₦airaland Forum

It was predicted in 1980 by JP Morgan that Nigeria will be one of the 5 emerging developing economies by 2000.
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Of all the 5 countries, which includes Singapore, Brazil, etc Nigeria is the only country within that group that is still grossly underdeveloped.
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We are a peculiar country where every known economic model is defied.

2 million Buharis cannot save Nigeria! We are chronically corrupt. It's who we are and it's our way of life.

We throng out with drums to celebrate those who have haemorrhaged and raped our collective wealth. We defend our corrupt "brothers and sisters" anytime there is an attempt to call them to answer. We even start a campaign of "Bring back corruption" simply because all the goodies that were byproducts of corruption are no more there.

Little wonder why we still live in a society that is reminiscent of cave men. Poverty, Darkness, Diseases, Lack of basic social amenities, etc defines us.

Make no mistake to blame this on leaders, for leaders are merely products of society. A corrupt society births corrupt leaders! From civil servants to police officers to judges to elected officials to lecturers to students to pastors to everyone...there is corruption everywhere. It's a cultural thing. Try being different and they call you "mugu", dumb or ask if you want to be the next Jesus. We are just primitively corrupt!

These buffoons do not even have the thought of putting these looted funds in the bank where it could even serve as loans to entrepreneurs.

God forbid!

belovedsamex:
In my own opinion...and following from what I got from this message...If Nigeria must be free from it's economic woes (The consequent of the various political, social and religious misdemeanors to mention but a few), we Nigerians MUST learn to point the accusing finger in the right direction...towards "us" and NOT the "GOVERNMENT".

The truth is, the GOVERNMENT is a figure head in nigeria. No leadership has ever emerged in nigeria without various economic disabilities...right from the first republic till date...none has ever made a difference. We only recount a better yesterday because the government of today is worse than yesterday's.
That tells you that the term Government does not change tins. It only assumes the nature of the people who make it up.

So how do u salvage the situation?...by salvaging the people that have the potential to go there. Who are these people? Nigerians.

You see, I say to myself that our society deserves what it's getting from the leadership of its people. This is because the fruits of leadership is the fruits of the seeds the society has sown in the lives of its inhabitants.

Checkout Nairaland for example...when you make a post based on ur personal opinion...there you see the kind of people this virturial world harbors. You see our youths, presidents-to-be, Governors, ministers, would-be leaders of governmental and non-governmental organizations, spewing insults on one another just because someone didn't opine what they "think" is right. Constructively redress the subject matter, they won't. They would rather defame the image of a "poster" or "a comenter" in order to drive home their points.

That's exactly what's happening in the real world. Yes. Rather than putting things in place to handle the problem of the country, the current leadership begins to put blames and defame the reputation of the previous leadership. Isn't dat what is happening today? And mind you, it didn't start with PMB's regime, it's been the norm among nigerian political elites.
So just as you see it breeding among many youths on this nairaland, do not be surprise in 5 to 10 years time when you become lambasted by the government of our society for saying what they didn't like...it started at home...from home to nairaland...and from nairaland to the helms of leadership.

Couldn't agree more.

Most folks erroneously believe that the problem of Nigeria is the leaders. Unfortunately, this is not the case. The problem lies in the heart of society itself. Leaders are merely products of society. A corrupt society births corrupt leaders. Even if this generation of leaders were to mysteriously all die off, you can be rest assured that the next generation of leaders won't be any better. Just take a look at your SUG leaders or youth leaders and then ask yourself if these generation will anyway be better.
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Until there is a broadbased reorientation of society, this country will continue in a vicious cycle of perpetual failure. A society that rolls out its drums to celebrate a man who stole them dry is beyond salvage. The country is simply pathetic!

It does appear that the issues we talk about today have always been part of us. Very pathetic!
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Someone once said that Africa needs to be re-colonized, because we are incapable of governing ourselves. The above writeup clearly shows we lack the ability to solve our own problems.

cooncudee:
isn't the solution to our problem

Ok, granted. But I was hoping you were going to educate me on the possible solutions to the problem. I would be interested in a polite and civil discussion on the subject matter.

cooncudee:
and you'll bring in another clueless ruler. Ask yourself, is protest the solution to the matter? will voting one person out and bringing another in solve our issue? which is better, PDP or APC? when you are voting should it be about kicking a failed govement out or bringing in d saviour? Does our problem even have anything to do with who our president is? what is our problem? how can we solve it?

What's your point, mate?

