₦airaland Forum

Post pictures of the land/ estate, the environment and supporting documents
if you want people to take you seriously. Seeing is believing!

@ Spyder,

No option for 3BR flats of 4 units apartment building?
I think it may be more profitable than the Duplex or Bungalow because of volume.
We will be selling each unit separately.
At least let's consider and research about it.

Although many young Nigerians dream of Britain as an Eldorado and would even give a limb for a British visa, many well-educated Britons of Nigerian descent are choosing to relocate to their parents’ country of birth. KIMBERLY WARD speaks with some of the returnees to find out why they decided to make the transition from Britain, their adoptive country, to Nigeria, their fatherland.

In a reversal of the brain-drain phenomenon that hit Nigerian in the 80s and 90s, many highly-qualified young Nigerians who grew up in the UK are relocating to Nigeria, bucking the decades-long trend of Africans migrating to Europe in huge numbers in search of greener pastures.

After benefiting from Britain’s world-class education, amassing post-graduate degrees and acquiring a wealth of experience working in top companies, the worldwide recession and the search for something different has prompted these second-generation British-Nigerians to leave Britain behind.

Although there are no figures to measure how many are moving back, anecdotal evidence shows that a large number of them – many of whom had never visited Nigeria prior to their big move – are choosing to ‘come home’ for several reasons including personal ambition, entrepreneurial success, marital considerations or just the sheer adventure of experiencing where their parents came from.

While thousands of young people regularly leave Nigeria to school abroad, and after a few years return home to continue their careers, for those that call England home, making the transition from their first-world comfort zone to their third-world origins can be both daunting and rewarding.

Linda Adebayo was born in England in 1986, and apart from four years spent in Nigeria between the ages of four and eight, lived her whole life in London. She has an accounting degree from the University of Kent, an MBA from Manchester University and was working as a Chartered Accountant for Virgin Airways in London when she decided to relocate to Lagos in November 2011.

“I was enjoying my life in London and was doing quite well both financially and socially, until I met a guy in my MBA class who was based in Nigeria. We got married and because he was a successful accountant in Lagos, we decided to build a home in Nigeria.”

Since settling in Lekki, Lagos, Linda initially spent some time furnishing her house and reconnecting with her Nigerian extended family, but is currently job-hunting. “I would like to be the CEO of a prominent corporation by the time I’m 35. I would also like to start my own business in another field.

The good thing about Nigeria is that the possibilities available to you here are endless, and you can make such valuable contacts in a short while. I’ve made friends here with the types of people it would have taken a lifetime to get close to in the UK. I also enjoy spending time with my family at length, without the thought of the flight back to London cutting short the visit.”

Having her husband and extended family around has made the transition easier for Linda, and she enjoys the many events and celebrations that she attends. “The social scene here is fantastic and I’m having lots of fun. I miss my parents and sister who are back in London, but I love my life here.”

Linda believes that young British-Nigerians are choosing Nigeria over Britain because of the superior job opportunities available to them in the former as a result of their British education and experience. “Everyone I know that relocated have found well-paid jobs because they were highly qualified. Nigeria is the best place to come to where your wealth of knowledge from abroad opens doors for you.”

Amina Mayo, 29, agrees. She’d spent her whole life in the UK without ever visiting Nigeria, before one day shocking her family by telling them she wanted to relocate to the country. “I wanted a challenge.” She said, when asked why she left England. “I have a journalism degree and a Masters in Political Communication, and I was working with the British Heart Foundation as a Press Officer in Surrey, England before I left.

The idea of coming to Nigeria had been brewing inside me for a while. I’d heard my friends talking about the country, both the good and the bad, and wanted to experience it for myself. And although my family were against it, I made up my mind and came. I was curious to know how it would be to live in a country that was so notorious around the world.”

Amina now writes for a newspaper in Abuja and does not regret her move. “Living here has opened my eyes to the world, and I’ve done more in the two years I’ve been here than I could have done in five years in London. Although I miss certain comforts of home, like been able to order any book online on Amazon.com (an online retailer) that will be delivered to my house the next day, or getting on the London Underground to see a friend without the stress of traffic or buying petrol, I’m glad I came.

Understanding certain cultural quirks of Nigerians has also been challenging at times, but on the whole I’ve been welcomed here with open arms.”

However, she disagrees with the notion that many young Britons are coming to Nigeria. “None of the Nigerian friends that I grew up with in the UK would ever return to live full-time in Nigeria,” she said. “They are too used to their lives there and are afraid of the perceived dangers here, like terrorism, kidnapping, witchcraft, armed robbery and petty crime.

