Jarus:

Thanks my brother. Doing it as my Kwara countryhome. Plan to 'warm' it this ileya insha Allah.

You'be been quiet on the I4M section of late? Hope all is well?

Very true, i have been quiet from the whole NL of late as i have been really busy. But all is well, we thank God. Thanks for checking on me though! That's a good plan for a holiday home then!

Sometimes i wonder why our country will not be faced with corruption. How many people can afford to pay £1.5 million cash for a 4 bedroom house without mortgage in the west. But in our dear country we are expected to pay for it in cash. Anyway goodluck with your sale

Jarus: I agree with OP

There is nothing like having one's own house.

Alhamdulilah, close to rounding up mine too. You can imagine th fulfilment that comes with it.

Hey Jarus! Nice cute bungalow u got there. Where is it located. In'sha Allah you will round it up sooner than you thought.

kacyfine: this is the reason why d old men sitting on the future of this country ll continue to dominate nd distroy our economy when youth lik u can't read an article and develop on t to build ur future.I cry for the future of this country which U belong to

It is quite a shame that a 2 page intellectual article becomes an herculean task for some to read. How do we understand what our leaders are doing wrong if we fail to read. The older generation had a strong reading ability and culture, our generation is indeed lost with these sort of youths.

djon78: Very wonderful intelectual piece. I personally think OBJ meant good for this country during his regime by banning the importatn of lots of things.

What we need now is for massive investment in infrastructure like power, roads cos this will help our economy to develop as a result of reducution in the cost of production. The earlier this is done the better because in the coming decade global dependence on oil will drop greatly, and if we dont use our opportunity now, am afraid to say it will come to hunt this nation.

Restriction of imports if done in a strategic manner is good for a nations development. For Nigeria, for it to be successful, a west African coordinated approach has to be mapped out. This is where our foreign policy should be hinged upon. We should be flexing our economic strength in the West African sub continent by restricting west African imports and strengthening trade within. If this is not done, imports restrictions will only benefit Togo, Niger, Chad and Benin Republic.

Also if restrictions are placed on imports, and there is no corresponding strategic approach to industrial policy we will not benefit as a nation in terms of real developmental progress. Only a few billionaires like Aliko would.

Sanusi, Monetary Policy and Economic Development in Nigeria. By Jamal Akinade


In responding to a question in an interview about the rejection of an IMF advice on currency devaluation, two years ago, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi said the advice was rejected based on sound economic theory. IMF’s advice was based on the economic theory which suggests that currency devaluation is good for an economy which is export oriented; meaning, goods and services produced in such countries will be cheaper and thus competitive on the international market, while revenues generated will be able to buy more things in the local economy when converted. However, SLS’s argument was that Nigeria’s main export was oil of which its price was determined by international market forces and had nothing to do with the Naira. He further explained that Nigeria’s economy was largely import dependent and as such devaluation of the Naira would translate into expensive commodities which will in turn hurt Nigerians.

This issue of Nigeria’s import dependent economy is what brings me to the macro-economic policy direction of the current administration since its inception. SLS was right in his rebuff of the IMF but there is a bigger issue at the heart of his argument which is that the import dependent economy appears to be the reason for the current tight monetary policy regime of the CBN.

The development of a nation’s economy rests on the ability of its policy makers to adequately harness all the instruments of politics and economics in fostering an inclusive development. The macroeconomic policies of a country largely determine the direction of growth and development. By macroeconomic policy, in simple terms, I mean government fiscal (expenditure and revenue) policies on one hand and the monetary policy (inflation management, interest rate policy and foreign exchange management) on the other hand.

