Femi Otedola's Story Makes More Sense

http://telegraphafrica.com/2012/06/12/femi-otedolas-story-makes-more-sense/

David Cameron Leaves Daughter In A Pub

http://telegraphafrica.com/2012/06/11/david-cameron-leaves-daughter-in-a-pub/
By Obi Okafor

Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron left his eight-year-old daughter in a pub after he had enjoyed an afternoon meal with his family and two other families.

The Prime Minister lunched with his wife and three children at The Plough in Cadsen, Bucks before taking his eye off his eldest daughter Nancy.

After the meal, the family gathered their belongings and Mr Cameron hopped into a car with his bodyguards while his wife Samantha followed behind with their younger children Elwen, six and Florence, 22 months.

Mr Cameron assumed that his daughter Nancy was in the car with his wife while Samantha Cameron thought Nancy had decided to leave in her father’s car.

When both cars pulled up to Chequers, two miles away, the Camerons realised she wasn’t with them and immediately rushed to telephone the pub whose staff assured them that Nancy had been found alone in the lavatory and was being taken care of.

Mr Cameron jumped into the car and made a beeline for the pub where he was reunited with his daughter 15 minutes later.

Downing Street has confirmed that the incident happened after a Sunday lunch but did not give a time or date.

Britons are puzzled at how the Prime Minister could forget his daughter in a pub and wonder why the security officials did not carry out a simple head count. In an age where terrorists often target Western leaders, it also raises questions about Britain’s internal security apparatus.



http://telegraphafrica.com/2012/06/11/david-cameron-leaves-daughter-in-a-pub/

Heartless Sanusi Lamido Sanusi
http://telegraphafrica.com/2012/06/10/heartless-sanusi-lamido-sanusi/
By Yinka Odumakin

I was one of those who opposed the appointment of Sanusi Lamiido Sanusi as the Central Bank Governor when the late Umaru Ya’aradua nominated him for the exalted office in 2009.

My reason for considering him unfit for the office was not because he lacked the knowledge and intellect for the office but rather because I found him impetuous and his thoughts on national issues showed a narrow man whose lenses do not see beyond the prism of his own agenda.

His thoughts on other nationalities in Nigeria were either rude,condescending and when at his best patronising.

Anyone who doubts the above should read most of his sabre-rattling views and commentaries before he became the CBN Governor.The Number 1 banker for the country should not be a man with such strong political views which negate the liberal mindset that is required to handle the apex bank.

He eventually assumed the office of the CBN Governor and has since carried himself about with all the swagger of an aristocrat and in the process did a lot of incalculable damage to the economy through his whimsical actions whose results are already staring us in the face.

Dele Sobowale in his piece titled “Another Banking Crisis Coming Up” in VANGUARD of May7,2012 rightly opined that If anyone had asked Sanusi Lamido Sanusi three years ago his choice between becoming the Emir of Kano and the Governor of Central Bank; he would have chosen the former.” But like Prince Charles of Britain, whose mother, Queen Elizabeth II, has reigned since 1952, and is still going strong, Lamido too must wait indefinitely to pursue his ultimate ambition – which does not include being remembered as a great banker. Banking was just something to do while waiting.

That was why, unlike his predecessor, he did not lobby much for the job; instead the job came looking for him. That might have explained his distractions and his aloofness bordering on arrogance.”

In what appears a glimpse into Sanusi’s mishandling of the banking sector I quote Mr Sobowale copiously:

“When Sanusi took over,he proceeded to dismantle the Soludo legacy. And although, there is no indication he intends to erect a monument, he will all the same. The crisis might occur before he goes to Kano for the coronation. It is brewing with a fury known only to beer Brewmasters.

Most banking crises start from one incident, a breach of the rules and regulations, in one bank which benefits a few people; gets copied by other banks or is repeated by the same bank until it becomes routine. The current case involving the former Managing Director of the defunct Intercontinental Bank, Plc and the former governor of Kwara State is one of the two examples which will be examined today to round up this warning.

As stated last week, if the allegations are proved beyond reasonable doubt, the the Governor of the Central Bank must bear a significant portion of the blame for appointing someone whose track record had been revealed as questionable in the past.

