betterABIAstate:
nonsense, southeast is currently experiencing faster pace of development than southwest, what's the use of GDP when it doesn't reflect on your people and can't change the number of dilapidated building with redroof in ibadan and Abeokuta. Please spare me the GDP talk because southwest looks so backward.

Only in your ignorant mind where facts and real statistics are ignored to be replaced by conjecture and silly assumptions predicted on illogical premises such as the number of mansions to be seen in a Village. Your talk of red roof is laughable because the reality is that Nigeria, save some decent areas every State can boast of, is a large slum and a big Ghetto. What people like you love to engage in, instead of joining others to brainstorm how we move forward from the mind-numbing backwardness we are all mired in, is "my slum is better than yours" jubilation whereas the reality for enlightened and exposed Nigerians, who have seen and experienced far better standards, is that a slum is still a slum and no better than another.

Slums may look and be marginally different but they are still slums and it is those who have experienced better who can tell people like you to get over yourself and stop silly comparison of what, to others, is worthless and still far below what is even average worldwide. The fact is that, compared to what obtains worldwide, no Nigerian region is decent enough or able to cover itself in glory. We should all get to work to move our respective States and region towards minimally acceptable levels instead of trying to brag about flyovers when others are enjoying bullet trains worldwide. As far as Nigeria goes, you are only engaging in self-deceit if you think the SE is currently growing faster than other regions or doing better than others because of your predisposition for ignoring facts in favour of anything that supports your thirst to always make a supremacist conclusion about everything. When you come here with lies then expect others to ridicule you with facts.

nigerianvenom:
Op,i beg to disagree.
Apart from edo state ,the entire SS is now a construction haven for all kinds of project .
Take a walk to akwa ibom,rivers and cross rivers,you'll get my point.

Thank you. Is it not like a curse for someone to wake up daily and feel he must praise and over-hype himself over what is modest achievements in reality while putting down others with lies and ignorant assumptions? You see one or two flyovers and you are making noise yet what should Ogun folks do when their governor has built several and is delivering 15 flyovers in 2016? That some projects are going on in the SE today indicates similar or even far greater is not happening in other regions in Nigeria? Only our chest-beating brothers can make this silly assumption and deliberate under-estimation/ignorant writing-off of others.

Arjeeni:
If you want to cook any propaganda remember that thorough research is the first thing to do not mere speculations.
The fact that a state is in debt does not rendered such state less performing.
I am in Lagos I know what Ambode doing in fact the rate at which Lagos state moving now no state is able to do that let me mention but few of the projects;
Ambode kicked off light Lagos last year and now no a single area Council left unlighted, the rehabilitation of ikorodu express road which is still going on, construction of Iyana Ipaja express road via Abule Egba still going on and construction of at least one inner road of all local Council in Lagos state still going on, unlike any other state, he equipped law enforcement agencies with modern equipments commissioned recently.
I am saying this emphatically that no state ever had a good networking road like Lagos in Nigeria and the quality of good work was equally superb.
And for the Lagos state got approved for loan in world Bank this year earn her prestigious position among other state because right now no state can.
All these projects was not a left over from Fashola administration, are projects newly commenced.

Who claimed that Lagos borrow money from any state in this country should provide evidence to back it up.

You are minding these empty chest-beater and ignorant braggarts? They are here making noise about one or two flyovers then what should Ogun State folks be doing over the news below? If these guys were not so desperately obsessed with proclaiming themselves better than others then they would not engage in this daily show of ignorance that is offensive to others and leaves them looking foolish when informed folks, who work with facts and statistics, get involved. Soon they will tell us they are the only ones rich enough to buy fish and meat currently. Absolute bunkum and a near retarded show of ignorance and inferiority complex.

http://tribuneonlineng.com/ogun-to-complete-16-ongoing-road-projects-15-flyovers-in-2016

