₦airaland Forum

APContherun:
At the end of the day it's not what your ordinary Nigerian thinks that matters but what the laws says. The laws says that while both are condemnable and punishable they aren't the same. Like I said previously he didn't justify any, he never asked that we engage in any but that we need to know what both means.

That your ordinary Nigerian is the one selling expired goods in the market. He's the one tampering with fuel dispensing meters to make extra but illegal gain. He's the one who refuse to go to work but show up at the month end to collect salary he didn't earn. He's the one busting pipelines, vandalizing electrical installations and committing all sorts of stealing and corrupt acts isn't he?

What if this your ordinary Nigerian start by reforming himself?

^^^^
Nigerians want action, not speeches. There is no need for me to give examples where your principal failed to enforce the law. They are legion. The only thing left is for Nigerians to show their displeasure with this failure to deliver. We shall see in a few weeks time, if all goes well.

This lengthy debate on the difference between corruption and stealing is a brazen diversion from the key issues that could only be possible in a place like Nigeria. Your principal cannot successfully prosecute economic saboteurs(remember the fuel 'subsidy'?) but he gives regular lectures on syntax, lexis and structure as well as antonyms and synonyms for the words 'corruption' and 'stealing'. . And you are brazen enough to try to sell this farce as some kind of rare insight or a Nigerian version of deft statesmanship.

Time will tell. It is up to Nigerians - the same Nigerians whom you so clearly despise for their shortcomings - to give their verdict on your principal's performance. March isn't far away...

awodman:
GEJ was right after all

Keep up the academic arguments.

The good thing about all this is that ordinary Nigerians - the real Nigerians out there on the street who don't have time to waste on the internet - are tired of these lectures on the difference between corruption and stealing. These Nigerians - the 'real' Nigerians - are not happy. They wanted action, not English lessons. But your principal didn't deliver.

No one can say how the events of the next few weeks will play out. But it isn't looking good for your principal at all. He had a golden chance to write his name in the history books and he threw it away.

A lesson for all of us. Carpe Diem. Carpe Diem...You are not promised tomorrow...

One more thing: analysts have to get out of the habit of bandying government expenditure figures as evidence of performance. Projected expenditure is the first leg of the relay race. The outcomes arising from this expenditure is the second leg, and precious little scrutiny is actually devoted to those outcomes. It isn't enough to tell Nigerians that $1 billion was budgeted for 'security'. How much was spent and what was it spent on? Did Nigerians receive value for money?

Its amusing watching people split hairs over the performance (or lack thereof) of Messrs Jonathan and Obasanjo. They are two sides of the same bad coin. Sure, their governments made some progress on the economic front. But growth is not the same thing as development.

Taking all factors into consideration, both governments have failed Nigerians, full stop. And both governments run on the same party platform. Is there a pattern here?

PapiWata:
A northern Nigerian is needed to renew the oil field leases that expire in 2016, as illustrated beautifully in the above write-up. Any northern Nigerian will do, since his tribal obligation will of course be to ensure that the most lucrative oil leases in Nigerian territory REMAIN in the hands of northern Nigerians, EXACTLY as listed in this damning expose published here by SamX4Real.

An election victory that sees Jonathan Goodluck serving a second term in office is an outcome dreaded above all else by the hidden oil barons of northern Nigeria, who stand to lose their strangle-hold on Nigerian oil fields FOREVER, as southern bidders for those precious oil drilling leases are FINALLY allowed to complete on even terms with the born-to-drill northern elite, all of who "qualified" for oil field ownership thanks to systemic decades-old tribalism and nepotism which kept the wealth of an entire nation in the greedy hands of a few select northern family networks linked to past military dictators.

The shuffling out for presidential candidacy of a geriatric and senile ex-military tyrant, Weeping General Boko Hari, by the northern oil mafia and their southern stooges, is a last-ditch desperate lunge to maintain the old order, by its network of beneficiaries who can no longer depend on the re-organized Nigerian military to support their personal agendas of silent petroleum monopoly, as was the case back when the military top brass was drawn largely from the north of Nigeria, during the darker years of the nation's history.

With no re-election worries to complicate his decision making process, Jonathan Goodluck's second term in office will logically sound the death knell for the oil cartels of northern Nigeria, whose covert diversion of most of the oil belonging to 200 million souls will be relegated to the garbage heap of history.

Vote Jonathan Goodluck until 2019, because Nigeria's oil is not Alhajis' Danjuma and Abubakar's personal property any more. The sooner that new reality is made official, the better for Nigeria.

