The Nigerian State and the Value for Human Life 

By Emmanuel Franklyne Ogbunwezeh 

The Sultan of Sokoto is dead! May his soul rest in the abode of peace! That is the way of all flesh. We are all headed to the ultimate dissolution of our mortal beings. On the appointed day; in obedience to the supreme laws of entropy, our bodies will yield their constituting atoms in dissolution, to Mother Nature. No one will ever escape it. This is why life should not be taken too seriously. None of us will ever come out of it alive. Life, in this sense may well be the Shakespearean tale, told by an idiot; full of sound and fury; signifying nothing! At death, life tends to become the ultimate joke. It becomes a theatre of dreams, where we may have floated in grand illusions, only to wake up dead. Even to the threshold of expiration, we still harbour our cherished dreams. This means that we may be imprisoned by fate, inside a huge yolk of dreams masquerading as reality. Existence may turn out to be an imprisonment in the jails of illusion. This may be the ultimate mystery of existence: Is life real, or is it a range of recycled dreams, designed to mock human conceit? Well, this philosophizing over death is simply the luxury of metaphysics. And that luxury we can postpone till the opportune time. Nigeria is burning. The pursuit of rodents is should not the constructive occupation to be marshalled in reaction to this conflagration. 

The Sultan did not die alone. He died in the company of other Nigerians, who entrusted their safe arrival at their destination to a pilot, and a social structure that cares no hoot if they lived or died. They arranged to get to their destination, which was Sokoto, but perished a few minutes after paying the consideration for that dream. They paid their due considerations. But the contract was not fulfilled by the offeror. They never booked an appointment to die. No one rationally does. We strive to preserve our natures in being. Although that may be the alternative not planned for, or factored into our every existential equation, no one willingly goes to death without a battle, no matter how infinitesimal. Benedict(Baruch) De Spinoza; the great Jewish Philosopher called it “Connatus Essendi”, which means the ontological propensity of every being to strive to persist, and perpetuate itself in being.  

This means that no rational man willingly takes his own life. He may be compelled to do the Hemlock as Socrates did; bear the mortal injuries of the crucifixion like Christ did, or endure decapitation like Paul of Tarsus did, all in defence of what they believed to be higher ideals. But none of them was recorded as singing Alleluia choruses as they went. Christ was recorded as asking his father the why of his abandonment of him. Socrates silence was an indictment of the Athenians for the crime they committed against philosophy. Death insults all we know of meaning and wellbeing. That is why we fight its advent with everything we have. We prefer to leave suddenly and with as little pain, or thought as possible. This is the greatest pain of the HIV virus. It is a death sentence. But the pain of it is in the knowledge that you are condemned to die a gradual death. This is what the human mind finds difficult to come to terms with, no matter our level of resignation. Life is precious and sweet. It is our primary property. A latin adage expresses it succinctly: Primum vivere deinde philosophari” Life first before philosophy! 

Martin Heidegger writes that “Being” arrived at understanding in man. For him, “Being” comports itself understandingly only in the Dasein. This means that the cosmic landscape was endowed and became electrified with meaning, and significance, when evolution reached what Teilhard de Chardin called its omega point, with the arrival of man on the scene. This is to say that the whole of creation would have been a timeless expanse of meaninglessness without the human being. This may well account for Protagoras’s assertion in 450 BC, that Man is the measure of all things-Homo omnia mensura. It may equally give new constructions to St. Ireneus’ assertion that “the glory of God is man fully alive”, and/or the Augustinian neoplatonistic-inspired epistemology, that “outside the mind, there is no time”.  

All these may amount to arid metaphysics to some people. But the point is that human beings are the only animals that evolved to a conscious appreciation of their being and life. They are the only beings to place premium value on their lives, and evolved a conscious, trans-instinctual effort to protect, and value it. This is why in civilized circles, human life is sacred, while in savage jungles created by human greed; the transactional economics of primitive existence, where the mightier are predators and the weak are preys, holds sway. This is what we see in Nigeria today.  

