₦airaland Forum

Any updates?

Any update on this young man?

This is a serious matter o

God save our beloved country Nigeria........Before I die I want to be able to shout "God Bless Nigeria"...and mean it...

SOME have described it as a time bomb, while others consider it a disaster waiting to happen. The general consensus is that the rising unemployment trend in the country portends grave danger.

Indeed, in a recent interview with The Guardian, the Director-General, Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), Segun Oshinowo, likened the unemployment situation to a gun pointed at Nigeria’s head, with the hope that it would not fire.

Professor of Economics, Pat Utomi, wondered why Nigeria continues to experience unemployment growth despite its rating as one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

The statistics from Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS), though contested as not being true representation of the reality on ground, do not call for cheer.

It said the unemployment rate in Nigeria between 2006 and 2011 averaged 14.6 per cent, noting that it reached an all time high of 23.9 per cent in December 2011 from a record low of 5.3 per cent in December 2006.

In its recent survey, NBS showed that the national unemployment rate increased to 23.9 per cent in 2011 compared to 21.1 per cent in 2010 and 19.7 per cent in 2009.

Similarly, over 1.37 million students were enrolled in universities, polytechnics and colleges of education in 2006 and another 1.98 million in 2007. Given that most courses are completed in four to five years, many of these 3.2 million students that enrolled in 2006 and 2007 have entered the Labour force in 2010 and 2011.

Studies on industrial development of different countries have shown that the informal sector constitutes an integral part in the overall industrial sector and play an active role in the growth and development of these countries. These enterprises contribute significantly to the employment generation and output growth of different developed and developing countries.

In Nigeria, this sub-sector accounts for about 70 per cent of the total industrial employment, generates about 6.2 per cent of the aggregate employment in the United States, 22.3 per cent in China, about 80 per cent in India, as well as about 50 per cent employment in Israel.

The foregoing therefore points to the fact that the informal sector, given the needed support and regulatory frame-work, could be a major player in the unemployment fight saga in Nigeria, as well as in other developing countries.

Recently, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) in its yearly report disclosed that about 834 factories were closed across all the geo-political zones with over 100,000 job losses.

The challenges with the sector have been that of power, smuggling, unrestrained importation of fake and sub-standard textile materials, absence of clear industrial policy, high cost of Low Pour Fuel Oil (LPFO) otherwise known as black oil, and interest-rate instability.

Others are multiple taxation, low demand for made in Nigeria goods, low level of technology, poor water supply and transportation, and high cost of raw materials.

Nigeria textile industry was once the finest and most vibrant textile industry in the world, because in the 80s, the industry provided about 15,000 direct jobs with well over 250 functional factories scattered all over the federation, especially in the northern part of the country.

Illustrating with the statistics from the MAN, review between 2002 and 2007, the employment dropped from 2,841,083 in 2002 to 1,027,799 in 2007.

Though, things seem to be picking up for the industrial sector, as the association said during its yearly general meeting recently, that employment generated by the sector grew marginally from 966,395 in 2010 to 1,105,448 in 2011.

The Food, Beverage and Tobacco Sector in 2002, generated 372,209. In 2003, it generated 322,630. In 2004, (254,549); in 2005, (245,678); in 2006, (273,728) and in 2007, (274,690).

The Textile Append and Footwear Sector in 2002 generated 80,392 employments. In 2003, it generated 88,088 while in 2004 (574,340); in 2005, (40,430); in 2006, (37,171) and in 2007, (39,968). For the Wood and Wood Products, in 2002, the sector generated 165,814; in 2003, (166,892); in 2004, (136,053); in 2005, (89,793); in 2006, (35,207) and in 2007, (62,543).

The Pulp, Paper and Publishing Sector generated 152,863 in 2002; in 2003, (128,172); in 2004, (200,845); in 2005 (40,337); in 2006, (48,950) and in 2007, (46,429).

The Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sector generated 142,896 in 2002; in 2003, (122,468); in 2004, (65,581); in 2005, (56,360); in 2006, (67,563) and in 2007, (72,253).

The Non-Metallic Mineral Products generated 94,038 in 2002; in 2003, (101,181); in 2004, (104,611); in 2005, (160,660); in 2006, (130,695) and in 2007, (147,517). The Domestic/Industrial, Plastic, Rubber and Foam Sector generated 148,302 in 2002; in 2003, (158,066); in 2004, (106,785); in 2005, (150,750); in 2006, (156,005) and in 2007, (163,419). The Electrical and Electronics Sector generated a total of 76,000 in 2002; in 2003, (69,318); in 2004, (87,325); in 2005, (90,340); in 2006, (76,955) and in 2007, (88,841).

