₦airaland Forum

@ vickipad

There are so many companies that employ Chem E's. Starting with Oil & Gas, food industries, biotech, pharmaceutics, cement manufacturing, mining, consulting firms , the lists goes on.

If you're able to secure a full time position after graduation as chemical/process engineer, I'll say work for the company for about 2-4 years and go for your MBA. If after graduation, you're having difficulty securing employment as a Chem E, you can start your master in chemical engineering. I believe going forward, you'll need a business degree to market yourself better.

Have my own big conglomerate firm that will outlive my generation.

If I were you, I will go for MBA with Finance concentration.

The goal will be to leverage your technical background as a mechanical engineer with MBA, to position you for oil and gas risk project analysis within your current organization. As a mechanical engineer, you should be able to analyze and test different oil and gas technology/project for feasibility to ensure company can service their loan post completion. As the analyst, your goal is to evaluate how much risk/interest rate the bank should charge, or how much money should the bank loan out when financing such project. To successfully undertake such task, you need both engineering and finance background.

If that doesn't work out, you can venture into corporate finance with oil and gas companies. Your job will include recommending which investment/project the company will invest in based on their level of resources (both human and capital) and returns (highest NPV), how much dividend to pay out to shareholders vs. reinvestment, strategies on raising funds for capital intensive projects e.t.c. To successfully execute these tasks, you'll have to leverage both your engineering and business background.

Lamido Sanusi, governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Tuesday vowed he will resign his appointment if his recent actions taken to salvage the banking industry were found to be fundamentally faulty. But Sanusi accepted that there could be minor errors in the process which has attracted wide criticisms as well as commendation but insisted that the decisions of the apex bank were necessary for the Nigerian financial system and the economy in general.
Sanusi, who has been summoned to appear before the House of Representatives this morning, disclosed this while responding to questions from journalists after the 210th meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee of the CBN during which decision were also taken to retain the Monetary Policy Rate at six percent and maintain interest rate corridor at +/_ 2 percent around the MPR.
Also at the meeting, an Approval-In-Principle was endorsed for the establishment of an “Asset Purchase Facility Fund” that would undertake to buy over the debts of these banks and chase these debts for an interest.
Sanusi said the CBN and the Ministry of Finance jointly considered the modalities for setting up the APF Fund for effective liquidity injection and credit easing targeted at specific areas of the economy.
“Now, we are human beings, are we above making mistakes? No! If there was a mistake and a fundamental error as a governor of CBN, I will take personal responsibility and I have to resign, I will resign but I have no doubt in my mind that if I look at a bank and see that that the bank is heading towards failure, I have the responsibility of the Nigerian people to take whatever action I consider appropriate.

I hope CBN will be quick to furnish the state of other banks so that we can put this chaos behind us. The earlier we understand how much all these big boyz/gurls are owing banks and how much of all these will be provision for bad loans, the better it will be for our economy and how to value these institution going forward.

Guys, we should be one Nigeria in respective of what culture we belong to. There are some bad english movies and so are some yoruba movies. Lets bash them all together from the angle of strong critism. We should all be able to point out errors in all these Nigerian made movies, so that our producers / actors can change for the better. Lashing each other to support our culture does/will not produce any good result.  From good criticism, you get the best out of people. Lets criticize all these  producers together as one, so that they can change for better.

This is ridiculous, what happen to the United States of Africa. This the same man (Gaddhafi) pushing for this agenda (One Africa).
How is this going to work out when there is massive killing of Africans as illegal immigrants on african soil.

lookmangiw:
The sycophants are around the corner again.They are the cause of all the problems facing this failed nations.

Can you please expatiate on the Havocs Egbogah Caused Nigerians. I guess you know something we don't know

I think Dr. Emmanuel Egbogah will make a fine Petroleum Minister

What is wrong with all these greedy politicians

Compass printed this because N50 billion Bond is having difficulties passing through proper protocol.
Election is coming up and I guess OGD need to raise enough money so bad therefore, resulting into this shameful sort of blackmale is the last resort. On the other hand, i am not condoning nor am i supporting any cultist / fetish act in politics. This is just ridiculous, how does the people get the best of their elected officials with all these stupidity going on. God save the people of Ogun State.

R.I.P Michael Jackson

May her soul RIP

Which way Nigeria, which we go. I love my father land, but they keep squandering all of our resources. They spent about $16 Billion dollars on fixing the power crisis, till today we have nothing to show for it. They procured billions of dollars worth of equipment (turbines and so), and all to be left rotten at the port in the name of due process, no proper planning and mismanagement. Billions of money paid was also paid for cancellation and termination of contracts in the name of carrying out proper analysis and planning.

