₦airaland Forum

She's good and also one of my favorite.

Steve crown, is also good. Just played, wait on you.

Can someone tell us about the herds men they claimed to have arrested weeks back?

They have released them abi?

Forget this story. They may let them go when the heat is gone.

Anybody who can see far, will know that CAN is right.

School uniforms should be homogeneous and not be seen as religious.

Many private schools in Lagos are owned my Muslims but the students don't put on hijab but their uniforms.

Anybody who can see far, will know that CAN is right.
School uniforms should be homogeneous and not be seen as religious.
.

I just bought a carton of HEINZ tomatoes now. Is it also fake?

The yam can't pay the salaries of benue workers not to talk of Osun workers it's that same oil that pays this bill.

Abeg the man doesn't know what he's saying.

ogorwyne:
See how these people destroy lives. Wickedness of man.

That was how one supposed Pastor came to my lodge way back in school to give me revelations. He asked me to buy so many strange things. I almost fell into it till I told my mom and she took me to my dad's room immediately. They so threatened the guy that he was calling them always to apologize out of fear. My mom actually dragged me to my dad's room because i was demanding for cash to buy the fetish items even when I knew it was bad. She tried talking to me but I didn't want to listen, this guy mentioned some things that he wasn't supposed to know, he even said I was going to die and that he will be my spiritual father and husband, he told me he didn't want me to have a boyfriend again. I eventually went to the church where the claimed he was a pastor and no one knew him. Thank God I told my mom everything that day, on a normal day would have left some details to myself. Thinking about that experience makes me realize how gullible I was.

Having had such experience, have you now been closer to God than before, have you developed yourself in the things of God? It is not about pastor or alfa. The days are evil and the hearts of men is wicked

There'll be a time when your mom and dad will not be there. There'll be a time when you'll be the mom. Have you built your spirit-being in the word of God and in power? That is most important.

People cast spells these days everywhere, at work and business places, just about everywhere. It is the power of God in you that will matter.

Please I'm not attacking you.. I'm just trying to point out that it's not a pastor or alfa thing and what is required.

All the sections are rich. However, sexuality can adversely affect ones spiritual life. That's for those who are concerned about their spiritual life..

I said it on this forum in my post the. Niger delta avengers should reduce their online presence.

Some folks told me isis have online presence. Some of us who don't like commenting on the NDA threads. When we do it should be taken serious.

NDA .. Should remove their online presence.

I agree jare, with those relationship that don't last up to two months.

Most of them will come up with need lists immediately you tell them you admire them.

Just had a chat with a lady and there and then, she made me know she needed a new laptop, well, her birthday is next month, BTW she needs some change to buy some items now now

.. I'm like, how will this lady add to me..

The more reason I kind of agree that most ladies have absolutely nothing to add to a guy other than sex.

Those days one was always, on please, data is finished, plz assist, plz help with this, could you help with that. Next week, it's I'm not feeling fine I need money for hospital. Etc... Good for her I had my birthday before hers. No show.. One week offer, she kept reminding me of her birthday.

Well after looking at the opportunity cost. I decided not spend more than a birthday wish.

Immediately she stopped calling and the friendship ended.


Now you want me to repeat the same cycle again?

obailala:
No offence but this is absolute trash. If Buhari had gone to Ogoni, there is absolutely nothing anyone could have done about it. It is very silly for anyone to compare the security of inanimate pipelines which run hundreds of kilometers to the security of one man. Any kid can just pick up an isolated unsecure portion of a very long pipeline, set a dynamite and blow it up, but it is obviously not the case when it is a president; besides the scavengers are unlike bokoharam terrorists who are willing to die in suicide missions.

I strongly believe the sahara reporters' story which says the president is sick. All his visits in the last 2 weeks have been cancelled from Lagos to Calabar to Ogoni to Senegal.

What if the person sitting beside him empty the content of a loaded revolver between his eyes. Will you still say this?

There will be unrest in the north. The army will not go on a killing spree though they will kill to prove a point.

Osinbajo will be made president almost immediately for control, conspiracy theories will be everywhere.

