Our state governors are mostly the reason Nigeria has remained backward. They carry out their duties unchecked and unhindered. Receive state allocation + LGA funds and IGR yet absolutely nothing to show for it. Just borrow extra billions and build few KMs of roads with open drainages and call it a tenure. No landmark achievements, no out of the box initiatives for job creation and revenue generation, no extraordinary urban renewal projects, poor and insignificant investments in education and healthcare, no social housing projects, just the normal garbage in garbage out cycle at every election. It is sad really. Every leader must be held accountable and must be checked. The immunity clause must as a matter of urgency be stopped. Running our society without a functional local government system is ineffective. The local government is the closest arm of government to the people and must be effective.

These are the same Muslims that our brothers in Northern Nigeria are trying to outshine, attempting to prove they are more devout. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia is leading in technology and innovation, modernising and diversifying their institutions, infrastructure, and economy. Yet, our brothers in the North are focused on other things. Progress requires breaking free from regressive influences. It's painful to see how religion and tribalism are holding us back. Nations like the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Morocco—Islamic nations—are advancing. The backward Islamic nations are those that have not embraced modernity. We are still struggling with basic amenities: in 2024, we talk about intermittent power supply, poor access to clean water, crumbling health and education facilities, and poor security conditions. Other countries are seriously leaving us behind. We've lost our position as Africa's leading economy, dropping from a GDP of over $500 billion to $200 billion. This decline has further lowered our already poor GDP per capita of about $2,000. Inflation is biting, but our focus remains on having our tribal or religious representative in power, rather than addressing these critical issues. It’s even more sickening that we defend these terrible leaders who are hellbent on running the country to the ground.

At this rate, Yahaya Belloe will be looking at more than 10,000 years.

FreeStuffsNG:
Great intervention. Though that fine is too much in my opinion. They can report the officials to EFCC and recommend them to be sacked or suspended from work for 6months without pay. It's when both the individuals and their company are punished that there can be sufficient deterrent.

Individuals committed that infraction so they should be held liable as well.

May God bless Nigeria for ever! Check my signature for free stuffs!

The fine is even too small. We need more of this. Not just in the power space. We need it in healthcare too. Private hospitals toss patients around, delaying treatment and causing imminent complications and even death and they go scot free. By the time people are fined for negligence and extortion a couple of times, every sector will wake up. We have a very poor consumer protection system in Nigeria.

Leaders have absolved themselves of the right to make excuses. You were well aware of the debt burden, El Rufai even included it in his handover note to you. You were voted (or rigged in) to solve problems so you have to get to work.

You have every right to retrieve your items. They bought those things without a receipt and that alone messes the whole thing up for them. They bought a stolen property and that is a crime.

Very well deserved. Perfectly deserved. Man is genius

No we are too tribalistic to effect any change. It must be our brother first before we talk about saving the country. We saw these things stare us directly in the face but we headed straight down into it. The truth is we are not ready for a change. In 2027 again we will vote our brother, afterall it is our turn. Economy is in shambles, security is dead, unemployment is the order of the day. Everyday things keep getting worse and we are still shouting “Our brother must be there”. Nigeria will be better when we vote right. Those guys don’t care about anyone. As long as they have soldiers and fortified mansions, they don’t care. If the country burns, they will jet out the very next minute, leaving we, the masses, to suffer.

May the country not collapse before we get serious

This was a waste of time and money right from the onset. A country without a database trying to share money to its citizens? That’s just an avenue to loot and line the pockets of a few. Better to use that money to drive down food prices or fix roads.

Although this is a good step, it's important to recognise that the scope of agriculture extends beyond production alone. It encompasses investing in the entire value chain, which includes production, processing, storage, logistics etc.

On production, the security of our farmers remains paramount. Also there should be heavy investment in mechanised farming and access to fertilisers.

On processing, we cannot fully maximise our agricultural potentials if we don’t invest in food processing centres. This ensures that other by products of these crops are produced.

Storage will do a lot in ensuring that food products are available all year round. This is a key element in controlling food inflation and driving down food prices.

Looking at logistics for example, the state of our roads and railways is vital; inadequate infrastructure and situations where trailers spend 5-9 days to transport food products hinder growth. Also, looking at the ease of doing business in the agricultural sector, the government has to create an enabling environment for these farmers/transporters by way of encouraging health competition, stopping multiple taxation paid whilst transporting goods and criminalising the collection of bribes by police/customs officers.

