₦airaland Forum

aminalib:
damnnn we got u, we understand YOU ARE A PROFESSIONAL WOMAN BEATER,

I get paid by the punch. Gotta pay the bills somehow

fstranger1:
HAHAHAHAHAh


Machine? software? some sort of new technology that can do it at a manageable cost? No?

Have you ever tried using machine translation software before? Don't you know how crappy it generally is?

Simply isn't at that level yet, and unclear if it will ever be.

If that breakthrough ever happens, then yes, everybody can learn whatever language they like.

Women dumb enough to hit a man. . . smh.

If I go pick a fight with a bear, probably won't turn out well for me.

Dunno why anyone is trying to use this gender stuff as an excuse. Women wanna have it both ways. . . independent women, equality, etc. All of the benefits, none of the responsibilities. Cannot have your cake and eat it

@fstranger1: How do you know what to translate and what not to? And if you say, "translate everything", well that will cost a lot of resources. The volume of work published these days is enormous. . .

[quote author=Kilode?! link=topic=590472.msg7584518#msg7584518 date=1295736129]You are making a lot of assumptions for someone who grew up in a different culture speaking English as a first language. If they had taught me calculus and physics in Yoruba I can bet I will be way better that I was in those courses. Speaking for myself.[/quote]Hmm, ok.

You probably don't understand the disadvantages if navigating two languages at the same time, especially when you are dealing with difficult concepts, we know speaking more than one language will probably make you smarter, one reason I always doff my hat for African and Asian immigrant students who excel in foreign schools -Not speaking about 2nd or 3rd generations like you Eku_bear - but at what cost?

Hmmz. (Btw, I was born in Nigeria and lived there for the first few years of my life, so am technically a 1st gen immigrant myself.)
But it isn't as if most Nigerians in school don't understand English at all, right? Nigerians in school understand/speak English better than I can speak Spanish (for example). But if I for some reason moved to a Spanish-speaking country and had to take a math/history/etc course there (something I strongly contemplated doing in undergrad but never had the time for), I don't think it would be much more difficult. I'd need to put in a bit more effort, but nothing impossible.

Like, it would be difficult to learn material in a language you don't know at all. But one which you have a decent familiarity with? Which you can communicate in to some extent?

Speaking broadly, I believe the world is definitely poorer because of the suppression of African ideas and philosophies. You can imagine how much poorer we are because of that.

Not being able to access Russian ideas is the west's loss, why should I worry about what they will lose?!! Russian used their ingenuity to send man to space before Americans, they built industries and expanded the frontier of knowledge,

English speaking people had to pay the price to translate and learn that, the same way we pay to learn theirs, that is their call, that's is their headache. I don't need to bother myself about that. We can trade knowledge but Shame of me if I have to worry about their needs before mine. Tufiakwa!

Well, my point is that we would be the ones to lose. Suppose Professor X discovered a procedure for solving Problem Y in field Z that will be of great importance to Nigeria in 50 years. He publishes this in some English-language journal. If in that time we've all switched to indigenous language, then the likelihood of us coming across that paper and realizing its significance greatly drops 

This has happened a lot in certain areas of applied math. Someone solves a problem, then discover that some Soviet dude solved the same exact problem in more generality back in the 70s or 80s 

I just don't want to be the one being locked out of the existing body of knowledge the Western world has, wasting time and resources on stuff already known.

Well, paying slightly higher than others for something is unfortunate, but probably not the end of the world. And who knows, maybe there is an early buyout clause the FG can take advantage of if the value of the bonds increase.

Anyway, overall the benefits outweigh the costs if the end result is cheaper credit for Nigerian banks, corporations, and individuals.

double

@fstranger and @Kilode?!:

Well, let's talk concretely. Would it be really better to switch say K-12 math education away from English to indigenous language X? Is the end result a higher quality math education for students? I don't really think you gain anything, education-wise. It isn't like Nigerians are struggling to learn math because it is taught in English, is it?

Like, would one really be able to learn addition/pre-algebra/geometry/calculus/etc more easily in Yoruba than English?

So you expend a lot of resources changing the curriculum over with no gain. And arguably there is a loss; any fruits of the mathematics research in language X are difficult to share with others (think of all the excellent work developed in Soviet math/science journals that we were not able to access in the West due to language issues.)

[quote author=Kilode?! link=topic=590472.msg7584228#msg7584228 date=1295731729]You are definitely from my school of thought. I mean my ancestors were cooking up chemical reactions before pasteur! Ever been to an Onisegun before

Jokes apart, it can be done. If the will is there, how come the Japanese and Chinese have a word for every chemical even the ones they didnt discover? Or is "oxygen" spelt that way in Chinese?[/quote]The main concern is expense, not so much "will." Like, who would pay to develop and maintain this material? It wouldn't be cheap. Also to some extent locks you out of existing research and resources available in the West.

I don't mind promoting language/culture, but not in expensive ways that duplicate the wheel.

Is the 1 or 2% difference that big a deal?

Plus the effective interest rate will fluctuate on the open market with the confidence that others have in the Nigerian economy, yes?

The most useful thing about the bond to me is that it will make it easier for Nigerian organizations to borrow from foreign ones (if I understand things correctly.)

Easier for foreign banks to price a loan if they have this Eurobond as a reference point, I think.

Man, great discussion. Glad the thread didn't get derailed.

What an informative post, @isale_gan!

Na wa o. Abia must be a very rich state to afford such a bloated government. . .

