₦airaland Forum

Armed robbery which is the crux of the matter is a capital offence so his death is in order. That is the letter. The spirit however says when your penal system is not proportionate to the crime the intensity of crime rises to meet the intensity of punishment. We sentenced robbers to death so they started violent robberies knowing that if caught they are gone. Reduce the violent punishments and violent crimes will reduce.

Now, we cannot blame the judiciary for looters getting too light sentences or plea bargains. That is the responsibility of the legislature who make laws and the government that prosecutes. For instance a judge will walk past a crime scene like any other citizen. If the police and public prosecutor doesn't act nothing happens.

In Nigeria jail time goes for gays and lesbians by the legislature. If a judge is gayfully engaged or employed he will do time. So if we want a bigger hammer on graft don't go to court, neither go to the police or EFCC (as we often do), rather go to your rep. and ask him to raise the issue in the house of lawmakers. Or better still through a mass protest the type we saw and misused a couple of weeks ago. Yes, instead of demanding better laws against corruption, better legal tools for law enforcement, we were demanding cheaper gas. Talk of taking panadol for cancer and we come here to complain.

Fed's done with the slams. His defensive game is quite frankly shambolic and I can't see all three ahead of him injured at the same time. Anyway his weapons can't hurt them as the trio are great on the back foot and uncanny retrievers.

db10dtruth:
One thing I've realized is if Jose plays attacking game against Barca they ALWAYS perform but when he tends to defend it ALWAYS comes back to hurt him. Just look at the game?? Barca did play well in the 1st half but then Real went a step higher in the 2nd half and for 'ME' deserve to go through. Kaka Ozil, Calejon(always impresses me) were all impressive tonight and should be playing El Classico

I think Jose is right to defend against Barca. What he fails to do is to do it as Barca does. How? Posers.

How does Danny Alves overlap ceaselessly without conceeding counter attacks repeatedly. How does Puyol with all his age and injuries cope. Why is it that Barca seems to only conceed from set pieces. With all their attacking prowess why do Barca players rarely stray offside. Simple. Their game is played and one in the midfield. That is where their attacks originate, that is where their opponents attack ends. Messi begins his runs there giving his teammates the four or five seconds to position and giving himself a wider angle to see ALL the defenders. More time to decide. In Argentina Messi stays higher up the pitch.

Gonzalo or Benzema on the other hand start their attacks in the last 20 to 30 yards. Result. Tunnel vision, poorer support, less time to goal to think, rushed decisions.

Something else. When Barca losses the ball EVERYONE switches to defence instantly and try to win the ball in your defence and at worst in the midfield. Result. 8 potential defenders and quicker counter attacks due to lesser passes. Madrid on the other hand has only five defending at any one time. Ronny, Ozil, Benny, Kaka, Callejon or DiMaria abhor defending leaving poor Lass and co. to take the load and the cards. Not enough defending by Madrid forwards.

The concept of the big languid forward only attacker is lost on Pep ala. Eto, Henry, Ibra and Mr. Leg break to come don't suit Pep.

To beat Barca I suggest Mourinho plays a true 4-5-1 and drops Ozil, Kaka, Benzema, and probably Lass. They simply cannot cope. The team is a body builder too top heavy and thin at the waist while todays game requires beer guzzling and pizza quaffing to attain the crazy 70% possession we see from Barca.

Interesting posts but I think we ought to give Jose and his team a break. I mean Jose is the only coach in world club football who has taken trophies off this present team, the UCL with Inter and Copa last season. Where are the other coaches. Are they worthy to criticise him. They have had their opportunities as well. Which other club in Spain has taken any trophy in three years. They play Barca as many times as Real.

The truth is that this is a golden era for Barca just as AC Milan had in the 90's, Real in the 60's, Lyon a few years ago and United presently. It will take time and more losses for Madrid to catch up but they will. In any other league Real would probably win trophies comfortably but not this one. I hope Jose can continue because he has to build Real.

Barca is not what it is today because of Messi (doesn't show up for Argentina) or Pep (tactically green - one track formations) but the institution that puts average players together into an indomitable unit.

This is what other clubs have to emulate.

Funny, a few days ago we wanted to preserve his life, now we want to take it. Even mods have seized deleting dark posts.

It is an old naval custom originating from Britain (as most naval customs are) and practiced in several countries. Ships are also usually christined and addressed in the female gender.

Too many mouths to feed. The rates will be high though a good idea. Does anyone know the transaction cap. and whether the virtual cash can be downloaded to a bank account remotely.

Hmm, see critics of Senegal. Dan the Bull I hope you can bring all this technical talk to bear on our own dear Super Eagles.

