₦airaland Forum

Aloy~Emeka:
This sort of nonsense is prevalent in the north and its sickening.

Actually, the once respectable Yoruba race have gradually graduated into beggars as a culture. Na so so babi anla, almajiri na him dey dey produce these days. They should not come here to beg; Igbos in Lagos work hard and do not beg for free things. If they do not have money for land, they should get some from their brother Bode George. He still has billions of our money.

sjeezy8:
yes indeed bunch of cry babies

these Yorubas should leave enugu( what is even there sef?) and the igbos crying they're marginalized in West(including las giddi) should go back to the East. simple

Lagos is no more the capital of Nigeria

What is even there sef? Ask the millions of Yoruba and hausa who are there

Buncha cry cry babies buhahahaha!

What is not good for the goose is also not good for the gander.

The North may break up, says Solomon Lar

Amen

The North may break up, says Solomon Lar
By Emeka Mamah, Kaduna
Monday, October 26, 2009
Former National Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Solomon Lar, was in Kaduna for the launch of the N20billion Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation last week. He spoke to some newsmen on the significance of the appeal fund among other national issues. EXCERPTS:




Solomon Lar




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What is the significance of the recent launch of the N20 billion Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation?

Sardauna was the first and the last premier of Northern Nigeria. He did a lot for his people and the Northern states now want to appreciate him and to also immortalize him. So, this is the significance of the foundation.


It is basically to have some legacy that will help the people of the region, even though it is no more one region as it was because it has been broken into states which have helped to the fasten development of the region.




The states still remember what Sardauna did for them. He made sure that there were good schools that were funded properly.


He generally encouraged the education of women and boys, especially girls in his time. This is what the North is trying to remember. Although there were different ethnic nationalities within the region, he kept them together, irrespective of their differences.


Apart from that, what he used to do, which is very important, is that he never allowed religion to overshadow what he was doing at that time. Although he was a good practising Muslim, he also recognized and realized that there were some other people of different faiths with him like Christians. He did not deny them their rights as they are doing now in some states in the North.


Apart from some few states in the North, all the others discriminate against Christians.


This form of discrimination will not bring about the unity of the North that Sardauna left for the people, and I am sure the money realized from this foundation will be used and utilized in order to kill this ugly discriminatory tendencies that some young governors are doing.


You said the Sardauna was not sectional or tribalistic. Do you think that this foundation can achieve his aims, knowing that these same people are sectional and tribalistic?


That is true but definitely such governors will change because if they do not change they will not be remembered the way Sardauna is being remembered now.


The middle Belt region used to be known as a strong force that spoke with one voice and were heard. But what is happening these days is as if the region has lost it.


The region has now been destroyed. It produced people that kept the country together. For example, when General Yakubu Gowon took over when the country was going into disarray, especially during the civil war, and after the war, he said that there was no victor and no vanquished which is a great statement ever made. But the present civilian administration seems not to properly have any concern for the Middle Belt.


The region is forgotten completely. They have been complaining about appointments, economically and developmentally; the roads in the Middle Belt are even the worst now.


Still on this Middle Belt issue. Has the region given up and stopped fighting?


No, we have achieved what we were asking for. For example, we were asking for a separate region for the Middle Belt for the purposes of development. We in the Middle Belt said that the Northern region was too big, so the development would be too slow. We appreciate what Sardauna did. Honestly we appreciate it.


Because of the limited resources in those days, money was not much and the North only took one share, necessitating the need for another region out of it, as it was the case in the West when the Mid_West was created.


When it was time to share from the federal purse, the West took two portions and the North just took one, and we thought that it was unfair. But thank God that after sometime, the government saw the rationale of the Middle Belt agitation for more regions and states. So, more states were created. The Middle Belt has achieved its objective for a balanced federation and we should be grateful to the Middle Belt.


Whichever state you are in Nigeria, you have to be grateful to the Middle Belt because you have got your states due to the agitation from the Middle Belt. This is what the Middle Belt stood for and it is still fighting for those who have not got a state for themselves yet.


