₦airaland Forum

davidylan:
yaradua is in Brazil, do not disturb him over this trivial issue pls.

You dey crase!

@ Topic,

May God save us in the jungle called Nigeria. After now, the same Yar'Adua would welcome Gaddafi to Nigeria as an esteemed African statesman.

babapupa:
Of what use is your resource control when the dividends dey chill inside private foreign bank account and financing mansions in any land but yours?

I guess it's silly season because you people don begin reason like mumu with heads buried inside sand.

And this is the caliber of the kind of people wey dey yarn on behalf of the delta? No wonder the delta is bleeped up.

And again I repeat:

By your logic, we should also stop allocating 50% of all revenue derived from our resources to FG since all they would do is embezzle the money.

Lets take it further. . .  infact Britain should have never granted Nigeria independence since we were clearly incapable of managing our own affairs. . .

Instead of facing YOUR GOVERNMENT who have the jurisdiction to fight corruption, you are facing the victims of the Niger-Delta who only want their just due.

It seems some people have been lobotomised.

Yes o. . .  we can pick gaping holes in stupid arguments all day.

babapupa:
And about resource control.

I said something about representation and governance per your elected and appointed leaders but you conveniently side stepped it. They are the folks in charge, they are your leaders and even given and with full resource control, every dime still got to go trough these clowns, not you or MEND, these clowns are your chief executives and they call the shots in their respective states.

Your resource control argument don't mean jack because all roads still lead to the incompetent buffoons and thieves you call leaders and just like the rest of the country, your destiny is in the hands of crooks, thieves, enemies of your people and humanity.


You guys really need to quit acting dumb and clueless

Is resource control fair? Yes or No?

All these extra arguments are really unnecessary and dumb.

By your logic, we should also stop allocating 50% of all revenue derived from our resources to FG since all they would do is embezzle the money.

Lets take it further. . .  infact Britain should have never granted Nigeria independence since we were clrearly incapable of managing our own affairs. . .

Yes o. . .  we can pick gaping holes in stupid arguments all day.

I repeat:

A thief is a thief is a thief. . . but you who have a thief in your midst have no moral authority to condemn my struggle because of the thief in my midst, especially when you (Nigeria) have the legal jurisdiction to bring my thief to justice, and I dont.

If they want to drink the crude-oil, let them drink it. We will cross that bridge when we get there.

@ Babapupa,

Dont compare mundane environmental issues with oil exploration issues. Fash is doing a good job, no doubt, but answer this: Does any state have the power to stop gas flaring? Do you know how long this issue has been in court? Do you think it would be in court if States had right to declare it illegal? Not a drop of oil is produced in Naija without gas being flared, so stop talking rubbish out of ignorance.

As a rejoinder:

http://www.greengrants.org/grantstories.php?news_id=38

A recent groundbreaking decision by Cross River State's governor, Mr. Donald Duke, offers an illustrative example of how grassroots organizations can work together to promote change at the local, state, and national level and safeguard Nigeria's precious natural resources. On July 7, 2004 Western Metal Products Company (WEMPCO), a Hong-Kong corporation, was ordered to close down its logging operations and evacuate the area.


http://allafrica.com/stories/200812240438.html

Yenagoa — The Bayelsa State Governor, Chief Timipre Sylva, has assured Bayelsans that his administration will enforce the forestry law of the state to stop wanton bush burning and illegal felling of trees


All these other environmental wahala has never been the issue in ND. The environmental issues Blacksta is talking pertains solely to the oil and gas industry.

Yes, I have a bright idea - All ND Governors should ban gas flaring so no oil is produced, and your state will not receive any allocation next month. It is then you would start begging us to[b] resume[/b] the pollution of our environment!

I had hoped your reasoning would be more intelligent than your name sounds. . .

Can a rotten tree produce good fruit?

blacksta:
A question i would like you guys to answer

1. Why is the fight not taken to the doorstep of past and present ND leaders Somebody like Odili or Ibori should be hung from a tree.

