That was an excellent article @Backslider !

We should not misconstrue the problems with Nigeria's political front with the progress made on the economic front. These two are completely different. Again, banks are now in a position where they can lend to the real sectors of the economy and that is very commendable.

Banks can now lend to the real sectors of the economy such as:

Agriculture 

I believe if enough funds are provided, we can embrace commercial agriculture and do away with subsistence farming. Before you know it,  we'll be back to a position that we were in the 60's i.e. a net exporter of food, not a net importer as is the case now. Also, do you guys know that cassava is in high demand in China ? They are using it to make the equivalent of potato chips. The price of garri has skyrocket to the roof because of this.

Small and Medium Scale Industries

This includes the vulganizers & co. With help from the private sector funds, these folks can expand their busnesses and provide employment.

Commercial Real Estate         

Help in meeting the housing needs of the Nigerian masses. The banks can lend to commercial real estate people, they have nothing to lose because people would always need a place to live. A reasonable housing estate can generate between N20 million to N50 million a month in rental income.

Tourism and Infrastructure

As I mentioned earlier, the new MM airport local terminal was built with the chunk of the funds from Oceanic bank. Not a kobo of public funds went into it. Isn't that unprecedented in Nigeria ? A consortium of banks also provided some of the funds used to build the Tinapa resort. We are already witnessing the gains of the bank reforms in Nigeria

Power Sector

Nigeria has an extremely high demand for power. Trust me, there is a lot of money to be made here. The banks can lend to this sector easily because the use of power in Nigeria is never going to decline and everything is going private now (i.e. power utility companies). Millionaires are going to be made in this sector in years to come, mark my word.

Wow we have people actually condoning what happened at Odi, shows how backward some of us are!

@Iyke-D

It will be good if you could locate REAL GDP/capita figures i.e. GDP/Capita in constant $. Suppose you're producing 5 goods at $1 each in 1999, then in 2006 you're producing 5 goods @$5 each. The value of your GDP has grown from $5 to $25 but has there been any real growth?. . .No!

If you can locate real growth figures, that will be good. By the way I've never said that the economy hasn't grown since '99. Any growth might just be business cycle flunctuations as opposed to a long term trend. These are things economic forecasters deal with and you should know a little bit of it.

@GNature

Do you know that irregularities in a market can force banks to finance inefficient or lesser efficient projects?. . .I fail to see any of these decisions as "best" until those banks show me that the same funds allocated to Tinapa couldn't have been of greater use elsewhere. Every $ allocated to Tinapa means $1 less to road safety, education, private enterprises and etcetera.

Honestly I believe the best use we can make of our $ right now is on roads and power supply, these things will generate way more benefits nationwide than any Tinapa would.

@ Donzman the best use of Government funds are safety and education, not the funds of banks, since as private entities the banks are set up to make profit. they are not charitable organizations - if you have sound business ideas, banks will loan you money, albeit under strict conditions, not because of their unwillingness, but due to the high rates of default and other problems prevalent in the Nigerian environment

Concerning roads and power, the government recently signed two agreements on public private partnership PPP to build the second Niger bridge with 60% funding from the private sector, which will most likely come from the banks.

Ibom power station in Akwa Ibom was commissioned today, also under public-private partnership, things are getting done - slowly but surely

the banks also loaned a large chunk of the funds used for Obajana Cement Plant which will save over $460m in forex for importation and generate jobs as well, not to talk of additional power supply to the local environs due to the captive 135MW power plant involved in the project

I think those can be regarded as efficient use of resources among other examples.

@ Donzman the best use of Government funds are safety and education, not the funds of banks, since as private entities the banks are set up to make profit. they are not charitable organizations

Did you fail to see the part where Tinapa was built using bank loans?. . .Did your reasoning also fail to tell you that Governments funds often come from all sorts of bank loans essentially?. . .I swear I hate discussing anything economics with people who don't know a thing about it but feel like talking anyway. Government get loans for all sorts of projects from local commercial banks as well international banking agencies like WB and IMF. So why are you not smart enough to see that Government funds are not distinctively different from bank funds?

I think those can be regarded as efficient use of resources among other examples.

Do you even know what efficiency means?. . . Something producing a beneficial outcome does not make it efficient, hope you know that!

Who is this fish reasoning Donzman of a person?

wa_do_mi:

Who is this fish reasoning Donzman of a person?

