₦airaland Forum

Keith Urban – You’ll Think Of Me
Gloria Gaynor - I Will Survive
Brian McKnight – One Last Cry
Macy Gray - Still Hurts
F uck It - Eamon
Linkin Park – In The End
Baryy White - Whatever we had we had
All American Rejects – Hope it gives you hell
Lira - Hamba
Mary J Blige - not gonna cry
James Blunt - Goodbye my Lover
Usher - Seperated
Sinead O'connor - nothing compares to you

samplingthe opinions on this forum,something confuses me.
MTN has 48% of the market, more than double the nearest competitor.
infact there share of the market has increased instead of decreasing in the last 18 months.
If they as hated, why are the stats not showing it?

he should stop associating with clowns like Isa Yuguda.

Interestingly, in the course of the dinner, Alhaji Aliko Dangote who was earlier same day honoured with the Grand Commander of the Order of Niger (GCON) strolled in. While disclosing for the first time that Dangote was one of his financiers for the 2007 election, Oshimohole said what distinguishes Dangote from most other wealthy people in the country are his unique Nigerianness as a wealth creator and employer of labour who does not relate with people on the basis of ethnicity, religion, class or status. To the amazement of most people at the dinner, Oshimohole spent considerable time extolling Dangote’s virtues. I can attest to everything Oshiomhole said about Dangote who I have known for about one a half decade now as a brother and friend.

He may be the wealthiest man in Africa but those close to Dangote know that money does not in any way define him. What sets him apart from other rich men in Nigeria is his humanity. Granted that by virtue of his closeness to those in power there are people who have issues with Dangote’s business modus operandi which I intend to seriously interrogate one day but what is not in contention is that he invests all his money in our country and he is adding tremendous value to our economy. What particularly endears me to Dangote is not his wealth but rather his person. He is one man many people can call, and rely upon, as their friend because his relationship with them is never transactional. In any case, most people know that Dangote is very disciplined (I hesitate to use the word stingy) with his money!

But he places value on friendship and family and those enduring virtues count much more for him. I cannot recall the number of times Dangote has visited my house (starting from long before my adventure in public office) and I know he does that to many other friends, high and low. My last child is now well over eight years and Dangote was at the naming ceremony in my former Ajah, Lagos apartment. Wherever friends are celebrating or mourning, Dangote would be there for them. He is an extraordinary man who lives a simple ordinary life. It indeed speaks so much about Dangote’s character that he was at the Edo State dinner on Monday. Even though he bagged the highest honour earlier that same day Dangote would rather attend the ceremony in honour of the Comrade Governor (whatever that means). And it was rather gracious that Oshiomhole would turn his own ceremony to a celebration of Dangote.

All factors considered, I am one of those people who believe President Goodluck Jonathan got it right by offering GCON to Dangote but I will not go as far as those who distort history to say he is the first president to break with tradition on national honours. The man who did is President Shehu Shagari. The late Chief Obafemi Awolowo never ruled this country yet Shagari gave him the highest national honour of Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR) in 1981. It was all the more remarkable because as at the time he did, he himself had no national honour since he was too much a gentleman to confer one on himself as it happens today. It would take many years after he left office for President Shagari to bag GCFR.

But it’s commendable nonetheless that President Jonathan gave Dangote GCON. And, as far as I am concerned, it is well deserved.

Sometimes early in 2006, I got a call from Comrade Adams Oshiomhole who said he needed to see me for an urgent discussion. I was then the editor of THISDAY newspaper. On the agreed date, we met at Eko Le Meridien hotel in Lagos and we were joined by TELL Editor-in-Chief, Mr Nosa Igiebor. Apparently, it was the two of us he needed to see. Without wasting time, he said he invited us because he was about to take an important decision and he wanted to hear our take. He said he was not happy about what was going on in Edo State and he believed he could make a difference if he became governor. He took time to analyse the situation: the challenges facing the state in all spheres and what could be done even with the meagre allocation from the Federation Account. But there was a lacuna: how could he possibly be governor? He said that was why he invited us.

