₦airaland Forum

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A poser!How many countries are still communist apart from the regimes in Beijing, Pyongyang?
What happened to their former comrades?What is on ground now?There's no ideal Government,no Utopia so to say only the best form of governance-democracy
History tell us that Marx, Engles and Lenin had a brilliant plan to make all the workers of the world equal but those 'prodigal sons that took it upon themselves to be missionaries failed woefully- Stalin and his successors,Chairman Mao,the revolutionaries in Africa etc!
China has the fastest growing economy in the world because the Communist party relaxed rules on enterpreneurship and private ownership of property. So Fortune 500 companies, High Street etc have all flocked to China. It's still somewhat communist but not totally!
Not to be mistaken i've said that the US isn't the model of democracyShe is not!Blacks started voting less than 4 decades ago so i don't share the noise about being the bastion of democracy!A nation that invades other nations, topples governments and kidnaps them all in the name of national security!Look towards Europe as i said Denmark, Belgium , Finland, Estonia, Latvia and see the gospel of democracy!
Communism isn't a government you choose!Rather unpopular and the experiment failed after 70 years!

Hope it sinks well Mr O!

Myopia indeed!
Mr O,
When you call someone godfather of amala politics, it's not exactly complimentary!Moreover, for now his job is to help secure the polititicking in the S/W for the highest bider and the has been in this ignoble role from the days of Awolowo till now almost 6 decades in thuggery!
Until we all can cast our votes without fear, credible politicians are elected into office and the rule of law obeyed, Adedibu would be out of a job. But till then

Mariory
Merci!

Lest you be mistaken, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan do not practice democracy!I tend to agree with your point concerning the "missionary" role the UK and US have taken upon themselves.
Well for Nigeria-we are not totally democratic. Democracy is when people chose a government as i posted earlier to represent them.OBJ's government is a mockery of democracy!It's regime foisted upon Nigerians.
Syria, Oman,Quatar,Kuwait,Jordan,Yemen are definately not democracies.
Iraqi's never had a democracy!Saddam was an absolute ruler and i have made a point concerning the carnage in Iraq.
The US made a grave mistake with the culture of Iraqi's and they are still paying for it.Sheer arrogance on their part. Anyways that is a digrssion

Yea yea that would be when Turaki is in gaol before Februrary!

Yes i forgot Somalia?

Propaganda can never wash!Korea, Vietnam and now Iraq?Any one seeing the flow please?Similarities?

Gaby,
Iraqis suffered under the authoritarian Bathist rule of Saddam!The problem in Iraq could have been avoided if Bush instesd if appointing a Viceroy for Iraq and gone on to put in place a national govern ment of Sunnis Shiites and Kurds!Then the crap they are faced now would not have been so!It's only a democracy that can give it's people the best lifestyles possible!
I challenge anyone to name a country where the rights of its citizens, their prosperity, hopes and aspirations are guaranteed in a non democratic system!

Democracy is a blessing we got from the Greeks- government of the people by the people!Look at Finland, Belgium, Norway, Spain they are all democratic states. There's a direct relationship between democracy, stability and growth!
We have not had democracy at all in Africa, perhaps with the exception of Botswana, and S/A.That is why their economic indices are much better than that of the continent's noise maker-Nigeria.
Driving my point further, until a people vote in a government and are able to call the government to resign in the face of gross non-performance, then they are in a democracy. When a government is sensitive to the needs and yearnings of her people, values their collective dignity,positions its youth for the future, can guarantee sustenance of her citizens then we have a true democracy.
Where in the world has Dubya, Condi and Rummy promoted democracy!They were fanning embers of revolt in Havana on some unconfirmed reports of Fidel's demise.A government that supports covert activities aimed at undermining regimes in Bolivia, Venezuela, Equador!It's all some hogwash.The same nation is responsible for the mess in most developing countries in the world- financed coups in Latin America,supported despots in Africa.
Democracy is universally beneficial and America though the global policeman isn't the most free with it's noise about freedom ,civil rights etc.
We must be able to provide for our people protect them and guarantee the futures of those yet unborn. That is why Evo and Hugo can thumb their noses at GW.Power to the people!

Road Closed
By Sonala Olumhense
It is the Christmas season. In Nigeria, this was always the travel season, even for non-Christians. This year, for the first time, Nigerians may be going nowhere. Frequent plane crashes make our airplanes unadvisable just as they are making civil aviation in our country the butt of international travel jokes. Bad or non-existent roads also make road travel a bad choice; mercifully, foreigners do not know much about this yet.


As you might recall, in 2004, Tony Anenih, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the so-called Peoples Democratic Party, sued Orji Kalu, the Abia State Governor, for N12 billion. It began when President Olusegun Obasanjo said that during his first term, a total of N300 billion had been budgeted for road development and maintenance. Governor Kalu had responded that Chief Anenih, the Minister for Works during that term ought to be made to say where all that money was actually spent, since our roads were in awful shape. The fracas would subsequently be abandoned, however, as the PDP "settled" it out of court. The media did not care either; it had better things to write about.


