Atiku and Ngozi are very could friends and have had a 30 year relationship. They've known each other for that long. Atiku was responsible for making her minister of finance, he recommended her to OBJ and also lobbied for her to become minster. So this is no surprise. If he wants to pass on the mantle to her in 2015, then thats a very good idea.
For all those saying she'll not deal with Atiku because he's a "crook" i take it you believe that the world bank is such a saintly organization right? fools.
She only resigned as finance minister coz of obj's high handedness and for the fact that he was starting to edge her out and place her on the sidelines. Also, his rift with atiku which had started at the time she resigned made her uncomfortable. Atiku and Ngozi are very close!!

The revenue mobilization allocation and fiscal commission (RMAFC) determines what federal lawmakers should get and approves legislators salaries!! not the lawmakers themselves.

@dapobear

you're seriously trying to divide and conquer. North and Middle Belt. Well no matter what you do, you're never going to be able to divide the north and dish out separate identities to the "middle belt" its just not going to happen, to assume so means you know very little about the history and sociology of the north. You certainly dont know about the politics. You have a large chunk of the so called middle belt that speak hausa as a lingua franca. Only benue and kwara dont speak hausa to the extent I'm talking about, even kogi speaks hausa to some extent, the religion is too strong in Kogi anyway. Hausa people dominate the north, its as simple as that. Im not even hausa but I recognize the socio cultural influence they have on the whole region. You cant change it coz it took several hundred years to be imprinted in the psyche!!! So no amount of divide and conquer tactics will work. Hausa's are the masters of divide and conquer tactics. The Hausa Fulani are just a politically gifted people. Watch and see them remove Jonathan from that position. Just Watch! Mark my words!!!
They put obasanjo there and when he got greedy with third term, they prevented it!!! Just Watch them work their magi that'll leave you flabbergasted!!!AS long as the Hausa fulani want, Nigeria wont break up coz politically, they control the country.

Comment, This is a Senators car.

Labor force:

47.33 million (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 12
Labor force - by occupation:

agriculture: 70%
industry: 10%
services: 20% (1999 est.)
Unemployment rate:

4.9% (2007 est.)
country comparison to the world: 45


The CIA FACTBOOK puts Nigeria's current unemployment rate at 4.9% Note that 41% of the population is supposedly under the age of 12 so dont let that 43 million labor force get you shouting. 30% unemployment rate, do you think this is zimbabwe?? if its 30%, we might as well not have an economy! Im convinced at this point that Im discussing with semi-literates.

Beaf:

I thought you mentioned your statistics expertise some posts back? Where in the World are children considered as part of the work force? Dude, unem[plyment rate is for adults only, it doesn't take into account things like child marriages, the 10 million almajiri's etc.

Dude, what I'm saying is that its economically impossible to have an unemployment rate of 4.9% and have 10 million child beggars. IT doesn't make sense in the least bit. Who came up with that statistic you proffered? They must think every Nigerian is ignorant because you must be to believe that utter rubbish. 10 million in a country of 150 million roam the streets and beg, how on earth can you believe that for heavens sake??
It is simply impossible that 10 million children are beggars or hawkers in Nigeria. Its not true!! If one in every 3 or 4 northern children was a beggar, do you realize you cant make a single turn anywhere in the north without seeing a beggar, it means that of every 3 children you see at any given time, approximately one has a bowl and is begging, that is a blithering lie. Furthermore, it is simply impossible.

I'm certain she was quoted out of context for political reasons. She must have said 10 million kids have no access to proper formal education and this includes almajiris and child hawkers in the south. That I can possibly agree with but even that doesn't seem likely. Not in Nigeria, do you have any idea what those numbers even mean. EVEN saying 10 million kids have no access to formal education in Nigeria is a huge stretch and I don't believe that. USE your damn brain if you have one!

Year Unemployment rate Rank Percent Change Date of Information
2003 28.00 % 30 1992 est.
2006 2.90 % 27 -89.64 % 2005 est.
2007 5.80 % 65 100.00 % 2006 est.
2008 4.90 % 65 -15.52 % 2007 est.
2009 4.90 % 60 0.00 % 2007 est.
2010 4.90 % 46 0.00 % 2007 est.


