₦airaland Forum

Well, I don't envy the US. They are the world power and they did not just stumble on it. They worked their way to it, hate or love them. And for accusations of hypocrisy, i don't intend to dabble into those but just to say that serious nations have interest-driven (not charity driven or libido driven) foreign policy like your country in intervention efforts in Liberia, S/leone, etc.

The US is like the world police. When Obama announced a cut in military spending, people where complaining that the US is planning to cut down on her 'international obligation' as a world power and Hillary has to reassure the world. Don't even forget that part of US beef with China is that they get  much from places like Africa while shying away from certain 'responsibilities'. I know some may prefer China that can sell fresh roses and white pigeons in Ivory Coast while at peace but quickly ship in guns and torture accessories for government to buy during a Gbagbo scenario.

Hypocrisy or not, Mubarak continued stay in power serves not just US interest but also middle east, North African and Arabian interests. Retaining a 'despot' like Mubarak (as some claim) may be a viable option considering the odds and that a decision that the US is in a position to take and has taken! And besides, the opposition in that country is not popular enough not muster the kind of follower-ship that can topple a despot  (if that is what you call Mubarak).

eku_bear:
That is what I figure. Like, how many states do these old guard Fulani/Hausa/Kanuri feudalist types control?

Kebbi, Sokoto, Zamfara, Katsina, Kano, Jigawa, Bauchi, Yobe, Gombe, Borno, Adamawa. Everything else is either very mixed (Kaduna) or Middle Belt/Southern.

Even if we spot them Kaduna, that is 12 states.

Successfully cleave off the Middle Belt from the core North and keep the SW, SS, and SE in the fold and you pretty much win.

Basically, just play the same game of divide and conquer against the core North that they've played against us.

Of course, all of this assumes a certain measure of cleverness on GEJs part (or at least, whoever is advising him.)

My brother, i don't know how much you have traveled around this country to see things for yourself. It is definitely more complex than you are seeing. Eziachi is definitely right. It is obvious that the only reason the SW that are predominantly in AC supported GEJ massively even when they will likely vote ACN was because it will help them recover a lifeline in PDP. Period.
Secondly, if you really understand the struggle in Jos, you will know that people are not just killing for fun, it is a part of a hurricane sweeping through the north that will likely end in Kwara, Benue and possible a major part of Edo. Kaduna has been hammered into shape and soon, with the lack of leadership in this country, Plataeau will follow. The 'North", real or imagined has the capacity to rule this country for a hundred years with this present order ushered in by GEJ, just watch and see. The only salvation i see for this your Nigeria is that GEJ does some critical basic restructuring of this country, by that i mean making geopolitical zones the federating units, scrapping LGAs and possibly the house of reps, while ensuring true federalism within this structure. But even at that, the North will have two zones NE and NW. Whichever way you look at it, democracy is a game of numbers and the PDP will likely continue to rule this country for the foreseeable future and with the death of zoning, SE, SW and SS (not to make mention of NC) have imported a dragon that will bite them hard. The question that i always ask my friends is after GEJ, what next? What will happen to your children 70 years from now with this unfolding order? Remember, zoning was not a northern idea, it was actually the south's condition for being a part of a mainstream party in the Nigerian polity that will diminish sectarian coloration. How i wish Dr Okadigbo is alive to clarify things a little for us.

The fact remains that GEJ said nothing that has a direct bearing on the the delegates voting pattern save that the election will be decided not on what has been said this evening. Atiku emphasized that he is a party builder unlike his opponent (under whose leadership that his sitting ministers resigned to join other parties) and GEJ said that he removed fuel scarcity. Differentiate the two, Atiku did not just talk, he talked about things that are important to the delegates most of whom are career politicians.  GEJ might have won this primary outside what was said this evening at Eagle's Square but he definitely has a lot to learn about negotiation and consensus building. If i came to the convention ground undecided, Atiku will get my vote.

