The Irony Of One Nigeria

Sometimes I am forced to the conclusion that the ideology that birthed Nigeria is faulty. Though I'd rather hope I'm wrong. I am compelled to see through the lens of secessionists, and wished they have their ways. The latest of such issues that make me wish those that believe in Biafra part ways while Hausas have their independent Arewa nation, and Yorubas stay in their Oduduwa or whatever nation, is our attitudes toward convictions or death of politicians. When a politician dies or is convicted, one group morns, some other rejoices. A group will display clannish solidarity for a known criminal that squandered the opportunity and privilege to impact their lives all because he's a son of the soil.
The trial or conviction of a criminal that normally should be a victory for the people ends up polarising us the more. We recently witnessed how some hungry folks showed to the world how 'immensaly' they've been deprived their right to good education by the same state robber they're defending.

The death of former Bayelsa State Governor, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha on the 10th day of October, 2015 yet again bring out our hypocrites as a nation. Alams death came with a shock as no one would have expected him to pass away just when he's about to be extradited. His death is mourned as it should, only for the negative buzz it's generating on the social media. His people, the South-southerners are of the opinion that their son should only be mourned and his crimes forgotten. The owners of the land that feeds the nation want us to stop talking about how a smart cross-dresser their illustrious son was. They want us to forget how he was to be extradited before he opted for cardiac arrest in place of UK arrest all because the money he stole was not Nigeria's, it was for the people of a region without which the nation would starve to death. These are the same people that, along with their Eastern brothers, celebrated the demise of late Hadjia Bilikisu Yusuf of the BBOG campaign. They have suddenly leafed their Bible to verse that says that the dead be respected. This level of hypocrisy makes me lose faith in One Nigeria.

With my experiences so far with different ethnic groups, I never believed Nigeria to be one, or has ever been one and I doubt Nigeria would ever be one inasmuch Niger-Deltans hold to "Our Oil" mentality, inasmuch as Yorubas believe themselves more sophisticated than average Northerners, inasmuch as Northern elites believe they are born to rule, inasmuch as Igbo considered themselves smarter than other ethnic group. The earlier we realized that peoples forcefully coalesced into a nation will never be one the better for our sanity because few sane among us are vastly becoming infected by those carrying the dangerous virus of false sense of superiority and grandeur.

I'd rather we have a Yoruba nation where no Frank from the other side of the Niger will tell me to hate Tinubu because he's milking the Yorubas, and that I should love Mimiko because he represents all Awolowo stood for, than pretend to be happy to read epistles belittling MKO's contribution to democracy from a supposed compatriot from The land of a rising sun.  It'll be so good to see Kanu's lunacy bothers only his people while Yorubas deal unstable Kayodes among its people. An Arewa nation where Almajiri menace will not be Ayodele's headache will be just a perfect country.

Olabanji Olatoye

Hypocrisy Of Ben Murray-Bruce

 

Ben Murray-Bruce‏@benmurraybruce

If we want Naira to increase value lets eat Nigerian rice, fly Nigerian airlines, use Zinox PC & wear local fabrics.

The Chairman of Silverbird Group has since elected as senator been trending on twitter with his anti-corruption campaigns. I would like to take Ben on the above tweet. If Ben really mean business and he's sincere in his opinion to increase the value of Naira, will he allow is TV station, SilverbirdTV to show JUST Nollywood movies and only local contents?

From My TL

Olabanji Olatoye

January 12 · 

Attempt at Freethinking

Today I became a manumitter to myself, my own emancipator. I set myself free of fear of unseen and unknown. I killed my worst fear with my bare hands. I gave up on man's creation during the period of unknown. I embrace common sense. But still, I'm shallow deep down....**sighs**

From My Facebook TL: Pulling The Plug On Religion Adventure

d

Olabanji Olatoye

16 mins · 

Pulling The Plug On Religion Adventure

For years I have been having problem with my stand on religion. I am an off-and-on religionist. I have taken several shots at atheism but something kept reminding me of an uncaused Cause, the first cause. I at a time stopped seeking empirical evidences, I tried polytheism. I backed my move with argument that since there are many religions there must be many gods because one God cannot be saying different things to the same people at the same time.

Not satisfied with my stand as a polytheist as the whole journey was full of contradictions, I tried neutralism. I concluded that since disbelieving in an omnipotent God has brought nothing but more confusion, and believing in several gods has neither solved my problem, Agnosticism should proffer a succor. As an agnostic, I found myself trying so hard to disprove God’s existence than buying into religionist arguments which made me more of an atheist than agnostic.

Back to religion with the view that perhaps God does speak the same truth to people all around the world, human discernment differs. God must be eternally the same, people of different times and cultures perceived God’s messages differently. I am convinced that religions are many lights of one candle- God. Of all religions I have read about and practiced, Islam makes the most sense to me – it’s the brightest light- others to me are a little bit off. Maybe because I am by virtual of birth a Muslim.

