₦airaland Forum

ultron12345:
This is why support china's stance against western democracy and foreign owned social media.

If Obasanjo listened to the oshiomole-led labour union protests against the privatization of nitel and the liberalization of Telecoms, we would not have this wonderful telecoms industry today.

I supported these protests at the beginning but not any longer.

As you're ranting that you have a constitutional right to protest, do you not know that others also have constitutional rights not to associate with your protest and constitutional rights to movement for their legitimate economic activities. Why then are you blocking the road and ostracizing anyone that doesn't support your position.

As far as I'm concerned, the president's announcement rendered all further protests illegitimate.

You can't just be protesting forever. There has to be dialogue. After the IGP and president announced the disbandment of sars, the IGP went further to announce that all sars operatives have being recalled to force headquarters where they will be investigated, undergo tests etc. He also announced that a new tactical squad SWAT has being established to take over the activities of sars and training will begin in one week. Then the next thing we here is, EndSWAT

What exactly is your problem? Should we not have tactical unit against armed robbery again. Is the solution to bad leadership, no leadership? You want to give armed robbers free chance to operate? You should have said EndPolice, EndSecurity instead of just EndSars

What we should be seeing at this point after the IGP's announcement is dialogue between the government and representatives of the protesters. Both sides must be ready to be reasonable and ready to make concessions. If after all this, the government still refuses to make any changes, then you can return to the streets. But no, they said they don't want to have any representatives, that they will continue protesting forever. Even the Hong Kong protests have leaders that if the government wants to negotiate, they know who to call.

The IGP again just announced that SWAT will not patrol, sill not check phones, will not accept any staff from the disbanded sars, yet they are still preparing for protest tomorrow. For what?

Again, there are democratic ways to channel these demands. Since the protesters believe they have the numbers, why don't they start recalling their people in the legislature. The constituency of the speaker of the house of reps is Surulere Lagos where the protests are hottest. Threaten to recall him if they don't pass necessary laws to fix police brutality. If they don't, recall the speaker. Only the fear will push the rest to pass the laws before they're recalled by their people.

Another thing is that most of the twitter influencers, adding salt and maggi to the protests, firing up the protesters, preaching about how the protesters must go back and never back down, are not even in Nigeria. One Nigerian doctor in the UK and another Dipo something in the UK. The UK based Dipo was even invited to a zoom meeting held yesterday between the CBN governor, dangote, elumelu and other influential protesters, to show you how influential he is concerning the protests. If these protests lead to chaos, they will be there safe in the UK while the ones here that have refused to be sensible will be the ones to pay the price.

Some are even already throwing jokes about war in Nigeria on twitter and how they cant wait for it and many are laughing. I just shake my head. If only they have seen war.

Now that the protesters have shown that they're are not reasonable and even having clashes with thugs, I believe full military force is justified, before this thing leads to Civil War. If they don't agree to take a break and dialogue like any reasonable person should, then we can redact Tiananmen Square here in Nigeria. Or better still, before this leads to war, the military should stage a bloodless coup and take over. Hopefully, whoever is head of state will accept his limited knowledge and appoint experts in various sectors to head their sectors. Appoint people like Soludo or Rewane or NOI to run the economy and not just any economically-illiterate General or Field Marshall. A military dictatorship achieving double digit economic growth annually won't be a bad thing. China won't interfere, and as long as China doesn't interfere, Trump's US won't also be bothered. ECOWAS and AU can do absolutely nothing to Nigeria. Only likely sanctions will be from the UK and EU, and Nigeria can withstand such sanctions.

Another scary thing is the funding for the protests. If funding was just from within the country, I wont be concerned, but I am particularly scared about the funding coming from outside the country (over N35Million now). Even yesterday, the flutterwave account was said to be shut down by the cbn (which later turned out to be false, it was temporarily suspended by the company's chairman due to suspicious activity) and they continued accepting donations by bitcoin and crypto, boasting that they are untraceable and the CBN cannot control these.

It made me think to myself, so this is how foreign actors, enemies, foreign terrorist groups will freely fund movements that can tip this country into turmoil.

I can imagine the joy going on at the Elysee Palace in Paris. France's biggest geopolitical foe is on the brink of chaos. They tried weakening Nigeria by breaking it up during the civil war and failed. They have another opportunity now, to destroy Nigeria finally and be the major uncontested power in West Africa. It's inconceivable that French intelligence will not be looking to take advantage of this situation. They might already be part of those providing funds to keep these protests going.

You see why China will never all social media or cryptourrency that they can't regulate.

This is why support china's stance against western democracy and foreign owned social media.

If Obasanjo listened to the oshiomole-led labour union protests against the privatization of nitel and the liberalization of Telecoms, we would not have this wonderful telecoms industry today.

I supported these protests at the beginning but not any longer.

As you're ranting that you have a constitutional right to protest, do you not know that others also have constitutional rights not to associate with your protest and constitutional rights to movement for their legitimate economic activities. Why then are you blocking the road and ostracizing anyone that doesn't support your position.

As far as I'm concerned, the president's announcement rendered all further protests illegitimate.

You can't just be protesting forever. There has to be dialogue. After the IGP and president announced the disbandment of sars, the IGP went further to announce that all sars operatives have being recalled to force headquarters where they will be investigated, undergo tests etc. He agreed to your 5of5. He has released all protesters arrested. He agreed to allow Davido setup an independent panel to oversee the reforms. He also announced that a new tactical squad SWAT has being established to take over the activities of sars and training will begin in one week. He said they won't check phones, no former sars member will be recruited into the new SWAT. Then the next thing we here is, EndSWAT

What exactly is your problem? Should we not have tactical unit against armed robbery again. Is the solution to bad leadership, no leadership? You want to give armed robbers free chance to operate? You should have said EndPolice, EndSecurity instead of just EndSars

What we should be seeing at this point after the IGP's announcement is dialogue between the government and representatives of the protesters. Both sides must be ready to be reasonable and ready to make concessions. If after all this, the government still refuses to make any changes, then you can return to the streets. But no, they said they don't want to have any representatives, that they will continue protesting forever. Even the Hong Kong protests have leaders that if the government wants to negotiate, they know who to call.

Again, there are democratic ways to channel these demands. Since the protesters believe they have the numbers, why don't they start recalling their people in the legislature. The constituency of the speaker of the house of reps is Surulere Lagos where the protests are hottest. Threaten to recall him if they don't pass necessary laws to fix police brutality. If they don't, recall the speaker. Only the fear will push the rest to pass the laws before they're recalled by their people.

Another thing is that most of the twitter influencers, adding salt and maggi to the protests, firing up the protesters, preaching about how the protesters must go back and never back down, are not even in Nigeria. One Nigerian doctor in the UK and another Dipo something in the UK. The UK based Dipo was even invited to a zoom meeting held yesterday between the CBN governor, dangote, elumelu and other influential protesters, to show you how influential he is concerning the protests. If these protests lead to chaos, they will be there safe in the UK while the ones here that have refused to be sensible will be the ones to pay the price.

Some are even already throwing jokes about war in Nigeria on twitter and how they cant wait for it and many are laughing. I just shake my head. If only they have seen war.

Now that the protesters have shown that they're are not reasonable and even having clashes with thugs, I believe full military force is justified, before this thing leads to Civil War. If they don't agree to take a break and dialogue like any reasonable person should, then roll out the tanks and guns and we can redact Tiananmen Square here in Nigeria. Or better still, before this leads to war, the military should stage a bloodless coup and take over. Hopefully, whoever is head of state will accept his limited knowledge and appoint experts in various sectors to head their sectors. Appoint people like Soludo or Rewane or NOI to run the economy and not just any economically-illiterate General or Field Marshall. A military dictatorship achieving double digit economic growth annually won't be a bad thing. China won't interfere, and as long as China doesn't interfere, Trump's US won't also be bothered. ECOWAS and AU can do absolutely nothing to Nigeria. Only likely sanctions will be from the UK and EU, and Nigeria can withstand such sanctions.