If you listen, you will understand why they say that Atiku is an experienced and consummate politician. I think he has some solid points there. Yet to hear from GEJ anyway, but i doubt if he can articulate the issues as concisely and as forcefully as Atiku has done.

Rousseau:
They are not winning any allies to their cause with utterances of this sort. I am starting to see a generational gap amongst the Ijaw elders and the Ijaw youth. Ijaw elders are willing to work with the Nigerian state, while the Ijaw youth see violence as the only necessary tool to get what they want. The latter need to be careful as they travel down this route. I can empathize with them concerning their anger at the Nigerian state, but they should not make threats of this nature. Their is a need for diplomacy and tactfulness at this moment in Nigeria's history, because there are nefarious events at play that threaten the Nigerian state as we know it.

I don't think you have listened to E.K Clark.

Another characteristic reactive response from Team Jonathan. And this is the man that can be your president? His aides are actually arguing with the contents of a leaked diplomatic cable between Abuja and Washington. Even US has not argued with the contents of these leaks, they rather find it embarrassing. Ok, maybe Jonathan will need to excuse Aandoakaa from the Pfizer corruption issue.

Really true to type- spineless!

It was caused by IBB.

He read metallurgical and material engineering but believes that he wants to read pharmacy and seems to have made up his mind. Well, i do have a different opinion for him but he has gone past that stage now. He wants to know the best way to navigate to his dream. He repeatedly said that he doesn't care what it takes. Please, help me some information on how best to grasp his dream. From B.Eng to B.Pharm.

Your inputs shall be appreciated.

So GEJ should be president because he went about clinking glass with me in a dinner but cannot guarantee my safety just outside the building? If it is pro IBB article, some guys will tell us that the Minna dinner for journalist is working but this? Or do i say that GEJ had a similar strategy like IBB? My take- they are all the same thing!!!! Apart from Ribadu!!

I have had three flying experiences with Arik on local route and the whole three experiences left sour taste in my mouth. I have issues with two corporate brands in Nigeria- Oceanic bank and Arik air. If you want to court heartbreak with your money, try any of these.

He just started inspecting INEC physical infrastructure in Calabar yesterday and you need to see buckets collecting water inside the offices. I now start wondering where he plans for his DDC machines to be kept. Maybe, he will bring another budget.

tunyus:
yea
i believe so much in the man.He is known to be a radical,his past record speaks for him
lets just help him with our prayers.
I personally believe so much in him

This is not about believing in him or not. We all wish that he does a good job. But fact has it that he was an INEC consultant under Iwu and there was no record of him protesting Iwu's modus operandi. He may be a radical but i have seen radicals fail on the field. So, on paper, there is nothing suggesting that Jega can pull this off. What can you say about an INEC umpire that changed timetables less than a month after the release of election schedules. The question is what exactly changed between then and now that made the change imperative. But lets watch and see, there is no need to get all emotional about this. And forget past record, look up Iwu's name and see who he was before INEC.

KnowAll:
[size=14pt]JEG needs a Field Marshall on the ground that would be pushing and harnessing his campaign to higher levels banking on the institutions of the state is a flawed and erroneous premise. That institution is tainted with men who have soiled their hands with taking mobilisation fee from both camps.

One cannot imagine Dopkpesi double dealing, GEJ u should hire a campaign guru b4 it is too late.[/size]

I guess he need to talk to Karl Rove. He needs a strategist to make this thing look like a contest, but to make the kind of silly assumption that some folks here are making will no just work. GEJ can't just win because you think that IBB candidature is not selling in your district or just because you think that he is the best that has emerged so far!!! That is not politics.

MR Money £:
All the DEMONS CONTESTING ARE ARROGANT AND ARE VERY GREEDY, THEY SO MUCH NEEDED THE POWER THE WAY THEY NEED THEIR LIVES
SO NONE WOULD WANT TO STEP DOWN  FOR THE OTHER

Even more than that, GEJ team helped popularize the campaign structure of IBB. Have you listened to your CBN governor and Minister of state for Information recently? You get the idea that they are paid agents to bring down GEJ. The listen to from Isaiah Balat to Solomon Lar to E.K Clark to Tony Uranta. You will see bare faced arrogance. They are destroying what they are building.

