₦airaland Forum

Greed! Greed! Greed!
Why are some Nigerians this terribly greedy?
If an MD of a Mint Company is this desperate what will average Nigerian do?

pro01: I was about to make the same point before I read your post.

I remember Amaechi's Governors' Forum was at the vanguard of opposition against the SWF. Now, what does that tell us?

@ Topic,

The truth is that Scandinavia is heaven on earth. Not because of the so-called oil or other natural endowments, but because of the quality of human beings they have - who they are as a people. This surreal reality is the same from Norway to Sweden, to Denmark, Luxemburg, and the rest. We can blame our political leadership in Nigeria (and by extension, Africa) from now until eternity, but the problem is not one of leadership. After all, a people always get the government they deserve.

Narrow-minded parochialism, tribalism, ethnocentrism, nepotism, favouritism, and all the other negative 'isms' are what defines us as a people. That is why things might never work, at least not in our generation.

The incumbent president and his team can only try to lay the foundations for a national reawakening that might usher in a new way of doing things, but the success of such a plan ultimately depends on ordinary Nigerians. I honestly do not feel too optimistic, considering that the average Nigerian I encounter daily does not seem ready to discard business as usual, and would readily exploit any situation for personal/familial/clannish advantage. . . .the same way their leaders at every level have ravaged the country since Independence.

It's a tragedy.

Good one Bro!

homerac7: No, it's the gross ignominy you are projecting here that is the bigger problem. It is obvious that you have never done any qualitative objective research on issues of electricity in Nigeria pre-NIPP, intra-NIPP and present. If you know the details of NIPP, you will never ever claim that $16bn went down some imaginary drain. By the way, the investment on NIPP to date is in excess of $20bn. I hope it is still a wasted sum to you. Get knowledge bro.

Nigerians are tired of story, story, story! Whatever details you have on NIPP that you think you know better than anyone else is OK by me but what the ordinary man on street wants is POWER and not stories. The result of such huge expense of $16bn or $20bn is yet to be seen and until then I am of the opinion it is a waste.

Pro Anti: The learning here is the success of the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund. The very idea our greedy governors continually kick against.

Ethnicity, corruption and mediocrity is our main nemesis.

chris4gold: I beg con give me visa?

Sorry Andrew! Nobody is permitted to check out.

homerac7: This malicious misinformation must stop! OBJ didn't waste or squander N16bn, it is the said cost of NIPP which was initiated and almost fully funded by him. Do you think the new power stations and infrastructures of NIPP being commissioned by UMY and GEJ were funded under CAPEX ? Please read up and learn. Stop peddling that lazy lie.

One of the many reasons why we will continue like this. Justifying the unjustifiable. can you imagine the amount of money ($16B) wasted with such insignificant impact on power in Nigeria. Let's stop the way we are doing things and see if we can wriggle out of our present quagmire. Call a spade a spade!

Uyi Iredia: Meanhwhile, we've wasted $16bn on power under OBJ, widened the rich-ppor gap whilst managing to hold a very inefficent democratic regime, been given dull air by Jonathan, and a mediocre performance in Lagos is hailed as excellent. Nigeria has a long way to go. There's still hope though.

Do you think we have started? I think we are still swirling around a circle without any significant push forward. What a confused nation!

Corruption, ethnicity and celebration of mediocrity have killed us. Are we not all supposed to be millionaire by now (mind you not in Zimbabwe currency)

PapaBrowne: Nigeria has 170million people and Norway has 5 million and both produce about same quantity of oil. Their infrastructure has been built up fully even before the oil came.

To put things in better perspective, imagine all the oil in Nigeria belonged to say Cross river State only.

There is no point comparing both.

The comparison cuts across countries of the world including US. Nigeria is just a speck.
Here are some comments from people in Yahoo..
J M 4 hours ago
The Norwegians can thank their lucky stars for having a prudent & responsible government to look after their country's wealth. In my country, we too have oil but nothing is transparent as our state oil is only answerable to the government leaders. All we ordinary citizens can know is that they often use the oil money to bail out the failing companies runned by their cronies. To the extend of exactly how much were wasted or had gone down in their pockets, nobody knows.

