MY SINCERE AND SOLE WISH IS THAT OUR COUNTRY ADVANCES AND NOTHING ELSE

PEACE AND DEVELOPMENT TO ALL!!!

Nwoke, what has improvement of quality of life, well paid jobs, more quality etc. got to do with selfishness? Sorry but that transcends the scope of my imagination. Look at the malls how india is fighting its way out of poverty. THERE IS A LOT OF IMPROVEMENT EVEN BEYOND MALLS IN THE COUNTRY. To put it more BLUNTLY; YOU WILL ONLY MAKE POTENTIAL INVESTORS SHY AWAY WHEN PLACES LIKE THIS (see photo) is the only "way of development"

[img]https://www.paecivpol.com/images/photo_album/Monrovia,_Liberia.jpg[/img] THIS THING WON´T DEVELOP OUR COUNTRY, ooohh!!!!

Nwoke, THIS IS NOT AN INSULT BUT A FACT!

Old Glory,

thanks a lot for hiting the nail on its head! That is nothing more to add for my part! You summed it up all and you perfectly mirror the NEW genration of Nigerians: open-minded, smart, cosmopolitan without betraying the national heritage and business-minded (with the accent on quality/design instead of quantity), Thank you my brother!

Nwoke, please, my brother , just understand THESE makeshift stores are good and Nigeria needs them. But they do also exist in India and China side by side with shiny mega-malls. You are talking about the informal sector but what Nigeria needs is more formal employment (jobs in construction and retail). How long should the South Africans for example continue to look down on us, eeehhh

Go to Venezuela a country of the size of Nigeria which produces the same amount of oil than our country does but Caracas is clustered with nice malls; VISIT sOUTH AFRICA which is "poorer" than Nigeria (no oil and not as many natural ressources and human potential/talent) than Nigeria, but South Africa has created thousand of jobs for people in shopping malls throughout Durban Jo´burg, Cape town and Pretoria.

People going out for shopping does not help us. WE HAVE TO BRING MALLS TO NIGERIA. The plams have to be the beginning and not the end. Shopping malls adds shine and entertainement and more investors to more sectors , everything becomes more diversified, to put it plainly, , believe me this is how Asian countries developped. How long should Nigeria´s consumer culture be kept at bay?. people are as brand-conscious and cool as Asian people or South Africans. ABOVE ALL WEEL PAID JOBS WILL ARRIVE IN THOUSANDS ON THE SCENE AND NOT JUST INFORMAL SQUATTERS WHO ARE SELLING THEIR GOOD NEXT TO SMELLY GUTTERS!!!!

Nwoke, please, my brother , just understand THESE makeshift stores are good and Nigeria needs them. But they do also existe in India and China side by side with shiny mega-malls. You are talking about the informal sector but what Nigeria needs is more formal employment (jobs in construction and retail). How long should the South Africa for example continue to look down on us, eeehhh

Go to Venezuela a country of the size of Nigeria which prodeuces the same amount of oil than our country does but Caracas is clustered with nice malls; VISIT sOUTH AFRICA which is "poorer" than Nigeria (no oil and not as many natural ressouces ) than Nigeria but South African create thousand of shops for people in shopping malls throughout Durban Jo´burg, Cape town and Pretoria.

People going out for shopping does not help us. WE HAVE TO BRING MALLS TO NIGERIA. The plams have to be the beginning and not the end. Shopping malls adds shine and entertainement and more investors to more sectors , everything becomes more diversified, to put it plainly, , believe me this is how Asian countries developped. How long should Nigeria´s consumer culture be kept at bay?. people are as brand-conscious and cool as Asian people or South Africans. ABOVE ALL WEEL PAID JOBS WILL ARRIVE IN THOUSANDS ON THE SCENE AND NOT JUST INFORMAL SQUATTERS WHO ARE SELLING THEIR GOOD NEXT TO SMELLY GUTTERS!!!!

