₦airaland Forum

ajalawole:
Explorers, come kukuma kill me. Even my mama won't allow me do this kind work (trust our African mothers)

yet we wan develop reach white man level

davidif:
My goodness!! You have such low standards. You are like that girl that stays with the abuser because he doesn't "hit me everyday".

also do you have a better idea for now. that's workable, not 'they should' or 'we should '.actual workable plans.

davidif:
No I don't think you get it. People don't want to get involved in a game that's rigged. Why would I want to get involved in a game when the outcome as already being decided that's not true competition and the people know that for the most part.

if it's rigged then why do they campaign with rice and money? trust me, votes still count at primary and general elections.

davidif:
But how do you take a chance when it's not there in the first place?

o it's there. once you attend political party meetings, it's like taking candy from a baby.

davidif:
My goodness!! You have such low standards. You are like that girl that stays with the abuser because he doesn't "hit me everyday".

do you have a better idea. kunta lost his foot, Kizzie lost her husband, but her son bought everyone's freedom. from hitting everyday to slitting his throat while he sleeps. you bide your time when going up against a much stronger opponent. waiting for the opportune moment

davidif:
Since when did political office become for the political elites? Democracy is a govt of the people and for the people not some wealthy overlords who over see there kingdom. This is a republic for goodness sakes not a serfdom.

that's what I'm saying. you're the one thinking what you just said. it is the ppl who refuse to participate, waiting for a clear shot at goal with no single hurdle to cross. there's fire on the mountain,we need fire fighters not ballerinas

omohayek:
Sorry, but you're wrong on the last point. I am personally involved in several of the most cutting-edge technological areas of today, and know at first-hand that none of them require the ability to "machine or make tools". You don't need anything of the sort to write enterprise software, train a neural network, carry out gene editing, or even to design and mask a microchip, and all of these areas are far more profitable than a 19th-century commodity like steel.

but you need 'steel' to make the laptops, gene sequencer or chip maker yes?

Blue3k:
I'm sure you do. Why else would you be do hungry for the man's attention. Lol if you have so much time on your hands go educate yourself on the topic. Gosh you sound like your starving for social interaction.

Being annoying will just ensure you stay a social reject. I can tell you a little akward since you dont understand social ques. If you want answers asked how to fish. That means just ask where he learned all the economics. This save you trouble of asking a bunch inane questions

My last reply to you.

in hungry for knowledge. you seem to think you know it all, hence the display of ignorance.
it's spelt cues Mr know it not.
you can continue reading, let's see who it will epp. not me not you not anybody.
he can summarise.
I'm here for specific answers to specific questions.I'd rather stand on giant shoulders than slog through the mud.
continue chest beating you here. I'm here for you.

davidif:
Buhari had to pay 25 million to his party to be able to run for office and he is not the only one. Other parties charge Presidential hopefuls to run under their party platforms. exhorbitantly.
If you think that this only happens at the presidential level then you are mistaken because to run for any political post from the local to the federal level you have to pay off your party. In essence what I saying is that the barriers to entry for the common folks is waaaaaay too high. You have to be real wealthy or super connected for a party to throw their backing at you. That's why there was a recent constitutional ammmendment proposed that allows anyone who can gather enough signatures to run for office instead of going through a political party. That could be the most important thing thing ever done by the Fed govt ever because it will allow outsiders to get into office instead of the same ol' politicians.

if you can't raise 25 m, you're not ready for office. have you by any chance attended any political meetings. I have, with the requisite determination all said barriers can be overcome

davidif:
Believe me there are a lot of smart Nigerians in nigeria and all over the world who can change the course of this country if given the chance.

nobody is given a chance. you take it

davidif:
First of all, about your analogy of bullets being wet and rafts being underwater are just horrendous analogies. Try again. Neither makes much sense.

