₦airaland Forum

AjanleKoko:
That's contradictory. How can people be patriotic and greedy all at the same time? Not logical.
I'd like to know where in the world you would have a bunch of corrupt politicians running things, and the country is developed state-of-the-art. If people can dip their hands into the public purse with abandon, isn't that the same funds meant to develop the country?

There's a different between people taking care of business on the side, collecting bribes or favours from contractors, and the kind of out-and-out public robbery we have in Nigeria. I was just reading today about this pension scam, where some ministry directors were sharing N1 billion every month. Every month, for crying out loud. And that's supposed to be money meant for the pension fund.

Reliable sources tell me that LGs in Lagos had to surrender N300 million to ACN to fund the election efforts. Just imagine what else would be left to do anything in the Local govts after that. Abeg Mr Ruhl is talking out of his bum bum jare.

Right - even 5% of the money that our politicians steal would still be considered a lot of money to most, reasonable people. the other 95% could at least be put to the good of the country. the ideal is to not be corrupt at all - but this is people we are talking about, and Nigeria!! let's walk before we can run

Next i'm sure you have heard about the MP's expenses scandal in the UK. many of them were corrupt too, but they were not corrupt to the level of bringing a halt to the development of the country. why are you seeing this an an absolute?

I KNOW that politicians and officials in NIGERIA steal FAR TOO MUCH money. this is my point. they are so stupid that they steal more money than they could ever possibly spend while making their country and people look like buffoons.

and yeah we shouldn't forget the past. we should have taken the hard hard lesson of slavery and colonisation as a lesson and wake up call. but oh no. we whine and moan and blame everyone else

AjanleKoko:
This is a good post. I like cap28, but I think the Africanist card is overplayed.
Africans are rather mixed up unfortunately, some of us believe we're inferior to the rest of the world, some believe the world owes us stuff, while the rest don't believe anything. I for one think we should unhook ourselves from the past (not forget the past mind you!), and decide for once where we want to be - then focus all our energies on getting there.

I work with a lot of Chinese, and I can tell you one thing about those guys. They act dumb a lot, like they don't have a clue. Nigerians are always looking at them like they are some dirty and silly skunks. But when I went to China . . . bros, I just had to doff my hat for those guys. I don't even think Nigerians have the mental discipline to achieve 1/50th of what those guys have done for themselves in 30 years, in a hundred years.

exactly. many people who don;t know what the chinese are about mock them as being feeble, scuttling people who talk silly but they are silently brilliant. they are not cool or trendy perhaps, but they know that being cool is not what matters in this world. they know what they want and they get it. they have strong traditions and self belief and others see that. they have their faults too of course. their human rights records is disgraceful ( but where isn't?). not to mention that despite contrary belief a large part of the country is still pretty poor BUT the world's superpower is nontheless in debt to china, as they saying goes everything is made in china - that is power. nobody who knows anything about anything can mock the chinese now - i want to say the same about nigeria/nigerians one day

And I meant *stu pid where it reads *silly. Nairaland needs to calm down with all this censoring

cap28:
Jen 33/Busybody  i applaud you for taking on the thankless task of trying to educate some of the world's most brainwashed minds.  It must be difficult debating with people who are so clueless you want to weep with despair. 

it beggars belief that an african person can know so little about what is going on on their own continent.

Mugabe is indeed a hero, one of the few remaining african leaders who actually had the guts to stand up to the racist imperialist britain, the US and the EU. 

I suppose the posters on here would have preferred it  if Mugabe had adopted the stance of our nigerian traitor leaders  who have opened up the wealth of nigeria to the IMF, the foreign multinationals and effectively said" here it is boys, come in help yourselves, take as much as you can carry ".

Can you imagine the state we would have been in had the british decided to remain in nigeria? they would have imposed apartheid rule given that they had (and still have) the upper hand, there are indications that this was already happening as they had already built their GRA's which were designed with the intention of creating a seperate area of settlement for themselves.

If apartheid had been implemented in nigeria as was the case in what was then Rhodesia majority of the people on this thread condemning Mugabe would have been living in filthy shanty towns with the minority white population living in gated communities surrounded by acres and acres of stolen land.  Many of these same people baying for Mugabe's blood on here would probably be working as farmhands, houseboys, gardeners and maids, perhaps after living like that for 200 years they would then begin to  understand the agenda of the white racists.

The other day i watched a documentary about white racists in south africa who refuse to integrate with blacks despite the dismantling of apartheid.  Many of these people could not bear the thought of having to live amongst black people and decided to move out into isolated gated communities, one woman who was interviewed was asked why they had opted for complete separation from blacks and she said: "because our religion (christianity) does not permit us to be ruled by blacks, blacks are not qualified to rule over us or give us orders, we were ordained by god to rule over them as they are an inferior race of people".

Sometimes i wish some of the posters on here could go and live for a year in south africa and run into people like that woman. 

