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Politics / Re: Cramjones Is Not FFK - CRAMJONES by IleIfe2(m): 11:56am On Jan 10, 2014 |
validplanet: A concerned citizen. |
Politics / Re: 2014 Budget: Some Animals Are More Equal Than Most Nigerians by IleIfe2(m): 11:55am On Jan 10, 2014 |
@steveregs: |
Politics / Re: 2014 Budget: Some Animals Are More Equal Than Most Nigerians by IleIfe2(m): 4:45am On Jan 10, 2014 |
SLIDE waxie: They will avoid this thread. They must feel ashamed for this gross display of incompetency from the one who calls himself the president and his frog-faced finance minister! |
Politics / Re: What Makes Lagos A Model City - Newyork Times by IleIfe2(m): 10:55am On Jan 09, 2014 |
bishopjoe02: Wow nice, where are you from? |
Business / Re: 10 People Roasted In Lagos Tanker Fire by IleIfe2(m): 9:06am On Jan 09, 2014 |
Roasted? Reckless attempt at humor. 10 Likes |
Politics / Re: 2014 Budget: Some Animals Are More Equal Than Most Nigerians by IleIfe2(m): 8:33am On Jan 09, 2014 |
chairman: I wish Jonathan and his political circle can put people like me to shame by being honest and by doing something effective to better the lives of greater number of Nigerians. Work and lets see, critics will be quiet. |
Politics / Re: What Makes Lagos A Model City - Newyork Times by IleIfe2(m): 6:54am On Jan 09, 2014 |
Ikengawo: The man who did this, Fashola, is now a whisper as his party proposes Tambuwal as the candidate. Nice attempt at whipping up emotions. giving the current circumstance, If Fashola does not become Nigeria's President come 2015, no biggie. His antecedents precedes him. Nigeria will yell and cry for leaders and administrators like him when the time comes. 9 Likes |
Politics / What Makes Lagos A Model City - Newyork Times by IleIfe2(m): 6:06am On Jan 09, 2014 |
WASHINGTON — Nigeria is arguably the worst run of the world’s seven most populated countries. Despite earning hundreds of billions of dollars in oil revenue over the past decade, it is expected by 2015, by some calculations, to have the second-most destitute people in the world after India. But its largest city, Lagos, which until recently was known as one of the world’s most difficult cities to govern, seems to have turned a corner. Even though it remains a slum-ridden and largely impoverished metropolis, with an exploding population estimated at 21 million (of Nigeria’s 170 million people), it has seen steady improvement in its governance for over a decade. The government has enhanced public transportation, cleaned up streets, upgraded the business environment and bettered the lives of its inhabitants. So Nigeria, of all places, may be pointing the way to a strategy by which fragile states might begin to succeed: Devolve more power to cities from their corrupt and overcentralized national governments. At least in democracies, the cities have promise because their elected politicians face pressure to deliver specific services to their constituents. In the central governments, which are more remote, there is too much power and wealth to be grabbed by dysfunctional politicians and their cronies, and too little direct accountability. The emergence of fragile states is one of the world’s most pressing problems. Such states, which include Nigeria, Iraq and Yemen, contain a rising number of the world’s poor (half of the world’s people who live on less than $1.25 a day will be in fragile states by 2015, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) and contribute disproportionately to the world’s instability and terrorism. They have become a major focus of international aid efforts, but it has proved very difficult to improve governance there. The turnaround in Lagos can be traced to 1999, when Nigeria returned to democracy and the city began holding regular elections. For the first time since independence, Lagos was able to re-elect its own leaders, or turn them out of office. And while national elections became a mud fight between elites to control the state’s enormous oil wealth, local contests forced candidates to show pragmatism and competence. Citizens in densely populated cities find it easier to organize themselves. And in an ethnically and religiously diverse metropolis like Lagos, politicians could not afford to pit ethnic and religious groups against one another, a problem that has long bedeviled Nigeria. Simple geography also helped the city administration. The powerful and wealthy classes are more likely to insist on better governance when their own neighborhoods are affected. And unlike national politicians, local leaders know that the better they perform, the more money their city nets. The better its roads, schools and business environment, the more likely companies will pay taxes, and individuals will buy goods and services, which also contribute to the tax base. At the national level, by contrast, the great majority of the central government’s income has little to do with government’s performance, since about 75 percent of the national budget comes from the $50 billion a year that Nigeria collects in oil revenue. Can Lagos really save Nigeria? Alone, it’s unlikely — one factor is that the country’s