₦airaland Forum

Which NEWS Channel is this? Your video looks like another APC data center product. Please tell us the channel, so we verify for ourselves.

BlackTechnology:
Oil money is one of the solutions if properly utilized.


Now let's assume oil falls to $30 per barrel. If Nigeria invests $10 per barrel in processed agricultural/ natural resources and manufacturing businesses in years to come we will break out if we privatize the businesses after 10yrs.

I hope no government in Nigeria ever again, involves itself directly, in Agriculture or Manufacturing. Some of us are praying for them to get out of petroleum sector. We have been there and done that.

When Nigeria is prepared to implement an across the board tax policy, the country will stop drowning in poverty. Oil should not be more than 30% of our budget. This is a bridge we must build and cross.

BlackTechnology:
If I am GEJ, I will insist that $50 a barrel should be the budgetary fundamental while the $15 remaining per barrel should be invested into profitable processed agricultural , processed natural resources and manufacturing businesses.


If this is done and the businesses privatized after 10yrs, Nigeria will breakout.

You don't have $15, if prices fall to $48 what are you going to do? Oil money is not a solution.

Just weeks after the Nigerian ambassador to Washington blasted the U.S. military for not offering enough assistance to weaken Boko Haram, the Nigerian government canceled an American-run training program for a Nigerian battalion charged with battling the terrorist organization behind the infamous kidnappings of more than 200 Nigerian high school girls earlier this year.
The American embassy in Abuja announced the program's elimination late Monday, saying that it came "at the request of the Nigerian government."
"We regret premature termination of this training, as it was to be the first in a larger planned project that would have trained additional units with the goal of helping the Nigerian Army build capacity to counter Boko Haram," the statement said.

The move came in the wake of one of Nigeria's bloodiest weeks in recent history, including a mosque bombing on Friday that killed at least 120 in the northern city of Kano. On Monday, two suicide bombings in state capitals in the north killed dozens, though precise estimates of the dead and wounded weren't yet available. The attacks are thought to be the work of Boko Haram, the Islamist group whose bloody campaign has helped them steadily gain territory in Nigeria's majority Muslim north. The terror group normally publicizes its attacks on social media and leaked videotapes, but has so far not taken credit for the new strikes.

Washington had been one of the first countries to offer military assistance in an extensive search for the 219 schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram in Chibok last spring, and Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan's administration did not explain its decision to terminate the U.S. training program. Nigeria's leading daily newspaper, the Vanguard, reported Tuesday that the planned cancellation pointed to worsening relations between Nigeria and the United States. The story opened with claims the program's cancellation is the "latest sign of strained ties between the two countries."
Vanessa Hillman, a Pentagon spokeswoman, told Foreign Policy that ties between the two governments remain strong and that the Defense Department "is committed to the long tradition of partnership with Nigeria and will continue to engage future requests for cooperation and training."

The United States has long refused to provide arms to the Nigerian military, citing human rights violations, including financial fraud and torture in the military, that legally prevent them from offering such aid. Despite these claims, the United States has previously provided military assistance to other countries facing claims of human rights violations, including Uganda, where a contingent of U.S. Special Forces are conducting a quiet hunt for Joseph Kony, the leader of the Lord's Resistance Army, a rebel group notorious for its use of child soldiers. Although the United States has offered Nigeria other forms of aid, including training sessions for the military and the deployment of special intelligence units, the Obama administration's refusal to provide military equipment has heightened political tensions between the two countries.

Hillman told FP that Nigeria, which has the largest military in West Africa, can have American assistance, but the ball is ultimately in their court for defeating the insurgents. "The government of Nigeria leads the effort and has ultimate responsibility for countering the threat posed by Boko Haram inside Nigeria," she said. "Our efforts focus on assisting the Nigerians so they can effectively secure their nation."
Economic tensions have also strained Washington's relationship with Jonathan's administration. The United States announced in July that due to an increase in domestic production, it would no longer buy crude oil from Nigeria, which worsened the country's ongoing financial crisis.
Jonathan, who announced his candidacy for reelection last month, has faced months of criticism for his failure to stop the group's momentum or find the missing girls. The U.N. estimates at least 700,000 Nigerians are internally displaced due to the group's violence, with tens of thousands more having fled for neighboring Chad and Cameroon. Despite extensive intelligence-sharing and other aid from the U.S., Israel, China, and other countries, meanwhile, the girls have still not been located. Boko Haram leaders have said the missing girls had been converted to Islam and married off to its fighters.

In a November speech to the Council on Foreign Relations, Nigerian Ambassador Adebowale Ibidapo Adefuye asked "how and why, in spite of the U.S. presence in Nigeria with their sophisticated military technology, Boko Haram should be expanding and becoming more deadly." His office did not respond to multiple phone calls on Tuesday.

JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images
http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2014/12/02/nigeria_to_washington_take_your_military_aid_and_shove_it

Even the American oil players are reacting to falling prices. Drilling permits are done 40% within the last 60 days and credit is slowing down for new projects. This are the reactions OPEC was expecting. Nevertheless oil below $70 is the new normal.

4Play:
Does anyone remember the insistence by the National Assembly to increase the budget benchmarks in previous budget deliberations?



[url]http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/national-assembly-increases-oil-benchmark-to-76-5pb/163738//url]

By constantly ramping up the benchmark, it means there is less room to manoeuver when oil prices collapse. There will be no lessons learnt because Nigerian politics is fixated on personality and tribe/religion.

Most will learn nothing.

BlackTechnology:
Not all our reserve that should be used.

10% of $30b is equals to $3b


This can help

1) convert over 20,000sqkm of our land into agricultural fields generating so much raw materials that can crash the cost of doing agro-allied businesses thereby crashing the price of their finished products which will help reduce the amount of money leaving peoples pockets.

2) tap our other natural resources and process them.

3) produce/manufacture the products we import.

Nigeria needs a 12 months -18 months policy guideline to deal with $65 oil prices. Will your suggestions change our budgetary fundamentals.

That is the test here.

$65 is still too high. The bench mark should be at $48.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-04/nigeria-signals-revenue-to-plunge-as-it-cuts-benchmark-oil-price.html



Nigeria lowered its budgeted oil price for a second time in less than a month, signaling government revenue is set to plunge in Africa’s biggest crude producer.

The medium-term budget plan for 2015 to 2017 will be based on an oil price of $65 a barrel, Paul Nwabuikwu, an Abuja-based spokesman for the Finance Ministry, said in an e-mail today. On Nov. 16, Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala had cut the proposed benchmark price to $73 a barrel for 2015, down 5.8 percent from this year’s budgeted price.

Global oil prices have plunged more than a third since June, roiling Nigeria’s markets, eroding foreign-currency reserves and prompting policy makers to devalue the naira for the first time in three years. With crude exports accounting for about 70 percent of government income, the revenue slump may force authorities to curb spending in an election year.

“It is a realistic price for the country,” Bismarck Rewane, chief executive officer of Lagos-based consultancy Financial Derivatives Co., said by phone today from London. “The cut will mean a significant reduction to the budget. The government has to push for the legislature to accept it.”

The revised budget plan was submitted to the National Assembly for approval, Nwabuikwu said.

‘Fiscal Flexibility’

“This is a good plan, as it means there is some fiscal flexibility,” Razia Khan, the London-based head of African economic research at Standard Chartered Plc, said by e-mail today. “The downside is that we will not get great detail on spending allocations.”

The naira snapped a two-day gain, falling 0.5 percent to 180.45 against the dollar on the interbank market as of 10:01 a.m. in Lagos, the commercial capital.

Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Godwin Emefiele said last week that earlier revisions to the budgeted oil price to $73 a barrel may have been “overly optimistic.”

Nigeria is among oil exporters, including Russia, Venezuela and Iran, whose budgets and currencies are being pressured by the drop in crude prices. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries kept its output ceiling unchanged last week, pushing prices to five-year lows.

The government in Africa’s largest economy is also struggling to contain an Islamist insurgency that has killed more than 13,000 since 2009 as political tensions rise before February elections.

President Goodluck Jonathan, who’s seeking re-election, is facing the stiffest opposition challenge to the ruling People’s Democratic Party party in 16 years after three opposition groups merged last year to form the All Progressives Congress.

We are watching and waiting.

By Festus Ahon
ASABA—DELTA State Government has said that it was committed to the completion of the multi million naira Ughelli/Asaba Road dualization project before May 29, 2015.
State Commissioner for Special Duties in charge of the road project, Mr David Anuku who gave the assurance while on inspection of the project, dispelled insinuations that the 145km road project has been abandoned by the state government, noting “The Ughelli/Asaba dual carriage road project is a star project of the Emmanuel Uduaghan government, it will be delivered before May 29, 2015.”
Anuku said the contractors handling the project, CCC in charge of the section A & B and ULO consultants which is working on the section C of the road had promised to increase the pace of work on the project during this dry season, noting that work on the project was suspended during the rainy season to enable contractors correct some engineering defects on it.
Observing that there was the need to address the issues of drainages, gutters and bridges among others especially on section C of the road, the commissioner said work on section ‘A’ “which is Ughelli to Arhade in Isoko axis of the state is 50 per cent completed, section B from Arhade to Osissa in Ndokwa East, 97 percent completed while section C from Ossissa to Ogwashi-Uku-Asaba has engineering issues that need to be resolved with the contractors.”
Anuku said that the state government will not leave any stone unturned in completing the road, adding that it was a link between Warri Port and Onitsha, the commercial hub of the east.

- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/12/delta-assures-completion-ughelliasaba-road/#sthash.kW4ECU5n.dpuf

doctokwus:
Yawns

Go to sleep.

The rouble fell back on Wednesday, sinking to new record lows against the dollar and the euro before recovering.

Tuesday's rise in the Russian currency proved short-lived, with early trading seeing the rouble fall to 54.82 against the dollar and 67.82 to the euro.

The rouble then recovered a shade to 53.14 per dollar and 65.41 per euro.

The rouble has lost more than a third of its value against the dollar and euro since the start of the year.

Western sanctions against Russia over Ukraine and the fall in oil prices are hurting the economy.

A decision by the oil producers' group Opec not to rein in production - which would have bolstered crude prices - sparked a big fall in the rouble. The currency dropped by 9% on Monday - its biggest one-day decline since 1998.

Oil and gas revenues are the biggest single source of revenues for Moscow.

On Monday, Russia's central bank spent about $700m to support the currency, according to official data.

There were unconfirmed reports on Wednesday that the bank was again intervening to prop up the rouble.

"Without doubt, the central bank is selling (foreign currency)," according to an unnamed trader cited by the Reuters news agency.

The bank indicated in early November that interventions would be less frequent as part of a plan to let it float freely on the currency markets.

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-30306267

BlackTechnology:
HahahahahahahaHahahahahahaha

OK no problem.


But I stand on this view that government should stimulate the economy before taxing the economy.


Lets use some part of our reserve to invest into profitable ventures in order to stimulate our economy before taxing the economy


Major profitable ventures are agriculture, natural resources and manufacturing.

Massive supply overcoming demand in these sectors will boom the economy making more money appear in peoples pockets or reduce the money leaving peoples pockets. This will empower our people to pay taxes .

The Nigerian reserve will not be used by any government for investment. That's the insurance our T bills and import receipts have in the international market.

The question is what comes first, the chicken or the egg. People have money now, why not tax now? We cannot stimulate the economy without money. Either taxed or borrowed.

BlackTechnology:
Give me range of your tithe.

BlackTechnology:
Don't deceive yourself ooooo


Rich pastors do business outside Church oooo


Show me a wealthy pastor and I will show you a business owner outside Church

Let's return back to our American oil at $65.

BlackTechnology:
Do you pay tithes regularly .?

I actually do, and most times even more.

BlackTechnology:
Hahahahaha


How many Christians pay their tithes regularly


If you go close to pastors and they reveal to you how Christians fail to pay their tithes regularly you will wonder how they survive


Guy people rarely pay tithes.

Seeing is believing, look at Nigerian churches, the opposite is the case.

BlackTechnology:
Haba

OK

How much do you earn in a month.

you have to ask FIRS that question.

BlackTechnology:
There is nothing wrong in taxing big businesses.


But do you think it is good to task a person earning #20000 from his job/business especially in an economy were basic things like housing education and health care are expensive.?

Be realistic with your answer.

If you cannot pay taxes on your 20,000, don't complain about government services. Nigeria will not be built by men from mars. Most of the same people don't have a problem paying their 10% offerings in church.

epospiky:
. What do you think is "mono" in nigeria?

Nothing

BlackTechnology:
Good question

But first read the my conclusion which I just added.

Also I am not against tax but I insist the government should stimulate the economy before taxing the economy.


As for your question of how I believe government can finance these things.

We have over $30billion in our reserve. If some of this money can be used prudently, we would breakout in years to come.

Remember

Germany came out of WW2 penniless but prudent economic policies with the aid of the marshal plan helped them recovered quickly .


Just assume we just ended a war and over $30 billion is our Marshall plan fund.

Germany came out of WW2 penniless, but was a world leader in technology before and during the war. Also the world largest economy at that time opened up its bank account to help refinance the New Germany. But public and private

Nigeria needs about $30 billion yearly in infrastructural spending, to bring our economy into overdrive within the next 10 years. After you exhaust what we have in the reserve now and, you deal with the unintended consequences. Where are you going to get the next $30B. As things are today, we are spending about $10B yearly between states and the federal government in infrastructural spending. Yet most of us don't see or feel it, because it only makes a dent.

We have a $520B economy today, if countries like Kenya, South Africa and Ghana can live with a tax burden of 19%-30%, so can we. Put in place a 20% across the board tax policy in Nigeria, government will generate about $75B yearly, Nigeria will be less affected by oil prices and the future funding of projects will be more certain. No economy grows on a 3% tax collection . Unless your goal is to create a nanny state.

BlackTechnology:
Thanks for being willing to discuss without insults


Yes you asked a good question about how can we fund our government without depending on oil money.?


Well I agree with you that taxes will play a lot of role but we must first boom the economy before doing that.

These are few things government can do.


