₦airaland Forum

It's saddening; hell it's painful when innocent people are killed for things they dont have knowledge of.
I knew this whole thing will happen again (killing of "Christians" and reprisal attacks by "Christians" when a bunch of almajiris who call themselves members of house of assembly in Kano (or was it Kaduna) state burnt Danish flags in front of the state house of assembly.
If "leaders" do such it is an open license for the masses to engage in wanton lawlessness; it took only a few days before the Maiduguri mayhem ensued; that and other events which resulted from that are now realities which we a faced with.
For the past two months we have seen images of “protests” by Muslims from all over the world; yes there have been destruction of properties and even loss of lives.
Trust Nigerians; when we did our Muslim country men had their own protest they had to beat all records. Destroy and kill more than their brethren Indonesia, Syria et al combined.
These bring me to the following questions;
1. Why is it so easy for the Muslim (anywhere in the world) to take the life of another person; be it a Muslim or someone of a different faith? – Does it have something to do with the fact that no Muslim is sure of total redemption unless he dies in a Jihad? For those who die normally even if they are devout, redemption will only come as a result if their good deeds outweigh their bad dees and not the grace of God.
2. Why is it so easy to set the Muslim world on a frenzy of destruction and murder? – Because it is the easiest way to redemption- kill Kaffirs; score more points or get killed and you go straight to aljana with virgins waiting for you on the side. Can someone tell me what happens to the female Jihadists? Or is Muslim heaven meant for only males.
3. Why has human life become so cheap in our country such that when these kind of things happen the authorities are no where in site?
4. Why do I get this feeling that some people think that our country belongs only to them and the rest of us are second class citizens? – They always the first to strike at their brothers across the Niger.
5. Why is it that the riots in the north sparked off no too long after some Arab Muslim clerics visited Nigeria some two weeks back? – See 6 below.
6. Is it possible that this whole worldwide protest is being used by Iran due to the pressures it has had to face from the west due to its nuclear ambitions? – After all the cartoons had been out in Denmark since Sept 2005 and the protests only started when the heat was turned on Iran.
7. If 6 above has an iota of truth in it; is it safe for me to assume that the Muslim world has Mullahs / Imams for sale when there is a political beef to tackle? – Issue a Fatwah and all Kaffirs are easy target for the umah. One Sharia court in India has already issued a Fatwah for the hapless Danish cartoonists who took part in the contest that led to the production of the said satanic depiction of the prophet.
8. Why does a section of this country value its Muslim / Arab ties more than the general good of our country? – They prefer their kids to go to Koran / Arabic classes rather than go through western education system which is our national standard.
9. Why do I get this feeling that our “leaders” are helpless? – Every major incidence has taken them by surprise and when it happens they respond rather slowly.
10. If our “leaders” are not helpless are they culpable? – Check it out; create a sense of insecurity so that we beg them to stay or so that they set up more committees to engage in more binge stealing.
11. Is it not an irony that in this mayhem some Christians would have been killed by fellow Christians simply because he is Hausa? – Being Hausa does not make one a Muslim.

Nigeria has more than enough problems to cope with than for misguided ppl to start what has now become a wildfire.

Seun:
That's what the National Assembly should be working on instead of looking for ways to legalize the unpopular third term plan. Democracy, if properly implemented, already provides peaceful solutions to most of the problems that radicals are fighting against. We just need to get used to it and stop doing crooked business as usual.

Seun, please can you help my ignorance; apart from the third term are/is there no other change(s) being proposed. Pls i know things are not goin well with the country but i am a strong advocate of objectivity. Each and every person / group canvassing for and against the third term (which OBJ has not verified) has their own agenda. We the neutrals / spectators run the risk of becoming their instruments if we do not try to read between the lines. Do you feel me?

Illiteracy may be a major problem facing Northern Nigeria and it may also be a contributing factor in the incessant religious riots in the north.
What baffles me though is how a rational person(you dont need book knowledge to be rational) will attack some trader in Maiduguri for some cartoon published in Denmark by an oyibo (not even a blakc man taslk less Igbo).
I feel some elements in the north have being and will continue to use religion as a foil for their attempts to exterminate the Igbo man.

oasis:
I am a scientist, and I'm saying there's no way to dispose of radioactive material. Unless you want to create a nuclear fission system to explode those radioactive elements. Nuclear fission will cost you more money than simply building a solar energy system.

Don't discount solar energy. It's the way of the future. With all the year-round sunshine we have, that is our answer. And we do have the money to build it. We can start on a small scale, and gradually expand from city to city.

Well said Oasis. I will add to your points by saying that the solar option has a bright future and as household and industrial systems continue to improve - through increased energy efficiency, intelligent energy saving devices- the use of the solar system will spread further. With the solar option each home will have it's own power generation independent of each other, this will also ensure that problems if any will only be localized to one place.

