₦airaland Forum

When the big men and politicians want to fight themselves, they use the law to fight themselves.

When they want to fight the people, they use the people to fight the people.

There is something so diabolical and sad about this realization in present day Nigeria

We are still open for business

Parents, How Often Do You Really Do This?

The Simple Habit That Strengthens Children More Than You Think




There is a world of difference between asking “How was your day?” and saying “Tell me about your day.”
One is a quick ritual; the other is an invitation to open up.

Many parents don’t realize it, but children respond to the tone and the effort behind our questions. When you ask “How was your day?”, a child can easily hide behind one-word answers: “Fine.” “Okay.” “Normal.”
But when you say “Tell me about your day”, you gently push them to share, to express themselves, and to know that their voice matters.

And in today’s world—especially in Nigeria where school life is packed with activities, pressure, peer influence, and silent challenges—this simple everyday conversation is becoming more important than ever.




The School Is Where Most Stories Happen

From the morning assembly to the last bell, children experience dozens of moments they never talk about.
Not because they’re hiding anything…
But because nobody ever made conversation safe and normal for them.

A child won’t automatically open up unless someone teaches them how to.
And that “someone” is you—the parent, the guide, the friend, the confidant.

Five minutes.
Ten minutes.
Even if they claim it is “boring,” “nothing happened,” or “it was just school.”
Still ask.
Still sit with them.
Still encourage.

That little time can reveal more than you imagine.




Why This Matters More for Teenagers

As children grow older, especially into pre-teens and teenagers, they begin to:

talk less

feel misunderstood

hide their fears

bottle their frustrations

rely more on friends than family


This is exactly when parents must increase, not reduce, their effort.
Communication becomes the bridge that helps them walk into adulthood with confidence.
When you create a space where they can talk, you’re helping them:

build emotional intelligence

manage peer pressure

understand their own choices

trust you with their fears

feel seen and supported


These are life skills that no school can teach completely.




Simple Ways to Get Your Child Talking

Here are everyday approaches Nigerian parents can use:

1. Replace “How was your day?” with:

“Tell me one thing that made you laugh today.”

“What was the most interesting thing your teacher said?”

“Did anything annoy or surprise you today?”

“Who did you spend the most time with and why?”


These questions make conversation flow naturally.

2. Share your own day too

Children open up more when they know communication isn’t a one-way interrogation.
Tell them:

something funny that happened

a challenge you faced

a lesson you learned


It builds trust and teaches them that communication is normal, not something to fear.

3. Know their world

Know their:

best friend

favourite teacher

favourite subject

current TV show

hobbies

strengths and weaknesses


Many parents don’t even know the name of one friend their child plays with every day.
Yet those same friends influence the child more than any adult during school hours.

4. Talk about teachers—but without judgment

Ask:

“How do you feel about your Maths teacher?”

“Do you understand your English lessons?”

“Which teacher motivates you most?”


This isn’t to criticize teachers but to understand your child’s perspective and experiences.




Don’t Forget Spiritual and Social Life

Whether it’s church, mosque, or youth fellowship, always ask:

“What did you hear today?”

“What did you learn?”

“Which part did you enjoy?”


These little discussions help them build values and remember lessons.




If Something Is Wrong, Be the First to Know

Sometimes children won’t talk unless you show real interest.
Not because they are stubborn or secretive—
but because they don’t want to disturb you.

Your effort becomes the doorway that allows them to speak.
And once they open that door, you begin to understand their world properly.




Parenting Is a Lifetime Assignment

It takes patience.
It takes sacrifice.
It takes attention.
And it takes love expressed through the simplest things—
like listening, asking, and talking.

In a country as busy, demanding, and fast-paced as Nigeria, parents often forget that children don’t grow by food and school fees alone.
They grow by interaction.
They grow by relationship.
They grow by the quality of conversations you have with them.

So today, when your child walks through the door, try it:

“Tell me about your day.”

You’ll be amazed at what you discover.

