₦airaland Forum

The whole thing sounds like a big cover up after a massive mistake and/or deliberate act fromone of the soldiers. A dead man cannot defend himself.

About shows the worth of life in Nigeria. If very senior government official can be killed cheaply and attempt made to cover up his death this way, what hope is their for the common man? Maybe the common man is just a dead man walking then!

Very insensitive comments from Jakumo! He seemed to be an eye witness and seems to know for a fact that the security forces were telling the truth!!

9ja_I_hail:
@Bolded stop this lies and feed the young ones around you with truth and reality.this is how you gonna feed your kids with lies in future telling them there was a time all Nigerians stood up protesting for the killing of unarmed igbo men and women but igbos who are the main victim sit back and did not protest your children will grow up with the same hatred towards innocent tribe igbos just as you grew up with the same view as your parents have successfully feed u up with lies .This is how most of your parents refused to tell you people their real motive that lead to the war and make them to commit atrocity in Igbo land by killing innocent women and children.Today after the death of ojukwu you and i have been hearing a lot of truth from our elders though some speak mistakenly due to slip of tongue, but hey truth can be hidden but not forever.

He was not entirely wrong. See the link below:
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-822385.0.html
The link shows that Boko Haram protest happened way before the last one.

Back to the last protest:

The last protest was sparked by subsidy removal. But it meant various thing to various people.  It was really about corruption of politicians and growing inequality between the governing and the governed in the west and the areas of the north. Otherwise why were so called top politicians attacked by mobs? It was also an opportunity for Bakare to score politacal point (he hijacked it and was one of the reasons the protest failed).  

Was it really about subsidy in Benin? I thought it was about Boko Haram there.

The east really tribalised the protest. It was disgraceful and pathetic. They then started a Boko Haram protest saying that was what people should have been protesting about. But their top politicians were against Boko Haram protest when it earlier happened in Lagos as shown in the link above! Very ironic!!

pcicero:
I remember Moz 101 (though I carried it), summary dismissal, ile lodu, every attempted attempt or attempt to attempt, Prof Wale Omo ole, igi iwe eso odo, Victor mojo (Awo operator), River moremi (when there's water scarcity), e jade e jeka bura wo oo, won tun tide oo, ewa day (during Awo Hall week), afin Roger, yan yan (Vakama's trademark), Have u eaten? (the perennial loser), GP mi ti jo oo (my GP has gone down the drain), burnt offering, risky burger+ kunu @ aluta market, Dr Pepper (when Coca Cola n others were banned), oppressor, lai wowe, aro nights in Awo, parliamentary sittings with unparalleled erudition and political sagacity (maybe the National Assembly should come and learn how to debate), the powerful congress of the then 25,001 Ife students (I usually considered myself as the 25001th student lol). It's just endless.

@ dayokanu, you are right. I think he was interim leader after the lifting of the ban before elections. Were you @ New Buka with Kazo Dosumu, Kola Afuwape and I think Korede the night before the killings? I rememeber I was at Kazo's table before going to Awo Hall.

Correct! Greatest Awoite!!

M-16:
THE WORD MIRROR IN BENIN IS UWEGBE IN IGBO IT IS UGEGBE
MIRROR
BENIN = UWEGBE
IGBO = UGEGBE

Yoruba (ONDO) = AYEGBE

AjanleKoko:
The real problem is what we said earlier. The people who have the license can't roll it out effectively. They have no money, they have no experience. Period.

They have no money and CBN regulation didnt make the sector attractive enough for independent companies to put in the kind of money required to start the revolution.

yamakuza:
^ No wonderrr !

You seemed surprised. Have you not read the guidelines?

CBN is over regulating. It seems CBN just asked the deposit banks to write the guidelines as they see fit. Everything in the guideline favours the deposit banks. Telecom companies are excluded. No wide consultation process before coming up with guidelines. Ordinary companies are required to have a verifiable capital base of N500 Million naira excluding licensing cost before they can get license. They are banned from trading with their customers' money and have to keep all the money in a deposit bank in a non interest earning account. Hence the deposit banks will get all the benefits (additional deposits to trade with, paying no interest)  without sweating and risk free.

