₦airaland Forum

Redman44: Many Nigerians won't return home from the UK because of the fear of being tagged failures by a good number of Nigerians ( In Nigeria ) who are very materialistic in their thinking and lifestyle. People feel you're successful once you can build one or two houses in Nigeria before returning home. These people who would tag you as a failure are the same set of people who have benefited from the money you sent home over the years, before you decided to return to Nigeria. Many Nigerians have a warped mentality . Instead of them to reason with you and assist you to get your business idea running in Nigeria, most them will be laughing at you, backbiting about your 'failure' or will even try to cheat you out of your hard earned money. How many Nigerians in Nigerians are really living a better life than those in the UK? It is in Nigeria that you see people driving jeeps and yet they don't have up to 20,000 Naira in their bank account. Why is it so hard for people to live simply and within their means in Nigeria? This is why Nigerians in the UK secretly enter Nigeria and return to Britain secretly these days because of the materialistic tendencies and unrealistic expectations of many Nigerians in our dear country.

How much money is being sent to Nigerians in the UK, compared to the hard currency that is being sent to Nigeria by UK based Nigerians? I was with a money transfer agent in London recently and I was amazed at the number of people that sent money to Nigeria with an hour that I spent at the store And that is just an outlet of the Money Transfer company. People choose to live in the UK, USA or Canada for different reasons. How many people actually pay PHCN or Water bills in Nigeria? Before you call someone who has returned from the UK a failure, please consider the bills he has to pay to live a good life in Britain. And the good thing is that with all the stress in the UK, I know Nigerians who still return home and perform better than their colleagues who stayed back in Nigeria. There is still an untapped market in the UK, USA and Canada and even in Europe. The Market of the Black African, Caribbean, Black British, African American and Mixed Raced people. Smart Entrepreneurs should start thinking deeply about catering to this MARKET. Stay Blessed.

Good points.

murtalaa: source: http://www.leadership.ng/nga/articles/47835/2013/02/16/exodus_movement_britishborn_nigeriansback_nigeria.html

Not to generalize, however, my observation is that Nigerians in the US that are professionals fare better than their counterparts in the UK. This could be as a result of the US being a bigger economy and more business friendly than the UK. The employment laws in the US are also better than that of the UK. The list goes on. In addition, I've also noticed that financially successful Nigerians, professionals or otherwise - those who became financially successful outside the country, do not relocate to Nigeria, neither in the short or long term. I guess you can attribute this mainly to the lack of consistent power, and insecurity in the country. There are obviously other reasons too. For example, Hakeem Olajuwon. Also, watch out for the new stars like Mikel Obi, Obafemi Martins, and others. Now I guess they have kidnapping to contend with.

In the US, we have so many Nigerian doctors that are millionaires. I don’t see them running back to Nigeria. They do attend conferences in Nigeria, in the name of giving back, but they are not packing their bags and heading back to their father/motherland.

By the way, there are so many British born Naijas in the US. I don't see them heading back in large numbers... Talkless of US born naijas.

@OP, how well are/were these folks doing in the UK prior to their heading back? I've heard and known some to go back just to come back to the West after a couple of years of frustration by the system.

Tgirl4real: Call it a resaerch...

I see several people around me stay in marriage for different reasons other than cos they love their spouses.

Some stay cos of their personal resolve.

Some stay cos of the society - church influence, economic situation and all

Some cos of their family

Some cos of the kids.

Lastly, (with the smallest percentage) some stay cos they love their spouses.

From my observation, those that have stayed for reasons other than their personal resolve and the love of their spouses end up breaking up at a later year. So, it brings me to conclude that if all these external influences - societal pressure, family, church influence, kids and all are removed, most marriages would not last till their 3 anniversary.

@OP: Don't be greedy. Isn't 3 years of marriage enough? The bible says no one is promised tomorrow, which may contradict those looking for guaranteed happy marriages that last till end do us part. Perhaps if you are married or intend to get married, you may only be happily married for the first few weeks or years of the marriage. And there are a few that consider themselves happily married only years after toiling in the marriage. Be optimistic and upbeat. Take what you can and run with it. As we are not promised tomorrow, we can't guarantee our commitment as fallible humans. Look at your own parents...

