₦airaland Forum

Pot calling kettle black. Trust politicians at your peril.

Rivers State House of Assembly, Local Govts and state Judiciary are all in Wike's pocket. You won't hear pim from any of those guys. What is happening in Rivers state is worse than rubber stamp, it is total slavery to the emperor.

At least there is some form of debate and opposing views at the National Assembly.

Cognitivereason:
I wished what u said made sense but doesn't...
U hardly find investors on any rail project simply because it is capital intensive and it built mainly for service and to be the cheapest form of transport rather than profit..

U can't expect an organization or Private people to invest 1.6bn dollars on let say Lagos Ibadan rail line only to charge 3k for a trip..so project like this are usually funded by the government or the government borrow to fund it....China it self borrowed to set up it own high speed rail line....US even Saudi Arabia is doing same and is building on a desert while giving the contract to China...so it a normal thing

Excellent insight. No private entity invests in rail infrastructure as it is capital intensive, not immediately profitable and highly regulated. Govts build those sort of infrastructure because they open up new markets and enable many others. We have a huge infrastructure deficit in Nigeria that needs billions of dollars to close and we are only just scratching the surface. Even US is now trying to pass a $1.6trillion infrastructure fund to close their own gap when compared with China. That will be funded via loans too.

So sad we lost such a courageous man. Is it possible he died of complications arising from covid?

GEJ laid the foundation for all this nonsense. When he was asked to allow the North produce a Presidential candidate in 2011 to complete Yaradua's tenure, he refused. He contested and won. He contested again in 2015 and if he won would have ensured the South ruled for 18 yrs compared with the North's 2 years. In that scenario, the South would have kept quiet, cleaned mouth and give one flimsy excuse. The North licked its wounds in 2011 and waited for a payback opportunity which they are now exploring. We shouldn't have been discussing this issue now

Dele writes glowing words but still largely politically immature. He has underestimated PMB at every turn yet he doesn't learn. If he asks PDP to rebrand and present young vibrant candidates, why not urge APC to do the same? He has written off APC as a party and castigated the very person that he should be crediting. Has he bothered to ask why every decampee credit PMB for their decision? No gun was pointed at the heads of those decamping. Those that know how the game is played are outsmarting you at every turn and you keep writing week in week out. They will largely ignore you as you can do zilch about nothing. By the way, congrats on your chieftancy award.

Rolings:
Can britain allow what abokifx do what it is doing to the naira to the pounds?
Which country surrenders its fx market to manipulators?
Answer nairaland fx expert?

Una go dey defend what is not obtainable anyhwere to happen to your country and is shameless about it
How will government policy work when citizens like you encourage saboteurs

Have some shame man

What i have come to realise is that a lot of people like to argue against everything govt does. It is not a bad thing if the arguments support their positions.

What are the alternatives? Float the naira and stop maintaining multiple rates. Ok, good point. CBN started doing that through trading at the I&E window. It didn't stop the speculation as people can't stand the scrutiny required to operate at that window, they want to remain anonymous and informal with the possibility of continuous speculation.

Supply the market adequately. Can be done if we have enough forex. However, we don't have and we can't continue asking CBN to defend the naira by dipping hands into our forex reserves.

Many of us want to buy forex at official rates from the banks but very few want to sell to the banks because they rather sell at the higher black market rate. We need to look inwards to solve our problems

adonainana:
No I’m not in the importation business I’m in the exportation business

Good for you. You are actually helping the rest of us as you earn forex

adonainana:
Frivolous ridiculous hurt the economy yet you buy it and need it and you are probably typing with one now but it’s frovilous

We talking about food imports but it’s frivlous to you, we can produce it

Why don’t you go and set up your factory and produce it and let people who want to import there own import it

Pls are you in this importation business? Let me free you

adonainana:
Pls I warned you not to reply me on the issue of why does chukwuemeka need million of dollars to import things, the phone you are using to ask these questions, where do you think the phones are imported from

The SIM cards you are using to browse to ask these questions you are asking me where do you think they came from

