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The Real Armed Robbers of Nigeria By Rudolf Ogoo Okonkwo

Before the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Lamorde, announced two weeks ago that an estimated $129 billion (N20.6 trillion) has been illegally transferred out of Nigeria in the last 10 years, I had been cranking some numbers about Nigeria’s economy. The EFCC estimated that just between 2009 and 2013, over $25.4 billion was siphoned out of Nigeria via the borders by way of physical movement of cash and financial instruments.

The actual robbery is more profane.

Before the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria sent a letter to President Goodluck Jonathan accusing the Petroleum and Finance Ministers of diverting or outright stealing about N8 trillion from crude oil sales proceeds between January 2012 and July 2013, I had been crunching figures about Nigeria’s oil industry. The figures I saw left me dumbfounded and frightened for Nigeria.

In this piece, we will try to follow the money, the Nigerian money. It’s an extraordinary journey into the fuzzy math the people who collect Nigerian revenue use to fleece Nigeria. The greatest tragedy, however, is that the people charged with managing Nigeria’s economy, from the Central Bank of Nigeria to the Ministry of Finance up to the Presidency either have no clue what is happening or are complicit.

The real armed robbers of Nigeria are not those in prison. They are not those storming banks to cart away cash. They are not those dispossessing luxurious bus passengers of their possessions. The real armed robbers are not those stealing cell phones and pepper in Oshodi market. The real armed robbers of Nigeria are those who carry titles like Honorable, Excellency and Chief. They have robbed the nation blind.

Nigeria is the 13th largest oil producer in the world. OPEC allocated a daily production of 2.5 million barrels of oil to Nigeria. At an average price of $100 dollars a barrel, Nigeria could be raking in $250 million dollars a day. In a year, it will be about $90 billion. In Naira, that will be about N40 billion a day and N14.6 trillion a year.

In the 2013 budget, Nigeria set the benchmark price for crude oil at $79 a barrel. At that rate, 2.5 million barrel of oil a day will give Nigeria $229.1 million dollars a day. In a year, it will be about $80 billion. In Naira, that will be about N25 billion a day and N13.1 trillion a year.

Nigeria also produces gas. According to the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Nigeria produces 8.0 billion cubic feet per day of gas per day(BCFD). 5.2 BCFD is for Associated Gas (AG), that is gas produced along with crude oil while 2.8 BCFD is for Non-Associated Gas(NAG), that is gas produced independent of oil production.

Of this amount 6.6 billion cubic feet of gas per day is utilized while 1.4 billion cubic feet of gas per day is flared. At a market rate of $3.5 per 1000 standard cubic feet per day of gas (SCF), Nigeria makes $23.1 million a day and loses $4.9 million dollars a day to gas flaring. $23.1 dollars a day adds up to $8.43 billion a year. In Naira that is a revenue of N3.6 billion a day and N1.32 trillion a year. Irrespective of how the calculation is done or revenue collection enforced (equity crude; Petroleum Profit Tax, royalty, third party financing and the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company), at the crude oil benchmark of $79 a barrel, Nigeria makes about $80bn a year. Add $8.4 billion revenue from gas, Nigeria makes a cool $90 billion or N14 trillion a year. That is a lot of money in any currency.

Revenues from oil and gas give Nigeria 80% of its income. Another 20 % comes from sources as diverse as mineral exploration and agriculture. In all, Nigeria makes over $100 billion each year from exports. So Nigeria is awash with money. The billions in internally generated monies from fees and taxes are stolen with ease as they trickle in. But it is petrol dollars that are the most attractive and the most easily embezzled.

Since 2009 crude oil thieves have been increasing the amount of Nigeria’s oil that they steal. According to the 2012 Ribadu Report, crude oil thieves now steal over 100,000 barrels a day. That is over $3.6 billion dollars a year. Some foreign sources put the figure of oil theft at 250,000 barrels a day. Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala recently told the Vanguard newspaper that the loss to oil theft could be up to $12 billion this year. http://www.daargroup.com/daar-group/latest-news/vanguardngr-oil-theft-fg….

