₦airaland Forum

Thank you all wasting your time with all these writeup. What we need in Nigeria is a lot of bloodshed. No bloodshed no change

Thank you.

The cost ( changing currency cost, u.k bank charge. for example i know alliance and leicester charge 2.9% of every transactions you do on the card ) of of using your card abroad outweigh the benefit and i can guarantte that the exchange rate will be rubbish. If i were you i would change the money and deposit it an Nigeria account with an atm facility

BIGGEST FRAUD EVER. LOSE YOUR MONEY AT YOUR RISK.

Any investment that guaranttes more  than 25 % profit in days or 2 months is unrealistic. God gave you brain for a reason. do you own reaserch. Please be advised most times it take a while to make good returns.

yahoo finance


$1 = 147
£1 = 207

sent money home on wednesday 11/03/2009 at £1 to N240

Lagosboy:
I bet the guy can only spk yoruba and broken english   

He was no good in the police force that he was dismissed during the Abacha era. You can imagine dismissal in the Abacha era you ve got to be really " a no good and common waste of space"

true words spoken

Nigeria system or people have no clue what going on . I am not suprised

FYI

Ilorin, the capital city of Kwara State, is a city that is usually counted
among Nigeria’s sleepiest because of its low level of economic and social
activity. But it is now stirring to life, even if not for the same reasons that
most Nigerian cities are known to be lively.
Over long stretch of roads very few motorcycles can be seen sputtering gas
fumes from their exhaust and disturbing the peace unlike a common sight in
most large cities in Nigeria where at a single traffic stop, hordes of
motorcycles converge, sending pockets of fumes into the atmosphere like industrial
chimneys. And in front of business centres, hotels, supermarkets, workshops and
offices there are no more irritating noises coming from the small buzzing
generators that used to supply electricity round the clock, holding up to the
world Nigeria’s ridiculous failure to supply enough power to meet both its
domestic and industrial needs. In Ilorin the noise these days is to be found
indoors in welding workshops, furniture workshops, barbing salons, business
centres and grain mills. The buzz all around is ‘light, light, light’.
‘Light’, which has become the local euphemism for electricity supply has
been steady for four weeks now and this has infused a new found productivity
around that some motorcyclist have abandoned their contraptions and gone back
to the hand craft and trade they had to abandon because of irregular or
absence of electricity. “We’ve been enjoying constant light now for more than a
month,” says Ola Hakeem, a welder who was busy trying to couple together a door
frame he was contracted to supply to a new house. “In the past I would have
been thinking about how to buy diesel to start my generator but now with the
availability of light I don’t need to buy the diesel. I spend less and
deliver fast to my customers without disappointment. I hope things will continue
to remain this way. It will sustain small business people like me.”
For this newfound hope in the electricity agencies where previously it is
bitter cynicisms that is usually expressed once the subject of electricity
supply is mentioned, Hakeem has the success of the National Integrated Power
Project (NIPP) in Kwara State to thank. And no, his debt is not to the Federal
Government, particularly, but to the state government. Kwara is only one out of
several other states in the country that were funded in the NIPP project to
improve electricity supply in the country. Other states have private
arrangements to introduce independent power projects where billions of naira has been
spent to meet the shortfall in electricity supply with nothing to show. But
while the NIPP projects across the country are still wobbling that of Kwara
is the first and the only one to be completed and in operation on the 23rd of
January this year. It wouldn’t have happened says Dr. Toyin Ayo Ibrahim, the
Special Adviser on Project Monitoring in the state whose office is
responsible for the project if the state government had not quietly taken the
decision to curb its reliance on the Federal Government and decided to do something
with the resources at its disposal to help itself. “When the state government
came in it was about to be abandoned,” says Dr. Ibrahim. “The Obasanjo
administration funded the project and paid the entire off-shore component,
remaining the onshore component which cost about N800 million. It was at this point
that the Yar’adua administration came in and suspended all the NIPP projects
in order to carry out proper investigations on them. The Kwara State
government felt it cannot wait to get the benefit of the project so it started
funding the project.”
The suspension of the NIPP project by the Yar’adua administration was as a
result of the controversial probe of the activities of the power sector under
the Obasanjo administration that was started by the House of Representatives
