₦airaland Forum

So sad.
See how an otherwise intellectually stimulating thread turned tribalistic.

@Larez,
I read your initial post and I admired your creativity. Right now, I am very dissappointed. You have allowed some tribalist bring out the tribalist in you.
A little advice:
Look for a way to bring back your initial post.
Try as much as possible not to allow this thread turm into one of the numerous tribal battlegrounds.

My take on the matter.

Every entrepreneur borrows money to start or expand his/ her business.
Lending is one of the primary duties of a banking institution. Charles Soludo embarked on the recapitalisation programme some years bank so that Nigerian banks can engage in what he called 'Large-scale lending'. Therefore, lending tens of billions to a viable business entity is no big deal. Where a problem comes in is when the business entity defaults on the agreement.
Why would a good businessman default on loan payments. My answer is: many reasons.

1. Bad practices and lack of corporate governance.
2. Very high interest rates.
3. Default on the part of the entities' clients.
4. Bad economic policies on the part of the government.

Some of the companies in the list are definitely into bad practices but I wont subscribe to the opinion that everyone on the list is a criminal.

You can't borrow money from a bank at 25% interest rate and expect to pay back in 3 years. Remeber you have to provide your own electricity, you have to repair your operational vehicles (damaged due to the bad nature of our roads), you have to pay excessive telephone bills, you have to pay for security.

On my third point. You transact business with people who you can't predict. Imagine borrowing funds from a bank to execute a government contract. You will only get paid after the funds has generated a lot of interest. Worse still, the government cares less about how you got money to execute contracts.

Some people on the least are philanderers.
Some people on this same list are also the biggest employers of labour in Nigeria. If CBN forces them to liquidate their assets just to pay loans, the number of unemployed in our streets will definitely increase.

I am a christain and I am proud of my christain faith. However the kind of faith (or is it brainwashing) some Nairalanders have demonstrated is beyond belief. It beats my imagination to see people rise up in defense of their pastors but run for cover when groups like Boko Haram threatens Christainity. People worship personalities instead of GOD.

They can never believe their pastors are humans. Their pastors can't make mistakes.

Nigerian christains would rather listen to the word of God (as preached by their pastors) than pray for the Holy Spirit to help them understand God's words. If the pastor says give all your money, they'd do so without questions. But when their relatives ask them for help, they'll tell them to have faith.

I have nothing to say about the formation of the Millionaires' club. I even doubt the story. But if its true: The beginning of segregation and show of wealth is here.

wirinet:
I think our greatest problem apart from corruption, is that of pride and over blown ego. I think we need to employ Japanese or Chinese people to school us on humility, even the Europeans are more humble than us.

Fact whether we like it or not, The US is still the "Numero Uno" nation on earth, militarily, financially and any other wise. So if countries like Japan, Germany and even Great Britain, readily acknowledge that and begs US for assistance every now and then why are we so pompous?.Even China is not claiming to be on the same level with the US. I think the oil we have in the Niger Delta is giving us false pride.

As i said I am not a very great Fan of the US, but i would prefer to deal with the US than China, who do not care about anything other than their narrow parochial interest. I even trust the US than Britain or France.

In this world you have to be humble, diplomatic, astute, and relevant to succeed, either as an individual or a country. That is why the Israelis are always on the side of every world power the world had ever produced, they humble themself.

Our politicians, footballers, professionals, religious leaders, everybody needs to be humble.

Nigeria: Good people, great nation.
Nigerians: Good professors, bad students.

No. Nigeria is not gradually becoming an Islamic nation.
Nigeria will forever remain a secular state.

Honourary Presidential Adviser on Niger Delta and Chief negotiator on the Amnesty programme Mr. Timi Alaibe has said that the Federal Government would gazette all information obtained from repentant militants who embrace the amnesty option at the close of the amnesty period in October for future reference.
Alaibe disclosed that part of the documentation process would require the militants to supply information on the location of their camps, the kind of infrastructures in such camps; whether there are boats, hostels or there are arms and ammunitions, analysis of the infrastructures and at the end of it they would sign and commit to the amnesty document.


When they know the position of the camps, JTF will take over and our looting and bunkering elite will go back to their trade. Are we moving forward as a nation?

