₦airaland Forum

I have this question, why is it that some chics will ask guys to meet their family members even when a commitment has not been made in a relationship? Sometimes, some women will say " I told my parents, sisters or brothers about you" Do women really mean it or just to pull guys' legs cos I say the same thing too even though I do not discuss my relationships with my parents or siblings.

big difference between some Naija girls and Mexican women.

did u also tell us who paid the bill for the shopping spree? The woman or the man? I am looking for a woman who will pay all the bills for me and I [b]WILL[/b]L do all the chores and carries guaranteed. I promise

babaosisi,
Have you heard of a Ghanaian politician (parliamentarian) who was caught in JFK with some pounds of cocaine? I think sometime this year, a reputed Chicago gang member from Kenya (with his dumb gang name “Kenya’) killed a young kid in a crossfire rivalry. The fact that this guy came from Kenya received no traction by the media, if it had been a Nigerian, Oprah would have covered it.

I thought Nigerians were full of bad people, now Oprah’s academy in South Africa is facing a lot of scandals. This case will be treated as an isolated incident, if it had been in Nigeria, they will tie all the dots to corruption.

^{I  am not in Support of Etteh, but the media should have represented the crime the way it was.
Okadigbo was not painted that way (thief) by the media,even though it was the same offence. Well, he smart to resign early}

Media did not portray Etteh as a  thief, but she allowed herself to be mobbed and made mockery of. She broke the house rules and did not want to be investigated. Okadigbo stepped aside and went to  a public hearing which was aired on national TV  to defend himself, but Etteh chose not to do so. By the way, intent to commit a crime is treated as crime itself. So illegally awarding a contract without due process is a crime, not until the funds are transfered to contractors.

Etteh is not worthy to be a speaker, she is a political jobber with no academic degree.  She is just a hairdresser and beautician who rose to power by default.

I always need my space. I am allergic to suffocation by intimacy.

Its a surprise to know that likes of Sudan and Zimbabwe have more internet access for their citizens than Nigeria, What needs to be done to change this disparity?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7063682.stm

Dr Watson's highest achievement is his Noble prize in medicine of which a black intellectual mind like Soyinka won in literature. If he were to say this thirty years ago, Indians and Chinese would be included. Thank God Indians and Chinese have proven them wrong. There is no empirical evidence to support his racist remarks. This is another white PC like when Chris Dodd touted Barack Obama as the most qualified black person to run for White House. By the way FOX NEWS says horrible things too " Barack Obama, a black candidate who surrounds himself with only white advisers'' can someone read between these lines and tell me if there is much difference.

Dr Watson's highest achievement is his Noble prize in medicine of which a black intellectual mind like Soyinka won in literature. If he were to say this thirty years ago, Indians and Chinese would be included. Thank God Indians and Chinese have proven them wrong. There is no empirical evidence to support his racist remarks. This is another white PC like when Chris Dodd touted Barack Obama as the most qualified black person to run for White House. By the way FOX NEWS says horrible things too " Barack Obama, a black candidate who surrounds himself with only white advisers'' can someone read between these lines and tell me if there is much difference.

Dr Watson's highest achievement is his Noble prize in medicine of which a black intellectual mind like Soyinka won in literature. If he were to say this thirty years ago, Indians and Chinese would be included. Thank God Indians and Chinese have proven them wrong. There is no empirical evidence to support his racist remarks. This is another white PC like when Chris Dodd touted Barack Obama as the most qualified black person to run for White House. By the way FOX NEWS says horrible things too " Barack Obama, a black candidate who surrounds himself with only white advisers'' can someone read between these lines and tell me if there is much difference.

Woe to that man who puts his trust in a fellow man ( ie your pastor) . You must work out the way of your salvation

Everex StepNote NC1510
Operating System: Genuine Windows Vista® Home Basic
Display: 15.4" WXGA Widescreen (1280 x 800) with DiamondBrite Technology
Processor: 1.5GHz, VIA® C7-M Processor
Memory: 1GB DDRII 533
Hard Disk Drive: 60GB SATA-ATA (5400rpm)
Optical Drive: DVD-RW/CD-RW Dual Layer
Front-Side Bus: 400MHz
Graphics: VIA Chrome9 HC IGP (64MB shared memory, 128MB maximum)
Audio: VIA VT1708A Vinyl High-Definition Audio Codec with Built-in Speaker
I/O Ports: (1) DB 15-Pin VGA Port, (3) USB, (1) Microphone Port, (1) Headphone Port
Modem: (1) 56K data/fax modem
LAN: (1) 10/100 Base-T Fast Ethernet
Wireless LAN: Built-in 802.11b/g
Pointing Device: 2 Button Glide Pad
Power Supply: 65 Watt AC-DC Adapter
Battery: Rechargeable Lithium-Ion
Measurements: 14.1” x 10.7” x 0.9 - 1.5” (L x W x H)
Weight: 5.3lbs
Condition: New

