₦airaland Forum

bayulll011:
sincerely you are deluded.
i know that one in abuja is not suppose to be the president in this country but will rate him far better than the drunken masters.
me i don't support any politician of what important is that to me if it doesn't add any value to my life.
those politician are the same how many elections have we had now,has anything change,that will tell you that they are both irresponsible and cannot add value to you,stop glorifying them

LOL.

When propaganda doesn't work, try demonising with inane insults.
Sadly, or will I say thankfully, that doesn't work again.

You can read the Punch article again, as I know you never read it. And face facts, face real stories.
Of course, you will continue pretending to yourself and repeating propaganda, but it is important you read it and add some knowledge to yourself.

bayulll011:
oh God here we go again.
which government,that almost ruin the nations with serious lootings and massive corruptions.
see that one in abuja is unresponsive and slow and pathetic in decision making but will rate him far better than the ineffectual buffoon.
if you know what those guys and his vroonics did to our financial sectors it will take 2 decades before we recover,you know nothing seriously

lol. You speak from the place of repeated propaganda. And everyone here understands how that works.

The facts and present realities say something different.
Research shows that migration is largely driven by economic reasons. There are other factors- from war to crop failure to disease outbreak. But these factors are variable; economic reasons has been the constant of them all.

If the economic situation in Nigeria, regardless of who is in charge, is at the same level of the previous government or better, brain drain would not spike this high. If it is worse, as it is currently is, the middle class will move.
It is this simple. Look at the current crop of Ministers, persons who are supposed to be policymakers. How many technocrats are there, let alone, world-class technocrats? You have politicians in charge of Ministries. In a 3rd world country. Really? Hahaha! I laugh. Nigeria is a funny country. Citizens like you make it funny. A third world country never make any appreciable gains if run by politicians. Never, ever, ever.


To believe otherwise is to be, frankly, deluded.

We can pretend and propagandise everything. But the statistics show that doctors, pilots, scientists, etc are fleeing Nigeria. Again, we can pretend and decieve ourselves, but facts are facts.

Omooba77:
Yes, Canada is not just taking our young people, they are taking the fattest of our crops, the best, the brightest, and the brainiest!

One of them is my friend, Olufemi, (not real name). He graduated top of his class and best in the entire university! Nine years after graduation, he got married to his equally cerebral lawyer wife, and they both had fairly paying jobs that admitted them into the struggling middle class in Nigeria. A year after marriage, Olufemi, disillusioned by the state of his family’s finances, the situation in the country and the underutilisation of his skills, and intellect at his place of work, sold all his assets and relocated his young family to Canada!


Femi’s story is not unique, almost every young Nigerian professional who is not in the process of immigrating to Canada, knows a friend, family or colleague who has relocated or is in the process of relocating. The situation is alarming, almost like the biblical “rapture”: you come to work one day, you see your colleagues, you resume the next day, and they are gone!

I recently had a conversation with a millennial working in one of the big four audit firms; the conversation bordered on the number of young professionals leaving the country for Canada. He informed me that their firm had started a WhatsApp group for ex-staff members that had immigrated to Canada; as of the time of having that discussion about 70 Nigerian immigrants had joined the group. A similar conversation with another tax consultant also working in one of the “big four” revealed the same trend. According to him, almost all his colleagues in their audit department had immigrated to Canada or some part of Europe!


Why Canada, you may ask? Well, Canada has an immigration process carefully designed to attract highly skilled young professionals. It requires you to be of a certain age bracket (the younger you are, the more points you gain) to take a “Test of English”, send your academic transcripts, have certain amount in your bank account and Voila! you get a Canadian Permanent Residence.

The process, while seamless, is expensive for the average Nigerian, and is also a clear indication of the class of people they want: comfortable, highly educated, extremely skilled, young professionals, hence the people who go through this process are not poor by Nigerian standard.


As a young professional in this country, you begin to wonder if there is something wrong with you if you have not commenced your own immigration process. When you see your friends and colleagues resign from their jobs, sell their property, and leave the country; when you watch them upload pictures of their new countries of residence on social media and ‘brag’ about how the system works; when they inform you gleefully of how they have “secured” the future of their children, and invite you to join them, you wonder if, perhaps, you are not missing out on life opportunities for your own children!


Sir, the young people leaving the country are not unpatriotic, the reality is that Nigeria has not been kind to her youths! Furthermore, this brain drain did not start with young people nor did it start in this generation. When political and religious leaders send their children outside the country to be educated or when they seek heath care outside the shores of their country, they send a clear and uncontroverted message to our young people that they do not believe in the future of their country! Young people are therefore simply taking a cue from her leaders, yet, this mass immigration in recent times is nothing like what happened in the past: it is massive, and it is alarming! Young bright people immigrating to a foreign land is the most telling evidence of a failed leadership!


