₦airaland Forum

[quote author=~Sissy~ link=topic=249630.msg6476706#msg6476706 date=1280442944]interesting article i thought


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/13/health/13mind.html



"For better or worse, parents have limited power to influence their children. That is why they should not be so fast to take all the blame — or credit — for everything that their children become."[/quote]i'll read this article later, but as per the quote you posted, i think it's a load of crap. . .the sheer number of people that choose to go into their parents professions alone is enough to rubbish this claim.

_{posting here so i can find it later}. . .

@jenny
you never cease to surprise me. . .one moment you're rational, the next moment, you're dishing out the insults the way iya basira dishes out gbegiri. . .i liked your post though

@mama-gee
is today his birthday? if no be say my eye dey 'chook', i for don follow you carry last. . .tah!

@Jarus
yep. . .the reactions they(the awards) provoke are usually very revealing, you can tell a lot about people from their reactions(or lack thereof). . .it's like a backstage pass to peoples' minds

@jarus
why do you like the awards thingy so much?

[quote author=oyinda. link=topic=489462.msg6499439#msg6499439 date=1280787102]like someone already mentioned, just be yourself.
even if being urself means u being a typical naija girl. take pride in it. 

i personally will never date a guy who asks me that kain question. if u don't want naija qualities in a girl, don't look for a naija girl simple.[/quote]trust me, if you're asked you wont know, do you expect any sensible guy to go: 'oyinda., whom i'd like to go out with(and possibly marry), pray tell, what makes you stand out from a 'typical' naija babe?' like people where i come from would usually say:na from clap them dey enter dance

@debosky
pleeeeeaaaaseeeee i'm on my knees begging you. . .tell me what cream you use? i need some of that stuff

@tudor
you's is one mean gyal, i'm torn between wondering if you're trying to bait jarus(but on some level i think you know he wont fall) ot just stating your mind. . .

Missy B:
What was your question, exactly?

what's different about you? what can you contribute to a person's life?(was looking to figure out if she was a liability, the girl no know say na test i set for am )

Missy B:
What has this gotta do with the OP's question, sorry?

i see her question as what's special about you, what's your claim to fame?

Missy B:
Is it me or Y'all that don't seem to get the OP's question? I will now state, in a very clear manner, what i think the OP's question implies.

[Almost] All Naija girls have certain qualities in common - These are their distinguishing features; what differentiates them from other girls in the world.
Anyone who possesses these features is seen as a typical Naija lady.
Her question is - Among these typical Naija babes(of which You're one), what makes you conspicuous; separates you; singles you out?

. . .And I'm saying there's nothing like a typical naija babe because, there are no characteristics peculiar to Naija girls alone .
Educated, religious, well-behaved, submissive, long suffering? Who says most or all Naija babes are? Why are you so sure there aren't American Ladies that possess these qualities too? If you agree there are, would you say these Ladies are typically Nigerian, because of these qualities?

In summary- This is not a valid question, as there's nothing like a typical Naija lady; at least, you've not been able to define it properly.
I cannot even say '' What makes you stand out from every other girl in the World'' is a valid question. . . . because, Ma reply could be ''my pink eyes'', but, what is to say another girl in the world doesn't have pink eyes like mine? There isn't a valid answer, hence, it's not a valid question.

valid interpretation, but could it be possible that you're over-processing things? maybe we should just chill and let her clarify her question. . .[size=5pt]kai see as you just go from point A to Z without pressing brake[/size]

^^hey, where you been? i keep wondering what you're up to. . .see me thinking you had finished o. Where are you doing I.T.? have you decided on what you want to do when you're done? it'll help us tailor suggestions to your goals

@el-razur
na wa for this hard-on you have for seun o. . .i'm definitely not one of his fans but your inability to free his matter astounds me

@jarus
ibime doesn't have DK's way with the ladies, you said versatile. . .ibime is always with the boys. . .you never find him in any of the ashewo threads, DK on the other hand consistently shows that he can bore you to death with political talk, constitute a nuisance on the arsenal thread, ask inane questions in religion and still chase almostevery eligible female on NL, what more could anyone ask for as concerns versatility?. . .lol

