₦airaland Forum

paddy_lo:
Do u presume that the Lagos state Governor is a magician. . who is able to abracadabra unlimited funds out of thin air?

Do u understand the concept of a budget?. . .

Right now in your life u have goals/things to achieve,u have your budget for this yr to spend

Have u done everything u aim to do?. .

or do u not have a 3,4 or 5yr systematic plan to get u there?. . .

Ppl just come out of no-where and mis-yarn. . .

so the lagos state govt has not done,well until he tars the road in your street

what about the LAGOS-BADAGRY road expansion going on right now,which will benefit close to 40% of the state population?

what about the lite rail project going on right now,which will ease transportation for the masses. . a first in Nigeria?

some of u are just incorrigible. . . what is the states annual budget dedicated to road infrastructure
and how many km of roads can it build or fix before it runs out?

Even paddy_lo is missing the point I am trying to make. na wa o.

Dont get me wrong, Fashola has tried, but dont hide the fact too that there is still much to  be done.

My point however is, if Fashola with this performance which I will score as above average, not excellent ,is the best governor, then how do the states where average and below average governors oversee look like? Hope I am making myself clearer now?

ziddy:
Jonathan is almost as bad as Yar'Adua in the way he's allowing rumours to distort the political process. Why can't he come out & tell us his plan for 2011 Presidency? Who or what exactly is he scared of?

Abeg kool down, the man is consulting, he needs to have 60% of the delegates votes in the bag before the PDP primaries. Abi you want to him to act like Atiku who forgot to re-register in his ward first before declaring presidential ambition in a party that does not "know" him?

Reuters Ko bbc ni. Na today? have we forgotten the BBC yaradua interview so soon?

If GEJ fails to contest na im be say OBAMA don grant am asylum for America. dem no born am well to near ND.

With all these nonsense they are doing in Ogun, IBIKUNLE AMOSUN will have a really smooth ride to the government house in 2011.

@Gbawe

All dis your plenty story no answer my question o. You made some good points for another discourse though.

By the way dem tell me say people go soon bring out riffle for dis thread, well sha i dey see say na sense you dey use bring your gun out , referring to me as a "lagosian" and later trying to state that "genuine lagosians" see that fashola will move lagos closer to development.  Abeg no derail my thread o

^^^^^^^^^^^^
Agreed. But we must also note that some of the roads he met in good condition are now bad, and no attention yet.

However my point is that if in a class of 36 students(governors), fashola with this his performance is the best, then states like BAYELSA, OYO and some others that surely are in the 30 bracket are finished.

ok . Very soon i go produce IBB waec result, make people see police number

Una dey crase? where una see dis CV. fear no catch una abi?

^^^^^^^^^^^
That is not the point i am trying to make. you may want to read my initial post again.

Gbawe now sniffs for any thread that has the keyword "Jonathan" in it.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Abi? i feel u

Well we know comprehension is a major problem in this country.

Please dont get me wrong, its not a Fashola bashing thread. I will vote fashola in the coming election .I am only using Lagos as lens to imagine what is probably happening in other states. In almost all polls conducted for the best sitting Governor, Fashola is always ranked higher than his peers in other states. We lagosians are quick to fly his flag too as a performer.

Lately however I started looking at the work done so far , and while he gets commendations for some areas he has done well, one cant just overlook areas begging for attention e'g roads especially the ones we know are under the state or local govts. There are some other areas i will not want to mention.

I now started imagining how bad things are for other states where everyone say the governors are either average or doing nothing at all. I mean states like OYO, BAYELSA ,imo,Kogi et al.

My conclusion simply is that if indeed Fashola is the best governor Nigeria has , then this country may be operating under a serious curse.

[size=15pt]During his declaration to run for office at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel on Sunday, Alhaji Abubakar Atiku crashed to the ground. The photos shows him struggling to get back up.

Mr. Atiku, a former custom officer, was former vice president to Olusegun Obasanjo, with whom he fought a bitter fight during the 2007 elections.