Though raised by a Christian mum and spent quite some time with my maternal grandmother, a traditionalist. Christianity and our own religion confuse me the more. They left so many questions unanswered. I am not condemning other religions, each religion, I believe is best for those who believes in it. Islam I think is the best for me. I have been able to carry on without looking back in my belief and prayers for weeks now. All thanks to Allah and my girlfriend that keeps reminding me of Solat every now and then. Never again shall I look back.
Now the problem is my ever inquisitive self. I find it difficult to accept that everything should be taken the way they are said to be. I do not believe that an idea should be sacrosanct beyond questioning. Even at my best to live by the basic tenet of Islam, stringent laws like abstinence from worldly music and consumption of some foods and drinks that I consider pleasurable are still difficult for me to abide by. I recognized now that I have reached the destination of my religion adventure. I am glad to be back to the very cradle of my belief and I pray that Allah make it easy for me.

Describe all the world's problems in one world.

The world today is facing different problems ranging from climatic changes, Terrorism, Racism, corruption, Armed conflict, Spread of infectious diseases (recent of which just hit Nigeria) to Poverty, all these, to me if described by a collective name is not world's problem. The world's problem is RELIGION. It has caused more division to human race than any other thing could ever cause.

European Court of Human Rights upholds French ban on full-face veil

The European Court of Human Rights has upheld a French law banning the wearing of the full-face veil in public, ruling that the law does not breach the European Convention on Human Rights. A 24-year-old French woman, identified by her initials 'SAS', had argued that the ban on wearing the veil in public contravened her human rights and led to discrimination on the grounds of gender, religion and ethnic origin. The French law, which came into effect in 2010, prohibits the concealment of one's face, which includes the wearing of the niqab, in public places. People found to be contravening this law can be fined up to €150 and be made to take a citizenship class. Anyone found to be coercing a woman into covering her face risks severe penalties and anyone who wishes to enforce the ban can legitimately ask people covering their faces to cease doing so, and can take them to the local police station or magistrate if they refuse. The applicant had argued that the French ban contravened a number of her human rights according to the European Convention, such as her right to respect for private and family life (Article 8), her right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion (Article 9), her right to freedom of expression, assembly and association (Article 10 and 11), and her right to freedom from discrimination (Article 14). She said that she wore the veil willingly, both in public and private, but not all the time and did not experience any coercion. She also said she was willing to remove the veil for security reasons, but other than that wished to be able to wear it when she chose to do so. The Court rejected her arguments, instead emphasising that respect for the conditions of "living together" was a legitimate aim for the French State to pursue and that its ban fell within this remit. The Court ruled that the State had "a wide margin of appreciation" regarding it general policy on the matter. France had argued that the ban is based on "the legitimate goals it pursues, including public security" and that full-face veils are "intrinsically discriminatory against women". Whilst the judges, who deliberated since late last year, agreed unanimously that the woman had not been a victim of discrimination, two of the 17 judges dissented from the majority view that the ban did not breach the Convention's provisions protecting the freedom of thought, conscience and religion. The International League of Women's Rights, founded by French feminist Simone de Beauvoir, welcomed Tuesday's ruling as a "victory for secularism and women's rights". When the legislation came into effect, the opposition argued that former President Nicolas Sarkozy's centre-right party was using it as a means of appealing to right-wing voters tempted by the National Front. Last year a report by a French Government committee reviewing the issue of integration in France, called for an end to the ban, arguing that such restrictions were "discriminatory" and served to justify other restrictions that had been introduced by private companies. Five months into the ban, the Guardian newspaper said that Muslim groups had reported "a worrying increase in discrimination and verbal and physical violence against women in veils". With cases of people attempting to rip off full-face veils and "bus drivers refusing to carry women in niqab or of shop-owners trying to bar entry". The European Court's decision comes just after France's highest court, the Cour de Cassation, upheld the dismissal of a woman working in a crèche "serious misconduct" after she arrived for work wearing a veil. A few British politicians called for full-face covering to be banned in public buildings in the UK last year after a judge ruled that a Muslim woman would be allowed to wear a veil in court but would have to take it off while giving evidence at her trial.

An Ignorant Sinner

Will an ignorant sinner that sinned all his life, did abominations and all, confesses and accepts God before he dies go to heaven but a good man who does not believe be cast in hell fire? my mind has difficulty with this. please help me understand.

Problems Differentiating Heaven From Hell.

Once you get to heaven, you are shown ur mansions built with Gold but u cant sleep in them remember? There's neither night nor day up there. You are then shown your streets made of gold, but when gold becomes that common, it becomes worthless... Just like sand... And no one would want to buy.. U can neither marry, have children, nor buy new cars. You can't even laugh, you'd be too busy singing praises unto God... Honestly, i don't doubt if heaven exists... I'm just having problems differentiating it from hell.

WHY DO WE EXIST?

We are born and DING here we are without any clue as to what this is. What is this thing we are experiencing and why am I here? It doesn't make any damn sense. How can anyone carry on and do anything as if they know what they are doing when nobody knows what this is. This existence is a prision, we are all very confined and unaware of what else there is. Either that or there isn't anything else, this is all there is and we will cease to exist upon death. I would gladly die now if that is the case.

Religion: WHICH ONE IS TRUE?

