₦airaland Forum

Chinom:
I strongly disagree with the bolded. When the National assembly passes the budget, it is just an appropriation act. The president, Buhari, must accent to it by signing it. Then it becomes a bill that can be implemented. Buhari can and should refuse to sign any appropriation act with 'mega wage packages' as you put it. All he has to do is get his PR people to shout from the roof top that the National assembly is holding the Nation to ramsom. Leave the rest to civil society groups, Charley boy and okada riders and the Nigerian masses.
Buhari can surely make them reduce their wages. It is the executive arm that decides what all government officials will earn. The NA only has to approve it or not.

Novaworld:
Now that Major General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) has been chosen by the Nigerian people, it is my duty as a patriotic Nigerian to help him succeed even though my candidate was President Goodluck Jonathan, a man to whom I will always be loyal and appreciative.


General Buhari is about to mount the saddle and I for one am in a very good position to tell him some home truths because as a senator-elect, I have a very fulfilling job awaiting me and I do not need a job or favours from Buhari so I do not have to play nice.


Looking at the personalities he has appointed to his transition council, I am wont to believe that General Buhari needs to expand his circle of friends and advisers.


As a military strategist, the president-elect must be familiar with the principle that the people you use in subduing an opponent are not necessarily the same persons you will need in rebuilding the territories you took. I may be using military terms, but I am sure General Buhari is aware that politics is war by other means and therefore many of the rules of war and peace apply to politics.


The General will be best served if he thinks of what is best for Nigeria rather than what is best for his party, the All Progressive Congress (APC), and its chieftains.


He must remember that in Nigeria’s subjective politics, it was his person that the people voted for not his party and he should therefore serve the people the dish they are angling for.


And what are the expectations of Nigerians from General Buhari? Definitely not business as usual.
The president-elect ran on a promise of change and while that change was not really defined by its chanters, Nigerians defined it as a change in their situation.


To borrow from the famously potent prayers of Mountain of Fire and Miracle members, the Nigerian masses defined change as a situation where wealth and power must change hands from the elite to the masses by fire by force and they see General Buhari as the enforcer angel that will bring about this change.


With this type of expectation, Buhari’s honeymoon period with Nigerians will not last very long if he does not take drastic steps to adjust Nigeria’s economy to the realities of falling oil prices and a dearth of buyers for the Bonny Light Sweet Crude.


To put things into perspective, when the United States started buying less and less of Nigeria’s oil, we looked to China as an alternative buyer of oil but it has since come to light that whereas America spent $101 billion on clean energy between 2012-13, China spent $125 billion within the same time frame.


The above data should alert Nigeria and other nations that look to China for oil markets to the fact that China is even ahead of the West in the search for alternative to fossil fuels as a source of energy.


Buhari may wish he did not win the 2015 elections when the reality of our economic situation sets in.
In his December 2014 Channels Television interview, Buhari said he was going to “stabilise the oil market”. The General will learn soon enough that today’s oil market is a buyers’ market.


And the General’s choices are limited because he cannot (unless he is extraordinarily brave and politically callous) do the obvious and sack civil servants. Yes, he will eventually have to reduce the over bloated federal civil service, but before he can do that, he has to build up political capital by reducing the overhead of the Executive and persuade the Legislature to follow suit.


Austerity measures must start from Aso Rock. This means that luxurious multi car convoys must be reduced. The presidential air fleet has to go, by way of being auctioned off or sold to local airlines. Estacode allowances must be slashed and the president’s entourages should be lean while non-essential foreign travels should be banned.


The president-elect should not underestimate the big difference these small changes can make and their capacity to buy him enough credibility with the labour unions, the kind of credibility that will see them accepting cuts in the federal workforce and reduction in pay and entitlements.


A small change like flying commercial instead of by private jet saved Britain a whopping £200,000 when the thrifty British Prime Minister, David Cameron, flew to America to meet President Barack Obama on a regular BA flight.


Nigeria is in for very desperate times if we do not tighten our belts while our major foreign exchange earner is facing global challenges.
Russia, a nation that many will say is more prepared than Nigeria for the shocks occasioned by the drop in the price of oil devalued its currency by 11 per cent in just one day.


While Russia is taking these steps, the world is watching to see if Nigeria will continue to spend hundreds of billions annually sponsoring its elite on pilgrimages to Mecca and Jerusalem.


I mean, no economist will get why a nation with over 60 per cent of its people living in poverty at the best of times, will spend almost 1 per cent of its annual budget sponsoring pilgrimages for its elite who can afford to go to the Holy Land on their own dime.


I for one do not get it. A pilgrimage is meant to be a sacrifice of a believer. How is a pilgrimage still a sacrifice when someone pays for you to go? The Nigerian government is sending people on holidays not pilgrimages!


