₦airaland Forum

[size=14pt]Zoning - PDP's Enemies Out to Kill It[/size]
Abdulaziz Abdulaziz
2 August 2010

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interview

Kano — Dr Danladi Sankara is the National Vice chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), North-West zone. In this interview with Abdulaziz Abdulaziz in Kano, Sankara expressed concern over the developments in the political scene in the country with the raging debate about zoning and rotational presidency. The PDP chieftain accused the opposition and others he described as disgruntled party insiders, of masquerading under the debate to cause disaffection within the party and its government.

You had been outspoken but not much has been heard from you these days. Why is it difficult to track you of recent?

You know there is time for everything. Remember that the general election is fast approaching, and considering the enormity of the issues at stake, I have devoted most of my time to working out the strategy to ensure effective co-ordination of the seven states under the North-West Zone for the purpose of the upcoming elections. This is with the primary objective of enhancing the chances of the PDP to register comprehensive victory at the polls, and at all levels.

We are making steady progress as we are systematically working hard to resolve all pending issues relating to the various states with a view to making the desired impact of winning the election in all the seven states in the North-West Zone.

There were series of media reports and interviews by some Northern leaders threatening the PDP over the raging issue of zoning. What is your reaction?

First of all, those you refer to as Northern leaders threatening the PDP were speaking for themselves. It is an empty threat. The people making all the noise are not even members of the PDP. You confess that you are not a member of a political party, then how come you take it upon yourself to indulge in trouble shooting over an issue that is purely and squarely a PDP affair?

Let me tell you the truth. All those who claim to be speaking for the North over the issue of zoning and rotational presidency have since 1998, been working tirelessly against the interest of the PDP. They are very well known enemies of the party. I believe that they are nursing a false belief that they could overheat the issues of zoning, rotation or whatever to achieve their sinister motive of crippling the PDP this time around. It is a tall order or expectation that can not be achieved.

When you take a more serious look at the activities and utterances of those parading themselves as the Northern Leaders under the various platforms and guises, you discover elements of mischief in the sense that they now appear to be like the sympathiser weeping much louder than the bereaved.

Contrary to the expectations of those beating war drums and threatening the PDP, the party is now much stronger and united. The PDP is in full control of sixteen Northern States, with only three in the hands of the opposition. With all sense of modesty and responsibility, I declare categorically that the whole nineteen northern states will be won by the PDP in 2011 general elections. You do not require the service of soothsayers to re-confirm to you that PDP will clear the states and all other elective offices in 2011. All the signs of comprehensive victory for the party are already manifesting right now.

I sincerely advise those people making inflammatory statements to exercise extreme caution, they should be responsible enough to resist the temptation of fighting proxy wars, because of the grave danger they constitute to democracy and peace of the nation through unguarded statements.

The issue of rotational presidency and whether President Jonathan can contest the 2011 presidential election on the platform of your party or not is generating so much tension. What is your stand on this?

The issue is purely and entirely a PDP affair. It is strange that a lot of people that are not even members of the PDP have dissipated more time and energy than the bona fide members to stoke the fire in arguments and counter-arguments on the issue.

I have the feeling that enemies of the party in concert with the opposition think they can use the issue to destroy the PDP. The plot can not work. It has failed. This is because the party is united. I have said it several times that PDP as a credible political party, has a time-tested internal conflict resolution mechanism. We can resolve our issues by ourselves without external interference.

What is the way out of the present logjam?

It is not late for people of good conscience to sit down together and discuss the issue with the aim of removing doubts, suspicions and bad blood generated by the activities of the political opportunists who attempted to create distrust and disaffection between the North and the good people of the South over this contentious matter.

Secondly, the PDP is a responsible political party and it is equal to the task of resolving all the issues concerning the 2011 presidential election. This will be done under the atmosphere of understanding for the purpose of unity, progress and development of the nation. We are determined to resolve all the issues amicably and conclusively.

With the lingering tension across the country over this zoning or rotational presidency in 2011, how do you foresee the future of democracy, or indeed the continued existence of Nigeria as a united country?

I have never doubted our capacity as a people and as a nation to overcome serious challenges. Let me remind you that the factors which unite the various peoples of Nigeria by far outweigh those that tended to divide them.

It is unfortunate that some people with limited historical background of Nigeria who at one time or another found themselves in positions of leadership have always been the major problems of this great nation of ours. And the truth is that, in the event Nigeria breaks up, which will never happen, the same trouble shooters will be the worst for it.

