Someone claimed there has been no ''evidence'' to show that OBJ has been involved in any shady deals of any sort. Well, I tell him that there was no evidence of any sort against IBB when he was head of state of this nation as to support claims that he was involved in any shady deals. It was only after he left office (by stepping aside) that the bubble burst and some people came out shouting that he stole some 12 billion dollars windfall meant for the nation'c coffers. And indeed, we have every reason to believe such news. What with IBB's Hiltop Mansion at Minna, one of the biggest edifice of it's kind in the country? The recent publication from the world bank detailing IBB's foreign ''reserves'' profile, his well known link to globacom - albeit, in disguise, and several other web of companies that IBB has got a substantial stake in. Did anyone come out to implicate Abacha when he was Head of State? Why should anyone come out to show how OBJ has done anything worth labelling as wrong?

Bottom line is that when a man is in a position of authority in Nigeria, especailly a position as high as that of the president of the country, you can never come up with any evidence to convict him of any wrong. Did you see what happened to those reporters at AIT and Daily Independent over ''tokunbo'' aircraft?

As for OBJ, his farm at Otta has never had it so good. I heard that place boasts of some of the best agricultural research equipment in subsaharan Africa. The expanse of land the place covers is a wide as a whole town. Obasanjo Holdings is one big conglomerate that can buy off anything you can think of in this country and beyond.

And why should OBJ's stake in Transcorp not be a problem? Where did he get the money to have such a stake? Is it from his Otta Farm? Some people should be rounded up and summarily shot dead on the spot!

The Nigerdelta where ALL these money they are sharing came from is relegated to the bottom. No wonder people can say the source of their ill gotten wealth should not be bothered about.

ono:

Someone claimed there has been no ''evidence'' to show that OBJ has been involved in any shady deals of any sort. Well, I tell him that there was no evidence of any sort against IBB when he was head of state of this nation as to support claims that he was involved in any shady deals. It was only after he left office (by stepping aside) that the bubble burst and some people came out shouting that he stole some 12 billion dollars windfall meant for the nation'c coffers. And indeed, we have every reason to believe such news. What with IBB's Hiltop Mansion at Minna, one of the biggest edifice of it's kind in the country? The recent publication from the world bank detailing IBB's foreign ''reserves'' profile, his well known link to globacom - albeit, in disguise, and several other web of companies that IBB has got a substantial stake in. Did anyone come out to implicate Abacha when he was Head of State? Why should anyone come out to show how OBJ has done anything worth labelling as wrong?

Bottom line is that when a man is in a position of authority in Nigeria, especailly a position as high as that of the president of the country, you can never come up with any evidence to convict him of any wrong. Did you see what happened to those reporters at AIT and Daily Independent over ''tokunbo'' aircraft?

As for OBJ, his farm at Otta has never had it so good. I heard that place boasts of some of the best agricultural research equipment in subsaharan Africa. The expanse of land the place covers is a wide as a whole town. Obasanjo Holdings is one big conglomerate that can buy off anything you can think of in this country and beyond.

And why should OBJ's stake in Transcorp not be a problem? Where did he get the money to have such a stake? Is it from his Otta Farm? Some people should be rounded up and summarily shot dead on the spot!

The Nigerdelta where ALL these money they are sharing came from is relegated to the bottom. No wonder people can say the source of their ill gotten wealth should not be bothered about.

You heard, I heard, his sister's brother told me, a friend of my father's best friend told me. All rumors. please post facts to back up your assesments, otherwise they remain what they are. Imaginative rumours.

An anonymous character told another anonymous character. And they expect us to believe them.

That's good! Next on their list should be NEPA or is it PHCN they now call it?

Well, some folks who came out with FACTS about the purchase of a ''tokunbo'' aircraft are presently cooling off their heels in the gulag. Ken saro wiwa was killed for daring to come out with FACTS. A lot of other FACT FINDERS often times met their waterloo before getting those FACTS or they die with the FACTS.

So, the FACTS of the matter is that sometimes (in Nigeria, especially) it's good to keep your FACTS to yourself, and (in cases where those FACTS are against a ruler) wait for the ruler to STEP ASIDE!!

