₦airaland Forum

Transfer it to Binance and sell now

Ebus2000:
please help a brother.. which country can I travel to work with 1.5m

Ghana is good enough, the amount is also enough to apply for technical education in Canada meanwhile even in Nigeria here you can make lots of money with the 1.5 million naira. Most especially in agriculture and ICT, chat me up I can guide you for any of the options. Chat me up on 08089456258

giddy10:
Good day nairalanders,
I want to keep this brief but clearly state my dilemma. I'm almost 40, I have struggled to get a job ever since I graduated in 2012 and served in 2014 but to no avail. I had to shelved my dream job for teaching so that I can provide for my pitied self. Lately, I met a girl and fell in love with her, I talked to her and we became lovers. I have genuine intention to settle down with her but I 'm not financially buoyant. And to make matter worst, her younger sister just got engaged. Ever since her younger sister's engagement, things are drastically changing between us. I pray things don't degenerate to where she will think I'm not serious to marry her. Please the married nairalanders 'how were you people able to cross from single hood to married life financially. What can I do to marry this lady? I love her so much. (Pardon my grammatical errors)

It is very easy but our culture and traditions makes things difficult. Go to court and get married to her after getting her parents consent. Election year is around the corner, join the political trail and get your own share of the money. Start a business or learn a skill in the ICT sphere and look for opportunities to volunteers making money is now easy but you have to be open to learning highly essential skills

laidenews:
.

I saw that you are trying to message me, you can chat me up on 08089456258

lovetterrison:
Good day Everyone

I want to use this medium appreciate every single nairalander that so far assisted me with one or two information on this car i eventually fell in love with.

oct 1 I will be paying and launching it for celebrating myself and Nigeria at large so join me drink zobo i got a clean close to tokunbo use at 2.5m 2010 crv.

further more i just want to know document that will be transferred to me by the old owner and who can i consult for immediate VIN check and all before oct 1 payment

God bless[i][/i]

I saw that you are trying to message me, you can chat me up on 08089456258

Gucciblog:
I need a good app developer who can build a nice news and video app for me.

Budget is N150k

chat me up on 08089456258

Gucciblog:
I need a good app developer who can build a nice news and video app for me.

Budget is N150k

chat me up on 08089456258

GuyWise:
Nna mehnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

Just like the typical Yoruba man, Sunday Igboho is now backtracking small small, they were never created to resist and stand against what they resisted.

They are lily-livered and unprincipled and also dishonorable.

They can never continue when the going gets tough unlike the gifted Igbo man NNAMDI KANU who has seen hell on earth but instead of giving up he said NO I WILL NEVER GIVE UP UNTIL I SEE SOME CHANGES.

Watch as Sunday betrays his struggle and his people.

Lilly livered like Nnamdi Azikwe that sold his people because of One Nigeria, and Ojukwu that ran away before the war ended

Lifestone:
We reason with lots of sentiment as a country. In my view, this project is all about competing for the share of trade routes to Niger Republic which is being competed for by both Nigeria and Benin Republic.
Niger Republic is land locked and will require access to Sea/Port through either Nigeria or Benin Republic. This is an economically sensible decision. The project is also significantly part of the LAKAJI corridor which was essentially designed to link Lagos to Kano to Niger Republic, that plan has been on ground before Buhari and it makes sense.
That project will certainly pay for itself given the success of Abuja - Kaduna and Lagos - Ibadan experience.

Why should it be debt that is used to service it when advanced economies use equities

henrygold100:
I want an investment that will not require most of my time, and at least give me 900 or 1k daily

Trading on Binance will do that for you, I will teach you how to do that by yourself

starstunna1313:
Good morning my fellow Nlanders… Please I have 18 million Naira which I mapped out for business investment. But I want to first of all invest 10-15 million Naira first and keep the remaining 3 million aside. But my major challenge now is which business or “lucrative” business I can invest in. Bearing in mind that I’m also leaving the country in a month time, I’m 31 and this is my first time of trying to venture in a business with such amount.
Please I need suggestions and advice.

Thanks in anticipation.

MOD: please push to front page

Guys thanks for the advice and ideas. The ones that sent me email I do not know how to access it. I have been checking my mail but I can not see them

Hello would love to chat with you. I will show you how to use ICT and Information to make lots of money from just 1 to 2 million naira. Chat me up on 08089456258

mastercee:
Please I need someone to help fix an error on my WordPress blog.

