₦airaland Forum

murphyibiam15:
you're right...Even Ebonyi said they don't want regional government with anyone..let the states be given the autonomy instead..imagine present day Ebonyi wasn't taken care of during the regional government..

regional government gbakwa oku

and u think they 're better of in the present arrangement?

Chimok:
and u think they 're better of in the present arrangement?

before nko ....state autonomy would even be the best as Ebonyi has solid minerals and Agriculture... let everyone answer em papa name

For disclosure, I am from the North Central and believe my state, Kogi, is the most blessed state in Nigeria because of its minerals, it's strategic location as a travel route, it's people and the great water bodies.

Am I for resource control or regionalism? Capital NO.
first argument
It would lead to a massive civil war. The core north would never give up oil and would go to war to ensure they get what the believe is their God given right. Understand that religion is the most important thing in in the core north region so people can easily be control. To make matters worse, other regions may join the north just like during the civil war to fight the SS and SE. all wars have being primarily because of resources. This is why America invest heavily in countries they have wars in. After victory, they build up the countries economy so the people are never pushed to the point of contemplating War again. He. Germany and Japan. Even Iraq and Afghanistan, America has favorable economic policies towards these countries.

Second argument
Diversity should be a source of strength and not a deterrent to development. Many countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom are great primarily because of diversity. Even seemingly non diverse nations still benefit from adopting good practices from other cultures. Our chief problem in Nigeria is not our diversity but our hatred for merit. This can be seen in both our private and public services. Promotion is based on relationships with your boss than by your efforts. This is not a common practice in the developed climes. What this has done to Nigeria is that people tend to pick people from their regions over other Nigerians not because of merit. Diversity does not equate to a system without merit. All we need are laws to be put in place to force us to operate based on merit and our problem is half solved.

Third Argument

3 of the 14 countries with an increase in extreme poverty are OPEC members that are non western countries or Arab countries. These are Nigeria, Angola and Venezuela. I find this statistic very interesting and I have thought deeply about what cultural and political differences exist between the countries with growth in extreme poverty and the others.

One key difference is that the poverty countries practice pseudo democracy where there is no merit, no real taxation and have overbloated civil services that require oil revenues to fund salaries as these countries have relatively no revenue from taxes. In the poor countries, elections are held every 4 years so leaders are desperate to steal as much as possible as quickly as possible. The saying "make hay while the sun shines" holds true in this situation.

In the developed western oil rich countries such as Russia and Norway, taxation is major source of income for the government. "He who pays the piper dictates the tune." the people demand services from their government so the government has to put quality people in positions to make the best possible decisions. Merit is key to progression.

In the Arab rich nations, the leaders are monarchs so they own the lands and do not worry about elections. The existence of their kingdoms depends on the happiness of their people so they provide services for their people and employ the best people to make decisions.

Some Nigerians think the Arab countries are rich because they have small populations. Equatorial Guinea also also has oil and a very small population yet it is a mess like other African nations.

In conclusion, our issues are as a result of our culture. We are machiavellian by nature so we need laws that would force us to be more civilized and take to merit rather than tribalism or religion.

murphyibiam15:
you're right...Even Ebonyi said they don't want regional government with anyone..let the states be given the autonomy instead..imagine present day Ebonyi wasn't taken care of during the regional government..

regional government gbakwa oku

u from Ebonyi?

Chimok:
u from Ebonyi?

yeah..

Sharpshooota:
It will solve a lot
Each region will grow at their own pace and will have no other option than to look inwards and be productive

What stops you from growing at your own pace now

Every inch of this country is blessed ... We just lack the will power to harness it for the greater good
oil has made the country lazy and its been a curse rather than a blessing...

and in your mind any region will let the oil go because you said so

We never restructure easterners already fighting over capital

MIKOLOWISKA:
We never restructure easterners already fighting over capital

How do u mean?

trillville:
For disclosure, I am from the North Central and believe my state, Kogi, is the most blessed state in Nigeria because of its minerals, it's strategic location as a travel route, it's people and the great water bodies.

Am I for resource control or regionalism? Capital NO.
first argument
It would lead to a massive civil war. The core north would never give up oil and would go to war to ensure they get what the believe is their God given right. Understand that religion is the most important thing in in the core north region so people can easily be control. To make matters worse, other regions may join the north just like during the civil war to fight the SS and SE. all wars have being primarily because of resources. This is why America invest heavily in countries they have wars in. After victory, they build up the countries economy so the people are never pushed to the point of contemplating War again. He. Germany and Japan. Even Iraq and Afghanistan, America has favorable economic policies towards these countries.

