₦airaland Forum

^^^
Be prentending like you know not what I speak of. Calling an estate an estate could be derogatory in the same way calling a Black Man Black could be.

Kobojunkie:
So what ignorance EXACTLY did I spill. . .  indulge me . .  what exactly did I say THEN that I am not saying NOW? If you do this, I will agree that you really have a clue when it comes to this project .

Refer to the thread in question. You will be amazed at what you wrote yourself. Kinda of like looking through your secondary school notes after graduating from University. That's the feeling you'll get if you reread that thread.

Kobojunkie:
Again, it is an ESTATE . .  before you rush off insulting yourself, check out the MEANING of the word ESTATE in the dictionary(there are free versions online). That will help EDUCATE you on the particulars of this project. When a domain is PRIVATELY CONTROLLED it is an estate belonging to the private entity in question. It is in English.

here's one incase you are too full of yourself to do the right thing

Estate (land), the grounds and tenancies (such as farms, housing, woodland, parkland) associated with a very large property

My reference is to the derogatory use of the term "estate" in a bid to undermine the term Eko Atlantic City. Kinda of like calling a man a boy just to spite him.

@Kobojunkie
Don't you feel better commenting now with some degree of knowledge about the project?? Now, it appears you are a little more informed hence your shift in position compared with the last thread on which you were spewing so much "confident ignorance".

Remember how you and onlytruth claimed there was no information about the project and that the projects handlers were shrouding everything in secrecy?? With your posts here, you exposed you've reversed yourself.

Anyways, before you start derogatorily calling the project an "estate", check up the meaning of "Extreme Pessimistic Disorder".
FYI, an estate could mean a lot of things ranging anywhere from a block of flats to a whole business district.

You posts would have been much richer if you shed the toga of pessimism. It eats all the sense out of your posts.

Editor's note: Every week CNN's African Voices highlights Africa's most engaging personalities, exploring the lives and passions of people who rarely open themselves up to the camera. This week we profile Nigerian singer-songwriter Nneka Egbuna who has been heralded as music's next global star.

[size=13pt]The Nigerian Hip Hop Star Hailed As The Next Big Thing[/size]

(CNN) -- She may be small in stature, but the soulful voice of singer Nneka Egbuna is anything but.
It is no surprise that the petite Nigerian-born singer-songwriter lists Bob Marley and Nina Simone among her influences. Just as it was for them, Nneka's music "isn't just about the music" -- it's a call for change.
"It's to show the world that people come together for one reason -- in this case music. We are representing that love," Nneka told CNN.
Her music is a celebration of diversity. "We are all different in color, everybody has their own baggage, their own experience, but we have a way to communicate and this is the essence of this tour," she told CNN midway through her Concrete Jungle tour of the United States.

Nneka's musical profile has steadily risen since her 2005 debut album titled "Victim of Truth," -- which was listed as one of the records of the year by Timesonline.co.uk in 2006. In 2009, she won the Best African Act award at the UK's Music of Black Origin (MOBO) Awards.
Now on her fourth album, Nneka is garnering rave reviews from the likes of Rolling Stone and Billboard magazines, while Spin magazine described her as one of the artists to watch for 2010.
Earlier this year, she performed on the David Letterman show introducing her to a massive U.S. audience.
At times it is easy to mistake her cool and laidback attitude for shyness but get her talking about issues close to her heart and she emerges as a firecracker with a big heart and many passions.
Born to a Nigerian father and German mother, Nneka grew up in her hometown of Warri, Nigeria, before leaving at the age of 19 to study in Germany.

Those years away from home made her examine what it meant to be Nigerian. And in the process, she found herself.
"The period of time that I spent in Germany educated me a lot about being Nigerian. Before, I never really was that conscious of my surrounding, of our politics. I knew that there was something going on, but I never really felt responsible," said Nneka.
Today she is on a crusade to address issues affecting her people -- her haunting cry for peace and love for her motherland written all over her music.
Fans are familiar with the various themes of injustice and oppression that drive her music and performances.
"If you listen to my music, I do have a lot to do, issues that are very delicate to the Nigerian ear, talking about our politics at present, or the corruption, or the oil exploitation in the Niger Delta," said the singer who is from the troubled region.
Read more about the situation in the Niger Delta
Nneka equates her time away from Nigeria as a "personal pilgrimage," one which led her to an accidental musical career, something she admits she "slipped into."