@Seun. Natural gas is also clean but it's a wasting resource. The sun has been and will always be around long even after we've long gone.

charlisco:
when it comes to Nigeria as a whole, we the Niger Delta are tight brothers and sisters

yeah. like ijaws and itsekiris, ijaws and ilajes, urhobos and itsekiris. they luv each other to the death. if you cant elighten chanel do not give us bulls#!t.

A guy was caught trying to smuggle 2000 blank passports out of Nigeria.
http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=39746

:-?

... it's possible that not all those "Nigerians" in prisons all over the world are actually who they say they are.

issac boro:
Do not mix religion with politic as this is the main problem of our beloved country.Are you trying to say nigeria must be govnerned by a religious cleric.I will advice you to go back to your coven and rethink.
No great nation is build on childish thinking as you have proposed.
We are still fighting the idea that nigeria is a muslim country and now you want to add this one to it.
Let me ask you this question all the religious leaders we have in nigeria what has any of them added to development of our nation nothing but collect offering and use the money to benefit themselves.
If you are a man of GOD stick to that not politics because politics is a dirty game and not for the faint hearted.
IF he wants to help let him the youths and people around him to see.
Where have you seen men of GOD with so much wealth.
Do you think we are stupid.
Look at nigeria today this people you call pastors are the richest people in nigeria all they do is collect your wages and tell you lies from sunday to sunday if you believe in yourself and the ONE that made you then you have no fear.
Religion is a tool of oppression.
Open your eyes and thank GOD for the internet search and see the truth.
We as people of a country like nigeria we do not want to work but wait for manna to fall from heaven.
Religion is the greatest fraud today.Do not be suck to it.

@ Isaac Boro. Well said.
What qualify's this man for this office apart from being a pastor of a church? Lets stop looking for answers where there are none.
Military professionals (and i use that word for a reason), especially the officers corps are trained to lead. No other profession sets out with the main objective of training people to lead others.

nferyn:
Is it really created by the military? Isn't it one of the poisonous legacies the Brits left you with?

@nferyn Gowon introduced the unitary system at the height of the crisis which followed the overthrow of Ironsi.

Fellow NLs click the link below and see what i came across this today.

http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=38519.

This has a familiar ring to it.
Does any body remember stories of Kola Abiola and IBBs' daughter during the heat of the June 12 crisis? I am not saying they should go at each others with daggers but they all seem so chummy to make one wonder.

@ All
I had an argument which nearly led to a punch up on the issues covered in this posting yesterday.Please can you help my ignorance in matters of the law.
I will apreciate it if you can enlighten me more based on the questions below:
1. Does the High court have the right to freeze the account of a state in Nigeria?
2. What were the facts presented by EFCC in the Ex parte application?

I just finished reading the elendu reports thing. My people i am sorry but this Elendu guys are begining to sound like a publicity hungry bunch. That report is filled with hearsay and alot of "beer parlour" type of talk. Every thing there is circumstancial.
I am against any form of official stealing under whatever guise but we need to look at this debt thing from a pragmatic angle.

Is it favourable to Nigeria? Hope there are no future penalty clause and all.
How much did it cost us- in terms of cash paid - to get the debt relief?
Again I ask;
Is it standard practice
What is the going rate?
The 10% of payment value quoted by Elendu is incredulous where in the world is that kind of thing done.
Will the governments of all these countries continue this proces with Nigeria if Elendus' "findings" were true?
If they were true, why have all the human rights groups that have pleaded with all these countries for an outright write-off not said anything about it?
Please people, the same people propagating this conspiracy theory are also the ones who rubbished the deal when it was first announced. Debt forgiveness is good if we can confirm that it is a clean break and no future penalties will apply.
God save Nigeria.

@ Conscience. Those EFCC will swoop on are people who defaulted on insider credit. Example is that of a bank chairman who took out almost 17 billion naira in insider credit from the bank he oversees.

ono:
Check ou the latest on Debt ''forgiveness''

http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=38244

Methink we are incuring more debts already.

My brother dont lbe fazed by the headline. The questions i believe we should be asking are;
1. Is it standard practice to employ such consultants?
2. What is the going rate? Are we paying more than we ought to?
3. How long do we have to pay them or what is their work scope etc

Kalah:
Wow! this is one big question that has always been on my mind, why is the arabic inscription on the naira note?

Someone asked how can this fill his stomach, i think this is part of the attitude problem that has kept us down this long. The truth of the matter is Nigeria does not need all this grand moves for change because the little things we usally overlook are the things that make us who we are.

