₦airaland Forum

Goverments come and go. Nothing changes. The first term of this goverment has passed. In our nascent democracy first terms are always the performing of the typical two terms because elections lie at the end. Second terms are usually spent in political skullduggery, battles to instal defenders who will watch their backs and hide their skeletons. Nothing meaningful ever gets done.

I just cannot see what wll motivate this goverment to do better now that thw citizens are too trauatised to hold it accountable.

Said it in my welcoming speech in May 2015 that the best this goverment will give during its tenure will be at best superficial improvements. Nothing deep seated and fundamental will change in this country that will bring meaningful development to Nigerians. Simply because nothing deep seated and meaningful was proposed as the election winning strategy in 2014.

And unfortunately the citizens mistook propaganda for strategy and sentiment for values. This is the result. Those who voted them in can no longer speak, just muttering in solemnity to themselves....

I sympathise too...

Totally agree. I like the images of the Kebbi State governor (I think) with the CBN chief on an investment visit to Anambra and later Cross-River both relating to the rice industry which Kebbi State is a major player.

These are the pathways I believe are the shortest to creating a viable and sustainable model for national development, one in which the federating states compete and collaborate, each side bringing its comparative advantage to the table and exchanging it for what it lacks and needs.

Such will engender mutual respect and a deeper sense of responsibility and patriotism than the present system of inordinate patronage, psychologically cripplling subsidies and rent seeking called the national project.

BlackBaron:
They're more 'mouth' than talk. Actually less than a 3rd are really 'intelligent'.

Post an article about BBN and a topic on critical governance and watch which gets more discourse on Nairaland. Or watch how a 2.5% VAT increase to 7.5% (one of the lowest on the planet) evokes many pages of argument.
I mostly blame under investment in education.

The argument I and many have against more taxation is the purpose not the amount. Without accountability taxation is futile. We should make a point for reform before accepting it.

The truth is that ordinarily blacks are not up there when it comes to intellect. A lot of indicies point to that fact such as poverty, life expectancy, etc but my big one that ultimately proves blacks are not intellectually competitive, is venture, exploration and exploitation. We are at the absolute bottom of the tree and it is no surprise we were taken in slavery in mass numbers (till today), but taking no one, we were colonised in mass, colonising no one, till date we have been exploited by all (even by nations on the same standing just a few decades ago), exploiting none in return.

This can only be about a race that is not as mentally competent, a race that is incapable of organising itself into viable groupings, effective societies, with a common, positive purpose. Some say this has biblical origins but when you consider that amongst black nations, the more you have socities bearing dissimilar tongues, the more discordant, inhibited and ultimately dispondent such societies are such as Nigeria then there may be a point there.

Thus in a nutshell Nigeria is the poster child of what is wrong with the black race because we have the largest concentration of black 'models' in the world, the largest concentration of 'not so brilliant folks' on earth. Nigeria is more complex than the whole African continent and more. Can Africa ever come together as one....Nigeria is more complex than that.

The result speaks for itself.

ornicus:
Interesting, but what is the net book value of the car?

In business organizations at the end of four years Official vehicles are often sold to staff at their net book value. So a car bought at 6 million may be sold at 400k. Depreciation.

The perceived market value does not matter in this instance

Oga, please don't be clever by half. The scandal about all this is that government, your government is bankrupt, borrows to remain afloat and tells you, yes YOU WHO SEEKS TO JUSTIFY SUCH, to pay more tax so that it can meet its obligations.

Now, I will not ask you to re-evaluate things because you either donot live in Nigeria or pay any meaningful tax but I will turn my attention to civil servants who are baying for better wages.

Hear this: If you want Nigerians like me to have any sympathy whatsoever for your collective plight, the whistle blower program is operational and it is time you lot prove that you donot operate in cahoots with politicians to ruin this country because I find it difficult to believe that the Bauchi State NLC is not aware of this and other shady practices of the governor and others like him and I will find it extremely difficult to believe you chaps will not have incriminating documents, solid proof which the EFCC will love to have.

