₦airaland Forum

phemmyB:
To have a great personality like Jarus viewing this thread and offering to help is really a good thing for us all. I have been a good follower of Mr. Suraj on Nairaland and Jarushub.com from my school days and he has assisted me in making some important career decisions.
But I need to know how someone who is not in Lagos can enjoy this training. Like some of us in the Northern part of the country. Thanks.

Thanks bro. We have Skype sessions for individual preparation. We have actually prepared foreign candidates from as far as Germany and India.

However, where we have up to 10 candidates in a city outside Lagos, we can travel there to organize a session. We were in Port Harcourt and Abuja last year to prepare candidates for the NLNG Assessment Center.

Good job by the pilot. Thank God.

Good one.

onatisi:
The singular mistake he made in 2015 was joining apc,if atiku had gone solo with another party buhari willl never have won the election no matter the baboon soaked trash threats he gives

Atiku is no match for Buhari in popularity.

playdude:
Good day people. It happened that I finished my NYSC July last year. I already had a job waiting for me; in fact I was already with the organization as at June 2015. For the records, even if I don’t know all things, I know myself. I am smart, intelligent, focused and hardworking. I came out with a 2.1 in Economics in a public university although most of my peeps thought I was going to make a first class.
I was working with a music agency (yeah cos I resigned December 2015), and that was the agency that offered me a job even while I was still serving. I was making close to 70k while I was still with the organization. My musical history quickly; I can play 5 musical instruments including the piano, been playing the piano for almost a decade now, and yeah I had my silver jubilee last year. If you are into music, you know that is no mean feat. I am musically gifted in short.
I resigned cos I wanted to venture into the finance/accounting sector, I love music but I want to be a financial guru, I love economics, calculations, raking my head for solutions whereas in music imagination and talent is often used.
I started submitting applications after pimping my CV this January, I haven’t even gotten called up once since the beginning of the year, I can’t imagine not getting a test invitation not to talk of an interview. I know I am a master at scaling interviews. I can super research the life out of the dead, I have had two interviews; the first was with the music agency, while the second was stalled cos my expected salary was too high for them. I know I am trainable and teachable. I have the ability to learn things super fast. I am IT proficient, have joined Linkedln, been applying to jobs every day since January this year, and not one single call up except those scammers. I have to admit, I have no experience at all in any finance/accounting oriented firm and most firms in Nigeria are experience crazy but I cant phantom the thought of not even getting called up for a test after submitting roughly 15 applications in January alone. I am still making close to 30 k per month cos I play for churches on Sundays but I am mad at myself and its almost beginning to get at my self confidence. How on earth can I get a finance/accounting related job that requires fresh trainable brains in Nigeria as soon as possible? Performance is not the problem cos I know I am an achiever and a goal getter but I seem to be losing it on this one. I imagined that I should have gotten a job by this month, but not even a test invite/interview. I can’t comprehend how those who have been unemployed for years live seriously. I need a job guys. I am eager to prove my mettle, make a name for myself and deliver excellence on the job I can get. Where did I go wrong and something tells me that there is someone out there looking for my kind of personality that can get me a job in any of the sector I listed. Please advise this dude or help if you can in the spirit of the new month. Thanks for taking your time to read. Cheers. Email; akine4ever@yahoo.com
Cc Jarus
Cc other career/financial gurus
Cc lalasticlala

You started applying at the beginning of this year. That's like 30 days ago. It's not bad yet. Job doesn't come that easy for anyone no matter the qualifications. Compnaies don't recruit because someone needs job, it's because they need someone.

You're 25. Throw your CV to PwC, KPMG etc. One of them is currently recruiting, I think.

And their recruitment process may take as much as 6 months.

Used to say 5, but e be like say I go stop for these 2.

ozila:
Nigeria players taking. all over England

Not exactly.

We have about 5 or 6 players in EPL now.

We used to have as much as 11 in a season in the past.

