₦airaland Forum

in my area in Kano it is sold for 120 in filling station and 180 in black market, i see some people here complaining as if no be for Nigeria them dey, it has always been like this for many years scarcity from time to time even when it was sold for 65 naira, when ever they is scarcity like this in Kano you we get it only in black market for 100 naira per litre, i see mmmustapha trying to make it look like it started under GEJ, i guess many nigerians in lagos, abuja and other places dont know that only the major cities in this country enjoy subsidy, places likelly Borno, even when fuel was 65 naira hardly buy fuel at 80 naira per liter

Omen100: Many at times, I don't like joining issues with the likes of point-b & other pathetic butt-lickers of this present govt, because u feed on the scrubs that fell down from the dinning table of this useless govt doesn't mean that u are involved, yes the Labour have no moral right to challenge the govt, but if should declare a nationwide strike today & protest, I will gladly make myself available because I am not doing it for myself but for my unborn Children 4 them to have a better Nigeria to live.

guy take am easy the fact that some us support the complete removal of subsidy does not mean we are in or geting some thing from government, the reality is that where ever you have schemes like this you cannot stop criminal elements from taking advantage of it, the only way out most times to rechannel the money to other productive use. you said your going out to protest will be of service your unborn child, well i disagree with you on that, becuase 1. oil is a finite quantity, that is the oil u see today sometime in the feature will finish, so that should be a reason for us to know that we have to biuld our roads, industries and other social amenities, which we can do now. 2. oil prices cant stay as high as it is today for too long so now that we have the opportunity to improve on our infrastructure we should it while it last. 3. industries cant trive with bearuecratic red tape around and in the oil industry in nigeria today this subsidy issue is that red tape no body not even you will put your money into an uncertain feature, subsidy has been a big scam for many years in Nigeria it did not start today GEJ just happen to be the one that is trying to let me and you take good look at looting scheme we created. it is not there for me and you good but for those whom are benfiting from the scheme

Guys i think we should give this guy a chance let him do this atleast to end of his time in office, if it is good by that time we will decide. i saw some people here comparing us with libya and venezuela, libya has a population of 6.4 million with daily output of 1.6 million barrel per day and venezuela is 29 million with daily output of 2.36 million while our dear country almost 160 million with daily output of 2.5 million, you will agree with me from above that the both countries above can do any kind of subsidy and their national companies will still do fine, but in our case NNPC will never be profitable with subsidy in place, refineries if you like biuld twenty they will be running at lost because of subsidy, some people here will say we have the oil why not just alocate it to the refineries at local price, that will be lost revenue for the country becuase you will still create a room for curruption to trive, majority of the refined oil will be exported for profit at the detriment of you and me, so for me the best way out is to let this thing go so we buy oil at thesame price as every country around us.

ELECTRICITY, as this is the problem of the Nigeria economy today without it, Nigeria cannot solve her unemployment problem, in Kano were i stay virtually all the industrial area are dead due to lack of electricity, if this is done kano alone will see over 50,000 jobs in the short term and more in the medium and long term so i strongly feel ELECTRICITY should be what he should concentrate on and fix.

pappy2000: If the president does not assent to it,that does not mean it can't still become law all thry have ti do it take it back to the NA and if two third of the legislators says yes,it authomatically becomes the law

friend you make it sound easy, its not as easy as you say it to get 2 third in the national assembly, if it were that easy there would have done it in many cases were, he so far has refused to assent to their bills. another point is the import waiver thing is not a bad thing it is what every country does to make its port competitive, i dont know why in Nigeria we will now look at it as something bad, you have forgotten that this guys only shout when a source of their looting is been cut, not for me and you good, but for this so called controller and his friends in the senate benefit

pappy2000: In the us the congress runs the country and the congress is powerful in Nigeria the president is more of a mini God,beyond import wavier we need to trim the power of the president.

you also have forgotten that the president has veto power, what ever they pass if he does not asent to it, it is not law so there are just barking they cant bite, they both need to sit and find a middle ground were they both agree, the beauty of democracy

the issue of their pension is a touchy issue because they caused their problem when there decided to run an in house pension scheme for themselves, this is the problem with nigerians, there created an in house pension with their union leaders in control of the pension money yet there did not mornitor the system there created now the money in question don get k-leg, them want make government remove money from in own pocket pay them just like that, i think they should ask their stupid leaders whom are trying to fan problem now were their money is and not cause problems for the rest of us doing bussiness with the light

fellow Nigerians pls make una de, read something well before una comment. if unu read well unu go see say them say for 2012 the budget be 1.31bn, while for next year 2013 dem say ego reduce go 654.02m, that no be improvment? na only God know how much previous governments been dey budget for am, make una try read well before comenting