In a country that has 4.9% unemployment rate, 7% of its population are child beggars?? about 30% of children aged 12-24 are beggars on the street? come on, Nigeria as a country is not that bad

10 million kids my salty balls dude. 10 million, no you forgot, every kid in the north is an almajiri, all of us are. Just because Dukku said that doesn't mean its true or just because a newspaper said that doesn't mean its true. It is logically impossible for 10 million children in a country of 150 million to roam the streets begging for food. That means 7% of the entire country are beggars. Come on, do you live in lala land! come on!!!! that means close to 15% of the northern population is made up of juvenile beggars. I dont know where they got that Statistic but it is inaccurate for sure. Common sense if you have any will not allow you to believe that rubbish. If you break it down further, the population of kids 12-24 is likely somewhere in the region of 40 million, that age group is 95% of the almajiri population and it means 1 in every 4 kids is a beggar. I have statistics degree and I can tell you that it is a monumental lie because these numbers dont make sense.
Dukku was criticized for that b.s statement.

Who told you the north is a desert?? who told you that?? where is the desert?? in parts of sokoto, katsina and Borno. Thats about it. Even villagers marry up to 4 wives and have tons of children,

10 million kids is a bloody lie, ive been everywhere in the north and it is impossible to say 10 million. That means the streets would be infested with beggars at every turn, You're saying that at least 30% of all northern children are beggars. THAT IS A MONUMENTAL LIE

Solomon227:

Gadogado why ave u brought-up Saudi in diz issue as if Saudi has anything to do with democratic governance. Saudi operates Monarchy and practices modern communism. Nigeria is taunted to b a federal democracy and operates capitalism and could only b compared to nations with similar economic structures.
This is why most of us from d south hate most Northerners. In all your submissions you have never shown concerns for Northern problems and how to improve on them, but always quick and eager to 'help solve' ND problems. Once u people start dropping God's name: Allah in your arguement we readily smell a hypocrite, looter, killer and peadophile coming to party. Yerima almost hoowinked all in d name of Allah only for Ribadu to rightly place him on the top of looters table, the same with Turaki, IBB calls Allah name wit blood of innocents conspicuosly flowing on his hands. I wish u guys can stop desecrating the name of God in your misdeeds.

These are questions for u:

What was d Nigerian law about resources control b/4 it was changed to d status-quo?
Is that your state and Northern region is free of problems that d only thing u can think of is to help ND solve theirs?
What is your business if the ND Govts waste their 13% derivation allocations?
What will u do when ND go from 13% to 90% derivation allocation? Suicide?
When last has your state agitated for 'something', I mean 'anything at all' @ d NASS? Shouldnt this worry u d most?

The ND has every right to fight 4 their right which they hav been doing through mirad of means (good and bad). They wont stop until they leave d rest of d nation with 10% allocation.
Gadogado u also hav d right to harness and fight for d resources of your village instead of cont being a 'beggar'.
U cannot sit on a tiled-floor, with kunu on yor left-hand and goro on d right,strugling with yah transistor radio knob for BBC hausa service and be determining how an Ijaw fisherman, on d creek, should fight for his right.

Firstly, if you dont like the law, why not seek to change it in a civil and lawful way at the national assembly. Form advocacy groups and pressure groups that seek the law changed. Do that or secede.
Secondly, All you're writing is laughable stereotype, kunu this, transistor radio that, all that is just comical to say the least. Believe it or not, southerners have their own stereotypes but because that it beneath me, i wont indulge you.

Thirdly, we are one country, the laws in Nigeria should be peculiar to the socio-economic and cultural conditions prevalent in Nigeria. Do not cite foreign laws as a basis for your "agitation"

No one cares that your govs waste or steal their 13% derivation. But why are you asking for more when the one you already have is being wasted? that is the epitome of greed. The Nigerian economy is based on a natural resource, this is actually looked down on in international circles. So the northerner or anybody from any part of the country has a stake in the issues surrounding oil, after all, the national police and military is funded by oil. This is what it means to be a nation state. The federal government has national as well as international responsibilities which is why it keeps control over natural resources and gets more of the revenue than states.
Again, until we can change the economic arrangement in the whole country then oil will remain the mainstay. If I am asked in America, what my country's major export is, I say oil not the resources in my village.
If you dont like the arrangement and feel you dont want to be part of Nigeria, declare independence! Simple. Then you can drink the oil to death as a sovereign country, no one care