"It used to be something I did as a kind of a therapy especially when I was living in Germany and never had anything to do with this part of my heritage," she said.
Getting to know a society with "a totally different mentality" forced her to discover her passion. "That is how music found me, or the other way round," she told CNN.
With her growing universal appeal, Nneka has now assumed the responsibility of a continent on her tiny shoulders.

"I see myself having a voice that would represent the people who do not have the courage to speak their minds or to allow the world outside to see and recognize what is happening within Nigeria, within Africa," she said.
However, she knows change isn't immediate but it is coming -- if we all play our part. "I see light," she says. "As long as we are part of the change that we want, then things will change."

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/africa/07/14/nneka.egbuna.music/index.html?hpt=C2&fbid=Z1QhhUY-_HD

Abeg oh. These people should not spoil my lovely Wukari oooh. Haba! Can't we just grow past all these religious animosity.

Big B1:
The key is: He's older, he's wiser, he has powerful followers and unbreakable connections.

You must be a complete f0ol[b] if you think IBB will spend Kobo from his pocket for his campaign.[/b]

Really So can you tell us where exactly the money would come from?? Probably not from his pockets, but maybe from the bank accounts he stashed with our money that was supposed to be used in building power infrastructure, Hospitals, roads and the like. Obviously not from his pockets.

Onlytruth:


This is by far the best situation analysis of Nigeria I've ever read!

I was beginning to wonder whether I'm the only one with these conclusions about Nigeria.
Thank God that a complete foreigner reached the same conclusion.

The biggest enemies of Nigeria are those who come here to make idiotic posts about some Eko Atlantic city without publicly scrutinized urban development plans. Those who lie to us about Nigeria being the best place to live.

When you ask hard questions, they attack you as if you are the problem.

Anyone who fails to see Nigeria for what is it is truly DEMENTED.

@onlytruth
The truth about Nigeria is that in the midst of all the writer wrote, there is so much opportunity.In the midst of all the squalor, there is so much wealth. It is ironic, but that is just the way it is. Opportunity abounds because problems exist.

There is so much disorganisation, hence if you offer some semblance of order, people would pay a fortune for it.
That's what the Eko Atlantic City is about. The initiators of the project see an opportunity to offer an oasis of order in the midst of all the chaos.
All the lovers of order would spend a fortune to live in the orderly new city.

Seeing Nigeria for what it is could be relative. One person(Optimist) sees a cup half full, the other person(Pessimist) sees it half empty.

Such an interesting read. Enjoyed every bit of it.
Sometimes, it's easy to forget how horribly insane our roads and even the lives many live in this country is. This was a good reminder. What a piece. Very hilarious too.

I would love to drive a bike across Africa too. Would be sooo cool.


This is so true!!

It wasn’t just the highways and cities of Nigeria that didn’t make sense. The whole country was a knot of contradictions -- upside down and inside out, like the black and white negative of an old Kodak filmstrip. Nigeria is crisscrossed by more power lines than a Godzilla movie, yet electric service is sporadic across the nation. It is Africa’s largest oil-producing nation, yet fuel stations were often empty of gasoline and diesel and kerosene, or jammed with long queues of waiting vehicles.

Good, Good, Good goood! It has started happening again.

The radar is coming back to Nigeria. We better get it right this time.

I was saying earlier that since Jonathan took over, Investors have started ringing the lines at a very interesting rate.

Now, I don't think it has much to do with Jonathan himself. Maybe all the negative publicity we got from the time of Yar Adua's sickness, Mutallab and the Jos Crises got a lot of people focused on Nigeria. Since they've observed us come out of the crises peacefully, they are probably  thinking we might finally be able to get our acts right. I'm not sure what exactly is creating the interest, but it sure is there.

However, most of these investors are all going to wait till the outcome of 2011 to make a decision. If there is a change of government, they'd probably stay away. Also , they would only come in if we have our regulatory framework right.

