₦airaland Forum

Fuel subsidy cannot continue forever but it should only be removed with adequate measures in place. Here’s my solution:

[list]
[li]Step 1 - Create a Federal database that is tied to tax collection database, if one does not exist. Every adult should file their taxes even if they’re unemployed or have zero income. [/li]
[li]Step 2 - Issue a federal tax ID card to everybody that files a tax return.[/li]
[li]Step 3 - Remove fuel subsidy.[/li]
[li]Step 4 - Pay everybody that makes between NGN 0 – NGN 100K a graduated sum to alleviate the burden caused by the removal of fuel subsidy. The NGN100K is arbitrary but the idea is that people earning “enough” should be buying fuel at market rate.[/li]
[li]Step 5 - Create a Private Public Partnership with a series of companies that will build, maintain and/or run the refineries.[/li]
[li]Step 6 - Create a regulatory committee that will approve any changes to the price of fuel at the pump. The price of fuel should be “cost plus” and the cost of refining should be laid out during the bidding stage by the private companies.
[/li]
[/list]

The steps above guarantees that the government will raise revenue (taxes) and that those who need the subsidy will get it.

The idea sounds great on paper in a country where public officials are held accountable.

The way I see it, the only thing guaranteed is that the citizenry will see inflation and their purchasing power will be reduced. GEJ’s plan, as laid out by BEAF, is for the government to take money/benefits that accrue directly to the citizenry and hand it over to the government with hope that they do the right thing?

What are the Federal, State, and Local governments currently doing with their allocation? What makes anyone think that they will suddenly have a change of heart and channel the funds to the much needed infrastructure?

What happened to the funds (about $35Billion) GEJ released to the States before the primaries?

I’m all for fuel subsidy removal but only if the citizenry will see the benefits. GEJ needs to fire his advisors and hire new ones because he’s in need of sound ideas and he appears not to be getting any!

Lie detector test (polygraph) is not a programming language and is an actual measure of physiological things beyond the control of 99.9% of people. Forget what you see in movies. The test measures the skin conductivity, pulse, blood pressure, and respiration during the test. A very simple test you can perform will be to see if you can lower or raise your blood pressure at will while seated? Can you also control your sweat glands before you start to sweat? How about your pulse?

At most, one can seek to make the results inconclusive and a trained technician can even detect attempts to manipulate the results.

What makes the results unreliable is when people are lying but think that they're telling the truth. For example, a crazy man running around claiming he's the messiah. He would probably pass the test when asked if he's the messiah or not because he believes he's telling the truth.

Legal lexicon
Condition precedent – what has to happen before something occurs
Possibility of reverter – something to re-occur
Contingency – occurrence of event
Easement  - right to use
Mutual consideration – promise not enforceable
Abrogate – revoke
Abeyance – No legal owner
Adversely possess – Legally take
Age of majority  - adult
Collude – secretly cooperate


Condition precedent a second encounter, a friend (hereinafter known as “Observer 1”) and I (hereinafter know as “Observer 2”), wondered a possibility of reverter or contingency to a day wherein Observer 2 saw what appeared to be an angelic being with a pair of undulating protuberances at a posterior of said angelic being, said undulating protuberances appeared to synchronously gyrate with alternate ones of each step as said angelic being floats on down said street.

Said angelic being is Jane Doe (hereinafter known as “Observee”) walking briskly due to a downward slope of said street, said downward slope is of undetermined angle. Observer 2 observed said walk on said street and took cognizance of Observee’s lovely gaze on said aforementioned day and wondered what the easement requirements are.

Thereafter said observation, Observee have or appeared to have caused Observer 2 to be of questionable character, and Observer 2 from time aforesaid promised Observer 1 without mutual consideration, Observer 2 will approach Observee at the second encounter to ask Observee out, presupposing Observer 2 is still of questionable character.

At said second encounter, Observer 2 told Observee that Observer 2 won’t abrogate a contract with Observee if there’s abeyance of Observee, and even if said abeyance is determined, Observer 2 will adversely possess Observee as long as Observee is age of majority and colludes with Observer 2.

