₦airaland Forum

If you have share certificates they are of huge value to me. You see I'm starting a collection of certificates of defunct companies especially banks which I hope to pawn for massive cash in fifty years or pass them down to my children as everlasting reminders. 'Bosco my son I sent you to school cos you don't know how to trade your shares'.

tunde300us:
@ Reference
You dont vet a multi billion dollar deal in the process of payment, where is the place of due process even before they started the project sef.Like i said i think there is an element of lie somewhere

Sure you don't but who does the vetting and how possibly they are hand in glove, can be infiltrated or can be faked determines how far the perps can go. The figure reported if true is not one 'eaten' by one man alone. 3.5 billions pigs is not cash register stuff. The Siemens saga went to the very top, the Presidency. It could be the deal was pseudo-real and someone balked at the sharing money stage.

It was reported on another thread that a fellow died stuffed full of drugs. He passed through our ports and perhaps could have made it at the other end. Such is the vetting process for deals in Nigeria. Its a cat and mouse, high wire, high stakes game conducted many times not in official premises but in secret hotel meetings at the dead of night. They want a seal of approval they call the DG or MD to meet them in one top class hotel room and when he gets there and sees the calibre of folks he promptly signs and collects his envelope. These guys can do things you'd simply be amazed.

Talk of any massive contract of late, privatizations, allocations, and the lot. Papers for those are not signed in offices and are not seriously vetted. There is always some vested interest. What I think may have happened is that the team probably took its eye of the ball and forgot to see the EFCC before the investor did.

However how the EFCC handled it was not right. They should have at least laid an ambush and even though they probably would have seen the unclothedness of the king so be it. Just keep the files for the rainy day. There is surely more than meets the eye. If we don't hear anything about it again then its more official than we think.

andyanders:
@tunde300us

What you said is the truth. How come a descent company will do such a job without going through the official procedure or having the high commission check out the company and also confirm the so called contract. Contract of that magnitude can never be done just through the back door. I beleive that the American firm was trying to cut a deal and the Nigerian guy was trying to be smarter than him.

EFCC  should have  asked them to play along with the Nigerian company here  in order to get them arrested. How can  EFCC  just stop the payment and now start looking for the scammer?. Sell a dummy and ask them to come to the airport to meet with the foreign partner. From there, you get them arrested. This is to show you that if EFCC acted this way, it is unprofessional. Why look for the guys now. Who will you arrest? Just arrest the building.

But wasn't it in the process of vetting the deal they found out it was fake. By their story they had forgeries looking very official and you know how things work with these crooks they can go to extreme lengths. Heard about one a few years, pretty weird, perhaps folklore but can't be far from the truth, that a syndicate actually penetrated NNPC Towers in Abuja to stage a fake meeting in the office of a manager during break time complete with wall pictures, desk name plate and even a little souvenir exchange. Pray you're not under attack.

Martass:
Just admit that at the moment Ghana is superior to Nigeria in Soccer and you'll be free of your psychological demons. 

I agree with you, I didn't know why Ghana would even agree to play Nigeria again. Within a short period they have beaten (fcked) Nigeria over and over again.

It would have been better for Nigeria to go play SA for a change, unless Ghana for some reason wanted to make small favours for his sweet heart.

Btw, When you play with a superior team you always learn something 

We have not gained anything from playing Ghana. It hasn't improved any of our teams. Stop this fixation and go play other teams. We have better things to do. The fact that Argentina lost to Uruguay or Brazil lost to Paraguay in the Copa is neither here nor there. Results are transient and you are only as good as the present game. We are building a team and don't need distractions.

I don't know whether its me but i don't see the point in this match. There's absolutely nothing to gain playing Ghana. I think we have created this rivalry and a monster out of it that's slowly consuming our football teams, tearing them apart and not allowing us play and develop of game and teams properly. What's the big deal. Why the frenzy. We had a choice between South Africa and Ghana and chose Ghana, for what reason. There's little or no benefit in a win and only more psychological pain in a loss.

