Sunday, 26 May 2013
My Role As Enemy Of The State By Okey Ndibe
Okey Ndibe
Columnist:
Okey Ndibe I arrived at the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos on January 8 for what I imagined – or hoped – would be a routine two-week visit to Nigeria. Within moments of arrival, I came to realize that my trip would be anything but normal.
The plain-clothed immigration officer, a lanky fortyish man with a paunchy belly, seemed to linger on my passport.
He took one look at the passport and then, face screwed up, inspected my face. Then he did a double take. He looked to his left and raised his left hand, apparently to attract somebody’s attention. The man he wanted to draw to him appeared preoccupied. He then peered once again at the passport and then scoped out my face. He sighed.
“Are you Okey Ndibe?” he asked, as if the matter might be in serious doubt.
“I am Okey Ndibe,” I replied in a tone calculated to dispel any doubt.
“Hold on.” He stood up and shambled a few feet to another man. Bending, he whispered to the other man who then leaned back to catch a glance of me. They exchanged a few more words. The man with my passport returned to me.
“I’ll hold your passport,” he announced. “Go and get your luggage and come back.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Just get your luggage and come back,” he restated with an air of finality.
I retrieved my luggage and an official of the State Security Service (SSS) led me to the agency’s first floor office. For a moment there was nobody in the room. Then a gangly officer emerged from an inner room and said, “Brother, welcome.” He motioned to a leather couch and I settled in it. He sat at his desk, picked up my passport, and began to make entries on a computer and scribble on a white sheet of paper. Pausing, he asked whether I had another passport. When I said that I carried an American passport as well, he asked for it. He made more entries on the computer as well as a piece of paper.
The phone calls began. The officer exchanged numerous phone calls with a woman – he called her “Ma” – and a man he addressed as “sir.” He’d speak for a moment and then hasten outside the room to finish the conversation. Then, during a lull in the frenetic relay of phone calls, he asked, “Are you a journalist?” I told him I was a professor who wrote a weekly column. He made a call to relay the information, then hurried out.
After some two hours of this puzzling demonstration of state power, I told the officer that he’d not even introduced himself. “Don’t worry, I’ll do it soon,” he answered. He cut a sheet of paper in half and wrote on both of them. Each paper was a receipt of sorts, an acknowledgment that he’d taken away my passports. Handing the papers to me, he instructed that I report on Monday morning at the agency’s office on Kingsway Road, Ikoyi to see the director. The director would decide about the release of my passports.
It was 11:45 p.m. when I walked out of the SSS’s airport office. It was then that the full import of the experience hit me: I’d been cast in the role of enemy of the state. And the incongruity of it all struck me with particular power. No, I couldn’t recall breaking any laws in Nigeria or elsewhere. I had never stolen a kobo of public funds; I had instead called those who did by their proper names – criminals, “thieftains,” nation wreckers. I’d never been an instrument of electoral fraud; rather, I had insisted that Nigerians have a right to credible elections in which their votes count.
It didn’t escape me that scores of innocent Nigerians had perished in recent months, victims of bomb blasts set off by religious and other terror groups. As far as I know, the government, despite its extensive apparati of law enforcement and intelligence – including the SSS – has not succeeded in infiltrating and neutralizing the murderous gangs. And for all the assurance by the Goodluck Jonathan administration, one is not aware that a single perpetrator of these explosive crimes is awaiting prosecution.
The point is, Nigeria is in the throes of a grave and quickly worsening violence. The resources of the state ought to be husbanded to confront this burgeoning virulent threat. But instead of going after those who ambush innocents with bombs, guns and machetes, the SSS diverts itself with intimidating principled commentators on national affairs.
It didn’t matter, in the end, that I considered being put in the role of enemy of the state preposterous; the Nigerian state had decided to designate me an enemy, and that was it. My emotion bypassed disbelief and went from shock to indignation.
When I arrived at the agency’s office on Monday morning, a lawyer friend in tow, I was curious – since nobody had told me at the airport – to learn the particulars of my offence. After signing in at the gate and surrendering our cell phones, we were shown to a waiting room. An hour and a half later, we were ushered to the director’s office. Two men shook hands with us, then the director told my lawyer that the meeting was “a simple matter.” After the lawyer left the room, the director said, “Professor Ndibe, please regard what happened as one of those things that happen in life.” I thought the explanation inadequate.
