Culled from another article on NVS...

A member of the Committee, Yakubu Dogara (PDP, Bauchi) questioned Keyamo on the authenticity of the documents he attached to the letter he wrote to Speaker Dimeji Bankole. Keyamo refused to disclose his source. This angered some members of the Committee. Nnenna Ukeje (PDP, Abia) accused him of not having anything substantial to prove his case, and of merely "playing to the gallery.

Warman Ogoriba (PDP, Bayelsa) shouted at Keyamo, asking him: "Who are you? Who are you?"

Keyamo shouted back: "Who am I? Who am I? Look, I have not abused him and he is abusing me. You are asking who am I. A Committee member asking who am I, a Nigerian citizen? Can the lawmaker apologise to me, Mr. Chairman?" At a point, Ogoriba got up and declared: "I will kill him (Keyamo). I am a street boy from Port Harcourt ."

Jerry Manwe (PDP, Taraba) joined in, adding: "The boy (Keyamo) is a criminal. In fact, he made a submission and he's contradicting himself." But as he left the venue, Keyamo shouted back to the lawmakers: "You must give account of the money! You must give account!" As he was leaving, a member of the Committee blocked the door and rained abuses on him. Keyamo gave as much as he got. Who are you???

I culled the above from a post from another article in the village. And I thought I should write a short piece on this. The statement noted above made me think: Who are you? I wonder when I was in Nigeria , who was I? Indeed? If I go back now, who will I be? Many of us where “Somebodies” before we left Nigeria , and many of us were not. Some of us have not even gone to Nigeria to date as some have been born abroad.

So Who was I in Nigeria ? Let me skip to when I found myself on the campus of the Great Ife, ( Obafemi Awolowo University ). What is ironic is that being on that campus made one discover who they were what they were made of. I am sure , Great Ifeites with agee to this, and kegites...HA! To graduate from Great Ife is to pass through the nose of an angry tiger and come back out again... Alive. Great Ife was a campus of extremists. I think the university campus also spoke volumes of whom Obafemi Awolowo was and why he is revered by his Kinsmen. In those days being on campus in Ife was like living in a little architectural wonderland. Everything worked, including hot water showers in the bathrooms in Awo hall. The organization within the campus was a far cry from the disorganization of Nigeria .

I mentioned that being at Great Ife made you realize who you were, why? Well by the time you witnessed one or two Aluta’s taking place, and found yourself inhaling sweet gulps of tear gas, you found your own voice on politics. By the time you witnessed the elections for Student Union, and the madness of campus cults, you realized what It meant to vote and what mass action was all about. Equally by the time you muscled through your first Chemistry exam under Dr. Shoriyan, you realized how skewed life must be, or by the time you had the unfortunate luxury of taking a class with Dr. Adesanya of the Building department, you wondered how come life was so hard and cruel.

But you adapted and evolved as a result, you waged war on your classes and passed despite the odds. You suffered through 1-0-0 or 0-0-1 or if you are lucky, 1-0-1 as your meal routine, You went in and got out of “White House” in one piece, you made your fair share of visits to “Moza” and Moremi, (if you were smart, you used these visits to go from 1-0-0 to 1-0-1!) of if you were a senior dude…PG Hall…by the time you graduated, you surely knew just who you were.  So I ask, do you know who you are?

Back to the question from Honorable Warman Ogoriba, lets looks at the second aspect. A representative asks a Nigerian, who are you? So does the representative need to know who the Nigerian is before he can answer a query? So essentially, you need to be “somebody” before you can get the respect or ear of the Nigerian Assembly? I thought we are the ones that voted them in? He does not recognize us again? I would ask the honorable Warman Ogoriba WHY DO YOU WANT TO KNOW WHO I AM??? So you can send your thugs after me? So you can check if I am worth your time?

I wonder, did the honorable Warman Ogoriba, know the name or each individual that voted for him from his constituencies or does he just know the names of his million Naira donors, or possible just the names of his “ballot box” stuffers, and election riggers? Are those the ones he would be willing to listen to and he would “know who they are” . How can you threaten to kill another human being over queries on a common moto car? Its like those bar fights where somebody gets shot because of the game. How are we supposed to operate in a country or “democracy” in which apparently, your elected officials will only give you the light of day if they know “Who you are”. 

But you know, its actually a good question he asked. Who indeed are we to our elected leaders? Are we anybodies or Nobodies? But he should have provided us an answer so we know exactly who we are, is that not fair?  