At the moment the focus is on one allegation pertaining to granting waivers to Senator Saraki’s firms under questionable circumstances and releasing the securities for the loan prematurely; thereby leaving the bank holding to thin air for its exposure – N9 to 11 billion worth of it. One can only pray it is not true; for the sake of Mr Alabi; more for the sake of Senator Saraki and for the sake of the Nigerian banking sector.

That incident raises several questions to which this writer already has some answers. The first is, was that the only loan handled in this manner? If not, how many more loans are involved? For those who might not grasp the implications of those questions, let me quickly explain

The next question is for the Central Bank to answer. Are there no guidelines which must be followed before a bank can grant this magnitude of a waiver? If, yes, were they followed and did CBN examiners to the bank check these? If not, how could the examiners have missed this huge write off?

The more you look, the more it can be seen that the CBN was somehow derelict in its duties and its responsibilities to the shareholders of the bank who had no say in the appointment of the Managing Directors. And, if it was careless in one case how can the stakeholders in the banking sector have confidence that this is an isolated case. Information reaching me suggests it is not.

When we turn to the pension scandal, one is appalled and the heart melts. Here the rules and regulations guiding deposits by individuals, as well as opening of accounts are so clear that no banker can claim ignorance of them. There is the “Know Your Customer” principle and the mandatory requirement to report deposits of one million or more into an individual account.

Yet virtually all the banks conspired with old and new customers to launder stolen pension funds belonging to millions of individuals. Even with the rather lenient penalties attached to these offences, the banks face billions of naira in penalties directly; and billions more in claims from affected groups indirectly.

In these cases we are not talking about a few individuals but a systemic and pervasive violation of the laws. The bankers who have appeared at public hearings have sounded like people interested in passing the buck and running for the border than people certain of their innocence. Heads, again will roll.”

Sanusi, this time, should not be allowed to single-handedly appoint new Chief Executive Officers to replace those who might be implicated.

The obvious question; to which there is also an obvious answer is: why did so many bankers risk their careers and the fortunes of their banks by engaging in widespread money laundering? The answer is “they were desperate”. Both individually and as banks people had become desperate.

Retrenchment occurs every day sending hundreds of bankers into the job market and an uncertain future. Most, on account of loans taken, would depart with very little. Under the circumstances, it was easy to bend the rules, collaborate with pension fund thieves and hope to put away something for the future.

Diminished job security is one reason for the collective violation of banking rules and regulations. The negative variances between projected revenue and profits also act as catalysts to law breaking. When deposit targets are not being met, bank managers become vulnerable to dubious deals.

Most succumb hoping that the violations can be concealed through a combination of other deals with CBN staff, creative accounting and complaisant auditors. Some of the tell-tale signs are there when depositors spend long hours at branches trying to withdraw money.

Also, when your bank “fails” to clear local cheques deposited within three working days, or out of state cheques for almost a week, into your account – especially on week-ends — you should suspect deliberate delay by the bank. Or when salaries paid into your account “have not been processed”. Invariably, it is not just a few customers; it is every customer who is subjected to “go slow” treatment.

Like all the previous bank crisis, this too started slowly, by a few bank managers in a few branches and regional offices. Suddenly, the exception became routine once again in Nigerian banks. But, as appetite grew with eating, it became an all-comers affair. Now virtually all the banks were consumed by it.

The CBN had been issuing threats to deal with all the banks involved. That is akin to wanting to close the gate after the cows have fled. To start with the bankers opening dubious accounts did it deliberately and were paid for their “services”.

Furthermore, a lot of the funds deposited and which, if reported as required by law, would have been recovered intact have been spent. A great deal of the stolen funds and the bribes to the bankers have vanished; but the banks are liable.

Once again, the question is: where were CBN bank examiners while all these were going on? Increasingly, what these cases reveal is a governor and group of Executive Directors who have been derelict in their duties; who have not been supervising the banks and who have allowed another crisis to develop so soon after the last one. Like drunken sailors on shore leave our bankers have stumbled from one crisis to another – thanks to poor supervision this time.”

