₦airaland Forum

Wether people like his NL persona or not Fstranger-Arsenefc actually said it way better. Very smart guy

Like Karl Marx famously predicted, when we are all tired of the greedy oppressive capitalistic system, we will dust him up and read him with clear eye. (My paraphrase)

The Chinese are ahead of the curse with their hybrid State-Capitalism. If they can maintain discipline and stay focused, White House will become a museum in Shanghai by my Grand-Children's Generation.

^^
Lol Onijongbon!!

We know you are way smarter than most people here when you want to be. Me I no know (economics) book o.

[quote author=ekt_bear link=topic=788762.msg9419209#msg9419209 date=1319585803]Lol.

I didn't really believe in free-market stuff as deeply until I started studying Nigeria.

Then the more I looked, the more convinced I became that these kooky policies that ignore supply and demand and human nature just don't work.

In a nutshell, studying Nigeria has stripped me of the last of any left-wing, socialist ideas I've had in the past.

Collectivist, well-meaning ideas that leftists are fond of simply don't work.[/quote]This is it, this assumption that Nigeria is one good example of a collectivist, welfarist, Socialist State. It's a lie!

Nigeria is the embodiment of laizzez faire-ism. Ayn Rand will be proud.
Our "capitalism" is so harsh, it is more extreme than what they practice in the USA, at least from where I stand. Ron Paul the libertarian will probably m/ast/urb/a/te at the thougth of Nigeria. I bet he has a Nigerian flag spread out on his bed.

Granted, the government controls a few companies, So what?? To what effect on the people?

Individuals generate their own electricity -I better-pass-my-neighbor Generator

Individuals build their own water supply: kanga, well, e.t.c

Individual provide their own security: High Fence, mai-guard e.t.c

Individuals, any individual idiot can start a private school and run it with no Govt oversight

Individuals buy their own drugs. Even the syringe and drips they use at the hospital. Forget all those free healthcare nonsense these governors mouth on TV. na lie! If you don't take cash with you to the hospital you will just die like chicken!!

Even unions have Little to no government oversight or control, they do as they wish, go to a NURTW office at your local motor park.

We pay little to no taxes, American hardcore capitalists or libertarians will die to have that.

We fix out street roads, even the "mighty" Expressways we have are littered with sections maintained by Private individuals who collect toll from drivers.

Some of us have seen private rich folks on our Streets paying the bill to fix streets leading to their houses.

I don't know what you want to call all that, it's definitely not Collectivism, Welfarism or Socialism. It's as individualistic and as private as anything.

America regulates and does a lot of the stuff listed above on the government level. Yes people pay for some, but collectively The Burden Is Shared via taxes. They even have a Social Security and Welfare Program for the old and poor, what do you have in Nigeria?

Nigeria is not communist China, we don't have the govt control they have in Cuba or in Cold War Russia. In Nigeria, outside our cultural responsibilities, it's Everyman for himself here. There is nothing collective or welfarist about this Nigerian System.

We practice extreme capitalism, of course more like Oligarchy, which I'll define as capitalism for the privileged few.

I love that episode of the Dave Chapelle show

Na person wey wear shoe know where the thing dey pinch am.

Subsidy removal ko, round tripping ni. Shio!

Underestimate the Owners of Nigeria at your own peril. As long as there is no punishment they will find a way to game your system. You can take that to Goldman Sachs.

^^

LOL

I agree, ekt seems like a genuinely honest guy, unfortunately, everything can't be explained with calculus and spreadsheets.

It's not just ekt_bear tho, the usual sycophants aside, there are many well intentioned folks who supported this Subsidy removal thing initially but are now frustrated by the facts before them.

Most of these extreme capitalistic, free-market evangelists underestimated the corruption within the Nigerian system, they always do. Not their fault though. Economics textbooks can't prepare you for Nigeria. The Nigerian system can embarrass any formula.

Here, until we fix the system and punish criminals, we will always make Nobel prize winners look like idiots.

Extreme corruption and zero will to deal with it is our problem, so simple but so true.



Na pesin wey wear shoe know where the thing dey pinch am.

I hope this will revitalize the website even if the daily print is dead.

Truth must not die totally in Nigeria

May the Irunmoles continue to be with Olojede. Ase!

Honoring a passionate leader with vitality and the drive to make a difference is the focus of the John P. McNulty prize.