The rice you eat at home, the tv in your house

Pls don’t annoy me bro, pls just be quiet and let’s deal with people making lives hard for us

We grow rice in Nigeria. SIM cards are things we can substantially produce if we put our minds to it. Even those phones and TVs we import can be manufactured in Nigeria thereby providing jobs for locals and putting less pressure on forex. We want to make omelette but don't want to break eggs. Many of the things we source forex to import are frivolous, ridiculous and hurt our economy

adonainana:
Pls if you are one of those people that normally say the opposite of what rational people say or do just to think you know what you are talking about or make you look different then pls stop

This is not the right time

exchange rate for a commodity ( whatever the commodity is currency, petrol etc )os crested if there via the original market for that commodity or item

Where do you want Nigerian banks to find 1 million dollars chukewuemka wants to go and use to import items from China from hence the need to source the dollars from another market which is not official

Please don’t dare reply me that the importer shouldn’t import what Nigeria lives and feeds on everyday
Sometimes it’s better to be quiet if you don’t know anything and just let those who know dictate and explain to those of you who don’t know m

Why would Chukwuemeka need millions of dollars to import what can be produced in Nigeria? These are the things that put pressure on the currency

FreeStuffsNG:
Another one bites the dust. He claimed to be a British citizen who sits down in his comfy in London and fixes parallel exchange rate to raise the incentive for speculators.
This is a bit late for CBN to have figured since but it's better late than never. This forex racketeering and speculation just has to stop! He dare not try this criminal activity in the UK, his adopted country, but he is sitting overseas and using his education to wreck an already bad situation yet folks are here wondering what his going on The CBN governor is right that he will make sure the guy face charges for economic sabotage.

Go and check out comments and posts by this Oniwinde guy, he will even be among those blaming Buhari and Emefiele! There are many Oniwinde here on Nairaland.

All the enemies of Nigeria will lose las las. They always lose. God bless Nigeria.

Spot on sir. They are speculating on our currency and taking advantage of the situation knowing how people have come to trust that website

Awoleesu:
Well, I think there are quite a number of them sha...
Saminu Turaki of jigawa, Sule Lamido of Jigawa ( even went to jail with his son), Joshua Dariye and Jonah Jang of Plateau, Rev. Jolly Nyame of Taraba, even Danjuma Goje of Gombe still has pending sentence hanging on his neck.

There are others too like Abdullahi Adamu of Nasarawa, and Umaru Shinkafi of Zamfara. However, I wouldn't know f their passports were ever seized!

Thank you for this. Very comprehensive response

sunnnnyuu:
Republic of scammers ( Nigeria) how come discos will remit 26 billion and FG will inject 1.3 trillion to power? Please who's the idiots that join this scam (Nigeria) ? To hell with him and may God punish him bastard son of bitch, no more Nigeria let's the youth join hand in breaking the country

N26bln is remittance for 1 month. N1.3trn is cumulative injection from 2017 to 2020 to help stabilise the system which should largely be the discos' responsibility but they are struggling.

At least if the youth want to take over, they should start by properly understanding the issue.

CXLVII:
smh…

What is Dangote monopolizing?

Is DSTV also monopolizing?

Or is Jeff Bezos also monopolizing?

Why y’all like blaming successful people for your woes.

Tell your village people to also form a union and invest in ways that could curtail Dangotes business dynamics and outreach.

Dude is a businessman that perfectly understands business.

Don't mind people. Rather than emulate him, build their own businesses in like fashion, all they do is pull him down.

He has done business with many Nigerian Presidents, North and South with no issues. If people say the Nigerian system provided him the monopoly to operate, what of his successes in 17 other African countries? Is he monopolising those countries too?

He is a shining example of what we want our business people to look like in Nigeria. 3 or 4 more Dangotes will reset our economy for sure. Let us build together and not tear down.

A whopping N220bln So if only ASUU and the University system gulp that much, how much will go to civil servants, polytechnics, doctors, nurses, judicial workers and the host of other unions?? Mind you, all these people do not make up to 5% of our population. I ask where will the money for capital projects for health, roads, rail and the million other things begging for attention come from?

