₦airaland Forum

Observer23:
Seun, Mynd44.

The poster stole the pics with no reference and yet it makes front page.

Is this what Nairaland has been reduced to? Are you proud of this?

You asked a gentleman to quote you in an old thread. I wish to do same. Can we speak on the telephone, please?

ivandragon:
How to get out of the quagmire is to get the generality of the population to push in the same direction and hold leaders at all levels to account (easier said than done though).

I don't really subscribe to the East-West debate about the East being less explotative than the west. Any industrialised nation would always seek to do what's best for its own economy. In fact, our own politicians are far more explotative than any foreign government.

Nigeria has failed to follow tried and trusted patterns of transitioning from a traditional society to a developed one because we place more value on parochial affiliations than productivity and I say this down to intra state levels. We have very narrow outlooks on issues.

We are trying to modernise without evolving our traditions, perceptions and values. It can't work. Even China, as traditional as it is, has had to evolve itself to become what it is today.

Everyday, we hear about our massive natural resources, yet we don't know those who exploit them. Today they say foreigners, tomorrow they say bandits... yet, no one is arrested and prosecuted.

Also, there is need to review our electoral system. There is a proposal some of us have been trying to sell, but of course, a lot of resistance to it. It would make elections performance based and is unlike any other electoral system in the world. Hopefully one day, it would come to fruition.

I think we are saying the same thing at this level, and as you have enthused, the solution as in your first paragraph, is easier said than done.

I have always held the opinion that harder issues are what great men are called to address. So that "easier said than done" should not be a limitation but a call to action.

I have written already what has to be done: improve education and eradicate education malpractices. That's the lowest hanging fruit to harvest in our current messy situation.

Once you do that as a people, you instantly boost (I had to stop myself from using the word 'fecundate') the critical thinking skills of the populace.

It may take a few years to see the effects, but like an Avocado 🥑 seed planted, the fruits would come to bear very bountifully in the near future.

That's what would achieve your proposition in your first sentence.

Every other thing: investment in health service delivery especially at the primary tier, construction of access roads, bridges and waterways, speed trains, power and electricity, sports advancement and youth development etc would then come after.

But this idea of doing 'giveaway', even by the government - which Betta Edu got burnt at - is irresponsible tokenism that would never develop our society.

I have no qualms with taking very hard decisions in government, but it must be followed through to the letter as conceived, to ensure that it ultimately leads to a better developed society.

ivandragon:
If the president can unilaterally make pronouncements that impoverish the people, then a sincere leader can do same in the opposite direction.

Though I agree that it is a vicious circle because the society breeds the politicians and the politicians run the society, so its basically garbage in, garbage out. Our sociopolitical culture and values are at its lowest ebb in decades.

But some people have to break that mold or else the country is doomed.

Thank you very much, Brother/Sister.

The big question is: how do those "mold-breakers" get into power?

Let's not talk about anything undemocratic. As far as I know, democracy breeds the best form of participatory governance and I am entirely against anything that suggests otherwise.

So in such depraved society as this, the originating question persists: how do the change agents get into power?

Mind you, it is not getting into power at the Federal level like Obi's style o? No. They have to get into power across board i.e 50+1% of elective offices all over the country in order to have the democratic number required to make the changes necessary in public administration.

Mind you, the Industrialised Countries of the world are really uninterested in Nigeria and Southern Hemispheric countries economic independence and sustainability. The IMF and WTO, for example, are institutions to maintain the global economic imbalance. There are already great challenges in Europe and America over the Chinese and Russian economic might.

They are never going to be interested in such in Africa, and would in turn influence our capacity to think by giving our corrupt leaders free money that is in turn multiplied by the exchange rate - which would help them win every election conducted in this 'line up at polling booth' style. That's where people can easily, or readily 'buy' votes.

I'm unimpressed by the noise in the media: all the three major parties essentially rigged or suppressed/incapacitated opposition votes in their areas of strength.

So we must dig deep to bring ourselves out of our political and socio-economic quagmire. I think that educating the people is one of the important tools to achieve that.

I thank you for your positive contributions this morning.

ivandragon:
Hmm...

The socio-economic damage bubu and bulaba have done to this country would be so difficult to reverse.

The country had entered into a very bad corner which would be very difficult to get out from.

The fact is a minimum wage above N70k would be a struggle to pay for majority of small & medium businesses.

What government needs to urgently do is to bring about stability first in the economy, then introduce measures to bring down prices of goods & services. Tackle corruption... hmm...

Then ensure income is tied to productivity (work) which in turn must be tied to taxes. The way some people spend money is ridiculous but it is because they easily dodge taxes and no one questions thier source of income.

Unfortunately we have a government that prioritises White elephant projects, propaganda & sycophants over genuine socio-economic development.