Davidylan, I perfectly agree with you and I am happy that this subject has captured the interest of the forumers. If Nigeria adds more malls like Asian countries such as Malaysia or india is doing that would have an enormous economic benefit for our country and even in terms of our country´s standing (entertainment etc.). NIGERIA, OUR BELOVED MOTHERLAND, is a very important oil producer without any consumers culture?, I never heard that!. How can small African nations like Kenya or Uganda build malls and Nigeria not? India´s growing middle-class is crazy about shopping. In former times they flew all abroad to make their shopping now they can do it in India. Same should/ MUST BE the case for Nigeria! Why do we need to shop at Marks and Spencer in the uK or at Gap in the US?? LET´S BRING THESE BRANDS AND OTHER FRANCHISE TO OUR BELOVED country: LET THE PALMS BE THE BEGINNING OF A NEW SHOPPING CENTRE REVOLUTION : IT WILL CREATE COMPETITION, JOBS, TAXES AND A LOT OF SHINE TO LAGOS AND OUR COUNTRY.

Please can someone post some more up-to-date photos of the mall from in- and outside as these photos only show a hypermarket and nothing else. Does the Palms have any glass facades, Marks and Spencer shops etc.?

India's Shopping Centre Revolution: Job Creation! Possible In Nigeria, Too?

India is presently undergoing a consumer revolution with huge shopping malls opening throughout the country. In 1991 when they first openend their economy a lot has happened since then. In the 70's and 80's India was asolutely poor but in the course of the years it grew richer and richer in the 90's and especially from 2000 onwards.

The signs are also a consumer revolution taking place with THOUSANDS of new jobs being created. Do you think that is possible in Nigeria, too? Do not forget that you didn´t even find a simple coke bottle in India in the early 90's, these times are gone

When will our consumer revolution take place? People in Nigeria are very brand-conscious and we Nigerians even have good designers but the need to move into world-class shoping malls like these in India is essential in order to attain international recognition. I found these pictures <<source>> while skimming through the website.

have a look! many more malls are under construction

A mall in Hyderabad:


Two malls in Bangolore:






These are a couple of Bombay´s malls:











These are the new Delhi Malls: they really look great. I hope we get those in our beloved motherland soon, too

Hu´s trip to Nigeria

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP)

Chinese President Hu Jintao said yesterday his government will seek closer ties with Africa a resource-rich frontier of opportunity for the world’s fastest growing economy after signing oil and other agreements with Nigeria and granting the West African giant an aid package.
Hu, on the second and final day of his visit to Nigeria, addressed the country’s parliament on China’s relations with Africa.
“Africa has rich resources and market potentials, whereas China has available effective practices and practical know-how it has gained in the course of modernisation,” Hu said.
China is seeking “a strategic partnership” with the continent that would improve living standards for Africa, he said. China’s interest and growing profile has worried Western rivals among them countries who may feel their colonial ties should give them an advantage for Africa’s resources and markets. And some Africans have complained about being flooded with cheap Chinese goods.
“China’s development will not pose a threat to anyone. On the contrary, it will bring more development opportunities to the world,” Hu told Nigeria’s parliament.
The world’s most populous country, with 1.3 billion people, has also set new development targets to increase its gross domestic product and lower energy consumption, the Chinese leader said. “By the year 2020 , GDP would quadruple that of 2000 to reach $4 trillion, averaging $3,000 per head,” Hu said.
China’s economy is growing so fast, its leaders have taken steps to avoid inflation or ballooning bad loans. Growth hit 10.2 per cent in the first quarter, and China is hungry for the energy, timber, minerals and other raw materials Africa can provide.
During the first day of the visit, Hu and his Nigerian counterpart Olusegun Obasanjo presided over the signing of a string of agreements covering cooperation in energy, telecommunications, infrastructure development and health.
One agreement requires Nigeria’s Petroleum Ministry to give China’s state oil firm preferential access to oil blocks in return for a Chinese undertaking to take over a loss-making refinery in the northern city of Kaduna.
Under other deals, Chinese firms will build a hydroelectric power station in the northeastern Mambilla plateau and a high-speed rail system linking the Nigerian capital Abuja with the economic capital, Lagos.
Two Chinese telecommunication firms, Huawei Technologies and ZTE, will execute large contracts for rural telephone service across Nigeria with the help of concessionary loans from the Chinese government worth more than $200 million (161 million euros).

Nigeria: Obasanjo Commissions Palms Mall, Says Govt Will Introduce Credit Cards

Vanguard (Lagos)

April 21, 2006
Posted to the web April 21, 2006

Franklin Alli
Lagos

PRESIDENT Olusegun Obasanjo says the Federal Government will soon introduce a new economic reform policy that will transit the country from cash to credit card economy, even as Former Heads of State, Gen. Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida, Chairman of Transcorp, Mr. Fola Adeola, President/ CEO, Dangote Groups, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, graced The Palms Mall commissioning ceremony.

