the Biafra-Nigeria war. Now, why can’t such resounding firmness of purpose and unity of will be translated into concrete actions? Why couldn’t it be channeled towards demanding accountability at least from the ruffians that rule Igboland? Or is there some curse that has rendered Igboland incapable of tackling the collective problem they have properly identified? If the Ubas, the Nzeribes, the Mbadinujus, the Offors are silenced or else forced out of Igboland, and serious civic pressure is brought to bear on colluding, corrupt officials at the State, local government and township/clan levels, then we stand the chance of making the thieves in high places very unsettled at the prospect of popular dissent.
The MASSOB sit at home was a form of passive protest aimed at raising awareness, and that move was accomplished with resounding success. What you are calling for on the other hand cannot be achieved by passive activism as a sit at home won't stop rigging. So once again I ask, are you calling for an armed insurrection to deter rigging ? because Ubah, Offor, etc. are not going to stop by merely telling them to do so and they have federal security forces behind them.
I say this because if one was to tell the people to pick up their guns and defend their votes, the same Ndigbo will be blamed for being violent by those who accuse them of doing nothing while their leaders pillage.The only logical option to determined rigging by Nigerian agents seems to be armed insurrection, are you happy with that ?
quote:Since this is primarily a discussion about how Nigerians (or Igbo people as the case may be) have continued to remain destitute despite the material and human resources in the country, or why the country has not been effective in managing both renewable and non-renewable resources, I will venture to say that the field-slave/house-slave reference is simply untenable here. This is because there are two sides to this discourse—the rulers (those in power at whatever decision-making levels) and the ruled (the citizenry who should abide the decisions of the governing body). I will not fashion some dubious third categorization, to wit, public office holders in Igboland.
Of course the house slave analogy is very relevant, it only shows you that to subjugate a people you do not need outsiders to accomplish the task. Just like killing off the house slave would not end slavery, the problem of Ndigbo will not end in the current Nigeira if you kill off the Ubahs, Maduekwe's etc. Those who set them upon Ndigbo will find alternatives and in the end the fatricide might overshadow the greater liberation cause. You first drive away the kite before cautioning the chick.
I wish you would come out with a concrete recommendation on how to tackle the local filth so we can debate the merit or lack of rather than continually asking the people to stop rigging without pausing to analyse the implication. I am not against whatever it would take, I just want to hear it from people like you who think that should be done first before taking on Nigeria.
quote: So, who is the tormentor that needed to be deposed here? Are the Igbo thieves who rob and pillage their respective state and local government coffers deserving of that appellation? Are the rapacious Igbo mercenaries who have been co-opted to exacerbate the economic emasculation of the Igbo people worthy of being called tormentors? Should the way-ward, relevance-seeking Igbos hobnobbing with the avaricious vermin at the top echelons of power (consequently becoming effective tools for Igbo exploitation) be branded by that designation? You be the judge.
We all know this and I by no means think they should be spared. My problem is when people use this charity should begin at home line of thought to throw a monkey wrench into a broader cause for freedom by making the right to autonomy contingent on weeding out local collaborators first.
For me it is broad based struggle,pressure on all fronts to achieve autonomy and and self determination regardless of wether the crooks are local or federal. They are those (like Rick)who continually insist that a reformed Nigeria is better for Ndigbo, they should be the ones to lead that charge in stopping rigging since the likes of MASSOB have no interest in Nigerian politics.
Note that in all of this the Hausa Fulani are not faced with the problem of a lost franchise (ANPP does not get rigged out in Kano even with people like Rimi being in PDP), and in reality neither are the Yoruba given that the instigator is Obasanjo. If you put that fact in mind you begin to understand that you are not dealing with a local problem like you think.
[ December 17, 2005, 06:04 PM: Message edited by: chiboy ]
Posts: 1532 | From: USA | Registered: Mar 2001
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quote: The essence of bringing up the Owerri bye election issue is to first show you how those you want to hold accountable at the local level came to be in position in the first place. What you see happening here has been the pattern in the South East and South South of Nigeria since 2003. It is only people who want to be mischevious that attribute the actions of the selected local representatives to be representative of the people they supposedly represent.