But should the Middle Belt states come to Kaduna for the Northern governors meeting? Why are they not meeting in places like Jos, Makurdi or Adamawa? At the launch of the Sardauna Foundation, most of the Middle Belt states were donating millions of naira that were not appropriated in their budgets. Is this not a signal to the young ones that their leaders have surrendered?


No. It is not that their leaders have surrendered. But it shows solidarity, just because there were states created does not mean that people will not meet again. It shows unity in diversity. Although we have got our states, it does not mean that we should not discuss our problems collectively.


But is there still unity among the Northern states, considering the bloody religious crises that have engulfed the region at one time or the other?


This is what the Foundation is all about. The foundation is trying to teach the people of the North the importance of education, otherwise why will you say that education is forbidden, or talk about Boko Haram?


That simply means ignorance, because even in Islam, it encourages education. So, if we are educated, there would not be this crisis. During Sardauna’s time, there were not these kinds of crises. That is why we want this Foundation to send signal to people; tell people that we are all brothers and sisters and tell everybody that we are all Nigerians.


The 2011 general elections are around the corner. Yet we do not have an enabling law that will guide the conduct of the elections…


The electoral reforms are on the way. The National Assembly is working on it. There will be an enabling law.


The thing is that we need a very good, reasonably and perfect electoral law which will give every Nigerian confidence that the election is free and fair, and as I said before PDP, has no reason to rig any election. I said this earlier and it was misquoted by some press.


But I still stand by what I said that PDP has no reason to rig election in Nigeria. The support that the party has, it doesn’t need to rig election before it can get elected into power. Because rigging election is not good. So, PDP should not be a party that engages in that.


I was the first national Chairman of the PDP and we have never rigged election. Our president won on merit alone.


All governors and local government chairman won without any question. There was no complain for rigging in 1999 election. But it was after that, that people started saying rigging, rigging. Why should you rig when you already enjoy the support of the people?


Please, party should not rig election for anybody, please. When you rig election you are trying to kill democracy, allow democracy to take its natural course please.


I am appealing to all party to allow Nigerians to have their say at election, because it would encourage development, unity and bring peace and everybody would accept the administration that is at power. Please, let us accept the electoral reform recommendation by Justice Uwais as it is, because it would solve the problem


In the 2003 election, there was mostly no voting and in most part of Nigeria it was the same thing. It happened again in 2007 (cuts in)….


That was why I said is bad. That was why I said in 1999. There were elections everywhere in Nigeria. But once there is an attempt to rig, it means that the election is not free. It would not reflect the peoples mandate and once the peoples mandate is stolen that becomes dangerous and bad for the country.


What will happen in 2011 if the PDP, which is the ruling party, rigs election?


PDP will not rig election. Why should they? I say that PDP has no reason to rig election.


Is it because the PDP has succeeded in muzzling other political parties?


No, PDP will not do that. How do you muzzle other political parties? You see, it is in the interest of Nigerians to have a strong, virile and reliable opposition. There is no need for PDP to kill any opposition party.


You were elected as a governor of the old Plateau during you days. But these days, the people will elect a governor and he will defect to another party which was not the mandate given to them. Is it morally right to dump such parties and join other ones?


I would not answer that.


Are you saying that if PDP loses in 2011, they should not raise any eyebrows?


No. PDP will accept peoples mandate in 2011. Nigerians mandate are more important than PDP, Nigeria is more than any party in this country.


Do you think that the reason why politicians rig to get into office is because the incentives of political offices are so attractive?


The truth is that when you are a governor, you should be given a car, or some tools to work with. So, there is nothing wrong with the perks of the office.


Why do you think the PDP enjoy imposing candidates on the electorate, just like what is happening in Anambra, where allegations are rife that somebody is being imposed on the people?


The case of Anambra is different. There was an attempt to halt a primary. The part was intimidated. So, what do you want them to do? I support the decision of the PDP National Working Committee and the officials.


