₦airaland Forum

Very good initiative. This is better than borrowing billions at relatively high interest rates. My plea to govt is to allow the private sector drive this initiative by ceding at least 51% equity of Infra-Co to them, allowing them produce the MD/CEO and some members of the management team. This model has worked elsewhere, notably NLNG where the private companies of that consortium are in charge of planning, execution and day to day management of projects, contributing their funds according to their equities and where necessary, borrowing funds using the strength of their balance sheets.

It is all power grab. Prof and a few others are forming a new movement which will metamorphose into a political party for the sake of grabbing power, haven lost out in the current APC structure.

There is a puritanical air around Prof with this 'I better pass you' attitude. If you want to contribute to national development, you don't wait until you are invited to a meeting. You offer your opinions and support in any way you can and one day your efforts will yield fruit. However, if you keep posturing like an opposition element, people will not trust you enough to work with you. Prof needs to learn the way of politics and use it to the advantage of the nation. With his wealth of knowledge and practice
Prof should be advising the President on economic and development matters.

People like madam Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Akinwunmi Adeshina are doing it on the world stage. Others like Prof Soludo and Bismarck Rewane are quietly offering their expertise locally, waiting for an opportunity to serve at a higher level. Prof can learn a thing or two from these people.

Whatever she does with her life is entirely her business to be honest.

Lesson learnt is to be discreet and keep out of public eye or showing off your progress. If not, you invite these comments. If you can't keep off the public, then expect these sorts of reactions and take it in your stride.

There is a reason why the real rich folks don't show off. When you show off, you are trying hard to validate yourself.

Garbage journalism by SR.

ShenTeh:
Watch your joy.

The headline and the body of the article are saying two different things.

As far as my understanding is concerned, the one-way method we have been using has not changed. No where in that statement did it say the bridge is now fully open.

Palava for who just see headline rush follow 3MB, na traffic go teach am sense.

Partial opening of course. For the full opening, PMB go show, lol.

Abdulmumin412:
Thanks for ur respect for elder but I want you to states the PDP achievement in southeast by the last administration as the man has stated APC own so that we can compare. If not we may not concur with ur assertion.

I concur with you. Irrespective of the fact that the SE region is massively anti APC, the law of fairness dictates that facts are acknowledged. The people can counter Ken's observations with facts if available. It shouldn't be politicised. Give kudos where it is due and knocks where necessary too.

The facts of the matter;
- The COVAX initiative aims to secure 90 million vaccine doses for Africa in the first half of 2021 and 600million doses by end of 2021. Another 670million will be secured by African Union for distribution in African countries by 2021 and 2022

- The first 320,000 of COVAX vaccine doses will go to countries with a combination of high infection and mortality rates, new cases and trends and ability to store the vaccine. Rwanda, SA, Cape Verde and Tunisia were selected for this first phase

- This should alert other African countries to make adequate preparations to receive doses from the second phase onwards

- Payments will depend on individual countries strength to pay but will be guaranteed by African Export-Import Bank up to $2bln

My view therefore is that Nigeria and other countries will still get the vaccines but not this first batch. Nigeria now needs to put all storage facilities in place and roll out vaccination programs to show readiness to receive doses probably in March when manufacturers would have produced more to meet demand.

Nigeria is also making efforts to secure vaccines from elsewhere but should now fastrack those plans and make it transparent. Notice that other African countries such as Ghana, Egypt, Morocco, DRC, Botswana, Ethiopia etc are also not beneficiaries of this first phase.

Let us support govt efforts, criticize their efforts constructively and keep urging them to be transparent, communicate plans and ensure readiness to distribute vaccines to Nigerians and save lives. There is no time to waste.

seunmsg:
Egbon Taiwo should shut up and stop taking rubbish. Mention one major public infrastructure in Nigeria that was developed by private investment since 1960? Or is he saying there has never been an enabling environment for private investment in public infrastructure?

Even in developed countries, it is still the government that is paying for massive public infrastructure. We should be encouraging government to develop our infrastructure in an open and transparent manner and not criticizing them. There is no sense in criticizing just for criticism sake.

