₦airaland Forum

afroniger:
As things stand, without Boroffice (Akoko South) and Abraham (Akoko North) support, APC can't even guarantee winning the Ondo North Senatorial district of the state. At best Akeredolu can only be sure of winning Owo and perhaps Ose (if he's lucky) LGs, which are just two out of the 6 local govt. that constitute Ondo North. As for Oke, due to his grassroot pedigree and extant political realities on ground in the state, you better believe that he WILL sweep the entire 6 local govt. areas in the entire Ondo South Senatorial district. Ondo Central will definitely go to Jegede. The North Senatorial district will determine the winner.

Good that you didn't not run into conclusion like others that Borroffice and Abraham has already given support to Oke. Their support is yet to be fully declared, and I can confidently say they will eventually declare for Akeredolu when the presidency wades in. They have a lot more to gain from the Presidency (especially Abraham, who is relatively unknown in public service) than a Gubernatorial hopeful in Olusola Oke.

The political pedigree of Oke and these guys differs. These guys are the original APC (ACN) and are still not fully disposed to PDP men that decamped to APC. So it is not so hard to predict where their support will finally swing to.

You guys are making a mistake that PDP will make a clean sweep of Ondo Central. The reality will soon be delivered to us next month. PDP may edge out a slight victory but it will never be a clean sweep.

For Olushola Oke, it's only in the core South he can make a sweep. APC will make a better showing in the central and south than what you guys are asserting here.

Jidibia:
Don't worry, same way the APC rigged Edo election, its the same way the PDP will also rig the upcoming ondo election.

You are talking like a kid. How can you rig when you don't control and Army, Police or any other security agency?

How can you rig when your popularity has massively declined?

There is no way you can rig when you don't control the security agencies, it is practically impossible. Moreso, the present INEC leadership was appointed into office by the current APC led Federal Government.

How can PDP see the space to breathe? Let alone rigging. The only option is to buy out the voters, which will not be possible because of the woeful 2nd term performance of Mimiko and because APC equally have a large purse as the party in the centre.

ReddLabel:
@emboldened, you obviously don't know what's on ground in Ondo state. Do you follow Borroffice and Abraham's lieutenants on Facebook? APC can't even win Akokoland and to think the place used to be their stronghold..

Either PDP or AD!!!

You people have started with your online analysis again. When the actual results differ from your online illusion, you'll then be saying election was rigged.

APC is only having a temporary set back. Just watch how these things will iron out and their campaigns will be on full stream.

awopejus:
Akoko is no longer with APC we prefer oke than Aket both Abraham and BORROFICE ARE FOR OKE

Stop carrying rumour. Boroffice and Abraham have not declared any support for Oke.

Oke is just the usual desperate Nigerian political jumping from one party to the other to achieve selfish ambitions.

If he is a good politician, he should have stayed back in the PDP and struggled it out with Mimiko.

FagsamPHP:
Forget about AD bn the party, personalty is what we gonna vote for regardless of ur party.... This is Ondo State

Oke has stretched himself thin with that competitive primary election and won't have the funds for mobilisation. He may just manage to win his South Senatorial District and that is if he has some good money bags backing him.

FagsamPHP:
you forgot larger % of total votes come from the riverine area of the state, which is Olusola Oke's strong hold.... Even the % of votes from north is not up to Central..... so forget about APC winnning the whole NORTH, Only OWO is outrightly sure for them.. others will be battle ground

Do you think we are still the era where they will be bringing manipulated results from the Riverine area of the state? Most of those heavy results from that side are rigged votes. There won't be any room for that.

You can only rig when you have the tactical support of the Federal. The FG this time around is also an interested party in the election and will not allow any rigged votes from the Riverine area.

How many local governments are even in the core riverine area? I mean core Ori Omi

faladeSM1132:
Na only mimiko own lecturer in Nigeria?
What about rochas okorocha 13months unpay?
Biola ajumobi 7months?
And some other apc governors in Nigeria, Now you're challenging mimiko a lone,
Tell your Buhari to fix nigeria to the right part before it's collapse totally. ..............

Yeye partisan members .

You are the one that is not making use of your brain. Are those other governors facing a critical election??

It's quite impossible for a governor/his party owing loads of salary and pension to go into a gubernatorial election and succeeds.

FagsamPHP:
if you knw you are not on ground here stop spewing rubbish..... This is our state & APC is not an option, its now between PDP vs AD, Underate Olusola Oke at ur own peril, OKE will beat iyalaya anybody in all the local govt in the South, PDP to floor anybody in Central, Only OWO is sure outrightly for APC in the north,, NORTH will. be the battleground........