Ghana is not the best team in Africa so by defeating them we will barely move in FIFA rankings. Their teams have no commercial value whatsoever. I mean we've played them time and again and it has not popularized or bankrolled our teams. Like I was telling someone I think the NFF is just clueless as to how to run football in this country. Teams play friendlies for serious reasons of which psychology is the least interest.

Principally you play friendlies for two reasons. For technical development and for financial development. We need both badly. If we wanted to improve on the continent we would be playing Cote D'Ivorie or Egypt, not Ghana or Cameroon. If the NFF is going to sort out its purse and move anywhere near financial independence from government then we can be helped by playing the likes of South Africa that has a huge commercial footballing market and very generous sponsors. On the world stage the stakes are even greater. But we turned down South African and are threatening to turn down Argentina (though understandable for fixture congestion) only to take on Ghana simply because we have a fixation with them.

In football we are far too sentimental to make reasonable progress. Even longer rivalries like the Brazil/Argentina, England/Scotland and others aren't cage rattlers in the least. They just come and go. We'd better tone this thing down before it consumes our game. On radio, everywhere people are snarling and foaming in the mouth and where you have NFF stores filled with endless drawing boards, one seismic loss and we nuke our entire football. Just like the Germany friendly with the Falcons. I warned its destabilizing outcome. We lost quite alright but lost it and went bonkers, carving up the team and injecting panic. The result. Disaster at the world cup.

Nigerians should be less sentimental and sensational and if we can't handle it we should not play Ghana. Though friendlies are good we can see the Argentina one clearly cost us the Ethiopian match through sheer pomposity. The reverse could be the case here. A loss against Ghana could shatter the nerves of Nigerians, trigger an avalanche of negative reaction in the press and destabilize a clueless NFF that could take drastic and undermine the team and its handlers all for nothing.

Please lets take it easy and see the bigger picture. We are simply making a mountain out of a mole hill, downing bottles of alcohol when we know we cannot handle hangovers properly and maturely,

Double folly. First of all by the scammers. You can imagine the damage this will do in the attempts to attract FDI's into the country and the power sector in particular. I can just imagine some dark knights in government and PHCN vermin rubbing their hands in glee. This is very sad. And this is why I say without any contradiction that the real possibility of our development and the pace at which it will happen is ultimately in the hands of all Nigerians and not just those in government. For goodness sake why do we have to keep shooting ourselves in the foot.

Secondly like it happened a few weeks ago with the Custom Service and months ago with the police why did the EFCC not choose to plan a sting. The real possibility of catching not just the front man but possibly the entire chain of perps including their government backers was real. Why this ineptitude. Was someone going to get killed. What was the emergency to publish this. Why the haste. Now chances are that they may never get their man thoughtless of breaking the chain of command that must obviously run through the Power Ministry. This is not very good. They'd better get it right next time.

Of course in an autopsy parts of organs will be taken out for medical examination, parts of the brain, heart and liver primarily and other fluids. Whether a corpse would still be bleeding days after death or hours after an autopsy remains doubtful. I think they (the brothers) are just sensationalizing things but you can understand in the light of recent developments why they would choose to express their views.

Another matter I feel they should be careful about is this constant moaning about recognition and reward. Whether we like it or not Abiola was a very controversial figure (like most public political personalities) in life and they should not expect that he would be liked universally. I think its time to move on. He did what he was born to do, played his part and is gone. The family should let these matters rest. If this was a country of sincerity, documentaries and investigations all those questions will have been answered but when you have a combination of incompetence and the religious requirements of Islam that mandates prompt interment (and perhaps is against exhumation for further investigation) there is practically no way of knowing what actually happened. This is certainly not like the assassination of JFK where there are practically no witnesses. Apart from Abacha all other actors are alive, well and remain players in the sad theater of Nigerian politics.

May they have the fortitude to bear their loss.