What's the issue with this car?

dunmotuscana:
It will cost u a lot no matter what you do. On swampy land like dis,raft and piling is most suitable. Raft is highly needed for d fence while both will be needed for the building depending on ur desgn, u'll need enuf steel too wt. Jst as som1 advice u,maybe u shud sell it and go somwia else wia u cn afford to do watea u want. NO B CHILDS PLAY O! Ask people buildin structures @ LAMGBASA.

Langbasa. Hmmnnnn

We will contact you.

aotlatitude:
I stopped bed-wetting during the holiday between Primary 5 and JSS 1.

Mine was also during holiday (between JSS3 and SSS1). I went to holiday with an Aunt. The fear of their children (my cousins) knowing my status was what did the magic. I was afraid of sleeping at night. I was surprised I didn't bedwet the first night, second night, same. It was the psychology of what will happen if I mistakenly did, that stopped it.

I was 15.

My own take small o. Make I no talk am here. Lol.

If you rise to become a Director at CBN and couldn't build a house, you're to blame. Your legitimate salary over years is enough to build 3 decent houses

leksbore:
KANU best no4 for Nigeria in history, I too gbadun the guy.

Sorry, he didn't play no4 for Nigeria.

naija8080:
There is a difference being a career banker and a director/board member. Mr. Otti and Obiano were career bankers...spent over 30 yrs in banking.

Add Peter Obi.

Venom104:
Oga Jarus,

Please may i PM you? I have a small request if you would kindly oblige.

Send sms to 08061198625

I can see here that a good number of people here don't know jack about The Economist.

The Economist has a policy, which is more than 70 years old, of not publishing the name of their writers. It did not start today, it did not start yesterday. It is more than 50 years old. So perish the thought that someone has to hide before insulting GEJ. This policy of not naming their writer has been there even before GEJ was born.

I know Tolu and have followed him for years. While I think he's the most gifted under-35 essay writer in Nigeria, and one of the very few journalists of international standing from Nigeria, I seriously doubt he was the one that wrote that piece.

Every article by The Economist is like an editorial. It's their official position. That article has too much of the touch of The Economist's traditional style for me to agree that it was not written by their correspondent, who is likely a foreigner, maybe their West African correspondent.

I see this as another weak attempt by the wailers to forcefully put a Nigerian scapegoat to the article.

Welcome to Great Ife. Radicalization and activism start from campus.

Not a coincidence that a good number of the most vocal activists in Nigeria (Femi Falana, Mike Ozhekome etc) started from Ife campus. Some, like Yinka Odumakin, later turned turncoat though.

monacobull:
Let me start off by saying at this point i believe Nigerian graduates have a lot of work to do. Its taking a lot of effort for me to contain the level of disappointment im currently feeling towards our university leavers. I work in a multinational company and i have had the chance to partake in the interview process of some roles the company advertised. Most of the time im usually appalled at the errors and goofs i see on CV's. So let me get to the main story.

Six graduates came into the office this morning to interview for an internship position. Which was going to pay a basic salary and also some nice commissions. All the interviewees were very disappointing despite the very easy questions which was for a very simple role. In fact none of them showed enough quality to half consider them for the job.

After the last person left, I and my colleague had already given up and hoped to do a fresh advert for the role. But 1 other person that was present at the interview was a senior staff from our foreign headquarters. And he suddenly suggested that we give the office cleaner a chance. At first i thought he was saying it out of frustration but this guy was damn serious. Long story short, we called the cleaner in and he handled our questions well and even scaled through 80% of the objection statements we threw at him! Whats more is that this guy isn't exactly educated and he even stammers! WTF !!!! Agreed he might have had better answers because he knows some more about the company having worked with us for a while, but still on still!...to outshine 6 graduates!...ah.

Finally finally we have decided to take him on a trial role and give him the required training. Im still shocked beyond belief.

Naija graduates, please get your shit together.

The toilet cleaner in my office will write better English than this, I'm afraid.

Oh my, I didn't know this guy is a lecturer o. He is my facebook friend. I had an engagement with him few weeks back over similar hate speech. I think I ended up blocking him.

Oh boy, see hustle.

lol

xreal:
Chisos!

somebory helep me convert that to naira, pls.