In addition to the land reform problem Mugabe's problems with the west also began when he refused to borrow more loans from the IMF and implement strucutural adjustment programmes, america wanted Zimbabwe to get hooked on the endless debt cycle that almost every african country has been conned into, it was when Mugabe refused to go along with this scam that his relationship with the west started breaking down.  These are the same loans that nigeria is still battling to pay off and the SAP austerity measures are the  same programmes that have been implemented in nigeria by babangida and obasanjo and now  Jonathan. These programmes have condemned many nigerians to a life of poverty and yet many nigerians still do not understand who their real enemies are.

You're one of those people who mistakingly thinks that racism is the ultimate evil - you prolly think it's about skin colour too. many people have superiority complexes (which is essentially what racism is) and it's not always about race. e.g you meet someone who is stupid, then you will most likely think that you are better than them (even if just subconsciously). Do you not think that if Asians were as undeveloped as Africans have been throughout history that they would have been treated exactly the same as us? This is not about skin colour -it's about respect. It's time to take this into our own hands and build up our countries to garner respect - if you're so worried about racism, my friend, this this is the way to finally eradicate it. Just watch how people all over bow down to China now ( just look at the clips of Obama's latest meeting with the Chinese Pres)- that is called respect, and THAT is what Africa needs. It's not about the evil white man, it's about clueless US

Pennywise:
Its either this world bank rep does not know the true depth of corruption in this country or he has been called to make a speech and had to say something interesting.

We are talking about a near total collapse of the economy and a potentially major social catastrophe brought on by corruption. Now, kind hearted members of the international community who recognize this fact are giving us loans and grants which are automatically re-routed into private accounts abroad.

He should have been politely requested to shut up. We know the way things are.

The economy is not collapsing lol. The problem that we see is that the people are poor and the basics of a civilised country are not there. The politicians could still steal a lot of money as well as greatly develop the country at the same time. Of course I am not for a minute advocating this, but my point is that the people who have the power in this country are unpatriotic, greedy to stupid levels, poor in mentality and a lack of foresight and pride. This goes far deeper than corruption

Oh it's so CLEAR

1. Corruption is a problem. It's a moral problem - many countries, developed or undeveloped have varying levels of corruption

BUT

2. The pospering countries at least invest in industry, infrastructure, services and education

Nigeria is corrupt to the point that the country and people are pretty much left to sh it. That's it.

fstranger1:
Alhaji Ucheze, make i helep you,


It is spelled 'Thread'not thrend!

Ok?

ROTFL!!!!!! I'm dying here!

Lagosboy:
It is a terrible shame to have this woman as our first lady, a country of intellectuals and highly educated people. GEJ with his phd cannot even help his wife by getting her a teacher to brush up her english skills, this shows that the woman, her husband and handlers are all lazy bunch of rogues.

Almost all western politicians have handlers to help them brush up their skills where they are lacking and there is no shame in it. Cameron, Clegg had to go through intensive practice seesions before their debate last summer to help them perfom well. It would only take 3 - 6 months of dedication to help this woman speak and read properly. They cannot be bothered anyway they are too busy stealing public funds that will not be buried with them in their graves.

*applause*

I could only take 1 second of that. Ugh -please Nigeria I'm begging you

Kobojunkie:
First things first, what signs has he shown?

Exactly. Why do people blindly back officials as being benevolent when they have no proof? What is going on here?? In Nigerian politics people should be guilty until proven innocent

Wow. He can be as corrupt as hell with no humanitarian compassion at all, yet judge a group that on the whole mind their own business. Homophobia aside, really, some people have no clue. SMH

spyder880:
While acknowledging some good points you made, we should guard against fostering pessemistic views that may end up killing the little hope for people who wish to try to straighten their lives even while living under a bungling government so selfish it hurts.

I think sometimes Nigerians have too much hope and not enough urgency

dappssee:
Our GDP is an aggregrate of all money generating activities

At 17%, oil will constitue over 80% of government revenue

Our economy is not yet diversified as oil remains our biggest export thereby making the exchange rate of the naira dependent of international oil price and our capacity to produce

I agree with the World Bank chief's position. We need to focus on other sources of income and diversify our risks

agreed. and we need to do this now. it's lazy governmenting

~Bluetooth:
Some people just want us to believe that without their oil,other nigerians would suffer even when the oil wealth usually ends up in the pockets of our thieving politicians and making little impact on the economy itself.

well it would because it may only be 17% of the gdp but our international export revenue relies far too heavily on oil. it makes a massive impact on the economy but not on the pop of the people

"Myopic, jaundiced, frustrated and lopsided views from a hopeless person."

"People like this are a BIG part of the problem."

blacksta:
I disagree  - The poster clearly summed up the feelings  of many Nigerians who acknowledge that there is a problem.

