walkbrazil4k: Last week, photos of a vessel "floating" in the sky above the city of Cornwall, UK, confused many people on the internet, who thought it was a "ghost ship" or even a montage. But in fact, there was no modification of the image, nor is it something supernatural. The explanation for this is an optical illusion. The case occurred last Thursday, 28, but it is not the first time.
The specific term for the phenomenon is "Fata Morgana", a name that comes from a witch in the King-Arthur legend, and occurs when hot air meets cold water, creating a thermal inversion, making objects appear to be floating, like the ship.
"The optical illusion lasted at least half an hour. And as people do with most optical illusions or magic tricks, I was trying to track down what it was or how it worked," resident Lizzi Larbalestier told the local Cornwall newspaper. Live, who posted the video on his Facebook account.
It was caused by different air densities refracting light. Similar to a straw appearing to bend in a glass of water
FreeStuffsNG: You are right that SW states have the diversity because of the huge landmass and access to the sea so may actually have more of their indigenes outside their zone than SE indigenes have outside the monolithic 5 Igbo SE states.
However, pay attention to the INEC list as at August 1,2022, Lagos and Oyo are in the top 10 and both even ahead each of all the SE states while Anambra is the last in the top 10.
There is nothing like core or non core Yorubaland . Lagos is Yoruba state and super predominantly Yoruba. It shows that you do not know the SW and Lagos when you attempt to seperate Lagos. The largest LGA and with the highest voting strength in Lagos is a Local Govt called Alimosho LGA. It is not even part of Lagos central and the LGA is made up of outskirt towns and villages mostly the ancestral homes of the Egba and Awori people close to the Ogun state border. That is where most of the votes come from and you can ask your brother or sister living in Lagos.
Since 1999, Alimosho has always delivered the highest votes for APC and it still remains APC. Even Oyo state is not the mate of any SE states by population and registered voters but the most populous LGAs are those predominantly dominated by the natives.
lionlee216: Thank you. This is awesome to watch. So why can't A380 fly into nigeria? Is it because we don't have a jet bridge for it or our runaway is not situable for it?
@lionlee216, You're welcome.
The Airbus A380 [which is the biggest passenger plane in the world] can definitely land or fly into MMIA, Ikeja, Lagos and the Abuja International Airports. The Anambra Cargo Airport can also take jumbo jets such as the Boeing 747 and Airbus A380 conveniently because of the long runways.
The problem is that the airport terminals do NOT have the space or facilities for disembarking about 500 passengers on the Airbus A380 at once! The A380 superjumbo is gradually being phased out by several big airlines though because of high cost of maintainance especially in the wake of the pandemic. The A380 is usually only viable on long-distance routes.
Bbsharon: So, apparently there is a new terminal at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos which was inaugurated earlier this year but has been under utilized so far with just one Nigeria major airline carrier operating from the base.
The new Terminal of the Lagos Murtala Muhammed International Airport Terminal 2 was commissioned 22nd March, 2022 by President Muhammed Buhari and is one of the five terminals airport project being built by the administration included in a bilateral arrangement between the Federal Government and the People’s Republic of China.
Recently, I had the opportunity of traveling through this new terminal and I was surprised at how much of a big space that was not put into full use this project was.
'Dami, the first landing of the Airbus A380 at the then newly-constructed Terminal 3 of Kotoka International Airport (KIA), Accra will interest you. Flights of jumbo jets into and out of MMIA Terminal 2, Ikeja, Lagos ought to be happening on the regular as well.
Nksleek: “Am not for evil” — Business woman pleads after client caught her with charms in a hotel room
A suspected hoøker has been captured pleading for leniency after her client caught her with charms while making out in a hotel room.
Focus Naija can report that videos of the incident has gone viral on many platforms.
According to her explanation, she was not for evil as the charms were meant to protect her from the dangers of the street that she is involved in.
On the other hand, the client and his associates accused her of using the charms as “Kayanmata” to hypnotize men, in order to drain them financially and take away their destinies.
The client also showed off a toilet roll allegedly stained with his s3men but she claimed that she uses it to wipe herself.
Let them continue to use charm on these useless men since they don't want to stop doing hookups.
Only a useless man will go with his clear eyes and pick a woman who sleeps around with a thousand different men every day. He's doomed for life. I wonder why he's not worried about that and now fussing about common alligator pepper. Mumu.
PenSniper: And tell me, you that's not ignorant, is Taiwan in the same position in China as California in America, Catalonia in Spain and Lugansk and Donetsk in Ikraine ?
For Gods'sake, Taiwan has a functioning, autonomous government just like any other sovereign nation in the world only short of global to recognition of to make her qualify to become a UN member? They fought a war to be separate from China. But for the hypocrisy of the UN body, they ought to've taken a stand and declare Taiwan a free, independent and sovereign nation for peace to reign.
The international court of justice declared China as having no right by to any part of the South China sea but the same bully China arrogantly ignored the judgement after losing and the UN remains powerless to do anything just because of the same hypocrisy.
Another turning point in the history of mankind... that could lead to an escalation or de-escalation of total violence and Chinese military aggression in that region.
Artiiclebeast: Thank God for this one encouraging testament for once at least. Not the usual e no easy abroad blablabla
If you have the means and opportunity to japa and better your condition legally, I'd advise you to do so oh..
Do not, and I repeat, do not put your hopes Obidienting, Athiefkulating, or Batifying...
None of these guys can handle or change Nigeria from the many ills currently eating it up.
By the time anyone of them does his first 1 year as the President you guys will begin to understand what's up and a nickname will soon be coined for that President as usual.
The battle and sickness plaguing Nigeria aren't what one President will just come on and solve in 8 years.
Okay, I'll concede that Peter Obi is perfect for the job in an ideal situation/country, and holds more promise than the other 2 major kleptos. Is Nigeria an ideal country as it is right now?
How about the same Obi acknowledging Atiku as his boss, mentor, and elder brother. I hope you guys know what this means in the Nigerian context. It means an unfettered access to the economy by the same Atiku you don't want to have by declaring yourselves Obidient.
Peter Obi hasn't done anything wrong to admit and acknowledge Atiku as a boss, friend, mentor, or elder brother, but that is one very dicey and double-edged thing with mingling with rogues in the Nigerian political space. The moment you get yourself muddled up with them it becomes difficult for you to come out and remain clean.
This is why some of Nigeria's best brains will rather protect the good name and image that they had built up for themselves over the years than get caught up in the messy demonic system called Nigerian politics.
Modified
A post by Lexilaw for every sensible Nigerian to ponder upon below and the major problem with Nigeria:
In case you are ignorant and fighting your friend of over 20 years because of politics, know this and know peace.
