Although I certainly commend this effort, the following quote illustrates the fallacy of Nigeria's approach to development:
Quote: "The successful launch of the satellites will no doubt re-echo the strategic position of Nigeria as a leading space faring nation in Africa. "
Although it says "in Africa" that is not saying much. We are not yet a space faring nation - not untill we at least indigenously build our own satellites. (Revision: The second satellite - SatX was built by Nigerian engineers abroad - very close to indigenously built, but not quite - next step is to indigenize the technology at the Nigeria Space Center).
Still, kudos to those who worked hard to make this happen - hopefully it will not go dumb like the previous one.
Nigeria will today (Wednesday) make history as its NigeriaSat-2 and NigeriaSat-X satellites will go into the orbit at exactly 8.12am at the launch site in Yasny, in Russi.
This was disclosed by the Head, Media and Corporate Affairs, National Space Research and Development Agency, Mr. Felix Ale, in a statement made available to our correspondent on Tuesday.
According to the statement, the two spacecraft have been integrated on the launch vehicle and fuelling of the launcher is already completed, while all parameters required for a successful launch have been met.
The launch of the satellites is expected to provoke high resolution data revolution in Nigeria and Africa as a whole.
Ale said, “NigeriaSat-2, after its launch, will be the most advanced satellite of its kind in the global community. The successful launch of the satellites will no doubt re-echo the strategic position of Nigeria as a leading space faring nation in Africa, but it will also represent a landmark achievement of the government and people of Nigeria in the field of space science and technology across the globe.
I hate it when people get on a topic, come up with irrelevant arguments and start arguing against themselves. As such, u can repeat all those words 1000 times they are completely irrelevant to what is at issue here. The entire issue is that the racist guy said that WHITE people who participated in the looting did so because they have become BLACK. I asked you: "How can anyone justify the SELF-WILLING participation of a white person in rioting and looting as being due to BLACK CULTURE".
Then you reply me with the following statement among other rubbish:
ezeagu: Most of the rioters in London were BLACK! Most of the areas that rioting started in were BLACK! The rioting started in a black neighbourhood because of the killing of a BLACK man!
If most of the rioters are black and the riot started because of a black man, how does that relate to a WHITE person participating in the looting? That is what you need to explain, not these arguments you are having with yourself. I am not interested in counting the number of white/black people in the riot/looting with you.
That is the job GEJ gave him. If ACN says something against the new "maximum" ruler it is Beaf's job to come on NL and say bad things in return, even if he starts sounding silly after a while he must earn his keep
tpia@: what's the reason for beaf's incessant interest in osun state when he claims to be from delta.
Marxist? A spade a spade? You must be really drunk.
How is saying a self-willing rioting & looting WHITE person is doing so because he has become black calling a spade a spade.
If you want to call a spade a spade you would say the white person is rioting and looting because he is not a good person - that is what calling a spade a spade is. Is that clear enough for you?
Nobody is discussing how many blacks and whites are rioting with you. The only reason that was brought up is because in supporting the above justification some foolish person started counting the number of blacks rioting. Tell me once again how that means a self-willing WHITE person looting in full view of cameras has become black.
I am tempted to call you an eediot, but I restrain myself
Kenezi: Kouruji, we call a spade a spade. If the majority of the rioters were black, and the majority of violent crime in London is committed by black people, we are going to mention it. Are you angry because your Marxist views are challenged by visible facts?
I have never heard anything more foolish in my life. Someone basically said violent rioting is black culture and you are telling me I should not talk about ancient things that a people did. It is in your mouth that the words became "a certain kind of criminal-glorifying black youth culture". What the guy said without interpretation is "black" - not a kind of criminal-glorifying bla bla bla. And what makes into a "black youth" culture, whatever happened to "youth" - white or black.
You think a culture is formed in a few years. It is the product of hundreds of years. The culture that lies underneath much of the wealth you see in the West today is the above. We can for the sake of civility decide to make the best of the current world we live in, but let no fool start talking about black culture of violence, forgetting their own culture of stealing people, land and property all in one breath.
