₦airaland Forum

awwww

parents have got to love their kids and feel free to express it more often.

Qualer:
Wrong! Go and ask the same Walmart if they were allowed in South Africa a couple of years ago (2012). The SA government didn't want them because they were going to be competition for there local brands (Shoprite, Game, Clicks etc.). These are the same brands that the SA chamber of commerce is using to make in-roads throughout west and central africa as export channels for their locally manufactured products. The summary is that Walmart was finally bullied into investing in a local SA brand chain.

Now look at the dumb Nigerian government, the same shoprite came and is infiltrating every nook and cranny with their imports and nobody in government is any wiser. If they want walmart in the country, they should make them invest/partner in/with a local brand instead.

Wise administrations do NOT allow big brands to come into their countries and take away their revenue. Walmart is operating in the UK but as ASDA - a localised brand. Which means all the revenue stays in the UK. That is wisdom, not exhibiting lower class ignorance while thinking - we are bringing foreign investment - that's nonsense at best.

The Nigerian government should wake up and stop this inferiority complex and playing into the hand of big business indirect neo-colonisation!!!!! My two kobo!!

THANK YOU.

Wal-Mart and major companies like them kill small and medium. scale business. And they are going to set it up in a way that their revenue will head back home to the US. So, not much money for LASG and definite killing of jobs for Nigerians. We are celebrating this why?

Cheap prices at an exorbitant costs for other business owners and their pay for workers is so lousy and they will take advantage of every tax loophole. Shoprite already exploits andnimports everything from SA. Nigerian governments should shut down foreign investment UNTIL we can compete with them or force foreign investors to sign deals that favour Nigerians in the long run (transfer of assets after a certain number of years, create a local entity, purchase 70% of goods from local suppliers), I don't know any country that was developed by foreign investment when their economy was bad (China, Japan after WWII etc).

Who are the economic advisors to our govts please?? Why can't they get policies right??

what he did was wrong. He was testing out software and then made a transfer. Once he had proved the transfer worked, why didnt he immediately return the money to the bank? He kept it in an account of his that he had access to withdraw from anytime. Instead he met someone and gave out the money to that person, now he's claiming jazz and dupe? Which defense will sound sensible?

I'm sorry but this story sounds like someone tried to use money that wasn't his and got caught. I ran it by a lawyer for a top bank and he laughed. He said it won't be the first time, only that most cases he handles is internal (where a bank worker takes money out of an account and is found out).

I'd advise your friend to lawyer up. This is not a case of an innocent victim, he knew what he was doing. Cop a plea, get fired (and most likely not be able to get a job near a bank again because they share that info) and that's it. He may have cost his company money but I don't think he's liable for it.

it isn't easy to keep carrying stroller out of the car but that's why you get a baby wearer. So you strap that kid on your chest and run your errands. Fathers have to embrace it (mums find it easy) but because a lot of them keep delegating childcare to the Mother only, they aren't used to the rigours of moving around with a baby. It's easy to be careless for 30 minutes around a baby (only for disaster to strike)

@ Phema omg. I wonder how that marriage stayed together. Most people who lose kids break up.

naijacutee:
Hi guys,

Sometimes I enjoy cycling to work to get some exercise and to avoid traffic. I live in the UK, and although this isn't very safe here (it's safer in the Scandinavia), I cycle on walking pavements since I would love to return home to my family in one piece. I'd like to know if there are any keen cyclists who out of choice cycle to work, or cycle for leisure in Nigeria. I'd really like to continue cycling when I inevitably move back to Nigeria especially as it is my only serious form of exercise, so it would be great to know what the current climate is like.

Two of my brothers actually cycle for leisure and exercise. And there is a Cycle club on the island (they meet every Saturday morning and do a session down Lekki expressway).

Hernyolar:
I put my five months plus old baby on her executive chair potty first thing in the morning and at night before her bath.. and I have discovered that she hasn't soiled her diaper with poo for 3 whole weeks..
so I think the earlier the better
I sing, giggle for her just to make her happy and distracted..