Senator Ali Modu Sheriff was National Chairman of PDP and was also National Chairman of APC at different times. In fact, his supposed Arch rival in politics in Borno State is former FCT Minister, Architect Ibrahim Bunu. Well, did you know that their wives are siblings? They are both daughters of the late Dr. Mohammed Lawan.
In 2011, Ali Modu Sheriff, as acting Chairman of the ANPP sent General Muhammadu Buhari out of the party which led Buhari to create the CPC. Did you know that Senator Ali Modu Sheriff's nephew, Babagana, is the husband of Buhari's daughter, Halima? Babagana's mum, Fanne, is Ali Sheriff's younger sister.
Former Governor of Borno, Senator Maina Ma'aji Lawan's rival in the Borno North Senatorial District is former Minister of Works, Senator Mohammed Sanusi Daggash. The two men have contested the same seat ferociously in the past. Well, did you know Daggash's mum, Laraba's maiden name is Shallangwa while the mother of Maina Ma'aji's wife is also Rebecca Shallangwa? The two women are cousins which makes the two men, in-laws.
Alhaji Atiku Abubakar is said to be President Muhammadu Buhari's staunch rival but, Atiku was Yusuf Buhari's guardian at Yusuf Buhari's wedding when he married the daughter of the Emir of Bichi, Nasiru Ado Bayero. Former Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, may have been deposed but his wife is the daughter of Ado Bayero, his predecessor and the current Emir of Kano, Aminu Ado Bayero and the Emir of Bichi, Nasiru Ado Bayero, are her brothers.
Late President Umaru Musa Yar'adua was a PDP member and a staunch party man but his son, Shehu, just married the daughter of Ali Modu Sheriff's younger brother, Mohammed Nur Sheriff who was a Member of the House of Representatives on the platform of the APC.
The National Chairman of the APC, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, is a founding member of the PDP and was a governor for eight years then a senator on the platform of the PDP. Today he is National Chairman of the APC.
The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Gregory Obi, was running mate to the presidential candidate of the PDP, Waziri Atiku Abubakar, barely four years ago. While the politicians and ruling class are busy forging alliances and building bridges, you are busy fighting your friends and pulling down relationships built over years over people who are either in laws, allies or even blood relatives! Do you have sense at all?
Late Head of State, Murtala Mohammed's son, Abba is married to Fatima Mala Kachallah, daughter of late Governor of Borno, Mala Kachallah.
MKO Abiola's son, Jamiu, is married to Khadihah Kamselem, daughter of former Inspector General of Police, Shettima Kamselem, from Borno.
Ibrahim Babangida's son, Mohammed, married Rahama Mohammed Indimi. Atiku Abubakar's son, Aminu, married Fatima Ummi Bolori, daughter of late Alhaji Bukar Bolori. Fatima Umar Ganduje, daughter of the governor of Kano, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje is married to Idris, the son of late governor of Oyo state, Abiola Ajimobi.
Did you know that the incumbent governor of Niger state, Abubakar Sani Bello, was sworn in by his mother-in-law, Justice Fati Lami Abubakar? His mother-in-law, the former first lady of Nigeria, wife of General Absulsalam Abubakar, was the Chief Judge of Niger state until her retirement. The governor's younger brother, Suleiman Sani Bello, is married to Aliko Dangote's first daughter, Halima. Dangote's second daughter, Fatima, is married to the son of the former Inspector General of Police, Mohammed D. Abubakar.
Did you know that Ammuna Ashe, the wife of former Governor of Bauchi state, Ahmed Adamu Mu'azu who was also PDP National Chairman, is the younger sister to current APC Deputy National Chairman, Senator Abubakar Kyari? They are first cousins with Ibrahim Bunu's children and Bunu is a staunch member of the PDP. Ibrahim Bunu's wife is their mother's younger sister and now Bunu's son has married Kashim Shettima's daughter.
The former first Lady of Yobe state, Dr. Maryam Bukar Abba Ibrahim, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff's wife, Fatima, Architect Ibrahim Bunu's wife, Former Minister of Finance, Yabawa Lawan Wabi, Former OPEC Governor, Ammuna Lawan Ali, whose husband, Engr Ibrahim Ali is younger brother to late governor Mala Kachallah, are all siblings! Read that again.
They are busy forming alliances so that they can continue to subjugate you agile you are busy fighting over them all over the place. Who is really playing who? You better wake up and start building your own bridges and stop shouting "I will not marry Hausa! I will not marry Igbo! I will not marry Yoruba!".
Tonnierichy: These are the kind of students we teach in schools now. They will soo frustrate your life and there is nothing you can do about it. Beat them and land in Cell.
I sent this particular female pupil to report herself to the principal that she was mocking me in class. She went there confidently and returned with a smug face, telling me principal asked her to tell me sorry.
I looked at her unconvinced that she went to the principal. Well I later realised she actually did and the principal didn't take it seriously.
I then asked her to write an apology letter. She went and came back with this piece below.....
APOLOGY LETTER
This is to write that I'm sorry for the disturbance I made in the class. And I'm sorry for the insult if you think that is the way it looks and I'm using this to make a statement too that I disturbed Mr Anthony. But I don't see it as an insult or an offence but I'm sorry for my wrong deeds. And I will not do it again.
During class I will listen attentively.
And also please increase your voice when teaching or explaining or teaching your subject so that it will be interesting.
Sorry for the wrong deed and mistake I have done.
Yours faithfully Elisabeth She signs.
The brains (pre-frontal cortex) of teenagers don't get fully developed till the age of 25! Hence they engage in anti-social behaviors.
orohbiro: Nairaland men should stop this nonsense of sending me messages to my Email is annoying. I can differentiate my real Email friend and nairaland men some can't even spell well abeg he done do. Una never c fine gal before? Am not the only gal here u guys should stop fooling yourselves even one promise to always push my topic to front page if I can give him my watapp number.
In my original post on NL when the enbellished, fake news dropped, I said the well-travelled Tee Mac Iseli (who has a white Swiss father and an Itsekiri mother from Delta State) never made such a glib and highly defamatory comment on Facebook indicating that Asiwaju 'Bola Tinubu is 86 years of age [Tinubu is a very brilliant tecnocrat and former top fortune 500 company executive in the U.S., and with Mobil Nigeria].
Those who started spreading this misinformation against Tee Mac and Asiwaju Tinubu on all Social Media platforms must be arrested to face justice in court now using the digital trails left behind online.
If not arrested now and severely punished, more damage will be done to Tinubu's image by those ethnic bigots like they have been doing online and offline since pre-2011.