The PDP had to come out with a candidate and they devise a means of coming out with a candidate. Some people don’t like PDP because of jealousy, as some people have ganged up against the party and that is not good for democracy.


When you gang up against a political party, that is not politics. Some people don’t want the party to hold their primaries. Some have the intention to spoil the game in Anambra State.


Is that not a misnomer?


Well, it is not a misnomer in the sense that the party has to come up with a way to participate in the Anambra election. You know there was a deadline that the PDP had to come up with a candidate or never. If it were you, what would have done? Knowing very well that there are people who are trying to stop you from contesting in the election.


How sincere, in your opinion, do you think the National Assembly is in amending the 1999 Nigerian constitution?


They are sincere, let us allow them. They are capable of bringing out something that will help us. I have a very high regard for the Senate and House of Representatives, because they did one thing: on the 16th of May 2006 they rejected a third term outrightly. They saved the country from a dangerous thing that was about to happen in Nigeria.


If it were not that the National Assembly is not credible they would have allow the third term attempt to go through, but they said no. I have high regards for them.


What particular area of the constitution do you think urgently need to be amended. For example, the issue of immunity for political office holders that some are saying should be removed, do you support it?


I do not support that because once you remove that, a governor will not be able to do anything again but will be fighting legal cases all around. I had immunity but I never did anything wrong. I was a governor that was awarded the certificate of peace during my era and that was why Plateau was called the state of peace and tourism.


And again when we were arrested and dumped in prison because of the military rascality and irresponsibility and they were charging us with different issue, but I was declared later as not corrupt.


But Plateau is not as peaceful as it was before. Even in the PDP, you have two factions, what is the cause of all these crises?


It is democracy at work. It is part of democracy. They will sort themselves out.


Which of the faction are you supporting?


They are all my children. It is democracy at work.


The Christian Association of Nigeria [CAN] presented a protest letter during the Northern governors meeting alleging discrimination against their members in the North. What are people like you doing about the situation?


It is very unfortunate and if the North does not check such, it will break up.


During your time as governor, most of your mates performed creditably well. Can you compare your time with what is obtains now?


It is left with you to compare.


But because of what the electorate gets now in terms of poor governance, people think Nigeria is developing too slowly.


The reason is that if governor X started this university, governor X would like to change it so that the credit would come to him, and that is the problem. During my time, I saw something on ground and I continued with it and I also said that when the next governor comes will continue with whatever I started.


For example, the Jos market, the drawing was by JD Gomwalk. The drawing was there. When I came and I saw it was good and I built it which turns out to be the most modern market around the region. People from all over the country come to that market.


But why would state governments build markets?


Do you know the kind of market we are talking about? It is not this petty_petty markets that we are talking about.


It is not these dirty markets we are talking about but modern markets that cost billions or even trillions of naira to build. Where will the local governments get such huge amount of money from?

egin:
Igbos are also known for selling nearly all the fake and substandard products in Nigeria today

Live with the fact that your brothers are in the cooler. Wait for that Igbo man who sells fake goods to be caught. BTW, do you by any chance know the owner of the company that produces the teething powder (known as my pikin) that killed 100s of Nigerian children last year? Go figure!

I support that these guys be shot; not just them but anyone involved in helping them launder our money. Here we are working our arses out and sending money home to be invested and some idiot bank MDs take our money and want to keep living? It is either death or life jail.

Lucky me. Bank PHB is the only bank that I have an investment in that was affected; the rest of my investments are in the unaffected banks. Thank God I did not listen to friend who almost persuaded me to invest in Inter continental and Union Banks. I wonder how folks who have investments in many, if not all, of the failed banks would do now?

back2back:
Niger is a poor country.

It makes sense for them to use already established individual in UK who they dont have to pay to do their consular work there.

Dont forget Akinola Aguda was Chief Justice of Botswana for many years talkess of an ambassador!

