₦airaland Forum

"A thief in government house" a simple and poignant statement. No need to paint it in rose colored words like embezzled, mismanagement or laundered money. NO! Ibori you are a THIEF.

And this guy was a mover, shaker and King maker under Yaradua. Calling him a Thief, right in face is more powerful than the actual sentence.

There are more thieves seating in govt houses in other states as we speak. One day I hope we get the opportunity to call them THIEVES

adelegan1:
That is what I'm saying out grower which also know as contract farming is the best. because you don't have to go through the stress of planting and harvesting all you have to do is to sponsor farmer and they will bring the rice to you so you can process

sounds interesting. how those this work? pls provide more info

jobfront:
Now, I have lots of true life stories to share with you, which should motivate any wise person reading this thread, one of them is this:
you wouldn't believe that my eldest brother, just 40yrs, a employer of over 10 graduates, with each not earning less than N50,000, owns a big house in lekki phase 1, uses some of the best cars you can think of, and owns other properties and assets nationwide, just bought BlackBerry phone last month, do you know why he finally decided to buy it? Because his business clients started to demand for his pin and blah, blah, so he sluggishly bought one just for their sake. One day, we asked him, why don't you want to buy a BB? He replied: I don't need to add more expenses to my troubles, and besides, I cannot be using something to adds no economic, financial, etc value to my life and business, so what's BB? And he went ahead to tell us how he's planning to lay off three of his staff this year, one is a female, for her habitual pinging attitude even while she's at work. I frowned on this very note because my childhood friend living and working in the states once told me that they dare not take their phones to work, not allowed at all, I pondered, why can't Nigeria have this kind of law in place? Hmmmm,

Secondly, my other brother that died in a car accident early last month, refused to buy BB despite the fact that he is very very, and also an employer of labor running one of the best, but you know what? His extravagant, merry-loving rich friends lured him into buying this phone called BB, and this very BB handset led to his early departure from planet earth, how? We learnt through eye witnesses that witnessed the accident that led to his death, that he was pinging while driving and didn't notice the on-coming vehicle or whatever, and before he could put things under control, he has already joined our grandpa and granny, sobs, sobs, so my brothers and sisters, don't let all these evil technologies maim your lives, think economically, safety, finance always,

Now I ask to proponents of the original topic and very many others: ask yourself, how has this very BB i am using impacted my life; financially, economically, socially, morally, mentally, religiously and otherwise? Answer that question withing you,

Sincerely sorry for your loss and I pray your brother RIP

Blackberry is not the culprit, but our approach to its usage. In fact BB like any other smartphone have improved & simplified how we communicate. Businesses have also witnessed some level of efficiency due to these devices. That said, every individual is responsible for how they use it. No one should bow to peer pressure or try to be part of the crowd.

Sadly, we Nigerians embrace every new "toy" as if our very existence depends on it. We are so vain! BB is only a phone not a way of life.

Driving while Using a mobile device must be banned in Nigeria. In Canada and some states in the U.S it's already against the law. Let's face it, texting while driving is a recipe for disaster.

georgee:
Tnx a lot guy 4ur response. As we speak nw,[b]marriage preparations ar at a halt. [/b]Was paid a severance pay of jst ova 800k, wt wil i do wt it afta payin 300k(my house rent)ths feb endin. Mayb u can teach me a viable biz i cn do wt 500k. Am nt soliciting 4 pple 2 contribute money 4me. Al i ask 4 is a sincere help dat cn link me 2 anoda job. I av neva stopd prayin 2 God,  Tnx again 4 ur response

Great move for putting wedding preparation on hold. Next move is to quickly pay your one yr rent, so you have a roof over your head. Don't stay with relatives.

N500k may not be a lot, so if you have asset like a car consider putting that up for sale in next couple of months. Mobility is crucial in Lagos, but having cash flow crunch is worse with a baby on the way.

Now decide if you want to look for a new job or start a small business; don't rush things.

adelegan1:
My friend im going to advise you and other person on this forum why not to invest in agriculture. I believe this will help you and others


They are alot of factor affecting agriculture in nigeria and i will list them.