Point out the fsh reasoning youdumbass, reasources are limited, you have to allocte it to activities generate the MOST PROFITABLE outcome. What's a cement plant when there are no good rods to transport the cement for example!

This line of reasoning beats you, just like it beats most Nigerians in policy formulating positions. No wonder we remain Nigeria!!

in short - i use to read your posts - but now i see you're a big buffon, a complete nin compoop and a non entity.

Thanks for the compliments darling!. . .No homo if you happen to be male!

what is he saying?

Donzman:

Did you fail to see the part where Tinapa was built using bank loans?. . .Did your reasoning also fail to tell you that Governments funds often come from all sorts of bank loans essentially?. . .I swear I hate discussing anything economics with people who don't know a thing about it but feel like talking anyway. Government get loans for all sorts of projects from local commercial banks as well international banking agencies like WB and IMF. So why are you not smart enough to see that Government funds are not distinctively different from bank funds?

Do you even know what efficiency means?. . . Something producing a beneficial outcome does not make it efficient, hope you know that!

do you know what essentially means? how can all govt funds come 'essentially' from banks? Only highly irresponsible governments take out loans from commerical banks to carry out projects, the sane way of funding such is through the issuance of government bonds in the stock market, so you are wrong on that assertion. Unless it is one that will bring about financial return, banks will NOT have anything to do with it, thaat is why the banks even bothered to invest in Tinapa, they see a good chance of making their money back with profit. - the second group like WB and IMF are a different class - they also give out grants and other funds at much lower rates compared to ordinary commerical banks. they are essentially Developmental in scope and focus, I'm sure you're intelligent enough to see the difference.

please define efficiency for us, as it seems it must only be in your eyes that we can gauge a project's efficiency, besides only Donzman has all the facts to determine whether something is efficient or not.

if saving $460 million annually in imports while generating 10,000 jobs is not efficient from a single project, then I don't know what is.

Government funds are fundamentally different from commercial bank funds - the govt can give grants and incentives - tax breaks, special funding for new businesses or niche areas WITHOUT expecting a financial return, commercial banks will NEVER do that, except in small cases as 'donations' - they have shareholders and staff to pay and they work FOR PROFIT.

do you know what essentially means? how can all govt funds come 'essentially' from banks? Only highly irresponsible governments take out loans from commerical banks to carry out projects, the sane way of funding such is through the issuance of government bonds in the stock market, so you are wrong on that assertion.

Again you're taking yourself to the cleaners. . .What do you think Government bonds are? They are loans from the buyers of the bonds to the Government. The Government gives them a piece of paper with promise to repay the money with certain interest. Now in Nigeria, do you think it's you and I that purchase these bonds?. . .Nahh my friend, it's the banks. Government bonds are nothing but loans to the Government, hope you get it now!

Unless it is one that will bring about financial return, banks will NOT have anything to do with it, thaat is why the banks even bothered to invest in Tinapa, they see a good chance of making their money back with profit. - the second group like WB and IMF are a different class - they also give out grants and other funds at much lower rates compared to ordinary commerical banks. they are essentially Developmental in scope and focus, I'm sure you're intelligent enough to see the difference.

Commercial banks finance Government projects through bonds and direct lending. The Government can easily issue bond with a given interest rate, banks purchase them and the Government can spend the money on whatever it wishes. Now where are these funds coming from?. . .Banks. Maybe you need an introduction to how the system works before lecturing Donzman.

By the way, Governments all over the world borrow at a much lower rate than private corporations. The default rate on loans to Governments is close to 0% because if things get as bad as it can get, they can easily print out currency notes and pay debts off. Italy financed Government expenditures this way back in the days!

please define efficiency for us, as it seems it must only be in your eyes that we can gauge a project's efficiency, besides only Donzman has all the facts to determine whether something is efficient or not.

No Donzman does not hold the key to efficiency but the way you used it, it's clear you have no clue what it is. You had no consideration for opportunity costs or foregone spending of the projects you mentioned. That tells me you have a very narrow layman's view of an efficient outcome.

Government funds are fundamentally different from commercial bank funds - the govt can give grants and incentives - tax breaks, special funding for new businesses or niche areas WITHOUT expecting a financial return, commercial banks will NEVER do that, except in small cases as 'donations' - they have shareholders and staff to pay and they work FOR PROFIT.

You're confusing yourself!. . .You still do not understand that Government obtains some of its funds from banks and will pay the banks back with interest. The Governmrnt borrows from banks and it can be scrutinized as to whether those bank funds were BEST used going to the Government or to some private enterprize. Benefit could be the same in either case for the bank but SOCIAL benefit to the society as a whole might be different in either cases.

