Pataki:


When you fail to write in proper English, it should not be a wonder that you would utterly fail in comprehending those who are intellectually superior to you.


You are polluting the cyberspace with your illiterate way of writing.

engineerd:


WELL HE MADE THE SITUATION A LOT WORSE DIDN'T HE? YOU PARTISAN NITWIT!!!....THE TRUTH CAN STARE RIGHT IN YOUR FACE BUT YOU WON'T RECOGNIZE IT, U STAY SUCKING PRESIDENTIAL COCK....

Pataki:


Democratically, we had Presidents who declared their assets publicly.

Now remind us, who was the doofus who told Nigerians, "I don't give a damn" when asked to declare his asset? Sinking the country further to a new level of shame and utter corruption.

If you cannot put on your thinking cap, don't disturb my mention timeline henceforth.

AnanseK:


1. The shame of becoming the 6 th richest president in Africa when we know he cannot account for that.
2. The shame of criminal intention right from the start when he refused to declare his assets.
3. The shame of having 70% of the population he leads living below poverty line.
4. The shame of massive unemployment, while there is work to be done but money is siphoned way under his own eyes and often with his connivance.
5. The shame of swearing an oath by the bible - a false oath of integrity and honor.

Too too too many shames , uncountable shames - no sense of decency , no feeling of guilt , no self restraint , too many shames!!

omenka:
I bet his annoyance over his name existing on the list is because it is not coming from Forbes. He pretty much would've celebrated it with a banquet had Forbes been behind the publication.

Or maybe, just maybe, he would rather not be on such a list at all if he isn't sitting on the Number One spot!!

What I sense here: #Envy.

Pataki:
President "I don't give a damn" about asset declaration.

Enjoy the public ridicule and shame you have brought upon Nigerians.

Foolish dunce.

Gbawe:
$100 million is actually very conservative considering the brazen looting GEJ is supervising. Nigerians are the masters of deception, duplicity and 'innocentee' histrionics. I personally think GEJ is a dollar billionaire by now. This $100 million yeye is an insult to the vast amount of looting that has gone on under Presido. If , by my conservation estimate, at least $40-60 billion has been looted under GEJ then how much did the principal actor keep for himself? Let us stop fooling each other abeg. $100 million indeed.

mkpakanaodogwu:
Spread the good news

chemali:
And how is the road that leads to this world class facility?

The multi-billion naira facilities constructed by Integrated Logistics Services Nigeria Limited (INTELS) have been unveiled by President Goodluck Jonathan.

The facilities, which comprise three 15-metre depth berths, 800 hectares reclaimed quay area and road networks were among the projects under the Phase 4 of Onne Port Complex in the oil and gas Free Trade Zone (FTZ), Onne Rivers State.
INTELS said the facilities were executed at a cost $204 million (about N33 billion).

Jonathan, represented by Vice President Nnamdi Sambo, also performed the ground breaking of other projects under the Onne Port Projects Phase 4B.

The projects under phase 4B were awarded to Deep Offshore Limited at a cost of $2.8 billion (about N488 billion) and include development of eight berths, beginning from 12 to 19, reclamation of 600 hectares of swampy land, 15.5km port roads and other port facilities with a span of six years.

Speaking at the formal unveiling of the facilities, Jonathan said the projects were another demonstration of the federal government's partnership with private sector in deep offshore oil and gas development.

He said: "Investors have every reason to have confidence in this administration and are urged to key into government's effort. The Onne Free Trade Zone for oil and gas export is not only the biggest hub for oil and gas business, but also the fastest growing free trade zone in the world, which has provided about 50,000 jobs.

With this, we see that the future of maritime is very bright and we are confident that the zone will continue to attract more investors".
Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar said with all the port facilities for oil and gas trade now in place at the Onne Port Complex, all cargoes must be discharged at NPA designated terminals, without such excuses that encouraged oil theft.
"Nigeria will no longer tolerate illegal oil and gas activities, which lead to loss of income," he said.

He urged all concessionaires to give maximum support to a committee set up by federal government to monitor trade in the zone.
Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Olusegun Aganga, on his part said the Onne port projects clearly showed that the private sector is confident of the Jonathan administration.