You know something, that question troubles me whenever I meet Nigerians who are residing in Nigeria and doing very well. Do you know it is a question that I am ALWAYS itching to ask the Nigerian: Oga / Madam, who are you ??? Because it seems that unless you “Are somebody” or “know somebody” in Nigeria , you cannot make it. Can this be true? So I wonder, just indeed who are we? Who are you? In fact, maybe Festus Keyamo should have asked the honorable Warman Ogoriba, Oga, who am I supposed to be??

N.A.R.  Villager

# 1 Culled from another article on NVS... ...A member of the Committee, Yakubu Dogara (PDP, Bauchi) questioned Keyamo on the authenticity of the documents he attached to the letter he wrote to Speaker Dimeji Bankole. Keyamo refused to disclose his source. This angered some members of the Committee. Nnenna Ukeje (PDP, Abia) accused him of not having anything substantial to prove his case, and of merely "playing to the gallery. Warman Ogoriba (PDP, Bayelsa) shouted at Keyamo, asking him: "Who are you? Who are you?" Keyamo shouted back: "Who am I? Who am I? Look, I have not abused him and he is abusing me. You are asking who am I. A Committee member asking who am I, a Nigerian citizen? Can the lawmaker apologise to me, Mr. Chairman?" At a point, Ogoriba got up and declared: "I will kill him (Keyamo). I am a street boy from Port Harcourt ." Jerry Manwe (PDP, Taraba) joined in, adding: "The boy (Keyamo) is a criminal. In fact, he made a submission and he's contradicting himself." But as he left the venue, Keyamo shouted back to the lawmakers: "You must give account of the money! You must give account!" As he was leaving, a member of the Committee blocked the door and rained abuses on him. Keyamo gave as much as he got... Who are you??? I culled the above from a post from another article in the village. And I thought I should write a short piece on this. The statement noted above made me think: Who are you? I wonder when I was in Nigeria , who was I? Indeed? If I go back now, who will I be? Many of us where “Somebodies” before we left Nigeria , and many of us were not. Some of us have not even gone to Nigeria to date as some have been born abroad. So Who was I in Nigeria ? I was a common man. Let me skip to when I found myself on the campus of the Great Ife, ( Obafemi Awolowo University ). What is ironic is that being on that campus made one discover who they were what they were made of. I am sure , Great Ifeites with agee to this, and kegites...HA! To graduate from Great Ife is to pass through the nose of an angry tiger and come back out again... Alive. Great Ife was a campus of extremists. I think the university campus also spoke volumes of whom Obafemi Awolowo was and why he is revered by his Kinsmen. In those days being on campus in Ife was like living in a little architectural wonderland. Everything worked, including hot water showers in the bathrooms in Awo hall. And you could eat a full plate of jollof rice, meat, dodo and coke for 1 naira at the hall cafeteria. The organization within the campus was a far cry from the disorganization of Nigeria . I mentioned that being at Great Ife made you realize who you were, why? Well by the time you witnessed one or two Aluta’s taking place, and found yourself inhaling sweet gulps of tear gas, you found your own voice on politics. By the time you witnessed the elections for Student Union, and the madness of campus cults, you realized what It meant to vote and what mass action was all about. Equally by the time you muscled through your first Chemistry exam under Dr. Shoriyan, you realized how skewed life must be, or by the time you had the unfortunate luxury of taking a class with Dr. Adesanya of the Building department, you wondered how come life was so hard and cruel. But you adapted and evolved as a result, you waged war on your classes and passed despite the odds. You suffered through 1-0-0 or 0-0-1 or if you are lucky, 1-0-1 as your meal routine, You went in and got out of “White House” in one piece, you made your fair share of visits to “Moza” and Moremi, (if you were smart, you used these visits to go from 1-0-0 to 1-0-1!) of if you were a senior dude…PG Hall…by the time you graduated, you surely knew just who you were. So I ask, do you know who you are? Back to the question from Honorable Warman Ogoriba, lets looks at the second aspect. A representative asks a Nigerian, whom he represents: who are you? So does the representative need to know who the Nigerian is before he can answer a query? So essentially, you need to be “somebody” before you can get the respect or ear of the Nigerian Assembly? I thought we are the ones that voted them in? He does not recognize us again? I would ask the honorable Warman Ogoriba WHY DO YOU WANT TO KNOW WHO I AM??? So you can send your thugs after me? So you can check if I am worth your time? I wonder, did the honorable Warman Ogoriba, know the name or each individual that voted for him from his constituencies or does he just know the names of his million Naira donors, or possible just the names of his “ballot box” stuffers, and election riggers? Are those the ones he would be willing to listen to and he would “know who they are” . How can you threaten to kill another human being over queries on a common moto car? Its like those bar fights where somebody gets shot because of the game. How are we supposed to operate in a country or “democracy” in which apparently, your elected officials will only give you the light of day if they know “Who you are”. But you know, its actually a good question he asked. Who indeed are we to our elected leaders? Are we anybodies or Nobodies? But he should have provided us an answer so we know exactly who we are, is that not fair? You know something, that question troubles me whenever I meet Nigerians who are residing in Nigeria and doing very well. Do you know it is a question that I am ALWAYS itching to ask the Nigerian: Oga / Madam, who are you ??? Because it seems that unless you “Are somebody” or “know somebody” in Nigeria , you cannot make it. Can this be true? So I wonder, just indeed who are we? Who are you? In fact, maybe Festus Keyamo should have asked the honorable Warman Ogoriba, Oga, who am I supposed to be?? .Read the full article. Posted by N.A.R.| 30.10.2008 21:11

