US to expand business interest in Nigeria
FRIDAY, 27 MAY 2011 17:05 JOSHUA BASSEY   

United States of America (USA) ambassador to Nigeria Terence McCulley says the success recorded in Nigeria’s general elections has boosted her international rating and the US business community looks towards expanding its business interest in the country. He also mentioned the readiness of the US to partner with the Lagos State government in the area of job creation, improved security and the fight against the HIV/AIDS scourge.

McCulley, who spoke with journalists shortly after a closed-door meeting with Governor Babatunde Fashola at the State House, Ikeja, said the US’ decision to partner Lagos is informed by the strategic position of the state in sub-Saharan Africa.

He said the United States is encouraged by the fact that democracy is taking its root in Nigeria as evidenced by the recent elections which he described as “one of the freest in Nigeria’s history.”

ekt_bear:

US to expand business interest in Nigeria
FRIDAY, 27 MAY 2011 17:05 JOSHUA BASSEY   

United States of America (USA) ambassador to Nigeria Terence McCulley says the success recorded in Nigeria’s general elections has boosted her international rating and the US business community looks towards expanding its business interest in the country. He also mentioned the readiness of the US to partner with the Lagos State government in the area of job creation, improved security and the fight against the HIV/AIDS scourge.

McCulley, who spoke with journalists shortly after a closed-door meeting with Governor Babatunde Fashola at the State House, Ikeja, said the US’ decision to partner Lagos is informed by the strategic position of the state in sub-Saharan Africa.

He said the United States is encouraged by the fact that democracy is taking its root in Nigeria as evidenced by the recent elections which he described as “one of the freest in Nigeria’s history.”

http://www.businessdayonline.com/NG/index.php/news/76-hot-topic/22178-us-to-expand-business-interest-in-nigeria

PapaBrowne:

Very interesting!! All the international media I've read- WSJ, Economist, Bloomberg, Time, are so optimistic after what they term "the best election" Nigeria has witnessed. Yet some people wanted us to believe that we had flawed elections!!!

PapaBrowne:

Very interesting!! All the international media I've read- WSJ, Economist, Bloomberg, Time, are so optimistic after what they term "the best election" Nigeria has witnessed. Yet some people wanted us to believe that we had flawed elections!!!

PapaBrowne:

Very interesting!! All the international media I've read- WSJ, Economist, Bloomberg, Time, are so optimistic after what they term "the best election" Nigeria has witnessed. Yet some people wanted us to believe that we had flawed elections!!!

ekt_bear:

@playmode: Never been sold on this anti-Americanism of yours. . . they look out for themselves #1, but that doesn't mean we cannot find something mutually beneficial.

Life isn't a zero-sum game.

In any case, we don't really have a choice. We need the investment to create jobs and spur growth

Eko Ile:

This is very puzzling, these world leaders obviously sabi something we don't, they've been vising Fashola left and right lately.

The Foreign Press are talking about him, diplomats and world leaders are visiting and singing his praise.

Sometimes it feels like Fashola is the president of Nigeria.

alj_harem:

man u are exaggeration

but 2015 it is fashola for president or no other Insha Allah

alj_harem:

man u are exaggeration

but 2015 it is fashola for president [size=14pt]or no other[/size] Insha Allah

Eko Ile:

Instead of of your exaggeration talk, why don't just prove me wrong that the Foreign Press is not talking about him and diplomats and foreign leaders are not talking about him and singing his praise.

2015 is just talk, it's up to Fashola to decide.

dem_people:

Do I sense a fear of Ndigbo here? We'll see how that goes. Fashola is a good candidate and I'll support him if there isn't any other more credible candidate.

BTW, stop quoting our Creator disrespectfully when you want to put your points across.

alj_harem:

yeah its up to him
what fear are u talking about again

fear of ndigbo for what na, why should i be fearful of ndigbo

moreover which other candidate, please kindly share the name with me

BTW, WHERE DID I QUOTE THE CREATOR, all i said was "fashola 2015 or no other , by the grace of God(insha Allah)"

please don't quote if u are not sure of the information being passed across

dem_people:

Maybe the fear of Ndigbo is the beginning of wisdom.   (Let me paraphrase your other thread).

But jokes apart, listen here, we'll all depart this world at some point. While we're still here, we should all pray for a credible person to lead the country irrespective of the person's ethnicity. Any progressive mind will want the best for his/her wellbeing. If an Igboman happens to fill that void then, so be it.

alj_harem:

yes, now u talking

now, my zone is the NE of nigeria

i voted for a NW person in the last election

the previous one before that, I voted a NW and SE vp

come 2015 the only person i can see right now is fashola SW person

all this people are not from the NE my zone.