Ogun to complete 16 ongoing road projects, 15 flyovers in 2016
December 1, 2015

Written by: Gbemi Solaja - Lagos

Ogun State governor, Ibikunle Amosun has said his administration would complete the 16 ongoing road projects, 15 flyovers and bridges, adding that it would construct or rehabilitate at least two key rural roads in each of the 20 Local Government Area within the state next year.
The governor stated this at the presentation of the 2016 Appropriation Bill tagged “Budget of Optimisation” to the state House of Assembly, in a statement signed by the spokesman, Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, Ayokunle Ewuoso and made available to the Nigerian Tribune.
The governor also said his administration would commence the design and construction of a viable asphalt plant same year.
This, he said, would make asphalt readily assessable and reduce the cost of road construction works being embarked upon by the government, adding that in pursuit of the rural investment drive of his administration government shall ensure infrastructural development within the rural communities and small towns with a view to uplift the economic, social, commercial and employment generation activities in the rural areas.
Roads listed by the governor to be completed in 2016 include OGTV/Brewery 8.7km, Ojere Adatan 9km, Ejirin/ Oluwalogbon 9km, Sagamu Benin Express/ Oba Erinwole 7km, Ilo-Awela 7.6km, Lanfewa Ayetoro 34km, Ilisan Ago-Iwoye26km, Moshood Abiola Way 6.1km, Ikangba/ Ilese /Imusin/Ife/Itele/Ogbere 45km and Ilara/Ijohun/Ilase 110km.
Others are Ofada/Mowe/Ibafo 29km, Papalanto/Ilaro Fed Poly 22.7km,Atan-Agbara/Lusada-Igbesa/Alapoti 37.65km,Sango/Ijoko/Ojodu-Abiodun 43km, Lafenwa Enugada-Adatan 7km, and Magboro Underpass 12km.
Flyovers and bridges are, flyover bridges at Iyana Mortuary 0.48km, Ijebu-Igbo/Obada Market 0.40km, River Abule Ekun 0.4km, River Yakoyo 0.54km, Ilaro, Lusada Junction 48km, Itoku, Sapon, Oju Ore, ota, Old tollgate, ota, Lanfenwa, Idiroko Ipokia ,Afon- Imeko and Odo- Afa- Imeko.
Amosun assured that no project already embarked upon by his administration would be abandoned, noting that government medium term plans have taken these projects into account and are such all projects would be completed within the tenure of his administration.
The governor pointed out that he will vigorously pursue the implementation of its Light Rail project connecting major towns in the three Senatorial Districts.
In the meantime the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure has completed asphalting of the track field within the Moshood Kolawole Abiola (MKO) stadium Kuto Abeokuta the state capital in preparation for the laying of the world class tartan track by the state government.
During his interaction with journalists on the development in his office, the Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Olamilekan Adegbite, said the present administration in the state is determined to make the stadium a world class one hence its decision to relay a standard tartan track.
“Our ministry is providing services for a sister ministry, Youth and Sports. What we have done there is that government is desirous of laying new tartan tracks. What was there before was bad; we have removed that and going to replace it with a new one and one of the requirement to put a new one is to lay new asphalt at the base for a new track, so after two weeks when the asphalt would have cool, they will move to site and begin to lay the tracks.”

@OP

To claim "SE States Lead In Financial Buoyancy" is nothing but an ignorant figment of your emptily braggart imagination and constant desire for d1ck comparison due to the inferiority complex eating you alive. You guys should get real and start dealing with facts instead of coming to bore us here with anecdotal tales of bridges in your Village you then take to mean you are richer than others. Your ignorance, coupled with the readiness to lie shamelessly in defence of your uniformed chest-beating, is amusing.

Look, we all know you wake up daily looking for ways to proclaim your region better than the SW but it is time you guys begin accepting reality to understand that you have much to do and that others are moving forward also. You tell us you can make your States and region Dubai-like yet we never see it. All we witness is half-baked lies and ignorant chest-beating about so-called "achievement" which are really nothing special, except to you, in comparison to what others have done and achieved. Like I always say, if the Yorubas were given to bragging or need the validation of others, because they are not secure in themselves, then the world will not rest because we will literally bombard everyone with noise about what real statistics favourably show about the SW.

http://www.thenigerianvoice.com/news/172621/1/to-the-people-of-the-southwest-the-third-largest-e.html

The GDP of the entire nation of Nigeria, the largest economy by far in Africa, currently is about N130 trillion naira(about $594 billion US dollars)(Wikipedia, list of African countries by GDP(nominal)). The Southwest, one of the six geopolitical regions of Nigeria, has an estimated GDP of about N67 trillion naira( about $305 billion US dollars), more than half of the GDP of the nation.

By our estimates, the Southwest region was the third largest economy in the continent of Africa n 2014! This must be a shock or a pleasant surprise to many people!

Ofodirinwa:
I say this because I will single handedly prove to APC supporters that are blaming the rotten financial situation in the fed on 'the oil crisis'


Why is Anambra that's adding flyovers in 3 cities, new stadiums, refineries, and lending money to states like Oyo Ogun and Lagos not suffering from the 'oil crisis'?
Why is Ebonyi is a construction zone and now the 3 most agriculturally productive state in Nigeria, where's the 'oil crisis'.
Abia is building the largest market/mall in africa. New roads, rebuilding the whole of Aba. Where's the oil crisis?
do I need to tell you about Enugu? Every state in Nigeria announced a 'new city' at one point, only the Enugu Centenary City is moving and selling homes today. Why? Where's the oil crisis?


Why is it that the federal government and the APC states the ones suffering from 'oil crisis'?

You guys and your desperate chest-beating and inferiority complex-led braggadocio that then manifests in the readiness to tell ridiculous lies. Why stop at Oyo, Ogun and Lagos? Don't you know it is Anambra financing the UK, USA and Japan together while Enugu just bailed out Greece and Portugal with billions of dollars. This disgraceful lie and ignorant attempt at deceit is what happens when someone wake daily and thinks of way to proclaim himself better than others instead of concentrating on how he can better himself and his society.

Abagworo:



Its not about comparison but the flyover picture exposes Nigeria at its ironical best.

I get your point but it is only infrastructural development, as all Yoruba governors are pursuing, that can accelerate socio-economic development and the creation of a richer and bigger middle class. The houses in the surrounding area are private houses with private individuals responsible for their regular renovation and maintenance. Much of Nigeria is like that because keeping a house shiny and beautiful is low on the priority of Nigerians everywhere and not just in Yoruba land.

