₦airaland Forum

Phame: ameachi was right. It was d op that gave a misleading title to d topic.

All I did was post a story from vanguard.

jt2010: Thanks for polishing your ego because of your low self esteem

You are very welcome.

jt2010: Maybe in your fantasy dream... whenever you wake up... your TAN online posting quota for today is waiting for you...

The greatest joy for some of us Nigerians, is the realization, people like you will never be in control of our democratic institutions at the federal level. Have a nice day and cheer up.

jt2010: Poverty is more deadly disease than EBOLA.... So monthly N10,000 for been a TAN ambassdor na prime time to you...

Every time you type N10,000, all it tells me is how poor and dishonest you are. That's why your political party has gone nowhere in Nigeria. As the book of proverbs says, WISDOM IS THE ONLY THING, SEEK YEA WISDOM AND IT SHALL BE WELL WITH YOU. As I'm typing this comment, I'm in a hotel room, in Norcross Georgia, visiting my daughter in Kennesaw state university. I don't need your N1M to put food on my table.

I conquered hunger more than 25 years ago.

jt2010: By appointing you as TAN ambassador with N10,000.00 for posting online.

You, see why you people are not ready for prime time?

jt2010: Just like how your own statement also show how myopic you are.

The Nigerian political landscape has already determined between both of us, who is myopic.....

jt2010: You statement is fully of cheap mendacity and denigrations statements tailor to suit your fish/chicken brain. Mention the hate and angel tell about APC but we all know how the FG/PDP is using Tribal sentiment (even the bold in your statement) and religious claims to divide this country because of 2015. The only achievement of the present FG/PDP is allowing the effort of our past Hero’s to go in vain through cheap mendacities and denigrations statements coming from your likes including PDP and FG.

Why are you wasting your time with me? Your reply says it all.

iamord: Nigeria has had a battered image even b4 babagindas regime.. So what are u. Saying? The leaders where once common men like you. So the problem is not only from them but the citizenry as a whole ,

You have to forgive the kids here.

Nigeria’s timely containment of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) which has attracted huge commendation from the international community, including the World Health Organisation (WHO) is paying off, as air passenger traffic into and also out of the country’s airports has been sustained, despite the outbreak of the disease in July.

The disease has however crippled air travel business in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, where a total of about 1,400 deaths have been recorded since the recent outbreak, leading to the cancellation of as much as 216 of the 590 monthly international flights scheduled to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, Official Airline Guide (OAG), an airline data provider says.

However, with only five deaths recorded in Nigeria, including the late Patrick Sawyer (the index case) who imported the deadly disease into the country, analysts observe that inbound passenger traffic has been sustained, indication confidence from the international community, regarding the country’s prompt and proper response to the EVD incident.

“We are yet to feel any significant impact of the dreaded Ebola disease in the industry,” the country manager of a popular international airline, who preferred anonymity, told to our reporter. He further said that though many airlines have suspended operations to Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, which are much more afflicted by EVD, the flow of passengers into Nigeria has remained unaltered.

Despite warnings and explanations by WHO and other health experts, that the risk of travellers in the same flight contracting the deadly EVD remains very low because it can only be transferred through body fluids or secretions such as blood, sweat, urine and saliva and is not airborne, about one-third of international flights to the three most hit West African countries have been cancelled in the past one month.

Kola Olayinka, country commercial manager, British Airways, in response to questions from BusinessDay, doused any apprehension of flight cancellation to Nigeria, stating that the country is yet to be referred to as an Ebola-nation, considering the aggressive approach of the Federal Government to contain the disease.

Olayinka said that after the late Sawyer gained access into the country through the airport, all hands have been on deck to ensure such a scenario is not repeated.

This he explained, has led to the installation of scanning equipment at some sections of the airports, to allow officials thoroughly examine passengers coming into the country.

Just last week, the government of the United States donated equipment worth $5,000 to help boost screening capacity at the Murtala Mohammed Airport in Lagos.

