₦airaland Forum

Rossikk:
I'll just do a big fat yawn to that.

That you had to go to 1998 - 25 years ago, to find an article ridiculing Nigeria, says a lot about you, and your uselessness to this country.

That article demonstrates that Nigeria has always been a zoo.

Written in 1998 during the rule of Abacha and Abdulsalami Abubakar: https://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/30/world/abuja-journal-marble-mogul-caters-to-the-nigerian-capital-s-elite.html

Abuja Journal; Marble Mogul Caters to the Nigerian Capital's Elite

The military officers who have ruled Africa's most populous nation for two decades, and siphoned off a good share of its oil revenue, are busy building vast mansions on their Abuja real estate. They want gold-inlaid basins for their bathrooms and Jacuzzi baths, sophisticated water purifiers and huge quantities of Italian marble that Mr. Luttwak is busy importing.

''One man from the national petroleum company just gave me $100,000 only for the marble in his house,'' Mr. Luttwak said. ''My company started three years ago, and I'm now the major importer of Italian marble. This is Africa's land of opportunity.''

As Mr. Luttwak, sweat glistening on his brow, blue eyes gleaming, rushes around his premises looking for a driver to make a huge marble delivery to the northern city of Kano, in walks Ahmud E. C. Agberankhe. He is 34 and has a university degree in physics. He works for Nigerian Radio for a monthly salary of about $40.''In the 1980's a graduate like me could have a car,'' Mr. Agberankhe lamented ''But now it's difficult to make ends meet. You have the knowledge, but there are no openings. If you strive, you should be given a chance.''

Nigeria has huge reserves of marble and granite. But, as in the oil industry, mismanagement has led the domestic industry to ruin. State-owned factories are idle. So Nigeria imports marble and granite, just as it imports petroleum. And disaster for the majority translates into opportunity for a few. A northern Muslim ruling caste controls the country through the military and is unlikely to be budged. Disciplined, God-fearing and determined, this caste, for Mr. Luttwak, stands in contrast to what he sees as an impossibly unruly south. He is unconvinced that change is imminent.

This article was published in 1998 -- it describes a white man making millions by importing marble into Nigeria to serve a quote "Northern Elite"

Abuja Journal; Marble Mogul Caters to the Nigerian Capital's Elite

The military officers who have ruled Africa's most populous nation for two decades, and siphoned off a good share of its oil revenue, are busy building vast mansions on their Abuja real estate. They want gold-inlaid basins for their bathrooms and Jacuzzi baths, sophisticated water purifiers and huge quantities of Italian marble that Mr. Luttwak is busy importing.

''One man from the national petroleum company just gave me $100,000 only for the marble in his house,'' Mr. Luttwak said. ''My company started three years ago, and I'm now the major importer of Italian marble. This is Africa's land of opportunity.''

As Mr. Luttwak, sweat glistening on his brow, blue eyes gleaming, rushes around his premises looking for a driver to make a huge marble delivery to the northern city of Kano, in walks Ahmud E. C. Agberankhe. He is 34 and has a university degree in physics. He works for Nigerian Radio for a monthly salary of about $40.''In the 1980's a graduate like me could have a car,'' Mr. Agberankhe lamented ''But now it's difficult to make ends meet. You have the knowledge, but there are no openings. If you strive, you should be given a chance.''

Nigeria has huge reserves of marble and granite. But, as in the oil industry, mismanagement has led the domestic industry to ruin. State-owned factories are idle. So Nigeria imports marble and granite, just as it imports petroleum. And disaster for the majority translates into opportunity for a few. A northern Muslim ruling caste controls the country through the military and is unlikely to be budged. Disciplined, God-fearing and determined, this caste, for Mr. Luttwak, stands in contrast to what he sees as an impossibly unruly south. He is unconvinced that change is imminent.

https://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/30/world/abuja-journal-marble-mogul-caters-to-the-nigerian-capital-s-elite.html

Ofodirinwa:
hahaha
why do you take this good business idea of yours and make a business out of it? One thing that's funny about people is they're quick to say what ppl should be doing when they themselves don't do it.

Don't expect me to do anything for Nigeria until you give me power to succeed. For example, If you voted me president of Nigeria, I would fix all these problems in 10 years. But most of you would rather vote for Bubu, GEJ, etc.

