₦airaland Forum

wendyc:
Nairalanders,
it's really sad that the market was destroyed the way it is. Lagos, is starting to do some things that it should have done a while ago, and also with much in mind.
Let's look at this from a lot of views,maybe it can help make somethings clear. When you go shopping in Yaba, there is shops here and there, traders on the road and all around, sometimes the place you meet this trader is not where they'll be the next time you go. changing all this i think will work if things are done correctly.
The traders definately need somewhere to do their business, we are ow in the 21th century and not all things sell on the road or in market anymore. THE INTERNET is now a place to do business while you stay at your house. the population in Lagos is too much to fit all these traders. look at it this way, everyone has one or two things to sell, and they all bring it to the streets, these clouds the raod and traffic, theft, crime, child endangerment- child hawking, and all these go on. now not all may be literate enough to conduct business online, this is where educated ones are employed creating jobs for some that can do the work. it's a process and i think that if they realize that this is not just way the govt is sending them out on the streets.i'll think they would have gotten notice of such, and plan ahead for when it comes eventually, they will relocate to this place, or do this for the time being, now it's not easy, believe me, it's not, the long run, it will make some sense if they think of it and how positively affect their sales too.

Please fash carry on demolishing. The fact of the matter those people weren't suppose to there in the first place

2Legit:
Na parks dey give social life? why UK no get social life wey come be say na only to frink and get drunk and misbehave be dem social life?

abeg make we hear word. Naija get social life

Parks sef dey good but make you no talk nonsense by relating park to social life

now you are yawning nonsense - we need open space

very soon - if we can have BRF for life

noetic:
I couldnt have said that better.

The senators are like the kettle calling the pot black. What have they done since 1999?, simply collecting constituency allowance.

no be you vote them in because of N500 recharge card ( you don sell your birthright and now you are complaining)

mazaje:
well said, i wonder why he is praying to a wall. . . . . .

lol

The man's heart has departed from God long time

Senators of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have asked President Umaru Yar’Adua to immediately intimate them of his second term aspiration.

This is one of the seven demands drawn up by the 86 senators after two closed door meetings last week. The first meeting was held at the Apo Mansion, the official residence of the Senate President, while the second was held at the Senate Hearing Room in the National Assembly.

Sources close to the meeting told the Nigerian Tribune that the senators reviewed the state of the nation and concluded that the mid-term report of the current administration was below the expectations of the people.

A source said that the president had ruled so far as someone who was not interested in seeking a second term in office, adding that the mid-term report could not be relied upon to campaign so far.

It was gathered that senators, who expressed displeasure at the meetings, cut across the geo-political zones, while senators from the same zone as the president were said to have also spoken frankly and detested the president’s style of isolating the lawmakers so far.

@ kiwi

what your opionon on

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SAP-ECC6-INSTALLED-ON-320GB-3-5-SATA-HD-FOR-DESKTOP-PC_W0QQitemZ160324115199QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Computing_Software_Software_SR?hash=item160324115199&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1690|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318

and also you provides a coded weblink - is it still valid

thanks

no be today. them never self collect change

server34:
Am not sure about food, but good sex stimulates the brain. It is known to work for both males and females, but higher exam grades have been observed with females who just had about 30mins of good sex shortly b4 an examination. _{No references will be made on the statement above!}

Did you conduct this research?

i_laugh:
I will be the first to stop you from coming to the same home you and your likes have rained curses and aspersion on so much.

Dear friend

have you heard of constructive criticism.  If the so called Government have a will then the people will follow. please come and stop me

What a difference somebody with the right will power can make.

YES WE CAN

The effects of corruption. RIP to everyone who has lost their life.

Eziachi:
Another good idea but:
Does it work without power?
Has Nigerian police any crime data of any sort where you can match an image?
Another waste of money and time! Buying wheel and tyre before owing a car first.

obvoiusly you were listening to the audio clip. Very pessimistic . it is a solar powered wireless cctv / the primary use to manage transportation / deployment of resources - police , fire service , lasma , ambulance etc

Please watch the clip again

asha 80:
Diggler these guys have seized our economy but we are more concerened with crude oil contracts and tribalism.

