₦airaland Forum

“I have at least one million naira in my bank, having paid N5.5 million to pick my form from my party. I have around 150 cattle because I am never comfortable without cows. I have a house each in Kaduna, Kano, Daura, and one in Abuja, which I borrowed money to build. I never had a foreign account since I finished my courses in the USA, India and the UK. I never owned any property outside Nigeria. Never.”
- General Buhari, CPC Presidential Aspirant.

“General Muhammadu Buhari as a member of the Supreme Military Council and as Head of NNPC was by nature taciturn and introvert. But he took any work that was given to him very seriously. He is reliable as he is hardworking and honest, his path of moral probity and rectitude” Incorruptible
- President Olusegun Obasanjo, in his book, "Not My Will".


“ He was without doubt, one of the best officers we have ever had,  Colleagues regard him as highly dependable and taken by his words by his mates, seniors and juniors,  I have no doubt about his ability to instill discipline.”
-General Shehu when Buhari became Head of State.


“ I respect Buhari.He was my Boss .He was an honourable man. And I can say this anywhere”.
-General Ibrahim Babagida

“Murtala and Buhari are great leaders”.
-Nuhu Ribadu Chairman EFCC (Obansajo's Anti-Corruption Chief) - Daily Trust 27th Feb. 2007.

“Buhari is a forthright and very clearly a disciplined man. He has managed to cut the image of a person who abhors corruption genuinely. If Buhari does not want to make a promise, he is the kind of person that will say so. Buhari is likely to pay attention to the problems of the country, unlike Obasanjo who floats in the air and most of the time plays to the gallery ”.
- Vanguard Editorial. 23rd January 2003.


“Buhari has three qualities namely INTERGRITY, which even his worst enemies can't fault; he is CONSISTENT, he does not say one thing in the morning and another at night, and he is COMMITTED to implementing the restructuring of the country. Anyone with these qualities deserves the support of Nigerians ”.
-Chief Olu Falae-This Day Newspaper, 23rd March 2007.

“Buhari stands out to be the most DEDICATED and PATRIOTIC leader. We want the President who would confront both the foreign and local enemies of democracy ”.
- Femi Falana (Lawyer/Human Rights Activist) -Tribune Newspapers 24th March 2007.

“Buhari was a soldier of HONOUR. There are soldiers and there are soldiers. There are soldiers who are men of honor. The man (Buhari) has decided to commit 26% of budgetary allocation to education ”.
- Femi Falana- The New 28th March 2007.


General Buhari rose from the rank of a lieutenant in the army to a general. At one time, he was a GOC. He was later appointed Military Administrator of the old North-East. He was in the Petroleum Ministry as minister. In December 1983 he became Head of State via a coup.During late General Sani Abacha’s regime, he headed the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) before former President Obasanjo scrapped it. But I read in the papers where the General himself said after obtaining his CPC presidential form, which cost him over N5 Million, he is now left with less than a million naira in his account. Now my task is to challenge all of us to ensure this man becomes President this year. General Buhari deserves to be given a chance.When he became Head of State after the 1983 coup, thousands of Second Republic politicians, including me were picked and locked up by the Junta. But even in kirikiri, I discovered that the NPN elements among us were giving bribe to prison officials to ensure they got double ration of food. It dawned on me that people who can offer bribes even in kirikiri have no reason to be our leaders. Buhari was vindicated.
-Balarebe Musa – Punch January 21,2011

Buhari is as clean as the book I am holding.
-Alhaji Isiaku Ibrahim, a Member of PDP Board of Trustees @ a Book launch in Kaduna

Buhari was borrowing money from me when he was a sitting head of state.
This continued even while he was at the PTF.Tired of loaning money to him, i snapped at him ‘Please, you are sitting on billions, why can’t you steal some money instead of begging me, a contractor that earns his money through hard labour, to loan you money all the time?’
-M.T. Waziri narrated how Buhari was borrowing money from him even when he (Buhari) was a sitting head of state.

This thread is simply wonderful. I have heard before now of the pharoahs of egypt being black, but ive never come across any thorough information on this. I suggest that the moderator should put this on the front page permanently to educate our brothers and sisters on our origins.