Several analysts have continually criticised, and rightly so, the current monetary policy of the CBN. This is because the MPR is continuously set at a high rate of between 11-12 percent which translates to interest rates in the real sector of above 20 per cent. For SLS, I believe it is a case of the devil and the deep blue sea as he has an option of choosing between price stability or the risk of completely throwing the Naira to the whims of the market. He has obviously and categorically stated several times that he is in favour of price stability, hence, the tight monetary policy. Recently (27th of May), SLS categorically stated at the meeting of the African Development Bank; “rate reductions will depend on whether the government can control spending . . . The central bank shouldn’t rush into cutting rates and then raising. How much room we have to cut depends on what happens in the fiscal space.” However, the coordinating minister of the economy, NOI, who is in charge of the fiscal side, has always called for fiscal prudence and blocking of leakages. What appears is that, even with all the prudence rhetoric, according to SLS, government fiscal prudence is not prudent enough. Obviously, there seems to be a disconnect between our fiscal and monetary policy coordination but that is a discussion for another day,

The Lagos chamber of commerce has continuously criticised Sanusi’s high MPR methodology in tackling inflation as they insist that mopping up excess cash in the system results in business credit inaccessibility. This view has also been echoed by Henry Boyo, an economist. Sanusi’s primary concern is price stability, which means low inflation and the only way to do this, in the view of the CBN, is tight monetary policy. He has surely done well in pushing inflation to single digit. But, is inflation really a devil in every economy?

An economic research has shown that, in principle, inflation rate when below 40 per cent has no real bearing on economic growth of a country. This research was published in 1995 and interestingly by neo-liberal economists, Michael Bruno, a former World Bank chief economist and William Easterly, also of the World Bank. It was further argued by them that below 20 percent, higher inflation is often associated with higher growth. It is therefore not surprising to note that South Korea, during its miracle growth years of the 1960s and 1970s, had inflation rates of between 17.5 per cent and 20 per cent. This is not to say that inflation is good, no! But, moderate inflation CAN be good for the economy if it is induced by higher productive spending which spurs economic activities and growth. I believe it is from this perspective others have suggested that the current tight monetary policy should be eased and obsession with inflation should be given way for expansionary policies – increased government spending – to stimulate development.

This view appears to be correct in principle and also theoretically grounded in the context of Keynesian economics. However, development and economic theory have to be put into the local context when postulating policies - thinking globally, acting locally - let us look at this scenario.

If monetary policy is eased, cheaper money should be available on the market, coupled with government spending and therefore enough liquidity in the system which should propel economic growth. The assumption here is that a relaxed monetary policy will enable producers borrow and enhance banks lend to the real sector of the economy. However, in the context of the local reality – import dependent economy- excess Naira would chase the dollar and also chase lesser goods which will consequently lead to inflation and a run on the value of the Naira as well as needless depletion of the foreign reserves. The problem of weaker Naira emerges. A contrary argument by a segment of the economy – manufacturers - might be that cheaper credit to them will enable growth of the sector and job creation to tackle pervasive unemployment in the economy, hence, the benefit outweighs the cost or harm.

This is one side of the story; a closer look will be to compare the percentage of manufacturing in the nations GDP to the percentage of trades of foreign finished goods which dominates the informal economy outside tax bands and revenue collection. Manufacturing only represents 0.5 per cent of Nigeria’s GDP. If one takes out the 20 odd percent oil share of the GDP, the remaining 70 odd percent which includes agriculture, services, plus the informal economy is wholly dependent on foreign produced inputs.

Moreover, most manufacturers have to still import inputs for their industry. Thus, a weaker Naira would translate into higher cost of production which will ultimately be transferred to the Nigerian consumers. Another contrary argument could be that this is a sacrifice that will pay off in the long run as it will help develop Nigeria’s productive and industrial capability. I completely agree with this view, and this sacrifice is what propelled the East Asian economies to success; however, it is only correct in theory and not within the CURRENT Nigerian context.

A sacrifice will only pay off if corresponding import restriction is used to ward off external competition and the idea of ‘free trade’ is rightly relegated to the background in Nigeria’s economic planning. Again, this is also only one side of the story as I don’t believe the reason for banks’ low lending to the productive sectors of the economy is solely as a result of the high MPR and CBN’s monetary policy. Banks run a business with the sole drive being profit; as an economist, one knows that the easiest way to change economic behaviour is the use of incentives and sanctions. Currently as it stands, several businesses cannot compete with external manufacturers due to the power problem. What sense will it make to banks to grant loans to such companies? Banks find it easier to engage in speculative businesses with high returns as well simple low risk trading businesses - importation.