Mr. McNulty—friend, father, husband and business leader—was a partner at Goldman Sachs until July 2001. He retired at age 48 to commit his time to family and philanthropy, and he became involved with the Aspen Institute and the Naples Winter Wine Festival, among other charities.


ANNE WELSH MCNULTY

Mr. McNulty died in 2005 leaving his wife and high-school sweetheart, Anne Welsh McNulty, and three children, Johnny, Brynne and Kevin. "Creating this prize has been a positive thing for my children and me and really enabled us to make a translation of what was our loss into a really positive quest," says Ms. McNulty, 58 years old, co-founder and managing partner of JBK Partners.

The prize, administered annually by the Aspen Institute, carries a $100,000 award. On Tuesday, the prize will be awarded to Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Dele Olojede, the CEO and founder of NEXT, a news media company based in Lagos, Nigeria.

"John was a person who was overflowing with vitality and conviction," says Ms. McNulty. "A person with strategic vision, a person with this drive to always do things better smarter, faster and with the kind of energy and enthusiasm and real leadership ability that could make things happen."

The son of Irish immigrants who had made a life as a landscaper and a housekeeper, Mr. McNulty "had this magic that let him go from growing up in a small rowhouse in Southwest Philadelphia to eventually being on Wall Street in that corner office," says Ms McNulty.

"John was an intense, inspiring and, I guess, even occasionally irritating person, but he was tremendously effective," says Ms. McNulty.

Mr. Olojede, 50, has brought intensity to the media landscape by creating a paper and website that is an independent voice in Nigeria and throughout Africa.

After leaving a newspaper career in New York—which included wining the 2005 Pulitzer prize in international reporting for a series of articles for Newsday on the Rwandan genocide —Mr. Olojede founded NEXT, a newspaper that published until recently, and the Timbuktu Media Group. He says that the act of proving that a newspaper couldn't be bought by the wealthy and could be honest "proved to be a revolutionary idea."

Mr. Olojede's first challenge in starting a media company was to secure funding that would be the "least susceptible to pressure," he says. "Because we knew that what we were going to do is stir up all kinds of opposition in the environment, particularly from the political and, to some degree, the business elite."

Training a young, but talented crop of journalists and running a 24-hour newsroom on generators has been an expensive and challenging effort, says Mr. Olojede. The McNulty prize will help him to regroup and expand his efforts to print directly to the Internet. "It also buys us a bit of time to raise money to sufficiently reintroduce the print edition," says Mr. Olojede. "We're undergoing a restructuring of the business side, so the prize money is rather well-timed."




http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204777904576651481119112252.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

^
40Miles a week?? 

Damn! Can I bring you to Lagos to teach all these orobokibos over here. 40Mi on a bike?

No wonder, you def can't look like the average Nigerian. Bet you can't look like the average American too. Heard some folks drive to the next house just to pick mails 


I Like our orobos Here though but, it won't hurt to have bike routes from Ikeja to VI. All these chilling at the back of the car, not good at all.

Ojo Madueke proposed something like that years ago.

[quote author=Ileke-IdI link=topic=787604.msg9399324#msg9399324 date=1319339005]Nothing wrong with biking.

You feel wonderful when you're just riding away.[/quote]I agree. Biking is great, everyone should try it. But KJ on a bike cracked me up.

You can take up a new hobby -- sewing, biking(my favorite) or even try to reinvent yourself by signing up for some college credits.

I just imagined Kobojunkie on a bike and I almost shyyte myself laughing 

Great advice she gave here BTW, I feel like the OP should pay for the advice. Need more people like her.

Ekt_bear, Ok then.

I agree, we should encourage smart people.

But abeg stop hatin' on smart liberal art inclined people in favour of mere plumbers and all these dime-a-dozen code writers.

Fstranger, you and ekt_bear need to squash the beef already, you both have a lot to contribute to this forum beyond this constant bickering. Ti a ko ba gbagbe oro ana. . .

Anyway this na Internet, probably best not to assume too much, maybe you are both Latinos and best of buddies in real life sef who knows  



-------------

Ekt_bear this your "disdain" for liberal arts is too much, everybody can't study IT and engineering and not everyone wants to make 300k per annum or be a doctor. Left to me, we should all be poets.

Yes. . . physics should also be a cumpulsory subject for all students, but that's for another reason.

