Ethnic baiting and stigmatization on radio preceded and chaperoned Rwanda's nightmare. Our media houses aren't allowed blatant jingoism but a critical mass of Nigerians is now online, a sufficient number to bring our nightmares to life. The rulership and most of us who claim to be for one Nigeria simply ignore this present danger but once it starts it will be too late to stop, at least not before the deep wells of mutual hatred have been depressurized. That might be well after the 10 millionth death from what I have assessed from the pervasive online rants.

Towards an Ethnicity of Values By Okey Ndibe

Posted: Jul, 01 2014, 10:07PM

Okey Ndibe
Columnist: Okey Ndibe
For me, one of the most disconcerting facts about public discourse in Nigeria—including intellectual exchanges—is the rampant, if not default, deployment of ethnic or religious sentiments. Confronted with issues of moral urgency that demand the taking of principled positions, far too many Nigerians find comfort in embarrassing expediencies shaped by ethnic or religious affiliation.

I’d like to suggest that this particular malaise ranks awfully high in the menu of toxins ravaging the Nigerian body politic. And the greater pity—the tragedy, in fact—is that this particular pathology has infected a wide and widening section of that demographic group that answers to Nigeria’s intelligentsia.

It is dispiriting enough to run into unlettered Nigerians who can’t see the right or wrong of any issue without first wearing their ethnic or religious lens. It becomes sordid when those who are seemingly educated resort to viewing matters of profound import through the lazy, easy, hardly pertinent prism of ethnic aggregations or religious affiliations. Such haste to seize and spout ethnic jingoism or religious jingles raises serious questions about the form and content of education in Nigeria. At its best, education is a tool that frees and enlarges the mind, enabling the educated to see matters without the blinkers of ignorance or parochial platitudes.

When we see Nigeria’s parade of PhDs act and speak as if each issue is defined by their particular ethnicity or religion, then we must pause and ask salient questions. Here’s one fundamental question: Is the possession of an academic degree (or degrees) synonymous with being educated? Another way of posing the question is: Do degrees and diplomas translate into education? Is there a correlation between acquisition of a string of diplomas and the cultivation of an enlightened outlook?

I recall that, at graduation ceremonies, the graduates are said to have been found worthy “in character and learning” to deserve bestowal of degrees. Where lies the “character” when many of the graduates of Nigerian and foreign schools are willing participants in crooked activities, including primitive, criminal accumulation of wealth and electoral fraud? Where resides the “learning” when so many of our graduates are ever willing to subordinate principle to ethnic or religious rationalizations?

Perhaps, then, some of the Nigerians we glibly refer to as educated are merely “certificated.” The difference is crucial. A woman or man may cram up some economic theories or principles of moral philosophy without having the slightest clue how to apply them in real life. Such a person would be able to regurgitate the crammed information in an exam to earn a high grade and an impressive certificate. But ask her/him to apply the “knowledge” in the dynamic praxis of lived experience—and you see certified incompetence.

In the 1980s, the novelist Chinua Achebe had occasion to rebuke a group of academics at the University of Lagos for evincing a narrow, stultified vision of education. Here’s what happened. Achebe had given an interview to the then Concord newspaper in which he bemoaned the cataclysmic decline in the quality of education in Nigerian universities. His criticism drew the ire of some UNILAG academics. In separate interviews, these critics sought to dismiss Achebe’s argument. One of them accused Achebe of making a pronouncement that had no “scientific” proof. He then asserted that the spoken English standard of the average undergraduate was superior to Achebe’s. Another—a sociologist, if my memory serves me—reminded Achebe that each discipline has and uses its own jargon. A third, an economist, voiced his disdain for fiction, stating that he had no use for novels. He concluded that he missed nothing by not reading novels.

Appalled by the substandard quality of the responses, Achebe riposted that his critics had inadvertently made his case far more eloquently—about fallen standards—than he did originally. To the critic who accused him of making an “unscientific” claim, Achebe wondered how the counter-claim about the average student’s spoken English standard measured up as “scientific.” He reminded the sociologist that each discipline has its lingo, but that the most learned people are able to rise above the esoteric tongue of their discipline to communicate to a broad audience in an elegant language. He held up Bertrand Russell, the Nobel prize-winning philosopher mathematician, as an exemplar of the educated person who was able to transcend disciplinary claustrophobia. Achebe had some bad news for the novel-detesting economist. He told the man that, in denying himself the insights and pleasures of fiction, he loses much in culture and enlightenment—and would not even be a good economist. Achebe categorized the criticism of his assertion that educational standards had declined dramatically as a case of “combative ignorance rabidly trumpeting its own values.”