About this power issue, is it not possible for a state government to purchase it's distribution network from the disco incharge of the state. For example, Delta state can purchase the Delta distribution network from BEDC. These discos are making heavy losses, so I'm sure they'll be willing to sell such assets if the price is right.

Then the state in collaboration with the private sector builds power plants capable of powering the entire state, and then connects these plants directly to the state distribution network they already own, bypassing the national grid.

The same way you have IPPs like Geometric supplying constant power directly to a particular location (usually industrial areas), just that this time, the IPP will supply directly to the entire state's ring-fenced distribution network, instead of just one or two industrial estates.

Same applies to seaports. There is no law that says states cannot build or own seaports in collaboration with the private sector, just like Lagos is currently doing with the Lekki Port and Akwa Ibom with Ibom Deep SeaPort.

Speaking of state governments, now that buhari is constructing railways across the nation, isn't it time for state governments to start constructing their own inner state railways to connect their capital cities, major populations centers, and major industrial areas to the federal government's railways.

In my view, the federal government is the best arm of government in Nigeria. The state and local governments are the worst, laziest arms of government, in fact, they are one of the biggest problems of Nigeria. If they could do their jobs more efficiently, Nigeria will be much better off. Imagine Bayelsa state, as small as it is, it receives allocations more than some entire geopolitical zones, yet it can't build good schools or good hospitals.

The hospital in your locality is bad, you shout buhari.
The school in your locality is bad, you shout buhari.
No library in your locality, you shout buhari.
No pipebourne water, you shout buhari.

Are these not the functions of your state governors and local government chairmen? When are you going to hold them accountable too? Everything is not buhari. Do you know your local government chairman's name? Ordinary library, local government can't build, you'll see them blaming buhari.

See ehn, any serious state governor can turn his/her state into a small abroad in Nigeria, with constant electricity, pipebourne water, good schools, good healthcare system etc. 85% of VAT goes to them, all income taxes (which usually forms the bulk of government revenue around the world, just that states are too lazy to collect then in Nigeria) goes to them. They can make laws in their states through their houses of assembly. What more do they need?

Tobex4realTobex234:
And forget all those kidnapping and health jargon, majority of people (especially in their 20's - 30's) leave for economic reasons.

There is high unemployment in Nigeria, and even if you were hardworking, there is a dearth of opportunities.

That said, there exists a small percentage that wants to leave because of other secondary reasons like security, health, passport e.t.c but a huge chunk wan japa because of money.

The same way young boys leave the East to come to Lagos to hustle is the exact same way people leave Nigeria to the abroad. I once worked in Kano and had people tell me they can't relocate to Kano because of security and so on. I was shocked to see them resume when my company gave some of them an offer.

Na money everybody they find. From 2face to Burna Boy to Davido, even as they seek international appeal, are all predominantly based in Nigeria.

Every other thing is secondary, don't let anyone bobo you on a faceless forum.

Do whichever makes sense for you, but don't force your opinion on other people.

Let those that want to stay, stay.
Let those that want to go, go.
Let those that are abroad and want to come, come.

Nice one. Very well said. It's sad that this simple and reasonable write-up will trigger certain people here (let me not mention names)

brandable:
Sir, too much wisdom in your post. Are you an economist or a subscriber of The Economist.

Which of the call center are you referring in the bolded.

Lol... I'm in the medical field by training. Yes, I do subscribe sometimes, it's one of my favorite reads, along with Bloomberg.

The call center is iSON Xperiences

awesomeJ:
Brilliant, Ve..rry Brilliant!

From Sugar to Cement, to Refinery, Dangote is often particular about building some of the largest facilities. The results of this is obvious.

Maybe Rabiu will soon become another like Him.

The CBN should look at ways of incorporating large agric firms in partnership with the private sector.

Instead of just giving hundred of billions in intervention funds. I think now will be a good time to consider creating firms that they will fund and own. Such firms would then be compelled to do agric on a large scale.

I recently saw a video where cows were milked at about 20litres a day on a farm with over 1000 cattles. I can't really remember the figures exactly, but I remember I estimated that if we had such systems, a 157ml of evaporated milk should conveniently retail below N100 with much better quality, since it will be made from fresh milk.

We can't keep waiting for Dangote, and just throwing trillions in intervention funds doesn't seem sufficient anymore. CBN should incorporate, fund and co-own mammoth agricultural companies.

Lol... It seems Abdulsamad Rabiu's strategy at BUA group is "Copy Dangote". Dangote went into sugar and flour. They did same. Dangote sold his flour business. They did same. Dangote is into cement. They did same (at least, this broke the myth that government will kill destroy anyone who tries to enter cement business to protect dangote). Now, they recently gave out contract to a French company to build a 200,000bpd refinery in Akwa Ibom.

Reminds of one business case I came across a while back about MacDonalds and one other restaurant company (I think its Pizza Hut). Pizza Hut waits for McDonald's to do all the business and site analysis and immediately MacDonalds open a new branch, Pizza Hut does same and opens a branch opposite them.

awesomeJ:
Brilliant, Ve..rry Brilliant!

From Sugar to Cement, to Refinery, Dangote is often particular about building some of the largest facilities. The results of this is obvious.

Maybe Rabiu will soon become another like Him.

The CBN should look at ways of incorporating large agric firms in partnership with the private sector.

Instead of just giving hundred of billions in intervention funds. I think now will be a good time to consider creating firms that they will fund and own. Such firms would then be compelled to do agric on a large scale.

I recently saw a video where cows were milked at about 20litres a day on a farm with over 1000 cattles. I can't really remember the figures exactly, but I remember I estimated that if we had such systems, a 157ml of evaporated milk should conveniently retail below N100 with much better quality, since it will be made from fresh milk.

We can't keep waiting for Dangote, and just throwing trillions in intervention funds doesn't seem sufficient anymore. CBN should incorporate, fund and co-own mammoth agricultural companies.

1000 cows is even small.

There's a dairy company called Almarai in Saudi Arabia. They milk over 22 litres per day each cow, and they have 94,000 cows. They produce 1 billion litres of milk annually. They process this milk into different products. They have 38,000 staff, do $3.9B in revenue annually, with market cap of $13.1B (that is packaged Fulani herdsmen company = dangote cement x 2, or dangote cement + MTN Nigeria)

They do their dairy farming in the Saudi desert. They imported management from Ireland. Imported all their cows (modified breeds). They even had to put AC (air conditioning) in all the farm sheds for all the cattle to protect them from the harsh desert heat which can sometimes reach as high as 45C. Since they can't grow grass to feed the cattle, they bought land in Argentina and the US, grow the grass there then import them to Saudi Arabia to feed the cattle.

All this struggle and stress yet they are able to produce products that in terms of price are competitive in the international market, hence they also export to other countries. If it's Nigerians, they'll come up with 1000 reasons why it can never work and blame the government. Nigerians will be waiting for Dangote or indians/lebanese/chinese. If Dangote does it finally, they'll say it's monopoly. If it's Lebanese or Indian, theyll say it's money laundering.

Fonterra, a dairy cooperative owned by 10,500 farmers in New Zealand makes $12B in revenues exporting milk and other dairy products. That's 30% of the world's dairy exports, from tiny New Zealand.

Chiquita is doing $3B in revenue growing ordinary bananas in South America and selling in US. Dole does $4.5B doing same along with ordinary water melon and pineapple.

Ecuador, Philippines, Columbia, Costa Rica, Guatemala make $3.3B, $1.9, $1.6B, $1B and $1B annually from exporting ordinary banana. Ivory Coast and Cameroon get $340M and $250M from the same banana. Nigerians will be blaming government. Thank God banana is not an electricity intensive business. I wonder what excuse will be given for this. It's labour intensive and we have cheap labour, cheap land, conducive tropical climate and a weak currency, yet we can't do anything.

All these are the kind of things we need in this country, this is what will grow our economy, not coding another ride-hailing app or biscuit ordering app.