Prove that you are on the side of Nigerians just as you want them to be on your side in fighting for a better life if you are not arm in arm in stealing from the cookie jar or snouting the crumbs that fall from the masters table.

And I bet the 19 odd million was stolen itself. 'Bought' just means both crimes were comitted on a different day if not why buy when he can just change the 'particulars' and who will ask the 'king' any question.

Tomorrow they will call themselves public servants, civil servants and ignorant Nigerians will be falling over themselves to fight for wage increases for them at their own expense, paying tax after tax, toll after toll to buy new stuff for them.

Whoever was in cahoots with the governor to steal public property is the reason I cannot see any necessity to worry about any so called minimum wage increase. They should hold their bosses by the jugular instead of bowing to them every morning and hailing them at the day's end. They are in better proximity to the avarice going on.

Typical Nigerian herd mentality.... 'it is the east African yada yada...' while those who took hundreds of millions out of their cookie jars for high altitude training facilities and programs in Plateau and Admawa states to head off such a thing have left the building.

Nigerians have one unique characteristic. One of attention deficit. So much so that it is all too easy to maladminster, steal and misappropriate with dizzying levels of impuntiy. When the high altitude program was being mooted, what didn't we hear, lofty promises of athletic dominace only if the money was made avilable.

Well the money eventually came and.... two decades later we are back where we are...purring at east African dominance yet again..

Honestly if we cannot hold our leaders to account but insist on hoping for accountability and waiting for promises of performance we will only be the waiters, janitors and butlers to the world of achievers out there taking all the glory and pride while we wail and groan.

There is nothing of positive endevour which we dominate anymore. Nothing the world looks up to Nigeria for anymore.

peeps4u:
Anyone that lives comfortably in other less stressful states like osun, ondo ekiti etc will not appreciate the peace of mind he HSS until he comes to Lagos. Lagosians have made hard life look like a normal life. If you can't learn to run after korope or keke napep, they will tell you that u can't live in Lagos. Someone saw my carrying my son and how he's fond of me, she said my son doesn't know anything that in Lagos he will be on his own when his dad and mum have left early in the morning until late at night. I just said to myself "is this life Lagosians are proud of?"
Bad roads everywhere, flood and dirty environments. Overpriced house rents.

Hmmm.....city of excellence...

Mutemenot:
I like Umahi and his taste for unique projects but this night inspection baffles me me oh

He has just three years left. What do you expect him to do knowing that most of those projects face an uncertain future should he be unable to complete them in his tenure.

When governance becomes a true continuum then everyone will be able to sleep with eyes closed.

okefranci:
It concerns everybody as long as you are a Nigerian

No, it does not.

netpro:
While these negotiations is ongoing, my bigger concerns is about States that still owes even the 18k wages.

How do we make it mandatory for workers to be paid first before any white elephant projects?

What do you meam by this nonsense. Are States created to be paying salaries.? What do you mean by white elephant projects. So roads should be left in disrepair, electricity left in shambles and the environment left in a mess just to pay salaries. There should be a balance and it should be enshrined in the Constitution of what the limits and ratios between public spending and public investment should be.

We spend far too much money on far too few people in this country the first category being political office holders then the almighty civil servants before the crumbs are left to assist those expected to bear the bulk burden of taxation and wealth creation, the ordinary citizens.

If everyone joins the civil service what will happen to this country?. Mr. President should go ahead and right size please. If Nigeria is broke everyone has a responsibility to bail her out. Everyone must bear his share of the hurt. You cannot be civil servant and civil master at the same time.

Wow...nice... very nice.

positive11:
Nigeria/Area land mass is 923,763 km² with about 190 million population while Thailand/Area land mass 513,120 km² with 68 million population and they can afford to grow rice that will feed their nation and feed about 300 million people around the world NIGERIA lets wake up and feed ourself even if we can afford to feed anothere nation.