First of all, I wish to make it expressly clear that I do not “attribute the actions of selected local representatives to be representative of the people they supposedly represent.” If that was the case, I’d have no basis for calling on Igbo people to exercise their civic responsibilities which would include amongst many things protesting the improprieties of seeming Igbo feudal overlords. With that in mind, I must draw you back again to this noticeable subconscious tendency of adopting different methods for tackling the same problem. The name of the problem in this case is administrative ineptitude or endemic corruption. Are you advancing one set of solutions for officeholders of Igbo extraction, and another for Federal officials? In order words, if you identify a particular method of dealing with fiscal improprieties or economic mismanagement in public officials, should your solution come with a conditionality contingent upon the ethnicity of said officials? It is very important to know if you are saying that there should be a different yardstick for judging callous Igbo criminals in positions of authority who have spirited away the hopes and aspirations of the Igbo people.
Whether the elections in Owerri are fixed or not, informed citizens owe themselves the responsibility of holding their rulers responsible if they fail in their duty. This collective awakening to civic responsibility is arguably non-existent, which is why bandits hold Igboland hostage to their whims. Now, if the argument is that because these swindlers are in cahoots with dark fiends in the Nigerian amalgam, one must spare them in order to attack their co-conspirators in Abuja, then where is the wisdom in such an action? If one could not tarry with foot soldiers when they are marching, is it when they mount horses that they will abide? If Igbo people (or indeed any marginalized people) cannot heave the yoke of morally deficient, ideologically starved local tin gods from their immediate politics, whence shall it gather the strength, the firmness of purpose or indeed the courage to repel the machinations of a much larger enemy? This is something to carefully think about before engaging in the usual polemics of war—especially one aimed at curbing the injustices against, or the economic strangulation of the masses. Does one go into battle without the necessary protection? Even if it were possible that an apathetic, intimidated, or disorganized people could miraculously procure a cessation of Federal government-orchestrated marginalization on financial or nummary considerations, will such gains not be marginal if in the end unchecked brigands in the midst of such hypothetical people rise to pooh-pooh their collective achievement?
quote:My understanding of the above is that you are calling for a rebellion, to be specific an armed insurrection because you know ( I hope you do)the court option is no option neither is civil protest and that leaves one with the AK47 option. You should be bold enough to call for that rather than being suggestive, something tells me though that the people are not too far from that if that is what it would finally take to rid themselves of the filth.
I cannot determine the nature of action a people will take when they have had enough of government highhandedness. Take for example, that news of police brutality against women who were exercising their fundamental rights to protest the detestable situation of our airports. The women in question took their activism to an admirable extent when they went to the police headquarters to demand some justice for the unruly behavior of some trigger-happy policemen. In many cases of government’s naked abuse of power or deliberate contravention of the constitution, most Nigerians will talk for a short while and then disperse to attend to matters of soul and body. Can you imagine if an overwhelming majority of the people, after the pattern of the Orange Revolution, made strong demands of their “elected” officials and actually defied the police in the pursuit of justice? These buccaneers that have continued to steer the rudder of the Nigerian ship will quickly find a way to negotiate. They are after all not superhuman. That is why I am not ruling out armed insurrection. But before I proceed, I will make bold to say that armed insurrection must only come as a last resort. But before such a measure is adopted, the insurgents in question must be united in principle and goals. They must be thoroughly convinced of the necessity of such extreme action and be prepared for the ramifications. My argument therefore is that, unlike your suggestion, Igbo people have NOT exhausted measures that could help realize their goals without the need for an AK-47. What I am saying differently from you is quite simple. Whereas you are of the opinion that civil protests are unproductive, I am contending that such popular civilian protests with regards to Igbo land are and have remained scanty, non-vigorous, and ultimately dogged by partisan considerations.