2. Is it not in the jurdisdiction of the state and local governments to make environmental laws

3. Is not the job of the state or local government to deal with local issues.

There is no moral compunction for any Niger-Deltan to address these arguments borne out of superficial knowledge of the situation in ND, but I might as well indulge you since you share ties with Eleme people.

(1.) It is a strategic and tactical mistake to bring the fight to ND leaders at this stage. Timiepriye Sylva alone can raise enough boys to chase MEND out of Bayelsa for good and derail the struggle indeterminably. It has been done before. Ask Odili what he did to the NDPVF before the formation of MEND

On the other hand, despite their wickedness, these ND leaders do serve a purpose to the struggle and are regularly railroaded into buying arms for the boys.

Their comeuppance will only be served when the major aggressor (Nigeria) has been dealt with. You cannot fight yourself in the presence of an enemy, neither can Mr Goat fight his enemy Mr Pig in the presence of Mr Lion. They will save their enmity for a later date. Even as we speak, Odili cannot go to PH without heavy arms, if at all.

On the other hand, if those who steal 50% allocation (FG) were honest themselves, then they can implement the right laws and procedures to bring the 13% thieves (Odili et al) to book. What has the FG done for you with their 50% allocation? Infact, ND Governors such as Amaechi, Duke, Sylva, Ohakim, Uduaghan and Oshiomohle who have actually done something are exonerated by the actions of their 50% cousins. Bode George, OBJ, IBB and other federal players always top the list of looters and are big fry compared to their state-level compadres.

A thief is a thief is a thief. . . but you who have a thief in your midst have no moral authority to condemn my struggle because of the thief in my midst, especially when you (Nigeria) have the legal jurisdiction to bring my thief to justice, and I dont. You forego your legal authority to book my thief, then expect me to pick up arms against my thief, knowing that he will fight back and derail my struggle completely.


(2.) You cannot compare actions of the right honourable Fashola with what applies in ND. Picking rubbish from the street is not the same as stopping gas-flaring. Oil coys are already mandated to clean up spills, but lack of insincerity means that enforcement is a problem as these companies get away with paying paltry fines at court. Gas-flaring has already been outlawed at Federal level, but FG keeps postponing the date at which the law comes into effect. It is hardly wise to expect Amaechi to decree that gas-flaring must stop tomorrow when FG has already done so, but refuses to enforce it. Do you think FG will allow ND Governors to kill the cow which gives them milk> Thats not even under State jurisdiction sef.

(3.) Yes. That is the premise of federalism.

[quote author=Tayo-D link=topic=304656.msg4312287#msg4312287 date=1249596243]Your Eldorado is rubbished by the reality that is revealed in the article I posted above.  Not only are you denied needed medicine becuase of cost, the cost of providing healthcare has doubled in Britain too in the past 10 years.  Was that caused by the American Cartels too?  [/quote]Aging population, higher prices of drugs (no thanks to privatisation of the drug industry in Yankee) are the cause of all these.

[quote author=Tayo-D link=topic=304656.msg4312287#msg4312287 date=1249596243]All your fear mongering about cartels is just that: fear mongering.  If anyone could offer the same services for much less, they will do so and put those guys out of business for good.  If economics dictates that those services can be replicated for half the price offered by existing providers, someone will be a billionaire overnight to do just that.[/quote]Start-up costs prohibit competition in medical industry. Health companies are not cartels? Tell that to their lobbyists. We receive Health Insurance (from these same companies) at a far cheaper price in Britain. If that is not evidence of cartel behaviour, then tell me what is? Thank God that we have a viable competitor called the NHS who is able to break the cartellish behaviour of these coys by providing real competition.

