₦airaland Forum

I wonder what gave ladies the notion that used pants are better than new one, and how on earth can someone wear a pant already worn by unknown person; this is crazy. I was walking past yaba and I couldn't believe my eyes about the rush for foreign used pants for ladies; could this be poverty or stupidity, because the former owner culd have one tough disease and they will pass it around easily; oyinbo disease don they catch us so we have to be wary of how we go about what we wear, because we cannot continue to use poverty as excuse. I heard in the past that some white people injected used clothes with deadly diseases to reduce black race; how government should do something about this, because the rate at wish used clothes are imported into the country; someone will say we don't manufacture them, but I don't believe it takes rocket science to make them; ha ba common pant we no fit do

na today; this year alone I have receive calls from girls claiming to have dialed my number in error at the end they either invite you to night calls on mtn or start a conversation by asking if we could be friends

it is possible to knockout PDP; a Free and Fair Election is the Answer; or why do you think they rejected the most important part the white paper (selection of the INEC Chairman); see what they want to do at Ekiti what a shame; if the party is so strong they should leave their governorship aspirant to campaign by himself; today Yar Adua is in Ekiti, tomorrow Yar Adua is in Ekiti what a shame we should be prepared to match these people vote by vote in 2011. It is only criminals that act the way these bunch of idiots acts; ha ba common Ekiti

apart from his salary to what other benefit is he to his people; as far as i know we have more Egbe Omo Odua as major owner in the banking sector; it is not as if he or any one that will come after him will say let more banks be in my region

Egbe Omo Odua: when I read your thread I knew exactly where you are coming from; to start am from Edo State so automatically I can claim Egbe Omo Odua like you, so sentiments apart let the best person be given the job; is it because she and Tunde Lemo are Egbe Omo Odua like us then they are better than Iweala, common be realistic my friend, you are the one that is being unfair, I don't discrimininate; am not tribalistic, if you talk about cridentials just let the best get the job; drop that mosob issue this is the 21st century

Ireport: sincerely you disappointed me I always like to read some of your thread but this time you messed it up; why do you think he is destroying churches and not mosque, am not a muslim but I know mosque are not built indescriminately like we build churches; common look around town the newly built stores has already being converted into church if I have my way I will ask the governor to tax them because those places were approved as shops but instead coverted for other (church business) venture. the government should immediately STOP and SEAL-OFF all churches in shopping complex and shops. Newly annointed pastors should learn to come together and build churches instead of using shops meant for selling goods and services. It is criminal and I don't care what people think; that is just to proof to you that most of them see this church affair as business and nothing more; or why is it that any new pastor wants to start on his own mmmn General Overseer; the next thing will be miracles

like this man Yar Adua, he deserves an award whether we like it or not; he going to be the first naija to get grammy; if this guy is a musician, MJ will his boy, well sorry to say we don't have a president; it hurts me becos these PDP people told us that this guy is good and that he decleared his asset; and he was the only governor who never used Generator while he was still a governor; they took us for a ride. We can see for ourselves, we should not waste too much time 2015 is a life time to me, 2011 is the time to ask him to go hunourably, so that he can take care of himself.

North over to you, you either produce credible men for selection or forget about it. in 2011 we will come out in large number to cast our vote; forget PDP by the time we are true with voting, we shall stand by our vote; tell the president not to sack Iwu; he should continue as we shall be waiting for him with any method of rigging he plans this time it will not work; we are going to give the world the best election in 2011 and the man for the job will surely be begged to come for the G20 or G7 anyone. Yar Adua resign or get disgraced

like this man Yar Adua, he deserves an award whether we like it or not; he going to be the first naija to get grammy; if this guy is a musician, MJ will his boy, well sorry to say we don't have a president; it hurts me becos these PDP people told us that this guy is good and that he decleared his asset; and he was the only governor who never used Generator while he was still a governor; they took us for a ride. We can see for ourselves, we should not waste too much time 2015 is a life time to me, 2011 is the time to ask him to go hunourably, so that he can take care of himself.

North over to you, you either produce credible men for selection or forget about it. in 2011 we will come out in large number to cast our vote; forget PDP by the time we are true with voting, we shall stand by our vote; tell the president not to sack Iwu; he should continue as we shall be waiting for him with any method of rigging he plans this time it will not work; we are going to give the world the best election in 2011 and the man for the job will surely be begged to come for the G20 or G7 anyone. Yar Adua resign or get disgraced

ogbronx:
to my fellow christians,ours is a religion that the devil has used and still using every means to rubbish and defeat.personally,i dont believe in many of these so-called men of god.what does that even mean?men of GOD?are the rest of us who dont hold microphone men of nothing?the era of man of God has passed for christ has made us all equal before the father.my advice to you christians is to read the bible and never put trust on a man,that applies to your so-called men of GOD for the good book says,cursed is the one who puts his/her trust on man.for all i know,pastor chris and many others may just be making a merchandise of God's people.

that is it, i cannot judge anybody o, but are those of us we don't preach or carry mic; men of devil? the crazy world we live in; i asked a young preacher who approcahed me recently, why is it that the main question asked by most preachers "where do you worship", why is it not possible for me to work into any church pray with them and work away quietly without being asked to come forward if you are coming to the church for the first time; or why is it that unlike a mosque some churches have registers for it members. TV pastor once read a verse in the bible can't remember now but it said we shouldn't rejioce over a miracle but the reverse what we do; i believe we all have the power because i could remember when i was very young and living away from my mum and with my step mum; i felt lonely and my helper is God; I talk to Him whenever am sick; all i need to do was get a cup of water and pray into it, within seconds the headache or pains or just anything affecting me then will be gone; even if i don't do it anymore i still believe we all have the power, so why putting all our eggs in one basket.

the way people carry their pastor on their head and condem other is unbelieve; today there are so many things I need and I know am not asking properly; I know that with only a simple fast and prayers my problem is solved; my word to you is that put your trust in God as no pastor will help you, he can only elaborate the word in the Bible for you but he cannot take you to heaven; so my pastor is good your pastor is bad is complete nonsense; even if you worship in the best church it does not guarantee heaven; the best church is in you; be wise before you go astray visit any church get the word of God and use it forget all those formalities;

