boujaye:
f NOI truly said so, then she is right. Amaechi and co, never wanted the Excess Crude Oil reserved to be saved, they will go to court and be over ruled "share the money". Today everybody suffers the repercussion.

When I think I have read the silliest and most senseless post ever another shows up to replace it like this one. Is it not easier for you die hard Jonathanians to admit the truth for once instead of dancing around it in your futile effort to absolve GEJ of blame for where Nigeria finds herself today? So the tail (Amaechi) wags the Dog (Jonathan)? May the lord never make you a leader because you will simply blame all those under you for your own incompetence. GEJ was simply an appeaser who felt it was easier to use every situation to please others, and thus keep a stable political ship, rather than do what is best for Nigeria and Nigerians. Jonathan never picked up any challenge to fight for Nigerians. Instead he chickened out of every confrontation, thus letting other win easily to the detriment of Nigeria, because he was only concerned with keeping the political peace that aided the looting of Nigeria he was conducting with his fellow crooks.

The only time GEJ was bullish and aggressive was when he stood to gain politically such as the NGF (Nigerian governor forum) elections where Jonathan felt he must, at all cost, defeat Amaechi in his effort to remain in Aso rock beyond 2015. You people should be ashamed of yourselves. The most shameless folks in Nigeria are the supporters of Jonathan, like you, who continue to blame others for his weakness, incompetence and love of corruption. You continue to worship a President who is amongst the most selfish and anti-people leader Nigeria has ever had while having the temerity to blame others for his failings. I feel sorry for you.

barcaboi:

oga forget that talk....when it was Osuns turn no1 wanted to listen to him and this is a state with little or no way to generate IGR...Bayelsa has fuel proceeds, less population and more.....come off d excuse

Don't mind them. Bruv, any objective person knows that Aregbesola started well and meant well for Osun. He was just overwhelmed by the reality of how Osun is a very poor civil servant State , that probably should not have been created, which got only drastically poorer when oil price crashed. Aregbe is an intelligent man aware of the problems but events, beyond his control, overtook his good intentions. For example, Aregbesola played no part in making Osun and many other Nigerian States civil servant enclaves where the Nigerian government, aberrantly, is the biggest employer of labour. In many productive and successful nations of the world it is the SME (small to medium enterprise sector) that is the biggest employer of labour. Aregbe came in and tried to change this sad scenario. He even personally tried a socio-capitalist model of involving the Osun government in directly enabling the growth of the SME sector and we saw this with the example of the setting up of the Omoluabi garment factory.

http://osun.gov.ng/gallery/commissioning-of-omoluabi-garment-factory/

Osun , despite Aregbe's lofty plans, got into trouble when oil plans crashed to embarrass a Governor who had borrowed funds and leveraged aggressive development plans on the ability of the State to keep servicing her recurrent expenditure in the short term and before the state became more self-financing from all the efforts to diverse her economy, generate more IGR for Osun and make her less dependent on FG allocation. This is not a bad plan at all and Aregbe cannot be blamed for a crash in oil prices stemming from unpredictable events that had nothing to do with Nigeria.

Yet Nigerians, with a large population of bitter, religiously intolerant and ethnocentric folks who use everything as an opportunity to indulge their prejudice against ethnic groups they hate, chose to make this a Yoruba, APC and Moslem problem. Now the reality is manifesting which is that no Nigerian State will be sparred a salary crisis if oil price continue to be very low. Since many Nigerians choose to always play the tribal card and laugh at the misfortune of others , instead of learn from it, then problems will show up at their door they will not see coming because they were too busy laughing at "Yoloba" and "ab0ki" over things like salary woes without realising that in the current Nigeria, with the dire state of affairs, all Nigerian States, despite what braggart Governors and ethnocentric 'Voltrons' are saying, are only weeks or months away from debilitating bankruptcy that will see them struggle to pay salaries.

I remember the fuel subsidy removal crisis under GEJ when the likes of Femi Falana organised protest to say it is wrong for Nigerians, when their nation is one of the biggest producer of crude oil in the world, to pay exorbitant amount for PMS (premium motor spirit) when economically more stable and successful nations like Saudi Arabia ensured their citizens benefited from the crude oil endowment of their nation through low pump price for refined oil and good infrastructural development. It was mainly our brothers from the SE, and posters can check the archives, who bragged on Nairaland that " parasite yolobas and Ab0kis" are lazy and poor and that they were prepared to pay any price charged for oil as they were "independent rich folks who do not need the government for anything". An opportunity for a people to unite against cruel and corrupt leaders , whether Igbo or Yoruba, who take everything and give the people nothing got turned into an egotistic bragfest of "we are better and richer than you" , because of ethnic bigotry, when the simple point of the protests was that the Nigerian government is shafting us all in comparison to how other major oil producing nations treat their people.

Nigerians are a people who always choose to make what is simple very difficult. We will then have to learn the hard way and only when trouble shows up at our own door.

seunmsg:
Where is Ben Bruce, the common sense senator when you need him? He's busy tweeting trash on twitter while his constituents are begging to survive. When will he donate his salary to help the suffering Bayelsa worker?

If this is about Osun state, wailers will descend heavily on the thread calling Aregbesola so many names. Oil rich Bayelsa has not paid workers since November 2015 and nobody seems to be concerned.

Thank you. One thing Nairaland and political events of the past 9 years has shown me is that there is always a malevolent focus on anything to do with the SW from many of our brothers and sisters in the SE and SS even as we have always been fair, diplomatic and objective towards them, their struggles and agitation. As prominent examples, no one fought more than Femi Falana to keep Ken Saro-Wiwa alive when Abacha decided he had to die. No region fought harder, as a collective unit, to see GEJ sworn in as acting President when Turai Yar Adua, Abba Ruma, Aondoakaa et al held Nigeria hostage while our former president, Yar Adua, was comatose. The Wole Soyinka that SE and SS youths take pleasure to insult today marched the streets to insist on the swearing-in of GEJ.

We told them then that the Osun situation was a Nigerian situation that would gradually be the lot of many States in our nation but they would not accept this. They preferred to make it a SW problem to try and use opportunistically in their unrelenting effort to show the region and her people in a negative light. Now oil rich Bayelsa, with extra 13% derivation income, is struggling. Because the APC is now tagged "Yoruba Party" they even made the salary debacle a PDP vs APC issue with moronic arguments about who is paying workers and who is not without understanding that all States will struggle in the end if low oil price persist. Is Bayelsa not a PDP State?