Addressing these aspects and even more that have not been mentioned, would not only stabilise food prices but also guarantee food security, generate revenue, and create employment opportunities.

seunmsg:
It is not enough to fire Betta Edu. The Accountant General who honored that fraudulent request must also be sanctioned. In fact, the minister can be excused for being ignorant of the rules guiding the operation of special projects/programs account. However, the Accountant General who actually made the rules cannot be excused.

Those payments are not just fraudulent, they clearly violates extant regulations guiding public expenditure. Both the minister and the Accountant General should be sanctioned. I like Betty but I will not support this obvious fraud.

Ignorance is never an excuse. She knows the office she is occupying. She ought to know the policies that surround that office. Ignorance is tantamount to negligence.

This is sad really. A country where one person out of more than 5,000 people occupying various political seats, steals millions of naira. We have heard cases where one person stole billions. These monies would have turned things around for the average Nigerian but then, we live in a country where the citizens who are oppressed, do all within their powers to defend their oppressors. A country where we are more interested in defending our various tribes.

Nigeria has been on a long bench sleeping. I hope it won’t be too late before we wake. Many other countries are advancing and growing, for us we are just squandering our future away. Just look at what corruption has done and is still doing to us. No quality and affordable public healthcare system, no good roads, poor electricity, railway projects are more of political infrastructure than economic infrastructure, poor public education system. Years and years of corruption would have fixed these things but no, we have leaders who do not understand that you really don’t need too much to survive in life. Worse of all, we have citizens who are even more selfish and unbelievable.

This is very sad. It is even worse coming from someone who should know better. Nothing can justify the harassment and embarrassment to the woman. I hope this is looked ito

Workch:
Well, IGR wise. It's GDP that later translates to IGR, and IGR is not a true indication of the economy of a place.
If a state has more GDP than another but the other has more IGR, it's an indication that the latter is taxing more than the former.
This is basic for anyone who attended a secondary school to grasp, economics was a compulsory subject in school.

We need to do a lot to widen the tax net in Nigeria. A lot of loopholes and leakages. Advanced countries do 20 -25% of their GDPs as IGR meanwhile in Nigeria we do less than 5% to 5% of GDP. Imagine Nigeria with an about $400bn+ GDP having a revenue of N10tn which is just about $11 - $12bn. The same can be said about our states. Imo state with a GDP of N8tn+ GDP has a budget of about N400bn+ and most of it is made up of loans.

One way we can improve our IGR is by digitising the processes, upscaling the informal economy and strengthening SMEs. There should be measures in place to track earnings of individuals and businesses and tax appropriately. The manual process of collecting tax through agberos leaves room for missing funds. Above all, government should be accountable and stand up to the responsibility of leading right. People will be compelled to pay tax when they see their tax working for them.

horsepower102:


I Disagree, it’s time to formalize everything in both Abia and Anambra. It affects investment decisions by investors. It’s time to leave 19th century thinking and enter 21st century.

Exactly, we need to upscale the informal sector and drive SME growth in Anambra and Abia. That is an old way of thinking. There should be a fine balance between the formal and informal sectors of the economy if we really want to drive growth in these 2 states.

B then C then A

Offpointng:


No difference oga. tomatoes are tomatoes na ur mind dey make u feel you're on some specials

Tomatoes no be tomatoes oo. There are piccolo tomato, cherry tomato, salad tomato, tomato consuelo, tomato celano, tomato lizzano, plum tomato etc. They all have different tastes from slappy to sweet and sour.

Caseless:
How do you expect anyone to do all these within 2 years is beyond me.

I know we have the worst brand of politicians in Nigeria, but Anambra is lucky to have one of the best in our country as governor.

If you want to build a skyscraper, we will see the signs from the foundation. Same way we should see the signs of a government who has promised us Dubai/Taiwan from the first day. Anambra has a very strong SME base and if we are really serious about improving the fortunes of the state then we should look at empowering these SMEs and upscaling the players in the informal sector.