My candid advise therefore is that we should fear God, and fear the repercussions of the anger of people you unjustifiably perceive as weak; this is because there is every tendency that when the chips are down you may end up regretting the earlier contempt you have for such people.

I believe also that democracy would sustain in Nigeria notwithstanding the present challenges. These challenges are all part of the process towards stronger unity and true greatness.

With all these squabbles in your party PDP, don't you think that the opposition would take the advantage to oust you in 2011?

Which opposition? Where is the opposition you are talking about? They have since abandoned their roles of providing credible checks to the PDP and have instead pre-occupied themselves quarrelling, with each other over which provisions of the PDP constitution should be enforced and which one should be discarded. Can you imagine that?

http://allafrica.com/stories/201008030574.html

Unveiling his new agenda for change, Nwodo, who was National Secretary of the party for three years, said a mini-convention is being planned for next month to give bite to the new vision and “remove the last vestiges of the cabal” that has made it impossible for the best materials to fly the banner of the party.

Does this mean IBB is finally getting the boot from PDP next month?
No wonder his out of the blue rant over the weekend, that nobody can dislodge him from PDP. Hmmmmm!

We be whatchin'

I found the website the report originated from. Compared to the rubbish data that emanates from Nigeria, that website is a veritable treasure trove of financial info. Wow!
This is their web address; http://www.economicconfidential.com/x/

Since PHCN has been operating illegally, can we get refunds of our NEPA bills since 2005?

[size=14pt]PHCN’s accounts not audited in five years[/size] 
By Everest Amaefule, Abuja   
Tuesday, 3 Aug 2010   
   
Everest Amaefule, AbujaThe accounts of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria and those of its 18 successor companies have not been audited in the past five years, an investigation by THE PUNCH has revealed.

The investigation further showed that the non-audit of the companies had made it difficult to obtain information on how much they had generated or spent during the period.

The PHCN’s account was last audited in 2005. However, their 2005 Annual Report and Financial Statements were signed by its auditors on January 28, 2010.

The 2005 financial statement which was released earlier this year reported that the PHCN made a turnover of N107bn as against N101bn recorded in the previous year. This showed an increase of N6bn.

However, the auditors in an independent joint report to the members of the board of the PHCN dated January 28, 2010, said they could vouch for the company’s claim that it realised the said amounts both in 2004 and 2005.

The auditors also indicated that its built- up liabilities of N95.89bn in its pensions fund was in excess of its accumulated fund of N4.93bn.

In the report, the auditors said, “We were unable to confirm the accuracy of the sale of electricity amounting to N106.98bn (2004: N101.06bn) which is in excess of the average annual revenue collections of about N78.43bn (2004: N71bn).

“Billings for non-maximum demand customers were largely on estimates.

“An actuarial valuation of the company’s Superannuation Fund as at June 2004 indicates that the Fund’s built up liabilities is in excess of its accumulated fund of N4.93bn by the sum of N90.96bn.

“The excess liability of N90.96bn has not been provided for in these financial statements.”

It was learnt that the power company had not been able to contract the audit of its accounts since 2006 due to concerns over legal niceties.

Experts opine that the PHCN as it is currently constituted is illegal and ought to have been dissolved 18 months after it was incorporated as prescribed by the Electricity Power Sector Reform Act 2005.

The Act which also established the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission prescribed that the PHCN should have finished transferring assets and liabilities to the 18 successor companies within 18 months.

General Manager, Corporate Affairs at the PHCN, Mrs. Efurun Igbo, confirmed that the last audited account for the company was for 2006 and attributed the failure to produce the audited accounts for the rest of the years to legal issues.

Although she did not offer details on the legal issues, she added that the respective boards of the 18 successor companies were supposed to procure the audit of the accounts rather than the PHCN.

Igbo said, “The successor companies receive money directly from the federation accounts and therefore their boards are supposed to order for the audited accounts.”

However, none of the 18 successor companies has a board. Even the PHCN does not have a board .

The successor companies are made up of six generation companies, one transmission company and eleven distribution companies.

The Electricity Power Sector Reform Act 2005 provided the legal basis for unbundling the PHCN (former NEPA) into the 18 successor companies.

The Act states, “The National Council on Privatisation shall not later than six months after the coming into force of this Act, take such steps as are necessary under the Companies and Allied Matters Act to incorporate a company, limited by shares, which shall be the initial holding company for the assets and liabilities of the Authority.

