₦airaland Forum

I'm in the same boat, but I plan to return. If the power sector can open up like the telecom sector, I'll be there in a heartbeat.

Not just employing people? That what business is for. Have you heard the americans cry as thier factories move out of the coutry and whole towns become poor. Trust me, creating jobs is greta value. And i bet you companies that buy his sugar and cement are happy the dont have to import them. I think he needs more competition though so he is forced to give better prices

Pinky:

IAH link=topic=465.msg5483#msg5483 date=1118755804:
But I don't think he really did it. I think some people are just trying to bring him down.

that thing called MJ is guilty to the teeth ... no one's interested in bringing him down if he's not guilty.. he did those things... if he was sent to prison today, he would have died next week. he's looking so frail.. let's hope he releases an album on time about his ordeal.. that guy is something esle.... he will have many thins to think of for the rest of his life

The guy was not guilt, abeg. The boy was lying and everyone saw through it

mamba:
Ok thank God there's someone here that has 5 snakes.

Well, I had some 3 years ago, it was a poisonous snake that crawled into our compound and started shedding skin and littered its offspring’s allover our compound.

I captured the cobra and was trying to keep it somehow but everyone in my house was so scared and kept warning me to get rid of the snakes or else they'll run away from the house, I refused to let it go.

One Sunday evening, I came back home shocked to find out that my snake had been killed by our meguard and was being processed to be used for Okra soup. I was mad and later realized that my Mom gave the order that they should kill the snake and get rid of the smaller ones.

I was very sad indeed...

I'm still waiting for another one to crawl in again, this time I'm keeping it for good.....

You shouldnt mess with cobra unless you are skilled, or you have had it surgically fixed so it cant produc venom. Some people inject themselves with the venom to increase immunity, but thats not needed

Allenpowered:
obong, [I]abi na [/I] boa [I]be your [/I] name...you and mamba [I]na from [/I] planet of snakes...

ok, since mamba has refused to answer our queries , maybe oboa, sorry obong will educate us why they love snakes, what they feed them, how they cope and how they are not related to snakes

I just remembered, i had 6. But one died. I dont know how i started, but once i feel in love with them I was addicted. I had a madagascar round boa, ball python, 2 pine snakes (one male, one female--the male was albino) and a young white rat snake that died and a carpet python from australia.

Snakes are incredibly interesting and different. I'll introduce my kids to them so they aren't afraid of themlike a lot of nigerians are. Teaches you alot about natue. But then again, i always loved animals so it wasnt a strecth for me

I fed my snakes mice, rats and chicken. Some snakes have specific diets and want eat certain food so you have to teach them to like it

Allenpowered:
Nah! Eket is not good enough for surfing...waves not high enough.Too bad...

so is there anywhere innigeria good for surfing?

Allenpowered:
I don't think that our companies would be dead as Seun said because of the entry of Branson (or presumed entry?)

Britsh Airways is not dead because of Virgin Air. Competition is beneficial to the consumers most of the time. Anyhow, Branson can only have at most 49% share in Vmobile, so technically it is still a Nigerian company.

Actual Virgin is bidding for 51%

I'm a lawyer

I dont think any dirty on the part of dangote is substantiated either. I'm not sure what you mean by lacking innovation. He's not running microsoft, i agree, but you can run an old world company and still be innovative. I'm not sure if he would be this big if he wasnt innovative

Thanks. I like the direction Nigeria is moving in

I was so glad to hear the news. At least he cant start eating again

Seun:
My personal opinion is that corporal punishment is a very primitive way to discipline a child. It [I]is[/I] effective on the short term, which makes the parent blind to the need to use methods of discipline that work on the long term.

Many people think they are teching their children to be upright, but all they are teaching their children is that might is right. "I have the power, so if you do something I don't like I will inflict pain on you". Might is right, so if I make a mistake nothing happens, but if you make the same mistake and I catch you, you are in deep trouble. Might is right, and that is why when there is any problem our youths pick up cutlasses and start making bonfires and cutting heads. Because might is right.