“The ones that have the confidence to return are those that have family here that they visit often, and so they are familiar with the country. But it is rare for someone like me, who knew nobody here and had no firsthand experience of living in this country to relocate. It was the decision of a lifetime, and now I have a wonderful fiancé who I met here to show for my bravery.”

Many returnees came to Nigeria because of a job offer, as was the case with Oyinda Fakeye. Born in London in 1983, she has a degree in Nutritional Biochemistry from Nottingham University, studied Health and Society at Kings’ College and was working at the Saison Poetry Library in London before she was offered the chance of a lifetime.

“Having lived in the UK my whole life, I was already toying with the idea of working abroad, originally looking at Europe. But shortly after meeting Bisi Silva, the Artistic Director at the Centre for Contemporary Art in Lagos in 2008, I was invited to Lagos to undergo a curatorial traineeship under her. I’d always been interested in curating so this was an exciting opportunity for me, and it paid off because I am currently the Administrative Director for the Video Art Network (vanlagos.org), which is an organisation that promotes Nigerian new media arts locally and worldwide.”

As well as her formal job, Oyinda has also been able to turn her hobby for exotic dancing into a lucrative business by opening ‘Burlesque Princess,’ a dance and fitness company that offers classes and workshops to women (burlesque-princess.com). It was the first of its kind in Lagos and she believes that it was easier to open it here because of the country’s openness to business and enterprise.

“Lagos is such a dynamic city with a hustler’s heart. If you have an idea then this is the town to explore and experiment with it. London on the other hand can appear to be a saturated market, especially for those with an entrepreneurial spirit.”

She may have found success in Nigeria, but does she miss London? “I have good and bad days, but all in all I could never have had the experiences I have had these past five years had I remained in England. I also try to return every three or four months and I hope to one day have a work structure that affords me the opportunity to spend a few months in the summer there annually, while being based here the rest of the year. But England will always be home for me no matter how long I am away.”

Another returnee who misses England is 28-year-old Ahmed Musa. After studying pharmacy at degree and Masters Level at King’s College, London, and carving out a successful career as a top pharmacist for an NHS hospital in Surrey, he relocated to Nigeria in 2012 to open his own pharmacy in the FCT.

“I love what I’m doing and enjoy working for myself, but I also miss the UK a lot, especially my old job and former work colleagues. But this opportunity I have here of running a company, of importing goods and handling patients in my own capacity as a Pharmacist, it would have taken a long time to accomplish in England. The means and resources for doing it, and even the channels to do it through were not as accessible to me in the UK as they are here in Nigeria.”

Ahmed credits his success in Nigeria with the sense of professionalism and good business practices he learnt in Britain. “I took a few ‘Starting Your Own Business’ evening and online classes before I returned, which gave me the tools and insight in running a successful enterprise, things like how to balance your books and how to attract and keep customers. I feel that I’m a better boss because of all I learnt.”

He hopes to expand his business and in five years open four more pharmacies in Abuja. “I’ll settle down in Nigeria because my family is here and because no matter what I achieve abroad, I would want to be a success in my own country.”

All four returnees say they will continue to oscillate between the UK and Nigeria, reaping the benefits of both worlds and getting the most out of their dual identities as British-Nigerians.

When will the Federal Govt of Nigeria (FGN) publicly prosecute the officials responsible
for this national disgrace and recover the loot?

@ All,

The poster missed a good opportunity to articulate the reasons why the NID vehemently criticize
the country. Simply put: They wish for a better Nigeria after experiencing what a true democratic
and prosperous nation looks like. They desperately want the same for their homeland.
History will tell you that most great revolutions (political, economic or cultural), innovations and
game-changing events are usually spear-headed and powered by the diasporas of the particular country.
Please Nigerians in Nigeria (NIN) should stop insulting the NID by constantly insinuating that we are
all doing menial jobs. I know a lot of Nigerians in the USA doing very well as professionals.
Some of us are doctors in various specialties. We love Nigeria and want the country to live up to her
true potentials.
No need for the NID and NIN to attach each other. Please be constructive in our postings.
Let us team up and build Nigeria!

What documents do you have?
Pictures of the estate may be useful too.
You guys should know how to effectively market your businesses.

Upload pictures. What documents do you have?

Ihebrooke appears to have distinguished himself. Checkout his designs!