Please see attached for the error message when trying to open the site.

I don't mind paying to have it fixed.

Chat me up on 08089456258

Emmanuel224:
How is it going with you? this frustration is it just me or it's everywhere

We have this school (family business) all was going well at least not untill some years back ,few years after dad passed on that things just change totally.

We have sinked so much,I mean so much that I wudnt want to say. Almost all the properties in the schools name for dark times like this have almost been sold out yet it generates nothing meanwhile it's in a very good location (middle of a town)

What do u propose we do? Shud we still invest and later count our losses if it doesn't work or we shud convert it to something dat will surely generate income. Pls give ideas if u can. Thanks

Chat me up on 08089456258, I can be of help with strategic advices

AMI3:
We need an outright buyer of a Micro Finance Bank
This bank has been in a existence for over 3 years

Location Akwa Ibom State
Contact me for more details.

Price #9million.( Negotiable)

It is obviously not a microfinance bank may be microfinance institution

bmdmix11:
people just start assuming things n making it look like its the norm, Jesus isn't a king He is a lord and also the Son of God, leaving only one king GOD.

When Jesus made reference to him being king it wasn't directly to heaven but on earth.

Else we will be having two kings which cant happen just like what the devil wanted to be.

On earth he is king, in the heavens he is the lord of lord


Just check the bible n read carefully no verse tagged him King.

we humans made that tag.

bless

It is obvious you do not study your Holy Bible well. Now let me start from the back to the front
1. Revelation 1:5 -8
And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

Revelation 17:14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.

Revelation 19:10-16
And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

John 18:33-37
Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews? Jesus answered him, Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me? Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me: what hast thou done? Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.

IQscanner:
Pardon my typo errors; I graduated from a federal university with bsc second class upper honours in Nigeria,I intend joining the army but I do not know my way around nor do I have someone to guide me through the process and make a good decision,I will appreciate all the advice and information given to me ,the dos and don't and the best way to apply having my degree in hand


Please I need all the advice and opinion you can give no matter how different it sounds thanks

Go and apply for pgd or msc at nda, try that first

Kadejo:
I have been on Nairaland since 2010, today, marks a turning point.

I am overwhelmed with responses so far.

Please note that I wouldn't mind your calls as well because, this is a crucial time for me.

My number is on my signature.

Nairaland team, thank you for taking my heart burn thought to front page.

forget about her and move on

Ibkhaleel01:
You know this VAT thing is like a basta*d child confidently demanding for DNA test in protest against sharing the inheritance with another child he or she considers to be undeserving.
If every State stands alone, you will realise that your bragging is on thin air. We have clearly seen that Lagos, Abuja, Rivers, Kano lead the pack.
If we carry out a simple VAT fertility you will see that your State is VAT impotent....and your much touted beer VAT are blank shots.
Na just gum body dey make una think say your state dey fertile.

You are right, moreover it will make them begin to think outside the box and industrialize their States

It was Upton Sinclair who said that it is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it. This is an apt description of the Federal Government as it wages battle against the States of the Federation on the matter of the collection of Value Added Tax in the country.

On August 9, 2021, the federal high court sitting in Port Harcourt ruled that the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) - the agency responsible for assessing, collecting, and accounting for tax and other revenues accruing to the Federal Government of Nigeria - should stop collecting value-added tax (VAT) and personal income tax (PIT) in Rivers state. It directed the Rivers state government to take charge of the collection. (1)

Without wasting time, the Governor of Rivers State, Barr Nyesom Wike on the 19th of August 2021 signed into law the Rivers State Value Added Tax Law which provides for the imposition and administration of Value-Added Tax (VAT) in Rivers State. (2) In his judgment, Justice Stephen Pam stated that there was no constitutional basis for the FIRS to demand for and collect VAT and other such taxes in Rivers State or any other State of the Federation, being that the constitutional powers and competence of the Federal Government was limited to taxation of incomes, profits and capital gains, which does not include VAT and others of such taxes.

