₦airaland Forum

[quote author=Akanbi_edu]Funny you people still do not understand OBJ. There is no way he would work for a Fashola -- he wants to be remembered as the best to have happened to Nigeria. They would rather bring another obscure individual with no known background or achievement.

So you Igbo bigots should chill.[/quote]Totally correct. Quintessential OBJ. OBJ will never support any established performer when out of office. He can use them if in power to look good but once out of office, the man specialises in looking for clueless, underwhelming and weak non-achievers guaranteed to mess up Nigeria and make him look good/unmatched by default.

dunmorris: Sahara At It Again

Well, Suntai is always welcomed to sue them. Not so?

I think it is pointless for folks to work themselves into a frenzy prematurely. It is not authoritative that GEJ will go for Anenih - and if he does, then that will be a suicidal move for many, many reasons.

Did one person read the article to note that the thread topic referred to the bridge-building pleadge OBJ made on behalf of GEJ to gain him much need Northern endorsement back then and in the period before the 2011 election? Na wa O.

Obasanjo it is believed to have assured northern political stakeholders ahead of the 2011 general elections that President Jonathan would exit in 2015 and allow the presidency to return to the north.

Olaolufred: You just quoted an uncle of mine.
The memory of how I became our Church Organist after the writer travelled out of town.
and how He succeeded my Dad as the church organist in early 80's came alive.
However, the truth that we know is the one that can set us free.
We will sooner or later understand that the truth we chose not to pursue will come back to haunt us later. NIGERIA ARISE TO FIGHT YOUR POLITICAL WOLVES CALLING THEMSELVES LEADERS.

Wise words but I think some Nigerians will go to their graves before admitting they backed wrongdoing blindly, sycophantically or bigotedly. Such is the self-destructive ego pervasive in Nigeria today that issues, for some, simply boil down to pitching their tent with others for sentimental and ethnic reasons rather than simply siding with what is right for majority of Nigerians.

Olaolufred: We gave Nigeria as a christmas gift to the politicians.
It is now hard to take it back.
When will the citizen stand as one against these monsters?

My brother, it is a shame some can argue for subsidy removal when it makes more economic and humane sense to fight corruption and initiate some changes that can transform , for the better, the way things are done. Why, for example, use marketers for god sake? Is it not like telling a known thief to go and deposit your money in the bank for you when you can do it yourself? There are many things this Government continues to do that reveals it is a government prepared to abet corrupt and shun rightful actions or courses.

For me those supporting fuel subsidy removal consist of three main groups.

(1) those who cannot be bothered to seek information thus validating the assertion that "to hide anything from the black man keep it in a book".

(2) Those connected to the affairs of governance and are thus automatically and sycophantically obligated to endorse all actions of government to include initiatives and policies that are glaringly wrong. We saw this, illustratively, with the mad 7 years tenure elongation plan of GEJ that was his own selfish plan to perpetuate himself in power.

(3) Bigoted and clannish Nigerians who feel duty-bound to back everything their "persecuted" Kinsmen and women do - never mind that the unnecessary actions of those leaders cause pain and hardship for all Nigerians in every nook and cranny of the nation.

In the end, those who see clearly, are detribalised and make efforts to be well-informed, have no choice but to just watch an impending accident as a reckless driver speeds unthinkingly towards a concrete wall. Our lack of unity, dishonesty, bastardized values and ethnic loathing will ensure the impending accident happens. I personally thing the road ahead is tough for Nigeria because many Nigerians now operate with a compromised moral compass damaged by clannishness, bigotry and rent-seeking.

http://nationalmirroronline.net/index.php/politics/29893.html

Pump price and minimum wage: Nigeria versus OPEC countries
Font size: OLAJIDE OMOJOLOMOJU 26/01/2012 12:35:00

The removal of subsidy on premium motor spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol, has generated a lot of controversy, culminating in the grounding of economic activities across Nigeria for six days, beginning from January 9. OLAJIDE OMOJOLOMOJU takes a look at the price of PMS vis-a-vis minimum wage in Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and few non-OPEC countries and Nigeria.

Up till Monday January 16, Nigeria was in a state of comatose as social and economic activities were paralysed as a result of a nationwide protest and strike called by the organised labour and civil society organisations against the Federal Government’s deregulation of the downstream sector of the oil industry, which jacked up the pump price of petrol from N65 per litre to between N141 and N150 per litre. The 116.9 per cent increase in the pump price of fuel resulted in high prices of goods and services across the country, even when some states and the Federal Government are yet to comply with the provisions of the National Minimum Wage Act (NMWA), which crisis is still rocking some states over the inability of some governors to fully implement the NMWA. To compound the woes of Nigerian masses, the take home pay of a high percentage of Nigerians cannot take them home, even before the hike in price of PMS.

Nigeria is blessed with crude oil and it is one of the leading exporters of what has come to be known as ‘black gold’ in the world, but unfortunately, it is the leading importer of refined petroleum products, as a result of pervasive corrupt practices in the oil sector. With four refineries, which turn around maintenance has continued to gulp millions of dollars annually, but running at 30 per cent capacity, Nigeria has for a long time being importing refined petroleum products despite being a leading member of OPEC. The history of hike in prices of fuel in Nigeria dates back to 1978, when the military government headed by Olusegun Obasanjo, then a General, pushed up the price of fuel from 8.4 kobo to 15.37 kobo. In January 1982, the administration of former President Shehu Shagari jacked the pump price of PMS to 20 kobo.

The battle against hike in fuel price began to manifest in 1986, when the military junta headed by former military president, Ibrahim Babangida, increased the pump price from 20 kobo to 39.5 kobo on March 31, 1986. Babangida upped the price again to 42 kobo on April 10, 1988 and on January 1, 1989, he pronounced 60 kobo per litre for private motorists, a policy that led to protests by the organised labour and students’ unions across the country. On March 6, 1991, Babangida again jacked the price up to 70 kobo, before the Ernest Shonekan-led Interim National Government (ING) increased the pump price of PMS to N5 on November 8, 1993. The late General Sani Abacha brought the price down to N3.25 two weeks later, after toppling the Shonekan-led ING. Not to be left out, Abacha raised the price of fuel on October 2, 1994, to N15 but was forced by protests from labour and civil society organisations to bring the price down to N11 two days after the increase. On December 20, 1998, it was the turn of former Head of State, General Abdusalami Abubakar to increase fuel price to N25.

