₦airaland Forum

mbulela:
there might have been a case of tribalism and victimisation but the truth of the matter was that recklessness was the bedrock of the failure of commerce bank.
they must have only armed their enemies to harm them.

i do not trust anyone in the limelight in the Nigerian space (because in the past they have repeatedly disappointed and proven themselves to be hypocrites) but the only Nigerian bank i respected and still do respect is Mr. Atedo Peterside.
A man that was constrained by his vision, strategy and a willingness to b different.
I will like to hear his constructive criticism of the present debacle.

Yes, that is one man i also respected a lot, and still do. He is an ICON in the banking industry.
I think one reason he is a bit different from all the others is that he is or was more of an INVESTMENT BANKER and not a commercial one like the rest of the cowboys. Correct me if i am wrong, but IBTC was not involved in the sort of things the Oceanics, Intercontinentals etc were involved in. IBTC (until they merged with Chartered, Stanbic and co) had maybe a total of 5 or 6 branches nationwide, while the others were planting branches, whether or not there were business cases for such. I think these things all border on management, maturity and foresight - of which i think Atedo Peterside had.

Jarus:
Ok, let's wait and see.
I understand the burden of managing human and material resources in a very complex and competitive environment. I understand the intrigues and intricacies. I understand it could be rough at times, and save some patchings, results could be embarrassing and suicidal seeing what you've built over years subtly crumbling without trying to save it even if you have to jump the rules. In fact, with recent experience, I doubt if any CEO in Naija will survive if subject to thorough ethical check. I pity those CEOs. I wonder how they even sleep.
But sentiments apart, yemmyse, Akingbola's was of monumental proportion.

Can he deny that:
- he did not give out N250 billion to his associate companies which was used to buy shares in bank
- 78 percent of Intercontinental Bank’s shareholders’ funds were not eroded
- he did not have bad books in oil and gas as well as real estate(one of such real estates is just behind my house in VI annexe here,behind city of David church, sprawling a whole street, built with billions of Naira)

I'm not in anyway rubbishing Akingbola, but I think we need to look at issues dispassionately.

I Totally agree with you. The responsibility of managing a large company in Nigeria is difficult and tricky. I am of the school of thought that to stay in business in this country, you have to either cheat, turn a blind eye to some unethical practices your company engages in or be cheated. Further to this, i want to say that it is not only the banks that should be audited. Maybe other companies: Insurance, Telecoms, Manufacturing, ministries (Government), Parastatals, the Presidency, and maybe even Churches. It may just be seen that other CEO's have been dipping their fingers into the honey pot. The rot is everywhere.

In this case though, tribal or not, i see a case of victimization - for one reason or the other. Why? Because i see this as a case of sacking 5 robbers out of a known, lets say 100. Why is Elumelu still a CEO? Ovia, Atuche, Imokhuede and the others? Why is Egwu still a Minister? And Lukman, and others? Why is David Mark still the Senate President? Why is Yar'Adua still the president? Have all these people not made mistakes while in office? Are they performing any better than these CEO's performed?

Mark these words, regardless of what Sanusi does, there is no way the sector can be completely rid of the rot. When new CEO's are appointed and Sanusi leaves office in the future, the next CBN Governor will still find some fault with the new CEO's and MD's. The banking, or any other institution cannot be changed UNTIL THE SITUATION IN THE COUNTRY CHANGES. The banks and their CEO's are a product of the SOCIETY AND THAT CANNOT BE CHANGED BY SACKING 5 OR ALL OF THEM.

Let us also remember, my friends, that whatever venture anyone engages in [within the boundaries of our country, Nigeria] is bound to be tainted in one way or the other. If the government as an institution is not involved in that venture, people will be involved. Whichever way you look at it, someone is always trying to cheat, outsmart or use you. In trying to guard against being used by the government, other institutions or the people, you may end up breaking one or two rules and regulations, which will one day speak out against you. Yes, this happens in other countries, where you have to be smart when running a business. However, the problem in Nigeria is that because most big businesses want to survive successive government rules and regulations, they always, ALWAYS end up doing business with the government and/or promoting one regime or the other. This becomes a problem because since there is no continuity in our governments, every successive government finds fault with what happened in the previous dispensations.