ThinkRait:

The process has been presented as if it is merely an engagement between the Federal Government and the Ijaw people. You would think from what one reads in the papers that the Ijaws constitute almost the entire army of the so called militants (I don't like the word, but it has officially been adopted by all). Very little if any thing has been said about other ethnic groups within the Niger Delta, who their leaders are and what they are saying. Very little if anything at all has been done to examine and understand the range of diverse ethnic and cultural configurations of the area. To continue to speak of the Niger Delta as if it is one homogenous community is to miss the point. This is an area of nearly 30 million people, 9 States, 185 LGAs, nearly 14,000 communal settlements, 94 per cent of which have populations of less than 5,000 persons and a land mass of 75,000 square kilometres.





The fact that too many people have turned this tragedy into a lucrative business means that the Federal government needs not put its hope in money. Poor diagnosis must automatically lead to poor treatment and perhaps, death. This problem has not been properly diagnosed in my view. Government has displayed its amnesia by behaving as if it did not set up a Committee made up of prominent and well informed sons and daughters of the Niger Delta to look at the crises and to proffer solutions. Sadly, no reference has been made to that report. In my view, the Federal Government should have leveraged on that Report for at least some nominal endorsement. It is a pity that the Federal Government seems to be traveling into the Niger Delta without maps.

Finally, this process needs Patience. This process has been wrapped in the foil of secrecy and its scope is too limited. What the Federal Government needs urgently is to unpack a comprehensive development with short, medium and long term targets. Merely spreading money will only create a larger army. While money may offer some anesthesia, only genuine development will offer healing.

Thought provoking, I'd say.

By Matthew Hassan Kukah

POOR strategic calculations, ill-timed policy reversals have conspired to make the Federal Government's amnesty programme a sitting duck. But, as good old Reagan would say, Some times, it is better to be a sitting duck than a dead duck. A somber constellation of factors now hovers over the horizons, all of them with a potential for heating up the system and inflicting collateral damage on the process. For example, the planned re-location of the Warri Petroleum University to Kaduna, the President's decision to open up a potential war with the Lagos State Government over the issue of the LGAs, the Petroleum Bill, the poor consultations with the Niger Delta governors, not to mention other externalities like the irresponsible crises within some Muslim sects etc. Sadly, the idea of Amnesty runs the risk of being choked by these thorns unless the Federal Government acts quickly (and Mr. President is off to Brazil!).

As a strategy for ending any conflict, amnesty is always fraught with dangers. However, it would seem that the Federal Government did not really avail itself of strategic expert thinking before embarking on this process. It would have known that the end of every conflict is often the end of a lucrative career for some and the beginning of a harsh life for others. Therefore, putting together Amnesty processes that will really last demands a multi track and multi disciplinary approach that carefully studies the situation. It demands a lot of background, behind-the-scene work by various expert interlocutors who know the terrain, preferably those with some perceived degree of integrity and neutrality and not immediate beneficiaries.

In a politically plural environment, there will always be worries as to what the political benefits of the success of an amnesty might be to all the citizens, who will benefit and who might loose. Matters are compounded if the low intensity war has been prolonged and is also an internal one involving kith and kin as it is this case. The adoption of Amnesty as one strategy for resolving the Niger Delta conflict is of course a welcome move, given that we have run out of ideas and options. However, I fear that the Federal Government has so rushed this process without a clearly defined work plan and strategy.

The process has been presented as if it is merely an engagement between the Federal Government and the Ijaw people. You would think from what one reads in the papers that the Ijaws constitute almost the entire army of the so called militants (I don't like the word, but it has officially been adopted by all). Very little if any thing has been said about other ethnic groups within the Niger Delta, who their leaders are and what they are saying. Very little if anything at all has been done to examine and understand the range of diverse ethnic and cultural configurations of the area. To continue to speak of the Niger Delta as if it is one homogenous community is to miss the point. This is an area of nearly 30 million people, 9 States, 185 LGAs, nearly 14,000 communal settlements, 94 per cent of which have populations of less than 5,000 persons and a land mass of 75,000 square kilometres.

