₦airaland Forum

success4:
it is stupidity that makes someone to think that increment in value of
cash allocated for a certain sector is synonymous to improvement in
that sector! I hope BEAF can read clear.  Nobody wants to engage
BEAF, because of insult and trolling.


This is budget is an indication of who GEJ is. Prodigal son!!!!!

PS: Gbawe: Weldone

You people are always the first to insult, but you cry fowl when I respond with intellectual left hooks that blind your right eye and 10 tonne staright jabs that deafen your left ear.

holahabib:
Gbawe - I am not against subsidy removal. infact there should be no subsidy BUT before then, our refineries must be built enough to produce enough locally for us to consume.

If government is not efficient enough to engage the private sector to build refineries or give us electricity why should we be sooooo dumb to believe they will manage the "so called" savings from subsidy removal?

First things first, get our refineries functioning. At that point, subsidy will remove itself naturally.

Dude, I believe the govt wants to hands off the oil sector completely. That is the only way to curb rampant corruption, to that end there can be no long waiting period, its got to happen now. Even worse is the projection from the CBN and ministry of finance that Nigeria will collapse in 2013 if we continue with the fuel subsidy. In past govts, fuel subsidy was not much of an issue, because there was never any fuel anyway, but now that it is in abundant supply, subsidy costs have multiplied to unsustainable levels.

My prayer is that NNPC and its hoards of corrupt vampires will also be put in the trash can in the near future. That is on the cards with the PIB.

Gbawe:
As usual, you don't appear to know what you are talking about . What constitution? The one you wrote? Amosun being Governor does not mean the Police Force in Ogun State is under his command - and the constitution makes that clear . If the States were totally in charge as you simplistically posit, why would so many Governors be asking for State Police? Ogun , after the 1986 NPF reorganisation, falls under zonal jurisdiction. The State commisioner , via the area commisioner, will bridge the information gap to the IGP. This, in theory, should be effective enough so that the NPF deals adequately with security challenges in the 7 area command of Nigeria.

There is no way you can use agrarian thinking , by any stretch of the imagination, to insinuate that the failure of the Police in Ogun State is an indictment against Amosun. He can certainly put in 'out of the box' effort to improve the safety of lives and property in his State but not the efficacy of the police or lack thereof .

http://thelawyerschronicle.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=61:state-police-forces&catid=39:constitutional-law&Itemid=43


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigeria_Police_Force

All of that is absolute rubbish in the current context.
The state governor is the principal security officer of the state, not the Police Copmmissioner and to state anything else is utterly ridiculous. Why not argue that Amosun should move over for the Police Copmmissioner?

Crime is the result of local societal issues and these fall squarely under the purvue of the governor. I find it incredible that some of you think your governors are mere decorations, only there to divide federal allocations with zero responsibilities to the people. Please come up with intelligent arguments, if Amosun is too weak to curb the security problems in Ogun state, then he should move out of govt house.

Maybe when area boys run riot in your area, you will call on the IG instead of your lazy governor.

Crap.

mcgboye:
Beaf,
How can you have a body who will manage a fund that is almost a third of our budget? For God's sake, this body is not accountable to any Nigerian Why do we have Ministers and special advisers and economic group and council of elders and etc, only to have another body that cannot be questioned by the Nigerian people. It cannot be taken to court since they are not created by an act of law! Com'on, we shouldn't be falling for such cheap gimmick. January 1st is just 18days away, yet we still "need to wait for further announcements on the solid capital and welfare projects it will support". I know it's hard to support the president when he's making it difficult for you to do so, but you'll need to come up with a better explanation or justification for that.

We will have to wait for the body to be innuagurated before deciding if it is accountable or not. Every noise the FG has made though, points to full transparency and accountability. Its only a matter of a few short days, so lets wait patiently before concluding.

mcgboye:
Did anyone read the KPMG Forenssic report on the Internal audit and compliance review of NNPC? And someone pls tell me why nobody has lost his job in that house of corruption

To the best of my knowledge, the whole NNPC will soon be gone.

mcgboye:
Hi Beaf,
I've been informed that you are the pro-GEJ on Nairaland, or one of them at least. Well, maybe you could call me an anti-GEJ, since i've complained bitterly about some of his policies so far. Just like you, I like analysing figures and hard facts since figures dont lie. However, unlike you, I do not call people on NL names and i detest using foul languages. I'll be happy if we could both keep it that way. We are all ifhgting for the same end-result: a better Nigeria.