"Like I said before, I support the protest"

I'm yet to see a more deranged governor. Imagine how ridiculous it would sound to hear president Buhari saying he supports the protest. That's exactly how ridiculous Fayose sounds.
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Someone should remind Fayose the objective and target of the protest. Maybe, then, he will finally understand that he is part of those being protested against.

It is every citizen's civic and patriotic duty to hold elected government accountable.
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"Mr Femi Adesina perfectly exemplifies the confidence of a failing government, deluded by their false sense of popularity" - Couldn't have said it any better. PMB will receive (in 2019) an even greater dose of what was served GEJ (in 2015).

Obviously, Fayose still doesn't get it.
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This is not a protest against Buhari. This is an ANTI-GOVERNMENT protest. It is a protest against Poor Governance! It is a protest against all arms of government (Executive, Legislature & Judiciary). It is a protest against all levels of government (FG, SGs, and LGs). It is a protest against APC, PDP and any party holding political office. By implication, Fayose is one of those being protested against.
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There is a collective failure in governance which Nigerians have become tired of. YES, Buhari is the arrowhead of that collective failure, but NO, this is not about him alone, it is also about Fayose and his ilk.
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If Fayose or any opposition wants to lead a protest, then let them go and organize one. They should, however, not attempt to hijack and compromise this noble cause championed by Nigerians.
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Enough Is Enough!

TippyTop:
Why the above question? Are you saying Buhari never governed Nigeria in 1983/1985?

Your question makes no sense, the dullard was old enough to ruin our economy twice. So what's your point?

Easy pal. Ben Bruce said Nigeria has witnessed recession twice and in those times, the country was led by Old folks. You then concluded that those 2 times were 1983/84 and 2015/2016.
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My question is, how old was Buhari in 1983/84? If indeed, BMB was referring to him, is 41yrs an old age? How old were OBJ, Yar'Adua, and GEJ when they became presidents?

Ngokafor:
. ...Nigeria has gone into recession twice...1983/84 and 2015/2016 and counting,both times led by the same man..


...Regardless of what zombies say..this history of failure is not a coincidence and cannot be blamed on anyone but the culprit at helm of affairs...EOD

Going by BMB's assertion and your conclusion, how old was Buhari in 1983/84?

It is given that Anambra is one of the better performing states in the country at the moment. However, BMB must be suffering from Selective Amnesia for calling out only APC governors. This clearly shows that he is not on the side of Commonsense but on the side of Partisanship. Or is he suggesting that all PDP governors are already doing excellent and so do not need lessons in administration?
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Used to have a lot of respect for the twitter senator, but clearly, he is proof that politics does things to your sanity and sense of objectivity. He visited Lagos (arguably the best performing state in the country right now) recently and he didn't find it worthy to call out his PDP governors to visit Lagos for lessons in administration.
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So much for Common Sense!

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“We are optimistic that the external factors that partly contributed to push our economy into recession will ebb in 2017. Until then, I regret that the resources available to fund our missions abroad will not be as robust as we would like.

After carefully reading the article, what I heard the president talk about was that the EXTERNAL FACTORS contributing to the recession will EBB (ease) in 2017.
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Unfortunately (and typically), the media writes a headline that doesn't reflect the true content of the article.

KingsleyJohn:
That is part of the problem, you need to do real soul searching about the essence of Nigeria and discuss that. Forget about the messenger. Or you think FFK can't just switch sides, join APC and all his sins will be forgiven, if in doubt as OUK

The bolded text is precisely the reason why I can't take FFK and his ilk seriously.
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His position on the subject matter is not genuine, but merely borne out of his present circumstances. If his circumstances changes tomorrow, his position will also change. Is that the joker you want me to waste my intellect to discuss issues with?

kcnwaigbo:
Buhari had no interest yet he deployed police and army to steal ballot boxes and beat up INEC officials!! Shebi Wike has already told you the events of December 10 will never repeat itself in 2019.In 2019 people will be fully armed to confront security agents stealing ballot boxes,afteral even security agents bleed

Nobody has Monopoly of Violence! Good luck to you and Wike in 2019.

obyrich:
I am not from Rivers but a Nigerian. APC promised CHANGE not REVENGE! Nigeria cannot be better if everyone thinks the way you do. Wike did not lose anything but Rivers people did. The lives of citizens of Nigeria were sacrificed for selfish political interest and pompous ego in the last Rivers rerun. This circle will continue because there will be reprisals. Wike is still the governor of Rivers state. PDP still controls majority of members of the state house assembly and senate.

