₦airaland Forum

We warned them they were over-celebrating - they would not listen.

We warned them they should stop arresting people if they were not sure they would recover loots from them - they were feeding us with propaganda.

We warned them greatness always involve long-suffering - they were busy confabulating and showing us pictures.

We begged them to answer popular questions - they ignore.

We warned them they should always strive not to repeat former regimes' mistakes - they just do not see any substance in our outcries.


APC became popular down South not because majority believe in the party or the emblem (PMB) but because most people were just tired of President Jonathan-led recklessness.

From the look of things all PDP needs to do is to start answering myriad questions that appear to have eluded APC's FG. PDP should take quality time to collate people's popular pains and embark on serious solution drive using an acceptable image like Ribadu.

This writer has the same APC/Elites mindset - They see everything on macro level ; they realize the poor are over 80% of the population or more but they never see the reasons why that should change.

The success of any leader will be measured by his impacts on "his people" and not some surface recognition by the international communities. For instance Greece has been searching for the 'magical' leader to lead them out the economic woes and a good number of people have presented themselves. Because Greece problems has roots in other nations they have had to seek support/understanding outside Green regularly.

But PMB came in when the economy and the security of the nation were taking tumble. While he needs help from outside - the problems, obviously, are within our border and need his full attention at all time.

There is tenable excuse for the numerous travels.

Otherique:
That's all we get,
That's all we hear,
That's all we see....
#EFCC invites,
#EFCC quizzes,
#EFCC releases.
#Repeat...
No convict, Pathetic Bunch.

The FG is getting more boring by the days. APC appears to have been taking our support for fanaticism - and believe all we need is drama and propaganda.

Mark my words! This government (we put so much hope in) is not ready to deliver or just not as resourceful as we had thought.

We all understand the critical issue here is that the nation is broke - and recovering loots can help a long way even if getting convictions becomes too difficult. Stolen money are VERY EASY to trace and identify and a willing government can easily get them back legally.

This government so far has shown more interest in frivolities, photography and insularity. Do not expect any conviction just beg them to stop killing dreams and businesses.

Standing5:
Before 'em wailers arrive let me start state that the report considered a period that span back to their hero's time in charge.

Enough of this "Wailer". The report is the last 1 year and substantially in the purview of this new administration. Many us a'int Wailers (in fact some of us are Buharists) but there is no gainsaying businesses have been taken deadly beat from poor implementation of policies of this present administration.

Legitimate businesses are being hampered without any meaningful explanation or alternatives. While the State governments keep pushing for more taxes (IGR) from dying businesses.

This is how we stuck out our neck for Jonathan hoping he would put people first. Baba is gradually loosing followership; and he appears to be going about it not minding pains and suffering of millions who put their lives on the line for him.

This is an opportunity for PDP to capitalize on changing public opinion to launch a genuine alternative to President Buhari led APC. PDP should bring fought Ribadu as their image and start solving (on paper) all the problems the Buhari-led-APC have refused to address.

NAIJASOM:
Groundnut and palm oil are processed food
Bread is processed food
Butter is processed food
Tin Tomatoes is processed food
Garri is processed food
Sugar is processed food
Juice is processed food
Sardine is processed food
Indomie noodle is processed food
My point is that Nigerians eat a lot of processed food without thinking of it as processed

I see we are looking at productivity from different angles. I am not a farmer, I am only concerned with how we can shore up our productivity as a nation. I have made my recommendations based on benefits I have derived from little interest in "growing what I eat".

Nonetheless, all you have stated are down the line agricultural production - they are commercial sectors that government can stimulate for growth but I am not sure it is advisable for government to manage such sector.

People need to take-up the challenge of making this "processing" happen locally. But the question will be capital. Garri and Bread are not too capital-intensive to start-up. And we do not import Garri nor Bread anyway - so they are not part of the "threat". We need government and banks to lead and buy into this diversification project.

Abeg make we stop this joke. Our standing up to President Buhari's policy sloth and insensitivity should not be construed for a nostalgia for GEJ.