These thieves are made up of a cabal of top security officials, retired and current military officers, top government officials, civil servants whose job it is to monitor foreign oil companies and report how much oil they pump out each day, militants who are charged with protecting oil pipelines, etc.

There are several other forms of theft going on in the refineries themselves. In 1997 a major contract valued at $215 million was awarded to Total International for the maintenance of the Kaduna refinery. During Sani Abacha’s dictatorship, Mr. Emeka Offor got $100 million dollars to maintain the Port Harcourt refinery for which he did nothing. When brought before a senate committee to answer questions, he told them off.( This is the same Emeka Offor who got an $8 billion NEPA contract to build the Yola/Bauchi transmission line as part of the $16 billion that Obasanjo’s government wasted on power. The original sum for the contract was said to be $6 billion.) In 2000, Nigeria awarded Italian company Comerint SPA a $7.6 million contract for turnaround maintenance for its 125,000 b/d refinery at Warri. In 2008, the Federal Government spent $57.9m for the turnaround maintenance (TAM) of the Kaduna refinery.

If the full amount spent in turnaround maintenance of Nigeria’s refineries in the last 20 years is made public, Nigerians will run amok and free all the armed robbers in Nigerian prisons. In October 2012, the Federal Government announced a plan to spend $1.6 billion on the turnaround maintenance (TAM) of the existing three refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna. Work is expected to end in January 2014 and that is when importation of petroleum products is supposed to end, if you believe the government’s argument during the oil subsidy debate. That is also when much of the subsidy is supposed to vanish. It is one month away. Now the government is busy planning to sell off the refineries. When the selling price is announced, don’t be surprised if it is less than the $1.6 billion dollars used in the turnaround maintenance.

During the oil subsidy debate, the Minister of Petroleum and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala calculated that Nigeria was spending N1.134 trillion naira on oil subsidy. On January 1, 2012, the government increased the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise called petrol, from N65.00 to N141.00. With subsidies removed, the government said it would realize N1.134 trillion. The protests that followed forced the government to adjust the PMS price to N97. That increase would have cut in half the projected N1.134 trillion subsidy, meaning nothing less than N600 billion must have gone into the coffers of the government. That money is now entangled in the SURE-P program that is short on accountability.

On September 24, 2013 the Sun Newspaper published a story in which Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is said to be suggesting that Jonathan’s administration should be given credit because the federal government has saved N1.2 trillion from oil subsidy. http://sunnewsonline.com/new/cover/oil-subsidy-fg-saves-n1-2trn-says-oko… The story also says that the oil subsidy was N2.2 trillion in 2012 but has so far been reduced to N971 bn this year. All through the oil subsidy debate, the figure was N1.3 trillion. How did it jump to N2.2 trillion in 2012 after the subsidy has partially been removed? And with gains from improving capacities of Nigeria’s refineries won’t the current subsidy on its own be less than half of what it was in January 2012?

A ministry of finance committee led by Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede looked at the subsidy claims of 2011 and discovered that the Federal Government had overpaid importers and marketers of petrol by a whopping N430 billion naira. Last December, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala proudly announced that Jonathan’s government has recovered N29 billion naira from oil marketers out of N234 billion certified as stolen. A presidential panel was set up at the same time to look into what was really happening at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). The Ribadu-led panel came out with a report that suggested that Nigeria had lost about N4.64 trillion in the last 10 years from deals Nigerian government officials signed with foreign oil multinationals. The Ribadu report also revealed that the NNPC had failed to report N86.6 billion to the government in 10 years by simple manipulation of exchange rates by officials of the corporation.

