₦airaland Forum

seanet02:
So to you getting federal appointments instead me grassroot development is juicy. Ibos sha always after their own pocket. Akpu thinking

Relax. These positions don't really matter. No big deal. Of what benefit is a few federal appointments if the requirement for that is poor governors? It isn't worth it.

We've got to keep our eyes on the prize.

[quote author=Chyz* link=topic=658212.msg8248670#msg8248670 date=1304388414]Dont know if you got the memo,but the SE is not going for senate presidency;instead, they are going for Speaker of Reps and are favored highly to get it. NE & NC quarreling is a good thing. It makes bad blood in the north and makes NC seem more like southerners now with all that has aspired. The NE is applying hard pressure on Mark and putting religious sentiment into it because Mark is a christian so that may knock mark off at the end. Saraki's definitely not going to get it for obvious reasons.[/quote]Right, but most of that has nothing to do with the speaker bid

Voting seems to be quite lopsided. hrm

^-- The senate presidency? Haven't heard any word about it being given to the SE. . . seems NC is the most likely region to keep it.

Speaker of the House seems a fair bet, though. We shall see.

Dis Guy:
you think they really care if they get nuked after hurting the USA?

They might not be, but the citizens of whichever country gives the terrorists nukes would be quite sad.

[quote author=na2day! link=topic=658789.msg8248504#msg8248504 date=1304383596][size=13pt]■ It emerged that a terror operative captured in Pakistan in 2004 said Al Qaeda would detonate a nuclear bomb in the U.S. if Bin Laden were killed or captured.[/size][/quote]

Are these guys utter morons? What do you think the US will do if an Al Qaeda guy detonates a nuke in the US?

The same country that had no issue nuking Japan twice in a war?

If they have any brains, they won't do that. Not unless they want not only to suffer death personally, but to have whatever nation they collaborate with in getting nukes from wiped off of the face of the Earth.

Our reporter on 02/05/2011 00:19:00


The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) will challenge the victory of Governor
Goodswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State.
In a statement issued in Lagos by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai
Mohammed, the party said yesterday it has pictorial and video evidence to prove
that the election in Akwa Ibom on April 26 "is nothing but an unprecedented and
barefaced rigging and mindless violence."
ACN disowned the Akwa Ibom State Chairman of the party, Aniekan Akpan, for
taking up a newspaper advertorial to congratulate Akpabio.
The party said Akpan acted on his own and that his action should be disregarded
by all members and supporters of the ACN.
It said necessary disciplinary action will be meted out to the chairman.
"Aniekan Akpan has not always acted in consonance with the ideals of our party,
and his romance with Governor Akpabio is not a secret. But as a party that
believes in fairness and justice, every member is entitled to the benefit of
doubt until he or she decides to dance naked in the public square, as the Akwa
Ibom state chairman has now done,’’ ACN said.
The party added: ‘’The standard procedure is for the National Executive
Committee to meet and deliberate on the elections, take reports from all
stakeholders in the states and then set up a legal team to examine submission
from the various states. It is only after this that the party can take a stand
on the elections.
"It is, therefore, a great disservice to our numerous party members and
supporters, who were subjected to untold acts of brigandage and
disenfranchisement by the PDP rigging machinery, to turn around and congratulate
their tormentors. We are a party of ideals and discipline, hence we have grown
from controlling just one state to six presently. Had we chosen to align with
out tormentors, as Aniekan Akpan has thoughtlessly done now, ACN as a party will
not be in existence today.’’

http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/index.php/news-update/4782-acn-to-akpabio%3A-don%E2%80%99t-rejoice-yet.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Jones_(radio_host)

Looks like just another right-wing tin foil hat wearing nutcase.

Not really a credible newsman.

https://static.infowars.com/2010/templateimages/header4.jpg

Doesn't look like the most credible of news sources.

Can you get something from a more legitimate newspaper?

@Gbawe: What do you think of this Smart Adeyemi guy?