Secondly, what I was trying to get at is that you can't keep voting in the same people over and over again and expecting different results, that's like the definition of insanity. You can't solve a problem with the same type of thinking that caused it in the first place. You need a clean break from the past.

bullet may not fire or you could survive walking the plank.
we aren't voting for the same ppl. apc different set of thieves from PDP. at least they spent 1%of their loot on infrastructure, hopefully will force PDP to spend 2% and so on till competition brings them to 100%

omohayek:
Yes, let's put 500,000 more people on the government's payroll, because what Nigeria needs right now is yet another unsustainable dole scheme! This announcement is evidence of Buhari's near-total intellectual bankruptcy, nothing more.

would you prefer a Jonathan and PDP in tow

Blue3k:
Lol if you got the point then shut up. Go educate yourself instead of flooding omohayek mentions like rabid groupie.

sorry I didn't 'got' the point Mr rabies. that's why I was asking. but the next insult(show of foolishity) will be met with equal measure of rabies. go ahead try me.I dare you. I'm bored. I have your time for the next two months. clearly somebody mad that no one wants to follow him or her or them or it... who knows.not everyone chooses to remain ignorant like you

Blue3k:
Obviously you responded in English. Most of your questions can be answered with common sense. Who else besides NASS would be in charge of concessioning port? Get your base knowledge up so you don't have to ask inane questions. Im guessing that why you are getting reply to your 10s of questions.

why didn't I think of that. me course our Nass is well known for making and overseeing the implementation of laws that will benefit the populace.

truly it's better to be silent and leave ppl wondering than to speak and put all doubt to rest.

Blue3k:
Wow dude you ask a lot of questions. Do they u think for yourself? NASS has plans on Concessioning out ports anyway.

read this CAREFULLY and tell me if it reads like English. normal English. that normal people speak.

omohayek:
Unfortunately, it seems most of the Nigerians who actually care about the quality of the country's governance are the expatriates who can see how things ought to be, rather than the ones back home, who seem so desperate to make ends meet that they'll grovel in front of the worst criminals, in hope of getting a few crumbs thrown at them. That's the only way I can explain the PDP/APC fanaticism on here, the hero's welcome given to James Ibori, and other such nonsense.

diaspora needs to stop caring and start doing.

Blue3k:
Wow dude you ask a lot of questions. Do they u think for yourself? NASS has plans on Concessioning out ports anyway.

are we still speaking English?
is asking questions bad?

omohayek:
The answer to your question is really quite simple: reduce the size and scope of the Nigerian state, by abolishing most of the rules and regulations required to do even simple things, and outright privatizing most of the assets the Nigerian government is currently mismanaging. If you don't require a government permit or stamp of approval to do something, no one can ask you for a bribe to get the authorization. If your ports are privately owned and run, no sensible management will hand out artificially inflated contracts that will eat into its profits. The police can't ask you for a "tinted permit" or "character clearance" if you don't need one for any purpose - and the fact is that you don't need such things in developed countries.

who will do the abolishing?

davidif:
You dey mind Nigerians? Watching them clamor for which party is better can be really infuriating at times. It's two beggars fighting over crumbs. Both parties are just horrendous. What they should be clamoring for is for INEC to change the rules to allow common folks to run for office and not this elitist bunch.

who stopped common folks from running. you can't win part primaries,how will you win general elections

sekxy:
Ithappened to two of my friends but lem me talk about one..

Their relationship started this time last 5years. When this my girlfriend was just in her under 20's. So this guy came to her when he had nothing. Though it took this my gf time to actually accept him. Then I would advice her to at least date when she turns 20 at least to know a lot about relationship but due to her love for the guy she accepted him.

Then the guy graduated from university and luckily for him he went for his NYSC shortly when my gf accepted his proposal.. Then this guy would visit her without giving her anything, they were loved up and she was cool with it..she loved him so much that nothing about him pisses her off..

hmmm, so many times this my gf would go to visit him but because he doesn't have money she would transport herself...the guy then loved her.. Maybe because he was still broke.. I would then ask this bae if she cheats on him but she would say no, even to the extend that she doesn't club or do any social stuff because of his guy, she prays and encouraged him.