Promptly reacting, on August 23, FIRS went public warning taxpayers that refusal to pay VAT to the federal government's agency will lead to penalties. The FIRS urged taxpayers, especially those in Rivers State to continue to pay their VAT to it to avoid paying penalties for failure to do so. It also told the public that it has appealed the judgment as well as a stay of execution so that the Rivers state government would not go ahead with the tax collection. (3)

A couple of hours ago, a Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt dismissed the suit by the FIRS seeking to stop the Rivers State Government from commencing the collection. River States is therefore moving forward with the tax collection.

It's been a drama of some sorts, but you are probably wondering, what is VAT and how does it concern me?

What is Value Added Tax?
The first thing to know is that you pay VAT. It is a type of consumption tax. You have an internet subscription, you have paid VAT. You make a phone call, you pay VAT. You buy a bottle of water; you have paid VAT. (4)

Tax personnel will tell you that the good thing about VAT is that everyone pays it - whether rich or poor. Your economic status does not matter. The reason is because the tax is paid every time goods are sold. The manufacturer charges the wholesaler VAT and pays the tax to the government. The wholesaler charges the retailer VAT and pays the government the tax minus the tax it has already paid to the manufacturer. The retailer charges the final customer VAT and pays the government the tax minus the tax it has already paid to the wholesaler.

In order words, it is a tax that is charged on the value which a citizen derives from the purchase of goods and services as against a tax that is charged on the income of a citizen.

The Value of VAT
When Wike of Rivers State was defending the collection of VAT by the state, he said something interesting,

"In this (Rivers) state, we awarded contracts to companies and within the last month we paid over N30 billion to the contractors and 7.5% will now be deducted from that and to be given to FIRS. Now, look at 7.5% of N30billion of contracts we awarded to companies in Rivers State, you will be talking about almost N3 billion only from that source. Now, at the end of the month, (the) Rivers State government has never received more than N2 billion from VAT. So, I have contributed more through the award of contract and you are giving me less. What’s the justification for it?” (5)

That's an interesting observation because it touches at the heart of the agitation for states to collect taxes. According to the VAT Act, 2004 (as amended in 2020), FIRS by section 7 is charged with the administration, management, and collection of VAT in Nigeria. (6) The current rate is 7.5% having been increased from 5% when signed into law in January 2020. (7) Once the VAT is collected, the agreed sharing ratio is applied. The Federal gets 15%, States get 50% and Local Governments get the balance of 35%. Before all these, the FIRS keeps 4% as the cost of collection.

And that's where it gets tricky. Three of the 37 states (FCT included) in Nigeria provide 81% of the VAT collected by the FIRS. ( Lagos has the highest VAT collection, amounting to 55% of Nigeria’s VAT. FCT has second place with 20%, while 6% is from Rivers. If you remove Kano's 5%, 33 states provide only 14% of the total VAT in Nigeria; Lagos provides 4 times what 33 states provide combined! That seems an unfair deal considering several states in the country, through Sharia, do not permit the sale of certain goods and services.

A case in point: In November 2020, the Vanguard reported that the Hisbah Board destroyed about 2 million bottles of beer worth over N200 million confiscated in Kano (9). In February 2021, 3000 alcohol bottles were destroyed in Katsina. (10) In the same month, Bauchi state destroyed 260 crates of alcoholic drinks. (11) In May, Jigawa State arrested six persons while confiscating 453 bottles of assorted beer. (12) This happens every month in the Northern states. Kano took it a notch higher two months ago when the Hisbah Board declared war against the use of mannequins, threatening to apprehend and prosecute users of the object for the display of clothes in the state. (13)

In other words, certain states refuse certain businesses from operating in their states, yet collect taxes from them when other states allow them. It seems ridiculous that a state like Niger revoked all licenses of liquor dealers throughout the state yet collected VAT from other states like Lagos where alcohol businesses are allowed to thrive. (14)

It was therefore expected when Lagos swiftly pounced on the news and insisted that following the judgment in Rivers State, FIRS should stop issuing demand notices for payment of VAT in the state. (15)

Nigerian States Are Ripe for Fiscal Autonomy
Of course, while States like Lagos and Rivers are joyous about the ruling, it is expected that states like Ekiti, Kwara, Bayelsa, Kogi, and Zamfara will be unhappy.