According to Oshiomhole, he had a mission and that meant he had to be pragmatic in his approach, adding that there were only two platforms in Edo under which he could possibly realise his ambition: either the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) or the All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP). The problem was that the expectation of most Nigerians was that if he joined politics he had to be in the Labour Party which he said had no support base in his state and he was not going into politics for the sake of making a point. He wanted to contest with a fighting chance of winning, he argued. So the reason for inviting us was to court our support in the event he joined ANPP to realise his ambition. Neither of us gave the endorsement he sought that day and we must have spent about four hours discussing all the possible pitfalls. We met about three times later and by the time Oshiomhole finally joined the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), he had secured my full support.

What struck me back then was the time Oshiomhole spent consulting with people, stating his case and sharing ideas. I had never until then seen such attention to detail, such planning and such respect for people in any Nigerian politician. Oshiomhole prepared long and hard but on election day in 2007 he was upended. The story of how he eventually became governor, following a titanic legal battle, is already well documented but given the support I offered, he is one of the few governors today in whose administration I have a stake.

Incidentally, by the time he would assume office, I myself had become spokesman to the late president so we had opportunities to collaborate on a number of national issues which made me to respect Oshiomhole even more but those are stories for another day. Shortly before I left for the United States last year, I visited him and he took me round Edo State on an inspection tour of the projects he was working on. By then he had not spent two years in office yet I was impressed with what I saw but I will have to go back to really assess what he has done before I can endorse him for a second term. He is, however, one governor I am very proud to associate with so when he invited me to be at the reception organised in his honour by Edo indigenes in Abuja to mark the conferment on him of the Commander of the Order of Niger (CON) national honour on Monday, I gladly joined him.

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/arise-o-great-ife-1-/103006/

horny4u:
Such silliness , a friend of mine spent N1M for economy tickets to London for herself and her 2 young kids. I travel at least twice a year to 9ja and never paid such "sillitude" prices and i fly virgin , I am not dissing paying it , but please do not sing help me dear govt when you could have shopped savvy.

i just tire.

untainted:
Ideylaff I think you are wrong on this one. This goes beyond Arik; FG should make them reduce the Business Class fare by over 50%.
Just read the news article below and make your judgment.

"According to the statement, the Nigerian government described as unacceptable, a situation where the British Airways would charge passengers on first class from Lagos airport to Heathrow $9,846.19 as against $4,902.14 from Accra, Ghana to Heathrow."


http://dailytrust.com.ng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=147865:nigeriabritain-meeting-on-basa-deadlocked-&catid=1:news&Itemid=2

Nigerian consumers amaze me. are you shareholders in BA? Can't you vote with your feet and see what will happen? there are several options with saner prices yet you want govt to waste its precious time fighting a battle that only you can win.
Let BA  fly empty 1st class cabin for one straight week and see if they will not take out newspaper adverts in all dailies in Nigeria announcing competitive 1st class rates.
they are charging such silly rates because folks are willing to pay and if they are willing, who is complaining and why complain?

i agree with you on the 2nd part but disagree on the 1st.
complete all roads before tolling.

tolling an uncompleted road should be a criminal act punishable by stoning!!
you are asking a fed govt that can't maintain major roads to provide alternatives? you must be kidding. they are too incompetent for that.

you are not being very fair. we all like good roads. i am not immune to them but a few things are just not right.
the federal govt should repair highways before tolling them. they can repair some, toll them and use the revenue to repair the rest before tolling those.
Fashola and his PPP peeps should complete the road and repair the alternative before tolling lekki express. this is my view.

hercules07:
Mbulela

The day Lagos state government starts collecting tax on petrol consumed, you can harass them on tolled roads, the Lekki express way is a PPP project, the PPP guys must make their money back, I wish Fashola will just build more of those roads and toll them, we will be spared the cost of new spare parts with all these bad roads everywhere.

I personally do not have a problem with tolls. my problems with both Fashola and the fed govt are tolling an uncomplete road, not fixing the alternative first before tolling and tolling death traps that budgets of billions for its rehabilitation have been eaten by barbarians.
you talk of tax on perol consumed, there also taxes that the state govt collects that opponents of the toll will point to as reason for opposing the toll.

ololo12:
@ Poster, sorry to derail the thread, I just want to say something real quickly to Ileke


@ Ileke Oh boy, please take that thing out from your profile picture joooooooooorrrrrrr, poo, I've not been able to eat for 3 days because of that picture lol, That thing irritates the poo outta me

damn!!!!