I see chime or rotimi ameche next but they need to make it right this time before 2015

concerning leaders, i ALWAYS MAKE SURE I AM NOT VOTING ALONG ETHNIC SENTIMENT

concerning my thread earlier, i did it to shut those people that said north will not rule again

so sorry about any misunderstanding

dem_people:

When u say NE, I'm sure you meant Chad Bornu.

And what do u mean by Chime and Amaechi "making it right" before 2015? Surely, both are performers. Even Obi is a performer despite the meagre state allocation he has to contend with and, being in another party. If Chime and Obi have the sort of resources at the disposal of Fashola, they would have equally performed on his scale.

Concerning your earlier thread, I think you made your state of mind clear concerning Ndigbo and not to shut whoever up, like you're insinuating here. 

dem_people:

When u say NE, I'm sure you meant Chad Bornu.

And what do u mean by Chime and Amaechi "making it right" before 2015? Surely, both are performers. Even Obi is a performer despite the meagre state allocation he has to contend with and, being in another party. If Chime and Obi have the sort of resources at the disposal of Fashola, they would have equally performed on his scale.

Concerning your earlier thread, I think you made your state of mind clear concerning Ndigbo and not to shut whoever up, like you're insinuating here. 

dem_people:

Maybe the fear of Ndigbo is the beginning of wisdom.   (Let me paraphrase your other thread).

But jokes apart, listen here, we'll all depart this world at some point. While we're still here, we should all pray for a credible person to lead the country irrespective of the person's ethnicity. Any progressive mind will want the best for his/her wellbeing. If an Igboman happens to fill that void then, so be it.

alj_harem:

chime and amaechi are performing quite alright but amaechi is collecting much more funds than fashola because he is in a nigerdelta state(which mean extra allocations)

same goes for obi, infact obi has estates in lagos which i know of

the same estate money which was the money gotten from abians, he is using to build more estates and houses in lagos, thus generating more revenue for another state lagos stu.pid innit

infact he (peter obi) is so stup.id that after stealling money from his state and literally giving it to another state, he later insulted ngige for supporting acn, how da.ft is that now

you see my friend, chime and obi have a lot of money given to them

to be honest i think the north and the south west are the least in allocations given from the FG

the ss states gets the most,(niger-delta fg allocations, oil companies tax, etc)

followed by the se, ( oil companies, compensation of biafra war, etc)

lagos DOES NOT COLLECT MONEY FROM THE FG the last time i checked

lagos gets his money from tax and that is all

Katsumoto:

I don't get some of the posts on NL at times. They are leaders of states; who should be generating revenue for their states? Another state or another leader.

So basically, you are advocating that Nigeria carries electing leaders that are unable to generate revenue but continue to rely on allocation from the centre. If a governor is not able to increase revenue significantly, then he has no business trying to be president.

As it is now, Ndigbo HELPED to kill zoning. The rest of Nigeria will not be looking to return to zoning in 2015; they will be looking for the best man for the job.

dem_people:

Alhaji you can do better than this. Be very sure what you're saying instead of reading from somewhere and calling them facts.

Peter Obi was a rich man before he got into politics. All those estates u mentioned, were his before he became governor. Its like Rochas who's now the governor of Imo state, who is a billionaire before getting into government. Afterall a while, people will start accusing the fellow of amassing wealth from the state coffers irrespective of whether he actually embezzled or not.

I know Peter Obi. I've seen the infrastructural projects in Anambra. I know better. He's my state governor and I know ALL the communities in Anambra and all the major infrastructures before he became governor and now. I can confidently tell you that he has performed well above his contemporaries in the same FG allocation bracket.

When you wrote that "Chime and Obi have a lot of money given to them" and that "the SE receives tax from oil companies and compensation for Biafra", it shows your ignorance about the region. Please, which oil companies does the SE receive tax from? Which compensation has the SE received because of Biafra? I want you to specifically answer these questions and not dodge them cos I'm waiting for them to be answered.