When Nigerians are richer and able to meet their primary needs then they may have enough left to become house-proud i.e fastidious about maintaining house and home. Even in developed nations like the UK and USA the government will not be able to prevent some areas becoming slums if those in that area are very poor consequently meaning that beautifying their home is very low on their priority list. If the USA et al can have ghettos then why is it a surprise a nation, i.e Nigeria, with over 70% in poverty is a big ghetto? The beautiful private homes you wish to see, that then goes towards an aesthetically pleasing environment overall, can only be delivered with more wealth in the hands of Nigerians. As simple as that.

arewafederation:
Nigerians are very impatient, forgetful and shortsighted.
We all want change and are not prepared to make sacrifices and undergo the pains that accompany the change.

But I believe with the present economic policies, even though harsh, Nigeria will in the long run become self reliant. Only then can we begin to feel the CHANGE.

Indeed. That is why it is frustrating talking to Nigerians about politics or the economy. The myopia and ethnocentric viewpoint of many Nigerians, which makes them fail to see or deliberately misinterpret what is obvious, is annoying.

I gave an example on another thread of how some Nigerians are acting like a little child who is demanding a bicycle from his dad yet will not accept that Daddy simply does not have the money in his pocket to purchase the bicycle with. The simple fact some Nigerians are blatantly refusing to accept , like a brat-like child, is that we do not have the reality or economic strength, courtesy of being a mono-economy with a moribund SME sector and prehistoric infrastructure et al, to recover quickly from this crash in oil price matched with the monumental corruption GEJ and co have bankrupted Nigeria with. Nigerians should grow up, face reality, support a well-intentioned and focused government and , crucially, stop childishly and unreasonably demanding water from a stone.

@OP

Well said. The part quoted below are especially pertinent. This is the time for Nigerians to come together in patriotic zeal and accept we must all play our part, however little, to secure the change we want. The damage done is very extensive and the 'buffers' , like a diversified economy and 'rainy day' savings, that would have helped us withstand this economic storm are totally absent. The solutions therefore have to be painful initially and long term thereafter.

You cannot diversify an economy overnight and you cannot wave a magic wand and instantly revive a moribund SME sector (small to medium enterprise) especially when provisions, such as well-developed transport sector and adequate power supply, that have helped nation worldwide to grow their SME sector are abysmal or absent in Nigeria. The very sad reality of how we failed to plan, through our indolent and deliberate creation of a mono-economy heavily reliant on crude oil sale, means we planned to fail. If Nigerians truly understand the problem then they will appreciate the scale of what has to be done while also realising that all hands must be on deck.

Yes, there are initial pains but if Nigerians support the government and stop the addiction for imported items, we will be on the way to long-lasting and sustainable economic growth and development.

Our duty as citizens is to look at ways of helping to make things better as the government fights corruption and implements structural reform of our economy not to whine about not being able to continue our destructive habits of wasteful spending and unnecessary importation for temporary gain.

playboy99:
u are 1 of them.when d oil waz 100plus who was incharge? The question you should be asking was did they save for a day like this and with the best economic team why didnt they diversify the economy then.sorry i forgot they would have done that if they had won the election.

Thank you ojare. Tragic that some are now asking the same man who took us backwards horribly over 5 years he was President , in prosperous times, and is responsible for 90% of our problems, to return yet they cannot even give Buhari two years in charge in a very difficult period affecting the entire world. This is the sort off 'only in Nigeria' development that highlights the fact that Nigerians are the biggest enemies of Nigeria.

Iroh88:
Some people are simply too dumb or too emotional to accept the truth. This is just fact. Had we diversified our economy, the effect of the plunge in oil price would have been this drastic. Even bigger economies than Naija who are dependent on oil export are feeling the heat.

Here, PDP supporters are overly excited not realising the failure is attributable to the failure of their party over the years, especially in the last six years where oil sold for record prices but no buffers were put in place to bolster the strength of our currency in an event there's a fall in the price of crude.

Rather, they turned the dollar to their preferred medium of exchange, using it to buy everyday goods, pay for services, finance campaigns, and bribe people- the naira was ditched like an unfaithful girlfriend. Today, the same people responsible for the mess are those Wailing the most.

I hope it hits N1000 mark, then we'd see how much more excited they would get.

Thank you. It is good to note Nigerians like you still exist in a time many are acting like little children who are insisting daddy must buy them a bicycle while childishly refusing to accept the reality of how daddy cannot provide this because he has no money in his pocket. Personally I am fed up of some Nigerians and their unreasonable outlook. Imagine asking the man who got us in this position to come back and finish us off. Some Nigerians are very sadistic while others are simply ignorant. As if the slide in value of the Naira started today and not under GEJ. The sadists and self-harming ignoramuses asking for GEJ back should remind us the President who failed to diversify our economy away from a dependence on oil when that is now a non-negotiable priority of the current government.