Partnership can be a great way of achieving your business goals and developing real life skills.
Apart from the issue of trust, most Nigerians take business partnership like a personal business.
You can increase the chances of success if the partnership is run like a true business. People get
emotional and get carried away by the immediate events and fail to critically assess every/ any possible
issues, challenges, barriers, problems, loopholes, and opportunities.
The would-be partners should deliberate and agree on a "working document or rules of engagement" and get it
signed and notarized by an attorney (lawyer).
Most business partnerships fail because people refused to think about what the future may throw at them.
Life is a curve, so is running a business.

@ Spyder,

You appear to mention bungalows often, do they sell faster than other types of houses?
I would suggest we also research duplexes, and 4 flats of 3BR apartments, etc.
The key words for me are: location, cost/ benefit ratio, and profitability.
I suggest we start to narrow the cities to places like: Abuja, Enugu, Lagos and Port-Harcourt, in order
to make the research process less cumbersome. I consider these four cities great locations from personal
experiences. I have properties in Abuja and Lagos, though Abuja appears to
be growing faster than most places. I schooled at Enugu Campus, and know the city very well and feel very
comfortable investing there. Port- Harcourt holds a lot of promise and I have invested there before, and
would not mind doing it again. Asaba is looking up too, but not among the top four, even though Delta is
my home state.
From experience, a lot can go wrong with the building process or business plan and I encourage everyone/ would be
investors to ask any questions and contribute any ideas or suggestions for debate/ analysis.

Good idea!
The proposed business partnership will likely see the light of the day if we set aside
ethnic attachments and sentiments to any zones, regions or states/ cities.
This is a business plan to buy land/lands, build apartments/ houses and sell at a profit.
Let's us stick to a clear-cut business plan based on financial implications and profitability.
These are my suggestions:
1)Conduct a thorough research on the top ( e.g.7-10 cities- Abuja, Lagos, Port- Harcourt,
Enugu, Ibadan, Benin, Abeokuta, Asaba, etc. ) property markets across the country (except sensitive security locations).
2)The data gathering should capture cost of lands, cost to build, logistics,
appreciation of properties, etc.
3)Based on the outcome of the data analysis (profit margin will be a major factor), and brain storming,
we will list the top 3 locations.
4)People can invest in any of our top three locations to give them options. I believe voting may scuttle this great idea.
5)Form a committee to run the business or cooperative.


Please let's make good and informed decisions, and solve problems that may arise objectively.

Where exactly is Lukosi/ Simuawa? What documents do you have?

Where is Roseberry Estate? What documents do you have? What is the discounts for outright purchase?

No. 12 is beyond stupid. What were the British thinking?

419-----------scam! Scam!! Scam!!!

Send pics to: sagewood@yahoo.com

Post detailed pictures of the land and the environs.

The Committee of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities, CVC, on Saturday said that Nigerians spend an average of $500 million annually as students of European and American universities.
Ike Onyechere, chairman Exam Ethics International had on November 12 said Nigerians spend N80 billion or $500m in the UK alone and N1.5 trillion globally.

A communiqué signed by Professor Michael Faborode at the end of a two-day Consultative Policy Dialogue on the Future and Relevance of the Nigerian Universities and other Tertiary Institutions, organised by CVC and Trust Africa, Dakar, simply parroted Onyechere, and broadened the expenditure to cover what Nigerians spend in the entire EU and America, Guardian news reports.
The vice chancellors added that the amount was about 70 per cent of the total allocation to all federal universities in 2008.

The VCs said that this had thereby affected the culture of robust debate and collaborative engagement between government, university management and staff for a common vision and progress.
It noted that the global ranking of Nigerian universities had nose-dived considerably, adding that there had been growing concern over the quality of graduates from Nigerian universities.
The committee resolved to restore a culture of consultation, strategic productive engagement, and partnership, collaboration between management and staff of Nigerian higher education institutions.
It also resolved that the nature and dimension of the problems confronting higher education institutions in Nigeria would require a new approach to governance.

The communiqué also resolved that the appointment of vice chancellors must include respect for academic excellence, managerial and leadership capabilities, transparency and accountability.
It said the other problem plaguing university education was the negative application of the principle of federal character, which breeds sectional agitations and clamour for indigenes and other parochial interests.
The committee also resolved that as much as possible, “indigene-ship” should not be critical in the appointment of vice chancellors.

It resolved that government must invest in the future of the country by providing adequate resources to enable universities achieve their goals.
The VCs said that stakeholders and private sectors should be committed to investing in higher education through sponsoring of research.