By the way, if the Government does not expect financial returns, it might expect political or social returns!

I BELIEVE THIS IS THE MOST RESEARCHED THREAD ON NAIRALAND.COM.ITS AWESOME READING THOSE ARGUMENTS AND COUNTER ARGUMENTS.KUDOS TO ALL WHO HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THIS THREAD. THIS THREAD RE INFORCES MY BELIEF,THAT A NEW "NIGERIA' IS EMERGING-ONE WHICH IS ANCHORED ON KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY N NOTHING ELSE.
BUT,I L LIKE TO COMMEND IN A WONDERFUL WAY JENN,G NATURE N LOTS OF FELLAS WHO ARTICULATED BRILLIANT AND FACTUAL ARGUMENTS IN FAVOUR OF THE TOPIC POSTED.
ITS NO JOKE THAT "POSITIVE THINGS" ARE HAPPENING IN NIGERIA,WHICH IN NO DISTANT FUTURE WOULD START IMPACTING ON THE LIFE OF THE MASSES.
PRIOR TO 1999,NIGERIA WAS ANCHORED PRINCIPALLY ON THE PETROLEUM SECTOR WHILE OTHER SECTORS REMAINED INACTIVE.BUT WITH THE ADVENT OF OBJNOMICS,MULTI-SECTORAL REFORMS WERE UNDERTAKEN .THESE REFORMS HAVE BROUGHT LIFE BACK TO THE HITHERTO DORMANT SECTORS OF THE ECONOMY.THE BANKING SECTOR HAS BEEN POSITIONED TO ACT AS THE FULCRUM,NEEDED TO OIL THE WHEEL OF ECONOMIC GROWTH IN A MARKET BASED ECONOMY(WHICH NIGERIA IS FAST EMBRACING),THE CIVIL SERVICE REFORMS(DUE PROCESS ETC) ,HEALTH SECTOR REFORMS(NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE SCHEME ETC) ARE ALL MAKING"POSITIVE THINGS HAPPEN".
I MUST SAY WE ARE NOT THERE YET AND WE STILL HAVE A LOT TO COVER,BUT,A THOUSAND MILE JOURNEY STARTS WITH A STEP.
IN CONCLUSION,I L LIKE TO ADMONISH NIGERIANS IN DIASPORA,WHO SEE NOTHING GOOD IN THEIR HOMELAND,TO HAVE A CHANGE OF MINDSET COZ "POSITIVE THINGS ARE HAPPENING IN NIGERIA'' AND IT BEHOLDS OF THEM TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE RAPIDLY GROWING ECONOMY TO MAKE INVESTMENTS WHICH OVERTIME WOULD SECURE THEIR FUTURE.
I HAVE NO DOUBT IN MY MIND, THAT NIGERIA HAS BEEN PUT ON THE PATH OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Where have I been all the while that this thread has been on?

Firstly, Jen33, 33 gbosas for you. Seeing that people like you still exist reinforces my faith that Nigeria is going places, unlike some other people here who chose to hide in another man's land and never get satisfied when they eat unless they are seeing or reading some very bad things about Nigeria.

@angel101

You talk about affordable houses. How many people can afford their own houses in London where you live? You should compare like with like, and realize that the people that manage to buy houses in London pay over 25 years. If Nigerians have such facility, most people would own their houses by now. And that is the point, gradually we will get there with all the reforms coming into place. Abi you can afford 200,000 pounds cash to use in buying a 2 bedroom flat in London? That is most people's 10 years income in the UK as I know you understand.

Summarily, let me say that I know we've all had our frustrations with our country in the past but this should not leave us in a state of total denial such that even when positive things are obvious, we just wave them aside and only choose the see the negative ones.

By God's grace, these hard times will be stories we'll be telling our grandchildren (and maybe children).

And to those saying there is no middle class in Nigeria, I'll say that is an exhibition of absolute ignorance. I for one am in the middle class. Thousands of recent graduates in Nigeria are in the middle class. A job in banking, telecoms, consulting, oil & gas, some manufacturing jobs etc automatically qualify one for the middle class in Nigeria. And whatever you guys belive, me I personally know more than 100 people who have gotten these jobs in the past 2 years. Extrapolate that to others and see what the reality of the situation is. I'm in the UK right now studying for an M.Sc degree and when I see what our countrymen subject themselves to in the name of being abroad, I marvel at their ignorance. The problem is that alot of them think Nigeria is the same country they left behind 5-6 years ago. Graduates with no experience are getting good jobs talk less of you that earned an M.Sc in the UK only to end up serving burgers at McDonald's. A lot of them are coming to realise it sha, as evidenced by the crowd that was at the 'careers in Africe summit'.