They should show us what GEJ did to revive and grow our moribund SME sector. We also need to know why GEJ failed to save for the rainy day, such as the downpour we are now experiencing, when oil sold for more that $100.00 dollars for most of the 5 years he was president. We would also like to know why GEJ had zero impact on developing critical infrastructure like power, transport et al when those are pivotal to the optimal socio-economic development of any nation. Is it the proliferation of rampant and unchecked Boko Haram terror under GEJ that we want to return? Do GEJ fans assume we are all sadists who want to see the return of a man revelations show was nothing but a morally bankrupt individual who supervised the hideously large scale looting of Nigeria's commonwealth as has never been seen before? Sometimes you simply just have to wonder if some Nigerians, even if they are enemies of their nation, are for real because it take a very evil kind of wickedness to be asking for the return of GEJ.

ipledge10:
You guys are ignorant of what is going on in the world. ..since oil started going down...Saudi Arabia that produce more than what Nigeria produce and with lesser population have sold more than $126billion of her properties...is it Jonathan that drain the country foreign reserve when oil was $110/barrel will be the one to save the country when oil is less than $30/barrel?...you can wail till jesus come

Don't mind them. The same GEJ that got us where we are today? There is a big difference between an inherently inept government doing badly in prosperous times , i.e the GEJ government, and a competent government unable to deliver maximum economic impact because of very difficult overarching global economic realities beyond its control and the 'impotence' bestowed upon it by the highly inept and grossly corrupt PDP rule of 16 years - most especially that of GEJ who virtually earned more money than all others combined courtesy of oil selling for more than $100.00 per barrel for most of the years GEJ was President. We are not pragmatic in Nigeria and many Nigerians do not understand what it means to think critically. Read the article below from 2014 , with comment from neutral expert analysts who are not sentimental or impractical as the average miracle-seeking Nigerian, to note that anyone seeking for Nigeria to be economically prosperous today is a joker. The article bleakly highlights the fact that we were in serious trouble, when oil was selling at $68.00 per barrel, and that the Naira will keep failing in value.

The article also warned that no quick recovery should be expected because of the many 'booby traps' we myopically set for ourselves via failing to diversify the economy away from oil, embracing corruption rather than developing critical infrastructure like power and transport, refusing to see the need to prioritise the development of the SME sector that had been allowed to become moribund and blatantly ignoring the need to save for the 'rainy day' when oil sold for over $100.00 per barrel for a long time. GEJ some myopic Nigerians are asking for is guilty of all of the above far more than any other President we have had since 1999. Which reasonable person would think the above issues are problems that can be resolved in the 9 months Buhari has been President when the highly educated, experienced and effective experts below warned us not to expect any quick recovery at a time Nigeria was much, much better off than it is today? The reality, for those who do not kid themselves, is that most Nigerians are not reasonable or realistic.

The solutions that will aid and sustain our recovery, so we are never in this position again, can only bear results in the long term if adhered to holistically and religiously as I expect Buhari to do. For example, the development of our solid minerals sector , the growth of the agricultural sector and the deliverance of constant and adequate power supply that will help us diversify our economy will not be delivered in a few days, months or even a year !!! Bear in mind also that the money to invest in those sectors is simply not available today in a period we are even struggling to service recurrent expenditure such as salaries for government workers !!!!

There is nothing, I repeat nothing, we can do today to make current Nigeria economically prosperous overnight. Anyone who truly understands the problem of Nigeria, and is realistic about what can be done to defeat these problems and the time frame to deliver the lasting solutions required, will know Buhari and Osinbajo remain capable of leading us forward. Some Nigerians are simply expecting water from a stone in defiance of logic. Some of us are used to this because we know our people to understand how unreasonable and unrealistic Nigerians are in comparison to others. If I ask these GEJ lovers to make a convincing argument for what can improve Nigeria today they would be unable to do so because we are a mono-economy now experiencing every crippling aspect of an economic downturn due to how our main expert and foreign currency source, i.e crude oil, has lost over 70% of its value and is unable to sustain us because we allowed ourselves to be almost 100% dependent on it ? As you point out, and as the article below also asserts, others oil-dependent economies, far better prepared , more organised and more prosperous than us are struggling yet some expect miracle from a nation that burnt all the bridges it should now be crossing to get to the economic recovery it needs.



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.

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.

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.”

chudionu58:
Remember, 2019 is 3 years from now, and are you telling me that medium term planning is a wrong approach? Hmmmmm! Easy uncle Gbawe

Oga you are free to plan away. There is a big difference between an inherently inept government doing badly in prosperous times and a competent government unable to deliver maximum economic impact because of very difficult overarching global economic realities beyond its control and the 'impotence' bestowed upon it by the highly inept and grossly corrupt PDP rule of 16 years. We are not pragmatic in Nigeria and many Nigerians do not understand what it means to think critically. Read the article below from 2014 , with comment from neutral expert analysts who are not sentimental or impractical as the average miracle-seeking Nigerian, to note that anyone seeking for Nigeria to be economically prosperous today is a joker. The article bleakly highlights the fact that we were in serious trouble , when oil was selling at $68.00 per barrel, and that the Naira will keep failing in value.

The article also warned that no quick recovery should be expected because of the many 'booby traps' we myopically set for ourselves via failing to diversify the economy away from oil, embracing corruption rather than developing critical infrastructure like power and transport, refusing to see the need to prioritise the development of the SME sector that had been allowed to become moribund and blatantly ignoring the need to save for the 'rainy day' when oil sold for over $100.00 per barrel for a long time. Now tell me how, if a reasonable person, you think the above issues are problems that can be resolved in the 9 months Buhari has been President when the highly educated, experienced and effective experts below warned us not to expect any quick recovery at a time Nigeria was much, much better off than it is today. The reality, for those who do not kid themselves, is that most Nigerians are not reasonable or realistic.