The masses have to wake up and create a foundation for high IQ people like me to fix the country.

Rossikk:
BECAUSE IT IS CHEAPER AND QUICKER FOR THOSE VILLAGERS TO USE CEMENT THAN TO QUARRY THE STONE. DUMMY.

Brother, I know you love black people, and I respect you for your commitment. But there is no excuse for this. Marble can be quarried even with our traditional iron tools. This is a material that has been used since the bronze age.

Rossikk:
If you do not love your country enough to ''fly all the way from the US'' to implement a groundbreaking idea, then you do not love the country enough to come online and make any suggestions to anyone, least of all your insults. So stay in America and leave Nigerians the hell alone!



And YOU that claim to know the value of it but are doing NOTHING, having fled to America, what makes you better than them? If anything you are worse. But all the petty chiefs and agents of stagnation wont allow this to happen.



In America where you live, can you go on government-owned land and build a mine?

Try it and see how fast they shut you down, even if you are mining diamonds and gold there.



Help yourself to overcome your self-hatred and spite before thinking of helping others. How can a drowning, hateful person like you help anyone?

Nigeria's land use laws are too messed up for serious investors. You can buy land from the federal government only for the state government to sue you 5 years later for the same land. You can buy land from a chief only for the federal government to claim it belongs to them. The British purposely messed up land use laws in their colonies, but we aren't making any serious attempt to fix it.

We will never see real development in this country until the land laws are modernized and every parcel is plotted and titled on a digital system.

How Nigerians use marble

How the white man uses marble

Rossikk:
Nigeria and West & Central Africa do NOT have stone quarries in abundance. That is why they have traditionally NOT built with stone.

Wood is susceptible to termites and humidity, and ''mud'' is the same thing as ''clay''.

So you have typed NOTHING there.

See abundant stone. We are using it to dry cassava.

Rossikk:
You that have ''brainpower'' why haven't YOU built your own house or business office in Nigeria this way?

We have this thing in Nigeria where we see something we like, and then instead of us implementing it ourselves, we start attacking Nigeria, and insulting the country and its leaders.

The person on Rwanda who thought this up. He didn't go and start insulting the govtrand Rwandans. He just got on with it, and others saw the success of it, and followed suit. Simple.

WHY CAN'T YOU Mr ''Aconomist'' implement the same thing in Nigeria, show others that it works, and take it from there? Possibly monetize the new idea?

No. Your lazy, hateful finger pointing self finds more fulfilment coming on Nairaland to insult your father instead.

Nation of fingerpointers and government blamers.

Why should I fly all the way from the U.S. to solve this problem, when the Nigerians who are already living on millions of dollars worth of marble are using it to to dry cassava? BTW, a businessman already tried to make a marble mine in Nigeria, but his business was frustrated and destroyed by the government who sued him over land ownership.

You can still see the ruins of his machinery in Igbeti. Trying to help Nigerians is like trying to help a drowning man.

This is Igbeti is Oyo state Nigeria -- it has some of the biggest marble deposits on the planet. Marble is one of the rarest and most precious dimension stones, but Instead of using this valuable stone to build and decorate houses, Nigerians use it to dry cassava. We prefer to import marble from Italy.

Look at them. Na dis be country?

benjanjo1:
limestone very is abundant in Nigeria! the technology for the use of cement in building is well developed. Just because alternatives are not popular (due to certain disadvantages) does not make us stupid!

It is not good for a country of 200 million to rely only on cement. When the cement price gets too high, builders should turn to other materials -- that creates competition and prevents the cement companies from holding the country for ransom as they are doing now.

benjanjo1:
bros! we don't lack brain or creativity! We just had the misfortune of bad leadership over a long period of time.

Did you know we have stone and clay and wood all over Nigeria? No one is stopping Nigerians from using these materials to build.

The only thing Nigerians know is first mud and then cement. Even in the ancient kingdoms and empires, they didn't use all the stone that was around them. They only used mud.

They are even making roads with stone.

budaatum:
Nigerians. We the people who are thirsty by the river and import petrol in the abundance of crude oil.

And who do we blame?

My bubu of course. For driving cattle through our unused brains.

There is no resource we don't have in Nigeria. The only thing we lack is brainpower and creativity.