I say it a lot lately that Nigerians are the biggest problem of Nigeria and a development like this proves it. Bayelsans should take their leaders to task because this is one of the States that should be better placed to survive austere conditions due to her income to population ratio. If we cannot hold our leaders to account and prefer to only see the wrongdoing of leaders from ethnic groups different to ours then problems will creep up on us and overwhelm our lives as is happening throughout Nigeria today. Bayelsans would have seen this coming if the task of holding their leaders accountable is uppermost on their minds and the biggest priority for them. Nigerians should focus on and tackle the misrule in their own backyards first as a matter of urgency instead of obsessing about what is going on in the State and region of others. that is what will liberate our country in this economic downturn.

saintkel:
U can call him any name u want but if GEJ should come back today, He has my vote

Who will help him "come back" today? You think the simple, unambitious and weak GEJ has the liver for the problematic level of political leadership OBJ threw him into? GEJ on his own has no aspiration to lead even his village church talk less of Bayelsa or Nigeria. It is luck that made GEJ Governor of Bayelsa i.e he took over from an impeached Diepreye Alamieyeseigha. It is well-documented that Alamco, in the first place, only went for GEJ because he wanted a docile and obedient VP who will not give him any problems. OBJ , a very corrupt outgoing President, then needed two docile stooges to continue keeping him safe once out of office. He settled on the unprepared and disinterested duo of Yar Adua and GEJ. The rest, as they say, is history.

Yet what continues to surprise me is how people like you do not understand that Nigeria has changed for good. The days of 'strong' men having their ways, to impose totally weak, disinterested and undeserving leaders on Nigeria is over for good. In this era, and beyond, there is no political future for accidental leaders like GEJ. It is only political 'gladiators' who are ready to battle others fearlessly who will get to lead Nigerians. Godfatherism is dying and Nigerians are getting more politically sophisticated. It is an era of politics that will not accommodate Jonathan or others like him. To you and other GEJ fans I can only say dream on.

luvinhubby:
Clowns trying to be relevant desperatly.

It is only a dead man that have finished with his homeland & GEJ is not dead yet.

It is weak people who worship other weak men and women. Continue to talk as if GEJ has ever stood on his own two feet and on his own merit without men like Alamco , OBJ, Anenih et al. That GEJ became President does not mean Nigerians should continue worshipping him. He is a weak, cowardly and politically impotent individual who, without the Presidency, is like a tiny snake with no venom or a small bird with no wings. Jonathan may not be dead physically but he is dead politically because he is the sort other political leaders do not respect as they understand he is nothing but an unambitious politician placed far above his level by others with vested interests , like OBJ, who needed stooges to control. Goodluck to Goodluck in his attempt to ever be relevant in Nigerian politics.

erico2k2:

I think you are missing the point. This is not dollar or oil cost issue. We are talking of petrol for the common man which we have the raw materials in abondance. This is the question. These same rulers in power ja e been the same in power at some capacity in the last and past 30 years.so where is the change coming from?can't U see the darkness we are heading to. And it doesn't help when the fg give I realistic promises.

I miss no point at all. What we have in "abundance" is crude oil and not its refined derivative like PMS (premium motor spirit) which happens to be scarce at the moment for no other reason than the fact that the PDP, in 16 long years, did nothing to ensure we moved near optimal refining capacity which would have two wonderful and socio-economically benevolent effects:

(1) The availability of refined derivatives of crude to adequately meet domestic need and
(2) The profitable sale of excess refined derivative of crude that will earn Nigeria useful income she can use to improve infrastructure, healthcare, power et al.

If you are a genuinely objective and honest Nigerian, looking for solutions for our dear nation, you will admit that it is the PDP, under its successive President to include GEJ, that failed in 16 years to address the poor state of our crude oil refining capacity since our current democratic phase began in 1999. Let us say the truth and shame the devil. We drew a line in the sand regarding the excesses of past military rule when we opted for democracy in 1999. It was the PDP that won the right to lead Nigeria forward from then and into a new age where our most severe and historically debilitating problems should have been addressed. Instead, and despite earning a lot of money, the PDP and her Presidents, to include the GEJ you have a penchant for defending, only managed to make matters worse. In 16 years our refining capacity is poorer than ever and power generation is worse while healthcare and infrastructural development have worsened under the PDP.

This has all now culminated in a very dire state of affairs Buhari is saddled with turning around. We his supporters , and even the man himself, are not even making excuses or saying the situation is beyond salvation. We are simply saying Nigerians should familiarise themselves with the very serious problem their nation is facing and give Mr.President more time to reverse a situation, caused by the worst form of corruption and misrule, no President or national leader should face.

Below is an article from objective non-Nigerian economic experts and analysts, when GEJ was still President, warning that Nigeria is in serious trouble and that no quick fixes or rapid recovery should be expected , partly because of global conditions and also because of what we did and did not do, yet you can trust Nigerians to never never see reason while they continue insisting a stone must produce water bearing in mind that the stern warning below came when oil was selling at $68.00 per barrel under GEJ to then plummet to around $30.00 per barrel under Buhari. What some Nigerians are doing is tantamount to an unreasonable teenager asking his father for a car when the dad has just lost his job and in essence 80% of his income. Why not give you dad time to find another job before demanding what is financially impossible for him to deliver?

http://www.wsj.com/articles/nigerias-tumbling-currency-a-victim-of-falling-oil-prices-1417535209

Nigeria’s Tumbling Currency a Victim of Falling Oil Prices
Highly Oil Dependent Economy Feeling the Pinch
Nigeria’s currency has fallen to record lows as the country is hit by its dependency on oil, the price of which has tumbled 40% since June.
REUTERS
By PATRICK MCGROARTY, DREW HINSHAW and JOSIE COX
Updated Dec. 2, 2014 2:20 p.m. ET
3 COMMENTS
Nigeria’s currency tumbled to a record low on Tuesday, hammered by falling oil prices that have weighed on Africa’s top economy as it heads toward an election.

Nigeria overestimated oil prices this year by a wide margin—and is now suffering. Economists fear weak oil prices may prevent Africa’s most populous nation from hitting the 7% growth the International Monetary Fund has forecast for this year.

“We’re a substantial way from the economy even starting to think about being able to recover,” said Nitesh Shah, an analyst at ETF Securities in London. “The government’s options are limited.”

Oil and natural gas make up almost all of Nigeria’s exports and 80% of government revenue, according to the IMF.

As Brent crude prices have slipped 40% since June, to $68 a barrel, the wheels have begun to come off Nigeria’s economy.

Nigeria, whose economy surpassed South Africa in April as the continent’s largest, has striven to generate revenue beyond oil. Recent years saw promising growth in booming telecommunications, banks, hotels and other service businesses.

But to sustain that growth, businesses say they need bigger ports, more highways and fewer blackouts that crimp factory production and curb tax revenue. A weaker naira will make it more expensive to build that infrastructure.

The naira slumped to 186.9 to the U.S. dollar, traders said, extending a slide that has shaved more than 10% off its value this year.

Many African countries are paying the price for counting on one commodity to drive their economies. Growth has stalled in oil-rich Angola. Falling copper prices have dented growth in Zambia. Lower iron-ore prices were hurting Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone even before the Ebola epidemic made things far worse.

ENLARGE
President Goodluck Jonathan, standing for re-election, has come under pressure to avoid unpopular spending cuts. As a result, the current budget of nearly $30 billion is hardly $1 billion leaner than last year’s, but the decline in oil prices has choked revenue.

