₦airaland Forum

This is not rocket science, OBJ laid down this template more than 10years ago with his unholy dalliances into Bayelsa, Oyo and Ekiti local politics. Infact in Bayelsa, GEJ was a close observer, so it baffles me why he is missing the plot in the Rivers affair and making the whole thing a messy and long drawn out war of attrition.

In a developing political system, anything goes by way of political shenanigans so the man who controls coercive force (The president, A Governor, a Police/Army chief) can almost get away with anything even with public outcry.

Ten years ago, it was much easier for an OBJ presidency to run riot round the country, from the plateau to the delta sacking entire state assemblies and inaugurating new ones, deposing Governors at will and installing his side kicks as satraps.

Now though, it is more difficult to operate with such Olympian detachment and many years down the line, it will get even tougher. This tendency will diminish because people power will increase, social media will mushroom, freedom of information will solidify and the mass media will proliferate.

For now though, our political system is still evolving and is still in a constant state of flux so the man on whose table the buck stops can always bend a few rules. And OBJ let us know this- that you don’t need much to impeach a sitting Governor in present day Nigeria.

All a C-in-C needs is to sort out three little issues from Abuja, the Federal Capital:
· Federal Funds (a cargo sale of crude will take care of bills)
· Federal Might (preferably EFCC as almost all Governors always dip their hands in the public till)
· And a Federally promoted local lynchpin (in the case of Oyo in the OBJ days- Baba Adedibu).

Impeaching a Governor is easy except that Govenor has no skeletons to hide in his cupboard which in present day Nigeria is almost impossible. A sitting President who wants to impeach a recalcitrant Governor for whatever reason must look at the Governor’s dealings while in office. If he scratches hard enough, he will always uncover something shady- a contract improperly awarded, diverted monies, graft etc.

Once the EFCC uncovers this, then Federal might can now deployed with officials of the anti graft agency put at the ready. OBJ thought out this strategy and in achieving similar aims, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel.

When the stage is set, the anti graft operators just move in, and start arresting selected key corrupt sidekicks of the Governor who have a case to answer. The Accountant General, the Commissioner of finance, custodians of extra budgetary accounts, managers of foreign aid, the Speaker and a few other key lieutenants of the Governor.

In the Rivers case, EFCC wasn’t involved and this took a lot of steam off the heat Amaechi was facing. It is apparent that Amaechi’s hands cannot be clean but the powers that be didn’t deem it necessary to stick the EFCC on his tail. This is the only way they could have destroyed his credibility, cast aspersions on his integrity and swayed public opinion- he is a thief that is why we want to remove him. How can you want to remove some one on the allegations of arrogance? or dictatorialship?

When the anti graft operatives move in and cause tension within the political rank and file- the Governor’s lieutenants scared and living in perpetual fear of arrest, a federally sponsored local lynchpin moves in. And he comes backed with federal funds. In the Rivers case, this federal lynchpin was Nyesom Wike, but in Wike, forces against Amaechi made another fatal miscalculation.

Wike is garrulous and zealous and he doesn’t yet have the political clout to battle Amaechi. He was Chairman of a LGA while Amaechi was Speaker, but in the intervening six years since, Amaechi has pulled well clear ahead of him in terms of tentacles and appeal.

GEJ should have used a much stronger politician- someone in the mould of Peter Odili. In politics, an enemy of an enemy is a friend, so GEJ should have capitalized on this maxim. Amaechi by his own admission has implied Odili ganged up against him in 2007 and he (Amaechi) defeated him, same thing happened again in 2011, so we can all agree that Odili and Amaechi don’t see eye ball to eye ball.

So even if Odili has lost the party structures, propped by Abuja with a deep war chest, he would have been able to convince more than the 5 lawmakers Wike has to jump ship. Coercion from EFCC, promises from a ‘strong man’ like Odili and funds from the centre would have turned more than half of the legislature against Amaechi.

This wouldn’t have impeached Amaechi but the other half seeing that Amaechi would soon go under would have ditched him and Amaechi would since have become history.

The most important thing in impeaching a Governor is the local arrowhead- the man must be strong and influential and not a political neophyte. Say for example, I am GEJ and want to impeach Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido, the first person I would talk to would be Saminu Turaki, a man who once controlled the Assembly.

In Nassarawa, if the Presidency wants to impeach Al Makura, all they need do is get Abdullahi Adamu on their team- he would be the one to start discussions with members of the assembly- he would be the conduit of funds to members. A Labaran Maku may not cut it, neither would a Sodangi.