I daresay that the money being spent by the Nigerian government to airlift pilgrims to both Holy Lands is enough to educate all the almajiri in Northern Nigeria. Wouldn’t God and humanity be better served if we looked after the less privileged in our midst?
General Buhari has his work cut out for him and he does not have time to be bitter about who said what, when and where. He must let go of any desire to pay any of his traducers back whether they be from the last 16 years or as far back as 1985.


Four years is only enough time to fix Nigeria. Any time spent on other ventures is time taken from this most important of assignments.
And let me say that General Buhari should not allow himself to be pigeon holed by people who dangle ideologies instead of realities. Yes, the APC may have styled itself as a progressive party, which in itself is a contradiction because Buhari is a conservative, but Buhari should not bother about that.


Whether the philosophy is progressive or conservative or liberal or free market, he should go with what works because as Deng Xiaoping once noted: “It doesn’t matter whether a cat is black or white, if it catches mice it is a good cat.”
And it is fitting for me to end with a mention of Xiaoping. No other contemporary world leader, in my opinion, closely mirrors Buhari as does Xiaoping.


In 1966, Xiaoping was dethroned from his powerful party positions by loyalists of Chairman Mao as was Buhari in 1985 by loyalists of his Chief of Army staff.
Xiaoping suffered house arrest, loss of earned privileges and was consigned to political limbo for almost a decade as was Buhari.


But then Xiaoping bounced back into favour and became China’s leader in 1976 and thereafter jettisoned his life long belief in Mao’s Cultural Revolution and introduced the “one country, two systems” policy that allowed communism and capitalism to coexist in China. This is similar to Buhari’s conversion from an anti-democrat who believed power flowed from the barrel of a gun to a democrat who accepted democracy as the best form of governance and capitalism as the natural economic policy of a democracy.


But this is where Buhari has to learn from Xiaoping. Xiaoping refused to demonise Chairman Mao, his predecessor who had purged him from power and placed him under house arrest after stripping him off his privileges. Instead of bitterness, Xiaoping believed that Mao’s “accomplishments must be considered before his mistakes”.


This is how Buhari must treat his predecessors. He must not demonise everything that was done by previous administrations and mark those who served in those government as persona non grata. He must take the bitter with the sweet and make use of the best brains Nigeria has to offer, for as he said on December 31st, 1983, “This generation of Nigerians and indeed future generations have no other country than Nigeria”.

• Mr. Murray Bruce is a Senator-elect and CEO of Silverbird Entertainment Group




http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/it-doesn-t-matter-if-the-cat-is-white-or-black/208021/

socialmediaman:
Bracing up For The New Incoming Government in Nigeria

Information they say, is power, just as Knowledge they say, is Wisdom. As Nigerians await to witness a smooth transition to a New Democratic government under the leadership of General Muhammadu Buhari, it is important that we all understand the direction our country Is expected to take for the next 4 years and beyond, probably. I wish to use this medium to highlight important areas where many of us could redirect our efforts and projections to in order to avoid possible unplanned downturn effects

Job Search
If you have lost hope of finding a job, it Is time to dust your CVs again and resume your search. Identify skill areas lacking in your prospective job search and work on them. With the expected investment in the construction industry, oil and gas, and energy sector, engineers and related professionals, project managers are expected to witness employment boost. Government is also expected to invest heavily in agricultural development, it is important that we understand meaningful ways of benefitting from this sector of the economy. Do some research and understand what opportunities lie in the Agric industry, and Start developing an idea which could be funded by expected government empowerment programmes. For transfer job seekers, be careful about your quest to transfer your employment from the private to the public sector in search of "job security". The incoming government may seek ways of pruning down its current idle workforce. Citing examples in the UK and the U.S. where former government staff lost their jobs due to sold off or privatized government establishments, it is only wise to determine how relevant your skill set is for the job you seek in the public sector. If you're considering paying for a job offer with the ministries or parastatals, be very careful, there is a report under the table of government to scrap many government agencies.

Investment
While investment in the real sector is very profitable, it is only wise to trade cautiously as this sector is currently overpriced in cities like Abuja. Being that corruption has been fueling investment in this sector, massive acquisitions of choice properties by government employees will likely come to a sudden halt under the incoming government.

Education and Career Development
Nigeria as a nation is developing, so should your education. In every developed society in the world, there are some key areas which drive the economy: the Food and Agric industry, the Health industry, the Technology industry, the engineering and Construction industry, the Finance industry etc. this is definitely going to replicate itself in Nigeria, and you should brace yourself to be relevant in any of these sectors. If your current CV boasts of just a bachelors degree in a non-core course field, that may well end you up with cab driving in the near future. Engage in short term and semi long term training courses which are skill oriented. And if you're currently in the Sales industry, do not wish it away, more service companies will spring up that need your experience and skill

Business Management
Are you currently evading tax? Are you currently running a business that does not factor in tax deductions? Are you currently planning or drawing a business plan that does not factor in taxes? Tax evasion is a serious crime all over the world. Not only are you endangering yourself in Terms of going to jail, but you are also endangering your business and your employees because when the actual taxes start getting deducted, you are likely to risk the survival of your business due to diminished profits. In Celine Dion's words herself, "Rain and Tax" are inevitable. Be rest assured that Nigeria is likely going to witness more tax reforms that will see the government chasing after every kobo it needs to develop the society.

