₦airaland Forum

CHAIRMAN OF THE NORTHERN ECONOMIC SUMMIT, PROFESSOR JERRY GANA

The Northern Economic Summit (G-20) has disclosed that the federal government has provided the sum of $100 million in 2013 to facilitate the exploration activities for oil and gas in the region.

The areas where such explorations are ongoing include the Chad Basin, Benue Trough, Bida basin, and Sokoto-Rima basin, among others.

Chairman of the Northern Economic Summit and former minister, Professor Jerry Gana, who gave a progress report of action taken on economic development issues by the group since its 2011 summit, said that the money would be used for continuous assessment of hydrocarbon resource potentialities of the seven inland basins in Nigeria.

Besides the $100 million for 2013, Gana said that government had, in 2011, provided the sum of $70 million and another $70 million in year 2012 for the same exercise.

“Government provided in 2011, $70 million; 2012, $70 million and 2013, $100 million for the hydrocarbon exploration in the Lake Chad Basin and other northern hydrocarbon basins.

“In 2011, NNPC had, through its technical consultants, concluded the search, evaluation and identification of capable Airborne Geophysical Survey companies for hydrocarbon exploration of the inland basin of Nigeria,” the professor said.

Gana said that government had concluded the necessary arrangements to award the contract for airborne gravity, magnetic and electromagnetic exploration surveys of the seven inland basins in the country

On hydro-electric power project at Zungeru and the Mambila plateau, the chairman remarked that government had included the Mambilla power project among the projects to be supported under the NIPP/NDPHC programme, noting that there are many ongoing generation, transmission and distribution projects designed to improve power supply in the northern part of the country.

“It is important to note that government has awarded the 700 megawatts Zungeru hydro-power project at the cost of $1.2 billion (N170 billion). Ground breaking ceremony will be performed in April 2013,” Gana said.

The chairman further remarked that the Kashimbila Dam had reached advanced stage of construction, while Gurara Phase 1 had been completed.

On the Mambilla hydro power project, Gana said that the Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) for the construction works had been signed with two Chinese companies at a construction cost of $6.4 billion, while the bidding process and financing arrangement is scheduled for the first quarter of 2013.

The summit also urged the Book Haram sect to embrace dialogue in order to foster peace in the northern region as development can only thrive under a peaceful atmosphere.

http://thewillnigeria.com/general/19763.html

The Minister of Information, Labaran Maku has blamed the media for sensationalism on the recent report of the Governor of Akwa Ibom, Godswill Akapbio, who publicly admitted to rigging the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Senatorial primary election for Senator Aloysius Etuk.

Mr Akpabio made the controversial confession during the reception of the Good Governance Tour in Akwa Ibom.

Speaking on Sunrise Daily, the Minister of Information described the governor as a bold man and one of the best governors in Nigeria in terms of performance and delivery.

Mr Maku confirmed that Mr Akpabio made the statement, saying “when he spoke that day, we (the good governance tour) were there but later on he explained and unfortunately the press took one section of what he said and made politics with it and forgone the explanation.”

Explaining further the Minister stated that “he (Governor Akpabio) was saying that this (the rigging of election for Senatot Etuk) was done before the primaries” but he cut himself short adding that the governor warned that the people were going to go out to misquote him despite his explanation.

Mr Maku then affirmed that the governor’s full explanation has been published on the website of the Ministry of Information and that of the Good Governance Tour.



He further praised the governor for transforming a “very rural state like Akwa Ibom into one of the standard bearers in terms of infrastructure” in the country, adding that driving through Uyo, the state capital can be compare to London.



http://www.channelstv.com/home/2013/04/02/maku-defends-akpabio-on-election-rigging-statement/?utm_source=&utm_medium=twitter

Hmmn....Ok o!