Was Akinola the CJ of Botswana for free? I mean did he do it without pay?

Ok let's get Ojukwu, tie him to the stoke and shoot him, (T-I-C). I wonder why he is not commenting. A mere look at Ojukwu whould simply confirm that he is an ambitious person, but who in Nigeria is not?

Even husband and wife are involved. Their children must be rogue kids with the genes now inherited

KoboJunkie,

Who posted the pictures? Are they on NL or just a link to another website? NL has no liability here

All again from one part of the country. Na wah!

RMAFC predicts doom for economy - Says, one day , there will be no government, - Excess Crude Account drops to $7bn from $27bn

Gbola Subair, Abuja - 23.10.2009

AS the federation excess crude account dropped from $27 billion to $7billion, the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) has predicted doom for the Nigerian economy. Chairman of RMAFC, Mr. Hamman Tukur, who took a critical look at the performance of the economy during the visit of Edo State governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomohole, to the commission in Abuja on Wednesday night, gave it a verdict of doom.

He said that in view of the way the nation’s economy was being plundered, it would not be long before the nation ground to a halt. He told the governor that the Excess Crude account, which is the country’s savings, had been drawn down from $27 billion to $7 billion and that government was still withdrawing from it.

According to him, the only revenue accruing to the country was the collection from Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), customs duties, and Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT). The chairman queried the relevance of Joint Venture Cash Call (JVC), saying that it was another drainpipe in the economy.

“For instance, from August till October, Nigeria has not got one dollar from the total crude sold. Yet, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has paid over N560 trillion to JVC. Rather than find a solution to this, the government reverted to the excess crude account, where it took N12 billion to reflate the economy. Now we are eating into the domestic account. One day, you will wake up and there will be no government.”

He sought the support of the governors to help the commission to challenge the anomally. He further noted that the commission had released a formula on how the oil derivatives would be shared, but that it had been abused. “It is an appeal by this commission for you to help us appeal to your colleagues for support,” he pleaded.

Tukur also condemned the revenue formula being operated in the states, saying that it was at variance with what the commission designed and recommended. He said that the commission designed a new formula, which increased the percentage of states’ allocation from 24 per cent to 31.6 per cent and this was done amidst petitions and protests from several quarters. He said state governments were supposed to get more allocations than the Federal Government but the reverse was the case. He said in the face of the abuse, the governors were not doing anything about it.

“How can you allow an illegal formula to operate in the states?,” he said.

Referring to the N18 billion which was released to build health centres across the country, Tukur said that out of that amount, only N6 billion had been used and the rest of the money had been with the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), Mallam Ibrahim Dankwambo. “Only N6 billion was used. We even brought the matter before the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) but we did not have their support,” he said.

Oshiomhole, in his remarks, promised to take Tukur’s observation to the Governors’ Forum, where it would be discuss them very exhaustively. He said that the nation had no data, otherwise, it would have known the quantity of illegal crude being bunkered on a daily basis.

Fielding questions from newsmen at the end of his visit, Oshiomhole said: “I am very appreciative of the courage which the commission has shown, because they have a very important constitutional role. And I happened to have known some of the commissioners. They are my good friends. So, I have come to say hello and also to acknowledge the good work they have been doing.

‘’Even under the former president (Olusegun Obasanjo), this was the only agency in my recollection that publicly expressed its position that was at variance with what the former president wanted. We tried to go to court to enforce the constitution and to ensure that the states get the revenue they were entitled to. And I thought that I should come to appreciate that,” he said.

How many Yoruba versus Igbo versus hausa/fulani versus niger deltans versus other northerners are on the list? Which is more followed by which?

9ja4eva:
Good news at least students can go back to school now.


Egwu needs to be removed though.

Why does Egwu need to be removed? Has there always been strikes in Nigerian universities even before Egwu?
If yes, why should Egwu go especially having now resolved the matter, hopefully, once and for all?

