₦airaland Forum

Kingsley Alu
— Mar 13, 2015 | 1 Comment
International rating agency, Standard & Poor’s (S&P), yesterday, warned that Nigeria’s economy is in a “clear and present danger,” even as data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed that Nigeria earned N12.8 trillion from crude oil export in 2014.

The rating agency, in a presentation by its regional manager, sub-Saharan Africa, Konrad Reuss, put Nigeria on a negative sovereign ratings watch, BB minus.

According to Reuss, the factors putting the Nigerian economy in danger include the Boko Haram insurgency, the fall in oil prices, because of the importance of oil for government and export revenues, and the forthcoming elections.

Reuss explained that S&P rated Nigeria based on its six main categories and found out that Nigeria was weak in three classifications: institutional and governance effectiveness, economic structure and growth, fiscal flexibility and performance. In addition, Reuss, who was addressing a seminar on Nigeria in Sandton, Johannesburg, said Nigeria was classified as neutral in external liquidity and international investment position and monetary flexibility, while its only area of strength was in its debt burden.

He explained that the reason economic structure and growth was identified as a weakness was because of weakness in the structure of the economy and not the country’s growth rate, adding that the structural problems were not being offset by the good growth. Despite the uncertainty over the forthcoming elections, Reuss, however, cautioned that elections did not automatically deliver bad results, adding that they could deliver good ones.

He said, “Despite these concerns, Nigeria remained in the middle of the sovereign ratings rankings for Africa. Notwithstanding the negative watch, I like Nigeria, it is a diversified economy. It has an interesting private sector. Ratings are really about credit-worthiness. If we did downgrade Nigeria, it would have little effect on its borrowing. It would be more an issue of the country’s image. From a debt perspective, even if there was a downgrade, Nigeria would still look solid.”

Meanwhile, the NBS, in its Foreign Trade Statistics for the Fourth Quarter of 2014, released yesterday, estimated that with an export of N12.8 trillion, crude oil accounted for 74.4 per cent of Nigeria’s total export of N17.204 trillion in 2014.

Specifically, the NBS said, “On an annual basis, the total exports of Nigeria stood at N17.204 trillion at the end of 2014, representing a rise of N2.959 trillion or 20.8 per cent over the level in 2013. The structure of Nigeria’s export is still dominated by crude oil exports. The contribution of crude oil to the value of total domestic export trade amounted to N12.791 trillion or 74.4 per cent in 2014 (estimated).”

The NBS stated that the highest export product for Nigeria in 2014 was mineral products, which accounted for N15,718.0 billion or 91.4 per cent.

It said, “Other products that contributed immensely to Nigeria’s exports include vehicles, aircraft and parts thereof, vessels and so on, and products of the chemical and allied industries whose values stood at N357.7 billion or 2.1 per cent, and N315.6 billion or 1.8 per cent, respectively, of the total exports of Nigeria for the year.”

The NBS data revealed that in the first quarter of 2014, crude oil export stood at N3.234 trillion while non-crude oil export stood at N735.865 billion. In the second quarter, crude oil export rose slightly to N3.269 trillion while non-crude oil export also rose to N1.413 trillion. In the third quarter, crude oil export dropped to N3.15 trillion, compared to non-crude oil exports which rose to N1.549 trillion.


http://leadership.ng/business/417206/nigerias-economy-in-danger-report

tola9ja:
WHY DID MODERATORS ALLOW VIRUS TO OPEN A THREAD

Receive brain

OREMUSSANCTUS:
He shld be bothered abt producing a new album, instead of looking for cheap popularity. Fvck lagbaja, nufin for am.

No brain, only insults... typical of GEJ supporters

Sunday Okobi

Igbo women under the umbrella body of Amoji Women Association (AWA), Umoji, Anambra State, have embarked on massive mobilisation in support of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), in order to boost his chances at the poll.

The group based their determination on the policy framework of Buhari and his party, which they said dwelt on transforming Nigeria from its present woes, in the area of constant electricity supply, massive employment opportunities, good governance, investment opportunities among others.