1. I've raised a pertinent question about the pending ban on rice importation earlier. maybe you could respond to that.

There are well developed programmes for agriculture with special focus on rice and cassava. Nigeria spends about N600bn annually on the importation of wheat; GEJ plans to cut that down by investing in local scientific research that has shown that 40% of the wheat content of bread can be replaced with cassava. With this policy, the staggering sums spent on wheat imports will be diverted into local cassava production, creating an eco-system of demand and supply what several hundred billion annually. Think about what that would do for employment and creative entreprenuership with a lowly crop we spat on only yesterday.

Pure genius.

mcgboye:
2. Security and Defence got between roughly 23% of the budget. Are we at war? We have huge security problem, but we're going to use a quarter of the budget to solve a problem that is self-manufactured and largely caused by massive unemployment in the country!

Yes.

mcgboye:
3. The lofty plan of the president is to ensure that bread is made from 60%wheat and 40% cassava, but i noticed that the president plans to raise import tariff on wheat which is 60% of the bread. That doesn't add up, does it?

Like I pointed out above, the plan is to replace current imports with local production, jobs and above all, self-belief in local research. There is nothing more important than self-belief to set a nation solidly on the path of development and wealth creation.

mcgboye:
4. The president promised to "streamline agencies to reduce cost of governance, ". Well, that's superb. But why not start with the number of ministers we have? It's so overbloated, and they are doing the same work.

Unfortunately, the number of ministers is etched into the constitution, it isn't whithin GEJ's power to change at a whim. On the other hand, GEJ has launched several proposals for constitutional changes. Let us see what they will bring, especially in the area of true federalism as it affects the number and function of ministers.

mcgboye:
5. The president also said that "Equipment and machines in private sector will attract 0% duty". That is excellent.

I think so too.

mcgboye:
I have several other questions, but I'll refrain from saying more until i lay my hand on a soft copy of the fulll address. But i have to say, I'm not convinced. it's sad, but it's true

Lolzz! You be lawyer?

Evil Brain:
So he's removed the fuel subsidy, yet capital spending only went up by 15%. The bulk of the money is being flushed down the toilet that is the federal recurrent budget.

I guess it was too much to ask that he do something sensible with the money like build some new roads or a railway.

Well, na una vote for am sha. Enjoy your PDP.

The subsidy funds will be administered by a committee outside of the budget. We need to wait for further announcements on the solid capital and welfare projects it will support.

jason123:
That cesspit of corruption called NDDC should be scrapped! Imagine, NDDC collecting almost twice the allocation for Science and technology. What the FUC.k is "FEDERAL CAPITAL TERRITORY ADMINSTRATION – N45.57 billion"

As far as I am concerned, the FCT is the only county that deserves a monthly federal allocation, so its all in order. What we should question, is why the states get allocations from the FG, instead of funding the FG as applies across the developed World.

^
Why are you trying to invent new lines of authority?
The buck stops on the state governors table. It is not the police chiefs job to call the FG for help, the law holds that the governor constitutionally as the chief security officer of the state.
Any shelving of his duties to the State Police commisioner renders him unfit to be a governor.

Maybe amosun should be impeached.

I don't understand anybody complaining about education. The sector is getting N100bn more than last year. Or una tink say N100bn na moi moi?

obowunmi:
Remove fuel subsidy and the death toll will be worse.

Why can't Goodluck be taken down like Qaddafi ? Boko Horam can't you bomb Aso Rock ? What are you waiting for ? We need change in government.

This is really dumb.
Is GEJ the governor of Ogun state?

A state of emergency should be declared in Ogun. . . I'm joking o! Before una begin vex!

On a serious note, Amosun needs to ask for FG help. Hoodlums and murderers cannot be allowed to reign without caution.

VoodooDoll:
^^^^^^^
ODE

You want me to do your job, Mooroon. Politics is gladiatorial. Your principal has brought a budget and I am shredding it and you now want me to do your job, PUNK!

It looks more like you are shredding yourself. Shredding a budget takes self application with the presentation of facts and figures; not a market womans yammerings and wild-eyed histrionics.

I expect you'll be balancing your pot belly on your thin lil k-legs at Eagle Square in the name of "revolution." No?
Lolzzzzzzzzzzz! Comical shiit!

Bawss1:
Praises were sang last year when the 2011 budget was announced. People shouldn't have any grouse with the structure of the budget per se but it's implementation.

I go with that 90%. We should question the allocations, even though the implementation is much more important.

VoodooDoll:
I am glad you pulled those numbers out of your a.r.se. As citizens we deserve a better analyses of the budget, so far we have had a semi-illiterate president give a speech without breakding down the numbers.

