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PoliticsRe: What Is Nigeria Celebrating At 53? by smoothicon(m): 9:51am On Oct 01, 2013
am very dissapointed this was put on front page....hw can d country progress in d first place?? if we aint gud followers why do we blame our leaders...remember today's leaders were once followers.....pls lehtz at least respect the efforts of those who secured this peaceful independence without bloodshed....PROUDLY NIGERIAN *swings nigerian flag*

PoliticsNationwide Blackout Looms As PHCN Workers Begin Strike On October 2nd by smoothicon(op): 9:24am On Oct 01, 2013
The already deplorable power situation in the country may worsen as employees of Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) have threatened to stop the supply of electricity across the country by October 2 if the federal government goes ahead to handover the assets of the company to private investors today without the conclusion of payment of workers entitlements.

The industrial action follows the expiration of the ultimatum issued by the workers to government to resolve all labour issues ahead of the privatisation of PHCN.

In preparation for the industrial action, the workers will today hold a nationwide protest to alert Nigerians of impending shutdown of the power sector on Wednesday.


Speaking under the umbrella of National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), the union directed its members to withdraw their services from all PHCN installations immediately after the celebration of the nation’s 53 Independence anniversary.

The union, in a statement issued by its secretary, Joe Ajaero, said the industrial action became necessary in view of government refusal to resolve the outstanding labour issues with the workers.

The union said it was particularly disturbed by the statement credited to the Chairman of National Council on Privatisation (NCP), Vice-President Namadi Sambo that government had settled all the labour issues which had impeded the smooth take off of the privatisation programme and the handover to private investors.

The union insisted that the vice-president was either being misled or deliberately keen on emasculating the PHCN workers with a view to further impoverishing them.
It challenged the Office of the Vice-President “to mention any person from his constituency - Kaduna State where he served as governor, who has been paid his entitlement, pension and gratuity.”

The union further alleged governments deployment of military personnel to all PHCN facilities stating that the aim was to ostensibly to allow a forceful takeover of the installations without conclusively settling the labour issues.


It noted that the policy of deploying soldiers to PHCN installations to intimidate workers was “definitely misguided and misdirected as they are directed to creating more tension to already tensed polity.”

The statement read: “For clarity, please note that these issues are outstanding: payments of terminal benefits: payment of the terminal benefits is yet to rise up to 50 per cent for the eligible workers. Non-payment of retirement savings fund to Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs): Up till this moment no efforts has been made to commence payment. The PFAs can attest to this fact. Non-remittance of 2 per cent of the union deductions as agreed: No word has been heard from the BPE/government on remittance of this two person neither has the deductions already made from the paid workers remitted to the unions.”

“Non-payment of retirees who disengaged since 2011: It is absurd and sordid for government not to think of settling these people who laboured over the years in service of this country and get retired meritoriously, while the privatisation exercise was on. Non-regularisation of some of the casuals already identified: With the biometrics done and concluded, it becomes worrisome on the continued delay in regularising the casuals who had been identified based on agreements already entered into. 10 per cent equity shareholding by the workers: In line with the relevant laws, the workers are entitled to 10 per cent Equity Share of the total sale of PHCN. But it appears the government is bent on short changing the workers.”

“The shortfall of terminal benefits from June 2012 till date has not been considered for payment.

“These contending issues cannot be jettisoned by the workers to allow any force to takeover! It behooves us therefore to advise the vice-president and those misguiding him not to toy with the socio-economic lives of PHCN workers, their families and other Nigerians who depend on them for their livelihood. We are set to take our destiny in our hands.

“Because of Independence Day ceremonies, we would be patient to allow for full celebrations.

“However, we hereby urge Nigerians to bear with us if after October 2, the government goes ahead with her illicit handover to the investors and forceful takeover; the implication would be that the workers have technically been asked to withdraw their services and we may not be able to guarantee smooth operations.

Consequently, if after October 2, the Office of the Vice-President fails to correct this misleading information, we shall not guarantee supply of electricity in the country. This is not a threat as our earlier ultimatum has expired.”
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/nationwide-blackout-looms-as-phcn-workers-begin-strike-october-2/160275/

EducationRe: The Polytechnic, Ibadan 2013/2014 Admission Processes by smoothicon(m): 8:57am On Oct 01, 2013
up Naija!!

