₦airaland Forum

Rossikk: The African leadership that succeeded the post colonial progressive leaders were intimidated by the sabotage/assassination of their illustrious forbears - Nkrumah, Patrice Lumumba, Sankara, Amílcar Cabral, Murtala Muhammed etc etc. presumably with the involvement of foreign intelligence agencies. The succeeding generation of leaders became more pliant to foreign imperialist machinations.

The way to sidestep this problem is to depersonalise leadership. Instead of having a Castro or Chavez, spread the power and responsibility to effect progressive action to institutional structures like the national assembly, central bank, house of reps, state govts, the various ministries, the military, and even the private sector. Then the enemies won't know who to target .

While agreeing with the first half of your comment
i beg to disagree with the second half

Leadership by its very definition points to a person or few persons
Depersonalizing leadership is another way to say outsourcing leadership to many
Only highly sophisticated groups can work this way

Perhaps what you meant was that a lot of people should be trained to have leadership capabilities
or that institutions should be strenghted to perform their roles

The question becomes who strengthens them?
Should they together with the 'leader' be applauded to stumble and fumble until they reach lala land?

Intelligent institutions build scenarios as fail safe measures
(If A happens, do B. If B has K leg escallate to C
B has K-leg when if u draw a straight line and tell K to walk on it, he cannot etc)

Katsumoto: The education revolution should follow whatever vision the leader has. For instance, if Nigeria is to go the manufacturing root, the emphasis should be on courses that support manufacturing. Similarly, if it is agriculture, then some emphasis should be on that as well. I am not stating that other courses be neglected but that unprofitable courses like zoology and horology be dropped. Well maybe horology until Nigeria has a watchmaking industry.

Since Nigeria has a booming film making industry, why are there no acting/dancing schools, why are courses such as cinematography, editing, screenwriting, production, etc. absent from the media faculties of Nigerian schools? Instead you have microbiology graduates auditioning for parts in movies. The Nigerian movie industry has been booming for at least 20 years; are university dons sleeping? I maybe mistaken as I am only speculating; I don’t know much about Nigerian schools.

The leaders should also offer more options; an education revolution must start with an economic and social revolutions Otherwise, as soon as the revolution takes place, everyone starts trying to get into those programs. For instance, if government encourages small and medium firms, entrepreneurship, finance and provides an enabling environment – infrastructure, then more folks would be less dependent on the small number of white-collar jobs. Small and medium firms are the mainstays of the economies of countries such as Germany, US, Switzerland, Belgium, etc

I couldnt have said it better
(Did u watch Isha sesays interview with Amata (the producer)?

When he said Nollywood meant not hollywood u cld see that Isha was taken aback that she didnt find this out
This information wasn not easilly available to the general public)

How come our universities dont churn out research and publications on striving industries in Nigeria?
The dons are aparently a product of a dismal educational system that do not see the need to research and institutionalize Nigeria's potentially thriving industries

so so copy and paste

omonnakoda: Ibos are better than everyone else.Ibos account for 80% of non-oil GDP.The best doctors and lawyers are Ibo.Achebe the best writer was Ibo.Ojukwu the best soldier was also Ibo.

of course you are right
Even I am the most handsome dude in the world, and so is my girlfriend

.....Its just a pity that that a55hole couple, Mr and Mrs Jayzee dont feel that way

(Although fully understanding your intentions of tilting the debate, I respond because others might feel your comments as meritous of an e-battle which will ultimately undermine the efforts invested on this thread by capable thinkers)

Soft palms
to slide on me and make be believe that I'm experiencing .......

omonnakoda: Merit means being Ibo.Ibo are most meritorious

This might not be rigorous enough, but nevertheless a great place to start

In states largely occupied and indeginous to the 'merit-ious' group
has there been an explosion of advancement in good governance and economic prosperity?

In George orwel's book -Animal Farm, the animals kicked out man thinking the farm will become paradise
The pigs had their own agenda and soon became the new oppressors making deals with men

Some things are universal my good friend

Something peculiar to most or all groups in our space which reflects in the collective group is a dearth of CAPABILITY
We need to THINK not simply falling back on misguided ethnic sentiments

Gbawe: You are 100% correct but my worry is that the behaviour of our leaders mirrors the attitude of many ordinary Nigerians.