What you are more likely to witness is that since many Igbo people are go-getters, they’d just look for a way to make ends meet. Some would take solace in religion and some will look for a way to plug into this pervasive corruption. It will be futile engaging endemic corruption in high places if your very fellow soldiers will buckle and change courses when a little money is thrown in their faces. We will do well to remember that he who comes into equity must come with clean hands.
quote:If you already know the source of your problem is engineered from far away, why engage in self deceit by claiming that charity begins at home? Does it not make more sense to take the fight to those in Abuja who constantly send instructions to the INEC people in Owerri ? Perhaps this is why most people are not factoring in the likes of the Igbo representatives in their quest for freedom. Those people are there to do the bidding of those who installed them, they have no interest in what the common Igbo man is seeking
This problem can be engineered right in Igboland, in Abuja, in the US, or elsewhere. That is not where the priority lies. We ought to be more concerned about the cantankerous agents bringing such machinations to pass right in our presence. When a teenager defecates in my living room, I shouldn’t be expected to bring him kola because his father who sent him on the mission is relaxing in his Obi. While I am not saying that the pirates in Abuja should be spared their due criticism, constructive action towards rehabilitating Igboland must first of all challenge the visible symbols of exploitative misrule on whatever level. As a matter of fact, if such an action were to be replicated in other parts of the country, we can hasten the day when Biafrans, Arewans, or Oduans will mutually agree to part ways. Or don’t you see that as a better alternative to outright war?
quote: I am sure you know the average Ijaw had no hand in either the installation or removal of Alameyeseigha. You seem only too eager to place the burden on the people with no regards as to how they found themselves in their current predicament.
Alamayeseigha rigged himself to power with 97% of the votes counted, he did not need any Ijaw man to put him in power, he only obtained the permission of those in Abuja to install himself. He did not start stealing this year, and had he not fallen out with his friends in Abuja he would still be stealing today. Can you show me the complicacy of the average Ijaw in this situation ? Is it that difficult to understand that people lack Alams would always have supporters regardless of what depths they descend to in a society like Nigeria? The real issue here is how to return the franchise of the people not blame them for not impeaching a man they never put in power. There can be no grassroot accountability where there is no mandate.
How does one return the franchise of the people then? Isn’t this a clear testament that the people have allowed themselves to be subservient to or intimidated by the dissembling effulgence of State power? Why should the Izon people embrace the self-defeatist posture that they are utterly unable to demand accountability from their representatives at the State level? In what ways have the Izon/Ijaw people acted since they became aware of Alamie’s crimes to suggest to you that at least they realize that the war to liberate themselves from the clutches of economic impoverishment can claim the heads of kith and kin as casualties? At any rate, did you not read of the widespread joy and dancing that heralded Alamieyeseigha’s daring escape from Britain? That was the complicity of the average Ijaw! What Alamieyeseigha wanted was for his Izon/Ijaw people to blame the administration and turn a blind eye to his own plundering of Bayelsa’s economy. Or, what sense does it make for Bayelsa indigenes to complain about resource control and then turn a blind eye to their governor’s excesses? Isn’t this ridiculous even to you?
Supposing I made the argument:
“Obasanjo rigged himself to power with over 90% of the votes counted, he did not need any Nigerian to put him in power. He only obtained the permission of his greedy friends and the Western world to install himself. He did not start stealing this year, and he has continued to steal. Can you show me the complicity of the average Nigerian in this situation? Is it that difficult to understand that people like Obasanjo would have supporters regardless of what depths they descend to in a society like Nigeria? The real issue here is how to return the franchise of the people and not blame them for not impeaching a man they never put in power. There can be no grassroot accountability where there is no mandate”
Will you heartily agree to this? If you would, we might as well fold our mats and go home!
The fact that a mandate was stolen should not make mummies out of the ruled. If anything, such a travesty ought to inspire fervent civilian monitoring of such marauding brutes. Anything less will be an indirect sanctioning of the duplicity these vagabonds have come to represent. Accountability therefore is implicit in the occupation of the seats of power—it is not dependent on means of getting there. It is in concerted civilian opposition, demonstrations, sustained ad campaigns, and possibly resistance to first and foremost clan-, council-, L.G.A- or state-level aberrations that one can hope for immediate economic respite.
quote: You already identified the most important thing, which is that in real democracies there is accountability. The question then is, is there real democracy in Nigeria ? If there isn't how do you expect there to be accountability ?