^^^^
This pitch for Dr. Jonathan's re-election is a hard sell, the hardest sell of all.

Most Nigerians do not know about the lack of transparency surrounding their country's oil industry, particularly the allocation of OMLs and OPLs. Unfortunately, the Jonathan administration did not fight to remove this opacity for the six years it has been in power. It did not sponsor any executive bill in this area and fight hard to see it to a logical conclusion, i.e. passed into law. As I write this, the petroleum industry bill remains just that: a bill. After how many years of the GEJ administration sitting in power with a party majority in the legislature? Two? Three? Four? Five?

Nigeria has serious structural problems in the way government is run, some of which you have highlighted above. Instead of the JEG administration to restructure this Republic and strike a blow on behalf of Nigerians yet unborn, it decided to play politics and maintain the status quo, cozying up to the very interests you now claim the administration will fight against - if given a second term in office. Too little, too late.

Instead of baiting and slandering whole ethnicities at this eleventh hour, you would have been better served advising the administration to ACT while it still had the time and also to make sure its own hands were squeaky clean.

It is too late now. The GEJ administration now has a well deserved notoriety for embracing, promoting and nurturing corruption and graft - a notoriety that will likely cost it dearly at the polls.

We will see how it turns out in a few weeks time...

KwoiZabo:
I will rebuke any southerner that wants to vote Buhari not because Buhari is from the North or because he is a Muslim but here are my reasons:
1. Buhari was highly unfair to the south as President, I can forgive personally but I will also be unfair to my children if I support him when there are millions of other Muslim northerners that are far better than Buhari.
2. Buhari voted against an Igbo man Peter Onu for OAU sec gen over a fulani man from Niger republic despite pleas from Julius Nyerere of Tanzania. That is how bad Buhari is.
3. Buhari overthrew a civilian govt. so it's an insult to the Country that after 31yrs we want to tell the world that he is the best we have. A 73yr old papa. No.
4. Buhari served under Abacha and told us Abacha is not corrupt. He condemns corruption only when it doesn't favour him.
5. He is not concerned when blood is shed in pursuit of his ambition. My have died directly and indirectly because of Buhari.
6. He entered the Army fraudulently and finally forged results.
I can go on and on. So for me it's only greedy and foolish southerners that can support Buhari and they disgust me. Period.

^^^
Sometimes it is made to seem as if Mr. Buhari is the only other candidate in the race. There are at least 10 other opposition candidates in the race apart from Mr. Buhari. Why the focus on him?

I have said time and time again - this election is solely a referendum on Mr. Jonathan's performance. The election was supposed to be his to win. Now it is a much more even contest - he could just as easily lose as he could win. Unfortunately for him, the rampant corruption that has hollowed out his government has sealed his fate.

The Jonathan government underestimated - or perhaps ignored - the rising tide of public anger against his administration - an administration that has time and time again, proved to be firmly in thrall to, and in league with dark, shadowy, vested interests. For this reason, Mr. Jonathan is likely to pay a heavy price at the polls. It is by no means certain, but it is likely. Several opportunities (too many to list here) came up for the Jonathan administration to take a firm stand against carpetbaggers and robber barons. Instead, Mr. Jonathan and key members of his government and party chose to do nothing - in continuation of the PDPs 16 year misrule of this country.

He squandered his opportunity and he should pay the price. Mr. Jonathan should go.

While some people on here have no other goals but filthy partisan politicking, the rest of us have to live with the results of the failure of their paymasters. Across the tiers of government. Across the levels of government. And across their morally bankrupt parties too.

Has the PwC report been released to the public? Or only selected highlights? Are Nigerians not sensible enough to read the Report and make up their minds?

There was a KPMG audit of this same cobras nest called NNPC in 2010. The report was never made public although leaked versions of the Report found their way into circulation. To this day, I am not aware of any action taken by the Jonathan administration on that Report. Should I have faith that things will be different this time?

Did these two audit reports come to the same conclusion? Is there a systemic problem in the NNPC? Only a transparent disclosure of the full Reports from 2010 and 2015 will allow Nigerians to determine if their interests have been protected or thwarted by the federal government and its agencies.

Nigerians deserve nothing less than full disclosure. Or maybe they don't. Maybe they and their children should continue to pay the price for their apathy and refusal to hold their leaders accountable.