What appears to your bourgeoisie self as "criminal-glorifying culture" is the live those people live. That is what they know day-in-day-out - so don't be surprised when it comes out in the open. Condemn any act of looting and violence, but resist the urge to bring race into it.
You are so racist-against-yourself that you cannot see the fallacy of your own argument. It doesn't matter if all the people rioting were black, it doesn't justify the reference to a black culture or "becoming black". Look at you talking about the kind of shops being looted - each day you meet your black brothers in London, you are probably looking at those that are less-to-do through those racist eyes of yours. Shame!!!
How can anyone justify the SELF-WILLING participation of a white person in rioting and looting as being due to black culture - only bigoted minds will see it like that, and I am not surprised that u are the one supporting such senseless explanation on this forum. You make my stomach turn
ezeagu: The point is the UK is not a black country, and London isn't even majority black, but the majority of the people looting were black. The blame on "black culture" may be wrong, but a certain kind of criminal-glorifying black youth culture seems to have become the trend amongst youths around the world and it is definitely partly to blame for these riots, look at the stores that were worst hit, sports wear and 'street fashion' stores. The other problem is with the parents of these children. Naming all the bad things white people did in ancient times isn't relevant to the issues of black people.
Did u lose your way or something? Who is talking about black parents/children being rabid & in which white country?
[size=14pt]The guy said white people participated in the riots because they have become black. I hope you know what that means.[/size]
I guess Prime Minister Cameron, who wants to be pulling facebook & twitter accounts, is now a Chinese official by your measure too. Go and see the propaganda the Chinese are already putting out just because of that statement - which obviously stinks of hypocrisy.
Nothing justifies the looting that went on, whether white or black, but that is as far as it goes - people are the same everywhere, only governments/leaders are different.
ezeagu: That doesn't make it right for black parents to let their children go rabid in a white country.
I don't like the way the black woman responded at all.
I would have prefered a dirty slap to the right side of his dirty mouth.
Otherwise, a quick run-down of the last 500 or so years of history would have done him some good. During that time the queen/king of a certain country sent his subjects all over the world eradicating whole cultures (the Indians of North America in particular), stealing people (millions of slaves from Africa), stealing their lands and carting away all their precious resources - everybody else. Which culture do we classify that as? - I would ask him and watch his face turn red.
I am afraid for Nigerians with the way we eat up all kinds of things fed to us by these people.
Are you telling me that investors simply gave money to this bank since 2003/2006 without any returns?
They did not ask for any returns and didn't pull out their funds all the way till 2011? Don't you wonder what the source of that kind of money was, sitting without returns for so long? The way I understand it, returns are paid to investors at regular intervals - but these returns were accumulating for up to 8 years?
There is a lot more than meets the eyes here.
klas: In 2003, jaiz international plc (not yet converted to bank then) did public offer of N2.5b which was oversubscibed by 20%. In 2004, it applied for banking licence when Joseph Sanusi was still the cbn governor and capital requirement was N2b. Soludo took over and jerked up capital to N25b so its application lapsed. It started an open date private placement in 2006 for N10b out of which it had so far raised almost N4b in addition to the ealier N3b.
Now that its capital requirement has been reduced to N10b (or is it N5b), it may drop its plan for public offer of N13b
The 'profit' came from interest on the deposit of the capital proceeds with commercial banks.
I have tried to answer where the profit came from when it is yet to start operation. The question of why the sudden realisation that the interest is haram (sinful) now or why not just tell the banks to keep the interest and return only the principal? Search me.
@Beaf Obviously you are far from reflexive. Otherwise, I don't see how you could come here attempting to complain about something that applies even more aptly to your paymaster. GEJ as deputy gov., gov., VP and now President is yet to lay claim to a signature achievement of his own in governance. Yet, his "employees" do not shy from accusing someone who has been in an executive position for 9 months of lazying around. Compare that to almost a total of 6 years or so in executive positions that GEJ has enjoyed.
