₦airaland Forum

Bitterness breeds emptiness!! Hollow speech!
If Bakare can just mention his contributions(besides protesting and fighting) to our collective development, I'll begin to listen to him.

Good Questions! So much money, very little impact!

$16 Billion Dollars later, security is barely visible. $24 Billion Capital vote and almost no real infrastructure development.

Truth be told, we have a structural problem that would prevent us from seeing any meaniful impact in time to come. There is too much federal character in the way our resources are allocated and that doesn't help matters.

I am hopeful though, as I'm beginning to see some fundamental changes in the operational patterns. Hopefully these changes would lead to some improvement. Afterwards, perhaps critical mass would set in and we would begin to see real impact.

I think the reporters didn't hear properly. 1985 looks more ideal to me. Because that was the period the man went to UNIPORT.

Subsidy must be removed for this country to move forward!

Rather than spending 1.3 trillion on fuel subsidy year, I'd rather it be spent on any of these three!

Agriculture Loans and Subsidies

Entrepreneurial loans

Education Subsidies


Any of these three would be fine. Not a useless consumption subsidy like fuel.

1.3 Trillion would provide 1 million Naira in loans to 1.3 million Farmers. Do you have the slightest idea what that would do for our economy ??

1.3 Trillion would give 10 million Naira in loans to 130,000 entrepreneurs. Do you have the slightest idea what that would do for job creation??

1.3 Trillion would renovate 13,000 secondary schools at 100 million Naira per school.

All these can happen in just one year if we have good leadership that would knock off this nonsense called fuel subsidy

History Notes- January 12 2068.

Goodluck Ebele Jonathan served Nigeria first as a Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State from 1999- 2006. He then moved on to serve as Governor of the same state for one and half year. He was made vice president and served in that capacity from 2007 to 2010 before taking over the mantle of leadership after the death of his boss.
He won an election in 2011 and served out his 4 year tenure. In 2015 he won another election and served his country till 2019. He is currently the longest serving democratically elected President the country has had till date. His total years as president was 9years.

HOW TO SPOT A JUNK TABLOID!

[quote author=High_Chief link=topic=826824.msg9779953#msg9779953 date=1324054684]The fairytale wedding between Funke Fowler and Abiodun Kuku, children of Lagos State Inland Revenue (LIRS) boss, Tunde Fowler and Ogbeni Oja of Ijebuland, Chief Bayo Kuku,; has come and gone, but the ripples caused by the event, described as the most flamboyant wedding in recent times, are taking a toll on the relationship between the bride’s father and Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State.

The wedding ceremony of the young couple was in two parts; and held in two continents. The first part was the traditional wedding held on October 22, 2011. The venue was the Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS), Lagos. The ceremony witnessed a sheer display of affluence as the crème de la crème of the society struggled to get seats at the event.

The Forbes richest man in Africa, Alhaji Aliko Dangote; National leader of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; Federal lawmakers, Governors, Captains of Industry and who is who in the country were present at the ceremony which was conservatively reckoned to have gulped over N100 million.

Part two of the ceremony was held in the United Arab Emirates on Saturday, November 19, 2011.

We gathered that [size=14pt]Dubai, the capital city of the UAE,[/size] was bombarded by the Nigerian nouveaux riche who had gone to witness the wedding. Moneybags in Nigeria took chartered flights to Dubai, while sources claimed Fowler flew all his guests to the Arabian city first class. Indeed, the Fowler and Kuku wedding attracted so much hype, owing to what many described as wasteful spending.

Expectedly, the Lagos Inland Revenue Service boss, Babatunde Fowler has received several knocks from many quarters. Critics have questioned
how he got so much money as a civil servant to blow on his daughter’s wedding.

This brazen show of affluence, we learnt, so much infuriated the Lagos State Governor , Raji Fashola, who could not disguise his displeasure
with Fowler over the negative reactions the wedding attracted to his government.