Let me give the conspiracy theorist some to bite on. why is there an Arabic inscription the Nigerian Army's coat of arms. Think about it Secular State abi.

Bros you hit it on the nail. My theory is that this arabic deal is part of a long term plan to islamize this country. Even the colours of our flag are symbolic of islam. Dont forget the several attempts to turn us into an OIC member. They just wont give up. They should know that we know and that Nigeria belongs to all irrespective of tribe, tongue or religion. Nuf said.

Fellow igerian do not be deceived. If OBJ was on the look out for a successor he would have groomed someone by now (just over a year to the elections). The fact that he is not grooming anyone and he does not seem to want any other person to enter Aso Rock tells me only one thing - he wants to stay beyond 2007. SHINE YOUR EYEs!

@Owo. I stand corrected
@Ono. You've said it all.

owo:
@otitoloju : Nigeria owns 60% in all the JV's except shell where it owns 55%. That comes to about 57.5% and not 51%.

What are the cash-call requirements? It is the same money from the Niger Delta that is re-invested...as cashcall. So what meanest thou?
Apart from bonga that just started producing ( around sept 05) about 25kbpd... no other 'deep water' is producing.

In all... we are still awaiting the computation of what Ogun State or all the other states apart from those exempted by Ono are contibuting to the National Coffers.

@Owo. My mistake. In the Shell JV NNPC owns 51%, the remaining 49% is split between Shell, Agip and Elf. Shell sholud own about 40% of it.
I want you to understand that by breaking down the figures i was not trying to say Ogun or any other states contributes as much to the national coffers as Delta or any other producing state. I was trying to put things in perspective. We all grew up with the story of immense wealth that we tend to get carried away by the figures.

I support a minimum of 50% derivation. I have been the Niger Delta area for over 14years and i find it hard to reconcile the level of development to output; it's like day and night. That said i wish to say that i believe that our problem as a nation has not been in the area of natural resource - every part of the country has something that can be a money spinner - our problem has always been in the area of adding value. So instead of exporting refined petroleum products and bye-products we export the crude. Instead of using gas in petrochemical plants, methanol plants (a money spinner) we flare it or at best we liquefy it ( a recent development). We export cocoa beans instead of cocoa butter, powder etc.
Adding value to resources creates jobs and also creates other opportunities. Example; South Africa invested the equivalent of 770billion naira in infrastructure in the Mpumalanga province (created after the first democratic elections in 1994). Today that province generates the equivalent of 1.2 trillion naira per year from manufacturing industry and the labour-intensive hospitality industry.
Imagine Delta, Rivers and Bayelsa controlling their resources and adding value to it.....
Imagine the middle belt states adding value to their agricultural outputs.......
Imagnie Ondo and Oyo adding value to their cocoa.....
Just imagine...... let your mind run wild

@Ono
I have no interest to join issues with you on this matter. I also dont think you need to start sounding like we are having a "roforofo" fight. I have said my bit. Cheers

ono:
Let the Federal Government account for the remaining 87% - since 1958. How much has the components states in the country contributed to the national purse since 1958? Delta State alone contributed some 5 trillion naira to the Federal coffers in 2004 ! How much did Ogun State contribute? Abeg, make una go siddon!

@Ono
Sorry to jump into the midst of this argument. Me thinks that your figure is wrong. I also think there are 2 explanations for that;
1. You dont know the right figures
2. You know the right thing but you are trying to mislead so as to bolster your argument.
Whatever the case you have misrepresented the facts.
Check out the maths below
[/b]5 trillion naira converted to dollars @ between 130 - 140 to a dollar will give equivalent of $35.7 and $38.5 billion.
[b]$35.7 and $38.5 billion at an average price of $39 per barrel will give between 940million and 1billion barrels of total production from Delta  state alone.
[b][/b]The daily production to achieve that will be in the range of 2.57 and 2.77million barrels per day (940million to 1billion divided by 365 days)
[b][/b]In actual fact Delta state does not produce this much a day. Nigeria achieved highest output ever this [b][/b]year at 2.45million (from all the states and deep water prospects).
[b][/b]To further put holes in your argument, Nigeria only owns 51% of the JV operations. So Delta will need to [b][/b]produce btw 5 and 5.4 million barrels a day to contribute 5trillion to the coffers of the nation
[b][/b]It gets more interesting; if you consider cash call requirements accruals will be less.
So my brother, look b4 you leap dont just jump to conclusions.
Have a happy discussion.

It's definitely not a belief. A belief is anchored on faith and conviction. I doubt if an atheist can relate to such principles.

Poly graduates no be their problem, they had better focus on how they will give good ROI for my friends who bought theirs shares in the IPO.
FYI, Fola Adeola (the founding CEO of GTBank) started out his banking career with an HND from Yaba tech.