naijaking1:
The CBC should simply impress their man at the White house to stop listening only to northern and APC operatives in Nigeria who are only after getting into Aso Rock by any means necessary; including decieving the World and the US that the Nigerian army commits human right abuses fight Boko Haram.
The US government have been used by Boko Haram, and they---Obama folks don't even know it.
BTW, nobody is complaining about US committing abuses by bombing ISIS, but they have the dirty gut to question our army techniques while Boko Haram murder 1000s of innocent Nigerians.
Help, somebody has been misled somewhere in Washington!

The difference between the atrocities committed by Nigerian Army and US army is that US army get called out and someone get punished but Nigerian army personnel go free.

War is already a bad business, most people that die in the war are mostly the defenseless.
When Nigeria army goes to a vilage and pick up all the young men and put them in prison and torture then because they are fighting Boko Haram, that should be frown at. Tomorrow it can be you or you relatives in your village.
Remember the 60s in the east, tomorrow it can be a Yoruba land...The army should be professional.

Yes, they are fighting in the tough terrain, they are fight some unseen enemy but not everybody is gulity until proven innoncent

eunisam:
what and who are Congressional Black Caucus? is it another islamic sect?

The black members of US congress - Senators and house of Rep members. There are about 46 members of them.

http://cbc-butterfield.house.gov/press-releases/cbc-chair-g-k-butterfield-condemns-terrorism-in-france-and-nigeria/

CBC Chair G. K. Butterfield Condemns Terrorism in France and Nigeria
01/12/15
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, Congressman G. K. Butterfield, Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, issued the following statement strongly condemning acts of terrorism in France and Nigeria:

“For the second time in a week, the global community has been rocked to learn of another heinous act of terrorism. The Congressional Black Caucus joins the millions of people around the world in both shock and mourning for the brutal murders that took place in France, and now the massacre of up to 2,000 innocent people by Boko Haram in Nigeria.

“Although the details of this tragedy are still unfolding, what we know with certainty is that Boko Haram will not end its crusade of destruction unless it is met with force. The government of Nigeria must act to protect its citizens from this ultra-extreme and violent group.

“Terrorism must cease once and for all. The CBC calls on the global community to unite to take real action against all acts of terrorism, including the barbaric group known as Boko Haram.”


www.TheCongressionalBlackCaucus.com

Billyonaire:
Colouring of fonts doesnt inject sense into nonsense. The mere fact that you totally believe that the PENALTY for CROSSING THE BRT LANE is DEATH, speaks loudly of your IQ as a Party supporter, a Party and as a human being. If a Soldier crosses the BRT lane, the law says Arrest and Prosecute, but I know my APC Governor must have informed the mercenary driving the buses to KILL EVERY SOLDIER on BRT LANE.

APC hates Nigerian Soldiers, cos you want to kill them all so terror can succeed.

Chew that and think.

Well, if APC hates the soldiers and send their mercenaries to kill the soldiers, does that give the soldiers the right to destroy public property and keep harassing the civilians?

Burning 4 buses and harassing and beating up civilian is supposed to do what? This is supposed to be a rational and trained armed forces? All the soldiers that did this should be rounded up and send to a long jail terms.

Billyonaire:
My brother, you need to change your loyalty. APC hates Nigerian Army, they blame the soldiers who toil night and day in the forest. Now you have proven that the hate transcends the battlefield. I will not be surprise if told that APC governor has instructed Bus drivers to kill soldiers on the road. Now, you do not value the life of this soldier that worked for many years to get to the rank and was just killed by an illiterate mercenary sorry driver.

Take it easy, not even 1million buses equals the life of a human being. Show respect to the dead.

This is one of the dumbest rationalization of violence that I had ever read. I pray to God that you are not in the uniform service of that country Nigeria because this is sad.

Trying to run this through my head:

1 A soldier was killed by BRT bus
2. Trained soldier - Emphasis on "Trained" - went on rampage like bunch of Thugs and started attacking Government property with impunity.
3. Billyonaire came online and defended that as "emotional" response to being not liked by APC or its agent.

Are you $hitting me?
This is the armed forces of the country. Trained men. The so called disciplined men and behaving like bunch of touts for hours. Oppressing their fellow citizens because they are armed. These are not gangs or the so called indisciplined civilians.

Military in Nigeria is an all volunteer force. YOU CHOSE To join the military. YOU chose to put your life on the line if needs be. As much as that is commendable, it does not make you to live above the law.
So if my colleague is killed, I have every right to destroy everything in sight and I will not be arrested? What an asinine comment!