“A lot of people are convinced that I committed a crime,” I said. “What’s the nature of my crime?”
The director said there was no crime, that the unpleasant encounter at the airport arose from something in the past that the agency should have taken care of.
In December, 2008, I had received three tips – by e-mail and telephone – that the Umaru Yar’Adua regime had ordered that my name be included on an enemy list of critics and activists. We were to be arrested if seen at any Nigerian point of entry. But soon after Mr. Jonathan moved into Aso Rock, a website reported his spokesman as stating that the enemy list had been discarded.
That misleading statement lulled me into letting my guards down. I arrived in Lagos without the precaution of alerting family and friends that I faced the risk of detention.
For me, there are a few points that bear amplification. On a personal note, I was deeply moved by the deluge of messages of solidarity – through statements, e-mails, facebook messages, and phone calls – that came from many groups and individuals, from within and without Nigeria. A refrain of these expressions was an insistence that the maintenance of an enemy list was antithetical to the spirit democracy that Nigeria claims – in the eyes of many, falsely – to practice. Instructive in a perverse way were the intermittent voices that speculated that I must have committed some serious crime, or professed absolute confidence that the SSS must have had solid grounds for briefly detaining me and confiscating my passports.
The director was at pains to assure me that I would never be stopped on future trips. But that assurance, I told him, was not enough – if others were left on the list. At any rate, an editor called me one evening to share startling news. He’d spoken with the director-general of the SSS who insisted that my name was still on the list – and would remain there unless I addressed a petition to the agency’s boss asking that my name be deleted. I immediately rejected the idea. I didn’t write to ask that my name be put on the list; I wasn’t going to beg anybody to remove it.
For me – and this was a point I stressed in interviews with local and foreign reporters – the airport encounter was far from personal. The quality of my citizenship is degraded when any citizen is, without cause, treated wretchedly. If Nigeria is to mean anything, then its enlightened citizens ought to work – must fight – to achieve a country where an SSS official would rebuff an illegal order, where a police officer would not lend himself to the machinations of nation-destroyers, and where an electoral officer would resist instructions to falsify records and announce an impostor as winner.
Without deigning to speak officially, officials of the Jonathan administration privately blamed my brush with the SSS on Yar’Adua’s paranoia. It may or may not be so. But the onus is on Jonathan to state clearly, the sooner the better, that he has renounced the list of “enemies” at the nation’s airports. Let’s send the SSS on a mission that counts: to catch those who work tirelessly, sleeplessly, to make Nigeria a hell of a space. And many of those, as every Okeke, Haruna and Idowu knows, are in the very corridors of power.
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PROF NDIBE ARREST
Submitted by Tayo Onas (not verified) on January 24, 2011 - 11:03.
I don't know who this guys is, regardless,I admire his courage for standing up against despotic abuse of authority by the Nigerian govt. It is very wrong and inhumane for anyone to be arrested in Nigeria, just because, he wrote about the ills, corruptions and degradation of our beloved country in a newspaper. Kudo's to the professor for his courage standing up against the injustice meted out to him and I hope all of us Nigerians, rich or poor,old and young will some day stand up against oppression, corruption, abuse of power and the systemic destruction of our Nation. In my opinion, the Professor is a true Nigerian, who loves his country dearly, all he wants is for his country to be better for the future generations yet unborn,and that is not too much to ask, he is more patriotic than most thieves in the corridor of power who are stealing the future of Nigerian kids and depositing the stolen money in foreign banks, making those countries richer and Nigeria poorer everyday, he is more patriotic than the customs and immigration officers who collect bribes on a daily bases in the discharge of their duties, he is more patriotic than those Nigerians who offer bribes to the govt.officials, he is more patriotic than the Bank officials and CEO'S who steal investors money. The professor should be proud of what he is doing for his motherland, KEEP ON TRUCKIN' BROTHER.PEN IS MIGHTIER THAN SWORD.Thanks for standing up. Tayo Onas (US)
There are no Limitations to freedom of speech in the USA.
Submitted by Mustapha Ibrahim (not verified) on January 23, 2011 - 18:50.