And to that idiot up there talking about salaries, tell us if he's the only gov owing salaries in Nigeria.. At least if u want to be partisan. do it with sense

Oga when the campaigns start, ensure the song Mimiko sings to them is that he is not the only one owing salaries and let's see if he gets stoned or not. Are you sure you are from the learned Ondo state with the incoherent gibberish and abuses you are dishing out?

If APC wins Owo, the entire North and few other swing local governments in the central and south, APC may emerge winner.

Just watch and see, PDP will carry a distant 3rd in this election. Mimiko will not have any breathing space to to carry out any smart move.

The only reason PDP will even have any vote is just because their candidate is from Akure, and Akure people have not governed the state before and are very eager to produce the Governor.

emmykk:
all what you wrote he is rubbish.With recession APC cant win that state

Why are u guys living in denial? Because you personally dislike APC does not mean it is same all over.

With this same recession, APC won in Kogi.

....won a senatorial election in Imo state.

...won House of Reps election in the North.

..and then won Edo state election. APC is loved in Edo North. And they struggled their way through the other two Senatorial districts to emerge winner. If you have any isssue with that, abeg face election tribunal.

MadamExcellency:
You are wrong, reconstituting the CBN board has nothing to do with firing the CBN Governor. The CBN Directorship consists of ten members who are responsible for coming up with prevailing monetary policies at any given time.

Firing CBN Governor requires 67% majority vote from the Senate which is not possible because of the ethnocentric characteristics of Mr President,

Lol. Cool down na. Reconstituting the board MAY mean firing the Governor or other members. What is the essence of reconstituting a board when the Chairman of that board is left in the position? Will the action achieve any shift in policy and ideas??

Now tell me, who appoint members to the board of the CBN?

So if the Senate is advising the President to reconstitute the board of the CBN, please explain to us what you think that means.

CBN Act 2007 Section 6. (1) There shall be for the Bank a Board of Directors (in this Act referred to as “the
Board”) which shall be responsible for the policy and general administration of the affairs
and business of the Bank.

(2) The Board shall consist of -

(a) a Governor who shall be the Chairman;
(b) four Deputy Governors;
(c) the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance;
(d) five Directors; and
(e) Accountant-General of the Federation.

CBN Act Section 10. – (1) The five Directors of the Bank shall be appointed by the President
subject to confirmation by the Senate and in appointing the five external
Directors of the Bank, the President shall have due regard to a fair
representation of the financial, agricultural, industrial and commercial interests
and the principle of Federal Character.

CBN Act Section 11. – (1) A person shall not remain a Governor, Deputy Governor or
Director of the Bank if he is -


...(f) is removed by the President:
Provided that the removal of the Governor shall be supported
by two-thirds majority of the Senate praying that he be so removed.

So from the foregoing, if the President can remove members of the board, so far it is supported by 2/3rd majority of the Senate, and the senate itself is asking the president to reconstitute the board, kindly explain to us what message you think the senate is passing to the President.

Thank you.

Oby Ezekwesili: Before we sell public assets – change should begin with those who promised change


by Oby Ezekwesili

As if the current unclear economic policy context was not disconcerting enough, the sudden emergence of a raging debate on the sale of public assets has escalated one’s fears that easier things seem to appear more attractive to the government. Yet, in public policy, it is wise to be wary of the easiest options.

As a pro market economy advocate, I inherently support any programme of government that will help roll back the public sector from the economy because economic evidence shows this to be almost always correct. However, lacking the sound economic management and policy context as yet, I am presently opposed to what sounds like a proposal for “distress option” sale of public stakes, especially in NNPC and NLNG. But the government can proceed urgently through the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) to sell off those cesspools of corruption in our petroleum sector otherwise known as refineries. Their sale would in fact amount to fiscal savings beyond the proceeds and should therefore be supported by all.

I am opposed to the sale of any productive assets like the NLNG because there seems to be no clear economic vision and rigorous analytics to serve as the anchor for such a major policy thrust. We need well deliberated policies from our government including the plans for revitalization of the programme of privatization being run by BPE to properly situate public debate of economic structural change agenda. After all, even in our country, there is now proof that the economy can relatively respond to deliberate, well thought and rigorous analysis of context and sound policy options in resolving growth and development problems.

The evidence that backs this is that it was a modest range of such sound economic policies that helped deliver an average of 5-6 percent growth of our economy on a sustained basis over a long period of nearly a decade and half. It was only recently at the end of 2015 that growth dropped to below 3 percent.

True, the relatively impressive economic growth rate did not resolve the major challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality. That 61 percent of our population is poor, according to the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (2011 Household Survey) is indicative of how growth and poverty reduction can often times disconnect. Also, according to NBS, unemployment rate stood at 10.5 percent at end of 2015 and grew to 13.3 percent by the second quarter of 2016, revealing that the economy is severely failing to absorb new entrants into the labor market — especially the 2-2.5 million youths that seek to do so annually.