Intercontinental has nothing to prove, this is a complete rubbish Dayo ha ba, this is so cheap, you and I know that you can do better

this is the joke of the year; my brothers and sisters, as for me I don't want to believe both parties, but except the guys at Intercontinental bank are so dumb, how could they have sent a threat message using their own email address, the technology to send email using anybody email id is out there for less than 10$ so I don't think they will use their own email address for such; tell the blogger to use something better but I cannot be fooled. even guys around can send sms to anyone from the internet and use any number they choose to use. Sms can be sent to a wife as if the message came from the husband even without touching the man's phone. Mr. Dayo coker please this is old fashioned

This is a wise suggestion but some of you that are now employed believe it isn't; the way things are done here in Nigeria I wonder what will be left for those yet unborn. The condition of life here is so poor that it take the Grace of God to even pass through a day; in the mind of the guy who made the suggestion he know it is not possible but it is important that the government should be made to understand our suffering one way or the other. There is relative peace in the country for now because our language is different; if we are truly united the government will seat up. We all witness what happened in Ukraine and Haiti, when the governments of both country was ordered to leave the state house by the people. They know we are not united; they have completely deceived us to the extent that when I listen to some people speak, I feel like crying, some of us earn to level of salary and we feel that is what our counterpart in order parts of the world with similar profession take home; have you considered that some people still earn N5,000 or even less on a monthly basis.

Visit Matori Industrial Estate and see what our Youth even Graduates are passing through, visit some refuse dump.

We know it is not the duty of the government but will I be wrong to say that the government should build factories and mechinised farms, and serious IT centers in all the state of the federation in order to accomodate those who are willing to work; it could be in line with the PSP initiative and they should ensure that every is insured unlike what is obtainable in the India companies

tell the Americans that people from this part of the world can't be foolish to believe that crap; FAITH EVANS there is no way that wasn't for the paper guys; one day they will come up with a question asking a man or a star if his mother is a man or woman. If the question for George W. Bush was a question how come George was part of the question yet the lady could not tell; even know the show for what it is she must have defeated some other people to get to the hot seat, so save me that rubbish

Some people said when HITV got EPL they will never get Champions league because DSTV is now aware of their plans, so it will be difficult to HITV, but today we are aware who got what and even more. I am aware that the method HITV is using to buy right made it difficult for DSTV because HITV present only Nigeria as their coverage area, that is why I will advice DAARSAT that the only to make any impact is to merge, because ever since 2007 till date nothing has come to me to ask about DAARSAT.

18K doesn't mean much to people; its the monthly subscription and the content; but in my proposal if they both come together, they can bid using West Africa as the yard stick; so when you add all the content together it will make sense to people because in most home the sport fans are usually the first class because on match day they usual have their way; while the ladies and children will make do local movie and cartoon later. we all know that the one who pays the subscription determine what network they will need that is why HITV is selling becos most breadwinner are football fans; so if football is a most then you know the network to be is HITV. so they can both join forces and secure the right for top league and when CNN realises that the main network to be is the Merger between HITV and DAARSAT, stand to be corrected CNN will sure reconsider joining the offering rights to the merger.

pls let him complete all the jobs in Lagos before he starts thinking of becoming the president because I know for sure People Destroy People(PDP) are still wondering why he is not from their party

davidif:
Look people, what Fashola is doing is wrong it is an example of putting the carriage before the horse. Its not the govts job to create wealth and build skyscrapers (business district or whatever they call it) hoping that rich westerners would come there, this is what happened in Thailand and other Asian countries and it failed. Go to Thailand and you would see empty skyscrapers. What happens when demand is a lot less than supply then? My friend in Dubai said the real estate bubble in Dubai just busted. This guys were doing the same thing that Fashola is now doing and guess what? all those skyscrapers they kept building nobody is leaving in it. Its the job of the govt to facilitate the creation of wealth by providing basic public goods like constant power supply, a sophisticated transportation network to boost commerce, and creating a well educated labor market which this guy is not doing. We can't become like America overnight. Fashola should have a bottom up approach by focussing on basic projects to boost the standard of living of people like access to clean water, rural development through agriculture and the electrification of the rural areas so as to provide so as to boost the standard of living of the people. It is all this factors that lead to a rich country. What is the purpose of building shiny skyscrapers when you have street hawkers begging foreigners with suits and ties to buy pure water or Nupe traders selling "guguru and epa" on the street next to a business executive in a maybach. This is the same problem in South Africa, the country might have a high GDP what is the PCI (per capita income)? With all there skyscrapers, you have the highest crime rate in the world because of people who move from rural areas to the city and wind up living in ghettos and because of lack of opportunity start committing crimes. Let's not jump the gun here by going ahead of ourselves instead of focusing on the things that matter the most, the average citizen and NOT the foreign investors or the elites and the nigerians coming back from abroad.
The govt should leave the building of the skyscrapers to the private sector and focus on our pathetic public school system. All it costs to have a world class medical school is $120 million dollars (20 for faculty and 100 for the facility). This would cost a lot less in Nigeria because of lower labor costs and permits cost. A world class engineering college costs less than that but i don't see Fashola focusing on that. He is focusing on planting flowers instead, you can put a make up on a burned victim but you still cannot hide the scars. You can build all the houses in Lagos all you want but what's the need when nobody can afford it.

YEAH YEAH, if you are truly a Nigerian living in the US or faking it, then you have to be in Lagos to feel the impact of Fashola job,even the opposition is commending him.

He is not just building road that we can actually see,not hear-say like I suspect with you; do you think he is going to build a city like the Lekki Free Trade Zone and the Eko Atlantic City without worldclass hospital or even better one, if you are truly in US,then I will be right to say you rely on hear-say.

The stretch of Badagry expressway will now be expanded from 4 to 10 lanes,in addition to the light rail and Bus Rapid Transport (BRT), Rome wasn't built in a day, even roads never expected by Lagosian to be touch by Fashola has been completely turned around, should I talk about the Lasu Isheri Road, the Link Bridge connecting Surulere, Aguda and Ijesha with Okota, Isolo, Ikotun etc, or do I have to also tell you about Yaba, Oyingbo, Oshodi; LAGOSIANS PLS TELL THIS GUY ABOUT YOUR AREA' in Lawanson the 10 storey high refuse that has been there for more than 20 year is gone; my US friend all due respect to where you get your information family or friend, they fed you wrong infos;

becos other failed never doesn't mean Lagos will, Russian sent dog to Space, the US sent human; that the best striker missed a seater doesn't mean others should stop trying.