When you also wrote that "Lagos does not collect its money from FG", what exactly do you mean? I take it that you meant IGR. If so, what about the FG allocation that goes to it? Doesn't that count also? Money is money whether its huge or not.

alj_harem:

so obi got his money before getting into power you people make me laugh

ok please did obj not have ota farm before he was the president which he used to run or his terms

please brother lets be real here, NO POLITIAN before 2000 declared their asset to the public but after obj first tenure they all became rich, shame

secondly, obi infrastructures  , are they in his name like the tinubu or are they in the state's name,.,.,. oboy wake up

is ojukwu not just given 1.5 billion naira  why can't he donate for the SE development unless he wants to go down as the most unless leader in the worlds history

concerning amaechi, i am sure u know the ND collects extra allocation than any other region so he can do alot more

to your last point, it is a well known fact the FG does not give lagos Federal allocation the last time i checked,

now IGR  is the only money lagos is getting to develop itself, much more other states most especially rivers state

dem_people:


NO, I'm not advocating for such. I wonder where you think I insinuated that. Infact, I'm a champion of IGR. If at the end of the day, a governor cannot generate required funds, he has no business in governance. 

The IGR of Anambra is about N12bn per annum which is far higher than Enugu's IGR considering the latter isn't as commercialised as the former.

Even if Anambra does better at increasing its IGR to maybe, N20bn a year, its still far below Lagos's IGR which stands at N240bn per annum (current Lagos monthly IGR = N20bn, x 12 = N240bn per annum). Its easy to see that Anambra and Lagos are of similar sizes. Fashola has more funds at his disposal despite the disparity in population between the two states. For what both governors have been able to achieve with their various amounts of allocations and IGRs, Obi deserves as much recognition as Fashola is getting, which he's getting BTW.

About zoning, Ndigbo DID NOT help to kill zoning. Please get your facts right here. The death of zoning was an internal affair of the PDP. Ndigbo simply voted en masse, their preferred candidate. If you refer to this as their "help in killing zoning" then you're wrong.

I wrote in my earlier post that I'll support whoever deserves my support. That includes Fashola, Chime, Obi, Lamido or any other governor who has performed.

Katsumoto:

How can Lagos and Anambra be of similar sizes if Anambra generates N12B annually and Lagos generates N240B (your figures by the way)? Also, Fashola has more funds at his disposal because Fashola is generating more revenue. I don't see where the similarities are. What has Obi achieved in Anambra? Fashola is getting international recognition for his works and you are talking about Obi. Can Anambra survive if it does not receive its allocation from Abuja?

The point I am making is that Fashola generates more internal revenue than all other governors. If Nigeria is to progress, should it be electing leaders that just spend what accrues from the oil or should it be electing leaders that will generate more revenue from other sources, thereby making the funds larger for projects?

Y[b]es, zoning was an internal matter to PDP. The question is, 'will Ndigbo be expecting PDP to put forward an Igbo candidate in 2015, considering that the same PDP did not follow its zoning formula'? Also, why do you not think that by Ndigbo voting overwhelmingly for the candidate that killed the zoning formula, it has sent a message to the rest of Nigerians that zoning (within the PDP) is dead? If Ndigbo wanted an Igbo president in 2015, then Igbo leaders (in the Ohanaeze) should have told GEJ to step aside for a Northern candidate, so that it can have its turn in 2015. But instead, Ohanaeze supported GEJ publicly and GEJ won overwhelmingly in the SE. If that can not be classified as 'help in killing zoning', then I don't know what is.

2015 will be interesting.
[/b]

Katsumoto:

How can Lagos and Anambra be of similar sizes if Anambra generates N12B annually and Lagos generates N240B (your figures by the way)? Also, Fashola has more funds at his disposal because Fashola is generating more revenue. I don't see where the similarities are. What has Obi achieved in Anambra? Fashola is getting international recognition for his works and you are talking about Obi. Can Anambra survive if it does not receive its allocation from Abuja?

The point I am making is that Fashola generates more internal revenue than all other governors. If Nigeria is to progress, should it be electing leaders that just spend what accrues from the oil or should it be electing leaders that will generate more revenue from other sources, thereby making the funds larger for projects?

Yes, zoning was an internal matter to PDP. The question is, 'will Ndigbo be expecting PDP to put forward an Igbo candidate in 2015, considering that the same PDP did not follow its zoning formula'? Also, why do you not think that by Ndigbo voting overwhelmingly for the candidate that killed the zoning formula, it has sent a message to the rest of Nigerians that zoning (within the PDP) is dead? If Ndigbo wanted an Igbo president in 2015, then Igbo leaders (in the Ohanaeze) should have told GEJ to step aside for a Northern candidate, so that it can have its turn in 2015. But instead, Ohanaeze supported GEJ publicly and GEJ won overwhelmingly in the SE. If that can not be classified as 'help in killing zoning', then I don't know what is.

2015 will be interesting.