According to a source, “Governor Fashola has been receiving many comments which suggest that Fowler used tax payers’ money to stage the
wedding for his daughter. Their argument is that people who worked hard for their money would not spend the way Fowler did. Neither Mike Adenuga norDangote would spend like that.”

We further learnt that in a meeting recently, Fashola lambasted Tunde Fowler over the ostentatious wedding.

“Fashola told Fowler in the presence of the people at the meeting that he (Fowler) is too flamboyant and extravagant. And if he could have his way, the LIRS boss would be removed from office immediately,” our source added.

We learnt that since the one-in-town wedding, relations between the Governor and Fowler have been frosty.


http://www.globalnewsnig.com/?p=280[/quote]Dubai is not the capital of UAE. Abu Dhabi is.

hercules07:
Mark is a doofus and charity begins at home, what has he done for his idoma people?

[quote author=Rhino.5dm link=topic=821946.msg9744069#msg9744069 date=1323635992]Well said! Until you travel through Idoma land to realize the kind of cruel animal mark is. The whole Idoma land is so backward in all aspect of development. The only trade flourishing in that place is Prostitut!ion

Not for the PDP rigging machine, mark cannot win a local government election.

Young Alhaji and General Onoja won the last two elections he contested for, but with PDP rigging machinery and corrupt judges to bribe, white became black.

We all know why the id!ot is barking out at this moment. Presidency cannot be for the North by 2015!!! So, mark and co can kick the bucket.[/quote]What is the job of a senator?? Apart from making laws to the benefit of his people, please explain to me how you expect he impacts the Idoma people
If you expect him to engage in infrastructure development in Idoma land, I don't think his job description as senate president includes that.

As a Senate President, he has shown extraordinary leadership in the face of historical and primordial divisions. He is one general I respect.

Nigerians are funny people! We keep asking for infrastructural development and yet we aren't will to pay for any of it!

We dont pay taxes.
We refuse to pay tolls.
We dont do community service.
We just know how to complain.

Why wouldn't Government officials keep eating money when we dont want to contribute to our own development!

Anybody that has seen the quality on that road should be willing to pay the tolls.

Haba!! To think that before the expansion of the road, Lagosians were spending a whole lot extra on fuel alone as a result of the constant gridlock that the road was known for.

First, he probably has a slightly distorted thought pattern!!He does have an interesting mind! But many people do, so thats not exactly a biggie!

However, Dude needs closure! She should just help him out maybe send an email with a simple reason as to why she cannot go on another date!! That guy might just commit suicide!!

7 years and 5 months more for Gbawe to continue his bitterness campaign!!

How does this article make any sense!!

First there is no link. Second, how do 6000 people travel in a convoy It would take at least 500 14 seater buses to make that trip!! Utilize your imagination for a moment and picture 500 toyota hiace buses moving from maybe Port Harcourt to Abuja Now imagine these 500 buses been stopped at Lokoja and picture the massive gridlock that would ensure!!

Sometimes the love for propaganda beclouds the capacity for basic reasoning!!

Mr Etimek, surely is one of them custom guys that make the system so rotten!! The corruption businessmen go through in your hands just to clear legitimately imported goods, God have mercy!!
The Nigerian populace would welcome with very open hands any attempt to clear out all the nonsense bottlenecks you guys have created just to milk the system!

Nigeria imports $5 Billion of wheat yearly making us one of the largest per capita importers in the world.
70% of that wheat is used in bread making.
If we can convert 40% of that wheat into cassava, then we would not only be saving over $2 billion yearly, we would have succeeded in creating an enormous market for cassava farmers in Nigeria.
When cassava becomes a $2-3 billion dollar industry, then graduates would go into farming instead of roaming the streets.

Its a win win and this is an excellent policy.
The best incentive though would be to produce bread with cassava that tastes good and yet sells for much cheaper.