Now that we have this funds ($600 million credit), are we following due process like we ought to have done in the first place? Are we embarking on proper planning and adequate analysis to ensure successful completion of power plant that the funds is meant for? Are these projects going to be contracted to competent companies to ensure and guarantee successful completion of these projects?

Ohhh hell . God Help Nigeria

High School borders night (a day before vacation) Shelling, JSS1 vs JSS2, JSS3 vs SS1, SS2 vs SS3, everything goes. Who can ever forget those days,

@ Poster,

I agree up to some extent with your radical treatment to modify our political / corrupt spree environment. However instead of killing their children, why not start with them? Let the revolution start with the finger that commits the corrupt practice so that they would not take other innocent lives along with them.

[quote author=Sunny_bobo link=topic=280211.msg3980156#msg3980156 date=1244186407]Said Abacha: “If you take the foreign exchange which has a large number of northerners involved in the business, he introduced a lot of stringent conditions and most of our people in the trade are not educated. They faced a tough times during his five year tenure. The policies are only good for advanced countries, not in Nigeria where education is still low and poverty still high, especially in the North”.


http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/features/newsonthehour/2009/june/05/newsbreak-05-06-2009-001.htm[/quote]When are we ever going to learn, hard times call for strict measures. There is no way we going to have good economy without strict foreign exchange policy "No pain no gain". Those people who feel impacted by the foreign exchange policy, why can't they update their knowledge, educate themselves wherever they're having shortfall rather than making noise and calling for the removal of Soludo. Does this mean Sanusi is going to relax foreign exchange policy just to favor notherners? We shall see whats going to happen