So you did Elimination Communication (thats the fancy term for it ) and it worked that fast? Okay, gotta try that. Please post pictures of your executive potty chair, and brand name if you can thanks

congratulations Modath and to all the new mamas

Curiouscity:
Because simple virtues like integrity, temperance, honour etc are lacking in our society.

Summary: Nigeria is not what it should be. Running away will not fix it. We need to confront it, no matter how little the efforts.

Precisely. The basic principles are lacking in Nigerian society. No society is perfect but even the basics like Decency, Honesty and Integrity are missing.

At that children's home I volunteered at, I took toys and dolls and gave it to the matron for the kids. For all the months I went there weekly, I never saw any of my gifts with the kids (a co-worker cynically asked me "oh you don't know the matron and her nurses also have children? )

How are you going to fix the mentality that one shouldn't steal from children who already have nothing?

cococandy:
The thing is anything you say might be taken as "oh because you abroad"

meanwhile you used to say the same thing when you were back home and no one thought it uppity.

But say the same when you're no longer at home and the heavens will fall because it must surely mean something else. The small mindedness of it all.

Lol @nuclear strike.
We do need reorientation as a whole. It will work.
I believe in reorientation. There was this governor. I think it was udenwa. Who started that program in imo state some time ago.
I was still in secondary school then and as senior prefect I used to take my reorientation club from school to school to teach other kids the message of change of attitude. To work, to school, society etc. as in the "catch us young" approach. That's what he wanted to do.

If continued, it may have worked because we saw changes then. Kids who start behaving better at a younger age will form the habits as adults and teach same to the next generation.
Since the adults are already messed up, targeting the kids would work.
Starting from schools all over the nation. A total overhaul.

You know as e be. Change of government. Change of priority. No continuity. And so that one died.
End of story.

I actually live in Lagos (I relocated a few years back). It's the mentality I see here that baffles me. No-one is responsible, there is always an excuse or an easy way out and if you dare go against the norm, you must be "snobbish and uppity".

They would rather spend hours dancing in church and disturbing God than help their neighbour. Even Pastor Taiwo Odukoya said the same: Sudan has been fighting a bloody war for years, yet no Sudanese is in Nigeria as a refugee, it's so-called morally unstable and godless white people that are going there to save them.

I don't know if reorientation will work. I gave up all my charity projects because of the wahala but one good thing came out of it: my mother made her meeting people adopt a clinic in our village because of what she saw me doing.

Having your kids abroad is not a trendy thing, it's giving your child opportunities and giving yourself better healthcare. I have doctors in my family (who all schooled in nigeria) and not one has had his/her kids here. Or will you accept going into labour and needing oxygen, only to be told there's no oxygen (in a hospital! ) and btw please go and buy fuel for the hospital gen and pay for latex gloves before we treat you, all because of some misguided loyalty to some country?

When you are exhausting yourself trying to fix a society that blatantly refuses to change, you have to ask yourself if you shouldn't expend your energies in a better manner instead.

cococandy, ignore, ignore, ignore... the creature will go back to its abysse soon enough

So, true story: I used to volunteer at a children's home in Lagos . I told friends and co-workers and urged them to join me. Of course I got the usual "I feel you are doing this just to boast about how good you are and make yourself feel better than us". That was the reply to "please donate your time and goods to some children, we could teach and give them toys and food and reading materials! ". Same reaction to renovating a school in Mushin, organizing the renovation of children and maternity wards in LUTH, trying to raise funds to buy even 2nd laptops to give as a reward for kids who participated in a Lagos-state Science fair.

They cannot do it, but they will certainly talk down to your own efforts.

The same person challenging the OP and I, has probably never done anything to change his society. But like a typical Nigerian, he will mock and denigrate that which he cannot do. That movie, an Indian couple came with their toddler (maybe they had no-one to babysit), the crowd pushed her to the point she screamed in pain and even when the attendants tried to get the baby out of there, people refused to let them pass until some of us started shouting "she's a little girl, pls let her parents pass". But yeah, a highly anticipated movie is enough excuse to shove and push in impatience.

When I told a friend that this was what I usually got as a response, his reply was "the best way to fix Nigeria is a nuclear strike"

Please where are these "Moral Values" in Nigerian society, I'd like to see them?