I don't know about USA but he have too Many history illiterates in Nigeria, too many literature illiterates, don't let the Soyinkas and Achebes fool you. Too Many philosophy illiterates, too many political and ethnic studies illiterates. Zero think thanks, plenty programmers and h-engineers with little understanding or appreciation for the philosophy behind knowledge.

I agree though, if you want to make quick money, focus on those "plumbing" degrees like engineering and co but, I want us to have an ideologically strong society. Engineers are great, they build great stuff, the don't build ideologies though. Humanities is vital for us too.

I know you mean well, but slow down on the engineer recruitment Abeg

OBJ = H-engineer

IBB = Soja, Technically a killing H-engineer

Yar'adua: Chemist

GEJ: Zoologist

Awolowo : Lawyer, economist? Ideologue,  Philosopher

[quote author=ekt_bear link=topic=787031.msg9398882#msg9398882 date=1319328704]I am not against loans being given out to these students.

But NO to any more subsidy for them.

Lagos has offered a fair deal. Study, get a 4.0 out of 5.0 and you pay zero tuition!

That is a motherfucking fair-@ss deal.

Everyone else, either take loan or pay the full rate yourselves.[/quote]Wey the loan now?

It's really unfortunate that you call these kids crooks and thieves. Think about the leadership they see.

The average Human being is rational and can recognize a fair deal. You need to View it from their POV to show some empathy.

Anyway, maybe I should stop now.

arsenefc:
Simple if you attended private school all your life and live on campus and have light 24/7 and have textbooks and functioning library and competent teachers and laptops and well designed curriculum and teachers who dont have to sleep with you to grade you fairly and very good on campus security to combat disruption of prep time by cultists and etc

Read this twice.

Ekt_bear don't get carried away by your free market angst. Lol

In the Obodo Oyinbo America you are in, after giving full scholarship to brilliant 4.0 students, shey they don't give student loans to the not-so-brilliant ones? Especially the poor ones.

Your point about cost and efficiency is correct but, don't be evil.

logic1:
When you see that trading is done, not by[i] consent[/i], but by compulsion
When you see that[b] in order to produce[/b], you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing
When you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors.
When you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don’t protect you against them, but protect them against you
When you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice – you may know that your society is doomed

- Ayn rand

I'm not a big fan, but she nailed my country's problem with this one!

[quote author=ekt_bear link=topic=787031.msg9398591#msg9398591 date=1319323348]Kilode, I am making the following assumptions:

1) Your average LASU student comes from a household with income higher than the Nigerian average (or median, if you like.) Thus, a subsidy on their education is a transfer to above-average income folks.
2) Subsidizing university education doesn't give the best b[b]a[/b]ng for the buck. Not the best way to spend limited resources.

Which of these two assumptions do you disagree with? Note that your counterexample of a few dudes you know who are below-average in income says nothing about (1) being true or false.

I understand your point about corruption (or at least, I think I do.)

But given (1) and (2) above, doesn't it follow that perhaps raising tuition at LASU to reflect what it actually costs is probably not the worst thing in the world?

Granted, I disagree with doing it all in one year rather than spacing it out over a decade. But is the basic idea not sound?[/quote]In (1)Your first assumption is probably wrong. I don't have data I can only go by personal experience. I know many folks from poor working class homes attending Lasu. I've been to many State Unis in Nigeria and the demographics are very similar.

But remember that the working borderline okish in Nigeria already subsidize their relatives.

I agree with (2) I'll go further to say that university education is not for everyone, Young Nigerians flock to universities because without that paper, you are mostly useless, even to dispense petrol in Naija, they want you to have a B.Sc. Check naija job boards.

We've totally ignored trade and technical schools and we don't regulate artisans. The mechanic you use as an example can do whatever he likes and pay no taxes. 

I know somebody has go to flip the burger, we all can't go to university. But in a country where 6 years of secondary school education cannot qualify you to answer phones, what do you expect people to do?

Yes the poor flock to LASU too.

arsenefc:
A lot.

Finally, maybe he would listen to you, instead of that modafucker communist, Fstranger. lol Sup Mr. Olojede?

In my dreams lol

And I also know  lotsa people who came from dirt poor background, mother selling 'Boli' and Father working as a cab driver, who managed to pay their tuition ( school fees) without taking any short cut.

