THE IGBO, YORUBA, AND OTHER NIGERIANS ARE FIGHTING THE WRONG BATTLES

OPINION: THE IGBO, YORUBA, AND OTHER NIGERIANS ARE FIGHTING THE WRONG BATTLES

By

 THEWILL_

 -

November 12, 2018

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With 2019 elections battle lines now drawn, 2023 is becoming the new frontier for a battle between the Nigerian ethnic groups. Which region will produce the next contestants, East or West? And the Fulani North is using the offer of the presidency as a bait to lull both groups to sleep. And both east and west are buying.

It is stupid.

The war for the heart of Nigeria has been fought, won and lost. The winner was/is the Fulani and they are smart enough to not engage in a re-fighting of the war they already won. Instead they create false battle fronts in which any winner is still the looser. The current false battle front is the presidency of Nigeria in 2023. The Igbo and Yoruba are at the fore front and will kill to get it.

But after either gets it, then what next? The battle they and all the other ethnic groups are fighting for is who would be the “front” for a Fulani Administration.

In the war for the heart of Nigeria which was won by the Fulani many years ago and consolidated by the two trump cards they have since played: manipulating the census figures and creation of states.

1. Manipulating of the census figures. In the 70’s the largest city in West Africa was Ibadan and Kano did not make it in the Top 10 West African Cities. Today Ibadan’s population is a small fraction of Kano. What happened? We know why Abuja and Lagos and PH are growing. They have the federal government, industries and oil. What fueled/fueling Kano’s population growth? To be ten times bigger than Ibadan and bigger than the entire SE states? The manipulating of the population numbers has enabled the Fulani to play their second trump card.

2. Creation of states. NW has 7 states while every other zone has 6 except for SE that has mere 5 states. Each state has three members in the senate so the distribution of the senate seats is as follows:
* NW: 21
* NE: 18
* NC 18
* SW: 18
* SE: 15
*SS: 18. For a total of 108 senate seats.

Kano state has a total of 44 local governments and Lagos state which has comparable population has just 20 local governments. How come?

The implication of all these data is that the allocation of resources whether based on population or number of local governments or states or geography, gives an undue preference to the Fulani.

It perpetuates the theory that whoever is in Aso Rock is just a front for the Fulani oligarchy. Jonathan, Obasanjo or come 2023 an Aduba. Such a front cannot make any significant changes and if he/she tries the person can be removed via a senate impeachment. The Fulani has the votes. The lop-sided allocation formula is fixed and the inflow of resources to the north will continue as usual.

The Igbo (and all other ethnic groups) must reject the offer of a meaningless 2023 presidency for it is just a bait. The Igbo must also reject the offer for a second Niger bridge. These are little pieces of meat in exchange for the entire fish.

The real war will be the revisiting of the census numbers and counting just living people and the recreating of states and LGA. Addressing of these two weighty issues will create a more balanced Nigeria. The South cannot do this by fighting for crumbs from the master’s table but for a seat at the table. If the south wants to win, it needs two important things: solidarity and a big stick. Solidarity is self-defined. The big stick will be allowing such organizations as IPOB, MASSOB, various Oduduwa and Ijaw militant groups to exist. They will serve as a reminder that if peaceful ways are not available that there are other alternatives.

Martin Luther King Jr. was successful in the fight against racism because of the existence of militant Malcom X. It made it easier for Americans to choose the peaceful means of Dr. King. IPOB et al will make the north listen to Ike Ekweremadu although Mr. Ekweremadu does not know this. It is time the south harkened to the words of Theodore Roosevelt “speak softly but carry a big stick.”

*** Benjamin Obiajulu Aduba writes from Boston, Massachusetts.

source

DR JONATHAN AT 61

On Tuesday, November 20, 2018, the Face of Democracy in Africa, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, will be 61 years old. On that same day, he will be presenting his brilliant book, My Transition Hours, to the public.

Finally, through that book, the world will get to see the man behind close doors and will, I hope, found out that no Nigerian leader has shown the level of self sacrifice, self control and restraint that former President Jonathan showed during and after his five year tenure as President.

However, because of a long succession of brutal military dictators beginning from 1966 and continuing even into the advent of the Fourth Republic, many Nigerians have been conditioned to see brutality as strength and restraint as weakness.

But after three years of a brutal and brutally ineffective President, many citizens are only coming to know now what I knew in 2010-that Dr. Goodluck Jonathan is a leader of men who sees the people as the big picture rather than himself.

He tried to show Nigerians the true meaning of leadership. Unfortunately, the psyche of our people has for long been conditioned to respecting leaders who rule, who boss and who throw their weight around. It was a culture shock to have a leader who rather than throw his considerable weight around, three his intellect around, which is why no leader in Nigeria’s history has built as many schools as Dr. Jonathan did.