This is where wahala starts!

Na wah o, James don come again!

Hmmmm, No comment!

“Nigeria needs an enlightened leader who can inspire confidence in Nigerians, whom Nigerians will be proud of, and who genuinely wants to transform the country,” he declared.
I agreed that Ribadu inspires confidence and will make a genuine effort to transform Nigeria if he becomes president of the country but again expressed concerns about his democratic credentials. I reminded them that when he was boss of the EFCC he virtually kidnapped or forced some House of Assembly members in Plateau state to impeach their Governor. I also reminded the three gentle men that during the 2007 elections Ribadu appeared to sit in his office and decide people to disqualify from running for office before finding evidence against them.

[quote][/quote]Nice article here. I also happen to have a friend and colleague who met Ribadu somewhere in Oxford where he apparently was involved in some academic fellowship. He said that he met Ribadu walking down a street on the way to dryclean some of his clothes. He said that initially he was unsure if it was the same 'high and mighty' Ribadu he was looking at but he quietly called out to him just in case. 'Nuhu', and lo and behold, Ribadu turned and answered. My colleague said that he was so gobsmacked when after relating to Ribadu for a few minutes, he realized that Ribadu had an almost 'childish' quality about him. Unassuming, innocent-like, friendly and very very open. My guy got the impression that Ribadu was speaking from his heart and not his head. Needless to say, he was invited to accompany Ribadu to his initial destination and later, back to his self contained flat for a light snack and further discussions. He eventually said that it will be difficult for anyone not to like Ribadu

While many of us have our opinions and reservations about Ribadu, i would first of all like to say that yes, he may not be completely innocent. In fact, i am of the opinion that none of our politicians is innocent of one or two attricities committed while in government. The way Nigeria is going now, is such that we will have to choose from the best of the worst - and this is where people like Ribadu, el-Rufai and a few others come in. It is not expected that whoever becomes a President in the near future is completely innocent because that will be difficult. Almost like someone going into a brothel, hoping to pay for sex with a virgin.

Based on your post above, concerning his democratic credentials, i am of the opinion that what Ribadu did may have been absolutely necessary. There are some people who we hear of today that I personally would disqualify from any elections, even before i can find any evidence against them. Otherwise concerning your issues with his kidnapping or forcing the HoA members to impeach a governor, i see nothing wrong with doing that especially if because of the 'immunity' clause, that particuar governor could not be indicted for some wrongdoings. I see nothing wrong with that as it is not something that the CIA, FBI or MI5 could not have done when trying to prosecute someone who did wrong.

Well, let us look to the future to see if Ribadu will be part of it. Personally, i think Ribadu and el-Rufai will make excellent leaders and will be akin to what and who Idiagbon and Buhari were. Strict, Decisive and . . .

kuramo:
Give Onovo the chance to prove he is up to the job, if he fails to live up to expectation then he should be held to account.

OK, lets give him a chance. I am not holding my breath though! One thing i have learned about public office holders and politicians in Nigeria is that they are ALL liars and blow 'hot air' until proven otherwise

Names like 'Old fool' or 'Agbaya' are not out of place.
If at 49 we do not have stable power, good infrastructure, etc amidst all the natural resources we have, what else can we call ourselves?

All na demo. Has this not been done before? How come these police men/aides found their way back to the ex-presidents et al again? Nobody can tell me now, that if i happen to see an Ex-governor or president now, that he will not have a policeman by his side! Maybe what they will do now is that these so-called police aides will no longer be in uniform.

i think so far, Fhemmmy has given one of the best answers o! The answer was that it is a tough question for which one will not know what to do until it really happens to you. This is one of those things that you can never plan for! Some people fit DIE sef - on the spot.

abeg, dont blame the Olubadan. He is looking for money to chop too,

Lol. All lies.
Half of them will disown their children. All that, 'i will sit her down and talk to her, ' is a pack of rubbish

Aloy_Emeka:
If you sack him, who will you replace him with?

Haba Aloy, people dey wey go replace him now! Even if it means trying out fresh younger minds.

