omohayek:

No. It would be better if our private companies bought steel on the international market from the cheapest producers, while we used the little money we have to fix more important things, like our electrical grid and our transport infrastructure. Would you think it better to raise your own cattle and grow your own vegetables, instead of getting a good job that would allow you to buy those things? It's exactly the same reasoning at work here.

Why can't people as intelligent as you rule us ?

urahara:


Why can't people as intelligent as you rule us ?

Thanks for the compliment! There are large numbers of intelligent, highly-educated Nigerians who would do a much better job than any of the buffoons and kleptomaniacs who have been at the top, but between Nigeria's money-driven political campaigns and the extremely tribalistic and religiously sectarian attitudes of ordinary Nigerians themselves, such candidates simply don't stand a chance. Jut look at the reception given on Nairaland to all the 2019 candidates who aren't Buhari or Atiku.

Nigeria has no effective campaign-finance laws to limit the expenditures of individuals, nor are the parties required to be transparent about either their sources or the scale of their spending, which gives a major advantage to corrupt "godfathers" with easy access to nearly-limitless funds, while reducing the influence of grassroots party members to zero - indeed, most such "members" are little more than hungry acolytes looking to be favored with jobs or contracts they aren't qualified for. On the other hand, few Nigerians give a damn about political manifestos or ideologies, to the extent they even understand such concepts, and all that matters to them is whether a candidate is "our kinsman", "our daughter", "from our sect", etc., consequently they will never give their support to candidates who don't meet such ethnoreligious criteria, no matter how qualified they may be. How then are better leaders supposed to rise to the top, in a country with 250+ ethnic groups which is nearly evenly divided between Christianity and Islam?

omohayek:

Thanks for the compliment! There are large numbers of intelligent, highly-educated Nigerians who would do a much better job than any of the buffoons and kleptomaniacs who have been at the top, but between Nigeria's money-driven political campaigns and the extremely tribalistic and religiously sectarian attitudes of ordinary Nigerians themselves, such candidates simply don't stand a chance. Jut look at the reception given on Nairaland to all the 2019 candidates who aren't Buhari or Atiku.

Nigeria has no effective campaign-finance laws to limit the expenditures of individuals, nor are the parties required to be transparent about either their sources or the scale of their spending, which gives a major advantage to corrupt "godfathers" with easy access to nearly-limitless funds, while reducing the influence of grassroots party members to zero - indeed, most such "members" are little more than hungry acolytes looking to be favored with jobs or contracts they aren't qualified for. On the other hand, few Nigerians give a damn about political manifestos or ideologies, to the extent they even understand such concepts, and all that matters to them is whether a candidate is "our kinsman", "our daughter", "from our sect", etc., consequently they will never give their support to candidates who don't meet such ethnoreligious criteria, no matter how qualified they may be. How then are better leaders supposed to rise to the top, in a country with 250+ ethnic groups which is nearly evenly divided between Christianity and Islam?

Infact the matter sef Don Taya me.

All the Nigerians have talked with say that they can't vote for anybody from small unpopular parties.

So credible people like oby ezekwelisi will never be given a chance. And another bad thing is that Nigerians don't vote for people that dont share money and small rice to them.


Give your honest opinion , can this country ever become developed like Japan and Singapore , or at least Poland ?

urahara:


Infact the matter sef Don Taya me.

All the Nigerians have talked with say that they can't vote for anybody from small unpopular parties.

So credible people like oby ezekwelisi will never be given a chance. And another bad thing is that Nigerians don't vote for people that dont share money and small rice to them.


Give your honest opinion , can this country ever become developed like Japan and Singapore , or at least Poland ?

My hope is that at some point enough Nigerians will become so disillusioned by the endless failures of governance that they will constitute a critical mass to push the country's political culture in a more sensible direction. My suspicion, however, is that this will never happen as long as the ethnic and religious factors retain their power over most of the population, especially while there's still oil in the ground and the global move away from fossil-fuels remains incomplete.

Most Nigerians have come to adopt a "success without work is best" mentality to wealth, as witnessed by the proliferation of "churches" peddling "Prosperity Gospel" nonsense about "sowing seeds" and whatnot. As such, the prospect of overnight riches for the lucky few - through the graces of powerful "kinsmen/sons/daughters" in government - will continue to blind them to the possibilities of East-Asian style broad-based prosperity through hard work, saving and rigorous education. Why spend 40 years steadily advancing an entire country to first-world status when you and your close circle can "chop" your way to a mansion on Banana Island (as well as in London and Dubai) in less than 4 years? Indeed, it is the very victims of such short-term greed who will come out on the streets to hail you as "oga" and "big man", shower you with chieftaincy titles, and come out with placards demanding that the EFCC "Leave our son/daughter alone!", so why not steal as much as you possibly can?

Firstly i never said govt control is a good thing,it is by definition inefficient. I said if you were to use your brain is that there are some industries that only govt has the capacity to initiate....after which they can sell. Stop trying to be too clever by halves.


Please my friend use your brain and stop wasting your time sending links ....this is common sense. Who is going to establish steel industry in Nigeria if not the govt 2) is an inefficient steel industry that provides jobs not better that expending scarce forex importing nails? 3) do countries all over the world not subsidise their uncompetitive/inefficient industries including steel or protect them? These are the issues.

Does the country need the steel plant or the steel?

Nigeria lacks comparative advantage in producing steel so we are better off importing
Secondly steel is dirt cheap presently due to overcapacity in China that it is far cheaper importing steel than making it here.

Nigerian users of steel will become very noncompetitive if they depend on locally made steel from Ajaokuta.

Trump within the past 2 years increased import duty on steel into America. He did this to protect American steel workers.

What was the result? The number of workers employed by steel plants is about 500,000 would benefit while it would adversely affect over 6m workers whose factories depend on imported steel. The losers were far more than the winners.

It was so bad that some American companies simply shifted their plants abroad, the most famous being the bike maker Harley Davidson.

A country that has no technology to build a steel mill, has no business building a steel mill.

grandstar:


Does the country need the steel plant or the steel?

Nigeria lacks comparative advantage in producing steel so we are better off importing
Secondly steel is dirt cheap presently due to overcapacity in China that it is far cheaper importing steel than making it here.

Nigerian users of steel will become very noncompetitive if they depend on locally made steel from Ajaokuta.

Trump within the past 2 years increased import duty on steel into America. He did this to protect American steel workers.

What was the result? The number of workers employed by steel plants is about 500,000 would benefit while it would adversely affect over 6m workers whose factories depend on imported steel. The losers were far more than the winners.

It was so bad that some American companies simply shifted their plants abroad, the most famous being the bike maker Harley Davidson.

Brilliant , brilliant , brilliant!!!!