Just like the event of his physical fall at his declaration, Atiku's political relevance must have crashed several years before this fall on Sunday. Like many Nigerian politicians, mr. Atiku has accumulated billions in inexplicable wealth.[/size]


see photo here :http://www.saharareporters.com/photo/fall-abubakar-atiku

Abeg i no fit laugh

^^^^^^^^^^^
It then means it is in the interest of GEJ for Atiku to contest as the Adamawa votes will likely go to IBB if Atiku is out of the race.

In determining the winner, is it just by simple  majority?

Sky Blue:
To be honest I think we really need to reflect on the fact that the only Nigerian presidential aspirant that seems to be working to campaign for the votes of the ordinary person is IBB. Honestly speaking what on earth does that say about our democracy? Do the other aspirants simply intend to rig and hence no need to guage public opinion? I don't think we should be giving out our vote for free and to be honest if IBB is the only person that would actually bother to fight for votes and actually attempt to discuss the issues (however shocking that sounds) staged or not, I would have no other choice than to consider him, its as simple as that. Where are all the so called "progressive" candidates? Only two people have taken campaigning seriously, IBB and Donald Duke (and IBB seems to be doing a much better job of it I might add). They are both PDP. Where is AC? Where are the other parties? Where is the so called "mega party" that would provide tough opposition? Where is the so called opposition? How dire and pitiful indeed.

Seeeking whose votes? oh you believe if IBB has the option to rig, he will not do so? besides who told you he doesnt have that planned too? And what is IBB saying that we dont already know?

Many other aspirants within the PDP know that if Jonathan throws his hat in the ring, then they stand no chance. IBB on the other hand believes the zoning theory and his miilitary connections place him well to challenge Jonathan.

BTW Shekarau is talking and Buhari too is doing same, yes maybe IBB is more visible as only a fraction of his loot will give him the visibility he needs through a corrupted media. Others dont have his kind of money to do that. When GEJ declares we will then see the picture clearer.

I would rather vote for someone whose name is not even on the ballot paper than consider an IBB (even if he talks from now till eternity) who will finally nail the   coffin of this country.

Sharon_f:
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE MY PEOPLE LET US WRITE THESE THINGS ON HIS FACEBOOK WALL, SO HE AND HIS CRONIES CAN READ THEM. I HAVE ALREADY WRITTEN MINE THOUGH THEY WERE DELETED I WILL CONTINUE TO WRITE.
[size=25pt]WRITE ON HIS WALL AND STATUS COMMENTS.[/size]

Are you serious ?

chyz:
This is a clear example of the beef between the Igbos and the Ijaws and why there is tension when it comes to the Igbos deciding to go with a Jonathan presidency or a northern presidency. Ijaws have tried so many times to supress the Igbos and it always ends with them screwing themselves double. Bayelsa was created to cut off the hold that the ijaws were trying to put on the Igbos.By creating the state a huge chunk of ijaws where taken out of river state which gave the ikwerre(igbos) and other groups more breathing room. The creation of Bayelsa was the handy-work of the igbos. Now as before the shadiness of the Ijaws towards the Igbos are coming right back to bite them in the azz with what Gov. Amaechi is doing to them. The Ijaws will never learn that when the Igbos get back to them its going to be 10 times worse. This is the reason why ijaws envy the Igbos especially Edwin Clarke.

How unfortuntae. I sometimes wonder how we complicate simple issues and give it tribal colouration all the time. How low can ones thinking get when , a case like this is fully interpreted as an Ijaw Versus Igbo struggle.

If Tinubu or Fashola goes to certain parts of Lekki to sell some planned govt action that will change peoples lives the way they are not very comfortable with, they will definitely be booed.