For instance, in the first half of 2021, VAT collected comes to N1trillion. (16) By extrapolation, we should expect that by year-end, it should rise to N2 trillion. This would be a 30% increase from the total sum of N1.53 trillion revenues it generated in 2019. (17) It should be noted that VAT recorded in 2019 was N1.18 trillion. This shows that while there is a year-on-year increase in the taxes collected, a state like Lagos isn't getting anything commensurate. From calculations, Lagos got N21billion in VAT revenue last year from FIRS but the State Assembly said N500 billion worth of VAT was collected from businesses operating in the state. (18)

So Lagos and Rivers are expected to make more while many other states would be biting their nails wondering what hit them.

But it's a good problem viewed from a long-term angle. Right now, there is little incentive for the states to be productive. Every month, states go to Abuja cap-in-hand to collect federal allocations. Even worse, these states are so unproductive that many of them spend all they receive in the payment of salaries leaving little or nothing for capital projects.

Two months ago, it was reported that Kogi State House of Assembly lawmakers have shunned plenary sessions over delay in payment of their salaries. (19) With dwindling federal allocations arising from a drop in oil revenue, many state governments are finding it increasingly difficult to meet their obligations to workers and other residents. Salaries of workers in some ministries in Abia states are not being paid. (20)

In January this year, the Kano State Government decided that it could no longer pay the minimum wage of 30,000 and reverted to the former wage of N18, 000 for its workers. "What we are getting now as a government has reduced and we can’t afford to pay the N30, 000 minimum wage," the State said. (21)

States have decided not to do the creative work of making their states viable for investments because of the handouts from the federal government. The ease of doing business has taken a back seat because whatever they do, the federal government will provide some funds at the end of the month. Unfortunately, the era of oil is going, and with VAT from Lagos likely out of the equation, it is hoped that they will start the necessary work of putting their destinies in their own hands. In a previous article, I opined that Nigeria should harness sectors where they have a comparative advantage. (22) It is advice that is even more fit for the state governments. States have boards that are supposed to be revenue-generating entities still waiting for the government to pay their salaries. We have water boards in Kwara state waiting for the government to fund their operating costs when they are already into the provision of services to the states. It is only fiscal autonomies that can jolt these states into taking appropriate actions.

It is ridiculous to hear that some states are against the collection of VAT in their states because they lack the capacity to collect VAT receipts. Lacking the technical and organizational capacity to manage the process of VAT receipts is a poor excuse. Capacity is developed and the states need to take responsibility for it.

Reacting to the issue, the Plateau state government said, “How many industries do we have in Plateau State? There are not many. So, the position of the Plateau State Government on VAT is that the Federal Government, through the FIRS, should continue to collect VAT on our behalf and thereafter remit the proceeds to us." (23)

It is an untenable excuse. Simply make your states attractive to industries.

Gombe State government said that states lacked the capacity to effectively carry out that responsibility so the Federal Government should continue collection.

Another untable excuse. There are several solutions to not having capacity now. States like Lagos can help with building such institutions for them for a fee. The Federal government can make arrangements where shortfalls in revenues by the states are covered over certain periods till the states can stand alone.

It can be done if the states desire for it to be done so that the attitude of waiting back, expecting allowances from the public while the political office holders enjoy the perks of office can be curtailed.

However, as I said in my opening sentence, it is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.

Tosin Adeoti is a Civil Engineer, Project Management Expert and Curator of freshlypressed.ng

https://www.facebook.com/1431267590/posts/10220002862848504/

Opexzy:
Hello Nairalanders;
I need your inputs here please.. My uncle and I invested in pawpaw plantation and we are looking for prospective buyers in large quantities. As we all know that pawpaw is a highly perishable fruit, so we are doing this to know our target market before it's harvest time.

So please do you guys know of any company that uses pawpaw as raw material for their products. I have tried to make some research on Google but I am not okay with the results I am getting yet..

cc: Lalasticlala
Please help give this a wider audience.