Where did you get your info from? Lukman was trained at Imperial College one of the 'top' schools in the world as well as Bologna in Italy where he got a PhD. Other than that, Wikipedia (if we decide to believe what it tells us) states that he has some pretty heavy credentials. A Knight of the British Empire, A national Honour from France and Venezuela etc etc.
Based on qualifications (Bachelors, Masters, PhD), experience (OPEC boss for many years + minister of petroleum for many years too), politics (he is a northerner and has passed through many regimes) etc, there is NO ONE BETTER to run that ministry.
However, we are not looking at these things anylonger and there may be other equally qualified people with good credentials who can run that ministry. He is not the only one that has such qualifications and probably experience. Besides, like you said, the man is one of the old recycled people who should give way to younger and more vibrant minds. I am sure we are all tired of hearing this mans name over and over again. I have been hearing of him since the early 80's when i was still in primary school.

Tsiya:
These 2 guys reflect the general attitude of Nigerians. Literate but uneducated. We scubble over little things that doesn't make sense. Management ability or skills of individuals can not be evaluated by just education qualifications. Nor will past experience in different area be a guarantee of success in another area altogether. Successful organisations are build around people not an individual. The CBN governor can have all the qualifications he need, but he doesn't do all the work. He work with other people. His ability to assemble a team, delegate his responsibilities and evaluate their performance is what distinguish good leaders from good personalities. Everything depends on judgement. What we want is not a person that is good in memorizing text books and lecture notes. We want people capable of making independent thinking and giving good judgement of individual events as they come.

While i agree with your post somewhat, i would like to state that although your skills and ability are not evaluated by just education, education is an important asset anywhere in the world. Your type of education, level of education, place of education and time in education are major contributing factors towards your success in any given tasks.

Secondly, your past work experience is damn important too because it is from the accomplishments you have had in your professional career, your abilities can be closely monitored and assessed. Whether you have the required [academic or formal] qualifications or not, some organizations chose to overlook a good formal education for your natural skill and ability. This is however, vary rare these days. Look at most corporations where the founders are supposed school leavers (Bill Gates and co). They always hire those who finished from top schools with the top grades and rarely those who because they have a skill, dropped out of school.

In summary, EDUCATION + PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE is what we need to build a country, our country. Yes, there are always spaces for professional politicians but you cannot leave that kind of person to run your economy. You can never catch an uneducated man running a developed country's central bank or top financial institution - whether or not the country's financial sector is performing or not. You cant be a half-baked (forgive my language) educated person and be expected to manage the economy of a whole country when it is not a private business that is being managed.

When we look at people like Okonjo - Iweala, Adebayo Ogunlesi, Mervyn King (present governor of central bank of england), Ben S. Bernanke (Chairman of the Board of the American Federal Reserve Board), The head of the German Central Bank (who has a PhD) etc, you will find out that they are all extremely well educated (some of them PhD holders) and have impeccable and well documented professional career records. There is no way in hell you will have a half-education and a shady career and some countries will put you in charge of their economy - they dont care how gifted you are in managing people or making decisions!

Why is it that the foreigners always find a way of getting the best people to run their systems and we cannot? All this stupid zoning nonsense we have gotten ourselves into is running us down. If Sanusi is the best the North can provide, it is unfortunate that their best is not good enough. We have enough Southern and Eastern people who can run the show better!

Impressive! Now i am reading some good stuff on this thread. These are the points and arguements that people build on to support their research and theses.

Let us not also forget that Asia (India, China, Taiwan, Japan, etc) started out by copying the products made in the West. I remember those days when buying electronics, toys, clothes made in China/Taiwan/Korea etc was a taboo. Everything that was bought had to be made in Europe or The US. This was until the Asians started improving upon their products and started making them smaller, lighter and of course, cheaper - until it became possible to buy new things instead of repairing them (in parts of Europe of course). Look at the automobile market too. Who would have thought that the asians will take over the world with their cars and machines? Today, new entrants like Kia are everywhere and so is Daewoo. Tata from India, is now gaining ground, esp with their new 'cheapest car in the world' about to make its debut. Old school guys like Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Mazda are the best sellers the world over esp in the US where people are now trying to cut down on their fuel use. It is a well known thing that most American made cars are fuel guzzlers and the Asian made cars are very efficient (efficiency, being the Asians innovative contribution)

This is no far from how the Igbo's started. I am also old enough to remember the times when things were being made in Onitsha or Nnewi or the east in General. Where those boys could copy anything such that there were jokes that one day, they would make a human being. Where has all that gone now? NOWHERE. Everyone is trying to survive now such that many of those boys who would have been 'encouraged' to continue innovating are now traders - buying and selling spare parts INSTEAD OF FINDING WAYS TO MAKE THEM AND IMPROVE UPON THEM.