He is currently working on a mega hospital in Gbagada, and I can see one already standing tall in Isolo behind the existing General Hospital, and more is coming. Ha ba my friend! give the man a chance

We will never fail in Lagos because I see a great Lagos that will ensure that I don't have to battle for visas to another mans land; I hate to be slave in another man's country. Don't worry one day by the Grace of God people from Nigeria will be the one that sends money to families and friend in the US-AMEN

I was only 14 when an idiot tried to lure me into homosexuality, I was naive at first how to avoid him (the idiot) Gerald was his name, the first day it happened I was going home from school and since he operates an office in my neighbourhood, I respected him but he called me into his office and after some usual general talk that although at that time I found unnecessary considering the age difference, he later pull me close to himselves and started touching my penis, because he was stronger than me I had to force myself out but I could do nothing and he had his way for some days, I couldn't tell anybody because I couldn't tell who among us did the wrong thing;the fear of who will believe me set my eyes burning with confusion; even my closest friend never knew about this until later.

I hated him because I felt raped by that idiot, if I see him today am surely going to committe murder; I wish I could defend myself because that evil spirit tried to hunt me but Thank God I realised early that the spirit of the Homosexual are of the devil,so nobody should say God created them that way it was never inborn; how can God in His infinite Mercy contracdict himself; read the bible you Canadians and your likes, it is evil to even nurse the idea. I heard they now go about like normal guys looking for partners; my name is Lucky, pls Homos, if you are planning your funeral or you need to die quick, send me a line nd I will tell you where to find me. DEMONS

Seun - Nairaland N50Billion

ABIKU is sure the best I have seen, simple story, followed by Pot of Life (Amiwu)

WE SHOULD STOP DECEIVING OURSELVES, IF THE SOUTH AFRICANS BELEIVE RAPING THOSE IDIOT IS THE WAY OUT THEN LET THEM CONTINUE, I PERSONALLY HATE ANY THING LESBIAN OR HOMOSEXUAL; THOSE NIGERIAN WHO THINK IT IS RIGHT ARE NOT WITH THEIR RIGHT SENSES. IT IS UNAFRICAN AND WE SHOULD DISCOURAGE IT EVEN IF IT MEANS TREATHENING THEM WITH RAPE. IT IS NOT THAT I ADVOCATE RAPE BUT THE TRUTH MUST BE TOLD. I WISH OUR GOVERNMENT SHOULD START CHECKING THOSE YOUNG BOYS AND GIRLS IN BORDING SCHOOLS BECAUSE THAT IS WHERE IT STARTS.

IT IS NOT INBORN IT IS A DIRTY HABIT THAT NEEDS SERIOUS HELP AT A MENTAL HOME, HA BA HOW CAN SOMEONE SAY IT IS INBORN; THE NATURAL THING IS MAN ON WOMAN THAT IS HOW GOD MADE IT; BUT OUT OF STUPIDITY AND INFLUENCY FROM THAT IDIOT DOWN BELOW IT BECAME A HABIT AND THEY GAVE IT A NAME LESBIAN AND SOMETHING THAT USE TO BE DONE IT SECRECY THEY NOW WANT RECOGNITION FROM THE AUTHORITY.

SOME OF THEM EVEN WENT TO OUR NATIONAL ASSEMBLY TO DEMAND SOME BACKING; I THINK EVEN THEIR LAWYERS SHOULD BE ARRESTED. DIRTY PIGS!

Dear Nairalanders,

Please take your time to read this, we must start something, the government is not doing anything to this people, go to Matori around the Industrial Estate, Mushin/Ilupeju, just ask any of those our Nigerians about the condition of work there and you will be mavelled. A job I will never accept a 100K for a week, and these Indians will pay someone 10K or less to do; am not a richman o but we must do something; the Ghanian never did up to this in the 80s and they were asked to go, this Indians must go, I actualy meant those found to be fraudulent. Please take some time to read this news below.


Dirty Deals Of Asian Companies
The continued incursion of Asians into the country may not entirely be for the growth of the nation's economy, but for their shrewd business interests that see them assuming the status of slave masters over their Nigerian hosts

By Emma Maduabuchi

Snr Correspondent, Lagos


Shirish Tanksale is a talented medical practitioner. He is Indian-born and a naturalised citizen of Nigeria, who has practiced his profession for 26 years at Sango-Ota, a border town in Ogun State.

His was the gifted hand that built the Rubee Medical Centre from scratch in 1989, with the paltry sum of N100, 000, to the huge and modern 38 bed-hospital along Abeokuta Expressway, Sango-Ota, Ogun State.

The hospital boasts of modern equipments such as: Echocardiogram, ECG, X-ray, Well-equipped Operation Theatre, Intensive Care Unit (ICU), and Laboratory.

Tanksale ordinarily, because of his origin, education and medical talent, should be expected to be immune to the usual vicissitudes that afflict commonplace Nigerians. But he is not. Instead, according to him, he has tasted persecutions of many kinds, which would shock most Nigerians.

After he left Rubee to open a clinic of his own (Shirish Clinic) on July 3, 2008, located at 102 Joju Road, Sango-Ota, he got his first shock. On September 25, while at his Shirish Clinic, attending to patients and working to nurture the young clinic as he had done with the Rubee Medical Centre, men from the Special Fraud Unit (SFU) of the Nigerian Police at Alagbon Close, Milverton Road, Ikoyi visited. It was not an ordinary visit. They arrested Tanksale and Jyoti, his 50-year-old wife.

According to Tanksale, the police ransacked his house, apparently in search of incriminating evidence. This was because, in the understanding of Tanksale, Rajan Vaswani, his former boss at Rubee Medical Centre, a business mogul had laid accusations of stealing, embezzlement and fraud against him. Twice, the police came to ransack his house without any evidence of misdemeanor found.

While at the police station the Indian claimed to have been threatened and maltreated with mock executions practiced on Jyoti.

Vaswani, it was gathered, had done everything possible to chase Tanksale out of town without success. Vaswani, who, according to findings, many organisations and individuals have tried to mediate and appeal to, to sheath his sword, is said to be adamant. He is also said to be insisting that the Tanksale must move his residence and clinic away from his Sango-Ota base.

