₦airaland Forum

Let's be frank, most guys subscribe to DSTV because of football.
Why can't I pay for access to football-only channels at the right price.
The DSTV, cable TV model is dead - satellite, setup box, distribution, support engineers, admin office etc.
That model is cost-intensive to set up and run. It is not sustainable long term.
Just like Blockbuster & Netflix, we know who the winner will be.
Live TV as we know it has changed for good.
IPTV is the new normal. You just have to know the authentic ones to use.

Judatech raised an important point, "Compare your data expenditure for a month and multi choice fees let's see."
And my response to his point is this, "Compare your DSTV + Data expenditure in a month to only data expenditure."
His point presumes that those that use DSTV do not consume data = false.
Clearly IPTV + Data beats DSTV + Data every day.
Also, with IPTV subscription, you pay once for a whole year at the cost DSTV charges for a month - a no brainer.
Also, with IPTV you get access to more channels than DSTV.

It still amazes me how people keep stressing themselves with dishes, decoders, and all those monthly bills. Honestly, once you have a smart TV (or even just a phone or laptop) and reliable internet, you don’t need all that hardware anymore.

I’ve been watching live football, movies, and entertainment from across the world without any decoder in my house. No dish on my roof, no technician drama. Just an app, my TV, and internet. The sweetest part? I only paid once and that’s it for the whole year. No constant renewal headaches.

It feels like freedom. DSTV can’t keep holding us to ransom forever. Technology has already given us a way out.

If you’re still tied to cables and dishes, you’ll soon realize how unnecessary they are. A smart TV and internet connection is honestly all you need.

I honestly don’t know how DSTV has managed to keep Nigerians locked in for this long with their outrageous prices. Paying hundreds of thousands yearly just to watch football and a few shows never made sense to me.

Recently, I stumbled on something that changed the game completely – no dish, no decoder, no cables. Just download an app, connect to internet, and boom, you’re watching everything live. The shocker? You pay once for the whole year, not every month.

For me, it has ended the monopoly DSTV has enjoyed for too long. All I need now is steady internet and I’m covered. No stress, no hidden charges.

If you’re tired of the same old DSTV story, try it out and you’ll understand why I’m excited. Trust me, you’ll thank me later.
Send me a DM to get started.

So friends, I am a bit confused . . .

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, is asking bank customers to remain vigilant against excessive banking charges. . . so what exactly is the role of CBN

These excesses have been perpetuated under the very watch of the CBN:
You pay to get a debit card to withdraw your money from your account.
You are charged a fee whenever you transfer money online or you withdraw money from an ATM.
You pay stamp duty for every transaction over NGN 1000.
Then to nail your coffin, you pay a Card Maintenance fee for the same card you paid to acquire.

Each year Nigerian bank announce huge profits without doing any real banking work of financial mediation. I guess it is time we cleaned the Augean Stables.

To read more. . .
http://emekaenwere..com.ng/2016/03/cbn-governing-body-that-doesnt-govern_1.html

http://emekaenwere..com.ng/2016/01/nigeria-has-lot-to-learn-from-chile.html

As Nigeria passes through another difficult patch in its economic development, a huge opportunity exists for the most populous black nation to restructure and position itself for future sustained growth. In this light, it has a lot to learn from Chile, the quintessence of economic development in the last 25 years.

As recently as the early 1970s, Chile was about the poorest Spanish colony in South America with an entrenched socialist regime. However, with a measure of consistency in sound policy choices and good institutions, Chile has transformed into the most stable economy in South America with the highest per-capita income in the region. Chile is currently the only recognized “Developed Country” in Latin America and the first and only member of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) from that region.

How did Chile escape the underdevelopment trap transitioning from third to first world economy?