However, i still see some of those things around today. Makes such as KASSIO instead of Casio. SONNY instead of Sony and so on and so forth. Maybe encouraging those guys is not out of place. Encouragement in what sense?? Maybe patronizing them, opening up channels (other parts of Africa) for them to flourish in - I dont know!

Can we also suggest ways to encourage these guys?

After reading the whole article, Yar'Adua never said it explicitly, that he will deal with Fashola. What is apparent however, is the fact that Yar'adua is going to try flexing some muscle to make sure that Lagos reverts back to status quo. This however, is a big mistake. If MEND, ASUU, the current Northern Islamic fundamentalists rioters, the SS Governors and all other protesters are not enough for the 'sickly' president, he will have a battle with Lagos State and her population in his hands too.

I am of the opinion that the president does not have good advisers or if he does, he is not listening to them. Something i have also thought of is that Fashola is a SAN himself and will not (hopefully) do anything that he cannot back legally. Knowing him (Fashola) for what he has done and achieved so far, we see that he is a law abiding citizen who only wants the best for Lagos. If this issue of LG's in Lagos was illegal, Fashola would not have had the liver to reply the president in such tones as he did. He would have softpedalled and found a compromising way of reverting to status quo.

E be like say FG and Lagos wan enter boxing ring - maybe like what OBJ and Tinubu were engaged in

Lets all have a look at a few of the Nigerians abroad who are doing well:

Although they are all involved in formal research programs and are all academically oriented, this does not mean that those who are less academically oriented cannot be innovative and invent world recognized products. Like previous posters have shown, some of the earliest inventions - which are still in use today - were invented by those who either dropped out of school or were laughed at when they told people about what they were trying to achieve.

http://nigeriaworld.com/columnist/ajayi/030607.html

There are a few excerpts:

We have Professor Sunday Fadulu, a medical researcher on sickle cell anemia. His emphasis is on Medical Mycology, Sickle Cell Anemia, and Clinical Trial of Hemogenol. A drug to cure Sickle Cell Anemia/Thalassemia has earned him very high reputations in the field of science. Professor Fadulu was able to isolate the anti-Sickle properties as a medicine for sickle cell. One of his works is of the Orin Ata, Chewing stick. Nigerian Government has signed an agreement with a US-based pharmaceutical company, Xechem International Incorporated to produce sickle cell drugs utilizing the facilities of the Gateway Pharmaceutical Company, Ikangba, Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State.

Dr. Nelson Oyesiku is a board certified in Neurological Surgery and is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons. Dr. Oyesiku's clinical interests are pituitary and brain tumors and stereotactic radiosurgery. His laboratory has identified unique aspects of pituitary tumor gene expression and is developing a new modality for imaging and targeted therapy of pituitary tumors. He is also Professor of Neurological Surgery and Director of the Laboratory of Molecular Neurosurgery and Biotechnology

Dr. Augustine Esogbue, an Advisory Board member of NASA, Member, NASA's senior panel: Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel earned NASA Public Service Medal in 2006. He is a Professor in the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He is also the Director of the Intelligent Systems and Controls Laboratory which is currently investigating a hybrid approach to intelligent control via fuzzy sets, neural networks, and reinforcement learning theories as well as its application to various large-scale, nonlinear and uncertain dynamical systems. He is the first Black Professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology

naijatoday:
From his statement, I do not see any soft-pedal.

My own question is why is the president traveling out of the country, when his country is currently burning? Niger-Delta problem, Fighting in the North, Universities on Strike, he not implementing the budget.

During the G8 the China prime minster left the event because of fighting in one of the province. But baba go slow believes this is the best time to be going to brazil.

I have always suspected that each time Yar'adua leaves this country, it is not only for business. I always have the sneaky feeling that somewhere along the journey, he makes a stop-over in a hospital somewhere for either a check up or his 'usual' dialysis. They are just using these summits or working visits to other countries as excuses.