Other dignitaries on the roll call were MD/CEO, Zenon Oil, Femi Otedola, Chairman of PPPRA, Rasheed Gbadamosi, Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Femi Pedro, and the Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu, among others.

Speaking off-handedly after he has formally declared open The Palms Mall, a shopping and entertainment Centre situated on the Lekki Expressway way, Victoria Island Lagos, President Obasanjo, while commending owners of the Property (Persians Properties Ltd, a joint venture between Actis UK, and Tayo Amusan, a Nigerian property developer), said apart from the ongoing or concluded reforms in the economy like the Pension, Ports, Banking, NEEDS reforms, etc, very soon the economy will be transformed from cash to credit card economy.

Said he: "Very soon, we are going to have consumer credit card. With it, Nigerians won't be carrying money in "Ghana must Go" bags. All they need to do is to use their credit card for transactions where they go. When that happens that will be another feather to our cap."

While urging owners of the facility to establish more of this across the country, Obasanjo noted that the project was dividend of democracy and economic reforms.

He, therefore, called on Nigerians, home and in diaspora for support to sustain democracy and the ongoing reforms programme by the government.

Speaking, Managing Partner Africa, Actis, Dr. Nkosana Moyo, noted that the mandate of Actis is to promote economic development in emerging markets, especially in Africa.

The company, he said, invests globally in many emerging markets, however, it is most active in Africa, China, Malaysia and South Asia. The company invests and manages capital on behalf of over 70 investors, and currently has about US$2.7 billion of funds under management.

He urged Nigerian businessmen in different sectors of the economy like Real Estate, Oil and Gas, Mining, Manufacturing, etc, to think about partnering with Actis.

"We will do for you what we have been able to do for Tayo in bringing this project to completion," he assured.

Tayo, in an address, stated that the project, which cost about US$5O million (equivalent to N6.8 billion), has created employment for more than 500 Nigerians, and 5,000 jobs indirectly.

Located on a 44,000m2 site, the Palms is predominantly a single storey structure, with off-road parking for approximately 720 vehicles. It is the first and largest centre of its kind in Nigeria and is on par with similar shopping centres anywhere in the world.

The mall provides a mix of merchandise, fashion, services, health, food, sports, IT and interior decorations stores that are very much top of the line.

With a capacity to accommodate about 62 shops and cinemas, the shopping centre is now home to some of South Africa's largest retailers - Shoprite, a grocery store of huge proportions selling fresh foods and household goods and Game, a subsidiary of Massmart, a discount retail chain that offers customers products ranging from household electronics to jewelry and beauty products.

Also at the mall are Nu Metro which comprises a six screen cinema complex and a multimedia store for books, magazines, DVDs and music; Montaigne Place, owners of the Clarins franchise in Nigeria, Twice as Nice, a shirt and accessories shop, Konica photo shop, a digital studio and Wrangler, a casual clothing outlet.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200604210148.html

PS: AS I AM NOT LIVING IN NIGERIA (Diaspora Nigerian) I would just love to see some photos of the place. Has anybody been to this place? How´s it like? Ca anyone post some pictures so that we Nigerians currently abroad can also see the development. Please do so.

Hi Mongue, please do that, just take a couple of pics even if they are showing teh place which is under construction. I am burning to see them. Moreover, I would like to place them in http://skyscrapercity.com. (the largest construction website of the world) (people all over the world come to this site and portray what their countries have to offer while Nigeria is desperately underepresented). We, as "simple" Nigerians need to polish up our image a bit, even it is just by showing our construction sites!

come on guys, instead of offending Obasanjo we should at leat say thanks and send him a smile. Despite massive challenges remaining, Nigeria sees is first ray of hope after the Biafra War ended, Obsanjo and his team (finance minister) has amassed HUGE FOREIGN RESERVES WHICH STILL STANDS AT 36 BILLION after paying off the country´s debt. He could have used all the money for his own pocket as most of Nigeria´s president have done in the past or spend it on silly white elephants. FROM 1999 TO NOW Nigeria has done great progress. Obsj. inherited another "Zaire" when he started his first term in 1999. (I still vividly remember the "dark ages" Today many foreign investors are flocking to Nigeria in droves and the name Nigeria starts to become presentable which was "a no go area" throughout the 80´s and especially the horrible 90´s, Governing Nigeria is not an easy and grateful task with all the people selfishly vying for power and money.