The only obvious way of making money is through transaction fees on money transfer. Is this the mobile banking? CBN should just call the license mobile money transfer (prevously unregulated) license instead of mobile banking. Why will anybody invest all that money just to become a mobile money transfer company? Ofcourse it will make sense to the telecoms firms because they already have the infrastructure and this will just be another revenue stream on an existing infrastructure. The Paga guys will be interesting case study.

Maybe I am missing something.

Dereformer:
^^^ Please what are the steps involved in registering as a student and for the examination.

Is lagos the only exams venue in nigeria?

Can i read for this exams on my own just the way i did during my ICAN student days?

I cosign that CISA will be very good on your CV. The payback will blow you away.

As for studying on your own, you can depending on how determined you are and how good your understanding of IT is. I didnt need tuition but I had IT backgroung. The ultimate test is taking the study manual and trying to see if you can understand the first page of every chapter/domain. If you cant, you need to enrol at a study centre. My bet is that you'll need tuition.

AjanleKoko:
Hmmm . . . I was wondering why a Google, Visa, or Mastercard did not see any opportunity there. They have the financial muscle as well as the products they can deploy.

I wouldnt know the risk appetitite of these companies. The risk/reward of Nigeria are quite high. You have to realise that a lot of global companies still consider Nigeria too risky (e.g political risks, social atttitudes towards bribery and corruption). For example a company I have worked for exited an European country because of risks related to attitude towards bribery and corruptio. The company will never dream (at the moment) of entering Nigeria market. It does not mean the potential high rewards are not there. The mobile payment has been succesful in countries (Kenya, Indonisia, Haiti, etc) with similar social conditions as Nigeria. There is no reason why it can't succeed in Nigeria. Moreover, Nigeria has a lot more unbanked population than all the countries where it has been succesful.

Well, Nigerian banks have financed e-payment schemes in the past, with very good success. Nigerian banks set up and funded Valucard and Interswitch.

Interswitch was promoted by Telnet and the banks required a lot of convincing to back it. It needed to be backed by a banking consortium to ensure its success. Similar business models (ValuePay (i think) and SmartPay) came up around when Interswitch started that did not enjoy similar success because they did not have the backing of a network of banks and did not have enough money to independently develop extensive channel.

They have also pulled in Mastercard and Visa into the market. No reason why they couldn't have created SPVs with other payment providers to float Mobile Money.

It wasn't so obvious at that time that Mastercard and Visa are going to be successful. I remember presenting the Mastercard idea to my bank in 2001 and they were put off by the infratructure and operation cost. They were not sure they'll be able to earn enough to cover their cost. Similarly we dont know how mobile money will turn out.

Personally I think the policy should have been subject to a lot more scrutiny from stakeholders. Rather, CBN has rolled it out with the classic Nigerian Voodoo approach.

I wont critisize CBN's approach too hard. They only need to create an enabling environment. They are trying to do that with their cash restriction policy. However, they are falling into the trap of over regulation (of a non existent industry) and creating unnecessary restrictions and barriers to entry. They should have allowed the industry to takeoff before coming up with restrictive policies.

Companies like Paga can never build the agent network to cover a country like Nigeria. The mobile operators have spent billions developing their channels, not in infrastructure, but in awareness and incentive structure. If you have a good product that has very high guaranteed turnover, the business will come to you.

I agree. I dont think companies like Paga are big enough to create the kind of revolution that CBN is envisaging. They can be successful if they concenterate on taking Nigeria one state at a time.

yamakuza:
1. Can you tell us more about the UNIQUE features of Paga?

2. What led to your adopting them as your primary provider?

Thanks!

Although the question is not directed at me; the following are my thoughts:

1. I guess you can read the unique features on Paga Website. Quite detailed as well.

2. I guessed that they were recruited by Paga

1stCitizen:
Cannot wait too. Just like someone pointed out earlier, CBN may have quietly given banking licences to people without regulation. By the time issues start coming up then there will be strict regulations and only those with company or business registration will be able to trade like they did in Kenya.

CBN has rolled out a regulatory framework (on CBN website) that is quite tighter than the mobile money framework elsewhere (Kenya, Australia, Indonisia, etc) and excluded the mobile networks:
http://mobilemoneyafrica.com/mtn-flays-cbn%E2%80%99s-m-payment-policy-in-nigeria/

While CBN policies has very clear advantages (allowing the small guys to enter the market by keeping the big guys out), I think the current low level of penetration is as a result of these. This business will result in cultural shift and you need very heavy advertisement campaign to achieve that in any society like Nigeria. Technology alone will not cut it. The mobile network operator are the only people with the financial muscle to do the advertising campaign required.