I have friends and colleagues here in the reserves and active servicemen (some of them are Nigerian born) and they could only shake their head when they read the story. In a good setting, the soldiers should all be arrested and docked and court Marshaled.
They should make to pay for all what was destroyed.
The loss of life is regrettable.

By law she cannot take the money. She is a student athlete and under NCAA rule she is not allowed to take the money. I dont understand why the parents will say the untruth about her being too young to take such money.

The truth is that you will jettison your eligibility rule with the NCAA if you take any money - Bonuses or no bonuses. You cant even take the money to donate to anyone. She is an OK State University student and if she still wants to play for OK State she has to reject the money.

9jawear: Where has EBOL been all this while that SUDDENLY it appears some unsurmountable catastrophy? There is always a ploy to make Africa look HELPLESS and DESTITUTE for some reasons best known to them. AND THEY ALWAYS WIN!

Talk of MALARIA! At what point did we AFRICANS become helpless victims of MALARIA in Africa that EURO-AMERICA now have to be where we must get MALARIA DRUGS from? Damn! We were living and thriving BARE-CHESTED when the first European Ship arrived on the shores of DINA (Elmina) 1471 and we have historical account of what happened to Europeans who came. For over a century they were coming and dying like sick chickens. The so-called MISSIONARIES were dying like diseased chicken on arrival from MALARIA, some as early are as two weeks! Later all they had to do was to humble their ego and allow 'NATIVE DOCTORS' to treat them with HERBS!

WE NEVER DIED FROM MALARIA!!

So, so..when did we lose our intelligence as AFRICANS and got hooked on to the CHLOROQUINE and now ATER..what-what? Aren't people now dying from these drugs?

WHY HAVEN'T I TAKEN ANY OF THESE DRUGS at age 31 (all my lfe)? I still take the herbs I saw my grandmother use and the wisdom is DON'T WAIT TO GET MALARIA before taking it.

So, there so must Media Hype and exaggeration over this ANTWERP-MADE Laboratory Virus clled EBOLA in Africa. Can someone SHUT off that and allow us some senerity of MIND to think out our solutions? No, they won't because it's all part of the MARKET CREATION PROCESS!!

It's like when you have Maths question before you to think through and ONE IS DRUMMING AND SINGING in the class!!!

IT IS NOT THE EBOLA THAT IS KILLIN PEOPLE, IT IS THE MEDIA SPIN AND NOISE THAT'S FRUSTRATING US FROM PICKING THE SOLUTION!

In ancient times, the HERBALIST took a lonely walk in the dead silence of the dawn on his search for cure. The mind requires silence in its search for solution!

ALLOW AFRICA TO THINK ON ITS OWN!!f it's food THEY CLAIM we need, they will FORCE GMO on us. If it's Security they claim we need, they'll force War and Military bases on us. If it's cure they claim we need, they'll force drugs on us!

It's no genuine desire to SOLVE AFRICA'S PROBLEM! It's a greedy QUEST to 'commodify' and commercialise our challenges FOR PROFIT!


AFRICANS AND NIGERIANS SHOULD WAKE UP

This is another ignorance being spewed here.

A lot of Africans died of Malaria before the europeans came. Over the years we adapted to the diseases but didnt mean it didnt kill lotta africans.

ASk your grandparents how many kids their fathers or mothers had? Most like a dozen and probably only 2-3 survived. Ask yourself why do we have sickle cell, what is the origin of it? Why is it only Africans or people of African descendant that have it?
That you had never been sick of malaria could have meant that had adapted to it. Most AS do not get sick of malaria. I was an AA and when I was in naija, I had to take my medication every 2-3 months.
This is the same suspicion that keep killing us.

Ebola – Before this site turns into a conspiracy hotbed.

It looks like a lot of contributors here have decided to turn ebola or any commutable diseases that any western countries get involved with into conspiracy theory. As much as this lace allows for free speech, I think we should be careful not to keep passing across our ignorance in guise of sarcasm or outright outlandish claims.
This is sad because it is the same situation that is happening in Northern Nigeria where Polio – already eradicated worldwide - is making a come back. That doesn’t mean some of the pharmaceutical industries don’t do some bad things but it make sense to go with the rational first before spewing the conspiracy theory at every turn.
I read in some of the posted thread why the serum that was used in treating the American health workers were “secret”. And of course the conspiracy theory started festering from there. What the poster didn’t understand is the way drugs are being developed in the west- mostly in the United States.
Ebola was first discovered in 1976. That is 38 years ago. No African companies tried to develop anything to contain the disease. The disease has been making a stronger comeback in a couple of years and you bet with Globalization, it is a matter of time before it gets to the west. That makes it a prime disease for some pharmaceutical to bet on. It is “secret” because you don’t want your competitors to know about it until you are ready to unveil it. It is the nature of the beast in a competitive drug market. To even use it on human am sure the FDA had to approve of it and of course the patients signed waivers. The drug has to go through an extensive FDA approval before it can hit the market. Until the drug is patented, it is opened for someone to steal it. So the company has to protect their intellectual property.
That it has been used now on human put them out there and actually helped them in their research.