According to the spokesperson of the group, Mrs. Bernadine Ifeoma Eloka, who told journalists in Lagos that her people are mobilising more support for APC, there is the belief that APC is the right party with the right candidates to give Nigeria and Nigerians the needed change for a better nation.

“APC is a party for change. We are tired of empty promises, which our politicians have always failed to fulfill. This is the opportunity we have to tell other women what we have discovered about Buhari. We need a man who is angry about the state of the nation like the masses, in order to bring positive the change needed. Our people are angry for lack of basic amenities and poverty in the land.

“Look at our economy, instead of improving, it is deteriorating. Last year, my husband and I visited the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), we looked at the old structures that were built in the 1960s and we ask a question that if the country can build that the type of structures in the 60s, what is happening to Nigeria today? Getting that structure in Nigeria today is like impossibility,” she said.

The women leader put aside the sentiment by some of her kinsmen on Buhari’s candidature, stressing that it does not matter where a candidate hails from, especially if the person possesses good leadership qualities and he isa good Samaritan, who can salvage the country out of its predicament by providing positive change.

She said: “We have so many nonsense situations going on. Look at the state of our roads, look at the challenges of investing in the country, foreigners don’t have confidence in investing here anymore because they are not sure of the future in terms of government policies and security.

“What we are looking for is a government that would build confidence in foreign investors. If we can have constant power supply and security, we’ll attract lot investments from foreigners into this country. You’ll find out that if we achieve this, the issue of unemployment will be addressed. We need that leader that is angry because enough is enough, let us move forward.”

Eloka advised fellow Nigerian women to stop thinking as slaves, but to form a formidable force with one voice to address issues affecting women in Nigeria, particularly in the area of women’s right. She called on them to support change that will equally affect women and to recognise that women have a key role to play in Nigeria.

“Our support for Buhari is hinged on the fact that Buhari, as a former head of state, doesn’t have too much assets in Nigeria and also across the world like others. I believe that with him, the level of corruption in Nigeria will be reduced to the barest minimum because he would block all the leakages in all the sectors,” AWA leader said.

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/anambra-women-s-group-mobilises-support-for-buhari-apc/203629/

There's no place for Fayose to hide after March 28.

He has not finished paying the civil servants in his state and he is wasting millions of Ekiti people's money on newspaper adverts everyday against Buhari. Sometimes I wonder why God has decided to punish my state with a thug and criminal like Fayose.

I can't wait for March 28

#Ihavedecided

#March4Buhari

#MarchGEJ2Otueke

Fayose is on his own. Infact there's no place for him to hide after March 28.

He has not finished paying the civil servants in his state and he is wasting millions of Ekiti people's money on newspaper adverts everyday against Buhari. Sometimes I wonder why God has decided to punish my state with a thug and criminal like Fayose.

I can't wait for March 28


#Ihavedecided

#March4Buhari

#MarchGEJ2Otueke

Only people with skeletons in thier cupboards are scared of Buhari.
People whose hands are dirty like Fayose, Allison-Madueke, Okupe etc would rather die than see GMB become president. But thank God they cannot stop the wind of change blowing across the nation.

Sai Buhari

At least 10 people killed as Nigerian armed group steps up cross-border attacks in Chad, Cameroon and Niger.

Nigeria-based Boko Haram fighters have carried out their first attack inside Chad, killing as many as 10 people in an early morning strike on a village and military camp on the shores of Lake Chad, a security source has said.

Friday's pre-dawn attack left civilians and soldiers dead and most of the village of Ngouboua torched before the fighters were pushed back, the source told the AFP news agency on condition of anonymity.

At least 30 attackers struck after crossing the lake from Nigeria's Baga in large canoes and set ablaze nearly two-thirds of Ngouboua - about 20km east of the Nigerian border - where around 7,000 Nigerians have taken refuge.

