ok i get you jason.

but u must understand that a lot went on without been recorded. only people with around will know.

anyway our major problem in nigeria is the north. it doesn't matter to me which region is richest as soon as the
regional gov are not lording it over other regional individual. and let ther be live and let live

Greediness @ work

Thats just a stupid statement. He should be hiding his face in shame. Most of the Governors are just greedy and lazy. All they do is to run to abuja at the end of every month. If you can't come up with policies and ways to generate money from your state, then you have no business being a Governor of a state. All the Governors should think of going into agriculture with whatever you are getting from the Federal Government. Our over dependence on oil is getting very annoying. It seems as if this oil is becoming more of a curse instead of a blessing with all the pollution of the environment going unchecked and nobody paying or being held responsible for it.

Sometimes i find it very difficult to believe that nairalanders are nigerian. especially d administrators. why allowing posts like this? why should someone(like d writter of this post) not be penalise? posts like this only brings hatred. THIS IS WHY I LOVE .

This was the card to emancipation. Up Awolowo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (PS I am a northerner - whatever that means)

@OP, Dr.  ANTHONY MUDIAGA's assertions are false and intellectually dishonest at best.  Sanusi never claimed that 13% derivation to ND is the cause of Northern underdevelopment.

The foolish doctor became a sooth sayer and a mind reader when he asserted that Sanusi 'regressed' to a strategy of using ethnic, religious or class sentiments, which political elites in Nigeria often use to gain the support of the dominated citizens to give them political legitimacy.  olodo Dr. Mudiaga further states that Sanusi may have ventured into this recursive strategy in Nigerian politics because, he is posturing for the 2015 elections.  I repeat this Dr. is a fool who needs to focus in his medical practice instead of attempting to attck Sanusi for no reason at all.

Here's is exactly what Sanusi said regarding the said 13% derivation and I quote:

There is clearly a direct link between the very uneven nature of distribution of resources and the underdevelopment and rising level of violence in the North.

When you look at the figures and look at the size of the population in the north, you can see that there is a structural imbalance of enormous proportions. Those states simply do not have enough money to meet basic needs while some states have too much money.

Can anyone dipute the factual accuracy of Sanusi's statement above? Sanusi is not saying that this direct link is the only reason. Only fools like Dr. Mudiaga, will interprete Sanusi's statement to mean that the said derivation is the only reason for underdevelopment in the North. Clearly it is one of the major reasons since it is a major contributing factor to the lack of enough money to meet basic needs prevalent in the region . SMH

tiarabubu:

This was the card to emancipation. Up Awolowo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  (PS I am a northerner - whatever that means)

Wow.

So there was an actual card?

Does anyone else have one from their parents?

"Card to emancipation", indeed.

There is no better word or expression than what you just used.

Up Awolowo.

Take a chill pill guys

gidiaffair.tumblr.com

Now imagine if those northerners had produced these "cards to emancipation", ~50+ years ago, like Awolowo did.

Instead they are still enslaved.

Quality, insightful leadership makes a difference.  . . while clearly bad leadership can be disastrous.

Northern Underdevelopment has to do with their Haramic lifestyle to Boko. Development that they seek is western of which they say Haram to, period. 13% goes to Oil Producers yet, the rest is shared also. What have they done with that

The North are a problem to themselves and to the entire country. Atiku, dangote etc have hijacked the collective wealth of that region, leaving them poor, ignorant, frustrated and desperate.

aglomar:

The North are a problem to themselves and to the entire country. Atiku, dangote etc have hijacked the collective wealth of that region, leaving them poor, ignorant, frustrated and desperate.

I concur.

for those who say that uneven allocation is the cause of boko haram. Is that what the boko haram members told you? The question is how many states in niger delta are really developed? name one and why?

ndu_chucks:

@OP, Dr.  ANTHONY MUDIAGA's assertions are false and intellectually dishonest at best.  Sanusi never claimed that 13% derivation to ND is the cause of Northern underdevelopment.

The foolish doctor became a sooth sayer and a mind reader when he asserted that Sanusi 'regressed' to a strategy of using ethnic, religious or class sentiments, which political elites in Nigeria often use to gain the support of the dominated citizens to give them political legitimacy.  olodo Dr. Mudiaga further states that Sanusi may have ventured into this recursive strategy in Nigerian politics because, he is posturing for the 2015 elections.  I repeat this Dr. is a fool who needs to focus in his medical practice instead of attempting to attck Sanusi for no reason at all.

