₦airaland Forum

I beg can you please help get the VIN record for this vehicle
JTMZD31V565005813[size=12pt][/size]
Thank you

From Laolu Akande (New York) and Abosede Musari (Abuja)

Fyi
Laolu Akande the reporter of this story for Guardian is a RCCG pastor in New York

cap28:
@omoabike first of all  before you rush to lecture me on the history of america's relationship with vietnam and korea please get your facts right - first of all i DID NOT say that the US  ALWAYS sides with the southern part of a country which is about to disintegrate - please read my earlier post where i was responding to a quote made by emya who actually stated the following:

i was merely responding to texaspete's rude and ignorant response to the above statement. 

i am well aware of the fact that the US's foreign policy was based on funding and backing the non communist sections of both countries which both happened to be located in the south - but the fact still remains that these were invasions by a foreign power into sovereign nations.

i disagree with your statement that  america does not want to get involved in the niger delta crisis - why was AFRICOM formed and why was an attempt made last year to start deploying troops to various countries on the continent which was resisted by south africa, nigeria and libya?

your argument about private contractors wanting to escape scrutiny from activists in america hence their decision to export their activities to the niger delta doesnt make sense - if the activists are trying to expose companies like blackwater for activities being carried out in iraq and afghanistan surely the fact that these contractors are now conducting the same activities in nigeria will not shield them from investigation and prosecution?

I wonder whether you will continue to refer to these contractors as "smart business people" when they authorize their military personnel to start shooting innocent civilians with cluster bombs or using skin rotting deadly chemicals like napalm and white phosphorous when firing from helicopter gunships?

I am sorry if you thought I was referring to you in my write up. Was referring to Emya's post. I only mentioned your name because I was replying to your post. Relax a little and don't get combative on the issue.
On the contractors well you need to know that most of the so called actions of the American government is usually influenced by their lobbying. The reason why I mentioned them is not to justify their coming to Nigeria, it is to indicate that the story on the quoted website may be true as regards the hiring of this contractor called Good Harbor. Whatever we discuss let us put it in the context of what the thread is about.
On the issue of them being shielded from prosecution, you may need to read more about these guys (who the former President Eisenhower referred to as the military industrial complexes) and then you would find out that no politicians in the US has the balls to go against them. Forget the rhetoric of Obama. The media campaign against them would only lead them to shift ground to third world countries like Nigeria to engage in conflicts that would not be popular in the United States and the US government would not want to commit resources to.
They would always found willing allies in corrupt politicians in Congress who because of campaign fund donations would make sure that they do not get punished. Don't forget most if not all of these people are ex US military and CIA  people.

newjay:
I challenge anybody to list just one sub Saharan country not plagued by backwardness despite their operating a model form of government

Botswana, Ghana, Senegal and Mali

@cap28
The assertion that the United States always side with the southern part of a breaking country is a naive way of analysing what happened during the Korean and Vietnam wars.
These two wars were essentially satellite wars during the Cold War between the West on one hand and the Communist and Marxist power bloc of former Soviet Union, China as well
Cuba in Angola among several countries.
While the Americans were directly involved in the Korean and Vietnam war they used allies during the Angolan Civil war with the CIA through the  South Africa Apartheid government  supporting Jonas Savimbi's UNITA.
It was only by accident of history that the United states supported both South Korea and South Vietnam as they were the part of these two countries that were not communist hence their being
supported by the Americans.
However the issue at stake is not that the American government wants to be involved in the Niger Delta, it is just that some smart business people in the United States wants to export what they have been
doing for the American government in Iraq and Afghanistsan to other parts of the world. This is because so many activists have been trying in the United States to publicise their activities.
I agree with you that Texazzpete went too far with his statement. I will implore him and everyone of us to  let us have intellectual discussions without calling each other names.

You just can't make up things like this, can you? Your ignorance of world history is contemptible.

@Texazzpete
I agree with you. However I don't think you need to call fellow countrymen and women simpleton because you have information they do not have.
At best educate them so that they can learn.
Ignorance is a grievous disease.