He noted that Onne is the largest free trade zone in the world and supervised by his ministry.
"At a total cost of $3 billion for phases 4 and 4B, with about $2.8 billion for Phase 4B alone, the later project is indeed a game changer expected to support unprecedented oil and gas operations and will make the zone to become Africa's first full scale oil and gas industrial city. With these projects, we are mobilising unprecedented level of investment into Nigeria.

"Already, the Onne oil and gas FTZ has attracted 160 companies, which have invested about $8 billion, with over 50,000 people directly employed," Aganga said.

Also speaking at the event, chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees cum chairman of the Board of the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), Chief Tony Anenih, noted that the phase 4 of the project began in May 2013 and was completed nine months before deadline.
"The projects are meant to meet increasing demand of companies in the oil and gas sector and are in consonance with the federal government's transformation agenda. The projects will boost revenue being generated in the sector," he said.

The event was graced by chairman senate committee on special duties, Marcus Ikisikpo, the Deputy National Chairman of the PDP, Mr. Uche Secondus as well as stakeholders in the maritime industry.

RevDesmondJuju:
The facts are there and it's a very simple one.

Nigerian govt decided early this year to trade their crude via local channels and not through Swiss or London brokerage firms.

An independent Swiss based anti-corruption agency published a report against the NNPC immediately after it was revealed that Nigerian government was looking at local content in offloading crude on the international market.

egift:

I know people like you are still existing. Keep blaming all Jonathan's failure on other. Read the article on Dr. NOI's statement. Like the Looted Millions to South Africa, you are only angry, this scam is exposed.

Jonathan through the Finance Minister said the Brand New Tanks has arrived and when we looked, all we see are scraps from UN leftovers. 1,000,000,000 Dollars stolen for good.

NEWS AGENCY OF NIGERIA
25/9/2014

* [size=14pt]12 Mi-35 ATTACK HELICOPTERS TO BE ACQUIRED FROM BELARUS (aside from the August 2014 RUSSIAN order for more advanced Mi-35M and Mi-171Sh Terminator attack and assault helicopters)[/size]

The Senate on Thursday approved a request for external borrowing of not more than N1 billion dollars by President Goodluck Jonathan to tackle security challenges in the
country. This followed the consideration of the report of the Joint Committees on Finance, and Local and Foreign Debts on the
loan request at plenary in Abuja.

[size=14pt]The Chairman of the Committee on Finance, Sen. Ahmad Makarfi (PDP-Kaduna), who presented the report,said the facility was not a cash loan but supply of military hardware to be paid over seven
years.[/size]

He said in view of the urgent need to restore normalcy in the country and since the loan did not attract interest, Nigeria should take advantage of the opportunity.According to him, the requested loan was for helicopters, ships, armament and hardware.

“The 12 nos. M135 Helicopters being requested for now are
appropriate for the nature of the operation and the terrain.“Belarus has accepted to give helicopters on the condition of installment payment over a seven-year period.

“Other hardware, armament and equipment will be bought on the same terms from other European countries,’’ he said.

Makarfi further said the joint committee discovered in its findings that the number of helicopters in the fleet of the Nigerian Air Force was inadequate for effective deployment. He said the reason for inadequate helicopters was due to inadequate funds for maintenance and recent burning of two helicopters by insurgents in Maiduguri. He further said that no new helicopter had been added to the fleet since 1998.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Senate, however, went into a rowdy session prior to the approval as the lawmakers were divided over the matter.

While some lawmakers applauded the effort of the joint committee and moved for immediate approval of the loan in view of the security challenges, others raised concerns about the legality of the approval.

Sen. Olubunmi Adetumbi (APC-Ekiti),quoting the Appropriation Act and the constitution, argued that approving the loan without following laid down procedures had consequences. “This request to the best of our ability and with the assistance of the constitution, has consequences for the existing Appropriation Act,’’ he said.

“We do not question the right of Mr President to ask for money but there is a process that needs to be followed,’’ he said.

In the same vein, Sen. George Akume (PDP-Benue) called for
appropriate procedures to be followed by the senate. “Nobody is against the fight against insurgency. My concern is that the appropriate thing should be done,’’ he said.

The Senate President, Sen. David Mark, however, doused tension by explaining that the senate was not flouting any legal or constitutional provision as the borrowing was not in cash to attract any further procedure before approval. “ I will suggest that we go ahead and approve this without raising any issues that will have any security implications.

“This is my appeal on this matter,’’ he said.