[quote author=Tayo-D link=topic=304656.msg4312287#msg4312287 date=1249596243]Prices have gone up in Britain as much as in the US, so of what good is the govt other than telling poor people their lives are not worth $60,000?[/quote]Prices have gone up. . . . maybe so. . . . but if the price of my cup of garri goes up from N1 to N2 and yours goes from N10 to N20, I dont think you should be worrying about my ability to feed myself!  

As for the unfortunate gentleman who wants to prolong his life by one-year on some drug, and charge the Govt $60,000, that is an inane argument. Perhaps we should also keep everyone on life-machines to prolong their life. . . . should we allow them to stay on the machine for 3 years at a cost of £10 million like our friend Ariel Sharon. . . . is that dude dead yet . . . . the mans disease is incurable. . . he should accept his fate  . . . . .All Governments and All Insurance companies decide what they can cover and what not to cover. As long as the Government foregoes the isolated and expensive cases to do with prolonging life in order to address the massive demand of the rest of the populace (whose diseases are curable), thats fine by me. . . . our friend here should seek Private Insurance if he wants to prolong his life by a year. . . . others are seeking right to die at Dignitas, he is seeking right to live  

Ono, there is no reason to be had with imbeciles. No Niger-Deltan should even bother himself with this bunch of crap. We might as well post pictures of all Governors and Ministers and highlight them as the cause of our collective misery in Nigeria. What that has to do with the contract we signed upon joining the Nigerian Federation in 1960 is another story altogether. "Resource Control" and "Development" are not interchangable terms. The leaders depicted are partly responsible for our lack of "development", but they have nothing to do with our lack of "resource control". Ibori, Odili, Alams and the rest will get their just deserts in due course.

[quote author=Tayo-D link=topic=304656.msg4312230#msg4312230 date=1249595088]The CEOs are in business to provide a service.  Their aim is to provide the greatest service for a minimal cost. They are always under pressure to give more service for less amount because of market competition.  Anyone with outragwous bill for little services will be out of business real quick.[/quote]Of course, these are economic arguments which are rubbished when the word "cartel" comes into play. . . .  which the health insurance companies of America are!

Lemme school you how we do it in Britian. We have introduced market elements into what is essentially a public good. Private companies (Health Trusts) compete for contracts from the Government. They are mandated to provide services at a fair price set by Government. There is no cream-skimming or turning away of patients. They are paid per capita, and they do also realise profits by cutting beaurocracy. Animals in the Republican Zoo have long been programmed with an anti-Govt phobia, and have been fed the lie that Universal Healthcare is about Government wasting tax payers money on a whole bunch of beaurocracy, but the British example portends a redefinition of what Republican nitwits know as Universal Healthcare. Government sets the price, a fair price.

And of course, if that is not good enough for you, you have the Private option. It'll only cost you £30 a month or thereabout. . . . no thanks to the fact that people in Britain know how much health is supposed to cost, cos the NHS has informed their decision.

The funny thing is that those who support universal insurance do so on the grounds that "in a life or death situation, my insurance will give me better service than universal healthcare". . . . these are the same idiots who will be denied insurance on health grounds if they are in a "life or death situation" 

[quote author=Tayo-D link=topic=304656.msg4311987#msg4311987 date=1249591870]No system is perfect. Health care is not a human right. It is ludicrous to think it is.[/quote]Neither is education by this reasoning.

These people (Republicans) are animals

Health Care is a human right, though it neednt be cheap or free.

Taxpayers would argue that it is not free.


Now some slowpoke   mentioned that Hawaii dropped their Universal Child Healthcare because of the rise in people foregoing private insurance to take it up. The son of questionable parenthood   tried to use this this as an argument against Universal Healthcare. Any well-reasoning individual would take the opposite approach and laud the popularity of Universal healthcare cos it was so highly sought after that even those who could afford insurance forewent insurance to join the scheme. The scheme closed because it was oversubscribed. Perhaps the citizens of Hawaii would have preferred to pay a small percentage of their insurance as tax, and in that way, they would receive the healthcare they need. Instead, imbecilic Americans pay hundreds toward Insurance yearly. What percentage of insurance payments are actually spent on actual health costs on average? Compare this with Britain where prolly 95% of the tax deductible for health purposes is spent on health, and the rest 5% is beaurocratic wastage.

