₦airaland Forum

Sincerely, this looks like my Principal and his vice Principal back in the days.

Interesting and very informative piece.

See what I'm thinking: We've been buying fuel at exorbitant prices since the scarcity arrived. We can afford an extra 20 Naira on Fuel. An extra N20 based on your 2013 calculations of 6.2 billion liters would amount to 1.2trillion Naira per year. Over the next 4 years that is 4.8 trillion or $24 billion. If we decide to focus all that money on just 1 thing: rail infrastructure, both intracity and intercity. That way we connect the whole country with over 3000 km of world class rail infrastructure.

This was the Sure-p idea but it was fraught with corruption and scattered across Sectors. Focusing on rail infrastructure would drastically reduce our fuel importation and at the same time save our roads and reduce travel time.

Question coming.

Meet Young Cucumber Farmer Who Makes N2m In Three Months

By Ikechukwu Onyewuchi on May 10, 2015

• Govt Needs To Revisit Policies On Importation of Seeds — Ezirim

IN Nigeria, it is unusual to use farming in the same sentence with youths. The grueling crudeness of farm work, man-hour and patience required to harvest the fruits of farming are not just unattractive, they have, over the years, driven young people out of farms and villages.

Instead, the finesse of white-collar affluence, allure of fast-cars and crispness of fast-money, have worked together to present the sky-scraper-saturated cities as the destination for fortunes, opportunities and the good life to the young school leaver.

Running against this trend, Imo State-based agribusinessman, Jasper Chidera Ezirim, in his mid-twenties, has decided to build his wealth on this forgotten cornerstone — agriculture.

Through organic farming, he is leading a revolution in wealth creation, with a resolve to use agriculture as a tool to dislodge Aliko Dangote as the richest black man.

In an interview with The Guardian, recently, Ezirim, who started his agribusiness formally in 2011, said that he wants to prove to fellow youths that agriculture was and still is a goldmine.

He runs a cluster of vegetable farms with 20 staff and consults for smallholder farmers, deploying his expertise and a degree in economics to manage a business he believes is more important to the Nigerian economy than the oil and gas sector.

The love for agriculture runs in his family as both his paternal and maternal parents were farmers. Having been exposed to the practice at a young age, Ezirim proposed to build a life around farming, only he would do so by getting the right information through formal education.

He said: “My paternal grandmother was more of a yam and cassava farmer. She had goats and chickens, too. I spent a lot of time with my grandmothers, especially during school holidays. I think that’s when I began to fall in love with agriculture. I could play with those goats for hours as a kid.

“My maternal grandmother had goats and chickens. She had an orchard beside the house and a vegetable farm at the backyard. She was the type that whenever she visits your place and tastes a good flavour in the food you served her, she could ask for the pepper, tomato and others. She would take the seed home, dry and plant at the backyard. You can practically cook a soup in her house without visiting the market.”

He said as he grew older, he discovered that love and passion was not enough to attain success in agriculture, one needed to appreciate and believe that it can be a profitable and sustainable business, in both short long term basis.

“I think that appreciation came when my dad passed away, and my mum got into full-time agriculture. She was able to open my eyes to its profitability. I saw what I needed to or not do, to make it in agribusiness,” he said.

However, his journey to gain formal education was littered with thorns, as he attended three universities in Nigeria, seeking information that would transform his dreams to reality. After several disappointments in the country, he bagged a degree in economics from a university in Benin Republic.

When asked about the response of his peers and elders, when he decided to go into agriculture, he said it was not too difficult a choice because he was known to be stubborn with decisions, especially ones he is passionate about. He said some people protested. Stressing that his love for agriculture was deep and contagious, he beams with pride that his efforts paid off.

According to him, “It (the choice) was not that difficult, because I never really kept friends. Although, few people that knew really about it wanted to bite me (Laughs). But it was not that difficult. I mean, if you sit down with me for a few minutes, you will want to quit your job and go into agriculture.

“People were skeptical about it, at first, but because I was notoriously stubborn, they didn’t bother talking me out of it. They were 100 per cent sure I won’t listen. So why waste time and energy? I am just happy that my decision has gradually been justified.”

Ezirim works closely with technical partners from Thailand, who, he said, have been instrumental to the success he has recorded. He explained that he deploys their methods in his operations, especially in handling exotic vegetables in his farms, noting that the methods he applies have made it possible to grow exotic vegetables in Eastern Nigeria, a terrain, which many people erroneously believe is unwelcoming to such products.

“A lot of people know me as the ‘Thai farmer’,” he said, jokingly, adding: “I had the opportunity to visit and learn from some Thai farmers, which have given me the privilege to establish a partnership with the Thai Agro Group.