Dont be surprised how even SS will disappoint GEJ. We know that OBJ won the election in the North and SE. Is GEJ fully on ground in the North? How many Emirs have he connected with? In the East, how has he allowed new to filter out suggesting that he snubbed Ojukwu knowing his political relevance to the grass root. I think that he is not ready for what he is bidding for. If not for anything, he is not running a campaign for the much i know.

“For me, the decision of government to implement financial sector reforms was long overdue. The announcement that petroleum products distribution should be deregulated over time is also a very good decision that should be implemented.
“The focus of the Minister of Finance on employment generation and industrial development policy are long overdue and should be encouraged. The reforms in the capital market are good. We are not exactly there yet, but in terms of taking the right steps, I think the government has done all that is necessary to do.”- SLS


This is your CBN governor. He thinks that Nigerian economy is the same as the nigerian banks. And above all, he admits that in his opinion, the government has done all that she need to do. Well, that is like saying that he has no more fresh ideas. He wants us to sit down and wait for the results of 'all that is necessary to do' that they have done.

And the CBN governor thinks that there may be some politics in the warning that the economy might no be headed in the right direction.

Finally, Sanusi should not be talking about employment generation because his idea of 'sanitizing' the system negates that. We remember how many jobs he 'saved'during his banking sector 'sanitization'.

I am not aware too. Now somebody should sue me!!!

He is saying the exact same things that they did not want him to say. It could be painful to watch your life project washed away by an impostor. Lets see what the Kano princewill make of this.

Funny how this government treat issues. Any body bringing up 'results' contrary to their projections get some kind of treatment. Why summon NECO boss? He is only an examiner. What policy was the fg implementing prior to this repetition and atn what point did it fail? Who is in the steering wheel of that policy? These are valid questions and not bullying NECO boss. This government is very insecure in my opinion. From Babalola to Soludo to Dokpesi and now to even an examiner. Is this any different from a parent that went to school to fight a teacher because his/her ward was not promoted to the next class?

From all burners, it keep appearing that GEJ is not the kind of president Nigeria needs. I have been looking for charisma, strategy, capacity to prioritize, urbane and a leader that can steer the country in a new direction but GEJ does not just fit in there. Soludo was tongue lashed and Babalola was redeployed to Aandoakaa ministry. This guy(GEJ) have no records of taking big decisions and the little chances he has to prove himself, he is misusing them. Where exactly are we going with Jonathan in then next 4 yrs if he wins? If he gives RB the boot cos he articulated a view in his official capacity, can he then work with more analytical minds like Iweala and her ilks?

", if you don’t have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from"- Barack Obama.

That is the campaign GEJ is running.  The strategy all started openly with the attack on Dokpesi. His supporters are following in his footsteps.

Lagos — Former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Professor Chukwuma Soludo, has warned that if pre-emptive measures are not taken now, Nigeria's economy is "doomed" to a worse form of structural adjustment programme (SAP) and "something will have to give".

In an exclusive essay published in THISDAY today, Soludo, who also ran for governorship election in Anambra State in March, challenged presidential aspirants to debate economic issues before the general election.

Soludo expressed concern that the government had been piling up domestic and foreign debts with no improvement in the economy.

He wrote: "In spite of the heavy external debt of $34 billion and oil prices ranging between $25- $50 during the (ex-President Olusegun) Obasanjo's second term, we managed to grow the economy at about 6-7 per cent per annum (from average of 2.8 per cent in the 1990s). We started saving for the rainy day when oil prices reached $35 and by 2007, despite paying $12 billion to write off the Paris Club debt in 2006, we had saved about $22 billion as 'Excess Crude'.