Could Ebola have been a man-made virus? Possibly! I bet we could have said small pox or chicken pox, bubonic plague and those other diseases that had wiped out some of the humanity were human made, if they had happened now. My take about some of these diseases is that they mutated over a period.
There has been a lot of disease that killed people in Africa that we don’t talk about. We are so superstitious that when someone dies we don’t even let people know what killed them. It took Olikoye Ransome-Kuti to announce that Fela died of AIDS in 98 for some people to wanting to believe AIDS is real. Some people even lampooned him for saying such “disgraceful” thing about Fela.
My point here is, people have been eating animals for ages, that you don’t know they contacted a disease from that animals they eat doesn’t mean they never did. Because if they die of the disease, we have perfect reasons why they die – Like some witch did it or his enemy caused it etc – that we have refused to look at the medical angle.

Olucheye: Sometimes I'm just here wondering if all this new found incurable diseases found in Africa aren't just ploys to reduce the overthrowing population of Africa just like I have read in some 'Conspiracy Theorists books"

Ebola hits US citizens, and a 'Secret vial" was brought forth from SUB-Zero temperatures to save them. When have they had that vial and how long have they been experimenting with it in their labs??

Have you asked what goes on in those secret Labs of The US
How much diseases are cultured in the name of experiment??
Then vials brought out just to save them??

Is anyone reasoning alongside me??


Malaria I watched on some TED show has been wiped out in most continents of the world save Africa.. Yet in a bid to keep the mega pharmaceutical coys alive, Africa stays impoverished and dying every blessed day from bites.

Has anyone sat down to calculate the amount of subsidized meds we keep getting in form of health grants in Africa??
Fam, there's so much conspiracy theory behind all this new found diseases breaking out from Africa. I refuse to believe it's all natural.

Another conspiracy theory!
You just need to understand how research on diseases are done. I hope the problem is not the Nigerian educational system that is messing people here up.
Ebola has been ravaging humanity since 1976. That is 38 years ago. In recent years, it is getting stronger. You bet that smaller pharmaceuticals are making a bet on that. Any communicable diseases are a bet for pharmaceutical industry to study and make money. That is how capitalism work.
There are thousands of trials and experimental drugs today on different diseases that you had never heard about. These are top secret because you have to protect your intellectual property and until you get a patent on it, someone will steal it. That is the nature of the beast.

I think people should come from the rational first before they go into the dark side of conspiracy. Actually, the conspiracy theories being spew here show much of ignorance than a quest for knowledge.

realbee: Hmm interesting... do they have the cure? Or do they have any ebola treatment centre already set up in U.S? I feel Ebola might be a western lab experiment gone wrong, its another opportunity for them to come out and provide medicine as 'aids' or 'grants' to Africa in return for our resources like they always do. HIV is no longer doing the magic, Ebola has to come. I wonder if Africans have not been eating bush meat for generations without any major incident, I just wonder.....

Before your conspiracy theory goes into an overdrive, emory has an isolated, high tech facility that is used for cure and study of infectious diseases. This had been used for other infectious diseases in the past like SARS, H1NI for years. Based on how Ebola is transmitted, it is less infectious than the common flu. Emory study those year by year.

Like every viral or bacterial disease out there, they adapt and mutate. MIRS or the so called superbug is getting to be the most dangerous bacteria out there. The common anti-biotics dont do jack ish with them any longer. MIRS is now getting people hospitalized now than before. It used to be an outpatient situation.

Yes Ebola of 1976 when it was discovered is not the ebola that is today because these organism mutates.

Google can help you do some research on these. I am not in health care but I know a lil bit enough and curious enough to look for information. Please do before you start spewing these incorrect situation

I didnt know say dem marriage expired before! Which kain madness be this sef?

Dont see any reason why churches cannot render account. It is the height of transparency. It is human that collects the money not God abi Pastors or Imam are not answerable to anyone again? Like someone said, some of the money might need to be taxed. I work with a non-profit organization that make more money than most for-Profit organization and there are things that my organization cannot do or else it will be heavily taxed. I don't think taxing non-profit is bad if they have excess cash, they are not investing wisely? Of course these churches have money in the bank that is yielding interest - That should be taxable. They pay their pastors and workers, the salary should be taxable too.