^--- Hehe

It also cracks me up that they keep using "we." This Ohakim fiasco has already taught me that there is no we. . . there is a master and his servant

Though I guess it tells you what naija would look like if one part of that "we" ever got into power. Vindictiveness and petty injustice, even moreso than the present situation.

I'm not sure if a river port like PH or Onitsha can ever compete with a seaport like Lagos. . . you can just always berth bigger ships at a seaport than you can at a river port. If I was told a new seaport was being built, then yes, that might be a cause for a concern. But river port can never compete with seaport.

Regarding the rest of the stuff. . . as long as the federal allocations remain intact, do what you like.

Federal positions don't matter too much to me, federal investment is nice, but you can easily also source investment from abroad.

There is no point really debating with this "we."

ACN is already in the SS and SE.

May as well say, "We shouldn't let the horse out of the barn", 30 minutes after the horse has left

presido1:
^^^ Using wiki to support your false claim. Sorry i don't know u are a wiki resident.

The Wiki article is sourced from CIA and Eurostat data. Click references #1 and #2 on that article.

And if you are claiming that the CIA and Eurostat are untrustworthy sources, I'd love to hear where you got that "almost 70 percent" # from

US is about to lose their AAA credit rating. Infact its gone from stable to negative according to Standard & Poor.
Hope you know what it means by losing credit rating?
Get of wiki you will learn more.

I'll get off of Wiki once you return to what you are best capable of. . . beer parlor analysis of who will win your LGA elections

Sai ACN

presido1:
A deficit amounting to 10.8 percent of GDP. net government debt of almost 70 percent of GDP, seems to be worse than that of many troubled European countries (The PIGS) isn't a sign of booming economy dudu.

It seems you are neither there nor here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_by_public_debt

We are #36 in the world by this ranking (58.9%). Japan is #1 at 225%. . . . Germany at 83.2%, UK at 76.5%. World average is 59.3%.

And we pay the lowest interest rates on our debt of any country in the world (unless I'm mistaken.)

As I said earlier. . . stick to analyzing the politics and economy of your LGA

presido1:
Booming where? You are leaving in lala land my friend.

Relative to most of the rest of the world, things are still booming. Some localized, short term weakness in employment (from 5.4% in January 2008 to 9.2% in March 2011) isn't the end of the world (and my own sector, business is still very good.)

Certainly not a "deprivation of basic things."

Anyway, stick to analyzing your LGA and state in Nigeria. You don't have a clue what is going on here.

Which dwindling economy?

And which deprivation of basic things?

Things are booming here. . .

hmm

i think i'd be a pretty great partner

but maybe that is just my ego speaking

^-- Nah, he said he is a fan of the guy. And wasn't joking. He is in the wrong, in my opinion.

on MAY 2, 2011 · · in NEWS

Kano – The incoming Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso administration will sustain the implementation of the Sharia legal system in Kano State, a party official said.

The Chairman of the Publicity Committee of the State Chapter of PDP, Alhaji Gambo Danpass, made the statement in Kano on Monday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria.

Danpass said “the PDP government under Dr Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso will continue to pursue the Sharia code with an approach better than the one being implemented by the out-going ANPP administration in the state.

“It was Dr Kwankwaso who started Sharia during his first tenure as governor of the state, and so, he cannot truncate what he initiated.’’

He described the suggestion that the new administration might jettison the law as the handiwork of the opposition, which aimed to “smear the image of our government that is yet to come on board’’.

Danpass also said that the incoming administration would vigorously tackle poverty and unemployment, especially among the youth.

“We have realised that the people have been pauperised during the eight-year rule of the ANPP in the state, we are determined to bail them out when we assume office,’’ the party spokesman said.

Kwankwaso, who served as governor between 1999 and 2003, was re-elected on April 26.