He did not stop at that. Vaswani requested as a condition for settlement that Tanksale also must not berth at some other Local Government Areas like Ado-Odo Ota, Ifo as well as Ipokia, all in Ogun State. Others are Ijaiye Ojokoro and Alimosho, both in Lagos State.

Tanksale's colleagues at Association of General and Private Medical Practitioners of Nigeria (AGPMPN) had also intervened at a point. They once wrote: "Our Association wishes to appeal to you to let Dr. Tanksale be. He is currently living on charity and soft loans from colleagues. Please spare him further misery. The Association is committed to staying by his side in his effort to rise from the ruins. You would have further endeared your organisation, including Rubee Hospital in particular, to the Association, if you cease hostilities."

On February 4, a foremost rights group, Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), held a press conference on the matter. Chijioke Odom, CLO's head of campaigns claimed the conference was called to "bring to the knowledge of Nigerians on one hand, the unjustifiable degradation, unwarranted trauma, ordeal of losses and imminent threat to the life of a fellow Nigerian, Dr. Shirish Tanksale.

"On the other hand, it is to decry the undignified unilateral resort to impunity through the unlawful use of state powers and corporate interests, to initiate and sustain the criminalisation and harassment of Dr. Tanksale by Rajan Vaswani," Odom said.

However, Vaswani, who was contacted for his own side of the story, declined comment, insisting that a written statement put together by his lawyers, Ricky Tarfa & Co, and addressed to CLO would subsist on the matter.

In the statement, Vaswani claimed that the allegation of the threat to life by Tanksale and his family is baseless and fabricated to divert attention from the ongoing investigation by the Commissioner of Police (CP), which he said was against allegations of fraud, conversion, cheating and threat orchestrated and committed by Tanksale and his wife.

He further claimed as incorrect, Tanksale's claims that his account had not been settled up to date. In fact, as per the terms and conditions of the accounts, he presented the profitability and the accounts of the hospital for the year ended 1997, 1998 and 1999.

Incidentally, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrested Vaswani, together with his elder brother, Koresh, last week Friday, March 6.

The brothers, who also have been released from the EFCC's detention, allegedly duped a man, Rotimi Sawyer, to the tune of N1. 6 billion. Saturday Enquirer gathered that the Vaswanis' arrest had to do with intellectual property theft and is not connected with that of Tanksale case with them.

Indeed, Tanksale's case has its origin in 1989, when the Patriarch of the Vaswani family, Vasudev Vaswani, invited Tanksale and asked him to start the Rubee hospital, which he said was intended to cater for his conglomerates.

"His intension was really to help me because he took me like a son," said Tanksale.

Vasudev agreed with Tanksale, to a profit settlement of 75 per cent for the Vaswani's and 25 per cent for Tanksale. Unfortunately for Tanksale, Pa Vaswani passed on February 9, 2006. His death automatically placed the management of the hospital on Rajan's shoulders as he became the new managing director/chief executive officer (MD/CEO) of Rubee Medical Centre.

Trouble started for Tanksale when he requested his own part of the profits of the company, as well as when he planned running an Indian School at Ota to cater for the children of the Indian nationals within that neighbourhood. Out of frustration Tanksale resigned from the employment of the hospital on April 8, 2008.

Other reasons he adduced for resigning his appointment with the hospital were, according to him, refusal of the Vaswani companies to settle any of their bills from the hospital, which then stood at N53 million. Rajan, he further claimed, was in the habit of dipping his hand into the hospital coffers, making away with a princely sum of N250 million monthly without caring about his own part of the agreement with late Pa Vaswani.

Tanksale is a thorough bred medical practitioner, recognised as such by many of his colleagues who would not understand why he was going through hard times in the hands of a fellow Indian.

The story of Tanksale has not ceased to marvel anyone who had thought that inhuman treatment by Indian business people in the country was only reserved for Nigerians in their employ.

For instance, Vaswani's conglomerate, according to Saturday Enquirer's findings practices discriminatory tendencies that many describe as worse than the notorious brand South Africa once practised, in the country in the apartheid era.

Investigations also showed that the Vaswani conglomerates have no Nigerians at a senior staff cadre.

"No Nigerian in their employ enjoys the benefit of owning an official car. It is only expatriate workers that have this privilege," an anonymous Nigerian volunteered.

The conglomerate workers, who spoke to Saturday Enquirer but declined to have their names in print claimed the Indians generally have harsh and brash disposition to every black, and do not entertain any nonsense, especially from their Nigerian employees.

Unfortunately, when approached, the Vaswanis failed to clarify issues on these allegations.

Rajan, according to information available to Saturday Enquirer, once boasted that nobody in Nigeria could dare him in anyway. He was quoted as having said, in his local Indian language: "I have thousands of these black dogs working for me. I feed them; they can only bark, they cannot bite."

But, a director with one of the Vaswani's companies, who pleaded anonymity, vehemently denied the allegations against his boss, saying instead, "it was a deliberate attempt to malign Mr. Vaswani."

The refutal, notwithstanding, Nigerians, it seems, are not the only ones bearing this brunt of Asian harshness.

There is the allegation that, in order to extract maximum loyalty from fellow brothers, all Asian expatriate workers are made to deposit their passports and travel documents, so as to make it easy to deport anyone found misbehaving at will. This is particularly true of the Chinese.

It is on this count that Tanksale suspects Vaswani's hostility to him is hinged. He believes that because he has become a Nigerian citizen, the man distastes him as it is no longer easy for him to send him back to India with a snap of his fingers as he would others.

Interestingly, the harsh treatment to staff is not peculiar to Indian companies, but a feature that is often replicated to a great extent, among the other Asian companies in the country.

For instance, Oasis Bakery, a confectionery along Wempco Road at Ogba, Ikeja, Lagos State is a good example. The company is known to run a policy in which no Nigerian can hold sensitive position, but generally as support staff. The Chinese owners of the bakery are believed to be subjecting the Nigerian workers, before and after work each day's job to humiliating search because of their belief that Nigerians are not trustworthy.

"They easily put off the air-conditioners in their shop as a way of punishing the Nigerian staff. That usually worsens the hot condition of the shop because of the spillover of heat coming from its bakery," said an ex-staff of the company, who does not want to disclose her name to Saturday Enquirer.

