chosen04:

You know what am talking about.
You rejoice at others misfortunate while fighting to support the 'enemies from your place' infecting the disaster on people. I know what and where you represent and why all your debates here tend to mock at others misfortunate. And why will continue to sympathise and support this enemies from your place.

nwanne m maramma. Ogini? Please explain the bolded part above. Where did I mock at anyone's misfortune and who are these enemies from my place ?

You can't keep speaking in parables, explain yaself before I vex.

kosovo i agree with you, peaceful protest is a complete and utter waste of time especially in a country like nigeria where life is cheap , you only have to look at how these vagabonds in power dealt ferociously with the indigenes of Odi and other parts of the niger delta to know that we are dealing with bloodthirsty animals.  having said that, negotiation with these people is futile, see how willingly they agreed to enter into dialogue with MEND because of how those boys were crippling their oil production levels,  the price of a barrel of oil at the height of the MEND sabotages rose to $150 and resulted in the nigerian govt losing $1billion a month in revenue -  as you can imagine Yaradua and his cronies were desperate to put a stop to this situation  - this goes to show you that violence is the only way to secure justice.  there is no other nation on this earth that has acheived anything progressive without resorting to violence.  the other thing i beleive is that these marches may have been orchestrated and controlled by the nigerian govt in order to give the impression that they(the nigerian govt) are a fair and democratic govt which permits dissenting voices, i simply cant accept that the nigerian govt would readily allow protest marches unless they were privy to how it was to be organised.

In Nigeria, I have grown to understand than only effective, comprehensive and all-inclusive strike or no-work actions fire up our leaders that are numb to peaceful protests to see reasons with the agitation of the people. Labour unions, all of them should unite and embark on a crippling strike and you'll see the unfeeling and naughty lying rulers(not leaders) scampering about to negotiate. Are you saying that they won't tell us the truth about our president's whereabouts if there was a comprehensive strike action? Peaceful protests don't work nothing, strikes would and always have. Period.

deluxecad:

In Nigeria, I have grown to understand than only effective, comprehensive and all-inclusive strike or no-work actions fire up our leaders that are numb to peaceful protests to see reasons with the agitation of the people. Labour unions, all of them should unite and embark on a crippling strike and you'll see the unfeeling and naughty lying rulers(not leaders) scampering about to negotiate. Are you saying that they won't tell us the truth about our president's whereabouts if there was a comprehensive strike action? Peaceful protests don't work nothing, strikes would and always have. Period.

It is a process and we will get there

ndu_chucks:

When are you going to give up your terrorist ways? Even Mandela had to give up and renounce terrorism before he was able to free his people through political means. You people have to learn to play the political game, olodo.

You don't know the difference between the definitions of victim and terrorist, hence your abhorent use of the word.

Mandela was a terrorist only in the eyes of the apartheid regime and racists, he was and is a hero to all of Black Africa and the World. Shame on you. Olodo.

What are people advocating here? Wearing an explosive belt and walking into an in-session FEC meeting and blowing yourself up? Hurling explosives at our damned rulers and stuff? That'd be terrorist, crude and untaught. There must be a language we should've known that they understand well, we'll employ it. When Obasanjo sold our two refineries to himself and his cohorts, raised the VAT to 10% and hiked the gas price, what brought about the revocations? Comprehensive strikes! Workers' salaries can only be raised in Nigeria only when they down tools, doctors and lecturers can only have their hospitals and laboratories equipped when they strike. What other thing works for our sick rulers?

deluxecad:

What are people advocating here? Wearing an explosive belt and walking into an in-session FEC meeting and blowing yourself up? Hurling explosives at our damned rulers and stuff? That'd be terrorist, crude and untaught. There must be a language we should've known that they understand well, we'll employ it. When Obasanjo sold our two refineries to himself and his cohorts, raised the VAT to 10% and hiked the gas price, what brought about the revocations? Comprehensive strikes! Workers' salaries can only be raised in Nigeria only when they down tools, doctors and lecturers can only have their hospitals and laboratories equipped when they strike. What other thing works for our sick rulers?