Btw, let’s even assume private sector is funding some of these massive rail and road projects, are Nigerians willing to pay the actual market prices of the services those public projects would render? We’ve seen how Nigerians always resist increment in price of electricity since it was privatized. Even the Lagos-Ibadan tollgate that was priced commercially has been massively criticized. So, which private company will invest billions in public infrastructure when the people are not even willing to pay the appropriate prices for public services?

These are my views exactly.

The first and only concern of private business entities is to make money. They will not invest otherwise. There are areas of our country today that are not economically viable. They require govt investment to open them up, necessarily delaying return on investments. No private entity will risk it.

We also have to be careful about how many private entities we allow to take over our infrastructure. It is often a balance. Believe me, the $19trillion or so investable funds lying fallow worldwide will not come from our local investors but from this same Chinese, American and European govts and companies we are currently borrowing from. Our local investors and banks are still too small to play in the massive infrastructure requirement that requires billions of dollars with sometimes 10-15 years gesticulation period before returns are fully made.

Point is, it is a combination of tools that will get us there - enabling environment, market driven policies that sometimes lead to paying more for quality services rendered, govt led infrastructure development and concessioning thereafter to recover invested funds etc

Akinwunmi Adeshina is spot on in his assessment. These facts and figures based analysis brings the issues to the fore. My plea with him is to work with the President to address many of these issues.

I'm sure Adeshina knows these things take time. He was Agric Minister and a key part of the economic team in the last administration. He is now in his second AfDB Presidency. If he can work with this Nigerian Govt to completely address one or two of those points he raised before his tenure expires, that will be a good legacy to leave behind. Best of luck to him and his team.

eduj:
All of this problems stems from inept leaders both past and present.Getting Nigeria less dependent on oil is achievable if our government are more focused on the country and less on themselves.

1) By virtue of our position,economy,size, population etc, we should be the port of call for goods coming into west Africa and even some other parts of Africa.But thue to executive corruption, importers avoid ports in Nigeria if they can .How can you spend over 70 percent of cost price to clear and transport your foods from the port?

2) No investments into Nigeria's educational sector-especially in the technology and science sector.Hence,most of our biggest companies employ expatriates who repatriate a huge chunk of their earnings back to their countries ,shortchanging the country.Also we have no government policy on employment of expatriates in the country.

3) no steady power and worst still no tangible road map to steady power supply all over Nigeria. We can only achieve this if states are given freedom to source,build, operate and maintain power plants. This is tied down to unbundling power concentrated at the centre (restructuring).

we can go on and on,but it's a waste of time because their is no political will ,on the part of our elected officials to get Nigeria working-otherwise,how can one explain that despite having 4 refineries, Nigeria hasn't exported or even produced enough oil based products for over 20 years ?

Thanks for contributing to the discourse. This and the contribution you responded to provided informed insights.

Many responses so far focused on the borrowing part of the article, with little or no mention of efforts to diversify our revenue and increase tax to GDP ratio. The call for tax responsibility and sacrifice by the President is fine but he and his govt should lead the way by massively cutting cost of governance so people can see what they are sacrificing for.

I share a different view from the one you articulated in point 3 of your write up. I believe there is a reasonable road map by this Govt to attain Power sufficiency. The deal with Siemens is planned to guarantee 7000, 11000 and 25000MW of power by 2021, 2023 and 2025 respectively. Part of the deal is to sell off moribund or non profitable power assets to the private sector to invest in and manage. One of them is the Afam 1-4 turbines sold to Tony Elumelu's company last year. I understand Omotosho and Geregu are next to be sold. That is the way to go, involve the private sector to drive growth. Same for the refineries. I will say, sell the 4 moribund refineries to private companies rather than reviving them. Dangote refinery in Lagos, BUA refinery in Akwa Ibom and the numerous modular refineries now coming on stream will get us to full self sufficiency within 3-5 years time.

To facilitate these private-led growth programs, the market has to be liberalised and subsidies removed. That is a painful thing to do because of price hikes in the short term, but it is the absolute right thing to do for the long term. Reason why the removal of subsidies from fuel and power prices recently is hitting hard. However with patience, private hands will ensure efficient running of these areas of our economy, they will massively invest and bring jobs and prosperity to the country in the medium to long term.