There is no way you can compare regional governments to state governments in terms of internally generated revenue. Back then, the northern region paid tax to the center, "the whole region pooled resources together" same for the other regions in the country. The same way you cannot compare regional governments to countries that pool their resources together as a single entity. You cant compare a northern region to Chad if the latter works as a single entity for economic purposes. You have to change the entire structure of the country in terms of governmental system and economic arrangement if you want to keep all the oil revenue because it is "yours" I'd rather you just declare independence then you can form your own tiny oil kingdom where children drink oil in their class rooms so they can be even better educated than their almajiri peers.

Beaf:

Yes, there is corruption, but our states actually attempt to produce something, our kids actually go to school to develop the country.

Compare that to your core North, what do you guys do? You scheme for oil blocks, churn out blood thirsty almajiri's year on year, manufacture Neanderthal cults like Boko Haram, slaughter Southerners and Middle Belters on an industrial scale annually, steal vast sums of FG money without as much as a pin in development of your own backyard, your 60 year olds marry 13 year old girls, you riot when health officials offer vaccinations against diseases that have been eradicated everywhere on Earth except in your neighbourhoods, you kill your fellow Nigerians by the thousand when white people in Europe annoy you etc etc

When other Nigerians are talking about problems, you guys need to shut up, because you are the problem and we are getting very tired of you.

What is the population of the north? last I heard, its approaching 82 million, what is the population of almajiris of northern extraction, most likely not up to 10,000 people nation wide! So less than 1% of the norths population is living an "almajiri" lifestyle. But as far as you're concerned, every northerner is an almajiri, see how you're over emotional and illogical at time? How many major incidents have occurred that involved religiously motivated violence excluding JOS, maybe 3 or 4. Jos is an economic issue and both groups are equally guilty. You say we dont contribute but the largest industrialist in Nigeria who by the way employs more southerners than northerners is a hausa-fulani man from Kano. Yes Dangote's activities can be truly described as contribution because there is production involved. Right now, he's expanding into the African continent buying up cement businesses from Ethiopia to South Africa, aren't you proud that a Nigerian is making his mark on the continent? Or are you parochial and think he only represents people from Kano and all his profits (in the billions) should only be reinvested in his village.

Beaf:

So why don't you fck off to Saudi to be under "Allahs law?" Here we feed you and we aren't Muslim. I'm sure you can't comprehend that though (maybe just the same way a Southerner or Middle Belter will never understand why all your able bodied men and women have been exported, all clutching begging bowls. It is just plain that you people are damn lazy and want to feed off others sweat or misery. Well, the party is grinding to a jarring halt.

You say someone is missing the point, yet they gave examples of countries that are democracies. The Saudi example you gave knows no democratic principles, in fact they practice sharia and is the ONLY country in the World where women are not allowed to vote.

Right from the start of the struggle, ND people have recognised the core Northerner as the problem. It is illustrative that two of you making immoral arguments here are core Northerners, you people need to be cut loose to fend for yourselves in the desert, then Nigeria will finally begin to prosper.

What sweat, you're sweating to plant the oil right, it is through your labor that oil came into being right! What misery?? are ND governors and politicians miserable

So whats stopping the villagers that have oil in their village in delta or bayelsa to demand resource control and exclude others from oil revenue. You dont even know what the term "nation-state" implies. If you want to keep the oil money, quickly declare independence, we are waiting

@beaf

He said the Niger Delta became a political entity about 10 years ago and thats true, when was oil even discovered? how many years did it take from the initial discovery to standardization and regularization of oil exports as the dominant economic force in the country? Oil damaged the Nigerian economy by turning it into a rentier economy! You keep saying, what do Fulani people contribute, what does the whole of Nigeria contribute Who contributes anything to Nigeria, even the ND doesn't contribute anything, the oil found there is not contribution, look up the term "contribution" in the dictionary.
You have to understand that just because a naturally occurring resource is found in an area close to you doesn't mean you contribute, if i have trees growing in my village, it doesn't mean i am contributing anything as an individual even if the economy is timber based.
Why dont you secede and declare independence beaf!