TBH, I completely agree with your criticism of APC for acting differently in line with their CHANGE mantra. Any average Nigerian who criticizes the APC gets my support, but not Wike. He is a thug who thinks the blood of Rivers people is worth his political ambition.
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The people (grass) will always loose when 2 political gladiators (elephants) fight, just like in April 2015. Preach that to Wike first.

Wike is the least qualified person to accuse others of election rigging/violence. He has zero morality on the issue.
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He should be very lucky that President Buhari had no personal interest in Rivers election the way the Jonathans had in 2015. During the last general elections, the police DIG in charge of the zone was redeployed a few days to the elections. Mama P relocated to Rivers and stayed there for about a week. Every machinery of government and the full weight of Federal Might was deployed to "deliver Rivers".
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One can still remember the puppet CP, Joseph Mbu, who perpetually undermined the State governor, as dictated by Aso Rock.
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Dear Wike, what goes around comes around. My only disappointment is that I expected you to be man enough to accept your fate when you are paid with the same coin you paid others. I didn't think you would be crying or leading street protests.

I have my personal reservations about the oneness of Nigeria, or at least, it's governance structure.
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That being said, I have even deeper reservations about the author of this article. He was a beneficiary of this 'Questionable Unity' for about 16years and never for once did I hear him question the unity or structure of Nigeria.
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It is precisely this absence of sincerity of purpose that causes issues never to be discussed on its merits but rather on the alter of sentiments and interests.
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FFK is a pained looser, who thinks that championing the cause of Biafra will endear him to the SE and undermine the goodwill of the present administration.

Strictly speaking, Magu did not act outside the law regarding the freezing of Fayose's account. The immunity clause for governors only cover immunity from PROSECUTION. Governors can be investigated while in office, and their assets can be seized. But they can not be prosecuted until they leave office.
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In any case, this is a legal matter, so it is not the Senate but the Judiciary that should determine if the EFCC boss acted out of order.

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While I do agree that the FG should have stood its ground to ban the scheme, it must also be noted that Nigerians (especially the investors and beneficiaries of the scheme) would have called the president all sorts of names for trying to deny them their God-given source of income. The EFCC came under intense fire for even suggesting that they would investigate the scheme.

There was warning from many agencies of government for Nigerians to steer clear of the scheme - from CBN, SEC, EFCC, Banks, even churches.
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For those who think that this is not a Ponzi, because the promoters structured it to look like Help Giving, my question is - what percentage of people put money in the scheme with the sole purpose of giving help (i.e without any hope for returns)?

I am not here to argue whether the scheme is a Scam or not, but I am 100% convinced that the scheme is structurally deficient and not sustainable. It is bound to collapse or implode on its own weight eventually. It doesn't matter how good-intentioned the promoters are.

My theory (and I could be wrong) is that the promoters are expecting a large number of withdrawals by participants this year end and they can see from their backend numbers that they don't have enough 'new money' to match those demands, so they decide to pull a fast one to allow the year-end frenzy to subside. Unfortunately, even if the scheme reopens again by January, the uncertainty that this suspension has caused will dampen the appetite of new members while old members will have a RUN on the scheme forcing it to implode.

Just like most people have pointed out, I do not think it is necessary to choose one over the other. Afterall, to scale up agricultural production, the entire value-chain would need to be industrialized.

However, a country may choose to give priority to one over the other in the near term. The simple reason would be - Comparative Advantage. In the immediate term, Nigeria is more likely to record giant strides in Agriculture than in Industries.

When you look at the factors of production (for Agriculture), you can see that we already have 2 of those factors cheaply - LAND and LABOUR - a large fallow/arable land waiting to be utilized, as well as a large number of strong unemployed youths to deploy. What we require is for more ENTREPRENEURS to wake up and for CAPITAL to be available.

In the case of industrialization, we would have to first worry about the SKILLS needed. Recall that Dangote had to send over a thousand Nigerians for training overseas just to ensure they have the right skills to run his refinery. Our entire academic curriculum needs to be reorganised to reflect current industrial & technological trends.

I am not sure we can immediately compete with China, Japan, South Korea, North America, Western Europe, etc in terms of industrialization. But, YES, I agree that (in the long term) it is the way to go for sustainable development. But, right now, Agriculture best serves our interest. The sheer number of people that Agriculture can employ will make Industries cringe in envy.
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@omohayek, that was a brilliant exposition.

babyhrt:
If you read through the statement, The Man Magu keeps using the pronoun "Me Me Me" as if he is the only one in EFCC.