On a final note, govt should focus on plugging tax revenue leakages and expanding the tax base to capture many people in the informal sector not currently paying tax. All in all, it is a mixed bag but more things are looking up and I choose to be more positive.

GhostWisperer:
tax evasion is a serious criminal offence. It's is cheating.

Traffic offense are not tax, they are minor matters. In the UK repeated traffic offense results to withdrawal of driver's license.

How do you justify auctioning someone's car for traffic offense?

If i follow your argument on the 'minor' traffic offence, then a 'minor' tax evasion of about £200 shouldn't lead to a whole car being crushed. It is the principle I'm pointing out.

GhostWisperer:
What she said is fact. Where in th world would a traffic offense equal losing your car?

failed dumb fool like you . Emotional mumu.

If you refuse to pay your road tax in the UK, your car is taken and crushed.

Cherez:
Wait, how did Rinu incite the burning of businesses?
So you agree someone died there at least & live arms were fired at people?
Bros, did you type this with your heart in 1 piece?
And what has happened to the soldier who shot those bullets?
Walking free right? While Rinu who only asked that Police brutality be stopped without even a matchette but was attacked by government sponsored thugs has her account frozen and tagged terrorist?
With sincere sympathy to all those who lost their properties to the hoodlums including YOMICASUAL, SPAR, etc. Are you saying the lost properties are worth more than the 2 lives lost witb other casualties at Lekki toll?

Bros, I make to say that no EndSars protesters looted any business. These guys contributed & fed themselves while govt accepted lockdown donations from people & hoarded these food donations.
These guys always cleaned up that toll gate after every protest; there were hardly or no case of rape or theft amidst them.
In fact, a lady without a limb got a contribution of upto N2M to fix her legs at Lekki toll
I mean, I gave up on this country but that Lekki toll made me believe in it again but I've returned to my disbelief.

Like I said, this country will hardly see growth; we'll suffer all these curses we bring in ourselves together

What is worth noting is that EndSARS protest enjoyed wide support at the onset including governors and govt officials and many folks here have said that time and again. ALL the demands were accepted by govt but some will take time to actualize. The protesters should have adopted tactics to take what govt offered and push through other means for what is left. By digging in and shifting grounds continuously on those demands, the plot was bound to be lost leading into dangerous territory. That lacuna was fully exploited by hoodlums who are also youths and lives and livelihoods were destroyed. It is being clever by half if the protesters didn't see that coming and admit that the ill advised tactics led to the aftermath. There is some responsibility there on the part of the protesters. You can't put your hands up in the air and say you were peaceful and it was hoodlums that hijacked the protest. People who saw what could happen offered their advice but were asked to shut up and mind their business.

Ezeama400:
https://punchng.com/why-biden-wont-support-buharis-govt-utomi/

Prof Pat Utomi is entitled to his opinion. He makes assertions such as Nigeria is more corrupt than before without evidence. This present Govt has not fought corruption as vigorously as the masses expected but it has taken concrete steps in that direction. As an example, its contracting style is to cut off corrupt middlemen and govt officials as seen in the way many contracts are handled - Siemens Power deal, direct Chinese involvement in providing infrastructure, direct payment of sukuk bonds/capital allocations to contractors, growing transparency in NNPC through publishing of its accounts etc. This is the reason why infrastructure is being delivered at speeds we have not been used to in the past. There are issues still with wasteful spending in govt agencies and MDAs that dont add any value and this can be highlighted and progressively dealt with by for instance pushing to implement Oronsaye's report.

PMB has less than 3 yrs to go and I think Biden will not concern himself much with interruptions as he has more than enough on his plate domestically to deal with - covid19, economic package for US citizens, Capitol invaders prosecution, deconstructing Trump's legacy etc.

I would have expected Prof to busy himself with providing a better alternative and platform to capture power in 2023, not inciting US govt against his country. The world over is going through pandemic induced economic crises and Nigeria is no exception. I plead with Prof to seek constructive ways to offer his expertise. He can do that by engaging PMB's economic advisory committee publicly, providing alternative views to budget proposals, fighting from within his party or being part of a potent third political force etc.

iamdapsyj:
He knows what he is doing. Its a political game in APC. He is just a mere front for Tinubu and at the last minute at the APC Congress, he will step down for him. Nigerian politics is predictable.

