₦airaland Forum

I think this is good for our aviation industry. Like the banking, oil and telecoms industry, this is an opportunity for us to stop all the cosmetic approach to Aviation issues, and do a wholistic reform of the sector. We must start rebuilding the Aviation industry from the scratch again or else the industry will never grow..

I just read the article about the UN report on Nigeria's rising rate of unemployment. As disheartening as it sounds, it is still a lot better than where will be in the next 6-10 years; because the unemployment figure will not be less than 50 percent by that time. This has more to with our educational system than actual lack of jobs.

About 10-15 years ago, Nigeria had very few universities besides the Federal and state universities. Getting into University was very difficult and competitive. You had to meet JAMB cut-off points to get admitted. Your WAEC result had to be in order as well or else you went for a one year remedial program. There was no NECO at that time so if you failed WAEC, you had to wait at home until you cleared your papers before you got into school. Not to even talk about the ASUU strikes that could last up to 6 months sometimes. But today all that has changed, the kids now get into university the same year they graduate from Secondary school. They now have NECO, and private universities. Even NYSC now has batch A,B & C. Average age at graduation is now hovering between 22 & 23yrs. Law schools can now churn out up to 3,000 lawyers in one calender year.

That is the scenario we have today, the Nigerian economy has too many graduates that it cannot and will never be able to absorb. For real jobs to be created, government must re-design its educational policies to also provide formal blue-collar career education for the many that want to go that path. I know people with bachelor degrees that are now doing extremely well as carpenters and have even employed other people. Why didn't we provide carpentry schools for them in the first place? Why should it take them five full years and hundreds of thousands of naira to get them a career they could have had in just 3years? With the creation of six new universities last year, government squandered an opportunity to chat a new course in manpower development.

Those universities should have being purely technical institutes with specific emphasies on training craftsmen and blue collar professionals. Most of our artisans learnt their trade from their 'mentors' who also learnt from his own 'mentor' and the chain continues like that. So this guys have never really had the opportunity to develop their expertise formally. They took all that their mentors taught them including the mistakes and falacies that came with them. That is why you have mechanics removing 'Thermostats', and carpenters doing shoddy jobs etc.

Why do you think Nigerians still fly-in foreign tradesmen like Plumbers, carpenters and P.O.P. installers etc to do their jobs? These guys had the right training and have pushed every available tool and material to their very limit in the course of work. In some countries they even take professional exams and CEU. The Federal and state Governments must re-design our educational sytem to meet the current challenges we now face, or else the unemployment figures will keep rising as well as the accompanying crime rate.

gbengx: http://www.punchng.com/feature/encounter/bongos-ikwue-met-maryam-only-once-keke-daughter/

This should help clear all these lies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and set the record straight. So so unbelievable that i believed a lie all my life until now

Thanks...I was about putting a lie to op's claims before you stepped in. Bongos is someone I know quite well and even relates to me on a first name basis, so you can imagine how ridiculous the story sounds to me.

Besides, he is a very accessible fellow, so if any of you ever spot him on the street any day. Just walk up to him and and ask nicely if he ever had an affair with Mariam. And I have no doubt he will give you an answer himself. He is that easy-going.

Stumbled on Fela's-'Best of the Black President' CD collection and have being listening to it since yesterday.

Gloating over other people's mis-fortune won't diminish ours. I find it really sad that we Africans are always in the habit of comparing our nations. For whatever progress they are making, we are also making ours. In the long-run, a developed Ghana, Togo, Cameroun, Gambia etc is in best interest of Nigeria, because of their proximity to our country.

Ask the U.S how much energy and resources it expends on policing it's borders with Mexico then you will understand the challenge that comes with having neighbours who find your country far more attractive than theirs. Our wish for them and for the rest of West Africa is that we should all one day overcome our developmental challenges.

Callotti: Obama don smoke Igbo again!
Goooooooooooooooooooo Romney!!!!

Thank God Mitt Romney isn't president at this time, because I can assure you that if he were, there would have being thick smoke bellowing out of Benghazi and Tehran this very minute. Instead of profering a coherent International policy, he has being beating war drums since he picked up his party's nomination.

...with these kind of behaviour exhibited by the Libyans, am almost tempted to wish that the west shouldn't have intervened in Libya. maybe they should have allowed them to settle scores with Ghadaffi all by themselves.
this is really sad and unfortunate.

I think the biggest scam in Benue State today remains the Tiv vs Idoma ethnic card. Am begining to notice this short-sighted thought pattern even amongst Benue youths, whom are supposed to be more enlightened and objective. Unfortunately, it is a political creation by the Tiv and Idoma elite to keep the populace too busy to ask them the right questions. Regarding the case at hand... I believe every Nigerian irrespective of tribe has the right to question the credibility of any public official appointed by the President if in doubt.