Second argument
Diversity should be a source of strength and not a deterrent to development. Many countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom are great primarily because of diversity. Even seemingly non diverse nations still benefit from adopting good practices from other cultures. Our chief problem in Nigeria is not our diversity but our hatred for merit. This can be seen in both our private and public services. Promotion is based on relationships with your boss than by your efforts. This is not a common practice in the developed climes. What this has done to Nigeria is that people tend to pick people from their regions over other Nigerians not because of merit. Diversity does not equate to a system without merit. All we need are laws to be put in place to force us to operate based on merit and our problem is half solved.

Third Argument

3 of the 14 countries with an increase in extreme poverty are OPEC members that are non western countries or Arab countries. These are Nigeria, Angola and Venezuela. I find this statistic very interesting and I have thought deeply about what cultural and political differences exist between the countries with growth in extreme poverty and the others.

One key difference is that the poverty countries practice pseudo democracy where there is no merit, no real taxation and have overbloated civil services that require oil revenues to fund salaries as these countries have relatively no revenue from taxes. In the poor countries, elections are held every 4 years so leaders are desperate to steal as much as possible as quickly as possible. The saying "make hay while the sun shines" holds true in this situation.

In the developed western oil rich countries such as Russia and Norway, taxation is major source of income for the government. "He who pays the piper dictates the tune." the people demand services from their government so the government has to put quality people in positions to make the best possible decisions. Merit is key to progression.

In the Arab rich nations, the leaders are monarchs so they own the lands and do not worry about elections. The existence of their kingdoms depends on the happiness of their people so they provide services for their people and employ the best people to make decisions.

Some Nigerians think the Arab countries are rich because they have small populations. Equatorial Guinea also also has oil and a very small population yet it is a mess like other African nations.

In conclusion, our issues are as a result of our culture. We are machiavellian by nature so we need laws that would force us to be more civilized and take to merit rather than tribalism or religion.

History proves your first point to be false. There was no war in 1960-1966 when Nigeria operated regional governments which many cry that we should return to. Moreover you think they would be war because you have construed restructuring to be a south eastern demand. So would there be war if other geopolitical blocs join the call for restructuring?


2nd point: Diversity is a problem in Nigeria because we are hypocrites. In the name of the Federal government one section of the country imposes it's will on the others, grabs all socio political institutions and generally seeks to dominate. Let us do the real tribalism: Hausa man should control Hausa resources, yoruba control yoruba resources, Igbo control Igbo resources. By the time a particular region is making progress because they put their best, nobody will tell the other regions to have sense.

What the south east want is biafra so all this zombies petitioning the south east on nairaland just keep dream ing. restructuring will never happen in Nigeria. The only place ur restructuring will end is on nairaland.

9ja

I think restructuring should be done along the lines of the current states. And it should go hand in hand with local government autonomy.

In the interim, the police should remain a federal institution, but one in tune with the tenets of community policing, till our politicians are mature enough for the migration to state police.

The federal government should only handle defence, international diplomacy and space issues in a restructured Nigeria.

Mujtahida:
History proves your first point to be false. There was no war between 1960 and 1966 when Nigeria operated regional governments, to which many cried that we should return. Moreover, you think they would be at war because you have construed restructuring to be a southeastern demand. So, would there be war if other geopolitical blocs joined the call for restructuring?

2nd point: Diversity is a problem in Nigeria because we are hypocrites. In the name of the Federal government, one section of the country imposes its will on the others, grabs all socio-political institutions, and generally seeks to dominate. Let us do the real tribalism: Hausa man should control Hausa resources, yoruba control Yoruba resources, and Igbo control Igbo resources. Nobody will tell the other areas to understand when a region progresses because they put in their best.

First point:
Have you forgotten about the Civil War, or do you think the war was not caused by crude oil?

The British people asked for Brexit but are now trying to backtrack because of its economic consequences. Human beings are inherently selfish. Today, all the regions are shouting for regionalism. Once oil money is removed from the equation, the voices may differ. Look at the Nnamdi Kanu incident. The whole country started to have a severe conversation about restructuring. Once he was abducted, everybody became quiet. I do not believe any region wants to give up the money they are currently getting from oil.


You are right about your second point. If Nigeria can avoid a war, this will be the likely outcome.

jerseyboy:
Too many states means effective with no massive capacity.

Too many local governments and so they are simply ignored.

The capital that went into state creation is why we have no light and roads and rail and Air and Seaports.