Nigerian banks can finance the campaign required. But being risk aversed, I dont see them staking large amount of money until they see a succesful Nigerian case study who has spent money to create the necessary awareness and that is when the real competition will begin.

I think companies like Paga are suffering from inadequate advertisement campaign funds. You you spend the major part of your resources developing agency network and those agents do not get enough business, they become dissillusioned very fast and move into other things abadoning your network. This is especially true of Nigeria's fast buck business mentality.

I think there is a very big potential and the Nigerian market is very big. I believe Paga has a good model (CBN's 3rd model) but they need to get the information out there. It is going to be expensive. Will their backers pump in money and be patient for ROI?

MarketVis:
Hey Everyone,

I[b] believe I have a good business idea/plan on having a 24/7 Television channel or station in Nigeria.[/b] Due to the possibility of[b] anyone stealing the idea[/b], I would not disclose the nature of the television channel but I have several questions about it. So am wondering if I will be able to get some answers in the forum. Thanks in advance.


Does anyone know how much capital one need to start a TV station in Nigeria(most likely cable)?

I know you have to obtain a license and meet NBC requirements. Approximately how much does the license cost and how long is the process of getting a license?

Also, about how much amount of money in naira does a TV cable commercial of 60 seconds cost?

Last but not least. What is the profit margin in the Nigerian television industry? Okay? Good?

You can email me at chayomalive@yahoo.com

Naija!
I doubt you have a good idea since you have no idea about the industry. I very much doubt that there will be a lot to steal!

Does anyone know how much capital one need to start a TV station in Nigeria(most likely cable)?

It depends on the scale you're planning. You need to provide more information to get a specific answer to this question.

I know you have to obtain a license and meet NBC requirements. Approximately how much does the license cost and how long is the process of getting a license?
As at early last year;
application checklist requires the submission of corporate documentation (incorporation, taxation & profile), feasibility study on proposed station and the appropriate licence fee, as follows:
• Radio – USD$135,000

• Television – USD$100,000

• Cable TV – USD$70,000

• Satellite – USD$200,000

There are other licensing expenses that are more substantial




Also, about how much amount of money in naira does a TV cable commercial of 60 seconds cost?

Depends on so many things: time of day, slot, station popularity, coverage etc. There is no standard cost.

Check here
http://www.channelstv.com/global/advert_rates.php
http://victorariyibi..com/2007/10/advertising-on-nigeria-television.html

Somebody has asked this question on Nairaland before. https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-14266.0.html


Last but not least. What is the profit margin in the Nigerian television industry? Okay? Good?

Again this depends on the scale, cost structure and business model (e.g wether you're running a payTV or one based on advert or mixture of both). I doubt you'll get this answer anywhere since non of the existing players is publicly quoted with publicly available financial statements. You'll be lucky (assuming you're willing to pay for market research) to get financial performance of one or two companies. For the whole industry, you can't be serious!


Sounds to me like you're trying to perform a market research and or feasibility study. You'll need to pay to get anything useful

ucheibe2:
I am a fifty year old man and recently lost my job. I have never been self employed and am scared what business to invest my money on, so as not to lose my money. I need advice on a profitable and less risky business I can invest my money on. A friend suggested printing press, is it lucrative?

There are a million and one business you can do in Nigeria. However, Nigeria business environment is very tough. Since you have not done business before, you need inside knowlege of the specific sector you intend to go into before investing large amount of money.

I'll suggest finding a mentor who will take you under a wing like an apprentice for at least 90 days before investing any significant amount of money. Offer to pay for the privilege.

Printing is a good business but you can quickly loose a lot of money if you don't understand the business and define your market/customer. I know someone who lost over N10million in the business after retiring from the board of a bank. I also know someone who didnt even go to school and still became a successful printer despite not having money to buy printing equipment when he started.

In terms of business, I'll suggest any 'cash and carry' commoditity. You have to understand that you'll need to work very very hard and might not make a lot of money at the begining. Enterpreneurship is more difficult than being an employee. Beware of those promissing you partnership and unlimited profit within the first few weeks. It will always end in tears.