'Bola Tinubu, his children, and his Tinubu Media Team must take note.
Feminews: Christians'll Surely Vote Tinubu/Shettima,Arewa Group Tells Babachir, Dogara
... Says They're Spent Forces , Using Religion to Divide Nigerians
Northern based religious group under umbrella of Arewa Coalition for Good Governance has said the hardline positions of Former Secretary to the Federal Government; Mr. Lawal Babachir, former House of Representatives Speaker,Rt. Hon.Lawal Dogara and Adamawa Lawmaker, Senator Ishaku Abbo over issue of the All Progressives Congress, APC's choice of Muslim-Muslim ticket are based on selfish interest.
According to the group, their anger is premised on the fact that none of them was picked as running mate and not on issue of Muslim-Muslim Ticket as it being projected .
"At a time when all critical stakeholders of APC are supposed to be working for unity and progress of the party during the forthcoming 2023 general elections, they have decided to deploy religious sentiments as a weapon of war to discourage Christians from Tinubu/Shettima", the group posited.
In a press statement signed by the Leader of the Coalition of Christian groups for Good Governance, Elder Peter Sati Auta,the group hold the view that, " Nigerians , especially the Electorate are wise enough to know that whipping religious sentiments against any candidate is not the solution to the challenges of insecurity; dwindling economy, Insurgency, high unemployment rate, bad governance and other problems militating against progress and development of Nigeria.
While stating that Holy Bible gave Christians the mandate to pray for leaders, it noted "anything out of this is not only unhealthy ,but retrogressive."
This amongst several reasons is why as Christian leaders in various churches, we decided to come out and speak against the divisive move by our brothers to create a religious crack in the polity ahead of the 2023 elections.
"Instead of holding nocturnal meetings to fight the issue of of Muslim -Muslim Ticket, we expected them to spend energy on talking about about how to contribute their quota to finding solutions to plethora of above mentioned problems that over the past twenty years have served as cog in the wheel of progress."
While noting in that statement that Babachir and Dogara could be the ones working to overheat the polity and destroy same party that gave them platform of political relevance, It stressed, we hold the view that this is nothing but mere selfish interest of the spent forces ,which should should be rejected outrightly ."
The statement further reads : "Everyone knows that both Former Lagos State Governor ,Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and former Borno Governor , Alh. Kashim Shettima are not religious bigots ,so the earlier they know that the idea of whipping religious sentiments against won't work .
"It is in public domain that Tinubu and Shettima helped good numbers of Christians during their days as Governors of Lagos and Borno.
"Where were they,when the heavy campaign of calumny of been a "Religious Bigot" was muted against Buhari? Of course , some of them supported him to win and were later compensated with appointments. Even with all the unprintable names Buhari was called, yet they worked for him.
The group also asked, "When Babachir and Dogara held public offices, at what point did they speak or work for Christians?
Reacting to what it described as "Senator Abbo's outburst on the Muslim-Muslim ticked problem, it simply asked, "Was the se^x to^y scandal and slapping of the lady at the se^x to^y shop part of religious evangelism?
We are urging Christians to shun Babachir, Dogara and Senator Abbo's divisive strategies and vote candidates of their choice regardless of religion and tribal backgrounds. Adding ,"The most important thing for Nigerians now is come out during the elections and vote good leaders based on merit; experience and records of performance .
Very well said.
@Feminews, you forgot to add the article source link at the bottom of your post. Do that to give your post some credibility.
BigCabal: African writers are awesome in many things: they write the most thoughtful prose; they’re also great at building remarkable worlds and making us fall in love with their characters, etc.
But there’s one area where they fail so badly at: writing sex scenes in their stories. It’s either they shy away from writing sex scenes or they write them as badly as their Nollywood counterparts.
A couple examples of epic fails: Ben Okri wrote a rocket-sex scene that won him a Literary Review Bad Sex in Fiction Award in his 2014 novel, The Age of Magic; over six decades ago, in 1954, Mongo Beti wrote the longest and most ridiculous sex Scene in an African novel.
But while you’ve probably been exposed to bad sex writing by African writers, there’re actually some pretty hot sex scenes in African stories, rare as they might be. My list includes scenes from short stories, anthologies and full-length novels.
“Indulgence” by Joyce Nawiri, fromErotic Africa: The Sex Anthology He slowly caressed my thighs and his hand journeyed upwards till his fingers found a resting place for their magic. For three years I had been married, but my husband would not recognize my pussy in a lineup. His dick was the only contact he made with my body, and that wasn’t very often.
Father Silas slid two fingers inside of me and, after a few seconds, I began to grind against them and even found myself spreading my thighs further apart for him. My hips found the luxury of balance in his hands. Although I quivered and moaned, he didn’t break rhythm. He knew the exact rubbing pressure to exert against my clitoris; a little fast but not too much to prevent me from climaxing.
“Put me on the bench,” I pleaded, and he did, only not the way I intended. He made me kneel on the bench with my feet hanging off in such a way that my buttocks stuck out to his groin. Holding my skirt up to my waist, I heard his belt unbuckle. I bent lower, yearning for him to quench the thirst he had awakened. As he pinned himself closer, I felt his cock nudging at my entrance. I exhaled and my body opened to receive him. At first, he was slow but once fully inside, his thrusts were so powerfully vicious that I froze almost immediately at its strength. As I relaxed, he began to plough me, faster and deeper. I could feel every hardened bit of him as he continued to wreck me, surprising me with the flexibility of his waist. Our moans and groans filled the chapel.
With each thrust, I could feel his power. Sweat dripped off us. My vagina flooded. This man was working me the way a blacksmith handled hot iron. Suddenly he whispered, “Our acts scream hell.”
“But what we are making here is heaven.”
The tabooest sex in the history of taboos. Phew!
When We Speak of Nothing by Olumide Popoola The hands went everywhere. The lips, the mouth. Their clothes piled around them. Their naked skin touched the cement. It helped. It helped cool the heat that rose from the skin. It was strange to have his body all exposed. To show everything. Stranger even to have hers like that, close up. She was so soft it tickled him each time her skin touched his body. Especially when her hands travelled down his arms or up his legs, worst at the back, up the spine. The hairs stood, but it felt good.
Her hand took his and guided it until he was inside her. Moved it, so that he could feel what felt best to her.
Janoma opened, leaning her back against the wall of the shack and reached with her hand between Karl’s legs. Karl knelt, his hand deeper, his face between her thighs now until her stickiness spread past his lips, all over his chin, and she moaned, trying to hide the sounds from the outside world. The heat seemed trapped inside their bodies, spreading and trying to push out. Pushed and pushed until her legs clamped his face and she moved her head. Opened her eyes to look at him. He was panting. When he leaned back her hand slid out between his legs.