Toshiba Satellite 15.4” Widescreen Laptop
• Intel Pentium Dual Core T2310
• Built-in wireless 802.11bg
• Burns DVDs and CDs • 120GB hard drive
• 1GB of DDR2 memory
• Windows Vista Home Premium
Condition: New


DELL INSPIRON LATITUDE D600  USED
Brand:  Dell    Hard Drive Capacity:  30 GB   
Family:  --    Screen Size:  14 inches   
Processor Type:  Intel Pentium M, Centrino    Operating System:  Windows XP Professional   
Processor Model:  --    Primary Drive:  DVD-ROM   
Processor Speed:  1,600 MHz   
Memory (RAM):  512 MB 
Condition:  Refurbished   

I need estimates on these listed laptops. No mediocre speculations please

same

^{I agree with Scanbater tell us the real and the true story, it hardly happens that a wife with all the luxuries you claim to have will go out of the matrimonial home, looking for what?}

Why is it that some women still have holier than thou attitude? If it had been a guy, this poster would say men are dogs. Why did you think that women who have good things of life don’t cheat? Can we be open minded for goodness sake

Wars in Africa wipe out aid gains
A report on armed conflict in Africa has shown that the cost to the continent's development over a 15-year period was nearly $300bn (£146bn).
The research was undertaken by a number of non-governmental organisations, including Oxfam.

It says the cost of conflict was equal to the amount of money received in aid during the same period.

This is the first time analysts have calculated the overall effects of armed violence on development.

The report says that between 1990 and 2005, 23 African nations were involved in conflict, and on average this cost African economies $18bn a year.

It concludes that African governments have taken encouraging steps at a regional level to control arms transfers, but that what is needed is a global, legally-binding arms trade treaty.





The president of Liberia, which is just starting to recover from a long civil war, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, also wrote the preface to the report.

She told the BBC "the proliferation of weapons is a key driver in armed conflicts".

"We need to restrict the supply of guns to African conflict zones - and an arms trade treaty is a vital way to do this", she said.

Ongoing burden

The BBC's Johannesburg correspondent Peter Biles says that some costs of war, such as increased military spending and a struggling economy continue long after the fighting has stopped.


READ THE FINDINGS

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Liberia's Defence Minister, Brownie Samukai told the BBC's Network Africa programme that to his knowledge expenditure this year alone included sums of $11m and $35m "for training, equipment, facilities, buildings and construction - a combination of these types of expenditure."

The researchers say that although the number of armed conflicts is falling in Africa there is no room for complacency, with little hope of a swift settlement in either Sudan or Somalia.

And some experts argue that Africa actually needs to increase its arms spending.

Haneelmoed Heitman - the Africa correspondent for Jane's Defence - told the BBC "in a lot of countries the primary problem is that the national security forces are too small, too ill-equipped and too ill-trained to actually provide any sort of security".

He cites the example of Cameroon which has some 12,500 troops to cover around 400,000 sq kms with no transport or reconaissance aircraft.

"Without helicopters for tactical movement", says Mr Heitman, "it's physically impossible for them to deploy to counter banditry or insurgency".

He concludes that most African countries need to spend more on military equipment - but primarily on transport such as helicopters to allow them to mobilise to deploy against the "bad guys".

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/7038348.stm

Published: 2007/10/11 08:45:40 GMT

Some of us have to understand the root cause of this controversy. The Turkish Noble laureate was taken to court because of this issue. I think an Armenia Journalist was killed by ultra-nationalists for challenging the status quo. It’s against the law in Turkey to offend "Turkishness" which includes talking about the genocide. I know of a Bulgarian who hates Turkey with a passion because of this issue. Just imagine Nigeria not acknowledging Civil war or June 12 Saga or Germany not acknowledging Holocaust.

