₦airaland Forum

Lagos — The recent report that top government functionaries and politicians in Nigeria are currently in a mad rush for multi-million Naira bulletproof cars, ahead 2011 general elections, calls for grave concern to all well meaning Nigerians, especially, those disturbed by the level of poverty and hunger in the land.


As a Nigerian and an important stakeholder, I feel particularly concerned by the reasoning of most of our leaders. I am not an enemy of personal success; neither do I condemn genuine efforts of affluent Nigerians desperate to protect themselves in the face of increasing insecurity in the land, but considering the abject poverty of present day Nigeria, something in me simply could not come to terms with this option of reckless display of wealth in the name of reacting to state of insecurity. Rightly or wrongly, I fear that proliferation of bulletproof cars and similar sophisticated security gadgets, aside being unpardonably wasteful, will only teach violence merchants how to also go for the most lethal weapons of destruction. This will not be in anybody's interest.

So, instead of accepting it as the best solution to the increasing crime wave, kidnappings and violent murders in the country, I consider this option as concrete evidence of deep rooted selfishness of the economic elites and demonstration of their lack of concern for the feelings of the down trodden and the oppressed.

The reality of the development is therefore repulsive to my sensibility not only because of the huge resources so mindlessly wasted on this crazy show-off but also because the decision to go for bulletproof cars, few months to a general election, sends disturbing signals of the buyers' worst expectation on how the elections would be conducted. For example, instead of envisaging free elections that may, at worst, record simple fracas at a few polling booths, which would not need array of bulletproof cars to resolve, it appears today's politicians in Nigeria are expecting full scale shoot-outs between political opponents.


The report said the bulletproof car Nigerian buyers seem to like best has the capacity to shield the occupant against "multiple, black market armor-piercing rounds from an AK-47 or M-16." If this is not the kind of weapon our politicians now expect their opponents would be armed with, why are they acquiring these very expensive vehicles, when many of their relations and extended dependants, including their unpaid employees, still wallow in hunger and lack?

There is no doubt that the increase in the request for these bulletproof cars has direct bearing on the approaching general election and the dirty intrigues that follow campaigns in Nigeria. The report quoted the Executive Vice President of Texas Armoring Corporation, Mr. Jason Forston, as confirming that the Presidency, governors, politicians and other wealthy Nigerians had raised their demands for "new anti-ballistic vehicles from the company since the former governorship candidate of the Action Congress in Ogun State, Otunba Dipo Dina, was shot dead by unknown gunmen," on January 25 this year.

[size=16pt]As Forston reportedly puts it, "orders have certainly increased as 2011 elections draw nearer. With the untimely death of Dipo Dina and kidnappings/murders on the rise, many political candidates and hopefuls have felt the need to protect themselves."

Giving further insight into the bulletproof-car boom and the preference of their Nigerian clients, Forston reportedly said, "We call this vehicle 'the Beast' and its becoming increasingly popular among wealthy Nigerians. One Beast vehicle can sell for approximately $400,000.00 USD. "He was referring to Armoured Cadillac Escalade B7.[/size]

I do not intend to waste anybody's time here asking how the Nigerian public servants and politicians acquiring these exorbitant armored cars for personal use would get the money. If I do so, I would only be pretending not to know that most, if not all of them, will naturally pay with stolen public money and so will not feel the squeeze of parting with as much as $400,000. 00 USD in order to purchase a single car, which, though bulletproof could be smashed by a drunken molue driver in Lagos.


I am only concerned with the extent to which this investment would help the investors, the election itself and Nigeria in general.

I[size=13pt] recall vividly when former governor of Anambra State, Dr. Chris Ngige, resorted to acquisition and use of various bulletproof jeeps.[/size] That was after his ignominious abduction by his political opponents, at the peak of his celebrated face-off with his namesake and former political godfather, Chris Uba, who led other powerful Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Abuja politicians to battle his government.