nice work. Got mine

Source: http://www.desertherald.com/cover.htm#cover2

Shortly after Malam Isa Yuguda was sworn-in as the Governor of Bauchi State on May 29, 2007, he promised to take the state to the desired height. Though some politicians usually make all kinds of promises and make no effort to fulfill them, anybody who witnessed what transpired in Bauchi State in 2007 will believe that Yuguda will not abandon his promises largely because of the confidence the people of the state had on him.
Earlier when some members of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) bragged that it will be easier for a camel to pass through the needle's eye than for Yuguda to become the governor of the state, the people of Bauchi State had sympathy for him and sacrificed their lives to vote him into power in the April 2007 general elections. In spite of the power of incumbency and alleged rigging machinery of PDP, Yuguda still emerged victoriously as the governor of the state under the platform of All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP).The question of whether Governor Yuguda will fulfill his promises or not did not immediately arise just because of some certain factors including his background and all the odds he encountered.
Malam Isa Yuguda was a one time Managing Director of Inland Bank, the bank which consolidated with others to form Finbank Plc. Secondly, his emergency as the governor of the state amidst all odds made many not to doubt his capability of moving the state forward.
The hope and confidence many people within and outside Bauchi State had on Yuguda was truncated just because of material gains. A petition written against Isa Yuguda by the concerned citizens of the state to the Chairmen of Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as well as to the Speaker, Bauchi State House of Assembly revealed that the governor has a long way to go when it comes to the issue of development and repositioning of Bauchi State.
Governor Yuguda, a day after he was sworn-in as Governor of Bauchi State, was unilaterally alleged to have ordered the transfer of the state's main account from Guarantee Trust Bank to Finbank plc. According to the petition, the key government functionaries handling the financial matters in the state are from Finbank. Some of these top government functionaries include the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), the sacked commissioner of finance and the present one, among others.
In the petition titled “How Finbank and Isa Yuguda are looting Bauchi State: Who will save Bauchi State?” chronicled financial transactions between the state government and Finbank Plc in 6 months covering September 2008 to February 2009. This petition revealed the financial mismanagement of Governor Yuguda, who allegedly borrowed about N40 billion from Finbank Plc Bauchi State branch without terms of payment or approval of the Bauchi State House of Assembly.
Between November 2008 and January 2009, Finbank allegedly disbursed seven credits of N39.1 billion into the state main account. The credits are N277m and N9.047bn on November 1 and 14, 2008 respectively. Others include N9.529bn, N9.629bn, N9.902bn and N795m disbursed on 14th, 19th, 21st, and 30th January 2009 respectively. The petitioners lamented that search into the proceedings of the State House of Assembly shows that the body was never intimated on these loans. “They are therefore illegal by law. Their acquisition by the government is ultra vires. Not only is the governor violating the rules governing his office in these transactions, Finbank is directly putting the deposits and shares of thousands of Nigerians at risk. The bank has committed a crime which must be investigated and stopped immediately before irreparable damage is done to the savings of Nigerians,” the petitioners affirmed.
According to the petitioners, the claim that the loans have been budgeted for in 2008 is not true from many perspectives. They affirmed that “budgetary provisions do not automatically accord the governor with the right to commit the state at whim. Banks do not accept budgetary provisions as sufficient instruments for granting loans. They require approvals of the state and the State House of Assembly and a comprehensive agreement between the bank and government. This is why when the governor sought N10bn long term loan from the same Finbank, his agents took the pain of begging the bank in a letter dated 25 February, 2008 for a one week deferral of submission of loan agreement, lien and set off agreement and House of Assembly resolution,” the petitioners maintained.
The concerned citizens of Bauchi State wonder why Governor Yuguda did not seek the House's approval in the subsequent loans. “Even going by the budgetary provisions, 2009 budget was not approved when the governor allegedly took separate loans including N9.52bn, N9.629bn, N9.902bn and N795m in the month of January,” according to the petition.
The N10bn long term loan of February 2008 was allegedly granted and consumed before the House of Assembly's approval came in late March 2008. “As for people of Bauchi State, the damage has already been done which will take years to repair. The N39.18bn in question was incurred in only three months. This did not include other similar loans collected during the preceding eighteen months,” the petitioners lamented.
The governor is allegedly making plan to source another N40bn debt from the Capital Market through Finbank. It is not clear whether this amount of money is to cover the N39.18bn he allegedly borrowed from Finbank or is meant for another purpose. The source disclosed that if another governor will emerge today as Yugudu's successor he can decide not to pay a kobo of the balance because the loans themselves are null and void thereby making Finbank to put its depositors in danger. Though a close examination of the loans shows that there was dubious deals in their transactions as loan is taken to settle another which was previously transacted, from the seven transactions alone Bauchi State Government still owed Finbank N18.6bn as at the end of February, 2009, according to the submissions of the petitioners.
It will surprise many that Isa Yuguda who has been a managing director of a bank will allow his state to be pushed into financial crisis. The petition against Yuguda shows he is having difficulty in the payment of workers salaries as well as payment for contractors and settlement of debts from its monthly revenue. In the period under review, September 2008 to February 2009, the state has allegedly repaid a total of N2.378, 426,348.48 to Finland Plc. This according to the petitioners is certainly in disregard to the declining fortunes of the state in view of how badly the global financial downtown is hitting Nigerian revenues.
It is alleged that despite the Finbank credit disbursements totaling N39.18bn the “state's main account was overdrawn with N1, 122,284,135.49 as at February 27, 2009. The petition shows that the monstrous February theft was done in the same month the governor reduced the salaries of political office holders by 'one-third' unilaterally. Yuguda, instead of paying attention to illegal transactions, allegedly announced his intention to lay off workers, or reduce wages of civil servants or both.
The petitioners wonder why Finbank allowed withdrawals of N10m, N50m, N100m, 200m and 800m from government bank accounts in cash. The Bauchi State Government operates three accounts namely, the state's sub-treasury, main government account and the SSG account. Though amount less than N1m from the SSG's account and those that are less than N5m from the Sub-treasury are excluded from the analysis according to the petitioners, in six months under review N5.242bn was withdrawn from the sub-treasury as well as N3.53bn and N329m from the SSG office and Government House account respectively. The amount withdrawn at this period is N9.1bn in February alone, the sub-treasury allegedly withdrawn for clandestine reasons, N1.11bn while the total revenue of the state government was just N1.49BN.
The frequency of the withdrawals according to the petition raises question. The withdrawals were alleged to be done more than once in a day. “Consider the three amounts withdrawn on 12th February 2009 from the sub-treasury account: N82, 833,100.00 was first withdrawn in cash, N828, 333.00 was later withdrawn in cash, and N10, 000,000 was withdrawn in cash again,” the petition said. “On the same day, 25 September 2008, N33, 998,365.00, N27, 485,000.00 and N27, 000,000.00 were withdrawn. On 4th September 2008 such cash withdrawal from the sub-treasury account of N50,265,000.00; N958,000.00, N64,604,133.00, N32,160,000.00, N532,800.00 and N955,750.00 were made. Who were the beneficiaries of these payments? Were they the contractors who said 'We do not need chegues, please pay us in cash.' Is there any contractor in his right senses that will request the treasury to pay him N828m in cash in stead of cheque? Certainly none,” the petitioners said.
According to the petition, the balance sheet of SSG's account, are correctly disbursed in cheques. The petitioners said “the usual explanation is to claim that such withdrawal made were for security purposes.” The petition alleged that Yuguda administration in Bauchi State used N9bn as security vote in six months at a time he is interrogating his predecessor for using N5bn for eight years. The petitioners wonder why any bank could allow a withdrawal of N828m in cash in a single transaction.
It is alleged that fraud in payment for debts is on the increase and will eventually ground the state to a complete halt. The petitioners alleged that “FinBank claimed N70m and N2.8bn in September 2008, N568m in October 2008, N538m in November 2008, N280m in December 2008, N206m in January 2009, and N538m in February 2009.”
The petitioners prayed that the anti corruption bodies and Bauchi State House of Assembly should immediately intervene and investigate the transaction of the state government for the entire period between 29 May 2007 and February 2009. Parts of the petition read “we plead with your body to immediately intervene in the following areas: investigate the transaction of the state government for the entire period between 29 May 2007 and February 2009. Find out further, who are the real beneficiaries of these loots apart from the governor and his SSG. Alert the CBN and NDIC on your preliminary findings to forestall the whole collapse of FinBank and the state.”
The petitioners also called on these bodies to stop the state government from acquiring more loans as the governor has made up his mind to source about N40bn from the capital market through FinBank. The petitioners lament “Had the ICPC treated with dispatch similar petitions submitted to it months ago, the state would have been saved from the N39.1bn loan scandal. It would have also been able to save the theft of N9bn cash from its coffers. The state government was not warned or even stopped from these fraudulent practices. Neither has the EFCC, which would have learnt about the transactions through its financial intelligence unit, done anything.”
According to the petitioners, these practices which were condemned by the people of Bauchi State under Mu'azu administration have continued in more monstrous manner under Yuguda. The House of Assembly is completely unaware of the transactions according to the petition. “The Bauchi State House of Assembly is completely unaware of the transactions, to our surprise. We wonder what its committee on finance has been doing for the past six months.” The petitioners affirmed that if nothing is done to address this situation Yuguda will continue to plunder the resources of Bauchi State with FinBank falling deeper into the abyss of bankruptcy.
Desert Herald also leant that the defection of Isa Yuguda from All Nigeria People's Party recently amidst protests from people within and outside Bauchi State was not unconnected with the governor's ambition to succeed President Umaru Musa Yar'adua come 2011. Desert Herald investigation reveals that the governor is nursing ambition to become the next President of the country should Yar'adua throw in the towel as the President of the country on the account of his health condition.
Watch out for the untold story of the scandal for the supply of Motor vehicles for Yankari Transport Company and how the Chairman of Bauchi state Fertilizer Company, Alhaji Sanusi Maijamis, secured a fraudulent I.O.U of N25 Million from the Company to buy a private property in Abuja. These and many more only in your insightful Desert Herald.