In March last year, President Goodluck Jonathan announced a N3 billion intervention fund to support the Nigerian Film industry, Nollywood, as part of the administration's Transformation Agenda. Tagged Project ACT-Nollywood, the fund was to, among other things, support key components along the industry's value chain with a view to harnessing its potentials as a major contributor to economic development. A little over a year on, the intervention is yielding the desired fruits already. This much OLAWUNMI OJO gleaned from some beneficiaries of the fund, among them Femi Abatan, a movie producer and Director, and Taiwo Oduala, the National Welfare Secretary of the Directors' Guild of Nigeria.

NOLLYWOOD is said to rank third after Hollywood and Bollywood, the popular coinage often used to refer to the American and Indian movie industries respectively, in terms of volume of film production. But for Nollywood, that ranking seems only good in terms of the volume.

The attendant economic gains that should accrue to stakeholders and contribution the industry ought to be making to the GDP seem underachieved. The reasons for this are of course as diverse as it varies. And to get around this and other challenges of the industry, there have been several suggestions, prime among which is the need for government's financial support.

So, when President Goodluck Jonathan, early last year, announced the N3 billion intervention fund/grant scheme to support Nollywood, though the news was received with cautious optimism, many applauded the intent.

The prime objective of Project ACT-Nollywood was to encourage the sustained growth of Nigeria's movie industry so that it realizes its full potential to be a significant creator of employment and considerable contributor to national GDP by addressing some of the challenges facing the industry. Made of three components, it is designed to address inhibitors to further growth, which exist along the movie-making value chain. These include technical capacity building, film production and distribution.

The program aims to improve and promote key components of the movie value chain through the provision of grants schemes designed to support existing or aspiring practitioners within the industry, including in the diaspora. The focus of the program is to reduce the hurdle for private sector capital to participate by initially sharing some of the project risk that would take projects from "almost commercial" to fully commercially viable and thus accelerate the industry's development onto a path of full monetization/ sustainability.

Already the Project ACT-Nollywood Fund, managed by the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in collaboration with other government agencies, is being accessed by Nigerian filmmakers (in Nigeria and the diaspora) and by Nigeria-based production companies for projects to be executed in Nigeria. International co-productions are also encouraged though.

[b]Some of the beneficiaries of the funds are members of the Directors' Guild of Nigeria (DGN) who were sponsored to a number of film schools overseas to improve their film production skills. Femi Abatan, a movie producer and Director, who is the CEO, Simple Fem Studios, Nigeria and Taiwo Oduala, the National Welfare Secretary of the Directors' Guild of Nigeria, who is also into film making and production, were both part of a team of 24 directors that went for an intensive training at the Colorado Film School in the United States of America. And they recently returned from training with sweet tales.

According to Abatan, "initially, I doubted the veracity and practicability of the idea. I have been in Nollywood for long and we have had many governments come in and out of power without giving due consideration and attention to the industry. But I was lucky to be on of the Directors selected in Nigeria to attend the Directors' intensive training at the Colorado Film School. Now, from my experience, I must say the initiative is laudable and would have positive effects on the industry.[/b]

"I used to think I was over the board as a director until I attended the programme. The training was quite intensive. The training is actually a programme meant for a year but it was compressed into a few weeks. Our final project was wonderful and I can attest to the fact that it was a wonderful programme.

"The training exposed me to better methodologies in film directing. So, the kind of films that would be coming out from beneficiaries of the programme would be different. We received reorientation on our mentality on how we use films to project Nigeria. I believe we would now do more of films that would project the image of the country positively, further unite the people and engender peace, not just in Nigeria but in Africa as a whole," he says.

For Taiwo Oduala, the idea of government giving grant to develop the industry holistically is laudable as evidenced by the training opportunity. He is of the view that participants at the training benefitted immensely in terms of improved knowledge of how to produce better films for the industry. "Every mindset that went to the training changed. The important aspect is that most people returned with special equipment to improve the quality of their works, most people returned with different ideas. Some of our colleagues that were on the training have started film schools to train new filmmakers and entertainers. This is to impact knowledge and make others feel the impact of the training, which was facilitated through the ProjectAct initiative."

Since returning, Oduala opines that the film industry has changed within the short period, which is about two and half months now. This is because most their colleagues, he says, are on location applying the knowledge gained. He is equally delighted about the level of awareness of the Project in the industry and its acceptance.