This is a market failure that requires government intervention through guided cheap credit to critical sectors of the economy, I am aware this is being done by the CBN in relation to agriculture but accessibility and penetration is still low and national impact minimal. The Bank of industry has to be aggressively re-focused as a development bank offering cheap credit to the SMEs, and minimal concentration should be given to the bank’s sponsor of investment shows abroad, searching for elusive foreign investors. Furthermore, each state or region should have its own development bank , funded by government , with the sole aim of directing cheap credit of less than 3 percent to productive sectors of the state’s economy as it deems fit. This might require amendments of CBN’s laws with regards to bank establishment because without decentralisation of credit allocation in a complex country like Nigeria, the impact of development banks will not be felt at the local levels.

By and large, lending to the productive sectors of the economy extends beyond monetary policies, it also transcends fiscal policies. There are systemic structural and infrastructural problems in Nigeria that has to be tackled. This problem has to be solved holistically as expansionary policies good as it is will only be fruitful in an economy with efficient and guided import restrictions. Import restrictions in turn can only be maximised in an environment with stable power and infrastructure because local industries whom are beneficiaries of import restrictions, can only flourish with the availability of essential infrastructure. Transportation infrastructure such as inland waterways and cargo trains is very crucial here. Even in the presence of infrastructure, government might have to take the lead in developing critical industries by actively investing in them while such industries are run by competent management professionals like every private industry. Government does not solely refer to the federal government but all the 36 state governments must aggressively pursue structural changes that can collectively lead to the targeted development of human resource and surgical provision of essential infrastructures to aid economic activities.

Jamal Akinade is a chartered chemical engineer; he has an MSc in Development Planning and Administration from the University College London and an MPA in Public Policy from the University of Nottingham. He wrote in from the UK and can be reached at jayakinjay@gmail.com.

http://saharareporters.com/article/sanusi-monetary-policy-and-economic-development-nigeria%C2%A0-jamal-akinade

I was terribly shocked at this news yesterday, I had doubts about the authenticity of the news, however if it true, the shock to me is not that he had girlfriends but that she was a married woman. Very few men and more importantly, men of power, will not fall for temptation of women and I see this as a personal issue of SLS for which people are not mean to judge him.

This is his personal life and I think it is hypocritical of the press or people to judge a man’s private life which should remain private even if he were a public official. I do not subscribe to western tabloids invading private lives of politicians either. Moreover, this is Africa where we should still have some media restraint, the woman involved, has children, has a husband, SLS has children, and what this news does is the breaking of homes and ruining the lives of the children involved.

On official issues of employment and usage of chartered flights PT could well have reported this without the extramarital affairs involved. If the dirty linen of Nigerian politicians were to be revealed, there will not be a single one left without scars. Sleeping with married women is a norm and not abnormal with these folks.

SLS is a man I have tremendous respect for and i have followed him and his wirings for more than 10 years. I care less about a man’s private and personal affairs with women as that’s between him and his God, moreover I am not sinless myself. SLS still remains one of the shining lights of the GEJ administration and an intellectual icon which Nigeria needs. I am however, disappointed, at his carelessness in employing this woman into the CBN. If the usage of chartered flights were funded by him that’s fine, if it was by the state then it is immoral and wrong.

V20:2020 and the Future of Development Planning in Nigeria (1).

Dr Shamsudeen Usman, the minister of national planning, recently confirmed what many of us knew all along, that the vision 20:2020 remains a pipe dream. I would come back to vision 20:2020, but before that, let us delve into the debate on development planning as an instrument of economic prosperity. Development planning I must say is not limited to economic planning but extends to social and human development. From this perspective, development planning can or should be understood as economic planning to fulfill a social function – human and social development.