The Saraki dynasty has done more harm than good in Kwara State. Im from Offa in Kwara State and just returned to Abuja from Ilroin the state capital after the Christmas and new year breaks. The movement of "Baba Oloye" from the PDP to the ACPN finally reveals the break between the govenor Bukola and his father which has been rumored for quite sometime.

The Ilorin people who have always backed Saraki don't want his daughter Gbemi as the next governor, they say its against Islamic Injunction. Bukola also is against the choice of his half sister by his dad. Hence, a lot of candidates have come up to fight the the choice of Gbemi by the dad. examples are Bio, the former sports minister, and Prof Oba, former Unilorin VS and Federal Character Commission DG, he is better remembered as the man who sacked the 49 unilorin lecturers who were recently reinstated by the supreme court.

This presents an interesting scenario to watch in Kwara State politics

Quote from: crispgg on October 06, 2010, 10:05 AM
I studied Electrical Engineering, after serving in an oil and gas company I worked with them as a contract staff for one and a half years. My contract expired and I stayed at home for six months and finally got a job in a bank. I worked in the bank for five years and struggled throughout that time to get back into my field.
I lost my banking job, thanks to Sanusi last year october and have been floating since then. I dont want banking again and I really want to go back to engineering that I have always loved, my biggest challenge right now is getting an engineering job after five years away from the field.


It's defeatist to say Sanusi is responsible for your lot.

Horayce,
Im suprised that out of all I wrote, its my referral to Sanusi that makes any sense to you. Please if you dont have anything to contribute to this topic, kindly move on.

The joint examination of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigeria Insurance Corporation (NDIC) on microfinance banks recommended the revocation of the licenses of just 47 banks.




On September 24, the CBN revoked the licenses of 224 microfinance banks but two weeks later returned the licenses of 36 of the banks. Vanguard investigation, however, reveals that 47 MFB’s were actually pencilled down for the revocation of their licenses while 174 were recommended to be directed to recapitalise.




It was gathered that some highly placed officials in the regulatory body however insisted that the number of MFBs recommended for revocation was too small given the extent of rot in the sub-sector.




They argued that there is need to hit the sub-sector hard so as to send a strong signal to the remaining ones. A top official in one of the regulatory bodies, who pleaded anonymity, confirmed this to Vanguard. “47 MFB’s were initially supposed to be closed while 174 were to be asked to recapitalise, but the powers-that-be demanded that they be hit hard.”




Speaking further, the official said beyond this, “Some were erroneously included while some had injected capital between the time of the target examination and the closure. But some capital injected by the MFBs was not brought to our notice while some were not taken cognizance of by us”.




Last week, Vanguard exclusively reported that the CBN has returned the licenses of about 33 of the 224 MFBs whose licenses were revoked. Vanguard investigations revealed that as at last week, the apex bank had returned 36 licences and might return more licenses.




Below is the list of the MFBs:

1. Adaigbo MFB

2. Akwengwu MFB

3. Broadbase MFB

4. Broadview MFB

5. Citigate MFB

6. Coastline MFB

7. Credit Express MFB

8. Daniels Global MFB

9. Eagle Flight MFB

10. E – Barclays MFB

11. Equator MFB

12. EWT MFB

13. Express MFB

14. FUTO MFB

15. Golden Choice MFB

16. I.C Global MFB

17. IMSU MFB

18. JHN MFB

19. Kogi MFB

20. Land Gold MFB

21. Lift MFB

22. Mayfield MFB

23. Multivest MFB

24. Neighbourhood MFB

25. New Age MFB

26. New Life MFB

27. Nsu MFB

28. Nsukka MFB

29. Odu MFB

30. Olive MFB

31. Parallex MFB

32. Prosperity MFB

33. Riggs MFB

34. Traders MFB

35. Nkpolu UST MFB

36. Nakowa MFB

I studied Electrical Engineering, after serving in an oil and gas company I worked with them as a contract staff for one and a half years. My contract expired and I stayed at home for six months and finally got a job in a bank. I worked in the bank for five years and struggled throughout that time to get back into my field.
I lost my banking job, thanks to Sanusi last year october and have been floating since then. I dont want banking again and I really want to go back to engineering that I have always loved, my biggest challenge right now is getting an engineering job after five years away from the field.

