I have conjectured that most of the participants in this thread are teenagers who have never suffered business failure as a result of the faulty system in naija. They have never had to go into hiding every night because of night marauders. They never spent hours in the traffic to cover 5 kilometers. They never spent 2 years on this streets with 2 university degrees jobless - and then get a cleaning job working for a foreigner with primary school qualif.

No matter how you deny it, its happening still. Oh yes, they happen abroad as well but how many of those crimes have our police solved? Its not about it happening in yankee as well. Its about what government does about it when it happens. Our police is about collecting roja by the roadside shamlessly. You even have to roja government workers to do their job. Tell me has that stopped? Ive been away for donkey years. Do they still collect roja using that hand to hand slap movement along the highway. Do you still have to buy fuel for police before they respond to an emergency? Do they still get away with beating up people for no reason? Have our politicians mustered enough courage to challenge known fraudsters in government. Has politics changed from lootocracy to democracy.

We all love naija. I would not have any other home but I am dissapointed the way it is now. And yes I do voice my anger even when among foreigners. They need to know the truth. Dont get me wrong I do tell them Abuja is pretty but I also tell them basic amenities dont work unless you can afford them yourself and pay tax to government as well.

Its not a matter of denying the truth to express a fake sense of patriotism like these young posters here are doing. Nor is it about opening a dictionary and quoting all abusive terms in it.

A whole lot of Nigerians abroad love home and want to be back. What guarantee is there that if you establish that business back home power supply will be ther after you pay your taxes? After 50yrs of personal aggrandisement, its only now governement is thinking of privatising power supply. With all the oil and gas? Even UK with 24/7 power imports gas from us.

God bless Nigeria --- NO! (he already blessed us, he gave us everything we need - even more than UK and other countries.)

GOD HELP NIGERIA --- YES (we need his grace - to save us from the children of the politicians and corrupt bureaucrats who come to nairaland to defend their parents)

Ranoscky:
Apart from Electricity n bad roads, what else can u complain abt nigeria again dat doesn't exist in foriegn countries?

I cannot believe someone asked a question like this. Do you actually mean that the two most important drivers of economic development are not priorities? How old are you really? 12? This is the problem. Some dont even know whats good for them anymore. Thats how bad things are in naija. Its beginning to affect reasoning faculties.

I actaully enjoy this type of thread because it exposes all the "holier than thou" members on this lovely forum. They are in a hurry to cite how many years UK and USA took to get to where they are. They condemn you for ever voicing anything about the defects of our system. They even turn abusive even though this is just a conversation. They reel off some unreal statistics that is not reflected anywhere.

Just outside the internet cafe they sit to spew out this bile lies the most neglected society you can think of. A few kilometers away is an oil refinery exporting millions of dollars worth of oil everyday. Where is the profits? Siphoned away to foreign lands via private pockets. Spent on massive maisons plastered all over the UK and USA landscapes.

God bless Nigeria --- NO! (he already blessed us, he gave us everything we need - even more than UK and other countries.)

GOD HELP NIGERIA --- YES (we need his grace - to save us from the children of the politicians and corrupt bureaucrats who come to nairaland to defend their parents)

A friend just came back from Nigeria after nearly 3yrs abroad. She had to run away from the hotel she lodged at Port Harcourt because they were attacked in the night. One woman was "taken" by the kidnappers. She said she lost around 100k she already deposited for her stay. She had to downgrade to a cheaper hotel to save cost.

Thats not all. While she was here, she sent her hard earned cash back home to help purchase a piece of land. (Which is why she went home). She has now started the building project but guess what?

As soon as she came back here last sunday, there was a call from Nigeria that someone had come up to claim the land belonged to them. Where have they been since the land was lying fallow? I mean she bought the land more than 2 years ago. She has since spent a large sum of money trying to solve the problem on phone.

Her account of Nigeria is heart breaking. Kidnapping, armed robbery, no power supply, virtually everyone is a self styled "Don Colleoni" of some sort. They all talk how connected they are with criminals and how they will "take" you if you mess with them.

I was planning to go as well during Christmas but honnestly I am frightened out of my wits with these stories. What if they detect this slight accent I have developed over the years here? I still talk like a correct Ibo man but sometimes "aint", "gonna" and "wanna" slips out of my mouth involuntarily. I no dey pretend O. It comes automatically when you stay and work with oyibo for a little while.

I hear these vile criminals have their antenae corked and ready for such slip ups. I am not a bling person by nature. I thought this would protect me but I heard these guys can sniff out someone from abroad 2 kilometres away.

To the first poster, there is really not a lot of good information about Nigeria right now. Its all about "potential" and "what might have been" or "what should happen if". Some people what to kill you for expressing your feelings. How can we not talk about the negatives. Where do these people who want people not to talk of the problems live at? Majority of the people live with no good roads, no power supply, bribery and corruption. It was like that 10 yrs ago, 5 yrs ago and its worse today - add kidnapping.