Umaru Yar`dua: Great Expectation,Disapointing Outcome Part 2 - - by Nasir El- Rufai


Continued from: Umaru Yar`dua: Great Expectation, Disapointing Outcome Part 1- by Nasir El-Rufai ( see article,i already set it up.)

I met with Yar Adua the next day to intimate him of my plans - go on Umrah (Lesser Hajj), a two-week North Atlantic cruise, a short course at Harvard, complete my Law Degree and then back to Harvard for a longer fellowship. I also intimated Yar Adua of my plans to set up a policy advocacy think-tank, and invest in various ideas close to my heart. We agreed that I should meet with him when I am back from Umrah or the cruise.

The transition is complete. Now we can all get on with our lives, assured that we have elected a good man, who will build on the foundations we laid under Obasanjo, correct any human errors and move Nigeria on the path of its manifest destiny. I was relieved.

How wrong we all turned out to be!

UMARU YAR’ADUA AS PRESIDENT

12. Optimism, Expectations, and Early Steps

The Inaugural Speech that President Umaru Yar’Adua gave was inspiring and raised the nation’s hope and expectations. He admitted the flaws in the Elections that brought him to power and promised to set up a panel to study what happened so Nigerian can reform its electoral system. He promised a generational shift that will herald new governance from those born after Independence. He outlined what he referred to as four areas of “national consensus” – deepening democracy and the rule of law, a private sector driven economy, zero tolerance for corruption, and restructuring government for efficiency.

Yar’Adua undertook to rebuild infrastructure and human capital, accelerate economic reforms and address the Niger Delta issue. He pledged to create more jobs, lower interest rates, reduce inflation and maintain the stability of the exchange rate. He promised to make rail development a reality and achieve dramatic improvements in electricity supply. He said he was committed to being a ‘servant-leaders’ who will be a listener and a doer – who will tackle poverty and protect lives and property of all citizens. This speech will be the benchmark for evaluating Yar’Adua’s performance in office now, and forever, and we will rely on it in this essay.

The nation waited to see the first set of appointments that Yar’Adua will make – who would be his Chief of Staff, Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the National Security Advisor. He appointed Babagana Kingibe, then 62 years of age, an old-breed politician who was the vice-presidential running mate to late Chief M. K. O. Abiola in the 1993 Elections that were annulled by the Babangida military junta. He retained Obasanjo’s appointees for the other two key positions . All the three appointees were older than Yar’Adua and the promise of generational shift began to lose credence.