That's half of a billion o

Another person's net worth that still makes him a multi millionaire.

lol. This is funny

DICKtator:
What are some people even saying on this thread?

While I haven't seen 10yrs experience for entry level, I have seen 3-5 yrs experience.

What I feel,in my opinion, this implies (and if you're smart!!) Is that those 3-5years experience counts as experiences during your undergraduate years either what/when you learned in school and/or volunteering/non-paying jobs during those periods.

So when you see 3-5years entry level, if you were selling recharge cards during your undergraduate period,that is sales/marketing experience that should amount to such!!!

I don't agree with Jarus and op talking 10years for entry level!!!

Some companies, like Shell, still count 3 years experience and below as entry level, so they say 0-3 years experience. That doesn't stop the guy with 0 year experience. Only that he will be competing with those that have 0, 1, 2, 3 years experience. While experience in a corporate setting may give the guy with say 2 years experience edge, as he may be familiar with interview process and corporate psychology to boost his performance in interview, it is not automatic that he will get the job ahead of thezero experience guy.

In 2008, my friend that just came back from NYSC (zero experience) competed with folks with 1,2,3 years experience from PwC, KPMG etc and still got the job. All of them on the same pedestal.

Usually, where they say 3, they have 0 as lower limit. But where they 3-5 years, that's no longer an entry level.

This is a fallacy and an escapist excuse by Nigerian graduates that are confused and don't know the difference between entry level and experienced hire, and think every vacancy must be applied for.

No employer will ask for 10 years experience from a young graduate. It is the young graduate that is clueless and thinks every single job advert is directed at him.

When an advert says 10 years, it is not for you, they're directing it at experienced people. It is clueless grads that think are also part of the target.

There are many entry level positions by companies who don't require experience. On NL here, you see many graduate trainee, management trainee, executive trainee etc adverts. Those are the ones for graduates.

I'm indifferent. However, it costs less to build from scratch. And you also don't need to have all the money on ground to start building, but need almost all the money at once to buy a house.

The fact that you can start a house from scratch with almost any amount and do it at your own pace, as the resources come, make it the preference of some of us common men. But if I was as rich as say a Bank CEO, I would prefer buying.




Did my 2 houses from scratch.

JUDGE'S COMMENT

1, You were largely persuasive, but the misuse of punctuations and some unpardonable grammatical flaws could be a turn-off.

2, I like the fact that you quoted stats too.

obiZEAL:
Good evening equitable judges, hardworking coordinators, fellow debaters and all knowledge seeking Nairalanders, I also want to send my unreserved appreciation to the creator of

this forum, Mr. Seun Osewa, whose ingenuity has provided us with this platform to debate on pertinent issues surrounding our country’s development.

My Name is ObiZEAL and I am representing the noble students of UNIVERSITY OF JOS, my colleague and I will be answering the question; Is (the removal of fuel) subsidy justified in Nigeria?
Before I make known my answer, I will like to bother intellectuals following this debate with a few definitions as it concerns this debate and the Nigerian situation;
Fuel Subsidy: in the simplest terms, means the government is paying part of the cost of you purchasing a liter of petrol so that it will be affordable for you and other average Nigerians.
Secondly, justice (adjective: Justified) can be defined as the state of being fair.
With perfect understanding of the defined terms, I think it will be safe to rephrase the debate topic as thus: Is the act of government halting the reduction of fuel pump price so as to make it affordable for average Nigerians fair?
Well, my answer is No; the removal fuel subsidy is not justified in Nigeria. I will be rationalizing my position with the following points:


Firstly and simply too, the problem that led to the introduction of fuel subsidy have not been addressed, so it unjustifiable to halt the payment of fuel subsidy without addressing the problem that led to it’s inception in the first place. Fuel subsidy was introduced to Nigerians in the year 1986 and the reason was because our refineries where in a state of unrepair and could no longer produce enough fuel for our domestic consumption, the fuel subsidy was designed to last 6 months so as to give time to fix our refineries, but it have lasted for over 29 years and the refineries have still not been fixed. As at September 2015, our faulty refineries were producing a total of 6.76 million liters of petrol per day for a country which needs over 40 million liters of petrol per day, leaving the country with a deficit of about 33.34 million liters of petrol to be imported. Following the sanctity of this fact, one can authoritatively conclude that the removal of fuel subsidy will be justifiable only when Nigeria’s refineries start producing enough fuel for the daily consumption of Nigerians. I know my opponents might want to say that the money saved from the removal of fuel subsidy will be used to repair the refineries, well, I want to state succinctly that the reason why our refineries have been in a comatose state for over 27 years is because of the lack of political will and not the lack of funds.


To further fortify my position, which is to prove the unjustifiability of fuel subsidy removal, I will like to have us all look at the prospects of this action, it’s obvious to the informed that the reason why the discomfort caused by the removal of fuel subsidy in Nigeria is still latent is because of the global fall of oil price. With oil selling for about $27.67 per barrel (as at 18th of January 2016), the average Nigerian can, after much struggle, manage to squeeze out 87 Naira to buy a liter of petrol. But by the other half of this year, when the price of oil increases (as predicted by BP's CEO, Mr. Bob Dudley) the pump price of petrol will consequently increase and it will become impossible for average Nigerians to survive, this will be made so because the government have removed fuel subsidy without putting in place any palliative measures, neither have they increased the minimum wage! The second half the year, which will come with an increased fuel price, will see the cost of transportation sky rocket and the cost foodstuff increase, consequently having a multiplier effect on every aspect of our daily lives which will eventually throw the citizenry into unimaginable hardship. Surely from the above point, it is not justifiable for a government to take away the only social benefit its people gets from it (which is petrol subsidy) without providing any welfare package, palliative measures or any form of increase in salaries.

Finally, for those who may have not yet been convinced that the removal of fuel subsidy is not justified in Nigeria, I will crave your indulgence to join me in looking at this fuel subsidy issue in retrospect. The immediate past government of Nigeria in January of 2012 took an action of totally removing fuel subsidy, this actions was met with a defiant reaction by the people who demanded, and rightfully so, that the payment of fuel subsidy be continued. After a historical drag between the government and the people, a compromise was reached, which consequently saw fuel subsidy partially removed. The government promised immediate provision of palliative measures to cushion the effect of the partial removal of fuel subsidy and also promised to reinvest the funds into the economy which will provide immediate and remote benefits for the country. I'm certain that 90% of the followers of this debate will agree with me that those palliative measures never went beyond our television screens, also if those funds where ever reinvested into our economy is an issue that have been widely debated. Considering this fact; that the money gotten from the partial removal of fuel subsidy in Nigeria was unaccounted for, how does one intend to justify the total removal of fuel subsidy in Nigeria? I hope my opponent will not make the error of saying that we are in a new political dispensation, because governance as we all know, is a continuous process.
However, if the government can fix our refineries, provide welfare packages and restore the lost trust, only then can the removal of fuel subsidy be justified in Nigeria.


References
http://www.ocnus.net/artman2/publish/Editorial_10/The-Full-Story-of-Fuel-Subsidy-Crisis.shtml
http://www.nnpcgroup.com/PublicRelations/NNPCinthenews/tabid/92/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/618/Refineries-Producing-676-Million-Litres-of-Petrol-per-Day-NNPC.aspx
http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/2016/01/crude-oil-price-plunges-to-27-67-per-barrel
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-35363066
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/fue,-subsidies-should-go/215710

JUDGE'S COMMENT

1, Good effort. I like your use of simple English. No playful, often misused bomabsts that I have seen here and in past debates.

2, I like your categorisation of points into sociological, political, economic etc. It helped your flow.

3, Like others, you also commited many punctuation blunders. For example, you wrote "Thirdly; fuel subsidy ...". You should have comma after, not semi-colon after "Thirdly".