One cannot deny the fact that Ngige enjoyed some level of protection then, as a result of the armored vehicles. But I still recall when he has serious accident with one of the jeeps.

This, to me, shows that complete protection cannot be found in the use of bulletproof cars. If all the top functionaries and politicians in Nigeria acquire bulletproof cars today, it certainly will not serve as foolproof guarantee of their safety. Simple wisdom should tell anybody that if desperate armed robbers, kidnappers, militants or assassins cannot stop and kill a top government functionary or politician while he or she is traveling by road, on account of driving Armored Cadillac Escalade B7 or any other bulletproof vehicle, such a politician or important personality can be attacked while at home or in a public function?

So, if we are to continue with the reasoning of the present patrons of the Texas Armoring Corporation, the next step would be to resort to acquiring bulletproof offices, bulletproof houses, bulletproof helmets and bulletproof dresses, etc.


[size=16pt]It is ludicrous how wasteful Nigeria and Nigerians can be. For a country and a people that cannot produce a bicycle or Keke NAPEP (Tricycle), we are not ashamed that we truly account for 30 percent market of elitist companies like makers of bulletproof luxurious cars.[/size]

If this country is ruled by people with conscience, the federal and concerned state governments should react to this report by immediately withdrawing all the orders they made earlier, which were intended to be given to individuals for personal use and as ego building show-off.

[size=16pt]The report quoted an unidentified official of Lagos State as alleging that most of the armored vehicles the state purchased from the Texas Company were donated to the Police and the Rapid Response Squad in particular. If this claim is true, the expenditure may be minimally pardoned. In that wise, I also suggest here that if old orders made by states and the federal government cannot be withdrawn and the payments refunded for better use, then, the company and other similar companies abroad supplying Nigeria similar elitist products should be persuaded to replace the luxury brands with armored security vans, so that we could use them for anti-crime patrolling.[/size]

This, I suggest, should be followed with thorough investigation of the individuals that placed personal orders for these road machines. Since most of them are current or recently disengaged public officers, who want to contest elections in 2011, their source of income before, during and after their tenure should be investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in order to determine if, without stealing public funds, they could afford such spicy luxury?

Some of them, who may claim to have established genuine businesses and means of funding such expensive vehicles, should still be stopped from acquiring them because, as far as I am concerned, their action is a clear testimony that they are preparing for war in 2011 elections.


We cannot, as a country, sit down, fold our arms and allow selfish money bags to further militarize our already threatened democracy.

Agreed, the state of insecurity in Nigeria is high but is greed, selfishness and such display of unmerited opulence of the privileged few not the primary causes of disaffection and the consequent determination of some to resort to militancy, kidnapping and such like? A better way of responding to the state of insecurity in Nigeria would be to tackle poverty, hunger, unemployment and to right the known wrongs against citizens.

Riding on array of bulletproof cars is, to me, a wrong and foolish strategy because it cannot save any wicked leader from the hands of the angry people. If anything, it will only help to identify the rider as one of the parasites in the society, who must be made a just target of the angry and deprived majority.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201004290087.html

;d

Help Realdeal75 sell and get 50k - Easy as ABC

mbulela:
excluded

Dont mind the yeye guy - he wants come with those over inflated and unreasonable prized servers

Nigeria: Sovereign Bond Issuance Brings US$537 Mil. for Nigerian Federal Government in Debt Auction

26.05.2010


On 20 May 2010, Nigeria raised N80 billion (US$537 million) from the sale of 20-year, 5-year and 3-year sovereign bonds at its fifth debt auction of the year, according to a statement by Nigeria's Debt Management Office (DMO). Successful bids were allotted at the marginal rates of 10 percent, 9 percent and 8.25 percent respectively.

The 20-year note raised a total of 30 billion Naira, while the five-year and three-year denominations raised 25 billion Naira each. The original coupon rates of 5.5 percent for 3-year bonds, 4 percent for 5-year bonds and 8.5 percent for 20-year bonds “will be maintained,” the statement said.