The topography and soil conditions of both countries are not comparable for rice production. Agriculture requires very specific conditions for profitable and extensive production. Once we bit the rice bug in the early seventies there was no looking back. I don't know who or what started that calamity but I do not know any country on earth that imports its prime staple. We are just so absurd in this country.

For most countries the number one staple is that handed down over the generations to which much resources will have been comitted, much expertise learned and much capabilities built for food security. Somewhere somehow we lost the expertise for our staples and developed a large appetite for wheat and rice both of which cannot be grown in strategic quantities in Nigeria.

You can imagine if we have spent this much resources developing maize and cassava up and down the value chain, where we will be by now and how much we will have saved over the decades. In much of the western world with all their human and capital resources rice is not a staple there. They don't bother to research, invest or produce it. It is just one of the many exotics offered in mainly Asian outlets.

Just how did rice colonise us.?

TruthProphet:
Why do Nigerian presidents go with governors and other public executive officials when they go on official visits abroad. Is that how Donald Trump goes with the governor of Texas, New Jersey and the likes when he goes on foreign trips??

Why Nigerians too mumu like this?!!

America is a proper Federation unlike Nigeria. States are independent of central goverment. They have their own executives and legislature. They have their own law enforcement and judiciary even Supreme courts. They have their own central banks so they can conduct international transactions without seeking permission of central goverment.

What binds them together to make the United States are Charters.... agreements, bilateral and multilateral between Statea ans territories . What defines the values that holds them together is the Constitution.

texazzpete:
Not a single one of you has the balls to go out to
Protest or hold the government accountable, yet you’re here dragging and mocking the people that are bold enough to speak up.

Tueh

To them Nigeria is paradise. Thsy cannot understand what it takes to build a nation. No values whatsoever. They think great nations are built by politcians. They know precious little.

Just wish this man could be the one running this country. Very cerebral fellow. Absolutely nothing but th truth. Nigeria thinks it can succeed by removing one or two plugs from its engine and then hoping to win a race against the biggest and best nations out there. Such modern day folly yet rivalled.

ajl:
Child of darkness. May you reap from the bitterness you sow for the goodness of an innocent fellow. Except if Sowore did not do all these for the good of the people of Nigeria.

Allow people to express their views please. There are genuine lessons to be learned all round. And in this case it is, look before you leap next time elections come. You all claim such folks are embittered about 2015 but you too seem unable to scale the fact that the present is no better and cannot seem to admit wrong choices may have been made. Nigeria belongs to all.

These were the things we predicted back then. That the boot wil be on the other foot and the capital of electoral victory will ebb away with serious consequences. I assume you folks just thought the present government will grow to become rock stars in a country that remains essentially ungovernable because of its unworkable structure.

peeps4u:
LOL, They both have chances of going farther than Nigeria at world cup. When was the last time Nigeria won AFCON? Have we ever gone farther than england at world cup?

Which team is rated higher on FIFA ranking between Nigeria and England?

My friend. Nigeria has a better chance of winning a trophy than England at the senior level, let us not go below where we have a far better record at age grade football. The last time we won a trophy at senior level was in 2013 AFCON. When was the last time England won a trophy at senior level anywhere.... 1966. They go for tournament after tournament, lose and get villified when they return, the squad gets disbanded and they start over again.

It also means Papillo is more decorated than any English footballer of this generation, period.

Yes English football is at a higher level in many ways than Nigeria's at present but the facts are facts. At the end of a career it will not be about counting 'chances of getting'. It will be about what has been gotten. Nigeria is not able to win the World Cup in this present state, so is England. He has rolled the dice amd settled for England, let us see how it plays out. Papillo is right. We don't need this distraction. Let us improve management of our football and footballing teams and downplay the role of players for once. Talents abound everywhere.