There are no Limitations to freedom of speech . I
All the examples given below(by Beautiful_Mind) are only punishable under a state statute known as 'disorderly conduct or disturbing the peace'.
if found guilty, you pay a $50 fine and that is it.
"Truly in America like in every civilised society, there are literally thousands of limitations to freedom of speech, and more can be invented at a moment's notice. If you are on a tour of the White House and you shout "IMPEACH THE PRESIDENT," you would be arrested. If you joke about terrorism in line at an airport, you will be arrested. If you shout in a Burger King that Whoppers cause heart disease, you will be arrested. If you visit an Army base and carry a sign saying "US OUT OF IRAQ NOW" you will be arrested. The list goes on."
Please don't compare the justice system in Nigeria to that of the U.S.
A routine harassment of good people!!
Submitted by Jones P (not verified) on January 23, 2011 - 18:15.
I guess it was a routine harassment(although still at the very simplest and friendliest level) of people who ushered themselves fearlessly to speaks and labor for the just cause that's the true which of course is the enemy of the state in especially the roughest among rough states such as the so called Nigeria.
This Ndibe encounters had immediately resent my memory to almost two decades back at the outset of such routine visits on the late environmentalist, playwright, and human rights activist named Ken Saro Wiwa who suffered in the most painful, the most subtled tortured that happens in the most disdain manner that every human rights activists most pray against.
Prof. Ndibe well, if the cause to usher to Nigerians a just system build on true and fiscal federalism, hardwork and utmost transparent way of life is what your conviction stands for, then your experince should reinvigorate your resolves to be readiness. Prepare to stay strong to fight on but most step out of the confort zone so as to get closer to the frontlines, for when you get closer and closer to the frontlines is then you will appreciate that simple true that there're even more work upon work yet undone to get Nigeria out of the brink of total colapse.
hahahaha.....same to you
Submitted by Yez (not verified) on January 21, 2011 - 20:00.
hahahaha.....same to you
Detention of Professor Ndibe
Submitted by Patman (not verified) on January 21, 2011 - 16:06.
For many years I have come to see Prof. Ndibe as among the few remnant of genuin nation-bulders still existing in Nigeria (talk about Late Gani Fawehinmi,Prof Wole Soyinka,Femi Falana, Bamidele Aturu, and a few others). This man has fearlessly and consistently pointed out wrong policies, wrong actions or inactions, wrong procedures and the visionlessness of our rulers(which is positive criticism). He has not faced any particular regime or any particular government official. He offers alternative ideas and ideals in addition to making comparisons on how others handle their affairs. He continues to review how our government policies affects our peolpe negatively thereby eroding their humanity and pauperizing them. This to me is the halmark of true love for country and people. This is what patriotism is all about.
Unfortunately, it is people like Prof Ndibe that the government people hate most. In actions showing "the law to be an ass", our officials continue to look the other way while big thieves, terrorist sponsors, treasury looters, armed robbers, drug peddlers, 419 kingpins, election riggers, military leader-looters, banker executhieves etc pass by. But when freedom fighters, journalists, traders, intellectuals make any move, they become "suspects".
We are watching. Let's hope that a Daniel will not come to judgment. Let's continue to pray that a Rawlings will not come on a visit to Aso Rock!
what a shame
Submitted by pastor ken (not verified) on January 21, 2011 - 08:42.
it is so disheartening how we rain abuses on ourselves simply because we are either blindfolded by sentiments or ignorance.The law enforcement agents simply acted on leadership instruction that was not corrected, but lucky enough prof was neither assaulted nor detained.Lets stop this madness that is being expressed on this page by sentiments and don't forget sentiment has nothing to do with religion, politics or tribe,it is simply a human weakness that must be managed. this is not the time to throw stones on anybody, this is the time to think of a better and prosperous Nigeria. we are more than these abuses. prof okey is a good guy and i also believe in justice and equity.We should all remember that we are still brothers except you have some reservations. love you all. ken
@Daoud Akano
Submitted by Biafra Will Rise Again (not verified) on January 20, 2011 - 18:43.