The Film Production Fund (FPF) is a N700 million instrument of the Project ACT initiative. It allocates grants to production companies and independent producers for the making of commercially viable films at any stage of production. This includes pre-production (scripting, budgeting, location, cast and crew); production (shooting, film set); post-production (editing, sound, and graphics); and marketing/distribution/exhibition (selling the movie to audiences).

Since its launch, several players and stakeholders in the industry have benefitted in one way or the other. Some practitioners were initially awarded various grants under the Capacity Training Fund of the Intervention Scheme. These include scriptwriting, directing, production and production design, special effects, lighting, sound, HD techniques, acting, cinematography, make-up, editing, among others.

Assessing the scheme, Oduala says it has been encouraging given that practitioners are already benefitting with attendant effects on the industry. "From feedback, we the DGN have benefitted, DellYork too has benefitted and I know others too would be accessing the Project in diverse ways."

But looking into the future, what ripple effect would ProjectAct have on the industry in terms of production, marketing and distribution? Abatan responds: "Sincerely, this is what everyone in the industry had been craving; a situation where the federal government supports the industry to impact the industry greatly. This initiative would change the mindset of people in and about the industry, about our culture, lifestyle, and to teach people morals.

[b]"Script writing is a very important aspect of production. This training has also helped us with script quality. It has afforded us the opportunity to improve the scripts quality and beneficiaries now know how to better interpret scripts and improve them. I have a project I am working on now, and I tell you because of the experience of my training, I totally turned it around and the scriptwriter was marveled at the outcome."

In Oduala's estimation, however, if the initiative is sustained, it would help increase quality and volume of production over the long haul.

"As things are now, marketers dictate the tune because the bulk of the funds for film production come from them. But if government is able to support us in this regard, it would enable us to produce better films. It would help us in the sense that it would reduce the rate at which we would be at the call of marketers.

"I pray that this initiative continues because we are providing employment and also contributing to the GDP of the country. Now, I cannot shoot any movie with a camera that would not give the best output. In terms of audio quality too, there is a vast improvement for me. Some of our colleagues have now started training workshops on quality production. So if we have this initiative maintained, on the long run, it would make Nollywood highly competitive.[/b]

"Government however also needs to help us in the area of piracy. Though, it is not something that can be totally eradicated. They can help reduce it to a minimal level. There should be a legal framework and implementation that would help us tackle the menace."

For Abatan, the intervention fund would in the next five years, improve standards across board, make more quality films available and make the industry compete internationally. "At the moment, one of the best films shot in Nigeria, Half of a Yellow Sun, is being aired in America now," he says.

tomakint: This news better be true @ Op, quote your source please I mean the url link.

It was jubilation time for Ajaokuta Steel Complex workers, who rolled out their drums to celebrate the commencement of trial rolling and production of iron rods.

Paul Ameh, an elated worker with Reprom Nig Ltd, the company that operates the complex, said the development meant that salary arrears would be paid, especially as management had promised that, “as soon as the billets arrived, work would start and our salary arrears would be paid.”

Ameh decried the near comatose status of the company to which the Shehu Shagari administration had committed huge resources to construct, but which has been left to lay fallow due to conspiracy of some foreign elements and unscrupulous Nigerian politicians and leaders.

Salamatu Ahmed, wife of a worker in the company, said the women were happy because their husbands would, once again, be able to answer their names as breadwinners.

Established in1981, the company has been operating skeletally due to the near abandonment of the project by successive administrations, a situation which made the management of the company engage private consultants one after the other. Hence, hope for early resuscitation of the Ajaokuta Steel complex was heightened as Reprom Nig Ltd brought in tonnes of billets, a major raw material for mass production of rods and angle bars. The company announced that

the Light Section Mill (LSM) of the Complex would commence production of iron rods in commercial quantities by December 2014.

Conducting news men round the plant, the Managing Director of Reprom, Mr. Attah Achimugu, said, with the arrival of billets, the rolling mills which have been abandoned for years will start rolling to produce large quantities of rods and angle bar for domestic use and for export.

According to him “One of the major items we have been waiting for to enable us light the blast furnace are the billets, which have started arriving at the company. We will continue to stockpile the billets until we have appreciable quantity of not less than 5000 before we can join hands with the management of Ajaokuta Steel Complex to light the furnace to commence commercial production.