Write a letter to pawpaw juice producing companies like Dansa among others and see the outcome. Or sell to Abokis

bodybuilder:
Nigerian youths lack passion and dedication to studies. They don't study their books to know. All they care about is eyeing money of people that have made it. You will not go to class, you will not pay attention to lectures, you will not spend time in the library, school is not meant to be easy. You won't make it anywhere else in life with those type of poor efforts you put in your academics. Not music, not football, anything.
You think Ronaldo puts the level of effort you put in your academics to his football. No!. You go to school without having any knowledge of field of study then you finally graduate and you think magically you deserve a great life, come on. Not everyone who goes to football academy turns out to be a pro footballer and so on. Come on. You'll never see the serious students saying school is scam, it's always the unserious ones.
You think life is all about yahoo. Without school, which engineers will make those iPhones you want to buy, to private jets you want to fly? Which programmers will create this apps you're using to talk shit online? Which doctor will attend to you when you're sick. The tasteless youth will all be saying who mathematics help and so many stupid things.

It is a complete lie, say the ones you know

murecool:
A giant-sized jinx was broken recently when the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) announced a first Net Profit in the 44-year history of the organization. Under President Muhammadu Buhari, who doubles as Minister for Petroleum Resources, the oil conglomerate announced a first-ever profit of N287 billion. Such had never happened before.
But that was by no means the only major jinx broken in the lifetime of the Buhari administration. They abound. And here are just some of them. The list is by no means exhaustive:

Policies and legislation:

*Petroleum Industry Bill signed into law in 2021, after almost two decades in the works. It is aimed at reforming a Petroleum Act dating back to 1969, as well as other supplementary laws and regulations.
*Deep Offshore and Inland Basin (Production Sharing Contracts) Act, 2019, amended for the first time since 1993.
*More than 6 billion dollars of inherited Cash Call Arrears now being cleared by the Buhari Administration, since 2016. More than 3 billion dollars of the arrears (payments due to International Oil Companies) have since been paid.
*The Buhari Administration has overseen the first successful Marginal Fields Bid Round in almost 20 years.
*The Buhari Administration has launched the first National Social Investment Programme in the country’s history. Today it is the largest Social Investment Programme in Africa and one of the largest in the world.
*Restoration of the Federal Budget to a January-to-December cycle, after more than a decade.
*The Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) was established in 2011, and for its first seven years did not have an enabling Act of the National Assembly — Until 2018 when President Buhari assented to the NCDC Act.
*Nigeria Police Act, 2020: The first overhaul of the Police Act since it was originally enacted in 1943
*Nigeria Correctional Service Act, 2019 - overhauled the existing Prisons Act, almost 50 years after it was first enacted.
*Finance Acts 2019 and 2020 - the first time ever that Federal Budgets are being accompanied by dedicated and specific reform legislation, to support implementation.
*Suppression of Piracy and Other Maritime Offences Bill (SPOMO), 2019: The first of its kind in the entire Gulf of Guinea, dedicated to prosecuting maritime offences.
*Police Trust Fund Act, 2019: First-ever legislation dedicated to addressing the financing of the Police Force
*CAMA, 2020 - the first overhaul of the Company and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) in 30 years.
*Discrimination Against Persons With Disabilities (Prohibition) Act, 2018: Another unprecedented piece of legislation in Nigeria
*Treasury Single Account (TSA) started in 2012, expanded across the entire Government by President Buhari