Donnie 4 hours ago
it's amazing how much wealth a nation can build up when its not spending all its money on rebuilding the other nations it invades.
im not liberal and im not conservative...I'm simply an American that's sick and tired of seeing my country spend my hard earned money on the rest of the world's problems and then turning around and telling me that they need to tax me more and that I am "unAmerican" for not wanting to pay more in taxes.

e w 2 hours ago
Instead of giving cronies and corrupt foreign government officials billions, the government of Norway keeps Norwegian money in their own country, and they have a surplus.We could have such a surplus here, while helping our own American citizens, but out politicians give away the wealth of our nation all over the globe, and to their cronies.
We have the most corrupt government in the history of our nation; both parties are hopelessly corrupt, and they have no intention of changing. It's "business as usual" in D.C.Vote the rascals out of office; both Democrooks and Republidrooks!

More than 50 years wasted since the first discovery of oil in Oloibiri in 1956. Why me (us)...

OSLO (Reuters) - Everyone in Norway became a theoretical crown millionaire on Wednesday in a milestone for the world's biggest sovereign wealth fund that has ballooned thanks to high oil and gas prices.

Set up in 1990, the fund owns around 1 percent of the world's stocks, as well as bonds and real estate from London to Boston, making the Nordic nation an exception when others are struggling under a mountain of debts.

A preliminary counter on the website of the central bank, which manages the fund, rose to 5.11 trillion crowns ($828.66 billion), fractionally more than a million times Norway's most recent official population estimate of 5,096,300.

It was the first time it reached the equivalent of a million crowns each, central bank spokesman Thomas Sevang said.

Not that Norwegians will be able to access or spend the money, squirreled away for a rainy day for them and future generations. Norway has resisted the temptation to splurge all the windfall since striking oil in the North Sea in 1969.

Finance Minister Siv Jensen told Reuters the fund, called the Government Pension Fund Global, had helped iron out big, unpredictable swings in oil and gas prices. Norway is the world's number seven oil exporter.

"Many countries have found that temporary large revenues from natural resource exploitation produce relatively short-lived booms that are followed by difficult adjustments," she said in an email.

The fund, equivalent to 183 percent of 2013 gross domestic product, is expected to peak at 220 percent around 2030.

"The fund is a success in the sense that parliament has managed to put aside money for the future. There are many examples of countries that have mot managed that," said Oeystein Doerum, chief economist at DNB Markets.

Norway has sought to avoid the boom and bust cycle by investing the cash abroad, rather than at home. Governments can spend 4 percent of the fund in Norway each year, slightly more than the annual return on investment.

Still, in Norway, oil wealth may have made the state reluctant to make reforms or cut subsidies unthinkable elsewhere. Farm subsidies allow farmers, for instance, to keep dairy cows in heated barns in the Arctic.

It may also have made some Norwegians reluctant to work. "One in five people of working age receives some kind of social insurance instead of working," Doerum said, despite an official unemployment rate of 3.3 percent.

(Reporting by Alister Doyle; Editing by Alison Williams)

Nigeria started producing and exporting crude oil almost a decade before Norway started and here we are, every Norwegian is a millionaire in Norwegian currency while Nigerians doesn't know their left from their right. Does it mean that Socialism is slightly better than capitalism because capitalism seems to be failing America. Or is it because America spends fortune in fanning and settling troubles in other countries and spend alot generally. No need of mentioning Nigeria because ours is a serious paradox.

If all ethnic groups as well as people form adjoining west African countries have thrived and co-habited successfully in Lagos for over many years - perhaps b/c of Lagos former national capital statue, I kept on wondering why we find it difficult to repeat same in other states and at the national. A food for thought for all.

kel4soft: With the derivation from Agriculture proceed accrued to them pre-state era i.e during regional government.

Why Awolowo was busy developing the Western and mid-western region with University and free education and creating institutions for them. Our so called leaders (Eastern region) then was busy collecting tax and oppressing the minorities (Ijaws, Ikwerres Efik etc). They made sure the minorities suffer. When my Grand Dad, a fisherman then, sail all day and night only for him to be apprehended by this selfish leaders at the shores for unnecessary tax without providing any amenities.