Kwankwaso will be taking over the affairs of the state from Malam Ibrahim Shekarau of ANPP, who beat him in the 2003 poll. (NAN)


http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/05/pdp-govt-will-sustain-sharia-in-kano-%E2%80%93-party-spokesman/

@OP: lmao. is she on drugs?

lol

hard for me to defend the indefensible

its like going to church and letting the congregation know you worship satan, or something

Thanks for your posts, Ujujoan. Hopefully ifyalways chimes in too.

baksonlee:
I think the ideal allocation formula should be something like Federal Goverment 30% State government 55% Local governement 15% so that the governors could really be held to account.

I don't think it is a good idea to shrink the LGA share too much. You sort of want to strengthen this unit of government, not weaken it. At least, in my opinion.

Yoruba-American is the most accurate description, I think

Worth reading this entire post.

But this snippet contains the meat of it, I think:
[quote author=ekt_bear link=topic=658228.msg8243730#msg8243730 date=1304322803]I have been privileged to serve as the Chairman of a Committee of the Nigerian Governor’s Forum set up to propose an amendment of the Revenue Allocation Formula, with the governors of Adamawa, Enugu, Niger, Rivers and Sokoto States as members.
We have concluded our deliberations and produced a report proposing an amendment of the Revenue Allocation Formula such that the Federal Government of Nigeria now gets 35 per cent, states get 42 per cent and local governments get 23 per cent.[/quote]Thoughts on this formula?

02 May 2011

Babatunde Raji Fashola



As we gather to commemorate yet another anniversary of the World Labour Day, I do so with mixed feelings especially about the progress we have made in improving the lot and welfare of our productive population who generate the wealth of our nation, and I am concerned about our national inability to open the employment space quickly by vigorously pursuing and implementing policies that will galvanise our economy back to life.

My concerns are heightened by a combination of factors.
First, I refer to a part of my address at the Labour Day Anniversary in 2010 when I said:

“…I believe seriously that as we continue to have these matters, we must focus on how to evolve strategies that will reduce the cost of living, increase the purchasing power… the Nigerian worker has, and government makes it its continued responsibility to make sure that the cost of living does not over stretch the value of the worker’s salary. That really is the key, the meat and the substance of my message to you today.”

I made this suggestion then at the time the agitation for a new minimum wage was gathering momentum in 2010.
It was my view then and it remains my firm view today, that the root cause of agitation for wage increase was the daily diminishing purchasing power and value of the disposable income of the average Nigerian worker.
While I concede the legitimacy and sense of demanding for increased wages, I am not convinced that raising wages alone without more will improve the lot of Nigerian workers.

What I foresee is a simple adjustment of the same economic variables that have diminished the purchasing power of the Nigerian worker in a swift response to the wage increases so that in a very short time, we are likely to be back again where we all started, and commence the musical chair of fresh demand for wage increases within the foreseeable future.

Those economic variables include the lack of public power supply that aggravates the cost of production, cost of transportation and cost of living which every member of the consumption chain simply passes on.
They also include the absence of long term funding that can catalyse economic activities like agriculture and housing that have the capacity to employ a large number of people on a sustainable basis.

These are in turn compounded by the high cost of funding characterised by double digit interest rates, and an import dependent economy that offers insufficient protection for local industries which results in enormous stress on our national reserves and devalues our currency with the consequential diminution of its local purchasing value.

Distinguished comrades, please indulge me if I am long. I do so because I am concerned and I desire to contribute to put an end to this charade of economic disappointments that have bedevilled our workforce for decades.
If anybody is still in doubt, I will refer you to the lessons of history characterised by labour agitations for increased wages, resulting in pay rises by the Adebo and Udoji Commissions.

Without sound economic policies and aggressive response to some of the problems I have highlighted, I am afraid that the salary increase that follows the implementation of the Belgore Commission may soon amount to no more than a victory at a battle and loss at war for organised labour.
This is a case where clearly money alone will not bring happiness.
We must be bold and audacious to demand a reform of our current federal structure with even greater vigour than was used to secure the wage increase.