The communiqué called for the setting up of an education, research innovation and development council to coordinate the synergy between knowledge, innovation and development in all the sectors of the economy.
It also resolved that government needed to be more cautious in the current trend of establishing and approving of new universities without commensurate increase in the number of teachers.
The VCs believed that the higher education sector had a critical role to play in forging a sense of nationhood, and nation building as well as citizenship.
It also recommended that regular consultative policy dialogue on Nigerian Universities and other tertiary institutions should be held biannually. [VN]


The communiqué said that this was an indication of the loss of faith in Nigerian universities as shown by the rush for foreign institutions, even to other African countries, adding that constant restiveness of students between host communities, school administration, weak governance structure and processes were some of the challenges facing the Nigerian Higher Education Sector.
The communiqué pointed out these have contributed to disruptions of the academic calendar, including the constant bickering between the academic staff union, other staff unions, university management and government.

Great milestone......more to follow!

The Gambia — a country known as the Smiling Coast of Africa — fits the bill for just what middle-aged British women are seeking….chatting and sipping cocktails on a sunshine holiday.
Gambian gamble ... Polly Francis and 32-year-old Lamin Sarr
The smiling, obliging and charming Africans give them the kind of attention that some of them may not have enjoyed for years - And that, put simply, is love.
Many of these unlucky-in-love women want to return home from their two-week break with a tan, a smile — and a new lover in tow who can give them the affection they have craved for years.
The young men, some of them teenagers, target the white women…they see them as their ticket to a new life in a country with endless opportunities. In a country where half the population live below the poverty line and the average wage is £30 a week, a European girlfriend seems to make perfect sense.
But a happy ending is not guaranteed.
Solomon was one of the first wave of Gambians to marry a Brit — holidaymaker Catherine, who he met in 1992 when he worked as her tour rep.
He said: "She was nine years older than me. She had not been loved. She had grown up in a care home and run away. Life with a caring Gambian who romanced her was probably amazing. We got married so I could go to the UK but I felt trapped there — it was boring, just me and her."
“When we had our son Peace, who is now 17, she didn’t like my Gambian lifestyle any more. She got annoyed with me smoking wacky baccy, hanging out in the pub and chilling out"
“I went to the council and got my own flat and she had hers. We split up”.
After 30 years in London, Polly Francis moved to The Gambia when she met hotel receptionist Lamin Sarr eight years ago. The retired nurse, who is in her 50s, used inheritance money to build them a home.


She said:
Quote
“I know I’m old enough to be his mum and that people must think I just came here looking for a toyboy but I didn’t. I fell in love.

“He is a gentleman — quiet and strong, my best friend.”

Polly — who has just had a hip replacement — can’t afford the £800 UK visa for Lamin and they are not married because she is not yet divorced from her husband.
She said: “Our home here has no running water but I wouldn’t swap it for London. I don’t miss the rushing around. I do miss my family, though.”
She has a daughter and two sons — aged 40 and 30 — and said: “My elder son found my relationship hard to accept but my younger son has visited us. He and Lamin get on well”.

And Lamin, 33, said: “I love Polly. I call her ‘the wife’. The men who marry for the wrong reasons are trying their luck”. “I don’t blame them. But Polly and I are real. She makes me happy — she is wonderful.”

@ All,

This is another interesting thread concerning living abroad Vs. Nigeria.
I read every post, ranging from the thought-provoking and the sublime, to the ridiculous.
The responses gave me a wide and deep insight into the diverse reasons
or "perceived reasons" why some Nigerians in the diaspora are disappointed with "abroad" and why some will forever
like to live in Nigeria, no matter the circumstances.
It is very refreshing to hear from Nigerians from different walks of life @ home and abroad, and
I appreciate you all for doing your thing.
My plan right now is to use my resources and the expertise I have acquired in the USA to launch innovative
programs and businesses in Nigeria. I intend to remain here and then visit Nigeria frequently to source for
talents and lay the frame work for my plans. The way for me is to use the best opportunities available
in the diaspora and @ home to achieve my goals. Nigeria is our home land and I believe we can make things
great if we contribute to her development, even in our own little ways. Let's stop clamouring for change,
let's be the agents of change.

The @AP will open applications in January for its global internship program.
Interns will cover breaking news and complete a final enterprise project. Their stories may be featured in media outlets around the world. The @AP global internship program is a 12-week, paid work placement for university students from around the world.
The @AP internships will be available in Jerusalem, Johannesburg, London, Mexico City, Moscow, New Delhi, Rome, Sao Paulo, Seoul and Tokyo.
This is a great opportunity and I hope Nigerians apply.
To learn more about the @AP global internship program,
visit this address: http://www.ap.org/company/careers/news-internship.