Committee on Power. The Speaker of the House, Dimeji Bankole, alleged that
$16 billion was spent on power supply by the previous administration with
little to show. When the probe started, a lot of messiness was unearthed. The
revelation from the power sector probe brought a numbness into the hearts of many
who had hoped that with the huge amount pumped into the sector the power
situation should be recording some significant improvement. But the whole probe
exercise got bogged down by politics. The House Committee on power has not
made its report and recommendation public several months after the conclusions
of its sitting.
When the contractor in Kwara State threatened to abandon the project site
the State government simply threw the politics overboard and cut through the
bureaucratic red tape. Officials say the state government informed the Federal
Ministry of Power that it would like to take over the project and complete
it and wait for a refund later when the Federal Government decides to continue
with the project. When the state government got no response from the Federal
Ministry of Power after some time it decided to negotiate directly with the
contractor handling the project. Says Dr. Ibrahim: “There is an agreement
between the state government and the contractor that when the Federal Government
starts funding NIPP and pay the contractor, the contractor will pay us our
money. There is a solid agreement between us.”
Even as investigations into the NIPP is been awaited the saga of
embezzlement in the power sector had not abated, neither had the politics that converges
to confuse the investigations. Recently, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory
Commission (NERC) was embroiled in a N1.5 billion fraud allegation. The
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission arrested the NERC chairman, Dr. Ransome
Owan and six other commissioners on allegations of perpetrating the fraud.
The NERC officials deny any wrong doing and allege political motives to their
ordeal. Corruption and politics, it is a usual mixture anywhere the Nigerian
power sector is concerned.
The Kwara State government, it seems, simply cut the two monsters off and
for once decided to do the right thing and set an example that shows with the
right will Nigeria could solve the problem of its perennial power shortages.
What the Kwara State government built was not a power generating plant which
is the buzz in the top tier of government at the moment but it simply built a
transmission station on a 2.5 hectares of land at Ganmo that could better
utilize and maximise the available power that is been generated by the existing
generating stations but wasted because of inadequate power infrastructures.
Now, the state capital and the towns and villages in the state heave a sigh of
relief for this simple foresight. At the Ganmo project site where Weekly
Trust visited there were basically two sets of transformers. Two numbers of
150MVA 33O/132KVA that step down the power from the Osogbo and Kainji power
generating stations, which are the state’s two sources of power supply, from 330
KVA to 132 KVA. Another two number of 60 MVA 132/33 KVA transformers further
step down the power from 132KVA to 33 KVA.
Residents in Ilorin city centre, where the smaller transformers have been
supplied, say they enjoy electricity for days at a stretch without power cut.
In the Zango area, where the new transformers have not been available,
residents say in the past they went without electricity for weeks but now enjoy
significant improvement of supply.
But nowhere is the impact more significant than in small scale industries.
The South Africa-born General Manager of Kwara Technix, a joint venture
business between the Kwara state government and a South African furniture
manufacturer, Mr. Frank Cross says the recent improvement in electricity supply in the
state has reduced significantly the company’s expenditure on diesel to fuel
generators. “We used to spend about N100, 000 a week on diesel,” he says. “
But during the past four weeks we’ve probably spent about N50, 000 throughout
the period. In the past four weeks we have used our generator maybe a total
of eight hours whereas previously we used to run our generators 6 hours a day.”
Also as a furniture company they rely on a drying kiln to dry their timbers
24 hours for 7 days but “the problem was we cannot use our generators in our
drying kiln. So when we close at 6 o’clock in the evening we stop the drying
kiln and start it up again when we come in the morning. But now with the
consistent power supply the kiln now work 24 hours a day.” He now says that if
the current feat is sustained he is optimistic of making more profit and
employing more hands to work in the company’s workshop.
Sunday Afolayan, a welder who manufactures security gates in his workshop
talks about a newfound enthusiasm that has suffused him since he began having
stable power to conduct his business. Most of his work is done manually using
hand tools like chisels, but now, he says, he intends to buy some machines to
