₦airaland Forum

Peacecore:
The guy you call sleeping Joe was handling the Ukraine situation in America's [dignity] way and all NATO countries were together untill this greedy slowpoke came and sold America to Russia. As an African you're expected to keep worshipping the fool sha

So what do you want.
America to join the war and fight Russia.
Then the other half of the world says they love to fight and who appointed them policeman of he world.

Donald Trump started out with with an isolationist policy. A policy that clearly did not want anything to do with the war in Ukraine but he was criticised by Europe for it.

Now he is doing the opposition the middle east and is still criticized for it.

It appears everyone wants an America and an American president doing their own bidding. Everyone wants to pick and choose what this country does or does not do. They must be the most used and abused country on earth.

America cannot be trusted - this, America has abandoned it's allies - that. If decides to posture the world says they are warmongers. Peace is a problem, war is a problem. What does the world want.

It is entirely up to the Taiwanese to decide where they stand and the American people just how much they are willing to pay.

obeegee:
In essence, your power comes from Gbaja and not your constituents

It's a feudal system
The people have abdicated their authority.
The black man looked around after the white slave master set him free 250 years ago, finding no one to bow to, he turned to his neighbour to please enslave him....

Guestmale:
That is a lie.Before April the start of Iran war the crude oil was selling for around $70 per barrel, now it's around $104 dollars per barrel with daily production of 1.489million compared it to the regime of Jonathan, the price of crude oil was about $120 per barrel, and Nigeria’s daily production was around 2.2 million barrels per day.

So why is the balance of 34 USD. About a 50 percent surplus on the reserve budget rate not reflecting in the economy.... remember the prices have been elevated for a considerable amount of time now. This war has dragged on.

It told you folks that government has a spending problem, not a revenue problem. Even if oil sells for $500 dollars a barrel, it will not reflect anywhere....as long as the citizens that own this oil do not ask those entrusted with the management serious questions.

GrammarNazi1:
The government should do something about rising inflation!

It can't do anything about inflation.
It doesn't know how to reduce inflation.
As a matter of fact their very nature cannot tackle inflation. It will mean economic surgery to change their DNA.

dawnomike:
As cruel as it may sound, just know that a Lion will not spare it because of it's baby.
In a much as you do no wrong to no man, you and your family's survival comes first!!!

You're not a lion, you have a conscience.

Atlantis585:
Even with all the additional money being made from more oil sales since the start of the war, your president is still borrowing billions with the approval of Mr. Rubber Stamp senate president, Mr. Akpa-amu Akpabio.

They all accused the Jonathan of mismanaging the so called oil 'windfall'.

Now it is their time to drive the bus and everyone is silent. Even the opposition is at sea about the glaring opportunity to beat this new wife with the same cane.

This was a former, key member of OPEC. Now a net importer due to development. When will Nigeria's economy grow to a point we need every drop of oil out of the ground.

ufotunang:
Oya NFF go and rush him


2 characters remaining

Let us make sure we have the administrative quality to match the aspirations of these kids or else let us just let them be and wish them the best.

These situations are like the search for foreign investors. Make sure your field is cleared, tilled and prepared to receive the investment.

It adds to the 'stink' factor of Nigerian food.
It is the vegetable equivalent to the 'gaminess' of venison.

Boladogailese:
Just imagine what a respected elder is saying

It's a feudal state.
The man has no alternative.
The people insisted they have a king....
And a king they got.
My question is simple.
What happens when the king is no more.

Love800:
Guava would have been my best fruit, but the seeds inside does not allow me to eat it well. Don't want to swallow seed because of appendix.

The story we have heard since childhood.
Anyway what is the point of your appendix, have it removed anyway.

I just love all things trains and trams. Nigerians just don't know how much they lose by not having mass transit. I don't think there is any other city in the world with a population the size of Lagos that depends solely on cars and buses. Th congestion, the pollution, the economic losses to traffic jams....

