₦airaland Forum

Please read this. It makes a refreshing read and, an hands-on review.

I was wrong about the PSP Go. In our last Destructoid Discusses we expressed our feelings on the leaked photos and video of the system, and I now have to admit that we were a bit hasty with our judgments. I was probably the worst offender. I found myself calling out the design, button and controller placement, and just about everything else you could try to pick apart. And while my cohorts were happy to go along with me in this, now that I've had a chance to spend some quality time with the system, I have to say that I was wrong.

Instead, I've come away with the biggest case of technolust. The device is gorgeous. The design is sound. And the feel and controls? They're great. I'm not too proud to say that I was wrong, but in this case, Sony had to pull me away from a showing that ran far too long. They were doing the obvious watch check thing. They ran me off. I think they thought I was going to steal a PSP Go.

We spoke with Sony's Brian Keltner about the PSP Go's reception here at E3, which you can watch in the video below. I also broke down our impressions on the control, design, as well as our thoughts of the Go in action. Long story short? I'm impressed.

The design:

Something about the leaked photos rubbed us the wrong way. The scale seemed off, the device looked plasticy and cheap, and it was our opinion that this system would be unwieldy. Worst off, the slide screen design seemed like it would be gimmicky, and nothing like the fan concept images that we've been daydreaming about for so long.

I'm glad to say that the design of the PSP Go is lovely. It's much more compact and sensible in the hands than we first thought it would be. The top and back of the unit is metal (or at least metal reinforced), and the top is sleek and simple, sporting only a hole for a strap and a few ports.

The screen was stunning, and did not seem to have the video issues the PSP-3000 has been accused of. Fast action games like Motorstorm showed no problems at all. Images just seem to fly off the screen in vivid color. We watched video clips and played several games in our hands on time, and I feel comfortable in saying that the PSP Go has the best screen ever put into a portable console.

We first got our hands on the standard black unit, which was lovely enough. It is your standard glossy black affair, just like the the currently available PSP. But later, as you'll see in the video, Sony was kind enough to share with us a white, sparkly PSP. Don't get me wrong: I'll take either, but I really want this white one. And yes, we asked: Sony will launch in October with the black one.

The controls:

As far as our reaction to the leaked images and video goes, we were most concerned about the placement of the controls on the PSP Go. It seems that Sony saw our Destructoid Discusses video where we were quick to bash the layout and the inset controls. Sony's Jeff Rubenstein asked me to give it a chance, telling me that the d-pad and button placement is much like that of the DualShock controller.

He was right. The hand feel of the unit is very close to that of the DualShock setup that Sony has used from the beginning. The d-pad and left analog nub placement sits right where your left thumb would fall, just like it does with the DualShock. And while you don't have the right analog stick, a round combo of the start and select buttons fit there.

The face buttons are smaller and clickier, and kind of remind me of the feel of the Nintendo DSi ones. They're flatter and less raised than you'd expect, but still perform fine, and give even more tactile response than the current PSP ones do. The analog nub is also smaller than the current PSP nub, but it seems to have the same travel distance, and now sits in a recessed area to let the screen slide down over it. I really like the new L and R buttons, which are new shiny metal, and have a bit more travel when pressed.

As for the non-game controls, the volume rocker sits atop the unit, as does the screen brightness and music button. The left side of the slide-up screen's face sports the PS button, just like the one on the SIXAXIS controller.

In action:

We played several games on the PSP Go, including several new titles like Little Big Planet, Soul Calibur, Gran Turismo PSP and several more. I'm pleased to say that the control feel was absolutely natural, to the point that I didn't really think much about it. The back rounded corners and overall width makes it feel like you're holding a console controller, and the placement of the buttons compliments that nicely. In fact, the only thing that feels different is the L and R buttons, which I feel are a vast improvement from those of the PSP. Overall, your hands are closer together, much like they would be on a console controller, making the game play experience totally natural and transparent. It's clear that Sony put a lot of work into the design here.

Summary:

I went from being highly critical to being totally sold on the PSP Go. It only took some quality time with the unit to change my mind. This is the first time in a long time that I've been impressed by a portable's design, and it's hard to deny the appeal of the screen and the pocket-able form factor. My original concern with the control placement no longer exists. It's fine.