Alarmists at work

Flood sacks Lagos

From Sola Oluwadare, Muda Oyeniran, Shola Adekola, Dele Ayeleso and Nafiu Bamidele - 15.10.2009

LAGOS metropolis was, again, brought to its knees by flood, following about six hours of heavy rain fall on Wednesday. Commercial activities remained at the lowest ebb, even as of 2 p.m., as many streets remained impassable while most offices could not open because of flooding.

An okada rider was almost drowned while trying to avoid running into a passenger bus near the Ikeja flyover on Agege Motor Road. It took the intervention of some passers-by to prevent him and his passenger from being swept away by the flood.

At the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, the effect of the rain led to the late arrival of many workers of the various aviation agencies. When the Nigerian Tribune went round the agencies, most offices were found to be near empty, while the few workers, who were on the ground narrated the hardship they went through before they could get to their offices.

Flights were delayed as the rain affected visibility. Only few flights were operated during the rain. The downpour, which began at about 6 a.m., continued till midday in some parts of the city, forcing many people to remain indoor, while only a few commercial buses were on the road.

Some motorists, who dared the flood, had themselves to blame as their vehicles broke down in the flood, which found its way into some vehicles. Ikeja was worst hit by the flood, as many vehicles broke down, while the few that could wade through the flood had hectic time.

The ever-busy Opebi-Allen Road was taken over by the flood with some pedestrians, who defied the rain, almost drowned. A middle-aged woman, who attempted to pass through the flooded area at Awosika Bus Stop, had to be quickly helped out of the flood by some men.

While many shop owners could not open for business in some areas of Ikeja, owing to the heavy flooding, others were seen scooping water from their shops.

For more than two hours, motorists abandoned some portions of the roads, because of serious flooding while a resident, who claimed to have left his residence at Mile 2 at 7.30 a.m. for Idi-Araba near Mushin, arrived at 3 p.m.

The journey normally takes less than 45 minutes barring heavy traffic on the road. Commercial buses going to the eastern parts of the country hiked their fares by as high as 100 per cent for commuters who could not make it to the bus stops on time. A visit by the Nigerian Tribune to Jibowu, Yaba and Ojuelegba bus termini revealed that fares to Calabar, Enugu, Port-Hacourt, which hitherto were N4,000, N2,500, and N2,000 respectively went up to N5,000, N3,500, N3,000, depending on the owners of the mass transit buses.

Some stranded commuters described the development as totally unfair and unbearable, and some of them had to cancel their trips. But some of the drivers, who spoke to the Nigerian Tribune, said the increase was necessitated by the deplorable state of the Ore-Benin expressway.

Intra-city passengers also experienced an increase in fares, as a trip from Agege to Ikeja rose to N70 instead of N50 and Maryland, N80, from N30.

The surreptitious or covert isolation of Nigeria by many countries is becoming rather palpable. From Ghana to Angola to SA, to Libya, to Kenya, to US, to India, to China, to Austria and others the story is the same. Nigeria is being harangued left, right, and centre by just about any country. What do we do?

Charity begins at home: a serious home-cleansing exercise involving that we stop all peace keeping activities, stop all loan advancement to these neighbouring, yet unfriendly countries, stop all technical aid programs (for e.g., the TAC program), close our boarders against others and even against ourselves (for at least 2 years, in the first instance); start a massive deportation of other nationals in Nigeria (the way Nigerians are being deported back). We are like a clay-footed giant who, instead of helping to secure himself, takes it upon himself to secure others. At the end, owing to the clay-footedness, others whom we have helped to secure undertake to undermine us, leading us to totter and crash like the clay we are.

People like Becomerich will never be satisfied until Nigeria=Oduduwa kingdom. This is one clear reason why Nigeria should dissolve into its constituent peoples so that each group can think and behave as they like without any ethnic underpinnings.

eina:
why do we always have ''Igbo man'' threads here. Where are the other ethnic groups?