My 2 cents.

Olodostein:
Despite the fact that we are the most marginalized in Nigeria, we are still on average better than  the "owners of Nigeria". Let alone when we get our own independence with strong unity ripe with Nationalist flavour.

China, with her billions of people can accommodate all of them. In fact, on per square mile, we are better than a lot of countries. In addition to that, haven't you heard of Architectural wonders? Despite the facts, haven't you notice how major towns are dried up during festive seasons when Ndigbo travel to their home towns to celebrate with their families? If our land doesn't contain us, why do we rush home? Almost every igbo family has a house in their kindred. Can you say that of you Yoruba's? You people bewitch yourself to the extent that your place is full of mud houses.

Below is a reality check on wealth for you. BBC report.

The only Yoruba state that came up is Lagos. Who feeds Lagos? Who are the majority of business men in Lagos?  

We have millions of philip emegwali's, innosons, ibeto's, etc. While you people got Wole soyinka, Femi Falana and others, who only know how to blow silly grammer(a foreign language) in order to sound white.

www.nairaland.com/attachments/616300_Nigeria_wealth_624_gif7b5fda46deb77b347d1ac94bbd364b19

You are either very mischievous  or color blind. Either way, you need help to read your own map.

You need the key at the bottom right corner to read the map  ! My 2 cents.

ak47mann:
The way some groups attitude toward other groups in this union,i wonder how they will behave if they were the owner of the Niger delta oil? i swear i feel sorry for the rest of Nigeria. they will tell the world that they are feeding the rest of the country,i think that's why GOD only gave them (choco Milo and born-vita) they should use their brain as intellectual as they claimed,to manufacture petrol from cocoa the other group should use onions and tomato juice for petrol too  
After all common Brazil drive their cars with oil extracted from corn  

It might be news to you but Ondo produces choco Milo and born-vita (like you're omplying) and also oil. Ondo is also in the South West. All parts of the South actually have oil deposits. Not that Oil is more important than intellectual capital though for producing sustainable wealth.

And when you say Niger Delta, which Nigerian tribe is that? I thought Niger Delta comprises Benins, Urhobos, Ishekiris, Isokos, Ijaw, Ibibio, Efik, Ogoni, etc. How will these make up (as a nation) be different from present day Nigeria? Are igbos hoping that this group of ethnic minorities will join them so that they will become they (igbos) will become the new overlords? I pity any ethnic minority joining the igbos with the ingrained arogance and superiority complex of the igbos.

When did Ijaw become their spoke person for the Benins, Urhobos, Ishekiris, Isokos, Ijaw, Ibibio, Efik, Ogoni, etc.

I wonder why I bother responding to the silly posts on this thread!

GEJ is in Power now. He is Ijaw. He has the influence to push for an SNC, a confederacy, or a negotiated breakup. He should just do it! SE and SS have people in the National assembly. They should sponsor a bill, constituional amendment or or anything that will help them achieve their El Dorado. We are tired of all these noise!!

Nashville:
My point really is that Fashola should be given the benefit of the doubt for at-least trying to bring in a solution to our traffic problems. Let us wait and see if it all works

Good point there.

It is possible to become too focussed on the used rail cars and miss the big picture. It is possible that the concessionaire is using the first phase of the project as a proof of concept which will aid their next round of financing. It then make a lot of sense to go for used cars in order to make the initial funds go further.
http://www.investec.co.uk/#home/lending_and_financing/project_and_infrastructure/Transport/transport_deals/ekorail_nigeria.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/14/lagos-railway-change-lives-nigeria

I hope they become successful.

The Lagos deal would be the first of its kind for the TTC. Decommissioned cars are usually sold for scrap metal and can fetch up to $1,500 dollar each. While Ross declined to discuss specific figures, he says the sticker price for Lagos is “significantly more” than scrap prices, putting the potential profits to the TTC in the millions of dollars.

It is not unusual for technology from western nations to end up in poorer countries. Marketplaces in Africa and Asia are flooded with North American clothes, computers, and even cars, but the purchase of larger technology like trains is rarer.

The cars will have to be significantly refurbished to fit existing infrastructure in Lagos, and some Nigerian media reports have lamented that the government appears to have settled on “tokundo,” or used, trains instead of brand new vehicles.