“I practically use Thai technology in my farm and believe in their philosophies, which has been part of the building points that has stabilised their economy as a farming nation. So, it has been a privilege learning and working with the Thais. There has been a common belief among my people in the south that exotic vegetables only grow in the north. I am determined to expose to that as an absolute lie.”

“If done well, this venture produces over 300 per cent Return On Investment (ROI) annually. The major problem has been doing it well, which is using minimum input to get maximum output. That’s where the Thai guys come in. They have trained and equipped me enough for that,” he continued.

He said that, from his experience, making millions as a farmer is easy and can be done in a short time, stressing that all that is needed is, at least, a hectare of land and any of the good vegetables.

On the prospects from his farm, he revealed: “A farm like mine costs about N600,000 per hectare. If one is planting cucumbers, from a hectare, you should make nothing less than N2 million in three months.

That is if it is done right. It has been achieved by a lot of people I have consulted for here in Nigeria. It boils down to understanding what to do.

I and my team, at a time, were able to make a net profit of N1million on cucumber in 2 months planting the cu999 variety sold by Thai Agro. To be honest, it was not an easy task, but we were able to pull it off.”

However, he said a major headache has been the attitude of workers he had to work with, decrying the fact that youths complain about unemployment but cannot deliver on the little responsibilities thrown at them and are lacking in qualities such as faithfulness, commitment, trustworthiness and motivation to work.

http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/2015/05/meet-young-cucumber-farmer-who-makes-n2m-in-three-months/

Jasper7 is a nairalander. See his Cucumber thread here: https://www.nairaland.com/2015314/modern-cucumber-farming-1-million

Stabilize the prices joor!!

You can use a decree or an edict anyone that suits.

Yehman:
U follow am build the house?

The house is different from the road in front of the house.

The question should be "Na im build the road"?

Its called a cash transfer from Niger Delta oil wells straight to the pockets of the teeming almajiris.

7500 x 25 million = 187.5 billion Naira monthly. Thats about 2.25 trillion in a year. Which is like half our entire budget.

Thats more than the entire monthly allocation of the 9 oil producing states combined.




Now tell me, which is better?
1) Giving N7500 to 25 million poor people to eat food, smoke ganja, buy new clothes, sleep with prostitutes et al

or

2) Giving averagely 1 million Nigerian entrepreneurs 1.87 million Naira to start out new productive enterprises every year.




Well whoever came up with this is only trying to fool the gullible.

If this is true.....then quite disappointing. I expected to see a long list of technocrats. The is a list filled with failed politicians.

Timipre Sylva? Minister of Transport? ?

Chris Ngige?? Minister of Works? ?

Fayemi? ? Minister of Commerce? ?

Tam David West is 79 years old and he would head the most sensitive ministry in the country?

Ango Abdulahi, the man who threatened to make the government ungovernable if Jonathan contested is adviser of Agriculture?

75 year old Umar Mutallab, father of the underwear terrorist is made minister of finance?


Looks like a terrible list except for Ezekwesili and Pat Utomi.

Fashola would have made more sense as Minister of works. The man spent the lasts 8 years constructing roads and assessing projects and suddenly you send him to an office to look at law books. What a waste'of talent! I know he studied law but his talent would have been put better even as Foreign Affairs minister.


This list is disappointing. And it doesn't look like the great talent hunter, Tinubu had any input in this. I hoped to see the list filled with young talented individuals but all I see here is old men who had done little or nothing in the past to justify these positions.
Looks like we are in for a long thing in the next four years.

Please Tinubu do something about this list!!

barcanista:
Very Important:
1. If you are an Igbo Supremacist, Ijaw Supremacist, Urhobo Supremacist, Efik Supremacist, Ikwerre Supremacist, Ibibio Supremacist or any other tribal supremacist, this thread is NOT for you. Though we will be glad to see everyone drop their supremacist ideology.

2. We don't need to be violent to get what we want. If you are a promoter of violence, please drop the idea and embrace strategic and non violent means. The West(Yorubas) is a typical example of pursuing an interest without firing a single bullet. It is not cowardice to be strategic, it is not bravery to be violent.

3. To people of non-eastern origin, this thread is neither an Eastern supremacist thread nor a racist thread. It is a thread that is aimed at promoting the socio-political and economic interests of the "easterners" within the Nigeria State(similar to Afenifere Renewal Group and Northern Groups).

4. The[size=14pt] term "easterners" include our brother in the defunct Mid-western region I.e Present day Edo and Delta States. It does not exclude those with "eastern" origin[/size] in diaspora.

