Seems the 'Igbos' in the house aren't ready to accept the facts present in the Original Post of the thread. . .
Anyway, it is a fact that lots of Igbo folks go out of their homeland in search of their livelihood, if i was our Igbo brother in the house, i wouldn't pretend that good number of the relatively performing Igbo leaders grew up in the west or north or even outside Nigeria.

May be the SEners who have lived a substantial part of their lives up north tend to appreciate that spirit of sacrifice that is found in the average northerners. The Northern leaders have looted the region no doubt but there are lessons to be learnt from their followers - contentment and sacrifice comes to mind here .

BY FRANKLIN ALLI & PROVIDENCE OBUH

The 15 per cent import duty slammed by the Federal Government on imported wheat flour as contained in the 2012 Appropriation Bill, has escalated the prices of flour-based commodities.

As a result of this, flour millers, bakery firms and other businesses that depend on imported wheat flour as their raw material, have been reeling under the high cost of their raw materials.

“Wheat is a major raw material in the production of all our products. It actually accounts for over 90 per cent of the total raw material input and it is wholly imported. The price of wheat is influenced by so many factors most of which are beyond us as local users. For example, the Federal Government recently announced an introduction of a 15 per cent duty on wheat. This necessarily means an increase in the production cost of flour and other wheat-based products,” said Executive Vice-Chairman, Honeywell Flour Mills Plc., Mr. Babatunde Odunayo.

Market position showed that a bag of wheat flour which sold for N6,000 before now sells for N8,000, while a bucket of Topper baking margarine initially sold for N2,500 now sells for N5,000; sliced bread which sold for N220, has gone up to N240. Biscuits now range from N15.00 upwards.

Investigation conducted by Financial Vanguard, showed that noodles, biscuits, bread and other confectionery bakers are not finding it easy due to the cost of wheat flour which they say has skyrocked in recent months.

“The hike is causing low patronage as customers are not willing to buy due to the development,” said Mama Chidera who operates a retail shop at Awodi-ora market, Ajegunle, Apapa, Lagos.
“Before the price increase, if you go to the market with about N200,000 ,you can buy enough goods as you want, but now that price has increased, when you go to the market with N200, 000, you will not see the worth of that money,” she said.

On biscuits, she said; “Before, when I go to the market, I buy varieties of biscuits, but because of the increase, some producers have ceased producing biscuits; and companies that are still producing, produce less. So, instead of buying as many varieties as I wanted, I buy the available ones.” According to her, the recently introduced Yale bread which has become the favourite of most consumers because of its cost advantage, is very scarce in the market.
Similarly, Caroline Agyo, who bakes cakes, puff-puff, fish-roll, buns, among other snacks, said that she has stopped baking.

“I can’t cope with the price increase and rather than lose capital base and profit, I had better look for something else to do.”

A noodle retailer said; “We are facing so many challenges. If the price can be reduced, we will appreciate it. If the price of flour comes down, then you can buy the quantity you want and prices of flour-based food items will come down. For instance, the price of noodles per carton has moved from N1,750 to N2000. The difference is much no matter how you look at it, especially Chiki-Chiki brand of noodles.”

A government source said the decision to increase duty on wheat was taken to effect a marginal growth in the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and save the country some earnings by reducing importation.

He stated that primary goal of the new cassava policy is to cut wheat imports by 40 per cent by 2015 to conserve foreign exchange earnings and increase employment.

To cushion the effect of the increment in the import duty as well as encourage local farmers, the government has urged flour millers to add at least 40 per cent of cassava flour to their products. As part of this policy, the government said it was not only increasing the import duties but had also offered corporate tax rebates to millers, with duty-free imports on all equipment for processing or blending cassava flour.

According to Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN, in order to discourage dependence on imported wheat flour, the Federal Government should again review upward tariff on wheat flour in the 2013/2017 Common External Tariff regimes.

MAN president, Kola Jamodu, said the association believes an upward review of the tariff will accelerate the manufacture of composite flour locally.

Speaking during a consultative forum on the review of Common External Tariff 2008/2012 which will expire in December this year, Chief Kola Jamodu said that the introduction of 10 per cent composite cassava flour in bread has necessitated the need for upward review of duty imposed on wheat flour from the current 15 per cent.