Police Brutality?
Lack of Honesty and Decency amongst our youth to even attempt to write exams without cheating or coercing a lecturer?
Breakdown of every institution known to Man?
Accepted Violence and Rape against minors and genders?
Widespread corruption amongst the masses?
Moral decadence dresses up in finery and attending church every Sunday hypocritically?
Parenting skills reduced to verbally and physically assaulting your child?

I could go on...

How they show Africa as being a backward village with war and famine is how they show the western world wih crazy antics . Bad news sells and peoole don't want to hear "Mike bought a home and Judy graduated" on the news, they want to see "Joe shot up a school in a drive-by" same way "Africa is a country and they are constantly starving and fighting brutal wars or committing crime". I personally have met kinder and more honest people outside Nigeria. Heck, the average Nigerian person attempted to elbow and push my pregnancy out of the way because they were rushing to enter the cinema hall to watch FF7, meanwhile in the US, everyone courteously held doors open and enquired about my health (total strangers every time! ).

Abegl bone that Nigerian Values silliness...

@ SAMBARRY abeg clap for yasef!

seriously I must come and ask for your advise when I have to plan these things. Infact, should we not create an awesome blog for this stuff??

modath:
My sis, you be winch , or talk true, na you go tell my doc make e insist on this week?

August mum can warm up jare, some of them will sneak into late july like onegai & her lil princess run comot for our roll call.

We will all end our respective journeys with joy & jubilations.

@moca,
Its possible but risky depending on the position, unless cash is a factor, why would anyone take the risk?

@kimoni,
Moi, female proudy, iyaderachuks & some silent members that only come to announce BS. .. How ya doing?
On that fibroid thing, one of the mamas here was told she will do a vb but on d day the drs changed their minds when she started contracting & the mf-ing thing was looking like it could crush baby, she was wheeled into the theatre to avoid stories that touch...

Hello Madam Modath and everyone, hope you're still doing well. It is almost end of July, una should be rounding up TeamJuly o!

Good thread.

bossladymo1:
Cloth nappies....fine.

But cloth wipes......how do you maintain the hygeine? Cos just like plastic plates and oil, regular contact between clothes and poo/urine tends to leave remnants.
Do you wet it before use? Or how exactly.

And regarding the drying, there are many wipes out there that dont dry out...many.

lol well there are very few wipes which aren't drying (there's one that has 90% water content and it's not sold in Nigeria plus it's pricey ). I have 3 pediatricians and one clinical dermatologist (who sometimes has chikdren as his patienxts) as close family and friends. If my method was unhygienic, I would have heard by now. Plus if clothe was hard to be hygienic, why haven't hospitals all switched to paper fabrics? The hospital I gave birth in didn't provide disposable wipes, they gave us clothe wipes. I have used a lot of wipes before for years (far too many brands, workwise) and eventually they dried out skin or caused mild abrasion of sensitive skin. That's why I chose this method. I've never gotten poo on my hand before (my wipes are big) which happens with disposables or with those that use cotton wool to clean up during the first few weeks for baby. I'm not expecting to do this if I were handwashing them sha btw our diaper rash cleared up once I changed our cream and switched to clothe.

A lot of modern conveniences are convenient, not necessarily better.

lovinam:
Pls share more on the wipes. I'm hearing this for the first time.

I made my own clothe wipes, they're cheaper and more effective than disposables and they clean better, plus they're not as cold and drying (I've used disposable wipes a lot on people and myself, so I know that). My wipes are made of some very soft fabric so it's not scratching baby's sensitive bum.

Below is all my stuff I use for changing. It's not that much in reality (it ends up as just 4 small items I can move easily: changing pad, wipe, diaper and diaper solution). The changing pad has pouches so I just pack them and throw them in my bag.

mamacajah:
this is great. ls where can I get the 2nd one in lagos and what's the cost. my baby is 8mths now and she really dislikes the infant car seat.

I don't know where they sell them in Lagos, perhaps Idumota (I've read on NL that baby things are common there)
.

I kinda see the OP's point. All your so-called Nigerian values and physical beating and emotional abuse has NOT led to a better society. It had made people fear their superiors and be evil to others below them and we certainly lack empathy and patience.