With a high income inequality rate of .4 Gini-coefficient instead of a score closer to a perfect zero, the gap between our top income earners and the majority bottom poor earners is one of the highest in the world and is the reason why Nigeria stands at number 26 out of 190 countries. So, yes again, there are very deep challenges that growth did not yet resolve for Nigerians since the early 2000s when it became normal in the economy.

However, we can objectively admit that if we had not grown steadily at those higher rates from 2003 – 2014, the economy would not have expanded as significantly as it did in the sixteen years of our 1999 cycle of democracy. The expansion of our GDP offered more diverse opportunities in sectors like telecommunication, agriculture and agri-business, entertainment and services.

In real human terms, a growing economy provided more and newer opportunities for citizens than was the case during the lost decades of the 80s and 90s known mostly for no, low or negative growth. The concept of economic growth must therefore not be derided nor dismissed as some usually do.
The fundamental anchor for Nigeria’s long period of economic growth was, when starting since 2003, policy makers managed to achieve macroeconomic stability through an effective mix of monetary, fiscal and some measure of structural policies. Whereas not many citizens would normally concern themselves with the rather arcane concepts that engage the minds of economic and finance technocrats; yet, growth policies are fundamental to economic progress of individuals, households, governments and businesses. This is becoming obvious to Nigerians in the last twelve months as more citizens now better see the relationship between growth and the fact that some who once had a job no longer have one.

What then was the genesis of the loss of economic growth? It came from the fact that we learned nothing from previous mistakes in the manner of poor governance of resources, especially oil earnings. Nigeria was once again extravagant during the most recent five years of oil boom. That this happened even after the country turned the corner in 2003 when it set up oil-based fiscal rules on how best to save in plenty in order to prepare for the lean period, is all the more disappointing. Regrettably, in the period between 2010 and 2014 when oil prices were exceptionally high and several other oil-rich countries were accumulating reserves, Nigeria was acting out an alternate reality. We were incongruously borrowing during plenty to expand the consumption habits of all the levels and arms of government.

The parlous state of the Nigerian economy on 29th May, 2015 should therefore have instructed an incisive and urgent macroeconomic stabilization programme to realign price levels in the economy. If a menu of sound monetary and fiscal policies that the economy needed on May 29, 2015 had been provided, it would have sent the right signal to players that there was no cause for alarm. Had the government made quick and necessary adjustments that corresponded close enough to the level of impact that a 40 percent sharp drop in government oil revenue necessitated, the story would most likely be less negative today.

There is a new level that our post 2014 oil-shocked economy must find for stability in order to stop tottering reason and so we do need a string of policy responses that can enable this happen quickly. Such responses would have helped the economy absorb the shock, reassured investors and consumers, and thereby helped reasonably retain investor confidence. But that did not happen. The attendant fiscal pressure and the delayed right policy response were severe enough that by the end of 2015, economic growth sharply declined to 2.7 percent.

It was a major mistake that the economy did not get the timely and right type of policies that could have helped us avoid the calamitous collapse into negative growth in the last two quarters of 2015 that finally led us into a recession. The signals of statist economic policy preferences did in fact worsen matters and set off the wave of uncertainty that dented investor confidence in the economy. So, it is accurate to conclude that both the preceding and the successor governments conspired by their actions and inactions to throw the Nigerian economy into the deep rut from which it must be rescued to avoid social implosion.

The record of the government for timely and right action on the economy is however so far not encouraging. For almost one year, the government delayed right action on the fuel subsidy regime despite its aggravating impact on fiscal imbalance. Over the same period it delayed the right action on exchange rate policy despite its deleterious impact on foreign reserves, the value of the Naira and the rate of inflation. The government finally retraced its steps on the wrong petroleum subsidy regime and fixed exchange rate policies some five and four months ago respectively.

But the design and implementation of those policy changes were half hearted and therefore remain doubtful in their fiscal and monetary impact. The reluctance to fully embrace tested and sound policy options was what minimized the salubrious impact that the two highlighted key policy changes would ordinarily have had on stabilizing the economy.

With inflation- nay, stagflation- now at high double digits of 18% , with the decline of foreign reserve from $37.3 billion at end of 2014 to $25billion in September 2016, with an “administrative-floating ” exchange rate regime that still creates enormous opportunities for corruption and rent seeking arbitrage, with a high interest rate that poses a stress for the financial sector because of deteriorating bank asset quality as well as for limited access to credit by the real sector, with a continuously declining aggregate demand, with a shrinking gross domestic product, with 2016 budget deficit level of $11billion that still has unclear sources of financing; what more do we need before citizens stepped up a demand for the government to retrace its steps from its string of unsound economic policies?