Even as we are holding the current government responsible to not doing enough we have not forgotten the fact that the seed of economic disaster( we are reaping today) was sown by Jonathan's government.

Ioannes:
look bro, I get what you are saying.
everybody is feeling the pinch of what's going on right now with the economy.
like I have always said on this forum, it's probably going to get a lot worse before it starts getting better.
it's just like a child who fears the sting of an injection, yet that's his only hope of healing.
unless it can be shown exactly why the policies will hurt the economy both short term and long term, then I think we should watch with eagle's eyes and see what PMB is up to.
unnecessary negative and destructive criticisms won't do sh*it.
if you can come up with a cogent argument why his refusal to devalue the naira for a short term relief (but to strengthen the currency long term) will destroy the economy, then I will buy your idea.
for one I think we should be grateful that at least we have a president who abhors profligacy and wanton waste.
if we have ideas let's put them out there in the public space and debate them.
people calling PMB all sorts of names is way too early in this administration and not only shows a lack of maturity but tells us that there is more to it than meets the eye, like pain over an election loss to a Fulani man or something.

You know we have all been suffering in our little corners hoping this government will show a ray of hope soon but the way the President has been, defiantly, frolicking around the globe can only point to something ; our pains mean nothing to him and his government.

The same govt stopping us from earning our daily bread (in the name of currency control) has been alleged to have spent the same dollar (worth N5.8 billion) on presidential fleet in 6 months. So we can continue roasting while he jaunts around the world in dollar-powered Presidential luxury.

I have given two recommendations; it is up to those who have the people's mandate to attend to people suffering:

** Why can't they provide a platform to make all dollar transactions possible in naira - this will help them achieve their aim of keeping a watch on naira strength at the same time allow people to go about their normal businesses unhindered.

** Fees, bills, and other payments to the west are usually structured. For instance school fees can only be paid to the receiving school /account. The government can isolate and protect these essential services from this naira-holding policy.

NAIJASOM:
Nigeria should not be thinking about farming only at this point rather Agro-processing. Studies have shown that most of the fresh food we produce today gets rotten by the time it gets to consumers. [b]Any agriculture without food processing facilities to finished goods is a waste of time.[/b]

My brother I am just putting this out if others with more time/space/energy will pick interest - I have been practicing both as leisure and never regretted it.

We are not going to be advanced over-night and that will not be an excuse for us not to start at all. Not a good part of our population fancy processed food.

I am recommending we critics start taking practical steps to show we mean all we say.

""For those that have arable lands in Nigeria can we start planting something, anything - cassava, maize or yam?

""We can start having poultry, fish pond/nursery in our compounds to add to our productivity.

""Can fresh graduates start coming together for self-determination instead of expecting jobs that may never be there until 2017?

Evil incarnates!

Tallesty1:
Why are the figures in dollars?

Thanks for you observation. This government has continued championing naira protection as one of its prime economic policy but has not seen the need to enforce the superiority of naira a means of all business transactions within the country. Moreso for transactions which are wholly representative of Nigeria sovereignty.

Common people are being restricted from doing normal business as low as $1000 but the Presidency is throwing the same dollars in 100s of thousands around - hypocrisy or unawareness?

This is how President Jonathan stocks started falling and he never manage to get his groove back until the people that loved him turned their backs against him.

President Buhari and APC are beginning to appear insensitive and out-of-depth to the immediate pains of anxious Nigerians. They are busy sending out dinner pictures while BH are still deadly and active. They write us 'love letters' on how nameless looters have been returning loots without any proofs. The emerging stage is them forcing us to watch how they are giving out their children out in marriage.

You have raised an important question about the nation future but tying the unity of the nation to oil is inaccurate.

Although the reality is that we are now poor as an oil-dependent nation but fragmenting the nation will not, necessarily, make any unit(s) richer.

The new oil 'normal' price has come to stay - a reality we have to live with. In my humble opinion we have to:

""start walking all those diversification talks we like bragging on tv and radio : solid minerals and agriculture can become our new forte.

""we also need to cut-down on government expenses - e.g security votes for governors to tune of billion is inexplicable, long convoy for public office-holders should be reported to BH if you have their contacts, public officers should safe us lavish family celebration.