Perhaps it's time to try another method. Some of the best behaved people I've met didn't get beaten a lot or insulted for every mistake as a child. I got insulted a lot and it only made me never listen to anyone as an adult once they attempted to speak harshly to me (even if it was in my best interest). One of my brothers just pointed to my LO and said "there will never be a good reason to insult her, no matter what she does. " So I wrote it down and the date, I swear it to her now that her mistakes will always be just that, mistakes and not a judgement on the rest of her life and character.

"You're useless" will NEVER be the right answer to your child accidentally bringing you the wrong item from your room or burning soup or breaking something.

Mosi01:
Good evening mothers, please I need advice on the right baby car seat to buy.

There is the infant one that is good for newborns till 9months and the other big one which is too big for an infant by the way.
Kinda need your help on deciding. Thank you #FTM

The infant one is better when they are quite young as they have the right incline for a newborn but babies outgrow them by 1year. The bigger chair is a convertible car seat, good for maybe 5 years (till the child outgrown it). The difference is that even though the convertible car seat can take an infant, it's still not at the right incline for a newborn (the baby is too upright.

Look at your lifestyle, if you know you will not use a car seat for long (though you should), get the infant car seat. I got a convertible and when I saw the incline, I borrowed a friend's own for the 2 months till my LO can fit in it comfortably. I'll take a pic of both and attach them.

1st is infant, 2nd is convertible.

MiracleMum:
I heard Sebamed is good even though av not used it on my baby. i give my baby abidec but heard it has two types - one from Uk and the other Nigeria. But i doubt is any of this. still check your detergent, do you disinfect your babies clothes after washing with detergent? i use comfort to disinfect her clothes and when i cant afford it, i use a drop of dettol because most of this detergents have harsh components.

Comfort is a Fabric softener (it's not even meant for babies, they just put a baby's face on it for marketing). It's actually quite full of chemicals (you're not really meant to use fabric softener on baby clothes due to sensitivity). Dettol is also pretty strong after using a harsh detergent. If you can get All detergent or Tide, those are not as harsh (we can use them on clothe diapers, which are touching baby's sensitive bum).

I'm clothe diapering my LO and I sewed her own clothe wipes, (I haven't used disposable wipes in 3 weeks) so I had to do research on all these and I remember using Comfort as a teenager when we ran the washing machine. It left a residue (like how Dove soap leaves a residue on skin). That residue is what softens the clothes but can be sensitive to some people's skins.

@Iamdec I'm in your position and my baby is about 16 days. I feel engorged once in a while but my milk didn't come out on time and they kept pushing formula on me. I pumped like mad, took herbs but my main issue is eating well and no stress (the madam of inflicting stress on me is here to do "omugwo" and she keeps insisting on formula and now my baby hasn't pooed in 3 days and she's vexing because I said she should leave us be).

I've heard from so many people that pumping isn't a good indicator of how much, the day I bf-ed my baby for 45 mins and hey weighed her, she gained an ounce but I had never been able to pump upto that in one sitting. Now I'm pumping 2 ounces but still want to do more. I'm so exhausted and I just wish I had better support.

baby cries and wails hourly on BM so I did formula and she still wept. I feed her on demand because I'm trying to push up my volume of milk. She's been responding well to my methods before and gained back her birth weight and then some, so let's see how more BM and less formula goes at the next weigh-in.

@kaffy4bill and other new mums, congratulations on your babies.

bushdoc9919:
Unwise Mr Uche.

Ladies....the above is an unwise way of planning your family.

But everyone keeps singing the wonders of Billings method and traditional methods. It did work for our grandparents (who were not having 1 kid every year).

And is conception affordable? A condom is cheap but quite a lot of men are not smart apparently...

For tears, I had a small natural one, they gave me some stuff. You can do yours by buying Witch Hazel and cotton pads, rinse with warm water and then apply it to the area. I know they stitched me but I don't know if it was first or 2nd degree tear (they used a catheter that night and I was peeing later on thay night and the next night and pooling after they gave me some tablets to soften my stool. Ask for a prescription for that, it is helpful).