Chadian military aircraft carried out airstrikes against the fighters, destroying their vessels, the security source added.
"We sent in our air force and they neutralised the three pirogues. We are still combing the area," a spokesman for the armed forces said.

Residents are now fleeing the village and a Chadian humanitarian vehicle was attacked as it tried to escape, UN refugee agency spokesman Adrian Edwards told reporters in Geneva.
The armed group has carried out several cross-border attacks in neighbouring countries, who have launched a regional operation to combat the group.
Last week, Chad army claimed to have killed scores of Boko Haram fighters.

Boko Haram, which has been designated by the US as a "terrorist" organisation, has been fighting since 2009 to establish sharia law in all 36 states of Nigeria, which is roughly equally divided between a mainly Christian south and a largely Muslim north.

The Nigerian government has since May 2013 declared a state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, the three states where most of the deadly attacks have happened.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/02/boko-haram-launches-deadly-attack-chad-150213114519161.html

27

Stealing of public funds by publicofficials is corruption, no matter how you sugarcoat it

Ikengawo:
she needs to shut up.
I'm tired of these 'nigerian intellectuals' that can't say anything thought provoking. Just splattering english anywhere anyhow. What did she say that someone who only visits the Romance section of Nairaland doesn't know?
Who is she explaining that Anambrans don't trust Buhari too? Africa is full of 'intellectuals' that dedicate their lives explaining us to Oyibo, meanwhile contributing nothing to the entity they wish to explain.

You must be really pained If she had joined you to lick the a$5 of the clueless one, you won't be ranting here like a wounded lion.

By Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Last week, Victor, a carpenter, came to my Lagos home to fix a broken chair. I asked him whom he preferred as Nigeria’s next president: the incumbent, Goodluck Jonathan, or his challenger, Muhammadu Buhari.

“I don’t have a voter’s card, but if I did, I would vote for somebody I don’t like,” he said. “I don’t like Buhari. But Jonathan is not performing.”

Victor sounded like many people I know: utterly unenthusiastic about the two major candidates in our upcoming election.

Were Nigerians to vote on likeability alone, Jonathan would win. He is mild-mannered and genially unsophisticated, with a conventional sense of humor. Buhari has a severe, ascetic air about him, a rigid uprightness; it is easy to imagine him in 1984, leading a military government whose soldiers routinely beat up civil servants. Neither candidate is articulate. Jonathan is given to rambling; his unscripted speeches leave listeners vaguely confused. Buhari is thick-tongued, his words difficult to decipher. In public appearances, he seems uncomfortable not only with the melodrama of campaigning but also with the very idea of it. To be a democratic candidate is to implore and persuade, and his demeanor suggests a man who is not at ease with amiable consensus. Still, he is no stranger to campaigns. This is his third run as a presidential candidate; the last time, in 2011, he lost to Jonathan.

This time, Buhari’s prospects are better. Jonathan is widely perceived as ineffectual, and the clearest example, which has eclipsed his entire presidency, is his response to Boko Haram. Such a barbaric Islamist insurgency would challenge any government. But while Boko Haram bombed and butchered, Jonathan seemed frozen in a confused, tone-deaf inaction. Conflicting stories emerged of an ill-equipped army, of a corrupt military leadership, of northern elites sponsoring Boko Haram, and even of the government itself sponsoring Boko Haram.

Jonathan floated to power, unprepared, on a serendipitous cloud. He was a deputy governor of Bayelsa state who became governor when his corrupt boss was forced to quit. Chosen as vice president because powerbrokers considered him the most harmless option from southern Nigeria, he became president when his northern boss died in office. Nigerians gave him their goodwill—he seemed refreshingly unassuming—but there were powerful forces who wanted him out, largely because he was a southerner, and it was supposed to be the north’s ‘turn’ to occupy the presidential office.