What state of affairs of a country would make its young people leave e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.ng: family, friends, some measure of certainty and in some cases extremely good jobs for a foreign country, full of uncertainties and oftentimes for less than inspiring jobs?

The current state! The reality is that the state of affairs of this country is extremely discouraging for young people! Our country is ridden with nepotism, insecurity, poor infrastructure, unemployment and a lot more, underemployment! What is more discouraging, and frightening is that nothing in the present seems to indicate that things will get better in the future!


Our health care system needs a complete overhaul, medical “facilities” are in dire state of disrepair. The doctor to patient ratio in public hospitals is shockingly poor, yet our doctors and health personnel continue to emigrate the country, because they are overworked, overwhelmed and underpaid!

A close friend and her younger sister were recently threatened with deportation, as she had remained in the United Kingdom, after her student visa expired. Her British friends started a petition online in a bid to keep her and her sister in the UK. There is a back story to all of this drama: my friend had lost two of her siblings who had medical conditions, mainly as a result of the poor health care system in the country and has a younger sister with the same medical condition who may have faced a similar fate, were it not for the excellent and timely treatment she had received in the UK. Unfortunately, her younger sister requires continuous health care which is simply not available in our country.


My friend, a brilliant lawyer and patriotic Nigeria, is compelled to appeal to the British Government to offer a right to remain, because her younger sister’s life quite literally depends on it!

Why do we subject our young people to this kind of humiliation? Why do we have to beg to remain in a foreign land? How does a developing nation recover from such massive evacuation of its human capital? And more importantly, how do we address this issue to reignite a sense of patriotism amongst our young people?


Quite frankly, I do not have the answers to all these questions.

I hear that there is a common joke in Toronto, that the best place to have a heart attack is in a taxi, because the driver is probably an immigrant doctor. The young people leaving are some of the smartest and the brightest, they know that adapting to a new society is hard, yet they still go! Many of them are skilled professionals, lawyers, doctors, architects, pharmacists, they know that they must write and pass expensive professional exams, yet, they still go! They hear about racism, about the cold, the lonely nights and outright discrimination, yet, they still go! The frustration and disappointment amongst young people are real and palpable, but, they believe the country has little to offer so they leave.


We must address this issue with the urgency it deserves, because at the end of the day, Nigeria is the only country we can truly call home! It is for this reason that many Nigerians in the Diaspora still choose to come back home! They still build property, start businesses and make investments in the country. They still give their children African names and follow the local news closely; many are even more abreast and passionate about the happenings in the country than those of us in the country. They are never truly gone; one “leg” in, the other out! and how can they, their parents, friends, colleagues and relatives are still here!

Yes, Canada is not just taking our young people, they are taking the fattest of our crops, the best, the brightest, and the brainiest!

One of them is my friend, Olufemi, (not real name). He graduated top of his class and best in the entire university! Nine years after graduation, he got married to his equally cerebral lawyer wife, and they both had fairly paying jobs that admitted them into the struggling middle class in Nigeria. A year after marriage, Olufemi,  disillusioned by the state of his family’s finances, the  situation in the country and the underutilisation of his skills, and intellect at his place of work, sold all his assets and relocated his young family to Canada!

Femi’s story is not unique, almost every young  Nigerian professional  who is not in the process of immigrating to Canada, knows a friend, family or colleague who  has relocated or is  in the process of relocating. The situation is alarming, almost like the biblical “rapture”: you come to work one day, you see your colleagues, you resume the next day, and they are gone!

I recently had a conversation with a millennial working in one of the big four audit firms; the conversation bordered on the number of young professionals leaving the country for Canada. He informed me that their firm had started a WhatsApp group for ex-staff members that had immigrated to Canada; as of the time of having that discussion about 70  Nigerian immigrants had joined the group. A similar conversation with another tax consultant also working in one of the “big four” revealed the same trend. According to him, almost all his colleagues in their audit department had immigrated to Canada or some part of Europe!

Why Canada, you may ask? Well, Canada has an immigration process carefully designed to attract highly skilled young professionals. It requires you to be of a certain age bracket (the younger you are, the more points you gain) to take a “Test of English”, send your academic transcripts, have certain amount in your bank account and Voila! you get a Canadian Permanent Residence.

The process, while seamless, is expensive for the average Nigerian, and is also a clear indication of the class of people they want: comfortable, highly educated, extremely skilled, young professionals, hence the people who go through this process are not poor by Nigerian standard.

As a young professional in this country, you begin to wonder if there is something wrong with you if you have not  commenced your  own immigration process. When you see your friends and colleagues resign from their jobs, sell their property, and leave the country; when you watch them upload pictures of their new countries of residence on social media and ‘brag’ about how the system works; when they inform you gleefully of how they have “secured” the future of their children, and invite you to join them, you wonder if, perhaps, you are not missing out on life opportunities for your own children!