Solomon227:

"Given that Scotland is not a sovereign state (like the ND states), it has no effective maritime claims and for such purposes is part of the maritime claims of the United Kingdom (like Nigeria),  systems in Great Britain - that of Scots law pertaining to Scotland and English law pertaining to England and Wales, constitutional law in the United Kingdom has provided for the division of the UK sector of the North Sea into specific Scottish and English components[5]. The Continental Shelf Act 1964 and the Continental Shelf (Jurisdiction) Order 1968 defines the UK North Sea maritime area to the north of latitude 55 degrees north as being under the jurisdiction of Scots law[6] meaning that 90% of the UK's oil resources were under Scottish jurisdiction[7][8]. In addition, section 126 of the Scotland Act 1998 defines Scottish waters as the internal waters and territorial sea of the United Kingdom as are adjacent to Scotland[9]. This has been subsequently amended by the Scottish Adjacent Waters Boundary Order 1999 which redefined the extent of Scottish waters and Scottish fishery limits[10][11].
Recent evidence by Kemp and Stephen (1999) has tried to estimate hypothetical Scottish shares of North Sea Oil revenue by dividing the UK sector of the North Sea into separate Scottish and UK sectors using the international principle of equidistance as utilised under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) - such a convention is used in defining the maritime assets of newly formed states and resolving international maritime disputes. The study by Kemp & Stephen showed that hypothesised Scottish shares of North Sea oil revenue over the period 1970 to 1999, varied to as high as 98%[12] dependent upon the price of oil and offset against taxable profits and the costs of exploration and development"



"In the United States, oil and gas rights to a particular parcel may be owned by private individuals, corporations, Indian tribes, or by local, state, or federal governments. Oil and gas rights extend vertically downward from the property line. Unless explicitly separated by a deed, oil and gas rights are owned by the surface landowner. Once severed from surface ownership, oil and gas rights may be bought, sold, or transferred, like other real estate property.
Oil and gas rights offshore are owned by either the state or federal government and leased to oil companies for development. The tidelands controversy involve the limits of state ownership.
Although oil and gas laws vary by state, the laws regarding ownership prior to, at, and after extraction are nearly universal. An owner of real estate also owns the minerals underneath the surface, unless the minerals are severed under a previous deed or an agreement.
[edit]Prior to and at extraction
Unless mineral rights are severed, whoever owns the fee of the soil owns everything below the surface, limited by the extent of the surface rights (Del Monte Mining & Milling Co. v. Last Chance Mining & Milling Co.). Because oil and gas are fluids, they may flow in the subsurface across property boundaries. In this way, an operator may permissibly extract oil and gas from beneath the land of another, if the extraction is lawfully conducted on his own property (Kelly v. Ohio Oil Co.). An operator may not, however, angle a well to penetrate beneath property not owned by or leased to him.
The two conflicting legal doctrines covering oil and gas extraction are the rule of capture, and the correlative rights doctrine. Which of the doctrines applies in a particular case depends on state law, which varies considerably from state to state, or in the case of the federal offshore zone, on US federal law.
The rule of capture gives land owners an incentive to pump out oil as quickly as possible to capture the oil of their neighbors. Such practice may deplete the gas pressure needed to force oil out of the ground. Government agencies such as the Texas Railroad Commission therefore regulate extraction by individual owners"


Mr Krenko go back to your village and start doing everything to tap your resources. He who owns d land owns the resources therein, the ND states own their lands and if diz Nation breaks up today they will not only go with their lands but also with the territorial waters that carry more oil.
I have long realised this bitter truth and have vowed to do my own little way to improve d economy of my own state and town.

The ND states will cont fighting for what is their right. They went from almost nothing to 3% and now to 13% under OBJ. They will not stop until they have like 90% control like Scotland in the UK. Back-up or u bleep-up!