@mama-gee
pray tell, what do i have to do to get you to kiss my arse?. . .no joke!

i asked a babe this question once and at first she was like 'i dunno' and i thought that was cool(till she said i'm caring, bla bla bla. . .obviously didn't go out with her). . .too many girls think they're 'IT' cos they have a nice face,a nice rack or a nice derrière(possibly all 3, which i must confess is a formidable combo ), but fact is, in the end, that still doesn't cut it. . .

i think in the latter part of his reply omegafred answered the question, it's better to embrace who you are and let the individual you are be evident. . .

of which the same question applies to males sef. . .

Missy B:
Who says these traits are typical of Naija babes alone?

obviously not her. . .if she doesn't want to consider other cultures it's her prerogative innit?

it has to be dayokanu. . .Ajanlekoko and ibime dont do too badly but they're lacking a very vital gene. . .it's called ashewo123. . .dayokanu for president, no manifesto, no campaign!

Tmoni:
@Jcob,

Nice ideas, hopefully, they really come to replace the "jokes" we cyrrently have has Web Ads here in naija, its an area i have spoken about previously and currently waiting for more information from the programme developers,

And you can do your masters part time while working also, its being done by a lot of people


@netose

Basically, my main job description is wading through the scope of works (tender or contract), then developing a schedule of works that takes into account resources, time, critical milestones,  Client activities, cost etc etc

When the programme is now agreed i.e (project board buy in, client acceptance, sub-contractor agreement), we now use it as a tool to monitor actual work done versus planned work then you start looking at things like earned value and indexes, so there is the regurlar battle between me and the project manager on progress (before i became acting PM & took the fight to someone else)


Well, as you are going to work in the Power sector then, you might wanna cast an eye on Harzadous areas review.

The intensity of the HAZ9 procedure depends on if its a green field or brown field site.

o ok. . .that means it's people like you that are meant to deliver me from my boss. . .lol. . .i think it's mostly them very large companies that'd make use of project planning, smaller companies just use 'scope' to do everything

most of the sites in naija are greenfield, so that'd make it more intense right? and is it a full time role? or you can combine it with something else? cos i'm not very keen on sidelining the power thing just yet. . .

this ranticle is sorta as a result of the replies observed by yours truly on the sanusi-tariff increase matter, some people state that there's no reason to increase tariffs despite the fact that information available shows that power is generated at 10ngn/kwh and is sold to retailers at 6.40ngn/kwh(a loss of 3.40ngn/kwh) and who shoulders this loss?Govt and PHCN, PHCN in that, they are losing revenue that could have accrued to them, govt in that they fund PHCN and yet are still expected to cough up money they dont have to build power stations. Hopefully, after reading this, some of y'all will have a better picture of the mess that is the nigerian power sector, and will come to realise that the problems run deeper than press releases and promises by politicians.

A 1997 world bank implementation completion report on [url=http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/AFRICAEXT/NIGERIAEXTN/0,,menuPK:368923~pagePK:64026187~piPK:141126~sortDesc:DOCDT~theSitePK:368896,00.html]power system maintenance and rehabilitation in nigeria[/url]  a world bank/NEPA/FGN collabo that lasted from 1989 - 1995 states among others that

'The National Electric Power Authority (NEPA), the state enterprise in charge of operating the public electricity system, was in financial difficulty because of limited power to sell, inadequate billing and collection systems, substantial debt and low tariffs.'

meaning that as far back as 22years ago, we(NEPA) were already operating at a loss(would the business folks please explain to us why any business would want to operate at a loss for 22 years) this punctures the claim of those folks that say that govt should produce constant electricity before increasing tariffs. and for those that claim estimated billing, why is it that when people switch from the electromechanical meters[(which by the way haven't been calibrated in close to 20years )<---if you dont know the implications of that. tough luck] they mysteriously become conscious of how long the ACs, boilers etc stay on?