When i read this thread, i had to laugh out loud. From the insults btw Aloy.Emeka and platinumnk to the insinuation that all Nigerian business men in Houston are criminals until proven otherwise. I understand that statement perfectly because for years, i have had one of my own: All Indian and Lebanese business men in Nigeria are criminals until proven otherwise

Beaf:
When I say R&, I'm talking about instituitions like NIFOR, FIIRO etc or a commercial firms R& unit (e.g. Microsoft). Research in theis sense, is about improving either existing technology, theory or an existing invention. Inventions on the other hand are created by geniuses 100% of the time.
R& can provide an enabling enviroment for the inventor, but is not nessecary for the inventor. Thomas Alva Edison, the greatest inventor of all time didn't need R&, yet registered over 1000 patents.

This is a list of inventors http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_inventors. You will find that they tend to be independent; in that sense, I agree with you that the inventor does need some form of research, even if informal.

Oh ok. I see where you are coming from now!

However, with reference to your list, i noticed that there are no Sub-Saharan Africans listed as in, we Africans do not have any inventors on the list. How sad. There is only one South African (White South African) there and a few Egyptians.

I sincerely hope that in the years to come, when people are making a list of notable global inventions, we black Africans will find a place therein. This means that all of us have work to do

Beaf:
There is nothing to encourage inventing in Africa. Our societies kill the spirit of inventors and make it impossible for their dreams to materialise so they head of to the West or turn to crime.
From personal experience, friends, neighbours, acquaintances, other fellow country men and women are the first to beat you down when you invent something; "when oyimbo never make am, na you go fit make am"?
The Nigerian patent system is almost non-existent, no one wants to subject their invention to scrutiny by corrupt individuals, especially as patents are awarded to the first to come forward. Nigeria has blindly copied the patent system without applying our local circumstances to it. So Nigerian inventors with the werewithal run off to the US or Europe to obtain patent protection. A single US patent costs in the region of half a million Naira , what poor person can come up with this? If your patent is infringed, it can up to (and above) a hundreds million dollars to defend it in court; how many Nigerians can cough that up.

Contrary to what some are stating here, the brilliant mind does not need R& and to invent (that is for accidental inventions). R& is more useful for polishing existing inventions; the giant leap comes from the [b]individual mind.[/b]If this individual mind is nourished and taken care of, wonders will follow. Those wonders can then be funnelled out to the R& institutions like FIIRO etc.

Some people here, out of ignorance are thinking that Nigerian (or African) politics can be divorced from our lack of inventions. Within the current frameworks, the simple answer is that it can't and we will continue to be poor countries with 3rd rate science and technology.
Me and a couple of others are coming up with ways that should empower African inventors at the grassroots, as well as bring development and scientific thought to the grassroots. Unforetunately, we do not have a website yet, but that is being worked on.
Working at grassroot level is the only way to escape the backward effects of regional politics.

I do not agree where you say a brilliant mind does not need R&. I may agree that Development is for polishing existing inventions but Research is a primary ingridient in any invention or innovation. Research, being a search for knowledge or a systematic means of establishing something, is the foundation for any innovation anywhere in the world. It does not have to be anything formal but can be in a very informal setting.

ibelab:
hi guys! This is the best topic i ever come across here waoooo! u guys really got a point here.This is what we need, not some tribal argument,  where all the guys on NL?

You see now? When it comes to intellectual arguements, no one wants to answer. If we are arguing on why the Hausa's or Ijaws do not deserve a petroleum university, this thread go reach 4 pages.

Anyway, i was also thinking that until our government (or the private sector) sees the importance in upgrading our tertiary facilities, we will continue to wallow in the mud. Based on my earlier post, i just realised that even though a lot of Nigerians are excelling and will continue to excel in foreign universities owing to their ground breaking innovations, the recognition and royalty will not be Nigerian. The royalty and recognition will go to the institution and then the individual. Further grants and monies will continue going towards them to continually encourage them to build upon the initial successes.