When there was some semblance of democracy in the same Imo state, K.O. Mbadiwe lost an election to an unknown Dr.Emezie, and Sam Mbakwe without being a money bag was the clear choice of the people twice. That should tell you that the fault is not in the people, because when it was within their power they held their leaders accountable.
Since we are NOW practicing a skewered version of democracy, isn’t that more reason why you should call for accountability? Particularly, since we are talking about economic deprivations suffered by Igbo people, shouldn’t the realization that we are afflicted by home-grown leeches cursed with insatiable greed propel you to demand accountability? The fault is not in the people indeed. The problem lies with the conmen who have mortgaged our futures, dreams and aspirations. The question becomes one of what the people are willing to do to be divested of the stigma of such domestic scoundrels.
quote: The MASSOB sit at home was a form of passive protest aimed at raising awareness, and that move was accomplished with resounding success. What you are calling for on the other hand cannot be achieved by passive activism as a sit at home won't stop rigging, so once again I ask you are you calling for an armed insurrection ? because Ubah, Offor, etc. are not going to stop by merely telling them to and they have federal security forces behind them.
I say this because if one was to tell the people to pick up their guns and defend their votes, the same Ndigbo will be blamed for being violent by those who accuse them of doing nothing while their leaders pillage.The only logical options to determined rigging by Nigeria seems to be armed insurrection, are you happy with that ?
Once again, it is not in my place to dictate the form and nature of the response to the economic woes afflicting a people. The MASSOB-organized protest may have been passive, but the awareness was already there amongst Nd’Igbo. The question I asked earlier was why such rare and popular unity did not translate into tangible actions against perceived sources of economic persecution. Despite the criminal activities of Uba, he has continued to walk in Igboland unchallenged. This is possible only because that there simply is no tangible activism to speak of. Most people can’t be bothered. What would it take to awaken people to their responsibilities? If one proposes a peaceful rebellion or civil disobedience has that registered with the generality of Nd’Igbo? Also, If one proposes armed insurrection against the visible benefactors of corruption at local and state levels, has that reverberated amongst the Igbo people yet? If the people settle for this course of action, who am I to say “No”? In what manner therefore have the people jointly attacked a common immediate adversary, how much more those which lurk in Abuja? Does anybody count 2 before counting 1?
Remember, in all these discussions, I have resisted the urge to ask you point-blank how we should carry out the “war” or “armed insurrection” against the Nigerian State. Those who have ruined our economic fortunes from their citadels in Abuja are not much different from those who have done so from their outposts in Igboland. They must be classified as one and given the same treatment.
quote: Of course the house slave analogy is very relevant, it only shows you that to subjugate a people you do not need outsiders to accomplish the task. Just like killing off the house slave would not end slavery, the problem of Ndigbo will not end in the current Nigeira if you kill off the Ubahs, Maduekwe's etc. Those who set them upon Ndigbo will find alternatives and in the end the fatricide might overshadow the greater liberation cause. You first drive away the kite before cautioning the chick.
I wish you would come out with a concrete recommendation on how to tackle the local filth so we can debate the merit or lack of rather than continually asking the people to stop rigging without pausing to analyse the implication. I am not against whatever it would take, I just want to hear it from people like you who think that should be done first before taking on Nigeria.
There is a real chance here that we are beginning to discuss along different tangents. It appears that you are making a macro-assessment of our political realities. While that is well and good, I am limiting myself to actions which ought to sanitize our local polity of visionless desperadoes who continue to drive the train of our economic advancement into some ditch. Such actions designed at ridding ourselves of the lawbreakers in our midst would hardly qualify as ‘fratricide”. Lest you be confused, I have elsewhere advocated for the renegotiation of the Nigerian State, so on that score, we are pretty much in agreement. Now, even though I am convinced of the foundational imbalances that have bedeviled the Nigerian State, and how it is absolutely necessary for a sovereign national conference to chart the destination of that British-birthed abomination as Oha ka aptly calls it, I must however point out that in a discussion regarding general administrative incompetence (with regards to the economy), there cannot be a meaningful argument for Igbo stake-holders in this experiment to be held to different standards. It is in the light of this that I do not see a “field-slave/house-slave” analogy. What I see rather is a feudal lord-vassal analogy; a tormentor-victim analogy; a jailer-prisoner analogy.
quote:We all know this and I by no means think they should be spared. My problem is when people use this charity should begin at home line of thought to throw a monkey wrench into a broader cause for freedom by making the right to autonomy contingent on weeding out local collaborators first.