Awolowo helped in establishing the University of Ibadan in 1948, it took Azikiwe and Co more than 15years after to established a University in the eastern region, even later than Ahmadu Bello University.
They seized all our lands in Port Harcourt, imposing heavy fines on our people.

They (Zik and cronies) only developed the Igbo region ala Enugu. Citing all FG structures there. PH and the rest were left to the mercies of God. Untill Gowon created Rivers State in 1967. Your Azikiwe made sure the minorities suffered for been part of you people.
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With all that is happening in Niger Delta in recent time you are still pointing hand on IBOs. Your eyes have not cleared yet on who is the real enemy.
Keep on narrating your daddy's story of the past. Don't do your maths and come out with who's your real enemy. Be there and moping while your wealth (N/D) is plundered by the rest of the country especially the North & West. Just that Igbos are such a forgiving people, otherwise they wuld've just be alone and let GEJ sweat it out. Siddon they look!

Nigeria urgently needs re-organization so that everyone (all tribes) will have a sense of belonging.
The National conference should be given a chance.

Clerverly: The Woman That Gave Us Enugu International Airport

Point of correction. She did not give us Enugu Int'l Airport. She was simply doing her work as Minister of Aviation.

I had wished that many Christians (including me) are as wise as our Lord Jesus Christ. We are supposed to be like children of Issachar that knows the time and what Israel ought to do at critical point in time that defines national destiny and here we are talking about eternal destiny.

It is glaring that the world is experiencing so many unimaginable difficulties and woes - economic (global financial issues and governments going bankrupt), social (hatred, wickedness, betrayals, love of money, despair, suicides, disobedience to parents, failure of parents, abuses, rapes, failure and mockery of marriages, anti-chastity, incest, sodomy, racism, slavery, etc), religious(Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Hindu, paganism, idolatry - all in antagonism with each other), terrestrial (natural disasters of unimaginable proportion, climate changes, excessive heat, excessive cold, excessive flooding, famine, drought, etc), biological (cloning, sexuality confusion, diseases, pestilence, etc), technological (nuclear disasters, wicked devices, etc), wars (family, kindred, community, ethnic, national, religious, political, etc) and many more troubles.

We should be like the wise servant that was trading his talent (a valuable given to him by his master) and was found doing exceedingly well when his master returned. Likewise the five wise virgins were pro-active enough to have spare oil for their lamp and herein lies much talked-about wisdom.

Watch and pray. No one knows exactly when He will come to the world again but he gave us signs to look out for. The signs are all over the world, to me He's just at the door. May we not be like the generation of Noah who for having waited and seen no flood after many years while Noah was busy building ark, did not know when the rain started until Noah's ark was shut.

Watch out! Walk circumspectly, Walk in unity, walk in love, walk in the light and walk in wisdom. Flee every appearances of evil!

May the Lord strengthen all of you that believed in HIM until the end!

IseOluwa777: Without going into details now, I will list them below:

1. The sinking into the Ocean of Southern California inclusive of Loss Angeles and Hollywood.

2. The collapse or insolvency of the world reserve currency-the dollar, and the bailout of the world by the vatican using their vast but secret gold reserves.

3. The surprise yielding of the Isrealis as well as the Palestinans and a consequent peace agreement that allows them access to rebuild their temple at Temple Mount Dome of the Tablets after papal encouragement.

4. The visit of the pope to Israel in the second quarter of the year.

5. The international criminalisation of papal criticism likely after papal bailout of the world's financial system.

If you see all of these five signs fulfill in 2014, the rapture would be within days of the fullfillment of all 5, anywhere within 40 days. It can happen in 2014,it also may not conclude in 2014, however, ALL FIVE MUST HAPPEN JUST BEFORE THE RAPTURE.

Popular mainstream Christian church members will attack this post ferociously. No surprise there, they are not going in the rapture, being foolish virgins.

This is just a callout to God's predestinated seed - straighten up and look up. Your redemption is at the door. This post may only be for just one person. Could it be you?