The new items include infrared non-contact thermometers and face shields. An infrared thermometer is a portable handheld device with the ability to measure body temperature of in and out- bound passengers.

Joff Hawkins, US Consul-General in Nigeria, presenting the equipment, expressed satisfaction with the timely response of the Nigerian Government to the contagious disease, since its importation into the country by Patrick Sawyer about a month ago.

Meanwhile, South Africa Airways is set to increase its flight frequency between Lagos and Johannesburg from seven to eight times per week.

This, the firm explained, is a direct response to increasing demand from passengers for its services, and also in line with its mandate to draw the footprint of integrating Africans within the continent.

Aaron Munetsi, regional general manager for Africa & Middle East, South Africa Airways, countered any notion of the carrier suspending its services to Nigeria, explaining that the airline remains pleased with efforts of the government to contain the disease.

On the efforts of the airline to ensure it does not in anyway help spread the virus, Munetsi confirmed that the carrier does not currently fly to any of the countries seriously hit by Ebola.

He also revealed that since the disease broke out, the airline has engaged its staff in several training programmes on how best to ensure passengers are adequately protected while on board.

“Our staff have been trained to ensure passengers do not transit when they are sick, infact they have been mandated to report any sick person trying to board the flight to appropriate authorities,” he said, adding that as part of the carrier’s protective measures, staff in direct contact with passengers from the severely hit countries use protective measures such as gloves to protect themselves from any possible infection.

ODINAKA MBONU

http://businessdayonline.com/2014/08/nigerias-in-bound-air-passenger-traffic-sustained-on-ebola-containment

APC was never designed as a political party, but a vehicle to arrest power from what its founders saw as the SS/SE coalition. That dream is slowly fading away, and with it, the demon Nigerians saw and called APC. After 2015, I expect other political parties to emerge from the SW and NW. They will become the new opposition parties. Trying to sell hate and anger, has proven once again, not be a way to win votes in a democratic setting.

How low will this man fall, sad watching him, confess his sins . Public officials must pass an insanity test before talking office

PORT HARCOURT — Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, yesterday, explained why he was the target of attacks from some politicians within and outside the state.
According to him, “most of the people opposed to me are in the rank of those I assisted one way or another, some by contract awards but they failed to deliver.”

Speaking at a meet-the-people tour of communities in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of the state, Amaechi said: “If you check Obio/Akpor council, you will see how many persons that have grown through me.
Almost 80 per cent of those fighting me today are people who I have given billions of naira in contracts and they have put the money in their pockets, they did not deliver and they claim they are Ikwerre people.
“I have said that the road at Eneka was given to an Obio/Akpor son. The internal road at Rumuolumeni was given to a Rumuolumeni son. They gave it to one of Obio/Akpor’s sons to do. They have not done it. They have no fear, no shame.
“You know, the worst money to steal is the money belonging to your people. For me, go and check Ubima Road, as an ordinary Special Assistant to Chief Rufus George, the money he brought, we did the Ubima Road and when I became Speaker, I got Dr. Peter Odili to do the road and the road lasted until I became governor.
“I did not touch Ubima money. I did not say ‘I want to be a big man, contractor, give me N40 million first’. The first road to Ubima was N40 million, one kobo I did not see.
“All the roads in Rumuepirikom(community of Nyesom Wike) were done by this administration. I gave the contracts to your son and paid hundred per cent. But almost all the roads there have gone bad and they are not major traffic route. It is because of greed.
“As an Ikwerre man, what else can I do? Please tell me what else do you want me to do that I have not done? I just did not do the road, I gave it to Ikwerre people to do. If you are not a good contractor, you look for a good contractor to do for you, is it not? Now, you are not a good contractor, you don’t want to hire a good contractor, you just buy one pay loader and you begin to scratch the ground.”
He thanked the people of Oro-Igwe for the opportunity of meeting with them and urged them to beware of those who would be dishonest or betray people for selfish reasons.

- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/08/amaechi/#sthash.K0uCxMJo.dpuf

THE greatest threat facing the nation’s war against the Boko Haram and other Islamist insurgents has to do with the unprecedented acts of sabotage that the national assignment is facing. Never at any other time in the history of Nigeria had the army been so bedeviled by internal and external undermining of efforts to rid the country of terrorists and other enemies of her unity and progress.
The sabotage comes in so many forms. It is both within and outside the confines of the armed forces. According to media reports, some military officers with sympathy for the cause of the insurgents sometimes reportedly divulge critical information about the plans of the military to undertake campaigns or even funnel military equipment to their partisans in the enemy camp. This, we learnt, has led to the unceremonious cancellation of such campaigns to avoid putting officers and men in danger of running into ambushes.
One of the greatest forms of the sabotage is misinformation. Many sympathisers of Boko Haram are very eager to approach, mainly, the foreign media to say uncomplimentary things about our armed forces . They create an impression of Boko Haram as an invincible force and Sambisa, their chosen camp, as an impregnable fortress. It is this misinformation and the subsequent avoidable losses in men and military material that give rise to the tales of real or imagined “mutinies” and protests among our men under arms.
The military high command, as well as their supervisory political authorities, must take firm steps to discourage acts of sabotage against our men and women confronting the terrorists. We are fully in support of the assurance by the Chief of Army Staff, Lt General Kenneth Minimah, that the army will henceforth go tough on saboteurs and visit them with the strictest dictates of the law when nabbed and convicted of the crime.
We are also gratified to note that army is on the verge of taking delivery of sophisticated equipment. It will surely boost morale among the troops and spur them to greater effort to flush the terrorists out of Nigeria.
We call on the mass media to redouble their efforts and throw their full support for the armed forces. More efforts should be made to de-emphasise the dissemination of sensational and unsubstantiated information because we may be unwittingly playing into the hands of the terrorists. It is important for media houses to take a closer hold of their online editions and minimise their use by the terrorists and their supporters to achieve their evil purposes.
The war on terror is not for the army, security agencies or the federal government alone. It is a collective effort. We must report suspected saboteurs to the appropriate authorities and keep our communities safe.

- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/08/going-tough-saboteurs/#sthash.2n15VuzI.dpuf

The Delta administration has achieved much in pushing women towards greater heights, the most visible being the Olympic and World Championship medallist, Blessing Okagbare. The Emmanuel Uduaghan administration is also winning accolades in other dimensions.
By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor
If you have a difficult job to handle, give it to a woman,” Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan said to the rapturous approval of the majority of the women and the quiet approval of President Goodluck Jonathan who were gathered at the Ladi Kwali hall of Sheraton Hotel and Towers penultimate Tuesday.
Governor Abiola Ajimobi was to add to the hilarity with his own assertion on the prudence of women when it came to the family purse.
“When you give money to women they spend it on the family, but when you give it to men, they spend it outside and create more families,” the governor said.