Projects

*Itakpe-Warri Rail Line, started in 1987, abandoned for decades, and finally completed in 2020
*Completion of four standard gauge railway projects between 2016 and 2021: Abuja-Kaduna Rail Line, Abuja Metro Line, Itakpe-Warri Rail Line and Lagos-Ibadan Rail Line.
*President Buhari is the first President to start and complete a rail project in Nigeria’s history (Lagos-Ibadan Rail).
*The last NLNG Train project (Train 6) was completed in 2008. President Buhari has successfully flagged off Train 7 construction.
*Apapa-Oshodi-Oworonshoki Expressway, undergoing full reconstruction for the first time since it was constructed in the late 1970s.
*Bodo-Bonny Bridges and Road: Construction finally kicked off in 2017, after several decades of planning, and three false starts.
*The long-awaited Ogoni Clean-Up kicked off under the Buhari Administration.
*The Nigerian Navy has this year (2021) acquired its first new Landing Ship Tank (LST) in more than 40 years.
*The Nigerian Air Force has enjoyed the largest investment in fleet renewal in decades, under President Buhari, acquiring more than two-dozen new aircraft since 2016.
*Construction of the first full-scale private refinery and the first privately financed Deep Sea Port in Nigeria’s history both started under President Buhari’s watch.
*Only one Modular Refinery in the country pre-2016. Since 2018, there have been several either under construction or already completed.
*Maritime University, Delta State, licensed by the NUC and operationalized in 2018
*Completion, since 2016, of twelve (12) inherited Dam projects across the country: Kashimbila Multipurpose Dam, Taraba; Ogwashi-Uku Multipurpose Dam, Delta; Adada Dam, Enugu; Sulma Earth Dam, Katsina; Gimi Earth Dam, Kaduna; Amla-Otukpo Dam, Benue; Amauzari Earth Dam, Imo; Ibiono-Ibom Earth Dam, Akwa Ibom; Gadau/Lafia Zigau Dam, Bauchi; Alajue Small Earth Dam, Osun; Kampe Omi Dam, Kogi (Rehabilitation) and Kargo Dam, Kaduna (Rehabilitation)
*Completion of three (3) inherited Hydropower Projects, accounting for more than 100MW of electricity in total: Gurara Hydropower Project, 30MW, Kaduna State - completed and concessioned in 2020; Kashimbila Hydropower Project, 40MW, Taraba, Dadin-Kowa Hydropower Project, 40MW, Gombe.
*Completion, since 2016, of seven (7) inherited Irrigation projects and 30 Water Supply Projects inherited by the Administration, including the Central Ogbia Regional Water Supply Project in Bayelsa State, Northern Ishan Regional Water Supply Project and the Ojirami Dam Water Supply Scheme and Reticulation Network, both in Edo State; Sabke, Dutsi and Mashi Water Supply Project in Katsina State; Vom Water Supply Project and Mangu Regional Water Supply Scheme in Plateau State; Takum Water Supply Project in Taraba State; Gambaki/Chinade/Hardawa/Bulkachuwa Water Supply Project in Bauchi State; Inyishi Regional Water Supply Project in Imo State; Ilobu Water Supply Scheme and Osogbo Water Supply Scheme in Osun State; Idanre Water Supply Project in Ondo State; Ofeme Water Supply Project in Abia State; Uburu Water Supply Scheme in Ebonyi State; Gashua Water Supply Scheme in Yobe State; Kwami Gadam and Bojude Water Supply Project in Gombe State; the Saki Town Water Supply Project, Oyo State; and the Zobe and Kazaure Water Supply Projects in Katsina and Jigawa States respectively.
*NDDC HQ Complex, started in the mid-1990s, completed in 2021.
*EFCC HQ Complex, construction started in 2011, completed in 2018.
*Zik Mausoleum, started in 1996, completed and commissioned 2018.

Femi Adesina
Special Adviser to the President
(Media and Publicity)
September 5, 2021

Sakamaje

JimiJunji:
[s]Seun Adedeji is among Black entrepreneurs pushing for a share of a $16 billion legal pot industry dominated by Big Business.[/s]

By John Hechinger

[img]https://assets.bwbx.io/images/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/i0UKgVQPzVjc/v2/150x-1.jpg[/img]


In the hinterlands of central Massachusetts, Seun Adedeji works the crowd with an evangelist’s flair. “We’re here to get you guys medicated and elevated,” he says. At his store’s grand opening this month, he and his customers—some in khakis and leaning on canes, others in psychedelic T-shirts and ripped jeans—greet each other with pandemic-friendly elbow bumps.

Adedeji is a cannabis entrepreneur. In his skinny suit, T-shirt, and wing tips with no socks, he looks the part. His shop, not so much. It’s a low-slung brick building that used to be a gas station in the former mill town of Athol, population 12,000. It still could be mistaken for one, except for the bright green marijuana leaf balloons hanging from the ceiling, the pre-rolled joints under the counter, and the rainbow of artisanal glass pipes on top.

[img]https://assets.bwbx.io/images/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/iRhzQv6cpBWA/v2/60x-1.jpg[/img]

As a 27-year-old Nigerian immigrant with only a high school diploma, Adedeji had to start small. He’s a rarity in the $16 billion-a-year U.S. legal marijuana business: a dispensary owner who is Black. His company’s name, Elev8 Cannabis, has a double meaning. It’s about getting high, of course, but also alludes to the legalization movement’s social equity mission. Advocates call for government support of Black-owned cannabis companies to reverse the devastating toll of the war on drugs and mass incarceration on minority communities. At age 13, Adedeji himself was arrested for selling pot. Yet, for all the talk of justice, it’s White corporate types—many from Wall Street, Silicon Valley, big liquor and tobacco—who have come to dominate the lucrative emerging industry.