^--Eh, just fyi:

Onno Ruhl
Country Director
Nigeria

Onno Ruhl, a Dutch national, joined the Bank in 1993. He was appointed Country Director for Nigeria in March 2008. Based in Abuja, Nigeria, in addition to leading the Bank’s dialogue on sustainable growth and development with the Nigerian Government and other stakeholders, Onno oversees operations and economic and sector work in Africa’s most populous nation. Over the last four years, the Nigerian portfolio of projects has more than doubled US$1.2 billion to about US$2.9 billion.

http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/AFRICAEXT/0,,contentMDK:20246200~menuPK:509503~pagePK:146736~piPK:226340~theSitePK:258644,00.html

^-- Maybe. I personally much prefer the Aganga model to wealth-building than the Nigerian politician model. To each his own, I guess.

@fstranger: Rice with fork. Cereal with spoon. Pounded yam with fork.


@Ileke-IdI: Sad, isn't it? Perhaps I should blame government marginalization for my problems, like OnlyTruth

oldbende:
I thank all of you for your contributions, after reading your posts I have changed my mind to remain in the states, this forum have help me resolve one of of the most controversial issue in my life, moreover I'm a guy not a girl .

Once again I appreciate your contributions.

Imo, if you can go to nursing school so you can get legalized, do it. I know it might sound unpleasant, but the salary is pretty good, and you'll never be looking for work. That would be the best way to invest your $13k saved up, imo.

Once you get legal, then you can come and go as your please.

@Ileke-IdI: I DO know that they are different. I cannot understand what the people say in my village when they speak hardcore Ekiti, lol! I just not my head.

Yoruba I understand 90% of, Ekiti I don't have an ear for.

@SEFAGO: I just don't like getting messy when I'm eating. And getting stew all over the cup, etc. Just makes me enjoy my food less if I'm eating with anything other than a fork. I'm a very finicky eater. I hate eating rice with spoons, for example.

@fstranger1:

Wtf is ule? I barely know Yoruba, not to talk of Ekiti dialect.

100% correct, I eat pounded yam with a fork  Even my little sisters born here eat it with their hands. I'm weird!

@Ileke-IdI: You are making me blush!

How similar are these things? Building islands from scratch a few miles offshore is different from expanding an existing island, is it not?

How much money could he steal that would be worth his while?

You don't even need to be caught to ruin your reputation, just some hearsay.

If I worked in the finance world, I'd not want to ever risk my integrity like that. If you don't steal, then when your tenure ends you can go back to private industry and jump up a couple paygrades.

Unless Aganga has the opportunity to steal say. . . $20 mil, and do it with say 5 or 10% risk of ruining his reputation, it probably isn't worth it.

And what opportunity will the guy have to even steal $20 million for himself  Minister of Finance is not Minister of public works, where you can give your cousin contracts. Or NNPC president 


Anyway, I'm sort of curious about the career path to enter this industry. Management consulting is also somewhat attractive, but the pay scales are far inferior

ola olabiy:
You are right. Close to a milla with bonuses.

But, that's still before tax, remember that. A minister of state is still better off.

Let alone a substantive one in a 'juicy' ministry like his .

I think he can make up the money in Nigeria later on down the line. But in the short term, he is taking a big loss. Unless he is massively corrupt. . . which I doubt. Dude has too much reputation to lose if he gets caught.

ola olabiy:
Nah.

Or maybe with bonuses. There are more than 100 managing directors at GS. It is not a biggie like that.

Hrm: http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2007/02/13/for-goldmans-highest-echelon-a-salary-to-match/
http://www.jobnob.com/goldman-sachs-co-salary
http://news.efinancialcareers.com/NEWS_ITEM/newsItemId-8444

So $300k + bonuses? From that third link, 300k or 400k might be a good estimate of the bonuses. So more like $600k/year if he was only a managing director and not partner managing director.

Not $1 mil/year. Certainly enough though to become comfortably a millionaire in a short period of time, assuming you save/invest some of it.

[quote author=alj-harem link=topic=590472.msg7580244#msg7580244 date=1295662923]and lastly, there is still external forces eg western countries [/quote]It depends. Some external forces are manipulative. But the fastest way to build up your country from scratch is to access international capital.

I look at what they've done in Dubai and I'm very envious

@ola.olabiy:

Nah, looks like he was balling:
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-04-06/goldman-sachs-aganga-named-nigerian-finance-minister-update2-.html

Aganga is a qualified accountant and worked for Ernst & Young LLP before joining Goldman Sachs in London in 2001, where he started at the European prime brokerage division, which provides financing, trading and other services to hedge funds. He was promoted to managing director, the second-highest rank in the company, in 2003.

Definitely not making chicken scratch money. Wouldn't be surprised if he was doing $1 million/year.

Not a good idea for a woman to hit a man. If you get hit back, then not too sure how much room you have to complain.

ola olabiy:
I don't trust  this Aganga. From the outset, I knew he 's there for himself. yOU CAN HAVE DECENT LIVING ABROAD BUT NO MILLIONS.

Goldman Sachs guys make a lot of money. Finance in general in the West you can make sh1tloads. Pretty reasonable that he is worth millions; I'd expect no less.

fstranger1:
Absolutely.
It is one thing to be able to pay the thugs to do your bidding, it is another thing entirely to have them do it exactly how you want.  Make no mistake about think, not all thugs get paid to do what they do. Some thugs do what they do  because they believe in the message/person of the hirer. Most of the thugs working for Omisore don't get paid. This I know first hand.

More insight into fstranger1's sinister past!

Indeed. Let's not derail the thread. But I'm genuinely curious to hear how the answer to Nigeria's problems are not fighting corruption, FDI, more liberal regulatory environment, investment in infrastructure, etc. But instead to "liberate" the Igboman.

Perhaps this is worth discussing elsewhere, lol

[quote author=isale_gan2 link=topic=589689.msg7580074#msg7580074 date=1295658950]You my dear can go sit in acorner.[/quote]