Even if we want to do tech, we should go for IT outsourcing like India, not to be coding apps that our people are too poor to use. Where we can use our massive university educated and cheap labour resources to provide labour intensive IT services to companies in the developed world. Instead of them playing Americans $60,000 per annum, they'll outsource to Nigerian companies at quarter that price. This is what TCS, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Wipro and many others do in India. These 4 companies employ 450000 (yes, not 4,500, not 45,000 but 450,000. Four hundred and fifty thousand employees), 242000, 125000, and 175000 people respectively and made $23B, $13B, $5B and $9B in revenues respectively. Over 95% of this revenue is "exports", meaning the money came in foreign currency. And they have over 20 of such companies in India, employing in hundreds of thousands. Imagine we had just one in Nigeria. But no, it's only hotel and filling station we can build. Ordinary call center, we could not do. We had to wait for an Indian company disguised as an "African Company" to come and get BPO contracts from our Telecom companies. That Indian company is employing thousands of Nigerians across several locations today. Only in Ibadan, they have over 2000 staff at their call center. All this while Nigerians blamed the government.

As we talk about making policies for ease of business, we should also ask, making these policies for who? Because it seems Nigerians are not ready to do anything apart from blaming the government.

So sorry to digress oo, back to your post.

I don't like the idea of CBN or government owning enterprises. They should just create policies and try to make things easier. In my opinion, the CBN is really trying, one can get low interest loans through the bank of agriculture and bank of industry. CBN is now the one doing the work of ministry of agriculture.

Even if they must own farms, they should have minority stake of 40% maximum, so that the private shareholders make the decisions. Before some stupid Nigerians enter government and kill the farm by using the management positions to reward their incompetent friends and relatives.

OgogoroFreak:
I really don't understand this learning curve thing. So if USA want to start producing rice, they need to start doing something called learning curve by eating rice filled with stones for some time?

For christ sake all the information are out there to produce rice. I think government is really not supporting. Most of these farmers can't afford the standard rice mill and they can't access affordable loan.

There is no learning curve joor. Anyone who is serious will import the necessary expatriate management and specialized manpower from India at the beginning. Then they can transfer skills to local staff. Is farming rice more complicated than manufacturing cement that Nigerian companies are doing.

These small small farmers are not the one who will move agriculture forward in Nigeria. They can't take us anywhere. We need people and corporations who are ready to do agriculture on a large scale, who can afford the necessary mechanization and processing equipment and will farm land in thousands of hectares. Those small farmers will then be employed on these large farms and be paid salaries. Only the economies of scale alone will be able to bring down costs. Someone farming on 2000 hectares will produce at a lower cost per unit than someone farming on less than half hectare. Small farmer will buy bag of fertilizer at N5000 from middlemen because he's buying in small quantities. Big farmer will buy at N3000 direct from manufacturer because he's buying in hundreds of trailers. Such large farms will more productive as they will be able to afford the necessary seeds and fertilizers and best farm practices. This will solve the problem of small Nigerian farmers yielding 1 ton per hectare when their counterparts abroad are doing 8 tons per hectare.

All these tiny 2 plot farms cannot take us anywhere. These small farms lack economies of scale, are inefficient, poorly managed and unproductive. They are one of the reasons why food is expensive.

The way we look for people to invest billions in factories is the same way we need people to invest billions in farming. Or at best, cooperatives can be formed, where a group of small farmers or just ordinary investors can pull land and funds together to form a company underwhich they will be employees earning salaries monthly and then dividends at the end of the year. This cooperative will employ proper expatriate management who will manage the farm properly. If 5000 people pull N1Million each, that is N5B. Bank loan can be taken from bank of agriculture to make it up to N12-15B. Invest all this in a single sizeable rice farm with a rice mill of good capacity, and a plant to convert the remaining bran into animal feed or bran oil. Or invest that into a single cattle or poultry farm and tell me whether your products will not be cheaper and of better quality. One can even start taking advantage of the weak currency and start exporting since such company will be able to produce to high quality standards required by developed countries. Not to expect illiterate 2 plots farmers to export yam to Europe that will be returned due to poor quality. Is it Fulani herdsmen that will export beef or milk? Can they process beef properly to EU standards? Can they pasteurize milk at ultra-high temperatures and package it aseptically?

Imagine we didn't have big cement manufacturers. Imagine we had just thousands of small households who go to the mine, use chisel and shovel to dig up limestone and other minerals. Then use wheelbarrow to carry it home. Then start using iron block to manually grind the minerals. Then mix manually, heat with firewood, then grind again, the pour into those black polythene bags or into one big basin to take to the market to sell. Imagine how wasteful and inefficient this process is. Of course, the end product will be of a higher price and lower quality than that of huge, well-organized cement plants. This is the problem of agriculture today.

ahiboilandgas:
Imagine the number of keke marwa in kano ....u go fear u might think in are in India.....so all those prof this are that in Asu alway striking with all the engineering departments cannot produce common keke ....even keke we want Indians to do the job our own is to ride and over load and collect fares and play Nijai bet ( foreign soft ware) and shout up man u ... ( foriegn content )

That's why I don't agree with that lie that Nigerians like to spread that they are innovative. Nigerians are not innovative at all. Nigerian are dumb and stupid and the current state of the country is a reflection of that.

India had the same problem with us. Cars were too expensive. Most indians couldn't afford to use them for personal use nor could they afford to pay the expensive fares when they are used as taxis. So what did they do? They invented keke. Today, that single innovation of keke has created a few billion dollar companies in India, hundreds of thousands of DIRECT jobs in India and millions more of indirect jobs in related industries (eg steel, microfinance industries) and billions of dollars in exports and foreign exchange earnings. Nigerians were busy blaming and calling on the government, and calling themselves innovative and smart.

Nigsrdumb:
Excellent thanks.

Self awareness is a big issue.

You want to conquer an already developed place but can't see any opportunities in a barren land.

The middle class Nigerians are supposed to be the light of Nigeria , but they can't see beyond their noses.

They chase westernisation instead of modernity.

Clean your environment, plant trees , fix a persistent issue , do the simple things first. Mba that's too much.

The world is telling us what we have to do, but them no dey hear word.

The thing tire me

Like I said earlier, I live with a lot of Lebanese Nigerians so I have a lot of them as close friends. I remember one came to visit me with his child who from his size was less than 9 years old. And as a normal discussion, I asked what do you want to be when he grows up. He said an electrical engineer. I asked why? He said he want to become rich by giving Nigeria constant electricity. I was amazed. At this young age, they are able to spot opportunity instead of wailing and complaining. No wonder they are dominating the business landscape in Nigeria while the rest wail and complain. When the Lebanese are successful tomorrow, you'll see Nigerians accusing them of using Indian juju and money laundering. Nigerians instead of taking it as a challenge to solve, will use it as a justification to "japa", and will still pretend to be surprised when they're ridiculed and disrespected abroad.

A green, well manicured grass always has an owner. Yes, the grass here might be brown and unkept, but why not own it, maintain it and grow it green. The green grass abroad was once brown, but it was turned green by people there. All the grass there is now green, the highest you'll do there is forever work under those who already own all the green grass there.

Once again, you spoke excellently. Nigeria needs a people that knows that there are problems to be solved and are willing to apply themselves to the solution. The condescending pessimist is of no use to our problems. He exists only to highlight and ridicule our resolve. We have work to do.

Nigsrdumb:
Ok i don hear you.

As the number of exiled Nigerians are growing so are the returnees.

Check how black Americans are moving back to countries like Ghana, Tanzania etc.

Type phrankleen into YouTube.

My brother, you have spoken well.

Where some see problems, others see opportunity. To some, the infrastructure in Nigeria is a problem, to others, it's an opportunity.

Let me use the Nigerian banking sector as an example. Today, Nigeria's banking sector is well developed, but it was not always so. Back in the 70s and 80s, it was very poor and underdeveloped. At that time, there were two sets of people.

The first set of people are like dextrousone. They were wailing and frowning and insulting the industry, calling the country a shithole for not having a well developed banking industry comparable to other countries.