And I don't think there is any other country in the world with a population half our size that is not heavily dependent on cross country rail networks to move passengers and goods.

You cannot prevail in manufacturing, agriculture, mining, engineering if you cannot move huge quantities of raw materials and finished products by rail transport.

A 50 car freight train can haul up to 6,000 tons which is equivalent to 200 haulage trucks. That same train will consume 30,000 litres of diesel compared to about 75,000 litres for the trucks.

Nigeria badly, badly needs a comprehensive rail transportation plan to link all major cities of this country and key production locations into an cohesive economic network.

hush15:
I am glad you one of those that understand the situation. Can you imagine the nonsense politics they playing in Lagos. I mean Desmond Elliot deserves what he gets and has outlived his usefulness in the political circles however, you can just imagine a sitting President, all he thinks, eat and live for is power and politics such that he doesn't have time for governance.

All of them, including so callled Gbaja are all puppets and dormant flowers he uses to decorate government but in real sense, He is the President, Chief of Staff, SSG, Senate President, Speaker of the House, even to Local government Chairman. Akpabio doesn't know how useless he is till Tinubu disposes of him when time reach.

But he also has a political and earthly lifespan and the problem with autocracy is the post strong man era. It is usually followed by civil war. History is replete with stories of implosions when power is concentrated in the hands of individuals or a few.

When this man eventually goes Lagos state will have to learn the baby steps of real democracy and in many cases they will be decades behind other states that are presently struggling through it.

LabStores:
There are better countries than USA with better opportunities and living standards.
Always do your due diligence before embarking on journeys like this.

MOREOVER, BEFORE THEY GRANTED YOUR VISAS, MANY OF YOU TOLD THE CONSULAR THAT YOU'LL BE RETURNING TO THE COUNTRY AFTER YOUR PROGRAM, WHY THE COMPLAIN NOW?

No be by force to live for USA

Hmmm....the country they promised to return to has gone belly up. Totally unrecognizable from when they left. Even the Consular staff will have noticed when they go shopping for instance.

Melagros:
COMRADES, wonders shall never ends! So this man is one of the greedy people/politicians we have in this country. If I may ask, what impact has his 24 years in the NASS made to his constituency? What would be the answer?

That should be left to his Constituency to decide.
Pre-qualifications or/and disqualifications are not pure tenets of democracy. If they feel he has inordinate electoral advantages they can level the field but not to exclude him outrightly.

I am not a proponent of unending affirmative action, all these rotation things, etc. It is not working in Nigeria.

aariwa:
Wetin concern a serious president with Desmond Elliot? Shows the level of mindset he has that plunged Nigeria into present mess, cluelessness to present problems in the country and what is happening around him…smh

It's a feudal system.
Sounds more like a king and the place squabbles of his princes....
The question then becomes. What happens when the king is no more.

Next is to picket their country office.

Symptomatic of failing governance. A state unable to safeguard itself. Where everybody from the President to the peon is after money, filthy lucre at any cost, We will soon become extinct as a nation at this rate of self destruction.

Blame the rats all you like it is up to the higher animal to keep the rat population in check or get overwhelmed and perish.

Every passing year the state gets weaker and the rats multiply exponentially in number. We are nearing epidemic levels of crime in Nigeria and left uncheck the government as the apex institution will become insolvent.

Gkay1:
Seek 4th term, na only am dey d area ?

If it is good for the Gbaja goose it is also good for the Elliot gander. When will Mr. Femi also retire from 'backing' candidates. Is his back not hurting by now. When will Lagosians learn to 'walk' on their own two political feet. For how long will mummy be 'backing' a 27 year old political baby.

The more the merrier.
Say no to autocracy.
We did not fight the military only to be held captive by their civilian equivalents.

Are there mosquitoes is Saudi Arabia.
I thought it was one of the few countries without a natural river. Where do they come from.

CorrectionFLuid:
Apart from the food part, everything you wrote there happens In Nigeria too.

You feel it because you're black there, and in Nigeria, a certain tribe feels exactly this way.

