₦airaland Forum

stellx:
“When he was accused of not possessing school certificate or its equivalent, Nigerians fired back that it didn’t matter and that they were satisfied if all he had was a mere Agege bread or NEPA bill tag. “Such was the ululation and sheer passion that when he was pronounced winner, one Nigerian actually walked from Lagos to Abuja in solidarity, while another rode a bicycle from Kaduna to Lagos.

“Unfortunately, all the promises and hopes of a better tomorrow have since become a mirage, reminding one of Julius Caesar’s tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” “He surprisingly exonerated a colourless, rudderless and corruption-laden NNPC that is not accountable to the Nigerian people.

By Mike Ezekhome (SAN)

The immediate past leader of Nigeria had a PhD, his last minister for power was a professor in mechanical engineering, his government spent over $8.5 billion trying to fix the nation's rotten power sector, that's in addition to the $16bn spent by his predecessor for the same purpose. But what was the result at the end?... We still suffered the same pathetically erratic power supply up until the last week of his precedency when total national power generation crashed to about 1300mw (oh yes! as at the time the last guy handed over the leadership baton in 2015, we were generating less than 2000mw).

So the question I ask is, what exactly is the relevance of the rant from the Senior Defender of Corrupt Person's (Ozekhome) which you just posted above? How is that relevant to this topic?

aolawale025:
The premise is even wrong. Are they increasing the fares because it's cheap or to recover operating costs?

The current pricing template is purely political (i.e. arbitrarily fixed by govt) and makes no economic sense. The trains currently cant even recover their operating costs, let alone maintenance or other costs.

TheUbermensch:
Because of few coaches that they managed to add (which is long overdue) they now want to increase the fare. What is the rubbish meant by "It's too cheap"?! Isn't that the whole idea? In saner climes Train Transport is the cheapest form of getting across cities, but here we are ranting because it's too cheap. Smh

Please in which saner clime is train transport cheaper?.... At least in the UK which I know, train transport is most expensive (even more expensive than flying most times). So are you really sure speed train service is cheaper than using coaches (buses) anywhere in the developed world?

The truth of the matter is that at the current 'political' (not economic) cheap pricing template, the train system cant even recover it's operational or maintenance costs and it remains an unsustainable liability (waiting to go rotten) instead of an asset to the government.

cc: magoo10

free2ryhme:
If these Southern and Middle Belt leaders are serious about restructuring, they should unite, form a coalition to vote out Buhari in 2019, instead of these noises. We are sick and tired of their noises, only for some of them to surreptitiously vote back Buhari, come 2019.

#copied

Restructuring or not restructuring has nothing to do with Buhari; if you place even Nnia Nwodo in Aso rock today, he would begin singing a new song. Nobody in power would willingly support any action that would reduce his influence.

Just reading through the first page, it's amusing that so many readers dont have a clue what the report talks about; I for one was also confused by the title too.

ogechijohn:
The matter of the Holy Spirit is not the case. The issues are:
1. They ask Saints to pray for them
2. They make graven images
3. The Pope has more authority than the Holy scripture I.e the Bible
4. Difference in critical doctrines pertaining to eternal matters

Consider the above, and make a swift decision. Thanks dear

Pope has more authority than the bible?... Where do people get these bizarre assumptions from?... I suppose this is the same way general overseers have attained more authority than God himself in the lives of many pentecostals and the way the words and imaginations of GO's have replaced the need for scriptures?

Desyner:
Ok let me break it down further.
Govt controlls what goes into FR and other federation accounts. Now the optimum level of FR for nation is the forex that can satisfy 3-6 months of forex reserve. Our monthly forex need is less than $2B ($24b/annum), so all the govt need do was to channel the forex into accounts that were funding foreign executed projects.

Less than $2billion/month forex demand?

Can you kindly explain where you got that figure from cos from what I thought I knew, the last time Nigeria had less than $2bn monthly demand was as far back as 1999 when virtually no one had mastercards, visa cards etc, when we didnt import our over 40million litres daily fuel demand, when Nigerians still considerably consumed Nigerian products, when we had a microscopic few Nigerians going abroad for schooling or medicare, when we had an insignificant number of Nigerians engaging in international businesses of importing toothpicks etc etc.

thunder74:
How sensible it is for a father to save money in a bank while his kids are hungry? How sensible?