Sir, the young people leaving the country are not unpatriotic, the reality is that  Nigeria has not been kind to her youths! Furthermore, this brain drain did not start with young people nor did it start in this generation. When political  and  religious leaders send  their children  outside the country to be educated or when they  seek heath care outside the shores of their country, they send a clear and uncontroverted message to our young people  that they do not  believe  in the future of their country! Young people are therefore simply taking a cue from her leaders,  yet, this  mass immigration  in recent times  is nothing like  what happened in the past: it is massive, and it is alarming! Young bright people immigrating to a foreign land is the most telling evidence of a failed leadership!

What state of affairs of a country would make its young people leave e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.ng: family, friends,  some measure of certainty and in some cases extremely good jobs for  a foreign country,  full of uncertainties and oftentimes for less than inspiring jobs?

The current state! The reality is that the state of affairs of this country is extremely discouraging for young people! Our country is ridden with nepotism, insecurity, poor infrastructure, unemployment and a lot more, underemployment! What is more discouraging, and frightening is that nothing in the present seems to indicate that things will get better in the future!

Our health care system needs a complete overhaul, medical “facilities” are in dire state of disrepair. The doctor to patient ratio in public hospitals is shockingly poor, yet our doctors and health personnel continue to emigrate the country, because they are overworked, overwhelmed and underpaid!

A close friend and her younger sister were recently threatened with deportation, as she had remained in the United Kingdom, after her student visa expired. Her British friends started a petition online in a bid to keep her and her sister in the UK. There is a back story to all of this drama: my friend had lost two of her siblings who had medical conditions, mainly as a result of the poor health care system in the country and has a younger sister with the same medical condition who may have faced a similar fate, were it not for the excellent and timely treatment she had received in the UK. Unfortunately, her younger sister requires continuous health care which is simply not available in our country.

My friend, a brilliant lawyer and patriotic Nigeria, is compelled to appeal to the British Government to offer a right to remain, because her younger sister’s life quite literally depends on it!

Why do we subject our young people to this kind of humiliation? Why do we have to beg to remain in a foreign land? How does a developing nation recover from such massive evacuation of its human capital? And  more importantly, how do we address this issue to  reignite a sense of patriotism amongst our young people?

Quite frankly, I do not have the answers to all these questions.

I hear that there is a common joke in Toronto, that the best place to have a heart attack is in a taxi, because the driver is probably an immigrant doctor. The young people leaving are  some of the smartest and the brightest, they know that adapting to a new society is hard, yet they still go!  Many of them are skilled professionals, lawyers, doctors, architects, pharmacists, they know that they must write and pass  expensive professional exams, yet, they still go! They hear about racism, about the cold, the lonely nights and outright discrimination, yet, they still go! The frustration and disappointment amongst young people are real and palpable, but, they believe the country has little to offer so they leave.

We must address this issue with  the urgency it deserves, because at the end of the day, Nigeria is the only country we can truly call home! It is for this reason that many Nigerians in the Diaspora still choose to come back home! They still build  property, start businesses and make investments in the country. They still give their children African names and follow the local news closely; many are even more abreast and passionate about the happenings in the country than those of us in the country. They are never truly gone; one “leg” in, the other out! and how can they, their parents, friends, colleagues and relatives are still here!

Canada’s gain is Nigeria’s loss. It is impossible to stop this trend completely, sadly, but we can discourage it by creating a more enabling environment for everyone. We would need to do this gradually,  perhaps, we can start with our health care, with improved power and security of lives and property!

More importantly, young people need to sense a clear redirection in the affairs of the country; when this is done, maybe, they will remain in the country. But first, we must start! The sooner we begin, the better.

https://punchng.com/canada-is-stealing-our-young-people/amp

Yes, Canada is not just taking our young people, they are taking the fattest of our crops, the best, the brightest, and the brainiest!

Not just Canada, but the US, Germany, Ireland, the UK, Australia, etc. But they are not stealing anything. Nigerians worked with the imperialists to enthrone a facist regime with zero knowledge of the economy and zero concern for Nigerians.

What did you think would be the result? We need to stop pretending to ourselves. Nigerians pretend too much.

The colonialists think ahead of the black man, their subjects. When Obama, Clinton and the UK were helping to topple GEJ in a bloodless regime change in the connivial of Nigerians from the North and South West, you think they hadn't seen this brain drain coming? Germany and Ireland, I am told from very reliable sources, were complaining that the IT industry, which had many Nigerians, had seen Nigerians relocate back to Nigeria leaving their families in Germany and Ireland because of the economic policies of the previous government. The NHS was loosing Drs from Nigeria.

Don't blame the colonialists. This is a capitalist dog-eat-dog system. Blame the Nigerians that helped topple the last government and brought in an inept and clueless and lifeless regime.

Oche211:
It's time to pay for his crime.
Are you surprise why we have high rate of insurgency and insecurity?
It's because our security apparatus have been compromised. Too many moles everywhere.
While innocent people die, others become richer.
Welcome to Nigeria.
Welcome to the Jungle.