The second set of people, instead of seeing the underdeveloped banking industry as a problem, saw it as an opportunity to get a strong foothold in the industry. Back then, it was very easy to start a bank due to undevelopment of the sector. Very low regulatory and capital requirements. So they took advantage of this and started bank, some collapsed while some became the banks we see today. Among this second set of people, are the likes of Tony Elumelu and Jim Ovia.

Now that the banking industry is developed, the opportunity in the industry has reduced. Very very few can meet to high and tight capital and regulatory requirements to get into the banking industry today, compared to back in those days when the industry was underdeveloped and therefore with low requirements which provided the opportunity for people like Jim and Tony. If Jim and Tony were today in the same position where they were back in those days before starting their banks, graduates with few years of working experience, of course they wouldn't be able to start UBA and Zenith Bank today. It was the underdevelopment of the industry that gave them their opportunity. Today, all the wailers, including those who used the undeveloped industry as an excuse to move abroad, are nowhere near them.

I am not saying everyone must stay in Nigeria. If you think abroad will favour you better than Nigeria, then leave. Those that believe Nigeria favours them better than abroad, will stay back. The problem I have is that those that want to leave will not allow the rest to hear word, everytime disturbing and insulting those that want to stay. If you wan go, then go in peace and leave us alone. Indians go abroad too and achieve far far more than any Nigerian diaspora can ever achieve, yet you won't hear then making useless noise or insulting their country and those who decided to stay back. As you're leaving, many are coming in, especially the Lebanese and Indians, and I can bet these people that are coming in will be far more productive and beneficial to the nation than you if you stayed. Where I leave, there's a large number of Lebanese-Nigerians who've been here for generations. Others came quite recently. I see the huge celebrations they throw when they get their Nigerian passports. So as you're celebrating your Permanent Residency or passport abroad, there are also those who are celebrating getting our own down here. So as you're going, we are working towards building our own back here. Our own that we can call our own, not another person's own where I will have to be continuously chanting black lives matter, racism and I can't breathe.

So as Abroad is your paradise, Nigeria is also paradise for others. Go to your paradise and let others enjoy their paradise in peace.

Also, anti-immigrant sentiment is springing up across the developed world. Trump is only the first. Go and look at others like Matteo Salvini in Italy. That one is willing to sink any ship carrying african migrants across the Mediterranean. I hope if or when the real owners of those countries you're running to, decide to kick you out, you will not start shouting "Black Lives Matter"and racism and "I can't breathe", because they have a right chase away unwanted visitors. They also have a right to treat you as they wish, including gunning you down for no just reason. If you don't like it, they'll tell you, shut up or go back to your country.

Funny how they call and cheer and love it when Trump calls their country or continent a shithole but get angry and start calling him racist when he treats them and their kind as nothing more than "shit from a shithole"

Reference:
I want medical personnel tell us why we like sprawling hospital designs in Nigeria particularly for public hospitals.

What is the reasoning behind having hospital buildungs strung out and dispersed over a wide area such that radiology is on Mars, the surgery is on Neptune, the A+E on Mercury while the wards are asteroids, here, there and everywhere.

In large hospitals like LUTH or BUK Teaching you need a tour guide to find a patient and quite a while ago when running around for blood for a relation it was so hectic between the blood bank, labs and treasury that day that I could have been admitted for stress....

All those scattered matchboxes can conveniently fit into a single building either on multiple floors or properly integrated such that communication is more effective and perhaps a few more lives can be saved in cases of emergency.

Firstly, I agree that Nigerian architects are the laziest and most uncreative in the world. Anyone who wants nice designs should never go for Nigerian architects. With the average designs I've seen in Ghana, even Ghanaian architects are far more creative. Not to talk of American, European, and Dutch-South African architects.

About the point you raised, places like Akwa Ibom have large amounts of unused land which are very cheap, sometimes can even be gotten for free. This low cost of land makes it cheaper to build sprawling bungalows than putting them together into a 3 or 4 storey building. In places like Lagos however, where land is scarce and expensive, it's cheaper to build upwards. Hence, the reason you'll find more multistory buildings in Lagos where land is scarce and expensive, than in other less developed states where land is abundant and almost free.

In Singapore for example, where land is scarce, ordinary people live in apartments in high-rise buildings. Only the multi-millionaires and very wealthy can afford their own personal bungalows or 2/3 storey duplexes due to the high cost of land.

handsomebolanle:
My Ahib... Let NASS and Presidency and the likes cut down the cost of governance... They all should start from their individual sef... Let them show sincerity in governance.. and I tell you everyone will align.... it's a mindset... Their sincerity will including cutting there exonbetant allowances, frown against corruption (making it punishableand enforcement), investing in education and the likes

The greed began from them and if nigerians involve in illicit act should stop... It must begin with these leaders....

They are the bane of corruption...

These leaders, NASS and presidency you're talking about did not drop from another planet. They are from amongst the citizens. They are Nigerians. Their greed and lack of sincerity is characteristic of Nigerians. A greedy and corrupt will always give rise to greedy and corrupt leaders. Greedy citizens cannot all of a sudden become honest because they've won election.

It's not today NASS started earning ridiculous salaries. It was Nigerians who made the laws for such ridiculous salaries in the first place. We've had about 7 different sets of Nigerians in that NASS, yet they've all refused to cut down the outrageous salaries.

The truth is that the only reason most Nigerians are pretending to be against the outrageous salaries is because it's not them or their family members that are benefiting from it. Once they or their relatives enter the NASS, they become happy and call it sharpness. Many of those in NASS today were once among the citizens condemning it.

Nigerian don't hate corruption. They only hate corruption when they're not the ones benefiting from it. The moment it starts benefiting them, they call it connection. The only reason majority of Nigerians have not stolen billions of government money is lack of opportunity. The moment they get opportunity, you'll see their true colors. Hence, it is everywhere, from the top of government down to the local government clerk and the policeman on the street. All are corrupt, and they are not from another planet, they are all our friends, relatives, and neighbors, they are all Nigerians.

Take election rigging from example. We all like to point at the government. But I remember an incident where election for the excos for a residential estate was rigged. SUG elections in universities are rigged. See Nigerian Medical Association election below. They are not thugs oo, they are well educated medical doctors. They too will say buhari and inec is the problem when they cannot do ordinary association election peacefully.

https://www.nairaland.com/6038757/enugu-nma-election-ends-violence

ahiboilandgas:
end of discussion.......4000 Nigerian travel to dubai with over 500,000 Nigerian atm card to withdraw our foreign exchange for round tipping untill the cbn blockd cards working in middle East cos of ease of getting visa.....this group withdrawn 2 bn dollars from Nigeria reserve within 4 months.......Nigerians are not normal citizens.....one was caught with 2500 atms recently

Correct.

Like I always say, there is nothing wrong with the land called Nigeria, there is nothing wrong with River Niger and Zuma Rock. The only problem with Nigeria is the kind of people inhabiting the land. Nigerians are a cancer to Nigeria. There is no major difference between the land Nigeria, and the land Canada. The only difference is that one is occupied by smart people while the other by stupid people.

Someone was telling me about a Nigerian that got a political position in Canada and made a statement "that he hopes, one day, Nigeria will start to reward merit". I told the person that I don't agree. Nigeria cannot reward merit, neither can Canada. These are just lands. It is the inhabitants of Canada, Canadians that recognize and reward merit. The inhabitants of Nigeria on the other hand, prefer nepotism. Nigerians do not recognize and reward merit, but you'll see Nigerians saying "Nigeria", trying to dissociate themselves from the problem.

Again, I'm usually shocked at how boastful Nigerians are. Someone up there said Nigerians are the most hardworking and honest people.... Lol.
Nigerians will claim they're the smartest, most intelligent, most hardworking people in the world. It's surprising how a people that cannot manufacture ordinary toothpick believe they're more intelligent than people that are traveling into space. People with productivity per capita of $2000 believe they're more hardworking than Americans, Japanese, Singaporeans with productivity per capita of $62000, $39000, and $64000 respectively. A country of 200Million of the "most hardworking and smartest individuals in the world" has a GDP of $400B, while a country of 35Million "less hardworking and less smart" Canadians have GDP of $1.7Trillion. Just 8.5Million Swiss people make GDP of $705B, far more than 200 million of the so-called "most hardworking and smartest individuals in the world". Dr Ola said on twitter that there's no evidence that for Nigerians being the most enterprising people, not when you have the Jews, Lebanese, Indians. You can even see their exploits here in Nigeria. According to these statistics, if anything, Nigerians are among the laziest, most unproductive and dumbest set of people in the world.