And the thing is that he did not have to. Primary education is the constitutional preserve of the states. Yet President Jonathan built 165 almajiri schools because he could not sit by and watch as 11 million Nigerian children, mostly in the North, were out of the school system.

Not stopping there, he built fourteen new universities comprising of twelve new federal universities and two specialised universities. Before Jonathan, 12 Nigerian states had no federal universities. After Jonathan, no Nigerian state was without at least one university.

I had the privilege of asking him why he did what he did and he told me in California, while playing with my children, as follows ‘Reno, no investment yields as much profit as education’. Indeed, Jonathan is a philosopher king!

From him, I learnt that the best way to be a leader is not to boss people around, but to help solve their problems. Think of it this way. There are many ships in the sea and the sea is dark. If you want all the ships to come to you, then be a lighthouse and they will come to you of their own accord.

I remember when I joined him on a trip to London and at the airport, the Nigerian High Commission to the U.K. had provided a Mercedes sedan to pick him up from the airport. I was to join him at his hotel, so I escorted him to the car with another of his associates. He got in and then looked at me and asked what I was waiting for. I told him I would get a taxi and he goes, ‘don’t be silly’, then does the most amazing thing. He shifted to the middle of the back seat and beckoned on my friend and I to join him on what is known as the owners’ corner in Nigeria. I know of no other leader with the humility to do that.

A quintessential leader is Dr. Jonathan. A man who treated everyone with respect even though he was the President of the largest Black nation on earth who led her to become Africa’s economy. One thing you can be sure of is that if President Jonathan is looking down at you, he is doing so only because he is admiring your shoes.

I learnt true humility from him, but it was in the area of communication that President Jonathan schooled me the best. From him I discovered that learning the art of communication will make you a leader. Dr. Jonathan never speak just to express yourself. He considers that a waste of time. Rather, he always speaks to persuade others. When others are talking, he listens to them as if they are the most important persons on earth. Honestly, it is an almost ecstatic event to have a one on one communication with Dr. Goodluck Jonathan.

As he turns 61 today, I want to remind Nigerians of a statement he made four years ago.

On the 7th of March 2014, then President Jonathan said “I am loyal to Nigeria’s economy. I don’t have accounts or property abroad. All my children school in Nigeria”.

Till date, nobody has been able to contradict that statement because it is true. But even more impressive is the fact that not one of those who have made it their career to blame Jonathan for everything that is wrong with their lives, can say the same thing.

Dr. Jonathan was able to achieve this because he was a patriot who really believes in Nigeria. Look at his initiatives to turn around the lives of Nigerian youths. You have the Youth Enterprise With Innovation in Nigeria (YouWin), the Graduate Internship Scheme (GIS), the Presidential Special Scholarship Scheme for Innovations and Development scholarships (PRESSID) to First Class graduates of Nigerian universities to mention a few.

With these schemes, it is no wonder that Nigeria under Jonathan became the third fastest growing economy in the world according to CNNMoney and the International Monetary Fund.

Nowadays, those who rode to power on the back of the freedoms that Dr. Jonathan ensured in Nigeria now threaten to lock up their critics citing ‘hate speech’. Have these individuals ever sat down to consider that under Jonathan’s leadership, not one single person was sent to prison because of anything he or she wrote or said about the President or the government he headed. Nigeria had no political prisoners under Jonathan’s administration and the nation certainly did not have any prisoners of conscience because Jonathan himself ensured that he acted according to his conscience in all he did.

On social media, I read many Nigerian youths saying things like, how did we go from ‘my ambition is not worth the blood of any Nigerian’ to being called lazy Nigerian youths? That is one question I cannot answer. But one thing I know, the Nigerian youth under President Jonathan were some of the most talented and productive.

That is why Nigeria was rated by Gallup as the happiest nation in the world under Jonathan. Think about that for a minute and then join me in wishing Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan a very well deserved happy birthday as well as a long and fulfilled life to continue serving humanity through the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation.

(From The Cable)

Eating the winged termites (AKU)

Nutritional benefits of eating winged termites (“aku”) scientifically known as Macrotermes bellicosus

July 27, 2016 Leave a CommentWritten by Dr. Gilbert Ezengige

One of the main health benefits behind edible insects are the large amounts of protein found in these small creatures.

In Nigeria, termites are usually roasted and eaten as food, mostly during the rainy season.

But can termites be the next therapeutic resource for the treatment of asthma, hoarseness and sinusitis, wounds, malnutrition and nutrient deficiency?

Recent studies suggest that, in addition to their ecological importance, termites are a source of medicinal and food resources to various human populations in various locations of the world, showing their potential for being used as an alternative protein source in human or livestock diets, as well as a source for new medicines.