It's time to pay for his crime.

You think he will pay?
He is Fulani.
He wont.

NaijaRoyalty:
Kyarri is obviously the one calling the shot in Aso Rock and Not the vegetable of a president himself .

President Abba Kyari is the one that wrote that mail about chanelling messages through Chief of Staff Abba Kyari
Jekyll and Hyde.

jaszplus12:
Yea...5 years and about 8 months on it...life begins at 40 so he can still make it!

He is an American. A Nigerian-American will attain a huge feat in America and America will say, “he is an American”. But when one of theirs attain a criminal feat, they will go and do a research of his ancestry in Nigeria. Na lie.

He is an American.

America should carry and claim their property.

His other siblings who are Nigerians, born in Nigeria did not have this story on their head.

gypsey:
So were was God, Jesus and pastors when the rape was going on? maybe they were enjoyed watching the rape, hence they didn't do nothing to help the lady.

You read, if indeed you did any reading, that the rape "happened in the early hours of the morning". If you go to a church at 3am during the week day (asides Friday, maybe), you are unlikely to find anyone at the church- so no Pastors were there.
This should be common sense, hence my first reply was "don't be ridiculous".

As for God and Jesus, I am a mere mortal and cannot answer for God and Jesus. God and Jesus will answer you, in their own way, at their own appointed time.

gypsey:
So were was God, Jesus and pastors when the rape was going on? maybe they were enjoyed watching the rape, hence they didn't do nothing to help the lady.

Don’t be ridiculous.

vibre:
Benue is fast changing from the food basket of the nation to the rape basket of the nation

Rape is occurring in the entire country... The blood of innocents will and have reached the heavens. This is just too much.

Commentor:
What of Saudi Arabia and China that were also categorized as same?

You are not Saudi Arabia nor China. They are dealing with their own issues.

You are Nigeria. Deal with your own issues.

Islie:
https://www.thecable.ng/exclusive-winifred-oyo-ita-sends-retirement-letter-to-buhari

There were insinuations that she was being “punished” for “falling out” with Abba Kyari but TheCable learnt that the president’s chief of staff was unaware of the EFCC probe until it was leaked to the media.


lol. Anyone will the slightest knowledge of how these things work knows that it is IMPOSSIBLE for (President?) Abba Kyari to be unaware of anything.

He is. Don't fool yourself, the Cable.

Mbitiouz69:
Nigerians loved and praised him in the time he was doing good, just the way we do for dngote ,adenuga ,elumelu but crime is crime, especially the one that is contagious to the future of Nigerians

Nigerians should be led by logic and not emotions.
We are largely an emotional people. Hence the likes of Buhari will win a first, second and third term if he wants.

America is currently enabling the world's worst humanitarian disaster and a genocide in Yemen. You don't see CNN or Fox News or Americans calling that out. You think they don't know that genocide is the worst kind of crime? You think they don't know that it is a crime? You think there are not more Americans on Twitter and Facebook than Nigerians?

Believe me, they do. They have many Professors in Genocide and Human Rights Law. But they understand the place of narratives in today's world. They are logical with information and not emotional with it. These guys are strategic in thought.
Hence when I see Nigerians here and on social media calling out Nigerians from the East, West or North, on their alleged crimes (driven by "my tribe is better than yours" emotionalised nonsense), I shake my head. Tomorrow, a country will announce a Scholarship Scheme for Sub-Saharan Africa and omit Nigeria's name as recepient and we dont see the connection. You think there’s no connection? I laugh.

Australia currently offers scholarships to certain Sub-Saharan nations, excluding Nigeria. Brazil (5th largest economy in the world) and Mexico have set up research partnerships with Ghana and not Nigeria. There are many examples. Why should Brazil, with cultural ties to Nigeria via the Yorubas have partnerships with Ghana and not with Nigeria? They have researchers that use AI to study the social media trends around the world. They see Nigerians bad-mouthing their own, analyse the actual issue and then make strategic judgements. In the short-term, emotionalism is exciting but medium term and long term, it is foolishness.

Ugosample:
i agree with you...


one should not be demonized for their choices

Men who choose to stay away from single moms no commit sin
they are being calculative

Men who are willing to take that risk should not be demonized either

Besides
I think it's hypocritical tho
that women can have a long list of requirements in this naija
and when men.list their own requirements
it becomes a problem

our society is delightfully twisted

This:

"Besides
I think it's hypocritical tho
that women can have a long list of requirements in this naija
and when men.list their own requirements
it becomes a problem" True.

I recall seeing a trend on Twitter where women wrote their male/husband requirements and everyone laughed and hailed them along.

A guy mistakenly wrote his, "must know how to cook"... Women got on him and verbally whipped him for expressing his choice. Black, white, Asian, etc, women. It was brutal. As usual, Nigerian women led the pack of wolves.