It is always good to be fair and balance in how we relate our personal experiences.

You are right. I made that point to counter his argument that a lot  poor people don't go to university. Also to let him see how they can "attend and escape" in a system with little accountability and oversight measures.

^

Added an edit in the first paragraph to explain why the poor and lower working class are in shyyyte together

[quote author=ekt_bear link=topic=787031.msg9398298#msg9398298 date=1319320057]If the true cost of the education is X, and the students pay say 0.2X, then who pays the other 0.8X? Where is the money coming from?

Is the money not coming from illiterate mechanics who will never ever even have the chance to see a university? Most of whom never even finished secondary school?

Is the money not coming from the budget for roads, PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS, healthcare?

To me, I'd rather spend more money subsidizing primary and secondary school than university.

You all act as if those who attend LASU are even average Nigerians. They are above average in income, are they not? LASU is not filled with illiterates from impoverished homes, is it?[/quote]In 1960 maybe, but in 2011, it's pretty much average lower middle-class to poor Nigerians. These are the same people who carry the burden of the extremely poor the most, I know you undestand how extended family works here.

I like your NL persona but you make a lot of assumptions about Nigeria.

Corruption here is probably beyond what you can imagine until you live it. The problem is very layered.

For example: yes the very poor can go to university in Nigeria, I actually know many dirt poor people who did 4 years of university work without paying their tuition, No, it's not scholarship, they just avoided paying by forging, and evading. No repercussion.

Your argument about cost and quality is correct, but the reason why I'm skeptical is simply, corruption. This problem has got to be tackled, the people are not dumb, they see the was, lack of accountability and profligacy, they know how this increase will change nothing.

I have forced many Nigerians around me to read Dele Olojede's Speech and discuss it with me. I will continue to do that. YOU should do the same.

As long as my country remains on the precipice, I'll continue to try and make sure those I have influence over see the big picture problems. I can only try.

That's the best I can do for now, until I can raise an army.

Great thread @logic1

LagBlogger:
@kilode?!

Are you saying wrong doing is justifiable? Just because government fails to live up to its responsibilities means we should become lawless and flout the national laws?

Sule Lamido is right to say many Nigerians are selfish because they expect their leaders to be god fearing but themselves are not willing to tow the line.

Nigerians who are law abiding are the only ones who are morally justified to criticize their leaders, not the selfish followers and that seems to be what he was hammering on.

No. I'm not saying it's right to be greedy or selfish and I'm not justifying corruption. Infact this is not an argument about justification it's an argument about human nature. Read it again, the logic is very simple.

We need to understand it. Begin by asking yourself what the purpose of government is, and why did we humans decide to organize ourselves in that way.

naijababe:
Bros no argument there. Same naa ni

Auntie mi, Oooh you dey help them? I was hoping they can educate me ni.

Poorman dey suffer, middle-class go hear wen!

Increase fees by all means but no school loans? no serious facilities?  zero effort to curb corruption = Back to square one.

Remove fuel subsidy, but no curb on oil cartel and corruption = The same Naa ni.

Is it possible to support subsidy removal and oppose this fee hike?

I'll like to hear that argument.

logica:
By intelligence we are not saying people like Einstein or Isaac Newton should be in the government. Look at Obama for instance. He definitely has above average intelligence. That's all that's needed. But here, what you get is the equivalent of trailer-park trash or hilly-billies ruling.

I know and I agree but, I don't think OBJ is dumb, even IBB. But I think they see little consequencies for their actions and inaction. Obama will be silly to touch Public money, especially with the kind of impunity we see here. Here the consequences are not grave at all.

I once saw Jeb Bush( George Bush's brother and former Gov. of Florida)  in an interview with Sandy Crowley of CNN about why he's not running for president. His response;


"I need to secure some financial stability for my family at this stage, that has not happened yet, it's not easy for me to make money in office and I need to think about my family's financial needs" (my paraphrase)

He decided to stick to his private practice and business for now. Right or wrong the message is clear, I want more money but, making money in government is not easy for me.

That was a former Governor of Florida, Son and brother of former US Presidents 

Imagine if he's in this Nigerian system. . .



Edit: I found the interview;

Jeb Bush; I got to be governor for eight years. It took about two years to get it, get the job. So that's a decade out of my life in public service. I enjoyed it immensely. I'm still involved but I really have to stay focused on this goal of achieving some financial independence, financial security for my family.