Mbappe FC

las las vini don cast say na defensive striker e be

DoctorAyukebot:
It indicates the number of rounds you can go before being satisfied. As you can see in Nigeria you need to go 67 times in one night to be satisfied

this guy, one malt bitters for you or na fanta bitters you want

I understand why an asia country will pick top spot

Currently peope think been cute is about petiteness and small features on baby like faces.

I mean they literally sell most brands base on fave values. And so many other stuff.

Yeah, they have that spot on lockdown

Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder
And which ever group of beholder is majority, carries the vote.

Dezny remains one of the smartest and creative skit makers in Nigeria

Many of us are living a trauma , some of us called it growing up, some of us labelled it our childhood.
Our parents were guilty
Our friends
The environment
The teachers
Everyone plays the card and we call it normal.

Two days ago, I almost went berserk on the senior students, due to the constant use of insults and swear words. I realize what really can i do?

They clearly dont see it as anything at this point.

saphiere:
NaijaRoyalty come and see what I was talking about. Every man is a r@post

I am guessing you were given birth to by a woman who got impregnated by a man at some point in time.

Whether your meaningless post is an act of trolling or you sincerely believe in what you are saying.

Know this and know peace, your demeaning words and hate for the male gender in your post count for nothing to men and fathers who pray to have daughters and cherish the women in their lives.

It would be wise if you would not tag me in your reply.

From a man
Born of a woman

Watin happen to liverfail tonight? Are you sure it is not kano pillars i am watching?

Tinubu may just be right on this, No country ready to end national security issues relie on external or foreign mercenaries.

History has shown us that, mercenaries arent so reliable sometimes they end up becoming the exact problem they are trying to wipe out.

Its a dangerous game.

But then the question is how ready and equipped is the nation's security forces to combat the issue of security and what is currently been done.

2elliot:
May good governance continue to elude Nigerians in perpetuity. And may the plaques of Egypt be upon Nigeria in double fold.

May you live long enough to see the opposite happen. Amen

Sheikh Ahmad Gumi has consistently positioned himself as a public defender of violent armed groups, and his latest comments only reinforce a pattern Nigerians have seen for years. Each time bandits massacre villagers, kidnap children, or raid communities, Gumi’s first instinct has never been to stand with the victims. Instead, he repeatedly redirects sympathy, justification, and strategic focus toward the very criminals terrorising the country.

For years, he has openly visited bandit camps, taken photographs with their commanders, and made public statements describing them as “misunderstood”, “aggrieved”, or “victims of social injustice”. Meanwhile, the actual victims — the murdered farmers, the displaced families, the kidnapped schoolchildren — receive barely a fraction of his concern. His words consistently portray criminals as people needing rehabilitation while treating their atrocities like minor symptoms of a deeper issue.

Gumi’s interviews follow the same script: minimise the brutality of terrorists, shift blame toward the state, and insist on dialogue without accountability. He tends to frame bandits as individuals deserving priority engagement, even when their crimes include mass murder, rape, extortion, and the destruction of entire communities. When pushed to address the victims, he deflects responsibility to government agencies while reserving his energy and advocacy for those holding assault rifles.

This pattern isn’t accidental. It reflects a long-term alignment with armed groups under the guise of “mediation”. His arguments consistently place terrorists at the centre of national sympathy and prioritise their welfare over justice, security, and deterrence. Whether intentionally or not, Gumi has become the most public voice normalising criminality, undermining military efforts, and demoralising victims whose pain he regularly downplays.

Nigeria does not need more excuses for killers. It needs clarity, justice, and a firm stance that refuses to romanticise or rationalise people who burn villages and kidnap schoolchildren. Gumi’s record shows a troubling consistency: when the country cries for victims, he speaks for their attackers.

While I highly doubt the authenticity of This Video, I think it is a normal progression for these set of people to become even more daring as time goes on.

I said something the other day, Government should not negotiate with terrorists its a breeding ground for more evil to be perpetuated.

They will keep coming and the south should not feel totally left out since they feel its only the north.

Na one day lion don leave jungle enter streets .


Right now these guys are stockpiling and buying weapons and vehicles.

Have you ever wondered where this is all going?