Gone are the days when we had research institutes like NIFOR et al that lead the way in innovative products and processes. I read the other day that IITA, another agricultural institute, is contemplating leaving Nigeria for another country - where the environment is more condusive for research. They claimed that what the Federal Government was supposed to give them as their share of contributions towards research has been outstanding for years now. Other than that, the institute has to generate their own power. They have to manage their own water supply. They have to import all their research equipment even up to certain chemicals and reagents.

This also brings to mind the supposed battle that the FG is waging against the Oil Firms in Nigeria, concerning the Local Content thing. They want to be able to allow a certain percentage of local players to supply and implement various engineering processes within that sector. This is a typical example of something that will allow our technological prowess grow. If this happens, and there is some funding for the providers, they can improve upon their local equipment and begin to innovate and manufacture goods. But what has happened thus far? For years now, this push has come to naught. Who is being insincere here? The FG or the Multinational companies?  

Our private sector is not left out. Big local players like the Banks, Glo, Zenon are flying below the radar. Yes, they may award scholarships to some students sometimes, but are they investing in research institutes? Do they produce anything that needs fine tuning? Do they award research grants to universities or tertiary institutes to do anything? At least, we can say that they all implement some form of digital technology or the other. Would they not rather import ready made stuff to use?

We have a very long way to go and the journey has not even started. By the way, is ASUU still on strike?

rasputinn:
Why should economic climate determine when to invent?

Because Inventions need funding (money for research and development, R&). Inventions need to be patented (flawless and honest legal systems). Inventions need champions (people to spread the gospel of that invention). A poor economy does not and can not promote all these things.

However, it is likely that even with these flaws, inventions can still and will still happen. But more often than not, they will not make it to the big world. They will be stifled for one of the reasons above. We all remember the people that said that they invented the cure for one thing or the other. Did Nigerians not shout them down. Did anybody or organizzation come out to say, 'oya come, let us test and see if you are correct?' Nope, nobody came to their aid.

Recently, there is or was a guy in court that took one of the large oil companies to court over something he invented, which that company is making millions from. The company refused to acknowledge him as the inventor and refused to pay him his royalties. I dont know what has become of this court case now.

EHENH, these are the kind of things we should be arguing about on Nairaland and not whether one tribe should 'merge' with Republic of Benin or not. These are the kind of discussions that [should] move the country forward.

@AjanleKoko, i love your answer but i feel that it adds another point to what the posters HOD stated. His HOD did not talk nonsense but gave his own view of what the problem is. Yes, many scholars are hungry and cannot focus on research. Coming from a background in Nigeria's premier University, i experienced firsthand what happens to scholars when there are no research funds within the tertiary institutions to promote good research and new product developments. Now, i am based in the UK, where i worked with a university as a senior researcher. I can tell you that the gap between the University in Nigeria and the University here in the UK is so wide, that to be honest, i dont think we will EVER catch up in Nigeria.  Over here, i experienced what it meant to have businesses fund research running into millions of pounds and offer academics the opportunity to consult and work with industry. Within my small research group, we assisted industry with issues such as New Product Development, creating an enabling environment for these businesses to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship as well as offering consultancy services to these businesses to make sure they optimize their operations. That is why universities like Cambridge, Harvard, Oxford have a very high turnout of Spin-Offs from their universities in terms of start up technology companies. That is the reason also, top companies the world over such as Oracle, Microsoft, Google and co usually employ PhD students from these universities to carry on their research in the R & D Departments of these multinationals.

That said, things like Organizational size, External environments, Government/policy, maturity of educational sector and many more play a very important role in Innovation and entrepreneurship. Whether the economy is down or low, or high or bouyant is immaterial because with the shorteneing of the product lifecycle these days, companies the world over that do not or cannot innovate will surely die hence the new world mantra - INNOVATE OR DIE. That is why 'baby' companies like Huawei and Zte from China are giving mature companies like Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia etc a headache and run for market share. The rate at which they bring to the market, new products is alarming and the bigger western companies cannot keep up. They are bringing and have been bringing these products to the market, regardless of whether there is a world recession or not - meaning that the best time to invent is ALWAYS.  