"In the last few years, oil prices have averaged $70 to $85 per barrel. What has happened? We have spent the $22 billion saved under Obasanjo, and now massively borrowing at an alarming rate (domestically and externally) during a period of unprecedented oil price boom, and yet the economy remains static at 6-7% growth rate. Recurrent expenditure of the public sector has more than doubled since 2004, leaving very little for investment."

The excess crude savings are now a little above $350 million, with the three tiers of government drawing down to the tune of over $21 billion in the last two years to augment expenditure.

Soludo said with the cessation of hostilities in the Niger Delta, and oil price rising to about $79, "external reserves ought to be growing".

He is worried that rather, external reserves are depleting "precariously" to about $36 billion currently, "with weekly sales at the WDAS running into hundreds of millions of dollars. Private capital inflows have largely ceased. The capital market is comatose and capital flight is back with vengeance! With private saving rate of below 20 per cent, public sector dis-saving (borrowing), and huge net capital flight, the numbers on the macro economy do not simply add up. Add to this the surfeit of liquidity and misalignment of basic prices and the conclusion is self evident: sooner or later, something will have to give!"

He said if not for the devaluation of the naira in the heat of the global economic crisis two years ago, states would have been in serious fiscal crisis today.

"Recall that during the global financial crisis, we took a deliberate decision to allow the naira to depreciate as part of the strategies to mitigate the effects of the global crisis. Today, that effectively means that governments at all levels receive (in naira terms) about 27 per cent more revenue from oil receipts than would otherwise. Indeed, but for this exchange rate change under this circumstance, there would not be more than 11 state governments that can still pay salaries on a consistent basis," he wrote.

The Professor of Economics said as elections draw near, the next four years are "very critical" to the next phase of national life as the nation celebrates 50 years of existence and begins another journey of 50 years.

"It appears that the future is foggy and serious discussions about that future - the new Nigeria in the next 50 years - have not begun. The debate so far is about who would be President or so, and not about what they will offer. I am afraid that we may again conduct elections without any serious issues being canvassed and 'winners' will emerge.

"There are no alternative visions, no ideologies and no programmes that offer the voters clear choices about their future," he said, warning that at current GDP and population growth rates, "Nigeria would still be a developing country in 2060 (below $11,000 per capita income). At current rates, it will only be in 30 years time (2040) that Nigeria will attain South Africa's current per capita income. The tragedy is that the country has no implementable plan to steer a different outcome," he wrote.

For Nigeria to take a shot at its 2020 targets, he said: "The economy needs to be growing at about 14-15 per cent per annum (more than twice the current rates of 6-7 per cent). Even with improved efficiency, this requires annual investment rates of more than 40 per cent of GDP (higher than total earnings from oil)".

But he said it is not all bad news for the country, explaining: "With economy-wide capacity underutilisation at about 60 per cent and oil prices at unprecedented levels, broadly shared growth rate of about 15 per cent is possible. This is where the debate needs to begin. Candidates and political parties need to outline their visions of Nigeria in the next 50 years and HOW they intend to rapidly create a broadly shared and sustainable prosperity."

He listed issues he expects presidential aspirants to discuss, the first being how they hope to reconstruct public finance "and put it back on the path of sustainability".

Soludo asked: "How can they rein in the obtuse and rapacious federal bureaucracy in particular and the state bureaucracies, balance our budget during this period of oil boom, and yet spend at least 40 per cent of the budget on capital expenditure as required by the Fiscal Responsibility Act? Where do candidates stand on political restructuring in the face of agitation for more states such that every village wants to become a state in so far as allocations continue to come from Abuja to pay salaries?"

He also asked: who has the strategy to achieve uninterrupted power supply over the 2011- 2015 period? Where is the strategy to ensure accurate population census with biometric data of every citizen? What is the magic wand to ensure that we have a free, fair and transparent electoral system where only votes count and all votes are counted? What is the new strategy to fight corruption? Where is the sustainable plan for the Niger Delta and the long term strategy for environmental sustainability of locations amenable to natural resource extraction?

Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/201009150742.html.