If you feel comfortable where you are, that's fine. Leave the people in Nigeria alone to face their lives and not just come here to badmouth the country as if they are the ones that chased you away.

@The One


I like your style and other contributors here I also admire your enthusiasm. Most houses in England cannot be bought with cash outright so people go for mortgages, In Nigeria the mortgage market is almost non-existent but theses issues are being addressed.

I don't know why there are some Peopleon here who seem to have a pessimistic view about Nigeria moving forward and picking holes in the administration, the bottom line is this , Obasanjo is not the most honest or smartest of people but the truth is the country is better today than it was 10 years ago whether you admit it or not, that is the truth

you can hide and complain and whinge and stay in London or america wherever you are and just generally be an armchair critic we all have to do our bits to make the thing go forward

I invest in the stock Market in Nigeria, which I see as my contribution albeit I do have the intention of making a gain, who does not, But the bottom line is I will rather buy shares in Nigeria than London,

These things are not done overnight, Rome was not built in a day, by the time they tackle power , water, transportation all this will reflect on the average person, as they say, the fish rots from the head first, so we have to tackle things such as banking infrastructure which is the bedrock of the financial markets, tackle corruption, tackle Oil our main source of income, and then tackle communication Power water and other social ammenities,

it is not easy, it is a plan that will take years and years, but the bottom line is we are now a democracy and we are on the way,

why were people not critical when Abacha was there or babangida, now they open their mouths and yap rubbish, it is easy to criticize and beleive me it is your divine right, but I would rather work with those who work to find a solution, not just bloody armchair critics,

There is the story about the cleaner at NASA (the American aerospace program) who when asked by a visiting President(?) what he did 'here' said - 'I am helping put a man on the moon !'

@The Pessimists.
Please read todays Thisday and the Transcorp deal on the Port-Harcourt refinery amongst others. You will hopefully see why I invested in Transcorp though I am not expecting any dividends for a while.

What the Die-hard nay sayers like we have on this thread fail to realise is that 'a cleaner' did help put a man on the moon, believe it or not.

We all should be doing our part to put Nigeria in a better economic and social position because Lord knows I am tired of staying in another mans country !!!!!!!

@Donzman
If I was going to be imature like some I would voice my concern on your ID sounding very much like Dunce-man and so be cautious in my intellectual discuss with you.
However I am a better man.
What is your background my good sir? Because I believe men of like mind must discuss issues. Are you entrpreneurial at all? Are you a risk taker?

I digress though.
The above topic has been debated over and over but many people seem not to be convinced. I wonder what it would take to show that Nigeria is getting better?

As the Igbos Say - Nobody tells the deaf man that war is raging.

As is said in Latin - Carpe diem, Credula vitam spes fovet et melius cras fore semper dicit (Seize the day, hope makes our life better, always saying that tomorrow will be better.

Cave ab hominem unius libri, verbum sapienti satis est. ! (Beware the man who has just ONE BOOK, a word is enough for the wise.

Dangote, Otedola, Transcorp Buy PH Refinery for N72bn

From Kunle Aderinokun and Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja, 05.18.2007