Posted something on this earlier, I guess it was deleted or something as I can't see it again on the thread.
While this assertion that the Nigerian government is hiring Good Harbor Consulting  to fight militants in the Delta may not be true, it would be hasty to just assume it does not have some elements of truth to it. A quick search of the company on the internet indicates that there is indeed a company like that in Virginia U.S.A www.goodharbor.net and this kind of stuff is what they do.
In addition, the military industrial complexes which hold sway on the formulation of American foreign policy since after the Second World War and which have been encouraging and lobbying for spending on unnecessary military hardware  have been trying to diversify their business outside the circle of the United States government.
They have started peddling their services of providing mercenary and military hardware to the highest bidder in other parts of the world.
These guys that the story claims would be fighting in the Delta are ex marines and military men not active duty soldiers.
However this is the same way companies like Good Harbor especially Blackwater which is the subject of a book by author Jeremy Scahill called BLACKWATER: The Rise of the World Most Powerful Mercenary Army http://blackwaterbook.com/ have been conducting themselves in Iraq and Afghanistan
Scahill recently mentioned on the NPR radio program Democracy Now how companies like Blackwater have been actively recruiting ex military men and in some cases had actually headhunted serving military men to resign and  come work for them in Iraq and Afghanistan.
According to him, the Obama administration has continued Bush's policy of using these mercenaries to shore up the shortage of marines in Afghanistan because of challenges in getting congressional approval for further deployment of more military men
Below is excerpt from an interview Scahill gave to the website truthdig.com in 2007
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20070330_jeremy_scahill_on_soldiers_of_fortune/

Still on the company called Good Harbor (from their website)
Case Studies
http://www.goodharbor.net/case_studies/index.html

I must commend everybody that have contributed to this thread so far.
I am impressed by the lack of name calling and abuse that I have kind of come to attribute to Nairaland and most Nigerian online forum.
Good job guys

Guys that have doubted the reasons for and the legality of the CBN move may have valid points for having such thoughts. However I think we need to kind of look at this issue from another perspective.
In Nigeria, most things that we see usually mean more than we think. We Nigerians as every human beings on earth are sentimental people hence our skepticism most times when events are unfolding in front of us.  A case in point is the current debate on healthcare reform in the United states, the Republicans and their supporters are vehemently against any kind of reform because some of their biggest donors are the health insurance companies who feels the reform may affect their profitability. These companies have bankrolled conservative media to continue to mobilize the conservative political base against the reforms.
Based on lies and manipulation of facts the conservative media led by Fox News have been able to energized and mobilized people to disrupt town hall meetings by legislators to explain the reforms to their constituents.
This is not different from the ethnic and religious dimension introduced into Sanusi's appointment.
These bankers are the real oligarchs we have in Nigeria as they are the one advancing loans to politicians to  contest elections and other sundry stupid reasons. The issue now is that the money they were mismanaging is not theirs but belongs to you and I and the numerous market women, civil servants and artisans all over Nigeria who save money with them and buy their shares. So they do deserved to be sacked and must definitely be prosecuted as they are economic saboteurs.
I believe most of us do not care where CBN governor comes from if it means our deposits and investments in these banks are save . I personally believe these clique in the banking sector were the one fanning the ember of the ethnic and religious connotations to Sanusi's appointment then because they know where the guy stands on the issue of risk management and corporate governance.
I am not a banker but a search online would have directed anybody who cares to some of the guy's write up as far back as 2005 so I believe this guy is known to them hence the reason why they were vehemently against his appointment. The fact that Soludo was willing to advance loans to them that were not announced to the public also explain why they wanted him to continue as the CBN governor.
I believe this Sanusi guy is a committed fellow but I am also skeptical about the Yaradua government which is a corrupt one allowing him to carry out this to the logical end that would benefit Nigerians and the economy.

Guys
While it can be fun and easy to use every opportunities to cast aspersion on  each other over some issues. I don't think we should see this issue as such. This is because this affect most of us in more ways than we think.
If you have eaten goat meat, or bought raw goat meat from the market or even from some so called clean grocery stores in the country, you are most likely affected. A visit to the slaughter slabs in any major market in Nigeria would help in appreciating this.
To the best of my knowledge as a Muslim I know we don't normally use tire to burn animals during festivals. Using old tires to burn animals is what people that sell the meat of these animals do.
Considering the sheer number of animals that they have to process it is cheap for them to source old tires than using wood or even kerosene.
The government needs to educate these butchers on the danger of using old tires to burn the animal flesh just like they did in educating bakers on the dangers of using potassium bromate in bread making.
Also, there need to be strict monitoring of the way meat is being processed as it is a case of urgent public health matter. I must commend the Lagos state government efforts  on this by their trying to enforce public health regulations on butchers activities in markets in Lagos State. Other state and local government just have to follow in doing this. Have you ever wondered, why we have such low life expectancies compared to some other countries, this is one of the reasons and most death in Nigeria attributed to spiritual problems are traceable to our consumption pattern.
Cheers

