The real reason is muslim women do not wear underwear and muslim men being randy dogs, will start tearing at the women right inside the mosque. So to prevent chaos and mad orgies, they had to be separated!!!!!!!!!!!!
yunk yunk yunk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

With the topmost law enforcement officer in this new administration seeming to be working for the known looters on Nigeria, how can this administration be shown to be fighting corruption??
Aondoakaa is another of Obasanjo plants, to make sure status quo and protection of Nigeria's thieves is assured.
When you realy look beyond the surface of Nigeria's consecutive governments, we see that in the end, they are all the same, and Obasanjo rules by proxy. Yar'Adua by seeming unable to control his AGF or in tandem with his double speak, is realy just a resident at Aso rock and a puppet president planted by the emperor of Otta Farms.

Until Yar'Adua an illegimate president, does away with this guy. No prosecution of these mega thieves will take place.
maybe then, we can start to believe his good intentions on wanting to clean up Nigeria, and also make a clean break from Obasanjo.
This is why this fraud of an AGF wants Ribadu out of the way, so he can scuttle all proceedings against the
thieve-executives!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OEPHIUS:

is the president proecting ibori or the AGF

What a question? They work hand in hand, or foot in mouth! whichever way you look at it. They both talk at the wrong end of their bodies, two peas in a pod or two clowns wearing the same oversized pants.

idupaul:

conspiratologist

No such word in any book of reference!!!!!
The right word is conspiracy theorist.

make una no kill us with big oyinbo o, a beg

The truth is Yar'Adua is a part of Obasanjo legaly and an illegitimate president.
What do you expect from a fruadulent president without a legal mandate.
Yar'Adua is a product of PDP farce, of which Ibori used public money to enthrown.

Until we have new freee and fair elections, nothing has changed. Obasanjo is the de facto ruler of Nigeria, Yar'Adua is just a resident of Aso Rock, and a rubber for further looting and rape of Nigeria!!!!!!!!!

buchio7:

If he had any shred of integrity or honour he would have resigned as far back as june but alas that is asking for too much from the "learned" prof. He has no place overseeing an electoral body in the same way he has no place sermonising about what is good or bad in the polity in any future fora.

Which one of Obasanjo's flunkies have been shown to have a modicum of sense, shame or honor
obasanjo did an exceptional job, when he assembled his gangsters, thugs and criminals!!!!!!!!!!!!
On this, I will score him an excellent mafia don! A++++

ANTI-GRAFT WAR:Britain accuses AGF of blocking Ibori's trial
Saturday, 01 December 2007 www.vanguardonline.com

LONDON — Britain is complaining about obstruction from Nigeria to the Mutual Legal Assistance Agreement between the two countries especially in the fight against money laundering.

Of particular note, according to Britain, is the frustration of moves to prosecute former governor James Ibori of Delta State.

Reports from London yesterday said eight formal requests for assistance were sent to Nigeria in respect of extant proceedings conducted by the Fraud Prosecution Service and Organised Crime Division of the Crown Prosecution Service.
All the requests save two were executed. The exceptions were the requests in respect of Ibori and another.

“The fact is that all requests made before Aondoakaa was appointed as AG got the appropriate response. It’s only the two made since July that have been stalled by Mr. Aondoakaa,” one source said.

“It’s troubling because Mr. Aondoakaa knows that his posture is untenable. And he is sending a signal, unfortunately, that his mandate is to protect top public officials who may have made away with millions of pounds sterling of public funds.”

British officials said Justice Minister, Mr. Michael Aondoakaa's contention was nothing short of bizarre and a hypocritical departure from established norm.
“Under the terms of the Agreement, requests for assistance are to be made by the Central Authorities for each party,” a British official said.

“For the UK, that Central Authority is the Secretary of State (SoS) for the Home Department. Now, Mr. Aondoakaa knows that U.K. domestic legislation designates certain prosecuting authorities to issue letters of request for mutual legal assistance to another state.

“The Director of Public Prosecutions and any Crown Prosecutor are designated prosecuting authorities.