population is expected to continue mushrooming to 400 million by mid-century — but Lagos can now be the model for transferring more authority to other cities, such as Ibadan, Kano and Benin City. And they, in turn, could help to shift the polarized national politics that produce the same cadre of unaccountable elites year after year. For example, if local politicians were better able to raise and regulate local taxes, they would find themselves more accountable to the population. And they would presumably establish a more welcoming local environment for business to flourish, and perhaps start a nationwide chain reaction unleashing the country’s famous entrepreneurialism. If income levels rose, education and a rising middle class might follow. Greater affluence and aspiration, in turn, tend to act as a useful brake on population growth. Elsewhere, other cities offer a similar lesson. In Medellín, Colombia, the city government outshone the national government in the late 1990s by setting up a network of publicly funded business support centers, investing strategically in transportation and security, and introducing its own program of cash grants to help the poor. Cities such as Chennai and Hyderabad in India have similarly outperformed India’s national government in promoting growth, educating children and reducing crime and poverty. Can this model hold out hope for other fragile states? Countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Pakistan and Kenya all suffer from weak and dysfunctional governments, but have cities that could be the basis for a similar model of development. Regular local elections could spur significant changes in Kinshasa, Karachi and Nairobi, respectively, if the cities were granted more autonomy and the tax base was broadened to make government more dependent on local citizens and companies. Almost half of the developing world’s population now lives in cities, and rapid urbanization is expected to increase this proportion to two-thirds within a few decades, according to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. The city is now the main driver of growth and stability across Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. And the example of Lagos shows that countries can begin to work better when their cities are well governed and thriving. In other words, cities can help save countries. Source 2 Likes |
Politics / Re: 2014 Budget: Some Animals Are More Equal Than Most Nigerians by IleIfe2(m): 6:02am On Jan 09, 2014 |
Sloan: Fresh hurricane beans! Iji aye. |
Politics / Re: 2014 Budget: Some Animals Are More Equal Than Most Nigerians by IleIfe2(m): 12:28am On Jan 09, 2014 |
9jacrip: This piece is laced with humour yet disappointment and saddening effect reeks through. |
Politics / Re: 2014 Budget: Some Animals Are More Equal Than Most Nigerians by IleIfe2(m): 7:28pm On Jan 08, 2014 |
Fresh tornado, Iji aye. 1 Like |
Politics / Re: Beneficiaries Of Gej's 1.6 Million Jobs Identify Yourselves by IleIfe2(m): 7:22pm On Jan 08, 2014 |
aletheia: educated "genteel" mark the register, which parastatal do you work? How many million does your parastatal pay you? Has GEJ changed your life? give your testimony or shut it. |
Politics / Re: Beneficiaries Of Gej's 1.6 Million Jobs Identify Yourselves by IleIfe2(m): 4:22pm On Jan 08, 2014 |
psalmdave: because oof all these acts that most of u will never be employed........Your mates are ar the office......waste your whole day on Nairaland and blame gej and your family winch,sorry witch for ur poverty which parastatal employed you? |
Politics / Re: Beneficiaries Of Gej's 1.6 Million Jobs Identify Yourselves by IleIfe2(m): 1:18pm On Jan 08, 2014 |
slimghost: Were you also employed and posted to Nairaland? You sef GEJ new year. |
Politics / Re: Do You Know The Meaning Of Nigeria? by IleIfe2(m): 1:12pm On Jan 08, 2014 |
Niger means denigrate in latin |
Politics / 2014 Budget: Some Animals Are More Equal Than Most Nigerians by IleIfe2(m): 12:59pm On Jan 08, 2014 |
2014 Budget: Why Some Animals Are More Equal Than Most Nigerians Japheth Omojuwa It may be a New Year but as far as Nigeria’s 2014 budget goes, it is the same old absurdity. If there is anything that stands the 2014 budget proposal out from those of recent years, it is that our budgets are getting better at getting worse. Many New Year resolutions are likely to have been made by Nigerian public officials, easing the burden of poverty on Nigerians is definitely not one of them. This is not a statement without an empirical background. If the budget is the most important document of a government’s commitment to its people and their well-being, the 2014 budget tells one a lot about where the government’s priorities lie. According to the 2014 budget proposal, the State House will have two animals delivered to it this year for N14.5 million. That’s about N7.25 million for each animal if they come at the same price. At least 80 per cent of Nigerians must understandably be jealous of both animals because 80 per cent of Nigerians don’t have N14.5 million in any form, cash, liquid, in form of animals, properties or whatever. Those animals will come in already richer than most Nigerian