America and indeed cannot afford to have another 4 years of that Republican Rule. Everyone is blaming greedy CEOs, bonuses, lack of regulation and oversight for the crash of the market.

What nobody seems ready to say (apart from the Iranian President, that is) is that there is a tangible relationship between spending over 10 billion dollars a month on senseless wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the market crashing. The truth is America will never win either of those wars, but that has not stopped George Bush draining American resources on those stupid wars, sticking his nose where it's not needed, paying very little attention to what is going on in his own country.

Unfortunately, the rest of the world is somehow financially connected to America and this crisis with wall street is directly connected to the uncertainty in the financial world today.

If anyone person should be held accountable, it should be George Bush. Now McCain is trying to hood-wink Americans into voting him to the most influential post in the world ( and by default, Sarah Palin).

I hate to think which direction this world be heading within the next four years if McCain becomes the next US president. Initially my support for Obama was more to do with skin color, but now it's so blatantly obvious McCain is actually a disaster in the making. Not only for America, but the rest of the world. Even other world leaders are subtly trying to endorse Obama.

Well, in spite of all my rantings, I still don't have a say in who becomes president of the US. I hope the American people vote with their heads and not based on stupid sentiments like race and sex.

This US election is turning out to be the funniest I've ever witnessed in my short 24 years on earth.

The clownish lies told by the McCain camp, the unbelievable gaffes Joe Biden comes up with everyday, the sacarstic choice of McPalin and her constant flipping of the republican ticket (Palin/McCain instead of McCain-Palin), the laughable commentary FOX news spews everyday, the fact that the Iranian president is now seen as making more sense than George Bush at the UN Gen. Assembly, the ridiculous attempts by the McCain camp to shield Palin from the press.

While this is funny, nothing beats the decision by McCain to suspend his campaign and focus on the trouble on Wallstreet. This coming immediately after it was just revealed that his campaign manager has been collecting money from two of the major firms involved in the recent market crash. Wow.

What next should we expect?

This is not about investment, otherwise nobody in their right minds will be ready to pay 350 million pounds for Newcastle. By the way, Sky News are reporting that the amount is in the region of 200 million. Even at that, it's still exorbitant. In this current financial climate, where stock prices are crashing faster than you can say 'Newcastle', a "consortium of Nigerian businessmen and oil barons" (according to The Sun - UK) are preparing to throw 200M into a decadent club like Newcastle. When Arab businessmen reject a premiership club, then you know it's a complete NO-NO.

This is also not about making a profit. Newcastle United are not in a position to make a profit and they will not be in that position until at least 80-150 million has been spent fixing debts, buying brand new players (clearing out most of the current useless bunch), negotiating deals for players, improving their stadium, hiring a new manager and re-positioning the club). NO, this my friends is not about making a profit. Roman Abramovich is still trying to make a decent profit on Chelsea which he bought over 3 years ago.

To my mind, there are only two reasons why this "group of Nigerian businessmen and oil barons" are so keen on buying Newcastle United.

First, let's make two things clear.

[list]
[li]NVA mgt. is a reputable firm in the UK and they work with top names like John Terry, Rio Ferdinand, Alex Ferguson (Yeah, the Man Utd manager), Marcel Decailly, Usher and P. Diddy to name a few. It was founded by a highly regarded young British-Nigerian in Chris Nathaniel. Yeah, they are a mega-million pound firm. Visit their website and be wowed[/li]

[li]Newcastle is about the worst investment anyone could make right now in England, not even Arab moneybags are willing to invest money into the club.[/li]
[/list]

As a front for illegal activities
It's not new in the illegal business world to use some legal business as a front. Of course, the legal business does not have to generate any decent amount of profit. Considering these guys are from Nigeria and they won't make themselves known, we both know the source of the money is suspect. Let's not come here on Nairaland and pretend that our country is so mis-understood. We have each lived in that country at one time or another or at least our parents or relatives have. Apart from the tens of millions of Nigerians outside Nigeira, there are at least 140 million Nigerians living at home and of that population, at least 70% live well below that poverty line as defined by Nigerian standards (which is pretty low). Of the remaining 30%, at least 10% are teteering on the brink of that poverty line. Of the remaining 20%, at least 10% are struglling to maintain their 'middle-class status (which is almost non-existent)', only 2-7% can be counted as rich. Only about 1-4% of Nigerians can be counted as "wealthy" and it is from this 'select' group that this pool of Newcastle buyers have been drawn from. Moreover, very few if any billionaires in Nigeria (dollars/Naira/Pound/Euro) are conducting legal or semi-legal business and my guess is that none of these guys are involved in this deal.