Here's is exactly what Sanusi said regarding the said 13% derivation and I quote:
Can anyone dipute the factual accuracy of Sanusi's statement above? Sanusi is not saying that this direct link is the only reason. Only fools like Dr. Mudiaga, will interprete Sanusi's statement to mean that the said derivation is the only reason for underdevelopment in the North. Clearly it is one of the major reasons since it is a major contributing factor to the lack of enough money to meet basic needs prevalent in the region . SMH  

stop defending the indefensible. It will make ur id lose its rep

13% Derivation as enshrined in 1999 Constitution implementation was started in Jan 2000, for the new replubic that started in May1999, The Federation is still owning the NDStates June to December 1999 allocation. SLS should have focused more on what the Northern leaders did with the funds before 2000 when 13% derivation started. At least the Northerners are mosttly in control of government since the 60s to 1999. Of what benefit is the power they weld then to their people.

hercules07:

I am a Sanusi fan so make I defend am small. He was talking about uneven distribution of resources and the last time I checked, the FG with its 56% is the biggest parasite. The 13% to the Niger Delta region is not the cause of the poverty in the North, uneven distribution of resources is one of the reasons but the blame lies with their leaders. I have said it several times, what goes to the FG is too much, reduce it to 25% and use the 30% for states that are just too poor, the modalities for applying the fund can always be worked out, also, SLS is not running for any political appointment, he has a good shot at being the next Emir of Kano.

Obviously we all know that you're a SLS fan. I can now see why he doled out N100million to Kano because he's using CBN money and influence to lay his foundation since he has a good shot of being the net Emir of Kano.

ekt_bear:

Now imagine if those northerners had produced these "cards to emancipation", ~50+ years ago, like Awolowo did.

Instead they are still enslaved.

Quality, insightful leadership makes a difference. . . while clearly bad leadership can be disastrous.

Yes there was an actual card plus a host of other well reasoned, forward looking policy moves by Awolowo and his team.

YOU GAT IDEAS? MEET BUSINESS INVESTORS AND CONNECTION ON www.bizinterest.com

Just to say this in response to some posts on here. The north does not have a large population. They have a large land mass. The large population stuff is a fraud. It is one of the many lies the north has been riding on since independence. If you look at the population distribution of west Africa, Nigeria is the only country where the northern desert region shows more population that the coastal areas. Check the population of chad, niger and mali and you will get an idea of the true population of the north. And on top of that, a major chunck of the current northern population are southerners, especially the Ibos.

dmainboss:

Just to say this in response to some posts on here. The north does not have a large population. They have a large land mass. The large population stuff is a fraud. It is one of the many lies the north has been riding on since independence. If you look at the population distribution of west Africa, Nigeria is the only country where the northern desert region shows more population that the coastal areas. Check the population of chad, niger and mali and you will get an idea of the true population of the north. And on top of that, a major chunck of the current northern population are southerners, especially the Ibos.

In support of what you just said, the northern population is a myth. I have worked extensively in the north between 2004-2005.
All I saw then was a desolate land mass with low population density. Maybe I am wrong and people do live underground up north.

Sanusi, Boko Haram and Northern Nigeria’s poverty
Perhaps the most controversial statement to come out of Nigeria in recent weeks is Sanusi Lamido Sanusi’s linkage of the mass killings of innocent citizens in Northern Nigeria by the Boko Haram sect to the nature of distribution of oil revenues in Nigeria.
Sanusi Lamido Sanusi-Governor Central Bank of Nigeria

A statement like this coming from the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and a prominent personality from the North should not be taken lightly. Since the statement, as if on cue, a spread sheet showing the distribution of revenues among different states in Nigeria has suddenly surfaced on the internet in an apparent bid to show the uneven distribution of crude oil earnings in Nigeria.