In October, Nigeria—which spends a fifth of its budget on its military—borrowed an additional $1 billion to buy helicopters, fighter jets and other equipment to combat Islamist militants. On Tuesday, the insurgency Boko Haram bombed a market in one city and raided police barracks in another.

In November, the government submitted a revised budget that proposes spending cuts based on a new average oil price of $73 a barrel. But even that price could be “overly optimistic,” warned the central bank governor, Godwin Emefiele.
‘We get used to high oil prices and assume it’s going to be there forever.’
—Ken Iwelumo, former investment banker
Nigeria isn’t the only big oil producer with a wilting currency. Russia’s ruble has shed nearly half of its value against the dollar since May. Norway’s krone has dropped 17% since then, and the Canadian dollar is down 5%.

[size=14pt]But Nigeria is particularly vulnerable. Unlike its peers, it didn’t save while oil prices were high. A public fund that contained $20 billion in oil proceeds when crude prices first surged past $100 a barrel in 2008 had shrunk to $4 billion as of November.

“We get used to high oil prices and assume it’s going to be there forever,” said Ken Iwelumo, a former investment banker who now farms catfish in Nigeria.
[/size]
Economists say oil prices could stay low for months. The 12-member Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, who collectively pump more than a third of the world’s oil, agreed last week to maintain a target of producing 30 million barrels a day.

[size=14pt]Meanwhile, the country’s power-privatization program has hit snags. Investors say they can’t improve supply until the government invests $1.5 billion a year to replace a rusted-out grid of power lines.
[/size]
Nigeria’s All-Shares Index fell 1.8% on Tuesday, extending a drop of almost 18% this year.

In November, Nigeria’s central bank tried to support the naira by limiting sales of the U.S. dollar. When the naira continued to drop, the central bank bought the Nigerian currency to pump up demand, traders say. The bank’s foreign-exchange reserves shrank by $2 billion and the selloff continued.

Last week, the central bank raised its benchmark interest rate by one percentage point to a record 13%. It also lowered the naira’s target trading band to around 168 against the dollar from 155 previously.

The naira is still trading outside that target. Fresh dollar sales by the central bank did little to stop its slide, traders say.

“Things are happening too quickly, too suddenly, too sharply for the average Nigerian or even analysts to process,” said Bizmark Rewane, managing director of Lagos-based Financial Derivatives Co. “We do not know what will happen.”

chris81964:
1.Saudi Arabia with a population of 26m has 16 functional refineries, to commission another 2 of 400k barrel each per day capacity in 2016

2. The U.S State of California alone has 26, Texas has 19 refineries

3. While Singapore with a population of 5.6million people has 3 refineries with combine refining capacity 1.3m bp/d

4. Nigeria has 3 or 4 (non functional refineries) built in the 70s & early 80s...now obsolete...16 years of oil boom we didn't add even ONE.

5. When you don't invest in our downstream sector, but handed out importation licenses to cronies & acolytes. Today we are paying the price

6. We are paying the price of our past profligacy, irresponsibility in governance and blind leadership.

8. Egbin power plant was valued at $1.2 billion a German electricity company budded but GEJ sold is to Sahara energy at $470m.

9. Sahara had no previous antecedents on power plant aside importation of petrol but we handed them our LARGEST thermal plant..

10. Easier to cry today but whatever problems we see today was created yesterday with the active connivance of all of us...

11. Active connivance in the sense that we all kept quiet & looked away... Our day just dey break?

12. I am not exonerating the FG of blame, but laying the facts as they are... While you have the right to be angry, pls be angry with sense.

13. Change will come but it will not come overnight... A lot of mess was made either out of omission or commission, change will take a while

14. I am laying these facts out and I challenge anybody with contrary facts to bring it.

15. I am doing this because I feel the pain and agony we are going thru and I feel the collective hurt but we must understand why we are here.

16. I pray that the present FG will have the courage and conviction to right so many of the ills of the past. Our future depends on it.

17. May Nigeria be great again & may our collective suffering spur us to a greater sense of true nationhood. Nigeria shall rise again!!!

God will bless you for this post of the year delivery. The parts in bold above are especially brilliant. Nigerians and their ALUU proclivities, and for many reasons to include prejudice against one thing or the other, will never see your point which are completely factual and presented in a way that any reasonable person will concur. Personally I don't even bother to reason with some Nigerians any more because their insistence on getting water from a stone, while ignoring the very salient reason for this being impossible, is really off-putting and verging on the offensive. These same ALUU critics, despite the enormous damage GEJ did, come here daily to praise him while attacking Buhari for not clearing the mess of Jonathan and the PDP miraculously and in days. Do they even bother to acknowledge facts, as you have laid it out here, that shows we are in serious trouble and that quick fixes are simply impossible?

@OP.

Don't mind these recalcitrant elements who deliberately fail to acknowledge what even a reasonable child can discern which is that it will get worse before it gets better. Nigerians are a people who are difficult to reason with. I have just come from a thread where a die-hard hater of Buhari, who called Mr.President many unsavoury names, claimed that OBJ "gave" us Buhari in his desperate attempt to prove a non-existent point. He also foolishly asked what the price of crude has to do with improved electricity simply because I pointed out that if GEJ and the PDP could not add Megawatts to our generating capacity when oil sold at $110.00 per barrel then how will Buhari do so with oil selling at $30.00 with Nigeria even having to borrow money to deal with urgent recurrent expenses such as salaries of government workers?

How can anyone, other than biased and prejudiced Nigerians, not understand that more funds means a chance to improve or boost infrastructure while paucity of funds, in a severe economic downturn, means that a priority list will have to be compiled which will mean for now, and naturally, infrastructural development will be low on that list? How is that a 'Rocket Science' concept for even a child to grasp? Sometimes I feel really sorry for Nigeria because her greatest enemies, willing her to fail, are Nigerians reacting to the to prejudice they have been brought up with. No one is disputing that there is suffering in Nigeria currently but let us look realistically at how we got here and understand that we simply do not have the income or economic endowment to recover quickly.

Sunnynwa:


The same OBJ gave us Buhari when the world knows that apart from being an unrepentant Islamist, a tribal bigot and ethnic supremacist, does not posses the mental capacity to preside over the affairs of a multi ethnic cum multi religious entity like Nigeria.

What I said below about you, in my previous post, is now proven completely by this ridiculous inane response of yours that is mind-boggling by any standard.

Bros, you are the one who needs to fear God because you have that quality of many Nigerians i.e deep rooted prejudice against someone or something that makes them fail to look at that thing or person objectively.

Just to give a dog a bad name to hang it and make Buhari look bad and failing, by all means necessary, you claim OBJ gave us Buhari. Can you listen to yourself? How much did OBJ have to do with the emergence of Buhari that you now credit him with "giving" us our current President? Pardon me for not knowing that OBJ formed APC and is a founding father of the Party. I beg your forgiveness as well for not realising it was OBJ that mobilised delegates to vote Buhari as the APC candidate at the Party primary that was held at Teslim Balogun Stadium. I even deserve a slap for not seeing how GEJ mobilised the SW and her Governors to mobilise for a Buhari win while he simultaneously whipped the Northern leaders in line for PMB. The nonsense some of you talk sometimes when you are determined to rubbish something/someone. Nigerians sha. The most sentimental and factually dishonest people to walk the earth. While we are at it we might as well credit IBB also with "giving" us Buhari. Yeye talk.

