IzonOwei:
exactly...the masses are not ready yet..but recently I think they had a brain reset in bayelsa...despite the monies paid as bribe to the brass people to vote for timipri silva,they still chose to vote for ben murray bruce...how on earth can a man like sylva that stole bayelsa dry and showed a high level of irresponsibility run for the senatorial position??...our leaders are mad..

Yeah. A point comes when the people become really tired; that's where we are now. I was particularly happy Timipre Sylva, that criminal, lost his senatorial ambition. Let's see what Bruce can offer. .....

The fact still remains the masses are also enjoying the corruption. Otherwise, there would have been a lot of outcry.

Our leaders are a product of the corrupt system. Period.

PassingShot:
Government of borrow borrow. Idiotas!

For crying out loud, Nigeria is not the only county affected by the drop in crude price. Why is it that of all OPEC members (minus Venezuela and Libya with internal crisis), Nigeria is the only country whose currency and economy have been badly affected as a result of the oil drop?

The answer is simple: We have a very grossly irresponsible and shamelessly corrupt regime spearheaded by a man with PhD in looting.

What happened to all the billions of dollars earned when crude sold above $100 per barrel?

[/b]where have you guys been getting money to run the economy and carry out capital projects from? Where have the funds wasted in tackling boko haram for the last 4 years been coming from?[/b]

What happened to all the monies in the foreign reserves ($35 billion) GEJ met at the beginning of his administration?[/b]your foreign reserves stands at over $29bn naira. The drop in value of the naira,has had its toll on the reserves as the CBN has consistently used part of the reserves in stabilizing the naira,and preventing it from having a free fall.[/b]

What happened to the excess crude account which had $20 billion when he became president but now about $2 billion?
[/b]excess crude account doesn't exceed again cos its set-up was constitutionally illegal. It has been replaced with the sovereign wealth fund(SWF) account. Your respective state govts insisted in sharing funds to be remitted into that account. Furthermore,SURE-P,YOUWIN and other programs are funded from this account. Question you should ask,is what the respective state governments did with their allocations.[/b]

It's even more disheartening to note that this hopeless regime didn't improve Nigeria's values in the 5.5 years it has spent managing our affairs.

I have said it before that in a civil and sane society, the next destination for GEJ and many of his cohorts will be jail after May 29th.

I can't come out to state categorically that this govt is or isn't corrupt cos I'm not a part of it,and cannot defend it without having substantial information on what went wrong or not. One thing I know is that,our approach to fighting corruption is not effective. We sit at home and attack the govt at the centre that is far from us,and turn a blind eye to the corruption being perpetuated by the govt closest to us. In the Nigerian set-up,the local govt is supposed to bring governance close to the people but that is not the case. As much as 80% of Nigerians will tell you they can't feel the impact of the local govt chairmen in their areas. But these people are collecting allowances on our behalf. If we can't hold them accountable,is it the govt far away from us that would listen to our plight? Until we learn how our system of govt works and start to hold govt officials close to us accountable,we'd not go far. It's just like seeing fire burning inside your house but you leave it and do not do anything. Instead,you go to the bus-stop to join people to shout about the fire burning the transformer in the area.

bushdoc9919:


It isn't just oil....it is the whole resources thing.

Nigerians have this idea that we must sell resources....and then share the proceeds.

But the cold reality is that resources work when someone has a use for them somewhere.

A big reason why I regard oil as a curse is this....there are developments on the ground that may make oil redundant soon. Meanwhile....everybody and his grandmother are producing oil (Which is why oil prices are dropping....net oil importers like the US are now producing more and more oil...simply because the average US citizen wants to pay less for the oil he/she buys).

Which is why Nigeria not only must get off oil...it must get rid of the idea that we must sell resources to survive. Everybody else is doing that. Meanwhile...the big nations like South Korea and China...that were behind many African countries 50 years ago....are now using innovation and industry to pull ahead. That is where our future lies....not in oil....in innovation. And the sooner we wake up to that reality...the better.

It's leadership. We have been used to the feeding bottle for decades.

Failed leadership. The oil itself has destroyed majority of the means of livelihood of our people. ...The matter tire me a beg!

dearpreye:


Yeah. A point comes when the people become really tired; that's where we are now. I was particularly happy Timipre Sylva, that criminal, lost his senatorial ambition. Let's see what Bruce can offer. .....

The fact still remains the masses are also enjoying the corruption. Otherwise, there would have been a lot of outcry.