Has it occured to you that robbers are not robbing banks in Iraq despite their security problems , but in Nigeria bank robbery is going on every time.

Alex Last
BBC News, Lagos



The conduct of Nigerian politicians and government institutions is marked by corruption and violence, says New York-based group Human Rights Watch.
In a report, it says their behaviour resembles criminal activity more than democratic governance.

Struggles for political office are waged violently by gangs of thugs recruited by politicians, it says.

But the group said Nigeria's new president has the opportunity and an obligation to take action.

Hundreds of Nigerians have lost their lives, while record high oil revenues have been lost to corruption or mismanagement.

Using the backdrop of April's general elections, the investigation by Human Rights Watch focused on Nigerian politicians' use of violence to win office, driven by the hope of looting state oil revenues and the culture of impunity that surrounds the whole system.

The problems are not new, but the concern is that they have become so entrenched, so widespread, that governance in this country has become mired in a state of crisis.

That's rather important given that one in five Africans live here, and most are mired in poverty, despite the country's huge oil revenues.

But the group says there is a window of opportunity.

Human Rights Watch has welcomed new President Umaru Yar'Adua's pledge to actually uphold the rule of law.

But it wants to see real reforms to make the government accountable and action to end the culture of impunity.

Flawed democracy

The report's author, Chris Albin-Lackey told the BBC that the problem is so deep and so widespread that reforms have to be faster and more dramatic than the new government has been willing to undertake to date.


"And it has to mean holding some of the more notoriously corrupt and abusive figures of the past eight years to account for what they have done," he said.

Since Nigeria returned to civilian rule eight years ago, HRW says each election has been more violent and more rigged than the last.

The group says the governing party in Nigeria has helped entrench the system.

At every level, there are powerful interests at play.

The report highlights the role of local unelected kingmakers, known as godfathers, who use personal influence, money and violence to ensure their preferred candidates win office.

In return they get a slice of funds looted from state treasuries.

The consequences of this political system, in human lives, poverty and development are more than evident here, but reforming it, is no easy task




http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/7036116.stm

http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=91770

Nigeria, the largest oil producer in Africa and 11th largest producer in the world, has made not less than 100 billion oil discoveries since 1956 when oil was first discovered at Oloibiri in Bayelsa State by Shell-BP.
Based on the discoveries, it is estimated that the country ought to have realised about $600 billion from oil and gas so far.
President of the Nigeria Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE), Dr. Emmanuel Enu, who made the disclosure at a press briefing yesterday to announce the association’s forthcoming pre-conference workshop, noted that for Nigeria to achieve its aspiration of attaining 40 billion barrels (bbls) reserves of crude oil and four million barrels per day production capacity by 2010, more oil discoveries have to be made and production capacity improved.
He stated that Niger Delta is the mainstay of the Nigerian economy and that for oil exploration to go on undisrupted, security of the multinational companies and people involved in the exploration activities must be guaranteed.
The NAPE boss, who did not rule out the possibility of the Federal Government achieving this aspiration, however, noted that a country can achieve more or less than its set target depending on certain factors such as the security situation and geological environment.
“We have explored about 100 billion barrels of oil since 1956 when oil was first discovered in Oloibiri, in Niger Delta. Nigeria’s target of 40 billion barrels of crude oil reserve by 2010 and to move from two billion barrels per day production to four billion is an aspiration. It is one thing to aspire and yet another thing to achieve it.
“But one good thing about aspiration is that you will work hard to get there. You may not get the exact target, but somewhere near. You may even get more than the target,” he said.
According to him, “NAPE is in charge of exploration activities in Nigeria. The explorationists will have to work hard to ensure this target is met. It is possible, that was why oil blocks were awarded. Just allow the companies to do their drilling, we may get there.”
While noting that the Federal Government is working hard to restore law and order in the region of Niger Delta by pledging to address the genuine demands by the people of the region, Enu said empowering the youths and getting involved in gainful employment will help in addressing the problem.