President Yar’Adua immediately published the details of his assets – an unprecedented move in Nigerian history that got many citizens excited and hopeful that a new dawn of openness had arrived. The assets declared however included 29 cars which were donations to his campaign organization and Umaru Yar’Adua claimed them personally. These cars were not strictly speaking personal assets, and furthermore the assets of his children of age remained undeclared, but grateful Nigerians overlooked these minor violations since they now know that their president and his spouse were worth only about $8 million! A few weeks later, Yar’Adua’s Vice President Goodluck Jonathan was compelled by media pressure to do declare his own assets. He was of more modest means than Yar’Adua.

President Yar’Adua invited all the political parties to nominate their representatives to join what he called an inclusive government of national unity. The ANPP overrode the objections of its presidential candidate Muhammadu Buhari, and nominated persons that were subsequently appointed into cabinet, advisory and sub-cabinet positions. The PPA also agreed to join, but the AC and APGA declined. An undisclosed part of the deal required the parties to withdraw any petitions they have filed challenging Yar’Adua’s election – something that neither Buhari (ANPP) nor Atiku Abubakar (AC) were willing to accept.

In July 2007, President Yar’Adua swore in a cabinet of 39 ministers that many commentators labeled “lackluster”. Each state of the Federation, except Lagos was represented, and most of them were selected from the lists forwarded by state governors and party leaders. Some states like Kano had two ministers – one representing the state PDP and another nominated by a key financier of the party. This was the second sign that the Yar’Adua administration was not going to depart from the distributive culture of appointments of previous administrations.

13. Promises vs. Accomplishments – Inaugural Speech v. Actual Deliverables

In what appears to be the most serious signal of retrogress, Yar’Adua’s Attorney-General and Minister of Justice announced on August 6, 2007 that the ICPC and EFCC will now prosecute corruption and money laundering cases only with his express permission. The public reaction to this announcement was overwhelmingly against the administration. The next day, the administration backtracked and reversed itself. This became the beginning of a series of actions taken to weaken the war against corruption. A few months later, the BBC published a short story that described the state of the anti-corruption war, and things were to get much worse.

Some early policy reversals then followed:

(i) Increases in the prices of petroleum products were cancelled
(ii) The increase in the levels of value-added tax from 5% to 10% was cancelled, and
(iii) The hurried privatization of Kaduna and Port Harcourt Refineries were suspended.

This pattern of undoing virtually all the major decisions of the Obasanjo administration would continue with the suspension of funding of the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) , the contract for the construction of the Lagos-Kano double track standard gauge rail system , and the proposed redenomination of Naira by the Central Bank of Nigeria. Some of these reversals were quite costly as the Chinese are claiming $2.5bn cancellation costs and damages for the railways contract .

One of Yar’Adua’s positive first steps was the inauguration on August 28, 2007 of the Electoral Reform Committee (ERC) under the chairmanship of respected jurist and former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Mohammed L. Uwais. At that and other occasions, Yar’Adua emphasized the need for financial autonomy for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), emphasized that only credible elections will guarantee peace, and promised that by December 2009, a reformed electoral system will be in place in the country. The BBC expressed pessimism at the pace of electoral reforms in April 2008, in a story that turned out to be prescient by March 2009.

The initial dawn of optimism waxed and intensified as it became clear that the Yar’Adua was not only NOT Obasanjo’s puppet , but intent on demystifying his predecessor’s eight years in office. Within a year, this view and expectation had waned as it became clear that nothing was getting done. Some critics of Yar’Adua gave him the nickname “Baba-go-slow” labeling the administration “All talk, no action”. This was reinforced by Yar’Adua’s interview with the Financial Times of London to commemorate his first year in office. By then, little had been achieved by way of outcomes but Yar’Adua said his administration was still “planning”:

“The quality of your planning, the quality of your programmes, determines the nature of their achievements.”

(Note - See BBC News, May 28, 2008 “Nigeria’s ‘Baba-go-slow’ one year on” at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/7420327 accessed on 03/25/09 and ALSO See Financial Times, June 23, 2008 – “Umaru Yar’Adua: In pursuit of respect for the rule of law” online at http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e497845c-3f43-11dd-8fd9-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1 accessed on 03/29/09)

In the same interview, Yar’Adua promised the following:

(1) The Niger Delta Summit will be held within eight weeks (i.e. end of July 2008),
(2) Restructuring of the NNPC will be completed in 12 months (by May 2009),
(3) National emergency on power will be declared soon (his spokesman in a later interview announced that this will be in July 2008),
(4) Regulations for the concessioning of airports, seaports and trunk roads will be published, and
(5) The next 12 months (to May 2009) will be “very, very interesting” year for Nigerians.

In his most recent interview with The Guardian (published on April 29-30, 2009), none of the above promises had been fulfilled or projects been completed, and indeed, it is now clear that nothing has changed by May 2009.