So whilst lobotomised individuals argue that Health is not a human right, it is better to argue that Healthcare is not a structured product, or a financial instrument.

Can you imagine a situation where Health Insurance bosses receive 10's of millions in bonus payouts? What target do you think their bonuses are predicated on? Your health or their profits?

biina:
Eeny, meeny, miny, moe,
Catch a tiger by the toe.
If he hollers let him go,
Eeny, meeny, miny, moe

Which one would the ijebus get tomorrow
Fiorentina, Atlético Madrid, Celtic, Anderlecht, and Timişoara?
Well it really does not matter,
Ijebus will play only two CL games this year

Rasputtin, I didnt know you were a son of the soil. Wetin you dey do with the enemy for Highbury?

Wonders shall never end in Naija.

Dede1:
@Ibime

I am of the view you are not goofed with eastern Ijo and western Ijo too. I may inquire what you have been smoking if you are confused about Nigerian Ijo. When I referenced eastern Ijo, it meant Ijo people located in the defunct eastern region of Nigeria while western Ijo meant Ijo people located in both defunct western and mid-western regions.

Yeah, we know the distinction between Eastern and Western Ijaw. . . . but what Batubo was challenging is that you said East > West.

Why does a minority tribe have to claim descent from a larger tribe.

For all we know, Yorubas are descended from Ijaws and Igbos are descended from Ogonis

. . . . never thought of going to Wembley this weekend. . . I am waiting for Ancelotti to show me something before I put hand inside pocket. . .

Nigerias next Obama is Fashola.

Ribadu might be Joe Biden or something.

blacksta:
My brother God will bless you richly . 11% of Revenue for the past 10 years would turn Nigeria around talkless of a couple of states in Nigeria.

So why hasnt 89% turned Nigeria around. . . . SMH. . . . BTW, its 13%, not 11%. . . . also greet your Eleme wife for me. . .

Hmmm. . . . . this is some devastating sturv. . . . all Nairalanders should be mandated to read this. . . . I hope it will make the front page. . .

nuzo:
More light on the emboldened before I label you a hypocrite of which you may have been.

It should be self-evident. The action does nothing to change the set-up of Government. Its the most FG could do without changing the status-quo. Its simply communities being allocated money from the National pie once again, and going by antecedents, one cannot be too sure how much money will trickle down to the common man.

It is time we start to think about setting up a constitution for the whole of Nigeria that will allow local people some form of power to make their own decisions, much like a federation or confederation. Apart from the oil communities, the rest of Nigeria will just stay waiting for their own slice of the remaining 70% as usual, providing no incentive for them to generate revenue (and jobs) for their people. The reverse should be the case, where FG gives no money to States (outside their remit of providing Federal roads, military, civil service etc), but States should pay tax to FG. That way, States must live or die by their financial actions, much like California is doing now, instead of waiting for their cut. This will promote better accountability as leaders have to answer to their people for the fiscal performance of their state, and perhaps will lead to a changed attitude toward corruption at State and Federal level. Until then, I just see this 25% ending up in the hands of Odili et al, whilst the 5% for the local communities ends up in the hands of the Local Government Chariman, and the rest 70% will end up in the hands of leaders of non-oil producing states. Nothing changes.

Breaking News:

Scott Sinclair moves to Wigan on loan.

Lets see what the boy can do in the Premiership. This is his last chance.

. . .

Bialegend, Erico and Dede1 are confused. Batubo is not.

Batubo said the Nembe axis of Ijaw is more prominent. He doesnt mean they are better. He means, they are the heartland of Ijaw. They are the original prototype, with the original Ijaw language. In Ijaw culture, the Nembes are more prominent and less diluted by outside contact. Back in the day, when we did not know that we were Ijaw and thought that we were Okrika, Kalabari, Bonny etc, we used to refer to the Brass/Nembe people as the Ijaws, but we refer to ourselves as Okrikans.