“We are sourcing the billets locally and from abroad through our partnership with Greener Nations Foreign Economic Corporation.”

Achimugu, an engineer, also disclosed that Reprom have done the technical audit of the steel complex in 2009/2010.

He said the management of Ajaokuta Steel Complex and Reprom are working to realise the transformation agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan in steel development.

Achimugu said Reprom signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Mines in March 2013 to render technical services to the company.

He said the MOU was mainly for the reactivation of the thermal power plant and the light Mill section of the company, stressing that with the arrival of the billets and lighting of the furnace, the steel company was now ready for full production.

According to him, his company will need at least 1000 metric tones of billet to enable them effectively take off while the steel company, when completed, is expected to generate over 400,000 assorted finished products annually.

The managing director of Ajaokuta Steel Company, Mr. Joseph Isah Omobere, expressed happiness over the new development and praised president Goodluck Jonathan for his determination to complete the steel company.

This was coming barely two weeks after workers reprimanded some Nigerians bent on sabotaging their efforts to actualise the dream of resuscitating the company.

Piqued by the connivance of some Nigerian leaders in the international conspiracy against the Ajaokuta Steel Company, the workers took the bull by the horn to confront the agenda that has been carefully scripted long before the project could even take off.

The workers could not hold back their anger over what they described as premeditated, ill-motivated and malicious comments on the status of Ajaokuta Steel Complex.

The vitriolic comments credited to chairman of Assets Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON), Alhaji Kola Belgore, portrayed the company as moribund venture, where the Federal Government wastes N3.4bn monthly. Belgore, as if he was armed with accurate figures based on his wide banking experience, indicated that the workers were taking home N3.4billion monthly for doing nothing.

He lamented that, despite the huge potentials of Ajaokuta Steel Mill, it remained unproductive. “There are 2,500 engines mounted (and engineers) and 6000 employees and we are paying them every month a total of N3.4bn; that is what we are paying for doing nothing monthly,” he stated.

Belgore spoke in Ilorin at an award ceremony in honor of the Acting Inspector-General of Police, Sulaiman Abba, AIG Ambrose Aisabor, Corps Marshal of the FRSC and three other alumni if the Nigeria Institute of Policy and Stategic Studies (NIPPS) in Kuru, Jos.

The ceremony was organised by the immediate past president of Association of Alumni of Institute (AANI) and chairman, LUBCON Group of Companies, Alhaji Jani Ibrahim.

The AMCON chairman decried the state of the country, saying things were virtually static.

He proudly announced that AMCON is the only corporation with over N6trillion; yet, not one kobo of the money is missing. He blamed the unemployment situation on closure of companies and businesses in the country.

He lamented that the country was importing fuel despite being an oil-producing country, saying it is ridiculous, and that the development has made Nigeria a laughing stock among the comity of nations.

He added, “the truth is that we are not happy and if here we say we are happy, it is because most of us are in a comfort zone of the society, we are privileged in the society. If we ask the masses of this country who are downtrodden, they would tell you they are not happy with the situation of the country.

“The country is virtually static. Things are not moving in the right direction and everybody is keeping quiet. It has nothing to do with politics; it has to do with our collective interest. “God endowed Nigeria very well with human, material resources yet we are seriously under performing as a nation. We must wake up and try to do something to move us in the right direction.

“The nation is blessed with petrol and yet we are importing fuel in the country. We are importing petrol and we are the 7th largest producer in the world. What kind of ridicule is that? Yet we all kept quiet. You saw what happened when they were investigating those that said they imported fuel to the country. They did not bring anything yet through connivance they manipulated papers and they were collecting billions as cost of importing fuel.

We should begin to look different.

“I am privileged to be managing AMCON today, it is not noise making that made people know us; it is the output of what we are doing. It is performance. AMCON is the only establishment in Nigeria that has over N6trillion that is working with, not one kobo has missed.

The allegation drew the ire of workers, who came together under the aegis of the Iron and Steel Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ISSSAN) and the Steel and Engineering Workers Union of Nigeria (SEWUN) and issued a joint press conference to condemned Belgore’s comments as malicious and capable of discouraging willing investors.

The workers perceived the attack on the company as targeted at painting the company in bad light before the Presidency that has resolved to upstage the plant for the benefit of all Nigerians.