Sunnynwa:


Haba Oga Gbawe, fear God na. How does the drop in crude oil price affect electricity supply son much so we generated 0MW, a first in the history of Nigeria.

Learn to call failure what it is, failure.

Bros, you are the one who needs to fear God because you have that quality of many Nigerians i.e deep rooted prejudice against someone or something that makes them fail to look at that thing or person objectively. Even a rabid hater of Buhari who is objective will understand my talk.

Simply put, it is obvious to the unbiased what I mean which is that we could not invest in boosting power generation, under GEJ, when Nigeria was selling oil at $110.00 per barrel and their was actually surplus income for Nigeria yet it is now you expect better electricity when there is severe paucity of funds to the extent government is borrowing to pay salary? You are simply another unobjective Nigerian who simply wants to give a dog a bad name to hang it. If not you will not miss the logic of my talk to then come up with the inane response of "how does the drop in crude oil price affect electricity supply". Even a child knows that money is needed for infrastructural development and improvement. Sit there and be waiting for improved electricity, which is in reality a low priority, at a time Nigeria is simple trying to survive.

henry49:
Idiots blame GEJ, but forget Obasanjo(Father of Corruption)

That is what it boils down to for many critics of the current APC government. I.e a clannish and entirely irresponsible attempt to always absolve GEJ of blame while indicting other non-SE/SS leaders. How many Yorubas have you met who defend OBJ clannishly and deny his culpability in the sorry state of affairs Nigeria finds herself in today? Virtually all Yorubas accept and admit that OBJ contributed to Nigeria being what she is today. I have stated it on NL many times that OBJ is singularly one of the worst and most destructive Nigerians ever because he gave us Shagari when the world knew Awolowo, for his faults, would have revolutionised Nigeria. OBJ also installed the weak, disinterested and ailing Yar Adua in power when Nigeria badly needed a focused, energetic and resolute President. He also supported GEJ to power when this was the same man OBJ knew to be horrendously corrupt as Jonathan and hi wife had run foul of Ribadu's EFCC back then. So, in short, only a fool or a dishonest Yoruba person will claim not to know how terrible OBJ has been for Nigeria and even the SW where he imposed gangster leadership on the region that has set the SW back decades.

Nonetheless GEJ is the President before Buhari and, rightly, it is his misrule most will focus on the most especially because his government earned far more money, due to high oil price, than any other in the history of Nigeria . Yet all GEJ could produce for the all -time high earning wad all - time high corruption and unpardonable misrule. It is time you guys grow up, disrobe your toga of clannishness and tribalism to see and call GEJ what he is. No Yoruba feels OBJ typifies us and we are thus never compelled to feel it is our duty to defend him or deny hi wrongdoing. It is the same way the individual called GEJ does not represent the average Ijaw or Igbo man. It is time you guys stop carrying the rogue called GEJ on your head to the truth which is that GEJ destroyed Nigerian when, more than most, he had a lot going for him that he should have utilised judiciously to make Nigeria more better than she is today.

For example, Buhari and Nigeria would have it easier today, despite decimated crude oil price, if we had rainy days savings, robust infrastructure, a thriving SME sector et al. Instead GEJ'S main achievement was the creation of a class of very corrupt and rapacious private jet billionaires like Ifeanyi Ubah, Tompolo et al. You guys should open your eyes and reject your shallow "our son" outlook which is not helping Nigeria at all.

Carmal90:



spare me your thrash, your body language President knew of this problem before accepting to run for President, and I remember a certain President that uses eight years of the said 16 years was with your messiah yesterday

Are you making sense at all? Because Buhari knew of the general problems of Nigerian and patriotically ran to be President means he cannot be excused for discovering the problem to be much worse than he ever imagined. Add to this the global economic condition beyond Buhari's control, i.e totally decimated price of crude in a short period of time, that has left Nigeria horribly exposed and economically under-prepared and it becomes obvious that well-educated Nigerians demanding a miracle today, while attacking Buhari because they have not seen such, are mainly enemies of Nigerians progress who hate the North and Buhari bigoted. I can understand the frustration of poverty stricken and poorly educated Nigerians. They will only conclude that "same old story". Yet the educated amongst us, who should lead patriotically today, know the truth.

Let me ask you all a question. Can you point to any major oil exporter today, when virtually all of them are economically and infrastructurally more superior to Nigeria, not struggling or challenged currently? That reality alonenshould show genuinely objective Nigerians this is not a time to foolishly expect miracles such as improved power supply. Imagine when the PDP never improved our power supply when crude sold for over $100.00 per barrel for many years yet Nigerians want to see improved power with oil selling at $30.00 per barrel and States are struggling to pay salaries? Come on people!!!! This is not rocket science. It is about being sensible, objective, patriotic and pragmatic people to then reasonably accept the reality before our very eyes. So because Buhari promised a better Nigeria this means we should abandon our adult common sense to then demand he produce water from a stone?

Sibrah:
You dey mind them wailers Gbawe. Under 'hero' jonathan telcos and banks close shop due to fuel scarcity, Yes or No?
They are only obsessed with distorting public opinon, that's all.

I am not at all concerned about these wailers. If they call me out cheaply because they think they can target me for derision, ad a passionate supporter of Buhari, then I will let them have the brutal truth which even a bright and morally upright child will accept. I.e it will get worse initially before it gets better because the PDP sunk us almost to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. How do you swim to the top from that sort of depth without endurance and sacrifice?

SleekMallam:

Can you please locate the least crowded petrol station and boldly express these 'torts' you wrote?

Talking like a proud ALUU lynch mob adherent still does not and can never, for intelligent and aware folks, detract from the fact that these 'severe problems' ordinary Nigerians are screaming about , like lack of electricity and fuel, are the manifestation of an aggregation of 16 years of severe PDP misrule.

You can remain here, because you detest our President due to you hatred of his faith and ethnicity, deceiving the gullible with your insincere 'I told you so' 419 that is the usual gibberish you rabid fans of GEJ think you can use to reinvent yourselves as 'patriotic Nigerians'. You hate Nigeria and hate the North passionately.

You despise the religion of Mr.President and you think this is the perfect time to stir disaffection against his government amongst naive and gullible Nigerian suffering ills the PDP, the Party your region clannishly adopted because of "Ebele", caused. You can fool the low level thinkers here but many know you are no patriot. You are nothing but a hateful bigot happy to carry on a proxy war of attrition where you get to once again bore us with your diatribe of how "ab0ki" will always eff up. This will then be followed up by the predictable rant of how it is only men and women of your ethnic group capable of saving Nigeria. The unchecked hatred of others is the main problem of people like you. If this is not the case then you will see and acknowledge how the PDP and GEJ screwed Nigeria to the extent a very painful 'steadying' period is completely unavoidable.

scribble:



Balderdash

Ipodian sadist. The government has and will continue to make mistakes but it is you haters of Nigeria who love to deceive others that water can come from a stone when you know better. You will come here to rant about the economy. Why don't you tell the many ignoramuses you are taking for a ride, because you want them to abandon support for Buhari, that no economic miracle 8s being witnessed today in nations that are major oil producers?