Ultimately, it will be up to you to decide if a smaller, UMD-less PSP is worth your $249. It may not be, especially as Sony assures us that the downloadable game services will also be available to current PSP users. For me, I'm sold. I will be picking up a PSP Go on October 1st.

http://www.destructoid.com/e3-09-hands-on-with-the-psp-go-134707.phtml&skin=

luxoire:
@El Razur - doesn't it make you feel speacial when she calls you 'hun'? or does she call eveyrone that? or is that you would prefer something more specific to you

Indifference to be honest. I just like my name that is all.

But am sometimes refereed to as "Bedroom bully" lmao.

debosky:
Last I checked, the quote function has not been disabled - kindly quote where I did this.

I refuse to do your work for you.  You posted it. Fact. But, am guessing you easily missed that? How convenient!

How is it word play?  EVERY ARMY has room for improvement - does that automatically mean every army is poorly trained?  YOU El Raz can improve your training, does that mean you are poorly trained at the moment? Binary thinking can be dangerous - there is more than one possible outcomes when there is room for improvement.

Here we go again. On comparison to the aforementioned forces, they are poorly trained. Seriously, how hard is that? For example comparing Nigeria's league to the Premiership would leave anyone with any scope of thought that Nigeria's league is poor on comparison.

The point is the opponents - the rebels in Liberia and the Somalis, neither obeyed rules of war - by that measure, rule of war is not a distinguishing factor between the US forces and Nigerian forces and cannot be used to buttress any claims to levels of training or equipment.

What is all of these got to do with my original point? I fail to compute.

Mr word play - you are the person introducing the distinction between the taliban and the afghan people, while in MY post, my use of afghan simply implied whomever the US was fighting in Afghanistan, including combatants and innocents. There is no grasping there - unless both civilians and combatants have NOT been killed, the point stands.

Hahaha. You lumped everything together for your vague point. I merely pointed out the obvious - US V Taliban and not US V Afghans like you painted. Here you go again making unsubstantial/baseless claims. How is the US fighting the Innocents? The US forces are fighting Taliban. And as we all know, in every wars, there would be innocents killed. That is not the same as the US setting out deliberately to kill the innocents.
Maybe using examples closer to home may let you see - Nigerian forces are after MEND and not Nigerians. Get it? It is that simple.

Yes the question was about Afghanistan, but it is pertinent to note the precise combat zones (e.g Helmand) within the country so as not to give an impression that the WHOLE country engulfed by fighting, which was the context for introducing the examples in the first place.

Yawn. For how long more can you move the goal post? If the question is about Afghan [and Iraq] then stick to the question I asked and stop posting "leading answers". It does nothing but drags the attention away from the original question. . Before we lose the point again, allow me to bring it back. Afghan and Iraq are bigger and as such mistakes [not condoning it] would be made. On comparison to issues at ND 7000 troops should have the logistics and manpower to know where a hospital is, especially in a small region like the ND. I suppose mistakes do happen too, but on a small area like this, then it goes to highlight the ill equipped forces we call the Nigeria Army.

Bigger and more weapons - does that make an Army better? According to you, Ghana is smaller and better than us so how does this stand up to your previous claim?

Don't be daft. My original post is that "even Ghana have a better reconnaissance unit than us . . . due to smaller size and hence able to afford better training". Where in my statement did I mentioned that Ghana Army/military is better than that of Nigeria? Are you imagining things again? LMAO.

Regarding 'experience', apart from getting whupped serially by the Israelis, what wars have the Egyptians fought and lived to tell the tale? In terms of peacekeeping and restoration of democracy, how many countries have they liberated (Nigeria can count Liberia and Sierra Leone, yes not solo but an integral part of the effort) from rebel forces?
Have you heard of good - better- best? 

Any nation who had a fight with one of the most feared armies in the world and lived to tell the tales is a worthy opponent in my book. They have had a few wars than us. Fact. Battle of Suez and all that.
Any nation that have had extensive training the the US and have fought the IDF in the past is something I wont sniff at.

On comparison, Nigeria haven't not had any of these.

