onila:
and hate sharing their resources

The Ogonis are peculiar in that from their history they've always being a close knit group. In d generality, marriage to outsiders , except to close neighbors like d ibibios and Andonis etc was frowned upon..
I think this issue of hatred/discrimination has to do with the suspicious view others had of a group that wasn't understood and past conflicts (esp.with some of d riverine tribes)

..n yes, they can be quite stubborn in their beliefs...doesn't make f good politics

..Do d Google, I just did.

Don't see much wrong in this move.. controversial as it is.. But a way to have scored both a political and economic point would've been if the said vehicles were d Nigerian 'made' INNOSSON vehicles.
Would have made much better sense..I.m.o

oduastates:

A balanced diet requires the right amount of protein ,carbs and vitamins
How clueless are you?

The cheapest and best source of protein n essential nutrients is Milk.
That's why milk is regarded almost as a complete meal on its own.

Careful how quick u call someone clueless

Next2Bezee:


I can only imagine that the reason why you'd take joy in the suffering of your fellow Nigerians is either because you're not in Nigeria yourself or because you've already determined that you'll never be successful and useful in life and thus wish poverty on everyone else.



What bitter medicine? How can you tell me the previous governments and this present one doesn't have a hand in the increased levels of importation?



If it worked in 1983, care to explain why the naira equivalent of a dollar has now multiplied almost 166 times more than it was then?

I don't understand how in God's name you think think its ok for the government to dry up forex without stimulating and encouraging the various sectors that are lacking first. Do you think its every raw material that can be produced locally at the moment?? Nothing will grow out of this, You are just suffering and smiling as you have been doing before.



A hungry man is not only an angry man but a jealous man as well.

Do you know that what is considered luxury to you can be basic to others? Do you think that its all rich families that are corrupt?? Some worked really hard to get what they have, why should they not enjoy the good life..is it because you cannot afford it too

Corruption is the only reason why devaluation has not worked over the years and you can blame the governments for that. The reason why local food products have increased is because they're being imported and the government has done nothing to encourage the agricultural sector and increase local production. Don't forget that there are other costs factored into the food stuff u buy at the market like transportation and all that and those costs have equally gone up!



The rest here is gibberish so i rather not quote it. Reducing importation by increasing locally made products WILL NOT WORK if there is no financial stimulation and encouragement from the government. Now the government has stifled importation as best as it can, yet it has made no steps towards trying to improve important sectors and basically we are importing nothing and producing nothing to sustain our demand, so who is suffering?? is it Buhari that is travelling abroad anyhow??

Nigeria is rapidly headed down the inflation route and more companies will fold and soon with #1,000 naira won't even be able to buy you pure water because most of the the pure water factories would have closed up and the few that are open would sell at exorbitant prices.

You summed up my thoughts quite well..

Closing up imports without making adequate provisions to ensure production will not work.
Expecting the local industries to be 'forced' to take up the production mantle is simply daydreaming@night time...wen, all things considered, they'll still to an extent have to source internationally f some materials.
Building local capacity doesn't happen in a day but takes political will n a well laid out policy.
Does innoson motors produce their engines n motor parts locally??
Oduastate has got some points but these are largely tainted by his partisan ship

The Made in Nigeria Campaign By Reuben Abati

Championed by Senator Ben Murray Bruce, and supported by the Senate President Bukola Saraki, the Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Hajia Aisha Abubakar and a large crowd of online campaigners, so much ink, saliva, and emotions have been invested in this old, and perhaps boring story.
Senator Bruce, who goes by the moniker “the Commonsense Senator” even introduced a hashtag #BuyNaijaToGrowtheNaira. He hasn’t quite explained the connection, but with the exchange rate melting down and the Naira yo-yoing, everyone including our neighbourhood electrician, and his friend, the battery charger, have both become experts on the fortunes of the national currency.

Senator Saraki has promised that the Public Procurement Act will be amended by the 8th National Assembly to make it mandatory for the government to patronize locally made goods. Minister Aisha Abubakar has proposed a “Patronise Naija Products Campaign.”

