₦airaland Forum

[quote author=tpia@ link=topic=735232.msg8918749#msg8918749 date=1313297315]i have no problem with this but i dont think some regions should develop while others remain left behind because that gets us nowhere.[/quote]Well, the hope is that every region (or zone, I guess) will also come up with their own development commission. That way, everyone gets to rub ideas and figure out how to make their zone prosperous.

9jaganja:
2 wrongs don't make a right sire lumping deadbeat nations together doesn't guarantee growth stability of responsible nations.

What is the "wrong" being done here? What is wrong with lumping together the deadbeat nations? It will help the deadbeat nations, since they can then devalue their currency.

The USA isn't any better than Canada even though 70% of Canadian companies are owned by Americans (The Canadians got good deals before the NAFTA) American companies in Canada are nationalized economically not operationally pre and post NAFTA. Mexico is also on the rise thanks to NAFTA,

How is this relevant? Or what is your point, I should ask.

Protecting the "deadbeat" nations economically while encouraging companies from "responsible" ones to invest there is the only way Unions can work. Having the big nations enjoy free market by dumping products in a deadbeat nation is a crime!

Common currency is different from zero trade tariffs, right?

Economically, ECOWAS nations need their economical independence before being merged,  Nigeria will basically over run the rest of ECOWAS nations economically which to me is a case of feeding the monkey on your back till it grows into a gorilla and bellys you,  Unless every nation in the union are productively capable of competing with the others, ECOWAS will become nations of predator anf prey,

Why will Nigeria run anyone over?

Same happened to Greece, their market was opened to EU, their local manufacturers went obsolete and their debt rose to anarchy!!

But other countries have benefited heavily from the EU. Estonia and Latvia are two I've read about, for example. Poland is another.

Greece has had the chance to borrow money at lower rates due to being part of the EU. Didn't it have the same credit rating as Germany until recently? You are making it out as if the primary beneficiary of the EU was the rich countries. Imo, the poorer European countries also benefited quite a bit.


Anyway, let me pause for now and give you a chance to respond.

[quote author=tpia@ link=topic=735232.msg8918711#msg8918711 date=1313296489]if you bring in edo, you bring in delta.

if you bring in delta, might as well include rivers, bayelsa, the entire southsouth and then the southeast region.[/quote]I think it is good to have a development commission for each zone (or zone-sized units) separately.

If Edo wants to take part, no problem. If they don't, also not a problem. None of this is by force, imo

I've heard great things about Mimiko too. But it isn't in the nature of political parties to not try to win power. Even Bill Clinton was challenged in 1996 by the Republicans.

My concern is that this quest for political power will derail more important things (like SWERDCO).

Mimiko's centrist sort of strategy, has it even paid off yet? Has Ondo gotten anything nice in return for the LP supporting GEJ?

This SWERDCO is one of the best ideas I've seen come out of the ACN in a long time.

It would be very unfortunate if it were derailed due to politics.

Is there any way that the ACN and LP can merge? Or that Mimiko can be convinced to join the ACN? I am starting to think that this might be the best course of action.

The move by the Action Congress of Nigeria to establish a regional commission that would integrate the South-West and Edo state into an alliance for their economic transformation is laudable but SUNDAY ABORISADE writes that the frosty relationship between the party and the Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, over its resolve to wrestle power from the Labour Party in the state may jeopardise the idea.

No doubt, the old Western Region, which comprised Lagos, Ogun, Osun, Oyo, Ondo, Ekiti, Edo and Delta states, benefitted greatly from a reasonably high degree of integration. This to a great extent, made it record relatively more socio-economic and political prosperity than other regions in Nigeria.

The late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the architect of modern Yoruba nation, was able to achieve this by establishing the Oodua Group, and assembled the best brains, who assisted him in fashioning out an economic agenda.

That singular effort, contributed immensely to the socio-economic and infrastructural growth of the region. He also designed political and economic policies and framework that drastically improved, the welfare of the people of the region, particularly, through education.

Through his deliberate policies on free education for the masses, federalism, social welfare, good governance, and economic development, Awolowo was able to uniformly and simultaneously introduce and execute developmental projects in all parts of the region.

Up till date, the achievements of the former Premier remained the benchmark for socio-economic development and a reference point in any national discourse.

Attempts by the governors of the Alliance for Democracy, who were elected in 1999, to salvage the situation failed. That was before the Peoples Democratic Party took over almost the whole region in 2003.

However, with the Action Congress of Nigeria, taking over the region, observers say there seems to be improvement in the social welfare of the region especially with the proposal of a regional commission aimed at accelerating development and economic integration in the south-west and Edo State.