@Onlytruth
The unitary system of government we now have was not imposed by the north neither was it imposed by the British. It was imposed on the country by the Ironsi government on the advise of Igbo intellectuals who felt that they should not be restricted to the Eastern region in looking for opportunities. It is unfortunate, if the January 1966 revolutionaries had not only killed the northern leaders maybe we would not have been in this situation. If they had been patient since the country has only been in existence for 6 years , we would have organically develop a vibrant democracy
Here is a link to the Time magazine cover story on the country in 1960 http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,895071,00.htm and shows what we lost by our impatience then .
Subsequent events had shown what you get if you are not patient. I sympathise with the Igbos but would rather say that MASSOB and the Biafra may not be the way to go as history had shown.
Recently, i asked a chinese colleague at a training why is it that China is not allowing the Uiggurs and Tibetans self determination and his answer was he himself is a Manchu and hence a minority but that if China allows any ethnic group self determination all other ethnic group would want their self determination too and thereby weakening the Chinese state whose power is somehow depends  on this her diversity in people and resources.
What we need is concerted Nigerian effort to change the fortune of our country so that we can live up to the expectation of the whole world for our beloved nation.
God Bless Nigeria

Go to any GTB branch and they would sell the pounds for you. Go with your flight ticket and and passport with UK visa. From experience I would advise you go to a GTB on Victoria Island or Ikeja to guard against surprises.
You really don't need any contact to get the forex. Sincerely the two time I have gotten dollars from GTB I walked into the branch and ask for the process to get the forex

El-Rufai spent so much time giving the story of Umar Yaradua's life and at least claimed to have known him since 1972.
However he did not accept responsibility for heading the committee that chose Yaradua. He blamed everybody including Yaradua except himself.
What he should be doing now is asking for forgiveness from Nigerians rather than blaming "Baba Go slow". We Nigerians have accepted him as
our cross that we shall carry till 2011 and not longer by God's grace. El-Rufai and his clique are very cerebral but the way and manner they
ran government during Obasanjo era was anti democratic and that is what led them to that situation where they had no plan B and ended up
choosing Yaradua. It was obvious for any discerning reader of his write up that their plan was to perpetuate Baba Shege and they never expected
opposition to that from the populace.
You can not only be a democrat in words you should be a democrat both in deeds and actions. They all behave like the military that we Nigerians
were tired of. Another pertinent question to raise on his write up is, why now? From what he himself implied what they wanted was to have a president that
they would control going by his own account of flying someone in from South Africa to write Yaradua acceptance speech. What a waste that was.
Why did they not allow Nigerians to choose who they wanted as president in 2007. What gave them the effrontery to think that the few of them
know better than millions of Nigerians voters.They made sure our votes did not count. His write up did not explain where the huge sum of money
to hire the American, South African and British "spin doctors" came from. By and large it is a good write up because it has given me a view
into the mind of one of the principal actors during the Obasanjo government.
I am not disappointed though as it has only proven what I had suspected for so long about what is driving these individuals. He talked about
Hakeem Bello Osagie being part of the unholy alliance to perpetuate the suffering of Nigerians. So what do I think, I think he is only bitter
now because the gentle dove has now become a Frankenstein monster that is haunting all of them Baba Shege inclusive. So it is just a case of
power play gone awry amongst this cabal of oppressors. I have no pity for him and do not buy this his ethnic pandering and superstitious old
wife's tale story.
Whatever Yaradua do or does not do ,El-Rufai should share responsibility for it. To expect less is to allow us Nigerians to be
taken for a ride again. El Rufai and his group had a golden opportunity to effect genuine changes in the country but they fritter that
opportunity away. It is very sad ,
His write up only raises more questions and I believe Nigerians would be waiting to hear the answers to these questions

The Punch is just a bit ahead of most Newspapers. The issue of selling content has been a raging issue amongst newspapers in the US especially since the beginning of the global meltdown as most of the newspapers have not been making money as their circulation numbers have taken a downward turn.
While it is still been debated here in the United States. Punch decided to put the idea into effect. While it is a good idea from the point of view of business consultants who feels they would make money from the so called projected revenue to accrue to them from subscriptions. However I think it is ill advised as I am sure most people in this world who have access to the internet would not be ready to pay to read newspapers on-line since there are other sources of news online apart from newspapers. Personally I think it is dumb as I prefer to get my news anyway from the Reuters.com website for international news and some African and important Nigerian news.
Punch is only testing its popularity and it would soon dawn on them that the reason why  people are not buying the printed version of the newspaper is not because of availability of the on-line version and they would come around.
Having said this the fact that you have paid for internet access does not mean any content online should be free.