Scroll to towards the end, he said it more than once. I don't believe he said that because he won't steal with impunity if he has the chance, rather, I believe he's aware of the systemic hindrances and possible consequences, and there's a better way outside government.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2010/11/14/interview_with_former_president_bush_and_jeb_bush_107955.html

logica:
We have learnt to be sycophants knowing that's the essential "quality" that gets you further in the shortest period.

Very true. And that is a rational thing to do from the perspective of the selfish individual. Replace sycophancy with corruption or greed it is the same. There is very little negative consequence for those things in Nigeria, at least from the perspective of the corrupt, no incentive to act differently.

It is silly for us to expect a man to stop stealing free Bilions when he knows there is no serious punishment for it even if he's caught, he has immunity.

Even the Christian and Muslim God supplied their business idea with an incentive package for positive acts called Paradise/Aljaanah and consequences for negative acts : Hell Fire

What negative deterrent do we have?

IBB is still enjoying his loot, Alamiesegha  and Bode George are still alive and wealthy, the Cheating taxi driver sees no law and can bribe a corporal if he's reported. So why change? He's human, not stupid

It's a systemic problem, it can only be fixed on a systemic level.

Evil Brain:
Epic post! Kilode?! just made it to the top of my "nairalanders who are not rètarded" list. Why is it that the least intelligent people in Nigeria always end up holding high office?

Thanks bro.

But to address the question. I don't think the most intelligent people make it to political leadership anywhere. What we need to focus on is how to ensure that the law or whatever system we agree on punish the excesses of those who make it to the top.

Personally I have my own theory on why we are where we are and what we need to do to fix this country, and I've posted them several times on NL  Some said it's too radical and not practical. I think Nigeria is in a radical and impractical situation anyway.

The thing we must continue to stress though is that Nigerians are not inherently more corrupt, or greedier than any other group, I totally reject that idea. It's simply not true. Fix the system and majority will fall in line. Human beings are mostly rational actors. Nigerians inclusive.

The waste going on in Delta State is a shame tho.


I expected my Delta people to wage a strong fight against Federal oppression but it seems even State oppression is too difficult for them to fight. I'm hopeful though, this cannot last forever. Something must give.

Thank you for that correction, my mistake. Respect is restored.

I'll edit to reflect Sule Lamido

When are they going to start another Europe "World" War? I can't wait.

responsible Nigerians first. It is here you see a taxi driver complaining of lack of fuel and he will take you round and round in order to make money out of you, yet he will not pay his tax.

This question about Nigerian greed or whatever is one of my favorite benchmarks for judging a Nigerian public commentator. With this response, Sule Lamido scored very low mark on my scale. I'm not surprised though.

It is here you see a taxi driver complaining of lack of fuel and he will take you round and round in order to make money out of you, yet he will not pay his tax.

This is a silly argument. There is a reason why human wisdom created the concept of government, organized society, laws and punishment. Edmund Burke put it best in one of my favorite quotes [see below]. it is silly to think individuals will act right and be unselfish in the absence of a properly organized society with well enforced rules and regulations.

Did you create a law to punish him for that? Are you enforcing it?

Do you have a tax code? Are you enforcing it?

Rules and it's enforcement is the job of government and leadership. Not the ordinary man on the street. That was why the wisdom of man created government.

Now this argument brings a kind chicken and egg situation: Which comes first? People or the government system? I'll say it's not important, they are both with us, let those with the power and responsibility -in this case government leaders, do their jobs.

The Taxi Driver that you fail to punish is not the problem. It's rational for him to cheat if there are no consequences. It's irrational for you to expect him not to.

This argument betrays an ideological weakness. Blame those with the power and responsibility to lead and ensure societal order.

It is arrogant and naive to think humans will not act selfishly.


If you drop Japanese people into this Nigerian System, in a short time, majority will act like that driver. Nigerians are not inherently greedier or more selfish than other humans. The system is poorly managed. Opari!


Government is a contrivance on human wisdom to provide for human wants, men have a right that these wants should be provided for by this wisdom -Edmund Burke




Edit: I initially thought this was a Sanusi Lamido interview, sorry it's Sule Lamido. Thanks to Rhino.5dm for pointing that out. I'll now go fix my glasses. .