Adedeji, who wears a gold pendant with inspirational words from the poet Maya Angelou, argues that Black people deserve access to legal pot’s windfall profits. He says it would be a step toward repairing the inequities of systemic racism: “We need to create generational wealth in the minority community.” This argument is gaining currency amid a booming pot industry. On Nov. 3, voters in Arizona, Montana, New Jersey, and South Dakota will decide whether to legalize recreational marijuana, as have 11 other states and the District of Columbia since 2012. (Thirty-five permit medical marijuana.)

Some state and city governments have also started social equity programs for marijuana businesses. Massachusetts and Illinois, as well as Oakland and Los Angeles, are among the most developed. These efforts generally give a leg up to business owners with nonviolent marijuana convictions, who live in neighborhoods with disproportionate drug arrests. Help can include training, breaks on regulatory fees, and priority in awarding licenses and loans. “None of these programs have been a smashing, immediate success” because of the challenges facing disadvantaged businesses, says Shaleen Title, who holds the social equity seat on the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission.

U.S. Legal Cannabis Market

The Minority Cannabis Business Association estimates that only 200 of the nation’s more than 7,000 licensed dispensaries are Black-owned. Adedeji’s company, which wasn’t part of the official state social equity effort, is one of the few in Massachusetts.

The main barrier is money. Opening a dispensary typically costs $500,000 to $1.5 million, according to cannabis industry tracker Arcview Market Research. Banks loans aren’t an option, because the federal government still considers marijuana illegal. Wealthier people have access to networks of family and friends—and even private equity—edging out the disadvantaged.

In a further roadblock, social equity efforts have sparked opposition, including lawsuits from other aspiring licensees that claim unfair treatment. The programs have also been gamed: States have had to crack down on companies that use minority owners as fronts, in some cases taking effective control through onerous lending arrangements.

[img]https://assets.bwbx.io/images/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/iT.l4Ti1DsJc/v2/60x-1.jpg[/img]
Jars of cannabis flower for sale at Elev8.

Consider Adedeji, who needed $1 million for his first Massachusetts shop. A large marijuana industry supplier loaned him the money, at 8% interest, but also levied a $3 per item fee and specified that Adedeji had to buy 70% of his product from the lender, Massachusetts records show. After a state investigation, the bigger company dropped those conditions. Some opponents of legalization dismiss the social equity pitch. Kevin Sabet, an Obama administration drug-policy adviser, says big corporations will end up reaping the rewards of legalization, while poor neighborhoods bear the cost of increasing pot use. “It’s dangling money in front of communities that deserve richer opportunities,” says Sabet, president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, which supports decriminalization, rather than commercialization.

[img]https://assets.bwbx.io/images/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/i4uTqximMgOQ/v2/60x-1.jpg[/img]
Adedeji gives representatives from the North Quabbin Chamber of Commerce a tour of the dispensary.

Adedeji disagrees, and his life story represents legalization’s promise. At 5, he emigrated with his family from Lagos, Nigeria. Growing up on Chicago’s South Side, he got into fights and was expelled from school. He never forgets being fingerprinted after his arrest for selling pot in middle school. “I felt like my life was over,” he says.

The charges were dropped, and he straightened out. After high school, he moved to the West Coast and channeled his aggression into mixed martial arts on the Ultimate Fighting Championship circuit. He also worked selling cellphones, rising to become a company manager. In 2017 he opened his first pot dispensary in Eugene, Ore., which he still runs. When he wanted to open a second, he chose Massachusetts because it had a less saturated market. He moved to Boston and secured licenses to operate three dispensaries in the state—the first in Athol, where he paid just $50,000 to buy the former gas station.

[img]https://assets.bwbx.io/images/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/iGuZFnUJ4Nu4/v2/60x-1.jpg[/img]
Adedeji greets friends and supporters, many of whom run their own cannabis businesses and traveled from other states for the grand opening.