Nigerians will give excuse of "environment", saying the Nigerian environment is bad. The reason the Nigerian environment is bad is because Nigerians failed to build a good environment. The good environment in US, UK, China, Norway, Canada did not fall from heaven, it was built by Americans, Britons, Chinese, Norwegians, and Canadians respectively. Upon the good environment in the UAE, Malaysia and other countries, Hushpuppy and other Nigerians still go there to do rubbish. Hence, I'm not surprised Nigerians are being banned everywhere.

Excelling abroad ke? Nigerians just like to make noise. Did you know that among US immigrants, Nigerian American immigrants are not even among the top 60 in terms of median household income. The Indians, Chinese and co top that list. Even amongst Africans, South African Americans, Egyptian Americans and Ghanaian Americans earn more than Nigerian Americans (who actually earn less than the overall American average). Whatever you think Nigerians are doing abroad, others like the Indians, Chinese, Lebanese have done far far more. Just that Nigerians like to make more noise.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ethnic_groups_in_the_United_States_by_household_income

Next, they'll be pointless their crooked fingers at the leaders. And I ask, are the government not Nigerians, are the leaders not from amongst the people. All the looting politicians, all the SARS that are killing, that did not come from another planet, they are all from amongst the citizens. They are a microcosm, a cross-section of the citizens. They say they apple does not fall far from the tree. A multitude of demons cannot give rise to angels as leaders. Bad citizens will always give rise to bad leaders.


Nigerians are just a failure of a people, that's why Nigeria is the way it is today.

NB: I never said there are no hardworking, smart, intelligent Nigerians. I only said that these set of Nigerians constitute a very tiny minority of Nigerians, far less than 10%. And if 90% of a product is defective, it's fair to say the entire product is defective.

Plead:
1. Rwanda has better power supply than Nigeria
2. Better infractural development
3. Has a national airline
4. Cleanest country in Africa
5. One of the fastest developing economies in the world
6. One of the least corrupt countries in the world
7. Better business/tech hub/start up environment
8. An average Rwandan resident earns higher than an average Nigerian resident.



So, list reasons why you think Nigeria is better than Rwanda.

I've been to Rwanda, not just Kigali but unlike you people, I didn't just stay in the rich touristy parts of Kigali. What I went there for also took me to the interior parts of the country where the masses live.

Rwanda does not have better power supply than Nigeria. The only place with good power supply in that country is the capital city Kigali. The rest of the country remains in darkness. Rwanda focuses all their power, infrastructure, money in one single tiny location (Kigali) while Nigeria spreads it out across 36 states and FCT. If Nigeria decides to do same and focus all our power supply on key cities like Lagos, Abuja and PH while leaving the rest of the country in darkness, foreigners will visit Lagos and say there's constant electricity, but that won't change the reality that majority of the country still remains in darkness. The percentage of Rwandans with access to electricity is just 34%.

Again, the only place in Rwanda with infrastructure is Kigali, and even Kigali's infrastructure is at best, on par with infrastructure in key places of Lagos and Abuja and other state capitals. Apart from Kigali and few roads leading to important places around the country, most roads are not even paved.

I guess Rwanda is also better than the US and Brazil because it has a national carrier while the US and Brazil don't. Air Peace alone is bigger than Rwandair. AirPeace has a fleet size of 23 planes while Rwandair has just 12.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/RwandAir
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Peace

It's a known fact that Rwanda is ready to do anything to look good, they spend heavily on PR. It's the same country that has been accused of rigging their economic data like what they did with poverty statistics, making them appear to be falling, when in reality, they are actually falling. What this also implies, is that Rwanda's already abysmal economic data like GDP per capita, electricity access etc, could even be worse in reality.

https://medium.com/@david.himbara_27884/kagames-fake-economy-exposed-by-world-bank-f4d4d68c20da

https://www.ft.com/content/683047ac-b857-11e9-96bd-8e884d3ea203

https://www.france24.com/en/20151102-rwanda-accused-manipulating-poverty-statistics

https://www.france24.com/en/20190813-financial-times-says-rwanda-has-manipulated-its-economic-data

roape.net/2019/04/18/a-straightforward-case-of-fake-statistics/

roape.net/2019/09/02/the-rwandan-debacle-disguising-poverty-as-an-economic-miracle/


Nigeria and South Africa are the top tech hubs in Africa, closely followed by Kenya and Egypt, and then others like Ghana, before the likes of Rwanda.

https://m.guardian.ng/technology/lagos-emerges-best-startups-ecosystem-in-africa/amp/

According to the Africa Venture Capital Report, Nigeria receives the highest tech venture capital in Africa, followed by Kenya and South Africa. You can download the report here

https://weetracker.com/2020/01/04/african-venture-capital-startup-funding-2019/

The average Rwandan does not earn anywhere near the average Nigerian. Rwanda has a GDP per capita of $770, putting it worse then Haiti at $860. Nigeria is at $2200. The minimum wage in Nigeria is $1000 per annum. In Rwanda, it's (100RWF) $0.11 per day, that is $39.6 per annum assuming one works 30 days a month.

https://medium.com/@david.himbara_27884/kagame-wont-increase-rwanda-s-0-11-minimum-wage-set-up-44-years-ago-when-he-was-17-years-b569480d21d9

www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-05/02/c_138027987.htm


This thread below, though very short, provides a much more balanced view of the country, not this advertisement you're running here.

https://www.nairaland.com/4475569/exploring-kigali-rwanda

All you uploaded are just over-enhanced pictures of the very best parts of the country. Rwanda is just the average small, poor country like Haiti and Burundi, but with good PR. And the people can't tell the world the reality on ground because if they do, they'll be locked up by the dictator running their country. Look at him calling a country poorer than Haiti, Singapore of Africa. Mtcheeeeew. What will you now call Mauritius?

Did you know that Olam International, one of the world's largest agri-business multinationals with revenues of over $26Bn, was founded in Nigeria by Indians in 1989.

I wonder what Nigerians were complaining about back then or what excuses they were giving. Decades from now, we'll hear of more Lebanese/ Chinese/ Indian multinationals founded in Nigeria today, while Nigerians do nothing but complain and blame government

Did you know that Olam International, one of the world's largest agri-business multinationals with revenues of over $26Bn, was founded in Nigeria by Indians in 1989.

I wonder what Nigerians were complaining about back then or what excuses they were giving. Decades from now, we'll hear of more Lebanese/ Chinese/ Indian multinationals founded in Nigeria today, while Nigerians do nothing but complain and blame government.

Few days ago, we all saw the news about a Nigerian, or rather a Canadian of Nigerian descent been appointed as a Commissioner of Justice in Nigeria. It is not rare to see Britons and Americans of Nigerian descent been elected and appointed to political positions in the UK and US, from MPs to congressmen and women.

Unknown to many, Nigeria has a sizeable population of citizens who are of foreign descent. The majority are of Lebanese and Indian descent who have being in Nigeria since before independence, many for as much as 4/5 generations. There are a few of Chinese descent too, and other nationalities from around the world. They are all legally Nigerian Citizens, with the Nigerian Passport, and therefore have all rights that other Nigerians have, including the right to vote and be voted for in Nigerian elections. They contribute greatly to the growth of the country, as can be seen from their exploits in the private sector. From my interactions with them, I would argue that most of them are even far more Nigerian than the "indigenous" Nigerians.

Can these Chinese/Lebanese/Indian Nigerians get appointed or elected into political offices in Nigeria? If yes, then when? When will we have a Chinese-Nigerian Local Government Chairman in Kano, or a Lebanese-Nigerian Minister in Abuja or an Indian-Nigerian Governor in Oyo State? How do you think Nigerians would react?

a

.

