₦airaland Forum

Depends on the company . I once interviewed with P&G in Nigeria wearing native outfit and cap to match and got the job among 500 other people from Ife. When I tried something similar @KPMG, that was the first issue the interviewer brought up, and despite my qualifications, I never got a second interview.

These days, I just get a suit for the interview as I am in the US, and dont want to explain why I have a parachute on.

Do what you are comfortable with but don't blame anyone for the outcome

Hakeem Olajuwon used to fast Ramadan while playing in the NBA!

Restoring Confidence in the Banks
Simon Kolawole Live!, Email: simonkolawole@thisdayonline.com, 08.16.2009

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How time flies. How time changes things. In 2004, when Professor Chukwuma Soludo became governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and announced the consolidation programme, I was one of the less excited guys. I did write an article then, entitled “Soludo, Banking Is No Ludo”, in which I expressed my reservations about the intended outcomes of the policy. Banks were asked to capitalise to a minimum of N25 billion. The aim was to have a very strong banking sector that could withstand turbulence, handle big-ticket transactions, lend to small-scale firms, compete well in the continental and global financial markets and generally finance economic development in Nigeria.
I had three major misgivings. One, the fact that a bank appears big does not mean it cannot be distressed, I argued. More money does not mean better management. No such guarantees exist anywhere. While being big may mean you can withstand pressure better, it does not suggest immunity. Two, I argued that you cannot really force banks to lend to small and medium scale firms. Lending is supposed to be an economic, rational decision. How many banks would take shareholders’ money and lend to customers who are very unlikely to pay back, going by their history? Three, I opposed the idea of making every bank compete on the international level. There should be a room for small banks who could well be masters of their terrain. Not every bank should be a mega bank.
Looking back today, I would say I was wrong and right on different counts. What happened with consolidation was beyond anyone’s imagination. Soludo himself could not have imagined it. Suddenly, the landscape was transformed dramatically. Initially, people lost their jobs, but soon jobs were being created as branch networks expanded nationwide. The stock market boomed and boomed and boomed mainly on the account of banks’ shares – before things later boomeranged. The media became beneficiaries – advertising revenue soared to high heavens. All of a sudden, Nigerian banks were winning awards from international organisations. And N25 billion became nothing – banks started churning out figures in excess of N100 billion as shareholders’ funds.
It was unbelievable. Nigerian banks were getting listed in the top 1000, top 500 in the world. This had not happened in decades. In four years, the size of deposits jumped astronomically, hitting nearly N10 trillion from about one-tenth of that, pre-consolidation. Credit to non-oil sector had gone up seven times. Branches had doubled in number. The economy started boasting of new millionaires, multimillionaires and billionaires – helped largely by the oil boom, which also contributed tremendously to the success of consolidation. Soludo, the poster boy of the banking revolution, was celebrated worldwide. Not one or two persons called me along the line to ask: “Simon, when are you going to apologise to Soludo? The success of consolidation has shamed you!”
However, the success of consolidation – which, to be fair, has reduced the mortality rate of banks in the face of the financial crisis – has not come without a price. In a bid to “out-big” one another, banks invaded the stock market to raise the kind of capital that they did not have any plans for. We were always hearing of “oversubscription”. Margin loans were pumped into the market by the banks to help share purchase, albeit with a lot of insider trading. There was a plethora of optimistic lending and over-leveraging of assets. Well, we can say that today. It looked sweet then, as if some geniuses were performing wonders with shareholders’ funds. The awards came tumbling in. The sky was the limit. We celebrated the whiz kids and the super bankers.
But then, whatever has a beginning must have an end. Or rather, nothing lasts forever. The oil boom has subsided. The global financial crisis has stung virtually every economy in the world. “Hot money” soon departed from our stock market and there was a meltdown. Banks that were overexposed to the market began to bite the dust. Many of our billionaires, who had optimistically over-leveraged their assets, began to default on loan repayments. With dwindling petrodollars, the CBN had to allow the naira to depreciate as the exchange rate, which had stabilised for years, could no longer be maintained. Interest rates went up. Bad loans piled up. Liquidity became a problem for many banks. As usual, many banks were cooking their books, passing liabilities for assets and declaring profits after profits, sexing up their figures to impress onlookers.