Now tell me what exactly is false about this analysis to any logical mind. GEJ has the worst men on his team, i can confirm. And when will these guys understand that banks is not exactly equal to economy. TGEJ may be afraid of this debate because i am sure that GEJ has nothing concrete to say, hence the attack on the prof.

I will suggest that GEJ supporters concentrate on telling us what exactly their principal intend to do with the 4yrs he is asking for. But unfortunately, they have committed all their energy to telling us how bad IBB is. GEJ may be good but if actions like declaring for the presidency of 150million people on facebook is what we will expect from his presidency, then he may have strategy issues.

Obama said "If you don't have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from".

This is what GEJ camp is doing with IBB candidature thereby making IBB more popular.

Lagos — Former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Professor Chukwuma Soludo, has warned that if pre-emptive measures are not taken now, Nigeria's economy is "doomed" to a worse form of structural adjustment programme (SAP) and "something will have to give".

In an exclusive essay published in THISDAY today, Soludo, who also ran for governorship election in Anambra State in March, challenged presidential aspirants to debate economic issues before the general election.

Soludo expressed concern that the government had been piling up domestic and foreign debts with no improvement in the economy.

He wrote: "In spite of the heavy external debt of $34 billion and oil prices ranging between $25- $50 during the (ex-President Olusegun) Obasanjo's second term, we managed to grow the economy at about 6-7 per cent per annum (from average of 2.8 per cent in the 1990s). We started saving for the rainy day when oil prices reached $35 and by 2007, despite paying $12 billion to write off the Paris Club debt in 2006, we had saved about $22 billion as 'Excess Crude'.

"In the last few years, oil prices have averaged $70 to $85 per barrel. What has happened? We have spent the $22 billion saved under Obasanjo, and now massively borrowing at an alarming rate (domestically and externally) during a period of unprecedented oil price boom, and yet the economy remains static at 6-7% growth rate. Recurrent expenditure of the public sector has more than doubled since 2004, leaving very little for investment."

The excess crude savings are now a little above $350 million, with the three tiers of government drawing down to the tune of over $21 billion in the last two years to augment expenditure.

Soludo said with the cessation of hostilities in the Niger Delta, and oil price rising to about $79, "external reserves ought to be growing".

He is worried that rather, external reserves are depleting "precariously" to about $36 billion currently, "with weekly sales at the WDAS running into hundreds of millions of dollars. Private capital inflows have largely ceased. The capital market is comatose and capital flight is back with vengeance! With private saving rate of below 20 per cent, public sector dis-saving (borrowing), and huge net capital flight, the numbers on the macro economy do not simply add up. Add to this the surfeit of liquidity and misalignment of basic prices and the conclusion is self evident: sooner or later, something will have to give!"

He said if not for the devaluation of the naira in the heat of the global economic crisis two years ago, states would have been in serious fiscal crisis today.

"Recall that during the global financial crisis, we took a deliberate decision to allow the naira to depreciate as part of the strategies to mitigate the effects of the global crisis. Today, that effectively means that governments at all levels receive (in naira terms) about 27 per cent more revenue from oil receipts than would otherwise. Indeed, but for this exchange rate change under this circumstance, there would not be more than 11 state governments that can still pay salaries on a consistent basis," he wrote.

The Professor of Economics said as elections draw near, the next four years are "very critical" to the next phase of national life as the nation celebrates 50 years of existence and begins another journey of 50 years.

"It appears that the future is foggy and serious discussions about that future - the new Nigeria in the next 50 years - have not begun. The debate so far is about who would be President or so, and not about what they will offer. I am afraid that we may again conduct elections without any serious issues being canvassed and 'winners' will emerge.

"There are no alternative visions, no ideologies and no programmes that offer the voters clear choices about their future," he said, warning that at current GDP and population growth rates, "Nigeria would still be a developing country in 2060 (below $11,000 per capita income). At current rates, it will only be in 30 years time (2040) that Nigeria will attain South Africa's current per capita income. The tragedy is that the country has no implementable plan to steer a different outcome," he wrote.