Bluestar Oil Services Limited Consortium, a Nigerian consortium comprising Dangote Group, Zenon Oil, Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) and Rivers State government yesterday emerged the preferred bidder/core investor for Port Harcourt Refinery Company. The consortium submitted a bid of $561 million (N71.808 billion) for 51 per cent of Federal Government’s equity in the ailing crude oil refining company.
The sale of the refinery, however, comes against the backdrop of protest by National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NU-PENG), which members yesterday shut down operations of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Lagos, Port Harcourt, Mosimi and Kaduna.
But the transaction for the Kaduna Refinery and Petr-oleum Company (KRPC), which received only one bid for 51 per cent Federal Government’s stake was not concluded as China National Petroleum Corporation offered $102 million, which was below the reserve price. The offer by the Chinese firm would have to be ratified by the National Council on Privatisation (NCP).
Bluestar consortium immediately paid $300 million, re-presenting more than 50 per cent of the bid price for the company, in line with the payment mechanism of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) for the transaction. The consortium is expected to pay the 50 per cent balance of the purchase consideration into a designated account by 4 pm of the seventh working day immediately following the official notification of a successful bid.
The sale of the Port Harcourt Refinery, which involved Oando Plc and Refinee Petroplus Nigeria Limited as bidders was part of the financial bids opening for 18 transactions conducted inside the Congress Hall of Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja. Oando and Refinee Petroplus were, however, disqualified for failing to include a draft of 50 per cent of their bid prices in the envelopes submitted to BPE.
The 18 transactions included Lagos International Trade Fair Complex; National Arts Theatre and Tafawa Balewa Square; Egbin Power Plc; Onigbolo Cement Company, Benin Republic; Ayip-Eku Oil Palm Company; eight Liquefied Petroleum Gas depots; Ajaokuta Steel Complex, Coal Blocks and Mining Titles.
Onigbolo Cement Company of Republic of Benin in which the Federal Government owns 35 per cent was bought by Dangote Group for $1.781 billion. Dangote Group, the nation’s major cement producer was, however, the only bidder for the company. The Group has already paid 10 per cent of the bid price ($178 million), although the rule of the transaction provides that the first 10 per cent of the purchase consideration must be paid into a designated account on or before 12 midnight of the 10th working day immediately following the official notification of a successful bid.
The remaining 90 per cent would be paid into BPE’s designated account latest by 12 midnight of the working days immediately following the official notification of the successful bid.
Egbin Power Plc, presently managed by Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) /Energy Resources was bought by the same company at $280 million.
Also, Ajaokuta Steel Company Complex hitherto on concession to Global Infrastructure Nigeria Limited was converted to joint venture partnership on a 60 per cent to 40 per cent basis between Global Infrastructure and the Federal Government respectively. Yesterday’s bid opening saw the former paying $525 million for its own 60 per cent stake.
The National Arts Theatre, which attracted bids from eight prospective concessionaires, went to Infrastructica, which emerged preferred bidder with N35.84 billion for a 35-year concession. Jadeas Trust, which offered N28.902 billion, was declared the reserved bidder.
Similarly, Tafawa Balewa Square, which had a 25-year concession arrangement, was snapped up by BHS International for N9.5 billion. Black Swan followed with N9.2 billion as reserve bidder. The Lagos International Trade Fair Complex with a similar 25 years concession was won by AulicNigeria Limited with a bid of N40 billion while Unison Property Development is the reserve bidder.
For the LPG depots, Sahara Energy Resources Limited bought Calabar depot for $11.1 million while MRS Oil and Gas was the reserve bidder with $10 million; MRS Oil and Gas got Kano depot for $4 million. The bids of Brockport Limited ($3m) for Enugu depot; Le-Global ($1.05m) for Ibadan depot; Le-Global ($1.948m) for Ilorin depot and Global Gas and Refining, which offered $250,000 were all below the reserve prices and would have their offers ratified by the NCP.
Chairman of the Bluestar Oil Services Limited Consortium and President, Dangote Group of Companies, Alhaji Aliko Dangote said Nigerian entrepreneurs must take the lead in the nation’s march towards greatness. “I feel very great. There is nobody that will come and grow our own economy more than us and that is why we are heavily investing because we believe it is our own economy, we believe in the country and we believe in the economic policy of Nigeria. That's why we are here to make sure that we bid and win,” he said.
He disclosed plans of the Consortium to expand the refinery. He, however, said before the Consortium bought the Port Harcourt Refinery, it had plans of building a refinery of 300,000 barrels per day in Lagos. “Really it is very criminal to be importing petroleum products of $9 billion when we are a producer and that is the main reason why we are here,” he said.