During Obasanjo’s second coming as a civilian president, he had a running battle with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) over the increase in the pump price of petrol, which he began on June 1, 2000, when he increased petrol price to N30 before reducing it to N25 a week later and five days later, he reduced it to N22, on June 13, 2000. Not done with inflicting pains on hapless Nigerians in the name of deregulating the downstream sector of the oil industry, the Obasanjo administration, one and a half years later on January 1, 2002 jacked up the price of PMS to N40 and on the eve of his departure in 2007, raised the ante again to N70, before the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua reduced it to N65 following another nationwide protest by pro-democracy groups, civil society organisations and the organised labour.

Almost four years on, President Goodluck Jonathan joined the bandwagon and hiked the price to between N141 and N150 per litre. After nationwide protests, he was forced to reduce the pump price of fuel per litre to N97. But all these documented increment were never commensurate with workers’ minimum wage. While Obasanjo increased fuel price about three times during his stint as president, he managed to increase workers’ salary just about once to N7,500, which many state governments failed to implement. Early last year, President Jonathan signed the NMWA into law, legalising N18,000 as the national minimum wage, despite that it failed to meet workers’ demand of N52,000. Many analysts have argued that the signing into law of the NMWA was to hoodwink Nigerian workers to vote massively for Jonathan in the April 2011 general elections.

[b]A comparative analysis shows that with the new price regime of N97 as announced by President Jonathan on Monday January 16, Nigeria is second to Iran among OPEC members in the highest pump price of fuel and fourth behind the United Kingdom (UK), the United States of America (USA) and Iran when compared with both OPEC and non-OPEC countries, but sadly, it ranks last in the minimum wage ranking. While fuel sells for N3.61 in Venezuela with a minimum wage of N95,639, it sells for N34.54 in Kuwait, which had the highest minimum wage among OPEC countries and ranked third behind the UK and the USA among non-OPEC countries with a minimum wage of N161,461.

In the UK, which had a minimum wage of N295,644, the high price of fuel at N334.41 per litre is justified, just as in the USA, the price of fuel per litre is N157 while the minimum wage is N197,296. In Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Libya, the pump price of fuel stand at N25.12, N34.54 and N26.69 respectively while minimum wages in the three countries are at N99,237, N101,250 and N23,813, thus making Libya the OPEC country with the lowest minimum wage after Nigeria’s N18,000. The OPEC country with the highest pump price of fuel is Iran with a minimum wage of N86,585. The United Arab Emirates sells PMS at N78.18, while Algeria and Iraq sell fuel at the pump price of N63.55 and N59,66 respectively with minimum wage standing at N55,957 for Algeria and N25,813 in Iraq. Against this background, and given the fact that infrastructural development of all the countries mentioned above is far ahead of Nigeria’s, today, the minimum wage in both the public and private sectors of the Nigerian economy remains N18,000 per month,.

This is practically on paper as the Federal Government and many states are yet to begin the full implementation of the NMWA. In some states, what is operational is the ‘doctored’ version of the NMWA, wherein certain categories of workers, especially from Grade levels 1-7 are beneficiaries of the NMWA. The same is applicable to the private sector, which hides under the guise of the public sector’s failure to implement the NMWA.

Analysts and watchers of political events in the country are at a loss as to why three years after, the Federal Government, which has failed to implement the NMWA, is implementing the policy on deregulation of the downstream sector of the oil industry just three months after coming public with the idea, even while the 2012 Appropriation Bill is still before the National Assembly and even when the country is still running the 2011 budget which expires on March 31.

More curious is why Nigeria, an oil producing country, could not pay her citizens higher minimum wage like other OPEC countries which have high minimum wage to cushion the effects of any petroleum product price hike. The new price hike in the pump price of petrol may lead to another round of agitation from organised labour for a new minimum wage, even as there are rumblings across the country for labour to demand for nothing less than N52,000 as the minimum wage, but how organised labour would push the demand through remains to be seen.[/b]

Olaolufred: Nigeria's problem is not subsidy.
It is Corruption.
Our Leaders are supposed to face the problem "CORRUPTION",
but alas it swallowed them up like a pint of honey.

However, If subsidy is removed, and Government put price at N 139 per litre,

WILL THE PRESIDENCY BE SOO STRONG TO MAKE SURE THAT THE SO-CALLED MARKETERS DO NOT ARBITRARILY TAKE SAME TO N180 PER LITRE AFTER CONTRIBUTING IMMENSELY TO THE 2015 RE-ELECTION BID?
IF THE PRESIDENCY FIGHTS THEM TO MAINTAIN THE N139PER LITRE, THEN IT IS FIGHTING CORRUPTION WHICH COULD BE FOUGHT EVEN WITH SUBSIDY IN PLACE.
HOWEVER, IF THE GOVT ALLOWS FUEL TO SELL AS HIGH AS N200 PER LITRE, IT MEANS CORRUPTION IS STILL ALLOWED TO STAY EVEN THOUGH WE WERE TOLD IT WAS SUBSIDY.
EITHER WAY, MY BIG QUESTION IS, "WHAT HAVE WE THE CITIZEN OF THIS NATION GAINED FROM THE GOVT?"

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=importation+cost+price+of+PMS+to+nigeria+&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&ved=0CDcQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pppra-nigeria.org%2Fpms.htm&ei=Olu4UM4XpOThBN2XgZgB&usg=AFQjCNHXeQBOgmXxDKOOBMTmB3FqrX0TVg

I really don't know how many times this must be repeated to people to prompt them to do some basic research to note that corruption is the problem and not whether subsidy remains or goes. Indeed, Ribadu noted this lately after his petroleum task force had submitted his findings. He sad, and I quote, "with a clean petroleum sector Nigeria does not need subsidy removal".