Beaf pointing one finger at Aregbesola, so-so. Beaf pointing the remaining four fingers at himself/Oga, hilarity.
Name one complain that you have raised against ACN governors that doesn't apply even moreso to GEJ or your state governor. Please also tell me one thing GEJ has done that would make you follow him so closely if he was not from your neck of the woods. Humor me.
Instead of spending time monitoring your state gov's performance, you are over here taking phensic for another's purported headache.
Beaf: See voodoo! After 9 months, he is really taking his time! One day be one day! Unu go tek laff kill pikin for NL o!
The Police Equipment Fund , which received his blessing, have contributed towards better equipment, arms and vehicles for the Police.
Obviously, David Mark is a comedian, the bills he supports are jokes.
Abeg no kill me with laughter here o
Do nothing people after do nothing people always eyeing the presidency - if this is all Nigeria has to offer, it seems I better start a campaign for the presidency of Nigeria
Bliss4Lyfe: Amongst the attraction of David Mark to the Nigerian masses, is his love of discipline dat comes from his military background and time spent in the Army. In the Senate David Mark has supported a number of bills. These include the Anti-corrption bill, Niger-delta bill, Minimum wage bill and the Universal Primary Education bill, while he was Chairman Senate Committee on Police Affairs, Mark initiated a strategy in conjunction with other stake holders, which has resulted in an improved image for the Nigerian police , as well as an enhanced pay package. The Police Equipment Fund , which received his blessing, have contributed towards better equipment, arms and vehicles for the Police.
Aregbesola is trying to instigate a revolutionary change from the chop-I-chop culture of politics in Osun State.
The fact is that on both sides, ACN & PDP, the culture is pervasive especially with all the carpet-crossing that happen after a power-shift. The losers in this change are of course taken aghast as they are "loyal" party members who traditionally would have gotten the government positions and continue enriching themselves while spewing BS propaganda.
The main difference is that within PDP they have accepted the rotten way of doing things as the fact of life, while ACN's progressive approach allow people with ideas and vision to rise to the top, but implementing that vision will always draw fire from the deserved losers. Tinubu dealt with similar opposition within and without his party, but because of his perseverance it is now clear for all to see that he was indeed on the road to major transformation of Lagos State.
Aregbesola needs to keep the pedal to the metal, but ensure that the people can see evidence of his governance - aka better roads, better schools, prompt salary payments, etc. People will like to see very concrete evidence of these half-way into his tenure - that gives him only one year and change from here. No time to waste.
Its all in Osun state,The state of the living spring where the victory or will i say the manipulation of the Action congress worked in favor of their Governorship candidate and subsequently for all their candidates in the Senate,House of Representative,State house and other positions.
The latest slang in Osun State at the moment is (Se ati si Ibo di bayi) meaning( haven't we wrongly elected). A question waiting for answer.
When the Governor, Rauf Aregbesola won in court,I congratulated him and said to the people around me,This Government will be worse.
My dad,not an ACN member,but a supporter who usually attribute the ACN style of leadership to the legacy of Awolowo among many others condemned me as an enemy of progress. But i am so surprise last week to see him after returning from Osogbo where he his based to call me and say,
What business & loans did a bank that is yet to take off get 1 billion Naria interest from?
The CBN needs to figure out the source of that money. I think some highly placed individuals are trying to mmove money in the name of Islamic Banking.
This JAIZ bank has not been able to raise money for its capital base, but is already declaring 1 billion Naria in profits from interests that it was not supposed to collect in the first place. Couldn't they just give the interest back to those from whom it was illegally collected?
There is a lot of shady business going on here.
olawalebab: I know you did not read everything there. The money was gotten from interest on loan and which they said is against the tenet of the bank principle.
Well, in his most recent statements Al-Mustapha claimed he was not there when Abacha died, whereas the story above contained a lot of detail explaining his role in the sordid affair.