In January this year, a presidential committee on public service reform discovered that top government officials in Nigeria take home N1.126 trillion a year in salaries and allowances – out of a national budget of N4.9 trillion. These public officers constitute just 0.013 per cent of Nigeria’s population. They include 108 senators who each make over $1.7m a year. That alone is $183.4 million (N28 billion). Then the 360 members of the House of Representatives each takes home over $1.2 million, which amounts to $432 million (N65bn). Again, each state governor collects an average of N200 million naira a month just as security vote. In a year, they each get N2.4 billion naira. So our 36 governors take home N87 billion naira on security votes alone every year. Add our 38 ministers and ministers of state, 100 plus heads of federal and state agencies, over 432 state commissioners, 774 local government area chairmen or caretakers, almost 10,000 councilors and you will understand where the N1.126 trillion goes.

While receiving an honorary doctorate degree from Oduduwa University last month, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala asked striking university lecturers to return to work because the government has set aside N220 billion naira for the development of tertiary institutions in the country. Dr. Doyin Okupe, the Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, showed proof last week that the money has been deposited at the Central Bank of Nigeria. Over the weekend, I asked him during a SaharaTV interview where the government got the money when six months ago the same Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said that the government could not find N90 billion for ASUU. Okupe said it was not important where the government got the money, after all, the government could not have stolen it.

Well, governments steal- especially this government. During an appearance before a senate committee in September, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was asked to explain why there was no subsidy figure in the 2013 budget for kerosene. In 2010, Nigeria spent N110 billion on kerosene subsidy. This figure jumped to N324 billion in 2011 and N200 billion in 2012. Suddenly, in 2013, there was nothing budgeted. Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala told the committee that NNPC should answer the question about kerosene subsidy. http://theeagleonline.com.ng/news/okonjo-iweala-unable-to-account-for-1-…

I asked Okupe how could the Coordinating Minister of the Economy know nothing about an over N200 billion naira subsidy on kerosene? Okupe said that he investigated the matter and spoke to relevant government agencies. At the end of his investigation, he said he found out that NNPC has been scraping for funds to make subsidy payment on kerosene. Okupe did not see any problem with that arrangement instead he felt we should commend the NNPC for finding the money to pay for kerosene subsidy. If NNPC could find N200 billion lying around somewhere this year, what did it do with similar money lying around last year and the year before when the government remembered to budget for kerosene subsidy?

To complicate matter, the trillion naira revenue from customs has been facing shortfalls. The Comptroller-General, Nigerian Customs Service, Mr. Abdulahi Dikko, recently said that the service incurred a revenue loss of N603.2 billion between January and September this year. He made the statement during an appearance before the Senate Joint Committee on Finance and Appropriation. Dikko blamed the shortfall in revenue collection to various factors. N86.48bn was lost due to waivers, like the one that brought in the Aviation Minister Stella Oduah’s N220 million armored cars. He said another N59.5bn was conceded to the Niger Delta Development Commission. The customs also lost N96.94bn due to a ban on rice importation and another N76.1bn due to revenue loss to local manufacturers and assemblers.

Nigeria’s economy is 30th in the world with a GDP of $451 billion dollars. According to the Nigerian National Bureau of Statistics, agriculture makes up 40% of the economy; services: 30%; manufacturing: 15%; and oil: 14%. Many of us do not know but Nigeria makes an average of $90 billion dollars in oil and gas revenue a year and another $10 billion from exports of other natural resources. Nigeria also makes N5 trillion from Federal taxes. From Customs duties, Nigeria makes another one trillion. That is a total of N22 trillion a year.

