Please let us add that of the President, his ministers, the Governors and their commissioners, let us start with security vote of the executive guys.

kutchs: Wait for a press release from Lie Mohammed of the ACN blaming the FG for the humilation of the lawmaker.
Am so sure that will happen before the week ends afterall it is their forte.

I hope you know that there are PDP lawmakers from the SW.

@Rossik, please remove Lagos-Ibadan from that list, that road is still as bad as anything, none of the FG roads from Lagos all the way to Ilorin through Osun state is good, my brother just travelled to Abuja from Lagos going via Ife, Akure, Okene, Lokoja to Abuja and it was complaints galore on the state of the road.

Obinoscopy:

I won't vote Buhari for the following reasons:

1. He's a weakling. He cries like a baby
2. He's a scared man. The way he ran away from power b4 the coup to overtake his govt shows you how timid he is.
3. He's a deceiver. We all knew it should be Idiagbon (bless his soul) that should take credit for the anticorruption policies during their ruleship, but he's trying to decieve us into thinking he's the one.
4. He corrupt. His days with PTF confirms it.
5. The most importantly: HE'S A TRIBAL BIGOT. Little wonder Boko Haram wanted him to be their spokesman

GEJ might be weak and dull but he's still stronger and sharper than Buhari and most importantly, he's not a bigot.

I used to think you were more of the reasonable ones, your assertions above are so disappointing, Obama cried after his election, it is called being human, on the coup issue, he was at Dodan
barracks when the coupists came, saw them in CCTV and told his guards to let them in ( thereby saving lives). Idiagbon had a stern face, Buhari had a stern heart, he had held political appointments with distinction. PTF would have been the easiest way for OBJ to deal with him, yet, he could not find anything. BH actually never said anything about him and for him to have governed gongola with a majority Christian population with Christian commissioners, says a lot about him, also, the executive secretary of PTF was a bini man.

akereconfi:

My broda no b only u o....there's an old abandoned Oil well by shell in my grand father's land here in Nyo Khana Ogoni.

West dem get oil buh nt in commercial value, just 30 minutes drilling e go dry up. So all of u ranting about oil well in the west shud STFU

That is not true, adenuga's oil company drills oil off the coast of Ondo, Chevron have also got rigs there.

eldoradoxx: they neither bombed church or school nor bus carrying innocent passengers! Atleast they attacked and killed people bearing arms(am not however justifying the killings, am a human too and I feel bad). There are therefore major differences. If boko were attacking only security agents, then we wouldn't be complaining as such.

Hope you know MEND we're robbing banks and killing innocent people, they also killed people while kidnapping their victims, there is no justification for both BH and MEND, they are both criminal organizations who should face the long arm of the law.

abdulkayod: I have followed with more than a little interest the many contributions of commentators on the surprising decision of General Muhammadu Buhari to jump into the murky waters of Nigerian politics. Most of the regular writers in the Trust stable have had something to say on this. The political adviser to a late general has transferred his services to a living one. My dear friend and prolific veterinary doctor, who like me is allegedly an ideologue of Fulani supremacy, has taken a leading emir to the cleaners based on information of suspect authenticity. Another friend has contributed an articulate piece, which for those in the know gives a bird’s eye view into the thinking within the IBB camp. A young northern Turk has made several interventions and given novel expressions to what I call the PTF connection. Some readers and writers alike have done Buhari incalculable damage by viewing his politics through the narrow prism of ethnicity and religion, risking the alienation of whole sections of the Nigerian polity without whose votes their candidate cannot succeed.

With one or two notable exceptions, the various positions for or against Buhari have focused on his personality and continued to reveal a certain aversion or disdain for deeper and more thorough analysis of his regime. The reality, as noted by Tolstoy, is that too often history is erroneously reduced to single individuals. By losing sight of the multiplicity of individuals, events, actions and inactions (deliberate or otherwise) that combine to produce a set of historical circumstances, the historian is able to create a mythical figure and turn him into an everlasting hero (like Lincoln) or a villain (like Hitler). The same is true of Buhari. There seems to be a dangerous trend of competition between two opposing camps aimed at glorifying him beyond his wildest dreams or demonizing him beyond all justifiable limits, through a selective reading of history and opportunistic attribution and misattribution of responsibility. The discourse has been thus impoverished through personalization and we are no closer at the end of it than at the beginning to a divination of the exact locus or nexus of his administration in the flow of Nigerian history. This is what I seek to achieve in this intervention through an exposition of the theoretical underpinnings of the economic policy of Buharism and the necessary correlation between the economic decisions made and the concomitant legal and political superstructure.