(1) Unavailability of labour

(2) lack of appropriate techonology

(3) poor transportation network

(4) unstable price of product

(5) theft and non compliance of labour to instruction

(6) failure of government
and more

Now im going to tell you how this will make you fail no matter how smart you are, listen

Unavailability of labour; people in the rural area are not willing to farm. if they agree to work for you will have alot to face with them they not follow your instruction  and you cant say much to them because they will tell you they are not working anymore. so you dont have choice than to be romancing them with more money. and they will still not do the proper thing and they will be alot of neglegence on their part that will affect your business.

if you bring in hire labour or contract laborer from the north they are more dangerous. most of this things you might not see as big deal now until you start you farm. agriculture is labour and capital intensive and you might make back your money talk-less of any profit be warned



Lack of appropriate techonogy:

only the approriate techonology will help to reduce the cost of labour and cost of production generally. you have to share tractor with hundred of people if you dont have your tractor and you might not have it on time from the government agency to do your job.

If you can purchase hand tractor it will help you alot you can google what hand tractor is or see how it work on youtube. you can use it  to  do everything in the farm from plowing,harrowing,discing,ridging,harvesting,irrigation, transport and alot more. If you have this hand tractor it make agriculture more profitable and reduce cost of labour.

the hand tractor is not expensive about $3000 in nigeria. but big and small farmer in nigeria do not have this simple machine that can do more it price

if you dont have the appropriate technology please dont invest in agriculture you will cry.

poor transport network;

after producing you will be responsible for transportation factory the road are bad and cost of transportation is high and the price of produce is not stable

see the list go on. i cant just keep writing you might not take my advice but surely eveybody will do their mistake. things might look normal when you start real farm you see the great problem and challenges.

If agriculture is so profitable in nigeria why is government not running a state farm

I will advise you to into processing of farm product instead of farming ask me how and i will tell you

Some of the problems you listed aren’t peculiar to agriculture alone but are experienced in other industries in Nigeria.

Agribusiness (I deliberately use this term) encompasses seed supply, farming, food marketing, packaging and exporting. Sadly, most people only understand the farming aspect and spend all their energy and time cultivating large hectares of land without proper planning and strategy on getting the food to consumers.

Like any other business, understanding consumer needs is the first step to success. A detailed marketing analysis will help identify key segments (direct consumers, food industry, Poultry farms, industrial users and exporters) and size of each potential segment. For instance, maize is consumed as popcorn, cereal, ogi, eko, used for feeding animals etc. So these are your products; not maize. Farming is only the means to an end and not your end goal.

Don’t simply start rice; maize; cassava farming etc rather develop a detailed business plan on how to serve potential customers and which aspect of the agribusiness you want to start with. As your business grows you can integrate vertically or horizontally.    

Agribusiness can be capital intensive and not for the faint hearted. However, it can be very lucrative; albeit a long term venture.

[b]@OP I'll be very wary of rice production because of Nigerians' fondness for polished, imported rice. Ensure you develop a solid plan with risk assessment before you invest your capital.
[/b]

Agribusiness in Nigeria is clearly overlooked given the immense opportunity. That said, the risks can be very high at the beginning, so it must be a long term venture.

Also, specialization is key given the various aspects of agribusiness: input production (seedlings), animal husbandry, farm production, processing, storage, packaging, export and so on

The huge investments in Fixed assets (land, building, farm equipment, milling equipment, generators etc) can be leveraged as collateral for future expansion.

@lightest. I believe it's the same car; the hood and front door looks damaged in the first pics. Why was the car closely sandwiched with other cars? He should have sent images showing the car alone. Clearly, this is a very dubious dealer

The dealer simply tricked you by concealing damages in the pic he sent. The passenger's side was not even shown in the pics

Go for a full refund or massive discount. wish you all the best

Obi1kenobi:
You have it completely wrong. In Soludo's stats (which correlated with NAPEP's independent stats), the North had a  FAR higher poverty rate than these stats portray (states like Jigawa and Yobe were as high as 95%). The SW were well ahead of the the North but significantly behind the SS/SE and states like Anambra, Bayelsa and Abia who were consistently highly rated on several indices which anyone conversant with those states would agree with.

It's beyond a joke to tell me states like Niger have a lower poverty rate than Anambra and anyone who's been there would agree.

It's a shame I can't post links cos I'm using an antiquated browser on a phone to post but I'll fetch the links when I get on my laptop. You could also search it urself.

Yes, I also expected poverty rate in Niger to be higher than Anambra; I'm puzzled by this. Could proximity to the FCT have a positive impact on Niger state economy?

Kobojunkie:
I believe the number of children per woman in Nigeria is put at about 4 or 5. And it is usually worst with the poor.