“The shares of the initial holding company on its incorporation shall be held by the Ministry of Finance Incorporated and the Bureau of Public Enterprises in the name of and on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria.

“The assets and liabilities vested in the Authority as at the initial transfer date and appearing on the audited balance sheets of the Authority, shall vest in the initial holding company.

“Within eight months from the initial transfer date, the National Council on Privatisation shall, on the finalisation of the opening balance sheet of the initial holding company, issue final order either confirming or specifying the transfer of assets and liabilities under subsection (2) and this part applies with necessary modifications to the final order.”

The provisions of the Act were part of the reform of the sector that had been initiated by former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.

However, the unbundling of the PHCN had been reversed by the late President Umar Yar’Adua without any policy statement.

http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201008034535492

Where is all this money?

Also, Where are the "yam produces 42% of GDP" clowns?

[size=14pt]Nigeria earned N34tn in 10 years — Report[/size]
By Stanley Opara    
Tuesday, 3 Aug 2010


Nigeria earned N31tn from the oil sector and N3tn from the non-oil sector between 1999 and 2009, a report by Economic Confidential said on Monday.

The report said while N7tn was realised in 2008 alone, former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration generated over N26bn from oil and non-oil revenue.

It added that the oil sector accounted for 89.28 per cent of the total revenue while the non-oil sector, including solid minerals, generated 10.72 per cent of the total sum.

According to the report, “In the 10 years of elected government in Nigeria, the sum of N31tn was generated from the oil sector while N3tn was from the non-oil sector of the economy.

“The table of the revenue which Economic Confidential provides shows that oil sector accounted for 89.28 per cent, while the non-oil sector, including solid minerals, generated 10.72 per cent of the gross revenue.”

Analysing annual crude production, the online journal said Nigeria produced 8.1 billion barrels of crude oil in the 10 years under review, with over 900 million barrels generated between 2004 and 2005 respectively.

But the report noted that the figures indicated that there was a shortfall between the estimated annual crude oil production and the actual production in eight years.

It also said that production was largely hampered by the activities of Niger Delta militants and oil thieves.

It added that the country only exceeded the budget estimates in 2003 and 2004 by producing 846 million and 910 million barrels as against the budgeted 766 million and 817 million respectively.

It attributed improved revenues over the years to increased production quota and high prices of crude oil in the international market.

The Federal Government had through the Minister of Finance, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, allayed fears that the non-release of funds to implement certain projects in the country was an indication of the nation’s poor financial standing.

Aganga, who made the clarification at an interactive session organised by the House of Representatives Committee on Millennium Development Goals, also said Nigerians should not interpret the non-release of funds to ministries, departments and agencies as and when due as an indication of financial difficulty.

According to him, Nigeria’s revenue profile went up by 76 per cent recently.

The committee chairman, Mrs. Saudatu Sani, had lamented that most of the MDGs projects across the 36 states could not commence because of non-release of funds by relevant ministries and agencies.

She also decried the non-implementation of the “Quick Win” projects of the MDGs geared towards improving the lives of Nigerians at the grass roots due to zero cash backing.

http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201008034471396

[size=14pt]Nigeria set to announce new gas pricing regime[/size]
Tue Aug 3, 2010 10:29am GMT 

(Reuters) - Nigeria will announce a new gas pricing regime this week aimed at boosting power generation for its struggling manufacturing industry, the finance ministry said late on Monday.
The new pricing structure, which has already been approved by President Goodluck Jonathan, is meant to enable manufacturers to access cheaper energy, which currently accounts for around 60 percent of their production costs, the ministry said.

"A major character of the new regime is the sectoral differentiation in pricing, which favours manufacturers," the ministry said in a statement.

Nigeria is home to Africa's biggest oil and gas industry yet is plagued by chronic power shortages, leaving its 140 million people without reliable mains electricity, and businesses and wealthy individuals reliant on expensive diesel generators.

The power crisis is a major brake on growth in sub-Saharan Africa's second-biggest economy.

But it is also a major potential investment opportunity for private power firms, which stand ready to invest billions of dollars in Nigeria once a clear regulatory framework is put in place.

Industry executives say the current gas pricing structure has not provided enough incentive for producers to sell their gas for domestic power generation, even though it is a huge potential market. They hope the new regime will change that.

http://af.reuters.com/article/investingNews/idAFJOE67209A20100803

[size=14pt]PHCN: FG to release privatisation timetable soon[/size] 
By Martin Ayankola   
Tuesday, 3 Aug 2010   

THE Federal Government will soon release the timetable for the privatisation of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria‘s successor companies.