“We are aware that duty is a veritable instrument for generating revenue for Government. To this end, we recommend the following tariff rates as worthy of retention/adoption: Industrial machinery – zero per cent duty, raw materials not locally available – five per cent duty, raw materials that are sufficiently/adequately produced locally – 10 per cent duty; intermediate products – 10 per cent duty, finished goods locally available in adequate and consistent supply – 20 per cent duty + levy; finished goods with excess local capacity – 35 per cent duty + levy,” said Jamodu.

Corroborating, Gloria Elemo, the Director-General of the Federal Institute of Industrial Research Oshodi, FIIRO, said use of composite cassava flour in baking can save domestic economy about N318 billion yearly.

“This figure is half of the N635 billion (about $3.9 billion) being spent annually to import wheat into Nigeria by flour millers for bread making and other confectioneries.

“Since wheat is not produced in Nigeria, it has to be imported. Furthermore, bread, cake and other confectioneries are produced from 100 per cent wheat flour and as such, huge amount of hard earned foreign exchange is used every year for its importation,” she disclosed.

“We are trying to encourage consumption of cassava bread so that the money spent on cassava flour can be diverted to other areas and in the process, it will cause a chain reaction back to the producers. This would better the lives of farmers and in the process, rural life will be developed through cassava and it will add value to the economy,” she said.

According to her, in a bid to redress the country’s undue dependence on 100 per cent wheat flour for bread-making and other confectionery products, the Federal Government came up with the policy of gradually increasing the substitution of high grade cassava flour from 10 per cent to 40 per cent.

“High Quality Cassava Flour (HQCF) inclusion in wheat flour has the capacity to generate internal revenue of N24 billion based on about 300,000 metric tons per annum demand estimated by the flour millers and save the nation’s foreign exchange. “It is estimated that the HQCF industry alone can generate over 3 million jobs from over 75,000 small and medium cassava processing plants required to produce 300,000 tonnes of HQCF per annum,” she said.

Accordingly, she said that FIIRO has trained Nigerian master bakers in the use of 10 per cent cassava flour for bread and confectionery products. “Till date, bakers in Akwa Ibom, Oyo, Ogun, Rivers and Lagos states have been trained.” She disclosed that in addition to this, the Institute wants to embark on commercial production of cassava bread in order to make it available to Nigerian consumers nationwide.

“Many people are complaining that they don’t have the bread, they don’t know what it looks like and they don’t know how it tastes. So, the whole idea is to showcase this technology for people to see the prospects of investing in commercial cassava bread production.

“And because of the dimension and the direction we are going now, very soon, you will be seeing these products in the markets. FIIRO alone cannot satisfy the population of 160 million people. We can’t satisfy the population of Oshodi let alone the entire country. Indeed, it will be my joy if all of us can buy one or two of this technology and establish them in the market,” she said.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/12/how-govt-lost-n355bn-from-privatised-firms/jonathan-and-bread/

Results so far cannot point to the true ownership.

The satellite went missing from space. . . 2008 November i think.

^^ Page not found. . .
I clicked your link and got the message above.

There is no way they could have easily 're-used' the wheel. The wheel(Civilisation), without substantial amount of formal education, was hard to create unlike our own time where education is virtually a culture and where we have seemless communication with the rest of the world. . . All i am saying is our forefather are more pardonable compared to our generation.

Even if our forefathers fumbled we have done more harm with the values we uphold and cultures we are practising currently. . . It is no secret that we no longer place emphasis on hardwork and getting tasks done again . . . All we want now is certificate, money and produce more of ourselves in a bid to belong . . . There is hardly any reward for getting things done again. Come to think of this, do we really expect our forefathers to re-invent the wheel, civilsation took ages to evolve, so we shouldn't be blaming them.

It has always been like this from day one . . . From the days of Awo, Zik, and ATB . . . Igbo-Hausa relationship . . . we all know those who have a price for their everything . . . Chai! the thing get as im be sha oh . . . Buncha sellouts!!

Cyber no fit handle Nigeria like that bros!!!
Poverty and hardship may sound and appear to be abstract but i tell you they are bloody concrete . . . Good topic though

Have your own trusted friend or family member come pick you up in the day time.
Don't you leave the airport at night.
Keep you luggages safe within you reach always.
Avoid unnecesary association in airport premises.

Seun, Please help the commoners of NL out by giving owners of Hidden Comments the privilege of seeing their comment after it might have been hidden. Let it be part comment history log, at least, for the owner of such comment. This should help directionless poster focus faster and help alert them of MODs who are quite directionless with their handling of this Great Forum.
Thanks

Yours faithfully
Sheyguy
NL Poster Since Nov 2008.