And with polygamous households each wife may have 4 kids bringing household size to more than12; hence the vicious cycle of poverty.

The usual solution out of this poverty trap is to send some of the kids to well off relatives. The relative now has more mouth to feed with same income (I digress, this should be another topic)

The numbers aren’t surprising, since Nigeria is currently ranked #152 out of 183 countries in the Human Development Index – a much more reflection of a nation’s wealth than GDP.

That the trend is set to continue is deeply troubling amidst all the persistent noise on double digit economic growth by the Jonathan administration.

Those still doubting the $1 or $2 do not understand the issue. Consider a household of six in Nigeria: how many of them earn more than N1, 000 per day or N28, 000 per month? Also remember that household sizes for the poorer segments are very larger, reaching up to nine or more.

BizBooks:
Are you sure of this statement? With the preponderance of American specs in Lagos, one would think that more cars are shipped to Nigeria from the US than any other country. I have friends who specifically come to the US from London to buy cars.

ditto. I've also received calls from friends in the U.K. looking for American spec cars to use in Naija

[quote author=baby-boy link=topic=866164.msg10159350#msg10159350 date=1328800630]Look you could get a better one (1999 - 2001) for around £450 - £700 that depends on the level you search,  regarding the tax,  You tax it if you want to drive it which is around £118 for 6 months, but if your shipping it you dont need to tax it but it has to be towed to the dock!!!

Like I mentioned earlier on my friend bought a Peugoet 407 (2005 or 6) for £2100 which already had tax on it so he drove it to the dock, 

Another one bought a Land Rover Freelander 2002 for £1200

They are so many fantastic cars that you could get for around £500




Actually the moment they increased the age of the cars to be shipped to Nigeria to 15 years A LOT of Right Hand Drive are heading to Nigeria, 

The cost of fuel which is high over here got a lot of people to selling off their cars with the Engine Capacity from 2.3 ltr engines onwards at give away price!


To change from RHD to LHD is between N180k - N200k[/quote]The prices may be cheaper because there is no demand for RHD. Why convert to a RHD with all the risks involved.

Also, European cars including the UK do not have all the top features of North American cars. Most times you have to install AC and they're also manual gear.

You can't compare the pleasure of driving a V6 3.0 American Accord vs the 1.8/2.0 engine European model. Most Japanese car designed for the European market are simply not the same as the North American. So you're comparing apples to oranges.

GenBuhari:
@ texazzpete,

Mugabe is for me the greatest living African, yes even greater than Nelson Mandela.

Because he is man enough to refuse to be dictated  to by the white man / the West and has managed to remain in power despite their efforts.

Abacha was also a great leader as is General Buhari both of whom also defied the west, but paid the price, unfortunately Abacha paid with his life.

I repeat:

form your own opinions do not just adopt the whatever opinion the West wants you to adopt.

You must know something about Mugabe that the world doesn't know. Anyway, that's your opinion. Available evidence is very contrary to your opinion.

For instance; this man has ruled for 32 yrs and Zimbabwean living standard keep falling. Zimbabwe is ranked 173 out of 187 countries in the Human Development Index. This is a great man?

mickey jag:
Hahahahahahah! I hope you are having a laugh, mate.

So, Facebook is what will save the West, eh? Facebook has 3,000 employees. There are 50 million Americans who are unemployed as we speak. Another 45 million have no access to healthcare. "Tent Cities" a.k.a slums are increasing by the day http://www.businessinsider.com/lakewood-new-jersey-homeless-tent-city-2011-9#the-living-room-19

The Portuguese are emigrating to Angola and Mozambique in droves to escape unemployment. Greek parents are abandoning their children in the streets because they cannot feed them. A humiliated  European Union has gone cap-in-hand to China begging for money to bailout their collapsed economies. Brazil's economy has surpassed the UK's and is now the sixth largest in the world. etc etc.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/dec/26/brazil-overtakes-uk-economy
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-24002772-bailout-fund-boosted-to-one-trillion-euro-as-leaders-seal-eu-crisis-deal.do
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2085163/Children-dumped-streets-Greek-parents-afford-them.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-14716410
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/21/europe-migrants-crisis-irish-portuguese


The witless triumphalism that shaped Western attitudes over 500 years of history may not last much longer. We are already living through the twilight of Western predominance.