The complexity of this environment is further shown by the fact that many ethnic groups cut across states and LGAs. A proper appreciation of these facts would lead to three conclusions. First, it should humble the Federal Government and make it weight the interlocutors and their claims of representation. Secondly, it should make the Federal Government appreciate the need to avoid policies that could wake up primordial inter-communal demons that may have only been on a strategic siesta. But most importantly, it would also lead us to have at least a near enough idea of how many militants we are talking of, their ethno-communal spread etc. In the absence of these statistics, the federal government and its agents, adorned with some Abacha goggles, will at best be chasing a black cat in a dark room wearing.

The decision to throw money at the problem clearly shows that the Federal Government may not have learnt serious lessons from its military predecessors which, rather than have the humility of seeking to understand the issues, merely throws money at the problems in the face of conflict. I doubt that the Federal government expects any one to believe the huge joke about the exact amount of money that it is offering. What this means is that another cash cow has just appeared on the scene to be milked by the big boys posing as mediators. The assumption that what is required to resolve this issue is money is wrong headed. Creating a sense of dignity and respect, more than anything else is what is at stake.

The fact that too many people have turned this tragedy into a lucrative business means that the Federal government needs not put its hope in money. Poor diagnosis must automatically lead to poor treatment and perhaps, death. This problem has not been properly diagnosed in my view. Government has displayed its amnesia by behaving as if it did not set up a Committee made up of prominent and well informed sons and daughters of the Niger Delta to look at the crises and to proffer solutions. Sadly, no reference has been made to that report. In my view, the Federal Government should have leveraged on that Report for at least some nominal endorsement. It is a pity that the Federal Government seems to be traveling into the Niger Delta without maps.

Finally, this process needs Patience. This process has been wrapped in the foil of secrecy and its scope is too limited. What the Federal Government needs urgently is to unpack a comprehensive development with short, medium and long term targets. Merely spreading money will only create a larger army. While money may offer some anesthesia, only genuine development will offer healing.

What is the source?

Does Germany still use Deustche Mark?

Why was the cash not converted to Euros?

Funny thread!

The comments in this thread are fit for the Jokes Section.

U can continue d OPC- MEND argument. Our leaders will continue their LOOTING strategy sessions.

@Debosky

Is the problem with the Nigerian oil and gas sector lack of quality managers?

If the "upgrade" of PTI isnt necessary, then we dont need a petroleum institute anywhere in Nigeria.

IPS in Port Harcourt is a TotalFina Elf initiative, not a federal government initiative.

Where are the "experts" trained by PTDF through its overseas scholarship scheme?
Where are the hundreds of M. Sc. holders trained in Nigerian universities.


Why is Northern development concentrated in Kaduna/ Kano?

Debosky, U cant justify the decision of Rilwanu Lukman so dont even try.

debosky:
If we are arguing about perception, then fine, it can be perceived wrongly. But when I am talking with educated and informed people, I expect them to be able to separate perception from reality. The main flaw of the FG action is a failure to highlight what has been done and continues to be done in the ND, but rather has allowed the matter to be defined as simply a downgrade of the University status and a building of another institute elsewhere. This interpretation is not the reality on the ground, hence my efforts to display copious information on the actual state of things.

What is the reality on ground?

The last time I visited warri (January 2009), I was a sign post that said " Permanent site for the Federal University of petroleum Resources" some where close to Effurun.

PTI was designated as a Take-off campus of the university.
Rilwanu Lukman should come out with the FG's real intention.

Back out??
Were they offered amnesty?
Are they the militants?

"The Niger Delta crisis is not hundreds of miles away, it is in our backyards, it is the pimple on our face, sitting delicately on a dangerous vein; it is the keg of gunpowder on which Nigeria sits. All concerned elders, leaders, politicians, be they in Lagos, Aba, Kafanchan, Kano, Aso Villa or Maiduguri can be mobilised through constructive engagement, and dialogue to focus more on the struggle for a better Nigeria. Engaging in ethnically-determined rhetoric which reduces the subject to the level of primordial sentiments and biases serves only the divide and rule objective of the ruling class." , Reuben Abati http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/editorial_opinion/article02//indexn2_html?pdate=240709&ptitle=Atlas%20Cove%20and%20the%20Niger%20Delta%20struggle

Another straight-thinking Nigerian

Now the South South governors are ready to talk.