The food part.
At least there you can speak your mind about apples staying longer on the shelves than packaged foods.
Try that here and the police comes for you.

PulaPower:
E no dey interest me at all

Country wey any Krack-head can just pull out a gun and starts killin people..

Hmmm....like in Plateau or Zamfara or Benue or Katsina or.....
Is there any state there where the governor addresses besieged citizens from the safety of a civilian tank....or if you like, APC.

Everything stated in that report from healthcare to cost of living to insecurity is the Lego version of what is happening here.

Well Mr. Bayo. Democracy is not a religious practice. I don't think anyone in the world, the world of politics stands in a position of divinity so of course neither do I believe what he said. That is not how democracy works.

Democracy works on the basis of cause and effect. Of deeds and consequences. Of accountability. So if you proclaim something you are free to play around with it provided the people have a means of holding you to account and a will to deploy the appropriate penalties.

Javid13:
Cadillac, Ford, chevy suburban, lincoln and GMC...Where all those cars go park ?

All American products....not saying 'buy Nigeria' as a political slogan but going ahead to use foreign ones

"They don't want to be bystanders anymore"
They don't want to to be 'yes' men.
They don't want to be at the bottom of the food chain.

They want to advocate for a better experience under this democratic disposition. Their lot is not to make sacrifices in perpetuity while the overlords have it softer and softer than ever before.

They were lied to saying, "subsidy benefits only the rich". Then took the money and handed it their contractor friends and family who are already rich leaving the poor having to sleep in their offices and shower in security outposts because they cannot afford to transit home every day of the week....

DrTee1:
The irony of Olusegun Obasanjo’s "drunken sailor" critique is a historical inversion. He was not the physician, but the architect of the very structural decay the current government is now forced to repair

1. The Creator of the "Big Government" Parasite:
Obasanjo institutionalized the bloated cost of governance he now decries. He pioneered the culture of innumerable Special Advisers and political aides; this federal template was replicated across 36 states, creating a recurrent expenditure trap that swallows the majority of the national budget. He turned the Presidency into a "honey pot" of patronage, making Nigerian politics a "do-or-die" struggle for centralized resources.

2. The Debt Relief Myth vs. Refineries Failure:
While he boasts of the 2005 debt relief, he essentially "bought" it by paying $12.4 billion upfront from oil reserves. He failed to use that clean slate to fix the energy sector; instead, he spent billions on refinery maintenance with zero results. His failed attempt to sell those refineries in a flawed process forced the current $20 billion annual "subsidy hole" that makes modern borrowing a mathematical necessity.

3. The "Do-or-Die" Democratic Deficit:
Obasanjo’s moral posturing ignores his own record on election integrity. He oversaw the 2003 and 2007 elections, widely regarded as the most fraudulent in Nigeria's history; by militarizing the polls to "deliver" results, he broke the link between governance and accountability. His attempt to subvert the constitution for a "Third Term" remains the ultimate act of political greed.

4. Revenue Reality vs. Rhetoric:
The facts dislodge his postulation. Under the current fiscal committee led by Taiwo Oyedele, the debt-service-to-revenue ratio has been slashed from 120% in 2022 to approximately 68% in 2026. Unlike the consumption-based borrowing of the past, current funds are tied to productive infrastructure like the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway.

Conclusively, Obasanjo is criticizing a government for struggling to sail a ship that he built, overstaffed with political crew members, and steered toward a fiscal iceberg. It takes aggressive, unconventional maneuvers to dismantle the "Do-or-Die" economic ruins he left behind.

Oga, you people should stop all these excuses, side stepping and responsibility evasion.

There is a reason democratic systems of government have term limits. To give the country a chance for change if and when a bad government is elected. An opportunity to reconsider, reverse and redirect where necessary. An opportunity for a change. If the government does well the people say continue, if the people are dissatisfied the people say, we want another leadership.