Under the Basic Law of Saudi Arabia, all its oil and gas wealth belongs to the government: "All Allah's bestowed wealth, be it under the ground, on the surface or in national territorial waters, in the land or maritime domains under the state's control, are the property of the state as defined by law. The law defines means of exploiting, protecting, and developing such wealth in the interests of the state, its security and economy."[1] Energy taxes are also specifically allowed; Article 20 of the basic law states, "Taxes and fees are to be imposed on a basis of justice and only when the need for them arises. Imposition, amendment, revocation and exemption is only permitted by law


Since we're in the business of throwing foreign laws out there, here's one, this happens to be of the country with the highest proven oil reserves in the world and the largest exporter of oil, so they know a thing or two about oil.
You're missing the point, what does Nigerian Law say about the ownership of oil Not American Law because their law is not applicable in Nigeria likewise Saudi Law is not applicable.

chic2pimp:

Where did you Get the idea of NDs wanting to keep all the oil money to themselves?
We would like part of the money be used to develop our state, or is that too much to ask for?
Chei nah so e pain you reach

Ok you say you want a "larger" share so you can develop your areas. But your governors receive 13% derivation while other states receive 5%. So right now, your states receive a larger share, but what are your governors doing with 8% more revenue I heard Ibori's wifes prosecutors saying something about the mans lavish trips to Las Vegas.

Again as Krendo said, you have to separate compensation from ownership. If the oil coys are destroying the environment then they must compensate, that is definitely fair! No one is disagreeing with that. But the oil producing states get more allocation than all other states. Bayelsa with its population of 1.9 million gets more money, at least 7% more than kano state with its population of 13.3 million. So if the state governors and local government chairmen in Bayelsa decide they'd rather steal the money instead of developing the area with their additional 7%, why not hold them responsible?? Ibori stole millions yet people from his village protected him from arrest!! Beats logic, you're protecting someone that stole your money then you turn around and say resource control and that northerners are cheating you out of "your" oil.
Since we're not in the jungle and we're people of laws, a country of laws. Change the provision that says oil belongs to the Federal republic of Nigeria and by implication her citizens.
Supposing, you keep the oil money and pay 60% tax to the FG, the FG is going to distribute it to non oil producing states so what have you really changed? now you receive more money out of the oil revenue than other states. If you pay tax, you're still giving money to non oil producing states. Your governors have the right to spend their allocations anyhow they want to. The fed doesn't mandate state spending in specified areas. If you dont like this arrangement then hurry up and secede. But the current economic realities wont change over time, Nigeria remains de-industrialized because of oil and Nigeria is a third world country. Keeping the oil money to yourselves will not help you develop unless structural economic issues are addressed. You can pay your indigenes monthly grants and import workers like the emirates but you wont grow economically unless you produce and export finished goods and remain competitive.

Thank you Krendo

The issues are simple and straight forward! They are!!

1) Why are militants fighting? Wouldn't it be better to organize and seek a change in the law that gives the Nigerian state  exclusive preserve over all natural resources not just oil?
2) The money they are using to arm themselves and blow themselves up, wouldn't it be better if they used those millions to develop the area instead of burning all that money??
3) If you want to declare an independent state simply because you want to keep oil revenues to yourselves then secede and declare independence, we're waiting!!
4) You cant have your cake and eat it too. You want to remain part of Nigeria yet you want to keep the oil revenue and pay "tax" to the center, you keep citing cocoa, groundnuts etc. Those were times when Nigeria had regional governments. That sort of economic arrangement was feasible. But what you're saying now is that the states that dont have any mineral or natural resources should starve to death given the current economic arrangement that has Nigeria suffering from the "DUTCH DISEASE" and "RENTIER ECONOMY"
5) If you have one government for the whole north, then the revenue generated in Kano and other places can sustain the region, but this every state for themselves is not an African value. Africans share, thats just the sort of people we are, we're not Americans, heck, even Americans distribute wealth.
6) All this rubbish boils down to ND not wanting to share oil money and wanting to keep it all to themselves.
7) The largest oil exporter in the world doesn't have oil in every inch of its territory, Some Saudi tribes have no oil at all yet they receive money that comes from oil revenue and YES they have tribes. No one is saying that only Dammam should get the oil money and the rest should find their own way.
secede already, this is getting boring.
9) Actually, in Saudi, all the oil under their law belongs to the royal family.
10) The situation in Nigeria is not a new one, its a situation other countries have seen, you get a natural resource that is valuable on the int'l market and all your productivity withers away, most oil exporting countries are not industrialized and rely on oil or gas including Russia.