I just saw on news now that the US is sending two war ships to the coast of Libya in reaction to attack of its embassies.

Dudu_Negro:

The flag burning Muslims are not in America or they will be in jail already.

In America you can burn the Bible and it will be excused as freedom of expression. ......but let them catch you burning an American flag, you will bein jail quicker than you knew it, plus they will give your story to news media to use and rev up public sentiment against you. If you think its crap i invite you to burn an Americam flag in public and on Americam soil.

If you burn the Quran in America will muslim americans resort the normal violence we witness around Africa and the Arab world? . . . Don't get the spiritual approach of most Christians to 'Battles' confused with anything else . . . It is assumed that all battle is the Lord's by most christians until there is major confrontation and this assumption has gradually been exploited over time but that does not equate to submission to any external beliefs.

truth4meal: and if one must ask y o?

?

Jonathan bleeped up no doubt, but then ACN didn't av to open their mouth . . .

Wtf! A naija man in yankee can afford pc/smart phone.

Tiny island or not, we shouldn't continue like this. There is serious problem in the current system.

These question are much oh! The picture i get about his administation going by the accusations of our OP, is that of a You-Chop-i-Chop Govt.

Thank you Londoner, to say christian in the west take their flag more serious than their religious believes is the greatest lie ever told on NL. I don't know where Dudu Negro got that crap from . . .

londoner:


@ Dudu Negro....if the west worships their flags, why are they not killing Muslims for burning flags then?

You have to know that there are very committed religious people, other than muslims. there are also devout Christians who see Jesus as more important than any flag.

Just take Nigeria as an example, do you think the flsg is more important than Jesus to many Christians.....or even any?

If you go to the "bible belt", nobody will say that the flag is more important to them than Jesus, neither would the average Catholic or Jehovah's witness.

There may not be many Christian fundamentalists about nowadays and more secularism, but to say that Jesus is no longer important to some Christians is not factual. Some Christians are still dying for their faith.

olivertwist: “The mistake of 1914 has come to light. The new estate called Nigeria should be an estate from our great grand father, Othman Dan Fodio. We must ruthlessly prevent a change of power. We must use the minority in the North as willing tools, and the South as conquered territories and never allow them to have control of their future.”

- Alhaji Ahmadu Bello. Reacting to the 1914 amalgamation by the British.

Yet some pple won't allow the South West to av peace of mind and move ahead . . . These are the same set of Northern leaders some other southerners willingly joined hands with to check Awolowo's political ambition . . . The same way their seeds seek to encourage discord among SWesterners on this thread. . .haters pls stay clear and let the drama play out.

This is one funny aarze thread . . .
@PointB, wetin concern u for this kind mata? Or are u here divide those you percieve as threat to your stance on issues on NL?

Sounds good, the man seems to be getting Lots of Energy out of nothing. I hope he gets to follow it up properly.

I was wondering what the syllabus of that school will look like . . .
Intro to riffles
intro to shortguns
Intro to handheld explosives
Intro to pipeline survey
Advance explosive and digital timing modules
Advance . . . .
[READING MATERIAL : The Art of War By chin chin poo wee]
.
.
.
Lol

Folks, Check dis out
How Govs, Ministers, Misled Jonathan

But for the misleading counsel and false assurances given to President Goodluck Jonathan by some of his ministers and a few state governors, the president may have done more to avert the commencement of the strike action called by the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and the Trade UnionCongress, TUC, Sunday Vanguard can reveal.

The suggestion that Jonathan may have done more to ensure that the strike did not get off the ground, it was learnt, was sequel to security reports provided at a meeting, held, penultimate Monday, January 2, 2012, inside Aso Rock Presidential Villa.

The meeting, which had a few ministers , security chiefs and a former president, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, in attendance, was called to review the implications of the removal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, otherwise known as petrol, about 24 hours earlier.

Sunday Vanguard was informed by a source privy to the meeting that the prognosis, according to the security chiefs, was very terrible. Jonathan was said to be have been made to understand that everything that ought to be done to avert the strike should be done. The briefing made it very clear that should the strike go ahead and last beyond a week, “there would be serious implications for this administration”.

Although the source said the language at the meeting was very weighted, “there was no mistaken the fact that the prognosis was very bad”.