@Daoud Akano I have deliberately ignored you on this forum for some time now, but you seem to like to court attention. I think you are the one who is a wretched pauper you lowlife degenerate you! I responded to the article and never addressed anyone but OC who addressed his response to me, but you are so desperately full of hate and starved of attention that you had to jump on my name. Did I address you on this forum? I have never addressed you on this forum even when you have replied to my comments, because I knew you never deserved a response. I think that is what is eating you up inside. Keep on eating yourself up inside while the world moves on. I see the name Biafra scares you. Run scared little boy, run and go hide in your little rat hole, fool. All you do on this site is jump from one person to the other picking a fight. You are an attention-starved low-life wretch desperately seeking recognition. The pages of Sahara reporters is where you get your daily dose. Let me scare you some more: BIAFRA BIAFRA BIAFRA BIAFRA BIAFRA BIAFRA BIAFRA BIAFRA BIAFRA BIAFRA BIAFRA BIAFRA BIAFRA BIAFRA BIAFRA BIAFRA BIAFRA BIAFRA BIAFRA BIAFRA BIAFRA BIAFRABIAFRA BIAFRA BIAFRA BIAFRA BIAFRA BIAFRA BIAFRA BIAFRA BIAFRA BIAFRA BIAFRABIAFRA BIAFRA BIAFRA BIAFRA BIAFRA BIAFRA BIAFRA BIAFRA BIAFRA BIAFRA BIAFRA
WHEN YOU ARE DONE SHITTING YOUR PANTS. COME BACK LET ME GIVE YOU SOME MORE TO KEEP YOU RUNNING BACK TO THE LOO. EWU IBERIBE!!!!
When the boys who wear the
Submitted by Daoud Akano (not verified) on January 20, 2011 - 13:31.
When the boys who wear the khaki uniform and boots bought with our money were (illegally) in power and using the same uniform to terrorise us, we thought it was because they mere 'psc' (passed staff college) people. Now, we have 'Master's and Phd' civilians running government and the terrorism continues... Is this what they spend the "security vote" to do, after exporting a handsome part of it to "dollar countries"?
I'll bet that the guy who
Submitted by Daoud Akano (not verified) on January 20, 2011 - 11:14.
I'll bet that the guy who writes under the alias "Biafra Will Rise Again" is a wretched pauper, if indeed he's Igbo. Our Igbo brothers and sisters who have succeeded in academics, business, arts, politics... and have acquired enormous wealth invested all over Nigeria, are not thinking of turning the fruits of their labour into abandoned property...all over again. The living incarnation of Biafra, Dim Ojukwu, has moved on to higher ideals and you cannot claim to love the Igbo more than him. Spend your energy intelligently, mobilise support for a sovereign national conference (SNC) and stop wallowing in unprofitable nostalgia.
ignorance come to bare
Submitted by Engr. 042 (not verified) on January 19, 2011 - 23:10.
It is very unfortunate how ignorant and stupid this don p or whatever he calls himself is. the fact still remains that he is just a low life with no regard and passion for Nigeria. Demanding to know who Okey Ndibe is goes a long way to show that he has never picked up a newspaper or even enjoyed the luxury of reading prof column. Mr foolish don p U̶̲̥̅̊ need to know that people with low IQ should not post write ups on SR as the saying goes was a pig a million times a pig remains a pig, anyway its democracy so your entitled to your baseless opinion. Prof Ndibe what can i say to you but ride on. Nigerians should learn to stand up for change rather than stay hoodwinked by the nation destroyers who call themselves leaders. Good people great nation.
All Jonathan's supporters on SR will die!
Submitted by Ogunlakaye (not verified) on January 19, 2011 - 22:25.
All the bastards here attacking Okey Ndibe are Jonathan's paid agents. There are about 40 of them commenting on every article here. Na Ogunlakaye go kill all of you.
BOLE KA JA JOURNALISM AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Submitted by FARSCAPE on January 19, 2011 - 21:51.
Reading some of the uncouth reactions to this post left one rather shocked and embarrassed by the lack of common courtesy and tendency to attack the messenger rather than address issues in a logical manner.
Viewing reactions to the same article on another website presented a contrasting experience where decency and etiquette prevailed.
While it may be Sahara Reporters’ intention to engender mass communication in a literal sense, it does have a duty to maintain some quality in order to retain its appeal. Aside from the abusive nature of some comments there is also the perennial issue of ethnic conflagrations on this site. In effect any entity or individual that sponsors or encourages (through action or inaction) the fanning of ethnic embers is doing a disservice to the nation and to journalism.