Rather they are all struggling. I wonder how you can then deceive others that Nigeria should be doing great economically when, unlike other major exporterss of crude, we are a mono economy almost entirely reliant on oil with moribund infrastructure and SME sector. All rhat gloomily topped off with how the PDP, courtesy of 16 years of horrid misrule, ensured we did not put any 'buffers' in place at all to weather this current storm? You lot are pathetic.

TANTUMERGO007:

gbawe is finished politically on nairaland

Who finished me? You and your other attention-seeking sadists who wanted the utterly worthless and highly destructive GEJ to continue in power? Bruv, I have a life beyond Nairaland. I can refrain from commenting here when busy or simply not interested and I can choose to comment when happy to do so. No political circumstances or person can make me leave Nairaland. It is only in Nigeria, where many do not understand genuine tenets of democracy and are given to ALUU political witch-hunting, you will see folks doing what you are doing here.

I supported Buhari and do not regret doing so yet because I am one of those who appreciate the enormous damage the PDP and GEJ, the 'messiah' you wanted to continue in power, had done over 16 years to appreciate it will get worse before it gets better. Overarching global economic conditions do not help either given Nigeria is a mono economy reliant mainly on oil as its major export and source of income. I would suggest you and other disgruntled sadists gear up to use every political means and strategy available to you to vote out Buhari and the APC in 2019 instead of coming here to make noise impotently and tediously everyday.

@OP.

I share your faith and belief in Buhari. What most Nigerians do not understand is that it must get worse before it gets better because of how badly PDP mismanaged Nigeria to the extent that everything that can help us weather a very difficult storm is missing. We are a mono economy reliant on one major export which is crude oil. We all know the price of crude has taken a horrid battering. A diversified economy would have helped us immensely right now. 'Rainy day' saving, which we should have put away when oil prices were high, would be extremely helpful today. So would a thriving SME sector and robust infrastructure i.e transport, electricity et al. Yet we lack these absolutely crucial and fundamental underpinnings because the PDP looted everything available and misruled Nigeria horrendously for 16 years. The PDP failed totally to plan and therefore planned to fail totally thus ruining the future of millions of Nigerians. That is now our reality today.

The only leader who can get us out of this mess is a resolute individual who will do what must be done, even if it will cause pain and inconvenience in the short term, so the immediate and long-term future can be much better for Nigeria and Nigerians. By his second year in power, when many of his initiatives will have started bearing fruits, I expect majority of Nigerians, to include those vilifying him on this thread, to be solidly behind Buhari. No miracle is possible for now because of global economic conditions beyond our control and the total failure of the PDP to 'insulate' Nigeria from the current harsh economic downturn many major oil exporters are facing. What people fail to accept is that the economy of most major oil producers worldwide, just like our own, is in trouble today. Yet it is Nigeria that is at a critical and infant-like state because of how badly our commonwealth was looted and how irresponsibly we were led by the PDP for 16 years. Personally I feel the best Buhari and his team can do is get their head down and work while ignoring unreasonable criticism from a people used to ignoring reality to then be hoping for miracles. Nigerians, regularly deemed the most religious people in the world, are an unreasonably 'e go better' people who will childishly ignore reality to then be demanding water from a stone. Unfortunately life is about accepting reality and then doing your best to adapt to such.

crestedaguiyi:


Zombie, did I lie.

Planning to do a thing and actually doing it are 2 different things .

You guys are simply pathetic and incorrigible haters
When has implementation phase (doing it as you crudely put it) ever occurred without the equally important planning phase? In the haste to contribute a negative comment you only make a fool of yourself. The house you live in was planned before it was built. The builders cannot just get to the site and start building without guiding plans and only a m0r0n will dismiss the pivotal importance of a putting a plan in place for what one wishes to do or achieve.

wanimo:
Rocha's Okoroawusa is the biggest fool of his generation. Someday, his case will be visited.

Here we go. The morbid hatred of "awusa" and other ethnic groups that is behind the irresponsible mindset of perceiving others as the cause of all their problems while being incapable of looking at the innate shortcomings of themselves and their leaders. It is the "Awusa" leader, like Buhari, and the "Yoloba" leader, like Tinubu, they must come here to face daily and propagate as the problem of Nigeria while they praise, vote for and deify their misruling crooks like GEJ, Allison-Madueke, NOI, Metuh, Theodore Orji, Orji Kalu, Oduah, Anyim et al who did little for them. Pathetic and I have personally never seen anything like it anywhere in the world i.e the display of total moral bankruptcy that renders some incapable of seeing wrongdoing in their own while they attempt to crucify and blame others alone for all their woes.

Olabestonic001:


You just painted the challenge of the SE who wanna burn down Nigeria because GEJ lost (not because they love anything called True Federalism).
You are very insincere in alluding to the insinuations that SW are quiet in shouting like the bereaved ppl like you guys.
GEJ played a political stunt on SW with the belated Confab. He didn't implement its dictates for almost a year and we all saw it was a ruse. The SE are shouting because they lost in the political game and not because they want anything called True Federalism and all those noises being made to blackmail SW to achieve their aim won't work!
Blackmails don't work on SW ppl!
Let's meet amicably and stop that thing of blaming us for voting out GEJ.
True Federalism we want too but not by that foolish blackmailing pattern of you guys. If you all continue, we won't blink an eye till you channel your interest intelligently without blackmailing.

Indeed. Blackmail does not and can never work with the Yorubas. Especially not cheap, insincere and transparent blackmail that is really a cover for a deep-rooted and ethnocentric rage stemming from the fact that GEJ lost an election and, consequently, an "abok1" or "kunu drinker" is now leading Nigeria as the intolerant, lawless and patently undemocratic IPOBians swore would never happen. They do not wish to maturely and democratically accept that an election took place and that Nigerians, in their majority, gave their mandate of leadership to an "Abok1". Instead they continue to shout "SW betrayal" as if the SW was duty-bound to perversely persevere with the hideously corrupt and misruling GEJ as they were happy to do. Imagine the lunacy of attacking someone because he does not wish to join you in worshipping Idi Amin or Hitler.

Nigerians should start the fight for "true federalism" from their home State. Now is the time, because we have no choice but to diversify National and State economy, to get serious Governors to look at ways of innovatively using the endowment of a State to secure her progress and glory. Some people should stop the pathetic blame game. It is undignified and the entire world can see it is entirely hollow and insincere.

obailala:
The last time I checked, the SE and SS and SW asked for the same thing in the last confab. The only thing the SW opposed was the return of an ineffective weak leader called Jonathan who watched helplessly for years as his friends plundered the nation's wealth; except you are saying a 'Jonathan presidency' is your own definition of restructuring the nation, I don't understand what you mean by this statement.