Billyonaire: But we dont live there, and will never live there. So what are you saying ?

folanaira was talking about the economics, which is true, when a comodity is in high supply, its price naturaly falls, if we live there even sand go get value pass diamond. you were speaking the science and i must give it to you, you are good at it. am a geophysicist and love it when i see people speak scientific sense, nice one Sir.

Malcolm-X:
In a nutshell - the prize in an Israel vs. Iran war; for Israel is the destruction of Iran's nuclear reactors, and regime change. However, that requires an invasion, which makes it totally IMPOSSIBLE. On the other hand, Iran's prize is the reduction of Israel's military capabilities, heavy losses, and the reduction in Israel's encroachments across the region - something the Iranians can achieve with ease, without invading Israel.

If you break-it-down further, you would see that there's no way Israel can win against the Iranians.

that thing no be drone oooo something when no fit fly until launched from a catapult, guy no they live for land of fantasy, you no fit compare US stealth drones and IRAN kasan rocket, that thing na waitin us scientist and police dey use for survelance, another point of correction the US stealth drone wen fall for Iran na malfunction oooo not shutdown because if u see the picture of what the Iranians caught it wast intact. if it was shutdown e for pieces, pls stop this jihadist mindset, stop wishing for a war btwn Isreal and Iran because u go just cheat the Iranians, because they are nothing close to Isreali military sophistication also know the Americans wont sit by and watch. it might be the down of the next world war.

Baba419: 41years, I suppose to don dey collect my oil pension money by then

have you asked yourself what will your childrens furture be, what will be left for them and their children, Nigerian are too selfish that is why this country cant move forward

as a scientist i know from available scientific data that in less than 30 years, oil wil loss it relevance due to the advances been made in the field of renewable energy, so we dont even need to panic we will still be selling oil for even the next 200 years but at a far far less value as demand for it will be largely depleted

well i am not here to prove anything to anyone, i was just offering my humble advice.

i just discovered this tread today on nairaland, but from what i see here alot of Nigerian traders are so drawn to ea. with my small three year experience in trading i have learnt that the better way to trade forex with good success it to learn to read chart, identify trend, S/R and use indicators just to fine tune entry, i will advice new traders to start with learning to read charts, identify trend and posible trend reversal areas, for this i will recommend price action trader by lance bergg, u will be supprised how u will hate all the indies and ea been floated around. i did read it about a year ago and since then it has been pips all the way, with on my best days being around 110pips and bad day around 60pips, best week around 600pips and best month being around 2000, who says 100% in a month is not possible should try learning to trade price action and see, u will get trades on M1 with risk as low as 4pips, and probably take 6 straigth stop hits sometimes, but that is the nature of the game, u win some and loss some, but ur wins are in some cases upto 100pips on a trade. please stop the search for the holy grail ea or indies they dont exist.

WINNINGWAYZ: Good morning house... Am thinking of using FXPRO, anyone with an experience? No wanna make money and be scared of withdrawal. Took 10k off instaforex, hope to get alert on monday.
Also, Does anyone uses broadband internet here? this dial-up is not very reliable. am in the north-central zone of the country. please, which do u advice?

well not bad though i wil rather advice agea.com, hotforex.com or liteforex.com, account verification on this three is not too difficult on Nigerians from my exprience with this three, but my experience with fxpro was not good on this ground. also the three above alow and make m1 and m5 scalping easy i recomend them.