First, the economy was freed up by removing many of the tax, regulatory, trade and other impediments to growth imposed by the socialist regimes of the past

Secondly, the rule of law was established and maintained by an independent and efficient judicial system

Thirdly, in spite of its huge mining sector, the economy was gradually diversified to reduce over-dependence on commodity exports while private property rights protection was entrenched to avoid over-regulation and destabilizing corruption that plagues most resource-rich nations

Lastly, strict limits were placed on government size and spending keeping public debt and budget deficits under control

Chile’s emergence as a developed economy, despite its numerous challenges, is a clear proof that reaching development is more a function of adopting well-designed institutions and accurate public policies. Hence, there is also hope that Nigeria might also emerge as an economic leader in the Sub Saharan Africa sub-region if it starts implementing sound polices.

Amid many other things, Nigeria has to reduce regulatory and state control on the economy transitioning to a private sector driven economy. Heavy government involvement and control opens up avenues of corruption, which in turn discourages entrepreneurship. Likewise, the size of government also has to be cut down to free up necessary funds for capital expenditure and infrastructural development. All these will take time and calls for a comprehensive medium-to-long term economic road-map that stands regardless of changes in regimes.

http://emekaenwere..com.ng/2016/01/nigeria-has-lot-to-learn-from-chile.html

I looking for contacts of local fabricators that make machines for peeling the red skin off fried groundnuts.
Kindly send me an email - emeka.enwere@gmail.com.

Thanks

Hi all,

I need contacts of local fabricators that make machines for peeling the red skin off already fried groundnuts.
Kindly send me an email - emeka.enwere@gmail.com.

Thanks

Does anyone know a specialist doctor in liver ailments? My mom has a lump on her liver and I want to explore the best way of treating her.

I can be reached via mail emeka.enwere@gmail.com
Thank you.

The amount of misinformation in the media today is terrifying. And even more worrying is the fact that most Nigerians seem not to look for facts. The poor quality of thinking out there beggars belief. One such recent misinformation that has caught my attention is the way the seeming improvement in power supply has been credited to our recently inaugurated President.

First and foremost, the power sector has long been privatized to a large extent, except for transmission and pricing. It is therefore incorrect, to a large extent, to credit any improvement in the sector solely to any seating government.

The key driver for the sector is natural gas supply and most people do not get it. Eighty per cent (80%) of the power generated in Nigeria comes from thermal stations with only twenty per cent (20%) coming from hydroelectric stations. Hence a lot depends on natural gas supply:

The power sector has always had the issue of inadequate gas supply to the thermal plants either through vandalism of our gas pipelines or a complete lack of supply. The local supply of gas has always been inadequate due to the existing arbitrage opportunity between local and global natural gas prices. Global gas price has always been higher making it more profitable to export gas. The price for gas in Nigeria is regulated by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC). For a long time, natural gas price was fixed at $1.5 per thousand cubic feet (MCF) while international gas price has hovered around $3.6 MCF peaking at $5.0 MCF in early 2014.

The Federal Government in December 2014 announced an increase in the price of gas to $2.5 per MCF effective from January 1, 2015. Coincidentally, the global price of natural gas started tanking in November 2014 and currently sells at $2.68 MCF. This explains the boost in local natural gas supply to our power generating stations, hence the improvement in power generation to about 6,000 megawatts (MW) while we transmit only about 4,800 MW. However, this is still far from adequate as Nigeria’s power need is closer to 20,000 MW. The seeming improvement in the experience of power supply is as a result of power consolidation in a few regions like Lagos and Abuja – ideally this is how it ought to be. But as a direct result, some other regions in the country are currently experiencing less power supply as.

Has power generation increased?
Yes it has “slightly” increased.

Does the seating president have anything to do with it?
The improvement is largely due to improved gas supply due to market forces pushing global prices south and NERC reviewing local gas price upwards. But since the revision has done even before the current president was sworn into power, the answer is a “No”.

Do we now have adequate power supply?
By all means “No”. We are generating just about a fourth of our current power need which will grow by twenty per cent (20%) every 3 to 4 years in line with growth in per capita income.