Dangote said the Consortium will inject $200 million into the first phase of the project while the second phase will gulp about $3 billion. He also said his Group would invest $2 billion in the cement sector in the next three years.
He dispelled insinuation that Dangote Group was working towards a monopoly in the cement market.
“Its not a question of catching the entire market. Like I said earlier, if we don't build our economy nobody is going to do it. If anybody (else) is going to come in, he is quite welcome, it's a free entry, free exit market. If you remember, the first factory that we had producing cement was in 1956. From 1956 up till the time that we entered into cement, the total production of Nigeria went as low as less than 2.3million tons. In a single location last week, we commissioned five million tons of capacity. If we are not there, you will not be able to build a house forever,” he said.
He said by 2010, prices of cement would be less than N1,000 per bag. “If you look at it today, we are selling cement at N1,130 depending on the location. Ideally cement shouldn't cost, even in Abuja, more than N1,200. Our capacity today, Obajana, Benue and the two terminals in Lagos and Port Harcourt, can churn out about 38,000 metric tons per day. That is about 2000 trucks per day. And we are going to achieve that in the next four months. In Obajana right now out of 15,000, we are operating about 5,000 metric tons. By next week we are going to be doing at about 10,000 metric tons.
“Eventually by 2010, we want to make history by making sure that cement does not cost more than N1,000 anywhere in Nigeria. And quote me that is our target. Local production is under about 30 percent. But mind you, one single line of Obajana is bigger than all the production plants in Nigeria,” he said.
Chairman, Technical Com-mittee of the NCP, Mr. Patrick Akinkuotu assured the bidders that the transaction would be conducted through internationally acc-epted standards.
Meanwhile, oil workers under the aegis of National Union of Petroleum and natural Gas workers (NUPE-NG) yesterday protested the commencement of sale of government's equity share in two of the country's petroleum refineries - Port Harcourt and Kaduna - by the BPE. While the bidding exercise for the sale of the refineries and depots were going on at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, the oil workers staged their protest in front of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), a distance of 5km.
The workers who began their action at about 10.30am, took over the main entrance to the headquarters of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp-oration (NNPC), blocking its main gate and making movement in and outside the premises of the oil company almost impossible for the greater part of yesterday.
Leader of the protest, Mr. Williams Ibiba Inko told newsmen that the workers were not happy over the way the privatisation of the plants and depots were handled by government.
He said an immediate fall-out of the sale of these facilities, is loss of an estimated 4,000 jobs with no concrete arrangement on how to deal with the terminal benefits of the workers in place.
"BPE confirmed that the process will lead to job losses to the tune of about 4,000 when the two refineries and PPMC goes out for sale. What then happens to the pensions of NNPC staff. We are saying, yes you can privatise, but let us sit down and trash out the labour issues. Even some of our rights, we can negotiate them," he said.
While expressing the union's support for the current effort to reposition the refineries, the NUPENG chairman said the union had last week signed an MoU with BPE on the issue on the condition that "we would articulate our position and get back to them".
"This process is going to kill our pension. Most of the concerned staff have passed the employment age bracket. There is no way NUPENG and PENGASSAN will go ahead to fight against government policy, but how it is being implemented that is the problem. We believe it is being hijacked by the BPE to suit its purposes," he said.
Therefore, he said the workers want to secure an agreement with government on some of the things it can offer them as palliatives.
“In Eleme Petroch-emical, till today, the workers do not know where the shares allocated to them are. We want to ensure that the proper partnering that takes place, unlike the case of Eleme Petrochemical where they say 51 per cent, we finally saw outright sale," he said.
Inko said the oil workers want to guard against what happened to NITEL workers and how they were thrown out without entitlements.
"We are pensionable staff and we realize that the new investors, being a capitalist would not be able to keep the number of staff. We are saying, if these persons are going, what becomes their take home pay and on what basis are they going," he queried.
He advised that government should call in the experts, who would evaluate workers pension bill and the consequences of retiring more people into the pension fund.
"Right now we have about 8,000 NNPC pensioners out there and 9,000 people in the system sustaining them. If you shut out about 4000 after completing the process, only few persons would be contributing. Ultimately, it means the pensions scheme can no longer hold," he warned.
Vice President of NUPENG, Comrade Bako Joseph Yuba said the protest is taking place simultaneously nationwide, adding the union has already shut down NNPC operations in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Mosimi and Kaduna.







