₦airaland Forum

Written by Lanre Oyetade
Tuesday, 24 May 2011
The Federal Government has made its intention known to stop the importation of some products, including rice, fertilisers and sugar into the country by 2015.

President Goodluck Jonathan made this declaration at an interactive session he had with the Nigerian business community and captains of industry in Lagos on Monday.

According to the president, the country needs to stimulate the local production of these items, adding, “my belief is that by 2015, Nigeria has no business importing rice or fertiliser and we also need to encourage the local production of sugar such that its importation will be a thing of the past.

“To create jobs,” he continued, “the government will strongly discourage the importation of goods being locally produced or capable of being locally produced in the country.”

He added that subsidies and waivers, which he believed had had much detrimental effect on the economy, would be discouraged, and henceforth, “special consideration and concessions will be granted only to businesses delivering value chains and creating jobs.”

President Jonathan assured that the Federal Government would come up with an appropriate tarrif structure that would not be tinkered with till 2015 in order to allow for long-term planning by the organised private sector, and see that the decision on importation is brought to effect.

He said that as from May 29 onwards, he would personally chair the national economic team, a think tank consisting of eggheads from both public and private sectors.

According to the president, he had decided to usher in and inaugurate his new administration with a meeting and brainstorming session with the private sector, instead of with dancing and merry-making because “this is what the times call for.”

He equally promised that he would take the brainstorming further by going into multiple days of retreats on each sector of the economy towards finding solutions to the many problems facing the economy.

Speaking earlier at the forum, the Special Economic Adviser to the United Nation’s Secretary General, Professor Jeffrey Sachs, had stated that Nigeria should be hopeful of great future development.

“To double gross output like in Japan and Korea, Nigeria needs to attain about a seven per cent growth rate, which it has attained, and to double per capita income (income per head), it needs to grow at about nine per cent, which I believe it will attain soon,” Sachs stated.

According to Sachs, there were five things working for the country in terms of development, including the facts that reforms were being consolidated; the fact that democracy is being consolidated and the fact that the beginning of the president’s term offers immesurable opportunities.

The other two factors, according to the UN economist, were that world markets were on Nigeria’s side and the fact that technology was also on the side of the country’s further development.

http://tribune.com.ng/index.php/news/22424-fg-to-stop-rice-fertiliser-sugar-importation-by-2015

Posted: May 23, 2011 - 22:43

By Citizen Reports
Less than an hour ago, the ACN governorship candidate for the April election, Professor Steve Ugba was arrested and detained by men of the police force at the police headquarters in Abuja following a petition written by Governor Gabriel Suswam.

In the said petition, the governor alleged that professor Ugba, along with Senator Akume are planning to cause ‘mayhem’ in Benue. He had only a few days ago complained of a threat to his life by the ACN. In his paranoia, Governor Suswam organized the arrest and detention of Mr. Adaa Maagbe, an ACN chieftain in the state, who was the sole survivor at last week's assasination attack that killed Prof. Ugba’s media strategist, Mr. Charles Ayede on Friday, 13th March. The attackers were reportedly after the life of Prof Ugbah who was riding behind Mr. Ayede in a separate car.

Since he got announced as ‘winner’ in the governorship polls, Suswam has been carrying about like a deranged person. He has fired key members of his cabinet who worked against him in the election. Mass sacks are ongoing in the state and local government areas perceived as opposed to Mr. Suswam's re-election. Keys heads of parastatals have been fired as payback for humiliating Suswam at the polls. In the rural areas, teachers and other local government staff who are suspected to have worked for the opposition have had their salaries stopped even as that of their colleagues in the ‘good books’ has been paid. Not left out are traditional rulers. The Tiv first class monarch, Alfred Torkula, oce described as corrupt acolyte of the governor, the Tiv has been a willing tool in the hands of Suswam in dealing with traditional rulers who allowed their subjects the freedom to choose candidates of their choice.

Now, the question every body seems to be asking is why a man who claims to have won the guber elections, will embark on vendetta and a wide punitive measures against his opponents.

This evening’s arrest and detention of Ugba is seen by the governor as a move aimed at weakeing the the opposition, who have remained resolute and consistent in reversing the election figures were manipulated by the INEC REC, Nasir Ayinlara, to give Suswam victory.