True talk .  I am very sure these foreigners are aware of our fighting, i am sure they would done their feasibility study and would be happy  their is chaos among us thereby causing distractions among the indigines.   The only people making money are those that see above this tribalist madness.  I am sure you aware Nigeria was doing very well before oil.  Agriculture is defianetly the way foward

impressive  - i need to move back home and be a part of this development .  information technology is my arena  i have been opportuned to see a lot of tried and tested innovations here in europe. Fashola has definately got the WILL for change.

Soludo is the best Nigeria has produced in a long time. Stop bashing can anyone here do better

Professor Soludo studied Economics at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, where he was the editor of the popular magazine of the Economics Department, The Policy Maker. He graduated with a First Class Honours degree (1984), winning the Departmental and Faculty prizes for the best graduating student. Also from the same University of Nigeria, he won the prize of the Faculty of the Social Sciences for the Best Graduating Masters degree student and subsequently, The Vice-Chancellor’s Prize for the University’s best graduating Ph.D candidate (1988/89).

Professor Soludo had cumulative four years of post-doctoral training in some of the world’s most prestigious institutions, including: The Brookings Institution, Washington, DC; University of Oxford as Rhodes scholar; University of Cambridge, UK, as Smuts Research Fellow and Fellow of the Wolfson College; the UN Economic Commission for Africa as a Post-Doctoral Fellow; and University of Warwick as a Visiting scholar. He also attended over a dozen specialized courses.

Professor Soludo has served as Senior Technical Advisor/Consultant as well as a Visiting Scholar at the IMF since 1994, and also taught IMF’s Financial Programming and Policy course to senior staff of Central Banks in West Africa and other developing regions. He has served as: Member, Technical Committees that drafted economic and trade policies for the Federal Government of Nigeria; and Executive Director of the African Institute for Applied Economics (AIAE). He is currently a Member of the International Advisory Group for the UK-DFID

na jeep person wan chop

Horus:
Lagos should work on the following projects first:

1) sewage system throughout whole of Lagos
2) Solar energy electricity system throughout whole of Lagos
3) Non-polluting forms of transport, and finding the most commercially viable forms of green power and transport technology.
4) communications satellite for broadband and phone system
5) paved roads with traffic lights and pavements
6) road names and signs
7) Introduce a "zero emissions" policy to cut car pollution in Lagos

Dont you think you are pushing it

Please watch this space. Diya is about to launch a polictical come back. do you think it is only them that likes good things

get a life

davidylan:
N23 from March salary as deduction? How much are they recieving per month then? 
I'd like to be a legislator too. 

I nominate myself as your special adviser on monteray issues as i know that the oil will flow from top to bottom .  Thank you your excellency

blacksta:
”We will use soldiers (for this election), the other time we used MOPOL (mobile policemen), we will use soldiers,” Bankole sang to the admiration of top members and supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party, including President Umaru Yar‘Adua, at the party‘s rally in Igede-Ekiti.

I hope this does not classify Nigeria as a failed state

Also addressing the PDP faithful on behalf of his colleagues, the Osun State governor said that the PDP would win the election by ”all means possible.”

Is this inclusive of rigging

The stage appears set for the deployment of soldiers to Ekiti State to oversee the April 25 governorship election rerun in the state, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Dimeji Bankole, announced this in Igede- Ekiti on Saturday.


”We will use soldiers (for this election), the other time we used MOPOL (mobile policemen), we will use soldiers,” Bankole sang to the admiration of top members and supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party, including President Umaru Yar‘Adua, at the party‘s rally in Igede-Ekiti.

President Yar‘Adua, while not making allusion to deployment of soldiers, told Ekiti monarchs on arrival that the former governor of the state, Segun Oni, would make history as the first governor of the state to spend six years in office.