“Niger Delta is the mainstay of the Nigerian economy. If people are not allowed to carry on with their activities, it will affect the economy.
But I would not say that the problem has defied solutions, but just that it has been on for a long time.
“The government has taken step to restore peace by involving the Joint Task Force and the genuine demands will be met,” he said.
Also speaking, the President-elect of NAPE, Dr. Kingsley Ojoh, noted that for the nation’s oil reserve to increase, oil discoveries have to be a continuous thing.
“Nigeria is among the few regions where oil discoveries are still being made. If we don’t continue to find more, we will run out of oil. So we have to continue finding oil in order to increase our reserve” he said.
This year’s NAPE’s pre-conference workshop is themed “Security Challenges in the Niger Delta.”
A stakeholders’ workshop, according to Enu, was chosen to deliver to the government and all stakeholders, a deep and incisive articulation of the security challenges in the Niger Delta and to propose practical means of resolving the problem.
The association, which comprises top management staff of oil producing companies in the country, mid-wifed the recent technology used in finding more oil and gas in Nigeria.
Following the discovery of oil in 1956, Nigeria joined the ranks of producers in 1958 when its first oil field came on stream producing 5,100 barrels per day (bpd).
Aside the over $600 billion said to have been realised from oil since the discovery was made, the country has about 36 billion barrels of crude oil reserve and 19.2 billion cubic meters of natural gas. There are also large deposits of tins, gold, talc, gemstone, kaolin, iron, bentonite and barite.

this is another to silencer to those who believe that Yar'dua is next to God who will deliver Nigeria of all its problems.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter wants new quota on foreign players

By RAF CASERT, AP Sports Writer
October 5, 2007

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -- FIFA president Sepp Blatter wants to reintroduce limits on foreigners playing in national leagues, a move which amounts to a direct challenge to European Union authorities.

By the 2010-11 league season, Blatter wants to have a system where a team's starting lineup would have six national players.



"This is a matter of principle," Blatter said Friday.

The EU embraces the principle of freedom of movement of workers, which should allow EU soccer players to seek employment wherever they want in the 27 member nations.

"You cannot compare a worker with a football player," said Blatter, calling sports professionals a unique case within the employment market.

From a mostly local game, soccer in Europe has become more multinational, with some clubs fielding no national player in big games. Blatter has said that apart from alienating fans, it also stifled the development of homegrown talent.

Soccer authorities and the EU have been at odds ever since the 1995 Bosman ruling at the EU's highest court, which forced free agency and free movement of players in the leagues.

"We had the Bosman ruling (12) years ago and president Blatter said footballers are not workers. They are workers according to EU law," EU Commission spokesman Frederic Vincent said.

Now Blatter wants the EU to give sports more leeway in running its own affairs.

"Football is strong enough to organize itself," Blatter said, arguing authorities should only interfere in stadium security, doping and issues such as corruption. The free movement of workers, though, is a cornerstone of the EU's treaty.

Blatter wants an article in a new EU treaty being discussed to underpin the special status and autonomy of sports, allowing it to not abide by the free-market principles of other sectors. Among other things, it would give plans to impose quotas on foreigners a chance of success.

He got backing from the International Olympic Committee on Friday. Ahead of the Oct. 18-19 EU summit of government leaders to discuss treaty reform, IOC president Jacques Rogge said "sport can play its unique role thanks to its autonomy."

"This role would be seriously compromised if sport governing bodies are subject to public interference," Rogge said in a statement.

Foreign investors are not necessarily a bad influence on clubs, Blatter said.

"As long as the money is correctly handled, then we have nothing to say against the ownership of foreign investors," he said.

There has been a spate of foreign takeovers recently, especially in England, where eight Premier League teams are currently in foreign hands. Some fear that after initial investment, many will pull out, leaving the clubs impoverished.

Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore has said the foreign owners have brought a new professionalism to his league.

UEFA imposed conditions two seasons ago to introduce mandatory use of so-called homegrown players on teams -- players who have been trained at a local club or within a certain country for a number of years. Without specifically mentioning a nationality, it seeks to sidestep the EU rules.

"We need to have the courage to take these decisions," Blatter said during a conference call.

Blatter wants a new FIFA strategic committee to look into the issue next week, so that the executive committee later this month can send it on to the FIFA Congress in Sydney next May.

It would provide enough time to have it ready by 2010.

http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news;_ylt=An3.SiIwCRH71JgExBa_oyMmw7YF?slug=ap-blatter-playerlimits&prov=ap&type=lgns

Could someone who is into cars confirm the prevailing market prices of these cars in Naija. No mediocre speculations please.

