₦airaland Forum

Soon the intentions will be clear...

The "fake it till you make it" crowd has left the room.

Well, if the US won't provide military aid to Nigeria to fight these militants (that are rising from the instability of Libya, the Middle East and other nefarious players in the Sahel region), the FG should seek support from other parties like China and Russia.

The priority of the FG should be security of the Nigerian border, regardless of the forces at play.

May he be restored to good health in Christ's name 🙏

“If you collect taxes, you raise the money now, and that itself has a lot of trade-offs. What taxes are you collecting? If you collect taxes from the most vulnerable, you deprive them of money to provide food, healthcare and education...

At least he said this publicly. So when will be a good time to raise the taxes? Because your government has not only raised taxes on vulnerable Nigerians, you have also not plugged the multiple taxations.

If you followed the last post, you either have a finished product or a very clear outline of one.

Today we answer the question that comes next, almost immediately, for everyone:

"Okay. I have a product. But how do I get people to buy it when nobody knows who I am?"

This is the right question. And the answer is more practical and less complicated than most people expect.

First — let's kill a myth.

The myth is that marketing requires either a large audience or money for ads.

Neither is true when you are just starting out.

In fact, throwing money at ads before you have validated that your product sells is one of the fastest ways to waste the small capital you have.

Ads amplify what already works. They do not fix what doesn't.

If nobody is buying your product organically, ads will mostly show it to more people who also don't buy it.

Start with free. Prove it works. Then consider ads later, if at all.

Here are six channels that work in the Nigerian market, require zero budget, and between them can get your first ten to fifty buyers without you needing a following, a podcast, or a verified account anywhere.

malali:
EBITDA is not profit, and profit is not cash in the bank. Dangote's $5.5 billion headline sounds impressive, but it excludes interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, and says nothing by itself about capital expenditure, debt repayments or free cash flow.

A refinery of this scale is still in its early operating phase; record margins and high throughput today do not prove it can sustain those economics through a full market cycle. We need audited results, several consecutive quarters of net profit and positive free cash flow before declaring victory.

Investors are buying a business, not a billionaire's projections. Show us the cash left after the bills, the debt and the reinvestment, not just the EBITDA used to sell the IPO.

This part. That statement was part of the share sale presentation, so basically, it's a pitch to more subscribers. And most subscribers are actually buying the "billionaire's projections".

Audited results over a few consecutive quarters will show the true picture. Not to talk of the potential unravelling from the geopolitical arena.

The implied third-quarter margin of about $54 a barrel is well above the prospectus guidance of $24.20 for 2026. Margins could also narrow quickly if the Iran war and the disruption to Russian fuel supply ease.

Interestingly, the US midterms is on November 3. That could change a lot of dynamics for the energy market. Russia and Iran are watching as hawks. Even the Saudis and Houthis are also looking at the tide.

The offer has been extended to October 27, on the need to give prospective buyers across Africa more time to access the share sale, and Dangote said subscriptions were “more than three or four times” the amount sought.

2 weeks extension despite being over-subscribed?? Hmm!

Looking forward to how geopolitics will impact the Q4 result.

If you have taken any of the actions so far, feel free to share your thoughts to help others.

One last thing on this part.

There is no perfect product. There is only a product that exists and one that does not.

The freelancer who puts out a 12-page imperfect guide this Saturday will earn more than the person who spends three months perfecting a 40-page guide they never release.

Done is better. Release is better. Sold is better.

Build it. Put it out. Improve it later based on what buyers say.

Drop in the comments: what is your product title? Use the formula.

Write it out even if it is rough.

Take that action today.

Remember, only action-takers see results.

Follow the thread. Let's build.

And yet, global institutions are still lending money to this nation.

This is not sustainable.

Lagos life... It's not for the weak.

Keep your eyes peeled. Always.
Find a reasonable community early on (Church/Mosque, Relevant associations).
Sync with the hustle and bustle (especially the transport part). It's useless fighting it when you're not financially settled. Rush when necessary. Walk when you can.
Above all, have a positive mindset.

Gotocourt:
Tax will run that business down.

Local government will come.
Environmental,
State revenue,
Federal revenue,
Regulatory bodies

This. Especially for those that have physical offices.