Sky-walker:
Lol. ok i get you but the 1st post is too long na

I hear you. I wouldn't do that again ma/sir!

Sky-walker:
Must you quote the whole post?

You just did the same... But to preserve the context... My post could have gone on the next page and may not make sense as a standalone...

ifeness: We all write in English which is not our first language,we practice the same system of govt which originally isn't ours. So we havent adjusted into the foreign system. We used to have kings,chiefs,Ezes,obas which is still in our leaders mentality. It will take time to correct that .

Japan changed; so did Taiwan, South Korean, Brazil, etc. Nigeria(ans) just refuse to change. Our so-called leaders go for medical treatment & checkup outside the country daily - they would rather die in a foreign hospital than take their chances in a Nigerian hospital. Not that I blame them. What would you advice your family if they had such wealth at their disposal? That should give you hope for change.

A friend in the corridors of the Swiss banking sector once said, the money allocated for Nigeria, goes to Nigeria and comes right back to the Swiss accounts with interest. Again, another hope for change...

apache77: Dear Nigerian in Diaspora,

Time and time again, you have justified your reason for leaving our fatherland. Or is it motherland? You said it is because you want to give your children a better life and opportunity than you had. We accepted your reason, as looking at the current state of our nation, we see every validity in your reason. And we did not trouble you or hassle you over that decision.

Just like we did not hassle you over this decision, we would like you to reciprocate this gesture by not hassling us over our decision to stay back.

Dear NID, I have noticed that the way you talk about issues pertaining to our country is far different from the way we here take it. Have you ever wondered why the tone of your comments about this country is far different from the tones of the Nigerians in Nigeria? Once there is a tragic event, you have a way of blowing it over the top, exaggerating, and wondering what our dear country is turning to. If only you reacted this way to every good thing that happened in our country, maybe the western world won’t always present a single story about us in their press.

Your comments of “I can never send my children to Nigeria on a holiday because they would either be robbed, kidnapped or used for rituals,” doesn’t really sound encouraging, especially as you have never suggested one solution to this problem we are facing. Please tell me, what percentage of the ones who came here during last holiday were subject to this cruel fate you imagine?

But Dear NID, I begin to wonder

Why are you always the ones to point out just how bad our country is to us, as if we are too blind to see it?

Why are you the ones that always hammer on the fact that we here are the stupidly religious ones? That we all follow our pastors like blind fools? Please, let the people that want to buy jets for their pastors do so. As you have tied your hope to the white man giving you a better life, they have also tied their hope to their pastors giving them miracles, since many of them would never have the opportunity to leave this side of the world. After all, they learnt it from the numerous pastors in America, who also bought private jets from money they got from televangelism and offerings too. Our pastors still have a long way to go when it comes to acquiring private jets.

Why are you always the first to mention how you don't see Nigeria ever getting better, how you lost hope in Nigeria a long time ago? We know about your lost hope, your exit already tells us that much.

Why are you the ones who dismiss songs of hope in Nigeria, such as Great Nation by Timi Dakolo, The Future is here by TY Bello, etc. as wishful thinking? Just because you have lost hope in our country doesn’t mean you should try to kill the hope of those left.

You have left, fine! Your children and grandchildren would probably never visit Nigeria in their life time, fine! We don’t have an issue with that, it’s your family, you can do whatever you like with them. You have said over and over again how you don’t care for Nigeria and her issues anymore. Yes, we get that. Since that is the case, we expect you to follow suit with your words, and really NOT care again, by forgetting that Nigeria exists in your dictionary. Or does the fact that you can’t stop talking and complaining about Nigeria despite the fact that you claim not to care really mean that your ‘care-less’ statements are not true? Selah

Dear NID, you should know that not all of us have the opportunity to leave like you, and even when some of us do, we just don't want to. We have chosen to stay. We were not forced to stay, we chose to. Live with your choice and let us live with ours.