I have read the original story as written by Financial Times, and the original story also quotes figures that show this so called uneven wealth distribution in Nigeria between Southern and Northern Nigeria. In the story by the Financial Times, Sanusi is quoted to have said “There is clearly a direct link between the very uneven nature of distribution of resources and the rising level of violence (in Northern Nigeria)”
Explaining further Sanusi states that “When you look at the figures and look at the size of the population in the north you can see there is a structural imbalance of enormous proportions,” Mr Sanusi said. “Those states (referring to the North) simply do not have enough money to meet basic needs while some states (referring to South South States) have too much money.”

Both statements from Sanusi are baffling especially when it is considered that they are being made by the governor of Nigeria’s Central Bank. Sanusi’s assertion that there is “clearly a direct link between the uneven nature of wealth distribution and rising level of violence in Northern Nigeria lacks merit. Elementary statistics teaches us that correlation does not necessarily mean causality except Sanusi is in possession of some proven work that establishes this link. If the above statement is to be valid, then Sanusi must be able to prove not only that the incidence of violence in Northern Nigeria has gone up as the resource distribution to the South South Nigeria went up.

However, we all know that there is no “rising” level of violence in Northern Nigeria. What we have in Northern Nigeria at present is just “another wave” of violence. History of violence in Northern Nigeria is as old as when Nigeria became an Independent state. It is violence in Northern Nigeria that plunged Nigeria into a civil war in 1966. Since the end of the civil war, there have been various incidences of violent riots in Northern Nigeria that have claimed the lives of thousands of Nigerians over the years. The statement by the CBN governor seems to suggest that violence is a stranger to Northern Nigeria. That certainly is not true.
Also the nature of violence in Northern Nigeria has never been poverty induced. It may always have been fuelled by the level of poverty but violence has always been religion induced. The victims in most cases of violence in Northern Nigeria has been primarily because they profess another form of religion and not because they were better off economically than their neighbours.

It is also sad that the CBN governor’s statement only reinforces the revenue sharing mentality that has been the bane of economic development in Nigeria over the years. The CBN governor seems not to see anything wrong in state’s running to Abuja every month to collect monthly allocations to share in their states without making efforts to develop the productive economic base of their states. It is not the money gotten from Abuja that will develop the states; it is the restructuring of the economic base of each of the state that will develop them.

As the CBN governor knows, the billions received by the South South have not necessarily changed the poverty profile of these states. As can be seen in the recently released poverty figures by Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the gap in the incidence of poverty between the money rich South South and the money poor North is not that wide. For example, the NBS figures shows that the number of people living below a dollar a day in South South stood at about 56.1 percent of the population of the South South. This is only slightly lower than that of the North Central where 59.7 percent of the population live on less than a dollar a day. The incidence of poverty is higher in the North East where 69 percent of the population live on less than a dollar a day while 70 percent of the population in North West live on less than a dollar a day.

However, the NBS figures does not factor into its calculations that fact that a South South resident who lives on less than a dollar a day has a higher health bill than his or her Northern counterpart and most likely shorter life expectancy due to the environmental degradation suffered from crude oil exploration which is the source of 90 per cent of the distributable revenues in the Federation that the CBN governor considers unfair. The implication is that the South South resident living on less than a dollar a day is even poorer than his Northern counterpart who does not have to face the peculiar environmental and health challenges faced by its Southern counterpart.

The CBN governor suggests that “It is necessary to focus funds on regenerating other regions if Nigeria “wants to secure long term stability.” Where are these funds going to come from? Is the governor suggesting that the Federal Government take money from other regions of Nigeria and use it to develop the North? Is he asking for revenues to be distributed on the basis of regional development needs? Or is he saying that since the South South “has too much money (based on his assumption) than they need”, this money should be taken from the South South and redistributed to Northern Nigeria? This suggestion completely ignores the fact that 90 percent of the revenues come from just one region at significant cost to their livelihood and environment.

From a CBN governor, one would have thought the suggestion should have been that States look critically at how to mobilize internally generated revenues like Lagos has done successfully. Mobilizing internally generated revenues is what drives development, not sharing revenues at the centre. Years of revenue sharing has only increased poverty and income inequality as the latest NBS poverty figures show.