One might wonder about the significance of calling for planning when all government plan or should plan. This is true; more so, a budget is a plan and every government runs a budget. But, this planning confusion is often generated by economists or development experts, and can be traced to the context in which the call for planning is often based. My example here is a recent article by Odilim Enwegbara in which he called for comprehensive development planning in Nigeria. He said; “That is why moving economies like ours in the right development route should start with the full abandonment of everything neoliberal. It should begin only when we embrace planning as the secret of development because planning systematically dismantles the assumed mysteries surrounding development …That is why neoliberals are against developing countries embracing planning in their quest to development … To restart our development journey, we should quickly embrace development planning, the inevitable map to guide us in finding our way in this journey into the unknown...” (http://www.punchng.com/business/global-finance/repositioning-nigerian-economy-for-growth-1/)

I share the same view regarding the main message of Odilim’s article, however, I object to his manner and context of framing the planning debate. I do not believe that everything neoliberal and development planning are mutually exclusive. Neoliberals, in my view, are not against developing countries planning for development but they might disagree with the policy content and direction of planning. The NEEDS plan of the OBJ era was a development plan, albeit rested on neoliberal ideology of free market economics. The plan cannot be said to be entirely comprehensive, but the mission here is not to critique the plan, yet, the crux of the matter is that NEEDS was development planning.

The IMF and World Bank rebranded SAP of the 1980’s into the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSPs- this strategy paper is a document required of developing countries to access its loans. However, PRSPs must be approved by the IMF before the World Bank can grant loans. In order words, PRSPs must conform to neoliberal economics before loans can be granted to countries in need. Production of PRSPs is development planning and NEEDS was Nigeria’s PRSP not to access loans but to be granted debt relief.

Our understanding of planning is critical here, because if we view planning only in the context of a comprehensive document with all the inputs and output completely disregarding market forces, then surely neoliberals are against this sort of planning. Framing of planning in the context of the old communist era, command and control regimental planning versus modern capitalism can also be dangerous because ideologically committed people might eventually remove the head as a remedy for the headache. Extremism exists on both sides of the ideological debate and this is not the time for Nigerian intellectuals to engage in sterile debates of market forces versus state led economy and the likes. What is important is to look more inwards and determine what works for us and what does not.

I very much agree with Odilim on the need to seek creative means of development but I disagree with the view of abandoning western textbooks and everything neo-liberal. This is an extreme view and akin to throwing away the baby with the bathwater. I say this because parallels can be drawn with what extreme neoliberal ideology (market fundamentalism) did to Africa in the 1980s when almost everything not neoliberal was thrown away e.g. state development banks were privatized, interest rate liberalized, import tariffs removed while exchange rates were liberalized at the same time. We all know the devastating results of which many countries have not recovered from. What I am saying is caution is called for in planning while common sense and local context should prevail over ideology inclinations. The statement of Deng Xiaoping that; “it does not matter if a cat is black or white, as long as it catches the mice”, reflects our argument herein.

I actually do disagree with most neoliberal policies. However, policy such as a slim, efficient and more productive public service, although typically associated with neo-liberalism and proponents of new public management, is begging for implementation in Nigeria. According to Sanusi Lamido, 70 per cent of federal government revenue is spent on the civil service and political appointees. This situation, unless reversed, can never lead Nigeria to economic prosperity no matter the extent of development planning. I do not also believe that abandoning western economic textbooks because they were created to inherently favor the west is the way to go. There is no convergence of opinion in the western house of economics about the right economic development plan or even economic theory itself. If not, why do we have divergent views between Keynesians and neoclassical/neoliberal economists especially on macroeconomics? For example, Shaw and Mackinnon’s hypothesis on the relationship between savings, interest rate and investments totally contradicts Keynes’s theory on investments, savings and interest rates. What should be done is picking what suits us, leaving what does not, and creating new ideas or theories where applicable.