Dear NID, even if you have stopped believing in Nigeria, and do not see yourself ever returning here, can you please stop asking us to do the same? Can you please, stop expecting us to stop hoping that we would get better, just because you stopped hoping? Cos unfortunately, some of us have nowhere else to go, and no matter how many people leave, some of us here still have to stay back, and make Nigeria good again.

Dear NID, you forget that when your family is bad, and you choose to run to another family because they are good, it won’t solve the problem of the ‘badness’ of your family. Your family will still be bad. Selah

Dear NID, why is it that whenever I ask you about the solution to this country you claim you do not care about, but can never stop talking about, you tell me the only solution is to split? Unity or splitting - which of the options would cost more? Are you ready to sacrifice the remaining family you left here to the unavoidable bloodshed that would happen if your splitting fantasies ever became a reality (no pun intended)? Wait no, you would move all of them out of the country and make them fellow NIDs like you - another fantasy that would never become a reality, thanks to the white man that would rather die than see that happen.

Nigeria is a big menace and it is like a time bomb waiting to explode, with the injustice, corruption, insecurities, and other negative nouns I would not even bother to mention, but rather leave for the political bloggers and writers to deal with. One thing we know is this, in no way would leaving the country ever solve all the migraine-genera­ting problems of our country. But as we have said before, we don’t have any problem with the choice you made. After all, there is the fight or flight approach to be taken in any battle. You chose the flight, while we chose the former.

It is okay that you have decided to have as little as possible to do with us, but please, live and let live. Don’t tell me to shut up when I say something good can still come out of Nigeria – I will still say it. Don’t try to take away the hope we have left with your comments of how failed and hopeless we are. Hoping in this k-leg country of ours is very difficult, and we should be encouraged and commended for doing so. In the face of the unexplainable nonsense our leaders put us through in this country, our hope is honestly the only thing we have. Take that away from us, and we had better started committing suicide because a hopeless person is a walking-dead.

And if you are a NID because your parents stole our commonwealth, sent you out to have a better life, and you in turn, pay us back by trying to kill our spirit with your hope-sucking statements, thereby making me spend time to write this letter which would most likely generate comments I would rather not deal with my way, well… since I have no power to do anything to you, I leave you for God to judge. That is not because I am meek like Moses, it is because I really have no power to do anything to you – at least, for now.

Dear NID, in spite of all the nonsense happening in every sector of the country, you can call me deluded, but I still say Nigeria has a great future. Okay, I said it come and flog me. Oh I forgot, you would have to come down to Nigeria to do that.

Dear NID, I think I should stop here for now, as I strongly suspect that I am beginning to ramble.

Yours sincerely,
Nigerian in Nigeria
Atilola Moronfolu

http://www.hattylolla.com/2013/01/dear-nigerian-in-diaspora.html

OP, don't bite the hands that feed you. Come to think of it, you are probably a NID posing as a NIN - good job. Nevertheless, it is public information that in 2012, NID remittance to the motherland, Nigeria, was $21 billion. Please compare this with your $31.6 billion, 2013 budget. I'll help you do the math: 67 percent. We know the $21 billion from NID can be seen on the ground in the housing sector, agriculture, auto industries, feeding of families, etc. In addition, most of the weddings, burials, etc. are funded by mostly NID funds. However, most of the 2013 ($31.6 billion) budget will find its way to foreign accounts – it’s happening as I type.

Again, I warn you not to bite the hands that feed you.

NID is actually Nigeria's best hope. NID could not impact from within; however, NID has a good track record of impacting change on the ground from Diaspora.

Tolexander: Thinking the webometric list ranking would be pasted anyway. Notwithstanding:
Great Ife!
Great Ife!!
Africa most beautiful campus

Oga, please back up your statement with a recent campus picture or video.

Omonjoe: Nairalanders, I just entered into a relationship with a girl lastweek,I'm 2 good a romantic person. What kind of gift can I get for her this valentine and how can I make it a romantic day for her?

Be creative or get creative. It doesn't always have to be about spending money. If you are good with your hands, you can make something nice for her. Also, since this is a new relationship, it would be important to do something romantic together, which could be as simple as taking a walk together in a less crowdy setting.

