₦airaland Forum

Chukwuka16:
On Nigeria, The UK and the Future

It is always refreshing to every now and then document one’s thoughts about raging issues – national, provincial or global. For me, this provides a valuable resource in the future of history. For the future generation, it presents how my thought process evolved over time. To everyone else, it further exposes my mind for the mind is the standard of the man.

Nigeria – a cornucopia of confusion and the growth of the sachet economy
When recently @mamatukwas displayed a picture of the repackaged spaghetti by Honeywell, it immediately triggered in me flashbacks to my brief discourse/exchanges here on this platform some time ago on the need to adjust one’s business to suit the economic trend in Nigeria. Nigeria is a country made up of over 200m+ people (guesstimate) and it is usually not uncommon to assume that that size presents huge business opportunities.

Research by others have shown that Nigeria’s population is being propped up by just under 30% (c.60m+ people) of the population. Of this 60m+ people perhaps just under 30m+ really have purchasing power of around 2 million Naira annually. Of course, this is on average basis. This limited population with this ‘high’ spending power is majorly (over 85%) domiciled in Lagos with about 12% spread across Ogun, Ibadan, Port Harcourt, Abuja and Delta. The outstanding 3% are shared across the rest of the country (let me say that these are all rough estimates).

With such perverse wealth distribution across the country, only 4 sectors will directly affect the whole strata of society – food, health, transport and communication. Any other business outside of these sectors has to be well thought out and focused. However, the fact that high food poverty exists in Nigeria doesn’t make the business inherently viable. Considering the absence of value addition (preservation, processing), good logistics and low-quality inputs/harvests, coupled with growing insecurity, Nigerians should get ready for more hunger and rising food costs in the days ahead. Anyone still thinking that harvest time will lead to a reduction in food prices will be ‘shocked’ like Buhari. Middlemen continue to benefit from the law of attraction – to him that hath, more will be given. They can buy up farm produce, store and sell when prices are at an all-time high.

Let me paint a picture here for clarity. As of April 2021, fertiliser (urea) was selling for 5K - 5.5K Naira per bag. By the time I was ready to buy by May 2021, the price had increased to 12.5K Naira. This meant that for 35 ha land to be cultivated, I needed to spend an extra 730K Naira on urea alone. Same for NPK (my saving grace was getting it subsidised from government). For a simple double ploughing, rather than the usual 20K/ha, all of a sudden, I was being charged 32K/ha. What about seeds (hybrid), herbicides, aflatoxin etc. What about storage and shellers for the crop (after harvest)? What about irrigation in case weather decided to go on a break? What about cost of planting – I had to use women as we don’t have access to industrial planters? What about their security? By the time of writing this musing, our cost has gone up averagely by over 80%. By the time I’m selling to feeders and also processing into feeds, price would be astronomical. What does this lead me to do – Sacheterisation! Here in the UK and in other advanced countries it is called Shrinkflation!

A typical 15kg feed bag would be reduced to 10/11 kg at same price of 15kg. We could also do 3kg/5kg/7kg bags of feed for farmers to buy as their capacity can carry them. They would of course pay more, but that’s life! End users will end up paying more for fish, eggs, meat etc. The whole cycle will end up forcing households to spend more of their household income on feeding – leading to increasing poverty!

In the midst of all these, the FGN has recently commissioned new universities and given them seed money (in billions) to kick start operations. While this is happening, ASUU is preparing to go on an indefinite strike while our Attorney General is busy looking for a supposed gazette that details the grazing routes of cows across Nigeria. On top of this, our national government is fighting dirty with Twitter (a private company with operations based in the US) while Fulani herdsmen continue to run amok across the country.

We can carry on and on but now you get the picture. Without a new crop of leadership, the growth of the sachet economy will continue as households readjust their lifestyle and spending to meet the new realities. We are in for a long ride to nowhere in Nigeria.

The UK and the growth of feminism
It was beautiful reading the back and forth on the issue of raising kids overseas. In presenting my thoughts about kids being raised here abroad (especially the UK and its likes), let me opine that my ranting is more directed at the male kids than female. I mean no offense to the female gender.

I have watched with growing interest the continued attempts at domesticating and emasculating males here in the UK. I have read news again and again that show how pitiable males are becoming in the “new world”. This crass attempt at degenderizing society is all in a bid to eliminate the so-called male patriarchy they (females) claim exists and achieve parity between males and females.

When I was schooling in South Africa, one thing I quickly picked up was the fact that many white kids were home schooled – their parents tried as much as possible to limit interactions with the black kids. MOST white parents owned their own businesses and lived either as a community (of majority whites) or privately in farms. For these kids, they mostly grow up assisting their parents run the family business. This gives the parents an opportunity to teach these kids life’s most important lesson – RESPONSIBILITY.