This year Nigeria plans to sell 867.5 billion naira worth of bonds, just under a fifth of the 4.6 trillion planned for budget-deficit financing, said Abraham Nwankwo, Director General of the Debt Management Office.

http://www.mfw4a.org/news/news-details/2/nigeria-sovereign-bond-issuance-brings-us-537-mil-for-nigerian-federal-government-in-debt-auction.html

Onwan:
@Poster

Those tyres in the picture look like they are completely off; are those the exact ones you are looking at shipping OR you have better "grades" that can actually be used?

The fact still remain - it is still illegal to import tyres into Nigeria -

@poster

I would rather not have blood of people on my head - can you imagine the combination of bad tyres and bad roads (disasters waiting to happen)

;d

Welcome to NL - Happy sales

top ride - please provide the VIN number

[quote author=bk/babe97 link=topic=449075.msg6101653#msg6101653 date=1274957448]Oh, I just did it bcus I saw folks like Dede1 arguing blindly that this warrants a First Degree Murder charge and that the defendant would be easily convicted Down South. Bullocks!!! It doesnt take a lot of ingenuity to smash a case such as this to pieces! Even a lawyer who is a career drunk could easily jumpstart his career again if he has to defend a case as easy as this! Damn, I really need to go to law school next year!!!



P.S: Only you and Texazzpete had any idea what yall was talking about. The rest were just talking from a "lay man" point of view![/quote]You clearly manipulated the event to arrive at a specific outcome - You clearly introduced variants that did not happen on said day. A Good DA or team could counter all your arguments by bringing the cheat wife to answer a few questions.


District Attorney: My Lord i would like to call the wife of the accused to the stand

Witness(Wife) : (Crying and emotional wrecked as she witnessed the killing of lover who was servicing her well far better than husband and the lover promised to buyer a hummer )

DA: please state who you for the courts

Wife: I am the wife of that killer

DA: Where were you on the day of the event.

Wife: I was at the same house where the victim was killed

DA: So you saw the whole event

Wife: Yes sir i did

DA: So do you know the victim

Wife: Yes sir his name is bk/babe97 a good and funny yoruba boy.

DA: Where did you meet the victim

Wife: We first met on the romance section on NL and he eventually added me to friends list on Facebook

DA : What drew him to you

Wife: I was very impressed at the way he handled and answered sexual questions (positions and etc) posted by fellow NLs immediately i started to develop feelings for the guy. At that point i felt i needed to meet bk/babe97.

DA: Interesting , how is your relationship with your relationship with your husband

Wife: Everything started going down hill 2 years ago

DA: Please expand more

wIfe: Well for the last two years he has been coming home late, hardly eats at home, Very aggressive - which are all very unusual and most importantly the last time we had sex was two years ago. At first i thought maybe it was the pressure of work or maybe he is having an affair with my close friend MAMA-GEE.

DA: Please expand more on the aggressive behaviour

Wife- On numerous occasions after many of our confrontations he has threatened to kill me - and on a number of occasions he has reached for a kitchen knife.

DA: ( DA Then show the court the kitchen knife used to kill the victim) Is this the knife that was used to kill the victim

Wife : Yes sir that is the correct one - yes, it has a black and blue handle. Yes that is the knife i have been threatened with many times

DA: So the victim was not rapist, did not force entry , and was your lover.

Wife -- YEsss Sir

yomifowe:
Well, u re not alone in this situation. i collected my last salary in january, and i work in lekki. comapanies now use and dum p employees. its very sad indeed.

ol boy - God dey - how are you surviving?

AjanleKoko:
@OP
I think in Nigeria, people mostly spend a lot of time getting into school for higher education, and then spend more time trying to get out of school.
Then they spend even more time trying to get a job with their certificates, plus acquiring more degrees, certifications, etc. So it's not really the fault of the candidates per se. A quest to become, say, a mechanical engineer, in Nigeria, might just end up a twenty-year odyssey, and at the end of it all, have not much to show except some almost worthless degree certificate, and no actual skills.