Let’s be honest: we all suspected there was disquiet in the banking sector even if we couldn’t prove it, more so because bankers are perfect at hiding figures in their balance sheets. The distress was partly the bankers’ fault, partly beyond them. We can declare that they were reckless, but then in boom times recklessness is never to be ruled out. It happens again and again. Only banks with old-school principles will not join the bandwagon. Boom, by nature, encourages recklessness. The saving grace for the public sector today is that the administration of ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo had the presence of mind to build external reserves and create an excess crude account in the years of plenty. That is what is bailing out the three tiers of government today as revenue dwindles because of the global economic crisis.
We can indeed blame the bankers for being too optimistic, for caring less about the fundamentals of risk management and for mismanaging depositors’ and shareholders’ funds. I have no problems with that. But the borrowers who refused to repay their loans must also face the rap. Auditors and examiners who passed banks fit when the reverse was the case must also face the music. The new CBN governor, Mr. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, comes across as a no-nonsense manager. He has taken the extra-ordinary decision of removing the managements and boards of five banks, putting new teams in place and offering a “stimulus” package of N400 billion to boost public confidence in these banks. I was shocked. The rumour had been flying around but I never expected such a far-reaching action so quickly. I call it “Sanusi Shocker”. We suspected it had to come to this, but the moral and political courage seemed to be the main issue.
Soludo had, last year, sent special examiners to some banks and had also taken the decision, along with the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), to post resident examiners to the banks. Soludo too realised the problems in the system, but having been the author of consolidation, it was always going to be difficult for him to slam the hammer. He’s human after all. But no matter how human he is, Soludo needs to send roses to Sanusi who, by this shocker, will end up deepening consolidation and taking the sector to the next level. The easiest thing Sanusi could have done is to allow these banks to fail and then turn around to say: “You see, Soludo’s consolidation was fake!” In some sense, this crisis would have been worse without consolidation.
The most important thing now if for our deposits to be safe with the banks – which is exactly the stated intention of Sanusi. That is why he is putting new teams in charge of the banks and providing them with a bailout of N400 billion. The message is obvious: no bank will be allowed to fail. In the short run, these tough decisions he has taken may lead to a run on the banks. That is almost certain. However, with time, and with people’s confidence restored through the provision of liquidity for the banks to meet customers’ needs and through the recapitalisation of the banks, the situation should come back to normal. The CBN has the duty of managing expectations and reactions if the affected banks are to survive the storm.
Sanusi is a tough man, but he must brace up for the sort of attacks that are to be expected as he takes more drastic actions to sanitise the sector. In a country like Nigeria, where sentiments sell more than reason, he would be accused of pursuing a “Northern Agenda”. That I can take a bet on. He would be accused of trying to rubbish Soludo’s legacies. He would be accused of playing to the gallery. After all, Soludo was also accused of pursuing anti-North agenda through consolidation. He was accused of titling the financial sector in favour of Igbos and Delta State. He was accused of being anti-Islam because he removed Arabic from some naira denominations and inscribed the three major languages – Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba – on them. I expect similar sentiments to be expressed about Sanusi. This is Nigeria, remember.
Sanusi must not succumb to blackmail and mudslinging. The elite in Nigeria always have a way of fighting back. The enemies of Nigeria whom Nuhu Ribadu gave a good fight later regrouped to humiliate him and chase him away from Nigeria. The crooks are now in charge of EFCC and have their agents placed strategically all over the government of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. This is enough to discourage anybody from doing the right thing in this country. But Sanusi must live by the courage of his convictions. As long as he is convinced that he is on the right path, he should keep his feet on the ground. The most important thing to me – and I think this should be the most important thing to all Nigerians – is that depositors’ and shareholders’ money is safe in the banks, no matter whose ox is gored.