My take is that the guy was complicit in the deaths of Abacha & Abiola.
DrummaBoy: @OP So what is the descripancy in the notes and what he said at the courts recently?
I remember seeing your reply earlier. It would still be good to see what advantages you see in a single 6 year term.
It will add to the discussion.
ekt_bear: Nice posts, Koruji. Btw, I actually don't think this single-term proposal is a bad idea (at least in theory.) But since it doesn't look like it will fly, I guess no real point in me spending time defending it.
How is Nigeria treating you? Since you moved back the one post from you was that complaining about kissing some girls. I see you finally resolved that problem. He he he
Seems you are not too happy about the direction of things down there. Well, don't give up - Nigeria needs you.
Let's hear the entire truth of this sordid affair. We also need to hear the truth of what happened in the last 90 days or so of Yar'adua. Both should be possible since the cabal is gone.
Beaf: One way or the other, the truth will out. The nation needs to know everything that is on Al Mustapha's 11 sacks of video evidence. If things are properly done, we will clear the nation of a full layer of murderers and scumbags.
IMHO, Al Mustapha is only opening up because this is the first time he feels safe to do so, the nation is no longer under the thumb of the military cabal that held Nigeria in thrall up till Yar Adua's time. It is of paramount importance that his safety is guaranteed.
Who said he is lying in everything? He is lying a lot, and because the only thing that protects the innocent is truth he is revealing his complicity the more he tells these half-truths.
Al-Mustapha has "spilled" all the LIES he can afford to spill. Why would he be going half-way now if he really has some darks secrets to let go off?
Do people really belief that Al-Mustapha sat on these secrets for donkey years and suddenly decided to use the one thing that could get him out of jail? Or most likely, this is his last act of desperation, carefully packaged with his co-conspirators. Once he steps out of jail they will eliminate him - he is safer where he is.
The worst part of this is the irreverence of Al-M. and his co-conspirators to sully the name of Bola Ige & Pa. Adesanya. They might think that those people being dead makes it ok, they are wrong.
aloy-emeka: The guy will not live to the end of his trial. I think he knows some secrets that are crucial to national security and they won't let him spill the beans out of desperation.
Things seem to be getting clearer now. The following quote contains a big hole, like the rest of the story.
Quote: "At the resumed cross examination of Major al-Mustapha on Tuesday, however, he confirmed that General Abacha died on June 8, 1998 and added that, “I was not around when he died, but I saw him around 2.00 a.m. with some ministers and ambassadors. I was technically present when MKO Abiola died but I did not give him the tea that killed him. By my position in the presidency at the time, I was present there with him by the video recordings but physically, I was not there." “We agreed that all detainees were to be set free and that was done. But MKO was kept perpetually in custody. The question then is why?” al-Mustapha asked.
Questions arise: 1. As Abacha's CSO, who saw him around 2am with some ministers and ambassadors, why was Al-Mustapha spared in the ensuing mess. We know Abacha was eliminated, which would/should make Al Mustapha antagonistic to whoever was responsible. If you read the rest of the story, he even mentioned that he was already an "enemy" to those who wanted Abacha removed. Hmmmmmmmmmm. . .
2. Now, let's compare that to how easily Al-Mustapha transitioned to speaking in collective terms - "we agreed that all detainees were to be set free. . ." The above phrase shows that he was or thought he was, part of the decision-making process behind the "coup". The guy went back to "work" as if the HOS under his watch had not just being killed under mysterious circumstances.
[size=14pt]This is my theory of what went down[/size]: All the events of June 8 flowed through Niger State (i.e. IBB) - same state as Abubakar. Al-Mustapha was a traitor to Abacha who was conveniently absent when his boss died. I 'll like to know where he was and what he was doing? Where were his troops, even if he was not around when Abacha died? It all points to being complicit in the elimination of Abacha.