The BBC is the mouthpiece of the British Government. Why on the planet are the British so obsessed with painting us in a very bad light.
They must be scared of our potential. They probably fear that if the giant within us rises. . . . .
There must be something they know about us that we don't know about ourselves.

Deep Soul:

What if it's a school excursion they are embarking on ?? (Albeit in their own native way) 

The picture tells a lot of stories. It depends on what glasses you have on 

Even if they are going to school nko?? Doesn't that indicate a fighting spirit?? Fighting against all odds to get an education!!

And the annoying part is how some Nigerians revel in things that paint us black. Enough with all the negativity jor!!

I like you! With a view on life like this, you can never know failure.

Big B1:
What has changed since the death of our former president? Answer is: NOTHING
Goodluck is clearly not what Nigeria needs at this period. And I can assure you that very soon it will become visible to all Nigerians.

There hasn't been fuel scarcity since Uncle Joe too over. And fuel sells at 65 naira in every station. Now that might be small, but heck that is something.

Something interesting about this page. It has 64,000 clicks and is one of the most visited pages on nairaland despite the fact that the topic is irrelevant to most Nairalanders? Can someone explain why that is

So what happened with this movement?? Was anything achieved
Any updates??

If it failed, what were the causes of failure?? Would be good to know.

Great!!

These folks are really bent on making this project work. I hope it is completed on time.
I also hope there is enough liquidity in circulation at the time the infrastructure is completed so that in the snap of a a moment we would see A gorgeous skyline rise from beneath the Atlantic ocean.

[quote author=paddy_lo link=topic=476645.msg6364555#msg6364555 date=1278804030][size=14pt]Nigeria’s Biggest Bank Joins Battle to Buy Bailed-Out Lenders[/size][/quote]I don't think any foreign bank would want to risk the option of buying any of the Nigerian banks even if the AMCON bill passes and those bad debts are wiped off the books. First, the fear that shareholders would use litigation to scuttle any purchase is enough disincentive.
Secondly, and as Naijaking remarked, policy flip flops like the one Sanusi did would definitely discourage investors. If Jonathan decides he is fed up with Sanusi's attitudes and kicks him out, the new CBN would come out with new reforms that might impact negatively on their investmenst even before they start making returns.

If any investment group decides to buy any of these banks despite all the disincentives, then it is very likely that they are acting as a front for a parochially motivated group and it would then become obvious that such a decision was taken before Sanusi's August action.

naijaking1:
Thanks to everyone for considering this question. Now think about it on a macro-level. If Boeing, GM or Toyota, Walmart, or Coca-cola want to invest $1billion in an African market, which of the following will be their best option?

A. South Africa
B. Ghana
C. Nigeria
D. Kenya
E. Angola

Obviously for Boeing, GM and Toyota, that would definitely be South Africa.

For Walmart, hmmm, I think South Africa would take it also. Reason being that Nigeria doesn't have a well developed supermarket/retail culture yet. Plus we would have too many problems with supply chain logistics. To buttress this point, Shoprite has 1,422 outlets across Africa and yet just two in Nigeria. Walmart would be more Comfortable in SA.

Coca cola on the other hand would happily go with the Nigerian Market but might get tempted with the option of siting production in Ghana and supplying the Nigerian market from there.

^^^^
@Bigb1.
I get your point and I somewhat agree with you. But I'm quite surprised that you didn't end your quote with a campaign for IBB.

Whao! 80% is a good mark. Lagos is definitely doing great.

And yes of course Lagos should build more roads than Ghana. It's economy is larger than Ghana's.

naijaking1:
It takes a real man to admit mistakes, I congratulate Texazzpette on his honesty.
I'm begininng to sympathize with Sanusi too, because it's become obvious he can't even help himself, especially when standing before a microphone.

Same here. Sometimes I feel sorry for him . . . . . . the guy is really confused and probably has more than tonne load of problems of which he has no clue how to fix. But then, he created the mess.

texazzpete:
Sanusi's beginning to talk too much. Dude sounds a bit strident on the issue these days.