What is the political reasoning behind this?

Do our ex-leaders not deserve protection like Tony Blair and George Bush?

Is the reasoning that they have stolen enough money to provide their own security? If so, abeg say so and stop beating around the bush. And if so, why not prosecute them?

All countries ex-leaders deserve protection from the Police.

Demonstration of madness from the new IG.

To all those more interested in money for their local community, this is a partial success.

To all those interested in building a sustainable structure for Nigeria, with power devolvement to local people, this is a failure.

Lets see how it plays out.

@ Tudor,

Economic problems in Zimba are a hydra-headed beast. You claim that North Korea is surviving on sanctions, but North Korea is losing more people per head of population to hunger than Zimba. Crude-oil is always in demand so Libya is exempt.

Again, like I have said I wholly support land reform just like I support the Mau-Mau uprisings in Kenya. It is up to every leader to determine if he can carry out these reforms whilst sustaining the economy. For example, if Mugabe had trained a school of farmers who were able to pick the baton from the whites, then sanctions would not hit Zimba so hard, cos Zimbas aggrarian land can cover all their food needs and more. Morally, Mugabe is right. Logistically and practically, he is wrong.

As per election violence, Mugabe is wrong!

We will be waiting to see how similar land reform scenarios unfold in other Southern and Eastern African countries.

nateevs:
Where?
All I see is . . "It is understood that Chelsea have"

Dont be silly. Here's Berlusconi to Corriere delo Sport:

"Andrea Pirlo is off the market. He will stay with us and finish his career in Milan," he explained to the Corriere dello Sport.

"You know that Pirlo was requested by Chelsea for a proposed economic deal. We also spoke with the player and have decided to hold on to him at the request of Leonardo."

Afam:
However, my point is that Mugabe was reported to have barred foreign observers, intimidated voters, had complete control over the electoral process and yet we did not see more than 10% difference in the election result.

hmmm. . . . . I would see it the other way. . . . if Zanu-PF did all these things (which they did mostly going from my friends tales) and still could not win outright, then opposition support must be really strong.

nex:
@Ibime

Such an slowpoke as you alone can refer to expediency as lack of proper planning.

Ibime, I can promise you that there are threads on Nairaland that can accommodate the moronic thinking of your deranged mindset. Don't bring it to politics.

I've realised that you amassed you political know-how from watching CNN. Do you really think that is enough to discuss the issues into which you delve?

Since you were dropped on your head moments after you were born, whether by some error or to fulfil your destiny of idiocy, don't blame it on us. We weren't at the brothel where it happened.

hmmm. . . . . bros, na total war wey you dey declare so? . . . . . pls, let peace reign between us. . . . you know, I really like your poetry. . . . abeg collect my hand of friendship

nateevs:
Wait! Did we bid for this fella at any point in time. .?

Open your eyes. Of course we did.

@ Afam,

Can we stick to the point of the elections. I do not need schooling on the cause of economic problems in Zimba as caused by Western sanctions. I do not believe we should be arguing on something we both agree on, ie that the West has strangled Zimba because they do not agree with Mugabes land reform policy. Trust me, I am an African before anything else, and I believe that many other countries will have the same problems as Zimba going forward ie Kenya, Zambia, SA etc.

I believe the main argument we are having is about the elections which you claim that Mugabe did not steal. Can we delineate this argument from our feelings over land reform and address the election issue independently? Same Zimba friends I spoke about earlier morally supported Mugabes land reform act, but same Zimba friends are supporting MDC for practical reasons. Can you with hand on heart claim the mandate was not stolen, knowing that the opposition collected half the vote in an African country, despite the advantage accrued to the incumbent - can you claim hand on heart the election isnt stolen?