"" we should start discussing our population - should we not re-adopt planned parenthood policy? Shouldn't indigent people be advised not bringing more children into abject poverty? Is it not time to adopt some level of China-population-moderation policy.

"" we should review the number of our foreign missions until things improve.

"" new corruption cases should be met with capital punishment.

"" our leaders should lead modest lifestyle to reduce youth thirst for quick fame/money.

"" university graduates should be told the truth : there won't be many employers for the next two years - entrepreneurship and innovation should be preached.

QuotaSystem:
Its basically to minimize excessive demand of USD which would further affect the value of the Naira adversely.

We understand the need to protect naira but the ultimate need remains food in our belly. If the government had made provision, for instance, for foreign transactions to be payable in naira the uproar would not have been this raucous.

Taking away the only means without providing alternative is devoid of logic.

QuotaSystem:

The govt's policy is to stop the Naira from going into a free fall by protecting it from market forces at this time.

This should not include stopping people from paying school fees, hospital bills or other common essentials. Has the same government provided a platform for people to pay in naira?

QuotaSystem:

Only those ignorant of the positive correlation between our level of foreign reserves and the value of our currency (like the poster below) are spewing tripe all over this thread.

Issue under discussion here is real - it is affecting real people on daily basis. What a responsive government needs to do is to rise up to people's complaints.

There are a number of options open to them:

** Why can't they provide a platform to make all dollar transactions possible in naira - this will help them achieve their aim of keeping a watch on naira strenght at the same time allow people to go about their normal businesses without problem.

** Fees, bills, and other payments to the west are usually structured. For instance school fees can only be paid to the receiving school /account. The government can isolate and protect these essential services from this naira-holding policy.

Ioannes:
let me help u make sense out of it.
do you honestly believe that the 16year mess of PDP can be wiped out in just 6months?
I will continue to say this, we were willing to give gej the support he needed for the 6years he ruled, why can't we extend the same to buhari for 4 years and let's judge him then?
God himself does not judge a man before the expiration of his life, why should you judge buhari as failure just 6months into his tenure?
at the end of his four years, if buhari fails woefully just like gej( God forbid), will u be able to say with all honesty that you gave him your support yet he failed?
Nigeria was on a path to being a pariah nation, with all countries treating us like dirt, having diplomatic row with nations on a constant basis, yet you guys can't see that God saved us from PDP.
I am not saying that buhari is a saint, neither am I saying that he is the messiah, all am saying is let's be patient with him and support him to succeed.
'nuff said.

You are reducing the OP's complaint to his political stand. As a matter of fact many of us are going through similar pains as the OP's.

The appalling thing about some of the current government policies is the obvious lethal effect on businesses - yet the FG has refused to address questions being raised nor made effort to safe businesses from dying - but consistently harping on how to earn more IGR from the dying businesses.

Why would a policy make it difficult (in some cases impossible) to pay school fees which are usually structured and hardly more than tens of a thousand of dollars. The real stress on naira has always been from the same politicians (not common people) in government now who ship millions of dollars for their various exotic interests.

For your information people complaining here worked and voted for PMB whil many loath GEJ and his footprints but that is not an excuse to watch their little live being sniffled by the same government they put so much hope in.

magicminister:
Please educate me.
How does limiting my foreign expenditure to a paltry 1000usd save Nigeria?
That is crazy nah?
The economy has no direction and investors are scared shitless.
The stock market is plummeting and investors are scared.
GEJ didn't do that!
Lets stop throwing blames back and forth and demand the best from whoever is in charge.

Sorry brother, you are not alone in your trouble - so many people are experiencing similar pains in different forms.

But let us be clear about one thing - We can only blame Buhari government for lack of innovation, efficiency and responsiveness in ameliorating the current economic hardship.

In all honesty they cannot not be entirely held responsible for the root cause of the problem. Our current economic ailment has a number of sources:

% Number one cause is the deep fall and subsequent flatten of crude oil price in international market - This was achieved by joint effort of the USA and their friends.