Good one to rattle our cages and set some foaming in the mouth. What a traumatized country. God help us.

Fair idea if it can work. Right now with a lot of cross-cultural family unions the whole thing called state of origin for some is becoming grievous.

So after six pages of hail and thunder what the sitrep. Is there a run on these banks or any bank for that matter today. Not been paying much attention to the wires.

You know our views and the divide between will and way if representative will go quite a long way in determining how this country can tackle its problems (if it can) and possibly how quickly we can get out of some of them.

Okay, heard that much. So guys is such a law undesirable or impracticable. Any takers.

Sorry to side track but I am drawing an inference from the thread so far. Something I seem to have noticed in Nigeria and governance in particular. There appears to be a constant divide between what we consider to be desirable and what we may or not find possible. This debate fall and this category. On the surface the bill appears to be well meaning. Okay there are other pressing issues, but there are also other Senators and Legislators to push them.

Taking this debate purely on its merit won't we all sort of agree that the privileges these folks enjoy are unwarranted. I mean what incentive will they have to fix our local institutions with any sense of haste when their wards escape. Isn't the reason for their ineptitude partly because they have alternatives, air travel to roads, foreign medicare to our consulting clinics (much used cliche), the use of armed police escorts whom are supposed to be involved in our collective security, etc. Don't we think if this Bill can go through it can start an avalanche of repudiations of all things feudal, autocratic and patronizing. Isn't it a wake up call coming from a House member and why on earth will anyone on this forum oppose it.

On the other hand perhaps people just feel it is just impractical to execute and hence a waste of time and resources. A Bill that is doomed to fail hence should not even be contemplated.

I think we are entering a dangerous phase in Nigeria, a psychological one (me included) that perhaps things are so bad that they are irrecoverable. I sure hope we are not losing our humanity here. A classic example is the polity itself. The last elections were an example. I just felt the only reason I would stick with the present government is that the pro's were more than the con's and the so called change the opposition pandered was just impracticable in Nigeria and could result in more damage. I still feel the same. If you understand let's debate please. Desirability Vs Practicability.

The best way to make governance unattractive is to put in the hours it will take to get this country out of the mess it sits in. Nobody likes hard-work, grimy clothes, worn hands and grey hairs. But when you sit there amassing wealth, oiling your well fed palette and looking chubby in the midst of hunger its kind of hard to get the eyes off that. Get it Veep.

all4naija:
^^^^
That's why jobs have to be created. The retirement benefit reduce to a relatively minimum amount and as for the baby boomers, there have to be ways in getting those parents to work and stop them from collecting benefits. Insurance companies and mortgages need attentions.The govt. need to borrow to finance jobs creation.

I don't think it is a disaster as per claiming of those benefits but a political ineptitude toward creating of better atmosphere for investors which lost confidence in the economy.

And where will the jobs come from, China currently has over 50% of global manufacturing, agriculture's a potential but earnings are marginal and once again China is investing massively in Africa and South America, same for the extractive industry. One area America would have leveraged on would have been in high tech as it concerns bio-fuels, renewables, high-speed transport and ICT but China with its huge consumer base and cash reserves, practically the only country that can afford American products in good quantity (high priced as necessary for a quick economic recovery) isn't just sitting on its pile of cash but has invested heavily - over twelve times that of America - in these industries. So when your ace competitor and potential customer makes most things you'd have them purchase from you, you are just doomed. And worst of all them Chinese stubbornly to let the Yuan rise.

The American economy is large, no doubt but its dead and rotting from within. It will take time for the skeleton to be revealed but its only a matter of time. The truth is that like every empire they have had their time. They have become complacent. Not their fault, it comes with the territory. China was once there as the largest empire and the same things that is bringing America down brought them crashing too. Life is all about cycles. Very soon when all the tickets of Harry Porter are sold and the attraction of American culture wanes then the country will officially be cremated. Outside Hollywood I can't see anything else that holds attraction there.