Taxonomy

Let me begin by stating up front the principal thesis that I will propound. Within the schema of discourses on Nigerian history, the most accurate problematization of the Buhari government is one that views it strictly as a regime founded on the ideology of Bourgeois Nationalism. In this sense it was a true off-shoot of the regime of Murtala Mohammed. Buharism was a stage the logical outcome of whose machinations would have been a transcendence of what Marx called the stage of Primitive Accumulation in his Theories of Surplus Value. It was radical, not in the sense of being socialist or left wing, but in the sense of being a progressive move away from a political economy dominated by a parasitic and subservient elite to one in which a nationalist and productive class gains ascendancy. Buharism represented a two-way struggle: with Global capitalism (externally) and with its parasitic and unpatriotic agents and spokespersons (internally). The struggle against global capital as represented by the unholy trinity of the IMF, the World Bank and multilateral “trade” organizations as well that against the entrenched domestic class of contractors, commission agents and corrupt public officers were vicious and thus required extreme measures. Draconian policies were a necessary component of this struggle for transformation and this has been the case with all such epochs in history. The Meiji restoration in Japan was not conducted in a liberal environment. The Industrial Revolution in Europe and the great economic progress of the empires were not attained in the same liberal atmosphere of the 21st Century. The “tiger economies” of Asia such as Taiwan, South Korea, Indonesia and Thailand are not exactly models of democratic freedom. To this extent Buharism was a despotic regime but its despotism was historically determined, necessitated by the historical task of dismantling the structures of dependency and launching the nation on to a path beyond primitive accumulation. At his best Buhari may have been a Bonaparte or a Bismarck. At his worst he may have been a Hitler or a Mussolini. In either case Buharism drawn to its logical conclusion would have provided the bedrock for a new society and its overthrow marked a relapse, a step backward into that era from which we sought escape and in which, sadly for all of us we remain embedded and enslaved. I will now proceed with an elaboration of Buharism as a manifestation of bourgeois economics and political economy.


The Economic Theory of Buharism

One of the greatest myths spun around Buharism was that it lacked a sound basis in economic theory. As evidence of this, the regime that succeeded Buhari employed the services of economic “gurus” of “international standard” as the architects of fiscal and monetary policy. These were IMF and World Bank economists like Dr. Chu Okongwu and Dr Kalu Idika Kalu, as well as Mr SAP himself, Chief Olu Falae (an economist trained at Yale). At the time Buhari’s Finance Minister, Dr Onaolapo Soleye (who was not a trained economist) was debating with the pro-IMF lobby and explaining why the naira would not be devalued I was teaching economics at the Ahmadu Bello University. I had no doubt in my mind that the position of Buharism was based on a sound understanding of neo-classical economics and that those who were pushing for devaluation either did not understand their subject or were acting deliberately as agents of international capital in its rampage against all barriers set up by sovereign states to protect the integrity of the domestic economy. I still believe some of the key economic policy experts of the IBB administration were economic saboteurs who should be tried for treason. When the IMF recently owned up to “mistakes” in its policy prescriptions all patriotic economists saw it for what it was: A hypocritical statement of remorse after attaining set objectives. Let me explain, briefly, the economic theory underlying Buhari’s refusal to devalue the naira and then show how the policy merely served the interest of global capitalism and its domestic agents. This will be the principal building block of our taxonomy.

In brief, neo-classical theory holds that a country can, under certain conditions, expect to improve its Balance of Payments through devaluation of its currency. The IMF believed that given the pressure on the country’s foreign reserves and its adverse balance of payments situation Nigeria must devalue its currency. Buharism held otherwise and insisted that the conditions for improving Balance of Payments through devaluation did not exist and that there were alternate and superior approaches to the problem. Let me explain.

The first condition that must exist is that the price of every country’s export is denominated in its currency. If Nigeria’s exports are priced in naira and its imports from the US in dollars then, ceteris paribus, a devaluation of the naira makes imports dearer to Nigerians and makes Nigerian goods cheaper to Americans. This would then lead to an increase in the quantum of exports to the US and a reduction in the quantum of imports from there per unit of time. But while this is a necessary condition, it is not a sufficient one. For a positive change in the balance of payments the increase in the quantum of exports must be substantial enough to outweigh the revenue lost through a reduction in price. In other words the quantity exported must increase at a rate faster than the rate of decrease in its price. Similarly imports must fall faster than their price is increasing. Otherwise the nation may be devoting more of its wealth to importing less and receiving less of the wealth of foreigners for exporting more! In consequence, devaluation by a country whose exports and imports are not price elastic leads to the continued impoverishment of the nation vis a vis its trading partners. The second, and sufficient, condition is therefore that the combined price elasticity of demand for exports and imports must exceed unity.