Let's all look at things this way; Nitel has endured alot in the hands of saboteurs and money-grabbing opportunists,thus its demise under privatisation has been long coming and overdue.Transcorp's timely purchase of the Institution is a welcome devlopment and may turn out to be good news for the Telecoms sector,knowing Nitel has enormous potential to increase revenue and create jobs for thousands or Nigerians( Its enviable telecommunication backbone and stakes in an african Satellite project and some other juicy ventures is enough proof!).
My greatest fear ,however, is that some group of individuals under Transcorp( if not all!)could highjack the situation and we are back to square-one.
Concerns about Nitel workers come to the fore and need to be resolved speedily.Afterall,some of them could be our close relations.I am a living example of a past Nitel scourge.
Withall, let's hope sincererity of purpose and proffessionalism will prevail and Nitel will then live to its true potential!
Long live Nigeria!

SOJ

I'd like to see a statistics of all the privatised company and how they are faring at the moment. And I'll love to see the names of individual shareholders and their stock profiles. I will then conclude (if I'm satisfied) that this privatisation runs of OBJ admin is not a ruse.

And, was NEPA really privatised and changed to PHCN or what? I'm beginning to think something terrible is going on in the power sector.

ono:

Well, some folks who came out with FACTS about the purchase of a ''tokunbo'' aircraft are presently cooling off their heels in the gulag.

What facts did they come out with. I would like to know becos I was under the impression (from news reports) that they were speculating on their respective shows.

Look people, whether you choose to believe it or not, Obasanjo has a significant stake in Transcorp and it is appalling that in a society that claims to be democratic that a president will get involved in any aspect of private business with no regards for conflict of interest.

In well run democracies, presidents/prime ministers are forced to denounce any ties or relations to the business world so as to ensure free and fair governance. Here in Canada our former prime minister Paul Martin when he came in to power was instructed by parliament to divest himself from his shipping mogul of a company and sell off his controlling shares in the company which he did.

What Obasanjo and his kronies are trying to do is to have a hand in every area of the country so they can control the country and money will be flowing into thier pockets "legitimately" through "stategic investments". Its the new wave of political/"agabada collar" crime to milk starving citizens of Nigeria. For participating in such schemes he and his people should be tied up and put into a small oil tanker filled with oil, shipped out into the atlantic and blown up. Or lightning should strike em all dead in the heat of thier supposed successes.

How is it possible that they can acquire a company like Nitel that has been around for eons for a mere $750m. I mean that is such an undervalued price. When transcorp sells the company to another investor within a short period of time, they will make an insane profit far and above whatever they are going to spend to fix the company up.

God help us. God help us all.

I heard one of the main dude "in charge" resigned. source TV

if it's true why?

i think some of us are getting this thing wrong.first of all,is there anything wrong with Nigerians owning a piece or all of Nigeria Businesses(as is in this case Nitel)?we all know that government are incapable of handling anything as this will result to people thinking its their opportunity to eat thier own "national cake".what is the best option except private individuals, private Nigerian that have a stake in the economy, and in the country in general making their presence felt in these areas.i dont think any foreginer can have as much stake in Nigeria than Nigerians themselves.
secondly,the calibre of people in transcorp and the businesses which they have spun leaves no room for doubt as to their seriousness.i don't think they are the type that invest monies just for the fun of it or to throw away.think of GTB bank,zenith bank,Dangote industries,Uba and the likes.these are some of the companies that are blazing the trail in Nigeria and they are owned by some of the board members in Transcorp.
Thirdly, i think we have been disilussioned in Nigeria to believe that nothing can ever come out of Nigeria and Nigerins.come to think of it,when Nigerian Airways was sold,and was to be majorly run by Virgin Nigeria,there was this same hullabalu that i am hearing now.But has Virgin NIgeria done well so far or not?please can someone answer that?
Obasanjo may have a stake in trancorp,but what ever it is common sense tells me it is for business purpose and purely to make profit.except u want to tell me that they invest so much money in different ares in Nigeria and then run the Business down to loot it.
Even in western countries,private individual invest in business in there countries and beyond to make profit,and it is this drive for profit that brings,competition and excellence.
please lets give Nigeriains and Nigeria a chance.