For me it is broad based struggle,pressure on all fronts to achieve autonomy and and self determination regardless of wether the crooks are local or federal. They are those (like Rick)who continually insist that a reformed Nigeria is better for Ndigbo, they should be the ones to lead that charge since MASSOB has no interest in Nigerian politics.
Note that in all of this the Hausa Fulani are not faced with the problem of a lost franchise (ANPP does not get rigged out in Kano even with people like Rimi being in PDP), and in reality neither are the Yoruba given that the instigator is Obasanjo. If you put that fact in mind you begin to understand that you are not dealing with a local problem like you think.
Great, since you agree that these home-grown racketeers should not be spared, you need not worry that rigid enthusiasts for due process would throw a monkey wrench into a broader cause for freedom. If anything, their actions will propel the train of freedom forward. In a society like Nigeria, defined by inter-ethnic conflict, I’ll leave to your imagination what good will accrue if everyone cleaned house first. Without diminishing your point furthermore, I wonder how far we will get in a march to freedom if despoilers are allowed free rein. I want to disagree with the premise of the last paragraph which reinforces the erroneous diagnosis that electoral malpractices do not occur in other parts of the country, but as that does not tie in with my message of personal responsibility or doggedness in the pursuit of tin pot dictators; I shall let the matter die as of the moment.
Granted, these are broad outlines, but a deeper reflection on the progressive nature of our economic impalement will leave not only pity for the suffering masses, but deep abhorrence for the savages who have plundered the masses—their ethnicity or niche on the political power-rung notwithstanding.
posted
Anaedo's penultimate post is an eloquent exegesis of a point I have repeatedly made on this forum.
THE IGBO NATION MUST CLEAN ITS OWN HOUSE!!!
Now question is, how exactly do the Igbo people go about this?
P.S. A court actually declared that Obasanjo's election results in his HOME STATE were rigged, and that he actually did not win there! Yoruba states suffer election rigging also!
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I am yet to understand why this extra burden should be placed on Ndigbo before they demand autonomy from Abuja, also your not being able to advance a concrete line of action that would support this line of reasoning leaves me more confused. There is a solution to every problem and I had hoped you would outline steps that would lead to addressing this local menace just like you have eloquently identified it.
I see a fundamental difference in our understanding of Nigeria and the Igbo question. To you Nigeria is a democracy albeit skewed where the component parts are capable of independently determining and controlling to some extent what happens within their territory. The reasoning that somehow the people are responsible for their local rulers even if such individuals do not have their mandate is based on the premise that some form of democracy is in place.
On the other hand I see Nigeria as an illegitimate state that does not qualify even at the barest minimum as a democracy, while being composed of conquered territory ( Igbo land and the Niger delta) and those who hold power as a result of the war the North and the South West. I can comfortably back my assertions with information littered all over the WWW that even the barest minimum required in a democratic state is missing in Nigeria.
Again you ask
quote: Whether the elections in Owerri are fixed or not, informed citizens owe themselves the responsibility of holding their rulers responsible if they fail in their duty. This collective awakening to civic responsibility is arguably non-existent, which is why bandits hold Igboland hostage to their whims. Now, if the argument is that because these swindlers are in cahoots with dark fiends in the Nigerian amalgam, one must spare them in order to attack their co-conspirators in Abuja, then where is the wisdom in such an action?
Baring in mind my opinion of Nigeria not being a nation where the rule of law exist, we must agree that in this Owerri issue; - Court action is a bloody waste of time, they tried that in 2003 and we know that in Anambra 3 years after, similar issues remain unresolved.
- Civil protest is a waste of time, you acknowledged yourself what happened to a few privileged women who dared to even demonstrate over a plane crash.
- The federal government being the instigator is not a rational party to appeal to.