If the headline is true, then we should truly relax (Naija cliché), for another 19 years, and a new Messiah will come to our rescue, this time, perhaps help us win the FIFA World Cup. That puts Nigeria in true contention for FIFA World CUP, 2038, of which the venue is TBD. In that decade, European and South American players would be vying for a spot with clubs playing in the Nigerian Premier League. I say we relax...

Rationalman: This man deserves an apology from some media

What apology? The so-called Governor, Chime, should be the one apologizing to both his constituents and the media. What nonsense. OP, if you have a job, try disappearing for a week talk less of months and see if your sorry behind still has a job. Just give it a try, even as a prank.
I’m sorry to say, but Nigerians like you are gullible fools.

Humanbeans: 44 years in a paid employment!!!. Its unimaginable that someone will spend that amount of years serving a company,, when is she going to have fun, and adventure, its really sad. But still she has been a faithful servant, Enjoy your retirement,madam

The story said, "she didn't use her sick leave." So you can assume that she used some of her vacation time.

zoelife: Been worried lately over this issue. He's a great guy, loving, kind and all. Yet time and time again the issue comes up if I'm still with him, or if there's someone somewhere who's probably doing better than him. Getting a little worked up over things I call 'trivial' like not knowing my friends(I'm not a crowd person. My friends are mostly married women. Or guys. That's me),etc.
Not that he's being unpleasant, but the thing here is, I'm wat u cld call an 'alpha female'. Ambitious, driven and visionary. These I think give him the 'not good enuff' feeling, plus the fact dat he's still a beginner(I'm not yet there either). Whenever he expresses such feelings, I feel him too and attimes wonder to myself, if truly there's someone better for me out there. I dunno.
Sound advice NLers needed, married folks welcome. Tks

Matching up with someone like you may not be perfect either. Your match may not provide a lasting relationship even if it progresses into a marriage. Again, I'm not suggesting that you settle for this person, but the grass as we know is always greener on the other side. Perhaps you are the leader in your relationship...there is nothing wrong with that. Especially if he lets you lead.

BF nearly got robbed by the Ref, Tunisia's Slim Jdidi. But Nigeria thanks him for making BF a little weaker without their star player, Jonathan Pitroipa. Good job Ref.

BFS deserve to win. Congrats!!! Nigeria is waiting for you.

At this point, it doesn't matter whether Nigeria plays Ghana or BFA, players of both teams are tired...an advantage for Keshi's boyz.

Serious trashing...

Unprofessionally playful. Why give up a goal? It's not called for. African football sucks!!!

NL, success is candy-coated sweet

Billyonaire: *Privacy
*Little or no income Taxation
*Drunk Driving without jail term
*Plural marriage and even adultery without jail term
*Cheap business registration
*Cheap Gas and Petrol
*Liberty to practice any religion without being lynched.
*All year round sunlight
*Clean air
*Rich Cultural heritage
and a thousand more

- Please tell me where you get privacy in Nigeria? When a policemen or warden can have you open your boot/trunk and ask, "wetin you carry?" When armed robbers can show up at your house/hotel and order you to open the door.
- You really think petrol is cheap? And you really think the air is clean. You must be writing from London. Even the air there is not clean...
- You really think business registration is cheap? If so, compared, to registering a business in what other countries?

+ You may be right about the rich culture of: abuse, tribalism, nepotism, corruption, armed robbery, kidnappings, muggings, hooliganism, mediocrity, egoism, polygamy, chauvinism, molestations, killings, assassinations, etc.

confusion247: We are enjoying One Nigeria as prescribed by Gowon. To crown it all, we have fresh air now. The transformation agenda will soon follow.

Point of correction: we have polluted air.

rokiatu: Don't ask me why am asking this question

But I really need to know the Pro and Cons of living with your in laws.