You keep banging on about Peace keeping force. Please give me a break. Nigeria opted to be a dominate force and seek a greater role during the days of the ECOMOG. It do not in any way make them a force to be reckon with. Even the rebels kept them at bay for 9months or so in Sierra.

Even if A is better equipped than B, does it mean B is poorly equipped?  The original point is that we are not poorly equipped to meet our needs - others might have better equipment, but we have adequate (albeit not superlative) equipment levels.

We are poorly equipped. Period. Time and time again, this have been pointed out. Even some of the guns are so dated. Look it up yourself.

Your narrow minded view focuses on MEND, while I look at the larger picture. the Niger Delta issue when resolved will take care of MEND as well, and no dialogue is not what I propose. Socio-economic development of the deprived areas  is the key - what ever shape or form that takes is up to the players to decide.

Dealing with the topic at hand is being narrow-minded. Then I guess trolling and moving goal post in your book must be intelligence. A nation cannot be held down by a bunch of criminals. These group do not represent anyone but their very own pocket.

Again, you see this as a primarily military issue, I don't. Call it window dressing, I call it going to the root cause - why is there militancy in the Niger Delta? Is the reason the same as that in Saudi Arabia? NO - if you fail to focus on the root of the problem, an solution cannot be devised.


As I mentioned earlier, military action cannot solve the problem in the Niger Delta, even with the greatest set of commandos the world has ever seen. In that regard, you CANNOT solve the problem that way.

See above.

I believe military action can go a long way with MEND IF our men are properly trained. They are too ill equipped to do the job at hand.

Besides, till most of the criminal elements are subdued, they will have some ability to affect oil output. In the areas where the military has swept clean, oil activities have recommenced. Even when the above is successful, socio-economic issues (e.g Ogoni shutting Shell production with NO violence on Ogoni's part) can and will reduce oil production, highlighting my assertion that this is not a primarily military problem.

Say what? I fail to see how Nigeria's oil out put will fall if not because of criminals like MEND sabotaging our country's honey pot.

luxoire:
reading you laughing at your own humour - made me laugh - lol - glad there's real meaning behind your own pet name

wettin she dey call you? Baba Iyan !!?

Glad you see the funny side.

I get called the usual "Hun" and what not. But quite frankly, I actually prefer my own name to any sort of pet name.

Luxoire

I call her Pumkin Pie. That's because she likes to eat pumkin pie a lot. Lmao.

Do Bear shi.t in the woods?

Is Siberia cold?

Do babies cry?

Similar thing just happened in the UK this week. Only that it was a random attack by a man.

debosky:
Final time - I never gave 'entire' credit to anyone - the idea is wholly yours. Nigeria was instrumental in the successes in Sierra Leone and Liberia. That demonstrates their capability. End.

You are not fooling anyone but yourself. Go back to your original claim. You did. Period.

I prefer modern weapons as well - this has never been an issue with me. Modern will improve the military. The question is are they good (with a potential to improve) at the moment? Yes.

So you agree there is room for improvement, however not that they are poorly trained or ill equipped? Hmmm I guess you are experimenting with word play.

No one (rebel groups) plays by rule of law, so it is irrelevant. None of the opposition in sierra leone did so this is indeed irrelevant. It's like butressing your point by saying people were killed in both countries - such is a given.

In the case of the US forces, they did. They are in fact, bound by it. What is your point.

Again semantics - are the taliban (at least some of them) not Afghan citizens as well? People are being killed, including innocents, regardless of whether the US has 'issues' with them. That is the import of my post - I don't use adjectives like flatten, they are too loose.

That is like calling an unborn foetus a child. Let us call a spade, a spade shall we? US forces where out to get the Taliban, not the Afghan people. Seriously how hard is it to understand? Finally, when your debate start loosing steam and you are grasping for point, it appears you result to neat picking and all that. Dude you are more weaker than you look, when you start poking at English words usage around here. I suppose that is all part and parcel of debating the point at hand right? Seriously, you are good.

Helmand is relevant as it is the primary theatre of war there. Even if it is something smaller, the scale of the effort is not the only determinant of success. Is the war in Afghanistan across ALL of the country? No.

