Delayed

PIB:
In January of this year, Nigerians were promised a Petroleum Industry Bill in 30 days.  In February, that was pushed to March.  And so we wait.

Jona-bus:
The buses promised as the start of a system of affordable transportation have been procured and exhibited, but certainly they are not yet plying the streets of Lagos.

YouWIN:
The winners of YouWIN, the exciting grants program for young Nigerian entrepreneurs, should have been contacted last month.  We await an announcement this month.

Power companies:
The Power Holding Company of Nigeria was legally broken into 17 successor companies in January for sale in April.  That sale has now been postponed till October.

An oil rig

While I buy in to the above programmes, it appears that we're always late.  We need project management or something.  

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Not so SURE about subsidy removal?

The subsidy on imported petroleum products had to go.   Predictably, the subsidy remains misunderstood and Nigerians are protesting its removal.
Let's be honest, it's not easy to deal with a sudden doubling in pump price of petrol.  This is why the promised alleviation programs must begin quickly.  Already, at least one state government has announced free buses for workers.  Many states should partially subsidize mass transit, at least for a few months.  

Also, even though the government lists several development projects (health and agriculture, electric power and rail transport, etc) that will be funded using the savings from fuel subsidy removal, many are skeptical of a corrupt system. How do we know that this money won't also be stolen, they ask?
This means that again, the Nigerian government has to prove itself through successful programs and real improvement in quality of life and economic indicators.  See the SURE document here: Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme.

If the subsidy had to go, another item that needs to be cut quickly is recurrent expenditure: a lot of the money spent on pampering government officials could go to development.  This will have another positive effect: politics will become a less attractive career option for thieves and thugs.
If Nigerians can be quickly assisted with lower transport fares and if we start to see government cutting its own waste and investing in our own needs like power, jobs, refineries, and all that, everybody will calm down and stop protesting. 

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Independence day

Nigeria is 51 today. 
The President gave a nice State address.  There is the usual data of Nigerian history with black/white footage.  The elite too, have had their say on TV.    I haven't taken the pulse on the street, but I suspect that people are poor/broke, optimistic as always, and in some cases glad to have a three-day-weekend. 

To summarize, Nigerians say they are grateful for the basics: life, a country name, basic technological change, etc.
Then again, Nigerians say this country sucks: even the President is not safe, thanks to terrorists; the promises of electric power provision have gone on for too long; the politicians still rob the country and toy with our future; the whole 150 million of us still produce approximately nothing...but it is good manners to say Happy Birthday (Happy Independence) and move on. 

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Is Boko Haram?

Some people say that
Boko (Western education) is
Haram (forbidden by Islam)

Is this true, or is Boko Halal (permitted)?

bokohalal.blogspot.com is the new Boko Haram group.
Let us know what Islam truly guides Moslems to do.

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One Nigeria?

Is Nigeria truly ONE and why?

Thanks to two of my facebook friends for their answers. We should meet up for hugs, aka the award ceremony soon?

Tricia thinks NOT. According to her, our ignorance and the tribalistic views we hold have kept us from uniting.

Segun thinks "not yet." According to him, "Nigeria is a 'colonial container' with diverse but great contents whose harmony depends on the knowledge and understanding [that] Hunger, sorrow, poverty, joy, laughter, have no language or colour."

I live under the illusion that Nigeria is one because I fear civil war. If young musicians use multiple Nigerian languages, isn't that proof of our one-ness?

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Only London?

The Arab uprisings were not surprising, given the largely young, unemployed population and sit-tight regimes of North Africa and the Middle East.

On the other hand, the British riots have shocked many who believe that the youth of London do not have a cause. But this Londoner who predicted the riots, telling The Guardian: "...the government should have seen it coming, too. There is nothing to do...the streets...are full of people who...have ambitions but can't fulfil them."

Just this April, the youth in many Northern capitals greeted the election result with insults upon their normally-revered traditional rulers. They pelted them with satchets of pure water.

Photo of pure-water hawker "borrowed" from jaguda.com

Some northern muslims are so confused now, that they have become terrorists, scaring the government with bomb attacks. Why? Very funny: no food, no hope, no land, no work, no love, so - why not?

Nigerians are frustrated. You know me, I'm a very gentle young woman. But I am not of the scared and grumbling generation, I am ready to riot too, since Nigerian "leadership" no dey hear word.

Dele Momodu articulated today in his This Day column that Nigerians have lessons to learn from Great Britain, lest the youth "surprise" us. Listen to him. I'm betting on an uprising in Lagos soon, but you're welcome to prove me wrong.

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Tenure Elongation

Mahmud Jega, writes brilliantly for Daily Trust:
I was just wondering: how can a man who has 20 special advisers expensively paid for from the public till yet be so poorly advised that he will choose to kick start his administration with a potential tenure killer such as the “single term” bill that President Goodluck Jonathan is threatening to table before the National Assembly sometime soon? Read more...

Jibrin Ibrahim, in his column at NEXT, does NOT believe Jonathan either: "Goodluck Jonathan is not believable when he says that he wants a constitutional amendment ..."

Over at Nigeria Village Square, a countdown calendar has been installed. The Goodluck Jonathan Countdown Calendar: 1398 Days To Go, it says. YEP.

It seems we can move on from all the "fainting" over Islamic banking now?
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