The occasion was the eighth annual Medium and Small Scale Enterprises Finance Conference, the yearly event staged by Nigeria’s Central Bank to showcase advancements in the financing of small and medium scale enterprises. This year’s conference was also the first one organised by the newly appointed governor of the apex bank, Mr. Godwin Emefiele.
Dr. Uduaghan’s assertion on the competence of women was itself a direct contradiction to the well known labelling of women as the weaker sex. He spoke as one of six governors in a panel discussion on the engagements of six state governments in MSME financing.
Besides Uduaghan, other governors on the panel were Governors Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom, Segun Mimiko of Ondo, Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo, Babangida Aliyu of Niger and Ibrahim Dankwambo of Gombe State.
The governors at the panel discussion moderated by erstwhile managing director of the Bank of Industry, BoI, Ms Evelyn Oputu used the stage to recount their achievements in the MSME sector.
Governor Aliyu had impressed many with his claim that Niger State has for three consecutive years been recognised by the Central Bank for having the least proportion of the poor among the states in the country. One initiative he said, had propped the state towards that enviable position was the policy of empowering each of the 274 wards in the state with a monthly grant of N1 million which is used for development.
Governor Mimiko, speaking in a similar vein, said his administration had granted N1 billion through a poverty elimination programme to women. Ajimobi on his part, spoke of regular grants given at zero-interest rates to desiring entrepreneurs.
Governor Akpabio on his part also spoke of weekly grants of N500,000 provided by his wife to church cooperatives.
[b]
However, given the sterling example set by the Delta State administration in the field of MSME financing with testimonials in back to back awards from the CBN in past awards, it was not surprising that many also looked up to Governor Uduaghan to learn from the administration’s pattern of success.
Noting the central problem posed by unemployment to all political players, he said:
“The challenge before any leader today whether is the president, governor or local government chairman is unemployment,” Udugahan said as he noted challenges with infrastructure which his administration had to confront when he came to power in 2007.
According to him, while the administration immediately commenced the upgrade of infrastructure, it did not wait for the completion of the infrastructure projects before it commenced its empowerment programmes through the Delta Micro-Credit Programme, DMCP.
The DMCP, he said, had so far covered over 110,000 persons with more than 60% of them being women.
“The programme is managed by a woman,” Uduaghan said, adding the clincher, “if you have a problem in this world, give it to a woman,” the governor said in appreciation of the well lauded micro-credit scheme headed by programme manager, Dr. Anthonia Ashiedu.
Highlighting the achievements of the micro-credit scheme, he noted that the DMCP had recently forged a partnership with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation, UNIDO.
A result of the partnership is the enhancement of shoes and other leather products made by beneficiaries of the DMCP.
Two young female graduates who are beneficiaries of the DMCP scheme who have walked away from the labour market and were among beneficiaries who recently returned from a three week exhibition in Italy were also in Abuja to showcase their products.
President Jonathan recognised the efforts of the Delta administration when he that day handed over a cheque of N500 million out of the N1 billion set aside for the CBN for MSMEs to deserving state administrations. The only other recipient deserving that day was Governor Akpabio who went home with N200 million.
Besides, Delta State was also recognised with an award for the outstanding successes it has made under the MSME programme.[/b]

- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/08/deltas-soft-spot-women/#sthash.ak51F34H.dpuf

Songsmith1: The N'deltan apologetics keeps skirting around the topic, they have not denied the facts that Dokubo and other millitant leaders are preparing the region for a civil war. They have not denied the fact that dokubo has trained all his teenagers how to shoot guns.

They have not told us the Niger delta periodic drum beats of a looming civil war is just a joke!

You will forever remain traumatized by Nigerdeltans.

pazienza: We dont have the billions you say, but Abacha and other past looters(rulers) have those billions stashed in their swiss bank accounts. If Qatar leaders did the same,would Qatar be able to afford the billions that enabled them to have the 51% stake.

Qatar leaders do the same, because Qatar is their personal kingdom, nobody asks any question. Also, their revenue profile and that of Nigeria is almost day and Night. They have billions to spend, we don't even have enough to build roads. Allow private investor take over this projects and Nigeria government via NNPC, should just sit in the corner collecting their royalties and Petroleum taxes.

pazienza: In other words, Nigeria is a grown up man that can't take care of him self,but requires the white man to do that for him. Choi! What a shame, common Qatar can do better than the so called giant of Africa 15%.

Your analogy is misplaced here, I want to see functioning enterprises in the oil industry, not National pride. Qatar does better, because they have the cash needed to support this kind of investments. Nigeria does not, we cannot even meet our cash call JVC obligations on our signed PSC. Where are you going to get the billions you need?

Ahmedie25: a fools like u are d reason why Nigeria doesn't grow politically

Almajiris never disappoint. Now, go and die.

pazienza: So, Qatar has a 51 percent stake in their own, while pathetic and foolish Nigeria only has a 15% stake in the one in Delta, and folks are rejoicing?

So much for giant of Africa. *smh*

What are you doing with the 100% stake in the warri, portharcort and Kaduna refineries. Better a functioning infrastructure, than a giant wasteland.

