₦airaland Forum

0lumide: You are dumb!!
The Egyptians are still on the streets protesting and won't stop till they get a real democratic process in their nation...

The reason there hasn't been calm is because the people didn't give up because they know if they stop protesting without having what they truly want, it will take another half a century before they gather the much needed energy that they have now.

ambroseagu: Gov Chime is NOT Dead !


My people,

Please listen to me. Governor Sullivan Iheanacho Chime is NOT dead!
Gov Chime is indeed very much alive! This story that he is dead is not true at
all. It is a hoax! Gov Chime is very alive!

And not only is Gov Chime very much alive, he has just issued a statement today,
afternoon, Sunday, 16th December, 2012 condoling the families of the late
Governor Patrick Yakowa and General Andrew Azazi both of whom died in a
helicopter crash on Saturday? Gov Chime's condolence statement is currently
being read all over the waves in Enugu State and Nigeria.

It is outrageous and regrettable that Chime's detractors will stoop this low! If
you recall, this the second time that they are reporting our dear Governor dead
in just one year? In the Punch and Osun Defender stories, they quoted
"unconfirmed reports" in reporting the alleged death of our Governor. But the
question is how could a newspaper report a Governor dead based on "UNCONFIRMED
REPORTS"! How could a newspaper report anyone for that matter dead based on
"UNCONFIRMED REPORTS"? This is the height of irresponsible journalism! It is
unfair, and all men and women of good conscience should rise up and condemn this
journalistic rascality.

Ambrose Agu

karl max: This news is dead on arrival on nairaland cos it doesn't read "US APPROVES $250m LOAN FOR FERTILIZER FACILIZER FACILITY IN LAGOS" so that sycophant can praise fashola

shymexx: Alpha Jets, J7 and now this obsolete air defence system - Nigeria needs to step it up... Algeria has s300s - and most of the other African countries have at least Pantsir 1...

God bless Nigeria...

Idokojimmy: A member of the House of Representatives, Abiodun Akinlade, has allayed the fears expressed by Nigerians living abroad on the current security situation in the country.

Akinlade, representing Yewa South-Ipokia Federal Constituency, said the security situation in Nigeria was exaggerated and had not degenerated to the level it was painted overseas.

The lawmaker, stated this on Saturday during his conferment with an honorary doctorate degree by the Universite Des Sciences Appliquees Et Management in Porto-Novo, Republic of Benin.

No fewer than 242 students, many of whom are Nigerians, also graduated with Bachelor’s and Masters degrees from the institution.

According to him, the current security situation and the various challenges are just a phase that the country has to pass through in its quest to attain greatness, peace, stability and an enduring democracy.

Akinlade expressed confidence in the ability of the Federal Government to effectively tackle the various challenges facing the country.

He said, “All the countries of the world have their challenges. What we are passing through in Nigeria today is just a phase which I believe very soon we shall overcome. Go to any country of the world today—America, Italy, China, they will tell you where they are coming from. We are just in that stage now and I know the Federal Government is looking into it and very soon it shall be addressed.”

He added that the increasing number of Nigerians seeking overseas tertiary education did not suggest that people were fleeing the country due to insecurity.

He noted that the inability of the nation’s higher institutions to absorb all the eligible students had contributed to the exodus of Nigerians seeking admissions abroad.

Akinlade said, “They are not fleeing Nigeria. You know our population. Our universities are not enough to accommodate the whole student population. That’s why people continue to seek admission outside Nigeria. It’s not as if our universities are not good, we have limited universities and polytechnics that can take them.”



http://www.punchng.com/news/fg-is-addressing-insecurity-rep/

Callotti: Copy cat!
Like it will fix the rot in the Nigerian society and psyche?
Another sign of hopelessness and failure!

My Agnostic God bless America jare. . . my home sweet home!

madejibo: bros or sis the truth is that lekki Epe expressway has always been there you don't add just an extra lane to a road that was built by tax payers money in the 80s an start collecting money from people. What a reasonable govt should do is to build a separate road if possible and toll that not an existing road.

lagbaja: While I agree that Lagos state is making great strides in infrastructure development, I strongly believe that Lagosians are paying too much for the services. Let me analyze the LCCI lekki-epe rd. deal.