National President of ISSSAN, Comrade Otori Malik Saliu, who addressed the media, said it is an attempt to blackmail the company by diminishing its real value for the agents of the imperialists to take it over as scrap. Comrade Saliu said the statement was not only unfortunate but sad commentary coming from a highly placed personality like Belgore.

He said the reports were malicious and naked lies that were not based on facts but fiction from the author’s imagination. According to him, the workers have been toiling to ensure the company is not drowned by comments from ignorant leaders comments.

In his words, “As responsible unions, we have had course to tell Nigerians several times that the role of some highly placed Nigerians on the Ajaokuta steel company is not only sad, but can be best be described as sabotage against Nigeria. Saliu explained that, given the calibre of audience, — the members of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) — and the senior position of the author of the negative report, it became expedient and instructive for the leadership of the union to set the records straight.

According to Saliu, “the screaming headlines in several national dailies that the Ajaokuta Steel Company staff were taking N3.4billion monthly for doing nothing, is the result of outright ignorance of the agents of imperialism wanting to take Ajaokuta as scrap through blackmail.”

He said, contrary to the reports, the staff strength of the company remains 2,900; while their monthly wage bill stood at about N228 million.

Continuing, he said Belgore should have made verification from the 2014 budget that is available for every Nigerian.

“As a banker, he has access to information from the federal budget office. We state categorically that Mr. Belgore lied and misinformed Nigerians.”

He said the staff have been patriotic to the extent that, even after their salaries were withheld for 13months they were still coming to work between 2009 and 2010 to protect and defend the steel plant.

The president explained that the workers patriotism was to prevent vandalisation and ensure that the underground water at the company did not submerge the plant facilities.

He pointed out that, even the technical audit of the steel plant that was done in 2010 vindicated the staff as the company was given a clean bill of health.

He further stated that, contrary to the allusion to idleness, the workers were working in their various departments adding that the Steel Complex has reached 80 percent completion, while the rolling mill, which is an arm of it, has gone into full operation.

“We have been producing specialised equipments for some neighboring countries and companies, thereby contributing our own quota to the development of the economy; while Ajaokuta Steel is not fully operational, all infrastructure are maintained and core departments are still running.”

The workers commended the current effort of the Federal Government to revive the steel company.

Conflicting interests by powerful countries like France, the US and others against the interest of Russia the builder of Ajaokuta Steel Project had been the major snag that has continued to jeopardise the countries efforts to resuscitate the company.

These countries continued to toss Nigeria about like a coin, while the steel complex on which the country had spent her fortune lied prostrate, even though it continued to gulp money.

The fact remains that the powerful nations of the world had never been at peace with the prospect of Nigeria turning into a big producer of steel. Indeed, those who have a good knowledge of what steel production could turn oil-rich Nigeria into had concluded that the west has a cause to shiver at the smart future awaiting Nigeria. It is another way of putting into focus the misfortune likely to be suffered by the developed world in the event that Nigeria, Africa and other developing nations stop being the usual dumping ground for all the junks from the leading nations of the world.

Against this background, steel production, aside from having Nigeria richer, has the ability to turn around the economies of weaker nations hitherto being exploited by the super powers, and by implication, impact negatively on the extent of influence of the hitherto richer countries.

The belief then was that, unknown to Nigerians, the lingering impossibility over Ajaokuta steel complex had its roots in the conspiracy by influential countries, who may not be able to stand the idea of having a giant (Nigeria) woken up and then getting empowered limitlessly by resources from steel.

If its present comatose state can be overcome, it has the potential of boosting the technological dream and industrial drive of the nation. The mill further stands to aid acquisition of technical expertise, enhance technological growth and provide a template for inputs for infrastructural development in the country.

Speaking on the deteriorating state of human capital and infrastructural aspects of Nigeria in an interview with The Guardian in Lokoja, the President, Council for Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) Kashim Ali, said that, just as Nigeria produces the best cable wire in the world, the Ajaokuta Steel Complex also has what it takes to produce all kinds of globally competitive vehicles, if developed to full capacity.

Ali, who also lamented Nigerians’ dependence on foreign goods, explained that the key to nation building is to embark on a rapid industrial revolution through conscious decision.