The beautiful game indeed. That's why footy's a dream. It doesn't respect fame, name or reputation. Has no regards for history or biology. What is its business with form. Just bring your A game on the day and the aye's have it.

klerry:
Hazureal's report is correct, he died trying to get an eyewitness report, apparently the eyewitness was one of those laying seige, he was shot by this person. That was what was reported on channels news. An energetic young man, can't help remembering his reports on d subsidy protests in Kano. RIP brov!

This is very, very worrying. Our hearts go out to his family, friends and colleagues.

I'm not too sure corruption can be ended in Nigeria or indeed in any part of the world. What makes corruption hideous is not the act itself but the impact. Financial corruption will have a greater impact in a poor country as opposed to a more affluent one. In Nigeria corruption takes several forms but it is the financial type that impacts most on our society.

I believe the level of corruption in a nation is directly proportional to the tolerance of such practices by the people. In Nigeria classic examples abound. The longest ruling governments have generally being the most corrupt and the shortest the least. This speaks a lot about the people. Now don't say military, civilian or democratic because in Ghana they have had good military rule, in Cote D'Ivorie they had a relatively good civilian autocracy while in South Africa for example they have a largely underperforming popular democracy. At the end of the day it is the people that matter. They change what they are fed up about. Babangida couldn't overthrow Buhari if a whole swathe of Nigerians didn't support him. Some of the best brains in the land served in his government and lost their souls to graft.

There is another factor that makes corruption difficult to fight. The sideways motion, the tremors of a structurally unstable state. Too much power in the centre, ethno-religious divisions, etc, which are unique in their nature being both products and raw materials of the corrupt state and which successive governments and peoples (even on this forum) have used successfully to justify all manner of atrocities. I believe to tackle corruption you have to solve these imbalances FIRST. Not saying government and the people should not try but these are gaping holes in the bucket of a well rounded and progressive society.

Now if one is to answer the question directly I would say, 'From bottom to Top' Why. Simple. It is a game of numbers. There are a lot more people affected by corruption than there are those committing the big ones that impact massively. If one has a headache you don't expect the headache to head to the clinic for remedy, no. It is the body who is adversely affected that seeks a reprieve. Government officials in themselves cannot change. Why, Numbers. When an elected official gets into power he meets a hundred people who have been there before him and most likely remain after him. Every one of them has a family four, five, six times his number depending completely on his corruption practices. So it doesn't really matter where its starts. The question is where does it end. Who breaks the cycle, the IGP who will be there for four years or the constable who may become IGP in thirty years to come and is already an egunje pro.

I personally think to beat corruption institutions have to be built not by government but by the people. They have to demand good government and give those in power no alternative but to comply. Such a what happened last week is the only way. How do you get people to come together and agree. Well the answer is simple. Suffering. Mass suffering. The greatest builder of nationhood has always been conflict. The furnace of war has always been the crucible of development. In Nigeria we missed an opportunity in 1967-71 which led this bad position today. The corruption we see today started during the war. We need conflict to reset our nation. Now I'm not advocating war afterall there are bloodless revolutions but I believe for Nigerians to come together to fight corruption we need certain factors that touch us so badly that the price of corruption becomes to glaring to ignore. We simply reacted to the subsidy withdrawal because it threatened ALL Nigerian across all facets. It touched all pockets. If it didn't no one will bother. If someone perhaps government can make us pay for our corrupt ways we will stand up and do something about it.

The fuel subsidy crises was one I hoped will go on longer so that people become more aware and take necessary action but it ended prematurely not because people were essentially tired but because the corruption in us all, government, labour, private sector, public sector, man in Aso rock, man on the streets was being exposed. Corruption fought back and we sought a truce to keep it covered.  I said it then. We lost another opportunity. Everyone lost. The price is still not high enough for us to leave it. Till next time, next conflict.

The end product of the battle against corruption are soldiers on the street, necessary, perhaps. The end product of the battle against religion is soldiers on the streets. Meanwhile sectionalism is brewing together with the other dormant national volcanoes. The grand victim of this is democracy which is under threat, internal security, the State and the people in general. The beneficiaries of this constant instability - the corrupt, the bigot, the parasite and the divisive. In summary, the forces that have kept this country backward since independence are strong. We will soon reach the point of decision as to what type of country we wish to live in. I hope we make the right choices.

I think people are gradually coming around to understand the complex society they live in. In most progressive societies civil change is led by individuals. Who can do that in Nigeria where virtually every facet of life is fertile ground for corruption. Where will such a leader get support. Were the same Nigerians not hailing IBB when he overthrew the Buhari government. Lesson 1 - No individual no matter how powerful can end corruption in Nigeria. It is far too widespread and to deep.