[b]The lack of merit in Sanusi’s argument linking the uneven distribution of Nigeria’s revenues and the current violence in Northern Nigeria becomes even more obvious when distribution of revenues among states is examined more critically. The gross revenue distribution among State’s from 2008 to 2010 for example shows that Borno, the hot bed of Boko Haram activities got more revenues from the Federation account than Edo State in the South South part of Nigeria even when the 13 percent derivation revenues were added to Edo State’s revenue from the Federation. Borno State has had more revenues within the same period than each of the five states in South Eastern Nigeria.

Adamawa State, which has also had high incidence of Boko Haram activity has one of highest revenues per population in the country only lower than the South South States benefiting from 13 percent oil derivation. Adamawa has higher revenue per population than any of the South Eastern states and any of South Western States. It is also interesting that Bauchi, another hot bed of Boko Haram activity has higher revenue per population than several States in Southern Nigeria including Ogun State, Oyo State, Lagos State, Anambra, and Enugu among others. The residents of these Southern states have not taken to violence to resolve the low amount of revenues gotten from the Federation account; rather their governments have put in place strategies to increase internally generated revenues to support the dwindling revenues from the Federation account.

The CBN governor position sounds more sentimental than fact based. A man in his position should not make statements that have the tendency to incite the current unjustified killing of innocent Nigerians[/b]

http://osae-brown-insights..in/2012/02/sanusi-boko-haram-and-northern-nigerias.html?spref=fb

9ja voice:

ok i get you jason.

but u must understand that a lot went on without been recorded. only people with around will know.

anyway our major problem in nigeria is the north. it doesn't matter to me which region is richest as soon as the
regional gov are not lording it over other regional individual. and let ther be live and let live

You major problem isnt the North. You leaders are as corrupt as those from the North. What Awo and Sarduana did for there people cannot be matched by any politician who has taken benefit of their names to achieve his aim of assuming position of leadership the idiots that killed sarduana and the opportunist in that Coup led the foundation of sectional and acrimonious politics that reign today. Mention one Governor from you region that has left office a true and clean hero.
Northern Gov abused their oath of office and sanusi goofed by not calling a spade what it is. Nigeria is still underdeveloped and for people here restricting it to the north is all crap. Whether we stand up to it togather or not na our toro.

doombuggy:

In support of what you just said, the northern population is a myth. I have worked extensively in the north between 2004-2005.
All I saw then was a desolate land mass with low population density. Maybe I am wrong and people do live underground up north.

Shallow. Oye demyatify it.

I live up north and believe me southerners full here

PHIPEX:

Sanusi, Boko Haram and Northern Nigeria’s poverty
Perhaps the most controversial statement to come out of Nigeria in recent weeks is Sanusi Lamido Sanusi’s linkage of the mass killings of innocent citizens in Northern Nigeria by the Boko Haram sect to the nature of distribution of oil revenues in Nigeria.
Sanusi Lamido Sanusi-Governor Central Bank of Nigeria

A statement like this coming from the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and a prominent personality from the North should not be taken lightly. Since the statement, as if on cue, a spread sheet showing the distribution of revenues among different states in Nigeria has suddenly surfaced on the internet in an apparent bid to show the uneven distribution of crude oil earnings in Nigeria.

I have read the original story as written by Financial Times, and the original story also quotes figures that show this so called uneven wealth distribution in Nigeria between Southern and Northern Nigeria. In the story by the Financial Times, Sanusi is quoted to have said “There is clearly a direct link between the very uneven nature of distribution of resources and the rising level of violence (in Northern Nigeria)”
Explaining further Sanusi states that “When you look at the figures and look at the size of the population in the north you can see there is a structural imbalance of enormous proportions,” Mr Sanusi said. “Those states (referring to the North) simply do not have enough money to meet basic needs while some states (referring to South South States) have too much money.”

Both statements from Sanusi are baffling especially when it is considered that they are being made by the governor of Nigeria’s Central Bank. Sanusi’s assertion that there is “clearly a direct link between the uneven nature of wealth distribution and rising level of violence in Northern Nigeria lacks merit. Elementary statistics teaches us that correlation does not necessarily mean causality except Sanusi is in possession of some proven work that establishes this link. If the above statement is to be valid, then Sanusi must be able to prove not only that the incidence of violence in Northern Nigeria has gone up as the resource distribution to the South South Nigeria went up.

