Opoks,

I grab. Only I had wondered (?) if the silence was due to my previous posting on the ND militants. Cheers!

So do we lay a final wreath to this thread?
From page 1 to page 145 over a year period with so many characters come and gone
I hope to be the last man standing

No Way, Opoks!

I'm still here, no shaking. I'll keep logging in and dropping posts, whether from home after a tiring day's work, or from a B.A. airport lounge enroute to Texas, or, or, or, , (actually, is that where I am now?)

Cheers all!

Just thinking aloud on the state of our beloved Nigeria land as she marks her 48th Independence anniversary. Time again for stock taking, and collective self-realisation.

One thing that has struck me repeatedly in the past few days is the queer paradox that forms our national experience. I've been trying to ascertain again the impressions of the western world about Nigeria, NOT from CNN, Fox or Sky news this time around, but from the man on the street - name it, shop sellers, cab drivers, professionals, etc on the streets of Texas. They all (including those who started by telling me they knew nothing about Nigeria) seem to have two firm views of Nigeria.
1. Very rich country, producing lots of oil, and
2. Filled with lots of people who are still poor despite the abundance of oil wealth.

In fact, the cab driver who drove me for some part of yesterday insisted on waiting till I concluded my shopping, and drove me back to my hotel at no extra cost, asking if it was true that in Nigeria, one is allowed to marry more than one wife. When I conceded to him that under the African tradition/ customs, such was not only allowed but common, he wondered aloud (with some bit of alarm, too) why a man would want more than one wife, distinctly muttering under his breath that one was trouble enough (lol!). There really are people who don't know much about Africa!

Anyway, bottom line is that our country will be what we make of it. As we mark this occasion, let's silently rededicate ourselves to the ideals that will make our children to lift thier heads high in the comity of nations in time to come.

Cheers all.

Hello Alfa
I appreciate your spirit. Yo do not want the thread to die.
Nice one!

@ Opoks

Opoks! "nwanne!" We are well able, I guess the thread is only experiencing some dry days. Things will soon pick up. Been getting a bit busy too and that hasn't given one so much time for posting. But I still will deliver on my promise to update the house on the outcomes of my one-on-one interaction with chaps on the streets of America and Europe per their firsthand impression of Nigeria.
I'm sure this mirror experience will prove very helpful to us.

Cheers all!

The lonely Americana
I only hope you're not too lonely.
Don't you have chaps, relatives or old aquaintances you might hook up with?
Abi na all work work?

@Opoks
The part of US I came to, , no. Nearest relatives are 2 hours of flight away. But I'm getting by cooly. The crime rate in this town is not zero, either, as I've been made to understand.

Nigeria certainly has it's faults and shortcomings, but we're a concerned lot. We look out for each other's welfare, even if the "other" is a stranger as it were.

Over here,, not quite,

My my!
There are only the two of us left standing here _{and let's not exclude some 'silent ones'.}
Well, try to enjoy your trip as much as you can.
It would have felt warmer if your other half was there with you. Kpele!

hey dont forget me bros,

Am still here . . . here . . . .here . . . . (echoes)

@
hmmm. . . . . . i thought i saw some weird weddin pics. . posted by pak
Could it be true.?? or a dream or i was at d wrong page, or wrong site. . .?
or maybe its ma obsession with dis thread dat made it all up in ma mind, NO!!!!?
It can't be, maybe be its waz notin. . just pak being pak. . who wan forget u . . . we go rough am. . wats gud. bro.??

@opoks
despite u to talk me into quitin. . d thread . . . which was nice. . but i would not let u be d last man standing iight. . .
Dats makin 3 of us + Pak. . = 4

Welcome Back, chaps!
Pak, good one. I can see you took the hint the stop by and drop a few lines on the thread. Talk to you later.

@Stan
How work? No complaints, I hope, cos I hear 3rd mainland bridge has been re-opened at last.

@Others

It's actually very interesting and instructive watching the US election campaigns heating up over here. Understandably enough, there seems to be far more passion over the economy than over politics on the streets.

But I'll still add this: I've felt that we lost a good opportunity (as Nigeria) by having our election year come a year before the US election year. I mean, we could have probably had the benefit of their momentum if we held ours immediately after theirs. SInce we modeled our political structure after theirs, perhaps it would reduce the bloodshedding and trivialities in Nigerian politics if we had their example fresh in our memory as we go into ours.

Or what do we think about this, thread?

@alfaprime
With all due respect to you, you're beginning to sound 'out of touch'.
And I mean out-of-touch with the plight of Nigeria and Nigerians.
It's like the USA has a way of making its 1st-time visitors from Nigeria begin to hallucinate.