After Karl visits Nigeria and falls in love with Janoma, the two young lovers have a hideaway to have sex for the first time, after their previous attempt was interrupted. The scene works so well because it’s not trying too hard or taking itself too seriously. It’s honest and short and awkward, but it’s satisfying.
The Joys of Motherhood by Buchi Emecheta He found himself rolling towards her, giving her nipples gentle lover’s bites, letting his tongue glide down the hollow in the center of her breasts and then back again. He caressed her thigh with his good hand, moving to her small night lappa and fingering her coral waist-beads. Ona gasped and opened her eyes. She wanted to scream. But Agbadi was faster, more experienced. He slid on his belly, like a big black snake, and covered her mouth with his. He di not let her mouth free for a long time. She struggled fiercely like a trapped animal, but Agbadi was becoming himself again. He was still weak, but not weak enough to ignore his desire. He worked on her, breaking down all her resistance. He stroked and explored with his perfect hand, banking heavily on the fact that Ona was a woman, a mature woman, who had had him many a time. And he was right. Her struggling and kicking lessened. She stared to moan and groan instead, like a woman in labor. He kept on, and would not let go, so masterfully was he in this art. He knew he had reduced her to longing and craving for him. He knew he had won. He wanted her completely humiliated in her burning desire. And Ona knew. So she tried to counteract her feelings in the only way she guessed would not give her away.
“I know you are too ill to take me,” she murmured.
“No, my Ona, I am waiting for you to be ready.”
She felt like screaming to let free the burning of her body. How could one’s body betray one so! She should have got up and run out, but something was holding her there; she did not know what and she did not care. She wanted to be relieved of the fire inside her. “Please, I am in pain.”
She melted and could say no more. She wept and the sobs she was trying to suppress shook her whole being. He felt it, chuckled, and remarked thickly, “Please, Ona, don’t wake the whole household.”
Either she did not hear, or he wanted her to do just that, for he gave her two painful bites in between her breasts, and she in desperation clawed at him, and was grateful when at last she felt him inside her.
He came deceptively gently, and so unprepared was she for the passionate thrust which followed that she screamed, so piercingly that she was even surprised at her own voice: “Agbadi, you are splitting me in two!’
Suddenly the whole compound seemed to be filled with moving people. A voice, a male voice, which later she recognized to be that of Agbadi’s friend Obi Idayi, shouted from the corner of the courtyard: “Agbadi! Agbadi! Are you alright?”
Again came the law laughter Ona loved and yet loathed so much. “I am fine, my friend. You go to sleep. I am only giving my woman her pleasures.”
Emecheta weaved in sexual tension and even elicited a couple of laughs in such a sad story. And the build-up of anticipation? Oh boy!
“Solutions” by Howard Maximus, fromThe Vanguard Book of Love Stories THE FIRST TIME Papa V. asked Lucy to spend the night, she shaved and brought coconut oil for massage. In Vanessa’s bedroom—for he couldn’t take Lucy to his matrimonial bed just yet—, they kissed and fondled each other for several minutes, she telling him how good he looked for a man his age, his body toned and his belly flat enough, and he pecking and necking and smacking and moaning, massaging and then more kissing, but when she was ready to receive him, Papa V. did not rise….
The day it finally happened, Papa V. came to his room to find Lucy dressed in his late wife’s clothes. She wore the same woody perfume his late wife wore. She would later tell him how Vanessa had come up with this when she had gone to their university to visit and that had come up. “You bring up our sex life with my kids?” he’d ask, and she would tell him how desperate she was to make it work. Now, they were lying close to each other, overwhelmed by the fact that they had finally done it, when Papa started to apologize.
In the coming days, he would try all the things she wanted to try. On one night, she would be the queen and he would be the slave, going down on his knees, following her around the room; on another, she would be a celebrity and he would be a fan, and on another, she would be a naughty doctor and he would be a patient; but always, it ended in disappointing sighs, Papa V. rising a little, and then falling like a limp-stalked plant.
The lovers finally have sex after several attempts. I love that Maximus spotlights an unlikely couple, shows sex can be awkward and people don’t always get it right the first time.
“Lost Stars” from A Broken People’s Playlist by Chiemeka Garricks When I returned on Thursday, I went to your flat at Stadium Road. Famished, we didn’t make it to your bedroom. We tore at each other’s clothes, but gave up mid-way and merged, half-dressed on your living-room wall. As your face headed down between my legs, as always, we paused for a moment and chuckled, because we remembered – the first time you ate me, my first time ever, I farted uncontrollably through a long orgasm, and you rolled off and laughed till I joined in. Thursday was kisses, bites, sweat, thrusts and screams – a frenzied mauling because there was no tomorrow. Liquid electric, it coursed through every cell, jolted my body alive, but felt good for my spirit like a homecoming. Eventually, we collapsed to the floor beside your door. After, we stumbled to your room where we drank wine, cuddled, and ribbed each other. Then we did it again, slower, bodies rhyming gently, because of scarred souls. Then we napped (different sides of the bed because I disliked being cuddled when I slept), woke, and talked. It was when you touched my head that I realised my wig had fallen off.
Writers often get it wrong with using metaphors for sex. But the unexpectedness of this scene in the story and the awkwardness right after the sex made it feel… authentic.
A Bouquet of Dilemma by Tayo Emmanuel He is singing into my ears now. It’s Boyz 2 Men’s I’ll make love to you. That’s the only thing he needs to do to keep me going. My breathing becomes heavier as I remove his shirt and my clothes. He goes on kissing me and humming at the same time. My hands and mouth are all over him with sheer hungry passion, caressing, kissing, handling. I feel his erection, yet he is not hurrying me, in fact he is trying to slow me down, but I am past that point of no return. I am afraid if I stop now, I will never get around it with him and I want him so bad. My whole body is taut and tingling and sultry; how do you ever find the right words at this moment? I am on the bed, naked and ready; he manages to extract and wear a condom before lying down next to me. He is still humming, more quietly, when I feel him inside me. Gently at first, then getting bigger and pushing deeper. Must pain and pleasure always go together, I wonder. It’s a sticky burning sensation, it’s consuming, it’s liberating; I’m crying and shouting his name and he is shouting mine too and it seems like I am about to faint, but I don’t. I feel some more stickiness, then silence. “I love you so much, baby.”
“I love you too.”
Is it a little cheesy and matter-of-fact? But it’s urgent and provocative; it gets the people going.