Omolulu:
or u meant " Gone in 60 seconds"

You are right! A '70 Charger was the one used in Fast and Furious.

honeric01:
@wallie

 what do you have to say about this comment from cyberG?

Quote from: CyberG on Today at 17:37:35
You are certainly well-accepted already! The Yorubas are perhaps the most accepting and friendliest of the many peoples in Nigeria. Your dad will tell you more just ask him.

Why are you ignoring that generalizing statement, yet you're all worked up on mine which wasn't even generalizing? is it because cyberG paints your race in a good manner and mine's not really "cute" to your race?

lol, I responded but thought you made the comment. See the highlighted below:

Wallie:
I did see the some and I wasn't ignoring it, which was why I questioned making an entire tribe the subject of that sentence.

Since you're in the mood for giving advice, why not advice her not to date Nigerians since most are fraudsters and drug dealers, and are usually not known to do anything positive. You should also advice her that Nigerians (some) are lazy and morally bankrupt.

Oh, you should also advice her that Nigerians are also very family oriented!

Am I lying?

Do you know what generalization is? That's what you did, and it is wrong! You cannot lump everybody into a single class, and qualifying it with "some" or other niceties do not take away from the sting of the generalization.

If you see nothing wrong with what you said then I have nothing more to say to you. I hope the OP is a little more discerning. Take care!

Your generalization painted a whole tribe in negative light and the other guy's comment was redeeming. If I say that most people from your tribe are very dumb, you will probably reply and say “F you” but if I say people from your tribe are industrious, you will probably say “thank you.” That’s the difference!

Guardian:
Both are important.  The facts are

1. The Proc Speed is the actual measure of how fast your PC runs and is able to process instructions - Very important. Naturally your PC is fast once you have a faster Proc. However

2. Your RAM aids your PC and you the user by ensuring you have enough hot memory to load both applications and data, e.g when u open, Word, Excel, AutoCAd all the same time.
   The larger the RAM size the better the Proc is able to perform manipulation of data directly from RAM. Else,  if the RAM is insufficient it transfers data to your Harddisk which is much slower
   to communicate and retrieve data from, leading to slightly slower response when the Proc needs to operate on a data fast.

If you have basic load, e.g just word processing your FAST Proc is OK . But if you do a lot of multi-tasking  which involves the software loading and manipulating multiple sets/store of data. You need more RAM.

Frankly. RAM complements the capability of the Processor. Especially during multiple program execution


If you really want to know how fast and what processor to buy go http://www.cpubenchmark.net/

It is not just about absolute numbers! I was hoping to avoid digging up some tests but here you go:

Apple iMac
CPU 3.1GHz
RAM 4 GB

Apple iMac
CPU 2.8GHz
RAM 4 GB

DELL XPS 8300
CPU 3.4 GHz
RAM 8 GB

HP Touchpad
CPU 2.93 GHz
RAM 8 GB


Testing Result
Adobe Photoshop CS3 image-processing test (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

Dell XPS 8300                            60
Apple iMac 27-inch (3.1GHz)      63
Apple iMac 27-inch (2.8GHz)      75
HP TouchSmart 610q 1065qd    77
Sony Vaio L21SFX                      81

Adobe Photoshop CS5 image-processing test (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
Dell XPS 8300                                                   214
Apple iMac 27-inch (3.1GHz, Spring 2011)        236
HP TouchSmart 610q 1065qd                           242
Sony Vaio L21SFX                                             255
Apple iMac 27-inch (2.8GHz, Summer 2010)     257


Apple iTunes encoding test (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

Apple iMac 27-inch (3.1GHz, Spring 2011)               86
Dell XPS 8300                                                          92
HP TouchSmart 610q 1065qd                                  113
Apple iMac 27-inch (2.8GHz, Summer 2010)            115
Sony Vaio L21SFX                                                    136

Multimedia multitasking (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
Apple iMac 27-inch (3.1GHz, Spring 2011)                  121
Apple iMac 27-inch (2.8GHz, Summer 2010)               147
Dell XPS 8300                                                             275
HP TouchSmart 610q 1065qd                                     328
Sony Vaio L21SFX                                                       368

http://reviews.cnet.com/desktops/apple-imac-27-inch/4505-3118_7-34662591.html?tag=rb_content;contentBody#reviewPage1

From numbers alone, none of the computers should be close to the Dell XPS 8300 in performance but that's not the case! The iMacs only have half the RAM size of the others but still performed near the top or at the top. In multitasking, the iMac got things done in almost half the time!