Yes, either what you have said or he is positioning for the Vice Presidential slot. Easy to see through the whole shenanigan

OkpaNsukkaisBae:
When the people of SE talk about marginalisation, they're talking about the injustice called quota system and its selective application , the systematic deprivation of the region in relation to democratic dividends not party politics or politics of godfatherism in Edo state.

E.g an UTME candidate (UNN law aspirant) from Imo state with an aggregate score of 280 may not be admitted but a candidate from Zamfara state with an aggregate score of 220 will be admitted just because he's from ZAMFARA an Educationally Less Developed State (ELDS)

In NDA Zaria , the examination or method of admission is not open. Competence or merit is discarded in favour of quota system.

There are six geopolitical zone in Nigeria , the SE has the lowest number of state.

A particular region is headìng the Airforce , Army , Navy , Police and DSS. Here nobody gave a fvck about the federal character principle or quota system.

However , in a sane society with strong and independent government institutions nobody cares about where the Head of State comes from or the regìon in control of the security architecture of the State.

So how is that a SE problem alone? You don't think the SS, NC and SW can say this same thing?

OkpaNsukkaisBae:
@ the bolded...
Can you elaborate?

Most of what is said before now centers around cries of marginalisation and why the rest of the country do not want a SE president.

In my view, that is victim mentality and the wrong way to approach the issue. A concrete plan and perfect implementation of how to get both parties to nominate SE candidates as their flagbearers is the way to go. It is hard work but very achievable.

One recent example I can give to illustrate my point - prior to the Edo State election, some people were already crying foul, saying APC will rig the election, bla bla bla. But the people got off their backsides, said Edo was not Lagos, mobilized to stop rigging attempts, voted for their choice and defended it with their lives. That was bold action to actualize their collective will. It may not be entirely similar but circumstances are the same

Tekrify:
What u say is partially true...you see china borrowed sri lanka money to build a sea port..the sea port didn't generate enough money to pay back the debts ..so china took over the port for 99 years to run it and recover their money...
What happened if u study the story very well is that that port from the very beginning was not economically viable and sir lanka asked for loans from countries like India who said No because it will be a loss for them cuz the port won't generate enough revenue...
China taking over the port was as a result of Sri Lanka's president foolishness and mistake..

The same agreement is present with the loans Nigeria took...if we don't pay back ..what ever infrastructure we used that money to build will be taken as collateral....
And it still the same thing Banks and other financial institutions will do...

Now because it a country not a financial institution in this case then u can now have cases of China bringing their workers which ofcourse u can't accuse dem against it cuz they own the property already...

I think this government is begin careful with what it takes it loans for..Buhari took loans for Lagos Ibadan rail, AKK gas pipeline and warri itakpe rail line..
All of which are extremely viable.. although the warri itakpe rail line can be debatable only because the ajaokuta steel mill is dead and warri port is almost dead...but I am confident that Lagos Ibadan and the gas project will generate enough to pay back....

U see previous government were the ones who I think were very foolish..they borrowed money to build Abuja metro line and Abuja Kaduna railine..
Abuja metro today is almost dead...do u know that if not for the security issues on Abuja Kaduna road..that railline will run at a loss..Inshort amaechi admitted that at a time it was seriously running at a loss..
So Jonathan instead of borrowing such loans for Lagos Ibadan which is fucking viable or maybe building a new sea port at bonny to decongest apapa ..the idiot took money to build in almost a death zone... rubbish..
If we are to have problems..part of the blaim should go to PDP with their foolishness....


But over all we can link our rail to the port and connect it to maradi.i honestly don't think Nigeria case will be like Sri Lanka..

Now that is critical analysis there. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I can't agree more.

kalu61:
There is no doubt that power will come to south in 2023.
We will see how PDP and Atiku will fix this.

I have said it and will continue to say it, Ohanaeze needs to foster a unity front for all the aspirations from SE in each party and from there move to negotiate power with other regions.

It must not be SW because both regions are likely not to agree but with actors from other regions. By so doing, the power of give and take can be achieved.

OBJ became president without the SW and Igbo can be president without SE or SW. Its about negotiation.

Umahi is SE best bet, OUK and other keys members should be brought to a round table to see to this and only Ohanaeze can do this.