Also, if you're employed with any organization that pays you without a summary of your income tax deductions, be mindful that such organization may be in the habit of tax evasion.

This summary is by no means an exhaustive "shopping list" of what to brace up for, going into the next democratic dispensation under the incoming government, but it is an insight to what you must plan for the next 4 years and beyond. Nigeria is a fast moving train and you better hop in and find yourself a spot. Thanks for reading.

- SocialMediaMan

emmykk:
1.pres.jonathan should have know that if he had won the south would have rule for 18 out of 20.ie obj 8 and Gej 10.which was on fair to the north.-am from Niger-delta i want Gej but we have tobe considerate.this must have been the reason pres.president was not aggressive and accept defeat to the north and not because of pej.


The only problem with the current situation is that the south has directly secede power to the north except a law is made i see either PDP and APC presenting northen candidate in all elections even if the north have got enough years as president from one of the parties.


Thereis nothing like north sha asthe middle belt willhelp solve nigeria north dominance.

I have been telling people that the long term outcome of 2015 elections is that the North will rule for a generation and maybe longer. The only way in for the 'South' is if a Northern leader dies in office. When Buhari is done in 2023 another northerner will simply contest and align with the SE/SS. After what the North have suffered first with Obj and then with GEJ they will NEVER vote for a southerner. The SS/SE will also never forgive the Yoruba. I won't be surprised if even in GMB first term they re-align back to the SS/SE. North and East has always been the power alliance in Nigeria.




The yoruba have have done more harm to themselve it is now 6 vs 11 states now in the south.

That 11 with northern president will always win election and 6 with any northern state will not win.

The south have to talk or the north will be in power for tons of years.

ololo12:
MR BIDEN. Can you just Bleep off! We don't need your help. Leave us the Bleep alone. Why the sudden romance? Few months ago, you refused to sell us weapon to fight insurgency. You bloody hypocritical dung shit

dealslip:
It is scary that this guys snubbed GEJ from day one and have started romancing GMB even before he is sworn in. Expect a visit from Almighty Obama soon. GEJ was clueless but he refused to bow to the western powers. ApC is about to sell Nigeria for the price of change and power. The like of Tinubu have. Been praised in foreign media as a machievelli. But he is just a CIA puppet doing his job

legalbynature:
If you don't care, why did you open the thread at all, so much as to comment.

This is Nairaland true but I've seen several threads with foreign content on this same Nairaland. Besides, I can't see any rule I'm violating here.

Peeps like you amuse me. But i'll say less, and just for you to know I'm not just a Nigerian but I'm Proudly Nigerian. I want to make a huge impact in Nigeria, so much that my impact would cut across continents.

Your comments depicts that of someone who is and wants to remain local champion...I wish you well dear.

electron:
The All Progressives Congress has raised the alarm over President Goodluck Jonathan’s unannounced visit to Lagos State a day to the governorship election.

National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in a statement, wondered why Jonathan arrived in Lagos late on Thursday.

He said Jonathan had a closed-door meeting with the Peoples Democratic Party governorship candidate, Mr. Jimi Agbaje; the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs II, Musiliu Obanikoro; and the National Coordinator of the Oodua Peoples Congress, Gani Adams.

Mohammed alleged that the meeting was obviously to strategise on how to manipulate the polls.

He said Jonathan was using the general perception, that he is a ‘good sportsman’, to deceive Nigerians.

He said the President was on a “revenge mission” to rig in Lagos because he failed in the state on March 28.

The APC spokesman added that the PDP had brought in fake result sheets, which it would use to record doctored figures on Saturday.

He said the PDP was desperate to win Lagos because having lost the centre, Lagos was the only means through which the party could be funded.

Mohammed said, “Before the meeting, eagle-eyed Nigerians, who are appalled by the PDP’s rigging plans, have widely circulated on the social media the details of the planned electoral malfeasance, including the airlifting from Abuja to Lagos of a Black Kia Mohave SUV, with number plate DHQ 340, which was packed with election materials (especially result sheets).

”The meeting in Lagos was aimed at devising a strategy to distribute the fake result sheets that were packed into the SUV, which will be free to move around (because of its plate number) despite the restriction on vehicular movement during the elections.

”The same President, who conceded defeat in the presidential election and then followed up with a speech in which he said he would like his ‘legacy’ of free and fair elections to endure, is the one who is presiding over a desperate move to steal the people’s votes on Saturday.

”How can President Jonathan’s ‘legacy’ endure when one of his last acts in office is a seeming vengeance mission to lead his party to capture Lagos, because the PDP sees the state as a cash cow that they can milk to death, with the party’s gravy train at the federal level, having derailed?”
http://www.punchng.com/news/apc-kicks-as-jonathan-meets-adams-obanikoro-in-lagos/