Pecca:
No matter the size of the processor the operations of the PC will be hindered every now and then if the size the ram is very low. What I am sayin in essence is that both the processor and the ram works to enhance the speed of the computer.

Somewhat true but the question is to what extent? The first computer listed has 512 MB, which is a lot on any computer, and a much faster processor. The effects of the RAM and processor can't be clearly stated because the issue is one of relative speed and not absolute speed, which is why bench tests are done. It is not as if one is comparing 0 RAM to 1 GB RAM, or 0 GHz to 2.3 GHz.

I say somewhat because I don’t understand what you mean by “hindered”. Hindered compared to what? If I have a processor 3 times as fast as your computer, even with zero RAM, I would wager that it will be just as fast if not faster than your computer.

I think that you’re overestimating the usefulness of a RAM. On a freshly rebooted computer, even with RAM, you will still need to fetch the data from the hard drive and save a copy in RAM the first time around. And on subsequent fetches, you still need to fetch from RAM, the only difference being a shorter turn-around time than when fetching from the hard drive.

If my processor is 3 times as fast, it doesn’t really matter that your data is closer (in RAM) because I’m way faster than you and I can perform multiple reads/writes in the same time it takes you to perform one read/write from RAM.

For example, in a 100m race, if you put a 3 year old 20 feet from the finish line, a trained sprinter will still reach the finish line before the 3 year old.

honeric01:
^^

Yes, some Nigerians are fraudsters, am i lying? i hope you're not trying to ignore the 'some" in my comments?

I did see the some and I wasn't ignoring it, which was why I questioned making an entire tribe the subject of that sentence.

Since you're in the mood for giving advice, why not advice her not to date Nigerians since most are fraudsters and drug dealers, and are usually not known to do anything positive. You should also advice her that Nigerians (some) are lazy and morally bankrupt.

Oh, you should also advice her that Nigerians are also very family oriented!

Am I lying?

Do you know what generalization is? That's what you did, and it is wrong! You cannot lump everybody into a single class, and qualifying it with "some" or other niceties do not take away from the sting of the generalization.

[b]If you see nothing wrong with what you said then I have nothing more to say to you. I hope the OP is a little more discerning. [/b]Take care!

honeric01:
Too bad but i am stating the fact here, it is likely going to appear harsh but that's the truth bro, been living in Nigeria all my life and this can be attested to by any sincere person out there. i just want her to know that some are likely to take more wives and when they do, she shouldn't take it too hard because it's accepted here. ignore the tone, pick the message, i am not a tribalist but i also do not hide truth.

OK. Then is my characterization that Nigerian males are fraudsters also true? I have gazillion email messages in my spam box to prove the same. By extension, that should also mean that any foreigner shouldn’t get into business with a Nigerian because he/she will get scammed.

I’m not saying that there isn’t any truth to what you’re saying but you cannot just paint an entire tribe with one broad stroke, the same way I cannot characterize Nigerians as fraudsters even though some are.

@ OP
I bet you thought racism only existed in the US and Europe? I would surmise that Nigerians are on average more racist (tribalist) than Americans.

honeric01:
@OP

if you are VERY serious, then read and READ what moderator wrote carefully, to fit in here, you must be familiar with all that he wrote.

no freaking equality yadayada here o except the guy wants it, you cant force that on any Nigerian bred guy over-here.

one more thing, the Yoruba tribe (some) are very promiscuous and read to marry more if you don't give birth on time, very normal for some of them to play away game even while married to you.

And please, no forming for your neighbors, and no calling of police when you see your neighbors quarreling or fighting, they can sort themselves pretty well without the help of any police man.

As opposed to Nigerian males being promiscuous in general? Generalize much? According to you, it follows that Nigerian males (some) are fraudsters/419ners.

Of course some Yorubas are promiscuous but by making the Yoruba tribe the subject of the sentence, even though qualified, generally paints the entire Yoruba tribe in bad light.