People must realise that having a government appointee from your locality does not immediately translate to upliftment of your people. At best they might resort to nepotism, appointing all their 'immediate' relatives and political associates into positions, but what happens to the larger society?

Am impressed by how much you guys know about classical music and the Opera. I don't know much about classical music but I do like it. Yanni remains one of my favourite, and I have tons of his work. For the older guys like Handel, Wolfgang Amadeus and co, I probably won't be able to differntiate one from another unless I was told.
First listened to Pavarotti while I was living in Florence, because an old friend of mine was obsessed with him and she made us all like him.

I am not privy to happenings in Aso Villa, but I can bet my pension on the fact that Jonathan must have being very embarrassed when he read that 'Love Letter' Abati wrote. Abati's article was not only uncalled for, but it didn't address any immediate issue. It was evidently an attempt to beg his way back to the President's table.

While I do seriously take exceptions to people outrightly insulting Goodluck Jonathan, Abati must also realise that the Nigerian voters have an unequivocal right to express their displeasure with a government they Voted into office when necessary. Jonathan should focus on disproving all his critics, instead of running to Abati and Okupe in tears at the slightest criticism.

Presently, a movie called '2016' is being released in the U.S. The movie is devoted to villifying the US President Barack Obama. There are questions about his place of birth and several other issues about his personal life. Infact 17% of respondents of a recent poll in the US still insist that Obama is a muslim. Others say he wasn't born in the US, so isn't eligible to be president. Besides criticism there is out-right hatred towards him by some Americans. Not too long ago, a Judge in the state of Texas said on public TV that -There will be civil war in the US if Obama is re-elected. Yet Obama's spokesmen haven't returned the attack. Rather they have remained focused on the national issues.
I don't know any President anywhere in recent history that was villified more than George Bush Jr. Yet the man kept his cool did his job and left office, and is today a statesman.

Our problem in this country is that, our leaders want everything at once. They want the money, the glory and the honour all at once. Unfortunately you can't receive all on the same day. Jonathan must work hard to earn any glory or honour he expects from Nigerians. He still has three years to redeem himself. If he does well, he shall get his honour but if he doesn't then, posterity will judge him.

Guys! Please the article again. The money will not be invested directly in the Uk. It will invested here in property development in Nigeria and it is only the PROCEEDS i.e Return on Investments that will get to the club directly.

I am not a fan of most policies of this government but that doesn't mean I condemn everything she does, just for the fun of it.

This is a good decision by the minister because Turkish Airline had applied for an Enugu slot as well as an Abuja slot. so if they get Enugu its still good for them.

Most importanyly, the Abuja Airport is a small Airport by Global Standards and lack the capacity to accomodate more flights unless expanded. Because if the Airlines are all allowed to fly out of Abuja and they start having problems, it is on this same forum that we will all converge and start insulting and cursing everyone in sight.

In as much as this is a good development, in the sense that it will reduce the strain on our forex market. It will only make sense to the consumers, if the prices are brought down, because as it stands now, Nigerian cement remains one of the most expensive in the world. If the prices are not reduced, a new market for imported cement will automatically spring up. And even if the government decides to ban importation, smuggling will definitely provide an alternative market.

I think Nigerian Cement manufacturers have a rare opportunity to capture the West African market now or else, foreign manufacturers with come in with very competitive prices and edge them out of the regional market.

This is an epic Oxymoron; preaching a cashless economy yet introducing N5000 naira denominations at the same time. Am sure even Adam Smith will have sleepless nights trying to sell this line of reasoning even to the dumbest of our lot.

Probably the only acceptable explanation here will be that 'His Excellency' wants to ensure that 'Ghana-must-go' bags carry at least five times more Naira than its current capacity. Am sure the custodians of our 'Communal Cake' have also being complaining of the bulkiness of N1000 notes. This will also reduce the strain on the Naira. So instead of sharing dollars at night, they can now share 5000 naira bill.

Good thinking sir. I only hope you will be Man enough to state the obvious instead of hiding behind a non-existent Financial reasoning to try to sell us this idea.

fstranger: It is better than sitting at home doing nothing. Abi, yahoo-yahoo now counts as work experience?


You come across as a young, naive, 20 something, dunderhead. Life experience is the most important quality any employee/job applicant may possess.

Mr. stranger, possibly if you had read and UNDERSTOOD my earlier post you won't be making the assertions you have just made. I will never fall for the trap of being abusive on this forum... I will never resort to insults to get my point across.

