Doctor Damages. Sahara Reporters
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Tuesday, January 31, 2017
Friday, January 27, 2017
Reactions after Buhari's latest picture in London
Reactions trail Buhari’s latest picture in London ON JANUARY 28, 20174:38 AMIN NEWS, POLITICSCOMMENTS A cross section of Nigerians have continued to comment on the new latest pictures of President Muhammadu Buhari, who is currently on a 10-day working leave in London, UK. The new picture, which was posted on Friday night, showed the president in a relax mood with some of his visitors, including Gov. Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun.
TRUMPS INAUGURATION SPEECH
Chief Justice Roberts, President Carter, President Clinton, President Bush, President Obama, fellow Americans, and people of the world: thank you.
We, the citizens of America, are now joined in a great national effort to rebuild our country and to restore its promise for all of our people.
Together, we will determine the course of America and the world for years to come.
We will face challenges. We will confront hardships. But we will get the job done. Every four years, we gather on these steps to carry out the orderly and peaceful transfer of power, and we are grateful to President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama for their gracious aid throughout this transition. They have been magnificent.
Today’s ceremony, however, has very special meaning. Because today we are not merely transferring power from one Administration to another, or from one party to another – but we are transferring power from Washington, D.C. and giving it back to you, the American People.
For too long, a small group in our nation’s Capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have borne the cost.
Washington flourished – but the people did not share in its wealth. Politicians prospered – but the jobs left, and the factories closed.
The establishment protected itself, but not the citizens of our country. Their victories have not been your victories; their triumphs have not been your triumphs; and while they celebrated in our nation’s Capital, there was little to celebrate for struggling families all across our land.
That all changes – starting right here, and right now, because this moment is your moment: it belongs to you! It belongs to everyone gathered here today and everyone watching all across America. This is your day. This is your celebration. And this, the United States of America, is your country.
What truly matters is not which party controls our government, but whether our government is controlled by the people. January 20th 2017, will be remembered as the day the people became the rulers of this nation again.
The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer.
Everyone is listening to you now. You came by the tens of millions to become part of a historic movement the likes of which the world has never seen before. At the center of this movement is a crucial conviction: that a nation exists to serve its citizens.
Americans want great schools for their children, safe neighborhoods for their families, and good jobs for themselves.
These are the just and reasonable demands of a righteous public. But for too many of our citizens, a different reality exists: Mothers and children trapped in poverty in our inner cities; rusted-out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our nation; an education system, flush with cash, but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of knowledge; and the crime and gangs and drugs that have stolen too many lives and robbed our country of so much unrealized potential.
This American carnage stops RIGHT HERE and stops RIGHT NOW. We are one nation – and their pain is our pain. Their dreams are our dreams; and their success will be our success. We share one heart, one home, and one glorious destiny.
The oath of office I take today is an oath of allegiance to all Americans. For many decades, we’ve enriched foreign industry at the expense of American industry;
Subsidized the armies of other countries while allowing for the very sad depletion of our military; We've defended other nation’s borders while refusing to defend our own;
And spent trillions of dollars overseas while America's infrastructure has fallen into disrepair and decay.
We’ve made other countries rich while the wealth, strength, and confidence of our country has disappeared over the horizon.
One by one, the factories shuttered and left our shores, with not even a thought about the millions upon millions of American workers left behind.
The wealth of our middle class has been ripped from their homes and then redistributed across the entire world.
But that is the past. And now we are looking only to the future.
We assembled here today are issuing a new decree to be heard in every city, in every foreign capital, and in every hall of power.
From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land.
From this moment on, it’s going to be America First. Every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign affairs, will be made to benefit American workers and American families. We must protect our borders from the ravages of other countries making our products, stealing our companies, and destroying our jobs. Protection will lead to great prosperity and strength.
I will fight for you with every breath in my body – and I will never, ever let you down.
America will start winning again, winning like never before. We will bring back our jobs. We will bring back our borders. We will bring back our wealth. And we will bring back our dreams.
We will build new roads, and highways, and bridges, and airports, and tunnels, and railways all across our wonderful nation.
We will get our people off of welfare and back to work – rebuilding our country with American hands and American labor.
We will follow two simple rules: Buy American and Hire American.
We will seek friendship and goodwill with the nations of the world – but we do so with the understanding that it is the right of all nations to put their own interests first.
We do not seek to impose our way of life on anyone, but rather to let it shine as an example for everyone to follow.
We will reinforce old alliances and form new ones – and unite the civilized world against Radical Islamic Terrorism, which we will eradicate completely from the face of the Earth.
At the bedrock of our politics will be a total allegiance to the United States of America, and through our loyalty to our country, we will rediscover our loyalty to each other.
When you open your heart to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice.
The Bible tells us, “how good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity.”
We must speak our minds openly, debate our disagreements honestly, but always pursue solidarity. When America is united, America is totally unstoppable. There should be no fear – we are protected, and we will always be protected.
We will be protected by the great men and women of our military and law enforcement and, most importantly, we are protected by God.
Finally, we must think big and dream even bigger. In America, we understand that a nation is only living as long as it is striving.
We will no longer accept politicians who are all talk and no action – constantly complaining but never doing anything about it.
The time for empty talk is over. Now arrives the hour of action.
Do not let anyone tell you it cannot be done. No challenge can match the heart and fight and spirit of America.
We will not fail. Our country will thrive and prosper again. We stand at the birth of a new millennium, ready to unlock the mysteries of space, to free the Earth from the miseries of disease, and to harness the energies, industries and technologies of tomorrow.
A new national pride will stir our souls, lift our sights, and heal our divisions. It is time to remember that old wisdom our soldiers will never forget: that whether we are black or brown or white, we all bleed the same red blood of patriots, we all enjoy the same glorious freedoms, and we all salute the same great American Flag. And whether a child is born in the urban sprawl of Detroit or the windswept plains of Nebraska, they look up at the same night sky, they fill their heart with the same dreams, and they are infused with the breath of life by the same almighty Creator.
So to all Americans, in every city near and far, small and large, from mountain to mountain, and from ocean to ocean, hear these words: You will never be ignored again. Your voice, your hopes, and your dreams, will define our American destiny. And your courage and goodness and love will forever guide us along the way.
Together, We Will Make America Strong Again. We Will Make America Wealthy Again.
We Will Make America Proud Again.
We Will Make America Safe Again....
and Yes, Together, We Will Make America Great Again. Thank you, God Bless You, And God Bless America.
Donald J. Trump
45th President of the United States
We, the citizens of America, are now joined in a great national effort to rebuild our country and to restore its promise for all of our people.
Together, we will determine the course of America and the world for years to come.
We will face challenges. We will confront hardships. But we will get the job done. Every four years, we gather on these steps to carry out the orderly and peaceful transfer of power, and we are grateful to President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama for their gracious aid throughout this transition. They have been magnificent.
Today’s ceremony, however, has very special meaning. Because today we are not merely transferring power from one Administration to another, or from one party to another – but we are transferring power from Washington, D.C. and giving it back to you, the American People.
For too long, a small group in our nation’s Capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have borne the cost.
Washington flourished – but the people did not share in its wealth. Politicians prospered – but the jobs left, and the factories closed.
The establishment protected itself, but not the citizens of our country. Their victories have not been your victories; their triumphs have not been your triumphs; and while they celebrated in our nation’s Capital, there was little to celebrate for struggling families all across our land.