@tadelara

Do you have any Nigerian traits in you (mannerisms, food, culture, language etc)?

I have a friend that has never being to Nigeria but she has the funniest imitation of her parent’s Nigerian accent. The first time I heard her imitation, I almost died of laughter because it was so unexpected! I guess growing up in a Nigerian household does rob off!

I remember being in an elevator once in Boston, and a woman and her son were trying to get it but there was a very large woman slightly blocking the entrance. On getting in, the woman told her son in Yoruba that he should look at the woman occupying a space for four people. I looked at her and smiled, and she wondered why I was smiling. Then I told her that I understood what she said. She was so embarrassed!

Moral of the story, understanding the language is extremely helpful:-)

lol, Naija!!!!

The OP is Nigerian since she chose to be associated as such and she's also American by virtue of her birth. Why can't she call herself Nigerian-American? Generally, she can be referred to as African American but specifically, she's Nigerian-American or American of Nigerian heritage.

OP, my suggestion is to try to visit Nigeria more often so that you can learn the nuances/experiences that make Nigerians "Nigerians."

sholasys:
you guys have said it all and in addition, dual core, quad, core 2 duo, i3 , i5, i7processor types are also a factor, they contain multiple processor chips not necessarily the processor speed and they are better than the former. 32bit , 64 bit processor is also a factor, before now we have limited option for comparison but due to high tech we hv alot of option to determine sys peed.  it also depends on the task you are performing. now deleting a huge file does not require much RAM accessibility but copying a hug file require both the RAM and processor.

As of today, most people that buy quad cores or even dual cores are not going to get the benefit, and the same is true for 32-bit vs 64-bit machine. For you to get the benefit of multiple cores, your application must have been written to take advantage of multiple cores (must be multi-threaded).

With regards to 32-bit vs 64-bit, what good is a 64-bit machine when your application can only read in 32-bits?

However, new applications are now written to take advantage of the extra oomph. But you are right, with the right application, all the things you listed will matter.

OK. The answer has been posted already but let me try to explain it a different way.

There are two components to how fast a computer is (1) the time it takes to retrieve the information, and (2) the time it takes to process the information.

To explain how a RAM affects the time it takes to retrieve information see the example below.

Imagine two people are in Nigeria and they both need to go to the US to buy a pen, and the only option is traveling there to pick it up on two types of airplane. The first is a regular Boeing 757 and the second is a Smaller Jet that travels 1.5X faster than the Boeing.

There's no question that the person flying on the smaller Jet will get back to Nigeria faster.

Now, let's change the facts a little bit. Assuming that on the way back, the person that traveled on the Boeing left a copy of the pen in UK. If both of you have to go get the pen a second time around, the person on the Boeing will return to Nigeria faster because he only has to go to UK to pick it up.

A computer with a larger RAM and slower processor won't be faster the first time around but might be faster on retrieving essentially the same subsequent information that does not require access to the hard disk.



If I had to choose, I will go with the computer with the faster processor because (1) it will be mostly faster due to the 512 RAM being more than adequate, and (2) most memories are upgradeable and cheap.

I have advocated for the creation of State police and will continue to do so.

However, I’m not naive enough to think that politicians will not use them to terrorize the citizenry and may even use them to forestall any attempt by the Federal government to arrest the politicians.

Even right now, in practice, it is not clear whether the Police have jurisdiction over the Military men in uniform.  There have been many reprisal attacks and killings among men in uniform over petty issues.

But the pros of community policing far outweighs the cons. The people best suited to control a neighborhood are people that grew up and went to school there. Who will know the thieves and troublemakers better than people that went to school with them? Certainly, not someone foreign to the neighborhood that does not even speak the same local language.

In addition to what the OP said:

# Not qualified to do the job.
# Unable to explain whatever was written on resume.
# In the US, never talk about money unless the interviewer initiates it.
# Not answering the interviewer's questions.
# Coming across as arrogant or "I too know".
# Lack of knowledge about the company and/or product.
# Not listening or cutting the interviewer off too many times.
# Not being courteous to secretaries and other potential subordinates.
# Showing frustration at the interviewer’s questions.