I asked for comparison to the 2012 security budget and you reply with Insults.  This is typical of the b.u.f.fo.ons that GEJ has employed and appointed.  Since your mouth is close to the seat of power, why don't you educate us rather than insult us. It is our taxes that keep you and your moorinic principal in gucci. Keep letting a soldier stand behind your principal ok.  ODE!

Lol! I thought you were the one doing the analysis! No?
Next time don't come on the web to make stories up, it only makes you look either silly or barely educated.

Any intelligent person would have done a year by year comparison, which is what I've partially done and is making you so angry. Its best not to apply voodoo and hysterics where cold hard logic is required.
If we continue with the year by year comparisons, you would only end up looking foolish, because compared to Yar Adua's last budget and the ones before, this budget is solid gold.
You wanna go for it, or you gonna chicken out?

VoodooDoll:
Only in Nigeria will we have a civilian president need a Soldier to stand behind him. What function does that soldier serve, is he counting lice or inspecting GEJ's ogo?

Also I believe the defence budget was N348bn last year, why is there a N600bn increase to N920bn in 2011.

It seems some GEJ supporters cannot take objective criticism (note I am not including BEAF in this, as he has been objective on this thread so far).

Thanks for not including me in your bashing. However, your criticism is not objective. What is your problem with a soldier standing behind GEJ? Have you only just noticed that soldiers always stand behind all our Presidents, from Obj through Yar Adua and now GEJ?

Lastly, does the soldier behind GEJ take away the content of the budget speech? Dude, blind hatred is a killer.

I posted this on your other thread:

The budget for education last year was N304.3bn; for 2012, it is N400.15bn.

Agriculture got N38.5 in 2011, in the 2012 budget, it gets N78.98bn.

Health got N203.34 in 2011; it gets N282.77bn in 2012.

Power got N99bn, in 2012 it gets N161.42bn.

I could go on and on, it is obvious that the 2012 budget is quantums better than the 2011 one and very rightly focused on development; but the OP only wants to make an illiterates analysis, so he cherry picked only a few items from the budget. Not stopping there, he did not give a full breakdown of the security allocation and is going around lying that it is the defence allocation. For your info, the security allocation covers the police, SSS, the various branches of the army and so forth; and while there is a naturally expected increase from last year, it is very reasonable.

Anybody who wants a rational argument not backed up by voodoo logic and stup!dity is free to engage me. Lets bandy real figures and show concrete areas of improvement. I don't wish to argue with anybody that thinks the threat of boko haram can be curbed without spending money; maybe they wish to invoke okija methods or some similarly cuckoo land "solutions."

^
Can you look at the last post I made before the unfortunate thing you posted above?
Desperation go kill una.

The budget for education last year was N304.3bn; for 2012, it is N400.15bn.

Agriculture got N38.5 in 2011, in the 2012 budget, it gets N78.98bn.

Health got N203.34 in 2011; it gets N282.77bn in 2012.

Power got N99bn, in 2012 it gets N161.42bn.

I could go on and on, it is obvious that the 2012 budget is quantums better than the 2011 one and very rightly focused on development; but the OP only wants to make an illiterates analysis, so he cherry picked only a few items from the budget. Not stopping there, he did not give a full breakdown of the security allocation and is going around lying that it is the defence allocation. For your info, the security allocation covers the police, SSS, the various branches of the army and so forth; and while there is a naturally expected increase from last year, it is very reasonable.

Anybody who wants a rational argument not backed up by voodoo logic and stup!dity is free to engage me. Lets bandy real figures and show concrete areas of improvement. I don't wish to argue with anybody that thinks the threat of boko haram can be curbed without spending money; maybe they wish to invoke okija methods or some similarly cuckoo land "solutions."

VoodooDoll:
Budget breakdown is here: https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-824151.0.html

Defence is bigger than Education, Health and Works combined!

The current situation dictates that. No?

[size=14pt]BPE, PHCN Privatisation and Journey so Far [/size]
13 Dec 2011

https://serving.thisdaylive.com/0bef99d6-acf5-4e2c-9779-8fa02ba3fcd4/assets/1211F04.Barth-Nnaji.jpg?maxwidth=400&maxheight=540
Minister of Power, Barth Nnaji

Penultimate week, the Federal Government through the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) convened a meeting where it interacted with investors to aggregate their opinions on the transaction structure and process towards the privatisation of successor companies of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN). Chineme Okafor writes on how the government has been backing up what it says with actions in the PHCN privatisation.