I had supported the govt. in its deregulation quest from the get go because I knew it could bring about the kind of structural changes Nigeria needed to survive. How. It will cause people to react and fight back. Lesson two - Nigerians will only fight corruption when it has a direct personal cost. (I hope all the anti-corruption crusaders are listening). That is what labour out. Nigeria has lost huge amounts in the past, trillions in the banking scandal, Siemens gate, TSKJ/LNG scandals, etc but the requisite responses to cause reforms in government was not there so government has no capacity to tackle it. Today we are losing between 300 to 500 thousand barrels of oil a day illegally exported by IOC's and pirates totally unknown to government.

Lesson 3, who is government. Is it GEJ, Ngozi, Ringim, Oniwon, Lamorde, Peter Esele, or whom. Because the truth is that they all know who is doing what, who is stealing, mismanaging, diverting. But why is it that they can't fight it. Because they, we all see them as names, individuals and not head of institutions. This is one huge gap corruption exploits. Corruption does not meet them at 8 a.m. in the morning but at 11 p.m. at home. That's why the strike process was incomplete and anti-corruption gains limited, their personal interests were beginning to be affected, all of them, labour to government. From government house to David Mark's house. Why. Lesson 4. more to come.

The way the cookie crumbles. Sun setting on his career I'm afraid and the ghoulish shadows loom as long as those of a certain Obafemi Martins. Common sense dictates when you make a mistake do a u-turn, not a right turn or left turn but a return. Retrace your steps and flee to where your stronghold, where you came from. France is where he should be headed. Where he's known, where he's played the best part of his career. Familiar style of play, contacts, fans, everything he needs to get his career back up and running as quickly as possible. But of course he's caught in the classic trap between the rock of pride and the hard place of humiliation and as we know Nigerians hardly respond to these great temptations properly. Even if offers are readily not available, wait for them. QPR is certainly no promotion, the Premiership is harder than the Serie A and one questions the level of coaching he will receive particularly as his skills and style are set in concrete, the main reason he could not make it in the fashion capital of the world.

These sort of things are very bad for government. Once you become a public servant you elect to certain values - honour, sacrifice, probity. You can't do as you please and certainly not members of your family. Once you swear an oath and declare your assets the public takes over. You lay example by the lifestyle, the cars you drive, the schools your kids go, the clothes you wear. And when you stand in front of the public and ask for understanding leadership demands an examplary lifestyle. She should rein in her family immediately and set the standards acceptable for public officials before government or the public does it for her. The way these people conduct their personal affairs is a clear indicator why their professional practices are so poor.

He, he, he, passenger 58. So this is the police that will decabalize the Nigerian economy. Bless them.

Said no one will come out of this looking good. We Nigerians are masters of brinkmanship. Fuel is still subsidised - bad for business. It hasn't returned to N 65 - bad for workers, no cabalist has been arrested, no new or detailed corruption evidence released, not one single government official has resigned. The smuggler has seen potential earnings fall from 76 to 32 naira onshore. Marketers who gained on the price increase will loose on this cut. Even Jonathan has lost 25% of his basic pay. Poor man. With all the insults. Government had lost trust, now labour as well.

Simple issues will forever become complex in Nigeria. Those who wanted it to be an economic battle lost to those who diluted it with politics, later ethnicity, thank God probably it didn't last to become a religious one. Who can come out to say he gained anything tangible from this showdown and will boldly say he is truly moving positively forward.

Nigeria is truly an enigma. Postmortem begins.

rasputinn:
@ Beaf hatersfans,

Its not just enough to hurl abuses at beaf without responding to most of his points,for instance,the points he listed,to wit;
*True federalism,let the states be more autonomous,control their resourcess and pay tax to the centre(this will encourage competetion and the spirit of enterprise,lazy state governors will sit up since their will no longer be free oil money,each state would have to woo investors and explore whatever resources are buried in the sub strata in their states)
*Abrogation of the land use act#
*Full deregulation of all sectors of the economy(including the petroleum sector;whether up or downstream;this will of course ultimately see the end of the NNPC as the concept was even fraudulent from inception)
*Diversification of the sources of income of the country

The above points are very salient and their are politcal leaders in certain parts of the country that would rather see Nigeria burn than allow the above to happen,for instance just a step towards deregulation that Mr President took,so many of these polticians started sp[onsoring all manner of things to undermine the govt

Please lets have more points,issues based discussion here,its more intelligent to do it that way than just log in to nairaland,abuse people and log out

My dear it is becoming like gemstone mining or crude oil refining this forum, 70% vitriol, 20% tales, 9% news and 1% facts. Very little to spur the mind. No wonder we all need subsidy - even the intellectual type.