So, what happened to Abiola? It was a coup within a coup - by who? Who has the most to lose at that point from Abiola's meeting with the Americans? You guessed it - primarily the one who cancelled his election and everyone else who were responsible for keeping Abiola in the slammer for so many years - particularly IBB & the jailer, Al-Mustapha. It is not surprsing then that the former seems to be leading the campaign for the latter's release. Given that, I think Al-Mustapha is probably safer in prison!!! We know what happens to IBB's co-conspirators at the end of the day.
JUSTICE Mojisola Dada of a Lagos High Court sitting in Igbosere, on Tuesday, granted leave to Major Hamzat al-Mustapha, former Chief Security Officer (CSO) to the late General Sani Abacha and Alhaji Lateef Shofolahan, who was an aide to the late Kudirat Abiola, to appeal its earlier ruling on their no-case submission, which was initially dismissed by the court.
Al-Mustapha also stated that he was technically present when the late M.K.O. Abiola was murdered. He also denied stating that he had in his possession VHS tapes showing where money was being shared to some Yoruba elders.
Justice Dada, in a short ruling, stated that, “In view of the fact that the defendants have the right to appeal, this court would have no choice but to rule in favour of the applicants. Accordingly, the two applications seeking leave to appeal ruling are hereby granted.”
Earlier, the defendant’s counsel, Olalekan Ojo, had directed the court's attention to the motions on notice dated August 8, 2011, filed by the defendants for leave to appeal against the decision of the lower court of July 14, 2011, which dismissed their no-case submissions, adding that the defendants were praying the court to grant them leave to appeal against the ruling of the trial court.
At the resumed cross examination of Major al-Mustapha on Tuesday, however, he confirmed that General Abacha died on June 8, 1998 and added that, “I was not around when he died, but I saw him around 2.00 a.m. with some ministers and ambassadors. I was technically present when MKO Abiola died but I did not give him the tea that killed him. By my position in the presidency at the time, I was present there with him by the video recordings but physically, I was not there.
“We agreed that all detainees were to be set free and that was done. But MKO was kept perpetually in custody. The question then is why?” al-Mustapha asked.
On the claim that he had tapes indicting Yoruba leaders, al-Mustapha denied ever saying he had in his possession VHS tapes showing where money was being shared to the Yoruba elders, but added that, “I only said money was brought. Somebody is deliberately playing with the prosecution.”
He stated that former head of state, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, refused to appear before the Oputa Panel because of some sensitive issues that were raised at the panel. He maintained that Abacha was murdered but declined to make further comments, because that was not the issue before the court.
Al-Mustapha said he became an enemy to some highly placed individuals in the country because they wanted Abacha removed as Head of State and Commander-in-Chief, adding that he never ordered the killing of Kudirat Abiola and any other persons murdered when Abacha was head of state.
The former CSO restated that he was enlisted into the Nigerian Army in 1980 at the age of 19 as a cadet and said that the prosecution handling the case did not understand the game plan in his ongoing trial in the murder of Kudirat Abiola.
He had also stated that the Lagos State government could not get the original version of the VHS tape recorded during the Special Investigation Panel (SIP) proceedings showing what happened at the time while also explaining that he was kept incommunicado for one year facing torture and his team of lawyers was denied access to him.
“I did not order anybody to kill Kudirat Abiola. There is no doubt that there was opposition to the government of General Abacha at the time, just as it happens in other governments.
“Abacha was the most hated head of state.
“The strongest opposition then was within the military and not NADECO. I can also confirm to you that the struggle by NADECO at the time was not genuine," he added.
Al-Mustapha also informed the judge that he on several occasions, assisted the late Kudirat Abiola to see her husband where he was detained at the time.
“I did not order the arrest of any political figure in the country during the administration of Abacha but I sent Rabo Lawal to confirm the act of burning Abacha's properties in Lagos and not to checkmate the activities of NADECO in the state. In fact, it was the Garrison Command in Lagos, led by retired General Patrick Azazi, that was directed to take over protection of the said property,” he reiterated.