That all changes – starting right here, and right now, because this moment is your moment: it belongs to you! It belongs to everyone gathered here today and everyone watching all across America. This is your day. This is your celebration. And this, the United States of America, is your country.
What truly matters is not which party controls our government, but whether our government is controlled by the people. January 20th 2017, will be remembered as the day the people became the rulers of this nation again.
The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer.
Everyone is listening to you now. You came by the tens of millions to become part of a historic movement the likes of which the world has never seen before. At the center of this movement is a crucial conviction: that a nation exists to serve its citizens.
Americans want great schools for their children, safe neighborhoods for their families, and good jobs for themselves.
These are the just and reasonable demands of a righteous public. But for too many of our citizens, a different reality exists: Mothers and children trapped in poverty in our inner cities; rusted-out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our nation; an education system, flush with cash, but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of knowledge; and the crime and gangs and drugs that have stolen too many lives and robbed our country of so much unrealized potential.
This American carnage stops RIGHT HERE and stops RIGHT NOW. We are one nation – and their pain is our pain. Their dreams are our dreams; and their success will be our success. We share one heart, one home, and one glorious destiny.
The oath of office I take today is an oath of allegiance to all Americans. For many decades, we’ve enriched foreign industry at the expense of American industry;
Subsidized the armies of other countries while allowing for the very sad depletion of our military; We've defended other nation’s borders while refusing to defend our own;
And spent trillions of dollars overseas while America's infrastructure has fallen into disrepair and decay.
We’ve made other countries rich while the wealth, strength, and confidence of our country has disappeared over the horizon.
One by one, the factories shuttered and left our shores, with not even a thought about the millions upon millions of American workers left behind.
The wealth of our middle class has been ripped from their homes and then redistributed across the entire world.
But that is the past. And now we are looking only to the future.
We assembled here today are issuing a new decree to be heard in every city, in every foreign capital, and in every hall of power.
From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land.
From this moment on, it’s going to be America First. Every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign affairs, will be made to benefit American workers and American families. We must protect our borders from the ravages of other countries making our products, stealing our companies, and destroying our jobs. Protection will lead to great prosperity and strength.
I will fight for you with every breath in my body – and I will never, ever let you down.
America will start winning again, winning like never before. We will bring back our jobs. We will bring back our borders. We will bring back our wealth. And we will bring back our dreams.
We will build new roads, and highways, and bridges, and airports, and tunnels, and railways all across our wonderful nation.
We will get our people off of welfare and back to work – rebuilding our country with American hands and American labor.
We will follow two simple rules: Buy American and Hire American.
We will seek friendship and goodwill with the nations of the world – but we do so with the understanding that it is the right of all nations to put their own interests first.
We do not seek to impose our way of life on anyone, but rather to let it shine as an example for everyone to follow.
We will reinforce old alliances and form new ones – and unite the civilized world against Radical Islamic Terrorism, which we will eradicate completely from the face of the Earth.
At the bedrock of our politics will be a total allegiance to the United States of America, and through our loyalty to our country, we will rediscover our loyalty to each other.
When you open your heart to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice.
The Bible tells us, “how good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity.”
We must speak our minds openly, debate our disagreements honestly, but always pursue solidarity. When America is united, America is totally unstoppable. There should be no fear – we are protected, and we will always be protected.
We will be protected by the great men and women of our military and law enforcement and, most importantly, we are protected by God.
Finally, we must think big and dream even bigger. In America, we understand that a nation is only living as long as it is striving.
We will no longer accept politicians who are all talk and no action – constantly complaining but never doing anything about it.
The time for empty talk is over. Now arrives the hour of action.
Do not let anyone tell you it cannot be done. No challenge can match the heart and fight and spirit of America.
We will not fail. Our country will thrive and prosper again. We stand at the birth of a new millennium, ready to unlock the mysteries of space, to free the Earth from the miseries of disease, and to harness the energies, industries and technologies of tomorrow.
A new national pride will stir our souls, lift our sights, and heal our divisions. It is time to remember that old wisdom our soldiers will never forget: that whether we are black or brown or white, we all bleed the same red blood of patriots, we all enjoy the same glorious freedoms, and we all salute the same great American Flag. And whether a child is born in the urban sprawl of Detroit or the windswept plains of Nebraska, they look up at the same night sky, they fill their heart with the same dreams, and they are infused with the breath of life by the same almighty Creator.
So to all Americans, in every city near and far, small and large, from mountain to mountain, and from ocean to ocean, hear these words: You will never be ignored again. Your voice, your hopes, and your dreams, will define our American destiny. And your courage and goodness and love will forever guide us along the way.
Together, We Will Make America Strong Again. We Will Make America Wealthy Again.
We Will Make America Proud Again.
We Will Make America Safe Again....
and Yes, Together, We Will Make America Great Again. Thank you, God Bless You, And God Bless America.
Donald J. Trump
45th President of the United States
MTN nigeria End Blackberry service today.
MTN nigeria has announced that they are going to end blackberry service in nigeria today and asked blackberry user to get smartphones.
details shortly.
details shortly.
Thursday, January 26, 2017
Attempt to arrest Kashamu is no abduction, says U.S. court
Kashamu
A United States (U.S.) Appeals Court has dismissed Senator Buruji Kashamu’s complaint that U.S. agents’ attempt to arrest him in collaboration with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) would constitute “an attempted abduction”.
A report in Washington Post yesterday said the ruling was given on Monday by the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
Kashamu, in April 2015, filed a suit asking a district court to prevent his “abduction abroad by U.S. authorities”.
Chicago prosecutors accused Kashamu of heading a heroin trafficking ring in the 1990s. The senator argues that prosecutors want his dead brother instead.
A dozen people long ago pleaded guilty in the case, including Piper Kerman, whose memoir was adapted for a Netflix hit show , “Orange is the New Black.”
Kashamu, in a statement last night, said no fresh extradition proceedings could be brought against him.
His statement reads: “It is most unfortunate that some mischievous elements are seeking to twist a suit I filed in the United States of America to stop my abduction and forcible transportation to face trial for a case two British courts had adjudicated upon and found that it was a case of mistaken identity.
“I asked my lawyers in the U.S. to file the suit when I got wind of an evil plot to abduct me in 2015 which later happened between the 23rd and 28th of May, 2015, until there was a judicial intervention which ordered the U.S. officials and their local collaborators out of my Lagos residence.
“It should be noted that there is no extradition proceedings against me anywhere in the world. The last one they purportedly brought after the siege to my residence was dismissed by the Federal High Court, Abuja, on the 1st of July, 2015.
“So, the wicked interpretation that the latest ruling which was based on a suit I instituted against my abduction has set the tone for my extradition is totally unfounded, vexatious and malicious.
“Besides, I had faced two extradition proceedings in the United Kingdom at the instance of the United States and the British court found that it was a case of mistaken identity after four rigorous years of trial.
“The same U.S. Court of Appeals said, ‘Several months after the indictment came down, Kashamu showed up in England and was arrested at our government’s request. Justice Department lawyers, working with their English counterparts, sought his extradition to the United States to stand trial. There were two extradition proceedings, both unsuccessful, ending finally in January, 2003 when the Presiding Judge refused to order him extradited. He had been detained throughout the extradition proceedings. As soon as the judge ruled, Kashamu left England for Nigeria, where he remains.’