An Islamic adherent, Alhaji Ibrahim Maisalati, has said that Boko Haram was a creation of some opposition groups in the North to force the Presidency to negotiate the release of Major Hamza Al- Mustapha.
Maisalati, the President of International Foundation for Democracy and Stability in Nigeria, stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Jos on Sunday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that a Lagos High Court sitting at Igbosere convicted Major Hamza Al-Mustapha on Jan. 30, 2012 for the murder of Kudirat Abiola.
Mustapha was National Security Adviser to the late Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha.
Maisalati said Boko Haram’s tactics of bombing was to cause disaffection in the country.
He said that the spate of bombings could be checked if the presidency overhauled the security agencies.
Maisalati said that emirs and other traditional rulers in the North have a part to play in stopping the attacks by calling the perpetrators to order.
According to him, “Islam is a religion of peace. They are trying to use the issue of Boko Haram to tarnish the image of Islam in Nigeria.’’
Maisalati, however, called for “a redress of the imbalances in the society where only a few individuals connected to politicians have access to the wealth of the nation.’’
This, he contended, will stem the serious challenges of insecurity.
“Our leaders should think of the welfare of the people through policies which favour the poor, provision of amenities and affordable accommodation.’’
He added that the review of wages would also go a long way in stemming insecurity.
Maisalati also called on embassies in the country to assist in repatriating billions of looted funds for redistribution to the people. (NAN)


http://pointblanknews.com/pbn/exclusive/boko-haram-wants-al-mustapha-released/

Former Zambian president, Mr. Rupiah Banda, was Monday arrested by the country’s law enforcement agents over allegations of corruption and abuse of office, following a crude oil import deal with Nigeria.

Banda was also alleged to have misappropriated about $11 million during his three-year reign as President of the country.
The country’s authorities are accusing him of procuring oil which did not benefit the country.

He was said to have imported crude oil from Nigeria, without actual deliveries, despite the fact that the funds were deposited into the bank account of his son.

Banda, who was released from police custody and is due to appear in court on Tuesday, however, said the moves against him are politically motivated.

He was questioned for close to three hours after his arrest related to the oil deal Monday before he was released on bail.

Banda denies the charges, and his lawyers claim the arrest is an attempt by current President Michael Sata to silence him.
After his release, Banda appeared before his supporters and told them to remain calm, reassuring them he would win his case in court.

Earlier this month, parliament lifted Banda’s presidential immunity, clearing the way for him to be prosecuted for several corruption and abuse of office charges.

Banda lost to President Michael Sata in 2011 elections. The new government has been pursuing the corruption investigations against the former leader and his political allies.

Banda, born 13 February 1937, was President of Zambia from 2008 to 2011.

During the Presidency of Kenneth Kaunda, Banda held important diplomatic posts and was active in politics as a member of the United National Independence Party (UNIP). Years later, he was appointed as Vice-President by President Levy Mwanawasa in October 2006, following the latter’s re-election.

He took over Mwanawasa’s presidential responsibilities after Mwanawasa suffered a stroke in June 2008, and following Mwanawasa’s death in August 2008, he became acting President. As the candidate of the governing Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD), he narrowly won the October 2008 presidential election, according to official results.

Opposition leader Michael Sata defeated Banda in the September 2011 presidential election, and Sata accordingly succeeded Banda as President on 23 September 2011.


http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/03/zambia-arrests-former-president-over-nigeria-oil-deal/?utm_source=&utm_medium=twitter

Nigeria is turning into the toast of investors globally as South Africa (Africa’s historical investor magnet), struggles with a weak currency, labour unrest and economic uncertainty, casting doubt on the ability of Africa’s largest economy to retain its role as a major economic force on the continent.

While Nigeria steadily becomes the beautiful bride on the African continent, analysts say investors are not so enthusiastic about South Africa and worry the African National Congress (ANC) that country’s ruling party, is not pushing reforms as successfully as Nigeria.

“We believe Nigeria will be the unrivalled dominant country on the continent over the coming decades, and financial markets appear to be investing on that assumption too,” Charles Robertson, economist and head of macro strategy at Renaissance Capital tells BusinessDay.

“Fund managers globally are excited by Nigeria, and no longer feel that way about South Africa.”

The NSE, the main stock market index in Nigeria, is up 18 percent year to date, compared to a 2.72 percent gain in the FTSE/JSE all share index, South Africa’s main stock index.

The rand’s 8.2 percent fall against the dollar this year is the worst of 25 emerging markets monitored by Bloomberg.

The naira has outperformed the rand on a relative basis weakening 1.7 percent against the dollar this year.

South African bonds face the risk of a sell-off by foreign investors as the rand’s plunge dims the allure of the nation’s debt, according to Societe Generale.

Risks for foreign investors have increased as South Africa posted a current-account deficit close to a four-year high in the fourth quarter after mining strikes and slower growth in Europe cut exports.