If there is to be a stay of execution Americans must be competitive. This involves making lifestyle changes that I can't practically see happen. They have moved away from the Roosevelt and Kennedy enterprise to that of expecting government to do everything for them (like Nigeria). The whole global thing started from housing credit, purchasing stuff they simply cannot work to afford. This is the worst way to go. For those who think an exit from their numerous overseas campaign would assuage the situation should think again. The defence industry rakes in a pile of tax cash. Problem is competition with Eastern and European manufacturers is hotting up. Boeing is not what it was no thanks to Airbus and now Airbus is firmly into defence.

No way out from it except sacrifice which unfortunately from what has transpired these past few weeks in Washington is non existent. Spare a thought for Emperor Nero playing the fiddle while Rome burned.

I think at the end of the day the decision remains in the hands of the people because after all its a democracy. Having said that a better idea on the part of government would be to regulate night time travel by making insurance mandatory with such high premiums (reflected in night time ticket prices) that travelers may think twice. This I feel will be a win win situation. If you are desperate to travel (at night as most business men do) you probably can afford to pay the extra it would take for government to provide the extra security. No doubt this would put government (not known for accountability and propriety) under more strain so it can be handled by a private sector interface. Just an idea.

The poster is clearly not a professional. If he/she is then basic economics will have answered the question. To sit in front of a keyboard and compare salaries between countries a gulf apart in GDP is just mischievous. Same reason why labour just run their mouths recklessly in matters about the minimum wage. Salaries directly relate to productivity and the purchasing power of the average consumer. A pharmacist offers services doesn't he. To who and a what price. Will he earn hundreds of naira and pay himself millions. How does he square that circle. Are we willing to pay the same rates for drugs and consultancy services as Americans would. No we can't so how do we pay the same salaries.

Others compare their salaries across sectors. Obama wondering why he can't earn the same as Tiger Woods or David Cameron angry that Wayne Rooney makes in a week what he would in a year. Must policemen collect bribes because they see SUV's pass them by everyday at checkpoints. Why not quit. Must labour keep on comparing their salaries with those of Senators and Governors. Are they in such positions.

Every professional and businessman has his constituency. If his constituency is wealthy, he will, if his constituency is poor he will not do so well. Most rich patrons of Medicare travel abroad. Most who patronise health services here are average Joe's or broke bats. When the economy improves wages round about will rise. Every other artificial inducement is only temporal.

Technically I think its not the business or concern of government to check the successes or failure of private companies. Concessions I agree but private, no. If Dangote industry fails, its not the government's business beyond the fact of tax revenue losses and perhaps unemployment figures. All government needs to do is to create the enabling environment and check for malpractices by regulatory agencies, period. This is suspect may be the first step in re-nationalization obviously backed by enemies of the country, cliques seeking corruptly acquired riches through government patronage. The very reasons that up-til today the power and petroleum sector remains under government control while billions are wasted in so-called investments.

If a company fold for its inability to generate revenues, conduct business and offer tangible products and services, Nigerians probably do not need them. Not all government companies privatised were worthwhile anyway, some have been overtaken by technology such as NITEL and should just be allowed to die. We need to develop the culture of paying our bills in this country for the day crude oil will run its course and one of these measures is to guarantee free enterprise. GEJ should not review anything. Let the private sector determines who lives and who dies. That is free market which guarantees free-dom. A lot better than free stuff that perpetuates slavery.

The poster in title is very correct even though the contents are contestable. The truth remains that the split and therefore battle ground of tomorrow shall be between religionists (pardon me) and secularists. Nigeria is inextricably heading in the direction of a theocracy. The judiciary, banking and finance, politics and other major components of a working country are keenly contested. So for anyone to shout the poster down is only plying the ostrich. These are issues which we all will have to confront very soon.