Friday, December 23, 2016
LIBYAN PLANE HIJACKERS IN CUSTODY
Two hijackers who forced a Libyan plane to land in Malta and threatened to blow it up on Friday have released everyone on board and surrendered.
Authorities did not say if the pair had made any demands, but one of them was seen waving a green flag outside the aircraft, suggesting loyalty to former Libya leader Moammar Gadhafi.
The Afriqiyah Airways Airbus A320 carrying 111 passengers was on a domestic service in Libya, Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said.
Latest developments
The hijackers have been searched and taken into custody, Muscat said.
All passengers and seven crew on board have been released.
Flight was scheduled to travel from Sabha to the Libyan capital, Tripoli.
Incident caused flight diversion
Two hijackers who forced a Libyan plane to land in Malta and threatened to blow it up on Friday have released everyone on board and surrendered.
Authorities did not say if the pair had made any demands, but one of them was seen waving a green flag outside the aircraft, suggesting loyalty to former Libya leader Moammar Gadhafi.
The Afriqiyah Airways Airbus A320 carrying 111 passengers was on a domestic service in Libya, Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said.
Latest developments
The hijackers have been searched and taken into custody, Muscat said.
All passengers and seven crew on board have been released.
Flight was scheduled to travel from Sabha to the Libyan capital, Tripoli.
Incident caused flight diversion
Wednesday, December 21, 2016
Saturday, March 27, 2010
SPECIAL INVESTIGATION
Obasanjo-Danjuma personality clash stalls latest NITEL sale
For the fifth time since 2002, the sale of Nigeria’s national telecoms carrier, NITEL may suffer another privatization setback.
This is a fresh development that causes some worry to watchers of the endless sale palaver of the company reputable as highly valuable and profitable and really viable for purchase.
Last month, there was a hope raiser in the sale of NITEL after the abysmal management of the outfit by the Transcorp that bought 51 percent of the shareholding since 2006. The buy was fraught with controversies as many alleged that the Transcorp was owned and sponsored by former president Olusegun Obasanjo who was in power during the sale.
During the latest sale last month, the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE) and National Council on Privatization (NCP) supervised by the Vice President, now Acting President had announced that the revocation and take over from Transcorp was on grounds of poor management and lack of investment.
Right now tongues are wagging that the bid which some labour leaders in NITEL described as the “best thing to happen to NITEL and the nation to recover part of the wasted years of the national carrier is being frustrated because some people loyal to the forces that created Transcorp are out to make sure any sale to another company is frustrated. They see the sale to New Generation as a denial to Transcorp that has proved its incompetence to manage or do anything reasonable with the company in four uninterrupted years”.
Their grouse and resolve that “if Transcorp should lose, let everybody, including the nation that would make an income of $2.5b, the best and most wonderful offer ever on NITEL since 2002 the sale controversy started also lose. They don’t consider that there are close to 3000 workers in the employment of NITEL who have been left stranded without any income in the past two years. What is important to them is their personal interest and gain.”
Saturday Sun sources also revealed that the renewed agitation and kick against the sale even at a time the New Generation buyer has not been asked to pay the initial advance of 30 percent is on the grounds that the company that made the purchase is partly owned and allegedly encumbered with substantial business interest of General T. Y. Danjuma. The Transcorp gladiators therefore have taken the fight beyond the sale of a company owned by the Federal Government to an issue of the extension of the personality clash of Obasanjo and Danjuma. It is now a matter between an Obasanjo’s Transcorp and a Danjuma’s New Generation as alleged.
From all indications, the obstacle put in the way of the new buyer “is not yet founded because if they had failed to pay the initial advance, there would have been enough reasons to ask them to hands off. The reason they give that Unicom of China denied being technical partners of New Generation is not enough to toss them aside. Meanwhile, the European office of Unicom has admitted knowledge of New Generation and the bid to acquire NITEL. I think that was enough to convince any seller that this company has the competent technical backing to make good the offer”, Saturday Sun was told.
Another big twist in the bargain that is trying hard to throw a spanner to the works is the interest of about two existing Nigerian GSM firms that had interest in the purchase of NITEL but were stopped on rounds of spreading out the territory rather than concentrate all forces in the sector in the hands of one entity. One of the two interested companies which owns a premises next to that of NITEL in Victoria Island, Lagos, was accused of taking the top team of BPE to Dubai sometime late last year to induce them influence the sale to them. “After the inducement and the failure, this company had to get a surrogate technical partner to bid for NITEL.
That also lost and the loss is what the company would not want to bear. They are out to frustrate the NITEL sale until such a time the facilities and equipment that make NITEL strong and buyable decay and someone would be asked to take in for a pittance. They all want the company at all cost because they know its viability in equipment, assets, and technical manpower. If NITEL was a bad offer, I can assure you that the sale would have been over a long time ago”, he said.
Bidding loggerhead
Because the forces opposed to the sale won’t let go, some odds were introduced into the mix, including the revelation that the management of BPE compromised in the bidding by leaking the facts of the viability of NITEL to the winner of the bid. “New Generation made one of the lowest offers at the first round of bids. But it was later revealed to them that contrary to their fears, the sale value placed on NITEL is to the exclusion of its liabilities. Many of the bidders had not known this fact earlier. “That finding made New Generation come up strong in their second round of bids to make the best offer.
The position of some of us who understand the internal politics of the sale is that since the company’s bid was accepted and it has announced the winner; it should be allowed to manage NITEL. Meanwhile, some other forces commenced their fight from the NCP office, most of them advisers to the Acting President who kick that BPE leadership and its DG, Dr. Christopher Anyanwu, never consulted or carried them along. Their contention is that since Anyanwu rather decided to deal direct with the Ag. President, they will do their best to rubbish the sale. That is the real reason Anyanwu has become their victim now in suspension.”
To worsen the jinx in the deal, a committee the Acting President set up to look into the controversy of the sale that was supposed to submit its findings on Friday last week has not been heard from. In fact, most of the members, including the chairman, the former Attorney General have been removed in the federal cabinet shake-up. Nobody knows whether it sat or what it came up with. As the delay lingers, the fear is that it might get so long that the winner of the bid would opt out and we would start all over again”, our sources alerted.
The juice in NITEL
The total liabilities of NITEL is in the neighbourhood of $1.8b, and most of them in salary arrears, Saturday Sun found out. The workers have not been paid for over two years now and the Federal Government long ago made it clear that it has no money and would not be part of any deal to borrow and pay the workers when the future of the company is uncertain. “The hope had been hinged on the possibility of raising money from the sale to settle the workers. But that has been dashed. The fighters are oblivious of the interest of the workers who are stranded and would not get any attention until the company is sold.”
“NITEL up till today is a profit-making outfit, and from its Sat-3 equipment, it still nets about N20 billion per annum as it remains the data transfer backbone to all telecom service providers. For every use they make of the Sat-3, NITEL makes an income. The outfit in addition has choice property all over the nation and other very expensive equipment”, the worker stated.