EventsRe: Nigeria's 53rd Independence(the Journey So Far) by smoothicon(op): 12:26am On Oct 01, 2013
happy independence!
EventsNigeria's 53rd Independence(the Journey So Far) by smoothicon(op): 12:21am On Oct 01, 2013
In just two years, it will be 100 years since
Nigeria was created as a single
amalgamated political entity by the British
colonial adventurers.
Today, as we celebrate our 53rd
independence anniversary, we have our
eyes more on the Centenary, because it
offers us a great opportunity to assess our
hundred years of gains, losses and hopes.
The gains: Of all the entities which the
European colonial powers amalgamated all
over the world, especially in Africa to
further their colonial interests, Nigeria
stood out in many ways. She was the biggest
nation populated exclusively by Black
people on the face of the earth, with the
largest population on the African continent.
Sahelian ambience
From the mangrove coast in the South to
the Sahelian ambience of the North, Nigeria
is wholly arable, and therefore able to
support healthy populations year round
almost evenly throughout its territory.
It is also blessed with enormous natural
resources, including petroleum, coal,
bitumen, limestone, iron ore and so
many other mineral deposits in
commercial quantities.
Its agricultural resources include palm
produce, cocoa, groundnuts, timber,
rubber and other forms of cash and food
crops. Before the advent of oil boom,
Nigeria’s economic and political
prospects were rated so highly among
the emerging Third World countries that
she was categorised along with Brazil, India
and South Africa.
Historically, even before the coming of the
white man, Nigeria boasted prestigious
empires, such as the Benin, Oyo, Sokoto
Caliphate, Kanem-Borno and powerful
coastal kingdoms at Bonny, Calabar, Lagos
and others; all of which had established
treaties and diplomatic ties with world
powers out there.
*Taking charge: President Goodluck
Jonathan being inaugurated on May 29,
2011
Apart from the monarchies, some cultural
groups, notably the Igbo, Ibibio, Ijaw, Tiv
and Plateau groups had developed intricate
forms of republican democracies which
forbade expansionist imperialism while
stiffly defending their own respective
independence from invaders.
The amalgamation of 1914, which some
now describe as a “mistake” created a
model with the potentials to put a black
nation among the frontrunners of world
political economy.
In addition to its large population, the
quality of human resources found in the
country was second to none. In fact, the
three largest ethnic groups – the Hausa,
Igbo and Yoruba, each had enough
population to compete for the top five of
Africa’s largest linguistic groupings.
Nigeria was also one of the first to catch the
bug of independence. Through the efforts of
Nigeria’s father of independence, Dr Herbert
Macaulay and Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, who
shone the light for other Africanists such as
Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Dr Julius Nyerere and
even Dr Nelson Mandela to find their ways
to remove their people from the clutches of
colonial rule, Nigeria quickly moved, on
gaining independence, to establish Africa as
the centerpiece of her foreign policy.
She dedicated much of her efforts towards
the struggle for freedom of southern African
countries still in the grips of the
colonialists, such as Zambia, Zimbabwe,
Namibia, Angola, Malawi, Botswana and
South Africa.
Regional security
Nigeria contributed her troops and
funds to help bring peace to war-
torn African countries such as the
Congo, Angola, Liberia, Sierra
Leone, Cote D’Ivoire and Sudan,
thus becoming a partner with the
African Union, United Nations and
the sole superpower, the USA, in
the maintenance of regional
security and stability.
This is one of the reasons for
which she has for long queued up
for the prime spot for a
permanent seat in the United Nations should
the decision be made to grant Africa a slot.
Nigeria is looked upon as the leader of Black
Africa; a role she has gallantly endeavoured
to play. However, her many failings have
always come in the way between her and
Uhuru.
The losses: Wherever countries have
managed to achieve unity in diversity, their
greatness in the wider world arena is
almost always assured. This is because
every group within the nation submerges its
individual interests to that of the nation and
act as one people towards the realisation of
grander national objectives.
Therein lays the power of diversity. And
that is the ingredient that is boldly lacking
in the Nigerian experiment, which accounts
for the huge losses she has experienced
since: (a) the country was amalgamated in
1914, and (b) Nigeria got her independence
in 1960.
The British colonial adventurers sowed the
seed of discord, not necessarily because they
meant to ensure Nigeria did not work but
more for their own self-interest of
administering the vast colony at minimal
cost and maximum gain.
Minimum cost and maximum gain
For decades after amalgamation, the
Southern and Northern Protectorates were
administered differently, with Indirect Rule
in the North and Direct Rule in the South.
While the North was allowed to preserve its
Islamic values with cautious adoption of
Western education and values, the South
embraced Western education and values on
a massive scale, and became the front from
which the drive towards independence was
ignited.
The colonialists reacted to the slow pace of
push for independence in the North with
many geopolitical favours, while the
Southern Regions (East and West) suffered
many disadvantages, including census and
electoral constituency configuration that
ensured the North would always win
elections.
It was with these serial clashes of values
and perception of injustice vis-à-vis one
another that the East, West and North went
into unhealthy rivalries; each fighting to
dominate the others while going into
alliances with the sole purpose of
undermining one another.
Besides, the Minorities embedded in each of
these Regions also wanted self-
determination and freedom from what some
of them saw as “internal colonisation” by
the Majorities. They commenced internecine
struggles that often had them joining up
with the rivals of their own local Majorities
to undermine them for selfish gain.
This is the summary of the causative factors
defining the apparently unending crises,
wars and mini-wars and blood-letting,
which have gripped Nigeria in the throat
from independence in 1960 to date.
The rivalries started in the political parties
and later spread to the ranks of the military
class when the first coup took place in
January 1966, which was read to be an
“Igbo coup” due to certain trends it took.
Another coup came up in July the same
year, which was equally dubbed a revenge
“Northern coup”, thus setting the pace for
the civil war and an attempt at secession by