All the sobering data are indicators of hugely deteriorating macroeconomic indices. The more such indices deteriorate, the harder it is for growth to resume. The macroeconomic stability that poor choice of economic policy helped to unravel within one year had itself taken many years of arduous work to achieve. When therefore one hears the rather simplification of the economic recovery antidote being espoused by the government as “we shall spend our way out of recession”, it heightens anxiety. When one further hears that the sale of assets- especially some productive ones – is being proposed as key contribution to the Budget 2016 deficit financing options of the government, the immediacy of opposing such intention becomes self evident.

For Nigeria therefore, the most critical challenge that needs resolving is how to convince the federal government to urgently retrace its steps back to what it failed to do since 29th May, 2015. First, it failed to launch a deep fiscal consolidation program. Second, monetary policies failed to adjust to reflect new realities. Third, the government failed to present the most ambitious structural reforms ever that can materially improve the productivity and competitiveness of all potential existing and new sources of economic growth.

The third action could achieve the four decade-long diversification goal and help build a resilient economy that is insulated from the volatility of oil prices in the future. These three broad actions were and still remain the key things mandatory for the economy to regain the lost macroeconomic stability that will drive growth recovery, move us to economic development and shared prosperity.

It is good economics to stimulate economy through increased government spending in a time of recession. So, there is a place for the stimulus spending proposed by the government. However, the economic vision that will arrest the macro imbalance in the short run must be deeper than the proposed plan to “spend, spend and spend”. After all, if massive government spending were to be the solution that can fix our economic failures, then they should never have happened in the first place based on our public expenditure record. Government spending has been the albatross of our economy. The current administration has not communicated any persuasive basis for assuming that it’s proposed spending will achieve a different set of outcomes without being anchored first on sound economic policies.

The current language of “massive spending” is therefore very unnerving because it is not accompanied with a corresponding agenda for massive restructure of the behemoth and the governance system that easily widens its mouth to gulp the largest scale of public resources. By the way, whatever happened to the report of the Presidential Committee on the Rationalisation and Restructuring of Federal Government Parastatals, Commissions and Agencies which found that the cost of governance in Nigeria is one of the highest in the world? Did the report not recommend the scrapping of 102 statutory agencies on which we continue to spend scarce resources? Where is the fierce urgency required to implement this game changing report that can help roll back one of the most unproductively expensive governance architecture in the world?

I have a simple message: The Federal government should do the right first things, first. Change should begin with those who promised Change!

This Best Outside Opinion was written by Oby Ezekwesili/Thisday, a Senior Economic Adviser of The Africa Economic Development Policy Initiative.

http://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2016/09/29/before-we-sell-public-assets/

NairaandNigeria:
Good advise from the National Assembly. Meanwhile, I will like to add to the list.

22. The salary and bonus of every senators should be cut by 70%.

23. Every senators should not have more than 2 aides.

So in this recession, you want to send the other Aides back into the already saturated job market??

Proudlyngwa:
Actually I think there is a board which elects him, I doubt that's the senates job.

I have modified my earlier post to you quoting the CBN Act. Check it out.

Proudlyngwa:
I doubt if it is within the power of Buhari to fire Emiefele.
He can only suspend him till his tenure is over.

He can, if the senate concurs with 2/3rd majority.


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Section 11(2f) of the CBN Act 2007, says: “The Governor, Deputy Governor or Director shall cease to hold office in the Bank if he:-

(a) becomes of unsound mind or, owing to ill health, is incapable of carrying out his duties;

(b) is convicted of any criminal offence by a court of competent jurisdiction except for traffic offences or contempt proceedings arising in connection with the execution or intended execution of any power or duty conferred under this Act or the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act;

(c) is guilty of a serious misconduct in relation to his duties under this Act;

(d) is disqualified or suspended from practicing his profession in Nigeria by order of a competent authority made in respect of him personally;

(e) becomes bankrupt;

(f) is removed by the President: Provided that the removal of the Governor shall be supported by two-thirds majority of the Senate praying that he be so removed.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

These seems to be good set of recommendations. I hope PMB takes a critical look at this.

Btw:

I think the Senate is tactically telling Buhari to fire Emefiele. Buhari should start shopping for a sound and thoroughbred economist with international experience to replace Emefiele.

Emefiele's policy somersaults is really hurting the Nigerian economy. As at today, he has added another string to the forex market he claimed has been liberalized. I dont think he has any other hand he can play to re-gig the forex and monetary policies of the country on a superb scale. He should quit the stage please.

Recession: Reconstitute the Board of the Central Bank- Senate tells President Buhari

As part of resolutions to get out of the current economic recession, the senate yesterday advised President Buhari to reconstitute the board of the Central Bank of Nigeria. The senate also advised President Buhari to appoint a Special Adviser that would negotiate with militants in the Niger Delta.