ease and help improve on his work. “I’m supposed to buy some cutting
machines which I couldn’t because of non-availability of light. My generator cannot
carry the machine. Now with the light, I will buy the machine. Previously,
it takes two weeks for me to deliver to my customers, now I deliver within a
week.” Afolayan counts other benefits in the brief period that he had enjoyed
some stable electricity to do his business. He says the N3, 000 to N4, 000 he
spends to buy diesel every week to fuel his generator has now been replaced
by the N1, 000 PHCN cards which had paid for his electricity consumption in
the past one month. “Can you see the difference?”
There are others who had noticed the differences and are quietly staging a
comeback to the businesses they abandoned and took to commercial motorcycling
because of the quick money to be made. Joseph Ali, a commercial motorcyclist
who went into a hire-purchase agreement where every week he is supposed to
remit N1, 000 to the owner of the motorcycle he uses, is full of regret that he
is tied down by his current business agreement when he could have used the
present opportunity to go back to the packaging business he abandoned because
of unstable electricity. “I’m afraid that by the time I’m ready to go back,
my business rivals might have taken most of my customers. Something tells me
things are changing here.”
Two 300 level students of Sociology at the university of Ilorin echo the
same optimism. Akerele Adelaja, who few months ago had a harrowing experience
where the candle he was using to read at night fell off while he dozed off and
nearly burnt his room, now says “the recent improvement has helped my studies
tremendously.” Gbadeyan Olawale James, another student in the same
department, says “you can easily pick your books at night and read. It has really
helped. We hope they sustain it.”
But is their optimism in the right place or highly misplaced? “That is my
fear,” says Abubakar Yunusa, a lecturer in Sociology at the University of
Ilorin. He added: “Some of us see it as a cosmetic arrangement. But that may come
to pass very soon. We still ask ourselves are they deceiving us, can we
really have such stable supply of electricity?”
But the recent success in Ilorin goes beyond the state and says much about
the Federal Government’s approach to provide the nation with electricity. It
is beginning to look like states waiting for the magical Seven-Point Agenda to
connect them with constant and regular electricity will have to abandon
their lethargy and act to help themselves. And contrary to the huge figures
reeled out the Kwara State government’s expenditure of just N800 million to set up
a transmission station that now supplies all its towns and most of its
villages with electricity shows the figures needed to bring some semblance or even
remarkable improvement in power supply is not as monumental as it is made
to look by government officials. Though a much bigger doubt is the promised
ambition of the Yar’adua administration to achieve a target of 6,000 megawatts
of electricity generation by December this year. Apart from the shortage of
gas experienced at the moment that makes this difficult to achieve officials
involved in the Kwara project say even if the Federal Government succeeds in
raising this much capacity it will not help the current situation in any
significant way because at the moment the country lacks functional transmission
and distribution lines. Meaning the power will be generated as promised but it
will only be wasted because it has not been made safe enough for use to the
end consumers. The officials say what the country needed so badly at the
moment is transmission and distribution lines to complement electricity generation
as Kwara has shown.
The sad irony though is with the past suspension of the NIPP project and the
slowness of the Yar’adua administration to resume it some of the
transformers provided for the NIPP project in some states might have been quietly
looted. Even though they were not mentioning names, officials spoken to are
positive that some states will have to start all over from scratch because vital
components for the NIPP project might have grown legs.
Does this mean that the Saraki administration in Kwara State should start
celebrating as radio and television jingles in the state have been hitting the
drums about the current success of the administration in power supply? “I
will not say it is time to start celebrating,” says Muhammad, a University of
Ilorin lecturer in Political Science. But there could be applause for the
governor, because if the Chief Executive of a state is doing well, he deserves
commendation, just as if he is not doing well he deserves a knock. But all said,
for me it doesn’t call for celebration at the moment.”
Presently, it is a little over 30 days. Some celebration might come if this
is sustained to about 100 days in a stretch or probably even more. Will that
day come, or is Kwara’s apparent success story a mere flash in the pan?