If memory serves me right, the original question was about Iraq and Afghanistan. Not the city you are trying to push across. Speaking of moving the goal post. Just in case, you missed the point, refer back to the original questions and counter-argument that followed.

Kindly provide proof to back up this assertion. Egypt might have newer gear due to US support, but tht doesn't make Nigeria's army poorly equipped to carry out it's functions.

Here let us play the number game - They have an estimated bigger number of active and reserve troops than us.

Here let us talk about weapons - They have more weapons and modern ones by the way.

Here, let us talk about "experience" - This is a force that have engaged in many wars and have lived to tell the tale, than Nigeria can shake a stick at.

You agreed they are better equipped, but then in same breathe, you appear to disagree that Nigeria is not poorly equipped when compared with egypt! You instead changed it by claiming something else. Even though the original point is that they are better equipped and trained than our forces. Dude my belly ache from laughing. L.M.M.F.A.O!

I stated clearly that I do not wish to engage in this debate at the moment - is it relevant to a discourse about the military? NO. There are numerous options for dealing with MEND, or more appropriately with the wider ND issue of which MEND is symptomatic. No infinite wisdom here, just no desire to dilute the argument and move in a different direction. If you want to discuss the ND issue, create a separate thread.

You made some bullsh.it point then claimed "Blah blah blah you don't want to talk about it" Gosh. The fact is, if you oppose military rule, then the next option is dialogue. You can call it all want you, but it still remains what it is - a dialogue. Now I am asking you again . . . Do you propose we a state negotiate with a criminal elements?

For the record. I refuse to make a thread simply because you asked.

On a peripheral view, there are similarities, but this is essentially comparing apples with oranges - MEND is a resource driven fight based on deprivation and environmental degradation. Al Quada is religion driven and is based on changing saudi/world ideology, how can they so casually compared? You yourself spoke about suicide bombings by AL Quada - does MEND use this strategy?

Peripheral, lateral or diagonal view. Dude, you can ignore the point at hand all you want, but the bottom line remains Saudi and Nigeria have people/group who are not happy with a few things that are related to oil. How hard is that?

Saudi Arabia produces oil, but that is the end of the comparison. It is a monarchy, so it operates a different political structure. It is mono-religious, with a small population and very low levels of poverty, with it's citizens having no inclination to gain riches through violence. Nigeria is poor, more than half the population is under the poverty level and there is widespread degradation of the environment coupled with harsh terrain and government neglect. Drivers are different, terrain is different, problem is different.

See above. Please stop window dressing. Saudi and Nigeria have similar issues. Issues that can have impact on the out of oil from those counteries - Only that Nigeria is already seen this happened, and threats of many more to come. Saudi on the other hand have managed to deal with this via having properly trained forces and outfit. Plus other things off course.

Talk about shifting goal posts. So because MEND is attacking oil facilities (not refineries), is it now ok for me to say we need better armed forces to protect our petrol stations because 'all of these' affect them too?

Best to let this one slide. It get tiring sometimes.

My point is clear - the Army is efficient and effective for the most part in carrying out it's tasks. Can it improve? Of course. Can it get better kit, definitely. Is the ND issue one that can be solved militarily? No.

What is effective to you? Carpet bombing a region filled with civilians? Effective, yet our oil output have dropped? Effective and we have kidnapping and extortion still going on by the criminal elements? I suppose effective in your dictionary means beating the crap out of civilians? If so, I dread to see your definition of ineffective and poorly trained.

@Siena, what do you make of the Toyota IQ? I am due to test drive one, but I think they are very expensive for what they are.

@Sienna. The high wind is not as bad like you are painting it. I had one - chipped and modified And I reached speeds in excess of 100mph. The cross wind tend to be minimal in my experience.

You mentioned something about slip streaming. I would have thought, this would lead to a more stable handling as the on-coming air friction is reduced when one is in the slip stream of another vehicle?


@Dis Guy.

I am not a fan of Mini am afraid, however your points are valid. I.e Why on earth people use big bags when 80% of the time, they use it solely for domestic and pleasure.

@debosky

You cannot give credit of an alied forces acoomplishment to one nation. Again I refer to my previous example, do you credits the Brits forces for events at normandy? You posts on these section shows and suggested that you are giving nigeria the entire credit. Anyone with half a brain can see this


Old technologies and modern weapons? I know whcich one I would prefer our forces to be equipped with.