At the shop’s grand opening, about two dozen people, wearing masks, wait in a socially distanced line to enter. Noreen Perez, 52, a former dog groomer, seeks help for her anxiety and pain. Bruce Fowler, 78, an Air Force veteran and retired toolmaker, arrives on a motorcycle adorned with an American flag, and has come just to browse.
The scene is a far cry from the crowds at some of the bigger, better-financed White-owned dispensaries. In the affluent Boston suburb of Brookline, the New England Treatment Access, or Neta, shop occupies a soaring Beaux Arts-style former bank building listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A company called Parallel, whose chairman is the billionaire heir to the Wrigley gum fortune, owns the dispensary. Before Covid-19, it could see 2,500 customers a day, making it one of the most successful in the country. (Neta says it promotes social equity through grants and diversity in hiring and training.)
Athol may not seem the most natural market for a Black-owned pot business. The town is more than 90% White. In the 2016 presidential election, its voters favored Donald Trump, whose Justice Department has often been unfriendly to legalized pot. Local officials nonetheless welcomed Adedeji’s business, as did Chamber of Commerce members, for the potential boost it may deliver to the local economy and tax revenue.

[img]https://assets.bwbx.io/images/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/it_ug81MEo.4/v2/60x-1.jpg[/img]
Tahir Johnson (left), the D.C.-based head of diversity, equity, and inclusion at the National Cannabis Industry Association, makes the first purchase of the day.

To support Adedeji on the day of his store opening, delegations arrive from other Black-owned cannabis businesses: Boston’s Pure Oasis, the state’s first Black-owned dispensary; JustinCredible Cultivation, in Western Massachusetts; Sticky, a three-shop Michigan chain; and Maryland’s Tetragram, which runs an app for recommending strains of pot.
Tahir Johnson, an aspiring cultivator and National Cannabis Industry Association diversity manager, drove eight hours from Washington to be Adedeji’s first customer. He paid $60 for two pre-rolled joints and a package of cannabis-infused Belgian milk chocolate.
Marc Ostberg, a branch manager of BankHometown, visits from just down the block for a tour. Inside, hip-hop plays on the sound system. A faint, telltale scent hangs in the air. Adedeji raves about the store’s soothing indica and animating sativa cannabis blends. Ostberg, who wears a plastic face shield with his conservative suit, nods and smiles. Their conversation highlights both the challenge and possibility of the new venture. “Have you ever been elevated before?” Adedeji asks. “No? One day, we’ve got to change that up.”

-Bloomberg BusinessWeek

Of course it is a good product and business for health care, it is unfortunate that Nigeria does not understand that and work on educating the populace against substance abuse. All my life I have never taken beer, drugs or smoke but to be sincere I don't see any benefits in our strict controls over weeds. All we need is regulations against abuse, if a country needs it for health care, produce it and sell it to them if you can't, just follow the money and rake in more income

Legendrysailor:
How bro

Forex can't be learned in a rush like cryptocurrency

Legendrysailor:
Good day nairalanders, I want to invest money on binance, But the problem is dat I am a novice , I know nothing about crypto trading. Pls help me. God bless u all

don't try forex oh, you will Lana

kannex:
I have this idea of creating a map app but with social media functions like for instance a map app that will have chatting ability (user can chat), news feed (which involve status update, picture and video upload), ability to follow a user, and more which i can state here because of security reasons.
So is this kind of app posible for someone to develop a map+ social media integration
It is just like saying google map plus facebook, which is map app plus social media together.
if it is possible please state how you think this can be achieve thanks in advance.
Please i wil be expecting your advise.

Check this site out, www.cashmaz.xyz
I can make one for you but that map aspect requires that you pay google for that as people use it.
You can reach me on 08089456258

Goodmarlian:
Who else noticed herdsmen don't attack kwarra band kogi but move further down to attack Oyo and ogun?

They kidnap but na juju the people dey use to finish them

Localordinary:
Scammer is here.

Cc: just wise kindly do the needful

If I wanted to scam people I wont write what I wrote. Thank God I don't scam, I am using some information available to me to help some, if it works for them, we will have an agreement, it is up to them to be faithful or not. Anyways the most important thing about criticism is proof them wrong

yuping:
Watch as kwara people go come for ya head now because of this misleading info.

No mind am na lie, I live in kwara state

There are people more than positions created by men, he is one of them, too intelligent