However, we all know that there is no “rising” level of violence in Northern Nigeria. What we have in Northern Nigeria at present is just “another wave” of violence. History of violence in Northern Nigeria is as old as when Nigeria became an Independent state. It is violence in Northern Nigeria that plunged Nigeria into a civil war in 1966. Since the end of the civil war, there have been various incidences of violent riots in Northern Nigeria that have claimed the lives of thousands of Nigerians over the years. The statement by the CBN governor seems to suggest that violence is a stranger to Northern Nigeria. That certainly is not true.
Also the nature of violence in Northern Nigeria has never been poverty induced. It may always have been fuelled by the level of poverty but violence has always been religion induced. The victims in most cases of violence in Northern Nigeria has been primarily because they profess another form of religion and not because they were better off economically than their neighbours.

It is also sad that the CBN governor’s statement only reinforces the revenue sharing mentality that has been the bane of economic development in Nigeria over the years. The CBN governor seems not to see anything wrong in state’s running to Abuja every month to collect monthly allocations to share in their states without making efforts to develop the productive economic base of their states. It is not the money gotten from Abuja that will develop the states; it is the restructuring of the economic base of each of the state that will develop them.

As the CBN governor knows, the billions received by the South South have not necessarily changed the poverty profile of these states. As can be seen in the recently released poverty figures by Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the gap in the incidence of poverty between the money rich South South and the money poor North is not that wide. For example, the NBS figures shows that the number of people living below a dollar a day in South South stood at about 56.1 percent of the population of the South South. This is only slightly lower than that of the North Central where 59.7 percent of the population live on less than a dollar a day. The incidence of poverty is higher in the North East where 69 percent of the population live on less than a dollar a day while 70 percent of the population in North West live on less than a dollar a day.

However, the NBS figures does not factor into its calculations that fact that a South South resident who lives on less than a dollar a day has a higher health bill than his or her Northern counterpart and most likely shorter life expectancy due to the environmental degradation suffered from crude oil exploration which is the source of 90 per cent of the distributable revenues in the Federation that the CBN governor considers unfair. The implication is that the South South resident living on less than a dollar a day is even poorer than his Northern counterpart who does not have to face the peculiar environmental and health challenges faced by its Southern counterpart.

The CBN governor suggests that “It is necessary to focus funds on regenerating other regions if Nigeria “wants to secure long term stability.” Where are these funds going to come from? Is the governor suggesting that the Federal Government take money from other regions of Nigeria and use it to develop the North? Is he asking for revenues to be distributed on the basis of regional development needs? Or is he saying that since the South South “has too much money (based on his assumption) than they need”, this money should be taken from the South South and redistributed to Northern Nigeria? This suggestion completely ignores the fact that 90 percent of the revenues come from just one region at significant cost to their livelihood and environment.

From a CBN governor, one would have thought the suggestion should have been that States look critically at how to mobilize internally generated revenues like Lagos has done successfully. Mobilizing internally generated revenues is what drives development, not sharing revenues at the centre. Years of revenue sharing has only increased poverty and income inequality as the latest NBS poverty figures show.

[b]The lack of merit in Sanusi’s argument linking the uneven distribution of Nigeria’s revenues and the current violence in Northern Nigeria becomes even more obvious when distribution of revenues among states is examined more critically. The gross revenue distribution among State’s from 2008 to 2010 for example shows that Borno, the hot bed of Boko Haram activities got more revenues from the Federation account than Edo State in the South South part of Nigeria even when the 13 percent derivation revenues were added to Edo State’s revenue from the Federation. Borno State has had more revenues within the same period than each of the five states in South Eastern Nigeria.

Adamawa State, which has also had high incidence of Boko Haram activity has one of highest revenues per population in the country only lower than the South South States benefiting from 13 percent oil derivation. Adamawa has higher revenue per population than any of the South Eastern states and any of South Western States. It is also interesting that Bauchi, another hot bed of Boko Haram activity has higher revenue per population than several States in Southern Nigeria including Ogun State, Oyo State, Lagos State, Anambra, and Enugu among others. The residents of these Southern states have not taken to violence to resolve the low amount of revenues gotten from the Federation account; rather their governments have put in place strategies to increase internally generated revenues to support the dwindling revenues from the Federation account.