The @AP will open applications in January for its global internship program.
Interns will cover breaking news and complete a final enterprise project. Their stories may be featured in media outlets around the world. The @AP global internship program is a 12-week, paid work placement for university students from around the world.
The @AP internships will be available in Jerusalem, Johannesburg, London, Mexico City, Moscow, New Delhi, Rome, Sao Paulo, Seoul and Tokyo.
This is a great opportunity and I hope Nigerians apply.
To learn more about the @AP global internship program,
visit this address: http://www.ap.org/company/careers/news-internship.

https://www.osundefender.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/tiger-cubs.jpg

Two tiger cubs, one male, one female were taken from her mother when she killed the third one in her litter.

They are now been breast fed by a wet nurse, Hla Htay, at the Yangon Zoological Gardens in Burma and by breastfed, straight from her mammary glands.

Ms Htay, 40, the partner of an employee at the zoo, told local newspapers that she felt sorry for the animals and offered her services, at least until the cubs grew teeth.

The two are now being raised on bottled milk as well as Hla Htay’s milk four times a day.

http://www.osundefender.org/?p=81465

WASHINGTON (AP) - White people will no longer make up a majority of Americans by 2043, according to new census projections. That's part of a historic shift that already is reshaping the nation's schools, workforce and electorate, and is redefining long-held notions of race.

The official projection, released Wednesday by the Census Bureau, now places the tipping point for the white majority a year later than previous estimates, which were made before the impact of the recent economic downturn was fully known.

America continues to grow and become more diverse due to higher birth rates among minorities, particularly for Hispanics who entered the U.S. at the height of the immigration boom in the 1990s and early 2000s. Since the mid-2000 housing bust, however, the arrival of millions of new immigrants from Mexico and other nations has slowed from its once-torrid pace.

The country's changing demographic mosaic has stark political implications, shown clearly in last month's election that gave President Barack Obama a second term — in no small part due to his support from 78 percent of non-white voters.

There are social and economic ramifications, as well. Longstanding fights over civil rights and racial equality are going in new directions, promising to reshape race relations and common notions of being a "minority." White plaintiffs now before the Supreme Court argue that special protections for racial and ethnic minorities dating back to the 1960s may no longer be needed, from affirmative action in college admissions to the Voting Rights Act, designed for states with a history of disenfranchising blacks.

Residential segregation has eased and intermarriage for first- and second-generation Hispanics and Asians is on the rise, blurring racial and ethnic lines and lifting the numbers of people who identify as multiracial. Unpublished 2010 census data show that millions of people shunned standard race categories such as black or white on government forms, opting to write in their own cultural or individual identities.
By 2060, multiracial people are projected to more than triple, from 7.5 million to 26.7 million — rising even faster and rendering notions of race labels increasingly irrelevant, experts say, if lingering stigma over being mixed-race can fully fade.

The non-Hispanic white population, now at 197.8 million, is projected to peak at 200 million in 2024, before entering a steady decline in absolute numbers as the massive baby boomer generation enters its golden years. Four years after that, racial and ethnic minorities will become a majority among adults 18-29 and wield an even greater impact on the "youth vote" in presidential elections, census projects.

"The fast-growing demographic today is now the children of immigrants," said Marcelo Suarez-Orozco, a global expert on immigration and dean of UCLA's Graduate School of Education & Information Studies, describing the rate of minority growth in the U.S. as dipping from "overdrive" to "drive." Even with slowing immigration, Suarez-Orozco says, the "die has been cast" for strong minority growth from births.

As recently as 1960, whites made up 85 percent of the U.S., but that share has steadily dropped after a 1965 overhaul of U.S. immigration laws opened doors to waves of new immigrants from Mexico, Latin America and Asia. By 2000, the percentage of U.S. whites had slid to 69 percent; it now stands at nearly 64 percent.

"Moving forward, the U.S. will become the first major post-industrial society in the world where minorities will be the majority," Suarez-Orozco said. With the white baby boomer population now leaving the workforce, the big challenge will be educating the new immigrants, he said.

The U.S. has nearly 315 million people today. According to the projections released Wednesday, the U.S. population is projected to cross the 400 million mark in 2051, 12 years later than previously projected. The population will hit 420.3 million a half century from now in 2060.

By then, whites will drop to 43 percent of the U.S. Blacks will make up 14.7 percent, up slightly from today. Hispanics, currently 17 percent of the population, will more than double in absolute number, making up 31 percent, or nearly 1 in 3 residents, according to the projections. Asians are expected to increase from 5 percent of the population to 8 percent.

Among children, the point when minorities become the majority is expected to arrive much sooner, by 2018 or so. Last year, racial and ethnic minorities became a majority among babies under age 1 for the first time in U.S. history.