Hence my argument that this post demonises men who choose not to go with single mothers as "scared". It essentially means to show bravery and manliness, men should choose single mothers. It is important we call this out or there should be an agreement that women are the ones to have choices and men shouldn't.

semyman:
The Invictus Obi's saga is disheartening not because another Nigeria yet again has been busted for fraud, it's disheartening because the rippling effect will be enormous.
A lot of Nigerians are going to pay for yet another scandal by a single Nigerian.

Thing is Obinwanne was not just another average Nigerian, he had a CV and portfolio that was envied on even by the international community.

He was looked upon as one of the bright spots to come out of this dark hellish place called Nigeria.

Obinwanne Okeke (Invictus) was one of the supposed few answers to the damning question of can anything good come out of Nigeria?

Featured by Forbes as one of the Forbes 30 under 30.
He's been on BBC, given a Ted Talk, Spoke at London school of Economics Africa Summit.
Has a conglomerate spanning across many African countries dealing on oil, agriculture, infrastructure, solar energy etc.
Had a lot of International awards celebrating his achievements

With this sort of portfolio and at 32yrs, he was seen as this bright spark coming out from a country that has more trends for despicable things than amiable ones.

Only to find out that beneath all this facade was a fraudster. A serial one.

An international corporate yahoo boy with suits and a great CV to match.
Estimated to have stolen $20-$22million from US companies from 2011 till date.

There was always that gaping hole in his story about his start up capital that gave an itch of not adding up.
But then we gave benefit of the doubt as we usually do even to our own collective detriment in a bid not to come across as a hater.

He fooled a lot of people and that for a long time. Make no mistake about it, he's going to pay for his crimes. But he isn't my concern.

You can't help but feel for other innocent Nigerians that are going to pay for the crimes of Obinwanne too.

Obinwanne would be in his prison scrub for a long time serving his time.

While other Nigerian out there will be getting Visa denied even after meeting and surpassing all the requirements.

Other Nigerians would have to work twice as hard to earn a modicum of trust and respect within the international community.

International organizations are going to pull out of deals the moment they become aware a Nigerian is part of the deal.

International airports will be a lot more hostile than they already are the moment they see you with that almost worthless green passport.

More companies will start declining cards coming from this part of the world.

Nobody wins here, not you, not me.

Imagine one of the few people who had earned the trust and admiration of the international community being busted for fraud.
What is your fate being an average John Doe or Jane Doe?

While Obinwanne is going to pay for his crimes inside the walls of a correctional facility.

You are going to pay for his crimes in embassy halls, airports, business meetings, immigration offices etc.

It will be no fault of yours, you would probably have all the requirements but still would be treated as an infidel.

When one of your supposed brightest minds has been busted as a fraud.

What are your chances?

Nobody won here.

We all lost.

~Prince Uzor Onyemaobi

You have hit the nail on the head.
Nigerians are such an emotional and foolish people. When I saw it being written by Tolu Ogunlesi, on his verified Twitter handle, it was clear that he was trying to mock a certain tribe in Nigeria. But the repercussions will hit Nigerians. Not Obinwanne.

Narrative is everything. Americans are not on Twitter, a global social media platform, reminding the world that they are a genocidal country, having killed hundreds of thousands of civilians in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Libya, etc. No. They are telling the world, "America is the greatest country on earth", and no one talks too much. Narrative.

Australia, US, Mexico, the UK top the world with the highest number of credit card fraudsters. Yet, you don't hear these facts spread by the citizens of these countries.

Mexico is a drug-infested country with cartels running even streets. The only place you see this representation is on Hollywood movies. Mexicans are not online deriding their country and justifying it with "woke" Tweets.

My conclusion is that Nigeria's tribal nature has enabled the crass foolishness amongst Nigerians- even those who are believed to be "intellectuals". The added layer of security the Nigerian passport, name, face, etc will be subjected to, the refusal of credit facilities by Brentwood institutions, the tightening of visa laws, the refusal to do business with Nigerians, etc- when this hits Nigeria because of the narrative Nigerians are helping to spread, you all will feel it. You will.

aaaaabbbbbccccc:
This guy is trending today in Nigeria not because he’s a criminal but because Nigerians find joy in seeing the downfall of their country men. ~

True. I remember when Anthony Joshua lost his fight with Andy Ruiz. He trend on "Twitter-Nigeria" and Nigerians shamed him for loosing a fight.
I was told that AJ immediately pulled the plug on bringing a Heavyweight match to Nigeria because of the hate from his countrymen. He was so shocked. Instead, he did a low-key visit to the charities he had in Nigeria.

Some day, researchers will itemise and put in cost terms, the lost revenue from the proposed heavyweight fight.

Nigerians have a morbid enjoyment and happiness in seeing the downfall of their countryman- whether the man engages in decent endeavours like AJ or in shoddy deals like Obinwanne.

Ugosample:
this thread has men demonizing other men for being with single moms

what you gotta say about that?