It might interest you to know that, am over 30 and am also an employer of labour. Thanks.

dayokanu: Do you think the field of study still count in many cases? Go to banks and consulting companies the majority of people there are Engineering and Science grads.

Go to Wall street, its also filled with Engineers and Scientists.

The MD of a Bank in Nigeria is a petroleum Engineer.

The first thing in life is making ends meet. After that you can start talking about field.

i graduated as a Chemical Engineer and I can tell you less than 20% of my graduating class work as Chemical Engineers right now almost a decade after graduation

I get your point, but what I mean is different. In this scenario having truck driving experience will never count as valid working experience for lets say an Accounting graduate who after driving Dangote's truck for 2-3years, wakes up and starts hunting for a bank job. His truck driving experience will only be termed as 'Life Experience' even in more developed climes. So it will never amount to anything professionally for the Driver. It will count if he is looking for another driving job at lets say, Golden Penny Flours or BUA Group.

I have read all the arguements for and against the Dangote truck driver job and I must say am impressed that this hasn't turned into one of those topics that degenerates into name-calling and other unproductive behaviours on this forum.

I personally think most of the points made 'for and against' are all very valid. At the end of the day, everything depends on our individual situations, beliefs, goals and ambitions in life. For some people it is difficult to re-invent themselves after taking on a truck drivers job for 3-4 years. In fact it takes 'uncommon' courage to wake up one morning and quit a job that puts food on your table, without first getting an alternative especially if you already started raising a family on account of this job.

Secondly, the moment you sit in the driver's seat of Dangote's truck, that is the day you wave your university qualifications goodbye. Because in a country like ours, life experiences doesn't count for anything in the eyes of recruiters and employers of labour. As far as they are concern, you were not employable in your field thats why you took up a driving job. It were elsewhere, such experience would count in your favour but here it will count against you.

On the flipside, those whom have vowed to pursue their dreams rather than take up Dangote's job offer, should be ready to see their dreams to realisation even in the face of hunger and indigence. Its not enough to have big dreams and egos. There must be a plan.

Hey people, I have being receiving advert SMS from Glo almost every other hour. Its getting really irritating, some of my friends have also complained of all these needless text messages. And am not even yet complaining about their periodic automated marketing phone calls which are becoming more frequent these days.


Isn't there a limit to how much, telecom service providers can pester her customers with junk sms advert messages? I heardly get these calls and messages from MTN. I think NCC needs to step in here because, I think Glo is begining to misuse its liberties.

...this is exactly what you get when people start jumping to Secondary school from Primary 3. You see the result?...very unfortunate.

gst101: the greatest mistake the idoma nation has ever made in their life in my opinion is that; they did not join the igalas (their brother) for a separate state. well this is just my opinion. and i think they would have been better off

Gst 101, I beg to disagree with you on the need for the idomas to join the Igalas in kogi. Whereas it is true that they have a lot in common, both culturally and historically, the Idomas are better off in Benue State than in Kogi, because in Kogi they will have not only the Igalas to contend with but also the Igbiras, Okuns and Ogoris. While in Benue they have just the Tivs.

The inability of the Idomas to be governors in Benue State isn't because they lack the numbers. Rather it is because of her political naivety. Political offices are not tossed at people just because, the say they want it. No. You have to plan and work for it. Even though the Tivs are probably one of the most 'politically enlightened' tribes in Nigeria today, the Idomas have remained the traditional kingmakers in the state. That is because, the Tivs are always splitting their own votes amongst themselves, hence whoever wins the majority votes of the Idomas, carries the day.

Yet, the idomas have never had the simple initiative of putting forward a single candidate and filing behind him. They have also never deemed it necessary to negotiate a 'befitting deal' for themselves before donating their votes en bloc to their tiv brothers. So as you can see, even if they had gone to Kogi with the Igalas, there still would never be an Idoma Governor.

The idomas are quite like the ibos in this regards. It is almost impossible for them to present a single candidate and stand behind him. An Idoma man is only strong when he is fighting a fellow idoma man. Outside that, he losses his voice. So until the Idomas learn to play politics properly, there would never be an Idoma Governor in the state.

yemstok: This isn't real jor...it's a make-believe thing.
Who go employ dis kain staff? mtschew! what a waste of time.

I will employ a guy like that. This single action hints that he is not only innovative but has also got drive. If you hire and train a guy like that, he will become an asset to your firm.

This is an idea I saw a fews years ago in Europe. And as a Designer I couldn't help wishing I had such a rare opportunity to remodel an Airplane interior. And each time I fly out of our local Airports, I just look at all those abandoned Airplanes around the Airfield and just wish I owned a few.