Billyonaire: Nigeria needs opposition Party, Yes, we do need opposition, but that opposition is not the Muslim Brotherhood.

Yes, Nigeria needs an opposition party, the current one is just a platform for hate and anger. They have no agenda besides, we hate Jonathan and power must return to the Northern muslims..

iamord: But can you tell me one that is big enough to handle these kind of project . Like how shell does?

None at the moment, but combined 4 of small companies today, then we have a new football game. They are completed excluded from the big game right now. NNPC is taking that spot and doing nothing with it.

They all see the end of APC in 2015

arbitrage: No, Shell's Pearl GTL in Ras Lafan, Qatar is the world's largest GTL plant in capacity (size and production per day) and was completed on schedule after Orxy GTL, which is owned by Qatar Petroleum and Sasol of South Africa, the licence owner of the GTL technology. ExxonMobil planned to build the largest then in the sane Ras Lafan industrial city of Qatar but canceled their plan before Shell became the biggest.

ok

iamord: I believe in the african dream.. But sadly you are right! We keep proving that we can't do it..even when we say we can.. I mean what's the use of nnpc anyway. A ministry should just be created to ensure the oil and gas sector policies and followed and monitor the likes of shell etc, cos NNPC is just a puppet for making money.. but at that the truth is that we don't really own our Economy... Chai!!! U know what this picture creates in my mind??

Our leaders and we as a people have shot ourselves in the foot!!!

We can do it, just not under a government lead framework. Allow the African private sector lead, they have proven themselves in Nigeria already with their marginal wells. Lots of small companies doing way better than NNPC in the oil sector.

iamord: Na Land dem bring come and make connections with tribal leaders and political elites to chop. Not forgetting the militants.. Their cut dey inside..

U see the only difference between slavery era and now is that we deal in oil and not humans.. The trade pattern has been the same

Nigerians and the people that ran NNPC for years refused to learn. The day we come to the understanding, and close NNPC down, then allow private companies both local and international, manage our oil sector. We will come to realise, what a waste NNPC has been for 40 years.

MoyoGENERAL: [color=#770077][/color]
na wa for your facts oooo Mr Patrick atuanya @ business day..
how come shell GTL qatar .....come be 34,000bpd.....
don't just give us wrong info and expect all to accept it hook line and sinker!!!...

Is shell GTL Qatar the same thing as Oryx GTL Qatar?

HandOfChukwu: NO, you are the one who is commenting in the wrong thread, you should be in the GEJ d1ckriding thread instead.

That's what this thread is about. That's why I opened it. Now go and look for a thread for almajirs, janjaw**eed, and Boko haram supporters. Where you can vent your hate and anger.

iamord: I agree with u, but the question is how much money, technical know how, expertise is nnpc bringing to the table ? Before you can debate. On a. Higher percentage.

NNPC brings zero to the table, their only claim to some shares here, is title/ownership of the mineral rights.

DoTheNeedful: More money to our politicians

How is that?

HandOfChukwu: The hat wearing clown obviously Badluck Jonathan, he's an idiot and anyone celebrating this is also an idiot, owning just 15 percent not only means the profits will be tiny but it also means the governments equity can be bought out at anytime for an underhand fee.

You are commenting on the wrong thread.

Blockus: If its a JV project, NNPC would still have the controlling share.

NNPC does not have a controlling share in this project, Chevron does.

obailala: If I'm right, the project was stalled severally by activities of militants. I think the site was even bombed several times and Chevron at a point almost withdrew from the project... We could rightly say the project effectively picked up only after the amnesty program in 2009/2010...

Talk of the cost of doing business in a volatile environment; the only reason why chevron could continue with the project even at almost 1000% extra cost is because of the massive profits they know they would recoup in a few years of its operation.

Good insight, almost as it happened. Not to sound political, but Udugahan gets a huge pat on his back, for keeping the constant war between communities about this project and the Chevron LNG project contained.