[b][/b]and i still hear some people talk about obasanjo being a thief and a looter.but i will ask YOU one question.if u were in government,will u eat some money or no? yea am asking YOU,yes YOU reading this.just ask yourself will u loot or not.Nobody is a saint.and come to think of it,some people are even worse and can sell this counry.some people have been looting and doing nothing for this country and they still want to come back and rule us and there are people like YOU that are complaining that still wants to vote them in.i still think Obasanjo has done more for this country than any past president(i am not saying that gives him the opportunity to loot).but fair is fair.ok can anyone,think of any past president that has has achieved as much as Obasanjo?lets take it further,can YOU tell ME, which Nigerian u think has the pedigree,to rule this country honestly?maybe this should be another topic.anyway am waiting

After decades of misrule and theft by our leaders, it's understandable that people will be so pessimistic. Obasanjo is not the best leader Nigeria can offer, but he's perhaps the best we've had - he's crudity and other failings not withstanding. He's been the most effective, has had the courage to appoint true professionals in roles he admits he has not clue about (unlike those before him who would have had ineffective aljajis fill sensitive ministerial posts). Telecoms, fiscal descipline in the economy and our foreign reserves are just a few of his achievements.

I've come to appreciate what has happened with Nitel. The BPE should be commended. Strange, if this company had been bought by some foreign company for half the price that Transcorp paid, I doubt we would have seen this negative reaction

This is a company that will be owned by millions of Nigerians and managed by competent Nigerians. It's tiring just reading the negetive vibes from our own people. We're really our own worst enemies.

My prayer is that these dubious old men - the likes of Atiku and IBB never rule nigeria again. It's our collective responsibility to see to this.

I think it's good for the politicians to be involved in private, legitimate ventures as long as those ventures are not monopolies. NITEL as a company has some monopoly rights that shouldn't be in the hands of Transcorp.

If they are competing legitimately in the private sector we can still beat them: customers will always get the best deal. But where a private company is granted monopolistic privileges by the government, it's exploitation.

Garuba:

Look people, whether you choose to believe it or not, Obasanjo has a significant stake in Transcorp and it is appalling that in a society that claims to be democratic that a president will get involved in any aspect of private business with no regards for conflict of interest.

In well run democracies, presidents/prime ministers are forced to denounce any ties or relations to the business world so as to ensure free and fair governance. Here in Canada our former prime minister Paul Martin when he came in to power was instructed by parliament to divest himself from his shipping mogul of a company and sell off his controlling shares in the company which he did.

What Obasanjo and his kronies are trying to do is to have a hand in every area of the country so they can control the country and money will be flowing into their pockets "legitimately" through "stategic investments". Its the new wave of political/"agabada collar" crime to milk starving citizens of Nigeria. For participating in such schemes he and his people should be tied up and put into a small oil tanker filled with oil, shipped out into the atlantic and blown up. Or lightning should strike em all dead in the heat of their supposed successes.

How is it possible that they can acquire a company like Nitel that has been around for eons for a mere $750m. I mean that is such an undervalued price. When transcorp sells the company to another investor within a short period of time, they will make an insane profit far and above whatever they are going to spend to fix the company up.

God help us. God help us all.

What are you talking about? The president of the USA is an oil businessman and owns oil companies. The vice president was on the board of the now defunct Mighty Enron. And those are just businesses that I know of. Pull your finger out please.

O King and joshO you have spoke very well.

Ono:
Please get your facts straight. The world bank is not concerned with private individual
foreign reserves or their checking accounts, they have better things to do than bother
with IBB and his reserves.

Conflict of Interest:
Yes, there is clearly a conflict of interest, but that is not new. Dick Chenney (US VP) still
has some interest in Halliburton, and Halliburton routinely get no-bid contracts from the
US government. Silvio Berlusconi is Italy's richest man and until recently was also the
prime minister. He owned virtually all the media outfits in Italy and everywhere you look
there seems to be conflict of interest, still he served as prime minister for several years.
In most democracies, care is taken to eliminate or reduce conflict of interest, but that
does not mean its gone completely, some are more subtle than others.