The West simply cannot afford the standard of living that is currently enjoying because there’s nothing they produce that the world wants in sufficient quantities that will enable them to pay for the high standard of living and benefits / welfare for asylum seekers such as yourself and their own unemployed.

In addition,they are bankrupt and living off of a huge mountain of debt.


Now with collapsing economies, there are no colonies or slaves to exploit any more. China manufacturers everything. The Banking and finance sectors have collapsed. It cannot last much longer. Sooner or later civil unrest is coming to the West.

I would get out of there if I were you.

I didn't say Facebook will save the west; I only used this to illustrate how knowledge and innovation drives new products/services. 20 yrs ago technology companies like Google, Microsoft, Apple were unheard; today they've led to new job opportunities for the American economy and even worldwide. All this because of innovation.

Let's wait and see if your doom and gloom predictions about the west comes to pass.

Unfortunately, Mugabe says that the sun has set on the West and we should stand up to them. How do we stand up to the west? Can they explain. This all sounds like fiery rhetoric without any meaning.

When will abject poverty be a thing of the past and economic prosperity rein supreme in African countries? Mugabe lives in the cold war era and has no understanding of present day global environment. It’s no longer about liberation struggles but making African countries economically viable.

The only thing Mugabe did was decimate a once vibrant Zimbabwean agricultural sector. Some of the farmers displaced by Mugabe ended up in Kwara State as part of a joint venture with the state.

mickey jag:
The sun has set on the West.

You see, Western economies have basically become a bunch of Las Vegas casino, smoke-and-mirror type economies whose creditors want their money back. You cannot sustain a lie forever. Already, the anarchists are out in force in central Madrid and Athens. Ditto Ireland, Iceland, Italy and Portugal. Britain and the US are not far behind.

So then, after their “economies” are gone, what will they have been left with? Granted, Africans will still be dirt poor, but if things get bad, we just go back to our villages and grow tomatoes,  I would not be surprised to see Africa's recent past become Europe's future. What an irony of history if that happens.

Their is a peculiar system in this world that defines any lazy bum White person living in Africa as an “expatriate”, while a hard working African medical doctor in America, a Green Card holder and an Ivy League graduate, will forever be seen as an illegal immigrant, a sponger and a coon, just an evolved monkey. Rest assured though, that system can’t last very long.


The bigger picture to the Africans in the Diaspora; be wise……. Already, the evil messages of fascist politicians like Geert Wilders, Pauline Hanson, the BNP, and the Vlaam Bloek, et al, are once again resonating with Westerners. Barrack Obama was a onetime bleep on the radar-even if he miraculously gets a second term, which I doubt he will.  Better get your fourty acres and a mule before the next Pogrom, genocide and mass-murdering dictatorship finds you unprepared. After all, the last one happened only 60 years ago, and 6 million Jews were slaughtered……….be wise………

Keep on dreaming! You believe America & European economies will disappear? really? As I type this a 25yr old American is about to launch a IPO for his company set  to net him $5 billion. What does he produce? he provides a communication platform that allows 800 million people to exchange ideas and thoughts. I'm sure you're using this service or know someone who does.

Why I'm bringing  this up? to highlight the disparities in western economies vs African economies. They are at the innovative and knowledge stage of economic development while we (Africans) struggle to feed & cloth ourselves. So do we blame the West for present morass and keep playing the victim. NO! Famine is no a constant threat that we can longer feed ourselves. So I'm not sure which village we'll run to as you said

Despot like Magaba seduce Africans with vain rhetoric like "standing up to the west" without any vision and plan to develop our economies. Asian countries have long figured things out and care less about standing up to the west.  

Our leader continue to bend forward and be hammered from behind by the West (excuse my crude analogy). A myopic and rudderless lot that simply want to enrich themselves and their own families. Look at the collection of despots at the AU summit and point to a single one that inspires you. For instance the younger ones like Gambia's Yahya Jammeh and Chad's President Idriss Deby are also on the same path as the older ones: race to the bottom

Let's stop listening to this nonsense and believing in the western conspiracy. The west is no longer the cause of our problems: its us and our leaders.

Jarus:
The stereotype about the North/northerners has been around for long, and doesn't seem it will end soon.

Tafawa Balewa, trained in England and with excellent command of English language and good accent to boot, was at par with the Ziks and Awos of this world in oration then, despite the latter duo being more schooled.

