₦airaland Forum

Azikiwe was greater. Even Mandela came to Enugu to pay homage to Zik after he was released from prison.

By the way, she said foreign trained graduates aren't necessarily better.

Those that have been fortunate to have the opportunity to be exposed to study abroad have more access to a well-rounded education and the required tools, but nothing beats a basic intelligence, and ability which our Nigerian youth are endowed with, and a drive and desire to succeed. With the internet, and access to a plethora of information our students here do have access to so much material.

Nothing really beats a basic intelligence or being naturally smart. When you're smart, you have hope, resilience and other basic key survival attributes. You have an edge over your peers and when given the right tools which is knowledge, you can shape the future of generations. A lot of nigerian youths are smart but they lack the appropriate tools to excel and forge a greater future. The educational system was supposed to provide these tools for the youths but unfortunately, our educational standards are not capable of delivering the quality that is needed to position the nigerian youth to their rightful place in the global society. That's why a lot of Nigerians excel academically and professionally overseas where the quality and standards of education suits a discerning mind.

I know that over 80 percent of nairalanders these days don't read anything that's more than three sentences' long and I expect most of the comments to this topic to be pointless phrases.


For those who care to read this insightful article. . . Thank You.

Simon Kolawole, Email: simon.kolawole@thisdaylive.com

You love statistics? Enjoy these for a start: Africa’s current economic output is more than most regions, thereby making it one of the fastest growing in the world; seven of the world’s 10 fastest growing economies are in Africa; the annual GDP growth rate of 10 African countries, including Nigeria, between 2000-2011 was an impressive 7%; Africa received capital inflows of $48.2 billion in 2011 - an increase of $8 billion; and these statistics, mind you, were highlighted and celebrated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank. Put together, things are looking up for the “dark continent”. There is need for Afro-optimism and clinking of glasses, isn’t it?
Not so fast. In his book, Emerging Africa: How the Global Economy ‘s ‘Last Frontier’ Can Prosper and Matter - which I have just read - Dr Kingsley Chiedu Moghalu rains on the parade of the Afro-optimists. The CBN deputy governor summons the forgotten statistics: Africa’s share of world trade is still an insignificant 3%; its share of Foreign Direct Investment is a mere 5%; the combined GDP of 54 African countries is about that of India alone; the GDP of the whole of Sub-Saharan Africa, South Africa inclusive, is similar to that of Belgium; all the electricity produced by Sub-Saharan Africa is equal to that of Spain, a country with just 5% of Africa’s population; and just 100,000 individuals account for 80% of Africa’s GDP.

To be sure, Moghalu is not an Afro-pessimist. And that is the point. Afro-optimism, in its present shape, is not about Africa being a driver of globalisation but a mere passenger, a growing passenger - if you will. It is not about Africa being a producer but a voracious, obese consumer. Instructively, much of the celebrated GDP growth is fuelled by high prices of commodities, like oil, which only come in cycles. The prevailing Afro-optimism, for all intents and purposes, is about Africa being a market. For instance, Africans have more mobile phone lines than Americans. But the devices are produced in Asia and North America. There are over 120 million active phone lines in Nigeria - but not one is assembled, much less manufactured, in the country! “Emerging market” indeed!
Moghalu cautions that Africans must temper this “emerging market” euphoria with a few soul-searching questions. Who is assessing our progress? Against what benchmarks are they saying we are progressing? Are we assessing our own progress based on the benchmarks we set for ourselves or the ones set by global institutions and the ambassadors of global capital seeking new frontiers of profit? For the established world order, we are OK the way we are. We should just continue to export raw materials and import value-added finished goods. We are just a market. But for us Africans, these questions could help us rediscover ourselves and retrace our steps. They could help us understand that behind development, there is a logic.

