₦airaland Forum

A feminist idea that a woman should be able to retain her identity after marriage.

To be honest I have no issue with it.

She carries both names, not just her father's name.

obailala:
I'm sure he has a very good answer to this allegation. The man is definitely smarter than preaching anti-corruption in public when he has huge skeletons in his closet.

I wouldn't be surprised if Akpabio hasn't released a kobo for the project.

Why? How would that benefit Akpabio?

He has been known to complete projects quickly and efficiently, why all of a sudden would he stall on this one particular deal?

No surprise, no wonder those people drive like maniacs.

Abuamam:
Again I ask, if the intent was to unify the tribes, why create a totally new religion? They were pretty much agreed on idol worship. Why were the leaders against it? Why choose a relatively poor orphan to lead the unified tribes; when there were the mighty rulers of Quraish and other major tribes? Come on. Your theory holds no water... has too many holes.

You cannot say that all US whites are racist. Obama needed a majority. Whites (who are presumably non-racist) voted for him too. So it would be as wrong to condemn ALL, or even MOST whites as racist, as it is to condemn all or most Arabs as racist; using both Obama and Sheikh alKalbani's analogies. In any case, you tried to project racism on Islam, and I am just showing you how paradoxical it is, for a supposedly racist religion, putting a victim of its racism in its most esteemed position. Rather like the vatican appointing an atheist as pope.

Why does anyone create a cult? There is always power in creating cults.

Why did the Sauds fight for supremacy against their fellow Arabs? If not for control and power?

Why do we have Shias and Sunnis?

I did not say that all Americans were racist. I mentioned that America has a problem with racism. The proof of that is very evident in their media. Religions and nations do not exist without people - I simply pointed out that many Arab muslim societies have a problem with bigotry that goes unaddressed. Because both societies have people of African origin in figure head positions does not mean that they have solved their issues pertaining to racism.

Abuamam:
No doubt, the Arabs were raised up by their acceptance of Islam, but it was incidental, rather than causative. They could not have strategised that such and such a system of religion is what would give us prestige; then gone ahead to invent it.

In order to assert your last paragraph, you would have to prove that the disjointed desert Arabs came together 15 centuries ago, to create a religion for the purpose of taking over the world. This is historically untenable with the kind of societal set up in Arabia at that time; added to the fact that if that was their plan, then why were they against the prophet (saw)?. Furthermore, the rite of pilgrimage to Mecca was already a sort of economic advantage during centuries of pre-Islamic periods. Why did they have to rock the boat and invent Islam to create a benefit that was already accruing to them; especially when the outcome would have been uncertain? You are trying to 'reverse engineer' history; ignoring all factors that don't fit in. Wrong methodology.

Yes, some Arabs are racist, but the issue is not that of religion as it is due to experiences or misinformation; just as all Nigerians generally, are deemed suspect in nearly every foreign nation; Muslim, Christian, Atheist, Buddhist or Hindu. Some Arabs see foreigners as lacking the basic morals that the Arabs value. For example, most Arab families would not permit their son marrying an African lady; not because they think Africans are inferior; but because they are made to believe that African girls tend to behave in a more immoral fashion and are likely to have had multiple sexual partners before marriage...true to a certain extent. Others see that the majority of crimes in their country are committed by foreigners; for example, witchcraft in Saudi Arabia is almost exclusively practised by Africans; so they treat them with contempt as ignorant ofIslam. On the religious side, many Muslim foreigners are held in high esteem in Saudi Arabia as accomplished religious scholars, and have held posts as professors in their most prestigious religious schools. Dr Adel alKalbani; who is black; was even appointed as the chief Imam of the Haram mosque in Mecca at a time. So the issue of racism is not a religious issue; Islam actually condemns judgement based on colour or nation.

At no point did I say that they had any foresight or planning for global domination when it came to spreading Islam and Arabic culture. The first goal was always to unify the local tribes, from there they took their opportunities to spread to other parts of the world.

How does 'jinn' differ from 'with craft'? - both are rooted in ignorance. That is my point about Islam being a tool for the spread of Arab cultural superiority. Why are their superstitions any less false than those of the Africans?

Your use of the chief imam of the main Mecca mosque as an example is similar to someone using Barack Obama as an example of racial equality in north America - those are two anomalies.

One of these days African muslims and xtians will open their eyes to the truth.

This guy talks too much.

Mr Bruce - be about it, don't talk about it.

Abuamam:
I do not know why a country with foreign assets and deposits of nearly a trillion dollars, would be so concerned about a $10billion annual income (NOT profit). I do not know why a King whose family control the world's largest oilfields, would bother spending billions of dollars yearly on a pilgrimage that gets him no returns.