citizens. At least one cannot say the government is not committed to animals. All animals may/may not be equal but some animals are definitely more equal than Nigerians. Most Nigerians will never get a chance to look through the windows of Aso Villa, so there will never be a thing about seeing the animals, men and women dine on the same table, let alone see them share a semblance. While you may never have earned N14.5 million your whole life, two animals will be bought for the entertainment of our President and his friends. The job of a president is a tough one and we must understand that. Marie Francoise Marie-Nelly, World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, said that 100 million Nigerians are living in extreme poverty conditions. The Federal Government has understandably faulted that claim. To emphasise the fact that it does not believe such claims, the government rather than look to unburden these Nigerians from the weight of poverty, has instead dedicated more money towards the continued beautification of the seat of power. You cannot say Aso Rock does not need beautifying. How many Nigerians even know what Aso Rock looks like so how will they even know if the President even lives in a poor environment? To ensure that is not ever the case under this administration, N1.5 billion will be used to upgrade the facilities at Aso Rock villa this year. If you don’t know what Aso Rock looks like, you at least know what N1.5 billion sounds like and if that is what will be used to upgrade Aso Rock this year, you must begin to have an understanding of the worth and look of Aso Rock itself. If the cost of upgrading the facilities gets you remembering the fact that your next house rent is due soon enough, I believe knowing that N8 million will be used to upgrade the zoo at the Villa will get you upbeat about the fact that, if these animals can have their zoo upgraded with N8 million this year, maybe you will one day at least find that amount of money to build your own house. You probably don’t have a car yet or your car is as tattered as the cars of most of the people in government before they got government appointments, don’t be sad about that. N25 million has been dedicated to track the cars in the Presidential fleet. Who wants to go and steal cars in Nigeria’s most guarded Villa? There is a new jet on the way, which will bring the Presidency’s fleet to 11 jets. At that number, if the Federal Government decides to float an airline with those aircraft, they’d immediately be the second biggest airline in Nigeria. Who says we can’t rent jets to African Presidents like Malawi’s Joyce Banda who sold the country’s only presidential jet and about 60 cars? You cannot blame President Joyce Banda for caring about her country’s poor citizens. You cannot exactly say our President does not care either. For instance, the 2014 budget dedicates N76.3 million to the purchase of crested cutlery, flatware and glassware. Whoever says we are no longer the giant of Africa has not been reading up on our 2014 budget. I will confess to you right away; it was depressing enough to see some line items in the budget, it is even more depressing to remember them all over again just to write this piece. In case your children are wondering whether they will ever see typewriters again, please let them know the Interior Ministry intends to spend N3million on the purchase of typewriters. You would have to agree computers are too mainstream for these ones but do computers even cost up to N3 million? Na wa o. The Ministry of Information will spend N300 million to wash the government’s image in the foreign media during the year. This particular line certainly makes sense considering how much washing the image of our government constantly needs. Something dirty is always going on and the washing needs to meet the rate of the dirtying. The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adokie, is not left out of the budget bazaar. His ministry will spend N181.3m on uniforms in 2014. You’d have to expect those uniforms to come with gold, diamond and Emerald studs. N1.8 billion was earmarked to connect Bayelsa State to the national grid but alas! Bayelsa was already connected to the national grid almost a decade ago. This N1.8 billion if passed, will not be misappropriated, it will be swallowed altogether. You cannot say all of these absurdities are not in line with the transformation agenda that has since emphasized the government’s commitment to the promotion of impunity and unheralded corruption. Stella Oduah’s Aviation Ministry expects to spend N208 million to plant flowers and trees in the country’s five major airports. This is marginally less than N255 million for two BMW cars so you cannot say things have not improved. They have improved from cars to trees. So then what will Nigerians do? These are just a few of the absurdities in what has to be the country’s worst budget in decades. Recurrent expenditure has increased, capital expenditure has reduced. Virtually every dime allocated to the former will get spent, this administration has never reached 40 per cent performance level for capital expenditure since coming on