Thank you. It really is appalling the way these IPOBians and Biafra sympathisers love to lie against the SW and the Yorubas to then present us as an "enemy" of their agitation or "freedom". The SW is not only in support of true federalism but has a formal structure and organised think-tank behind its own effort called DAWN.

http://dawncommission.org/

Most Yorubas I know, contrary to what some Igbos peddle online, would be happy for the Igbos to have Biafra. What some Igbos have to realise is that the Yorubas , economically and culturally, are in very good condition to be on their own. It is only our pragmatic outlook that makes us feel it is fine to be in Nigeria, and take advantage of what the nation has to offer, while also focusing on developing the SW and contributing to the overall development of Nigeria. The alternative, i.e going our way, is fine to us too. Are we minus a seaport? is our soil not fertile? Do we not have one of the most respected culture in the world spawning music, entertainment and self awareness to cater for our leisure, spiritual and social needs? Do we lack innovators, educated folks and/or inspirational men and women? Do we not have Natural/mineral endowment and human resources that is in reality some of the best in Nigeria? Do some know that Yorubas produce the highest number of industry leaders and technocrats in Nigeria? In what area exactly are we deficient for some to delude themselves that we are "scared" of being on our own and are "preventing Igbos from leaving Nigeria"?

As far as I see it, the OP is another fellow steeped in the self-deciet called Biafra. Charity begins at home. If the Igbos, in the majority, truly want Biafra then the start point is for them to drop whatever they are doing, wherever they are in the world, and move back to SE Nigeria to make it a paradise under their own Governors, rules, culture and way of life. Nobody is stopping them doing that and this silly modus operandi of pitching Biafra as an agitation the "Yoruba/Hausa/Fulani are preventing" must stop because the entire world see different. They see insincerity, self-deceit and hypocrisy that hungry charlatan, like Kanu et al, are profiting from while selling to the poor, frustrated and gullible the dream and illusion of "we are great and blessed people who will touch the sky once in our own nation"

Producing silly "let my people go" articles like this is laughable, same as Kanu's hypocritical agitation that only reached a crescendo when GEJ lost, because there is a very glaring and obvious disconnection between the most economically nomadic people in Nigeria claiming they are the same people who want their own nation they wish to define in their own ways yet they are currently disinterested in staying in Igbo land. The Igbo secessionists should first address this obvious 'dissonance' before going online daily to single out the Yoruba for vitriolic attack. If the majority truly want Biafra then this will be very obvious in their action and sacrifice towards remaining in and defining the SE in the Biafra spirit and essence. "Freedom" is not in a name and you first effort towards becoming "free" is to hold your own irresponsible leaders accountable. They let you down the most and are your biggest enemy yet it is the Yoruba who has nothing to do with the horrid misrule your leaders enslave you with that you make enemy numero uno. We are all, to an extent, already free. We all all simply need to task our leaders, from the most local levels, to give us the tools with which to develop our respective States and region so our children can grow up the yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, Fulani, Ijaw way if that is indeed what we want.

It is hypocritical walking into your "enemies" domain and setting up home there to then still be shouting of desiring your own nation. What nation? the one you won't stay in and that your children know not much of? The one you have left for many years in the hands of rogues and misfits like Orji Kalu, Elechi, Obi, The Ubah brothers, Theodore Orji et al? Charity begins at home. The Igbos who really want Biafra should lead by example and stop injuriously and deceitfully trying to daily position the Yorubas as those preventing them from attaining their Biafra. If you all wish to leave the SW today to face the mission of turning the SE into Dubai I can assure you that no Yoruba will/can stop you so you must do that or stop slandering a people who have done you no wrong and , in reality, have accommodated you hospitably and without rancour. Till the world, most importantly Nigerians, see the igbos put there money where their mouth is, with a mass economic and physical relocation to the SE, then they will not believe the Igbos are serious about secession or that it is something majority of Igbos support beyond lip service, self-inflicted siege mentality and hypocritical preening. The likes of OP cannot face the truth but it is laid out for you above again and as has been done a million times in the past. Accept the truth. It will set you free.

codedguy1:
One of jonathans major blunders.

Indeed. The excesses of Moro, culminating in the death of many Nigerian youths, is one of the best example of the morally bankrupt and very wicked Government GEJ was running. Moro was not even sacked or probed by GEJ !!!! In fact Moro was so comfortable under GEJ that he was bragging, 7 months after the tragedy, he would not resign or leave his Ministerial position (see below). Moro should be jailed and the keys thrown away. Ditto for GEJ. These guys got away with a lot of wicked and inhuman acts against ordinary and helpless Nigerians.

http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/169785-immigration-recruitment-tragedy-why-i-wont-resign-abba-moro.html

OlujobaSamuel:
if na only this guy go kuje or kirikiri, I go happy half I swear. I travelled all the way from Lagos to akwa ibom to write this scam, the nonsense young shall grow motor wey carry me first enter calabar before telling me he is not going again that night, that the journey continues the next day when I suppose don drop for abia use my personal money board a quick bus to abak. na God go punish all of una wey scam us then. The dead souls will hunt you till death.

Same here. The excesses of Moro, culminating in the death of many Nigerian youths, is best example of the morally bankrupt and very wicked Government GEJ was running. Moro was not even sacked or probed by GEJ !!!! In fact Moro was so comfortable under GEJ that he was bragging, 7 months after the tragedy, he would not resign or leave his Ministerial position (see below). Moro should be jailed and the keys thrown away. Ditto for GEJ. These guys got away with a lot of wicked and inhuman acts against ordinary and helpless Nigerians.

http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/169785-immigration-recruitment-tragedy-why-i-wont-resign-abba-moro.html

Wonderful development !!!! This is one case that must be followed to the end with a lengthy sentence handed out to the worthless and callous Moro.

simplycarro:


Unfortunately for them, the whole of Nigeria nay the world is fully aware of their unbridled hate for PMB, the SW and anyone from there.
They have this unwritten rule never to accept and come under the authority of anyone that doesn't speak their tongue as they happens to be the most unpleasant people in Nigeria.
Whether they like it or not, Nigeria will progress with or without them, it's their choice to make.

Indeed. It was the same way some of us warned them that they cannot prevent Buhari from becoming President when they were making their empty pledge of "Abok1 will never rule me again". They will have the displeasure of watching "Abok1" and his team of patriotic Nigerians move Nigerians forward in ways Ali Baba (GEJ) and his forty thieves (NOI, Allison-Madueke, Obanikoro, Dasuki et al) never could. Indeed this is their greatest fear. I.e Nigeria achieving her potentials under "abok1".

They have now become really sadistic because of ethnocentric hatred of others and the defeat of GEJ they irresponsibly blame on the Yorubas without the moral uprightness to note that, unlike them, many Yorubas were awake to their civic duty of voting out GEJ before he completely destroyed Nigeria. The child who says his mother will not sleep will not sleep itself. Let them continue their enemies of progress antics. They are only destroying their relationship with other Nigerians as long as they remain in Nigeria.

mercyville:
Normal people turned sadists because of defeat. Very pathetic..