You get what you pay for. In a few weeks we will see if Nigerians have suffered enough and wish to take control of their destinies. Time will tell...

And the beat goes on...

KPMG carried out an audit on this same vipers pit called NNPC in 2010. Under the Goodluck Jonathan administration. The verdict was about the same as the verdict of the PwC report just in: the NNPC and successive Nigerian governments have been, and will always be a threat to national security. Can anyone even remember the KPMG report today? Was it ever released to the public? Wasn't it a leaked version that found its way into the public domain? Did anyone go to jail?

Fast forward 4 years to 2015. Another auditor, same NNPC, same government of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. This time, the auditor says over 1 billion dollar bills developed minds of their own and refused to go into the federal coffers where they belonged. The auditor has recommended that the NNPC find a way to make those dollar bills retrace their steps into the federation account. What will happen this time? Will this report fade away and become a distant memory like the report of 4 years ago? Will anyone go to jail?

Nigeria, your future is in your hands.

So the NA spokesman actually said all those things.

The pressure is clearly getting to him.

And both countries (Nigeria and Niger) are neighbours and are supposed to be members of the same joint force. An alliance dead on arrival?

For everyone's sake this spat should be quickly forgotten and put away for good. The alternative will not be in anyone's long term interest. (assuming there are no ulterior motives underpinning the actions of the main actors in this war)

I don't believe it! I saw another thread raised on this topic and immediately dismissed the comments attributed to Mr. Olukolade as a hoax. Only for this thread to show up with a news source and link.

Did he really say all these things?

I don't believe it!

The federal government remains unserious about changing its expenditure profile.

This problem of the federal government funding religious pilgrimages is a ghost that has refused to die.

The federal government will not fund capital projects. It prefers to fund recurrent expenditure and also fritter away public resources on religious pilgrimages, endeavours that are in essence, private. And the people said: Amen!

We should not be surprised that we are what we are and where we are.

mentorandfriend:
I'm a medical doctor. I cant claim to know all, but judging the astuteness of a lawyer by his knowledge and dynamics of the workings of national energy generation and power is quite misplaced, just like you cant judge my intelligence by my knowledge of the banking system; but I can say some things or more because I read journals and financial publications. When I do say the little I know, dont turn it into a big campaign of inadequacy thingy. By the way, Osinbajo will not head the power sector, will he? Please.

^^^
You are right that no one can claim to know all. But justifying ignorance in leadership isn't acceptable.

It is fair and just that the APC frontrunners should answer in detail how they intend to fix Nigeria's power problems. To suggest that Mr. Osinbajo should not be grilled on power (because he is a lawyer! ) is just strange. Power is a big ticket issue that has been on the front burner for millions of Nigerians for decades. Nigerians have the right to ask those who wish to lead them hard questions. And those questions should be answered in detail. Nigerians deserve nothing less.

It is noteworthy that the OP's own errors and misinformation are also being brought to light on this thread. And that's the way it should be. Nigerians deserve a thorough examination of the key issues. Nothing less.

mentorandfriend:
Rubbish post. He is a lawyer, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria for that matter. The best hands in energy and power shall be engaged when APC wins. A strong leadership laced all round with integrity and vision shall lead the way. GMB/Osinbajo things; so take a chill pill.

^^^^
Very poor response. This thread has been remarkably focused on the issues that matter, and the posters here clearly have a technical background and some experience in the power sector. The posts here have been long on detail, which is what Nigerians require. No unnecessary, empty rhetoric. More threads should be like this.

Osinbajo is only a man. His being a lawyer and a SAN have nothing, absolutely nothing to do with the key issues being discussed here. If his plan for the power sector has holes, are you saying these holes shouldn't be pointed out?

Dewze:
These are the kinds of discussion I want to continue to see on NL politics section, not one filled with abuses and campaign slogans.

^^^
Well said.

EhiJeremiah:
The president of the federal republic of Nigeria Goodluck Ebele Jonathan on the controversial statement which was accrued to him that " stealing is not corruption" stated today 11 Feb. 2015 during the presidential media chat that he never said that stealing is not corruption but was quoting Al Mustapha who after studying all the cases of corruption discovered that about 80% of such cases were all stealing and thus stated that stealing is not corruption.
He (president) was not the originator of that statement but was only quoting Al Mustapha who was the originator of the qoute.
He also said that a thief should be called a thief and be treated as a thief not to use the corruption to paint it and confuse the masses. Also he stated that EFCC tackles financial crime (mismanagement), ICPC tackles corrupt practices and the NPF deals with stealing so calling stealing corruption is leaving everything to ICPC to deal with.