I have observed that people of different religions are convinced that theirs is the one true religion. Christians believe Christianity is the true way, Hindus believe Hinduism is the way, Muslims believe Islam is the way, etc etc. How is it that one "gets" a religion? Excluding converting, isn't the fact that one is BORN into a family of a particular religion determine that persons religion? So if you are born into a Christian family, you are Christian and if you are born into a Muslim family then you are Muslim. You will grow up being taught and perhaps believing that Christianity is the one True way to God and all others aren't really the true way. But then, what if you would have been born, lets say, a Muslim. So then, you would be following the "not really true way". But you wouldn't think of it that way because you would be Muslim, which you would be convinced is the true way. My point is, religion is arbitrary. You were born into it. You could just as easily been born someone else. Then you would belong to a religion that you in your present life are told is not right. Think about that.

What Do You Think Of Dreams?

Do you feel dreams have any use or do you feel they are generally just meaningless? I have had all kinds of different dreams and although I've never given it much thought I do tend to wonder if they are trying to tell me something, if my brain is trying to tell me something, and if they affect my life when I'm awake. What about dreams you don't remember? We all dream at night but only remember a fraction of them. Do you believe they affect us if we don't remember them? In general, if something happens to us and we don't remember, does it matter? Thanks

A few question, interested in everybody's opinions

Religion - What does faith ask of me? Science - has information replaced faith? Technology - does it enslave or set us free? Philosophy - What is the sense of being? Psychology - Can we account for consciousness materially? Ethics - On what is moral value based? Aeshetics - What is the use of the imagination? Politics - is violence justified by commitment to freedom? History - What are we progresing into? They might keep you going for a while.

IGNOSTIC or AGNOSTIC?

What do you call believe that there is something 'Higher' out there, but don't put a specific face on it?

Questioning God's Existence

I'm particularly interested in discussing subject that have at least something to do with God or an all-powerful being. Do you or don't you believe in a god/all-powerful being and WHY? If you are an agnostic, why? (I think a discussion like this would be helpful to many people here including myself).

COULD THIS BE THE END OF RELIGION?

The Higgs boson is perhaps better known by its sexier nickname: the "God particle."
But in fact, many scientists, including the physicist for whom it is named, dislike the term.
In 1993 when American physicist Leon Lederman was writing a book on the Higgs boson, he dubbed it "the goddamn particle." An editor suggested "the God particle" instead.
One thing is clear: The July 4 discovery that marked a new chapter in scientific knowledge also reignited debate over the universe's origins -- and the validity of religious faith as scientific knowledge expands.
The Higgs boson explains why particles have mass -- and in turn why we exist. Without the boson, the universe would have no physical matter, only energy.
The cosmological implications are hotly debated. Can God fit in a scientific story of creation?
The answer is "no" for Lawrence M. Krauss, an Arizona State University theoretical physicist. He argued in Newsweek that the Higgs boson discovery "posits a new story of our creation" independent of religious belief.

"Humans, with their remarkable tools and their remarkable brains, may have just taken a giant step toward replacing metaphysical speculation with empirically verifiable knowledge," he wrote.
With enough data, physics would make God obsolete, he said. "If we can describe the laws of nature back to the beginning of time without any supernatural shenanigans, it becomes clear that you don't need God."
Religious believers see things differently.
Vatican astronomer Guy Consolmagno argued in a Washington Post column that scientifically deduced universal laws expose "the personality" of God. "The mysteries revealed by modern science are a constant reminder that reality is bigger than our day-to-day lives," he wrote.
Alternative medicine guru Deepak Chopra said in a YouTube video that the boson hints at a divine interconnectedness of all things.
"It only strengthens the notion that the universe comes out of a nothingness which is everything," he said.
This much is true: Higgs bosons -- which permeate the universe -- help us understand how something comes from nothing.
The awe we feel with this heady topic causes even nonreligious people to use religious language, said Philip Clayton, dean of Claremont School of Theology and a researcher of science and religion.
"Humans are really fascinated with what we know scientifically and what lies right at the boundaries of what we can know," he said.
Albert Einstein's quip that God "doesn't play dice with the world" is a metaphor to help explain our quest for order in a world that seems chaotic, Clayton said.
Such metaphorical language helps to explain the world at the particle level where physical laws such as gravity break down, and physicists rely on abstractions to describe how particles interact.
Clayton said discussing whether the discovery "disproves religion or supports creation" misses the point. "The fans and the foes of religion ... are overreaching on both sides. The quest for the Higgs boson, and its ultimate discovery, neither proves nor disproves God," he wrote in a Huffington Post column.
But Krauss says science isn't trying to disprove God. Rather, data only have to offer an explanation for the universe that would make a divine creator redundant. When English physicist Peter Higgs proposed the Higgs boson in 1964, it helped codify an incomplete model of the universe. This model was shown accurate through experimentation culminating in July 4's discovery.
Krauss said further experimentation will lead toward a "unified theory" of the universe that accounts for everything from quarks to galaxies.
"That's the difference between science and religion," he said. "We don't require the universe to be what we want -- we force our beliefs to conform to the evidence of reality."Source