This tells me one thing, that Magu is an attention seeker, no wonder there are more media trials than courts trials and convictions

“We have course to investigate; in fact, we are investigating those in government without them knowing. Not only that, the president has given me the mandate to investigate every corrupt Nigerian leader irrespective of his political affiliation. I don’t think we have the monopoly of knowledge to tackle corruption...."

In that quote alone, I can see WE three times and ME only once.

sammieguze:
I think the problem lie with us.We are separated along tribal, religious or political lines and so, whenever something is done for the benefit of the masses, some set of people are always ready to shout blue murder.

So far, the so called law has only been applicable to the poor in the society.

Do we know how many innocent civilians are been harassed daily in such manner yet they cannot get justice. Now, a few corrupt judges are being questioned and some people are shouting rule of law and it is those same set of people who will say Buhari did not get a single conviction for a corrupt case where as, the problem lies with these corrupt judges who are hell bent on frustrating the efforts of the executives for their own person monetary gain

The reason why Nigeria's corruption is unprecedented and unrivaled anywhere else in the world is the sheer amount of people involved in it, and how many citizens are ready to go out to defend corruption.

For those who defend corruption, I'll ask you a few questions:
(1) Can you estimate the number of deaths caused by accident due to poor roads - simply because government officials looted funds meant to construct and repair roads?
(2) Can you estimate the number of people who die yearly from health-related issues - simply because government officials looted funds meant to build health-care centers and provide drugs there?
(3) Can you estimate the number of people who die yearly from water-borne diseases - simply because government officials looted funds meant to provide portable water to citizens?
(4) Can you estimate the number of people who die yearly from malnutrition - simply because government officials looted funds meant to provide good jobs for citizens?

I can go on and on, but I'm sure you get the point. Corruption is a million times worse that BH, Fulani Herdsmen, ND Militants, ISIS, etc. Deaths caused by corruption is not as brazen and cannot be pinned down to any one person. But it slowly and progressively takes away lives in their thousands every single day.

Call it Gestapo-tactics or not, I stand with Buhari on this one. These primitively corrupt criminals subject our national treasury and common wealth to even worse Gestapo-looting.

The statement said further that “In a robust democracy such as ours, there is bound to be a plurality of opinions on any given issue, but there is a convergence of views that the country has a corruption problem that needs to be corrected.

The bolded text is very instructive.
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The problem with Nigeria is that, for too long, there has been a Conspiracy of Silence among the political class & public officers, where they collude to fleece the nation while everyone looks the other way and pretend that nothing is happening. The younger generation, sadly, have grown to accept this as the norm. These days, we even pray for 'our time' to come.
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Every institution meant to defend this country and its citizens are the very institutions that collude to undermine it. From the FG, SGs, MDAs, NASS, Judiciary, CSOs, Youth groups, etc. There is no respite anywhere.
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Only for a second time in this country, someone is trying to reset and reformat our national consciousness from this malady. Our psychic needs to be reverse engineered to the right path, even if it means using unconventional means.
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Those who question the President’s tactics and are often quick to spew "Rule of Law" should ask those looters if they had any regards for the law when they were bleeding the nation. Or is it their constitutional right to "corner" public funds for their personal use?
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For those who say the fight is one-sided, I say - I would rather take a one-sided fight than accept no fight at all. It is the No Fight posture adopted by previous leaders that has made us to progressively degenerate to this corruption abyss. The fear of being hunted by your enemy is going to start scaring corrupt politicians and public officers.

jpphilips:
I agree with you completely on the exchange, I think Boyo has a point as regards the "Timing" of such exchange, why must it happen on a monthly basis?
shouldn't the dollar cert kinda delay the exchange for a while such that goods will remain competitive with money supply?

Dangote does not need $1b every month neither does our importers, there should be a priority list and a delay mechanism for non essential imports if the naira must gain value.

TBH, I do not fully understand how the dollar certificates concept works. Maybe you will do well to enlighten me in that regard.

Of course, Dangote does not need such money every month. I only used him to represent importers in general. You advocate for a priority list and delay mechanism for non-essential items. This is precisely what the CBN did with those 41 items it banned from accessing official Reserves. Unfortunately, these items simply moved their FX demands from the CBN to the parallel market causing a complete distortion btw the official & parallel rates.

There is no easy solution from the CBN. This mess was not caused by them. They are not responsible for a drop in oil price. They are not responsible for militant activities causing a drop in oil production. They are not responsible for Nigeria being a mono-economy. They are not responsible for lack of infrastructure. They are not responsible for lack of investments in other sectors of the economy. They are not responsible for Nigeria being an import-dependent nation. They are not responsible for treasury looting by public officials. These are the immediate and remote causes of high inflation and high exchange rate.