“Accordingly, they are authorized to make a request for mutual legal assistance.”
“A request made by a Crown Prosecutor is sent to the Secretary of State, who has discretion whether or not to transmit the request.

“In effect what it means is that David Williams, a crown prosecutor, and Ken MacDonald, the DPP, are authorized, on behalf of the Secretary of State, to make the request. And Mr. Andoakaa knows this full well,” argued our British sources.

Comment:
With the topmost law enforcement officer in this new administration seeming to be working for the known looters on Nigeria, how can this administration be shown to be fighting corruption??
Is Aondoakaa another of Obasanjo plants, to make sure status quo and protection of Nigeria's thieves is assured?
When you realy look beyond the surface of Nigeria's consecutive governments, we see that in the end, they are all the same. Until Yar'Adua who himself is an illegimate president, does away with this guy. No prosecution of these mega thieves will take place. This is why this fraud of an AGF wants Ribadu out of the way, so he can scuttle all proceedings against the thieve-executives!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This would be great if Nigerians who like to issue empty altimatums could learn how to fight instead.
We need to fight the corruption which has eaten into our national fabric.
We need to stop winking away crime, when we witness the commision of we know is wrong.

Some have said we need to leave Yar'Adua alone because we don't know who will replace him.
Yar'Adua knows full well he is occupying an office under and illegal transfer of office. Two wrongs cannot make a right. if Yar'Adua himself wants anything good for Nigeria, he will insist that his mandate come under a transparent, free and fair election. Which means new elections needs to be organized in the next year.

Our passivism and pessimism is the greatest obstacle to our advancement.
We see and know what is wrong, but we choose to explain it away, giving inane excuses.
We all saw how badly the last elections were conducted, and how inconsequential the leaders and conductors of the elections think we are. We have been divested of everything which belongs to the collective, and we have been disenfranchised from our own father land.
Yet, we remaim passive, making noises and yelling at God to send devine delieverance!.

God charged the people of Israel to go out and march around the walls of Jericho, making a lot of noise, with singing, drums and trumpet. The walls eventually fell down, with th people of Jericho frightened out of their minds.
People of Nigeria need to put their fear of God in the leaders who are misruling and looting us blind. We need to encircle them and deafen them with our voices of anger, letting them know we have had enough of them, and time of reckoning is here.

Under Obasanjo, we have had more criminals occupying elective offices. This is why corruption and the stealing of public money have reached a crescendo, not seen in years.
The past and present elective office holders, simply transfer public money to their parsonal accounts, neglecting all their wards and commitments.
This is why we have seen such a decay in our infrastucture, health, schools and life in general.

We have seen a rise in the banking sector, this is partly to do with the fact that they have playyed a part in the transfer of public money into private pockets.

Until we call all public looters to order and punish them to the fullest extent of the law, there will be no deterrence, business will go on as usual.

God admonished us that he has given us victory over the devil, we only have to believe it, go out and grab it.
God will not send angels down to earth to fight our battles. We have to pray, go out and do battle. Victory undoutedly belongs to us. We are in the majority.

By Simon Ateba The News online newspapers 11/29/07

The Catholic Archbishop of Abuja and President, Christian Association of Nigeria, (CAN), Mr. John Onaiyekan, has called on Nigerians to stop praying for God to deliver the country from misfortunes, but to stand up and fight for their rights.

Onaiyekan said it was not necessary to continue praying when God had on several occasions intervened in the affairs of Nigeria with no lasting effect.

He was the chairman of the Ajasin Foundation’s 8th Annual Colloquium that took place yesterday at the Imperial Hall, Ikeja, Lagos.

The CAN president asked rhetorically: “What do we do right now? Continue praying for divine intervention?

“Well, God helps those who help themselves. We should not forget that God had already intervened many times in our national affairs to no lasting effect.”

Onaiyekan warned that with so many un-elected people in power, Nigeria may remain where it is if the situation remains the same.