It all sounds so familiar but what has triggered this latest effusion of patriotism was a Made in Aba Trade Fair in Abuja, where locally made products including shoes were displayed and purchased by the snobby class now acting as great promoters of Nigerian identity and entrepreneurship. Senator Bruce and the National Assembly have also purchased made in Nigeria vehicles from Innoson

Motors, a local vehicle manufacturing company. The interest that this has generated is good publicity for Innoson Motors, and it will probably provide good justification for the National assembly purchasing more vehicles. It is also an excellent advertisement for local entrepreneurship. There was a time in this country when the phrase Aba-made was meant to be denigrating, but today, corporate suits and other items made in Aba have made it to the status of a Trade Fair.

We must be reminded nonetheless, that this buy Nigeria campaign, or proudly Nigerian, as it was once called, has been promoted in one form or the other for more than 30 years. At a time, Federal Ministers chose to wear Ankara fabrics, which is supposed to be locally made, and at another time, the Federal Government only patronized Peugeot Motors, which then had a thriving car manufacturing company in Kaduna. Virtually every government has tried to promote Nigerian goods.

And there is certainly no doubt that there is a lot of entrepreneurial talent out there in Nigeria, a gift for innovation and a capacity to aspire.

Given the right, enabling environment, Nigerians are willing to help government promote the objectives of diversification, backward integration, and non-oil exports which are at the root of all this talk about made in Nigeria. The YouWin exhibitions held between 2014 and 2015, showed great potential, especially in the agriculture and food sector, and the need for government to encourage entrepreneurship and manufacturing. But lessons were also learnt, and it is the same lessons that should guide the current patriotic excitement over locally made goods.

In the end, Senator Bruce, patriotism is not enough, lest it turns us all as someone warned into “scoundrels”, seeking economic restoration without the right strategy and attitude.

The first lesson is that we need to truly encourage the transformation of Nigeria into a primary, productive market, and not a secondary market for the dumping of goods. We may be celebrating the fact that some Nigerians are making the effort to produce goods locally, but really how much of that local production is local? I can bet that the leather that is used for the shoes we are being encouraged to buy is not produced in Nigeria. Our local entrepreneurs import leather, manage to produce something labeled Nigerian, when in fact the entire value chain could have been truly local? Innoson Motors is well known in government circles, but have we measured how much of those Innoson vehicles is actually local? 30%?

Before Innoson, we had Omatek and Zinnox computers, advertised as made in Nigeria goods. But where in this country do we have young technicians producing computer chips and other components? We need to take a second look at the concept: made in Nigeria, and be sure that we are actually talking about the same thing. What is the answer? I think government must in the long run insist that those who seek to sell in the Nigerian market, must set up their factories here, and produce for the Nigerian market inside Nigeria. We have all the raw materials that may be needed, and we have the market, the biggest in Africa.

People come here, take our raw materials to other factories in other parts of the world, send back the products and then make profit iat our expense. We end up creating jobs in other parts of the world, and receive finish products that could have been produced here. No. If Toyota and Nissan want to sell cars in Nigeria, then they must produce the cars inside Nigeria and source their materials and labour majorly from here, and brand the vehicles Made in Nigeria and export them to other parts of the world. In recent years, there was such discussion with Hyundai and Volkswagen. Minister Aisha Abubakar should look at the records. Innoson can then compete with Toyota Nigeria, Nissan Nigeria, Hyundai Nigeria and Volkswagen Nigeria. The same argument goes for every other product in need of direct investment. The point is not about being local; it is about developing the capacity to turn Nigeria into a world-class production and economic centre.

The second lesson has to do with quality and standards. The recent debate has been about indigenous patronage as a test of patriotism. I don’t think that is the right focus. People like quality. In a capitalist system, they will make their own decisions and choices with the capital at their disposal. And we shouldn’t be talking as if Nigerians should produce made in Nigeria goods to be consumed only by Nigerians, whether good or bad. The vision, consistent with the ambition of the authors of the country’s various development plans, is to produce world-class products inside Nigeria. What we have seen is that locally made goods often fall short of international standards. They lack the competitive edge.

It is good to buy Aba-made, but our ladies who are used to Hermes and Louis Vuitton are not likely to trade their designer bags for Nnamdi bags, except the latter can compete and become a global brand. It has been reported that many Nigerian goods sent for export are often rejected overseas, for such simple reasons as packaging or basic standards. No amount of patriotism can by-pass that. We have a Standards Organisation of Nigeria and an Export Promotion Council: what is the synergy between them and the various SMEs striving to break into the export market?