Source: http://emekaenwere..com.ng/2015/09/of-recent-power-supply-improvement-in.html

In 2014, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced the rebasing of Nigeria’s 2013 GDP figures from N43 trillion ($270 billion) to about N81trillion ($510 billion). Subsequently, Nigeria (previously the third largest economy in Africa behind South Africa and Egypt) was heralded as the largest economy in Africa. This is very reminiscent of its “Giant of Africa” tag in the 70s and 80s. The rebasing exercise has raised a lot of questions about its meaning and relevance. Critiques complain that it is of no real value since much of the touted growth is non-inclusive: There is rising inequality with much of the country’s wealth residing in the hands of a very privileged few while the masses wallow in abject poverty.

Though the points raised above are valid, I would like to put the “largest economy” tag into perspective by looking at government budget (revenues and expenditures). But before we take a deep dive, I would first like to state that size does not necessarily imply quality. That Nigeria is the largest economy in Africa does not imply it is the most advanced, modernized, or developed. A Rising GDP is just a necessary but not a sufficient condition for economic development.

Before touching on government budget, let’s take a quick look at GDP per capita.


Per capita income is a measure of average income per person in a country. It is the GDP divided by the total population and measures how prosperous a country feels to each of its citizens. GDP in turn is the market value of all “officially” recognized final goods and services produced within a country in a given period (NBS).


Source: AnswersAfrica. Top 10 African Countries with the Biggest Economy
Looking at the table above, out of the ten largest economies in Africa by GDP; Nigeria comes 7th in terms of per capita GDP. Despite being the largest economy in Africa, the standard of living in Nigeria remains relatively low. Viewed the other way round, it simply implies that given Nigeria’s population size its GDP should be way above its current rebased value of $569 billion.


Source: CIA, The World FactBook

A country’s national budget is very important as it is the expression of public policy determining the allocation of resources and consequently economic growth and expansion. Governments are governed mainly by their budgets, which are written estimates of anticipated revenue and expenditures during a specific period of time. Nigeria ranks a miserly 6th out of the top ten African economies in terms of budget. The revenue accruing to the federal government of Nigeria in 2014 is a meager $23 billion while South Africa earns about $87.1 billion. Hence South Africa’s revenue is four times that of Nigeria even though Nigeria’s economy is about twice that of South Africa. Likewise South Africa’s expenditure ($102 billion) is three times that of Nigeria ($34.62). South Africa earns and spends more than Nigeria and this in part explains why its economy is far more developed. Excluding Nigeria and the bottom three countries (Sudan, Ethiopia, Tanzania), the other countries' budgetary expenditure as a percentage of their GDP averages 36%. Nigeria budgetary expenditure is merely 6% of its GDP. If Nigeria is to spend 36% of its GDP, its budget will be about $200 billion.

Based on its GDP, Nigeria should be earning more revenues than South Africa and it can earn more if it strengthens its tax systems and continues to diversify the economy. The World Bank currently classifies Nigeria as a lower-middle-income economy (countries with GNI per capita between $1,046 to $4,125) with robust growth averaging 7% for the past decade. However, it is currently threatened by exchange-rate volatility and falling global oil prices that impact public-sector revenues. Lower revenues due to the over-dependence on oil (oil accounts for 75% of the country's revenues) means ever dwindling government expenditure on much needed infrastructure required to develop the country.

This brings me home to my question, “Given that Nigeria needs to develop and modernize, must its spending on infrastructural depend solely on what government generates in revenues? The answer is “NO.” The Africa Infrastructure Country Diagnostic (AICD) Report for 2011 estimates that Nigeria requires sustained spending of $14.2 billion per annum over the next decade in order to address the infrastructure challenge. Furthermore, it is estimated that Nigeria needs N10.63 trillion ($67 billion) for road upgrades, bridge repairs, the energy sector, hospitals and schools. Clearly, Nigeria must borrow to be able to build new infrastructure. As early mentioned, Nigeria should be spending close to $200 billion and if the country is serious about developing, it has to borrow to cover the current revenue shortfall. However, budgetary discipline and a change in fiscal policy are needed to ensure money borrowed is judiciously employed. Nigeria’s budget should ideally be clocking the neighbourhood of $200 billion is we are serious about advancing our economy.