He said Nigerians may decide to tolerate the status quo, continue praying for divine intervention or take concrete action as this is the best option.

Among the actions listed by the Catholic Archbishop are the insistence on correcting the errors made in the past, the encouragement of the Election Petition Tribunals and the approach to reorganise “most of the flawed elections”.

As for electoral reforms, he said the political elite who should carry out these reforms are themselves in dire need of reform.

“Who will reform the reformers?” Onaiyekan asked, adding that “who will watch the watchmen?”

He stated that the constitution itself must be reformed and the issue of non-compliance addressed.

The president of CAN also called on various agencies to probe the actions of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, for its role in the rigged elections, adding that those found guilty must not go unpunished.

"A perfect electoral system will lead us nowhere if people can simply disregard the rules, and get away with such crimes. They should be at least made to confess such crimes." he said

babasin:

if you can write below, why should Yaradua now need british police to write same for him??

Nobody is saying don't get help but are you sure the help is not at your doorstep:

?
explain please!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is okay to ask an expert to help you with information or equipment, it still takes the people on the ground to complete the task however.
Nigeria can ask Britain for logistics help and training for the police. Without a competent force hhowever, it will fail as all white elephant projects.
Our neo-colonial leaders have been so run by foreign powers, they lack the capacity to think and solve problems on their own.

If we have white people running our Police Force, it will cause resentment and low morale among the rank and file. Just like in the days of old, when white people ran most parastals and big companies. The indegenes feel as if they are working for foreign powers and consequently, not care very much for success.

This is what I believe Nigeria needs to do:

1. First of all, the infrastrusture has to be improved for better monitoring and policing.
2. There are law enforcement officers working in foreign countries, who can be utilised to augment the Nigerian police.
They can help with training and be in many leadership positions based on their training. They must also be well paid and repartrated with all expenses paid.
3. More trainers can be sent abroad for training, and they in turn become trainers at home.
4. Further recruits into the police should be olny educated men and women, who are in turn well paid and well equiped to do a good job.
5. The rank and file should audited to weed out the bad and ill-educated eggs. The rest should then be re-trained to a better standard.
6. There should a laid down law and rules on renumeration. It will spell out how much you earn as a recruit , first, second and consecutive years. An incentive for longevity pay and retiremnts will be spelt out clearly and adhered to.
The rank and file will also be allowed to do collective bargaining for renumeration.

Foreign government can be asked to help with donations of equipment, but they cannot do the work for us.
A good force has to be manned by indegenes of the land.
The general populace of Nigeria, needs also to be educated on cooperating with the police. The people need to the eyes and ears of thepolice at times, ready to report and witness to crimes commited.

Of cource, nothing will ever work if we don't honestly do away with the corruption that has eaten into the very fabric of our nation.
The fish rots from the head down. Nigeria is a bloated whale which stinks to high heavens.
We all have to be hands on in cleaning up our image and acts.

It is true a lot of ones mates have climbed the social ladder. But making an equivalent of $200,000-$300,000 in Nigeria is far fetched. They do well by Nigerian standard, but not by that much. A lot of us out here, also make six-figure incomes and live in far better housing with all the bells and wistles.

Notwithstanding, it would be nice to relocate to Nigeria with our fortunes intact.

The custom officers at the ports of entry, are the first thieves one has to be weary of. The will invent all kinds of manuevers to part you with your goods and money.

What about jealous neighbors or even friends who will play a good game of 419 on you as a JJC, to make sure your money parts company with you.

The armed robbers also live nearby and are watching you. You be sur to get a visit in the very near future.
The police on the streets, look at you as a cash cow to be milked dry. They will invent laws to corner you and confiscate your hard earned money. Prooving to you that it is illegal for you to repartrate your money, it now legally belongs to them!

The family, especially the extended ones, come from all nook and cranny to tell you what has been ailing them for centuries, which has been waiting for you to pay for doctors' fees.
They will swear they have not eaten or paid rent in ten years. The air in Nigeria, as polluted as it is, has been sustaining them for the years.
It goes on and on, the separation of you and your money becomes a daily ritual and war fought on all fronts.