When I say you have to deal with social injustice before thinking of anti-corruption before thinking of economics people think bang put a pure white angel in power and all will be well. Most people don't even understand how this country and its constituent peoples work. That's why the ND struggle and the BH insurgency remains a mystery to most. I used to say you cannot have people come to the table of good governance when they have been marginalised and denied the opportunity to lead, if not others, themselves and decide their future. That is precisely why the Igbos as a block will not support the good governance moves brought about by the strike. They have never led the nation and cannot understand why they should suffer for the mess created by leaders of other regions over the last forty years. It can't work. Hate them or not you cannot expect any man to make sacrifices when he has no tangible benefits.

I said it severally. The Niger Delta is only now coming into the place and position to decide things for themselves through the Presidency. In the next couple of years structures will be built to enable that region properly integrate into Nigerian governance taking away power from the militants and other pseudo political groupings to legal political leaders and  properly elected representatives. This is called demystifying political office the type that transitioned the South West from the June 12 struggle, Nadeco, OPC, etc through the AD, AC to the solid political structures and good governance seen in the ACN. How does this work - simple. The Presidency will be seen in that region to bring no tangible benefits and because of that failure they will begin to look away from the centre and more inwards for solutions. It is already happening. It happened in the south west. People should give the South-South and South-East a chance. If anything other regions have sectionalized and polarized leadership for decades. You can't simply expect back up for what is perceived as your (the SW) pet project. Because when they cried too you did not answer.

Why do we think the middle-belt decoupling from the north.

Wow what's happening in Catalonia

Sometimes I really doubt Zannetti is 38.

Is Inter's half under dusk to dawn curfew.  

One two counter punch. Back to the days of the special one.

And this is precisely why I personally don't do personalities rather look at arguments, juggle systems to turn them to institutions. People conveniently pick what is expedient. Is he saying that government was more 'trusty' then. Was it cleaner then. Was the cabals of today not created then. But we just have to peg our noses when he speaks because its true. If the accountabiliy search light flickers by one degree he would be singing from a prison cell.

That's why there's no point playing party politics or sectionalism with this issue. If it was a socialist issue alone then Fashola's government is the most anti-social. Taxes, levies and penalties duplicated severally are the highest making Lagos one of the most expensive places to live and work. The only state that has privatised roads is deregulating higher education. I see nothing wrong with that even protesters were manhandled and arrested. Didn't see any NLC stop work and public preconditions for public wage reductions or arrest of the cabal behind Hitech for that matter. He has suddenly turned hero. Hmm Lagosians. Ever like the wind.

dbride:
@ REFERENCE, do you have anything against dealing with corruption in the system. How can subsidy removal be fight against corruption. Oh my God, but unfortunately for a few people like you, the majority of nigerians understand the real problem and they also know that removal of subsidy is not synonymous with fighting corruption.

There is corruption in Customs, Immigration, Police force, all ministries and agencies including presidency! So if you remove subsidy, have you stopped corruption in these places? In fact, you will increase corruption especially as the removal of subsidy will cause inflation!

Okay, you don't want the rules of the game to change and you don't want the consequences either so how do you square that circle. Inflation rises and your currency depreciates every time you are buying things you don't use ala import volume corruption. Isn't that inflationary pressure fuel corruption. If a gas pipe explodes the fastest way to put out the fire is to turn the supply off. Not saying you shouldn't fight the fire but you can't say I fight alone don't worry continue pumping gas because my neighbour is cooking. No, turn the damn thing off, quench the fire, find the cause and if it is redeemable, repair it and carry on.

The truth is that by Monday if agreements are reached everyone goes by to his little cesspool of corruption and nothing is achieved. Meanwhile they get richer and we get poorer by default. Dying slowly. I don't deceive myself. I know where the blame lies. If I can pay someone 5,000 to have my drivers license delivered at home. Will that fellow resist 250,000 to allow my tanker through at the border or reject 35,000 dollars to enable me invoice my barge's cargo twice. Am I cabal or not. Is he government, NLC or Pengassan. Let's be real. I've seen young men make millions in this oil business without going near the ports. This corruption thing is far deeper and wider than you think.

I will tell this to responders above that talk about government's non fight against corruption that this is exactly what subsidy removal aims at. The government tells you this is how we want to do it, SLS says it is the MOST EFFECTIVE WAY yet we refuse.