Unfit workers
What is the stake or position of the workers in the whole game? That is an essential question many ask. There are close to 3000 of them, although with a depleted upper scale force. But these workers are so bereft of any stamina to fight the debtor company that has starved them and their family members and dependants for two years without pay. “Let’s take it that each of the 3000 worker has five dependants, that means 18,000 Nigerians are direct victims of the stalled NITEL sale. It is the well being and existence, health, education, feeding, housing and the rest of these 18,000 direct victims that the players who stop the sale of NITEL out of selfish aims stall. That is the bitter truth in the matter. But the players don’t give a hoot on whether the workers and their family members are alive or dead, all they want is their intention fulfilled.”
Workers who have not been paid for two years are too poor, too weak, too powerless and too frustrated to lift a finger in protest. “We don’t have the means to stage a protest and lack the medium to express our anger in any form. As a result, we die in silence while the politicians over the possession of NITEL play on.”
These players were described by the worker as unpatriotic and callous to the sufferings of other Nigerians. “If NITEL is sold, the nation will make an income that would be ploughed back into the system. The workers would be paid and they will have their lives revived. The new owners would also employ more Nigerians and through that the society expands and benefits. But they won’t hear any of these”, he asserted.
Indifferent NASS
The workers would not take any suggestion that the matter be forwarded to the National Assembly as they said past attempts never yielded any dividends. “We have been there and have sent petitions in the past for so many times until we discovered that the National Assembly acts like a people compromised. The committees of the two arms on Communications never did anything worthy of commendation towards our past efforts.”
They also lament that the major cause of increased unemployment in the nation is the closure and balkanization of government agencies that used to be heavy employers of labour. “The Railway Corporation is down, the NPA, Nigeria Airways, NAHCO etc, the government, either as the legislature or executive have never asked questions or probed to know why these agencies are down, even some of them already privatized. So, we can’t see the serious effort at solving the problem of joblessness. We have closed the chapter of taking our complaint to the NASS.”
Ceded assets
In about 2006, NITEL was divested of some of its assets, which were tagged ‘non-core’ One of them is the large NITEL Training Institute in Oshodi, Lagos that NCP, through BPE ceded to the Digital Bridge Institute (DBI). The rumour today is that the property is likely going to swing to the Bells University owned by Chief Obasanjo or at least have an affiliation with it with the Bells likely going to share the space with DBI. Saturday Sun visited the institute for confirmation of the allegation. The premises are already bubbling with activities as the DBI has started business. All the structures the institute is made of all inherited from NITEL have been refurbished and wear bright paints with deep blue doors.
The Marketing Manager in the Lagos campus, Mr. Akin Ogunlade declined powers to speak to Saturday Sun and rather passed the buck to Mr. Samuel Olanrewaju, Operations Manager at the Lagos campus who was battling with technicians to fix underground cable lines.
Olanrewaju however declined knowledge of the story of ceding the premises to Bells University. He instead said the premises are not enough for the business of the Institute, a reason it is building its Abuja campus simultaneously. He also noted that DBI later this year, subject to the approval of the Nigeria Universities Commission, (NUC) will upgrade to a university and the campus would not be enough for its operations.
“I can honestly tell you that I never heard what you asked me. It is a rumour. Yes, there could be no smoke without fire but given the scope of operations DBI wants to embark on especially after converting to a university, the place cannot accommodate us. We have been finding means of acquiring some more space around here because we want to establish the ICT Park here. The facilities and equipment required to have a standard ICT park can’t be contained here. The park would involve having Microsoft, HP, Siemens and other ICT and communication giants co-located here. Where is the space for another facility because we don’t even have enough”, he asked.
History of woes
The first attempt at relieving the FG of the burden of NITEL management was in 2002 when IIL won the bid to own 51 percent of the company. When the company ran into bad economic weather, it could not comply with the required initial payment. This failure made it lose its 10 percent non-refundable deposit. That was the reason the then MD of the financier bank, Mr. Bernard Longe of the First Bank to lose his job. Ironically, the day the Supreme Court reinstated Longe was the same day the BPE’s DG, Anyanwu was removed over the brouhaha of the latest sale.
About 2004, the worst blunder of NITEL sale was dabbled into – that was the purported sale to Pentascope of the Netherlands, a company later found to have existed only in paper and not in any location in the world. The former Minister in the Presidency in charge of the FCT, Nair El-Rufai was neck deep into the deal and accused of vendetta against the board of the NITEL over a past disagreement. El-Rufai was the head of BPE then. Pentascope had neither manpower nor technical know-how or the money to run NITEL, and after that lethal blow, NITEL never recovered. By the time the virus called Pentascope came, NITEL had over 500,000 serviceable lines and sustained annual revenue of about N50b. All these were rubbished.
Because Pentascope had ruthlessly clipped NITEL’s wings, the two subsequent attempts to sale it flopped with dismal and scandalous bids. Orascom of Egypt bid NITEL for an embarrassing $250m and that closed the case until in 2006 when Transcorp, concocted over night, according to reliable sources came from the blues to place a bid of $750m.
At the point of payment, the poor Transcorp with unclear details of its mission in NITEL buy beat a retreat and settled for a reviewed bid value of $500m.
At the end of the day when NITEL was up for sale again last month, BPE said that Transcorp made no positive impact on NITEL ownership and management – a sign of its gross incompetence and the exposure of the shady nature of its inroad into NITEL. Prior to this latest drama, in 2008, the then Communications Minister, Mr. John Odey had once pronounced Transcorp’s ownership revoked. President Umar Yar’Adua, through his media spokesman, Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi countered. But it took two years for the FG to go back to that factual verdict, in a yet inconclusive deal.
For the fifth time since 2002, the sale of Nigeria’s national telecoms carrier, NITEL may suffer another privatization setback.
This is a fresh development that causes some worry to watchers of the endless sale palaver of the company reputable as highly valuable and profitable and really viable for purchase.
Last month, there was a hope raiser in the sale of NITEL after the abysmal management of the outfit by the Transcorp that bought 51 percent of the shareholding since 2006. The buy was fraught with controversies as many alleged that the Transcorp was owned and sponsored by former president Olusegun Obasanjo who was in power during the sale.
During the latest sale last month, the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE) and National Council on Privatization (NCP) supervised by the Vice President, now Acting President had announced that the revocation and take over from Transcorp was on grounds of poor management and lack of investment.
Right now tongues are wagging that the bid which some labour leaders in NITEL described as the “best thing to happen to NITEL and the nation to recover part of the wasted years of the national carrier is being frustrated because some people loyal to the forces that created Transcorp are out to make sure any sale to another company is frustrated. They see the sale to New Generation as a denial to Transcorp that has proved its incompetence to manage or do anything reasonable with the company in four uninterrupted years”.
Their grouse and resolve that “if Transcorp should lose, let everybody, including the nation that would make an income of $2.5b, the best and most wonderful offer ever on NITEL since 2002 the sale controversy started also lose. They don’t consider that there are close to 3000 workers in the employment of NITEL who have been left stranded without any income in the past two years. What is important to them is their personal interest and gain.”
Saturday Sun sources also revealed that the renewed agitation and kick against the sale even at a time the New Generation buyer has not been asked to pay the initial advance of 30 percent is on the grounds that the company that made the purchase is partly owned and allegedly encumbered with substantial business interest of General T. Y. Danjuma. The Transcorp gladiators therefore have taken the fight beyond the sale of a company owned by the Federal Government to an issue of the extension of the personality clash of Obasanjo and Danjuma. It is now a matter between an Obasanjo’s Transcorp and a Danjuma’s New Generation as alleged.
