₦airaland Forum

Look at some of the responses here smh. If you read btw the lines, clearly this is more about controlling bad behaviour. Imagine a worker chewing sugar cane on the job in an environment where quality control is key. Not only are you feasting on company property but you're constituting a nuisance at the same time. Nigeria will never progress with the mindsets of some folks, who sadly happens to be in the majority.

mrhotcoin: so you boko cowards waited until he left?
what massage are u guys trying to send then

idk, could've been deep tissue or traditional thai

@ poster..no you wont become a billionaire but you will become very good at fasting, you will detoxify your body, slow down your metabolic rate, and probably save tons on food.

got mixed feelings about this. yea sure, they tried but they need to start taking design cues from the best of the best especially for highly exposed structures like an airport

Amazing stuff! Glad he landed on his feet. He just stamped his name in history.

Here are the facts!





(a) neglects or refuses to stop the vehicle or to make it proceed
or to keep to a particular lane or direction of traffic when directed
to do so by the officer in the execution of his duty; or
(b) drives his vehicle against oncoming traffic or fails to
conform to the direction or indication given by the traffic sign,
shall be guilty of an offence, and shall be liable on conviction for:
(i) 1
st
offender one (1) year imprisonment and
forfeiture of the vehicle to the State;
(ii) 2
nd
and subsequent offender three (3) years
imprisonment and forfeiture of the vehicle to the
State.
(c) all offenders shall have their data and biometrics captured.


Are they draconian in nature? absofuknlutely! Is it necessary in a state like Lagos? absofuknlutely!

ogugua88: I went for a job interview with Apple once. It was the creepiest thing ever. Cult is an understatement, truly. Some people live, eat, and breathe Apple.

I've been running away from Apple for years, but it's undeniable that their phones are some of the best. No way my Blackberry could keep up lol.

Yep, i agree its definitely creepy, i should know. The joke then was that its easier to get into stanford than getting a job at apple.

Most of the folks commenting on this thread dont really understand the Western way of life or culture. This is a consumer based society, life revolves around consumption of goods. Thats what makes USA tick.
You dont understand why they queue online for a silly phone just as they don't understand why you spend 5 days out the week going to church. Its also worth mentioning that apple has a cult like following going back to the inception of the company.
People celebrate apple products releases with as much fervor as a chelsea or man u fan. Stop worrying yourself and move on with your daily.

this thread is misguided, attention should be paid to his speech which in my opinion needs to be heard.


http://www.channelstv.com/home/2012/09/18/atiku-calls-for-true-federalism-state-police-and-a-two-party-system/

Atiku calls for true federalism, state police and a two party system
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1994-95 Constitutional ConferenceAtiku AbubakarChannels TelevisionDr Alex EkwuemeFormer Vice-PresidentGeo-Political ZonesLeadership Newspaper Conference And Awards CeremonyNational AssemblyRepublic Of BiafraState PoliceTrue FederalismVice President Of This Federation
Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar on Tuesday called for the overhauling of Nigeria’s political structure in order to pave way for a true federalism.

Mr Abubakar said this during his opening remarks as the Chairman of the 2012 Leadership Conference and Awards Ceremony, at Ladi Kwali Hall, Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Abuja.

The former Vice President also regretted opposing his colleague, ex-Vice President Alex Ekwueme who had been championing the restructuring of the Nigerian federation into six semi-autonomous regions and a weak but coordinating central government.

He said: “I also want to recall that during the said 1994-95 Constitutional Conference, Dr Alex Ekwueme, GCON, the Second Republic Vice President of this federation, introduced and canvassed for the concept of geo-political zones. I was among those who opposed it because I thought that Ekwueme, coming from the defunct Republic of Biafra, wanted to break up the country again.

“Now I realize that I should have supported him because our current federal structure is clearly not working. Dr Ekwueme obviously saw what some of us, with our civil war mindset, could not see at the time. There is indeed too much concentration of power and resources at the centre. And it is stifling our march to true greatness as a nation and threatening our unity because of all the abuses, inefficiencies, corruption and reactive tensions that it has been generating.”

Creation of state police

Mr Abubakar also gave his support to the creation of state police saying “I see nothing wrong with the establishment of state police by the states that want it as long as it can be insulated from and is independent of the state or regional government.”