Would be nice to convert them into affordable Airport Hostels where people can sleep over while they await their flights, or just come to kill off their jet-lags after long tiring flights. We can even possibly remodel some of those abandoned ships around Lagos, turn them into hotels or even office spaces.

Our people say "if you must peel roasted yam for a blind man, you must keep whistling or else he would call you a thief"

The Nigerian people through their votes have entrusted a lot of their powers to the President. And it is only fair that he continues to demonstrate that he isn't mis-using those powers. Even if no law was broken by this appointment, I still think the President and his family could do without all these negative attention. Why draw all these needless attention to yourself when you clearly don't need the appointment in the first place?


When things like this happen, ordinary Nigerians are made to feel like they are being deliberately scorned by the elite. It is the aggregate of 'insignificant' issues like this that continues to fuel the people's distrust of the government.

Poster, you must keep being strong and hopeful. Your situation is almost becoming a norm not just in Nigeria but around the world, especially in Europe. People are begining to loose hope in life.

Whatever you do, don't ever get desperate or else it will begin to affect your decisions. There are people in far worse situations than yours, some even with chronic illness. Don't worry things will get better. Just work harder on your options.

If you are already searching for work, keep at it while you explore the business or ICAN thing.

A masters degree will always look good on your resume, especially when it is from a top-class institution. Unfortunately, these are very hard times globally, and you need to weigh your options carefully. Employers these days are more interested in people with hands-on work experience, because they won't need to spend much on training them.

Since you obviously have some spare resources for a Masters degree. Why don't you take up an unpaid internship instead. That will give you the opportunity to gain some valuable work experience and brighten your chances of a good job.

Although I have no up to date information to give regarding the current Visa procedures at the Italian Embassy. I can understand the challenges the poster is going through. I have received student visas twice at the Italian consulate before. The first I got abroad and the second I got here in Lagos.


The process abroad was pretty straightforward and I had no problem getting into the Embassy even without a prior appointment. My visa took about 3weeks to process, and that was because I didn't present my account statement on time. I needed to get money from Nigeria to buy traveller's cheque worth 8000Euros to present at the embassy. The Embassy called me for my visa, the evening of the same day I submitted photo copies of the cheques.


But when I applied from here in 2008 to return for my Masters, it was impossible getting an appointment at the embassy. That was long before the VFS thing, so everybody went to the Embassy. Touts had a field day. After hanging around the Embassy for three straight days without getting an appointment, i came back to Abuja. Luckily I was able get a timely intervention from Min. Of Foreign Affairs in Abuja. So the Embassy gave me an express appointment. My school also pressured the Italian Foreign Ministry in Rome to reach their Embassy here, cos I was already two weeks late for sch...

I think you should reach out to your school to intimate them of any challenge you are facing. Also try to pay your fees in full so as to be extract some commitment from your school in this regards.

Best of luck

"Person whey wan peel roasted yam for blind man, make him dey whistle if not, the blind man go call am thief"

"mad man say nothing dey do am, but na the thing whey him dey do naim e no know"

"na cricket naim tell him children say no matter how ground strong, them no go sleep outside"

Yes, its on Youtube. "Louis Theroux's Law & Order-Lagos". If you dont't find a good copy, just google it.

As much as we sympathize with the families of all those involved in the crash, we must also be careful not to let our emotions cloud our sense of decency. RACISM & XENOPHOBIA, are two evils that should have no place in our society.


This same DANA Group has investments in Pharmaceuticals, Petrochemicals and Steel industry in this country. Employing thousands of Nigerians and putting food on countless tables everyday. And you want them to pack their briefcases and leave, just like that? Well, lets be rest assured that when they leave,those small briefcases of theirs will also have in it the livelihood of thousands of nigerian families.


DANA AIR didn't crash because it is being run by Indians, it crashed because our regulators have failed to do their jobs. Before the global economic crisis, big banks did whatever they wanted because industry regulators were not doing their jobs properly. That is why irrespective of the level of sophistication of Western financial institutions, most of them almost went bankrupt and had to be bailed-out. So that is exactly what happens when regulators don't do their jobs properly.


The Nigerian constitution has given our regulators all the powers they need deal with any Airline that breaks the law. So what else do they need? Our tears? I think it is time we direct our anger at our regulators and not use the Indians as scape goats. I also hear people say that, Indian and Chinese companies don't treat their staff well. We have labour laws, and if NLC, TUC and their likes can't protect nigerian workers then shame on them.

There is a Louis Theroux's documentary showing on BBC channel 400 now. I have seen it a couple of times though. But still find it quite hillarious. Who else have seen it, and what are your comments?