KnowAll:
"More ramblings from Mr KnowAll .  I thought your focus was for disaporans to come home and play a part in a getting a share of the national cake as a politician"

There is nothing stopping diasporans from going home to be part of the politicking ( which is another word for horse trading ) but they should play politics the way is done in the west. One can still be a millionaire as a politician playing it the proper way. for example If u give your wife some money for food at the beginnig of the month, and u get home that evening, no food for u to eat, where is the money,  no money, wont u be infuriated. But what we are saying is u can give her N100.00 for the month and she manages to spend N80.00 and keep N20.00 for herself yet the food last till the end of the month that is what is called effective management.

You cant use this defination and relate to the aspect funding or executing contracts as a public officer.  This is what i call stealing.  Remember the husband's money equally belongs to the wife.  I am sure we can assume that the  wife would have used the remaining N20.00 to buys shoes for the children otherwise and that is what i call effective management

More ramblings from Mr KnowAll . I thought your focus was for disaporans to come home and play a part in a getting a share of the national cake as a politician

source

http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/news/article01//indexn2_html?pdate=120309title=Govt%20unbundles%20INEC,%20accepts%20open%20secret%20ballot

*

THE Federal Executive Council (FEC) yesterday concluded its three-week deliberations on the report on the former Chief Justice Muhammadu Uwais-led Committee on Electoral Reform, opting to set up "a new, truly, non-partisan independent and impartial INEC" (Independent National Electoral Commission) to be appointed by the President and composed of a Chairman, Deputy Chairman and six persons of "unquestionable integrity one of whom must come from each of the six geo-political zones."

Six other nominees are to be nominated from organised Labour, the Nigerian Bar Association, the Media, National Youth Council, Nigerian Civil Society and women organisations. The appointments are subject to confirmation by the Senate.

Other recommendations accepted by the Council include the adoption of the Open Secret Ballot System, funding of INEC from the first-line charge on the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation, unbundling of INEC and new funding parameters for the nation's political parties.

But the Council also rejected some recommendations of the Justice Uwais Committee. They include the following:

* That the National Judicial Council (NJC) should be responsible for the appointment of the Board of INEC and those of the three proposed bodies to be established; and

* that election petitions should be concluded within six months after the elections; four months at the Tribunal and two months at the Appellate Court.

Minister of Information and Communications, Prof. Dora Akunyili; along with Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Senator Adamu Aliero; Minister of State for Information and Communications, Alhaji Ikira Bilbis and Special Adviser to the President (Media and Publicity), Olusegun Adeniyi, told journalists at the end of the Council session that government opted to reject the two recommendations because it is "mindful of the doctrine of separation of powers which would be violated if the judiciary is asked to step in to perform executive functions.

"Government also did not accept the recommendation that election petitions should be concluded within six months after the elections; four months at the Tribunal and two months at the Appellate Court because the current system in which judgments sometimes come after six months presents a better dispensation of justice to the aggrieved."

Mrs. Akunyili stated that in rooting for the Open Secret Ballot System, the Council accepted:

* That the voter goes into a polling booth to mark his ballot in secrecy and drop it in the box in the open;

* that accreditation of registered voters prior to the start of voting for the purpose of tracking how many people cast their ballots in a polling station;

* display of voters' register prior to elections to enable registered voters, political parties and the electorate generally to make claims and objections; and

* election results will be announced at all polling centres by presiding officers, duly signed and copies given to accredited agents, the Police and the State Security Service officers.

Other measures accepted by the Council include the abolishment of the State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIEC) so that INEC can conduct all elections in the country, including the local council polls.

The Council also accepted that politicians convicted of violence and thuggery during elections, in addition to any other punishment should be banned from holding public office for 10 years.

It also accepted independent candidates and that the funding of INEC is to be first-line charge on the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation so as to guarantee financial and administrative independence.

It also accepted that under the unbundling of INEC, it would be replaced with Political Parties Registration and Regulatory Commission (PPRRC) to, among other things:

* Register political parties, monitor their organisation and operations and arrange for the yearly auditing of accounts;

* establishment of the Electoral Offences Commission to, among other things, deter the commission of electoral malpractices, investigate where they occur and prosecute alleged offenders; and

* establishment of the Centre for Democratic Studies to undertake broad civic and political education for legislators, political office holders, security agencies, political parties and the general public.

The Council also accepted that the number of judges that sit in a tribunal should be reduced from five to three so that more tribunals can be set up in a state.

On the disqualification of candidates, it said this must be done on the basis of the provisions of the 1999 Constitution and the Electoral Act 2006.