You will come on the Internet and talk tough. Boko haram will resume with its usually local support.

The neutrals will talk some more, about restructuring the country. Etc

Nothing more.

MadCow1:
The President is a smart man afterall..


If he goes to Ogoni and the people of Ogoni or the Niger Delta Militants act a fool on his visit, the Nigerian Army, Navy and Airforce, DSS, Nigerian Police, NSCDC and all armed forces in Nigeria will go into Ogoniland and it will be Weapons-free. The Death count will be too much. The clean-up will no longer be about just oil but also blood.

Not going to Ogoni is not a cowardly move but a smart decision. Plus he is scheduled to be in Senegal today for the ECOWAS Summit.

Same reason GEJ rarely visited the NE but just in few occasions...

amagunnerfan:
I pity those nl kids celebrating this. Especially those from ND. It is you lot that will suffer everything in the end.

How?

Buy her a bible. KJV.

GENERALCASHMIR:
Most peeps complaining about glo network surely dont stay in lagos or stay in the outskirts of lagos .am sure if you live in major towns and cities in nigeria you should enjoy glo network

I stay around ajah area of Lagos work in VI. Glo is okay in VI but absolutely crap at home for me. Here in LAGOS... so what are you saying.. My colleague who stays somewhere in ikorodu experiences same . I'm saying this so that they will know and fix the issue.

I have about 2.3gb on my glo line but just recharged mtn 1.5gb to post this reply.

Abegyy. I'm not lying.

buksaylor001:
Bros,you know me?

Sorry Bros, I was just being generic there.

But you got my point. That even the GEJ government was being bombed right from start. NYSC members were being killed boko haram changed gear. Is it not the truth?

One love Bro

buksaylor001:
Not that I support the relegation of NigerDelta to the background but if we had nobody that has ruled Nigeria that's from there(I mean from there,the main Place),I would have blamed the north and the West but there was a President of Nigeria from the NigerDelta that ruled for SIX whole years-who then are our real enemies?

You don't argue that the time was too short but what was even started?How long does it take to build a hospital,School,Road and a skyscraper ?

Don't blame the north and the west for our predicaments.Even the Governors that are from here,what level of development have they initiated? You can steal but put small thing on ground and cart the rest-No matter what happens,If the your successor comes and then put small too from where you stopped and steals the rest.Little things would be accumulating on the ground waiting for generations of looters to put small and loot the rest.In that sense we make progress in seasonal And clustered developments,Just like River State-

The same GEJ you kept bombing his government right from when election redresults were announced?

waleadex:
I feel their pains really. But why are they just coming up with all these bombing during PMB's regime who is just one year on seat? Have they forgotten that their own son GEJ would have fixed their problems having been on seat of power for 6yrs? Shame!

The agitation have been there for years. You know the agitation was just reduced because of Jonathan.

Besides Jonathan became a war time president because of those who didn't want him in power. Spending trillions fighting boko haram money to be used for better things.

priceaction:
Nonsense. Lets be reasonable for once and put sentiments a side. Compare it with porthacourt, uyo, ekot, bonny and brass not with that. Besides, Lagos generally was not built with oil money. Lagos was built with investment (both locals and internationally), being former capital.Abuja, i may agree to some extent but I learnt that asari dokubo spent billion of dollars to build university in bennin republic and he has nationality of the country. That would have gone a long way in ND.

Now see

The top major oil companies have their HQ in Lagos. It is often said that most people who live in lekki Ajah are work in these organizations or related organizations. Note also that most of the so called oil and gas companies really do business with this major guys. In fact, that's what happens. Work for the major players.

Therefore, most of the so called oil and gas companies are there because of the big guys.

If these big players have very little or no presence in Lagos, the others will not be there. It wwill impact on the population, related business, real estate etc worse is if they don't have to use the port. Now think aboabout it.

Having said that, Lagos on isn't own is a major hub and has everything to make it a great city. With or without oil and gas

But dismissing the impactimpact of oil and gas in the development of Lagos is As wong. Not forgetting the FG investment in Lagos which is from petrol-dollar.