At the same time, the U.S. population as a whole is aging, driven by 78 million mostly white baby boomers born between 1946 and 1964. By 2030, roughly 1 in 5 residents will be 65 and older. Over the next half century, the "oldest old" — those ages 85 and older — will more than triple to 18.2 million, reaching 4 percent of the U.S. population.

The actual shift in demographics will be shaped by a host of factors that can't always be accurately pinpointed — the pace of the economic recovery, cultural changes, natural or manmade disasters, as well as an overhaul of immigration law, which is expected to be debated in Congress early next year.

"The next half century marks key points in continuing trends — the U.S. will become a plurality nation, where the non-Hispanic white population remains the largest single group, but no group is in the majority," said acting Census Bureau Director Thomas Mesenbourg.

Republicans have been seeking to broaden their appeal to minorities, who made up 28 percent of the electorate this year, after faring poorly among non-whites on Election Day, when Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney carried only about 20 percent of non-white votes.

The race and ethnic changes are already seen in pockets of the U.S. and in the younger age groups, where roughly 45 percent of all students in K-12 are Hispanics, blacks, Asian-Americans and others. Already, the District of Columbia and four states — Hawaii, California, New Mexico and Texas — have minority populations greater than 50 percent; across the U.S., more than 11 percent of counties have tipped to "majority-minority" status.

Last month, nearly all voters over age 65 were white (87 percent), but among voters under age 30, just 58 percent were white.

"Irrespective of future immigration and minority fertility patterns, the U.S. is facing a stagnating white population," said William H. Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution. "The biggest shift will occur over the next 20 years as the mostly white baby boom generation moves into traditional retirement years. It is in the child and early labor force ages where we must be ready for the greatest changes as new American minorities take over for aging whites."

Economically, the rapidly growing non-white population gives the U.S. an advantage over other developed nations, including Russia, Japan and France, which are seeing reduced growth or population losses due to declining birth rates and limited immigration. The combined population of more-developed countries other than the U.S. has been projected to decline beginning in 2016, raising the prospect of prolonged budget crises as the number of working-age citizens diminish, pension costs rise and tax revenues fall.

Depending on future rates of immigration, the U.S. population is estimated to continue growing through at least 2060. In a hypothetical situation in which all immigration — both legal and illegal — immediately stopped, previous government estimates have suggested the U.S. could lose population beginning in 2048.

"Young families — many of them first or second-generation immigrants — have been the engine of U.S. population growth for several decades," said Mark Mather, associate vice president of the Population Reference Bureau.

AP Director of Polling Jennifer Agiesta contributed to this report.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

This is the kind of health problem that can be stopped at its track with good health system.
Another sad reminder of the state of the Nigerian health system.
It usually takes the death of a prominent Nigerian to highlight what the common man is facing each day.
Solutions:

1) Comprehensive reform of the Nigerian health system ( I wonder what the health minister is doing?).
2) Major emphasis on preventive health care, including yearly physical (medical check).
3) Provide incentives for people to access designated hospitals/ clinics across the country with medical insurance.
4) Have a system that holds public health providers and owners of private health systems accountable.
5) Establish major centers of excellence "world class" across the country.
6) Ban medical tourism by government officials (they will be the first to rush to fix the problems).
7) Invite investors to form partnerships with government or run their own health systems with government regulation.
Health care is a business and should be market driven. Nigerians deserve better leadership.

If the asking price is N100mil, it will take at least 33-34 years for the buyer/ investor
to recoup the money @ the purported N3mil per annum. If you factor in repairs and other issues,
it will amount to a very bad investment.
The house is overpriced, even @ N70mil.

By PATRICK ATUANYA

A N102 trillion ($650 billion) investment opportunity exists in infrastructure accross the energy, power and transport sectors of the Nigerian economy, according to research firm Frost & Sullivan.

The investment which could take up to 10 years is fundamental to driving growth in Nigeria’s economy, the research firm said.

“The Federal Government is under intense pressure to restore, upgrade and construct new infrastructure across all sectors – particularly with regard to the provision of reliable access to energy and suitable transport facilities,” noted Frost & Sullivan’s Environmental & Building Technologies Research Analyst, James Milne.

“Widespread development of infrastructure will be crucial if Nigeria is to achieve its stated goal of becoming one of the twenty largest economies in the world.”

Poor provision of energy and power resources remains the biggest drain on the country’s economy, with only 40 percent of the population estimated to be connected to the national grid, notes Frost & Sullivan.