The reality is that not all the states will be able to pay the new wage structure unless there is an urgent amendment of the country’s revenue allocation formula that gives more money to the states and local governments.
Some local governments in Lagos are already feeling the pinch and in the last two months, the state government has had to come to their rescue.
The truth is that if we continue like this, states and local government will struggle only to pay salaries and developmental activity will be jeopardised.

We have operated a revenue allocation formula that gives 52.68 per cent of the country’s income to the Federal Government; 26.72 per cent to the 36 states and 20.60 per cent to 774 local governments for years.
Part of the justification for that huge percentage to the Federal Government was its management of many public facilities like NITEL, PHCN, Nigerian Ports Authority, Airports, Nigerian Airways Limited, Nigerian National Shipping Line, National Insurance Corporation of Nigeria, Ajaokuta Steel Company, National Fertiliser Company of Nigeria (NAFCON), Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Limited, Nigerian Sugar Company, Bacita, and other agencies.

Now that the Federal Government has privatised or sold these agencies and expresses its clear desire to engage private capital to do more, the case for keeping that large chunk of the Federation’s account is obviously no longer tenable or meritorious.
I have been privileged to serve as the Chairman of a Committee of the Nigerian Governor’s Forum set up to propose an amendment of the Revenue Allocation Formula, with the governors of Adamawa, Enugu, Niger, Rivers and Sokoto States as members.
We have concluded our deliberations and produced a report proposing an amendment of the Revenue Allocation Formula such that the Federal Government of Nigeria now gets 35 per cent, states get 42 per cent and local governments get 23 per cent.
It is my firm view that in order for the newly approved minimum wage policy to be effective and sustainable and in order for the states and local governments to still be able to function and provide basic social services, the adoption and implementation of the recommendation to amend the revenue allocation formula is a condition precedent that will help us stem any labour crises.

The second policy initiative which must in my view follow, is the accelerated completion of the privatisation of the power sector to be complemented by the payment of all monies owed to the states and local government by agencies such as the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the Nigerian Custom Services, the Federal Internal Revenue Services and other Federal Government agencies who earn or manage our collective resources and who have implemented a policy not backed by law, that allows them to deduct or defray their operational expenses from revenues collected on behalf of the Federation rather than paying them to the Federation Account. This is in clear violation of Section 162 (1) of the constitution.
The correct and lawful practice is that the operations of these agencies of the Federal Government must be funded by the Federal Government from its own budgeted share of the Federation Account and not by any deduction at source as appears to have been the case.

More importantly, at this time when oil prices are still exceeding our economic expectation as a result of the political developments in North Africa and the Middle East, organised labour must demand a more development focused budget that allows us to invest at least 50 per cent of our budget in every state and the Federal Government in capital projects for the development of critical infrastructure like roads for transport, schools for education, hospitals and water supply for healthcare to mention but a few.
This is a short term strategy for immediate job creation and poverty alleviation which massive construction will create as we have done in Lagos over the last four years. The development of the power sector, to reduce cost of production, agriculture to reduce cost of feeding and similar policies will help stabilise the erosion of the purchasing power of the worker’s income if it does not improve it immediately.

Dear comrades, these are some of the thoughts that are uppermost in my mind about the road we must travel together in the next four years.
It requires all of us to see it as a journey of necessity in which we must commit to being various parts of the solutions and resist the temptation to be parts of the problem.
While I am not certain how much success we will achieve if we make the effort, I am certain that nothing will improve if we fail to make the effort.

Fashola, SAN, is the Governor of Lagos State

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/we-need-to-review-revenue-formula/90646/

By Festus Owete, Emma Ogala and Ayo Okulaja
May 2, 2011 03:07AM
print email


The outgoing Kwara State governor and senator-elect, Bukola Saraki, and his Gombe State counterpart, Danjume Goje, may be heading for a battle with the Senate President, David Mark, as they have reportedly shown interest in occupying the number three position.