I would have said Nigerian cant do that, but after Mutalab, anything seems to be possible now

Sky Blue:

No need for long gist, apologies but I have ceased to find such pontifications interesting in anyway, they are not a sign of "interlect", it is just more talking. It is funny how you talk of the people in the protest playing it safe after they were informed that some up to no good politicians were planning on sending some of their men to attack the protesters and disrupt it. Even in light of such news, the protesters still proceeded. What they achieved? They mounted more pressure on the government, the protest was briefly shown on CNN, bringing more shame and embarassment to the government and increasing pressure on it. Perhaps if you did less pontificating and actually went out to add to the numbers on the street, perhaps we could be closer to achieving a million man march which would definately be something. Everyone wants to "proffer solutions" and alternatives but no one wants to act on them. Sorry, but you might want to reaccess who the cowards are. Apologies if this was a bit blunt, but if you would rather use an alternate route to get the point across, no need to write an essay about it, go instigate it and try and get others to join you. We really need to do away with all this talk and no action. Gosh has it gotten old quite fast,

  Embarrassment is the Last thing the Nigeria Government cares about. Like i said earlier,  The Direction of the Ghana-must-Go is the only thing they care about,  If the Nigeria Government did not see the absence of the president for over 3 months as an embarrassment, then i doubt if a mere protest with placard shown all over the world would have any desired effect,

deluxecad:

What are people advocating here? Wearing an explosive belt and walking into an in-session FEC meeting and blowing yourself up? Hurling explosives at our damned rulers and stuff? That'd be terrorist, crude and untaught. There must be a language we should've known that they understand well, we'll employ it. When Obasanjo sold our two refineries to himself and his cohorts, raised the VAT to 10% and hiked the gas price, what brought about the revocations? Comprehensive strikes! Workers' salaries can only be raised in Nigeria only when they down tools, doctors and lecturers can only have their hospitals and laboratories equipped when they strike. What other thing works for our sick rulers?

That what i am saying and not all these peaceful protest, lets walk to all the airports and seaports to completely block any activity going on there and see if they will not do things right. Let the Nigerian labor Congress go on a comprehensive strike and see if they will not sit tight or will they use the military to force us back to work.

Pharoh:

That what i am saying and not all these peaceful protest, lets walk to all the airports and seaports to completely block any activity going on there and see if they will not do things right. Let the Nigerian labor Congress go on a comprehensive strike and see if they will not sit tight or will they use the military to force us back to work.

The people will be the one that will be affected and not the govt.
People like me that has cars on the vessel to Nija will be the one affected and not the govt.
They might not have more money to steal, they have stolen enuf already

I share Kosovos view nd d reason is simple d save nigeria group had no agenda and had no sensible reason for dat protest so wat else did we xpect, I remembered askin aisha on dis forum in anoda post wat d SNG were out 2 achieve nd al she nd her suporters on dis forum cld offer were gibbers, how do u lead a protest because u want 2 c a sick man even if he is d president, is his sicknes holdin d nation back are workers salaries owed due to his sicknes, contractors who hav done their jobs are they bein owed because d man is sick, is d unemployment rate high because d man is sick, all d armed conflicts and killins in Jos is it because dis man is sick, wil his resignation solve d myriad of problems facin dis country.

A major reason y protest achieve nxt 2 nothin in dis part of d world is because d protest in dis part don't hav any specific prob it tries to solve, in d times of Adams Oshiomole anytime he leads a protest we all know wat d protest was abt, d fuel prices and since dis admin has decided not 2 giv reason 2 al dat type of protest but instead ensures dat it negotiates nd carries dem along som pple feel they can make demselves relevant in dis dispensation by calin 4 protest because d president is sick and we have an acting president.