I honestly pray for my dear country and her president.
When lives become pawns to be played with in the game of politics then hope becomes a thing of the past.

kafeii123:
The only people I expect to defend the express payment thingy will be APC lackeys n secret hangers ons.....not any sane citizen who has the nation's interests at heart. But we will see how far they go with this. By the time tinubu is done...d nxt president will also bring in his own private pipelines to such national revenue.

The man is not satisfies with the oil wells and other monies that are in his domain....na the nerve centre of national revenue he wants to sink his fangs in...

GEJ na premium mumu I swear...real one fah...lol.

Buhari own na to tiff from nnpc....now we have a bigger professional.

I am telling you, its really saddening to see people defend such people

fergie001:
Signed
23-11-2025
Arabinrin Aderonke Atoyebi
Technical Assistant on Broadcast Media to the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS)

Previous Thread:
AlphaBeta 2.0?: Come clean on middle-man Xpress Holdings Ltd - Atiku to Tinubu

The FIRS press release tries to dismiss Atiku’s concerns, but the statement collapses when placed against verifiable facts, policy history, and established global standards in public revenue management. Here is the clear counter-analysis:




1. FIRS avoided the core issue:

Why was Xpress Payments quietly inserted into the TSA ecosystem without public procurement?

The statement lists PSSPs, but it never addresses the root concern:

When was Xpress Payments selected?

Through what process?

Where is the public tender?

Who evaluated them?

What criteria were used?


These are not political questions — they are governance questions.

Nigeria’s Public Procurement Act (Section 16) requires open competitive bidding for engagements involving public revenue systems.
There is no record of such a process for Xpress.

This alone validates Atiku’s warning about a quiet, opaque insertion of a politically linked firm into a national revenue pipeline.



2. FIRS claims PSSPs “do not earn fees” —

but their own past agreements contradict this.

Documented evidence shows:

Remita earned ₦3.06 billion in one day (Oct. 2015) from TSA transaction fees — confirmed by both the CBN and the Senate probe of 2015–2016.

The Senate report noted that PSSPs and SystemIntegrators earned 1% of transaction value before the policy was reviewed.


If FIRS is now claiming PSSPs “do not earn fees,” then:

Where is the new policy document?

When was the directive changed?

Where are the published fee schedules?


FIRS cannot rewrite history because it is convenient.

Until the fee structure is publicly released, Nigerians cannot rely on a press statement as evidence.


3. The ‘multi-channel’ claim is a distraction.

The real concern is privatised control and preferential access.

Even if multiple PSSPs exist, the danger is not monopoly —
it is parallel gateways managed by politically connected firms.

The key question remains:

Why does the Federal Government need new private gateways when the TSA was specifically designed to eliminate intermediaries?

The IMF, World Bank, and Nigeria’s own TSA policy documents all emphasise:

“Minimise private intermediaries in public revenue collection to reduce leakages, opacity, and political capture.”


Creating more private channels increases, not reduces, systemic risk.


4. Xpress Payments has political ties —

and FIRS did not deny it.

The company’s directors and beneficial owners have well-documented political links, including:

financial contributions to ruling-party figures

partnerships with Lagos-based revenue consultants

previous contracts with state governments tied to the same political network behind Alpha Beta


None of these were addressed.

A public revenue gateway cannot have political fingerprints.
This is a governance red flag globally.




5. If the onboarding process is “transparent,”

FIRS should publish the documents.

A truly transparent system would release:

list of all PSSPs

dates of onboarding

procurement process

fee structures

service-level agreements

compliance audits


Until these are made public:

Transparency claims remain unproven.


6. The timing is suspicious

and the FIRS statement does not explain it.

This appointment surfaced:

during a surge in national insecurity

during a collapse in public trust

while the government is under pressure for revenue leakages

and without any public announcement


Policy changes around national revenue cannot be slipped in through back doors.



7. Atiku’s warning is not political —

it is consistent with global best practices.**

Every serious country:

centralises public revenue

removes private toll gates

uses government-to-government channels

limits political influence in treasury operations


Nigeria’s TSA was celebrated globally because it removed private collectors.
Reintroducing private intermediaries — quietly — is a regression.