The argument of Buharism, for which it was castigated by global capital and its domestic agents, was that these conditions did not exist clearly enough for Nigeria to take the gamble. First our major export, oil, was priced in dollars and the volume exported was determined ab initio by the quota set by OPEC, a cartel to which we belonged. Neither the price nor the volume of our exports would be affected by a devaluation of the naira. As for imports, indeed they would become dearer. However the manufacturing base depended on imported raw materials. Also many essential food items were imported. The demand for imports was therefore inelastic. We would end up spending more of our national income to import less, in the process fuelling inflation, creating excess capacity and unemployment, wiping out the production base of the real sector and causing hardship to the consumer through the erosion of real disposable incomes. Given the structural dislocations in income distribution in Nigeria the only groups who would benefit from devaluation were the rich parasites who had enough liquidity to continue with their conspicuous consumption, the large multi-national corporations with an unlimited access to loanable funds and the foreign “investor” who can now purchase our grossly cheapened and undervalued domestic assets. In one stroke we would wipe out the middle class, destroy indigenous manufacturing, undervalue the national wealth and create inflation and unemployment. This is standard economic theory and it is exactly what happened to Nigeria after it went through the hands of our IMF economists under IBB. The decision not to devalue set Buharism on a collision course with those who wanted devaluation and would profit from it-namely global capitalism, the so-called “captains of industry” (an acronym for the errand boys of multinational corporations), the nouveaux-riches parasites who had naira and dollars waiting to be spent, the rump elements of feudalism and so on. Buharism therefore was a crisis in the dominant class, a fracturing of its members into a patriotic, nationalist group and a dependent, parasitic and corrupt one. It was not a struggle between classes but within the same class. A victory for Buharism would be a victory for the more progressive elements of the national bourgeoisie. Unfortunately the fifth columnists within the military establishment were allied to the backward and retrogressive elements and succeeded in defeating Buharism before it took firm root. But I digress.

Having decided not to devalue or to rush into privatization and liberalization Buharism still faced an economic crisis it must address. There was pressure on foreign reserves, mounting foreign debt and a Balance of Payments crisis. Clearly the demand for foreign exchange outstripped its supply. The government therefore adopted demand management measures. The basic principle was that we did not really need all that we imported and if we could ensure that our scarce foreign exchange was only allocated to what we really needed we would be able to pay our debts and lay the foundations for economic stability. But this line of action also has its drawbacks.

First, there are political costs to be borne in terms of opposition from those who feel unfairly excluded from the allocation process and who do not share the government’s sense of priorities. Muslims for example cursed Buhari’s government for restricting the number of pilgrims in order to conserve foreign exchange.

Second, in all attempts to manage demand through quotas and quantitative restrictions there is room for abuse because there is always the incentive of a premium to be earned through circumvention of due process. Import licenses become “hot cake” and the black market for foreign exchange highly lucrative. This policy can only succeed if backed by strong deterrent laws and strict and enforcible exchange rules. Again it is trite micro-economic theory that where price is fixed below equilibrium the market is only cleared through quotas and the potential exists for round tripping as there will be a minority willing and able to offer a very high price for the “artificially scarce” product. So again we see that the harsh exchange control and economic sabotage laws of Buharism were a necessary and logical fallout of its economic theory.

Conclusion

I have tried to show in this intervention what I consider to be the principal building blocks of the military government of Muhammadu Buhari and the logical connection between its ideology, its economic theory and the legal and political superstructure that characterized it. My objective is to raise the intellectual profile of discourse beyond its present focus on personalities by letting readers see the intricate links between disparate and seemingly unrelated aspects of that government, thus contextualizing the actions of Buharism in its specific historical and ideological milieu. I have tried to review its treatment of politicians as part of a general struggle against primitive accumulation and its harsh laws on exchange and economic crimes as a necessary fallout of economic policy options. Similarly its treatment of drug pushers reflected the patriotic zeal of a bourgeois nationalist establishment.