The point Krendo made is valid, seek a change in the law at the national level that has the constitution saying "oil" belongs to the state and change it to the ethnic group that happens to be closest to the source of the oil. the Ethnic chief can then distribute the oil money among his immediate people, do that or declare independence.

oyb:


bunkum - if the nd secedes from nigeria, it will degenerate instantly into infighting - all those your ateke tom and co will be fighting for control - it will be a questio od who strikes first . . .odili may wind up becoming the local charles taylor  - as an aside  the idoko are a minority tribe - will be marginalized - so we can expect to see someone on ndland whining about how the republic of the nd is worse than nazi germany

I definitely concur.

^^^^

Dude, what are you talking about, mother chick or whatever nonsense that is has Zap all to do with anything. Im talking about norms in international politics. When the USSR broke up, didn't the larger Russian federation maintain a sphere of influence on smaller soviet states?? Isn't that still the case?
SS would only have the dutch disease anyway and would continue being a Rentier economy. Its not like the rest of Nigeria supposing they allow SS to secede peacefully would go broke immediately, to suggest that is simplistic thinking. The north would get interest free loans from the OIC and Islamic bank and jump start agriculture and oil and gas exploration that are currently ongoing in lake Chad and Bauchi and Benue or gold mining in Sokoto. Its not people will just sit down and stare.

chyz1:

Theres no such thing as SS seceding.Who has been calling for it?

Why are they arming themselves?? With the collaboration of their governors and top ranking military personnel.

Even if the SS were to secede, it wouldn't be good for a tiny oil rich country to be surrounded by a larger hungry country. That wouldn't make sense because they'd get overrun and dominated.

Saharareporters has obtained a secret report by the Nigerian Army implicating current National Security Adviser, Gen Andrew Azazi (rtd), former Governors James Ibori and DSP Alamieyeseigha, and former Director-General of the State Security Service, Lt. Col Kayode Are (rtd) in the massive diversion and sale of Nigerian army weaponry to Niger Delta militants.

SaharaReporters obtained the intelligence report one week after Sonny Bowie Okah denounced members of his family as “killers” and vowed to destroy them, and a few days after the State Security Services intercepted 13 container loads of arms being imported into Nigeria through the Lagos port.

Sonny Bowei Okah, a brother to Henry Okah, the leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta currently facing terrorism charges in South Africa, is portrayed in the report as a central character in the deals. Also mentioned in the document are Major Gen R.O. Adekhegba, a former Director of the Directorate of Military Intelligence, Henry Okah himself, Major S.A. Akubo, a serving army officer, and ten soldiers who worked with the Nigerian Army Ordinance Corps.

The 35-page report, which is dated November 2007, is the product of an intensive investigation by the headquarters of the Nigerian Army Intelligence Corps following a tip-off by a soldier and a red flag by the SSS that army weapons were flowing from an ordinance depots in Kaduna and Jaji to militants.

Azazi, who was chief of army staff at the time, Adekhegba, former army intelligence chief, and Are, the then SSS director, reportedly covered up the matter. Ibori and Alamieyeseigha were named as having financed the arms deals.

The report, suppressed for long by the military hierarchy and the Federal Government, details in shocking detail how Sunny Okah funneled over N100 million to Major Akubo and the soldiers in exchange for over 7,000 cache of assorted arms and ammunition.

The report reveals that, within a seven-year period, Sonny Okah colluded with Major Akubo to move the weaponry. “They would surreptitiously drive Isuzu pick-up vans and sewage disposal trucks into ordinance depots in Jaji and Kaduna and then ferry out high-caliber and light weapons, even ammunitions,” said a source within the intelligence community who also had access to the report.

The report describes Sunny Okah as the major middleman between the soldiers and the militants, including his brother Henry.

“The amount of weapons stolen are enough to hold not just Port Harcourt hostage but the whole of Nigeria,” the report notes. “Should criminals decide to spread out to major cities of Nigeria with just a few of these weapons and cause chaos simultaneously, it is doubtful if we will not have a national state of emergency situation in our hands.”

The weapons include rocket launchers, UMGs, GPMGs, G3 and Mark IV rifles, Barretta rifles, AK 47 and bagfuls of ammunitions.