If you can weather all these, and with the grace of God, Nigeria is the sweetest place to be on earth.

Welcome Home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

@ ChidiChris

I have a slight problem with your style of writing. If you don't mind this little critic.

Nouns and new sentences should always be capitalised. Also, cut down on run-on sentences because it looses its meaning and becomes ineffective. The use of commas, hyphens, semi-colons, etc, will help with clarity of thought. Cut your sentences down to maybe three or four lines, then start a new sentence.
I enjoy your writings, when you are not involved in personal attacks.

I hope you take this in the good faith it is intended.

PDP convention shelved to save Obasanjo’s BOT job 25/11/2007


Last Friday’s indefinite postponement of the National Convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is part of the game plan to save former President Olusegun Obasanjo from losing his BOT Chairmanship

Members of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party are also reportedly interested in serving their four year term, having being in office for barely two years instead of the usual four years

Reliable sources to Obasanjo camp which still largely controls the party, is said not to be sure that the former president may aim his seat of BOT chairman after the convention and has therefore resolved to stalled the exercise.

The first December 8, 2007 date for the National Convention was shifted to January 5 when the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) overruled party stating that it has to be informed 30days before any party could hold a con


vention in accordance with the electoral law.

Contrary to the claim of the party’s secretary, Chief Benard Eze, that the NEC shifted the January date due to Christmas and Sallah celebration the Obasanjo’s group is not willing to take any risk of holding a convention during which it may lose control of the party machinery

"Once their candidate does not win. they are afraid that the new executive may amend the constitution regarding the post of the BOT, like it happened when it was amended to favour Obasanjo.

The strategy is to stall the convention for as long as possible to give more time to reach out to delegates and be sure that they will win," party sources told The Nation.

There were also speculations that the constitution of a caretaker committee is being considered to pacify protests against the continued stay of the present executive in office.

The indefinite postponement however caught some aspirants unawares having been campaigning with the January 5 date in mind.

With the uncertainty over when the convention is likely to hold they are not sure how to continue with their campaigns which requires travelling across the country in case of the aspirants for the national executive.

An aspirant for the national chairmanship post, Senator Ebenezer Ikeyina maintains that the delay in holding the National convention is unacceptable to the South-East Zone where the chairmanship has been zoned.

He said it was unfair that the election into the chairmanship position is being delayed when other prominent positions have been ceded to other ethnic groups.

By the time the PDP convention is held, Ndigbos would have lost some valid period for the position in question. This must be seen by all well meaning Nigerians as unfair." Ikeymna stated

ziddy:

Yar'adua may not be able to do much until those cases pending at the election tribunal are disposed of. He was never elected, remember?

My sentiments exactly. He is not only a lame president, he deaf, blind, dumb and comatose

Kobojunkie:

http://laptop.org/


Another move by western countries to help push things forward in Africa ( BASICALLY DO OUR WORK FOR US SINCE WE HAVE SO FAR FAILED TO DO IT FOR SELF).

The program is running iin Canada and USA only. Nowhere does it say it is being done in Nigeria, not does it say the laptop cost only $100!.
I can't see any present government in Nigeria doing that. Even if the can, the cost will be prohibitive. Do you know how many millions of children we have in elementary schools alone?

what they need to do is to establish computer labs in every school, with about six computers for each. The local and State governments should pay for them also.

That is a dummy, you can tell by the curl of the fingers and stiff arm.

davidylan:

The joys of universal basic education!
Soon those kids would be proud owners of $100 laptops . . . our government is indeed working!

That I will wait to see.
Can you buy a laptop for $100? whats in it, anything?

Too bad Dasuki could'nt take all that money with him!!!!!

The very heart of the PDP is about to be torn apart, with old and incumbent NEC leaders scheming to hold on to power at all costs.
This scenerio has Obasanjo at the head of the whole debacle, scheming to hold on to power and BOT life chiarmanship.