Our dear aristocrat has in words and actions confirmed the position of the columnist that he is just marking time at the CBN while waiting for the current Emir of Kano to transit so he can fulfil his long held ambition of becoming the next emir of Kano.

At the peak of the fuel subsidy crisis early this year ,another columnist, Tunde Fagbenle ; in an exchange with Sanusi Lamido Sanusi had nicely cautioned him against his undisguised ambition of getting turbaned as Emir while there is a reigning one.The following exchange took place between Fagbenle and SLS as published in Fagbenle’s column of SUNDAY PUNCH of March 25,2012:

“I know you’ve set yourself the ‘supreme ambition’ of becoming the Emir of Kano (the stool of your grandfather), though I think it is impolitic to have declared such ambition so soon while the incumbent is still alive (well, by my Yoruba custom, that is!); but I would want to see a movement that can help in bringing someone like you, Oshiomhole, Fashola, and, even, Okonjo-Iweala to run Nigeria. What a great country that would be!”

Regards,

TF

From SLS

“

Thank you very much, Tunde.

“Starting from the lighter note, it was not so much a declaration of ambition. In our own part of the world, the emir takes it for granted that every prince wants to be an emir and in fact, it would be a sad day if a prince, when asked his ambition in life, ranked another office higher than the throne of his ancestors.”

It was in showing that his ambition of becoming an emir ranks higher than being CBN governor that he dipped his hands into CBN purse to donate N100m to the victims of Boko Haram in Kano when the apex bank had not made any such donation to the many victims of terror strikes by Kano.

It is from the same mindset that a CBN governor who ordinarily should not be heard except on monetary issues granted an interview where he said that the reason why Boko Haram is on rampage is the skewed “derivation” formula in the country!

The final moment for the total unravelling of SLS came with his arrogant display of insensitivity and soullessness by going ahead with his being turbaned as Dan-Majen Kano at a period the burnt bones of 160 Nigerians who perished in the Dana crash are still being sorted in Lagos mortuary.Given the mood of the nation a man who understands the responsibility of his office would have lost nothing by postponing the event for at least two weeks.

Aside from the general grief the nation is enmeshed in, 9 people who worked under SLS at the CBN were among the 153 passengers who died in the ghastly crash.The deceased persons are Amiaka Rapheal and Antonia Attu, both Senior Managers; Bamaiyi Adamu, a Senior Supervisor and Talmata Muhammed, an Assistant Director.

Others are Ibrahim Yusuf, Principal Manager; Kim Norris, Special Adviser to the CBN Governor on Banking Supervision; Mutihir. I., Deputy Manager and Samuel Mbong.

Sanusi was not reported to have visited the crash scene where eight of his staff lost their lives.All that mattered to him was the chieftaincy he was about to take.I argued with a friend who was invited to Kano but made up his mind not to go given the tragedy that occurred,on Thursday night that the SLS I have studied would still go ahead with the ceremony.My friend was still optimistic that a last minute cancellation would take place.Sadly I was proved right.

Shame on heartless Sanusi and his soulless guests who have shown us that tragedy means nothing to them.Does the blue blood in SLS’s veins so royal it cannot be touched by the sorrows of others?could that tragedy not have happened to any of us? Would the emir change his mind altogether if he had asked for a shift of date?How cold would these fellows be if they had to take actions that involve the lives of people behind closed doors if they can merry while the nation mourns?

To SLS I commend the words of John Webster, The Duchess of Malfi:

“Ambition, madam, is a great man’s madness”

May the souls of the CBN8 (who most likely would have been in Kano to celebrate their ‘Oga’ had they not perished) forgive SLS for this display of utter insensitivity.

http://naijadiva.com/2012/05/13/pastor-stirs-up-controversy-with-raunchy-poster/

By Biola Davies

A Lagos pastor has stirred up controversy by commissioning a raunchy billboard advert that shows a group of suggestively-dressed women above the caption: “All the hot girls in Lagos attend Dr Fireman’s church…Apart from you”.

Nigerian pastors are fiercely competitive as new churches spring up everyday and poaching is commonplace as widespread poverty pushes more people to “Miracle Churches”.