The current-account gap reached 6.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), down from a revised 6.8 percent in the third quarter, which was the biggest shortfall since the same period in 2008, the Reserve Bank said on March 12.

The nation’s debt of all maturities longer than one year has lost 7.4 percent for dollar investors this year, while Nigeria’s bonds have gained 19.38 percent in dollars for the same period, according to data from Access Banks FGN bond index.

Investors are impressed by an excellent reformist team including Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the finance minister and Lamido Sanusi, the Central Bank governor, and see that Nigeria’s economy will double in size every ten years due to its higher growth rate, Robertson said.

Nigeria’s economy expanded by 6.5 percent in 2011 compared to 3.1 percent for South Africa, according to World Bank data. Growth averaged 8.8 percent in the past decade, compared to 3.5 percent in South Africa.

South Africa’s $390 billion economy is 43 percent larger than Nigeria’s whose economy is estimated at $272 billion by the IMF, however both countries may be contending with a looming role reversal akin to China and Japan.

“There are probably similarities in the sense that Nigeria has a much larger population than South Africa and her potential is still largely untapped, as was the case with China 30 years ago, “ said Samir Gadio, an emerging markets strategist at Standard Bank London, in a response to questions.

The rebasing of Nigeria’s GDP this year will bring both economies closer and Nigeria may snatch South Africa’s crown as the continent’s economic champion within two years, just as China eclipsed Japan in 2010.

Nigeria’s dollar reserves have increased 39 percent to $48.4 billion in the past year, compared to flat gross reserves of $50.4 billion, in South Africa, at the end of February.

The rand also faces threats from labour disputes, a widening budget shortfall and a potential credit-rating downgrade, Peter Attard Montalto, a London-based emerging- markets economist at Nomura International Inc., said in a note released March 18.

South Africa’s credit outlook was kept at negative by Standard & Poor’s (S & P) this month. Fitch Ratings cut the debt rating one level to BBB in January, following downgrades by Moody’s Investors Service and S&P last year.

Nigeria was upgraded to BB- with a stable outlook, by Standard & Poor’s last year.

Nigeria’s budget deficit will narrow to 1.85 percent of GDP in 2013, from 4 percent in 2009, while total debt to GDP ratio stood at 18.8 percent, compared to 35.6 percent for South Africa.

The country attracted $8.9 billion of FDI in 2011, the largest in Africa.

S & P released a bullish note on the nation’s banks this month and as diverse global investors from first rand to P&G rush in, Nigerian conglomerates like Dangote Cement are expanding rapidly across the continent.

No wonder at a recent conference in Lagos, the minister of trade, industry and investment, an ex Goldman Sachs banker brimming with confidence said, “We have taken our investment case to 31 countries around the world, and they are buying our story, Nigeria is open for business.”


BusinessDay


https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=525393544180225&l=f00a31d1d2

Which KVA of inverter can carry a 1.5hp AC? And how much can that cost?

Table Leg :
SMh ... Nigerians should channel thier frustrations to somewhere else more deserving!!
What has the poor man done to deserve such humiliation? Or is being born that way a sin now?!

that is just it...Nigerian should look for positive ways to channel their frustrations towards ...haba

What i believe we should be looking at is her performance rating? what was SEC like before she came and what is SEC looking like at the moment when reviewed with advancement of the Nation in general. Buba Marwa chop money but he did well for Lagos state during his time...i stand to be corrected though. So that should be used to determine her stay at SEC, not sentimental beefs!

[b]I was thinking on this issue and it bogs my mind...yes the woman chop small money and all those thing but come to think of it,is it because her own was on the spotlight? There are other Heads of parastatals that have eaten more than was alleged to be eaten by her. yes, she also exposed a house of rep member! The guy was not clean too! He who must come to equity must come with clean hands so what are we saying? and where is the Hembe now? what did they do to him ? am sure they told him to stay off the media!

Very recently, the Senators championed the cause for the sacking of Demuren and he was sacked, and am believing that the reps are also saying if Demuren could be sack based on pressures from the senate, the Federal govt must listen to them too...
are we just watching a Nigerian movie that has refused to end? Must Oteh be sacked? Must everyone that falls out of favor with this legislators be sacked? Who makes sure that erring members of both House of Assembly and House of Reps are sacked? cos it appears to me like they govern themselves!! So help us God






THE House of Representatives yesterday stuck to its guns, insisting that President Goodluck Jonathan should sack the Director-General of the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), Arunma Oteh.