Someone mentioned about using the money to develop Nigeria. Of course, there's so many things to invest in in Nigeria, it's ridiculous that so many Nigerians in Nigeria are so poor. But get this,  this money cannot be used to 'invest' in Nigeria because then questions may be raised and answers will be very difficult to come by. That's why there's no face associated with the "consortium". They've decided to use a respectable Nigerian for that purpose (Chris Nathaniel). As for developing the Nigerian league, even I will not be interested if I had a billion dollars. The infrastructure is not in place to make a succcess of any serious investment in the Nigerian league. I'D much rather invest in Agriculture or IT, but that's just my opinion.

Status
We Nigerians are status-freaks. Maybe because of the mentality we develop back home, it's difficult for us to exist in a place without trying to make out we are superior to others, especially to other Nigerians.
However, I doubt this has much to do with it.

Here's how this story will end (if they indeed buy this club).

- Newcastle is bought by this group.
- They appoint some dodgy manager (because every reputable manager will stay away).
- Over the course of 1-2 seasons, the club goes from bad to worse due to mis-management, scandals and shams associated with the "hierachy" of the club.
- The appropriate authorities wade in to investigate.
- Their findings uncover some of the shadiest financial dealings by a premier league club.
- The name of Nigeria is dragged further and further in the mud as we finally assume the title of undisputed scam/corruption champions of the world.

Either way I look, there's no happy ending to this gory episode unfolding right before our very eyes. It's high time some sane person wades in and puts a halt to this shambles-in-the-making. Ashley definitely will not, he's only too happy to offload the club to anybody with a wad of cash.

There's millions of Nigerian youths who cannot afford quality education, cannot get jobs, cannot afford a decent accomodation, cannot put food on the table 2 times in a 24 hour day, cannot afford decent transportation, cannot afford health care, cannot afford to save even N10 a month, who do not know what future they can afford to look forward to. Yet these group of Nigerians do not think that's worth investing in.

The funny part is that someone will come on here in a few minutes to defend this atrocious waste of money and tell me Nigerians are finally taking on the world. We have not even begun to take on Nigeria.

It's sad how much Nigerians actually hate themselves.

However, me thinks this is a huge public relations stunt by Chris and his firm, NVA mgt. as they will most likely pull out of any deal at the last moment but not before generarting as much media and public awareness of NVA management.

Nigerians, I believe it is high time we speak up and begin start to salvage what is left of our tattered reputation, because if we are perfectly honest, our reputation is in shambles and it keeps getting worse. Any Nigerian who has ever travelled out of the country will bear witness to the fact that our reputation is a joke at the moment, not just in the western world but even in Africa, among Africans and even Nigerians.

Just a few examples:

Nigerians' visa applications at the different embassies and high commissions around the world recieve more scrutiny than any other nationality
Nigerians' job applications goes through a lot more checks and verifications than any other.
Any documents produced by a Nigerian has to be seriously checked and checked again, then once more before it goes anywhere.

just to highlight a few points.

It's ok to sit on your high horse and wax lyrical about how bad it has gotten and how something needs to be done, but enough of all the talk. It hasn't helped anyone as yet. Now is the time to take serious action and be spokespersons for our country.

It is time to profer workable solutions.

I'll start.

[list]
[li]I say we set up an organization similar to the better business bureau (bbb) which encourages all reputable firms to sign up, promotes trust and provides some form of assurance for anyone looking to do business online with a Nigerian firm.[/li]
[/list]

I am up for any workable solutions we come up with and I'm prepared to work with any serious-minded people who are interested in helping re-build our reputation around the world.

The Nigerian movie industry is simply a joke. Sadly this can be said of most things in Nigeria.

We seem to do one thing particularly well in Nigeria - Start well and deteriorate with time

It's the same with our energy, transport, communications industries.

Right now, the music video industry (or whatever they are called) seem to be doing particularly well, at least by Nigerian standards. I fear this trend of mediocrity will soon take hold of this industry as soon as those dim wannabes who have plotted the downfall of Nigeria-wood to it's current gutter standard start flocking in.

By the way guys, how about setting up a movie critiquing website. I guess it'll be real fun but then how does one keep up with more than 50 movies being released per week?

I am enjoying this thread. It gives me an outlet to vent my frustration with all things Nigeria-wood.

I've just seen two movies today on "AIT moviestar". The weirdest thing is the ability of the script writers to integrate two rubbish movies into one atrociously gutter movie.

- Two Completely different storylines
- Completely different set of actors

And for crying out loud, there's a "watch out for part 2" at the end of the torture.

I don't understand how they manage to accomplish this feat. Mediocrity runs through the whole group, from script writers, directors to actors and actresses. It's distressing, because I used to enjoy Nigerian movies a long time ago.

