₦airaland Forum

The Beam: Sir,
While your line of argument initially looks correct, logical reasoning points out that your conclusion that he's the best ever candidate for the job, based on the wrong assumption that the strength of his qualifications alone make him untouchable by all other candidates is faulty.

Certs and books do not necessarily make a person the best option for a role. There are several other factors to consider and while our past DG may have possessed these in abundant quality, there might just be someone better out there.

So if we should base our arguments on so and so awards, then OBJ (arguably the worst leader in Nigerian history) should have been left as life president so as not to upset the balance and he had loads of awards too. I mean he still chairs a lot of committees on Ecowas and AU boards.

Or let's take Barcelona for example, they had an excellent coach in Rijkaard who just had a bad season and they ousted him for Guardiola because, the mgt saw that in the grand scheme of things, Pep was a better choice in the long-term than Rijkaard even though no one knew him then especially compared to Rijkaard's excellent credentials.

The only problem/difficulty I see in this debacle is the assumption we'll have to make that GEJ and his team of incompetents who don't even know how to perform the most basic of functions actually has considered the long-term implication of leaving Demuren in office and decided it wasn't wise.

These questions of tribalism and politicising of appointments would not have arisen if we had a credible administrator as a president!

But then, the joke is on us; WE ELECTED HIM!

NB: I'm a Nigerian and I don't belong 2 any tribe.

ibrobell: if u ask me i think the gov has really tried . not that he is perfect but he has performed above average. flood has been a major problem in lagos but of recent with the heavy rainfall, flood has reduced greatly. To me thats a pragmatic approach to situations

Maxymilliano: Talking of a bandwagon mentality, so I'm now a dishonest person just because I don't see things through the same lens with you? Anyway, there's very little the righteous can do when the foundation is faulty, the PIB is very much available if you care instead of your usual blanket condemnation without taking into cognizance the proffered remedy.

Maxymilliano: Dunno what you meant by 'entire GEJ crew' the fact that people have contrary opinions against yours sometimes shouldn't be a basis for unnecessary tags and name-callings, divergent of opinions on pertinent issues is one of the attributes of democracy, it is unwarrentable to label people just because their opinion differs from yours. But to hazard some response to your post, I like to remind you that we are currently operating a democratic settings and expecting the president to take 'simple action' is just simplistic.

The use of middlemen and traders in oil deals is not a new phenomenon, same can also be said on the use of marketers to sourced back refined crude oil. Calling on the government to change the current situation in seconds with a simple directive will amount to treating complex issues and problems as more simple than they really are.

The trend has been with us since the military era, and if the military which governs by decrees and fiat could still employed middlemen both in selling and buying of crude and refined crude instead of halting it with 'simple directives', what does that tells you about the system? Have you asked yourself why OBJ despite his hard stance on corruption in the petroleum industry and keeping same portfolio under his office for effective monitoring could still not rein in the monster.

The extant laws that guides the operations in oil industry and the various agencies lax, the essence of the PIB is to strengthen this flaws and make it stronger. Most of what you asked is already captured in the PIB, that is why part of the PART 1 Objectives of the bill is to promote the development of Nigerian content in the petroleum industry where roles of middlemen and traders will be taken over by government agencies, the bill also went further to explain the composition of such agency and its objectives.

The soft copy of the PIB is readily available on the internet and I will advice you to peruse it thoroughly to understand some of the government actions and inactions as it relates to the oil industry.

The probe also said Nigeria was the only nation to sell all its crude through international oil traders rather than directly to refineries, adding that such trades were often opaque.

Informal trading

It said some international oil traders who were not “on the approved master list of customers” had been sold crude oil “without a formal contract” so little could be obtained about the details of these deals, which can be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

“This logically will serve to reduce margins obtainable on sale of crude oil,” the report said.

