₦airaland Forum

I don't need a prophet to tell me that there are ghost workers in that state even if the figure may not be very significant. There are also many real but redundant staff. The government should focus on generating revenues and cutting down on "waste".

I also agree that 1 & 2 display high level of intelligence. They also bring new perspectives to issues but as mods the key qualities should be fairness, availability and capacity (ie enough energy to go through posts).

Will there be a poll?

I think Kobojunkie and Beaf have high availability. I don't know how "fair" they will be as mods though.

@ Ekt bear, you made an observation about number of workers. He can start by fishing out the ghost workers in the system. The minimum wage should come as an opportunity for improvement and not otherwise.

Mr Governor man up and stop complaining. They didn't put you there to break melon and share money. If you don't have enough cash, find a way to generate it. You are supposed to be a manager not a cashier! If you don't know what to do, why did you take the job in the first place? If you are serious and really don't know what to do, you can as well ask Fashola.

The key points of the bill are all over the internet including Nairaland. Just check a few threads on the subject and get the message. The detailed document we seek is freely available and accessible to all the important stakeholders including the media houses, legislators, labour unions, etc. Remember that the bill remains a bill till it becomes law. Why should the government parade draft copies all over the internet? I believe the final document as signed into law will appear on the internet for everyone to read and digest in the coming days. Some of us are only frustrated because we cannot seem to lay hands on the document just by conducting a "lazy google search".

ACN has always been a forward thinking party. It is a party that has the interest of the nation at heart. It is the kind of party that challenges the ruling party to perform better and has often offered constructive suggestions aimed at nation building.

CPC on the other hand would never make a statement such as this. They would prefer to point fingers and make meaningless statements.

The time to act is now. As ACN rightly put it, all stakeholders from every part of the country have to be involved. All hands must be on deck. We must remove the little cancerous lump now so we don't have to cut off the entire bosom later.

^ The impact of PIB will be like no other. I am already thinking of how to position myself properly to benefit from it.

^ You're right bro. PIB is the next animal to be tamed. I can tell you as an insider that the IOC's are already re-aligning themselves for the coming of PIB. Let's go there.

^ Get ready for more. This is just the beginning.

We are in for 4 years of Astronomic Growth. Sit back and enjoy the ride.

Kudos to GEJ. Nigeria o ni baje!!!

The Local Content Policy of the FG has had tremendous impact on my life. As a result of the policy, I got the opportunity of working on many world class projects. I have also participated in all kinds of professional trainings in the oil and gas industry in several countries. I got the opportunity of working on a certain project because of this policy. Before now, it was an area that Nigerians were alien to. Today, I rub shoulders with world class experts in that field and I am really good at the job. BTW, my achievements are based on merit and God's grace; No bribes, No godfather and No oil in my backyard.

Until the day a governor, minister, senator etc is killed, the government will not do what they should have done ages ago. If something like that happens, I can bet that in one year, Boko Haram will be erased from Nigeria. After such, you will begin to wonder what took them so long. Why wait till the cancer affects the whole body before you deal with the lump?

This is terrible. The govt. was right in jamming the networks earlier on. It could have been worse.

Having said that, FG needs to stop playing 'ten - ten' with these terrorists. We need to sweep them out of this country with the force of a hurricane. There should be no mercy for them. They have expressed their hatred for the Nigerian state and declared themselves as enemies. What more do we need?

Our foolishness gets me mad at times. 

Arghhhhhhhhh!!!

That was the same we wasted money during the construction of the Niger Bridge @ Onitsha years ago. We wasted value that could have built 3 more Niger bridges on delays, cancellations and legal folly.