(Note - In this most recent press interview, it is clear that the administration is still planning what to do, and he admitted that his most important legacy will be “rule of law” without indicating how Nigerians can measure when that has been achieved. See the Guardian April 29 and 30, 2009 – “The President’s Interview” online at http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/news/article00//indexn2_html?pdate=010509&ptitle=THE%20PRESIDENT%27S%20INTERVIEW accessed April 30, 2009.)

It was in the reversal of the war against corruption that the Yar’Adua administration did the most damage to its credibility with Nigerians and the international community. The systematic destruction of the EFCC by the Yar’Adua administration began as soon as James Ibori – former governor of Delta State (and an recruiter, ally and financier of Yar’Adua), was charged for money laundering and corruption at the Federal High Court in December 2007 . Ibori and his two wives faced similar charges in UK courts. A quick succession of events led to the extra-legal removal, demotion, and dismissal of the EFCC’s respected chairman – Nuhu Ribadu, and the deployment of all the investigating EFCC staff trained by the FBI and London Metropolitan Police. Two attempts were made on Ribadu’s life and he is currently in exile as a visiting fellow at Oxford University, UK and Center for Global Development, USA. In a detailed interview with PBS , Ribadu recounted his experience, concluding that “when you fight corruption, it fights back”.

Since the firing of Ribadu, all the case files on the so-called 31 corrupt governors have disappeared. The cases already in court have been withdrawn, delayed or settled in what many consider dodgy plea-bargains. Other well-known cases of corruption that the administration has blatantly refused to prosecute include bribery payments by Willbros – an oil services company, corruption involving Siemens – a German engineering company (in which senior PDP leaders collected $10 million in bribes) and the well-known Halliburton/KBR case in which $180 million were pocketed by various officials.

Yar’Adua’s wife is widely believed to be engaged in influence-peddling and all manner of interventions in public procurement and executive appointments – something documented so clearly and accurately by Nigerian bloggers based mostly in the USA. The successive weddings of Yar’Adua’s daughters to state governors is being perceived as an attempt to recreate a new feudal dynasty in Nigeria.

Two of Yar’Adua’s daughters have married first-term state governors. The third is expected to marry either a serving Minister or a wealthy, Lagos-based gasoline importer whose company is known as ‘Rahmaniyya’.)

In the area of foreign relations, Yar’Adua’s administration has been virtually off the African radar. He visited the USA early in his tenure – in December 2007 where he expressed the desire to partner with the US on Africom. Upon return to Nigeria, he denied making such a commitment. He has shown a preference for economic relations with Russians (Gazprom), Iranians (Nuclear Energy Power MoU) and Germans (Energy Partnership for non-prosecution of Siemens bribes) than most other advanced nations of the world. He addressed the South African Parliament in June, 2008 and avoided most international forums since then. There are unconfirmed speculations that the state of his health does not allow for long trans-continental flights, but the health of our President is the nation’s most closely guarded secret.

Electoral reforms have not fared much better either. The Uwais ERC submitted its report and recommendations but the government’s White Paper rejected many of the far reaching recommendations. The recommendations if accepted and implemented would have granted INEC latitude to be free of executive control and end electoral manipulation . The reluctance of Yar’Adua to remove the discredited head of INEC – Maurice Iwu has fuelled speculations that Yar’Adua no longer wants any such reforms. Respected commentators like Femi Falana, President of the African Bar Association gave a scathing assessment of the White Paper .

The sum total of all these is a climate of cynicism – a feeling that the administration is weak in policymaking and implementation , focused on destroying functioning institutions and using “rule of law” as a slogan to do nothing, and that the so-called rule of law is observed only in breach. The uncertainties and policy reversals scared portfolio investors who began to divest from the once-most-profitable stock market in Africa – the Nigerian capital market.

According to the Economist Intelligence Unit (See EIU Viewswire, March 18, 2009 – Nigeria: Finance Outlook online at http://portal.eiu.com/ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/index.asp?layout=dis, Accessed on 03/31/2009) , the market fell from a high of 65,000 points in March 2008 to about 21,000 in March 2009 – a loss of two-thirds of market and the worst stock market collapse in the world. And this began well before the global financial crisis hit late in 2008. The macroeconomic stability that Nigeria had enjoyed for almost five years has been dissipated as the Naira lost nearly 30% of its value in 2009 alone . Reserves have declined as the authorities tried to defend the Naira in the currency markets.

It appears that there is still no clear economic strategy. This led one commentator to ask whether the administration cared about the economy. The Planning Minister Dr. Shamsudeen Usman announced in March 2009 that the documents articulating Seven Point Agenda, National Development Plan and Vision 20-2020 which the administration had been talking about since May 2007 will be released in October 2009. One wonders what has guided state policy since May 2007, and what would guide policy from now till October.

RichyBlacK:
As the SA consular officer, I will follow the guideline for visa issuance. if the Dalai Lama, qualifies for a visa, I will issue him one.