As

coldsummer:
No that is not why they are blowing up their communities. Their communities deteriorated to that level because they keep blowing them up.

and as long as they continue destroying the place with their actions, they will forever be backward

Lame.

As it didn't stop exploration.

I still will not recharge my Glo after this. I am not seduced by this. Not at all.

I chose to recharge my glo data because my MTN finished. I can't even use it at home. It only stable in my office in VI. I have Internet in my office so the glo data is not too useful except for whatsapp. At home, no show. I'm not exaggerating. Through out Thursday, I had to do other things at home because the data service was just not connecting.

I'd rather stick to MTN D2000 get call bonus and data than have huge data that I can't use.

If it was doing well, why not? But No! It's of no use having data that you can't use.

Kwankwaso did what a responsible political leader will do.

ekolina:
. Before 1958 every region was financing herself...ground nut from d north, cocoa in from the west and palm fruit from d east. No region was dependent on d other

Exactly.. So the emotional questions of pre 1958 should not arise.

The reason people are talking about the region is because of oil. The reason why some people established business in Nigeria is because of the oil money factor. So that region should be the most beneficiary of this.

macaranta:
LRZNH have raised some valid points,truth is as Nigerians we missed it when we stated pitting religion vs tribe instead of Elite vs masses.It is know fact that there has been some bitter rivalries between communities in the same town,state or region.Even if the actualization of all this sovereign states are achieved,what makes secessionists think it will be all smooth sailing.Sudan and south Sudan comes to mind.
Also it will be very unfair for Niger Deltans to seek a breakaway from Nigeria because crude oil is flowing,remember to ask yourself what Nigeria survived on before the 1958 Oloibiri crude oil discovery.
The same crop of corrupt freedom fighters,community leaders,NDDC bosses,leaders from the region that have shortchanged their indigenous people ,using their resources to live flamboyant lifestyles within and outsideNigeria,those are the people Niger Deltans should focus more on.MNCs payout different royalties and entitlements meant for the people and this same money end up in traditional rulers houses.
The only reason Lagos is prospering is because it has been peaceful and conducive for businesses to thrive,you don't expect investors to keep dogdging bullets while developing the Niger Delta.
Let's give Nigeria a chance,it is our patriotic duty to not kill her.
My only question is,what is the criteria for awarding oil blocks to individuals?

Can you also tell us how Nigeria survived before 1958 and the impact of government on the people of the region then.

In spite of all these big grammar. If there's no oil today, the region would have lost its competitive advantage and NO BODY WILL CARE. the resources from that region must be seen to impact the region the most before even the FCT.

This is my point and ditto to LRZNH

LRNZH:
The Niger Delta brand of uprising we witness today is no longer noble. Militancy has caused a major drawback than a net advantage to the Niger Delta. It has no 'cool' factor.



Does Violence Hold the Answer?
Militancy took on more violent turns when Ijaw dominated armed groups like the Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force (NDPVF) led by Mujahid Asari-Dokubo and the Niger Delta Vigilante (NDV) led by Ateke Tom were formed with political support. The intense confrontation between the NDPVF and NDV seems to have been brought about by Asari’s political falling out with the NDPVF’s financial supporter Peter Odili, governor of Rivers State following the April 2003 elections. The Odili government withdrew its financial support from the NDPVF and began to support Tom’s NDV, effectively launching a paramilitary campaign against the NDPVF because Asari publicly criticised the election process as fraudulent.

Matters came to a head when the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) came into the fray around 2006 with heightened kidnapping of oil workers for ransom, Nigerian soldiers, piracy and the destruction of oil facilities. Today, we have the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) who are asking for release of Nnamdi Kanu (a Biafra dissident and secessionist), and Dasuki (the former National Security Adviser who was taken into custody for spearheading the pilferage of over $2 Billion security funds earmarked to fight the Boko Haram insurgency) amongst other requests including secession. The NDA have brought Nigeria's oil production to a 20 year low of 1 million barrels per day from over 2 million barrels per day through oil facilities vandalism.



The Opportunity Costs of Violence
The thrust of this write-up is to make an expose of the mostly negative impact of the armed uprisings in this oil-wealthy region which has has hurt rather than progressed it's people's cause.