That's why the term "southerners" is much more ideal than "easterners". Geographically, the The SS/SE region is truly Southern Nigeria. Look at the map properly. The real east is Taraba and Adamawa.

Interesting

Osibanjo supports the privatization. He said APC believes in the privatization.

To reverse the privatization would be terrible cos its proven beyond reasonable doubt that government cannot successfully run enterprises.
However it wouldn't be bad to revoke the licenses of the companies failing to meet the privatization agreement terms. Largely, the failures are a function of either poor experience from the license holders or lack of funding. So if the licenses are given to more competent companies, that would be fine.

Lagos is not South West.

It is North,South, East, West.

Eggcelent:
Such a great piece. There are basically two sets of people celebrating GEJ for conceding electoral defeat. They are; his die-hard supporters who are holding on to the last straw by finding something, no matter how irrelevant, to celebrate about their principal; 2. those who lack understanding of democratic principles & consequently think that a President is like a god whose Will cannot be questioned & hence, his weakness/failings should be seen as benevolence. The latter group are in the majority. However, we shall get there one day when Nigerians won't see their elected officials as benefactors, but contracted & well-paid public SERVANTS. Until then, the informed minority will have to keep bearing with, while also enlightening the vast ignorant and/or sentimental majority.

In which of the two groups does APC belong? Because the official release from APC described his actions in effusive words a la 'statesman extraordinaire' et al?

And what did producing Senate Presidents Chuba Okadigbo, Pius Anyim, Ken Nnamani et al do for the development of Ndigbo?

What did Benue benefit for producing David Mark?

Infact, how did Abeokuta or Otta benefit from OBJ. Or how did Otueke benefit from Jonathan?

The earlier we realize that representation doesn't equate development, the faster we would cure ourselves of tribal politics.

Too much money

This is shameless now!

More like parasitic.

The price of cocoa is up, 3000 usd/ton. why not invest heavily in cocoa rather than await oil funds from the Niger Delta.

With this kind of thinking from Osun, the militants would be justified to stop oil flow.

Interesting pictures!!
Jonathan seems very unruffled~!!
A great man!!

Nice!!

In 2003, Buhari contested, lost but was not deterred.
In 2007, Buhari contested, lost but still wasn't deterred.
In 2011, he contested again, lost again, and was discouraged for age had taken a toll and his dreams began to fail, alas he didn't give up.
In 2015, he contested again, this time around with a much better strategy and the rest as they say is history!!


It is the power of consistency. A lesson we should all learn. Never give up no matter the challenges that face your aspirations.
It takes a gigantic strength of character to continue on a path you believe even when it appears insurmountable. I pray and hope that strength of character is brought to bear on decisions that would provide growth and development for this country!!

A big congrats to Gen Muhammadu Buhari and Pastor Osibanjo!! I pray and hope that its victory for all Nigerians!!
A big congrats to President Goodluck Jonathan also, who has deepened our democracy in ways too numerous to mention.

What exactly is an outrage??

That Bayelsa failed to come out en masse to vote at 50% turnout??

Accept results in good faith!! Thats sportsmanship!

Pataki:
Where is Jamiu aka Jmaine, PapaBrowne, Talaka aka taharqa, chukwudi44, that mgbeke mod, hoesisi, Jakumo, that alatenuje poster aka seeking protection et al? Despicable beings.

Pataki, I dey here!!

AS in if Buhari is declared winner, I'll give him my full support. Growth and development comes first for me. Whoever would bring it, good!!
I am hopeful that if anything, his integrity would reduce the gross malfeaseance Nigeria has known for decades. Plus he is surrounded by a couple smart men like Osibanjo, Fashola and a few others. Hopefully the likes of Ezekwesili, Soludo et al would have an input in the next government!! I'm hopeful. My only fear though is that in addition to the drop in the price of oil, if not handled properly, the quantity of oil accruable would tank considerably.

And by the way, I was near neutral in this election. Didn't campaign for or against any party. I will support Buhari if he is declared winner and puts up a government that is favourable to my perceptions of development!

[size=14pt]Please note that the governor of Rivers state went to the poll as a voter and not as a governor.[/size]


Thats my best part of the article.'Amaechi forget say election day, we are all humans. That his one vote is one vote.
What did he want to do with the result sheet when they hadn't even started accreditation.

Honourable budding lawyer!!

You got angry with the GTB CSO unnecessarily.

He basically told you the reality. Plus its much more convinient.