^^^^
But ACN (through its spokesman Lai Mohammed) has condenmed the govt for attempting to bring back tolls on the highways.
Why is it good for Lagos but bad for the rest of the country?

ideylaff:
Thanks @ Evil Brain , GBAM, u have said it all. only in Nigeria, do we spend all the time doing research/seminar/conference and end up not even using the fake results they come up with

This time next year she will do doing another seminar or be talkiing the same nonsense with increased figures, in her findings

A country that does not have a Demographical data (employment/unemployment figures, mortality rate, etc non existent ooo) whatsoever and yet we carry on speculating and spitting out a lot of jargons that dont add up

Do they look at themselves and not know that they can only fool a few people and not all of us

So ok now, what do we do with this figures, what is the action plan, Zzzzzzzzzz

Search the whole internet, its one seminar after the other, talking talking talking


I dont see other country Ministers or Goverment Officials blabbing, talking, conferencing, doing seminars, workshops like we do in Nigerai, Kai, i tire men,

Just hear this, in 2011 see what we are listing as Key Projects, Abuja International Airport, is Lagos Ibadan a new project or shes listing the usual tar poured over a crooked road as a key project, we are a failed nation mehn,

No mention of Education and they wonder why the whole place is full of young kids kidnapping and robbing people

if people do not have hope they turn to the other way round.

U thing the man in the street understands these figures, 4rm one seminar to another same story,

see talk talk talk, big figures all year all year
http://www.sharpedgenews.com/index.php/news/news-archive/60-okonjo-iweala-says-nigerias-strategic-interests-protected-as-investors-pour-in

guy you never jam!!
the seminar and conference organising thing is a money spinner. go and ask BUSINESSDAY and the mgt of Civic center, Eko Hotel and MUSON centre. there are folks whose jobs are to cook up these senseless talking shops and govt officials who live on the kick back gotten for approving these crap. while the venue owners fall over themselves to host it.
pick up Businessday and see the amount of rubbish being advertised.
Ask for the update on the action plan released from similar talk shops held last year and puff puff turns to buns.
Leave matter o!

^^^^
verifying his grades should not be such a hard job.
I doubt the guy can be denied that.

Femi Falana, well done.

16 Nov 2011
Bayelsa State Governor, Timipre Sylva, has appealed to the Chairman of the Indepen-dent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega, to direct the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) not to conduct a fresh governorship primary in the state.

He said the primary would amount to a contravention of Section 86 of the Electoral Act, 2010

The governor in letter signed by his lawyer, Mr Femi Falana, argued that by scheduling to conduct a fresh governorship primary in the state, the party was about to change or substitute his name as its candidate for the governorship election.

Stating that he had not withdrawn his candidature to contest the governorship election on the platform of the party, Sylva contended that based on the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended), once a political party has submitted the name of a candidate to INEC for a particular elective office, the political party shall not be allowed to change or substitute the name of that candidate.

The petition, dated November 15 read: “Following the publication of the time-table for 2011 general elections by your commission, the PDP duly set in motion the machinery for the conduct of governorship primaries in Bayelsa State to nominate its candidate for the governorship election in Bayelsa State that were scheduled to be held in April, 2011.

“The governorship primaries were duly held in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State on January 9, 2011 and at the end of the exercise (which was observed by officials of your commission), our client emerged the winner having scored majority of the valid votes cast.

The petition to INEC came as governors elected on the platform of the PDP also resolved to, once again, seek the intervention of President Goodluck Jonathan to ensure that Sylva got a chance to seek a second tenure.

THISDAY gathered that the PDP governors, led by the Governor of Rivers State, Chibuike Amaechi, met Monday night and resolved to plead the cause of Sylva.

Meanwhile, five out of the seven governorship aspirants qualified for the governorship primary election yesterday, protested to the national secretariat of the party claiming there was no delegate election in the state on November 14, as claimed by the Mohammed Wakil-led committee that allegedly conducted the election of ward delegates.

But one of the aspirants, Seraike Dickson, in a statement countered the allegations, saying the aggrieved aspirants were only acting out the script of Sylva.