The full resolutions as shared by Senate President Bukola Saraki are as follows:-


1. The executive should forward an Economic Stimulus Bill containing all the fiscal stimulus packages, investments and incentives which will receive accelerated consideration and passage at the National Assembly.

2. The fiscal and monetary authorities must harmonise all policies that lower interest rates for investors in the real sector and small/medium scale farmers.

3. The government should adopt peaceful means in the Niger Delta to restore Nigeria’s oil production back to 2.2 million barrels per day.

4. The release of low interest funding under the stimulus package should be targeted at the following areas:

*Social Safety Programmes
*Humanitarian Activities in the North East
*Power Generation
*Agricultural value chain
*Textile manufacturing
*National highway network construction and maintenance
*Railway construction and maintenance
*Motor vehicle assembly plants
*Completion and commissioning of Ajaokuta Steel Complex
*Arts, Science and Technology

5. The President should appoint a Senior Special Adviser to lead the government engagement with the aggrieved Niger Delta Militants to ensure the protection of Nigeria’s oil and gas assets.

6. The Federal Government should negotiate foreign concessionary borrowing agreements to cover shortfalls in the 2016 budget and the government’s accelerated infrastructural development programme.

7. The Federal Government should restrict and cap the issuance of bonds and treasury bills in order not to crowd-out local investors from the market.

8. The Federal Government should ensure the payment of all genuine domestic debts owed to local contractors who have completed their jobs.

9. The Federal Government should settle all salaries and pension liabilities.

10. The Federal Government should leverage the use of pension and insurance funds to provide long-term capital on lending for agriculture, industry and housing projects.

11. The Executive should reconstitute the Board of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and all other critical agencies in order to ensure that they operate in accordance to their enabling laws.

12. The Legislature (through law) and the Executive (through policies) must take action to encourage telecommunications companies to float their shares in Nigeria’s stock market.

13. The Fiscal Responsibility Act should be used to encourage States and Local Govenrments to be more prudent and accountable in their revenue and expenditure agreements.

14. Cases involving unaccounted oil exports should be pursued vigorously to logical conclusions.

15. The Federal Government should immediately set-up an ad-hoc committee for the reconstruction of the North-East and the rehabilitation and resettlement of all Internally Displaced Persons.

16. The President should consider establishing a Council of Economic Advisers made up of experts in economic management.

17. The Federal Government should establish a platform for pro-business-oriented leadership-level engagement to boost market confidence.

18. The Federal Government should retool its export promotion policy scheme with export incentives like the Export Expansion Grant (EEG) and the export financing initiatives.

19. The National Assembly will institute a legislative framework with timelines for key government policies in the area of agriculture and solid minerals to boost investor confidence in government - and to protect investors from rapid policy reversals.

The National Assembly will examine, prioritise and fast-track the consideration of the following bills to revive Nigeria’s economy:

-Petroleum Industry Bill
-National Development Bank of Nigeria (Establishment) Bill
-Nigerian Ports and Habours Authority Act (Amendment) Bill
-National Road Fund (Establishment) Bill
-National Transport Commission Act of 2001
-Warehouse Receipts Act (Amendment) Bill
-Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA)
-Investment and Securities Act (ISA)
-Customs and Excise Management Act
-Federal Competition Bill
-National Road Authority Bill


20. The National Assembly will immediately commence sustained oversight to monitor the activities of the Executive in the implementation of the 2016 Budget.


21. The National Assembly will continue to engage the Executive to create the necessary synergy on all economic and social interventions that are capable of bringing succour to Nigeria.



http://www.lindaikejisblog.com/2016/09/recession-reconstitute-board-of-central.html

Mynd44, OAM4j, Lalasticlala

otedola1:
As the saying goes; honesty is the best policy. this has been our watchword while doing our job. We clear your goods and deliver for you as agreed on. A trial will convice you.

Nice pictures. Indeed pictures speak a thousand words as they say.

solid3:
See the way PDP are right now.

...and I can see APC supporters behind them laughing all the way

Good. But PMB, kindly put some haste in your appointments. You dont have all the time in the world.

This news is belated. This news was for yesterday evening when everyone expected INEC to start announcing results immediately.

The statement was released that the annoucement is to start this morning and it will even start any moment from now according to sources there.


Myn44, OAM4j, Lalasticlala, Seun kindly endeavor to post the most recent news to the front page to avoid speculations and unnecessary conjectures.


****
Nairaland mods needs to up their game. Announcement of results have started real time, and that is when a Mod thought it wise to push a news to the front page that results announcements have been postponed??

I really dont know the rationale for pushing this stale news to the frontpage if not to incite people against INEC.

anibi9674:
sixteen months ago Nigeria GDP was about $500billion dollars under Jonathan don't what it is now.