Help me out here a little bit and point at some line of action the citizens could pursue to remedy this situation in their bid to hold this senator accountable, because you claimed that all options have not been exhausted.
In trying to stop Chris Ubah who goes around with a retinue of mobile policemen from burning down government house Awka, what would you recommend the people of Anambra to have done ?
In Ukraine you may have had the orange revolution, but only a naïve and myopic individual would fathom the success of such a tactic in a brutal state with very little regard for civil rights. Besides I stated earlier that the imposition of unpopular candidates in the SE and SS was not a national practice, the international monitors who observed the elections stated clearly this was the case. So while you are talking of orange revolution in Owerri the folks in Katsina and Oshogbo have no problem with status quo.
quote: This problem can be engineered right in Igboland, in Abuja, in the US, or elsewhere. That is not where the priority lies. We ought to be more concerned about the cantankerous agents bringing such machinations to pass right in our presence. When a teenager defecates in my living room, I shouldn’t be expected to bring him kola because his father who sent him on the mission is relaxing in his Obi. While I am not saying that the pirates in Abuja should be spared their due criticism, constructive action towards rehabilitating Igboland must first of all challenge the visible symbols of exploitative misrule on whatever level. As a matter of fact, if such an action were to be replicated in other parts of the country, we can hasten the day when Biafrans, Arewans, or Oduans will mutually agree to part ways. Or don’t you see that as a better alternative to outright war?
I don’t know that anybody has spared the local rogues, my question still remains your line of action against this guy sent to defecate in your living room. Knocking him over with a stick will require more than a democratic protest since he will more than likely have invaded your sitting room with armed escort from his master. Again such “constructive action” against the local agents as you put it, will not be replicated in Ibadan or Sokoto because the experience there is different from what obtains in Owerri. Let’s not kid ourselves Obasanjo will not make a kid like Chris Ubah PDP leader for the NW talk less of sending him to burn down government house Sokoto. The Igbo problem is unique and most be analysed as so.
quote: Since we are NOW practicing a skewered version of democracy, isn’t that more reason why you should call for accountability? Particularly, since we are talking about economic deprivations suffered by Igbo people, shouldn’t the realization that we are afflicted by home-grown leeches cursed with insatiable greed propel you to demand accountability? The fault is not in the people indeed. The problem lies with the conmen who have mortgaged our futures, dreams and aspirations. The question becomes one of what the people are willing to do to be divested of the stigma of such domestic scoundrels.
There is no democracy being practised in Igboland, talk less of it being it being skewered and those conmen know that. In every situation where ocupation exists, there is the collaborator who plays the role of the house slave. I have tried as much to make you see the conmen in this light, they suffer the marginalization of Igboland but like the house slaves consol themselves with the crumbs from Abuja. It is not that the Chris Ubahs and their so called elite collaborators do not know the bias of the federal government they only seek to in their own opinion make the best of the situation.
The brigade of soldiers that fed the Jews into the nazi gas chambers were Jews themselves, the greatest threat to a fleeing slave in the days of American slavery where fellow slaves, it should not surprise you that Igbo’s are visible collaborators in the on going marginalization of Igbo land. That however should not distract any sensible Igbo man from the broader task of freedom and autonomy from Nigeria. It is only this autonomy that will permanently take care of the collaborators since those who sponsor them will be powerless to do so. The process of seeking autonomy from Nigeria CANNOT be contingent on first cleaning out the black sheep, but should be simultaneous since there is a long line of souls for sale given the harsh economic realities.
quote: Once again, it is not in my place to dictate the form and nature of the response to the economic woes afflicting a people. The MASSOB-organized protest may have been passive, but the awareness was already there amongst Nd’Igbo. The question I asked earlier was why such rare and popular unity did not translate into tangible actions against perceived sources of economic persecution. Despite the criminal activities of Uba, he has continued to walk in Igboland unchallenged. This is possible only because that there simply is no tangible activism to speak of. Most people can’t be bothered. What would it take to awaken people to their responsibilities? If one proposes a peaceful rebellion or civil disobedience has that registered with the generality of Nd’Igbo? Also, If one proposes armed insurrection against the visible benefactors of corruption at local and state levels, has that reverberated amongst the Igbo people yet? If the people settle for this course of action, who am I to say “No”? In what manner therefore have the people jointly attacked a common immediate adversary, how much more those which lurk in Abuja? Does anybody count 2 before counting 1?