A source close to the Presidential Task Force on Power told our correspondent on Monday that the process of liberalising the successor companies ”won‘t be a-one-size-fits-all approach.”

He said, ”We are going to take the companies one by one and determine which system is good for each of them.

”The liberalisation will be done across the value chain, from fuel supply to the power stations, to supply of electricity to the customers.”

According to the source, the government ”has the will to implement the Electric Power Sector Reform Act.”

The 18 PHCN successor companies include Kainji Hydro Electric Plc, Shiroro Hydro Electric Plc, Jebba Hydro Electric Plc, Egbin Power Plc, Afam Power Plc, Transmission Company of Nigeria, Abuja Electricity Distribution Plc, Yola Electricity Distribution Plc, Ikeja Electricity Distribution Plc and Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Plc.

Others are Kaduna Electricity Distribution Plc, Enugu Electricity Distribution Plc, Benin Electricity Distribution Plc, Ibadan Electricity Distribution Plc, Eko Electricity Distribution Plc, Kano Electricity Distribution Plc, Sapele Power Plc and Delta Power Plc.

The EPSR was enacted on March 11, 2005 and the memorandum attached to the law says, ”The Act provides for the formation of companies to take over the functions, assets, liabilities and staff of NEPA; develop competitive electricity markets; establish the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission; provide for the licensing and regulation of the generation, transmission, distribution and supply of electricity; enforce such matters as performance standards, consumer rights and obligations and provide for the determination of tariffs.”

Five years after the Act was passed, the power sector has still not been fully liberalised and the PHCN, which was supposed to be a holding company that should operate just for a while, still exists, contrary to the provisions of the law.

According to the law, ”The National Council on Privatisation shall, not later than six months after the coming into force of this Act, take such steps as are necessary, under the Companies and Allied Matters Act, to incorporate a company, limited by shares, which shall be the initial holding company for the assets and liabilities of the authority.”

The Act states,”The shares of the shareholding company on its incorporation shall be held by the Ministry of Finance Incorporated and the Bureau of Public Enterprises, in the name and on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria.”

It further adds, ”The National Council on Privatisation shall not later than eight months after the formation of the initial holding company, under section 1 of this Act, take such steps as are necessary under the Companies and Allied Matters Act to incorporate such additional companies limited by shares, as the NCP may deem appropriate, which shall be successor companies.”

The law further states that the NCP “shall not later than one year from the initial transfer date, by an order, require the initial holding company to transfer employees, assets, liabilities, rights and obligations of the initial holding company to a successor company, as specified in the order.”

However, the law says the NCP can at any time it deems appropriate, begin the process of privatisation of the successor companies.

http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201008034313662

Good to see so much attention going to power generation. Lets hope the privatisation of PHCN goes quickly enough, that in itself will be a major boost.

0hsisi:
Beaf
That is a whole 'nother level of Yoruba
I call that one ngbatilicious

EzeUche22:
Yoruba people try to claim others just like they say that the Igbos do. Very interesting. It is good to see the shoe on the other foot!

I think this is just a disease of the tribalistic ones amongst Lagosian's (the babapupa's, tilapia's, 9jaganja's etc). They are among the worst groups of tribalists on NL. Its so funny, that fool 9jaganja is even gone as far as that claiming Bini people (who by the way founded Lagos ) are Yoruba. But, here I am offering them a FREE service to teach, teach and patiently teach them their own history. It's a FREE school for tribalists. I invite them to sit humbly at my lectures.

@9jaganja
As a Lagosian, you are more likely to be a direct descendant of the Bini's who founded and ruled your town, Eko. You wanna argue, I'll whop you again!!!!

Meanwhile, which tribalist will take up the Egun challenge, its still running, here goes AGAIN!!!!
Poor ignorant, tribalistic fools, lets speak the new Yoruba. www.nairaland.com/attachments/180447_ROTFLMAO_gif3d0c775232c7f27cf80592785b9635b6

[flash=480,385]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3FIWNdQcTM&hl=en_GB&fs=1[/flash]

9jaganja:
Geez you prove how lacking you are. I never said Egun people are your mainstream Yoruba. I said it's history and ancestry that ties them to Yoruba just like Bini people. You really like word play don't you? Suck on a hard "beaf". You really represent your name. Like your Igbo folks would say: Anu Npam, senseless beef!!! Okay you win Egun people have no historical or ancestral ties with Yoruba people.