Milk is a tricky thing but don't be scared, breastfeeding is hard and most ftm milk come in a bit later and some babies can't suck properly. So whilst giving them formula (even better, let your hubby or someone else give the bottle so your baby doesn't associate you with a bottle and refuse the milk later), start each feeding by putting your baby to the breast and letting him/her suck even if nothing comes out. That stimulates milk production then you can pump for a bit after. I had a rough time breastfeeding and didn't think I had milk but thank God my sis insisted on me doing that (against the nurses wishes) because my milk came in 3 days after birth.

Thank you to everyone here, it's hard to thank each person individually but I'm grateful for your kind words.

Birth Story:

On Thursday I went for my ante-natal and the nurse checked me and told me I was at 1cm and this would be good for my eventual labour in a week. So I went home, didn't sleep till 3am and woke up with menstrual cramp pains. I did my research, called my doctor and I felt it was pre-labour (since everyone said during real labour, you'd be in too much pain. I timed mine all day and it was irregular, so I stayed from 7am till 10pm with the pains. At 10pm, my brother suggested we go to the hospital since he felt I wasn't getting better. I walked into the reception and told them "I'm not I'm labour but my family's freaking out, check me and let me go home to watch tv". They laughed: I was 3. 5cm dilated. They kept me and made me walk around and I went to 4cm so they decided to admit me for natural birth.

I'm so glad they did! I was hooked up to the baby monitor and a nurse was in my cubicle doing some paperwork on another patient. She calmly said "triage" and suddenly 4 nurses jumped on me from outside and immediately strapped me into an IV, changed my gown into a hospital gown and drew blood and wheeled me into a private room: apparently the baby's heartbeat had dropped for 5 mins and she had quietly been monitoring me but didn't want me freaking out until she was sure the baby was in distress. Very professional.

They threw my natural birth plan out the window o.

My first Labour nurse told me I couldn't walk around since they put me on IV and had to monitor the baby henceforth but agreed I could hold off the epidural. So IV meds are better taken in the early stage of labour (4-5cm) since some amounts enter the baby's bloodstream but leave the bloodstream as lonag as its not given to 8cm dilated and you will still feel the pain but you can manage it. She also showed me how to change positions occasionally to move dilation faster: don't lie down, always sit up or stand, kneel down on the bed in advanced labour (5-7cm). The most important thing to do is Breathing. It gives you oxygen and gives your baby oxygen.

How to breathe: imagine your belly is a balloon and you're trying to inflate and deflate it. So breathe in and fill your stomach (not your lungs) with air and breathe out as you want to whistle or say "ahhhhhh" slowly. That's deep-breathing and is beautiful for your baby (baby's heartbeat improves dramatically once you do it). Don't don't shallow fast breathing (like in movies) and don't panic and tense up and fight your contractions. My nurse told me contractions are good, mentally accept it and breathe through them, because each one helps push your baby. My mucus plug came out at 6cm.

So I managed till 7cm and oh boy, the pain got dramatically worse and I had been there for 8
hours (they don't let you drink even water because you may need surgery). I lost it and started crying and screaming. The baby's heartbeat dropped again and the nurse (a new one) immediately started telling me to take an Epi but I refused. My Dr friend called me on the phone and told me to take the Epi and a friend sent me a message "you know I was trying to do Nat birth because that's how we Naija r, I didn't hear word n refused meds n CD n u know what happened (it ended badly). A mother is the person who does anything for her kids, there's no award for how".

An epidural will numb you from th(a good anaestologist can give you a moderate load so you can move around) and contractions become less intense so labour moves slower. But because you're relaxed, your cervix dilates faster. If it stays long in your body, you won't be able to push well (you're too numb) and the OB may have to use forceps to deliver and if your baby needs pushing out fast and you can't, they will more likely CS you (since you're alreasy anaestised). I asked them to take it off when I was at 9cm and got to 10cm fast. The OB had to break my water then and saw some meconium so he called NICU to standby in case baby had some issues.

Sorry for the long story but I want you to please take what you can and learn so you can make your own informed decision when your time comes and be flexible.