I agree with you to a large extent - but I'm afraid you may not be considering the political side of state.

To win most elections in Nigeria as of today, you have to splurge i.e dash money, fritter resources, be seen as a "spender" etc. All these reduce the possibility of being frugal in administration and strategic in development.

To recoup the money ahead of the next elections or to retain your party in office after you, all colours of big animal projects are entertained as Special Purpose Vehicles.

I wouldn't blame the Presidents or Governors ALONE. We, the people, must also partake in the blame. There are no short cuts. The reorientation must start from the grassroots, ourselves. We must realise that our current style of politicking wouldn't help our country. If would incapacitate anybody who wins elections - regardless of intention.

A country where we celebrate people for Federal appointments. What that tells is that we think such person now has access to the fabled 'national cake', isn't it? And we want our country to work. How?

We have to change the way we think, as a people.
We have to prioritise education: not the miracle centres we bandy everywhere but our graduates cannot pass IELTS.

I wouldn't excuse the President(s), but the problems are more than a single persone who is President.

TTPAAR:
Myself and my brother will sit in front of our old TV waiting for 4:00pm when NTA will start. First multiple colors will display on the TV. We always get excited when we saw that, then comes the national anthem and then a break down of all that will happen for the day.

Good old days!

Same here!
Those multicolour vertical lines - like a vertical rainbow 🌈 - made us happy and showed that the station would open soon. Then the anthem, then the Duty Continuity Announcer would read the programmme schedule till midnight when the station would close...

opes:
Wow..Am old member of Nairaland..lol..Thanks

I guess I'm older on this platform than you are, though.

opes:
the combination of siasia and oliseh may even cause problem to the team,oliseh is so arrogant and siasia will never tolerate nonsense,infact,the Technical adviser may fail to achieve with both oliseh and siasia as his assistances

You apparently saw Oliseh's character as Super Eagles coach 5 years before the rest of the world...

opes:
4 X 400 women didnt participate due to visa and injury challenges

Thanks for this update. However, that shouldn't have been a problem if we were serious as an Athletics Federation. We knew of this event at least two years ago. I can bet that it may not be the same quartet that ran in all the qualification races that would ultimately represent Nigeria at the Olympics.

Each relay team at the Olympics has six members to run through the heats to the final in sets of 4 per race. Nigeria should be able to raise 8 female quarter millers (400 M runners) at any time, even if it is to give the needed high-level international exposure to the less ranked or amateur athletes. We should have had a female 4X400M team in Bahamas. The injury and visa excuse is, at best, an excuse.

Kind regards.

Nigeria's 4X400m women nko?
If they participated and didn't qualify, then the truth changes from what was presented here to ", Four out of Nigeria's FIVE Relay teams qualify for Olympics".
We must not mispresent fact.
The article suggests that Nigeria has only four replay teams in athletics, which isn't true. We have at least five.

4 X 100 male and female
4 X 400 male and female.
Then the mixed relays of male and female teams running together.

They call it 'fashion' but if only young ladies who behave indecently today can picture their tomorrow, as potential wives and mothers...

This election in Edo should have been the litmus test of LP's popularity, ordinarily.

If political parties in Nigeria had Ideological Basis, and not ethic interests, parochial sentiments and all what not, LP should be winning Gubernatorial elections in at least half of the thirteen or so States that the party won at the General Presidential Elections a year ago.

Edo was one of them. Let's see how it goes.

For me, this is nonsensical and cannot be followed through.

What the hell does this have on the problems of Nigeria? If you enter university at 18 for a four year course, ASUU strikes makes it six. NYSC call up can be delayed for one year. Then you do NYSC for one year and try looking for a job at age 26 when the banks and most employers now want to employ a maximum of 26 year old with two years experience!

Is the Minister high on dope or what? It looks like their brain loses nuts when they are in public office. What does the age of a qualified university applicant have to do with undergraduate studies for crying out loud? How many 15 and 16 year old undergraduates have died or failed to survive academically for which this idiotic policy is being considered?

These are largely career ambassadors from the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I believe.

How the Nigerian Federal Government regularly employs people without ever advertising openings baffles me until tomorrow.

You want to ask, 'how do these federal civil servants get employed'?

Nigeria must decide what it wants to do with Sports.

A whole lot of money is invested in Sports by the State and Federal Government with little returns for it. Meanwhile, Sports is a money-spinning GLOBAL business.

We must decide on what specific sports we want to invest in and become global leaders in it. Topping the games table is as easy as focusing on Sports like Swimming and Gymnastics, for instance, which have very many medals at games.

You'll find out that Nigeria and South Africa may do better than Egypt at the Olympics despite all these 94 medals here. It is about strategy and planning.