The solutions that will aid and sustain our recovery, so we are never in this position again, can only bear results in the long term if adhered to holistically and religiously as I expect Buhari to do. For example, the development of our solid minerals sector , the growth of the agricultural sector and the deliverance of constant and adequate power supply that will help us diversify our economy will not be delivered in a few days, months or even a year !!! Bear in mind also that the money to invest in those sectors is simply not available today in a period we are even struggling to service recurrent expenditure such as salaries for government workers !!!!

There is nothing, I repeat nothing, we can do today to make current Nigeria economically prosperous overnight. Anyone who truly understands the problem of Nigeria, and is realistic about what can be done to defeat these problems and the time frame to deliver the lasting solutions required, will know Buhari and Osinbajo remain capable of leading us forward. Put your Damkwabo and Bruce in place of Buhari and Osinbajo, or any other combo, and you would equally be looking to replace them today because you fail to understand the problem, as the analysts below do, and are totally unrealistic about the way forward. You and others are simply expecting water from a stone in defiance of logic. Some of us are used to this because we know our people to understand how unreasonable and unrealistic Nigerians are in comparison to others. If I ask you want could be done today to improve Nigeria could you make a convincing case of your stance given we are a mono-economy now experiencing every crippling aspect of an economic downturn due to how our main expert and foreign currency source has lost over 70% of its value and is unable to sustain us because we allowed ouselves to be almost 100% dependent on it ?



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.

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.

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.”

Heshei:
Are you high ?

I don't see what he has said to warrant this insulting response from you. It cost you nothing to be polite.

@Topic.

It is way too early to discuss 2015 for the very fact that it is way too early to write off the Buhari/Osinbajo government as you clearly do. It is a very difficult time to lead Nigeria because of external factors beyond our control and the inability of past governments to address perennial problems (like our unhealthy dependence on oil) to the extent we are really struggling to combat this period of economic downturn occasioned by the drastic fall in the main export, i.e crude oil, our mono economy is highly dependent on. Buhari and Osinbajo have plenty of time to deliver change and progress that Nigerians can see and feel. I am betting on them doing this, because this is a government 100% on the side of the people, and convincing Nigerians that there is no vacancy in Aso Rock in 2019.

Iroh88:
You bring a termite infested firewood into your house yet you don't wanna see lizards come near? Sorry, that isn't gonna happen.

You know, I still remember all the names the party labelled Buhari before the election. They did everything possible in the physical and spiritual realm to make Nigerians believe he is a sponsor of BH- FFK didn't spare him a moment of respite, neither did Metuh nor the fatso Okuigbe, today the big hen is back home to roost and they are wondering where the hell she came from.

PDP, ndo oo.

Precisely.

billyG:
I SAS going to unleased boko haram on us again?

Exactly. Your fear will be the fear of many Nigerians and a potent reason for them to distance themselves from the PDP. In fact KOWA and others will relegate PDP into 5th or 6th place in 2019. After the APC has shown sincerity of purpose and the political will to decimate the terror group called Boko Haram will Nigerians now vote a Party parading one of the 'founding fathers' of Boko Haram as its chairman?

NgeneUkwenu:
With Ali Modu Sherrif, Fayose, Oliseh Metuh and Nyesom Wike??

You can imagine the pre-election headlines in 2019. E.g " a vote for Sheriff PDP is a vote for the return of Boko Haram" PDP why nau?

modath:



That is the problem that comes with pointing one finger, the remaining four are just doing their thing.... SAS is a BH sympathizer, end of story & he is political baggage they never thought through before embarking on the self destruct mission!!

PDP has no ideology beyond "share the money" & when the barn door has now been literally closed, they are just floundering & making gaffes on a do one get one more basis......SAS' money is looooonnnggg, they are hoping to rid him of some or use his BH influence ........

Every normal thinking soul thought the rational & normal thing would have been to build on the momentum of the supreme courts "misjudgements" , but no, PDP leaders aren't normal or rational.... If it ain't bout da money, don't be expecting logic.....

My dear sister, this is 100% proof PDP has nothing to offer as an opposition party and I see the Party being overtaken by others soon. It is obvious to even a child that the PDP can only bounce back by doing things differently and convincing Nigeria it is now about a new generation of 'clean' leaders with good reputations, character and history. Yet the shameless party chose to promote the discredited and pitiful 'journeyman' politician called Sheriff into one of the most influential and exalted positions within the Party. I love it . I personally want a strong opposition but feel it must never be the PDP. They have just gone and proven that school of thought right with this insane move.

As far as Nigerians see it, they would rather stick with APC that decimated Boko Haram seriously instead of opt for the PDP under which Boko Haram thrived with the Party now even going further to shamelessly adopt one of the indirect 'founding fathers' of Boko Haram as its chairman. Many Nigerians, with Sheriff as PDP chairman, will simply equate a vote for PDP as a vote for the return of the menace that is Boko haram. Even Nollywood cannot dream up the mad and self-destructive scenarios the dullards at the ultra-desperate PDP gets the Party into.

Jilo83:
But the allegation has been there since he was in APC even Oga jona confirm that.

