I have been following this thread for the past 2 days and have been holding myself back from commenting. There's a lot of uninformed commentary here from a lot of people who obviously don't know much about the area in question. The first myth I want to correct is the talk that the people in the area covered by the road are rich. BIG FALLACY. Not up to 20% of the people are comfortable not to talk abt being rich. People see estates on the main road from phase 1 to jakande and conclude that represents the population of the place. I challenge anybody to go along any of the roads off the main road and see the abject squalor in those without ANY govt presence. Places like Ilasan, interior Agungi, igbo efon, alfa beach, lafiaji village, olugborangan, onigbongbo village, ikota village epecially the one behind the oando filling station, the slum at Ilaje and Alesh, Alaguntan village and if you branch into Ajah places like oke ira, owode, langbasa etc you will think you stepped into the 18th century. Now govt does nothing for these people and the only remnant bequeathed to them by Jakande is now being taken away by Fashola. You see why they'll fight with the last drop of their blood. Now if you say they don't contribute to the state coffers, what about the so-called rich ones that live in the estates. Again govt does ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. All the estates come with their own amenities which the residents pay for because the govt will not do anything. The irony is that to do any project in that place costs an arm and a leg for consent and permits. I will not go into the argument about the morality or legality of the concession. Because of this issue, I went and checked my year-to-date playslip today and discovered to my chagrin that I've paid 8 million naira in PAYE taxes to the LASG this year alone! And someone will say Iam not entitled to a good road as the ONLY amenity govt provides for me?! Fashola cannot have it both ways, he either collects TAXES or TOLLS but not both of them.

The confusion abt pay is becauseof the way its done in the oil industry. There's basic salary and then allowances. I see the monthly pay as the cumulative annual pay divided by 12 and for a fresh graduate in the Nigerian oil industry, it averages well over a million per month.

The person dat quoted 17 million as entry level pay in total is absolutely correct. What a lot of people don't realize is dat shell is an outlier when it comes to pay among the big O&G companies but since outsiders seem to know more shell people, they usually quote shell numbers. The reason why shell figures are poor comparatively is dat PENGASSAN is almost dead there. For guys in other companies, the union practically guarantees you a 15% yearly increase in addition to any performance based increases you get. As such the average worker in Nigeria earns more than his counterpart abroad (US or UK) in the same company and on the same grade unlike what most people believe. For example, someone in Naija easily makes 100,000 pounds with 5 years experience wc is practically impossible in the UK and this mainly due to strong unions. I'm sure it's strange to some to know that the union sits wIth management EVERY year to negotiate pay and benefits and base it on competitor data. So most times the company that pays most is the one that had the last negotiations (except shell).

myth   /mɪθ/ Show Spelled[mith] Show IPAnoun
1.a traditional or legendary story, usually concerning some being or heroor event, with or without a determinable basis of fact or a natural explanation, especially one that is concerned with deities or demigods and explains some practice, rite, or phenomenon of nature.
2.stories or matter of this kind: realm of myth.
3.any invented story, idea, or concept: His account of the event is pure myth.
4.an imaginary or fictitious thing or person.
5.an unproved or false collective belief that is used to justify a social institution.

I posted this earlier in the education section but didn't get any replies. I decided to,post here because there have been a lot of discussions here on this issue.

I decided to set up this discussion due to some assertions that are touted as facts especially here on nairaland. These include but are not limited to the following:
1) First class and second class upper graduates from Nigerian universities buy their degrees either in cash or in kind
2) Second class lower and third class graduates of Nigerian universities are generally smarter than first class and second class upper graduates
3) A Nigerian education is essentially useless.

I am not asking for the same mundane cliches. I want fact-based replies saying whether the above are true. Let us know the university you attended in Nigeria, the general time frame when you attended and whether the above are true of YOUR university when you attended.

I schooled in OAU Ife spanning the 90s and early 2000s. I came boldly say the above are not true concerning Ife. It was impossible to sort for first class in Ife. The moSt laughable is 2 above. The majority of first class and 2.1graduates were extremely bright students who have gone on to do exploits in top foreign schools. @loma is one of these. I can go on and name tens if not hundreds others but I only used him because he's well known on this forum.