The electric power sector is unquestionably an essential sector to overall national development and any worthwhile reform of the electric power sector is perhaps one of the most challenging reform programmes any country can undertake. From all indications, the sector is critical to the developmental reform of any country and Nigeria is no exception.

For many years the electricity sector has been plagued with a plethora of problems from low capacity generation of power, decaying facilities, corruption, leakages, poor distribution, non- collection of tariff amongst others.

In consideration of global trends in the electricity sector, it became imperative that a holistic approach must be adopted in bringing changes to the sector, if it will in turn yield significant improvement that will drive the country’s quest for sustainable development. It is to this end that Nigeria in 2000 commenced programmes of reform in her electricity sector as part of its overall economic reform agenda, which she allegedly holds quite dear.

As a challenging process, which in most cases, the dividends of the reform is only realisable in the long term, the Nigerian scenario has neither been free of these challenges.

The nation’s power sector reform has proved even more challenging considering the poor performance of the sector over a long period of time occasioned by long term plans being disrupted by short term interventions programs, all of which only add to the growing problems of the sector. The implementation of the reforms processes has variedly thrown up several challenges, many of which are historical while some are fallout of organised resistance to the reform agenda.

The Power Roadmap

The roadmap to the reform process seemingly took shape when in 1999, the National Council on Privatisation (NCP), set up the Electric Power Sector Implementation Committee (EPIC) to undertake a comprehensive study of the electricity power industry. Membership of the committee was drawn from the then Federal Ministry of Power and Steel, National Electric Power Authority (NEPA), Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Ministry of Finance, the Energy Commission of Nigeria, the organised private sector,  and other relevant professional bodies.

EPIC’s key objective was to prepare a power policy blueprint that will define government’s new direction for the electric power sector. EPIC produced the national policy on electric power and a draft electric power sector reform bill.  These instruments were approved by the NCP in 2002 and a draft bill was forwarded to the national assembly where it was passed in 2005.

It is instructive to note that reform Act has three key components; restructuring of existing utility, liberalisation and privatisation, as well as reinforcement of existing infrastructure through National Integrated Power Projects (NIPPs) and other government interventions. The reform therefore became a necessary tool for laying solid foundation of sustainable power generation and sector efficiency, not an end itself but a means to an end.

Key Provisions in the Act
Some of the key provisions of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act 2005 include creation of the initial holding company (PHCN) to assume the assets, liabilities and employees of NEPA, unbundling of PHCN into successor companies and ensuring greater operational autonomy, development of an efficient electricity market, privatisation of successor companies in which the BPE was empowered to undertake this responsibility, and establishment of the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

Sadly, the implementation of the power sector reform was stalled and only came into full steam with the inception of the current administration of President Goodluck Jonathan. In August 2010, President Jonathan inaugurated the new roadmap, which is a comprehensive plan aimed at restructuring the power sector and achieve stable electricity in the country.

Further to the work plan approved under the road map document, the BPE published adverts, between December 13 and 20, 2010, in both local and international media inviting prospective investors to express interest in the privatisation of the eleven distribution companies unbundled from PHCN, as well as for core investors in the four thermal power stations and concessionaires for the two hydro power stations.

The initial deadline for receipt of expressions of interest (EOIs) was February 18, 2011. Potential bidders for the distribution companies are expected to be existing power distribution companies or core investor groups with power distribution companies as long-term technical partners and successful bidders will be responsible for operating the distribution companies, making the necessary investments to improve the distribution network and customer service in line with the objectives of the National Electric Power Policy (NEPP.)

Similarly, potential bidders and or concessionaires for the generating companies would have to be existing local and or international power generators or investors with power generators as long-term technical partners and they will be responsible for operating the stations, improving the generation capacity and making the necessary investments in line with the objectives of NEPP.

Role of BPE
Between January 18 and February 12, 2011, the BPE embarked on an investment drive to lure world-class investors to participate in the privatisation of the successor companies. The bureau tagged it the ‘Nigerian Electric Power Investors’ Forum’ which held in Lagos, Dubai, London, New York and Johannesburg.

All the stakeholders in the divestiture of government equity in the electricity utility namely, NERC, the Presidential Task Force on Power (PTFP), the Ministry of Power, the World Bank, and the Gas Aggregation Company Nigeria Limited were on board to reassure investors of the Federal Government’s commitment to the power sector reforms and the willingness of the government to provide investment incentives to bidders.