Nothing stops Nigerian politicians moving from one Party to the other yet we must ask if APC made Sheriff chairman of their Party. Was it not the respected and 'presentable' gentleman called Odigie-Oyegun who went on to become substantive chairman of the APC? In fact Sheriff had to leave the APC when he realised that his divisive troublemaking was not going to be tolerated. Yet PDP made the misfit chairman. We dey laugh sha. Talk of shameless desperation. "How are the mighty fallen" is an adage that now fits the PDP like a bespoke suit.

Aufbauh:
The choice of Ali-modu Sheriff as the chairman of the opposition party PDP no matter their explanations is a mishap,a misnomer and an endemic even worse than the party's loss of the last presidential election.

For their information SAS political thugs then when he was the governor of Borno state in the early 2000 metamorphosed to what we know now as the dreaded Boko haram.

True. Sheriff actually sponsored and used many youths, including the original Boko Haram leader Yusuf, for his own political ambition. He knew what they were about entirely but that suited the agenda he was pursuing. Odili did same in the Niger Delta giving rise to super villains like Soboma George et al.

Tragic and nauseatingly disgusting the shameless PDP has made Sheriff the chairman of their Party. In fact they should consider Odili or Asari Doku-orobo as co-chairman. We all accept that this is Nigeria where politicians, however bad, will always find a party to join. Yet to make Sheriff the chairman of a party that once labelled itself "the biggest political party in Africa"? It is a sign the PDP is finished and is only capable of desperate and self-destructive action these days. It is this same sheriff who was turfed out of the APC by Tinubu when he became too disruptive and divisive. PDP is simply incapable of rising to the lofty obligation of being a respected and worthy opposition Party. KOWA should take advantage as i see it as having the potentials to usurp an all but dead and buried PDP. PDP has shot itself in the foot again and I for one remain happy that this pathetic party is determined to continue self-imploding.

obailala:
Truth and words of wisdom don't always sound like a melody in the ears of those being told. Inordinate exhibitionism is not a 'positive' attitude at all; while you think you are 'saying something good' and displaying a superiority complex, what you actually do is exhibit a sad inferiority complex and lack of esteem. But then, I don't expect you to understand what I'm saying.

He will never get what you are saying or accept you as Igbo if you won't blindly and unthinkingly embrace his ethnic supremacist pontification which, in my experience, is over - compensation for real life failure and worthlessness.

I personally learnt a lot during the picture expose days on NL when many "CEOs" and "mansion owners" and ethnic jingoists/supremacists were revealed to be nothing but struggling and unkempt urchins. Those who are truly happy and fulfilled in life do not need to wake up daily thinking of ways to proclaim themselves superior to others - especially if they have to use lies and easily discredited arguments to do this. Fact is that every region has something to offer in the drive to heal our nation and secure her progress.

Abagworo:



I see no much difference between Southeast and Southwest in their senseless egoism. All of Nigeria contributes in making us Nigeria and we all equally must join hands to make Nigeria attain the level she should be in committee of nations.

All these chest beating and noise making will not take us anywhere.

This is true but it often becomes necessary, using verifiable facts and statistics, to remind divisive elements and ignorant braggarts that they are delusional and must begin respecting what others bring to the table. Every region is important but when the inhabitants of one begin to delusionally see and openly proclaim themselves "god's anointed" who are the "saviour" of Nigeria then that is the time for others to show them this is not so and that they are merely suffering from megalomania, based on nada, and delusions of grandeur not justified by the reality on the ground.

The delusional megalomaniac are at it again. When will some of you start seeing yourselves as far less than you think you are? Highly misinformed and ignorant talk that can only come from the usual predisposition to empty and ignorant chest - beating never justified by events and realities on the ground.

The ignorant OP should know that the SW is the biggest and most successful regional economy in Nigeria with the biggest potential for immediate and future growth. Yet don't let the little word called fact stand in the way of your amusing delusions of grandeur.

Ngokafor:





...Keep quiet please!!...APC party of professional fraudsters..mscheww!!

Silly IPOBian. You lot are discredited and have done yourselves irreparable damage so I don't have time to waste with you. Most folks don't even consider you Nigerians so your opinion hardly matter when you comment on Nigerian politics. The world now expects you to side with anything/anyone and any action harmful to the progress of Nigeria.

AngryNigerian:
Turn to the nairalander below you and say, "mate, have you blamed GEJ today?"

What is this character saying? Why won't Nigerians and the entire universe not blame GEJ? Did he sack or bring to book the Nigerian Minister who scammed Nigerian youth over the promise of jobs that did not exist and even sent some to their death in the process? How about Maina and many GEJ simply ignored after their deleterious wrongdoings were exposed? You fans of GEJ have no mouth to talk. No one is foolish enough to think Buhari is infallible but many of us believe in him because we know he will not condone or abet wrongdoing and wrongdoers as others before him did. That is a very good start for Nigeria because impunity and lawlessness is the bane of our nation. People steal billions and practise fraud openly confident in the security GEJ and other had given them that there will be no consequences for their actions.

TippyTop:
Two weeks ago you were blaming God.

You clannish/ethnocentric worshippers of GEJ and IPOBians make me laugh with how you are blinded by hate to the extent you don't realise the biggest difference between the President you hate because of nothing but his ethnic origin (Buhari) and the former President you worshipped clannishly when he was clearly ruining Nigeria.

