₦airaland Forum

hahah@mamajama's example of police good deeds, apparently the people they rescued are been treated badly by the policemen, and they are on hunger strike! ,
http://allafrica.com/stories/200707180002.html maybe i can call one of those relatives when we get armed robbers for our area abi?


like most people here, i have had horrible experiences with the men in black! they are the worst institution in the country! dey dont know d law, do not abide to the law and encourage obeying citizens to break the law!

my experience

i was traveling from ph to lagos a year ago and was forced to part way with N4,000, why? because i was writing a travel journal and wrote down d name of the policeman dat stopped us. when dey realized i was writing down name they proceeded to arrest me, for breaking the law. according to dem it is against the constitution of Nigeria to write down a policeman's name on a piece of paper! can you beat that! ignoramus to the highest order! the lot of them.

couldnt agree even more with debosky!

NNPC is worse dan the police force wen it comes to corruption!
When the Ajakeota steel and Aluminum Smelter Company of Nigeria was sold at giveaway prices to foreign companies (some of them had never visited nigeria!) nobody complained, but i guess when it has to do with oil, there are many stakeholders(politicians and dose crooks at NNPC) who will scream and shout if their source of income is blocked. lets see wat NNPC will do in the next 1YR, my guess is nothing!

nice pics,

@dblock pls wat is CBD? wat camera do u use? ur pics are crisp

Well , we know which country is the most corrupt in the world and it is certainly not China. But here in China they execute people for corruption!  Do you  think this is a harsh sentence or would this be an effective way to fight the war against corruption in Nigeria?



China food safety head executed 

Zheng Xiaoyu headed the food and drug agency for seven years
The former head of China's State Food and Drug Administration, Zheng Xiaoyu, has been executed for corruption, the state-run Xinhua news agency reports.
He was convicted of taking 6.5m yuan ($850,000; £425,400) in bribes and of dereliction of duty at a trial in May.

The bribes were linked to sub-standard medicines, blamed for several deaths.

China has been criticised over a number of recent cases involving tainted goods, and correspondents say Zheng had become a symbol of the crisis.

Zheng had appealed against his sentence, arguing that it was "too severe" and saying he had confessed his crimes and co-operated with police.

But his appeal, heard in mid-June, was rejected shortly afterwards.

Toxic chemicals

Zheng, who headed the administration from 1998 to 2005, was found guilty of accepting bribes from firms to register their products without making them undergo the necessary checks.

Following his sacking, the Chinese government announced an urgent review of about 170,000 medical licences that were awarded during his tenure at the agency.

CHINESE FOOD SCARES
May 2007 China probes reports that contaminated toothpaste was sent to the Americas
March 2007 Melamine is found in wheat gluten exports from China for use in pet food, prompting a recall of at least 100 pet food brands
Nov 2006 A dye farmers fed to ducks to make their eggs look fresher is found to contain cancer-causing properties, and 5,000 ducks are culled
August 2006 About 40 people in Beijing contract meningitis after eating partially cooked snails at a chain of restaurants


Tackling tainted food crisis 

Zheng's sentence was seen as unusually harsh for such a senior figure, but the BBC's Dan Griffiths in Beijing says the government hopes the execution shows it is getting to grips with the crisis.

However, food and drug safety standards vary widely across the country and reform will be a major challenge, our correspondent adds.

At a news conference in Beijing on Tuesday, the food and drug agency admitted it had a huge job ahead to improve its supervision of safety standards.

"As a developing country, China's food and drug supervision work began late and its foundations are weak," spokeswoman Yan Jiangying said.

"Therefore, the food and drug safety situation is not something we can be optimistic about."

She said Zheng Xiaoyu's case had "brought shame" on the department, adding that anyone who abused their power would be punished.

Chinese officials have already acknowledged that the country could face social unrest and a tarnished image abroad unless improvements are made.

Dozens of people have died in China because of poor quality or fake food and drugs, sparking widespread international fears about the safety of Chinese exports.

Thirteen babies died of malnutrition in 2005 after being fed powdered milk that had no nutritional value.

US inspectors have blamed exported Chinese pet food ingredients, contaminated with melamine, for the deaths of cats and dogs in North America.