Although half the cars are more than 30 years old, Ross is adamant they are perfectly safe and are only being decommissioned for capacity reasons. But he also admitted the TTC is not required to make sure the cars meet any safety standards before selling them.

“Once sold, it’s up to the new operator to ensure they are in good working order,” he said. “They do need to be maintained much more frequently than the new trains, simply because of their age. At some point they will run out their useful life.”

Murtaza Haider, director of the Institute of Housing and Mobility at Ryerson University, said the age of the cars is definitely a cause for concern.

“We should be ensuring that there is some service life left in these vehicles and we’re not going to be playing havoc with the lives of those who would ride these vehicles,” Haider said. “There’s metal fatigue, and that metal fatigue could result in dangerous conditions. I would be paying a close watch on this for the next ten years to see how many accidents do happen in Lagos.

If Fashola must buy used train cars, must they be as old as 30 years? How many useful life do they have left? It looks like he is not building this project to last.

Nothing new here. This is just a rebranding of NERC off-grid operations license in existence since 2008. Good to see that there is some form of policy continuity from one NERC management to another. We just need results.

Wallie:
I didn’t read all the comments but here are my thoughts.

There are legal and regulatory issues that need to be resolved:

[list]
[li]At what rate will the “government” or whoever wins the rights to the power distribution company pay any company that pumps electricity into the grid?[/li]

[li]The 11 Power Distribution Companies are going to be licensed to private companies soon enough. Who will define the relationship between the private company that wins a license and a local power generator that want to pump into the grid?[/li]

[li]If I just won the licensing rights to a power distribution company, why would I want to allow ANYBODY to use my distribution lines (lines currently owned by PHCN) for their own financial gain without a sub-license to me? For example, I have just paid millions of dollars for Eko Power Distribution Company. I probably won’t mind you injecting power into the distribution lines because I can’t meet demand but I will not allow you to use my lines to sell power to a neighborhood. This essentially means that anybody that generates power cannot sell it directly to a customer unless you run your own parallel lines or you sell it to the Power Distribution Company in your area.[/li]

[/list]

Your points will be addressed by NERC market rules published since Feb 2009.

~Bluetooth:
Dont entertain any fear.let them bomb and we will [b]retaliate by killing every hausa/fulanis [/b]in lagos and other SW states.

I thought that is what the sponsors of Boko Haram wants. Retaliations and counter retaliations and then total chaos. They would have achieved their objectives of making Nigeria ungovernable for GEJ.

At the end of the day, BH, OPC, MEND and the victims will just have been chess pieces in some 'big men' game.

Eko Ile:
What else is new? Same gross ignorance and total lack of civic education about their own country.  Provision of cars and police security is the responsibility of your government by law . What a shame.

Nairaland's resident dickhead at his best! Fasola is mentioned on the topic so you have to dive in. How is the day job going? Douche-bag!!

Eko Ile:
You asked me to burst your lies and I did you dumb a//s//s lying loser.

Oloshi, what difference does it make? It's obvious that all you do is stalk Tinubu and Fashola threads to showcase your hatred and madness? Is it by accident that in all 3 quotes I posted, they all sound the same.

Shey Tinibu abi Fashola fuckkkk you born pikin and den no give you similac money ni? Why ya so mad son? How bad is it killing you?


I didn't even mention this losers name, but his trying to commit suicide,

Fcukkk you and your sad and pathetic life.

You can see that you've got nothing to contribute on this thread beyond insults. Trademark of dickheads trying to coverup intellectual deficiencies! You're probably brain-dead. I'm sure that if they open your head, there will not be a single brain cell. All the brain matter would have turn to mucous! Our conversation is finished on this thread!! I'll ignore you from this point on. Tinubu/fasola a-ss-licker! Keep up with the day/night job.

Eko Ile:
Here you are with your Fashola and Tinubu sadness and hate,


[b]




Dumb a/s//s lair.

Do you need more of your sad and pathetic Fashola and Tinubu hate fest and stalking thread.


This clown can't even keep up with your own record of hate and Fashola/Tinubu stalking threads.


Oloshi loser, 

You have to go back to April to quote 3 threads abouts your idols where I contributed. Thats about 1 thread every 3 months when you post about 2 every day. Doesn't look like I am very interested in your idols. Does it? Wa-nker!