Another excellent presentation
Digging deeper, we'll find that this a chicken and egg situation
Corrupt and ineffectual leaders come from corrupt and ineffectual people
Corrupt and ineffectual leaders create corrupt and ineffectual people
..a viscious cycle

But interestinly, its easier to change one person than a group of 10
in the same vain demanding accountability from a small leadership class making up not more than .5% of the population
should be easier than converting the entire Nigerians

All we need in Nigeria right now is for one person at the top (the president) to be a fast striking change agent
With our present political structure, he can only get there by mistake
..similar kind of mistake that brought Jonathan, a minority, to power

Gbawe: True. I think this is something we must approach as a science. I.e we must make deliberate effort to ensure education is deliberately driven towards raising innovative minds and solutions providers. This can bear fruit massively for the African continent.

Nobody mentions "education revolution" but I think it is needed urgently and more than anything else otherwise the "economic revolution" mentioned here will simply remain what it is in reality. The plundering of Africa's wealth with average Africans themselves remaining largely the poorest beneficiaries of the wealth being created.

Great
This brings us to the topic:
"What kind of education?"
If we scale up the present education model we have by say 1000% do we think that this will produce much positive results?
I doubt

What I think it will bring about are:
-more people wanting to weaar tie
-running away from farming
-job hunters
-Stealing money to keep up with the assumed middle class life style etc


I think there should first be an education revolution withing the present education model itself

^^^

Ideas:
Spinning out ideas has its use
Although action is better

The lessons of karl marx and Stanlin shows that when ideas are birthed
some reader that is more prone to action might think through them and adopt them

Action:
I agree with you
Ideas can only be successfull actioned by a group in close proximity
I remeber stories of how Military cadets from some west african countries after schooling in nigeria
go back home to overthrow their government

But ideas need to be firmented before a group adopts it and implements it
otherwise, you'd have half baked revolutions
Libya, Nigeria -(NADECO), Egypt etc

For those of us that refer to Merit as the challenge Nigeria faces
we need to think again

What exactly is merit?
is it the tick box approach leading to progressive certificates?
How do you classify social skills? i.e the ability to relae with others
which has been shown to take people even further

I have seen British BEng grads driving trucks. Not because they wanted to,
but the system felt that they fit in there just fine

I have seen Nigerian PHd grads as security men in UK -The system felt that is where they fit in

I'd rather that merit be defined beyond paper qualification into ones emotional intelligence
If Obama with his merit had gone about shouting nigger and black freedom, or that whites are oppressing him
e no for dey where ihm dey now

Merit has a lot to do with ones ability to successfully strategise bearing in mind her environment

...thats my take

Gbawe: .... and it will be that way for a long time because of one very crucial aspect of things many do not factor into their thinking. The money being made and taken out of the African continent. We are better of investing , without any compromise whatsoever, in top quality education aiding optimal human development that invariably creates solution providers.

We will get out of trouble quickly when many of our youths are effective 'trouble shooters' and solution providers. We need to create a cadre of young people able to harness the potentials of their own land instead of what we have now where many Africans are 'blind' and impotent bystanders in the 'carve-up' of their own continent.


When, as one example, we find oil, who positions themselves to gain financially by helping us extract it from the ground? Do we have the skilled manpower to control all facets of managing our endowment? We need to get real and plan through robust education or continue to lag behind while dreamers, supposedly the intelligentsia of the continent, write cheques for Africa our empty bank account cannot cash.