Also, what's with all the testimony? For every person that comes here claiming to have made it in the business world, assuming that they really did, there are thousands that are living comfortably working for some else.

I think that it really boils down to ambition and risk averseness. If you’re ambitious, It does not really matter if you work for someone or work for yourself, you will make it.

1. Politicians in Nigeria are not self-employed.

2. Lawyers don’t have to be self-employed. Actually, Lawyers that work for a big firm will make more money than almost any lawyer that has his/her own law firm with 5 or less employees.

3. People who work for start-up companies that become successful are not self-employed. As an engineer, your quickest way to riches is to slum it out with a startup company and hope that they go public. Typically, startups don’t have the cash to pay you your normal salary and they make up for it by paying you in shares of the company. However, taking a job with a startup means that you can show up to work tomorrow and find the doors closed.

Having a business is great especially if you can find the capital needed to start and sustain it. But if you’re like most people, it might be easier to get a job in the interim and use your paychecks to save the needed capital.

To cheat or attempt to cheat is one thing but to attempt rape (sexual assault)? Attempted rape will probably get him about a couple of years in jail over here. He’s a sexual predator that has no self control!

I think that HIV should be the least of your problems because the virus does not survive outside a host for long. What's more likely from unsterilized instruments is Hepatitis B.*

I also think that you should be more worried about blood transfusions and you might want to secure a few pints of blood before hand. Luckily, as long as the donor is not a risk taker and the blood is fully tested by a competent lab before transfusion, chances of catching something deadly is significantly reduced. I say reduced because tests will not detect newly infected virus, which is why you want someone that doesn't engage in crazy behaviors to be the donor.

*Disclaimer: I’m not a Doctor and I could be wrong.

I didn’t read all the comments but here are my thoughts.

There are legal and regulatory issues that need to be resolved:

[list]
[li]At what rate will the “government” or whoever wins the rights to the power distribution company pay any company that pumps electricity into the grid?[/li]

[li]The 11 Power Distribution Companies are going to be licensed to private companies soon enough. Who will define the relationship between the private company that wins a license and a local power generator that want to pump into the grid?[/li]

[li]If I just won the licensing rights to a power distribution company, why would I want to allow ANYBODY to use my distribution lines (lines currently owned by PHCN) for their own financial gain without a sub-license to me? For example, I have just paid millions of dollars for Eko Power Distribution Company. I probably won’t mind you injecting power into the distribution lines because I can’t meet demand but I will not allow you to use my lines to sell power to a neighborhood. This essentially means that anybody that generates power cannot sell it directly to a customer unless you run your own parallel lines or you sell it to the Power Distribution Company in your area.[/li]

[/list]

[quote author=yawa-ti-de link=topic=818199.msg9700985#msg9700985 date=1323113984]remoranger:
Please add distance to that list of "irrespectives": I am in the US and another is in the UK. The rest, if I am not mistaken are in Nigeria. That means differences in attitude, processes and time zones, among others. It took one helluva coordinating to pull this project off, if you ask me and I am still amazed at our flexibility and devotion and dedication, despite the odds [/quote]That na correct program management skills! Kudos to you all!

I can't really tell you which is faster but I do know a thing or two about the technology behind broadband and the fastest will depend on: (1) reception, (2) number of concurrent users which is also related to the number of subscribers, and (3) your computer.

Assuming all the providers are using 3G, the fastest to you will be the one that has the least amount of concurrent users (people using it at the same time) when you're in an area with coverage.

However, not all providers are using 3G. I think Swift is using WiMAX which is way faster than 3G if you're in an area with coverage and there's no bottleneck in their network. Any internet connection is only as fast as its weakest point. It is possible that WiMAX data will eventually be routed on 3G backbone.

vladimiros:
TO THOSE SAYING

"IT COULD BE BETTER"

WHERE THE bleed WHERE YOU WHEN THIS GUY STARTED THIS VOLUNTARY PROJECT,

SOMEBODY SACRIFICED TIME AND ENERGY TO MAKE A BETTER NIGERIA AND ALL YOU DO IS BASH?

shame on you

I said “it could be better” not because I want to bash or derive anything from bashing but because the site needed more work.