The moral is- always look for the most formidable person with an axe to grind with a sitting Governor if you want to go the impeachment route. He must be strong and influential to convince others to dump a Governor else all the funds you bring will amount to naught.

But if you get this wheeler dealer and he comes with plenty of money from the Excess crude Account and with EFCC on the tail of the Governor, an impeachment can’t go wrong, and needn’t take long.

OBJ, the king of subterfuge taught us this from a script taken straight from the 48 laws of Power.


http://myabujachronicles.com/how-to-impeach-a-sitting-governor-from-abuja/

yea it is. those who take taxis actually even spend more money than those who have cars

So, Araba (the Abuja equivalent of the Lagos danfo) has been phased out and high capacity buses now ply the roads to the city centre from the suburbs in a drive by Bala to clean up the city.

Next to go most likely are the green taxis or so we hear. Earlier in the year, I took a taxi from the Fed secretariat to Maitama and while riding, the cabbie wouldn’t stop moaning. He told me he may soon pack up and go back to his village, that they have been given a deadline of Oct 1 this year when they are supposed to either leave the business or get one of the air conditioned new taxis for almost N3m.

fct-taxi-cabs

Abuja taxis

He was almost crying wondering how he would be able to afford a 30% down payment of about 1m for the taxi with repayment obligations of almost 50k per week when all he made in a day atimes was 4 or 5k or about 35k a week at an average of 250-300naira a drop.

Well, I sympathized with him and told him it may not happen soon but it seems that was scant consolation for the cabbie. What could I do?

That cabbie’s fears were giving life on Saturday when the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) gave out 52 SURE-P brand new taxis to members of the Self Employed Commercial Drivers Association of Abuja (SECDAA). The administration had last month given out seven, which brings the total number to 59. I gathered that each of the vehicles cost N2.6 million in which the beneficiaries are supposed to pay back within three years.

SECDAA National President, Chief Kenneth U. Ezeh, said each beneficiary in their association is supposed to make weekly payments which will total N67,000. He enjoined beneficiaries to ensure that they use the vehicles to carry passengers within Abuja and its environs, adding that the FCTA has warned that it is an offence for anyone to violate the terms of agreement.

Now, 67k a week translates to about 95hundred a day- thats almost 10k a day. For a taxi driver who subscribes into this scheme to make it, he must carry 30 people everyday for an average of 300 naira to have the FCTA’s money after which he will now start working for himself (on any particular day).

If he spends 3k daily on fuel, the next 10passengers will be fuel money, so he will make his first buck for himself when he picks up his 41st passenger. In this our Abuja? I laugh. Such drivers will pray they get passengers who will pay 3k or 5k for a dash to the airport or those whiteys who can drop a $50 bill for a cab ride from the ICC to the Hilton.

Anything asides this, taxi fares will surely rise from the normal N250-300 for short distances to about 500-700 for same distances in these new cabs. Long hauls that attracted about N700 to 1k fares will now jump to anything from 1k5 or 2k. Well, I will leave the calculations to the taxi drivers as this move is a sure prelude to the phasing out of the green cabs that now litter the city. hm15gsrfea_taxis2

Given the apathy the current crop of taxi drivers are showing to this scheme, how the new cabs effectively replace the 30,000 plus taxis that now offer ‘luxury’ transportation for Abuja’s elite remains to be seen.


http://myabujachronicles.com/abujas-new-cab-regime/

brokers of clout

We keep complaining about Nigerian girls- they love money, they are promiscuous, they don’t love, all they care about is material things.

So I started wondering- is this true? And if it is, are these girls any different from other girls of other nationalities? Especially those who are blacks?

I am not here to argue whether Nigerian girls are promiscuous or not or whether they love money or not- what I wish to say here is that this attitude is universal, it is not common to only Nigerian girls- they are no different from girls from other nationalities who are also blacks.

And if you compare, Nigerian girls are even better. Atleast, no matter what they do, they show some restraint or have some shame- they know they cant do anyhow or behave anyhow, no matter how far away they are from home.

Even in Africa here, can you compare Nigerian girls to other fellow African girls from Zaire, Central Africa or Congo? Where they routinely churn out Mapouka videos? With their faces and punnies showing without a care in the world?

Ghanaian girls like money just as much as Nigerian girls and those south African girls are no different either. Look at what those girls are doing in the UK- Nigerian girls will even take lessons from them.

Now, what of Nigerian girls compared other black girls of other nationalities- say those Akata girls, African American girls.