Among the greatest disservice the Asian companies have been accused of in Nigeria is their poor remuneration package. WEMPCO, a conglomerate owned by the Chinese and has the street where it is located named after it, is believed to be operating also in this manner.

When Oasis Bakery was contacted, an official who refused to give his name, but is refered to as Master by the staff, feigned ability to speak or understand English, but asked one of his Nigerian workers to respond to the questions. He confirmed that security personnel receive N8, 000 monthly, and after a month of probation, get N8, 500. Other categories of workers receive N10, 000 monthly as their regular pay.

The workers, he said, resume work by 8 a.m. and close by 9 p.m. daily.

Asked whether he knew that to be against Labour laws, he claimed ignorance, insisting that he had never worked before. On public holidays, Oasis workers usually receive N1, 000 as bonus.

The interpreter confirmed the allegation of frisking workers before and after work on grounds that occasionally, the workers had been discovered to pilfer one or two products. Under such circumstance the cost of such products recovered were often deducted from the worker's salary at the end of the month.

At WEMPCO, the company in the business of manufacturing baking flour, animal feed, and several other goods, many senior members were skeptical about talking to the press. No senior official accepted to speak on the accusation of casualisation of staff, poor remuneration, and the absence of Nigerians in the top hierarchy of management.

However, after oscillating between his company's official policy of not speaking to journalists and the accusations not being true, an official (who pleaded anonymity) declared the allegations to be false. According to him, the company pays wages according to structures stipulated by Food and Beverage Labour Union (FBLU) and Agriculture Labour Union (ALU). When reminded that it was Nigeria, through its law on minimum wage, which determines how workers should be paid, he refused to comment further. He however claimed that many Nigerians were directors and many others at top managerial positions in the company. However, he did not show any proof insisting that he was not supposed to speak with the press.

The story of Layemi, a fresh secondary school leaver, tells more of the position of Asian companies in the country. He had his eyes on university education or polytechnic, but had problems with his O'Level papers.

After months at home doing nothing, following his Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (SSCE), he and a couple of friends considered getting a casual job in the neighbourhoods. Their quest took them to Fatai Atere Way in Mushin area of Lagos, where after days of queuing at the gate of a frontline Asian company owned by a Lebanese, which produces plastic products.

Layemi was, however, 'fortunate' to be picked among the new casual workers for the month. His joy knew no bounds, as he believed that at least, his new job would help him in the purchase of a General Certificate of Education (GCE) form and a possible enrolment in an evening tutorial centre.

Four months after, Layemi's dream of writing the GCE examination, which was a few weeks away from commencement, was shattered. During one of his routine assignments as a casual worker, the trimming machine he was working with 'trimmed' the whole of his right hand, up to the wrist, leaving the left with only two fingers. Layemi was hospitalised all through the span of the GCE exams, while efforts to make his employees do something about his condition were entirely futile.

This young Nigerian is only one of the thousands in the employment of Asian-owned industries, whose human dignity, especially as workers, has been substituted for the financial gains of their employers. Little or nothing is arranged in terms of welfare and insurance for employees, even in the area of medicals and commensurate wages for their services.

Odom submitted that the offer of employment by the Asian business owners is not in any way in the interest of the Nigerians.

Said he: "It is not that they give jobs to Nigerians; it is because they find cheap labour in Nigeria, they find a docile populace who cannot protest against injustices. It is because they found an environment that is enmeshed in harsh poverty and the need for survival makes people to toe the lines of least resistance. When you get to those places, there might not be provision for security; there might not be appropriate medical plans for the workers.

"It is one thing to give a man a job and it is another thing to give a man a living wage. What you need to ask yourself is what happens in those industries where Nigerians constitute a majority? In many of them, you will find no top management staff that is a Nigerian, you will find no director that is a Nigerian. For one, in the Vaswani conglomerate, there are over 200 directors, none of those directors is a Nigerian, all of them are Indian expatriates."

Odom particularly decried the non-commensurate wages paid to the Nigerian staff of these Asian-owned companies. He said: "The jobs they give to Nigerians are the shop-floor jobs; those who move raw materials into the machines, those who work on those machines that chop off legs and hands yet they remain on poor salaries. Most of these Nigerians are casual staff; most of them don't even have what you can call a formal contract. The Asians use administrative manipulations to treat those Nigerians like that.

"In these factories, industries or corporations or whatever you call it, run by these Asians, Nigerians are technically disenfranchised from accessing what is due them. They would keep you on probation for 10 years. You may not even possess valid contract papers that proclaim you as a staff; it is like they are testing you. Some even live in the mirage that soon they would confirm their appointment and before you know it, you have worked for 30 years with nothing to show! If you take a stroll round the nation, you will see families that have been ruined because their parents worked for these organisations."

But, the foregoing does not in any way remove the fact that the Asians and their business have been of some importance to the Nigerian economy. As a matter of fact, their businesses in the country are many and appear to be the only ones still standing under the harsh economic condition of the country today.

For instance, Rajan alone can boast of about six important companies still standing today in the country. Some of them include: Veepee, Arvee, Abvee, Bumni Veevee, and others; all limited liability companies.

Since Friday, March 6, Odom has been in hiding following information that operatives of the State Security Service (SSS) were looking for him in connection with the call he made at the February press conference.

He had said: "The national director-general of State Security Services (SSS), the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) should, immediately offer full protection to, and commence investigations into the persistent threats to the life of Dr. Shirish Tanksale and his family by Mr. Rajan Vaswani. We make this demand on the premise that Vaswani's powerful political, economic and social connections through his large assets and resources pose a clear and present danger to this innocent Nigerian in his quest for justice."

According to Odom, three operatives of the SSS had arrived at the CLO Head Office that Friday at about 12. 35 p.m. with a white Peugeot Minivan. The vehicle had tinted glasses.

Odom said: "They had come to take me to detention. Not finding me, they threatened to get me by all means."

He further said that they refused to speak to any other person except the Acting Executive Director, Ibuchukwu Ezike, who told them that having led the civil rights agitation in the country for almost 25 years, nobody could intimidate the CLO."

When a contact was made with Odom, he said he was fearful because he was yet to determine if intimidation and vendetta would not be in the cards for him.

In attempt to put a finger on what makes Asians succeed in Nigeria so much so that they have somewhat become a law unto themselves, that they have in almost all the nooks and crannies of the country, Odom attributes it to their hard work which compromises nothing.