Check out this report from CNN

Nigeria's Almajiri children learning a life of poverty and violence
RELIGIOUS VIOLENCE

January 07, 2010|By Christian Purefoy, CNN

A forlorn murmur of young voices echoes from a shack pieced together from rusted corrugated iron. Inside, more than 50 children with torn clothes and unwashed faces hunch over small wooden tablets or torn scraps of paper with sections of the Quran. Above them stands a 20-year-old with a small whip -- the children are here to memorize the Quran. They are the Almajiri. On the walls hang small bags with their few belongings. In these dark, cramped conditions, the children must study, sleep and eat.

It's an ancient tradition. Poor families from rural areas across West Africa send their children to a network of Islamic boarding schools in the cities of northern Nigeria. Once here, often hundreds of kilometers from their families, they receive little education and no money. The Almajiri must beg to survive. Across the north, an afternoon break in classes sends the children flooding into the streets with small bowls to search for any scraps. Over the past few decades, the system has been overwhelmed and neglected And abused.

One young man sent by his family from neighboring Niger told CNN how the schools use him and other children as foot soldiers in religious clashes. Fearing for his life, he spoke on condition of anonymity, telling how he lost his arm in 2000 in religious violence that killed about 1,000 people in the northern city of Kaduna.

"I blame my Quranic teacher, who sent me to fight during the riots," he said.
"He has ruined my life."

In 2000, about 1,000 people died in religious violence, and hundreds more two years later, after the Miss World competition was to be held in Kaduna. Many of the perpetrators came from the Almajiri. The Nigeria-based Almajiri Education Foundation says on its Web site: " 'Almajiri' is a word borrowed from Arabic for someone who leaves his home in search of knowledge in Islamic religion. In the ideal situation, the communities should support these children as they leave their families to become a servant of Allah.

"Unfortunately this has not been the case," the foundation's site continues, "and many young boys are leaving their homes only to end up in the streets begging. They have no one to turn to."

Though there are no exact figures on the Almajiri, they are estimated to number in the millions. The only census ever taken was in Kano state, which found in 2006 that there were 1.2 million Almajiri in Kano alone. One researcher working with UNICEF estimates that 60 percent of the children never return home.

"We can see the manifestations in child begging, child destitution, child trafficking," said Muhamed Laden, a professor of law at Ahmadu Bello University.
"And then they're easily instigated for them to be involved as children in such conflicts that have largely been violent and very bloody in this part of the world."

The government is looking into monitoring and licensing the schools, but the National Council for the Welfare of the Destitute, which is piloting such a program, complains of too little funding. Council officials warn that the consequences of ignoring the children could be dire."They're a real threat -- a real problem -- to the society, unless you address this issue now," said Usman Jibrin, the council's president. "Otherwise, these children will one day take over control of this country -- in a very unpleasant way."
The children are a violent threat to Nigeria, but also its first victims.

http://articles.cnn.com/2010-01-07/world/nigeria.children.radicalization_1_religious-violence-religious-clashes-kano?_s=PM:WORLD

maasoap:
I've been saying it in this forum that the issue of violence and almajiris in the North has more to do with their Culture than Islam. The culture that put male children on the streets as early as age of 5yrs. If religion is the main cause, why the Southern muslims are not like them. A kid that no parents provide food, cloth , shelter and education for. A kid that no parents make frantic efforts to locate and protect during impending or actual crisis. A kid that no parents miss. Even if the Nigerian govt is not responsible, it is still the parents' duty to cater for and protect their children. And the only body that can correct this cultural deficiency is ACF because it represents their culture. Thanks.

Very true. Islam is also practiced in Malaysia, Indonesia and may other countries that do not have these problems.

CNN is currently running a series on Ending Modern Day Slavery (The CNN Freedom Project). In one of the reports, it was mentioned that children are kidnapped and disfigured on purpose in India. This is done to make them into beggars. The proceeds from the beggars are collected by a powerful cartel and used to fund all sorts of political / terrorist activities.

The almajiri story is not far from this. The leaders of the north who adopt and control this system are enslaving these children. They not only use them to gather funds, they also use them to achieve political gains. I can describe these unfortunate children as an "army of slaves".