Facebook: IBB Blocked My Comments
Posted: September 24, 2010 - 18:25
Posted by siteadmin
By Tony Madekwe
Few weeks ago, I came across the facebook page of the gap toothed General of evil Ibrahim Babaginda.

Immediately,I joined the page, and I said to myself alas I’ve seen a golden opportunity to tell that evil personified fellow what I think about him and his candidature. The first thing of note when I joined was that the number of people on the proverbial market goats page where a little above 900,and I said to myself was this not an indicator to the fact that Nigerians especially the youth’s don’t need this cheat in power.

Wasn’t it obvious that Nigerians weren’t interested in whatever this deceptive and criminally crafty fellow had to offer. Then I browsed through the page and read comments of different people. I saw a whole lot of gullible people IBB had succeeded in making his disciples of doom. I saw ignorant people. I saw old fools suffering from deliberate amnesia. I saw desperate sycophants, misguided praise singers, agents of doom-people who tried to re-write history. I saw those with very volatile memory. So I joined the discussions. I stood up against as much comments that seemed to tell us that the devil was now a good man and those who said we should allow the leopard a 2nd chance because he has change his spots. I criticized comments that were made from the depth of psychophancy,educated those made from the reservoir of ignorance. I enlightened those who knew next to nothing about the product called IBB.

I told them how so bad the product called IBB is that even the best marketing hands, media experts and praise singer guru’s would fail. He is a product only fit for the dustbin of history. My comments were brimming with so much rage that a certain man of reasons liked one of my comments and told me to take it easy. In my reply, I told him I wasn’t going to take it easy, telling him that good men would no longer pay the price of keeping quiet for bad men like IBB to rule. Low and behold, the following day, I logged on to my facebook page, navigated to IBB’s page and I discovered I could not comment. All my previous comments were gone.


IBB had blocked them. This to me meant that the so called general is indeed so lily livered. He cannot stand criticism. He is an empty fellow. He can not exist outside power.

http://www.saharareporters.com/letter/facebook-ibb-blocked-my-comments

The Honourable Attorney-General & Minister Of Justice Attorney-General’s Chambers Federal Ministry Of Justice, Abuja.

Dear Sir: 1. About two and a half years ago, Dr. Bukola Saraki requested that we merge Societe Generale with Intercontinental Bank (IB) Plc.

We conducted a due diligence exercise and noticed N30bn negative capital – so the board of IB Plc turned it down. Dr. Saraki was very unhappy.

2. When time came for the renewal of Gov. Soludo’s appointment as CBN Governor, Dr. Saraki blocked it with late President Yar’Adua and brought him Lamido Sanusi. Being my customer, Dr. Saraki confirmed this personally to me.

3. Lamido Sanusi was appointed CBN Gov. on 4th June, 2009, and on the 18th June, - after just two weeks in office – he sent CBN examiners to five banks including IB Plc. This was quite unusual, as the CBN had just completed a comprehensive examination of IB Plc as part of normal protocol. The result of this was good.

4. The new examination finished in mid-July, and we were expecting their report. Suddenly, they returned claiming that several accounts, which they had verified and agreed with us as “performing”, were now reclassified “non-performing”.

5. Despite these manipulations, IB Plc’s ratios were alright. Unusually, the CBN examiners returned on four separate visits to reclassify even more accounts as “non-performing”. These even included what we regarded as our best accounts.

6. This prompted me to ask some of the examiners what was really going on. They confided that the new Governor was bent on removing certain bank CEOs, and wanted to show that IB Plc was too exposed to bad loans. They said he formed a team in CBN reporting to him directly. Each completed examination report was turned down if it was not damning enough and they were ordered to go back until they achieved certain ratios.

7. One of the examiners showed me a report on IB Plc, which was favourable. This has been rejected by the CBN Governor, as it did not justify or warrant my removal.

8. Quite disturbed by this development, I decided to speak to Dr. Bukola Saraki, since he recommended Malam Lamido Sanusi’s appointment. He told me that the CBN Governor was unhappy with myself and Mrs. Ibru (of Oceanic Bank) because according to him, we had contributed N6bn to the Senate to block Lamido

Sanusi’s confirmation as CBN Governor. I refuted this allegation telling Dr. Saraki that my religion would never allow me to do such a thing, as no human can undo what God has ordered in Heaven.

