--- Received from WPS.RYARL  223-5923               02-18-99 1059a
  -> [log in to unmask]

SALUTE TO DR. ADEMOLA IYI-EWEKA'S LEADERSHIP

Hello, Mr. President.

I applaud your effective leadership role.

Yes, you did it.  Is it a little too late?  I say NO.
Waiting to this point gave an opportunity to those who
needed to express how they felt.  This opportunity begot
another for those who wanted to know what people's reactions
would be.  And yes, we learned and I hope we now know what to
do the next time we consider either hurting or helping the
communication process.  I will honestly vote for the latter,
helping over hurting. I also have your vote on this, right?
Right!  Thank you for making it easier for me.

Fellow Africans and friends of Africa, I personally join
Dr. Iyi-Eweka's generous appeal to those who have either
considered or are considering terminating their subscription
to the net to please reconsider.  This net is not only a free
but a convenient communication tool that is very useful and
helpful in many ways.  How can ALL of us make it an effective
or the right tool, is the question you, you, you and I need to
answer.  We will appreciate your suggestions to do just that.

Withdrawing our subscriptions may be a way of telling ourselves
to leave the improvement process to the unknown.  I certainly do
not get it.  Believe me or not, If We Do Not Do It FOR US,
absolutely, No One will Do It FOR US.

Please stick around and together WE SHALL OVERCOME SOME DAY.
The African Association of Madison, Inc., ye Africa will not
only be what you want them to be but what you will HELP them
to be. Yes, you can. I honestly believe and trust that you
can in your own way.

Meanwhile, I take my hat off to those who mediated in any form
or shape and one way or another.  Also my heartfelt gratitude
to those who patiently witnessed the exchange of thoughts and
feelings.  I hope your patience gave you a new experience.

Remember: THIS IS THE DAY THAT THE LORD HAS MADE.  LET US REJOICE
AND BE GLAD IN IT.  Cheers and Allah/God Bless!

Richard Yarl
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From: [log in to unmask]
To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Thu, 18 Feb 1999 06:43:15 -0600
Subject: Re: Apologies for my remarks

Sam Garwo:
Greetings of the day to you.  I never read your mail.  Infact, I stopped
reading mails posted on Nigeria on this net because I did not want to start
a cyber war, such as the one that has just erupted.
 It will be difficult for me not to attempt to respond to uncomplimentary
mails about Nigeria as the President of the Nigerian Union here in
Madison-Wisconsin.  That is precisely why I used the analogy of the monkey
who ended up in the hunter's pot of pepper soup in my previous mail to Peter
Amakobe.
 Yes, there is free speech on this net. But it is within bounds.  Your
freedom may terminate where my mine begins.
The bloodshed going on in Sierra Leone is very painful to us Nigerians.
Nigerians died in hundreds in her effort to stabilise LIBERIA.  Nigerians
are dying in hundreds in an effort to stabilise again Sierra Leone. We have
lost and are losing precious financial resources in trying to stabilise the
West African region.  And here comes a BBC report castigating Nigeria , a
country doing what Britain the colonial master ought to have done in the
first place.
Nigerians have feelings. Those Nigerians who died in Liberia and are dying
in Sierra Leone are our brothers and sisters.  If Nigerians are annoyed of
that mail, we have a reason to.  We have not over reacted at all.  Even if
we did it, as somebody has suggested ,we are justified.  But most
importantly is the fact that you have apologised for your contribution to
the cyber war.
On behalf of the Nigerian community here in Madison, Wisconsin, I accept
your apology. May you grow taller and prosperous.

TO ALL NIGERIANS ON THE NET:
You have shown your displeasure on the posting under discussion or the
apparent bashing of your country and country men and women.  You have a
right to do so.  Since people have apologised, we should be ready to forgive
and let go. WE ARE ALL IN THE SAME FAMILY. WE ARE ALL AFRICANS.  Therefore
all the Nigerians who have requested that they be disconnected from AAM list
should please reconsider.  You are here to stay. You can not run away from
the African Community whether on the ground or on the internet.
And to my sister Mabel Enwemwa( my Benin woman) never mind those insults .
It just part of belonging. It is what you get for being a LEADER

TO COMFORT ATTEH:

Now I know why you ran away from Madison, Wisconsin.  You wanted away to
call Nigerian, Cameroon at long distance. I hope your are doing fine

i hope this ends all the PALAVER

Ademola Iyi-Eweka
President of UNIMA

At 02:15 PM 2/17/99 -0600, you wrote:
>I enjoyed Ben's email.  I agree with much of its contents.
>
>We all need to be conscious of a few things:  we are all different people,
>with different ideas, and most importantly different life experiences.  I
>base much of my information on both media reports (i.e. BBC, CNN, AND USA
>TODAY) and personal life experiences. I apologize if I have offended my
>Nigerian brothers and sisters, that was not my intention.  My intention was
>to give my opinion, which I am sorry conflicted with your opinion of the
>situation.  What I find disturbing is nobody disputed the BBC article
>(Sierra Leone test a troubled region) but instead, questioned motives for
>publishing this article on the AAM mailing list.
>
>I want to make sure that everyone is clear on one thing, I was not
>criticizing Nigeria or its people.  I was criticizing a handful of people
>that run the government.  It seems to me that people are taking my comments
>as a personal attack (which it was most definitely not meant to be).
>
>We have a war going on!  People are dying!  If no one is to blame, then why
>does the war continue?  I do not only blame Nigeria's government, I blame
>my
>own countries government (Liberian) as well.  Liberia is also playing a
>large role in the civil war in Sierra Leone, a war that has claimed nearly
>1500,000 lives.  If we hope to accomplish anything, we cannot keep pointing
>the finger at someone else. Are we here to blame someone else while never
>judging our own countries actions?
>
>Again, I apologize if I offended anyone, that was not my intention.  Thanks
>for your comments Mr. Yarl.
>
>Sam
>