For the first time in the parties history, and under Obasanjo, they now seem to be playing along with INEC (or could this be in concert) who has trem the planned party congresses and convention to be illegal.

It seems the old riggers are still very much in power, tumbing the noses at their choosen ruber stamp president.
This seems to be a direct challenge to Umaru Yar'Adua on who realy runs the country and PDP!

Pls read the following intrigues: www.TheSun onlinenews

U-TURN
PDP plans Caretaker committee
• The INEC connection
• It’s a lie –Omilani
By TAIWO AMODU
Saturday, November 24, 2007

A huge shocker appears to lie ahead for the nearly 20 aspirants now positioning for the chairmanship of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as Saturday Sun exclusively gathered that there might not be a convention afterall.

Rather than a convention, a very strong lobby is on to instal a caretaker committee for the party at the national level, even as some lawyers are said to have been contracted to work out the modalities and explore possible legal loopholes in both the country's constitution as well as the party's constitution which can be can advantage of to justify the imposition of a caretaker committee.

The emerging facts, Saturday Sun gathered, may have in fact, informed the uncharacteristic readiness with which the PDP leadership heeded the INEC warning that it reschedule its national convention originally billed to hold next month.
Rather than any serious desire to play by the law and give the mandatory period of notice to the Independent National Electoral Commission, the PDP agreed to shift the convention to enable it tidy alternative plans for a possible caretaker committee arrangement.

Rather than hold a convention next January, Saturday Sun gathered that the party is on the verge of yielding to immense pressure to still shelve the convention further and allow the proposed caretaker committee take over from the Dr. Ahmadu Ali-led national executive committee of the party, "put the house in order" and prepare for a freer and fairer convention to instal new leadership for the party.
Although the new proposal is still kept close to the chest of a select few, it has already sent tongues wagging, with many denying that any such plan even exists.

Contacted on the phone on Thursday, Senator Yinka Omilani, National Vice Chairman[south west] of the party, denied that the PDP was planning to put in place a caretaker committee in place of the national convention earlier scheduled for early December. ‘There is nothing like that. I’m not aware of that. As I’m speaking with you, I’m at the party national secretariat in Abuja, preparing for a meeting. As at today, the PDP has no plan for any care- taker committee”, Omilani told Saturday Sun.
But an executive member of the ousted Audu Ogbeh regime confirmed the development, saying the new plan was being considered outside the Wadata Plaza. "You should know that Wadata Plaza is only a symbolic thing. The PDP is run from outside Wadata and those there know this much. So, that they do not know about it does not mean that it does not exist".

While one group gathered that this new proposal was the brainchild of the Olusegun Obasanjo tendencies in the party, introduced to buy time and halt the current trend of edging out pro-Obasanjo politicians and increasingly reducing the former president's grip on both the party and the polity, another source told Saturday Sun that the caretaker committee proposal was being floated by a group opposed to the former president.

According to him, "from the way things were going in the run-up to the convention, none of the two camps seemed certain that it was going to succeed in hoisting its candidate. So, they needed to buy time to know how best to not only ensure that Obasanjo's candidate does not emerge chairman, but also to relatively undermine the ex-president's endorsement as chairman of the party's board of trustees.

Reacting to the latest development, a chieftain of the party who contested the party's guber ticket in Imo told Saturday Sun that a caretaker committee might infact be the way out for the party that is forever in crisis. Hear him

"When penultimate week, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced the cancellation of the PDP congress, many Nigerians were in bewilderment and wondered where the commission suddenly got its courage to challenge the PDP. Now, I am beginning to believe that INEC is acting a script that has been written which if not properly handled will snowball into crisis."

He continued: In fact, I am shocked why the party, with its retinue of lawyers, would not know the provisions of the relevant sections of the electoral act on party conventions".
According to him, the crises and killings that took place in some states where the wards congresses took place are a foretaste of what could happen if the party did not resolve its crises and went straight into a convention.