Countries with growing vibrant economies usually take on more debt to finance economic development. Governments borrow to maximise their GDPs and grow their economies. Ironically, the opposite is the case in Nigeria. Despite the fact that the economy has been growing at 7% for over a decade, Nigeria has maintained extraordinarily low debt levels of about 9.9% since 2005 (compared to an average of 60% in Eurozone countries- IMF). Nigeria has a very poor road and rail network, only one functional seaport, and a largely inadequate power supply system. With our current budget levels, we will keep taking ten years to build a ten kilometer road. It is best for Nigeria to follow the BRICS model where on the average, debt to GDP ratio is 41.7%.

Source: http://emekaenwere..com.ng/2015/09/putting-largest-economy-in-africa-tag.html

When and how did we get it completely wrong? I mean, how can we as a people, a nation, completely lose focus? Governance has been reduced to one big comedy show filled with power tussles, propaganda, and slug fests between opposing political camps. The entire nation has become so glued to this show airing round the year non-stop and people no longer discuss issues or ask key questions. As a result, our politicians are running wild and our dear nation keeps crawling and creeping instead of advancing in leaps and bounds.


I have an issue with the way our states are being run with governors shirking their core duties with impunity. The way we practice our version of federalism is appalling. It is a situation where every state governor is fully focused on the central government, refers all matters to the central government, waits for the central government, and even lives in the federal capital. Most, if not all, states of the federation have been reduced to glorified administrative units of the federal government. They basically process payroll and occasionally execute one or two non-economic or social impacting project(s) that they later use to embark on sustained media propaganda with the widespread, now famous tagline - dividends of democracy.

Apart from Lagos state, most states of the federation depend solely on allocations from the central government and do not generate or intend to generate enough internal revenues to prosecute any appreciable social and economic development. Everyone waits for the federal government to take them to the long awaited promise land.

To refresh our minds, a federal system of government simply means that governmental powers are shared between the central government and its components - state and local governments. The federal government simply sets the policies and is in charge of security and defense. The rest of the work (and that is a whole lot) lies with the states. States and LGAs are assigned primary responsibility for the delivery of basic public services like primary education, primary health care, potable water and sanitation, and local roads linking communities to schools, health facilities, markets etc. Lagos state is a case in point. Pipe borne water is almost non-existent in the entire state apart from areas like Yaba, Surulere, Ikeja and environs where laid by the colonial government. Primary schools and secondary schools are in a terrible state and primary health care facilities are far from adequate.

The argument usually comes up that the current situation with our federalism is far from perfect. The federal government in Nigeria encroaches upon the jurisdiction and sovereignty of states and we are yet to get our fiscal allocation policies right hence most state cannot achieve much given the financial restrictions they face. My response to this is that even with this backdrop, state governments can still do a whole lot. If each state focuses on one sector at a time, a lot can be achieved over the years. And in any case, most state governors, past and present, have been accumulating enormous amount of debt burden on their respective states. What exactly have they achieved with all these loans?

Expecting the federal government to solve all our existing problems is like expecting a manager to do eighty per cent (80%) of the work for his direct reports. It should be the other way round. It is high time our people wake up from their slumber (and while awake avoid being completely sucked into the soap opera on show at the federal level) and start demanding more from their state governors. These people should be held accountable for not bringing about some level of progress in their states.

Source: http://emekaenwere..com.ng/2015/09/why-have-state-governors-gone-off-radar.html

Nigeria has to borrow its way out of the current economic slump.

As most are aware, the construction sector in Nigeria has shrunk considerably over the past three quarters with most workers losing their jobs. This follows fast on the heels of the massive retrenchment in the oil and gas sector. Most firms have also put a hold on recruitment until when the economy recovers. With these telltale signs on show, one does not need a soothsayer to proclaim that the economy is tumbling.