Remember, in all these discussions, I have resisted the urge to ask you point-blank how we should carry out the “war” or “armed insurrection” against the Nigerian State. Those who have ruined our economic fortunes from their citadels in Abuja are not much different from those who have done so from their outposts in Igboland. They must be classified as one and given the same treatment.
Well there was no awareness when MASSOB started, over the years they have built an awareness, so if you feel armed insurrection is an option you could have proposed it while stating that the awareness should first be created ala MASSOB. That it does not exist now should not preclude it if you feel it is an option.
You shouldn’t be asking me how it would be carried out, because I only deduced from your “by all means possible” suggestion that this option is tenable given the armed nature of the enemy. You are right there is no difference between the rogues in Abuja and the local ones, the fact though is if there was no Abuja there would be no such local rogues .If we concentrated on the local rogues only we will never get to the major issue which is Abuja.In line with your analogy we will keep counting 1 without ever getting to 2.
quote: There is a real chance here that we are beginning to discuss along different tangents. It appears that you are making a macro-assessment of our political realities. While that is well and good, I am limiting myself to actions which ought to sanitize our local polity of visionless desperadoes who continue to drive the train of our economic advancement into some ditch. Such actions designed at ridding ourselves of the lawbreakers in our midst would hardly qualify as ‘fratricide”. Lest you be confused, I have elsewhere advocated for the renegotiation of the Nigerian State, so on that score, we are pretty much in agreement. Now, even though I am convinced of the foundational imbalances that have bedeviled the Nigerian State, and how it is absolutely necessary for a sovereign national conference to chart the destination of that British-birthed abomination as Oha ka aptly calls it, I must however point out that in a discussion regarding general administrative incompetence (with regards to the economy), there cannot be a meaningful argument for Igbo stake-holders in this experiment to be held to different standards. It is in the light of this that I do not see a “field-slave/house-slave” analogy. What I see rather is a feudal lord-vassal analogy; a tormentor-victim analogy; a jailer-prisoner analogy.
There you go,alas the solution "sovereign national conference!!! It is ”those actions which ought to sanitize the local polity” that you are limiting yourself to that I have been seeking to understand. Beyond calling for accountability you have not outlined any line of action that would achieve a tenable solution to the problem. Except now you talk of an SNC,to remedy the structural imbalance.
The fact that you believe a re negotiated state can be achieved through SNC, to me suggests a certain level of naivety. The Nigerian state is a fraud which if rectified would not be attractive to the beneficiaries of status quo. Why would a man willingly give up an advantage and reduce his status? It is because you insist on approaching the problem for the point of view of a renegotiation that leads to the belief that the situation in Igbo land is nationally applicable and can therefore be dealt with in conjunction with the rest of Nigeria. I wish to let you know that most Northerners and South Westerners are quite happy with status quo and will not be joining you in any orange revolution.
If you see feudal lords and vassals I see tormentor and victims, surely those who lost their lives in Awka and Okigwe and those whose mandates where denied in Owerri will agree with me that they were victims of a tormentor.So it is not far fetched for me to draw the house slave analogy especially when the agents are equally victims of the system.
In summary mazi Anaedo I have no problem with looking inwards, where I have a problem is the somewhat short sighted view that local criminals can completely be eradicated when their sponsors are free to recruit new ones. The only sensible solution to the underdevelopment of Igbo land is autonomy from Nigeria.What we should be discussing here is how to achieve that autonomy not shadow chasing the symptons of occupation.
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quote: Anaedo's penultimate post is an eloquent exegesis of a point I have repeatedly made on this forum.
THE IGBO NATION MUST CLEAN ITS OWN HOUSE!!!
Now question is, how exactly do the Igbo people go about this?
P.S. A court actually declared that Obasanjo's election results in his HOME STATE were rigged, and that he actually did not win there! Yoruba states suffer election rigging also!
UBBFriend: Email this page to someone!