4, Overall, you also did above average.

noskyboy:
Good evening noble organizers and moderators of this debate, respected judges, co-debaters and all nairalanders. I am noskyboy, representing the University of JOS. Before delving into defending our position on this topic, I would like to create a background understanding on the key concepts and issues involved.
Subsidy in general terms is a form of financial aid or support provided mostly by the government to an economic sector, institution, business or individual. Therefore it is a measure adopted by certain governments to keep the price consumers pay for certain good or service below market levels; in other cases it may be directed towards producers to reduce cost of production.
Nigeria is one of the largest producers and exporters of crude oil, but she imports majority of the refined petroleum products consumed by Nigerians, mainly because of her inability to refine her own crude oil due to breakdown of its refineries due to lack of maintenance and mismanagement. From the 1980s to late 2015 premium motor spirit (PMS) or fuel was subsidized by the government in order to stabilize and reduce the price burden of the product on Nigerians, as such the government paid importers of petroleum products part of the money spent on importing the product, this is in order to aid even the poorest of Nigerians access fuel, The current administration has announced the removal of fuel subsidy, thereby leaving Nigerians to bear all the burden of purchasing this essential product. The question therefore remains can the removal of fuel subsidy in Nigeria be justified?
My answer is NO. In order to back my position, I would start by discrediting the reasons the government has provided for this act. In 2012 the administration of Goodluck Jonathan attempted a total removal of fuel subsidy claiming that a “cabal” is benefiting from fuel subsidy rather than Nigerians and also fuel subsidy is too expensive for the government, therefore fuel subsidy should be removed. The current administration is also singing same tune as their reason for removal of fuel subsidy, according to Kachikwu the minister of state for petroleum “we can’t even understand where those subsidies were going to. There are a lot of fraud elements in it so we need to cut it off” he also said that the earnings of the government have dropped due to fall in oil price, he proposed a price modulation scheme which would keep fuel prices below the current #85 per liter, despite removal of subsidy.
The above reasons provided, can in no way justify removal of fuel subsidy in Nigeria, because firstly; it is the duty of the government to make sure all ‘fraud elements’ are removed and the gains of the subsidy reach Nigerians, does it mean that a group of individuals are bigger than the government?, should Nigerians be left at the mercy of exploitative capitalists?.
Secondly; Nigeria is rich enough to subsidize fuel and still improve critical infrastructure and fund other developmental projects, but this is not the case mainly because of mismanagement, too much economic loop holes, policies that encourage wastage, extravagant spending on salaries and allowances of executives and legislators, embezzlement of public funds due to corruption; according to transparency international (2015), Nigeria has lost over $400 billion to corruption. Also states don’t look inwards to focus on agriculture and other natural resources and they don’t generate internal revenue, but rely on federal government. If these things are fixed, there won’t be need to remove subsidy.
Thirdly; the price of an important commodity like PMS should never be left to be determined by market forces (demand and supply) in a developing economy like that of Nigeria, because only the close friends of the government and the rich can afford licenses to run refineries or import fuel, therefore there won’t be competition and poor Nigerians would be placed in the hands of a few capitalists who are profit hungry. The price modulation scheme is just an opportunist and escapist solution, because it coincides with a period of global oil price fall, therefore Nigerians won’t feel the pinch now, but when prices go up again, Nigerians would be paying high, therefore such scheme is not sustainable on the long run.
Furthermore, Fuel subsidy removal in Nigeria cannot be economically, sociologically and even politically justified;
Economically; the removal of fuel subsidy in Nigeria cannot be justified, because such decision would have an adverse multiplier effect on the economy on a long run, it will lead to the increase in prices of everything, from transportation to cost of running businesses especially small businesses which would increase prices of food and other services and goods.
Sociologically; the structure of Nigeria is one characterized by wide spread poverty, social inequality and corruption in government, the question is, how sure are we that the government would reinvest the subsidy for the development of Nigeria? Past records have pointed otherwise. Therefore removing the only sure social service, Nigerians get from government is an anti-social welfare move; because education, security, clean water, stable power supply and food are things the government doesn’t provide for Nigerians, as such the rich and political class rather gets more to steal from and the poor are left un-catered for.
Politically; Nigeria is a democratic state, this means the people are the center of the government, and their will should be done. Removal and attempt to remove fuel subsidy has been met with disapproval and street protests in the past. Some Nigerians have recently used social media to register their dismay, also the NLC recently condemned such move, therefore it is politically un-justifiable to remove fuel subsidy in Nigeria amidst such disapproval.
In conclusion, Nigerians may not be feeling the full adverse effects of the fuel subsidy removal at the moment, due to global fall in oil price but when the prices eventually go up again Nigerians would be left to suffer with no visible palliative measures in place to ensure soft landing.
Word count: 990
References
Akinwale Y et al. 2012. Political economy of phasing out fuel subsidy in Nigeria. Scientific and academic publishing retrieved from http://article.sapub.org/10.5923.j.ep.20130304.01.html
http://scannewsnigeria.com/featured-post/nigeria-has-lost-over-400billion-oil-revenue-since-independence-says-ezekwesili/
Moyo N and Songwe V. 2012. Removal of fuel subsidy in Nigeria an economic necessity and a political dilemma. Retrieved from http://www.brookings.edu/research/opinions/2012/01/10-fuel-subsidies-nigeria-songwe
Nigeria: fuel subsidy: A desktop study by the center for public policy alternatives. Retrieved from https://toluogunlesi.files./2012/01/fuel-subsidy-desktop-study-report-copy1.pdf
Premium times report, December 26, 2015 - Nigeria scraps fuel subsidy, cuts petrol price to N85 per litre. Retrieved from http://www.premiumtimesng.com/business/195743-nigeria-scraps-fuel-subsidy-cuts-petrol-price-to-n85-per-litre.html
Nigeria: benefits and risks of fuel price modulation. Retrieved from http://allafrica.com/stories/201601042261.html