The self-styled Dr Sign Fireman came into public prominence with a poster he circulated five years ago. That advertisement captioned: “The God of dollars is my God” earned him the ire of Christians across the country who accused him of being another “Reverend King” a reference to the Lagos pastor who was convicted of murdering one of his church’s congregants.

Dr Fireman’s poster seems to be targeted at young Christians who are more likely to change churches on a whim. He also makes an appearance in the poster where he is seen sporting a snazzy hat, a gold necklace and a low-neck shirt

Dr Fireman was not available for comment.

For First Bank, Huge Profits are Reaped From Public Sector Graft
http://telegraphafrica.com/2012/04/04/for-first-bank-huge-profits-are-reaped-from-public-sector-graft/

By Alex Diete-Spiff

First Bank is the news again for all the wrong reasons. The bank has been named as a major facilitator of the police pension fund scam where money meant for retired policemen was laundered through the bank and moved into personal accounts after deals were cut with the bank’s officials. And despite the public outcry, the bank has remained aloof, refusing to publicly comment on the matter.

Arguably Nigeria’s largest bank, the country’s oldest financial services institution has been around since 1894, its iconic elephant a fixture in the minds of several generations of customers who have watched the bank morph from a staid, lumbering giant to a somewhat modern brand seeking to add discerning and upwardly-mobile Gen Xers to its aging client base. That has been a tough battle given the swift ascendancy of nimble upstarts such as GTBank and Diamond Bank.

However, First Bank has remained a money-minting machine hitting new targets with each passing year and raising billions of dollars from hungry investors. Its 100 billion naira public offer in 2007 was so successful that a class-action lawsuit was filed by disgruntled subscribers who felt that the bank’s decision to return their money was a breach of contract.

But First Bank has a dark secret. It doesn’t really need to do much to mint money and as long as Nigeria’s corrupt quangos are allowed to park public funds in commercial banks, the bank’s fortunes will continue to soar. Over the years, the bank’s management team has been adept at conniving with mandarins and politicians to launder government funds and shortchange the treasury. This practice is not limited to the bloated federal government, First Bank has forged similar relationships with states such as Bayelsa, Cross-River, Rivers and Ogun where it expends a lot of money on questionable CSR projects and other incentives in order to manage plum accounts. The bank invests millions of dollars in jamborees such as the Calabar Festival, Calabar Carnival, Rivers Carnival projects that make it easy for governors to launder money as a result of lax controls.

First Bank has been able to get away with this for several years because of its extensive connections and ties to politically-exposed persons many of whom are shareholders of the bank. And like Goldman Sachs, which is sometimes derisively referred to as “Government Sachs” for its policy of pushing its staff into government jobs, First Bank ensures that many of its executives make the transition to the public sector. The governor of the Central Bank Sanusi Lamido Sanusi had a short stint as the bank’s chief executive before moving to the apex bank while Yerima Ngama and Remi Babalola were executives.

The problem is that over the years, the bank has seen its strategy become almost exclusively hinged on its ability to maintain its hold on juicy public sector accounts plunging it deeper into the vortex of corruption that dictates business dealings in the labyrinthine world of Nigeria’s public sector. And the bank’s humongous size and influence make it an elusive target. The Central Bank of Governor has said that all banks guilty of involvement in the pensions scam will be punished but then First Bank execs won’t be taking that threat too seriously.

Goodluck Jonathan’s Gift Horse
http://telegraphafrica.com/2012/05/30/goodluck-jonathans-gift-horse/

By Wole Soyinka

This is one gift horse which, contrary to traditional saying, must be inspected thoroughly in the mouth.

Primary from all of us must be a plea to the MKO Abiola family not to misconstrue the protests against the naming of the University of Lagos after their heroic patriarch. Issues must be separated and understood in their appropriate contexts. The family will acknowledge that, among the loudest opposing voices to Jonathan’s gift horse, are those who have clamoured tirelessly that MKO Abiola, the Nigerian nation’s president-elect, be honoured nationally, and in a befitting manner.