It is because some Igbo haters especially from a certain section of southern Nigeria do not want Igbos to rest. The however forget that the child who says his/her mom will not sleep is also not sleeping

14 names in total
4 Igbos
1 Yoruba
2 South south
7 North
This is fair enough (50% north, 50% south)

Becomerich, you do really hate anything that suggests that Igbos are gaining more than Yoruba, don't you? However, as this is not the only operational committee in the national assembly, it is very likely that Yorubas outnumber others in other syndicates/committees.

Anambra: How Ojukwu secured Obi's candidacy
By Sunny Igboanugo (Lagos), Rotimi Akinwumi (Abuja) and Emma Nzomiwu (Enugu)

Facts emerged on Saturday on how the intervention of Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu cleared the way for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State as the consensus candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) for the 2010 governorship election.


Chekwas Okorie, factional Chairman of the APGA told a press conference on Saturday in Abuja, that his faction late Friday night decided to accept the request that Obi be allowed to contest on the platform of the party in the spirit of reconciliation and intervention by Ojukwu.


He said they discovered that the Presidency and Ojukwu had intervened and that they have collectively agreed to meet this week to finalise discussion regarding Obi's candidature based on INEC directives.


The two AGPA factions, it was gathered, have been given an extension of five days to sort out there terms of reconciliation on Obi as their consensus candidate.


Obi, was picked by the Victor Umeh faction of APGA as it's governorship candidate while


Okorie had gone to INEC to submit the name of a former member of House of Representative, George Ozodinobi as its candidate for the same election on Friday, but Okorie's form was rejected by INEC acting on orders from above.


According to a letter written to Okorie by INEC on Friday, signed by Regina Omo -Agege, Ag. Director, Political Parties Monitoring and Liaison, the rejection of Okorie's candidate was occasioned by a letter written to the commission by Ojukwu on October 6, three days before the deadline for submission of names of party candidates for the election.


It was gathered that the commission was at a cross road on what to do with the party with Okorie and Umeh laying claim to the National Chairmanship until Ojukwu's intervention


Ojukwu, it was gathered, approached the Presidency to intervene in ensuring that his personality as an Igbo leader is not rubbished by the attempt by INEC to shut out APGA from the race.


INEC it was said, was ordered to consider Ojukwu's candidate and find a way of bringing the factions to a negotiation table.


This was eventually done on Friday as INEC kept Okorie waiting for hours at its National Headquarters where he had gone to submit the nomination form of Ozodinobi, the candidate from his faction.


An INEC letter explaining why Okorie's candidate was rejected read: "We refer to a letter written by Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu to the Honourable Chairman on 6th October 2009, requesting that Forms CF001, CF002 and all other forms including Nomination, Withdrawal of Candidate form, Substitution of Candidate Form or any other form relevant to the conduct of the 2010 Governorship Election in Anambra State for the All Progressive Grand Alliance be released to him.


"The request was informed by the intractable leadership tussle in APGA which has left the party without a clear leadership.


"The Commission after due consideration, is according to his request in the light of the effort already initiated by its Alternative Dispute Resolution Unit to possibly settle the dispute in APGA and thereby ensure that the leadership dispute does not do permanent damage to the genuine political ambition of credible aspirants within the party for the 2010 governorship election.


"I have been directed to inform you sir, that the relevant forms for APGA should be released to Dim Chukwuemeka Ojukwu in his capacity as Chairman, Board of Trustee of APGA.


"The Forms will only be signed on behalf of APGA by individuals acceptable to the commission, preferably Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu and Barrister Bello Umar."


Though Okorie disclosed that he was yet to discuss the issue with an enlarged forum of his people, he added that the condition is acceptable to him because of his belief in genuine reconciliation.


But Ozodinobi, who was at the high table with members of Okorie's National working Committee expressed his reservations about the development, saying it was an insult to his ambition and efforts put into the race to securing the ticket under Okorie.


He noted that he was not consulted before the matter was agreed on and that he will consult and take appropriate actions on ensuring that his mandate was restored.


.