JUDGE'S COMMENT

1, Your opening was cool. Appeal to authority sells in arguments and debates.

2, Your use of English is good, except a couple of subject-verb mismatch. However, you need to work on your punctuations. You used comma instead of full stop (and vice versa) in many places.

3, You did well in persuasion. I like the way you quoted stats.

Overall, I think you did above average. Scores to be sent to judges.

betacitizen:
The best way to learn in life is to get information from those who are already experienced, this is why, on this note, I shall start this debate by quoting an erudite Chief Economist, Razia Khan, she said," the reasons for fuel subsidy and its economic effect is regressive". Can we agree to this quote? Well, this question shall be answered in the course of this educating debate.

The chairman, independent judges, great coordinators, fellow debaters of high intellectual quotient, and the ever-following audience, I extend my humble greetings to you all. I am betacitizen, the second representative of Yaba College of Technology, Yabatech. The topic before me says as quoted, "Is the removal of fuel subsidy justified in Nigeria?". I debate to support the notion by saying "yes".

According to Collins Dictionary of Economics, subsidy is the money paid by the government in order to help an industry or business, or to pay for public service. So, fuel subsidy is the monetary supports rendered by the government in order to pay oil marketers so as to reduce the amount of money paid by the public for the purchase of fuel or petroleum-related products.

It is an undeniable fact that the payment of fuel subsidy has in recent years brought nothing but an untold economic hardship and adversity into our dear nation. How can we best describe a situation where about 20% of our national budget goes into the hands of a few "cabal", leaving the rich getting richer, and the poor getting poorer? The poor masses are really the ones who suffer the economic devastating effect of the fuel subsidy. For example, the money that is supposed to be channeled towards educational development, improvement of health system, and drastic development of infrastructural facilities is used to pay for the scam called subsidy. All these are less of a burden to the rich because their children hardly school in Nigeria, and they merely use those "general" hospitals, so, the poor masses suffer more.

In general perspective, the removal of fuel subsidy is a necessary economic austerity that must be given a consideration in the country in order to put us on our toes as a nation. Continuous payment of fuel subsidy will only increase our level of dependency on oil importation rather than look inwards on revamping our "dying" or "dead" refineries. But in actual sense, at this period when the price of oil has drastically fallen in the global market, Nigerians will hardly feel any sharp increase in petroleum pump price or direct increase in the prices of goods and services as witnessed in the previous administration. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank) also gave credence to this through her leading Economist, Mr. Litwack, by telling President Muhammadu Buhari that the best time to remove fuel subsidy is now.