The same us want to keep subsidy on petrol, pay less than cost price for power and indeed everything and pay little or no tax. If we do not address the revenue side of govt business, even the best and most up and doing govt the world over will struggle. We can't make an omelette without breaking eggs

History555:
It took 6 months to complete run way of Abuja airport but since 2019 they are still on the run way of enugu airport which is smaller than abuja.
Last year george mogahlu said onitsha seaport has been concessionsed. Now we are told the process is ongoing. How do you have a sea port when the river is not dredge.
Anamnco has produced bus. Where, when and who is using it.

FG should hastily complete Enugu International Airport as you observed. But look at the total picture - it took years to complete the new PortHarcourt Intl airport. As we speak, Lagos and Kano airports have not yet been completed. So don't read ethnic meanings into it, rather we should urge the govt to complete all three airports. If you argue like that, no one will fault it.

As for the Onitsha inland port, in my view the coastal ports of Calabar, Akwa Ibom, Warri and PHC should be prioritised as those are the ones that will receive goods directly from outside Nigeria. That will decongest the Apapa ports straightaway. Then you focus on railways that will bring those goods from those ports inland, including Onitsha. I will focus on above than working on internal waterways. Mind you, if you dredge the Onitsha port alone without dredging all the way from the coastal ports, you will still face problems. Rail transport is cheaper, faster, more efficient and doubles as a means to transport people around. I believe these areas are receiving attention by this govt. It takes time so good to be patient.

Kajaard:
I love the way you put your points intelligently. With regards my kinsmen, I could careless whether my kinsmen get those lofty positions as long as the major ethnic groups and geo-political zones are represented equally ( I am from the South South by the way - Edo state .

I really love this country and I personally feel the brunt of our reputational decay whenever I travel out on business trips and it has never been this bad.

I really want to be optimistic like you that things are being put in place for the better in the long run but I am just not seeing it. Cheers bro

Fair point. It is hard to be optimistic for sure but this is still our country. Look beyond the present, grab the opportunities as I believe there are many. Let us not allow politicians divide us along religious and ethnic lines. Look for the good of others, criticise constructively and you will see how we can overcome our challenges in no time. Cheers too bro

Kajaard:
No one is arguing the fact that there has not being some positive achievements, but in a situation where the bad outweighs the good it gives cause for concern.

1. See the naira dollar exchange rate
2. The rising insecurity in the nation - we have never had it this bad
3. The increase in unemployment and under-employment which has given rise to so many ills like crime, fraud e.g yahoo yahoo et Al
4. The inequality in federal appointments as it pertains to the geo- political regions

My brother I could go on and on. I really don't like writing much.

Good you pointed out the negatives. Much of the security challenges are driven by the sagging economy. There are tough decisions made by this govt which in my view have short term impact but good for the long term. Weaning us from import dependency and diversifying the economy all have short term impacts. As for the lopsided appointments, I agree he could have managed it better but the truth is that is not the most important thing. Pls tell me what exactly your kinsmen appointed to govt positions over the past 60 years did for your ethnic group? I will rather we focus on the competency of appointees.

Kajaard:
Lol

I know how you feel bro. Every reasonable person feels exactly the same way too

Every reasonable person? Sometimes it heals to put aside bitterness and say it as it is. The least you can do is puncture that list of achievements. The President has his good and bad sides. It won't kill to acknowledge the good and chastise the bad. It is this attitude from many that prevents progress. You can meet in the middle

obailala:
Nobody who commented on first and almost the entire second page bothered to read the article. It's just a symptom of a great problem we have in Nigeria.