This is where becomerich will take over,

See story changing from "but, my friend told me!" to they are not "mainstream Yoruba".

Charlie, Egun people are NOT Yoruba. Period.
Bini people are also NOT nearly Yoruba too, in fact, Egun people are farther away from Yoruba than Bini people.

Go and rest, your battery is weak!

[size=14pt]Which North goes for zoning?[/size]
Aug 3, 2010 By Rotimi Fasan

THE headlines were loud the past week that the North has decided to stick by its resolve that the presidency in 2011 be zoned to it. The question of whether the presidency should be zoned to the North has been both a contentious and polarising issue in the many weeks since Goodluck Jonathan became president following the death of President Umaru Yar’Adua.

Unlike in the past when matters of this nature had split the country down the middle along the North-South, Muslim-Christian dichotomy, those opposed to zoning as a political principle and more specifically those opposed to the presidency being zoned to the North have been no less vociferous in the North than in the South- perhaps more so in the North than in the South.

Indeed, it would seem now that those most vehement in their disclaimer of zoning have been the emergent class of Northern youths and the “new breed” politicians that have not been part of the ruling elite in the North. Their opposition to zoning was so strong that the Northern Governors’ Forum had to take time to sleep over the issue before taking a definite stand on the matter.

But by the beginning of last week, the governors, by a narrow margin which should itself tell those yet in support of it, that our “zoning days” like the political days of those past beneficiaries of one form of zoning or another in the North- the narrow margin should tell them that their days as politicians are not only numbered but can be counted on the fingers of one hand.

Yes, the governors voted to retain zoning but does that mean that the North is indeed in support of zoning? The answer is a loud No! It’s the Northern arm of the PDP rather than the entire North that has voted for zoning. In this very matter, the so-called North appears to be speaking from sides of the mouth. While one part wants zoning another part gives President Jonathan the all-clear to be part of the presidential race.

So, what really does “the North” want? Let’s be clear about the fact that there is a big difference between the entire people of the North and the power-mongers that have ruled and misruled in their name all these years. The Northern ruling elite have since independence contrived to deceive the rest of Nigerians that their interests are the interests of the ordinary people of the North, and that when they speak they do so in the name of the people.

This is the very notion that the new power bloc in the North, represented by the youth and new breed politicians, is trying to dispel. Without trying to break the North to say nothing of the entire country along religious lines, in the same manner that the power mongers in favour of zoning have created the impression that their views are representative of the views of the North, so have they tried to make it look like Northerners are all Muslims.

This is not true as is the idea, I emphasise, that the North has voted for zoning. It is the leaders of the PDP, the most dominant party in the North and, alas, Nigeria that wants zoning, a principle that has in this present context and others before it, given them the unfair advantage- it is they that are threatening fire and sulphur should the presidency slip out of their increasingly weak fingers.

The longsuffering masses of the North that have endured the profligate incompetence of their past leaders now angling to return, cannot support any attempt to perpetuate their suffering. It’s clear they wouldn’t mind where the next Nigerian President comes from- indeed might prefer the president come from outside their zone for as long as he can do the job for which he was elected; namely, provide adequate food and quality housing, education and health among others.

The few lucky ones among the masses who can read and write have nowhere to lay their heads at the end of the day. And should they fall ill, they will quickly realise they are on their own with nobody, not even government in the various cadres, to save them from sure death as the so-called hospitals they would be taken to are worse than abattoirs. The bitter irony of governors who proclaimed the Sharia and amputated poor Nigerians who stole to eke out an existence but starched billions of dollars abroad, while taking under-aged girls in marriage, has not been lost on Northern youth who are bent on effecting the long-needed change in the leadership of the North.

The attempt to railroad Northerners and by extension the rest of us into accepting the zoning formula should be resisted by all well-meaning Nigerians. It is not a constitutional principle. We must move away from our unprofitable past where a few cornered what belonged to all and insisted on privileges that only served to give them the means with which to further enslave the rest of the country, beginning with their own immediate community.

The only reason the zoning “chumps” are up in arms campaigning for zoning is in the clear realisation that whoever holds the rein of power in Nigeria invariably wins an election, and since Goodluck Jonathan is at present the President, they believe he would employ state powers to ensure he returns to power in 2011 should he join the presidential race.