Now, coming back to the problem with Nigeria. Our environment does not encourage innovation hence, like you said, all the Nigerian intellectuals are unable to innovate. The large industries we have here in Nigeria are here to make money and not to encourage any R & D. The Shells, Mobils, Unilever, Ericssons, Oracles, Ciscos, Microsofts and a multitude of others do not host any R & D labs in Nigeria because they see our economy as one that can be manipulated - or exploited (is a better term). Note that in countries like India, China, Japan, these same companies boast of R & D labs running into Millions of dollars and pounds and these are the countries - apart from US, UK, Germany etc - where a lot of new technology emanates from. The unseriousness also of our leaders to invest in education and make it mandatory for these behemoths to partner with them goes further to enable these companies exploit the situation.

Afterall, a number of Nigerian academics worldwide have led various innovative research successes. Men such as Emeagwali, Gabriel Oyibo, John Dabiri (a young scholar) and thousands of other nigerians are excelling and inventing new things in their fields of study. While i was with the university in the UK, i met hundreds of Nigerian academics and lecturers who are winning prizes around the world for new and innovative research, leading to New Product Development - some of which are on their way to becoming commercial. These guys are in all sorts of fields of study, from the physical sciences, to medicine to engineering. I can guarantee that very soon, we would see more innovators in our generation coming from all these areas of study

Sadly, they will come from universities in Europe, Americas and Asia. And not from Nigeria

al-qaeda:
my bro. not even 20 jerry rawlings can repair nigeria. nigeria is irrepairable. its getting worse everyday. its condemned, finished, dead, rotten, or any other name you like. thats the fact.

Bros, no talk like that o, things can still be good in the country. Take a cue from what Fashola is doing in Lagos. Who would have ever thought that Lagos can start the journey towards sanity? But the guy is doing a good job and if he continues - with the right funds and attitude - the sky is the limit.

Now, can the same thing not happen in Nigeria? Once a visionary leader sits in that seat of power, things will move along just well. Once processes and rules of law are put in place and enforced, things will change. Have you not noticed that when Nigerians are in other parts of the world, even in other parts of Africa, they behave themselves? It is because there are laws in place and these laws are no respecter of men. Regardless of who you are, if you break speed limits, you will be fined. If you throw litter, you will be fined. If you do certain things, you will be fined. If they cant fine you (due to diplomatic immunity, etc) they will throw you out of the country. These things can be successfully implemented in Lagos.

On the question of our readiness for independence, how are we in the actual sense to measure that? What are the metrics and performance levels we are to use for the analysis? Some may have reasons to support our readiness for independence while others may not. I think the question is subjective. My own is that we were not ready

The oyibos should have kicked our asses around a little more and then allowed us to go. However, that may not have achieved anything. Take the case of South Africa. They have been ruled by the whites for so long that their infrastructure and economy is one of the best in Africa. However, with the blacks having taking over, the country seems to be spiralling downwards. One of the most violent countries in the world, with one of the highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS, a president (black) that has been tried for corruption and rape, etc etc. Should we say now, that they were not ready for their 'independence' too?

We dont hate the country. We hate the CONDITION THE COUNTRY IS IN.

babapupa:
lmao, No wonder that place is messed up.


Once again, running around spitting the same old tired Yoruba people and OPC nonsense as if your last breath depends on it is not gonna develop the delta or help the people of the delta.


Clean your house 1st before running around blowing up other people, charity begins at home. That's what sensible and reasonable people do


Ode. Deal with it or kill yourself.

Eh, @babapupa, Wole Soyinka (a prominent Yoruba man) has finally spoken out o! His views are similar to mine. Kindly read these views

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-300692.0.html

ideas78:
Hello House,

May be we should trash this out once and for all.

Apart from people that needs to develop a career in networking/database or software development, do you think Cisco certifications or other relevant ones are really neccessary when you want to develop a career in a vendor environment or an operator when there are lots of on-the-job training on the equipments being deployed amongst other things.

Say for instance, i am into Switching/NSS/Core Network in Huawei or NSN (Nokia Siemens Network) with all the availbale training opportunities, is Cisco certification neccessary

Good point here. I dont think that the CISCO certifications are necessary. HOWEVER, they do give you an edge over others, when applying for jobs or when going for particular positions (DATACOMS, GPRS) within the telecom environment. This is because some of the switches used in these environment may be CISCO switches or something related which may require the knowledge gained from the CISCO qualification. That said, i know a couple of guys who are either working with the vendors or with the operators in their Core Network areas who do not have any CISCO qualifications.