The big difference is that Buhari acts to rght wrongs while GEJ never did. There are severe and swift consequences for misconduct under Buhari while GEJ made Nigeria a laughing stock with how he turned our nation into a joke where people did what they wanted, however terrible, secure in the knowledge there would be no negative consequences for their action. Abba Moro sent young Nigerians to their death and scammed our poor youths who could hardly eat. Yet GEJ showed the world he was proud of Moro by supporting the vile Minister's action.

I really find it disgusting and reprehensible that it is those of you who support such an abysmally incompetent and morally bankrupt leader who have the nerve to criticise a President who shows he will always act to correct errors when they happen while making sure offenders are punished. Buhari is not infallible but Nigerians can be optimistic about his Presidency because he takes action when things go wrong and Nigerians act lawlessly/fraudulently. If others before him had done same then our biggest nemesis, i.e impunity and lawlessness which gives rise to everything bad troubling Nigeria, would have been seriously checked by now. If hate had no destroyed your soul you will appreciate what Buhari is and why Nigeria needs him right now. Not many will have the bravery and decisive character to do what Buhari did. Certainly not the crook you and others worshipped clannishly and wanted to help gain another 4 years in charge of Nigeria.

Sheggy13:

Your point about Fashola and Utomi particularly almost got me crying for this country. Or even imagine an Osinbajo, a renowned Professor of Law, playing second to a Buhari. If such tested and trusted men with proper education are overlooked for a Buhari, a certified bigot, whose educational credentials are in question simply because they cannot garner enough northern votes needed to upseat Jonathan , it tells you the joke of a country we are in. Truth be told, a lot of people especially from the entire Southern region had high hopes with Jonathan in 2011. In him people saw a man who rose from nothingness to such enviable heights even bagging a PhD. We felt we had a properly educated President with a humble beginning who would remember the poor and make Nigeria great again, but was the outcome? Jonathan betrayed the trust of the people. Himself and his cronies made the nation's treasury their personal cookie jar from which they deep their hands unrepentantly and plunged us into this unprecedented terrible economic woe we're currently experiencing today. Buhari was just unfortunate to have taken over at a time when things have really fallen apart. Here was a man under his reign we had the highest ever oil boom, selling at an average of $120 per barrel. People lost hope in the educated elites putting things right cos of Jonathan and were torn between the devil and the deep blue sea. They saw in Buhari a lesser evil. Whether that is true remains to be seen, but recent developments would challenge such assertion. Nigeria is just a messed up place I swear. Really don't know what we did to deserve these sets of leaders. The only promising one we had recently was cut short by the cold hands of death - Yar'Adua.

What myopic world of personal arrogance and ignorance do some of you Nigerians live in !!! So being better educated than someone means you must be above them or refuse to work under them? No wonder some of you spend 15 years at Uni getting master degree upon master degrees yet you cannot even devise the innovations and solutions to uplift Nigeria. What a horrible, offensive and neanderthal comment. So in your ignorant mind Osinbajo must refuse to serve under buhari because he is educated to a higher level than our President? can you listen to yourself and how ridiculously daft you sound?

Do you guys look at trends worldwide or are you just stuck in your own ignorant and Naija-centred backwardness alone? Do you know how many in the UK conservative Party are better educated than David Cameron yet he is leader of them all and Prime Minister of the nation? By your reasoning we should just find the most well-educated man in the room and just hand him the leadership mantle!!! John Major, former Prime minister of the UK, never went to university yet many politicians better educated than him will never become Prime Minister.

An adult who does not understand that leadership is about much more than 'book knowledge' must have been living under a rock all his life or in Nigeria the land of warped thinking where people with inferiority complex assume that gathering PHDs and several Masters degree actually makes them better and more important than others. Absolutely backward and unbelievable nonsense !!!! Nigeria is not a "joke of a country". People like you make her a joke because of your unbelievable ignorance and backward mind.

Reyginus:
He's too intellectually poor to get to such a position. Whenever I consider the men in APC who could have done better it irritates the more. I ask myself how can these intelligent men choose a man whose intelligence is one-fourth theirs split in four parts? As in how can a Fashola be behind a Buhari? Or a Pat Utomi? Or a Fayemi?

The answer stares right back at me. Because the majority worship a mortal, other better mortals must be relegated behind this mortal to please the majority. I just pray his ministers are not intimidated. Just look at Kemi? You'd think she's too daft to do anything but I strongly suspect she's not in charge. Democracy is not really a good system of governance.

Ironic you accuse Buhari of lacking intelligence when it is crystal, for anyone who knows and understand the reality of Nigeria, that you are the one who lacks intelligence and the ability to think critically. Could all those men, given the political climate in Nigeria in 2015, have won the Presidential election? Even an averagely bright child will tell you the answer is a big NO !!!

Some of you just come here to talk nonsense and insult others because you like the sound of your own voice. Which voting block would have made Utomi or Fayemi President in 2015? The one in your Village? People like you show the limited thinking capacity of an ill-exposed and highly limited mind. In this day and age you still think leadership is about Utomi or Fayemi-style intellect alone? I laugh at your ignorance. Go and inspect the CV of many who failed woefully under GEJ, like Aganga, Okonjo-Iweala et al, to note leadership is about much more than 'book knowledge'.