Speaking on who gave the order for the arrest of MKO Abiola, Al-Mustapha stated that it was the then Inspector General of Police (IG), Alhaji Ibrahim Coomasie, that ordered his arrest, explaining that Coomasie even signed the warrant of arrest.
“The NADECO was a visible opposition of the Abacha government. I didn’t belong to the council that was taking decision in the presidency at the time, but I was responsible for the protection of facilities to be used for whatever meeting in the presidency,” Al-Mustapha said.
He also confirmed that all murder attempts and murders took place under the regime of Abacha and urged the court to order General Abubakar to return all documents carted away from his house while he was in detention.
He also challenged the police to produce the report on the investigation of the murder of Kudirat Abiola.
Departments, parastatal agencies under the Ministry of Trade and Investment have pledged to create additional 3,100,850 jobs within the next three years.
This was disclosed in the communiqué issued at the end of a three-day retreat of the ministry in Abuja, which was chaired by Olusegun Aganga, Minister of Trade and Investment and Sam Ortom, Minister of State for Trade and Investment.
A breakdown of the figure shows that the Bank of Industry will create one million jobs, Department of Trade, two million jobs and others 100,085 jobs.
The communique noted, “in line with the mandate to lead the nation’s investment, job creation and economic growth drive, the ministry must be refocused and repositioned in order to effectively serve as the flag and hub of industrial revolution that will help Nigeria take its rightful place in global affairs. In this regard, departments, parastatal agencies under the ministry have pledged to create no fewer than 3,100,850 new jobs within the next three years.
“To achieve effective export promotion, participants agreed on the need for increased efforts towards streamlining the nation’s export produce and documentation as a way of facilitating trade through stronger collaboration with all relevant trade facilitation.”
As part of the strategies towards achieving this, the departments and parastatals will develop a comprehensive backward integration programme aimed at improving innovation and productivity for rice, sugar, wheat, yam, potato, starch and palm produce, among others.
According to the communiqué, the ministry will establish model industrial clusters in each geo-political zone across the country.
Aganga said the Federal Government was committed to providing the enabling environment for job creation, wealth generation and economic growth and development.
The minister declared,“In other parts of the world such as the United Kingdom, Japan, Indonesia and Singapore, the Ministry of Trade and Investment is the most powerful and strategic ministry in terms of driving economic growth and development.”
I understand these points, but they don't justify giving someone the right to take up a state's appointment after 6 months of residing there. Your example points to people who were born & bred in a state, so we are talking years here not months.
Doesn't it seem ironic that a group of people would claim they fought to free themselves from domination, but at every turn make in-your-face statements of how they are going to dominate other ethnic groups? I think the bigots know themselves.
Beaf: Dude, those who were afraid of having ACN in their backyards were scared because of ACN's unhidden ethnic bias. These are people who have fought long battles to free themselves from the thumb of the core-North who similarly care only for themselves. Any other party would find the ND to be fertile and welcoming; from Labour to DPP to ANPP etc. The opening up of state of residence rights is totally different to a fight against exploitation and continued enslavement.
Anybody that has grown up in the ND is very welcome to share its resources, afterall they drink and bath from the same polluted water as us. They suffer the same asthma's and cancers, so why shouldn't they have the same rights as ND people? The quest for resource control is not pursued out of greed; that is the lure for politicians and other parasites whose eyes are glazed over by dollar signs. The quest for resource control is in very stack terms, the battle for survival that can only be won when the welfare of our environment is in our own hands. The UN study of Ogoni land should have driven the nak'ed truth home to every Nigerian. Ogoni land is quite small, but would cost $1billion to clean up; extrapolating that result across the whole ND which is very much as polluted, would only lead to mind boggling and surreal cleanup estimates.