The cheapest thing in Nigeria is human life. It is so worthless, that the society has been extremely narcotized to the shock of losing a single human life. This is a society that places no value on life. This could be seen in our micro-attitudes to mob justice. Suspected armed robbers are readily executed by the mob, in a bonfire, without recourse to the justice of giving him a fair hearing, which is the only human right that is absolute. Kids in many instance watch as fellow human beings are barbecued out of existence by the extreme prejudices and frustrations of an angry mob; all in the name of justice: simply because the state which should guarantee justice for all and sundry; both the offender and the offended, has failed woefully in its statutory responsibilities. Many impressionable young adults are equally allowed unrestricted attendance at public executions, where convicted criminals are tied to the stake, and shot to smithereens, by some platoon of semi drunk and narcotic-laden soldiers, amid sadistic cheers from the public: reminiscent of Rome of Patrician times, where Christians and gladiators are torn to shreds by lions and other predatory beasts, for the pleasure of a debauched empire. This is a measure of our collective loathing of the sacredness of human life. 

In civilized climes, the loss of a single life is a collective tragedy that shocks all sensibilities. Even when this life is guilty of a capital offence; and the courts in the name of the people convicts him, sentencing him to capital punishment: he is accorded a dignified and painless exit, as much as possible. His humanity was not destroyed by the error of his ways, or by the social unacceptability of his behaviour. He is still a man, whom justice sentenced to lose his life in punishment, pursuant to the gravity of his offence. This is why a condemned felon is not slaughtered like a pig, as was the case in the reign of the imperial debaucheries of ancient Rome; nor roasted over some slow inquisitorial bonfire of medieval import, as human barbecue. This is why civility is repulsed by the abiding presence of crucifixion, stoning, flogging and other medieval-minded penal laws and legal anachronisms, present in many Islamic codes.  

The human person is sacred. And the desecration of a single human life anywhere, is the desecration of the human being everywhere. And man having graduated from the crude degradation of primordial savagery, would never validly consecrate savagery as the currency of social transaction. This is like a pig going back to its vomit. And the human person is no pig. To this end, the ancient hangovers of brutality must be socially sanitized, and given a positive vent within the bounds of the social contract, which aggregates all powers; and vests a monopoly of violence on the Leviathan, which rules on our mandate, and functions for our welfare.  

This Leviathan, which is the government, has the ontological duty of protecting our interests, and guaranteeing our welfare. The consideration we paid individually and collectively is the surrender of our individual powers to self-protection, to this Leviathan. To that effect, we deserve the guarantee of our rights to life, property and pursuit of happiness, because we have paid for it. So no government has the right to renege on this contract, and expect to feed on a meal of our silence. This why as Thomas Jefferson once wrote: Disobedience to tyranny is obedience to God. Any society that wallows in timid silence, while the maid of liberty to be lulled to sleep by corrupt power, risks ratifying the embezzlement of its commonweal and posterity.  

The Nigerian leadership at all levels is so hopeless, incompetent and too pedestrian to manage a micro-enterprise, let alone the exigencies of a modern state. This government has reneged on all obligations placed on it by the social contract. Nigerians’ right to life, property and the peaceful pursuit of happiness has been eroded and dangerously compromised. Our properties are pounced upon by marauding buccaneers, and government approved armed robbers. The ordinary and not so ordinary Nigerian is now fair game for robbers. The government stands aloof as many lives are wasted by brigands on our streets, homes, and highways.  These rulers of the night have overwhelmed, and effectively sacked the policing capabilities of our government. The government, which we empowered to monopolize violence, has failed woefully in this sacred responsibility. Today numerous, isolated pockets of bandits are now wielding more firepower than our state Police, and granting many innocent citizens an uninvited audience with their maker.  

Those whom armed bandits left off, are killed off by the corrupt oversight of our authorities, which is evidenced in the preventable car accidents on our roads punctuated with potholes, which the government agents embezzled the sums mapped for their rehabilitation. Those who managed to escape this, confront bad water, poor sanitation and poor nutrition consequent on corruption induced poverty. They fall victims to the sickening ravages of the intersection of poor nutrition and poor sanitation. They are forced to seek help to their indisposition, in clinics without drugs, or adequate facilities to deliver primary health care. They are not to be blamed. The hospitals have since given up every pretence of being mere consulting clinics and now wear their true face, as places where people simply go to die. 

The kind of inefficiency, corruption and stealing that goes on in the Nigerian official and leadership circles at all levels is sickening. This is where our officials are brazenly ever ready to embezzle every money that seemed “embezzlable”; steal anything that is not nailed down; and accept anything offered as bribe, to look the other way, while irregularities are regularized. This is why an aircraft that has no place, but a museum in a civilized clime, is allowed to operate in our skies, endangering lives of unsuspecting Nigerians, who trusted their government, and officials to do their duties.  