It matters nothing that President Jonathan has not yet formally indicated any interest in the race, which race he will surely join except the unexpected happens, as they sometimes do, to turn things totally around. Otherwise President Jonathan who is fast learning the ropes and has decided to play mute to questions of his possible candidacy in the presidential election has so far been a very good student of one or two of the past rulers planning a comeback, with his ability to make others dissipate energy on debating an issue on which he had reached a decision well before the commencement of the vacuous noises and name-calling caused by the zoning debate.

Nigeria deserves the best of the human capital she can produce at any point in time. They will have no truck with the hue and cry being made to stop one man from taking part in an election some believe it’s their birthright to win.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2010/08/03/which-north-goes-for-zoning/

9jaganja:
Have you heard an Egba person speak his or her own dialect? keep on cruising the stupidity avenue bro. You ignored what know all posted cause it doesn't support your idea. hahaha Keep on keep keeping on. No one is trying to suppress the Ewe people just like no one is trying to suppress Egba, Igbomina, Ekiti people in Yoruba land. They have their different identity which is a common thing in diverse Yoruba land. Yoruba isn't about language.!!

Really?
Just to rub it in that you either can't read or smoke too much "stuff" (it slows the mind down). Here are your very own Yoruba people from Benin Republic telling you that Egun people are a separate ethnic group. Olodo!

KnowAll: Porto-Novo is called "Ajase" (or Ajache) by the Yoruba. The Gouns call it Hogbonu (or Hogbonou).

The town, right from inception, has two tribes. The Goun and the Yoruba.

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-489748.64.html#msg6498360

The fear has started.

Abeg, they had better give Jega the money jare. Bloody buffoons in govt.
When Jega has finished setting up his biometric voters register, we will see how the current scoundrels in power will be able to rig themselves in. Lets see how many cows eyes and chickens toe prints they will be able to register.

[size=14pt]They better give Jega the money.[/size]

Supported. They are needed at the Cameroonian border.

[size=14pt]Nigerian leader threatens to keep troops out of UN missions[/size]

ABUJA — Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan threatened Monday to keep his nation's troops out of UN peacekeeping missions unless rules of engagement are changed to help prevent soldiers' deaths.

"I wouldn't want to lose one soldier carelessly, and for that reason, the UN also needs to change rules of engagement if Nigeria's soldiers must be involved in peace operations," Jonathan told an international seminar on peacekeeping.

He did not specify what new rules of engagement Nigeria wants.

Nigeria, currently a member of the UN Security Council and Africa's most populous nation, lost seven soldiers in 2007 in an ambush during peace operations in Sudan.

Last year, a Nigerian soldier was gunned down near his home in the capital of Sudan's South Darfur state by unknown attackers who stole his car.

Jonathan said militia groups ambushing and killing troops was "totally unacceptable."

The country has also notably participated in peace operations in Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Nigeria's UN mission says on its website that there are more than 6,000 Nigerian troops serving under United Nations mandates worldwide, but it was unclear whether that number remained up to date.

Jonathan also blamed arms manufacturers in rich nations for contributing to violence in Africa.

"In Africa, one of the greatest problems is the dumping of small arms and light weapons by the industrialised countries. This encourages a lot of criminal activities, the militia groups and all kind of conflicts," he said.

Nigeria will hold presidential elections early next year, and Jonathan is widely expected to run.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ioYSTHpcfXoye4_SAAozK-CzAs7A

[size=14pt]Nigeria Oil Producers Agree to Set Up Fund to Cover Costs of Oil Spills[/size]
By Elisha Bala-Gbogbo - Aug 2, 2010 2:20 PM GMT+0100 Mon Aug 02 13:20:19 UTC 2010

International oil companies operating in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region agreed to set up a fund to cover the costs of oil spills, the country’s environment minister said.

There were about 3,000 reported cases of spills between 2006 and 2010 in the delta region, where most of Nigeria’s oil fields are located, minister John Odey said in a statement e- mailed by the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency.

Nigeria is Africa’s top oil producer and the fifth-biggest source of U.S. oil imports. Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp., Total SA and Eni SpA run joint ventures with the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. to pump the country’s crude.

State governors from the southern oil-producing region in June asked President Goodluck Jonathan’s government to implement tougher regulations on energy companies, saying that oil-spills and pollution have caused extensive damage to the environment. . .