Pros:
* if you have children, they get to know their grandparents, which is in my opinion is very important.
* most grandparents find joy in seeing their grandchildren grow up
* if they are not too old, they can help out especially if you have little ones
* you don't have to worry about going to pay them a visit since they are now under your nose
* it could benefit your family financially

Cons:
* It’s quite an adjustment getting to live and know your partner, and now you’ve added another variable
* you are now outnumbered in your home
* it could have a negative financial impact
* if you have adequate space, privacy may not be an issue

Nevertheless, the pros outweigh the cons. The relationship will obviously go through stages of forming (conflicts), storming (more conflicts), norming (understanding how to treat each other), performing (ripping the benefits). The time this all takes would depend on all the parties involved.

adulthood: So i want to buy a camouflage shorts, but people around tell me its very risky to wear camouflage since im not a military man. What are your thoughts please share

Nigeria today is not Nigeria of the 80s. It was fashionable in Lagos then for teenagers and adults to wear back then.

We should predict a West African final for this one. South Africa, sorry.

You have the voted African player of the year coming in on Sunday well rested... So I guess Algeria was playing the Ivory Coast reserve team that perhaps just had Drogba. It was all a strategy that would see them into the semi-finals.

Here's what we have to look forward to:

Ivory Coast boss, Sabri Lamouchi rested nine players ahead of Sunday's quarterfinal against Nigeria.

I'm scared...

executinal: CIV i see una hand work ooh, carry on hope TOGO win with enough goals

There you go: African teams lacking discipline. Goalkeeper steps out of his area and now defender hands the ball. Base on the lack of discipline I've observed thus far, Nigeria has a chance against Ivory Coast.

lonelydora: The reason is because of this kind of people.

True depiction of belief systems: mainstream and indigenous.

Wallie: It is very easy to find fault in what someone else did or his doing; however, we find it difficult to profess a workable solution facing the same constraints. For one reason or another, some people feel jaded and/or disillusioned because GEJ has not lived up to their expectations, regardless of whether their expectations were reasonable or not.

In the interest of full disclosure, I’m one of those people but I constantly ask myself if I can do any better facing the same constraints – some of the constraints which probably fostered me into power. I won’t answer the question so as not to set the tone of this post by seeming to be anti or pro GEJ.

However, the question for you is:

If you wake up tomorrow and find yourself to be the President of Nigeria, what would you do about the following and how would you do it? The “how” is the most important part of this exercise.

1. Boko Haram, MEND, OPC etc (any armed group)
2. Police and their inadequacies
3. Manufacturing including import/export
4. Youth unemployment
5. Taxes
6. Crude Oil revenue
7. Mineral resources (mines)
8. Healthcare
9. Education
10. Federal infrastructure (power supply, roads, railways, airports, ports, waterways etc)
11. Food supply (agriculture)
12. Corruption including fraud/embezzlement
13. Allegation of corruption against former politicians
14. Judiciary
15. How will you select your cabinet

Keep in mind that you are a democratically elected President which means that you must act within the constitution. For example, you can’t just say you will throw former politicians alleged to be corrupt in jail without due process. You will have to charge them to court and seek a conviction against them from judges that may or may not be corrupt.

I would work on myself first in becoming selfless and improve on my communication skills. However, contradictory as this may sound, selfless in the sense of caring less for family and friends, but my country - doing away with nepotism, greed, self-enrichment, etc. I would also surround myself with smart folks: intellectuals, businessman and women alike. I would have a grand vision and plan – hope for the moon with anticipation that in the short term we can reach the clouds. We can become proud again – it’s possible.

nnedozie22: 2 years ago, a friend of mine registered for a professional exams and she was so secretive about it(i had no problem with that though), until about 2 weeks to the exams date and she had not gotten all necessary documents which of course should have been with her at that moment. She reluctantly told me about it and i immediately plunged myself into the whole situation because i had written the exams a couple of years back before we started working together. Everything did work out well and she was able to write the exams but did not pass due to inadequate preparation, all because she did not ask for help or guidance. Last year again, i told her to try the exams again and this time around, i helped her with the materials needed to prepare and she is happy. though she told me she had a bitter experience with some colleagues while she was working at home, but she has come to realise that everybody is not the same. I personally don't like getting under peoples skin. Everyone is entitled to the privacy of their own lives and we have to prove that we are trustworthy for me to be at ease to disclose personal problems or plans to us.