the problem will however be : once Obasanjo is gone who will assure that all the efforts have not been in vain? Nigeria does not need other Babandighas or Abachas who callously loot our country in the same grusesome fashion like Mobutu did in now war -ravaged Zaire. THESE TIMES HAVE TO BE OVER and GONE FOR GOOD

Nigeria´s shining tourism haven thanks to the governor who not just talks but displays real love to our country in realising his ambitions


I do really have great respect for the governor in Cross River state



















FOR THOSE INTERESTED MAKE A VIRTUAL TOUR ON THEIR WEBSITE OF THE PROJECT WHICH IS TO BE COMPLETED NEXT YEAR (Phase 1)

httP://www.tinapa.com


PHASE 1

The development of Tinapa will be in phases. Phase One will include specific components that will form the foundation of the development of a leisure tourism market in Nigeria . These components are:

* a shopping complex comprising:
o four wholesale emporiums
o 100 retail outlets
o a food court with take-away outlets and
o a communal sitting area
o an administrative centre
o parking for approximately 3,000 cars and coaches
* an “entertainment strip” leading out of the shopping complex which will include:
o a casino of international standard
o five restaurants
o a cinema complex with cinemas ranging from 104 to 340 seats each
o a games arcade and ten-pin bowling alley
o a children's play area
o a fisherman's village comprising three themed bars, a themed nightclub and an arts and crafts village
* 300-room budget hotel
* support services and amenities such as a sick bay, management offices, etc.
* a warehouse cluster with five warehouses
* Leisureland / Waterworld facility
o Wave pool
o Standing wave surfing
o Lazy river ride
o Water slides
o Picnic area
o Children's pool and children's play area
o Tennis courts
o Volleyball courts
o Change room facilities
o Lifeguard tower
o Kiosks
o Management offices



PHASE 2

Phase Two of the project will include the following:

* a hotel and conference complex including:
o a 200-room branded international four star hotel
o a conference centre with a main ballroom seating up to 1,000 delegates
o three boutique stores of 50m 2 floor space each
o a business centre
o a fitness centre
* expansion of leisure and entertainment facilities to include:
o water sports facilities
o a quad biking track
o an archery range
o a clay pigeon shooting area
* expansion of cultural and education components to include:
o ten additional stalls with craft making area; and
o a fisherman's wharf
o expansion, restoration and upgrading of the existing Old Residency Museum in Calabar

PHASE 3

Phase Three will include the following components:

* accommodation facilities including:
o a 150-room branded international four-star hotel
o a luxury beach lodge with 30 letting units
o a luxury bush lodge with 30 letting units
* agritourism in the form of a tropical fish farm
* ecotourism in the form of an exotic bird aviary

Babalakin Advocates Modern Terminals In Abuja, Kano, PH



Stories By Rotimi Durojaiye,

Senior Aviation Correspondent, Lagos



Chairman of Bi-Courtney Consortium, Dr. Wale Babalakin (SAN), has called for the construction of modern world -class airport terminals in Abuja, Kano and Port-Harcourt.

He said the Federal Government’s determination to transform Nigeria into the aviation hub of West Africa could only be achieved when it has modern terminals at other gateway airports.

Babalakin who spoke while receiving members of the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation on inspection tour of the ultra-modern Terminal One of the Murtala Mohammed Airport in Lagos being handled by his company, said the company and other local investors needed the cooperation and support of the stakeholders in order to succeed in such ventures.

Bi-Courtney is handling the Lagos Airport project under the Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) arrangement.

As a firm believer in the future of Nigeria, the chairman said he recognised the need to support government in its quest to transform the Nigerian economy and make it private-sector driven.

Babalakin said the new terminal project has been in the spotlight due to its strategic place in the country’s aviation development.

“We need and seek the cooperation of the Committee. We also urge the Federal Government to offer encouragement to private investors in the onerous task of developing our great country”, he said.

The Senior Advocate of Nigeria added that planning was essential for the successful implementation of any project policy.

