₦airaland Forum

Although I can't authenticate the veracity of this piece, but the one thing I pick from this (if by any flip it's true) is that Jonathan is therefore a man with the least possible tolerance for CORRUPTION. Akpabio is one of his closest pals and if he could bar him from the Villa for such action then he can go any length to do what is right no matter whose ox is gored.
Detractors may want to fly this news with the intension to raise an issue of a squable between the president and his right-hand man not knowing they're selling the credibility of the President to the people.

Ayekotoo: Hw did you arrive at this again? you people are really comedians. where are the universities in south east? I can't just stop laughing at you people living in ignorant's paradise.

Honestly, I used to think Imo state would take the lead in the states with the highest number of Higher institutions in the country cos Owerri City seems to have a good number of higher institutions, not until I saw Ogun (or Osun, can't which exactly) on one of the most recent JAMB brochures. But however, just a few years ago JAMB regretted in one of their statistical reports that the number of registrants from Imo State alone was almost double the total number of registrants from the entire NE! You still remember that the SE states were the states with the highest cut-off marks in this year's Unity Schools Common Entrance Examination. When questioned, the exam body said if allowed totally on merit, that just Anambra and Imo students who made the highest marks was enough to fill the entire space. Now, is it the guy you quoted that's living in "Ignorant's paradise"?
You might have attended tertiary school in your region. After the particular tribe of that region, which other tribe takes the highest number of undergraduates in your school? Am not saying authoritatively that it must be the Igbo. But am suspecting it is. Be sincere here.
Again, if you've served the NYSC you probably would not say these people are illiterates. You know what? A good number of the guys you see doing business in Alaba, Idumota and Ladipo are grdauates who can't afford to wait for goverment employment. Friend, my point is, just travel a little around this Igbo region of SE and parts of SS. You might not be shocked altogether, but your opinion will definitely reshape.

Ayekotoo: Lagos rubs shoulders with Aba, portharcourt and onitsha? is this not just your typical village chest-beating? its an insult to Nigerians comparing Lagos to some glorified villages

If you follow me on NL you'd have noticed that I never attempt to follow the ethnocentric track. Never! Go back and read the entire comment you quoted above and you'd see the caveate where it says PH, Aba and Onitsha do not compare with Lagos. I claim that I've visited the SW roundabout. Can you claim that of the SE? Meanwhile, you dont even know if am SE or not. That the Mr Uche, the CEO living in Magodo or Mrs Amaka the MD living in Lekki tells you she's going to her village whenever she's travelling to her countryhome should not confuse you and make you think she's reffering to one rustic squalor somewhere in the dark part of the world. I enjoin you to travel to at least 3 states of the SE and visit these rural places they call "village" and you'd come to understand what the UNDP means when they say that the SE is the region with the lowest level of poverty in Nigeria. Don't be delusioned, friend.

I do not find anything so fascinating about marry Igbo or marrying from Igbo. As an Igboman myself, where I marry does not automatically translate to fortune or holiness.
If you don't know, Former Gov of Rivers, Peter Odili married an Igbo woman, Princess Mary Odlil from Eziudo, Odizi in Ezinihitte Mbaise, the present Gov of that state Amaechi also married an Igbowoman. IBB married an Igbo woman from Asaba, Mariam Babangida (or so). The Aviation minister Princess Stella Adaeze Oduah is Anambra but married to Ak City, the minister of Petroluem Deziani Allison Madueke is a Bayelsan married to an Enugu man. Peter Obi married from Ak City. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is from Delta Igbo and married to Abia. The woman representing Ahiazu-Mbaise in Imo state House of Assembly is Mrs Funke (I hope I got the name), a Yorubawoman married to Mba5.
This does not confer any fortune to any particular person or people cos some of the men were poor when they married these women. Likewise, some of these women were nobodies when they were married. Some of the women also came from intimidating backgrounds before they married these men.

Ogbonaikenna: Ekiti state having the highest number of intellects is a propaganda. What does jamb statistic shows?