His words: "Attraction for the influx of the Asians and other nationalities into this country is the lawless environment, which protects their business interests unquestionably. The Asians are hard working business-oriented people, and that is their primary occupation. They substitute hard work with God. In other words, in the figment of their imaginations and by all calculations, God does not exist and nothing else exists except raw, human bravado. So, wherever they find their hard work paying off, they go there and establish businesses. Nigeria offers them that kind of environment."


*Additional report by Oba' Adeoye (Daily Independent - Saturday 14th March 2009)

Bosso, have we asked ourselves if the NFF have successfully sack him before they start talking of appointing a new coach; there must be some difficult issue about bosso contract they don't know how to go about it; because even if you must bring in a new coach, you should have started a long time ago.

Maybe we should ask Bosso if he still needs the job, abi maybe he has something to offer; then if he needs it, and he promise to deliver like he said in several other tournaments he took us to, then they (NFF) should include in his contract that if he fails to reach the finals or semis, then you should spend 6 months in Kirikri, if he agrees with this, then he should be asked to continue

Wat do you people take us for, compete against yourself first before thinking of fighting other, HITV was only smart because DSTV never saw them coming, and do you think they will stand and watch DAARSAT overtake them just like that? was it not money that you used to buy those HD equipment, what if tomorrow they (HITV) decide to say ok they are going to reparkage and purchase HD equipment that was manufactured yesterday; those channels whether 48 or 38 they are all for sell. A network needs something to sell others, MTN used midnight calls to add more customers, GLO used per second to do the same, Etisalat used customise numbers, Zain used free SMS, so HITV used Football and they are selling fast. Go and check HITV records in August 2007 till date. If DAARSAT is so go at 18K, they should be able to boast of 5000 subsribers already.

shamass77; my guy remember what I told you in my thread, you only merger will save DAARSAT I stand to be corrected, I can give you my work address I don't work for them; I have my own business as a dealer with HITV but when I checked the condition of becoming a dealer with DAARSAT I realise that whoever is advising them, didn't do a good work; the condition is tough because real business starts from the root except you do not intend to carry Nigerians along or do you think the upper class is more than 3% of our population?

Or do you think the merger will mean job loss? I want you to think of how many people lost their job when Trend TV, FSTV, Cabletel TITV etc all went down; we might look like a very big nation in terms of population but why do you think companies change their strategy when they come into Nigeria. MTN, Zain, Telcom (Multilink), these are example of restrategising. Tell your people to talk to HITV, eveyone should come to the table, business is all about making money, and our population could do the magic. call MTN or Glo and ask them the number of customers on their networks and you will here millions.

shamass77: maybe you just don't understand what am saying, in todays business the koko is creative and your ability to challenge yourself before you present your case to the world, DAARSAT could as well be free, but if they don't have what I want to see it doesn't make sense for me to have it. Even HITV is still considered high at 4K monthly, and I have the opportunity of watching all the Champions leagues, Premiership, La Liga, Seria A, Carling Cup and the rest of them and you expect me to pay N5,500 monthly for nothing.

The interest of everyone varies when it comes to TV, but operators always consider the most watch as a key to draging a lot of viewers to their network that is what HITV has done, now that they are a bit comfortable they can start thinking of improving other areas such as picture quality, audio, add adding more channels. and in my opinion they should reduce the monthly cost to about N1,500 or even N1,000 so that a lot of people can afford it, because the more the merrier.

Am not a lottery man so if I want to take part in any competition I must first weigh the option, and who told you 15 people will be going to the world cup, please leave that media talk, even as open as "WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE" can be I still have my suspicion on the credibilty how much more one that will only require some selected number in a box and one selected questionable person will come and pick the winner or the 15 people, is it yam to send people to the world cup, let us be realistic because that is the game.

A merger is the answer from the way I look atthings right now believe it or not, one day you will see things my way, that is our problem in Nigeria, we only think "I" can do it alone, we can work together. Where is Concord Newspaper, all due respect to MKO but the truth most be told, If anything happens to Abramovich of Chelsea today I wonder what will become of the club. Even Trend TV can still join, FSTV what happened to them I guess we forgot so soon about them. do you remember Cabletel? it is not all about equipment it, it everything; you cannot say because you killed a cow then the soup is ready, you still need other item without them the cow will be useless.

Let those who are close to these people talk sense into them, because the competition is not here, who says we can't have a truly nigerian company pusing seriously the interest of west africa and africa to the world. We can do better, you need oil to eat yam the same way you need yam to eat oil. Even if you run faster than me, you have to consider that I am aready leading, so DAARSAT should consider the fact that HITV is already ahead in the area of subscriber base and serious exclusive rights (first refusal); HITV should also consider that DAARSAT has the latest equipment (which HITV can also aquire if they choose to) but why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free, the merger could mean less forex is spent in this time of recession.

The competition should be between the channels, the local TV channels could compete against themselves on the network. Sound TV and Nigezie could be competing against themselves, and who says a network cannot have up to 10 sports channels, the channels could be on the network yet still enjoy some level of independence to create healthy competition, Amuludum and Faaji. Sky is all over Europe, that should give us an idea of what I hope to see; the merger could use West Africa as their base, and even the next premiership bid could be presented is such a way that West Africa should be used instead of just Nigeria. I can go on an on but lets reserve some for another day.

I will never compare a new club with Al Alhy, all I want to know for do for now is to see people reaction to this news project am working on, so your submission will push me to continue. The population of Lagos is massive, and we deserve a club or more with serious fan base that could be compared with any serious club in the world. Have you seen Teslim Balogun, I was there and I touched the turf my brother, I felt like going back to football. We don't have to pay the same membership fee, that is why suggestions are needed; just share your thought because this project could be bigger than you imagine

[b]

If you find a local club that can give you a feel like you are supporting any of the above-mentioned clubs, if YES, please kindly find time to answer the below questions;

Since the stadium will be secured, will you visit the stadium with your family?

Will your register your family to become full members?

What do you suggest the cost of membership should be considering the fact that Al Alhy FC of Egypt is put at $5,000?

How much will you reasonbly buy the club jerseys, considering that they might have 2 or 3?

What time and day of the week will you like to watch matches?

How much do you think should be the cost of home matches if they play top games, considering that Manu average home game is over N10K (£48)?

