₦airaland Forum

^^^^^^
Ok, High_Chief! I sincerely do not know how to respond to you. I find it hard responding to empty speeches that lack any form of intellect. So I hope you don't mind my ignoring your post. I understand your type. Little on brains(No disrespect intended), Big on Noise. Ever heard the phrase. . . Empty Barrels make the loudest noises?? !!

^^^^^^
Ok, High Chief Ignoramus! You are not the kind I would usually join issues with (not smart enough)! So I will let your speech pass.

FYI, Akingbola founded Intercontinental Bank alongside three other investors in February of 1989.

Light has improved tremendously for some months now. Infact there are many companies who have reduced their diesel consumption by something like 60%. Looks like this Jonathan guy might just be the one to solve this power problem once and for all.

[quote author=High_Chief link=topic=505777.msg6671223#msg6671223 date=1283249365]Some people here in NL really amuse me, that the thief(Akingbola) paid 500m does not mean he has been exonorated of the corrupt charges leveled against him, but just to be free from police custody, the case goes on. Definitely he will be convicted and must do his term. I dont have pity for anybody that embezzles public funds, yes no pity at all. If you cant do the time, dont do the crime[/quote]It's you who is a no brainer! Someone started Bank 21 years ago, grew it to become one of the top 500 banks in the world with assets of over N1.6trillion and was paying 18,000 staff salaries of over N100,000 monthly and you call him a thief because he has N500 million to bail himself.
Poverty mentality!!
The guy is innocent until proven guilty!

^^^^^^
I agree with you on the Ima Niboro part. The guy is just not the best Media Assistant. Jonathan needs an attack dog in the mould of Femi Fani Kayode.

Seriously though, there was nothing wrong in the President's decision to travel to Minna. In fact, for those with the ability to read between the lines, the visit only took place because Jonathan has victory in his hands and really wouldn't want to embarass IBB at the polls.

One of the best posts I have seen on Nairaland in a while!!!

Before I returned to Nigeria, I had this kind of sampling with many Nigerians. The same response you've gotten is the same response I got.
I returned , notwithstanding. Today, I can say categorically that, there are much better prospects in Nigeria for Nigerians abroad than there are prospects in the best countries abroad.

What many people don't realize is that Inefficiencies= Opportunities. Everything in Nigeria is inefficient, hence Nigeria is awash with too many opportunities.

It was about time!! I knew all these crappy reports were false. Was it Punch?? I think it was The Nation Newspapers that carried the false reports.They (Nation Newspaper) are serving Tinubu's plans and Tinubu is supporting Babangida's plans . The man is shameless. He is always working agaisnt good men like Fashola and Jonathan

[size=15pt]Jonathan in combat mood, takes on ‘mischief-makers’[/size]

PRESIDENT Goodluck Ebele Jonathan yesterday went on the offensive against newspapers’ reports and some perceived opponents believed to be working against his political interest.

Although the President is yet to declare his interest in the 2011 presidential race, his bodily language yesterday suggested that he may well be disposed to taking a shot at the Presidency.

Jonathan’s anger may have been provoked by reports in a national newspaper, which he described yesterday as misleading and designed to ridicule him and the office he holds.

The President accused the newspaper as embarking on consistent and persistent campaign of calumny against him.

In a statement yesterday in Abuja, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ima Niboro, said the medium erred “when it served up a tissue of lies today (yesterday) on his boss recent meeting with former military President, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida.

Niboro added that “this comes after an outrightly false claim served up on Sunday, to the effect that the President complained to some northern groups that visited him that some South-South governors were out to sabotage him. The newspaper refused to correct this false report even after it was firmly reminded that it failed to double-check its information, and that the story is completely untrue.

“Twenty-four hours later, the newspaper is at it again. This time, it is another lie that the President tried to talk Babangida out of his ambition to return to office.

“Anyone who has even a passing acquaintance with the President knows he is not one who dissuades people from pursuing their personal ambitions. This is even more so when there is no purpose to be served by it, since the long-suffering mass of the Nigerian people would decide who governs them in a free and fair contest,” he said.

The President restated his commitment to conducting free and fair elections next year, noting that “since June 12, 1993, Nigerians have in successive elections become wiser. The next presidential elections, no matter who the candidates are, would sound a resonant Never Again! Never again shall the will of the Nigerian people be quashed underfoot by the vaunting ambitions of a few.

“This is what the President has promised Nigerians, and he is fully committed to delivering on this pledge. It is, therefore, unfortunate that any self-respecting newspaper could lend its pages to reporting a series of lies against the person and the institution of the Presidency. These tales are unverified and sourced from openly interested parties. They are lies, pure and simple.”