An insightful article. Most Africans are traditionally raised as prudes, but on the primal instinct level like the rest of the human species, there's a strong, burning sexual desire to burst loose when no close associates or fam's watching... Lol.
That's the core reason for most of the African writers toning down the erotic imagery in their novels.
[quote author=AnonPoet post=115240829]APC Presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu attends Senator Kashim Shettima's daughter's wedding in Maiduguri with other notable leaders across party lines. https:///e1gHh6Kv0p
prof2007: A foreign exchange (forex) trader based in Kano State, Mr Abubakar Ibrahim, has landed in a bowl of hot soup over his failure to keep to his words. Mr Ibrahim had promised to deliver a 30-35% monthly return on investment (ROI) to an investor, who eventually gave him N7.6 million for a try.
It was gathered that the money was given to the suspect through one of his agents, Mr Umar Kabir, and after the investment, the 30 to 35% ROI was never delivered as promised. This prompted the investor to approach the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to help him recover his hard-earned money.
According to the EFCC, which arraigned Mr Ibrahim before Justice Lewis Allagoa of the Federal High Court, sitting in Kano, on Friday, October 16, 2020, on a five-count charge of money laundering, the suspect allegedly engaged in forex trading through his Flexus Global Investment without duly registering with SCUML (acronym for Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering, issued by the EFCC).
SCUML was established by the federal government in September 2005 as part of measures for implementation of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Recommendations on Anti- Money Laundering/Combating the Financing. It is charged with responsibility of monitoring, supervising and regulating activities of Designated Non-Financial Institutions (DNFIs).
At the court, the EFCC informed the judge that efforts to make the suspect refund the sum invested to the complainant were futile and when the charges were read to him, he pleaded “not guilty.”
“That you, Abubakar Ibrahim (being the Managing Director of Flexus Global Investment Ltd) while acting in such capacity, sometimes in 2019 in Kano, Kano State within the jurisdiction of this court, did fail to declare the existence of your company with Special Control Unit Against Money Laundry (SCUML) before commencing business under the name Flexus Global Investment Limited and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 5(1) (a) (i) and punishable under Section 5(6) (a) & (b) of Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 (As Amended),” one of the counts read.
In view of his plea, the prosecution counsel, Mr Michael Ojo, asked the court for a date to commence trial and that the accused person be remanded in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Service. However, the defence counsel, H.A Hamza, urged the court to admit the defendant to bail. This bail application was granted by Justice Allagoa in the sum of N50 million with one surety in like sum.
The surety must be the owner of a landed property within Kano metropolis, which shall be verified by the registry of the court, the judge held and adjourned the case to November 19, 2020, for trial.
prof2007: Nigerian artist, Toyin Odutola, is now the third highest paid Nigerian artist, after her drawing, ‘Compound Leaf‘ was sold for £471,000 (N215 million) at the Sotheby. According to reports, Odutola’s groundbreaking sales have surpassed sales made by artists like Njideka Akunyili-Crosby, and the legendary Ben Enwonwu.
Art as a coping mechanism: For Odutola, art serves as her coping mechanism since she moved from Nigeria to America as a child. The shock from her transition resulted in her questioning her identity. She began drawing to escape from her thoughts which further transformed into an “investigative, learning activity” for her.
Speaking with Vogue about how art helped her escape, she said, “I was obsessed. Capturing everything I saw and being fascinated with the incredibly simple task of looking at something and transmitting it onto paper. It’s immediate magic.”
Odutola creates multimedia drawings on various surfaces, investigating formulaic representations and how such images can be unreliable, systemic and socially-coded.
Exhibitions: Odutola has participated in so many exhibitions at various institutions, such as The Drawing Center, New York (2018—19); Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (2017—18); Brooklyn Museum, New York (2016). She also exhibited at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis (2015); Studio Museum Harlem, New York (2015, 2012); Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield (2013); and Menil Collection, Houston, (2012).
Her collections: Her permanent collections include Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Birmingham Museum of Art, Baltimore Museum of Art and New Orleans Museum of Art. Odutola’s collections have also been displayed in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Princeton University Art Museum, Spencer Museum of Art, Honolulu Museum of Art, and the National Museum of African Art (Smithsonian).
prof2007: Despite growing demand for Irish Potato locally and its potential at the international market, Nigeria is yet to tap into this opportunity, as the country struggles to fill the huge supply deficit.
Irish potatoes are shrubby perennials with edible tubers, grown as cool-weather annuals in rows, raised beds, or containers. The starchy tubers quickly became one of the world’s most important and nutritious foods, behind only corn, wheat and rice.
The product comes in different varieties, colours and shapes and has multitudinous uses aside the normal nutritious value. Different countries of the world have institutionalised their cultivation for both export and local consumption. It contains 2% protein and 18% starch. It is an inexpensive source of carbohydrates and, when prepared properly, provide good amounts of vitamins and minerals.
Its fibers help to lower blood cholesterol levels; it has a great source of potassium, which also plays an important role in lowering blood pressure. Vitamin B6 in the product is very useful in maintaining brain and nervous system health. It also helps in prevention of common cold and scurvy.
Irish Potato is a cool-season crop, which grows best in early spring and late fall when days are warm and nights cool. However, the tops of the plant cannot withstand frost. It has many varieties with different skin colours — red flesh, white flesh and yellow flesh. The most common ones are the red and the white skin, but the red variety stays longer than the white. Irish is a staple food classified under vegetable.
In recent years, Irish Potato has witnessed a growing demand. This comes mainly from consumers who have come to realise its health benefits. Not only that, new ways of preparing this tuber crop has made it more attractive. Irish Potatoes are consumed in a variety of ways. Some of these include fried chips, porridge, baked, mashed potatoes, as well as roasted potato among others.
But despite the benefits and potential of this crop, the country’s production level is still minimal. It is unfortunate that despite the country’s enormous land surface used for crop production, Nigeria ranks 4th among the continent’s leading Irish potato producing countries. Egypt is Africa’s leading Irish potato producer with 5,029,022 tonnes yearly production, followed by Algeria with 4,782,690 tonnes, while South Africa ranks 3rd with 2,150,844 tonnes a year.
China is the largest potato producer in the world with 99,122,420 tonnes of production volume per year. India comes 2nd with 43,770,000 tonnes yearly production. Russian Federation ranks 3rd with 31,107,797 tonnes yearly production.
In Nigeria, Plateau State is the major producers of Irish potatoes. Other places with high altitudes are Mambilla Plateau, Taraba State and Obudu, Cross River State. Irish potato can grow well during harmattan when the North is generally cold. Places like Zaria, Kaduna State, Borno and some parts of Nsukka in Enugu State.