Dude you are awesome at twisting stories isn't? You presented your case suggesting that US forces got trashed by somalians, when in actual fact, it isn't the case. And to further buttress my point, I mentioned that somalians never played by the rule of law. How hard is it to understand this simple point

Nice one for evading all the points raised there to post more crap.


Read your own post again. You DID mention that "how many men did US forces used to flatten afghan" or something along those lines. And I pointed it out to you that US forces have no issues with afghan, but talibans.

Gosh this dude is awesome. Your post made mentioned of Iraq and Afghanistan, and then I askefd you for the Sq km, you end up giving me that of Helmand? Lmao. Keep it up dude. The point is, with a country, things can easily go wrong. However with nigerian forces dealing in something smaller, they should at least get it right.

Dude. Even when the details are argued, then you move the goal post as usual. Lmao

Nigeria's army is poorly equipped comapre to armies from Egypt, and I would even say algeria.


Haha moved the goal post again. You believe that miitary action is not the way forward with MEND, then that leaves negotiation and dialouge isn't? So I am asking you, do you propose we as a nation negotiate with a criminal group? Or using you infinite e.wisdom please tell me the other options? Lmao, For the record, I asked a QUESTION and you didn't provide any answer, other than claim "imagination" etc. Nice one Debo, how do you do it?

Saudi arabia is a good comparison, anyone with tiny amount of brain would see it. Both are oil producing counteries with people who have different ideologies as to how these resources should be tapped. Nigeria have issues with mend, while the saudi kingdom have problem with alqueda and those who do not want the westerners in their country. How hard is it to understand this?

Mend have succeffully shut down Nigeria's oil output by more than 20%, using various method of sabotage, vandalism, kidnap, extortion etc. All of these are affecting the refineries. Once again nice logic there. You are good.



@Afam
For us to tackle these folks - MEND - I believe that we need properly trained men. We need good intel, we need very good reconnisaince unit. If we have all of these, we can catch them with their pants down. We do not have to carpet bomb, thereby having high casaulties of civillian. We do not have to go in with 7000, for god's sake that is what counteries like US and co deploy to battlefields, and not to fight ill equiped militants.

For the record, I have no personal issues with our guys. It ain't their fault they are poorly trained and ill equiped.

@Afam. Sorry can quote you, using my phone.

Anyway, Intel showed that Saddam uses that particular phone a lot (a satelite phone if memory serves me right) and as such was tracked down with it. That is the bottomline, whether he "delibrately left it with his aid" are just some of the other versions of the story.

I was merely trying to tell you that tracking can be done with some electronic stuff etc.


Dude, I am not having a go at you with my last paragraph. The bigger picture is this, once you state the obivious here with the state of Nigeria's social structure - in this case the army - as been poorly and ill equipped, you tend to get a few people moving the goal post and dragging silly stuff into the debate. For example, if you go back to the previous pages, a few people already asked that if the US forces are so good, how come they couldn't prevent 911. Or how come osama can be found etc. These people forget that these two cases are not conventional war and more or less terrorism and ideologies, which requires a different method and approach.

I mean, how do you fight someone who believes if he straps a bomb on himself and blow up a few innocent people or people considered legitimate target by their ideologies would be rewarded with virgins in heaven? Clearly these kind of "issues" cannot be won by firepower alone.

Afam:
So, Obama has not been communicating all these while?

Is this authoritative?  Maybe he has been using donkeys and birds to communicate with people outside his immediate environment.

Again, what happened when foreigners planned and executed the 911 attack on US soil? Was the US Army, CIA, FBI etc on vacation?

He communicates alright, but not with electronic means. It was once said that while the US thinks in terms of smart bomb and fly-by-wire planes, Osama thinks in terms of camel and caves. Remember when US forces striked at iraqi forces at the begining without warming? Declassified information showed that Saddam was tracked when he used a phone. However, the confirmation to strike him came too late as he already moved away from his point, or something along those lines.

If you think this is non-sense, I suggest you go use your mobile phone or some sort of gps equipment around the Toraborah caes if you won't attract unwanted attention to your location .