The fact is clear. Tammy Abraham has a far better chance of winning the Nations Cup with Nigeria than he has of winning the Euros with England. He also has a chance of a far longer career with Nigeria than he has with England.

Angelfrost:
Culture??!... More like massive developmental gap...

Same thing. The culture leads to the developmental gap.

BlogRabbit:
This kanu nwankwo doesn't have sense o

He is right and the best player to say this. When Tammy or Tomori become as successful and decorated for England as Papillo is for Nigeria then you have a case. Let me see whether he will win Olympic gold and the Euros with England then we start talking. At the end of a career it will be medals and trophies not money that will speak success and satisfaction.

Jaqenhghar:
Who says they dont? They dont just produce enough to fill in the required quota. Even the doctors they take in are further refined which is still the development process


The difference between theirs and what you people do is at least they try to develop their own. You peoppe do nothing. Just sit and wait for the next talented foreign player with some ancestral links then start sending invites

C'mon don't be disingenuous. We develop soccer talent perhaps more than any other country in the world. We are the most successful country on the planet in youth football and government has expended billions over the decades in age grade programs and tourneys.

Yes we may not have the sophistication, technology, know how, managerial skill and temperament to sustain programs and deliver the last step at the highest levels but we have done a lot for soccer development on the global stage. FIFA acknowledges that. The fellow who this post revolves around Papillo is a prime example of what Nigeria can produce.

Let me ask you this question. By the time Papillo arrived in your mighty England and Arsenal was he developed or not...sure you cannot compare a country with a thousand years of history with one that is just 59 years. England invented the modern game, Nigeria did not so there is bound to be a gap. Please just don't write us off as useless because of this recent fad of seeking foreign born players.

It is just a fad and has not defined our achievements in anyway. There is no Cup we have won at any level since the 70's that has been defined by our successful quest and integration of foreign born players. It is just a passing fad.

Jaqenhghar:
Kanu is right. Does it even make sense? You have talents in your country but you are so lazy you wont develop your own you will instead be waiting for the one that oyinbo has worked on then poach those ones. SMH

Every country poaches talent in every profession in the world. We lose skilled labour in their thousands every year too. Why can't the United States and the United Kingdom develop its own doctors too for instance.

Angelfrost:
Lol... If your government had the expenses or resources to train them as you claim, what stops the same government from gainfully employing them with equal expense??!... Would they be snapped up if they were unavailable due to gainful engagement??!...

...And your last line is hilarious... 1. We can't afford their footballers 2. Our doctors and engineers do more of the "seeking".

Exactly. Create the right environment and they will come. But like I said I am not a fan of modern day slavery. Man was created and placed in an environment to develop it. He was created to add value to his community. That is why in his wisdom God has shared competencies and capabilities, finesse and folly equally throughout the globe.

By the way if not for the cultural thing you will find a number of westerners who will not mind playing at the world cup under an African flag just for the experience. Coaches have done it for decades and South Americans can be found playing for lesser endowed Asian and Middle East countries but culturally it wil be like a woman seeking a man's hand in marriage, quite absurd. But I was speaking about foreign players of Nigerian parentage.

quickly:
It so easy for England to call up a person in England. Nigeria will make noise about a player and England will call them up.

Same thing will happen to Saka of Arsenal

There are hundreds of Sakas in youth academies all over Europe so don't lose your hair. A wise farmer will first prepare the land before buying the seedlings... if you can decode this.

Angelfrost:
That is the real question: Why has NFF failed to focus on locating these numerous talents, groooming them (even from primary school), and blooding them into the national team as most sensible nations, even in Africa, do??!

You want other nations to raise and groom your talents for you, invest in them, only for you to have them on a silver platter.... What effrontery... Hiss!!!

But our young men and women will be groomed and nurtured from grade school to university degree status through what amounts to free education at great goverment expense only for the western world to snap them up for free leaving this nation short of skilled labour on many fronts. What is the difference. We should seek their footballers as they seek our doctors and engineers innit....?