Fast forward to this time last year, the guy started making money ..bought cars and started building ..he has many investments.

Just last two months she called and was crying that the guy had broken up with her and I was like ...please calm down and tell me what transpired. .she said that the guy chatted her up to tell her that he likes light skinned ladies...and that he doesn't love her enough to marry her because of her skin colour..

I called the supposed bf and the guy was actually telling me he Will cheat on her if he eventually marries her...but this bae suffered with him all this while for 4years and he didn't notice her dark colour until he started making money.

good for her. was she blind when walking on the road or watching TV. she would've noticed that he liked light skin girls. but at least she a free woman. you, na slave you go be Shebi moni na your problem. longer throat don't worry mercy aigbe treatment fall on you

davidif:
Someone give this man a 21 gun salute. How can you tell someone to chose between dying by gun or drowning?

who knows, bullet may be wet or life raft may be underwater. better to vote and scare the next politician into doing the right thing than leaving it to chance.there's always a better choice. time for informed voters to make such choices.
yes apc terrible but now every party knows not to depend on federal might or incumbency .it's slow but we're getting there

davidif:
As in eh? That's why I feel that in other to change Nigeria you need outsiders (preferably not living in nigeria) to make wholesale changes. The people in the system can't see anything different from what they practice. All they know is the system they have lived in all their lives.

how and who will we change it

omohayek:
While I understand what you're saying about needing funds in the short term, I still don't think the political temptations such funding brings will be worth it. There simply can't be effective representation without the voting public having tight control over the purse strings, and that means taxation has to be where the vast majority of public money comes from.

Another reason why I don't want any reliance on resource-based government spending is that it tempts politicians into interfering in matters that are best left to the private sector. When taxpayers are footing the bill, foolish, revenue-destroying, white-elephant prestige projects become a lot harder to sell (e.g. Ajaokuta, Nigeria Airways), and politicians are forced to concentrate on just those things that will make a direct difference to ordinary people's lives - law and order, education, healthcare, good transportation infrastructure, business-friendly regulations, etc.

The long and short of it is that natural resource rents are the political equivalent of fast-food: they may fill an immediate short-term need, but the long-term damage they do simply isn't worth it in most cases. Better that we run a lean, efficient, taxpayer-funded government that recognizes upfront the primacy of the private sector, instead of one where thieving politicians fight over whose "turn" it is to "chop" from a "national cake", and then use overstaffed, inefficient parastatals and government organizations to reward their followers with deadweight "jobs". Taxpayers should be able to feel outraged at the sight of lazy, absentee or corrupt government workers, and have a reasonable expectation of seeing their anger translated into effective action by politicians who want to keep their jobs and can't rely on godfather funding to do so.

As for your point about agriculture, I agree productivity needs raising, but this doesn't require costly, heavy-handed government interaction: see here for more of my thoughts on the subject.

clicked 'here ' .just showing gibberish. could you provide link to your agric productivity related thoughts

omohayek:
I'd like to steer the discussion back in a more constructive direction, by raising a few issues that I think are essential if economic growth is to accelerate beyond the current sluggish Nigerian pace. I'll begin by discussing the topic of monetary policy, the sort of thing that never seems to come up in Nigeria's low-IQ political discussions.

Whatever we choose to call the currency, it is going to be essential, particularly in the early years, that it establish itself as everything the Naira has proven not to be: stable, with low inflation of less than 5% per annum on average, and freely convertible without any import bans, licenses, exchange limits, special rates, or any other such distortions. Ideally, it would become the new Deutschmark of West Africa, the currency of choice to turn to when governments in neighboring countries are losing the trust of their citizens.