I file my taxes every year and I can deduct my contribution to my church out of my taxes. The IRS have all the information. They are not taxing the churches but you know well that they can audit the account of the churches to make sure that they are spending the money under the charter they are created. Not sure if you can justify a church having a Jet in the United States without paying no taxes.

Sunnykaka: which one of this bus is the best....?

Which one is conducive.......?

Which is of the bus is hard to board.....?

Which is more faster...?


Need quick answer from nairalander.....

Which one of two things is the "best"? Do they teach people in naija comparative adverbs and adjectives these days ?

Yes, going to college/university is not a guarantee for anything. It means you are qualified to do something. It doesnt mean you cannot do anything less than what you are qualified to do.
There is dignity in labor. will you prefer to not work or work as a driver until you get something better?
I think people should get off their high horses that being a graduate confer some sort of status on them. It does not! Getting a degree anywhere only HELPS to make sure you get a better job, it doesn't not mean you will get it. If you understand that mindset, you wont have any problem working any job as long as it is not a criminal enterprise. There is dignity in labor.

By the way, I once worked as Customer service rep getting my Graduate degree.

By the way, a lot of jobs in Nigerian banks are done by high school graduate here. I dont see anybody complaining. Wearing suit to work in 90 degrees heat doesnt make anyone better than a driver.
I dont see any difference between a customer service rep/teller in naija and a Dangote graduate driver.

haibe: @md-dude, dont let us drift out of the topic, we are on trousers, you can open another thread for scotish kilt discussion.

Deut. 22:5 applies to us today. Even though we are not under
the Mosaic Law anymore, something that is an abomination to
God is always an abomination. (This is based off of Rev. 21:27,
which says that "no one who practices abomination" (KJV) will
enter into the New Jerusalem.)

Since pants are men’s apparel,
it is an abomination for a woman to wear pants. Simple.

Dude or Dudette, whichever applies to you, Trouser is a type of clothing that can be made differently for men and women. So using the same Mosaic law, why are we not stoning adulterer or killing someone for working on Sabbath

For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day shall be your holy day, a Sabbath of rest to the LORD. Whoever does any work on it must be put to death.Exodus 35:2

So based on your interpretation, Trouser is an abomination for women, same way T-Shirt is right? Do you know at one point in time, only men wear loin cloth or what you call underwear now? Must have been an abomination for women to be wearing undergarment and following in the men's path, despite the fact that the undergarment they wear is different just like the trouser a man wears is different from woman's.

There are MEN trousers and women trousers or pants. There are women clothes and women clothes. How come women can wear T-Shirt and men can wear T-shirt?
Are you talking culturally or are you talking biblical?

So if I decide to wear scottish Kilt does that makes me a sinner?
If you look at the way they dress in the Arabia, the men wear gown, so they must be wearing women clothings.
What is the difference fundamentally from the "gown" that man and the women wore? definitely the cut, not the general appearance.

I have lived in North America for over a decade now and I have seen the good and the bad women pants. Yes. too tightly fitted pants dont do anybody any good but there is nothing biblically wrong with wearing pants. Yes, our culture frown at it and we should be sensitive to it, but dont make it look like it si bivlocal. Jeez people! the same argument when I was in the college in the 90s is still rearing its head here.

Flogging should be sparingly used if used at all. There are ways to treat a child than flogging them. It depends on how you raise a child. A Child raised in a violent environment will not understand anything than beating and flogging. I have seen kids that had never been flogged that behaved better than kids that had been flogged and vice versa. It depends on how the child is raised.

My problem with flogging is that people resort to it as the first course of dealing with a child. One of my friends that came visiting here told me proudly how he beats his child everyday. He was surprised that I dont have to beat my children and they behave very well. I told him theer are ways I "deal" with them without having to flog them.

I get flogged growing up. To the best of my knowledge half of the flogging I got were not justified. Mind you, my parents are not cruel. Looking at things now, I wish they had talked to me. I was pretty any obedient child but my dad believed a child needed to be flogged to be disciplined. Discipline ecncompasses so many things and flogging may or not may not a part of it.

I set boundaries for my kids. My daughter knows all what will be taken away from her if she crosses those boundaries from day one. My son hardly even try to cross those boundaries. I realized most adults flog their kids out of anger not really out of discipline. If they take time to think, they will see they could have handled the situation differently. I guess it works for some people and may not work for the others but discipline encompasses so much than flogging a daylight out of a child.