The worst part of the whole charade is the rate at which Nigerian movie channels are springing up on Sky (UK).
Somebody stop this madness!!!

Does anyone know where I could get the soundtracks from the popular Nigerian soap, "everyday people"?

Like everything google comes up with, the secret is simplicity - keeping everything as simple as can be.

This UI (chrome) is second to none. My initial fear was that google would try to make it too much about "google" in order to protect their coporate identity but that doesn't see to be the case. On first loading the browser, it asks you to either keep google as your default search engine or change to any other one of your choice. And then of course there's all the other features - tabs, speed, easy navigation. I'm really curious to see how far they can go with this.

@sisikill

I've laughed so hard my sides are aching.

You should be a movie critique, I'm sure in no time people like you can force the stakeholders in Nigeria-wood to up their game.

This is the hardest I've laughed in ages.

Since the early days of George Bush I, the title of 'ANTI-CHRIST' suffereth much violence. Whether the violent taketh it by force doesn't seem to be the point here.

Having said that, I fear there is a slim chance Obama is not the anti-christ. I mean considering he's black and the position of anti-christ seems to be more suited to a white dude or even someone from the middle eastern countries.

Funny, nobody ever seems to associate the russian presidents or the middle eastern leaders or even Osama Bin Laden with the position. Surely, these guys were there ahead of Obama and have stronger credentials.

I'll be very dissapointed if Obama nicks it (the 'anti-christ' title, I mean). He is not qualified enough and he is too inexperienced to be laden with that much responsibility.

He's never getting my vote for the title (if it comes to that).

By the way, this post is the funniest I've seen on this website recently. Kudos to the original poster.

You could contact me at: [email=admin@peterinyang.com]admin@peterinyang.com[/email].

You may also want to take a look at Edohcon.com (my marketing website)

Interesting to see how this discussion has developed. I'm not going to go into the issue of racism and what not.
Believe it or not, most of the people on this board are smart people, people who can discern wrong from right.
I find it amazing that we have people falling over themselves to defend the claims of Prof. Oyibo. You can be sure those of us with doubts about these claims, have our reasons (myself included).

First off, let me say the link provided on this page (regarding the US Intelligence review) is an amazon affiliate link.
Guys, lets be objective about this and take the "racial discrimination" blinders off for a minute. I really do want to believe that Oyibo has made a discovery that can change our way of life as we know it.
A few questions though:

- What the hell is OFAPPIT?
- Where did all the Web Hosting Firms in the US disappear to ?
- Last time I checked, the domain names OFAPPIT.COM, OFAPPIT.ORG OFAPPIT.NET were still available.
Some smart-ass fellow has even gone ahead to reserve gagut.com, just in case someone decides to purchase it later. By the way, other variations of the name "gagut" are still available (gagut.org, etc)
- Are you guys trying to tell me, the white folks also discriminate against registering a proper domain name for this ground-breaking Institute?
- Are there any graduates of this dignified Institute applying their knowledge anywhere?

Until these questions are answered, I stick to my guns that these claims are in the main, fraudulent.

Oh and by the way, I purchased the Grand Unified Theorem book on Amazon and I intend to post my views here after I'm done reading it.
[s]I'm sure it won't wash with me, because' I really dislike maths.[/s]
And I called the Cambridge IBC myself just to confirm the claims of awards and what not. Well, what can I say? Lies? Most Definitely.

I've done my own little research on his bogus award claims and trust me, they are mostly lies. Those of you rooting for him have got to be ashamed of yourselves. What the hell, someone even wrote summin' about most critics coming from the south-west of Nigeria. What can I say?

We need fellow scientists to verify the GAGUT claims, and not some random fellows coming on here to tell post lectures on patriotism.

And about the books being in the Libraries at HAVARD. Really?
I didn't realize Havard Library was strictly reserved for Books written by Professors only.

Hey guys,
A few friends of mine have been weighing up the possibility of starting an online community for Nigerian intrepreneurs, to encourage and educate nigerians on how to effectively manage an internet-based business successfully.

We would like to get input on how intrepreneurship in Nigeria is perceived, how popular it is, and what factors, if any hamper the growth of such businesses in Nigeria.

BTW: Anyone interested in contributing ideas, is highly welcome.

Answers.com Definition: Intrepreneur ‘in-tra-pre-noor’, n. a person who organizes, maintains and takes responsibility for an internet business venture.

Niceuzor
I really think you should worry more about developing the content for your website first before anything else. Organize it properly, and then you can think of how you want your site visitors to view it (the site design).