Niboro added that the fact is Jonathan has been meeting different leaders on various occasions and platforms, with some informing him of their intention to run for the Presidency.

The presidential aide added that he has also met with others as a matter of courtesy being a sitting president, and committed to ensuring that the next presidential election is hitch-free.

According to Niboro, Jonathan has met former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Babangida,  Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, and they will meet him again soon.

He further said that the President has met with former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon, two-time president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Second Republic President, Alhaji Shehu Shagari; former Vice President, Alex Ekwueme, and former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar. He will meet with even more leaders and political actors as the race to 2011 heats up, Niboro declared.

“It is extremely uncharitable for anyone to spin these meetings in such negative light, and attempt to force the President into retreat from these well thought-out engagements with political leaders of all hue and disposition in the interest of the country.

“We think it is time to put an end to this long line of false stories and verify what is served to the general public.”

And as the controversy over the presidential ambition of Jonathan continues, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriation, Iyiola Omisore, has clarified that last Saturday’s endorsement of the Nigerian leader by the South-West leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was not against the zoning arrangement of the party.

Omisore, who is a gubernatorial aspirant of the party in Osun State, said despite the endorsement, the eventual party presidential standard-bearer will emerge at the party’s primaries to be conducted at a later date.

He spoke as the guest of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Ibadan, Oyo State.

Also yesterday, Babangida repeated that he would emerge as the president as Nigeria’s President next year “if the election will be conducted in a free and fair atmosphere.”

His National Coordinator for the 2011 election, AbdulYekeem Ibn Umar, said Babangida was not disturbed by the PDP presidential primaries which will hold soon.

Umar spoke with journalists at the Murtala Mohammed Airport II,(MMA2), Lagos. According to him, Babangida has proved to the aspirants to beat in the election following his achievements as military president.

http://thengnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=21658:jonathan-in-combat-mood-takes-on-mischief-makers&catid=1:national&Itemid=559

Nigerians!!! Can't we put things in proper perspective for once
GEJ would only go to meet IBB when he is pretty sure he has defeated him!!If this really happened, then GEJ pretty much already has the PDP primaries in his hands. He probably only went to provide soft landing for IBB. He doesn't want to disgrace the guy!!

I read 6 pages of IBB's interview on Guardian yesterday and all I saw especially in the middle of the interview was a very frustrated man. He is angry with Jonathan. And towards OBJ, he is very bitter. These two men are the only clogs in his wheel towards becoming president.

From very credible analysis, Jonathan had 18 states before the South west PDP endorsed him while IBB had 12,  With the endorsement he would now have about 24 PDP states. If you notice, this meeting comes just 2 days after the endorsement. Also take note of how IBB's camp has reacted vehemently against the endorsement.

Truth is Jonathan went to Minna to tell the General to "please step down so that I don't have to embarass you at the primaries". Its simple.

All these anti Jonathan fellows are incredibly jealous of Jonathan's popularity. What constitutes a fake endorsement Why aren't groups fallling behind themselves endorsing Buhari or Shekarau or Ribadu or Dele Momodu While Jonathan is getting endorsements, IBB is getting the knocks of his life.
Truth is Jonathan is popular by no virtue of his. Popularity came to him, he didn't seek it. Are we now saying he should reject the support he is getting AbegEEE!!

rhymz:
Poster
not completely true, I just opened a nigerian news site, 234next.com, opened with ease. You re sure it is not your ISP that is restricting you? It is not possible that all of em will be inaccessible.
Beaf
I don't realy understand all that website-server thingy you are talking about. It is possible, that it is a virus on the server though.

234Next is working fine. Try others. Thisday, Tribune, Vanguard, Guardian and a couple others are down.

I noticed the same thing. The whole thing started with Vanguard some days ago. Now it has spread to a couple good papers.
Funny thing is the likes of Sun Newspapers and Dailytrust are functioning just fine. I have my suspisions!! Someone is testing out some kind of sinister plan.

mikeansy:
Anybody who believe's this will believe anything.

You should know better Mikeansy. Truth is, the simple act of privatising the power sector, whether it is done by Abacha or by Jonathan or by the worst possible president Nigeria can have, would surely go a long way in solving the power problem. I don't think we could eliminate it by 2012, but definitely this is a great step in the right direction.

And I think Jonathan should be given credit for doing in barely 3months what OBJ tried to do in 8 years and what Yar Adua failed to even try in his 3years as president. Jonathan should be commended big time for this. It takes a lot of balls to do what he has just done.

OBJ. He had an incredible economic team. And they did great. I heard Gowon built much of the infrastructure we use in the country today. So I would say OBJ and maybe Gowon.