Next is my confession to considerable shock that President Goodluck Jonathan did not even think it fit to consult or inform the administrators of the university, including Council and Senate, of his intention to re-name their university for any reason, however laudable. This arbitrariness, this act of disrespect, was a barely tolerated aberration of military governance. It is totally deplorable in what is supposed to be a civilian order.

After that comes the bad-mouthing of MKO Abiola and the Nigerian electorate by President Jonathan who referred to MKO as the “presumed winner” of a historic election. While applauding the president for finally taking the bull by the horn and rendering honour unto whom honour is due, the particularities of this gesture have made it dubious, suspect, and tainted. You do not honour someone while detracting from his or her record of achievement. MKO Abiola was not a presumed winner, but the President-elect of a nation, and thus universally acknowledged.

It is sad, very sad, that after his predecessor who, for eight full years of presidency, could not even bear to utter the name of a man who made his own incumbency possible, along comes someone who takes back with the left hand what the right has offered. However, there is hope. Legalists have claimed that there is a legal flaw to the entire process. The university, solidly backed by other tertiary institutions nation-wide, should immediately proceed to the courts of law and demand a ‘stay of execution’. That should give President Jonathan time to re-consider and perhaps shift his focus to the nation’s capital for institutions begging for rituals of re-naming. After all, it is on record that the House of Assembly did once resolve that the Abuja stadium be named after the man already bestowed the unique title of “Pillar of African Sports”. He deserved that, and a lot more. What he did not deserve is to be, albeit posthumously, the centre of a fully avoidable acrimony, one that has now resulted in the shutting down one of the institutions of learning to whose cause, the cause of learning, President-elect MKO Abiola also made unparalleled private contributions.

Let me end by stressing that my position remains the same as it was when the University of Ife was re-named Obafemi Awolowo University. I deplored it at the time, deplore it till today, have never come to terms with it, and still hope that some day in the not too distant future, that crime against the culture of institutional autonomy will be rectified. Let us not compound the aberrations of the past with provocations in an era that should propel us towards a belated new Age of Enlightenment.

RIM Hires Bankers To Advise On Restructuring
http://telegraphafrica.com/2012/05/30/rim-hires-bankers-to-advise-on-restructuring/
By Deji Taylor

BlackBerry maker Research in Motion has retained two banks to advise it on a radical restructuring or outright sale of the beleaguered company.

JPMorgan and RBC Capital have been handed the task of exploring the company’s viable options and suggesting a solution to its gradual loss of market share.

Sources say that the company’s top brass have not ruled out a sale and that all options are on the table. Thorstein Heins, RIM’s chief executive, has acknowledged that the company is facing serious challenges and needs to review its strategic direction.

Shares of RIM (RIM) were suspended in after-hours trading on the news and they fell 13% when trading resumed. The company expects its financial performance to worsen and has projected a loss for its first quarter which ends on June 2, 2012.

It blames the projected loss on increasing competition from its rivals and the delayed migration to the new BlackBerry 10 operating system.

The company also announced that it plans to save $1 billion over the next year and analysts say that job cuts are definitely planned with some speculating that up to 6,000 positions could be eliminated.This is in addition to slashed budgets and scrapping of smaller departments.

RIM, the once-mighty manufacturer of BlackBerry smartphones has seen its market share plunge in recent years as competitors such as Apple and Samsung continue to poach its customers. And while the company has witnessed some growth in emerging markets such as Nigeria, where it remains an aspirational brand, smaller margins in those economies mean that they have little effect on RIM’s bottom line.