the breakaway Republic of Biafra.
Attempt at secession
When the war ended with the defeat of
Biafra and the Igbos sidelined from the
mainstream of power, the coalition that
fought “to keep Nigeria One” went at each
other’s throats for dominance. Some groups
felt they led the war and must permanently
call the shots of power.
Others felt they also had the right to vie
since without their effort the secession
would have succeeded. The Minorities of the
North felt their role during the war entitled
them to princely treatment and status like
their Majority fellow Northerners. The
upshot was a series of coups, counter-coups
and failed coups that bedeviled the nation
between 1970 and 1995.
However, a watershed was reached when
Chief Moshood Abiola won a presidential
election on June 12 1993 – the first time
ever a southerner achieved that feat – in
what was seen as the freest and fairest
election in Nigeria.
The military, in the grip of the northern
elite, annulled the election and toppled the
Interim Government to bury Abiola’s
mandate. It became the turn of the Yorubas
to fight against injustice, which they did
with every ounce of determination at their
disposal through the National Democratic
Coalition (NADECO) between 1994 and 1998.
Power was ceded to the West, and General
Olusegun Obasanjo, who was in jail for
alleged complicity in a coup plot against the
regime General Sani Abacha, was released
and empowered to rule again, this time as
an elected president.
The Minorities have also fought their own
protest wars. The most poignant has been
the uprising in the Niger Delta against the
exploitation and despoliation of their
environment by oil giants with an
insensitive Nigerian state seen as co-
culprits.
The uprising of the Ogoni ended in murders
of a section of their elite, while the state
arrested the factional leaders of the
Movement for the Survival of Ogoni people
(MOSOP) led by Ken Saro-Wiwa and hanged
them on November 10th 1995. A couple of
years later the Ijaw youth gathered at
Kaiama in Bayelsa State and issued a
declaration for “self-determination” and
thus started a militancy campaign which
nearly brought the Nigerian economy to its
knees.
However, following an amnesty deal offered
by the government of the late President
Umaru Yar’ Adua, peace returned to the
Niger Delta; even though a high level of
violent crimes are still going on in the Niger
Delta and its immediate surrounding states.
Oil has brought Nigeria stupendous wealth
valued at nearly $500 billion since 1958.
But rather than become a catalyst for rapid
development, it has unleashed a curse
blamed for the civil war, runaway
corruption, indolence of the elite and high
poverty rate among the common people.
It has reduced Nigeria to a net importer of
every need, including goods that used to be
produced in Nigeria and exported.
Resultant poverty
Misrule and its resultant poverty are
blamed for the rise of religious extremists
in Northern Nigeria known as Boko Haram.
Linked to international Islamic Jihadist
group, Al Qaeda, Boko Haram has crippled
the economy of the north and sent
thousands of innocent Nigerians to their
early graves through their orchestrated
suicide bombings and gun attacks, even in
places of worship.
But the Nigerian security forces have
swooped on them and the signs are
beginning to emerge that there is light at the
end of the tunnel.
The hopes: Nigeria has gone through the
blacksmith’s forge. Way back in 2009,
predictions emerged from a report
submitted to the US Congress committee on
Foreign Affairs by diplomat and expert on
African affairs, Mr. John Negroponte that
Nigeria could disintegrate by 2015. Some
say the activities of Boko Haram might
bring this prediction to pass. Others are of
the firm view that since Nigeria could not
break up in 1966 – 1970 and after all that
she has gone through the country has
become unbreakable.
Symbiotic relationships
Perhaps, Nigerians themselves under-
estimate the quiet, off-politics symbiotic
relationships that have evolved over the
past 98 years and beyond, which bespeak of
the people’s preference to stay together
under well-negotiated terms and conditions
that will remove injustice, domination and
corruption.
Nigeria has indeed changed a lot in the past
13years since the return of unbroken
democracy – the longest unbroken run. For
the first time in her history, two presidents
have been elected from the South and one
from the North.
The era of power belonging to one section is
now over. With a Minority person elected
president in 2011 in a mandate given by the
electorate from across the board, hope is
rekindled that Nigeria is outgrowing her
post-colonial teething problems. The
journey to Uhuru is still a long one, but
many good things hitherto thought
impossible are now happening.
If Nigeria is able to successfully create states
in the ongoing constitution amendment, she
would have crossed a major hurdle that
will assure that anything else can be solved
through constitutional means rather than
violence, wars and threats of disintegration.
The economic front is also very promising.
The national goal of making Nigeria one of
the 20th largest economies by 2020 was
based on prognosis of foreign-based
economic rating agencies such as Goldman
Sachs way back in 2004. It has now become
the Nigerian vision, even though the drive
towards achieving it has been rather
inchoate.
But that Nigeria is once again an emerging
economy is in no doubt. There are now
talks of a BRINCS of the near future (Brazil,
Russia, India, Nigeria, China and South
Africa).
Perhaps, for the first time ever, a US
President (Mr. Barack Obama) has taken
public note of a rosy future unfolding
before Nigeria on the economic front.
Matters are helped by the fact that the
economic team in the President Goodluck
Jonathan cabinet is peopled by world
renowned technocrats, such as Dr Ngozi
Okonjo-Iweala (Finance/Economy) Dr
Akinwunmi Adesina (Agriculture), Dr
Olusegun Aganga (Investments), and Mrs.
Stella Oduah (Aviation) and till recently,
Professor Barth Nnaji (Power).
Security challenges
There is hope that by the time Nigeria
celebrates her Centenary in 2014, the
security challenges of the nation,
especially in the North, would have been
largely overcome, and the “surprise” that
President Jonathan promised recently
would be there for all to see.
A lot of governors are working very hard
to develop their states and the rot left
behind by the military is gradually being
addressed.
The Nigeria once dreamed of might bounce
back from the stupor of hopelessness to a
glittering reality. When that time comes the
world will rush to Nigeria to pick nuggets.
They are already coming.
But are Nigerians ready to play? Or will
they wake up one day to find out that
“foreign investors” have re-colonised their
economy and thus resort to another struggle
against “foreign domination”? Time will tell.