Tinubu went to Ajegunle in 1999 after some tribal conflict and concluded that most people where living far below the minimum level he was comfortable with and that , that was the major threat to security . He thereafter made pronouncement that he was going to demolish a lot of houses and build a low-cost housing estate. Immediately after the pronouncement the warring factions found a new enemy in tinubu, they got a court injuction to stop him, Daddy showkey released an album saying "somebody tun le se, somebody da le ru". If tinubu had gone ahead, he sure would have been surprised by the level of opposition he would have had. Was it because of tribal difference?

The issue here with the waterfront, is that the  Governor sees it as a major source of security breach in the state, while the people see it as an attempt to forcefully change their way of life. Sure there will be resistance even if the people are of same tribe as the governor. It will happen anywhere, Imo,Ebonyi Adamawa et al.

As touching some of the utterrances of the governor concerning okrika sons not doing enough for their people, it could be that he sees some desperate polticians trying to make manna of the situation to get some popularity amongst the okrikas. Waterfront or not, Ameachi still has enemies in the ODILIS,ABIYE SEKIBOs, Celestine Omeihas of this world. Are all these people ijaws too?

Yoruba:
Atiku is a shrewd politician that knows his onions;as he said earlier, he doesn't need OBJ's boy, Nyako , to endorse his return to the party , which he was a founding member.

It is also noteworthy to state that Atiku had been formally re-admitted into the party by the PDP chairman, whom is also a returnee. Hence, it is quite obvious that the PDP is now playing hanky panky by not granting Atiku his own waiver immediately.
Atiku is used to swimming in this type of river, and he knows that he will surely participate in the PDP presidential primary. For Sure!!!

u dont understand how these things work. They will keep him busy with his membership problems while others are doing the necessary groundwork. If finally he gets a court injunction to reinstate him, it will come too close to the primaries that he will not in anyway affect the votes in the primaries. Just watch

Yoruba:
Atiku deserves the waiver rightaway whether GEJ camp likes it or not. . . .If they were able to give the current PDP chairman a waiver with alacrity, so do they have to treat Atiku. Afterall, the PDP chairman, who is suffering from dysentry of the mouth, is also a PDP returnee who decamped with Atiku at the same time.

Story, story , storyyyyyyy.

I never see political mumu like ATIKU before. A man that had not perfected his re-entry into a party starts making move to scuttle the chances of the incumbent who is the leader of the party. Besides he has enough battles to fight with nyako in his state.

A smart politician would have perfected all the papers before making his intentions known. I somehow see this as another OBJ scheme to nail Atiku's coffin. Disdained in AC , rejected in PDP . Foolish man

Make muslims send people go talk inside church in the middle of sermon too make case end. Infact make dem go redemption camp self and talk in the middle of pastor Adeboye sermon. Provided na just talk, I promise nothing will happen.

@0hsisi

y u dey tell me to sharap na? we seem to share same viewpoint, abi apollo don reach ya side. ABeg read my post well.

Abeg make we hear word. What the lady did was bad but i think  this is being blown out of proportion. Expel wetin abeg make una relax.

She can be suspended and cautioned. If a moslem did that in a church, like "ALAH IS THE WAY, YOUR PASTOR IS DECIEVING YOU"  the reaction will not come anywhere close to what we are seeing here.

honeric01: Insert Quote
IBB should go and register a party asap

And as for Atiku, he should go join CPC, ICPC or CPA, silly love-peddler

Are these professional exam bodies or political parties?

I think this is the first part of the article.

FYA Gbawe.

Is the new mercantilism good for Nigeria?
MONDAY, 12 JULY 2010 01:01 OGHO OKITI

Nigeria is proposing to join the new wave of mercantilism by setting up a sovereign wealth fund (SWF). SWFs have been so described as the new mercantilism in the last decade as two core patterns have emerged among existing ones.

First, it is now a form of economic nationalism, very different from pure capitalism in the sense that the owner of capital is a sovereign nation and not private citizens or corporations. Second, the SWFs follow the core principle of mercantilism, heavily practiced in Europe between the 16th and 18th century, which is the dependence on the export of capital for economic progress and prosperity.