In the last 50 years, Nigeria has made over $500 billion from crude oil. Some of that money showed up in fraud cases that gave us headlines like these: Iyabo, Bello, Obasanjo in N300 Million Scandal, Igbinedion Embezzled Edo’s N19bn — EFCC, Money Laundering: Group Sues EFCC Over First Lady Patience Jonathan’s $13 Million Fraud; EFCC Arrests Bode George, Dabo, Accuses Them of N100 Billion Dirty Contracts; Former Governor of Taraba State, Reverend Jolly Nyame, Must Face Criminal Trial Over Alleged Stealing Of N2.4 billion while In Office; EFCC Files N700m Fraud Charges Against Dariye, Others; N100 Million Scam – Court Grants Boni Haruna’s Aide Bail; EFCC Declares Ibori Wanted Over N44bn Fresh Corruption Charges; Jigawa State’s Ex-Gov Turaki’s N30b Used To Finance Third Term Project; $16B Power Scam: IBB’s Allies Call For OBJ’s Arrest; N5.6bn Pension Scam: Court Denies Former Oyo State Head of Service, Others Bail; N19.2bn Scam: EFCC Re-arraigns Timipre Sylva; N1.8bn Subsidy Scam: EFCC RE-ARRAIGNS ABDULLAHI ALAO, THREE OTHERS.

A Google search of fraud and EFCC and any of the former governors of Nigeria’s 36 states in the last 15 years will show you indictments in billions – from Bola Tinubu to Orji Uzo Kalu to Ahmed Yerima to David Duke to Peter Odili. Add members of the National Assembly and ministers from Deji Bankole to Patricia Etteh to Farouk Lawal to Chuba Okadigbo to SundayAfolabi. Do not forget the portion of our commonwealth that went to bankers like Mrs. Cecelia Ibru, Erastus Akingbola, Bartholomew Ebong, Okey Nwosu, Sebastine Adigwe etc. If you add up the billions, you will be able to account for the money Nigeria has made over the years.

According to the NNPC, Nigeria’s crude oil reserve is at 28.2 billion barrels. At today’s price that is $2.8 trillion. If no new oil is discovered in Nigeria and we continue to produce at 2.5 million barrels a day, our oil reserve will last for another 11,280 days. That is 30 years more.

From the DPR report, Nigeria’s total gas reserve is 182.8 trillion standard cubic feet (SCF). At today’s rate of $3.5 per 1000 standard cubic feet per day of gas Nigeria is on track to make $638.05 trillion dollars from gas. (Sorry, my calculator could not figure out the Naira equivalent).

In 1999, the average price of a barrel of crude oil was $16.56. In today’s dollar that is $23.08. The price stayed under $30 until 2004 when it jumped to $37.66 a barrel. In 2005 it went up again to $50.04. In 2007 it was $64.20. In 2008 it jumped to $91.48 and fell back to $53.48 in 2009. From 2011 till today it has remained above $86 a barrel. If the price of crude oil falls back to below $50 a barrel, Nigeria’s bloated government will not be able to sustain itself.

Only those benefiting from this insane structure that rips off a commonwealth of 160 million people will want it to continue. The other group of people who are not outraged enough to do something about it are the millions hoping to have the chance to soon be in a position to steal their own.

The real armed robbers of Nigeria are not those in prison. They are not those storming banks to cart away cash. They are not those dispossessing luxurious bus passengers of their possessions. The real armed robbers are not those stealing cell phones and pepper in Oshodi market. The real armed robbers of Nigeria are those who add before their names, bloated titles like Honorable, Excellency and Chief. They have robbed the nation blind.
http://saharareporters.com/column/real-armed-robbers-nigeria-rudolf-ogoo-okonkwo

Read more: http://newsrescue.com/real-armed-robbers-nigeria-rudolf-ogoo-okonkwo/#ixzz2hDeybwIa

Ha ha, It was later revealed that Iyabo didn't write any letter, Abati did. she spoke on radio some while ago

My guy, may be you don take ogogoro before you read. Go sleep. When you wakeup,read it again. Kai, ogogoro no good o.

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Read asari's statement when he was released in benin.

Lol

no response

lol......i wonder watin Asari want teach for institution aprt from...........

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including you

lol

27 NEW LGA IN OSUN, POLITICS OR DEVELOPMENT?

I love more LGA is all the states of the federation if done right for the purpose of development, but that is hardly the situation. Everything is strictly about politics and political survival.