Finally, the question of terrorist attacking the US has been answered already. Please take time to read the thread instead of asking repetitive question. In the mean time, you may want to read up on conventional war fare and unconventional tactics in war.

debosky:
So what if other players were involved? The largest and most dominant player counts. Did the US defeat Iraq on it's own?  This point is not valid and I will not even go further on it.

First you claimed it was all Nigeria's effort, but am guessing having gone to check your sources and seeing that it wasn't all Nigeria, you find it hard to admit right. Good thing you ain't taking it further. It sucks when people find it hard to admit when they are wrong period.

That is like trying to re-write history and not giving credits where credit is due. Nigeria was part of the forces that got the job done and as such, you cannot give Nigeria the entire credit like you are trying to do. Did the Brits take all the credits for the events at Normandy?

More ignorance - Nigeria never 'fought' Camerounian soldiers - mostly gendarmes, essentially a militant group sponsored by the government. It was guerrilla warfare again and they were not better kitted than us. If they were, they would have fought a war. Now you realise people don't play by rules of war?  What 'new kit' does Cameroun have anyways or are you just making jokes?

Tell me - did the RUF cutting off limbs in Sierra Leone before the Nigerian Army stopped them - did they play by the rules of war? Please come up with another excuse. So the American army is not useless because of a poor approach but the Nigerian army is? Interesting!

And more stupidity coming from you as usual. Who mentioned Nigeria fought soldiers from Cameroon? The event over at the peninsula that leads to Nigeria deploying forces was meant as a display and show of force. The point I making is that going off to show old hardware won't do much good to scare your potential enemy, especially when they are things like Russian MiGs et al.

As for "not playing by the rule of war" you are making it sound like the Somalian beats the US forces hands down, etc. Yet in actual fact, they left at their own accord.

How would you understand? This is not about commandos in case you missed the point - guerrilla warfare cannot be simply eliminated by using commandos. There you go saying MEND has 'very little men' - based on EL Razur's intel eh? I guess from your armchair you already know more than the JTF who faces the militants daily.
Flatten them out indeed - how many soldiers is the US using to 'flatten' Afghanistan? How much collateral damage in Pakistan has come from their so called 'intelligent' bombing? Oh but I guess since that happened to one of the 'well trained and equipped' forces it doesn't count.

Going by some of the things you have mentioned so far, it is safe to conclude at this point that I do understand the issue at hand better than you. For your information, Small specialised group of elite forces that specialises in Urban Guerilla war fare tactics do exist. They have been used across the world to deal with scenarios similar to those in the Niger Delta. In fact, it is a speciality with several modern forces across the world - US, Canada, Russia all have men who specialises in this sort of field. Now my point is, if our forces are properly trained, then it would have been ideal to send in this men as opposed to the 7000 that was sent in before.
MEND have small numbers of men, on comparison to the Nigeria's forces. Only a fool will believe MEND are in excess of 5000 men. You just have to look at their operational footprint to see this. Not that you would know anyway.

For the record, US is not out to flatten out Afghanistan like your post is suggesting. I suggest you do a bit of reading up more on that one. It is useless correcting you every now and then.

Were hospitals not bombed in Iraq and in Afghanistan? News report indicate what exactly? Did innocents not die (and continue to die) in Pakistan from US bombs? Is that not 'indiscriminate'? Did the Israelis not kill 'indiscriminately' in Gaza? Was the press allowed in then? What does any of this have to do with military training?

ND area is how many kilometre square miles? Iraq and Afghanistan is how many Kilometre square miles? You are comparing a state to a nation the size of France? Dude you are awesome.

I'm struggling to find ANY correlation between your points and the training/capability of the Nigerian military. All the so called 'mistakes' or 'offences' committed by the troops have been made (far worse ones at that) by your so called well trained and equipped forces.

You are typical of those troll around here. I made a post, and then you came along talking your usually "I am right and you are wrong" crap again. Then when I played along, you are quick to tell me you don't see any correlation. Yet funny enough you seem to be STILL playing along.
In case you are missing the point, we are poorly equipped and poorly trained. Period.