Last week, the Minister of Finance, Olusegun Aganga, intensified his argument for a Nigerian SWF. The motivation is very simple. From a largely agricultural based economy to now dominated oil economy, we have continued to fail to achieve two things on a consistent basis. One, we have failed to reduce poverty on a large scale; and second, we have failed to diversify the Nigerian economy from its dependence on oil. This failure is underlined by a failure of macroeconomic policies, especially fiscal. Indeed, both local and international policy makers working on Nigeria have often cited the inability of the economy to smooth its oil revenues over periods of low and high oil prices as responsible for our economic crisis.

This group of policy makers then succeeded in instituting the excess crude account (ECA) in 2003. Between 2003 and 2007, the ECA only managed a modest (yes, modest) US $20 billion. Between 2008 and now, the ECA has been depleted to just about US $3 billion and that is what annoys the minister. In the short period of its existence, ECA only managed to postpone consumption for a few years. If oil prices had continued to decline beyond a year, it would have made nonsense of it. In that context, ECA is not sufficient for our needs.

To the extent that the focus of SWF will not merely be a postponement of consumption but the investment of surplus oil revenues, it goes a step further. However, it makes the same erroneous assumption that a major problem has been how to smoothen the benefits of oil resources over a long period of time. I say so because whether the consumption of oil resources is postponed for five years of twenty, it is still eventually consumed. The SWF does not address the critical issue of using the platform that oil resources provide for us to diversify our economy using the same capital that we now want to export.

So, though the SWF will be a shift from largely liquidity and risk free positions that ECA and foreign reserves represent to a combination of buying foreign bonds and equities and thus riskier positions, those are not my criticisms. My criticisms are largely based on the fact that SWF will not solve our macroeconomic, nor fiscal problems. The worst is that SWF will turn out to be a disastrous policy, but I do not have that fear, but I do fear that it is now a distraction. The problem with oil revenues is not just how to smoothen it over time, but that we have failed to use oil resources to diversify the Nigerian economy. Exporting capital for future returns will not help diversify the economy. Essentially, SWF is a distraction from serious economic policies because no matter the returns on the investment of capital abroad, the SWF being proposed is still a centralized agency, controlled from the centre, and for the purposes of the federation account. This centralization has failed in the past, it is still failing and will always fail. Nigeria’s economic growth and development must be addressed from all dimensions and levels.

Essentially, the problem we have is that of waste, inefficiency and corruption. We have successfully put in place a structure called federal only in name that is all about waste and corruption. These underline issues must be tackled and addressed before policies such as SWF can make any sense. For instance, by the end of this fiscal year, the federal government alone would have expended about 10 trillion naira since 2008. Besides the indirect impact that such a sum would have made because some is spent within the country, I cannot possibly feel or touch any aspect of this staggering sum. This is the challenge, poor quality government expenditure, and there is nothing in the SWF proposed that addresses this, besides perhaps postponing the waste that is made from the returns from SWF investments.

There is also the likelihood that the sum that will be able to go into the fund will be minimal. Currently, the ECA is determined by the difference between the oil price benchmark and the level of oil prices. One is “arbitrary” and the other is exogenous. If the same model is to be adopted for the SWF, it does mean that, going by the last five years, all we will be able to put in the pot is about US $20 billion. I had argued that this sum is too modest and any return on top of it is still spent by a wasteful and corrupt government. Those in government know more than we outside of it know – they are wasteful and corrupt. Until these critical issues are thoroughly addressed, I am simply convinced SWF is a simplistic distraction.


source: http://www.businessdayonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=12600:is-the-new-mercantilism-good-for-nigeria

Gbawe:
Na-so , read the articule supplied by the economist and judge for youself. The article , if pro IBB, would be far more scathing of Jonathan . Instead it is balanced with a relevant and pertinent take on the creation of a Sovereign Wealth fund in direct relation to Nigeria in terms of our peculiar challenges and current situation. He did not state that an SWF , per se , is bad or undesirable.