Can you sincerely compare what those girls do in America to the Child’s play Nigerian girls involve in? The Runz girls here have their own equivalent over there- those who will only date for money- you meet them in the malls and clubs, they walk the streets, you find them on Facebook and you know them via their updates and status messages.

And if you take raw percentages, in relation to their total population, you will get to know that they are just as much if not even more than their Nigerian counterparts here.

Prostitutes? There, they call themselves escorts- go to backpage, craiglist, reddit, twitter etc they are as many by proportion, if not even more than the girls that throng the streets of Abuja, Lagos and Port Harcourt. Almost half the African American population of women in America is involved in some form of prostitution or the other. They call themselves models, glamor models, adult models, cam girls, eye candies, hip hop starlets etc.

Strippers? There are only a handful of strip clubs in the whole of Nigeria- the wall streets, club Uniques, etc etc that dot Opebi, Allen, Lekki in LAgos, Port Harcourt, Owerri and Abuja.

In America, strip clubs are at every street corner and these akata girls populate the likes Magic City in Atlanta, King Of Diamonds in Miami, Pumps in Brooklyn, Starz in LA. Naija girls no even get liver to do bad thin.

I wont even talk of porrn stars because so far we have none. We have no Jada fires, no Lethal Lippz, no maseratis and apart from the Afro candy girl, Judith or so, we can say our girls have stayed away from such immorality.

So, when we say our girls are really bad and I compare? I even say for now, they are even trying sef, so lets give our girls a break and encourage the few ones who care to stick to what is right. No be so?

with an open door how were they able to pressurize the cabin? and during taxi and take off, no one felt the breeze bursting through the opne door? abeegi, na another thing cause am

ok..way to go

You call him your man, are you sleeping on a bike? The other woman is not an ex..thats the real girl. you are just the side chic and he is decieveing you. better run and fast. Do you think giving your woman your house key is moi-moi. once a woman gets to that stage, then slowly and steadily, she is secure. better go and find your own man.

[size=28pt]idiaaata girl, she just came to post a topic here get insulted. wat is ur beef with fat girls? dont they deserve to be loved? and am sure the women she is saying nigerians go for are thick girls, not even the fat ones..just beef..we love our women thick, with curves, bboobs and arsse. deal with that.

lepa or lean looking girls are increasingly beginning to have problems with this new classification of women. they are the in thing now.

by the way, you are as straight and as flat as an ironing board with blisters.

plus am sure, that pic is not even you. u r uglier and just as bony looking. i have seen that pic online some other place[/size]

yawa///for ten years?

easier said than done

You are thick and sexy...we love women like u. we like big things. Personally, I will fall in love too

mine comin soon. watchout

Built2last: Kano street area one. if you know where that is

yeah i think so- those streets are always dark at night and if your car is snatched, they will disappear before you raise an alarm. a colleague's car was stolen while she slept around der sumtime ago too.

God will help you, and help us all...i'l be on the watchout

brros, sorry..this is surprising o. i'l watchout.

but snatched at area 1? pls can u let us knw where, so we avoid the flashpoint. I knw dat side well and there are always 3 police patrols especially around the under bridge side around that time- first before the roundabout from area 3 junction, another patrol inside the roundabout from berger, and then just beside conoil, though these patrols come around 10pm, i am wondering where your car could have been snatched anywhere around here around dat time. could it be around the area 1 mall heading towrds area2?

So wat is the state goverment sayin or doin about the civilian jtf? Is the Governor not supposed to come out to publicly support these boys? Just to encourage them? Is the state goverment not supposed to think up an interim reward or. Keep it up scheme to keep their fire burning? I hav not heard anythin from shettima or geidam.

Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) is a bank that prides itself as a foremost Nigerian financial institution that fosters a culture of openness in which healthy debate is encouraged. Over the last two decades, the bank has grown from strength to strength thus making it a preferred institution for young Nigerians who aspire to become seasoned bankers.
Why join GTBank?
On the bank’s website, it justifies the reason to work for the bank by stating that “We are, first and foremost, a Learning Organization. We understand that being an employer of choice goes beyond the regular pay package. It involves listening, training, mentoring, a genuine concern for what people really care about, and acting upon them. In essence, it involves connecting to people’s hearts.” Superb! No better way to introduce this great institution to an aspiring or established professional in Nigeria’s banking sector.
The bank doesn’t stop at that; it goes on to say that “a career at Guaranty Trust Bank offers you a chance to make a difference in your life and the lives of people in your immediate community. Throughout our history, we have continued to help our staff realize their dreams, whilst creating opportunities for them to fulfill their personal and professional potential.”
Over the last 20 years, GTBank has been very successful with their people. The bank has been able to pass the vision of its founders down to every staff of the bank. Through their training consultants, Learners and Trainers and IBFC, new employees go through comprehensive entry training programs that span between 2-3 months getting fired up. They come out proud with their orange IDs, they believe so much in the bank’s vision, “we are a team driven to deliver the utmost in customer service.” While other bankers are hopping from one bank to the other seeking the next level, they strictly remain loyal. They strongly believe that a rolling stone gathers no moss. Ask anyone around about a GTBanker and they will tell you how they cherish and proudly defend the brand.
Exactly two years ago today, that story changed. GTBank lost its revered Managing Director and co-founder, Tayo Aderinokun. Tayo just like Fola Adeola was a leader who stood out in every aspect of the bank including the welfare of his staff. He was indeed the most respected CEO within and outside the bank. An award he later received from PricewaterhouseCoopers in 2008. Tayo’s demise ushered in a new leadership in the bank, one that appears determined to change what hitherto was a chance to make a difference in the lives of its people and that of those in their immediate community.
On Thursday 23rd May, 2013, GTBank reduced itself from an institution highly regarded in banking sector as the most respected corporate bank in Nigeria, renowned for both its professionalism and high ethical standards to a callous employer of labour. It decided to tow the path of ignominy by unjustly sacking over 100 staff of the bank.
The bank was quick to go to press to state that it had sacked 100 and promoted 500. What the bank did not tell was how it carried out its exercise and if it fulfilled all obligations as required by law. http://www.punchng.com/business/money/gtbank-sacks-100-workers-promotes-...
Reasonable Notice
To start with, where in the world do you notify people of your decision to sack them with their inability to log in to their various systems at work? Logging in to your computer system to commence the day’s operation at work was not a celebrated activity in GTBank until Segun Agbaje decided to change the face of banking that blessed Thursday. There couldn’t have been a more befitting and professional way of telling someone who had diligently and effectively worked in your institution for years that his/her services were no longer required. So many people who had saved personal items such as training materials and notes on their systems could not access their documents and files. Why? It was time to go. They were suddenly advised to contact the Human Resources (HR) department. An Assistant Manager in the head office wept. What brought tears to his eyes wasn’t the sack but the way they were dispersed from an institution they lived for like lepers. The bank was even kind enough to tell another lady who was bitter because her team met their budget for the financial year under review during her appraisal to put a new person through.
So much genuine concern for indeed helping their staff realize their dreams, whilst creating opportunities to fulfill their personal and professional potential. In the words of a Deputy General Manager who left GTBank some years back to join another top bank, “GTBank just cheapened its staff”.
The most pertinent question to then ask is why did GTBank decide to sack some staff? With the Lamido Sanusi tsunami that swept away some CEOs in the banking industry, came massive retrenchment of bankers. Thousands were laid off in defunct banks like Intercontinental and Oceanic with the new interim management teams claiming they had to downsize in order to put these banks back in healthy operation. Their reasons to some extent were valid. However, considering GTBank’s recently declared PBT of N100B, the issue had to be something else, may be performance.
The decision to sack was made after the bank’s appraisal of its staff where those who had low scores (B) were told to leave as directed by Segun during the appraisal meeting. What he failed to address was the lingering issue of victimisation and subjective appraisal by team leaders and bosses who have become tyrants in the bank. Most of these bosses hold on to personal grudges and flex their muscles only during the appraisal of their direct reports. While some of them use this as a tool to show superiority, others just do this to slow down the growth of their staff supposedly in line with Segun’s cost cutting strategy.
It was thus no surprise when some of these heads, having scored their staff so low, tried to reach out to the affected ones claiming they never expected the MD to instruct a sack of those with low scores. Now if you honestly know your team member does not deserve a B, why score him that low? If you knew Segun would erratically decide to sack, would you have honestly given the same scores? Would you consider the appraisal as fair and objective?
Most people in GTBank today grew under Tayo. There was instant reward for productivity and performance. Suddenly things changed, some employees have spent 5 years on a particular level and yet have high scores during their appraisals each year. The bank has resorted to quota system where a certain number of possible promotions (determined by the MD) is allotted to various groups within the bank. The Group Heads often claim their hands are tied, what about their mouths? They surely are following the Yoruba saying that once the mouth has tasted “dodo” (profit sharing), it certainly will reject “ododo” (the truth).
In the face of Segun’s high-handedness, the head of HR’s meekness and the absence of unions in the bank, where does an aggrieved GTBanker get able and due representation for fairness and justice assuming he or she is a victim of harassment, bullying and victimisation? The National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions Employees should ensure that all bankers join the union with emphasis placed on the need for support in the face of such unlawful dismissals. How can you sack without notice in writing? “At common law, it is implied that that either party may terminate the contract by giving reasonable notice to the other” Omehia (2011) “Dismissal in Nigeria Labour Law” pp 55.
The principal legislation on employment matters in Nigeria is the Labour Act which was enacted in 1971. The most common method of terminating a contract of employment is by the delivery of a written notice of termination of the contract on the opposite party. While the bank may claim that monetary compensation was made in lieu of notice, it came 8 days after the termination of contract. The bank failed to write to affected staff stating their severance package. Besides the narration that comes with SMS notifications for credits into account, no affected staff has a letter stating what s/he is entitled to after several years of diligence and commitment. On what grounds were those calculations made? Did it consider the length of service? Did it include benefits up to the last day of employment? Is it enough to advise them to resign voluntarily? Preposterous!
The Nigerian Court of Appeal has held that “in the absence of any definite agreement between an employer and his employee stipulating the period of notice for employee’s employment, the Court will proceed to consider what period of notice is reasonable”. Certainly not between 1-24 hours! There have been so many cases of similar dismissals arising from the MD’s spontaneous reaction to matters beyond the control of employees in question.
One of such was the unjust dismissal of a Deputy Manager, whose 10 year GTBank career was cut short few days to his wedding due to the inability of the bank’s customer to pay down on a loan that was presented to the bank’s Management Credit Committee (MCC). Be informed that the MCC is responsible for reviewing and approving all credits that are above the approval limit of the MD as determined by the Board. Its members include the MD who is the Chairman while the secretary is the head of the bank’s Credit Administration Unit, other members include all Divisional and Group Heads. This fellow was just a victim of power play or how else do you explain his dismissal from the bank for a credit that was approved by the MCC. The fact that his team was highly profitable was discounted for such erratic decisions that now characterise the Criticized Asset Committee (CAC) which is responsible for the assessment of the risk asset portfolio of the Bank. This and many cases have become the norm in GTBank. But who will come to their rescue? HR or NUBIFIE? A notification on the bank’s intranet that a staff’s customer has been listed on the CAC list sends fear down the spine of such staff. He simply doesn’t know if that will be his last day at work.
In all of these, let it be known that government is a reflection of the society. While most Nigerians blame and attack government assuming they are totally different people from the rest of us, so much injustice occur around us every day by people in positions of authority. Some of these people eventually find their ways into government. Will the situation change? It will be no surprise if GTBank does respond with a well written orange article to refute what has been stated here but there are over a 100 people willing to share their stories of subjective appraisals.
Rest in peace Tayo Aderinokun, we all miss you.
Junaid Korede Agbabiaka (JKA)