Well said - A rack of worthless degrees with no work experience. I made up my mind after my degree program i will not take another higher degree program but rather consolidate my work experience. Funny enough in my 8 years of after university experience no western company has every asked to bring my certificate during any interview but are more interested in what i was doing in my last place of work.

Fhemmmy:
I have been seeing how crazy the rents are in Nigeria.
People, please tell me, how come people cant come together and invest to build like blocks of flat and they will know it is theirs.
Why would someone wanna pay 5M Naira for a rent for like 2 years, when if 3 other people come together, they would be able to build a block of 4 flats and they cld easily co-habit.

Food for thought. . . . . . .  Ideas pleaseeeeeeeeeeee

The problem is that Nigerians dont trust themselves - The indians or Asians do the above well - and one wonders why they have many properties it is simply because they put all monies in one pot. " 2 or more heads are far better than one"

2011 is definitely around the corner and it is going to be do or die affair. Happy sales

MRbrownJAY:
@poster
the fact that you want to hack into her system shows that your intentions are devious.
to get into her system you just need the right "software" that you obviously havent got. . . . . . . . . upgrade YOUR system until you get to the proper version compatible with hers.

money is just a "virus" to get you in fraudulently but with the right antivirus she will get rid of you in no time.

remember what you get with honey, you will loose with honey!

Ol boy you wan kill me with laughter - I guess it is now best for a chick to come with anti virus/hacking systems -installed.

MRbrownJAY:
of course. . . . . . . . .  it can happen to anyone, anywhere in the world AND you can be mistreated even worse in your home country!
take your pick:
- not getting promoted because i wasnt British. UK
- getting stopped by the cops excessively because they automatically think most black people dont drive nice cars unless they are stolen. France
- people saying to my face that they hate black people. . . . . . . .but not MY kind of black, only the "aborigene" kind of black! Australia
- parents of my ex gf disowning her and beating her like a little child because she was dating a black man.China
- being stripped and searched every single time i landed at Oslo airport.Norway
- being refused entrance to clubs of SaoPaulo/Rio and then allowed to enter these same clubs after i proved, by showing my passport, that i wasnt brasilian.Brazil
- being punched in the face by a drunk SOB and almost being locked up just because i was walking with a local woman on each arm and acting a fool. Poland
but its not really "injustice, its called THE REALITY OF LIFE!

Abeg - Post your picture - only you -lol

presido1:
The same reason Ribadu was scared to defend himself. He will wait for the day one of the yaradua cabals become president and grant him presidential pardon to return to Nigeria. As far as you are the president all your criminal/corrupt friends become innocent. Thatz the cycle we are moving in Nigeria. During OBJ, Ribadu, Rufia and Ibori were saints yaradua came in Ribadu and Rufia turned to satans and Ibori maintained his saint hood. Now GJ is in charge Ribadu and Rufai riverted to siants while Ibori is the satan. Maybe Just maybe by june next yr Ibori might become saint again and another set will turn to satan.

Well said bro - Na red carpet go welcome the back in years to come - The country is one big joke.

Mr Babapupa

Please i require a honest answer - Dont you find this bizarre both Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Tunji Olowolafe are the Chairmen of HiTech Construction and Lekki Concession Company respectively - Do you not think we have a conflict of interest here. It is known fact the guy (Mr. Makanjuola Alabi) who runs adverstisment billboards for the Lagos i think it is called LASAA is also a Director of one of the largest private Media Agencies in Lagos whose company was a nobody before his appointment and now the biggest player.


Whats your take on the above.