When I speak of lack of 'management skills', i speak of something that includes something like what u've called out
Many African nations seeem to have a challenge in 'strategy thinking'
-the ability to match action with consequence and map it to the environment, while making crucial positioning
much like chess

Hypothesis:
For some time now, i've been suspecting that it has something to do with our cultures
Our cultures did not expand into fighting major continental battles needing large strategic thinking
we did a lot of clan fightings
with imports from far flung nations -horses, gun powder etc
Somehow this was embedded in stories that were passed down and made us who we are

Now we seek to replicate this
our strategic thinking is narrowed down into fighting the next person or next community
To acheive this we need to have a war chest full of corrupt money
and import henessey, love oyibo and sell our souls to them, etc to give us a sense of confidence

Can u see a connection between the bolded-s and italic-s texts?

obadiah777: OH YE DAUGHTERS OF EVE * PICKS RACE *

U better get ur lazy behind to the romance section
another backslidden son -LastApostle, don reach there

If u no take time, u'll be the only human left in heaven
while others will be chilling out in Eden with their Eves

Kai
This work no easy o
everyday i go come romance section come read textbook of comments
yet action never start

If na so my mama do my papa, nobody for born me o
abeg wen una start make Eze Promoe kindly send me email

For now make I go chase money to take buy mouka foam for my bride's nacking

^^^^^

Lets do some critique of this:

omonnakoda: ..."Our focus in Nigeria and Africa should be how do we enhance regional cooperation and trade"

So HOW do we enhance regional cooperation and trade, and WHY?

^^^^
Thanks dude
tnx
*Breaths a sigh of relief*

Ihm be like say many of una papa get money
una no dey go work or go school?

Morning, afternoon and night una dey here dey look the opposite se.x from a safe distance

GraceBestowed: [color=#CD3700] ^^^ I'm, honestly, tired of hearing/seeing this 'no wonder you people are not married at 40' talk! There are MANY non-Christians who are unmarried at that age. Also, most of the people I know are married!

Bottom line is this, you may find chastity restrictive, but another person might find it appealing! ^^^ [/color]

Dont mind them
just come to me slowly ehn

i will chastice u
I only do massages

Sheit!!!
what am i saying?

Jesus pls forgive me for falling for fine gial

all4naija: The news coming out of Nigeria on Al Jazeera just few minutes ago is appalling. The images are irritating of the Makoko residents. Jeez! I have never seen anything like it before that human beings are living like that in Nigeria. The condition is worst than living in hell fire!

The economy revolution must affect these sect of people or else we are just creating another suffering within that country. The government must make effort to reduce the population to meet infrastructural provision. There is urgent need to contain the poverty in Nigeria. I think it is one of the worst in the whole wide world.

what really is poverty?
Maslow proposes that mans motivation is driven in heirachies
1st is food, cloting and shelter, then security
They have daily doses of fish meal. They even sell fish in exchange for other staples
(I guess that is why the community was expanding before the government crackdown)

I think the place is unhygeinic (i'd rather not say dirty)
I think they lack oppurtunity to thrive beyond their boundaries
but I dont think they are poor (not using world body definitions)

Are herdsmen poor?

tomakint: If our major problem is not 'Corruption' then what will be our problem then, my friend, let's face it, Corruption remains the bane of our development till date, forget about our lack of management skills and if you think some corrupt-minded people cannot remove a bolt from a plane just to make easy money not minding the lives of those flying that plane, then you need to think again!

You did not get it.
You dont need to agree with me, but you need to throw emotions aside and think of what I am saying

I have not said corruption is good
I have said that corruption is only a subset of some greater challenge
I have inferred that if oil is being produced in such large quantity in nigeria, and the country is not corrupt but lacks 'effective management' skills (for lack of a better description) nothing will be done
In fact, some other country seeing such a gap will corrupt us to take the oil

Think about this slowly. Dont rush it

tomakint: ............. the problem with us is us! Even if the government donates N1 trillion yearly to boost agriculture there is still a 'devourer' called Corruption lurking somewhere to swallow whatever the government is supplying! This current system of government (Presidential system of Democracy with too much central powers) needs to be looked into for anything positive to work in this country, the problem with Africa is minimal, but we compound those problems by adopting a system of government that keeps enslaving us through the hands of the evil-machinated Bretton Woods Institutions harsh policies - you can quote me!

I do not believe that the major problem with us is corruption
Even if we are not corrupt, I suspect we will still be underdeveloped

We primarily lack effective management skills
With the lack of management skills comes corruption and other ills

If we have effective management skills, we will know what we can afford to eat (corrupt) and what we cant afford to eat.