It therefore counselled the ruling party at the national level to take time off from seeking elective positions and cure itself of the several maladies within its rank before returning to the turf.


This is coming as an upbeat former Governor of the State, Dr. Chris Ngige, expressed confidence that the Action Congress (AC) would take over from the APGA, the party that removed him from power through the courts, about four years ago. He described Obi's regime as a colossal failure


The PPA was referring to inability of the PDP to elect a governorship candidate in the state without rancour owing to the disagreement among the 48 candidates it paraded for last week's failed congresses.


"It is the view of our party that the PDP should bow out and leave the scene for serious -minded parties. It should go and cure itself of the various diseases afflicting it because of the filthy environments it has been operating in since 1999. This is a party that was in control of the entire South East at the beginning. But because of its high -handedness, arrogance and complete disregard for the wills, aspirations and interests of the people, it has continued to degenerate till now nobody is ready to touch it.


"The travails the PDP is going through today is self -inflicted, because it epitomises fraud, corruption and lack of principles. Touching it is like embracing a leper. I can tell you that PDP will never win any other state in the South East.

The APGA debacle is over. Ojukwu has shown his clout by settling the problem. Now this poster can take his eeddiioottiicc topic and shove it down his throat.

Low rate of Nigeria's development worries UN


Puts life expectancy at 47.7 per cent
From Mathias Okwe and Emeka Anuforo, Abuja
THE United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has expressed dissatisfaction over the slow rate of development in Nigeria.

In the Human Development Report 2009 released in Abuja, UNDP put Nigeria's life expectancy at birth at 47.7 per cent. Adult literacy rate was put at 72 per cent while combined gross enrolment ration stood at 53.0 per cent. The nation's Gross Domestic Product (GDPP) per capita was put at $1, 969.

This year's report focuses on 'overcoming barriers, human mobility and development.'

On the human development index level, Nigeria lost a position from 157th position in the last report to 158 out of 182 countries. The human development index measures the average progress of a country in human development. Nigeria's human development index was put at 0.511 out of one used as benchmark.

The human poverty index for Nigeria stood at 36.2 per cent putting the country on the 114th position among 135 countries for which the index was calculated.

Human poverty index measures severe deprivation in health by the proportion of people, who are not expected to survive to age 40.

Nigeria's 47.7 per cent life expectancy level trailed those of many African countries, which stood far higher.

Uganda's life expectancy stood at 51.9 per cent; Cameroon 50.9 per cent, Sudan 57.9 per cent, South Africa 51.5 per cent, Morroco 71 per cent, Cape Verde 71 per cent, Kenya 53.6 per cent, Ghana 56.5 per cent

The report noted that there was the possibility that Nigeria's life expectancy could drop below 40 per cent by next year 2010.

In his remarks at the presentation of the report, UNDP Resident Representative, Mr. Turhan Saleh stressed that development was not just about the rate of economic growth or the quantum of wealth in a country, but rather, ultimately, about the expanding peoples' choices to live a full life-based on good health, education, income, respect for basic rights and sustainable use of its natural resources.

Of Nigeria, he said, "improvements in Nigeria's human development index have been slow over the past decades at less than 1 per cent per annum and the country scores well below standards of human development attained by countries at equivalent or lower levels of income. Moreover, there are major challenges with regard to human poverty, as well as, issues regarding gender equity."

He called attention for policy makers in Nigeria to hasten action and fasten up development processes so that Nigeria could do better in future report.

He continued, "countries with lesser income than Nigeria did much better than Nigeria in the report. Nigeria can do much to perform better with all its resources." He pledged the support of the UNDP on the nation's development plans.

His words, "we will do all we can as UNDP, working within the UN family and with other development partners, to contribute our expertise and financial resources to support the achievement of these national plans and priorities."

Gashaka Gumti Park, Adamawa State. Raw nature at its best
Gashaka Gumti Park, Adamawa State. Raw nature at its best
Gashaka Gumti Park, Adamawa State. Raw nature at its best