True. They should hurry and take their case to the UN seeking the dismissal of Adeosun because she made an arithmetic mistake. Lord knows how many mistakes Jonathan made publicly, on his way to destroying Nigeria, yet they defended those mistakes and even gave him 100% of their vote so Jonathan, with his cronies like Dasuki et al, could continue misruling Nigeria and looting our commonwealth horrendously.
Very pathetic indeed.

simplycarro:


When Ipobians read BRAVERY, the world will read COWARD and they read COWARD, the world will read SOUND JUDGEMENT
They have their own standard of assessment that is completely at variance with logic.

Indeed. The world now knows that their current 'secession' agitation and pathological hatred of anything/anyone from the North and the SW is the product of the trauma they suffered over the loss of GEJ. They kept quite for the 5 years GEJ was President and favouring them now they are making hypocritical secession noise because of the pain of realising what they swore would never happen before the elections of 2015 , i.e their pledge of "abok1 will never rule me again", has come to pass. Naturally , as is always the case, they blame the Yorubas for voting out the ultra-corrupt GEJ who was on course to destroying Nigeria completely.

This is the only reason they attack Adeosun and Buhari daily rather than give both a fair length of time to succeed whereas they gave GEJ their 100% vote towards GEJ receiving another 4 years in charge and on top of the 5 years he had used to totally decimate Nigeria. NOI who, over several years, supervised the biggest looting of Nigeria in history should return to her old job yet Adeosun who has been Minister for 4 months alone should be booted out for doing little wrong in a very difficult period even Houdini will struggle to free us from. These guys are nothing but pathetic creatures of hate and enemies of Nigeria's progress and wellbeing.

simplycarro:
Still on this matter?
Biafrans would kill themselves over this.

Indeed. What is more indicative of extreme ethnic and unreasonable hatred of others if not how IPOBians are doing their best to vilify and discredit Adeosun daily, when she has been Minister for 4 months only, while they continue to tout the discredited NOI as the best thing since slice bread when, over the many years she was Finance minister, the woman was only able to act as a spin doctor of lies and propaganda plus the 'enabler' of the biggest looting of Nigeria's commonwealth ever seen.

These IPOBians think they are fighting their "enemies" the Yorubas by hounding Adeosun and other Yorubas, while defending their own blindly, but they do not appreciate that they only disgrace themselves before the world and alienate themselves from other Nigerians with their antics of automatically supporting Igbos, Like Metuh et al, whereas the Yorubas, myself included, continue to insist on the trial of any Yoruba, like Obanikoro et al, who is accused of looting Nigeria or of being part of the misrule that is now seriously troubling our nation today. I pity them. That is all they deserve. I.e pity.

kenex4ever:
because they are jealous of NOI they rushed to organise a half baked accountant from their region to occupy Dsame seat in their negative change admin.
.
To d extent dat one nittttwitttt was comparing this educational mistake to NOI in another thread. Shame!!!

Jealous of NOI? My friend do you know of the 'omoluabi' concept that is very powerful in the minds and culture of Yorubas where they will denounce even their own father if he is guilty of shameful behaviour? You may have no such thing in your culture, as you show here defending a discredited failure, but jealousy is the last emotion any upright Yoruba harbours for NOI. I only feel pity for you and others who continue to defend her making yourselves look like unprincipled criminals and pathetic tribalists in the process.

The fact non of you can change, despite your best effort to do so, is that NOI was a very influential leader in the GEJ government that ruined Nigeria and is responsible for how we are in a big mess today. GEJ, NOI, Allison-Madueke, Dasuki et al ensured we are up sh1t creek without a paddle !!!! NOI was the Finance Minister and de facto Prime Minister who supervised the biggest looting of Nigeria's commonwealth ever seen. She was also actively and undeniably involved in peddling propaganda, half-truths and even outright lies that sought to deceive Nigerians and the world as per the true state of the Nigerian economy. It is crystal clear, in the minds and judgement of anyone not weighed down by the yoke of ethnic prejudice and hatred of others, that NOI is a discredited charlatan who had no problem propping up, lying for and abetting the unconscionable, highly damaging and devastating looting and misrule of her own nation.

Yet all that you morally bankrupt folks can do is shout her name and tout her some heroine whereas you will vilify Kemi Adeosun daily when she has been a minister for 4 months. What shows you are highly tribalistic and unreasonably clannish more than that? Anyone whose moral compass is intact and is a patriotic Nigerian will distance himself/herself from NOI ,even if the lady is directly related to them, and give Adeosun a reasonable length of time to prove herself.

Marcelini:
Hmm!

Say no more. Deal with stats and facts. Only SS is economically more viable and solvent than SE, and the good news is that part of Igboland is in SS too
And fun fact is, the SE receive the least amount of allocation from the FG yet remain more economically viable than regions that gulp more of the SS petroldollars in terms of direct FG allocation and projects, in addition to petroleum directly and indirectly linked public and private sector investments.


What this means is that the SE more than any other Nigerian region is more prepared to adjust to life after the end of money spinning era of petroleum.


https://www.nairaland.com/2732630/lates

Now, in the light of the above fact and stat, can we now close down this thread, and let the envious ones leak their wounds?

Why are some of you so dishonest and so ethically bankrupt to the extent you are always willing to ignore the factual truth to then be postulating your own wild fantasies? What on earth, even in your wild fantasy world, makes the SE the most prepared region to "adjust to life after the end of money spinning era of petroleum"? Do you actually understand what natural and human resources endowment is that puts the SW in good stead to be the most successful region if it were on its own?

To give you 'fluid' examples even a child can understand Do you know that Cocoa, produced in the SW, is Nigeria's second biggest foreign exchange earner after oil?

Do you understand that the service sector is one of the most important to the economy of Nigeria and that the SW alone is responsible for 55% contribution to this vital sector? Do you know what the SW contribute as well to Agriculture and Industry which are the two other biggest contributors to GDP after the service sector? I leave that as your homework of the day.

http://dawncommission.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Southwest-Economic-Trend-Recall-2015.pdf

Inferring from the newly rebased figure, the SW economy is estimated to contribute over 35% to national GDP, with its
over 55% contribution to the service sector, which contributes about 52% to the country's GDP.