How and why should such planes pass the regulatory sights of our agencies, to freight Nigerians, if due process and not corruption held sway? How could we account for the fact that buildings and structures approved by the Urban planning and Works ministries are only supervised, when they must collapsed and killed unsuspecting Nigerians? Is this the result of accident or corruption? If it is accidental, then someone must have slept on his duty. And how come this person has never been fingered and locked away for his carelessness? If it is corruption, then someone committed a crime. How come then that this criminal(s) has not being singled out, and convicted for his crime, to serve as deterrence to others of his ilk? That all this happens repeatedly is because our government is sleeping on duty.  

How could we account for poor facilities in our airports? Is Nigeria too poor to pay for facilities that would conduce to the safety of her airspace? No is the answer! Are we too poor to finance the safety of our citizens? How could we account for the sorry state of our roads? Is Nigeria too poor to afford an efficient government and an efficient transportation infrastructure and network? Yes may be the answer! Yes can suffice for the answer because out leaders stole over 300 billion dollars worth of our patrimony since independence in 1960; and stashed them in private accounts abroad; and have been pursuant to that in pursuit of shadows and misplaced priorities. All these thieves are known to us. They are our brothers, sisters, fellow countrymen, kinsmen, in-laws, friends, acquaintances and friends. Yet these thieves that are supposed to be in jail, are walking our streets and mocking our timidity. The thieving enterprise is not yet over. The current politicians are breaking the rapacious records of past leaders. And they are still on their plunder hiding under immunity clauses to defraud our treasuries across the country. 

This is why over 60 school children could be wiped away in a second, once upon a December evening, in Port Harcourt when Sosoliso flight went down due to the inglorious admixture of bad weather, poor facilities, corruption and bad government oversight.  

The Sosoliso accident like all others was never an event. It was a process engendered by our decadence. Prior to the Sosoliso accident in Port Harcourt of the 25^th December, 2005, which roasted some Nigerian school children, the Nigerian airport facilities showed their acute and insipid dysfunctionality to the world. On the 6^th of July 2005, an Air France Airbus A330 (F-GZCF), flying into Port Harcourt from Paris landed and collided with a herd of cattle that breached the airport perimeter fence, and strayed onto the tarmac. The plane carrying 196 passengers collided with 6 cows. On that fortunate day, no loss of human life was recorded; only the cows were minced for good measure, with the aircraft sustaining some injuries. Someone must have been in charge of the airport perimeter. Where he is at, and what is his legal fate is everybody’s guess: Nothing! And how come that no one noticed the cows until the plane crushed them?  

The build-up to the senseless loss of human lives via air accidents commenced on that day.  

That taught the authorities no lessons. On the 23^rd of July, 2005, A Lufthansa Airbus A330, operating flight LH564 from Frankfurt to Lagos and Accra, with 193 passengers on board, struck a pothole while landing on runway 18R of the Murtala Muhammed airport, Ikeja Lagos. The nose gear tires burst as a result, causing the plane to leave the runway surface. None of the passengers were injured. Yet, no review was effected or ordered on all our airport facilities across the country. No lessons were learnt from that national disgrace. Our official cheerleaders jumped over themselves in puerility, trying to explain away their incompetence. They were so shameless, that even the loss of the Sosoliso flight did not suffice to make them eat their words in shame. It ended where all such exposition of our incompetence ends; in the appointment of an investigative committee! The committee will go ahead to sit in choice hotels, over choicest food and plangent wines that mocks the personal tragedy of the victims. They will waste their time looking for a scapegoat. They will nominate every one except the government, whose inefficiency and corruption tills the soil for the germination of such tragedies. 

Forty two days Prior to the Sosoliso flight, a Bellview flight leaving Lagos for Abuja went down in Lissa, a Village in the outskirts of Lagos; shredding the lives of 117 Nigerians. The Sosoliso crash barbecued over 100 Nigerians including 60 school children going home for holiday. Our collective irresponsibility sent these innocents on eternal holiday. Would they ever forgive us? The society should protect its posterity. But our conspiratorial silence empowered the audacious impunity of our ruling gangsters, into betraying these kids, and sabotaging their aspirations. They paid for our collective guilt. Yet, that never roused us to avenge their memories with a resolution to be responsible. After their burial and the spontaneous outbursts of hypocritical sympathies and crocodile tears, we went back to our business as usual mode. And on Sunday 29^th October, the ADC flight came down; roasting over 100 Nigerians including the Sultan of Sokoto, to mock our collective stupidity.  