See falling hand.

Very good question. I thin u shd be as the poster above said.
1. Wen u r independent,
2. Wen u hav left school or
3. Wen u r ready for marriage
Dat shd be around 24 or so.

Can u post links pls?

Very informative

Tnx bro. But do people go to the US wit the desire to do 419? Me thinks wen they get der, things bevomes difficult then they try to exploit loopholes in d system after understanding how the system works.
Anyway,so how did u adjust to life in the US?

So I stumbled on an unflattering article one of shara reporters wrote about american life. So I just want to take it from another angle for those of u who live, have lived or intend to live in America.

How has america treated you in terms of the culture shock, discrimination, segregation opportunities and integration into the society? Wat of papers? Residency? Immigration status and all. How did you cope with problems with accent? Coming from a cash economy to a cashless one, how did u cope and adjust? If u came wit a Nigerian degree, how did u get ur degree to be accepted?

How did u get work? How did u cope with student loans and mortgage? How about daily interactions with other nationals? How did u reconscile demands bak home with the reality of few dollars? How long did it take u to make it? If u relocated, why did u leave? Wat advice will u give others coming to america in terms of survival? Education, work? Marriage? Etc?

Ur contributions may change the destinies of a few.

Funny.

Dump him

[size=28pt][/size]
Delta PDP faction suspends Orubebe[size=28pt][/size]

Nice

NGF finally dead. GEJ the biggest winner.

So u think u can just stroll n go n join illuminati the way u join boys scout or rotaract? Even eck sef dem no dey just google dem.
Don't worry, even if illuminati is real and she found dem, am sure dey won't accept a run off the mill girl like her. Abi u think say dem dey look for girl wey neva even bathe well well?

Coming bak. But above average.