[center]I am going to make this one of my few exceptions and atually reply this post.[/center]

Though I believe you already got your reply from Post 12 quoted below.

[quote Re: When Is A Brideprice Or Dowry Too "expensive"
« #12 on: Today at 10:45:46 AM »  

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Question – When is the bride price or Dowry too expensive?

Answer – When the bride, groom or parents of either have any reservations about the amount.

Advise – Bride & groom to reach a compromise. It will give them some practice on the importance of give & take in marriage.

[quote][/quote]Firstly there is a difference between bride price and dowry (mahr) in Islam. Islam has no concept like bride price which has to be paid to the family of the bride. Rather , there is the dowry (mahr) which is a mutually agreed-on gift given to the wife as a token. It is not meant to repay what the parents have spent on the lady.

In Islam, the mahr (dower) is a woman's right and that signifies a husband's love and appreciation for his wife. There is no fixed amount of mahr in the Shari`ah. It should be given according to the financial status of the husband and according to the time and place. However, it should be reasonable and not too expensive.

Mahr is not a bride price. It is a woman's right and it signifies a husband's love and appreciation for his wife. In the Qur'an it is called "sadaqah" which means a token of friendship. It is also called "nihlah" which means "a nice gift or present." Mahr also signifies a husband's commitment to take care of his wife's financial needs (nafaqah).


The value of the bride price is relative to your status, wealth and affordability. For a struggling man like myself, N5000 may be too high, while for someone else, he may be ok with N10 million naira.

The Prophet of Islam is reported to have said ""The best woman is the one whose mahr is the easiest to pay."

Note the word 'easiest'

The mahr can be as low as saying' I want a Quran ' and as high as saying I want my personal jet!  In Islam, there is the story of a man who just read some verses in the Quran to his bride to be as dowry; which shows that the essence is a token of love.

Hence if the guy is balking in this case (for any reason), then its not 'easy'  for him, and I belivee the lady should have done her  homework well to have an idea of what he would be willing to give, or talk it through with him, instead of feeling offended (and you feeling offended on her behalf too).

Even though the guy is rich, except the lady is planning to divocce him (and hence wants a keepsake), I think she should focus less on what she gets as the dowry, and work on ensuring a good relationship post-marriage with her fiance (and her mother-in-law to be).

The Prophet of Islam also warned ; “Do not go to extremes” meaning do not exaggerate in increasing the dowry. “A man may increase the dowry until he feels resentment against her” means, until he begins to hate her when he is still paying off the debts incurred because of this mahr because it is too hard for him, or whenever he thinks about the matter.  


She needs to forget all this idea of  her high class, MIT stuff, if she wants to marry this guy, or else thats going to be the first thing she throws up whenever they disagree.

Tomorrow if she wants them to go on a vacation to Paris, and th guy wants to go to Obudu Cattle Ranch, she has to learn to agree or persuade him softly , rather than referring to the vacation trip to Hawaai that he paid for, for his sister.

In fact , both the lady and the poster have a lot to learn about marriage (no wonder most high-class marriages dont last long, I said most, not all).

I wish the lady the best in her marital journey! And let the guy too buckle up ! Even me sef pay pass N5000!

mama-g:

Meaning?

Nigerian Leaders are Boko Haram! by Idris Ayodeji Bello


So much as been written in the last few days about the recent saga of the Maiduguri-based sect that was referred to as Boko Haram (roughly translated ‘Western education is forbidden’), their violent clash with the police, and the extra-judicial killings that saw individuals already arrested being killed without so much as a trial, and the Minister of Rebranding going on international media to justify this aberration to the ‘Rule of Law’.



I do not intend to offer any opinions on that issue. I leave that to the likes of Disu Kamor of MPAC and Reuben Abati of ‘The Guardian’, and I believe time will expose more facts on the issue.

However, I intend to look at the larger issue of a nation that seems to derive satisfaction from denying its citizens (even the willing ones ) access to education and enlightenment. Yusuf and his followers were alleged to have waged a physical and violent battle against western education.


However, our leaders have been waging a battle against education for as long as I can remember. How best to forbid education than to kill the system, starve education of funds and create a system that churns out educated illiterates, and provides no jobs for even those who survive the system!

I am a product of the Nigerian education system, and I can remember strikes going back to my early years in secondary school. Back then, primary school teachers took no part in strikes as their rewards were still ‘in heaven’. However, I am told that these days, even day-care teachers embark on strikes to press home their demands.

Despite the strikes, I finished secondary school at the young age of fifteen years. Even though I had one of the best WAEC results and entered the University on my first JAMB attempt, I did not graduate from an Engineering course until eight years later, yet I never failed a single course. A colleague of mine who left for college abroad had finished his PhD by the time I finally got ushered out into the labour market.

But its only gotten worse!

Quoting Deolu Akinyemi on his widely read blog, http://www.deoluakinyemi.com/,

“For the first time since I have also been aware of it, ASUU is staying off work for a just course. It’s no longer the selfish manipulations of the government by lecturers for salary increases, it’s negotiating a bigger investment into education. ASUU is asking the government to investing in educating the minds rather than providing amnesty for them when they have become irreparably damaged. ASUU is questioning why Reps and Senators get to earn more than $2,000,000”

I say; A nation where the Education Minister goes on a lavish birthday splash while the tertiary institutions are shut down due to strikes really shows that our Leaders are Boko Haram!