As the SA president, I will not interfere with the process, except the consular office (not China) brings it to my attention.

Fair enough. I understand your position.

As the president of the country, will your position change if this decision continues to threatens your trade agreement with China?. For example, right now there is an agreement in place to build a new 1000mw power plant for the country at a very low interest rate or at 0% rate. This is very important to the economy, because it will increase the inflow of FDI and create more job for the people. Also, there is an arrangement in place between China and SA to develop the country's moribund infrastructure that is so crucial to the growth of the country. Right now, this decision is very crucial to moving forward with those laid down agreements.

[quote author=Tayo-D link=topic=253106.msg3648403#msg3648403 date=1238119088]@courage89,

Let me try to set your thinking straight here.
Do you think buying a jet is like walking into a car dealership, picking up the car of your choice, and walking out after writing a cheque? That they are receiving their jets now does not mean they just bought it. They probably placed an order for those jets no less than a year ago and would have put down an irretrievable and hefty downpayment towards the purchase. They would have lost all that money had they refused to take the jets. It is even possible that they would have had to ay the full price even if they refuse to take delivery of it. Did you consider this before jumping to such a conclusion?[/quote]I understand that buying a jet is a different ball game compared to buying a car. First you have to cough up initial deposit of about 30-40% as downpayment in anticipation that these fleets will be ready within the next 2-4 years. But, this proposition is a new development and I don't think it has anything to do with justifying last year's expenditure Downpayment or so. Check this article out.
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=7146474&page=1

[quote author=Tayo-D link=topic=253106.msg3648403#msg3648403 date=1238119088]Forget all that story about people being laid off. Corporations are set up for one purpose and one purpose only, to make money. If those employees could make them more money at this time, they will surely keep them. Why retain employees that become a liabilty rather than an asset? That is the beauty of the free market system. It does not respect your race, religion or sexual orientation. It is guided by one rule only, the desire to turn a profit. No employer will lay you off during this recession or at any time whatsoever if you can prove to that employer that for every dollar he pays you, you will make him a profit of $2. It may sound cold, but that is just the reality of the market place.[/quote]I understand that corporations are established for profit and sometimes not for profit, and how you run both depends on attracting and retaining best talent. We have to understand that financial institutions are service companies that rely solely on asset (people) to execute their day to day activities. Any investment in training, benefits, and corporate responsibilities will yield improved ROI. Any deviation from empowerment investment will have a ripple effect on the company future profitability. Most of these lay offs happened because of order from the above have to be satisfied, and not because employee’s were render useless within their departments. Please understand that because you’re the best in your department doesn’t mean your job is guarantee as well. If JP Morgan’s loyal employees were released partly because the company needs to raise down payment for luxury jets, what kind of signal does this send to the rest of their employee and the environs? It simply means next person could be you. How does this affect the orientation of the current employee, company’s ability to attract and retain best talent going forward? I will end by saying protecting profitability at the detriment of your asset is a misguided priority, and if not carefully checked will threaten the existence of that company.

[quote author=Tayo-D link=topic=253106.msg3648403#msg3648403 date=1238119088]And is retaining employees whose services are not in demand or unaffordable in the market place going to increase revenue by 10-20%? Why don't you have us all get rid of our computers and hire people to do the work that computers would do more efficiently and quicker? The same concept applies here. The jets are business tools required to get the job done. If the enterprenueurs think it does not help them to make money, they will get rid of them quickly. Nothing is more important to them than to make a profit. I expect you'll son tell our President to get rid of his jets and rather give the money to the unemployed![/quote]Retaining employee during economic recession might not yield 10-20% immediately, but what is the NPV of that retained employee out of recession. My understanding of corporate strategy is to device plan that will withstand the brutal force of market / economic downturn, while shaping the future opportunity of the company. Employees that are not productive during recession can be empowered through training to shape the future of the company.

I understand that undertaking corporate jet is part of company strategy; to be more efficient in their dealings, but don’t you think 3 or 4 jets should be enough. JP Morgan currently has more than 3 or 4 fleets, why more? Why now? Is this new investment going to make the company more efficient?


[quote author=Tayo-D link=topic=253106.msg3648403#msg3648403 date=1238119088]A CEO's objective is not to keep an employee around; rather it is to keep the company around. You cannot keep an employee around at the expense of the company. My company recently let about 3 senior managers go because their goals and vision was considered detrimental to the company. Our President took a decision he considered in the best interest of the company. His job is to look at numbers and make intelligent decisions free of his emotions. It aint easy, but that is what he is paid to do. This is comparable to a President signing the death sentence for a citizen who's actions is considerd a threat to the well being of the country.