EventsRe: Nigeria's 53rd Independence gains and losses in by smoothicon(op): 12:01am On Oct 01, 2013
MODs happy independence....front page please
EventsNigeria's 53rd Independence gains and losses in by smoothicon(op):
Nigeria was granted independence on October
1, 1960. A new constitution established a
federal system with an elected prime minister
and a ceremonial head of state. The NCNC,
now headed by Azikiwe (who had taken control
after Macaulay’s death in 1946), formed a
coalition with Balewa’s NPC after neither party
won a majority in the 1959 elections. Balewa
continued to serve as the prime minister, a
position he had held since 1957, while Azikiwe
took the largely ceremonial position of
president of the Senate. Following a UN-
supervised referendum, the northern part of
the Trust Territory of the Cameroons joined
the Northern region in June 1961, while in
October the Southern Cameroons united with
Cameroun to form the Federal Republic of
Cameroon. On October 1, 1963, Nigeria
became a republic. Azikiwe became president
of the country, although as prime minister
Balewa was still more powerful. on the 1st of october 1960 Nigeria got independence....as a patriotic nigerian do u think we are better as an independent country...and what measures would u take to tackle the problems of we nigerians if u were the president. ...what problems do u think we have as a,country?? what are the causes?? and hw can we bring it to an end.......u can also chip in some knowledge u hav about our beloved country....Naija for life N just two years, it will be 100 years since
Nigeria was created as a single
amalgamated political entity by the British
colonial adventurers.
Today, as we celebrate our 53rd
independence anniversary, we have our
eyes more on the Centenary, because it
offers us a great opportunity to assess our
hundred years of gains, losses and hopes.
The gains: Of all the entities which the
European colonial powers amalgamated all
over the world, especially in Africa to
further their colonial interests, Nigeria
stood out in many ways. She was the biggest
nation populated exclusively by Black
people on the face of the earth, with the
largest population on the African continent.
Sahelian ambience
From the mangrove coast in the South to
the Sahelian ambience of the North, Nigeria
is wholly arable, and therefore able to
support healthy populations year round
almost evenly throughout its territory.
It is also blessed with enormous natural
resources, including petroleum, coal,
bitumen, limestone, iron ore and so
many other mineral deposits in
commercial quantities.
Its agricultural resources include palm
produce, cocoa, groundnuts, timber,
rubber and other forms of cash and food
crops. Before the advent of oil boom,
Nigeria’s economic and political
prospects were rated so highly among
the emerging Third World countries that
she was categorised along with Brazil, India
and South Africa.
Historically, even before the coming of the
white man, Nigeria boasted prestigious
empires, such as the Benin, Oyo, Sokoto
Caliphate, Kanem-Borno and powerful
coastal kingdoms at Bonny, Calabar, Lagos
and others; all of which had established
treaties and diplomatic ties with world
powers out there.
*Taking charge: President Goodluck
Jonathan being inaugurated on May 29,
2011
Apart from the monarchies, some cultural
groups, notably the Igbo, Ibibio, Ijaw, Tiv
and Plateau groups had developed intricate
forms of republican democracies which
forbade expansionist imperialism while
stiffly defending their own respective
independence from invaders.
The amalgamation of 1914, which some
now describe as a “mistake” created a
model with the potentials to put a black
nation among the frontrunners of world
political economy.
In addition to its large population, the
quality of human resources found in the
country was second to none. In fact, the
three largest ethnic groups – the Hausa,
Igbo and Yoruba, each had enough
population to compete for the top five of
Africa’s largest linguistic groupings.
Nigeria was also one of the first to catch the
bug of independence. Through the efforts of
Nigeria’s father of independence, Dr Herbert
Macaulay and Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, who
shone the light for other Africanists such as
Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Dr Julius Nyerere and
even Dr Nelson Mandela to find their ways
to remove their people from the clutches of
colonial rule, Nigeria quickly moved, on
gaining independence, to establish Africa as
the centerpiece of her foreign policy.
She dedicated much of her efforts towards
the struggle for freedom of southern African
countries still in the grips of the
colonialists, such as Zambia, Zimbabwe,
Namibia, Angola, Malawi, Botswana and
South Africa.
Regional security
Nigeria contributed her troops and
funds to help bring peace to war-
torn African countries such as the
Congo, Angola, Liberia, Sierra
Leone, Cote D’Ivoire and Sudan,
thus becoming a partner with the
African Union, United Nations and
the sole superpower, the USA, in
the maintenance of regional
security and stability.
This is one of the reasons for
which she has for long queued up
for the prime spot for a
permanent seat in the United Nations should
the decision be made to grant Africa a slot.
Nigeria is looked upon as the leader of Black
Africa; a role she has gallantly endeavoured
to play. However, her many failings have
always come in the way between her and
Uhuru.
The losses: Wherever countries have
managed to achieve unity in diversity, their
greatness in the wider world arena is
almost always assured. This is because
every group within the nation submerges its
individual interests to that of the nation and
act as one people towards the realisation of
grander national objectives.
Therein lays the power of diversity. And
that is the ingredient that is boldly lacking
in the Nigerian experiment, which accounts
for the huge losses she has experienced
since: (a) the country was amalgamated in
1914, and (b) Nigeria got her independence
in 1960.
The British colonial adventurers sowed the
seed of discord, not necessarily because they
meant to ensure Nigeria did not work but
more for their own self-interest of
administering the vast colony at minimal
cost and maximum gain.
Minimum cost and maximum gain
For decades after amalgamation, the
Southern and Northern Protectorates were
administered differently, with Indirect Rule
in the North and Direct Rule in the South.
While the North was allowed to preserve its
Islamic values with cautious adoption of
Western education and values, the South
embraced Western education and values on
a massive scale, and became the front from
which the drive towards independence was
ignited.
The colonialists reacted to the slow pace of
push for independence in the North with
many geopolitical favours, while the
Southern Regions (East and West) suffered
many disadvantages, including census and
electoral constituency configuration that
ensured the North would always win
elections.
It was with these serial clashes of values
and perception of injustice vis-à-vis one
another that the East, West and North went
into unhealthy rivalries; each fighting to
dominate the others while going into
alliances with the sole purpose of
undermining one another.
Besides, the Minorities embedded in each of
these Regions also wanted self-
determination and freedom from what some
of them saw as “internal colonisation” by
the Majorities. They commenced internecine
struggles that often had them joining up