The development came a few days after Jonathan forwarded bills for amendment to the 2013 Appropriation Act and the Subsidy Re-investment Programme (SURE-P) to the National Assembly, specifically raising issues on a clause that seems to prevent SEC from spending funds in the 2013 fiscal year, a development the President said would spell doom for the capital market.

Specifically, both chambers of the National Assembly had in their separate resolutions asked the President to remove Oteh as the DG of SEC, saying she lacked the requisite qualifications to head the commission, failure of which the parliament would have nothing to do with the SEC.

The House of Representatives had last year launched investigation into the near-collapse of the Nigeria’s capital market.

Clause 10 of the 2013 Appropriation Act as passed by the National Assembly reads: “All revenue however described, including all fees received, fines, grants, budgetary provisions and all internally and externally-generated revenue, shall not be spent by the Security and Exchange Commission for recurrent or capital purposes or for any other matters, nor liabilities thereon incurred except with prior appropriation and approval by the National Assembly.”

But in his reaction to the clause, Jonathan stated that “considering the fact that the budget of SEC does not form part of the core 2013 Federal Budget as presented to the National Assembly, I believe that this clause ought not to have been inserted in the 2013 Appropriation Act in the first place. Secondly, the import of the clause is tantamount to shutting down the business of the Commission with a potential negative impact on the capital market.”

However, the House, in a fresh resolution on a motion moved under matters of urgent public importance yesterday by Deputy Minority Whip of the House, Garba Datti, has mandated its Committee on Legislative Compliance to monitor the compliance and report back to it within 21 days.

Datti had expressed concerns that the inaction of the President was a blatant disregard of the resolutions of the House of Representatives, and that most of these resolutions, though products of motions, hinge on fundamental public duty placed on public officers by the Constitution under the Fundamental Objectives and Directive principles of State Policy.

His words: “The motion urging the removal of Arunma Oteh, for instance, hinged on the fact that her appointment as Director-General of the Securities Exchange Commission was a gross violation of the Commission’s Act as she does not possess the minimum professional qualification prescribed for appointment to that position.

“Recently, the Executive has adopted the dangerous and vexatious approach of picking and choosing the implementation of resolutions of the Senate on the dismissal of Abdulrasheed Maina which was passed much later in time while still disregarding the long pending motion on the removal of the Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission.”



http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=116958:-reps-insist-on-sack-of-sec-boss-oteh-&catid=1:national&Itemid=559[/b]

The Deputy Director of Publicity of the State Security Services (SSS), Mrs Marylyn Ogar has blamed last Monday’s suicide bomb attack at a luxurious bus park in Kano on Nigerians for relaxing about their security with the improved security in the region.

She made the remark while responding to questions on whether there has been a lull in the performance of security operatives in the northern part of the country with the return of daily attacks in Kano in the last few days.

Mrs Ogar stated that there wasn’t a lull, but “maybe Nigerians became too relaxed because there was a little bit of respite”, referring to recent arrest and onslaught the security forces made on hideouts of the sect members.



She claimed the operatives have being able to take out the leadership of the fundamentalist sect and that it is some loose cannons of the sect who are trying to “find their feet” that are staging these new attacks.

Almost a hundred lives were lost in the suicide bomb attack on the luxurious bus park of the commercial city and a host of other attacks against security officials have been recorded in the last two days.



http://dailypost.com.ng/2013/03/21/sss-blames-nigerians-attitude-for-kano-bombing/

Kano Bus Attack.
Blame President Jonathan For the Attacks - Northern Elders.
[For his refusal to grant Amnesty to Boko Haram].

Prof Utomi Responds"

"It sounds easy to blame our Oga at the Top for terrorists activities, yet we forget that when we call for amnesty for Boko Haram and the removal of the JTF we undermine the fight against terrorists and boost their morale. - Prof Pat Utomi




Give Amnesty to Boko Haram - House of Rep.
Threat Them Like Niger Delta Activists.
##Prof Utomi's Response.