It is the reason why we house the greatest number of extreme poor in the world despite our free flowing resources.

As for regional capitals? Cross that bridge when you get there.

The reason we are poor is because nobody outside our country is buying the works of our hand rather we import those things we should be able to do and those we are not trained to do.

The free flowing oil is far from able to sustain us.
UAE with a, 9 million population exports 3.5 million barrels of oil daily while Nigeria foolishly think we should be like them on the basis of selling 2 million barrels of oil daily for a population of 186 million with nothing much else to earn foreign exchange.

MIKOLOWISKA:
What stops you from growing at your own pace now


and in your mind any region will let the oil go because you said so

Oil is becoming worthless by the day..instead of diversifying the economy Buhari is wasting money looking for oil in Lake Chad.. . BTW this is the lazy kinda attitude I was talking about..
The future is technology and agriculture

Sharpshooota:
Oil is becoming worthless by the day..instead of diversifying the economy Buhari is wasting money looking for oil in Lake Chad.. . BTW this is the lazy kinda attitude I was talking about..
The future is technology and agriculture

so what is stopping your governors or lga chairman or senator or rep from farming his constituency? Even you as individual. No govt farm in Yankee o

trillville:
first point:
Have you forgotten about the civil war or you think that war was not because of crude oil?

the British people asked for Brexit, but are now trying to backtrack because of its economic consequences. Human beings are inherently selfish. today all the regions are shouting for regionalism. once oil money is taken out of the equation, the voices may be different. look at the Nnamdi Kanu incident. the whole country started to have a serious conversation on restructuring. once he was abducted, everybody became quiet. i do not believe any region wants to give up the money they are currently getting from oil.


You are right with regards to your second point. if Nigeria can avoid a war, this will be the likely outcome.

The days of oil as a money spinner are numbered. Renewable and clean energy is the next phase of the energy drive.

Bet me: we will restructure. It's just a matter of time.

Surfboard:
I think restructuring should be done along the lines of the current states. And it should go hand in hand with local government autonomy.

In the interim, the police should remain a federal institution, but one in tune with the tenets of community policing, till our politicians are mature enough for the migration to state police.

The federal government should only handle defence, international diplomacy and space issues in a restructured Nigeria.

I concur. We are too diverse for a pseudo Federal government. States should be 90% in control of their resources, institutions and the direction they want to go. In fact it should be so flexible that states who are contiguous and share language, history and other values can form any sort of socio political arrangements that would favour them.

I detest this unitary arrangement masquerading as Federal government. It's a fraud.

Cocaine is a helluva drug, and our choice of drug is crude oil.

Cocaine keeps you in a state of bliss, masks all your problems and can lead you to become less productive when you abuse the drug. Many may not know this, but cocaine used to be seen as a stimulant similar to caffeine, so it has its positives, but when wrongly used, it leads to problems. The mythical character Sherlock Holmes regularly smoked cocaine using a pipe.

The term Dutch disease did not originate from Nigeria. It implies that a nation loses its ability to be productive because its sole focus and revenue source comes from selling a commodity (raw material, e.gOill). We are addicted to oil money, and as drug addicts, we need to be gradually weaned off of our drug of choice. A cocaine and heroin addict can kill a person for another fix because nothing in life is sweeter than his choice of drug.

How to wean Nigeria off crude oil. We need to be SMART.

1. Specific:
A) Set a 10 to 15-year deadline for using income from crude sales to pay government workers (civil and public services) salaries. All salaries must come from taxes.

B) Use crude oil revenues for Infrastructure such as renewable energy facilities, which are cheaper in the long run but costlier to set up, schools, hospitals, roads, low-cost housing, water plants, telecommunications infrastructures, and cottage industries in all 774 logos using a pop framework. The government must use oil money to benefit most Nigerians and not pay a few people salaries, believing the money will trickle down.

C) Introduce policies of low corporate (business) taxes but high personal taxes on vehicles and houses. Also, the VAT should be raised to the same level as that of neighbouring African countries.

2. Measurable:
Three key services, security, healthcare, and education, need real-time information systems to collate and manage data to enable better decision-making. Nigerians will also want to demand a higher standard of transparency because they are paying taxes. Information on oil sales and revenue from taxes must become a right for all Nigerians.

3. Actionable:
All Nigerians have a part to play. The government needs to collect revenue and manage it appropriately for the people, and the people need to hold the government accountable when their desires are unmet. Removing the immunity clause from public officers and strengthening the judiciary would speed up the progress of this nation.