This is the exact fear Atiku articulated.

And FIRS did not address that fear.




FINAL COUNTERPOINT

The FIRS statement provides assurances, not evidence.
What Nigerians need are:

procurement documents

fee schedules

onboarding records

service-level agreements

independent audits


Until these are made public, the concerns stand:

This is a quiet re-creation of the Lagos Alpha-Beta model at the national level — a private revenue gate inserted into a sovereign financial artery.

If the government has nothing to hide, it should publish the documents today.

Assurances are not transparency.

Putinofrussia:
When you all point to Lagos as if it has crumbled or gone bankrupt due to Alpha Beta one begins to see why Nigeria is not working with your obsolete,asinine ideas.
If not for just complain sake from the opposition,Alpha Beta to me,has helped Lagos to grow economically.No entity is flawless but it is better than govt to govt that has bankrupted Nigeria which has all resources to be greater than any nation in Africa but for endemic corruption.
You cannot be doing something the same way every time and expect different answers.
Comparing Nigerian system to Lagos is like comparing life and death.
Lagos manages its affairs better than Nigeria.
This is why Lagos as a city,is the 2nd Economy in Africa.
If Alpha Beta were bad,a retinue of states wouldn't join them in order to grow themselves economically.
The only thing necessary is to give Xpress whatever top-notch monitoring and periodical scrutiny.

You are confidently defending a system you don’t even understand. Lagos didn’t grow because of Alpha Beta — it grew in spite of it, because of massive federal allocations, migration-driven economic activity, and private-sector dominance. If Alpha Beta was the magic wand you claim, the simple question is this: why is its model kept secret, unaudited, and protected from public scrutiny for over 20 years? A system that is truly efficient doesn’t need darkness to survive.

You also can’t pretend Lagos is some miracle when it is the most indebted state in Nigeria, owes trillions, survives on aggressive taxation, and still cannot provide water, functioning hospitals, or safe public infrastructure. If that’s your definition of "success," then you’ve simply normalised low expectations.

And let’s settle your biggest error:
A private toll gate on public revenue is not reform — it is outsourcing sovereignty.
TSA was created to remove middlemen and block leakages. What you are praising is the exact opposite: inserting a politically connected company between the people and their treasury. The fact that this appointment was done quietly, without bidding, without the National Assembly, and without public disclosure, already exposes the intention.

If the model is so great, why hide it?
If it is so transparent, why is Lagos still fighting legal battles over Alpha Beta’s activities?
If it is so beneficial, why didn’t the FG subject Xpress to open tender like every other public contract?

Your argument collapses on one point:
No serious country hands its national revenue to private proxies — ever.
Countries build strong institutions, not private empires.

Lagos can play with consultants.
Nigeria cannot gamble its entire treasury on political loyalty.

Atiku’s concern is simple and valid:
Once you allow one private toll gate into TSA, you’ve opened the door for ten more — and the nation becomes a private estate.

This isn’t innovation.
It’s state capture wearing a digital badge.

And anyone defending it hasn’t thought far enough to realise the damage it will cause when the bill finally comes due.

The real danger in this situation is very simple: the government is quietly handing Nigeria’s revenue collection to a private company in the same way Lagos once handed its tax system to Alpha Beta. That move created a powerful private cartel that controlled public money for years. Now, that same model is being copied at the national level.

Let’s break it down so everyone here whether you understand how taxes and revenues work or not understands what is at stake:

1. A private company has secretly been inserted into the national TSA system.
TSA is supposed to be government-to-government. No middlemen. No private toll gates. So why is a private firm suddenly receiving federal revenue?


2. This is exactly how Alpha Beta started in Lagos.
A “consultant” is brought in, takes a percentage of public funds, becomes untouchable, and turns public revenue into a private pipeline. Lagos is still dealing with the consequences.


3. Doing this quietly—without debate, without the National Assembly, without stakeholders—is not normal governance. It’s stealth.
When governments hide a decision, it means the decision cannot survive sunlight.


4. It is being done while the country is burning.
Nigerians are being kidnapped and killed; yet the focus is on creating new private revenue channels. That shows wrong priorities and a worrying lack of empathy.