This thread -initial post- shouldn't have started.
You will not have any reaction on a non-existent thread. Why should men who choose not to be with single moms be termed as "scared"?
Women will have and write out a litanny of choices in terms of their future spouse. When men attempt that- in this era of equality- they will be demonised and derided.
We are largely an unserious generation.

yazga:
Why are so many men scared to date single mother's?

Aren’t men entitled to their choices— like all human beings?

Why are you trying to demonise men as “scared” for making a love-choice in avoiding single mothers? Is it just women that are entitled to choices?

nwakibie3:
By Bamidele Samuel Adesoji - August 15, 2019

President Muhammadu Buhari gave a new directive to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to stop providing FOREX for food importation. According to the President, the directive was given to improve agricultural production and attain full food security in Nigeria.

The President reportedly said, “The Central Bank of Nigeria should stop providing foreign exchange for importation of food into the country, with the steady improvement in agricultural production, & attainment of full food security.”

Implications of the President’s Statement

Note that rice and other items make up the 43 items earlier placed under FOREX restriction. Hence, the latest announcement is apparently a follow-up to the recent move by the CBN to restrict FOREX for milk importation.

Following this, If all food items are declared ineligible for FOREX during importation, it means that importers will no longer have access to the Investors & Exporters Window (I&E) for foreign currencies required to carry out transactions.

Consequently, the investors will have to source their own FOREX by patronising bureau de change or other sources. This comes at a higher cost and the implication is that consumers will be made to bear the brunt of the extra costs incurred by the investors.

On the flip side, the President also stated that Nigeria has recorded steady improvement in food production and attained full food security. This suggests that the President is of the opinion that Nigeria has attained food self-sufficiency, thereby making food importation unnecessary.

A look into Nigeria’s Agricultural sector

According to Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), although agriculture remains the largest sector of the Nigerian economy, employing two-thirds of the entire labour force, production hurdles have significantly stifled the performance of the sector.

FAO further revealed that the main factors undermining production of agricultural products include reliance on rainfed agriculture, smallholder land holding, and low productivity due to poor planting material, low fertilizer application, and a weak agricultural extension system, amongst others.

- As a result of the several factors inhibiting the growth of the sector, food remains one of the major commodities currently being imported into Nigeria.

- As it stands, Nigeria occupies a tripartite position. FAO reported that Nigeria is the continent’s leading consumer of rice; the country is one of the largest producers of rice in Africa and simultaneously one of the largest importers of rice in the world.

- Livestock development is an important component of Nigeria’s agriculture sector with abundant social and economic potentials. However, 30% of live animals slaughtered in Nigeria are imported from neighbouring countries.

Food Importation Statistics

A close look into the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) foreign trade report shows that Nigeria still imports food items that gulp trillions of naira. According to the Bureau, between 2015 and 2018, Nigeria imported food and beverages estimated at N5.46 trillion or $17.8 billion. As at first quarter of 2019 only, Nigeria’s food and beverage importation stood at N389 billion or $1.2 billion.

- A further breakdown shows that Nigeria’s food imports are categorised into primary (raw) and processed. In Q1 2019, industries imported N196 billion worth of raw food, while households imported N87 billion.

- For processed food, industries imported an estimated N82 billion worth of food items, while household consumption of processed food was put at N110 billion.

- This means that a total of N389 billion was spent on both industrial and household food importation in Q1 2019.
According to the NBS, food items largely imported into Nigeria include prepared foodstuffs, vegetables, animals, vegetable fats and oil, other cleavage production and beverages.

Some concerns

Mixed reactions have continued to trail the directive. While much emphasis has been placed on whether the move is an apparent breach of the CBN’s independence or not, some have asserted that the announcement might worsen the economy as Nigeria has neither achieved food security nor sufficiency.

Reacting to the policy, a former Deputy Governor of the CBN, Kingsley Moghalu, reacted that the issue isn’t whether or not CBN should allow access to Forex for food imports. According to him, it is about whether such an economic policy should be imposed by a political authority. Moghalu said, “Our economy will not be saved by Ad Hoc political decisions like this, handed down by the very institutions that should be shielded from the whim and caprice of politicians.

“Nigeria’s entire economy appears to have been sub-contracted to our Central Bank, including industrial and trade policy. In the process, the economy has fared poorly, and the Central Bank has lost its independence. This is sad!”

The downsides

No doubt, Nigeria’s agricultural sector is full of potential and there is a large room for growth. While the current administration has introduced several policies to help improve food security, not much progress has been recorded and the government should address this.

- According to global hunger index (GHI) 2018, Nigeria ranks 103 out of the 119 qualifying countries with a score of 31.1. This means Nigeria suffers from a level of hunger that is very serious.

- A closer look at GHI report shows that Nigeria is worse off in hunger index between 2000 and 2018.

- Nigeria’s fragile economy still manages to import more Agric. products than export. This means that the current domestic production cannot meet demands.