China is a good example of development under a developmental state model. But, China’s political economy is very much different to ours. It is interesting to note that almost all of the successful East Asian economies which utilized a developmental state model of development had outright dictators, pseudo- democracy or one party state. South Korea developed under a general, Malaysia under Mahathir who governed for about 20 years, Lee Kwan Yew of Singapore, and China’s communist party are few examples. Newer success stories like Brazil under the Lula Da-Silva implemented mixture of policies which suited Brazil’s political economy which included neoliberal policies as well as welfarist policies such as conditional transfers.

That Nigeria needs a new concrete, comprehensive and implementable plan is not in doubt. However, this document must fit our political economy and not just a document which is academically sound. Technocrats can develop a ring tight document, fantastic on paper, but it is politicians that come and go, it is politicians that are accountable to the people, and it is them that have to seek elections. It is not news that politicians will mainly implement projects which they can complete during their tenure and claim the glory, even if this project might not have any meaningful impact on the long term development of such domains.

This issue brings me to the political economy of Nigeria. The undue emphasis and importance given to technocrats who sometimes are detached from reality, in formulating development and economic policies often lead to policies which are not implementable. For example, the ‘failure’ of vision 20:2020 is not surprising as it identified a major problem in Nigeria’s quest for development without proffering a practical solution to it. It says that; “Amongst a host of debilitating impediments to Nigeria’s growth and competitiveness, one issue rests at the very root: a resource exploitation, allocation and consumption pattern that is unsustainable…The most destructive effect of this dependence on hydrocarbons is the undermining of the social contract between the government and the people. With no less than 95% of Nigeria’s federating States depending on the centre for over 90% of government income, the incentives towards internally generating revenue from taxation of economic activity are extremely weak and a culture of “sharing the national cake” has become institutionalized.” (p. 44)

In simple words, the technocrats acknowledged that concentration of power at the center is a bottleneck to Nigeria’s development. It explicitly stated that;”To achieve Vision 20: 2020 aspirations, Nigeria will reverse the above situation. A mode of fiscal decentralization that rewards economic performance at the sub-national level will be diligently pursued, and a form of development that ensures the economic viability and prosperity of each geo-political region of Nigeria will be underpinning the thrusts of Vision 20: 2020”. (p.44)

These structural defects cannot be mended by unelected technocrats because these are core political issues that only constitutional changes can fix. For example, an issue like fiscal decentralization goes beyond revenue allocation formula, it extends to the centralized accounting purse at the centre. This centralization requirement is enshrined in the constitution. From this perspective, is it not safe to conclude that vision 20:2020 was bound to fail from the very start? This is because the structural solution was outside its purview but it did well by identifying the problem. Creating policies insulated from the political economy reality and expecting the right political equation to emerge from the blues is an exercise in futility. The critique of V20:2020 will be done in detail in subsequent articles, God willing.

In order to move Nigeria on the right development track, several political issues have to be resolved. Economics does not operate in a vacuum and as such the brightest economists or development technocrats will only achieve little in the current Nigerian makeup. The solution could either be a civilian dictatorship where a leader can swiftly amend constitutional defects which impede development by decrees, but a return to dictatorship does not sound attractive especially if one witnessed the era of military. The other option is the democratic option where a political party formulates a comprehensive development plan, win elections with enough margins in the 36 states of the federation and the national assembly to effect constitutional changes seamlessly. However, Nigeria will require a minimum of 10 continuous years of diligent implementation of a sound and feasible development plan and infrastructure provision before we can start competing for top 20 economies of the world. Thus, 2015 is crucial to our future.


Jamal Akinade is a chartered chemical engineer; he has an MSc in Development Planning and Administration from the University College London and an MPA in Public Policy from the University of Nottingham. He wrote in from the UK and can be reached at jayakinjay@gmail.com

http://saharareporters.com/article/v202020-and-future-development-planning-nigeria-1-jamal-akinade

I always knew him to be two faced, this is the same governor that order police to disperse the toll gate protests, it is the sme governor whom we know supported the fuel subsidy removal, it is now the same governor claiming to hate the deployment of soldiers to Lagos. Hypocricy it is ! Lagosians should wake up to the deciet of this governor.