"How can you compare people fighting for their rights with people fighting to force their religion on others? - Prof Pat Utomi.


http://www.hopefornigeriaonline.com/
http://www.facebook.com/hopefornigeria

is this man calling Nigerians thoughtless?

If Devil Opens Church Nigerians Will Attend-Tunde Bakare

Says, ‘APC would succeed only if…’

Pastor Tunde Bakare was the vice presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in the 2011 elections. The presiding pastor of the Latter Rain Assembly and the convener of the Save Nigeria Group (SNG) speaks on the merger of opposition parties, the Goodluck Jonathan administration, corruption and other national issues in this interview with AYODELE OJO. Excerpts:

I went through a book, Accidental Public Servant written by Nasir El-rufai which you wrote the foreword; what actually struck you in the book?

The reason why Nigeria has been in the woods up till now is what struck me; that we have so many quack doctors, trying to fix the nation’s health. They are only there for themselves; with very little regards for the rest of us. If your doctor is quack; you don’t get well.

Because of your condition, he will take advantage of your trust in him to enrich himself at the expense of your health. So, whether you get well or not is not their business as far as they make their money. Nigeria’s leaders hate the people of this nation.

Are you not surprised with the conduct of the leaders going by the revelations in the book?

It doesn’t come as a surprise because we have to figure out who they are from the beginning; many of them have been like that from independence till now, only fewer exceptions could be called statesmen or those who truly set out for service and not for self.

But how do you see the denials; those who came out to say what El Rufai wrote were fictions?

If you want to do justice, attack the issues in the book; issues were raised and such issues were being highlighted. It is a good development. The denial means nothing; anybody can deny. When you put a hardened criminal in the duck and ask him if he is guilty or not guilty, the first thing he/she will tell you is not guilty because he/she is an accused person; according to our law until the contrary is proved.

If Atiku is not guilty, he will have the opportunity now to address the issue raised not what El Rufai said before the Senate or what he didn’t say before the Senate; that is not the issue. He listed areas that proved to him that the man is corrupt; let him now bring out facts and figures on what it is not. The denial means nothing.

Former US President Bill Clinton was in the country recently, and he spoke about poverty fueling insecurity and that Nigeria lacks good leadership which was responsible for the frittering away of the nation’s resources. What is your take on this?

Clinton can fly in and fly out of Nigeria, but don’t we know these things ourselves. And do we have to wait for the opinion of Clinton to know what to do with the deep poverty in the country. He cannot diagnose the problem of Nigeria more than us and he should not cry more than the bereaved. We know the situation ourselves more than Clinton.

The South is poor, the North is poor, all the geographical zones, you find extreme poverty with exception of Abuja, because Abuja doesn’t produce but consumes everything that comes into the country. It was not Clinton that told us to go out to street, to protest when the need arose or in January 2012 when we went out to protest against government’s bad policy.

I respect Clinton as United States of America’s statesman. The truth is that the leadership of this country hates the people. That was the language of the Bible; that those who rule over you hate you.

Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili, a former Education Minister, recently accused the government of spending the reserves…

Rather the present Federal Government is planning to use ICPC to harass her, to look at her records when she was the Minister of Education. I wish them well if they will find anything against the woman; they can’t. Rather than facing the issue, they are distracting in different area to deal with side issues.

Why is that when Nigerians come out with fact and figures about how the system is been run, government always send the anti- corruption agencies after them?

They continue to do that in order to silence those that they know have skeleton in their cupboards, as I am speaking; others are speaking, why have they not sent their agencies against us? I have never had anything to do with the government of this country, not even a contract. They only do that to harass them to keep quite. And indeed, those who live in glass houses do not throw stones, but if you have nothing to fear, you face them head on.

How do you see the stealing of the pension funds and the trial of the accused?

I don’t want to get angry over all these things. It is a betrayal, because the years of labour of others rather being rewarded and compensated in their time of need after their retirement, they are now being deprived of their rights and entitlements.

In Nigeria, if you steal small you have yourself blamed, but if you steal big time, you join the league of big fish. That is what is happening in our country. There is no serious trial, but mockery and I don’t believe anything will come out of it.

What about a man accused of stealing billions of pension fund being given N750, 000 as fine?

What did they do to Mrs. Cecilia Ibru?

Her assets were saized.