9. I immediately booked an appointment to see Lamido Sanusi in the CBN and questioned him regarding the N6bn Senate bribery allegation. He said he had put that behind him, as “not all king makers in council will support the choice of a new Emir”. I once again reiterated my innocence, based on my religion, that the God I serve will never permit me to try to block someone else’s good fortune.

10. Later, I mentioned to Alhaji Aliko Dangote the strange repeated CBN examinations and the allegation by Lamido Sanusi. He promised to speak to him and ask him about the matter.

11. Surprisingly, Alhaji Dangote returned to say Lamido Sanusi revealed that he was told of the alleged bribe by Dr. Saraki, and that I even lobbied him to be the CBN Governor.

12. Apparently, it was Dr. Bukola Saraki inciting Sanusi against me, as a way of removing me and taking over IB Plc.

13. It has now become evident that both Dr. Saraki & Malam Sanusi used the opportunity of the worldwide financial crisis of 2008- 2009 to jump into certain banking institutions and take them over. The crisis had been acknowledged and was being well managed by Professor Chukwuma Soludo, the former CBN Governor.

The ENTIRE industry was affected, as others worldwide.

The Nigerian economy was hit by four economic catastrophe namely:

a. The oil price drop from $147 per barrel to $30. All oil importers refused to sell in a hurry at this new low price, so banks had to give them time for the price to improve.

b. The worldwide stock market collapsed and this led all foreign investors in the Nigerian stock exchange to hurriedly sell their shares. This further depreciated the Nigerian stock exchange index, also having an adverse effect on the banking industry.

c. The CBN, in response to crashing oil price, devalued the Naira by 40%. This meant importers with unsettled bills had to source more Naira to buy Dollar, and thus, put a strain on bank customers and the loan portfolio of the banks.

d. The sudden devaluation of the Naira by 40% caused a panic among overseas banks that had dollar placements with Nigerian banks. They immediately gave notice and withdrew their funds. IB Plc lost $1.2bn in this way.

Rather than the new CBN Governor to perform the role of ‘lender of last resort’, he used the crisis to take over banks for his mentor.

All these banks had prominent Nigerians waiting to buy them at “knock-down” or give-away” prices. However, the media altered the equation.

14. On the 14th of August 2009, without any discussion, Malam Sanusi issued me a letter of removal as CEO of IB Plc. He also removed all executive directors of the bank with armed police men.

15. The letter (copy attached), said that based on the examination he ordered on the 18th June, 2009, it is in the public interest for the CBN to intervene by taking over the bank.

16. Till today, no report of the examination has been made available to me, the management, or the Board of the bank. We had no opportunity to learn how the CBN came to its decision, nor were given an opportunity to respond to the examination report, as is the usual process.

17. My removal by Malam Sanusi was done in flagrant disregard of the legal provisions regarding the removal of bank directors (i.e. Section 35 of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act, Cap. B4 Laws of the Federation, 2004) as there was no lawful special examination ordered into the affairs of Intercontinental Bank Plc, as required by law. Since no order for special examination of the bank’s affairs was signed by Malam Sanusi, as required of him by the law of this country, his order for my removal is, improper and unlawful.

18. The current CBN examination of May 2010, now says there is a N95bn loan over-provision, which means IB Plc was deliberately marked down previously.


19. Two lorry loads of police were sent to IB Plc to remove me. It was like a bad movie, a big surprise that a person can be driven away from a business he had started and nurtured for over 21 years in one hour. And without any opportunity to contest it.

20. I was surprised that the next morning (Saturday), all the papers carried personal interviews with Malam Sanusi, in which he accused all the CEOs of various misdeeds. This showed that it was pre-planned and well-rehearsed.

21. On the evening of 19th August, I received a call that Malam Sanusi under the powers that the late President had delegated to him, had ordered the EFCC, the Police and the SSS to arrest me. I also learned that two lorry loads of personnel were en route. I hurriedly left the house, though I could not believe that all this had transpired in the last 72 hours.