The third lesson is that government must just make up its mind about this whole thing about the diversification of the Nigerian economy. It is not the responsibility of one government or administration; it is a process that should move Nigeria from being a democracy observing electoral commission rituals, into a developmental state. We were almost there under the military quite ironically, but then the military also lost it due to bad attitudes.

Once upon a time in this country, there was regular electricity, manufacturing companies, both local and foreign thrived, salaries and pensions were paid as at when due, potable water was available, the leaders sounded as if the Nigerian people and their welfare were important and there was a suffocating vision of Nigeria being the “giant of Africa”.
When students graduated from universities, teacher training colleges, and nursing schools, they were sure of immediate employment, which brought them life-long fulfilment. Brilliant students got special scholarships; every student got a bursary, our schools attracted students and teachers from every part of the world. And now, here we are wondering why? What happened? This collapse of the Nigerian standard is the worst thing to have ever happened. Younger ones may not even believe that indeed Chinua Achebe was right when he wrote that “there was once a country.”

The challenge can start with re-discovering that lost country and moving forward from that point. I mentioned services in addition to goods earlier. And I ask: how many Nigerians are satisfied with Nigerian services? Many families won’t even employ a Nigerian nanny or driver. They would rather look for people from Asia and West Africa. Builders won’t recruit Nigerian masons: they ‘d rather use artisans from Ghana or Togo. When foreign companies set up businesses in Nigeria, they bring staff from their own country, and violate the expatriate quota in collusion with our own people; they even import cement and other equipment from elsewhere and our officials look the other way. We don’t even respect ourselves as a nation. But we love slogans.
So, the matter is not as simple as just buying Nigerian goods. It is not about trending hashtags, slogans or propaganda, but a decision to move this country beyond the on-going knee-jerk, desperate elite war of position within the political spectrum, and see what can work for the people’s benefit. We want to buy made in Nigeria goods, and yet every start up business in this country is facing serious challenges; the more established manufacturing outfits are groaning. Every election season, the private sector pretends to support the political process, but once its chieftains are not allowed access, control or influence, they become closet saboteurs. I consider that to be a subject in the heart of the future.

What needs to be done is before our very eyes, but its starting point must include the education system. Very few parents these days still buy the services provided by Nigerian schools, the private ones that receive better patronage train the children to end up in foreign schools including schools in Ghana and Benin Republic. Nobody is training quality artisans either, because all the Government Technical Colleges of old have been shut down and many of our young men are more interested in kidnapping and riding okada. So, where are the critical young men and women and institutions to drive the renewal we seek? The matter is so complex; it is the reason I don’t envy anyone who is President of Nigeria.

Kastonkastroll:
You are an ediot. If mi-8/17 isn't a personnel transport heli, then what is it?

You shouldn't have bothered.
To him , it's not a transport heli becos it's armed.

Mugus on Nairaland plenty much..

raayah:


And people say I'm lying, thanks for believing in me dBard.!

Yea... but c'Mon, u need be careful d information u put out there.
..n stay off the spirits woman...
Hennessey=3some
Vodka= online revelations

As much as this threads making for a good Saturday morning read, the thread needs be shut down.
Raayahs obviously inebriated..

Moderators should moderate.

3some revelations...gist

rosalieene:



http://entertainment.com.ng/?p=20322

Loool... The hustle is real

Swag boyz..it's all about you

LastMumu:
Fighting off 50 untrained men isn't as difficult as you guys think it is, especially for a well trained soldier like an American Seal.

One of the keys to fighting multiple opponents is ensuring you keep then in a line. Avoid been entangled in a triangle or circle by backtracking, hereby forcing your opponents to come towards you one or two at a time.
You must also be able to know how to use your environment to your advantage and think on your feet. Every darn thing in your surrounding is a weapon and you need to keep moving all through the fight so your opponents won't be able to towards you all at once.

Most soldiers know this.

..and their opponents will be so linear in thought to go one after the other
Even primary school students wen ganging up on another, know the first step to show superiority in numbers and intimidation is to Encircle the person.
It's instinctive..the way a child knows to use his most effective weapon (teeth) once they start erupting.