Following delays, which were assumed necessary to accommodate representations by prospective investors who attended the five-country electric road show, government approved the extension of the deadline for the submission of EOIs to Friday, March 4, 2011 and at the deadline for the submission of bids by prospective investors, the BPE received 331 envelopes of EOIs and this was broken into 174 for generation companies, 157 for distribution companies.

When the 331 envelopes were opened and individual bids sorted out, the total number of individual bids for the successor companies increased to 929, the breakdown of bids showed that 529 bids were submitted for discos and 400 bids for gencos. In other words, the BPE harvested 929 bids for individual successor companies from 331 EOIs received from prospective investors.

Upon developing evaluation criteria in accordance with the requirements of the EOI, the BPE prequalified bids through a strong inter-agency team that shortlisted 525 bids for the next stage in the privatisation of the PHCN. In detail, 253 and 272 bids were pre-qualified for discos and gencos respectively and the pre-qualified bidders were required to pay a $20,000 fee for each company of interest, at the same time sign a confidentiality agreement before receiving bid documents and admitted to the data room.

In the last few months, activities to stimulate the power sector reform programme have been initiated by government and under a revised privatisation timeline, draft industry agreements, issuance of Requests for Proposals (RFP) and information memorandum documents were effected on August 15, 2011 and September 1, 2011, respectively. Access to virtual data room also began on September 1, 2011.

The Pre-Due Diligence Conference took place on October 14, 2011 while the physical due diligence commenced on October 24, 2011.  Bidders’ site visits kicked-off on November 14, 2011 and with regard to the visits, there were hiccups emanating from labour resistance, but the BPE went ahead with its mandate, assuring that it would drive the exercise to its desired conclusion.

Between November 28 and 29, 2011, the BPE, in collaboration with NERC, organised the Nigerian power sector transaction and industry conference. The conference, which was declared open by Vice President Namadi Sambo, had the Minister of Power, Prof. Bart Nnaji, Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in attendance. They assured the over 840 participants at the conference, which were mainly bidder and advisers from 38 countries of government’s commitment to pull through a successful privatisation programme of equality and efficiency.

Director-General of the BPE, Ms. Bolanle Onagoruwa, noted in her opening remarks that the objective of the conference was to interact with investors and aggregate their opinions on the transaction structure and process.

Onagoruwa took advantage of the forum to intimate prospective investors on developments and progress recorded so far in Nigeria’s bid to transform her power sector.
She said: “For us to reach this stage of the transaction and to accommodate the comments of investors on key issues, we have closely worked with the ministries of power and finance, NERC, the gas aggregator, Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) and the World Bank.”

The Federal Government is very much concerned about the welfare of the workers of PHCN. In its desire to be fair and just in resolving the pension liabilities and severances of the workers a path of negotiations to address this issue has been embarked upon with the unions of PHCN. Our ultimate goal is to resolve all labour issues before we hand over any of the successor companies to any successful bidder.”

It appeared from all indication that government quite interested in settling all labour related issues to the privatisation exercise and this much Nnaji reiterated when he explained that, “The Federal Government has set aside enough funds for the swift payment of retirement benefits to all the PHCN staff when transfer of the ownership of the PHCN assets takes place.

Despite the considerable economic challenges facing the nation, President  Goodluck Jonathan had last May,  graciously approved a 50 per cent salary raise for PHCN workers. And he had also approved that some 11,000 PHCN employees who have for years been working as casual workers been converted to the regular staff. In other words, the administration has honoured all the agreements with the labour unions in the power sector. We have, indeed, demonstrated good faith.”

Nnaji noted that, “the ongoing power sector reform will create greater employment and business opportunities for our people, as we have seen with the liberalisation of telecoms. It will enable electricity employees to earn competitive wages and enjoy generous serviced conditions. It will make the state of the art technology available in the sector. It will also boost capacity building and attract considerable Foreign Direct Investment.

The ultimate beneficiary of the reform will be the Nigerian people whose dying factories will be revived, whose service industry will receive a great boost, and who will begin to have constant and quality power supply in their homes. It will soon be a new dawn in Nigeria.”

Conclusion
So far, it thus appears that the government is gradually putting its money where it wants its mouth to be in the power sector.
The Federal government has signed a multibillion dollars partial risk guarantee (PRG) with the World Bank, set up an bulk electricity trader; the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company (NBET), which has got its official trading licence from the NERC.

The bulk trader backed by a government guarantee will be responsible for all power purchase agreements between the discos and gencos in the industry.
Also, the first round of meetings to kick-start negotiations between the Federal Government and the trade unions in PHCN held on May 16, 2011 in Abuja with Alhaji Hassan Sunmonu, the founding President of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) as the Chief Negotiator/Conciliator.  Two rounds of negotiations have since held with the last on December 1, 2011.