Precisely. I often find that a lot of our people are steeped in ethnic chauvinism, religious bigotry and selfish preservation. By the way, this applies to ALL parts of this country

Sheik Gumi though very unpopular makes some points. It is purely an economic problem whose resolution lies in understanding the issues and resolving them. The issues around cattle rustling, alienation, profiling, lack of educational opportunities are at the root of the security issues in the NW. Kinetic and non kinetic approaches are required. Carrot and stick approach should work. He mentioned the case of the ND militants and what has since been achieved. Before throwing away the baby with the bath water, perhaps good to sift through some of the messages he is trying to pass

sabreal:
Breaking:

Impostor Muhammadu Buhari reportedly orders NBC
to go after Channels Television licence to be suspended by the federal Govt of Nigeria over interview of Gov. Ortom and Retired Naval Commodore Kunle Olawunmi

Reportedly Ordered for the arrest of Chamberlain Usoh, Co-Host on Sunrise Daily and his colleagues, anchors of the program at Channels.

Below is the interview-

#On_Channels_Tv_Sunrise_Daily_NDA_Attack

Commodore Olakunle Olawunmi (A military intelligence veteran with 35 years experience) is spilled it all and says he doesn't care if he is killed.

"I belong to a group in the Military that's not supposed to be seen or heard. Right now, I don't care if I am eliminated"Kunle Olawunmi
Prof of Global Security Studies.

1. Some Governors, ministers and Senators are sponsors of Boko Haram and the Government knows them.

2. Bureau De Change operators are also sponsors of Boko Haram which is also known.

3. Another security breach is that every Friday NDA and all government institutions are opened for Jumat prayers. They come on Friday for worship. Later they become members of the mess who will later spy on the institution and plan their attack.

4. This government does not want to resolve this problem, rather they are escalating it.

5. The solution is not Kinetic solution but non kinetic.You identified the center of gravity, which had been identified. The center of gravity is the sponsors of Boko Haram and Bandits.

6. Most of these sponsors are known within the intelligence community.

7. The DMI, DSS and Police intelligence knows the sponsors very well.The DSS knows very well with tons of files of those sponsoring evil in this country.

8. The defense headquarters knows all those who are behind the terror going on in Nigeria today.

9. The commander in chief knows exactly what is happening but he is quite. When a fish is about to get rotten, the head is the first.

10. The end game is to turn Nigeria into Taliban type of Country. Everyone in the Defense HQ, Army HQ, Naval HQ, and Airforce HQ.

11. The government of Dubai knows the sponsors and they sent lists to the federal government. What did Buhari do?

12. A highly ranked member of this government was interrogated and was found culpable. He is currently a highly rated member of this government.

13. This government wants the government to be islamized.Thats the truth.

14. We are currently in the worst security situation in Nigeria today. CIA actually didn't trust Buhari before 2015. It took the intelligence community and Tinubu to convince Obama and CIA to accept him. They said he was a bigot and will plunge the country.

15. According to Naval Commander Kunle Olawunmi a Prof of Global Security Studies, he said the government directed that all media should be calling them Bandits and unknown gun men so that the international community will be mislead that they are not terrorist.

16. Tagging them Terrorists will invite the international community.

17. He added that the government don't want journalists to report the true picture of what is happening in the country.

18. He added that there must be insider collaboration in NDA. There are a lot of irresponsible people in Nigerian Military formations. This is well known.

19. In few hours the people that attacked NDA will be apprehended, but that's not the solution.

20. The Government should have a policy change. The sponsors should be apprehended and brought to justice.

21. There must be a direct change of policy from Islamization to Democracy.

22. This is a tyrannical government.The damage this government is going to do in the next two years will be more than what they had done in the past six years.

This man needs to be protected

Naval Commander Kunle added that there will be 10% casualties to make it look like it's Banditry and not Islamization.Thats why you see attacks in some Muslims areas so as to convince the international community that the government knows nothing.