It took 1. 30 hours for feeling to start returning (I wasn't in pain but I needed to feel the urge). Before then, the nurse and her assistant coached me. After 5 tries, Baby E came out with a vengeance, screaming her lungs out, no need for the NICU staff on standby (praise God! ) and I know they gave some Pitocin in my drip to help bring out after-birth and help my uterus contract back into normal shape).

Baby E and I have spent today with visitors and learning how breastfeed properly

Sorry Team July members, I'm afraid I've checked out.

Mummy's little Rockstar was born today. She weighs 6 lbs 4. We are both doing well and my little girl had great lungs (perfect for when I take her swimming in 6 months time).

All the best to the rest of you. It will surely end in praise.

proudmom38:
Mamas abeg make una help me on dis o,I don turn 'ijewuru' 4 house dis past wks...I eat almost everytime tho not in large quantity,even wen my belle is full I wil stil feel d urge 2 eat something..! Pls is dis normal or is anybody experiencing dis too?

Totally normal. If we drive past someone eating or I watch something (even an advert) and there's food in it, I don't feel hungry but I want to eat what they're eating, immediately. This always ends hilariously.

@ideylaff you sound like my mama, who will buy herself Business or First class and purchase Economy for her children and tell us "I'm training you" as excuse.

That woman

Even when I said "I'm too old to be trained" her reply was "I don't want to spoil the special moment you finally enter it for your husband"

And sometimes she brings plane food with her. I guess I should go and tell her to stop being uncultured and unsophisticated before she buy a her next plane ticket..

salsera:
I take away food from airlines, only snacks and bread I only eat hot food on planes . And its always international flights never local flights.

Reason is because with my transits those snacks help keep ulcer flares down. So I do frequent nibbles as often as I can. The only time I don't do it is when i bring snacks with me.
Its more health than anything. That the food is tasteless is irrelevant.

By the way the tone of this post is seriously condescending. Uncultured unsophisticated
Cmon there are 7bilion people in this world
.Who cares?

You are a Bush Gehs! Yels I said so. Because you've been travelling a lot and see random stuff like this as no biggie (anything that serves your convenience makes much more sense than trying to appear "sophisticated" whereas the OP and some posters (one is even championing United domestic, the US' s most irritating airline ever!) are more sophisticated than the rest of us humble folk.

OP, if you realllllyyyy wanna show off your "sophistication", you would put up pics of your "klassy" self in First class, in Singapore Airlines or even Virgin on certain routes (Btw, Singapore Airlines is a dream come true and the truly rich order their food at the lounge so it gets taken on the plane for them). But if you're slumming it in Economy VA (not even springing for extra legroom in Premium Economy! ) and you're whining here about "sophistication", darlin'.... sit ya black arse down with the rest of the poor folk.

Antoinne, of course, this is merely my very humble opinion, pray continue to educate us and enlighten us.

bewla:
ok no pro all the same i have 5 to six contract staff

Please post pictures of your work here. Thanks.

DanjaNinja:
The current CBN governor should get the award of being the dumbest CBN governor of all time! What policy has this man implemented to better the life of the average Nigerian? Seriously,name one.

First, he introduced the N65 charge on ATM withdrawals. Followed by a reduction in the daily spending limit of Nigerian debit cards from $1200 to $300 causing untold hardship for Nigerians living abroad. Now this - restriction of Forex to importers.

While this new policy may seem wise at first, on close examination it becomes obvious that its a very dumb move. Usually, before imposing restriction to discourage import, a sane government provides an enabling environment to support local production. Subsidies. Tax breaks. Production infrastructure. Power. You name it. A sane government provides it all. Not so in Nigeria. We believe in the opposite - lock up the doors, throw away the keys and expect the economy to magically improve by itself. Forgetting that importers would always seek ways to beat the system. In this case buying from black market at a much higher cost which would inevitably lead to a rise in prices - causing untold suffering to the average Nigerian. How Dumb! How Dumb!! And where is Buhari when you need him

I'm not a political fan of anyone. But let us sit down and analyse this LOGICALLY.