The body, Southwest Regional Development Commission, will cover Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Ekiti, Osun and Ondo States. The commission’s jurisdiction will also extend to Edo State because, being controlled by the ACN it falls under the old western region. It, however, excluded Delta state because it is currently being controlled by the PDP.

The decision to form the commission was taken at a meeting of the national caucus meeting of the ACN in Abuja on May 1 which was attended by the governors elected on the platform of the party and other national members of the party, including its chairman, Chief Bisi Akande and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

SWERDCO, it was learnt, will perform functions similar to those of the O’odua group but would not be involved in investment initiatives that would incur debts for member-states.

The commission is also expected to focus on simultaneous development initiatives of the region for the collective good of its people. Participants at the meeting were said to have stressed the need for a deliberate integration strategy that would provoke vast and even development across the region.

Among the foremost tasks to be performed by the commission will be in the area of infrastructure development, including railway and road construction, and agriculture services to increase food production and facilitate the establishment of agro-allied industries.

Other areas are commercial and social services such as provision of potable water, specialist hospitals, independent power projects, and ensuring the judicious utilisation of water under the control of the river basin authorities in the region.

The composition of the commission would include members of cabinets of each member state such as commissioners for agriculture, works and housing, finance, and economic planning, among others.

Some members of the private sector, who would be partners in the venture, could also be co-opted into the commission.

The governors were said to have bought into the idea and agreed to work on the establishment of the commission after their inauguration on May 29.

However, before the meeting, Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State and his counterpart in Ekiti, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, had earlier visited Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State, who is a member of the Labour Party with a proposal on how to achieve a comprehensive integration of the southwest in the areas of commerce, technology, transportation, and industry, among others.

The two governors told journalists that their visit had nothing to do with politics contrary to insinuations that they were in the state to lure Mimiko to the ACN ahead of the 2011 general elections.

Recently, a stakeholder’s forum was also held in Ekiti which was attended by Mimiko and the other southwest governors, and all of them renewed their resolve to work together as a team for the overall development of the region.

The forum was also followed by the visit of the representatives of Obas-in-Council from Lagos State, who paid a courtesy call on Mimiko in his office over the same issue. The council was led by the Secretary of the Lagos State Council of Obas and Chiefs.

Welcoming the monarchs, Mimiko said a well packaged policy on economic integration among states in the South-West, instead of the current campaign that all the states should embrace the same political ideology, was required to transform the region.

He said such integration devoid of politics would definitely accelerate economic development of the South-West.

Mimiko said, “I believe that our integration should principally, for it to endure, be based on ideas. We are a people with the same basic language; we are a people that are culturally harmonious, a typical Oyo man, Ondo man, Ekiti man, Lagos man, in terms of their views and aspirations, are the same.

“This is what we want to leverage upon. Politicians come, politicians go. A few years ago, nobody heard about Action Congress of Nigeria, there was nothing so called, there was no contraption known as Labour Party, but ideology is in the minds of human beings, not in the name of parties.”

Apart from Lagos and Edo States, Ondo is believed to be very critical to the regional relationship because of its agricultural products like cocoa, palm plantation and natural resources like bitumen deposit and petroleum. These could assist the commission to achieve its target.

However, observers believe that the current cold war between the state’s chapters of the LP and ACN over the control of the state come 2013 could be a major obstacle to the proposed agenda as both parties have vowed to deploy necessary machinery and strategies at their disposal to outsmart each other.

There are indications that Mimiko is no longer favourably disposed to the economic integration idea because of the alleged ACN’s hostility towards his administration.

http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201108140453846

Andre Uweh:
I have changed my mind. I will not attempt to join ACN again.

lmao

It looks like 95% of Nigerians are secretly Igbo. Or have hidden Igbo ancestry, lol

Anyway, no need for an Igbo presidency again. . . after all you have both president and VP now

@9jaganja: Regarding the Euro:

In your article, you also interview Wilhelm Noelling, an economist who tried to stop the euro back in 1999. He proposed a two-tiered euro—one for the deadbeats and one for the other countries.

It would be one currency for the deadbeats and a separate one for Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Finland, and Austria—essentially a Germanic euro. And he let the French in grudgingly, only because it was socially awkward to keep them out. In a perfect world the French would be with the deadbeats. But it is definitely a first-string and a second-string euro, and Noelling thought countries could play their way up from the second string to the first string if they behaved well for a long period of time.

http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2011/08/qa-michael-lewis-on-future-of-europe-economy-and-germany-italy

This kind of makes sense to me.