Dreeeeaaaammmzzzz!!! How they wish!! This article is so cheap. OBJ will never support IBB. The article is sponsored by IBB. The goal is to try to puncture Jonathan's strength politically. Everyone knows that OBJ is Jonathan's backbone, so if you can seperate them Jonathan becomes naked.

The article sha just goes to show the strength of OBJ in the scheme of things toward 2011. Actually, the only reason IBB would not be president is because OBJ would not allow him.

OB has already declared "operation totality" just a few days ago. He wouldn't change his mind all of a sudden.

[size=16pt]Operation totality!!![/size]It is a fight to finish!! The game has begun!!! Nigeria must change!!

Infact I'm going to print out 50 really cool [size=16pt]Operation Totality[/size] tees to dole out to free of charge!!!


@Gbawe
Jonathan might not be cool to you,but he has 170,000 fans on facebook that think he is really cool!!
Everyday, between 1000 & 2000 of them post gleeful praises on his page. And you know what, they belong to all tribes,with Yorubas being by far the highest number!!
For many of them Jonathan is a cultlike figure. To those that can't live with this fact, there is a whole lot of electric poles around which you could give a bear hug!!

[size=16pt]Operation Totality!!![/size]

[size=15pt]"Operation totality" [/size] Yes ooooh!!! It is fight to finish! Nigeria must change!!

Sahara Reporters has fallen to an all time low. They've lost every credibility!
I noticed since El Rufai and Ribadu returned to Nigeria, they haven't had access to any qualitative insider newsreports.
To make up for the shortfall, they've resorted to the cheapest form of journalism which is similar to what is used by celebrity tabloids.

This is the funniest poll I've seen!!! This is a new rigging technique being planned by IBB abi??


Imagine getting to the voting booth and the names of the candidates you see on the ballot are:

1) PDP= I.B Babangida
2)ACN= I. Badamasi. B
3) ANPP= Ibrahim B.B
4)APGA= IBB
5)PPA= Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida!

Rigging is in the blood of IBB supporters! Like father,like Son.

On his twitter page?? This looks like the works of Jonathan's enemies. So punch couldn't verify this stand from Ima Niboro.

I didn't know that Jonathan uses twitter!! Story is surely not credible.

This Hollandis sef!!! Abeg free Seun Jor!! As someone said, take a chill pill dude!!

How can he leave 6 years of certainty for what he knows is certainly uncertain!!

^^^^^^
Oh! The people surely have choices. They could take the bus. Or they could move to the mainland. Or take a walk.Or even use the beach. These are choices albeit less conmfortable choices.

I have a friend who thinks it is too much too pay 1000 naira a night for hospital admission, but would gladly cough out 12k per night for hotel accommodation. It is an absurd thinking pattern and it is very common with Nigerians and that is my grouse. We must begin to learn how to pay for things.
Lekki residents buy land at an average of 40 million per plot. If you ask them to contribute just 1 milliion to develop infrastructure on their street which they would enjoy, you will hear them complaining.

omoabike:
[size=10pt]The issue is that the only motorable road to a community is going to be tolled without any alternative provided. That is what is wicked and unjust.  I-10 (Katy Freeway), Westpark Toll Roads, Hardy Toll Road as well as Sam Houston Toll roads are roads within the Houston City that are toll roads. For the 2 years I have been living here now I have not used these roads as there are alternatives.
The only people who use the toll roads are people who are in a hurry and "out of towners"
Our leaders and elites tend to disregard the masses in decision making yet they want people not to rebel when they are riding roughshod over them.
It is ethically wrong to force everybody to pay tolls because of where they live. As some people have mentioned earlier, maybe we should toll all the roads in Lagos.  The right thing would have been for LCC to build a new road and toll it so people who want the fast lane to wherever they are going would patronize them.
[size=14pt][b]SHEBI THE BEAUTY OF CAPITALISM IS IN THE CHOICE IT PROVIDES. SO WHY DONT THE CAPITALISTS INVEST THEIR MONEY IN PROVIDING ALTERNATIVES TO WHAT THE JAKANDE SOCIALIST GOVERNMENT PROVIDED AND LET PEOPLE PATRONIZE THEM? WHY MUST THEY TAKE OVER A FORMER SOCIALIST GOVERNMENT ROAD AND PREACH TO US THAT SOCIALISM IS BAD.[/[/b]size]
Rent seekers and "10 percenters" posing to be investors. "Yeye dey smell"
To the man who said that Lagos- Ibadan and Benin-Shagamu Expressways do not have alternatives well may he did not know about the Old Lagos Road from Ibadan that goes through Ijebu-Ode and Ikorodu to Lagos. Maybe he did not know of the Ife Akure Owo Benin City Road.
WHERE THERE IS NO JUSTICE THERE CAN NOT BE PEACE

You made some sense here sha. But I think you need to think beyond this Lekki road. This Lekki road is the first real PPP in infrastructure development in Nigeria. If it fails, investors are not going to put money into PPPs in Nigeria. If they don't then we can say bye bye to our dreams of excellent infrastructure. Oil money would never build adequate infrastructure. There is so much money in private hands that can be used to build infrastructure, and we must encourage that money to come our way.