2000 Toyota Sienna mini van

1998 Honda Odyssey Mini van

2000 RX 300 Lexus

1998 Mitsubishi Montero Sport

2000 Toyota Camry

2000 Honda Accord LX

http://allafrica.com/sustainable/resources/00011372.html

http://www.moibrahimfoundation.org/
New Survey Picks Continent's Best, Worst-Governed Nations


allAfrica.com


NEWS
25 September 2007
Posted to the web 25 September 2007

By John Allen
Cape Town

Mauritius is sub-Saharan Africa's best-governed, and Somalia its worst-governed country. Seychelles, Botswana, Cape Verde and South Africa are also in the top five best-governed countries, while the bottom five also include the Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad, Sudan and Guinea-Bissau.

These are among the findings of a new survey, published simultaneously in London and Cape Town today, which says it is the world's most comprehensive ranking of African governance. The survey is based on 2005 statistics.


The survey, unveiled by the African telecommunications pioneer Mo Ibrahim and Professor Robert Rotberg of Harvard University, was developed under the direction of the university's Kennedy School of Government with the help of an advisory council of African academics.

The survey, which is called the "Ibrahim Index of African Governance", measures the quality of governance in sub-Saharan Africa's 48 states by five criteria: safety and security; rule of law, transparency and corruption; participation and human rights; sustainable economic opportunity; and human development.

It shows that some of Africa's most powerful and well-known countries are not as well governed as some of its minnows, economically speaking. Nigeria is ranked at 37th place among the continent's 48 nations, only two places ahead of Sierra Leone at 39th place.

Kenya is at 15th place, below Lesotho (11), Malawi (12) and Tanzania (14). Ghana ranks at 8, Senegal at 9, Rwanda at 18, Mozambique at 23 and Uganda in 25th place. Zimbabwe is at 31st place.

When measured against the criteria chosen for the survey, there are some surprises. Gabon has the best "safety and security," while Sudan has the worst, and South Africa, near the top of the list in other respects, is the third most dangerous country in the continent, safer only than Sudan and Burundi, and a little less safe than Nigeria.

Botswana is ranked top for the rule of law, transparency and lack of corruption, Mauritius for participation and human rights, and the Seychelles for sustainable economic opportunity and human development. Sudan is at the bottom of the list for all these categories except human development, where Chad holds bottom place.

The index also assesses the progress which nations make, and it has used historical figures to draw up rankings for 2000 and 2002.

These show that the countries which have shown the greatest improvements in governance between 2000 and 2005 are Angola, Rwanda, Eritrea, Burundi and Sierra Leone. The country which deteriorated most was Guinea-Bissau. The performance of Namibia, Cote d'Ivoire, the Central African Republic, Benin and Madagascar also declined over the period.

READ THE FULL RANKINGS: Briefing note of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation

please what is the cost of registration? My friend is being asked by his inlaw to send 30K. I feel that this price is outrageous. Can anyone feel me in on this.

I believe that  you can be friends with no real strings attached, maybe you can take it a step further whenever you come back to Nigeria. I don’t know why some folks like Seun that someone in Nigeria can never have the opportunity to travel abroad. Is this an impossible feat for this guy to get a UK or US visa? No.

A friend of mine was dating this babe in college and they went for internship and lost contact, the babe got a UK visa  and left and the guy got  to hear of her travel through her friend who gave him the girls number and email. When this guy emailed this babe in the UK, the girl was acting as if she never knew this guy.  This guy just moved on and finally got  a scholarship for  an MS program in the US. And finally left, but he also told the same friend of her ex girlfriend about his move, so when he got to the US, tthe UK girl now emailed him  wanting to know  how  he made it  and  a sort of relationship. Our culture has made it normal for some women to always think that the man should  be more prosperous than the woman.  

Why is it that only when men talk to women who are based abroad that men are called gold diggers.  I wonder If the same could be said of  most Nigerian women who now  live abroad  and  they  were mostly brought by Nigerian men who came home to marry them

Nigeria is a BBC appologies to Fela Big Blind Country. Okonjo Iweala and Co were paid in dollars and Nigerians went to court to challange that practice, but its acceptable for a non Nigerian to be paid in dollars and Nigerians in Naira. Mental slavery- applogies to Bob Marley.

You would be shocked to find out what is in the jont venture agreement between Nigeria and big oil companies. Some say its 60% for Nigeria and 40% for oil companies.