The President arrived Ekiti at about 11.00am aboard an Air force helicopter marked NAF 540, exuding confidence that Oni‘s record of achievements during his short stay in power would ensure his return to office.

”We will not allow the state to fall into the hands of the people who do not have the interest of the people at heart. God makes leaders and unmake leaders. He gives power to whoever he deems fit,” he said.

Yar‘Adua, Bankole and other leaders of the PDP stormed Ekiti on Saturday to drum up support for the former governor of the state, Segun Oni, who is the party‘s candidate in the governorship rerun ordered by the Election Petitions Appeal Tribunal.

Oni is facing Dr Kayode Fayemi of the Action Congress in 64 wards where the Appeal tribunal faulted the results of the April 14, 2007 governorship election.

The Action Congress, in a swift reaction, said in Ado-Ekiti that it remained unshaken by threats and intimidations from the PDP.

Before now, the PDP in Ekiti had called for deployment of soldiers during the rerun poll, but the opposition has rejected the call saying it was a way of rigging the election.

On Saturday, however, Bankole announced with glee that the PDP was the custodian of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces in the person of Alhaji Umaru Yar‘Adua, hence nothing, he said, could stop the party from deploying soldiers during the poll.

Indication that the modest gathering was in for a treat began when the speaker addressed the President as ‘Sheu‘ Umaru Yar‘Adua, after which he launched into jokes that enlivened the Baptist Secondary School, venue of the rally.

Bankole, who displayed an unusual ecstasy, regaled the audience with jokes, as he sang, danced and gesticulated to the admiration of the crowd.

He called those opposing the PDP call for the redeployment of soldiers for the election jokers, as he burst into a song in Yoruba to announce the plans by the PDP.

As if that was the message the gathering was waiting to hear, the speaker‘s pronouncement electrified the crowd, which hailed him to high heavens.

The President was accompanied to the rally by six governors, including Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola (Osun), Otunba Gbenga Daniel (Ogun), Chief Adebayo Alao-Akala (Oyo), Mr. Godswill Akpabio (Akwa-Ibom), and Alhaji Namadi Sambo (Kaduna).

Dr. Bukola Saraki, governor of Kwara State and Chairman of Governors‘ Forum was among the early arrivals, while the Deputy Governor of Kogi State, Phillip Salawu, stood in for his boss.

Also addressing the PDP faithful on behalf of his colleagues, the Osun State governor said that the PDP would win the election by ”all means possible.”

Gesticulating to the gathering with his two thumbs, he demonstrated how the party would thumbprint to usher in the PDP candidate in the election, Mr. Segun Oni.

Launching an attack against the backers of the Action Congress candidate for the rerun, Oyinlola said that the PDP governors would stand by Oni to win the election, saying the PDP would deploy every resources available to it for the Ekiti election to ensure that the party‘s candidate emerged victorious.

”We will use the resources at our disposal to ensure that he overcomes. Whatever support he needs, we will give it to him. We shall be victorious. We will win the election by all means possible.

”We may not know the candidate of the opposition too well, but we know his backers. His backers are slave-drivers, who we are not certain of the school they went, their state of origin. Their life is full of contradictions.”

Enlisting further support of his party leaders, Oni said that he won the voided election free and square and that he was confident that he would win again.

The Director of Communications for the Kayode Fayemi campaign organisation, Mr. Yemi Adaramodu, said that the Ekiti people would not succumb to threats.

He said that the AC was appalled that in spite of the alleged pains visited on Ekiti people in the last one year of the PDP-led government, the party‘s leadership could come to the state to further insult and assault the people‘s sensibility.

The AC said that the ”overt threat” by Bankole that the PDP would use soldiers for the election was not lost on the opposition.

”We wish to remind the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, that Ekiti people have never been known to succumb to the threat of armed soldiers.

”The ruling clique tried their luck in the act of intimidation with soldiers and police in the past and got their fingers burnt. It is still the same people that inhabit the space called Ekiti today and they are more than ready to defend their votes.