And so the provincial outsider suddenly thrust onto the throne, blinking in the chaotic glare of competing interests, surrounded by a small band of sycophants, startled by the hostility of his traducers, became paranoid. He was slow to act, distrustful and diffident. His mildness came across as cluelessness. His response to criticism calcified to a single theme: His enemies were out to get him. When the Chibok girls were kidnapped, he and his team seemed at first to believe that it was a fraud organized by his enemies to embarrass him. His politics of defensiveness made it difficult to sell his genuine successes, such as his focus on the long-neglected agricultural sector and infrastructure projects. His spokespeople alleged endless conspiracy theories, compared him to Jesus Christ, and generally kept him entombed in his own sense of victimhood.

The delusions of Buhari’s spokespeople are better packaged, and obviously free of incumbency’s crippling weight. They blame Jonathan for everything that is wrong with Nigeria, even the most multifarious, ancient knots. They dismiss references to Buhari’s past military leadership, and couch their willful refusal in the language of ‘change,’ as though Buhari, by representing change from Jonathan, has also taken on an ahistorical saintliness.

I remember the Buhari years as a blur of bleakness. I remember my mother bringing home sad rations of tinned milk, otherwise known as “essential commodities”—the consequences of Buhari’s economic policy. I remember air thick with fear, civil servants made to do frog jumps for being late to work, journalists imprisoned, Nigerians flogged for not standing in line, a political vision that cast citizens as recalcitrant beasts to be whipped into shape.

Buhari’s greatest source of appeal is that he is widely perceived as non-corrupt. Nigerians have been told how little money he has, how spare his lifestyle is. But to sell the idea of an incorruptible candidate who will fight corruption is to rely on the disingenuous trope that Buhari is not his party. Like Jonathan’s People’s Democratic Party, Buhari’s All Progressives Congress is stained with corruption, and its patrons have a checkered history of exploitative participation in governance. Buhari’s team is counting on the strength of his perceived personal integrity: his image as a good guy forced by realpolitik to hold hands with the bad guys, who will be shaken off after his victory.

In my ancestral home state of Anambra, where Jonathan is generally liked, the stronger force at play is a distrust of Buhari, partly borne of memories of his military rule, and partly borne of his reputation, among some Christians, as a Muslim fundamentalist. When I asked a relative whom she would vote for, she said, “Jonathan of course. Am I crazy to vote for Buhari so that Nigeria will become a sharia country?”

Nigeria has predictable voting patterns, as all democratic countries do. Buhari can expect support from large swaths of the core north, and Jonathan from southern states. Region and religion are potent forces here. Vice presidents are carefully picked with these factors in mind: Buhari’s is a southwestern Christian and Jonathan’s is a northern Muslim. But it is not so simple. There are non-northerners who would ordinarily balk at voting for a ‘northerner’ but who support Buhari because he can presumably fight corruption. There are northern supporters of Jonathan who are not part of the region’s Christian minorities.

Last week, I was indifferent about the elections, tired of television commercials and contrived controversies. There were rumors that the election, which was scheduled for February 14, would be postponed, but there always are; our political space is a lair of conspiracies. I was uninterested in the apocalyptic predictions. Nigeria was not imploding. We had crossed this crossroads before, we were merely electing a president in an election bereft of inspiration. And the existence of a real opposition party that might very well win was a sign of progress in our young democracy.

Then, on Saturday, the elections were delayed for six weeks. Nigeria’s security agencies, we were told, would not be available to secure the elections because they would be fighting Boko Haram and needed at least another month and a half to do so. (Nigeria has been fighting Boko Haram for five years, and military leaders recently claimed to be ready for the elections.)

Even if the reason were not so absurd, Nigerians are politically astute enough to know that the postponement has nothing to do with security. It is a flailing act of desperation from an incumbent terrified of losing. There are fears of further postponements, of ploys to illegally extend Jonathan’s term. In a country with the specter of a military coup always hanging over it, the consequences could be dangerous. My indifference has turned to anger. What a staggeringly self-serving act of contempt for Nigerians. It has cast, at least for the next six weeks, the darkest possible shroud over our democracy: uncertainty.


http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/02/democracy-deferred-postponed-election-embarrassment-bad-choices-chiamanda-adichie/

http://newswirengr.com/2015/02/10/chimamanda-adichie-deferred-nigerias-postponed-election-is-an-embarrassment-of-bad-choices/

The parliament of Niger has voted unanimously to send troops to join a regional fight against Islamist extremist group Boko Haram, in Nigeria.