The Basic Metal, Iron and Steel Sector generated the sum of 87,149 in 2002; in 2003, (82,181); in 2004, (80,897); in 2005, (110,890); in 2006, (116,206) and in 2007, (99,408).

Motor Vehicles and Miscellaneous Assembly generated 75,756 in 2002; in 2003, (71,561); in 2004, (78,330); in 2005, (55,468); in 2006, (63,380) and in 2007, (32,631).

According to Prof. Pat Utomi, Nigeria, despite being rated in some quarters as one of the growing economies in the world, is experiencing jobless growth.

“My biggest fear is that the rate at which joblessness is going is like a time bomb waiting to explode,” he declared.

He added that Nigeria’s problems have become aggravated because the country depends almost entirely on oil, which prices were fast dropping.

The former presidential aspirant further disclosed that the West African economic index is mainly experiencing numeric growth while Africa’s major economic growth comes from Southern Africa.

The key factors which, according to him, should be considered as the way forward, and which determine rapid economic growth, are entrepreneurship, human capital, culture, policy choice, leadership and institutions. These factors, according to Utomi, are the drivers of an economy.

Institutions, according to the academic, are a settled habit of the community, adding, “institutions set boundaries to conduct and reduce uncertainties.”

He, however, declared, “we live in a high transaction economy because our institutions are weak.”

He further stressed that emphasis should be placed on the nation’s value system, because “value shapes human progress.”

The Director General of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria, Alhaji Muhammad Nadada Umar, said that misplaced priority killed small businesses in the country.

He said more than 50 years after political independence, Nigeria has no plan or culture for the development of small and medium enterprises until recently which accounts for poor entrepreneurial skills in the country.

He said all this while, successive governments only concentrated on academic curricula development after which the graduates would fall back to wait for white-collar jobs, which scarcely exist.

Umar said yearly, universities graduate about four million people with less than 200,000 getting jobs “because we inherited a culture that once you graduate, you get a job.”

He added: “The unemployment challenge is so bad in the country that even if two million people are given jobs on a quarterly basis, it will still not salvage the situation.”

President of the National Association of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises, Alhaji Garba Ibrahim called for the return of the suspended Small and Medium Enterprises Equity Investment Scheme by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

He said the scheme had solved the problem of access to funds to many SMEs, as the participating banks felt comfortable to grant loans at lower rates to them.

Oshinowo said government’s projection on the economy was yet to synchronise with the reality, even as he faulted NBS’ statistics.

He said: “If we are talking about good governance, it is not figures that will showcase such, but quality of life of the people. We should be looking at things like accessibility to health and additional jobs that had been created in the last six months. To the best of knowledge from interacting with Nigerians and observing happenings around, one cannot really say that there has been any significant improvement in this economy in the last six months.”

Oshinowo noted that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate might be saying something to the contrary, adding that “government might say that they have posted 6.5 or 7.0 per cent but when you really look at the facts on the street, how many jobs have we created? To what extent has the quality of life of Nigerians been significantly improved in the last six months? How many businesses have come on stream?”

He added that “currently, we have started a survey on the health of our member companies, especially those in the North, and from the discussions we’ve had with them, we’ve been told that sales had gone down by 25 per cent. And if the trend should continue by the end of the year, quite a number of them will have to downsize. So, the outlook is grim, I must say.”



Author of this article: By Dele Fanimo and Roseline Okere



Source - http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=94779:nigerians-bemoan-rate-of-unemployment-seek-action-&catid=1:national&Itemid=559

New crescent: Dear Rakumiii,

Nice effort so far by u. But, I still awaits the link!

Enjoy................

http://www.filestube.com/f/fela+kuti

Dem don share the money o jare.........Even if Switzerland brings signs original documents showing the transfer of the funds, naija politicians go play us like Maradona same way they did for the Oil Subisdy matter......... Wetin happen to those ones?

It looks like nowadays, all we have to do is wait for a foreign country to extradite these individuals and help us sentence them to jail. Its happening little by little

See Part 2 of the issue



Abacha’s son faces new trial in Switzerland

GENEVA – The son of Nigeria’s former dictator Sani Abacha, Abba Abacha, will face a new trial in Switzerland starting July 4 on charges of participation in a criminal organisation that raided public funds, his lawyer said Friday.

Abba’s lawyer, Christian Luescher, told Swiss news agency ATS that his client wanted to come to Geneva to attend the trial.

During a previous trial in 2010, Abba did not attend as he was unable to obtain a visa. The court convicted him in absentia, handing down a two-year suspended prison term and confiscating his assets.