If you know the science behind a plane, and that if a certain bolt is removed , that the plane is 70%likely to crash. You wont eat the money for the bolt

But if you think the plane flying and remaining the air is a miracle wrought between God and oyinbo, chopping the money for the bolt wont be a problem to u

PapaBrowne: This is where we have missed the point. I referred to Knowledge economy and not Service economy. They are two entirely different phenomena.

It is acceptable that you approached the two differently
However they are not in the real sense entirely different (maybe that's why we lumped them together)

Drucker's reference was on technological inovation as a source of creative destruction -otherwise captured as knowledge economy
Service industries/economies do not have tangible goods as end products

The ability for Services to be competive (within a perfect economy structure)is its ability to effectively utilize knowledge resources -eg A company becomes a brand with institutionalized learning

Products can be differentiated through the utilization of knowledge economy -eg a phone becomes iphone

In summary Products are differentiated by services which are an outcome of Knowledge utilization


In the Nigeria context, (which has not really gone through industralization), it would be correct to mention knowledge and service economy in the same breadth if it refers to the jump from production of tangible goods to production of intangible goods (services) which requires abrupt but technology driven innovative thinking (knowledge economy) for example coding, internet banking, Auditting firms utilizing smart tech, etc

Pukkah: I even think our government's policy should change with respect to FDI.

FDIs, whether portfolio investors or not, will eventually go back to where they came from. As they say, capital has a nationality.

I agree with you. I think policy makers should design an instrument to ensure that FDI's are maxed before returning back to host country. It could also be designed for example in such a way that FDI's on returning back to host country should be managed for a year or two by coys' with at least 100 aboriginee Nigerian citizens in Middle management posititions

For a developing country like Nigeria whose national firms are still under-developed, won't it be better to restict FDI at least in some industries and raise national firms so that they become alternative investors to foreign companies.

The challenge with this is lack of cheap capital accessible to Nigerians. Whereas FDI's are cheap as they are long term institutional investments sometimes owned by pension schemes.
-In Nigeria, loans from the banks come at cut throat prices
-Most folks with capital in Nigeria stole it, so they can't afford to expose themselves like that. They'd rather keep it in a developed economy, and the Financial institution in that country invests in Nigeria as FDI
- Our pension schemes that should provide long term finance are being pillaged by the caretakers -enter Maina and Co in the multibillion naira pension fraud

Alternatively, the government can encourage foreign investment that will enable us grow the capabilities of our firms faster by (for example) requiring joint ventures. Such JVs will promote the transfer of managerial techniques or demand more active tech transfer.

Agreed
However, when some ill educated but connected folk finds his way into policy making, how can he/she conceive thoughts like this?

I'm not saying we should blindly reject foreign capital but we should be mindful of the fact that capital has a nationality. The intention of the capital also matters.

Excellent summary
But guess what. We dont think that far. All we want is to be mentioned in the same breadth as the BRICS nations -BRINCS
Get our pictures and comments posted in international journals '"The Banker" (remember Cicilia Ibru and crew)

Make presentations where we are seen to be rubbing shoulders with McKinsey, CNN, Boston Group and Goldman Sacchs Top economists

I believe that Service economies are a myth if not sustained by a vibrant financial/banking sector
Reason is because Service is largely subjective and not really measurable

Why is the investment world so crazy about BRICS nations?
One of the reasons is because their economies are driven by production.

Whereas goods can be monopolized (OPEC as an example), its difficult for services to be monopolized
That is why the western world is serious about patents and were ready to hit Samsung real hard in its battle agains iPad

Proxytalk: I quite disagree with ur point 1. the FDI witnessed during 06/07 was more of portfolio investors no matter the value of such investment it doesnt count cos they dont add real value. u see how their exit collapsed the economy and NSE. right now there serious investors in rice prod. power, fabrication manufacturing. They add real value cos they cant easily pool out

Agreed.
But I was referring to the general FDI portfolio

NIGERIA ATTRACTIVE TO FOREIGN INVSESTORS
what drives the thinking apart from economic indices (forgive my lazy approximate statistics)?