You'd truly be putting the cart before the horse if you do it the other way round and it's a sure path to failure.

I'd recommend the following steps:

* Determine who your audience will be
*Identify sources of content for your site
* Develop content that you believe will appeal to that audience
* Organize that content into categories (for easy navigation)
* Determine how you want your content layed out (now website design comes in)
* Get your domain name and hosting
* Upload your site and promote it

Good luck.

Is there anything in particular you would like to know?

There is the CCNA website, of course.

HTML is just the beginning of the journey.

Html is a good and quite essential foundation, but you raise your stock through the roof if you are fluent in:

1. Other 'dynamic' Web Programming Languages :: PHP, Javascript and Java, ASP, Ajax (you don't have to know them all)

2. Cgi Programming (with perl)

3. Documentation (an often over-looked and underused but absolutely neccessary chore of the Web Designer).

Of course, you should be versatile with one or more popular Design packages in the market (ala Dreamweaver, HomeSite, etc).

You don't absolutely need to, but ideally you should know a lil' bit about databases, the different DB management systems available and how they plug into your Project.

If you come to my company with such a Resume, you definitely stand a far better chance than someone with a complex knowledge of HTML only.

Liverpool definitely do have a complex when it comes to playing against the other Top Premiership Sides : Man U, Arsenal and Chelsea _{(in no particular order)}.

I am still shocked from the unbelievable result even though I never got a chance to see the game. I didn't expect an Arsenal win so soon after the FA Cup match on Saturday, but I'm extremely pleased with this result and I hope we (the gunners) can carry on like this for the rest of the season.

Bring on Man. Utd.

By the way, Happy New Year to all Nairaland Sports Fans.

Rough estimate

1. Domain Registration: GBP 6.99

2. Hosting: I use a Hostgator Reseller that costs $24.95 because I run quite a few websites

3. My Hosting Account provides me Cpanel Option so it was awfully easy to install Wordpress. But if your Hosting Account does not provide Cpanel, you can always upload the files as per the instructions provided.

Download Themes and Customise them to your Taste using the Theme Editor in the Admin.

Have Fun.

1. Register a Domain Name

2. Find a Good Web Host - HostGator has everything you need to Host your WordPress Site. Almost every Webhosts provide sufficient Support for CMSs ( with a few exceptions)

3. If your WebHost Offers Cpanel, then you can install WordPress on your Home Directory in a matter of a few clicks. If not, go to the wordpress.org, download the CMS Package, unzip it and upload the contents of the unzipped folder directly to your Site (or a specific folder on your Site, as you wish).

4. Customise the Site as you please from the Theme Editor (which can be accessed through the Admin Panel).

My Website is Powered by WordPress and it took me less than 1 hour to get it all setup with additional Plugins and Customisations to the Template.

Mine can be found at:

www.peterinyang.com

I think everything boils down to our values system in Nigeria.
All too often we tend to want to address the EFFECTS of the system on which our society has been developed instead of tackling the CAUSE and we end up where we started.
It seems to me that We have a belief in that country that everything can be solved through shortcuts, and it has ultimately brought us to the point where we are today as a Nation.

This shortcut-system has eaten too deep into the very fabric of the society, it basically affects our way of thinking as a society, our way of life, our daily activities, and is clearly reflected in the policies and decisions our leaders make on a day-to-day basis - BECAUSE they are products of the system.

This sytem is the reason why every Nigerian knows they don't have to do driving tests before they get a driving license. It is the reason for the high level of "illiteracy" among Nigerian students - they know just what to do to pass their exams. It is the reason why there are so many uncompleted/substandard projects in Nigeria - the contracted firms know they don't have to prove competence before they can get such Projects. It is the reason why there is so much deceit in the Land, so much intolerance. It is this system that dictates to our brains that we can get anything we want if we KNOW 'WHO TO GO TO'. It is the reason why there are so many churches and men of God in Nigeria. We want to believe that the church or 'God' can offer us a quick way out of our problems.
Almost all our problems - From lack of Electricity to lack of stability in our National football team in Nigeria, can be traced in one way or another to this value system - The shortcut system, Fire-brigade system, instant gratification system or any name you want to give it.

Somebody mentioned population as our problem. It is no secret that the population of China is at least ten times our population but somehow they've got the balance right.
What is the difference between both countries - The system, my friend.

The reason why Ghana is seemingly ahead of Nigeria, is because they got a leader who was bold enough to address the CAUSE of their problems rather than the effects - The system.

Until we decide to change our system guys, there is no way we are going to make any lasting changes in our country.

Peace.

Of course, it CAN be an advantage but when you are playing against a far better team, you still have a lesser chance of winning the game, home advantage or not.
A good case in point might be the Nigeria V Brazil gamein Abuja sometime back.