Yes the writer seem to be saying that SWF might end up a mere distraction , especially when we consider the corrupt tendencies of govt and the general lack of fiscal discipline. He thinks govt at the centre should be pruned down and diversification of the economy be more aggressively pursued.

For the purpose of this argument and the original intent of the thread, you seem to have called up an article that does not encourage SWF but encourages spending of ECA . You see wetin over sense dey do you? . Your best bet would have been to start another thread seperately to disparage SWF, but the rush to nail GEJ did not allow you see that.

If one goes back to the fundamental purpose of ECA and the guiding laws as to how and when it is to be spent/shared, it is too hasty to say GEJ has done anything wrong here.

I believe however the spending of ECA or proper implementation of SWF is no magic portion for poor budgeting and lack of development plans.

Beaf: IBB recently oiled the hands of some editors with a cool 10 million each to publish tripe such as this. . . And as usual, Gbawe falls head first for it.
Shame!

Do not write Gbawe off just yet o. The guy dey google seriously now to use anoda article support him stance, or na to open anoda thread on Jonathan.

Gbawe, abeg hope say u know the difference between our foreign reserve and dis ECA fund sha? i just dey ask o no vex 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

You be smart man. .

I saw it too and concluded that this man is either just advicing jonathan from some sensational SUN,daily trust and Daily independent headlines or has been induced by some poticians around minna and not by prophesy.

BTW i read sometime ago when he said there will be a coup very soon and soldiers will return to power. we still dey wait.

Gbawe  again
Bismark rewane (BJ) is an authority in matters like this, and in your article he has said there is nothing wrong in the release of such funds.  So wetin u dey talk?

My problem with Gbawe is that in trying to advance his arguments he overlooks obvious positives of jonathan's tenure and chances in the next election and gets over reaactive whenever the president falters and accuse me of bias when i copy his style and state the positives of Gej's govt and understate the alleged negatives. The same Gbawe will be quick to state that no man is infallible when you measure his beloved candidates with the same standards.

My personal position is that GEJ got it wrong with the planes for the presidency . In a hyper-reactive society like ours, he should have shown better moderation. He may have been emotionally guided by the near miss in Uganda and the effect that incident had on the country's international image.

But Gbawe's laboured analysis leaves obvious holes that i struggle to ignore. He gets responses from people on just one of the many areas, the president can/should be rated on and is building his predictable case from that.

That the president had the political will to remove IWU, appointed a respected Nigerian as INEC head and is giving the body all the needed support to implement the long desired electoral reforms makes no meaning to Gbawe. That there are very promising strides with the power problem with measurable results makes no meaning to Gbawe. That the country's overall oil output is running at near maximum because of the president's encouraging implementation of the amnesty program , makes no meaning to Gbawe.


I listened to channels Tv saturday sunrise show where the presidents 100 days were put under scruntiny, and comments of most callers did not come anywhere close to the picture Gbawe tries to paint here.The general tone of the callers was that though , the president needed to do more , but that he has done well in this short time.

I can bet that in the next 3 days you will start atleast 2 anti-jonathan thread. abi i lie?

Gbawe:
My brother I am no fan of Tinubu but I am sensible enough to know that he is not the man (according to International Observers ) that conducted "one of the worst elections seen in history". You don't need comparisons on every occasion . This is not about Tinubu. It is about Jonathan accepting the help of discredited individuals who enjoy rigging elections with ease.

If a Party , consensus style, settles for a popular Nigerian Preformer without dispute how is anything wrong with that? Do you not understand that Political Parties do not neccessarily have to conduct Primaries?

Na small small una dey use take tell person say him no get sense. No wahala sha.

If you are castigating jonathan partly becuase of his backers ,  ,  . . . why are you not talking about the backers of ribadu . . . or is it possible for anyone to get AC's ticket without tinubu's blessing?