And then, she has nothing to live on any more? Look, if I come to your public treasures, steal N40 billion and paid N20 billion back and you say I should go home, I will go and retire on the N20 billion balance. All of them that were sentenced for imprisonment term spent it in five-star hospitals. I say, there is no justice in this country.

Is this how it will continue?

Well, I am not sure; that depends on Nigerians, because it doesn’t look like Nigerians want to do something about it and those who are benefiting from it still want the show to continue. But there is a God who has purpose for this nation, a time is coming, when the oppressed cannot take it anymore; they will be able to stand up and say enough is enough.

At a time Nigerians are complaining about immunity clause for some public office holders, the House of Representatives is seeking immunity for its members. What do you think of this?

The immunity clause in our constitution is to enable public servants to serve without undue harassment but I remember during the election, we did say that one of the things we will look into is immunity clause.

He who comes to equity must come with clear hands. The immunity clause should be expunged from the constitution because it is allowing rogues to steal for eight years, before we have opportunity to hold them accountable, although nobody is holding anybody accountable in Nigeria anyway.

The 2015 elections are two years away. Are you contemplating participating in active politics again?

I don’t pray we continue like this till 2015. My prayer is that there should be deliverance before that time, because if we continue like this, then there will be self-

fulfilling of the prophecy of disintegration.

Are you talking about change of government or revolution?

Whatever it is, this madness must not continue.

So, you are not sure if you will participate in the 2015 elections?

With who? The collection of rogues, right, left and central?

Even with the progressives?

Who are the progressives in Nigeria; mention their names? Are you persuaded that they are progressives, progressive where, taking you where?

The progressives who formed the All Progressive Congress (APC).

If the devil becomes a pastor, Nigerians will attend his church, because they don’t know the true church and they cannot distinguish it from the synagogue of satan. Some of these governors are far richer than their states, because they are looting their states dry.

I read in the newspaper that former of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu do not own Oriental Hotel, Shoprite and others.

Who is interested in this in a decent society? Something is wrong; do they say Obafemi Awolowo owns the Cocoa House in Ibadan?

Has anybody alleged that? Do they say that his wife owns the Premier Hotel in Ibadan? The reason why you have to deny this is that your hands are not clean.

In the build up to the 2011 presidential election, there were reports that the leaders of the ACN gave a condition to back General Buhari; that you should write your resignation letter as vice president even before the election. Would you now be comfortable with the same group of people in the merger arrangement?

My dear friend, anybody can ask you to do anything they considered in their own best interest and it is left for you to see whether it is in your own interest. It is true they asked me to sign a letter resigning the post of vice presidential candidate of CPC and Vice President of Nigeria. And I prepared my own letter and I said to General Buhari and the CPC, if you don’t want me to be your candidate any more, you are free any time.

But I am not going to resign as Vice President of Nigeria, because I have not occupied that office. And they said that is what they want. I said, look this man will not bend his rule; I don’t want to join the perjurers who are no longer electable in Nigeria but want to destroy the opportunity of other people.

Sitting on the table with these people means nothing to me. I am not part of the merger committee. If the merger is being put together for the development of our nation and our people, may God let it succeed, but if is to continue this foolish, crazy, greedy aggrandizement, God will overturn it.

If merger has been put together by good people, it will deepen our democracy, at least we will develop a two-party system in Nigeria. But I don’t see the difference between the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors and the so-called progressive governors. You can ask question how much is the kilometers of road awarded as contract in Oyo State and who is doing the road. It is not Bayelsa where you will say there is too much water there.

Where are the progressive governors? These ones who are fruitful and everyone wants to buy his own private jet once he is out of office, how much were they worth before they came into power?

And how do they come by their massive wealth now that they are bragging all around?

I desire to see in my life time, a nation that works and I pray that God will give grace and opportunity to people who can make it work. I am not saying if a person like me is not there it won’t work. There are thousand others who are better than I am in this country, God will bring those ones into power.

Do you think Nigerians are prepared for a change?

It depends on what change we are thinking about. We can change for the worse. We are miles away. We are dancing into the lagoon and into the woods everyday. The blind is leading the seeing in Nigeria. But why will the seeing allow the blind to lead them? The moment they get there they change.

Even you now interviewing me, the moment they make you a Commissioner for Information, it is an opportunity for enjoyment. All the things you have written against me you will change. Ask Reuben Abati. Men have lost their honour because of temporary power. Must you sell your birthright because of a pot of porridge?