4. Relevant:
This policy of getting off our addiction would lead to fewer people living in extreme poverty. As a result, security would improve, high birth rates would reduce, quality of life and life span would improve, and happiness and fulfilment of one's abilities would also become the norm.

5. Time: Every year, a review of what percentage of crude oil is used to pay salaries should be carried out. If the government insists on maintaining its total workforce, it would have to increase taxes by the same amount it is forced to reduce from oil income. In economics, there is no such thing as a free lunch. The government must be efficient in making decisions and not carried away by day-to-day whims.

This is an essential blueprint for restructuring Nigeria. Every other option, in my opinion, will end in bloodshed. Once more, cocaine is a helluva drug. We need to get off it.

[quote author=Mujtahida post=71446446]Oil's days as a money-maker are numbered. The next phase of the energy drive is renewing and cleaning energy.

Bet me: we will restructure. It's just a matter of time. [/quote ]

Oil is cheap and efficient. It would take at least another 25 years for the world to move away from oil. Do you think Nigeria can survive like this for another 25 years?

trillville:
Oil is cheap and efficient. It would take at least another 25 years for the world to move away from oil. Do you think Nigeria can survive like this for another 25 years?

Renewable and clean energy is cheaper and more efficient with no collateral damage on the environment. Countries in Europe and America are already preparing for the shift. UAE is concentrating on promoting tourism because it knows that technology will make oil obsolete just as oil once made the steam engine obsolete.

We are dying as a nation. We need a breath of fresh air. The Federal government is actually a unitary government which has taken too much from the states through the items on the exclusive legislative list.

MIKOLOWISKA:
so what is stopping your governors or lga chairman or senator or rep from farming his constituency? Even you as individual. No govt farm in Yankee o

Good question... What is stopping those who used to pride themselves with groundnut pyramids from doing so today?.. That's where Regionalism comes to play..
It forces everyone to look inward or perish

trillville:
For disclosure, I am from the North Central and believe my state, Kogi, is the most blessed state in Nigeria because of its minerals, it's strategic location as a travel route, it's people and the great water bodies.

Am I for resource control or regionalism? Capital NO.
first argument
It would lead to a massive civil war. The core north would never give up oil and would go to war to ensure they get what the believe is their God given right. Understand that religion is the most important thing in in the core north region so people can easily be control. To make matters worse, other regions may join the north just like during the civil war to fight the SS and SE. all wars have being primarily because of resources. This is why America invest heavily in countries they have wars in. After victory, they build up the countries economy so the people are never pushed to the point of contemplating War again. He. Germany and Japan. Even Iraq and Afghanistan, America has favorable economic policies towards these countries.

Second argument
Diversity should be a source of strength and not a deterrent to development. Many countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom are great primarily because of diversity. Even seemingly non diverse nations still benefit from adopting good practices from other cultures. Our chief problem in Nigeria is not our diversity but our hatred for merit. This can be seen in both our private and public services. Promotion is based on relationships with your boss than by your efforts. This is not a common practice in the developed climes. What this has done to Nigeria is that people tend to pick people from their regions over other Nigerians not because of merit. Diversity does not equate to a system without merit. All we need are laws to be put in place to force us to operate based on merit and our problem is half solved.

Third Argument

3 of the 14 countries with an increase in extreme poverty are OPEC members that are non western countries or Arab countries. These are Nigeria, Angola and Venezuela. I find this statistic very interesting and I have thought deeply about what cultural and political differences exist between the countries with growth in extreme poverty and the others.

One key difference is that the poverty countries practice pseudo democracy where there is no merit, no real taxation and have overbloated civil services that require oil revenues to fund salaries as these countries have relatively no revenue from taxes. In the poor countries, elections are held every 4 years so leaders are desperate to steal as much as possible as quickly as possible. The saying "make hay while the sun shines" holds true in this situation.

In the developed western oil rich countries such as Russia and Norway, taxation is major source of income for the government. "He who pays the piper dictates the tune." the people demand services from their government so the government has to put quality people in positions to make the best possible decisions. Merit is key to progression.

In the Arab rich nations, the leaders are monarchs so they own the lands and do not worry about elections. The existence of their kingdoms depends on the happiness of their people so they provide services for their people and employ the best people to make decisions.

Some Nigerians think the Arab countries are rich because they have small populations. Equatorial Guinea also also has oil and a very small population yet it is a mess like other African nations.

In conclusion, our issues are as a result of our culture. We are machiavellian by nature so we need laws that would force us to be more civilized and take to merit rather than tribalism or religion.