Lukman is not anti- Niger delta. He is only an old man who needs retirement.

This is an ill-timed decision.
The militants declared a 60-day ceasefire, some people are obviously not happy about it.
This goes to show our leaders want the chaos to continue.

@Debosky,

You have some good points but you must understand that the Federal Government has already acquired a site for a Federal University of Petroleum Resources somewhere close to Warri.
PTI was only designated as a take-off site.

What Yar 'Adua is doing is simply to bastardise Obasanjo's legacies. He has reversed virtually all Obasanjo's policies.
Obasanjo removed Nigeria from the list of indebted nations, Yar' Adua is putting us back in that list.

What is left is for him to bring back the 88 banks Charles Soludo consolidated.

It is a pity that Nigerians don't take time to analyse issues before making comments and drawing conclusion.
The fact that the press said MEND was responsible and MEND itself claimed responsibility doesnt make the story true.
Al Qaeda will claim responsibility for anything that affects the American people and the American economy. If a 'Piper Alpha' happens in Texas today, Al Qaeda will claim responsibility. I see this as propaganda.

Come to think of it. What is the distance (by sea) between the ND states and Lagos?
How many naval bases are there between the waters of Delta and Lagos states?
How much fuel does a speed boat need to travel between Bayelsa and Lagos?

Assuming the boys hatched the plan within Lagos territory, how did the smuggle their weapons through? Is our land security system that porous?
What were the SSS, police and other intelligence agency doing when the plans were being hatched?
Or is it that Nigeria willingly gave out Bakassi peninsular knowing fully well our security system cant withstand a Camerounian onslaught?

Atlas cove belongs to NNPC. Who stands to gain from the destruction of NNPC facility?
What was the nature of the damaged facility? I guess it was a petroleum products import facility.
If fuel scarcity returns to our roads, who will benefit from it? MEND or businessmen?

I dont have the answers to these questions but I feel we should ask questions rather than swallow whatever we hear hook, line and sinker.

I find most of the posts on this thread appaling.

Yes, MEND might be fighting a just cause, the question is: ARE THEY READY FOR A FULL SCALE WAR?

My point:

Looking at the location of Atlas Cove, I find it difficult to believe that the MEND would come with speed boats all the way from the Niger Delta (PHC or Bayelsa, since JTF claims they've destroyed the camps in Delta state).

There are several naval bases between Bayelsa and Lagos. How did speed boats pass undetected?

I see this as a government propaganda. OR as an excuse to bring back fuel scarcity.
Some people may want to cash in on the ND crisis to make money.

If MEND are truly behind the incident then it is clear they are working with the military authorities.

Now they are running back, thanks to the global economic meltdown.
Home will always be home. Most Nigerians have been criticising the government from afar. Its now time to experience hell on earth.

Welcome back peeps. Come join us RE-BRAND Nigeria.

Mr KnowAll, pls substantiate your argument. Or SHUT UP!

otokx:
i need a pretty ASABA wifey

Ikwerre donors don finish for PH?

@Jakumo

So Uduaghan was serious when he said he was going to build a cargo airport at Asaba!

Hope it will not be abandoned. Anyway, Thumbs up!

They are paid to fight.
Paid to snatch the mace at will.
They are our legislators, training to give Nigeria a good representation at London 2012. Early preparations are necessary for victory at the Olympics.

Ride on Legislators!!! continue doing your thing!

Jakumo:
You speak with the supreme confidence of one whose bullet-proof juju modalities very strong and up to date. I trust this is so.

The end will only come when it is destined to. Bullet or no bullet. Bullet proof or no bullet proof

My first real contact with Nigeria's most dreaded squad, the NPF was at Aba Road Port Harcourt.

I just completed my one year forced service to my fatherland and was waiting for my turn to 'hammer'. I was submitting one application after another, moving from office to office, until I heard of an overseas scholarship opportunity. I made enquiries and found out I had to pay a certain amount at a bank close to the 'park' area of PHC. I asked one of my brothers to drive me to the place and he agreed. Under the 'flyover' close to Abali motor park, a cab driver stopped his taxi to negotiate with a passenger and was blocking to road. After honking for abt a minute, my brother decided to take the free lane only to be stopped by one hungry looking policewoman.
Before we knew what was happening, an un-uniformed man had jumped into the back of our vehicle.