General Buhari recently foreclosed INEC under Attahiru Jega, conducting free and fair elections in 2015. Do you share the same sentiment?

Has Jega conducted a credible election? INEC had always been in the pocket of the sitting president. But a time is coming when people will say enough is enough. Mubarak was in power for more than 30 years in Egypt. He did not envisage that one day they would carry him on a stretcher to the court. Muammar Gaddafi thought he had conquered Libya and the rest of Africa was his next agenda. They found him inside a water tunnel where they shot him.

You have seen what happened to the Tunisian president when the citizens decided to say enough is enough. Anything will happen any moment from now that will let these people say it’s over. Unfortunately they cannot see the handwriting on the wall.

After the 2011 post-election violence, the Federal Government constituted a panel on the crisis. The panel had submitted its report, but nothing has been done on it.

Because they were targeting Buhari, Bakare and CPC, that was why the panel was constituted. They had to bury the report in shame because they didn’t find anything that indicted us. The people who reacted to the daylight robbery after the election were not CPC.

They were poor people who were angry and that was the only way they could vehemently release their anger. It was not good, we didn’t support it but you don’t expect anything good to come out of that panel other than they have been truthful and the government cannot publish it because of shame.

Let them publish it and take action. I have never sponsored violence in my life and I won’t because vengeance has no foresight. That was why we went to court to ensure that nobody takes the law into his own hand.

But you couldn’t get justice in the court.

The Nigerian judiciary is compromised. Justice Ayo Salami tried to do what sounds like justice but was immediately removed. His tribunal quickly packed up and the next panel said they were not bound by the order made by his court.

And they didn’t allow us to bring the ballot papers to the court for forensic investigation because they said there would be breach of security. Those who did these things in the past, we knew where they ended up. So, let them keep on dancing to the same tune. They will end up the same way.

You once led Nigerians to protest in Abuja that Jonathan should be made the acting president. Are you satisfied with what his government is doing?

I didn’t go to Abuja to make Jonathan acting president or president. We went to Abuja collectively to uphold constitutionality and we will do it again if a goat is there. You are to blame yourself for allowing a goat to sit on the seat of the president not the constitutionality; what we went to Abuja to do was to uphold constitutionality, it does not matter who the president had been.

And as for his government, at the appropriate time SNG went to meet him and we exposed, gave him a mirror-image of his government; what it was all about and we were saying goodbye and he thought we could be bought. He was trying to bribe us with $50,000. Shame!

The Sultan of Sokoto requested that amnesty should be granted Boko Haram but the President had turned down the request. Now foreign hostages had been killed by another sect. What is the way forward?

It is unfortunate, the killing of anyone not just the foreigners, the killing of citizens of our country regardless of any their religion. What Boko Haram is doing is evil. The environment is conducive to it, that is why it continued.

Now that the seven expatriates have been killed, the nations where they came from; Greece, Britain etc, they have all spoken that they are going to track those people to their roots.

But the Nigerian president has said nothing because he knows who and who are behind Boko Haram. I don’t know what he is afraid of. He had publicly said Boko Haram is in his cabinet. We should hold Jonathan responsible for Boko Haram.

He should expose them or deal with them. If Mr. President will be forthright since he said he knew them, we challenge him to mention their names. But he has not done that till now. He couldn’t expose them because he who pays the piper dictates the tune. He should expose them. Boko Haram should not be allowed to harass us as citizens and to take laws into their hands.

Who is safe in this country with the killing of a police commissioner?

Nobody. When Dimka killed Gen. Muritala Muhammed, Chief Obafemi Awolowo made a statement few days after. He said the society where the dog can kill the lion, nobody is saved. That is where we have found ourselves.

During the deliberation of the PIB, there was a revelation that 83 per cent of the oil blocs were owned by Northerners. How do you see the development?

I have not seen the document. I have learnt to take with a pinch of salt whatever this Senate says because they are supposed to be there to be making laws and when they see such inequalities are there laws to regulate that sector? Those 83 per cent who gave the allocation to the people? Did they go there to hijack it by themselves?

Are they holding it for people in power? Is it for them? Those are the questions intelligent people should ask? How many things have they uncovered that nothing came out of it? Before you finish, there will be another sting operation and lives of millions of people wasted on daily basis. They know how to do sting operations.