Specifically, it was understood that one of those in attendance at the meeting pointedly stated that allowing the strike to go on for “up to 11 days would mean total disaster and eclipse” for the Jonathan administration.

(SEE DETAILSIN ‘TORN BETWEEN THE ROCK AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA’ in Subsidy Series)

At the end of the meeting, the president’s body language reportedly suggested that something would be done earnestly to avoid the mass action.

However, information reportedly suggests that one of Jonathan’s cabinet members from the North Central Zone, Information Minister, Labaran Maku, along with another minister from the South South geo-political zone, Elder Orubebe, prevailed on the president not to shift or accede to labour’s demand.

The Information Minister was said to have impressed it on Jonathan that reverting to N65 would be seen as a sign of weakness and unseriousness. He may have been right!

Secondly, according to SundayVanguard’s source, the president was made “to believe that the strike action would normally kick off on the first day as threatened by labour but would quickly lose steam by the second day.

It was gathered that the impression conveyed to Jonathan was that the strike action would not go beyond “just two days before it loses steam”.

The president, the source further revealed, was misled into believing that, like past strike actions, the involvement of security agencies would contain its spread.

Lagos and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja, were the main focus of attention.

“It was this advice that President Jonathan took hook, line and sinker”, the source said.

Finance Minister and Head of Jonathan’s Economic Management Team, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and Petroleum Resources Minister, Diezani Allison-Madueke, were also of the opinion that the president did not need to back down.

And whereas Jonathan was said to have made private moves, one of which was to prevail on some state governors to assist in persuading members of the House of Representatives not to sit last Sunday and the telephone calls he made to some state governors to assisting in ensuring that the strike action was not allowed to go ahead “and if it did, must be drawn back,” the president could not achieve his heart’s desire: To pile what was thought to be maximum pressure on the NLC. It did not amount to anything because the leadership of NLC still went ahead.

A few governors reportedly misled the president.

Jonathan, believing what he heard during private conversations “with some state governors, went away with the impression that state governments could tame the monster of the strike.

[b]The governors reportedly assured the president that “they were in talks with the leadership of labour in their states and that moves to break their ranks were almost completed”, a source close to The President disclosed.

“Some of these governors, just as they did during the crisis over zoning and the contest for the presidential ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, deliberately set President Jonathan up so that he would stick to the N65 and be made to look like an unpopular president on the one hand and on the other hand the fact that he had bargained with them late last year to ensure the removal of the subsidy so that they can have more money,”the source said.

“If some of them had told him the truth, he would have known better that what he was going to confront from last Monday would be so massive that the international community would focus more on other issues of corruption in government, a matter that is at the root of the subsidy issue”.

Some of the governors gave assurance to the president on the basis of the need not to allow “hoodlums to hijack the protest in some states of the federation and go ahead to engage in reprisal attacks as a consequence of the Christmas Day church bombing in Madalla, Suleja and some kept their words”.

That was why, for instance, the Enugu State governor, Sullivan Chime, acted fast by ensuring that there were no rallies or street marches in his state.[/b]

It was for the same reason that Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State also swung into action to prevent Muslims from being attacked in his state.

Plateau State, where the strike is also being observed, saw a situation whereby workers merely stayed at home without marching on the streets.

Sunday Vanguard was further told that when the strike commenced on Monday, it was a stunned Jonathan who saw first-hand how Nigerians reacted.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/01/fg-vs-labour-civil-society-how-govs-ministers-misled-jonathan/

We all know this man is a Ijaw President. Whose fault is it if OtuOke fishermen can't drink from their own river? Na me Shyte inside the river them?. . . Money to provide water and water itself is practically flowing in Bayelsa but his skewed reasoning pattern won't let him realize he ruled Bayelsa for a substantial amount of time.
Also to note: The Musicians he accused his persecutors of hiring performed for PDP during his presidential campaign at one point or another but they were never hired then, it is only when he feels threatened that they become hired.
Jonathan GoodLuck Wake up !!!

What did he say about Kano state ambition?

See how GEJ is repeating what our Resident No1 Hypocrite tried to shove down the mind of NL during the subsidy struggle. . . this man is a real Ijaw president. . . not Urhobo, Not Isoko but a Ijaw one. It is clear who paid who to be doing what.

AjanleKoko!
Nuttin but a nuisance parading as a mod. Made me open a new account when he banned me unjustly. . .