He said the task has been herculean but was thankful to God that the execution stage was gradually coming to an end and that the company was working closely with the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to ensure the completion of the project on schedule.

Chairman of the Committee, Hadi Sirika, who led four other members, said they were in Lagos to access the pace of work, and assured that the Committee would do all in its power to provide support to the Bi-Courtney and other private sectors in the aviation industry.

He said Nigerians would be proud of the airport when completed as it would boast of world standard facilities that were available in only a few worldwide for the benefit of air travelers, airport users, airline operators and concessionaires.

Apart from ultra-modern arrival and departure lounges, the new terminal will be equipped with such facilities as shopping malls, banking halls, medical facilities, conveyors, post office, car parks, walkways, and offices among others.

As part of the terminal is a 160-room four-star edifice built over six floors on the old car park across the road, and will boast of airline lounges, shopping malls, restaurants, casinos, a banquet hall that would sit 1,000 guests and a swimming pool, among other state-of-the-art facilities.

There will be two presidential suites, 10 royal rooms and 148 double rooms, with a hanging staircase made of hardened glass material.

It will be linked to the terminal car park by an overhead bridge to ensure that the smooth flow of traffic within the vicinity is not obstructed.

The bridge will be tastefully designed and walled to provide refreshing comfort, beauty and luxury.

Lagos Airport terminal 1building will beat Miami’s — Babalakin boasts


Posted to the Web: Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Chairman of Bi-Courtney Consortium, builders of Lagos Airport terminal 1 edifice, Dr. Wale Babalakin, has boasted the project would beat that of Miami, USA, one of the world’s most modern and busiest airports.

Bi-Courtney Consortium got the Federal Government’s nod to provide the facility on build, own and transfer basis following the failure of the former builders, Sanderton, to deliver.

Dr. Babalakin said the Lagos Airport terminal 1 building would be one of the world’s most modern airport buildings when it is completed this year, especially as it is coming with a six-storey four-star hotel being built opposite.

According to him, the project will very well serve to prepare Lagos and Nigeria for the hub the country had been aspiring to be. “The hotel is designed as an extremely comfortable accommodation. Its aesthetics are unique and the entire ambience is a showpiece of modern architecture.
“A paramount consideration of the hotel is security. The entire project focuses considerably on security. Comparisons are almost impossible to make as they do not exist.

“However, a considerable effort can be found in Miami, United States. We want to assure you that our concept is even far more advanced than the one in Miami,” Dr. Babalakin told newsmen in a recent interview in Lagos.

The terminal building is to be linked with the hotel by an overhead bridge to ensure there is no hindrance to smooth flow of traffic.
The hotel is also coming with such facilities as casinos, banquet halls, restaurants and spar, swimming pool, shopping mall as well as airline lounges.
Government’s position on the capacity of the airport terminal project to put Nigeria in the stead for hub status is not different, as Aviation Minister, Prof. Babalola Borishade, had said at the foundation-laying ceremony of the hotel, that the terminal building and accompanying hotel would be a spectacle.

He said the project represented government’s avowed determination to divest from areas of investment for which the private sector enjoys economies of scale.
Borishade said the project should gladden the hearts of well-meaning Nigerians because, according to him, “it lends further credence to the belief of the Federal Government that the private sector should play a prominent role in the provision of services and infrastructure that drive the wheel of the economy.”

He said government was satisfied that it took the option of having the terminal building, which was gutted by fire in 2001, re-built on BOT basis, despite the challenges posed by the new concept being something new in the country.

The terminal building is also coming with features as shopping malls, banking halls, medical facilities, offices, ultra-modern car parks with a capacity for 500 cars at a time, walkways, connecting bridges, pillars, vast lounges, post office and conveyor belts.

PS: I am trying to find some pics but in vain Can anybody help me?

April 25, 2006

By AUDREY D’ANGELO

Cape Town - SAA is facing tougher competition from Virgin Nigeria on the key route between Johannesburg and Lagos.

The Nigerian airline, in which Virgin Atlantic has a 49 percent stake, announced yesterday that it was obtaining higher load factors since slashing the economy fare by 50 percent to R2 500 this month and increasing the baggage allowance for business and economy class passengers.

SAA had not cut its return fare of more than R5 000 by yesterday, with a senior executive saying its fares were decided "by market demand and not by the competition".