No. 4 was announce today on local radio...if I had heard well, the pope will visit Israel this year May 24th-26th.
A quick follow-up check on Google later confirmed it. See link here:
http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/Pope-Francis-announced-plans-to-visit-Middle-East-in-May-337123

Also effort is going on to actualize No. 3. John Kerry (US Secretary of State) just left Israel after three days push for peace.
See link:http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/05/pope-francis-visit-israel-west-bank-jordan

Frustration is not good. It can make someone lose temper as the OP is currently experiencing.
Pls can someone look into the OP's grievance(s). However, it doesn't do good to generalize the Igbos the way you have just done.
Everyone is entitled to his opinion and should stand by it unless superior knowledge supersede, till then pls take-it-easy.

There are certain place in the Bible where Paul mentioned giving somebody up for Satan because of the kind of abomination reported from that Church. A lady dating a married man is NOT good and could set a bad example for the congregantsvif not dealt with except the person in question repents.

Good sign of better things to come as opposition is now on a good run...

If you belief this lies you will believe anything. Impossible and even Abiola knew the one (s) that annulled the election, solely IBB.

ilugunboy: Peter Obi by far distant....

Your favorite nemesis?

FreeGlobe: Peter obi undisputedly. worst governor from 2006-date

See them...

dayokanu: Peter Adaobi undisputed

As expected from you.

ilugunboy: Any false move by GEJ now can definitely precipitate impeachment move against him.....

It's not looking nice for him......the north is now more determined to get him out.

He made two costly and strategic mistakes that exposed his gross naïveté

1: Treating the Yorubas as inconsequential

2: trying to bribe the north with heavy..juicy political appointments and other political patronage in the hope that they will soft-pedaled in their determination to produce the President


To me...he should have treated the whole South as his constituency and not just the SE & SS, by now the Yoruba media propaganda would be working full blast to support him against any Northern political maneuver.

His own choice of words and those of his aides too messed things up for him.

NOT TRUE! You are simply trying to vent your frustration on SE as usual which in this case has done nothing wrong. The whole of SW voted Jonathan for president of Nigeria except Osun Statein last election. So why is your blood terribly hot on SE for doing the same. Nigeria politics is warped and ethnic centric. The north is the main GEJ's nemesis and are the one doing the fight while your likes are doing the talking. With all these I smelt trouble ahead in 2015 unless GEJ make a u-turn and fight corruption and do the right things.

Nashville: His biggest mistake is incompetence. If he were competence and had real achievements, he will stand a chance. He is politically naive and grossly incompetent!

I agree with you. If Jonathan is competent all these problems wont arise.

Our politicians are not honourable at all!

The Western world have sufficiently abused freedom. As we do always say, too much of everything is bad!
Let Africans boycott all the boy-cottables and only accept those things that are socially and morally acceptable and helpful to the society.

I see nothing wrong with celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. If possible, the celebration should be monthly.

Govt could not help its citizens with basic necessity of life like shelter and when they do themselves, govt bulldozer will come.
The process of acquiring land and/or building in Lagos is shrouded in secrecy and quite confusing. This provides a perfect condition for omonile's to thrive.Why not make the whole process:public, transparent and easy to access. This will eliminate the Omoniles and reduce to the barest minimum the pain of loss of property via govt demolition.Imagine after spending 15years living in a property of your own, all of a sudden it vanishes. Eledumare punish Devil!

What of Stella Oduah's 'doing the needful'

Yes, it is not the best of time for Nigeria and Nigerians because of the chronic problem of leadership since independent. I grew up to know that Nigeria cherished SA and worked towards dismantling apartheid. Whether the effort is substantial or not is immaterial but I think Nelson Mandela visited Nigeria after his release from prison to show appreciation. And locally many Nigerian artistes sang songs against apartheid and in support of Mandela...e.g Majek Fashek comes to mind.

For the Mandela's burial ceremony, it is up to the SA govt to decide who makes speech on not and I think that right remains theirs. In as much as Nigeria would have love to be recognized but I think it should be premised on recent image not the past. Human memory is very feeble and after some decades in future some of the next generation would not bother about apartheid b/c they didn't experience it.

My advice is that African Leaders should change their ways and learn the good example that Mandela have shown us. If you are good, people will recognize you. Mandela has inspired me greatly and left a very big shoe difficult to fill.

My SA fellows, be patient with Nigerians. In as much as you hate our guts and egos, True Nigerians are not really bad people if you have meet one.
Ghana once passed through difficulty but somehow a leader emerged that turns the tide around. That what Nigeria have not been lucky so far.