How UNIPORT/Delta State win all those swimming medals at the NUGA)National Sports FESTIVAL without translating it into continental dominance is something we should check again.

Like I often say, Nigerians are either not thinking, or are shameless about our poor organisation and output as a people.

I hope this would be clarified soon.

It would be unfortunate if the Federal Government claims to have offset Forex Backlog that is discovered not to be reflective of reality.

Nigeria is a place where we intentionally refuse to do simple things.

It is intentional not to have the data of every citizen born in this country so that loopholes can continue. This is fed into the over-centralised Federal system where the centre in Abuja controls millions of people she doesn't know, rather than let States and local governments manage themselves properly.

In today's world, with digitalisation, GIS and Information Technology, these things can be easily prevented if we wanted to.

School children have been routinely kidnapped under three concurrent Presidents and we seem completely handicapped. We are an embarrassment to ourselves! What do we do with all the fingerprints at Immigration, NIN, BVN and telecommunication companies? How difficult would it be to have CCTV cameras in our cities?

These are simple things that we have made difficult and seemingly unachievable!!

I consider it as the height of deception to blame the often described "our leaders" for our chaos.

"Our Leaders" is nobody.

Leadership direction is like a Computer. You put Garbage In, you get Garbage Out (GIGO). Even the military dictators do not have legitimacy if the people revolt against them. The military know this.

Nigeria's leadership is a reflection of the prevalent mindset of the Nigerian people. We would not get it right until we get EDUCATION right and eliminate examination malpractice completely.

That is the level where we got it wrong. People who cheat in school would cheat everywhere else, but that's not even the worst part. They would have a small horizon and be unable to think beyond immediate personal gain.

Such people seek vain glorification, and it is evident in the 'I better pass my neighbour' mindset of our people. You would never hear such phrase in the developed countries of the world where there is a better semblance of equitable distribution of social resources.

I empathise with our leaders. They are victims of the corrupt society that threw them into office. It is a predatory and unbalanced situation.

The solution would start from below and ascend to the top. Nobody builds a skyscraper from the roof. You may build a mud house or farm shelter from the roof, but certainly not a skyscraper...

It only shows how much we plan...

We knew Pesiero's contract was expiring. Regardless of whatever, we should have had a substantive coaching option if we weren't going to retain Pesiero...

All these happening in a State and a ruling Political Party where an ordained Roman Catholic Priest is the Governor!

AshipaEk0:
Good lord,

It has become very apparent that this country cannot progress when the average individual is this ignorant about financial matters and economics


Some believe dollars is sitting down in bank accounts gathering dust

others believe when Dollars is sent from abroad through banks its the physical dollars that is mailed in

others believe when the govt requires conversion of remittances to naira, it means the banks will actually receive dollars they they will in turn dash the govt or random people asking for USD in Nigeria


Good lord

And ALL the above people can VOTE - Nd be VOTED for, once they are 18 and 25/30 respectively.

Nigeria's FIRST problem is the destruction of EDUCATIONAL STANDARDS AND EXAMINATION MALPRACTICES. That's the first thing that must be fixed before we can rework this society!

Tesenak20:
Moses Simon seems to be from Kaduna State.

I think you are right.

What took you to that very old thread?

Vinnie2000:
In my Hood, one man (A Married man) who have been married for more than 10 yrs went to Fucck his neighbour's wife.

They got Busted and the Woman's marriage has crashed!

Just Forget your 5 Year talk.

Some marriages can Crash even after 20yrs!

Depends on issues that causes Disagreement b/w the couple and how they can manage it!

Kindly read well before responding. We should read to understand, not to respond or react.

I wrote "you can be almost sure" not "you can be absolutely sure". You reacted to the latter, which is different from the former...

Officialgarri:
I have a strong belief we will go more than 50 years together

The first five years are usually the toughest of any marriage. Survive it and you are almost sure of life time survival.

Keep this in mind.

Religion, especially Christian Pentecostalism and the new Conservatives like Fr Mbaka today in Africa, is largely built on Mass deception.

When you point it out, they say "Church is for sick people".

Frauds, all (most, actually) of them!

BreconHills:
Fully agree with all your observations. All Nigerians used to the fluid attack based style of prior years will be horrified at the way we are playing but I think this coach is pragmatic and realistic.

You have to play within the limits of your players capacity. You can't make a donkey run like a horse! So what he is doing is to make Nigeria hard to beat. If we were taking our opportunities no one would care less about the style. EQG would have been 3-1 to us, CIV would have been 2-0 or 3-0 ( saw what EQG did yesterday using the same formation as Nigeria) and GB yesterday would have been maybe 4-1

Something is off with our wingers and even the big man himself. Iwobi speeded up the game yesterday but he is more of a ball carrier like ARS Smith Rowe. He was probably told not to ball carry to avoid turn over counter attacks. Defence is OK.