Just like any other retrogressive and selfish system, I believe the system will soon turn around and sting these "leaders of the north". The almajiri system is barbaric and has no justification whatsoever.

I also think the problem is not Islam as a religion but the practice and selfishness of the religious and political leaders. I have friends from Dubai (UAE), Saudi Arabia and Qatar who I have interacted with on this issue. I tried to find out why these countries have less political problems unlike others like Pakistan, Yemen and Iraq even if they all practice Islam. Two major points came to fore: Poverty and the Political system. These issues are strong drivers for the problems we witness in the north today. Until the leaders begin to "liberalize" the society and take up their responsibility of educating and providing for these kids, there will be no end in sight.

That reminds me, I may as well recommend the almajiri story to CNN. Let's put the spotlight on this issue. Let's raise some dust. I'm off to CNN website. . .

Ethnicity: Nigerian
States: 36 states of Nigeria + FCT

^ Like it or not, Nigeria is moving forward as a nation and if you don't like it, you can bite the dust.

I'm done with you. You can keep on ranting with yourself. ENJOY THE MONOLOGUE!

cap28:
^^^

yeah keep moving closer and closer to the edge of the abyss - nigerians, they've turned self delusion into an art form 

Are you so dumb that you can't tell the difference between a signature and a post? 

@OP, Pls can you provide some proof (link) to validate your claims?

"Bad belle" people desperately want GEJ to fail but they will be disappointed. We will keep moving forward as a nation and the haters will continue to hate. It doesn't change anything.

Once again, kudos to GEJA, JEGA, INEC, NYSC and all well meaning Nigerians. The election parameters have proven that we have indeed improved. We are not there yet but we have progressed. This remarkable departure from all previous elections signifies a giant step in the right direction. Long live Nigeria.

OAM4J:
What is the cause of the price increase?

And what is GEJ's government solution?

Yeah, very Smart solution indeed!

The president or minister is not responsible for doing the dirty job. It is the responsiblity of NNPC, DPR and the likes to find a solution.

For example, the CEO of a company doesnt go around marketing his products and chasing after customers. He only sets high level targets and provides the resources needed. It is the marketers that develop the marketing strategy and provide detailed plans on how to meet the target.

GEJ and Deziani have done their jobs. Let DPR and NNPC do theirs. Would you prefer the market to remain the same way it is without control?

Journalism 101: Don't read just the headlines.

Take time to read the whole artilce before making comments on a subject. GEJ is not ordering that prizes be crashed below economically possible levels. He is only making a move to curb the excesses of irresponsible stakeholders in the value chain (marketers, transporters, NNPC etc) who have been profiteering from the artificial prize increase. He has succeeded in passing the batton to those who are responsible for regulating product prizes. Some have made comments to suggest that he is making a dumb move. Read again and check who is really dumb.

12m is a far cry from 3m. What is the growth potential in the 3m job? How many lifetimes will it take to hit 12m paygrade? What about job security, which is more secure? For me, all other things being equal, I will swiftly collect the 12m job and proceed to establish something private along the lines of my dream. I'm talking from experience and I did just that when I was faced with a similar situation. Play your cards well and you can even employ people to do the 3m job for you. Think about it and make your choice.

I initially started the thread just to be sure that Aisha2 was not somehow affected by the crises in the North or something. I'm happy Jarus has told us she's ok but right now, her prolonged absence is really getting to some of us.

Aisha2, pls if you can read this, your fans are missing you. You and Seun should mend fences even if you do not want to return as mod.

@ Seun and Jarus, please convey our message to her for us. We want her back not for your sake but for us.

^ Word!

^
You're welcome. Fine display of character by you here. Some people would have kept on arguing even after the clarification. Well done. 

Here is another quote from the article:

He said the government was determined to take beggars and the destitute off the street and provide them vocations and shelters.

One thing this will do for them is to regulate how many people can actually come into Lagos to beg.