Ohaneze1:
Anambra is the 2nd largest concentration of commercial banks after lagos. Edo state is distant 5th or 6th.
Your research failed you. Open this links for your knowledge:

http://www.ubagroup.com/customerservice/branchlocator.jsp

http://www.ubagroup.com/customerservice/branchlocator.jsp


Mention how many FDI since past 8yrs that has found its way in Edo state? The most recent FDI in the Nigeria which I know of are the following: SABMILLER of South Africa and LG WORLD Korea.

http://www.sabmiller.com/index.asp?pageid=149&newsid=1525

http://thenationonlineng.net/web2/articles/43734/1/LG-Electronics-partner-Anambra-govt-/Page1.html

http://g1international.com/anids.html


I challenge you to post any major FDI presently in your Edo state.

Mr Man, i might not be able to cope in a back to back argument with you, because first you lack simple understanding of economic issues and secondly you ignore simple facts!! I said "Benin city has the highest concentration of banks in any city outside Lagos". Benin City is not a state.  Anambra is. Anambra has 3 main cities Onitsha, Awka and Nnewi so having the second is not out of place. Fact still remains that Benin has more banks than Onitsha. And if you think 5th position in a state of 36 with Lagos, Rivers and Abuja guaranteed top slots is bad, then you need more lessons in simple introductory economics.

Again you don't exactly understand the term FDI as you assume it is limited to big investments from foreign companies. Hence your Sabmiller example. Edo state gets most of its FDI reciepts from Edo's in Diaspora and from western Union and Money Gram records, it receives much more than any other state in the country except Lagos. FYI, such reciepts amount to over $10bn yearly. Edo gets about 20% of all that money. Now that is over $2BN dollars yearly and it is the exactly reason why despite the fact that the state has no oil and very decrepit infrastructure it still tops the charts in any economic indices in the country.

Mr man, the articles you presented do not hold water. Every state Government boasts of impending investments. We've been hearing of Orient Refinery since 99, till today nothing. So all that Sab Miller and LG talk, until they start producing it is all mouth!!

Ohaneze1:
You are talking nonsense. What is Edo state doing in that list? The last I check there virtually nothing working in edo. Edo has very unfriendly business environment, the state does not have necessary platform and infrastructure, good economic/commercial environment for foreign or local investment for quick returns on investment.

I think you have a lot to learn about Economics. Edo state FYI is one of the most economically viable states in the country!!
And I can prove it with three facts.

1) Benin Airport is the 5 Busiest Airport in the country after Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Warri. It has long beaten Calabar and Enugu and would be 4th position if you remove non commercial Oil industry flights from Warri to Escravos.
Four major airlines fly out of Benin everyday - Aero, Arik, Virgin and Overland.
That is a huge signal of economic viability. It tells you that there is a huge population of people flying in and out of the city for business.
[url]http://www.faannigeria.org/documents/statistics/2009-Annual-Aircraft-Movement.pdf
[/url]

2) Benin City has the highest number of Banks in any city in Nigeria outside Lagos and Port Harcourt.  Banks would only open branches in cities where there is enough investment opportunitiesand that is exactly why Lagos by far tops the charts. Another interesting fact is that Benin has the highest amount of FDI reciepts compared to other cities except Lagos.
UBA bRANCHES:http://www.ubagroup.com/customerservice/branchlocator.jsp
First Bank Branches:http://firstbanknigeria.com/GetHelp/BranchATMLocator/tabid/115/Default.aspx

3)Edo State, as at 2007 was the 7th largest state in the country by GDP. It is probably 5th or 6th position now. With a population of just 3 million inhabitants, the state has one of the highest per capita GDP's in the country. It isn't by mistake that all the banks rush to Edo State to stake their investments. They understand economics and they follw the money from where it flows.  Edo state is without question one of the best investment destinations.
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nigerian_states_by_GDP
[/url]
Others:
Edo state has the highest number of universities in the country after Ogun. The Universities in Ogun state serve the Lagos population.
Edo State produces the highest number of doctors in the country. It is the only state in the country with three medical schools. Lagos is the only one with 2. The rest have either just one medical school or none at all.