The Nigerian Army spokesperson, Col. Mohammed Yerima has broken his silence over the heavy presence of military men on Lagos streets, saying it was requested and actively sponsored by the Lagos state government.

Although, the minister of Defence, Bello Haliru Mohammed, told newsmen on Tuesday that the military personnel were deployed by Federal Government to Lagos to safeguard lives and property in view of recently protests and national strike.

Yerima stated this in a four paragraph statement he read to journalists at a press conference in Abuja on Thursday. He noted that the soldiers were drawn from the same Operation MESSA, a security arrangement of Lagos State government made up of police and military personnel.

The statement reads: “The attention of the Defence Headquarters has been drawn to the unsubstantiated claims by a section of the public alleging that the Federal Government ordered the deployment of troops in Lagos to halt the protest against the fuel subsidy removal.

“While the Defence Headquarters do not wish to join issues with any individual or groups regarding the matter, we wish to state categorically, in the interest of the larger society, that there is no element of truth in those claims.


“The soldiers seen on the streets of Lagos are still the same men of the special task force code named Operation MESSA set up and sponsored by the Lagos State government long before the fuel subsidy protests, for the purpose of supporting the civil police in protecting lives and property as is the case in many parts of the country.

“The men of the task force who are currently in Lagos have been there and were not brought from outside Lagos. They are members of the Lagos State Government sponsored Operation MESA and the demand for their withdrawal is therefore uncalled for”, he concluded.

But in a swift reaction, the Honourable Commissioner for Information & Strategy, Mr. Aderemi Ibirogba, said the claim by the Nigerian Army was a blatant lie and there was no iota of truth.

He enjoined Nigerian Army to show the entire populace the proof that the Lagos State Government has a hand in the mass deployment of soldiers.

Ibirogba said the state government has nothing to gain in victimising its citizens, because they have constitutional right to protest without destruction of lives and properties, which was not obtainable during the 6-day industrial action in the state

This revealation butesses my earlier point that this dude called Fashola is nothing but a two faced governor.

bandiejay:

Buhari , president

Ribadu, Vice president

Sanusi , Minister of Finance

Elrufai, Senate president

Dora Akuyili , Minister For health

Do u want our SS brothers to have a heart attack.

KnowAll:


no be cause be that one, at present Iweala is above the CBN Governor and not vice versa!

Strictly speaking aside the unconstitutional name of cordinating minister, is a minister of finance superior to a CBN governor?

My belief is their roles are deifferent and a CBN governor reports to the president and not a finance minister. I could be wrong on this though

Gbawe:

More or less correct except for courage. Sanusi , for me, and as much as I admired the guy, bottled it by going along with those arguing for subsidy removal instead of rising up to the challenge of telling Government to fight the corrupt element of subsidy Sanusi himself will surely know is hideously over-inflated.

I personally believe Ribadu would relish the chance to be let loose on the scammers. His nationalistic fervour means he would not want Nigerians to pay for the crimes of those he will believe are not untouchable (eg former IG Tafa Balogun). I think EL Rufai too would not want the scammers to get away unpunished because of the massive amount of money they have made off with that now places the onus of sacrifice at the door of Nigerians.

Consequently, Sanusi's consistency suffers because of this. He may, up to date, have spoken bravely but he shows distinct lack of consistency by not insisting Government fight the corruption that swelled subsidy by over N1 trillion above benchmark. That is simply a betrayal of trust for those of us who thought Sanusi, no matter what, will always be on the side of ordinary Nigerians and never abandon them.

In as much as i disagree with SLS on the timing of the subsidy removal, in all fairness to him, SLS said on channels tv that the govt could have a phased apprach to subsidy removal and in the period aree to a set of deliverables of which it includes proesecuting the cabal and jailing them , after which full implementation if subsisdy removal could begin. He said he was speaking as a Nigerian and not public servant.