President Olusegun Obasanjo had, in a bid to privatise the company in 2003, reached a ‘failed’ agreement with Solgas. And in 2004 too, the administration concessioned the Ajaokuta Steel plant to an Indian firm, Global Infrastructure Holdings

Limited (GIHL). The latter company’s management signed a concession agreement with government in 2007 but defaulted, which led to its cancellation by late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.

The ensuing court case is reportedly pending in a Londo court, thereby constituting a seeming cog in the wheel of moving forward on it.

Workers of Ajaokuta Steel company erupted in joy over the weekend as the Company commence production of rods, Per Second News gathered.

The steel company established by the Shehu Shagari administration in1981has been operating on skeletal services due to the near abandonment of the project by past administrations, a situation which made the management of the company to be tranversing from one private consultancy company to the other.

But the current operator of the company, Reprom Nig Limited in its bid to make a difference over the weekend ordered for some tons of billets, a major raw material for the mass production of rods and angle bars.

Conducting news men round the plant, Mr Attah Achimugu MD of Reprom Nig Limited said that with the arrival of billets the rolling mills which have been abandoned for years will now bounce back to life as it will now be used to produce large scale of rods and angle bar for domestic use and for export purposes.

Mr Achimugu said that his company had entered into a MoU with the Ministry of Mines and development in March 2013 to render technical services to the company.

He said that the MOU was centrallly to reactivate the thermal power plant and the light Mill section of the company, and stressed that with the arrival of the billets and lighting of the furnace, the steel company was now ready for full production.

He added that his company will need atleast 1000 tonnes of billet to enable them effectively take off while the steel company is expected to generate over 400,000 assorted finished products annually when completed.

ARES:
Sell to Nigeria and they will donate it to bokoharam in the name of missing jet.... abeg forget Nigeria

F117A: Dont mind that fool.
Infact every true Nigerian should start worshipping china.
They deserve it far more than those arrogant yanks.

arresa:









That was free of charge..

Again, when was the last time China and Russia helped your military in anyway?

The China Shipbuilding and Offshore International Company had earlier in the year launched the Nigerian Navy’s first of two P-18N offshore patrol vessels.

The vessel was assigned the pennant number F91 (the pennant number F90 is assigned to the NNS Thunder, an ex-US Coast Guard cutter). The offshore patrol vessel’s launched ceremony also marked the hull formation ceremony of the second vessel, F92.

Only the first offshore patrol vessel (OPV) will be built entirely in China as between 50 and 70% of the second ship will be constructed in Nigeria in an effort to enhance local shipbuilding capability and provide technology transfer. Delivery of F91 is expected in the middle of this year and the second vessels is also expected to arrive sometime in 2014, and be completed either late this year or early 2015.

China Shipbuilding and Offshore International Company (CSOC) has also signed a contract to upgrade the Nigerian Naval Shipyard in Port Harcourt so that it can build OPVs and maintain vessels up to 10 000 dwt. Upgrades to the dockyard include a new jetty, a new dry dock and other additions.

ayindejimmy:

u compare Nigeria wil Rewanda and Uganda but u 4got we'r supose to b d gaint of Africa. We ought to play a leading role nt comparin ourselves wit war ravaged countries.
No Western world have come out to say there's an embargo on Nigeria. Why r we jst hearing this wen d S.A issue is on? I dnt trust this Govt. They'r full of lies and cover up

Psylas: Saudi is financing the rebels, or you want to say you don't know that Saudi is paying for the arms America is giving the terrorists?

Psylas: Saudi is arming Syrian rebels not America

The CIA has begun delivering weapons to rebels in Syria, ending months of delay in lethal aid that had been promised by the Obama administration, according to U.S. officials and Syrian figures. The shipments began streaming into the country over the past two weeks, along with separate deliveries by the State Department of vehicles and other gear — a flow of material that marks a major escalation of the U.S. role in Syria’s civil war

WASHINGTON — With reports indicating that forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad are gaining ground in that country’s brutal civil war, moderate Syrian rebels have told a visiting journalist that the United States is arranging their training in Qatar.

In a documentary to be aired Tuesday night, the rebels describe their clandestine journey from the Syrian battlefield to meet with their American handlers in Turkey and then travel on to Qatar, where they say they received training in the use of sophisticated weapons and fighting techniques, including, one rebel said, “how to finish off soldiers still alive after an ambush.”