The Council accepted that for the purpose of transparency and accountability, political parties must publicly disclose to INEC all sources of funding, including donations. Only parties that score a minimum of five per cent of votes cast will be eligible to receive grants from public funds.

The Council also decided to forward the conclusions to the Council of State "for advice."

Akunyili added that "thereafter, those decisions that require administrative action will be immediately implemented; while those that require amendment of the 1999 Constitution and the Electoral Act, 2006 or the enactment of new legislation will be forwarded to the National Assembly."

What would be poster propose. We need solutions and Implementations

I must say Dora is a very sincere woman has good intentions for Nigeria but i believe she is very ignorant in this area of rebranding maybe she thinks Nigeria is a drug. Fact of the matter one has tackle underlying factors which would automatically generate a postive image for any country. A good image has many pillars i.e improved standing of living, Rule of law ( nobody should be above the law), Electoral reforms , infrastructure and many other areas. As somebody already mentioned you cannot rebrand shit it needs to be burnt, disposed or cleared.

Na this Ugly girl them one die for.

Another Failed state - Epic for a Nollywood hit.

Useless country + Useless people = forever poverty

Let just hope a revolution starts.

Gates or no gates make no difference. The same guy wey lock gate will open it when a gun is pointed at head.

Question to all


If you find your brothers or sisters involued in corrupt malpractices are you brave enough to report them to the relevant authorities.  Please bear in mind that your response clearly confirms the present status of Nigeria

He said, "It is unbelievable, despicable and unfortunate that our Nigerian brothers now act as spies and informants to police authorities for monetary gains against their fellow Nigerians,'' Marwa said at an interactive session with Nigerians on Saturday in Johannesburg.

"How do you leave your country and decide to become an informant for the police against your brothers?''

This is not part of our culture at all."

The High Commissioner, who expressed regret that the activities of few bad Nigerians had dented the image of Nigeria, was full of praises for Nigerian professionals, entrepreneurs and small-scale business people who had continued to make Nigeria proud.


Marwa berates Nigerians for spying for S'African police

Nigeria's High Commissioner to South Africa, Dr. Buba Marwa, has condemned the practice by some Nigerians who act as spies and informants to the South Africa police.

He advised those acting as informants to return to Nigeria if they had no visible means of livelihood, saying that they too constituted part of the bad elements among Nigerians who ``should be ashamed to be called Nigerians''.

Marwa encouraged all Nigerians to remain good ambassadors of their country saying that ``I stand here to assure you that the cases of harassment and intimidation will stop forthwith as long as you continue to act within the scope of the law.''

While the High Commissioner reiterated that these acts were unacceptable to the Nigerian government he said that "The Consul-General and I have been working and meeting people in authority at higher levels and with the South African government to discuss these issues.

``We will do whatever it takes to protect your interest and project the image of our country in glowing light,'' he said.

He urged Nigerians, as soccer loving people, to give maximum support and rousing reception to the Super Eagles when they arrive for a one-week camping in South Africa in preparation for the 2010 World Cup qualifiers match against the Mozambican national team on March 28.

@ i_laugh

I demand an apology their is absolute no need drag yourself this low as it only reveals alot about your upbringing.

You cannot serve God or money. People who are complaining about the logical reason behind not paying tithes is simply dealing with a stronghold.

facts,

1. If God is your ultimate source - please honour him
2. You can never out give God
3.10% is good starting bench mark
4 Spreading the lovely gospel of christ requires funding
5 it is the job of the sower to find a good ground.




Remember what Jesus said - Pay Ceasar what is due and Give God what he also deserves

travelcare:
These type of replies are not new to Travelcare Consults. Such replies help us live to expectation by facing the challenges from the public and by that we continue to build on our solid foundation.

At Travelcare, we dont procure visa for people and we are never those that will say "bring money and we will get you visa" because we are not the embassy. Yes! potential travelers can get information from the embassy[b] but the issue of experience cannot be ruled out. [/b] As a first time applicant, you can get the necessary information from the embassy and that would not always guaranty you a visa! Where experience is needed in relevant cases is our focus and our area of offering guidance/assistance to our numerous clients.