Both governors were elected senators on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the April 9 parliamentary elections to represent Kwara Central senatorial district and Gombe Central senatorial district respectively. Mr Mark, also of the PDP, was re-elected to represent Benue South senatorial district for the fourth time since the return of democracy in 1999.

It was learnt that both Mr Saraki and Mr Goje are already positioning themselves for the job even though the party's hierarchy is yet to meet to decide the zoning formula for the next dispensation. The party, reports say, is billed to meet soon to decide on the zoning of the offices of the presiding officers of the Senate and the House of Representatives as well as other principal offices. According to the current formula, the North-Central produced the senate president while the office of the deputy senate president was produced by the South-East. In the House of Representatives, the speaker is produced by the South-West zone while his deputy is from the North-East zone.

However, the results of the recent elections may have made it inevitable for the re-zoning of the offices. Bode Olajumoke and Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, both from the South-West zone, who had shown interest in the position before the elections, lost their seats to their Labour Party (LP) and Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) challengers in the April 9 parliamentary polls.

At the height of the PDP zoning controversy last year, President Goodluck Jonathan had said that the National Assembly offices are only zoned by the party after the election of the president and vice president.

"The office of the President and other elective offices like the senate presidency, speaker and National Assembly officers, the PDP has reasonable control as long as we are in the majority. Those offices could be zoned. But before you zone those offices, the president and the vice president would have first emerged," Mr Jonathan said.

Going by the result of the elections, the ruling party has the majority of the senators-elect with over 60 of them while the Action Congress of Nigeria, which came second, has about 14. The Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) has six senators-elect, All Nigeria Peoples Party 7, the Democratic Peoples Party 1, LP 3 and All Progressives Grand Alliance 1. The PDP also won majority of the seats in the House of Representatives.

All eyes on North-Central

Both Mr Jonathan and his deputy, Namadi Sambo, both of whom were elected on April 16, are from the South-South and North-West zones. This therefore rules out the two zones from presenting candidates for the four presiding offices of the two chambers of the National Assembly - senate president, deputy senate president, speaker and deputy speaker.

Already, members of the party from the north central zone have commenced intense lobbying of the PDP leadership and some hawks in the presidency to retain the zoning of the senate presidency while those from North-East are demanding that it should be shifted to the zone.

The North-Central zone is anchoring its demand on the fact that the PDP controls five of the six states in the zone. The states are Benue, Plateau, Kogi, Niger and Kwara. The party lost Nasarawa to the CPC. Besides, out of the four zones, it produced the largest number of PDP senators, followed closely by the South-East.

Only four out of the six states in the North-East zone are controlled by the PDP. They are Taraba, Bauchi, Adamawa and Gombe. Borno State and Yobe were retained by the ANPP.

The South-West zone is not in contention for the position because the PDP won only one senatorial seat in the zone.

A source said the senate president has been lobbying the lawmakers from his zone to have another shot at the senate presidency just as he is said to have promised them juicy committees. Thus, if it is zoned to the North-Central, Mr Mark may have secured an easy victory. Other senators who were re-elected from the North-Central zone include Smart Adeyemi (Kogi), Zainab Kure (Niger), Dahiru Kuta (Niger) and Sule Ajibola (Kwara) have not shown interest in the position because it is not clear if the PDP will retain the position in the zone.

Mr Adeyemi did not respond to text messages yesterday on the issue. Kola Ologbondiyan, the special adviser to the senate president on media, confirmed yesterday that Mr Mark is interested in retaining his position but did not however say, if Mr Mark has been meeting with senators or if he has pledged anything to them.

However, should Goje and Saraki eventually join the race, they might face a tough battle because they are new senators. But an aide of Mr Saraki, said yesterday, "I am not aware of this plot that you are talking about. The man (Saraki) is even out of town."

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Home/5696508-146/saraki_goje_may_battle_mark_for.csp