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-02/nigeria-oil-producers-agree-to-set-up-fund-to-cover-costs-of-oil-spills.html

[size=14pt]IBB’s Delusion Of Grandeur[/size]
Author: Date: Aug 2nd, 2010.

Flag off the presidential campaign of Nigeria’s former self-styled military president, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (retd) in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital last week. Because of his antecedent as an anti-democratic element, many, however, did not take him seriously. And it came to pass that the rally flopped spectacularly last Thursday as Babangida failed to show up. He must read the writing on the wall that it won’t be an easy ride for his  bid to return to power, what with the stiff opposition he is facing from the students in tertiary institutions, pro-democracy activists, civil society groups and well meaning Nigerians.

He no longer has the monopoly of guns to ride rough shod over the people. It is the same people he trampled upon as military dictator that will determine his fate even before the 2011 presidential race kicks off.

The Ibadan rally couldn’t really get off the ground because of the threat by the National Association of Students (NANS) in Oyo State to disrupt it. The students took that stance because they said he did not have any democratic credential. As a face saving measure, he sent one of his minions, Abdulkadri Kure, a former governor of Niger State, to represent him. In his usual quixotic posturing, Babangida claimed that three governors in the Southwest are in support of his inordinate ambition. He also pleaded with the people of the region to support him.

Babangida will continue to run from pillar to post in his quest to return to power but will fail in the end because he cannot pull the wool over the eyes of enlightened Nigerians who know how he introduced the structural adjustment promamme and devalued the naira, obnoxious policies that contributed immensely to the economic downturn we are experiencing in our country today. He also truncated the democracy he is trying to be an apostle of. When he was in power between 27 August, 1985 and 26 August, 1993, he shut down many media houses and jailed journalists whose reports were critical of his administration. It was during his inglorious regime that the Editor-In-Chief of Newswatch magazine, Dele Giwa was killed through a parcel bomb on Sunday, 19 October, 1986.

If he is not suffering from delusion of grandeur, what makes him think Nigerians, especially the people of the South-west he is now courting, will line up behind him instead of other credible candidates who will vie for the same exalted post? IBB is deceiving himself that he can sweep under the carpet the annulment of June 12, 1993 presidential election won by Moshood Abiola. The cancellation of the result of that free and fair election triggered a chain of tragic events which Nigerians and relatives of those who died are still smarting from. To many, the wound IBB inflicted on them when he was in power is yet to heal.

There is so much resentment against IBB that those who are goading him to contest don’t wish him well. They are only interested in milking the war chest he said he has set aside for the election. Any party that fields him as its presidential flagbearer will suffer a similar fate as the toxic candidate himself: utter rejection at the polls by the electorate. He doesn’t need to look into any crystal ball to know the grim fate that awaits him at the polls if eventually he picks the ticket of any unlucky party. In 2011, voters will be so enlightened and discerning that they won’t be hoodwinked by the empty promises of those who seek power to line their pockets and not to serve the people.

http://pmnewsnigeria.com/2010/08/02/ibb%E2%80%99s-delusion-of-grandeur/

IBB is only negotiating a way out. Poor demon! He will soon throw in the towel.

^
I only made that argument to drive home the senselessness of splitting any state up as a solution to development. It was an oblique argument for true federalism.

OAM4J:
like i can as well claim the oil wells in your region belong to the FG.

. . .But, they do! Including the land and rivers surrounding and leading to the oil wells!

I chuckled to myself quietly when you mentioned the ports, because I have a fair understanding (maybe, much more intense) about federal encroachment.
A simpler example to give, is the fact that Fashola cannot repair the road through Ijanikin to Badagry, because it is a so called federal road. Even though that road is of more benefit to Lagos than it would ever be to the federal govt.
The answer to our problems is not more states, but true federalism (not our fake unitary structure).

They say the greatest African decease is that we don't read. Some fools are busy blaming the govt for something a private citizen is organising with his own cash. This is from the original article which many have foolishly not read, but feel they are competent to comment on. Shame.

The organiser of the World’s largest cake project, Victor Oluwafemi, says he has tagged the project, ‘one meal one nation’, in line with the philosophy behind the project.

The project is a [size=14pt]private endeavour [/size] which myself and my team thought of. . .

. . .Again, shame!