Concerning Abia High Court's ruling on Orji Uzo. What does the law say about jurisdiction? Does Abia High Court interpret the laws for Abia state or Nigeria. So the judge political jobber who gave that verdict did not know anything about ultra vires or intra vires of the power granted to the court by the constitution. This case is Orji Kalu Vs Nigeria which is ultra vires of that paid judge in Abia State.

can a sane minded soul stop this nonsense. Ette  carry all her friends and family go USA celebrate her birthday, come award $5 million for house renovation and someone dey talk say Nigeria and Yar'dua get luck. Take off your windsreen goggle and see the light.

http://www.btimes.co.za/98/1018/world/world03.htm

How a man called Strive beat off the corrupt cronies
Despite being the victim of outright corruption in Zimbabwe, Strive Masiyiwa has prospered. He would have failed without help from an unexpected quarter.


Masiyiwa's success has made him a hero: a tycoon in a country crippled by cronyism

IT HAS become something of a cliché to say that the solution to poor countries' communication problems is to allow private companies to set up cellular networks.
Where cellphones have been licensed in Eastern Europe, Latin America and, most recently, in Africa, demand has been unquenchable. People like to talk to each other. Wireless networks are quicker and cheaper to build than landlines. Conventional telephone networks are plundered for copper and equipment. And for Third World yuppies, a mobile telephone is a more affordable status symbol than, say, a BMW.

So when, in 1993, Strive Masiyiwa decided to set up a cellular network in Zimbabwe, he had little trouble raising the necessary finance. But when he suggested a joint venture with PTC, his former employer and the national telephone company, its bosses refused, saying there was no call for mobile telephones in Zimbabwe. Masiyiwa made up his mind to go it alone, which, as it turned out, was a courageous decision. At every turn his company, called Econet, was frustrated by officialdom and corruption. Such things have helped bring low one emerging market after another, which is why Masiyiwa's eventual success has made him a hero for the times: a popular tycoon in a country crippled by cronyism.

Masiyiwa's first hurdle was to overcome PTC's claim that it had a monopoly on a service it had no plans to provide. He hired lawyers to test the legality of PTC's obstruction. To many people's surprise, a judge found that there was no law to back PTC's case, and gave Masiyiwa the go-ahead. But the government, which saw telephones as a means of spying on people rather than as a business, was unhappy. The Supreme Court overturned the ruling.

A faint-hearted entrepreneur would have given up. Masiyiwa, who had returned to his country from Wales after the end of white rule in 1980, appealed to the constitution instead. He argued that the behaviour of the state telephone monopoly violated the constitutional right to free speech. At a time when most European countries had yet to liberalise telecoms, this was a bold strategy. But it worked. In 1995, the Supreme Court ruled in Masiyiwa's favour, and he started setting up base stations around Harare, with help from Ericsson, a Swedish mobile-phone company. It took a presidential decree to stop him. In February 1996, Robert Mugabe forbade private cellphone operations, with a two-year jail term for offenders. Econet's Swedish partners had to abandon their equipment and retreat to their hotels.

Masiyiwa waited, and then appealed to the Supreme Court, who ruled the decree unconstitutional. There was a tender for a private cellphone licence. By this time, however, PTC had set up its own cellphone operation, and a number of political heavyweights were interested in a private network. The licence was awarded to Telecel, a consortium backed by, among others, the president's nephew, Leo Mugabe. Masiyiwa sued for the right to see the details of Telecel's bid; sure enough, it met few of the tender's specifications.

Telecel's licence was suspended, but the telecommunications minister, whose husband was an old business partner of one of the main Telecel shareholders, restored it. Two months later, a cabinet reshuffle cleared Masiyiwa's path. He won his licence in December 1997, while Telecel's was cancelled. Go-betweens tried to bribe, and then to intimidate Masiyiwa into sharing his business with Telecel's backers. He turned them away. Telecel eventually won a new licence, but because its managers know more about lobbying than running a telephone firm, it poses little threat to Econet.

In between court appearances, Masiyiwa set up a mobile network in Botswana, so he had experience on his side. Within a week of starting his Zimbabwean operations in July, Masiyiwa's company had no fewer than 10 000 customers.