Getting ppl to come after u one after another IS extremely difficult except u do a tactical run n confront.
True life situation, element of surprise(unknown capabilities)-2/3 ppl max, Once That is lost, it's u and your God.

charix:
Not even a lion can kill 50 people at a go regardless if sedentary or otherwise. Use common sense and know it's an exaggeration.
The taekwando story is possible but what the man never mentioned is they spar 50 people one after the other, it's a training they do to increase their aerobic, anaerobic and mental capabilities. They do tournaments where they fight people to rise to the next level but at most it's 8 - 10 trained competitors with huge breaks in between.
I repeat again: taekwando practitioners spar with 50 people in a row never at once. A navy seal can kill 20 people at a go with a gun but in hand to hand combat can't take more than 5 or 8.

Good analysis...but I'll say 5max...esp if they're reasonably trained (basic training).
Even black belt martial artists find it taxing taking down1 person easily in a fight talk less of 2..especially after losing d element of surprise.
Leave movie matter.

Armed combat...yes, maybe a lil higher but it won't be beans.

APCzombie:


It is an award that rewards talent and not a quota system thing.

If black actors did not meet up with their white counterparts based on performance why should they be compensated based on their skin color?

Isn't that on its own racist?

The Hypocrisy here is, blacks do have their own award shows, which is a strictly all black affair.
Good question too @ d end...Cos using d race card to get ur way/ self benefit is in itself racist

coolzeal:
The Academy president is a black woman with roughly over 6000 members. 94% are whites and 77% are males and the average age is 63.. Will Smith was phenomena in Concussion, Idris Elba- Beast Of Nation, Michael B Jordan in Creed and of course Straight Outta Compton were all snubbed. Am not saying they should win but at least get nominated because these are fantastic movies. It's injustice.

Good movies no doubt...haven't seen concussion and about to see creed...BUT Will u in honesty pick Creed over Southpaw or Concussion over the Big Short, Revenant etc
Let's be fair n honest here.... there have been some outstanding movies with Black leads n They Have gotten due recognition.

The dust raised by d Nigerian community over Will Smiths portrayal of one of our is enuf, I.m.o, to disqualify it from d rankings.

coolzeal:
Are you saying Beast Of No Nation by Idris Elba does not deserve an Academy Award?.. The truth is, Hollywood need more black representation and black people need to pull out their resources to empower their own. Over 90% of Academy voters are white males.

Idris Elbas performance in Beast of No Nation was good and d movie was nice (not a favorite of mine tho...leaves u feeling there's something missing) BUT it's going up against very Stiff competition this year n that's the fact.
Granted the Academy voters need to have a lil more MINORITY representation but that shouldn't take away from d fact that it IS all about performance.

coolzeal:
If you think racism is dead then you are living in different planet. Honestly, most black actors are superb and even work much harder to achieve success than their white counterparts but not genuinely appreciated. Not quite long ago, blacks were called monkeys.. #Fact.

Dude, am all f black power and all that, BUT let's be honest here...BLACK MOVIES SUCK AS.S, and That Is putting it mildly.
I am a movie watcher n frankly black actors are really quite poor considering.
The good ones are very few n d exceptional ones are extremely so..and this is because they make crappy movies n act mediocre roles.


The Oscars Is About PERFORMANCE not race/color.
Lets#leavetrashforlawma jare

Wen a guy is pussy whipped...
In other news, iceprince to drop hip hop n release an RnB album in nearest future

girlvyn:
when some girls fall their hand sha

LOOOOLL....
LMAO..Nice one@o.p

Blunt Truth..
You're a murderer AND a coward.
Do u need others to tell you what u know IS the right thing to do
Abi, you're looking f validation

Asking for forgiveness after cold bloodedly murdering another fellow and causing all round grief?? Hmmm


I feel sorry f u..
U n ur wife deserve each other, at least she got balls

In other words, lie, be manipulative with the answers...

If He cares enough to ask, be sincere enough to answer truthfully..

Too many games in relationships yet too many unfulfilled relationships

His name is Dr. Living Jamala..A calm, unassuming, hardworking guy and he'll be sorely missed.