And they recently halted shipments of toothpaste from China to investigate reports that they may be contaminated with toxic chemicals.

its so hard to satisfy Nigerians sef! scam there is always a conspiracy theory!

thank God they listened! we need public pressure if we had no labor unions etc , dey would have sold us for N100!

nobody?


people people we can argue all we like, cry all we like but nothing will change until we do something!

degoat:
We must get the attention of the government to lookout for the citizens. This is our country and our government has the right to design better policies to regulate business activities and create employment opportunities for the citizens.

exactly my point! This country is heading in a direction that could ultimately lead to a situation where foreigners will be the movers and shakers of the economy, whilst our fat potted belly politicians and inefficient civil servants continue to chop money. Very soon they will outsource some government ministries to India or china sef!

The fundamental problem in this country is our mindset and values, we feel that anyone that doesn't have 'black' skin knows better (self indignation at another level!). We need to do something, debate but do something! If not our children will live in apartheid Nigeria!

bump

I-man:
I believe in freedom of labour.If a company wants to hire only Indians in senior management positions,let them do so.A company is an entirely private enterprise,the Govt has no business regulating the nationality of its staff.The company does not owe its existence to the Govt

this is not a case of racism, xenophobia or control of private enterprise.  Every country should defend its own first, put its people's first.  No country is this world is 100% free market. The state has a role in the private sector,  its not about controlling nationality of who is employed.  In most countries, there are immigration laws that ensure that locals are considered for a job before a forienger,  in the UK if a  comapny wants to employ  a non UK citizen,  they have to prove that the UK citizens could not do the job,  before a foreigner is employed,   

In Nigeria,  it is which foreigner can do the job first, before they think of nigerians,   the case is not just about the indians but about our   labour policies in our country and general preference over anything/anyone not nigerian!

Salvage:
Someone needs to collate the postings here and write a mail to whoever
here are email adds of some News papers : info@thisdayonline.com , editor@thisdayonline.com , mail@businessdayonline.com , info@independentngonline.com

Thanks Salvage for the information!  I am trying to get input from others,  I am not so good at writing myself  , so I have made a request on the politics section for writers,   

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-57637.0.html

Hello Nairalanders,

Following the discussion on this forum on the introduction of generator levy for high capacity generators in Lagos, (https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-56262.0.html)

I think its about time we the nigerian people should do something!    


Based on suggestions we need :


Somebody who can channel our views and dissatisfaction with the levy in writing,     


We need contacts for the Guardian, MAN and other relevant bodies,  so that we can circulate our petition. 


I’ve not done anything like this before, so anyone who is familiar with lobbying and petitions etc,  your suggestions and contributions would be highly appreciated!.


Let’s get our voices heard; we the Nigerian people have suffered in silence too much. I think it is time for us to speak out.   This is not just about the Lagos levy, the recent VAT hike from 5-10% (and they intend to increase it to another 15% by 2009). Then the fuel price increase, are some examples of policies that would do more harm than good to the economy and the people of nigeria

You might think these things don’t affect us, but they do, with the generator levy, cost of  production will increase, and of course we the consumers are going to bear the brunt of that with inflation in price of goods. With the VAT increase cost of goods will go further up, and with the fuel increases, we all know what happens,   


Please lets not just debate and hope and hope, lets do something people.   


Thanks

nice, it is being developed by silverbird
but starting price
$400k!!

dblock:
Lagos Mainland and Victoris Island 2K7

https://farm1.static.flickr.com/185/478890536_e8a3ddf089_b.jpg

WOW some GREEN AND TREES, thats hard to find in Lagos, nice pic

ToToChoper:
As a newly SELECTED President; Yaradua, you cannot appoint accountable able men and women (like Condo Rice) from Nigeria willing to be pacifiers on the Niger Delta issue, but you'ld rather spend money to invite a white man from another country to solve Nigeria's problems.

i think we have to look within ourselves to solve the issue, perhaps the government has no faith in their capacity to engage in effective dialogue. But i guess it wont be a bad idea to go outside to see how diplomacy is done, as you know nigerian style of diplomacy is mobile police, police force, anything to do with agressive force=diplomacy,

ijogbon:
emm emm uhm ,,,,,,ABOUT THE PETITION !!!!
Please, A chance to be proactive is going begging.

hello people, any contacts at punch newspapers? see my previous posts,

Big B1:
Reasons:

Lack of Confidence

Lack of Trust

Decrepit Leadership Standard

Inferiority Complex

Confidentiality Concern

Slavery Mentality

Corruption Issues

Incompetency

Deteriorated Educational Standard

rightly said! just like a lot of the problems in this country has to do more with our mindsets and values. if things continue like this in Nigeria, i envision 20 years from now the social structure will look like this:
the middle class will consists of 'Chinese manufacturers'', European/ South African ceo's, Indian managers, and the working class: Nigerian beggars and politicians

There are no resolution conflict experts in Nigeria. Perhaps someone from the very diplomatic US of A can help us engage in dialogue with the terrorists militants. At least thats a good start or not?