I’m willing to suggest—scientific proof or no—that educational standards in Nigeria have further declined significantly since Achebe’s claim in the mid-1980s. In fact, the invention and spread of the Internet has both afforded once repressed groups ease of access to expressive platforms and facilitated the articulation of abhorrent, pathological attitudes. One is constantly shocked by the ethno-religious name-calling between different Nigerian groups on Internet forums. The dirtiest epithets are hurled at the ethnic or religious “Other.”

Those with access to the Internet—many of them, one imagines, university graduates—frequently promulgate ideas that members of other ethnic groups are sinister and diabolical, in short as the very incarnations of evil. In like fashion, these Internet partisans often make sweeping ethical claims for those who belong to their states, ethnicity or religion.

Such claims, whether they denounce or extol whole groups, are caricaturist in nature. They have little or no validity, even when they appear persuasive or seductive. In fact, we should recognize them as inimical to the cultivation of a broad base of enlightened society. I have argued elsewhere that ethnic baiting and stigmatization often precede genocidal horrors. The free circulation of ideas of the inherent villainy of members of other ethnic groups and the inherent moral goodness of members of one’s own ethnic collectivity is a clear and present danger. Those who champion such attitudes are ever reluctant to subject their positions to self-scrutiny. They seldom pause to interrogate the legitimacy of their notions of collective guilt and collective heroism. Without any form of examination, ethics is collapsed to the size and shape of ethnicity.

The rampancy and growing appeal of such wholesale creeds have fed the argument that Nigeria ought not to remain one country. That contention is outside the purview of my talk, except in one respect. It is this: If Nigeria is ever to have a chance at self-realization, then its enlightened citizens must strike alliances across ethnic, religious and social lines. A critical core of citizens must begin to look beyond ethnic and religious considerations when faced with issues that behoove us to take principled positions.

I am Igbo by birth, but I make no extraordinary claims for my ethnicity. There are admirable Igbo men and women and deplorable Igbo men and women. The same is true, I believe, for members of Nigeria’s other myriad ethnicities. I make a point of judging Igbo politicians and public officials by the same criteria I use to judge politicians and public officials who happen, say, to be Kanuri, Efik or Yoruba. I admire people who share my values, whatever their ethnic or religious identity. I believe, quite simply and unapologetically, in the ethnicity of values.

This column is adapted from a talk I gave at an event organized by the National Association of Seadogs in New York City on June 28, 2014.

Please follow me on twitter @ okeyndibe
(okeyndibe@gmail.com)

http://saharareporters.com/column/towards-ethnicity-values-okey-ndibe

The billion naira lawsuit by the people deported by Fasola is still rumbling through the courts. I look forward to someone suing on behalf of these victims of ethnic profiling. Surely the same rules apply to deportees / wanton detainees no matter which part of naija they hail from?

prophet_one:

The numbskulls in their usual empty barrel nature lack the reflective and cerebral capacity to analyze this fact which is why I have adopted the siddon look posture knowing that the chicken will definitely come home to roost. If they thought Fashola's deportation was nasty...

Companies and individuals who run land transport businesses: buses etc. Why?

londoner:

When you say transporters, what do you mean?

So where are the charges proffered against them and what seeds have been sown by this act? What if 10 luxury buses are similarly hijacked in the North in coming weeks? Is it news that transporters prefer traveling at night and in convoys in naija since the police became unable to keep the roads safe years ago? we all know the most itinerant tribe in Nigeria and we know too the tribe that has more invested 'abroad' than at 'home'. Shouldn't we bear this reality in mind before we act so brashly? Was it not obvious from the get go that BH wouldn't invade anywhere in the South in a highly visible convoy of commercial vehicles? Wouldn't an insidious insinuation be the appropriate modus operandi outside its base? I guess our ogas at the top are very versed in the fine art of how to make enemies and alienate friends.

Shallow thinking that doesn't bother to ask what is behind those traits but happily generalises and then descends on what was probably its original target to start with: African - Americans not doing well because they are 'inherently defective'. It doesn't occur to these couple of course that most slaves into the new World came from Nigeria so if modern Nigerians are one of the eight their kith and kin can't be at the other end of the spectrum for any biologically intrinsic reasons.

A cursory look at the list shows that each member is a high population / high pressure / persecuted / conflict group. As has been proven in labs with rats all over the world, environmental stresses bring out the best / worst in us. It just depends on the mix and degree of the stresses. Analysts who really think and approach the data without, typically, racist bias easily suss this but, even before Hitler, those with an agenda have always been quick to misassess the facts and trumpet their ill-begotten conclusions to an easy to besot world.

Bottom line is that all humans are indeed created equal no matter religion, race, tribe, colour or socio economic status. Only those with EXTREMELY low self esteem need such dubious 'research' to make their sorry lives worth living.

Nigerians Among Top 8 Races that Excel in America

By Nduka Nwosu

Controversial Yale professor Amy Chua and her husband Jed Rubenfeld have named Nigerians among the eight leading races with the ability to excel over and above others in the United States of America.