With the introduction of additional 27 LGA's in Osun state, it would be difficult for another party candidate to defeat Aregbesola in 2014.

Many do think know, Aregbesola was the brain behind more LGA's in Lagos during the tenure of Bola Ahmed Tinubu as Lagos State Governor. The reasoning behind such move is that, the existing LGA may not entirely support the Governor due to so many factors, making him open to losing his second term bid, but with the new LGA, they will certainly give him at least 80% loyalty, knowing that their own survival as an LGA is tied to the survival of the governor.

The creation of more LGA's in Lagos then or now in Osun is primarily about winning election not necessarily about development,though, some areas would certainly benefit in terms of slight development.

Using Osun state as an example, there are about 30 LGA's before now, 27 is added making the total 57. This means that, the destiny and survival of these 27 new LGA is tied to that of Governor Aregbe. If he wins, the beneficiaries wins and survive, if he looses, they may also loose their LGA's. This implies that, the people and govt in these 27 new LGA's would support the Governor at all cost to ensure their own survival. Now, If Aregbe already has 80% in the 27 LGA, if he can just 40% in the other 30, he wins. Even in the future, these 27 new LGA's would always stick to the same party knowing that a new party may decided to scarp their LGA. so, its politics and politics.. Only good political strategy can counter Aregbe second term bid.

I HEAR SAY JONATHAN ASK OBJ TO PRODUCE EVIDENCE THAT HE IS TRAINING SNIPERS FOR 2015. NA TRUE?

Few days ago before OBJs letter to president Jonathan leaked, Asari Dokubo was arrested by the authorities of Benin Republic in Benin and president Jonathan worked so hard to secure his release, sent a presidential jet to bring Asari Dokubo back to Nigeria.

When Asari Dokubo arrived Nigeria, he alleged that a top politician from the Yoruba land was responsible for his arrest in Benin. Till date Nigerians do not have an idea of why he was arrested by the Benin Republic government and flown back to Nigeria.

Anyway, may be he drove against traffic in Benin because i hear say Fasholas government extended to Benin Republic, so you may find LASTMA there. Also recently, Asari Dokubo opened a private university in Benin Republic and about 600 people were sponsored by Bayelsa state to go and study in Asari Dokubos university in Benin Republic.

However, the course they were going to study were not specified. Whether Engineering, Medicine or the main thing. Anyone that knows what they went to study should please keep us informed. I hope i have said nothing, just practicing jokes because i will be featuring in a comedy film this Christmas before you start taking me seriously.

Lol

Good question @citizenry. Are you really in this country billy?

Hum

HOW TRUE IS OBJ LETTER TO GEJ?

I feel the need to add my view to the ongoing discussion of the OBJ letter to GEJ.

First, we must remember that OBJ is the godfather of GEJ. He his instrumental in making him Governor, Vice President, Acting president and President respectively.

So, when a man who opposes every reason to make GEJ all he attain politically came out to speak against the same person he made, it is a worthy topic of discuss.

Secondly, I didn't think OBj said anything new against GEJ. What he said is not different from what we have always said. So, this is a time when majority of Nigerians already feel negative about GEJ. Citizens had lost respect for the president, his office, his person and anything associated with him and no one is blamed for this disaster, but the man who made him. OBJ.

So, in my view, the major crime of OBJ against Nigeria is GEJ.
Probably, he OBJ is now regretting his choice of GEj which warrant his open letter to the president.

But as usual, the attack dogs and lion are all exchanging words for and against the said letter. The president’s men on social media are running away from the message. They concentrated rather on attacking the messenger in an effort to divert the attention of the public away from the content of the letter. This is another attempt to shift blames. Pls, don’t be carried away by such fallacy.

Let me state at this point that,It is true that OBJ is not a saint, but what he wrote in his 18 page letter spoke the mind of majority of Nigerians. We have always said it and it is 80% true.