My people, i said my people because am a northerner form benue who lives in kano my area has been attacked more than three times the last time not upto a week ago.
issue no. 1
all those fellow northerners here trying to make it look like GEJ is not doing anything is not right. GEJ deployed military to help tackle the issue, people living around me start complaining they dont like the military presence they even took it to radio houses and made an issue acusing the military of harrasing them. two days after the military in my area were pulled out my area was attacked again. last week a mosque of an out spoken cleric that speaks against this people was attacked.
issue 2
it is realy not good when people compare the niger delta militant with this guys. niger deltans had a position which is a moral one and it was right that what they demanded was given them. what does this guys want you dont dialog with people whose position we know is unattainable, so i cry when i here fellow northerners say the word dialog, on what ground.
issue 3
people here say if ibb and other northern leaders condemn this guys thy will be attacked so hence they shouldnt, it is laughable for someone to make such aguement and still say the government should dialog with this guys

my position on this is that if we want peace in the north, the elders of the north will have to condemn and standup against this people no matter what happens, if not more peopel will die and bet me it will continue for a long time if this is not done. we the people backing the elders and helping to identify those involve in this cruelty, that live around us simple

in my area here in kano the light has improved for almost a month now oooo over 18 hrs daily. on like my fellow Niaralanders i pray that things continue to improve so that my business can continue being profitable oooo, i pray that God give GEJ to continue the good work

china muslims against buddhist july 2009, india last week muslim settlers against real owners of the land. Jos for while muslims against christians, Myanmar muslims against buddhist, i can go on listing on and on the list is long. my question why cant muslims tolerate others yet they want to be tolerated, when will muslims sit and ask themselves y only us against other people. i still cant fantom why they feel they are more special than others common guys pls give peace a chance and learn to tolerate othes plsssssssssssss

I agree with u Beaf we need to move toward autonomous states as this is the reason why the country isnt working so far, but i agreealso with Trogunn, it needs to be gradual let start with the federal road thing first and policing, let governance move close to the people so that people can question autories close to them. Again this is the only solution to the current power struggle we are seeing in this country when there is no much power and money to steal in Abuja any body going there will know he is either going to work for the collective good of the nation or for the good of the people who sent him there. It will also encourage the growth of the other sectors of the Nigerian economy

mu2sa2: Late Yar'adua negotiated with terrorists and succeeded, why should negotiating with another set of terrorists be perceived as wrong? Dont tell me that Niger Delta militants were known and fighting for a cause. BH is also the same:their leaders are not jinns, and from 2001 to 2009 BH never engaged in violence, just preaching for social justice and end to corruption. So, it's easy to deal with BH if there is sincerity from FG. People who advocate force and more force forget that violence begets violence. Ask Americans - ten years in Afghanistan with all their missiles, drones, intelligence and MONEY and they hav failed to secure even Kabul the capital city. Dont expect that our rag-tag security forces, corrupt and unreliable as they are,can fare better here.Dialogue, dialogue,dialogue is better than violence. Let's all work for peace and surely God will hear our prayers for peace.

This post clearly reflect the rubish thinking in the North, when does people fighting for what is rightfully thier own become terrorism, i get rely angry when i see poeple expecially my friends from the North comparing the fight by the Niger delta youths for their right with this bloodsheding Boko Haram people, the Niger Delta youth during their fight never just go to Mosque in the South South to blow up Mosque or did they even try to kill innocent people if they kidnap anyone it was for ransom now that is a fight that we can say is as a result of poverty, but not the bokoharam people, they kill people in impunity so far this year they have killed evey person they kidnaped, the record are they for you to see, in the case of the Niger delta it was the millitary that commited most of the crimes killing innocent villagers when ever they went on a raid the Niger delta elders talked and talked and their appeal fell on deaf ears for many years. The Niger deltan had thier demands a reason they were fighting. What is the deman of boko haram, i expect an answer from all their brothers on NL fools

polokor60: broda bros you never provided an answer to these questions in the other thread,for the benefit of doubt i ll quote every word for you again by delefruita and polokor60,where it comes:Delafruita: i wish to have you as a publicist for my company.you seem to have good skills
at this sorta thing.anyways back to topic,the
subsidy fraud actually had its root in
jonathan.when rilwan was minister,there were
only 6 recipients of petrol subsidy,3months
after jona became president,it rose to 133.the total amount paid for subsidy in 2007 was
480 billion and consumption was 35million
litres.in 2010 the consumption remained same
and payment of was 557billion.how is it
possible that by 2011,consumption became
57million litres and subsidy of 2.7 trillion is paid?diezanni gave 128 companies license to
import within 3 months.we should also
remember that between january and march
2011 subsidy payment was 24billion
monthly,but by april(election month) it
jumped to 200billion monthly.lets stop decieving ourselves by saying ebele was
brave enough to expose the subsidy
fraud.the truth is he is the master behind the
fraud and thats why he cant prosecute
anybody despite the overwhelming
evidence.he even paid out over 400billion arrears of kerosene subsidy of 2008-2010
despite the fact that subsidy had been
removed on kerosene in 2007.ebele didnt
expose any fraud,he created the fraud. the proliferation of brief case marketers
emanated during the era of diezanni allison
maduake.these fraudulent marketers got their
approvals from allison maduake:please i need accurate analysis from you to dismiss these glaring facts without any insult on distracting antics from you.