And it seems just worse in Lagos, with their unending multiple taxation on different fronts.

ppogba:
If a fool could know that he wouldn't have said it then........

The insults are not necessary.

There is this saying: "as you make your bed, so you must lie on it."

Trump conveniently forgets Congress exists because they have continued to sublet their authority to him. Why are they acting as if they are now important?

This is the kind of leader that turns their followers into jokers. Who will ever take them serious?

Olamideayomide:
We are just crazy in this world sef.

Negotiating to have peace of mind, what a crazy world.

"Peace is a beautiful thing. Making peace, not so much."

We want long-term peace and are prepared to do everything possible to achieve it.

Let's even assume that's true. How come you have not removed your troops from the Donbass region and Crimea?

After that, you could also Pressure Ukraine to let those areas hold a referendum to stay in Ukraine or become independent.

Simple something.

Russia has long pressed Ukraine to hold elections and claims that its failure to do so makes Zelensky an illegitimate leader. Elections in wartime are prohibited by Ukrainian law.

Russia just like doing the selective thing.

They know Ukrainian law but they would rather ignore it for their own agenda.

School is never the problem. It's not a waste. It's about how we handle it.

During school, learn a skill and start to use it. Don't focus only on academics, except you want to further in the academics or you have a good support system.

If you're done from school, it's not too late as well. The pressure might just be higher.

Zelenskyy:

It's more difficult to stop Putin than to pressure others.

That quote says it all.

For those who have decided to ignore history (because that's what it looks like from some of the comments here), let's refresh our memories:

1. The Breakup (1991)

Imagine the Soviet Union as a giant, noisy apartment complex. In 1991, the lease expired, the building collapsed, and 15 independent nations walked away. Russia was the biggest roommate, and Ukraine was the second biggest. They agreed to go their separate ways, but Russia never quite accepted that Ukraine had moved on to live its own life.

2. The Nuclear Pinky Promise (1994)

When the USSR dissolved, Ukraine inherited the world's third-largest nuclear arsenal. Since keeping atomic bombs in your basement makes neighbors nervous, the U.S., the UK, and Russia convinced Ukraine to hand them over. In exchange, everyone signed the Budapest Memorandum, promising never to threaten or invade Ukraine.

Spoiler alert: Promises in international politics don't always come with a lifetime warranty.

3. The Neighbor Next Door Expands (1990s–2000s)

Meanwhile, NATO—the military club formed by Western nations to counter the Soviet Union—didn't disband after the Cold War. Instead, it invited several former Eastern Bloc countries to join. Russia viewed this as a pushy neighbor moving their fence closer year after year, claiming it violated unwritten agreements.

4. Enter Vladimir Putin (1999–Present)

Enter Vladimir Putin, a former KGB officer who viewed the fall of the USSR as a tragedy. His worldview is simple: Russia must be a global superpower again, and Ukraine is culturally and historically inseparable from Russia.

Ukraine, however, preferred to align itself with Europe—its democracy, trade rules, and lifestyle. This fundamental disagreement set the two nations on a collision course.

5. The Breakup Gets Messy (2014)

In early 2014, Ukrainian citizens protested and ousted their pro-Russian president after he canceled a deal to build closer ties with the European Union.

Furious at losing his political influence in Kyiv, Putin launched a covert operation. Russian troops without military patches ("little green men" seized Crimea. At the same time, Russia backed armed separatists in eastern Ukraine (the Donbas region), starting a low-intensity war that dragged on for eight years.

6. The Full-Scale Invasion (2022)

On February 24, 2022, Putin escalated the conflict by launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Russia’s goal was to capture Kyiv, overthrow President Volodymyr Zelensky, and install a friendly government in a matter of days.

Instead, the plan backfired:

⁕ Ukraine resisted fiercely, driving Russian forces back from the capital.
⁕ The Western world united, sending billions of dollars in military gear and economic aid to Ukraine. (There is precedence for how the Western world reacted. Hitler & WW2),
⁕ Rather than stopping NATO's growth, the invasion prompted traditionally neutral countries like Finland and Sweden to join the alliance.

7. Where Things Stand

The war has dragged on as a grueling, high-tech war of attrition featuring artillery, trench warfare, and modern military drones.

Russia's Argument: It claims it is protecting its national security, defending Russian speakers, and stopping NATO from encircling its borders.