Logic. That is the word. Moghalu describes it as a worldview that would push us to ask: how do we play this game to our own advantage? Call it value system, call it organising principle, call it strategy. Clearly, there are philosophical foundations of prosperity and Africans must truly understand this fundamental fact in their engagement with the global political economy. Moghalu points out worldview as “the most fundamental of aspect of the African development dilemma”. It all starts in the mind. We imagine it and then plan it and pursue it. Too many Africans, the author argues, “wake up every morning and do their daily rounds with no idea of their individual and collective relationship with the world around them and how they can change that world...”
Let me cite instances to back Moghalu’s claim. We take many decisions without the bigger picture in mind. We sign trade agreements without analysing how they hurt or help us. We award oil blocks without a strategic intent for our own good. We do not see ourselves as operating strategically in a competitive world. We just sleep, wake up, take decisions and go back to sleep without a global goal in mind. We think the world is the way it is simply by mistake or coincidence. The Chinese, the Koreans, the Malaysians and the Singaporeans - who have made giant leaps - understand the logic of worldview very well and this has reflected in their interactions with the global political economy. They pursued policies and programmes that played to their own advantage and today, they are competing with the West.

Moghalu’s Emerging Africa is an incisive and authentic contribution to the global debate on Africa’s underdevelopment. There have been a series of original thoughts on the development debate, especially as it affects Africa. Guyanese historian, Water Rodney, in the highly celebrated 1972 book, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, blamed the colonial masters for Africa’s underdevelopment. American economist, Jeffrey Sachs, in The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time, blamed geography. Zambian economist, Dambisa Moyo, blamed aid in Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There is Another Way for Africa. American economists, Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson, in Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty, argue that man-made political and economic institutions determine the success of nations. It is all about choices, nothing more. Moghalu pursues a more encompassing argument that touches on all these previous works.

President Paul Kagame of Rwanda famously bought and distributed copies of Moyo’s Dead Aid to his cabinet members. Emerging Africa offers even bigger food for thought. It should be a recommended text for every African undergraduate - at least, to fire their imaginations.

I want to start a pure water and bottled water business and I have 4.5 million as start up capital. (This excludes the cost of land and building) I told someone about my plans and he said the amount is not enough to start the business. So please i need anybody in the house who has a clue to tell me what I need to know about the business.
Thanks

bro ernest and company

please unlock mine.

867749018507925

This news just reminded me of the snake i saw inside my bedroom last week

6. EQUAL TO MEN

Your daughter should feel that she is equal to men in every way. Whatever they do, she can do. There are no professions that are closed to her; she can be whatever she wants. She can play sports, fly a plane, and be independent. But equality goes both ways - she should also respect men as her equals.

So if your daughter wants to become the pope of the catholic church or an imam, you'll tell her to go for it abi?

My last vote goes to guru-pc

nelly, laylow, patrick and xavier.

Laylow looks like fally ipupa.

----

PLEASE I HAVE A QUESTION!

My neice graduated from Unical last year and she said that they're demanding 120, 000 naira for students who want to be posted on time.

Please is there any truth in this?

Anybody from unical here?

The girl looks like her mum.

This has to be the most beautiful yoruba girl i've ever seen and among the my top five naija beauties.

Thou shall not steal.

Buhari is a shameless bigot, the day he becomes president marks the beginning of our collective destruction.

Absolute Nonsense!
First of all, No girl in this world has more than a 100 serious chykers a year. Thats absolutely ridiculous and I'm exaggerating.
Out of those 100 chykers 98 percent of them won't meet her standards.
All this talk of society encouraging this and that is utter bullshit and doesn't make sense.
Inshort this thread sucks

Can it go for 40k?

Is this dell laptop still available at 48k?

enquirydon: d cheapest price 56k

Whats the spec?

Do you have any laptop for 45k?

I thought journalists in Nigeria have a union? Why are they silent of this abuse of their members' right when they should be reprimanding the police?
Much as I don't support their arrests, I think they have a few lessons to learn from this. Journalists should Stop spreading sensitive rumors that are capable of causing violence and disorder, there is no gain in that.

I hate nigerian journalists. What sort of news is this? Present facts next time and don't throw up round figures. 3000 school buildings or schools?

There's no such thing. Morality is subjective.

Afam4eva: Why is he qualified to be president? What are his antecedents. What has he achieved in smaller portfolios that he has handled.

You were citing Obama as an example of a square peg in a square hole. What are Obama's antecedents, what has he achieved politically?

Afam4eva: What difference can the body make make if the head is not functioning. People like Okonjo can be accused of anything but not been clueless.

Okonjo has been called clueless alot by nigerians and she's part of the head. She's the cordinating minister of the economy

OP
are you saying that GEJ is a square peg in a round hole? How so, why is he not qualified to be president?