# Abuja, Nigeria



## Skyland (Jul 3, 2005)

Well, you are very optimistic. Nigeria could be per-capita one of the richest (and powerful) countries in the world if their leaders and their clans would not just keep the money for themselves. The luxurious houses are not evidence of a "large middle class". Nigeria is a desaster, a tragedy - a land rich of resources and very, very poor people. Those people that believe a simple debt relief will change everything will be surprised in a few years. There will be a couple more of these beautiful houses, millions of more illiterate poor people and more debts. Or how do you think their leaders will spend the saved money they would have otherwise spent on the payable interest to the banks and countries in the developed world? African leaders and probably society need a mentality change. :nono:


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## You are to blame (Oct 14, 2004)

Skyland said:


> Well, you are very optimistic. Nigeria could be per-capita one of the richest (and powerful) countries in the world if their leaders and their clans would not just keep the money for themselves. The luxurious houses are not evidence of a "large middle class". Nigeria is a desaster, a tragedy - a land rich of resources and very, very poor people. Those people that believe a simple debt relief will change everything will be surprised in a few years. There will be a couple more of these beautiful houses, millions of more illiterate poor people and more debts. Or how do you think their leaders will spend the saved money they would have otherwise spent on the payable interest to the banks and countries in the developed world? African leaders and probably society need a mentality change. :nono:


Nigeria does have alot of poor people, but it also has a sizable middle class, remember it's a country of nearly 150 million people 50% are in poverty and 50% arent, thats about 70 million people that don't live in poverty


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## titeness (Jul 3, 2004)

tanzirian said:


> Nice thread, nice pics.
> 
> The house under construction may scream income gap, but is that bad? Just because most people in a given country are poor does not mean everyone should be. In order for a country to develop, there have to be people who get rich. These people have created or will create jobs which fuel economic growth, and down the line, lead to higher standards of living for the general populace. That is of course, assuming that these rich folk earned their money through enterprise and not corruption. If the latter case is true, then of course they don't deserve nice houses.


 :bash: :bash: 



Many of the super rich people in Nigeria get so because of 1. stealing money from the government or 2. Bribes from Uber-coorporations such as Shell so that companies like Shell can continue to milk Nigeria for cheap, almost tax free Oil. Also, most of the Uber-rich stick thier money in European banks, no questions asked, which in turn fuels european economies and hurts Africa.


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## tanzirian (Jul 13, 2005)

Well, as I said previously, if the money comes from corruption, it is undeserved.

However, such an "income gap" is not bad in and of itself. You can't expect everyone in a poor country to get richer at exactly the same time. The development of a small moneyed class is a natural point along the road to development, prior to the development of greater affluence of the population as a whole. The West also had disparities in income when it first started to industrialize. I agree with you, Nigeria certainly has a great deal of problems to overcome before it can become a prosperous country. But I am certainly willing to bet that fifty years from now, the "income gap" over there won't look nearly as bad as it does today.


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## Lord Arsenal (Apr 9, 2005)

The problem about Nigeria is corruption, thats it. Once u remove that Nigeria can become a Developed Nation in less than ten years.Unlike other african countries it does not lack money to build infrastructure, Nigeria infact has a lot of money but the only thing standing in the way of NIgeria's progress is corruption.Most of all i think it's PrIDE IN THEIR NATION


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## Skyland (Jul 3, 2005)

You are to blame said:


> Nigeria does have alot of poor people, but it also has a sizable middle class, remember it's a country of nearly 150 million people 50% are in poverty and 50% arent, thats about 70 million people that don't live in poverty


How do you know that 50% of the Nigerian people are middle class or higher?


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## You are to blame (Oct 14, 2004)

Skyland said:


> How do you know that 50% of the Nigerian people are middle class or higher?


from here http://www.workers.org/ww/2004/nigeria1021.php - look at the 3rd to last paragraph

45% of nigerian are in poverty and 55% are not, thats about 75 million nigerian that are not in poverty.


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## Skyland (Jul 3, 2005)

You are to blame said:


> from here http://www.workers.org/ww/2004/nigeria1021.php - look at the 3rd to last paragraph
> 
> 45% of nigerian are in poverty and 55% are not, thats about 75 million nigerian that are not in poverty.


Thanks! Interesting webpage - they might even overstate poverty


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## You are to blame (Oct 14, 2004)

by the way the nigerian economy is growing by 7% a year, still alot of work needs to be done but nigeria has turn the corner with the return to democracy half a dacade ago and a leader committed to eradicating corruption and econmoic reforms


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