Southerners Unite, we must dismantle contraption Nigeria Now

#RIPONENIGERIA

#CitizenAY

There is nothing new the Prof and retired Naval Commander said. Many politicians and security people have said same thing in the past. If he wants to go all the way, he should mention all the names of terrorism and bandits sponsors

Eriokanmi:
I can only respect external ratings and reports, not the one brought to the fore by the NBC

But when the same NBC post the unemployment and inflation rates, you will believe them because it plays to your negative mindset

Flairoqy:
I hate this, I hate that... All your hates won’t change a thing, keep running away from the country and keep carrying out crimes against the government, this is our home, we’ll build it.
Keep blaming the leadership for crimes citizens are committing over bias ethnocentrism, when a new administration comes and nothing changes with respect to insecurity then we’ll all understand how to deal with a situation other than playing the blame game.
My only problem is the president is pretty fed up with the burden of this nation and that’s because he’s too weak to withstand concurrent conflicts and decision making, but if the nation isn’t a stupid place, the president would only be bothered with developing the country.
The only way out is for all region to chill, accept each other’s differences and fight a common goal, that’s a better economy.
Religion and ethnicity should be the least of our problems right now, we aren’t the only diverse nation in the world.
I’m tired

This is the most balanced post I have read on this thread. Thanks for your thoughts. If only people knew...

CoolAmbience:
Which young visionary leaders are you talking about? People like you who reason in a one way traffic-like manner?

Was it the PIA signed by Buhari that compelled the likes of Ibori, Odili, Alamaeseigha etc, to loot the resources of the region? Couldn't such huge resources have been deployed into enhancing development and wellbeing of people in the region?

Which policies do not have shortcomings anywhere in the world? Name one!

As far as I know, the PIA is a welcome development, and Nigeria can always move from there to improving efficiency in the Oil & Gas industry.

For me, it is not about giving more money to communities and states, it is about expanding advocacies around fiscal responsibility and getting leaders to account for their stewardship, especially by their own people.

All that young people in the South south do is, hail their thieving leaders; calling them Chiefs instead of Thiefs, that they truly are; while condemning the FG at the slightest opportunity. That's absolute nonsense!

Often baffles me to see how bias enables reason to take flight. You have intelligently analysed it. Let those who want to continue in their ignorant ways go ahead, they are so entitled. The Act is a watershed in our history and should be commended. We are talking of an act that replaced the existing 1969 Act. That it was even passed and signed into law after all the past failures should be testament to the focus and will of current govt.

cooltola:
The North does not own Nigeria and the South do not own Nigeria. Both have a lot to play in Nigeria. I do not get this North vs the South online war going on. Because when it comes to looting and corruption, the political elites are very united regardless who is from the North or from the south. Individual accomplishments from people from Southern Nigeria do not mean jack when the poverty rate is increasing. The South can have 200 noble price winners and if poverty rates does not go down,, it means nothing.. the North have 50 billionaires, it doesn't mean jack when poverty and insecurity is the order of the day. A region where Boko Haram and insurgency is roaming unchecked should be a cause of concern from any government. Last time I checked terrorism and insurgency in Northern states is a bad as Iraq, Pakistan or Afghanistan. The North need to take care of insecurity or else, the North will become the next Afghanistan. Kudos to the Nigeria army who are fighting and do not get enough support and I pray the western nation get involved against terrorist attack and the fulani herdsmen attack. For the South, kidnapping should be dealt seriously. Security should be a priority subject for next election

Excellent and balanced commentary. If we all have this mindset, we will be 100 times better than we are currently. Let us live and work for one another, eschewing individualistic behaviours - I am better than the next person type of mentality is the cause of our stunted growth as a people

grandstar:
Who told you that is what is necessary to move the economy forward? Is it an Economist like Charles Soludo or Pat Utomi?

Head knowledge isn't economics unfortunately. There should be some import duty to create a level playing field and keep him on his toes. No Economist worth his salt would support muzzling competition. None.

They are also wary of monopolies and duopolies especiay where the dominant players have acquired it through brutal anti-competition tactics. That's exactly what Dangote plans to do.

Competition based on unmitigated and unchecked continuous importation of something we can produce locally despite all the downsides including putting pressure on forex?

There are tons of people doing good business in Nigeria. Cosmas Maduka the Coscharis guy, Allen Onyema the Air Peace guy, Innosson Motors to mention a few. These guys earn my respect because they grow the local industries and employ loads of people. Their businesses save us forex (perhaps except for the air peace guy, but he is striving to do much of his aircraft maintenance in Naija).