The CBN governor position sounds more sentimental than fact based. A man in his position should not make statements that have the tendency to incite the current unjustified killing of innocent Nigerians[/b]

http://osae-brown-insights..in/2012/02/sanusi-boko-haram-and-northern-nigerias.html?spref=fb

phipex, love this write up , lots of points, very sound argume

When Shehu Yaradua, Babangida, Abacha et al were plundering the nation's resources we did not hear a word from Sanusi. He should explain to us where, how and what they did with all that money. They have refused to invest in their people or local infrastructure to create jobs and better their fellow northerners. All we here from these freeloaders are excuses, excuses and more excuses to deflect their entrenched aversion to improving themselves,

Sanusi is not a creative economist. He is a reactionary profiting from a broadly uninformed populace. Prior to the application of the 13% derivation, was the rate of development btw north and south d same? NO. A socio cultural setting that is hostile to visitors and investors can not grow effectively. A settings where enterprise is loathed cannot develop. What are their governors doing with what they are so far given? What derivation does Anambra, Cross RiVer, Enugu, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Oyo, Osun and Ogun receive? It is this primitive n myopic mindset that he is using to kill our economy. How come he was releasing inflated subsidy monies without asking for harmonization of the approvals? This man is an irregular peg in a regular hole. He brandishes his shallowness and bigotory on daily basis.

When did this 13% come into effect?

gaskia

Sanusi is not a creative economist. He is a reactionary profiting from a broadly uninformed populace. Prior to the application of the 13% derivation, was the rate of development btw north and south d same? NO. A socio cultural setting that is hostile to visitors and investors can not grow effectively. A settings where enterprise is loathed cannot develop. What are their governors doing with what they are so far given? What derivation does Anambra, Cross RiVer, Enugu, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Oyo, Osun and Ogun receive? It is this primitive n myopic mindset that he is using to kill our economy. How come he was releasing inflated subsidy monies without asking for harmonization of the approvals? This man is an irregular peg in a regular hole. He brandishes his shallowness and bigotory on daily basis.

u see personally i having been saying this and will repeat again; all the emirs; sultan; northen leaders should be lined up to stone in accordance to the yeye shaira.

people think we are fools; until these dinasuar humble theirselves to recognise they arent nobody the pretend to be nothing will change

nothing; absolutely nothing; some talk about north when in reality there isnt anything like north; u still think u are telling us the truth

Belmot:

I live up north and believe me southerners full here

you can say that again. So much for northerners being parasite. And which part of nigeria is actually developed? I.ve been to most parts and the stories aint different.

ndu_chucks:

@OP, Dr.  ANTHONY MUDIAGA's assertions are false and intellectually dishonest at best.  Sanusi never claimed that 13% derivation to ND is the cause of Northern underdevelopment.

The foolish doctor became a sooth sayer and a mind reader when he asserted that Sanusi 'regressed' to a strategy of using ethnic, religious or class sentiments, which political elites in Nigeria often use to gain the support of the dominated citizens to give them political legitimacy.  olodo Dr. Mudiaga further states that Sanusi may have ventured into this recursive strategy in Nigerian politics because, he is posturing for the 2015 elections.  I repeat this Dr. is a fool who needs to focus in his medical practice instead of attempting to attck Sanusi for no reason at all.

Here's is exactly what Sanusi said regarding the said 13% derivation and I quote:
Can anyone dipute the factual accuracy of Sanusi's statement above? Sanusi is not saying that this direct link is the only reason. Only fools like Dr. Mudiaga, will interprete Sanusi's statement to mean that the said derivation is the only reason for underdevelopment in the North. Clearly it is one of the major reasons since it is a major contributing factor to the lack of enough money to meet basic needs prevalent in the region . SMH  

My brother, the day I stopped following Sanusi was the day he was relating Boko haram to distribution of money.

Poverty is everywhere whether in the north or in the south. It is irrespective of ethnicity, religion or zones. Just like a man cannot afford garri/akara in maiduguri, a man too cannot afford groundnut in the warri/Onitsha.

Let face facts here. Sanusi is meant to be an intellectual who people like us follow and relate with. His recent article on that money deviation couple with the double speaking he did no that fuel subsidy saga made me really disappointed in him. Maybe I expected too much from him.

,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.

Dr. Mudiaga was just interpreting what Sanusi said, maybe not poverty but reason for boko haram.