Are you saying that Charles Taylor wasn't beaten as a little kid? What about Sanni Abacha? The soldiers working with him? Were the perpetrators of our civil war not beaten as children? What about those who are corrupt among our politicians?

Africans are fond of defending elements of their culture that clearly aren't working for them. With all the child-abuse that takes place in this country, we are more corrupt than "morally bankrupt" countries like the United State with their "evil" gay rights "heinous crimes" against unborn children.

Sorry, beating is not the way to train a child. It is a way to harden a child. We have a lot of hardened people in this country, and I am tired of it. I want us to have more people with tender, gentle hearts.

Corporal punishment is legal in many states in the USA. You paint too saintly a picture of the states. The southern states condone corporal punishment, yet they are the strongest and richest country on earth

Seun:
If the schools of yesteryears were so wonderful and good at instilling discipline into the current generation of adults, then why is our country so corrupt? How come the "undisciplined" white boys and girls are able to run their countries better than we can in Africa in general? How come you don't have interracial killings breaking out from time to time in the US, for example.

Seun:
If the schools of yesteryears were so wonderful and good at instilling discipline into the current generation of adults, then why is our country so corrupt? How come the "undisciplined" white boys and girls are able to run their countries better than we can in Africa in general? How come you don't have interracial killings breaking out from time to time in the US, for example.

Huh? Maybe you forgot about ethnic cleansing in serbia and former yugoslavia. Not to mention the current issues going on in the eurasian countries that resemble african problems

Imnakoya,

You're right, but technicals schools are not a replacement to universities. They simply compliment them. Nigeria needs about 1000 institutes of higher learning, some universities, some specialized schools like for dance or music, and so forth, and some techni schools.

Hidden_Hunter:
I have been to Lagos and Eket that's all, Eket beach doesn't look safe to swim in though (looks like a few rips) :/

Would the Eket beach be suitable for surfing?

Hidden_Hunter:
Better cross Kano and Zanfara off my list

My what's very cold for nigeria?

Obudu, the highlands, gets down to 5 degrees celcius so i'm assuming Jos is in that range

Ka:
There are businessmen who rely primarily on their creativity and management skills to build successful businesses, and there are businessmen who rely on contacts and special privileges bestowed on them by friends in high places. I respect the former, but I believe that Dangote is more of the latter. I doubt he would fare as well if he was exposed to fierce competition.

You think Ricahrd Branson isnt bribing his way to make his billions? You think President Bush and Cheney didnt bribe thier way through Halliburton? I'm not saying its an ideal situation, but without realistically knowing how business works at this level, we decieve ourselves into thinking corruption is purely a Nigerian phenomenon.

The fact is Dangote has invest heavily in the country, something the Chinese, Indians, Malaysians, etc have done in thier countries despite dealing in dirty money. Ultimately that's a model to follow. The US has been built by a multitude of business people that had suspicious relationships with the government,

I wonder why married women cheat. I'm sure men are not only cheating with single ladies and some of the women are also cheating

The only requirement should be the aspirant should be an adult. No age limit

jogego:
super power with incessant power outtages? with no health care, no drinking water, falling standards of education? We need to talk the truth to ourselves oh!!!! fine agreed we have human resources but the truth is that the brain drain started in the 80's has not stopped, without basic infrastructures, the economy cannot grow.No be curse, just a statement of fact. SO the rains have started again, how many roads in Lagos are motorable??

In fairness to Seun, he said we have the chance, meaning its not yet a possibility, but could be down the line. he mentioned several decades of dmocracy as needed first. I agree with him. Of course south africa is ahead, but if Nigeria's telecommunjication industry is any indication, we have the ability to surpass south africa pretty fast if we can attract the requist investment in key sectors..

demmy:
Its sad that we can't do better than all of them recycled materials. Well for now sha we must entrench democracy and I will agree with anything just so not to de-rail democracy. We will sure have more choices in the future. Orji Kalu, Tinubu and Bukola Saraki etc will be future pres. materials I hope

I like you list, but i would replce Bukola Saraki with Donald Duke. After saraki brought in the foreign farmers and gave them $500,000 each and kicked out several farming communities in his own state, i lost faith in him

abubakarshayau:
Well, it may either be good or bad, but to my view it is just another way of colonizing the Nigerian GSM world. What about our indigenous investors? Can't they take over Vmobile and forget about any foreign investors and give a better name unlike Econet, Vodacom, Vmobile? Thisnet, Thiscom, and Thismobile?