This is why at the turn of the year I said it was important for GEJ to be elected to break certain predispositions in the Nigerian polity and the result is becoming a can of worms. Now the target is GEJ. Seen as a Christian. How absurd. But its true. Some people have to account to their constituencies why a Christian is in power today. Period. That explains in part why the violence is unabated. It is purely political. No other reason. I heard after the banking crash there were religious undertones and didn't want to believe it. I still don't. If you steal and mismanage your bank you deserve to go down, and like the writer said, if those banks were owned by so called professing Christians, it is their fault. Period.

So I'm not altogether surprised that such a statement is coming out at this time. Did we hear of such when Shagari (with all the regime's imperfections) ruled, no. Buhari with all the bribery and corruption, no. IBB with all (what can I say) he did, no. Can we mention Abacha here. But when there appears to be a balancing of the polity between the north and south, between the religious camps you have these issues coming up. We in the south may not understand this, let those in the middle-belt explain better. Nigeria sure has some long and hard battle to fight if we are to keep this nation functioning together.

There can be no progress without social equality. I repeat Nigeria does not belong to any section, tribe or creed. And we must not let this country always move sideways into religion anytime someone feels threatened by power loss because in the constitution every group, religion and geo-political zone is protected and assured development whether they deserve it or not. So no one sector should heat up the nation unnecessarily, but I do admit that the truth of Nigeria's existence is gradually coming out.

DonJP:
I have taken my time to go through all the posts on this by different Nairalanders on the above issue and I have come to the conclusion that MTN Nigeria Communications Limited is the best network in Nigeria in terms of Network quality, coverage and offers best in class service.  However, so many nairalanders have equated these metrix to pricing.

Many of them talk ill about MTN because of their tariff and not necessarily because of their network quality.

Invaribly, what it means is that the other networks, glo, etisalat, airtel do not have what it takes to match MTN in terms of quality of network, coverage and service delivery and have resorted to cheapening their tariff.  In real terms, however, you pay more when you compare the down times of the other networks and other hidden charges.

I have decided to stick to MTN because they know what they are doing.

Well if you feel the economic conditions of most Nigerians viz the choice of their platforms is not worth a consideration then you have something big coming your way. China is not gaining ground on the United States for nothing but cheaper delivery of everything even when the quality is sometimes questionable. It is far easier to grow from a poor quality base than to come down in price from a high quality one. Check history my friend. European and American goods were once highly sought after. What has happened to them today.

If MTN does not see the continuous deterioration of the Nigerian economy and the purchasing power of most Nigerians it will very quickly become elitist and go the way of most of such economies whether they are countries, banks, airlines, consumer goods makers et. al. Its only a matter of time. But I'm sure those on their high horses won't see that. Believe me the Airtel/Indian model is a real threat. They've done in the software industry in the States. What is MTN to them.

Corporate jackbooting. What next. Am in awesome wonder.

Depends on how much more you and your sister are willing to sacrifice in terms of time, money, effort. The road could be tough and you must know who or what the adversity is. Fifty years of impunity. However things are changing and people have begun to get justice.

Another resounding thread, an echo of so many. Tomorrow its another road, another refinery, another power station. We keep on chasing the same thing over and over again. Said this model just wouldn't work and we will be discussion road repairs all the days of our lives. Over to Julius Berger yet again. At least they have a yard close by in Apapa probably because they know the road so well (they fix it time and again) and know us (our resolute conviction on allocation and contracting as over path to development). But privately I'm sure if we all have buildings, cars, gadgets that breakdown repeatedly we won't have found a lasting solution to either do away with the mechanic or do away with the item of pain.

I agree with the Sultan am afraid. He's telling the truth. Except if you let them have their way you must be ready for it. The reasons are simple. I just wonder why we are up at arms. If a lion is on the lose in the market square wailing is just a matter of time. Wit all these happenings and those to come maybe it was a mistake the Presidency of this country going to the south. We saw the bitterness coming a long way from those who till tomorrow feel they own this country. Pity.

scala101:
Many Nigerians in diaspora who return home to do smth are often frustrated by the mountain of corruption that is threatening to choke Nigeria. Imagine being asked to pay money before a programme that is meant to help 1000s of Nigerian youths is endorsed by a government ministry. How are do you think such a person would feel coming from a country where such a thing is not heard? Its easy to ask them to come. But when they are here, they are frustrated by the corruption monster.