To cut a long story short, we were swarmed by both uniformed and plain clothed men who ordered us to drive down to the dreaded Moscow road den of theirs.
On our way, they collected all I had in my wallet. I almost wept cos the money in my wallet, though small, was all I could boast of 'home and abroad'. I had this anti-bribe attitude during my undergraduate years so a friend of mine made mockery of me for 'bribing' my way out of a 'trip' to Moscow road.

That day I vowed to work hard, earn good money and do all within my power to stop police oppression. I'm not there yet but I am ready to go to any judicial length to fight with any police man who dares oppress any one I know.

@Post

Nice piece.

We've got lots of good writers and less of positive history re-writers (getting used to the 're-' word).

Lets stop writing. Lets start acting.
But we must act with care, lest they brand us MILITANTS.

informat09:
lets promote a "GOOD PEOPLE BAD GOVERNMENT" campaign instead , lets highlight the good things nigerian people have achieved and lets push a campaign to expose the dirty deals and nefariuos activities of our bad leaders.


who's with me lets design and publish a pdf magazine like forbe's magazine that highlights and showcases the top most corrupt and slowpoke leaders in nigeria.

Abeg help spearhead the campaign from outside 9ja cos If u dey 9ja expect Nigeria Police and SSS for ur doorstep.

Topic says Five strongest banks. Post lists four.
I doubt the info.

However, I believe DiamondBank, GTBank and FirstBank are good banks.

UBA, Intercontinental and Oceanic are in the same category: many branches, multiple charges, crowded halls.

SpringBank, Unity bank and Union Bank should be converted to micro-finance banks.

Armistice first in the Niger Delta
By J. P. Clark

MR. President, armistice is the new instrument of policy that you should present to the nation at this critical stage of hostilities in the Niger Delta. Amnesty that you have just offered to militants there fails in several ways to address the Nigerian problem now on the boil in that region. You have put the cart before the horse. Armistice, by simple definition, is a ceasefire, a truce, during which a formal agreement to stop fighting on all sides can be discussed in the right atmosphere to arrive at peace.

Amnesty, on the other hand, is an official offer or order by a government that allows a particular group of prisoners to go free. It is also the period of time required to carry out the exercise. Militants in the Niger Delta do not fit this description. They constitute no group of prisoners so declared by the state, after undergoing due process of law. Only one put on trial in secret, after being courted by you and your Vice all the way to South Africa, is known to the public.

Again, by simple definition, militants are persons or groups who organise to use strong pressure, if necessary by force, to achieve political, social and economic change in a society they believe is unjust to a section or all of its citizens. This is the hard reality on the ground today in Nigeria, although those in control and comfort may not admit you have insurgency on your hands.

Indeed, Niger Delta militants are not the common crowd of criminals running riot today across the country, under influence of drinks, drugs and cults, robbing, raping, kidnapping, maiming and killing innocent citizens for whom the state provides no safety and security. Niger Delta militants, before corruption and division crept among them, came out as a movement of young men and women solely driven to action by their sense of social justice and determination to make Nigeria a better and more equitable country for all its citizens. Their despatches and interviews in the press show the quality of mind and intellect matching their resort to drastic action nobody prayed for, and one that should never happen in a functioning state.

Since no Nigerian administration has ever cared, militants in the Niger Delta, as a matter of history, are only carrying on the struggle begun in the last century by political leaders like Dappa Biriye, Ernest Ikoli and Udo Udoma to win equal rights for their people in our unequal federation where majorities proudly accommodate themselves, while containing minorities, handed over to them, without consent and consultation, by a retreating colonial power. They are following the example of Adaka Boro, Amangala and Nyananyo who died in the Civil War, fighting to perfect the union. It is the spirit of their own Kaiama declaration inspiring them to seek justice for their own people in a land where all people should be free and equal to draw on their individual resources, while respecting the rights and claims of their neighbours. Regrettably, it has all been government of the majority by the majority for the majority.