Sholapey:
NIGERIAN NAIRA FAST BECOMING THE WEAKEST CURRENCY IN AFRICA....

South Africa: Rand 1= 79 Naira
Angola: 1 kwanza = 12 Naira
Botswana: 1 Pula = 28 Naira
Cape Verde: 1 Escudo = 8 Naira
Algeria: 1 Dinar = 12 Naira
Egypt: 1 Pound = 35 Naira
Eritrea: 1 Nakata = 18 Naira
Ethiopia: 1 Birr = 19 Naira
Ghana: 1 Cedi = 56 Naira
Gambia 1 Dalasi = 9 Naira
Kenya: 1 shilling = 6 Naira
Liberia: 1 Dinar = 8 Naira
Lesotho: 1 Loti = 19 Naira
Libya: 1 Dinar = 156 Naira
Morocco: 1 Dirham = 176 Naira
Madagascar: 1 Ariary = 14 Naira
Mauritius: 1 Rupee = 16 Naira
Malawi: 1 kwacha = 21 Naira
Mozambique: 1 Metical = 24 Naira
Namibia: 1 Dollar = 32 Naira
Seychelles: 1 Rupee = 22 Naira
Sudan: 1 pound = 42 Naira
Swaziland: 1 Lilangeri = 19 Naira
Tunisia: 1 Dinar = 150 Naira
Zambia: 1 kwacha = 28 Naira

Even the worst economies of Africa now have more valuable exchange rate than us.

Is Nigeria still the GIANT of Africa?

Stupidity of the highest order.

Firstly, this write up is filled with lies. Since when did Madagascar's currency become higher than the naira. 1 Malagasy Ariary = 0.1 Naira. The Sudanese Pound is equivalent to 7 Naira, not 42 Naira. The Malawian Kwacha is not stronger than the Naira, it is not equivalent to 21 Naira. 1 Naira = 2 Malawian Kwacha. These are just few of the numerous lies up there. What do you hope to achieve by sharing these devilish lies?

Secondly,

1 Naira = 3 South Korean Wons

Does that mean Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and others have a better economy than South Korea?

1 Gambian Dallasi = 2 Japanese Yen
1 Ghanaian Cedi = 18.2 Japanese Yen (Let's assume we don't know about Ghana's currency redomination)

Do these mean that Gambia and Ghana have a stronger economy then Japan?


Exchange rates do not represent the reality on ground. In fact, if we Nigerians were a serious people, we would have used this low exchange rate to turn ourselves into an export-based nation as this will make our exports cheaper and more competitive on the global market. But no, we must sit down doing nothing and complain. It's the Chinese, Lebanese and Indians that will come and take advantage.

China's dream would be to have the chance to devalue their currency to our level without being called a currency manipulator and getting slammed with sanctions from US and EU. Sensible countries like Vietnam keep their exchange rates very low to stimulate exports.

Nigeria's target should be to solve exchange rate instability, and not to be striving for N1=$1. The Naira can be 300, 360, 400, 500 to a dollar but let it be stable, so that investors and business people can plan for the future. Not today 300, tomorrow 450, next tomorrow 390, the other day 610. You collect dollar loan to invest in Nigeria at 1$ to N300, but when it's time to pay back, it's 1$ to 500. Exchange rate stability is what is needed. If we solve this and bring down inflation, it would go a long way in helping businesses.

An experience I recently had has once again confirmed the fact that Nigerians are the sole problem of Nigeria.

I was planning to set up a factory production line. I went online and got a list of 8 companies who supply the needed equipment. Out of the 8, 7 were Chinese companies and 1 was a Nigerian company. I sent out emails to all of them.

In less than 24hrs, I had received replies from all the 7 Chinese companies. Till today (a month after), I am yet to receive a reply from the Nigerian company. I even tried to call the numbers on the Nigerian company's website, they were all either switched off, not going through, or non-existent.

I began discussions with the 7 Chinese firms. One of the Chinese firms had an office in Nigeria so they referred me to their Nigerian representative. So I gave them my requirements and specifications. In less than 48 hrs, I received quotations from the 6 china based companies. The Nigerian representative of the 7th Chinese firm told me I have to give him a week to prepare a quotation. A week passed, nothing from him. After 2 weeks, still nothing from him. I contacted him again, he apologized and said he'll send it in 3 days. A week passed again and still nothing from him. I got tired and contacted the company's head office in china. They apologized, collected my requirements and specifications and sent me a quotation in less than 24 hrs.

While discussing with the Chinese, I also noticed they were more concerned with offering better service, advising me on what kind of equipment they think will be best and most profitable, what kind of equipment suites the power situation in Nigeria, and all that. The Nigerian representative didn't even care, all he cared about was money, asking me questions like "if I send the quotation next week, when will you be making payment? "

After, we will say the government is our problem. The attitude and work-ethic of the average Nigerian is just too bad.

The company that refused to reply my emails will still be blaming Buhari for their lack of clients, not knowing that their lackadaisical attitude, laziness, inefficiency and sheer incompetence is the bigger cause. This Nigerian mentality of doing things anyhow anyhow, abandoning the tiny important details, is part of the reason why Indian, Chinese and Lebanese owned businesses tend to do better than their Nigerian counterparts in Nigeria. Ordinary to contact you, to reply your email, to answer your calls, is a now big challenge. Well, according to them, it's still Buhari's fault, not theirs.

To divert a little, this is also one of the reasons I take Nigerian businessmen complaints about power, infrastructure and other things being the cause of their problems with a pinch of salt. Yes, sometimes it is, but most of the time, the problem is mismanagement, incompetence and inefficiency. I CANNOT SEE HOW A COMPANY THAT CANNOT MANAGE A SIMPLE EMAIL ACCOUNT WILL MANAGE AN ENTIRE FACTORY EFFICIENTLY. Yes, power and infrastructure can be improved on, but Nigerians also have a habit of blowing these things out of proportion and blaming their incompetence on the government. I've said before on this thread that I run a manufacturing business, and power is not even among my biggest challenges. The biggest challenge is getting competent manpower WITH INTEGRITY. The competency part is easier, but the integrity part seems impossible, everyone is so dishonest, everyone seems to be on a mission to steal every single kobo they can lay their hands on.

Back to the main topic, the other company with a Nigerian representative will think they are at an advantage being closer to the market with a representative, not knowing that the lazy, evil and demonic Nigerian employees they call representatives are even frustrating and driving away their potential clients with their Nigerian-civil-service attitude.

Once again, there's nothing wrong with the land called Nigeria, nothing wrong with River Niger and Zuma Rock. The problem of this country, is the kind of people that inhabit it, Nigerians. Nigerians are the sole problem of Nigeria, both the Nigerians in government and the Nigerians amongst the citizenry.

CsRockefeller:
You provide the services before you tax the citizens, that's how it's done not the other way round.

Now tell me, what has the Govt provided to warrant these taxes?

You want to tax me for the land I bought, sand filled, dug bore hole, bought a pole and wired my house, graded d road, provided a security at the gate?

And what will be used to build build the roads, power plants, hospitals, schools and all the services? the president's blood?

It costs money to provide services, and that money has to come from somewhere.

This is a "chicken or egg, which came first" situation.

Theflint1:
In all this you have failed to consider the rate of inflation and average wage. Most Nigerians don't earn enough to live on.

The bikeman earning 30K per month is better off paying 15% tax (N4,500) and 6% health insurance premium (N1,800) that will assure him of quality healthcare, education, infrastructure etc, than to keep the entire 30k and buy everything for himself.

His 6% health premium will assure him of free, quality healthcare. If he has accident on his bike, can the 30k treat him? If he develops kidney problem, can 30k treat him? Unexpected expenses on drugs and treatment for him, his wife and his children will be gone.

His 15% tax will assure his 2 or 3 children of free, quality education with which they can use to compete for better future. He doesn't need to worry about school fees. Without that 15%, he'll probably be paying more for the children in a substandard school which will not equip them with the skills they need to escape the poverty they've found themselves in.