It is sad that Nigerians have a mentality that money to build roads would just appear from the sky. Nigeria cannot afford good infrastructure and at the same time pay salaries and provide adequate healthcare and qualitative education. People have to pay for some of the services so the government can expend more money on areas where the people cannot afford.

Lekki residents buy houses and pay rents at prices that would send shivers down your spine. They should be the last people to complain about tolled roads.

[quote author=na_so link=topic=499897.msg6602761#msg6602761 date=1282243333]@PapaBrowne
The problem with this your analysis is that even if jonathan leads others in the votes count, he still will not have the mandatory 25% of 2/3 of all states. Hence a run-off is likely and the northern candidate might emerge. Jonathan has to do everything to get atleast 65% of SW votes.[/quote]Yeah, I stated that exactly at the end of my post. Ribadu's entrance creates a likely scenario for a run off, but thats if he beats Jonathan in the south west.
But if pentecostal Christains come out to vote in droves in the south west, then Jonathan will very likely beat Ribadu flat out,
Many people support Jonathan not exactly because they like him very much, but because they feel his emergence was orchestrated by divine authority. Talk to pentecostals and you would be told that God put Jonathan in that position. Now the south west has a large chunk of pentecostal christians (MFM, Redeemed, Deeper Life and all the other mega churhes come to mind) All Jonathan needs to do is to reach out to that block and he would turn Ribadu to a south western toasted pie!!

The only scenario where Ribadu has a shot is in the event that Buhari and Babangida and all other northern candidates choose not to run. But I tell you, that not possible, because the corrupt Nigerian politicians are not going to allow Ribadu utilize their political machinery or else they would pay dearly for it!!

I like Ribadu very well, but I can state categorically that the possibility of a Ribadu Victory on an AC ticket is very slim.

Lets do an analysis with the Assumption that the four main candidates are Jonathan, Ribadu, Babangida and Buhari.

Jonathan
Jonathan would sweep the South South, South East and a fairly sized portion of the Middle belt. He will also garner maybe half of the South West votes.
Jonathan also has the advantage of PDP's wide reach which covers the length and breadth of Nigeria. There is also more tha enough money from so many political investors to bankroll Jonathan.

Ribadu
Ribadu would share a good amount of votes in the South West with Jonathan. He will also take snippets from the middle belt. The south east and south south will give him very few votes. He will perform poorly in the core north maybe something like 20%. Most core northerners percieve Ribadu as a southern stooge and they still see him as OBJ's boy. Also, politicians who have stolen money from all parts of the country would not support Ribadu. Other factors that would work against Ribadu is spread and money. AC doesn't have offices outside the southwest except in Edo state. You cannot build structures overnight. Secondly, AC and its politicians don't have the money to expend and in Nigeria politics is money.

Babangida
Babangida, assuming he decides to run on another party, would gather a coupl of states in the Core North and middle belt. He will also get a few votes here and there accross the country. It surely wouldn't be enough for him to get the election. However, if Jonathan doesn't run and he gets the PDP ticket, he will get a chunk of the votes in the middle belt and a fair amount spread accross the country.

Buhari
Buhari will sweep the core north. He will get almost no votes in the south south and south east and very few votes in the south west. He isn't popular in the south and his part has zilch structures!

From all indications, in a free and fair election, Jonathan has the very best shot at winning. Sad thing is that if Ribadu contests against Jonathan and loses, he will lose political relevance completely in Nigeria and that would be very sad because he has so much to offer.
Also with Ribadu in the race, it can lead to something like a re-run as Jonathan might not easily cover the required percentage victory in at least 24 states.

ChineduEZ:
PLEASE FASHOLA GIVE ME FREE FOOD, FREE ROAD, FREE LIGHT, FREE WATER, FREE WOMAN, FREE PUSSSIE, FREE EDUCATION, FREE NEWSPAPER, FREE BACKRUBS, FREE HOLIDAY, FREE TRANSPORT, FREE!!!!!!!!