I was there after the Opaka episode in 91.
I remember Big Sam - Ebun Adegboruwa.
Tony Fash - the SUG president that got expelled for his stupidness.
Yeah I remember Obesere too. This was a quiet guy before he joined the Union and became the Welfare office and got himself expelled.
That Ibo boy that got beaten to pulp
I left the year before Vakama got sworn it.

I remember going to Ooni's palace in 94 to protest June 12 and how some guys kidnapped some policemen as exchange for Ife student that were captured at Aluta
I remember when Shina Peters came to Ife and the girl that disgraced herself on stage ebcause of some money - I think that was 92
Geology wasnt that bad when I was there - well people spent more than 4 years but I only heard about the fact that there wasnt any graduate of a class in a year. I knew someone thats pent 10 years in Geology though. They have graduates every year but just not the people of the class that was supposed to graduate originally. A lot of people that graduated were of different set.

I remember when the building at Moz got burnt down.
Of course I remember Angel, Osas, Kuku, Adegboyega, Omogui, Igbo-Buraimoh.
I remember when the Leventis at the quarters used be there, hmmm those days

FXKing2012:

If you believe in tithing then you must also believe in animal sacrifice to God; u can not pick tithing and leave out animal sacrifice cos they were both practised in the old testament.

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new (2Cor. 5:17). This means we do not live by the old ways of doing things, we are new creatures!!!
Pls get this into your thick skull.

I think you hit the nail on the head here. I dont get it. People selectively choose what laws to follow in the old testament and not follow the other. Jesus revalidated the 10 commandments directly and simplified it. The rest of the law, he refocused it. Things like fornication or adultery which was defined as having a carnal knowledge were redefined.
The question is how was TITHE actually instituted?Tithe as instituted was never MONEY! although money had been in existence during those times

Someone wrote this in another forum I contribute to and I do agree:

I read the govt said it would save $7 billion a year by removing the subsidies. Why couldn't they just borrow like $21 billion from China, implement the infrastructural improvements like power, over a 3 year period, then remove the subsidies and repay China with the savings accumulated?

The problem is not that I dont agree that the subsidy has to be removed - at least from a fundamental point of view, the problem is that you dont expect the subsidy to be removed and the sector deregulated abruptly the way it has been done. It is a textbook scenario without taking into consideration what is on the ground.
From a Microeconomic standpoint, what do you want the small businesses to do now that his business overhead just went up? A barber that now has to put into consideration the new cost of PMS to fuel his generator or an Hair dresser that has to do the same? How are you so sure that the savings will be spent on anything substantial? What happened to the all the money from PTF? What happened to the extra money in crude oil account? This money will go into normal budgetting and shared among the states and will be used for overhead again. There is no constitutional provision for such "savings" to be used for infrastructure in any way. Sorry to digress.
What I am pointing out to you is that, other than the jobs that will be created in that area, few investment, there is no short term or medium term benefits to the masses. For example, subsidy savings is not even given a special consideration in this year's budget, it just got factored into the normal budget. So where is the direct benefit to the masses?

all4naija:

What would be the effects of letting this subsidy remain? There the consequences would be conditions worse off. The inflation is what the people have to bear at the moment. It is same condition many developed countries citizens are going through in the world just to savage their economy. I agree the burden is on the masses but it is a sacrifice they have to embrace for a while before things return to stability.

It might seem like benefit because the common man on the street can afford fuel at cheap price to the detriment of the economy and to the high benefit of the few importers. There is nothing beneficial in that to the masses when their money is being put in the pocket of the few rich.Come on! I am a young Nigerian and I don't want the country to continue in this vicious circle of poverty. I do agree the govt. need to structure things better to reduce poverty. Don't you think this is one of them? The govt. cannot sustain it any longer so, it has to go. I also agree that there is a loophole if not properly done yet that loophole doesn't have much effect so much different from what the populace have been experiencing for years. So let turn the page to save the economy first. The micro-economy in Nigeria might be large but it is not advanced enough to bear the full weight of the consequences you stated above. The larger population are still living in the rural areas and they depend on subsistence farming for survival. Those in the urban areas who have to face the tougher brunts of the 2% inflation, they would have to understand that it is for the good of the economy. In a nutshell, there hasn't be a major benefit for the masses(silent inflation has ever been in Nigeria) other than that few are stealing the money. Should we called that benefit? No! Not because you buy something at low rate and few corrupt others are largely gaining due to your low rate benefit is a benefit at all - it more like cheat!

I hope we do this right and we can achieve something about the economy through foreign investors investing in building refineries, reducing dependent on oil, creation of jobs,etc. Perhaps we can move this country forward a bit. That is the dynamism of this idea - at least to my general understanding of this plan.