We have had governments.you rightly have said failed in many respects. THEY ARE NO MORE. It is the present government that is under consideration. They are the only entity presently able to right wrongs, to better the country. It is rh m that are under scrutiny and examination at the 2023 polls.

Why do you people like to excuse the present performance based on the failings of previous administrations DEMOCRACY HAD WORKED TO REMOVE. What is the point in changing government then when all you get are excuses. Are those in power today nit the critics of yesterday and did they not ride into power on the PROMISE to right the wrongs. So what is the essence of all you have written above.

I tell you this. The increasing voter apathy and the lower turnout for every successive elections is exactly because of this. Governments come and go but things continue to worsen. So what is the point in voting if your life only gets worse as a result. Who does that.

Can you run your business that way. You sack and employ new and every time the situation worsens with all manner of excuses by the new staff that he or she met a bad situation....then why seek applications and run an interview....

You folks shouldn't wake up and start advocacy for real governance, qualitative governance and not this self centered, poor quality leadership we are witnessing everywhere.

You are talking about investment in critical infrastructure and you are talking about that pair of new concrete highways that is costing this country an arm and a leg. How critical is those roads. Can you say how much they will save the average Nigerian in the long run. You saw the post on the goat/sheep businessman who says it costs him N15,000 a head to bring his animals to market. A whole N15,000. Critical infrastructure means investments that will lower that to N10,000...N5,000...N2,000 so that him, other enterprises and investors can compete in this globalized world of economics. Will that road do that....

There is nothing I dislike as the term 'contract'.
It has messed up this country and my dear fella, almost cost you your head.

Let us all join hands to end this 'contracting' sub-culture in Nigeria.

Lacking the financial strength to compete.
We understand what you mean.
It is all about the money
It is always about the money in Nigeria of which Lagos is the capital city of money politics.

Nigerians are beginning to awaken and hopefully the biblical chains that hold them captive will fall free one after the other.

Explore2xmore:
Meetings with British Commonwealth trade bodies sound impressive on paper. But Nigeria needs to ask what these arrangements are designed to achieve.
Too often, the structure stays the same: Africa supplies raw materials, imports finished goods, and celebrates some kind of partnership while local industry remains weak.
Countries like China, Vietnam, Singapore, and Indonesia did not rise through open-door economics alone. They protected strategic sectors, backed local manufacturers, controlled foreign access, demanded technology transfer, and used state policy to build productive capacity before wider liberalization.
That is the part usually skipped in conversations about economic miracles. We have the brains and can develop better capacity in implementation. Grow a system less open to abuse and wasteful corruption.
So when officials announce trade talks and MSME partnerships, the real questions are simple:
Will this grow Nigerian manufacturing?

Will it increase value-added exports?

Will it transfer skills, technology, and industrial capacity into the country?

Or will Nigeria remain a consumer market dependent on imports and foreign financing?

Development is not measured by meetings, memorandums, or investment headlines. It is measured by industrial capacity, productive jobs, export strength, and economic independence.
Nigeria does not lack potential. What it lacks is a development strategy built around national production instead of permanent external dependence.

Totally agree with this.
There has to be a level of training before competition. Yes, competition produces sharpness but capacity must be livid inherent.

If we cannot build ourselves to 'do things', 'make things', 'develop things' and depend on foreign nations to do the basics for us, at best we will be made in their image.

I cannot say this enough.
China became China because they decided a long time ago to be the industrial capital of the world. Not by loans, not by foreign investment, not by creeping and crawling to every capital city of the world to beg, but by deliberate policies aimed at industrialization and a country backing them all the way as a culture.

Those of us who were privileged to see the birth of industry in China remembered how the machine tools we see today were built in shacks and backyard stalls amid squalor and poverty.

Today China is in space, China is the global leader in green tech (from solar to EV's). China is a global leader in semi conductors, and on and on. Everything from scratch.

Not saying. Nigeria should invent the wheel or to find the chicken that laid the first egg. But lasting and sustainable development cannot be imported.