Agree with your anology sir, but can u tell me how many states in the country had constant supply of fuel, look during Rilwan only the major states in the country had constant fuel supply, and were the states getting oil at 65 naira per litre, until Daziani kine liberalise the system to allow other companies to come in so as to allow contant supply accross the whole country states like maiduguri under Rilwan hardly saw constant fuel supply and they had to buy fuel at about 90 naira a liter and at the time we had frequent fuel scarcity we hardly in this country during Rilwan, had one year without fuel scarcity. What she did was good intentioned to stabilise supply accross the country and that resulted in the balloning of the subisdy, the truth be said stoping the subsidy scheme would had been the best because for many years before she came in only few states had constant supply hence only those state bought at the proper subsidised price

pls anyone that wants correct information on this issue should ready this www.linkblueprintng.com/2012/06/malabu-more-scandals-than-democracy-dividends/

There is nothing wrong with one Nigeria, what we simply want is that the killing of southerners in the north under whatever motive must end, i have lived and worked all my live in Kano always in fear, always being careful of where i am just to avoid finding myself in the main city when any riot starts. the reasons for this riots sometimes have nothing to do with Nigeria example when America attacked Abganistan and Iraq over 200 Nigerians of sourthern origin and even middle belt people because they dress and look like sourtherners, when Jonathan was elected last year i was in Kaduna i suvived being killed because i bought a big picture of Buhari and place on my car i also had to change my clothing that day to a long hausa native were called tazarce. we just need peace simple. this do or die politics in the north will only end if we go to true fiscal federalism

so becuase i get small pot belly them no go like me, thats not fair ooooo "crying"

i doubt that figure, i know they do have cases of police shoting people on the road sometims, but to say Nigerian police kills 5000 yearly i think is untrue, this guy is just trying to get global attention so he could attack more funds, this is what Nigerian nongovernmental organizations do to attack funds they will use to enrich themselves. nice try man but i think that figure is too high.

“The truth is, as individuals we should be our brother’s keeper and, government should create jobs for the youths, create an enabling environment for entrepreneurship, expand the scope of vocational training centres and create new ones to absorb the ever-growing youth population who cannot be absorbed into tertiary institutions of learning; and, last but not the least, eschew corruption and create a level playing ground through transparency and a renewed value system.

”Poverty is linked with unemployment. Other than the fact that the Nigerian economy is not creating new jobs, the few existing jobs are being lost by factory closures arising from high cost of production. Some archaic cultural practices in the country also contribute to the high rate of poverty. The Almajiri system in certain parts of Northern Nigeria continues to produce armies of unskilled labour that can hardly be productively engaged in modern means of wealth creation.

”In this modern age of technology-driven production, where human labour as component of production is fast diminishing, other nations have devised means of controlling their population growth rate. Regrettably, Nigeria has failed to restrain her people from breeding like parasites.

The points above simply summerize Nigeria's problems, which a lack of vocational education, overempahsis on university degrees that are not functional education, but paper degrees, hence they cant contribute to the lives of the individuals that posses them.
Government must fight curruption vigorously and i think we should try as a nation to move toward true fisical federalism because it will help in the development of other important sectors of our economy.
Again the issue of the growing population, we as Nigerians have to become more careful when we make decisions about getting married and bearing children, we all know the cost of education in this country is rising hence anything above two children to a family i in my opinion see as being irresponsible, we must cut our coat according to our size ooooooooooo

this the link to the article on vanguard: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/02/how-government-impoverished-nigerians-poverty-on-rampage/

How government impoverished Nigerians, poverty on rampage
On February 20, 2012 · In Finance
Email1

By Omoh Gabriel, Business Editor

• 93.9 % of Nigerians think they are poor • Nigerians that were non-poor higher in 1980s • Poverty defies govt policies •Companies are being impoverished • Gap between rich and poor widening…
John Fagi, as he calls himself, is a Nigerian that lives under the bridge in Lagos. Along with him are others who many think are mentally sick. Like their counterparts on the streets, the economic situation around them has forced them to live sub-human lives. These Nigerians have no home, no job and no family to care for them. Some able-bodied men at most bus stops in Lagos stop fellow Nigerians to beg for money. Women are not spared.