Reacting to the Speaker‘s promise to deploy soldiers during the rerun, former governor of the state, Otunba Niyi Adebayo on the telephone late Saturday told SUNDAY PUNCH that he was surprised at Bankole‘s statement.

Adeniyi said, ”I will like to think that the statement was made out of the excitement of the moment because being a young man he (Bankole) got over-excited when he made that remark.

”I do not think that the situation in Ekiti warrants the drafting of military men to the state. It has also been pointed out by some people that reruns had been held in various states of the federation and in none of these states were military men drafted to”.

http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/editorial_opinion/article02//indexn2_html?pdate=050409&ptitle=A%20Sad%20Yar%27Adua%20And%20The%20G-20%20Summit

By Reuben Abati

PRESIDENT Umaru Yar'Adua says he is sad that Nigeria was not invited to the just-concluded summit of the G-20 in London, United Kingdom. Does President Yar'Adua really expect Nigeria to be invited to the London summit? Hear him: "I must say that today is a sad day for me. And I think it should be for all Nigerians. When 20 leaders of the leading countries in the world are meeting and Nigeria is not there. This is something we need to reflect upon. We have the population, we have the potentials, we have the ability and the capacity and we have the will. What do we lack? Is it the will?"

The President then added that Nigeria must rise and begin to give full expression to its potential. He is right about Nigerians being sad and that we have abused our potential as a country. The President is searching for reasons and he wants us to reflect on Nigeria's failure to be a leading country of the world. He is even asking: what do we lack? He does not know what we lack? We are in serious trouble surely if our President cannot answer this particular question. But what does he think they do at the G-20 summit? The G-20 is a club for the world's leading countries whose economies are strong and strategic enough to affect the international financial system for good or ill. Between them, the G-20 countries control about 85 per cent of the world's wealth. We certainly do not belong to this league.

Membership of the G20 is not about population, it is not about potential, but real achievement and regional/continental importance. The G-20 is not looking for countries that cannot provide regular electricity for their people. It is not a club for countries with potholes on all their major streets, countries that have no strategic power, no railways, no productive economy. India is not in the G20 because of its population, but because of its strategic value to the world. In Africa, the only country that is a member of the G20 is South Africa. Indeed in 2007, South Africa hosted a meeting of the association. This year, South Africa was represented by its President, Kgalema Mothlane and its Finance Minister, Trevor Manuel. Why is South Africa a member of the G20 and Nigeria is not?

Mr President is invited to compare and contrast and let him start with the power supply situation in both countries. Nigeria as at two days ago was down to a national power supply of 700 MW for over 140 million people! More than half of the country is in relative permanent darkness. President Yar'Adua is promising Nigerians a total of 6, 000 MW by December 2009. That 6, 000 MW is less than one eighth of South Africa's reserved energy capacity. South Africa is a productive economy, with active business, industrial and cultural sectors that are taken seriously in the international market. Nigeria is a de-industrialising economy with a thieving elite. A number of observers were invited to the London Summit, including multilateral organizations, but Nigeria was not even considered good enough as an observer nation.

And if we had been invited, would Nigeria have made good use of the invitation? Last month, the International Monetary Fund organized a conference in Dar es Salaam to examine the global financial crisis and its implications for Africa and to prepare an African position that can be fed into the G20 Summit in London. The Nigerian state was constructively absent at that meeting. There were two junior officials from the Ministry of Finance, but they arrived late, and because of their junior status, nobody paid them any serious attention. Throughout the conference, Ministers of Finance and Central Bank Governors from other African countries kept asking after their Nigerian colleagues. They were concerned that Nigeria seems to be losing its leadership ranking in Africa. We either fail to show up at international meetings, or we arrive late or we go there and make no significant impact, and this is so particularly in relation to our obligations as members of bilateral and multilateral organizations. Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria's former Finance Minister, was in Tanzania in her official capacity as Managing Director of The World Bank, but other African delegations kept relating to her as if she was there to speak for Nigeria. She had to keep pointing out that she now works for the World Bank.