From all indications, the obstacle put in the way of the new buyer “is not yet founded because if they had failed to pay the initial advance, there would have been enough reasons to ask them to hands off. The reason they give that Unicom of China denied being technical partners of New Generation is not enough to toss them aside. Meanwhile, the European office of Unicom has admitted knowledge of New Generation and the bid to acquire NITEL. I think that was enough to convince any seller that this company has the competent technical backing to make good the offer”, Saturday Sun was told.
Another big twist in the bargain that is trying hard to throw a spanner to the works is the interest of about two existing Nigerian GSM firms that had interest in the purchase of NITEL but were stopped on rounds of spreading out the territory rather than concentrate all forces in the sector in the hands of one entity. One of the two interested companies which owns a premises next to that of NITEL in Victoria Island, Lagos, was accused of taking the top team of BPE to Dubai sometime late last year to induce them influence the sale to them. “After the inducement and the failure, this company had to get a surrogate technical partner to bid for NITEL.
That also lost and the loss is what the company would not want to bear. They are out to frustrate the NITEL sale until such a time the facilities and equipment that make NITEL strong and buyable decay and someone would be asked to take in for a pittance. They all want the company at all cost because they know its viability in equipment, assets, and technical manpower. If NITEL was a bad offer, I can assure you that the sale would have been over a long time ago”, he said.
Bidding loggerhead
Because the forces opposed to the sale won’t let go, some odds were introduced into the mix, including the revelation that the management of BPE compromised in the bidding by leaking the facts of the viability of NITEL to the winner of the bid. “New Generation made one of the lowest offers at the first round of bids. But it was later revealed to them that contrary to their fears, the sale value placed on NITEL is to the exclusion of its liabilities. Many of the bidders had not known this fact earlier. “That finding made New Generation come up strong in their second round of bids to make the best offer.
The position of some of us who understand the internal politics of the sale is that since the company’s bid was accepted and it has announced the winner; it should be allowed to manage NITEL. Meanwhile, some other forces commenced their fight from the NCP office, most of them advisers to the Acting President who kick that BPE leadership and its DG, Dr. Christopher Anyanwu, never consulted or carried them along. Their contention is that since Anyanwu rather decided to deal direct with the Ag. President, they will do their best to rubbish the sale. That is the real reason Anyanwu has become their victim now in suspension.”
To worsen the jinx in the deal, a committee the Acting President set up to look into the controversy of the sale that was supposed to submit its findings on Friday last week has not been heard from. In fact, most of the members, including the chairman, the former Attorney General have been removed in the federal cabinet shake-up. Nobody knows whether it sat or what it came up with. As the delay lingers, the fear is that it might get so long that the winner of the bid would opt out and we would start all over again”, our sources alerted.
The juice in NITEL
The total liabilities of NITEL is in the neighbourhood of $1.8b, and most of them in salary arrears, Saturday Sun found out. The workers have not been paid for over two years now and the Federal Government long ago made it clear that it has no money and would not be part of any deal to borrow and pay the workers when the future of the company is uncertain. “The hope had been hinged on the possibility of raising money from the sale to settle the workers. But that has been dashed. The fighters are oblivious of the interest of the workers who are stranded and would not get any attention until the company is sold.”
“NITEL up till today is a profit-making outfit, and from its Sat-3 equipment, it still nets about N20 billion per annum as it remains the data transfer backbone to all telecom service providers. For every use they make of the Sat-3, NITEL makes an income. The outfit in addition has choice property all over the nation and other very expensive equipment”, the worker stated.
Unfit workers
What is the stake or position of the workers in the whole game? That is an essential question many ask. There are close to 3000 of them, although with a depleted upper scale force. But these workers are so bereft of any stamina to fight the debtor company that has starved them and their family members and dependants for two years without pay. “Let’s take it that each of the 3000 worker has five dependants, that means 18,000 Nigerians are direct victims of the stalled NITEL sale. It is the well being and existence, health, education, feeding, housing and the rest of these 18,000 direct victims that the players who stop the sale of NITEL out of selfish aims stall. That is the bitter truth in the matter. But the players don’t give a hoot on whether the workers and their family members are alive or dead, all they want is their intention fulfilled.”
Workers who have not been paid for two years are too poor, too weak, too powerless and too frustrated to lift a finger in protest. “We don’t have the means to stage a protest and lack the medium to express our anger in any form. As a result, we die in silence while the politicians over the possession of NITEL play on.”
These players were described by the worker as unpatriotic and callous to the sufferings of other Nigerians. “If NITEL is sold, the nation will make an income that would be ploughed back into the system. The workers would be paid and they will have their lives revived. The new owners would also employ more Nigerians and through that the society expands and benefits. But they won’t hear any of these”, he asserted.
Indifferent NASS
The workers would not take any suggestion that the matter be forwarded to the National Assembly as they said past attempts never yielded any dividends. “We have been there and have sent petitions in the past for so many times until we discovered that the National Assembly acts like a people compromised. The committees of the two arms on Communications never did anything worthy of commendation towards our past efforts.”
They also lament that the major cause of increased unemployment in the nation is the closure and balkanization of government agencies that used to be heavy employers of labour. “The Railway Corporation is down, the NPA, Nigeria Airways, NAHCO etc, the government, either as the legislature or executive have never asked questions or probed to know why these agencies are down, even some of them already privatized. So, we can’t see the serious effort at solving the problem of joblessness. We have closed the chapter of taking our complaint to the NASS.”
Ceded assets
In about 2006, NITEL was divested of some of its assets, which were tagged ‘non-core’ One of them is the large NITEL Training Institute in Oshodi, Lagos that NCP, through BPE ceded to the Digital Bridge Institute (DBI). The rumour today is that the property is likely going to swing to the Bells University owned by Chief Obasanjo or at least have an affiliation with it with the Bells likely going to share the space with DBI. Saturday Sun visited the institute for confirmation of the allegation. The premises are already bubbling with activities as the DBI has started business. All the structures the institute is made of all inherited from NITEL have been refurbished and wear bright paints with deep blue doors.
The Marketing Manager in the Lagos campus, Mr. Akin Ogunlade declined powers to speak to Saturday Sun and rather passed the buck to Mr. Samuel Olanrewaju, Operations Manager at the Lagos campus who was battling with technicians to fix underground cable lines.
Olanrewaju however declined knowledge of the story of ceding the premises to Bells University. He instead said the premises are not enough for the business of the Institute, a reason it is building its Abuja campus simultaneously. He also noted that DBI later this year, subject to the approval of the Nigeria Universities Commission, (NUC) will upgrade to a university and the campus would not be enough for its operations.
“I can honestly tell you that I never heard what you asked me. It is a rumour. Yes, there could be no smoke without fire but given the scope of operations DBI wants to embark on especially after converting to a university, the place cannot accommodate us. We have been finding means of acquiring some more space around here because we want to establish the ICT Park here. The facilities and equipment required to have a standard ICT park can’t be contained here. The park would involve having Microsoft, HP, Siemens and other ICT and communication giants co-located here. Where is the space for another facility because we don’t even have enough”, he asked.
History of woes
The first attempt at relieving the FG of the burden of NITEL management was in 2002 when IIL won the bid to own 51 percent of the company. When the company ran into bad economic weather, it could not comply with the required initial payment. This failure made it lose its 10 percent non-refundable deposit. That was the reason the then MD of the financier bank, Mr. Bernard Longe of the First Bank to lose his job. Ironically, the day the Supreme Court reinstated Longe was the same day the BPE’s DG, Anyanwu was removed over the brouhaha of the latest sale.