In Amukoko, Badia, Okokomaiko, Mushin and other thickly populated areas of the state, about eight people live in one room apartment. They have everything in common. Father, mother, brothers, sisters all live in one room. At night, they sleep on each other with their parents separated from the rest with curtain. Some five-year olds trudge along the streets in the name of street trading to support the family.

Along the streets, you find children without shoes going to school, some play football naked. It is the same around the country. More pathetic are those who build their shanties on top of water. In all the six geo-political zones of the country, the story is the same, poverty on rampage.

These unfortunate Nigerians have been pushed into their present condition by the ravaging poverty that has hit the Nigerian nation. Recent official figures show that 112 million Nigerians are under some of this condition. They live below poverty line on less than $1 or N160 a day.

Nigerians have come to the hard reality that the various government policies since 1980, have contributed to the rising level of poverty in the country despite claims that the economy has been growing. The poverty data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Monday last week suggested that 112 million Nigerians are poor going by the economic situation in the country in 2011. While 100 million are in absolute poverty, 12.6 million are moderately poor.

Reacting to the report, Mr. Akeem Oyewale, Chief Executive Officer, Stanbic IBTC Stockbrokers Limited said “The report by the National Bureau of Statistics is based on research conducted by competent people at the NBS. The NBS is headed by Dr Yemi Kale, a highly regarded Economist with a rich experience in research and economic planning. Therefore, the data provided comes with a high level of credibility.

“That said, the import of the statistics is to bring to the fore the fact that a significant portion of Nigeria’s populace is poor. The question then is, what do we do with this data?

“How do we achieve the Millennium Development Goals of 2015 given this statistical reality?
The data is relevant for economic planning. It shows that there is a lot of work for the government to do to lift a huge portion of the populace out of poverty.

“It also shows that there is a significant scope for the private sector to participate in activities that will have a direct impact on the people at the bottom of the pyramid. The data should be looked at in a positive sense, and not in a derogatory manner.

“It is factual. Given the “extended family” structure of most families in Nigeria, especially those in the rural areas, by virtue of our culture, the well-to-do in the families know that the society expects them to assist those not so blessed, especially from the financial perspective.

“However, given the burgeoning number of people classified as ‘poor,’ as revealed by the statistics from NBS, it then becomes relevant for government agencies responsible for planning for economic development to roll up their sleeves and treat economic empowerment with a higher sense of urgency and tact.

The consequences of such a large number of folks below the poverty level could transcend to a potential threat of instability when the populace feels pushed to the wall.

“An opportunity also exists for the private sector to tap into the potentials of the bottom of the pyramid economics in a collaborative win-win way. Multilateral institutions and NGOs may also be able to have increased participation in measures towards poverty alleviation in Nigeria if their charters so allow.”

President Goodluck Jonathan

Mrs. Bisi Bright, Chief Executive Officer, Livewell Initiative, LWI, said: “I agree that 60 per cent of Nigerians are poor. Here, I am defining poverty from the point of view of what is globally regarded as ‘living below the poverty line’.

From my own experience as a social entrepreneur in the health sector, I can ‘see’ and ‘feel’ a palpable sense of poverty among the people. Apart from the fact that most people cannot afford three meals a day, they cannot meet their basic healthcare needs and that of their family members and dependants. They cannot afford to buy basic medicines and many are jobless.

“You need to see the desperation in the eyes of the people as they queue up for our free healthcare programmes. You need to see the disbelief in their eyes when they are given free medicines, they would scream, ‘free?’ and they go away excitedly, telling others to come.

“At LiveWell Initiative, LWI, our Illness Poverty Alleviation Programme IPAP, was designed as an innovation to combat poverty, through heatlhcare empowrment, which leads to economic empowerment.

“If the people are healthy, the economy will be healthy and poverty will be eradicated. Poor people are everywhere around us; we have the urban poor, and the rural poor. Some of us have poor relatives, poor neighbours, some rich people have poor friends or poor kith and kin; even some staffers in organisations are poor.