With the ever-growing voices of the opposition demanding a reversal of the usurpation of their mandate, with a certificate forgery verdict staring him coldly in the face, the governor, hasn't had much sleep since April. His desperation to keep his stolen mandate is gradually pushing him towards the edge. It is becoming obvious that Mr. Suswam is about to crumble.

http://www.saharareporters.com/news-page/police-detain-benues-acn-governorship-candidate-over-gov-suswams-false-alarm

By Uche Igwe
May 23, 2011 12:14AMT
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It is no longer news that Ambassador Campbell, the controversial former United States envoy to Nigeria was denied entry visa to attend the graduation ceremony of the American University in Yola last week. The former US envoy has published many research papers that hit devastating blows and leave a bitter taste in the mouths of the Nigerian political elite.

His recent book, Nigeria: Dancing on the Brink, was severely critical. The Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs may give hundreds of reasons why Campbell did not “qualify” for a visa or for the undue delays and unnecessary scrutiny of his application, but it is obvious that the government saw the rejection as an opportunity to pay him back in his own coin.

I saw a copy of Campbell’s article on the Nigerian elections, which formed the background of his book. Some of the comments might have been caustic and his doomsday predictions will naturally annoy officialdom. However no one will deny the fact that most of the issues he highlighted are embarrassingly accurate and a true reflection of the myriad of complex problems that confront Nigeria.

From the preponderant influence of the military in our politics, to the dysfunctional bureaucracy, the poverty amidst plenty, endemic corruption, electoral malpractices, the crisis in the Niger Delta and eruptions of sectarian and ethnic violence, Campbell was blunt but factual. Our oil is still a curse and that is not a debate. Our effort to a free and fair election was recently tainted with blood. And so why will anyone blame Campbell for saying it as it is?

While one may argue with his style, the former US envoy has shown himself as an erudite scholar. He argues his points logically and reaches his conclusions based on sound statistics and coherent analyses.

It is therefore ridiculous to imagine that a democratic government can contemplate such a crude response as visa denial to a senior official of a very important ally. This action by the government of Nigeria is most condemnable and completely unjustifiable. There came a time the Nigerian envoy to Washington Prof. Adebowale Adefuye was so angry he threatened that Campbell’s visa will not be reviewed when it expires as a punishment for his criticisms. Adefuye is famous for frequent but pretentious public displays of patriotic fury whenever he is confronted with facts about Nigeria in any public event in the United States. That may be the old man’s way of keeping his job, but professional diplomacy and strategic engagement in the global political capital should go a little beyond that.

The respected Nigerian envoy might have fulfilled his promise to Campbell but this action has portrayed him and the government in Abuja as childish, inexperienced, intolerant, undemocratic and vindictive. Sound diplomacy will entail engaging Campbell on the content of his work while putting forward preventive policy architecture and intelligence in-country. A responsive government will treat him as a friend and not a foe and collaborate with him to work on those fact-based lapses he identified.

First we have enormous oil reserves, which the United States requires to service its energy intensive economy. The Nigerian population size makes us a very a strategic geopolitical “ hegemon”, difficult to ignore within the West African sub-region both in peace and at war. Our role in the African continent or even most recently in Cote d’Ivoire makes it absolutely necessary that we must continue to talk with both the United States and other potential and actual world powers including the European Union and China about any continent wide concern.

From where I sit I reckon that we need to re-organise or re-energise our engagement with the United States to get better results from the huge potential that abounds. I argue that Washington has been supportive of a peaceful and prosperous Nigeria through a cocktail of programmes in good governance, transparency and amnesty to former Niger Delta combatants. The recently inaugurated Nigeria-US Bi-National Commission may be a recent example. Naturally, all this support is not given for nothing but it is the responsibility of Abuja to articulate its enlightened self-interest and come to the table with Washington for a dignified negotiation and dialogue. The United States is an obvious global force; so if Abuja fails, Pretoria will move or even Luanda or Accra as we have seen lately.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs must quickly launch an investigation to the facts that led to the unfortunate diplomatic blunder, or, put another way, the Ministry should admit their wrongdoing and apologise to Ambassador Campbell for the “undue delay of his visa application,” and the subsequent denial.

Washington DC, London, Brussels, Addis Ababa, Pretoria, Luanda, Beijing, New York etc must be manned by competent and responsive professionals who are able to articulate and interpret Nigeria’s enlightened self interest in the global arena. This new dispensation offered by his re-election has given President Jonathan another opportunity that he cannot afford to squander to re-launch Nigeria to her rightful place in the comity of nations.

Uche Igwe is a Visiting Scholar, Africa Program School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University Washington DC. He can be reached at ucheigwe@gmail.com


http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Opinion/5703810-184/story.csp

on MAY 23, 2011 · in NEWS
   
By AbdulSalam Muhammad

KANO— EMIR of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero, yesterday, tongue-lashed the Vice President, Mohammed Namadi Sambo, for coming late to his palace during a courtesy visit, describing the action as “unfair.”