So, let me have views based on your PERSONAL experiences.

Looks like I have to move this topic to the politics section to get replies. Seems education section is frequented by only prospective university students.

I decided to set up this discussion due to some assertions that are touted as facts especially here on nairaland. These include but are not limited to the following:
1) First class and second class upper graduates from Nigerian universities buy their degrees either in cash or in kind
2) Second class lower and third class graduates of Nigerian universities are generally smarter than first class and second class upper graduates
3) A Nigerian education is essentially useless.

I am not asking for the same mundane cliches. I want fact-based replies saying whether the above are true. Let us know the university you attended in Nigeria, the general time frame when you attended and whether the above are true of YOUR university when you attended.

I schooled in OAU Ife spanning the 90s and early 2000s. I came boldly say the above are not true concerning Ife. It was impossible to sort for first class in Ife. The moSt laughable is 2 above. The majority of first class and 2.1graduates were extremely bright students who have gone on to do exploits in top foreign schools. @loma is one of these. I can go on and name tens if not hundreds others but I only used him because he's well known on this forum.

So, let me have your PERSONAL views.

This type of topic again?

Anyway, as it happens with a lot of things in life, this is strictly on an individual basis. For some living in Naija is d best decision they'll ever make while for others, they needed to relocate to make sense out of their lives. What I don't agree with are blanket statements that suggest that everyone will be better abroad. Personally, I don' believe that's true for me maybe because I'm able to get renumerated very well for my skills here. In terms of quality of life, it's not quite the same but it's close believe me. Be it housing, security, healthcare etc, I get good value and mostly free too. I started life at the bottom of society in Ajegunlle but by sheer hardwork and God's favour I'm where I am today. And please I didn't have any connections. I know what living abroad entails cos I studied there free, paid for by PTDF, and I made a decision that living there does not fit in with my long term personal aspirations.I actually have a lot of colleagues with green cards and canadian PR who are not leaving. They are resigned to losing it later. This is just to let people on here know that not everyone will run abroad with the first 6 mths visiting visa on their passport.
On the other hand I know people like @redman44 who could never have amounted to much in naija but are doing quite well abroad. Each person just needs a honest evaluation of theircircumstances and take the best decision for THEM. Don't live another person's life!

Can someone explain how 35,000 pounds is greater than 80,000 dollars? Abi na nite school I go?

OP.  Do u mean dat ur balance magically changed from 1 mill to 26 mill without a credit input? If so someone will be after you very soon if u don't report it. Believe me, it will ultimately be detected after audit. It is clearly a glitch and someone has not been doing his job but they'll ultimately do it unless they want to pay back 26 mill from their pocket. Naija bank no dey leave their money for anyone o, neither employee or customer.

Guy, entry level petroleum engineers make more than $100k a year in Nigeria (Exxon, Mobil & Total). I'm not sure about Shell though.

Bola Tinubu could not have retired from Mobil. He was 40 years old in 1992 when he won election to the senate and that is way below even early retirement age. He could not have been working and contesting elections at the same time. Please note that I'm not saying he didn't work for Mobil (I have no clue whether he did), what I'm saying is that based on the information available he could not have retgired from Mobil.

The problem is that a lot of the applicants know that they will not be given visas on their own merit (i.e. they simply do not qualify for one) and as such chanced on this fraudulent program. The average applicant to this nonsense scheme will also complain about "no jobs" in Nigeria, but objectively will anyone employ a person who cannot think and see through this flimsy scheme? It shows a level of daftness that will ruin any business that such people are called into.

@nues aweso
Abeg wetin Akin do you? Find am go Edinburgh now

How dumb are you?

I told u you're lying and that's the smarterst thing you can say? So much for a fully baked graduate.

Ajirebi
OAU does not have business studies major. It's obvious that you are just making up all you're saying.