@yemstrad
I would advise you to be careful before buying this car.
A salvage titled car is not worth your hard earned savings.
For a car to be given such a title it must have been found to be beyond repairs by the insurance companies.
Please for your own sake dont be a penny wise and a pound foolish
If it requires to pay more please wait till you have enough to buy a clean title car.
Check out this link http://www.edmunds.com/advice/buying/articles/46537/article.html for more information
Cheers

I have used the link sometimes ago to check for the PostCode not Zipcode as erroneously mention.
The only problem is that the link as sent by kobojunkie would not work.
Try this link to their home page http://www.nipost.gov.ng/
You would see a drop down box that you can use to query the database for any state you need.
The problem of broken links in Nigerian websites is not peculiar to nipost, it seems to plague most nigerian government websites.
This probably because most of the people given the contract to build the website do not know that useaability is very important if not more important than the design.

@kokoye. God bless you. I am a living example of what you just said. The only difference was that I learnt very late after spending more than 3 years at home without a job.
@poster
Most of what we know about getting a job is wrong and don’t work. If it does there would not be so many of us who are not working years after leaving school.
Like the Bible says, "Don’t despise the days of small beginnings"
Infact my own first paid job was about four years after my NYSC and after a year at the Shell training school in Warri.
This first job was in Computer Training in an Accounting Consulting firm though my background was in the geosciences
My first pay was =N= 15,000 per month and it was after that that I went to obtain a masters degree at a Nigerian university.
My next job was for a local company where my start pay was =N=50,000. You would not believe that I only spent about 11 months at this company before I got a job with a multinational oil servicing company who now hired me as an experienced geologist. I did not get this job through responding to an advert but through people I met through the course of my working at the local company.
This was 2 years ago and I am presently on a transfer to the United States with my family.
Why did I tell you this story, it is because I have been in the same situation where I questioned where one would get the 5-10 years experience most companies usually ask for to fill a vacant position. This is not peculiar to Naija; it is the same all over the world.
Now how can you get the experience? As someone who has not worked before.
The first thing is be ready to work for free in an industry that you would like to work in. Try and get introduced to people you know that are successful in this industry.
Ask them how they became successes in the industry; ask them to introduce you to contacts in the industry. This is what is called networking and not “man-no-man” as we used to call it.
Ask this your contact that you would be willing to learn at a working environment in this industry without pay. This would definitely stand you out from the millions who are out there waiting to write tests for a few scores of entry level positions. In the process you would learn how the industry works. I know this may be hard at first, but the first thing you need to do if you do not have another source of income at the moment is to have a frank talk with your parent or whoever is helping you out financially at the moment.
If you do not do this anyway they would still be giving you money while you would still continue to search for jobs so ask for their help for 6 months or a year at first.
If you are an accountant, volunteer at an audit firm, no matter how small, freelance if you are a mass communication graduate, if you are a lawyer do pro bono job for people in your neighborhood, just do something in addition to writing test and waiting for the results.
If this does not work, learn something new, or volunteer at an NGO.

What would this do to you? It would help you improve on your interpersonal skills, communication skills, and widen the network of people you know that can help you get jobs from those who are family and friends member to now include people who have seen how brilliant you are in doing your job as a professional.
  More than all of these this would help differentiate you from the thousand of  other graduates who are not taking charge of their destiny and still waiting on the almighty companies to hire them.

I wish you the best of luck in your job search.

Check out this website www.asktheheadhunter.com for some good tips about job search that would turn the way we know about getting jobs upside down.