1) With a Southern president from a minority tribe, producing a large amount of the crude oil, the country cannot break up or go into war till at least 2015 ( thats if power changes hands). Other regions have more to loose if there is a break up, and the south-south will definitely not think about it now)

2) More that 50% of the population is under 30, and driven by consumption rather that Savings -They'lll steal and prostitute to buy Hennesey and Brazillian weaveons. N49billion was consumed by Nigerians on Liquer last year I think)

3) It can only get better: With the war in the North, Nigeria is still able to grow. If the war stops, another 90 million consumers will be added to the milking factory

4) The pre-independence powermongers are dieing off thereby freeing up money that have been stached as savings

5) Investments can be pulled from Nigeria at short notice. All they need to do is pay consultants to see to this ie bribery

Ahhhhh
Finally ...a cerebral economics thread


1) FDI in Nigeria is not unprecidented as of today. Prior to the burst in 2007 is when we had unprecidented FDI
2) Analysts are always on the look out for themselves. Thanks to agency theory, it should invariably connect them to their investors. In orde words you can't really trust them. They were upbeat up untill the global recession.

3) Foreign investors are mainly institutional. It is therefore easy for them to invest in risky enviroments where the potential returns outweigh the risk
4) Nigeria cannot be a successful knowledge economy for now. Knowledge economies requires certain factors to drive them. Federal character which is deeply embedde in our constitution and psyche is definitely not a driver.

5) Yes Nigeria can be an industralized country despite Asia. The reason is simple: we have a market of 180 million people and an unemployed labour force that can be recruited for peanuts. Baring energy factors, what we need is to create and effect a barrier to entry of some foreign manufactured goods. With the continous production of such goods without applying much differentiation, the cost of production will soon become competitive with international prices.

6) Nigerian present political elite is not capable of taking Nigeria close to mount Saina talkless of the promised land (I am not talking about Jonah only). Nations that are in the forefront of 'power' usually have a consistent 'intellectual' core that churns and drives its policies and visions. In UK policy makers are grafted from Oxford and Cambridge universities straight into power. In the US, harvard, Chicago Business School, etc are the bedrock of the economic team. In China, the party is made of an intellectually core where its future leaders are distilled in ideology and thought the ropes before gradually ascending to power.

If Obj had veered presidential power towards his economic team -Elrufai, Soludu etc. You would have seen the impact of 'consistent' intellectual driven policies

7) Beyond knowledge is wisdom. So 'coding' or its likes does not cut it for a knowledge economy. What do I mean? Sebi Seun get Nairaland wen get more than 1,000,000 users abi? Have you seen his icon on any local or international site. Reason is simple. He's country is not wise. So if we all become coders, oyibo go make coding a commodity and something else wil become of more value.

The reigns of power and economic growth in any country rests in the hands of coalesced critical thinkers. Things dont just happen.

Maybe thats why u hear folks talking about groups like illuminati, and Masons.
Maybe thats why people become members of groups in the first place -groups like PDP and APC

[quote author=Peni.s sucker].[/quote]Jeez!!

Which kaain name be this
*pours warm holy water on thread
shuts the door and allows it to defrost*

megareal: Hell NO. Wouldnt even date one. Would always feel like my junior staring at my unclothedness during d act.

All Juniors always tend to stare at unclothedness
and nod in agreement if u know what i mean

Ishilove: Make you put otumokpo for my drink abi? Mba! Control me for sweet sensation wey dey allen

Considering that I u've requested that I be ur nos 2
Otumokpo should not be an issue
the results will be the same

Ishilove: How you take know?

'

my brother is a muslim
with years of experience

Ishilove: Esere, will you be my number two? I know sey you be small boy, but e no mata. Age aint nofin but a number

Considering the advice I gave the fella:
'no comments"

Just locate me come my house for Ikoyi sharp, sharp
make we discuss ur proposal

@ladies

this is not a marriage proposal
no need to think long and hard
its as disposable as ..u know

U see why u need to appreciate ur men for being able to take the bold step approaching u blindly
not knowing what to expect whether rejection or calamity