And for the first time everrrr. . . . .Texazzpette has summoned enough courage to critisize Sanusi! !!

Seriously though, if he must remain on that seat, he has stop making these kinds of statements. Sanusi talks too much and that tells a lot about his character.

naijaking1:
If you have an extra $1000 you'll like to invest in Africa, which country is least likely to attract your hard earned money:

A. South Africa
B. Ghana
C. Nigeria
D. Angola
E. Kenya

Interestingly, Nigeria would be the most attractive and yet the least likely to recieve your hard earned money. The attractiveness would come from the potential existent in the market, however, your ultimate decision would fall on security and that's where Nigeria loses. These kinds of statements from Sanusi are only bound to kill any confidence in both the markets and the banks despite the market potentials.

^^^^^
Gbawe, you are giving way too much credence to the north. It appears you are not aware what time it is. Nigeria's political landscape has changed dramatically. The North has been badly fragmented.

Now I forgot to mention in my first post that there are two reasons Ribadu would not sweep northern votes.
First, there would be too many presidential candidates from the north. Buhari would definitely contest under CPC. Shekarau [/b]will definitely contest under ANPP. [b]Babangida is not likely to give up his ambition. Atiku mind is definitely made up to run. Other Northern candidates would probably emerge. In the end Northern votes would be fragmented amongst something like five candidates.

Secondly, Ribadu is not popular in the North. He is not popular at all. Ribadu, El Rufai and Dangote are amongst the most unpopular Northerners in the conservative Arewa enclave. They feel these guys work against Northern interest. They are seen as stooges of OBJ. El Rufai and Ribadu are proponents of true Federalism and meritocracy which are principles that run against conservative northern ideologies. Dangote on the other hand is accused of establishing all his industries in the south and never given to employing his own brethren.

For me personally, I would love to see Ribadu in Aso Rock. He and Jonathan are currently the most popular politicians in the country Nigeria would changed for the better. But 2011 is too near and the PDP is so lucky this time around to have a likely candidate in Jonathan that is so popular amongst the people.

hercules07:
Bros according to the CIA world fact book we have more muslims than Christians, Jonathan can even join the Devil's association I do not care as long as there are benefits to be derived from it.[b] We need to look beyond religion for everything that we do, [/b]if this D8 can add something tangible to the nation, I see no reason for opposition, Christians within his administration can look for organisations set up by Christian countries for us to join as well, the bottom line is that joining such an organisation should add benefit to the total populace.

So the CIA came to conduct elections in Nigeria abi It doesn't matter to me sha, which one has more. Afterall, the larger the population the more the problems. The meagre resources have to be shared amongst that large population.

The bolded part is the exact same reason I said a secular Government should not engage in these kinds of organisations. That is the best way to look beyond religion in the things we do as a nation. This is a religious organisation and should be left for religious bodies.

^^^^^
The scenario is scary. That would signal the end of entrepreneurship in Nigeria. Really we should quit complaining. I have noticed that a large chunk of Nigerians are by default, socialists. Maybe his policies appeal to them in that light.
Sad thing is while all these happen, Ghana,SA and Angola will keep positioning themselves to reap whatever benefits that would accrue from our failures.

Jakumo:
Sir, be advised that you are in danger of provoking the Izon Egbesu Gods of War, with that blasphemous comment about the "one red eye and one yellow eye" of our esteemed president.

Are you trying to imply that Goodluck should resort to smoking enough Izon Bitter-Leaf to redden both eyes ?  I beg to differ, sir.   Clearly El Presidente, as a man of moderation and wisdom, knows his limit, and thus only ever imbibes enough to affect the left hemisphere of his brain, along with his left eye.

A Jakumo Classic!!

Point of correction.
It isn't Jonathan that brought these guys to Nigeria. The plan to host had already been on ground since Yar Adua. It would have been very undiplomatic for Jonathan to turn down the meeting that was already scheduled long before he came to power.
Nigeria joined the D8 in 1997.
I am totally against Nigeria belonging to these kinds of organisations on a state level. It is just soo wrong in a country where religious intolerance is high on the cards. Asides, while the other countries have majority Islamic populations, Nigeria doesn't.