GDP figures that didn't translate to real development.

dipoolowoo:
I am very sorry about that. It was never done to promote the website, but because of some Nairalanders who complain of very long articles. The full version has now been posted. Thanks.

Nice one. you have done the needful.

dipoolowoo:
The inequitable distribution of income is present at the global level where the nominal gross domestic product (GDP) of the top 10 economies adds up to over 66% of the world’s economy, and the top 15 economies add up to over 75%. The remaining 172 countries constitute only 25% of the world’s economy.

Here’s the list of the top 10 economies based on the criteria of GDP, current prices (US dollars) which is simply known as nominal GDP. The rankings differ if the same list is prepared using the GDP based on purchasing-power-parity (PPP).

As a general rule, developed countries have a smaller gap between their nominal GDP (i.e., current prices) and GDP based on PPP.

The difference is greater in developing countries, which tend to have a higher GDP when valued on purchasing-power-parity basis. This list is based on IMF data, which is updated twice annually.

This list was last updated on July 18, 2016.

United States

The U.S. economy is the largest in the world in terms of nominal GDP (measured at current prices in US dollars). The $17.95 trillion US economy is approximately 24.5% of the gross world product. The United States is an economic superpower that is highly advanced in terms of technology and infrastructure and has abundant natural resources. However, the U.S. economy loses its spot as the number one economy by a slight margin to China when measured in terms of GDP based on PPP. In these terms, China’s GDP is $19.4 trillion and the U.S. GDP is $17.95 trillion. However, the U.S. is way ahead of China in terms of GDP per capita (PPP) - approximately $55,805 in the U.S. versus $14,107 in China.

China

China has transformed itself from a centrally planned closed economy in the 1970's to a manufacturing and exporting hub over the years. The Chinese economy is propelled by an equal contribution from manufacturing and services (45% each, approximately) with a 10% contribution by the agricultural sector. The Chinese economy overtook the U.S. economy in terms of GDP based on PPP. However, the difference between the economies in terms of nominal GDP remains large. China is currently a $10.98 trillion economy and has been growing at around 7% in the recent years, although that growth is starting to slow down.

Japan

Japan’s economy ranks third in terms of nominal GDP, while it slips to fourth spot when comparing the GDP by purchasing-power-parity. The economy has been facing hard times since 2008, when it was first showed recessionary symptoms. Though the government’s stimulus packages have helped the economy recover a bit, the massive earthquake in 2011 gave the fragile economy another jolt. Economic growth has hovered between 0.5–2% in recent times, but is forecasted to stay below 1% during the next six years. The nominal GDP of Japan is $4.12 trillion, its GDP (PPP) is $4.83 trillion, and its GDP (PPP) per capita is $38,054.

Germany

Germany is Europe’s largest and strongest economy. On the world scale, it ranks as the fourth largest economy in terms of nominal GDP. Germany’s economy is known for its exports of machinery, vehicles, household equipment, and chemicals. Germany has a skilled labor force, but the economy faces demographic challenges like most European nations. The size of its nominal GDP is $3.36 trillion, while its GDP in terms of purchasing-power-parity is $3.84 trillion. Germany’s GDP (PPP) per capita is $46,893, and the economy has moved at a moderate pace of 1-2% in recent years and is forecasted to stay that way.

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom, with a $2.85 trillion GDP, is the world’s fifth largest. The economy of the UK is primarily driven by services, as the sector contributes more than 75% of the GDP. With agriculture contributing a minimal 1%, manufacturing is the second most important contributor to GDP. Although agriculture is not a major contributor to GDP, 60% of its food needs is produced domestically, even though less than 2% of its labor force is employed in the sector. After the referendum in June 2016 when voters decided to leave the European Union, economic prospects for the UK are highly uncertain, and the UK and France may swap places. The country will operate under EU regulations and trade agreements for two years after the formal announcement of an exit to the European Council, in which time officials will work on a new trade agreement. Economists have estimated that a Brexit could result in a loss of anywhere from 2.2-9.5% of GDP, depending on the trade agreements replacing the current single market structure.

Read concluding part here: www.businesspost.ng/2016/09/27/worlds-top-10-economies/

Why not post the full story here? This your referral to that site is sure a counter productive way of promoting the site.

afanide:
Nigeria should follow such strategy.....

Convert that amount to Naira....

Where are we going to get that now? Moreover we no longer trust our banks with govt money. That was what led to TSA.

Unscrupulous banks and civil servants has been milking Nigeria since time inmemorial which made the current administration to effect the TSA.

zeongeon:
Programs and courses with OSHAcademy are quite recognized. OSHAcademy treats safety from the american point of view with standards that are applicable and appreciated in top organizations.

America companies will look at your OSHA certifications before they look at your NEBOSH and organizations that are committed to safety will surely appreciate your OSHA certifications.