About 2004, the worst blunder of NITEL sale was dabbled into – that was the purported sale to Pentascope of the Netherlands, a company later found to have existed only in paper and not in any location in the world. The former Minister in the Presidency in charge of the FCT, Nair El-Rufai was neck deep into the deal and accused of vendetta against the board of the NITEL over a past disagreement. El-Rufai was the head of BPE then. Pentascope had neither manpower nor technical know-how or the money to run NITEL, and after that lethal blow, NITEL never recovered. By the time the virus called Pentascope came, NITEL had over 500,000 serviceable lines and sustained annual revenue of about N50b. All these were rubbished.
Because Pentascope had ruthlessly clipped NITEL’s wings, the two subsequent attempts to sale it flopped with dismal and scandalous bids. Orascom of Egypt bid NITEL for an embarrassing $250m and that closed the case until in 2006 when Transcorp, concocted over night, according to reliable sources came from the blues to place a bid of $750m.
At the point of payment, the poor Transcorp with unclear details of its mission in NITEL buy beat a retreat and settled for a reviewed bid value of $500m.
At the end of the day when NITEL was up for sale again last month, BPE said that Transcorp made no positive impact on NITEL ownership and management – a sign of its gross incompetence and the exposure of the shady nature of its inroad into NITEL. Prior to this latest drama, in 2008, the then Communications Minister, Mr. John Odey had once pronounced Transcorp’s ownership revoked. President Umar Yar’Adua, through his media spokesman, Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi countered. But it took two years for the FG to go back to that factual verdict, in a yet inconclusive deal.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
BESUMSA ELECTIONS
Friday, December 4, 2009
We can’t have a lame as president, says Cardinal Okogie
Amidst of the raging storm on President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, on the basis of his ill health, the Metropolitan Archbishop of Lagos, Anthony Cardinal Okogie, has said the country cannot afford to have a lame man as president.
In an exclusive interview with Daily Sun, Cardinal Okogie, who said many right thinking Nigerians had foreseen the present quagmire, blamed the present embarrassment, the president’s health is causing the nation, on former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who he accused of foisting Yar’Adua on Nigeria.
According to Cardinal Okogie, “Nigeria is such a big and complex nation that no one can really understand it. We, Nigerians, think we are clever. We think we can cheat God. In all the aspects of life, things that Nigerians were not doing 40, 50, 60 years back, we are doing them today and that is why there is no progress in this nation and unless we look back, there will be no progress.
“Take for example, the under 17 national team, look at what happened. Look at our Super Eagles. There was a time the Super Eagles was a team to be reckoned with in the world. What have we today? Nothing. Secondly, Nigerians like to be deceived, to be flattered and as a result, we now have so many sycophants all over.
“The fear of God right now in Nigeria is almost gone and except for the mercy of God that is still holding us and as a result of that, there are so many quacks that call themselves prophets and prophetess and all what not and people, because they are gullible, are giving them chances to feed fat on the innocent ones, leaving the true God that we should serve and serving man, telling lies to one another.
“During the campaign that brought Yar’Adua to office, Obasanjo was the one talking and the man he was campaigning for hardly spoke. Only God knows why. It is not because he is not given the gift of speech, but if you want him in such an exalted position, at least, you must allow him to express himself to his people.
Obasanjo was the one doing everything but those of us who have eyes and who have ears and who still have our senses correct, saw that there was something fishy about it. Now, how can you take a whole nation like this for a ride?
“Obasanjo knows this man is not too well and look at what we are getting. Why put somebody like that there? And look at the results of the election we had. You saw how everything went zig zag, zig zag and till today, they are still having tribunal, tribunal and tribunal.
“A big nation like Nigeria, a nation that God has raised up, we are levering ourselves just like the Israelites did because we want to show God that we are clever. We can’t go far. Nature must always take its turn! This is an indirect way of God telling us to be careful. From what the doctors are saying, with his diagram and everything, we can’t have a nation with a lame head of state,” he said.
Okogie, who frowned at those calling on President Yar’Adua not to resign, noted with emphasis that this calibre of Nigerians are praying for retrogression.
“Those, who are licking the boot of Yar’Adua, who still want him to be there whether dead or alive because of their ego, are praying for retrogression.
“The man is sick, and health, people say, is wealth. If he is not well cured, look at what is going to happen to the nation. Already it is happening and even his deputy has no power. What I am saying in effect is this: this man is sick. He cannot take the nation for a ride.”
Continuing, Cardinal Okogie noted that Nigeria is more than 150 million people and cannot be hanging on one person who is sick.
“It could have been a different thing if the Vice President has power. And like I read in one of the papers, he is trying to direct the nation on the telephone. Are we serious at all? This is the time for them to nip the thing in the bud. Those who are telling him not to resign should check their conscience,” he said.
the Metropolitan Archbishop of Lagos, Anthony Cardinal Okogie, has said that the country cannot afford to have a lame man as president.
In an exclusive interview with Daily Sun, Cardinal Okogie who said many right thinking Nigerians had foreseen the present quagmire, blamed the present embarrassment the president’s health is causing the nation on former President Olusegun Obasanjo who he accused of foisting Yar’Adua on Nigeria.
According to Cardinal Okogie, “Nigeria is such a big and complex nation that no one can really understand it. We Nigerians think we are clever. We think we can cheat God. In all the aspects of life, things that Nigerians were not doing 40, 50, 60 years back, we are doing them today and that is why there is no progress in this nation and unless we look back, there will be no progress.
“Take for example, the under 17 national team, look at what happened. Look at our Super Eagles. There was a time the Super Eagles was a team to be reckoned with in the world. What have we today? Nothing. Secondly, Nigerians like to be deceived, to be flattered and as a result, we now have so many sycophants all over.
“The fear of God right now in Nigeria is almost gone and except for the mercy of God that is still holding us and as a result of that, there are so many quacks that call themselves prophets and prophetess and all what not and people, because they are gullible, are giving them chances to feed fat on the innocent ones, leaving the true God that we should serve and serving man, telling lies to one another.
“During the campaign that brought Yar’Adua to office, Obasanjo was the one talking and the man he was campaigning for hardly spoke. Only God knows why. It is not because he is not given the gift of speech, but if you want him in such an exalted position, at least, you must allow him to express himself to his people.
Obasanjo was the one doing everything but those of us who have eyes and who have ears and who still have our senses correct, saw that there was something fishy about it. Now, how can you take a whole nation like this for a ride?
“OBJ knows this man is not too well and look at what we are getting. Why put somebody like that there? And look at the results of the election we had. You saw how everything went zig zag, zig zag and till today, they are still having tribunal, tribunal and tribunal.
“A big nation like Nigeria, a nation that God has raised up, we are levering ourselves just like the Israelites did because we want to show God that we are clever. We can’t go far. Nature must always take its turn! This is an indirect way of God telling us to be careful. From what the doctors are saying, with his diagram and everything, we can’t have a nation with a lame Head of State,” he said.
Okogie who frowned at those calling on President Yar’Adua not to resign, noted with emphasis that this calibre of Nigerians are praying for retrogression.