Nigeria has the biggest marble deposits in Africa. But we would rather import it from italy, and use our own to dry cassava.

Rwandans are using natural rocks to build beautiful homes and hospitals. It is easy for them to dig this rocks from the ground, shape them into blocks and build with them. In some cases, they even use rocks to build the foundations of their homes. According the the residents of Rwanda, this is cheaper than using expensive imported cement.

Meanwhile, Nigerians are paying 2x the global price for Dangote cement and refuse to look for alternatives. Is Nigeria the giant of Africa or the joke of Africa? Look at what Rwandans are doing while we suffer under Dangote's monopoly.

The Nigerian government is spending $1.5 billion naira to repair non-functional NNPC refineries. This is a terrible waste of resources that is doomed to fail, according to the Paris-based International Energy Agency: https://punchng.com/nigerias-plan-to-repair-refineries-may-fail-says-iea/

They state the following:

The start-up of the 650 kb/d refinery in Lekki, Nigeria, expected in the next three years, will mark a turning point in the continent’s refining fortunes. At the same time, the plans to repair and re-launch the country’s three existing refineries that have not been operating in the recent years, are unlikely to materialize.

According to the agency, smaller refineries might be better suited for Africa, where investors and operators are constrained in terms of cash flows and working capital.

These monkeys are always lying. 2022 is now 2023? Next it will be 2024 then 2025.

Richy4:
Since they can't afford Road reflector that will guide the motorist at night, they make do with what they can afford which was the paint...

Real road reflectors are probably cheaper than this painting nonsense.

Originalsly:
Hmmm.... got to be fresh from village. I can't believe in 2021 someone can be sooo ignorant.

I live in the United States. I know what a modern society and a modern road is supposed to look like, and Nigeria is not it.

theTranslator:
This is pure nonsense
See what inferiority complex has done to you

I'm not inferior to any man. But I truly believe the rest of you are. This is what I have learned after observing the behavior of blacks in the present and throughout history.

SarkinYarki:
You do t know road marking is a huge business in Nigeria?

Wasted effort. Why not employ those people to clean up sidewalks and perform maintenance instead of senseless road painting?

hatakekakashi:
Why do you feel the need to always copy? Can't you be unique

We need to copy superior societies instead of continuing on our backwards degenerate path. Our society is barely functional. And this stripe nonsense isn't unique to Nigeria, it is done in every poor black African country.

Why do Nigerians feel the need to put annoying stripes all over the road -- often even sidewalks are covered in these stupid stripes. You don't see this monkey-like behavior in any developed country. Why do Nigerians always overdo things to the point of ridiculousness?

I agree 100%. Nigerians from the diaspora who have lived in the U.S., Europe or Asia should be ruling Nigeria. Local Nigerians are almost like talking monkeys.

Here is a similar looking city to Onitsha in Italy.

A nation of monkeys will be ruled by monkeys. I have renounced Nigeria.

Because blacks are subhuman monkeys with bad instincts. Fulanis are lucky because they have a trace amount of Arabic DNA that allows them to dominate the pure black abeed. The Fulanis invaded Nigeria through the Hausa kingdoms. But instead of uniting against a common enemy, the Hausa's betrayed each other -- with some fighting alongside the Fulani. In fact, many Hausa peasants used the Fulani invasion as an opportunity to revolt against their kings because of high taxation.

As a result, all of them were defeated and their descendants remain slaves to the Fulani to this day.

The same thing is happening in Southern Nigeria. Instead of uniting against a common enemy, the black monkeys are fighting each other. And as a result, all of them will be enslaved, just like the Hausas before them. The fate of the nigger-man is slavery. It is in his blood to be a slave.

Black monkeys isssorite

Is there a law that says you must put black and white stripes and every road, bridge and even sidewalk in Nigeria? Do you see them doing that nonsense in Europe, the U.S. Japan or any other developed country? It's only Africa where people must behave like monkeys and follow strange traditions like it is religion.

BiafIntel:
What is with this annoying green white and green color that is dorn along most of nigeria's roads? Very annoying and doesn't make any sense.

I agree. Everything in this Nigeria is monkeyish and senseless. Do you see developed countries "decorating" their streets with such nonsense? Words can't describe how much I hate Nigeria.