How many blacks here in the UK are self-employed? How many blacks (citizens and ILR holders) here in the UK survive without benefits from the government? What makes the Asians and Chinese thick – they own businesses and mostly involve their kids in the day-to-day running of the business.

We talk about insecurity in Nigeria, and I ask, were that not to be an issue, how many of us could afford to send our kids to some of those great private schools in Lagos and Abuja and Osun State? Let’s even ask how many Nigerian parents have in place a plan to self-finance (100%) the schooling of their children in university/college abroad and leave them debt-free?

Raising up kids who would be useful to themselves and society transcends just their growing up values to also include opportunities and privileges you can offer them as a parent. However, the synergy is formed because children who are RESPONSIBLE can better manage opportunities and grow wealth tomorrow.

To offer those kids opportunities in life and broaden their world view, the parents must be self-equipped and empowered to be able to do so. The difference between kids tomorrow will depend on choices. Don’t forget that private schools here in the UK get levels o. There is a reason why the British political class today is filled with Etonians. There is a reason why parents have private tutors for their kids in addition to other expenses – choices. If your kid got admitted to Oxford or Cambridge or Stanford tomorrow without funding, do you have the funds to finance that education (no student debt o)?

When I interact with Nigerian parents, I usually cry (real tears with oscillating shoulders) when parents tell me that their kids have never been to Nigeria! In fact, my consternation becomes aggravated when you see these parents glee with excitement because their kids can speak with the British accent.

Is Pakistan safer than Nigeria? Is Iran safer than Nigeria? Is India safer than Nigeria? Yet you see British-Iranians and British-Pakistanis and other dual nationalities going home yearly to partake in festivals and acclimatising their kids with their roots. It isn’t uncommon to even have Nigerian parents here in the UK preventing their kids from learning their local dialect or visiting home.

I’ve worked with Chinese and Pakistani’s and Indians and other nationals and everywhere they meet, their language comes to fore especially when they can speak their dialect (happens most of the time). I was at a conference some time ago in Germany and my Mexican colleague spots his former Mexican colleague while at Cambridge and they excuse themselves to speak for 20 minutes in Spanish! Nigerians of the same tribe (and ability to converse in their native language) would meet each other and be proud to converse in English – your kids are beside you learning.

How many Nigerian kids here in the UK have read novels from Africa that teach them about our culture or experiences? We have excellent titles in the African Writers Series and excellent writers. That’s where it starts from. How many Nigerian kids here in the UK can talk comfortably about Nigeria, her culture, important places in Nigeria and people? Instead, they are being loaded with baloney about the UK. Did the UK inform your kids that they were bankrupt 50 years ago and had to be bailed by the IMF and the US? Tomorrow when they rewrite our history, can your kids confront and write theirs? It is ok to learn about the battle of Waterloo and Trafalgar (thunder fire knowledge of life in the UK) but not ok to learn about Nigeria’s civil war?

Two years ago, some academics from the UK and South Africa wrote a response to one of my energy policy papers. Their saving grace was that there was a limit to the technical abuse I could spew in academic exchanges. I’m writing as an authority of “no light” and “Up NEPA” telling you why generators and firewood suit me better than solar panels and wind turbines and even following it with sound mathematical computations and clowns who visit my country for holiday were responding that I was perhaps being sponsored by an oil multinational and not ready to participate in the transition to renewables. My response to them was bombastic! For their remaining lives when they see my work, they will jump and pass.

When I see young men acting directionless, I’m scared. This is because males play a crucial role in shaping society and the world at large. Wars have been fought and won (or lost) by men. Policies and initiatives and inventions have MOSTLY been driven by men. Procreation starts from the man (who has the seed)! You can’t have men becoming sissies and think it’s freedom of expression and portends great value for society. Look around you and observe, how many world leaders (male) are gay or transgender or sissies or cross? Even society has some level of expectations from men in leadership positions!

The Future – scary and worrisome
As much as I’m optimistic about the future, I’ve never been scared like now in my entire life (I’ll admit it’s not that long). In fact, I now admire old people because they would soon be dead and not get to live through another economic collapse and the resulting nightmare.

Folks, it’s bad. There has never been so much debt created in life like now. In case you don’t know it, world global economies are shrinking – not expanding (check out debt/GDP). Joblessness, homelessness, forbearance, furlough, extensive lockdowns, huge closedown of businesses have characterised the economy. Yet, in the midst of these, we are being deceived that the economy is rebounding – from where to where? How can house prices be inflating when people are becoming homeless and jobless and there is ongoing forbearance and moratoriums on rents?

