₦airaland Forum

How come Nigerians always fall for these Ponzi schemes so easily?

lawani:
So even if pipeline takes it to 800 naira for 1000 liters, can we say that is expensive? Israel uses it for all agriculture and home use. A home of five can manage less than 20k per month for such water

That cost per 1000 litre is operating cost specifically the cost of electricity to run the plant. Now come to Naija and run the plant electricity on diesel rather than NEPA and that cost will double

Now one will need to find the capital of $500m and price the water such that the litre charge will pay it off after 7-10 year payback period

Ibime:
That cost per 1000 litre is operating cost specifically the cost of electricity to run the plant
.now come to Naija and run the plant electricity on diesel rather than NEPA and that cost will double

Now one will need to find the capital of $500m and price the water such that the litre charge will.pwy it off after 7-10 year payback period

Problem 1 is that Nigeria is not a continuum so unless it can be completed in one term it will be dead

For same reasons even if it is completed the next administration may abandon the maintenance Etal and look for their own avenue to chop

No guarantee the citizenry will be willing to pay levies and we would have the usual complaints of wicked govt etc

Contrary to the chest beating exhibited on this thread in other convos, enugu is a civil service state and some have said the most thriving business is runs girls so there is not a pool of high income earners to bear the bulk of the cost

Sacrebleu! The most thriving business is runs girl ke?

Ibime:
They drill deep into Aquifers and use desalination technology. No be borehole money.

Enugu residents can't afford the cost per litre that will pay off such capital investment. Easier to buy or pipeline water

Other subsaharan countries are starting to have desalination plants most notably Cape Verde and Namibia but really there's no need in Nigeria as we mostly have freshwater. Enugu alone does not have enough population to build a business case for a desalination plant and besides they don't border the sea so nowhere to pull the saltwater from

When you say Desalination is expensive, I believe you are using todsy's costing not what it would cost 25 years ago.

What we are saying is there's actually a lack of planning and vision in this country by our leaders, not that some solutions are not available at our finger tips. Our leaders are more interested in stealing money rather than providing solution to simple problems.

You mentioned that some states have access to sea water that can aid easy set up of desalination plants while few others don't. A country that puts its people first will focus on comparative advantage in instances like this, but sadly that's nkt the case in Nigeria.

Look at the case of Electricity too, there are states where the water bodies are enough to generate hydro electricity while we have some states where the sun burns like fire from 6am to 7pm. Shebi if everybody focus on where they have advantage, things for Don better for this country...., instead everybody looks up to the center because of how useless this country was set up.

Theflint1:
Same with electricity, assess roads, public health, quality basic education, housing and so on.

There's no one big problem that Nigerian leaders have solved even to 50% in over 60 years of self-governance.

No be life we dey for this part of the world.

No be life at all!

You will live in an area NEPA won't bring light for a month or two and when they bring it we will all be happy jumping and shouting "Up NEPA". The electricity distribution company won't even offer any apology and we will just move on like that.

izzou:
Exactly.

I was born and also grew up in Festac. I haven't seen any place in Nigeria that is as planned as that place; Something of 1977.

Festac has its own Water board (Doesn't work anymore)
Had playgrounds
Had places apportionned to schools
Had Power Gen sets for each Road
Had places reserved for expansion
Had its own market

Urban and Regional planning no dey work for Nigeria.

We lack planning ; the few things we planned we lack the maintennace culture to keep them running and standing for long.

I think the Old Ikoyi park and FESTAC are two places that were well planned in Lagos like that. The old Ikoyi had everything; it was well planned such that there was provision for path through which any rain or potential flood empties itself into the lagoon. There were no incident of flooding no matter how heavy the rain was because the water was well channeled. We can say maybe that's because the colonial masters planned everything.

But FESTAC was built from scratch by our own people and had everything well planned like you right said, but our lack of maintennace culture and urbanization has affected some of the plans.

monerozi5590:
Kaduna State

The Capital or the State in general?

BlueRayDick:
We lack planning ; the few things we planned we lack the maintennace culture to keep them running and standing for long.

I think the Old Ikoyi park and FESTAC are two places that were well planned in Lagos like that. The old Ikoyi had everything; it was well planned such that there was provision for path through which any rain or potential flood empties itself into the lagoon. There were no incident of flooding no matter how heavy the rain was because the water was well channeled. We can say maybe that's because the colonial masters planned everything.

But FESTAC was built from scratch by our own people and had everything well planned like you right said, but our lack of maintennace culture and urbanization has affected some of the plans.

Festac has been thoroughly bastardized and the bastardization is by Nigerians

The playbrounds have all been turned to car sales lots.