^
You must really have a subzero IQ. Damn!
Knowall posted about Ketou which is in Northern Benin Republic, whereas we are talking about Badagry that lies on the coast. Also, Knowalls article clearly states that the Fon/Goun are different ethnic groups.
I'm sure it has not occurred to you that Goun = Gun = Egun (French / English spellings), especially as you only have timbers between your ears.

sjeezy8:
oponu guy didnt i say there is different dialects- Im not saying kuet and egun people are yoruba im saying they were under yoruba and can speak yorubabecause they were under the Oyo empire. I know its hard for you to unerstand how things work

ex. the way fulanis in Nigeria speak yoruba hausa kanuri nupe , though they ahve their own fulbe language. The way Nupes speak yoruba though nupes have their own nupe language.

Misfiring again. Just like you did earlier, talking about Ketou that is in Northern Benin Republic, whereas we are talking about the coast.

Listen, I have provided a free service here, patiently teaching and schooling the few tribalistic indegenes of Lagos that spoil the name of the many good ones. Teaching them about their own state!
. . .Ask your lord, babapupa to translate the video's for you na.

^
The ports belong to the Federal govt. So any taxes go to the FG.

OAM4J:
Beaf have you compared how much goes into the federal account from Lagos with what comes to Lagos from the federal? Do you know how much VAT and other taxes including the ports charges that go to federal from Lagos?

The ports belong to the Federal govt.
I believe Lagos gets 40% of her VAT money back (might not be accurate).

I'm begining to wonder, is there an agenda to supress these people? Is that why they want a state?
I'm waiting for one of the "Egun is Yoruba" dolts to translate this;

[flash=480,385]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3FIWNdQcTM&hl=en_GB&fs=1[/flash]

Now I know you must be a clown. Translate the Ewe in the video, "because it is Yoruba". Dimwit.

[flash=480,385]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUDrLCB0wQk&hl=en_GB&fs=1[/flash]

sjeezy8:
dumbness Ewe is/was under the Oyo empire hence the reason why they speak a yoruba dialect and the spelling wouldnt be like yorubas spelling in Nigeria because Nigeria spelling is anglo(british), beninn togo are franco(french)

Another dimwit. 
Ewe is spoken in Ghana, it has nothing to do with Yoruba.

. . .What won't one hear on NL?

9jaganja:
I'm done with you too mehn. Word play isn't a point. Your posts above has points (though invalid) but you try to support those points with word play denying your self a sensible post. I will say, this, the Yoruba people are not united or called Yoruba because of Language it's because of their history. You keep trying to use language as a reason when I'm telling you language isn't what makes Yoruba people Yoruba instead it's their history. Which is common.

And I said I have someone from the Badafry who speaks a different dialect that I understand a little but also speaks the common Yoruba that I understand little better. I have primary source for my posts, you have subjective posts from internet forgetting that anyone can create a website that supports their opinions and google doesn't find facts google search sites related to you request not what makes your statement true or false. I said George bush is white cause I have seen him before but you said he is Asian because I saw it on an internet site. who is ridiculous?

You are done with me, because you have been expressing stark foolishness. I have posted links by Phd's and very authoritative sources. Download this PDF for your own good, it is very detailed about the Gbe language group, from the Ewe in Ghana to the Egun of Badagry, it has several maps that include Lagos;

http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/1714/5/kluge.pdf

Or maybe you will be convincing me next that the Ewe people in Ghana are Yoruba too. Dimwit.

Why anybody would wish to smother the Egun minority is beyond me.

Just in case you find yourself too challenged to grasp some of the detail in the links I posted, references to the Gun language or Gun people are references to the Egun.

babapupa:
You are not making any sense.

Badagry was founded by and occupied by Yoruba people.

Even Oyibo people know that Fon or Gbe is the language in Badagry.

"Mina" was, however, as Hall correctly notes, certainly a term which was applied in Brazil, in some contexts, to speakers of Gbe languages. The "Casa das Minas [House of the Minas]" in São Luis in the province of Maranhão, for example, is a cult-house of specifically Dahomian origin, venerating spirits associated with the royal dynasty of Dahomey.49 A vocabulary of "the common language of Mina" compiled in the province of Minas Gerais in 1741 is likewise of a Gbe language, basically Fon, although incorporating some elements from other dialects.50 The vocabulary itself gives the vernacular equivalent of "gente mina [Mina people]" as "Guno," i.e,. Gunnu, "Gun people," this being the name of the most southeasterly Gbe-speaking group, straddling the modern Bénin/Nigeria border (including the towns of Porto-Novo in Bénin, and Badagry in Nigeria).

http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/history_in_africa/v032/32.1law.html