Now to the culprit, the FED, these guys are massively inflating the economy using unprecedented money printing (so called REPO/Reverse REPO) and buying back mortgages in $billions on a monthly basis. The US is indebted to the tune of $28 Trillion, the UK (over £2 Trillion) with the EU in excess of $3.5 Trillion. China has begun a massive buying splurge on commodities and expenditure on its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to divest itself of its dollars while massively buying huge quantities of gold. Today, Russia holds more gold reserves than the USD. There is only so much money (USD) that can be printed before we have a full cratering of the economy – some economists say it will be worse than the 2008/09 crisis. Across the US and even here in the UK, we are seeing major investment companies – Blackstone and others buying huge swathe of properties at over 50% asking price using cheap loans from the FED which you and I can’t access.

With such dire stats, it will never be unwise to start rethinking how we survive. Folks who lived and worked through the 2008/09 crisis know of a certainty that it will be worse now if we were to have a repeat. Population has grown and facilities are overstretched. Conservatism should guide expenditure. How do you intend to thrive in a repeat 2008/09 crisis? What plans are on ground to ease living during such times? I have no suggestion but only saying it may perhaps not be unwise to know what’s happening in the finance/economic sector and start making plans to assuage any potential impact. Many folks never imagined covid-19 hence no savings/emergency funds, cash at hand. Some even had debts – mortgages, car finance and personal loans. When covid hit and jobs were lost, only them can tell by how much their lives and health has changed.

Unfortunately, Nigeria still offers the best spot to survive during such crisis because of the informal nature of the economy. I know the bashings are coming but back in Nigeria, I can practically have my own community and farm almost all my food and cut down expenses to the basics during such precarious times. It will never be bad to have a fall-back option in times like this. A Brit has no fall-back option besides the UK. You do because of your multiple nationalities. That can always be exploited to stay ahead in life.

Do have a splendid morning.

omenka:
Just imagine how a human with a supposedly functional brain reasons.

Sad thing is, you lot stay in the safely of the West while urging your own brothers to be killed all because you hate a man in Abuja.

Ipob is worse than ISIS. No way anyone can say otherwise.

Cousin9999:
But op, how can you leave Nigeria when this is there:

Chloraseptic:
The award is American award and yet people from other countries ignore the ones in their country and want to fit in this one by all means......

I don't know why America is the standard every other person from other countries wants to follow.. it's tiring...

I was surprised to know that even Chinese people struggle for American Visa..

Ayo2004:
In Nigeria,it is a normal thing...most of our wealthy old men are cheats it might not be right but it is not a crime so they can't be punished
Most married women were once side-chicks so forget the holier-than-thou attitude,that girl deserves every bad thing coming to her and I am so happy the man is from a wealthy family,they will make sure she experience hell on earth

Ayo2004:
Are u mad?
Rehab for wetin?
The man is clearly the victim here...
Most Nigerian old wealthy men are fvcking under 20s,infact,it is a normal thing
The fact that you show the smallest form of support for that stupid murderer shows that you are faulty
If a yound guy did this an old female billionaire,can you say this kind of illiterate rubbish
Rehab kor

laiperi:
You guys make very good points. Nobody can argue against self preservation. The first million a Nigerian makes is used the same way, laundered abroad.

However, if personal and selfish ends of the individual families are what matter most, no country will be built. China and India alone reduced world poverty by cutting the famine at home. The punishment for the self preservation you guys are talking about was up to and including death.

Before anyone label me a dictator, America and Europe built their wealth on Slave Labor worse than Dictator. Where are Russia, China and India today after paying the same price Nigerians paid for taking more than 100 pounds out of the country, firing squad or Bar Beach Show for armed robbers?

Compare the abject poverty we have today to what we had then.

Chief Harold Shodipo and FELA among others paid heavily. Today, even Buhari that jailed others then indulges in Medical tourism and money laundering under so called Free Market.

If you love the Western and Eastern systems so much, you are willing to launder money made in Africa in their countries like the slave traders that did the same; go to their countries and do slave labor BURU to make your money and invest it there.

The British stole so much Gold from Ghana, they named it Gold Coast. Even worse the companies paid taxes to their Government not Gold Coast.

Gold Standard is what prop up currencies not cheap raw materials. Those supporting Devaluation are naive. Americans ditch Gold Standard for printed papers by fiat without any Gold Standard.