As happens in all such cases a number of innocent people become victims of draconian laws, such as a few honest leaders like Shehu Shagari and Balarabe Musa who were improperly detained. The reality however is that many of those claiming to be victims today were looters who deserved to go to jail but who would like to hide under the cover of a few glaring errors. The failure of key members of the Buhari administration to tender public and unreserved apology to those who may have been improperly detained has not helped matters in this regard.

This raises a question I have often been asked. Do I support Buhari’s decision to contest for the presidency of Nigeria? My answer is no. And I will explain.

First, I believe Buhari played a creditable role in a particular historical epoch but like Tolstoy and Marx I do not believe he can re-enact that role at will. Men do not make history exactly as they please but, as Marx wrote in the 18th Brumaire, “in circumstances directly encountered, given and transmitted from the past.” Muhammadu Buhari as a military general had more room for manoevre than he can ever hope for in Nigerian Politics.

Second, I am convinced that the situation of Nigeria and its elite today is worse than it was in 1983.Compared to the politicians who populate the PDP, ANPP and AD today, second republic politicians were angels. Buhari waged a battle against second republic politicians, but he is joining this generation. Anyone who rides a tiger ends up in its belly and one man cannot change the system from within. A number of those Buhari jailed for theft later became ministers and many of those who hold key offices in all tiers of government and the legislature were made by the very system he sought to destroy. My view is that Nigeria needs people like Buhari in politics but not to contest elections. Buhari should be in politics to develop Civil Society and strengthen the conscience of the nation. He should try to develop many Buharis who will continue to challenge the elements that have hijacked the nation.

Third, I do not think Nigerians today are ready for Buhari. Everywhere you turn you see thieves who have amassed wealth in the last four years, be they legislators, Local Government chairmen and councilors, or governors and ministers. But these are the heroes in their societies. They are the religious leaders and ethnic champions and Nigerians, especially northerners, will castigate and discredit anyone who challenges them. Unless we start by educating our people and changing their value system, people like Buhari will remain the victims of their own love for Nigeria.

Fourth, and on a lighter note, I am opposed to recycled material. In a nation of 120million people we can do better than restrict our leadership to a small group. I think Buhari, Babangida and yes Obasanjo should simply allow others try their hand instead of believing they have the monopoly of wisdom.

Having said all this let me conclude by saying that if Buhari gets a nomination he will have my vote (for what it is worth). I will vote for him not, like some have averred, because he is a northerner and a Muslim or because I think his candidacy is good for the north and Islam; I will vote for him not because I think he will make a good democrat or that he was not a dictator. I will vote for Buhari as a Nigerian for a leader who restored my pride and dignity and my belief in the motherland. I will vote for the man who made it undesirable for the “Andrews” to “check out” instead of staying to change Nigeria. I will vote for Buhari to say thank you for the world view of Buharism, a truly nationalist ideology for all Nigerians. I do not know if Buhari is still a nationalist or a closet bigot and fanatic, or if he was the spirit and not just the face of Buharism. My vote for him is not based on a divination of what he is or may be, but a celebration of what his government was and what it gave to the nation.

Give Sanusi credit nau.

Dede1: @OP

This is another nonsensical feel-happy and pity-seeking conjecture from a Yoruba. Major Nzeogwu was not even assigned to arrest Brig S. Ademulegun talk less of killing him.

So you are disputing her submissions? Why are you this callous? A six year old saw her mum shot by someone she called uncle and you are writing this rubbish here?

Crayola1:

If you notice in the countries you listed English is a part of their curriculum

They all learn English in conjunction with their native language.

The same in China they learn English to read romanizations of Chinese words.

Stop digging, Yoruba has its own alphabets, the language is also tonal unlinke English, a Yoruba does not need to learn English in order to read and write his own language.

Billyonaire: I stated Ila Oragun cos I spent 12 months there, but I have also been to Ibadan (Oyo State), Ede (obviously the NYSC camp is there) (Osun State), I have also been to Ondo State, and Ogun State. I have not been to Ekiti State yet, and I am here in Lagos State. So Basically, I have been to roughly 5 Yoruba States and Lagos happens to be the only Yoruba state I can give a pass mark. I need you to travel to 5 States within my protectorate and then you might decide to shift your grounds. I am not biased in my judgement here, but I can call up my little cousin that's 12yrs old and has never traveled out of my state since birth, and he will speak London Queen's English without any mistakes with adept knowledge of world's politics and Economies. But 20yrs old adults in JSS 3 in the school i lectured during NYSC could not understand English Language. I gave up! Anyway, that was over 10yrs ago, a lot may have changed, and I hope it does.