ezyvic  Villager

# 2 N.A.R, "Who are you?" That is a question that is asked, within the Nigerian context, to express oppressive tendencies. It goes beyond finding out your composition, but also to inquire about who is covering your tracks, that is, who is your 'backbone', who is your godfather. The question is asked everywhere in the world, but takes a negative dimension in Nigeria. You attempted to interprete 'who you are' and what made you who you are, from your own lense, dating it back to your days in Ife. So also would a graduate of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma (war college) express who they are, based on the 'polishing' of their survival instinct through the jungle. It is sad though, Nigeria has taken the 'who are you' or 'wetin you be' or is it, 'who dey promote you', to the very pinacle of leadership, and it is a strong factor that is hindering the progress of our nation. A factor that allows any any nonentity to get away with atrocities, so long as the godfather approves of it, while the 'nobody' pays the price for daring to stand up to them. The prisons are currently filled with those who could not answer to the question (who are you?) and some could be locked up for eternity until a fair minded justice takes up their case. Its a pathetic situation. Posted by ezyvic| 30.10.2008 21:46

izonboy  Villager

# 3 It is amazing how politicians in Nigeria reason. My dear brother Izonman, Warman Ogoriba (and all those like him in political offices) naturally think that they own Nigeria more than every other Nigerian. In fact, for me,this is simply another (maybe crude) version of the PDP assertion that they will rule NIgeria for the next 60 years. They 'own' Nigeria, us Nigerians are merely their servants, slaves, workmen etc. It is now a case of the 'petty thief' asking the house owner: 'who are you and what are you doing here? If I may ask, assuming there were elections, not to talk of credible elections in Nigeria, would some of the people like those who call themselves 'honourables' ever get elected? Nowadays, the thuugs, the failures, the dropouts etc are the so called 'honourables'. Put them anywhere outside PDP circles where intelligent and informed human beings are talking, and they may not even be able to utter a word. How many times have we seen so-called honourables invited to our universities and colleges to give lectures? They wont know what to say, yet they have the guts to ask a patriotic Nigerian, who has paid his dues through hard-work and intelligent contribution to nationbuild 'who are you'? One day na one day. Nigeria will become a normal state and we shall know 'who is who! Posted by izonboy| 31.10.2008 06:15

Mikky jaga  Villager

# 4 Pray what sort of representation can the people of Rivers State get from someone like this? By his own self confession: "I will kill him (Keyamo). I am a street boy from Port Harcourt ." This was addressed to someone interested in how oil money is being squandered in Abuja. Till a way is found to get rid of such gullible representatives (street boy, my gawd) those that are interested in milking the Delta dry will always have accomplices to do their dirty jobs for them. Posted by Mikky jaga| 31.10.2008 06:53

salstep  Villager

# 5 =Mikky jaga;284624>Pray what sort of representation can the people of Rivers State get from someone like this? By his own self confession: "I will kill him (Keyamo). I am a street boy from Port Harcourt ." This was addressed to someone interested in how oil money is being squandered in Abuja. Till a way is found to get rid of such gullible representatives (street boy, my gawd) those that are interested in milking the Delta dry will always have accomplices to do their dirty jobs for them. Shouldn't there be a law for threats like "I will kill him". Only in nigeria. Oppression everywhere. Posted by salstep| 31.10.2008 08:23

VOR  Villager

# 6 Mr. Chairman?" At a point, Ogoriba got up and declared: "I will kill him (Keyamo). I am a street boy from Port Harcourt ." A law maker said this and the Nigerian press and Nigerians are not up in arms over this statement? I guess its normal practice to threaten to kill someone openly, even in the supposed hallowed chambers of the House of Reps. Where are those trigger happy SSS men who close down media houses and harass and intimidate journalists? I guess it is not a matter of "national security" that a lawmaker is threatening to "kill" a Nigerian :rolleyes: Posted by VOR| 31.10.2008 09:01