I have included the whole article and not just the bit I think helps my argument, I am a better man and an open minded kain of parsin .

I beg to err on the side of the Dangotes and the Otedolas.

you guys stay here and criticise people who have been proven to be successful in their life, what success has anyone of you recorded that is worthy of emulation, talkless of worthy of criticising?

A single bullet thru that stinking mouth is all it will take to silence the stinking mouth those stupid words come out from.

wa_do_mi:


A single bullet through that stinking mouth is all it will take to silence the stinking mouth those stupid words come out from.

u should be ashamed of urself!

angel101:

u should be ashamed of yourself!

Why should I be ashamed of myself Miss Stinking Butt?

grow up will u

@ Ijogbon Why was saddam executed? Because he ordered the killing of Kurds. whom he claimed supprted Iran during the war.
OBJ now sends soldier to Odi to clean the whole town because people in the town killed soldiers/police. How is that different from Saddams case.
If in your area some people killed police people. The best thing for govt would be to send soldiers to kill everyone including you and other people who are innocent right?
OBJ should be given the saddam treatment after May 29.

@Sleekdot

My kind Sir.

I see you are passionate about the Odi issue. I sincerely apologise for my insensitivity, you might have lost loved ones in that event.

I suspect you are from the Niger Delta and you therefore more than anybody should know that the so called Struggle has been hijacked by simple minded criminals !

Saddam was killed because he didnt have the guts or the decency to KILL his f**king self, Bush did him a favour. (Note they convicted him for the killing of Men and Boys in a town after an attempt on his life, not the Kurd issue, if I remember correctly)

What I was trying to point out was that though the particular issues escape me now, I know back then the start of the Whole Odi issue was based in criminality. I think they were robbing banks and summin like that? I am not sure perchance you might want to remind me.

And Yes. If some FOOL decided to make my life hell and KILL some soldiers, well, I would appreciate it if the government gave me a few days (Like was done in Odi) to get as far the f**k away from there as possible. Before they do their job.

Obasanjo could not be compared to Saddam because in the case there was no chemical weapon used

Nigeria's Road to Power Sufficiency

Nigeria is planning on generating atleast 10,000 MW of electricity by December 2008. Here is a breakdown of the sources of power:

EXISTING POWER STATIONS;

• EGBIN THERMAL POWER STATION, LAGOS STATE.   1200MW
• AFAM THERMAL POWER STATION, RIVER STATE.      456MW
• SAPELE THERMAL POWER STATION, DELTA STATE.  240MW
• DELTA THERMAL POWER STATION, DELTA STATE,    900MW
• IJORA THERMAL POWER STATION, LAGOS STATE     40MW
• KAINJI HYDRO POWER STATION, NIGER STATE.       640MW
• JEBBA HYDRO POWER STATION, NIGER STATE.        560MW
• SHIRORO HYDRO POWER STATION, NIGER STATE.   600MW

TOTAL                                                          4636MW

ON-GOING PROJECTS

• GEREGU THERMAL POWER STATION, KOGI STATE.                             414MW   Commissioned
• OMOTOSHO THERMAL POWER STATION, ONDO STATE.                      335MW
• PAPALANTO THERMAL POWER STATION OGUN STATE.                        335MW    Commissioned
• ALAOJI THERMAL POWER STATION, ABIA STATE.                               504MW

• CALABAR THERMAL POWER STATION, CROSS-RIVER STATE.               561MW
• EGBEMA THERMAL POWER STATION, IMO STATE.                             338MW
• EYAEN THERMAL POWER STATION, EDO STATE.                               451MW
• GBARIAN/UBIE THERMAL POWER STATION, BAYELSA STATE.              225MW
• IKOT ABASI THERMAL POWER STATION, AKWA IBOM STATE.              300MW
• SAPELE THERMAL POWER STATION, DELTA STATE.                           451MW
• OMOKU THERMAL POWER STATION, RIVERS STATE.                          230MW.
• MAMBILLA POWER STATION, TARABA STATE.                                   2600MW.

TOTAL                                                                                  6744MW


GRAND TOTAL  4656 MW + 6744 MW                          =  11,380 MW


• This is not counting the Independent Power Producers (IPPs) in the country such as the IBOM power plant commissioned recently.

• Right now, we are only using about 3,200MW out of the 4,636MW capacity.

Good things are really happening in Nigeria !

If Obasanjo had started building these power plants right from 1999, Nigeria would be enjoying stable power supply by now. He even admitted it himself recently that if he had known then what he knows now, he would have paid more attention to power generation right from the on set.

But it's not like he didn't do anything at all. He actually inherited 1900 MW when he took over in 1999, and he brought it up to around 4,000 MW, but that is just insufficient for a country the size of Nigeria.

In my opinion, he has atleast laid a good foundation for his successor to build upon, which is commendable.

And to those saying there is no middle class in Nigeria, I'll say that is an exhibition of absolute ignorance. I for one am in the middle class. Thousands of recent graduates in Nigeria are in the middle class. A job in banking, telecoms, consulting, oil & gas, some manufacturing jobs etc automatically qualify one for the middle class in Nigeria. And whatever you guys believe, me I personally know more than 100 people who have gotten these jobs in the past 2 years.