I personally will not go into the details of the whole fuel subsidy thing because we have done it to death here and anyone over the age of 18 should have become an expert on the issue after the January full removal of fuel subsidy that was then scaled down. What I urge others to do is simply investigate what other major exporters of crude are doing with their fuel.We should all note whether those Nations, with considerably higher income per capita than Nigeria, are deliberately attempting to make fuel exorbitant for their people.

Some should see the table below and put things in perspective. Asking for fuel subsidy removal is a very insensitive and callous demand that will pile more hardship on an already burdened people. This is the tragedy of Nigeria. What "palliatives" have been seen from the last round of fuel increase? They have been increasing prices for years claiming the extra amount retained by government will deliver improved infrastructure, better healthcare, improved education blah,blah blah. Yet what do Nigerians have to show for those surreptitious increases in fuel price?

The rich, the politicians and diasporans always attempting to talk for everyone else. Nigerians, and I will spare folks the statistics and economics in the hope some can do some basic reading, have no business paying what we currently do for PMS. In fact even the last increase would never have happened under 99.9 of world leaders who genuinely deserve the position they occupy and deploy a direct and pro-people approach to leadership. Our President simply capitulated to the corruption he is a part of and helped create by throwing Nigerians under the bus. It is indeed about corruption and not fuel subsidy removal - but I would not expect many clannish Nigerians to see they are only cutting their nose to spite their face with their demand for subsidy removal. Some have not even bothered to look at issues logically, economically, humanely or even realistically. For them, it is all about automatically supporting the actions of the government of the day or backing every plan, no matter how economically fraudulent and anti-people, of the 'sons and daughters' of the "owners of the oil".

http://newafricanpress.com/2012/01/05/opec-countries-price-of-petrol-per-litre-and-minimum-wage/

[img]http://destinationnigeria.files./2012/01/fuelsubsidylindaikejiblog.png?w=460[/img]

dounleedee: Sometimes, the digression on this forum exposes the thin cord that binds us together and makes it easier to understand why Nigeria is a failed project.
It has now become the order of the day for Nigerians to spool back crimes committed by previous governments and individuals in defence of the subsisting rot in our polity when it is so obvious that their reasoning is simply influenced by bigotry.
The honest truth about Nigeria is simply that all the constituent ethnic groups are guilty of corruption either actively or passively.
It is criminal for anyone to excuse or justify the idleness and lack of will of the current government in tackling corruption by referring to the past.
If GEJ is honest and transparent, it will be a spring board for him to curb the rot in his domain and the panacea to deal with past public officials indicted or accused of corruption. No practical Nigerian can allude corruption to GEJ and neither are we expecting GEJ to rid the land of corrupt practices.
What Nigerians are desirous of seeing is a president who is committed to fighting corruption in deeds and actions and not through mere rhetorics.

Absolutely correct talk. Abeg, we need more of your kind on this forum.

idlaw2k3: Who is PPPRA? The President can order the petroleum minister to make sure that petrol should sell at N50 at filling stations in 24HRS or TENDER HER RESIGNATION. BUT will he? Or rather CAN HE? Does he give a DAMM!

Thank you !!! Same way he can order, in seconds, that we stop selling our oil through traders since that action only perpetuate the theft of Nigeria's wealth. GEJ can also abrogate , in minutes, the procedure involving Nigeria importing fuel through marketers to adopt the option suggested by his 'bosom' advisor Otedola. I.e Nigeria should negotiate directly with foriegn refineries.

There are many, many, many thing GEJ should do that he is not doing simply because he is part of the problem and was deliberately promoted into an office far above his station so that he can do precisely what he is doing now i.e abetting corruption, fraud and AGIPism everywhere with his actions and inactions.

http://saharareporters.com/article/between-jonathan-and-nnpc%E2%80%99s-criminal-kerosene-racketeering-ifeanyi-izeze

Between Jonathan And NNPC’s Criminal Kerosene Racketeering By Ifeanyi Izeze
Posted: November 28, 2012 - 13:39

By Ifeanyi Izeze

Statistics from the NNPC indicate that an average of about 9 million litres of kerosene is consumed daily in this country with the bulk of consumers being in the poor, low -income and the middle class brackets. Is not worrying that for almost two years running, the issue of the senselessly high cost of kerosene a commodity that is mainly used by these deprived Nigerians has remained unresolved despite the hundreds of billions of Naira our government is said to be paying as subsidy for the product? How can a government that is supposed to be “of the people by the people and for the people” display such callous aloofness to the sufferings “of this same people inflicted by the people that were supposed to be sitting for the interest of these suffering people?

Though it is well known that kerosene was supposed to be officially regulated at N50 per litre but how much are the ordinary Nigerians paying for this product and who in government is actually bothered about this aberration? Is it not funny that kerosene used by the masses for their everyday survival costs more than petrol and diesel in this country? It is even more annoying that the current hardship faced by the majority of the citizenry that depend on kerosene could be traced to sharp business practices by people in and around government and its agencies.

Frankly, in this kerosene matter, the gulf between the price as regulated in the mind of government and what the ordinary Nigerians actually pay for it is a clear indication of how serious the Jonathan government considers the welfare and wellbeing of the poor, low- income and the middle- class segments of our society.

[b]Severally it has been said that no matter what the administrators of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) may coerce us to believe, the nation’s apex oil concern is full of glaring aberrations some systemic, most deliberately dubious. It would be recalled that both the Association of Petroleum Products Marketers and Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria in December last year petitioned President Goodluck Jonathan and alleged that the NNPC is the source of the sharp practices in kerosene marketing and consequent high cost of the product. According to the group, “The sharp practice is attractive, because while NNPC which was supposed to sell kerosene at the subsidised price of N50 per litre, now sells DPK as aviation fuel at about N152 per litre to airline operators.