Sahara Reporters can and should vet contributions or face losing its credibility. Borrowing a leaf or two from the competition may be beneficial in reducing the risk of diminished traffic.
SSS YOU HAVE A JOB 'Remove his name now OR'
Submitted by Mark Molisa. (not verified) on January 19, 2011 - 18:53.
The highly troubling point raised by Prof Okey Ndibe is that despite the apology by SSS director they still keep his name among enemy lists. It is really disturbing that it did not take SSS any letter to delay and seize his passport why must he now have to apply for removing his name. Nigerians are watching to see how this matter will be handled but I thank God for what is going on in Tunisia. It is matching to Nigeria very soon unless there is drastic change, a major overhaul in the entire government system.
Gone are the days when you can say we have short memory, the age of infoTech we can store the data to refer to it later.
Government must remember that a n abuse of ones human right is punishable as one can go to court to get judgement.
For the professor always remember the Igbo adage "Agu siri na aga ene anya n'azu bu nkwucha" Let this be a watch word whenever you are in Nigeria.
Thanks you.
AU Citizen and ''it's'' Like
Submitted by omoyoruba (not verified) on January 19, 2011 - 18:00.
You guys are extremely shallow and do not know what you are talking about. Nigeria has serious problems, yes, but it is still a potentially great country and we are the ones to make the potential become reality. That is what people like Okey Ndibe do and some mindless crazies do not appreciate that. You guys can remain in the US and remain third and fourth class citizens while those that care fight to make Nigeria great. Remember though, that same America, if those civil rights activists did not fight racism and slavery and other social injustices, you guys will be slaves today because of the colour of your skin; you won't even be there. America did not become what it is today in fifty years; go and read their history. Ignorant fools
You are my hero
Submitted by omoyoruba (not verified) on January 19, 2011 - 17:39.
My dear Prof,
I admire anyone who takes side with the poor and the downtrodden especially in Nigeria seing the way power mongers harass, intimidate and too often kill such people. Keep up the good work, Nigeria needs your voice. God will keep you and your family. You are my hero.
Thank you
Limitation to Freedom of Speech
Submitted by Beautiful_Mind (not verified) on January 19, 2011 - 17:28.
First, may I comment briefly on OC's comment: There are indeed limitations to freedom of speech in America but in Okey's instance, you have no evidence of what he has said or written which led to his inclusion in the 'List of enemies of State', so I advice you desist from falicious arguments.
Truly in America like in every civilised society, there are literally thousands of limitations to freedom of speech, and more can be invented at a moment's notice. If you are on a tour of the White House and you shout "IMPEACH THE PRESIDENT," you would be arrested. If you joke about terrorism in line at an airport, you will be arrested. If you shout in a Burger King that Whoppers cause heart disease, you will be arrested. If you visit an Army base and carry a sign saying "US OUT OF IRAQ NOW" you will be arrested. The list goes on.
But in Okey's case, we have no evidence of what led to his inclusion in 'list of enemies of state' and consequently led to the confiscation of his passport and as such it is baseless to either argue for or against but one thing is clear, Prof Okey is not different from any other Nigerian and thus writing on this 'issue' is tantamount to making a mountain out of a molehill -it's unnecessary. The last time I returned back from Lagos to my base in London, one of the border police stopped me to check my passport- i'll pressume he has his reasons- delay me for a while, checking clerances here and there even though I had just visited Lagos for 2 weeks but at the end, let me go! It may not have been seized but my point is simple: It's not an issue that demand national debate.
May Nigeria be great again! Amen.
@AU Citizen - Burnt Nija passport
Submitted by Nigerian Citizen (not verified) on January 19, 2011 - 16:32.
People are putting hands together to build their nation and AU Citizen burnt his own passport. O boy, you are a FFFFOOOOOLLLLL and if you are above 40yrs. I am sorry for you. We in Nigeria with all the hardship and suffering as stated by your team are keeping the faith that one day it will get better and you who is supposedly enjoying American life is already broken. What are you telling your kids? To run and hide when it gets rough.
@OC
Submitted by Biafra Will Rise Again (not verified) on January 19, 2011 - 15:34.