My alternative to protests nd street demonstrations dat do not yield any result is dat Nigerians individually look arnd dem nd notice dose things dat aren't workin and protest by writin letas 2 d authority concerned say once every week until d problem is addressed. For instance u notice dat a road which ought to be rehabilitated is left unattended to if u write and thru a forum lik dis ask odas to write complainin and protestin and u kip it up weekly and say just a hundred are recruited by u 2 write once every week to the minister in charge the mail room and those responsible for takin d mails wil have to bring it up because the oda mails he shld be xpecting cld be blocked by our complaints dat kip comin and wld be forced to do somethin and if no response is comin u write daily u can get their email and kip sendin mails every hour and I tell u we cld achieve more. Pls dis is a sugestion and it is open to amendments, modification and critisicm but pls if u criticise come up wit a workable alternative

@Fhemmmy: I scarcely understand your stance on this whole issue and besides you sound too pacifist and it kinda discomforts me. Take a position! Peaceful protests don't work! What formula do you have? Of what use would their money be if they can't buy anything with it? Nigerians are tough and resilient, we can handle a full strike action as before.

I am for the protest, cos when i saw some of the placards, i respect what they did.
I am for the peaceful rally, however, not just after the president but after all the leaders

i read some of the comments on here and i know now that we are doomed - future generations to come are doomed, there is no way out of this mess until we understand that only WE can control our own destiny, not some imaginary fairy tale god.  

things are set to get worse in nigeria, the elite have sold us out lock stock and barell to the west, we must understand that we are now a nation of slaves, peaceful process is NOT the way forward, why would the nigerian govt want to give up their position willingly, why would they willingly let go of power, i have never heard of anyone in a position of power voluntarily giving it up without being forced to do so.

The truth of the matter is that we need all forms of non-violent interventions to fight against the fools rulling us.

Mass rallies, peaceful marches, strikes by key workers, citizens persistently lobbying their representatives and senators, people writing letters repeatedly to shoddy govt agencies, lawyers filing lawsuits against corrupt officials all the way to the supreme court if necessary. lectures and open forums, citizens phoning in radio and tv public affairs programs, journalists asking sensible questions from politicians and demanding sensible answers - call out those who say rubbish, musicians need to sing more about social justice and against corruption, nollywood, etc etc

You get the point sha. Basically everyone needs to play their part.

And for goodness sakes, we need to stop being sycophants. If a man who has been shown to be a thief throws a party or drives by our neighborhoods in his flash car, instead of chanting baba alaye, call him a thief and look upon him with disgust.

It'll take time but it can be done.

kosovo:

  Embarrassment is the Last thing the Nigeria Government cares about. Like i said earlier,  The Direction of the Ghana-must-Go is the only thing they care about,  If the Nigeria Government did not see the absence of the president for over 3 months as an embarrassment, then i doubt if a mere protest with placard shown all over the world would have any desired effect,

Pressure from both the international community (UK and US) and internally, as well as the threat of instability was one of the major factors that caused the legislature to grant Johnathan Power and also curbed Turai's excesses. This pressure was as a result of exposure and heightened awareness of the problem brought about by protests from people like SNG with the backing of some prominent Nigerians. The SNG rally yesterday has now brought to light the fact that Johnathan apparently sent an unedited Uwais report to the house and we can quote his aide on that. Those guys have done more than a lot of people. All I am saying is instead of all the discussions, try an original approach for once people, do something. You think violence is the answer? Then go ahead and lead the way, but please stop boring us with talks of how it should be done. Enough of being the talker, try to be the doer. It is always amusing when you hear Nigerians complain that they have "tried other means". It is quite irritating when peope us "we" anyhow, as if they were par of some collective that actually did something beyond talking. What other means have you tried please? How many protests have you been on? How many times have you called your rep? Did you vote? Spare us the sermons please. If we could get one million people on the street backed by some strike action, that would be the beginning of something special.

@omo~fat

And for goodness sakes, we need to stop being sycophants. If a man who has been shown to be a thief throws a party or drives by our neighborhoods in his flash car, instead of chanting baba alaye,  call him a thief and look upon him with disgust.

 very true. It is a shame that youths go about chanting and jumping when all these loots are nearby, I remember one lady of God, specifically calling Luck Igbenedion ([insert LOOT] here [After Ibori]) the TALK and DO Governor, i was totally shocked and embarrassed.