Zimbabwe with Diamond tried the same! I rest my case sirs/ma'am's.

nokspos:
Okay sir, thank you for your understand. i'll greatly consider an African country now. i thought it won't be necessary anymore.

nokspos:
I don't really understand what's going on , why do i have to apply for an african country, its not like i want to disvirgin my passport, its not like there's one job waiting for me in tanzania, its not like i want to go on safari, its not like i have big money to fly around and see africa. its not like i have problem with the police and i want to run away. I'm just looking for a greener pasture and i thought that's what everybody on this forum is looking for. why on earth will i go to an african country. which kind people dey here

EXOUSIAng:
You contradict your self. America has destroyed ISIS completely and same ISIS is still here in Africa opening branches, have you seen a run down business opening branches?
You claim America has completely destroyed ISIS yet this news is telling us a different story... You see the aircraft carrier up there?
They are to fight same ISIS you claim they destroyed...
That carrier is $5b. The total budget for the armed forces is below $5b.
And yes many if Jonathan and his boys had used the $2b they stole to buy arms the army would have had better facilities....
Oga
The US, Russia, UK, French are still struggling with ISIS and Al-Quaida.... And its been 20years....
Do you know the US military budget
Yet they can't conquer these terrorists.
Your hate for Buhari affects reasoning sometimes

laiperi:
This is a good development, no matter how you look at it.

My problem is where the profit is going? In Nigeria, Africa or Western countries.

Dangote recently announced he is going to invest the family wealth outside to preserve its worth. What is wrong with investing it at home where the profits are made?

This is exactly what foreign companies do. Their African Chief executives told us point blank that their first priority is to make money for their shareholders oversees.

Coca-cola, Guinness, Nestle and other multinational companies have been making profits in Africa for ages, even with local raw materials and cheap labor.

So what is the difference between them and Dangote, Odetola, Ibeto, Innoson and politicians laundering profits out of Africa?

TMKsouth:
That's fine. 95% of Nigeria would snap that offer in a second. On the flip side I bet u only 5% of South Africans would want to live in Nigeria.

So we both know who won that earlier argument between Lioness and your countryman.

TMKsouth:
U'd sell your own mother for a South African permanent residency.

somehow:
A South Africa that thieves robbed a newscaster live on TV!

Lionessza6:
Your self hate is legendary my dear . You should do some healing yourselves,those self inflicted wounds of the war are still showing. It's a pity your leaders arent creating a suitable platform to heal ,but instead create more division and hatred in your hearts .

Lionessza6:
LMFAO, you seem like you want to break down and cry . Who started the finger pointing ? . I'm guessing you're an immigrant somewhere in Europe ,or are you still "hustling " in ivory coast, another African country filled with the Africans you hate so much .

Lionessza6:
If your dumb ass had bothered to go through the convo, you'd have seen that's what I was telling your brother . A nigerian has no business calling another nation toxic,never!

Trustedpronet:
Na Igbo man go steal that iPad. na their work. Lol

Lionessza6:
I repeat ; your passport is weak because of your toxic nature, in every country you go to ,your people are treated with suspicion. Facts! You need to work on that image yourselves before lecturing others ,dont you think ?

Patrioticman007:
The cobra general that sent Python on a cheographical dance to mud republic. The shite communities in benin republic should take their free zazaky protest to him.

ObaKlaz:
I mentioned that other regions dent Nigeria's image out there - you chose to be selectively blind to that. I stated that those of 'the other region' are a part of the problem on a large scale with that particular instance, which is the raw truth- I am a tribalist!

...Just the reaction I expected!

ogbuefi677:
Nigerians are dying like flies daily.
Everyday, 60,70,80,20 die.
Any forum where ppl can raise awareness on that is welcome.
I guess you're too shallow to understand shaa.

Theunbothered:
You must be crazy!

For two weeks around Nigeria youths held signs and placards yet they were attacked repeatedly while police did nothing.

Where is your energy for this political thug below?

I am truly sharing a country with insane people.

ObaKlaz:
We all know them.Tbh, it's not like the folks from other regions don't tarnish Nigeria's image, but theirs is on a whole higher level. You can be sure by 95% that drug traffickers from +234 caught out there are from 'that region'.
They take delight in destroying Nigeria's image internationally with their criminal inclinations, then they turn around to wail like they are not one of the 'content creators' of problem for the country!

9jaRealist:
She was NOT disrespectful of her own nation, but of the DULLARDS running it into the grounds…
DULLARDS that shoot peaceful protesters, loot the commonwealth, and cannot provide basic security, are the ones “desecrating” our flag!
>

jomoh:
The grass is always greener on the other side.

Ask Afghans, they’d tell you otherwise.
Ask Uighur Muslims, they’d tell you different stories of China.
Ask Muslims from Myanmar, they’d tell you different stories.
Same with South Africans, Libyans, South Koreans but have you ever seen anyone proudly display a desecrated flag of their countries?

African Americans also have the believe that the govt is systemically targeting them for cleansing but you’d never see them desecrate the flag in the name of protesting for black lives matter.

Symbols do change truly but for now, the Nigerian flag is the symbol of its people and she’s carrying a Nigerian passport.

My point is, she has done herself more harm than good. Her protest may have brought awareness, but at the expense of her career.