Since you are not illiterate, there isnt any reason why you shouldnt have online banking. On my phone, I make transfers worth ,millions at a go, no sweat, no hassle. Why on earth would you keep goimg to join those unnecessary queues at GT bank just to make a simple transaction.

Getting the Token device is actually a favor and you would thank the GT staff after you start using it as it would simplify your life pretty much!
Ive been using it for over 5 years now and Im beyond impressed!!

The posters posting is the exact reason why nobody should pay attention to all the fake results flying around.
Sambo won his ward and the results are stated clearly in Punch in the article below,

[/b][b]

Sambo delivers polling unit, defeats APC

MARCH 28, 2015 : GODWIN ISENYO, KADUNA 191 COMMENTS

print

Vice President Namadi Sambo, after several defeats at his polling unit by opposition party, trounced the All Progressives Congress at his new polling unit in the Saturday’s presidential and National Assembly elections.

In the 2011 general elections, Sambo was roundly defeated in his polling unit, ward and local government.

However, in the Saturday’s polls, the Returning Officer, Olorufemi Raphael, while announcing the result at the Kabala Doki Ward 5, Police College polling unit 11, said PDP polled 105 votes, APC 20 votes, NCP 01, and while APA 01.

The Vice President had earlier, on the eve of the Saturday’s election, relocated his polling unit from Link/Camp Road to swimming pool road by the Kaduna Police College fence.

The result of the wards and the Kaduna North LGA were still being awaiting as of the time of filing this result.

This will determine the overall victory of the PDP in the area.

TechRev:
Many in SE did not vote. They want Biafra. Many sat at home as Radiobiafra instructed them. Thats why you dont see any results from there on nairaland. Some did vote but a great number stayed at home. Now those eating from PDP are calculating how to manufacture votes for GEJ. And inec just made it easier to manufacture it by abandoning the card reader. Nigeria is a ZOO!!

You are decieving your self!!

The crowds were overwhelming.

It is the SW that had low turnout.

In my polling unit in Delta State, we recorded almost 85% turnout despite it bieng a high brow area where voter apathy is usually higher.

I didnt see the Facebook & Nairaland & Twitter generation in my polling unit.
I desperately searched for people between the ages of 18-25 and out of over 700 voters in my unit, there was non in that age range!!

Not saying that all users of FB and NL & Twitter are populated only by this age group, however the constitute the majority of users and yet with all the noise they made online they didnt come out to vote.

I didnèt see any rigging in that video.

All I saw was people queued up in an orderly fashion trying to vote while a loud mouth shouts at the background of the video!!

Looks like the turnout in the SW is pretty low.
In my polling unit in Delta state, we were over 700 out of 850 accredited voters.
And its actually a highbrow area where voter turnout should typically be lower!

Wondering at the less than 100 Im seeing as results here!

Very sad. How can you utililze untested card readers for an all important election of this nature!

I previously supported the use of card readers but what Im seeing is not funny.

You can say your prayers here!! Or you can just say Amen.


I pray these in Jesus Name:

-That we would witness the freest, fairest and most peaceful elections ever conducted on these shores!

-That those boiling for violence would be paralyzed in their minds before they can congregate.

-That guidance and protection would be upon all frontliners (INEC STAFF, SECURITY OFFICERS, YOUTH CORPERS ET AL)

-That the contestants would be graceful enough to accept the elections results and seek redress constitutionally where necessary.

-That no innocent life would be lost.

-That all eligible and willing voters would be able to execute their voting franchise.

-That going forward, Nigeria would experience a meteoric rise in the comity of nations!

-That the will of God be done in the country.

-That the desires of the enemies of this nation to shed more blood via this election would be totally defeated!



Peace be unto us all!!

Vote your choice!!
Be a good sportsman. Accept victory of defeat with hope for a better future!!

ziccoit:
@PassingShot, brilliant analysis and I agree with you except your over generosity to PDP in SW. I'm on ground too in SW. I feel GMB is going to put up better show in the SW states. I even tagged SW as the burial ground of PDP/GEJ in this election. Is like a movie titled "SW against GEJ". People are expressively and palpably angry with GEJ and are ready to reject him massively at poll. I spoke with the people who agreed to vote for the first time in their lives just to ensure GEJ would not come back.

You actually assume SW represents the newspaper reading elite in Lagos, Ibadan and Abeokuta.
The real SW voters are in the hinterland.
While its not going to be a walk in the park for Jonathan, I expect a single point victory tipping either way.
Your assumptions are too optimistic and exposes your political naivety. If you understand politics you know that structures win elections not noise.

She's OK. bUT i LOVE SEEING BEAUTIFUL WOMEN WITHOUT MUCH MAKEUP