Typical black man's logic, feast on all the food in the storehouse today and die when the famine comes tomorrow. If the father spends all the money today, even the dry kpokpo garri and groundnut he manages to feed with and sustain his children today will not be available tomorrow; isn't this common sense?

OBJ saved significantly, that was the reason Nigeria weathered the storm during the major global economic crisis of 2008 under Yaradua. If that same momentum of saving was maintained post Yaradua (especially as oil prices went sky-high between 2010 and 2014), Nigeria wouldnt have had anything less than $100bn in reserves prior to 2014 when oil prices plummeted. If something significant was in the reserves, the entire forex crisis and naira crash, the recession, the inflation, and the accompanying weeping and wailing that followed would never have been half as bad if Nigerian leaders applied the simple wisdom of Joseph/Pharoah to save for the coming years of famine.

Oh sorry I forgot, what I just said above might probably makes no sense cos to many, all the economic mess we're in today is purely the handiwork of the dullard who assumed power in 2015.

Desyner:
Even obailala must have realized his mistakes. This is the problem i have with poster who appear assured in their submission and misled people like you. Have you searched thebalance.com for the explanations? I doubt you have. Google "standing5 foreign exchange reserve" there is a nairaland thread for this point of cotention.

Hmmm.. I'm not sure I understand the mistakes you talk about; I still stand by exactly what I said earlier, forex reserves and funds for capital expenditure serve 2 very different purposes. You're obviously still oblivious of the importance of a country having a robust foreign exchange reserve, especially an import dependent nation like ours; that explains why you think it's a wise thing for a country with a pathetic reserve to still dig further into it to fund infrastructure (probably toll reserves run down to zero).

Saudi Arabia with with a population of roughly 30million had reserves of up to $750billion prior to the crash in oil prices; you really dont think they are fools do you?... Following the oil crash, in under 2 years, Saudi's reserves dropped by over $200billion and the leadership ran into a desperate frenzy, removing fuel subsidies and instituting austerity measures and that is for a country of 30 million people which actually produces/refines its own petroleum products.

So did I just see you mention above that $24billion should be sufficient for an import dependent country like Nigeria with over 180 million people and whose forex demand well exceeds $10billion monthly?... wonderful!... Where on earth did that logic come from?

Cc: martineverest

modik:
To show how flawed your assertion is, could you answer this simple question....

When exchange rate was N187/$1 during GEJ's tenure, what was the value foreign reserves?

If only you realised how flawed this your argument is. Do you realise you're talking of USD here and not naira?... the value of the Naira dropped not the value of the USD, $30bn in 2014 is still $30bn in 2017, there's no point comparing or converting it to the Naira value here. The difficulty in raising $30bn in 2014 is roughly similar to the difficulty in raising same USD amount today, in fact, it's even far more difficult today cos of the poorer value of the Naira.

What on earth is wrong with Rivers state and Rivers people?

modik:
All your effort is geared towards enhancing your propensity to borrow.

OBJ deemphasised borrowing and achieved much.

Nigerians can't be deceived at this time.

I focused on credit-worthiness in my earlier post because the person I quoted made reference to that in his comment. Of course there're numerous other benefits of having a robust forex reserve besides being credit worthy. For one, foreign investor confidence is boosted when they see a nation has a sound reserve; you know how many foreign companies fled Nigeria in 2015/2016 when the reserves were fast dropping and when they feared they couldnt repatriate their funds?

Desyner:
Will a man who has $39B in saving at 0% interest need to borrow $2B at 5% interest. Your critical analysis is tragically flawed.

Foreign reserves and capital funds for infrastructure serve 2 very different purposes; everything isnt elementary logic as you expect. $39bn in the reserves can guarantee Nigeria faster loan approvals at lower interest rates than if we had say $29bn in the reserves; likewise, $49bn will also afford Nigeria more loan approvals at even lower interest rates than what the $39bn could give us.

Once again, external forex reserves and funds for capital projects serve 2 different purposes and shouldn't be compared.

DLondonboiy:
Now that the woman you zombies always quote has clarified her statement, can you now shut up and enjoy your change?

Lalasticlala, kindly move this to the front page, nairaland must always stand for the truth, nothing less, nothing else.

Mr, she's only just made a political attempt at damage control after the massive backlash she must have received from PDP over the comment;
Even at that, the defense is still very weak and still holds no water if analysed.