Two months after its launch, Econet's network had a 45% market share: it is expected to overtake NetOne, PTC's subsidiary, before long. Econet's shares, offered to the public last month, were heavily oversubscribed. Masiyiwa's first serious threat is likely to come with the planned privatisation of Net One, presumably with a foreign partner, though if the pace of Zimbabwean privatisation until now is anything to go by, that could take several years.

How to explain this improbable coup? A boyish 37, the devout Masiyiwa gives the credit to God. A more secular analysis holds lessons for other reformers. One advantage for Masiyiwa was that Zimbabwe's government was not used to spirited opposition. Bankers and politicians who privately think Mugabe is a disaster will nevertheless praise him to his face. But even an entrepreneur such as Masiyiwa would not have got far without the courts. There are still honest judges in Zimbabwe, and they gave him the power to embarrass the bureaucracy. Thanks to the law, Mugabe's cronies gave up. The effort of reforming finance, company accounting and banking supervision in developing countries is essential. But it will be much more potent if the courts act as the last line of defence. - The Economist Newspaper Ltd, London 1998.

Richyblack.
Thank you for seeing the bigger issues. Is Networth Magazine more credible than TELL Magazine? Veracity of their claim is at stake. Maybe we have some folks who have not read Forbes, economist, fortunes and that's why its so easy to believe fortune telling.

By the way, Dangote did not start from a humble background. He got about 500,000 Naira from one of his family members who was a NEPU (Northern Elements Progressive Union ) chieftain in the 70s. By that time, 5000 Naira could buy a brand new Mercedes Benz.
I rather listen to Russel Simmons or Puffy on how to make money than Paris Hilton or Donald Trump’s kids

This is another farce like Ovation telling gullible minded Nigerians that they have got billionaires. I got a question for you; would believe Newswatch or Tell Magazine or this mushroom magazine? What is the readership of this magazine in Nigeria for it carry this type of story? How credible is this newsletter? What was the methodology they used to compute these figures?

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyid=2007-08-28T175724Z_01_L28348938_RTRUKOC_0_US-WORLD-FIREARMS.xml

http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/files/sas/publications/year_b_pdf/2007/2007SAS_English_press_kit/2007SAS_cover%20sheet_en.pdf



US. most armed country with 90 guns per 100 people

By Laura MacInnis Tue Aug 28, 1:25 PM ET

GENEVA (Reuters) -



The United States has 90 guns for every 100 citizens, making it the most heavily armed society in the world, a report released on Tuesday said.

US. citizens own 270 million of the world's 875 million known firearms, according to the Small Arms Survey 2007 by the Geneva-based Graduate Institute of International Studies.

About 4.5 million of the 8 million new guns manufactured worldwide each year are purchased in the United States, it said.

"There is roughly one firearm for every seven people worldwide. Without the United States, though, this drops to about one firearm per 10 people," it said.

India had the world's second-largest civilian gun arsenal, with an estimated 46 million firearms outside law enforcement and the military, though this represented just four guns per 100 people there. China, ranked third with 40 million privately held guns, had 3 firearms per 100 people.

Germany, France, Pakistan, Mexico, Brazil and Russia were next in the ranking of country's overall civilian gun arsenals.

On a per-capita basis, Yemen had the second most heavily armed citizenry behind the United States, with 61 guns per 100 people, followed by Finland with 56, Switzerland with 46, Iraq with 39 and Serbia with 38.

France, Canada, Sweden, Austria and Germany were next, each with about 30 guns per 100 people, while many poorer countries often associated with violence ranked much lower. Nigeria, for instance, had just one gun per 100 people.

"Firearms are very unevenly distributed around the world. The image we have of certain regions such as Africa or Latin America being awash with weapons -- these images are certainly misleading," Small Arms Survey director Keith Krause said.

"Weapons ownership may be correlated with rising levels of wealth, and that means we need to think about future demand in parts of the world where economic growth is giving people larger disposable income," he told a Geneva news conference.

The report, which relied on government data, surveys and media reports to estimate the size of world arsenals, estimated there were 650 million civilian firearms worldwide, and 225 million held by law enforcement and military forces.

Five years ago, the Small Arms Survey had estimated there were a total of just 640 million firearms globally.

"Civilian holdings of weapons worldwide are much larger than we previously believed," Krause said, attributing the increase largely to better research and more data on weapon distribution networks.

Only about 12 percent of civilian weapons are thought to be registered with authorities.