A free market place by definition is not guided by social considerations, even though the society benefits from its success. People who tampered with the free market place are largely responsible for the current mess we are in. When the corporate world is muzzled by the govt to give out loans to people who can't afford them in order to alleviate a perceived social injustice, you end up with a subprime mortgage which is at the root of the global meltdown. The poor and disadvantage you now claim to protect are the same people who will bear the brunt of the wahala. Talk about the law of unintended consequences![/quote]CEO’s has a fiduciary obligation to both shareholders and employees. They have to be able to make informed decision, taking into consideration current situation analysis. Companies cannot just explore one way option by attributing lay off to cost cutting. Other options can be explore to enhance their informed decision. They can dialogue with these people; come to some form of concession to restructure their pay in anticipation that changes will be made when the economy improves. I’m pretty sure employee will prefer and agree to 25-40 % reduction in pay rather than loose their job. But I understand that most corporate CEO will not want to take that route because that threatening their fat paycheck as well.

@ RichyBlack,

If you are in power to make that decision, what would you have done?

If Pat Utomi is going to run again

He's my pick

[quote author=Tayo-D link=topic=253106.msg3641548#msg3641548 date=1237997711]@courage89,

How does a businees tool equal corporate greed?[/quote]I equate buying corporate Jet to greed because it is done at the detriment of their laid off employee. My understanding is that these banks currently possess more than 4 fleets each that takes care of their daily business activities, so why buy more at this time. How many more fleet do you need to service your business, when you're not in the airline business. Do you guys know how many people has been laid off from Bear sterns (JP Morgan) and Citibank combined all in the name of cutting cost. Most of these laid off employee are loyal employee that have been with company for more than 20 years. They have mortgages, kids that they support, they have life that depend on the expected corporate income. Imagine if you or your family member have been with a company for more than 20 years, you've build your whole life around the company. Your boss called you into the office, told you they have to let you go because market crisis is affetcing their daily business and they need to cut cost. Four weeks later, you find out that the bank is using part of that proceeds from cost cutting activity as a down payment on a luxury Jet. How would you feel?

Also, we all know how much these companies received under TARP money. The purpose of TARP money is to fund revival of the economy. To increase liquidity within the business industry and consumer spending. These funds was and is to be utilized judiciously to bring laid off employee back to work. Most of these financial institution pushed for TARP money on the premise that Mortgage crisis, CDS, ABS and all other securitization are having their toll on their general asset. How is buying luxury corporate jet going to change this? Is buying a corporate jet going to increase revenue by 10-20%?

I am of the opinion that corporate mogul have specific responsibilities they have to attend to especially when they are receiving Tax Payers money to do business. They have to make sure they stand by and retain their loyal employee especially when these employee needed it the most and when they (corporate) have means for it. I don't work financial institutions, nor do i have family members that work for them. But, we hear stories everyday of how people loose their lifes, homes, families over this corporate lay offs. My yearning is not about corporate bodies buying luxury jet, but corporate body doing more to embrace their social responsibilities.

Kobojunkie:
Depends on how you structure it? So you are, in some way, admitting that trash would not easily fly with a competent company then? By the way, I am curious, how would you structure it?

Corporate body need a charismatic and aggressive thinker who's ideas, innovation, long-range thinking will set the strategic planning and guidance for the company including finalizing and documenting their 10 - 20 years strategic goals.

The Resume can be structured towards achieving that objective.

Kobojunkie:
Can you put that same sort of bull(excuse the term) you have in your post on Tinubu, say, your resume and expect to be hired for any job in any reputable and serious company? Do you think that any company that applies public funds would hire you if you were to present yourself to them as a candidate the same way you presented Tinubu in your write up above?

Why not, depend on how you structure it.

Kobojunkie:
Roflmao!! This has to be the funniest post on here !! roflmao!!

why is that?

Some people are very good at visualizing; they can generate idea easily based on theory and long range thinking while their idea foster on the future and the future alone but have problem with proper planning and implementation. Fashola and Tinubu are of different personality.

Tinubu personal characters foster high on Intuition style, he can forsee what is going to happen in the nearest future accorded with high emphasis on ideas, innovation, concepts but fall short in the process of proper strategy and implementation because he keeps probing, challenging and re-examining his ideas and innovation. People like Tinubu derives their inspiration from the word of possibilities, problem - solving oriented but not terribly interested with in implementing solutions.  

Fashola on the other hand has personality that falls pretty high on the Thinker style. He derives his power based on his ability to reason logically, systematically while questioning everything that deserved attention. They weigh every possibility logically and carefully with proper process strategy and implementation goal in mind. People like Fashola relies on observation and rational principle while avoiding emotionalism and speculation.

They both need to work together, combine resources in order to achieve the level of transformation that continue to drive Lagos State today. They both deserves all the accollades together, because without Tinubu, Fashola will never come to light . Without the vision in place, their will be nothing to fine tune and embark on.