Very well said

OkpaNsukkaisBae:
Lost credibility ke. Umahi is miles ahead of Ikpeazu , Uzodinma , Obiano and Gburugburu. Decamping to APC increased his popularity.
Kingsley has zero political pedigree. He's only popular in Nnewi besides his party @YPP does not yet have the political structure to win a presidential election.

Ouk has a structure. But man is an ex convict. A big dirt on his image if you ask me.

Obi is more than qualified. But It seems like he only want to play second fiddle to Waziri which is bad to the South East vis-a-vis 2023 project.

Better 4 us to negiotiate with the North , if possible persuade the two dominant political party to present SE candidates as their presidential flagbearer.

If the SE have a united front , i don't give a flying fvck about the Boullion Van and SW 2023 project.

Good attempt at analysing the options. Do more of this and deftly eliminate counter options to SE candidates emanating from both dominant parties. Build more bridges, reach out more and play this damn political game to achieve what you want. Quit the victim and helpless mentality and stop blaming everyone else except yourselves

tutudesz:
With the joint statement made by South East political leaders some days back, they were demanding for the ticket from all political parties be zoned to South East.

Rather than demanding, they should negotiate it. This is what Zulum is saying. Nothing is given freely. No use threatening

Let Reno rain the same curses on his former boss when the pigeons didn't fly in 2014. Until then, I cant take him seriously on this one.

How can anyone read meaning into pigeons flying or not when there are more serious issues to engage one's time on.

Tekrify:
Look...some of y'all need to get educated atleast..
Even when u go to the bank to borrow money....the bank will ask for something as collateral...it not rocket science or wickedness...

The key thing is we borrowed money..and we have to pay back in due time.. simple..
There is nothing wrong with China using their own project as collateral...

The same term of agreement is applied to every other country...
So ur now telling me that assuming we don't pay back..the Chinese should be looking like dummies or what ..please there is no big deal in using the project as a collateral..the same thing is applies to banks during loan application...even people who do ajo money do it.. it just a way to secure that money...

And even if we don't pay back..are the Chinese now going to pack the terminal back to China..use ur head they will simply claim ownership and run it till they re cover their money... That is what banks around the globe do

Thank you. I was going to type the exact same thing but you spared me the effort.

Those clauses in the Chinese contracts are standard. There must be a way to safeguard the loans, banks and other financial institutions do it all the time. The only worry is if the debtor does not intend paying back

Farki:
I can, it is good for now but should have been built by Nigerians because China will eventually take it over, but because you want to bring your coconut head into this by not reading past the primary 5 level you will get the appropriate response.

Where did this notion that the Chinese will eventually take it over come from?

We paid the Chinese about 20% of total cost and they borrowed us the balance with the cost of building it factored in. When the Japanese build cars and sell to the whole world, will you still say the Japanese own those cars? When JB build bridges for us, will you still say they own those bridges?

Why so negative when you can do much better?

pompeiimagnus:
It's called divestment. When a business isn't worth the continued financial investment, you put it up for sale right away. They've made billions of $$$ from those blocs over the years anyways. Also these companies now want to be identified as "energy" companies, and no longer oil & gas companies. Look up how Statoil transitioned to Equinor, then you would understand better.

Don't mind them. Too much ignorance within our population. I bet as soon as Tony Elumelu's name came up as owner of Heir's Holdings, the noise around Northerners/Fulanis quietened a bit.

Divesting by selling your shares in a venture is nothing new, happens in every business sector and in every country. There has been several of such divestments in Nigeria's oil and gas sector in the past. It started around 2008-2010 when this same Shell sold its stake in their Western operations. Chevron, AGIP, TOTAL and others have done similar things since then.

Those companies realise that they have a lot of assets and can't possibly make the required investments in all of them, so they concentrate their efforts in areas where they have more advantage and can make more money. Often times, these are blocks where they have significant presence on land but where vandalism, community unrest, crude theft and other vices hamper their abilities to operate effectively. Local companies are better at managing such issues and they also benefit by getting into the oil and gas production business thereby encouraging transfer of knowhow to the locals. It is a win-win situation and life continues. The Majors are not leaving the country, just refocusing their efforts in areas where they can do better.

frankmoney:
port Harcourt - Owerri road
Obirikwerre interchange
Airport -Isiokpo-elele road
Eleme junction flyover

All this were done before 2015

Thanks for this, merci...

sonofthunder:
Get your facts right, Ameachi's govt fixed the road and wike told GEJ not to refund it.