The truth is that there is a lot of poverty around us; but many people ‘shut’ their minds to the poverty around them, even abandoning poor relatives to their fate. Some people would tell you, ‘I work hard for my money’!

“The truth is, as individuals we should be our brother’s keeper and, government should create jobs for the youths, create an enabling environment for entrepreneurship, expand the scope of vocational training centres and create new ones to absorb the ever-growing youth population who cannot be absorbed into tertiary institutions of learning; and, last but not the least, eschew corruption and create a level playing ground through transparency and a renewed value system.
“That way, the wealth distribution in the country will be more equitable and the level of poverty in the country will be significantly reduced.”

In his own view, Mr. Ituah Ighodalo, Partner, Siao Partners Limited and member, of the newly constituted Petroleum Revenue Special Task Force, said: “Poverty is quite rampant not just in Nigeria, but all over Africa.

A lot of people cannot look after themselves, what makes it worse is the seeming hopelessness and difficulty in having gainful employment, the number of people looking for employment and the number looking for assistance bears testimony to this, and this will remain so for as long as Government remains the biggest spender and the playing field remains un-level.

Too much money in too few hands, we need to take another look at the issue and have forthright leadership that is determined to end poverty.”

Mr. David Adonri, Chief Executive Officer, Lambeth Trust & Investment Company Limited, said: “Judging by Nigeria’s per capita income, poverty rate should not be as severe as the reports indicate. Unfortunately, income is concentrated in few hands and public efforts at income redistribution have proved ineffective.

”Nigeria exemplifies the paradox of a rich nation populated by poor people. Through massive corruption, the nation’s wealth is daily cornered and siphoned out of the country.

”Secondly, due to wrong economic policies, the income generating capacity of the country is still far below the earning potential of the economy.

”Poverty is linked with unemployment. Other than the fact that the Nigerian economy is not creating new jobs, the few existing jobs are being lost by factory closures arising from high cost of production. Some archaic cultural practices in the country also contribute to the high rate of poverty. The Almajiri system in certain parts of Northern Nigeria continues to produce armies of unskilled labour that can hardly be productively engaged in modern means of wealth creation.

”In this modern age of technology-driven production, where human labour as component of production is fast diminishing, other nations have devised means of controlling their population growth rate. Regrettably, Nigeria has failed to restrain her people from breeding like parasites.

Several years ago, Reverend Father Malthus, a socio-economic commentator postulated that ‘excessive increase in population keeps wages at subsistence level’. The inter-relationship between population explosion and economic misery is already manifesting in Nigeria, where the population growth has overwhelmed the economy.

”Although my income is more than one dollar per day, after distributing a greater part of the income as a result of extended family commitments, what is left can hardly meet my basic maintenance needs. This may not be different for most of my colleagues in the Stock market whose earnings nose-dived after the 2008 global meltdown.”

Also in his comment, Mr. Oluseye Adetunmbi, Chief Responsibility Officer, Value Investing Limited, said: “In terms of being able to afford the basic means of living vis-a-vis ability to consistently secure the standard school for one’s wards, access to quality and timely medical care system and acquire maintainable personal accommodation; anyone who is challenged in any of these areas is considered poor in my opinion and by my definition.

”It is like professional examination at some levels, fail in one is fail in all. Whoever is okay in all the departments of basic indicators for measuring standard of living globally is considered not poor. Those who have crossed this border- line are certainly very few in our nation. We who are yet to lay claim to be on good standing in all these departments are in the majority in Nigeria. It is an obvious statement of fact.”

Dr Olusegun Aganga, Minister of Trade and Investment and immediate past Minister of Finance decried the high incidence of poverty in the country. Aganga blamed the poverty level on high unemployment rate in the country. He explained that it was in realisation of this that he had, with the support of the president, started work on inclusive growth when he was the Finance minister. He further explained that inclusive growth is that economic growth that comes with job creation.

Finance Minister, Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

He also stated that government has introduced a policy that every new contract approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) must show its job-creation value before being passed by the FEC. But this has not impacted on the level of poverty in the country thus far.

Head of Economics Department of Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Dr. Mike Duru in an interview with newsmen last year said that poverty rate is rising in Nigeria. Dr. Duru said the quality of lives of Nigerians is falling. He described as misleading equating rise in Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to fall in poverty.

