₦airaland Forum

Sky Blue: UBELIEVABLE. That was THE WEAKEST attempt at an argument for removing the names from the list. People please, listen to that argument very carefuly by Lawan.

Effectively: 'I suggest we remove names 5 and 6 from the list because we want to focus on companies that were part of the PMS scheme'

SO IF THEY WERE NOT ON THE SCHEME, WHY WERE THEY ON THE LIST TO BEGIN WITH??

Shocking!! And what is even more shocking was how we were all going to take the results of the research with some measure of gravitas simply based on the excuse that committees have information we are not privvy to. How on earth did a company that now allegedly was not even on the subsidy scheme make it to the list to begin with, talk less of this weak argument for having to remove it?

Committees need to be more scrutinised and documents used for references crosschecked. Imagine if the report was released, that is what we would have based recommendations on?

The validity of that report has just been rubbished and a new one must be done. Who knows who else should or should not be on the list? Perhaps the press needs to be a bit more investigative and part of the process. I mean, how didn't the press catch this?

Beaf: Thank you, bro. Simple and plain.
Those phuckers called Lawan and Tambuwal simply saw the scam probe as a means to play 2015 "rotation" politics. So, they pointed at only a few sods, but it is quite certain that the number of criminals and total amount scammed are several times less than the actual figures.

A fact that really boggles the mind, is that the likes of Rilwan Lukman were never summoned to face the reps. Rilwan Lukman was the:

Petroleum Minister from February 1986 to February 1990;
Secretary General of OPEC from January 1995 to December 2000;
Special Adviser on Petroleum and Energy Matters to the President in June 1999 to 2003;
Petroleum Minister (round two) from December 2008 to March 2010.

WTF where the reps probing if they couldn't summon Rilwan Lukman, even if only for a cup of tea?!

If anything, we must demand an explosion in the number of criminals caught, as well as the jailing of those like Lawan who acted in brazen ways to direct the ship of state to the rocks, while declaring themselves to be saints.

I says, "get all the bastards!" Every last one.

Nigerians are too easily fooled.

tit: Remove the subsidy completely!
Some people are just using govt as father christmas,
either to get subsidy or for bribe.
And the comoon man gets nothing from it all.
Let us all end this NNPC madness!
The less direct government involvement,
The better for us all.
If there is no subsidy, wetin DAME go chop?
Remove the subsidy and liberalise the petroleum sector.
That way every Efe, Ette and Tanko can deal in PMS
like the shirt on your back is subject to free market forces.

[size=14pt]$620,000 bribe: IG, three CPs grill Farouk Lawan[/size]
June 14, 2012 by Agency Reporter

The Acting Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar, and three Commissioners of Police on Thursday grilled a ranking member of the House of Representatives, Farouk Lawan, over his role in the collection of a $620,000 bribe from an oil marketer, Femi Otedola.

Lawan allegedly received a part of the bribe in April while he was heading the House Ad Hoc Committee on the Management of Fuel Subsidy.

The Clerk of the committee, Boniface Emenalo, also collected a part of the money.

But Lawan said he collected the money as evidence against Otedola.

Lawan arrived at the Force Headquarters, Abuja at 4p.m and was immediately ushered into the IG’s office.

Also at the grilling, which was still ongoing at the time of this report, is the head of the IG’s Special Task Force on the matter, CP Ali Ahmadu.

The task force team leader continued with the interrogation for one hour.
After an hour, Ali went to the seventh floor of the Louis Edet House to brief the IG and get further directives.

The police had threatened to declare Lawan wanted after he failed to honour its invitation to appear before it since Monday.

Otedola appeared on Tuesday and provided a video tape of Lawan allegedly collecting the money as well as other documents.

More details later.

9ijaprince: The truth remains that the cabals have succeeded in killing the fuel subsidy report. I blame Farcrook whom we thought was incorruptible. The whole report now is as worthless as zimbabwean dollar.

shymmex: I'm planning to move to naija soon as well, but I'm just trying to get the necessary things I need to be able to compete out here.. There are no handouts in Nigeria - it's a 'jungle', where everyone is basically hustling to survive.. And you will only survive if you're a step ahead most people.. That's the plan, brother.

rextermail: Hmmmmm my fellow naira land people let us say d truth for every joke u find some truth & d zeel 2 fight so Take it that we don't let these elements of gross misconduct go like others

shymmex: Why would I be on NL in the first place, if I don't know the basics about Nigeria?

Maybe, you need to go back - and read my comment history..