Deolu continues further ;
“The case of the Kogi teachers is also troubling. The students became teacherless six months ahead of WAEC and the teachers gave them the opportunity of sitting for it. Last year, 13% of students passed WAEC with credit in Mathematics and English Language and three other subjects. What will this year be? These warehoused generation of students caught in the no man’s land between Secondary Schools and Universities, their older ones trapped in between NYSC and getting a job, and the many who are trapped within the tertiary institutions without really being there. With these many frustrated, and unhappy youths, and a country that pays so well for militancy, can we say the Government is in Control? “

I say; Our Leaders are Boko Haram!

Paraphrasing a comment from the same blog mentioned above;


Nigerians are not asking for much. All we ask for is functioning power, safe transport and education. We’ll do the rest ourselves. The clowns up there are fighting Lagos for being a state that has created and funded new LGAs legally, claiming victory over militants while oil facilities get bombed daily, taking up multiple-point agendas without resolving one….the amount of cerebral mediocrity on display is absolutely galling! And in the midst of all this, the President goes on a 3-day trip to Brazil while the country is burning?


A country has serious challenges yet the president can afford to go to Brazil on a three day visit? We have obvious challenges, yet the president is concerned about the number of local government in Lagos state that her citizens are not complaining about?

I say; Our Leaders are Boko Haram!

A nation where students prepare for exams with candles because the leadership is yet to declare an emergency in the power sector; where a huge part of the budget is devoted to procuring generators for government buildings , and even the structures we have in our schools are falling out of decay and neglect?

I say; Our Leaders are Boko Haram!


I recently attended a business summit in Houston organized by the Nigerian Muslim Association of Houston, and I remember one of the speakers lamenting that he had just returned from a trip to a suburb of Russia to discuss the use of solar energy ; this is a suburb that has only 1 hour of sunlight daily for only a few months in the year, and yet Nigeria, blessed with the abundance of sunlight refuses to harness such potentials, and continues to give the same excuse of inadequate megawatts due to lack of water in Kainji Dam.

I say; Our Leaders are Boko Haram!

In the end, hundreds of articles may be written about the recent sad incident in Maiduguri, but until the leadership of our nation shows a sincere attitude to providing qualitative and effective education along with the infrastructure to support the delivery of that education in a conducive environment, and an enabling environment to utilize the products of that education, we shall continue to have a situation where , to borrow Luke Onyekakeyah’s words “…graduates from our schools are unemployable because they were not taught to be independent. The result is that thousands of other youths are discouraged from going to school and have lost faith in education, ”


This is the real Boko Haram situation!
Idris Ayodeji Bello

Nigerian Leaders are Boko Haram!

Idris Ayodeji Bello

http://idrisayobello..com/



So much as been written in the last few days about the recent saga of the Maiduguri-based sect that was referred to as Boko Haram (roughly translated ‘Western education is forbidden’), their violent clash with the police, and the extra-judicial killings that saw individuals already arrested being killed without so much as a trial, and the Minister of Rebranding going on international media to justify this aberration to the ‘Rule of Law’.



I do not intend to offer any opinions on that issue. I leave that to the likes of Disu Kamor of MPAC and Reuben Abati of ‘The Guardian’, and I believe time will expose more facts on the issue.

However, I intend to look at the larger issue of a nation that seems to derive satisfaction from denying its citizens (even the willing ones ) access to education and enlightenment. Yusuf and his followers were alleged to have waged a physical and violent battle against western education.




However, our leaders have been waging a battle against education for as long as I can remember. How best to forbid education than to kill the system, starve education of funds and create a system that churns out educated illiterates, and provides no jobs for even those who survive the system!

I am a product of the Nigerian education system, and I can remember strikes going back to my early years in secondary school. Back then, primary school teachers took no part in strikes as their rewards were still ‘in heaven’. However, I am told that these days, even day-care teachers embark on strikes to press home their demands.

Despite the strikes, I finished secondary school at the young age of fifteen years. Even though I had one of the best WAEC results and entered the University on my first JAMB attempt, I did not graduate from an Engineering course until eight years later, yet I never failed a single course. A colleague of mine who left for college abroad had finished his PhD by the time I finally got ushered out into the labour market.