Just accept that Nigeria is nowhere near its potential, then accept that this is tragic and then maybe people will actually want to start to do somethign about it. Don't pretend that all is well or that anyone who criticises the state of Nigeria is 'hopeless' - we are (hopefully) all adults here

As someone else mentioned, Nigeria is a country, not a nation and it need to become a (united) nation to truly progress. People need to work towards the common good together - whether this will happen is yet to be seen.

The coast could be great for tourism too. the beaches in Lagos could be raking it in if they developed them

Busy_body:
^^^ The only unbelievable thing is why this was only what your brain could decipher, just saying

Fairweather, wishy-washy, dillydallying Kobojunkie, how do you manage to do it, has anyone suggested you be trademarked and patented Miss-Kobojunkie-Miss-Yes-But-no-But-Yes-But-No-But-Yes-But-arrggghhhh . . .Thats some multitalented ish you've got going on right there, keep doing you

Like I said - a bitter truth

Why not? Nigerians seem to be so afraid of criticism. Let people say what they want. you're only afraid of this forum because ypu know the truth. If Nigeria was in a better state you'd love a forum all about Nigeria

it's one big FARCE.

He murdered thousands of people. Can we lose this 'blame the white man' mentality please? It's stupid beyond belief. If Africa were in better shape the protect itself it would not have been colonised on such a grand scale in the first place. A bitter truth, but truth nonetheless. 50 years on independence and what has Nigeria managed to do? Now some will say that the current state of Nigeria is still the west evil influence. Are we such babies that we can't take our own futures into our own hands?

And now you guys are applauding a ruthless, selfish, egotistical autocrat just because he got rid of the white man. Unbelievable

jay_getta:
I cry for Nigeria. Everyday I think to myself, I dream, and I envision a place in Africa, in Nigeria, where the black world can call her own! A place where people from all over the world would flock to because it is prosperous. A place where people would dream of one day emigrating to. A place where people would dream of one day being "Nigerian Citizens". . . Nigeria doesn't know the black race is betting on its success. Nigeria gets it right, and the black man is finally free, for real. Why these politicians haven't been murdered and hung upside down (a la Mussolini) is the very description of "astonishment". Until blood is shed Nigeria will never be free. If Nigeria is not free then exploitation of the black race will continue forever. . .

So true

adim2:
firstly let face this things logically what Nigeria need currently now is mental revolution, we need to go back history and find out our foundation, culture before we will be able to grow.
bringing out lots of policies is good but when a nations foundations policy is faulty even the best policy will fail completely. I can give more than 100 policies dat i think will better Nigeria, but what of our mindset.

1. Every Nigeria child should be made to study Nigeria history to university level with diplomacy this is try and transform our mind set into innovation.

I believe one thing Nigeria really need to do now is to implement badly what I call one minute Policy, the level of irresponsibility in nigeria is alarming the one minute policy is aimed at checking the way Nigerians make use of facilities being produced/provided by the government, this is one thing that indirectly/directly has being making the white to succeed. the way we disobey rules most especially on roads and others is alarming.

I will give more details on this one minute policy and recommend some other little thing Nigeria need to do to atleast be a little good

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY NIGERIA SHOULD NEVER AGAIN GRANT ASYLUM to anybody/leader being found wanting it is degrading our image, Americans can never do that let stop it. it is not a good thing

learning about nigerian history is a good idea but i hope you realise that the diff ethnic groups within the country have their own histories and these would have to be represented in the curriculum equally,

infrastructure infrastructure infrastructure!!!!

transport, schools with the basic tool provided for all children, hospitals, a complete re-haul of the police force and their values and practices

we need to start buiding up protecting our home industries. re-invest in agriculture and what about tourism??

manufacture manufacture manufacture!!!!! africa has raw materials in abundance!! where are the factories?

please read this wikipedia page too http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Nigeria (yes i know that wikipedia is not a textbook but it gives a fairly accurate overview in this case)

Read where it says that in 2000, oil accounted for more than 98% of export earnings and about 83% of federal government revenue. i doubt the figure has changed much in the last 10 years. now please tell me that they are not relying on oil!!

http://www.revenuewatch.org/our-work/countries/nigeria

oil makes up roughly 80% of the GON's revenue and most other sources will cite the same figures. what i am saying is that we need to work on home industries and manufacture what we can within the country. cutting down importation and putting some focus into infrastructure, agriculture and other neccesities is what nigeria needs to develop. when oil was discovered, the GON realised that oil was a relatively easy and quick way to line their pockets and the expense of the country. of course oil will remain the primary source of revenue, but oil alone will not make the country flourish

makes up less than 20% of what? and what reports are these? where did you get your figure from?

shouldn't there be stricter deadlines? and when is the actual election date?

and please feel free to comment. debate is much welcomed

think i might do a post on this when i have more knowledge but until then do please check out my blog on nigerian politics and comment if you so wish. it's www.thenigerianarchive.. it has some wikileaks cables on nigeria, commentary, news and a few polls