Sambo and his entourage had informed the palace of their intention to visit Alhaji Bayero but eventually got there about three hours late.

Apparently angered by the lateness of the Vice President and his entourage, Bayero expressed disappointment over the issue saying that as a stickler to time, he abhorred it.

He equally dismissed earlier assurances by the vice president that the Federal Government would complete the power projects initiated by the government in the state, noting: “We have the experience of unredeemed promises by successive administrations over the last 20 years.”

Bayero said: “You (Sambo) alerted us of your desire to pay a courtesy call on the palace by 10.00 am, and we have been ready for you since 9.30am only for you to turn up by 1.00pm. It is highly unfair.

Respect for time

“I belong to the old school of late Nigerian Prime Minister, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, and the late Premier of Northern Nigeria, Sir Ahmadu Bello, where respect for time is total.”

The Emir further told the vice president that he would not attend the function which he had come to Kano to perform because, “officially I was not invited for your programme, and would, therefore, not grace it but want to advise on the need to keep to time.”

He also queried the outgoing Governor of Kano State, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, who was in the entourage of the vice president on why he failed to educate the august visitor on the importance the palace attached to timeliness.

Vanguard learnt that the Emir’s outburst might not be unconnected with efforts being made by the Palace to identify with masses following the post election revolt that led to the killing of about 800 people as well as the destruction of property worth billions of Naira in some states in the north.

Bayero admonished the Federal Government to upgrade the facilities at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport to international standards instead of expending fund on the extension of the terminal alone.

The vice president who was visibly shaken after being allegedly humiliated by the Emir left the palace after chorusing an “apology.”

Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media, Alhaji Umar Sani, said: “Well the Emir’s outburst is painful, but I do not think this is good for the consumption of the public.”

Namadi Sambo was in Kano to commission the domestic terminal building that took nine years to complete as well as commission the upgraded power project and lay the foundation for the new international terminal building at Malam Aminu Kano International Airport.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/05/emir-tongue-lashes-vice-president-over-lateness-to-palace/

Reading through that statement by Festus Keyamo, in particular this:

2.               The results released by INEC showed that the present Governor of Benue State, purportedly won by a margin of about 91,000 votes.

Looks like we'll have a 7th ACN state, sooner or later.

PDP is only delaying the inevitable.

OAM4J:
Pls give me 2 benefits of heading such forum.

Hrm, good question. I cannot give you anything specific. But that I don't specifically know the benefit doesn't mean there aren't any.

Someone else who knows more will no doubt speak up.

^-- Where did you hear this from?

Debokan:
ONE NA OGA ONE NA ASSITANT.

Hmm, ok. Didn't know one was subservient to the other.

Just seems kind of odd to have a ministerial level assistant, rather than letting the oga choose his assistant freely.

lastpage:
BTW: Ekt-bear, why do you result to vulgarity, so easily? Calm down naaah?

My bad man. It is annoying when someone pretends to speak authoritatively about something they clearly have no clue about. Like Dede1 just did.

Hrm, wow.

I wasn't even aware of this compressed natural gas technology before. . . .I thought the only way to make NG easily transportable is to use LNG.

CNG compared to LNG

CNG is often confused with liquefied natural gas (LNG). While both are stored forms of natural gas, the key difference is that CNG is gas that is stored (as a gas) at high pressure, while LNG is in uncompressed liquid form. CNG has a lower cost of production and storage compared to LNG as it does not require an expensive cooling process and cryogenic tanks. CNG requires a much larger volume to store the same mass of gasoline or petrol and the use of very high pressures (3000 to 4000 psi, or 205 to 275 bar).
CNG can be stored at lower pressure in a form known as an ANG (Adsorbed Natural Gas) tank, at 35 bar (500 psi, the pressure of gas in natural gas pipelines) in various sponge like materials, such as activated carbon[11] and metal-organic frameworks (MOFs).[12] The fuel is stored at similar or greater energy density than CNG. This means that vehicles can be refuelled from the natural gas network without extra gas compression, the fuel tanks can be slimmed down and made of lighter, less strong materials.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compressed_natural_gas

@OAM4J: The gas pipeline infrastructure in Lagos is handled by Oando, at least according to the guy from Shell I spoke to on the phone some time ago. So it really isn't necessarily the government blocking the way. I guess what is happening is that the location of their 10 MW plant is too far away from the existing pipeline, and it isn't economical to have Oando extend it?

That would be my guess. Because all other things equal, you'd prefer to use pure NG as your fuel source rather than diesel. Even this CNG is going to raise the costs relative to just NG.

If anyone know the details of this project further and how they made these different design decisions, feel free to speak up.