A lawmaker, Mohammed Ben Omar, who spoke on the development, said: “The resolution was passed unanimously. All 102 lawmakers present voted favourably,” while another member of parliament disclosed that the resolution authorises the country to send about 750 troops to Nigeria.”

A Statement from Niger’s Defence Ministry – “Our soldiers are not like Nigerians. They don’t run.” On February 7, 2015, Nigeria, Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Benin, resolved to gather 8,700 troops, in a Multinational Joint Task Force against Boko Haram.

“The pooling of the efforts and resources of concerned countries will contribute without doubt to crushing this group which shows scorn, through its barbaric acts, for the Muslim religion,” Niger National Assembly President Adamou Salifou said.

In August 2014, nearly 500 Nigerian soldiers reportedly fled to neighbouring Cameroon following heavy fighting with Boko Haram militants amid claims the government troops were under-equipped to fight the jihadists. Nigeria’s Defence Ministry defended the move and referred to the fleeing soldiers decision as a “Tactical manoeuvre”.

Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuk, said the country’s general election will not be moved again and that all known camps belonging Boko Haram will be destroyed in the next six weeks.

“All known Boko Haram camps will be taken out. They won’t be there. They will be dismantled,” Dasuki said.

On Saturday, Nigeria and its neighbours – Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Benin – agreed to muster 8,700 troops, police and civilians for a wider, African Union-backed force against Boko Haram.

http://newswirengr.com/2015/02/10/our-soldiers-are-not-like-nigerians-they-dont-run-nigers-defence-ministry/

Trains that take 1day 5hours 24mins to travel from Kano to Lagos smh

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. - Albert Einstein

#vote4change

#Sai Buhari

Something is definitely not right when a President does not understand that stealing is corruption

Something is definitely not right when a President does not understand that a thief is a thief and should be prosecuted regardless of the worth of what he stole.

Something is definitely not right when Alamesiagha who is still wanted in the UK for corruption and money laundering charges is granted a presidential pardon.

Something is definitely not right when exconvicts like Bode George are leaders in the ruling party and are frolicking with the president.

Something is definitely not right when billions of dollars disappear from the government's account without trace.

Something is definitely not right when thousands of barrels of oil is being stolen everyday in broad daylight.

Something is definitely not right when a government has spent $32 billion on defence and people in the NE still live in fear.

Something is definitely not right when 200 girls have been kidnapped for over 6 months and it took the government 10 days to even admit it, talkless of rescuing them.

Something is definitely not right when the campaign strategy of the ruling party is to divide us along religious and ethnic lines.

Something is definitely not right when unemployed graduates pay for a government agency's job, die in the screening process and no one was questioned or queried.

Something is definitely not right when a President says he will go on exile if the 2nd Niger bridge is not completed by 2015 and up till now he has only commissioned the picture of the bridge.

Something is definitely not right when a government has spent $20 billion on power and there's nothing to show for it.

Something is definitely not right when the people dining and frolicking with the President men indicted in the fuel subsidy scam and they are yet to be charged nor prosecuted.

Something is definitely not right when the President decided to increase fuel price from N65 to N147 on New Year's day, and it took days of protests resulting some people's death before it was reduced to N97.

Something is definitely not right if oil price has dropped by more than 50% globally and we are only seeing a 10% drop in Nigeria

Something is definitely not right when a train that takes 1 day, 5 hours, 24mins to travel from Kano to Lagos is called "Transformation" train.

Something is definitely not right when some people choose to ignore these facts and pretend as if they never happened.

Whether you admit it or you deny it, something is definitely not right with the government of Goodluck Ebele Azikwe Jonathan.