Regarding ECOWAS and "irresponsible nations", well, the point is that you can group countries together that are similar fiscally. Most of the ECOWAS countries, at least as far as I know are similar. At least, we don't have any equivalents of Germany here.

Conceptually you can view an ECOWAS currency as 4th string or 5th string.

I'm kind of impressed. A clever scam, no?

LAGOS, Nigeria — A Nigerian man who fled to his homeland after being accused of defrauding dozens of lawyers and law firms of more than $31 million dollars has been extradited to the U.S., Nigeria’s anti-graft agency said Friday.

Emmanuel Ekhator was arrested in Nigeria’s Benin City by the country’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in August. He was handed over to U.S. marshals in New York on Thursday, said Femi Babafemi, the anti-graft body’s spokesman.

“With the latest extradition, , the message should be clear to anyone who travels abroad to commit crime and run back home to hide that Nigeria is no longer safe for them,” Farida Waziri, the anti-graft body’s chief, said in a statement. “We will get them and hand them over to face the law.”

Court records show Ekhator has yet to be assigned a lawyer. He remained in custody on Friday.

Charging documents from the U.S. District Court in the Middle District of Pennsylvania show that Ekhator and others are accused of mail and wire fraud after using bank accounts in South Korea, Singapore, China and Japan to collect the stolen money.

Federal prosecutors say the complicated scam involved multiple players, with a fraudster calling a U.S. or Canadian law firm posing as someone usually in Asia who needed to collect a debt from a person or organization based in North America. Another scammer poses as the debtor and agrees to pay off the debt — using a fake check, authorities say.

The law firms or lawyers collect the fake check, which gets validated by a third scammer posing as a bank employee over the telephone. Before the victims realize the check is fake, they’ve already used their own money to pay the fake settlement amount to their supposedly Asia-based client.

Prosecutors say the scam ring extorted more than $31 million dollars from more than 80 lawyers and law firms. The group attempted to extort another $100 million from 300 additional victims, the charging documents allege.

Ekhator is one of several people accused of belonging to the ring.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, is an international pariah when it comes to Internet and banking fraud. The country has tried to police the fraud rackets, but corruption and weak law enforcement allow fraudsters to thrive.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/nigerian-who-allegedly-scammed-law-firms-out-of-31m-extradited-to-us/2011/08/12/gIQAZSGGBJ_print.html

Does this particular company have a good track record?

How was it selected?

ok

He has been president for what, 1 year and 3 months+ now?

How can it be too early to judge?

efisher:
I'm not in any way suggesting that one has to be perfect or that hardwork alone is enough. I explained the hardwork part earlier. As for setting high targets, it's just a suggestion for those who can chew it! As we have all said one way or the other, it is tough. . . But then, it is also possible!

Nice sig

hmmm

This I've never understood. Your father's origin is important, yes. But if that same father of yours has decided to move to Hausa land, marry a Hausa woman, and raise you as a Hausa, then shouldn't that be enough?

Does he have any real connection to Edo or Igboland today, even if his father is Edo/Igbo? Culture should be more important than what appears to be some racialist claptrap, imo.

BTW, out of curiosity, if his father is from the south, where did he get the last name Sambo from? Seems doubtful that he wouldn't carry his father's last name, right?

I have written what I wrote to help those who want to understand a situation better rather than simply spew rubbish.

In other words, the post wasn't intended for your consumption.

More interesting thing to me is that Peter Obi seems to have falsely made it appear as if his gov't is the only (or primary) one paying the bill. You won't let your other SE governors shine too?

I hope she succeeds. It makes no sense to root against her. . . after all if she fails, then it is your own pocket which gets lighter (or grows less quickly, I should say)

Impressive kid. Congrats to him. Kudos to Rochas.

My understanding of the euro situation is by no means perfect or at expert level, I'm just a layman trying to understand some things.

But from what I know, the problem with the euro is that you've tied some very fiscally responsible and strong countries (led by Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, a few other northern European countries, essentially. See the article in my signature) to some fiscally irresponsible and weak countries (Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain, basically the southern European countries).

In West Africa (and Africa more generally), we are all largely similarly undeveloped and fiscally irresponsible, I suppose? So perhaps a common currency will work out better.

The euro is a pretty good idea, but it sort of requires countries that are sort of similar. Not responsible and frugal countries tied to profligate ones.

I think you can pull it off in West Africa, and it may work out pretty well.

Igbo 2015 probably isn't happening.