[quote author=Gold-mind link=topic=451732.msg6095215#msg6095215 date=1274862546]We, Anambrarians know that Igbeke is a fraudstar, but we can't stop him. He's a little better than that sycophant, Joy Emordi, who sold Anambra state to Abacha.[/quote]Whatever you may think - The courts has declared that Mr Igbeke is the rightly elected senator for Anambra. Unfortunately this another sad day for the Nigerian political system. The new senator will receive his allowance and owed salary backdated from July 2007 - but the question remains what about the millions of Naira already paid the former crook senator. This is why i fully subscribe that grievances should be addressed speedily before any candidate is allowed to represent the electorates in any position of Government.

Nigerian electrical or mechanical engineers must be very useless - When will they start building small scale wind turbines or solar panels

Surprised at the comments here - Browsing NL at work at your employers time is wrong and should not be  encouraged -  People should get a life

I see that this thread is mostly about people's accommodation woes in Nigeria - Are those living outside Nigeria allowed to post on this thread, unfortunately i doubt if many would have any accommodation woes such as broken pumps, Transformers and Mai guards disappearing after the first month lol.

Await a response

@Poster

Do you have any pictures - please post - as i am not presently in Nigeria

Cheers

My God - Most Nigerians suffer from serious inferiority complex - What is the big deal with Non Nigerian signing in one's local dialect. I find the whole thing disgusting and wonder why a church will drag itself so low to amuse it followers instead of addressing real issues. Church is not a social club. I am sure many here can sing songs in french, chinese or other Non Nigerian languages.

Not a dig at the poster - But just wondering what kind of job one can be doing and have 550 MIlla to a buy a house. In the western world such amount would arouse the suspicion of the authorities.

Naija we hail o o

kosovo:
^^^
lol, we can say so . . . 
i am watching it for the 32nd time . . . lol, the good thing is that he made valid points there . . .

Were you smoking weed when you wrote this - Please enlighten me what valid point did he make - I guess you have to support your mentor lol

[quote author=na_so link=topic=449494.msg6073938#msg6073938 date=1274474130]@blacksta

Your views on GJ have always and will always be subjective. From the days when the acting president post was been contemplated you never hid your dislike for GJ. Your post does not in anyway surprise me.[/quote]Dear Friend - I have nothing against Jonathan and I am praying that he does well but unfortunately GJ is toeing the former footsteps of the past presidents resulting in big words and no immediate and future improvements on the live of the masses.  I have always been been advocate of telling people to manage their expectations in regards to GJ. A man with very  poor service delivery while he was an Assistant Governor , Governor , Vice President and Now President and all of sudden every one is hoping a leopard will change skin.   

As you are aware Mr GJ is making so many promises which you and I know cannot be achieved in 11 months while circumnavigating the real issues like Electoral Reforms, Major Power Reforms and etc.

When Mr GJ inaugurated Ministers, Nigerians were promised blueprints from each Ministry indicating plan of action for the next  15 months so far 3 months passed away and yet nothing received.  Does that not reveal the mindset and action of the entire team structure, I suspect it is business as usual.

My writings are not based on sentiments but on real facts.  Please prove me wrong.  Maybe i am just been cynical but i have learnt to manage my expectations so as to prevent more heart aches.

MandingoII:
Nigerian Students should LEAD THE CHARGE.

Instead, they Lead in SEPARATING themselves from others and LOOKING DOWN on other nigerians.


Our Educated Black Students CHANGED America.

Coming from a chap  - that has issues with Nigerians or Nigeria  - I will be carefully receiving advice from this Man and Dog specie  - I hope this is not grand scheme from America to unsettle Nigeria  - I suspect you want more oil.

1. Electoral Reform
2. 5000 MW of Electricity by 2010
3. To Run or Not to Run come 2011
4. Floating Cites in ND area  -
5. Jonathan Blames Financial Crisis On Corruption  - Fight Corruption
6. Wants to Open a Facebook Account
7. Appoints himself as the Minister for Power and Others
8. Manage ND Amensty



Please help track GJ Progress  -  At this rate Jonathan has nothing to offer Nigeria -  Please fast forward.   

Wetin concern man with Mandog - Are u Nigerian?