Again, the likes of Tony Elumelu and Abdul Samad Rabiu are gradually competing with Dangote in several areas. No one is denying them the opportunity. We need more of those people to commit to doing big business and expanding the economy, not cry babies who see only one person as the source of hindrance to doing business. Be bold, take risks, build local industries, invest and be patient. You will win some and lose some, that is life. Eventually, you will get there. I am not a fan of the crying victim. I make it work by daring. We need more of that mindset not less.

nograv:
The North comes under the umbrella of Arewa, a legacy of the efforts of Ahmedo Bello. Aided by the legacy of the older Sokoto Caliphate.

The South was never culturally or even economically unified, but by virtue of the British legacy of colonialism was left more westernised with greater respect for meritocracy and rule of law. The Igbos in particular value individualistic success and democracy, which is a legacy of their political structures prior to colonialism.

The South may not be unified, but have more in common than with their counterparts in the North. I have said it before, in the diaspora I have seen Igbos and Yoruba happily work together. I have rarely ever encountered a Northerner in gainful employment in the diaspora. I met one and he was a bus driver in Ireland..

Those 14 years where we saw great progress was due to Southerners which is something you refuse to acknowledge.

I am past the point of trying to make you see reason. I care little for Northerners and I want nothing to do with them.. A unified state of Southern Nigeria may not be perfect, but it would be a damn sight better than the Nigeria we currently have. Bedevilled by marauding herdsmen, Islamic terrorism, Northern ethnic nepotism, Northern corruption, media suppression, economic decline and a general breakdown in rule of law.

Look at Chad and Niger, you have a great idea of what a Northern Nigeria will be. Look at Ghana and see what a Southern Nigeria is likely to become.. I am done with Northerners, the era of One Nigeria is OVER.. let's go our separate ways and be done with it.

I respect your wish frankly. I do not support a forceful union but was pointing to the illusion that a progressive Southern Nigeria is hampered by a North you describe with so many unkind words. The North is not as monolithic as you think. There are also many ethnic groups that make it up and it is not fair to lump them all together.

Similar adjectives you used for the North can conveniently fit the South too. The so called Northerners choose to stay in country and pursue careers in the civil service, Army and the likes while many Southerners choose to travel abroad to go after more glamorous pursuits. It is a choice with their own consequences.

We will soon have a Southern President and I can bet you that 90% of these agitations will melt away. It is the way of we humans.

superde:
Hello everyone,

With due respect to all brillant young minds on this forum who one hope to see the Nigeria of their dreams. I’m forced to write in here just to correct the mis-information going around in here about this project.

I am one of the early subscribers to Nairalsnd back in 2004 and I used to own a career thread in here,

I write this as a retired NLNG employee who has a first hand knowledge about this project. I lived and worked on Bonny Island for so many years and looked forward to seeing Bonny- Bido road done especially during the heights of Niger Delta militancy when people were being killed on the waters and we only rely on Choppers and Navy security guided boats to travel out of the Island.

-Pls note that the conception of this project predates Buhari, Jonathan and even Obasanjo Admins. This project has always being part of the infrastructures planned for the Bonny Isand and sorrounding riverine communitities due to them as major contributors to the nations economy. I can tell you that this project was conceived more than 20 years before it finally commenced in 2017.

- We must give great kudos to the Buhari administration ( especially the tenacity and focus of Fashola and VP Obasanjo) who made sure that this project came to life despite all the odds that stood against it for decades. Jonathan had a golden opportunity to get this project started but he never did despite the fact NLNG was willing to pay 50% ( counter part funding) of total cost of the project as a motivation to get the Federal Government to this project going. It took Buhari’s commitment to take advantage of this 50% counter part funding to sanctioned his project. Government will in return give tax credits to company to cover for their contributions to the project. This has been done with the likes of for similar road constructions. Kudos to Fashola and former Finance Minister ( forgotten her now, the one with NYSC issue) for this initiatives.