It still happens today, anybody from the north is dismissed as 'gworo-chewing, cattle-rearing illiterate'. Or isn't it funny that some people still call Lamido Sanusi illiterate even after he has proved himself at global stage, including delivering lectures at LSE, schooling American congress on how to deal with economic reforms, being the only speaker that received standing ovation in CFA global conference in 2011 etc? Funny? Isn't it? He is indeed illiterate.

Until those of us from the lower side of the Niger drop our arrogance and accept we are not the only educated and brilliant Nigerians, we will continue to receive shellacking from the Northerners!

Until couple of years ago, I also assumed Tafawa Balewa was an illiterate politician who became President by mistake. Now I know better. I was moved to tears when I saw an interview of this man on youtube. A brilliant man dedicated to the Nigerian cause.

Teaching on Nigerian Political history should be compulsory in schools. Sadly, Nigerians know very little about what happened during the First republic and Second Republics; events that took happened less than 50 yrs ago

Chief Adegoke "Penkelemesi" Adelabu was also portrayed as a buffoon by Yoruba elders. My goodness! if you read the history of this man you'll be amazed at his level of intellect and political astuteness.

Mugabe stands up to the west and shortly after calls his bankers in Western Countries (Switzerland, Luxembourg, Cayman Island etc) to confirm the balance of his stolen stash.

The AU is an irrelevant organisation of tin-pot despots that have no desire to develop their countries. Every year, we hear the same empty rhetoric about "standing up to the west" but this leaders will then go cap in hand to seek aid from the West.

Providing millions of Africans with the to basic necessities of human existence (food, shelter and clothing) should be their focus not meaningless speeches.

The Libyan NTC don't need to be angry; recognition by the AU is worthless.

This convoluted explanation over a FB page! na wa o  

Nigerians do not trust public officials; quite rightly and these public  officials also know nobody believes them anymore. Total lack of trust

The media may have overblown this story. Looking at the items most of the money was spent on creating content for the FB page. This content can still be used on their website (if they have one) and other media.

Also, spending up to $1,000 for advertisement on Facebook to increase awareness is no big deal  

Yes, may be  a stupid idea to do the FB page, but  there's no story here. People should just let this go.

oh yes, where are those buses! I know

The buses were meant as relief measures for no subsidy petrol (N141). However, since NLC collected brown envelope and agreed to N97/ litre, Jonah has taken back his buses. The buses can now be used by PDP for campaigning.  

Ppl, Danfo and keke Napad still dey work o.

dmainboss:
Most of you are so ignorant and pathetic, I feel sorry for Nigeria. Do you even know what an AU summit entails? Have you ever attended any international conference? You think the other countries are going to come with less number of participants? I didn't know many Nigerians were this daft. You just come to a forum, real 2 lines of statements, and start doing the animal farm bleep. The last west african conference I attended had about 12 Nigerians attending. And we were not even high profile people. You think an AU summit is a jamboree? That Nigeria is having issues does not mean events like AU summit should not hold and everything should come to an end. And to say the presidents wife should not represent Nigeria in an event is not only stu.p.I'd but a show of bigotry. What does it matter if her english is bad? Does the president of wives of president of most europian countries speak good english? Some of you are so full of inferiority complex. Who says she has to speak good english? This is the reason oyibos call us monkeys. Pathetic

The AU summit is indeed a jamboree, because at the end they'll simply issue a meaningless communique

And the other business is to affirm their allegiance to Qaddafi, good news: that won't happen this year

4everGod1:
Someone should sit down and compute what this one trip with 57 aides would cost Nigeria. This is our money (You and I) yet some oaf is smiling while picking his teeth with a gucci tootpick and drinking Miu Miu water while washing it down with balenciaga dessert.

N950 million has been allocated for international travel in the 2012 budget. hope this helps.  oh yes! additional N 700 million for local travel

Sadly, the stupid House will pass the budget. why? they have to get there grubby fingers on the N150 billion set aside for them

Pennywise:
The question ought to be- 'why are Toyota cars so unnecessarily expensive'

Spot on! Toyota is very overpriced even here in North America. And with the demand in Nigeria, then expect to spend more. Frankly, the big Japanese 3 - Toyota, Honda & Nissan are very reliable

Nissan makes very good products especially the SUV/off road segment. The rugged Xterra and Pathfinder are very solid with performance that rivals the Highlander and 4 Runner

klas:
No governorship elections were held in the affected states in April 2011.

The issue started from 2007 election. The affected governors had their original election victory in April 2007 cancelled by the tribunals midway into their tenure but they again won rerun elections which were held at various times in 2008.