Virgin Nigeria's move challenges SAA's strategy to become the continent's dominant airline.

Africa contributed 16 percent of SAA's revenue last year. SAA said in its 2005 annual report that its Africa strategy was driven by increased commercial activity on the continent and high profit margins on African routes.

Mike Higgins, Virgin Nigeria's sales director, worldwide, said its business class on the route had normally been full, with passenger loads in economy class picking up. "The market from Lagos is different from that in Johannesburg. Demand, as in other parts of Africa, is more for business class than for economy and for a bigger baggage allowance."



SAA negotiated to become the strategic equity partner in the new Nigerian airline and develop Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos as a hub for a network of west African and international routes, but was beaten to the deal by Virgin Atlantic Airways.

Higgins said Virgin Nigeria aimed to become the leading airline in Africa and had been applying for air-traffic rights to serve a growing number of international routes from Lagos.

It has applied for air-traffic rights to New York. This service will compete for west African passengers with SAA's service between Johannesburg and New York via Dakar.

Virgin Nigeria will increase flights from Lagos to London from three a week to daily at the end of this month and start a service to Dubai next month.

"We are not afraid to compete head-on with the world's leading airlines," Higgins said.

Meanwhile, SAA has announced that it would withdraw its flights from Johannesburg to Atlanta next month and increase the number to Washington from four a week to seven.

well they are building it, still everything is under construction here is the website:

http://www.tinapa.com

Businessday April 3rd, 2006

World famous department stores, Mac-Donalds, Wal-Mart, Harrods, and Marks and Spencer, among many others, have indicated very strong interest in the N43 billion Tinapa project in Calabar, regarded as Africa's premier business resort.

The foray by these world retail market players into the Nigerian market is in response to the commitment of the Cross River State government to the completion and commissioning of the first phase of the project by December, 2006.

According to the executive governor of the state, Donald Duke, whose administration is providing the infrastructure for the project, largely funded by private sector players, Tinapa will be ready by December, 2006. The final kitting by the major shop owners and operators will however, be completed by March 2007.

When phase one of the project is completed, the specific components that will form the foundation of the development of a leisure tourism market in Nigeria would have also been firmly rooted. Some of these components that would be visible in the first phase of the project will include a mega shopping complex comprising four wholesale emporiums, 250 retail outlets, a food courts with take - away outlets, an administrative centre, a commercial sitting area, and a parking lot for approximately 3, 000 cars and coaches.

According to information from the project site, there will also be an "entertainment strip" leading out of the shopping complex.

This, BUSINESSDAY learnt, would feature a casino of international standard, five restaurants, a cinema complex with cinemas ranging from 104 to 340 seats each, a games arcade and ten-pin bowling alley, a children's play area and a fisherman's village with themed bars, night clubs and an arts and crafts village.

Duke confirmed in Calabar, weekend that the phase one aspect of the Tinapa project would be home to a 300-room budget hotel, leisure land and waterworld facility, wave pool, lazy river ride, picnic area, tennis courts, life guard tower, kiosks, change room facilities, volley ball courts, management offices, among other numerous facilities.

According to the project scheme, the second phase of the world-class business resort is envisaged to include two hotels and conference complex with a 200- room branded international four star hotel, a conference centre with a main ballroom seating up to 1,000 delegates, business and fitness centres. Also, it is designed to feature three boutique stores, expansion of leisure and entertainment facilities fitted with a quad biking track, an archery range and a fisherman's wharf, among other features.

Duke said the third phase of the mega project will cover the construction of a 150-room branded international five-star hotel, a luxury beach lodge with 30 -units, a luxury bush lodge, agritourism and ecotourism. When the Tinapa project becomes functional there would be a mutual driving and sustenance of tourism which the Cross River state government has taken with Agriculture as major footwalk in the effort to power growth and development in the state.


PS: ooohhh my dear, Nigeria will get its first Harrods, who would have thought that 10 years back!!

Hi teju, yes I am a Nigerian (and I am PROUD of my country!!) , I said that in my first posting. Malaysia is truly a wonderful place and developmenet is to be seen everywhere (pockets of poverty have almost vanished). Malaysia underwent a massive boom in the 70´s, 80´s and 90´s and it has grown from an irrelevant backwater to a strong emerging market. People - while remaining traditional - are very open-mided and lembrace Western cultures without DENYING THEIR OWN CULTURE.
I am showing you some more pictures on Kuala Lumpur:

Can you see the monorail above?