According to the couple, some groups in America are inherently more likely to succeed than others, pointing at the ease with which Nigerians earn doctorate degrees at stunningly high rates while Indian and Chinese Americans earn much higher incomes than other Americans while the Jews are top of the table reinforced by intense discipline, determination, and not given to fleeting impulse.

In their new book, ‘The Triple Package: How Three Unlikely Traits Explain the Rise and Fall of Cultural Groups in America,’ the two Yale professors said their research shows Nigerians as well as nationals from Jewish, Indian, Chinese, Iranian, Lebanese-Americans, Cuban exiles and Mormons in the category of certain races are bound to succeed over all others in America.

Still on the book, these cultural groups, the authors added, have three easily identifiable traits: the superiority complex, insecurity and impulse control with each group believing it is exceptional, chosen and superior in some ways, while at the same time exhibiting a lack of confidence that prompts them along, thus creating the need for further improvement.

The authors also gave what may be a debatable insight why some groups, including African-Americans, might not have what it takes to reach the top.

The authors added: “It may be taboo to say but some groups in America do better than others. Mormons have recently risen to astonishing business success. Cubans in Miami climbed from poverty to prosperity in a generation. Nigerians earn doctorates at stunningly high rates. Indian and Chinese Americans have much higher incomes than other Americans; Jews may have the highest of all.”

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/nigerians-among-top-8-races-that-excel-in-america/168425/

Anybody that stops you lot from breaking away is my enemy. Pls declare it tonight so I can break out the champagne. Southern Sudanese today are refugees in Sudan while Al Bashir, the Sudanese president, is the one called in to make peace between the Southern Sudanese leaders. When the SE starts spanking you pls don't come crying to daddy. That is the wisdom OBJ shared years ago but you guys still don't get it.

noblezone:

The auditors are through with the auditing.
They have stated that no money is missing!

It is just that the "opposition" will not accept it

Nigerians will push Jonathan to declare Niger Delta Republic!

You neither know Accounting nor the oil sector so I shall forgive that statement. $10.8b was used to subsidise kerosene? Over 100,000 barrels a day lifted by NPDC was used to finance exploration? Those are the brilliant explanations Diezani and Ngozi used to 'reconcile' the numbers and you hail them. When SLS finally leaves office of his own accord we shall get the full gist and we shall see who gets stoned in this country.

Obiagu1:

The problem was not about performing his duties, rather it was about the leak.

Like I have always said, it was a coordinated plot and the focal point that was needed to initiate the impeachment of the President, hence the mass defections from the PDP and the open letter. Unfortunately for the schemers, the figures were wrong and the plot collapsed.

Sanusi played politics to undermine his boss rather that patriotically perform his duty so he has to go.

The real problem is that as banker to the govt and regulator of all banks SLS has the dirt on every thief in this country so Clueless dare not move against him if he doesn't want all the facts on the billions stolen by him and all the others out in the public domain. I dare him to fire SLS by force or even send his assassins after him. If SLS drops dead today some very interesting documents are likely to show up in papers globally.

Why do you think they couldn't complain even when he gave N10b to a university? Can even Shoeless give that much to NDU? The guy knows so much about them all that he is essentially UNTOUCHABLE especially as he doesn't desire a second term.

mikeansy: And by the way, while the CBN Governor has a term limit not to be altered by the President, they do not have immunity from prosecution.

If the Presidency has evidence of corruption against Sanusi, they should send EFCC after him now! Let him answer the allegations against him, at that point am sure he will have to make a decision to be either sent to jail while in office or resign!

Like Clueless?

mikeansy: Sanusi has no integrity whatsoever

he is like every other Nigerian in public officer

very corrupt and no morals

You amaze me. Soludo gave the contract for polymer and even appears to have collected a bribe on it but you are so biased you are blaming it on the man that came in to clean up this and other Soludo messes.

Billyonaire: This Polymer CBN Governor should just leave. He has achieved little other than radical chit-chats.

Battered pregnant woman: Police demand dead foetus
January 8, 2014 by Comfort Oseghale 25 Comments



[print]


Ossai

Ossai
| credits: File copy

The Lagos State Police Command has demanded the dead foetus of Alexandra Ossai’s seven month pregnancy which was removed in an emergency surgery last month.

The foetus was removed after she was allegedly kicked on her stomach by her manager, Kaveh Noine, at work. At the time, Ossai was a supervisor at Toppan Printing Company.

PUNCH Metro gathered that the demand was made when Ossai’s doctor, Abdulkareem Shehu, made his statement at the command.

The police investigating team was said to have asked the doctor for the whereabouts of the dead foetus.

Shehu reportedly told the police that after the operation, the dead foetus was handed over to Ossai’s husband, as he was the father of the baby.