By Osagie Otabor 16 hours 19 minutes ago

Unstable power supply, lack of access to finance, high cost of financing businesses, high taxation, poor infrastructure, corruption and macroeconomic environment have been identified as some of the reasons for poor investment in Nigeria.
The Country Director, World Bank in Nigeria, Onno Ruhl said the above reasons were largely responsible for the poor performances of Nigerian firms compare to their counterparts in Kenya, Russia and South Africa.
Ruhl spoke at the presentation of Nigeria 2011 Investment Climate Assessment Key Findings in 26 states of the federation, held in Benin City, Edo State capital on Thursday.
The World Bank representative explained that the assessment was a diagnostic instrument to assess the policy infrastructure at the federal and states level, adding that the survey was carried out in over 3,157 businesses in 26 states including Edo State.
According to him, electricity remains a major constraint to businesses in Nigeria, affecting all categories of firms.
He said about 83 percent of the firms identified electricity as a serious obstacle to their growth.
“Corruption and transportation were also serious concerns for many firms in Nigeria. Over 1/3rd of the managers said that these were serious problems. Bribes and product lost while in transit are also high in Nigeria. Manufacturing firms reportedly paid an average of 3.2 percent of sales in bribes and losses during transit are equal to 2.4 percent of sales.
“Inefficiencies in the business environment impose a huge indirect cost on manufacturing in Nigeria.The cost of doing business is twice as high for firms in Nigeria as they are for firms in South Africa, Brazil, Russia and Indonesia”, he said

http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/index.php/news-update/15514-why-investors-shun-nigeria-by-world-bank.html

Hrmm

None of the Ghanaians I know in RL have any problem with Nigeria. I kind of feel the same way Ileke-IdI does. . . it is a harmless rivalry like USA vs. Canada or something.

Just lil bro (Ghana) hating a bit and jealousing big bro (Nigeria).

Then again, what do I know? Maybe the Ghanaians in the country actually hate Nigeria. My sample size is somewhat limited.

Kudos to Oshiomhole, Edo State, and the ACN.

Friday, 12 August 2011
THE World Bank has commended the Edo State government for championing the willingness and leadership drive for development, which, according to it, is the fastest in the country.

The bank’s Country Director, Mr Onno Ruhl, gave the commendation at the official launch of the 2010 Investment Climate Assessment Report for the country, in Benin City, on Thursday.

According to Mr Ruhl, the bank’s executives had already been to Lagos and Abuja, but decided to launch the report in Benin City because, according to him, “we believe that Edo State is one of the states in Nigeria where the willingness to change are the fastest in Nigeria and, therefore, it is most useful to talk about reports like this in a place where there is the leadership and willingness to change.”

Ruhl added that “if there is one thing that Nigeria and Edo State need today, it is jobs for young people. We know that government alone cannot do it and that most of these jobs are created by small and medium scale industry.”

On his part, Governor Adams Oshiomhole said “as a government, it is our responsibility to create a conducive environment for businesses to thrive and to compete favourably with others.

“While it must be noted that some of the impediments to the growth of business in Nigeria cannot be remedied by the state, particularly in the area of fiscal policies, I am bold to state here that our own government here in Edo State has since taken bold steps to jumpstart the growth of our local economy and make the state the destination of choice for investors across all the key sectors.”

He said as a result of the steps taken, the state had been able to reduce waste in the system to a manageable level.

http://www.tribune.com.ng/index.php/news/26556-world-bank-commends-edo-govt

Think about it this way. By placing under one administration, you don't need 3 different VCs, registars, etc.

It isn't as if he is shutting down the other 2 sites.

stormm:
His problem is that he has failed to recognize when campaigning stopped and actual governing started. If he had known the difference between those two exercises, he would have selected his advisers with effective governance in mind. They, in turn, would have advised him on how better to handle the bungled issues of the 10,000 jobs he panned; the firing of the “elected” local government chairmen; his brazen interference with management of educational, town unions and traditional rulers’ institutions; the obsession with battling the legacy of Ohakim; the ill-conceived appointment of his minions “otimkpus” (Praise Singers) as advisers for everything that exists; assigning key commissionership position to his fugitive Deputy Governor; taking delight in delaying payment of wages; and ignoring the decaying infrastructures, high unemplyment and capping all with the abuse of due process. The list goes on.

Bolded is a problem that Aregbesola also seemed to have had early in his administration.

Kobojunkie:
[size=18pt]Our public schools have continued to remain in worse shape for decades, yet you feel government, that has failed, year, after year, in managing our public schools and facilities, is justified in it's attempt to acquire the private schools? How did you get this one to make sense to you? Please explain![/size]

+1000

Any who support this move must first answer KoboJ's questions.

What the Ogun State government should be looking to do imo is to hand more schools over to the private sector and have some sort of voucher system. Education is one thing I believe that the private sector will do better than the gov't, if incentivized properly.