He decried the claim that state governors will abuse the state police, saying such argument is “rather specious.”

“Should we abolish the Nigerian Police because it is often abused by those in power at the federal level?” he asked, adding that “should we abolish the state treasuries because governors abuse them and should we also abolish local governments for the same reason?”

He urged Nigerians to “struggle for and put in place institutional safeguards against abuse of power by those in power at all levels.”

“We have a chance now to put many of those safeguards in a new constitution” he stated.

Two party system

The two-times presidential aspirant also advocated for a two-party system for the nation’s electoral system, claiming this has become essential, because of Nigeria’s diversity in class, ethnic, religious and regional fault lines.

He urged that the National Assembly to pass a law stating that “there shall be two political parties in Nigeria, full stop.”

“It does not have to decree their ideologies or platforms. This, in my view, will produce two political parties that will cut across our various divides, and be viable alternatives capable of forming government after elections” he said.

The former vice-president admitted that the current political system in Nigeria allows the ruling party to undermine the development of opposition parties into a vibrant opposition.

“Ruling parties all over the world never want strong opposition parties and in contexts such as ours are capable of undermining efforts by opposition parties to coalesce into a single formidable alternative party.”

Read the full text of his address below:

Thoughts on the Structure of Nigeria’s Federation

Being the Opening Remarks of Atiku Abubakar, GCON, former Vice President, Federal Republic of Nigeria as Chairman of the 2012 Leadership Conference and Awards Ceremony, at Ladi Kwali Hall, Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Abuja 18 September, 2012.

Protocol

We have a keynote speaker, so I will take liberties as the Chairman only to make a few remarks on a key issue that has been on the minds of many Nigerians lately, namely the structure of our federation. I believe that it has a bearing on the theme of this important conference. Politics, including opposition politics, is played within the context of the structure of the polity.

I am a product of regional parliamentary democracy. I received free qualitative education from the primary to the secondary and university levels. I was even paid to attend school. The money which the government of the day, my local authority, used to pay for my education and those of my contemporaries was not derived from oil revenues. So I am not a product of oil boom Nigeria.

I followed a recent debate on the internet between some American professors and some intellectuals from the Niger Delta and a northerner. They were trying to answer the question of whether Nigeria or indeed the Niger Delta can be like Singapore. They all agreed that no nation in the world has developed without a combination of its natural resources and human capital. We have natural resources, but without human capital neither Nigeria nor the Niger Delta can be like Singapore, which did not have significant natural resources to start with. But a nation without natural resources can be like Singapore if it develops its human capital, as Japan did before Singapore.

This is an important lesson for all of us. We must, therefore, demand good governance at all levels of our government. The immense developmental strides achieved by our First Republic leaders were achieved without oil revenues, yet we have for over forty years now been behaving as though nothing can be achieved without oil revenues. We should all be thinking more about production rather than distribution or sharing. I do not know of any country in the world that has developed just by its leaders gathering in their capital city every month to share revenues from rent.

During the 1994-95 constitutional conference some of us argued that such organs as Federal Ministries of Education, Health, Agriculture and Sports were unnecessary. We reasoned that their responsibilities should be devolved to states and local governments. At best the federal government should establish standards and regulatory bodies and give grants to states that conform to them. This proposal was not adopted by the constitutional conference, so the current structure was retained. Why should we be talking of federal roads and federal secondary schools? Decentralization is not an invitation to the breakup of the country and national unity should not continue to be confused with unitarism and concentration of power and resources at the federal level. Of course I am aware that some of the main beneficiaries of our erstwhile regional parliamentary democracy have been hiding behind a call for restructuring to push for the breakup of the country because of their proximity to a finite natural resource and transient political power.

One of the consequences of excessive centralization and the military rule that facilitated it, is that the Nigerian President is the most powerful President in the world. This is because he could quite literally unleash all security agencies on an individual or organization, undermine the National Assembly, and turn the judiciary into an almost pro-government and conformist organ. This is not in the realm of speculation; it has been happening in this country. Indeed I drew attention to it when I was in office as Vice President and was having a political face-off with my boss. It is not healthy for democracy and must be changed.