As much as people might try to downplay it, being head of that forum is nice. Sometimes better to claim to not be interested in something that might be exceedingly difficult to obtain, given certain political realities

@Eko Ile: No, I know exactly what they are doing, heh. You are 100% correct.

@dem_people: Two of the states in the current SS were never part of the "Eastern region." They were in fact part of a Midwest Region that morphed into Bendel state. So it is simply erroneous to call either of Edo or Delta part of "the East."

lmao

Man, there is no reason to watch tv when you have threads as entertaining as this on NL

Impressive. But why 40% diesel and not all gas? Just wondering.

Anyway, I guess it is now becoming clear why certain parts of Nigeria are so backwards.

Can you imagine a government, rather than spending money on education, healthcare, etc, spending its money sending people abroad on expensive trips to the middle east?

Is that really the best use of public funds?

Maybe I should convert to Mormonism, then get the FG to fly me on pilgrimmage to Utah.

Or start my own religion. . Lunarism. Instead of spending cash on healthcare/roads/education, FG should pay for me to take a trip to visit my religion's Holy Land. . . the moon 

@maclatunji: I don't want this discussion to get too abstract yet ("truly secular state." Kindly explain to me why the FG should sponsor any individual for a pilgrimage.

Why is it OK to use public funds for private purposes in this way?

How is this not essentially corruption?

maclatunji:
The Federal Government of course, you are fighting a lost battle. The Government already pays Qadis and Grand Qadis, so save yourself heartache, Sharia has come to stay. You may choose not to follow it, but it is here and in your face. Gosh! you are not even in Nigeria or are you?

Wth is a qadi and grand qadi.

So you mean religious ministers are on government payroll, already?

Lol. When did this become the Islamic Republic of Nigeria?

maclatunji:
This reminds me of pilgrimage, it is an Islamic injunction for Muslims to go on Hajj. Nigerian Christians because of envy had to force the Federal Government to start sending them to Israel (even if Jesus never asked you to do so- Obasanjo admitted that much), now Catholics (aren't they Christians) want to go to Rome.

And this is the mentality that at times makes me wonder.

Why on earth is the government spending money sending ANY religious folk abroad?

If you want to do pilgrimage, why is the government being involved? Rather than your own personal funds, or that of your mosque/church/etc?

I don't think people understand what the role of government should be, in a secular state.

maclatunji:
Well, what you should be asking for is that there should be another set of rules for non-Islamic interest free banking. Just accept you are a bigot and we can make progress from there.

Outstanding logic. Well done.

hercules07:
@ekt

Apparently you are not in tune with what is happening in Nigeria, the NUC regulates those universities,

Yes, but does the NUC legislate that Christian universities must follow rules X, Y and Z from the Bible? Or that these Christian universities must follow the same rules all other universities are required to follow?

they provide guidelines that these schools follow, I am sure the NUC has a unit that deals with religious education as some of the seminaries award degrees,  infact, the NUC is the CBN of the tertiary educational sector.

Err, and this unit that deals with religious education will draw its rules from the Bible/Koran  Highly highly doubtful. Probably just has some very generic requirements, none related to specific religious laws. Please show me if I am wrong here.

Government is not spending money on these banks, they are just regulating them, I am against government spending money on religious grounds, for bailing out private companies, hell, I even believe mosques and churches should be taxed, but, in the case of Sharia banking, I am all for it as it is not going to be funded by the government.

And who will pay the salary of this Sharia council?

Foreign Affairs minister

minister of state Foreign Affairs

What is the difference between these two positions?

maclatunji:
My friend, sit down, read and comprehend! Now @bolded, Muslims (I am one) are entitled to have their banking system, but what you fail to understand is that even that "private matter" as you put it becomes the business of the Central Bank once keeping people's money safe is involved (banking). It does not end there, funds accumulated by this means are to be invested in enterprise and we also have funds that will be transferred from places like Dubai and Saudi Arabia. You are suggesting because of your BIGOTRY AND EMPTY PRIDE that the CBN which is the chief financial regulator not be involved. Meanwhile, these transactions will have a major impact on the general economy and the pockets of every single Nigerian. Aren't you just brilliant?

By the way, there are millions of Christians who are eager to get interest-free loans from those sharia-compliant banks that you hate so much, go figure.

The CBN is just catching-up with what people have been working-on for close to a decade, read this http://www.jaizinternationalplc.com/agmpublication.htm

N.B: Without these new regulations, this bank already exists as a registered company. Answer this: Do you want it to operate without proper regulation (sharia-compliance) or would you like it to operate with proper regulation? Mind you, secular banking laws as you put them, do not govern the operations of this bank.