How I wish we would give this coach some time. But you know us.

I appreciate your depth, and I agree with you. Let's talk more. Can I mention you on a dead NL thread?

BreconHills:
Wait till the knock out rounds.

Remember Italy in 2006. Nigeria has been playing an unfamiliar 3-4-3 which is actually 5-4-1 when out of possession. They might not continue to play that way. Expect more goals everywhere.

Teams with high local content have excelled so far. As the teams with high foreign content begin to bond, the gap will narrow and individual quality will become important.

You sabi. You get brain.
We should add you to our forum.

Let's hope it continues to go well.
However, I would have wished we tried another tactic yesterday, especially in the second half when CIV were losing badly.

A 4-4-2 with Ihaenacho as SS may have been tested for efficiency so that we are not completely understood and planned for in our knockout games with no alternative formation.

Algeria did it in Cairo at AFCON 2019.
Tunisia did it in Cameroon at AFCON 2021.

Something is wrong with Chukwueze's efficiency. Aribo is off. Is Moses Simon fading? Take Iwobi out, as it is, and we are dead - just like the last AFCON...

Championship winning sides must not be so predictable. Opponents would easily plan for them. Right now, it is man-mark Chukwueze/Moses or defend deep, which is something Nigeria is neutralizing by playing on the counter and gifting possession anyway. I am beginning to love Pesiero and Finidi for that tactic.

Lastly, in my opinion, Senegal isn't Africa's best team, not the ones that play with such African bravado and flair that Harry Kane & co dispatched 3-0 at the World Cup with ease... However, the Senegalese and Moroccans - who play more like Europeans in tactic and style - are possibly the best organised African teams at the moment.

Do the test!

Willie2015:
Nigerian elites makes fuel....
practically to drive the country....
Cos they are feeding fat from a bad system..
Fix electricity and gives 24 hours light...
No one will have a biz using fuel or diesel...
Cost of goods and doing business will come down drastically..
Fix the railway system using electric trains...
for both human and agric food haulage...
Nobody will have a biz using the road...
Except the politicians...

Simple and short.
I sat with one of Nigeria's greatest living politicians very recently. He said, inter alia, many of those who seek political power merely do so in order to steal...

tommy589:
Interesting

As you grow in age and able to understand the notion of what politics is about in Nigeria,you won't be easily swayed by any of these politicians.

Is it out of a caring heart for his community or constituency, someone will use millions to buy a nomination form,spend millions to become party flag bearer and get to spend more on final election,tribunal etc.to become duly elected

Nigeria politics [as it is currently] is structured as an high risk investment that is very rewarding if you finally have a seat at the table

You are an OG. An Agba. You understand.
I doff my hat.

P.S: I only added the bolded to emphasise the changes that are necessary to fix the problem

Honestly, if President Tinubu doesn't sack Betta Edu for this singular action, he would have a real problem in the eyes of millions of Nigerians who expect him to plug the leakages in the Nigerian financial system.

Mario Zagallo!

First and only man in history to win four FIFA World Cup titles: twice as a player in 54 and 58, once as a had coach at Mexico 1970 and assistant head coach at USA 94.

My biggest memory of him however, was watching him at the France 1998 World Cup final after Zidane's double headers and Petit's additional time goal had condemned Brazil to a 3-0 loss and runners-up medal.

The Selecao were not to going to defend their USA 94 triumph with another victory and it wasn't until 4 years later in Japan before the golden trophy returned to Rio with Luiz Felipe Scolari at the helm.

I remember his silver hair on his vastly receding hairline. Legend has it that the overhead kick, nicknamed Sangallo in Nigeria, was named after him.

Rest in peace Baba Mario

Buhari's decision to grant Presidential pardon to this man is another of the testaments of the weak leader that he was.

Its domino effect on governance and administration, as a deterrence to stealing in executive office, was a masterstroke that Buhari robbed all of us, of.

The Daura man must have considered political exigencies - but you do not do that on matters of bare-faced and convicted stealing. It would encourage others to do worse and further suffocate the fight against corruption. Here it is: he is effectively asking for another chance to rule Taraba!

A Christian Reverend gentleman who claims he learnt in prison. Who cares? Didn't Obasanjo learn in prison? By how much was he better, as a man who publicly amassed wealth by questionable means, when he came back to rule Nigeria?

The same queries people had from the Land Use policy and Operation Feed the Nation in 1976 that helped to establish Obasanjo Farms thereafter, or the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library Project that he got sitting governors to donate to, publicly on national television while he was a sitting president - a project which he makes money from as a private citizen today. It costs at least 3000 naira to tour the same library in Abeokuta today: a place that was built right before our eyes with public resources!

Many things are wrong with Nigeria, and this is another one of them.