President Yar'Adua wants to go to the G-20 Summit to enjoy all that photo-opportunity with Obama, Her Majesty The Queen and other world leaders and have Madam Turai join the G20 wives at the concert performance? It is important to realise that the G20 is in every sense, about them not us. In the end, Africa's voice was not heard at the London Summit, as always. The rich countries of the world sought in London to address the global economic recession, restore confidence in the global economy and return the world to the age of prosperity. There was much talk about stimulus packages and putting an end to trade protectionism. For their people, not ours. The AU-NEPAD was of course represented by the Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, (current chair of NEPAD) but the only major relevance of the London Summit for the poor countries of Africa was the decision to increase resources available to the IMF and the World Bank. But even then the over one trillion US dollars that has been promised is too little. In principle, the rich club is providing more resources for lending to poor countries.

The IMF now has about $780 billion, and an additional Special Drawing Rights Allocation of $250 billion. There is yet an additional $100 billion to assist developing banks to lend to poor countries. The leaders of the world further resolved that for growth to be sustained, it must be shared. But poor countries are not part of that sharing. Their fortunes can only be further worsened by extensive borrowing and greater debt. And it remains to be seen whether the G20 would fulfil its promises. All the promises that have been made in relation to World Trade and Development in the last ten years, by the G7 and the G20 in Doha, Mexico and elsewhere have not been met. A more equitable global arrangement will require the G20 reflecting all voices and interests, North and South, rather than a few rich nations dictating to the rest of the world.

Africans like to argue that their continent is the last frontier for human development and that the world can only ignore it at its own peril. But the only harvest for the poor nations of Africa at the just concluded summit is the poisoned offer of more loans. The purpose is not necessarily the development of those countries but to lend them more funds in the hope that this can be used to prevent such humanitarian crises that can constitute a burden to the rest of the world. The fear is that global economic recession could result in turmoil in underdeveloped countries undergoing a governance crisis. Should Nigeria seek to borrow more money? Certainly not. Yet, only a fortnight ago, the Minister of Finance had been reported as saying that Nigeria's debt profile is too low, only about 12% of GDP, and that in due course government would have to borrow more to fund development. It is amazing that this bowl in hand mentality has not been roundly condemned. The Obasanjo government had worked hard to clear the bulk of Nigeria's debts. To propose a fresh regime of national indebtedness to creditors, either local or foreign, is to stand the logic of the debt management process initiated by the ancient regime on its head.

President Yar'Adua had asked: "What do we lack? Is it the will?" Yes sir. The political will to make a difference in the people's lives is very important to the governance process. And this is what is sorely lacking in Nigeria. Nigerian leaders are alienated from the people. They are not working hard enough to put the people first. They lack the will to transform Nigeria, to build on the country's potential, and to sustain the little gains of the past. About fifty years after independence, the country is still groping for greatness. Nigeria used to be described as the "giant of Africa". These days, when the word giant is used to describe the country, the statement is met with cynical laughter. Things have gone so bad, we can't even play good football any more. Football used to be one of the good things that defined Nigeria and our boys excelled in it and helped to brand the country positively in the eyes of the world. Unfortunately, since 1994, we have not won any major trophy at the senior level. At the moment, we face the risk of not being able to play at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa with our uninspiring performance in the pre-World Cup qualifying matches. Last week, we couldn't even score a goal against Mozambique. It is failures such as this that should make every Nigerian sad.

The President says he is sad too. But for him, sadness is not good enough. We do not expect him to lament and express despair like every ordinary man on the street. His responsibility as President is to help turn the people's sorrow into happiness, it is his duty to help provide Nigerians an opportunity to smile again and believe in themselves and their country. The oath of office that he took requires him to defend the laws of the land, part of which is that every Nigerian shall be given the opportunity to enjoy the right to human dignity. Our absence at such privileged clubs as G20, and seeing South Africa being part of it, reminds us clearly that ours is a second class country. President Yar'Adua's assignment is to provide the leadership that this country desperately needs. That will require character and vision.