Nigeria is in serious competition to make the Guinness Books of World records; all for the wrong reasons. Four air accidents, claiming give or take 500 lives in less than a year cannot but be a record. It qualifies for a record in all ramifications. But what an appalling record! This country should receive an inglorious award as the country with the most decadent aviation sector in the world. The crash of the ADC airlines last Sunday, like all others was never an event. It was a whole process of grotesque incompetence, corrupt unseriousness, and disdain for human life, helped along by executive ignorance and conspiratorial laxity. Nigerians possess a very short memory. To that end, we are enslaved to historical amnesia. We have collectively failed to learn from any history, both ancient and contemporary. And we keep on repeating our callous mistakes. Losing 4 Aircrafts carrying over 500 people in less than a year is a placard of our collective callousness. And Until Nigerians rise up and demand accountability from their government, the downing of ADC flight will not be the last of air-crashes in Nigeria. You can take that to the bank!  

No amount of “may God rest their souls” will revive these people. They have paid the supreme price for our national dysfunctionality. The edifying tributes we pay will never do justice to their memories. The only justice to these people will be a guarantee that such accidents do not repeat themselves again. God will never do that for us. He gave us all the right resources, both human and material to do that for ourselves. Sophocles was right: heaven will never help those who will never act.  

The question is: where do we start? We should start by first of all grounding all aircrafts on our domestic route until each of the operators produced an internationally certifiable airworthiness certificate. I wonder if Nigeria has an agency that monitors and approves Pilots and the hours of flight each records each week in between his rest periods. Any aircraft over 20 years of age should find itself other skies to ply and not ours. Competent hands should be appointed to man the crucial links in our aviation sector. By the last check, Borishade Babalola has never flown an airplane. I wonder what he understands in the aviation sector. To be honest, this guy is a round peg in a square hole. Borishade should have borrowed a leaf from Okonjo Iweala. He should not wait for anyone to prod him into tendering his resignation. He may not have caused the airmishaps, but for air-crashes to become so dangerously routinized and banalized in Nigeria under his watch, shows that the issues at stake in this sector, dwarfs his competence.  

Our value for human life would always reflect in the choices we make as a nation. The choice of our official functionaries will always determine whether poverty of ideas would dominate our decision making processes or whether innovation, vibrance, probity, and responsibility will hold sway. When we allow the critical junctures of our sensitive decision making processes to be populated with thugs and retired quacks, then we must be ready for a festival of national tragedies. 

Robot  # 1 | 31.10.2006 15:04

The question is: where do we start? We should start by first of all grounding all aircrafts on ou...Read the full article.

Auspicious  # 2 | 31.10.2006 16:05

* The cheapest thing in Nigeria is human life. It is so worthless, that the society has been extremely narcotized to the shock of losing a single human life. This is a society that places no value on life. This could be seen in our micro-attitudes to mob justice. Suspected armed robbers are readily executed by the mob, in a bonfire, without recourse to the justice of giving him a fair hearing, which is the only human right that is absolute. * The Nigerian leadership at all levels is so hopeless, incompetent and too pedestrian to manage a micro-enterprise, let alone the exigencies of a modern state. This government has reneged on all obligations placed on it by the social contract. Nigerians’ right to life, property and the peaceful pursuit of happiness has been eroded and dangerously compromised. * The question is: where do we start? We should start by first of all grounding all aircrafts on our domestic route until each of the operators produced an internationally certifiable airworthiness certificate. I wonder if Nigeria has an agency that monitors and approves Pilots and the hours of flight each records each week in between his rest periods. Any aircraft over 20 years of age should find itself other skies to ply and not ours. Competent hands should be appointed to man the crucial links in our aviation sector. * When we allow the critical junctures of our sensitive decision making processes to be populated with thugs and retired quacks, then we must be ready for a festival of national tragedies. Mr. Ogbuwenzeh has spoken and he nailed it all quite squarely. Will we rise to the challenge to populate our decision-making processes with the best brains and hearts? It is up to us to put a stop to our "festival of tragedies" in Nigeria. Auspicious.