% The former Government of GEJ left a latent disaster in the economy. They were patching-up things. Money was being stolen with recklessly, public officers were stealing without caution and finally the election spending was executed in millions of dollars. It is just a matter of time for these seeds of recklessness to manifest as we are having today.

PMB is trying to reverse many of the obvious anomalies in the system but so far one can make the following observations in his approaches:

% He wants most issues decided on his table - the implication is that many may die of hunger.

% He has problem trusting people (not like we can blame him though) - the truth is no human is spotless not even the Nigerian Angels.

% There are too many people at the top that do not believe in doing things the right way - he has been replacing people but his efforts are still appearing inadequate.

% There is also the factor unmotivated or unfit civil and public servants - they do not care about doing their job ; they just want salary and pension remitted at the end of the month.

% He also appears to enjoy too much hero-worshiping.

I quickly rushed into this thread hoping to see the gas-bag Governor unveiling works from "ministry of works" but I can only see power-bike.

This is the first seemingly meaningful visit Fayose is making but it says a lot that he cannot even display a single meaningful achievement of works.

Ekiti elites with state building experience and political resolve to developing Ekiti should unite to change the retrogressive beliefs being institutionalized by Fayose in Ekiti.

The Multi-Billionaires leading millions of poverty-stricken. They are obviously bereft on any meaningful ideas nor have any real work to do. Wish I could them all in a shuttle and ship them to Syria - they need a manager like Putin.

One would have thought this man would have learned a lesson or two with the release of project pictures from Osun State.

Obviously he is not leading Ekiti to achieve any developmental plan. Wishing Ekiti people deliverance from this mediocre.

My own little concern is how the Nigerian government preparing for the real carnage/crises if and when they start landing? Must we always wait for things to get scattered before we start putting them together?

Has this war been discussed (as appropriate) in the Federal Executive Council meeting ; with its future implications properly put in front burners? "We should make no mistake about it" - a break-out of world-war means our present bad condition, as a nation, getting much worse.

Is the President realizing it is increasingly becoming more dangerous to attend all events invited to outside the country?

What will be Nigeria stands if the war go ballooned; has anyone started talking to our diplomats and foreign missions? Any tact but ready plan on possible evacuation of Nigerians in the death zones if it all go cataboom.

What lessons are we currently learning about national security, defense and stability? We have continued preaching revolutionary redirection in our defense to technology but all we always see are poorly-equipped soldiers standing on their head as a show of bravery.

ghostmist:
My deductions from comments made by Americans online:
1. Most Americans do not see any benefit accruing to the USA as a NATO member. Hence, would like her for her to pull out or if possible, disband the group. According to them, NATO is chiefly financed by the American taxpayer.
...

Hopefully, this will be an invaluable factor in diffusing the war fever that is currently spreading among the world powers. Obama, naturally, is not expected to go into war without overwhelming endorsement of majority of Americans. But many factors may spur him on - if Russia replied Turkey "heavily" directly or indirectly; if Russia continued to dominate the routing of ISIS in Syria; and if the Republicans continued to tag him a 'tail" to "lion" Putin.

Not too long ago former PM Tony Blair apologized for following America into Iraq, even in America protests against the war has continued to date despite the fact that the war broke out about 12 years ago.

War experiences have taught people bitter lessons of concomitant carnage but leaders of world most-powerful nations appear to always see the need to dominate and control as many global space as possible.

This is an important discuss I would have loved to be actively involved but for other important things.

While we can analyze the preponderance of the backers of this hostility I am more worried about how this will affect Nigeria.

Russia, China, North-Korea, Iran and other aligns have put nobody in doubt they are not America fans - these nations have been envisaging possible big friction with the west for about a decade now. In my opinion they would not be more surprised than the west if a war eventually breaks out.

I also agree NATO will be fronting for the western powers again. While the US is unarguably ready to enforce their dominance on the globe anytime I still see them applying caution when it comes to direct face-off with Russia. In addition, the western Europe have not really been excited by wars post Gulf war. They are also, currently, facing internal immigration crisis that is not abating soon.