At the toll plaza, the average throughput for each toll point is 4 cars per minute which translates to 240 vehicles per hour. Each vehicle pays N100 on the average. There are about 16 toll point (going and coming) which are always in use from morning till night. Let us assume that the the tolls opens from 6am till 10pm at night I.e. a total of 14 hours of full operation.
Total annual collection = number of toll points * number of cars per hour * average toll fee per car* number of service hours in a day * number of days in the year= N1.96 billion (about $6.5m)

This toll fee is for a journey of about 15km. I.e from Ozumba rd. to the Lekki Admiralty toll gate. According to the world bank, average cost for a standard guage road upgrade is put t $250k per km ( http://www.worldbank.org/transport/roads/c&m_docs/kmcosts.pdf). 2 sides of the road were upgraded. Let us leave the upgrade quality story for another day. About 30km of road was upgraded. It's cost LCCI about $7.5m to fix that length of roads.

Assume the cost of funds is 10% per annum ( they have access to international development funds), and overhead cost is another 10%, total cost of the project is $9m. It means LCCI will break even in about 2 years, yet the road was concessioned for 30 years. By implication, they will be making back their money 15 times over.

That is too much a price to pay in a developing nation.

megastu: This is real rubbish of the highest order. If you see the suffering Ajah residents are made to go through because of the useless construction work by this lekki people. It is terrible.

I cant believe this is happening. Someone should wake me up from this dream. Can a Govt be so inhumane to its citizenry just because of money to be made?

The traffic has worsened in Ajah area, more than what it used to be before this construction started.

I wish we can emulate Egypt.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-06/nigeria-seeks-1-5-billion-from-china-for-rice-cassava.html
By Elisha Bala-Gbogbo - Dec 6, 2012 6:01 PM ET

Nigeria is holding talks with the Export-Import Bank of China for a $1.5 billion loan to boost processing of rice and cassava in Africa’s most populous country, Agriculture Minister Akinwunmi Adesina said.
The loan is being sought on “concessionary terms at a 2 percent interest rate with a repayment period of 20 years,” Adesina said in an interview yesterday in Abuja, the capital. “We want to reduce our import dependency.”
Part of the loan will fund the procurement of 100 large- scale rice mills, with a combined capacity to process 2.1 million metric tons of rice a year, from Chinese companies, Adesina said. The rest will be devoted to expanding capacity for processing cassava into flour to substitute wheat flour and reduce imports, he said.
Nigeria, which has more than 160 million people, spends $10 billion annually importing rice, wheat, sugar and fish, according to the Agriculture Ministry. While the country grew enough food to feed itself in the 1960s, it is now the world’s largest importer of rice and sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest importer of wheat and sugar.
The government will provide “single-digit interest rates for all agriculture loans” from next year, Adesina said. At least 10 million mobile phones will be distributed to farmers in 2013 to provide weather and market information as well as extension services on the use of inputs including seeds and fertilizer, he said. Nigeria’s annual inflation rate rose to 11.7 percent in October.
Investment Commitments
Africa’s top oil producer is also expecting an additional $500 million in funding from the World Bank, at least $250 million from the African Development Bank and an $80 million loan from the International Fund for Agricultural Development to fund agriculture next year, according to the minister.
The government’s strategy is to help small-scale farmers, who produce most of the country’s food, with access to credit and improved farming methods while encouraging private investments in large-scale farming. At least $8 billion worth of investment commitments in agriculture were secured by President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration this year, Adesina said.
Food production rose by about 8.1 million tons, or 41 percent of its 20 million-ton four-year target, this year, creating a buffer food stock against floods, he said.
In September, Nigeria experienced its worst flooding in decades leaving farms, food stores, highways and oilfields inundated. At least 363 people died and 2.2 million were displaced, according to figures from the National Emergency Management Agency.
The government started a dry-season rice farming program last month, helping farmers cultivate 330,000 hectares (815,000 acres) of land with an estimated output of 1.8 million tons expected, Adesina said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Elisha Bala-Gbogbo in Abuja at ebalagbogbo@bloomberg.net

ballabriggs: Ileke, are those photos really of Nigeria?

Why are deceiving ourselves now? We are living dangerously and you have to worry about people wanting to deny there is a deep issue. I don't care what Kenya looks like, I'm interested in the vulnerable in Nigeria which some want to deny exist.

Problem solving, you don't identify, you don't solve.

March 2012 was another month of Jumbo allocations when the tiers of government in Nigeria, Federal States, and LG Councils shared a total sum of $1 billion and N996 billion from four different oil revenue accounts. The allocations were Foreign Excess Crude Account $1 Billion, Statutory and VAT revenues N834 billion Budget Differential N152 billion, and NNPC Refund N7.6 billion.