What do you think Fasola is trying to say?

Do you agree that brilliant but poor students should not be prevented from attending LASU based on only financial circumstance? Can you please let us know what is in Fasola's current proposals to prevent the door been shut on these kind of students?

Eko Ile:
And your job is to show up in all Fashola and Tinubu threads to show case your sadness, stupidity and ignorance like you do always right? 

It must be killing you that this is all you stand for in life. See Fashola and Tinubu and your world is upside down.

I wasn't even talking to this , but like they say, guilty conscience and insecurity is a b.it.ch. Oloshi bleep you and your re-tarded guilty conscience.

I see you committing suicide because of Fashola.    loser,

And how many Fasola, Tinubu and ACN threads have you seen me on? Tosser!

I wasn't realy surprised by your expletives. Your peasized brain wont allow you to be able to debate anything rationally. You have to cover your inadequacies with gutter language. Agbero with access to the internet. I see your entire lineage committing suicide! Dickhead!!

jason123:
Secondly; since we do not have a good data base, we will have to make use with what we have.

Even at that (affordability of loans), do you know that the amount of students in unis next year will decrease DRAMATICALLY. Most of the guys want to go to carpentry,bricklaying and car repairs (they earn reasonable amounts) and the women, care homes etc.

Lastly, next, its gonna go "elitist"! How many people can afford over 60K debts? Even at affordable rates, people still don't like them. Most work while in Uni to get rid of them as soon as possible.

Well I can assure that quite a lot of people can afford 60k debt (according to university enrolment figures this year that increased)!
Government funded loans made all the difference. People not going to universities are making active choice not to go based on preference and aptitude and are not simply forced into that decision by financial circumstances.

jason123:
Secondly, the UK has removed the university subsidy. As from next year, every UK citizen that is just starting a tertiary education will pay the FULL PRICE (about 8 k and above which is about 2 million naira, per year). Some will obviously not pay, so,they are indirectly forcing people to vocational jobs. This is a government with sense. We can't all be graduates(skilled labourers), we also need the unskilled.

Are you aware that the Goverment has made affordable loan available to all (including less wealthy and the poor) so that they can still acquire university education if they want it? That is a responsible government that will not want University education to become elitist! Did Fasola think of such measures?

ekt_bear:
Heh. Neither of my parents are corner cases who'd be affected by any of this type of stuff.

My mother's family was actually quite wealthy. Her father could have afforded to send her to school abroad. And she is pretty smart too.

My dad's family was kind of poor, but he is quite intelligent, so would have managed to get into somewhere (either in naija or abroad. he actually was supposed to do university abroad rather than go to OAU, but that is a long story.)

Anyway, let's leave it at that and not makes things personal, imo. . .it really isn't about you or I.

BTW, Awolowo's policies were reasonable in a setting in which the Western Region was one of the wealthier parts of West Africa, and in which the competition for university slots wasn't that high (at the time my dad was going to university, literacy rates in naija were still fairly low.)

Some of Awolowo's policies are not practical today. The world has changed.

Neither would the policy affect anyone directly related to me. The point is your parents benefited from the free OAU when they could have gone to ivy league universities which will suggest that they actually couldn't afford those universities you mentioned. But then, you are absolutely right. The world has moved on. And there is nothing personal between you and I. What I said was for the  sake of arguement using an example that might be easy for you to relate with. I'm sorry that point ruffled your feathers. I will drop it at this point.

Eko Ile:
And what is your day job? Twisting basic and elementary English words around just  to justify your absurd sense of reasoning and understanding like a freeking illiterate?

Trust me, I'm the least of your worries and stupidity.

And your day job is to troll social media looking for any topic about Tinubu, Fasola and ACN seeing blue and trying to convince gullible people that it is red? They actually pay you for doing that? Says a lot about your peasized brain and that of the people that engaged you!

Eko Ile:
See how the usual jokers twisted what the man said upside down.

Predictable people,

And the the usual suspects jump in. Just doing your day job I guess. Keep on trolling.

ekt_bear:
30+ years of amala politics and awoof mentality has unfortunately ruined the minds of several generations of Nigerians.

They seem to want the very best in life. . .but for free

And we wonder why corruption is so rampant in Nigeria, why nothing works properly.

The struggle continues. . .