There are proponents of armed militancy who claim the Niger Delta's problems would not be highlighted enough without violence. I believe that the past successive military administrations have been the major cause of the neglect of Nigerians and Niger Deltans specifically. Non-violent activism ala Ken Saro Wiwa, and Ogoni women who in the early 1990s formed the Federation of Ogoni Women (FOWA) are the alternatives. In 2002, nonviolent protests by women from different ethnic groups in the Delta led to the occupation of oil platforms. It was widely agreed that peaceful means in engaging both multinational oil companies and the Nigerian state, women have been remarkably successful in realizing demands for economic empowerment and advanced the important process of raising awareness and attracting much needed support, thereby increasing the potential for a peaceful means to resistance. Non violent protests by these women brought the plight of the Ogonis to international limelight.

https://www.redpepper.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/warri-protest.jpg
Red Pepper
Women demonstrators protest in Warri circa 2002

It is a not a zero sum game. The Niger delta can still make its case, be heard within reason and avoid incredibly disadvantageous opportunity costs especially in a democracy without resorting to violence. It has been achieved in the past.

Below are some major losses due to Niger Delta from its long history of armed militancy:

1. Brass LNG Startup Delay and Potential Cancellation
After the successful take-off the Nigeria LNG (NLNG) project first train in Bonny Island, Rivers State around 1999, it became apparent that Nigeria could play big in the natural gas market. NLNG contributes up to 4% of Nigeria's GDP, provides 80% of Nigeria's cooking gas and has spun off two subsidiaries Bonny Gas Transport (BGT) and NLNG Ship Management Limited (NMSL) that have employed over 6,000 Niger Deltans every year it constructs its trains (the 7th train construction is ongoing). this is besides training of over 600 mostly Niger Deltans in country and at NLNG's contractors’ shipyard in Korea.

The Brass LNG (BLNG) project conceived in 2003, was to construct and operate a Liquified Natural Gas Plant to be sited on the Island of Brass in Bayelsa State from 2011. This will replicate the value NLNG has had on the Niger Delta and the rest of the country. The shareholders were Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) (49%), Eni International (17%), Phillips (Brass) Limited (an affiliate of ConocoPhillips) (17%) and Brass Holdings Company Limited (an affiliate of Total) (17%). The project has stalled partly because the militancy prone region was a risk to the multi-billion dollars investment needed to execute the project. In 2014, ConocoPhillips pulled out. In 2015, Total notified the other BLNG shareholders of its plan to withdraw from the project. This developments have put the planned Final investment Decision (FID) for the project in limbo. Siting an LNG project in the Niger Delta especially in restive Ijaw land is not a palatable proposition. This is lost income generation, wasted employment opportunities amongst other potential value loss to host communities.

It is worthy to note that the global LNG business is expanding rapidly. Angola, Tanzania, Mozambique and Algeria are constructing theirs (see chart below). The longer the BLNG project is delayed, the slimmer its chance of ever starting up due to alternative competing LNG sources in Africa and beyond which would have secured the markets the BLNG could supply liquefied gas to.
https://resources2.news.com.au/images/2012/06/05/1226385/345002-120606-b-lng-projects.jpg

2. Lack of Investment in the Downstream Sector by Oil Majors
I was privileged to have a conversation with a high level executive in one of the international oil majors. My question to him is why we do not have the majors investing in massive industrial complexes to be located in the Niger Delta that will provide gas or power to manufacturers in places like Aba, refine crude oil and supply petrochemicals. Such projects will have a huge market in the West African sub-region. Shell has one in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, ExxonMobil has a few in Singapore and in the US, Marathon also has one in in Los Angeles, USA to mention a few.
His response is that his company, like other companies recognised that potential in Nigeria and did some feasibility studies. The risk to such project is too huge considering that it requires several billion dollars investment and a long time to bring to fruition. He blatantly opined that the market is not the issue. In fact, it will change the Niger Delta and West Africa. Gas flaring will become history with such complexes.
It is apparent that the lack of peace in the Niger Delta due to militancy will never allow such projects to be considered. The business case is just not there. Ironically, even the fuel stations that are owned by the majors like Total and Mobil are being considered for divestment by their owners.