5. No one has explained what extra value Xpress Payments brings.
TSA already works with secure government platforms. Why add a middleman? Who benefits from this? Certainly not Nigerians.


6. This is how state capture begins.
When a small group quietly positions itself between the country and its money, the nation is no longer run by institutions—it’s run by a network.


7. Atiku is right to raise the alarm.
Because if this becomes normal, Nigeria will slide into a system where public money is controlled by private interests with political ties.


In plain terms:

If this move is allowed to stand, Nigeria’s national treasury will slowly turn into a private franchise—just like Lagos’s tax system did. And the public won’t even realise when the shift becomes permanent.

This is why transparency, disclosure, public inquiry, and suspension of the appointment are necessary. Not because of politics—but because Nigeria cannot afford to put its revenue in private hands while insecurity and poverty are destroying lives.

If the government has nothing to hide, let it open the books. If it refuses, Nigerians already know what that means.

And just imagine all of this is going on at a time when the someone recently said he is pained and disturbed at the rise of insecurity.

Words mean nothing when actions says otherwise!!

This directive is merely a band aid. Shutting school hostels is not the same thing as shutting down schools. You are essentially saying come to school and risk your lives but not on our necks.

In other words, if anyone falls into a situation, they would have to be responsible for themselves or what exactly?

Because students will still go to school, so what happens during school hours?

I once had an old elderly indian boss. He would tell me something that sometimes it is those of his staffs who dont even greet and always want to get his attention that are really doing the job and giving there best. He told me those are the people he was much concerned about. I began to see things differently after.

Verbal appreciation is not a bad thing but I would rather focus on giving my best on the Job I am assigned to and make sure, my position is recognized for excellence.

I would prefer if she puts my work on social media to say she has one of the best staff than my response to a salary i have earned.

A hundred staff can show gratitude but not all can show excellence.

Hopefully, the said employee is both professional and excellent

hassinho707:
Newcastle will defeat Man City...

The best Manchester City can get from this match is draw

Baba, e get make person dey follow e mind oh I don smile tonight for cashout.

DrMB:
BREAKING: A look at Nigeria's N3.10trn Defence Budget for 2025. Does this allocation reflect the reality on the ground?
Drop a comment: If you were in charge, which sector would get more funding?👇👇👇

This is just crazy, A ₦3.1 trillion defence budget looks big on paper, but it collapses under scrutiny: the Army alone takes nearly half with no measurable improvement in security, the Navy and Airforce remain under-equipped for the scale of modern threats, research receives a token ₦10 billion that cannot drive innovation, and none of it addresses transparency, procurement waste, or troop welfare—meaning Nigeria is still spending massively but investing poorly, and insecurity will outgrow any budget that isn’t tied to accountability, technology, and real strategic reform.
This is just at this point, very concerning. If we are dealing with terrorism which has been recorded under a year period to receive over 2.2 trillion in ransom.

adenigga:
(NAN)

Source: https://punchng.com/nothing-worries-me-more-than-nigerias-security-crisis-tinubu

For a president who campaigned on “renewed hope,” calling insecurity “the most troubling challenge” after nine years of APC rule is an admission of failure, not leadership. Northern insecurity did not start yesterday; it escalated under the same political structure he represents. Between 2015 and 2023, over 63,000 Nigerians were killed by terrorism, banditry, and communal violence (Global Terrorism Index, SBM Intelligence). In 2022 alone, Nigeria ranked 8th most terror-affected country in the world despite years of promises. So if “nothing troubles him more,” it is fair to ask: why did his party let the crisis deepen for nearly a decade?

Calling it “inherited” is a political escape route. Tinubu and APC cannot inherit what they have governed for two consecutive terms; they inherited their own record. And if urgency truly existed, the North-West and North-Central would not still be suffering mass kidnappings, ransom economies, school closures, and rural displacement at levels higher than 2014. Over 1,400 schools in Northern Nigeria remain shut due to insecurity (UNICEF, 2023). That alone contradicts the claim of urgency.