Ossai’s lawyer, Mr. Courage Erhuen, said, “I was informed today that the police have demanded the dead foetus. Since it was handed over to Ossai’s husband, I will inform him of the development; he would know where it was buried.

“However, Ossai’s husband cannot exhume it on his own. The issue of exhuming the body would have to be done through the coroner’s office. Even the hospital has no right to exhume the body; only the police can do that and they know what to do. Their demand doesn’t disturb the investigation; we have pictures. The matter is going to court.”

Meanwhile, some agencies of the Lagos State Government on Tuesday visited Toppan Printing Company which is located off Adeniyi Jones, Ikeja. The team, which was led by the Director of the Office of the Public Defender, Mrs. Omotola Rotimi, included the Lagos State Safety Commission, the Lagos State Building Control Agency, the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency and the Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, which Director, Mrs. Alaba Fadairo, was also present.

At the company, a construction project was e under way within its premises. It was later gathered from the project manager on site that a five storey building was to be constructed at the site.

Officials of the LASBCA and the LASC, after inspecting the project, issued an abatement notice to the workers, saying the permit for the project was not obtained from the state government before construction started.

Close to the gate, a heap of refuse was observed on the ground despite claims from the Head of the Printing Department, one Mr. Anthony, that the company had a refuse disposal bin. When Anthony was questioned about the company’s toilets for its employees, he took the team of Lagos State officials to a building close to the gate that was under construction. He said that new toilets were being built and only showed the team one toilet currently in use which was in the manager’s department.

Despite assurances that no safety procedures or laws were being breached, Anthony who was also accompanied by another Lebanese that identified himself as Abass, could not show the team of officials the cloakroom where factory workers could change into their work clothes.

He claimed that there was no senior member of the management to speak with the officials. Toppan also denied ownership of the construction going on in the compound.

Anthony said, “Toppan is under a group; the Lee group. It is Chinese-owned. It is this same Lee group that owns the construction you see in the compound. We have nothing to do with that.”

There was a mild drama when Noine, came into the premises while the team was still conducting their investigation. On sighting Erhuen with the Lagos State officials, Noine quickly hurried into one of the buildings and went into hiding. He was not sighted again until the team left the premises.

OPD Director, Rotimi, said the visit was necessary to ascertain the safety of Toppan’s employees.

She said, “This case has now gone beyond the assault on Ossai; we are still working on that, but we want to see the safety precautions on ground in the company. This is why all the relevant government agencies are here. We have received information that the workers are being underpaid; unfortunately most of them are not around now.

“From what we have seen, there are not much safety precautions in place. There are no toilets and no cloakrooms for the workers to change; they change into their work clothes in the open. The female workers would be prone to sexual harassment that way.”

Investors to raise N117bn for Lagos-Ibadan Expressway reconstruction
January 8, 2014 by Akinpelu Dada and Rasheed Bisiriyu 191 Comments



[print]


Minister of Works, Mr. Mike Onolememen

Minister of Works, Mr. Mike Onolememen

Indication emerged on Tuesday that the reconstruction of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway would be largely private-sector financed.

The Federal Government said it had made a provision for N50bn, representing 30 per cent of the N167bn cost of the project, leaving the private investors and financiers led by the Infrastructure Bank to raise the N117bn balance needed to complete the project.

This was contained in a statement signed by the Director of Information, Federal Ministry of Works, Mr. Bisi Agbonyin.

The details of the infrastructure financing facility showed that the Federal Government would provide N50bn as its counterpart funding for the project.

The ministry stated, “The Federal Government has made a total provision for the sum of N25bn as her own counterpart funding in the 2014 budget with a view to providing the balance of N25bn in the 2015 budget.”

The Director, Public-Private Partnership in the ministry, Mr. Tunde Ekunsunmi, in a telephone interview with one of our correspondents, also said the Infrastructure Bank would lead other local and foreign banks to arrange the 70 per cent private sector share of the project’s funds.

He said the government would provide an irrevocable payment guarantee for the Infrastructure Bank to enable it to raise the government’s N25bn as provided in the 2014 budget proposals for the project pending the release of the money.

Ekunsunmi, who described the funding arrangement as an innovative system, said part of the money was already being released to the contractors handling the project.

The road, it was gathered, would be tolled after its reconstruction to enable the financiers to recoup their investment and for continued maintenance.

President Goodluck Jonathan had in July last year inaugurated the reconstruction of the road for a sum of N167bn with a completion period of 48 months.

This was after the government had terminated its earlier 25-year concession arrangement with Bi-Courtney Highway Services for the expansion and reconstruction of the road.

The 105-kilometre road project was re-awarded to Julius Berger Nigeria Plc and Reynolds Construction Company Limited.

The Minister of Works, Mr. Mike Onolememen, had said the government decided to terminate the concession because of what he called serial breaches of the agreement by the Wale Babalakin-led Bi-Courtney Highway Services.