Our leaders are a product of the corrupt system. Period.

you are right my bro...you are right..the masses are also the problem...wahala too much..

He he he!!! Leaving Debt for Buhari Shey God will see Us#

PassingShot:
Government of borrow borrow. Idiotas!

For crying out loud, Nigeria is not the only county affected by the drop in crude price. Why is it that of all OPEC members (minus Venezuela and Libya with internal crisis), Nigeria is the only country whose currency and economy have been badly affected as a result of the oil drop?

The answer is simple: We have a very grossly irresponsible and shamelessly corrupt regime
spearheaded by a man with PhD in looting.

What happened to all the billions of dollars earned when crude sold above $100 per barrel?

What happened to all the monies in the foreign reserves ($35 billion) GEJ met at the beginning of his administration?

What happened to the excess crude account which had $20 billion when he became president but now about $2 billion?

It's even more disheartening to note that this hopeless regime didn't improve Nigeria's values in the 5.5 years it has spent managing our affairs.

I have said it before that in a civil and sane society, the next destination for GEJ and many of his cohorts will be jail after May 29th.

Bacanistar, pls i need answers to these asap! Or forever remain silent!

IzonOwei:
you are right my bro...you are right..the masses are also the problem...wahala too much..

A million youths like me would have shut down this nation for good.....its simply to occupy all political offices.....from the NA to the state assemblies. ...We are NOT willing to stake our lives for what we believe. ....Our leaders were the thieves and criminals on the street before they grabbed power......what did you expect?

aresa:


http://www.vanguardngr.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Okonjo-Iweala3.jpg

I don't know why this woman likes stories. What concerns us with the country borrowing money. These guys are idiots, if you like go and steal. Are you not feeding? People are not feeding there is no money in circulation you want us to die of hunger. Do you know how many time I hate yesterday?

Do you know what I ate last week? Go to the streets and see school children going to school empty stomach. Eya were ni? Abi ensewereni? Abi eshayo yo ni? Abi aye yin fe baje ni? Ko ni da fun yin ni?

Go and steal to pay who cares.

omonnakoda:
GEJ TILL 2019

Don't you have a brain or you are just damn stupid?

Where did you borrow the money from? Pls don't put naija in an unending debt oh.

dearpreye:


A million youths like me would have shut down this nation for good.....its simply to occupy all political offices.....from the NA to the state assemblies. ...We are NOT willing to stake our lives for what we believe. ....Our leaders were the thieves and criminals on the street before they grabbed power......what did you expect?

lol...you know majority of nigerians would rather enjoy in suffering than fight to be emancipated...its just natural in nigerians...

micktoxin:

Each country should be declared independent and allocated a start up fund like USA did before world war 1.In hindsight, if the government had done that like 10 years ago, economies of states like Lagos state would have developed to three times what it is now.
I don't understand why Nigerian government is not even doing this? In fact many foreign investors will flock into lagos, because it offers less restrictions.
We have too many deadwood states like ekiti and osun, and many more in the north who contribute nothing into the economy. By following USA model, every states will be forced to think and invest wisely in their own states.
There are lots of states going bankrupt in USA of which the central government haven't offered to help them in US, as this will be at the detriment of states with great economies.
In most western world each country improve their best performing states. If you go to England you will realise London contribute more than 30% into the United Kingdom economy. This is because they keep developing London to compete with other mega cities like Newyork and Hong Kong.
Lagos should have gone really far, the federal government is definitely holding them back.

I agree totally with you, but its the Constitution, and not the Federal government that is holding the states back because, it does not support Fiscal Federalism and Resource control.
If the constitution can be amended to ensure Fiscal Federalism, then there will be creation of right economic policies and their implementation by the states as they will realise that its either they learn how to swim or sink, economically. This will also ensure that the right people are attracted into politics, as thugs and fradulent people who have nothing to offer the state, will naturally steer clear of politics.
My fear is that deadwood states will fight tooth and nail to ensure that Fiscal Federalism is not enforced in order to continue receiving Federal allocations.

IzonOwei:
lol...you know majority of nigerians would rather enjoy in suffering than fight to be emancipated...its just natural in nigerians...

So you can attest we are not really ready. ..so we continue to lament and wail. .
lazy folks!