Three decisions were arrived at the initial round of negotiation; it was agreed that a workshop will be organised for labour and other stakeholders in the sector, 50 per cent salary increase for PHCN workers and biometric verification of all PHCN workers.

The workshop for the workers was however held in Abuja where the BPE’s Acting Director of Electric Power, Mallam Ibrahim Babagana, disclosed in his presentation that 70 per cent of each distribution company would be sold to core investors and the net proceeds transferred to the Federation Account for distribution to all tiers of government.

Babagana noted that from the remaining 30 per cent, 10 per cent shall be offered equally among all states within the jurisdiction of each distribution company while two per cent of the remaining 20 per cent will be reserved for workers and the balance of 18 per cent will be sold to the general public through Initial Public Offering (IPO) when the companies start performing well.

He explained that the divestiture strategy for the distribution companies will be primarily based on the use of quality of service or efficiency parameters considered against investment proposals made by bidders aimed at reducing Aggregate Technical, Commercial and Collection (ATC &C) losses over an agreed timeframe. In addition, the strategy will be built around the Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO).

Babagana stated that the merits of the strategy were its emphasis on technical, financial and managerial competence of operators, its shortest curve for reducing subsidies, guarantees and section payment delinquency. In addition, he stated that, “government will for the first time begin to earn some return on its remaining equity interest in the distribution companies and can within a specified time cease financial support altogether.”

Managing Director of Gas Aggregation Company Nigeria, (GACN), Dr. David Ige, in his remarks, allayed fears over shortage of  gas supply for uninterrupted power supply in the country. He pointed out that an enabling policy framework was in place to support critical mass of gas supply development for the power sector, adding that progress was being made in the development of a robust gas grid that will enable rapid growth of supply from diverse sources.
“Medium term outlook is promising and power sector investors can be assured of supply,” Ige said.

In addition, between December 1 and 3, 2011, the BPE held a legal retreat in Enugu to harmonise and finalise industry agreements which include gas supply and aggregation agreements, gas transportation agreement, transmission use of system agreement, vesting contracts, power purchase agreements.

While the government  has expressed its intention to conclude the privatisation exercise within the first quarter of 2012, the march towards the last lap of this goal is very crucial.
With the milestones ahead, it is imperative to heed to the warning of the British government which had recently asked Nigeria to cautiously conclude her privatisation exercise with national interest at heart.

Nigeria will for the second time seek to successfully reform a major sector of her economy, with the telecoms sector being the first. So far, the process has been encouraging.  Despite some hitches, government also looks certain to walk its talk. It has shown an emphatic level of commitment to this and it remains to see how well it will pull through this very crucial last phase of the PHCN privatisation exercise.

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/bpe-phcn-privatisation-and-journey-so-far/104975/

highland:
Incredible, lie detector is just a programming language and can be manipulated.

Damn!

[size=14pt]Nigeria president proposes 4.749 trln naira 2012 budget[/size]
Tue Dec 13, 2011 1:05pm GMT

ABUJA Dec 13 (Reuters) - Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan presented a 4.749 trillion naira ($29.29 billion) budget to the national assembly on Tuesday, in what he said would be the start of prudent financial planning, despite spending rising from this year.

Jonathan said spending would rise from the 4.48 trillion in 2011 but recurrent expenditure would fall to 72 percent of the budget from 74.4 percent this year as the government focuses more money on capital projects.

"This budget is a stepping stone to the transformation of our economy , we cannot subject the wellbeing of Nigerians to unnecessary risks, we must therefore protect ourselves by planning our finances prudently," Jonathan told lawmakers, dressed in his trademark kaftan and fedora hat.

The fiscal deficit would be reduced to 2.77 percent of gross domestic product from 2.96 in the 2011 budget, Jonathan said.

He told lawmakers the 2012 spending plan was based on a benchmark oil price of $70 a barrel and production of 2.48 million barrels per day. The output projection is higher than expected and leaves little room for potential production outages, which have been common in the past.

"While markets may initially react positively to the announcement that the fiscal deficit is likely to narrow further as well as the slight reduction in the proportion of recurrent expenditure, we caution that there are still significant concerns," said Razia Khan, head of Africa research at Standard Chartered.

"Spending has been raised further during uncertain times globally , leaving little wriggle room for the budget in response to any downside uncertainty that may impact on domestic (oil) output," Khan added.