We are never offended by whatever reactions we get here on Nairaland because we believe in individual differences and people view situations differently. We still have to thank you for having the time to post something here but Travelcare Consults will never cease on posting topics that will be of benefit to the public. We wont be chased away!

We still sieze this oppotunity to say if you have problems packaging your application or you have other problems relating to your travel/visa, please, contact Travelcare Consults via email travelcare.consults@gmail.com or call 016663625 or if very urgent, call Olawale on 08023809767 or come to our office:

Travelcare Consults
Akinola Akingbala Chambers
17 Ashabi Shonuyi street
Surulere
Lagos.

Take the right step NOW!

Travelcare

Dear Sir /ma

would you be happy to supply references from satisfied customers

@ l _ cry

you talking out of your ass again. How can you judge every Nigeria that is outside Nigeria as having bad intentions. Please answer this question is chinua achibee among the bad diasporans.

it is true and not funny - only clowns, sheep barbers, cotton picker, belly dancers and etc . I would find a source later

Ugly Ugly Ugly. 

Can you imagine these three men that have single-handedly destroyed the fate of Millions of Nigerians not even the nuclear bomb at hiroshima can come close

KnowAll:
@blacksta
Read everything so far clearly confirms the tone of subject here is simply about how much Money, Money  one can make as a government oofficial nothing about aalleviatingthe mass poverty of the people of Nigeria.  Which i must say is very sad.

What brought u to europe in the first place, is it not money, standard of living,  opportunities,  now the reverse is the case, what took those diasporans out in the first place to some extent does not exist as before. Now there are more than 10,000 political post to be filled every 4 years not including head of goverment parastatal, if you are the one would  u not take your chance. In life whether we like it or not we want to better ourselves first before anything.

No doubt i wanted to better myself as the opportunity was limited in Nigeria but i was not aiming to going into politics abroad. The attractiveness of the other sectors such as the educational establishments was the biggest factor. The question you should ask yourself and others why is that it is only an attractive political office that would lure me back to Nigeria what about other areas in Nigeria.

Please read the below. I say again Nigeria is seen as a place where one can make money cause you and i dont gave a damn about any postive change. The more disadvantage the society is the more money you make.



A member of the Ogun State House of Assembly, Oluseyi Moses, on Tuesday, declared that all the 26 lawmakers in the state are fraudulent and should immediately be arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Mr. Moses, who represents Sagamu 1 Constituency made the allegation on the floor of the House of Assembly, shortly after the suspension of two members of the assembly, stating further that he was ready to assist the anti-graft agency in exposing their (lawmakers) financial misdeeds.

He further said money and the selfish interests of individual members were the causes of the on-going crisis in the Assembly, adding that what lawmakers earn as salaries is much more than what Ph.D holders earn in the country, "Yet we still steal."

"I am calling on EFCC to arrest all of us," he said.

"I will cooperate with the organisation in exposing our financial mess. We should all be arrested. We are all thieves in this assembly. We are only fighting because of our selfish interest and pockets."

The lawmaker, who rained curses on all the 26 members of the assembly, said that they were all paupers before being elected to the House of Assembly, insisting that, their action so far was unfair to those who elected them and other citizens of the state.

He added "I would open up and confess to EFCC. We should all be locked up. The bottom line of the fight is money. Virtually all of us have built mansions and have chains of cars on getting to office, and where do we get the money?"

.

Read everything so far clearly confirms the tone of subject here is simply about how much Money, Money one can make as a government offical, nothing about allevating the mass poverty of the people of Nigeria. Which i must say is very sad.

I have read your post serveral times and I can conclude that the only reason why many nigerians want to come back home is simply partake of the corruption that is already on ground rather serving the masses. The fact of the matter people see nigeria as a place to come and make money

Sorry cant help you

as most of us werent arround or were to young to remember what impact Sir Awolowo had on Nigeria. I doubt it made any difference anyway as Nigeria is still in a big mess

unipol:
the italians use nigerians to practice this corruption, because they intentionally made their website for visa appointment reachable to corrupt link only. so it is italian corruption not nigerian. because this corruption came from inability of nigerians to book their appointment through www.italy-ng.com and now they have to pay another 30,000 naira and above to get link to apply for appointment.

Why is this not happening in other italian embassy around the world, why only Nigeria.