OBJ raised critical questions and in my opinion, if not all, GEJ is guilty of at least, 80% of the entire accusation in the letter.

Let me break it this way, OBJ raised about 10 issues.

1. GEJ Promoting Corruption (Stella Oduah, Subsidy thieves,Diverting oil revenue, SURE-P lost funds etc)
2. GEJ promoting Insincerity (hit and deny eg. Rivers Assembly, NGF,G7, second term agenda etc)
3. GEJ promoting regionalism and Tribalism (too numerous, but Asari, Edwin Clark are major examples)
4. GEJ promoting religious divide (using CAN as a tool for religious/political attack)
5. GEJ not properly handling Insecurity (Niger delta Militancy, kidnapping, bokoharam etc)
6. GEJ not doing enough to tackle Unemployment (increasing unemployment rate and poverty due to bad policy)
7. GEJ lacking in honor and integrity (as a result of all actions above)
8. GEJ plotting for crisis (1000 Nigerians on watch list, training 1000 murderers,influencing release of a murderer etc)
9. GEJ misusing security apparatus (This is too obvious in Rivers,G7 etc)
10. Destroying democracy in the country. (this is too obvious too.. 16 greater than 19, 5 greater than 27 in rivers)

Looking at the 10 list above, you will agree with me that at least, GEJ is guilty of 1, 2, and 3,4,56,9,10 convincingly.

Instead of diverting the issue to talking about OBJ, let’s talk about the issue raised and not the person.

OBJ was yesterday, he was our yesterday. What happened yesterday must not be allowed to happen today. No matter what happened yesterday, we have no control over it, but we can control what is happening now.

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An Ancient City Is Discovered Underwater. What They Found Will Change History Forever
Posted on: December 1, 2013 · By Sunny Skyz
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underwater city Heracleion discovered
Photos: Christoph Gerigk ©Franck Goddio Hilti Foundation

The city of Heracleion was engulfed underwater 1500 years ago. This grand city had been mentioned by the Greek writer Herodotus, the 5th-century BC historian. He had told a wonderful tale of Helen of Troy, who traveled to Heracleion, then a port of 'great wealth', with her Trojan lover, Paris.

When French marine archaeologist Franck Goddio stumbled upon some relics, it led them to one of the greatest finds of the 21st century; a city underwater. The discovery took place when Goddio had been in search of Napoleon’s warships from the 1798 Battle of the Nile, when he had been defeated by Nelson in these very waters, but to his surprise, he stumbled upon this magnificent discovery.

Here the team retrieves the statue of the god Hapi

underwater city Heracleion discovered
Photos: Christoph Gerigk ©Franck Goddio Hilti Foundation

More and more statues are brought to surface, still in excellent condition

god and goddess statues brought to surface
Photos: Christoph Gerigk ©Franck Goddio Hilti Foundation

The discoveries include the colossal statues of the Egyptian goddess Isis, the god Hapi, and an unidentified Egyptian pharaoh, all preserved in excellent condition by their muddy burial shroud. Along with these 16ft statues there are hundreds of smaller statues of Egyptian gods, among them the figures that guarded the temple where Cleopatra who was inaugurated as Queen of the Nile. Dozens of sarcophagi have also been found, containing the bodies of mummified animals sacrificed to Amun-Gereb, the supreme god of the Egyptians. Many amulets, or religious charms, have been unearthed, too, showing gods such as Isis, Osiris and Horus.