Africa's most populous nation puts revenue above the benchmark price into a savings account.

The Excess Crude Account (ECA) has been drained in recent years, despite high oil prices. The government removed $2 billion from the ECA for "various projects" last month.

The budget proposal assumed an exchange rate of 155 naira to the U.S. dollar, average inflation of 9.5 percent and GDP growth of 7.2 percent. Inflation is currently running in double digits and the naira is trading at above 160 against the U.S. dollar.

($1 = 162.1500 Nigerian nairas) (Reporting by Camillus Eboh, Joe Brock in Abuja and Chijioke Ohuocha in Lagos; Writing by Joe Brock; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)

http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFL6E7ND3OU20111213?sp=true

Bawss1:
IBB. The reason GEJ's case is peculiar is because he is a Ph.D holder, his public speaking skills are mediocre. But I'm sure this issue has been debated to death here on NL so lets live it at that.

Why don't you go and live with IBB in his hilltop mansion, built with your stolen money so you can be lulled by his voice as he violates your rights? Or even build a shrine to worship him?
Its really insane to be discussing diction when more serious matters are at stake like the budget. It really shows the low calibre of people the anti-GEJ crowd are.

The only way out for the petroleum sector is for the govt to completely lift its hands off it. Today, as we speak, the subsidy is going; in the near future, the whole of NNPC will follow in the unstoppable match toward true federalism.
We can not keep subsidising corruption on an industrial scale and hope to get anywhere. Sweep the phucking thing and its machinery out of the house!!

Let those who want the govt to do everything for them keep pining for a past that only brought underdevelopment. You are wasting your time, the entire petroleum sector will be privatised with govt only holding on to strategic strings for national security.

If I was one of the the anti-subsidy folk, I would be on the streets right now, carrying out a foolish "revolution" and absorbing teargas through all body orifices. Rubbish!
Nigeria MUST develop and move forward, regardless of those who want to remain in the past with worthless local and state govts, and a huge Abuja beggars bowl. Every unit of govt must begin working and churning out wealth and employment, not begging for Abuja for monthly stipends like we are a nation of voluntarily disabled nitwits.

We need to clarify matters a bit. So here's a brief summary.
All the battles in Warri and Sapele for land are due to the past of slave trade. Dore Numa sited in the article was a terror to both Itsekiri's, Ijaws and Urhobo's; his efforts got him so-called overlordship of the areas he terrosed from the British. To make matters worse, the Isoko and Urhobo's staunchly refused to take part in the slave trade and so suffered disproportionate punishment from the British with their ancestral lands signed away willy nilly to Dore Numa and his thugs.

Dore Numa sold both Itsekiri's, Ijaws and Urhobo's into slavery, there was a huge slave market at Escravos that rivalled Badagry in size. In fact the word, Escravos means slave in Portuguese. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escravos_River

It is best to allow these funny and demeaning land matters rest. The British have left, people aught to be ashamed of the past and we need to live in peace.

DrummaBoy:
GenBuhari
Where do get the strenghth to swim against the tide. I envy you O. Whether Abacha stole or not really doesn't matter anymore now. The man is dead. The recovered loot were certainly looted by his successors; or has any one seen an account given anywhere?
You know Beafy boy, if you exert half of the strength you use to descredit Buhari to advice your Oga GEJ on good governance, Nigeria will far more developed by now.

Beaf: You will also notice that those who scream loudest against the removal of the subsidy are reps of those companies.

Does the average Nigerian who refuses to read know that during Abacha's regime, with Buhari at the head of the PTF racket; the refineries were deliberately run down and monies for their turn around maintenance routinely vanished into thin air? But wait for the cracker! At the time this lot were running down our local refineries, Abacha actually used FG funds to build a personal refinery in Sierra Leone, so he and his cronies could milk the nation dry as a fuel importers!
That refinery was acquired through the vehicles, Integrated Investment Trust Limited and Nasimatume Investments Limited jointly owned by Abacha and his National Security Adviser, Ismaila Gwarzo.

Needless to say, the Abacha refinery in Sierra Leone is now cobwebbed. Many of our ex-generals are in similar rackets, they destroy the refineries at home, while having shares or ownership of refineries abroad to milk the nation dry. Behind those names listed, is an ex-general or two.

Deny the above or sharap.

gidiMonsta:
u r very right and thats the reality we have to deal with, even Rwanda and Gabon have better roads but we'll achieve nothing by posting pics nd insulting each other on NL, instead of having constructive discussions and criticisms to force our govt to adjust some of their silly policies. For instance, an individual or a private firm cannot repair or construct a road in his area without paying a certain amount to the govt.