But its only gotten worse!




Quoting Deolu Akinyemi on his widely read blog, http://www.deoluakinyemi.com/,

“For the first time since I have also been aware of it, ASUU is staying off work for a just course. It’s no longer the selfish manipulations of the government by lecturers for salary increases, it’s negotiating a bigger investment into education. ASUU is asking the government to investing in educating the minds rather than providing amnesty for them when they have become irreparably damaged. ASUU is questioning why Reps and Senators get to earn more than $2,000,000”

I say; A nation where the Education Minister goes on a lavish birthday splash while the tertiary institutions are shut down due to strikes really shows that our Leaders are Boko Haram!





Deolu continues further ;


“The case of the Kogi teachers is also troubling. The students became teacherless six months ahead of WAEC and the teachers gave them the opportunity of sitting for it. Last year, 13% of students passed WAEC with credit in Mathematics and English Language and three other subjects. What will this year be? These warehoused generation of students caught in the no man’s land between Secondary Schools and Universities, their older ones trapped in between NYSC and getting a job, and the many who are trapped within the tertiary institutions without really being there. With these many frustrated, and unhappy youths, and a country that pays so well for militancy, can we say the Government is in Control? “



I say; Our Leaders are Boko Haram!



Paraphrasing a comment from the same blog mentioned above;




Nigerians are not asking for much. All we ask for is functioning power, safe transport and education. We’ll do the rest ourselves. The clowns up there are fighting Lagos for being a state that has created and funded new LGAs legally, claiming victory over militants while oil facilities get bombed daily, taking up multiple-point agendas without resolving one….the amount of cerebral mediocrity on display is absolutely galling! And in the midst of all this, the President goes on a 3-day trip to Brazil while the country is burning?





A country has serious challenges yet the president can afford to go to Brazil on a three day visit? We have obvious challenges, yet the president is concerned about the number of local government in Lagos state that her citizens are not complaining about?



I say; Our Leaders are Boko Haram!



A nation where students prepare for exams with candles because the leadership is yet to declare an emergency in the power sector; where a huge part of the budget is devoted to procuring generators for government buildings , and even the structures we have in our schools are falling out of decay and neglect?



I say; Our Leaders are Boko Haram!




I recently attended a business summit in Houston organized by the Nigerian Muslim Association of Houston, and I remember one of the speakers lamenting that he had just returned from a trip to a suburb of Russia to discuss the use of solar energy ; this is a suburb that has only 1 hour of sunlight daily for only a few months in the year, and yet Nigeria, blessed with the abundance of sunlight refuses to harness such potentials, and continues to give the same excuse of inadequate megawatts due to lack of water in Kainji Dam.
I say; Our Leaders are Boko Haram!

In the end, hundreds of articles may be written about the recent sad incident in Maiduguri, but until the leadership of our nation shows a sincere attitude to providing qualitative and effective education along with the infrastructure to support the delivery of that education in a conducive environment, and an enabling environment to utilize the products of that education, we shall continue to have a situation where , to borrow Luke Onyekakeyah’s words “…graduates from our schools are unemployable because they were not taught to be independent. The result is that thousands of other youths are discouraged from going to school and have lost faith in education, ”

This is the real Boko Haram situation!

Idris Ayodeji Bello

This is one of the best peieces on Angels, Jinn & Exorcism


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Toiqdm5XHMw

Jarus, see as you put me for world.

Disclaimer- I have never worked in Chevron Nigeria (though I went to Ife on their scholarship)! So while I know more aout the entry level recruitment in the US, I can say little about the Naija one. Also I can only talk from a technical point of view. I am just on the way to becoming a finance guru, not there yet!
Also ,the views expressed below are mine, and do not represent the official view of Chevron or any of its affiliates

Nigeria- In order to abide by NNPC rules, the company publishes almost all vacancies for entry level in the Nigerian dailies. Applicants are shortlisted (I learnt they still accept 2-2),based on GPA ,etc. Then those who scale the aptitude test are invited for a skills test, followed by an interview session for those who are lucky to get to that point.

Salary wise, you almost cannot do better in any company else in Naija. Opportunity wise, you get the chance to go on assignments and workshops outside Nigeria, even for the finance folks,etc. You get opportunities for two-year crossfunctional posting to the US if you are identified as an hipot(high potential).