Jarus i presume you just added consistency

Sanusi
El Rufai
Ribadu

Sanusi has been saying the same thing since the 90s and he still maintains his posiion and ideology. El rufai only has about 8 years of public space 2003 - date although he was BPE director since 2000.

Ribadu is the least consistent IMO. His recent political experience revealed a lot about his person and it was indeed an expensive political gamble.

Ribadu

1, Integrity - Questionable and inconsistent , might largely not be personally corrupt but  . . . .
2, Patriotism  - Definitely a patriot
3, Nationalism - Again , i would say he is a nationalist
4, Intellectual depth - Lesser than the duo of SLS and Elrufai
5, Courage - 70% I would say because he lacked the courage to prosecute OBJs friends but had the courage to prosecute Ibori under Yaradua .

El Rufai

1,[b] Integrity - Again questionable as he cannot be said to be clean or not abused his office as a FCT head
2, Patriotism[/b] - Definitely a Patriot
3, Nationalism - A nationalist of repute
4, Intellectual depth - Amazing intellectual depth
5, Courage - 70% He is as courageous as it comes.

SLS

1, Integrity - He has a high degree of integrity and friends and foes always attest to that but this fuel subsidy wahala and the corrupt element surrounding him might make a dent
2, Patriotism - Definitely a patriot
3, Nationalism - A nationalist of repute
4, Intellectual depth- He his the highest of the 3 IMO. I have followed his writings since around 2001 and i havent found his match in public office
5, Courage - 90% courage, to tell the National assmembly to their face they are rogues is courage. To tell the president to drop 7 point agenda before senate confirmation on the floor of the house is courage and to go after established and celebrated bankers like he did is courage.

FFK is a loud mouth , he was the rabid attack dog of OBJ, he has since apologised to ATiku for his lowly remarks about him.

FFK cannot and does not operate on the same intellectual wavelength as SLS or even El Rufai. El Rufai on channels tv had the same nice words about SLS when his interview was played to him.

FFK is being very childish and if anyone noticed he called NOI Sanusis' boss about five times, just to slight him. FFK praising himself to be a cabinet minister and SLS a mere CBN governor is the height of stupidity. A minister of aviation to the governor that regulates the economy via the banks is like comparing sleep to death. The banking shakeup of 2009 is enough evidence to show the power of a CBN governor.

I hope SLS does not reply this dude as it will be pointless. SLS made these comment in a forum and was never meant to be an article or paper.

PdP will win again due to the docility of Nigerians, tribal sentiments and rigging.

I still cannot understand why Buhari could not win the SW aside from ethnic sentiments of people in the SW coupled with the complicity of Tinubu led ACN.

GEJ, I still believe will contest in 2015.

Fashola assumes lagosians are gullible.

Let it be known FASHOLA SUPPORTED THE REMOVAL OF SUBSIDY, ACNs governor declaration was only a weak political attempt to dissociate itself. OShiomole of ACN also supported the subsidy removal and he was the only bold one not to attend the ACN governors meeting.

Fashola is double faced, he is the same person that jerked up fees from 20k to 200,000K . Was it not on his orders , policemen attacked innocent protesters at the toll gate?

Who is fooling who, now he feel threatens that a PDP FG deploys troops to his domain. Nigerians should wake up to the deciet of some of this ACN governors. Only Aregbesola and Fayemi were really against the subsidy removal !!

They sold out since thursday !!

El Rufai warned us of about 4 billion naira voted for bribing labor leaders across the country.

When i saw the interview of that  imbecille called A Waheed Omar last night i knew they had sold out. He could not string two sentecnes together and kept on mumbering ! Money have exchanged hands, and may the spirit of the innocent lost souls continue to hunt the labour leaders till their death.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yi-7bmWo16I

If anyone can embed this, please do.