To conclude it all, we have corruption to fight yet it is an endless fight. Not only it is expedient but necessary for things to fall in place for the good of our dear country.

This is a case of MacroEconomics benefits putting straitjacket on Microeconomics.
From purely a macroeconomic mindset, it make sense to deregulate the oil sector to reduce waste, create job and encourage investment. From Microeconomic perspective, it has a huge implication - Inflation, poverty and of course social unrest and disasatisfaction. Now how do you balance the two? The truth is there is a trust deficit in Nigerian government by the people of the country. Even if the intention to do this is best. The same reason had been given over the years for the subsidy removal and the populace had been worse off. So what has changed?
Subsidy is unsustainable on a long term so also the cost of running the government. Could the cost of running the government be cut while government finds a way of to create a social net to deal with the effect of the subsidy?
I used agriculture as an example of subsidy in the United states. Corn is not the only crop that s subsidized. It is the most heavily subsidized. Other crops like rice, products such as diary etc are subsidized by the government. Even home owners mortgages in United States are "subsidized". If it was left to market forces as seen in commercial mortgages or mortgages over 650K most people in america will be able to afford their homes because of the interest rate.
I think it is irresponsible for the government to remove the subsidy and not create a social net and all they can say is the money will be used to build infrastructures. What happens in between the time the subsidy is removed and the time the infrastructure is complete? This is basically removing the subsidy on the back of the poor and the most vulnerable.
I dont agree that the subsidy doesnt benefit the masses. To an extent, it keeps the cost of living lower than it would have been without the subsidy. Maybe the Nigerian government should structure things better to reduce the impact of the cabals.

all4naija:

You are right in most of the cases you highlighted. The infrastructural development is just kicking off and many states are witnesses to that. Leaving that aside to address the problem at hand,the subsidy removal, we can see that this infrastructure is not forth getting any progress if this subsidy is not removed because most of the economic activities as well as social ones depend on it. We have relied on this oil for to long, now this is the palpable effect from all these years of over dependent on it for sustainability.

Yes, I agree US set their priority right. Agriculture represent about1.1% of the economy so there is a difference in that view when Agricultural subsidy is remove it will only have little effect. Notably, the corn/feed are the Agricultural products which are highly subsidized. In the case of Nigeria it is the oil which is 95% foreign revenue. It is like those money will go back to those who we sold the oil to. What should we do as the economy is expanding? Then I think that's when this idea of removing the subsidy that doesn't benefit the masses as such but only the few rich comes into place.

Why do you think they will not use the money realized from subsidy for development ? It is because of the corrupt nature of the leaders. What difference doesn't it make to leave the subsidy to the exponentially benefit of the few than remove it for the economy to strive better?For foreign investors to come and build refineries. Even at the cost of the govt. embezzling the money we still have refineries constructed. We need to fight for what will move this country forward and not let sentiments be the order of the day.

Your argument is a typical textbook case without taking into consideration a lot of factors. Every economic theory (well any theories whatever) has its limit to its validity. You are right in every way that the economy cannot sustain the subsidy. In long term, I do agree with you. What the subsidy has done is creating some form of deficit spending. Actually, deregulating the sector will help with some investment and create jobs.

Looking at our economy, unique condition (i.e the naija factor), lack of infrastructures, health care, poverty etc, the short term effect on the economy can actually put us in recession. Our economy directly runs on oil. There is no short way around it. We don't have alternatives to Oil. Knowing that, this should have been done in phases to help with the issue of poverty and the shock to the economy. Inflation will double overnight because everything is directly tied to the price of gas.

If this were planned well. Government can actually start the infrastructure development on deficit and put things in place to show they are serious about dealing with the effect of the removal. Short term deficit is not a problem as long as it is targetted and planned for. What will happen now is govt will not spend the money on infrastructures or any of the good stuff they talked about but spend it on some frivolous things or just embezzles it.  Economic activities will be curtailed because people now spend money on gas than on other things. I remember here in 2007/8 when gas went to about $4.5 per gallon and people took to taking trains and driving less. That started the US economic issue before Layman brothers pushed it into brink. People don't have that options in naija. It is either you take the bus or drive.

By the way, subsidy is not a bad thing. The US agricultural sector is heavily subsidized, just wait till Govt removes subsidy and Americans will scream and vote the government out.

all4naija:

@jp philips
Why did you have to insult my parents? Why not ignore my comments if they are annoying to you? Your ignorance and uncivilized behavior is appalling.If you cannot argue here rather than resorting to insult only shows how foolish you are. So, steer clear of my comments and I am entitled to them.