I can continue reeling out statistics upon statistics as to why Edo state is an excellent investment destination. People in the know would tell you that there is hardly any state with as much potential. From tourism to  manufacturing, from services to agriculture, from industry to knowledge economics, whichever one you choose, the state is awash with so much opportunities.

The question is not exactly well put through!

Economic viability would be an investment consideration depending on what sector and kind of investment you are seeking.
For instance, if you are looking to invest in Agriculture, climate and soil fertility as well as land use and community activities would be your consideration. Benue, Taraba Adamawa, Edo as well as a couple others would be  ideal depending again on the kind of Agriculture.

If you are looking to invest in Manufacturing, you would be thinking access to markets, infrastructure and human resource. Lagos, Ogun, Rivers, Edo. et al would be good.

If you are thinking Services, then Lagos is numero uno. But there is also a host of economic potential in states like Rivers, Delta, Edo, Abuja, Akwa Ibom et al.

From my observation over time, After Lagos and Abuja, the South South states offer the best potential not just because of the oil industry, but also because of the large concentration of an educated populace.

So all in all, the most viable states for investment would depend on the specific sector and kind of investment you are seeking! So be specific!

Warri is definitely better than majority of the cities in Nigeria. Infact asides Lagos, PH and Abuja, I don't think there is any other city with the quantum of prosperity that avails in Warri.
Warri has the second highest per capita GDP in Nigeria after Abuja.
Warri is a multi billion dollar city with huge investments employing tens of thousands of people such as the Delta Steel Complex, Warri Refinery, EGTL and a host of others.
Warri has the highest number of hotels per capita in Nigeria after Abuja- ie number of hotels per population. The number of new hotels springing up on a daily is a sign of the economic prosperity that pervades the city! The new Protea hotel in Warri is not only the best Protea hotel in the country, it is definitely one of the best boutique hotels anywhere in West Africa. And guess what, despite the cheapest room being almost 40,000 naira per night, the hotel experiences more than 70% occupancy rate.
Warri is definitely one of the best cities to live in Nigeria. Salaries are high. Jobs are many compared with most Nigerian cities. Economic activity is robust!

Now, this is for all the haters:
Warri is better than all the cities in the south west. Whether na Ibadan, Osogbo,Ogbomosho,Ile-ife, Akure, Abeokuta, Ado Ekiti et al .I've been in many of these places and I know. In fact many of these cities would be third rate if they were in Delta State as they can't compete with even Asaba.

To put things in better perspective, the city of Warri alone flies more Air passengers than all of the 5 South West states combined. That is despite the fact that there are 3 other major airports within a 3 hr radius- Benin, Asaba, PH.
Lagos is not classified as a south west state.

Warri is better than all the cities in the North Central- Ilorin, Jos, Makurdi, Lokoja, Okenne you name it!

Warri is better than all the cities in the North East- Maiduguri, damaturu,bauchi,Yola, Jalingo, just call am!! Warri better pass!

It's only Kaduna and Kano in the North that can do any competition with Warri.

In the South East there are a couple good cities like Enugu and Owerri so I would leave out the south east from my comparisons!!

Warri is a lovely city and Wafarians love the city!
Uduaghan started well but appears to have lost focus. But to classify him as one of the worst Governors in the country is taking it too far. Even Oshiomole who appears to be working has actually worked on only about 4 roads in the whole of Benin! The roads in Benin City, which happens to be the home of my ancestors remains worse of than those in Warri, despite the fact that Oshiomole is said to be working!

I would be adding more beautiful pictures soon for the haters to keep hating!!

More booze to your elbow!!

The Iphone is an exo brain. Its a brain of its own tucked in ur pocket!! You will never understand it until you experience the power in the device!! Crazy apps, mean functions and simplicity at its finest!

Too much noisemaking from salary people!! We have heard enuff!! Wetin sef!!! U want to recieve the same amount of money being paid in the US and Canada

Haba people!! China pays pretty little and they are doing pretty good!!