kvin33  # 3 | 31.10.2006 21:53

A sad but beautifully written commentary. This is the crux of all our problems in Nigeria. It is not just the Military, the leaders, the incompetence etc. It is the "status quo conspiracy" that everyone is a part of but no one thinks others are aware of. The conspiracy that is destroying Nigeria! A people who easily obey the laws in foreign nations, cut corners in anything and everything once in Nigeria, after all we can and who will know? Let me tell the truth and shame the devil, Contrary to what most Nigerians say, the status quo works very, very well for a lot of us. There I said it. Everyone wants to make up their own rules, the ones that suit them today, right now, the ones they like, the ones they are used to. We all want to do what we want, when we want it and how we want it, no rules no laws, no problem. The thing is that we forget that if you have it your way, you give everyone else the permission to have it their way too. If you want to be able to tell the pilot, "my friend, do you know who I am? I have to be in Sokoto in 1 hour", you give the pilot the permission to say, "control tower, don't disturb me, forget the weather, god is in control", the man in the tower then gets permission to take extended lunch breaks after all, "nobody listens to me", which gives the minister the permission to say "well who needs enforcement, the pilots listen to the big men anyway, the same guys who recommended me for this job". A minister who must have known that pilots routinely disregarded no-fly orders from the tower and did nothing. On and on. In the end no one has to do anything, everyone is happy until the plane falls out of the sky. We all think we are fooling someone else, but we are all the problem. I don't believe that we are disillusioned, scared, powerless or anything like that. I believe Nigerians actively choose to keep engaging in this conspiracy for the isolated momentary gratification but destroying Nigeria in the process. I am not saying we should be perfect, No! However, the Nigeria of "anything goes" must be killed and buried. Some regular law enforcement is enough for a start, it needs not be comprehensive. Impunity, especially with executives at all levels, must be excised from the national psyche. Debates anchored on Ethnicity, Tribe, Region, Culture, Military, Public or Private are nothing but excuses to maintain the status quo. We easily live among foreigners outside Nigeria with whom we have little if any thing in common with. So.. We must fight to become that change we wish to see.

emj  # 4 | 31.10.2006 23:13

Emmanuel, i remembered the incident of the Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt to lagos and accra on 23rd July, 2005, most of the lugguage were dislodged onto the tarmac when the plane hit the runway.....it was scary.........only one tarmac was functioning(for both local and intl flights). BA flight had to over-fly lagos to accra to refuel, and most of those going out could not till 3.00am.......the landing-lights where yet to be installed or commissioned etc etc, all manner of excuses. Darn, we are just going round in circles every year. Now, they've arrest 2 Ncaa officials as if that will bring back the dead.

Afeni  # 5 | 31.10.2006 23:26

6 billion people in the world. 140 or so million in Nigeria. Lets cut the b.s., a few million dead people is not much of a loss. Talkless of 96 people. In fact, I would save a black Rhino (If they are not already extinct) before I save a person. In fact, if anything, Nigerians value life too much. That would explain why they just stood there while Abacha was killing pro-democracy people all over the country. The more I think about the pro-democracy movement in Nigeria, the more I want the people to suffer. They didn't take to the streets to force out the military, and now they have the guts to open their illetrate mouths talking about "Dividens of Democracy." Typical Nigerian behaviour to want to benefit from things they had no hand in making. Payment is inevitable. The people didn't pay the honorable price for democracy by laying their lives to oppose the military, and now they are paying it dieing in a pathetic state from polluted water and airmishaps. Bleed Nigerians! Bleed!