But he won an appeal over procedural irregularities and the fact that he was unable to obtain a visa in time. The Swiss Federal Tribunal therefore ordered the sentence annulled and a retrial.

If he is unable to get a visa this time, the new trial would be delayed.

Abba, 43, denies all charges.

Sani Abacha took over power in 1993. Until his death in 1998, he siphoned off an estimated more than $2 billion from the country’s central bank, including $700 million that was deposited in Swiss banks. Nigeria later recovered that amount.


Source - http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/06/abachas-son-faces-new-trial-in-switzerland/

Where this money dey go? who has seen the returned funds being used to rebuild the country? This guy convinently said the money was returned during the time of his predecessor so to answer this question, we have to go ask former ambassador........Naija magic wonder......

SWITZERLAND has said it has returned about 500 million dollars (about N80 billion) of the Nigeria’s stolen money stashed away in its country by the late maximum military ruler, General Sani Abacha.

Outgoing Swiss Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Andreas Baum, stated this in a chat with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), on Sunday.

The ambassador, who assumed duty in Nigeria in 2008 and leaves the country this month, said the funds were repatriated to Nigeria during the time of his predecessor.

Baum, however, said state fund looted by one of Abacha’s son was yet to be released to Nigeria as discussion on it was still ongoing.

The ambassador added that the Swiss authorities had institutionalised measures to safeguard its financial system from transfer of stolen wealth from Nigeria.

He disclosed that his country’s financial system had improved since the controversy surrounding Abacha loot became public knowledge.

“The Nigerian case is very important to us because the Abacha case helped us to improve our laws. We have put in place measures to ensure that the Swiss financial system is not abused with the transfer of such assets.

“It is an area we have put a lot of work in. We realised that there was a problem. The measures we have taken will prevent transfer of stolen wealth to our country.

“We have returned around 500 million dollars of the Abacha loot to Nigeria. That was done during the time of my predecessor. But there is still one ongoing case involving the son of Abacha,” he said.

The envoy, who described bilateral relations between the two countries as excellent, nonetheless, bemoaned the low volume of trade between the countries, which, he said currently stood at 500 million dollars.

He attributed the low bilateral trade volume to “informal and unaccounted trade.”

According to him, this is because a lot of Swiss products, mainly oil and pharmaceuticals, come into Nigeria through other countries.

“Some Swiss products come into Nigeria through the Netherlands; so it is sometimes difficult to have an accurate account of trade volume,” he added.



Source - http://tribune.com.ng/index.php/news/45380-weve-returned-500m-abacha-loot-swiss-envoy

[size=18pt]Redesigned 2013 Mercedes-Benz S-Class[/size] The 2013 Mercedes-Benz S-Class Release Date is planned at 2013 Geneva Motor Show in March.





Would be an early 2013 Christmas Gift..............

At least I no talk say hin carry last..........it was a decent start to be included with the best of the best and it shows on the African level, Egwero is someone to be reckoned with....

I no like to live for Island jor, that place wey no get drainage and water dey disturb dem all the time.........

Cameroon's Idrissa Adam, left, reacts as he injures his hamstring as he runs with Nigeria's Ogho-Oghene Egwero and Jamaica's Usain Bolt during a men's 100-meter heat in the athletics in the Olympic Stadium at the 2012 Summer Olympics

Usain Bolt (C) of Jamaica wins his round 1, 100m heat ahead of James Dasaolu (R) of Britain and Ogho-Oghene Egwero of Nigeria during the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium August 4, 2012.

At least he beat Cameroon's Idrissa Adam who picked up an injruy while running and had to quit

What do you guys think? Unless I am doing something wrong but I can't even count how many times I have sent cell phones, laptops, clothes to naija and at the end, I always come out at a loss. It is all one story after the other barely making 50% on the total capital.

Alhaji Isa Tafida Mafindi, Yeriman Muri is a businessman, politician and a member of the National Executive council of the PDP since its inception. With years of experience especially in animal husbandry and agriculture, he has established several businesses, the latest being a state of the art abattoir in Abuja, to bring meat up to international standard in Abuja and its environs. In this interview with AMINA ALHASSAN AHMAN, AL-AMIN CIROMA and MAIRO MUHAMMAD MUDI, he explains why he decided to take on this huge venture and also advised northern Nigerians to task themselves and invest more in agriculture as a way of ending poverty and insecurity in the north. Excerpts:

Tell us how and why you ventured into the abattoir business?
Over several years I have gathered a high level of experience in animal husbandry and establishments set up in Scotland and Egypt. I decided to replicate the same here in Abuja to take care of lack of quality meat. We have many cows from different cattle farms; we have been fattening them and getting them graded for international cattle markets. We are now working hard to set up this abattoir to give people quality beef.