Its relaxed, very people friendly,and a great place to work in. In addition, they also recruit for Naija from US and UK colleges, and the recruitment process in this case is done through agents, campus visits,etc. IF you are being recruited for Naija , you also have to write an aptitude test even here in Hosuton.


The recruitment process for the US is totally different, but I do not need to bore anyone here with it. If you are interested, you can PM me.

Jarus, over to you!

Imagine Akala @ Harvard- he will only end up confirming all the misconceptions those people have about Nigerians.

davidylan:
Is a good jinn similar to an angel?

No.  While jinns were created by Allah from fire, angels were created from light.

Also, while angels are infallible, men and jinn can be good or bad

@Jarus & co,

One of the best threads I have read on Nairaland in a long while.  I am impressed.  You did not just pass through Ife,you also passed through Awo Hall Mosque!

Egbado College Ilaro


ENGLISH                                                            YORUBA

Through the green hiils far away           Laarin papa to jina       
In among the vails and dales                Koto ati gegele
Where the cocoa grow so gay               Ni'bi koko ti gbale
Stands Egbado college walls                 Ni Egbado college wa
Happy tidings as they say                     Irin ayo ti won wi
A new born college in our land              Ni'le eko titun ni le wa
Such a place you wish to see                Ibi to ye ka jo ri
Let the land with music ring                  Orin ayo gbenu wa
Tell the story far and wide                    So f'aye k'orun si mo
Spread the news from town to town    K'iroyin de'le do'ko
What our fathers yearns to have         Ohun t'awon baba wa n fe
We've got now and forever more         Je tiwa titi laelae

UP SCHOOL!!!                                         MUSO!!!

kingsmartt:
Am not sure if this was well thought out because looking at it, its like putting the cart before the horse.


2. Credit worthy - There is no way for land lords to know that tenants will pay up monthly. In a country where the legal systems is forever developing, evicting non paying tenants will become a nightmare.

3. Administration of the collection process - The banking system needs to get to a level where landlords / tenants can set up direct debits for monthly collection without the landlords having to come looking three or four times each month before collecting his / her money. And what about landlords who are abroad? Remember there are no trust worthy rent administration companies

'Lessons Learned' are important part of governance.

Anyway, we shall get there eventually.

The above are the big issues I see here. How do I collect my rent monthly from the tenant? If the tenant does not pay, what do I do? If the tenant decides to leave without prior notice, how do I get income until I find another tenant.

Based on whats operating elsewhere;

Before I rent you a house- I will check your creditworthiness-no credit, no rent
I will check your paystubs, get a guarrantor, etc
You will pay a refundable deposit equal to one-month's pay, hence if you default for a month, I use that as my rent, and can send you out!
You sign a yearly contract, and if you leave before the year is up, you have broken the lease agreement , and this will impact your agreement, and you also lose your refundable deposit.
Before you leave, you have to give the landlord one month's notice, so he can start looking for new people to rent!

becomrich,:
Non lecturer over here teacher lastest technology to professor and student over here. It is the only way to transfer skill.

Some of the lecturers are working professionals.

I took a course many many years ago in one of the university over here. And the lecturer was working for IBM and some were working for microsoft.

Kindly translate the first line into English.

From the new CBN helmsman to the Senate yesterday!


"In 1999 when Obasanjo came, in his presidential address, he talked about power, Niger Delta and infrastructure. Ten years later, we are still talking about the same power, Niger Delta and infrastructure.
If we continue like this, by 2019, we are still going to talk about the same thing. For me, the solution is simple: let us start doing something. We cannot just sit and keep talking about visions and agenda without action. "

"We just have to start something; and, I think power is very critical in all of this. Until we address problem of infrastructure, we cannot achieve vision 20:2020."


On the seven-point agenda of the Federal Government, reiterated that, "critical infrastructure is a first item and personally, my view is that until we address the infrastructure problem in this country, we will not begin to solve our problems.
"As a matter of fact, my view is that, in the seven-point agenda, if we could focus on two or three things and finish them up in the next four years, that would be a far more effective contribution to this country than focusing on the seven agenda.

"This is a country where we do not have linkages and because of the absence of linkages, we do not have economic growth and there are many sub-optimalities; we produce gas and export it; we do not have power plants; we produce crude oil; we import refined petroleum products; we export steel rods and import flat sheets.

?If we only set up on ground the industries that will integrate these sources of growth into the domestic economy; if we set up our power plants, set up our own refineries; if we set up our own flat-sheets companies, the multiplier effect in the economy and on growth is amazing and if we do not do that, we cannot grow.?