Aigbofa:

The question is why are the Americans reluctant to sell arms to us? It is simplistic to just say because we are black. Given the fact that the U.S is a friendly nation to Nigeria.

Aigbofa:

You obviously assume that Nigerians are not smart enough to sift through the cacophony of lies and half truths to know what is true and what is false.
I guess you will trust Jonathan and his ministers to determine that for them as it is done in some other places.

Nigerians are not Chinese and if their system works for them maybe it is because corruption is severely punished in their country. Can you load a private jet with millions of dollars in China and fly it to another country?

Nigerians are not foolish, let anyone publish what they like we can discern the truth and if you are slandered the courts are there.

I guess you will trust Jonathan and his ministers to determine that for them as it is done in some other places.

Ymodulus:

The world isn't complex. We humans are. I don't agree with you on control of information, beside Nigeria media are not yet free as you might think.

Ymodulus:

Do you know that United state private own Defense Firms Seek Alternatives as U.S. Cuts Military Spending since 2003.
Please check the Wall street Journal as this was one of the major topic when it happened. Even Michael Bloomberg had to respond to Amanpour on a CNN interview that the firms have to sought for foreign partners. So bro I do not agree with you. Beside you had nice point I must confess

Aigbofa: @David

Speaking your mind is a God given right. It is not a favor from Jonathan or anyone. Anyone who denies you that right is your enemy.

Aigbofa:

Nigerians don't know how good they have it? This is an insult to all innocent Nigerians who lost their lives in the hands of Nigerian security officials, from the police to the Army.
I have a first hand knowledge of the impunity and the brutality of the criminals we call the police.
What army in the whole wide world would slaughter their captives like rams? That is criminal.

Darling of the West, terror to his opponents: Meet Rwanda’s new scourge – Paul Kagame

Paul Kagame’s rivals keep dying, but Clinton and Blair still shake his hand, writes Ian Birrell

But Nyamwasa, a former Rwandan army chief who has survived two assassination attempts, asked who else might want to kill his friend. “It is not the first time and it is not the last. Most of President Kagame’s political opposition are in exile or in prison or are dead.”

Kagame’s strategy has been clear from the start of his rise to power; indeed, defectors and dissidents have explained in detail how he man gets rid of his rivals. “He believes that all opponents must die,” said Karegeya last year.

Those who served as his aides, army officers and bodyguards have said that even in exile during the days of bush warfare, he eliminated those who threatened his authority. After taking power following the 1994 genocide, his repressive regime used murder, arbitrary arrest, jail and strict media controls to sustain its incredibly rigid rule.

Former colleagues told me he never hid what would happen to enemies; even Paul Rusesabagina, the hotel manager who became a global hero amid the hell of genocide, had to go into hiding.

I was a child soldier for Uganda’s President

Now, after 25 years in office, Museveni is becoming more and more abusive of power. He is currently obsessed by the idea that he will become victim of an ‘African Spring’, mimicking the uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East. In this atmosphere of paranoia, he has targeted with extreme violence people he distrusts in an attempt to terrify the legitimate opposition led by Dr Kizza Besigye into passivity.

I was accepted into the army, and I did well. I married and became a family man, putting away the past. One day in August 2002, Museveni called me directly, by my password, to go to State House. He said: ‘How old are you now?’ So I told him. He said: ‘Then you are old enough to fight me.’ He said: ‘When a person points to the leopard’s cubs, his finger will be bitten off.’

He was threatening me. Then he threw a glass of orange juice into my face and dismissed me. Three weeks later I was arrested. He never gave me one chance to defend myself. I was tortured to reveal things I could not reveal because I knew nothing about them. I only just escaped being killed. Secret helpers helped me to escape to the UK. I had no idea where I was going.

Ymodulus:

Bro Arms manufacturers will be willing to sell arms to countries even against their government will so as to make money. we have seen this in history.




There are few restrictions on whom the government may export arms to. One notable exception is the Leahy Law, which prohibits U.S. military aid or training to foreign military units known to have committed human rights abuses. Under the Pentagon's interpretation of the law, however, these restrictions may be lifted if the foreign government filters out the "few bad apples" in that particular unit. An International Code of Conduct on Arms Sales is also being negotiated with other arms exporters in the hopes of creating a common set of export criteria. Read on for more facts.