So, they've banned rice and poultry and some other goods. The importers turn to black market and smuggling to bring in those goods. For a while, I cry, but then eventually LOGIC tells me to look for cheaper alternatives. People here have mentioned Nigerian rice and I have always bought live poultry (it's even better for my health than anything frozen with an expiry date some clever Nigerian has obscured and sells to me). I begin to buy this rice, and if others join me in demand for local rice, the local growers cannot keep up with demand and expand their business. AND HIRE WORKERS (leading to a reduction in Unemployment and an increase in spending power of Nigerians).

And because these local industries need power to expand (and won't sit on their ars.es hopefully waiting for government), they will look for other sources of power, including Waste, Solar, Wind, Hydro. And if our Engineers and Technicians are smart, they should hopefully be dusting up their skills in private power distribution (I'm staying with some engineers who are currently planning this for Nigeria. They don't live in Nigeria, meanwhile those in Nigeria are fighting for bank jobs So more SKILLED JOBS WILL BE CREATED.

Those same local industries will hopefully have smart people with vision in them who will think like Dangote and start their companies with people who have contacts in government, so the tax breaks come. Because that is how life works IN ANY COUNTRY and that is why Lobbyists exist. I would not start any company and expect it to grow without having as one of my partners someone well-versed and well-connected in my industry (that person will also have networks in government). Even if I have to go back to my state of origin to do so.

And any sensible company will say "Oh, Standards Organization of Nigeria doesn't do a great job, why not incorporate our own testing and standards company, open some labs and give honest, unbiased reviews of products on the market? If we do our jobs right, Nigerians will come to trust our label/certificate of Authenticity and Quality on any product and companies will pay us to review their products". And these guys will need to hire chemists, biologists, science people, PR officers, consultants, accountants, all sorts. AND MORE JOBS WILL BE CREATED.

And then watch your economy grow realistically...
People have realised if you speak to Nigerians in tenderness, they will not listen but brute force makes them sit up. All the begging in the world would not have made one Nigerian driver wear a seatbelt but the fear of LASTMA became the beginning of seatbelt wisdom. We are in desperate times, that calls for desperate actions, the time for FG to leisurely implement policies has passed and State Govts have to start functioning (almost all of them are comatose).

The reason I can think about this LOGICALLY is that I realise no-one, absolutely no-one is forcing me to buy any imported goods. There are and will always be alternatives to everything imported. I haven't bought commercial body cream in 2 years and my skin is fantastic, I'm using organic stuff and best, my baby can use everything I use without me worrying about allergies or issues developing. I've avoided frozen chicken and my health isn't bad. I can actually buy furniture made in Nigeria (more stressful but can be done), my Nichem Wax ankara of 5 years is in better condition than anything else I bought that was imported from China (not one day of fading). So yeah, I survived without using certain imported goods. I found alternatives.

But I guess the next meal is more important than any meaningful change in 4 years' time, bah? Let's all sit back and enjoy that cheap imported rice.



The reason I think like this is that for a whole year, I have been saying that Importation must die and been studying up Business in Nigeria (and consulted for a medium-scale enterprise and worked in LASG and saw some projects up close and have some business proposals), so I can see the big picture. I wish everyone would.

Ubenedictus:
there is a tradition or rather there was a tradition among the Obas that kept the Oba in the palace most time and he used to publicly come out once a year during the festival.

In the olden days and to a lesser degree even today, the Oba doesn't receive guests anyhow and doesn't dress anyhow. He ofcuz uses the traditional means.

In the olden day it was ritually forbidden for the prince to see his father on full ragalia, there is still the rumour flying around that if the omo n'ba is fully dressed he can be a force of nature when angry.

So I believe for reasons of commonsense, seperation of power, a some interesting rituals the prince isn't supposed to live with is father when of age.

Tradition states that the Crown Prince doesn't live in the palace in order to avoid consolidating power and attempting to overthrow his father. When you are constantly looking at the throne, human greed and ambitiousness could make you do all sorts. The Oba is all-powerful over his chiefs and lesser kings. In order to curtail that power a bit, he is constrained to the palace, unless on festivities. Invite him to your wedding, he will send chiefs to attend in his stead. These are very old traditions.