Houses for one family have all been converted to houses for two

Buildings were standard configurations - now people buy them over and turn them to bizarre monstrosities.

Then you have all the residential areas that have been turned commercial and the resultant impact on the roads

Two years ago someone built a container terminal by the link Bridge. No one stopped him or they all took bribes. Now container trucks are parking on the road and causing nuisance for everyone.

Same way that satellite town was turned into a nightmare for residents when a tank farm was built there and no one stopped them

I am watching TVC news now to get a feeling of how Raumdeuter, Gloriousgbola and Airmark reason.

But I see a man dealing mercilessly with those Tinubu minions and they are bamboozled trying to force silly questions to shield their lord and his stooge from Gbajagate saga 😂

If you're wondering if the agency is fake or not

Who is this man?

afrodoc2:
How come Nigerians always fall for these Ponzi schemes so easily?

Greed being the keyword. You're not Forex trader but you believe that AI will trade for you and double your money before the week ends. You see people crying about sportybet and Bet9ja and you believe the betting system will use your money to bet and return it in 10 gold by the next week. Funny people

izzou:
The Capital or the State in general?

No. Not the state in general

KingTom:
Greed being the keyword. You're not Forex trader but you believe that AI will trade for you and double your money before the week ends. You see people crying about sportybet and Bet9ja and you believe the betting system will use your money to bet and return it in 10 gold by the next week. Funny people

For real, it's pure greed and nothing more. I recently heard the gist of how a relative invested in the defunct cebex. This relative in question is based based in Republic of Ireland, he tries to always invest in Nigeria in real estate sector or any other opportunity he hears about.

So his friend told him about cebex not quite long after cebex started. I learnt he invested $100 and somehow the "Investment" grew to $1,000 in a short time. He asked his friend to withdraw $800 and leave $200 in the cebex "investment" since that's from his profit. Na so he cash out o.


By the time cebex crashed the $200 was trapped but he didn't think much of it. His friend on the other who introduced him to cebex carry all his Bukata on cebex and thought he would use cebex to defeat poverty. All the money the guy invested originally and the one he "gained" were all trapped in the ponzi scheme. The guy was in debt. Shebi if he had not been greedy and had taken profit like the guy in Ireland he would be smiling to the bank.

I guess the poverty in this country dey make people greedy naturally.

That's as a man, I go hustle buy car for person wey I say na my wife, she go carry am go sow seed for pastor hand 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Even the husband na calm guy..See the scammer as he relax for seat like say na him get car..

A woman reportedly gave the car her husband gifted her as a seed offering to her pastor without telling him. The husband later went to collect the car back. 😂 pic.twitter.com/PcUrwrK8oT

— 𝐀𝐬𝐚𝐤𝐲𝐆𝐑𝐍 (@AsakyGRN) July 7, 2026

BlueRayDick:
No be life at all!

You will live in an area NEPA won't bring light for a month or two and when they bring it we will all be happy jumping and shouting "Up NEPA". The electricity distribution company won't even offer any apology and we will just move on like that.

Over a month now, LAWMA hasn't carried our bin. I message the PSP operator assigned to our side say how far, you're owing us as is, cause we've paid for something yet are not getting service...baba air me wetin no good

Not the first time I'm messaging him on stuffs like this, and response is always the same, like we're being done a favour, meanwhile na e direct customer I be.

This is a very good step in the right direction.
That nonsense rehabilitation of terrorist should be abolished permanently.

https://www.channelstv.com/2026/07/07/senate-demands-end-to-terrorists-rehabilitation-reintegration-programme/

GloriousGbola:
Problem 1 is that Nigeria is not a continuum so unless it can be completed in one term it will be dead

For same reasons even if it is completed the next administration may abandon the maintenance Etal and look for their own avenue to chop

No guarantee the citizenry will be willing to pay levies and we would have the usual complaints of wicked govt etc

Contrary to the chest beating exhibited on this thread in other convos, enugu is a civil service state and some have said the most thriving business is runs girls so there is not a pool of high income earners to bear the bulk of the cost

If guaranteed to make money, then the government can seek partners. Enugu can easily come up with 50 million dollars and there is no reason it won't secure 5 percent per annum for the government.

lawani:
If guaranteed to make money, then the government can seek partners. Enugu can easily come up with 50 million dollars and there is no reason it won't secure 5 percent per annum for the government.

if that water is not subsidized the cost will be insane

and gomina mbah of pinnacle oil and gas fame is a stone cold business man

Ibime:
That cost per 1000 litre is operating cost specifically the cost of electricity to run the plant. Now come to Naija and run the plant electricity on diesel rather than NEPA and that cost will double

Now one will need to find the capital of $500m and price the water such that the litre charge will pay it off after 7-10 year payback period