One poster here said he lived a pampered life and as such cannot criticise the country. Pathetic. You can as well accept a goverment post and turn a blind eye to the sorry plight of the nation. This is the issue. We are tired of the "potentials" of Nigeria. We want results for our taxes. We want to be safe in our own country. I for one want to come back home. I want to rest assured I will not be killed when I do so. I hate the sound of generator. I want to sleep without sweating all night. Dont tell me to spend my own money to acquire these comforts because even before I left Nigeria I have always paid my taxes and will continue doing so.

If you were sheilded from reality by your parent's wealth or by being pampered all your life, how can you hold this discussion? You obviously dont have a clue what you are talking about. You probably never went to any of the poor neighbourhoods all your life. Have you boarded any of the over crowded and ramshackle public transports? If you ever lived abroad like you claimed, tell me the truth, have you not at some times cried in your heart for Nigeria when you realise we could be as good as these foreign countries? We have all the blessings a country can ever wish for. A large population, abundance of mineral resources, a very intelligent set of people (sometimes too intelligent for their own good). Yet for 50yrs, we cannot separate between constructive criticism and patriotism.

To the poster who said even foreigners wanted to come back after being kidnapped. Why will a foreign national not want to return to Nigeria? They earn more than they can get back home. They live like gods in Nigeria. I actually worked in an oil servicing firm in Nigeria as well. I left when my contract finished. It was like living in heaven. The salary was good. All the amenities were there. You would not believe you were in Nigeria. But ,  step out of the company quarters, the tale was different. The inhabitants of the town where we were sitauted were living in total and abject poverty. The rivers were poluted, the roads were not good. Yet we rode around in air conditioned jeeps and got fat salaries. Will all these make me deny the dire economic situation in Nigeria? No. I know telling the truth will not make me love naija any less.

How can you say something positive about a governement that cannot deal with the most basic of issues despite Nigeria Inc being a very proffitable venture. Its been 50yrs and we still do not have stable electricity. Only that would be enough to transform the nation. Forget every other thing, only electricity will bring industrial development.

God bless Nigeria --- NO! (he already blessed us, he gave us everything we need - even more than UK and other countries.)

GOD HELP NIGERIA --- YES (we need his grace - to save us from the children of the politicians and corrupt bureaucrats who come to nairaland to defend their parents)

we have the highest number of churches per square kilometre yet kidnapping and armed robbery continues.

Another reason people are "stranded" here is "kpali" or paper. Most guys are assumed to have forgotten home while in actual fact they cant travel because they dont have valid papers.

Another reason is prison. Do you realise several Nigerians are singing "locked up" by Akon in yankee? Drugs, scams etc. A lot of stupid Nigerian are in the pens for that.

Another reason is money. Face it, places like UK are very hard to make a living from. Most Nigerians are on low income of about £1000 to £1500. Pay your rent/ mortgage, send money home and other expenses from that and tell me what savings you have to come home with? Dont forget so many of them have given the wrong impression of living in the laps of luxury here. The false image of being a millionaire as everyone back there multiplies your income by N250.

this estimation is flawed because I just typed in a domain name I had abandoned now for 1 year with not website and it says I get $1.81 per day ad revenue. It valued this domain (without website) to be $1321.

Holy crap Its been zero income for a yr. I dont even have a website on the domain.
websiteoutlook.com sucks

the song itself was BL
sounds like something u would hear in a plamy joint on the back streets of Agegunle
sorry

VALIDATOR:

Please what is the source of this information?

- Search bbc news for "The virginity industry" the articles was published on 24-Apr-2010 ^{(dont want to post link so I dont get banned)}

- Search TIMES ONLINE  for "The Dilemma of 'Virginity' Restoration" (dont want to post link so I dont get banned

- Search for Hymenorrhaphy on wikipedia. Its a branch of medical surgery to reconstruct the female hymen.

Virginity is not only physical but spiritual. Once you've had full penetrative sex, thats it! You lost your virginity forever. Any such suggeries is a deceit for yourself and your partner. It may not even be motivated by anything else except carnal pleasure.

seriously I heard this happens in places like Kano and Lagos. They unleash a hyena at you if you refuse to pay your house rent. My friend says they have lots of hyena in India and he's thinking of bringing this service to naija. He is seriously looking for a partner. Guys anyone interested. I can link you up.

yes, CMS means content content mgt. sys. Joomla, Wordpress, Drupal?

OMG yet another forum. What about iphone apps, payment systems, medical systems etc

The US oil spill is happening in Obama's land. Thats why you have all the media circus. Sadly, things dont become an issue until it happens in USA, UK etc.

I was in Bonny for about 5 years. I recall several times while travelling by boat to the island, there would be crude oil on the river surface. Not once, not twice. Never heard any one except the poor locals complain about it. The fishermen were suffering, the land is becaming barren.

I agree most of the problem was from bunkering but these big firms drilling oil owe it to the communities to clean up the spillages because of the massive profits they are making daily.

I wonder where the Nigerian govt. comes into all these. They've left it to the millitants to fight for the collective survival of the Niger Delta.