It boils down to a general social problem our society suffers from: trust and our belief system. The so-called religions as I understand them are meant to free us and give us confidence to soar. This does not mean that the atheist fair well in this society, especially if he/she doesn't control his/her mind. However, the religions (both mainstream and indigenous) have been perverted to put us rather in bondage and give us insecurities, and any other weakness that comes to mind. A society is a reflection of its citizen’s minds. It obvious that the minds of our individuals are not functioning as they should be.

Wallie: By Peter Eigen, Special to CNN

Editor’s note: Peter Eigen is a member of the Africa Progress Panel, chaired by Kofi Annan. He is the founder and chair of the Advisory Council, Transparency International, and chairman of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. The views expressed are the author’s own.
China’s growing presence in Africa is one of the region’s biggest stories, but even seasoned analysts cannot decide whether this booming relationship is good or bad for Africa.


Critics say Chinese strategy is entirely self-promotional, aimed at maintaining access to Africa’s precious mineral resources even when that means propping up odious governments. China’s supporters say the Asian superpower is strictly neutral and business-oriented, preferring to generate economic growth not a dangerous dependency on aid.

China has certainly been contributing to Africa’s economic growth, both in terms of trade and with building infrastructure. All over the continent, it has built roads, railways, ports, airports, and more, filling a critical gap that western donors have been shy to provide and unblocking major bottlenecks to growth.

The rehabilitated 840-mile Benguela railway line, for example, now connects Angola’s Atlantic coast with the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia. And Chinese-financed roads have cut journey times from Ethiopia’s hinterland to the strategic port of Djibouti, facilitating livestock exports.
Meanwhile, bilateral trade between Africa and China continues to grow at an extraordinary pace, reaching $160 billion in 2011 from just $ 9 billion in 2000.


But some 90 percent of Sino-African trade is still based around natural resources – oil, ores, and minerals. And exports of natural resources by themselves do not help Africa to develop as we can see from the examples of Nigeria and Angola, Sub-Saharan Africa’s two largest oil exporters.
First, oil and mining are not labor intensive industries. So while natural resources may create impressive headline growth figures, they do not necessarily translate into widespread job creation.

Second, as we saw in the Netherlands in the 1960s and Norway today, large oil and mineral reserves can distort the local currency, pushing up prices of other exports, such as agricultural products, and making them much harder to sell overseas.

Third, without careful management, oil and mineral revenues have often fuelled corruption which has a severely negative impact on a country’s development. It’s notable, for example, that China is not yet one of the supporting countries for the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), an initiative to promote transparency and accountability in the governance of natural resources.

Away from the oil and mining industries, critics of China say they don’t see much evidence of China advocating for Africa on global issues either.
Climate change and better access to overseas markets are two such issues. But at the Africa Progress Panel we see little evidence of China pushing hard for improved market access for African products in non-African markets. Indeed, South African and other manufacturers have frequently complained about the crushing competition from Chinese textiles. Nor do we see China pushing for any meaningful breakthroughs in climate negotiations that would favor African nations.

More heavily publicized, Chinese use of its veto in the U.N. Security Council to inhibit international action on Darfur has made a mockery of China’s supposedly “neutral” stance.

So what else could Africa and China do so that Africa benefits more from its growing relationship with China?

For a start, African countries could diversify their economies as much as possible away from supplying unprocessed natural resources to China. This will make them less dependent on the vagaries of both the Chinese economy and the ups and downs of global commodity prices. Trade with China may have helped insulate Africa from the full impact of the 2008 financial crisis, but Africa still looks vulnerable to China’s economic slowdown. Meanwhile, African nations should also prepare for the day when they no longer have natural resources to sell. At the Africa Progress Panel, we talk about transforming natural resource wealth into human capital, by investing revenues into health and education.

Second, African countries need to encourage Chinese investment into more labor intensive sectors. Africa’s population is growing faster than anywhere else in the world, and job creation is a top priority. If Africa cannot create jobs to keep up with the growth of its workforce, then we can expect to see a large and growing population of frustrated, jobless youth.