It's really terrible that after the Ebola outbreak across the country, there's still no set protocol to follow wen other outbreaks,such as these, occur.
There should be protocols with the appropriate response at different levels of outbreak
At least, it'll end the issue of wen n wen not to declare an emergency.

Another issue is that of Doctors allowance especially the 'Hazard' allowance. #5000.00 is Too poor considering the risks health care professionals (in general) go through.

A father, son, brother and friend has died and been buried without fanfare..

His soul R.I.P

Nice..
Finally. A bill that favour the populace.

Might not have believed this, but after seeing PMBs reaction to the question on Nnamdi January & #dasukigate during the media chat, am inclined to believe.
Obviously, from onset, he was already upset by the perceived embarrassment of d protest and things must've escalated from there..
Whatever tho, quite a poor and insensitive conduct from the president/father of the nation.

Oby Ezekwesili must be so disappointed..

**watching as d drama unfolds**

Dude, the least u could do was invest in a good undie f d shoot.
The hat, the undies and d jean just makes u look...


Nice pacs tho..

Mtschheeeeewwwww...
The hiss u give wen desperate niggas approach u.

Lol@ we must take a girl home cos we spent 108pounds


Dude, work on ur game...it's not only lacking, its non existent

Game recognized game...

Shikena

A boost for PDP but not necessarily a victory per say considering..
Bayelsa on the political landscape doesn't really have that much attraction apart from its revenue/allocations.
It can't deliver the kind of vote you'll get from Rivers or Akwa Ibom state.
To me, this just seems like a skirmish before the big battle in Rivers State..which seems the aim of d party in power.
Rivers State has d votes, the revenue and d clout to make a difference in whatever political calculations there is.

PDP celebration should not be forgetful of that fact.

Good victory all the same

JanuaryTempest:


Are you also born in January?

JanuaryTempest:
Chicken heads who don't even have good comebacks. It's like watching two paraplegics' weak attempts at kung fu

U can always know a January peep from their 'blessed' mouth..

Wicked

Kikero112:


Yes...we got to devalue the currency....but this might be disastrous for Nigeria.

As the CBN governor put it....(sauce)

The simple idea behind devaluation is that it will make your import more expensive while your export is cheaper.

“Our major export commodity which accounts for more than 80% of our income is crude oil (whose price), we don’t have(control) So, if we devalue, it has no impact directly on our major export, and what is supposed to be the non oil export, we are not producing effectively.

“It means that for the industry which is also import dependent, they have to pay higher prices for those goods which will translate to higher inflation.”

See....it would only make things worse.

Devaluation makes sense when you have a vibrant industrial sector that produces from the raw materials we have here...not the one we have here that is very poor, and dependent on imported raw materials.(Yes...Japan has that kind of industry that is dependent on imported raw materials...but they produce high volume of quality goods that more than makes up for it.Ditto China and South Korea).



Exactly.


And the way forward is austerity.

Tnx @ kikero112 n co, esp for the engaging discourse.
Am no economist, but my personal view (and question) is that, the present economic situation of the nation is akin to trying to put up blockades against a downhill rolling train..in other words, the end point of all this is still gonna be d devaluation of the naira.
With d forex restrictions, importers and other providers of goods and services are finding it more difficult doing business and it is reflecting in d costs of goods and services now.
Won't devaluating later rather than sooner cause a much greater increase in costs of goods instead of wat would have been if it had bin done sooner??

The head of the I.M.F will not come all the way down here on a whim to hold closed door meeting on d economy with the president without something dire being@ stake.
This statement is just whitewashing

Time eventually will tell..whether it was for good/bad

crixtex:

Lol... he couldn't ve read every detail

The kind of excuses u hear these days, leaves u like

Psalm18:
Do we call this tardiness or does it show the President is responsive to criticism?

This is why criticism is good. As long as its healthy.
Instead of all of us chanting sai Buhari and the man is misled by his cabinet.

Tardiness...in all sincerity

Presenting a budget of this nature, at a time like this, without due diligence is INEXCUSABLE.

Screaming humility doesn't take away the fact of the matter.
Lawd, this is akin to a student copying word for word Without reading wat he/she's copying...
S.m.h