Governor Amaechi said but they wanted to crucify him. He told Nigerians that the economy is in bad shape under Okonjo Iwealla but most people thought he was fighting GEJ. Now this is the outcome. Any company that borrows to pay her staff is as good as dead. Period! May God help us...

lozanni:


I agree totally with you, but its the Constitution, and not the Federal government that is holdong the states back because, it does not support Fiscal Federalism and Resource control.
If the constitution can be amended to ensure Fiscal Federalism, then there will be creation of right economic policies and their implementation by the states as they will realise that its either they learn how to swim or sink, economically. This will also ensure that the right people are attracted into politics, as thugs and fradulent people who have nothing to offer the state, will naturally steer clear of politics.
My fear is that deadwood states will fight tooth and nail to ensure that Fiscal Federalism is not enforced in order to continue receiving Federal allocations.

The drafters of the constitution knew what they were doing- it was done on purpose. Knowing the complexity and uniqueness of Nigeria, it wouldn't have required rocket science to know true Federalism is the most appropriate system but these myopic and wicked folks carved into the constitution a means that will only guarantee waste, laziness and underdevelopment. It was a deliberate betrayal of the future of this nation.

Everyone must look within them and start thinking outside the box. Our kind of government is alien to human history. And then these idiots called our lawmakers won't do the needful.

Nobody should feed fat on the sweat and resources of another.

OBJ tried all his effort to make Nigeria debt free nation but our dear president is putting our legs into the muds of debt again, not borrowing to build refineries but to pay salaries...SMH. How on earth are we going to get to the promise land? GEJ is a bad omen to Nigeria which 40 days and 40 nights fasting and prayers wont be enough to cure.

PassingShot:


Please blame the FG for the mismanagement of our earnings. Little blame goes to the states.

Are you saying that not having resource control and regional government are good justification for this woeful failure of our FG?

This type of mentality is the reason Osun state cannot pay salaries while states like Anambra find it easy.

barcanista:
My brother, diversification of the economy is good but don't you think that the government should empower states via fiscal federalism and resource control to tackle the ever growing economic challenge? We have a situation where all the burdens of the 36 states and 774 LGAs rest on the shoulder of the center, this is in addition to the responsibility of the Federal Government. This kind of system create room for Lazy administrators at State and Local level, and also encourage mismanagement. Nigeria can't continue this way and expect significant progress.

Bro you said it all... I can see some people writing poo here ... The world is broke not just Nigeria .... Some people need to understand that over dependant on crude has done us more harm than good.... When I see the promised made by the GMB group APC ... I came to terms that most Nigerians have no brains because soon when oil price drop the more as Iran will be free from the sanctions on her piled crude and bring it to market ... There will be more drop in the price .... Then GMB will regret taking that post....

Femolacaster:
Useless government, and they wasted Trillions on election.

Perhaps they should not have held elections so that Jonathan can continue. Would that have made you happy

BTW, how did you get trillionS figure?
Please provide a credible source or STFU and stop spreading LIES!

barcanista:
My brother, diversification of the economy is good but don't you think that the government should empower states via fiscal federalism and resource control to tackle the ever growing economic challenge? We have a situation where all the burdens of the 36 states and 774 LGAs rest on the shoulder of the center, this is in addition to the responsibility of the Federal Government. This kind of system create room for Lazy administrators at State and Local level, and also encourage mismanagement. Nigeria can't continue this way and expect significant progress.

A very good post as usual.

However, please let me say that the fiscal burden does not really rest on the centre but on Niger Delta whose oil revenue bakes the so called national cake that sustains the Share & Spend economy we are running that Jonathan started to change.

micktoxin:
Nigeria should have follow the footstep of countries like Emirate and diversify long time ago. Oil prices will hover around $60, as any increase will be stopped before it gets off, due to fracking. So Nigeria better start investing in Agriculture, education and Tech start up companies like India and others are doing.
Oh.. subsidy should be stopped. Anybody with a common sense know this is now unsustainable.
Edit. Electricity should be among the main agenda, as it is one of the biggest reason foreign investors are not coming into the country.

Wrong. Electricity isn't the biggest reason investors aren't coming. investors could generate electricity insofar they could make big profits. why hasn't MTN left Nigeria? what do you think they use to power their base stations? Investors aren't coming because the country is insecure security, there is also an absence of the rule of law and instability in government policies. provide 24 hour electricity today but let boko haram run gamut around the country and tell me which foreign investor would stay

anonimi:


A very good post as usual.