On a lighter note:
Thailand and Maroc r not 3rd world nations, Botswana is light years ahead of most nations in Africa and Indonesia is about to invest $1bn in naija so no basis for comparison.

Strangely, Zimbabwe we insult so much has one of the best road systems in the whole of Africa. They surely put ours to shame by a long margin; its not just the roads, they also have very functional road maintenance and emergency services. If you break down in Zimbabwe, you can call a number and a truck will actually pull up with qualified mechanics to sort you out.

www.nairaland.com/attachments/592570_calabr3_jpg7ba843fb61295900a5b56e65863802c0

This road has become an IQ test with shocking results!
Carry go, Lasinoh! Nutin do you! Keep trucking and avoid marriage to avoid "blessing" the lil kiddies with your "intellect."

Funny shyte!

^
Dude, if I reply you, the result will be buckets and basins of tears. Many have fallen on the road you are foolishly treading.
It is best to keep to the argument if you have the intelligence to do so.

KA24DETT:
BEAF , BEAF, Reply him. Mr teflon don, very slick and smooth . Never ever caught in a web. Master of side stepping and deflection
I know he wouldnt reply u, instead he would call you IGNORANT of nigeria problems and not UNDERSTANDING the meaning of subsidy.
Truth be told, BEAF is the best PR man money can buy better than than Reuben Abati. yep yep.

And why would you want me to reply crap? How can I reply anyone who asks why GEJ has not ordered the refineries be repaired? As a token of help to the willingly ignorant, GEJ gave the order for the full repair of all refineries way back in August; therefore, it is painful to observe a grown man beating his rather hollow chest, only to reveal that he is ignorant to alarming levels.

Why would you want me to respond to drivel?

By the way, thanks for the various "titles"; I am flattered.

The real Buhari swears that Abacha never stole a dime, so there is little surprise that his NL shadow thinks the same.
Buhari only claims Abacha never stole in order to cover the part he played in disbursing filthy favours and helping wanton theft through his inglorious and wretchedly corrupt time as PTF capone. He is a very sly man.

I posted this elsewhere on NL:

You will also notice that those who scream loudest against the removal of the subsidy are reps of those companies.

Does the average Nigerian who refuses to read know that during Abacha's regime, with Buhari at the head of the PTF racket; the refineries were deliberately run down and monies for their turn around maintenance routinely vanished into thin air? But wait for the cracker! At the time this lot were running down our local refineries, Abacha actually used FG funds to build a personal refinery in Sierra Leone, so he and his cronies could milk the nation dry as a fuel importers!
That refinery was acquired through the vehicles, Integrated Investment Trust Limited and Nasimatume Investments Limited jointly owned by Abacha and his National Security Adviser, Ismaila Gwarzo.

Needless to say, the Abacha refinery in Sierra Leone is now cobwebbed. Many of our ex-generals are in similar rackets, they destroy the refineries at home, while having shares or ownership of refineries abroad to milk the nation dry. Behind those names listed, is an ex-general or two.

Now that the subsidy matter is about to go into meltdown, the likes of Buhari are screaming, quaking in fear of getting exposed and making oblique noises. There is method to the madness.
Let them waste their time. Bushmeat go catch the hunter.

Baba Suwe IS NOT a drug smuggler!

[quote author=A-ZeD link=topic=822371.msg9746053#msg9746053 date=1323677528]If GEJ really meant well, he would not be pushing for subsidy removal but resource control!!!! By the way, do you know that the money saved from subsidy would be shared among the three tier's of Government??[/quote]GEJ has kicked off the process to change the constitution. Among the fundamental issues he is gunning for are, true federalism and the abrogation of anti-people and anti-entreprenueral laws, such as the land use act.
Our President is a quiet guy, so you need to stick your ear to the ground to get a feel for what is brewing in Aso Rock (and it is bloody impressive ); as soon as you begin to get a feel for where the country is headed, you will likely turn an avid supporter.

Just last week, it was quietly announced that states and local govts in Nigeria will be allowed to generate and distribute electricity; that in my opinion is an incredible display of the good things coming our way and our steady match toward development, it was another epic milestone in our corporate existence. And as always, it was done with quiet assurance.
The generator and PHCN mafia's have been defeated, next on the line is the petroleum mafia. Believe it, they to will be swept away, "revolution" or no "revolution."
I trust GEJ.

Nigeria must develop and no power below God can stand in the way.