The issue before the court was when should their 4 years tenure start counting? From the date of the original election or the rerun election? 1999 constitution favours the latter but the 2010 amendment to the constitution says it is the former.

The governors felt that the amendment should not apply to them because it was made after their elections. The High Court and the Court of Appeal agreed with them in February and March 2011 but the Supreme Court by today's judgement ruled otherwise.

Thanks for the info

Why were they allowed to enter the 2008 rerun elections in the first place? If the courts cancelled their elections due to electoral malpractices, in that case they should have been barred from participating in future governorship races.  So from 2007 to date, these states have been governed by illegitimate individuals.

This is really a farce.

EFCC, just show us results and stop telling us what you want  to do. We're tired of all these tales by moonlight.

Come back and tell us the result of your investigation and who (if any) will be prosecuted. Until then, just hide your faces from Nigerians.

Crownvilla:
The suspected bomber has been rearrested at the border!!!!       

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-850020.0.html

Re-arrested at the border? Just like that. Seriously, this is a joke. What nonsense is this? How are we even sure it's the same guy that was caught this time. Something fishy is going on here

At least GEJ got this right by issuing the 24 hr ultimatum. Nevertheless, the IG must be fired immediately.

debosky:
There is nothing new or surprising about the revelation  that Kaduna refinery runs on imported oil - that was how it was designed.

[b]It is designed to process 'heavy crude' as against the 'light crude' produced in Nigeria - this heavy crude is typically a Urals blend from Russia or possibly Venezuelan crude. The reasons for using heavy crude is to produce products like asphalt and base oils for lubricant[/b]s.

As for the conflicting reports between the minister and customs, it is not surprising - it just goes to prove that even the government is not clear on what is going on in the oil industry in Nigeria.

What is shocking however is that customs do not receive documentation on how much petrol gets imported - if we don't check at the point of importation, it is almost certain that any calculation of subsidy is going to be wrong.

Hmm you learn new stuff on this NL.  BTW, is it also designed to refine light crude? if so, any idea on proportion vs heavy crude  

sidebar:
One of the vexing issues, as I understand, is that it was built in Kaduna for political reasons; to pacify the north.  Somewhere closer to the Port makes sense

Very troubling and alarming statements. This Jonathan's team is not on top of things or just playing possum.


Inde also said rather than “smuggling” as mentioned by the minister, what was happening was “diversion” because large vessels importing fuel supposedly to Nigeria do not reach the country’s shores --  I'm believe Customs. wait a minute! I believe Customs; the epicenter of fraud/corruption. SMH.  You're a Minister and Customs tells a more credible story, that speaks volume about who you are        

She said the finance ministry authorises such deductions. But on Monday Finance Minister Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala denied authorising subsidy deductions. -- True hallmark of incompetence; they can't even get their story right

The petroleum minister also said the government was yet to arrive at exact amount of money spent on subsidising petrol as “we are still grappling with the figures.” She added that it would take at least four months to finish the computation. -- so where did the N1.3 trillion figure come from?

dayokanu:
Here is the fresh air we were promised

… But we got toxic fumes!

The precipitous fall in popularity of this President, is truly mind boggling. Yes, great leaders do take tough and unpopular decision. True that. However, this bone head decision to hike fuel price shows a weak and clueless man is at the helms of affair.

The real tough decisions are: tackling corruption in the oil industry, reducing wasteful spending and demolishing the scourge of Boko Harem. Instead, he heaps misery on hapless Nigerians.

Sadly, 2015 is just too far. There has to be other option, to get rid of this guy. Yes, Nigerians made a mistake electing him but doesn’t mean we have to be saddled with this kind of mediocrity plus 3 more yrs of toxic fume.

Beaf:
If GEJ had not told you about the cabals, would you have known about them?
It seems like whatever the man does, people are ready to hang him for some ulterior motive or the other. I don't think you can even begin to fathom the courage it has taken to pull the rug from underneath the cabal.

Its hard to understand how people can fight somebody that is helping them.

wow! this is a really warped statement. Jonathan swore to protect the interest of Nigeria; so he was only doing his job. Do you want us to give him a standing ovation for revealing a phantom Cabal?