The tragedy of the NNPC fraud is that because aviation fuel, Jet A1, has been very scarce and airline operators have resorted to the use of DPK as substitute for Jet A1, the NNPC and its importers now found it more profitable to sell the subsidised kerosene (DPK) to the airline operators that buy at more than triple the official government-pegged pump price for kerosene.

Statistics from the PPPRA show that the landing cost of DPK is N108.06, local distribution takes another N13.20 per litre, bringing the ex-depot price to N121.26 per litre against the federal government’s official pump price of N50 per litre, showing a subsidy of N71.26 on every litre. So selling to the airlines at N152 per litre, the NNPC makes extra N30 on every litre thus bringing its rake-in to about N100 on every litre of kerosene brought into this country. Good business is it not? But the question is: at whose expense?[/b]

As at today, whatever trickles out at some of the NNPC mega stations as kerosene for domestic use is just to justify the corporation’s continued stealing of the nation’s resources in the name of subsidy on kerosene. Worsening the already bad situation, some marketers that have “dubious connections” in the NNPC in most cases buy- up whatever is available to re-sell to Nigerians for household use at between N150-N350 per litre depending on the distance from the coastal storage facilities.

Is it not curious that none of the self-acclaimed advocates for the interests of the Nigerian workers and masses- the Trade Union Congress, Nigerian Labour Congress, Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association (PENGASSAN) and even the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), has seen anything wrong in the issue of availability of kerosene to the ordinary citizens of this country to warrant any form of protest or face-off with government? Meanwhile, these same groups would spit fire on the slightest upward review of the prices of petrol and diesel. What kind of a selfish bunch of people do we say represent us?

The DPR is the body statutorily responsible for the regulation of the oil and gas industry and that includes licensing and supervising the importation, distribution and sales of petroleum products. But for whatever reasons since Jonathan came in, NNPC has hijacked that role and assumed the dual role of being the sole importer of kerosene and at the same time the regulator of its distribution. Truth be told, the current scarcity or rather the abnormally high price of kerosene was deliberately caused by the NNPC in its politics with another drain-pipe in the nation’s fuel delivery service- the PPPRA.

And this is what the President must hear because the strata of the society bearing the brunt of the kerosene scarcity were the same people that stood against all opposition to insist Jonathan was preferred when divine providence threw him up. So if he is their president actually, Jonathan implement urgent measures to address this seriously biting problem.

(IFEANYI IZEZE, Abuja: iizeze@yahoo.com; 234-8033043009)

Intellectual input

The way forward for African democracy lies in concerted efforts to build modern political parties founded on development ideas and not tribal bonds.

Such political parties must base their competition for power on development platforms.

This is what some of us reiterate daily on NL only to gain childish insults from immature folks. At the end of the day, we will always have our differences but we should learn to keep those differences factual and idea based. Doing that , essentially, develops our politics and consequently our Nation. Politicians are wily folks who are adept at 'feeling the pulse of the people' and callously taking advantage of it for their own selfish agenda. For example, some of the actions/inactions of GEJ, frankly, would be unacceptable in many nations of the world.

In Nigeria, our ethnic/clannish divisions , leaders themselves parochially encourage, facilitates the situation where Politicians, like GEJ, can be as bad or as incompetent as they want yet still have a blind and sycophantic support base to rely on. That pattern is very obvious on this forum with how it is posters from the SS most likely to be unreasonably insulting towards others correctly critical of GEJ. Everything quickly gets personalised and ethnicised so that incompetence and misrule , ruining the lives of all Nigerians, is forgotten/hidden. Sad for us, sad for our nation.

Nigeria is the perfect model for a thesis to show how ethnicity has entrenched mediocrity and hopelessness. Leaders take advantage of ethnic division and followers use ethnic jingoism to gain a mental condition that induces the defence of what they should ordinarily and unambiguously denounce as wrong to the benefit of their Nation.

take dat: Such a crass reasoning. What does mastering business admin got to do with you seeking for information from the CAC since you are trying to form an arbiter between Gbawe's and the Op over the ownership of Hitech.
Guy, the FOI has been passed into law so kindly make use of it if you are so confused!

My guy, what I dislike is how some play politics with everything. Those who know Africa well will understand what the Chagoury family are about. Their success is a damning indictment of the failures of African pseudo-intellectuals who are about empty noise-making and never solutions provision. We always fail to 'cease the day' despite owning all the advantages.


The Chagoury's have Presidents in their pockets , in a mutually beneficial relationship with our African leaders, and they have indeed been influential throughout the Nigerian Presidency for several decades even as the occupier of the Presidential seat has changed. This is why I find it amusing that supposedly educated Ndu-Chucks can be so simple-minded to the extent he prefers to ask for Tinubu's shareholder certificate for a company (HITECH) that symbolises the ultimate impotence of all of us failing Africa with our bystander mentality. Tinubu does not and cannot own HITECH.

[quote author=ndu_chucks]People who cannot provide us with a list of the major shareholders of this Hitech company and are telling us with all their might that Tinubu is not one of them, are just as dishonest, to say the least, as the authors of this article.

This is a separate issue as to whether the contract followed due process or not.[/quote]Guy, you are the only dishonest person here. An intellectually lazy one to boot as well. How many times will we go over the simple concept that it is the accuser who must prove his case? Don't you frigging get it? How does anyone owe you a list of shareholders? I don't want to be rude but people like you should man up and learn how to make your arguments factually efficient.

You should, if minimally aware of how everything boils down to what we can prove circumstantially or factually , make a convincing case to validate your suspicions . All I see is an intellectually lazy and limp effort to insinuate the onus falls on other to help you prove your preposterous and unfounded allegations predicated on a silly article. Can I say the Queen of England is a Lesbian and then ask others to show me pictures of her with her husband when, as the accuser, the onus entirely falls on me to provide pictures of the queen with her lesbian pal? Is that logic lost on you?