A red granite sculpture of a Ptolemaic queen

sculpture discovered from underwater city
Photos: Christoph Gerigk ©Franck Goddio Hilti Foundation

A gold vessel, which is a shallow dish used throughout the Hellenistic world for drinking

gold vessel shallow dish
Photos: Christoph Gerigk ©Franck Goddio Hilti Foundation

A bronze statuette of a Pharoah of the 26th dynasty

underwater statue
Photos: Christoph Gerigk ©Franck Goddio Hilti Foundation

An ancient lamp is discovered during the search

genie lamp
Photos: Christoph Gerigk ©Franck Goddio Hilti Foundation

Here an archaelogist measures the feet of a colossal red granite statue

measuring a statue
Photos: Christoph Gerigk ©Franck Goddio Hilti Foundation

The god Hapi was the god of the flooding of the Nile, a symbol of abundance and fertility

statue underwater Heracleion
Photos: Christoph Gerigk ©Franck Goddio Hilti Foundation

A 1.9m inscribed pillar, commissioned by Nectanebo I (378-362 BC)

stele discovered 1500 years later
Photos: Christoph Gerigk ©Franck Goddio Hilti Foundation

Evidence shows that Heracleion slipped into its watery grave sometime in the 6th or 7th century AD. The discovery of Heracleion will now add depth and detail to our knowledge of the ancient world, because among the discoveries, there are perfectly preserved inscribed pillars decorated with hieroglyphics.

http://www.sunnyskyz.com/blog/28/An-Ancient-City-Is-Discovered-Underwater-What-They-Found-Will-Change-History-Forever#.Up4BlZ4ERa4.facebook

lol

PEACE, PEACE IS MY RELIGION

Peace is the religion of God and the religion of love.
Peace has no tribe, no color and no race.
Peace is light, the way and the solution
Peace is a Muslim, a Christian and a member of every faith.
It is a Nigerian, An American and an Arab.
Indeed, the only religion acceptable to God is peace.
He or she who adopts any other religion apart from peace
That religion shall be rejected and in here after, such individual shall be among the losers.
It doesn’t matter if you say Allah is one, or you say Jesus is lord
It doesn’t matter if you believe in African traditional faith or any other faith
What matters is if you speak, you say peace, when you act, you act peace and when you live, you live peace.
No faith shall lead you to paradise except peace.
If you fail to say peace in every of your words, you are no different to people bombing in the malls
If you insult to hurt the peace of others, you are more like terrorist stealing the joy of the world
If you mock and harbor/show hatred towards other faith, you are more like a menace hurting the society
If are you are claiming your faith is better, it is more like saying God is worse because he created all things
If you are saying one faith is bad, you are more like saying God is bad, because he created all things.
Peace is love, it is unity and it is faith
No faith is superior, no faith is better; no faith is the way, only peace is.
You can find God in Islam, yes you can In Christianity, Hindu, Judaism, African traditional faith and every other, but you can’t find God outside peace. Peace is the only religion of God. Mr.Rights

GenBuhari, be mindful of what you write here...

Ok

Hum

FOR THE RECORDS : Obasanjo's letter to Margaret Thatcher on Apartheid South Africa


August 1986

Dear Margaret,

After our meeting on Sunday, I write as one committed democrat to another. Yours is an old country with a lengthy democratic tradition; mine a new country undergoing a press of nation-building. But as democrats, we can be frank with each other.

As you know, I came to the EPG (Eminent Persons' Group) mission with reluctance. It was difficult enough for me as an African and especially as a Nigerian to contemplate exchanging pleasantries with those responsible for the institutionalized oppression of so many of my brothers and sisters.

My repugnance was exacerbated by the widely held perception that the EPG was a substitute for action won by you at Nassau for the benefit of P.W. Botha. However, I persuaded myself that whatever the odds, the prize was so great that I should overcome my personal feelings.

Not that I was prepared for what we found. As you know, even Tony Barber - a frequent traveler to South Africa - was appalled by what he was to see in that other South Africa which visitors seldom see. We jointly expressed our shock and dismay in our report.

I have seen extremes of poverty and of oppression in many parts of the world. But South Africa unashamedly moulds both elements into a system which enables the white minority to enjoy a "Dallas" lifestyle at the expense of the great majority forced to endure conditions as degrading as anything I have seen anywhere.