@OC since the SSS has the right to arrest any Nigerian without reasonable cause I suggest your house be their next stop.
What is all this talk about criticizing Obama and blah blah blah? I'm guessing you haven't heard of conservative talk radio. When you get a chance listen to Michael Savage, Glen Beck, Sean Hannity, Michael Levin, Rush Limbaugh and hear how vehemently they attack Obama and the democrats. Sometime their rhetoric falls short of calling for a military coup or revolution but these mean earn their livings doing what they do and criticizing the government. None of them has been questioned, detained, or arrested. Do you know how many LEGAL White Supremacist websites are out there that preach hatred and against Catholics, Blacks, Jews and Foreigners? Do you know that the KKK is still a legal organization and that they are free to preach their hatred of Blacks and others and burn their cross as a freedom of speech and expression? So what is it you are talking about? What Okey does with his columns is child's play compared to the hate that is preached by the men and groups I mentioned above and you are here justifying the unwarranted 'arrest' of a Nigerian citizen in his own country because he has penned a few critical coloumns? You claim he was only detained for a "short period" as if that justifies it. Why then was his passport siezed for that "short period" OC? OC my brother Nigeria has a looooooong way to go with the mindset such as the one you and others are displaying here. If our government is so thin-skinned not to be able to take simple criticism then you are in trouble OC.
You talk of Wikileaks and Assange. Assange is a sexual predator and that is what he is being prosecuted for. He was arrested for sexual crimes committed in his homeland of Sweden. If he hadn't committed the illegal acts nobody will have any right to detain him regardless of what is published on Wikileaks.
@Biafra Will Rise Again - In defence of Don P
Submitted by OC (not verified) on January 19, 2011 - 10:24.
I have nothing against Biafra rising again, but for now, let us concentrate on Nigeria. All Nigerians deserve to be treated EQUALLY. There shall be no special treatment of any person (including my humble self, or Okey, IBB, ATIKU, ODILI, KALU, Taju or Musa). And nobody must be regarded as an UNTOUCHABLE.
I am glad you live in a civilised society, as I do too. People are arrested every time all over the world. And some of them by mistake or under mistaken identity. That is why there is recourse to the courts if this happens. It also happens in America (where presumably you reside). The Americans must also know this, given some poor innocent souls that have been unlawfully detained in Guantanamo Bay (not within the US) indefinitely, as they know that this indefinite detention offends US and Human Rights Laws.
To test the ABSOLUTE freedom of speech that you perceive you have and erroneously perceive obtains in the civilised world, try criticise President Obama publicly and consistently and irresponsibly and see whether the FBI or the CIA will not one day pry into you and question your motive. Try again and express your FREEDOM of SPEECH and openly criticise and incite others and preach hate (or homophobia), tribalism (ethnicity or racism) or incite others against the Government of President OBAMA and find out what the outcome would be.
Please, I beg you to just test the Laws of the US (the bastion of free speech and human rights) and see whether you will not get the ASSANGE treatment. What crime did that poor fellow commit to warrant the US Government seeking his head and pound of flesh?
Yet you talk about civilised country. There is what you call RESPONSIBLE EXERCISE OF FREEDOM OF SPEECH.
But that however, isn't the issue or the facts of the matter. Okey Ndibe, like any other person around the world, was unfortunately detained by the SSS for only a short period. They explained the circumstances to him and offered him an apology. End of...! And if he is not satisfied with that outcome then he can recourse to the Law Courts. End of...again!
What then is all the noise and the ongoing malarkey about? That the SSS have no right to arrest any Nigerian, just like the SSS or the EFCC or the Police can never arrest ODILI AND KALU? IS THAT YOUR CASE OR YOUR POINT?
The Vulture Called KaparaK
Submitted by Peter Okafor (not verified) on January 19, 2011 - 08:04.
The shameless vulture who calls himself or herself KaparaK is a hired desperado trying to cast aspersions on Ndibe. The man/woman called KaparaK is so blinded by hate that he tries to stand truth on its head. Nobody has criticised former VP Atiku more than Prof. Ndibe, yet this goat called KaparaK comes here to misinform the gullible. KaparaK, even a mad man/woman knows there are limits to madness! A vulture like u can never do anything to Prof's hard-earned reputation. If you take yourself serious, please use the real name your papa and mama gave you. Did they name you KapaRAT?