When there are good roads from his taxes, he will spend less on bike repairs, his bike will last longer and produce a higher return on investment.

When everyone in society is freed from the burden of expensive medical bills and school fees, coupled with better infrastructure that will make cost of goods and services cheaper, everyone will have more money to spend on other things, like transport. So the bikeman will even have more customers and make more income.

We are not the only country in the world with poor people. Our socioeconomic demographics are not worse than countries like Benin, Chad, Cameroon, Niger, yet they still collect taxes.

Cyberknight:
Agreed.
But we cannot continue subsidising electricity until we get the generation and transmission issues right. Diversifying the energy mix also requires investment which we hope we can attract in this current climate so the government doesn't have to find the monies itself (read more ultimately unserviceable loans), while we continue to throw money into subsidies.

The Katsina wind farm is the only one we have so far, while I think several locations have been identified, but funding lacking. An MOU for a solar grid was signed, but no progress made so far.

The prepaid meters must be enforced and subsidies removed. Then we can put in place incentives such as those used in Kenya for example, where people who consume less each month pay lower rates. But blanket subsidies as a whole are unhelpful - they starve the whole system of funds.

If we are going for solar and wind, it shows we are not yet serious. They are too expensive. When we are serious about electricity, we will go for hydro, coal and gas. Why should we spend on a 1MW wind farm when the same amount spent would get us 5MW from gas or 4MW from coal.

ahiboilandgas:
A p.moller recently sack the Nigeria m.d and the global ceo had to come to Nigeria cos of Npa petition and threat of termination of contracts...he deploy more mordern equipments to togo .....we dont necessarily have to go the gas way .we can have energy mix .hyro is the cheapest the 3 goges dam in china generate 50000 mega watt , like wise the new Ethiopian dam can generate 5000 ....on country run exclusively on private enterprise....even america that promotes such have billion in dollars fpr agriculture, unemployements benefits,social security etc .....in a nation of 30000 minmum wage million of Nigerians will be off electricity at 60 naira per kilo watts leading to use of kerosene lamps ,firewood and massive deforestation,pollution,poverty and back wardness ...

Three gorges dam generates 22,500MW, and cost $22.5bn for the dam itself and $37bn for the whole project including relocating millions of people.
Ethiopia's renaissance dam will generate 6000MW and cost $5bn.
It still costs a lot, depending on terrain and if you have appropriate water bodies. You might be mandated to supply electricity to other countries too like we do with power from Kainji dam.

If there is enough money, then the government can do everything. But now that there is not enough, I believe things like free basic education and healthcare are of higher priority for government spending than power. Since the private sector power will be constant and prepaid, those that can afford 24/7 for a whole month should do for 10 days or what they can afford. When businesses get access to constant power, they'll be able to produce goods and services at cheaper prices, and those people earning minimum wage will have more left to spend. After all, the people you're taking about are currently surviving without constant electricity. How many kerosene lamps do they use now without electricity? Some even run small tiger generators which are more expensive than private electricity.

ositadima1:
Privatization is ok, but the problem we have is that the privatized facilities are being owned indirectly by government officials or people who have links to the government.

This affects the policies and regulations made by the government towards these companies or sectors. E.g. why the government is yet to mandate prepaid meters beats me. Why are the majority of users still on estimated bills, why ?
How can a business provide efficient services when it is sure to collect charges whether they provide d service or not ?

I am telling you guys with confidence that if the government enforces prepaid meters all these discos will sit up and be on the same level as our telecom companies.

Exactly.
That's why I said privatization should be done PROPERLY to avoid governmentsl officials buying them for themselves, and regulations must be put in place to curb their excesses and operate efficiently, like the prepaid meters enforcement you mentioned.

ahiboilandgas:
am against total privatization..Nigerian is not a normal country and Nigerians lead private sectors are monsters that must be watched with the eagle eyes ....france have a lot of govt own enterprise and it working well and delivering dividen....an exclusive run private sector power firms can lead to massive exploitation...the disco are already doing it ....no capacity to meter after 5 years ....they know only 1 thing increase in tariffs without improve service......look at what Ap moller is doing with ports in Lagas ...so poorly managed that trucks are lining up on the streets due to lack of holding bays and modernise cranes to offload containers ....how about MM 2 or the exploitative lekki link bridges .....this not a normal Nation .....a cost reflective tariffs wouls lead to over 50 percent of Nigeria to be off electricty....electity can be a social services

Nigeria is a poor country and cannot afford electricity as a social service. Average capital cost of gas power plants is $1000 per KW. That is $1,000,000 per MW. South Africa with 45Million people generates 45,000MW. If we are to generate similar capacity (ignoring that if South Africa needs 45000MW, we would need about 180,000MW), that would be $45Bn. Coal power plants have higher capital cost, but less operating costs. Renewable and nuclear power are just too expensive, with much much higher capital costs but less operating costs. I rather that money is put into education, healthcare, security etc There are alternatives to fund power like the private sector, but there are no alternatives to provide free basic education.

It will be prepaid and everyone will have to adjust to their pocket. Not this current system where even when you're away for a week, you'll leave your fridge and lights on. Fridge don block, but you'll still leave it on. If you're not watching television, you turn it off. If it is 5 days electricity you can afford in a month, you go for it. In the current system, how many people receive up to 5 days (120hrs) in a month.

And by the way, most of the DISCOs are currently running on losses. You can look up their financial reports. Ikeja Electric, BEDC etc

These social services mentality have drained us. Providing fuel as a social service has led to a situation where we now spend more on fuel subsidy than we spend on healthcare and education put together. And due to lack of funds, the two later have collapsed, even when they are more important than the former.

Laws and regulations can be put in place to handle the excesses of the private sector. For example, there can be maximum price caps like it is everywhere else in the world since utility companies are usually monopolies in the areas they serve. But these regulations should also consider the businesses and allow them make a healthy profit to meet their obligations, not to be forcing them to sell below cost price.

About AP-Moller Maersk and the Lagos ports, I believe the problem is that the Lagos ports are running above capacity. AP-Moller is a Danish multinational that manages ports efficiently all over the world, why is the case different only in Lagos. To solve this, Calabar port and more ports should be opened up. Once again, private sector can help here too. If the mismanagement is intentional by the company, then regulation should be put in place to curb it.

We are not the only country where private sector manages roads, bridges, airports. Let's look at how other countries are managing their excesses and adopt the solutions to our perculiar situation.

ahiboilandgas:
very true i always known that buhari will fail cos the ingredient to develop infastutures is not available .....i don't know who told Nigerians that we are a rich nation we might be miniral rich but poor via revenues or revenue collections and expense allocation.....in my earlier post i wrote the fgn needs to earn around 100bn dollars exclusively for any meaniful developments....but their is a foundation problems which more revenues and financing structure cannot tackle .....imagine if the 5bn dollars looted by abacha was used to develop 10000 mega watt mabilla since 1996 ,then the stolen 12 bn dollars gulf war wind fall used to develop mordern raily ways since 1990 then the 10 bn dollars subsides scams used to build a well manage refinary and nigerian exporting refine petroleum products,then then Nigeria airways is now Ethiopia airline,Nigeria shipping line earning 2 bn dollars from west africa shipping act ...then 16bn dollars obj to mordernize agriculture and value addition

In my view, the government shouldn't waste it's scarce resources on commercial enterprises. Let the government resources go for things like basic education, healthcare, defence etc

Government doesn't need to spend a kobo of scarce resources on power. Just create the right policies and private investors will generate all the power we need in the shortest time possible. Not the current situation where electricity companies are complaining of being forced by NERC to sell below their cost price. Investors will take loans, build power plants and transmission/distribution lines, generate power, sell that power, and make a healthy profit, from which they will pay back their loans. Same thing goes for railways, airlines, pipebourne water etc. Let the private sector handle it. All the government needs to do is tax the private sector to provide education, healthcare etc

The government needs to free up the economy. Regulations are too tight. Government just dey chook hand everywhere, spreading it's scarce resources thin. Look at NNPC refineries and how theyre wasting money. Was it not the Kaduna refinery that made 60B loss last year with zero revenue. Why should the government be running refineries in the first place. Deregulate and privatise these things PROPERLY and watch the private sector work wonders.