So what if their intel is flawed? How many cases of flawed intel have occurred with the US and British armies?? Thanks for telling me about Mossad, I know more than enough about them thank you. Even with Mossad, the suicide bombers still get in and strike Israeli targets. Even with Mossad the rockets keep flying in from Gaza. Again, your avowed commando solution has worked excellently there.

You have agreed their intel is flawed. My job is done here.

Military training my foot - anyone who thinks the MEND issue is a military one needs to get his head examined. Will the British Army stop elected politicians from buying arms and giving them to jobless youth? 

Again ignorance and stupidity on display. Yay! What do you really know? So you support negotiating with a militant group who have kidnapped and blackmail innocent people? A group that have systematically shut down Nigeria's oil production? Awesome. Next you will be calling for Muslims to eat pork. Nice.

Since you are very ignorant on this one, allow me to educate you. Nigeria's oil facility was built without security in mind. A look at the aerial photography would show this. Refinery are close to mangrove swamp and without much accessibility. Even some of the pipes goes through a civilian area and as such can be difficult to secure. But like I said, security was a non-issue when it was first built.

On comparison to a place like Saudi Arabia, you will have to travel at least 10miles or so of concrete and tarmaced roads before reaching the oil refinery. Then there are security mounted check points etc one have to go through. Now, this is the sort of structure they we really need in Nigeria.

Britain offered to train and support to Yar'adua, after all, they are very knowledgeable in this sort of things. Since we have a refinery built for "convenience". The point is, we are ill equipped to deal with this and we need our men trained up to the standards needed to safe guard our oil refineries.

@sultan. It is a common misconception that 4x4 are safer. Believe it or not, the smart car is in a role cage. It comes equiped with air bags and the roll cage design have some sort of "armour plate" in the front bumper. Also, it makes use of the crumple zone fron the on-coming car if there is ever a collusion. To simply put, it is very safe


@dis guy
Yeah I see what you mean. When the car came out of the port, loads of people was admiring it and majority of people wanted to push it over from the side etc. Which I thought it was unnecessary. It weighs close to a ton I would think, but don't quote me on that.

Dude this is about cars. I do not see the relevance of your comparison.

debosky:
the Liberia and Sierra Leone cases were WARS against Guerrilla rebel groups who were comprehensively defeated by Nigerian forces. We were the overwhelmingly dominant supplier of troops and weapons for the two cases. I don't know what is more 'front-line' than that in our own environment.

I said it before and am saying it again. We do not single handedly win that war, other players were involved one way or the other.

This is a display of ignorance. The issues in Bakassi were political not military force. If you are prevented by law from crossing over the border to pursue your enemies, they can play cat and mouse with you all day long without you defeating them. Even if it was 'Russian old school technology' with all the 'American technology' did a ragtag army in Somalia not chase them out? So I'm not really getting your point here.

Yeah display of ignorance, for highlighting we are showing off old military technology to a nation that appears to be well kitted than us? You accused me of ignorance,  yet you appear to not realise that Americans left somalia at their own will due to poorly planned and executed approach to the mission at hand. Remember, the Somalians didn't play the the rule of war etc. How many somalian dead bodies did you see get dragged on live tv by the Americans? I guess that is another story.

Elite group of commandos eh? How do you know this? How many guerrilla wars have gone on in the world without instant resolution? Or is this 'elite commando' thing a new invention? How come it didn't work like a charm elsewhere?  

I suggest you look up on what it takes to be a commando. MEND have very little men who actually do all the fronting for them. these men are poorly trained - even when compared to the poorly trained Nigeria military. So how a justification of 7000 men to flatten them out is something I don't understand. But I guess with lack of elite forces with the army, then it goes a long way to unleash power by numbers. Nice one. Who ever is in charge of our defence.

You claim there was no intel collection - how did they destroy camp 15 and iroko camps? How did they rescue the captured boats and the kidnapped sailors?

They attacked a hospital too did they not? Intel must be up-to-date then I guess. Also news report would suggest that their attacks were indiscriminate and innocent people were caught in between and paid dearly with their lives. Yeah great intel on that one. Only that they covered it up by banning media from coming in.