No that I am a fan of what amounts to trans-national modern day slave trade.

grandstar:
Even if you stop stealing, it isn't enough. Nigeria only collects about 6% of its GDP as tax. A country like Guatemala which collects about 11% had it's figure condemned as too small. That'll give you an inkling at how small the revenue is.

That's why government is borrowing massively

What does it borrow to do. I am sure you will say to build roads and rail lines... good.

But the borrowing goes into the budget to 'balance it'. Meaning there is something else at the other end of the see-saw causing the imbalance and this is the 300 pound gorilla called the 'cost of governance'.

The World Bank and IMF has repeatedly told us for decades that we spend far too much money in running the country. That is why we have to borrow to 'stock the shop'.

And like I have said severally, if you employ ten yupee barbers in your saloon and you get only ten customers each day indeed you will have to borrow from neighbour 'Iya Basira' who has three girls from 'the village' serving a hundred customers when you need to change your clippers.

It is the common sense we juat seem to lack in Nigeria. No problem. But why do we have to pay for this foolishness. What is goverment doing to balance its own books. Or Nigerians will rather pay more tax and watch Dino buy more Ferraris from the tax...

fairfora:
You just repeated what I said, but in a different way. I mentioned inflation in my post. In my post, I didn't also support the rich rather, I said the rich needed to have been taxed and not the poor. Toll is insignificant but cat is VAT.

But like I have said. Who are the rich in Nigeria. Who are the richest working class people in Nigeria if not goverment. Profession for profession a goverment worker is far better off than his non goverment counterpart. Name it.

An average security man will not earn anywhere near a policeman of the same qualifications not to talk of perks both legal and illegal. Doctors, lecturers, oil sector workers name it, goverment workers are better off at the end of the day, month and year for the same amount of skill, effort or risk they bear in conducting business across board.

seunmsg:
Private companies would also find a way to adjust. Minimum wage cannot be increased by about 70% without consequences. Americans have been talking about increasing national minimum wage for some years now without any meaningful headway.

Find a way means what. They should steal or extort from their clients and customers the way goverment folks do... explain..

The big difference between goverment and non goverment business is that goverment business is mandatory and monopolistic while in most cases private business is optional because it is competitive so how will the non goverment sector raise wages in a competitive environment.

That is why goverment is resistant to reform and restructure and to shed power. Monopoly leads to corruption.

Very apt. Totally true. And every well meaning citizen should wake up and befin to resist this.

I am all for taxation including VAT rises. What I totally detest is that Nigerians are being taxed to feed civil servants and public servants.

Sorry to offend any government worker out there but the truth must be told. You folks constitute no more than 10 percent of the populace of Nigeria but consume almost 70 percent of the resources of this country as expounded in annual budgets at all levels of goverment. There is barely no state or local goverment where the recurrent expenditure (the cost of running goverment) is lower than the business of government itself and the bulk of these sums goes to paying salaries and benefits.

Now goverment workers want more and it is the citizens that have to pay up, citizens that have been railroaded by bad poicies of successive goverments and sharp practices of civil servants. With no respite from capital expenditire votes of the budget that will never be 100 percent fulfilled but recurrent expenditure always up to date, why should any ordinary citizen not resist this.

We say tax the rich and give the poor but why is it the opposite in Nigeria where goverment people are richer than their private and personal sector counterparts at all levels in all professions from the lowly security jobs to the muscular oil industry jobs yet they.want more. Who guarantees jobs thoughtless of new minimum wage when the effects of VAT begin to hit the private sector, will NLC fight for Ade Aluminum Company workers or Hassan Pure Water plc workers....

It is our collective duty as Nigerians to ensure there is always socio-economic justice in Nigeria at all times. This means that if we suffer we all suffer and if we enjoy we all enjoy equally. This is only possible by demanding for good governance for all and a better economy which will profit all.