“Those with access to the grid remain affected by regular power outages and rolling blackouts, caused by overwhelming demand. Large businesses are forced to purchase and run generators which drive up overheads, while small business owners who are unable to afford access to a generator are often unable to remain profitable”, the firm said.

The gap in existing infrastructure is shown by current installed energy capacity totalling approximately 6,900MW in 2011, with actual functioning capacity lower, at an estimated 3,321MW, while estimated demand is five times that, at close to 15,000 MW.

In terms of electricity generation capabilities, a 2011 Frost & Sullivan analysis indicated significant defficiencies in public sector energy generation.

Public sector unutilised installed capacity amounted to 51.4 percent, in contrast with 15.6 percent in the private sector.

Revamping the decaying transport infrastructure sector remains another focal point for Government in assisting rapid economic growth.

Frost and Sullivan says proof of the state of disrepair, to which transport capabilities have fallen, is the decrease in capacity of the Nigerian Railway Corporation between 1964 and 2005.

In 1964, the railway network carried three million tons of freight and three million passengers annually. In 2005, the network transported a mere fifteen thousand tons of freight and five-hundred thousand passengers annually.

“Such a significant decrease in capacity has shifted the transport burden onto the country’s roads, which has led to widespread decay in road infrastructure.” said the firm.

Nigeria’s 198,000km road network has also been identified as a key priority. Road transportation is estimated to account for 70 percent of all freight transport and 90 percent of all passenger transport in the country.

Ongoing infrastructure development in the rail sub-sector amounts to over 3,000 kilometers of track currently being restored or under construction. Additionally, modern city rail systems, such as the Lagos Rail Mass Transit System (LRMTS) and the Abuja Light Rail network, have been given the green light for development.

Such projects, estimated to cost more than $3billion (N474 billion), are aimed at easing intense traffic congestion in two of Nigeria’s largest cities.

Frost & Sullivan notes that a key challenge of infrastructure project development in the country is the time delay before actual implementation of a project.

The implementation of projects through a tiered governance system also leads to a lack of communication between departments, often resulting in duplication of efforts in project implementation, and (funding issues, as the release of funds is often delayed or misappropriated.)

The promotion of Government-to-Government initiatives, which involve having infrastructure projects funded and implemented by foreign countries, (For example funding for a project would be provided by the Japanese government, while actual implementation of the project would be done by a Japanese company), is a model for Nigeria to explore, the firm suggested.

The PH woman's death is another sad reminder of the system of deterioration,
hopelessness and corruption Nigerians find themselves. We all want Nigeria
to be like the USA, Canada or Europe, but, we don't want to do what is necessary to get there.
You see Egyptians demonstrating/ rioting for democracy and
good governance on a daily basis, but Nigerians are interested in
talking the walk and not walking the walk.
If you want Nigeria to be better organized and prosper, you need to
demand it, and not sit and just type billions of words each day about the problems
facing the potentially great country called Nigeria. Private individuals, groups and companies
can change the status quo by holding public/ political officials accountable.
If you don't have medical insurance here in the USA, most hospitals/ clinics
will make sure you will be able to pay for the health services, except in cases of emergency.
Even if you have an emergency like the PH pregnant lady, you will be treated without insurance,
but the huge bills will follow shortly. You will have from 0- 120 days to pay the bills, and if by the
end of 120 days the bills were not paid, the collection agency will step in.
There are systems in place here to make sure you will pay your bills. Your wages/ pay can be garnished through
your employer or whatever source of income you have as approved by the court. You will have to pay court cost
and possibly an attorney's fees in addition to the original bills, not to mention your credit score taking a hit.
If you consider what will follow when you refused to pay your bills, you will think twice.
The problem in Nigeria is that there is no such system to guarantee payment. What do you expect business owners , including
hospitals to do?

Even the most precocious child probably does not have anything on Kelvin Doe. This fifteen-year-old wunderkind from Sierra Leone has built generators, batteries, and FM radios using parts he found in the trash. He takes things that would otherwise have been thrown out and, with almost no formal training, turns them into useful products.

Kelvin’s inventions are especially valuable in his hometown in Sierra Leone, where, according to Kelvin, the lights there only turn on “about once a week.” Kelvin builds batteries and generators to provide electricity for his family. He also uses his FM radio and self-made mixer and amplifier to run a successful radio station, where he is known as DJ Focus. Kelvin says he hopes to use his radio station as a way for the youth in Sierra Leone to debate about issues in their area. He says he plans to build a windmill to provide more stable electricity for his town.

Kelvin came to MIT as part of their Visiting Practitioners Program. The Program allows inventors to use MIT’s plentiful resources and perform their own research in the MIT labs. Kelvin became the youngest ever Visiting Practitioner after winning the Innovate Salone Challenge.