1. Governors also pressured OBJ to release the portion of ECA belonging to states. They also took the FG under OBJ to court. But what happened?... OBJ had the will to save, so he ignored the rants of the governors, witheld and saved the portion of the ECA belonging to states, and he also saved the large portion (52%) of the ECA belonging to the FG.

2. Yaradua also followed OBJs footsteps, he had the political will to save so even though he was also taken to court by the governors, he ignored the rants of the governors, witheld and saved the portion of the ECA belonging to states, and he also saved the large portion (52%) of the ECA belonging to the FG.

3. Then comes GEJ, governors put pressure for him to release the state's share, he first refuses. A while later, he is caught dipping his hands into the funds, governors threaten action and he succumbs; he releases the portion belonging to states, and also descends on the bulk portion (52%) belonging to the FG until it was no more.

And now the best excuse is that governors didnt want to save?... How exactly did governors prevent FG from saving its over 50% of the fund?

naijapips02:
It's time to stop the lies been pedalled by APC and their goons. Bring up lies disguising as facts and feeling smart about it.

They feel it makes them look smart by supporting APC. Been there.

I'm going to tackle progress69 here point by point.

1. 27 state governors were owing back log of salaries as at May 2015 when this government took over hence the bail out funds approved for governors. Despite this bail out funds, many refused to meet their obligations.

Governors always owe salary. Thats what they do. Money was disbursed by the centre. It's not the fault of the centre that these monies are not managed well by the respective states. Besides, it was an election year, and many governors were stocking up monies for re-election. The same governors that had surplus to embark on such frivolous project as a monorail couldn't pay salaries.

After the purported bailout (which by the way was done with monies saved by GEJs administration) 23 governors still owe salaries ranging several months as at June of this year . https://www.google.com.ng/amp/dailypost.ng/2017/06/26/nulge-lists-23-states-owing-salaries-number-months/amp/


2. Federal Government was borrowing to pay 2015 salaries.

This is a big lie. Read that story again. The sharp fall in the price of oil was unprecedented. Against the benchmark of $70/$80 oil feel below that. So the government had to technically borrow around $800 million to finance the deficit. This is not new nor was it peculiar to Nigeria.

Now contrast this to buhari's government that has borrowed over $60 billion since it came into power. Over 40℅ of our budget is deficit and we are running Nigeria with borrowed money.

https://www.google.com.ng/amp/s/www.vanguardngr.com/2017/10/buhari-writes-senate-borrow-5-bn-finance-2017-budget/amp/



3. Oil marketers were owed billions, led to a fuel scarcity that paralyzed Nigeria, even banks were closing before time, telecoms operators were sending texts about expected disruptions (never in Nigeria have this happened until 2015)


Another big lie. The fuel scarcity of 2015 which lasted few days by the way, was caused by uncertainty from the point of view of oil marketers of whether their outstanding subsidy claims would be paid before the handover. The incoming buhari then was preaching and shouting that he doesn't know what subsidy was, so the marketers were naturally scared that buhari might not continue paying their outstanding debts.

https://www.google.com.ng/amp/s/www.naija.ng/amp/394951-what-caused-the-fuel-scarcity-oil-marketers-open-up.html

Now contrast this with this present scarcity that has lasted for almost one month.


4. Okonjo-Iweala who many people in the opposition believe would have done better or saved the economy warned of tougher times as oil slipped low to about $76.

Dude stop being naive. Oil prices were coming down. That is the same message any leading economist in an oil based economy would give. Brace for tougher times doesn't equal recession. And besides the ECA that GEJ saved up for times like this, he was forced to share b the greedy governors lead by your very own Amaechi.

https://www.google.com.ng/amp/s/www.naija.ng/amp/998647-jonathan-shared-part-1bn-oil-savings-amaechi-governors.html

5. Falling Foreign Reserves

Nigeria’s foreign reserves drop to $29.13 billion

The foreign reserve has been falling and rising. It was once stood at $36.3 billion in October of 2014, even with all the subsidies GEJ was paying. And mind you $29.13 billion in 2014 is worth twice that value now in 2017, with our crazy exchange rates, no thanks to buhari.

Let's wait to the end of buhari's tenure to do a proper analysis.