Gbawe:
Fashola should continue his good work for Lagos for another 4 years. If the AC pick Ribadu they will have made the most pragmatically brilliant choice possible for victory . Even as everyone is talking about the end of zoning what would appeal to all Nigerians other than a popular Northern candidate (this keeps Northerners happy) that enjoys undeniably more popularity in the South ( like Ribadu) than Jonathan can manage?

The AC will be thinking that they can keep everyone happy with the formula of adopting a popular, brave , tried and tested, progressive and internationally respected Northerner who is loved by virtually all Nigerians. The truth is that Jonathan will only defeat Ribadu if he is able to perform brilliantly before the elections next year. So far , aside talk, Jonathan has done nada . He is running out of time. The only option , if Ribadu runs against him, will be for the PDP to rig the elections.

The AC will be assuming that the PDP will not find it easy rigging in Jonathan against a Northerner every Nigerian is backing. Ribadu , if he takes on a Jonathan that does nothing significant between now and next year, will sweep the North and majority of the South. It will be very difficult to rig against a man who even the Soyinka's, Falana's , Fawehinmi's and secretly (because they are PDP members) the ken Nnamani's will support.

Jonathan has a huge task ahead of him IMO and he is failing , so far, by postponing actions that could gain him huge support (privatisation of the power sector for example) till after the election next year. Jonathan , if he is not planning to rig next year, should take even one project alone that means a lot to Nigerians (power sector or the revamp of woeful federal roads are examples ) and bully his way to success in that one area. Nigerians would then be left wanting more same as Lagosians want a second term for Fashola. That Jonathan is operating at snail pace , when he is aware he has an election to win against others who are more popular and sagacious, is proof that the PDP will attempt to rig the election next year because they will know that Jonathan cannot defeat a popular Northerner like Ribadu if he has not improved the lives of Nigerians beyond rhetoric and populist talks .

Gbawe, your postulations are smart, but they are based on very incomplete assumptions. If you want to understand Elections, you must look at the demographics of the voters. Your postulations here cover only the educated voters who have access to both the online and print media. Sad thing is that most of us educated folks would not go out to vote.

The majority of voters in Nigeria constitute largely the uneducated population- People like Okada riders, Market women, Builders, Artisans, villagers and the like. Most of these folks don't have the capacity to understand the difference between say Nuhu Ribadu and Gusau or Pat Utomi and James Ibori. They don't have the access to educated analysis that you would get on the newspapers. Hence they depend on their local leaders to direct them on who to vote for. For instance for Okada riders, the chairman of the Okada Riders Association.

The PDP understands this fact very well and has all these leaders locked on their payroll. That is what is termed "political structures". The PDP happens to be the only party in the country with structures that spread accross the entire 36 states.
AC is basically a southwest party. APGA is south east and ANPP is northern. If they all team up together they wouldn't have the spread the PDP possesses.

The only way the opposition can pose a threat to the PDP is if they start building structures long before the elections. Sadly they never have the capacity to shelve their differences until it is a few months to election.

I would love to see a Ribadu presidency and maybe with Duke as his Vice. Imagine Aso Rock filled with the likes of Ribadu, Duke, Fashola, El Rufai, Utomi, etc. Nigeria would definitely be on a path to glory. However, realistically, even in the freest and fairest election I don't see the opposition winning a presidential election in 2011. They are not ready.

naijaking1:
^^^^
Easy, easy, easy Papabrowne
What other way can Sanusi show that he hates modern capitalist system? Nigeria stock market = casinos

Don't mind Sanusi. The article was almost pissing me off. I've modified my post.

Sanusi is definitely anti-capitalist. I agree that capitalism and all the financial instruments that come with it including the stock market have gambling like elements, however, it is not for the CBN Governor to start making public statements of this nature. Inadvertently, he has asked the populace to sieze engaging in stock market investments. I don't think that is healthy. The DG of SEC would be mad at him on this one.

blacksta:
If we can together and build a kidney center that would great - Lost my father to kidney issue as well -
I am ready  if you guys are ready. Lets do it

You've got the right spirit jare. I believe it can be done by the people.  I'm game!!