Where is your protectorate? If it is SE, then forget it, all the stuff you saw in Osun is replicated there and more.

Janus thanks jare, one might not agree with all he says, but, his articles always call for sober reflection.

taharqa: As we talk about d seeming Reckless spending of Gov Akpabio, lets also not forget to talk about how perhaps, NO oda Gov in Nigeria since d return of Democracy hv done more work on INFRASTRUCTURE in their state than dis same Gov Akpabio...... Cut down d unnecessary spending Gov, but continue d Development in yr state

BSHIT, everything he has done in that state will not reflect if it is brought to Lagos, give props to Danjuma Goje, though he is a thief and a BH appeaser, he developed Gombe State.

Gbawe:

"Defend" ourselves from what? The OP is a decent person siding with what is right, even if not Yoruba, unlike fence-sitting "e no consign us" folks like you who cannot simply stand up in defence of what is right. Why should Sanusi Lamido, given the reality of Nigeria, say such thing that destroys the reconciliatory spirit and healing conduct many decent Yorubas embrace when they deliberately refrain from generalising against the North?

We all know political Boko Haram, likely to be the end of Nigeria if unchecked, is a creation exclusively sponsored and abetted by Northern politician. No other area in Nigeria host politicians who wickedly and inhumanly imprisoned their own with illiteracy, underdevelopment and backwardness more than the North.

How dare Sanusi make such a claim, all things factored in, against a people who will be regarded, by any neutral non-Nigerian, as part of the fabric that has kept Nigeria peaceful and whole?

Sanusi Lamido, even as I once held him in decent esteem, is not a fair or even principled man. How have the Yorubas, by any stretch of the imagination, constituted themselves to be "the problem of Nigeria" more than the Hausa/Fulani or anyone else for that matter? I am one of those who argues we should look forward, never backward, but the likes of Sanusi Lamido should refrain from dishonest and self-deluding revisionism that sees him portraying his own people as saints while pointing the finger at others when we should all be uniting to move forward with a dedication to modern principles making others great .

What Sanusi Lamido wrote, never mind it was in the past, is the bane of Nigeria's development even if many of us are too myopic to see it. I will never support such as him to lead Nigerian in a higher capacity. He should learn from Ribadu because his utterance marks him out as a disgrace to the North and an example of the arrogant 'throwback' born-to-rule leaders in the region who have a thinly-disguised disdain for others.

I hope you know that Sanusi wrote articles deriding his people as being part of the problems as well, do not take that article in isolation, he has written other articles castigating the major tribes, I do not agree with him that Yorubas are the problems of the nation but, I believe our elites with the elites of other tribes are the problem.

The carrot and the stick approach is still the best option, those in BH who have killed must be brought to Justice and the law should deal with them, those innocents caught in the crossfire, those who are helpless, the unemployed, should be rehabilitated. I laugh at those who try to distinguish between MEND and BH, they are one and the same, MEND killed many many innocent people, some were killed in bank robberies, in the fight for supremacy between the mend terrorists, even those who were on a mission to negotiate peace were also gunned down, there is no difference between MEND and BH. Tinubu's assertion is what makes sense, apply the stick and the carrot to the two ends e of the donkey.

koruji: Double wahala for dead PDP and the mouthpieces of dead PDP.
Yeye dey smell like head of dead fish.

He forgot to note that OBJ and PDP put enough stumbling blocks in the way of Tinubu, it was Yar Adua's that finally allowed the LASG to start that project with the approval of their takeover of the road.

In Afam's haste to be tribalistic, he did not comprehend the writer's play on words, Ali is the Igala (antelope) from Igala, not that the Igalas are antelopes.

I will tell the caller to go play with himself, I can not work for someone I do not respect.

TechRev:

Spot on. But ACN and CPC knows that very few nigerians are into webhosting and so know few know how possible it is.
In case you dont know,

You can send an email with any email address as the sender!! If you doubt it put a bet on it or just google it.

Actually it is not that correct, if my smtp server is configured to check your domain information first, your mail will never reach me, it is a sort of reverse path forwarding, my server checks that the mail is coming from the actual domain by checking up on your domain registration.

taharqa: Lagos state presently has sm of d worst primary health care system and hospital in d country, so anytin dat wud help to reduce d shame is welcomd whether its a colla bw d State Govt and Zenith Bank Or even d FG. Dis seem like a small contributn but it is in d right directn... LSG shld do smtin really fast about d state's primary health care in colla wit d LGAs and LGDAs(who like most of dier counterpacts across d country are SLEEPING, even though they are d actual 'owners' of Primary health)

Where do you get this nonsense from, all of my kids use the primary health care center close by and it is okay, my mother in law does the same, primary health care centers is one of the areas Fashola has done well.