From  the NIGERIAN GUARDIAN http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/news/article01


Yar'Adua seeks foreign help on N'Delta crisis
From Laolu Akande, New York
TO tackle the menace of militancy in the Niger Delta, the new administration of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua may engage the services of foreign conflict resolution experts, particularly from the United States (U.S.).

According to sources, Yar'Adua has specifically instructed Vice President Goodluck Jonathan to be in change of the efforts to engage international conflict resolution experts across the world. They are to develop conflict resolution ideas and strategies to resolve the restiveness in the oil rich region. Jonathan was said to have started the job.

The Guardian learnt that in the first week of May, the then President-elect Yar'Adua sent Jonathan to Boston in the U.S. to start discussion with some conflict resolution experts at the Consensus Building Institute.

Speaking on Tuesday at his inauguration, President Yar'Adua noted that "the crisis in the Niger Delta commands our urgent attention. Ending it is a matter of strategic importance to our country. I will use every resource available to me, with your help, to address this crisis in a spirit of fairness, justice and cooperation."

The Niger Delta crisis has since attained a militant dimension and drawn consistent international attention in the western media, thereby raising the stakes dramatically, and, according to sources, compelling the new President and his deputy to seek ideas from international sources on the best way forward.

It was learnt that Yar'Adua and Jonathan are both keen on a peaceful and lasting resolution of the Niger Delta crisis. When Jonathan visited Boston, he spent days in Boston at the Institute and at Harvard University, participating in brainstorming sessions on new strategies that the new administration can use.

The Consensus Building Institute (CBI), which organised the sessions for Vice President Jonathan is a not-for-profit organisation "created by leading practitioners and theory builders in the fields of negotiation and dispute resolution and the institute works with leaders, advocates, experts, and communities to promote effective negotiations, build consensus, and resolve conflicts."

A CBI source explained that the institute "improves the way that leaders use negotiations to make organisational decision, achieve agreements, and manage multi-party conflicts and planning efforts."

Also, CBI uses proven principles, processes and techniques that improve group decision-making on complex public and organisational issues. The institute has been involved in consensus building on a variety of issues from the economic to environmental, both of which are at play in the Niger Delta crisis.

The strategies that the Yar'Adua administration may adopt on the Niger Delta crisis according to a CBI source, "have been developed through the Programme on Negotiation and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT-Harvard Public Disputes Programme at Harvard Law School, where a number of CBI staff and board members are affiliated."

CBI's Managing Director, David Fairman, confirmed that the Vice President visited the institute a few weeks ago after the election, but declined to go into the specific details of their meetings.

According to Fairman, also a United Nations-recognised expert on conflict resolution, "we were asked to do a little work with the Vice President as he was preparing to take office."

Another official of the CBI who pleaded for anonymity said "lots of our work is confidential because we do mediation. We met with the Vice President and his delegation to talk about the Niger Delta crisis, which is a complex conflict."

He said Jonathan and his delegation came here in the first week of May to study and to explain, and exploring new kind of dialogue to resolve the conflict.

CBI was founded by Lawrence Susskind, a world-class professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Department of Urban Studies and Planning. MIT is one of America's top ivy universities.

CBI's directors, Fairman and Patrick Field, are experts in consensus building and negotiation theory and practices and the staff are senior professionals who provide training, facilitation, mediation, assessment and research services to clients on local, national, and international negotiations and collaborations. CBI also works with well-known senior partners and consultants who further expand its areas of expertise and capability.

why is it that the Printing quality in Nigeria is crap?  i think this makes the graphic design look bad.
Is it the ink we use?  or the printing machines/plates?  do they use offset?  lithography? flexogrpahy printing processes?   is there any good quality printing press in nigeria?



for example see this mr biggs bag,  it just looks so unappealing.


If you see any yellow color in a printed material in nigeria it just looks so awful, its kinda like dirty yellow,  and red looks to artifically red , i must say that MTN does have relatively 'good' printed stuff.

wat do you think?