The investigation was triggered when a certain Private Zamanu Adamu who, while on guard at the ordinance depot in Jaji, Kaduna, in September 2007, reported that the seal on the depot had been broken and that some items had been removed.

In its investigation, the army intelligence corps interrogated Sunny Okah, Major Akubo and the soldiers who confessed to the crime. The investigators unearthed the fact that there was an earlier arms sale at 1 Ordinance Base in Kaduna. Major Akubo is named as the prime suspect in that deal.

Our investigation revealed that, rather than get to the bottom of the case and bring perpetrators to book, both the SSS and the Directorate of Military Intelligence engaged in official cover-ups. Azazi, Are and Adekhegba spearheaded the campaign to bury the report.

“It’s true that the SSS launched an investigation quite all right, and even got the army authorities to release the suspects – Major Akubo and the soldiers – to it for interrogation,” said an army source. He added that “the investigation was soon truncated and the suspects, including Sunny Okah, were released even after they confessed to the crime.”

Our sources disclosed that then Major Akubo was taken in by the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI), but was interrogated by a one-man panel appointed by Adekhegba. He was curiously released to return to his unit based on instructions from Azazi, even when his involvement in the scandalous deals had been firmly established.

At the time the arms thefts began, Azazi was General Officer Commanding the 1st Division in Kaduna. Investigators suggested that he handled the case shabbily in order to cover up his “command failure”.

“Is there a likelihood that this case was shabbily handled in order that Gen Azazi’s failures may remain undiscovered?” the report asked. “Did Gen Azazi use course mate influence on the then DG of DSS Lt Col LKK Are (rtd) to ensure that the case remain suppressed? Otherwise, why did it take until now when Are is no longer in office for the DSS to reopen the case and be willing to cooperate fully.” The report added, “Gen Azazi obviously has more questions to answer regarding his roles in this case.”




The report fingered Ibori and Alamieyeseigha as financiers of the arms acquisition. Both men, who were state governors at the time, allegedly provided the funds with which Sunny Okah went on his arms shopping spree.

“These two politicians are mentioned as financiers of the arms acquisition project,” the report said. “Certainly, they would not have provided money without knowing the source of the weapons. Simply put, a breach of security of this magnitude was deliberately masterminded by state governors.”

Major Akubo is reported to have confessed to investigators that Sunny Okah approached him in 2004 stating that Ibori and Alamieyeseigha had given him a job to source for arms on their behalf. Okah asked for Akubo’s help to deliver on the job.

Ibori recently appealed the ruling by a court in Dubai that he should be extradited to the UK to face charges for money laundering. Meanwhile Alamieyeseigha, a convict who served a short jail term for corrupt enrichment, is championing the President Goodluck Jonathan’s presidential election bid.

The report recommended that Azazi and Adekhegba be sanctioned and that the indicted governors should be further investigated.

The recommendations were not implemented. In fact, shortly before the report was written, Azazi forwarded the name of the former DMI chief for a national award while Sunny Okah was set free. Sunny Okah has since been recruited by the Jonathan administration and is being used to press the case against his brothers, Charles and Henry, over the October 1 Abuja bomb blast.

A few weeks ago, Jonathan appointed Azazi as his new national security adviser. Despite his indictment in the report, Azazi enjoyed one of the fastest career elevations among Nigerian military officers. Between mid-2006 and mid-2007, he rose from Major General to Lieutenant General to General.

However, on August 20, 2008, months after the report was written, Umaru Yar’Adua fired Azazi as Chief of Defense Staff and retired him from the Army. Two sources have told Saharareporters that the arms deal report of 2007 influenced Yar’Adua’s decision to fire Azazi from his post. One of those sources revealed that then Vice President Jonathan was aware of the reason for Azazi’s firing. “By asking General Azazi to come out of retirement and become his NSA, is President Jonathan out to register his disagreement with the judgment of the late president?” asked the source.

However, Major Akubo and the soldiers have since been court-martialed, dismissed from the army and are serving jail terms.

The investigative report wondered how widespread the theft and sale of military arms thefts were, not just in the army but in the navy, the air force, the police, and other armed agencies. It also raised questions about the role of politicians as financiers of the deals, and wondered about how the arms shopping affected national security.