The reason why people are so NEBOSH based is cause of..

1. Nebosh is British and the British are known to deliver when it comes to quality and standard of education.

2. Nebosh since is British is recognized in Europe and other countries that has to do with the Queen (Australia, Newzealand and Canada).

3. Nebosh has a strong marketing base it has influence in the middle east, Europe, Asia and Africa.

Well said!

Bearshare:
I beg to differ,

OSHA is simply a brief abbreviation for OSHAcademy which is just a training academy.

Now you must understand the difference between training academy or training body and certification bodies. OSHA represents the former, NEBOSH is a certification body.

How?

Certificates from training bodies can not land you any recognised membership and the certificates issued are not more than simply a training certificate.

Certificates from certification bodies will land you recognition to become a member of renowed membership bodies around the world and you can build up your certification until you get something close if not similar to an academic degree.

For Example,

NEBOSH IGC is NVQ level 4 (OND equivalent in Nigeria), NEBOSH International Diploma is NVQ level 6 (Bsc equivalent in the world). With a NEBOSH international diploma you can go on to do your masters degree in Occupational health and safety with lots of universities in the world.

My friend, do more research before we give information to innocent folks here, there is a reason why NEBOSH is the biggest and most recognised certification in health and safety in the world. Even IOSH recognises them, ROSPA depends on them, British Safety Council trains NEBOSH courses, IIRSM seeks NEBOSH endorsements for laws and conferences.

Am out!

Bros you are just talking semantics.....Training academy, Certification body, etc ........

They are basically same without recourse to their preference within the Nigerian context and their popularity where they are domiciled. In both cases, you study for a particular course and write the exam. Dont get it twisted just because OSHAcademy has academy as part of its name. Or because we are more familiar with NEBOSH just because of our closeness to Uk and European standards. Both are private bodies awarding certificates after fulfillment of certain criteria set by them. But it must be stated that NEBOSH has grown far more than OSHAcademy.


And please let try us try and desist from calling OSHAcademy OSHA. It confuses a lot of people. OSHAcademy is a private body while OSHA is a US government regulatory Agency. They are very much different from each other.

You guys overhype NEBOSH too much. Though I have done NEBOSH but its funny the way people overhype NEBOSH as if everything about safety is NEBOSH. This hype of NEBOSH tends to confuse up-starters that so far they can get a NEBOSH certification, the rest is bliss.

Notwithstanding, I would advise anyone to go for NEBOSH than OSHAcademy courses if the person is financially okay. If you dont have the cash for NEBOSH yet, you can run OSHAcademy free courses online, and then purchase the certificates later.

SamuelAnyawu:
Government Of the Media, By the Media,For the Media

So the media should not do its work again?

Govt should put them in chains?

Govt should chase out journalists from all its events so as not to appear as media government?

Pls make use of your brain.

Pure propaganda meant to tarnish Edo state APC because of the coming election.

But i has failed totally. Edo state APC primary was free and fair, and i must say interestingly rancour free. The deuputy gov lost gallantly.

Propangandists thinks they can use recent happenings in Ondo state to attack Edo APC. This seems a silly lethargic strategy to me.

Thousands Of Zimbabweans Lose Money As MMM Crashes

Thousands of people, among them civil servants and vendors, have lost thousands of dollars to fraudulent online pyramid scheme MMM Global Zimbabwe after it collapsed recently. The social financial network, which relied on an accelerating number of new members to pay off the old, abruptly terminated its services last week leaving participants stranded.

This comes as Econet’s mobile financial service platform, EcoCash yesterday distanced itself from the pyramid scheme. Participants claimed they were using EcoCash for their transactions.

Zimbabweans have in the past months been joining the online investment scheme in droves in a bid “to get rich quickly”. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe warned people that the scheme was fraudulent and there was no legal recourse in the event they lost their money.

The central bank said MMM, which advertises its operations through a website and recruiting agents, was not a registered or regulated entity. EcoCash yesterday said: “We have noted that some of these pyramid schemes are allegedly advertising in a manner that suggests that the Ecocash facility is a medium for prospective members to deposit their money. This is not correct.

“We advise our valued customers and all stakeholders that Ecocash is a licensed mobile payment platform that enables customers to make financial transactions such as sending money, buying prepaid airtime as well as paying for goods and services within the confines of the law of Zimbabwe. EcoCash promotes safe and legal transactions but will not be held liable for any losses arising from the use of EcoCash to engage in illegal activities such as Ponzi schemes.”

The scheme advertises itself as a mutual aid fund under which recruited members contribute money to assist others and are promised investment returns of 30 percent per month. Some of the people left counting their losses told The Herald that they received emails that the scheme had been suspended until September 15.