However, please let me say that the fiscal burden does not really rest on the centre but on Niger Delta whose oil revenue bakes the so called national cake that sustains the Share & Spend economy we are running that Jonathan started to change.

I can't help but agree with you.

princejayboss:




Bro you said it all... I can see some people writing poo here ... The world is broke not just Nigeria .... Some people need to understand that over dependant on crude has done us more harm than good.... When I see the promised made by the GMB group APC ... I came to terms that most Nigerians have no brains because soon when oil price drop the more as Iran will be free from the sanctions on her piled crude and bring it to market ... There will be more drop in the price .... Then GMB will regret taking that post....

Brilliant!

mulattoclaro:
Sometimes I wonder where we are heading to in this country. When will Nigeria ever be better? Are we cursed?

No we are not cursed they were cursed?

Countries have been successfully governed by tourism. We ve a lot ot states with tourist sites that can b develop n run by them to cater for their needs rather than run a "beggy beggy" government depending on the center for everything. States that have minerals that watch indians, chinese, Lebanese all them koreans mining. After all countries like SA, Egypt dont ve crude oil n they re developing. I know The coming days are going to b tough bt with the right ppl n the support of the world power by returning our stolen n stacked away revenue as well as propertties in their countries we will make a heaway.

omonnakoda:
What do you mean by fiscal federalism in Nigeria. When you say resource control what do you mean? To me those are just words.
The subject of this thread is that the FG is borrowing money . What does your proposed solution have to do with that. Yes you may want to see fiscal federalism and resource control whatever that means but that has nothing to do with the subject of this thread i.e a shortfall in federal revenue.
FYI Nigeria practises fiscal federalism and resource control. The real discussion is to what percentage and extent.

Don't disgrace your empty head .... Before you type here make sure you are clean upstairs... Don't type with dirty upstairs... Thank you sire

chai..make dem jst pay my 150k federal govt scholarship

This outgoing administration must give account of how it managed the income from oil, Nigeria isn't the only oil producing country in the world please.

Megaphone:
Wrong. Electricity isn't the biggest reason investors aren't coming. investors could generate electricity insofar they could make big profits. why hasn't MTN left Nigeria? what do you think they use to power their base stations? Investors aren't coming because the country is insecure security, there is also an absence of the rule of law and instability in government policies. provide 24 hour electricity today but let boko haram run gamut around the country and tell me which foreign investor would stay

I clearly said one of... I am not naive enough to call it the biggest reasons investors are not coming. Do you know in 2013, apple were considering moving their construction factory from China to Nigeria? Do you know what stopped them? Electricity, as they couldn't broker a deal with Siemens to build a renewable plant in Nigeria.


There are three key reasons I think investors are not coming:
1 High level of corruption-Same problem with Iran.
2 Civil unrest.
3 Electricity

barcanista:
My brother, diversification of the economy is good but don't you think that the government should empower states via fiscal federalism and resource control to tackle the ever growing economic challenge? We have a situation where all the burdens of the 36 states and 774 LGAs rest on the shoulder of the center, this is in addition to the responsibility of the Federal Government. This kind of system create room for Lazy administrators at State and Local level, and also encourage mismanagement. Nigeria can't continue this way and expect significant progress.

I used to support this argument until it dawned on me how unaccountable our state governors are.
Even the little they get is squandered without any form of accountability. I am very sure a corrupt president will envy state governors. They just collect monthly allocations and are not accountable for how they spend it. The state assemblies are utter rubber stamps.
I struggle to understand how a Governor will collect allocation and not pay salaries and pensions. Even of it was the only thing you do.
Please don't entrust mote to their hands in the name of federalism.
Imagine TA orji and suswan managing revenue from source?
Even the vaunted Amaechi has not paid salaries to most workers since February and pensioners since December.

anonimi:


A very good post as usual.

However, please let me say that the fiscal burden does not really rest on the centre but on Niger Delta whose oil revenue bakes the so called national cake that sustains the Share & Spend economy we are running that Jonathan started to change.

Share and spend is not the biggest problem.
The Koko of the matter is that the spend is neither productive nor development driven. You share money to governors who end up not paying salaries nor any developmental projects.

dearpreye:


A million youths like me would have shut down this nation for good.....its simply to occupy all political offices.....from the NA to the state assemblies. ...We are NOT willing to stake our lives for what we believe. ....Our leaders were the thieves and criminals on the street before they grabbed power......what did you expect?

A million youth are waiting for you to take the lead.