In the dollar allocation Akwa-Ibom State top the list of recipients by receiving $47 million, followed by Rivers $45 million, Delta $39 million and Bayelsa $$32 million. Others were Kano which received $20 million, Lagos $15 million, Cross River $10.8 million, Ebonyi $8 million, Gombe $8 million.

On the disbursement of Statutory and VAT allocation of a total sum of N834 billion, Rivers top the list with a net sum of N17 billion, followed by Akwa Ibom N16.9 billion, Delta N13 billion, Lagos N13 billion, Kano N10 billion and Bayelsa N9.5 billion. Other recipients included, Cross River N5 billion, Ekiti N3.8 billion, Gombe N3.7 billion and Ebonyi N3.5 billion.

[url]http://www.thenigeriandaily.com/2012/11/30/councils-deserve-full-autonomy-%E2%80%93-jonathan/[/url]

BY CLIFFORD NDUJIHE & TONY EDIKE
ENUGU — PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan, yesterday, declared his readiness to fight for full autonomy for the local councils, saying no meaningful development could be achieved in the country if the councils were not vibrant and not allowed to function.

He spoke on the second day of the 13th annual extra-ordinary general assembly and national conference with the theme “Rediscovering the Nigerian local government system in the emerging constitution” organised by the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, ALGON, in Enugu.

The President, who was represented by his Special Adviser on Political Affairs, Ahmed Gulak, said since the councils were the closest tier of government to the people, the rising wave of insecurity in the country would have been reduced if they were functioning well.

He also expressed his opposition to the state/local government joint account, noting that the councils have a special role to play in his transformation agenda, which they were not doing currently. He also wondered if the local government councils were getting their share of the subsidy fund.

Lawyer sues Finance Minister, AGF

The President spoke as a lawyer, Raymond Onyegu, dragged the Finance Minister and the Attorney General of the Federation before a Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking to stop statutory allocations to councils without elected chairmen.

Speaking at the forum, Onyegu, who lamented that 25 of the 36 states of the federation do not have elected governments while Anambra State has not held council polls since 1998, said a judgement of the Supreme Court holds that statutory allocation is meant for democratically elected local councils and not care-taker or transition committee chairmen

President berates govs

Jonathan’s support for the local councils is coming against the background of the continuing efforts by governors through the aegis of the Nigerian Governors Forum, NGF, to dislocate the councils from being recognised as federating units like the states.

NGF chairman, Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, had earlier this week told a delegation of the House of Representatives Committee on Youths and Social Development that the governors would oppose suggestions to give the councils autonomy from the states and make them part of the federating units.

According to Jonathan, “vibrancy in the local governments means the constitution is functioning. Tenure of local governments depends on the whims and caprices of the state governors. That should not be so. The tenure of our local governments, whether three or four years, should be clearly defined in the Constitution.

“The President has no right to wake up and say he has dissolved a state government. So why must a state governor dissolve a council? Why are we following the constitution in breach? We must live up to our duty and expectation of upholding and defending the constitution.

“The President is 100 per cent in support of ALGON because the Local Government is the closest tier of government to the people.

He is in support of Section 7 of the 1999 Constitution as amended, which says that at every given time the local government must be democratically elected. The situation where some governors dissolve local governments is unconstitutional, illegal and unsustainable.

Joint account

“One issue affecting the local governments that the President is concerned about is the state-local government joint account. It erodes the autonomy of the local governments. The framers of the constitution did not envisage that the account will be run the way it is being run.

“The joint account means that allocation from the Federal Government and internally generated revenue must be put together for sharing but unfortunately, most local governments don’t get up to 20 per cent.

How do the local government chairmen function without funds? It is for this reason that President Jonathan is fighting for full autonomy of the local government. So continue to mobilize and sensitise people for the amendment to come through.”

Comments are moderated. Please keep them clean and brief.

1forall: Shey una see the kain people wey dey run tins for naija now?
In case you didn't know Mr Ignoramus Population Chairman, citizenship once attained; is unconditional.

Even in the portion of the constitution quoted



There's nowhere where it's implied that citizenship can be forfeited by not taking part in a census (it even sounds ridiculous). If there was any such provision in the constitution it would be absurd - that would be the kind of thing the NASS should be amending (and not the presidency's feeding budget!).

As far as I know, taking part in a headcount is a civic duty (just like voting), and every one actually wants to be counted cos its a natural instinct, so quit the empty threats sir!

The last 2006 census na so dem say make we no comot house for 1 week I wait so tey nobody reach my house for Lagos, dat one nko? Nigerians wey go travel during the census excercise nko? And those wey full for diaspora nko?