You can see the sting operation they are doing in respect of the merger now.

They have gone to register APC and they could backdate because they are in power thinking that the rest of us cannot think. They tried to do that for us also. They registered SNG to say that they were registered before us or that the name should not be used by us. We are waiting for them in court. But remember, everyday is for the thief, one day is for the owner.” The day they will be caught, they will vomit all.

So what is your advice for Nigerians?

Let Nigerians take their destiny in their hands and insist and demand on good governance and hold this government accountable or make the country ungovernable until they do so. They should take their destiny in their hands and demand for good governance once and for all, if they continue, they will be worse of.

When the government has the machinery to crunch its citizens!

Well, so did Mubarak have all the machinery, so did the Tunisian president and so did the Gaddafi of Libya, but the will of the people prevailed in the end.

Are you also considering buying a private jet?

For me that will be death sentence because they are looking for me to finish. So, I will not buy a private jet where they will put a bomb.

It is wicked for me to remain lavishly rich in the midst of poor people. We should divert those resources to help others. How many trips do I make in a year? Even if I go every month, what I will spend in a year is not up to a quarter of what I will use as aviation fuel.

I have done that business before. Let us run good airlines instead of having private jets, so that the lives of our citizens will be protected.

Let’s team up and have good airlines; let’s team up and have good transportation system and let the government think, for once have good roads, good train system, then Nigerians will put their energy in the right direction, then our nation will begin to recover and come out of the woods.

I am not considering private jet even if I can afford it, I will not do so. I will see it as sheer flamboyant, unnecessary and uncalled for.


http://www.naijapundit.com/news/if-devil-opens-church-nigerians-will-attend-tunde-bakare

I can tell you that one of them is busy using tweeter to insult Oga Jona.

OP, most NLanders are lagosians... Abj boys no get time so expect little or no views.

ABUJA, March 06, (THEWILL) – The House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts, Wednesday, threatened the former Minister of Information and Communications, Professor Dora Akunyili, with arrest and prosecution should she fail to return vehicles belonging to the ministry in her possession within one week.

Also to return government vehicles or face similar treatment are a former Minister of State in the Ministry, Alhaji Ikra Bilbis, and the Permanent Secretary, Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Engr Anthony Ozodinobi. The vehicles were said to have been attached to them while they held forte in the ministry.

The vehicles in question are four Toyota Hillux Double Cabin pick-up vans.

Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Adeola Solomon Olamilekan, who handed down the order after hearing the submission of the officials of the Ministry led by its Permanent Secretary, Mrs. Kehinde Ajoni, who appeared before the Committee over the queries raised against the Ministry by the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation, said all efforts to retrieve the vehicles from the former officials since 2010 had proved abortive.

The Committee therefore threatened that failure on the part of any of them to comply with the directive would lead to their being dragged before the court and charged for stealing of government properties in accordance with the law of the land.

“This is unacceptable, they should all return the vehicles in question within one week; failure of which they will be charged to court for stealing. The secretariat should write the three of them immediately to convey the decision of this Committee to them. The evidence before us showed that several letters had been written to them on the need for them to return the vehicles which they ignored,” Olamilekan said.

Permanent Secretary, Ajoni, had told the Committee that the ministry had made spirited efforts to recover the vehicles but Akunyili only returned one out of the two in her possession, while Bilbis and Ozodinobi held on to the ones in their possession.

She disclosed that the vehicles in question were for the National Telephony Project and they belong to the Ministry. The vehicles were said to have been attached to the affected ex-officials and the auditors discovered that they were missing during auditor routine checks.

http://thewillnigeria.com/general/19316.html

Women are still better administrators in my opinion although they could make thing more difficult than they ought to be but put a serious woman in charge of a business and go to sleep. only the ambitious ones tend to go into politics...there is more to be done in this regard sha.

Hmmn...do not under -estimate these north koreans o! ''When rat decides to boast in front of a cat,check well, the rat must get something wey dey push am or dog wey be him friend nearby''

i hear

not a bad development this one...i was also thinking of amnesty for kidnappers too

by the way....1st to comment.

If it can be extended to Al Qaeda, I give my go ahead. Cos it's evident that the money is too much!

dtemidare: cont.