Someone listening to you will think that you are not a beneficiary of the awoof of the past government! Your parents went to OAU. Most likely benefited from the free meals in addition to the free university. Quite possible that they would not have been able to afford the equivalent of 250k and university in those days. And quite possible as well, that you would have taken to the trade of on of your grand parents (my guess is farming and producing amala) if your parent (and you) did not benefit from Awolowos foresight and amala politics!

ekt_bear:
Also, in case it isn't clear. . . raiding the pockets of the wealthy is how many of these universities in at least the US pay for things.

I'm sure if you've browsed before and looked at the tuition of such schools, you see a ridiculous pricetag.

Rich dumb kids pay the full price. Think of the dumb kids of some rich doctor or lawyer. . . his kids don't quite have the brainpower to enter a good school and get a scholarship, but since the guy has money he'll just sent them to the best place the dumb kid gets into and won't mind paying $50k/year in tuition.

However, at that same university dumb kid A gets into, you have smarter poor kid B. Whose entire family earns less than $50k/year. Kid B will get a scholarship and probably end up only paying $20k/year or so.

So in a nutshell, the money raised from the rich is what universities use to provide for smart kids and the poor.

Basically if you drive away all the rich/middle class from your university, your university won't have any money.

It is much better for LASU to raise tuition to N1 million per year, and then out of these funds spend money upgrading their facilities and providing scholarships for smart kids and very, very poor kids than to keep tuition at N25K and just watch as everything slowly runs down.

Finally, LASU probably did not inflation-index their tuition, right? So it is quite likely that after inflation/depreciation, the N25K which students pay now is less than was paid in the 80s, or whenever the university was founded. Obviously, this situation must be corrected.

I'm sure they do not pay 25K in the 80s. In fact the opposite was the case. Free everyting including meals and a ready job when you finish irrespective of who your father was!

tarano:
Abeg jor LASU is in Lagos for goodness sake, that school should be upgraded simple, people make money in lagos hence should be able to pay the money if they really interested in education,

How much is the minimum wage of Lagos state civil servants? Can the staff on minimum wage afford to send their children to school if they have to pay this rate?

asha 80:
seriuously though not everyone can or should go to university.

I think you do have a point. Not everyone can or should go to universities based on intellectual aptitude. However, I doubt the policy that people with the right mental aptitude should be denied tertiary education based on the financial means of their parents. Education remains the main tool of social mobility in Nigeria and it will be criminal (in my opinion) to deny anyone who has the right aptitude and is willing access to that education. I wonder how much Fasola paid at Uniben! Many of the politicians who benefited from free/subsidised aducation of past government are the ones now kicking away the ladders from younger generations.

ekt_bear:
Many of you seem to have misread his statement.

His point is that without the fee increment, LASU will only be a university for the poor.

I.e., no middle class or wealthy will attend LASU.

He also explains why this is the happening. . . the facilities are crumbling, and thus the university is unattractive to anyone with means.

(Actually there is a slight hole in his argument. . . the money for upgrades doesn't necessarily have to come from tuition increases. But if not tuition increases, one wonders where the money should come from.)

That is exactly the problem. You can't make Lasu an exclusive preserve of the rich. If you have to increase the fees, perhaps you make government funded loans available to the poorer students?

fashola-battles-to-justify-lasu-fee-hike


Okay. Not exactly what he said. But that is exactly what he implied. How much is the minimum wage of Lagos state civil servants? He seems to be out of touch and his statements are highly irresponsible!

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/12/fashola-battles-to-justify-lasu-fee-hike/

[b]Governor Babatunde Fashola battled hard weekend, to justify the astronomical hike in tuition fees recently introduced in Lagos State University, LASU, by the state government.[/b]Recall that the state government had increased tuition fees paid in the university from N25,000 to N250,000 per session.

Fashola, who spoke at Government College, Ughelli’s, annual luncheon party in Lagos, said Nigerians were unconsciously making the country one where there would be separate schools for the rich and poor.

According to him, critics of the increment are indirectly calling for a Nigerian society which will be divided into poor university for the poor and rich university for rich people.


He said: “Countries that do not prioritise education are always at the mercy of those who place a high premium on education.

“Where in the world have we seen tuition fee of university of N25,000? You cannot find this anywhere. Even the nations that are developed and wealthy do not give education for N25,000.