Extreme foolish talk.

http://www.punchng.com/news/reps-probe-orubebes-multi-billion-naira-mansion/
NOVEMBER 30, 2012 BY JOHN AMEH, ABUJA 7 COMMENTS

Orubebe’s multi-billion naira mansion

The House of Representatives on Thursday ordered an investigation into a “multi-billion naria” mansion said to belong to the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Mr. Godsday Orubebe.

The property, located at Mabushi in the Federal Capital Territory, was said to have been built for the minister by a construction firm, SETRACO.

The House endorsed a motion sponsored by Mr. Odeneye Kehinde on the matter and resolved to probe the ownership of the property.

The committees on Anti-Corruption, Drugs/Narcotics/Financial Crimes and Justice were directed to conduct the investigation within 21 days and produce a report.

Kehinde noted that the property had been one of the issues dominating discussions lately in the country.

He said, “There is no evidence that the minister declared the house in his asset declaration with the Code of Conduct Bureau.”

He expressed surprise that neither the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission nor the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission had considered the issue important for investigation.

Part of the motion he presented before the House read, “It is saddening for me to have to come up with a motion of this nature to address a matter which ought to have been taken up by our anti-corruption agencies.

“This motion is brought against the backdrop of mounting disclosures of corrupt practices levelled against a sitting minister by some anti-corruption outfits in the country.

“A summary of the allegation runs thus:

The minister has paid for so many phantom projects.

“The minister is presently resident in a house at Mabushi District Abu]a built and handed over to him by SETRACO, a construction company that doubles as his crony.”

He added, “The minister’s failure to declare the said house in his asset declaration form with Code of Conduct Bureau, is a case of perjury if established.

“The minister’s financial escapades and liaisons are in Dubai and other corruption shelters overseas.

“These weighty allegations were at first peremptorily rubbished and dismissed by the minister as handiwork of his detractors and some mischief-makers who were out for extortion.

“Since then, he has unfortunately laboured hard using the media to fault these revelations.”

dapachez: the nuclear reactors in japan,what are they been used for? Apart from war nuclear energy has a vast number of good uses. Don't just post google is your friend. Its when nuclear energy gets into the wrong hands that protends danger

http://www.punchng.com/news/reps-fear-nassembly-may-be-next-terror-target/
November 29, 2012 by John Ameh and Adelani Adepegba

They said attackers were becoming daring and could soon target places like the National Assembly at their pleasure.

They also observed that responses to terror attacks by security agencies were weak, leaving attackers, in many cases, to operate unhindered.

They cited Monday’s attacks by gunmen on the office of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad in Abuja as a case in point.

Members raised the concerns when they debated a motion on Tuesday’s robbery attacks in Auchi, Edo State.

Three soldiers, policemen and civilians were said to be among those killed.

The sponsor of the motion, Mr. Abubakar Momoh, complained that the robbers invaded Auchi and operated for hours as it pleased them.

Momoh called for urgent solutions by the Federal Government.

However, it was Mr. Rapheal Nnanna’s contribution that frightened the lawmakers.

He recalled that the attack on the SARS office came barely 24 hours after terrorists bombed a church at the Command and Staff College, Jaji, Kaduna.

No fewer than 17 lives were lost in the incident.

According to Nnanna, if Jaji and SARS could be attacked, the National Assembly Complex is not safe as well.

The lawmaker said, “The state of insecurity in the country has reached an embarrassing level.

“What happened in Jaji and SARS headquarters is embarrassing to the leadership and people of this nation.

“I see these people coming to the National Assembly very soon.”

The Minority Whip of the House, Mr. Samson Osagie, said criminal gangs were operating in the country with little or no resistance, describing the trend as “really dangerous and requires urgent solutions.”

But, another member, Mr. Jerry Alagbaso, observed that rather than criticising security agencies, government should fund their operations adequately.

Meanwhile, the Force Headquarters has dismissed claims by an unknown Islamic sect, Jama’atu Ansarul Muslimina Fi Biladis-Sudan, that it carried out the Monday attack on the Special Anti-Robbery Squad detention facility, describing it as false and a move to deceive Nigerians.

Deputy Force Public Relations Officer, Mr. Frank Mba, who said this in Abuja on Wednesday, stated that the claim by the group was meant to embarrass the government and security agencies as well as instil fear in the people.

The sect had claimed that it released 387 detainees from the SARS facility during the attack on the centre, but the police argued that the facility did not have the space to accommodate up to 300 persons, insisting that the sect was making a spurious claim to buy cheap popularity.