He continued: ?We create new industries with power; the small-scale industries we are talking about cannot survive without power. All of us grow up in villages where people had grinding machine, in a village where a woman has a deep freezer and by simply selling ice water, she is able to pay electricity bills and feed herself and her family.

?None of the cottage industries can survive without power. So, I have not heard anyone say that infrastructure should not be a priority. I think there are questions over exactly how to finance it. Do you adopt inflationary way of financing or do you cut expenses or do you prioritise?
?But until we address the infrastructure problem, we will not be able to achieve our vision 2020 goals. So, I am very clear on that and I would like to say that this is something that will need to be pursued.?


It is now N165 as at today and it will continue to strengthen as it is clear that there will be a convergence. What we need to do is to open up inter-bank market; to improve the bank open position limit; to go back to Wholesale Dutch Auction (WDAS) and to reverse some of the emergency measures that were taken, which were temporary as quickly as possible.
?People do not really care if it is N150, N170 or N180 to the do
llar, but people want to know, and, I think this is what you mean when you say instability, people want to know it is N180. If you import a shipload of rice at N180 to the dollar, you want to be sure that by the time you sell your rice and you want to buy the next ship, it is not N250.
?That is really what you want; it is about managing expectations and I think it is being done extremely well and the best thing is to continue along these lines.?


?You would not solve the power problems of SMEs by simply lending them money; the man still needs a generator; he still needs diesel; now, if you can produce him with power, it reduces the cost of production; and suddenly a company that would not have qualified for loans now becomes qualified for loans because its cost of production has gone up and it becomes more profitable.


?For me, economic growth and development is not about looking at GDP and interest rates. At the end of the day, we have 150 million Nigerians. When I ask whether Nigeria is improving economically or not, the question is how many Nigerians, who did not have three-square meal a day, now have three-square meal a day?

?How many Nigerians, who did not have roofs over their heads, now have roofs over their heads? How many Nigerians, who did not have education, now have education? That is economic development. If your GDP is growing by 20 per cent and 90 per cent of your population is living in poverty, I do not see that as development.
?So, economics does not give you one answer; it gives you a variety of options. The choice of options is often not driven by economics but by political ideology. Whose interests are you interested in protecting first?


??The constant theme was that if you cannot show that your economic policies have improved the wellbeing of the majority of the people, you cannot claim that you have succeeded. I think it was valid in 2005; it is valid today and it will be valid tomorrow.?
Responding to a question on redenomination, Sanusi said: ?My views are known on the issue. I think it is cosmetic. I think it has been done in countries that suffered hyper-inflation. Turkey did it. Argentina did it. Israel did it. These are countries that suffered inflation of 700 per cent per annum, 1000 per cent per annum. They slashed five zeros and eight zeros and 10 zeros and they slashed again.


?And, usually redenomination is done after you have conquered inflation; after you have completed reforms and you signal a new era. We have not reached that stage even if we are going to do it, I think it is premature.
?I have always expressed this view and certainly, it is not something I am going to pursue. Governor Soludo, I think this country should thank for a job well done. I think he was a very good governor; I think the CBN under his leadership had taken very bold moves. I think he has established a foundation on which we are to build.

I write and receive letters through US Postal Services

KunleOshob:
As if you are the original writer of the article, you could as well have added the source you plagiarzed it from.

Yes, I am the original author of the article!

You can check my blog @ idrisayobello..com or http://top25plus.net/blog/?p=164

Plagiarism!


The above is an article I wrote in early April. Haba!

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-259381.0.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YB1olxLwBWI




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouVzworH30s&annotation_id=annotation_353802&feature=iv

I just woke up and it’s the first day of the year 2020. I am happy to be alive to see the reality of the vision our servant-leader president had over ten years ago.
The nay-sayers had a field day then and said it was not possible. They said we could not be one of the world’s 20 leading nations without any real planning, but our servant leader knew what he was doing, as he loaded his cabinet with visionaries who could turn water into wine.

In his first two years in office, his detractors compared his achievements to that of one small boy who became the American president then, and they joked that in two years, our servant leader had achieved less than what the small boy from Chicago had done in 100 days. What they never realized was that Servant-Leader was studying the huge problems we had (as if he had actually been living outside the country before then). The detractors failed to realize that slow and steady wins the race (after Fast & Consistent is long done!)

http://idrisayobello..com/

Plagiarism!