Sky Blue:

The SNG rally yesterday has now brought to light the fact that Johnathan apparently sent an unedited Uwais report to the house and we can quote his aide on that.

  The Report only you saw and No member of the house can say, they have seen it . it is not a classified document, or is it?
I laugh in Pidgin

Kosovo is so right, lets just stay on nairaland and complain, after all even Rev. martin Luther and the Black Movement in the 60s achieved nothing, he died for nothing, he just let his family suffer. Ha, the people that came yesterday just suffered themselves for nothing, abeg its better to just sit and complain and talk about what needs to be done on nairaland, alongside our many tribal and religious bashing threads, all these is what will make Nigeria better not any freaking Peaceful protest (For Those of you who are to slow in understanding, am being sacarstic) Ride on Kosovo, we are behind you. More complaining on nairaland, less action on the streets.
Sky Blue, U have my heart this night

aisha2:

Kosovo is so right, lets just stay on nairaland and complain, after all even Rev. martin Luther and the Black Movement in the 60s achieved nothing, he died for nothing, he just let his family suffer. Ha, the people that came yesterday just suffered themselves for nothing, abeg its better to just sit and complain and talk about what needs to be done on nairaland, alongside our many tribal and religious bashing threads, all these is what will make Nigeria better not any freaking Peaceful protest (For Those of you who are to slow in understanding, am being sacarstic) Ride on Kosovo, we are behind you. More complaining on nairaland, less action on the streets.
Sky Blue, U have my heart this night

Beaf:

You don't know the difference between the definitions of victim and terrorist, hence your abhorent use of the word.

Mandela was a terrorist only in the eyes of the apartheid regime and racists, he was and is a hero to all of Black Africa and the World. Shame on you. Olodo.

Don't flatter yourself by comparing your terrorist activities including kidnapping of innocent foreigners, oil bunkering, and other criminal activities, to Mandela's freedom fighting activities.  You and members of your terrorist organization are nothing but thugs.

Instead of the extreme actions like fire bombs which you are advocating, in Nigeria, I submit to you that the Nigerian government can be brought to its knees by millions of peaceful protesters showing up at the national assembly and refusing to leave, mass protests in every state capital. That is what you should be trying to organize instead of the terrorism you so dearly espouse.

ndu_chucks:

Don't flatter yourself by comparing your terrorist activities including kidnapping of innocent foreigners, oil bunkering, and other criminal activities, to Mandela's freedom fighting activities.  You and members of your terrorist organization are nothing but thugs.

Instead of the extreme actions like fire bombs which you are advocating, in Nigeria, I submit to you that the Nigerian government can be brought to its knees by millions of peaceful protesters showing up at the national assembly and refusing to leave, mass protests in every state capital. That is what you should be trying to organize instead of the terrorism you so dearly espouse.

Keep dreaming and living in a world of Fantasy,

Peaceful protests can work, decide that you will not take part in business as usual, go on strike and see if they don't take notice.

@aisha u stil didn't say wat u achieved frm d march, Martin Luther fought against slavery and at dat time it was part of their laws dat slaves cld not vote nd cldnt b voted for among other injustice. D protest only brought to d fore dat d Uwais report had been submited b4 ur rally hence d rally can't take d credit.

Sky Blue:

Pressure from both the international community (UK and US) and internally, as well as the threat of instability was one of the major factors that caused the legislature to grant Johnathan Power and also curbed Turai's excesses.

the fact that the US and the UK applied this pressure should arouse doubt in your mind not lull you in to the false sense of security that you are in because both of those countries have a hidden agenda towards nigeria - are you seriously trying to say that the US and UK care about nigeria's progress?  
for your information their interest is restricted to protecting the oil wells and the revenue it generates, nothing more.  
I beleive they know more about Yaradua's dissapearance than they are letting on.