“LASU started very well and over the years, the population grew and beyond the available facilities and the school began to deteriorate. We are determined to rescue LASU and we will not make it a school for the poor.

“We are unconsciously making Nigeria a society where there will be a school for the rich and one for the poor.
“Several people in this country pay so much for education abroad while the schools here continue to deteriorate. It is only in the university that the children of the rich and children of the poor can sit in the same classroom.”

Reference:
You give tickets to a dance and the guests don't show up and you pursue them to collect your dancing shoes. Is that important. What will it solve. If they can't come up with the goods dump them.

Funny law men. How about tackling the pressing matters that will support the establishment of a virile oil industry like the PIB under their noses and starting the process that will get the government the hell out of the oil business by shutting down NNPC. Then and only then can the private sector compete fairly and build refineries under a petroleum pricing regime acceptable to Nigerians through the DPR.

Government has no business building refineries, selling petrol or forcing anybody to build and run refineries at a loss.

Privatise petroleum or no to subsidy removal.

Very aptly put! You certainly hit the nail on the head.

I always get the feeling that our legislators are a bunch of idiots! Probe this, probe that!! I was reading the article to find out if the probe was to identify problems and resolve them. No, the the probe is to establish whether Obasanjo's friends got licenses.

Instead of looking at the reasons why the licensees could not commence operation, and resolving those issues they want to start another meaningless probe just to play to the gallery! After all Nigerians love probes!! Anybody can probe. Very few can come up with solutions.

If you've got a problem with the way Obasanjo Government awarded licences, why not get the appropriate government agency to revoke the licenses and grant new ones and see whether they will be able to commence operation? They think those 26 refineries will bear licensing costs if they have no intention of starting operation. Which bank will back an economically unviable refinery with billions?

They are not talking about putting in place appropriate climate that will make private refineries economically viable in Nigeria, they are talking about allocating legislative budget another meaningless probe! Dickheads!!

Not surprising that you left the substance of this article which was about the 'voodoo economics of petroleum subsidy removal of JEG administration' to focus on the corruption of the Abacha administration. I did not see anywhere where the article writer mentioned that Abacha is corrupt or not corrupt. He simply commented on the projects done by PTDF which were very visible. It is not like your JEG is not also corrupt in addition to being inept.

Why not comment on the substance of the article and dispute his assertions if you can.

Btw I don't know why this article was moved into the business section. I believe it is more political than business.

Beaf:
The enemies of the country are fighting back with sophistry. The article makes this bold lie:

Strangely, this is what the economist an other non-revitionists recall of Abacha:

http://www.economist.com/node/134561

The Economist hits even harder with the truth of what Abacha was:

http://www.economist.com/node/134561

It is not unsurprising that at this time such articles the whitewash Abacha and his evil regime; Buhari, who headed Abacha's PTF was out in full force last week, stumbling all over his tongue with an incoherent message about subsidy. This is what Buhari hard to say about Abacha's history of brazen theft:

http://www.tzuk.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2387&Itemid=105 (you can also google the comment above)

Birds of a feather.
We have also seen Tam David West, Buhari's petroleum minister equally animated and exersiced in recent times. Both Buhari and Tam David West have one thing in common, and it is whitewashing the histories of their masters. What has this clique got to hide? Does the average Nigerian who refuses to read know that during Abacha's regime, with Buhari at the head of the PTF racket; the refineries were deliberately run down and monies for their turn around maintainance routinely vanished into thin air? But wait for the cracker! At the time this lot were running down our local rineries, Abacha actually used FG funds to build a personal refinery in Sierra Leone, so he and his cronies could milk the nation dry as a fuel importers!
That refinery was aqcuired through the vehicles, Integrated Investment Trust Limited and Nasimatume Investments Limited jointly owned by Abacha and his National Security Adviser, Ismaila Gwarzo.

Needless to say, the Abacha refinery in Sierra Leone is now cobwebbed. Many of our ex-generals are in similar rackets, they destroy the refineries at home, while having shares or ownership of refineries abroad to milk the nation dry.

This is an excellent article that captures the heart of the fraud that is about to be done in the name of subsidy removal! If government is really serious they ought to address the issue of local refining capacity first before thinking about removal of subsidy. Instead we hear about plans to build refineries in Indonesia!