The above is an article I wrote in early April. Haba!

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-259381.0.html

Celeberate ? Yeah right!

After all those dodo pictures, I got hypnotised into frying plantain, and i am now enjoying it with rice and meat!

@2tait.

When you copy something, learn to acknowlege the author. The above is an article I wrote in early April. You copied it and cut out the part about the author. Haba!

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-259381.0.html

[center]Tamedu is the proprietor of a Foo-Foo and Isi-Ewu Shop (Exotic Nigerian food) in Lagos, Nigeria. [/center]

Sales are low and, in order to increase them, he comes up with a plan to allow his customers to eat now and pay later. He keeps track of the meals consumed on a ledger.

Word gets around and as a result increasing numbers of customers flock to Tamedu’s shop. His suppliers are delighted and are very willing to sell more and more raw materials for the meals he prepares. Tamedu shows them his ledger of receivables and they extend him credit.

A young and dynamic customer service consultant at the local Nairaland bank recognizes these customer debts as valuable future assets and gives Tamedu a credit line and then increases Tamedu’s borrowing limit.

Taking advantage of his customers' freedom from immediate payment constraints, Tamedu jacks up the prices of his Foo-Foo and Isi-Ewu.
Customers don’t mind as they are not required to pay on the spot. Sales  volume increases massively; Banks and suppliers lend more; Tamedu opens more outlets in Abuja, Kaduna, Port Harcourt and Ibadan. He sees no reason for undue concern since he has the debts of the customers as collateral.

At the bank's corporate headquarters, expert bankers recognize Tamedu's customer loans as assets and transform these customer assets into Bonds. These negotiable instruments are given exotic names such as FoofooBond, IsiBond, EwuBond AND EgusiBond.

These securities are then listed on the Stock Exchange and traded on markets worldwide. No one really understands what the names mean and how the securities are guaranteed but, nevertheless, as their prices continuously climb, the securities become top-selling items.

One day, although the prices are still climbing, a credit risk manager of the Nairaland bank decides that the time has come to demand payment of one of the debts incurred by Tamedu. Tamedu in turn asks his clients to pay up. One by one they refuse; the clients cannot pay back the debts. Tamedu refuses to serve them anymore. The clients stop coming.

Tamedu is really screwed now. He cannot fulfill his loan obligations and therefore claims bankruptcy. All bonds drop in price by between 80 to 95%.

The suppliers of Tamedu, having granted generous payment due dates and having invested in the securities are faced with similar problems. The goat-meat supplier defaults on payment to the Mallam who sells goats to him and to the cattle supplier and claims bankruptcy. The yam supplier is taken over by a competitor; Tamedu lays off the cook and staff. Bankruptcies soar, unemployment mushrooms.

The Nairaland bank that lent the money in the first place is set to collapse. It is saved by the Government following dramatic round-the-clock consultations by leaders from the Peoples Undemocratic Party with Tamedu commuting back and forth in his Executive jet and Mercedes 500SEL, brokering the deal.

The funds required to save the economic collapse are obtained by a tax levied on the citizens, most of whom do not eat Foo-Foo or Isi-Ewu.

_{Adapted by Idris Bello for the Nigerian audience  (2009)}

Do not mind these guys. The guy interviewed in that clip is Ronald Ebelt. He used to be our Country Manager at P&G until he was removed. He refused to leave Nigeria and went to work for Reckitt& B. Then he moved on to Nigerian Bottlers, yet he complains about Lagos.

Na by force?

Mathematics anyday!

http://punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art20090127150073

Robbery: Goat suspect, a hoax — Saraki
By Our correspondent
Published: Tuesday, 27 Jan 2009
The Kwara State Government on Monday appealed to the people of the state, especially the residents of Ilorin, to disregard the alleged mysterious goat accused of being a man who had attempted to snatch a car.

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Kwara State Governor, Dr. Bukola Saraki

According to a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Mas’ud Adebimpe, the appeal becomes necessary because of the factions of rumour making the round concerning the mysterious goat being paraded as an armed robbery suspect.

It said intelligence reports reaching Governor Bukola Saraki had no confirmatory evidence of such occurrence.

“There is no iota of truth in the alleged rumour as officers of the state police command are already investigating the matter,” the statement said.

Saraki advised the citizens to go about their lawful businesses.

Can we sell the goat on Ebay?