¶3. (C N/F) On April 6, Femi Otedola, President and CEO of
Zenon Petroleum and Gas, the largest supplier of diesel fuel
in Nigeria, essentially corroborated Finlayson's report.
Otedola said over $300 million has been overpaid by NNPC for
fuel imports, and that many leading international traders are
involved. According to Otedola, NNPC contracts to pay its
suppliers the market price on the day a ship is loaded with
fuel. He said NNPC recently discovered, however, that bills
of lading were altered to reflect loading on days of high
market prices. Discrepancies were found when comparing dates
on the bills of lading with dates of landing in Lagos.
¶4. (C N/F) Pointing to examples, Otedola said that while a
tanker loading fuel at a refinery in Bahrain usually takes
four weeks to arrive in Lagos, comparisons between the bills
of lading and dates of arrival of some shipments reflected
only a four-day difference, and in other cases, if taken at
face value, indicated the journey took nine months. Otedola
said 73 shipments from refineries in the Persian Gulf,
England, and Venezuela listed delivery times of only one day.
NNPC is attempting to get compensation for the over-charge.
Otedola went on that most of the fuel traders supplying
Nigeria are implicated in over-charging NNPC, and showed a
list of 17 companies that supplied fuel in the first quarter
of 2004, several of which, he said, are significant players
in international markets, such as Trafigura and Vitol.
Otedola added that three companies clearly not involved in
the scandal are British Petroleum, ChevronTexaco and Shell.
¶5. (C N/F) [size=14pt]Otedola recommended that NNPC stop contracting
with international fuel traders and negotiate purchases
directly from refineries worldwide.[/size] According to him, such a
move would have two positive effects. Otedola calculates
that NNPC would save some four billion dollars a year in
expenditures on imported fuel. (Note: Prior to deregulation
in October 2003, NNPC, then the sole importer of fuel, lost
two billion dollars per year because it sold stock to
retailers below purchase price. After October 2003, NNPC
initially stopped subsidizing fuel sales, letting marketers
import fuel to be sold at market prices. However, sources
agree that NNPC is back in the business of subsidizing
gasoline sales while it maintains a facade of deregulation by
encouraging private marketers to import fuel that NNPC
purchases at market price. NNPC then sells the fuel to
marketers and retailers at a reduced price to ensure that
those companies maintain a profit margin while holding
consumer prices to informal caps set by the Department of
Petroleum Resources. End Note.)

adahib: It won't stop amazing me when i see people jumping up to label every write-up aimed at exposing the massive rot in this jonathan's administration as lies. isn't it obvious that this is an administration of thieves chaired by a weakling? one doesn't need to read the numerous articles to appreciate the massive looting that has been going on. for those of you defending jonathan,kindly name one of the subsidy thieves who is currently in jail.fighting corruption is not just about setting up an array of committees whose reports are only scrutinized by other committees and never acted upon.that said,i really do not think any political party at present will do better.look at all the states ruled by other parties,are they in any way better than pdp? i really don't think so.what we need in this country is a leader who has no party affiliations and hence can't be dictated to by such.a leader who is selfless.until then,nigeria and nigerians will keep suffering from the likes of jonathan and his ilk.

blacksta: As somebody earlier stated that The chain of command is as follows " Perm Sec reports to Commissioner who then reports to the Governor "

sheyguy: Lol . . . . I wonder what she wants to do in that office in the first place. Seems somebody somewhere is trying to play cheap politics.

Jonathan’s wife appointment as perm sec shocking – NBA

JULY 13, 2012 BY SUCCESS NWOGU AND MIKE ODIEGWU 306 COMMENTS

Chairman, Nigerian Bar Association, Ilorin branch, Mr. Rafiu Balogun, and leader of Committee of Muslim Organisations, Kwara State, Prof. Shehu Jimoh, on Thursday in Ilorin, described the appointment of the wife of the President, Dame Patience Jonathan as one of the 17 new Permanent Secretaries in Bayelsa State civil service as surprising and shocking.

Balogun, in an interview with our correspondent on Thursday said the appointment was surprising and puzzling.

He said the President’s wife could not have merited the appointment as the office of permanent secretary was not a political appointment but career based.

He also alleged that such an appointment indicated that the Presidency was condoning corruption.

“I was flabbergasted and puzzled when I heard it. I do not know what this country is turning to if that is the truth. I do not know what could have informed that decision, for the First Lady now to become a permanent secretary. How did they come about it? It is so incongruous and quite uncalled for. It is ridiculous.

“She could not have attained that position. She will be there doing nothing, just being redundant. It is not a political office.”

Also Jimoh said the appointment was surprising. He said it was puzzling how the wife of Nigeria’s President become a permanent secretary.

Meanwhile, Investigations by our correspondent revealed that the appointment had unsettled the various ministries in the Bayelsa State as many employees in the civil service were shocked at the development.

The Congress for Progressive Change described the appointment as a huge, cynical joke, lamenting that the administration of Jonathan had been turned into a theatre of humour.

Beaf: So why did you post it? Are you a comedian?

salaksmana: But look at your first post now, they never talked about contributing to the FG's project, they even name it O-POWER, stop deceiving this illiterates now.

wesley80: ^^^ Buhahahahahah! You don't say. So that's what uncle Aregbe is spending all those dough for? LMAO!