There are Hausa people who were born in places like Warri and haven't the slightest clue where "home" is; there are also tonnes Yoruba's who were born and bred there. A great example is AY, personally I find it difficult not to see him as Urhobo, he is making a living off the culture he imbibed and the comedians he moves with are mainly Urhobo. He inhaled the same noxious fumes from gas flares, he speaks the lingo and walks the walk. Dude, AY is as much an ND person as I am, so is Nneka the musician and a thousand and one others.
I cannot fathom how those I grew up with could ever be a threat to my cultural or ethnic identity simply they belong to different ethnic groups.
In any event, all these arguments about ethnicity and identity have nothing whatsoever to do with the 6 year tenure proposal.
@Beaf I wish you would stop replying to my posts with accusations of ethic bigotry and the like. You know that is far from the truth. However, ethnic identity is very important. The bigots are the ones who telling their hosts that all they need is that law to take over the rulership of their states, openly preaching division among Yorubas. It was only "yesterday" that the same people were preaching violence to ensure that ACN does not have a toehold in their regions because it is a "Yoruba" party - and you were one of those lending tacit support. All of a sudden such people are championing the loosening of state residence rules because they have fleeting power.
Don't accuse me of not liking the president either as that is also completely untrue. What I don't like is this focus of his on things that are less useful to Nigerians. What I said about the ND is actually something that people of the region will soon realize to be true. And if you think this is about the ND here is another example. You and others have complained vehemently about Fulani herdsmen grazing their cattles without respect for the original residents. Of course this is a completely untenable situation. What I see emanating from the President's 6 month residence bill is that it will give some legitimacy, or at least some excuse, to this kind of behavior. Again I say if a person can reside in my state for 6 months and take the appointment meant for my state, why can't I put my cattle on any land that is fallow in his state. Do we want a true Federation or are we simply trying to perfect the completely imperfect amalgation that Lugard started. If he were alive today Lugard would be ashamed that we have figured out how to come up with a better arrangement yet.
In other words, there are far-reaching consequences of changing the constitution to make someone eligible for taking up a state's appointment after 6 months of residence. It is a backdoor approach to getting rid of the Federal Character. The problem is if you get rid of the Federal Character before you actually make this a true Federal system what you end up with will be worse than if you left it all alone.
One of the most transformative things a Nigerian president could do for our good is to open up the channel of communication and discussion before embarking on major changes. IBB came close to that, but he was such a deceitful personality it didn't matter at the end of the day.
Beaf: I wish you would talk about the President without attempting to drag the name of the ND in dirt. If you don't like the President, it really is down to you to approach matters outside of muddying his ethnicity or section. The primitive sentiments that your approach relies on are the exact thing the President is attempting to erase. If Nigerians like yourself decide to sing hurrah to ethnic bigotry, at least it is known that someone in position tried to banish it.
Senators heard on Monday how government-owned Aluminium Smelting Company of Nigeria (ALSCON), set up with $3.2 billion, was sold to a Russian firm, Russal, for a paltry $130 million. Also, Delta Steel, which was established in 2005 at the cost of $1.5 billion, was sold to Global Infrastructure for $30 million.
The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) sold ALSCON to Russal under the privatization programme in 2006. The lawmakers were also told that another $120 million provided to ALSCON for the dredging of the Imo River was diverted, even as Senate President, David Mark, said that the privatization programme is a failure.
Details concerning the sales of public companies were unveiled at the public hearing of the Senate Ad-hoc Committee on the privatisation and commercialization activities which opened in Abuja yesterday. Ms Bola Onagoruwa, Director-General of the BPE, told the panel that only N146.4 billion was realized from the sales of 122 government companies. The BPE boss told the Senate panel that 66 per cent of the privatized companies are performing well while only 33 per cent ‘have done badly.’ Kicking off the public hearing, Committee Chairman, Senator Ahmed Lawan, lamented that the privatization programme has not been successful.