Why is this issue so important? Because the stability and convertibility of a currency have a huge influence in determining both the domestic savings rate and the rate of foreign direct investment (FDI). Apart from the infrastructural issues we all know about, one of the biggest constraints on Nigerian businesses and farmers is access to capital, whether in the form of equity investment or credit, and the only long term solution to this problem is to both raise the domestic savings rate, and encourage much higher rates of FDI. The problem with highly inflationary and volatile currencies is that they penalize savers, both domestic and foreign: why put your money in bonds, or lend money at any fixed rate, if a sudden bout of inflation will cut the value of your lending in half? If you're a domestic saver, under such circumstances you are better off either converting your money into dollars/pounds/yen and sending it abroad (capital flight), or staying away from productive investments in companies and agricultural enterprises, and sticking to fixed assets that are inflation-proof (usually housing). If you've ever wondered why Nigerian thieves don't bother reinvesting at home, this is one of the main reasons why

So, it should be clear now that inflation is bad, very very bad, but what exactly can we do to fight it? The first tool for the job would to establish an independent central bank with a clear mandate to hit a certain inflation target, and reasonably long terms for the bank governor. As the credibility of governors is extremely important in setting inflation expectations, another step worth taking would be to look for the initial appointees from abroad, rather than treating the role as yet another opportunity for each city, town and LGA to put "our son" or "our daughter" in a "juicy" role. This suggestion is not as radical as it sounds: the head of the Bank of England is from Canada, while the previous chief of the Bank of Israel was an American. Showing a willingness to seek out an expert from abroad, a person detached enough from domestic politics to be willing to take unpopular policy decisions, will only bolster the credibility of the new nation.

I thought agric was inflation proof

omohayek:
Now, having set up an independent central bank with a highly credible governor whose track record is internationally respected, the next step required will be to ensure that the nation's fiscal policy matches up with its monetary policy, so that the central bank governor doesn't end up fighting a government trying to print its way out of trouble it has created for itself through impossible promises. The temptation for politicians to make expensive promises they can't pay for through taxation is strong in any democracy, and when times are good it is easy to assume the money will always be there to fund new programs and policies that are vote-winners (eg Yar'adua's national minimum wage increase), only for their unsustainability to be revealed down the road after a slow-down.

When the good times finally come to an end - and they always do, no matter the country - for politicians who are afraid of provoking a backlash by cutting spending, the only way out is either to borrow massively to temporarily cover the shortfall, or, if the current debts are too high, and willing borrowers can no longer be found, to simply print away the problems, by unleashing massive inflation that cuts the real cost of the government's expenditure. Often this will be blamed on drops in exchange-rates, but the truth is that with sensible fiscal and monetary policies, even very open economies can tolerate massive exchange-rate changes with little additional inflation; for example, the UK, which is far more import-dependent than Nigeria, has seen an effective 40% devaluation in the pound over the last year thanks to Brexit, but inflation has only gone up to 2.7%.

We have seen this inflationary-cycle dynamic at work many times in recent Nigerian history, from the IBB era onwards: governments that are no longer able to borrow to make up for low oil prices try to print more money without any additional resources to back the new cash, and as increasing amounts of currency go into circulation while production stays the same, the inevitable result is massive price rises, which give rise to strikes and other forms of unrest, which the governments then try to subdue through further inflationary pay increases ... and on and on the cycle goes, with the citizens left worse off in the end than they would have been under less "generous" but thriftier governments.

But how do you compel a government to do the right thing, even in the face of strong political temptation to think only of short-term popularity? By putting in place budgetary rules they won't have the freedom to break, and appointing independent overseers who can ring the alarms when the politicians try to get around the rules.

The basic idea behind the fiscal policy rules is simple enough: whatever the average growth-rate of an economy over the long term (I won't get into the growth economics here), in the short to medium term, the rate will tend to oscillate around that long-term trajectory, with good times followed by less bouyant periods, so a sensible government should save up while times are good, which will give it extra room to cushion the pain during the slower periods. The end result is that the government will be forced to run surpluses at the high point in the economic cycle, allowing it to run Keynesian "pump priming" deficits at the low point, both of which help to smooth out the performance of the economy. Fiscal policy rules can also be extended beyond mandatory budgetary surpluses at certain periods, to preventing governments from borrowing once outstanding debt reaches a pre-determined percentage of GDP, so spendthrift administrations don't burden their successors with onerous obligations.