board. The lawmakers will sit over this budget proposal and you would expect them to do the right thing; remove the weeds from this budget. That’d of course mean reducing the National Assembly’s N150 billion allocation. N469 citizens of the National Assembly get to have a bigger budget than 23 Nigerian states of about 120 million Nigerians. If any political party that means well and wants change has any form of representation in our National Assembly, now will be the time to take a stand for the Nigerian people. If they pass the 2014 budget, as dysfunctional and as anti-ordinary Nigerians as it is, we can safely say, whatever political party we vote for, of the current parties represented in the National Assembly, it will still be the same faecal composition of just another bull. Let’s admit it; we the common people of Nigeria need help! These folk are more equal than us. Japheth J Omojuwa jj@omojuwa.com | @omojuwa http://omojuwa.com/2014/01/the-budget-why-some-animals-are-more-equal-than-some-nigerians-japheth-omojuwa/ |
Politics / Re: Beneficiaries Of Gej's 1.6 Million Jobs Identify Yourselves by IleIfe2(m): 12:47pm On Jan 08, 2014 |
slimghost: only 5 people out of 1.6 million. Na real fresh wind. |
Politics / Re: Check Out Photos Of Ex Abia Governor, Orji Uzor Kalu Living In Opulence! by IleIfe2(m): 8:33pm On Jan 07, 2014 |
Sloan: Omo, you harsh no be small. 1 Like |
Politics / Re: Fashola Hands Over Market In Oshodi. Pics by IleIfe2(m): 7:44pm On Jan 07, 2014 |
Olamagnifico: Oshodi is ibo word No, its Jewish. |
Politics / Re: Breaking News: Stella Odua Caught Editing Qualifications After Forgery Claims by IleIfe2(m): 7:39pm On Jan 07, 2014 |
Sloan: amen adua. |
Politics / Nairaland Design And Feature Update Diary : Awesome Like Button by IleIfe2(m): 7:35pm On Jan 07, 2014 |
Anyone else noticed the updated like button? it does not refresh and take the liked post to the top of your screen anymore. it just updates and lets you move along. Nice. 4 Likes |
Politics / Re: Fashola Hands Over Market In Oshodi. Pics by IleIfe2(m): 7:23pm On Jan 07, 2014 |
Sloan: @Agba, great pictures and exciting information! But unfortunately, you did not tell us who built this market?? Village people of course, can't you see their red berets? Oh, they are still celebrating christmas in their villages |
Politics / Re: Beneficiaries Of Gej's 1.6 Million Jobs Identify Yourselves by IleIfe2(m): 7:17pm On Jan 07, 2014 |
jamace: OP, please go read this thread for the achievements of GEJ: if ordinary nigerians can't feel and testify to GEJ's achievements, then it must be a lie. What time of the quarter/year does the national population commision/CBN release Nigeria's unemployment figure. 1.6 million will definitely make a serious dent on those figures, atleast we should be closer to one figure now, abi? |
Politics / Re: APC Equivalent To Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood(agenda Is To Islamise Nigeria) by IleIfe2(m): 4:40pm On Jan 07, 2014 |
Soloter: Yar Adua, a Moslem in 3 years charted a course for rule of law. GEJ, a "Christian" has pulled down everything that was put in place for rule of law to thrive. Yar Adua came, met the anti corruption structures His predecessor laid on ground, he strengthened them (there is no way you'll compare Waziri's efcc to what Lamorde is doing now), GEJ from his actions to inactions, seems to be encouraging corruption. If this is how Christian rulership is then, I as a Christian prefer that a Moslem rather than a Christian of GEJ's type should rule over me. |
Literature / Re: Chimamanda Adichie's New Hair Style: Like Or Dislike? by IleIfe2(m): 1:30pm On Jan 07, 2014 |
Now, if a woman like this talks about self worth etc. i'll encourage my daughter or sister to listen to her, but all those weave and contact-lens wearing women? no buenos 1 Like |
Politics / Re: Jonathan Will Be The Catalyst Of Change In Nigeria by IleIfe2(m): 12:23pm On Jan 07, 2014 |
Afam4eva: And we can't find any sensible smart person in his inner circle? That's a shame. Being a President is not a one show like the world is made to believe, the real Presidents are always behind the curtain making policies and shaping the personalities the public see. So, Jonathan can't find one disciplined, smart, South-south person, when some of them are graduating with first class all over the world even in Malaysia here. Even all the Yoruba, igbo,hausa, berom, tiv etc around him are dull. SMH |
Politics / Re: Beneficiaries Of Gej's 1.6 Million Jobs Identify Yourselves by IleIfe2(m): 12:08pm On Jan 07, 2014 |
shot ur trap: I am one of them. Just my parastatal alone has employed over 700 young men and women since the last 12months. And they pay us all above N120,000 monthly. I am not a GEJ advocate or attack dog oo wow, awesome. where do you work? which parastatal? From your observation since you started, do you think your parastatal is sustainable and productive in the long run or its just adding to government expenditure and a disaster waiting to happen in a few years. |
Politics / You’re Incompetent: APC To Federal Government by IleIfe2(m): 11:12am On Jan 07, 2014 |