The solution is stop copying White man's way of running life, and also stop copying Arabs way of running life. There is no way we can develop if we are not original , let adopt our culture first and add modernization to it.The Arabs, Chinese, Japanese, Europeans all maintain their original ways of doing things till date. We have neglect our culture alot. Homegrown approaches. We are not calm like white people , we are not patient , we don't make sacrifices for future generations like white people, we don't involve heavily in research to unravel reasons behind things, no curiousity, we wait when a product comes then we marvel and say "na we for white people oh". We only consume, no productivity. White people set standards for us, why can't we also set standards.

murphyibiam15:
you're right...Even Ebonyi said they don't want regional government with anyone..let the states be given the autonomy instead..imagine present day Ebonyi wasn't taken care of during the regional government..

regional government gbakwa oku

When did Ebonyi say so?

Mujtahida:
I concur. We are too diverse for a pseudo Federal government. States should be 90% in control of their resources, institutions and the direction they want to go. In fact it should be so flexible that states who are contiguous and share language, history and other values can form any sort of socio political arrangements that would favour them.

I detest this unitary arrangement masquerading as Federal government. It's a fraud.

Well said.

Naajjii:
The solution is to stop copying White men's way of running life and also stop copying Arabs' way of running life. We cannot develop if we are not original; let's adopt our culture first and add modernization to it. The Arabs, Chinese, Japanese, and Europeans all maintain their original ways of doing things till d e. We have neglected our culture a lot. Homegrown approach es. We are not calm like white people, we are not patient, we don't make sacrifices for future generations like white people, we don't get involved heavily in research to unravel reasons behind things, and we are not curious y. We only consume, no productive ty. White people set standards for us, we can't we also set standa ds.

I wrote this comment a few days ago in support of a Mughalu presidency. It mirrors what you are saying.

trillville:
Mughalu may not have governed a state, but for 16 years, he worked at the UN, where he actively participated in writing policies that moved many countries away from the poverty trap . As far back as 2013, He wrote a detailed book describing how Nigeria can adapt to what other countries have done

I also wrote this to counter people who say voting for Mughalu would waste their votes.

trillville:
I'm not too sure of these statistics, but I would not be far from the truth. When Buhari contested in 2003, he may not have gotten up to 5 million votes, but he contested again in 2007, and his votes increased. In 2011, his votes increased again, and he was finally able to win in 2015.

Mughalu represents quality leaders. He is the first quality person to run for president. If we give him support and he gets 5 per cent of the vote, other quality Nigerians may choose to run in the future.

We are the victims of bad governance, which results from the quality of candidates who run for office. We need to be wise with our votes.

Finally, if a no-name (in politics) like Mughalu gets 5 per cent of the votes, the big corrupt parties may see that there is the possibility of a no-name in a no-name party winning an election in the future. This may spur them to nominate better candidates, leading to better leadership.

By voting for Mughalu, whether he wins the election or not, we have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

nku5:
When did Ebonyi say so?

2014 national conference

Mujtahida:
Renewable and clean energy is cheaper and more efficient with no collateral environmental damage. Countries in Europe and America are already preparing for the shift. UAE is concentrating on promoting tourism because it knows that technology will make oil obsolete, just as oil once made the steam engine obsolete.

We are dying as a nation. We need a breath of fresh air. The federal government is a unitary government that has taken too much from the states through the items on the exclusive legislative list.

Who told you this big lie? It is way more expensive to set up renewable energy facilities than petroleum facilities. The gain is over a long time.

PS Read my long post on oil being a drug.

murphyibiam15:
2014 national conference

A big lie I'd say

murphyibiam15:
2014 national conference

Interesting.

Naajjii:
The solution is stop copying White man's way of running life, and also stop copying Arabs way of running life. There is no way we can develop if we are not original , let adopt our culture first and add modernization to it.The Arabs, Chinese, Japanese, Europeans all maintain their original ways of doing things till date. We have neglect our culture alot. Homegrown approaches. We are not calm like white people , we are not patient , we don't make sacrifices for future generations like white people, we don't involve heavily in research to unravel reasons behind things, no curiousity, we wait when a product comes then we marvel and say "na we for white people oh". We only consume, no productivity. White people set standards for us, why can't we also set standards.

On point

Chimok:
A big lie I'd say

if I ask you now why you said its a lie u won't say any meaningful thing because you have not researched on it..you can simply google 2014 national conference and check it out on restructuring..

infact Ebonyi and bayelsa went for state autonomy why some other southern states went for regional government and northern states refused any form of restructuring