emj  # 6 | 31.10.2006 23:47

Cause of crash: Borishade talking rubbish, says pilot’s widow By MUYIWA OYINLOLA Wednesday, November 1, 2006 •SUNONLINE Mojisola, widow of Captain Kolawole Atanda, who flew the ADC aircraft which crashed on Sunday, has dismissed as flawed Federal Government’s allegation that her husband was responsible for the death of the 96 people that perished in the disaster. Aviation Minister, Prof. Babalola Borishade, had on Monday told the nation that Atanda’s refusal to heed the advice by the control tower against flying due to bad weather was responsible for the crash. But speaking to Daily Sun at their Abesan Estate, Ipaja, residence on Tuesday, the mother of five faulted Borishade’s claim, saying that it could only pass for a political statement. She described her husband as a professional of high repute who would never disobey aviation rules or deliberately put the lives of the people on board in danger. To buttress her claim, Mrs Atanda noted that her late husband was a pilot with the defunct national carrier, Nigeria Airways, for 27 years before moving to ADC a few years ago, stressing that throughout the period, he was never involved in any crash or incident. She therefore condemned the minister’s position, stating: "that couldn’t have been true. He has an aged mother and an aged father, a wife and five children. He couldn’t have disobeyed. Nobody wants to die. Nobody wants to be involved in an air crash. Nobody wants to die. So he’s not saying the truth. It’s a political statement as far as I’m concerned." Speaking further, the pilot’s widow said: "He’s an American trained pilot. He has a Masters Degree in Transport, and he’s a very meticulous man, very cautious, very reliable and very humble. He would not disobey. He could not even hurt a fly, and ADC can also confirm this. He was with the Nigeria Airways for 27 years and he moved over to ADC when Nigeria Airways was about packing up." The widow was not alone in heaping scorn on Professor Borishade. A member of the Abesan Estate Community Development Area (CDA) and family friend of the deceased, Chief S. A. Sobowale also feels the minister should be removed from office. He wants the nation to note that the minister’s tenure has recorded more plane crashes than ever. His words: "The minister is not someone that befits that position. He is not, because in the circumstances, either in aviation or any other area, when something happens, one needs to investigate it. And for a minister of a country like Nigeria to behave like a naïve person, I think it is very very bad. "And now, something happened within 24 hours, he only relied on the evidence that the control tower gave him without further enquiry or investigation, went on air and started blaming the pilot. Did he know what happened when the aircraft took off? These are the areas he should have investigated. And after he has made his judgement, they now begin to set up a panel to investigate what happened. They didn’t consult the ‘black box’ which is the most important element in investigating what really happened before the crash, before he went on air to be talking nonsense. "No wonder he spoilt the Ministry of Education, he spoilt the educational system of this country and he was removed from there only for Obasanjo to put him in aviation ministry. "The senate rejected him three times. They didn’t approve his appointment. Since his appointment as Aviation Minister, it has been a season of air disasters, yet the government refused to remove him." I believe the word B.S is very new and interesting to some people.......used in and out of context............hmmmmmmmmm...gone are the days of proper manners and real education.

Afeni  # 7 | 31.10.2006 23:56

emj, we all see what your generation has done for Nigeria (Assuming you are 35+). With that said, we can all breath a sigh of relieve that those days are about to come to an end (Getting closer to death :biggrin: ). The mago-mago politics of the old-timers have failed Nigerians. It is time the truth is said regardless of what ethnic riot it might cause. So, I will continue to share the truth. You and your fellow moderates (cowards?) can continue to sugar-coat the reality on the ground. Sorry, I forget. This is Nigeria we are talking about. I repeat, I am sorry. Silly me thinking that the opinion of women mean anything in the Nigeria that you old-timers have established. I better save my breath to debate adult males, right?

denker  # 8 | 01.11.2006 00:02

... a masterpiece of wonderful essay written distinctively by a renowned sociologist with sound and educative mind....thank you, emmanuel..indeed!

Auspicious  # 9 | 01.11.2006 00:06

Ok Awe Afeni, If nobody has done so yet, it is high time someone told you this: enough of your trash talk that are nothing more than insensitive, irresponsible and attention-seeking diatribes in public space against your fellow contrymen and women. Unlike the other adults here, you sound like a yet to mature kid who has just lucked upon having access to the internet, from where you hide behind the computer to dish out your very irresponsible commentary. Tell us, is your own life worth more than a dead Rhinocerous'? Maybe not, since you don't think the lives of the rest of us Nigerians are worth any better either. Why don't you go jump from the Liberty Statue situated in the same city you reside and contribute your quota in blood to that of the dead and dying Nigerians, whom you so shamelessly rile to "bleed Nigeria, bleed!" Gosh, how can any human being be so insensitive at a time when many people are mourning the loss of those who died in such horrific circumstances? You MUST find other means of catching your audience's attention that the resort to shockingly insensitive assertions, Afeni. Yes, you MUST! For goodness sake, you MUST! I beg you - consider that an angry appeal. Auspicious.

denker  # 10 | 01.11.2006 00:06

=Afeni;136729>emj, we all see what your generation has done for Nigeria (Assuming you are 35+). With that said, we can all breath a sigh of relieve that those days are about to come to an end (Getting closer to death :biggrin: ). The mago-mago politics of the old-timers have failed Nigerians. It is time the truth is said regardless of what ethnic riot it might cause. So, I will continue to share the truth. You and your fellow moderates (cowards?) can continue to sugar-coat the reality on the ground. Sorry, I forget. This is Nigeria we are talking about. I repeat, I am sorry. Silly me thinking that the opinion of women mean anything in the Nigeria that you old-timers have established. I better save my breath to debate adult males, right? afeni, my broda, old boy, you're a very very very very angry and sad man....abeg take it easy!

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