It is amazing how Nigerians like you , ostensibly educated, think in such a lazily roundabout way. I guess Nigeria does that to folks. In the rest of the world, the accuser proves his case. Get that into your head once and for all. Officially, the Chagoury's own HITECH and no one owes you jack in the way of proof to establish otherwise. You should supply the list of shareholders you are asking for but since our nation turns people and processes into aberrations, I am not surprised you don't see how ridiculous your demand is.

eGuerrilla: @Gbawe,
You started off well by asking that we elevate the discussion.
But I am surprised you are prepared to go out on limb for a company that, by your own admission, has some connection with the Chaghourys.

I think you've set the bar dangerously low by dismissing questions others have about a bidding process - with a wave of unperturbed pragmatism - simply because a particular company has a proven history.

@All, it is at times like this that I feel Nigeria's slow adoption of open government needs to be called into question.

Look, I am no fan of the Chagoury's. You and others here are intelligent. As such, you have to understand some things are like a multiple choice question with only one correct answer. Get one aspect of the answer wrong and everything else is wrong. If Tinubu does not own HITECH, then what does that make of the slant of the article that focuses entirely on the Notion that HITECH is gaining contracts in ACN States because it is owned by Tinubu? Conveniently left out is the fact that this is a company that has existed since 1988 and has gone on to build a reputation as one of the better construction companies in Nigeria and well able to win contracts relating to the built environment on its own merit. Yet everything, for this article writer, has to be framed in a lie about Tinubu with many swallowing unthinkingly.

Guy, let us call a spade a spade. I would think you are one of those who know my opinion well enough here to understand I am pragmatic. That pragmatism comes from experience gained operating in Africa and moving beyond uninformed idealism. In fact I am currently in West Africa and everything is always the same with a Lebanese possessing the 'right calibration' being able to grow into a Chagoury while our PHD holders remain rigid folks given to over-intellectualising everything without providing solutions. They end up driving buses or leading nations astray while those without first degrees build conglomerates because they realise what matter and what does not - such as the patent mischief of this article.

For me, I simply want proof Hitech does not have the competence to win the bid it has won and we can talk. I know West Africa well enough to understand that there is corruption everywhere. What we cannot play with - and I have been consistent reiterating that - is the concept that it is competent and proven specialist solutions providers who must gain important infrastructural contracts. How does HITECH fall short in this respect for you or anyone else to the extent you can embrace the 'favouritism' submission of those who deliberately lied about the ownership of the company?

West Africa is far from perfect. In fact, the region is a joke in many aspect with Nigeria eliciting greater laughter than other Nations. Nonetheless, a solid drive towards progress, for pragmatic folks, begin with ensuring capable hands are drafted in. When that happens, it is regretful some can remain consumed with mischief to the extent issues start and end with lying about politicians owning what they do not. Here, there is no talk at all of the progressive thinking and commitment of Ogun State that has seen it shun the traditional and self-destructive model of deploying incompetent contractors or deploying start-up companies the Government itself registered two days ago through cronies. Instead, Ogun has gone with, comparatively, 'A-listers' employed in the Nigerian construction industry. It is tragic that is not the focus of this thread and some are only interested in obsessing over the lie Tinubu owns HITECH.

I don't know why some Nigerians have a propensity for hating blindly and enduringly, to the extent common sense and the need to ask obvious and logical questions flies out of the window. Yet same folks cannot apply similar 'appetite' they have for unthinking bellicosity towards reading and conquering ignorance. I may not like the Chagoury's but anyone who appreciates what they are will understand it is an insult to suggest Tinubu owns what they built over decades.


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

Chagoury group
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2011)
Founded in 1971 by Gilbert R. Chagoury and Ronald Chagoury, the Chagoury Group is headquartered in West Africa.[1] The portfolio of activities include construction and property development, flour mills, water bottling and purification, glass manufacturing, insurance, hotels, furniture manufacturing, telecommunications, transportation, IT, catering and international financing.
Contents [hide]
1 Real Estate Development
2 Industrial Division
3 Construction Division
4 Healthcare Division
5 Hotels and Catering
6 References
7 External links
[edit]Real Estate Development

Projects include the Eko Atlantic City, located next to Victoria Island in Lagos, Nigeria.[2][3] The project will be built on reclaimed land that has been lost to coastal erosion.[4][5]
[edit]Industrial Division

The Grands Moulins du Bénin Flour Mill began production in 1972 and now produces 250 metric tons of wheat flour per day, with wheat imported from France and the USA.[6]
Projects include: Port Harcourt Flour Mills; Ideal Flour Mills; Nigerial Eagle Flour Mills; Niger Delta Flour Mills; Tin Can Island; Ragolis Waters; Glassforce; Pirotech; Silhouette Furniture.
[edit]Construction Division

C & C Construction Company Limited was the first company within the construction division of the Chagoury Group of companies. Projects completed include: Ideal Flour Mills; Nigerian Eagle Flour Mills; Tin Can Island Grain Receiving Facility and associated Storage Silos; The State Security Headquarters Building in Abuja, Nigeria; A housing, school and leisure complex for Elf Petroleum Nigeria Limited; a foreshore development project in Osborne Road, Ikoyi. Current projects include: Ocean Parade Towers, a luxury residential development on Banana Island in Lagos Lagoon; The Nigerian Defence Academy.
ITB Construction is a civil engineering and construction company headquartered in Lagos and has a regional facility in Abuja. The company focuses on the construction of residential and industrial buildings. The company also manufactures pilings and provides electro-mechanical services and product, including generators. Completed projects include: The National Assembly Complex in Abuja; A residential development project of 13 floors on Victoria Island; and the design and construction of a staff housing complex of 800 units for client ALSCON's Aluminium Smelter Plant. Current projects include: Intercontinental Hotel on Victoria Islandwith 19 floors this will be the tallest building on the island); a new HQ for Magnum Trust Bank of Nigeria; and the new headquarters and office complex for TOTAL oil company in Port Harcourt.
Hitech Construction was founded in 1988, the civil engineering company specializes in general infrastructure projects including road works, street lighting, railways, drainage systems, bridges, dams, earthworks, asphalt overlay, water supply, irrigation schemes, dredging, and marine installations. Hitech's clients include: the Aluminium Smelting Company of Nigeria; the Federal Ministry of Works; Abia State Government; Bayelsa State Government; Lagos State Government; and Nigerian Breweries PLC.
Completed projects include a sea wall along Bar Beach, on Victoria Island. This is the first project of its kind in Africa to use advanced 'x-blocs', enormous x-shaped concrete blocks designed to dissipate the energy of waves.