Transparency:
Its public record that Obasanjo proclaimed that he will personally invest in Transcorp. STOP
THE PRESS! Maybe I missed something or not but when ever have we heard a Nigerian
head of state openly declare his intention to invest in anything publicly? Its transparency
Nigerian style, but its a first nevertheless.

Folks, lets try to believe and act like a new day is dawning in Nigeria. Its not perfect, Obasanjo
is not perfect, but his heart is in the right place. Transcorp shares will soon be available for
even the average individual to purchase. Doesn't it feel good to know that in Nigerian an
average investor can consider himself a shareholder of the same company as the president?
There is certainly plenty of room for improvement, but its a good start.

It's great news that NITEL was sold. The government has no business running any biz in the private sector, let the government govern & let competent individuals in the private sector run businesses. I hate to say this but the first that I would do if I was the purchaser of NITEL is to have every employee reapply for their positions and weed out out the incompetents from there! All top management will be FIRED!!!! Get some fresh team in there!

I hope they'll be able to rehabilitate Nitel now,

and they'd better give the staff a very good severance package

Well, I did not say presidents and thieves should not get shares in practically everything they deem fit to have a stake in. What I'm against is a situation where the resources of the country is trapped in the hands of a few cabals to the detriment of the well being of the majority of our people, especially when the resources does not belong to them in the first place. Godforsaken thieves milking the Nigerdelta people' resources and using it to build mega companies. They will never succeed. Failure is their lot, and they will perish by their own hands.

Bill (William) Gates is a shining example of someone who got his wealth by using his brain and other resources at his disposal. Today, he's the world's richest man. Not even OBJ, IBB and other rogues can measure up to what this man owns - their ill gotten wealth notwithstanding. I will never say anything bad about this man.

All you folks making refernce to dirty thieves in the US and Italy better spend your ample time coming up with role models who younger generations can look up to to make real wealth, and not some mafia style thieves and rogues visiting Okija shrines and spilling innocent blood.

And like I use to say all the time, it's either you're a good man, or you're not. OBJ, as far as I'm concerned, is not someone I can trust to deliver the goods. Shikena.

Ono,

What you point out lies at the core of our problem as a nation - the greed and get-rich-quick mentality of our people. Money is worshiped by a many (including churches), with disregard for how the ill gotten riches (not wealth) are acquired in the first place. Although our leaders have failed to provide an enabling environment for REAL prosperity to thrive, for which they must bear responsibility, they alone are not responsible for correcting this. There is a need to re-orientate and re-educate the masses. Blind worship

With the right leadership and as our collective mindset evolves, we should adopt new moral and ethical standards that ties individual prosperity to hardwork and value-add.

In my own small way, I will give credit where and when it's due. I've heard and seen the likes of Ribadu, Soludu, Iweala, Ozekwesili, Akinluyi, and I've been left with renewed hope that indeed, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

@ Nutter; i did say that one Mr. Ibrahim Jimoh using a corporate outfit bought over NICON insurance. NICON-NOGA is owned by transcorp. I hope that point is taken.

In every Corporation there is the majority shareholder, I wonder who we will see when and if transcorp is unveiled. If some government officials are now using insider information to float a company and buy up our heritage only to turn around and say they are doing it for the good of Nigeria through selling of minority stocks then there is a problem.

Transcorp has not yet paid the reserve price so lets not put the cart before the horse. I will like us to take note of what is happening to INTELS now. If a government that is hostile to some perceived politicians should take over in the next republic then I am afraid for the future of Transcorp. Political patronage might not succeed in Nigeria as it does in the US because we have a lot of intellectual saprophytes.

Lets not mix up issues here. Italian silva berlusconi is i hope someone i'd equate to ibrahim jimoh or even adenuga or the late abiola. This are people who were first know for their business acumen before they entered into politics. The like of the Ibru family in Nigeria is also a case in point. And the beauty of this is that they know how to separate their lives as politicians and then as businessmen. Ibrahim Jimoh tried politics ones and failed, then he was into Oil distribution and sales business, now he has added insurance and is trying to enter into the aviation industry. If he is President tomorrow, he might draft policies like import restriction to enhance his numerous business interests and as long as it does not kill the common man like the war in iraq is doing to them americans there it will be in order; of course following the due process which means getting the acceptance of the legislature.