Yet, we always try to blame them and demand solutions from them, simply because we cannot dare challenge our public officers (or maybe we are in cahoots with them in causing the mess). Politicians and public officers (by their actions & inactions) always put the CBN in an economic zugzwang, where any move the apex bank makes will lead to some form of negative consequences.

jpphilips:
You took the writer off context he said, "prints or creates" the take home point is that one way or the other, the CBN source the equivalent of $1b in naira and throw it into the economy on a monthly basis.
The source of its naira equivalent is not in contention, so dont miss the point.
The CBN then sell TBN to mop up the excess liquidity, how does doing the same thing the same way produce a different result?

The Naira that the CBN throws into the economy is simply a "transfer". For instance, the CBN sells $1b to Dangote Refinery and collects N320bn, which it then gives to FAAC. This is simply a transfer or recirculation of Naira from one economic agent to another. This does not increase the Naira in the financial system.

This point (source of Naira) is important as this can help debunk or validate Boyo's inflation theory.

Nigeria's inflation comes from quite a number of factors outside CBN monetization. Firstly, corrupt public officials have access to stupendous CHEAP money which they then use to chase the few goods and services. Secondly, we are becoming less and less productive, and more of a consuming nation. When more funds are deployed to consumption rather than production, inflation is bound to go up.

Sadly, the current inflation is not demand-pull, (since we are in a recession). It is rather Cost-push, caused primarily by the high exchange rate. Being an import-dependent country, a high exchange rate means that the cost of imported goods will go up. Their market prices will, thus, follow suite causing higher inflation.

The problem in Nigeria is that we usually have lazy Fiscal authorities, who usually fail in their responsibilities thereby leaving the monetary authorities (CBN) to carry its cross. It is the job of fiscal authorities to articulate and drive a clear industrial plan. It is their job to provide infrastructure. It is their job to promote and facilitate agriculture, solid minerals, etc. However, what they do instead is to loot the treasury and flood the system with cheap money (especially during campaigns/elections), only to leave the inflation mess they have caused for the CBN to clean up.

Most of the excess liquidity Boyo is concerned about is not caused by CBN, but rather corrupt politicians and public officers.

PMBNG:
What I hate in this article is lying, Premium Times lied by saying it was first to publish the news, I received notification from The Trent, Social Times, Newsdairyonline news portal as early as 5am ‎while Premium Times published at about 8am, I am saying this because those site are wordpress sites and I am subscriber to all of them.
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If it were their story, u will see something like "a source told Premium Times" but in this one they were quoting a source which they never said where the source came from, now they are claiming ownership of the story.

I read this news in my mail as at 8am and was ‎disappointed.

I'm not sure PT claimed ownership of the story. They only said they reported it. That doesn't nean other news media did not report same story before or after them

Thus, in the CPM: -1 The Central Bank of Nigeria unilaterally determines the naira exchange rate and thereafter unconstitutionally captures the distributable $1bn revenue and prints/creates in replacement (read as monetises) N200bn as statutory allocations, which are then domiciled in the bank accounts of beneficiaries.

This is the premise on which most of Henry Boyo's analysis and suggestions are based upon.

However, I do not think that the CBN prints/creates new Naira to give to FAAC (FG & SGs) every time they (CBN) receive dollar revenue from oil sales. If that were to be the case, there would be a ridiculous amount of "new" Naira pumped into the economy every month which would lead to hyper inflation and an even more terrible exchange rate.

What the CBN actually does is to sell the dollars to importers (i.e. exchange the dollars with existing Naira) and use the Naira receipts to give to FAAC. So, basically, the Naira the CBN gives to FAAC every month is not newly created money but rather already existing money that has been mopped from the financial system by exchanging dollars for it.

Businessideas:
What is wrong with Zenith Bank issuing a press release or advertorial on this serious allegation made by Fayose? Why does it have to be Punch newspaper or EFCC source that has to tell the public official response of the bank? I am fully persuaded that the bank has something to hide and definitely Fayose is not going down alone. One fact established so far is that government money was released by Jonathan to rig the Ekiti election

The bank does not have to make a Public Statement if they don't feel the need to. The most important thing is that they are cooperating with the investigations.
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Even if the bank is, indeed, culpable, then you expect them to do everything possible to exonerate themselves, else they will have issues with the regulatory authorities (CBN).
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To my mind, I think it is childish for Fayose to drag the Bank into his mess simply because he is 'drowning' and he is desperate to free himself.