Watch the interview of Imam the at the end.

ola_pluto:

I will be pleasantly surprised if any major newspaper carries this story tomorrow. Later, they say Muslims in the South are passive.

http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/index.php/news/33005-clerics-dons-lead-muslim-protesters.html

it was reported in the nation today.

kai Mr Boye vex o

maclatunji:

You still come to Nairaland? Of course ye do

I still dey o      

El Rufai now on channels live

I think SLS spoke brilliantly here and for the first time since this debate started I havbe agreed with his politcal position (his economic analysis cannot be faulted on this issue).

He said
1. Govt can still subsidize at 65 naira for a while
2. Govt should shift position as people are being killed
3. phased removal is the way
4. Agreement should contain deliverables from govt which could be prosecution of the cabal
4. Dec 2012 if govt delivers, fuel price could be increased again.

He made it cleat he was speaking as SLS and not on behalf of the govt. I have always thought GEJ govt is not a govt SLS should stake his integrity on.

I can see there is a split in this govt and from Segun Adeniyis verdict in ThisDay today, several ministers dont agree with this subsidy removal as it was never debated at FEc. My conclusion is that it is governors and NOI who are champions of this removal in this manner.

So subsidy removal will go to recurrent expenditure again.

This is Iwealas' Voodonomics - subsidy removal to benefit the poor.

Gbawe:

My brother, if I did not know better then I would simply conclude GEJ has 'eaten' enough and is fed up of leading Nigeria to the extent he has done this to get impeached !!!! His action simply makes no sense and is now leading sensible Nigerians , regardless of the ethnic distractions by saboteurs, to focus on the wickedness of a Government that heavily subsidizes the lives of a very, very minute percentage of the population only to then turn around and insist they must punish 160 million Nigerians.

It is simply, the lost dog would never hear the whistle of his master.

GEJ is not the one ruling , this policy cannot be by him , no smart politician will try to do this unthinkable act. Itt seems the "cabal" are planning to make double profit by removing this subsidy hence their support for it.

Gbawe:

Not impressed with Okonjo Iweala at all. "We have one of the highest rate of maternal maternity"    Those who make these sorts of gaffes are the sort who make errors from rehashing lies and trying to confuse folks they deem less intelligent. I was a fan of Iweala but her actions and utterances so far indicates she is now jaded and burnt out with nothing to offer.

Man mi, the most annoying thing, is her trying to use emotinal appeal to buy her way through. "we care about the poor , the removal of subsidy is to benefit the poor". Removal of subsidy without even trying to implement Ben Bruces' deal. I watched the Lagos town hall debate on youtube and apart from Sanusi , NOI and Deziani were very unimpressive. Sanusis arguement were mainly economic and although correct i disagree with the manner of this subisdy removal without governments' size reduction.

Iweala is a spent force and just hot air. All these martenal mortality jargon was said when they paid our debt as well, it was said when diesel was deregulated, it is all big words to confuse the public.

ifyalways:

Watching Ubani of SNG @ Channels and he's sooooo right on point.Love the inscription on his shirt,it reads "I love my country,it is the Government I am afraid of" lolz

Anywayz,BA is flying.Arik from Abuja airport is flying too.

Aunty where u come dey all these years nah? pls shoot me a mail. Hope evrything is cool though!

Honestly, i have always known this guy as a dunce but his comments above is nauseating to say the least. How can a president be lamenting about problems in this manner when his job is to solve them. How can a president be lamenting about a lean police force when he should do something about it, half of nigerian policemen are attached to politicans and VIPs.

How can a president indict himself by saying boko haram members are in his govt, even if they were, it shows the level of intellect of this guy. They run your govt but you cannot weed them out, you are simply saying you are a failure.

Well, I have no atom of pity for Nigerians especially we southerners because you voted GEJ in. Let us forget election rigging in the north and falsification of votes in the SE/SS, GEJ won the elction in the south, yourbas voted for him. ACN tacitly supported him except for Rauf Aregbesola . As you lay your bed so you shall lie on it.



Come 2015, Nigerians will vote on ethino- religious line again!! Shior