Murphy T:

just that? I was expecting more

That was my personal experience na, haba.

manny4life: IMO, the man may have achieved much, his reputation may as well speak for itself, but let's keep n mind that there are better candidates out there that can revolutionize the aviation industry. While his achievement was there, let's not forget the several mishaps and incursions that has occurred under his watch. He has served his nation well, he should move onto other things.

Yeah there are, but why sack him, why not allow him finish his tenure? He has been dealt a bad hand, hopefully, someone better is appointed.

I believe it was a wrong decision, I had a sort of professional cum personal experience with him, a client of mine got a contract to install a Satellite link for the NCAA office close to the international airport, this was during the US certification process, the guy who got it dilly dallied on the project and Demuren did not waste time to cancel the contract, also, he did not pay a dime though the guy provided an alternative and had spent a lot on the project.

venorite: Rate this picture on scale 1-10 of obasanjo In 1978 with the then american president jimmy carter
My rate -9 I think his swag is spotless

Carter looked like houseboy.

mikeansy: I think ACN can start by listing Boko-Harram's demands and tell Nigerians which of the known Boko Harram demands they wish to concede to. That is what responsible opposition parties do!!!!

ACN should tell Nigerians which of the following demands by Boko Harram they are will to concede to:

1. Suspension of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
2. Practicing Full Blown Sharia in all parts of Nigeria
3. Rejection of Western Education / Civilization
4. Prevention of Girls from going to School

Which of these demands are ACN willing to accept? that should form the basis of any dialogue on amnesty.

But Jonathan is already talking to them, is he also going to grant them those wishes?

What I can get from the discussions here is that it is okay for foreigners to own a very large percentage of our oil, even if we are being cheated by the so called foreigners.

werepeLeri: I thought they said committees dont make things work?

This is not a committee to appraise the work of another one.

taharqa: NO. Plz read tru d article again. The ECA is a SUBSET of Foreign Reserves. She admittd that much in dis article. If we say that today that the Reserves is $48bn, we also mean that that is INCLUSIVE of almost $11bn in d ECA- you dont add d $11bn to $48bn and say d Reserves is $59bn. This was exactly d point sm of us hv bn trying to get across to FRUSTRATED 'SUBHUMANS' like @Demdem.... There was NEVER $67bn Reserves at any time. OBJ left a little above $45bn (ECA inclusives)

Okay I get you now, set theory never interested me that much

omonnakoda:

If you feel insulted by being called a boy then really you have no business on the internet and need to do some soul-searching about your self esteem. There is an issue somewhere.
I did not speak to you directly in the first instance .It was the other way round. With all the respect I can find and borrow your argument that Excess crude and SWF are "RESERVES" was tangential and in that context "meaningless". I did not say you are meaningless so do not take it personal. That is the way the English language is used and has a different culture to African languages. If you are accused of speaking "rubbish" and take that as an insult as many Yorubas probably would then perhaps you should confine yourself to a Yoruba Language forum.

The substance of your post was that Ajanlekoko "called" SWF and ECA accounts reserves= GENERIC NAME. Sir that is absolute nonsense! He was responding to the article and at no point was that even remotely suggested. As such for me to engage you you in what ultimately has become a meaningless argument is a waste of time.

I actually qualified my statement as regards his intention, I suggest you chill, you are taking this too serious.

taharqa: I just dey laugh. So its not $67bn, but $45bn (since d ECA is a SUBSET of d Foreign Reserves as she just admittd). The Govt guys were right aftall.... By d way, what took Ezekwesili this long to mk dis clarification. She shld be careful so that Politics and a quest for Power by sm people, do not destroy whateva reputatn she has of not bn friviolous..... Ova now to those Resident IJIOTS who were arguing with sm of us when dis issue were trending then. @Gbawe, @Demdem, @Omo-koko, @Lacasa, @Seanten1, @Garriman, etc

The total still stands at 67 billion sha, anyway, we need to look at why our "reserves" are this low during this boom period.

coolkris: Northerners are wicked people..despite the large amount of billionaires in thier land they fail to train thier people..this is the case of hard core wickedness

Northern leaders you mean, their governors have abdicated their responsibilities, Northern people are some of the nicest people in Nigeria.