The government had handed over the road to Bi-Courtney on May 26, 2009.

The minister said the firm had failed to achieve the target set for it under the agreement.

Julius Berger was given Section 1 of the expressway, stretching from Lagos to the Sagamu Interchange, while the RCC got the Section II, which stretches from the Sagamu Interchange to Ibadan.

http://www.punchng.com/news/investors-to-raise-n116bn-for-lagos-ibadan-expressway-reconstruction/

Which is why Aregbe is building a distinct road from Oshogbo to Lagos which avoids Ibadan entirely and cuts journey time by more than half.

Pukkah:

Why can't things be done that way?

Why can't there be an old road (the existing one) and a new one?

The existing one is largely no longer an express way in terms of purpose. Unlike the way it was in the 70s and 80s, it has become like an intra-city road. People cross the road in large numbers starting from Alausa, through Berger, OPIC, Arepo, Magboro, Ibafo, Mowe, up to Sagamu. There's some respite after that until you are close to Ibadan.

Getting to Ibadan, the so-called expressway is very busy all the way from the Toll Gate to Ojoo.

I ask you, is Lagos-Ibadan still an expressway? It has been overtaken by urban sprawls and development.

If things can't be done that way, you won't have old Ife road, old Abeokuta road, etc.

I am not absolving the FG of its incompetence but we need to move on.

The expressway was bad for ages before the concession to BiCourtney. Almost 5 years after the concession, the story is still the same. Can't we go think beyond the incompetent FG before giving sound infrastructure to our people?

Do you have facts to controvert the piece abi na just 'smh' be the limit of your argument?

Rad1cal: From the nation newspaper.'smh'

They are hence the SW regional road that is part of the SW Masterplan. That is one reason to preserve this Republic so the SW can get a clear two decades to show what it can do. Others are free to follow their own paths to the future.

Pukkah:



The FG has been incompetent in the development of infrastructure.

But why can't Lagos, Ogun and Oyo states collaborate to build a fresh highway to link Ibadan to Lagos and toll it accordingly.

Must it be this Lagos-Ibadan expressway which was built in the 70s?

They should start to think differently.

Can the SW governments be given control of the road as they asked so they can rebuild it at their own cost? At this rate we shall get to the end of 48 months without anything to show for it.

At least now the two prime bits of road infrastructure in the SW and SE are to be treated equally leaving the East - West and Abuja - Kano roads as the only major road projects the FG can found money for.

I guess this is what we get when the President needs 11 jets to move around in and when $50b can go missing from NNPC revenue only to be explained away with wishy washy stories like NPDC using the income from exporting over 100,000 barrels a day for exploration or $10.8b being used to subsidise the importation of kerosene.

Cash crunch stalls work on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway
Posted by: Yusuf Alli, Abuja in Featured, News 5 hours ago