I don't like this "increase my salary mentality" when there is no commensurate increase in productivity!! Companies would close down and you'll have no jobs!! Always look at the big picture!!

Gbawe:
Thank you . We will , however , have the pleasure of watching them and their tin god (GEJ) fail woefully. It is not possible to get water out of a stone and it is not possible to get any performance from a Politician who has been very mediocre and "underwhelming" his entire dull career. In fact , OBJ and others chose GEJ as VP to Yar Adua because they "did not want an Atiku for Yar Adua" i.e a politician with ambition and his own mind.

The obvious clue that indicates total future failure can be gleaned from how almost every AGIP and ruinous hands, involved in destroying Nigeria, (bar the ones now fighting him through Boko Haram) are 'firmly' behind GEJ. If that is not a recipe for monumental failure then I don't know what is. Already we have seen GEJ making decisions that glaringly serve the interest of his AGIP puppet masters and not ordinary Nigerians. "Fresh air" my foot.

So you wish Nigeria and its citizens 4yrs of failure because your candidate didn't win the elections! How pathetic!! Gbawe, which kin heart you get?? You aren't too different from the Boko Haram!
My advice: Get used to GEJ already! He is here for the next 4 years!! I and many others would be benefeciaries of the new private sector driven Nigeria!! You and your ilk of other pessimists can continue to sulk for the next 4 years!! The choice is yours!

Gbawe:
Oga , go and sit down somewhere. That Ribadu did not win is a thing of the past. That his supporters , like myself, posited he had a chance is commensurate with the thinking , and rightly so , that Nigerians have suffered enough to know that the PDP has nothing to offer through GEJ or anyone else.

Your are delusional because you are the only one seeing roses when everyone sees dead thorns. Nigeria is drifting seriously and all GEJ can do is procrastinate and abet his AGIP pals . Anyway, you have admitted most of what you write is "spin and spell Strategy" so I don't see how anyone will now take you seriously - if they ever did. i know I did not . In fact most people know you , like most GEJ fans, for the deceitful person you are. Just look at what proproman wrote against your argument in the silly Buhari and Bakare murder thread you now admit is "spin and spell strategy".


https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-652226.96.html

Those with an eye would see roses where others see thorns!! Much later, those that saw thorns would wonder why they couldn't see the roses back then.
Go and ask the likes of Airtel, Zain, Orascom, BT, Vodacom et al who saw thorns when the likes of MTN saw roses back in 2001! Now they are paying billions just to get a pie!! My philosophy is simple: In the presence of immense disorder, there is always extraordinary opportunity as long as the policies are right!! Look beneath my profile and you would understand. Jonathan is making the policies right so all the immense disorder would present Nigerians with even more extraordinary opportunities!

Forget Buhari. He is history. Lots of well meaning Nigerians shared the same opinion as I did. SERAP and a host of other organisations were willing to do the same. Its only in Nigeria that people incite the populace and get away with it. Wounds have healed somewhat, so people have put things behind them.
One thing is sure though, Buhari and other politiciians would henceforth think twice b4 making such comments because citizens like papabrowne are going to stand up to curtail his excesses!!

texazzpete:
At every turn, thiss man speaks from a position of ignorance. I'm deeply dissapointed in him for these words.
There are too many holes in his argument.Has he even taken time out to discuss with the CBN?

Surely you didn't read the post. That is a very unintelligent thing to do before making a comment!!

^^^
Delusional Ha, its you who is delusional na Wasn't it you who actually taught that Ribadu was going to win. You probably silently screamed blue murder when your own Tinubu cast his almighty vote for Jonathan. Now tell me, btw you, Ribadu, myself and Tinubu, who is delusional? Obviously, Ribadu, myself and Tinubu knew Jonathan was the right man for the job. Its only you who taught otherwise! Bro, delusional peeps actually assume every other person is delusional!

The case against Buhari and Bakare: another spin and spell strategy!! Get used to it already!!