The civil engineering work, which would cost N300 million, is the contribution of the state to the project in conjunction with UNIDO.

salaksmana: No need for long essays now, it's not Aregbe's project period. Imagine the number of people they will deceive with this. Aregbe provide free train transport during festive period, he started telling people he brought back rail transport to State of Osun. Kai kai kai, one thing Oyinlola & Akande will not do-telling lies.

wesley80: Perhaps you failed to notice the "smallest" plant is what's being built in O - state. A state that raises 300million to partly fund a 15kw plant - the least among a grp of ten should not foool its citizens into thinking its carrying out some huge Aregbe-initiated project!

wesley80: Oh plssssssssssss! Have some class Gbawe will you? What's this drivel? Didn't you read the piece and see the number of states that were "selected" for the project? Sometimes the honourable thing to do is bury your head in shame. To think you knew all of these but still preferred to paint this as an O - state initiative, pathetic!

wesley80: GBAWE, is this the same project Aregbesola is getting praise to the high heavens for? Is NASENI now an O-state Agency?


I eagerly await your response.

While UNIDO awaits Nigeria's Counterpart Funding

in the late 2007, UNIDO called NASENI to a Stakeholders Meeting on the Local Manufacturing of Small Hydro Power Equipment in the African region. NASENI has been selected as the Host Agency and the Representative of the Nigerian Government on the Project. While UNIDO awaits Nigeria's Counterpart Funding, Crossflow Turbine has been selected for the first production involving Nigerian engineers and using local technology.

yinchar: Really i dont know why some people are just simply antagonist, this is a good project with N300million compared to N7.5Billion for the clearing of rocks at Asaba by Uduaghan....

Beaf:
No quotes from Osun Defender and Ovation today?
Shallow minded twerp.

"When I took over in Edo State, the recurrent was like 70 per cent and capital 30 per cent. Even with the new minimum wage, our recurrent is 40 per cent while capital is 60 per cent.

"We had to cut down on unnecessary expenses. Since the Minister of Finance (Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala) is new she needs to start on a clean sheet. I think the starting point is to revisit the way the Federation Account is being managed.

oyb:
gbawe save this for future  

beaf just called amaechi and oshiomole lazy governors

Face to face with Gov Amosun
Wednesday, 17 August 2011 00:00 By Ikechukwu James Opinion - Letters


SIR: Permit me a space in your newspaper to comment on an event that took place in Ogun State during the last environmental sanitation exercise. I go to Abeokuta once in a while to visit my childhood friend and colleague at a place called Itoku.

While attempting to dash across the road, I saw a convoy of vehicles without the usual sirens blaring at the highest decibels. I thought since it was a sanitation day, there was probably no need to use sirens and chase other road users away from the road with rawhide whips and barrels of gun.

Suddenly, all the vehicles pulled up a few metres from where I stood. Of course, that naturally drew my attention. I moved close like others to look at the big man in the convoy. I then saw a man in a T-shirt and pair of trousers. ‘Is this the governor, is he an athlete?’ I muttered to myself.

But the greatest surprise was that the governor felt so comfortable exchanging pleasantries with the ordinary citizens. He then addressed the people who had suddenly formed a throng around him, urging them to always take an active part in the sanitation exercise and promising to repair their road with immediate effect.

That encounter was a pleasant surprise to me. The governor, I was told, does not use sirens. I then began to wonder why elected public officials should be blaring sirens day and night with their security details beating and insulting other road users, including those that put them in office through their votes.

If such public functionaries truly won their elections, why should they be afraid to chat with their people in the most ordinary way? Why should you be afraid or run away from the same people that voted you into office?

I didn’t really know anything about the governor but the 20 minutes he spent at Itoku on that fateful day impressed me. I therefore encourage other public office holders to take their cue from Ogun State. Political power is transient; it is the people that count in a democracy.

Owerri, Imo State

Author of this article: By Ikechukwu James

Beaf:
Sharrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrap dia!!

I will comment on any state in Nigeria as I wish, you bigot. Aregbesola is bloody useless, it is shameless people like you that go about propping all sorts of scarecrows with spurious arguments, only to turn up your noses at other governors, because they are not from your state or ethnic group.

When did it become a crime to condemn useless leaders in Nigeria, because I'm not from their state? What a disgraceful and closed-minded position to take, there can be very few things less idiotic than such; maybe it should go in the guiness book of records if theres a section for bigotry.

it is shameless people like you that go about propping all sorts of scarecrows with spurious arguments,

Beaf:
Aregbesola only chose his commissioners like a week ago after spending almost a year living in Lagos and junketting to China.
Now he wants to build Chinese roads almost year after taking office. Its like comedy.

The latest from the man is that he claims he wasn't elected to pay workers. I really really pity Osun state; they deserve much better.

PointB:
He should do something already. Most governors has blazed the trail already. While Aregbesola is waiting for the rain and now the Chinese. Didn't he planned to be governor? Why is taking so much time to get moving,  and doing? Na wa ooo. This Aregbesola self! If he is incompetent he should resign. I am sure there  better people in his party/state. This sort of slow motion is not good, whether from GEJ/PDP or Rauf/ACN.