@Negro

I understand what I'm talking about. This is not filing or whatever, it is PAYING. To them, there is no explanation, you either pay or get out. They tell the unemployed person to just do self assessment and pay. Note that they are not disputing the employment status, they just feel that for your name to appear on property papers you have to pay personal income tax. For the gov's consent thingy, if you don't have the tax papers of the person that sold land to you, you will pay theirs also. I don't have a problem with that but the tax papers of a husband should be enough for a couple buying property jointly in a case where the wife does not work.

This is one issueon which I'm having a running battle with Lagos State govt. Let me give 2 instances

1) My wife though a prefessional in her own right does not work because she has to take care of our little children. However, I buy our property in both our names (at least I shouldn't cheat the woman now?). When it comes to getting the gov. consent, they insist she pays tax and I explain that she doesn't work to no avail. I'm actually very angry because I personally pay tax worth more than most people's entire salary.

2) I'm in the process of setting up a business for my wife. To obtain approval from the govt the same tax thing came up. I believe since I'm the one spending the money, my tax info shld suffice. I believe govt is just lazy for their own gain, because I don't think it takes much to verify that we are actually married.

What this policy does is to short-change women. Men who are willing to buy things jointly with their non-working wives are discouraged from doing so because of the hassles.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201108221537.html

Geologists on Wednesday demanded for a probe of the claims of oil discovery "without an exploration" by Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara state stating that the manner such claims were made could cause embarrassment for Nigeria in the international community.
The earth scientists made this known at the annual technical meeting of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) in Lagos.
Governor Ahmed had while hosting management of National Mirror in Ilorin said that the state did not only confirm the discovery of crude oil in Ara Orin in Irepodun Local Government Area of the state but also identified the blend as Bonny Light, "a high-grade of crude oil preferred by European and American refineries due to its unique properties," a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communications, to the governor, Dr Muyideen Akorede said.
But renowned geologists Biodun Adesanya told Daily Independent that it might take a supernatural science to discover Bonny Light in such a speed and circumstances.
Adesanya's view was adopted by Gilbert Odior, a fellow of NAPE and all discussants at the technical meeting.
Odior specifically tasked the government to set up an investigation panel of geologists from the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and NAPE to examine the claim.
"My position is simple," Adesanya said, stating that this "thing has to be investigated properly. There is a standard procedure for evaluating and coming up with information that oil has been found."
Certain processes, according to Adesanya, "have to be taken into consideration. You cannot arbitrarily claim that you have found oil and you have tested it and that it is Bonny Light when you did not have a rig, when you do not drill. At least, you do not have record of that. In fact it requires some further investigation and clarifications."
Governor Ahmed had said the discovery was first highlighted by a farmer who discovered crude oil sprouting from his farm and seven other adjoining sites and alerted the state government.
The discovery, according to the governor came as the state identified solid minerals development and mining as key sources of internally generated revenue to fund development programmes.
Providing further clarification, he said geologists from the state Ministry of Industry and Solid Minerals were subsequently directed to confirm whether the substance was indeed crude oil and if so, identify the blend.
Governor Ahmed said the find was subsequently verified through independent analysis by a private oil company which also confirmed the government's findings.

All of you need to stop blowing hot air abeg! There's absolutely nothing shameful about a geologist not seeing crude oil before. Note that I have not said petroleum engineer. I just asked my geologist colleagues here now and most have not seen crude before. Reason? Their work absolutely does not require them coming in contact with crude. So that you may know, if a company employs 10 geologists, only about two of them will do field work. Most of them become development geologists in the office, earth modellers, seismic interpreters and formation evaluation specialists. So geologists here do not have to come up in arms here for that even when some of them drill water boreholes or work as tellers in banks.

Oga Knowall, abeg which one is "petrol chemical" engineer?

Oga ibrokay, are you a mud logger? If not, wetin you dey find near crude oil? You might as well be a wireline logger or do MWD/LWD but most people that do those are engineering graduates. I never said Nigeria does not have oil industry professionals, I am one myself!! That doesn't mean that anybody that picks up beer parlour oil industry talk is a professional because if you critique what a lot of people are saying here, you can see they got them from the beer parlour.