This pressure was as a result of exposure and heightened awareness of the problem brought about by protests from people like SNG with the backing of some prominent Nigerians. The SNG rally yesterday has now brought to light the fact that Johnathan apparently sent an unedited Uwais report to the house and we can quote his aide on that. Those guys have done more than a lot of people. All I am saying is instead of all the discussions, try an original approach for once people, do something. You think violence is the answer? Then go ahead and lead the way, but please stop boring us with talks of how it should be done.

the idea that pressure was brought to bear on the nigerian govt as a result of the SNG rally is laughable - if the nigerian govt thought that they were a threat they would all be languishing in kirikiri by now, the SNG are no threat to the nigerian govt.   Only a nigerian would be dismissive about a violent overthrow of  a govt which for the past 50 years has been  responsible for causing so much misery and suffering to its own people .  Had the iranians adopted your mindset i doubt that they would have succeeded in overthrowing the corrupt US backed shah of iran in 1979.

Enough of being the talker, try to be the doer. It is always amusing when you hear Nigerians complain that they have "tried other means". It is quite irritating when peope us "we" anyhow, as if they were par of some collective that actually did something beyond talking. What other means have you tried please? How many protests have you been on? How many times have you called your rep? Did you vote? Spare us the sermons please. If we could get one million people on the street backed by some strike action, that would be the beginning of something special.

you are a dreamer, if you think a peaceful protest will jog the consciences of these murderers you are deluded - name any peaceful protest in the world that has brought about real change.

strike action? tell me how this will work in a country with mass unemployment, dont you understand that it is easier to bribe people when there's mass poverty, if a worker decides to join a strike action the govt will simply  replace the person with someone who has been unemployed for 5 years thereby defeating the whole objective, strikes cant work in a country like nigeria where there is so much poverty as there are too many desperate people who just want to be allowed to eat three square meals a day.  People in nigeria need to put aside ethnic differences and unite against this common enemy - this is the only way out.

kosovo:

Keep dreaming and living in a world of Fantasy,  

You have a better chance at succeeding with mass protests, the government will not be able to stop you at will. The international community will also be watching - its not easy to shoot and kill 500 people out of 400,000 protesters particuarly if they are unarmed.

If on the other hand you try to use violence, they will just kill you people like guinea fowls. They have bigger guns.

Sapeleguy knows what I'm talking about. Peaceful protests can bring the government to its knees.

SapeleGuy:

Peaceful protests can work, decide that you will not take part in business as usual, go on strike and see if they don't take notice.

                   Strike . . Strike. . . Strike.
during OBJ time, if he wanted to increase fuel by N5 he would put the price at N10, so that after all the strike and noise, they would finally negotiate and reach an agreement of N5 increment. That is just how DUMB strike is.

cap28:

the fact that the US and the UK applied this pressure should arouse doubt in your mind not lull you in to the false sense of security that you are in because both of those countries have a hidden agenda towards nigeria - are you seriously trying to say that the US and UK care about nigeria's progress?  
for your information their interest is restricted to protecting the oil wells and the revenue it generates, nothing more.  
I beleive they know more about Yaradua's dissapearance than they are letting on.

the idea that pressure was brought to bear on the nigerian govt as a result of the SNG rally is laughable - if the nigerian govt thought that they were a threat they would all be languishing in kirikiri by now, the SNG are no threat to the nigerian govt.   Only a nigerian would be dismissive about a violent overthrow of  a govt which for the past 50 years has been  responsible for causing so much misery and suffering to its own people .  Had the iranians adopted your mindset i doubt that they would have succeeded in overthrowing the corrupt US backed shah of iran in 1979.


you are a dreamer, if you think a peaceful protest will jog the consciences of these murderers you are deluded - name any peaceful protest in the world that has brought about real change.

strike action? tell me how this will work in a country with mass unemployment, dont you understand that it is easier to bribe people when there's mass poverty, if a worker decides to join a strike action the govt will simply  replace the person with someone who has been unemployed for 5 years thereby defeating the whole objective, strikes cant work in a country like nigeria where there is so much poverty as there are too many desperate people who just want to be allowed to eat three square meals a day.  People in nigeria need to put aside ethnic differences and unite against this common enemy - this is the only way out.