Well, they can leave the subsidy if you guys thought it is the right way to go and allow the economy to default. People are talking about Cameroon, Chad, Togo,etc because they don't have oil make them different, we also forget the impact of Nigerian large population in this case. 16 billion dollars was expended for importation and subsidy for the 11 months of last year alone - 8 billion dollars spent on importation of refine products and 8 billion dollars spent on subsidy, that is according to the CBN.



@ all who disagree with the subsidy removal. I think you are not looking at the future of the economy. Anything that would be of no immediate benefit is seen as bad for the masses. But, this I think will help the country in the future( which would have looked worse off if this subsidy is unchecked). If the masses wanted to remain in such situation of things into the future why other countries progressed then it's Okay to leave the subsidy and let the few rich criminals benefit.


Let's leave sentiment aside. There is going to be about 2% increase in inflation during this period while this problem of subsidy last yet the benefit at the end would be enormous. It is on the interest of the masses to monitor this. We are not living in the past. I might not be a good economist but this subsidy is not benefiting the masses. If kept as it used to be the few rich will get richer as the middle class increases, while companies increase use of generators,etc. While it is necessary for the private sectors to get involve with the construction of refineries, this removal is the only incentive that would get them doing that at the moment. It is like an affirmative action taken to signal the private sector for individuals who are willing to participate in the building of refineries to be convinced to do so. Trust me, as long as we are still alive this idea will benefit the masses in a few years to come.

The consequences of the removal is adjustment and inflation of about 2% or more. Should we allow these or wait for a default were the worse measures would be put in place(worse than the Greek's)? Indeed, I am on the move to save the economy and removing fuel subsidy is just one of them.

The govt. has to engage the people in other areas of productions through diversify of the economy. The country depends on oil to much. Let's not squander what we have to the tone of plight of the masses and the corrupt few and leaders. I quite agree with all that corruption is a problem and this subsidy is nothing far from it. I see people saying the subsidy is a scam yet billions of dollars are spent every year to forestall that. If it is scam when the nation can not refine and the importers and marketers are benefiting to the means of selling the products to the masses at cheap price is a prove there is a subsidy - the price is the determinant here. We compare ours to Saudi and forget that Saudi population is equivalent to that of Lagos,Oyo and Kano combined together yet that country has one of the largest reverses in the world(among the first 3). Stop comparing Saudi with us - it has many avenue of making money, like tourism(pilgrimage alone can sustain that country),manufactured good,etc while our country only depends on oil for 95% foreign revenue and 80% national income and in country of 70% living below poverty line - means the masses will live in perpetual poverty if subsidy keep taking the large chunk of income or budget. Now, we can see the clear picture to understand that Nigeria cannot continue with the subsidy which is benefiting the few. Who in it rightful mind would want chaos and anarchy to be order of the day in his administration? Come on! Many talk here as if this removal is the end of the world. Yes, it will hurt but seems the best way out. Believe me for a minute there is no foreign investors that is in that sector without the removal or subsidy  properly checked that would like to invest in the building of refineries. The govt. cannot construct all the refineries this nation need to operate( you guys overrated this country in that area). We need the foreign investment to develop and grow this country. We are not seeing the bigger picture. We always think we can isolate our country from foreigners when we depend on them for almost everything. Let's start to think in the right direction to move this country forward. While some are busy causing harm to others,disguised in the name of religion, some are busy complaining to stop what would help the country in the future. I agree it is a societal thing but we can disagree to agree.

On the final note, bear in mind that this country is full of shiits and to do away with them there have to be implementation processes seemed encouraging for foreign investors - this is one of them. No matter the cry and the sentiments we my want to apply here the truth is not far-fetched that subsidy must go. What we should be doing is to ask for reports on how this money is being realized. The follow up is what is required most of us now.

That is my little contribution. Please, don't pass any insult on me and my family based on my opinions because I am entitled to them.

Thank you.

How could a university law program be the best in africa when the law program is not uniform across countries in Africa? I understand if you are talking about Engineering and sciences. What do you compare? It doesnt make any sense

Toks2008:

The truth is that ACN as a party has tried by providing free education up to secondary level but nevertheless, i see the new school fee as outrageous.

This is the same school i paid N90 per session and i quite understand things have changed hence the need for the increment but i see the new fee too high for comfort.

I recommend a slash to 100k which shuld be ok. Education is not that cheap though and we must understabnd that many Nigerian parents will prefer to send their children abroad to pay thousands of dollars in tuition fee and will be quick to rubbish our educational standard here in Nigeria.