Can I do better? No. I don’t code anymore and even when I did, it had nothing to do with web technologies.

Volunteering is a very noble thing to do and it is commendable. The site is meant to showcase and show Nigeria in a better light. Constructive criticism is very good way for re-evaluating one’s work. It gives you the ability to see what people think about what you’ve done and more importantly, a way to improve on it for free.

One way or another, your work will be criticized or praised by people, market forces or your boss.

Here's my 10 kobo for what it's worth and as you can tell, 10 kobo cannot buy much.

Nice attempt but could be better. The top menu and most things on the site need to be trimmed to make it somewhat more compact. Things are also not symmetrical as seen on Chrome. The banner extends greater than the top menu, the top menu extends greater than the contents. The site also looks a little too plain and looks more like a default template. Mukeeto posted a link to a good site and nevosys' site also looked good.

Would I hire someone that shows me that current site as a showcase of his/her work? No. Most of the elements are there and spending more time to make it better would convey a better sense of professionalism/know-how.

My apologies if I offend the developers/testers.

icemann:
@siena. 4.2L V8 40v 2 x DOHC 

Very Very thirsty. It would be a lot cheaper if you build a filling station next to your house. LOL 

Fist bump for having a guzzler


[b]But i haven't  seen any engine with 5 valves per cylinder. [/b]All i know is 2 intake and two exhaust, and also 3 valves per cylinder

Quad cam  , thats a super engine.

I think the Ferrari F355 used 5 valves.

eros:
Thanks for your answer. I use Windows 7 home premium, please can you explain further in a lay man's language how i can get the program that will permanently delete files from my computer's hard drive?

OK. I don't want to get banned for posting a link. Go to download dot com and type in File Shredder in the search box to the left. Look through the list and find one that contains "File Shredder", then click on the respective Download button to the right. It is free.

eros:
QUESTION: How can one delete a file completely, totally from the computer's hard drive, so that it cannot be recovered.

Create a program that writes 0xFFFF followed by 0x0000 to the memory location (keep in mind that files are not usually stored contiguously in memory). OR you can get a program that does it for you if the OS does not have a tool to perform such function, for example “File Shredder” if you use Windows.

[quote author=p. rimzi link=topic=787753.msg9699759#msg9699759 date=1323104406]Hi everyone!
To the I.T literates who have enlightened us as to the possibility of retrieving a deleted file, please what happens if i have a 250gb hdd, i deleted (cnt+alt+del) files of about 150gb and i replace with files of about 200gb, is it still possible to recover my 150gb deleted files? [/quote]No. See the last paragraph of my last prior post.

You already got the answers. The address of the deleted files becomes available to be re-assigned. The file is still there but the OS does not know its location. There are tools to recover deleted files and also tools to completely delete files by writing on the same address a number of times.

For example, if your file occupied address 0x1 - 0x9 and you delete the file, that means that the OS can write new info to that location. If a new file is written to that location but you only used the first 2 adrresses, i.e., 0x1 and 0x2, then you can only retrieve part of the original file written to 0x3-0x9 fully intact.

I say fully intact because addresses are usually 32 or 64 bits and just because you write to a location do not mean that you're using all the bits available to you. For example, 1 is just going to occupy the first bit of address 0x1 while FFFF will occupy all the bits.

Sam Milla:
I just want to add to the issue of wearing suits and shoes to work in a very hot atmosphere. It is crazily rubbish. If we agree that sandals become our own coporate dress mode, nothing will happen. We dont have freedom in almost every aspect of life. We do almost everything because we want to please someone or something, even at the expense of our comfort.

The bottom line is that society determines what the norms are. For example, it is OK to wear agbada and the like to business functions in Nigeria but it is not OK here. Nigerians determine what is acceptable for Nigeria.

I went to a business function in Nigeria between Americans and Nigerian government officials. The American officials that brought us over said it was only OK to wear traditional Nigerian wear or business suit to the meetings. This means that it is “normal” to wear traditional wear to business meetings in Nigeria.

If you don’t want to wear suits then don’t wear it and it might become the norm. I don’t wear suits to work except when meeting clients. However, I do have a blazer in my office incase of unplanned events.