To the poster who said bellanaija is not a blog. Lets take a while to clear the air. What exactly is a blog? Well "blog" is a short form for "web logs". In other words, a diary being kept on the internet - instead of in a book

It could be a diary on anything - your personal life, lesson notes, your take on news and current affairs anything at all

----- and in the case of bellanaija, a diary on the naija social scene.

search smf main site for tinyportal. that should sort you out.

Funny enough Nigerian twitter clones are coming up everyday:
gistcaster
yarnable
how will they survive then if half of the post here sees twitter as boring?
I guess the twitter model cant work in Nigeria.

HTML5:

1. It should be around N1/tweet on MobileWeb.
2. Any phone company, The current Number is 40404, but You can still update w/ +44762801423 = Standard SMS Rate.
3. iLike TwitPic because all my Tweets are stored there. Mixing Two Picture host is like wasting ya time cuz U can culled those images back,

That's my 2 cents!

Thanks HTML5.
I have already added these to my research writeup. The rest of the responses am grateful for too. Twitter is not as interactive and interesting as NL. I agree. Thanks Admin for featuring my post on the home page. This to me is like landing on Digg front page

HTML5:
If I get you right, unless you use 40404, you will be charged standard SMS rate.
On average, what is standard SMS rate accross the providers.

i cant believe nobody tweets here!

A few questions folks:

1. How much does it cost to tweet from your phone?
2. How much is text messaging and on which phone company?
3. Which is your favourute twitter application (twitpic, tweetphoto etc)


Please I am doing a small research. Need help with these.

Despite the mounds of dirt and suffering those people were smiling. The typical Nigerian. Resigned to fate. His spirit utterly crushed by years of lying and thieveing leadership.

I have had to face taunts at the work place because of that programme. Its seems to show Nigeria as full of waste and unuterrable suffering. On the other hand, its a wakeup call for the governement to the plight of the suffering and smilling people of Nigeria. Enough is enough. Giant of Africa that does not care for her children. I was particularly touched by the saw mill operators who were dying on a daily basis due to not adhering to basic health and safety practice. I can imagine what this show has done to the tourism industry. Fresh out of the oil region kidnapping of foreigners, now it seems the whole nation is one massive rubbish heap peopled by humans who have resigned to their fate and are content to scrap out a living from dung!

I tell you, this is a shameful period to be a Nigerian. I have had to defend myself by telling people that beside the slums lie glittering cities and towns. I have had to explain that the programme is actually a look at the slums and not all Lagos.

Very good infor. What about iphone apps? or other smartphone applications. Are those things catching up at home yet? There is a huge market around mobile apps and phone based advertising. There is a massive potential in Nigeria for that. Its a good direction to explore.

How many people out of the 150 million Nigerians have access to internet?

What is "proper" job? As long as you are doing honest work on your own volition and you are earning a money, its proper work. The person who started this post is one of those people who think any job outside wearing suit in an office is not work. Loads of Nigerian are doing "proper" honest work from my end of the UK. I am proud to be Nigerian especially when I see those doctors and lawyers, nurses who do their jobs competently. Trust me there are loads of them. We recently installed a new computer system where I work. The project leader is Nigerian. A young Nigerian in his 20s. At least 2 other Nigerians are in the team as well.

Even the people doing what you consider not to be proper job are earning a living and doing wonders back home or surviving with tier families. It depends on where you look or the society you find yourself. My job has brought me in contact with very successful Nigerians. Even yours trully is earning far higher than any employer would pay me for the same job back home.

Research properly before you talk or undermime hard working Nigerians abroad. We all cannot be in Nigeria. Some of us have to be here flying the green white green. Some people's opportunity or destiny lie outside the shores of naija.

Begin by asking yourself questions:

- The Impact of social networks on business entreprise, live in general
- Web based music production
- A critical look at open source software like Joomla: their components. Are they a blessing or a curse for software devlopers.
- Developing a viable online payment system for Nigeria
- Develop a web based TV - explore components and software.

Alterntively

develop an application like;
  - a payment system (like paypal)
  - a small content management system like joomla or wordpress
  - an auction site like ebay
  - an sms based hospital system


OR

Check the computer section of articles websites for topics:
Helium.com
articlescity.com

Dont plagiarise sha.

Too much flash. You have to click 20 times   to get to the real site content. I never fancied flash sites. Too  much waste of time. Other wise, Basketmouth is a real good comedian  

Learn from nairaland. Keep it simple and never forget that the content is actually the king. People go to a site for that. Not the flash or fancy.

Go for things you can sell off fast. You dont want to tie down your cash. A good clue is to study those people who shuttle home and abroad for business. Most of those I know deal with fashion and fashion accessories - clothe, shoes etc. Go for fast selling stuff that will not tie down your cash.

You need also to have a very good liason back at home who can take you around or create the awareness. Am going home soon too and am thinking along these lines.

They will grant it to him kia kia. Did you think for one second they will let him go with all the cash he made off them? Visa refusal no reach where £££millions dey o.