“The five aspirants who claim there were no congresses are Governor Sylva agents and they are being used by the governor to discredit the PDP and the congresses.”

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/bayelsa-poll-sylva-petitions-jega-wants-primary-cancelled/102907/

I don't understand Fashola on this.
the issues that raised the political agitation against the toll, have they been addressed?
That is what he should have addressed instead of telling us how muchthe govt had lost in the period under review.
the court cases have they been resolved?

on one hand he is praising the return of tolls by the federal govt,on another hand Lai Mohammed is releasing press reports castigating the govt for daring to return polls.
who is fooling who?

I missed the citation for Ringim when he was presented his award. waht lies did they cook up there?

The committee might have been inconsistent but they will be receipients of CON and GCON next year for serving their fatherland dutifully.
na naija style 

I hear Fashola has lifted the embargo on the toll collection at Lekki.
I thought it was a court case?

At the end of the day, the change will be effected.
This Chijoka guy at FRSC is a dangerous fellow.
same with the NCC guy that collected 6 billion to tdo a SIM registration that operators were already doing.
central database,my foot!!

we are tired of hearing this story.
they should just get on with it and stop all this drama.

Gbawe:
Adeola is the founder of GT Bank. One would think, through the bank, he has gained vast knowledge and clout in the money Market. Would it then be difficult to raise this amount ? Similar for Ajimobi, although not banking derived.

Is Adeola the owner or financier of the airline?
If the business makes economic sense and the risk is properly priced, i doubt you need all the clout in the world to finance it.
After all the banks too are in it for profit.

Pukkah:
This is what I have been trying to say. The default risk of an airline in Nigeria is very high and this will affect the flow of funding for the business. Even when the promoters own their own equity and are not in need of borrowing, the question they will ask themselves is: what's the expected rate of return on this business? If this question is not asked, or the negative answer ignored, that means the business is being undertaken for reasons other than strict business analysis, e.g. pure ego or money laundering.

This is why I earlier wrote that I'm surprised that people are still going into aviation business in Nigeria while other sectors with higher return rates are available.

I find your views on this thread very considered, enlightening and sensible.
I have always been of the opinion that those who entered the airline and newspaper (dailies) publishing business in the last 10 years have done so for the either or both of the twin purposes you alluded to above.
Like you said, Time will tell and i wish this airline the best.

However, BAT is undoubtedly an intelligent man and i assume there is something he sees that you and i do not see if it is not for one of the two reasons above.

the airline business in Nigeria does not make sense. almost all the existing ones are struggling to cope and the regulatory environment is unstable and often outrightly inconsistent.
Why someone will plunge millions and billions into it beats my imagination.
Agriculture would make more senses to me.

On a related note, i would love to see a discussion on the EXPLODING DEBT OF LAGOS STATE by resident ACN supporters. the article that was posted in the first page of this thread makes for a worrying picture.
Is there any thread here where it has been discussed? i would love to hear intelligent views devoid of insults.

This woman is playing with fire o!

@OP, kindly detail your experience on the CUSTOMER SERVICE NAMING AND BASHING thread that was created recently.
On a related note, never do online transactions with Air Nigeria.
Infact if you must book and pay for a ticket online, insist on Aero contractors.
Their online system is tested and trusted. besides each time i have had reason to call their customer care line, the service has been exemplary.
Aero are no angels as travellers at the port Harcourt Airport must have noted on Sunday but when it comes to online transactions and customer call center, they are head and shoulders above the rest.

I recently had cause to use Upscale Collection. A small business that sells fragrances online. these stuff are shipped from US, warehoused in Nigeria and sold online. They had a discount advertised via Bellanaija.
The lady who is behind that business has a clear idea what customer service is all about,
I can't laud her and her business highly enough.
I recommend them to anyone who maybe interested in buying fragrances at very competitive prices.
This is no gimmick.
It is a free recommendation from a satisfied customer.
Businesses who get customer service right must be applauded. It is a rarity in this part of the globe.

http://www.upscalecollections.com/offers.php

lawyers are always looking for a reason to eat money.
what is there to challenge in court?
a group you belong to refused you an opportunity to represent them.
Is it by force?

x