You can make things right by voting General Muhammadu Buhari[b]

-Apoti

If you think Nigeria cannot afford N53 trillion over 4 years, then you are being naive.

The missing $20 billion alone equals N4 trillion and that is just from one out of many corrupt government agencies. You cannot imagine how our resources have been mismanaged by PDP. This is the obvious reason they are scared of GMB.

That said, APC will create enabling environment for businesses to thrive and thereby create more jobs. All the jobs do not necessarily have to come from the government

#Sai Buhari

mikeansy:
In UK there are different types of trains

some are faster than the other

a journey of 1000 miles begin with a step. What GEJ has achieved is a good start. We can go on and improve it with high speed trains but its better than nothing and is still an achievement

I totally agree that a journey of a 1000 miles begin with a step. But why accept a bicycle when you can afford and have paid for a ca?

Yungwizzzy:
Anytime I hear about these so called trains I feel like vomiting

To think that we have spent billions on these so-called 'transformation' trains actually makes me sick

So much noise has been made about the transformation in the Railway section by Jonathan. So I decided to have a look at the Nigerian Railway Corporation's website.

According to NRC, it takes a whole 29.24 hours (1 day, 5 hours, 24 mins) to travel from Kano to Lagos (1,000 km) This indicates that the train travels at approximately 35km/hr. I should point out that it takes about 10-11hours to travel the same distance (from Plymouth to Aberdeen) in the UK.

I'm not sure what kind of train this is, but it certainly does not justify the billions that have been spent in this sector.

NgeneUkwenu:
Next, let me briefly respond to a few outlandish claims. She brags about ‘single-digit’ inflation rate ‘now’ and alleges that when I left office, inflation was above 13%. I just laughed at this one. In Nigeria’s history, no governor of the Central Bank has delivered 24 consecutive months of single digit inflation as I did until the advent of the unprecedented global crisis in 2008. It was not for nothing that the world cheered us as monetary policy czar, Madam! Perhaps you are also not aware that we broke a world record by having a depreciated real effective exchange rate during a time of export boom and this was at the heart of our reserve accumulation and the portfolio/FDI inflows. I resisted the IMF advice to deplete reserves for liquidity management, and Nigeria had enough self-insurance to survive the global crisis. The opposite has happened under you Madam, and the Nigerian economy is in trouble. Naira exchange rate appreciated under me from N133 to N117 before the global crisis; and reserves grew to all time high of $62 billion. For the first time since 1986, the official, interbank and parallel market exchange rates converged under me. You can’t match these records!
[/b]

Knock-out punch for Madam Iweala. Her response and FFK's response to Soludo's article was nothing but a shame to the government.
Rather than focussing on the message they chose to attack the messenger.

We need to kick out these clueless bunch in 13 days' time

Dereformer:
If the result shows an F9 in mathematics and in English Language, it means Buhari has no WASC.

Without a pass in english language and mathematics, you have no school cert. period.

The followers of the clueless one never cease to amaze me. You first said he had no result now he didn't pass English.
meanwhile the result shows he has 5 credit including English language....so go and die

Rubbish and clueless response. the best response the FG and the Army can give to any one is to end the insurgency

Okorocha: is there anything I told you I would do before, that I have not done?
Crowd: NO!!!

Mehn Okorocha is really in charge

Oyegun National Chairman APC said PDP has spent $50billion on electricity over 16 years, do you have electricity? The crowd shouted NO!!!
Are you tired? the crowd shouted YES!!!

Ngige is talking and singing in Ibo, I have no idea what he is saying But the crowd is just screaming YEAH

Ogbonaiya Onu, APC National Leader said we have brought someone who will solve the problems of Nigeria, his name is General Muhamadu Buhari, will you vote for him? The crowd screamed YES!!!

Do you want change? the crowd screamed YES!!!

Amaechi just finished talking.... he finished GEJ

The wind of CHANG is blowing

GMB/PRO 2015