with the rivals of their own local Majorities
to undermine them for selfish gain.
This is the summary of the causative factors
defining the apparently unending crises,
wars and mini-wars and blood-letting,
which have gripped Nigeria in the throat
from independence in 1960 to date.
The rivalries started in the political parties
and later spread to the ranks of the military
class when the first coup took place in
January 1966, which was read to be an
“Igbo coup” due to certain trends it took.
Another coup came up in July the same
year, which was equally dubbed a revenge
“Northern coup”, thus setting the pace for
the civil war and an attempt at secession by
the breakaway Republic of Biafra.
Attempt at secession
When the war ended with the defeat of
Biafra and the Igbos sidelined from the
mainstream of power, the coalition that
fought “to keep Nigeria One” went at each
other’s throats for dominance. Some groups
felt they led the war and must permanently
call the shots of power.
Others felt they also had the right to vie
since without their effort the secession
would have succeeded. The Minorities of the
North felt their role during the war entitled
them to princely treatment and status like
their Majority fellow Northerners. The
upshot was a series of coups, counter-coups
and failed coups that bedeviled the nation
between 1970 and 1995.
However, a watershed was reached when
Chief Moshood Abiola won a presidential
election on June 12 1993 – the first time
ever a southerner achieved that feat – in
what was seen as the freest and fairest
election in Nigeria.
The military, in the grip of the northern
elite, annulled the election and toppled the
Interim Government to bury Abiola’s
mandate. It became the turn of the Yorubas
to fight against injustice, which they did
with every ounce of determination at their
disposal through the National Democratic
Coalition (NADECO) between 1994 and 1998.
Power was ceded to the West, and General
Olusegun Obasanjo, who was in jail for
alleged complicity in a coup plot against the
regime General Sani Abacha, was released
and empowered to rule again, this time as
an elected president.
The Minorities have also fought their own
protest wars. The most poignant has been
the uprising in the Niger Delta against the
exploitation and despoliation of their
environment by oil giants with an
insensitive Nigerian state seen as co-
culprits.
The uprising of the Ogoni ended in murders
of a section of their elite, while the state
arrested the factional leaders of the
Movement for the Survival of Ogoni people
(MOSOP) led by Ken Saro-Wiwa and hanged
them on November 10th 1995. A couple of
years later the Ijaw youth gathered at
Kaiama in Bayelsa State and issued a
declaration for “self-determination” and
thus started a militancy campaign which
nearly brought the Nigerian economy to its
knees.
However, following an amnesty deal offered
by the government of the late President
Umaru Yar’ Adua, peace returned to the
Niger Delta; even though a high level of
violent crimes are still going on in the Niger
Delta and its immediate surrounding states.
Oil has brought Nigeria stupendous wealth
valued at nearly $500 billion since 1958.
But rather than become a catalyst for rapid
development, it has unleashed a curse
blamed for the civil war, runaway
corruption, indolence of the elite and high
poverty rate among the common people.
It has reduced Nigeria to a net importer of
every need, including goods that used to be
produced in Nigeria and exported.
Resultant poverty
Misrule and its resultant poverty are
blamed for the rise of religious extremists
in Northern Nigeria known as Boko Haram.
Linked to international Islamic Jihadist
group, Al Qaeda, Boko Haram has crippled
the economy of the north and sent
thousands of innocent Nigerians to their
early graves through their orchestrated
suicide bombings and gun attacks, even in
places of worship.
But the Nigerian security forces have
swooped on them and the signs are
beginning to emerge that there is light at the
end of the tunnel.
The hopes: Nigeria has gone through the
blacksmith’s forge. Way back in 2009,
predictions emerged from a report
submitted to the US Congress committee on
Foreign Affairs by diplomat and expert on
African affairs, Mr. John Negroponte that
Nigeria could disintegrate by 2015. Some
say the activities of Boko Haram might
bring this prediction to pass. Others are of
the firm view that since Nigeria could not
break up in 1966 – 1970 and after all that
she has gone through the country has
become unbreakable.
Symbiotic relationships
Perhaps, Nigerians themselves under-
estimate the quiet, off-politics symbiotic
relationships that have evolved over the
past 98 years and beyond, which bespeak of
the people’s preference to stay together
under well-negotiated terms and conditions
that will remove injustice, domination and
corruption.
Nigeria has indeed changed a lot in the past
13years since the return of unbroken
democracy – the longest unbroken run. For
the first time in her history, two presidents
have been elected from the South and one
from the North.
The era of power belonging to one section is
now over. With a Minority person elected
president in 2011 in a mandate given by the
electorate from across the board, hope is
rekindled that Nigeria is outgrowing her
post-colonial teething problems. The
journey to Uhuru is still a long one, but
many good things hitherto thought
impossible are now happening.
If Nigeria is able to successfully create states
in the ongoing constitution amendment, she
would have crossed a major hurdle that
will assure that anything else can be solved
through constitutional means rather than
violence, wars and threats of disintegration.
The economic front is also very promising.
The national goal of making Nigeria one of
the 20th largest economies by 2020 was
based on prognosis of foreign-based
economic rating agencies such as Goldman
Sachs way back in 2004. It has now become
the Nigerian vision, even though the drive
towards achieving it has been rather
inchoate.
But that Nigeria is once again an emerging
economy is in no doubt. There are now
talks of a BRINCS of the near future (Brazil,
Russia, India, Nigeria, China and South
Africa).
Perhaps, for the first time ever, a US
President (Mr. Barack Obama) has taken
public note of a rosy future unfolding
before Nigeria on the economic front.
Matters are helped by the fact that the
economic team in the President Goodluck
Jonathan cabinet is peopled by world
renowned technocrats, such as Dr Ngozi
Okonjo-Iweala (Finance/Economy) Dr
Akinwunmi Adesina (Agriculture), Dr
Olusegun Aganga (Investments), and Mrs.
Stella Oduah (Aviation) and till recently,
Professor Barth Nnaji (Power).
Security challenges
There is hope that by the time Nigeria
celebrates her Centenary in 2014, the
security challenges of the nation,
especially in the North, would have been
largely overcome, and the “surprise” that
President Jonathan promised recently
would be there for all to see.
A lot of governors are working very hard
to develop their states and the rot left
behind by the military is gradually being
addressed.
The Nigeria once dreamed of might bounce
back from the stupor of hopelessness to a
glittering reality. When that time comes the
world will rush to Nigeria to pick nuggets.
They are already coming.
But are Nigerians ready to play? Or will
they wake up one day to find out that
“foreign investors” have re-colonised their
economy and thus resort to another struggle
against “foreign domination”? Time will tell.
Culled from Vanguard
Averag