“Those who are licking the boot of Yar’Adua, who still want him to be there whether dead or alive because of their ego are praying for retrogression.
“The man is sick, and health, people say, is wealth. If he is not well cured, look at what is going to happen to the nation. Already it is happening and even his deputy has no power. What I am saying in effect is this: this man is sick. He cannot take the nation for a ride.”
Continuing, Cardinal Okogie noted that Nigeria is more than 150 million people and cannot be hanging on one person who is sick.
“It could have been a different thing if the Vice President has power. And like I read in one of the papers, he is trying to direct the nation on the telephone. Are we serious at all? This is the time for them to nip the thing in the bud. Those who are telling him not to resign should check their conscience,” he said.
In an exclusive interview with Daily Sun, Cardinal Okogie, who said many right thinking Nigerians had foreseen the present quagmire, blamed the present embarrassment, the president’s health is causing the nation, on former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who he accused of foisting Yar’Adua on Nigeria.
According to Cardinal Okogie, “Nigeria is such a big and complex nation that no one can really understand it. We, Nigerians, think we are clever. We think we can cheat God. In all the aspects of life, things that Nigerians were not doing 40, 50, 60 years back, we are doing them today and that is why there is no progress in this nation and unless we look back, there will be no progress.
“Take for example, the under 17 national team, look at what happened. Look at our Super Eagles. There was a time the Super Eagles was a team to be reckoned with in the world. What have we today? Nothing. Secondly, Nigerians like to be deceived, to be flattered and as a result, we now have so many sycophants all over.
“The fear of God right now in Nigeria is almost gone and except for the mercy of God that is still holding us and as a result of that, there are so many quacks that call themselves prophets and prophetess and all what not and people, because they are gullible, are giving them chances to feed fat on the innocent ones, leaving the true God that we should serve and serving man, telling lies to one another.
“During the campaign that brought Yar’Adua to office, Obasanjo was the one talking and the man he was campaigning for hardly spoke. Only God knows why. It is not because he is not given the gift of speech, but if you want him in such an exalted position, at least, you must allow him to express himself to his people.
Obasanjo was the one doing everything but those of us who have eyes and who have ears and who still have our senses correct, saw that there was something fishy about it. Now, how can you take a whole nation like this for a ride?
“Obasanjo knows this man is not too well and look at what we are getting. Why put somebody like that there? And look at the results of the election we had. You saw how everything went zig zag, zig zag and till today, they are still having tribunal, tribunal and tribunal.
“A big nation like Nigeria, a nation that God has raised up, we are levering ourselves just like the Israelites did because we want to show God that we are clever. We can’t go far. Nature must always take its turn! This is an indirect way of God telling us to be careful. From what the doctors are saying, with his diagram and everything, we can’t have a nation with a lame head of state,” he said.
Okogie, who frowned at those calling on President Yar’Adua not to resign, noted with emphasis that this calibre of Nigerians are praying for retrogression.
“Those, who are licking the boot of Yar’Adua, who still want him to be there whether dead or alive because of their ego, are praying for retrogression.
“The man is sick, and health, people say, is wealth. If he is not well cured, look at what is going to happen to the nation. Already it is happening and even his deputy has no power. What I am saying in effect is this: this man is sick. He cannot take the nation for a ride.”
Continuing, Cardinal Okogie noted that Nigeria is more than 150 million people and cannot be hanging on one person who is sick.
“It could have been a different thing if the Vice President has power. And like I read in one of the papers, he is trying to direct the nation on the telephone. Are we serious at all? This is the time for them to nip the thing in the bud. Those who are telling him not to resign should check their conscience,” he said.
the Metropolitan Archbishop of Lagos, Anthony Cardinal Okogie, has said that the country cannot afford to have a lame man as president.
In an exclusive interview with Daily Sun, Cardinal Okogie who said many right thinking Nigerians had foreseen the present quagmire, blamed the present embarrassment the president’s health is causing the nation on former President Olusegun Obasanjo who he accused of foisting Yar’Adua on Nigeria.
According to Cardinal Okogie, “Nigeria is such a big and complex nation that no one can really understand it. We Nigerians think we are clever. We think we can cheat God. In all the aspects of life, things that Nigerians were not doing 40, 50, 60 years back, we are doing them today and that is why there is no progress in this nation and unless we look back, there will be no progress.
“Take for example, the under 17 national team, look at what happened. Look at our Super Eagles. There was a time the Super Eagles was a team to be reckoned with in the world. What have we today? Nothing. Secondly, Nigerians like to be deceived, to be flattered and as a result, we now have so many sycophants all over.
“The fear of God right now in Nigeria is almost gone and except for the mercy of God that is still holding us and as a result of that, there are so many quacks that call themselves prophets and prophetess and all what not and people, because they are gullible, are giving them chances to feed fat on the innocent ones, leaving the true God that we should serve and serving man, telling lies to one another.
“During the campaign that brought Yar’Adua to office, Obasanjo was the one talking and the man he was campaigning for hardly spoke. Only God knows why. It is not because he is not given the gift of speech, but if you want him in such an exalted position, at least, you must allow him to express himself to his people.
Obasanjo was the one doing everything but those of us who have eyes and who have ears and who still have our senses correct, saw that there was something fishy about it. Now, how can you take a whole nation like this for a ride?
“OBJ knows this man is not too well and look at what we are getting. Why put somebody like that there? And look at the results of the election we had. You saw how everything went zig zag, zig zag and till today, they are still having tribunal, tribunal and tribunal.
“A big nation like Nigeria, a nation that God has raised up, we are levering ourselves just like the Israelites did because we want to show God that we are clever. We can’t go far. Nature must always take its turn! This is an indirect way of God telling us to be careful. From what the doctors are saying, with his diagram and everything, we can’t have a nation with a lame Head of State,” he said.
Okogie who frowned at those calling on President Yar’Adua not to resign, noted with emphasis that this calibre of Nigerians are praying for retrogression.
“Those who are licking the boot of Yar’Adua, who still want him to be there whether dead or alive because of their ego are praying for retrogression.
“The man is sick, and health, people say, is wealth. If he is not well cured, look at what is going to happen to the nation. Already it is happening and even his deputy has no power. What I am saying in effect is this: this man is sick. He cannot take the nation for a ride.”
Continuing, Cardinal Okogie noted that Nigeria is more than 150 million people and cannot be hanging on one person who is sick.
“It could have been a different thing if the Vice President has power. And like I read in one of the papers, he is trying to direct the nation on the telephone. Are we serious at all? This is the time for them to nip the thing in the bud. Those who are telling him not to resign should check their conscience,” he said.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Nigeria needs a stubborn electoral commission –Iwu
Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Maurice Iwu, yesterday said Nigeria requires a “stubborn” electoral commission for the country to succeed in its socio- political development.
Iwu who spoke at the 2009 Better Society Lecture organised by Champion Newspapers entitled “2011: Political Behaviour and the Future of Elections in Nigeria”, said
“When an individual exists, as is still found these days, who single-handedly picks all candidates for a political party in all elections, the views and preferences of majority of party members notwithstanding, the grief for democracy becomes apparent. Nigeria therefore needs a stubborn electoral commission to succeed.”
He decried what he called the concept of African big man when individuals become “a lord whose word is law and to whom all those around him must bow in Nigerian politics”. Although he acknowledged that the electoral system needed reform, he insisted that the problems that had dogged Nigerian elections over the years were steeped in personal indiscipline and inordinate ambition of political players rather than the available laws.