Im not holding a brief for the past admin but This asslicking has to stop this year

Buhari borrowed $60 billion between 2015 and 2017?... wonderful! And you expect anyone enlightened to take your thread serious?

The only problem with this kind of unforgivable gaffe is the fact that no one ends up getting punished publicly for this monumental mess.

Lol.. see thread na!

Moi-Moi is a Nigerian/west African food; why should it have an English name?

Nigerians and inferiority complex.

4dor:
Progress is not a process abi? I'm here celebrating improved power supply, report me to the police if you're not happy with that.

Nothing stops you from celebrating, but for me, I'm just being wary of celebrating prematurely.

Until an improved level of power supply is sustained across the nation for the full 4 seasons, there's really nothing yet to celebrate.

You dont celebrate Christmas but you celebrate Easter?.... I'm yet to find out where Christ asked us to celebrate Easter in the bible. I'm also even yet to find out where Christasked us to celebtate our own birthdays in the bible.

It's a free world, do as you please and stop being a holier-than-thou know-it-all pharisee.

Na wa oh!

DLondonboiy:
Okorocha your mother is igbo but your father is not igbo...you bloody liar.
Your mother left her husband and went to ugwuawusa where she slept with an Hausa man who fathered you and your younger brother.

You are not igbo, you bloody ritualist.

Your mother is igbo, but your father is Hausa!

It was your hausa father that introduced you to IBB..
We know your story. Deceive only fools.

Thank God for prophet Nnamdi Kanu for revealing the truth about okoroawusa's origins to his humble following clowns

True talk!

ManMountain:
Ok, they are still coming back to the zoo to live and do business with who they hate

Majority of those shouting zoo zoo zoo and kissing the semi-albino/hunchback's feet are people who have hardly stepped foot away from their localities in the east.

ManMountain:
By January again, they will start the reverse exodus out of their homeland
What exactly is chasing igbos our of home?

Nothing is chasing anybody, it's just a cultural lifestyle. Igbos by nature are into trade and commerce, and in a lifestyle of trade, the typical thing to do is to move around in search of business opportunities in unconquered territories. That explains why Igbos move around to areas of business.

Jonathanians wailing up and down all over the place and calling out people who protested under GEJ for not protesting today. Even more than the current biting scarcity, these ones seem more bothered by the fact that GeJ was removed from office for similar failures.

But in all of these, you begin to wonder, is there's any chain (visible or invisible), or any juju which ties anyone's hand or mouth from also protesting or complaining about the issues of today?

@Op, Is anyone stopping you from protesting?... Abi you no get leg and mouth?.... By the way, those protests were for fuel price increase and not fuel scarcity.

FACT! - Igbos are the hardest hit by the fuel scarcity due to the massive exodus during the festive season. However, tagging the scarcity as a deliberate move by Buhari to frustrate Igbos?.... Na wa oh!.. Nnia Nwodo is a very intelligent man; I dont believe he said this.

Bizibi:
hahahahaha......I love this fake sycophant.

Sorry man, I wasnt trying to be like you; so I'm lost at wherr you got the 'fake' appendage from.

Bizibi:
mtcheeeeew.....look child,you just wasted your energy writing rubbish......

Sorry 'adult', I dont mind putting you in your deserved place, in the gutter. Once again, pick your sorry self up, stop dying in my mentions and go get yourself a life.

Bizibi:
mtcheeeeew!!!!!
What a being......very funny,a funny sycophant who think I'm interested in sole Soyinka and co.....like I said you are a hypocrite!!
You have to right to advice anyone to stand up fr his right and you openly support an old man in aso rock.
I'm a biz man who careless about those old men but you care about your old grandpa in aso villa even of he is confused.what a hypocritical being.

If you had a life, you should have stayed in your lane cos everyone cant share your views... Is it by force for Obaiala to join you in your stuping hatred for the man in aso rock?....

Someone on the thread accused Soyinka of not coming out to protest fuel scarcity and I responded accordingly to the person. And then you deliver your frustrated self into my mentions spitting emptiness about Soyinka and PMB, but now you claim Soyinka isnt your problem. So why the hell did you quote me since you obviously were ignorant of what I was talking about?.... Oh sorry I forgot, you're just one jobless attention seeking pleb who's obsessed with me and feels frustrated that I dont share your senseless hate obsession.

Look here boy, just save yourself the stress and go dump yourself in the lagoon.