For Nigeria to take a shot at its 2020 targets, he said: "The economy needs to be growing at about 14-15 per cent per annum (more than twice the current rates of 6-7 per cent). Even with improved efficiency, this requires annual investment rates of more than 40 per cent of GDP (higher than total earnings from oil)".

But he said it is not all bad news for the country, explaining: "With economy-wide capacity underutilisation at about 60 per cent and oil prices at unprecedented levels, broadly shared growth rate of about 15 per cent is possible. This is where the debate needs to begin. Candidates and political parties need to outline their visions of Nigeria in the next 50 years and HOW they intend to rapidly create a broadly shared and sustainable prosperity."

He listed issues he expects presidential aspirants to discuss, the first being how they hope to reconstruct public finance "and put it back on the path of sustainability".

Soludo asked: "How can they rein in the obtuse and rapacious federal bureaucracy in particular and the state bureaucracies, balance our budget during this period of oil boom, and yet spend at least 40 per cent of the budget on capital expenditure as required by the Fiscal Responsibility Act? Where do candidates stand on political restructuring in the face of agitation for more states such that every village wants to become a state in so far as allocations continue to come from Abuja to pay salaries?"

He also asked: who has the strategy to achieve uninterrupted power supply over the 2011- 2015 period? Where is the strategy to ensure accurate population census with biometric data of every citizen? What is the magic wand to ensure that we have a free, fair and transparent electoral system where only votes count and all votes are counted? What is the new strategy to fight corruption? Where is the sustainable plan for the Niger Delta and the long term strategy for environmental sustainability of locations amenable to natural resource extraction?

Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/201009150742.html

I guess that the problem of Pres Jonathan administration is that his aides are not exactly intelligent, because this guy (Soludo) raise factual and obvious concerns which should be taken seriously by any serious person. Soludo spoke facts but i regret to see that Mr Maku's replies are B.U.L.L,

Somebody is actually listening. A reform that makes people to lose their jobs and makes both business men and bankers themselves wary of each other is not worth being called a reform. It is really a devastation.

Maybe, Sanusi fired the bank executives and talked down the banks so carelessly just to 'secure the depositors fund'. Now Sanusi may be fired to secure our economy. Talk about winning a battle and losing the war!

And i can bet that some dudes that lost their job as a result of Sanusi's banking 'reform' are there,

Nigerians are expressing concern over the near comatose economy typified by scarcity of cash in the system. The situation, according to BusinessDay investigations, is having spiral effects on households which have resorted to holding on to the little cash they have, while some companies have continued to embark on cost cutting measures.

In fact, further investigations have revealed that uncertainty in the system is responsible for the continued withholding of cash by Nigerians with the resultant effect of high level of credit defaults, both at individual and corporate levels. Curiously, Nigerians have been told that the economy is experiencing excess liquidity, heightening the questions over the indices relevant agencies use in gauging the economy.

The claim of excess liquidity comes at a time that warehouses of manufacturers are filled with inventories of unsold goods, further debunking the veracity of the data used in arriving at the excess liquidity conclusion. Indeed, Nigerian Interbank (NIBOR) offered rates, average interbank rates for all the banks operating in the local market, have ebbed to all time low at about two percent as against 17 percent previously.

But even at that, banks have continued to be[i] risk averse[/i] considering the fact that most of them are paying heavily through high provisioning [/i]with the consequent depleting of profits.

But analysts have warned that unless urgent steps are taken to correct the present anomaly, [i]the economy might once again experience asset bubbles reminiscent of the last episode which led to the crisis in the capital market and the margin loan issue. The attendant over exposures to energy and telecommunications sectors resulted in the take over of some banks by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). To some of them, the current easing of interest and inflation rates, as a result of the perceived excess liquidity have not translated to improved living conditions of Nigerians, but rather heightened the uncertainty in the polity. They further observed that the immediate consequence might be recourse to investments in equities and debt instruments.
For instance, since the commencement of banking sector reforms, there has been series of bail out funds such as the N620 billion for the distressed banks, excess crude payments to the three tiers of government of N460 billion and N400 billion in the first quarter of this year and the last quarter of last year, respectively. Other actions that have impacted on the liquidity situation include winding down of credit portfolios in the first quarter of last year and first quarter of this year, aggressive issuance of bonds and treasury bills in the first quarter of this year and the passage of the Asset Management Corporation Bill, for which its implementation might add pressure on the liquidity and consequently the rates.