In our discussions, Malcolm Fraser and I tried to convey the true nature of the system and were against cosmetic changes which have merely softened the face of apartheid.

However, such was our discussion that I must ask: Did you even read our report?

I infer from what you said that afternoon that you had not. You concentrated on the trivia of the Government's "reforms" - like the welcome but essentially insignificant repeal of the Mixed Marriages Act - and ignored their implacable opposition to changes in the basic pillars of apartheid.

As we emphasized, to begin to dismantle apartheid, the Population Registration Act and the Group Areas Act must be repealed without being replaced by some measure designed to achieve the same ends under a different guise.

You gave credence to the dangerous notion that the political rights of the dispossessed can be adequately met by what President Botha calls "group rights" at the expense of individual rights and freedoms. Despite all the talk of "power sharing" between different communities, our inescapable conclusion was that this was a cloak for power remaining in white hands, and the essentials of apartheid continuing unchanged.

Nor have you any appreciation of the issue of violence. The apartheid system has an inherent violence which, through forced removals and the creation of barren homelands, has created the fiction of a white land and through the barrel of the gun, denies blacks any form of legitimate political expression.

We are all opposed to violence other than in self-defense. Why should blacks not have a right to defend their own families, homes and freedoms?

Your "moral revulsion" for sanctions struck me as unconvincing. The economic sanctions you so energetically pursued against Poland, Afghanistan and Argentina were brushed aside in your determination to withhold their application to South Africa. Yet to many of us there is only one significant difference: the victims in South Africa are black. Is sauce for the Aryan goose not sauce for the Negroid gander?

Your concentration of the economic effectiveness of sanctions is disingenuous if not hypocritical. Sanctions were imposed against Poland, Afghanistan and Argentina as political expressions of outrage.

Nor can your opposition be based on any assessment of where the best interests of Britain lie. Your country has considerable trade with South Africa, but this is dwarfed by that enjoyed with the rest of Africa: it cannot be in Britain's interests to encourage them to place their orders elsewhere.

Further, your appearance as an apologist challenges the democratic forces in South Africa to seek help from whatever quarter they can. The longer-term consequences for Britain, the United States and the West could be considerable.

But most of all, I was dismayed by your lack of vision. You offered no action as an alternative to sanctions. You insisted that nothing whatever be done - even though in the final analysis you moved a little. There is no vision of a way ahead; simply a forlorn hope that P.W. Botha would experience a "Road to Damascus" conversion on the road to Soweto. Such hopes are in vain.

Sooner or later, Botha or his successor will be driven to negotiate meaningfully. Sir Geoffrey's visit again confirmed that Botha is not yet under sufficient pressure to do so - despite a dwindling rand, escalating inflation, a declining economy and mounting violence. More pressure must come.

I must tell you that many people around the world view your continued opposition to sanctions as founded on instinct, not logic and as displaying a misguided tribal loyalty and myopic political vision. The consequences of such perceptions are far-reaching for a country which has traditionally claimed the high ground of principle.

Not only does the mental laager of the Boer seem to be mirrored in your own attitudes, but his fatal concessions of too little, too late are paralleled by your actions.

I am glad that the Commonwealth has moved on without you and I know that sooner rather than later, Britain will have to join us. I also know that apartheid will end, and its demise will be the product of a combination of internal and external pressures. The equation is a simple one. The less the external pressure, the greater will be the price to be paid internally.

Those who seek to minimize sanctions and their effect will have the blood of thousands, if not millions, of innocents on their hands and on their consciences. My heart will be heavy but my hands will be clean. Will yours?

(General Olusegun Obasanjo was Head of the Federal Military Government of Nigeria 1976 - 79 when he handed over power to an elected civilian government. He was later to be elected in 1999 as a civilian democratically elected President).

Its my choice

The fact that i will be announcing in 7days time doesn't mean i am not practising already.