A plant that costly can't be dependent on the grid and if the final price is up to fifty percent more it is still manageable but it can't be up to that for Nigeria as cost of labor is significantly lower. There is nothing that is not cheaper to produce in Nigeria from beer to bottled water to bread or restaurant food and it is because of the cost of labor and rent

monerozi5590:
Kaduna State

State-wide?

lawani:
A plant that costly can't be dependent on the grid and if the final price is up to fifty percent more it is still manageable but it can't be up to that for Nigeria as cost of labor is significantly lower. There is nothing that is not cheaper to produce in Nigeria from beer to bottled water to bread or restaurant food and it is because of the cost of labor and rent

They throw abroad numbers on any big project and say that's why it's unattainable, yet never factor in all the variables that determine final cost of the project in different parts of the world.

lawani:
A plant that costly can't be dependent on the grid and if the final price is up to fifty percent more it is still manageable but it can't be up to that for Nigeria as cost of labor is significantly lower. There is nothing that is not cheaper to produce in Nigeria from beer to bottled water to bread or restaurant food and it is because of the cost of labor and rent

Theflint1:
They throw abroad numbers on any big project and say that's why it's unattainable, yet never factor in all the variables that determine final cost of the project in different parts of the world.

Is there any material input cost of building a desalination plant that will be produced in Nigeria?

Even the main operating cost of burning diesel to produce electricity for the plant is more expensive than abroad where they won't need to burn diesel

With vandalism and theft, such a project will easily be more expensive in Nigeria

Ibime:
Is there any material input cost of building a desalination plant that will be produced in Nigeria?

Even the main operating cost of burning diesel to produce electricity for the plant is more expensive than abroad where they won't need to burn diesel

With vandalism and theft, such a project will easily be more expensive in Nigeria

Load is conservatively likely to be 500kva to 1 mva

So a 1mva generator is 220 litres per hour. Running 24 hours a day

8760 hours a year x 220 x 1500

2,890,800,000 base energy cost before stealing, pilferage etc

Then we have the different chemicals that must be sourced for the process

Piplines for receipt and evacuation


And in Nigeria the benefits of humans over automation are not so clear cut because you cannot guarantee your guys on ground will work within process, especially in a company run by a typical state govt which traditionally is already hiring from the bottom of the barrel

Ibime:
Is there any material input cost of building a desalination plant that will be produced in Nigeria?

Even the main operating cost of burning diesel to produce electricity for the plant is more expensive than abroad where they won't need to burn diesel

With vandalism and theft, such a project will easily be more expensive in Nigeria

Make Una no dey talk some of these things na. Some of Una sef don Waka inside this country.

There are self suatianable plants in this same Nigeria that have gas turbines that generate electricity completely off the national grid. I have been to one in tha South-south, I mean I was in the premises for one full week and Power didn't go out for once.

If our politicians don't steal money like psychotic kelptocrats, are u telling me a state cannot afford to construct a desalination plant and have it powered by a turbine power plant that is completely off the grid?

Some of the things we always claim are not affordable or too costly to fund are stuff that just got inflated due to the endemic corruption in this country. I mentioned it here few days ago that Lagos state government the supposed richest state in this country constantly blocks every attempt by any tax payer to find out how much the state makes, how the state's funds are utilized and who gets what. They've done that for 15 years and counting despite a law in place making it compulsory for them to furnish these information to any interested member of the public.

Who knows how much that may have been stolen by the various people that had access to public funds in Lagos state within that period? Tomorrow if we ask why a beneficial project cannot be embarked on by the state government, somebody will tell us it's because the state is nkt as rich as we assumed it to be. Yet LIRS will refuse to tell us how much Lagos state government receives in revenue from thousands of companies in Lekki, Victoria Island, Marina, Ikeja, etc. 🤦‍♂️

BlueRayDick:
Make Una no dey talk some of these things na. Some of Una sef don Waka inside this country.

There are self suatianable plants in this same Nigeria that have gas turbines that generate electricity completely off the national grid. I have been to one in tha South-south, I mean I was in the premises for one full week and Power didn't go out for once.

If our politicians don't steal money like psychotic kelptocrats, are u telling me a state cannot afford to construct a desalination plant and have it powered by a turbine power plant that is completely off the grid?

Some of the things we always claim are not affordable or too costly to fund are stuff that just got inflated due to the endemic corruption in this country. I mentioned it here few days ago that Lagos state government the supposed richest state in this country constantly blocks every attempt by any tax payer to find out how much the state makes, how the state's funds are utilized and who gets what. They've done that for 15 years and counting despite a law in place making it compulsory for them to furnish these information to any interested member of the public.