See below for further proof:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Nigeria

GDP $574 billion (nominal; 2015)[2]
$1.109 trillion (PPP; 2015)[2]
GDP rank 21st (nominal) / 20th (PPP)
GDP growth
Increase 6.3% (2014)[3]
GDP per capita
$3,298 (nominal)[2]
$6,204 (PPP)
GDP by sector
agriculture: 17.8%
industry: 25.7%
[size=14pt]services: 54.6%[/size]
(2015)[4]
Inflation (CPI)
9% ( May 2015)

With all these overwhelming factual evidence the SW will very okay without oil and without the rest of Nigeria you guys continue to speak crap and pull tales of mythical greatness, based on nothing, out of some drk place where the Sun does not shine. Lawd you guys are something else !!!!They have shown you the statistics, facts and indisputable argument many times and in many different ways yet you guys still come here with your riff-raff fantasies and delusions about some 'greatness' reality does not bear out. Continue wallowing in your delusions and baseless chest-beating. It is what people like you, to your own detriment, are now famous for.

http://www.gamji.com/article6000/NEWS7879.htm

Nigeria: One Country Four Economies Discussion Points
By
Falalu Bello, OFR


a) South West Economy

South Western Nigeria with a Land Mass of 76,852 square kilometres and population of 25.2 million today owns and/or control 60% of the nation’s industrial capacity, 44% of banking assets, 67% of insurance assets and is house to the nation’s three deep sea ports of Apapa, Tin Can Island and Roro; the busiest international airport of Ikeja, three thermal stations of Egbin, Papalanto and Omotosho. Today, its three major industrial estates of Agbara, Ikeja and Otta are all linked to gas under the West African gas pipeline plan and piping of gas is ongoing from Otta to Abeokuta. Added to these, the South Western population today is the most educated as western education came through there and education as a resource was democratized since the early sixties. Geographical location, democratization of western education, availability of resources enhanced in last 9 years and some empowerment during the Obasanjo administration have collectively enabled the South Western economy to rank as first of the four economies in Nigeria. Today, the South West as a region can boast of having a defined growing middle class and is perceived to have at least 20,000 of its indigenes with net worth of over N100m each. Take it out of Nigeria, the South West economy with is defined growing middle class and resources, will be one of the fastest growing economies in the world.


b) The South-East plus Delta

The South Easterners plus their cousins across the Onitsha bridge control commerce in all parts of Nigeria and are thus largely employed. The region has clusters of small scale industries around Nnewi and Aba. The banking consolidation has assisted these people to now have ownership and or control of over 50% of Nigerian banking assets. It also controls 21% of the nation’s insurance assets and 20% of industrial assets. With this development, this region which has not had a commanding control over Nigerian economy will certainly begin to do that now. Commercial activities backed by finance can only grow the economy of South-East plus Delta. The growing strength of financial muscle of this region has been aptly demonstrated by the recent licensing of Micro Finance Banks. Of the over 600 MFBs recently licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Anambra State alone had 74 whilst Yobe State had 1, Sokoto 5, Zamfara 6, etc. There exists also in this economy a middle class which will now grow itself in number and financial muscle and will almost certainly grow its economy inclusive particularly of small and medium sized industrial base.


c) The Northern Economy

The North which geographically is 719,435 Square Kilometers or 79% of Nigeria’s landmass and has 75 million or 53.6% of Nigeria’s population has its economy as a consequence of various reforms introduced, been totally grounded. Today, the North has ownership and/or control of no more than 3% of banking assets and 2% of insurance assets and 10% of industrial assets. True, the North has a huge landmass but this has remained under exploited due to jettisoning of time tested policies of price support (as a result of abolishing of marketing boards without putting alternatives) and abandonment of extension services and quality control. Also, the North has a huge population but the population has remained largely uneducated and/or half educated because of near failure of governance in certain States and Local Governments. Currently its most distinguishing characteristic is grinding poverty. Recent poverty statistics indicate that the poverty level of States in the North has been on the increase in the last 9 years and reached over 80%. Its two commercial and industrial nerve centers (Kano and Kaduna) have seen industrial capacity utilization decline to an all time low of less than 10%. The textile, automobile and beverages companies that thrived so impressively in the 1970s and 1980s have collapsed rendering thousands jobless. Although hydroelectricity is generated at Kainji Dam and in lesser quantities at Shiroro Gorge and at several smaller sites, the entire mechanisms are run on very obsolete equipment and the performance is consequently very epileptic and unsuitable for meaningful economic activity.


d) The South South minus Delta

The South South is largely in the creeks of Niger Delta and has therefore a small land mass of only 48,321 square kilometers and is populated by 13.6 Million people. Notwithstanding the fact that it is house to Nigerian Oil wealth, this region exclusive of oil company activities like the North is also backward economically. It controls no more than 3% of banking assets, 10% of insurance assets and no more than 10% of industrial assets on account of oil related industries that the indigenes do not control. Furthermore, its overstretched land mass has suffered considerable degradation and its aquatic life destroyed. As a region, its people and economy are worst off than the North as it lacks fresh environment, water and even good air to breath.

betterABIAstate:
Ibadan has only five cinemas, you see what I mean? How can Ibadan, as big as it is have only five cinemas when owerri and enugu has more than five each.

So number of Cinemas is now a measure of economic prosperity and socio-economic development? This is the problem with you guys. You are so desperately devoted to trying to prove you are superior to others that you will even ignore facts and reality to then be embracing silly logic all in the attempt to make an ego-driven and non-existent point. Oga, please read the report below and get to work instead of coming here to make a fool of yourself. That new Governors are trying to deliver the dividends of democracy in States like Abia and Ebonyi where Theodore Orji and Elechi have gang-shagged the populace for 8 years does not mean you come here patronisingly proclaiming that this development is an indicator the SE is now richer or doing better than others.

It is widely accepted that the SW Governors, in the past 4 years, were some of the best performing in Nigeria with real and quantifiable gains made in the infrastructure sector. Enjoy what your new governors are doing and continue holding them accountable to do more but don't come here chest-beating about what other Nigerian citizens, in Ogun, Oyo et al, have been seeing for the past few years while the indolent leaders you electorally persevered with give you guys nothing. The problem is that you brag about every little thing and want to use it in your supremacist agenda, driven by the inferiority complex killing you, while others prefer to enjoy what their leaders are delivering while imploring them to do more. Whether you want to accept it or not, "lazy people" and "oyel money" , as you simplistically always posit in the effort to denigrate others, does not deliver the reality stated below. You can see the SW is the major contributor, by more than a whopping 50% per sector, to GDP contributing sectors with little to do with oil like trade, manufacturing, telecommunications and real estate. When will you guys ever reject empty chest-beating, learn to respect others and begin working with the facts and reality on the ground?

http://dawncommission.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Southwest-Economic-Trend-Recall-2015.pdf

More revealing from the GDP Rebasing exercise is the fact that Southwest is best positioned as a major driver in four (4),
of the top six (6) sectors revealed to contribute close to 70% of the overall GDP. The Region is tipped to contribute more
than 50% to these sectors (Trade, Manufacturing, Telecommunications and Real Estate). The Region's bulging middle
class in the cities of Lagos, Ibadan, Mowe, Ibafo and even Abeokuta in Ogun State are highly contributive to this feat.
These cities all resident in the Region are found to house more middle class people than cities in other Regions.
Southwest contributes more than One-third to the Nation's GDP
Inferring from the newly rebased figure, the SW economy is estimated to contribute over 35% to national GDP, with its
over 55% contribution to the service sector, which contributes about 52% to the country's GDP.