- This road project was one of the infrastructural conditions to get FID for NLNG’s Train 7 as the company anticipates that water transport won’t be enough to cater for the influx of activities during and post T7 operations. Today T7 is not only FIDed but being constructed. Thanks to Buhari

- We all might not like Buhari for his nepotism and ethnicity tendencies but the truth is Buhari meant well for Nigeria but definitely there are sabotages here and there

- One thing that really got me surprised during the events leading to the turning of the soil ceremony for this project in 2017 was the attitude of Governor Wike to the fact that it was a Buhari Govt that got this project going. Wike brought in Politics into the whole thing and refused to attend the launch/turning of the soil ceremony. He insisted that he can’t attend an APC led insfractural project lunch. He instead decided to travel out of the country ( for his Barcelona academy project in Spain) just to have an excuse of not being in the country to avoid attending the ceremony for such a big and landmark project. He instead sent his deputy to attend the ceremony when the VP came to lunch the commencement of this project.

- Pls don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of Wike as I see him as one of performing Governors as per Infrastructural development but quite disappointed with attitude to this project. He chose to be selfish and partisan when he can easily choose to be happy with the people of Bonny that this long deserved road project has finally come to them and Rivers State in general.

This is not meant to support or castigate any Party as they all have their strengths and weaknesses but bottom line just to pass the right information about this project. Pls forgive any typos.

Thanks very much for sharing your useful insights. The former Finance Minister you referred to is Kemi Adeosun

nograv:
Now I know you are a zombie...

Are you mad? The clock doesn't start at 1999.

What of the Abacha era? The Babangida era? The Shagari era? Buhari's own era prior to this one.

Notice you said since democracy in 1999. Thats right Southerners returned us to democracy and respect democratic rule. Every time it has been Northerners dragging us into authoritarian dictatorships and dragging the economy backwards..

Mtcheww.. try again with your lies and revisionist history.. 1999 wow, when Naija became independent in 1960..

Honestly, the sooner this country splits between North and South the better..

Did anybody stop the Southerners from shooting their way to power? I referenced 1999 because it was the restart of unbroken democratic rule for a solid 22 years, enough time to measure some progress. 14 of those years were overseen by Southerners. I put that forward to remind you that this Southern/ Northern shout is a symptom of a deeper problem and not the main issue.

Let me ask you a question. Why can't the South ever unite and speak with one voice? Something as simple as that has been difficult to achieve, yet you think having a Southern country will solve all the problems. You better wake up. Hope is not lost though, seeing the unity displayed of recent by Southern Governors.

grandstar:
Singapore, a tiny country with only 5.7m refines 1.5m barrels of crude oil daily, most for export. This should tell you something.

Nigeria should by now be refining nothing less 2.5m barrels a day but barely refines any. It's job now should be how to improve capacity to 2.5m or more, for Nigeria to become the energy hub of Nigeria.

Instead, this does the opposite

If he needs market protection, an import duty should suffice. That's how it's done. This will make sure he isn't slaughtered easily by competition but also ensuring he does not overcharge consumers, monopolize the industry and scare off other investors.

It is also not "necessary at this stage of our development" . That's the argument that had been given these last 40 years with nothing to show for it. A fully deregulated and liberalized oil industry is the best for all stakeholders.

So when Nigeria makes the move to add refining capacity, we take exception. Dangote's refinery in Lagos will be a 650k bbls per day facility. The Rabiu refinery in Akwa Ibom will be 200k bbls per day. There are several modular refineries already in operation. NNPC is trying to revive all existing refineries which will add another 400k+ bbls per day. It is a build up that should be good news but what do I know.

When refinery licences were issued to more than 20 entities that did very little other than wanting to use the licences to engage in the rent seeking importation business while not growing our refining capacity, I knew the govt had to step in to incentivise those who commit to building refineries. Govt should go ahead and not listen to the noise emanating from some quarters. Sometimes, that is what it takes to forcefully move the country forward.