I also want to recall that during the said 1994-95 Constitutional Conference, Dr Alex Ekwueme, GCON, the Second Republic Vice President of this federation, introduced and canvassed for the concept of geo-political zones. I was among those who opposed it because I thought that Ekwueme, coming from the defunct Republic of Biafra, wanted to break up the country again. Now I realize that I should have supported him because our current federal structure is clearly not working. Dr Ekwueme obviously saw what some of us, with our civil war mindset, could not see at the time. There is indeed too much concentration of power and resources at the centre. And it is stifling our march to true greatness as a nation and threatening our unity because of all the abuses, inefficiencies, corruption and reactive tensions that it has been generating.

There is need, therefore, to review the structure of the Nigerian federation, preferably along the basis of the current six geo-political zones as regions and the states as provinces. The existing states structure may not suffice, as the states are too weak materially and politically to provide what is needed for good governance.

In the same vein I see nothing wrong with the establishment of state police by the states that want it, as long as it can be insulated from and is independent of the state or regional government. The argument that governors will abuse state police is rather specious. Should we abolish the Nigerian Police because it is often abused by those in power at the federal level? Should we abolish the state treasuries because governors abuse them? And should we also abolish local governments for the same reason? No. We should, as a people, struggle for and put in place institutional safeguards against abuse of power by those in power at all levels. We have a chance now to put many of those safeguards in a new constitution.

And, as is typical with working federations around the world, state flag or anthem should not get us overly excited. Local identities and symbols are not antithetical to and do not preclude national identities. I, for one, am a proud son of Adamawa, a proud northerner and I am a proud citizen of Nigeria. American states all have flags and anthems; yet I do not know of many countries that are more stable and united than the United States of America.

It is also absurd to say that all parts of the country should have a uniform wage structure for workers. Our states and regions have different revenue endowments and varying costs of living. And it is misguided for labour leaders to think that a uniform wage structure across the country is in the best interest of workers. Employers, including state governments and agencies, that have the capacity to pay more should be able to do so. That can spur competition for the best talent, which may indeed raise overall wage levels (and standard of living) in the country. Minimum wage standards should, therefore, be established by state/regional governments.

Our judiciary is bloated, and increasingly conformist and pro-establishment. Yet justice is always delayed. In the US, which has a larger population and land mass, we find that the judiciary, while not bloated, delivers justice faster. I would like to see a more activist judiciary at all levels – local, regional and federal – one that actually does justice rather than hide behind technicalities to do injustice. I would like to see a judiciary that is able to live up to its billing as the last hope of the common person.

On the specific theme of this conference (and without prejudice to the keynote address), I will just remark that I have long been an advocate of a two-party system because of our class, ethnic, religious and regional faultlines. My recommendation for legislative amendment in that regard is for the National Assembly to pass a law stating that there shall be two political parties in Nigeria, full stop. It does not have to decree their ideologies or platforms. This, in my view, will produce two political parties that will cut across our various divides, and be viable alternatives capable of forming government after elections. Ruling parties all over the world never want strong opposition parties and in contexts such as ours are capable of undermining efforts by opposition parties to coalesce into a single formidable alternative party.

I thank the Leadership newspapers group for organizing this event and for honouring me with the invitation to chair it. More importantly, I thank the newspaper for its commitment to the journalistic creed of holding those in power to account and reminding them and all of us that in a democracy power flows or ought to flow from the people. I congratulate the recipients of today’s awards.

Thank you and God bless.

moderatorr: GEJ is clueless, GEJ is clueless - we no go hear word for una.
He cluelessly won Atiku.
Cluelessly beat Buhari.
Cluelessly raised power supply from 2k+MW to 4k+MW.
Cluessly still in power. Developing the nation and ruling west Africa.
Who they eff is clueless here. Aren't you the one?

clueless people are sometimes rewarded for cluelessness, nothing new , such is life!

https://i.imgur.com/mBLrj.gif

ol boy. . that slap was legendary, that poor girl would think twice to raise up on a man after receiving that mighty left handed forceful slap. The interesting part is she slapped him first but one could easily miss it since dude was so swift in his response.

big stout -check
asun - check
babe - check
arsenal win - check

chai!! Happy Sunday!