Whether Nigeria held her election an hour, day or minute after that of the USA, it cannot change the price of Garri in the market.
Our political structure has never been modeled after the USA except of course on paper, where we adopt 'democracy'.
I have long found out that the word 'democracy' means different things to different people and hence, is not identically applied everywhere.

The problem peculiar with Nigeria and her 'leaders' is that we are currently ruled by some greedy, corrupt, occultic, never-aging, power-hungry folks.
And this happens at all levels of the government. These folks re-cycle power among themselves, allies and croonies.
Hence, I am not surprised that politicians who have been in the corridors power since my elementary school days still call the shots now.
If they die or get tired of being on the fore-front of power, their self-appointed or annointed croonies take over.

Nigeria is running a pseudo-feudalism in the name of democracy and the current power-brokers would never copy anything that may jeopardise their selfish clutch to power.
Get your mind to the real issues at home my guy. Enjoy your stay in the USA.

@alfa
Work is pretty cool,
(Obama, Biden Vs Mccain, Palen = Koro vs Fash) in a advance way,  na yeye them dey do,  but i think Obama's takin d lead due to d f**ck up betwn Sarah and her in-law,  because d women who was 4 her are now goin agiasnt

But i think i would hav been easier if Obama used Hillary, instead of Joe what do u think,

Speakin of d the global financial crisis, it has served to benefit those bullish the US dollar and Japanese yen in forex,  so,  even with d wahala,  that is leaing people to bankruptcy,  upon that people still dey chop money sha,  anyway have not been very update abut d issue sha,  but wats our NSE status on this situation Good or Bad or Worst,  or crashing, 

Opoks wetin dey happen, ??

@Opoks
True talk, brother. The issue is in the style of leadership (or lack of it) that we've chosen to give to ourselves in Nigeria. Like I said in my post, I considered that scenario, but having the US elections held directly before ours could only impact us positively if our politicians decide that they want the real democracy to hold sway in the first place. One of my silent worries now is that PDP have end up bequeating other African democracies the cunning leagacy of "affirmation" re-branded as a Nigerian-self- styled feature, or some other funny craze.

While this is not my first international travel experience, the US was also not the first highly developed Western country I have been in, Maybe I'll only giving us details of this trip because of the sudden silence on the thread,

But that aside, I have a brief experience to share. Went for a ride with a colleague from the middle east, and he asked me a very interesting question. According to him, with all due respect (cos he had to give us that respect), he had observed that despite our oil, the wealth was not evenly distributed. he then asked me why this was so; before I could say "corruption", he insisted that his own country too had very corrupt leadership, but that things were getting done (such as infracture, etc) So he asked me if I could tell why the case wasn't so in Nigeria.

Here's my response to him: I told the young man that the explanation lay in the fact that whereas politicians in his country had stolen pubic funds but still developed the country, much of the stolen public funds in Nigeria were monies already ear-marked for project, contracts, etc. Our own leaders misappropriate these funds and either use substandard materials for the project, or in several cases don't even do the projects at all ( a la 16 billion dollars power probe revelations!),

How do we see my response, , does any one have better ideas? Opoks, what do you think? this guy was so emphatic that they also had confirmed corruption in his country. He opined afterwards that perhaps the money they have is too big to be all stolen down enough to make the people of their land impoverished, however irresponsible the leadership turned out.

I did let him know anyway, that the average Nigerian does not wait for the govt to come to his rescue, but goes out every morning to fend for himself and find what to "eat"for his family,

still here too

alfa you tried with your own opinion though.
My 2 cents

I think that thaere is no country under the face of the Earth that does not have corruption. As long as human greed abounds, selfish interest often fights against common interest. And what is 'common interest' varies from perspectives.
The USA tries to act as the Law to the rest of the world but it is in the same country that we saw the level of corporate corruption that sank the likes of Enron, Arthur Anderson, etc, Giants in their field.

Even the Scandinavian countries (Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, Norway, Denmark etc) which boast of the best managed economies would have traces of corruption.

The differnce between the level of corruption in Country A (Nigeria for example) and Country B (Ghana for example) is a factor of a few things including but not limited to the following:
The level of Greed of the leaders and the led
The value sytem of the people
The control systems in both Public and Private sector

The level of Greed among Nigerian leaders and Nigerians is very high, way higher than in many countries. This is why scams worth billions of Naira is no big deal to the average Nigerian. This includes the Nigerian in govt, the one in the private sector and the one doing Yahoo+

The Value system here encourages and abates fraud. If I steal enough money to be able to contest the Senatorial seat of my town, the chances are that I might bribe my way through to the National Assembly, become the Senatorial face of Anambra state and one of your leaders. Nobody questions where I got my money from and even if anyone does, the question will be "Is he the only one?" I could be the traditional ruler of my town just because I can afford it. This is the society you and I come from. In China, Japan, South Korea and most Asian countries, most top ministers commit suicide for corruption charges. In China in particular, the chances is that the corrupt officer is executed if found guilty. In Nigeria, you are celebrated and even encouraged to contest for the Presidency.