President Yar'Adua says all Nigerians including civil society groups must be prepared to make sacrifices in the face of austerity. The poor and long-suffering people of Nigeria have been making sacrifices since 1967. We were told to make sacrifices for national unity by the Gowon administration. The Murtala/Obasanjo administration introduced austerity measures. Shagari also talked about austerity. The Buhari/Idiagbon forced the pill of sacrifice and discipline down the people's throats. Babangida also talked about sacrifice - something about some amorphous "we" giving their today for the "tomorrow" of Nigeria's children. And so on. How much sacrifice do Nigerian leaders still require from the people? The people are often willing to give, but their leaders have learnt only to take. It is these leaders who must now learn to make sacrifice. The Nigerian leadership elite must become enlightened.

US President Barack Obama provided the key sub-text of the London Summit when he noted that every country will be required to play its part in addressing the challenges of global recession. He minced no words in telling the summit that other countries of the world should not expect the United States to bear their own share of the burden. It is a message that African countries must pay careful attention to. The future of Africa does not lie in the harvests of globalisation but in quality leadership and good governance in the continent. The world will co-operate with Africa and listen to its voice only when it is obvious that African leaders are prepared to run open and efficient systems and defend their people's interests. South Africa has passed that test, that is why it gets invited to the G20, and that is why it is hosting the 2010 World Cup. Nigerians are busy talking and day-dreaming, and refusing to act and take charge of their own destiny and future. This is what should make us sad.

IT is like a fairy tale; and that is exactly the impression Gen. Oladipo Diya, former Chief of General Staff (CGS), wants to correct.

According to him, despite being second-in-command in government, he did not know that the late Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, was involved in large-scale plundering of the country's treasury.

In an exclusive interview with The Guardian, post his 65th birthday anniversary, Diya, a legal practitioner and publisher, said:

"I didn't know that Abacha was stealing money. I read about it on the pages of newspapers. I found it difficult to believe that Abacha was stealing money."

On how he could deny knowledge of the plundering spree of the Abacha family and associates, being the second-in-command to the late Gen. Sani Abacha, Diya declared:

"These things (looted funds) being put (published) on the pages of newspapers were not taken from the budget. People said it was being taken from the Reserve Account.

"And up till now, I don't know how money was spent or taken from the Reserve Account and it's not something that was discussed or debated at the level of the Ruling Council. So, how would I have known?"

The Guardian in its edition of Sunday, March 22, published the sordid details of how, among other methods, the Abacha family and associates stole billions both in local and hard currencies from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

However, stressing that he did not know how much Abacha allegedly stole, and that he was not in a position to confirm what really happened; Diya advised that efforts must be made to block the loopholes that encourage such large-scale fraud.

Diya, who reserved his comments on the controversial annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election "for another time," said there was no alternative to democracy.

Noting that there was no comparison between military and democracy, he said the issue was "what can we do to perfect our democratic system? That is what should concern all Nigerians," he said.

"There is no alternative to democracy. But what do we do to sanitise the system and make politics accessible to everybody regardless of your status, regardless of the money you have. It shouldn't be for moneybags; that is the issue."

He also addressed the issue of Yoruba leadership, his estate business, law practice and publication, the Oladipo Diya Educational Foundation and his position in the Christian denomination.

So much hate, I must confess these guys are irritating with all fake American accent but we have to give credit where credit is due. These guys saw a gap in the market and took the opportunity. No more hating it is just business

Fantastic . if only they fix the electricity issues?

blackspade:
I will tell you now, building a subway in Lagos will not only be financially unfeasible, but will be much more difficult to build than it was in cities like New York, or London, or Moscow.

Lagos has a lot of marshlands, meaning the soil is much more unstable, raising the costs to astronomical heights. If it were necessary, only one line would be needed on the busiest route in the metropolis.

Everything else should be concentrated on an overground system consisting of: light rail, monorail, elevated rail, commuter rail, high speed train, and brt.

You have clearly provided a solution to your fears