1) Find a means to help businesses cut down the cost of doing business which might decrease the cost of their products leaving more money in peoples pockets which will make it easier for people to pay taxes.

2) Find a means to help expand the customer base of businesses by making more money enter into peoples pockets.


HOW CAN POINT (1) BE ACHIEVE

a) Electricity, Roads, rail, and water are basic infrastructure lacking in Nigeria which cost businesses so much to provide themselves.

b) Make available abundance of agricultural, mineral resources and their processed forms. This can be achieved by making sure that at least 20% of every local government or state land is utilized for agriculture. This will transform at least 180000sqkm of our total land mass to agricultural fields.
Place 25% derivation on all natural resources and 50% derivation on all processed natural resources in other to encourage states participation. This will help flood our industrial markets with cheap natural resources or processed natural resources.

You have solutions that cost money, yet you are not telling me, how you intend generating all these monies. The only part of the economy that is going to shrink within the next 12 months is the crude oil sector. Manufacturing, farms produce and services will expand by at least 6.5%.

Yet, you seem dead set against taxing the productive sector of the economy, even as you have a list of items, you want to put in place.

Electricity, Roads, rail, and water are basic infrastructure and they cost billions of dollars, how are you going to pay for all theses, without an across the board tax policy.

epospiky:
That's the outcome of a mono-economic country...not a good news though.

What is mono in Nigeria?

BlackTechnology:
atlwireles


Before independence, the British built railways to help transport Arewas groundnuts and cotton.


Because of demand for groundnuts , Arewa farmers made so much money that they were able to buy more foreign goods as well as pay taxes.


Let's create policies and programs that will put money into peoples pockets or reduce the money leaving peoples pockets.

You are going back to 1940s-50s, What happened to arewa groundnuts? Demand for groundnuts has not gone away. How does this affect $65 oil price today.

BlackTechnology:
Good question


Create policies and programs that will

A) put money into more peoples hands

B) reduce the money leaving peoples pockets.

.
Comrade let's discuss without insults.

I want you to lay down policy, as regards to government funding and oil prices and the Nigeria economy in General

How are you going to put more money in people's pocket?

No insults intended.

The naira traded broadly flat on Wednesday, but outside the central bank’s new target band, a day after the bank stepped up intervention, hurting dealers who had taken short positions on the U.S. dollar.

Dealers lost billions of naira in speculative trades on Tuesday as the central bank sold dollars heavily to help the local currency rebound from another record intraday low to gain almost four percent.

The naira has lost 12.3 percent versus the dollar this year as the falling oil price weighed on the already shaky finances of Africa’s top oil producer.

The central bank, which devalued the currency by 8 percent last week in a bid to halt a decline in foreign reserves, has been struggling to keep the naira within its new band of 160-176 to the dollar.

The naira opened at 183.15 to the dollar on Wednesday, and then quickly firmed by 0.35 percent at 1106 GMT in calm trades. It had closed at 181 naira on Tuesday.

Dealers told Reuters they were expecting the central bank to intervene again on Wednesday, as it has done since the devaluation, before taking positions — a more cautious approach to trading that they said showed demand for the dollar has slowed.

But they added that it was too early to tell whether the naira had found its level around the 183 mark, because if the central bank failed to meet demand at its twice-weekly auction on Wednesday and did not intervene, then the naira could continue to weaken.
http://businessdayonline.com/2014/12/naira-trades-flat-as-dollar-demand-slows
Reuters

BlackTechnology:
Before taxing the economy , you must cause an economic boom which will make it easier for people and businesses to pay taxes.


For example it is easier to task Lagosians because of high economic activities than On do because of low economic activities.


So boom the economy before taxing the economy.

How does one create an economic boom? before you can tax it? Why can one tax the people in Lagos and Potharcourt and not Kano and kaduna?

If you want development, you will learn how to pay for it. Based on your submission here, Nigerians like yourself, are not ready to leave the poverty zone.

BlackTechnology:
For us to enjoy an import economy, we must balance our export strength .


Otherwise

We develop an economy that imports little if we want to export little.

Sorry, I don't understand what you are trying to say

otokx:
Most of them if not all have a huge debt overhang; any price ticket below 10k is not sustainable in the short long run.

10k is very sustainable, bearing in mind the current price of jet fuel and a less regulated market place. If Ryan air can do it why not a low cost carrier in Nigeria.

kmariko:
Personally, Nigeria DOES NOT HAVE, issues with
a. Corruption
b.infrastructure deficit
c. Renters or bottle feeding economy
d.hunger
e.security.
f.bad leadership

What this great country has is structural deficit in the way the polity is made to function.
Create a uniquely Nigerian political structure that encompasses our varying cultures ( both political and economical) without copying other nation's system and watch these so-called problems fade away.

You have said nothing but the truth. Our problem is not american oil or crude oil at $50.