Taxes collected from markets and bus parks get lost in the hands of agberos because of disorganised commerce and transport systems. No database has been implemented to guide in decision making. Poverty is really encroaching into the lives of all Nigerians and our governors really need to do more. The governor, being an economist, should talk about plans for an agricultural revolution that will touch all parts of the value chain from “mechanised” farming to storage, to marketing and logistics. These are areas that will not only bring down food prices but also provide jobs. We have fashion, pharma and auto industries in Anambra, arguably the biggest in West Africa, these guys just need the proper training, exposure and platform to trade globally and having an economist in power means that we should be hearing of concrete plans around these areas. In Nigeria, imported items are cheaper than locally produced items and this has caused a huge gap that any serious government can tap into and it is all down to supporting SMEs. We also need to empower our Local Governments if we are serious. Every action of the government must reinforce the commitment of supporting the masses and boosting purchasing power of its citizens.

Anybody can come in and build roads with open gutters and non-functional pedestrian walkways. Some of my points captured above are long term plans and I know how governments love to run from long term plans, however, we can start now and this will surely cement APGA’s place in Anambra.

I have always maintained that Anambra’s/Nigeria’s problems will be 80% solved by having and implementing the right policies. We need the right policies in housing, sanitation, waste management, commerce, transportation etc. Our people need to understand that you must not build a shop in every house or turn every ground floor to a building materials depot. Our markets need to be relocated and built for purpose with paid parking, warehouses, loading and off-loading areas. Our bus stations should be built for purpose and digitised, this will make tax collection easier and better. When these things are done, we will reap the benefits of improved revenues. The governor has played in the highest levels and has been exposed to some of the ideas of advanced economies. We need stronger plans on ground on how to achieve the pipe dreams of turning Anambra to Africa’s Dubai/Taiwan.

Above all, we need accountable leaders in Nigeria. A lot more should be done. We need to be practical about helping the masses and turning Nigeria around. Things are getting worse and people are really suffering and it is sad for a country that has almost everything to succeed.

The state governor really blew his chances and should have himself to blame if he doesn’t win in 2025. A lot was expected especially with the whole Dubai Taiwan mantra and the fact that he has achieved a lot in his career. Almost 2 years down the line, nothing has changed really. He just came in, did the usual thing like every other average Nigerian governor. Nothing special to say that we are being led by a highly rated professor of economics who has been engaged at the highest levels. No massive economic or infrastructural turnaround, nothing, just the usual road constructions with open gutters and no functional walkways. No organised and digitised markets and bus parks. No plans to widen and digitise the tax net. No plans to upscale the informal economy or set up SMEs, just business as usual.

AllenSpencer:
God bless Our Firstlady!

She is so passionate about the Super Falcons!

So passionate about the Super Falcons yet they are being owed their wages

When I complained about this administration, someone said I was a hater. He even went ahead to say I wasn’t from Anambra state. The truth is that some of us are gathered here because we want the best for our dear state. Nothing has improved since this administration came on board. The few roads being constructed lack some of the basic things modern roads should have. The tout menace has continued unchallenged and nothing has been done about sanitation. This thread was always busy when Obiano was the governor. I always saw updates on road constructions, tourism, community development, wealth creation, education and health. My town even had streetlights running through the major roads. Even during Covid, things were going on.

The truth is that Anambra needs a firm leader, most of the problems in Anambra can simply be solved with having the right laws and policies in place and these things will not break the bank. I expected the governor, as an economist, to come up with solid strategies on how to empower the people and create wealth. I felt so indifferent when I read that palm seedlings were shared to individuals without proper training and structure in place. There has been no innovative ideas on wealth creation, no different approach to capacity building, just the normal talk talk governance with loud mouthed praise singers.

Chikeluba25:
Ekwulobia/Isuofia road

This is good and highly commendable, however more can be done. I think new roads can be dualised and paved with functional (keyword) walkways. It should be standard. It is not about being in a rush to construct many roads, it is about quality and how sustainable it will be in the future. These single lane roads will still need to be reconstructed and expanded with time so why not start now?

prophetwis:
Still wonder why someone who can afford a comfortable life in Nigeria ,will nearly turn to a beggar all in the name of relocation.

The joke here is on Nigeria. Why would one really want to be a ‘beggar’ in a foreign land if not for how terrible things are in Nigeria. In Nigeria you are just one huge ransom away from losing all your savings. You are at a higher risk of losing your life to avoidable things.

In all, one shouldn’t just travel out without planning. You can learn new skills, get relevant and needed certifications and all. You can still get those big jobs in the UK but just as the OP said, you shouldn’t be selective especially when you are new because you need those menial jobs to survive.