also from the same report

4.  The key factors affecting project performance were devaluation of the Naira and NEPA's lack of actual autonomy from the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN).  The devaluation affected NEPA's operations.  There were two rates of exchange, one for the Government entities, and one for the public. NEPA was unable to obtain sufficient foreign exchange at the Government rate to support its

operations; it was unable to buy foreign exchange at the public rate because tariffs were not increased. The devaluation reduced the amount of rehabilitation work the project could accomplish because of increase costs per unit and subsequently adversely affected NEPA's finances

so we can establish that, in addition to setting loss-making tariffs for electricity, the government was meddling in NEPAs affairs in ways that affected their efficiency. seeing that since we entered civilian rule we've never had an engineer as minister for power, i'm wondering what training the ministers back then had.

once more. . .

with hindsight, given more than a decade of  experience With FGN reluctance to approach tariff-setting on an economic basis, the Bank should have kept the clause to provide a safety net to help NEPA meet the project's financial objectives.

^what happened here is that the world bank wanted to insert a clause in the agreements that tied the tariffs to fuel costs but the FGN prevailed on them to remove it, and the said financial objectives were to allow NEPA to earn 6-8 percent minimum rate of return on fixed assets in operation,while contributing at least 30 percent of  its annual investment program from internal sources;

men i'm loving this report. . .big time, see how the nigerian government screwed y'all up bigtime(and now y'all will come and be blaming PHCN)

In  1987 the Bank had appraised the Power System Improvement Project, which was to finance an ambitious power system recovery and development program at a total cost in the order of US$900 million. However, the  Bank did not proceed with the project because  Ministry of Mines Power and Steel (MPS) was not taking sufficient measures to grant NEPA sufficient autonomy for it

to operate efficiently. Realizing that it could take a long time for NEPA to obtain this autonomy in practice, the Bank instead decided to take a cautious approach, financing a series of modest size projects (US$75-100 million) and assisting  in NEPA's commercialization. As a first step in this process,  the Bank approved  the Power System Maintenance and Rehabilitation Project (Power VII) in 198 to assist Nigeria in a selective emergency maintenance and rehabilitation program for restoring system reliability.  The project also was to support the commercialization of NEPA

later in the report

Although the Power VIII project was never finalized, it serves as a basis for continued dialogue with FGN on the future of Nigeria's power system.  Proceeding with the project will be contingent on macroeconomic stabilization and the restructuring of the power sector.

in simple english it means nigeria lost $700million-plus because government messed up, and now we're still expecting investors(with plans to profit) to bring their money and invest in the power sector in nigeria abi? we're better off hoping that the catholic church decides to come and invest.

from the same report
However, despite system improvements losses remained high during the project's implementation, about 30 percent of generation

nowadays it's 40% of generation we're throwing away as losses(aren't we large?), oh and by the way while we're talking percentage, reports state that PHCN collects about 51% of revenue due it. . .pretty silly/generous of them right?

and yet again

Many of the system's operational problems had resulted from external constraints on management, the lack of an adequate reward system to motivate staff, and insufficient foreign exchange for spare parts. Other factors which adversely affected performance were: the lack of an adequate preventive maintenance program;

the above means that as at the time the report was written, NEPA staff were not motivated, well things have sure changed now, they're even less motivated and to think back then, nigeria is supposed to have been in a better position.

more on your governments actions

The achievement of the project's institutional objectives was important given  the deteriorating physical state of the system, which stemmed directly from institutional deficiencies and the lack of a solid program for change. Essentially NEPA operated more like a government department than a corporate entity. Often politically expedient measures  overshadowed staff decision making

on how the project went

The main factor that constrained NEPA's performance was the lack of sufficient autonomy from FGN to ensure the timely completion of project components and the utility's ability to meet the project's financial covenants.  FGN did not allow NEPA to increase tariffs to offset increased costs and meet financial objectives.  Also,  FGN did set a much lower level of procurement subject to government approval than agreed under theperformance contract and subjected NEPA to a cumbersome, bureaucratic approval procedure.  According to a performance contract with the Ministry of Mines, Power and Steel (MPS), NEPA was to have authority to award contracts of up to N50 million without MPS approval.  However, in practice NEPA had to seek MPS approval for contracts over N 15 million meaning that the company could not even proceed with relatively small spare parts orders on its own.  In addition FGN required a special form for imports and the waiting period for approval was up to six months. As a result, average time between the order and delivery of parts was about two years.