He noted how “80 per cent of privatized agencies are not performing. This has resulted in both job and economic losses which will jeopardize Nigeria’s quest to achieve Vision 20:2020.” In his testimony before the committee, ALSCON Deputy Managing Director, Vitaly Kuzrestov, told the panel that from 2008 till date, the company has experienced six stoppages and ‘each stoppage results in complete loss of production,’ he said.
The committee chairman retorted: “The sale is like dashing out the company. With an N800 million subsidy by the Federal Government and a waiver, I think, as a Nigerian, I am grossly short-changed in the sale of ALSCON.” The senators also heard how $120 million, released for the dredging of Imo River, was never carried out by the company . Kuzrestov noted that ‘the dredging was on the condition that gas supply would be provided regularly,’ a condition that was not fulfilled by the BPE.
The BPE boss quickly contradicted Kuzrestov’s statement, saying that there was no such condition in the purchase agreement. This prompted Lawan to ask for the whereabouts of the $120million for the dredging project to which Kuzrestov replied that it was being used for ‘Environmental Impact Assessment.’ He referred the committee to the agreement which did not stipulate any time frame for the dredging, adding that the dredging could not be done because of ‘global economic problem.’
Also at the public hearing yesterday, the Association of Contractors appealed to President Goodluck Jonathan to intervene in the payment of N500 million debt owed them. The contractors expressed disappointment that after the BPE had signified intention to pay the debt from an outstanding N16 billion being the balance from the payment of disengaged staff of NITEL/MTEL, the move was allegedly stopped on the orders of Vice President Namadi Sambo.
“Upon the last verification exercise, the BPE agreed to release the contractors’ money on Thursday, August 4. But on getting to the BPE on the appointed date, the contractors were told to wait for the outcome of a scheduled meeting between the Vice President and some prospective buyers of NITEL/MTEL. “Curiously, with the meeting over, the BPE informed the contractors that Vice President Sambo had ordered that the payment to contractors be put on hold.
“According to the BPE, the Vice President had directed that his office would be forwarding a different ‘list of contractors’ to whom the money should be paid”, the contractors stated. They urged President Jonathan ‘to strive to preserve the integrity of the system’ with the payment of the debt. In his opening remarks, the Senate President bemoaned the failure of the privatization programme, adding that if two privatized companies have performed well while over 100 others do not, it means that the exercise is a failure. “Nigerians expected that most of the exercise would provide employment opportunities, add to government economic activities and that government would be able to benefit from the functional activities of these companies,” Mark said.
The Senate President told stakeholders at the Senate Hearing Room 1 that government simply has no business running companies. “I have been given a list of the privatised companies, the ones that are assumed to be performing well and the ones that are not performing well but take this typical example. The Volkswagen of Nigeria is privatised or commercialised but the Volkswagen of Brazil works better, I don’t think that the Volkswagen of Nigeria can even produce a tyre. Have we really succeeded? “Government truly has no business in all these commercial enterprises because it has failed. Every time it has tried it, it has tried it and it has failed because the orientation and attitude of a civil servant is quite different from that of commercial organisation and I think that linking the two in my candid opinion is not the best and I think that government should hands off all these commercial organisations.
“Basically, the idea behind this public hearing is that something has gone wrong with the implementation. The ad-hoc committee that is holding a public hearing today is basically set up to ensure that stakeholders participate fully and those, who strongly believe that the exercise was successful will have the opportunity to express their view. “Let us also hear from those who feel that the exercise has not been successful. I urge the committee to be very transparent, honest and open-minded, to be courageous and above all, in whatever they do, to be above board in their findings.” Meanwhile, a former Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, is scheduled to appear before the committee on Thursday.
In a letter by his legal counsel to the panel, the former minister, who was the BPE boss from 1999 to 2003, said he was out of the country and would be back by tomorrow (Wednesday) when he would be ready to answer any question concerning his tenure. The public hearing continues today.
Politics › Nigeria Launches 2 New Satellites Into Orbit - GEJ Confirms on NTA by koruji(op): 2:33am On Aug 17, 2011