Then why not team up with those who do not pay bribes. Like I posited earlier one of the reasons why people do not succeed is the strengths in number are small. And most of the time we try and do stuff as lone rangers. A tree cannot make a forest. I tell you today there are those in and out of government that are not flagrantly corrupt and can help. Identify with them and your programs will sail through. Information is the key.

You don't expect them to shout from the roof tops for fear of the mob but they are there. If you want to go head on you may discover that a low level official at some border, office or control post that probably lives well below the poverty line may terminate the good intentions even he and his generation may ultimately benefit from. Believe me some are that blind here.

Chykason:
Internally Generated Revenue from where? Ok, I served in Ekiti. They have only a street-market at Ado-Ekiti. Where else would the main IGR come from?

Banks and their high institutions are the only "Oil Company" one [b]can dream of working at in Ekiti State.[/b]

Wealth is not given, it is created and from a foundation of right thinking. How can you have a population of over a million able bodied men and women and street market and banks are the only ideas available. Real poor stuff. Sorry.

This debate seems fairly neutral to me. There are pros and cons all weighing reasonably equally. It is up to us to decide whether it distracts him from governance and meeting his electoral obligations by fanning the flames or not. We can hold him accountable on all issues equitably. When they cry wolf simply keep the focus and don't come running blowing steam on every matter.

nakedall:
keep it flowing, more states to join abeg!

More states please so that Goliath can be hammered. Very soon any state that hasn't a power project going will be deserted. Good one for Anambra. Barges are not the final solution but it can trigger better and lasting solutions. The only thing I hope is that they allow that investor full control of his company with only carefully thought out public protection. If they can get through the challenges of PHCN and its distribution network it can be used as a tool to decongest Onitsha. Consider opening new industrial and commercial zones. The potential is huge. Wish them the best.

Good news but can we see that of manufacturing, agriculture and other sectors of real potential. We were once here before. Didn't do much for us.

pleep:
^ great ideas. Nigeria needs more ppl who can think of solutions rather than just Useless ppl who complain all day.

Read your posts and they are very measured and mature. If you are over there know this. Opportunities abound in Nigeria for investment. I appreciate (good and bad) what the Indians and Chinese, South Africans (and very soon Ghanians when the empty beach will return as a tsunami) have done but I remain resolute in my thoughts that Nigeria is best developed by Nigerians. It may be a thorn right now but it can be a rose.

The likes of Nnaji and Iweala on the power and finance desks are great but they are isolated and may prove not too effective. We sure need more of them and on different rungs of the ladder to make our economy catch fire. Not everyone needs to be in politics (personally I feel the less the government the better) but there are many other avenues of contribution. The Chinese and Indians are not governors and senators but they wield considerable power and influence our lives here every day.

The other day we spoke extensively on what is happening to the PPP experiment on the Lagos/Ibadan highway and what Bi-Courtney is doing and not doing well. Some of you out there can do better in administration, finances and attitude. They the authorities (over here) like we see the Federal and Ogun state governments may try and frustrate you but like I said earlier there is a rose of wealth and opportunity in every adversity. Stick to your guns against corruption and win the superior argument. Resist the devils here and I tell you the environment is far better than a decade ago to make them flee.

To the diaspora, you may not be able to afford to own a road in the US, Germany or England but you can own one in Nigeria because here we simply cannot put it together. Also as individuals you may not have the resources to invest but you may know friends and associates you can collaborate with. But please let us not wait till this country is taken over by the Chinese, Indians and South Africans. They are just waiting for us to starve so they can get us on the cheap. If we can let us do it and I believe we can.