^^^
Nigerians are not paying the head of state for classes on semantics.

Splitting hairs on definition of terms is not what the president was elected for. He was elected to protect the interests of Nigerians, interests he holds in trust by virtue of his position.

Instead of ACTING and putting wrongdoers in jail, Nigerians are being given sermons by the Goodluck Jonathan administration . In what way does this academic debate (on the difference between stealing and corruption) advance the public interest? Are both of them not crimes against the Republic - crimes for which a responsible government should diligently prosecute offenders and seek convictions?

In a few weeks we will see if Nigerians have learned their lessons about misgovernance. Not long now...

Zuria:
To those above me, asuoka is reporting from the front....

May God give the family fortitude to bear the loss...R.I.P to the policemen

^^^^
RIP to the late SP.

Was he abducted today? Another thread said something about a skirmish in Yobe today involving boko haram. Are these incidents related?

Please tell me the 3rd photo was photoshopped.

Horayce:
Should we get rid of cars because we have road accidents? Should we get rid of por.n because of the occasional std infection its actors have? When i have a por.n addiction problem it has less to do with the por.n industry than my ability to exercise simple self control. Por.n is heavily regulated; actors have to abide by clearly laid down medical compliance rules which the por.n industry takes seriously. And of course, like the aviation sector or any other for that matter it isn't perfect, there'll always be occasional errors but generally speaking it gets my vote as a contributer to economic life

^^^

STDs are not necessarily the only negative externality arising from porn. That's why I asked for research work done that examines these things fully. But even if for argument's sake we take STDs as the only negative externality arising from porn, isn't that important enough? Porn actors have multiple partners by definition. STDs transmitted across these multiple partners does pose a potentially significant public health risk if things go wrong.

(A valid point can be made that there are many ordinary people who are not porn actors/actresses and yet have multiple sex partners - a situation that also results in all the public risks I mentioned above. For now lets ignore such people for the purpose of this argument).

Now to your other point: you say porn is heavily regulated. By who? Is this self regulation or regulation by the government? And regulation varies from country to country, doesn't it?

At this point I guess I should declare my stand: I don't think pornography advances the public good or interest.

Horayce:
Yes, most countries in the world that have or once had a thriving p.orn/sex industry are usually industrialized ones . The US, UK, Germany, Netherlands, France to mention a few. They may not necessarily be the highest per capita consumers of porn(that may be asia) but these countries realize the value of the free market economy; the value in allowing "adults" pursue whatever interests they choose ( whether it be buying a vibrato.r. from an eroti.ca shop, or paying a subscription fee to brazzers) especially when it benefits the economy. Globally, p.orn is a 100 billion dollar behemoth. As with most things dollar and naira, these industrialized countries i just mentioned have the biggest slice of the pie, wouldn't it be quite a thing if naija stopped this petty fixation with morals and religion and got in on the action?

^^^
My point sir, is that the other poster I was jousting with simply couldn't explain this link between porn and economics. Is porn a driver of economic growth or it is a consequence of economic growth? To throw in your angle about industrialisation - is porn a cause of industrialization or one of the consequences of it? Or there is actually no causal link between them? These are the questions I was putting to that fellow and he couldn't quite give me an answer despite a clear statement he had made earlier on linking these things.

Good to know you have declared your position immediately - you are clearly in favour of porn taking its place up there as a 'respectable' economic subsector - right next to banking, oil & gas, insurance, agriculture and manufacturing. I have a question for you: does the production and consumption of porn have any negative externalities? Has there been any research work done on this?

How much more can this system take? How much more?

I can see some talk about the PwC report. Would someone care to shed some light on this?

joseph1832:
Your problem is also education. I am saying a country that doesn't rub religion in our noses are actually doing better than us ( Nigeria) who revel in religious dogma!.

What I am saying is simply put according to the popular religious dogma "those who follow the commandments of their religion will surpass the unbelievers".

^^^
Very well then. I have done my best and made my points as clearly as possible. You are well within your rights if you choose to dodge my very clearly stated questions on an assertion you made in black and white. There's nothing left to say.

Good day to you sir.

joseph1832:
Good. You should have asked what I meant instead of assuming I was talking about national income. Now lemme explain it to you, the U.S, have all this sinful things (according to popular religion) done everyday yet they are making progress, they have steady power supply, good roads, etc. Yet we (Nigerians) who are holier than the Isralites with our profess religion, with our so called hatred and distaste for things that doesn't conform to our religion are still backward!.