can anyone tell me how much 15mil back then is now?. . .you've got to love the nigerian government.

on how NEPA performed

The main factors that affected project implementation, which were subject to the control of the Borrower, were the timely, effective implementation of the project's components  and reporting on implementation progress. NEPA established the  Project Implementation Coordination Team (PICT),  as required and kept the PICT in operation throughout the project. NEPA did a good job preparing documents and evaluating bids for the project's goods and services, but unfortunately its attempts at timely implementation were constrained by the bureaucracy of the FGN approval

process. Nevertheless, NEPA's diligence in executing its tasks in the procurement process helped to mitigate project delays. Timely reporting on implementation progress contributed to the quality of project monitoring and to the decision-making process, especially concerning project modifications. The compliance with financial covenants  was originally supposed  to be within NEPA's capability, assuming FGN

provided NEPA with the authority to have an impact in its finances.  However, the lack of sufficient autonomy put compliance with many of the project's covenants outside NEPA's control.

NEPA's perfornance  was satisfactory in project preparation.  NEPA also did a very good job in the implementation of tasks directly under its control such as the preparation and evaluation of bidding documents, and reporting on the projects implementation progress. Despite this satisfactory performance, project implementation was delayed due to FGN's slow procurement process.  NEPA's

compliance with covenants was deficient mainly which the covenants specified. did not meet the financial objectives because the authority from FGN.  However, the lack of compliance was mainly due to inadequate autonomy 

so NEPA hasn't always been the main problem has it?(that is not to say it does not contribute a healthy portion these days)

on the success of the project. . .

The project was satisfactory in preventing total power system collapse and helped initiate the  process of commercializing NEPA.  However, the scale of the rehabilitation effort was lower than anticipated at appraisal; the project did not meet some important financial objectives; and the sustainability of the project's achievements is uncertain. Therefore this ICR rates the outcome as only marginally satisfactory

on the future. . .

According to sound utility practice, supervision reports have indicated that NEPA will need to spend about US$ 100 million annually on maintaining it's generation facilities.  This is a small amount compared to annual losses due to system outages which prior to the project cost Nigeria's economy upwards of US$1 billion annually. However, NEPA's budget allocates virtually no funds for maintenance. Project

experience has indicated that NEPA will not be able to maintain the power system without increased autonomy, restructuring, and privatization of some of the authority's functions.

mennn they painted a very bleak picture o. . .sadly, they were right as one of my favourite pictures will show. . .enjoy

[quote author=Ileke-IdI link=topic=489364.msg6492464#msg6492464 date=1280696454]

I was like "wtf" too[/quote][quote author=Ileke-IdI link=topic=489364.msg6492464#msg6492464 date=1280696454]

I was like "wtf" too[/quote]it's a pity that y'all couldn't look past the grammatical errors in the article and see the substance.

otokx:
GEJ should distance himself from this guy.

Obj had dangote now, so GJ feels he needs otedola. . .the cycle continues

[quote author=~Bluetooth link=topic=489364.msg6494691#msg6494691 date=1280741320]This is a two-way thing.the writer of the article is a former fianance director,so he may either be revealing the truth or castigating otedola due to something that might have happened which he didnt let the public know of.honestly,i dont trip for petition writers,no offense to the writer though.[/quote]you have a point, but as long as FO is doing shady stuff, whether the guy has beef with him or not should be secondary

okay. . .it's official i'm starting to see things, i saw a really sensible post about scrapping from onwan on this thread earlier but it seems to have disappeared. . ._{abi did i open this thread more than once, cos my internet connex was manifesting when i opened this thread o . . .}

i just had to pop in and say i hate each and everyone of you guys(esp you Ejademen). . .now my hyperactive conscience wont let me rest on this brown rice being more healthy matter. . .i dont know why i had to come and check this thread out sef

BlueDiva:
^^^^
She ain't working under me so no qualms.
I only feel employing someone who ain't that smart because she's connected ain't fair.