DEATH has struck in The Nation family, snatching the co-ordinator of Campus Life Mrs. Ngozi Agbo.
She died in Lagos on Monday as a result of complications from child birth. The baby boy survived.
The late Mrs. Agbo (formerly Miss Ngozi Nwozor), who would have been 37 next month, got married on July 30, last year.
An English Language graduate of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, the deceased bagged a Masters degree in History and International Relations at the University of Lagos. She also attended the Pan African University.
Mrs. Agbo joined The Nation in 2007 having previously worked with New Age and a Non-governmental Organisation (NGO), Fate Foundation.
Tributes have been pouring in from the students she mentored through the column and from colleagues and friends.
Her Husband, Mr Agbo Agbo, a Public Relations Specialist said: “Her death is a shock to us all. I pray to God to give me long life to take care of the son she left behind.
“She was a very dedicated and intelligent human being, a visionary person who stood for high moral values. She never cut corners.
“She was somebody that did the right thing at the right time.”
“She was a rare gem that we cannot forget in a hurry. Her death is shocking. We take solace in that fact that God knows best,” said Joke Kujenya, an Assistant Editor with The Nation.
Wale Ajetunmobi, who has just completed his national youth service, working directly with Mrs. Agbo until her death, recounted his last encounter with her.
“There was no premonition of death. She looked forward to having the baby. Last Thursday, she sent me an e- mail giving instructions on how she wanted this week’s edition of the Campus Life section to look like.
“On Sunday, she sent me another mail giving further instructions which she ended by asking me to inform her as soon as I’m employed by The Nation. I only read the mail on Monday, the day she died. She was such an efficient journalist and a compassionate person to work with,” Ajetunmobi said.
Some of the tributes by Campus Life contributors are:
Ademola Samson, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU)
A loss is it. Too obvious to be denied. I tried to look away but I cannot. Adieu Aunty Ngozi Nwozor-Agbo. We will miss you, but your work speaks on
Comfort Ogon, 200-Level Political Science, University of Calabar (UNICAL)
No! No! No! Please, tell me I’m dreaming. My Editor is not... tell me Mrs. Ngozi Nwozor-Agbor is not dead. Not after I promised to host her in Calabar for a carnival. The carnival is yet to come but she is no more. It is hard to believe. What does the future hold for us, CAMPUSLIFE writers? How can we exist without our mother; a woman of inestimable value? Death, why?
Vincent Nzemeke, Graduate of Mass Communication, Delta State University (DELSU)
Lekan Otufodunrin found a diamond. Sam Omatseye, Sunday Oguntola, Joe Agbro, Simon Kolawole, Azubike Ishiekwene and some others polished the diamond. But Ngozi Nwozor made that diamond shine. Thanks NG for being a part of my life. God be with you till we meet again.
Abiola Salawu, graduate, Kwara State Polytechnic (KWARA POLY)
Aunty NG, you live on in our hearts and we are a reflection of your values, beliefs and principles. Yours is an enduring legacy. Words cannot describe our feelings of loss and how dearly you are missed. It is true that we have once enjoyed. We can never lose and all that we lose, but love deeply. Forever remain a part of us. You are not forgotten and never will you be. Rest in peace and in the Lord’s bosom
Michael Adebayo, 200-Level Computer Science, University of Ilorin (UNILORIN)
“The Lord takes the righteous away before the evil days” Isa. 57:1. Aunty, you have taught me in the hardest way that death is inevitable. You will be remembered eternally for your valuable input in my life. You prints are so indelible in the sands of time. You have founded a generation after your heart. God be praised, you came, you saw and you conquered. We love you but you are now in the bosom of He who loves you best. Continue to rest till we meet to part no more. Very hard to say Adieu!
Hope Ofobike, NYSC, Minna
Aunty, I can’t believe this. You just called me to send story last week. Now you are gone. Your impact on youths and Nigeria can’t be wiped away. I love you. Keep resting with JESUS
Dayo Nigeria, Ngozi’s Facebook friend
Your good deeds will always speak for you. The many youths you gave voice will always imprint your name in the hearts of millions... So sad that death shamelessly took you away even when your good heart is seriously needed in a society starved of one. I can never forget you for the love you always show, and your bluntness... RIP Aunty Ngozi.
Hannah Ojo, 400-Level English, OAU
Life gave us happiness and took away joy. Life gave us a baby boy and took my aunty. I wish this is one expensive joke but it is not. Cheerful moment never last, and good people are rare. We were not born of the same parent but the bond surpasses that of relations. It was you who started this light and now you are nowhere to be found. Ngozi Theresa Agbo nee Nwozor, your demise is too much to bear.
Amaka Nwankwo
Rest in peace Aunty Ngozi. We both chatted last week when I was teasing you about your big tummy. Little did I know it would be our last discussion. Rest in the bosom of the Lord. You will be greatly missed.