Despite the progress made in potato development in Nigeria, there are still some constraints, which limit its production, processing and marketing. These include inadequate supply of good quality seeds, inadequate storage facilities, poor diseases and pests’ management, which affects yield and value addition to the potato crop.
According to a produce exporter, Jeremiah Ogu, who revealed there is a huge deficit in supply of the produce, he said there is a need for government to support farmers not only to meet domestic demand but also to serve as a foreign exchange earner for the country.
“We can only maximise the potential of this crop when people begin to cultivate the crop in large quantity. High-profit turnover is an incentive you do not want to ignore. Plateau State is a major producer of this crop in Nigeria but it is mostly cultivated through manual labour. Government can assist farmers to embark on mechanised farming to aid commercial production.”
It was learnt that the potato production from Plateau State, according to PotatoPRO.com, a leading information source for the global potato industry, contributed to the current status of the country in sub-Saharan Africa, yet the country is lagging behind.
Umar Abbas, Chairman of, Irish potato sellers association in Kaduna, who has been selling the product for over 25 years at Bakin Dogo market in Kaduna State, said one of the challenges faced by traders is the perishable nature of the produce. “Whoever is into the business is aware of its perishable nature. Sometimes, we buy in large quantity only for it to get spoilt at the end and we have to dispose of them. We usually encounter this loss often.
“The major support these businessmen require is finance because everything about business involves finance. Post-harvest management with selling perishable goods and price instability of Irish potatoes is also a challenge.”
According to a farmer, who has been cultivating the crop for over 20 years in Jos, John Kpong, the problem of inadequate dams and road networks, coupled with diseases such as blight and bacterial wilt, as well as poor seedlings are major factors reducing production yield in the country. He added that low yields, poor seedlings, high cost of fertilizer and other farming inputs have also continued to pose a major setback in the production of sufficient potatoes for the nation and for export.
“We have the potential of producing enough for local consumption. It will also be our joy to sell our products to other countries, but some of the challenges facing us must be tackled headlong. The fact remains that we need government’s support to maximize the profit potential of this crop for local use and export.”
Few months ago, the Federal Government commenced capacity building for farmers in some of the Irish potato producing states. Director, Federal Department of Agriculture (FDA), Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), Karima Babangida, said the initiative was in the pursuit of food security and nutrition for the country. He expressed hope that if capacity building is achieved the narratives about farming as a culture will change to farming as a business.
prof2007: Dark of night was gradually yielding dominance to first light when 75-year-old Yemi Oluwole, a pensioner, took a spot on his veranda. He sat quietly on a sofa, watching forlornly as strangers armed with hand diggers, shovels and buckets stumped along the dusty road that snaked through his frontage to sites they have forcefully taken and converted to gold mining fields in his Itagunmodi village in Osun State.
Oluwole’s expansive farm is one of the hijacked sites, and according to him, the once quiet community has since lost its tranquility to invasion by armed artisanal miners comprising persons from different parts of the country and foreigners alike, including Chinese, Malians and Nigerien nationals.
“Those boys have violated our land and it’s so bad that our traditional ruler was kidnapped and beaten by the criminals before he could escape, yet government folds its hands and watches them steal our assets. When I retired as a civil servant in a ministry in Osogbo, I went into farming to feed my family because my meagre monthly pension is irregular. But everything has gone now; miners have turned our farms to mining fields,” the distressed septuagenarian, who retired into farming about 15 years ago, told our correspondent.
Oluwole is not the only person affected by illegal mining, many others in the community and similar ones have lost their land and livelihoods to the miners.
DEBTS IN THE MIDST OF WEALTH Meanwhile, inability to pay pensioners promptly is one of Osun State’s economic challenges, despite its enviable gold deposits. The state, like many others endowed with solid minerals, has been enmeshed in huge debts.
As of June 30, 2021, records from the Debt Management Office showed Osun State owed N133.36bn in domestic debt and $90.38m external, as of 30 June 2020. About 2 months ago, Governor Adegboyega Oyetola disclosed the state had no money to finance infrastructure, and his administration had to prioritise payment of salaries and pensions. Sadly, the latter has not even been paid up to date. Yet, migrants are stealing the state’s treasure that ordinarily should turn its fortunes around.
Globally, gold is a treasured, high-priced mineral. In the international market, an ounce of gold, as of Thursday, was about $1,806. According to the 2016 Mining Growth Roadmap by the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, Nigeria has an untapped 200m ounces of gold, scattered across about 13 states, Osun inclusive. Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo affirmed this figure at a forum in June 2020. Thus, gold alone could fetch Nigeria trillions in dollars, even when the cost of production is deducted.
But for years, government abandoned it and other solid minerals, making it an all-comers affair for illegal and artisanal miners who remit almost nothing to it, while the country battles incredibly low revenue, compelling it to borrow on-stop to the tune of N35tn at the moment, with plans to borrow even more (about N6.2tn in 2022) to finance the budget.
ILLEGAL MINING A NATIONAL EMBARRASSMENT From Itagunmodi to Igun, Iyere, Igila and other poor, gold-bearing communities in Osun State and Kwali, Daki Takwas, Zugu, Wawan Icce, Yan Kaura and other gold-bearing communities in Zamfara State, and some other states, illegal mining is rife and appears to have come to stay.
President Buhari, Minister of Mines and Steel Development Olamilekan Adegbite, Governors Oyetola of Osun and Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State, and others have condemned the prevalence and involvement of foreigners but nothing has changed.
In addition to those who do it for survival and other economic considerations, some of the miners are believed to be working for top monarchs and government officials, while some security agents protect them on the mining fields. Oluwo of Iwo in Osun State, Oba Abdulrosheed Akanbi, blamed politicians and traditional rulers as sponsors of the miners.
MINING POLICE & MINING BAN To solve the problem, the President in October 2020 set up a mining police, comprising Inspector-General of Police, Chief of Army Staff, National Security Adviser and others, but one year after, the illicit practice continues unabated.
Even when the President banned mining activities in Zamfara State and declared the state a “no fly zone” due to worsening insecurity, illegal miners simply relocated to Osun State to continue their activities. Instructively, after the ban, two Chinese were arrested for illegal mining. Adegbite later revealed that the miners were working for “Nigerians in high positions of authority” who were mounting pressure on the government to release them.
So far, hundreds of illegal gold miners have been arrested, including some Chinese nationals, but the activity festers like a bad sore. On 4 May 2020 alone, 17 Chinese, 10 locals and one community leader were arrested in Ilesa and Ife areas by Amotekun corps. “The Chinese are the main culprits. Taking gold out of Nigeria illegally is economic sabotage because if you look at the quantum, the value is huge,” Adegbite added.