Govt to concession road
Motorists will continue to face hardship on the ever-busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway – no thanks to a cash crunch that is threatening the Federal Government’s plan to rebuild the road.
The Federal Government is considering a fresh concession to investors to make the N167billion project a reality.
In the proposed Public-Private Partnership (PPP), the government will collaborate with investors, the Infrastructure Bank, Julius Berger Plc and Reynolds Construction Company Limited(RCC).
About N23million has been voted in the 2014 Budget for the hiring of consultants on the PPP scheme.
The government has also allocated N5billion to the rehabilitation of the Lagos-Sagamu-Ibadan dual carriageway (Section 1) to make for the challenge it is facing on the reconstruction of the expressway.
[b]The recourse to concession is being kept under wraps by the government in what a source described as a back-door approach.
[/b]The Federal Government, in November 2012, terminated the 25-year concession given to Dr. Wale Babalakin’s Bi-Courtney Limited for the construction and maintenance of the 105-kilometre Expressway.
The expressway was concessioned to Bi-Courtney in 2009 at N89.53 billion for 25 years.
Minister of Works Mike Onolememen said the agreement was revoked due to Bi-Courtney’s failure to adhere to its terms.
In June last year, the Federal Government re-awarded the reconstruction of the expressway to Julius Berger Plc and RCC.
Last July, President Goodluck Jonathan launched the reconstruction at N167billion with a completion timeline of 48 months.
But barely six months after the launch, the project has run into a hitch.
Neither the Federal Government nor the construction firms can source funds to execute the project.
A source, who spoke with our correspondent, said: “The government has no money to implement the project.
“There are so many competing demands for the government. And the construction firms, who has been re-awarded the project, cannot finance it without necessary legal backing granting the concession to them.
“The firms are also unprepared to take the risk to bear the cost without partnership or understanding with the government on how to recoup their investment.
“When the government re-awarded the contract to the two construction giants, it gave the impression that it would finance it wholesale.
“Even if the government now concedes the project to Julius Berger Plc and RCC, it would amount to a violation of the PPP law because there are laid down procedures.
“For instance, the project ought to be advertised for competitive bidding by the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC).
“So, the PPP for Lagos-Ibadan Expressway would have become legally flawed from the beginning.
“You can see that what the government should do first is what it is now doing. I think politics crept into the project and the government could not do its homework properly.”
Section 2.1 of the Nigerian Public-Private Partnerships Manual reads: “The project is usually initiated by a Ministry, Department, and/or Agency (MDA) of the government. In select cases, the project could be initiated by the private sector as an Unsolicited Proposal under a transparent, competitive process which will also be managed by a MDA.
“The first step for the MDA is to develop a project concept to be approved by the National Planning Commission (for projects of the Federal Government) or other relevant state authorities.
“The project concept will usually be based on a Pre-Feasibility study or Outline Business Case, and if it is approved, will allow the project to be included in the 15-year Master Plan (or National Implementation Plan for the Federal Government) which sets out the Government’s infrastructure investment strategy covering all forms of procurement, including projects that will be financed in whole or in part from the federal budget.”
It was learnt that the Federal Government was contemplating reaching out to the ICRC Governing Board for a “bail out”.
The board, which is headed by former Senate President Ken Nnamani, may receive the concession proposal this month.
Other members of the board are the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim; the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; the Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke(SAN); the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi; Yabawa Lawan Wabi; Abdullahi Musa Elayo; Comfort Saro-Wiwa; Chief A.U. Kanu; Mrs. Janet F. Adeyemi; and Mr. Aminu Diko.
A member of the ICRC board, who spoke in confidence, said: “The government is proposing to go back to the concession alternative to enable it get investors to execute the project.
“This is the case because of cash flow. The resources are not there due to competing needs.
“The concession will involve a sort of PPP with the participation of Julius Berger, RCC, investors, the Infrastructure Bank and the government.
“There is a challenge however , we may need to waive procedures to make the project a reality. Yet, many people have reservations about this back-door approach.
“Yet, no investor will buy into a back-door method. If care is not taken, we may return to the same spot on the project.”
[/b]Responding to a question, the source added: “The President meant well and as a Governing Board, we will assist him to achieve his goal.”
A top source at the Federal Ministry of Works drew our attention to the provision for the wxpressway in the 2014 Budget.
He was not willing to entertain any question on the project.
A part of the budget reads:
•Rehabilitation and Asphalt overlay of Benin-Shagamu Expressway (Benin-Ofosu) N500 million
•Rehabilitation of Lagos-Shagamu-Ibadan dual carriageway section 1 N5 billion
•Reconstruction of the outstanding section of Benin-Ofosu-Ore-Ajebandele-Shagamu Expressway phase III N750 million
•Rehabilitation of Shagamu-Ajebandele-Ore road section 1 Ajebandele-Ofosu road in Ondo state N78,153,148
[b]•Lagos-Ibadan concession project management/consultancy services N23 million

http://thenationonlineng.net/new/cash-crunch-stalls-work-on-lagos-ibadan-expressway/

Solution? An Igbo President?

pic

2,500 teenagers rescued from ‘baby factories’ in South-East
Posted by: Okodili Ndidi, Owerri in Featured, News 7 hours ago
About 2500 teenagers have been rescued from ‘baby factories’ across the South-East states in the last one year. Investigations conducted by the Campaign for Democracy (CD)revealed that the victims, who were majorly pregnant minors, were freed by the Police and other security agencies from the various illegal orphanages where they were held captive.
According to a statement released by the group and signed by its Chairman in the South-East, Uzor A. Uzor, most of the girls were enticed into the trade with monetary offers by the ‘baby factory’ operators, while others were forced into the infamous trade by poverty and illiteracy.
The CD noted that within the time under review, Abia and Imo states had the highest number of teenagers involved in the infamous trade.
The group attributed the increase in ‘baby factory’ operations in the zone to high rate of youth unemployment and poverty occasioned by the failure of successive governments in the zone to put adequate measures in place to empower the youths by creating meaningful employment.
“The rising cases of baby factory in the South-East is a result of the failure of the state governments in the South-East to create jobs for the teeming youths, especially the helpless girls who are easily lured into the trade.
“There is no other part of the country that has the problem of baby factory; it is a peculiar case with the South-East.
“In Abia and Imo states, about 1,800 pregnant teenagers and babies were rescued from ‘baby factories’ in the last 12 months and the number is still rising,” the CD stated.
It further charged the South-East governors to urgently fight the menace to secure the future of the teeming youths who are currently threatened.
“The governors in the zone should collaborate with security operatives to fish out those behind the trade and rehabilitate the rescued teenagers,” CD charged.
The Imo State Commissioner of Police, Muhammad Musa Katsina, had during a media briefing in Owerri, the state capital, expressed worries that the issue of ‘baby factory’ had taken deep root in the South-East.
According to him, “the rate is alarming in all the states. It had been there until we began the clampdown on the operators and we will continue until we rid the society of this set of people and other criminal elements.”

http://thenationonlineng.net/new/2500-teenagers-rescued-from-baby-factories-in-south-east/

GEJ says he created 1.6m jobs in 2013 but these enslaved workers apparently haven't heard about those jobs which is why they would betray one of them to hold on to N12k per month and which is why the lady herself bore all the affronts to keep her OATT N17k per month.