BTW, just as an aside, zakat is not paid on income but on savings. retained for a full year. Also the government is not entitled to spend the zakat as they like... the beneficiaries of zakat are very strictly restricted to the categories listed in Quran9:60 by consensus.

It seems that atheists tend to only feel comfortable when they lump all religions under the same category. They don't have to do so much work refuting them that way.

You forget that Saudi Arabia has not always been wealthy, it was one of the poorest regions on the planet for much of its history. It was only when the (would be) Aramco representatives met with the Sauds that Saudi Arabia became a prosperous nation. Before then they had a series of towns and a lot of poverty. The hajj has always been a means of generating wealth. When the oil eventually runs out or becomes less valuable it will always be there, so long as there are exploitable muslims.

It's about soft power and ensuring that as many people are employed as possible.

They would struggle to maintain power otherwise.

Without Islam would so many people see the need to learn Arabic? That is a power play.

Islam was a means of spreading Arab culture and increasing Arab power - I find it interesting when I come into contact with non-Arab muslims who have a problem acknowledging that. I have seen how Arabs treat non-Arab muslims - it is quite clear to me what the situation is, only the devout muslims pretend that things are otherwise.

obailala:
Something I have noticed about most Nigerian city roads, the roads are never marked and I wish someone could explain why

Is it just that we so passionately love mediocrity or what is the reason exactly?... For crying out loud, after spending hundreds of millions to build a new road, why is it so difficult to spend a few thousands to mark the roads properly and give the city a nice and meaningful look?
www.nairaland.com/attachments/2400612_umuafaiagbamaroadumuahia750x0_jpegc452117263460ccc51a7566993fb49d4
www.nairaland.com/attachments/2400620_umuahiacity1_jpeg92362b551327320da8a95020f3df1122



Today we keep hailing the roads in Akwa-Ibom but in my opinion, there's just one thing that differentiates the roads in Uyo from other city roads in Nigeria, Uyo roads are marked.

UYO
www.nairaland.com/attachments/725021_uyo_jpg449eb4698d0dcfacec2af89e36791acc

New roads are marked - at least in Uyo, Calabar and Benin.

There's another difference between roads in Uyo and most places (Lagos for example), they are built to the highest standard. They are built to last and if you notice there is no exposed storm drain, everything is underground - as it should be.

Abuamam:
I could argue that just tightening immigration on all the foreigners working in Saudi Arabia would free millions of jobs. I have been there, most of those jobs lost would be those held by non-Saudis.

Even if your argument were true, there is still no 'class' of religious clergy that these gains accrue to; those who gain most are the food vendors, the taxi drivers, the tesbiu and cap sellers... hardly what you would expect a religion created for economic purpose to empower. For example, the millions of livestock that are slaughtered during eid, in commemoration of Abraham's sacrifice, have to be prepared and shipped to poorer Muslim countries at no cost. They are not even raised in Saudi, but imported mostly from Australia; who also gains points on their GDP from the export. I just cite this to show that any economic transaction involves revenue and costs, and will likely result in beneficiaries. In Islam these beneficiaries are not limited to a certain class or group. That is my point.

Your first comment is very true and something I've always found strange about Saudi Arabia. They have 5 million unemployed (officially) yet have 5 million expats, the employers would argue it comes down to a lack of skills.

The article that I linked mention that they all pay tax on their earnings (even if they under report their earnings so as to cheat the taxman), the authorities gain from the tourism. The Saudi royal family ensure that the religious authorities are well catered for, to the extent that they can build mosques and schools abroad to spread the ideology and further their soft power.

Just because some of the wealth trickles down does not negate that the primary beneficiaries are those at the top of the political and religious pyramid.

EzioAuditore:
Bloody friggin hell it's like reasoning with a wee ankle biter! Did I say the cops are incorruptible? There's no single country in this world where you won't find corruption! But again my point is Nigeria is a special case. Ours is out of hand! Corruption here is a culture! Giver it a rest mate, you can't win here.

I mentioned the police in Brasil because they are the first rung in a corrupt judicial system. Money buys influence, that is a universal trait. Money also buys or protects one from justice, again that is universal. Prosecutors and judges in Brasil are also known to be corrupt, it is only when the media puts pressure on them that you might see some action, even then it is still unlikely that justice will be done.

Ask Russians, Ukrainians, Brazilians, Colombians, Mexicans, Kenyans, Chinese, Italians, Indians, Thais or any number of nationalities and they will say the exact same thing that you just said - that corruption is part of their culture.