I WANT IT TO BE FREE! FREE! FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Yessssss!! We want free! We want free!! We want free!! We want freeeeeeeeeee!!
And he should even get midwives for all of us so they can sing lullabuy till we go to bed.
And he can even add free dreams if he has some extra moneeey!!

[size=16pt]Hmmmm!! Nigerians are Socialists!! We all need classic re-education to erase this socialist syndrome from our psyche![/size]

We want free Education. We want free healthcare. We want cheap transportation. We want subsidized fuel. We want free infrastructure. And we want cheap housing.

Yet we are not willing to pay taxes or tolls or health insurance!!

The truth is development comes with a huge price. Lagos state for instance has an infrastructural shortfall worth hundreds of billions of dollars. This money will not come from the sky. People are going to have to pay for it somehow or else there would be no development.

All the beautiful countries we all love to talk about pay massive taxes, huge bills and mega tolls. In London there is something called Congestion Charge. To drive your vehicle in the congestion zone, it would cost you  £8 per day= 2000 naira. If you fail to pay the charge, you will be fined btw £60 and £120= 15,000- 45,000 naira. In addition to that, many londoners pay almost 40% of their wages in taxes. When they get home, they also have to cope with massive utility bills. Add that to the fact that they have to constantly pay for health insurance.


[size=13pt]If we want development, we must be ready to pay for it!! Period!![/size]
It is not government that brought you to this world. They are not your father!! Nigerians should stop expecting Government to do everything including putting food on your table all for free.

The figures are near accurate, except for maybe Anambra. I would expect Anambra to perform better, however I think there are genuine reasons why Anambra would underperform in terms of GDP figures despite having so much commerce.

One of the best ways to assess the GDP of a city or state is to count the number of bank branches in the area. Banks follow the money. The higher the GDP of a state, the higher the number of bank branches available in the state.
Anambra state has a very high number of bank branches, beaten only by Lagos, Edo,Delta and Rivers. Kano state on the other hand has very few bank branches. Asides these two states, the GDP figures are near perfect if you correlate them with banking activity accross the country.

Another correlating factor to GDP performance is internet penetration. States with higher GDP figures tend to have higher internet penetration. You can check the states telecom companies launch their premium internet services and you would see that it falls in line with the GDP figures available.

@onlytruth
Anambra state's low GDP figure could easily be attributable to the fact that most of its wealthy citizens engage in commerce outside the state and not within the state. Onlytruth mentioned the guy from Capital Oil. Truth is he probably has no investments in Anambra state besides maybe his house in his village. Its just like Dangote. Dangote contributes heavily to the GDP figures in Lagos, Cross River, Kogi and a couple other states, but very very little to his home state of Kano. My point is that, the fact that a state has very wealthy indigenes doesn't necessarily translate into better economic credentials.

Interesting statistics. Very correct figures.

If you read the figures properly, you would observe some very interesting correlations between GDP figures and social characteristics.

States that have performed excellently in academics over the years tend to have higher GDP figures. For instance, Delta, Imo and Edo states always top the lists in all national exams from Jamb, NCE, University intakes etc. They also produce the highest number of medical doctors. Interestingly, they also contribute the most to national sports.

Delta, Imo and Edo states have the highest per capita GDP in addition to Lagos and Rivers, not because of oil or any natural resource, but because they happen to have the best trained citizens in any part of the country.
Akwa Ibom and Bayelsa produce more oil than Delta state, yet they are way down the list, while Delta State tops the list. Imo and Edo hardly produce any oil.


Delta: $4200
Rivers:$4100
Lagos:$3700
Edo: $3700
Imo: $3600

[size=16pt]Human Development= Almajiri styled education.
Social Justice= Sharia amputation and the likes!
Attitudinal Change: Boko Haram comes to mind.
[/size]

[size=14pt]No I will not vote Shekarau!![/size]

Gbawe is here again!! Why are you always painting your wishes as realities?? Wake up already! Jonathan will be President from 2011 to 2015 and probably beyond! That will happen not only because Jonathan is quite popular in the country, but mainly because the opposition led by the AC cannot find it in itself to look beyond regional and personalized politics. AC continues to paint itself as a Yoruba party under the grips of King Tinubu.

Its amazing that for the almost six months that the PDP has argued on zoning, AC wasn't able to ally with other politicians from other zones.

Even Fashola knows that the AC presidential ambition is a mirage, hence his refusal to stand as Vice Presidential aspirant under Ribadu. I like Fashola, I like Ribadu but Tinubu is just too much of an ambitions fellow.

Read this:
http://www.leadershipnigeria.com/news/cover-stories/18692-ac-ticket-i-cant-be-ribadus-running-mate--fashola