If more match are played at night considering the cool atmosphere, how often will you visit the stadium?

Please suggest what you will like to see happen.

More update and suggestion coming as this is only the first edition, we should also note that is thread is also for documentary purposes, as upon completion of inputs by everything who visit, we shall then more to the next phase, so trust me on this by providing reasonable inputs, by the time we get to the third edition, we would have more clue about what i hope to achieve here.[/b]

Dear Lagosian,

I want you to carefully read this and tell me if you accept or not.

The population is Lagos is fast growing and by 2015 it has been projection to reach over 20million but we don't even have the stadium culture anymore, but when you do an head count of the number of people who watch EPL and the La Liga, as well as the Italian Serie A, then you will be Marveled the number of football fans available.

So if trusted businessmen can come together to create football clubs structured after the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Barcelona, Real Madrid, AC and Inter Milan, Juventus etc; in such a way that they are carefully blended into forming unique club with accessible academy in all 57 local government quality and secured venue. Imagine if the club can afford good salary for players and officials, compare to anywhere in africa, if the stadium they use has quality playing turf, friendly environment for the family at all times, club TV, good management structures, secured night football opportunity, grade A female team, good sponsors, access to buy into it by way of shares and souvenirs and other marketable ventures.

If you find a local club that can give you a feel like you are supporting any of the above-mentioned clubs, if YES, please kindly find time to answer the below questions;

Since the stadium will be secured, will you visit the stadium with your family?

Will your register your family to become full members?

What do you suggest the cost of membership should be considering the fact that Al Alhy FC of Egypt is put at $5,000?

How much will you reasonbly buy the club jerseys, considering that they might have 2 or 3?

What time and day of the week will you like to watch matches?

How much do you think should be the cost of home matches if they play top games, considering that Manu average home game is over N10K (£48)?

If more match are played at night considering the cool atmosphere, how often will you visit the stadium?

Please suggest what you will like to see happen.

Imagine a tree in your backyard that will meet all your nutritional needs, take care of you medicinally, and purify your water for you. This tree actually exists. For centuries, the natives of northern India and many parts of Africa have known of the many benefits of Moringa oleifera. Its uses are as unique as the names it is known by, such as clarifier tree, horseradish tree and drumstick tree (referring to the large drumstick shaped pods) and in East Africa it is called "mother's best friend”. Virtually every part of the tree can be used. Native only to the foothills of the Himalayas, it is now widely cultivated in Africa, Central and South America, Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia and the Philippines. This tree, though little known in the Western world, is nutritional dynamite. There are literally hundreds of uses for this tree.

The immature pods are the most valued and widely used of all the tree parts. The pods are extremely nutritious, containing all the essential amino acids along with many vitamins and other nutrients. The immature pod can be eaten raw or prepared like green peas or green beans, while the mature pods are usually fried and possess a peanut-like flavor. The pods also yield 38 - 40% of non-drying, edible oil known as Ben Oil. This oil is clear, sweet and odorless, and never becomes rancid. Overall, its nutritional value most closely resembles olive oil. The thickened root is used as a substitute for horseradish although this is now discouraged as it contains alkaloids, especially moriginine, and a bacteriocide, spirochin, both of which can prove fatal following ingestion. The leaves are eaten as greens, in salads, in vegetable curries, as pickles and for seasoning. They can be pounded up and used for scrubbing utensils and for cleaning walls. Leaves and young branches are relished by livestock. The Bark can be used for tanning and also yields a coarse fiber. The flowers, which must be cooked, are eaten either mixed with other foods or fried in batter and have been shown to be rich in potassium and calcium.

In developing tropical countries, Moringa trees have been used to combat malnutrition, especially among infants and nursing mothers. Three non-governmental organizations in particular - Trees for Life, Church World Service and Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization - advocate Moringa as “natural nutrition for the tropics.” Leaves can be eaten fresh, cooked, or stored as dried powder for many months without refrigeration, and without loss of nutritional value. Moringa is especially promising as a food source in the tropics because the tree is in full leaf at the end of the dry season when other foods are typically scarce. Analyses of the leaf composition have revealed them to have significant quantities of vitamins A, B and C, calcium, iron and protein. According to Optima of Africa, Ltd., a group that has been working with the tree in Tanzania, "25 grams daily of Moringa Leaf Powder will give a child" the following recommended daily allowances:

Protein 42%, Calcium 125%, Magnesium 61%, Potassium 41%, Iron 71%, Vitamin A 272%, and Vitamin C 22%. These numbers are particularly astounding; considering this nutrition is available when other food sources may be scarce.

Scientific research confirms that these humble leaves are a powerhouse of nutritional value. Gram for gram, Moringa leaves contain: SEVEN times the vitamin C in oranges, FOUR times the Calcium in milk, FOUR times the vitamin A in carrots, TWO times the protein in milk and THREE times the Potassium in bananas.

The Moringa tree has great use medicinally both as preventative and treatment. Much of the evidence is anecdotal as there has been little actual scientific research done to support these claims. India's ancient tradition of ayurveda says the leaves of the Moringa tree prevent 300 diseases. One area in which there has been significant scientific research is the reported antibiotic activity of this tree.

This is clearly the area in which the preponderance of evidence - both classical scientific and anecdotal evidence - is overwhelming. The scientific evidence has now been available for over 50 years, although much of it is completely unknown to western scientists. In the late 1940’s and early 1950’s a team from India identified a compound they called pterygospermin. This group was also able to demonstrate its mode of antimicrobial action in the mid 1950’s. Field reports and ecological studies form part of a rich traditional medicine history claiming efficacy of leaf, seed, root, bark, and flowers against a variety of dermal and internal infections. In 1964 other active compounds were isolated and tested in-vitro, and these studies, along with observational studies provide a very plausible mechanism of action for the centuries of claims of efficacy. Unfortunately, because many of the reports of antibiotic efficacy in humans are not supported by placebo controlled, randomized clinical trials, Western medical prejudice leaves the Western world ignorant of Moringa’s antibiotic properties.