Oya Wenger!  unleash oxygen-chambers on dese bastard[b]s[/b]. Who r ya?

prefers555:
@Anti-scam. Obviously u are ignorant in the field of telecommunication communication. Its not enough to google and say main one and glo is laying fibre optics all over the place. For your information, glo fibre optic has more capacity than any already existing fibre in africa, but ask yourself, why it wont deliver ethernet not fast ethernet speed (that of ur rj 45 used in your lan) across your wan connection. The answer is simple:the backbone infastructure that connects your metros and cities gulps requires more capital investment than all the fibres running around west africa. It requires less than half a million dollar to build a wimax tower, that covers less than 10 miles radius block, delivering throughput of less than 50 mb/sec in the case of nigeria(not even enough for ogba alone) while it requires millions of dollars to build metropolitan DSL/broadband infastructures. This is where NITEL should come in.

For ur information, it is a deliberate act to keep nitel redundant. The telcos and corrupt govt agencies know that with nitels presence in the market, prices will be cheaper. Check out what BT telecom is doing for the britons.

guy relax! did you even read his entire post? why did you call the guy ignorant especially when his contribution hits close to home and you are basically saying the same thing.

wenger is a limp d[b]i[/b]ldo, dont know whats so hard to undertand about that.

sotan!  

Kay-Dee:
http://www.lshunter.tv/streams/1/lshro4.html

thx bawse!

any links pls?

egift:
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) will be spending N75 million this year to replace old toilet doors, locks, repainting of fading walls and provision of directional sign posts to the Commission’s waiting room and canteen.  This was even compounded by the fact that the budget was proposed after an allocation of N28 million was made for the same purpose in the budget of last year. Plus, in the 2011 budget, the Commission had proposed N60 million for automation and changing of all access doors of its head office building in Abuja.

(Excerpts from Those Doors From Heaven, in Saharareporters).

N75m + N28m + N60m = N163 million

If the Government is sincerely trying to create jobs and empowerment for the people. Is it not better to even:

[size=14pt]Give 100 million Nigeria and non-refundable sum of N1.5 million to start up a "micro" business or improve their current business - imagine what Nigeria will become in 2 to 3 years.[/size]

smh

what kind of math is this?

Oxygen Chamber is a breath of fresh air in this team.

that Yoruba thief built one of the largest energy company in Africa while you were doing exactly,what?

team MARIO all the way!!   

excuse me while i go pick up some passengers.

tired of excuses this senile old fuc[b]k[/b] keeps fielding Ramsey and Theo when its clear they are not up for it.
Nani is pretty much abusing djouru like a cheap prostitut[b]e[/b]. CHAI
i tire mehn! where is my pillow, i can only dream of a better arsenal team.

im rolling right now, video was tastefully done.  the setup @ 0.58 secs when he say "all dem  wey vote for jonathan clear comot my office" leaving only 3 officers in front of Hitler was brilliant.

nateevs:
Which now seems to be in total contrast to what she tried to make us believe at the probe panel. She went into a 5-minute rant of how she wasn't the one who took the decision and how it was unfair on her that the Senator tried to paint her in that light.

Unknown to us all, she's circulating the agenda online and trying to garner diaspora support.

Yes, i witnessed her rant. Her somersault was pretty impressive. Its obvious to any keen mind that she's an agent for World Bank same agency thats already been disredicated by John Perkins book Confessions of a Economic Hit Man.

Rgp92:
I would have done the same. Rather an advice from a successful country like England, than an advice from a failed country like Nigeria. She's doing what an efficient leader should do.

you just effectively rendered your voice as an Nigerian useless.


@ Gbawe thanks for an insightful post.  Not even Jesus could've persuaded NOI to change her mind, she was already committed to her agenda.

Jmaine submitted a world class corrupt team capable of barricading progress in its best form. 
I will like to propose former Minister of Justice Mike Aondoakaa as the back-up goalkeeper.  this guy is a potent blocker and a staunch team player.
trustt me! this guy pumps haterade in his blood stream.

this is woman ought to be ashamed for not supporting the local economy, go to Aso rock, NASS, house there are plenty of vultures ripe enough to be used for juju.

Ride on Comrade Sowore!!!

The revolution is not an apple that falls when it is ripe. You have to make it fall - Che Guevara

I have great admiration for Ribadu's courage and zeal but i have a hunch we will get more ban[b]g [/b]for Buck with EL-Rufai.
He appears to be the more well rounded individual amongst all three.  His knowledge , no-nonsense approach, vision and energy will
serve Nigeria better than the other 2 gentlemen.  Simply put, he's a proven reformer.