Nigerian researchers have determined the nutrient composition and the toxicant level of the commonly eaten termites (Macrotermes bellicosus) castes in Niger-Delta region of Nigeria.

Macrotermes bellicosus are known to the Ibos as Aku; to the Hausa as Khiyea; Esusun in Yoruba; and Ebu in Annang.

The study titled “Evaluation of Nutritional Value of Termites (Macrotermes bellicosus): Soldiers, Workers, and Queen in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria” was published in International Journal of Food Nutrition and Safety.

The researchers include: A. I. Ntukuyoh, D. S. Udiong, E. Ikpe, and A. E. Akpa Kpan of the Department of Chemistry, University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

Queen, soldiers and workers of termites (Macrotermes bellicosus) were analyzed for proximate composition, vitamin, mineral elements and anti-nutrient content.

Proximate composition showed that crude protein content of the soldiers was higher than those of workers and Queen. The highest mineral element was sodium in queen, while the least mineral was manganese in the soldiers. The termites were rich in vitamins A and C. Workers termites had the highest vitamin C content, while Queen had the highest vitamin A content. Anti-nutrient compositions in Macrotermes bellicosus were considerably low.

Macortermes bellicosus constitute a significant component of diet among the people of the Niger-Delta region in Nigeria.

A number of insect and their products are used as food items in some parts of Nigeria and to a large extent eaten as tit bits or exclusively by children. Insects have played an important role in the history of human nutrition and it is probable that the first hominids in African were eating insects. Insects including termites are good sources of protein with high fat content (and thus energy) and many important minerals and vitamins.
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Also, a recent review has shown that termites are commonly used insects in traditional popular medicine. They are used in the treatment of various diseases that affect humans, such as influenza, asthma, bronchitis, whooping cough, sinusitis, tonsillitis and hoarseness.

The study titled “Edible and medicinal termites: a global overview” was published in the Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine and BioMed Central.

According to the study, additionally, these animals have historically been an important source of food that may contribute to improving human diet, particularly for people who suffer from malnutrition due to a deficit of protein, as they are considered a non-conventional food with great economic and social importance. They have been consumed for generations in many regions of the world, a practice that has increased in popularity in recent years.

The use of termites as a therapeutic resource also revealed an important mode of use of these animals. Evidence of antimicrobial activity of products isolated from these animals has been reported, such as peptides like espinigerine and termicine, isolated from Pseudocanthotermes spiniger, which showed antifungal and antibacterial activities.

An Extract from ;

http://vibesngists.blogspot.com.ng/2016/06/benefitd-of-eating-winged-termites.html#more

Dr Gilbert Ezengige is a licensed natural medicine practitioner, lecturer and writer on health and social issues.

THE BIAFRAN INFO MEDIA & NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY

Today's  headlines  writes '...FRCN takes over Radio Biafra.....' 

Personally I believe  it is yet another miscalculation and  waste of public  funds  chasing Biafran News  media and apparatus the way we read  the NSA ,DSS and  other  government Security agencies are  going about it. 
It is  late,antiquated method   and  the  world  has  evolved  differently that to do the  job they intend doing   they must apply  different tactics  and  methods. It will be  a great task  because  the Biafran   media since 1967   has some  peculiar characteristics : 
It is  traditionally  'grass rooted' and  backed  by  over flowing human resources: people with high passion,  professionalism,eloquent and  convictions. Okoko Ndem for those  who remember his war reports and propaganda   ( radio Biafra 1967 to 1970)   is  still to be rivalled  in the  world  in war propaganda  reports.  The  bitter truth is that Biafran  Information network has  always  been  a step  ahead of  the FGN media. 

The  Biafran media  as  we see  daily, talks  to peoples heart through some historical researches  which is  now  also getting into the fabrics  of  the  whole Nigeria  and Africa. They have  even gone  a step ahead  having programs Hausa language.



They seem to have finances  and  donors (Biafrans and non Biafrans) which enable  them to switch from one satellite service  to the other 'anytime  the FGN BRIBES hosts satellites' the  said .( on this  note one wonders  why the govt. can  provide resources  to buy off satellite services  as to stop Biafra but cannot spend  any money to improve her own coverage).

Technologically, they boast of  having some of the smartest brains and in one of their fora  they  warned anyone 'hunting them' to stop  or they might be provoked into a 'technological warfare' . Someone  even boasted being able to black out or shut down  FRCN and NTA, (could be termed cyber terror) though we all know  Biafran and IPOB propaganda/ threats are  always mega. However, I wouldn't advise the FRCN  to try this on their flesh ahha.

I  would  personally suggest that other avenue to contain their  news  (Fake  and real) should  be sort and not  the said provocative assigning  of their frequency to an FRCN Hausa program .
Charles OC