EducationRe: The Polytechnic, Ibadan 2013/2014 Admission Processes by smoothicon(m): 1:23pm On Sep 30, 2013
Seunfunmi18: hw can sum1 hav 81 wen d question is 5mark per question....
its 85 but she got additional 4 mrks as bonus
EducationRe: The Polytechnic, Ibadan 2013/2014 Admission Processes by smoothicon(m): 12:31pm On Sep 30, 2013
Tolutost: Peeps,wat was d highest score u heard in d putme ib poly
89 marks
EducationRe: The Polytechnic, Ibadan 2013/2014 Admission Processes by smoothicon(m): 12:30pm On Sep 30, 2013
[quote author=bxdee][/quote]89 marks
SportsRe: NFF To Set Up A Scouting Unit For Foreign Born Players by smoothicon(m): 12:07pm On Sep 30, 2013
plainmirror: Moving from a foreign land to play football in Nigeria is lyk fetching firewood in a desert tongue
Bros....not when the money is talking
EducationRe: Governor Lamido Appeals To ASUU To End Strike by smoothicon(m): 12:05pm On Sep 30, 2013
Political Propanganda...sha see hw d guy tak do small campaign
SportsRe: NFF To Set Up A Scouting Unit For Foreign Born Players by smoothicon(m): 12:03pm On Sep 30, 2013
anoda tactics and measure of packing our money
CelebritiesRe: Jim Iyke Tweets About His Deliverance by smoothicon(m):
fr3do: e le gidi gon cheesy