Senate President, David Mark, in his remark said the INEC chairman is the not the cause of the nation’s electoral woes and challenged politicians who have Iwu’s signature on their certificates of return to resign first before calling for his head.
“Every elected politician that has Iwu’s signature of his certificate of return and wants Iwu removed should resign first before calling for his head. Iwu is not the problem of the nation’s electoral woes but our attitude, the electoral act is not the problem we should change our mindset before electoral reforms can work in the country,” Mark said.
extracted from www.dailytrust.com
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Deregulation: NLC to protest October 29
A coalition of labour unions and civil society organisations led by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) announced yesterday that it would stage a protest rally in Abuja on October 29, 2009 to protest government’s moves to deregulate the downstream oil sector.
The coalition said in Abuja that contrary to government’s claims, deregulation will only worsen the plight of Nigerians because of the attendant rise in the prices of commodities and essential services that it would create.
Speaking at a press conference, NLC’s Deputy President Peters Adeyemi said, “We are clearly opposed to it because it will further worsen the plight of Nigerians. We can’t deceive ourselves; nobody can tell us here that deregulation and price increase will not affect anything. It will affect everything that we do and that will not augur well for Nigerians.”
He added, “What deregulation means to our government is increases in price of petrol and petroleum products because there is nothing else for us to situate that statement on; you move from N65 to N94. It clearly shows that government has nothing beyond the increase in prices of petrol and petroleum products.”
He said the planned rally that will include Nigerians from all walks of life will be peaceful but would strongly reject the policy of deregulation “which would take us back to the period of long queues and hoarding and would further worsen the plight of Nigerians.”
According to Adeyemi, the proposed rally is part of the strategies mapped out by the coalition to oppose deregulation and to call for full implementation of recommendations of the Justice Mohammed Uwais Electoral Reform Committee as well as for an increase in wages of workers.
The coalition also expressed worry with what it termed “the unusual zeal” with which Petroleum Minister Rilwanu Lukman was pushing the deregulation agenda, saying he was doing it for selfish reasons.
“We are also worried the Minister of Petroleum appears to be driving this process so hard. We are saying that he doesn’t have the moral justification to do what he is doing because we are aware that he has vested interests in some oil companies that stand to benefit from this deregulation. Whatever policy we are going to engage in this country should be a policy that will impact positively on Nigerians and not individual interests. When government functionaries are seen to be driving the process of policy implementation because certain agencies or companies for which they have vested interests are going to benefit, it then means that the policy is about serving self interest and not in the interest of the Nigerian people.”
Representatives of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, Alliance for Credible Elections and the Civic Freedom Agenda, among others, all condemned the planned deregulation just as they urged all Nigerians to converge in Abuja on the 29th of October, 2009 to protest against it.
(extracted from: daily trust)
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
We’re ready to sink Germany –Siasia
As Flying Eagles prepare to face Germany today in the second round of FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Egypt, Coach of the team, Samson Siasia says the squad is set to improve on their poor performance in the preliminary stage.Siasia said his boys were ready and highly motivated to get victory against the Germans.“Everyone is working really hard now to get it right. We won’t let you down, we won’t let Nigerians down. The boys are ready.“We are lucky that we still qualified to the next round and God has brought smiles on us despite the first two games, and we are ready to turn things around.“We want to put in hard work and dedication and turn our fortunes around,” Siasia pledged.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Bank MD loots N97bn
Following the second round of banks’ audit exercise conducted by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), officials of the apex bank found that a managing director (name withheld), whose shareholders have strong political influence in the current administration, allocated to himself share capital of N85 billion that is yet to be paid up. Daily Sun source also revealed that the same MD allocated shares to a local airline to the tune of N18 billion as corporate investments. The airline, the source said, denied knowledge of the deal. The bank MD is also alleged to have invested N12 billion depositors’ funds in a supposed subsidiary of the bank. The source said the company was found to be the MD’s private firm. The conclusion of the latest audit has already sparked fear in the financial sector. The CBN examiners were said to have concentrated on liquidity; loan verification such as loans to stockbrokers, petroleum products importers, performing and non performing loans; corporate governance issues; processes and resources spent on information technology. The funding is contrary to CBN Governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido’s conclusion that the remaining banks were not as bad as the others. According to him, he did not expect many surprises as the remaining 14 banks were not significantly different but latest development had proven him wrong. It was gathered that the apex bank was yet to conduct what they described as forensic accounting investigation on any of the 24 banks in the country. The managing director of at least one bank has reportedly visited the State Security Service (SSS), to deposit his passport. This is to prevent him from travelling abroad. Bankers are of the view that two or three banks may be affected by the decision of Mallam Lamido not to allow family banks in the country anymore. The CBN governor’s policy to end family owned banks, the bankers believed, may be partly responsible for the fate of Oceanic Bank and Intercontinental Bank, seen as being dominated by the personality of their managing directors. Sanusi at a forum on Wednesday while briefing capital market operators warned that CBN would not allow banks to be run as a sole proprietorship but as institutions that would imbibe the tenets of good corporate governance, promising to treat shareholders of the affected banks fairly and also ensure that, henceforth, banks in the country were run as institutions rather than as sole proprietorships. Sanusi also allayed fears of nationalizing the five troubled banks whose managing directors and executive directors were sacked following their gross misuse of shareholders’ funds and inability to meet up with other banking statutory obligations. The governor said the results of the remaining banks would be made known in October 2009, but opined that their results would be better than those of the 10 banks examined earlier from which five were summarily sacked. The CBN governor had on August 14 sacked the managing director of and executive directors of Afribank Plc, Finbank Plc, Intercontinental Bank Plc, Oceanic Bank Plc and Union Bank Plc. The examination was conducted by a joint team of CBN and NDIC officials. According to the CBN audit the major findings on the five banks were excessive high-level non-performing loans, which led to poor corporate governance practices, lax credit administration processes and the absence or non-adherence to the bank’s credit risk management practices, leaving the percentage of non-performing loans from 19 per cent to 48 per cent. The five banks will, therefore, need to make additional provision of N539.09 billion. The total loan portfolio of these five banks was N2, 801.92 billion. Margin loans amounted to N456.28 billion and exposure to oil and gas was N487.02 billion. Aggregate of non-performing loans were N1,143 billion representing 40.81 per cent. The five banks accounted for a disproportionate component of the total exposure to capital market and oil and gas, thus reflecting heavy concentration to high risk areas relative to other banks in the industry. The five banks were either perennial net-takers of funds in the inter-bank market or enjoyed liquidity support from the CBN for long periods of time, a clear evidence of liquidity problem. In other words, these banks were unable to meet their maturing obligations as they fall due without resorting to the CBN or the inter-bank market. Further checks revealed that the outstanding balance on the EDW of the five banks amounted to N127.85 billion by end July 2009, representing 89.81 per cent of the total industry exposure to the CBN on its discount window while their net guaranteed inter-bank takings stood at N253.30 billion as at August 2, 2009. Their liquidity ratios ranged from 17.65 per cent to 24 per cent as at May 31, 2009. The banking regulatory minimum is 25 per cent as spelt out by the apex bank.
extracted from: www.sunnewsonline.com
extracted from: www.sunnewsonline.com
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