I don't know my "village' - yet I know I'm a waterside Ijebu boy, from Epe, huh?

You're a very funny, chap!

shymmex: You know I'm always ready, and I'm not coward.. If Nigerians are ready for a change, I'll be on the next flight to Lagos..

I've never really lived in Naija, and I don't know the terrain - so it will be difficult for me to come there, as a lone voice in a country of 120-150million arguing for a change.. When Nigerians are ready to stop being docile cowards, they know where to find me.

omosexy1: I don't think Nigerians are cowards, I think they are ignorant about what to do. Whether to write a petition and to whom?

2mch: wow, is beaf trying to pass the blame of the recession unto Nigerians? . I never believed this day will come. hahahahaha!!! Let Nigeria experience the recession o jare. Bring it on. The faster this regime gets a taste of their medicine the better. What about the billions allocated to GEJ for food during this recession? I bet they will still be eating well in Aso rock, not so? Obviously the finance minister has nothing much to offer anymore. It is time he finds someone she can be an assistant to. What about that guy they sacked for telling them the truth? I forgot his name now. . . The earlier the better for these pack of foo*ls. Everyday for the thief . . .. Madam still gets paid in dollars not so? ok na.

afrikanns: can u now see when Baba Iyabo (OBJ) said the house were full witi Armed Robbers, people taut he had mental derailed, point justifyd.

ypzilanti: [/b]

GEJ should try campaigning on that premise after his failed government.

I would love to see him explain how his presidency has nothing to do with the death traps called roads on our federal highways. The lack of electric power. the dismal state of education and unemployment. 'It's not my fault...its your governors'

When you concentrate the majority the funds in the center, you bear a majority of the responsibility.

Beaf: [size=14pt]What do your state an LG contribute to Nigeria and what have you done to ensure they contribute?[/size]

I am tired of hearing people complain forcefully about Nigeria, while absolving their state and local govts of any responsibility.
It is a shocking approach to our developmental problems.

First of all, in a federal system, ALL government units have a responsibility to generate wealth, representation, fulfilment and wellbeing for the citizens under their wing. However, in today’s Nigeria state and LG's do little more than collect money from the FG on a monthly basis.
The acceptance of this state of affairs by the citizenry is clearly a disgrace that points to exactly why we have so woefully failed to develop.

At the heart of the acceptance of the begging trail to Abuja is a gross misunderstanding of how a federal govt should function. This widespread misunderstanding can be laid firmly at the foot of years of traumatising military rule in which the head of state sat over the country as a great god from whom all things flowed.
It was in the interest of these great gods to sow chaos in the system to ensure that Nigeria was always there for them to milk.

So much energy has been concentrated on easy loot from oil that we have forgotten how to be creative and have become a people who exist as spongers and who only wish to become “better” spongers. Here is what creativity, honest sweat and determination have produced for the cities below that ALL make more money than the ENTIRE Nigeria:

Nigeria: GDP (PPP) 2009 estimate $341.572 billion
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2010/01/weodata/weorept.aspx?sy=2007&ey=2010&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=694&s=NGDPD%2CNGDPDPC%2CPPPGDP%2CPPPPC%2CLP&grp=0&a=&pr.x=38&pr.y=14

Tokyo (Japan) $ 1479 billion
New York City (United States) $ 1406 billion
Los Angeles (United States) $ 792 billion
Chicago (United States) $ 574 billion
London (United Kingdom) $ 565 billion
Paris (France) $ 564 billion
Osaka (Japan) $ 417 billion
Mexico City (Mexico) $ 390 billion
Philadelphia (United States) $ 388 billion
São Paulo (Brazil) $ 388 billion
Washington D.C. (United States) $ 375 billion
Boston (United States) $ 363 billion
Buenos Aires (Argentina) $ 362 billion

Here are two power plants owned by local governments in the UK. These damn things are not owned by the British govt, but by LG's:

SELCHP (35MW) – Lewisham and Southwark Councils

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9f/SELCHP.jpg/800px-SELCHP.jpg

Greenwich Power Station (117MW) – Standby power station for Greater London

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/Greenwich_power_station_from_Royal_Observatory.jpg

Many of us were out rioting for #Occupy, whereas our states and LG's are rotting edifices with no purpose, outside an awuf scramble.
[size=14pt]WHAT HAVE YOU DONE OR ARE YOU PREPARED TO DO TO MAKE OUR STATES AND LG'S PRODUCTIVE?[/size]

ypzilanti: Whateva, Dude. I forgot that your job was was to promote GEJ's ineffective government. The federal government controls the majority of the oil revenue. They are stealing it and wasting it. They have not advocated true Federalism and resource control. The laws have not empowered and encouraged local governance. GEJ said so himself...infact he admitted while campaigning that local governance is virtually non existent in Nigeria. What laws have been enacted since he came into power to encourage Local governance? see the example of Rocha's okorocha who has tried to innovate a way of bringing local governance to the people. It may not work, but at least you can see the intention.

