I am having a hard time understanding this. I read the news about how all these 5 star hotels are opening up in nigeria and all the big airlines are beginning to extend routes there. This country is quite chaotic and unstable, almost reminds me a bit of like a pakistan type and is relatively unsafe of course without as much of a terrorist impact. That said, i still don't get how it is emerging the way it is. Anyone more familiar can enlighten me? thanks
I'm in the airline business. This is 100% of the reason why. Having a population over 160 million doesn't hurt either. Going forward, you will see most of the major international carriers fly to points other than Lagos.
Lots of countries with unstable security or questionable economic policies have had deceptive growth due entirely to oil. Look at Venezuela, Ecuador, Russia to some extent, and the whole Middle East.
I just wonder how its sustainable. You find oil, but this place is so volative in terms of the way things work and corruption, even more so than usual and especially here. Just experiencing it made me wonder how big organized companies are able to pull things off over here. Its quite chaotic.
Bribes bro. It's the only way things work...i have a fixer meet me at the customs gate on every trip - insurance for no hassles. This applies to everything there - federal gov. owes you money for a completed project? Bribe the right official & voila! cheque received.
Most of mine would take pages to express. Here's a few basic ones: - fake airport taxes - accused of transporting drugs they "believed" i had hidden in the shaft of my tennis rackets - stopped by soldiers in the airport parking lot & my driver wasn't playing nice w/them (meaning no dash) & I got accused of theft when i could not produce receipts for my walkman At every instance it is simply a shakedown for some cash. Sometimes you forget & get into a "that's simply not just/right" mode...usually ending up w/you paying the dash (if you're lucky).
My story isn't as bad as some, I simply had to pay u$s 500 in cash to assure my gear made it to the plane theft free. Never in the history of my travels has this occurred. And I've been all over Latin America and parts of SE Asia. I thought the treatment was only reserved for foreign business types or emissaries. Nope, everyone gets hit up. Don't get it twisted, the locals were friendly. The Nigerian bureaucratic system is just wall to wall corruption.
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ug.html http://www.u4.no/publications/overview-of-corruption-in-uganda/
Lol I wouldn't visit any African nation that doesn't offer safari's and air conditioned rooms in the night. Not because I can't stand the heat, cuz I was born to play in the kitchen, but because mosquito's get through any form of repellent and nets. First night there was a mixup -even with the fan on full blast I ended up sleeping with ear plugs, eye goggles and full sleeves because they was hungry like the wolf. And they still had their way with me. Our tour guide went by the name of Djaboo, and he was a wonderful, gentle, man who we tipped HANDSOMELY.
lol big organized companies are RIGHT AT HOME in Lagos, they tend to thrive in those environments. Cheaper to pay off the right guy than to, say, meet a respectable set of health standards, actually compete in a free market, etc.
Mosquito nets worked quite well for me the year that I spent in Sierra Leone. Air conditioning won't save you at all.
Not to be harsh but you are clueless. The "big organized companies" can't change the culture of Nigeria. They have to either go with the flow or don't exist there. You simply can't do business without paying off the right people. Attempting to do so is a declaration of hostility and guarantees failure. Your business and employees couldn't safely do business. The terms "health standards" and "free market" don't mean the same thing everywhere in the world.
that is what he is saying, those countries play the corruption game, pay off and it works for them otherwise, Isaw this about nigerian fake passport http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oWIl2UWHOc Haha, I have to say...made me think of Sergio Ibaka...yes from congo, but similarly no regulation and I bet that guy is not 22. We are going to see him decline at 26 and wonder why(bc he'll be f'n 33!)
Well, we both agree that they do it, but where you believe they consider it a nuissance I believe they consider it an opportunity. Just because that's the culture, doesn't make it ok. A company is unlikely to change the culture of a place, but participation is voluntary. They choose to get into that situation to make more money. Free market and health standards mean the exact same thing everywhere in the world, they are just applied at different levels based on the circumstances. Nigeria has lower health standards and distorted market because authorities are complicit in profiting from the way things are. Believe you me, Nigerians want and have the resources to afford the very best healthcare and a market free of corruption. If you are unsure of this, look no further than how the big companies partner with the rich locals to create businesses run primarily by expatriates in a country of 160 million people and an unemployment problem, despite an (ignored) quota system for expatriates being in place. Believe me, I understand why things are the way they are in Nigeria as I have several Iranian friends who used to do business with Iran and it is very similar over there. If anyone notices that you are going to make a buck, then someone will show up asking for 10 cents on the dollar. Then you either have to do it or quit on the whole thing or that person will make your life hell. Even worse when there's actual safety issues (As in Nigeria) then you have to worry about greasing even more wheels to protect the investment. But let's not act like the owners of these companies sitting comfortably in their penthouse appartments see it is anything more than a favorable $ cost/benefit proposition. However, I know it is difficult for those who end up having to actually live there and do the dirty work on the ground.