BTW, she's already been employed and she was the only candidate.
It was a vacancy which just popped up and one of the ED's said we should fix her up.

It ain't really an issue though.
I only brought it up to reaffirm that anything goes in Naija.

Thanks ma broda.
Eat to your fill for Mama Calabar on me.

i really should tell you what goes on in my office, then

@thread
hung out with a bunch of young skilled(and underpaid)engineers like myself yesterday. . .lol. We had mad fun o. . .but thing is, i discovered it's not only the power sector that doesn't treat young engineers well, met some dude, works in one of the top 5 construction companies in nigeria and still earns crap, (dude didn't even school in naija so it's not a matter of 'pali)', apparenty, the lebanese and israeli's are making a killing in the construction sector legally and illegaly. . .

@tmoni
could you expatiate on what a project planner does?. . .if i was planning to stay in the field, i would have giving this HAZ-thingy a go it sounds interesting.

AjanleKoko:
^^
netotse, this is good info for you oh!

yep a lot of people have being saying this. . .the shortage isn't only in canada though, it's all over the world, the power sector just isn't sexy enough to attract young engineers. . .lol, but as always, it's naija or bust o, why i go dey look after another mans chicken now?

@everyone
of which i'm thinking of taking some online power system courses, just to make my profile better before a masters, i've done a bit of research and found that there are some certificate courses approved by the NERC(the yankee one, not the naija one though), do you guys think it's worth it? would the certificates hold water in nigeria?

@maple
have you taken any of them CEU courses? can you tell me anything about them?

[quote author=Busy_body link=topic=489036.msg6488871#msg6488871 date=1280624404]There is nothing wrong with salvaging any item from destruction and putting them to further use. Just make sure you get someone competent to do the job, as well as a professional independent third party to verify the work done

Sup Netotse, how is your boyfriend H202 heard you guys are tying the knots in December, congratulations Are you gonna be the husband or the wife, so i'll know how to tailor my marital advise to you





How could you resist Stop hating on Netotse because H202 left you for him joo You mean you didn't know Netotse was the "other woman" Chei, me and my big mouth, if anyone asks, it wasn't me [/quote]after i don dey run from you all over NL, you don follow me come here sha. . .

i made a mistake o. . .it's not 4, car buffs'll know what year it was. . .twas a driver that bashed it, he sneaked out with it, he was sacked and that was the end. . .

na the yeye driver. . .plus naija roads aren't exactly sensible sef. . .

i need some advice ppl. . .the car below was bashed(not by me. . . ) and we're considering scrapping it, but the panel beater says that the crash didn't affect the framework, that it's just the malleable part of the bonnet that crumpled and it can be repaired.(there's these two metal bar-thingies on which the engines are seated that he showed me, he said they were unaffected)

But there's this thing people say, that once a car's been in an accident, it can never be the same and stuff like that. . .i'm yet to hear exact, reasons why. So i need car buffs to break things down for me. . .

i need some advice ppl. . .the car below was bashed(not by me. . . ) and we're considering scrapping it, but the panel beater says that the crash didn't affect the framework, that it's just the malleable part of the bonnet that crumpled and it can be repaired.(there's these two metal bar-thingies on which the engines are seated that he showed me, he said they were unaffected)

But there's this thing people say, that once a car's been in an accident, it can never be the same and stuff like that. . .i'm yet to hear exact, reasons why. So i need car buffs to break things down for me. . .

rumplestiltskin@yahoo.com. . .lol

nope. . .it's something much less interesting. . .want it?

seen. . .madam shumacher, (ust had a flash-by of you driving with stunners on). . .lol, hope say you never bash anything(or anybody) recently sha

Kunbee:
No gist, as boring as ever mehn. I think you post a lot in politics this days

it's prolly cos i'm around a lot of funny a[i]ss[/i] ish these day, but the place don dey tire me sef, too many loonies. . .you on break right?

work no dey gree me post on NL as much as before, but i'm always around sha. . .what's the latest now? any gist for the boys?