Another area of folklore which research supports is in cancer treatment. Moringa species have long been recognized by folk medicine practitioners as having value in the treatment of tumors. Studies examined certain compounds for their cancer preventive potential. Recently two of these compounds were shown to be potent inhibitors of activation of lymphoblastoid (Burkitt’s lymphoma) cells. One of these compounds also inhibited tumors in mice bred to be prone to tumors. In another study, Bharali and colleagues examined skin tumor prevention following ingestion of drumstick (Moringa seedpod) extracts. In this mouse model, which included appropriate positive and negative controls, a dramatic reduction in skin tumors was demonstrated. More rigorous study is required in order to achieve a level of proof required for full medical endorsement of Moringa as, in this case, a cancer preventative plant.

After the oil is extracted from the pods, the seed-cake remaining contains the active components for removing turbidity (solid particles) from water. Because bacteria adhere to the solids, this seed-cake also effectively removes bacteria. At the Thyolo Water Treatment Works in Malawi, Africa, two researchers from the University of Leicester, England, have worked on substituting moringa seeds for alum to remove solids in water for drinking. Not only were the tests successful in removing as much solid material as alum, but the seeds used were "purchased from enthusiastic villagers in Nsanje Region in Malawi" (Folkard and Sutherland, 1996. Not only is Moringa oleifera as effective as aluminum sulphate (alum) in removing suspended solids from turbid water, it has a major advantage. Because it can be produced locally, "using Moringa rather than alum would save foreign exchange and generate farm and employment income." The potential for Moringa to create a new market for a community is there, and studies and projects are taking place examining this potential. Use of this natural substance would also remove a source of aluminum contamination.

This tree is truly a “miracle” tree offering hope; nutritionally, medicinally and economically to devastatingly poor 3rd world countries. It has just recently begun being used as a supplement in a juice form and in powdered leaf tablets.


visit this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moringa_oleifera

http://www.tfljournal.org/article.php/20051201124931586

when I came up with this thread, I knew some people will completely see it as an impossiblity; LINKSMAN, you have completely beared my mind on this whole issue; for Shamass77 to think that HITV cannot decide to upgrade to High Definition (HD), add more magor channel, reduce their subscription cost; then you will tell me where DAARSAT will stand.

HI Nolly for local movies is actually good, but it needs little improvement, in the contents, quality of picture, audio; then it can compete with any station showing movies on any network.

Hi Sports (1&2); Hi Soccer; this is already an A Class channel that can stand it own any where; the presenters have improved over time and they can still do more, with little money the studio can be touched with stand any one in the world; to even add that no other station other than HiTV will show the champions league next season, YES this is a fact anyone can contact the broadcast right owners to verify this fact. Watchout for more improved Sports on HITV.

Amuludun is now popular among Yoruba viewers, so igbo and hausa channels are also coming before the end of the year; HINTs has it that a channel specially dedicated to other local languages is on the way.

Nigezie and trace are doing justice to music, and thinking of the name Nigezie (prondly Naija) visit UK and you will see how Nigerians and other Africans appreciates the contents from Nigezie, more could still be done as they have created room for improvement.

so my brother shammass77 all due respect to the content provided by DAARSAT and the technology (HD); even if they build an HD manufacturing center in their Abuja Hills; you still need subscribers to pay subscription for them to earn any income; and unlike the terrestial transmission of they previously offer where because of the free transmission and the wide reach advertisers will only advertise when your subscriber base is large; (find out how long it took before they (advertisers) started talking to HITV) so it is a different ball game.

The only difference here is the HD to be sincere because the core of the job needed to be done by HITV has been done; but more still needs to be done and they know with DAARSAT and DSTV yes they still need to do more work. The station on DAARSAT are not exclusive to them so it is only a matter of discussion between HITV management and the owners, the rest is history.

So all I am trying to do here is to advise both company to save cost; partnership or merge will ensure that hitv doesn't need to buy more machine to upgrade to HD or studio or adding more channels etc. this will save the nation and the station forex. It could stimulate the new Nigerian image the country is trying to promote; when we tell our own story by ourselves and sell to the world, the arabs are doing it with Al Jazeera, we can have a fomidable news channels that can tell the Africa story by africans to the world the more the merrier.

DAARSAT will not need to cough out more money to try to upstage anyone for premiership rights, instead such fund could be given to our local league to improve the quality of games and other areas.

We can also have very good local channels for children, have our local cartoon, and who knows we could one day see our own type of Lion King, or Kung Fu PAnda type of cartoon, we should join hand to compete with the world and not against ourselves, we know DSTV is not ours, yet they have made more money here that the rest of Africa; but their local production benefited we never did; this is the time for us to improve our own. If we can boost of more than 30 locally generated channels it would really help the local broadcast workers. One station alone means more, let alone 30; it is not too much; who says with little support from here and there we can have various channels for Drama, Action, Soup etc.

the PSL (south african league) don't have the quality of talent we have but it is well package from the academy to the main stage (PSL), super sports pumps in money like they are trying to get the right for EPL (English League); they even at some point compared the level of patronage of the EPL and PSL; and I don't blame them because it is another case of using what you have to get what you want. If they promote their league locally, it is good for them, because at the world cup, the stadiums would be used for PSL and lots of more money for their league means more quality. Someone should please speak to these guys at DAAR and HITV, to please understand that their marger is something that is of great importance to this nation.

Even as popular as HITV, the subsriber based is still not above 200,000, and in a country of 200 Million, then there is a lot of money to be made by the possiblity of this merger, so who says a SAT Sation cannot have more than 50 Million Subscriber, we (Nigeria) could be the first to get to that level; and the more subscriber for them the more money; nobody should try to use calculators, even if the subscription is put at N1000 by only 5Million, they should look at the brighter side of business.

Obama raised the highiest fund in US election history but majority of the fund came as low as $1, so they should know that the competition is not against one another but the possibility of coming together. See what Nilesat is doing for the Arabs, Sky for the English, Fox and Co for the Americans; their merger could rack in millions of subscribers and trillions of naira and even turn around our image locally and abroad. A united front could mean united people, and they could start thinking of higher techonology, more stations like having up 15 sport channels, 10 movies and so much more. they should also remember that broadband internet and several other possiblities. This will make more money stay at home.

they should start thinking ahead of other in the areas of image laundry, telling our own story, creating our news channels and ensuring it is free outside this region like creating an African news channel and puting it on SKY, NILESAT, FOX-SAT etc; and giving other people the opportunity of hear our stories from us, like the Arabs using the Aljazira, the US uses FOX, CNN and NBC, UK uses SKY and BBC. We can get better than this and make this country great again.