He said the fact that the PDP is still in crisis is brought to the fore by the inability of the reconciliation committee headed by former Vice President, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, to make any appreciable success of the task. "This had been a Gordian knot for the committee as all its efforts to reconcile the members hit the brick wall", he pointed out.
According to the guber aspirant, "the implication of the wrangling in the PDP portends danger for the country.

"Reports from all over the country were rife that apart from the high level violence that characterized the event, what was dubbed a congress was a charade. In Ekiti State, a senator and a serving commissioner were involved in a braw. Hell was also let loose in Lokoja, capital of Kogi State, when rival PDP groups engaged each other in a gun duel. In Imo State, the tension generated by the ill-fated outing is yet to subside.

"When place side by side the violence, the litany of complainants and outright subversion of the rules which INEC has raised, we don’t need a soothsayer to tell us that the party is doomed and like a drowning man who wants to clutch on to anything afloat, PDP is trying to make sure that it does not sink alone but will go with the country".

He concluded: "In fact, I strongly feel that the caretaker arrangement should take over the affairs of the PDP from the ward to the national level to save our democracy from unmitigated disaster. The caretaker committee while holding brief will ensure stability of the party and enthrone party discipline. The crisis that a congress will generate may capsize the ship of our nation state."

He said if the party should choose to go in the direction of a caretaker arrangement, the committee must be headed by core PDP leaders, not tainted and trustworthy. "Despite what we have experienced in the last four or so years, we still have such credible people in the party. Some of them even left when Obasanjo hijacked the party and almost turned it into a private fiefdom while others went low profile."

Comment: Is Yar'Adua up to the challeng? We he speak up or stay within his shell as usual?
Stay tuned folks, PDP chickens are coming to roost with Umaru, does he have enough to corral them?

Big B1:

Yes, IBB made few mistakes just like any of us; but folks, this guy is not even close to what people have made him out to be.
If you understand military protocol and leadership, then you will understand why this man has never come out to defend himself against all these artificial allegations.

Artificial allegations?
What in the world does that mean?

Lets face it, the man is superficial and vain.
Military protocol? man this is hogwash!
The man is not defending himself because he knows the allegations are true and he is guilty.

Umaru Dikko is another of Nigeria's super thieves. He has been accused, never for one day came out to defend himself.
So has many named thieves, in and out of the military. It has nothing to do with military but a lot to do with legalities.

Lawyers will advise you not to say anything to interrogators. When the police are about to arrest someone, they advice you that you have a right not to say anything.
Do you know why lawyers and police give this advice?
Because whatever you say, can and will be used against you in a court of law!

So you see my friend, it has nothing to do with military protocol.

The man is a guilty as sin. Probably running neck and neck with Satan himself. Obasanjo can't be far off either!

Oil markets explained
Big movements in the oil price have significant ramifications around the world. But just what makes the price move and how do the oil markets work? BBC News takes a closer look.
Crude oil, also known as petroleum, is the world's most actively traded commodity.

The largest markets are in London, New York and Singapore but crude oil and refined products - such as gasoline (petrol) and heating oil - are bought and sold all over the world.

Crude oil comes in many varieties and qualities, depending on its specific gravity and sulphur content which depend on where it has been pumped from.

If no other information is given, an oil price appearing in UK and other European media reports will probably refer to the price of a barrel of Brent blend crude oil from the North Sea sold at London's International Petroleum Exchange (IPE).

Futures contract

This would commonly be in a futures contract for delivery in the following month.

In this type of transaction, the buyer agrees to take delivery and the seller agrees to provide a fixed amount of oil at a pre-arranged price at a specified location.

Futures contracts are only traded on regulated exchanges and are settled (paid) daily, based on their current value in the marketplace.

The minimum purchase is 1,000 barrels.

World benchmark

Because there are so many different varieties and grades of crude oil, buyers and sellers have found it easier to refer to a limited number of reference, or benchmark, crude oils. Other varieties are then priced at a discount or premium, according to their quality.

Brent is generally accepted to be the world benchmark, although sales volumes of Brent itself are far below those of, for example, some Saudi Arabian crude oils.