The oil subsidy game was unraveling and he had to do something to protect Allison Madueke and his PDP gang. There are no Cabals. His buddies in the PDP & Madueke were almost caught with their hands in the oil subsidy cookie jar.

karl max:
1/9) > >>

Slyr0x:


Dear Lagosians,

For the past few days, I have monitored the developments related to the public protest against the increase in the pump price of petrol.

During that period, I have at the invitation of my colleagues in the Governor’s Forum responded to an invitation from the Presidency.

My role since last Monday till date has been to find a ground of compromise that stabilizes the polity, protects our democracy and prevent any loss of lives.

Inspite of these efforts, we were not wholly successful in preventing the loss of the life of a young Nigerian, AdemolaAderinto who was sadly shot.

I am truly saddened by that ugly development. While I condole with his family, I pledge the commitment of our Government to bring the alleged perpetrator to justice.

I have decided to address you today in view of the very disquieting developments that occurred overnight especially the deployment of soldiers across Lagos.

I have the highest respect for members of our military, especially because they have made a contract with all of us that they will willingly lay down their lives whenever it becomes necessary to do so, in order to protect us.

This covenant is instructive, because soldiers did not sign up to stop us from expressing our grievance about things that we are displeased about.

It is not disputable that the citizens who have gathered in several parts of Lagos like Falomo, Ikorodu and Ojota to mention a few have largely conducted themselves peacefully, singing and dancing while they expressed their displeasure at the way that we have taken decisions that affect them.

That in my view should not offend those of us in Government. The majority of these people who represent diverse interests have not broken any law. If they have, it is my opinion that in a constitutional democracy, it is the police that hasthe responsibility for restoring law and order if civil protests threatens the breach of the peace.

This is not justification for sending out soldiers to a gathering of unarmed citizens. Every one of us, or at least majority of us who hold public office danced and sang before these same people when we were seeking their votes.

Why should we feel irritated when they sing and dance in protest against what we have done?

For me this is not a matter for the military. The sooner we rethink and rescind this decision the better and stronger our democracy will be.

If anything, this is a most welcome transformation of our democracy in the sense that it provokes a discussion of economic policies and this inevitably may result in political debate.

I therefore urge the reconsideration of the decision to deploy soldiers and implore the President and Commander-in-Chief to direct their withdrawal from our streets, I must also emphasize that the rights of free speech and protest is not absolute. They impose the duty not to break the law, breach the peace, endanger human life or destroy property whether public or private.

They also impose the duty to respect the rights of others not to support our protest and indeed to support what we oppose. At the end of the day, it is a contest of ideas in which the most persuasive will get the endorsement of the majority of the people we serve.

I am convinced that our democracy is mature enough to accommodate this. We must do our best to ensure that it does.

God bless you all.

BabatundeRajiFashola, SAN
Governor of Lagos State

MR fashola
But he used police and area boyz to distrupt a peaceful protest against the lekki toll gate a protest that was more peacefull than the subsidy removal protest!! He also used the police to beat and arrest innocent students who protested the increase in the lasu fee. Why didnt he make a statement when area boys were looting peoples shop and putting up check point to extort and robbed people. Take about HYPOCRACY.
The militry is in lagos to maintain law and order since the chief security officer has refused to do his job
Hypocrite fashola!!!

Let's stop comparing apples with oranges. Deploying troops on the street is a different ball game from asking the Police to maintain peace during a protest. During any protests in any part of the world, the Police are always present to maintain peace.

Fashola's statement is on point and supports the tenets of true democracy.  Jonathan's action on the other hand is a real threat to our democracy

This is the script all along by Jonathan: Jack up the price, enter fake negotiation with a weak Labour union and then bring the price to N100. This is the crap they want us to accept AGAIN

Nigerians must be resolute. The issue is not only about reverting petrol price to N65 but demanding more accountability. The protests continues!

Why did they spend N1.3 trillion on subsidy in 2011?
Will they cut down on waste  in 2012 budget proposal?

Clearly, this announcement by Jonathan shows it's still business as usual by same set of politicians. The business of fooling Nigerians while plundering the oil wealth

And this is fresh air? Feels more like toxic fumes

Lujan:
N/ls, pls be optimistic. Govt can do dis thing.

The pessimistic comments on this post reflect the irrevocably broken bond of trust between this government and Nigerians. An announcement that refineries will be fully operational by November has been greeted with so much derision and scoffing.

Can you trust this govt to do the right thing for you? For most people, the resounding answer is No. Even people in support of this move by GEJ, do not believe him in their hearts of hearts.