You seem to be out ouf touch with reality, the problem isn't that there is no middle class, the problem is that the middleclass is THIN. How many Nugerians work in banks, banking, telecoms, consulting, oil & gas, some manufacturing jobs. If I believe WB statistics that 60% of the population live on $1 or less (which I don't), it leaves only 40% of the population to assign to the lower working, middle, upper and elite class. How much of these 40% fall into the middle class?. . .Hopefully you get the point now!

@ijogbon

Honestly stop trying to defend the Odi massacre, it makes you look desperate. How can you come out here and defend mass murdering of innocent people?. . .It's a pity!

What is your background my good sir? Because I believe men of like mind must discuss issues. Are you entrpreneurial at all? Are you a risk taker?

Yes I take risk, intelligent risks that is!

ijogbon:

@Donzman
If I was going to be imature like some I would voice my concern on your ID sounding very much like Dunce-man and so be cautious in my intellectual discuss with you.
However I am a better man.

Hahahaha!! This is the best laugh I've had all day!

10,000 MW electricity will only cause more power shortage.
Let me explain.
When power supply increases,the effect on the Nigeria economy will be so massive. All business that hitherto spent millions yearly on diesel generators would now use all that money to improve their systems.That improvement will lead to better efficiency.Better efficiency will lead to excess liquidity, which would naturally lead to better salaries and more money in everybody's pocket.
Now, because people are making more money, both business and salary wise, they will start purchasing heavy electrical appliances like Air conditioners, Freezers, Microwaves, TVs, building bigger houses that would require much more electricity .
This scenario would multiply our power consumption radically.The comfortable zone we would have 2 get to should be somewhere around 25,000 MW.However, if you benchmark with countries like South Africa,Our comfortable zone would be 110,000MW for our population.
So before you sell off your generator,think twice. You might actually have 2 buy a bigger one!!

People are virulent on this thread O !!!!

@PapaBrowne

So your point is? 10,000MW will only cause more power shortage? O my goodness, spare me. !
So do you mean we should not develop the 10,000MW capacity, or what? and if your argument about demand going up bla bla bla works for 10,000 why not the 25,000 you recommend? And why benchmark electricity requirements with SA who obviously have a more developed manufacturing capacity?
The bottom line is that any child in Nigeria can tell you the BAD thingz that are happening. But it takes people with vision to see ahead of their time. Answer the thread - Good things happening in Nigeria.

@Donzman
I take offense at your mediocre attempt at whipping up semantics.
I in no way condone massacre of innocent victims - be they Odi indigenes or Police and Army men doing their legitimate jobs (Or were the men killed by the Odi youths condemed men?)
My point is this - Tell us what neccessitated the initial deployment of Security forces. And give us justification for the killing of government security operatives. Then we can debate.

@ijogbon

What exactly are we going to debate?. . .You no hear properly? There is NO justification for killing innocent men, women and children in a massacre a la Odi.

If youths from Odi killed 12 policemen, the Government should look to fish out the killers and bring them to justice likecivilized people do. Massacring innocent people smacks of incompetence, hatred and disregard for human life. What did those inocent people do to deserve death?

Yeah I know your dumbass will ask me what did those policemen do to deserve death. My answer is nothing, that is why the killers ought to be caught and brought to justice!

Donzman:

@ijogbon
Yeah I know your dumbass will ask me,,,,

@Donzman

Excuse you?

I know that when in the throes of passion we often lose all inhibitions but that is no reason to confirm to us that your SELF love has progressed to the stage where you 'get off' by throwing insults with one hand typing on the keyboard while the other hand gets more familiar with 'scratching' your third leg.

No insults please. Deal with the issue.

Why did the government need to deploy policemen in the first place? Why did the youths kill these policemen? Why did the youths not heed the government ultimatum to surrender? Why didnt the innocents stay on despite the government 'get out now clause'? Why when many people were leaving did other people decide to stay? Why did they stay on when they realised some miscreants were ACTUALLY shooting back at the Army troops? That is what I asked O.

I in no way condoned the killing of innocents. I only stated that if I hear that someone killed 12 policemen in my area I would kindly give them schance.

A Nigerian proverb says - When the fly was eating (from the sores of) the wounded man nobody commented, but when the man eats the fly they will not let him rest.

Moral of the story don't bite the government.

Are you admitting that the Government was wrong?. . .