According to the IPE, Brent is used to price two thirds of the world's internationally traded crude oil supplies.

In the Gulf, Dubai crude is used as a benchmark to price sales of other regional crudes into Asia.

This is not because there are more supplies of Dubai crude oil than of any other grade - there are not - but because it is one of the few Gulf crudes available in single, on the spot, sales as opposed to long term supply contracts.

However, if supplies became extremely limited and price swings became exaggerated, a new benchmark would have to be found.

US benchmark

In the United States, the benchmark is West Texas Intermediate (WTI).

This means that crude oil sales into the US are usually priced in relation to WTI.

However, crude prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange generally refer to 'light, sweet crude'.

This may be any of a number of US domestic or foreign crudes but all will have a specific gravity and sulphur content within a certain range.

'Sweet' crude is defined as having a sulphur content of less than 0.5%.

Oil containing more than 0.5% sulphur by weight is said to be 'sour'.

Slightly confusingly, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) - a cartel of some of the world's leading producers - has its own reference.

Opec basket

Known as the Opec basket price, this is an average of seven - always the same seven - crudes.

Six of these are produced by Opec members while the seventh, Isthmus, is from Mexico.

Opec aims to control the amount of oil it pumps into the marketplace to keep the basket price within a predetermined range.

In practice, the price differences between Brent, WTI and the Opec basket are not large. Crude prices also correlate closely with each other.

Opec's basket price is an average of the prices for:
Saudi Arabia's Arab Light
The United Arab Emirates's Dubai
Nigeria's Bonny Light
Algeria's Saharan Blend
Indonesia's Minas
Venezuela's Tia Juana Light
and Mexico's Isthmus.

Oil markets explained
Big movements in the oil price have significant ramifications around the world. But just what makes the price move and how do the oil markets work? BBC News takes a closer look.
Crude oil, also known as petroleum, is the world's most actively traded commodity.

The largest markets are in London, New York and Singapore but crude oil and refined products - such as gasoline (petrol) and heating oil - are bought and sold all over the world.

Crude oil comes in many varieties and qualities, depending on its specific gravity and sulphur content which depend on where it has been pumped from.

If no other information is given, an oil price appearing in UK and other European media reports will probably refer to the price of a barrel of Brent blend crude oil from the North Sea sold at London's International Petroleum Exchange (IPE).

Futures contract

This would commonly be in a futures contract for delivery in the following month.

In this type of transaction, the buyer agrees to take delivery and the seller agrees to provide a fixed amount of oil at a pre-arranged price at a specified location.

Futures contracts are only traded on regulated exchanges and are settled (paid) daily, based on their current value in the marketplace.

The minimum purchase is 1,000 barrels.

World benchmark

Because there are so many different varieties and grades of crude oil, buyers and sellers have found it easier to refer to a limited number of reference, or benchmark, crude oils. Other varieties are then priced at a discount or premium, according to their quality.

Brent is generally accepted to be the world benchmark, although sales volumes of Brent itself are far below those of, for example, some Saudi Arabian crude oils.

According to the IPE, Brent is used to price two thirds of the world's internationally traded crude oil supplies.

In the Gulf, Dubai crude is used as a benchmark to price sales of other regional crudes into Asia.

This is not because there are more supplies of Dubai crude oil than of any other grade - there are not - but because it is one of the few Gulf crudes available in single, on the spot, sales as opposed to long term supply contracts.

However, if supplies became extremely limited and price swings became exaggerated, a new benchmark would have to be found.

US benchmark

In the United States, the benchmark is West Texas Intermediate (WTI).

This means that crude oil sales into the US are usually priced in relation to WTI.

However, crude prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange generally refer to 'light, sweet crude'.

This may be any of a number of US domestic or foreign crudes but all will have a specific gravity and sulphur content within a certain range.

'Sweet' crude is defined as having a sulphur content of less than 0.5%.

Oil containing more than 0.5% sulphur by weight is said to be 'sour'.