Explain the difference between the modern abattoir and what we already have at the local abattoir.
There are vast differences, the only thing they have in common is that, both places slaughter the halal way. Besides that the way we handle meat here is completely different. Ours is handled under the most hygienic conditions.

Because from the point where cows are taken in for slaughtering, till the time they are sectioned and sorted, there is no exposure to germs either from being tossed about on the floor, processing with bad water, carrying into wheel barrows, depositing in fly-infested areas, which is what obtains now in our local abattoirs.

In our system we have a way of selecting the meat, whereas in the local place they sell everything that comes out of the slaughter area because they are not concerned with how healthy a cow is or whether its meat is safe for consumption; what matters most to them is the money they put in and how they will recover it. In ours we have different grading systems to determine which is best for human consumption.

How do you intend on enlightening Muslim customers who believe that this modern trend of meat processing is not slaughtered according to Islamic rites?
If you have been privileged to go to Mina in Saudi Arabia, they have this kind of establishment for those who come to slaughter for the hadayya or ‘illaiya’ as we call it here, during the Hajj period. It’s the same process we use here; slitting the throat, letting the blood flow and that is the beginning and end of halal slaughtering. We do the most professional and hygienic type of killing here.

It is this modern trend that is going on all over the world today. If you go to the UK or USA, you can find these types of halal slaughter houses along with other types of slaughter houses; you will not find the local type because the Animal rights protection and Health inspectors won’t even allow it.

About how many cows are slaughtered per day and will it cater for consumers in the FCT as well as other Northern states?
What we are trying to do is act as a catalyst so that, if we start, others will also want to do the right thing. Before this, there were the Bauchi and Kano meat factories. However all these could not continue because there were some externalities involved, worse of all was that it was started by government . This is the first abattoir started by an entrepreneur being run as a business. Quality meat is very important to restaurants because quality matters a lot.

What is the cost effect on the consumer compared to what they would get from the local abattoir?
In terms of costs, we are more efficient and we will be getting value for money. Because under local slaughter, if you put a cow up for kill you get about seven or more people taking portions from it as their share.

But under our system, 100percent of the slaughtered cow is ours. Furthermore, the blood and waste are processed under our system, with the waste being processed to make fuel, compost fertilizer, etc while everything is discarded in the local system.

Do you provide all the cows that are slaughtered from your farm or can individuals also bring in their cows?
Definitely, individuals may bring in their own cows. Our target is for people who want their meat handled in the most hygienic way. From our statistics, 80-90 per cent of cattle that will be brought here will come from interest groups such as hotels, restaurants and other service providers of food. They may have them fattened and brought here to have them slaughtered according to international standards.

Are we to understand that the aim is for people to eventually stop patronising local slaughter houses?
What you call a local slaughter house had a beginning and definitely the end is almost near, because if you give somebody the choice of having good quality meat and meat produced by local slaughter house, they would definitely go for quality. More people are becoming aware of what they eat.

And also under the new vision of Nigeria, agriculture is no longer a ‘food only’ procedure. It also involves business. When agric is business, you cannot stop at rice, it has to be accompanied by other things such as oil, meat, etc. We are taking only a portion out of this enabling environment. We cannot continue watching foreign channels waking us up from our slumber about the poor manner of meat handling in Nigeria.

I’m sure Nigerians would be interested to know how this venture would take care of unemployment.
With this set up, we should be able to provide jobs for about 5,000 people, because from the actual slaughtering of the cow to the mai suya and the person who prepares kilishi, everybody has something to do.

How do you intend to survive the erratic power supply, seeing that electricity supply is non-friendly to factories and industries?
I have confidence that if NEPA continues going the way it is, no industry will have to close down due to poor power supply. What we need is constant power in the daytime and that’s the time most people are at work or school and won’t use much electricity.

In the evenings we will run our generators to keep our cold room running.
Here we have the provision of using animal dung to producers up to 200kva of power.

What advice will you offer wealthy Northern when it comes to agriculture, because it is believed that agriculture is the solution to the problems facing the North?
My advice is that they should not bother taking their money to Switzerland, France, England etc. They should invest in processing units since the FG is creating an enabling environment. This will solve the problem of unemployment, insecurity will be reduced.

We have to get our people to change their psyche and put their resources into production. I would like Northerners to take an interest in such investments



Source - http://www.leadership.ng/nga/articles/31650/2012/08/04/invest_more_home_not_abroad_tafida_mafindi.html