Many Nigerian parents? I wonder what that population is like. Not everybody lives in Lagos and not everybody can afford things like that. What is the average income of most families in Nigeria or even in lagos? It is a sad situation and it is not these students or parents even have access to interest free or low interest loan

bashy_demy:

Even in US and western world Education is not free and are expensive

But there is something called PERL grant for students from poor homes, financial aids and student loans to deal with that effect. For students in grad school, you have graduate assistanship programs that basically makes your education free whie you get paid stipends.

With the way things are going in Nigeria, if you are not rich you dont get any decent education

Ondo state - 14 years
Oyo state - 1 year
Enugu - 1 Month
Osun - 6 years (College)
Lagos - 4 years

In a civil society, the police is the ultimate authority. A soldier can be easily arrested when outside the barrack. Maybe we should introduce what entails in the US, short/contract service and reserve service so the whole military fraternity stuff can be easily broken. More than half of the police in US had one time being in the military or still in the military reserve so it is not much of a big deal being in the military.

Proud? A lot of the issues are not a matter of being proud. If you want a wife, go get one and if you need a slave, go get one too but you don't expect to have both in the same person. Submission is not surrender.
What is being proud? What is the religious injunction about marriage?
I know a lot of naija men here that expect their wife to toil and expect them not to have any say in the house because they are the men? That doesnt make sense to me. If you don't want your wife to be "proud" and have a say in the say in the house ask her to sit her asz down in the house and make all the money.

When your forefathers had domineering influence in the house, they provided for their families and the wife kept the home. How many of these men can keep their wives at home? Somethings have to give. You don't expect your wife to bring half of the money in the house and still expect to be dictating everything and how things have to work.
Yes some women have their faults too but in most cases that I have seen it is the men that wanted to have the control like they are in their village.

The response here are so funny.
I have lived here in the US for 12 years and I am married for 5. Most of my friends are married too.
A lot of us Nigerian men are so hypocritical, that is why most marriages are failing.

You want you wife to be sharing of the bills, both of you work 9-5 or work out of the house with kids and you expect your wife to still slave and do most of the work in the house. C'mon! These women are no superwoman, they are human like you. I know so many Nigerian Marriages that are on the brinks now because of the chauvinism.

You guys have to understand how the female friendly laws in the west came to be. Their society was similar to ours at one point in time until it got to the brink and the laws had to be made to protect women. Of course so many people abuse the laws but I think it generally it made their society for it. I talk to some of my childhood female friends in Nigeria, the stories I hear are too surreal. I don't rule it out that these people will not file for divorce if they have female friendly laws and supportive society like they have here.

Many women live in very abusive marriages in naija (emotionally or physically or both) and the women didnt have anywhere to go.
I don't support divorce in any way of form but I will support my sister or daughter if she is in that situation and needs to get out. It is better being single than being married and living in hell.

I wonder why people are emotional about this. Most countries (including SA) will not pick up Nigerians randomly and deport them. They must have violated some local laws to have been put on the plane and sent home. That we don't enforce laws in Nigeria doesnt mean some other countries do not.
For example you can get deported in the US (if you are a green card holder) for not carrying your green card with you if stopped by an immigration officer (seldomly) or not changing you address with USCIS within ten days after you move. It is hardly used law but it is still the law - some arabs were deported using th. If you are not a citizen of a country you have to abide by the law of your host country even if you don't believe in it or els they will send you to where you are from. Sentiments mean little when law is concern.

That Nigeria helped SA with apartheid doesnt mean they must have open border for Nigerians or other neighboring countries. The true test of every nation is maintaining their sovereignty and part of it is controlling immigration and dealing with illegal immigration issue. It doesn't matter what happens tomorrow to SA, as at today, they have to keep their border safe. That 47 Nigerians were deported doesnt mean 90 Zimbabweans werent deported. The only number you see are Nigerians because it was reported from Nigerian angle.

selencious:

@ Toba!!! Don't get bothered over these people anymore.It is so obvious they are ignorant. They may not get it now;maybe in 30years to come, they will.

You live in Burtonsville, make i go tell IRS that someone dey Launder money somewhere close to Laurel. A part-time student with 10K in your account? C'mon! I am sure your parents/aunty/friend will tell you that you lost your mind. So you work 20/24 hrs a week making $50/hr abi with no bills and no responsibility? You must be the richest self made college student in America,

Every man and woman is as faithful as his/her option says Chris Rock. I have few married women friend that live in Nigeria and I get to talk to them once in a while. My conclusion is that if the society is a little bit open for them to cheat, they will cheat too like the men.