I am saying I have more respect for people who actually put their money where there mouth is. You have more chances of achieving a goal when you try and zero chances when you don't. I could actually address your comments why I think peaceful protests can be a very effective tool, but (no offence intended), I genuinely believe it would be a wasted effort. All I am saying is, if you think violence is the way forward, at least have the guts to act on it, or does your conviction not go beyond pontification? I am just saying, enough talking, it isn't "deep" because most of it has all been said before. What has brought the country to its knees has not just been dictatorships and a corrupt system, the docile citizenry has done worse.

kosovo:

  The Report only you saw and No member of the house can say, they have seen it . it is not a classified document, or is it?
I laugh in Pidgin

Never claimed to see the report, only said it is now on record that it has been sent so we can quote somebody (thanks to the rally).

kosovo:

Keep dreaming and living in a world of Fantasy, 

And keep "proferring" your solutions. I would take a dreamer who has the courage to work to realise his dreams than a talker anyday.

@Sky Blue

Never claimed to see the report, only said it is now on record that it has been sent so we can quote somebody (thanks to the rally).

how many times do we have to quote somebody and how many of those quotes have brought food to Nigeria people?
it is a shame that you are among the set of people who still believe in promises rather than working-policies.

kosovo:

                   Strike . . Strike. . . Strike.
during OBJ time, if he wanted to increase fuel by N5 he would put the price at N10, so that after all the strike and noise, they would finally negotiate and reach an agreement of N5 increment. That is just how DUMB strike is.

That is called skilled negotiation, he gave his best alternative to a negotiated agreement - standard practice in business and politics. It is up to his opponents to drive an even harder bargain.

Violent protest will definitely not work. Peaceful protest will not work, strike is dumb so please tell us what will work.

kosovo:

@Sky Blue  how many times do we have to quote somebody and how many of those quotes have brought food to Nigeria people?
               it is a shame that you are among the set of people who still believe in promises rather than working-policies.

Not the issue, the issue is that it is in the public domain now, and we know the aid that said it. If you can't understand that then forget it. No need to dodge the issue. You say violence is the way, I am saying what is stopping you? Or are you only into proferring solutions without any convictions to act on them? Again, no need to argue on whether peaceful protests work or not. If you have an alternative, what is stopping you from acting on it? I wouldn't hold my breath for a direct reponse though. You seem to like dodging the issue.

Sky Blue:

I am saying I have more respect for people who actually put their money where there mouth is. You have more chances of achieving a goal when you try and zero chances when you don't. I could actually address your comments why I think peaceful protests can be a very effective tool, but (no offence intended), I genuinely believe it would be a wasted effort. All I am saying is, if you think violence is the way forward, at least have the guts to act on it, or does your conviction not go beyond pontification? I am just saying, enough talking, it isn't "deep" because most of it has all been said before. What has brought the country to its knees has not just been dictatorships and a corrupt system, the docile citizenry has done worse.

And keep "proferring" your solutions. I would take a dreamer who has the courage to work to realise his dreams than a talker anyday.

so nigeria's docile citizenry are part of the current problem? well, if you know this why are you advocating peaceful protest?  If our docility has enabled the nigerian elite to take us for a ride for so long - is it peaceful protest that will make them treat us with more respect?  

the fact that you are terrified of looking at the situation for what it is speaks volumes about what sort of person you are.  

the reason that you cant come up with any constructive argument to back your bogus claim that non violent protest works is for the simple reason that it doesnt work, you have not been able to name any situation anywhere in the world where peaceful protest has worked, even in so called civilised societies violence is always used in order to force the hand of govt, look at Greece which is currently in a state of economic meltdown - do you think the greeks are sitting around talking about peaceful protest - no they are revolting and in some instances they have resorted to violent protests in order to let their govt know that they will not take the current hardships that they are being subjected to lying down.