22. I then recalled a professional disagreement with Malam Sanusi while he was CEO of First Bank. Back then, I had discovered that his staff members were de-marketing IB Plc and I wrote to him concerning this. .

23. My immediate conclusion was that Dr. Saraki and Malam Sanusi wanted to take over IB Plc by fraudulent means, and that if I went into their custody, it could result in my death, in order to silence any opposition to their plans.

24. Mr. Mahmoud Lai Alabi was appointed by the CBN as the new CEO of IB Plc. Mr. Alabi is an employee of Dr. Saraki as chairman of Songa Farms and several development funds in the state. On resuming, his first task was to write off Dr. Saraki’s loans to the tune of N8.115bn (Papers & letters attached). He also wrote off loans totaling N32bn to friends of Dr. Saraki and Malam Sanusi.

All this, in a bank that they were meant to be rescuing. All these written-off loans had been classified as “good” and “performing” by the CBN examiners, and had been secured with properties in Ikoyi (Lagos), Victoria Island (Lagos), and Abuja. The

CBN examination report of May 2010 complained about this massive loan or “cash gift” to Dr. Saraki. Next, he recruited former Societe Generale staff as Executive Directors and loan managers (for example, Mr. Gbenga Alade). Mr. Alabi proceeded to sack the entire senior management of IB Plc and replaced them with former Societe Generale staff. It is clear, from these actions, that I was removed to smoothen the takeover of IB Plc for Dr. Saraki.

25. As at the time the shareholders’ appointed management was ousted by Malam Lamido Sanusi, IB Plc was not owing the CBN one kobo on the discount window. Also, IB Plc had Inter-Bank takings of N73 Billion. However, as at today under the CBN’s appointed management, IB Plc is now owing the CBN N100 Billion and owing other Banks N300 Billion, making a total deficit of N400 Billion after the purported intervention by the CBN.

26. It is rather curious that:

a. All the banks are yet to receive any examination report from the CBN to show areas of deficiencies.

b. The CEO and entire senior management were removed without the Board or shareholders being informed.

c. Without any criminal charges or reports, the CEOs were arrested and locked up – to prevent them from speaking to the media.

d. It was after locking them up that the EFCC started searching for possible offences (in my case, it took 4 months of searching for any offence to pin on me).

e. Mr. Alabi, the new CEO of Intercontinental Bank Plc, is an employee of Dr. Saraki (chairman of Songa Farms in Kwara). In fact, Dr. Saraki is running IB Plc by proxy.

f. Within two months of his appointment, Mr. Alabi wrote off N7bn of Dr. Saraki’s loans – the companies are Linkers, Dicetrade, Skyview Properties, and Joy Petroleum.

g. As the appointment of each senior management of IB Plc was being terminated, Mr. Alabi was recruiting and replacing them with former Societe Generale staff, in order to complete the take-over. For instance, the Executive Director of risk management brought into IB Plc (Mr. Gbenga Alade) is a former Societe Generale staff member.

h. Dr. Saraki has now used his political power to take over IB Plc after his failed peaceful merger attempts.

i. Malam Sanusi claims to have injected N100bn, (which is less that 10% of the IB Plc’s value), and as such now owns it 100%. This is a bank with a balance sheet of N1.6 trillion; 330 branches; 2 foreign subsidiaries; 10 well-established subsidiaries; 12,000 members of staff; and paidup capital of N230 billion. Where is the justice?

j. When Malam Sanusi initially injected N100bn into IB Plc, he wrote to the Board that it was a seven-year loan (copy attached). Why is he now trying desperately to sell the bank within a year of the loan?

27. I am appealing to the Attorney General and Minister of Justice to institute an independent investigation into the “so-called” banking reform of Malam Sanusi and the fraudulent N32 billion loan write-off.

28. I am also appealing to this government which believes in the rule of law to reverse the fraudulent take-over of Intercontinental

Bank Plc and return it to its Board, management and shareholders.

29. All the allegations against the banks’ CEOs should be independently investigated by the Attorney General’s office for fairness.