Real billionaires and phantom jobs are being celebrated but poverty and desperation continue to stalk the land and turn freeborns into slaves. These are the gains of democracy Nigeriana.

Where is solidarity between the oppressed? I thought we had a minimum wage law in Nigeria. Does it exempt large private organisations like Toppan that apparently employs more than 50 people or whatever the threshold for implementation is?

Battered pregnant woman: Co-workers stall probe


Police probe into the battering of pregnant Alexandra Ossai has taken a new turn as her colleagues have allegedly refused to assist investigation by not giving statements.

Ossai, a former supervisor at Toppan Printing Company, was said to have lost her seven-month pregnancy a few days after the company manager, Kaveh Noine, allegedly kicked her in the stomach. The incident was said to have occurred in the full glare of her colleagues.

An emergency surgical operation was performed on her after she began bleeding in the early hours of December 16 2013.

A lawyer, Mr. Courage Erhuen, who took up the matter on Ossai’s behalf, said, “After the story was published, Ossai got calls from her colleagues. They warned her that she should not mention their names to the police as witnesses as they would not be giving statements. They told her that they were not ready to lose their jobs.

“As it is, what the police have done so far is to take statements from Ossai’s aunt, Mrs. Olabisi Jaiyeoba, and her younger sister, who also worked in the company. They have also taken statements from Ossai.

“At presently, they are waiting to take statements from the surgeon who is currently away from Lagos State. He will be returning after the new year.”

The investigation had been taken over by the Lagos State Police Command from the Area F Command Ikeja. The new team is headed by a Deputy Commissioner of Police. Noine, who was arrested last Friday is said to be in the custody of the command.

Before she was disengaged, Ossai allegedly earned N17,000 monthly, while two of her siblings who also worked in the same company earned N12,000. Her siblings were allegedly sacked without pay after the incident.

President Goodluck Jonathan had directed the Ministers of Interior, Mr. Aba Moro; the Minister of Labour, Chief Emeka Wogu; Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu; the Minster of Women Affairs, Hajia Zaynab Maina; and the National Human Rights Commission, to probe the matter and recommend actions

PUNCH Metro also gathered that Ossai, who for security reasons, was discharged from Mercy Hospital Fagba where she was receiving treatment a few days ago, was admitted after suffering a relapse. She was reportedly discharged on Monday.

The Public Relations Officer of the Lagos State Public Advice Centre, Mr. Alex Omorondion told PUNCH Metro that he had received a petition from Ossai’s lawyer.

He said, “We have received a petition on the issue from Erhuen (lawyer), so also the Ministry of Justice. We intend to follow the matter up to the Attorney General’s office. Things will pick after the new year since the company has closed for the Yuletide.” Toppan is expected to resume production activities on January 8, 2014.

These guys when caught are quick to quote how David fell but don't seem to have read David's reaction when he was caught. If they could show half the contrition that David showed for his sins they might be closer to salvation. Meanwhile do we have any of his flock in the house to testify that he indeed spent the money on them and not just to bling out himself and his family?

One more reason church's should present their financial statements publicly and pay taxes on any money that is not used for charity in a verifiable way. Who knows how many, particularly of the jet setting grade, have sundry other dark lines of business whose profit they pass off as tithes and offering? Only a benighted nation like ours would ignore billions of dollars per year of grey economy income in such few hands without considering the risk to the polity and beaming a searchlight on all its components.

SLS tried a bit in this area with cashless etc policies but he didn't go far enough for the reasons we all know. I recall churches were the most vociferous critics when he came out with the limits on cash that can be banked by individuals and corporations.

DSS arrests pastor, 6 children, 9 others for currency counterfeiting



LOKOJA — A Pastor reportedly kidnapped along with his six children were afterall arrested by officials of the Department of State Services, DSS, in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital.

The service, yesterday, announced the arrest of a syndicate, including the pastor, over the alleged printing and circulation of fake naira notes.

The Director of DSS, Mr Mike Fubara, said this when he presented the suspects to newsmen, adding that the syndicate included 15 others, including the pastor’s six children.

He named the pastor as Godson Akubuiro, the General Overseer of The Mountain of Breakthrough Deliverance Ministry, Lagos.