As everyone familiar with Nigeria knows, rules are easy to make, but getting them enforced is another thing, and here is where independent oversight comes in. If a body is set up to carry out thorough and objective assessment of government spending plans, with a requirement that its findings be made public and easily accessible, then it becomes harder for populist politicians to make unaffordable promises, as their opponents will have ready ammunition to reveal the hollowness of their proposals. The United States Congressional Budget Office is perhaps the best known such organization, but the UK also has a similar organ, called the Office for Budget Responsibility, as do many other countries. The virtue of such institutions is that by focusing only on making independent assessments of spending plans, political attacks on their findings (or attempts to undermine their independence) are made transparent to the public as partisan angling for advantage.

who will appoint these budgetary offices

omohayek:
As I noted earlier, there is simply no reason why the government should be the primary mover behind infrastructure, and looking at the industrial history of other countries shows that the private sector can handle it superbly, given an encouraging regulatory environment. The Nigerian fixation on government as the answer to all problems is a legacy of the oil boom happening just when socialism was at the height of fashion in the Third World.

how does private sector build roads without gouging users, I'm curious. inter city and neighbourhood roads o

austino677:
Awesome... See life.... He should thank God... He's not playing in our local league .. Speedy recovery brother

why not. do Nigerians not donate money to random ppl not to talk of their sports heroes?

blackbeau1:
you don't need to be popular to rig. You just need money .

money = popularity

omohayek:
I can't begin to imagine the level of blind partisanship that can push anybody into defending the likes of Bukola Saraki, a thief and schemer of the worst kind. Even if you hate Buhari with the passion of a thousand suns, how does that excuse your becoming praise singers for Saraki, of all people? Don't you realize the only person Bukola Saraki works for is himself, and that he's willing to sell the entire country's best interests down the river to get what he wants?

I am far from being a Buhari fan myself - I've said from the very beginning that the man was too indecisive and incompetent to expect anything worthwhile from him - but that doesn't mean I'll be throwing my weight behind crooks like Melaye and Saraki simply because they're sabotaging his plans, and I think anyone who does seriously needs to have his or her head examined.

As for the Kwara youths referred to in the OP's article, if they actually exist and aren't just another fake grassroots organization set up by political rivals, then I say more power to them. Nigerian politicians of all parties need to start to have some respect for (and even fear of) their constituents, rather than treating them as idiots to be bribed with rice on election day and ignored thereafter. Moves like this should be supported by any Nigerians who are serious about wanting their representatives and senators to actually fight for their voters' interests, instead of just their own pockets. It does no good to complain about how useless our politicians are if we refuse to make them face any consequences for failing at their jobs.

but they are idiots to be bribed with rice on election day

omohayek:
The sort of primitive tribalism you're fighting with this clown is exactly why I think this "country" might as well be dissolved: far too many Nigerians at all levels of power allow tribal resentment to overrule their thinking faculties, resulting in all sorts of illogical policies, from a main refinery being located in Kaduna rather than in the ND where logic dictates, to SE senators keeping quiet as the 2nd River Niger bridge budget is slashed, to over a billion dollars being spent connecting Abuja to Kaduna even while neglecting the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, the country's main route for imports and exports. The thinking with too many Nigerians is never about whether a thing will benefit everyone or not, but whether another tribe they fear, hate or envy might benefit more than their own, in which case they would rather everyone suffer together, like the buffoon you're responding to.

Maybe if Nigeria breaks up, people will stop allowing such ridiculous considerations to govern their decision-making, once they no longer have other tribes to blame for making self-destructive choices.

I fear the same tribalist and religious sentiment will continue down to ward level. I've seen streets fighting over who will be elected councillor

blackbeau1:
I should be asking you this ?Do votes count in Nigeria?

or how do you think apc was able to beat the mythical Federal might and incumbency factor. you can't rig where you're not popular