Who knows how much that may have been stolen by the various people that had access to public funds in Lagos state within that period? Tomorrow if we ask why a beneficial project cannot be embarked on by the state government, somebody will tell us it's because the state is nkt as rich as we assumed it to be. Yet LIRS will refuse to tell us how much Lagos state government receives in revenue from thousands of companies in Lekki, Victoria Island, Marina, Ikeja, etc. 🤦‍♂️

A gas turbine for an plant owned by an international oil company where they can literally get the gas for free is not the same as energy for a state owned service with no guarantee of timely payment for service. Also as a naija concern you can be sure that people will start stealing water and selling at a lower price.

GloriousGbola:
A gas turbine for an plant owned by an international oil company where they can literally get the gas for free is not the same as energy for a state owned service with no guarantee of timely payment for service. Also as a naija concern you can be sure that people will start stealing water and selling at a lower price.

You missed the whole point completely. You assume people will not pay for an essential service while failing to see that the problem starts from people in government inflating the cost of the project from the onset.

Is BRT not an essential service being provided by Lagos state government and private operators? Is BRT not running on diesel? Are the users of BRT not paying for the service?

Why do you think the people for BRT service will not pay for water if the government and private investors run it properly instead of government officials just seeing it as an avenue to steal more state funds?

BlueRayDick:
You missed the whole point completely. You assume people will not pay for an essential service while failing to see that the problem starts from people in government inflating the cost of the project from the onset.

Is BRT not an essential service being provided by Lagos state government and private operators? Is BRT not running on diesel? Are the users of BRT not paying for the service?

Why do you think the people for BRT service will not pay for water if the government and private investors run it properly instead of government officials just seeing it as an avenue to steal more state funds?

BRT is pay before you use.
It is not a service where you are billed at the end of the month.
If you don't have money, you don't enter.

You cannot have widespread theft of brt use
BRT cannot be vandalised so people can use it for free or a lower cost

BRT has a significantly lower energy cost than a desalination plant. Your bus is not running 24/7 and will not incur severe losses if it shuts down during operation

And I am sure you know brt is a ppp arrangement. It is still private companies working with Lasg.

This is a wholly govt run operation, likely because no one will take that chance of investing in something the next govt can shut down

Why do you think the people for BRT service will not pay for water if the government and private investors run it properly instead of government officials just seeing it as an avenue to steal more state funds?

Because we have energy theft. Have we not seen people boasting on this thread that they don't pay energy bills? I am sure you know people regularly steal from NNPC pipelines. There was a total station in festac that allegedly tapped from an NNPC pipeline for years before they were caught. Why do you think pipeborne water will be different?

GloriousGbola:
BRT is pay before you use.
It is not a service where you are billed at the end of the month.
If you don't have money, you don't enter.

You cannot have widespread theft of brt use
BRT cannot be vandalised so people can use it for free or a lower cost

BRT has a significantly lower energy cost than a desalination plant. Your bus is not running 24/7 and will not incur severe losses if it shuts down during operation

And I am sure you know brt is a ppp arrangement. It is still private companies working with Lasg.

This is a wholly govt run operation, likely because no one will take that chance of investing in something the next govt can shut down



Because we have energy theft. Have we not seen people boasting on this thread that they don't pay energy bills? I am sure you know people regularly steal from NNPC pipelines. There was a total station in festac that allegedly tapped from an NNPC pipeline for years before they were caught. Why do you think pipeborne water will be different?

There's energy theft but there are measures in place to punish people engaging in it. At least I know people who have been busted and have been made to pay dearly for it by placing a debit on their prepaid meter.

There's no society that has zero crime rate ; we can't continue to use excuse of potential crime as defense for why our leaders are not doing what they ought to do as the government. One of the major function of government is to provide basic amenities like Portable water for the citizens. If we are saying because people will attempt to steal, the government should get a pass for not providing water, then we can as well say the government does not have a duty to do anything for us na.

Àbí? 🤷‍♂️

afrodoc2:
How come Nigerians always fall for these Ponzi schemes so easily?

Same reason why many people fall for Ponzi

My handyman, has been forced to sell his truck because he invested his money in crypto an lost bigly. I am not sure he knows how to spell Cryptography

When the Ponzi just starts you will get FOMO, thinking others are cashing out while you dey jonze, not knowing thy are priming you for a big fall

GloriousGbola:
Contrary to the chest beating exhibited on this thread in other convos, enugu is a civil service state and some have said the most thriving business is runs girls so there is not a pool of high income earners to bear the bulk of the cost

A-porn-stle Afrodoc begins his 5th missionary journey to Enugu

Orgie Sans Frontiers