Guys, let us raise our game. We can have our political differences but all of us, so called well-educated folks, let our Nation down if all we contribute is talk and automatic reaction that shows we don't read, think or challenge ourselves mentally. The Companies we should all have a problem with are new start-up Companies, often 'fronts' created specifically to gain lucrative contract, with no capacity,history of specialisation or competence to do the job they have been given - not HITECH that has existed since 1988 with no proof Tinubu owns the Company. In fact, The person who mentioned the Chaghoury's is more on track - and these cats are everywhere in Africa to be beyond any singular politician.

Any one interested should go to the Companies website to see their work. This is the sort of common sense logic some of us deliver here only for the OP and his ilk to begin foaming at the mouth shouting ACN hypocrite and saying we worship Tinubu when it is obvious there is absolutely nothing wrong with asking grown men to use their head and do some basic research before speaking, instead of hating blindly and enduringly . Personally, I am pragmatic enough about the reality of Nigeria to the extent I do not have issues with any established Company , regardless of its ownership, as long as said company has a proven and pertinent history of delivering results. By all account, HITECH appears a company capable of winning construction bids on its own merit and we should stop the intellectual laziness insinuating otherwise.

http://www.hitech-company.com/

Welcome
Established in 1988, Hitech is currently one of the leading Building & Civil Engineering Contractors in Nigeria. In addition to headquarters offices in Lagos, we have regional offices located in Abuja, Ibadan and Benin City.

The combination of on-site professional management and office-based engineering, design and planning staff, equipped with advanced computerised facilities, has enabled Hitech to maintain itself in the forefront of Construction and Engineering Technology in Nigeria.

Another exercise in futility. Oh well, they must appear to justify their pay even if it is with 'boju-boju' shenanigans.

la furia: politics: no permanent friend or foe.

Correct indeed. No permanent friend or foe in politics. Only "permanent interests".

jamace: GEJ should jail the person(s) that directly or indirectly included that ghost company in the payroll. This is economic sabotage!

Very funny. As if GEJ, Allison-Madueke et al will jail themselves. How many times will it be repeated that only the FG and NNPC can issue marketers Licence. Who is foolish enough to not understand that the FG and NNPC must have abetted all these fraudsters with how it was those without capacity or competence who gained marketers licence?

Are we now ridiculously suggesting to the world that things are so hideously lax in Nigeria to the extent the FG and NNPC lack the competence to vet potential fuel importers? Or is it that the FG and NNPC simply 'dashed' licence to their cronies and fronts in a deliberate conspiracy to loot Nigeria? Take your pick?

When we then say GEJ, Allison-Madueke et al are ultra-corrupt their childish and clannish fans on NL will distractingly begin throwing insults around because they are unable to accept the truth or face stark reality. How the hell is is possible to see what is written below happen without the collusion of the FG and NNPC who happen to be the only authorities who can issue Marketers licence?

The company given as Pinnacle Contractors Limited, got a total of N2.7 billion from the oil subsidy funds without supplying any litre of fuel and also without registration with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).

Demdem: This should simply tell us that we have a very in-efficient head. To even imagine that no tangible person seems to have been convicted so far ssuggests that the retardeen himself is an accomplice

Apart from even seeing anyone jailed, have we seen GEJ, when he fully can any second, bring an end to practices that perpetuate graft and keep the 'free-for-all' looting of Nigeria thriving?

Why do we still sell oil through traders?

What is any sane person to make of how the FG and the NNPC issued fuel marketers licence to many, many, many fraudsters and start-up company with no capacity or competence to engage in fuel importation? What manner of screening was the FG and NNPC conducting to the extent so many dodgy blokes and dames virtually quadrupled the number of marketers existing to scam the nation blind?

Why do we use marketers to import fuel when a top member of GEJ's economic team (Otedola) actually stated that we should be beyond that and should enter into direct negotiation with foreign refineries?

Why hand over our refineries into the ultra-corrupt hands of the NNPC, for 24 months, when that move , of all the options, is the one that predictably only guarantees failure?

Everywhere you look, it is 'more of the same' from this woeful President. Really nauseating to see that ethnic jingoism has made many Nigerians very dishonest. Like I said earlier, we all have our bias but what no one should engage in is the support of what is outrightly wrong. What are we to make of a President who has the power to totally change things yet persist in keeping things the way they are to the detriment of Nigeria? Why will Nigeria not be looted blind under GEJ when he is a President who, with his many actions and inactions, opens the door for the thieves to enter?

afam4eva: So, why have you guyz being attacking me all this while? Are we not saying the same thing...

No one is attacking you. The point is that you and others simply never relate to Fashola without mentioning Rochas, Chime, Ameachi, Akpabio et al as if everything is a competition. You should learn to love and appreciate the land you live in and the people you live amongst because no one forces any adult to live in a place they constantly feel happy to put down or with people they abhor. If you truly feel Fashola is your Governor then you will level your utterances about him, good or bad, directly and without distracting talk of SE/SS Governors.

COOLDUN: Imagine Nigerias that copy everything Americans do, but we don’t copy their simplicity, meek and humility. Take a very good look at the Barak Obama, his wife and two daughters, before and after 4 years in the office of the President of the USA. Then you look at the Nigerian president, his wife, daughters and this son that looks like trumpeter, under 1 and half year as the Nigeria president. I weep for the country. The boy is pregnant at this age. Ok ooo, we will bear the pains of the economic restructuring policies, while some will be swelling up like a bread that fell into the water. I don’t know that cassava bread can make a little boy big like this.