30. Even with the deliberate damage being done to the banks and their stock prices on a daily basis, if we are given six to nine months, the banks will be restructured to the normal, favourable and fair positions.

signed

ERASTUS B. O. AKINGBOLA

I feel Chidinma deserves to win. All the same I am still disappointed with the general standard of singing competitions in Nigeria. We really dont have very good singers, throughout the competition I heard the competitors voice going all over the place, and when I expect the judges to point out their obvious mistakes, all they do is tell them that their voices have made angels cry. Choice of songs was also very poor. Their are thousands of mega hits out there that will challenge any singer and bring out the really good ones, yet all they sing are songs sang by artistes who cant go beyond a single octave.

I was suprised that Yetunde even won anything. She sang her composed track again and her voice was very pitchy yet she went home with N1m. Finally the mode of calling the winner was very flawed, why didnt they drop the last two guys who didnt win anything earlier during the final show and leave the last four standing. Instead they left two guys who didnt win a dime with the 1st prize winner. Guess we still have a lot to learn in Nigeria sha.

Kingdude,

I graduated with a 2.2. in electrical engineering and tried to go for a masters in canada too.

Take this from me and dont let any body trick you. Canadian universities take only 2.1 for masters, you'll have to do a postgraduate diploma first. but the good thing about canada ia you might even get a job before you finish your PGD and forget about doing the masters, also the school wants you to apply directly, agents can only help with undergraduate applications. the good and reputable agents will tell you that. When you need agents is for your visa application cos canadian high commission deny most visa applications. the only nigerian agent i can recommend is maple education , search for their website on google,

best of luck

Thanks so much ant 01. Your reply does help clear the air for me. The main reason for my concern about the Indian SAP academy was because of the perceived difficulty in hearing Indians clearly when they speak english. Since you didnt mention anything about any problems understanding what was being taught, I will assume that there is no issue in that area.

all your questions as to where you fit in have been gladly answered i this thread, pls take some time and read all the pages, good luck!

Nothing has been mentioned in the thread before now about the quality of the academy programmes.

Hi Markos,

Thanks for your reply. I do see the reason in your opinion.

But if you are familiar with the Nigerian job market you will be aware that the banking industry employs people from all educational backgrounds. I have friends who studied courses from anatomy, food and nutrition, law, engineering working in all the banks in Nigeria. While I am not saying that is the way it is supposed to be, that is how the Nigerian economy has turned out to be.

After graduating, and facing the frustration of looking for a job in your field unsuccessfully for years, I am sure you would take the first opportunity that comes your way, moreover, the banking industry was employing massively around that time so that how myself and a lot of other people ended up in banking.

Before I became a banker, I had a strong flair for IT. I am done with banking now and since I cant possibly go back directly to engineering or IT since I dont have the requisite experience. I see SAP as a viable option for me to develop a career in and grow from scratch.

I am aware that you don't get the certification and start making $1000/day just like that, my findings reveal to me that its even difficult getting your first SAP job after certification. The SAP guy even told me he had to work for free for months on end, another SAP consultant told me he worked for peanuts for over a year before he got a good job.

I would still appreciate your advise on the module to go for and the quality of education at the dubai SAP academy.

Hi all,

I am very interested in SAP certification.

I need advice on which area to do, I am currently considering FICO, MM & HR. I was lucky to meet a Nigerian who is a SAP consultant who advised me that these are the hot modules. I would have preferred the FICO module but I dont have any backkground in accounting. I have a degree in Electrical Engineering and have worked in a bank for almost five years. I would like to know from those who know if this wont pose a big problem to me.

I was planning to do my academy programme in India where it is much cheaper but the SAP consultant I met advised me against that and instead recommended South Africa. SA is over half a million naira more expensive than India, so I am now looking at Dubai where the programme costs a little over a million. Kindly advise if Dubai will be OK.

Hi Briz,

Im in Abuja too and interested in getting into SAP, email me on crispgg@gmail.com so we can meet up and share ideas.

Hi all ,

I studied Electrical engineering and graduated in 2001. I have been a banker since 2005 and just left the banking industry late last year due to the downsizing in the industry. I have decided to go back to my first love (engineering) but I dont know how to break back in considering the fact that I have been out of the field for some considerable time now,

Can anyone please advise me on what to do?