The control system to check fraud in Nigeria is so weak and little wonder, it is set up by the powers that be, which are corrupt themselves. How many Nigerians pay tax? Pose this question to UK or American citizens and you will get the picture. In the UK, you inhale and exhale tax. How many wealthy men/women pay tax in Nigeria? Can you try it in the USA, UK or the Scandinavian countries? No!
The most efficient control sytems to have come out of Nigeria in recent times are the NAFDAC and the EFCC. The Director of the former (Dr Dora Akunyili) has survived several assassination attempts for trying to curb corruption in her jurisdiction. The latter (EFCC) has been made a lame duck by the present administration and corrupt politicians are once again roaming scot-free in this country. Dr orji Uzor Kalu, the former governor of Abia state recently purchased 9 ships valued at about N31 billion Naira for God knows what! EFCC under its former leader (Malam Nuhu Ribadu) stepped on toes, big toes and look at the huniliation that both the outfit and its former leader is currently facing.

I rest my case here. You can add your own.

Nairalanders on this thread,

I send my greetings. Hope we're all staying on top of the work-life balance.

@Opoks
I recall telling the chap that another reason may be that the Nigerian leaders don't really love their country. I would have said that they love their tribes more, but then, how many have even shown that comitment to better the lot of their own folks by restraining themselves from public coffers?

Patriotism is near zero in Nigeria. I don't say it to "yab" my beloved country, but the fact remains that we are a country, but still on the journey to nationhood. The Igbo nation, Yoruba nation, Hausa, etc are all doing well, but the Nigerian nation is yet to find it's feet and her real identity.

This may be another serious factor in determining the cause of the endemic corruption back home. Here in the UK, I have discovered that patriotism is a strong factor in building the foundations of public accountability (a la "God save the Queen!"

Cheers all

Yea hopefully we are waiting to hear the results of the just concluded 2nd stage of the NLNG test. I pray we make it o

That's a fresh one Juwanno from a completely new Generation.
I wish you all the best.

opok hw body
hope u r enjoying life
just say make i hail o

Is NLNG now recruiting annually? Good news, I must say, More opportunities for our folks around.

Juwanno, there are lots of NLNG veterans in the house, to supply U with info on what to expect in all the stages.

Cheers all.

, Snoring, wakes up!

Hey guys, checking in, I am still here

Hello Biolabee & Wandel

Good to know that you folks still visit the good ol' thread and Nairaland.

Still here too, met Kenosky a couple of days ago on the Island,

thanks for the hail opoks
how is life and all with u (work, family and , )

take care man

Pips,
I'm sorry I have been away for a long long while!!!!!!
I must say I have been really away. NLNG GENERATION NEXT, I wish ya'll the very best.

Opoks, how do you do?
Cheers all.

It's good to see the thread breathing with both old school and new school
Old alumni have found time to holla.
It shows that we are not too busy to peep into the thread once in a while.
It also shows that there is a love for the thread which has made it to retain front page of the Job/Vacancy section in spite of the fact that most of us have long moved on and settled down in life.

In fact, whenever I try to switch off from the past that the thread embodies, someone from the old school wakes me up to it.
Last week was a very warm phone call from Adrianic. This week is a mail from Uche6879 and already a lunch is fixed ahead.
One of the best thing one can take out of this thread is friendship and allies. You never know which town you may go to or what leverage you might need in life and it's someone from the thread who extends it to you as an old thread pal.

Before I go, thanks alfaprime for keeping the thread alive (alone) when everyone else was too busy for it.
Ahonohai, thanks for showing face. I hope you're enjoying the NLNG experience.
Biolabee, double thanks. My regards to 'her'.
Jisidaisy, welcome back to 'civilization'. I remain wowed by your family pictures. You have such a daring-open heart.

I dey hail everybody,
Wishing us all a nice weekend, (make e no be like say i no come)

@Tommy
Your stopping by has been acknowledged by all.

@Jisi

Welcome back. Hope it's not office work that has been squeezing you terribly,

@Thread
Countdown to US elections. What next?

Gutten abend!!!

sup, comrades,

can't wait to celebrate wit obama, oo, yeepy!!!

wats goood, ?? i just dey pass, still present ppl, later,

Auvoir!!