In addition, the removal of fuel subsidy will also enable the government to create room for diversification of the economy which is a very important recipe for the growth and development of a developing country like Nigeria. According to the Nations Encyclopedia, the agricultural sector alone has the tendency to employ 70% of the country's labour force. This will not only put food on the table of the common man, but will also bring about a boost in the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Furthermore, a flashback to the administration of former president Goodluck Ebele Jonathan shows a genuine beauty in the removal fuel subsidy through the introduction of the Subsidy Re-investment Program (SURE-P), but if not for the fact that the whole process was battered by the high rate of corruption and favoritism in selecting those who benefit from it, the program would have been the best thing that would have happen to Nigeria. Now, the question is, will the same issue of corruption and mismanagement not resurface in the present day government as fuel subsidy is removed? No, because there is a huge sign of seriousness in the way the government is tackling corruption, therefore, corruption will not be a hindrance.

In comparison, a glance through the world to examine or view countries which have already followed the trend as far as the removal of fuel subsidy is concerned will definitely be enough to convince any right-thinking Nigerian that the action taken by the government to remove subsidy is indeed a justified one. Developed and developing countries like India, the United Arab Emirates, Cameroun, Egypt, and Ghana have already followed suit.

In conclusion, I fervently believe in the mantra which says, “Rome was not built in a day". So, if we must truly build a Nigeria that is even better than the ironic Rome, the removal of fuel subsidy is the first step in the right direction, therefore, it is definitely justified. Thanks.

Reference:

Razar Khan on fuel subsidy
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/khan-nigerias-fuel-subsidy-policy-is-regressive/209142/

Definition of subsidy
http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/subsidy?showCookiePolicy=true

http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Africa/Nigeria-AGRICULTURE.html

Percentage of Nigeria's budget on fuel subsidy
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/05/why-fuel-subsidy-must-go-2/

World Bank tells Buhari to remove fuel subsidy
http://www.premiumtimesng.com/business/194818-fuel-subsidy-removal-now-is-best-time-to-act-world-bank-tells-buhari.html

JUDGE'S (JARUS') COMMENT

1, I think it is crude oil that we're "blessed" to have in Nigeria, not PMS. We would have had PMS anyway. So, not sure this your opening.

2, You defined subsidy, not fuel subsidy, in your write-up. You should have customised your definition of "Petrol subsidy".

3, Your layman's analysis of "fuel subsidy" may have left the layman reading this probably more confused. It is not oil importers that are being subsidized, it is the consumers. It doesn't appear you understood the concept enough. Pls try to do better research next time

5, Your response to the opponent's questions in the rebuttal stage was however great.

Scores to be sent to coordinators.

menzo4u:
It is without doubt, the fountain of Nigeria's wealth, it is indeed an enviable blessing to have it in our dear nation, I am referring to nothing but the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) which synonymously translates to fossil fuel or petrol.

Before taking the driver's seat on today's subject of discourse, my unreserved salutation goes to the committed orgainisers of this debate, the credible judges, intelligent debaters, and the ever-following audience. I am Jimoh Ahmed Temitope, menzo4u by moniker, representing the prestigious Yaba College of Technology, Yabatech.

Fuel Subsidy, according freedictionary.com, is a monetary assistance granted by a government to a person or group in support of an enterprise regarded as being in the public interest.
In layman's view, which I term the "bricklayer's explanation", there is a certain amount of money that the government is paying to some people known as "Oil Marketers", as a form of assistance for them to reduce the cost of the burden of oil importation on them, they are paid a certain amount of money, when this payment is made, it is called "fuel subsidy".

So the topic is simply asking this question, “the government has decided to stop paying this money (fuel subsidy). Is it a justified action?". To this, I say "yes".