With all the intel gathering and reconnaisance armies around the world have failed to eliminate guerrilla movements because, due to their very nature they are difficult to eliminate. That is not different be it Nigerian Army or British.
less equipped is a comparison, with whom? We are adequate to meet our territorial protection and to pursue wars/peacekeeping in the sub-region. The Army can never eliminate MEND in the ND, unless it goes for all out war to kill everybody there.

So you are agreeing that their intel is flawed? At least indirectly. It is known that one of the best way to deal with Guerilla tactics employed by militant and co are to use specialized small unit groups to take them out. Ask the Israelis special forces - Moussads. They know a thing or two about dealing with Guerilla warfare.

Oh by the way, Britain offered military training and help to help deal with MEND, however political forces made sure that never happened.

Having said that, I have mentioned before that Guerilla tactics are hard to deal with.

Afam:
1. Foreigners came into the US planned and executed the 911 attack and hijacking 4 planes in the process. Why didn't the almighty US Army stop them?

2. Sierra Leone, Liberia, Equitorial Guinea are countries in Africa that Nigeria has successfully restored order to even after very brutal civil wars.\

3. The US with all the intel has not been able to take out Osama Bin Laden neither has it been able to disable all the insurgents attacking its forces and killing them in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Please, stop rubbishing Nigerian Army because the facts on the ground show that they can hold there own both within and outside Nigeria.

Another blind patriotic Naija man missing the point.

1. Just because the US is almighty do not mean they cannot be touched. The plan was against America and not its military forces.

2. Nigeria was part of the process. That is the key point. There were other players in the field. Remember that.

3. Anyone who knows about Military and modern threat will tell you that Osama bin laden is not a military force, he represent an ideology that is more or less difficult to tackle. This is similar to Guerilla warfare tactics, it is not the same as conventional fighting.

No one is rubbishing Nigeria's Army. The fact is we are poorly trained and ill equipped.

Besides, I never posted those images lmao.

But big is not always the best way to go. This would give you the same comfort as any car within the city and every day driving. A full tank of 1800.00 Naira is also not bad.

Funny enough, I only ever saw one around ikoyi side.

Yeah I would fight them too, after all it aint coming to me but the Family of Ken.

Hold on a minute aint the OP that is always talking about America's capitalism and the Western Imperialism?

Litmus. It used to be something you clicked on and more information are displayed - e.g Number of working ships etc, Known weaponry etc. It appears to have been taken off. At least, am clicking the link and it isn't opening anything specific.



I suppose you can check out wiki, but hardly can it be compared with the CIA World fact book.

Erm I have better things to do. I think in the time that it takes to do all these stuff, I could have meet someone in real life while socialising.

The point I am trying to make is the we are not equipped to deal with the challenges the modern world may throw at us. Sometimes in military, bigger and well equipped can be better. Our sea borders are porous and we lack the resources to be taken serious.

I never claim to know the exact details, however from hearing the tales off people who have gone through the NDA's system, I am not convinced that we have what it takes. Using a frigate to patrol the ocean of Nigeria is not exactly cutting it. As for the report saying we have held down our in peace-keeping mission etc. Ask anyone in the military and Peace-Keeping is not as resource demanding as in proper front-line action like fighting in Iraq or Afghanistan. Also remember that the peace keeping mission are done alongside other nation.

Here is another instance to show that we lack the resource needed. Remember when we had a few skirmishes with Cameroon over bakassai peninsula? Most of the weapons and artilleries deployed to that area as a show off force are more or less Russian old school technology. Like I said before Nigeria's military are good within its own environment - Nigeria - and nothing more.

Look at the tactics used on the MEND war recently! It was more a case of carpet bombing the suspected target, no reconnaissance, no intel collection. Ideally, for a  group like MEND, an elite group of commandos could be used to take them all out instead of the 7000 or so forces used over there.

We can go on all we want, the fact is we are less equipped and poorly trained to do what is needed from our Military men.

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-281878.0.htm

Open your blooming eyes next time.

I have never understood what the game is about. Please enlighten me. Does it play like pro evo?

I think you should bear in mind that it is more or less the norm to charge people to enter a competition back home. It is usually claimed to cover "Forms and application packs". Just walk around yaba college and see various posters calling for some kind of talent but wanting people to pay for the forms etc.