Former U.S. President, Bill Clinton on Monday warned that the widespread poverty in Nigeria is responsible for the violence that is tearing the nation apart. Speaking at the annual ThisDay Awards in Lagos, Mr Clinton decried the widening gap between the rich and the poor in Nigeria. He said: “You (Nigeria) can’t just have this level of inequality persist. That’s what’s fuelling all this stuff (violence). You also have to give people something to look forward to when they get up in the morning,” he added.

The proportion of Nigerians that were non-poor was much higher in the country in 1980, 72.8 per cent, compared to 1992 (57.3 per cent). It dropped significantly in 1996 to 34.4 per cent, falling further in 2010 to 31 per cent”.
The Nigeria Poverty Profile 2010 Report Kale said, indicate that poverty and income inequality in Nigeria have increased since 2003/2004.

In addition, NBS estimates that this trend may have increased further in 2011 if the potential positive impacts of several anti-poverty and employment generation intervention programmes are not taken into account, but this can only be ascertained at the conclusion of the 2011 survey.

The rising trend of poverty in the country is a direct reflection of public policy in Nigeria. In 2004, the Federal Government developed the NEEDS programme which it submitted for approval as policy support instrument to the International Monetary Fund, IMF. The Policy Support was approved and adopted as government working policy.

In the NEEDS document, the government stated: “The plan for prosperity must address a startling paradox: more than two-thirds of the Nigerian people are poor, despite living in a country with vast potential wealth. Although revenues from crude oil have been increasing over the past decades, our people have been falling deeper into poverty.

In 1980, an estimated 27 per cent of Nigerians lived in poverty. By 1990, 70 per cent of the population had income of less than $1 a day— plan for prosperity must address a startling paradox: more than two-thirds of the Nigerian people are poor, despite living in a country with vast potential wealth and the figure has risen since then. Poverty levels vary across the country, with the highest proportion of poor people in the northwest and the lowest in the southeast,” the document stated.

Painfully, years after, number of Nigerians that fall into the poverty trap is rising rather than dropping
Charles Igwenagu, Auto mechanic sees it this way: “There are a lot of things government is not doing very well, an average Nigerian is supposed to earn around N1 million a day, that is if they want to put things in order. So we do not need to suffer because we have the oil, all the refineries are not working, some of our ‘big men’ build refineries out there, that is why they are destroying Nigeria and we are suffering today.

“I want to advise the government to carry the masses along. In Europe, the Presidents think about the people they are ruling but today in Nigeria, they are not thinking about the people they are ruling, and that is why we are suffering.

So I am advising them to carry the masses along so that we can witness a better Nigeria tomorrow. The business is down, while you work they will not pay you, we are being disorganised, we are being frustrated, look at us doing nothing, we are suffering and earning a little, so that is the problem we are having today.

Bob Doghely believes that the Government should try to help the masses at least to make life easier for them; the problem of the common man is very small compared to the need of the wealthy people – politicians and business moguls. What the common man needs is just daily bread and to provide the daily bread is not supposed to be hard for the him to do, but if they start to make life difficult for the common man, it means that life is going to be very difficult.

So the government should try to solve the problem of the common man which is transportation, housing, electricity and water. If government can provide these four basic things, things will turn around in Nigeria because the common man does not have problem.

Raphael Ijewere, a Motorcyclist, said before the removal of fuel subsidy, he made between N1,500 to N2,000 daily, but with the subsidy removal, the price of riding has increased therefore he makes between N2,500 to N3,000 daily. He makes between N8, 000 to N9, 500 weekly.

Zakare Abdullazeez, a motorcyclist claimed that he makes up to between N2,700 and N3, 000 averagely, but that Motor cyclists are facing the challenges posed by local government officials and Agberos who collect about 45 per cent of their daily earnings. Mike Njoku, a welder, said welders are faced with the challenge of power supply.

He claims he spends about N5,000 every two days on diesel generator though depending on the volume of job available. When asked why not use Prime Motor Spirit (PMS), he said that PMS burns fast, because if he were to use PMS, he will be spending about N7, 000 daily.

Lateef Arowolo, a vulcanizer, who uses both electrical and manual vulcanizing engines, said he was using the electrically-propelled vulcanizing engine when the problem of erratic power supply began, he had to buy the manual type from which he makes about N1, 200 and N2, 300 while using the electrical engine makes N800 daily.