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has described as “a cruel irony” the accusation of inconsistency and double standards levelled against its leaders by the presidency, saying an incompetent and flip flopping administration has no moral authority to point an accusing finger at anyone, least of all the patriotic and respectable APC leadership. ‘’The Presidency is behaving like a punch-drunk boxer who, clearly dazed by a barrage of right-on-target punches from the opponent, ran to the ropes and started punching the air, when he should be thinking of a comeback strategy,’’ the party said in a statement in Lagos yesterday by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed. ‘’This presidency is definitely dazed from its own failings, the collapse of the party that sired it and the opprobrium being poured on it daily by Nigerians who are grossly disappointed at its woeful performance and clear lack of direction. We are therefore not surprised that in addition to incompetence and cluelessness, it has now resorted to twisting facts,’’ it said. APC challenged the Presidency to tell Nigerians when the party called on President Jonathan to respond to former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s scorching letter, as claimed by the Presidency on Monday. ‘’What we said, in our press release dated December 13, 2013 and titled: ‘APC to Jonathan: Don’t take Nigeria back to Abacha days’, was that President Jonathan should address the allegations that he has put 1,000 Nigerians on a ‘political watch-list’, in addition to training snipers at the same facility where Abacha’s killer squad was trained. ‘’Even then, our grouse about the President’s letter is not that he should not have responded, but that he should have exhibited a high level of decorum in his response, bearing in mind that the Presidency is an institution that should not be dragged into the mud, while the President is only a tenant. ‘’In order to show clearly that the Presidency either did not understand our subsequent press statement on the lettergate or has decided to distort our stand, we hereby reproduce the relevant part of the second statement we issued on December 26, 2013, on the basis of which the Presidency has misfired: ‘The party said while it is not interested in joining the fray over the issues contained in the letters written by both men, the decision by the President to go personal in his reaction crossed the threshold of decency and brought the Presidency – and indeed the country – into disrepute. ‘’’It said in other climes, the President would have simply issued a terse response to such a letter denying the allegations that border on national security, if any; as well as saying the former President’s observations have been noted, and that the government would study them and then engage with the former President in private, while assuring that the ship of state is on course’.’’ On the accusation of inconsistency and double standards leveled against its leaders, the APC said the Presidency was simply shooting the breeze. ‘’The problem with this Presidency is that it still cannot get over the fact that our leaders, including Chief Bisi Akande, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, have decided to put their differences aside and make personal sacrifices to rescue Nigeria from the PDP death grip. The Presidency cannot understand why the permutations of its fake political consultants, that personality clashes between Buhari and Asiwaju will not let the APC see the light of day, have failed. ‘’Also, they have been gripped with mortal fear that the leadership of the APC has reached out to all Nigerians, irrespective of their political leanings. They cannot understand that those who are genuinely committed to rebuilding a nation that has been made so fractious by a bungling ruling party must be flexible and accommodating, while holding on tight to their principles,’’ the party said. It urged the Jonathan presidency to expend its energy on telling Nigerians why it should not be voted out in 2015 for running the most incompetent administration yet in our country’s history. It should explain to Nigerians why billions of naira have been squirreled away under its watch. It should tell Nigerians why they spent their Christmas and New Year holidays in darkness; why most of our qualified youth are unemployed, and why the government’s contrived economic growth has yet to result in economic development (that’s hoping they know the difference). ‘’These are the issues that should bother this clueless presidency, not whether the APC asked President Jonathan to respond to a letter or not. We are for issue-based engagements, not frivolity-based exchanges,’’ APC said. |
Politics / Re: Beneficiaries Of Gej's 1.6 Million Jobs Identify Yourselves by IleIfe2(m): 7:38am On Jan 07, 2014 |
aryzgreat: I am of of d 522 newly recruited TCN engrs to man d transmission aspect of d power sector. We r undergoing training nation wide now. D figure GEJ quoted is way low considering other sectors dat recruited and also sure - P ok, one witness. next? anyone that does not see the world through your peek-hole is apc, nitwit. 5 Likes |
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