Even major inter-state roads can be given to private companies to construct and operate. In other countries, you'll see so so road is owned 35% by this company, 25% by that company, 15% by that equity fund etc In other countries, when traveling by road, you always budget for tolls. But in Nigeria, it's all free. I rather drive on good, smooth, safe roads and pay tolls than to drive on death traps where container can fall on head for free.

ahiboilandgas:
Example jigawa state earned earned over 1.2 trillion naira in 20 years with all human development index still in the red , instead the single must important project executed by the Govt is the 30 bn Naira duste airport that was never used and still not in use cos their is no commercial activities in the state...the gov a pantom progressive and man of the masses ..against building dams for irrigation and all year farming and value chain additions ....the former gov a syco started frog farming for export to thailand .....meanwhile their counter part in ekiti is also building a fly over and airports to attract imaginary investors to the state while the single must important project executed by the Phd gov of ekiti was building a New govt house and gov lodge abuja

Like I said, I agree with you that corruption is a problem that needs to go, but if revenues don't go up, all our lack of infrastructure and social amenities will continue. A non-corrupt family of 10 earning 5k monthly will still be poor.

Jigawa state receiving 1.2T over 20 years is a paltry 60B per year.

According to the Vanguard, Jigawa has about 784,000 children out of school.

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/10/edo-records-lowest-out-of-school-children-in-nigeria/

If the government is to provide free, quality basic education not for all the children in the state, but just for these 784K children. At a teacher to student ratio of 1:15, that would be 52,000 teachers. At a salary of 80K monthly, that is 50B annually. We haven't added the other thousands children who are in schools that are only fit to be pig farms. We haven't added the cost of building and equipping those schools. The government will still spend on healthcare, infrastructure, roads, etc.

At 784K children, you'll need 784 schools to accommodate 1000 children each. I believe you have some experience in construction, so imagine how much it would take to construct such schools. At a cheap estimate of 50M per 1000 student capacity school, that's 40B. Except you want the students to learn under trees.

These out of school children are from poor families, so you might probably want to give them at least a good meal at school during break time. At N150 per meal, for 5 days a week, 4 weeks a month, 3 months a term and 3 terms a year, that would be 21B per year. And we haven't added the other students oo.

Corruption is a problem, but even if corruption is totally absent, 60B cannot provide anything tangible for a whole state. Unless you want to fund only schools when there are no roads to go to those schools because you're not spending anything on roads and the children and people are dieing daily because you're not spending anything on healthcare and there are no jobs because you're not spending anything on infrastructure to support businesses.

At 60B yearly in such a state with zero corruption, there will still be out of school children. Many of those in schools will be be learning under trees and in conditions worse than pig farms. They will be served watery soup, soggy rice and near-rotten bannanas as school lunch. There will be poor healthcare. Poor roads and infrastructure. Because that's what 60B a year can afford a state.

ahiboilandgas:
they anit saving anything, they are expanding recurrent expenditures ....they are doing roll overs , issuing new bonds , borriowing internationally.....soon 100 percent revenue =100 percent debt service .........National oreintation agency has 7000 staffs doing notting , while von that nobody hears and frcn both have over 15000 workers milking the system with zero impact ....

Apart from all these waste that need to go, we also need to increase our revenue. Our revenue is generally too small. We need to work on that, especially tax revenue. The majority of Nigerians pay little to no taxes. I don't agree with this narrative that once we do away with NASS 0.12T (out of personnel budget of 2.4T), the country will suddenly turn to London. A family of 10 people, earning a combined N5k per month, no matter how non-corrupt they are, they will still suffer from poverty. Yes, waste and corruption have to go, but revenue has to also go up.

We have one of the lowest tax-to-gdp ratios in the world att 4-5%. France is at 48%, Germany is 44.5%. Those countries are much richer so let's leave them and compare with our neighbors with similar or even worse socioeconomic demographics. Benin is at 15.4%, Cameroon is at 18.2%, Ghana is at 20%, Togo is 15.5%.

Our budget of about $26bn is too small for a $380bn economy with 180M people. And the most surprising part is we still have to take loans to fund this tiny budget.

South Africa has a budget of $120bn for a smaller economy with 50M. But they are of different socioeconomics with Nigeria, so let's use a similar country as example.

Ghana with similar socioeconomics with Nigeria has a budget of $14bn annually, for a population of 29M and a $60bn GDP. Meaning their spending $483 per person and spend 23% of their GDP.

Nigeria on the other hand, is spending just about $144 per person and just 3.68% of our GDP.

How can you expect similar level of development when Nigeria is spending far less due to far less revenue. For Nigeria to operate at the level of Ghana, we need to generate 20% of our GDP in taxes, that is $76bn in taxes. Then spend have a budget that's 23% of our GDP (the extra 3% can come from loans or other sources of income, not now where loans are used to finance almost 50% of the budget) at $87.5bn. At this level, per capita spending will be equivalent at $486.

I see it as a miracle that open our abysmal spending that is just about a third of Ghana's, in terms of development, the difference is not that much. And upon this low revenue, unlike Ghana, we are the ones who will still subsidize everything, from fuel to ceaserian section to electricity bills.

About the loans and debt, Nigeria has one of the lowest debt-to-gdp ratios in the world at just about 23%. Most of the developed countries have it at 80-130%. Japan is even at 223% (yes, more than twice of their GDP in debt). Ghana is at 73%, Benin at 54%, Chad at 52%, Gabon at 61%. Yet, these countries like Ghana with relatively high debt don't use up to half of their budgets to service those debts, because those budgets are large compared to the debts. We in Nigeria with a supposedly low debt profile are the ones using almost half of our budget to service debt because the budget is too small compared to our GDP. Imagine we had 73% debt like Ghana. It's means we'll use 100% of our budget to service debt and still borrow even more to complete the debt servicing. Our debt is not the problem. The problem is that we are making too little revenue to service a debt that we should have serviced very easily if we made enough.

Another advantage of taxes, is that is promotes accountability. If Nigerians we're paying taxes, I doubt we'd allow all this corruption go on. As at now, all the money being stolen is like free money from the ground, and no-one cares. That's why nigerians will destroy public property and politicians steal with impunity. If these were built with taxation which is the collective sweat, blood and tears of the population, I doubt you'd allow anyone damage streetlights that we're built with your money. Any politician that does anyhow will be voted out. No more selling and buying votes, because if income taxes are 20%, and I'm earning 30K, meaning I'm paying taxes of 6K monthly, 72k annually, and 288k for a 4yr tenure, do you think I would collect 2K bribe during election to vote for someone I know would squander my 288k for the next 4yrs.

Imagine, all Nigerians pay 6-7% of their income as a firm of health insurance premium, for free healthcare, similar to the UK's NHS. If we have 80M economically active Nigerians, who earn ON AVERAGE 45K monthly. That would be an annual healthcare fund of at least, 3T annually (current healthcare budget is just about 300B of which 90% is spent on salaries). Imagine how that would boost the life expectancy of Nigerians and even the economy. With that, we'll be able to build all the hospitals we need, buy all the fancy high-end equipment we want, and employ adequate numbers of all the doctors and healthcare staff we need. If we don't have enough, we can even start poaching staff from poorer African countries like Burundi, Ethiopia, even Ghana. If 30% (900B) of that money went to drugs, it would boost our pharmaceutical industry, create more jobs, bring in more investment since pharmaceuticals are sure of a large market etc. With the tiny revenues of listed pharma companies on NSE, I doubt if the entire drug market in Nigeria is even up to a third of that. If 10% of that went on healthcare research, who will challenge us in Africa. It'll create jobs for the many biomedical graduates in well funded research institutes. This is just an example. Similar miracles will happen if this principle is applied in other sectors.