You have no sense of perspective, you keep displaying that.

It is okay to say that you hate Nigeria but let's not act that Nigeria's issues are unique or even that they are worse than elsewhere - there is no evidence of either.

EzioAuditore:
But in a good number of such cases of "senseless violence", the culprits do get punished do they not? Like I said, corruption is not measured by frequency of crime but by the efficiency or rather inefficiency of the justice system to pass proper judemegnt.

You think police in Brasil are incorruptible?

Lols.

There are extra-judicial killings everyday.

How do you think drug dealers are free to operate in Brasil?

Abuamam:
Sure, although the actual figure is more like 3% of the gdp, depending on oil prices...

http://www.arabnews.com/revenue-pilgrims-makes-3-saudi-gdp

There is no doubt that some traders, restaurant owners and taxi drivers gain. Overall the economy is little better for it, and the Saudi government could probably do better if they spent the money used for Hajj infrastructure and security, on developing their manufacturing industry. We need to look at the opportunity costs also. Total spent on mosque expansion alone could easily get to $20billion, not to talk of recurrent infrastructure, and the average annual revenue (not profit) from pilgrims is rarely more than that. You also need to remember that GDP is also not profit.

On the whole, would the Saudi economy go into recession if not for Hajj? No. Some people may just have to develop other skills, and real estate may go down in the pilgrimage sites and up in agricultural and industrial sites. That is all.

Saudi Arabia already has a high unemployment rate - it could not afford to lose 160,000+ jobs in one fell swoop.

There are very clear economic and cultural benefits to convincing Muslims from all over the world that they should visit Mecca at least once. Soft power is just as important as economic and military prowess.

Hajj might account for 3% but alongside Umrah it is at least 7%.

Get a DNA test.

EzioAuditore:
Organised crime in brasil is a problem and that's because they are...organised. But what do you think is starting to happen in this country? And trust me, once we start to have organised crime mobs ion Nigeria we will not be able to control them thwy way this country is set and it seems that's where were headed if you read the news. You're the one who needs perspective and a lesson on crime and corruption because clearly you don't know what you're saying.

Organized or not (and there is a lot of senseless violence there) you are more likely to be murdered or robbed in Brasil than in Nigeria.

Abuamam:
The amount spent by the Saudi Arabian government on medical facilities and security in Hajj alone, could easily cover all that the hotel owners make. Not to talk of billions of dollars spent on expansions and infrastructure. Believe me, the Saudi government is not making any profits from Hajj. Rather, they see it as a duty to see to the safety and security of the pilgrims. The so-called Saudi tourist industry contributes practically nothing to their economy.

That is a complete lie. Hajj is vital to the Saudi economy.

[b]This weekend Gulf News reported that the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca accounts for 7 percent of Saudi Arabia’s gross domestic product. That’s saying a lot considering Arabia’s massive, oil-enriched GDP.

So today’s post is not about jihad or terrorist financing. Instead, its about the massive moneymaker that the hajj has become, particularly in terms of zakat payments to the Saudi government.

How does the hajj generate tax revenues for Saudi Arabia? All the businesses and individuals that cater to the pilgrims (including airports, hotels, retailers, etc) are making income from the hajj. Saudi Arabia, with its Islamic zakat tax, collects 2½ percent of individual Saudi wealth including anything that was generated from the hajj industry. Here are the details:

According to a field study, the monetary value of activities related to the Haj and Umrah exceeds $30 billion (Dh110.2 billion).

Unlike the Haj, Umrah can be performed at any time, though it is particularly popular during the fasting month of Ramadan. The figure covers travelling, accommodation and living expenses, as well as cost of animals for sacrifices.

The average cost of sacrificed animals amounts to about $130 per pilgrim. Other expenditures deal with purchases of gifts and spending on telecommunications.

To be sure, the statistics reflect the multiplier effect on the economy, as every riyal spent brings about four additional riyals. Undoubtedly, this is a sizeable amount by virtue of making up around 7 per cent of the kingdom’s gross domestic product…

Four cities in western Saudi Arabia benefit substantially from the Haj, namely Makkah, Madinah, Jeddah and Taif. King Abdul Aziz Airport in Jeddah serves as the gateway to Makkah.

In addition, Saudi tourism authorities encourage wealthy pilgrims to visit other places in the vast kingdom, including tourist sites in the south, which are not too far from the holy places.

The annual Haj in particular serves as a golden opportunity for Saudi businesses to launch new consumer products. Demand tends to be the order of the day during the season, as locals refer to the Haj.