So far, the Nigerian government has been doing its best to stabilize the economy mostly through monetary policy actions. Understandably, the government, with its dwindling resources, does not have the financial muscle to engage in expansionary fiscal policy. Nevertheless, with the magnitude of economic decline we are currently facing, we need a combination of loose monetary policy and expansionary fiscal policy to get the economy working again. This brings me to my premise: the federal government should borrow to bolster the economy given its extremely low debt profile (Debt-to-GDP ratio of about 11%).

When the economy begins to suffer from slowing growth and rising unemployment, it is usually because there is not enough money circulating in the economy. Therefore, governments usually step in to inject money into the economy. This is done either by adjusting taxes and government spending (expansionary fiscal policy) or by adjusting interest rates and reserve requirements, and buying bonds (loose monetary policy). Sometimes it is expedient to make use of both.

According to Keynesian fiscal theory, due to the inability of the market and the economy to self- regulate especially in times of recession, there is a need for government intervention to jump-start the economy by injecting some money into it. This can be achieved via a mixture of demand-side stimulus (putting money into the hands of middle and lower class consumers, to stimulate spending) and supply-side stimulus (cutting business and corporate taxes to encourage reinvestment into new businesses and large-scale expansion, thus generating more jobs).

With global crude oil prices currently mired in the $40s, the federal government needs to borrow the money it needs to initiate and complete capital projects earmarked for 2015 as well as fund 2016’s budget adequately. Spending on infrastructural projects as well as meeting recurrent expenditure obligations (ensuring civil servants and pensioners are paid) will go some extent to put money into circulation and stimulated economic growth.

Source: http://emekaenwere..com.ng/2015/11/nigeria-should-borrow-its-way-out-of.html

Interesting...
Let's hope they all perform credibly well.
If the goal is to merge ministries, I wonder why Aviation & Transport were not merged. I mean, that is a no brainer!

A lot of words in the English language are mispronounced due to misplaced emphasis/stress, pronouncing silent letter(s), or a blatant error in pronunciation.
Some mispronounced English words are peculiar to Nigerians and I have selected 10 of them (the stressed syllable is in CAPITAL letters).

1. Adjacent [əˈdʒeɪs(ə)nt]
This one usually goes unnoticed as most people wrongly stress the first syllable instead of the second.

Wrong: AH-jah-sent
Right: ah-JEY-sent

2. Oasis [əʊˈeɪsɪs]
The first syllable is wrongly stressed instead of the second.

Wrong: OH-wa-sis
Right: oh-WAY-sis

3. Verbatim [vɜː(r)ˈbeɪtɪm]
Most people wrongly stress the first syllable.

Wrong: VAH-bah-tim
Right: vah-BAY-tim

4. Machete [məˈʃeti]
This one always gets me cracking.

Wrong: MAH-tchet
Right: ma-SHEH-tee

5. Annihilate [əˈnaɪəleɪt]
Most Nigerians add an extra syllable and also stress the last syllable.

Wrong: AH-neehee-LAIT
Right: ah-NAILAIT

6. Obese [əʊˈbiːs]
The last syllable is usually pronounced wrongly

Wrong: oh-BEHS
Right: oh-BEES

7. Beret [ˈbereɪ]
The last syllable is usually pronounced wrongly.

Wrong: beh-REHT
Right: BEH-ray

8. Marijuana [ˌmærɪˈwɑːnə]
Be mindful of the letter ‘J’ here.

Wrong: mahroo-JUWANA
Right: mahroo-WANA

9. Spinach [ˈspɪnɪdʒ]
The last syllable is usually pronounced wrongly.

Wrong: SPEE-natch
Right: SPEE-nitch

10. Banquet [ˈbæŋkwɪt]
The last syllable is usually pronounced wrongly.

Wrong: BAN-kwet
Right: BAN-kweet

http://imuseblogger..com.ng/2015/08/10-words-nigerians-often-mispronounce.html