You're the one who should relax. I thought about it from your angle and scrutinized the statement, but they're not the same If the governor had said that the oil is "like" Bonny light, then you'll have a point. I know you know some things abt oil but don't push your luck. What has a reservoir being water-driven or gas-driven got to do with the blend? I know you have google and can look up something to explain your putting that up there but I'm sorry, that part is a load of nonsense. You made sense when you mentioned sulphur content, impurities and density but that's where it ended.

The governor is an ignorant fool. Do they understand how crude oil bourses are designated? How can they say the oil is Bonny light. For your information Bonny light is a blend of oil the oil flowing into the Bonny terminal. It's worked to achieve some specific properties. Same way we have Escravos blend, Forcados blend etc.

I'm outta here jare, I didn't know what I was getting myself into by joining this thread.

@knowall

I asked that question because you wrote that oil recognition should be common place in Nigeria because we have plenty of it. I can assure you that not up to 20% of qualified geologists in Nigeria have seen crude oil before.

Anyway, that's deviating from the discussion here. My point is that you do not announce an oil discovery because a farmer saw somwthing seeping from the ground.

To give a background of my knowledge of this field, some of the most comprehensive studies on tar sands bitumen in Nigeria was done at my undergraduate department in Ife. I personally worked on it for my B.Sc thesis. I've therefater studied petroleum engineering at M.Sc level in the UK and have worked as a reservoir engineer for more than half a decade so I can say that I know what I'm talking about. If you go to Agbabu, Idiobilayo and Oloda in Ondo State, there have been oil seepages since time immemorial but that does not make them announce that they discovered oil. Have you asked the Kwara State government if they've drilled there to confirm that a reservoir exists and if it does, the commerciality? And no, there's nowhere in Nigeria where the oil is almost "scoopable". Ask the governor what depths the deposits are and the reservoir pressure? Can flow be assured? Whether the oil is light or heavy? What's the API gravity?

I don't want you to see the above as an attmpt to brag or whatever. My point is that government officials should not come out to display their ignorance under the guise that every other person is also ignorant. Do you think there'll be a discovery in Kwara State and the whole industry in Nigeria will not be quaking with excitement now?

I rarely post on the forum but I'll not sit back and watch misinformation flying around unchecked.

@Knowall

Have you personally, ever seen crude oil before?

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You guys will not kill me. So you think this is how crude oil is discovered? Technical illiteracy na serious thing o.

What the farmer saw is most likely a seep from some shallow bitumen/tar sand deposit. Bitumen is not a new thing in the SW, estimates say there is as much as 33 billion barrels of bitumen in the Ogun-Ondo-Edo axis.

At the end of the day, human beings are the same evrywhere!! It is when opportunities arise that real character comes forth.

Una no dey pay yearly tenement rate?

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/uks-most-wanted-revealed-crimestoppers-230510850.html

Details of the top 10 most wanted suspected fraudsters in Britain have been released by the crime-fighting charity Crimestoppers.

Among them is a 48-year-old who allegedly posed as comedian Peter Kay's brother, took money from landlords and failed to perform as promised.

Peter Stead allegedly conned Derbyshire pub landlords out of thousands of pounds in 2009 and is accused of offering to put on a comedy night to raise money for the Lewis Mighty Fund .

The charity was established in a bid to raise £300,000 so that a six-year-old cancer patient could be flown to America and receive first-class treatment.

Another on the most wanted list released by Crimestoppers is Nasser Ahmed who police have linked to to an alleged £156m VAT fraud in Bristol.


The 38-year-old absconded during trial and was sentenced to six years in prison in his absence. He is wanted by revenue and customs police.

Timur Mehmet, 38, is wanted in connection with a £25m VAT fraud. Similarly, he absconded before trial and was sentenced in his absence to eight years.

According to Crimestoppers, he has links with north London and is wanted by revenue and customs police.

Misba Uddin is wanted by police for fraud by false representation after he allegedly submitted fraudulent mortgage applications while working as a financial adviser.