@ topic

what has nigeria done for nigerians??
i dont care about if your an igbo , yoruba or edo president or governor ! what have you done for the lives of everyone in the country , we need to stop all this tribalistic rantings, i dont know if we can ever move forward if we dont see ourselves as one or maybe we shud all just go our seperate ways, 250 countries!

big1 , i agree with you,  however its not just indians but all the 'expats'

In Nigeria expats are first considered for good jobs before nigerians,  this shouldnt be so. In any developed country they protect the jobs for their own people first before a foreigner. for most working visas in the UK and USA, the company needs to show proof that no one else from the country was skilled enough to do the job, only when that is the case, then the job will go to a foreigner, 

But in Nigeria it is the otherway round!  I once posted a thread about a job that was targetted at an ''expat', meanwhile there are many graduates in this country that can do the job.  https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-51404.0.html

I have nothing against foreigners in the country, but i think every country has to look out for itself first,  because in the sphere of nations,  countries look after themselves first.  Protect jobs for our people first,  if no one can do it, then they can come and have the job.

But i think the case in nigeria is to do with our mindset, we look down on ourselves,  .the oyinbo is beter than us. second slavery that is!


@mamajama , where is the profit and cheap labour??,   the companies in nigeria do not pay less to employ indians than to employ nigerians,  no indian will come to nigeria to earn N20,000 a month,  they live life here like kings.

@ Comechop, salvage and angel 101 , thanks for your input.
   
Firstly, i  think we need to clarify the details of this levy.   I have tried to search elsewhere on this news, however  found nothing.  Perhaps the journalist that wrote the article Atser Godwin has further information on the levy. If anyone has Aster's email address or any  contacts at Punch newspaper can you please let me know.
If indeed this true then we can carry out the next steps,   

Secondly as comechop advises we need someone who understands both enivronmetal issues and perhaps another journalist (or someone good at writing) to document a petition and post it here for all to review.   


Thirdly we should sign and fwd the petition to the relevant body that introduced the levy as well as other associations that will support our cause against the levy. 


I know this might sound stupid or dream-like to some people , but i rather try to DO something rather than just sit down and complain like we have been doing for the past 14 years, or more.  If you think what we say on the internet, does not have an impact,   think twice, check out the Kenyans web watch,  little strides like this can make a difference

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6412143.stm


Thanks, 

share your thoughts please.

its good that we all airing our views here, 
but why dont we write a letter/petition  and send it  to the person / ministry that implemented this policy? we can also send a copy to MAN,  i tired of talking about d problems in this country. we need to start acting,   

wat do you all think?

I-man:
If the Govt provided electricity,there will be little need for these generators.Having failed to provide adequate electricity,one branch of the Govt now seeks to levy generator owners.Ridiculous

exactly !

i dont care if it is N25 OR N25,000 or for high capacity generators!  The point of the policy is useless,  generators are used because the infrastructure for electricity is almost non existent!  This is not a laudable policy, it is stupid!  And then this would drive the cost of production for those who manufacture products in Nigeria

if you feel it is a econmic crime, then lodge ur complaint to efcc, dont come here and moan

100 days and counting , Day 1 ,

they are joking right

1.Who will pay this fee? manufacturers or people who own/buy generators
2. how can you introduce a new fee and expect people to comply within 14 days?
3. Do they think we buy generators just because we want to cause air pollution
4. what will the money be used for?
5. who came up with this stupid idea!

ukraine?? are u for real? since when did nigerians start studying in ukraine? do dey have good uni's dere , im just curious

@ adconline

thanks for the info. most useful info!

i get the poster's point, maybe 99 is an exageration, but we have a high propensity to be dubious, everyone is struggling to survive , and most nigerians will do whatever they can (wether legal or illegal) to survive. police bribes, exam malpractices etc, are all prevalent in the country, most people are trying to outsmart others, however in nigeria you do find honest people, who wont give bribe to the police , who will always pay their taxes , they are there, but i doubt if they represent up to 50% of the population,

it amazes me when i read stuff like this, are yourba , igbo and hausa's the only ethnic groups in nigeria? right now what we need is someone who can do the job, not whether someone is from zone a or zone b, or north-north, south-south. will they help us progress further? enough with this zoning and ethnic stuff!

the worrisome thing here is why did the people of abia state elect/vote for someone who was in police custody during elections?