First and foremost, you will agree with me that the scam, called subsidy should not in anyway be given any consideration in the dictionary of Nigeria. None of the major sectors is practically working in the country, the education sector is screaming for help, the value of our currency is bleeding to death, the health sector is nothing to write home about. So it is definitely justifiable for the government to stop, remove, or eliminate fuel subsidy in order to use the money generated to revive the major sectors of the economy.

In addition, according to a news report on DailyTrust (December 15, 2015), the current Minster of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, affirms that Nigeria spent N1Trillion on fuel subsidy in 2015 alone, which is more than the nation's total budget for two years on other important sectors of the economy. Imagine the economic benefit Nigerians stand to gain if this huge sum of money was channeled into the non-oil sector.

Furthermore, by re-investing the money generated from the removal of fuel subsidy into an important sector like the agricultural sector (for instance), this will not only boost the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) but also be a saviour to our fast depreciating currency.

So far, I have come to the realization that Nigeria can be compared to a recharge card seller who has a damaged printing machine (for printing recharge cards), but instead of repairing it, he prefers patronizing another firm for the printing, and thereby losing a huge part of his profit to another organisation. Such is the case of my dear nation, Nigeria has a total of four refineries which can be repaired and effectively maintained to refine crude and produce oil locally. Why is it then justifiable for the government to be paying some so called oil marketers instead of bringing our refineries back to life?

More so, the benefits Nigerians stand to gain from fuel subsidy removal is enormous, there will be more concentration on diversifying the economy, more financial resources will be channeled on infrastructural development, creation of employment through industrialisation, and servicing the country's debt among other merits.

My opponent may argue that the removal of fuel subsidy will bring about increase in pump price of fuel, and this will bring about economic austerity on the citizens. I strongly believe that as lovers of Nigeria, we must be ready to make necessary sacrifices for the development of our motherland, the assumed "austerity" will definitely be a temporary one, that is, if at all the global prices of oil go high. I agree with J.M Bark on this quote, “you can have anything in life if you can sacrifice everything else for it". Sacrifice is part of life.

My opponent may also want to find leverage in saying that corruption and mismanagement of fund will greet the money generated from the removal of fuel subsidy, but I strongly believe in the present administration's stance against corruption, as this is vividly evident in the way it has been tackled with high level of gravity so far.
With Mrs Kemi Adeosun as the "striking" finance minister, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu as the "defensive midfielder" in the petroleum ministry, and president Muhammadu Buhari as the "coaching" president in the country, and Mr. Ibrahim Magu of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as the watchdog, the case of corruption will be drastically reduced if not completely eliminated.

In conclusion, the failure or success of the future of our country depends on the actions we take today, and posterity will judge us for it. On this note, as a proud ambassador of this country, having seen the pending benefits that the masses stand to gain from the removal of fuel subsidy, I say boldly and firmly that it is completely justified. Thanks.

Reference:
Definition of Subsidy
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Fuel+subsidy

J.M Bark's quote
http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/sacrifice

Mr. Ibe Kachikwu on fuel subsidy
http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/news/general/nigeria-spends-n1tr-on-fuel-subsidy-in-2015-kachikwu/124416.html

Dragovich:
Honestly, I never thought of my parents to be over-protective, until I spent a few days at a friend's house. It was then I realized that I've never been allowed to enjoy my teenage years and emancipate myself. I'm 20+ and in my final year in the University, but my parents (especially my dad), are extremely controlling. Apart from the constant phone calls, they still treat me like I'm a five year old. My dad hardly ever let's me drive, and even told me that he feels embarrassed if neighbors see me driving. The best I can do in this regard is to sometimes "steal" the car. Also, they are both obsessed with what other parents think about their parenting skills. Everytime we have visitors or we visit someone, he always tries to speak to me harshly as if trying to show off his strictness to other parents. I feel so disrespected and trapped. While other parents of my friends allow their kids drive, give them responsibilities, and a certain sense of freedom, I stuck with these helicopter parents that are always hovering over my life trying as much as possible to make me not to have any form of independence. I'm really beginning to hate them. Please what can I do abt this?

Thank your parent, don't hate them.