Look at the attack he made on corruption at the individual level in the banking sector. Was it not resisted by even the so called masses and middle class. Was it deep enough. No. Are there CEO's who escaped. Sure. Was it not viewed as targetted and vengeful. If he had gone the whole hog will the banking sector not have collapsed and taken the economy with it so SLS was adviced to stop and he did. The result the banking industry remains hand in glove with corruption. They still fund consumption rather than production. Nothing has changed. When Boyo suggests deregulating the CBN to keep Fx in the hands of the needy and reduce the cost of imported petrol CBN and banks suddenly become lovers because they both trip currency.

Look my friends the average Nigerians power to fight corruption end at the zip to his pocket. If you go THE WHOLE HOG and arrest the cabal who will import the oil, God Almighty and his angels? If you punish oil industry producers forget about oil exports. If you hammer the cabal dominating the engineering industry who will build your roads. That is the depth of corruption that Nigerians ofter simplify and underestimate. These folks have a huge infrastructure now out of ignorance we want to put one trillion naira a year in their hands (a quarter of our budget) to do what ? Buy the country?

We must realise that the subsidy fight for the soul of this country and the price we must pay is to take it back. If we think arresting a dozen or so members of the cabal will repair the oil sector then we can also assume Sanusi's banking battle is over and won. What naivety.

Said it from the outset. No one will come out of this looking good. Pity the party is winding down without everyone getting real drunk. That's why its was very, very necessary for the Niger-Delta to have the Presidency at this time in our history. Many, many questions are being asked that would have been masked under any other regime. Issues of fiscal federalism, resource control, taxation, corruption, etc. What Babangida Aliyu is saying will hit Lagos hard. Lagosians in this case are being in effect being subsidised by the Nigeria State, by other regions, by the Niger-Delta. Classic case of taking from the poor to bless the rich. But what about the petroleum equalisation fund that has taxed the south at the expense of the north for decades. And it goes on and on. That's why I am elated at this incident and I salute the courage of Mr. President but regret that not enough thought has been given to these issues before the strike is over. It is also a pity like I always say government always take us to the brink and pull back before real tangible benefits to the nation are accrued.

If I were to be government what I would do in this case and other cases of depravity induced violent reactions as a solution is to tax the potential beneficiaries of peace directly and making the payment obvious and not ambiguous like extra budgetary provisions. Thus for example the Boko Haram insurgency in the north will lead o tax rises in the south. And the north will be directly taxed for the Niger-Delta insurgency and not paid for from current government revenues. The liability of paying for things directly create a sense of responsibility and brings out better reactive solutions. It will also help to prevent violence from spreading as people see the direct impact of violence on their pockets instead of the current situation where compensation is paid by government and restitution has become a source of wanton corruption both in relief materials and the ambiguous security votes we hear of today.

aguiyi:
even if you are given the world like we gave you this country for another 30 yrs, 70% of your people will still be poor . what you need is education not money

Quite agree. If that huge security vote (most of which I assume will go to operations in that region) is split into two to tackle the problem from both sides, a one time payment can be made to set up institutions that will create and support education in that region and I do not mean the elitist type, just basic education to the poor. The biggest hint as to what they need is so clear yet no one seems have noticed. 'Western education is evil' so that's what they need, western education. The present militants are the third generation of some very highly educated people that helped liberate Nigeria from British rule. When the politics of divide and rule came priorities changed. The next generation after that realised that if they were to control politics within the region it would be important to liberate the people from knowledge. Hence education was de-emphasised. They gained what they thought was good political traction, a large unified and so called disciplined electorate but when the real test of democracy that depends so much on political pluralism got introduced in 1999 the seams fell apart hence the need for Boko Haram to keep that electorate encased by force and what better anti-establishment tool to use than sectarianism tensions. Terror to keep all sides on board.

Its a very complex issue. But the problem can only be tackled from its roots, basic education Painful but true.

Beaf is correct 100%. Said it after the last townhall meeting in Lagos and disappointed that no one raised the issue of government's exit strategy. NNPC is like the beloved pet dog that has mauled the baby next door. It must be put down no matter. As long as the organisation remains in its all powerful monopoly even the Pope will be corrupted by it. Like someone said this morning. You cannot be a player and referee at the same time.

Why is the SE not participating - the political angle. The role of social justice in the fight for good governance and anti-corruption.

If we feel the SE should play a big part of the resistance, have they had an opportunity to be a part of the solution. Have they been in power. Look at the Niger-Delta today there is a greater awareness of the dynamics of governance on the socio-economic terrain. Now the people there look at things more dispassionately. They are more critical of their leaders and focus more on the issues of critical importance. This cannot be discounted.