Comment

Comment by Joe Fulton on September 11, 2012 at 7:55pm

Wow, that is corruption beyond even my fertile imagination.

Comment by Hari Menon on September 11, 2012 at 7:36pm

Joe when it comes to Nigeria I am lost for words , I was in a place called Asaba which is the "capital" of Delta state . Delta State is the richest in terms of natural resources and yet the most impoverished place in Nigeria. Even Lagos is no big deal.

Though I do not understand what Susan has said - somehow it seems very compelling me to believe it sort of would encapsulate my feelings about the place.

I was astounded to see that this capital resembled something that our villages were maybe 50 years back !. THe Christianity that they practice is nothing like I have ever known - It is a blend of Superstition and with elements of Nature worship that is very Crude and with the addition of Voodoo thrown in to "end" a person as they call it . Everyone is a Pastor and runs classes of the Evangelist type with a lot of noise and trying to catch the spirit as if they are human lightning conductors. My driver was a pastor, our HR lady was a pastor, my security guard was a pastor .And I had a very strange experience - I had people working for me who had returned from Denmark, America,Argentina, UK, France , Germany and Mexico. I was quite appreciative of their  love of country which made them come back to ''serve'' in inhospitable conditions despite knowing how the world was outside Nigeria - It did not last long till I found out that all of them were on the run from authorities in those countries - having indulged in extremely nefarious activities. Nigeria is the best place to go to if you are wanted in any other country - nothing works there. Honesty is a welcome exception even grand mothers and small children are dishonest - (by our standards) which just go to prove that these words are relative only - I was seen as someone "less than street smart" and poor in survival skills. I was advised by the Chairman of the company that I was working for in the following manner "Hari , this is NIgeria and you are an outsider , do not make a fuss about theft in the company - just bring it to my notice when in your opinion it goes beyond TOLERABLE limits" You guessed it !!! The bar kept on rising like in the high jump - The Chairman was Called "Chief"' and his cousin was the King of Asaba - the company was being Run on prime government Land and the icing on the cake was that - the government had only a 10% share, Taxes had not been paid for 16 Years ! The Auditor came and enjoyed the hospitality for a week and was paid 200,000 Naira , The tax people came (4 of them) and I was advised from Lahos to pay 60,000 Naira as grease money (15000 x4) - all want away swearing loyalty to me and long life to the Chief .

Comment by Joe Fulton on September 11, 2012 at 11:28am

I was turned on to the site by a friend who is a meteorologist.  

I follow Jim Dunnigan's Strategypage and the whole African situation is just grim.  There is very little redeeming about it.

The question that comes to mind is "why".  It's like Susan says "they've had no fetching up".  That's the part that blows my mind.  The behavior is more akin to small animals fighting for scraps of food.  In hoarding wealth and pursuing a life of corruption it literally damns everyone else and prevents the development of the kind of society where a reasonable level of prosperity for all can happen.

Oh well, I'll think about this more over another cup of coffee (irony).

Comment by Hari Menon on September 11, 2012 at 10:13am

Deb I wish too , I wish I were the next Sai Baba  or Rajneesh , life would have been more easier . Can you believe that Nigeria is NOT a tourist destination. They do not have tourist spots !.

Comment by Hari Menon on September 11, 2012 at 10:05am

I saw the link , some consolation it is , every day I have not less than 5 to 6 funding spams . I have lived in Nigeria Joe for a short while - the less said about it the better. 820 Trillion Dollars it seems they have - must be play money !

Comment by Deb on September 11, 2012 at 10:01am

I wish you'd majored in that too, Hari.  Then you could materialize some $$$ for me too!  Hahahaha!  :-)

Comment by Joe Fulton on September 10, 2012 at 10:48pm

Here's a great source of funding, Hari:

http://www.weathergraphics.com/tim/nigerian/

Comment by Hari Menon on September 10, 2012 at 9:52pm

Well - From the South of India ! , Just got shouted down by a client who felt that I was taking too much time over his funding solution - Lost his reason , does not accept the fact that people do not just give away huge sums of money for free or meet the project owner without evaluating the project . One week and he expects me to "materialize'' something like 20 Million Us$ !!!! Wish I  had majored from some school of wizadery

Comment by Deb on August 21, 2012 at 12:48pm

For the last six weeks or so, I have been doing home renovation, so I have not known really whether I'm coming or going.  Nothing is back yet where it should be - or very little beyond the basic pieces of furniture.  So much is still boxed up.  But the painting is done and the new flooring was installed last Th, Fr, & Sa.  SO happy to have all that behind me!  Hopefully now I can get things put back and begin to feel sorted out.  I am ready to for some peace and quiet, so that I can take stock, and get a sense of my direction forward from here.  The approach of winter is always a good time to get involved in some new interest or worthy endeavor.

Comment by Joe Fulton on August 13, 2012 at 8:37pm

If there is anything we can do to help out, Paul, please let us know.

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