- While FOREX restriction on food importation is laudable, the government needs to carefully work on the gradual implementation of the policy in order not to heap more misery on the economy.


https://nairametrics.com/2019/08/15/buharis-food-importation-ban-could-drag-the-nigerian-economy-into-misery/

The same thing this old fellow did in 1983-1985... dragged Nigerians into misery to the point where our parents were forced to queue for milk, bread and eggs, toothpaste, etc.

The history books said it clearly. Yet Tinubu and the majority of the now-suffering South West decided, in a fit of wickedness, to punish themselves and the whole of Nigeria by enabling this despot in 2015.


I’ve always said and maintained that the whole of the South West need to tell Nigerians and future generations the rationale in this predictable wickedness. Do they hate Nigerians so much as this? Because there’s no other rational explanation but hate.

Chepos1:
This will serve as a lesson to those who think Nigeria unity is a joke.

A broken pipe will always and eventually break, no matter how much leather bag is used to forcefully tie it together.

I am sure you know this anyway.

emilas1979:
You asked for India,
India you got.
Why didn't you ask for Iran,?
There are better hospitals and medical personnels in Iran than India. Moreso his safety will be guaranteed.

Buhari I know won't let go easily.

Do you think this Sunni Islamo-Fascist regime of Buhari will let him go to Iran?

Zenithsblog:
Watch the video
https://zenithnaija.com/nigerian-uk-minister-explains-how-irresponsible-nigerian-government-is/

Hasn't Tinubu sent her the memo?

Sweettwenty8:
Finaly i decided to create an account

What's up Nairaland, Please Pardon my English.

So me and my man been married for a year now but here's the thing he does that pisses me OFF!!! TOTALLY!!!! ehn, every time I cook rice and stew (fried stew/fish/meat) he'd ask me to go outside the estate to go and buy Ewa(beans) (I'm using Ewa because that's how he pronounces it. So I noticed this earlier and I started Cooking beans anytime I cook rice. He'll still request for 'Ewa' the Mama put beans made and sold by the roadside

While we dated he'd even ask me to cook for himself and his friends and if my cooking was bad, I'd have gotten feedback somehow.. how can I serve food and he'll ask me to go get 'Ewa' at Shangisha Outside Magodo Gra to mix his rice even when we have visitors he will send me a whatsapp message to still go get Ewa most times he'll even book uber if i tell him I'm too tired to drive I'm tired of going to buy Ewa!!

How do i get to know what the problem is, because it's definitely not my cooking, 2 of my office buddies they don't buy lunch because i bring enough food for 3 of us everyday and they'd have stopped eating it if it was bad

Improve your cooking. Buy the Ewa and eat it- and then inquire from the Ewa seller how she makes her food that tasty.
It takes humility, but it works.

Your office colleagues eat free food and I bet they do not cook. People hardly say no to free food. It "fills" their stomach but is not entirely tasty.

osazsky:
several clubs abi 2 clubs,this guy doesn't even know how to use English how then does he score,,,,imagine Buhari boasting that he is d best president spits,I have nerver seen pep praising himself but make mou manage win Carling cup u go see press conference on how he is d best, good things dont need advert they sell themselves

Don’t mind him. Even Pele doesn’t talk about himself when he has he opportunity to.

It is getting ridiculous. It’s clear he is doing it to get the next Ballon D Or (all football fans know this, including his fans) but this is getting ridiculous.

gaetano:
Cristiano Ronaldo insists “the difference with Lionel Messi is that I won the Champions League with several clubs and I identify with this tournament.”



https://app.football-italia.net/index.htm#article/footballitalia-142047&menu=news-all

Ronaldo seems very insecure. Very.
At every interview or social media opportunity, he speaks, sings and talks about Messi. Messi seems not to know that he exist.

helinues:
All of the physicians are from Islamic country.

And you expect FG to take you guys serious?

Most of the Names are imaginary names and profession

LOL. Isn't Nigeria an Islamic country already?

Dont Islamic countries take Islamic countries and people serious again?

iberiberism:
Believe me, he'll read this and pass. Your counsel is not for him.

Sadly.

They’ll get out of School with a poor result and start wondering if his village people finally found him. Not knowing it was all his fault.

Frankly, I do not know what the average student in a Bachelor’s program is doing with a boyfriend or girlfriend. Especially the male specie. You can’t marry the girl. Don’t delude yourself. Someone else who has set himself up well will marry her. Why don’t you focus and get your priorities right?

22 and coming to ask for man-woman advice?

PrecisionFx:
""Cardiff was in the news and yes, if he had chose Cardiff, the best Ruiz would do is to opt out of fighting and face the courts since he signed a contract.""





Stop writing more nonsense posts.

AJ said Great Britain, Ruiz refused.

AJ had to choose elsewhere.

Very simple.

Shows simply that Ruiz must not fight where ever AJ wants.