MASSIVE LOSS OF REVENUE With the huge revenue the country is losing, Minister of State in the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, Uche Ogah, advocated capital punishment for culprits. He lamented that private jet owners were aiding gold smuggling.
Sadly, despite volume of activities on mining fields and increasing number of miners, revenue from the sector has remained paltry. Between January and August 2021, Nigeria earned only N2.44bn as minerals and mining revenue, which is less than 1% of N754.16bn received as oil revenue within same period.
Similarly, in 2019, the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative said royalties received from 39 minerals was N2.50bn, with limestone contributing 37.68%, granite 31.31% and gold 0.26%, despite volume of mining activities by illegal miners. The FG revealed the country loses $9bn to illegal mining annually, with little revenue in the sector coming from the 3% royalty paid by few licensed miners.
WHY ARTISANAL MINERS & NOT BIG INVESTORS DOMINATE Findings by our correspondent revealed that dearth of licensed investors in the sector is largely due to absence of a gold policy and lack of detailed geoscience data that can promote the country’s resource potential, drive investment and help investors make informed decisions.
While many countries, including Ghana, South Africa, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea Bissau and Asian countries like China and European countries like Russia, have attracted big investors to mine their gold and generating sizeable revenue from the value chain, Nigeria only began the process of coming up with the all-important geoscience data a few years ago.
Director-General of the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency, the agency saddled with the responsibility of generating geoscience data, Dr Abdulrazaq Garba, affirmed that absence of data had made the sector unattractive to big investors. He however pointed out that the National Integrated Mineral Exploration Project, anchored by the ministry and the agency, was among other things, focusing on generating the data.
He told our correspondent in an interview, “You asked why investors are not coming? It is because we didn’t generate our geoscience data in the acceptable format, which is why there is a proliferation of artisanal mining and not the big mining companies. If you don’t have the data, you won’t attract attention. That is essentially what NIMEP is working on providing and our people are on the field already.
“It is an expensive venture but President Buhari is committed to it. If we had started this 10 to 15 years ago, we would have passed this stage and in this time of scarce resources, revenue from that sector would have complemented our revenue, but we depended so much on oil. However, it’s good we are doing it now. Saudi Arabia mines lead, gold and others today because they invested so much of their oil revenue in developing other mineral types. So, if other countries can do it, why can’t Nigeria?”
Garba noted the ongoing process had also helped discover new minerals. “For example, somewhere close to FCT, we were working on gold when we discovered that we have high concentration of wolframite used in toughening steel,” he added. He said if the mineral was found in economic quantity, it would be helpful when Ajaokuta Steel starts operation and could also be exported. In addition to geoscience data, NEITI urged government to expedite action on the proposed national gold policy to arrest further revenue loss and return sanity to gold mining to make it attractive to world class investors.
Also, Vice Chairman, Kian Smith Trade & Co., Ms Nere Teriba, stated that with its huge potential, Nigeria needed a gold policy, adding, “The policy for mining is there and it’s fine. If there is any issue with it, maybe it’s enforcement. The biggest focus for the government should first be the policy for gold.”
NIGERIA’S ENVIABLE MINERAL DEPOSITS Nigeria is blessed with many minerals, in addition to limestone, crude and a few others already being exploited. Garba revealed that there are about 44 mineral types in 450 locations across the 774 local governments, adding that until their economic quantity was ascertained, they should be regarded as occurrences rather than deposits, even though they have potential for development.
Garba said Nigeria has “very vast” gold with occurrences in Niger, Osun, Kebbi, Kaduna, Kogi, Kwara, Zamfara, Katsina, Kano, Nasarawa and Bauchi states and the Federal Capital Territory, while Wolframite has occurrences in Kaduna, Kano, Bauchi, Niger, Kwara, Zamfara and Nasarawa states same way Lithium has “vast” occurrences and could be found in Nasarawa, Kwara, Kaduna, Niger and Zamfara states.
In Ebonyi, Zamfara, Plateau states, some parts of Benue State and the FCT, there is silver, while Copper associated with minerals like lead could be found in Bauchi, Zamfara, FCT and parts of Nasarawa State. He added, “We also have platinum group elements, cobalt and graphite and from our geophysical investigation, the quality of the graphite we have is good.”
NEITI also added that minerals occurrences in Nigeria include granite aggregate, Laterite, Coal, Shale, Columbite, Tin Ore, Gypsum, Feldspar, Marble, Dolomite, Tantalite, Kaoline, Fluorite, QUARTZ, Basalt, Talc, Manganese, Barites, Zircon, and precious stones like Tourmaline, Topaz, Sapphire, Amethyst and Garnet.
SUFFERING AMIDST PLENTY Meanwhile, despite being rich in these high-valued minerals, Nigeria has not only left them in the hands of illegal miners, it also spends its limited forex to import some of the minerals. “That is the irony of Nigeria; it imports what it has in abundance and leaves its own resources untapped,” said Dr Akinwumi Adesina, President of the AfDB in his virtual address at the inauguration of Rotimi Akeredolu as governor of Ondo State in February 2021.
For example, Nigeria has huge bitumen deposit – the largest in Africa and one of the largest in the world, but Minister of Works and Housing Babatunde Fashola revealed that government spends millions of dollars to import 0.5m metric tonnes of bitumen for road construction annually.
Adesina noted in the address, “Total value of bitumen reserves in Nigeria could be worth up to $1.5tn, with estimated 16 billion barrels in Ondo State alone. Potential state wealth from bitumen alone could be worth $657bn. The paradox however is that Nigeria spends over N300bn importing bitumen.”
NEITI admitted in its latest report that increased activities in gold mining in recent years did not reflect in production volumes or royalty payments, adding, “Gold has potential to attract foreign exchange for Nigeria. Unfortunately, the mineral has not received the attention it deserves in form of investments. This has been left at artisanal operation and mostly smuggled out of the country.”
While FG’s debt stood at N35tn, the 36 states and FCT that bear the 44 minerals are also enmeshed in debts. Their domestic debts alone was about N4tn as of March 2021, with a state like Zamfara – despite its gold reserve – having N101bn domestic debt as of 30 June 2021 and external debt of $29.64m as of 30 June 2020. In spite of these, governments at all levels are on a borrowing spree to meet their obligations.
Adesina, at the Mid-Term Ministerial Performance Review Retreat organised by the President in October, stressed that the debt issue should be addressed, as he noted that Nigeria’s debt service to revenue ratio was high at 73%.