@post
look at who is talking about false prophets
she is doing more harm than them.

https://www.eventgossip.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Dencia-1.jpg

wooh,is it hot out here! grin
Damn!! am rock hard!...dis chick is a killer
CelebritiesRe: Nollywood Actor Jim Iyke Delivered From Evil Spirit At Scoan On Emmanuel Tv by smoothicon(op): 12:09am On Sep 30, 2013
Ogbolor: LMAO! This cracked me up! See how guy man dey roll for ground! Download the video here>>> http://www16.zippyshare.com/v/46457802/file.html
LMAO!!
PoliticsRe: President Media Chat On 29th September 2013 by smoothicon(m): 10:44pm On Sep 29, 2013
Emzybrown: I am PRO-GEJ and i will remain so until i find a capable substitute, but for now shut up your dirty mouths all you stinky foul thrush mouth, if you cannot be constructive in your argument then shove your tongue to your dirty buttocks. GEJ is haven sent to liberate Nigeria from the shackles of under-development.
your mother's rotten cunt for dis trash
Music/RadioRe: Justin Beiber Is Greater Than Fela, Sunny Ade And All African Musicians by smoothicon(m): 10:40pm On Sep 29, 2013
in your dreams @op
PoliticsRe: President Media Chat On 29th September 2013 by smoothicon(m): 7:53pm On Sep 29, 2013
wickyyolo: GEJ is the biggest oil theft, why do you think he will stop it ?
GBAGAUN!!
PoliticsRe: President Media Chat On 29th September 2013 by smoothicon(m): 7:30pm On Sep 29, 2013
Orlando Owoh: I thought GEJ would make the first gbagaun, but it was made by the AIT staff who addressed him as GCON instead of GCFR.
hahahaahah guy u bad o
CelebritiesRe: Nollywood Actor Jim Iyke Delivered From Evil Spirit At Scoan On Emmanuel Tv by smoothicon(op): 6:59pm On Sep 29, 2013
Gaskiya...dis MOD are not trying at all so dis info does not merit frot page abi...i posted dis first and anoda post was put on d FP am highly dissapointed
CelebritiesNollywood Actor Jim Iyke Delivered From Evil Spirit At Scoan On Emmanuel Tv by smoothicon(op):
About 10 minutes ago at SCOAN nollywood actress was captured live on emmanuel TV being delivered of an evil spirit at the live sunday service..there was an uproar in the congregation once the camera captured him...Jim was ininitially dragging with the ushers b4 deliverance but after deliverance he turned around an said "who pulled my shoes don't u knw its embarassing"" a chick was also spotted hugging him tightly when he broke down in tears after coming back to his senses
NOTE::the evil spirit also admitted being responsible for JIM not being married b4 it was kicked as so let's be expecting JIM weds NADIA BUAIRI anytym soon
PoliticsRe: Boko-Haram Seeks Bullet Proof Jazz From Oyo State!! by smoothicon(m): 3:40pm On Sep 29, 2013
[quote author=tmotmo]In honesty, not only did Adolph Hitler quoted from the bible, he got the full support of the then Roman catholic of Germany.

2ndly, shocking but, is the truth, the pope emeritus, benedict Bleep, was a Nazi member when he was a youth
see link
http://www.remnantofgod.org/ratzinger-ban.htm



To answer you questionsYOU ARE A BORN BASTARD FOR STILL REFERRING TO THE OLD CONVENANT LAWS OF MOSES AFTER CHRIST HAS CLEANSED IT AND MADE A NEW CONVENANT OF PEACE WITH US...Halleluyah!!

Using any scripture to justify evil is not only restricted to Quran,
Your "holy" bible had been used by many and it is equally still in use to justify crimes and evil

from CNN
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/04/12/how-the-bible-was-used-to-justify-slavery-abolitionism/

AND
Few others directly from bible are:-

Kill People Who Don't Listen to Priests

Anyone arrogant enough to reject the verdict of the judge or of the priest who represents the LORD your God must be put to death. Such evil must be purged from Israel. (Deuteronomy 17:12 NLT)


Kill Witches

You should not let a sorceress live. (Exodus 22:17 NAB)



Kill Homosexuals
"If a man lies with a male as with a women, both of them shall be put to death for their abominable deed; they have forfeited their lives." (Leviticus 20:13 NAB)



Kill Fortunetellers

A man or a woman who acts as a medium or fortuneteller shall be put to death by stoning; they have no one but themselves to blame for their death. (Leviticus 20:27 NAB)

Death for Cursing Parents

1) If one curses his father or mother, his lamp will go out at the coming of darkness. (Proverbs 20:20 NAB)

2) All who curse their father or mother must be put to death. They are guilty of a capital offense. (Leviticus 20:9 NLT)


Death for Adultery

If a man commits adultery with another man's wife, both the man and the woman must be put to death. (Leviticus 20:10 NLT)

Death for Fornication

A priest's daughter who loses her honor by committing fornication and thereby dishonors her father also, shall be burned to death. (Leviticus 21:9 NAB)

Death to Followers of Other Religions

Whoever sacrifices to any god, except the Lord alone, shall be doomed. (Exodus 22:19 NAB)

Kill Nonbelievers

They entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and soul; and everyone who would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, was to be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. (2 Chronicles 15:12-13 NAB)




Kill the Entire Town if One Person Worships Another God

Suppose you hear in one of the towns the LORD your God is giving you that some worthless rabble among you have led their fellow citizens astray by encouraging them to worship foreign gods. In such cases, you must examine the facts carefully. If you find it is true and can prove that such a detestable act has occurred among you, you must attack that town and completely destroy all its inhabitants, as well as all the livestock. Then you must pile all the plunder in the middle of the street and burn it. Put the entire town to the torch as a burnt offering to the LORD your God. That town must remain a ruin forever; it may never be rebuilt. Keep none of the plunder that has been set apart for destruction. Then the LORD will turn from his fierce anger and be merciful to you. He will have compassion on you and make you a great nation, just as he solemnly promised your ancestors. "The LORD your God will be merciful only if you obey him and keep all the commands I am giving you today, doing what is pleasing to him." (Deuteronomy 13:13-19 NLT)


Kill Women Who Are Not Virgins On Their Wedding Night

But if this charge is true (that she wasn't a virgin on her wedding night), and evidence of the girls virginity is not found, they shall bring the girl to the entrance of her fathers house and there her townsman shall stone her to death, because she committed a crime against Israel by her unchasteness in her father's house. Thus shall you purge the evil from your midst. (Deuteronomy 22:20-21 NAB)



Kill Followers of Other Religions.