As for the fake accent part. One shouldn’t fake British accent (you may be shooting yourself on the foot), however, it is very important to learn how to pronounce words well and communicate better. This helps in interviews (especially for jobs that have to deal with meeting people).

An example should be made out of him. People should value human lives for once in Nigeria. The way he was talking about killing at least 3 people, this is so wrong. Just because of politics? He should be thrown in jail for life. When people see or hear of him, they should shudder in fear and run away from all forms of violence.

Lol

RIP Gamine. May your soul rest in peace

These roads will not exceed 5 years with the way I see it. Soludo should man up and work smart. He has been playing around too much

These projects are things Wike and Udom (governors of other oil producing states) build for fun. Rivers has a terrible topography that means they have to spend a lot in projects yet, Wike builds these things like a walk in the park.

Elxandre:
I have been playing around with my brother's IPhone 14 pro and these are my observations.
The idea of Apple's IPhone being better than android is simply a marketing phenomenon
Hear me.
Obviously all phones do similar stuff nowadays anyway. A tech inclined person could find a way to bypass the bottlenecks on ios to achieve most things albeit with several jump arounds and compromises, so I could definitely live with iPhone if I have to.

Functionality wise, the iPhone is a joke and a testament to the Power of the American culture being able to impose any narrative on the world.
Imagine not being able to monitor your downloads in your notifications drop down or not being able to see actual progress of your downloads on the app store?

The various browsers are all glorified safari themes due to being forced to use only webkit engine.
Compare this to Android where Chrome, Firefox, etc all look like their desktop equivalents. You can even run Chrome extensions on Android if you use the right chromium browsers.
Summarily browsing the web is a better experience on Android.

I appreciate the sandboxed approach in terms of security but windows phone OS was also sandboxed but could at least connect to computers to copy files or even quickly share documents by Bluetooth so what are we talking.

The so called navigation gestures not being universal on iOS is a bit annoying too compared to Android where a back swipe works on any app.

The only thing Apple has going for it in my opinion is the video quality and ecosystem, which is brilliant anyway. Samsung has something similar going though with "Link to Windows" which can even open any app on your laptop. You can even make calls from your laptop or copy and paste text and images between both devices.

AirDrop which apple brags about is nearly matched by nearbyshare, even though Google is abysmal with marketing and no one knows about it

My s21 ultra is still blazing fast after over a year so I don't know about this so called android lag.

Another thing is the perceived societal value the Apple brand carries, and subsequently the resale value which is only a bit decent with Samsung and Google pixel on the Android side.

I was really tempted to try switch to the iPhone 14 pro max but I now see it would probably be a downgrade from my S21 ultra.

"Less is more" ideology of apple is clever psychological marketing aimed at selling incompetence.
If Apple was as fully featured as Android believe me, they'd laugh at Android.

Hoping the S23 ultra brings better video though.

Having switched from a mere mid range Samsung (Galaxy A50), to Iphone 14 Pro Max, I can’t agree less with you. Based on functionality and versatility, top rated android phones trump over iphones. Apple has a good marketing strategy, modelling their phones as a premium and elite brand. This creates a fear of missing out in people and they all want to join the bandwagon. I still use my Samsung for so many things, especially my Zoom meetings where I have to split my screen and take notes on the other side.

PS: for those citing money as the reason people use android phones, note that Samsung premium phones are more expensive to buy and maintain. I noticed when people compare apple to android, they consider mid range and smaller brands in android. It doesnt work that way.

The real question to ask is where did a former Air commodore see N90m to N100m to negotiate and where did a former colonel see N135m to pay. Nobody should say salary or gratuity please... If only 2 people in the military,that are not even at the highest levels of their careers can quote millions like this, imagine what will be going on in the military.

It is too much of "let the sleeping dog lie" that kept Nigeria where it is. A University, caused unnecessary pressure on the young man, denied him of his scholarship which in turn, made him start working in order to pay his fees and as a result of that, his grade dropped even further. Do you know how many jobs he may lose in the future because his grades are not up to the level recruiters want? Do you know that this "sleeping dog" can mar this guy's life?

My first option is for you to get a good lawyer (some will even do it for free and will ask for money when you win the case), and sue the University. This option will likely pay for all damages and future costs in your career. The second option however, is to get back to the scholarship body and explain what happened. You may be lucky to be paid back the amounts you are owed.

meetme01:
Let the sleeping dog lie my brother. Thank God you have moved on. Just ensure you make necessary corrections before your last paper.