It's such delusional propagandas that have kept some people in our country circumspecting around the self deceit orbit. Maybe Ekiti had once taken the lead in the number of academicians or so, but now events over the past one or two decades have swept it away. Maybe such assertions like the one our writer is peddling can at best be described as "living in past glory". JAMB, WAEC, NECO and NUC latest records do not place Ekiti at the spot anymore. Not even the Unity Schools Common Entrance Examinations.
@Topic, I've honestly not stepped my foot on the soils of Ekiti as at today, but I've been round the other SW states, and except for Lagos, I don't think the states in that region are competiive in any form. Not even the home state of the legendary Awolowo! Not even Ogun state with all it's proximity advantage to Lagos state (although it's a step ahead of the other SW states).
The Yoruba people of Nigeria are believed to be good administrators but that gene is yet to be fully harnessed. I continue to say that Lagos state has woefully underperformed generally considering its small land mass (about the smallest in Nigeria), it has been the only point of import and export in Nigeria over the years, it has been the FCT for about two decades! Yet it rubs shoulders with PH, Aba and Onitsha--though it's way ahead of them, but my point is, if these cities had the same priviledges Lagos had they probably be competing with Carlifornia, Tokyo and New York/Beijing respectively.

[quote author=invest-now2013]It is long over due! It will help to stop the presure on the Naira that causes it to lose so much Value. This is good for our Economy.If is True, Welldone GEJ![/quote]I gather that the apex bank is trying to stop the dollarization of our economy which has consistently put too much pressure on our Naira and undermined all efforts at managing exchange rate between both currencies.

There are also allegations that some (corrupt) politicians are buying and stashing away dollars in heavy quantities against 2015 thereby increasing demand for the dollar.

These are the kinds of actions and decisions our gov't should have been taking over the years to save our economy and our people but they didn't cos of their primitive greed for money and power.

Thanks to Sanusi, and to the Finance Minister and to the President for doing the right things no matter whose stake is there.

Shen Teh: Thiz iz bery bad por biziness. Yo mean Mallam Sanusi haz affrooved zha killing op our USDallars Boro do Change bizziness? Kai! Mallam Adamu helf us tu tell zhat 'dan iska' tu stof zhat nansense kawai! Doz he wan us tu all go back to pushing wheel-barrow and gateman work? Me kuma I not pit sell goro and or do maibara por thiz Legas again pah. Allah kiaye!

Oh, my Goodness! Please, tell me where you grew up cos you killed that accent! Very funny, bro.

I just woke up early this morning to read an SMS from bank notifying me that effective from 26th of this month they'll stop issuance of Dollar bills to recipient of money on Western Union money transfer, MoneyGram and all other such funds transfer in compliance with CBN directives. Although I don't expect any funds from Obodo Oyibo, but am imagining the (negative) effects this policy would have on (especially) those small BDCs at Presidential and GRA in PH and Ama-Awusa in Owerri and other places.

Do you have any idea what other implications (negative or positve) which this policy could bring to individuals and the general society?

Let me form one small dibia:

Many will not open this thread because to them it's not a verified news and the thread will be infested with vitriols and primordial foulness.

Others will rush to open it so they can boo their "imposting psychadelic" enemies. And tell them how unorganized and unreal and incompatible they're and how this marriage will soon divorce due to "irreconcillable differences."

Soon this thread will grow into several pages (may, or not make it to FP).

And hopefully, I might get a few likes for my comment before it's break of dawn.

As I watched Malala on tv the day she was honoured by the UN and allowed to speak I felt a melting in my soul when she spoke these word, 'Even if am given a gun I wont shoot the taliban who shot me in my head. I still want education for the children of the talibans....One child, one teacher, one book, one pen (one world).'

This' the very first time am commenting on a thread without reading thru all the post (actually read only about 55 per cent). But what gets my interest is the title.

I've just being wondering why some people are frostly afraid of Nigeria's division, making it suspicious that they can't really survive on their own. Are we dealing with a case of self doubt?

Anyway, not that am asking for Nigeria's division but let us each be self validated and self contained enough.

For me na DSSS, Department of State Security Service. Oh, those guys the kind of gun them dey carry plus their attire na DIE. I just saw one small SSS girl now opposite Governor's Office in Owerri and I felt like joining today!

Sincere 9gerian: The rice self-sufficiency policy, sugar master plan,etc are up and running. Now a new Automotive Industrial Policy Development Plan has been added to the list.

When the likes of Toyota, Nissan,etc roll out their investment plans in ANY part of the country, the APC e-warriors and children of anger should not forget to link the ACTION (policy) to the REACTION.

I think this is a very laudable and lofty streak. The FG must be commended for the giant reformations it's making in almost all sectors of the economy in one fell swoop. Even with the lowest elb of citizens' morale support the FG has managed to continue to position the economic POWER STEERING of the nation towards the lane of prosperity.