@ekoree
I do feel you and I understand how you feel about this arbitrary charge. However i must advise that you pursue this to a logical conclusion by not just leaving the matter at the customer care section.
I bank with GTB and I have been a customer at other banks in Nigeria and for this reason of arbitrary charges I have had cause to leave so many of the other banks and berth with GTB.
GTB has been my bank for the last 2 years till now. While I believe that a customer is king for any business I must say that I have had the best experience with GTB amongst all the banks I have done business with.
That a bank is wonderful overall does not mean that there would not be some grey areas where you have some bad eggs. You can only help the bank by making sure that you do not let the fact that the money being small deter you in following it up.
Even my old mother that i introduced to GTB to facilitates easy transfer of money to her has been commending them.
I am not a banker but I know from experience with other bank that if i raise my voice or ask for a higher authority in a banking hall i usually get speedy response from the bank.
Having said this i think a business has the right to charge for any service it may render . What is wrong is for that business not to inform the customer about the charges before the transaction is carried out.
Those that are saying that the bank shouldn't charge for such service because they say such is not so in the US and the Uk are just being economical with the truth. I am a recent arrival here in the United States, infact I have just spent 6 months here and businesses charges all manner of charges for service that we take for granted in Nigeria. An example is text message by the phone company, you are charged for receiving text messages even if the messages are advert message.
Earlier this year an airline in the UK RyanAir started touting the idea of charging for using toilet on airplanes during flights http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7914542.stm
So please try and follow this to a logical end and I would appreciate if you can inform us about the conclusion of the issue
Cheers

I will advise you start banking with[b] GTB[/b]. You have the opportunity of opening a savings and current account at the same time and you can transfer your money into savings from current without paying any COT and from your savings you withdraw money. At least that is what i have been doing since i have been using them As far as I am concerned, I think in terms of their services and charges they are simply the best.
I have banked with practically every bank in Nigeria and I have people who bank with Banks I have not used before. UBA, I think is the worst of them all.They have been charging COT on savings from the days of old Standard Trust Bank. Once the money you are withdrawing/paying in is more than 10K the chare is 5 naira for every one thousand.

My people,
I want ask you for advice on what to do about my ETERNA OIL shares. Na my stockbroker do me bad on this stock oh. I asked them to buy the stock from when it was around 36 naira they did not until when the thing reach 52.12 naira. Now as I see this stock dey bleed profusely as predicted by some "gurus" on the thread, what do you advise me to do? Should i sell and count my loss and move on to other stocks or should i hold on and hope for the best by year end.
Many thanks
Note
I am a new investor.

I want to believe that the international driving license is different from the driving license you are talking about which is for 5000. That means the guy might not be far from the truth.

@midas02
This car mileage is way too high. I have seen less mileage car for lower price on yahoo auto. I think i would pass on this. Also, when you said if i want alloy wheels you can have them installed before shipping can you elaborate. Does it mean additional cost?
@Okejazz I have checked the VIN history of the car you referred me to it is clean and qualify for a buyback with good rating. Can you get it for me?

@ Midas02
I understand all this your explanation and I believe and know that the budget of $15000 is enough and adequate for any serious and scruplous bizman to get the required car and still make profit without trying to sell me a salvage titled/lemon car or stolen car.
If you can get the car let me know. My requirements are
Camry 2003 with allow wheels and 4 cylinders, automatic transmission, LE Trim
The mileage would determine how much i would pay for the car and lastly the VIN must be provided.
I am very serious and the first person who get me what i want would be the person that I would get the car from
@vanessa
I am still expecting your mail concerning the car we spoke about

qarasi is my yahoo ID

I am very serious lets chat on yahoo messenger if you are online

can you give a contact email or number.

Guys,
I must say that I have been impressed and overwhelmed by the wealth of information you people have been dishing out here on this section of nairaland since i join.
I need your advice and help if that can be obtained. I have a budget of $15000 ~ about =N= 1.875Million for buying, shipping and clearing of a Toyota Camry 2003/2004 model to Lagos. I decide to go this route because this is my first car and I do not want to go higher than =N=2 million  and even if i go up to =N=2.3 my choice of new cars is limited. I also do not want to take a loan to get a car.
In addition to this, I do not want a salvage car because that is what i found with some cars i have spoken to people about here on nairaland. When i check the VIN history of most of the cars i found out they are uusuallybedevilled with either odometer tampering or being "lemon" vehicles.
I have checked some cars on Yahoo Auto and that was how I arrived at a budget of $15000, if what i heard here about the cost of shipping from new jersey being $1500 and clearing in Nigeria being around 250k ($2000) is correct.
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks

Can the Camry go for 1.5M
Can you provide the pictures and it would help if you can provide the VIN too
Ciao

Can you provide the VIN of the car
Ciao