I'm not a lazy phuck if i am doing my job where I am employed at, or running my business. The president should do his job too.

You are the lazy phuck getting paid to preach lies on the internet.

DaLover: Please where is the evidence to show that ibori and alams are being idolized? Both men where chased by efcc based on the strength of petitions by indigenes of the state....

You deliberately decide to mis inform the public with your poisonous and evil post about 9ja deltans....apart from providing the resources to fund ur education and sustain ur existence, i don't know what we did to deserve this haterade.....
Could it be because we advocate for resources control whereby those who sit on top the oil mine it and pay tax to govt, in stead of a federal govt father Christmas system....
The real reason yorubas are angry at the gej government is they fear they will be asked to contribute to the common wealth....normally this should not be a bad thing......
But here in nigeria...it has lead to attacks on anything 9ja deltan....even to the extent of trying to pick divisions between the groups in the 9ja delta.......
This continues to be be the sad reality of the day....God should save us from the SW and their hypocrisy....amen

ypzilanti: What has the governing party done in terms of rectifying this anomaly? Why are not making moves to amend the revenue generation formula of the nation? They are they majority in state legislation assemblies and the federal assembly. Nothing.

Why? Because the present system suits them just very well.

This is the leadership the President should be providing and spending political capital on. Not mundane things like renaming institutions and seeking a single term of 5 or 6 years for the executive.

DrugDoc: The way the Nigerian people are thinking and reasoning, I fear we may be due for a serious conflict. Those advocating for revolution should look to the Liberian, Sierra Leoan and Congo "revolutions". It will be all our fault and we will all be consumed. How can we want govt to help pay for fueling every vehicle driven in Nigeria? What is the population of Saudi Arabia or Libya or UAE that give cheap fuel? Why would anyone build a company (refinery) where the govt. would dictate price regardless of investment? How come we don't demonstrate and riot to privatize NEPA? Don't we see what Dangote and co. has done with the cement sector where Nigeria can now export cement? Don't we see Eleme Petrochemicals, now Indorama performing wonders under private businessmen? INSTEAD OF CALLING ON GEJ AND FG TO PROVIDE ROADS, RAILS, HOUSING, ELECTRICITY, NEW UNIVERSITIES, HEALTHCARE, AIRLINES, SEAPORTS, AND FUEL SUBSIDY, TELL FG TO GET OUT OF THE WAY. THERE IS NOT ENOUGH OIL IN THE NIGER DELTA TO PROVIDE FOR ALL OUR NEEDS. IT BELONGS TO THE OIL PRODUCING COMMUNITIES AND SHOULD BE GRADUALLY RETURNED TO THEM, BECAUSE IT IS THE ROOT OF OUR PROBLEMS IN NIGERIA.

Fhemmmy: How do u know he rarely stays in Oshun

[size=14pt]QUESTION: You are running a government in Osun and at the same time having an eye on Lagos State. Your opponents are asking why can’t you devote your attention to Osun?[/size]

GOVERNOR AREGBESOLA: I can never leave Lagos and Lagos can never leave me. I am in Osun now, who are the people you see here? Lagos people! Let us not deceive ourselves and do not allow misdirected and irrational people to deceive all of us, because nature is not artificial, it is natural; it cannot be manipulated. Therefore; how can a man operate in a state for close to 30 years and just because he has been here since November 26, 2010 he will have nothing to do with that area. Is it naturally possible? Is it possible for a man to live in a place for 30 years, and then relocate to a place for just about 10 months and severe all relationships with where he had stayed for 30 years? It does not follow logic. Those who are peddling this think if they continue it, it would attract some sympathy for them, here again they have failed. Our people are reasonable; they understand the fact of life. If my 30 years seem far-fetched, let us look at what is obvious, I came into public limelight in Lagos with my appointment as Commissioner for Works in 1999, one thing that cannot be mistaken is that you cannot attain that height in any political setting without sufficient network at the grassroots; which means I must have had grassroots network before I emerged as a commissioner. Let us just put that at 5 years of work, and 12 years of service; that is 17 years of serious political work, where will the people in my network go?