But let me quickly add that you shouldn't let the sometimes irrascible comments and incindiary remarks of some of the folks here on NL make you begin to sound like you're on a paranoid level with them. Most times these your PHANTOM (e-)enemies or opponents say what they say just to get at you. Most of them are just having their fun. Dont play to their game. Hope I didn't hurt you.

God Bless Nigeria and Nigerians

peleson: FG should not even waste time pls. Koreans are better than chinese

I believe that Korea are better in some ways that Chinese in terms of quality assurance and quality control of products and services but the truth is that if you also insist on a particular quality China is capable of delivering to that. My laptop is made in China and I got it from Canada and it has the full quality specs of laptop for US and Canada.

Point is, if we're a serious people and insist on the best and nothing less, even Aba and Nnewi can provide it.

Residents of Akko Local Government Area of Gombe State have appealed to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to provide them with alternative sources of water.

The residents, who are in Tudun Wada Malam Jamo, Konkeje and Jauro Baba communities, made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Gombe.

NAN reports that an NNPC oil pipeline in Tudun Wada Malam Jamo burst on Friday evening resulting in oil spill which led to the adulteration of the river and only water source in the area.

Spokespersons of the communities, Alhaji Yayari Jungudo and Umar Ajiya, said that following the spillage, the three communities had been without portable water as the only water available was contaminated.

“We woke up around 4.30 a.m. on Saturday only to discover that the stream had been contaminated with petroleum due to the pipeline burst.

“Today, all the residents of these three villages went as far as Gamadaji village, about four kilometres away, to fetch water.

“We do not have wells or boreholes or any other source of water but the river and it has now been contaminated by petroleum.

“We appeal to the NNPC or the authorities concerned to provide us with alternative sources of water supply,’’ Jungudo said.

Also speaking, Ajiya, who is the Youth Leader in the area, said the people in the area were facing difficulty following the development.

He said that a similar incident occurred at the beginning of the raining season this year, when the pipeline burst.

Ajiya appealed to NNPC to address the problem to ease the difficulty being faced by people in the area.

All attempts by NAN to get comments from officials of the NNPC failed.

A staff of the NNPC, who pleaded anonymity told NAN that “nobody will talk to you; even the Branch Manager will not talk to you.’’

NAN also reports that by Sunday morning, the NNPC engineers had completed repairs of the burst pipeline. (NAN

Source: http://dailypost.com.ng/2013/09/30/fg-sends-20-pilots-to-lufthansa-germany-for-professional-training

Twenty commercial licensed pilots departed Lagos on Sunday for jet/type-rating training at the Lufthansa Pilot Institute, Germany.

The pilots are 19 males and a female, who had earlier completed their Private Pilot Licence (PPL) and Commercial Pilot License (CPL) in South Africa.

They were the first batch trained in South Africa, under a special scheme by the office of the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta.

Mr Kingsley Kuku, the Special Adviser disclosed that another batch of 10 pilots would soon be sent to the CAE Aviation Academy, Oxford, UK for same training.

Kuku made the disclosure while speaking at a pre-departure orientation ceremony for the pilots at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja.

“The training in Germany will be for 14 months as the pilots will be equipped to fly the modern Boeing 737 Next Generation aircraft used by most countries in the world,’’ Kuku said.

He disclosed that his office was partnering with some domestic airlines to facilitate job opportunities for the pilots upon completion of their professional training.

“The training programme is unique because it is the first time the Nigerian government is training such large number of youths as key professionals in a strategic sector as aviation,’’ he said.

He said that the training of the pilots would address manpower needs of the sector, which was dominated by foreigners.

Kuku urged them to take their training seriously to so that domestic and foreign airlines would compete to engage them on account of their proficiency in handling modern aircrafts.

The adviser described the pilots as the next generation of aviation professionals that would take the industry to the next level.

The special adviser said that over 200 professionals would be trained to meet the needs of the aviation sector.

Kuku said that his office was already collaborating with the relevant agencies to train air traffic controllers, aeronautical engineers and other professionals critical in promoting air safety.

The Principal Manager (Aviation) in the Presidential Amnesty Office, Capt. Perekeme Porbeni, called on industry stakeholders to assist the pilots with jobs.

“These pilots are proceeding to Lufthansa Pilots Institute in Germany and will return with the type rating of the most popular and latest commercial aircraft.