I am no fan of GEJ but I have to speak here as a parent. The way the boy looks has nothing to do with Jonathan's Political office. It is entirely down to parental negligence which transcends race, ethnicity, occupation , wealth et al. All parents can over-pamper their kids towards obesity because children are creatures who have not learned how to control or moderate their impulses. A child can eat 4 burgers if an irresponsible parent senselessly provides such.

Children will be gluttonous and obese in the hands of irresponsible and unthinking parents while they will be lean, fit and optimally balanced creatures in the hands of parents who make a deliberate and proactive effort to supervise all aspects, i.e physical and mental, of their children's development. Parents should ensure they remain disciplined and strict, when required, so as to ensure they do not fail their children. The stomach on that boy should ordinarily be a disgrace to his parents but such things are celebrated as a sign of 'good living' in Nigeria.

Thomas Anongu: GEJ has a lot to answer for wen d time comes. He must give account of Bayelsa State y i/c n Nigeria as a whole. Let's not deceive ourselves or sympathise wit our fantasies, GEJ is grossly incompetent to handle d nation God knows dis even d devil is aware. But One day monkey will not return from market

Totally correct. It is the very simple yet drastically transformational things GEJ has total discretion over , yet he deliberately ignores against local and international agitations , that shows he is a waste of time like others before him.

take dat: You are right that these claims are open secret but the disheartening part is that solutions to most of the problems can be ameliorated without setting up of committees if only the government can muster enough political will. Ribadu himself said during the submission of the report that government needed not to wait for the passage of the PIB before enforcing some of the recommendations. GEJ during the last media chat self proclaimed as the most successful in the fight against graft but all that is word of mouth which accounts to nothing when actions cannot be seen. GEJ's Anti corruption drive is only a mirage for now, the public perception is that this government is corrupt!

My guy, let me ask some simple questions I challenge the entire GEJ crew on Nairaland to provide answers for if they are not cowardly misfits.

(1) Why does Nigeria continue, as the only major producer of crude, to sell its oil through traders thereby perpetuating avenues of theft, corruption and outright criminality against our Nation? Why does the middleman crap exists? No government agency competent enough to negotiate directly on behalf of Nigeria? How many are aware GEJ can change this situation, in seconds, with a simple directive? Why has he not done so?

(2) Why do we, the biggest black nation on earth and one of the biggest exporter of crude oil, persevere with a model where we import refined derivative of our crude oil endowment through housewives and bricklayers who are only deemed competent 'marketers' because they are connected to influential politicians? Why do we not see a change under a man touted as "fresh air" and a "transformer" ?

Why has GEJ, when he can do so in a second, not abolished what exists currently to deliver a model, even suggested by Otedola, where Nigeria deals directly with foreign refineries instead of using marketers? Does it not make sense that an ambitious Nation , with crude oil endowment, should ensure important processes are directly and efficiently controlled by the State to the benefit of the people instead of what obtains under GEJ in Nigeria currently?

Why is it that GEJ cannot initiate simple actions he has total discretion over that would go a long way towards the genuine transformation of Nigeria? Ethnic bigotry is our biggest problem in Nigeria. It is what is preventing many from noting that undeserving and unconscionable leaders, whether Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo or Ijaw, are colluding to 'shaft' us.

shymexx: Learn from you? - learn from your disingenuous posts, and your habit of always throwing the SE into every discourse that has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with neither the region, nor people from there, no?? You need to let it go!

Everything about your posts reeks hatred, get a life....

Can you list a single project Okorocha has commissioned since he became governor?

Also list the achievements of Amaechi vis-a-vis the huge allocation Rivers state gets from the federal coffers...

Pictures don't lie - you're just too insecure for my liking...

Precisely. The geezer will never appreciates that his posts reeks of ethnocentric imbalance. Oddly, even as it matters nought, he is the person to pettily question how it is a Yoruba woman credited with being the first female driver in Nigeria. He will similarly be the only person not happy to let Ghanaians reminisce about their fond memories of Nigeria merely because those folks speak about the good times they experienced in the SW.

Let some say the Yorubas are tolerant and he will be one of those keen to introduce nonsensical argument stemming from how he assumes that statement is a negative indictment against Igbos. He will come out with lame arguments such as the "the ports and jobs are in the SW" et al - all done for the sake of never giving credit where due because of his ethnic hang-ups. He is the only non-Yoruba happy to intolerantly and ridiculously tell Yorubas what they should do with the name of a Yoruba icon - Awolowo. Dude is simply an unmitigated ethnic jingoist. Tiring guy.

anonimi: How do you know your wife is beautiful and your kids bright if you do not [size=13pt]compare[/size] her with other women and the kids to other kids' performance.
Nothing is ABSOLUTE. The amount 1 only has meaning because there is 0, 2, 3 etc.
Hope you understand

You are making a non-existent point. My point is that some are happy and entirely satisfied with what they have to the extent they focus on themselves and how good they have it. Genuinely satisfied and secure folks do not really care what others are doing. They have no interest in obsessing about others let alone be making comparisons. My little adage, which I am sure most understand, serves to show that secure, confident and fulfilled folks will not ever seek to validate their own life and existence in relation to always looking sideways to see what others are doing. Confident, secure, fulfilled and happy folks set standards and are recognised for doing that. It is those suffering from inferiority complex and low self esteem who feel better only when they compare themselves to others. It is a no-brainer.

shymexx: I don't want to derail the thread, but Rochas, Chime, Amaechi etc. should NEVER be in the same sentence with Fashola....

Fashola isn't perfect, however, he's head and shoulders above the other pretenders - no one is even close...