Finally got the result our play deserved.

So after all the boasting, ranting and bashing we got from the Man Utd fans, they stiil lost the game miserably. Stats or no stats, the reality of the matter is this:
Arsenal outplayed Manchester United right there at Old trafford and deservedly won the game.





Latest Blog entry

Just to register my Name on this thread. Honestly, I've not read the preceding 15 pages (too much crap from rival fans).

But to you guys who are just in the business of hating anything about Arsenal, I say we wait until the end of the season and see where our respective teams end up.
I honestly don't know what the fuss is all about.
I'm very sure Portsmouth fans are under no illusion that they will be premiership champions this season, despite not having conceeded a single goal yet in the league and being second on the table, to Manchester Utd.
And so, I say we wait till towards the end of season when the table will be reading something like:

Chelsea 74pts
Arsenal 73pts
Liverpool 73pts
Man U. 72 pts
*********************
*********************
Next team 60pts

Then I can understand the adrenaline rush.
In the meantime, the topic of this thread is : For Gunners only, No uninvited guests.

All this cockiness from Man U. fans.
All I can say is: Pride goeth before a spine-crushing fall.
I'll be happy to take all this crap from you guys, but if on sunday, we beat you at OT in spite of the vastly over-rated Wayne Rooney, then I'm going to sit back and enjoy the whining from you know who.

@Bolaoni
I am sure you must also have noticed how I "disappeared" before, during and after the World cup. Maybe it was because Arsenal failed to qualify for the World Cup or rather because[b] I WAS BUSY[/b].
Point is: My life does not revolve around Nairaland. I'm sure you and I both have commitments in our everyday life that take precedence over Nairaland, sometimes.
Go figure.

I'm very sure there are applications/software that can easily determine the ISP and exact location of any computer used to send spam emails.
I am also sure all email clients display sender information, some even down to the system config. of the originating PC.
Why chase shadows when there are easier means to police the online 419 menace in our country?
If the EFCC put a system in place where spam can be reported to them, I'm sure that would be a good beginning as it would narrow down the hunt to ISP-> Cybercafe/home user, and of course, if the time the email was sent can be determined, it narrows the search down to customers who were browsing at that time, at that particular cybercafe.
If the Cybercafe has a CCTV system or monitoring system of any kind, I'm quite sure we could be on to the main culprits faster than you can say "search".

It is even easier in the case of home internet users. You just get the info. from their ISPs and go after them.

I don't know that putting a system like this in place could cost more money than not putting one in place.
Why can't we invest in simple technology for once, instead of deliberately trying to make life a living hell for the rest of us?

Man U. Vs Arsenal

I don't like to predict the scoreline of matches between these two teams. Anyway, based on current league form, gooners can at best hope for a draw.
But we all know that a game between these two teams has never been decided by form and that will not change on sunday. I expect Arsene Wenger to go for the 4-5-1 formation that served him so well for the most part of last season's champions' league and which has been used to great effect in the past by his team.
It's still early in the season and while the championship cannot be won by Man. U on sunday, it could be Arsenals' last chance of reviving an already dying title challenge. We have lost too many points already and I'm very sure the players know what losing on sunday will mean to our title hopes n all.
I'm desperately hoping for an Arsenal win, but I've seen nothing so far to convince me this team can go to places like Old trafford and get a result, so I'll be happy with a draw.

_{Peacee to all gooners.}

Seriously, I don't believe Gallas would have said he'd score an own goal.
Even if Gallas did say that, there is no way he could have carried out such a threat. Apart from thefact that he is a Professional footballer, he stands the risk of repelling potential employers, not to mention the fact that his present employers could have taken whatever action they wanted, against him.
Anyway, for a player of his status, Chelsea should know that the sympathy vote will always be reserved for Gallas, irrespective of the accusations they level against him.

I wonder what is wrong with a player demanding the same wages as his team-mates, and deservedly so. Gallas has been the best defender for Chelsea over the last few years (even better than J.T) and I don't see a reason why Chelsea cannot put him on the same wages as his team-mates.

Chelsea are ruining their reputations even more by engaging in these petty arguments and if care is not taken, this era will be more remembered for their off pitch dramatics than their football success.

I'm expecting the next episode of the Chelsea - Barcelona seaon 3

Speaking from experience, the school is not up to scratch.

@Jackal
Why am I not surprised by you?
Wenger and Iain Dowie in the same bracket, you do have a sense of humor, I see.

Wenger is the better developer of young talents, no matter where they are discovered. I would argue this issue with you objectively but there's no point as you already have your mind made up.