The case of Mama Tawa, pepper and tomato grinder was as that of who has to buy the manual grinding machine, when she could not cope with epileptic power supply, she had to buy the manual grinding machine from which she makes about N2, 000 daily unlike when she was using the electrical grinding machine, averagely he said she makes about N7, 000 to N9, 000 weekly depending on the flow of customers.

Sunday Oguomere, who works as an Information Technology expert in a media house, in is response to the question whether he is poor or rich, told Vanguard that he can not say that he is rich neither can he see he is poor. Oguomere said he give thanks to God that he could afford three square meals and therefore he is comfortable.

On how much he spends daily for his feeding and that of his family, he explained that it cost him about N3, 000 which includes fueling his generator and other such activities.

Mrs Veronica Opia, who runs a boutique and operates a catering service, told Financial Vanguard that she is rich because she has handwork that fetches, gives her steady income. Opia whose business name is Comfort Venture, explained that from both trade she earns about N50, 000 monthly and spends about N5, 000 daily for the up keep of her family.

Mrs Opia pointed out that she is married with two kids. She also said that she pays N2, 000 monthly for her room and parlour apartment in the out-skit of Lagos.

Nafiu Mako, a wood seller who left his rice and beans trade for wood seller as a result of the increase in the cost of rice and beans, said he is a poor man. Mako noted that he makes an average of N10, 000 monthly from selling two truck load of wood.

He told Financial Vanguard that there are some months when he sells three or four truck loads and in such cases, his income goes beyond N10, 000. He said he has a wife and three kids that live in the northern part of the country where he is from and that he send an average of N500 to N600 daily to them for their up keep.

As for himself, he explain that he spend an average of N700 daily for his up keep and pays N1,000 month for his one room accommodation in Lagos.

“It is not only big businesses that are being impoverished by the impact of government removal of part of the fuel subsidy which caused a week-long strike,” said Nnadi Ogochukwu, CEO LIGO, a fashion outfit based in Apapa, Lagos. She observed that even when the subsidy was not removed and fuel was being sold N65 per litre, use of generator accounts for 80 per cent of her sewing.

“For me to meet customers’ delivery date, I don’t rely on electricity supply by the Power Holding Company of Nigeria. Now that it’s N97 per litre, I use 4 to 8 litres per day, and if you multiply that in a week and month, you would find out that small business owners like me are suffering and are being impoverished. Upon that, I still pay PHCN bills despite the irregular power supply. ”The price of our raw materials like lining, thread, etc have also gone but if you try to pass the cost to customers, they resists and threaten to leave you.”

The question is why are so many of our people poor? Poverty is dynamic and has many dimensions. People may move in and out of poverty as a result of natural disasters or health problems, lack access to credit, or the lack of natural resources.

Poor people are more likely to live in rural areas, be less educated, and have larger families than the rest of the population.

Poverty has many causes, all of which reinforce one another. One source of poverty is the lack of basic services, such as clean water, education, and health care. Another is lack of assets, such as land, tools, credit, and supportive networks of friends and family. A third is lack of income, including food, shelter, clothing, and empowerment (political power, confidence, dignity).

Some of these factors directly affect poverty. Others contribute indirectly, by producing inequality—by stifling the political power of certain sectors of the population, for example, or denying them their dignity or human rights. All of these factors are affected by the environment in which people live.

Poverty is not the same as inequality, but solving the problems of inequality can help lift people out of poverty. Corruption is rife in Nigeria and for decades politicians have focused on milking cash from crude oil exports, which average more than 2 million barrels per day, rather than developing infrastructure and creating jobs for locals. Despite holding the world’s seventh largest gas reserves, which could be used to generate power, Nigeria only produces enough electricity to power a medium-sized European city.

More than half of the country’s 160 million inhabitants live without electricity, while the rest have to rely on expensive generators run on diesel supplies controlled by a small and powerful cartel of importers. Tens of thousands of Nigerians protested for over a week in January against the government’s decision to end subsidies on petrol imports, a decision welcomed by economists.

Beaf: i think 55000 bpd is a good start because by the maths, 1 barrel is equal 159litre hence 55000 bpd is equal 8,745,000 litre per day of petrol, if all oil drilling companies in nigeria do that we wont need to import refined oil

men this doesnt fill right indeed, i mean this doesnt bold well for nigerian education even abroad this no dey happen, nigerian curruption don they creep into our university system too