Precisely. It is only those who ethnicise everything that will never see or accept that. Look at the times 'flower planter' has been used on this forum to connote Fashola and note the ethnic origin of those showing wretched dishonesty saying that. As a proper Lagosian, and a mainlander from Surulere, I just laugh when I hear the "flower planter" jibe or read that Fashola neglects the mainland. Personally, I think many Nigerians are very dishonest, hateful and malevolent people.

afam4eva: You say worst things about Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP but when someone extends a similar largess to someone you like, you start crying blue murder. Whatever happened to having different opinion. At least people on this forum can ascertain that unlike you, i'm not affiliaated to any party whatsoever. So, if there's anybody that should be bias it should be you. You guys also accuse me of Tribalism yet on this same forum i keep calling for the heads of Theodoore Orji and Peter Obi. If i were a tribal cun.t, won't i be here praising Theodore Orji as the best governor in Nigeria? The sooner you're realise that not everyone is buying your ACN progressive bullshite the better. Fashola may have done considerably well in some sectors but for me he has failed woefully in human development considering the money he has at his disposal. I only cited other governors are are doing relatively well in this department because one GARRI guy asked me to. This is not the time to be emotional. Just continue spreadin your one-sided falsehood while people like us speak the truth and damn whose ox is gored. And don't forget to label us bitter tribalistic animals. Thank You.

You are just a sad case. if GEJ was performing, why would I have any issue with him? When have you seen me criticising Chime, Okorocha, Akpabio or Amaechi here? You are just a liar unwilling to face the truth about himself. It is a direct measure of bad belle that you and others from the SE/SS are the ones always 100% automatically in opposition or of ungracious views when Fashola is mentioned. Real Lagosians, such as myself, genuinely appreciate the guy because we fully remember what obtained before the guy became Governor enough to appreciate his immense effort that is acknowledged worldwide. This is perhaps what is hard for you and others to swallow. That A Yoruba administrator has so much general acceptance and broad praise that cuts across race, ethnicity and even African nationalism. Ghanaians, Kenyans, Cameroonians et al give it up for Fashola unanimously.

You are always rankled and flustered , at any mention of Fashola, to the extent you must always begin hyperventilating via mentioning other names. Simply be a man and walk the walk by taking up the option to go and live in the paradise Amaechi, Akpabio or Rochas have created instead of always attacking Fashola and Lagos. If I can't stand the UK I would not remain there bitching everyday and wistfully talking about the USA or Switzerland. I would , as a man of action, do something about that to move where I tout I would gain a better life.

If you cannot stand the SW then simply leave instead of remaining there and hypocritically acting like an enemy within by claiming other places/administrators are far better day in day out. It is a measure of you as an unmanly man that you are predisposed to doing that everyday here. It is the same way I laugh at Nairalands cowardly, empty and fraudulent pan-Africanists attacking the "evil" West daily and non-stop yet they can never develop the balls to leave the west and go to the Continent (Africa) they tell everyone is a haven of virtue.

FreeGlobe: Rubbish Fashola is a mediocre governor taking advantage of the peoples poverty ravaged mentality and media dominance in the state. What is he doing because Akwa Ibom and Enugu has built better infrastructure. Imo has empowered more people. Fashola my azz.

Folks like you and Afam4eva demonstrate, without even realising it, the inferiority complex and bad belle many Nigerians suffer from. If some are happy with their governor and always happy to praise and celebrate him publicly, why does that rankle folks like you to the extent you always have to begin 'd.1ck comparison' via talking of Ameachi, Akpabio and Rochas on a thread concerning Fashola?

Why , if you are secure men, do you not start thread to praise those folks you admire so much? Do you not realise your inferiority complex is glaring with your desire to always tout SE/SS administrator every time Fashola is mentioned? It is an indication of the inferiority complex and inadequacy you feel.

Let me give you an example. On my street, I am happy to tell everyone how I love my beautiful wife and bright kids. I am entirely happy with them. I focus on talk about my family, and never compare them to others, because , healthily and correctly, I only have eyes for them. My neigbhour, instead of doing same, always focuses on going around saying he does not understand my praise for my family considering his wife is pretty too and his kids are bright as well. Would a balanced person not wonder why he cannot just simply promote his own family rather than focus always on talking about his family in relation to mine? Does that not clearly demonstrate inferiority complex and innate feelings of inadequacy? I just don't get you guys. Why are you always driven to compare? Why not just enjoy what you have if you are genuinely content with it?

Fashola has made mistakes but he has been a consistently good and exemplary Governor. He is certainly a sincere leader whose positive legacy is assured because of his good work in Lagos.

Can anyone say it is not Nigeria being described below?


http://samvak.tripod.com/failedstate.html

A semi-failed state is a country whose government maintains all the trappings and appearances of power, legitimacy, and control. Its army and police are integral and operative. Its institutions function. Its government and parliament promulgate laws and its courts enforce them. It is not challenged by any competing military structures within its recognized borders.

Yet, the semi-failed state - while going through the motions - is dead on its feet. It is a political and societal zombie. It functions due mainly to inertia and lack of better or clear alternatives. Its population is disgruntled, hostile, and suspicious. Other countries regard it with derision, fear, and abhorrence. It is rotting from the inside and doomed to implode.

In a semi-failed state, high crime rates and rampant venality, nepotism, and cronyism affect the government's ability to enforce laws and implement programs. It reacts by adding layers of intransigent and opaque bureaucracy to an already unwieldy mammoth. The institutions of the semi-failed state are hopelessly politicized and, thus, biased, distrusted, and compromised. Its judiciary is in a state of decrepit decline as unqualified beneficiaries of patronage join the ranks.

The result is social fragmentation as traditional and local leaders, backed by angry and rebellious constituents, take matters into their own hands. Centrifugal politics supplant statehood and the nation is unable to justly and effectively balance the competing claims of the center versus the periphery.

The utter (but insidious) institutional failure that typifies the semi-failed state is usually exposed with the total disarray that follows an emergency (such as a natural disaster or a terrorist attack).

To deflect criticism and in a vain attempt to reunite its fracturing populace, the semi-failed state often embarks on military adventures (cloaked as "self-defense" or "geopolitical necessity". Empire-building is an indicator of looming and imminent disintegration. Foreign aggression replaces reconstruction and rational policy-making at home. The USA prior to the Civil War, the USSR between 1956 and 1982, federal Yugoslavia after 1989, and Nazi Germany are the most obvious examples.