Olamide  Villager

# 7 If Festus Keyamo suddenly dies in an orcehstrated 'armed robbery' attack, the police have their first suspect in that 'Honourable' who dishonoured his honourable position by that crude outburst. Keyamo should also thank his lucky stars that the gorilla actually opened his mouth to verbalize the threat, what if he had been smart enough to keep his mouth shut and arranged to have Keyamo assasinated? If the members of house of representatives have nothing to hide, what are they afraid of? What happened yesterday was not the first time I had lost hope in Nigeria's political class. I remember the debate on Obasanjo's third term agenda in the South West and how our 'elected' public officials booed down one of the speakers who spoke against tenure extension. That is the type of leaders we have and that explains why we are still talking about bad roads, epileptic electricity, unemployment, foreing investors etc while other countries are moving to space exploration. With people like Ogoriba representing the Bayelsa people, I now understand why the place has remained undeveloped not that Ogoriba is very different from the 'honourables' representing us from Ogun either. Posted by Olamide| 31.10.2008 09:50

N.A.R.  Villager

# 8 You attempted to interprete 'who you are' and what made you who you are, from your own lense, dating it back to your days in Ife. So also would a graduate of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma (war college) express who they are, based on the 'polishing' of their survival instinct through the jungle. Ezyvic Indeed when I actually started the piece, it was only about the confrontation, but then I thought for a minute who a guy like Keyamo found the courage to go toe to toe with those so called "big men". And I realized it was probanly from his tough radical days on a campus somewhere, hence my skipping to Ife. If I recall, I believe Sowore, is a past Unilag Students Union President, so its comes as no surprise to see what he is doing now. But question struck me gan...As I recalled the question in various situations in Nigeria: ...When police stop you at a checkpoint at 2am in the morning: What saves you? Who are you? ...When armed robbers come calling on your street: Who are you? Do you have a shotgun or AK? ...When you water gets cut or NEPA comes to cut your light? Who are you? ...When NITEL cuts your phone and you try to get it reconnected: Who are you? ...When Local Government touts arrest you claiming you parked in the wrong spot and charge you N2000 on the very spot: Who are you? ...When you are sick and need emergency care and rush to a hospital: Who are you? I tell you another story on that one, has nothing to do with government. Years ago, one blessed early morning while living in Ikeja, 2am, Our tennat downstairs comes knocking frantically on my door, Nah Wetin Now??? Army Robber??? No!! For wia!!! Her 2 year old son was running such a high fever like 102 degress (celcius do not forget), you could boil wata and cook akamu on the boys tummy!!! Oya helele...one time hospital...so we dash in my car and hit Airport road, staight to EKO Hospital right beside Sheraton...guess what, with this woman wailing and almost loosing it, and the boy looking like he was literarily on fire, ( De small fine boy nah "omo yellow") they asked us to deposit N25,000 on the spot before they even took his temprature!!!! Now this was not a poor woman, she worked for a good Nigerian bank and had full healthcare, but N25,000 cash at 2.30am in the morning??? Cut a long story short, despite Army Robber danger, I hit 3rd mainland bridge at probably 120Km/per hr and took them to their regular private hospital in Ikoyi. As soon as we walked through the door...Ha!!!! Mrs XYZ, whats going on with our boy, what!!!! Oya, Nurse call the doctor...within 15 minutes, the boy was in a bed and a doctor bending over him.... See when I ask: Who are you??? In Eko Hospital apparently nobody without N25,000, but in a private hospital in Ikoyi, we were apparently somebody. Nah Wah eyo. Posted by N.A.R.| 31.10.2008 10:10

lateesha  Villager

# 9 I'm just a woman seeking to please God Posted by lateesha| 31.10.2008 11:43

bababoyz  Villager

# 10 I am bababoyz, The EzeGburuGburu of BiafraNigeriaWorld. The Who Are You? Is a syndrome in Nigeria that theoretically separates the Man from the Boyz, The Island boyz from The Mushin boyz, The Fasheun OPC from the Gani Adams OPC, The Ajebotas from The Ajepakis, The Legislathieves from The Legislathieves voters, The Chairman from the Councilors, The Abuja boyz from the Creek boyz, The Armed Police Robber from The Unarmed innocent citizen, Finally It is the syndrome that turned a self confessed street urchin from Port Harcourt called OGORIBA to a legislathief, and gave him the audacity to state openly in the so called HALLOWED CHAMBER of our DEMOSTRATION OF CRAZY building that he will kill an ordinary, "good for nothing", citizen representative. Only in naija. Posted by bababoyz| 31.10.2008 12:40

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