Sigh. Stop beating straw men. I'm obviously not arguing against the legislation of these new banks. I'm just saying that the document/book that governs these interest-free banks should NOT be based on any sort of religion. It should be entirely secular in nature.

Now, can you write up the governing framework for this new financial product in such a way that it overlaps 95% with Sharia law, and thus keeps those seeking something close to sharia-compliance happy? Probably so.

But the point (a possibly subtle one) is that the legislation must come from a secular authority (whatever framework the CBN writes up), and not the Koran.

hercules07:
Christian universities abound all over the country and part of their rules is attendance of Christian ceremonies,

Is the government the one mandating what goes on in those schools? No, it is not. Is there a FG Christian University council? Nope. The relationship between the FG and those Christian universities is entirely secular. FG doesn't consult any religious documents/books when interacting with those universities.

you are a yoruba man, we are known for our tolerance of beliefs and culture, you need to find time to be in tune with your origin, what works in the west might not necessarily work here, we need to be flexible in our ways of doing things.

I just think the best way to go is to deemphasize religion in public rather than making it even more important (or worse, putting it in the government.)

It seems to me a better idea to have an entirely secular government that leaves religious matters as a private matter than one which gets involved in religious matters. Religion is mostly a private affair, not a public one.

The Red Cross, Red Crescent, missionary schools have all played a good role in our lives

None of those government-owned or sponsored. Private charities/non-profits.

, let me tell you a short story, mount olivet high in Oyo state a baptist school was taken over by the state government, after a couple of years, the state government wanted to build a mosque in the school as there was a church there, it was the old students of the school who happened to be muslims that kicked against it insisting that the school had a tradition of being a baptist school and should continue to be so, we should be more concerned of the benefits of that we can derive from this system rather than looking at the name, afterall God and the devil have been known to come to agreements on certain issues.

I'm a bit flabbergasted that someone in government thought it was a good idea to spend public funds on building a religious building. It would have been better to convert the church into a general purpose prayer room for both Christians and Muslims to take turns using, or something. Or convert it into a classroom.

It seems wrong to me to spend public funds on religion. What of the atheists or Buddhists in the community? Do you think they'd be happy seeing their money going into building such?

hercules07:
@ekt

Why is it that it is in banking that religion should not be introduced, why not education, is education not regulated by government, are the institutions not even asking for bailout from government,

In what way is religion legislated into schools in Nigeria? Can you elaborate?

I hope you are aware that in the days of Ibru and Akingbola, they used to hold morning devotion at work?

Right, but there is no law associated with that. And I assume that they did this before work hours, not while officially on the job. If they did it during work hours (except for lunch break), that was wrong.

As I said, I am not that religious, but, if adherents of a religion decide that that is the way they want to go and the laws are not being broken, they can go right ahead, it does not infringe on my rights.

People are entitled to do whatever they like so long as it is kept a private matter. Once they start using the government to legislate/implement religious policies, then that crosses the ling.

Yes to interest-free banking, no to Islamic/Sharia banking. You can make the interest-free banking essentially indistinguishable from Sharia banking, if you like. But the governing body controlling the rules for interest-banking must be entirely secular in nature.

GEJ can not sack Sanusi, it is the House that has the power, the thing that I like about Sanusi is that he is not afraid to resign or be sacked. We complain about non implementation of policies, Sanusi is implementing CBN policies we are up in arms.

All the better. It is time for him to go.

@hercules07: There is no reason to mix up religion and banking, is my point. Banking is regulated by the government. If you mix religion into it, then that means that the government has to dabble in religion, too.

Basically, you can get 99% of the benefits of Sharia banking w/o introducing religion into the mix.

Doesn't the concept of a  CBN sharia council bother you?

Seems like a clear violation of the concept of separation of "church" and state, no?

Which warrior mode? There are certain holes in my knowledge of Nigerian history. I seek only to gain understanding of when Delta became part of "the East."

^-- What do you mean by that? I thought East was a reference to the "Eastern Region" of old.

Otoh, if you are using "East" as a synonym for Igboland, then several of those locations discussed in the OP are not in the "East"

Err. You are a bit slow, I guess. When did Delta State become part of the "East"?

Also, who are you calling an "ape"? Pray tell, what exactly do you mean by that?

Which delta leisure park is in the 'east'

I was wondering why the alaafin looked so sickly

^--
How about everything just remain secular?

I don't have a problem with no-interest banking (which I guess is the intent of Islamic banking.)

But implement it in a secular way.

You really don't have a problem with the idea of a CBN Sharia court?

When did this become the Islamic Republic of Nigeria