Nigerians must demand from those getting a raise at their expense to give or give up something in return. The least is better governance. Not a raise for the same bribery, corruption, tardiness and ineptitude that has made all our lives much more difficult to bear.

Yes so that when I go get my passport or drivers licence or renew my passport I get lost in thought thinking I am being served at an eatery not standing accused before a judge.

destinie2019:
Forensics requires database. Database requires knowing precisely who lives in a country. If all the Fulani's on earth are free to come and go as they please, how to we get a database? Only in Nigeria can you find a full adult of 30 and above with no document to prove his citizenship.

Not true. The FBI for instance created its own database. Same for the NSA, CIA, ATP and local police at all levels in the States and Interpol worldwide. Civil liberties expressly forbids law enforcement from collecting data of citizens without judicial permission so law enforcemwnt can only fish data from those who have given up their liberties, i.e criminals in custody.

Even the depth of data collected varies with the type and severity of the crime comitted. If it is a financial crime data will tend ro revolve around your finances and personal data, if it a violent crime then bloodwork and DNA data will certainly be collected in addition to the mandatory photographic and fingerprint data for all. Anything outside that and eirher you donot know your rights or your lawyer is a joker.

Every law enforcement organisation builds its data base. No one gives anyone data to build and most citizens will be concerned about any form of data sharing by government agencies. If for instance social security gives out information without a warrant heads will definitely roll.

The Nigerian police is a homogenous organization and should not have a problem building a viable and effective data base and a classy crime laboratory but the usual tardiness affecting everything Nigeria afflicts them too.

The FBI or MI5 does not know every illegal immigrant in the States or the UK. They don't need to. That is the work of 'Immigration' and they are not at liberty to share informarion with the FBI except with a warrant. In Nigeria the police should not have or have access to your data simply because you have a passport from immigration, a drivers license frim the FRSC or a BVN from the CBN. Only at the instance of a judge can they compile this data wirh serious proof you warrant that kind of interest.

The poice should build its own database. It is not the busness of citizens.

calyto:
One was done abroad

The other, in Nigeria.

Even Jonathan wouldn't have spared him so don't deceive yourself

So if you comitted high crimes, so called treasonable felony in 2012 it becomes null under a new regime several years later when government should be perceived as a continuum or was the DSS not in existence in 2012. Why wasn't he arested the moment he stepped into Nigeria after the Jonathan regime. So serious was his crimes abi that he was allowed to contest Presidential elections under this dispensation.

Shows noting is beyond politics in Nigeria and yet another proof that government is personalised in this country. What amounts to a crime and criminal activity is just what the Head of State desires or perceives it to be at any point in time. It is not about laws, institutions and precedents but about feudalism, what the maxim wants. Nigeria today is shaped in the image of one, at most two men, which means when they step down after 4 years Nigeria's laws are bound to change again.

Nothing good can grow in this wishy-washy weather called 'the Nigerian way of doing stuff'. Pity.

realestniggah:
You understand this very well.. People think it pays to go to war.. Can you just imagine what we stand to gain if we go to war.. People who are advocating for war can ask Yemen and Saudi Arabia if they sleep peacefully at night

No one is asking for war but nations must find ways to command the respect of her neighbours by standing up and baring fangs when threatened or embarassed.

What is wrong with giving them the cold shoulder. Yes there is a trade imbalance in our favour, trade routes not cast in stone but we should not compromise our dignity as a nation even if some citizens are.

It is not as if South Africa alone can prosper Nigeria so we needed them badly. Uptil a few years ago we were on top of the economic tree so we should have the clout. Moreover the incidents in the country and the crimes that were comitted were widely condemned as affecting several other nations so we have a solid moral case to give them the cold shoulder.

And then finally there is yet (in my opinion) genuine acceptance of wrongs and penitence right up to the highest levels for what happened and nothing I have heard, has been said or written in stone preventing this from recurring.

Please, it is just too early for reproshma after such grave incidentssssss going back several years.