You must be a traumatized
Submitted by Ayaghiliya (not verified) on January 19, 2011 - 07:56.
You must be a traumatized Nigerian to think that it is OK for the SSS to seize any citizen's passport without due cause. And that is why your country is so sick and lawless
Is there amy hope?
Submitted by Zaheed Ayoola (not verified) on January 19, 2011 - 03:19.
After reading this thoughtful write up some of the comments thu follows had of wondering is there any hope for the nation . He some people can be reasoning the way they do . Well Prof well done has we say "go on sowun" and "let them say "
AU citizen is a clown...
Submitted by Yez (not verified) on January 19, 2011 - 02:12.
I was cracking up real bad while reading AU Citizen's post and at the same time expecting the fireworks of responses to go off. Well, AU Citizen is clearly just joking or worst case scenario not a Nigerian. No patriotic nigerian citizen would talk about burning his Nigerian passport. The sad thing about all this people talking about having US passports etc is yeah you do have a 'blue' passport but at the end of the day YOU are still a Nigerian to an average American.; be proud of your heritage...the way an average American is proud of his/her country. Dont be a flipping sell out!
Suffering and Smiling Nigerians1
Submitted by Uche M (not verified) on January 19, 2011 - 00:50.
They abuse SR, Prof Soyinka, Prof Ndibe, Ribadu;
They hail Obj, IBB, Atiku, Jonathan, Akala, Ibori, etc.
That is the sign-post of a Suffering and Smiling citizens of a Country.
Don P is a certified psycho
Submitted by omenife (not verified) on January 19, 2011 - 00:46.
Don P or whatever you name is, you do not deserve to be opening your filthy mouth and using your good-for-nothing brain to some discourses. People like you are respected and make more sense when they are silent and do not say a word, because saying anything exposes their intellectual disability. You are one of those that wallow in lifetime ignorance and refuse to let Nigeria move forward. Shame on you.
OK THE RAT COLLECTED LAST PAYCHECK FROM ATHIEFKU
Submitted by KaparaK (not verified) on January 19, 2011 - 00:39.
Now that Athiefku’s desperate ambition to be President, by any means necessary, don pafuka, I wonder from where Ndibe the Rat’s next paycheck is gonna come. It was revealed that the Rat rushed home last week to collect the last few months’ installment of his "brown envelope" from his paymaster – Athiefku - hoping to extend his retainer after the Primary.
But sorry OK, Jonna/Sambo don pour sand into your gari. It never occurred to the Rat the ignominious ending of the Artful Dodger, Sticky-fingered money launderer. These tall-tales gasps at self glorification that the Rat posted up there is nothing but an attempt to safe face. He is still in a state of shock. Who would've thunk it.
Sorry Sorry for naija
Submitted by Biafra Will Rise Again (not verified) on January 18, 2011 - 21:09.
@Gen. Rommel please tell these morons. There is a reason I don't come to this site anymore. The intellectual capacity of the average SR reader is very low indeed. Hear some of their arguments:
1. You should be happy this is not Abacha's regime
2. Who are you that you can't be questioned?
3. He is on an ego drive. Making much ado about nothing.
4. It is not unusual for persons to be stopped at Airports.
etc etc etc
These oppressed bunch of morons do not know what it is to live in a free society. Okey is a professor who writes newspaper columns. He is not a politician, terrorist, terrorist sympathizer, he is not even a journalist. So tell me why he should be harassed at a port of entry to his own country? Yes, he was treated humanely relative to what we are used to but does that make it right? Why did they have to hold his passport and ask him to return on a different day to pick it up? Did he commit any crime? That is treatment meant for criminals or suspected criminals, unless you live in a totalitarian regime where anything goes.
Nigerians have been repressed for so long they do not know what justice looks like anymore. They see tyranny and they call it justice because Okey wasn't gun butted and made to frog jump with his luggage on his head.
I sorry for Naija!
Leave the professor alone!
Submitted by Jollof (not verified) on January 18, 2011 - 20:56.
Some Nigerians have bad manners. A man just went through HELL yet you are abusing him. The law of retribution will pay such people back. Amen! Awon Ikadiran!