Fubara said DSS in its effort to trace the source of the “worrisome fake naira currency in circulation in the state undertook a covert operation to uncover those behind the act.

‘’This operation took the service close to four months before a breakthrough resulting in the arrest of the 16-man syndicate led by Reverend Godson O. Akubuiro,’, the director said.

He said the operation took security agents to The Breakthrough Church, also known as Land of Solution, located at Plot 7, Koya Estate, Igbo Olomu, Agric, Ikorodu, Lagos.

He said the suspects were being investigated preparatory to their prosecution.

Items recovered

The director said items recovered from the suspects include equipment and materials used in printing fake currencies.

Other items recovered were a large quantity of printed fake notes, cut to size blank currency notes and N1.3 million fake naira notes.

Fubara urged the public to be wary of the fake naira notes in circulation and report suspects to the service.

I used the money to support the less privileged — Pastor

Akubuiro, however, told newsmen that he was not using the money for himself but in supporting the less privileged and the needy in his congregation.

He, however, pleaded for leniency, saying men of God were often tempted like King David in the Bible, who as a man after God’s heart but fell many times and was still pardoned by God.

Pastor Godson Akubuiro and six of his children were reportedly kidnapped on Friday from their Adeosun Street residence, Koya Estate, Igbo Olomu, Ikorodu, and Lagos State.
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/01/dss-arrests-pastor-6-children-9-others-currency-counterfeiting/#sthash.ubOLxcPo.dpuf

Arrested in Kano:

https://www.nairaland.com/1571415/battered-pregnant-woman-lagos-police#20509870

I hope AMADU77 will go to the police to convince them that the arrested fellow is not Lebanese

Battered pregnant woman: Lagos police arrest Lebanese boss
December 28, 2013 by Comfort Oseghale 81 Comments

The Lagos State Police Command on Friday arrested Kaveh Noine, a manager with Toppan Printing Company, who allegedly kicked his pregnant subordinate, Alexandra Ossai, in the stomach two weeks ago, causing her to lose her pregnancy.

PUNCH Metro had, on Tuesday, exclusively reported that Noine, a Lebanese, travelled out of the country when policemen attached to the Area F Police Division initially went to the company, to invite him for questioning.

Following the publication, President Goodluck Jonathan, had on Friday directed that the police and the National Human Rights Commission investigate the matter, expressing his displeasure over the incident.

However, Saturday PUNCH gathered that Noine was arrested on Friday by the Lagos State Police Command in Kano where he had fled to on Friday and brought him back to Lagos.

The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide, confirmed the story. She said, “Even before President Goodluck Jonathan ordered an investigation into the case, the Lagos State Police Command has been on it.

“In the course of our investigation, we discovered that Noine was still in the country; he had fled to Kano. Our men traced him to Kano, arrested him and have brought him back to Lagos.

“Presently, he is making his statement now at the command. The issue of bail, has not come up for now.”

Ossai had in PUNCH Metro’s December 24, 2013 publication, alleged that Noine assaulted her several times during her eight months stay at the company. Noine had allegedly hit Ossai in the chest a day before kicking her in her stomach over some misdemeanor by those whom Ossai supervised.

She also alleged that Noine was in the habit of physically assaulting workers at the company with anything he could lay his hands on, whenever he was angry.

The 34-year-old mother of one was said to have developed pains in her tummy which lasted for two days before subsiding. The pains were said to have begun again in the early hours of December 16, 2013, resulting into an emergency surgery at a private hospital at Fagba.

Her seven-month pregnancy was allegedly lost to the kick, as a result of a broken placenta. Ossai’s appointment with the company was allegedly terminated as a result of the incident and two of her siblings who also worked there were sacked.

Already, the Lagos State Public Advice Centre has waded into the case and offered Ossai free legal aid. The Public Relations Officer of the centre, Mr. Alex Omorodion, said, “We are going to liaise with other security agencies in Lagos State to see this matter to a logical conclusion. We also intend to visit the factory and talk with other workers to determine if more people have been abused by Noine. Then we will prosecute Noine at the conclusion of our investigation.”

When Saturday PUNCH contacted Ossai, she said, “I am really happy about the arrest. The rest is left to the police and my lawyer.”

http://www.punchng.com/news/battered-pregnant-woman-lagos-police-arrest-lebanese-boss/

Actually all regions apart from the SE are 'too poor' to pay tolls so let us limit the tolling to the SE biko. Also other regions are happy to pay taxes not being 'republicans' so they deserve some government financed and maintained infrastructure for their money.

eaglechild: I think it is a good development, so far the bridge will be maintained adequately.

I will even subscribe to the "privatisation" of other major roads in the country, because the private firms can be held directly responsible for their maintenance which should be easy since revenue will be generated from tolling.

Major problem is to get reputable firms.
Then again most regions aside Lagos and the south east and perhaps South south are too poor to pay the tolls.