Saudi firms can learn vital information about their products from more than 2 million pilgrims, the majority of whom are foreign nationals. As such, freshly developed Saudi products can be subjected to improvement prior to marketing them in the other five member states comprising the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

In fact, many GCC nationals tend to perform the Haj on a regular basis. In turn, Haj contractors rely on them to generate steady income.

Opportunities

Additionally, the Haj season provides employment opportunities for thousands of Saudi nationals. Some Saudis, including youngsters, engage in simple trading activities such as selling foodstuffs and prayer beads.

The Saudi economy needs to generate more than 160,000 jobs a year to cope with demand.

Yet, other Saudis and foreign residents use their private vehicles to transport pilgrims. Also, some Makkah residents rent their structures to firms arranging for pilgrims to support their living expenses throughout the year…

The article also indicates that many Saudis under-report their hajj wealth in order to avoid the zakat tax. Muhammad wouldn’t like that. He forecast that tax deadbeats would “taste the burning” of hell, and that their withheld wealth would become a like a snake that would wrap around their necks and hiss, “I am your wealth.”[/b]

http://gulfnews.com/business/analysis/haj-vital-to-saudi-economy-1.533412

EzioAuditore:
Oooh! Lmao! I can't read now? Ill informed about what? Nigerias problems are not unique? Yes, if you read my post you'd see I mentioned that, (who can't read now)? But its the scale at which these problems manifest that makes Nigeria stand out. I can come out now and shoot a person in front of one thousand people on camera and I am confident I'll get away with it, that is the sort of country we live in. But if truly you have relatives in the countries you mentioned, ask them the probability of getting away with stealing from a fish monger, just because a leader is relatively corrupt it doesn't mean the whole country is, but please tell me a single part of this whole country that is not corrupt.

You know nothing about crime in Brazil if you truly believe that Nigeria has a crime problem by comparison.

Get some perspective.

Abuamam:
If there is one religion that does not profit from undeserved resources, it is Islam. Rather it strives to give back to the poor. There is no clergy in Islam to exploit the laity... unlike one other religion that I know.

Saudi Arabia by way of Mecca does not benefit from Islam?

What would happen to the Saudi tourist industry if hadj was no longer necessary? How would all of those expensive hotels that overlook the Kaaba survive without adherents of Islam feeling compelled to rush to Saudi at least once in their lives?

EzioAuditore:
Clearly I've never been to other countries? Lol! Alright mate. Did I say such problems are unique to Nigeria or do you have a flawed understanding of the queens language? But let me indulge your cluelessness, tell me one country with a country you've been to with a functioning government that you deem more corrupt than Nigeria. Things have moved sionce the times of abacha, yes I agree, but not enough, in fact do you know how old this list is? Its not new! And its not even official! There is nothing in this country that is not corrupt! And BTW! This bellend needs to learn maths, you should add the whole foreign abacha loot recovered so far, see if it gives you up to the amount you mentioned. As corrupt as abachas government was it is still very comparable to this government. Clearly you're the plonker analysing global affairs from a grandfathers village. I know how you sprags feel the need to protect this administration but that is a lost cause, snap out of your delusions mate. How is north korea more corrupt than Nigeria? Just because the leader is does it go beyond him? Do you know what they do to corrupt people oin north korea? Like I said. This is just a list of countries who do not feel obliged to rim the wests arse.as further evidence of your cluelessness you're mentioning brazil and angola. Do you know what is happening in brazil? Atleast there's a working justice system working to bring culprits to justice, there's accountabilty, corruption is not measured by frequency of crime but by whether or not justice is passed. Clearly you know nothing about brazil or angola! You need to wake up and accept the fact! You live in one of the most corrut countries in the world. And if you're claiming you've been to morroco or brazil, I'd like to pick your brain more about it. If there's an official list of corrupt countries, I'm not saying nigeria must top it, but we are easily top 5.

You can't read and are clearly ill informed.

Nigeria's problems are 'not unique'.

I have close friends and family in both Angola and Brazil, I know how things go there. Dos Santos is Abacha on steroids.

EzioAuditore:
If Nigeria is not on the list then we are not talking about corruption, Nigeria and corruption figuratively mean the same thing. Obviously this is just a list of countries that do not feel obliged to lick the wests arse.

You have no sense of perspective if you believe that Nigeria is one of the most corrupt nations in the world. Clearly you have never been, nor do you talk to, others from other nations.