Martin Oluba, president/CEO, ValueFronteira Limited, warned of the likely asset bubble considering the current rush for investment in financial instruments. Oluba, an analyst, said with less economic activity and high levels of uncertainty both current income and future income prospects are threatened, adding that "households naturally exhibit high levels of caution in this respect by clinging to what they have now. For many, the income is simply not coming because of significant drop in the activity levels and therefore they cannot repay their debts."

Continuing, he said: "We are experiencing a mild liquidity bubble. That is a situation where increasing excess liquidity does not positively impact the real economy. The monies are not lent to the investing or business community. A close situation would be the Japanese experience of 1997 which following its massive crisis, banks were less willing to extend credit in spite of resurging liquidity situation aimed at bailing them out. "In our own case, a major underlying reason is the uncertainty over the economy and the financial system which urgently needs to diminish so that banks' lending frigidity can be minimised while expanded credit availability can resume.”

"On one hand, Lamido Sanusi, CBN governor's reform programmes which appear to be uncoordinated is the major culprit in this respect. The manner in which the reform programmes are being released in piecemeal fashion makes it difficult to predict what the next move by the central bank can possibly be.

"This is a major causal factor irrespective of the drop in the rates. And let us watch it! These excess funds are slowly finding their way into the stock exchange and gradually pressuring the prices upwards", Oluba warned. Akinsowon Dawodu, president, Financial Markets Dealers Association, said banks' actions may be based on their past experience, acknowledging that recent injections have made liquidity to be at aggregate level. He is optimistic that the second half of this year will experience improvement, saying that the current low exchange rates are not sustainable for the economy.

Analysts at BGL, in their current banking report said: "While it is agreed that banks in Nigeria need to start lending again, the approach to doing this is still a contentious issue. Some analysts suggest that government should take up equity first and then buy toxic assets from the banks, while others propose only the buying of toxic assets through the proposed Asset Management Corporation (AMC). Each of the approaches has issues that need to be addressed."

http://www.businessdayonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10247:nigerians-bemoan-worsening-living-condition&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=18

Now, i am expecting Sanusi worshipers to tell us how unqualified Business Day is to comment on the issue at hand or even connect the vested interest they have in 'technically insolvent' banks(Sanusi's words) to discredit the report.

My neighbor was actually saying over the weekend that it seems that a PHCN big boy is in town . Now, I had light throughout last weekend and there was light on Monday morning when i left for work, my fridge was on when i came back and also when i woke up this morning.
If that is what you mean by improved power supply, then i am afraid that Jakumo is right. I am even often afraid that some guy will lose his job somewhere because he forgot to OFF the switch feeding my area. And the location is Lagos, in case you are wondering.

Ibori advised Ribadu to present himself to the judge and be cleared if innocent. He should heed his own advice. Period.

I don't think you need to address 'Gentlemen of the Press'. 'A Nigerian, a statesman and a leader' should relax and address his Lordship in court and if he is clean, he can trust the court to award him some damages for the stress. And also, remember that the 'Nigerian, a statesman and a leader' in the person of Ibori advised Ribadu to present himself in court to clear himself. I personally expect the 'Nigerian, a statesman and a leader' to heed his own advice since he is a democrat.

Ojukwu did not contest for Igbo leadership, HE did what real leaders do and is and will forever be LOVED by Ndigbo till death. From Aba to Onitsha to Umuahia, to Nnewi to the very ends of Igbo land love this man more than these critics can ever imagine. Now, that is one thing you can not change and i advice that you live with it.