1) If your own full brother, or your son or daughter, or your beloved wife, or you intimate friend, entices you secretly to serve other gods, whom you and your fathers have not known, gods of any other nations, near at hand or far away, from one end of the earth to the other: do not yield to him or listen to him, nor look with pity upon him, to spare or shield him, but kill him. Your hand shall be the first raised to slay him; the rest of the people shall join in with you. You shall stone him to death, because he sought to lead you astray from the Lord, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery. And all Israel, hearing of this, shall fear and never do such evil as this in your midst. (Deuteronomy 13:7-12 NAB)



2) Suppose a man or woman among you, in one of your towns that the LORD your God is giving you, has done evil in the sight of the LORD your God and has violated the covenant by serving other gods or by worshiping the sun, the moon, or any of the forces of heaven, which I have strictly forbidden. When you hear about it, investigate the matter thoroughly. If it is true that this detestable thing has been done in Israel, then that man or woman must be taken to the gates of the town and stoned to death. (Deuteronomy 17:2-5 NLT)



Death for Blasphemy

One day a man who had an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father got into a fight with one of the Israelite men. During the fight, this son of an Israelite woman blasphemed the LORD's name. So the man was brought to Moses for judgment. His mother's name was Shelomith. She was the daughter of Dibri of the tribe of Dan. They put the man in custody until the LORD's will in the matter should become clear. Then the LORD said to Moses, "Take the blasphemer outside the camp, and tell all those who heard him to lay their hands on his head. Then let the entire community stone him to death. Say to the people of Israel: Those who blaspheme God will suffer the consequences of their guilt and be punished. Anyone who blasphemes the LORD's name must be stoned to death by the whole community of Israel. Any Israelite or foreigner among you who blasphemes the LORD's name will surely die. (Leviticus 24:10-16 NLT)


Infidels and Gays Should Die

So God let them go ahead and do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other's bodies. Instead of believing what they knew was the truth about God, they deliberately chose to believe lies. So they worshiped the things God made but not the Creator himself, who is to be praised forever. Amen. That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. And the men, instead of having normal intimate relationships with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men and, as a result, suffered within themselves the penalty they so richly deserved. When they refused to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their evil minds and let them do things that should never be done. Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, fighting, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They are forever inventing new ways of sinning and are disobedient to their parents. They refuse to understand, break their promises, and are heartless and unforgiving. They are fully aware of God's death penalty for those who do these things, yet they go right ahead and do them anyway. And, worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too. (Romans 1:24-32 NLT)



Kill People for Working on the Sabbath

The LORD then gave these further instructions to Moses: 'Tell the people of Israel to keep my Sabbath day, for the Sabbath is a sign of the covenant between me and you forever. It helps you to remember that I am the LORD, who makes you holy. Yes, keep the Sabbath day, for it is holy. Anyone who desecrates it must die; anyone who works on that day will be cut off from the community. Work six days only, but the seventh day must be a day of total rest. I repeat: Because the LORD considers it a holy day, anyone who works on the Sabbath must be put to death.' (Exodus 31:12-15 NLT)



2. Yes
"I am now as before a Catholic and will always remain so" -- Adolf Hitler


3. Yes


http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2013/02/20/new-study-religion-helps-criminals-justify-their-crimes/

and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Jones
(the Guyana tragedy by Rev. Jones in 1978)


NOTICE:
The only Nazi ever excommunicated by the church of Rome, even after all the war crime tribunals was Joseph Goebbels. His crime? He married a Protestant,


SUMMARY,

Answers to your question do not have enough space here on NL, you are note that your Xtianity is selfish, because it teaches intolerance and deceit, but making you to believe otherwise, so some libertarian used the word "programmed species" to replace Xtian.

Christians are fun of wrong labeling other who are not of their creed, despite overwhelming verses in the "holy" bible that contain and give support to killing, murder, adultery, fornication, slavery, hatred and other crimes.

I will like you to encourage yourself in reading and understanding your bible well and not what your pasto
EducationRe: The Polytechnic, Ibadan 2013/2014 Admission Processes by smoothicon(m): 2:26pm On Sep 29, 2013
[color=#990000][/color]
smoothicon: oga sir!! my own case is i chose SLT aggregate score 46.63 and cut off is 47..watin man go do?
sumbody answer me naw
EducationRe: The Polytechnic, Ibadan 2013/2014 Admission Processes by smoothicon(m): 9:47pm On Sep 28, 2013
Koats14: just keep praying bro,buh with ur score nd status(pre.nd student) walahi u are IN.
oga sir!! my own case is i chose SLT aggregate score 46.63 and cut off is 47..watin man go do?
LiteratureRe: There And Back On Time (Nairaland Best Story of all Time) by smoothicon(m): 3:08pm On Sep 28, 2013
yeah...cant wait to see where d proud brat's ass got punked ;Dyeah...cant wait to see where d proud brat's ass got punked
Music/RadioRe: I Am The Jesus Of Nigerian Music - Jesse Jagz by smoothicon(m): 1:21pm On Sep 27, 2013
and here goes another proud brat
EducationRe: The Polytechnic, Ibadan 2013/2014 Admission Processes by smoothicon(m): 10:52am On Sep 21, 2013
Seunfunmi18: Am naw an admitted student of poly ibadan.......kisskisskiss
shey list don comeout ni??
PoliticsRe: Lagosians Witness 9 Hours Of Static Traffic Jam by smoothicon(m): 10:47am On Sep 21, 2013
God bless America!!

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