I honestly don't know or can not see where national income came into the picture bro.

^^^
Aha.

Your problem is education. But it is a problem that can be solved.

Now let me explain to you. First of all, you were talking about national income, whether you knew it or not. You mentioned power supply, good roads etc. What do you think makes up national income? It is these roads and power supply lines and the thousand and one things which go into building them. (as well as the thousand and one things that power lines and good roads help in building or creating). Second, for the life of me, I cannot understand why you keep referring to religion. I have said nothing about religion. I quoted a line from your post - a line which I have re-posted and which does not need any other part of your post to provide context. This line of yours makes an association between national income and porn. What I need from you is an explanation of the nature of that association.

Let me make it a bit easier for you. Are you saying that the US is making economic progress because of its porn industry or in spite of it?

joseph1832:
Kindly show me where I made such association then we will take it from there.

^^^
Sure. See your words below:

joseph1832:
Believe me, if the U.S, the epitome of freedom of expression have a healthy and thriving porn industry and they are still doing well economically, I wonder what reason we have as a nation that doesn't condone such have as an excuse.

joseph1832:
Google the American porn industry and you'll find what you're looking for.

^^^
No sir, you have not answered the question. You made an explicit association between porn and national income. I asked you to explain further and you have referred me to google searches on the US porn industry. That won't cut it.

We need more information from you and nobody else. After all, its your theory. But I have already bought into it. Its only these naysayers on here who need convincing. Once again, I say imagine the possibilities! Instead of dry, sterile debate during the presentation of the appropriation bill to the national assembly by gnarled, middle-aged civil servants, imagine what a nubile, silicone-enhanced, 42 DD porn starlet could do with the same document. The thought should fill you with joy.

Mr Joseph, you owe it to your country to take your revolutionary idea to the next level. History won't forgive you if you don't.

joseph1832:
Whatever contradiction your see or sense is your business. Whether I believe in freedom of expression or not isn't the issue here. The issue is one giving his own dose of dogma as a cure for something his religion believe to be bad forgetting that not all profess to his religion!.

^^^
I am enjoying this.

I have not said a word about religion so I do not understand your reference to it. Your debate about religion is with other posters, not me.

I am more concerned with the strange association between a virile porn industry and national economic performance - an association you took pains to highlight.

In these dark and perilous economic times when former central bankers of Nigeria and serving ministers of finance are exchanging fire on the pages of newspapers, we need all the guidance we can get to lift us out of the abyss. Even if that guidance comes from unrepentant, hardened pornmeisters.

Please do not misunderstand me. My major concern is economics, not religion. I need you to educate me on this link between porn and national income.

Imagine the possibilities. GDP growth and G-spots. Who says you can't mix business with pleasure?

joseph1832:
All the more reason for you to just ignore my comment if you don't know how to approach or deconstruct it!.

^^^


I sense a contradiction here.

You applaud 'freedom of expression' in your beloved USA. I 'expressed' myself after reading your comment. Somehow you feel that I would have been better served ignoring your comment instead.

Do you really believe in the freedom of expression you profess?

joseph1832:
So you quit porn got married and lived happily ever after! So?.

Believe me, if the U.S, the epitome of freedom of expression have a healthy and thriving porn industry and they are still doing well economically, I wonder what reason we have as a nation that doesn't condone such have as an excuse.

^^^
?

I do not even know where to begin to approach your bolded comment, not to talk of trying to deconstruct it.

A witches cauldron of ethics, economics, moral philosophy, politics and geography. Where do I even start?

pwerrymansion:
It beats me that Nigerians have been possessed by spirit of mediocrity. Why would I waste my time and energy for 2 inept and incompetent fellows struggling to loot/reloot from the masses again? This is the case of the dumb and dumber! So come 14th February, its just me,my hubby,kids,rice,chicken and other orishirishi!

^^^
There are other presidential candidates apart from the two main contenders. Surely, out of 10 candidates at least 1 should meet your requirements.

If you sit on the fence, you lose the right to complain if things get worse. Do your research and cast your vote for a candidate who meets your requirements. Elections come round once in 4 years. Surely, you can make this sacrifice? There'll still be rice and chicken after the election. And I'm sure your spouse and children will be there to enjoy the feast with you whenever you decide to tuck in. . .