[size=14pt]QUESTION: But where does that leave the people of Osun State that you govern? Are they not being short-changed?[/size]

GOVERNOR AREGBESOLA: Are they complaining? Does it in any way affect our operation in the state? It would be an issue if the presence of visiting Lagos people here affects my effectiveness as a governor, honestly it might be an issue. But the truth is that the state had not had it this good in recent past. I work 18 hours in a day. The last government closed from office 12noon every day. So, how can you compare us? I have organised myself so well that as I am large in Lagos, I am larger in Osun. Something has proved it beyond reasonable doubt, I have Alimosho in Lagos, we won, the opposition had no answer to us; and when we went for the rally, our strength again was shown by the turnout, and when I spoke there, the whole world knew that there was somebody here. To further demonstrate that Alimosho was not a fluke, we won all the seats contested in Osun State. We give the glory to God. President Jonathan won everywhere, but when he got here, he met a brick wall. We gave Nuhu Ribadu the state.
[size=14pt]
QUESTION: Is it your long association with Lagos that has made you introduce a seemingly strange model of government to the state, a model where the Chief of Staff has more powers than the SSG, a model whereby you as the governor also holds on to the Works portfolio?[/size]

GOVERNOR AREGBESOLA: Let me tell you, we make some mistakes because of our attachment to convention and I want to beg you, you will help us and your generation by always attempting to go into the etymology of everything, don’t just take it as they present themselves. Go to the root, we introduced the office of chief of staff in the entire country and we understood what that office is. Go to Wikipediea, chief of staff is almost the governor, he controls the office of the governor; you cannot have chief of staff and have any other operation outside what we have given out there, but because those who copy this thing didn’t know anything, they didn’t seek knowledge, they just operated blindly. We are operating government as it should be, it has nothing to do with individual, it is simply a question of how government must be. Don’t believe me, search for knowledge. There is nothing Lagos about it, it is about if you are executive, what is the format, the chief of staff takes responsibility for the governor, in fact for the governorate including the deputy governor. We understood what we wanted for our administration and we structured it the way we want and it’s giving us the result that we want and you will see the impact. Our governance will totally be unconventional. Let me tell you one that has not even happened in Lagos, we created a Bureau of Communication and Strategy; no government has ever had anything like that. The best that was had was a Chief Press Secretary.

Beaf: If the states and LG's were not reliant on oil awuf, there would be no recession.

The way we go on about oil in Nigeria, you would think the average person was an invalid with an IQ at fish level; too useless to produce anything, work, invent or be useful to society.

The way we go on and on about oil, any foreigner would think the country consists of a pack of indolent who think that states and LG's only function as conduit pipes for awuf from Abuja.

I feel deep shame each time discussions like this one come up, because it is proof that Nigeria has no future. The average mind is as creative as the nearest rock.

Let us be in recession forever if that is what will get us thinking. A man who does not work should not eat.

Umartins1: I bear no personal grudge against anyone or any government but the truth must be said.
Do the people of OSUN really have a GOVERNOR??

I dont want to be tagged a member of the opposition party but I believe that 80% of Osun indigens will support my claim.

POOR ECONOMY

During the reign of PDP, the economy was in a bliss. Market women and men chant gladily. Civil service workers enjoyed thier entitlements. Boys and girls,youngs and olds felt the truth dividends of democracy.
The salt, as sweet as it is, still has its enemies. Everyone born of man is bound to have his antis. Such could be said of the then Governor of the state, the prince, that transformed Osun from a zero economy state to a state boasting of a luxurious standard of living.
He was plotted against and was impeached in the name of rigging during election, which I considered as irrelevant.
Now, Osun has who they wanted. A man that calls himself an advocate of God but still indulges in the 'dirty game'.
I am not campaigning nor nursing a grudge against anyone but my dear people of Osun, what has the man done for you??
He rarely stays in the state he governs and care-less about his party members. For the fear of my prestige, I will be putting a halt to my address. But I want to implore Osun to
ENJOY WHAT SHE HAS GOTTEN................. Poor standard of living!

Beaf: Aregbe takes the price.

[size=14pt]"Pally! To hell wit Osun!"
"I like Lagos o! Lagosu! Lagosuuuu!! Lagosuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!!!"[/size]
https://www.leadership.ng/nga/sites/default/files/articleimages/gov_rauf-aregbesola.jpg