Slightly confusingly, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) - a cartel of some of the world's leading producers - has its own reference.

Opec basket

Known as the Opec basket price, this is an average of seven - always the same seven - crudes.

Six of these are produced by Opec members while the seventh, Isthmus, is from Mexico.

Opec aims to control the amount of oil it pumps into the marketplace to keep the basket price within a predetermined range.

In practice, the price differences between Brent, WTI and the Opec basket are not large. Crude prices also correlate closely with each other.

Opec's basket price is an average of the prices for:
Saudi Arabia's Arab Light
The United Arab Emirates's Dubai
Nigeria's Bonny Light
Algeria's Saharan Blend
Indonesia's Minas
Venezuela's Tia Juana Light
and Mexico's Isthmus.

The banks also, should have been the ones who will be at the fore front of installing CCTV to protect themselves and their customers. If they have not already done so, they have dropped the ball and let down their customers.

They, because it is tied to their profitabilty and goodwill with their customers, should be trailblazing in the use and adaptability of this technology!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Afam:

@Bankole01,

On the bank issue technology is the focus not whether it is profit based on not.

From the minimum capital base to issue of ATM people like your buried the ideas before there were even implemented and now you believe one should not compare the two.

The technology in this case (ATM), is intricately tied to their profit margin and ease of doing business. They know to continue to make profit, grow and compete in a global world of business, they need to adapt their technology, evolving their activities to attract customers in other to become more competitive in the comity of nations.

Our various governments (local, State and Federal), on the other hand have no such mentality (a shame). They have not the maturity nor the urge to compete in a global world. Hence the lackadasical attitude to managing our resources and growth.

So you see, we are comparing apples and oranges. No correlation in the very least.
It would be nice, it our City/State managers could treat the running of their wards like business executives do.

Gettolove:

@seun

i still need to know if there is a market where these negotiations take place, is it like a trading floor?

Yes it is traded on the floor New York exchange, the FTSE in London, etc

Afam:


Or, are they desperately trying to dismiss anything good about Nigeria as a way to justify their staying abroad or what?

Whether you guys like it or not, Nigeria is on the move and you shall see how this country will move forward your level of apathy notwithstanding.

Bankole01, tell this forum if you believed the banks would be able to implement ATMs in Nigeria, be honest, let us know your thoughts and compare them to the reality on ground today.

So much negativity and pessimism.

Afam: This is not personal, don't let us make it so.

I believe all Nigerians whether they live at home or abroad want very much to contribute to the development of Nigeria.
I for one have done a lot, both privately and with governing authorities to assist Nigeria in my area of expertise.

The banks issue have no correlation to the argument being discussed.
For one thing, the banks are privately manged entities for profit. The utmost performance and efficiency are paramount to making profit for the owners and investors.

The securities issue are that of public concerne and it has been mismanaged for centuries, no matter who was at the helm of governance.
My argument is not that of negativity or pessimism, but that of concrete debate of what we have, what is on the ground and what we need to do to advance our nation.

Some of us abroad will like to return home, believe it or not. Most fill trapped by our successes in the land of sojourn. Most have acquired so much property and investments in family and business, that it will not be easy to divest and move to uncertainty.
This is why we agitate for a place we would be happy to contribute constructively.
Just because  a person does not personally reside in a place, does not mean he has no interest in the development and advancement of that place.

On the contrary, we still have parents, siblings and other family members, whom we which well and would like to live as comfortably as we do.

Because we don't agree on steps to pull our country forward does not in any way make me any less of an enthusiast, for the advancement of Nigeria. The contrary is I see a future for me in Nigeria, for a role I know I need to play, if only given the opprtunity to play my part.

Our experiences differ and people often relate from their experiences and maturity.

Instabilty in oil producing countries, have goone a long way in jerking up the prices lately.
These include war in Iran, The intrangescence in Iraq, The unrest in Nigeria.
These trouble spots, create an artificial shortage in production and therefore speculation in future productivity and price hike.