The military, now an occupation force in the region, know very well this political context, and yet today are pushing ever harder in larger numbers to achieve by sea, land and air the peace of the graveyard even as you are making this offer of amnesty. Nowhere is there any mention of the people for whom the fight is all about. Helpless children, women and men are today displaced people in their own land, not knowing when they will be allowed home to rebuild their lives. Is this a deliberate design to separate a popular movement from its source by denying it is pursuing a legitimate cause? It looks to me more like a wily act than a genuine attempt to arrive at a meaningful settlement, which political leaders and elders of the region have urged upon you to their own peril in endless rounds of talks and pledges, observed only in the breach.

As a matter of fact, the military are now part of the problem they were sent to the region to solve, having been thoroughly spoilt by state governors and the oil companies. But you have now put them in charge of carrying out the amnesty. A retired general serves as head of its panel of eighteen (18). Six (6) other senior officers, not counting members from the Nigeria Police, also part of the problem, are to sit as experts; but most revealing of the hand hidden behind is the presence of the Chief of Defence Staff, the man now directing the attack with tanks, helicopters and gun boats against a defenceless people in the old tradition of a colonial power burning down a whole community as punishment for not producing some suspected offenders among them. That was what happened at Odi on the River Nun, and is now happening in Gbaramatu kingdom on the Escravos. A military, turned upon its own people out of ruffled pride, wages a war it cannot win.

By their own estimate, the amnesty panel has come up with a figure of some 20,000 militants it has to identify, disarm and rehabilitate in the Niger Delta. This by itself is an indictment of the political and economic order that allows for waste of so many of its bright and young generation, some alienated at home, others driven abroad to fulfil their high potential.

Fifty billion naira is the special budget the amnesty panel is asking you to provide for them to do the work in the short time they have set themselves. That is the same magic amount you took from the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to fund the new ministry you have created as the panacea for the region. In this case, the bill may also be charged to the same agency which you have already denied its due funds. Much of it will probably go down the drain of corruption.

For your offer of amnesty to gain some credibility, the removal and withdrawal of the military from the Niger Delta should form an integral part of its declaration, with provision to investigate and prosecute any crimes or excesses soldiers may have committed against the people they swore to protect and whose stolen wealth maintains their formations. And the alleged role of the military in the illegal bunkering of oil and gas that they claim to be protecting for the upkeep of the nation should not be left out.

For all these reasons, the military, therefore, should not be implementing an amnestywhich directly involves them as the government arm in combat with the militants.

Then there are the predatory oil and gas companies, the root cause of all the troubles in the Niger Delta. Your amnesty is dead silent about them. Are they, like the state which partners them in the industry that has brought tragedy to the Niger Delta, to go blameless? So many issues remain unaddressed by your offer of amnesty, for example, the implementation of the Mitee Report.

It is against this background, I urge you, as a Nigerian living at home in the Niger Delta and one never known to flee the country in time of danger and distress, to step out now, true and bold, to proclaim to the nation nothing less than an armistice. This in other terms is a ceasefire or truce during which a meaningful and final settlement, that we are all yearning for, can be reached as part of the overall effort to restructure the country for the good of all its people with so much promise of greatness.

@Poster

How did u confirm dat she is a virgin?
Are u a doctor?

AMNESTY?

Below are two definitions I got from onlinedictionary.com

amnesty: a warrant granting release from punishment for an offense.
amnesty: a period during which offenders are exempt from punishment.

Both definitions involve OFFENDERS and OFFENCE.

My questions
1). Who is the offender? The youth carrying arms in search of justice OR the politician stealing what belong to the youth.
2). What is the offence? Defending your heritage OR repressing oppression and pilferage.

Though some of the youths are die-hard criminals, I don't think Yar'Adua has any moral right to grant anyone amnesty.
Yar'Adua's government should look into what led to the arms struggle. He should look for a way to address the wrongs meted out to these people.
He should find out how these boys get their weapons.

If the boys refuse the amnesty offer, would that be the end of d development of the Niger Delta?

I'm confused. Nigeria's problems is almost affecting my thinking. Hope I'm thinking right?