Always get your facts right.

Does anyone know the specific Federal roads fixed by RVSG for which they are being refunded?

Fossil fuels are being phased out and oil will die faster than gas. However, both oil and gas will still be relevant in the world for at least 30 years.

In Nigeria we have both oil and gas in abundance. They are both way cheaper to produce and are in large supply than renewable sources of energy. So if you were a Nigerian leader, you would prioritise oil and gas over renewables in the short term, say 20 years. Use those two to massively industrialise the economy and then start planning to shift away from them very gradually.

However the PIB should be friendly enough to the investors who now have alternative investment opportunities to fossil fuels and are even compelled by the global world to go green. My advice to the govt is to find a middle ground so that investors particularly the foreign ones with huge capital investment muscle can still bring in their money to invest. Otherwise, we will be seating on tons of oil and gas reserves which will progressively become useless, like coal.

Igbochief001:
Even as dumb as u ...u know the structure is corrupt ? ...and u are slamming him for trying a different approach ?

Haven't u headed that the end justify the means ?

Didn't it take a corrupt atiku , tinubu , ameachi , saraki and the rest to elect saint buhari ?

I doubt if u have the IQ to grab that sha ...

Good night

Spot on. In politics, you sometimes need to do what it takes to get into power without which all your lofty ideas about governance comes to nought.

You said it all when you gave Buhari's example. In times past, Buhari will not touch the likes of Tinubu with a long pole but until he realised that without such people, it will be difficult to get into power. Now he is a 2-term President.

Moghalu should keep reaching out to every part of the country. But I doubt if he will achieve much outside PDP or APC unless he is part of a strong third force that is yet to emerge and whose possibility is dwindling by the day. Good luck to him.

Buharidgeneral:
No functioning refinery after 6 yrs of APC administration.

Build working refinery then remove fuel subsidy. Chikena

Above statement is factually incorrect.

There are 3 modular refineries in operation today;
1. Niger Delta Petroleum Resources modular refinery in Rivers State

2. WalterSmith modular refinery in Imo State

3. Opac modular refinery in Delta State

There are 3 more that are almost ready to start operations in Edo, Bayelsa and Akwa Ibom states. Another 10-13 modular refineries are either being executed or in contracting stage.

This is aside from the big ones - Dangote refinery in Lagos and BUA refinery in Akwa Ibom that will be commissioned before PMB leaves office and then we won't have to import a single litre of fuel again. I'm not even talking about the 4 moribund FG refineries which I think should be sold to private investors.

There is a concerted effort by current govt to put an end to fuel importation through support for sufficiency in local refining. Same for Power, roads, rail, ports etc. If previous govts have done their bit, we will by now be far ahead, taking our rightful position in the comity of nations. We will get there eventually with this type of focus by current govt.

Tareq1105:
Speak for yourself and stop saying "we"

Do you know how much the smooth road have saved people from visiting mechanic every Saturday?

Me I want and I will appreciate it if the toll fee is reduced.

My take is that toll are necessary to be charged on all our interstate roads. It's like without it, good and motorable roads would remain a mirage.

Such should be given to construction companies (not politicians or briefcase contractors) to manage/repair and toll it.

Not denying the fact that traffic flow has greatly improved with free passage through those tolls in the past couple of months.

If and whenever the tolls are reinstated, effort should be made to fully digitalise tracking and collection and avoid cash collection to the minimum. That will greatly improve transit time through each toll booth. If you insist on paying cash, you pay 5 times the digital fare to discourage cash transactions that slow down movement drastically

obailala:
Why exactly do you think it's okay to move things between east-west by road, but it's not okay to move things between north-south by road?

It is not ideal to move goods from West to East via roads but there is at least the option to move them via shipping. There are ports in Warri, PortHarcourt, Calabar and Onitsha.

So if I were to prioritise, those considerations will weigh heavily on my choice. However the coastal rail will still be built