Let me relate

I requested for a copy of my transcript to a UNI for my PG years ago. The course in the cover letter was different from that of my transcript. I was called from the PG school to contact my UNI. Can you believe I paid another transcript fee and courier charges for an error I didn't know anything about? In saner climes, I would be compensated. In Nigeria, you can loose all the years of struggle.

Just let it go. Better days ahead...

Pojomojo:
Team JAPA are among the lazy and irrational citizens. I wonder why many don’t think of the reason why they found themeselves to be citizens of Nigeria.

JAPA mentality IMO you have no plan to influence your nation or your society, it appears you’re not in tune with the purpose of your existence but only focused on your personal interest.

We’ve been lied to that life is what we felt it is when actually it’s extremely the opposite of what we’ve been told.

Don’t be surprised that citizens of civilized countries are tied of their country just as we’re tied too. Strict laws we don’t follow here, you’ll get there and comport yourself meanwhile, their citizens are tied of such laws cause they know some countries are lawless.

Wow, humanity on the run to nowhere when nothing is chasing them but themselves and they lament it’s life.
This money for relocation is enough to set up a micro enterprise to meet the fast growing population in Nigeria / Neighboring African country, with a plan for upgrade of the business as the cash flow increases. There is no free launch any where in the world. Africa has a lot of gap and opportunities to be filled and harnessed. All the same relocation is good with respective individual evaluation of the opportunities and risk.
For every thing in life, there is time and season for every one, so it is always good to get prepared for the opportunities.

My advise is that individual should relocate on personal reasons and not because your close friend or family member has travelled to the UK or Canada, The case varies and individual potentials, opportunities and luck varies.

A family of 4 that have truly "Japa" to the UK knows your total initial cost is highly exaggerated for the popular one-year masters.

1. School fees can be paid at an official rate (less than 500 nairas) and some schools require a 2k or 5k pounds deposit. This drops the tuition deposit to about 1m to 2.5m. If I assume a 5k deposit, it saves 2m nairas compared to yours.

2. For proof of funds (in interest), you need tuition balance + living expenses. Most school tuition is less than 13,000 pounds, and there are schools with less than 10000 pounds tuition. If you deposit 5000 pounds (2.5m nairas) for a 13,000-pound school, you will need about 8000 pounds (4m nairas) more for the tuition balance. You will also need 29,000 pounds for living expenses for a family of 4 outside London. (29,000+8000) pounds= 37,000 pounds (about 17.5m naira). At 3.5% interest, 17.5m naira will yield 612,500 naira. Saves about 1.9 million nairas compared to yours.


To-be continued..
All the best.!
Peace

Don't blame the JAPA people, blame the system. A system that kills you for being a young, hardworking man/woman. A system that kills your dreams even before you wake up. A system where you live everyday like it's your last, avoiding kidnappers, herdsmen, unknown gunmen, road accidents, police brutality etc.

Do you know how many businesses that have ended because of the numerous kidnappings on our highways? Or how many farmers that have closed up shop because of herdsmen ravaging their lands? Or how many commercial businesses that have closed up because of fluctuating rates? Or manufacturing businesses that have folded up because of poor power supply and poor purchasing power of the people? Just a few weeks ago, Nigeria lost a promising young talent on YouTube (Eboh's Media) whose only crime was travelling around the country, and making videos to showcase the beauty of his homeland. This is just one case out of many.

Nigeria is now running a sachet economy, an economy where everything is sold in sachets. From milk, to Milo, even to baby food. When you see things like that in the economy, just know that there is trouble. This happens when the price of the original products are gradually getting out of the reach of the masses. A country with about 70% of its 200m+ population living in abject poverty. That is 140m+ people. It will get to the point where Nigerians will start eating themselves if nothing is done, because when hunger takes over, the average human becomes savage.

Nobody says travelling abroad means you have gone to El Dorado where you strike gold but then, it pays for your hardwork and smartwork.

It's not all doom and gloom though. There is hope in 2023. Nigeria needs a leader who will put the country on the right path. I grieve when I see a country with hundreds of trillions of potentials, yet its citizens are poor. Nigeria's story is similar to that of a driver who drives his Ferrari like a keke. It simply means we need to change the drivers. They leave us uneducated and poor just to satisfy their greed. Things need to change.

We need to vote wisely.