As China’s relationship with Africa shifts from being essentially government-to-government to business-to-business, some analysts see enormous potential in the manufacturing industry, especially for clothing and textiles. Rising Chinese wages in this sector may lead Chinese manufacturers to export jobs to African countries where labor prices are lower.

One example of how this might work is Zambia, where some 300 Chinese companies now employ around 25,000 people. Ethiopia’s shoemaking sector has also benefitted from Chinese investment that has created jobs and exports.

For the most part, however, and despite the scale of investment, linkages between Chinese investment and local economies remains weak.

Third, African countries could negotiate better terms with Chinese investors, including quality control and better linkages with local economies. African governments could urge China to improve market access for African goods overseas, for example in trade fora such as the World Trade Organization. The IMF estimates the average import tariff faced by low-income countries in Africa in the BRICS at 13 percent – around three times the level in the United States and the European Union (which also operate a range of non-tariff barriers).

On quality, observers describe shoddy workmanship in a range of Chinese investments from crumbling walls in a Chinese-built hospital in Angola, enormous potholes in Ghanaian and Zambian roads, and a leaking roof in the African Union’s new $ 200 million headquarters opened in January.

Fairly or unfairly, many in Africa complain that Chinese projects do not employ enough Africans or do enough to transfer skills and technology. The reality is that this will vary from project to project. When a country is emerging from a decade or two of civil war, its labor force may not have sufficient capacity to work on technical projects. But at the Africa Progress Panel we view job creation as a priority issue for Africa’s development. Skills development has a major role to play in this respect.

And when Africans are employed, working conditions are sometimes substandard. Human Rights Watch reports dangerous work conditions in Zambian mines. And pay disputes at a copper mine also in Zambia led to two Chinese managers shooting at miners in 2010, then the death of a Chinese manager this August.

Fifth, Africa could keep working to make itself as attractive a business environment as possible. At the Africa Progress Panel, we consider further regional economic integration to be a priority. Africa’s population will one day represent the world’s largest consumer market. If they can get increased market access by investing in a single country, Chinese businesses will want to invest much more.

Analysts see more Chinese businesses coming to Africa, meaning that the Africa-China relationship is diversifying away from simply government-to-government relationships. This makes it harder to characterize the relationship as either good or bad. However we view it, China’s growing presence in Africa is part of a rapidly changing reality that presents enormous opportunity.

http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2012/10/29/is-china-good-or-bad-for-africa/

China is good for African but not best – their standards are low, no belief system/values, and just as corrupts as our leaders, if not worse. China has been good for Africa because it has created some type of jealousy with the West. Hence, you now see the resurgence of Western Europe and US interests recently increasing in Africa. Don't think France, UK, and US intervention in Mali is a fluke or because they like us so much and they want to save lives. I don't think so. It is part of a grand strategy against Mr. China. Mother Africa is part of a grand geopolitical chess game - who controls the worlds minerals and resources.

Myne White: A housewife is usually a married woman who does not have an external income, or she just does not earn as much as she would if she worked outside the home. Having a career or not is one of those topics that can get educated and socially-aware women up in arms, the debate being whether career women can be good mothers, and how much housewives contribute to the economy.

For this reason, a lot of stay at home wives and mothers will tell you, "I did not plan to be a housewife", but in my case I actually did. I mean we did, my husband and I. Let me start from the beginning. I am one of those never say never kind of people, I try to remain adaptable, and not to think in absolutes. For instance, it was never taboo in my mind for a woman to choose to be a housewife, the key word being choice. If a woman gets married and decides to stay home, either for the husband or the children, who was I to judge? Especially if it is working for their family?

Now I am a housewife, and I can only try to make it work for me too. Any other housewives in here? How do you work it?

http://www.mynewhitmanwrites.com/2013/01/how-to-be-stay-at-home-wife-or-mother.html

Imagination and choice: if you choose as you've said to be a housewife, more power to you sister. However, it doesn't stop you from contributing financially to the family pot. This calls for being a housewife and using your imagination. However, if being/becoming a housewife also means you not using your imagination then you can fall into the stereotypical housewife. But with using your imagination, you can eat your cake and have it. The lack of use of our imagination is our limit to achieving and even enjoying our choices (my quote).