American ships have sailed close to the China new Island, China has sailed closed to a disputed island with Japan, Russia has more than once crossed into other sovereignties and many more showboating.

I see this war in Black or White (no grey zone) - If it happened there will not be a celebrating victor ; as the damages will be too much to savor any victory.

Russia reaction to Turkey's salvo will make the picture become clearer in the coming days...

Has the 3rd World War begun unofficially ?

Turkey could not have brought down any bird without the knowledge and backing of their allies. Nobody should expect Russia to go to bed over this incident.

Clarion call to the Nigerian Government and people :

* We should start factoring in a possible world war 2016 in our economic and developmental plans. Lately, the Republican incessant tag of Obama as being inferior to Putin is a tacit exhort for the America to re-exact her dominance on the globe.

One hope the Nigeria government are following events and trends and mapping out strategy for a possible global war.

We should be proactive in our security,economic and diplomatic readiness for the attendant effects of a big war.

Just in case anyone in charge or working closely with with the TSA authority peep in this thread.

# The contact phone numbers available on net for the Office of the Accountant General are wrong and others are not going through at all. TSA needs a complaint/help desk to quickly address simple but urgent issues.

# Some public institutions complain they have not been allocated TSA accounts thereby paralyzing transactions - why is it difficult to generate TSA account for all MDAs after 1 month, especially, at this time when the nation needs all the income we can garner.

I officially retract all my invectives on Gov. Aregbesola. I also believe he is far from being the worst Nigeria state Governor as majority of us had tagged him.

Considering the state of the nation and current economic realities these pictures are difficult to hate or belittle. The worst tag should now follow the Ekiti state Gov. Fayose until we have new information on any verifiable and touchable achievement from Ekiti state.

People should not misconstrue a newspaper statement for the stand of the American government or people. Having said that, Nigeria is an independent nation with a dream , most-probably, at variance with American dream.

We are not the same people - our needs, wants and ideals are different.

...The direction of the trial is currently unknown but lawyers have started looking at the consquences of the offence if he is found guilty in the ongoing trial.

According to the Fifth Schedule of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), if found guilty, Saraki shall face any or all of the following:

1. removal from office,

2. disqualification from holding any public office

3. forfeiture to the state, any property acquired in abuse of office...

I offer to be the first to congratulate ex-Senate President Saraki in advance - many do not have the luxury of palace life you have lived all your life and if these lenient retributions are all you will have to face (if found guilty) you should consider yourself favored.

Mr. Saraki we are tired of what your face and name stand for in the struggle for a respectable nation.

I felicitate with Gov. Aregbesola for being able to produce pictures of some of his govt. achievements but he should appear more serious in decisions than exhibiting tokenism.

Still waiting for evidence of any meaningful work from the loud Gov. of Ekiti state.

The new EFCC head has just failed an acid test. How can you allow a suspect escape arrest ?. The implication is that we are still lawless and disorderly - and the impunity or impudence is still very much with us.

Gradually, current realities are showing we are not yet a nation to be frolicking out their among others. For years we have pretended we are free to embark on "developmental agenda" - hence we bloat government (trying to emulate our colonial masters), we appropriate more fund to ostentatious projects while the vast majority of our people contort in poverty.

While one would not except the current leaders to admit it but the truth remains we are best a rudimentary state that should focus primarily on nation building : comprehensive education of all citizens (as in Awo style), small but virile government peopled by the nation's most resourceful and credible, engendering unity and nationalism, and dissuasion of all manners of extravaganza in public institutions.

Opinedecandid:
https://www.nairaland.com/2748767/buhari-dupes-us-washington-times

I have read it - cannot see anything serving any Nigeria interest so its irrelevant to me. Americans will always champion American interests and ideals and as a patriotic Nigerian I will always pre-occupy myself with project Nigeria ; which does not necessarily have to make Americans happy.

Opinedecandid:
Keep trying harder to discredit him, Mr angelic saint.

No be only him dey feel that way. Saraki face has become an emblem for anything-everything evil in our system. His name and face always take away smiles from patriotic citizens.