“All along things were moving in the right direction and we now have nowhere to claim our investments,” said Mr Tinashe Muza of Harare.
“When we started putting our funds in the scheme one could get assistance within seven days but things later changed to 14 days and when we were shut out the waiting period was 21 days. What it simply means is that the number of people in need of help has outnumbered the number of people joining. Right now we have nowhere to get our money which we invested.”

MMM stands for Mavrodi Mondial Moneybox and takes its name from its founder, Sergei Panteleevich Mavrodi of Russia. He founded MMM in 1989 and the scheme was declared bankrupt three years later leading to the disappearance of Mavrodi until his arrest in 2003.

Another victim, Mrs Rosemary Mawonde said: “We never thought the scheme would end this way as we believed that by using EcoCash to do the transactions, things were in order. I am surprised that EcoCash is also distancing itself from the scheme and it is clear that I will never recover the $300 that I invested.”

While some people who were skeptical about the scheme started with small amounts, it is believed some poured in thousands of dollars anticipating higher returns. The RBZ said the schemes were fraudulent as existing investors were ‘paid money not from genuine market investment of their funds, but from contributions made by new investors, until a point when the scheme can no longer attract new investors,”

“The participants are made aware that they make their money by recruiting new members who in turn must recruit more members,” warned the Central Bank.


http://omojuwa.com/2016/09/thousands-zimbabweans-lose-money-mmm-crashes/

Nigerians beware!

Mynd44, OAM4J, Lalasticlala

Allwility:
It's only in Naija things are done upside down. It is improper for ISPON to demand that safety officers be registered with them without having a recognition system for other safety certifications. The idea that if you've got other certification eg your NEBOSH IGC or Diploma but must take the General HSE course and HSE level 3 before becoming a member is hilarious.

They need to consider other route of entry to membership. Check out IOSH or IIRSM, you will see they've got different routes of entry to their different membership levels. Besides what are ISPON's plans for CPD? Does HSE stop in level 3? I know some HRs will soon jump on the bandwagon train..ie 'no ISPON membership, no recruitment for the position of safety personnel'. That to me is placing more value on a certificate... U get it??

I don't get it. A certificate is simply an evidence that you have undergone some learning process. The ISPON Act has already given ISPON the mandate to maintain a register of safety professionals. The implication of this is that any one not on that register and practicing safety in Nigeria is doing so illegally. Though it seems unfair, but its the sad truth, the ISPON Act is a subsisting Law of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. That is the reality on ground presently and until the law is repealed it will remain.

Some other professional bodies in Nigeria also has such clause in the Act setting them up, its not unique to ISPON. As you opined that HR folks may start demanding for membership of ISPON as a condition for employment, i think that is how it should be. Any HR person that knows his/her onions should definitely request for same as it has a legal implication in the event of an accident in the workplace and an ensuing court action. Based on subsisting law, the court will not recognize that a company has a Safety Officer if the person is not recognized by law as a safety professional.

"If you cant beat them, join them" so they say. If you are keen in becoming a member, why not humble yourself and submit to their process. If we can use hundreds of thousands to run foreign professional training courses, why cant we spare a cheaper amount for courses run by ISPON? Rome is not built in a day, some of those courses we refer to as prestigious also started relatively unknown.

No knowledge is lost, No matter the qualifications you have, you'll still have something to gain from their courses. Asides the General and HSE level 3 courses, there are lot of other trainings offered by ISPON for professional development.

ISPON courses are not as expensive as those foreign ones and should be the first resort to those seeking professional certificate in safety. Lets always endearvour to patronise Naija to grow Naija. We too like foreign things in this our country.

Businessideas:
Cecilia Ibru-led Oceanic Bank, Erastus Akingbola -led Intercontinental Bank and Pat Utomi 's Bank PHB are no more. It means three of these 14 banks had already packed up and only God knows how their own share of the loot would be traced.Yet these banks were trading with governments deposit until lately when TSA was introduced. So what exactly do Nigerian banks do?
Or how does one explain the case of Access Bank that actually "collected double portion " because they collected and inherited Intercontinental Bank's portion
Which bank inherited Oceanic Bank sef?

Ecobank acquired Oceanic Bank.

Ironsi should have released him. But trust Africans, they can be very greedy when in power.

He knew if he released him, Awo will never back down on calls for return to democracy. In fact, Awo even made mention of his democratic ideals in this letter, and that definitely sealed his fate on getting pardon from Ironsi.

Ironsi gave Nigeria the present day problematic unitary system with so much power concentrated at the centre.

The man that couldn't deliver swift justice to mutineers in the Army will grant pardon to a political prisoner?? Never.

I'm sure Awo is smart enough to realise this and his letter may be based on pressures from his men and for the sake of posterity (us ).

Is it not this same Wike i heard has Commissioner for Chieftaincy affairs in addition to Commissioner for Tourism and culture?

Chai