3. The Absence of Tourism and Increased Environmental Degradation.
With the rich natural habitat in the Niger Delta, tourism should be a major income earner for littoral states in Nigeria. Besides Cross River and Akwa-Ibom States, where relative peace prevails, the Niger Delta is not a popular tourist destination especially in the more restive western Niger Delta. Instead, comparatively less endowed biomes like those found in coastal Ghana, Gambia and Senegal take all that benefit of tourist attractions.
With rampant violence including destruction of pipeline and oil installations, the militants are unwittingly adding to the already polluted environment and making oil spill cleanups difficult for oil companies. This is is a shame. Period.

4. Potential Outsourcing Business Hub for Oil and Gas Servicing in the Gulf of Guinea
The Atlantic Coast of Africa (Gulf Of Guinea) has numerous hydrocarbon provinces stretching from offshore Ivory Coast, through Ghana, the Niger Delta in Benin, Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroun, to offshore Gabon and Angola. Off these, Nigeria is the the most advanced in manpower development and most mature in oil gas history and experience. Port Harcourt, for example would naturally be the hub for skill-based companies and logistic services for the Gulf of Guinea oil and gas, maritime and offshore services in a parallel universe where peace prevails in the Niger Delta. We all know the reality. The majors and servicing companies moved their offices away from Warri and Port Harcourt in the late 1990s and early 2000s to avoid the incessant violent attacks by militants.
Also, globalisation and numerous trade agreements have led to outsourcing of jobs in Information Technology, Payroll Services, and Manufacturing. For example, a multinational will be headquartered in London or Houston, but it's logistics and ancillary services are run out of India, Malaysia, Brazil, Argentina, etc. The fact that Nigeria has English as its official language is a major advantage to becoming an outsourcing destination but this is not happening. We do not have consistent power supply or good level of education to warrant such a role. Instead we flare the gas that should be for power conversion and militants destroy gas lines to power stations. I see Accra, Luanda and maybe Lagos taking up this role in the future at the expense of a city on the Delta.

This list is not exclusive. Feel free to add other opportunity costs you can come up with.



Summary
Destroying oil facilities which are business investments to spite Nigerian authorities is hurting the Niger Delta on the long run. Let us put a stop to unfortunate short-term thinking and engage our representatives in the different tiers and arms of our democratic governments in a civil manner. Armed militants do not favour the development of the Niger Delta.

May Niger Delta and Nigeria Live Long in Peace with Unity and Progress

-LRNZH

Will things change without any form of agitation?

Will the confab report be implemented without any strong push?


No!


However, I don't support violence.

olatade:
When will Ben Bruce present a bill or sponsor one. It has been a year and the guy is still establishing whether what he has is common sense or stupidity. We are yet to see your common sense speak on your brothers avenging the defeat of their son. Or is Ben Bruce supporting them?

You should ask and not grandstand in ignorance.

plaetton:
It's funny that Nigerians don't seem to know what they expect from their leaders.

Ben Bruce Murray brings a new and refreshing quality that attempts to demystify leadership in Nigeria.

I find it sad that people criticize and Mock him for putting himself out there in the public sphere , on Twitter, to engage Nigerians on daily issues, unscripted and unrehearsed.

In the history of Nigerian politics, no elected officer has ever had the time and humility to climb down from ' Mount Olympus' to engage casually and cordially with the citizenry, the people on whose trust and behalf they exercise their powers.

BMB should be celebrated as A First, a one of a kind mutation in the difficult evolution of good, responsible and responsive leadership in Nigeria.

Pls carry on BMB.

Gbam! That's the point I've been stressing. The man brings a new air into the polity. People's opinions are just based on party difference.

Those who attack BMB will support him if it was for their political interest

Is she confused?

What I read up there shows she's confused.

What the heck is this. Abeg no time

YoursGEJ:
Chief Sweetus Oyoyo Yuzedo, your crush don land for front page

Missed that dude.