Once the mortgages - worth £5.7m - were processed, the 48-year-old is accused of transferring the funds into his own accounts.

Meanwhile Ajayi Seun, 48, charged with conspiracy to money launder, is alleged to have conned mortgage lenders and banks out of more than £12m. He has failed to answer bail.

Nicholas Slocombe, 28, is wanted in connection with reports from dozens of shops and businesses about alleged false claims of collecting for charity.

He was arrested in April on suspicion of more than 30 allegations of fraud by false representation across Shropshire and Herefordshire but failed to answer bail in May.


Jascent Nakawunde, a 33-year-old woman, is wanted for questioning in connection with an alleged £35,000 fraud in Cardiff between 2007 and 2008.

She was employed as a live-in carer for a woman in her 80s. During this time she is accused of stealing cheques from her which were allegedly paid into false accounts in London.

She is alleged to have used the aliases of Tania Bird and Tracey Bird and is wanted by South Wales Police .

Mohamad Khan, from Waltham Cross in north east London, is accused of using counterfeit credit cards to buy more than £100,000 worth of goods.


The 29-year-old, who shopped in centres such as Bluewater and Lakeside , was arrested and charged but failed to attend crown court and a warrant has been issued for his arrest.

Kevin Leitch, 48, from Liverpool, who is wanted by Devon and Cornwall Police after he allegedly took bookings for a holiday let in Cornwall.

He is accused of accepting payments often worth more than £1,000 but then cancelling the bookings only days beforehand, claiming the property is no longer available.

Finally, an unknown woman is alleged to have falsely obtained a debit card and account details in the name of a legitimate customer from a bank in Bethnal Green, in October 2008.

The electronic transfers were wired to locations across the world and used to buy a number of expensive vehicles, it is claimed. The total amount she is accused of stealing is £650,000.

Has anyone noticed that there were no Libyans on board?

@Ajanlekoko

For the first time on this forum (in my view), you are wrong. Oil companies don't refuse employment for any of the diseases highlighted here. In fact there are very strict policies especially for HIV/AIDS. These are international organizatioins and their policies are same everywhere. I know this because world AIDS day is a big do where I work and you are enlightened about policies and what the company has in place to take care of PLWHA.

When I was having my medicals some years ago I asked the doctor if they check for HIV and he said no. The only person that I knlow who had a problem with medicals had to do with a heart condition that required surgery. He went and got it done and today he's an employee.

Let's just say it's bad for the bottom-line for the company to disqualify based on those diseases (counterintuitive right, )

OP

Pls don't say this too loud o. Tinubu will pick up on it and put the sidewalks along with 3 toll gates to boot. Abeg no subject Allen people to the same thing we Lekki people a battling. sofri sofri o

Just for some clarity
1) The route on LCC's website is no alternative. If u doubt it, take the map, go and take thjat route and come back with your report
2) There's a fallacy about people not paying taxes and wanting govt amenities. This exactly is the crux of the matter. People on this axis are already up to their noses in taxes (personal income, development levy etc) with NOTHING to show for it. I make bold to claim that the highest taxes per capita in Lagos comes from Eti-Osa. Is it a crime to pay so mjuch and ask for just one free road?.
3) Someone posted a list of things like LAMATA, LASTMA etc as what taxes are spent on. Sorry to burst your bubble but those things don't affect me in any way. Again we ask, what did the people in Bourdillon Road do to deserve a road by JB. Why can't our own taxes, or even our share of Lagos federal allocation if you think about that, get us a free road in our neighbourhood?

I'm sure none of the people in support of this injustice live on that axis, if not the fraud will be so apparent. Cosider the speed at which they are constructing the Chevron toll gate. Somebody shld go on LCC website and come up with the alternative route around that one.

People are talking about the sanctity of contracts? Will you follow through an obviously flawed contract when you find out the details? If GEJ shlkd sign a contract with say the US to give them all our oil for free, if the next president comes in, can he be compelled to follow through with it. Again, when UMYA was cancelling all the IPP contracts when he came in you were all applauding because it was alledged that OBJ acted corruptly. Why OBJ and not BAT?