Innovate Salone runs a program that asks young Sierra Leonians to creatively come up with solutions to problems facing their community. David Sengeh, who helps run the Innovate Salone and who was a key player in bringing Kelvin to the U.S. told TakePart about some of the amazing projects that resulted from the Challenge.

"There was a team of high school kids that made a farm so they could feel students at their school," he said. "There was a group of girls who, through art and drama, tried to change the message about [Female Genital Mutilation]. We had applications from 300 students and we ended up choosing eight finalists."

Kelvin definitely made the most of his time at MIT. While Kelvin was the one who was here to learn, he ended up teaching his hosts a thing or two. Sengeh said, “I learned a lot from him. He’s passionate about this and he believes he can actually change his community. It’s inspiring to hear that from someone his age.”

By Patrick Ugeh and Tobi Soniyi

In a statement bound to raise dust and certain to conflict with the constitution, the Chairman of the National Population Commission (NPC), Mr. Festus Odimegwu, has said any Nigerian who is not captured in the next demographic survey beginning next year will not be recognised as a citizen of Nigeria, after the 2016 national population census.

Section 30(1)(2) and (3) of the 1999 Constitution provides that “the President may deprive a person, other than a person who is a citizen of Nigeria by birth or by registration, of his citizenship, if he is satisfied that such a person has, within a period of seven years after becoming naturalised, been sentenced to imprisonment for a term of not less than three years.

“The President shall deprive a person, other than a person who is citizen of Nigeria by birth, of his citizenship, if he is satisfied from the records of proceedings of a court of law or other tribunal or after due inquiry in accordance with regulations made by him, that - (a) the person has shown himself by act or speech to be disloyal towards the Federal Republic of Nigeria; or (b) the person has, during any war in which Nigeria was engaged, unlawfully traded with the enemy or been engaged in or associated with any business that was in the opinion of the president carried on in such a manner as to assist the enemy of Nigeria in that war, or unlawfully communicated with such enemy to the detriment of or with intent to cause damage to the interest of Nigeria.”

In addition, Odimegwu said two no-go areas in the last census – religion and ethnicity – would be included in the next one scheduled for 2016.

Odimegwu, who spoke at the second National Family Planning Conference in Abuja Wednesday, declared that the N600 billion needed to conduct the exercise, which would capture biometric data over five years, would be generated by the NPC from the sale of data to the private sector if the Federal Government cannot provide it.

“This is a commission (under his headship) where everything will work,” he said.

“You have to know religion and ethnic numbers for the country to work... We will raise money from the sale of data to the private sector to run the agency. The data base will help in national planning,” he added.

Noting that Nigeria’s population is an asset rather than a liability, as was being orchestrated at the second national family planning conference, Odimegwu said having an effective demographic system with biometric information would help in tackling the many problems of the country, including security, healthcare delivery, education and the economy.

Countering arguments that high population was an issue, Odimegwu said: “There is nothing in Nigeria that is better than our population... No great country is there without their population. That is why China, India and the United States are great.

“The issue is not the size of our population. The problem is the quality of people. If we take care of the quality of life, it will take care of the quantity. A PhD holder will have no need for 16 children.”

He said Nigeria could not develop if it continued planning as it does now, as it requires demographic data to plan properly.

For this reason, he said the NPC had set up a demographic data base structure, adding that they would produce reliable demographic data base that would cover 200,000 communities in the country.
“Anybody that is not covered in that census will not be part of Nigeria,” he said.

A five-year architecture for the purpose of gathering data had been approved by President Goodluck Jonathan, he further disclosed.

Odimegwu described the current situation where different government agencies conducted exercises to obtain biometric data was needless, saying his organisation is planning to have all of them pooled and managed by NPC.

Stating that the commission was going to work as a private sector organisation, he said: “If government is not going to give us money, we will raise money; we will adopt the private sector attitude, not civil service one.

“The system we want to employ will be corruption-free. We won’t tolerate mediocrity because of federal character.”
He decried the practice of the commission which deploys its 36 commissioners to the states where they collect salaries without working for the Nigerian state, saying it was a form of corruption.

For this reason, he had to order them back to the headquarters where they are now working, he said.
Speaking at the event, the Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu said the issue of the quality and quantity of population was like that of the chicken and egg, since a large population without the means to cater for the people was a problem.

“When Eze has two children and his maiguard (security man) has 20, it is not good,” he said.

The theme of the five-day conference is Population and National Development aimed at improving access to family planning information and services in Nigeria.