Even GEJ had a PHD yet where did his unprincipled and weak nature, that sits alongside his PHD, get Nigeria? Dude, go and sit down. You are an intellectual pygmy if at this your adult age you illogically believe, despite uncountable examples to the contrary worldwide, that intellectuals automatically make good leader and that average intellect precludes one from being a great and successful leader. We do not need Buhari to be Einstein. What a Nigerian President needs to have more than anything else, because of our peculiar problems, is unshakeable political will because nothing can be achieved by even the greatest intellect without this. Buhari has that more than all the names you mentioned and certainly more than someone like Okonjo-Iweala who, with her much vaunted intellect, came in and became a 'tool' that abetted the worst and most shameful looting of Nigeria's commonwealth ever seen. You simply make me laugh with your rudimentary outlook that is easily discredited by the reality and history of Nigeria.

olajizz01:
I watched it on NTA as well,that was saner country's president giving us valueable advises in which a country who plunged into this pathetic situation can use to solve the problem,but some Nigerians are so useless to the fact that they will be shouting tyrany govt just because they are product of corruption and it will affect them one way or the other including our compromised judges.

Don't mind them. The whole world is disgusted by our situation and how corruption is destroying Nigeria. They cannot seem to understand why we alone seem to have allowed the law, created to help man, to become an instrument the rich and powerful use to escape justice in Nigeria. The law has become an impediment to the fight against corruption in Nigeria and this leader is simply asking us to be 'innovative' and think outside the box or, in a defeatist manner, continue allowing the corrupt to keep using their wealth and influence to loot our commonwealth to the detriment of Nigeria.

The entire universe saw how a Nigerian court disgracefully 'acquitted' Ibori of over 100 charges yet same man was jailed in the UK after being found guilty of 15 out of 18 charges. As if we do not know that those objecting to what the German president suggests are mainly PDP/GEJ/IPOB sympathisers and enemies of Nigeria. Which sane and normal Nigerian is not fed up of what corruption is doing to us and how its practitioners continue to use their wealth and influence to remain untouchable. Let the jailing begin pleasssssssssssssssssssssssssssssse. By the time two or three top names go to jail for 20 years each the rest will be rushing to cooperate and the enemies of Nigeria will have no option but to shut there sadistic mouths and stop disturbing us with nonsense talk of "tyranny" and "human rights".

blazetitov:



Oga timi, are you nt in this country when Saraki and his pot-bellied lawyer were busy trying to frustrate his case through legal means? No be dis same country Ibori was cleared of 171 charges, was Lucky Igbinedor not given just N3M fine for looting Edo State blind and the worst of all, the pension thief, was not through legal means that a judge fined him N750,000 for looting pension funds?


If we can't solve the issue of corruption through legal means, we go kill am through illegal means!!

Only for the same Ibori to be convicted of 15 out of 18 charges in the UK !!! Thank you for this perfect example that highlights what is wrong with Nigeria and why Buhari must be *ahem* 'innovative' to bring looters to book. The tragedy is that Nigerians are now appearing a fraudlulent people before the world , to the extent the German President had to wade in and urge us to 'get on with it', because it seems it is the same people impoverished by the looting of Dasuki, Metuh, Tompolo et al who are now holding brief for those characters. Buhari has his work cut out for him and I can see why he made the comment about Nigerians being viewed as criminals. No non-Nigerian will come to Nairaland, view our comments and not leave believing most of us are comfortable with and even supportive of the corruption killing our nation.

Lordave:
The German president won't even be here when we boot PMD out of Aso rock for embracing illegality, he won't even remember he gave PMD this silly advice.


We will boot PMD out of Aso Rock not because he will use illegal methods but because illegality is corruption.

What a joke. Did you not also similarly promise that it is "GEJ till 2060" before the elections? Where is that pledge today? I think the world now knows that you guys are empty chest-beaters not to be taken seriously so keep deluding yourselves you have the power to "boot" Buhari out. Kanu is there wailing and the heavens did not fall as impotent and cowardly IPOBians bragged would be the case if he is arrested. Yet the man has been eating watery prison beans for months and IPOBians can only moan impotently when we expect them, because of their noise, to have broken Kanu out of jail now since they claim to be more powerful than leaders of the "zoo". In the end, most braggarts, including yourself, will not even be aware of anything illegal done to prosecute corruption because yours is to make noise impotently and issue worthless ultimatums while others take action and do what must be done.

Topeakintola:
It is only a matter of time before the IPOB Youths call the German President a dictator and a Tyrant

Wonderful advice and it should be implemented ASAP

IPOB wailers can cry themselves to sleep

Their main mission, because they want Nigeria destroyed, is to worship and support anyone looting Nigeria dry under the guise of agitating for said individual's "human rights". This is why Dasuki, Metuh, Tompolo et al are their role models. Unlike the IPOB miscreants who do not mean well for Nigeria, the German President is simply saying we should get 'dirty' with corruption because it will never be easy to defeat corruption with kid gloves same as it will be difficult winning a fight against a man holding a gun and a knife using your fist alone. He is simply saying Nigeria should do what must be done to arrest damaging corruption that has crippled the economy and development of a Nation that should ordinarily be very great given her natural endowment.