Its better to have a Nigeria take over the company, but if its going to be a foriegner, I guess Branson can't be too bad. Its also not a bad thing that south africans invest in nigeria. Of course you dont want them to own the place, but many countries get rich by having rich neighbors invest in them,like japan did for malaysia

Seun:
The problem with selling our companies to extremely rich and smart businessmen like Richard Branson is that, by the time he is through with the GSM market, all the competing companies which are partly owned by Nigerians (MTEL, Globacom Limited, and even MTN) would be[b] dead and buried[/b].

Nice to see you have no confidence in the abilities of nigerians

The teledensity is very low, but a major improvement. I think it took south africa much longer to get to this level of teledensity. In 2 years, Nigeria will have more phones than south africa, but with a lower teledensity. South africa's system is quite uneven, so its not a model to follow. Its recommended that we have 10% teledensity, and it looks like we have passed that stage. My hope is we can have 100% teledensity

Check this out

Nigeria's phone lines now 14 million, says NCC
By Sonny Aragba-Akpore, Asst. Communications Editor

WITHIN five years, the country has progressed from having only 475,000
telephone lines to 14 million, according to the Nigerian
Communications Commission (NCC).



Chief Executive, NCC, Ernest Ndukwe, disclosed in Lagos at the maiden
edition of New Age/NCC seminar on "Telecommunications in Nigeria: The
Next Frontier" that while digital mobile lines had hit 12.8 million,
fixed lines stood at 1.2 million.

According to him, "in May 2000, there were 25,000 analogue mobile
lines while fixed lines stood at 450,000."

Ndukwe cited transparent licensing and investors' confidence in the
economy among other factors responsible for this massive growth in the
communications sector.

He stated that since April 2000 when a new board was inaugurated by
the Federal Government for the NCC, "the country and the
telecommunications sector have become investors' preferred destination
in Africa."

Indeed, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) says
Nigeria's telecoms sector is the fastest growing in Africa, one of the
fastest growing in the world, thus an investors' haven.

According to him, though the country's teledensity or telephone
penetration has experienced a steady 100 per cent yearly rise in the
last five years, for a population of over 120 million, the number of
lines is still a drop in the ocean, adding: "So we cannot afford to be
complacent".

"Information and Communications Technology (ICT) remains a priority of
the Federal Government and an important sector in the reform agenda of
President Olusegun Obasanjo administration," he said.

Ndukwe said that the President required "the NCC to ensure that ICT
facilities are extended to all citizen of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria. Not just basic telephone but other essential services such as
Internet and broadband."

To ensure the speedy implementation of this mandate, the NCC has put
in place a five-year plan tagged: "The Era of Growth and
Consolidation. This era aims to sustain the rapid growth of
subscribers as well as improve sector efficiency," Ndukwe said.

The five-year scheme has a 10-point agenda which included "promoting
mass market whereby ICT is seen as an enabler of broad-based social
and economic development. ICT must therefore be accessible and
affordable to all citizens of the country."

He said the NCC would facilitate an enabling environment that would
ensure availability and affordability for all in the society.

The NCC will also ensure that services are extended to the rural and
under-served areas, "no matter where the citizens reside because ICT
is the engine for economic growth."

According to Ndukwe, the NCC has also put in place and will pursue a
massive implementation of the Wire Nigeria (WiN) programmes to ensure
that optic fibre infrastructure is extended to all parts of the
country.

He said the commission would do this in consultation with service
providers for whom there would be attractive incentives.