After an overview of the many issues raised by the arms deals and the highly placed individuals involved in them, the investigative report formulated a conspiracy theory. It suggested that there was a link between the aborted Orkar coup in 1989, the 2001 Ikeja Cantonment arms depot explosions, the arms theft at 1BODK, and the militancy in the Niger Delta.

“It is believed that there is an orchestrated plan by the Niger Deltans to secede from Nigeria which is being played out over the years with every opportunity they have,” the report concluded.

http://www.saharareporters.com/sites/default/files/uploads/Azazi.pdf

Katsumoto:

So if you were to ship in arms to start a conflict in Nigeria, you would ship in all your weapons in one major consignment?

So are you suggesting that thousands of containers have already been shipped behind the governments back? This is the only one that was caught? You should think man. Even if they were shipping for a "war" why so little at a time like 13??  when is the war 2020?  Theres no war being planned, Nigerians are exaggerators by nature, very hyper active conclusion jumpers!! Very ignorant and stereotypical crowd, not good with solid facts. No one in Nigeria want a war in the true sense and implication of that word. Even the militants are just chest pounding. A civil war will never occur in Nigeria because if you have no guts to challenge thieving politicians. How on God's green earth are you going to have the guts to fight a full blown war?
Nigerians specialize in cowardice, like kidnapping (unarmed people snatching) armed robbery (threatening poor unarmed people with guns in the middle of the night) and religious conflicts are gang wars with a group of muslims and christians clashing. By the time it gets to the media, its exaggerated. But show me the percentage of people that die in religious conflicts as against the population, a few hundred at a time against millions in the gen pop.

13 containers of arms and ammunition is not that much, how big is the container to begin with, also you have to factor in the fact that the weapons were hidden in crates along with tiles and other building materials so as to disguise them. In a country of 500 thousand, maybe and just maybe, 13 containers of arms will spark a major conflict that may not even be up to the degree of a civil war. But a country of 150 million, Its absolutely impossible for 13 containers to cause a "civil war" Many people seem to be shouting war without fully understanding the repercussions of war. This is probably the shipment for some gang who are thinking about taking things a notch higher. Not even a thousand containers can be enough arms to start a civil war in Nigeria. If you say 15,000 containers then my eyes will open wide.

Beaf:

The brand of Islam practised in Nigeria is Sunni. Unfortunately, Al Qaeda is also Sunni; Nigeria has terrorist groups affiliated with Al Qaeda in North Africa.

Al Qaeda groups will never recieve arms from Iran, in fact Iran see's Al Qaeda as a mortal enemy. However, Boko haram and Maitatsine cults in Nigeria practice Shiite Islam (the same as Iran ).

Nigerian politicians in the core North see the employment of shocking acts of violence as a short term route to gaining the upper hand; but this time, the omens portend a very dark future. I only foresee the core North dissolving into a sharia, Somali like cesspit when groups like Al Qaeda in North Africa (which sees the core North as its territory) begin to see the arming of shiite groups (Boko haram and Maitatsine cults) to sophisticated levels as an afront that deserves violent reactions.

Time to erect a wall to separate Southern Kaduna, Plateau, areas in Bauchi etc. Let us be onlookers, not partaker

See Beaf, you're ignorant and you come to NL to spew donkey Poo Points of correction

Boko Haram is not a shiite group, they're Sunni 100%
The only Shiite group in Northern Nigeria are the followers of Sheikh El Zakzaky and their base is in Zaria
You have pockets of Shiites in Kano, Sunnis dominate Nigeria by no small measure
Also, In Kano and Bauchi, you have Darikas or Sufis, who follow the teachings of sufi mystics like Tijjani and Abdul Qadr, hence their groups are called Tijjaniya and Qadiriya. You find quite a bit of them in Kano.
Politically from top to bottom, Sunnis are by far the majority. Maitetsine followers were sunnis not Shiites.

Heres a link to Nigerian sufi's practicing their brand of Islamic mysticism


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0NfPWMOAJk

Don't say things you don't know please, I know you like to assume you know everything but you dont at all especially in the case of Northern Nigeria, from your posts and many others on NL, you're completely clueless. Don't peddle rubbish, double check your facts, dont just write what you think in your head.