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Taking the Federal Government of Nigeria by its words, it would no longer be business as usual in the oil and gas sector of the Nigerian economy as President Goodluck Jonathan inaugurates the governing council of the Local Content Development Board. This board has been given the responsibility to reposition the petroleum sector for the benefit of the nation, following the enactment of the Nigerian Local Content Law. Simply put, Local Content means the development of local skills, technology transfer, use of local manpower and local manufacturing in a country. According to 234next newspapers, the president is not oblivious of the limitations of capacity in manufacturing for the upstream and downstream operation in Nigeria. He therefore wishes the country to follow the path of other nations where the application of local content has stimulated investments that transformed their economies. In his words, "We must drive the implementation of this law in a manner that develops partnersh...

NIGERIA as an independent country from British colonialism since 1960 turns 50 today on October 1, 2010. To mark the golden jubilee, the federal and state governments have mounted an elaborate programme of festive celebrations. Our Query: Are We There Yet...? The Nigerian Guardian (www.ngrguardiannews.com) in its editorial on October 1, 2010, mirrors our thoughts about Nigeria in its adulthood at 50 years. According to the Guardian, for a country that has endured 29 years of military rule, survived a fratricidal civil war, and practised an uninterrupted democracy since 1999, there is indeed a need to celebrate... However, if anyone looks at Nigeria’s performance since 1960, no one can say that it has been an unqualified success. The high promise held out for Nigeria at independence has not been realised. Countries like Malaysia, India, Brazil, and even Ghana (we add Singapore here) with whom we were in the struggle for economic emancipation have all overtaken us. Today our leader...

We are proposing a ten (10) day agricultural trip to Israel for Nigerian government officials and private sector agricultural operatives. The objective of the tour is to stimulate the interest of the participants to agriculture through lectures, interaction with experts and visits to locations of interest in Israel. The study tour scheduled to hold 2-11 November, 2010 is predicated on Government’s efforts at ensuring food security for the people of Nigeria while in the same token diversifying the revenue base of the country away from oil. Moreover, we are of the opinion that a trip of this nature would have direct and positive impact on the citizenry. Israel has been chosen for the tour on the strength of its innovative agricultural practices that have earned the country a pride of place in the comity of nations, agriculturally speaking. Agriculture in Israel is the success story of a long, hard struggle against adverse conditions and of making maximum use of arable land and scarce wat...

Celebration of the Jubilee year of political independence is in the air for many African countries. Benin has celebrated hers and Nigeria’s is in the horizon as it celebrates her independence from Britain this October. Let us remind ourselves that these countries were created by the colonial powers without due consideration of the implications of the demarcation exercise. In the case of Benin and Nigeria, as in many others too, culturally related people were separated by artificial boundaries. The motives behind the Balkanization was captured in R. Muir’s publication on Political Geography, 1983, that ‘in establishing political territories, each colonial power attempted to maximize its sphere of control that would serve as barriers to the continuous expansion of rival colonial territories and secondly, to control river basins which provided highways for trade, to established coastal footholds and for further inland penetration…’ The Jubilee Year of political independence provides a bas...

One of the issues I think that keep awake all night the leadership of the Federal Government of Nigeria and those looking to replace it is that of improving the lots of Nigerians. Theoretically Yes! It is only five years to 2015, the much talked about year in which Nigeria, as many other countries in the world are expected to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals. Also, the home grown Vision 2020 whereby Nigeria hopes to join the community of the twenty biggest economies in the world is just ten years away. The governments at all levels should be unsettling! According to the Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan while inaugurating the state steering committee on Vision 2020, he said inter-alia ‘in a fast-paced, globalised, post-industrial world, the challenge to catch-up is very daunting. We are confronted by gigantic undertaking of how to surmount our basic infrastructure gap, of poverty crisis, the human capital deficit and value reorientation. But the job must be done. F...

The shouting headline in many world news media including Nigeria's 234next, August 17, 2010 is this: China has reached another landmark by edging ahead of Japan as the world's second-biggest economy after overtaking Germany as the largest exporter. The change came in the second quarter with the Japanese Cabinet Office conceding China's economy is now bigger, with gross domestic product in the period of $1.337 trillion (£851bn) compared with Japan's $1.288 trillion. Many people saw this coming. As a matter of fact, Economists agree China will become the world's biggest economy, the only difference is over timing. PricewaterhouseCoopers expects it to take the top spot from the US in 2020, while Jim O'Neill, Goldman Sachs chief economist, has plumped for 2027 quoted the British Newspapers, The Telegraph. We have noted and reported in this blog on the bullish attitude of the Chinese in taking new business territories (and protecting it). Despite criticisms of Chines...

Do you know that Israeli physicians are responsible for much of the world's advances in medicine and medical technology, with many procedures, medical devices and software now used globally? Israel offers many advantages including excellent care at affordable cost. IMS Global mission is to assist patients in accessing this high quality, affordable medical care in Israel. IMS represent's Israel's 18 leading internationally recognised medical centres. No matter the type of treatment, IMS has the solution! Your case is reviewed and evaluated by Israel's leading department heads and/or professors at no cost to you. IMS negotiated rates and contractual agreement with each medical centre stipulates that IMS clients receive the lowest possible price for their surgical procedure. From first contact until return home, IMS takes care of you, your medical and personal needs as well as your loved ones accompanying you to Israel. Its services include helping with visas requests, arr...