Rislan

Muhammad Rislan @rislan1 In case you are wondering why Africa is still underdeveloped, then here’s a part of the reason. An excerpt from the book ‘The State of Africa- A History of Fifty Years of Independence’ by Martin Meredith sheds light on the plight of the African farmers and the culpability of the developed economies to keep him perpetually dependent on foreign aid.  “Determined to protect their own producers, industrialized countries operate a system of subsidies and tariff barriers that have crippling effect on African producers. The total value of their agricultural subsidies amounts to 1 Billion Dollars a day - 370 billion a year- A SUM HIGHER THAN THE GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT OF THE WHOLE OF SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA. The European Union subsidy for each cow is about $900 a year - more than the average African income; the Japanese subsidy is $2,700 per cow. Western surplus produced at a fraction of their real cost are dumped on African markets, undermining domestic producers...

  Muhamad Rislan @rislan1 As we strive to create an online social space for leisure, our actions are fast becoming a measure of our character. In recent times prospective employers (more than 80%) have confirmed that they check the social media profile of prospective job seekers to gauge their character. In fact, some embassies require you to disclose your social media handle (not password) as part of their background check. Although, most employers view LinkedIn as the most relevant platform, some others are still interested in your more personal social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. I am not a job creator yet, but if I were to be one tomorrow, I will know whom to employ from the Facebook updates of my friends. You are a graduate (or student) of let's say, agriculture, yet your profile shows no content of your educational background, it also shows no analysis of the current trend affecting your field. Nothing!! Zilch!! Abin takaici, matasa da ya kamata ...

  Muhammad Rislan @rislan1 In August 2019, Nigeria partially closed its land borders and banned the importation of rice. We all celebrated (or most of us) because we hoped this landmark decision would increase our productivity and ensure we eat healthy (freedom from expired rice according to our customs officials). Well, what we failed to put into account is the economics of food production which by some stroke of misfortune our well-trained economists and agricultural experts were too ignorant to brief the nation on so that we can brace ourselves for what is to come. Perhaps, our economists are best suited for market speculations and not the real economy. Subsidy is a word we are all too familiar with, and it especially gained notoriety when Nigerians learned about how fuel subsidy was used to bleed our public coffers to a coma. We, the masses, came to hate all things subsidized. However, while we are busy subsidizing consumption in the late '80s, the developed economies (and ...