“I therefore call on industry stakeholders, some of whom are here today to step up and book for them early,’’ he said.

The event was attended by representatives of some of the domestic airlines, including Medview and Caverton Helicopters. (NAN)

Source: http://businessnews.com.ng/2013/09/30/korea-eyes-nigeria-railway-project/?utm_source=&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=korea-eyes-nigeria-railway-project

The national railroad operator in South Korea, Korea Railroad Corporation, has commenced a discussion with the Nigerian Railway Corporation on the construction of a new railway system in Nigeria.

Already, Korail, as the Korean firm is called, has sent a proposal to the NRC for the building and maintenance of the railway system.

The Korean delegation led by the Director-General, Korail, Mr. Jong Chul Won, presented the proposal on Friday during a meeting with the Nigerian team at the NRC head office in Lagos.

A statement obtained by our correspondent on Friday indicated that the meeting between the two railway corporations lasted about two hours.

In his presentation, Project Manager of Korail, Mr. Kwang Ho Choi said the firm was prepared to give Nigeria a world-class railway.

He stressed that the deal would be mutually beneficial to both countries, adding Korail would help to standardise the nation’s maintenance culture as it was currently doing in countries such as Chile, Philippines and the United States.

Kwang said Korail would also help in the area of personnel training through its Koica programme.

“Through Koica, we will set up a railway training school in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja. We have submitted a first proposal and there will also be contact from the Korean government to the Nigerian government. This, we believe, will create employment on approval,” he said.

According to him, Korail has affiliations with countries such as France, Thailand, Philippines, Pakistan, Argentina and Cambodia.

Kwang explained that Korail operates passenger and freight trains throughout South Korea, besides being a railway construction company.

He said the Korean firm, in its 114th years of operations, had built a reputation on railway service punctuality and safety. “With experiences gathered since 1809 when the Korean railways started operations, it has made communications with customers a priority on long distances, intercity services and freight rail service. Our metro services, capable of moving three million people with an average of 289 trips daily, are among the best in the world with rolling stock of both diesel and electronic engines,” he said.

In his reaction, the NRC’s representative, Aminu Gusau, told the visiting Korean firm the management of the corporation would consider its option and standards and get back to it.

According to him, the NRC has a way of dealing with partners most especially on issues that have to do with the future of the Nigerian people.

He promised the Korean delegation led by the Director-General, Korail, Mr. Jong Chul Won, that Korail’s proposal would be looked into appropriately.

Facilitator of the meeting, the Managing Director Netzone Engineering, Henry Owonka, said Nigeria at this time deserved a world-class railway system.

He expressed the hope that the Korean firm would use its expertise to expedite the Nigeria’s railway reform embarked upon by the Federal Government.

grafikii: See villager, how many roads are in enugu? Surulere has more roads than Enugu

I can bet you've NEVER been to Enugu, or at least lately. Some of you guys just believe everybody must be nosiy or nosy. I've transversed the entire lengths and breadths of Lagos-mainland to Island, especially lately. While I believe the Lagos gov't has not performed too badly in road sector esp lately as it deals with a great challenge of population pressure on public facilities. I'll tell you, if you travel round Enugu you'll come to agree with me that noise and chestbeating and ostentatious media gyration does not confer automatic development.

In all fairness, I think Lagos may not be said to have the very worst of roads in our country, even though the state has its own fair share of the bad roads. Truth is that Lagos roads are terribly overstretched, too many vehicles, too many people. Worse of all is that there isn't even much space for expansion or construction of new roads.

Last Friday I came to Lagos from PH by land. It took me about 7hrs to get to Ojota from Waterlines in PH. But almost 3hrs from Ojota to Iyana Paja in Lagos!

Meanwhile, I wonder how Ilugunboy came up with the assertion that the Tin Can Road is the "THE MOST ECONOMICALLY IMPORTANT ROAD" in Nigeria. That's a crass and cranky spurious assertion.

[quote author=Chino_Is_Back]There is grand plan to keep Ebonyi state down and out even when good news is reported in the state. Mods should take this thread to front page or else......

If it is a robbery now it will storm the FP without any push, but this thread has been hovering around and very soon it will go into oblivion without seeing the light of the front page.

I will not warn you guys again......

This is a good news from Ebonyi state and should be appreciated by all..[/quote]LOL. No be fight. I understand your opinion wela.