We both know very well that Ruiz with go to court since as u claim, if he does so, he will be strip of his belt.

Seems you cannot engage someone without spewing insults, even when you can actually make sense without insults.

That’s an area you win me, hands down. I admit.
Do have a great rest of your day.

PrecisionFx:
U were screaming upandan that if AJ chooses Cardiff, then Ruiz has no choice but to fight in Cardiff.

U said if Ruiz refuses to fight den he will be stripped n banned for a while.

At the end of the day, Ruiz has said clearly that he won't fight in the U.K and AJ has no option than to look for another venue.

You havn't really disputed what I said. I said Ruiz mut fight where AJ and his team chooses. Cardiff was in the news and yes, if he had chose Cardiff, the best Ruiz would do is to opt out of fighting and face the courts since he signed a contract.

The choice of Saudi wasn’t driven by Ruiz. It was driven by money. It was AJ's team that choose Saudi.

If Cardiff was going to provide the £70m to £100m that MBS gave Hearn it would be at Cardiff. The worst Ruiz can do is to refuse to fight and then give up the belts.

PrecisionFx:
The fight has been fixed in Saudi Arabia, Will u now receive sense?

You have not disputed what I stated- nor the flight being fixed for Saudi Arabia disputes what I stated.

I stressed that Ruiz will NOT have it his way and will/ can only abide with what was on the contract.
This is common sense.

From what I gathered from a friend involved with AJBXNG- and what is on the news- Ruiz wanted it in the US or Mexico. Matchroom and Joshua said NO.
Joshua later said on Sky Sports that Ruiz does not make that call even though he would be respected.
The fight was going to Cardiff.
Saudi Arabia, which has hosted Amir Khan's fight and is trying to Sportwash their image after murdering Khashoggi offered $70m for it to be staged in Saudi.
None of this $70m goes to Ruiz. It goes to Joshua, Matchroom and DAZN the streaming service.
Money talks. Joshua's team accepted it and communicated it to Ruiz.
Ruiz's team, at the moment, are very angry hence they've said nothing since the news broke out yesterday.
But they dont have a choice. It was not their decision to make.

gypsey:
Yea right! £50000 Job, she probarbly had for 5 years, before quitting can Affford her a big ass mansion in Nigeria and in The UK, can afford her atleast a £300000 mortgage which she will end up paying for into her old age, atleast in her 60s which means she will have another 35 years to pay off her mortgage.

The car is probarbly also on finance, which means the car was bought on credit, she would be paying atleast £300 monthly to finance the car.

Exactly. I don’t know why people just seem to live for false impressions on social media.

U

GistAlert:
A 25-year-old Nigerian lady with id @Lala_Raeee on twitter, came through with her "testimony" of buying a new house and moving into her own office space after quitting a £50k job.

Sharing the good news on her timeline, the excited lady wrote;



See more photos here; http://gistmore.com/lady-quits-her-50k-job-to-her-own-business-buys-her-1st-house-at-25

Probably a mortgage which she collected. And there’s nothing wrong with that. If the government or private policies allow for mortgages, then collect one.

However, my problem is the inaccurate display. If it’s a mortgage, which I strongly believe it is one then, (1) Why don’t you tell the world? And (2) do you not know that with £25,000 per annum any U.K. bank will give you a mortgage as long as you have a clean credit record, let alone a £50,000 paying job?

Abdulazeez99:
Vice-Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2019 elections, Peter Obi, has denied being refused a United States’ visa.

A Facebook user, Austin Brown, had accused Mr Obi of being denied US visa over alleged fraud.

Mr Brown said Obi was on Monday denied visa by the American Embassy following an alleged report by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) indicting Obi as the third most fraudulent politician in Nigeria over the past five years, Igbere TV reports.

Brown also alleged that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in the US had in July indicted Obi over some $10 billion allegedly found in a Swiss bank account linked to him.

In a statement on Saturday by Obi’s media aide, Valentine Obienyem, the former Anambra State governor said his critics are hell-bent on indicting him, adding that he is currently in the US.

Mr Obienyem reeled out a number of projects Obi completed in his time as governor.

“What a confused bunch! Since he left government, his records which nobody is even trying to surpass, still speak for him. Some of them are: He bequeathed over 75 Billion Naira to his successor; completion of all the roads started by his predecessor and construction of massive roads that made Anambra during his time to be regarded as the best in network of roads; return of schools to the Church and provision of over 6 Billion Naira used to rehabilitate the schools, as well as provision of two buses to them; Internet connectivity; boreholes; sporting equipment; computers and generators to power,” he said.

The statement also described Obi as “a saint in Nigerian politics” whose critics have “prayed every day that he could sin a little even out of respect for the frailty of human nature.”

Source; http://igberetvnews.com/889111/just-in-peter-obi-speaks-on-being-refused-us-visa/

APC and propaganda. Hitler’s Information and Propaganda Department will be in awe and envy of APC.