He says Nigeria “cannot prosper when one limb is paralysed,” yet the same limb has been paralysed for years under the same leadership, with no structural reforms to intelligence, state policing, border control, or judicial accountability. The North bleeds, not because Nigeria lacks speeches, but because it lacks political will to dismantle the networks that benefit from chaos, illicit mining, arms smuggling, and unregulated borders.

And invoking Kolmani oil as hope is even more misplaced. The North doesn’t need oil rhetoric; it needs security, farming revival, industrial investment, and functioning local economies. Oil talk has never fed displaced families or reopened schools closed by bandits.

The president wants the North to “speak honestly.” Fine — honesty begins with admitting that Nigeria’s insecurity crisis is not just inherited; it was mismanaged, ignored, politicised, and allowed to metastasise for years. Until that truth is confronted, every statement from Aso Rock remains a recycled script, not a solution.

Truthissupreme:
yes you are not seeing that america itself is the one playing wolf and crying wolf

Not true sir, thank you

After reading this joke of a response, this is my own well researched response.
The minister’s defence collapses once the facts are laid out plainly, because Nigeria’s failure to prosecute terrorism financiers has never been about “delicate investigations.” It has always been about political protection, weak institutions, and a consistent pattern of selective accountability. In 2022, for example, the United Arab Emirates publicly named and sanctioned six Nigerian terrorism financiers, froze their assets, and placed them on its terror list. Yet the Nigerian government refused to arrest, interrogate, or prosecute any of them—even though the UAE had already completed the investigations that Nigeria claims are “complex.” That alone exposes the emptiness of the minister’s excuse.

The same pattern emerged in 2021 when the attorney-general announced the arrest of 400 suspected Boko Haram financiers. Nigerians expected trials, but the cases quietly disappeared. Not one high-profile financier has been prosecuted in over a decade of conflict, despite repeated warnings from the Financial Action Task Force and GIABA that Nigeria is failing to enforce anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws. Meanwhile, the minister’s statistics—13,500 “neutralised” and 17,000 “arrested”—have no real meaning, because the government refuses to publish the suspects’ names, the case files, or transparent court outcomes. Even the Nigerian Army admitted last year that thousands of “repentant terrorists” were released back into society without trial.

What makes the minister’s defence even weaker is the government’s proven ability to prosecute quickly when it wants to. EndSARS protesters were arrested and charged immediately. Journalists, critics, and activists have been dragged to court within days. Yet terror financiers—arguably the most important actors in the entire conflict—have been untouched. This double standard is proof that the real problem is not investigation time but political will.

The truth is that many financiers are politically connected businessmen, middlemen who fund elections, or individuals linked to influential networks. That is why neither Buhari—despite identifying suspects—nor this administration of tinubu has taken a single major financier to trial. Meanwhile, global data shows Nigeria loses over $1.5 billion annually through terror financing channels, yet no high-net-worth individual has ever faced justice. Other nations take the opposite approach: the US, UK, France, UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia routinely jail terror financiers because they understand that cutting off the money is the first step to ending violence. Nigeria is the outlier with zero high-profile convictions in more than ten years of war.

So when the minister says international partners must “understand the complexity,” the reality is the opposite—international partners understand Nigeria too well. Nigeria has failed FATF evaluations repeatedly and risks grey-listing because its government refuses to prosecute powerful people. The intelligence exists, the names exist, and the evidence exists. What does not exist is the willingness to act.

The simple truth is this: the issue is not investigation time; the issue is lack of courage. Until the government prosecutes the powerful individuals who bankroll terrorism, its statistics and speeches will remain nothing more than propaganda.

So he is going to pay dialogue and pay ransom.

He is only adding fuel to fire.

Imagine every terrorist knows that they have direct access to the president dial. Imagine the power to think the whole president of the country will send someone to talk with me each time.

Damn!

What a country!!!
When 2027 comes again, let us forget all of this and vote for gala and malt.

LOVEGINO:
Putin go automatically convert dem to army

This is was just my thought, whoever is going should prepare themselves for stories.

Because dem fit divert you team and country plane enter war ground like play lol