Here is one of the numerous ice-skating rinks: (don´t forget that Malaysia´s climate is the same as that of Nigeria)




Look at the spotlessly clean roads:



[img]http://www.personal.psu.edu/suc105/malaysia/Kuala%20Lumpur.jpg[/img]



[img]http://img195.exs.cx/img195/5673/171091199fnnkwfph13ko.jpg[/img]


Look at the international events they host like Petronas autodrome:




Now I would like to show a few pictures of Putraya, Malaysia new capital built from scratch



[img]http://img227.exs.cx/img227/6171/1521sv.jpg[/img]

[img]http://img104.exs.cx/img104/9238/356129uv.jpg[/img]

[img]http://img79.exs.cx/img79/5803/1865022zr.jpg[/img]

Look at that bridge:

[img]http://img79.exs.cx/img79/249/189om.jpg[/img]







[img]http://img266.echo.cx/img266/6487/dscn43675wj.jpg[/img]

Nooo, don´t you think that Asian people haven´t got lovely traditional food, too? You have mmaaaaannnnnyyy wonderful Malay or Thai food in Malaysia, A LOT , but you still have got mega malls and tons of fast food joints to choose from. The two of them peacefully coexist side by side. I would like to post a few photos on Malaysia starting with Kuala Lumpur. This country has been enormously poor in the 60´s and nothing but bush! Look how it flourished [img]http://mir.com.my/rb/photography/leofoo/KLCC/CYLeow/KLCCXmas.jpg[/img]







[img]http://www.tropicalisland.de/KUL%20Kuala%20Lumpur%20skyline%20from%20KLCC%20park_b.jpg[/img]



Highways sweeping through Malaysia:

[img]http://www.tropicalisland.de/KUL%20Kuala%20Lumpur%20modern%20highways2_b.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.minconsult.com/output/highway&airport/08.jpg[/img]



Internatinal Airport in Kuala Lumpur

[img]http://www.tropicalisland.de/KUL%20KLIA%20Kuala%20Lumpur%20Airport%20main%20building%20check-in%20area_b.jpg[/img]

As a Nigerian who had the chance of travelling extensively throghout the globe I do have to confess that I feel ashamed (whenever I return) that so few positive things of the western world had made its entry into our beloved country. Go to any country in Asia (for example take one of the "tiger economies" and you will be amazed at the gigantic hyper-modern shopping malls they do have there, some of them even got an Olympic ice-skating rink downstairs). There are food courts, cinema complexes (Imax), playing areas for kids etc. I cannot forget the ones I have seen on my last trip to Malaysia. Malay people are traditional but they love to embrace western culture by going on shopping sprees to fantatic malls (and I even ventured outside of Kuala Lumpur to Penang and Kota Kinabalu and I was amazed at what I saw) . I am not talking of countries such as South Corea, Hong Kong or Singapore which are ABSOLUTELY consumer-driven and shopping-frenzied people. ("Shop till you drop"can be read in the guide books). I am talking of the "lesser developed countries" such as Malaysia and Thailand which I would lke to compare with Nigeria. People love to go shopping there and you find all the hyper-stores and flashy boutiques with all the world -famous brands names (even better in some cases) than you find in Europe.
I will not enlarge on UAE (Dubai), which leaves one breathless!!!
Allover the globe you can see Starbucks, Burger Kings, Seattles Coffee, Subways, Coffee Beans, Pizza Hut, KFC, etc. BUT none of those in our beloved home-country!!! WHHHHYYYYY?? We are living in the year 2006 and no longer in 1984, globalisation is in full swing (even small children in Asia have the latest high tech gadgets!). It is a shame for a country such as Nigeria that it doesn´t have Africa largest mall(s). Why do we need to go shopping abroad? Lets´create some sub-franchising in the country which will create hundreds of thousands of new jobs. Nigerians are so brand-conscious and always well-dressed and a middle-class is slowly on the rise. SO WHAT´S THE MATTER?

PLEASE I WOULD LIKE TO DISCUSS THIS TOPIC SERIOUSLY WITH SOME OF YOU AND I DO NEED YOUR INPUT AND THOUGHTS. Thank you!