NIGERIANS PAYING FOR COST OF NEGLECT The country’s forex earnings have largely been limited to oil revenue accounting for 75.4% of export revenue and 50% of government revenue, which could have been complemented by revenue from solid minerals. Consequently, dollar scarcity has made the naira volatile, pushing the exchange rate to N580 in September. This has however led to high cost of goods, and the impact is severe for many, given the unemployment rate of 27.1% and minimum wageof N30,000 (about $72.9).
Meanwhile, Oyedele noted that the solid minerals sector, if developed, “would provide a source of revenue diversification for the country, including forex earnings to strengthen the Naira in addition to economic development and massive job creation all of which would lead to more revenue for government at all levels.”
IILLEGAL MINING A GLOBAL CHALLENGE Interestingly, illegal mining is not limited to Nigeria. From Ghana to South Africa, India and several other countries, it is a challenge, but due to regulation and ability to attract major players to the sector, other countries make substantial revenue from mining and it contributes significantly to their GDP.
In 2019 for example, the National Bureau of Statistics report showed that mining and quarrying contributed a meagre 0.26%t to Nigeria’s GDP. In same year, mining and quarrying contributed 12.6% to Ghana’s GDP; contributed 8.2% to South Africa’s GDP and 15.1% to Botswana’s GDP.
The Global Mining Industry Development 2019 Report released by the China Geology Survey under the country’s Ministry of Natural Resources showed that mining contributed over 20% of GDP in over 20 countries, including African countries such as Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo and Equatorial Guinea.
On how Nigeria’s wealth is being siphoned through smuggling, Teriba, who spoke in an interview with CNBC, said government could discourage smuggling by making royalty payable on gold to be commensurate with neighbouring countries, adding that this should be complemented by value addition to gold given the huge demand for products like jewellery by Nigerians.
She added, “If you have Benin Republic and Togo charging 0% royalty, Niger Republic1% and Nigeria 3%, coupled with open borders as a result of ECOWAS treaty, it is regular economics; gold will go to where it is zero per cent.”
NIGERIA, A GIANT MISSING IN aACTION Despite having huge reserves, Nigeria the giant of Africa, is missing among the big players. Only Ghana, having been able to develop its solid minerals sector, is the only African country among the top 10 gold producers in the world. The World Gold Council in its 2020 ranking released in June 2021 ranked China as the first, followed by Russia, Australia, United States, Canada, Ghana, Brazil, Uzbekistan, Mexico and Indonesia.
Interestingly, Nigeria had a remarkable history in mining, starting with ore mining in 1902, gold in 1914 and coal in 1916, all of which contributed greatly to its development and industrialisation. Specifically, it contributed to construction of its first power plant, rail infrastructure as well as industrial complexes, until things slipped into inertia when government took over mining from foreign companies.
At the moment, only about 4 gold refineries have been licensed in Nigeria, including Kian Smith Trade and Co., Segilola Gold Mining Company, which is listed on the stock exchange for gold mineralisation in Nigeria, and Dukia Gold.
IIN SEARCH OF URGENT & EFFECTIVE SOLUTIONS Economists and other stakeholders told our correspondent government needs to do more, including formulating right policies and creating investor-friendly environment, if it hopes to generate revenue from the sector.
“Nobody eats potential,” the AfDB president said, pointing out that the insecurity shrinking the investible space should be addressed and the structural bottlenecks limiting productivity and revenue earning potential of the huge non-oil sector removed. “Nigeria should significantly boost productivity and revenues from its non-oil sector,” he added.
But according to a former Minister of Education, Prof. Tunde Adeniran, states should be allowed to tap their resources and pay taxes to the FG. “The constitution that gives the federating units the right to tap their resources and pay taxes to the FG is what we need. These minerals will be properly harnessed for development by the states,” he added.
Speaking on this suggestion as previously canvassed by many other persons, Oyedele said this would help to address neglect of the sector but that more should be done for a definitive impact. He added, “The biggest issue is with respect to ensuring that we have investors-friendly policies and legal framework as well as a safe and secured environment for private sector investors, both domestic and international, to come into the sector.”
Similarly, Teriba stressed need for Nigeria to work on adding value to its gold to maximise revenue. “In Kano market, they have about 20,000 visitors from across West Africa, so the potential is huge,” she said. “From our research, if you go to Italy, Dubai, India, they know Nigerians when talking about Africans who come to buy gold, so the demand is there.”
A political economist, Prof Pat Utomi, shared a similar view. He said Nigeria should be talking about how to add value to its gold as it would generate more revenue and create jobs. He explained a model he believed could work, “We can have an integrated produce and mining city, about 500-hectare estate, which would be focused on mineral beneficiation – value addition.
He stated, “Artisanal miners from several states would go there with their gold. We can locate one or two central processing beneficiation units and add value to them there. Those who want to use the products locally or export would buy from there. You tax the people working in this vast industry and you would generate revenue. That is what we have failed to do. We will make a lot of forex if we adopt this approach because we are adding value to our mineral.”
He stressed that gold was more profitable when value had been added to it, noting that raw gold sold for N100,000 by a miner could be worth $20,000 once value had been added to it. He added, “Chinese and others are taking away these minerals and making huge money from them outside the country, whereas we could have created hundreds of thousands of jobs from that value chain. Government would generate revenue from taxes on the products and on those jobs. That is a lot more than whatever you would get from the raw gold or the stones.”
Meanwhile, the US Agency for International Development warned that illegal and unregulated mining generates billions of dollars in illicit funds for crime, contribute to armed conflict, fund criminal networks, damage the environment and deprive the populace of widespread prosperity they are entitled to. These might continue to be Nigeria’s lot if it fails to quickly sanitise the sector.
MALIGNANTGuest: Hello, Vacation tour continues unabatedly to Maryland.
Here are a few pictures of my departure & arrival at the Baltimore/Washington Intl. Airport.
Took off at 11: 55pm Californian Time & expected 2 arrive 6:45am EastAtlantic Time (Baltimore).
JOURNEY was completely free of turbulence except at its concluding partpart when we had few but mild turbulences. Journey took the entire Night..... We had a Full Airplane as passengers were majorly heading for vacation too.
Catch a Glimpse of the pictures as they get uploaded in their numbers. Started with DEPARTURE @ LAX Airport in Los Angeles, California! This is just for your information & the glory of Nairaland. Pix 1, 2, 3, 4...... Heading to catch up with my Flight!
Foreign Affairs › Re: Rare Phenomenon Ship In The UK Floats In The Sky(photos) by AlphaTaikun: 4:48pm On Aug 03, 2022