Huawei or NSN or Ericsson all have their own in-house training programs, concerning their nodes. Once you learn from one of these vendors, it is easy to understand what obtains with any other vendor - that is one reason why it is easy to move jobs between them and with operators too.

Even though the idea is ridiculous, i think they will do a much better job than we are doing by ourselves now. Even if they decide to run us for their own economic benefit and enrichment (are we still not doing that now, with all the world bank and imf loans we take daily) we would have good and functioning facilities to optimize the returns to their own countries. We will have good infrastructure, constant power and even better schools (probably to train more 'slaves' to work for them )

babapupa:
Epiphany and banom,

It makes no difference, home is where you live and earn a living. The Igbo spare parts seller in alaba is a lagosian, baba suwe the meat seller in ilasamaja  is a lagosian, boniface in makoko is a lagosian, emeke the general manager in VI is a lagosian. You guys are so uselessly shallow, shortsighted and tribalistic that common sense and sound reasoning eludes you.

You dont seem to get the point, do you. MEND is not out to fight a tribal war with the Yorubas or Hausas or Nupe or anybody. If they were, there are enough Yoruba's working and living in the Delta areas to capture and kill. Maybe because they live in the Niger Delta, we should consider them as MEND people too - the same way that emeke the GM in VI is a lagosian? Can we logically do that?

MEND is fighting the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, those people in power presently who have the wherewithal to make changes in policy and governance. Unlike many may think, they are not even fighting Shell or Chevron or Mobil etc. They target these corporations because it is the quickest and surest way to get to the FG. Afterall, they warned these companies to STOP OPERATING in their areas before they were embarked on destroying them.

I am not saying that what MEND has done or is doing is the best - but when you push a man to the wall and he cant move anymore, he will fight back in a very vicious way. That is what the MEND boys are doing now.

debosky:
The manner in which they came in was indicative - without bidding, without 'due process', simply a 'handpicked candidate'. Go and read further on how many hurdles they had to scale in the US before Virgin America was licensed in order to prevent competition distortion. They came into Nigeria to make a dishonest killing by getting an extremely lopsided deal from a government they likely bribed, just like Halliburton and co did.

The fact remains, they should never have been allowed in - they didn't bid, didn't bring anything apart from a name, which we more than paid dearly for, and are now leaving a crippled airline behind, stripped of it's lucrative international routes.
Why are other airlines still flourishing? Aerocontractors, Bellview Airlines, Arik Air? Business environment indeed - was it business environment that induced a company that can't service it's debts into buying new jets?

I'm glad you openly stated your motivations - there has been nothing clean or honest in this deal from the get go - instead of allowing a rival airline to flourish and compete with it on international routes, why not provide a lame duck competitor who is essentially subsidising Virgin Atlantic through exhorbitant 'branding charges'?

Well i do get your point but it still comes down to our operational/business environment being porous. How on earth should they have been allowed in when they did not follow due process? No bidding? Anyway, i remember the period - we all thought that SAA was going to be the preferred partner and all of a sudden, Virgin got it. Can you blame a business man anyway? They are all opportunists. If Branson was invited by Obj to come and chop, of course he will come and chop

Other than that, i sometimes see the other airlines you mentioned as being very very strict in terms of their business. The airlines, Arik, Aero and Bellview are strictly privately owned hence have a different operational structure - a no nonsense structure. They are strict with their profits and keep it so. With very close friends and colleages working in VNigeria, tales of woe emaneted from their offices. Tickets being given for free to people, tickets being sold at ridiculous prices (i bought a return ticket to the UK for 47,000 once when a similar VA or BA ticket was going for over 90,000), unusual operational staff structures, unlike VN - in fact, some said that Virgin Atlantic considered Virgin Nigeria as, 'our disabled African half brother'.

All said and done, i personally think that being partly owned by the government has resulted in some of the problems they have today. Yes, Branson's may have contributed to this, but if we have well learned people who cannot negotiate proper terms and agreements between Virgin Nigeria and Virgin Atlantic, then we have a problem. Sorry, they have a problem.