Ukraine's Argument: It maintains that it is an independent nation defending its sovereign borders, its people, and its right to choose its own political future.

Both sides remain locked in a costly stalemate with immense human and economic costs.

In-depth reading:
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Pls if you want to debate any of these points, bring your facts. Not conjectures, sentiments or emotions.

By the way, which kind of poll is that?

How do you pray on the main road? Where is the sense? And the whole defense is sounding as if it's a normal thing for someone to be praying on the main road?

nairalanda1:
True that, but now the oppoistion is using the same tactics.

The fact is, for a government to run an economy that benefits every nigerian, it has to be an economy producing goods for the international market. An industrial economy, not one based on oil money paying for subsidies that require borrowing at high rates to keep up.

Keep in mind that for all the years we had subsidy, Nigerians still suffered, and suffered.

Sadly, except for Peter Obi, your atiku and their tinubu are not talking about productivity.

I was feeling this comment until "your atiku"... You have me mistaken. He's not my guy.

Just leave it at "atiku" and let's keep it moving.

ACTION POINT FOR TODAY — AND THIS ONE IS SUPER-IMPORTANT:

Open your notes app or a Google Doc right now and do the following. Give yourself 45 minutes. That is all it takes.

Step 1 — Write your product title using the formula above. One sentence. [What it does] + [Who it is for] + [The result they get].

Step 2 — Write your three-sentence product description. Problem, what is inside, result.

Step 3 — Write a rough outline of your content. Not the full content — just the headings. What are the five to seven sections your product will cover? List them.

Step 4 — Set your price. Use the ranges above. Write the number down.

Step 5 — Decide your platform: Selar for naira buyers, Gumroad for dollar buyers, or both.

When those five things exist in writing, your product is 30% built. What remains is filling in the content under each heading — and that is the easiest part, because you already know what you want to say.

You are not planning your product anymore. You are building it.

Ready to build? Open your notes app and let's get to it.

Luka's doings. Amazing player.

However the former minister says that the video was from 2022 when he was the Accord Party Oyo governorship candidate.

He said it. Simple. That's all there's to know.

"We have to ensure that you hold people responsible, but you must be responsible yourself. So we will not accept irresponsible journalism. For you to hold any government official responsible, you must be responsible."

No doubt, journalism today is not as it was before, because of social media.

Politicians also try to hoodwink people. The party that puts you in position continues to push tribal bigotry and you stand on the fence, Be sure that attacks will get to you. But you can do better.

For decades, political opportunism in Nigeria has relied on a single, toxic formula: exploit temporary transitional discomfort, appeal to emotional cynicism, and promise mathematically impossible quick fixes to a sophisticated electorate.

It's so good to see that APC has unintentionally confessed to their questionable practices when they were in opposition. Now that the tables have turned, they lash out as expected.

And all the dividends listed, what's the exact benefit to the everyday Nigerian?

STEP 6: BUILD THE PRODUCT — DO NOT OVERTHINK THE DESIGN

You do not need Photoshop. You do not need InDesign. You do not need to hire a designer.

Open Canva. Search for "ebook template" or "PDF guide template" or "document template" in the free section. Pick one that is clean and readable — not the fanciest one, the clearest one.

Write your content directly in Canva, or write it first in Google Docs and then copy it into your Canva design.

When you are done, export it as a PDF.

That is your product file.

For templates, build them in Google Docs, Google Sheets, Microsoft Word, or Excel — whichever format your buyer is most likely to use. Export to PDF if it is a reference document. Share as an editable file if it is a working template.

The design does not need to be beautiful. It needs to be clean, readable, and easy to navigate. A well-organised document in a simple font is better than a cluttered document trying to look impressive.

The content is the product. The design is just the packaging.

Just after a year and she's rearrested? And at that age?? What a legacy!

Easier said than done. As powerful as the Kenyan presidency can be, there are many power players in the country and for someone like Dangote, oh well... Let's just say he would have got his bases covered.

Folks will do anything to trend nowadays. It's not every frustration that is worthy of social media.

For anyone feeling frustrated with the lack of good job offers: "Don't give up! Try another angle. Try another approach."

Liverpool didn't stand a chance with the absence of some of their key players.