The NCC boss also listed improvement in sector efficiency, quality of
service threshold, consumer education and protection, enforcement of
licence conditions, institutional strengthening of the NCC and
advisory role to government on policy and technology and encouragement
of investors as part of the 10-point agenda that form the five-year
plan.

Besides, Ndukwe said that operators had been enjoined to take
advantage of new technologies that improve service to consumers in
terms of ease of deployment and price.

"These include Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), Wireless Fidelity
(WiFi) and third generation (3G)," he said.

Lagos Business School (LBS) Director, Prof. Pat Utomi, who chaired the
occasion, cited the quantum leaps of countries in Asia though the
adoption of ICT, saying "telecoms can give greater value to our
democracy though town halls fitted with electronic gadgets that enable
rural folks to reach their representatives".

New Age Publisher, Mr. Sully Abu, said that the seminar was one in a
series put in place for the purpose of public enlightenment, among
others.
- Show quoted text -

Seun:
AYA, I don't feel inclined to complain about how other websites are a joke. How will we create a presence on the Internet if large companies start investing millions into the training of their web developers?

No, I don't feel inclined to complain. However, if I must contribute all I can say is that the money is not going to the right people. That is all I would say. And there are some good, high profile Nigerian websites out there. MTN Online is good. ShopForLess.com is good, though of Indian roots.

Starcomms have a good website as well. Is shopforless.com indian owned?

Anyone here plan to use the konyin keyboard? www.konyin.com

Does anyone know if any of those companies are indigenous? or it purely foreign. I dont really think Nitel should be sold. Telkom does ok and its a state own company. What needs to be done is further deregulation of the industy

Hidden_Hunter:
I am always interested in what people in other countries think of other countries (so it's unbiased) so I was wondering what people think of Australia?

I can say that I like Nigeria because it's a very pretty place and most people are friendly enough (most people are very nice but a few people sometime ruin it for the rest). I say it often to my friends back here at home that I enjoy my trips to Nigeria because of how diverse it is

Potentially Nigeria could make alot of money off tourists if they wanted to but at the moment it's too hard and extremely costly.

If you are ever back in nigeria, check out Yankari game reserve, or the new Tinapa City being built, the cable car ride and Obudu ranch. These are supposed to be some good areas to visit.

I'd like to check out the australia for the reptiles (croodile farms) and the Barrier reef. I love the way asutralia has 'branded; itself, i.e. once you think of kangaroes, the outback and boomerangs you thin aussie. Nigeria could learn a thing of two from that. Perhaps our unique gorrilas, and special florals could be used to create a brand

kodewrita:
Thoughts on other countries? Well, take Senegal for example. There the presidential palace is guarded by 3 policemen (read that last week). Imagine that in Nigeria (there would be a coup every day!)

They don't even speak their own languages (Djollof, Hausa e.t.c) but they speak French (I wouldn't want that to happen here but Seun I expect you would be happy if that happens)

Senegalese speak wolof and fulani, but they love french. My favorite thing about them is thier low aids infection rate, less than 1%

armani:
I think one of the most treasured experiences about Nigeria is the sense of freedom from all man-made restrictions (what you in a so called "developed " world would call laws). In Nigeria there is so much freedom that you can {[color=#666666]urinate[/color]} on the streets while a policeman watches out for you. Is it not amazing? This might sound ridiculous, but every time I leave the country and I am coming back it is one thing I miss so much.

Concerning freedom, as per tourist, ... the difficulty is that of an innocent sheep running into a wolf. Nigerians do not like people who are generally ignorant, which is why they are very witty. If you come into Nigeria as a tourist and they realise that you know nothing about your environment, they are bound to use you. So, when coming to Nigeria as a tourist, be sure to have somebody in Nigeria as a guide.

I live in the US and folks urinate on the streets (even on the train) all the time. No biggie.

I dont find nigerians to be a wolf0like as you describe them. Most, especially outside of Lagos, are cool folks

For one, I think the term 'rule" needs to stop being applied to Nigerian leaders. They are there to serve and lead, not rule us. But to answer your question, I like young governors, either Kalu, Duke or Tinubu. Youngs guys with ideas