Transcorp will make all thier staff in other companies to use TRANSTEL( envisaged) like ADENUGA is doing (CONOIL,ETB etc)so if there continue thier SHOPPING SPREE, there will be more subscribers and more money going in the coffers so i think they might break even in about 5 yrs.
I WILL DEFINITELY BUY TRANSCORP SHARES no matter what it comes out at.

I will also be acquiring Transcorp shares. With the purchase of Nitel you can expect the IPO to be higer than N10/share. and will rise exponentially over a short period of time.

However, I believe that Nitel was bought for chicken change. It was grossly undervalued at $750m for 75% of the company. Please. A company like that is easily worth about $2b for 50%.

Lets be clear on some points. The sale of Nitel was an OPEN BID. It wasn't done in the middle of the night in Aso rock. It couldn't have been more transparent.

TransCorp won because their bid was the best value-to-Nigerians proposition, the best quality and off course, the highest ($750.000.000). I got to find out a bit about the individuals and professional outfits involved in the bid and saw why TransCorp quickly earned the respect of the evaluators. It has been hailed as transparent by all  - workers union, house of reps and the entire organized private sector. No one else was willing to pay anything near for a corporation in steep decline and decay.  Would you have prefered it had Transcorp bought into SA or European corporation like the thieves we have as past leaders are all doing?

And Transcop (Nitel) is so different from Intels. It is not a one-man-show (Majority shareholdings notwithstanding). Let Atiku and his associates show how much they paid for all the corporations they own (including oil blocks)  and explain how many Nigerians are beneficiaries of these entities (besides their immediate families and cronies).

I do not know much about Jimoh Ibrahim and therefore cannot comment on his dealings. TransCorp on the other hand are making a major commitment
inspite of the prevailing risks in our polity. They should be commended.

I do not hold brief for OBJ, and would like to see him hand over to a young and dynamic leader from whatever part of the country. But it will be a travesty, should we end up with the likes of those I mentioned in my previous comments.

I strongly believe that Transcorp are just capitalist in the light of the emerging Nigeria lets look out

otokx:

@ Nutter; i did say that one Mr. Ibrahim Jimoh using a corporate outfit bought over NICON insurance. NICON-NOGA is owned by transcorp. I hope that point is taken.

No, Otokx. Your actual statement was:

"and then consider the young man that just single handedly bought NICON and is now trying to consolidate and buy out all the airlines?”

If you didn’t mean Nicon hotel, then apologies. However, your clarification does not absolve you of accrediting the purchase of NICON to a single individual. That was my point.

I read yesterday a comment by Gani that the sale of TransCorp was illegal and a ploy to acquire Nigerian Assets by a few!! Phew. Thank God I'd followed this story (due to boredom maybe ) and know better. Full respect and compliment to Gani and all his accomplishments, but one can't help but wonder if these folks just seek populist and sensationalist comments in order to preserve their relevance in the Nigerian social discourse.

Where were all their comments when the sale of TransCorp flaundered endlessly because nobody wanted nothing to do with it? What was their contribution when the BPE was busy searching locally and internationally for buyers and shouting on the rooftop for all bidders to join in? Where they fast asleep when Orascum almost took over Nitel after the last bidding process for $250M, but for the timely intervention of OBJ to avert this giveaway to a foreign corporation.

Now a Nigerian company run by Nigerian professionals have bought this for much much more, with a bigger promise to empower Nigerians both in ownershipand management, and then it becomes a problem. Maybe like someone observed earlier, we are eternally pessimistic (For this I hold IBB and co responsible for decades of deceit) or maybe we are just programmed to be our own worst enemies.

As for me, I will buy into this company, not because it's Nitel. It's unlikely to make me rich although I strongly believe that it will thrive, but because I support the dream and have confidence in the abilities of the collective leadership of TransCorp.

white multinational corporations will save Nigeria, thank God for privatization! Remember slavery and colonialism and the prosperity that ensued. Remember how Oil companies like Exxon/Mobil are bringing bussiness and prosperity to all Nigerians in every fabric of society. With white multinational companies comes increases in living, African immigration from abroad and increased prosperity for all. Just look at Nigeria and all our people living in luxury, like the Saudi citizens!