Nigeria's federal roads are very lucky. Under the current government, a good deal of attention is being paid to them. No month passes by without some money being voted or "released," or a decision being made in favor of some road. Here are a few facts and numbers. In March 2004, the Federal Government announced "Operation 500 Roads" to repair and maintain 26,400km of roads throughout the country. That programme was either a great success or a pathetic failure because within six months, a second layer of work was required. In October, the Government had another announcement: it was going to prosecute "Operation 1000 Roads" and repair 32,000 kilometres at a cost of N5.8 billion.


The following month, November 2004, the Minister of Works, Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe, announced that 9.6 billion had been provided to each of the nation's six geo-political zones in the 2005 budget for road construction, rehabilitation and maintenance. That totals nearly N60 billion. In that same month, on November 23, the government approved "about N3.2 billion for ecological control and road rehabilitation in the country."


On January 1, 2005 in Abuja, the government signed contracts worth one billion naira "for the repair of five major roads." On May 29, as he celebrated the second anniversary of his return to power, President Obasanjo said his government's "vigorous policy" of investment in roads, energy and water supply were yielding noticeable results and that more roads were being constructed while old ones were being maintained. On January 13, 2005, Minister Ogunlewe announced the approval by the government of N5.5 billion for the rehabilitation of 13 roads nationwide under the National Road Development Programme.


On January 18, 2006, advertising a "policy to construct 5000 roads" during the year, the government said it had approved funds for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of some road and bridge projects throughout the country."On 22 March 2006, the government announced it had approved "the request for emergency repair" on the Sagamu-Benin Road.


On July 5, 2006, the government approved funding for N467.3billion for "roads, power and other infrastructure." The sum of N438.8billion was specifically outlined for three major highways: the East-West, Kano-Maiduguri and Kano-Lokoja. In his review of the 2006 budget last month, President Obasanjo declared that by August, his government had "released N52 billion or 71 % of the N73 billion appropriated for capital for Works for the construction, rehabilitation and repairs of roads nationwide," and that "road construction, rehabilitation and repair works are at various stages of completion."

Stating that funds have also been made available for other key road projects nationwide in the 2007 budget, he specified N17 billion for the maintenance of federal highways; N36 billion for the construction of the East-West Road; N21 billion for the construction of the Kano-Maiduguri Road; and N6 billion for the Abuja-Lokoja Road. The President said the 2007 budget was about "Accelerating Physical and Human Infrastructure for Wealth Creation and Poverty Reduction," and "builds upon and consolidates the work that has been done with the budgets for the past three years and continues the reform of our national economy."


This is a brief review of the "extensive work" of the federal government on our roads, particularly in the past three years. It is not exhaustive. It would seem that billions of Naira are being spent daily, but with nobody being sure where the funds are going, or what they are doing. In addition to the funds to which I have alluded, I read earlier this year of a claim by the federal government that by May 2006, it had already spent N42.364 billion on 57 completed road projects with work continuing on 129 others at a cost of N190.16 billion.

These are curious numbers, and we ought to be putting them to the test. Roads and bridges continue to deteriorate or collapse, and Nigerians continue to suffer or even die on them. On August 7, 2005, for instance, in Taraba State, when the ramshackle bridge over the Jalingo River was swept away by floods, 60 people died in an accident. It should have been clear to everyone that this main artery deserved a better bridge, but the free-spending federal authorities waited until that tragedy to notice the bridge. Two days after the accident, on 9 November, they gave the state government N20 million for repairs.

As the Christmas travel season arrives, the Lagos-Sagamu-Benin City Road, one of the nation's most heavily-travelled arteries and the only connection between the West and the East, was almost abandoned before the federal government suddenly realized recently that something perhaps ought to be done. When that road was in good order, it took only three hours to drive from Lagos to Benin City; it now takes a day or two. In other words, travelers cannot travel, businesses are doomed, and vehicles are damaged.

The same question concerning where the federal government is spending its billions of Naira are applicable in the North, where the federal government claimed at a point to have lavished N45 million. According to Governor Attahiru Bafarawa of Sokoto State, "If the Zamfara-Kaura Namoda road is in bad shape, the Funtua-Gusau-Sokoto road has collapsed and Kebbi-Argungu-Sokoto road is pot-hole ridden so far, which road in the area was N45 billion spent on?" In the East, the federal roads are legendarily in a state of disrepair, individually and collectively.

One of the most interesting points here is that most of these roads were better-maintained before Obasanjo returned from prison. Few are the Nigerians who now believe that, with his second term nearly over, the old man actually knows what is going on, or actually cares. Last week, he was scheduled to take delivery of a new helicopter, the latest addition to the presidential fleet, at a cost N2.5 billion. This updates his collection, following the recent acquisition of the executive jet at over N10 billion. They all line up well next to the provision in the 2007 budget of the sum of N50 billion to "continue with and accelerate the on-going reforms of the public service."

It seems Mr. President is set for a grand finale to his second term even as his countrymen, lacking freedom in the air or on the roads, from the PDP, policemen and armed robbers, are increasingly imprisoned in their own country. Perhaps that is why they call it public service: the public services the man and watch him belly up to the table.

Lamidi holds the ace for PDP in Oyo state, same for Saraki Kwara/Kogi, Uba in Anambra and others too!
Adedibu would be around until the Government of the day, which ever refuses his services!Until then you guys should lay down arms. Guy is untouchable for now

Who is selling Iraqi oil? Al Sadr?Al Maliki? Big OIL?