^^^
We had an election to win and we won at any cost!! Spin and spell inclusive

The important thing now is to move this potentially great nation forward! And things are looking up!!
Don't you just love the new Trade and Investment ministry?? The country is expanding and opportunities are cropping up in numerous areas. The man with an eye would take advantage and harness the opportunities! In this next 4 years, the private sector is king!!

I am comfortable with the Jonathan presidency and I'm happy, like most other Nigerians that voted him en masse that the man had a convincing victory! If anything, at least the world gave immense accreditation to his victory!!


Regards the Benin-Ore road, everything I wrote is true!! The pictures I snapped are true! The Ore section as I acknowledged in the article(which is less than 10km out of about 400km) still stays bad till this day and I am not sure why. Perhaps the rains have slowed down work!

Very nice info!! Thanks for the hit!! Just thinking: some kind of expository documentary should be made out of this!!

60 Per cent of all Foreign investment coming into Ghana emanates from Nigeria. That simply means that Nigerians are creating more jobs for Ghanaian than any other country in the world!! The Ghanaian government knows that without Nigerians, Ghana would be almost nothing investment wise!

Excellent piece! This Sam Omatseye guy!! Wow!!

^^^^
Not true!! For the population of Lagos, I think it has some of the most inadequate infrastructure in the country!!

Powerful!! Perfect fitting!! Now he can find a way to channel all that Goldman Sachs billions down here to fix our infrastructure!! If you understand how much is waiting outside to be channeled into PPPs and other project developments, you would love this new ministry!!
It is just right! It is for reasons like these I voted Jonathan!!
The $500 million Bond was a first in in series of many many more!!

hercules07:
All these Akingbola and ibru agents on Nairaland, you guys can shout from now till tomorrow, Islamic banks are here to stay.

They haven't even come and you say they are here to stay!! They will pass away just like Sharia law did in Northern Nigeria.

I really don't have a problem with Islamic banking, but as long as it is propagated by this suspected terrorist called Sanusi, it will not see the light of day!!

What do you expect from a CBN Governor whose only post graduate degree is a Masters Degree in Islamic Studies from a Sudanese University!
As someone rightly stated, the CBN Governor recieved training in Sudan in 1991 the same year as Osama Bin Laden.
Then there was a request for the opening of a Sharia bank named  Al Qaeda Bank!!!
Then again, the CBN governors best friend, Mutallab's son was involved in a global terrorist act!!

The man has got to be some kind of terrorist!!

I beg to disagree!  While I think it is important to industrialize in order to develop, I also think the global landscape is changing such that a country can actually choose to toe the Knowledge/Service route in its quest for development. A knowledge based economy these days could be as important as an industry based economy.

Steel factories are important but so is Information technology!! Nigeria already has a massive disadvantage in industrialization as cost of labor is already pretty much higher than the likes of China. Even if we make power cheap and infrastructure more efficient, we can never come down on our high labor costs! Nigerian engineers already earn much higher than their counterparts in Eastern Europe.
As a result, our products would always be more expensive that those produced by other countries.
Our forte is mainly in the knowledge areas. Information Technology, Creative Arts, Scientific Innovation, Finance and importantly Value added Agriculture.

Does that mean we should ignore industrialization?? By no means!! I think we should industrialize so we can produce our own goods and  be less dependent on imports. On whether it would be our passport to development, I don't think so!

My take is that our key focus should be on knowledge areas and we are already doing pretty well on these.
The Creative Arts and Media is one area we already have competitive advantage.
We can impact the globe and develop through[b] Information technology.[/b]
We can develop unique financial models that would make Nigeria a hub for everything Finance [/b]when it comes to doing business in Africa.
We can engage in [b]High end Research [/b]that would see us developing solutions unique to africa in all areas from Healthcare to Agriculture to Technology to a host of others.
We can find ways to [b]Add Value to Agricultural products where we already have competitive advantages.


Bottomline is we can develop without the kind of industralization that had been typical to western civilization because the global landscape has changed!!