There are many countries not on this list that are much worse than Nigeria for day-to-day corruption as well as big scandals - Angola springs to mind. Brazil has just been enthralled in a corruption scandal with its national oil company that has engulfed everyone up to the President. The figure involved has been marked at 16 billion usd. NNPC scandal was said to be 2 bn usd at last count - if Sanusi would get his facts right first then we would know the true scale.

Stop trying to asses global affairs from your grandfather's village. Nigeria has problems but they are not unique to Nigeria, nor are they the worst in the world. Things have moved on since the time of Abacha, many of you have a hard time accepting that.

Beautiful home but what is with all these women and the silly hair hats?

Religion is all about asserting cultural superiority so as to enslave the mind and gain access to undeserved resources.

Drchristian:
Why everything dey shock Buhari naw?

Has he just realised that he is surrounded by crooks?

88%, never heard of Jonathan Edwards.

The Jewish Sabbath is Saturday but begins on Friday evening.

Only Protestants believe that salvation comes from faith alone, apparently.

mbulela:
Especially if you ate not Greece
Which airport?
I was in enugu and I Saw a substandard thing that celebrates mediocrity.
The one in Port-Harcourt is a proof that Oduah never meant well for this country.

I did not say that they were marvellous structures, just that they were better than they were previously.

Abuja is being expanded, MMIA is being expanded. Calabar airport is improved.

Fact is, because of the press freedom in Nigeria that was not there previously we now know how much is being wasted. That too is an improvement.

blym4real:
show me the new infrastructures, is it the sub-standard roads, the scam renovation of the airports, the rickety trains,the generation of power on paper, the refineries that are not working, the new one they promised.

Not all of the roads are substandard, they're a welcome improvement. As are the airports.

Clearly money has been wasted, I cannot believe how much both parties managed to spend before and during the elections but compared to previous administrations more has been built in terms of infrastructure.

blym4real:
you still don't get it.

First during the period of oil boom, the oil benchmark for the national budget was between $70 to $78, but the price went as high as $100 to $110, that means we have an excess of around $25 dollar per barrel that was not in the budget.

Do you know what this will amount to if accumulated for a period of two to three years, inspite of excess money available for the government to spend, how can they borrow 3 thrillion naira with nothing to show for it.

So you're saying that the money was stolen?

Well if you can prove it then you should present the evidence.

I have no doubt that there is pilfering going on from the treasury but accusations without proof are as lazy as the people who claim to work for the Federal government but do nothing.

The article claims that the bond deals were poorly structured by the banks, such that the Federal government is paying higher than necessary interest rates.

Nigeria has such a big infrastructure gap that it cannot afford to just keep money in reserve.

kenoc:
I do not believe that going to jail alone is the best way to handle the issue of corruption like this. He should be made to pay all the stolen money in addition to some jail term for other thieves to learn lesson.

Asset forfeiture followed by prison.

Only that which he can legitimately account for should he be allowed to keep.

GBTYO:
Was in Calabar last year. Although the average Calabar person will tell you their city has gone to dust I CAN TELL YOU THAT YOU CAN ACTUALLY COUNT HOW MANY UN TARRED ROADS ARE IN THAT CITY.

The city is pristine, clean, peaceful and most importantly civil.

Calabar is by far the best city in Nigeria.

I still don't know what people there are crying about, especially compared to other parts of the country.

I can only imagine that those people live in Calabar south or somewhere that isn't Calabar proper.

It is still the best city in Nigeria but Uyo is catching up.

blym4real:
Do you even understand the amount we are talking about here.

For the past four years the country experienced economy boom through the high price of oil, but the government was still borrowing as at that time.

Do you even understand what form of debt this is?

Show me a country that does not have debts.

What are Nigeria's debts as a proportion to its income?

blym4real:
can you show us the infrastructures?
Didn't you read the part that said most of the fund was borrowed to pay salaries.

The salary part has been a problem for Nigeria for a long time, hopefully the current cash crisis will push the political class into doing something about that.

At least this time around there have been improvements in infrastructure - the roads are certainly better (not all) but there are far more navigable roads than there used to be. It may sound basic but transport is very important.

There are more federal universities. Some airports have been upgraded and others are being upgraded. The military hardware is finally being upgraded after decades of neglect and weakening.

Domestic debt is not as troubling as external debt.

There's a degree of control with internal debt that you do not have with debt owed to the international markets.

It may look problematic but much of the debt is money used for infrastructure.

Your friend is either self-harming, sleeping on an unsafe bed or someone is entering his room at night to cut him

There is no evidence of 'witches' that attack people from afar using magic.

Sounds like your friend needs serious psychiatric help.